Chapter 35
It has been two weeks since Charles left Ponyville, his home, in search of the elements of life. The back pack he carried was enchanted by Twilight to carry more than what it seemed it could hold. He had plenty of bits on him too that he saved up from his job as a guard in case he came across a town and needed to restock on supplies. So far, he still had plenty, and Rarity was, of course, the one to give him her tent so he would have a place to sleep outdoors. It was morning and Charles stirred from his sleep as he sat up from his sleeping bag. “*Yawn* I really need to show Rarity my gratitude for letting me use this tent.” It was a two story tent with a balcony. Charles was making use of the second floor.
He slept in just his underwear that night. He got up, pulled out his black clothes from the bag and got dressed. Rolled up his sleeping bag, and made his way outside the tent. Another thing Charles was grateful for about the tent was how easy it was to set up and take down. Just a pull of the string and it shrank down into a small cube that fit right in his palm. “Gotta love magic, it makes things so simple.” He stuffed it in his bag and found a tree to lean against so he could have breakfast.
Charles found himself in a kind of swamp. He managed to find a good mass of land to rest on and set up camp for the night. Charles pulled out an apple pie, courtesy of Applejack, wrapped in tinfoil. He removed the foil and dug in. “I sure do miss the girls, just as I’m sure they miss me. all the more reason to get this done as soon as possible.” With breakfast finished, he reached back into the bag and pulled out his staff. He was about to stand up when the tree he was leaning on suddenly moved a little. “WHOA!” He quickly got up, grabbed his bag and stepped away from it.
He looked up at the tree as it seemed to move about and cause the ground around him to shake. He looked up further and saw a mass that seemed to go to either side. He saw branches and leaves at the top but the tree was sticking out like a bulge. He followed the mass to the side and saw it connected to another tree that seemed be moving. The first tree lifted up off the ground and actually folded in and extended back out to another section of ground, it came down with a loud thud. “What the hell?” Charles asked in wonder. “What is this thing?” Charles decided to get a bird’s eye view of what this thing could possibly be.
Charles turned and flew up into the air. As he did, he heard another thud, the other tree was still in place but he could make out a third and fourth tree behind the first two he saw. As he flew higher and higher, the trees started to take on a strange but familiar shape. At one end of the mass was what appeared to be a hoarse like head with yellow glowing eye sockets and a snout with nostrils. Charles finally got high and far enough to see what it was he was looking at. “HOLY SHIT!”
What he saw was a big surprise. It was a gigantic horse made of nature. Its entire body was made of wood with trees on its back. Charles’s shout attracted the things attention as its head turned and looked right at him. It let out a monstrous whiney. Charles had to cover his ears from the sheer volume. Once he could remove his hands from his head, he looked back at it and saw it turning towards him. “That can’t be good.” The tree hoarse reared up and slammed its forelegs back down. A series of vines erupted from the ground and were coming right for him. “Oh crap!” Charles flew up as fast as he could, but the vines were faster, one of them grabbed his leg and started pulling him back down.
Charles grabbed his staff from off his back, formed his swords, and sliced at the vine holding him. It was too late to stop another vine wrapping around his waist. He sliced at that only for two more to grab him by his other leg and another by his right arm. “Come on, give up already!” He slashed and sliced at the vines as they brought him closwer to the waiting jaws of this massive tree hoarse.
Then, a thought came to him. “Celestia, I’m stupid.” He remembered his magic training with Twilight and decided to use a teleport. He focused his magic and teleported himself out of the vines the thing made. He teleported a good distance away from the thing and saw as it searched around for him. The hoarse spotted him right away but Charles must have been too far away for the thing to keep interest. It just gave out another loud whiney, turned, and started walking off. “Geeze, what was that thing, and what was that all about? Must have been a territorial thing.”
Charles turned and prepared to fly off, but stopped in his tracks. “You have got to be kidding me.” there were more of them scattered about the swamp. “Just what in the name of Celestia are these things anyway? Does she even know about them? *Sigh* Whatever, guess I should stick to the high ground and fly above the clouds for a bit.” Charles flew straight up and above the clouds to continue on.
The days went on as Charles continued his long trek southward. He came across a town or two and took the opportunity to restock. Despite the fact that he was pretty much famous for being the only human in Equestria, the ponies of the town he came too were a little wary of him. He just conducted business with a smile as he bought a few supplies such as food. One town he came too was where he ran into a bit of trouble.
“HEY, monkey!” A stallion’s voice called out as Charles was trying to conduct business with a mare at a stall. The town he was in had cobble stone streets and stone houses.
Charles turned around to face his caller. “Excuse me?” The stallion was a white coated Pegasus with a yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark was of a lightning bolt. He and five other stallions with him were wearing the armor of the royal guard. They each had a sword. Two were earth ponies and the other three were also pegasai.
“You heard me, what’s the matter, monkey can’t hear good?” The stallion snickered which got his entourage to laugh as well.
“Great, one of those, and they’re with the royal guard. Must be this town’s branch.” Charles thought to himself. “Listen, I don’t want any trouble, I just need to get some food here and I’ll be on my way.”
“So you’re that human every pony has been talking about huh? Just what are you doing here anyway, shouldn’t you be at Ponyville. I’m sure the princesses miss having their pet monkey so close.” The ponies there snickered again. The other ponies that were around seemed afraid of this one.
“Go ahead and say what you want, it doesn’t bother me, I’ve gotten used to being insulted.”
“Gee, I wonder why, is it because you’re a freak?”
Charles just turned around and addressed the mare. “I’m sorry miss, so how much for the fruit?”
“HEY, I’m talking to you, you better look at me when I’m talking to you.”
Charles merely glanced over his shoulder, he looked back at the mare. “I’m sorry miss, please excuse me.”
Charles turned to face the pony.
“That’s better, now you just forget about getting yourself some food cause me and the boys here are itching to teach you not to show up where you’re not wanted.”
“And just why does my presence here bother you so much?”
“Cause you’re a freak, that’s why.” The pony sneered.
“Then let me get what I need and I will leave.”
“I don’t think so. By order of the guard of Hoofington, you are under arrest for disturbing the peace.” He pulled out his sword, the others followed.
Charles glared at him. “You don’t want to do that, I’m on a mission in the name of the princesses, if you impede my progress, you will be punished by most likely losing your position. I suggest you be smart here and let me be.”
“HAH, yeah right. You’re coming with me monkey.”
Charles walked away from the stand out to the middle of the street. He brought out his staff and took a combat stance with his left side prominent. “This is your last warning. Stand down now.”
The guards charged at him with their swords raised. Three took the lead and thrust their swords at Charles. He parried by spinning his staff and throwing off their trajectory. Two of the pegasai jumped up and brought their swords down. Charles jumped back and dodged. He quickly swung his staff down and knocked one out, then swung his staff to the side and got the other in the side of the head, sending him flying off to the side.
The two earth ponies charged again at Charles, one swung his sword to the side, Charles blocked with his staff. The other swung his sword at Charles. Charles quickly brought down the other end and forced the sword to the ground, he quickly brought his staff back and smacked the stallion on the head, knocking him out. The last three tried for an all-out attack. Charles jumped up and flew into the air. He raised his staff up over his head and brought it down as he fell to the ground. His strike created a shockwave with sent the three flying in the air. Charles used his magic to grab the two grunts in mid-air and slammed them into the ground, knocking them out.
Once the leader hit the ground, Charles ran up to him while he was on his back and pointed one end of his staff at the stallion. “I warned you, I am on official royal business, and you have impeded on it. I don’t have the time to go back to the castle and tell her about this, so count yourself lucky you have time before you have to face her wraith for your actions.”
Once the crowd around saw The guard defeated, they cheered. Charles looked around in confusion at this. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. The fear the ponies around displayed when these guards showed up, the cheering at his defeat, it was clear now. “You’ve been abusing your power haven’t you?”
“You can’t prove anything.” He sneered.
“Maybe not, but I don’t need to, my word will be enough.”
“Yeah right, what connections could you possibly have.”
“Still don’t believe me huh, well since you asked.” Charles removed his staff from the guard and stood. “First, I have pledged my loyalty to the princesses, Celestia and Luna. Second, I saved princess Luna from being fried by a dragon on Nightmare Night. Third, I have a good friendship going with captain Shining armor. Fourht, I am recently married to four of the three elements of harmony, one of them being Twilight Sparkle. As I’m sure your aware, she is not only the little sister of captain Shining armor, but also the personal student of princess Celestia herself. And I am very close friends with the other two bearers of the elements of harmony. OH, and let’s not forget that I’m in the royal guard too.”
Charles paused to let it all sink in. The stallion there just looked shocked.
Charles then spoke in a mocking tone. “Gosh, I hope I didn’t miss anything. Oh well, you might as well kiss your job goodbye, once I tell her majesties about this, you’re sure to lose your job. But just to make sure.” Charles turned and looked at the crowd around him. “Citizens of Hoofington, I ask you, has this guard been abusing his power to get what he wants out of you all?”
“YES!” They all cheered out.
“Thank you, I promise princess Celestia and Luna will hear of this and a new and better selection of guards will replace them!” Charles looked back down at the guard. “Yep, definitely out of a job, you have a nice day now.” Charles turned and started back for the stand to make the purchase he came to make.
The stallion grew angry at this, he got up and raised his sword. “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” He screamed as he flew at Charles.
Charles’s eyes simply shifted to the side. “Quick-decision!” Charles ducked and the stallion flew right into a metal pole holding a street sign.
CLANG!
He fell to the ground unconscious.
Charles stood back up and returned to the mare. “Terribly sorry about the interruption, now how much for the fruit?”
“Oh I couldn’t possibly charge you after what you just did, it’s on me, no charge.” She said with a smile.
“Now miss, I insist, you have a business to run and I don’t want to be responsible for you coming up short in profits, so how much.”
“Very well. 30 bits please.”
Charles paid the mare, gathered his fruit, packed it in his bag and made his way to the post office. “I may not be able to tell the princesses directly, but I can at least send them a letter letting them know what happened. While I’m at it, I might as well send one to my friends and family too.”
A few days later, the guards of Hoofington were indeed fired and arrested and new guards were put in their place.
Back in Ponyville:
Derpy came to the home of Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. “Mail call!” Derpy called out.
Twilight answered the door. “Hello Derpy, how are you doing?” Twilight greeted.
“Fine thanks, I have a letter for you, Spike, and the girls here.” Derpy reached into her saddle bag and pulled out an envelope.
Twilight took the letter from Derpy with her magic. “Thanks Derpy.”
“You’re welcome, I got more mail to deliver so I’ll see you later.” Derpy then turned and flew off.
Twilight closed the door and walked to the center of the living room. “Girls, Spike, we got a letter!” Rarity and Spike came out from the kitchen while Pinkie and Applejack came down from upstairs.
“Who’s it from Twilgiht?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“I don’t know yet.” Twilight opened the letter and took it out to read. “It’s from Charles!” She happily cried out.
“Charles! The girls and Spike all squished together to look at it.
“Um….a little room…please?” Twilight asked as she was being squished. The others backed off again.
“Sorry Twi, it’s just nice ta hear from him after so long.” Applejack said.
“So what does it say Twilight?” Spike asked happily, eager to hear what Charles has to say.
Twilight began reading the letter out loud.
To my beloved wives and little dragon brother.
Charles here, I just thought I would drop you a line while I was in Hoofington, ran into a bit of trouble but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just wanted to let you all know that I miss you all so much, and I’ll be sure to come back home as soon as I can once I find the elements of life. I’ll be sure to make up for my absence to you four greatly. I hope things are going well between Spike and Sweetie Belle as well. I love you all and I miss you so much. Really hope to come home soon.
Charles
“Well that was sure nice of him.” Applejack commented.
Spike cocked an eyebrow. “What did he mean by ‘make it up to you four greatly’?”
Twilight looked at Spike to answer. “Nothing you need to worry about.” She giggled at the thought, as did the other three, they knew perfectly well what he meant by that.
“I wonder what kind of trouble he ran into in Hoofington?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie waved her hoof in the air to answer. “OOH OOH, I know! I’ll bet he made a stop in a swamp, ran into a giant hoarse tree creature that tried to eat him, got away, reached Hoofington and met up with the guards there who were super mean and racist and tried to arrest him just because he was a human. Not to mention they were abusing their power as a guard against the citizens of the town, but Charles beat them up and sent word to Celestia and Luna!”
The three mares and dragon stared at her blankly for a moment. Applejack finally broke the silence. “And how do you figure that Pinkie?”
“Just a hunch.” She simply answered with a smile.
Twilight smiled. “You know Pinkie, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right.” This got the others to laugh.
Back with Charles:
After flying most of the day, Charles came across a large mountain, now he could easily fly around or over it, but he spotted a large opening down below. His wings were starting to get tired, and he figured trudging into the unknown would be a good adventure. “Oh boy, I’m probably going to regret this. But what the hay, might as well see what this cave might be hiding, if it turns out to be a dead end, I’ll just come back out.” Charles made his way down to the ground and landed just in front of the large cave opening. He peered in cautiously first before walking in. “Luna’s moon, it’s dark in here.” He commented.
Charles decided to cast an illumination spell. He held out his palm as he walked in and formed a white glowing orb of magic to light the way. After taking a few steps, a swarm of bats suddenly flew out, surprising him. “GAH! Jeeze, what the hell? Stupid bats.” He just continued on his way into the cave.
The cave did indeed seem to be a tunnel instead since he had yet to reach a dead end. After a while of walking, he just let the orb of light he made hover around him. “I just hope I don’t get lost down here, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” He thought to himself. After walking for a long time, he finally came to a very vast and massive cavern.
Charles brightened the light orb so he could see but even that wasn’t enough to light up the whole area. “Wow, how big is this place? I just hope there’s a way through.”
As he walked more, a blue glow caught his attention up ahead. It got brighter and brighter as he approached. Another amazing sight met his eyes. There was a vast body of water in the cave giving off the glow. “Man, I had no idea Equestria had so much stuff to see, too bad the really cool stuff is hidden away like this.” The water moved like an ocean, Charles couldn’t see the other side and there was no way around the water. “Guess I’m going to have to fly over, but how vast is this thing, I would have thought I’d reach the other side of the mountain by now.”
Charles was about to take off and try to fly over, but the water before him started to move more violently. The water splashed as it was being displaced by something massive in the water. Charles saw a large shadow moving about. “Oh great, what now?”
A massive creature of stone surfaced up from the water and came up to the ground. It was a bit off from where Charles was to the side. But it was so huge, Charles could feel each stomp the creature made. “Great, another creature, I just hope this one isn’t territorial like that hoarse plant thing I ran across. Wait a minute.” Charles suddenly had a thought. “I’m such an idiot, I completely forgot about my necklace that let’s me talk to the wild life, maybe I can talk to this thing and see if it can help me get across, or at least tell me how far it is to the other side.” Charles got down on one knee as he took his bag off and set it down.
He dug around a bit till he found his green necklace with the leaves and vine wrapped around the roughly cut green glowing jewel. “Here we go, now let’s see if he’s friendly.” Charles placed his necklace on and made his way over to the creature. As he approached he saw this stone turtle like creature could easily stomp on him without any effort. Once he got close enough for comfort, he called out to it. “Excuse me, hello?”
The thing shifted its head and looked to Charles. It’s eyes had the same blue glow as the water. “TRESSPASSER!” The thing bellowed.
Charles tried to defend. “NO NO, I’m not a trespasser, I was just passing through, I swear I’m not here for you territory!”
“BE GONE!” The thing stomped, casing the ground to shake.
Charles flew up off the ground and tried again. “I swear I’m not here for you territory, please, I just need a little help.”
Something seemed to catch the creatures attention as it seemed to settle down a little. “How do you speak my language trespasser?”
It wasn’t much, but it was a start, Charles hoped this was the chance he needed to try and ask this thing for help. “I have this necklace, it is magic and allows me to hear the voices of the animals and other life forms. Please believe me, I’m not here for you territory, I just need some help.”
The massive stone turtle turned its entire body to face Charles. “Why are you here then?”
“I guess you could say I got lost, can you help me please, I just need to know how far across it is to the other side of the water.”
“Too far for you to fly, the mountain ocean is vast.”
“But how can that be, I came in through an opening in the mountain side and have been walking for hours, by my calculations, I should have reached the other side by now. How can there be an ocean here?”
“You are in a world far different from your own creature, this realm under the mountain is magic, it is home to beings such as myself.”
Charles finally landed, feeling confident he convinced the thing he wasn’t a danger. “Great, so is there any way I can get across? It would take me too long to go back the way I came. I’m on a mission for my princesses, Celestia and Luna and it is important that I keep straight.”
“You are a disciple of the sun and moon goddesses?”
This seemed to confuse Charles. “You know of Celestia and Luna?”
“All beings from ancient times since before the princesses know of them, they are what saved the world from great dangers many times over.”
“I see, so you were around so many centuries ago. Amazing.”
“If you are a disciple of the princesses, prove yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“Show me a sign that you serve them.”
“A sign, I don’t have a sign, unless the badge of the royal guard counts.” Charles set his bag down again and pulled out his officers badge. He held it out for the thing to see.
The creature stomped closer and lowered its head. It turned its head so one eye was looking at it. “You bear their sign, you speak the truth.”
“I’m glad we got that settled.”
“I shall aid you disciple of the goddesses, climb on my back and I shall carry you across.”
Charles was very pleased to hear this. He placed his badge back in his bag and flew back up. “Thank you for your assistance, I really appreciate it.” He flew on to the creatures back and sat down. It turned towards the water, walked in and started swimming along To Charles’s surprise, it was moving quite fast. Despite everything he had seen so far, he still found it impossible that a giant stone creature could not only swim in water like this thing was, but also do it at a good speed. The wind blew past Charles’s face as he rode on the things back.
“Well, this is turning into an interesting adventure, I just hope I reach the other side of the mountain soon, I can’t stay down here too long.”