//------------------------------// // Quaint Little Village (5) // Story: Song of the Moon // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Quaint Little Village (5) The next night passed without incident. The forest life avoided me, and with good reason. I assume that there is very little in these woods that can stand against me under the full moon. I am confident. Having a safe place away from prying eyes to store my belongings and transform is always pleasant. More than once I have returned to find a would be thief. Thankfully I was able to contain myself enough to let them escape. By 'contain myself' I mean rip boulders out of the ground and slice trees in half instead of the thief. Killing them was not needed, for I would be on my way at dawn. My dreams were joyous again, thinking back on my journey before it all happened. Fine dining in the court of a french nobleman. He had been recently married, and threw a grand feast. Tragedy befell them soon after. Why is it that whenever man is happy, fate can not simply leave well enough alone? When I woke, it was raining. I always liked the rain. It was my muse. It calmed me. Even in my lycan form, I found that I had the most control over myself in a downpour. I would usually store my belongings in a hollow tree, wrapping my irreplaceable instrument in my other, less valuable things, followed by a burlap sack. It would not do to have the roaches feast on the finely carved wood of my violin. Peals of thunder came forth, and I saw a very strange sight. Apples, which had as of yesterday not yet ripened, were struck by lightning. Instead of the tree cracking, the lightning arced between the trees. As suddenly as the storm started, it disappeared. The apples themselves became rainbow in colouration and began giving off a multicoloured aura. It was by far one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. It was also confusing beyond all measure. "What magic is this? These apples are certainly not natural. I can sense the magic in the air, yet, it is not the same as the dark sorcery of the wicked." I reach for an apple, then pull back my hand. If they are indeed the result of witchcraft, it is unknown what effect they might have. I do not wish to invite another curse upon myself. Then again, they are beautiful, and while they smell of magic, it is not the foul stench of witchery, but a pleasant aroma. I contemplate what the smell of joy might be before taking one in my hand and biting into it. "I am not in hell as I thought, I am in heaven!" I have become accustomed to my thoughts sometimes escaping my mouth of their own accord, which I attribute to a life of solitude. They were by far the best apples in existence. Disregarding what joy smelled like, I was sure this was what joy tasted like. I went about picking as many as I could hold in my bag, eating several of them as I went along. I devoured them quickly, yet also carefully as I did not wish to waste any piece of this gift from the gods, nor stain my garments. After packing my things, I began down the path towards the orchard I had seen previously. I smelled, hay, grass, apples, sugar, freshly tilled earth, and flowers of a great variety. I saw a sign labeling the farm as 'Sweet Apple Acres'. "Seems rather, cozy. This must be where that elderly woman from the other night lives. I should thank her." I still had the 200 gold coins from the ship. Although it was blood money, it would be foolish to simply let it go to waste. "First things first. I must find out where I am. The thanks will have to wait. Besides, farm folk would be busy with the harvest this time of year, I would hate to intrude on them. All Hallows Eve is also in three days. They are probably preparing for their harvest ceremony." Walking down the path towards the town, a sign hangs at a crossroads. The way I came, 'Sweet Apple Acres', another path towards the forest, 'Everfree Forest', and finally, towards the town, 'Ponyville'." "Ah, then the Everfree is the name of those woods. Probably due to it being untamed. Ponyville, as in miniature horses? Perhaps ponies are sacred in this culture. I have heard tales of India to the far east, where cows are deemed to be gods. Perhaps this is similar?" After first checking myself over to ensure I am presentable, I notice that while I should have a scar over my left eye, I do not. That had been the first time anything had been able to injure me in my lycan form. I had been injured several times before as a human, but following my transformations, all wounds disappear. Another benefit, still not outweighing the cost. I notice that there is varying architecture. Many buildings have thatched roofs, others have shingles, and others still plain wood. I spot several buildings with what I believe to be Victorian style, although slightly different. Then, another building completely befuddles me. It appears to be literally made of sweets, not the kind the local children would eat, but pastries fit for royalty. 'I assume that is a bakery, although that is quite an odd means of advertisement, shaping the building to proclaim what is sold within.' I finally begin my approach. One theme seems consistent throughout. Ponies. Pony statues, pony fountains, pony shaped door knockers. The houses are also somewhat smaller than what I am used to, although I have seen many with similar size, I simply have a tall 6 foot build. Most others, save the blacksmith, lumberjack, and farmer families, are around 4 foot. It is easy to tell who performs hard labour and who is blessed with fortune by family. Those who exert themselves also eat heartily, and so grow taller than his kin. I am no exception. Hauling the wood my luthier father used to craft his instruments left me with quite an appetite, though nothing compared to after I was bitten. This was somewhat unfortunate. As those with wealth would often spend it to spare themselves labour, they had a shorter, stockier build. Being portly meant you had money to waste on food, and made you attractive. The slender and muscular men, such as myself, were seen unfavourably. If we had that form, it meant we had to work hard, and thus were poor. Those with wealth could afford not to strain themselves. This meant that while none but the farm women would set their sights on me, upon learning that I was a musician, a member of 'high society', they would be turned off. They wanted one who would carry the farm on his shoulders, not a violinist. At least this meant when destiny scoffed I did not have a wife or children to slaughter. It made going on the run easier. Of course, it was never easy. Perhaps I could make a new life for myself among the pony worshipers. "If any of them would come out." As I walked through the town, I noticed something disturbing. There was not a soul in sight. I would momentarily spot something, a shadow in the clouds, but I dismissed it as nothing. "It's not deserted, as the town has not fallen into disrepair. Was there a plague recently? No, the windows would be boarded up. It's as though they left mere minutes before my arrival. Then, they are hiding from me? Is it my stature, or, do they already know what I am? While I am lost in thought, I bump into something. "My apologies, I was lost in thought an....." I am looking at a pony, light bluish gray, a blond mane. The most striking feature however, is not even it's crossed eyes, but the fact that it is flying. It has wings. "Oh, sorry about that. I'm always running into something or somepony." It said. Forget the fact that it was flying. It spoke. "I, I have gone mad." "Hey, there's no need to be mad. I said I was sorry! Yeesh." The pony replied. "No, what I mean is that I've lost my marbles." "Oh, so you're upset that you lost your marbles. I could help you look for them!" She didn't seem to understand what I meant. "No, no, you don't seem to understand. I'm not angry, and I haven't lost anything. It's a phrase meaning, 'I have gone insane'." I tried to explain. "Oooooooooooohh okay. Wait, why are you insane?" She asked. "Because I'm looking at a pony...... who is flying.....and talking." "Well of course, I mean, I am a pegasus! I mean, you're IN Ponyville. Why wouldn't I be able to talk? You're weird. At least you're nice." "Excuse me for a moment, I need to sit down." I carefully placed my instrument on the ground before I sat down hard. I closed my eyes. "Alright. When I open my eyes, I will wake from this dream, and everything will be normal." Upon opening them, I was staring into a pair of crooked yellow ones. "You're funny. Sleeping during the day, in the middle of the street. That's silly. Oh, by the way, I'm Ditzy Doo, but everypony just calls me Derpy." She was quite whimsical. I know the word Ditzy, which describes her fairly well from what I know of her. I'm not sure what 'Derpy' means. "Charmed." I reply. "Charmed? That's a nice name! Do you do magic?" She asked excitedly. "No, I mean, I'm charmed to meet you, my name is... Lark. As for magic, I suppose you could call it that, although it's not really a matter of a performance as much as it is an occurrence." I was not going to tell this Ditzy Doo character that I'm cursed. "Lark, as in the bird? That seems silly since you don't have wings. It sounds like you can't control your magic. Hmm, Twilight should be able to help with that!" She was enthusiastic to say the least. Although her speech was crude, it was not as though she was uneducated. It was almost as though the dialect was meant to say what the speaker was trying to say quickly and with little room for confusion, as though the language had developed based on efficiency. "I highly doubt that. Who is this, 'Twilight' you speak of? An enchantress of sorts?" "Well, yeah, I mean, she's a unicorn so of course she can do magic. She's really good at it! She lives in the Ponyville library. It's over there!" She spun around in a circle as though looking for it, before she pointed at a large tree. "That is a tree......." "Well duh! The library is inside the tree!" She smiled. "That seems....... never mind. Actually, I think I'd rather not meet her at the moment." "But, why not?" Ditzy asked. "Well, I don't suppose you've noticed, but all of the other......" "Ponies." She picked up on me stumbling with the word. "Yes, ponies. They seem to have had an adverse reaction to me. If this 'Twilight' is as skilled a sorceress as you claim, it's reasonable to assume that I would be in a great deal of pain the moment I step through her door." "Ooooh, yeah. She does tend to go a bit crazy now and then. Um, maybe we ought to wait until you're settled in better?" Ditzy suggested. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Once everyone..." "EveryPONY" She corrected. "Right... okay. Once every......pony has adjusted to my presence, and there is no longer any need for alarm, it will be far easier to deal with a slightly mad witch." "That's not very nice." She pouted. "Pardon? Did I say something offensive?" I was confused. "You called Twilight a witch. She's not mean at all. A little obsessive, but not mean....." She explained. "I don't understand. Oh, it seems there's been a misunderstanding. Witch is the term used to describe magic users where I am from." "Oh, IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII get it. You mean the actual meaning of witch. Geez, what are you, from the 1800's? Nowadays if somepony calls you a witch they're saying that you're mean." My pegasus guide cleared up the misconception. "What do you mean 1800's? Am I in the future? That's nonsense!" She looked back to me. Even with her crossed eyes, I could she was trying to figure out if I was being sincere. "What's the date today?" She asked. "Day, month, and year." "Why, it's October 25th, 1762. Why do you ask?" "Because today is October 25th, 2010. Oh my gosh! You're a TIME PONY! Oh, wait, no, that's not right. You're not a pony. What are you? Are you a naked diamond dog or something?" She began hopping around excitedly before stopping to ponder. "Well, no. As you can see, I'm fully clothed, and I am not a hound in any wa...... no. I am not a diamond dog, whatever that may be. I am a human." I didn't like lying to Ditzy, as she was my first companion who wasn't trying to eat me in a very long time, so I settled on not telling the entire truth, rather than a complete fabrication. "You mean like those things Lyra is always going on about? Oh wait, you just got here, so you don't know Lyra. She's always going on about 'human this' and 'human that' how you're not a myth and hands and how everything we have was originally made by them and yaddi yaddi yadda. It get's really boring sometimes having to listen to her you know?" I simply nodded. I had been polite enough to pay attention while she rambled, my eyes opening in shock from the name. "D...D.... did you say...... Lyra?" I began to have tears flow from the memory. "Um, yeah, why?" She inquired at my sudden drop in mood. "I, had a sister, named Lyra........." I responded, my eyes betraying me and allowing the salt water to flow from them. "What do you mean had, as in past tense....... oh. Oh I'm so sorry." She began to pat me on the back with her hoof which was surprisingly soft instead of hard as it should have been. "Perhaps it would be best for me to..... avoid her to prevent any.... awkwardness." I suggested meekly. "Yeah, it wouldn't be very good for her to talk your ear off." I was hoping that was a metaphor and it didn't involve me actually losing my hearing. "Oh! I know!" She suddenly had an idea and perked up immediately. "We should bring you to Sugarcube Corner! Pinkie Pie always throws parties for the new ponies in town so they get to meet everypony and make friends! If you did that, then you could cheer up and nopony would be afraid of you anymore! Then you could solve your magic problem!" "Yes! A social gathering of sorts! That would be excellent! Perhaps I could perform and earn some money as well! Wonderful idea!" I gave Ditzy a gentle hug, having momentarily broken from my usual method of conduct due to my momentary emotional instability. "Ah, sorry, not sure what came over me. I usually don't act as such." I said trying to hide my blushing shame. "Oh don't worry about it! Everypony is really friendly! I'm sure they'll love you!" She replied enthusiastically. I'm not sure what it was about this quirky pegasus, but she put me at ease. I felt, calm, around her. Like nothing bad had ever happened ever. Of course, it had, but for some reason, in her presence, the thing that had never escaped my mind once for the past five years slowly began to drift away. I began to wonder if all these ponies would have that effect.