//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Under the Shell 
// by Wuten 
//------------------------------//

	Tennae was confused, to say the least. She had expected the cold grip of death to take her in the form of a smash or a slam from the ent, but… all she heard was that call, and then a loud thud and a few cracks. She turned her head towards the sound, and saw a large, bipedaled creature standing in front of her, the ent collapsed to the ground in shambles.
“Well, that was a close one!” he laughed, turning to look at her. “Are you alright?” he asked, his voice a bit calmer now.
What was this creature? He seemed to appear out of nowhere… clad in leather hides of some kind.
Was he some kind of monster hunter?
He knelt down to eye-level with her, and waved a claw-like appendage in front of her face. “Hellooo? Anyone home?”
She immediately snapped out of her thoughts, nearly jumping back to the nearest tree, but then flinching from it in fear that it would also be an ent.
“Whohohoa, easy, I’m not gonna hurt ya,” the creature said, holding up both of his front claws to her.
But they weren’t quite claws, otherwise they would be pointed at the ends… what in Equestria was he? At least, she assumed from the voice it was a male.
“Hey, so… what are you doing out here in the middle of the Everfree?”
Quickly, she had to think of something! She couldn’t tell him she was a changeling, or—
“We were on our way to Ponyville,” Husk’s voice came from the other end of the crumpled ent. He limped around the side, having taken on his pony form from earlier that day. “We tried to take refuge in a hollowed-out tree, but it looks like we took on more than we could bargain for…”
“I’ll say,” the creature stood up to full height. He was massive, though not quite in the way the ent was. He stood at what Tennae could estimate was about two meters tall, even taller than the Queen herself; in the shadow of the night, however, she couldn’t make out any distinct features about him. “It’s dangerous for ponies to be in the Everfree, especially at night when creatures are roaming, or lying in wait…”
Wait, was he one of those creatures? Was he only saving them so he could eat them himself? He certainly looked big enough…
“My name’s Anonymous, but you can call me Anon. I heard the roaring from the ent from all the way at the edge of the forest, so I decided to see what had gotten it all riled up like this. Didn’t expect to see ponies here at this hour…”
“We got lost on our way here…” Tennae muttered, trotting up to the creature. “Can you show us the way to Ponyville?”
“Oh, sure!” Anon smiled down at her, squatting to her level. “What’s your name, by the way? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony like you before…”
“She’s an albino,” Husk stumbled in his steps, starting to get his footing back. “Been like that since the day she was born. We call her Celery Stalk, or just ‘Celery’.”
Anon eyed the white pony, before trailing to her flank. Tennae blushed lightly, but it seemed to convince the creature. “Well, I’ll be, you’re right! Guess I can see where the name came from,” he smiled, standing back up. “Alright, you two follow me, we’ll get through the forest real quick. You both got a place to stay tonight?”
“Unfortunately no, this was a bit short-notice…” Husk replied as the two began following the creature through the forest. “Is there anywhere in Ponyville we’d be able to stay at?”
“Bah, you can both crash at my place for the night. It’s not much but it’s enough to get by,” he said, pushing back a stray branch, ducking under it. He really was tall… “I sometimes come on out here with a few of the guys, we try and keep the population of creatures in the Everfree under control around Ponyville, but sometimes it’s hard even for us…”
“So… there are others like you?” Tennae asked, doing her best to lift her mane out from under her as she tried to walk. She may have overdone it a bit on the length… something to work on.
“Well, not here, per se. More where I’m from, but as far as Equestria is concerned, I’m the only human of my kind here."
A human… so that’s what the creature was.
“So you’re the only one?” Husk asked, trotting up to Anon’s side, letting Tennae trail slightly behind the two of them as they began talking.
What sort of place could this creature be from? Tennae had never seen a creature like this before; he was like a chimpanzee, but… stood more upright, and seemed much more sociable than what she had heard about from them. He said he was a human… a distant relative, possibly?
The three of them continued their way through the forest, Husk introducing himself to the human as Stone Walker, subtly having added a design of pebbles to his flank when the human wasn’t looking. After nearly an hour, it was clear that Tennae had grown tired, so Anon took the liberty of picking her up and carrying her instead.
“Your mane really is long, Celery; what’s up with that?” he asked after walking a few minutes, her mane draping down noticeably past his knee despite being carried.
“I’unno…” she yawned, curling up in his arms. “I never really noticed…”
“It’s tradition that albinos of our family never cut their manes or tail,” Husk replied rather quickly. “It’s… an aesthetic pleasure for the stallions.”
“Huh… that right?” Anon looked down at Tennae, raising an eyebrow. “How old are ya, anyway?”
“I reach… adulthood in a few days…” she yawned again.
“It’s tradition that the mares make a trek across Equestria before returning, so they can see the world before they are wed,” Husk nodded up at the human. “I’m her escort; a distant cousin.”
“Huh, alright,” Anon grunted, ducking under another branch. “Well, we’re almost there, so once we get inside we can get cleaned up and you can tell me all about it.”
Husk nodded, following the human as they reached the edge of the forest, a small cabin greeting them as they exited into the clearing.
“Ah, that’s better,” Anon took in a deep breath, sighing contently. “So, what do ya say we head on inside and I whip us up something to eat, hm?”
“Oh, we shouldn’t impo—” Husk began, but was cut off by not his stomach, but by Tennae’s. She scrunched her face in embarrassment, staring up at the human.
“Well, there’s your answer, then!” Anon laughed, smiling as he set the pony down. “You okay to walk?”
“Y-yes, I should be,” she muttered, a deep red blush on her cheeks as Husk glared at her behind Anon’s back.
“Alright! To food!” he grinned at the both of them, walking with a spring in his step as they approached the cabin, the moon raised high in the sky illuminating the terrain and creatures below.

End Chapter 3