Cross Beam always liked to catalog the different species of birds near his home. He had had a spring in his step for the last couple of days, ever since he had gotten that application to Canterlot University, and thought maybe showing off his research to them would put him in favor with the professors at his new school.
"Ah, is that a Western Meadowlark?" he said aloud, seeing the distinctive plumage of a bird in a tree. It was singing its song while Cross Beam cataloged it in his notebook.
He had gotten a fair bit done today, and was able to gather enough material to impress his professors and enjoy himself at the same time. He was about to move along through the forest when a rustling noise suddenly drew his attention away from doing just that.
"Hmm, what's that?"
Curiosity overtaking him, Cross Beam moved in the direction of the bush, warming up his telekinesis in order to push the leafy plant aside. The wiry teenager was able to see what it was within a few seconds, and when he did, more curiosity and a little fear came to the surface.
Standing behind the bushes was... well, he didn't know what it was. His working knowledge of ecology and animal species seemed to indicate that it was some kind of primate, but this particular subset he had never seen before. He had read a few books on primates before, nothing like this had ever been cataloged within them.
First of all, it lacked hair, and was rather rotund. But it had a distinctly monkey-like body shape, with what appeared to be complete bipedalism and obvious hands on the ends of its forelimbs.
Excitement and fear battled in his mind for supremacy. Excitement because he could very well have been the first to catalog a brand new species, or at the very least a particularly rare species. Fear because he noticed how imposing the creature, and how unnerving it was to look at its face.
"Fascinating. That stick clutched in its hands; it reminds me of certain primates that use sticks as tools to help them complete certain tasks. I take it this species has some rudimentary tool use. It must be a highly intelligent animal, like most primates."
Cross Beam jotted down such revelations in his notebook, keeping a trained eye on the beast before him. Part of being an animal lover meant dealing with dangerous (and creepy) animals, but that didn't stop the monkey's eyes from unnerving him.
They were so small and beady, which made it hard for Cross Beam to pick up on any emotions, intelligence, or mannerisms that the creature before him may have had. The pony brain recognizes complex facial expressions and temperaments through their expressive eyes. In fact, most sapient species on the planet evolved large eyes for this purpose.
Body language is not a trait that equines are readily capable of picking up on, beyond learned behaviors from other equines that they picked up on after years of being involved in pony society.
"Strange eyes. I've never seen anything like them. They're so small; I can't tell what it's thinking. Still, it's just sorta standing there with that blank look on its face, maybe this is an opportunity to get to know more about it!"
Cross Beam put his notebook away, levitating it back into his saddlebag. Keeping the zipper open, he levitated about half a dozen walnuts from a pouch within his bag.
He cleared a few leaves away and placed the six nuts in a neat pile in the dirt, hoping the promise of food would coax the creature into a sense of security.
He almost jumped out of his skin when the animal made a noise. To Cross Beam, it sounded like nothing more than low grunted with a little bit of rhythm and cadence to it.
The creature then made some sort of strange gesture at Cross Beam that the unicorn couldn't pick up on, and then did the same thing in reverse.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Cross Beam wondered, "Probably some fort of instinctual communication or behavior on its part..."
Cross Beam pushed the gestures out of his mind, and focused on the animal taking the food before him. He waited with bated breath, ready to sprint out of there at a moment's notice.
Then, the thing took a step forward. Cross Beam's grin suddenly morphed into a look of horror as he suddenly realized how tall the upright primate actually was.
The fear that had been present in the back of his mind came bursting forth. As a natural prey and herd species, instinct kicked in after he realized that the thing in his hand could be used as a weapon.
That, and the puzzling look on the creature's face seemed really intimidating.
Leaving the nuts behind, Cross Beam turned and peeled out, not noticing the notebook fly from his open saddlebag as he galloped through the forest. He didn't bother to check whether the thing was chasing him.
Luckily, he wasn't particularly deep in the forest when he was out and about. After about six or seven minutes of galloping and avoiding trees, he had made it back to Cascade Hills.
"Granddad! Granddad!"
Ponies stopped and stared at Cross Beam strangely as he ran through the main street of his town to make it back to his home. A few stallions stopped in the middle of the street to try and corral the frantic teenager, surprised the normally mellow Cross Beam's outburst.
"Whoa there youngster! Where's the fire?!" a yellow pony that Cross Beam recognized as Golden Trunk said. The other two stallions beside him were Clean Cut and Night Stand.
"Thing! In the forest!" he wheezed out, catching his breath from all the running. Cross Beam wasn't the most physically fit pony out there, but the adrenaline in his system had kept him going through the whole distance.
Now that he was back in town, and not monster chow he was beginning to calm down. He had heard cases of ponies panicking when there was no real danger, and he supposed that was what happened to him.
He couldn't help it; for some reason that animal just screamed "predator".
The three stallions before him raised eyebrows, before looking at each other knowingly.
"Thing? Son, did this "thing" you're talking about a tall, hairless creature that walks on two legs?" Golden Trunk asked. Cross Beam barely heard Clean Cut mutter "sasquatch" under his breath.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"And this thing... it tried to attack you?"
"Well..."
Cross Beam didn't get a word in otherwise, as the very headstrong yellow earth pony took his hesitance as all the confirmation he needed. He barked an order to Night Stand.
"Get in contact with the mayor. It might be the same thing we encountered in town. If it's out there attacking ponies, then we need to take a stand as things are now!"
Cross Beam looked on in puzzlement, trying and failing to get a word in otherwise. The three stallions in front of him looked scarily intimidating, and angry.
Speaking of the mayor, Cross Beam felt it would be a good idea to try and talk to him as well. Although he had panicked, he wasn't entirely sure if that thing was even going to attack him.
Whatever the case, the tall hairless primate he had encountered in the forest just became the number one target of Cascade Hills, at least for the time being.
"Well, this is... something."
Albert was the next person up after Francis and the others left at the crack of dawn. He stepped out onto the porch of the old train station, and immediately noticed the twin crates and garbage sacks neatly piled in a heap directly at the bottom of the steps.
Alarm bells sounded in the de-facto leader's head. How did these get here? Who the hell brought them here? The only ones he could think of were the ponies from the nearby town, but if they did...
That meant they knew where their group was, but if they were giving them these supplies, that should mean they want to help them. But, after the reaction the other day.... that didn't make any sense!
"PSSSSTTT!"
Albert nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the whispered call to him. Over by the trees near the train station was a shadowy figure resting in the shade of an evergreen, waving him down.
Well, at least it was a human figure. But, as Albert drew closer to the person, he realized that it was Martin Louverture that was waving him down from within the shadows.
"Martin? What are you doing here? The others "banished" you from the group!" he told Martin in a low voice as he entered the treeline. They had cast the vote while Albert was done trying to contact the equines, but he was obviously against the young man leaving.
Nevermind the fact the provoking him could've been the stupidest thing they could've done. Martin usually wasn't one for confrontation, but it wasn't a secret to Albert that he was emotionally unstable.
"I know..." he said, with a hint of sadness in his voice, "I won't stay long. I just thought you'd appreciate the little present I left behind..."
Albert blinked.
"Wait, you mean you brought all this stuff here? How?! Why?! And where did you even get all this?" Albert asked. He had a sneaking suspicion where he had actually gotten the supplies from.
"I have my ways. And while you may think I'm crazy for helping a group that kicked me out, I should remind you that my family is in there. You guys needed supplies, and I wanted to be of help to my mom and siblings..."
"That still doesn't explain where you got it. Don't tell me..."
"That's something else you should know, Albert. Make sure you let the others know too. There's another town of them. The ponies, that is. About three miles from here in the other direction."
"And you thought it would be a good idea to just take their stuff! What were you thinking?!" Albert cried, suddenly feeling a little angry. Martin's actions could've alerted the entire area to their presence.
Martin almost cowed underneath those words, but remained steadfast at the last minute.
"So what? I went into the town in the middle of the night, and stole some supplies from their townhouse. I wasn't seen Albert, you don't have to worry about that. I know your group has no drinkable water and limited food. There are kids in there that need to be fed; I don't know what your plan was, but we can't go any longer without the supplies in there. If that means alerting a potentially unfriendly town to our presence and doing some morally questionable acts, then so be it!" Martin shot back, just as forcefully.
Albert took a step back as the two glared at each other. He had lashed out at Martin's reckless behavior, but Martin was right. The lack of supplies had been on everyone's mind since they got there. And they did NOT have a survival expert in the group.
"Just... come take a look at the things I've brought. I think you'll be surprised at what I managed to find in that place." Martin gestured to the garbage sacks and crates.
Albert looked at him one last time, before walking over with him to open the top off one of the crates. His eyes widened as he ruffled out several sheets of fine paper. Beneath the paper were multiple books, albeit in the language that no one understood.
"Holy shit! Are these maps?!" Albert gawked. Martin nodded, pulling out the largest one from the stack and laying it out on the forest floor.
"Yeah. I spent this morning going through them. This one appears to a map of the country or continent we are currently on," he said. Albert took a glimpse at the map; it resembled an old timey map from the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The first thing that drew his whole was the mountain the center, with what appeared to be a city built into it. There were oceans to the west and east, a desert in the south, and a mountain range to the north. Along the map's borders, there were arrows that pointed to some unknown feature not displayed on the map.
"Koyersia? The capital?" Albert said, hovering a finger over the city built into the mountain. A small black star was painted into the map right near it.
"I'd assume so. But check out this one." Martin pulled out another map from the stack. This map seemed to be more in line with the area they were in, and clearly was not meant to represent as large an area as the first one.
"I think this is a map of the local region. Look, there's one really big mountain in the northeast-center of the map. Suwicka Fom. Right there..." he said, pointing to the large mountain on the map.
"I think that's the mountain you and Francis saw on our first day here. And here's the two towns we know of. Based on the terrain and geographical location, I think we can safely assume that. And when you look at the regular map..." Martin paused for a moment, putting the two maps side by side.
"Suwicka Fom." he pointed to the larger map, in the northwestern corner. "It's right here. Judging from the maps, we're in the northwestern part of this landmass, far away from the apparent capital. Even on the local map, you can see that there aren't any towns beyond those two for miles."
Albert was impressed, and it showed. While the attempt may have been reckless, he didn't think Martin capable of such resourcefulness on his own. He had just made him a lot more comfortable in their chances for survival.
"This is great news. While it doesn't help us when getting home, we at least have an inkling of where we are when we decide our next course of action."
"Yeah, I imagine you guys don't want to stay in this train station for the rest of your lives. Eventually, you'll have to move somewhere else."
"If the ponies are anything like the ones in that town, it'll be a rough trip."
"Anyway, let's put that aside for now. Come take a look at some of the other stuff I've brought."
Albert spent the next few minutes rummaging through the first garbage sack with Martin. He took out canned peaches, baked and green beans, and fruit cocktail, among other things.
"Ugh, what is this crap? Canned hay?" he said, looking at the label on the cover.
"Well, what do you expect? These are miniature horses, after all. And I wasn't looking too thoroughly when I was taking all this stuff last night..." Martin shot back.
Martin and Albert continued to go through the items the former had brought back after his incursion. He also continued to pleasantly surprise Albert when he revealed the tools, kitchen utensils, and containers he had revealed, along with the lighter fluid he had snatched.
"So, let me get this straight. Our group now has food, fire, the ability to purify our water, information and tools." Albert said, taking stock of everything after the two put the items back within their containers.
"That should cover it... You have enough food to last for the next two to three days. I've taken the liberty of taking a share of these supplies for myself, but the majority of it is right here."
Martin continued speaking.
"I should get going now. I told you about the supplies and where they came from, but I'm still banished from the group. If you need anything, I'll be around..."
"Wait, Martin!" Albert called, halting the college student in place, "I really appreciate you doing this for the lot of us. Especially after the way the group has treated you. I want you to know that I was against your ejection in the first place..."
Martin smiled lightly but didn't say anything.
"I'll see want I can do to get you back in the group, but I can't make any promises. People tend to fear things they don't understand, and that is definitely something that rings true with your powers."
"...Yeah."
"So, listen. These supplies aren't going to last forever. I mean, we'll probably be out of food in a couple of days. Until we can establish peaceful contact with these equines, I'm afraid this may be the only option. With that being said, I'm going with you the next time you raid that town," Albert explained.
"Say what?"
Albert laughed.
"Well, I figured you'd need some help. Moving all those supplies from the town to here must've been tough, psychic powers or not. I'm just a little concerned about how this will affect our relationship with these ponies. I don't think they'll be ready to trust beings that steal from them..." Albert pondered.
"We shouldn't even try to establish "peaceful relations" with this town. The one you entered, sure, but not this one. That place is bad news, I can feel it."
"What do you mean?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.
"From what I've seen of them, they appear to be some kind of cult. I don't know how deep it runs, but there's definitely some sort of fanaticism within every individual in the town. I have a bad feeling about them Al, that's why it's so important that we remain unseen while we're out on this "job"," Martin responded.
Albert frowned.
"Cult? What do you mean cult? Of all the... You're sure they're not one of those peaceful, live-with-nature types? Because this location seems like it would be perfect for them?"
"No... I don't think so. While I think they do have something to do with nature based on their emblem, the way their leader spoke and the way the followers listened, I don't think we should take any chances with them," Martin replied.
"I... see."
"We also need to be prepared that the town will have noticed the missing items and have wizened up to our thievery. Your concerns now should also be trying to establish contact with that other town while pilfering the necessary number of supplies from the cult."
"This is insane. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have to resort to petty theft. You're the boss, when do we go again?" Albert asked. To him, it felt a little weird that he was essentially proclaiming himself as this younger man's subordinate.
"Three nights from now," Martin said, holding up three fingers, "The food supplies I got will start to run low by that time, and there are still a few more tools that I think you could benefit from. Be out on the deck after everyone has gone to sleep. I'll be around and ready when the time is right."
Radiance was not a happy camper.
She should've been. There were two places that a unicorn such as herself felt at home. First was in the pristine natural beauty of Equestria, for Radiance was a mare who appreciated anything beautiful. Second was when she was giving a particularly rousing speech to her beloved followers.
She had just done the latter the previous night, and with even more gusto than normal! And the look on her ponies' faces as she orated! She should have a spring in her step after such an affair!
Nevertheless, when morning broke there had been a string of bad news. As leader and founder of Hornloft, it was her responsibility to ensure that complaints from her ponies were dealt with swiftly and fairly.
Spring Breeze and Pine Seed had approached her that morning, and had informed her that their cart had been stolen. That was surprising; they were a town of about one thousand ponies in the middle of nowhere, where everypony knew everypony else. Theft had been a non-issue up to this point.
That unicorn couple tended to be more than a bit melodramatic however. If it were true though, suddenly they had a problem in their idyllic, peaceful little village.
So, here she was outside standing outside their house, while the mare in the relationship made overly dramatic gestures to where the missing cart had once been.
"I see..."
"Thieves! Thieves in our beautiful little colony! I bet it was those filthy earth ponies from over in Cascade Hills; they're the only ones for miles around!"
"You'll do something about this, won't you Radiance?"
The golden yellow unicorn pondered the question. Normally, she couldn't be bothered to deal with such a trivial matter as a missing cart. She was the leader of a colony, for Nature's sake! Then again, theft in the village could've been a problem that she needed to stamp out with fierce authority.
"Good sir, madam, I promise on the word of Nature that we will find your belonging. Theft in the village is a crime that must not be tolerated. As we are so few in number, it is our duty to look out for each other as brothers and sisters above all..." she preached, using her orating skills to her advantage.
"See, honey! Radiance will take care of it!" Pine Seed tried to reassure his wife. The mare looked between her husband and town leader for a moment, before she relented and chuckled.
"Well, alright. If Radiance says she will stomp out theft, then she will stomp out theft! How silly of me to worry over such a trivial matter!"
Radiance gave her brightest smile at the couple, a feat she had cultivated over years of practice. A smile like hers just seemed to radiate warmth and reassurance.
The couple waved to her, and when they turned around to enter their house that smile vanished and was replaced just as quickly by a scowl. The revelation of thievery had ruined her good mood.
The rest of the day did nothing to brighten her mood once again. In fact, it just seemed to make it more and more dour. There was plenty of work to be done in their little colony, but the lowlight of the day must've been when her assistant had told her that the mail had arrived.
Since they were such an isolated colony, news and mail only came to town once a week from the nearest postal service in Vanhoover. Most of the mail was care packages or letters from ponies' hometowns, nothing particularly major.
Honeycrisp, the red-coated green-maned assistant of hers had already placed the stack of letters delivered to her on her desk. Radiance sighed, nopony said running a town would be easy. She would much rather be out in the forest enjoying the beauty of nature.
Radiance flipped through the letters with an air of boredom until she stopped on one that caught her eye. It had a certain seal of approval that she was all too familiar with.
"Cascade Hills? What do those mudponies want now?" she asked outloud, not caring when Honeycrisp the earth pony flinched. The letter was a addressed in piercing black ink while contained within a royal blue envelope, but when Radiance opened it, she found nothing more than a simple sheet of paper.
She mulled over the words, eyes narrowing in anger as she did so.
"What does it say?" Honeycrisp asked.
"The mayor of Cascade Hills has called for a meeting between the two of us. Apparently it's about something urgent. The last thing I want to do is lower myself to meet with them, but we must set an example. I'll have to see what they want..."
"Got it. When should I pencil this meeting in on your schedule?" Honeycrisp asked, taking out what appeared to be a small, portable calendar from a saddlebag on the desk.
"Three days from now in the evening. Luckily, I'm not busy at that time, otherwise I'd just blow it off."
Radiance pondered blowing off the meeting anyway, but decided against it. No matter how much she disliked these kinds of affairs, it was best to get it sorted out so Hornloft and Cascade Hills didn't mingle with each other more than necessary. If Cascade Hills had some kind of grievance, then there would never be an end to the proverbial conflict their towns had.
"I wonder what this is about..." Honeycrisp commented, "It's pretty rare for the mayor to contact us. Whatever it is, it must be serious."
"It better be..."