It was night time over the dense forest. The early spring night had a chorus of sounds from crickets to hellish howls. Outside the small log fort gnarled shadowy figures eyes the house, taking the smells of two newcomers. The cold night air brought an unnatural mist that made the dense forest look even more menacing. Inside however, the odd trio was sitting on barrels eating the half burnt potato pie. Gunter was eating with a spoon, Pea Gravel was eating with her hands and the Unicorn levitated bits to his mouth.
"It's pretty good," Pea Gravel said ignoring the charred chunks,"Do you have any other grub?"
The old blacksmith cackled,"Nope! I traded two swords for all the potatoes I could carry, been eating em fer about a week now..." He eyed the spoonful of mush,"It's awful..."
"So old man,"Pea Gravel wiped her messy hand on her vest,"What exactly lives out here besides you?"
Gunter stroked his messy beard,"Well the neighbor was killed by orcs a year ago, he lived some five miles away. Nice fella. He had a big family with about eight kids, all loud and ate a lot" He rose his arms up into the air,"I saw the house fire right up above the tree tops, them orcs are sure clever! Now other then them...eh, got some deer I get once an' while, rabbits too. Wolves, bears and other nasties live here, like any forest of course," he rattled on.
The Unicorn had been thinking hard about what Gunter had said earlier,"Mister Gunter...you mentioned a thing earlier...a 'blue nasty'."
The old man squinted his eyes at the unicorn. He flung the last bit of potato pie in the silver equine's face, while the unicorn sat there blinking Gunter grabbed the earthenware patter,"Don't talk about that damned thing, it'll bring bad luck."
The unicorn watched as Gunter barricaded the doors and windows to his home as if the process was clockwork. He told them the two ponies could sleep upstairs in the rooms that used to belong to his family. The second floor was a hallway with four doors and the staircase, it seemed smaller on the inside of this log fort then the outside. Being led to the spare rooms, they were impossibly dusty. It was obvious Gunter hadn't even touched the doors in years, let alone clean the rooms. The beds were at most masses of straw with a dusty sheet over them. The Unicorn nearly gagged from the amount of dust kicked up by just the door opening. Pea Gravel ran up to the bed and flopped onto it, a mushroom cloud of dust bunnies and dust flew up into the air.
"Now you two better get some sleep," Gunter chuckled," Imma putting ya to work tomorrow."
"Oh no...what kind of work?" The unicorn asked helplessly.
The old man's lazy eye drifted again,"We'll find out. Night y'all!"
The Unicorn refused to sleep alone. He went in the same room as Pea Gravel and rolled up on the floor. Pea Gravel looked down at him from on top the bed. She thought it'd be best to leave him alone for now so she rolled back onto the middle of the bed. On the other side of the room was a window that was covered with a board, blocking the dappled moonlight. Several minuets went by as the two ponies listened to the forest, it was filled with all sorts of sounds. So much clamor was outside that the Unicorn felt it impossible to sleep. He slowly stood up to look at Pea Gravel, she was splayed out and snoring.
He carefully went out of the room looking for Gunter. He heard some mumbling from downstairs and followed. Looking down from the top of the staircase he saw the old man. Gunter was sitting on the floor, staring at front of the main door with an ax held tightly to him. He was gently rocking and mumbling to himself. The unicorn heard bits of words, something about the moon and little white creatures with yellow eyes. The Unicorn wasn't sure if he should talk to him or not. He carefully went back to the room where Pea Gravel was sleeping in, as he lay down to sleep the mare watched him with a half open eye.
The next morning the Unicorn woke up to an almost silent forest. There were only the sounds of birds singing and the occasional chop of wood. He groggily went down stairs with bags under his eyes. The windows were open as well as the doors, letting all the sun's rays inside the house. He went out front and found Pea Gravel chopping wood, standing up like a human as she chopped. She had a decent pile already and it wasn't even ten in the morning. She barely noticed him until he moved into her line of sight.
"Morning lazy bones!" She chirped," Glad you're finally with us."
The unicorn rubbed his eyes,"How can you be so cheerful? We've lost our party, we're in a haunted forest with a crazy old man and most likely have centaurs looking for us."
Pea Gravel rested the wood ax on her shoulder and wiped some sweat from her brow,"I dunno. I kinda like it here!"
"You're not worried?" The unicorn asked with surprise.
"Of course I'm worried," Pea Gravel rolled her eyes,"I'm just in a better mood today, that's all."
The Unicorn's stomach grumbled,"I'll see if Gunter will let me make breakfast."
Pea waved as he headed back inside,"Make sure you don't forget the potatoes!" The unicorn groaned. Pea Gravel was about to go back to work when she looked back to him,"Hey! Thanks for taking care of me last week...I appreciate it."
The Unicorn smiled to her,"It's no problem."
In the armory Gunter was polishing a large brass tinted breast plate. It looked like something a centaur would wear. When he looked closer at the weaponry in the room again, he noticed that most of it was centaurian design. He carefully went up to the senile old man.
"Gunter, do you make armor for someone?" He asked.
Gunter breathed on the breast plate and wiped the fog away,"Sure do, a couple nice fellas come in once a month or so. They're centaurs. Only folks who are crazy enough to come out here and buy my wares."
The unicorn grimaced,"We've had some problems with them recently. Will they some to this place soon?"
Gunter went to the armor up next to the freshly polished one,"Eh, everyone has problems little guy. I think they're awful rich, they've practically thrown money at me for my swords."
"If you have access so much wealth, why why do live like this?" The unicorn asked confused.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Gunter huffed as he itched his ear like a dog,"I'm perfectly and totally fine."
The unicorn rolled his eyes,"Fine. Could you tell me why you live out here alone? That part is the one that confuses me."
For a moment the old man was still. He shook his head and began polishing vigorously. The unicorn asked again but the old man ignored him. The unicorn sighed and went back outside where Pea Gravel was. The sun lit up the forest enough to where it almost looked bright. He sat and watched Pea Gravel finish chopping wood. After a few swings he noticed something in the distance behind her. It was hidden behind a tree but it's shape and color was unmistakable, blue-grey and humanoid with long arms. He saw part of it's face too, a toothy grin from one side of it's head to the other. it's eight finger hand waved to him.
He jumped up in a panic,"Pea Gravel look! There's something out there!"
Pea Gravel swung her head where he pointed. The unicorn was in a cold sweat as his hoof pointed to the distant tree. Pea Gravel strained her eyes to see. She turned with a frown on her face,"You're seeing things. There's nothing over there, I'd smell it. You probably just need some more sleep. you've been very stressed lately."
The unicorn slumped back down,"Y-you are right. I'll...I'll be up in the bedroom if you need anything." He got up on wobbly knees and trotted back inside. Pea Gravle watched him with skeptical eyes.
Pea Gravel stacked up all of the wood she chopped. While she was doing that Gunter stepped outside and yawned.
"Didn't get much sleep old man?" Pea joked.
"None, too busy watching the door," Gunter said casually," I saw one of them white critters with the yellow eyes scampering around. It was scratching at the door so I let him outside, later him an' his friends knocked. I couldn't let them in."
Pea Gravel stopped and folded her arms," What is with those things and you anyway? You keep talking about them."
"Oh they're terrible! They smudge my polished works and put dirt in my forge, real mischievous bastards," Gunter said with a few waves of his arms,"That's not why I hate 'em though...they're the nasties' eyes and ears."
Pea Gravel thought of Volm when he mentioned that name," Go on, have you seen him?" She asked intently.
The old man yawned again."He's never come too close, not much further then that there tree," He pointed to the same tree the unicorn pointed at,"The things absolutely terrible! It's a-taken over my mine in the back woods, Pea Gravel. It ate my poor little brother."
"I'm sorry for him," Pea Gravel said sympathetically," Losing a family member is always hard."
Gunter spat with a grin," It's all good, I hated that prick. Always took me fer granted."
Pea Gravel couldn't help but laugh. She took one of the uncut wood pieces and sat on it. Gunter leaned on the door frame, knowing she was done with chit-chat and onto business. The old man put some strange leaves he had in apron pocket and chewed on them.
" So Gunter, about my sword..."
" Finally!" The old man grinned as he clapped,"How much money ya got on ya. I need to know what kind of sword quality I should make."
Pea Gravel rubbed her neck," You see...I don't really-"
Gunter frowned,"Ain't got no money, eh? Ya got that pauper's disease. From bein' a wealthy mercenary to a beggar, pitiful."
Pea Gravel gritted her teeth,"I can do you a favor. I can work."
The old man cackled," I was going to have you do that anyway. This ain't no charity I'm runnin' around here!" He spat out chewed leaf juice,"What kind of favors?"
Pea Gravel was quiet for a moment. She couldn't tell i he was being perverted or serious. She was well aware of men who sometimes had sex with mares, she found it unnatural but 'to each his own'. She fixed up her short mane.
" What kind of favors are you looking for, Gunter?" She asked cattily.
The old man grinned. Pea Gravel internally puked at his look. He spat again," I wan't you to kill the big nasty."
The cyber mare sighed with relief," Whew! That'll be easy."
Gunter shook his head," Still as stupid as I first met you. I'm an old bastard and old for a reason, Pea Gravel."
He wen't back inside to sharpen his armory. His words rung in her head for awhile. She looked out at the forest again. She saw the tall pine trees and dappled sunlight over the under brush. Occasionally a deer would walk by cautiously. She was lulled by the sound of the forest song birds and spring bugs. A hint of blue snapped her back into focus. When she looked closer her blood froze. It was the same apparition that the unicorn saw, it too waved at her. Pea Gravel was full of terror and hatred at the thing, it had the same demonic grin has the blue demon that had tormented her. She stood up and stomped inside the house.
"Gunter!" She shouted. The old man nearly fell off a barrel he was sitting on,"Gunter I need a sword that'll kill centaurs. One that will kill demons."
"Ah so you saw it, eh?" He nodded," So are you looking for a broad sword like the ones I made for your folks?"
Pea Gravel punched her palm," No. The big bitch needs a big sword."