//------------------------------// // A trip into town and questions. // Story: Hunters of the forest. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*Outskirts of Ponyville 11:00 AM*_______ Fluttershy made her way towards the small country town, her eyes had slightly visible red circles under them from her crying, she sighed and slightly quickened her pace, Twilight had called the girls together about a new spell that could hopefully find Scootaloo. When Fluttershy reached the town she felt as if something was watching her for a moment before disappearing, she looked around the area but found nothing more then the townsfolk going about their day. "Strange." She whispered quietly. Fluttershy slowly made her way to the library as ponies of all kinds moved around her, as she walked she apologized to any she bumped into. ____*five minutes later Golden Oaks Library*____ Twilight was busy researching the spell she had found, it was called The Marking spell, it allows one pony or person to find anything or anyone that they wish, so long as they have a connection to the target, but that's all that Twilight knew at this point, she had called her friends to the library to discuss using said spell to find Scootaloo, she was currently reading more on the spell. Just as Twilight turned the page the door opened to reveal Fluttershy and Rarity. "Hey girls, I'll be right there." Twilight said. Rarity and Fluttershy nodded knowingly. "So darling, what is this spell exactly?" Rarity asked. Twilight smiled. "I'm glad you asked Rarity." The next ten minutes or so was spent by Twilight explaining the entirety of the Marking spell. _____*ten minutes ago, Ponyville market*_____ Shanda had begun her explorations by entering the shadows and sticking to them, and there she made her way through the ponies, there seemed to be three kinds just like before.....she pulled out the scroll her father gave her and began reading it. The scroll read. 'I discovered a town called Ponyville.....don't look at me like that I didn't name it! anyway I found that there seem to be three different races of......ponies, yes yes laugh it up reader! the most common race in this town seems to be the Earthbound, the most physically strong of the three, they appear to have some form of life giving powers that they believe natural.....and if you are wondering where I found this information it took me two weeks, then you have the more balanced of the three, and the most tribal, the Pegasi, ponies with wings and the ability to manipulate weather, how they do so is beyond me and short of dissecting one I will not learn through observation alone, then you have the most magical of the three, Unicorns, ponies with horns to focus their magic and use it at will, while they don't have the physical prowess of the others they do posses the magic to make up for it, that's all.' It finished. With this information in mind, Shanda began her explorations. Shanda had a mental heart attack when she first noticed the color of some of these buildings. 'How can the males withstand this much pink?' She wondered. The real shocker was when Shanda noticed a building made out of gingerbread.....her eye began to twitch. "How has that NOT melted or fallen down?" She asked herself quietly. Shanda spent most of her time exploring the VERY unnatural town, what confused her even more was that the pink pony from before was constantly running around the town looking for.....something, all the while she kept muttering something about Pinkie senses and the townsfolk seemed to be slightly panicked as they were now occasionally looking up. "What in the world?" Shanda wondered. Eventually however Shanda came across something somewhat out of place, it was a large tree that had been mostly hallowed out, it had windows and even a small balcony, she could see a bookcase in the tree which made her assume it was the town library. "Ok, it's better than most other buildings here.....if only in color." She mumbled as she made her way through the shadows of the town. _____*five minutes later, Ponyville*_____ Shanda sighed as she leaned against a wall out of boredom, she had already explored the whole town and the buildings on the outskirts, like a school and a cottage, the only thing of interest was the fact that the yellow Pegasus from before had looked in her direction before walking off, she wanted to follow but found herself oddly compelled not to. "Alright, got a couple hours left, now what?" She wondered as she looked around. There was three things of interest in the young night elf's view, a marketplace with various stalls, the tree from before.....and the gingerbread house, after a short time Shanda decided against the market as she heard how racist the townsfolk could be from a pair of Griffins, she sighed and walked away the shadows and toward the gingerbread house. "To hell with it." She said plainly.....and not realizing how bad her decision was. ______*five minutes later, Golden Oaks Library*______ Twilight had finished her explanation of the spell when she finally realized that she lost her audience who was just staring at her as though she was on caffeine, she sighed and looked at her friends. "Sorry I got lost I the middle of that." She apologized. Rarity chuckled and stood up. "It's quite alright darling, we simply underestimated how complicated it would be." She replied. Fluttershy nodded and looked at Twilight. "So Twilight...if you don't mind me asking, but what exactly do we need to do? "Fluttershy asked. Twilight exhaled and walked to the middle of the room and began pacing. "Well you see....what we need is..." A knock at the door interrupted Twilight and she opened the door with her magic to reveal Rainbow Dash and Applejack looking bewildered. "Are you two ok?" Twilight asked. Rainbow and Applejack nodded and walked in. "Yea, we were on our way here but got hungry, so we decided to get something to eat at sugarcube corner." Rainbow started. Applejack continued. "But when we went inside we saw Pinkie talking to somepony, we got a little bit closer and saw that creature from the Everfree." She said. "Naturally Aj decided to come here and tell you." Rainbow said. "It was better than the alternative, it's not like you could beat the creature in a fight anyway." Applejack reminded. Twilight's eye twitched and she quietly took a deep breath....and released it. "ENOUGH!" She screamed. Rainbow and Applejack looked stunned for a moment before Twilight calmed down. "Alright, first we head to sugarcube corner and confront the creature if it's still there, then we find out if this spell works." Twilight said in an oddly calm tone. Everyone not wanting to set Twilight off simply nodded and started walking out of the library and towards sugarcube corner. ______*five minutes earlier, Outside sugarcube corner.*______ Shanda sighed as the entered the physics defying building, immediately upon entering she was assaulted with an overwhelming smell of baked goods and pastries, she looked around and noticed that she was being stared at, she raised an eyebrow and looked at her hand only to notice it was visible. 'So much for a low profile.' She thought as the patrons looked away. Shanda walked over to an open booth and sat down, it was an uncomfortable for but it was better then nothing, she put her elbows on the table and put her head on her knuckles. 'I doubt a disappearing act would be unoticeable and I don't want to start something by saying something dumb.' She thought. Her thoughts were interrupted as a set of footsteps approached her table at a good pace, she just barely looked to the right and saw the pink pony from before, she sighed and brought her head up. The pink pony didn't seem to be hostile but was strangely excited. "Uh....hi?" Shanda said cautiously. The next thing to happen probably would have confused Shanda for life had it not been for the fact that she had met a talking Murloc, the pink pony gasped loudly and zoomed off to......somewhere. Shanda blinked and had a confused expression on her face, so she simply stood up and walked over to a counter where a bluish pony with pinkish hair in a swirl, she seemed to be shocked at Shanda's presence at first but composed herself quickly. "Can I get you anything?" She asked politely. Shanda shrugged. "Uh I guess, what do you sell?" She asked. "We make and sell pastries and baked goods." The mare replied simply. Shanda nodded and decided to get something simple. "Eh, bread." The mare nodded and asked Shanda to wait a moment while she got the bread, when the mare got back she put a small loaf of bread on the counter and looked at Shanda. "How many pieces would you like?" She asked politely. Shanda shrugged. "Three." She replied. The mare then cut three pieces of bread from the loaf and passed them to Shanda. "That will be two bits." She replied. Shanda paused and raised an eyebrow which the mare seemed to noticed. "Bits are small gold coins with a hole in the middle, it's our currency." She explained. Upon hearing this news Shanda's left eye twitched slightly. 'Gold.....gold is the common currency here.....and I of course don't have much......DAMNIT!' She sighed and pulled two gold coins out and put them on the counter. The mare looked at the coins oddly before taking them and putting them in a wooden box. "Have a nice day ma'am." She said politely. Shanda took the bread and walked towards an empty booth, when she sat down she began to slowly eat her bread. "Hmm, wheat." She said quietly. After a little while Shanda had finished her bread and leaned back against the wall, she pulled her hood down and closed her eyes. A soft thud came from across the table so Shanda opened her eyes and noticed the pink pony from before sitting there. "Mind if i join you?" She asked. Shanda shrugged. "I don't see why not." She replied. "Sorry about before, but I couldn't help myself." She said. Shanda chuckled and looked around the building. "No problem, I was curious as to what you were doing anyway." She replied calmly. The pink pony sighed in relief and held her hoof out. "My name is Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" She asked. Shanda recognized the gesture and bumped Pinkie's hoof with her fist. "Shanda." She replied carefully. Pinkie gave a soft smile and looked around the building quickly before leaning closer to the table. "Look, I know that your the one who was in the Everfree, and I know that you know where Scootaloo is, the others may have fallen for your lie but I'm not that dumb.....so where is she?" She questioned. Shanda chuckled and put a hand up in mock surrender. "Alright alright you got me, well done, but regardless." She paused and leaned on the table and lowered her voice to a whisper. "For her own safety I can't tell you." She said. Pinkie's face had a hint of anger for a second before returning to a neutral expression. "Why not?" She asked. "Because she needs to heal and it's dangerous to move her, otherwise I would have moved her here right away." Shanda explained. Pinkie sighed and leaned back with her eyes closed. "How long?" She asked. Shanda silently thanked the mare for not picking a fight. "Three days...two if she takes it easy." She replied simply. "Is there a reason that you attacked us?" Pinkie asked quietly. Shanda resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious question. "Two reasons, the first being trespassing, the second is that I couldn't risk you and your five friends finding Scootaloo and attempting to take her home which would kill her." She replied. After that Pinkie and Shanda remained silent as they had nothing to speak about. _____*two minutes later*_____ Shanda had her arms crossed, her eyes closed and her hood slightly covering her head when the door opened. Pinkie looked up to see Twilight and the others looking around when they spotted her, they started to walk towards them until they saw that Pinkie was shaking her head at them. Twilight was confused but listened to her friend so she waited as Pinkie stood up and walked over. "Pinkie what's the problem?" Twilight asked worryingly. Pinkie sighed and looked back to Shanda then to Twilight and the others. "You remember the creature from the Everfree?" She asked. Twilight nodded and gave Pinkie a curious look. "Yea?" She said. "Well.....the thing is, she's here." Pinkie replied nervously. Twilight and the others' had a look of shock at Pinkie's words. "What!?" She asked out of shock. Pinkie silenced her by putting her hoof in Twilight's mouth. "Quiet.....do you want to wake her up?" She warned. Twilight nodded and Pinkie removed her hoof, she sighed and looked behind Pinkie to see the creature sleeping, it certainly was an odd looking creature but Twilight knew better than to make it mad. "What is it.....she doing here?" She asked. Pinkie shrugged and looked at the group....for a split second she saw a strange expression on Rainbow Dash's face out of the corner of her eye. "I think she's exploring." She replied. Twilight looked over to the creature and sighed. "What do we do now?" She asked. Pinkie looked at Shanda and back to the group. "Let's leave her alone, don't want to make her mad." She said. With that the group of six left the building headed towards the library. _____*two minutes later at the library*_____ Twilight entered the library followed by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow. "What do you want to do Twilight?" Applejack asked. "The first thing I can think of to do is tell Princess Celestia about this, then we can go from there." Twilight replied. Fluttershy sighed and sat down on a nearby couch. "Here we go again." She said extra quietly. _____*meanwhile in the Everfree Forest.*_____ Jod'ka sighed as he stirred the cauldron, he looked over at his guest and chuckled, ever since the young girl was told that she could move slightly again she had been testing it ever since Shanda left. Scootaloo looked around the hut and noticed things that she never could before, like a set of stairs that led to another floor, strange masks around the hut, Jod'ka and Shanda's Panther Shade sitting by the window, and......Shanda's spear? "Hey Jod'ka." She said getting the troll's attention. Jod'ka looked at the Pegasus. "Ya?" He asked. Scootaloo pointed at the spear leaning against the wall. "I thought Shanda took that with her?" She asked. Jod'ka raised an eyebrow and walked over to the spear to examine it, he sensed a faint magical trace on the spear and chuckled. "It would seem that she deceived us, heh, that girl will be the death of me." He said. Scootaloo sighed and looked at Jod'ka. "Mind if I ask you a question?" She wondered. Jod'ka shrugged. "Go ahead, but I'll ask some questions back." He replied. Scootaloo nodded in understanding so she asked something small. "Where exactly did you come from?" She asked. Jod'ka chuckled and sat down in a chair. "I come from a jungle called Stranglethorn Vale, it was a nice enough place once you learned your way around, of course that was before the Gurubashi Trolls stole our home, I now live on the Echo isles just off the coast of Durotar." He explained. Scootaloo blinked and then decided to ask the next question. "Ok, so what's Durotar?" She asked. "It's a rocky wasteland that the Orcs named their home, the orcish warchief Thrall named it Durotar after his father Durotan, and before you ask I don't know much about Durotan other then he was Thrall's father." He replied. Scootaloo took a quick breath and looked at Jod'ka. 'This is a lot to process' She thought. "So let me ask you one last question....how did you meet Shanda?" She asked with genuine curiosity. Jod'ka sighed and put her hand to his chin in thought before looking at Scootaloo. "Alright listen.....before I tell you that there are things you must understand, but first I need you to promise something for me." He said. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at this. "What is it?" Page asked. Jod'ka readjusted himself on his chair and looked at Scootaloo. "I need you to swear not to tell anyone anything that I tell you without me or Shanda's consent, that also includes what I've already told you." He stated. Scootaloo nodded. "I swear I won't tell anyone, on my honor." She said in a serious tone. Jod'ka nodded and stood up before walking over to his cauldron and then stirring it. "Very well, be warned it is a lot....now then, in my world, Azeroth, there are two dominant factions that dispute control over territory, you have The Alliance, several races that value honor and courage, the Humans, tall creatures that form the backbone of the Alliance, the Gnomes, small creatures that are the Alliance's engineers, the Dwarves, short and stout creatures with toughness of the earth, they serve as soldiers and master blacksmiths, the Worgen, Humans cursed by a Mage called Arugal to forever be Worgen, they serve as soldiers and trackers, the Dreanei, tall creatures that came from Dreanor which was also the home of the Orcs, I don't see them very often so I assume they serve as the enchanters, and lastly the Night Elves, an ancient race that was once known as the 'Highborne', from what I see they serve as soldiers, assassins and support." He explained. Scootaloo's jaw dropped at all of this information, she closed it but realized something. "Wait a minute, didn't Shanda say she was a Night Elf?" She asked. Jod'ka nodded. "Yes." He replied simply. Scootaloo's brain finished processing all of this information when something clicked in her head. "Wait a minute, then what is the other faction?" She asked. Jod'ka took a breath and walked back to his chair to sit. "That would be The Horde, a loose alliance of races which are commonly referred to as the mogrel races of Azeroth, we value strength as well as honor, you have the Orcs, a strong and powerful race that forms the primary muscle of the Horde, the Tauren, a proud and spiritual race of enormous strength, they make excellent hunters and trackers as well as warriors, the Forsaken, a race of dead humans brought back to life simply for war until they broke free of their shackles and allied themselves with the Horde, they are mostly alchemists and assassins but there are solders amongst them, the Blood Elves, they are similar to Night Elves but have a distinct difference that separates them, even with their unshakable addiction to magic they serve as mages, soldiers and support, the Goblins, one of the more 'recent' additions to the Horde, along with their technological prowess and their many gadgets they serve as our engineers, scientists, soldiers and support, and finally you have the Darkspear tribe, the outcasts of the Troll empire, we serve the Horde as soldiers, support, and even assassins." Jod'ka explained. Scootaloo took a moment to process all of this information until she realized something, she looked at Jod'ka. "You and Shanda's races are enemies, so something happened right?" She asked. Jod'ka nodded and took a breath. "That is true, although......truth be told I actually found Shanda by chance, and not a moment too soon." He replied. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asked. Jod'ka sighed and stood up again. "It was when i was on a mission seventeen years ago, I was too scout out a Night Elven village for weaknesses when.....something struck." Scootaloo's eyes widened. "What happened?" She asked. Jod'ka turned to face away from Scootaloo and had a grim expression on his face. ".....Disaster." He replied somberly. "I don't think I will ever understand what happened exactly, I hadn't arrived until after it happened, out of curiosity I ran to the village to search for signs of life....." _____*flashback 17 years ago [1]*______ Jod'ka ran into the burning village, he looked around only to see destroyed and burning buildings, he ran into the village hall but found nothing, he searched the village for an hour but found no survivors. Jod'ka heard a scream come from a nearby building and he raced towards it......he came upon a burning house with burning debris blocking the door, he found a low window and backed up.......he then ran at the window before leaping at it which broke the glass but got him inside, he was now panting from exhaustion but he was determined to find someone alive, he began to search the house until he heard something. "AAHHHH!" Came another scream. Jod'ka realized it came from upstairs so he raced to the stairs and ran up them only to see a Night Elven woman trapped sideways under some debris, she seemed to be clutching something tightly, she didn't seem to be moving so Jod'ka quickey ran up and started to move the debris. When Jod'ka got the last piece of debris off of the woman he saw that she was holding a bundle in her arms, he reached out and flipped the woman over and saw that the bundle was a Night Elven baby, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching out with his hand again, this time he put his hand right over the woman's heart to check for a pulse. While Jod'ka knew that his mission was to scout the village for weaknesses, he would never dream of endangering children, so when he felt a pulse that seemed to be clinging to one last shard of life, he couldn't help but let out a single tear. When Jod'ka opened his eyes only to see the dying Night Elf looking at him with a single half open eye he felt like there was a chance to save her, he surged some magic through his arm but found his magic being rejected, he looked at the woman who had put her hand where Jod'ka's was and shook her head, Jod'ka did not understand the woman's actions until she moved again. "Why did you?" He asked out of confusion. The Night Elf responded by shakily moving her one hand off of the bundle the baby was in and giving Jod'ka a pleading glare. Jod'ka looked the woman in the eye and understood what she was asking. "I.....I understand." He said somberly as he brought his hand away from the Night elf. The Night Elf did no more as her injuries caught up to her, Jod'ka closed her half open eye and gently took the baby, he held the baby close as he left the burning house, he walked down the stairs and towards the door, he simply gave the door a good kick and the debris flew out. Once Jod'ka was out the door he looked back at the house he was just in when he realized something.....he would have to take care of the baby as it would be unlikely the Elves would let him live, he then held the baby in front of his face and made a promise. "A life died to save yours, and I'll be damned if I don't do everything I can to protect you." He swore. ____*end of flashack*____ "Later that day I went back to that same house and found out that the woman's name was Shona, and with that I renamed that baby Shanda." He finished. Scootaloo looked deep in thought on the story until Jod'ka spoke. "Was that the last of your questions?" He asked. This broke Scootaloo from her trance and she nodded. Jod'ka sat down on his chair and proceeded to ask Scootaloo about Equestrian society, from its species to its city's, and what little amount of history she knew. _____*sugarcube corner five minutes later*_____ Shanda opened her eyes and suddenly remembered where she was. "Crap....how long was I out?" She asked herself quietly. "Well i don't know but you really are a peaceful sleeper." Came a voice from nearby. Shanda looked around but saw no one until a throat being cleared stopped her. "I'm down here." Came the voice again. Shanda looked down to the floor next to her and saw a small filly around the size of Scootaloo, she had no wings or horn and had yellow fur with red hair, she had amber eyes and had a ridiculously large bow in her hair. "Can I help you?" She asked the filly. The filly shrugged and gave her an examining look. "What are you?" She asked curiously. "Night Elf." Shanda replied simply. The filly however seemed to be excited about the species and jumped up to the other seat of the booth. "Ooh.....what's that?" She asked excitingly. Shanda however internally groaned at her predicament and her inability to say no to a simple question or request from a child. 'Im doomed.' She thought as she found herself caught in a trap of answering seemingly never ending questions.