//------------------------------// // 20. An Awkward Walk In The Words // Story: A New Impetus // by Zykov //------------------------------// The air was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Fluttershy continued looking over herself and wrapped a hoof around a lock of her hair, brushing it with her other hoof as she shook after being unable to see any physical problems with herself. Noble opened his mouth and then abruptly closed it, clenching his teeth as he reached up an outstretched hoof but pulled back thinking better of it. He passed the panic ridden pegasus to Rarity who’s face grew longer at the sight, then turned back to Soul with wide begging eyes. Soul looked at Noble’s poor expression and sulked, drooping slightly. He faced the pegasus but quickly realized he was out classed. He locked eyes with Rarity giving a nudge of his head towards Fluttershy. Rarity lowered her eyes with a deep sigh, placing a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she took a seat next to her. She took her purse off of her shoulder and shook her head fanning her hair out, and set it under a shady spot under a tree to prevent further sun damage and then pried the pegasus’ hoof away from her mane, holding her still. “Fluttershy, please, compose yourself! You seem to be making a scene. You are perfectly fine darling.” Even when Rarity held her, Fluttershy was unable to stay still. “B-But he just said I’m hurt! Why would he say something like that if I wasn’t actually hurt?” A bright blush filled Noble's cheeks, he rubbed the back of his head with it tilted down. “L-Look! I never meant you were hurt! You’re fine, y-you seem perfectly fine!” With wide, damp yet prying eyes, Fluttershy leaned forward while she kept her legs tucked closely by her side. “A-Are you psychic? C-Can you sense inner sickness in me, o-or can you see the future where I get hurt?” Noble waved his hooves and shook his head feverishly. “N-no! Nothing like that. I... I just meant to compliment you…” He hung his head and bit his bottom lip, unable to make eye contact. Fluttershy brought a leg across her body, hugging herself and turning to the side. “B-By telling me I’m hurt…? “Fluttershy you’re going to run out of breath and pass out if you don’t allow yourself to calm down,” Rarity said as she put a hoof under Fluttershy’s chin and turned it to face her. “Just look me in the eyes and count to ten.” The pegasus immediately squeaked. “B-But---” Raising Fluttershy's jaw Rarity gently cut her off. “Ah ah ah. Do as I say now darling, please.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and exhaled. She began counting slowly and faintly and with each number her body grew more relaxed. Soul let out a small groan and kept his face buried deep in his hoof. Noble looked at each mare before leaning back and concealing his mouth as he whispered quickly to Soul, “Hey, you brought me here…” His heart still pounded as if he ran a mile, though he still glowered at his friend, noticeably frustrated. Soul continued rubbing his forehead as it throbbed in his hoof, he couldn't even look up when he replied. “I had no idea it would get this complex… Plus it was not even my idea.” With another look at the mares that were working together to ease Fluttershy's nerves, Noble believed it was safe to turn away. He spun around and leaned in, his teeth gritted. “W-What should I do? I have no idea what to say whatsoever...” Soul let go of his head and motioned for Noble to turn around. “Short and simple; apologize for startling her.” Noble’s eyes darted back, checking the mares but quickly came back pleading while looking into Soul’s. “These things aren’t simple!” Rarity dropped her hoof and nodded with Fluttershy, a smile returned to her face as she spoke with charm, “Alright, I think we’re ready to try again.” “R-Right!” The earth pony scratched the ground with a hoof, his eyes staying focused on it as he gulped. He took a deep breath and turned around, his body shaking slightly. He attempted to gather his fluttering thoughts and closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaled deeply one more time. “Look… I… I never meant to startle you back then. I simply heard your singing and wanted to know who the voice belong to; so I could tell them how beautiful it was! I would’ve done anything if I could’ve found you and simply apologized… I’m deeply sorry, can you forgive me? Please?” Fluttershy’s mouth trembled and it still took a good bit before she could speak a single word. “I-I… It’s okay. Y... you just startled me...” she stuttered while she turned her gaze away from Noble. She turned her head letting her hair fall like a curtain protecting her from Noble's eyes. Her eyes however still took short quick peeks as she spied back toward the earth pony, just able to spot him through her pink mane. Rarity elegantly cleared her throat and presented a hoof forward. “What Fluttershy means to say is that it’s quite alright and she apologizes for causing any displeasure to you. She simply isn’t comfortable with anyone hearing her.” Noble rubbed his left front leg with his right hoof and bit his lower lip softly. “R-Right, of course, I understand. I didn’t know.” Turning her head to move her hair out of the way Fluttershy sunk down almost below her shoulders, her lips turned up gently with sympathetic eyes. “Thank you…Noble…” Her eyes darted from side to side, up and down as the bothersome silence took over their conversation. Uncomfortable in this situation, she backed up slightly, met with Rarity’s hoof and tucked her hooves close to her own body. She wished somepony would say something to break this silence or that she could simply fly back to her cottage and save herself this embarrassment. Noble rushed through any possible topic he could think of in his head dismissing them all as silly, shallow, or too personal, leaving him open as he stood quietly, moving his lips about, trying to form words before the timid pegasus, but unable to speak. It was all he could do to shift dirt around with his hooves, both having their ears pinned back while their bodies pushed back away from one another. Noble gritted his teeth tightly and his left eye twitched. Soul and Rarity looked at each other, both acknowledging this wasn’t going well at all. Soul had already started giving her a look by angling his head and cut across the air with his hoof as if to say ‘this is good enough’, but Rarity immediately dismissed it and braced up. Moving her hoof off of Fluttershy's back, Rarity leapt between the two, leaning in toward Noble. “Soooo Noble, do you happen to have any favorite color of clothing you like to wear?” Taken aback by the question, Noble blank rapidly as the question registered in his mind. He looked side to side feeling uneasy, though seeing no harm in the question. “U-Um… I used to wear a blue collared shirt.” Ignoring Noble's reluctance and abruptness, Rarity immediately started beaming and clopped her hooves together. “Ooh, I can imagine how well that fits you. Don’t you agree Fluttershy?” The pegasus kept her head low and faintly shrugged. “I-I don’t know…” Soul’s eyes wandered up to the sky and he scratched his cheek. “I made him switch to white collars at one point. Weren’t you there when he wore it? I think it fits Canterlot’s theme much better.” Rarity nodded and spoke moving her hoof in front of herself. “Yes but what is most important is that the color should fit the pony itself.” Tan ears twitched as Noble looked at Rarity with a puzzled look on his face. He had never heard any pony that was as pronounced and eccentric. “That’s… nice.” “Isn’t it? You should visit my boutique sometime for business. I'm sure I could easily find something that would make you look absolutely fabulous.” Her eyes glimmered as she stared off, getting lost in her fantasy world surrounded by design, coming back. “That is, even if stallion apparel is not my strong suit.” She covered her lips giggling to herself, though slowly fading as she lacked Pinkie Pie’s comedic charm. Noble’s shoulders sulked again and his expression grew more stoic. “Umm… sure. If I can afford anything that is.” The whole conversation had began to sidetrack. With every word Rarity and Soul spoke, well mostly Rarity spoke, they drifted off even further and further from the task at hoof and eventually it was a whole nother conversation just for two of them, leaving Fluttershy and Noble completely hanging. “Wouldn't tailoring suits be vastly different from tailoring a dress?” Soul’s voice emerged from the sidelines. The mare’s attention repositioned again. “Well yes and no. Also I don't like to always say I tailor clothing, I craft it. Now about your question...” Rarity elaborated on the differences between making suits and dresses. Noble and Fluttershy sat there, at a completely loss as to how the conversation transitioned to the teacher and student discussing fashion but both were slightly relieved of it. For a good moment, they sat exchanging awkward looks and looking around, of course their eyes did fall back on the ponies speaking that arranged this catastrophe. Though eventually, with a sigh, Noble peaked over at Soul with a small grin; his eyes met Fluttershy’s as he nudged his head, pointing to Soul and rolling his eyes very exaggeratedly, chuckling to himself after the fact and covering his muzzle. Surprisingly, Fluttershy did the exact same thing. Even if she was allowed a perfect opportunity to grab her pet bunny and fly away at that instance, she didn’t. No, she gave a glance at Rarity and allowed herself to laugh. She gave her first, actual laugh, not to mention smile during the whole scenario. It was barely noticeable but it was a laugh, no doubt. For that very short moment, they finally felt comfortable and even relaxed facing each other; giving an eye contact that didn’t feel like torture. Even if it wasn’t much, it was something, and something is always better than nothing. Unfortunately the two didn’t get to enjoy the moment that much when everypony was cut off by the explosive sound of Noble’s sneeze that seemed almost made the ground shake beneath them. In fact, it was so loud that it caused Fluttershy to jump up in the air with a scream and fly behind a tree nearby. Rarity jumped, almost falling on her back and held her chest, gasping as she looked at the stallion, completely abandoning her previous conversation. “My goodness, I almost had a heart attack!” Soul on the other hand only tensed ever so slightly and gave a slight wince as he turned at his friend. “Bless you, pal.” While holding his chest Noble shook his head rapidly then brought the hoof up and rubbed his nose before looking over. “S-Sorry about that! I feel like my sneezes can rival an earthquake sometimes...” “You uh… have a gift of amplification, that’s for sure,” Rarity said and forced a smile, dropping her hoof off her chest. “You can say that again,” Noble said softly, darting his eyes off to the side. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a little white rabbit tapping its foot and glaring at the pegasus with his ears back. Noble immediately recognized what had happened and spoke softly taking a step toward the tree. “Oh I’m sorry, you don’t need to hide there…!” “Actually I think that sneeze was perfectly timed.” Rarity looked over at the tree batting her eyes for a moment but remaining unsurprised. “Fluttershy and I really should be heading to the castle already.” Soul nodded, slightly pleased that he could finally get a break and some much needed time to allow himself to breath after the long first week. “Yes, you do that. I’ll see you on Monday in that case.” Rarity nodded and smiled with her head held high. “Most definitely. Enjoy your first weekend, both of you! And Soul, if you feel so inclined I do suggest you practice your hemming stitch, by hoof of course.” “Yes, I shall. You too enjoy the weekend, Rarity. Bye.” Soul waved with a solemn smile of his own. “Bye bye!” Rarity chanted and passed the pegasus, beginning to bounce in a skip. ‘’Come on, Fluttershy dear. Let’s go.’’ Fluttershy gave a timid nod with her head hanging down. She and Noble looked at one another in silence, neither aware of what to say. Noble felt a bit bad he couldn’t spend more time around the mare but then again, he still didn’t have anything in mind what to say. Fluttershy’s lips curled up slightly, she had forgiven the stallion for seeing her guilty pleasure and while still tense she brought up a hoof waving it only slightly. Noble’s lips followed suit curving upward as well while his eyes were sorrowful. He waved a foreleg as the mare let her bunny jump onto her back and then began following Rarity. His legs felt like jelly as he dropped his hoof back down and took a step back. “Soul…” “I know.” Soul let out a deep sigh and rubbed his eye. “That whole thing got unnecessarily complicated and unnecessarily awkward…” “Yes, it did...” His lip quivered and he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a lump in his throat as he thought of how to say what he desired. “Thank you for doing that for me but… uhh, Rarity kind of got off topic with you there.” The unicorn gave a bothered laugh and an innocent shrug. “My bad.” He stepped towards Noble, perking his ears up and leaning in turning his head to the side. “Though what are your thoughts now? Are we finally done with this crush phase?” “What?” Noble glared as he walked back to his lunchbox, finally pulling out his food that turned out to be a PB&J sandwich. “Come on... You don’t need to dismiss all of them right away. She does seem like a nice, pretty mare… Again, not what I expected, but fine, I’m alright… for now.” He tried to offer his second sandwich to Soul but the offer was met with a wave and utter look of disgust. They sat in silence as Noble ate, Soul looked up at all the apple trees and occasionally looked back at the path the mares took out of the orchard. Soul put his hooves together and stretched as much as his body could give in with a yawn. “Well, how about we head home then? Well, after you are done that is. I want to get some sushi from a buffet before it closes.” Noble gave a nod checking his lunch, then looking back at his friend, tensing up as he thought about how quickly he could eat to not hold Soul back. “Yes, sure. I still don’t understand how you can like that stuff though,” he said with a laugh. Soul looked at Noble’s bread and frowned. “Right... You have your PB&J, I have my sushi.” He noticed the tensing and looks Noble gave him and the lunch. “Take your time though, there is no pressure.” Noble searched for his water, chugging some to wash out his mouth so he could speak. “Anyway, is there anything you wanna do this weekend? I thought we could check out Ponyville’s pubs.” Sighing Soul extended a hoof while shaking his head. “Naw, I’m not really in the mood for that. It’s been exhausting getting adapted to how things work here. I simply wanna sit home and work on my stuff for Spectrum and start doing a presentation for the Mayor.” “Work work work.” Noble chuckled, “How about we try taking a lazy weekend to the max for a change? Sit on the couch all day and watch every episode of Stray Alicorn, OVA’s, play poker and talk about mares.” He paused to think for a moment. “Okay, maybe not that last one, but I’m itching to finally do some real roommate stuff!” “I’ll make sure to put that in my calendar,” Soul said with a laugh. As Noble finished the last bite of his second sandwich and closed up his lunch box Soul’s eyes rested upon a light blue bag that laid on it’s side by the base of a tree. His hoof once again immediately smacked his face. “Ooooooh boy, you must be kidding me…” Once the box was in his saddle bag Noble looked up and looked at the area Soul was looking at with peaked curiosity. “Huh? Oh, a bag? Wait, isn’t that Rarity’s?” “Yeah... She just forgot something preeeeeetty important." He rubbed the side of his head and looked down the path the mares went down. “It’s probably too late to catch up to them now.” Noble walked over and picked it up, ensuring nothing seemed to have fallen out then looked inside, gently shuffling through it. “I.M. book, keys, wallet, sewing supplies…” “Yeah, she is not gonna be very happy when she realizes...” Soul said and walked over to the bag as well and closed the buckle with his magic, and levitated it up to Noble’s shoulder. “Let’s just take it with us, we can’t find them in the woods, I’ll leave a note on her door to come see us to get it.” The tan stallion looked up at the sky, shifting his body to peer through the trees checking for clouds before he replied, “Don’t you think we should leave it here instead---?” A rustle fell over the pathe and charged toward them, growing louder from the direction of the farm house. The blue pegasus was the first to be seen, blowing the leaves as she flew but made a quick circle around the stallions. Lighting a fire galloping down the trail, Applejack followed in hot pursuit, slowing to a halt with the others. Noble stood tall as he saw the blond mare. “Where are you two off to? More dares?” Rainbow swooped down before him stealing the thunder before landing in front of them landing next to Applejack. “The final one! So far it’s just been a tie but this one settles everything for good! I can prove that I’m the most daring pony.” AJ glared, walking up next to the pegasus and looking her dead in the eye. “Over my rusted horseshoes! I ain’t gonna let this day go ta waste.” ‘’Yeah yeah, let’s save it for when you’re scared out of the castle!” The pegasus held her head high and opened her left eye, as she noticed another familiar face. “Hey, Wild! Anything interesting up? Haven’t seen you around after the fire.” Soul lifted his eyebrows with an otherwise blank expression. “You care about design stuff?” The mare crossed her arms, looking away. “Not really,” she said bluntly. The unicorn shook his head and hoof dismissively. “Then no, nothing interesting is up.” Applejack stepped forward before Soul and tipped her hat to him. “Hey, ya must be the fella who brought Noble here!” “The one and only,” Noble said with a chuckle and he raised a hoof in front of Soul as if he were a prize on a gameshow. Soul crossed his hooves plopping down in the grass. “I don’t admit anything.” Applejack stretched her hoof out to shake hooves with the white stallion. “I think I should thank you, pal. Without you, we woulda never got Noble’s fine horsepower ta help out on the farm!’’ Soul tilted his head, squinting at the mare as his eyes connected to the mane and his ears twitched at the thick southern accent. ‘’Oh yeah, you must be the blond beau--” “SOUL!” Noble yelled immediately blushing bright red. He leaped and wrapped his leg around the unicorn from behind pinning him down and covering his mouth. As Soul’s eyes grew wide he jumped up with a shock going down his spine as he freed his mouth and pulled away from his friend. The unicorn grabbed his chest, but had realized what he just let almost slip out of his mouth. “I-I mean what I meant to say, yes Noble has talked about you. Mostly about your mane.” A loud smack echoed off of Noble’s face as he slapped it. “Soul! Please stop!” Applejack looked at Noble, even her hair drooped as she glowered at him for a moment and sighed. "Well, at least he talks about work at home." Rainbow bursted out laughing holding her sides already. “Oh my gosh, here we go again!” Glaring at Rainbow Dash, Applejack jabbed her in the ribs with her fore knee. Noble grimaced and shrank a little and rubbed his foreleg. “S-So… What exactly is this dare you’re gonna do if you don’t mind me asking?” Applejack gave her hat a nudge up and sighed. “Well partner, simply put, we’re gonna spend a night in an old nearby castle, that’s said to be haunted by the Pony of Shadows.” Rainbow shrugged boldly, as if she didn’t have a care in the world about the story. “Yeah, or something like that. It’ll be an easy win.” Noble put a hoof on his lips, his eyes narrowing as he sat down crossing his forelegs. “Pony of shadows?” The orange mare followed suit and sat down as well. “It’s an old legend Granny Smith used to tell me. Just to make sure; y’all do know history right? You know about Nightmare Moon?” Noble blank with pointed lips and nodded. “Of course...” The unicorn gave a small chuckle. “That’s the most general knowledge you can get nowadays.” “Just chekin’.” Applejack began moving her hooves as she talked. “Anyway, Granny Smith explained that the legend says that when Nightmare Moon was banished by Princess Celestia, not all of her magic went with her. It stayed in the old Castle of the Two Sisters that’s deep into the Everfree Forest, and when the sun goes down, this magic takes a form of a pony that haunts the very walls of the castle.” Rainbow smiled and rolled her eyes, letting them rest looking away from Applejack. “The pony of shadows.” As the name crossed Rainbow’s lips Noble’s back snapped up straight and his eyes widened. He felt like his heart got misplaced for a second. “Wait... what?” Rainbow smacked Noble on the back chuckling. “I know right, pretty stupid, huh?” Applejack scoffed, pointing at her and leaning in narrowing her eyes. “We’ll see about that when we get there.” The earth pony’s body shook and his eyes grew wide as his heartbeat echoed against his chest. His fur stood on end while his lips quivered as he stood breathless. “Y-You… You’re going to the Everfree Forest?” Lips narrowed and eyebrows rose, Applejack looked closely at the poet. “Yeahhh?” Noble’s eye kept twitching. “You mean the Everfree Forest? The monstrous unnatural jungle of strange creatures where plants and animals thrive without pony intervention and are fully capable of devouring ponies whole?” The mares looked at one another for a second before Applejack turned back at Noble, turning her head to the side as if she didn’t know what she was looking at. “Uhh, yeah that’s it. That IS where the castle is after all.” Soul took a step forward getting the prying eyes off Noble, even if just momentarily. “You know, you should think twice before you go there.” Rainbow laughed boldly and flew over to Soul, wrapping her hoof over him and ruffled his mane. “Oh come on! You don’t have to worry about us. We’ve been out in that forest many times, not to mention that we’ve been to the castle. Even if there is a Pony of Shadows, which I doubt, I can tootally handle it.” Soul jumped and pushed Rainbow Dash away from him, keeping his eyes on both mares and stepping back from the group. ‘’Let’s maintain distance! Anyways, I wasn’t gonna start babying adult mares, but that’s not exactly what I was thinking,’’ he said as he glared, keeping a hoof extended and moving it around him indicate his space. Noble was relieved to hear this, breathing a sigh of relief but still, the whole Shadow Pony story had already become engraved into his mind. “Um, sorry to barge in, but Applejack, where did Granny Smith hear this story?” Applejack shrugged and scratched her head under her hat. “Good question. I would tell ya if I knew. When I asked her when she told Applebloom she couldn’t remember ah lick ah how she heard it.” “I see…” said Noble while he rested back, putting a hoof on his chin. He looked at the ground losing himself in thought. Applejack dipped her head to the side narrowing her eyes. “Why are ya asking?” Noble shook his head. “J-Just curious… and you have been fine in the forest?” He tapped his chin and whispered to himself. “Even we needed to remain cautious there.” Blinking, Rainbow frowned and scrunched up her face looking at AJ then looking back, her wings already spread to take off, but she brought them back in. “Umm, what?” Noble immediately snapped back, eyes wide. “Nothing!” he said and backed up, growing more tense. “Nothing… Just be safe. Sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt your abilities or annoy you with all these questions.” Rainbow took flight between the two stallions, she curved around and thumped Applejack forward a bit. “Alright… Well, sorry to cut it short but we’re kinda in a hurry. See ya around guys. Good luck with… well whatever you’re gonna do.” She looked at the bag on Noble’s shoulder. "Noble, take an advice from a fellow ‘stallion’, get a new bag," she said and laughed as she flew off down the trail. The stallion huffed and puffed out his cheeks glaring at the mare. He wanted to come up with some kind of insult but nothing came to mind. “Right.” Applejack glared at her friend who took off and gave Noble a pat on the shoulder before running after Rainbow. “Enjoy the weekend Noble, you did great for your first week!” “Wait!” Soul called stretching a hoof after the two, but they were already too focused on outdoing one another that they blazed down the trail. The unicorn groaned and let his head dangle off his shoulders like a wilted flower. “Right, okay then… All I was gonna tell you was that Rarity and Fluttershy were gonna go to the same castle, but okay...” Noble was still sunk deep in his thoughts, his breathing was heavier and more erratic as his eyes dodged around the area without seeing anything. “So…” Soul spoke with careful tone as he saw Noble’s behavior and gently placed a hoof on his shoulder, dragging him back into the moment. “What do you know about that infamous Everfree Forest? It seems like it’s not that mysterious to you.” “Of course, I’ve been there… It’s like the black sheep of nature itself… Like that family member who always pulls pranks, rebels and acts of it's own accord. I still can’t believe it’s so close to the Apple farm; much less that I didn’t recognize it...” He frowned and knocked his hoof against the side of his head harshly, groaning as he did. “Wait, Rarity said they were going to a castle. Did she mean… the same castle those two are going to?” Soul rolled his eyes and shook his head, he was used to this but it didn’t make it any less frustrating from time to time. “Yeah... She got commissioned to retrieve and restore some old tapestries from there.” Noble’s heart jumped in his chest and began to pound like crazy again as he started shaking involuntary. “How in Equestria is a sophisticated fashion designer and a frightened pegasus supposed make it there?!” Shrugging the unicorn replied, “Come on, all of them are the elements of harmony. And you heard Rainbow, if she and Applejack have been in that forest before, I have a feeling Rarity and Fluttershy have too. And if they didn’t know how to handle themselves, well, we wouldn’t even be talking about them right now, yet alone be in Ponyville.” Noble’s eyes grew wider and his mouth hung open. He closed it and looked back at the farm with a cool concentrated but worried look. ‘’What?! They are elements of harmony too?!’’ He couldn’t help but think about how close all of them were in this small, little known town. “Oh, right. You didn’t know…” Soul said, scratching his face with a narrow grin. “Make sure I tell you everything at some point.” Noble shook his head. “Yeah, i didn’t...” He slowly sat down, closing his eyes with a hoof on his chest and took a few frequent breaths and moved to deeper ones in order to calm himself down. After a short moment the shaking started to reduce and his heartrate went back to normal. He took one final breath and turned to look at Soul with eyes wide glistened over eyes that captured the worry in his heart. “No need to have a heart attack over it,” Soul said with a laugh though gave a light pat on Noble’s shoulder with a gentle smile. He then tilted his head at the path, already taking steps forward. “Well, let’s go. Buffet awaits.” The earth pony didn’t move, he stared blankly ahead and in the last second turned his head slightly and slid his eyes, looking at Soul. “Wait, do you think we should… go and take this bag to Rarity instead and at least warn them about the Shadow Pony?” Soul immediately stopped and turned to face his friend, rising an eyebrow. He just looked at him for a moment before speaking. “You think the Shadow Pony is real?” “I-I don’t know, I mean it’s not like I’ve ever been in that castle. And I feel like a story like that would be more common knowledge than just a campfire story… Or even if it was just a common campfire story, it’s odd that neither of us have heard of it before now. But still, don’t you think we should go warn them at least? I mean, even if there is no Shadow Pony, we could still warn them to be careful if it’s falling apart, how old would this thing be?” Noble’s face was long and his hooves were clenched together to beg. Soul shrugged and sighed. ‘’Look, I understand your concern and I am open minded, but I’m quite positive they can handle themselves and know to be careful.. Let’s simply go and leave a note on Rarity’s door about that bag and go home. Or… yeah, leave it here.” He turned to look at the eerie forest with a frown. ”Besides, we have no idea how to navigate there, we’ll get lost for sure.” “How can you be so sure? The Everfree forest is legendary for it’s danger. There are stories about ponies that have gone in time and time again and one time, they just don’t come back.” Noble’s eyes dilate as he realized what he said. “You know this isn’t helping your case. How would we even find them?” Soul huffed. “Okay, maybe I overstated that, but…” He turned and rummaged a hoof through his saddlebags and pulled out a small compass that he opened and showed Soul. “I have a compass.” Soul’s face flattened and he silently stared at his friend. “How in equestria is that gonna help us? Even if we find them, don’t you think it will be a little pointless? I mean, I know I can do a lot more with my night and I'm sure you could too.” Closing up and putting the compass away quickly Noble kept his chin up, smilingly slightly slightly and gently nudged Soul. “Come on, I’m sure we can figure this out. It’s like tracking animals. It’s… not that difficult.” “Wait, you can track?” The unicorn tilted his head to the side and blinked a few times. Noble scrapped his hoof against the ground and looked down and to the right, his lips curled upwards and the air in his throat grew dense. He let out a puff of air through his nose. “Maaaybe…” It took a moment for Soul but eventually he snapped to attention. “Oh right….!” He gave a deep sigh and bowed his head. “You really want to go, don’t you?” Noble nodded, he tightened his bags securing everything and took a few steps down the trail. “Why don’t you want to?” Soul looked up at the sky then lead his eyes down to Noble. “I want sushi.” Noble immediately tensed up and looked at the stallion with wide eyes, he stepped closer and put a hoof on Soul’s shoulder. “Soul, please. I know I’m asking a lot of you to go out there with me to check on them, but there is power in numbers. If you come with me now I will leave you alone for an entire work day in the future.” Soul sighs and stops to think, rubbing his head and peering blankly ahead. There was a long pause as Noble twisted his lips, he bit his bottom lip every so often but finally couldn’t wait and broke the silence. “You know…” Soul turned to Noble, his ears alert and twitched. A slender but extremely sly smile slowly started crossing Noble’s face and he chuckled even though his body twitched and tensed up. ‘’It’s actually quite fine, I understand, you don’t want to go. You’d rather stay here and relax with me.” Then, without warning, he moved closer to Soul and draped a hoof over the stallion’s shoulders, pulling him close. “Noble, what the---?” Soul jerked back to no avail; he was hooked by Noble and could only remain tense and pull his head away, he felt like even his tail was standing up straight. Noble put his other hoof over Soul’s mouth and giggled. ‘’Shhh. Forget about them, they can have their adventure. We finally have a chance to be all alone.’’ Noble said with a tender, wavy tone in his voice. He leaned in and whispered softly with warm breath into Soul’s ear, ‘’We can have our own adventure; Alone. You don’t need to be bashful around me, my darling Soul.’’ “NOW YOU ARE GETTING WAY OVER THE LINE!” Soul immediately slipped away from under Noble’s hoof and took a huge leap away from him with such force that he fell over on his back with a terrified gasp. His eyes were cracked wide open and he was gnashing his teeth like being in frost. Noble’s sudden, approach left Soul dazed and confused, laying on his back on the ground. ‘’Fine! Let’s go find them! SHEESH!’’ he said his voice trembling, cold waves sweeping through his entire body as he pulled himself to his hooves and brushed himself off keeping out of a two leg distance of Noble. “Aww, you don’t want to spend an evening alone with me anymore? ’’ Noble winked and gave an exaggerated skip to his trot, the air he felt in his throat felt like it could burst. ‘’NOBLE!’’ The earth pony collapsed on the ground bursting into hysterical, tear filled laugh and held his sides, almost unable to breath. ‘’I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll stop now!” He was almost bawling as he clenched his aching sides, he could barely speak as he gasped for air. “I-It was just too good to pass up!’ Soul sighed and puffed out his cheeks. He didn’t care for Noble’s trick but broke a smile at the sight of the earth pony laughing on the ground, he got in a few chuckles as well and waited as Noble laid in a state of hysteria for over five minutes. This was the first time in a long time that Soul had seen Noble look this happy and there was no way he was going to cut it off early. Once the bust of the joke was over and Noble simply caught his breath Soul moved closer and looked down. ‘’Good, then lead the way.’” With heavy breath Noble got to his feet, readjusting his bags while ensuring he didn’t drop anything he he declared himself ready. “Yes, I will.” He nodded to Soul getting by his side on the trail “Sorry, I promise I’ll never do that again.” His voice flexed a little with his last statement as his tail twitched and he smiled looking off away from Soul and spoke softly under his breath. “Unless the situation calls for it.” Soul’s ears perked up as he heard a mummer. “Wait what was that? Noble!” The earth pony began at a slow trot moving ahead and chuckled taking off in a gallop, Soul quickly following behind him. Even as they ran Noble looked ahead as the sun cast glints of red and orange over the ground with growing shadows from the trees.