Divine Entertainment

by Orthoros


6. Road Trip, Part 2

Alex was walking next to Vibrant Colors. Yesterday they reached the base of a mountain ridge, where they had made camp for the night. After a hearty meal, they spread some mats on the ground, and went to sleep, not bothering to put up a tent as it was a clear night. As a result of Alex pulling the cart for six hours straight, he had no trouble falling asleep.

They awoke with the sun, and went on their merry way again. According to Vibrant, they would spend the whole day climbing the winding paths of the mountain that they were currently on. Once they reached the top, Alex would be able to get his first glimpse of Harvest in the distance.

Following the fox incident, Alex made friends with every animal courageous enough to approach them. So far he bonded with two deers, a few bunnies, a weasel, and a snake which was currently perched on his back hitching a ride. He found it about an hour into their trek, sunbathing in the early morning rays.

The brown snake apparently took a liking to Alex, and decided to come along for a bit. Much to the dismay of Vibrant Colors. She muttered something about how creepy they moved, and told him to keep it away from her.

Compared to the nice view down in the valley, the mountainside didn’t provide nearly as much entertainment for Alex. So after a while, he trotted up to his travel companion to strike up a conversation.

“So, what can I expect once we get to Harvest? Anything I should know about, like local customs or anything?” He asked.

“Well, don’t set your expectations too high. Harvest is quite a modest town with only about three hundred ponies inhabiting it.” Vibrant began to explain. “It’s more or less just the essentials. There’s a marketplace, two saloons, and the Sheriff's office. The rest is mostly comprised of private houses or farms.” She shot an uneasy glance back at Alex’s back, where the snake was resting. “Harvest is also the last stop of the southern trade route. So there is always a caravan or two around. I reckon that would be your ticket back to a unicorn town.”

Alex remembered that, according to an episode, the three pony tribes weren’t exactly friendly to each other.

“Should I worry about them not liking me? I’m a unicorn, and I assume Harvest is an earth pony town. Right?”

“No, it should be okay. Some of the trade caravans have unicorns with them, and I’ve never seen anyone taking up issue with them.”

Alex calmed down considerably upon hearing that. For a second the picture of him being chased by an angry mob had entered his head.

“So did you start to remember anything? Like how you ended up so far removed from civilization? Or if you were with somebody?” Vibrant inquired.

Alex sighed and hung his head. “I’m afraid not. It’s all just a jumbled mess up here. Everytime I think I am close to remembering something, it disappears on me. Like when you wake up in the morning and try to remember a dream.”

In Alex’s opinion he was a great actor.

Vibrant swiveled her head around to face Alex, intending to comfort him a bit. As the first few sound left her mouth to form words she got a face full of brown. Furrowing her brows, she focused her eyes on what was in front of her. Apparently the snake had changed positions from Alex’s back to his head, and was leaning over to her.

“Ummm…” said Vibrant.

“Hissss” said the snake, wiggling with it’s tongue.

Vibrant shrieked as she pulled away from the offending animal. Jumping as far away as she could while still hinged to the cart, almost causing it to tip over.

Alex raised his head towards her and saw that she was terrified, holding one hoof over her heart in shock. He looked up at the snake dangling from his horn and back to the green mare.

“You sure you’re not actually afraid of snakes?” Alex asked with a evil smirk.

“YES! I mean… yes. I was just surprised is all.” She had to break eye contact with Alex who almost looked like a predator right now. “Definitely not afraid of ‘em! Ha! Me afraid of snakes. Good one. Let’s continue!”


Vibrant started rambling and started to pull the cart again, albeit a bit faster than before. She shot a look back to Alex, who still stood there still grinning like a mad colt. A few beads of sweat stared to trickle down the side of her head.

Meanwhile Alex had flashbacks to how he managed to catch a snake back at a picnic with his family. They were his favourite animal, so he didn’t fear them one bit. He respected them sure, but didn’t fear them. Of course he promptly started to chase around his sister, who was terrified of snakes. Good times.

After a while Vibrant decided to look back once more.

“You coming Alex?” She shouted behind her.

But Alex couldn’t be seen anywhere. She glanced around nervously, searching for any sign of him. When suddenly she heard a thud to her right and turned around.

“Look they are just sooo cuuute!” Alex shouted while simultaneously shoving the snake in Vibrants face.

“Hisss!” Was the enthusiastic reply from the snake.

Vibrant’s eyes went wide at that, and she started shrieking once more. She desperately started to run to put as much distance as possible between her and that overgrown rainworm from Tartarus. Alex not being prepared for it, was knocked over as the cart rammed into him.

Staying in his prone position he rolled around laughing. Taking care to not accidentally squish his partner in crime by doing so. All the while the sound of Vibrant fleeing the premises grew more faint, until eventually, it faded away.


Alex spent the rest of the morning without seeing neither hide nor hair of Vibrant. His snakey companion was currently coiled around his right foreleg, apparently enjoying the swaying caused by his walking.

He was glad that there was only one way to follow, or else he could have gotten himself lost. The way led him through a gap between two mountains, so he couldn’t even enjoy the view from up high. From time to time he conversed with the snake, but it was like talking to someone talking a different language. They kinda sort of understood each other. But they really didn’t.

Several hours later he met up with Vibrant again. She had unhinged herself from the cart, and was reading a book on top of it. Upon hearing Alex’s hoofsteps she put the book down, and looked over the wooden barricade between them. Her eyes centered upon the mass of brown on his leg as she huffed.

Picking up her book again she said, “It’s your turn to pull the cart.”

“Look Vibrant, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have scared you like that, but the opportunity was just too good!” Alex pleaded with her. “Also, I remembered something!”

Vibrants ears perked up at this.

“I remembered doing the exact same thing to my sister once. At a family picnic.”

Alex smiled at the green ears poking up over the edge of the cart, hoping his little white lie would calm her down a bit. After a short while, a wrapped sandwich flew towards him and landed in the dirt at his hooves.

“Eat and walk.” Vibrant simply said.

Alex sighed and picked up the sandwich. He guessed Vibrant would be mad at him for a bit longer, and it would be best to just leave her be for now. So he hooked himself to the cart, and started pulling.  Looking up towards the sun, he thought that the next few hours would be boring, with no one to really talk to.


It was starting to get dark, as the sun was setting. Alex couldn’t really estimate how late it was, because the sun disappeared behind the drab mountain walls some time ago. He was still loyally pulling the cart past stretches of boring brown and green. From time to time, he would spot other animals, but they tended to keep their distance here.

Even his snake friend, who he had named “Jerry” by now had left him. They parted ways at a particularly rocky spot, that got tons of sun. Alex was sad to see him go, but was also happy because he found such a nice spot to live.

He pulled the cart around a corner, and was greeted by the sun looking back at him. It was still a while from going over the horizon, but the sky was already turning various shades of red and orange.

He noticed that about a hundred meters ahead, the surface flattened out into some kind of plateau. A bit further ahead it seemed to just drop off. After looking around for a bit he noticed the path continuing to the left, going down the mountain side. He pulled the cart up to the drop off and looked over it.

They had emerged from the mountains, and he could once again see large stretches of green. To his right was a sizeable meadow, all kinds of birds flying over it. His eyes were drawn to his left, where he saw light in the distance.

“Is that Harvest?” He asked Vibrant behind him while pointing at it with a hoof.

After a few seconds of getting no response, he looked back. Vibrant was resting her head on an open book, and was softly snoring in her sleep. Alex d’awwed internally before unhinging himself from the cart.

He cautiously approached her sleeping form, and put a hoof on her barrel. Giving her a few good shakes he said, “Time to wake up sleepy head.”

“Hmmmm? wha…”

Vibrant’s eyes fluttered open. She raised her head from the book she was lying on, and took a bleary look around. Her eyes focused on the setting sun for a moment, until she noticed Alex standing next to her.

She blinked once to try and clear away the cobwebs of sleep from her eyes. Then she immediately looked him over for any signs of elongated animals. Seemingly pleased to find none, she started to get up.

“You ditched the snake?” she asked.

“More like he ditched me.” Alex chuckled. “We came across a pretty cool snake biome along the way, and he decided to stay there. I’m gonna miss him.” He added while pouting.

“Well I’m not!” Vibrant stomped a hoof down on the cart.

“Yeah, yeah. I could guess as much. So tell me. Is that Harvest over there?”

Vibrant looked to where Alex was pointing, and squinted her eyes.

“Yeah it is.” She said after a while. “Let’s make camp for the night here, if we get up with the sun tomorrow, we should be there around dinner time.”

She tossed their sleeping mats out of the cart and grabbed their food saddlebag. After she hopped down, she approached the cliffside and sat on her haunches to take in the view. Alex followed shortly after her.

“I always wanted to paint this view, you know?” The green mare said after a while. “But I’m always too tired after walking this far.”

Alex glanced over to her and noticed her longing look.

“Why don’t you do it now? You slept for quite a while, and I can pull the cart first tomorrow. Now would be the perfect time!” Alex suggested.

“That’s awfully kind of you to offer. But I don’t have any blank canvases with me. Or any paints for that matter.” A sigh escaped her lips.

“Oh…”

Alex looked towards the setting sun again. The sun was now halfway covered by the horizon. The Sky around it a deep red. Alex had to agree that this would make one hell of a picture. He had seen one or two sunrises in his life. But nothing could quite come close to what he was looking at now.

After a moment of silence Vibrant spoke up again.

“I’m sorry.” She pawed at the ground with her hoof a bit.

“For what?”

“For the way i treated you before. I know you didn’t mean any harm. It’s just that I’m actually terrified of snakes. I should have told you, and not just avoid talking about it.” She sighed. “So… I’m sorry.”

Vibrant looked towards Alex, and straight into his eyes seeking for forgiveness.

“You don’t need to apologize.” Alex broke eye contact and looked towards the setting sun. “If I had known you’d show a reaction this extreme to my little prank I wouldn’t have done it. If anything, I’m the one that should apologize.”

Vibrant gave a thoughtful hum at that, and turned to face the horizon too. Silence fell over them. And captivated by the beauty of the moment, they watched the sun cross the edge of the world.