Pony Life

by JetWave Wavewind

Ch. 3

We stopped by Guy's for the night so that we could rest before setting out for the long trip that was ahead of us and to let Guy know that my first day in his employ was also my last. I grabbed the key out of the potted plant by the door and walked into the restaurant. I was glad that I had woken up Lemmy before when I got Scootaloo because she pointed out I had forgotten quite a few things like food and formula. "It's still not to late for you to turn around and head back." I told Lemmy as we sat down in a booth.

"I-I know."

"But you're still gonna come with us, aren't you?"

"Yes, s-somepony has to make sure you stay safe." She said. "A-and besides, I don't think I could handle living at that awful place without somepony with me."

"Ok then, we're in this together!" I said as I held out my hoof across the table. "Agreed." She said as she bumped my hoof with hers. "Auabu!!" Scootaloo cheered as she tried to bring her hoof up too ours above the table. Seeing that she couldn't, we giggled and brought our hooves down to her. "Alright, s-so what exactly is the plan?" Lemmy asked as she studied the map laid out on the table.

"We're here right now," I said, pointing to where Manehatten was on the map. "And we're trying to get here." I said as I pointed to the town I had circled on the map. "Now the fastest way to get there would be the 3 day train ride from Manehatten but I don't have enough bits for all of us so it looks like we're going to have to walk along the tracks which will take about a week or so.."

"Or," She said as she was studying the map while I explained our course. "We could hike over to Fillydelphia and then take the train over to... Where are we trying to get to again?"

"Ponyville."

"Right, we could take the train to Ponyville from Fillydelphia. I've heard that it's less expensive there.." She said, her voice trailing off towards the end. "Hmm.. Yes, yes! Then It will only take us 2 and a half days to get to Ponyville!" I said as I jumped up and flew above our booth, causing Scootaloo to laugh and try and join me in the air.

Unfortunately, I still wasn't a very strong flier and soon fell on top of Lemmy causing her to squeak. "Oof.." I looked down to see that when I landed on her she had been forced into a laying positon in the seat and I was sprawled out on top of her.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that." I said as I got out of the seat.

"I-i-it's fine, really!" She blurted out. "Aheu?" Scootaloo chirped, trying to figure out why Lemmys face had turned from yellow to red. "So! are we ready to head out?" I asked, eager to get going before sunrise. "Y-yes! Lets go!" She said as she got up.

~<(^)>~

I wrote a quick note to Guy and placed it in his apron so he'd find it in the morning and headed out. We had been walking for about two or three hours when we hit farm land and started smelling the fruits of the farm ponies labor. "S-should we stop for the night? I thought I heard some h-howling of in the distance." Lemmy said, trying her best to keep from shaking as we walked through the rows of fields. "Aeu.." Scootaloo whined as she was looking around across the fields from her pouch.

"Perhaps that would be a good idea, don't want to get too used to staying up all night." I said, starting to get a little freaked out by the emptiness of the field we were in also. "Let's set up camp at that tree over there!" I looked to where Lemmy was pointing and saw a tree standing against a dense forest. "Perfect!" I said as we ran over to it, trying to get away from the foreboding fields.

I sat my saddlebags down and stretched my wings out, they should really start making those things with Pegasi in mind. "Good night Lemmy." I said as I laid down. "Good night Ivory.." She said as she slipped her saddlebags off next to mine and laid down on the opposite side of them to me. "Ahu..." Scootaloo cooed as she snuggled up into my hooves. I nuzzled her mane and started to drift off.

Just as I was about to fall asleep when I heard the faint sounds of somepony sniffling. I peeked open an eye and saw that Lemmy was shaking all over. I got up, trying not to wake the sleeping Scootaloo as I grabbed her in my teeth and set her in Lemmys arms. I could tell it helped because she visibly started shaking less and wasn't sniffling as much. I smiled as I laid back down where I had been, wrapping my wings tighter to my body to fight back the cool air.

~<(^)>~

"Yaawn..."

"Good morning dear."

"Hmm?" I looked around. I woke up in a big bedroom with two ponies standing at the edge of the bed I was in. "Where am I?" I asked. The stallion chuckled at my question. "You're home son." Home.. thats right, this is nice. "What's for breakfast moma?"

"You're favorite, haybacon and blueberry muffins." She said with a smile.

"Oh boy!" I cried as I jumped out of bed. Just as I was about to run downstairs, I remembered somthing important. "Dad, where's Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge?" I asked. He gave me a puzzled look. "Who?"

"Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge." I said, starting to get worried.

"Sweetie, we've never heard those names before. Are you sure you aren't just confusing them with somepony you saw on T.v.?" Mom asked.

"No, they're some of my best friends from the-" Whatever words I was about to say next were caught in my throat when I saw what was hanging above the bed I was just in.

"Is somthing wrong son?" I didn't register what my dad had said as I kept staring at the two stuffed pony heads above my bed. "..no..." I whispered as I looked at the orange foals head. "..no.." I whispered again, gaining a little volume; as I shifted my gaze to the yellow coated fillys head to the left of the foals. Both of their eyes were shut but they had taxidermied grins to where it was like they had just taken a bite of the best ice cream in the world and it was making it harder and harder to think straight.

"NOOO!!!" I cried as I ran out of my room into the hall and started rocking back and forth like a little filly.

"Ivowy!" The world shouted at me, in an almost familiar voice. then it all got pulled up and away from me like a curtain, leaving nothing but white that soon faded into black.

~<(^)>~

I was kicking and thrashing about in my sleep, screaming as if somepony had placed a hot coal under my wing and was holding it there. "Ivory! Wake up! it's just a dream, WAKE UP!" Lemmy shouted at my thrashing form.

"Ivowy!" Scootaloo shouted, terrified to see me like this. My eyes snapped open, they were wet with tears from the nightmare I had just had. I looked around and saw a relieved Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge looking down at me. Without thinking, I jumped up and gave Lemmy the biggest hug I had ever given anypony. It startled her, but not enough to where she couldn't return the hug in full. I felt something tug at my tail and saw Scootaloo had it in her mouth and was looking up at me expectantly. I turned around and picked her up in my forehooves, holding her close. "W-what were you dreaming about?" Lemmy asked with a bit of a blush on her face.

"..I was dreaming I had a home..." I said, hopping she didn't ask any more questions.

"O-oh! Really?! What was it like?" She asked, eagerness to know written all over her face.

"I'd rather not talk about it just yet.." I said, looking off to the ground until Scootaloo nuzzled my neck and looked up at me.

"Oh, ok.. Well, um.... D-did you notice something strange?" Lemmy asked after a bit of an awkward silence. Now that I thought about it, I did.

"Shouldn't be daylight by now?" I asked.

"And didn't we set up camp at the edge of this forest?" She asked back, gesturing to all the trees that were all around us.

"That's right, what's going on here?" I asked to nopony in general.

"I don't know, but I don't like it.." She said, starting to shake. I put Scootaloo down and she crawled over to Lemon Wedge who picked her up in her hooves. "Where's the map?" She asked after she had calmed down and put Scootaloo on her back.

"I put it in my-" I stopped mid sentence and looked around the tree I had just woken up under. "Where's our saddlebags??" I asked, trying my best not to panic.

"I-I don't know! they were here when I woke up! Or at least I think they were..!" She said, starting to hyperventilate.

"No no! It's ok!" I said, placing my hooves on her shoulders, causing her to squeak and stop breathing altogether. "Breathe in..." I said, taking a deep breathe in as she copied me.

"Breathe out..." We released the breath we had taken in just now. I repeated the process until she had calmed down and started breathing normally again. "Now, let's look at what all our options are." I said, doing a much better job of keeping calm.

"W-well," She started out shakily. "W-we don't have a map, compass, food, water, formula or any other supplies. The tree-line is too thick to see the sky so we can't use that as a basis for navigation.. M-maybe you could fly up and get past the trees to see where we are and which way to go?" She asked hopefully. "No.. These branches are too thick for me to fly between even if I did have enough strength to fly that high." I said with a sigh.

"Oh, ok.." She said with a sigh of her own as she plopped her flank on the ground, causing Scootaloo to roll off; and hung her head in sorrow. "Hey, don't tell me you're giving up already. This is just a bump in the road, we'll get past it." I said as I sat down and draped a wing over her.

"H-how can you be so calm in a time like this?" She asked as she looked up at me with eyes that could let loose torrents of tears at any second.

"Because I have a great friend by my side," I said as I squeezed her a little tighter with my wing. "And a reason to keep going." We both looked back at Scootaloo who was poking at a mosey rock with her hoof. I felt Lemmy lean into me and whisper something but I couldn't quite make it out. I was about to ask her what she said but she seemed so happy with just sitting there I decided I'd ask her later.

~<(^)>~

After awhile, we decided that since we had no way of knowing which way we were going that we'd just choose a direction and hope for the best. I told Lemmy what had happened in my dream and how I would rather have her and Scootaloo instead of a family any day if it meant I had to lose either of them. When I told her that she had the warmest smile and gave me a big hug. After what felt like hours of walking, we came to a clearing with a wooden archway that led into what looked like was a less dense area of the forest.

Curious, we walked through and saw that it led into a small town. The population seemed to be mostly made up of bat ponies and earth ponies but every now and then you would see a unicorn. After awhile of walking, I decided we should probably find out where we were. "Excuse me," I said as I walked up to a bat pony. "Where are we?"

"You're in Hollow Shades man, nicest-Euagh!! What happened to your wings?!" He asked.

"What's wrong with my wings?!" I asked with no shortage of alarm.

"They're all...." He paused, trying to think of the right word. "..Fluffy."

"What? You mean my feathers? That's normal! Haven't you ever seen a Pegasus before?"

"Pega-wha?" He asked in confusion. Apparently not. "Um... We're lost and were wondering if you could help us find our way." Lemmy said.

"No you're not, I just told you you're in Hollow Shades. Nicest woods in all of Equestria!" He said as if it would explain anything.

"The name's Screech by the way, pleasure to meetcha."

"I'm Ivory Blossom, this is Lemon Wedge, and Scootaloo."

"Aie!" Scootaloo said as I introduced her. "When is the sun coming up?" I asked, thinking that it has been dark for far too long.

"That's the best part about this place," Screech said with growing joy. "It doesn't come up! there's an enchantment on this forest that makes it perpetually night time!" I was about to face hoof when I saw the building we were standing in front of. Yes! A train station! "Does the train here go to Ponyville?" I asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, but it only comes in every 2 days and it just left today." He said, causing me and Lemmy to groan. "I just got here today so I still have to find a house. But since you three aren't going to be staying for good like I am, I heard that the Apple family would be willing to provide lodgings for ponies like you, that is if you're willing to work."

"Do you know where we could find them?"

"No, I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore than that."

"That's ok, good luck finding a house."

"Thank you! Good luck finding your Apples." We said our goodbyes to Screech and set out to find the Apple family.

Comments

[JetWave Wavewind]

2903359
I know I didn't develop her character very much, I was mainly using her as a reason for them to leave. In this next chapter and on out we won't be hearing from her again.