Another Day

by PonyTom

In the Dark Of The Night

It was dark out.

That much was to be expected - miles from any pony settlement, in the middle of the woods, with only a meager campfire to speak of, the only illumination besides being the moon, it was understandable that there was a point in Big Mac's vision where everything turned pitch black. Still, he was pleased, for he had not had to chase off any animals, there were plenty of sticks around to throw into the firewood, and he had even improved upon Twilight's work (she had barely had enough rocks surrounding the fire to stop it from spreading if it managed to escape the confinement of the twigs).

He sighed, feeling the dull pain in his nose grow. He had been relying on the balm for the past three hours, and he was finally going mad. He had to erase the pain. Reaching into his saddlebag, he pried from it his bottle of medication and popped it open, tossing one of the pills into his mouth and washing it down with a sip from his canteen - he'd have to refill it once he had a chance.

Twilight Sparkle had wandered off to see if she could find suitable shelter. Admittedly, her need for a place to sleep reminded him so much of Rarity; at least she wasn't demanding particular accommodations. He sighed cuddling onto his prized possession; one Smartypants. He wasn't a cowardly stallion by any length of the word, but something about the simple little toy brought him comfort.

He snorted, wondering how long Twilight might be gone, and if he'd be forced to go hunting for her as well.

*******************************

"Well, this will never do..."

Twilight stared at the mouth of the cave, staring at it silently. "There's bear leavings around... it'd be a bad idea to even step hoof in there, let alone try to sleep in it for a night..." A bit dejected, Twilight let out a sigh of frustration and turned about. "Fifteen minutes. I wandered for fifteen minutes to find a cave that I can't even use... " She looked about for a minute, threw her hooves up in defeat, and turned around. "Back to camp I go then."

She began to move with a brisk trot, wanting to find Big McIntosh as quick as she possibly could. The sooner she wasn't alone out in the wilderness, the better.

Then, she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

Twilight let out a loud yelp and threw her foreleg around, seeing something fall off; something she recognized as a spider. She watched as it scurried away into the darkness. She looked at her hoof to see that it had bits of web on it - she must have accidentally stepped on it's home. Looking her leg over, she saw a red lump on her leg; it wasn't so bad, it had hurt when it bit her, but now all it was was a light itch, as spider-bites were want to do.

She let out a groan. Could this day possibly get any worse? No, don't ask that question, that's how things get worse.

She continued her trot; thankfully, she had marked her path (one of the few things Big Mac DID allow) so that she could find her way back to him. He was definitely an irritating stallion; she could respect a value of nature, but to shoot down every idea she had because it might harm the ecosystem? She couldn't tear down trees, she couldn't trap and train animals, she couldn't start a smoke-signal fire. It's like the stallion was going out of his way to complicate things.

The sooner they left these stupid, infernal woods, the better.

Eventually, Twilight saw the glow of the campfire. Much as the stallion irritated her, it would be nice to have a familiar face around. "Big Mac! I'm back!" She saw him suddenly fall over and struggle with something, before sitting back up rather hurriedly. As she approached him, she could see a nervous look on his face. "Big Mac? Is everything fine?"

"Eeyup!"

"... Are you sure?"

"Eeyup!"

Twilight stared at him a few minutes. He was nervous about something; VERY much so. She looked at him, at his saddlebags nearby, then back to him. He was visibly sweating, and his eyes darting around. Suddenly, it made sense. She figured it out.

"Big Mac..."

"Eeyup?"

"... Were you going to eat more of the herbal paste?"

Big Mac stared at her silently. That's all she needed to hear. "Big Mac, you don't want to eat too much of that stuff. It's not much for being addictive, but if you ingest too much, it can make you lazy, lower coordination, and... uh..." She blushed a bit and leaned in, whispering into his ear. "Lower potency." Big Mac quirked a brow. "So yeah!" continued Twilight. "That little poultice isn't enough to cause problems like that, but ponies who eat a lot of that stuff do tend to show addictive tendencies, even if not physiological in nature."

Big Mac decided it was better she think he was being stupid than she think he was hiding a doll, and he decided to passively not confess to either one. "Okay."

Twilight nodded and sat on the ground, letting out a bit of a yawn. Big Mac quirked a brow. "Sleepy?"

She nodded. "Yeah, a little..." She turned to look at the stallion. "I sort of... didn't sleep much last night, and I figured I could get all the sleep I needed during the trip..."The stallion gave a slight disapproving shake of his head. "I'll be fine. I've pulled all nighters before" she said. "It's alright."

Big Mac shook his head. "Nnope. Get some sleep."

Twilight shook her head. "Oh, no, I couldn't... it wouldn't be right."

Big Mac looked at her with a gentle smile. "It's alright."

Twilight bit her lip, feeling guilt at how tempted it was to simply accept the offer. "You... you sure you'll be okay with it?"

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup."

Twilight looked at him for a bit, and then smiled thankfully. "Thanks... but if you start getting tired, you wake me up, alright?" Big Mac nodded, eliciting one of understanding from Twilight herself. She lay down on her stomach, and curled somewhat, closing her eyes. It wasn't minutes before Big Mac could hear the soft breathing that signaled that the mare was sleeping. He let out a tired sigh of his own and continued to stare into the dark.

***********************************************

"They're not coming back are they?"

The question was on both of their minds, but only one of them had the courage to say it.

"Oh of course they are, silly! They have to!"

It wasn't the pony you'd have suspected.

Fluttershy looked outside of the tent. It had been hours, and it was currently past the point most ponies began heading to bed. She sighed, looking to Pinkie Pie, who wore a big grin. "Pinkie, I don't think so... I... I'm pretty sure by now they would have found shelter and hid themselves away..."

Pinkie snorted. "What!? This was supposed to be a fun camping trip for everypony to get along, have fun, discover new things about each other, and maybe tell some funny stories! Why WOULDN'T they come back?"

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie for a few seconds. Something about Pinkie seemed off; her smile seemed forced, her joy seemed unauthentic.

"You're worried they'll never come back at all, arent you?"

Pinkie gasped, turning to Fluttershy. "What! Of course not! I know they'll come back!"

Fluttershy nodded. "I agree."

It grew silent for a few seconds.

"Unless they get eaten by bears..."

"Pinkie..."

"O-Or Timberwolves..."

"Pinkie?"

"Or fall off a cliff..."

"Pinkie Pie!"

Both ponies gasped, Fluttershy throwing her hooves over her muzzle. Pinkie seemed particularly shocked. Fluttershy recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "I-I just... I think you're getting too worried. I mean, they're lost, but they're all resourceful, capable mares, and Big Mac is pretty resilient, so we'll see our friends again, I promise..."

Pinkie stared at Fluttershy for a few minutes.

"You promise?"

Fluttershy smiled. "I promise..."

"Pinkie Promise?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Cross my heart, hope to fly."

*********************************

A bear wandered through the woods.

It had been wandering for hours, looking for food. It had been awoken so rudely from it's nap by the yellow pony, and now all it wanted was a meal. It was wondering if any other ponies were around that might have camping sites that had easy-to-achieve foods. Still, if they did, were they the yellow ponies' friends?

Staring into her eyes was as staring into the abyss.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

It's hunt had proved fruitless. Once more, it was tired. It wanted sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was where it was before the yellow one disturbed it, disturbed it and then bore into its' very soul with her evil, hate-filled gaze, as if staring into the very pits of Tartarus itself.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

So, it began it's trek back towards it's cave. It had wandered so far, so far from home, so far from sanctuary. The bear did this a lot, but never for so extended a period of time; of course, it had been years since the bear had seen ponies. Why, it was perhaps but a cub when it last had seen a pony! When would it get a free meal again? One that didn't run, or sting, or jump, or move around a lot? When would it get a chance to try the various fruits and vegetables that ponies grew and harvested that were not native to it's home? It had to pounce on the chance when it got it, otherwise it might never get to savor the foods only ponies could make.

Sleep would come soon. It's cave was just in sight. It stopped momentarily, catching sight of a purple pony. She was leaving, which was good; that meant she would not use it's cave as a dwelling, and it would not have to worry about infuriating the yellow demoness with her horrible gaze. The bear's journey was near it's end. Blissful sleep was close at hand.

It saw three figures. One white, one blue, and one orange.

The white and orange ones were huddled together, while remaining close to the blue. Upon closer inspection, it realized there were in fact ponies; the blue looking as if it had been injured.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

The bear snorted. Even it's own lair had been invaded. Was this what ponies referred to as karma? Did the bear even know what karma was?

Or was all that encompassed it's memory right now the dreadful gaze of the yellow pony.

The bear turned tail and left it's den. It would find a new cave; there were plenty about. As long as it never saw the yellow pony again, as long as it never did anything to obtain her ire, all would be well.

*************************

Rarity clung tightly to Applejack, holding her breath as she watched the large bear leave. Why had it left? It was one bear against three ponies; one of which was particularly injured. By all means, it couldn't have lost. Still, it had decided to leave for reasons beyond her.

Suddenly, sleep overtook Rarity - more in the flavor of fainting than actually going to sleep, of course.

*************************

Big Mac stared at the night sky. Constantly, a fear found it's way into his mind; wondering what his sister was doing, if she had made it back to the campsite safely, or if the bear had ever left. He also felt himself worried about the others; they weren't really his friends, per se, but they were friendly acquaintances. He'd like to think everypony'd come back in one peace.

He turned to look at the mare currently accompanying him. Odd; she was a princess, and yet she didn't act like it. He'd known her long enough that even he really didn't feel he was in the presence of royalty. For all intents and purposes, she was like any other mare; just a bit more responsibility on her shoulders. As he watched her, he noticed that she was shivering; he did suppose it was kind of chilly, although he barely noticed. Of course, far as he was told, she was the type to stay indoors a lot, and did very little manual labor, so she probably wasn't as protected as he was from the harshness of the elements.

He sighed a bit before lifting himself up and trotting towards her, and laying down next to her, pressing his back to her. He could feel her shivering slow, and eventually stop. He smiled a bit, turning to look back up at the night sky.

At least he could do SOME good, for all it was worth.

Comments

[crystalheart2000]

3006941
Im sorry, I had only read the first part of the story,and decided to leave a mean comment. Im going to read the rest.....and I just might like the story!