An ironic problem
As much as it annoyed him, he did appreciate the irony. Here he was, surrounded by trees, and he didn't have a single sheet of paper, or parchment for that matter. If it wasn't so frustrating, he might have laughed. Maybe. As it was, he just muttered another curse under his breath. On the other side of the cave, the Timberwolf looked up momentarily at the sound. When nothing else was said, it laid its head back on the floor to continue lightly dozing.
Food and water could be foraged, so that was no problem. Planning for the various experiments had been completed long ago, during his incarceration. But even his brilliant mind couldn't retain everything. And even if it could, he would need to do calculations, eventually spread word of his results. And unless the modern scientific world was prepared to take crude carvings on stone tablets seriously, he was in severe need of supplies. That meant that he would need to venture into civilization, and 'acquire' some resources. It couldn't wait- once he had retrieved the test subject, it would be too dangerous to leave the forest until his work was completed. But on the other hoof, it was also incredibly dangerous now; guards were sure to be patrolling the surrounding area for him.
Scowling, he looked over to the wolf. "Stay," he growled. No point in drawing more attention to himself, as the predator's presence surely would. He knew the wolf would understand. He'd managed to teach it a few basic commands, with the aid of a tree-branch to correct unwanted behaviour.
Walking through the forest, he wondered where he would go. Not into the town proper, of course. That was far too risky, even now, at night. There was a farm, though, wasn't there? And maybe a couple of outlying cottages too. All he had to do was find the way out. He had been slowly building up a mental map of his surroundings, during his various excursions for food and water. Just yesterday, he had found what appeared to be a beaten track through the forest, a fair distance from his cave. He had no way of determining its purpose, where it led, but decided it was as good a place to start as any.
The track, when he finally found it, was exactly as he remembered it. The vegetation underfoot was flattened, and patchy on the distinctive trail of compressed soil. It was clearly well-used. Unsure of which way to go, he chose a direction at random. Hopefully it would lead him to the forest edge.
It hadn't. He had, either by good luck or bad, apparently ended up deeper in the forest. Bad luck, because he was nowhere near where he wanted to be. Good, because he had found what he was looking for. A house. Or rather, a tree that had been made into one.
Putting aside the absurdity of finding such a construction in the Everfree forest, there was also the matter of its decor. Zebrican, if he was not mistaken. Tricky folk. They were as peace-loving as most Equestrians, but their mastery over potions made for a strong reputation. He recalled that their last war had ended before it had even begun, with most of the invading army falling ill with any number of maladies. The small group still able to fight had been quickly dissuaded by a large force of Zebra warriors. Peaceful, but still dangerous in a fight.
A Zebra living in the Everfree was sure to have protections against the various creatures it contained. He frowned at that thought. There were no traps as far as he could see, no obvious forms of defence. Not even an alarm system to warn the occupant of danger. He himself had been able to construct a large vine tripwire connected to bunches of small rocks inside the cave on a ledge, arranged in such a way as to make them fall in the event that an unwelcome intruder breached a hastily-erected perimeter around the cave. So where were the Zebra's defences?
He approached the hut cautiously, ready to bolt at the first hint of trouble. However, nothing happened as he approached a window, and looked inside. The tree-house was gloomy, with only a small lamp providing some night-time light. In the back, though, he could just about make out the shape of a bed, partly hidden by a wall. It was clearly occupied.
Neuron sat down, and contemplated his choices. Either he could retrace his steps, and try his luck at the other end of the trail, or he could attempt to break into the Zebra's home and search for supplies, all without waking the occupant. He sighed. There would likely be similar problems on the other end of the track, wherever that was. And that was assuming the track led to town, and not to some part of the Everfree rich with potion ingredients. He scowled again: he really had no choice. Getting here had taken long enough, finding the town and a suitable house could take him until morning. Entering this house was likely the safest choice if he was to avoid capture and still acquire supplies. A Zebra foolish enough to live in the Everfree without protection would pose little threat. Perhaps the various monsters really were rare in this part of the forest. It would certainly explain the lack of need for defence.
His decision made, Neuron stood up and pushed at the door. It was locked, naturally. However, this was a simple lock, designed to keep out mindless beasts, not an intelligent Unicorn such as himself. Telekinesis made it easy to lift the crude latch on the other side of the door, its presence confirmed with another glance through the window. He nudged the door open, and stepped in a quietly as he could.
The room was sparse in terms of furniture. Most of the room was dedicated to potion creation. Looking around, he spied a small wooden desk in one corner. A desk with paper. He smirked, and quietly made his way over to it. The wooden desk held an impressive amount of blank paper, as well as a few quills and bottles of ink. Off to one side was a small stack of notes, along with what appeared to be a letter. A cursory examination of the first few paragraphs revealed that the Zebra, 'Zecora', had been asked to write some notes on the Zebrican methods of potion mixing. Neuron raised an eyebrow at the impressive stack of paper, which had clearly been supplied for the Zebra to use. Whoever this academic was, they clearly had a rather strange definition of the word 'some'...and possibly of 'notes', as well. It seemed more like the Zebra had been contracted to write a book on the subject, possibly two!
No matter though. That just meant more supplies for him. After a few moments of thought, he decided to take the potion notes as well. Perhaps there was something of use to him in them. Lifting up the lot with telekinesis, he turned to check on the sleeping Zebra...and froze.
While looking through the window had shown him much of the house's layout, one thing it hadn't revealed to him was the fact that the Zebra apparently slept with a spear. It was long, sharp, and clearly made for protection. Neuron unconsciously gulped. At least he had an answer for the lack of traps now...they probably weren't needed. Apparently, this Zebra was combat-trained. He had a terrible suspicion that the Everfree left this house alone because the occupant had scared off any trouble.
Said occupant was also awake, alert, and pointing the afore-mentioned spear in his direction.
"This is quite a surprise to me, to find the fugitive of the Everfree. I ask that you surrender quietly, unless you wish this to turn ugly." said Zecora.
"I get the point," snarled Neuron. He lay down, and began lowering the supplies to the ground. Zecora relaxed slightly.
"Good, I tha-" And then he blasted the Zebra into the wall behind her with a large stunning spell, using the magic he was already channeling to fuel it. The things he was levitating dropped to the floor to the floor, the levitation spell now gone. Neuron scrambled to his feet and picked up the supplies again with his magic. He had to go, NOW, before the Zebra recovered.
Neuron Probe bolted out the door, taking with him paper, ink and quills. He was now ready to conduct his research.
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A bit too much picking up, perhaps?
6081615 Thanks, can't believe I missed that. It should be fixed now.
Anyone who wants to try writing Zecora needs to know about this site.
http://www.writerhymes.com/
Pinkie pie should leave town a bit.
Damn. I was hoping he's get a striped hoof up his ass before he got away. Ah well, always next time. Hope to see more soon!
Huh...... Be honest i would think she would have had something ready in case he did something like that.
Zecora lives in the everfree after all. She gotta be prepared to defend herself. Then again that is mostly personal opinion.
Which is why you ask unicorns to turn away if you threaten one.
6081731
I'd prefer to smack the home invading unicorn on the horn (hard) and ask questions later.
Neuron's got some thick plot armor
He should've been mauled 50 ways to sunday already...
Did he still get the notes?
6081730
Yeah but she would be used to mindless beasts not thinking ponies.
6081796
Violence: the answer to all your problems.
6081850 Even a tank doesn't have so much armor.
Zecora has been shown to wield a simple staff in canon. Adding a pointy bit to the end of it for emergencies makes perfect sense.
She should have hit him on the horn before he noticed her. Everypony knows that's how you disable a unicorn.
6081886
He picked everything up, yes.
6081978 Actually it really doesn't. Spears and Quarterstaves (the most common staff class weapon) are used extremely differently. Even if one is trained in combat wielding a Quarterstaff they don't necessarily know how to properly use a Spear.
6082117 okay. Cause it said supplies and I was unsure whether to count those as part of it.
6082192 Unless she was trained in Seven Hells Pole style or the zebra equivilent of the African Art.
He make a powerfull enemy... Zecora knows about the everfree and can navigate it. Also can tell other guards where is hiding.
Permission to put Neuron in the Book of Eibon?
I like Neuron.
If Zecora has any sense she will now go and tell Everyone in Ponyville. And if they have any sense they will then be sure to check the Forrest again, twice as thoroughly and keep Pinkie as far from it as posible. After all the Guy who Hurt here Is RIGHT THERE!
Probe just blew his cover, they now know for a fact that he is in the Everfree. Its time for the Man hunt to begin anew.
+1 breaking and entering, +1 theft, +1 assault charges. Are you making a collection or something, doctor?
6081850
The Everfree has a sense of humour and is leaving him alone. Being eaten by a manticore has sadly little schadenfreude to it.
Huh, I just figured Zecora was a Zebrican Shaman and she had potions and wards keeping the animals off her... plus only a fool messes with a Zebrican Shaman and I've always thought of Zecora as a particularly powerful member of her kind - she's come very far from her homeland and shacked up in the Dark Forbidden Forest of Death, Doom and Dragons after all and not a single damned thing in there dares to come close to her hut. The only thing that ever drove her out of Everfree were the Plunder Vines and they were heavy-duty Chaos Magic.
6082832
I agree. We see her mastery of potions, and her ability to water walk when training Twilight shows that she's a powerful Shaman [Lauren Faust was from what I heard wanted her to be a second teacher to Twilight when she moved to Ponyville]. So yeah, that and she has that wicked staff, seeped in hundred of potions, who knows what debuffs would be dealt to those hit with it.
If not hit with a Voodoo curse, or a powerful combat orientated potion. I can definitely see her as a medium-long range warrior mostly, and only a fool would think going in closer would be the wiser of choices. Sure she may not have time to give out Zebra Voodoo, or toss potions. But that only means you're closer to the Staff of Warding [Debuff edition].
Bad news is that Neuron Probe got what he wanted. Good news is that Zecora will be able to alert the group about Neuron's whereabouts.
He had no way of determining it's purpose
I get the point.,
""Good, I tha-"
1. Its.
2. Extra full stop.
3. Extra opening quotation mark.
6082484 Maybe. He also wielded multiple weapons at once, but Xaldin had a more coordinated style. Mifune just scattered swords on the battlefield and used them when it was convenient, not a very methodical approach.
6082815 I'm hoping for a karmic backlash
Gets chased out of Ponyville and runs into a batch of poison joke, which then gives him his own split personality or something
He then spends the remainder of his days in the hospital
AAAWWWWW HORSEAPPLES.
I thought Zecora was gonna kick that quack's hide for sure.
STILL A JACKASS!
And I'm caught up!
*Happy Dance*
6081868 I believe the most common name is ScootaSpike.
Should have split the horn down the middle. It should be possible, cosidering Zecora's +1 biceps and such. He deserves it.
6095575
*thumbs up*
6082989 That's what I was thinking. His lifeline has consisted of his intellect, patience and creativity, but he is still going to have a hard time. This is especially true now since Zecora can confirm to the others that he is definitely in the Everfree Forest and also give them a list of the items that he stole.
So, now he has a makeshift lab, a pet timberwolf, and a way to document his 'findings'. He still needs to get his hands on his 'test subject', get her back to his 'lab', and conduct his experiments. All while he is being hunted by the other Elements, the Royal Guards, probably half of Ponyville, and maybe even the princesses themselves. I'm hoping for his epic failure.
That close a call with a simple home invasion? Boy, Neuron's gonna have some problems if he plans to get Pinkie out of Ponyville, unless he devises the most masterful of master plans, which as we saw with the prison break, will probably not happen.
6100043 Same! I mean, I'm all for dark stuff, but, well....
6145092 Yeah...I'll change that now. Thanks for pointing that out!
Please update soon.
6082648
He wants to strap pinkie down and run endless horribly painful experiments on her for his own twisted idea of science. Y'know, like he did when she was a small child.
If you LIKE him, then you deserve to be punched.
6081796
I'd prefer to stab the home-invading, thieving fugitive, and then collect the dead-or-alive bounty.
Why did Zecora falter? You never lower your weapon, and if she were truly as trained as we are meant to believe her to be, she'd know this.
I see Celestia or Twilight or whomever is intelligent enough to make sure even Zecora was filled in on Neuron Probe's escape.
It's just a shame that Zecora didn't gut him right away and then take him to Ponyville.
I have a suggestion for shipping if you are open it. Not sure is anyone else mentioned it, but what about the mirror pool with the various personas and followed by a kind of soul-transfer spell?
Not Zecora.
The trick is in the Poison Joke. Zecora have a ring of those blue plants around her hut, and the wild life knows to not get near them.
6081643
Oh god dammit! All I want to do is try out rhymes and what do I get? Writer's block.
8361095
Well not in close proximity. The times we've seen the surroundings of her house, it's a normal forest. It was only that one patch that the Mane 6 stumbled in.
I think it's more likely that she's a shaman, knows enough about Alchemical Combat to be a serious threat, and with that balance we've seen of hers can deliver one hell of a kick. So curse, potion, or hoof, I think she'd be a dangerous equine to have as an enemy.