The Mare who Holds Man's Chaos

by uz_mike222

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Vic opened his eyes and looked out the barn’s big window that was over the loft. He saw the moon as it rose into full view, shining it light into the otherwise dark space.

It was full again, as it has been for the past two months since he started this journey before coming to this town, even before that actually. What a curiosity, though.

He’s been used to a moon with its phases as it orbited Terra, but he wants to know why this moon is always full. That question will be answered when it is presents itself an opportunity, however, he has more pressing matters to attend to, and that is to get a map of the area along with a book or two on the plant life that is edible so he can continue his journey.

He quickly wrapped the brown t-shirt around his head and picked his pack up. While placing it on his back, he made his way up to the loft, walked over to the window and grabbed some rope that was coiled on top of a hay bale that was near the window. He picked up the rope and threw it out the window, but held onto the other end.

The rope fell flat onto the dirt and kicked up a small bout of dirt.

He tied the rope to a handle bar that held some hooks on it. He checked the rope to see if it was taught by pulling on it as hard as he could, even as going so far as to put both of his feet against the wall just to pull on it. Once he was satisfied that it passed the test, he grabbed the rope and slide down the 30 feet or so to the ground. He let go of the rope and groaned while letting off a curse in a loud whisper as he blew on his hands that burn because of the rope. He wished he had kept his leather gloves for something like this, but he needed to eat then and that’s all he had he could part with.

Vic crept along the side of the barn as he made his way to the entrance of the Apple Farm once his hands cooled off. He looked around to see if that rainbow haired Pegasus pony was at the barn, but the ground was clear. He looked up and saw a lone cloud in an otherwise clear night. He pressed himself up against the barn wall and looked around the corner towards the cloud.

The cloud stayed in that one spot, not even moving an inch, until it started moving it around. Another oddity for him that he still doesn’t understand. Something poked all the way through it, making it dissipate. The cyan Pegasus fell as the cloud dissipated and landed on her back upon the ground, kicking up a dust cloud. The pony stood back up onto all four of her hooves and said something to the clouds, shaking a hood and kicked some up dirt. She then took to the sky, flying over him and back over the town. Vic waited at his spot until she was out of sight, then made his way to the front gate of the farm as quietly as he could. Once he figured he was a good distance away, he sprinted at full speed.

He leapt over the waist high gate and rolled, getting back onto his feet and sprinted down the road without looking back. He didn’t stop until he came to the first thatched house of the town and pressed his left side up against the wall. He took a peak around the corner and saw nothing but an empty street with empty market stalls and candles in lampposts that were burning, lighting up the streets. He surveyed the area, then saw something sprint across the darkness, it’s silhouette was inconveniently huge, but that’s all he could see in that split second.

Vic didn’t want waste any time on figuring out what that thing was, that’ll come later on in his journey. He turned 180 degrees around and skirted around the town until he found a dark alleyway devoid of any light, which he used to make his way onto a part of the main street that was relatively unlit. He sprinted again once he saw his chance and weaved his way through the shadows as he made his way down the road, until he saw a giant Oak tree adorned with a wide array of windows, two balconies and other homely decorations all over it. The door to the lowest balcony was open with light streaming outside, faintly lighting the night. He saw a figure moving atop the balcony. The figure was the purple unicorn looking through a telescope and had several books open around her. A pony of education, he guessed. Who knew?

He crept up to the balcony the pony was using and set his pack down against the trunk of the tree. He removed his poncho and his machete, along with its sheath, setting them both over his pack, with the poncho covering the machete. Vic climbed up the tree as best as he could while still trying to be stealthy, though it was tough since it had no hand holds he could use but pressed on, while narrowly avoiding the inconvenient beehive that impeded his path.
He reached the underside of the balcony and climbed up so he could look over the edge. He saw the unicorn still was focusing on what she was looking at through the telescope. Good, he has the element of surprise and she was luckily unaware of his presence. He quietly lifted himself up and pulled himself under the rail. He cleared the rail and pushed himself so he could kneel, while pulling out his black pocket knife. Vic pulled out the blade, it made a loud ‘click’ as it snapped into place, but the unicorn didn’t move an inch. She was still unaware then, so, talking the chance he sprinted, throwing away his stealth for a full on charge as he let his heavy feet fall on the wooden floor. He leapt as soon as the pony’s ears twitched from the new noise.

The pony was fast, but he was already near her before she could do anything. He tackled the purple coated pony, making both of them tumble past the books without disturbing them. Vic was on his feet once he slid to a stop, pocket knife still in his hand. He jumped again and landed on the pony’s back as she stood up while shaking her head, making her sit. He quickly grabbed her horn pulling her head up to expose her neck and placed the blunt part of the blade against her throat, letting the flat part touch the bottom of her muzzle. He wanted to make sure he didn’t kill her. He didn’t need more blood on his hands and in his nightmares.

“Scream or do any of your crazy magic, and I’ll cut your throat. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to. Just do as I say, and you’ll live, ok?”

She nodded as best as she could since he was pulling her head back.

“Ok. Like I said, try anything and I will kill you.” He pulled his knife away and folded it back up by using his pants, while sliding it back into its place in his front right pocket. He let go of the horn and slid off the unicorn, letting her stand.

“What do you want?” the pony asked, as she turned to face Vic, tears forming in her eyes, which were full of fear and anger. Good, he wanted her to have that fear of him so she wants him to leave and hoped for him to never see this town or its occupants again.

“All I want is a map of the surrounding area and a book on edible plant life like fruits and vegetables. Got anything like that?” He asked.

“I believe I do, just give me a minute.” She cantered back into the tree and was out of sight before he could say anything more.

He grunted at that, but noticed the pile of books near the telescope she had set up. He walked over to the pile of books and crouched down. He flipped through one of the closed books that was on top of pile and saw the exact same constellations his universe had. He closed the book and chose another closed book from a different pile. He flipped through this one and saw statistics and other variables for meteor showers and comet falls. He whistled as he flipped through more of the book, learning more about this universe’s own outer space.

As it turned out, the Sun and Moon was magically controlled by two powerfully magical beings called Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Celestia was the owner of the Sun as Luna was the owner of the Moon. Curious how Celestia, Latin for Heaven, controlled the Sun. He guessed the Sun Princess regarded herself as the ruler over a heavenly body. Figures that religion could still be found amongst sentient beings.

The next thing he saw in the book was the fact the science done and the theories stated fit the way this world was run on how the world was the center as the Sun and Moon revolved around it, along with the different planets circling around them in this System. He guessed that the only way to break them of this thinking would take an extremely long time as their understanding of science grew. This will also take a seat in the back of his mind.

He heard the sounds of hooves and creaking wood as the pony walked up the stairs. He replaced the book he opened and stood, moving away from the piles, towards the door.

“I found a few maps I had and several books on the surrounding wildlife and plant life in the forest I assume you are going to head through. Take what you need and go. Please, just go.” They were floating around her but she pushed the things towards him.

“I will once I find the ones I need. I just want to say I’m sorry and thank you for your cooperation.” He took the books and maps.

He sat down a little ways from the purple unicorn and poured his attention over every single book and map until he found the ones he really needed.

Once he finished his research. He noticed the pony had fallen asleep. She used to the piled up books as a makeshift pillow so she could fall asleep. He guessed that was a normal occurrence for her. He pulled his pen out of a pants pocket, along with a small scrap piece of paper. He scrawled the words on it “I’m sorry,” on it and set it under the book her head rested on.

He quickly picked up the map and the couple of books he had chosen, and climbed down the tree as best as he could while trying not to lose his grip. He felt the cobblestones that made the street under his boots and let go of the tree. He tied the map with a piece of string that he had in his pocket and tucked it inside the middle pocket of his pack after putting the books in. Though the map was sticking out, it’ll have to do for now, until the next time he came to a town. He picked up his pack, poncho and machete and set out into the night, heading towards the unknown, heading north and west.

-

When the sun rose and shinned onto Twilight’s face, she drowsily picked up her head, yawned and closed the book she had used as a pillow. Luckily she didn’t drool tonight, unlike the other times she had slept with her head in her books after a long night of studying and research.

A small piece of paper rose with the wind and flew over to a small pile of books to the back and to the right of her, coming to a rest atop one of them. She stood up and walked over to the small pile of books and saw rolled up maps there as well. They were arranged into a neat pile that looked ready to be taken back inside.

The small note was picked up into the air, but Twilight quickly grabbed it with her magic. She brought it over so she could read it, but couldn’t really decipher what the note read. The creature probably wrote it in the characters he knew instead of in her written language, but that doesn’t matter now.

She rearranged the lines into something comprehensible and what she read, she felt incredibly sad, but also incredibly angry at what the creature had pulled last night. Twilight could still feel the coldness of the blade the weapon he used to threaten her.

“Twilight!” A scream was heard as a rainbow and cyan colored blur zipped past, going straight through the open door. The result was a loud crash inside the interior of the library.

Twilight sighed audibly as she made her way down the stairs and sighed yet again when she saw all of the books she put back in their new order all over the floor. Again. For the third time this week.

“What is it Rainbow Dash?” She asked in an annoyed tone as she cautiously made her way to the cyan colored Pegasus.

“Twilight?!” Rainbow Dashes head poked out of the big lump of books, quickly searching around for the purple colored unicorn. She saw her friend and made her way over to her, though it looked like she was swimming through the books. “Twilight, the creature escaped and he’s nowhere in town!”

“Yeah, I know. He visited me last night, asking for a couple of books and a map.” She started picking up the books and putting them back into their place.

“And you just let it go without doing anything?”

“I would have done something, but he snuck up on me while I was studying last night. He caught me at a disadvantage, but he was polite about the entire situation, which surprised me.” She subconsciously raised a hidden hoof to her throat but quickly dropped it and turned towards Rainbow Dash.

“So you helped him without a struggle and he didn’t do anything to you bad to you?”

“Yes and yes. Like I said, he was polite about situation last night, however, let’s just forget this entire incident ever happened and never speak of it to anypony. Ok, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, still putting away her books.

“I guess you’re right. Better for him to be out of sight, so he can be out of our minds. Let me help you clean up.” Rainbow trotted over to the pile and began helping Twilight.

Applejack and Big Macintosh came by a little later after Twilight and Rainbow finished up, with the help of Spike who woke up after Rainbow began helping. That dragon could sleep through anything. Twilight talked with the two Earth Ponies and suggested the same thing she did with Rainbow Dash: Forget about the creature and return back to their normal lives like it never existed. They agreed to the suggestion and never spoke of the incident again, only keeping it between themselves and made the CMC do the same, instilling the fear of them getting into trouble if they spoke about the human and they didn’t want to be kept from their crusading.

A week’s time has passed without any more incidents, so the three mares, along with Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie decided to take a trip since it was time for the Buffalo to stampede again in Appleloosa and they were asked by Breaburn to come help pass out the pies the following day.

The trains wheels’ clacked along the set track, drowning out the laughter and happiness from inside the car the six mares, along with Spike, were having fun in.

-

Vic dizzily stumbled on as the heat of the desert hit him before he hit the shade of a plateau. He rested his left shoulder against the cool red rock and pulled out his canteen from its own special pocket in his pack. He pulled off his brown shirt, dumping a little water onto his face so it could cool off and poured some water down his throat, letting it become wet again.

He sighed happily as he took another drink from his canteen and put it back into its pocket. He put his t-shirt back into its place and looked east as he heard the sound of a noise he hadn’t heard since his youth: a train whistle.

He knew the ponies were smart, but he didn’t know how advanced their technology was.

The same whistle blew again as a brightly colored train appeared from behind the rock that covered his right. He watched it pass by, becoming engulfed in a tunnel that was carved into a rock.

Where there are train tracks, there is civilization. He smirked and began to walk towards the track but a dust of cloud kicked up, prompting him to cover his eyes with a forearm so he wouldn’t be blinded by the sand.

The dust settled and what it revealed was an extinct animal that used to roam the plains of the Old Mid West: The Buffalo.

He was in awe that he was able to see one that was actually alive since they had become extinct about three ago. But that awe faded since they didn’t look friendly and would pose a threat to him.

There was enough to give him worry as they formed a circle around him. They snorted and stamped their hooves on their ground horns pointed towards him, feathers waving in the wind. just waiting for him to make a move, but he didn’t move an inch, until they stopped and an opening formed, allowing a bigger buffalo through. The big Buffalo’s coat was black and wore a Plains Tribal styled headdress with a blue band that had detailed bead work worked into the headdress.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my land?!” the leader asked with a deep, fatherly, voice, snorting into Vic’s face as the Buffalo shoved it close.

He pulled down his brown t-shirt, letting it rest on his shoulders. “My name is Vic and I was just wandering through. I am humbly sorry for trespassing into your land without knowing, Chief. I was actually on my way to the town that those train tracks lead to in hope to gather supplies and water while being able to rest there for the night.”

“Which town did you even come from stranger? What land?”

“ The land I’m originally from is dead. Long and buried, but the town I came from was a town called Ponyville, I believe. The only thing I mostly remember about that place was a Pegasus pony whose mane and tail was rainbow colored.”

“You know Rainbow Dash?” A feminine voice asked as a small orange Buffalo jumped onto the Chief’s back. She then jumped off and landed in front of Vic.

“I knew her, yes, but it was only for half a day as I only stopped there for water, a map and a few books.” He said with a straight face, though he knew he was lying since he had taken those books and that map with force. Best to not let them know about that.

“Well, anyone who knows Rainbow Dash is a friend of mine. The name’s Little Strongheart, by the way.” She held a hoof out in front of him.

He knelt and lightly took the hoof in his hand. “Vic, is mine,” he said, shaking Little Strongheart’s hoof and let go a second later. Scrawny little calf.

“C’mon, you can stay with us tonight.” She said, eyes gleaming.

Vic felt the tension on his back and he didn’t know how to respond to the offer. He looked at the Chief for help, but the big Buffalo looked away. He’s in the same boat as well, then. “I will take you up on your offer for tonight, but I must be on my way before the sun comes up.”

“It’s settled then! C’mon!” she walked her way through the herd without it having to part for her, but the Buffalo reluctantly did so for him, keeping him in their sights.

Vic and the herd walked a long ways, answering questions along the way, until he spotted a settlement of teepees surrounded by walls of plateaus and hills.

“Welcome to our camp, Vic. It isn’t much, but with the Appleloosan’s giving us apple pie this time of year, it’s a nice change of pace from the oatmeal we usually eat here.”

“Anything that resembles a town is better than what I’m used.” he chuckled.

“I can tell with all that dust on your coat.” The small buffalo giggled, her hawk’s feathers bouncing as she walked. “Anyway, welcome to the Buffalo Tribe’s home. Make yourself at home while I go and see to our other guests. Chief Thunderhooves here can help you, won’t you Chief?” She asked the big Buffalo, her big eyes becoming bigger. He looked around for excuses to say no and started to sweat but quickly caved in.

“Of course, but I don’t like it.” He said, letting Little Strongheart go on her way. “Come with me to my tent, I would like to ask you a few questions.” The big buffalo said as he moved off from the main group.

Vic followed closely behind. He looked around and saw they were like one of the many Plains Tribes from the old movies he used to watch, except they were Buffalo and they weren’t tanning any hides that he knew of.

They crossed the main fire pit and turned left after a couple of teepees. The Chief stopped and opened the flap to his. Vic walked in and sat down on the dirt as the Buffalo did same, facing him.

“Now, tell me what really happened in Ponyville and why are you here.” The chief demanded.

Vic sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll say it bluntly then: I forced a purple unicorn to give me the books I needed, along with a map of the area. The reason I’m here is because I’m passing through, as I’ve said. I have a mission to complete.”

“And what mission is that?” The chief asked but a knock came on the post outside before Vic could answer.

Little Strongheart poked her head through that held a smile on her face, with wide eyes that held excitement. “Mr. Vic, Rainbow Dash and her friends are here, helping us out and I asked if they wanted to see you again. Will you join me with them?”

“I would love to but I…,” he trailed off and felt his expression soften a bit. He was searching for an excuse to not go and see those ponies but was unable to find one. “Sure, I’ll go and see them.” He sighed inwardly as he stood up and made his way out of the teepee after bowing his head a little to the Chief, who nodded in return.

Little Strongheart happily walked her way through the tribe to the spot where seven multicolored ponies and a purple lizard sat around a fire pit, eating pies, though the lizard was eating what looked like gems. He heard his stomach growling, which prompted a giggle from the female buffalo.

“Hey! It’s you! What are you doing here?” The cyan colored Pegasus shouted as she took to the air and zipped over to Vic, shoving her snout into his, eyes filled with anger.

“I was just passing on through this little settlement and Little Strongheart here offered for me to spend the night. Besides, I did nothing to warrant such hostilities from you.” he pushed the Pegasus back with his nose, but his face was kept at a calm neutrality.

“Then what do you call using a weapon to threaten one of my friends?!” She cried, he could see small tears forming but this pony was acting like a tomboy, so they didn’t form. A gasp went through the ponies as they all looked towards the purple unicorn, who was looking at the ground. “I saw you threaten Twilight with one of those things you have. What’s your excuse with those, huh?! And did you ask her to lie so you could cover your tracks?”

“First off, lie? What lie? Second, I saw no other possible option of gaining her cooperation without threatening her life, besides, I use these knives for survival.”

“Likely story,” the Pegasus said, crossing her hooves.

“I will do anything to complete my mission and threatening your friend for what I needed was the best option, otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. As I said, my art is in warfare and espionage. Nothing more and nothing less. I will take responsibilities for any and all actions I have made, along with the mistakes those actions have warranted. Since I am clearly not welcome here anymore, I will be on my way then. I thank you for your offer of hospitality Little Strongheart, but I must be on my way to continue on my journey.” He turned, putting his t-shirt back over his hair, mouth and nose and walked away from the fire, towards the open expansion of the desert beyond.

Twilight watched as Vic walked by her. She raised a hoof and opened her mouth, but let her it drop and closed her mouth. She felt sad for him because she knew something substantial happened to him but she didn’t know why. She looked back down into her pie tin and saw her saddening face.

She stood up, getting some worried cries from Rarity and Fluttershy, but she ignored them as galloped off after the human, though it was only a short run.

“Excuse me. Can I talk to you?” she asked as she followed behind him. He stopped and faced her, while he removed that brown cloth, letting it rest on his shoulders.

“If you’re here to apologize for your friend, don’t. Her anger is justifiable and is understandable. If you were in my shoes, you’d probably do the same thing in order to complete a task like mine. The actions that took place between you and I are my responsibility. I wasn’t proud to make that choice to threaten you, but it was one of few options I had to make and its better than the alternative.”

“ And I thank you for that.” she bowed her head. “I understand the logic and reasoning on said decisions. We ponies aren’t just used to much violence other than self-defence. I’m sure if you sat down with us and talked, maybe we could find out a lot more about each other?” she asked.

Before Vic could say anything, his stomach answered for him when he thought about the pie. “I guess my answer is set then. I will come but I will say this now: When I leave in the morning, I leave with no one and I was never here, ok?” he asked.

“I understand, Vic.” Twilight turned and walked back towards the fire pit, with a reluctant Vic in tow, though he didn’t show his concerns on his face.

“Hey, I thought you were leaving!” Rainbow shouted as she stood up from her seat.

“I asked him to stay for the night so he could eat something and besides, he still has to return my books to me.” Twilight told Rainbow as she sat down at the fire that has already been started since the sun began to go down.

“Whatever, I still don’t trust him,” Rainbow stared at the human as he sat down next to Twilight.

“Neither do I,” Applejack spat into the fire, a small steam trail mixed in with the smoke. “Especially after hearing what he did to ya, Twi.”

“I’m not asking you to trust him, but give him a chance to explain the situation he is in and what we can do to help him.” She turned to Vic. “Now please, tell us your story.