The Traveling Human Walks A Bizarre Path
I never fully realized how far we had actually walked into the forest until I looked up and saw that the moonlight was our only guide now, as it softly shone its way through the tree tops. Then again, last time we walked through this area we met a dimensional traveler and had ourselves a little talk.
So there's that.
I was kinda getting used to hearing Dev's metallic footsteps as we walked back to town. Given what I said, I was still giving them a chance but I could not shake this creeping feeling up my back everytime I looked back and saw them looking at me with those blank eyes.
Hopefully they have some sort of workshop in New Leafton so we can patch them up a bit more.
I am glad they they appear to be friendly, since Maelstrom took an interest in them and she began to fly around them, asking questions about them and etc. They responded nicely and very pleasantly, almost as if they were happy someone was finally talking to them or showing interest.
Makes me wonder how long they were rusting away in that awful place. I also wonder if they were active and conscious during that time as well. Hmmmm……
“-Master? What are you thinking about?-” Devi asked me.
“Wha? Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking….. before we found you, were you aware of everything around you as time went on by or?” I asked in return.
“-Ah, I see. Well, truthfully master, we don't remember much about that time. It is hard to describe, it was like we were awake but could not see our environment yet could recall our memories while our mind wandered hazily-” Devi replied.
“So, kinda like a dream then?”
“-A dream? Though we cannot dream, I suppose that is the closest term available to describe that sensation-” Devi finished.
I suppose that makes sense, and kinda puts me at ease a bit mainly because the last time I saw a robot having a dream was in 'I, Robot' and I defiantly don't want that scenario happening here as well.
Suddenly I felt a light weight being plopped onto the top of my head. Looking up, I saw Maelstroms hands stretching out while a tired yawn voiced out.
“Papa, are we there yet?” she tiredly asked.
“Almost there sweetie, see?” I said while I pointed my finger at the now visible light sources. Of course, this was assuming that was actually New Leafton. “Are you hungry or thirsty at all?”
She shook her head no before laying it back down and snuggling with my hair a bit. It still amazes me how much she has grown already in such a short time. Kinda makes me sad a bit, though now that I think about it, I wonder how big she will be when fully grown? If she grows as big as Discord is, then that means one day I will have to look up to her then. Which will make my self-esteem plummet, having to strain my neck to look up at my own daughter. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when it comes.
As we came closer to the light source, I saw that it definitely was New Leafton as the structures and defenses were familiar to when we left. I strained my eyes a bit to see if I could spot a guard or someone in order to announce our arrival. Probably a smart move since they were on high alert before and with me being gone for so long, they might still be on alert.
“HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE!?” I yelled out as we got closer.
At first, there was no response until I got blinded by a very bright light that some unicorn summoned.
“Who goes there?! State your identity!” they yelled out.
“My name is Adrian! And I-” I started to say before the light shut off and I could hear the sound of a heavy wooden gate opening. Now the forest seemed to echo with the sounds of dozens of hoofs sprinting, most likely towards me.
“Adrian!” I heard a familiar voice call out. At the front of the herd was Lans….. until he got quickly overtaken by another familiar someone, who I was less eager to see.
“MY DEAR HUSBAND! YOU CAME BACK!!!” Hilda loudly stated as she ran up to me and quickly had me in a death-grip bear hug, I could hear my back popping. Which actually ended up helping since it was kinda bothering me for a while, but that is not important.
“Huh-lo there Hie-lda” I barely managed to gasp out.
“Hilda! Not now!” Lans said, clearly annoyed.
“Bu-bu-but I was wo-wo-worried about my future husband!” She woefully said as she began to blubber out tears.
“Hilda” Lans said again but now with an expecting voice.
“F-f-fine” Hilda finally said before putting me back on my feet. The air rushed back into my lungs, almost too fast cause I felt a bit woozy. But after another deep breath I felt fine and I kneeled down to talk to Lans.
“Adrian, thank goodness your alright! When I lost you in the mist, I thought the worst had happened! I was able to find a few of the ponies we had lost before and we began to search for you but failed. So we decided to re-group back in New Leafton once we found everypony else. Which is what we were doing when we heard you outside the gate” Lans explained.
“What happened out there?”
“What did you see?”
“Did you find whatever was causing the glitches?”
“Was it that pony in the cloak?”
“I bet it was!”
“Lock em up!”
The group of ponies around us started to say and various other things, but they began to close us in when they thought Dev was responsible.
That was when I heard the whirring and clicking of motors and gears and I could see Devs cloak starting to swell up due to the newly generated air. “-Activating Defensive Mode-” Devi said but I quickly put my hands on their shoulders and held fast.
“Stand down Devi, stand down!” I sternly said to them.
“-Understood, Master-” Deva replied back and instantly their body calmed down and everything was silent once more.
“Sounds like you have a story to tell us lad” Lans said as he walked beside us and gave me a tired smile.
But this time, I could not comply. Telling them the truth might not be the best plan of action, mainly because I don't think any one of them would be willing to let Dev walk around free.
So I quickly thought of something to say before I turned to Lans and told him “I can't really tell you the fully story yet, but believe me when I say that you are not in danger. They are-” that is when Dev tugged my shirt. I bent down a little more so I could hear them whisper.
“-Master, are you not going to tell them the truth about us?-”
“No, not yet. I don't think they are ready yet. Nor is most of the world, though I will if you want me to”
“-No Master, we believe this to be the best course of action as well. If you would be so kind, we would like to finish the explanation then-” they asked and I nodded my head.
“-It is as our Master said, you have nothing to fear. We wish not to go into details but simply put, we were experimented on deep within the woods were no pony would find us. But our creator died due to unknown reasons and we were left alone to die until Adrian found us and gave us a chance. So we have devoted ourselves to his service and answer to him and him alone-” Deva explained.
“Did you hear that?”
“An experiment?”
“Who would ever do something like that?”
“Can we trust them then?”
“They did back down after he asked though”
“Yeah, but they are still scary looking though”
“I don't want that around the kids”
Once again the surrounding ponies descended into whispers and rumor talking about everything and it was making me nervous.
So while the town folk gossiped away, I made my way over to Lans and asked “Is there a place we can stay for the night? I wasn't planning on staying long anyway, since we are traveling after all”
Lans snapped his head towards me and stared at me with a confused look before he realized that I had asked him a question and shook his head to clear his thoughts “Yes, yes we have a few places around here. One of them is The Galloping Inn but I don't think you would want to stay there tonight, or else you might really wake up married” he told me with a chuckle.
I shivered at the thought.
“Yeah, no thank you. Do you have a recommendation then?” I asked again.
He brought a hoof up to his chin to think for a moment. “Hmmmm…. Yes! Follow me” he told me before slowly walking off. As he did, the crowd seemed to grow quiet and some even began to disperse. Man, he must hold a lot of influence in this town.
But when I followed him, I saw in my peripheral vision quite a few stares and even a disgruntled look every now and then.
Though, I guess I can't really blame them. First the glitches show up, then I show up, leave to find the source and come back with Dev. I just hope we don't get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks.
Thankfully the farther away we got from the initial crowd, the less harsher looks we received. Now they were just curious and only a little nervous at watching Dev walk by.
“Here we go, welcome to Silverleaf!” Lans said while presenting the building.
Stopping to look, I saw the sign was indeed a silver leaf with that name inscribed in black lettering. Kinda reminded me of something I would see in the Holly Michigan Renaissance Festival.
“Looks nice! I do believe we have found a place to stay tonight, thank you so much Lans. For leading us and for trying to find us before. Sorry that I worried you” I apologeticly said.
“No need to worry, its my job! And I love my job very much! Now, get your daughter into bed and find me when you wake up tomorrow, I may have a favor to ask of you when you leave” Lans told us.
“Will do then, where do I find you?” I inquired.
“I will most likely be at Town Hall, which is that tall, pointed building over there. See it?” he asked while pointing his hoof.
“Got it. Well, I shall catch up with you tomorrow then! Good night” I said.
“Good night to you as well, Mr. Papa” he said in return with a smirk. I smiled along while I rolled my eyes before turning to head inside.
Thankfully, this time it was a normal inn with no bar or restaurant out front and I was not the center of attention.
Making my way over to the front desk, I rang the bell and heard a voice call out “Be right there!”
A pair of ponies then came rushing out to the desk and they both greeted us with a warm smile. “Hello there! My name's Silver!” said the mare on the left.
“And my name's Leaf!” the stallion on the right.
“And together! We're the SilverLeaf twins! Welcome to our Inn!” the two said in sync. Wonder how much they practiced saying that?
I could not help but laugh a little but I returned their smile nonetheless “Hello there, my name is Adrian and I am looking for a room for tonight” I told them.
“Glad to hear it! So, if I my ask, what are all of you?” Silver asked us with Leaf nodding his head in anticipation.
“Hehe, good question. Well I am human from another world, the cute little ball of fluff on top of my head is my daughter Maelstrom-”
“Mae good! Mae loves Papa!” Maelstrom suddenly said while she snuggled with my hair a bit more.
“-and there we go. The timberwolf is my companion and her name is Artemis. And finally, we have…. Well…. Devideva. And I think the proper name for them is probably an android” I said.
Dev went silent for a second before they looked up at me “-Correct Master, the definition for an android is a robot with an equine appearance-” Devi said.
“Wow! A robot?! Cool!” Leaf exclaimed.
“-Cool…. I suppose that is an adequate term to describe ourselves-” Deva replied back.
“Wait, did your voice and personality just change?” Silver asked.
“-Yes and no. We are two minds in one body, my male half Devi-” “-And my female side, Deva! We are the same and yet different and we are still learning how to control ourselves, in a matter of speaking-” Deva explained.
“Wow! So you two are likes twins living in one body!” Leaf excitingly said.
“-Hmmmm, we are not quite sure if that is an accurate statement but at the moment it appears most logical-” Devi said.
“Wow, well good thing you like each other like me and Leaf do! Or else you might drive yourselfs insane! Though, sometimes he does too” Silver said with a teasing smirk.
“At least I'm not half as annoying as you!” Leaf teased back.
“Oh yeah?!”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah?”
“YEAH!”
“Ah-hum” I said with a cough. This got their attention and they swiftly returned to normal.
“Alright! So, one adult, one child, one pet, and one android? Ummmm….. lets just make it two children, since the Devs probably don't need to eat and such. Or do you?” Silver asked us.
“-We do require nourishment, but we can acquire our energy souce without physical meals like our Master requires. So, no, we will not be needing food and our body does not require bedding to sleep either-” Devi explained.
“I see! Well, lets just go with the price of one adult, two children, and a pet. Sound ok?” Silver asked.
“Sure thing” I replied.
“Excellent! And just for one night, that will bring the total up to…. do do do….. 50 bits” Leaf finished.
So with that I dug out the money and paid them in full, when I did Leaf hopped down and showed us around though there was not much at the moment, since they were waiting for their next shipment of supplies to arrive in two weeks.
But after showing us the dining hall and when meal hours were, he showed us our room and bid us good night. Since everything we literally owned fit in my bag, we grabbed a quick bit to eat (which caused a little uproar since they were not fully used to meat eaters) but after Silver and Leaf talked to the chef then everything was fine.
Once we finished eating, we headed back to the room and got settled in, though not for long since most of us were tired and little Maelstrom was already asleep in my arms on the walk back.
“-What are the plans for tomorrow, Master?-” Devi asked me.
“Well, first I would like to see if we can find some sort of workshop or smith so we can find you some parts or whatever you need to fix yourself. Then head on over to Town Hall to meet up with Lans and see what this favor is. Hopefully nothing much” I explained.
“-Very well Master, we shall power down for the night. But if any nightly intruders trespass, we shall deal with them-” Devi said.
“Deal with them kindly, no need for anything drastic. Understand?” I sternly explained.
“-Understood Master. Pacifist Mode will be engaged. Good night, my Master-” Deva said as they turned off while standing up. I watched them for a moment, to just observe and it was sorta creepy to just see them there, standing with blank eyes. But I did my best to ignore it while I went into my bag and grabbed a bowl of water for Artemis.
Once the little hunter was set, she hopped up and curled into a ball to sleep in at the edge of the bed. I turned off the light, tucked the two of us in, which of course led to Maelstrom snuggling up against with with a happy sigh.
Ha. She is so sweet, I love her so much!
With that, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep as well.
“Welcome back Adrian, our silly human” Nightingale said.
“Oh! Hello Nightingale! You found me quick” I exclaimed as I was pulled into a lucid state. Looking around, my dream scape was a bit random tonight and was a mixture of things. I was glad that a certain place was no where to be seen though.
“Oh, well I had to be sure to put a dream lock on you so that way I could always find you, or at least sense where you are and alert other Night Guards. You always seem to find yourself in trouble” She said with a sarcastic tone.
“Must be magic, magic is usually to blame for most of the weird stuff that has happened to me” I simply explained.
“I see, well that settles that then. Well, other than saying hello we have another reason for disturbing you tonight. And that is to ask what this is” she said before levitating a small sphere in front of me. Looking inside, at first it looked like a simple black clouded storm swirling around but then the clouds parted and inside I saw that nightmare factory and I reeled back so much that even my dream scape shifted with me.
“This is most distressing, for this memory to affect you and your subconscious so. Tell me, what is this dreadful looking building?”
I had to take a deep breath of air before continuing “I came across this place deep within the Everfree Forest when I came to New Leafton and was asked to help solve a mystery. With a little help from the mystery itself, I came across this building and decided to explore it. I could not see the name clearly, all I saw was R W Factory. Most of the first word was blurred, but what came next is…. Well….”
I quickly explained the survey of the building and what I saw inside the rooms, both down and up stairs which eventually lead to the discovery of the eyes drawing and of DeviDeva. Then I told her of our exit and how the building is no more, all the while Nightingale sat patiently and listened carefully to my words.
“One thing is for certain, Equestria is a much better place without that unholy place staining the soil. Though I am still greatly concerned about this machine, even though they say they have placed itself under yourself, they are still a great danger to both you and everypony else” Nightingale warned.
“I understand and I am still battling that thought in my mind, but like I said earlier, I should at least give them a chance like I was when I first came to this word. Its only fair” I said.
Nightingale proceeded to laugh away, so much so that she had tears in her eyes.
“Oh, my silly, silly human. You continue to surprise me everyday” she happily said. “Now, I have to get going and continue my rounds. I will have to inform Luna of this factory though, understand?”
“Yes, I was going to tell one of them when I wrote next anyway” I explained.
“Good, now before I go, lets make a certain pony back in Ponyville have a happy dream. Shall we?” she told me with a wink.
Before I could ask, both her and my dream faded away into blackness before quickly being replaced by a blue sky and white fluffy clouds and I appeared to be flying.
“Adrian?! Is that you!” I heard a familiar voice call out. Turning around, I saw a certain gray pegasus crash into me while we both flew in the air.
“Derpy! Still crashing into me, I see” I said with a smile.
“Sorry! I just couldn't help myself! I didn't know you could fly!” she said back.
“I have to keep some things secret, or else I lose my mysterious edge!” I exclaimed.
“I love that about you! Now, lets fly!” she said before she took off. I felt extremely playful at that moment and did my best to catch up and continue living the dream. Literally.
I saw at the edge of my eye Nightingale looking on and I gave her a thumbs up before she nodded and disappeared. I wonder if Derpy will remember this when she wakes up.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Hours Later, In The Morning -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Ugh, Celestias sun is especially bright today, even this far into the Everfree Woods too! Blah, this is why I am a night owl.
But we have a long day ahead of us and many more to come, so I eventually dragged myself out of bed and soon enough, like clockwork, the rest of them woke up as well. We all got cleaned up in the bathroom (well, most of us), got dressed, and headed down for breakfast.
After eating and saying goodbye to the twins, thanking them for their wonderful hospitality, we set off to hopefully find something for Dev. So I started asking around and after a few tried we learned there was quite a few smiths actually, since most ponies needed some work done making wheels, tools, and other necessities to live in the forest.
It is really strange though how most of the smiths didn't seem particularly bothered by Devs appearance or the request to make them eyes or other body parts. But thankfully the two smiths who accepted the request made a set of eyes, and a metallic body cast that could hold a mane wig and a spot for a tail.
Thankfully, due to Celestia spoiling me, the total bit cost did not hurt our holdings and we had plenty of bits left.
Once everything was installed and Dev booted up its new eyes, for some reason their iris color was a dark red color, which did not help lower the creepiness factor at all but now they at least had a somewhat normal looking pair of eyes.
The smith who made the body cast suggested a place to where we could purchase a wig and probably work out a deal for a tail as well. We quickly made our way over to a place called A Mane For You and Me, once inside we talked to the sales clerk and explained what we needed and due to the smiths suggestion, we even got a discount!
Deva was in charge, apparently, for picking out a suitable colored mane and tail and it was quite interesting to see them argue back and forth, switching voices every few seconds. But they settled on something and chose an orange mane and a black tail. Deva really liked orange for the color but Devi seemed fixated on the color black.
When all was said and done, it was a little bit late into the morning but when we walked out of the shop, I took a good look at Dev now and saw that they no longer looked menacing, a bit odd of course, but at least now they could walk down the street without looking like a killer.
The body cast was made into sections and split up at the curves and joints of the body, it kinda looked like weird body armor, especially with the mane and tail protruding out along the edges. But like I said, all together it made a passable looking pony and Deva said they didn't wish to throw their cloak away, so that helps as well.
I hurried our group along to get over to Town Hall as soon as possible, would be rude to make Lans wait long.
After a short little jog, we came upon the doors and I proceeded to knock, eventually we were lead inside and were told we were expected, we were then lead down to a room where Lans and a few other ponies were waiting.
“Adrian! Good to see you, sleep well?” Lans asked me.
“Yes I did! Thanks again for showing me to Silverleaf, the twins were especially helpful in making me feel at ease” I replied.
“Yes, I thought they might. Now, take a seat Adrian and we can talk about that favor” he told me.
I took the seat right next to him, though it was a little difficult to sit down just right due to my size but I found a somewhat comfy position.
“Good, now for the introductions. In front of me is Mayor Clattertal and beside him is his secretary, Miss Goodwal. Finally, to my left is Mr. Utrition who is in charge of the public’s moral welfare. We like to call him the poster pony” Lans finished off with a bit of a chuckle that the mayor and miss Goodwal soon joined in.
“Yes, putting aside that silly nickname, the three of us have been looking for a special somepony to take on a rather…. difficult job. Though the few we have asked always declined and were almost about to give up but the moment we saw you, somepony so different, we thought you would be perfect!” Mr. Utrition started to explain.
“Me? Seriously?” I said, clearly confused.
“What? Did we say something wrong?” Mr. Utrition said back.
“I literally just walked into this town yesterday, a complete stranger who is also an alien, who has a daughter of chaos, a pet timberwolf, and now an android companion. What part about me screams that I would be perfect for a job that others turned down?” I asked. This seemed to take them by surprise cause the four of them sat there slack jawed.
“Just because I got roped into some things, doesn't mean I'm an idiot you know”
Lans was the first to recover and did a fake cough to clear the air.
“I suppose your right in that regard and I apologize for accidentally insulting you. But, at the same time, the fact that you are so different is kinda why this favor of ours is suited towards someone in your position” Lans said.
“And since we have clearly been seen through, I will cut straight to the point” Mayor Clattertal spoke up to say. “This town lives on the edge of a knife, one wrong move or one stupid decision could potentially tear this town to shreds. But, of course, we will always accept newcomers and the like, so long as they can fend for themselves, hold a legitimate job, or at least provide a service. But over the last few years, we have been sheltering….unwanted souls”
“Unwanted?” I questioned.
“A harsh term, we know, but they are the down trodden who sought a place to live because they have no where else to go, whether they were the cause or others forced them is their own story. At first, it was manageable, a few here or a few there but now they are starting to arrive in larger numbers and are staying in the southern part of town which ponies are calling the slums” Miss Goodwal interjected.
“More to the point, they are a dark stain on this upcoming town and we need them to leave but every time we politely ask, they either just move around a bit and stay or cause a ruckus which requires us to either jail them or kick them out! As mayor, I personally wish to help them all. I really do, but we simply cannot afford to!” Clatteral stated.
“Which is why you are here, Adrian” Lans said to me. “We have asked a few ponies to be a guide through the forest and lead them out and move into a more…. helpful city or town that knows how to properly sort them out into better lives. But none of them accepted the job since they didn't want to be saddled with this burden. However, since you said yourself that you are, well an odd one, that you might be able to take up this task and help everyone out”
“I know how this sounds and believe me, I really do wish it did not have to come to this. But those ponies grow sick, hungry, and lost with every passing day and though a few have been helped or taken in by the kindness of a few, the rest are wandering without purpose. And New Leafton cannot help them now, maybe in a few years perhaps, but not soon enough for them” Lans sorrowfully explained.
“But, like we have said, this is simply an option which you can easily say no to and we will accept it and try and ask someone else for help. But please, please consider it. For all of us” Clatteral humbly asked and even bowed his head a little, which the other three quickly copied.
Its a good thing they could not see me, cause my fist was angrily clutched around my knee and my teeth were grinding in disgust. I had half a mind to burst out in a fit of anger and accusations against this town and every single thing it stood for!
Such arrogance!
Such utter bullshit!
The nerve of this mayor! To sit by and ask someone else to sweep up the dirt and carry it away! As if peoples lives were just a minor thing! Er, ponies lives! Whatever!
I so desperately wanted to simply take a stand and just leave, without a word and march on out of those gates. I was getting so heated up inside that I felt my magic begin to swirl around in my body and that sudden rush gave me a sudden clarity of the situation. So I decided to take deep breaths and calm down, making decisions was never good when you are angry.
The room was dead silent as they all continued to bow their heads at me while I slowly calmed down and unclenched my fist in order to rationally think about this.
“Besides Ponyville, what is the closet major city or town?” I asked in a mostly neutral tone.
“T-that would be Las Pegasus, b-b-but there are other cities like Appleloosa near by, u-unless you really wish to travel to Baltimare or even Manehatten” Goodwal nervously said.
Hmmm, if I remember correctly, Twilight told me that Ponyville was closer to Las Pegasus I believe, though I know next to nothing about it while at least I might know some ponies in Manehatten and the Wonderbolts will be doing their show there next month as well, so that will bring some important ponies I suppose.
Maybe I should just go to Canterlot? No, no I shouldn't do that. That is the same reason why I don't want to go back to Ponyville, I don't want to have to dump this burden on a Princess and hope it all magically goes away. No, the power of friendship or Royalty will not help solve a problem like this, this is a people problem and people need to fix it. Pony problem, gah! I know what I mean!
Besides, Manehatten is where I need to deliver one of Celestias letters anyway, so I might as well go there to get the best chance. I hope.
“Manehatten. I think that would be my best chance to get real results” I plainly told them.
At this, the mayor got starry eyed and looked at me in wonder “S-s-SO does this mean you will accept the job?!” he sputtered out.
“Yes, BUT lets make this very, very clear. I am not doing this for you. In fact, I almost want to leave and let you deal with this mess like you deserve to. But I am not going to just stand by and watch lives be ruined by negligence. I am doing this for them and them alone. Clear?” I strongly said and I even threw in a knife hand to emphasize my statement. Worked like a charm cause the three city members straightened up and simply nodded.
“Lets be on our way then” Lans offered and I happily agreed and walked out shortly. It was a long and quiet walk at first until we were a good distance away from town hall.
“I am so sorry Adrian that we loaded you with this burden. This was not my finest hour” Lans said with a hint of regret.
I let out a tired sigh “I don't blame you and in all honesty, I shouldn't really blame the mayor either. He is just doing his job. I just didn't really expect such a serious issue to pop up in this world” I explained.
“What do you mean?” Lans curiously asked me.
“Well, I guess I just got so swept up in my own issues and letting myself live in this fantasy world that I forgot that, well, you ponies have real issues too. You all live your lives like anyone else would and some aren't that lucky to have a home or a life at all. I was both angry and greatly surprised and I let that carry my emotions a bit” I explained again.
“I suppose I can't blame you for thinking that way, after all if I was suddenly in an entirely new world then I wouldn't know how to react to the local environment either. But, unfortunately, we do have many issues to work out as well, and it is like that the further you get from Canterlot I found out in my short travels” Lans said.
“What do you mean?” I now curiously asked.
“Well, believe or not, in some of the bigger cities like Manehatten or Las Pegasus, there is quite an underworld of sorts. Gambling, secret trades, even prostitution, and many other things that lurk in the shadows. Canterlot is a shining beacon to many but over the years, many have lost sight of it and have begun to develop their own codes and laws. I don't know if Princess Celestia is aware of this or not, but I believe that she is doing her best to try and make things right”
“Especially nowadays, after all the recent attacks and dealing with the aftermath of Tirek, many are scared of something else happening and so they dig themselves a hole and live in it, no matter what happens around them. Which is why I came here, to try and start fresh. But here as well has its own issues and I am powerless to help” Lans shamefully admitted with a sad sigh.
This greatly took me by surprise but at the same time, it was almost refreshing and felt very familiar to Earth. Yet, because of the fact that this was so familiar made me feel a little sad. Not just because of the ponies left behind, but because this fantastic world filled with magic still can't help everyone.
Though I still felt a little angry at the situation, I was starting to feel like this was the right choice. Even if I may not be the right or best choice, I want to at least try or else I would have to bear the regret for the rest of my life and I have enough ghosts to deal with already.
I felt something poking me, taking a gander down I saw that it was Lans.
“You alright? You've been silent for a while” he asked.
“Yeah, just thinking about what you said against my conflicting emotions. My mind is at a bit of a stalemate between the two and I know what I should do, but I also want to act on my emotions as well. It's a very human thing to do” I told him.
“Well, ponies do often struggle with that as well. Emotions are very powerful and while they might feel better to base your life on, they usually end up causing you trouble in the long run. But that is not my business to decide for you” Lans said before he took a deep breath. “Adrian?”
“Yes?”
“I haven't gotten a chance to say this yet and I wish to tell you now. Thank you Adrian, for having the courage that not many of us have. Even if it was forced, you still accepted it for the sake of others and not for profit or admiration. I still accept that we may have been cowards but I am very happy that you came along. Maybe humans are good lucks charms in Equestria, eh Mr. Papa?” Lans said with a slight snicker.
At that last part, I went along with him and laughed a little as well. As soon as I laughed I started to feel a little bit better, maybe that's why Pinkie is so happy all the time.
“Thanks for that Lans, I needed a little laugh. Though now I am just getting nervous at the thought of leading a group of Ponies through the woods and all the way to Manehatten. How many are there anyway?” I asked.
“Well, there are about forty of them but we are not forcing them to all follow you. When we get there, we will ask them and whomever wants to, will join you. The others who don't will be evicted and have to fend for themselves or find someplace else” Lans explained.
“Forty?” I said to myself. Yeesh, that is a lot of ponies.
“Here we are” Lans said before he took the lead and started to gather them all up in one place. I could hear a few….unpleasant words spoken with a few of the unwilling ones but eventually he rounded them all them.
“Listen up! I will be blunt with you, today is the last day you will be allowed to stay here for free-” Lans started to say before the crowd began to whine and complain, almost causing a bit of a riot.
“AND! You will have three choices of what to do! ONE! Find a shop here that is offering work and boarding! TWO! Leave town on your own and find somewhere else to live or fend for yourself in the forest! OR THREE!” He shouted before presenting me “Follow this one to Manehatten and be sorted through the system, where you will have a very high chance at finding a job and a place to live! The choice is yours!”
“Why can't you sort us?!”
“I can't leave now! I just got here!”
“You'll kill us all!”
“Why should we follow him?”
“Manehatten is too far!”
“Every shop is full! I already asked four times!”
“Why can't we stay?! Were not bothering no one!”
“ENOUGH!” Lans forcefully said with a stomp of his hoofs. “This is by order of the Mayor! We cannot afford to shelter those who cannot pay! New Leafton is still a growing town and cannot support you at this time! This is why I am offering you choices instead of throwing you out by force! Now! I want you all to line up, one by one, and tell me your names and what you will choose!” he ordered.
It took some time and a few arguments later before they lined up and began to talk to Lans about their future. Some heated words and a calling of a few extra guards took place before everything was calm and eventually all forty were taken care of. Lans told the new guards to look out for them while we chatted.
“Alright, so here is the scoop. Twenty five of them will follow you to Manehatten while the remaining fifteen will do one last job search before heading out on their own. A few of them are single children while others are single parents with multiple children. But the majority are adults” Lans explained.
“I will have the guards and a few others escort the fifteen around town to try and find jobs while your group gets ready to move out and get acquainted. See you soon” Lans told me before he started doing his own thing.
The group I was going to be with were mostly packed already and were starting to gather around me, though I could tell they were a little frightened when they gazed up at me. I was starting to feel nervous and I even jumped a little when I heard someone cough behind me.
“Tell us, who or what are you?” a female voice asked rather loudly.
“Well, my name is Adrian Frost and I am a human from another world. The one on my head is my daughter Maelstrom, the timberwolf is my canine companion Artemis, and finally the orange maned one is an android named….. Devia” I introduced. I will explain to the Devs later but I think for now a more single name is better for introductions and the name is a combination of the two anyway.
“And why do you think you can guide us all, especially one such as myself?!” the same mare asked again, though I could not really see her under her dark blue cloak.
“Well, to be perfectly frank. I am probably not the right one for the job, but I am the only one who accepted to do it. And I will do my very best to lead you all to Manehatten, so you all can finally start a new life” I honestly said and this seemed to put a few of them at ease.
“Hah! Well, we will be the judge of that! After all, we are the great and judgmental Trixie!” the mare dramatically said as she threw off her hood. The others simply groaned and seemed to outright ignore her. She noticed this and her boastful aura instantly died down. She let out a sad and tired sigh.
“Well, its nice to meet you Trixie” I simply said as I leaned down and held out my hand. She backed away at first before she realized I wanted a hand/hoof shake. So eventually shook my hand and smiled a little before she put her hood back up and rejoined the others.
That lead to a one or two others to introduce themselves which had a domino effect, for the more others introduced themselves, lead to the others doing the same. After a few minutes, I had personally met all twenty five ponies. They all seemed nice enough, though I could tell a few of them were a little rough around the edges along with a troublemaker or two.
I was going to ask a few more questions but Lans came up to me and said “All right, well it looks like everyone is all set to go. Are you ready Adrian?”
I took a good look around our group and took in the sights of all twenty five of them.
I was feeling terrified.
WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING?!? I was having enough worries taking care of Maelstrom! Now I gotta worry about twenty five ponies?!
Oh man. I am not sure if it is my stomach or my magic but something was swirling inside of me and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I could even feel myself starting to sweat.
“Papa?”
I snapped out of my panic attack and looked up at Maelstrom who had a worried look on her face. I then realized something as I then took another look around and saw that they all had the same look on their faces.
They were worried and were now looking to me to guide them.
Well, even though that last sentence was just another way of wording my worries from before, but it was enough for me to find a spark of courage and I took a deep, deep breath of air.
“Ready or not, here we go” I silently said to myself.
“What was that?” said Lans.
“Just pepping myself up. Oh, before I go. Could I get that list of names? That will greatly help me keep track of things” I asked him and he obliged. I went over the names again and nodded to myself.
“All right everypony, lets hit the road!” I exclaimed as I led everyone out of town.
Watch out Manehatten, here we come.
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nice! Hopefully see the ponies return soon!!!
Will you remember your journey? And more importantly, will you ignite the Fires Far?
7007069 When i tried to see them i couldn't. If it works now either it's been fixed or my pc is an ass.
If Devia is still around in future chapters, PLEASE make her dress up as David S. Pumpkins with Adrian and Maelstrom as the dancing skeletons! I couldnt stop think of Devia as that character when you mentioned their orange and black color scheme.