Four Hooves

by destinedjagold

3 - 03

“So...” I begin, “...you're going now or later?”

“Now,” Twilight immediately replies.

I nod my head. “Okay.”

Silence.

More silence.

Reykan scratches his ear and then licks a paw.

I cough quietly. “...Now?”

Twilight nods her head. “Mmmmmmmmhmm...”

“Okay...”

Silence once again.

A dainty deer leg stomps on the wooden floor, belonging to an angry deer. “Are you two really ignoring that meat eater right in front of you?!”

I shake my head. “Not really.”

Twilight nods. “What he said.”

“I dunno,” Xana shrugs. “Looks like ignoring to me.”

Sienna points at the tall kangaroo. “What she said!”

“I wanna join!” Seri suddenly chirps. Smiling, she turns to Reykan. “Quick! Say something!”

“I want to eat you,” the panther cub quietly says.

“What he sai—” Seri blinks.

I roll my eyes and shake my head. “I'm just waiting for Twilight to think of something to deal with, uh...” I look at Reykan. “He's your brother, right?”

“Yep.”

“What was his name again?”

“Sy—”

“Does it matter?!” Sienna shouts. “He tried to eat me!”

Reykan shrugs. “I tried eating Jay.” He shrugs once again. “He didn't mind.”

I raise an eyebrow. “That's false.”

“Jay, in his twisted mind, enjoys pain!” Sienna retorts.

I frown. “That is also false.”

The deer angrily looks at me as she points at the cub. “Why is he still here then?”

“Jay's crazier than Twilight,” Moon Gaze joins in.

I glare at the white rat. “Look—”

THUD!

Heart racing, I snap my gaze back on the table. The large black panther is now aura-less, lying on his stomach, his back slowly rising and falling, and is snoring with a bit of growling.

I blink at Twilight.

She shrugs, her horn still glowing. “He should be asleep long enough for me to get some gems and come back.”

“Are ... you sure?” I ask as I carefully poke the sleeping panther. “I don't think any of us here are capable of defending ourselves.”

“I am!” Seri suddenly chirps, emerging from the kitchen, her white wings holding on the handle of a frying pan.

I blink at her.

Twilight chuckles.

“What even is that thing you got there, love?” Xana asks the wobbling swan.

“It's a flying pan!” the swan replies.

“Frying pan,” I correct her.

She shrugs. “Same thing.”

“No, they're—eh, whatever.”

Sienna shakes her head. “So we're just going to leave him like that?” She looks and points at the dormant pile of gems. “What about those?”

“They're useless at the moment,” I answer.

She snorts. “Well, we can't just leave him like that! What if he wakes up?”

Seri suddenly lifts the frying pan right in front of Sienna's face, startling the deer. “Then I'll use this! Twilight showed me how to use it!”

I blink. “Did ... she use it on you?”

Seri turns to me and shakes her head. “Nope! I used it on her!” She swings the frying pan, as if to demonstrate it. “Wham! Just like that!” She smiles at me. “Then Twilight made a silly-looking face before she collapsed.”

I blink, and slowly look at the mare.

She is blushing. “Erm... I should probably go and get the gems now.”

And with a flash of purple light, she's gone.

Silence returns.

Seri wobbles toward the table, taking aim on the sleeping panther's head.

Silence once again ... except for the growling snores.

Sienna nervously looks around.

Xana scratches her ear.

Moon Gaze, sitting inside the kangaroo's pouch, blinks.

Reykan is still licking himself clean.

A flash of purple light.

BONK!

Ow.

Wincing, I lift a hoof to rub my aching head as I open my eyes.

“Whoops,” Twilight says. “Sorry about that, Jay.”

“Aw...” Seri pouts. “Does this mean I can't get to use the flying pan on him?”

“I feel like I was struck by it,” I say, glaring at the gem that is on the table after landing on my head. I slowly look around, noticing the floor is now full of shiny new gemstones.

Reykan groans, pushing a gem away from him. “Are we gonna clean again?”

“Quick!” Sienna says, looking desperately at Twilight. “Use these on that meat eater!” A blink. She then points at Reykan. “To him as well!”

Reykan frowns at her. “Why? I'm not gonna eat you. Even though I really want to...”

Xana blinks at him as the gems start to glow and gather on a spot.

Moon Gaze shakes his head. “A meat eater who doesn't wanna eat meat. This tree is full of crazy.”

I stare at the new, scattered gems, feeling my ears droop. “Ooooh boy. Those unicorns are gonna be sooo angry.”

Twilight's ears droop. She shakes her head. “I'm ... trying not to think about it, Jay.”

“Sorry...”

Author's Note:

Written on October 22, 2017.

Edited on January 3, 2018.

Originally, I wanted Jay, with a carrot on his forehead, to run to the unicorns, acting terrified and exclaiming that Crazy Twilight was on her way, and transformed his horn into a carrot. Then Twilight appears from the distance.

It was a funny little scene in my head, but then the unicorns are probably super pissed that they'll more-likely gonna charge and attack her instead of running away, so here's the lazy version instead of how they got new sets of gems.

Oh well...

Also, I'll be publishing new chapters once a week until the fic's complete.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Comments

[RainEStar]

A chapter of every week? You have stockpiled well!

[sjo3989]

Thanks for the update, its nice to see this being updated again.

[AvidSeason]

Wow....you sure stockpiled this..huh. I'm glad to say that you're back with the story. I personally liked it, and it's what brought me to you in the first place, so seeing it being updated again brings a smile to my face.

[Syroc]

Oh other-me. You had your "here's Johnny" moment, but you got taken out like a chump. Womp womp.

[Mix-up]

Great to see more of this story again, I hope the plot will go forward soon, still it was good to see more of Jay's antics with Twilight. Still, wished that the carrot horn scene was there.

[DauntedSuperior]

Wow, I wonder if Twilight is going to be the new reason that the three tribes work together. Unicorns run out of gems, no one else gets to protect themselves anymore, predators prosper for a week or two, and the survivors band together to hunt down the cause of the gem shortage. A single purple unicorn and her friends/acquaintances using them to make some dope ass potions in a treehouse. That sounds like an amazing country origin story if I've ever heard it.

[furryman]

...and that's how Seri became Iron Pan.

[AppleTank]

The universal weapon, the frying pan.
It can also be used as a drying pan.

[Emperor]

Once the timeline is changed, Rarity is going to inexplicably feel an intense anger towards Twilight Sparkle, and Prince Blueblood will feel a need to harass and block every one of Princess Twilight's political moves in the court

Still, there's like what, six critters in Twilight's home besides Twilight herself? They can gang up on the new panther if he was to wake up. Use your hooves, Jay