Four Hooves

by destinedjagold

3 - 09

“Dead?!” Moon Gaze squeaks as he's (probably) staring at Reykan in shock. “What do you mean she's dead?”

“Well...” Reykan says, walking beside me, staring at the rat on my back. “She's dead.”

I feel Moon Gaze squirm. “Dead, like ... dead-dead, or...?”

“What does dead-dead even mean?” Reykan asks. “A dead prey can't die again, can they?”

“A-HAAA!” Moon Gaze squeaks loudly. “So you killed her!”

Reykan blinks at him.

I roll my eyes as I duck, avoiding a low-hanging branch. “Can he really?”

Silence, and then: “...maybe?” the rat squeaks.

I look at Reykan, whose attention is now on the path ahead.

...I kinda-sorta feel weird to ask this, but uh... “How did she die?”

Reykan's ears twitch, and he shrugs.

“Did the unicorns ... kill her?”

He shrugs once again.

...the fuck kind of answer is that?

Moon Gaze sighs. “If you don't know, just say so, you damn meat-eater.”

“...meh.”

Seri, who has been leading this little party of ours, suddenly stops. The trees shake slightly with the loud roaring thunder as she lifts the shining gem left and right, looking for a preferable road to take.

Reykan and I stop behind her.

The cub sits down and blinks at her. He then looks at me. “What is she doing anyway?”

I ... have no idea either.

“We're looking for the book,” Seri suddenly says, her eyes on the gem as she's slowly turning.

“How exactly?” Moon Gaze asks as he scurries and sits on my head. “We're lost, aren't we?”

Seri quietly sighs. “...T-Twilight says that...” She pauses. She inhales, and exhales. “She said that this gem will shine bright if it's pointed towards where the book is.”

Huh... That's neat.

“Cool,” Reykan says. “Gems can really do a lot, huh?”

I kinda-sorta am annoyed at Reykan for being able to talk like normal. I know that he's a predator and he kills a lot, but still...

Moon Gaze shuffles on my head. “Yeah. I wish I still had mine though.”

I fight the urge to shake my head. “Get off of my head.”

“Make me.”

I look at Reykan.

His ears twitch. He looks at me, blinking. “...What?”

Moon Gaze is suddenly on my back now.

I shrug and look at Seri, who's still looking around.

She opens and closes her beak, and repeats the process a couple of times, looking like she's hesitating to say something.

“You guys are crazy,” a familiar raspy voice says from behind me.

I turn around and see a bored-looking Rainbow Dash being shined by the gem's light.

And Moon Gaze is suddenly on my head again. “Hey there, good looking.”

She glares at him. “Stuff it, pipsqu—” She blinks in surprise at Reykan. “...Is that a panther?”

Said panther sighs. “I can't eat her, too, huh?”

She growls at him, kicking the tree beside her with a hind hoof. “You better think twice before you do—”

A growl echoes from the trees.

We all turn to Reykan.

The panther cub blinks blankly at us. “...What?” He shakes his head as I notice something glossy from the darkness. “That wasn't me.”

Startled, I quickly take a breath to yell—

—Reykan jumps away just as the earth where he was mere moments ago—which is in front of me—explodes, raining dirt all over me.

I spit the earth that entered my mouth as Reykan turns and growls, countering the loud and annoyed growl that is erupting from the shadows as the large and glossy scorpion tail pulls out from the newly-made crater.

I quickly wipe my mouth with a hoof. Holy shiet, I almost got stung! Either that or it would have ripped through me!

“The buck was that?!” Dash asks, who I just noticed is now beside me.

A mighty roar, and not from the heavens this time.

Seri finally shines light to whatever we're dealing with.

And I guessed it right as I feel my ears droop.

“Freaking run!” I shout as I turn around and run.

The manticore behind us lets out another roar before chasing after us, it's large paws creating loud thumps on the forest floor.

---

Branches scratching me, and roots and mud making me slip, but I run on, because I do NOT want to become cat food!

“Did we lose it?” Moon Gaze squeaks as the trees and shadows blur by.

“Can you not hear those large footsteps its making?!” Dash snarls a reply, running for dear life despite the state she is in.

And as if to prove she's right, the large manticore chasing after us lets out another roar.

Seri, who is surprisingly keeping up on her webbed feet, looks at Reykan. “Rey! Can't you, like, talk to it?”

Reykan growls an annoyed growl in response.

Seri frowns. “I didn't think so, too...”

The panther cub growls in annoyance yet again. “This is stupid. Why am I running away?! I'm a preydetor!” He looks back with an angry frown. “I'm not prey!”

“Are you crazy?!” Moon Gaze squeaks. “That thing is bigger than you!”

Reykan completely stops, turns around, and growls as he runs towards the—

“What the actual fuuuuu—?!” I skid to a stop.

“Why the buck are you stopping?!” Moon Gaze asks.

I turn around in time to hear a really, really heart-stopping roar from the darkness. Scratching noises, growls, thuds, more growls, and more scratching noises.

“Reykan!” Seri shouts, stopping beside me and trying but failing to see the goings on with her shining gem.

“Why the buck are you guys not running?!” we hear Dash ask from behind us.

“I'm asking the same question!” Moon Gaze squeaks back.

Basing from hearing alone, I think the battle is moving now. Seri thinks so, too, as we turn and follow where we assume the battle has moved now.

More roars. More scratches. More thuds.

And then...

...silence.

...

... ...

... ... ...

The seconds fly by, I'm hearing nothing but the thunder and rustling of leaves up above, and Dash's nervously approaching steps.

“Is...” Seri speaks nervously. She swallows a lump down her long throat. “...Is it ... over? Are they...?”

“I...” I hesitate. “I don't hear ... eating, so...”

“Jay,” Moon Gaze quietly squeaks. “You were crazy enough to stop, so please surprise not-surprise me by looking at what happened.”

Seri shakes her head and slowly wobbles toward where we heard the last of the battle noise, her slightly-dim gem shining the way.

“Okay,” Moon Gaze squeaks as I follow Seri closely behind. “I'm actually surprised it was Seri who decided to approach them first.”

“You guys are really, really out of your freaking minds,” Dash quietly says as I hear her following us, albeit slowly. “...and that makes me one, too,” she whispers to herself.

Seconds later, Seri's gem shines on something yellow.

We stop and blink. I then realize that we're on yet another small clearing, and on the center-most part of this clearing is a patch of yellow flowers, some of its yellow petals scattered all around, and finally, there are two unconscious-looking felines who are lying on the flowers.

“Oh, hey!” Moon Gaze squeaks. “Reykan's not eaten!”

Seri slowly approaches as I sigh in relief.

Moon Gaze then jumps off of my back. “And sweet! Daisies!” He scurries by Seri.

My gaze then falls on the flowers, which kinda reminds me of daisies, as the rat mentioned.

Hm... Well, there he goes again, testing another flower.

He climbs on a tall flower's stem and picks a petal on the neighboring shorter flower. He sniffs it. “Hmm... Smells good, too.” He opens his mouth, pauses, and falls on the ground, fast asleep.

Seri stops, a few more steps away from the large patch of flowers.

I blink.

“Huh,” Dash says. “What's wrong with him?”

Seri looks back at us. “Mmmaybe these flowers make you fall asleep?”

“Touch or smell?” I ask.

Seri shakes her head. “I don't think I want to find out.”

Yeah, neither do I, but hm... If it's smell, then shouldn't it be in the air? If those flowers do indeed make us fall asleep, then I'm guessing it's through touching them.

---

We continue our little journey, with Seri leading the party.

The winds above has gotten stronger, creating a very loud rustling noise with the leaves.

“Why are you guys even here, anyway?” Rainbow Dash suddenly asks, looking at me with a frown. “And why didn't we just leave them back there?” she asks, eyeing Reykan and Moon Gaze who are both asleep on my back.

I look at her. “We could ask you the same question.” I shake my head. “And I can't just leave them back there.”

She glares at me. “I don't answer to dirt ponies. And I know you can leave them there, so why didn't you?”

I glare at her. “How different is a grounded pegasus from dirt ponies?” I shake my head. “So I won't answer you either.”

She rolls her eyes and looks ahead.

I add: “And for a pony who's hurt, you sure can run fast.”

Her angry features dissolve into confusion as she looks back at me. “Wait... Did you just insulted me, and then complimented me?”

...Was the latter a compliment? I shrug. Well, at least that dissolved some of the tension. “Anyway, we're looking for something.” I point at her. “And you?”

She snorts, but answers: “Same.”

“We're probably looking for different things,” Seri suddenly says.

We turn to her.

A flash of lightning light up the entire forest for a short second.

Seri waits for the loud crashing roar of thunder to die down before continuing: “We're looking for a book.”

“The buck is a book?” Dash asks.

The treetops suddenly glows in bright white, dims, and then a very loud crashing thunder pierces our ears once again.

Seri stops once again, looking around.

“I get the feeling that you guys don't know where you're going,” Dash points out.

I didn't answer as I look at the large trees around us. On the corner of my eyes, I notice Seri's gem's shine isn't as bright as earlier. I turn to her in time to see her turn as well, the gem brightening a little more.

“...This way,” the swan says, wobbling towards the direction she's facing.

Dash catches up with the swan and walks alongside her. “So, where'd you get that gem?”

I am about to follow, but ... just to make sure...

I furrow my brows and look around, but it's too dark to see anything. I look back and squint my eyes, but I can't see a damn thing, nor can I hear anything but the rumbling noises in the heavens above the rustling treetops.

I look ahead and walk after the duo.

Author's Note:

Written on December 3 & 13, 2017.

Edited on January 3, 6 & 8, 2018.

I removed a scene where after Dash angrily kicks the tree, the tree itself then swiped its branches at them, trying to catch them. I dunno. I felt like it was too out of place, so I removed it.

Comments

[Time Reaper]

Well, I keep liking how this story progresses.

Now I wonder what will Rainbow do on this story, by the first chapter on book 3, it looks like the main characters are going to have more importance now.

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

8657645

Are they really main characters? I mean, they lack the history of their canon counterparts and are in many ways pathetic and savages compared to their canonical selves. Can they really be main characters with that in mind? At most, I see them as temporary companions. Unless these characters do what their ancestors could not, and come together in harmony, then I could see them having a more important role. I don't really get that impression though, and consider: If somehow the protagonist succeeded in swapping to the canon Equestria, all these other characters would be left behind unless there was some way to transfer memories, and would he really want that to happen? I mean, saddle the mane six with memories of their time as their more savage, uneducated, unenlightened, unsophisticated, bigoted selves?

[Chrome Masquerade]

We stop and blink. I then realize that we're on yet another small clearing, and on the center-most part of this clearing is a patch of yellow flowers, some of its yellow petals scattered all around, and finally, there are two unconscious-looking felines who are lying on the flowers.

Ah. It's a draw.

[Emperor]

I get the feeling that the hunt for the book is beginning to turn into an 'Are they still on Namek?' arc. Jay and co. seem to be just wandering aimlessly almost.

[KvAT]

8811636
The problem is not how they're looking, but more of how it's presented. As logic dictates, between every adventures are long, slow, boring trudges of life where nothing intereting happens. Instead of cutting it into a few paragraphs, the author decided to "make it interesting" so to speak.
The writing is really good, linguistic-wise, but the story's just... okay. It panned in a few placed where it should'ven't