Bushkeeper

by Odd_Sarge

17 - Goals

Andrew was startled awake by a splash of dirt that hit him in the face. Snorting, he sat up. His back was killing him, but he supposed that was a downside to riding on a pegasus’ back for the better part of a day. Beneath him, the black stallion pranced in place, clearly eager for Andrew to get off.

“My bad.” Patting the antsy stallion on the neck, Andrew slipped off of the pony’s back and onto the ground. The white mare came up to him, Andrew's walking stick held between her teeth. Andrew gave a grateful nod to the mare and took the stick and used it to support himself.

One of the other two pegasi, a midnight colored mare, stepped up to the stallion. "How are you feeling, falfa?"

"Tired," he snorted. Andrew watched with a little sympathy as the stallion performed something akin to a dog stretching, his wings stretching far from his back in alternating patterns. "I will be fine."

“Good to hear.” Andrew hobbled over, still reacquainting himself with the ground. “That was a trip,” he laughed. “Did I really sleep through that?”

The white pegasus mare turned to Andrew, neighing. "Are you ready, bushkeeper?"

Andrew nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

"He can understand us?" The final pegasus, a grey mare, came up to Andrew, inspecting him intimately.

“Can you please stop poking my butt, inspector?”

The midnight-coated mare looked confused. "You didn’t know? I believe it was quite clear."

The white mare smacked the grey pegasus’ hoof away. "Do not disrespect the fwalfa!"

Andrew scratched his head, then tried the word. “Fwalfa?” Hadn't the pegasi called Sparky's mother that?

"Fwalfa?" the stallion agreed, equally confused. "We have no fwalfa. He is of herd."

"Truly, falfa?"

The stallion nodded.

“Wait, I'm in your herd?”

"The Light Land grows," the blue mare stated worriedly, hopping anxiously in place as she stared off to the south. "It would be best to find the willhorns and hornless before the Light Land consumes them."

“Find what?”

"Yes." The falfa continued the trend of ignoring Andrew. "That is the plan, falawaf." He turned to Andrew. "Bushkeeper?"

“Yeah?”

"Follow us."

Andrew rolled his eyes. “As if I wasn’t going to.” Waiting for a moment, Andrew tossed a glance back towards the plain they had flown over, then went to follow the ponies ahead before they strayed too far.

Andrew had originally wondered why the pegasi had not flown closer to the forest, but as a thick black fog fell over them, it was easy to realize why. The smog sent Andrew into a coughing fit at first, much to the worry of the ponies. He recovered easily enough, using his torn hood, which still smelled of fish, as a makeshift mask. Satisfied that Andrew would not be harmed by moving into the smoke, the ponies continued forward.

For once, Andrew was jealous that he did not share the same height as the ponies. The smoke reached down to a few feet above Andrew’s head, but the pegasi had a much larger gap for smogless air. He could tell they were still having trouble breathing due to their heaving chests, but it seemed to not hinder them. Andrew noted that their frames were much smaller than the unicorns, and he had not spent enough time with the earth ponies to truly find unique patterns.

An hour passed in silence, broken by the occasional cough from Andrew. Finally, as the party crested a green hill, an orange blaze came into their view. The valley below them was charred black, any signs of green gone. The forest further to the east had shared the same fate, burnt to a crisp, but the fate of the remaining forest was saved by the wide, rushing river. It terrified Andrew that he could see the rapids now; just two days prior he had only been able to see a small portion of the river.

Fearing the worst, Andrew hiked a little over to the left to look for the western forest. Andrew breathed a relieved sigh, seeing that the berry forest was untouched. Unfortunately, two days of drifting and growth had allowed the smoke to cover the area, and it was no doubt a pitch black mess.

“This is real bad,” he mumbled through his mask.

The pegasus nodded sadly, completely understanding the message in unintelligible speech. "There may be little we can do."

"We must try," the white mare said, taking a brave step forward.

The midnight mare assumed a similar pose, but the grey mare seemed the most fearful, visibly shaking where she stood. Tying the mask around his lower face the best he could, Andrew walked over to the mare and gently set a hand down on her withers. He began a slow, caressing motion back and forth; from her withers, and down to her side.

“It’s alright,” Andrew cooed. “We’re going to get in there, help them best we can, and we’ll be out in no time.” As the mare leaned into his hand, Andrew felt the shivering drop down to a minimum; she definitely felt better.

"The Great Orb drips lower and lower. We must move." Without waiting for a reply, the stallion went down the slope, following the close treeline of the thicket forest. Hesitantly, the three mares followed.

Andrew took a deep breath, then followed after the group.

The forest was eerily silent, but off in the distance, Andrew and the others could clearly hear the sound of crackling fire and falling trees. The eerie thumping unnerved them all quite thoroughly, but it was with the stallion and Andrew’s presence at the front and back of the group that kept them together. They all knew that they had to keep moving; time was of the essence, and with the thick, black ash blocking the light of the sun, nobody knew how long it would be until true darkness fell.

They knew that when darkness fell, it could very well be the last night that the unicorns and earth ponies spent within the forest and on the plains. The last night for any creature in the area, for that matter.

Andrew hadn’t seen a rainstorm since he had arrived in the… the...

"How long have I been here?" He went over the events of the week as the group kept pace.

Six days. Over a hundred and forty-four hours spent in a land with ponies, hydras, dragons, cockatrices, and spiders. This place was full of life, and this fire threatened to take most of them out. Andrew wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he was determined to not let it happen. He had been wandering for almost an entire week, and though he had made a few accomplishments with the native species, he was sure that this was the moment that he had been waiting for. His presence in the land had been long enough for him to accustom himself to the surroundings and meet the natives, timed enough so that he would be ready to work with them to stop this fire. It all fit together so well, but not too well. His limited knowledge of the land and species felt right.

“We can do this,” Andrew said, shattering the silence. “We may be just a few who understand the problems that this fire could cause, but we are also the few who can stop this fire.”

The stallion paused mid stride. "Bushkeeper?"

Andrew himself stopped and continued. “I know it seems real grim right now, and it seems kind of idiotic to attempt talking to you, and even dumber to try and give a speech whilst a fire roars to the west, but I know we all need this.” He crouched down, stick planted firmly in the ground as he locked eyes with each of the four ponies watching him. “You’re all scared.” He chuckled darkly. “I’m scared.” Andrew brought his voice down to a whisper. “But you know what?”

“We ought to be.” Standing, Andrew brought both his height and voice back to normal. “This is a great land, and having it lost so quickly could mean the end of something beautiful. It hasn’t started yet, but I think by my presence here, something has changed in the world. It wants me out, and this fire is probably one of the first events that we’ll—no—you’ll face in order to keep the world in harmony.” Andrew turned around, peering through the path in the trees to stare right into the heart of the approaching blaze on the grasslands. “I know why I’m here now.” Cautiously, Andrew pulled the orb out from his pocket. As soon as it was free, ribbons of red within began to bubble along the white interior.

“I don’t know what this thing is—” the ponies eyed Andrew and the orb’s suddenly glowing form in awe as he faced them again “—but we’re going to use it to make sure you will all be able to fight this kind of disaster in the near future.” Andrew let go of the orb, watching with a toothless, serene smile, as it began to hover before him. With a crack of thunder, the red within the orb shot to the tip of Andrew’s walking stick and sat there within a rumbling orb. The amethyst artifact shuddered in the air as white filled in the purple left behind in the red’s wake.

Bringing his lips close to the orb, Andrew whispered an order in the tongue of the ponies. The human’s emulated sounds sent a spike of excitement down the spines of each pony.

"Take me to our herd."

Taking off at a steady pace, the orb began to float on a new path through the trees. A blue aura that had gone unnoticed around Andrew’s eyes shot to the orb still atop the staff, causing the red light to mix into a shimmering purple. Shaking his head, Andrew held his empty hand up to his temple.

“Urgh…” Spitting a glob of saliva to the ground beside him, Andrew shook his head hard. “I have no idea what just happened…” He looked to the orb topping his staff and stared. “...but I have a feeling that things are about to change around here.”

Andrew’s eyes widened. “The light!” The human took off running, much to the surprise of the ponies. Andrew himself was surprised, but focused more onto the orb of light that he quickly caught up to. Something had happened to him halfway through his speech; his mind felt like a muddled mess, and the new situation that had been revealed to him felt even messier. The ponies called out from behind him as they struggled to catch up without their wings, but Andrew didn’t dare to slow down. He had to keep up with the orb, even if he didn’t know what it was doing, or how it had even got there.

"Bushkeeper?" The black stallion was caught halfway between panting and yelling. "Where do you lead us?"

“I have no idea,” Andrew replied easily, despite his speed. His eyes flicked between the two glowing orbs, all the while ducking and weaving between branches and tree trunks. “But I think we’re going somewhere important.” The ponies behind him only heard the strange, calm tone he spoke in, despite the circumstances. It worried Andrew that he was being so calm about everything, but with the sudden lack of fatigue and any previous thoughts, he felt more focused than he ever had been during his stay in the pony land. He attempted to place all efforts of focus into understanding what had just happened to him, but he found his mind occupied by one simple command, one that he somehow remembered as being given by himself, to himself; follow the orb.

And so Andrew ran.

Comments

[Odd_Sarge]

You know what? I actually really like this chapter. I thought I wouldn't when I was looking it over in my notes, but it seems like this will actually work out very well. Sorry about the lateness of the update, seeing as how it's about two hours late.

Cheers, everyone. Enjoy your weekend; you know I'll be here for those two updates, and one on Monday!

[Hein des Nisseroi]

8080238
You consider 2 hours as late? Just do it at your own pace; No rushing.

[Sylicath]

8080238
Many would call this weeks early. You update much faster than the majority of authors I follow, so no rush. Great work.

[Odd_Sarge]

8080317 8080326
Procrastination is the best motivator!
Jokes aside, yeah, I get a little antsy about updating on schedules; it's a weird relationship.
Thanks for commenting.

[Adjier]

More please. I'll ask every chapter. This is too good.

Freaking out over not seeing Minty. I hope she and the others are doing alright.

[Lerris]

yay