Bushkeeper

by Odd_Sarge

21 - Preparations

Hobbling forward, Andrew slit his eyes. In the ashen air around him, it was difficult to see exactly what was going on in the clouds.

”What do you see, Bushkeeper?”

“Jack squat from right here.” Sighing, Andrew turned back to the rest of the excited unicorns, all ready to go bounding off. “Alright, so here’s what I’m thinking...” He pointed to the earth pony herd as he addressed the unicorns before him. “You guys need to go—” the ponies ran off abruptly “—help them?” Rubbing his head awkwardly, Andrew looked back to the three unicorns and two earth ponies standing by him. “You five are coming with me, I guess.”

With a hand gesture and a quick order from Mint to follow Andrew, the Bushkeeper led the ponies down the hill. He paused before the ball of marble, then bent over and placed it back in his pocket.

“You never know with these things,” he mumbled.

”Bushkeeper?” Andrew’s eyes flicked to Lemon. ”What are we doing?”

“Checking on the pegasi.”

Lemon’s ears folded back against his head. ”I don’t understand.”

”Cloudmasters,” Mint snorted. “Pegasi.”

Lemon whickered, pulling back in surprise. ”What is that tongue?”

Greeny looked worried. ”They’re getting closer.”

With a smile and an affirmative nod, Andrew pointed his stick to the two approaching flocks. “Yeah, we’re going to check on the—wait…” He turned suddenly, eyes widening. “What the...?” Andrew was unable to finish his sentence as a black ball of fur slammed into him.

”Bushkeeper!” Sparky was all over Andrew as the teenager struggled to regain his lost breath. ”You are here!”

“I was gone one day, Sparky.” Andrew slid the colt off of him and laid there, a hand pressed against his chest. “Ow... why the ribs?”

“Andrew?” Mint croaked worriedly, galloping over to his side. ”Are you alright, Bushkeeper?”

“I think I landed on my thermos, and my chest is killing me, but I should be fine.” Grunting, the teenager pushed himself back up into a sitting position. “Urgh.” Nearby, Blackie and his herd, including the second pegasus flock, landed. Andrew glared from his position on the ground at Sparky’s mother, the grey mare’s head held low.

The mare whickered softly. ”I am—”

“Sorry?” With another heave, Andrew stood. He let his hiking pack slide from his shoulders and rubbed his lower back painfully. “What are you doing here? You come to watch the unicorns burn?” The mare could not understand his speech, but his tone was universal. Whimpering, the mare dropped low to the ground.

It was then Andrew realized the wounds tracing her body. He threw his stick aside and crumpled over beside her. “Sweet god…” The mare winced as Andrew ran a hand through her crimson-stained fur. “What happened to you?”

Blackie walked over calmly, a frown on his features. ”Traitors.”

“Huh?”

”A traitorous herd lurks these lands.” Andrew knew what he was talking about, but let the stallion continue. ”Even the Great Open is dangerous in these times.”

“They attacked you?” The mare stayed quiet as Andrew inspected one of her hooves. Growling, Andrew stepped around to the side of the mare, and in one smooth motion, lifted the mare up in both arms. Silently, Andrew slid the mare over the back of the orange earth pony. He pointed hard to the Berry Forest. Understanding the command, the stallion nodded. The brown mare gave one glance back to Andrew before following her brother.

”Bushkeeper?” Mint’s voice was unable to cut through Andrew’s thoughts.

Andrew picked up his stick and bag and began to walk over to the combined earth pony and unicorn herd. The grey mare’s herd followed after their leader into the Berry Forest, whilst Blackie and the three unicorns trotted towards the flames. Andrew’s grip tightened around his stick as he approached the ponies.

“Stop.” The spoken word gave every pony in the vicinity pause. The earth ponies ceased their desecration of the grass, and the unicorns stopped assisting the earth ponies in dampening the earth with water. A tense silence ran through the already thick air as Andrew wandered into the midst of the group. He stopped suddenly, looking around at the worried ponies. As Andrew spoke, the herd around him briefly held understanding of his language.

“I want you all to do what you can to slow down the fire, but we can’t stop this entirely. This is a loss for all of us, and I think it’s time to fall back and count this down as a defeat.” Andrew’s eyes glanced back to the ponies following him. “Do what you can to stop this, but I’m going to go get us all ready for the journey ahead. This place isn’t safe for anyone here, and we simply don’t have the power to stop this.”

”But the fwafwa of the Fabal—!”

“It can only do so much.” Andrew looked to Lemon. “Do what you can, but I expect to see you back in the thicket. I will not hesitate to return and retrieve those that attempt to stay, but know that if you do stay, you only make things worse for all of us. If you really want to stop this spread of nature’s violence, then you will walk away with me.”

“Andrew?” He looked to Mint. “Running?”

“I’m not running,” he said, looking to the fire. “It’s just that I’ve realized that there a lot of things here that will be out of our control, but I know that the future could bring control to us.” He turnt on a heel and walked over to Mint, then past her. Pausing a short distance away, Andrew looked back over the carefully listening ponies. “There can be no future if none of us are there to herald it; I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to force you all to change your minds on how this war should be fought, but whether or not you follow me will make the difference in how the future plays out.”

Taking one last breath, Andrew turned and began walking to the woods. The flames crackled in his ears, but as he reflected over his statements and their undertones, he could hear the faint sound of hooves trotting after him.

Andrew smiled a proud, toothless grin as he walked away from the lost battle. There wouldn’t be any victories won on the ground controlled by the enemy, but in a new homeland untouched by nature’s minions, there could be peace.

With his followers behind him, Andrew began the first step of the journey to peace.

Comments

[Advent Link]

Reading this chapter, I constantly had the song "deliver us" going on in my head, so Andrew is a pseudo Moses for ponies huh? I'm sorry, but I keep giggling at how adorable the image is in my head.

Also, new team ability acquired: sparky cannonball.

[mastermenthe]

It seems ponies are also nature's minions.

[link4]

hmm... interesting... also- it would take decades to regrow this land

[Adjier]

Hope he gets healed soon. Dude's been broken a while. Andrew seems to be the one to make the ponies conquer nature. Neato.

Good thing the ponies are starting to understand him, not just Mint. Crucial for the coming events. I'm excited for more.

[HIEfan]

Now he's finally getting started as the new heard leader.

[Morphy]

8113304

Or just plain Leader.

I'm interested in what pre-Equestria looks like. There's no Canterlot, no Castle of the Two Sisters, and certainly no Everfree. There might be a Whitetail Woods, even if it's not called that until much later. At least the mountains and gorges will be the same. I suppose the other races might be out there too, if you travel far enough.

[Totally Emo]

.....Good english,grammar decent and props for you actually adding something to the site...But my edgy personality makes me want to burn down that fucking valley cause "harmony wanted a bush keeper"...Also the whole communication thing was interesting before but now it seems kind of confusing that the ponies understanding him but at random intervals...but hey do your thing you add content to this site which is better than what I do...continue and grow as a writer.

[Odd_Sarge]

8117540
Haha, you live up to your bio, don't ya?
Read chapter 22 if you want to understand the communication shtick better; I think I resolved it there.

Cheers, thanks for commenting, and I will indeed continue to improve my writing.

[Autumn breeze24]

YOUR CHARACTER IS TOOTHLESS?

[Odd_Sarge]

8165083
Hahaha.

Andrew smiled a proud, toothless grin as he walked away from the lost battle.

No, he's just smiling without showing his teeth.
A toothless grin in action (taken randomly from google image search):
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/83/2c/6a/832c6a76fe8ad93b2856de36dd67a536.jpg