Bushkeeper

by Odd_Sarge

25 - Storms

Andrew awoke with a startle as something landed on his stomach. Not hard enough to take the wind from him, but hard enough to make sure that he felt it. At some point, he had fallen asleep beside Mint, and when he opened his eyes and looked past the white colt that had jumped onto him, he realized that he’d been set aside another pony. Looking back, he noticed that it was the white foal’s mother.

"Bushkeeper!" The foal on Andrew's stomach bounced up and back down. "Play!" he snorted.

Smiling softly, Andrew picked up the foal and heaved himself up. He wasn’t used to holding a child, no less a foal, so he hoped that holding the colt underneath his forelegs was comfortable enough.

“Later,” he whispered, setting the colt down beside his mother.

The colt seemed to forget his previous desire to play, and instead immediately snuggled up against his mother. Grinning, Andrew glanced about.

The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, causing a groan to escape Andrew. His sleeping schedule would no doubt be ruined by his long nap. He rubbed at an eye as he looked about for his stick. “Why am I so tired nowadays?”

Andrew saw that his walking stick was being used as an impromptu limbo stick for the foals. Andrew decided to let Greeny have his fun with the two pegasus foals, two unicorns, and three earth ponies that were bouncing around him. He spotted Mint resting near the blueberry bushes, her head laying on the ground. The two locked eyes for a moment, and despite the wave from Andrew, Mint only gave a yawn in reply.

A rumble of his stomach alerted Andrew to his needs. The pegasi were nowhere in sight, which came across as strange to Andrew. Blackie, however, was still here, along with a few other pegasi. Brownie was standing with her herd near the new dugout they had formed, and from the sound of things, they were talking mostly about the future. Deciding that he may as well make himself an informed man, Andrew walked slowly over to the group, making sure to keep his weight off his leg.

Brownie was the first to notice him, and flicked a worried glance in his direction. "Is your leg well, Bushkeeper?"

Andrew gave a thumbs up. “Just sore. Don’t know what… I mean, why, my leg hurts, though.” Brownie seemed satisfied and went back to speaking with the present members of her herd.

"Again, the Frost Moon is approaching fast." Brownie looked to Andrew and smiled. "The Bushkeeper will lead us." Snorting, Brownie looked to the resting Mint. "And the fwalfa of the willhorns as well."

One of the earth ponies stepped forward. "What of your part, fwalfa?" A soft murmuring bubbled through the followers at the question. All Andrew could understand from the language was that there were some concerns and fears amongst the group.

"I will do as the earth has always taught us." Her ear twitched. "Listen to the earth, and follow its messengers."

Intrigued, Andrew watched the earth ponies bow to Brownie before the herd separated; the two leaders were left alone. Brownie was the first to begin a conversation.

"Bushkeeper, I fear there is a message that has remained undelivered."

“What is it?”

The mare’s ear flicked again. The motion seemed perfectly natural to the untrained eye, but to Andrew, there was something… something strange to the motion.

"The Light Land has not been halted in its entirety." Andrew raised a brow as Brownie continued, "The black sky has drifted closer to us. We fear the earth here will be corrupted with its plague."

Andrew shook his head. “That’s not good.”

Another flick of her ear. "The earth tells us that… that we must rely on the…" she sucked in a breath before she finished with a whicker, "rely on the cloudmasters."

“There a problem with that?” He was glad to see that the universal tone was understood.

"No, Bushkeeper… We… I, will allow it, but know that I will not be too pleased with reliance upon the cloudmasters."

“Pegasi.”

Brownie swallowed thickly, then began slowly. “Peegasee?”

“Pe. Ga. Si.” Andrew made an outward motion with his hand. “Try again.”

“Pe. Ga. Si. Pegasi.”

Andrew smiled; it sounded like Mint’s English, broken but intelligible.

“Yes, and your concern is noted.”

"Thank you." Bowing only her head, Brownie turned to wander off, but paused mid-stride. She turned again to Andrew. "The earth does not approve of interference. Contact with the natural order is inappropriate and will lead to lasting change." Bowing her head one last time, she whispered, "Earth be with you."

Bowing from the waist, Andrew replied, “Earth be with you.”

Her face scrunched up, causing Andrew to laugh.

“We’ll get around to full sentences. Don’t worry.”

Snorting, Brownie stomped off.

Andrew chewed on his lip and looked around for Blackie. He felt that the pegasus already knew, but deep down inside, Andrew also felt that Brownie was telling Andrew about the fire to the south because it was his decision to make. Suddenly, the weight of the trust the ponies had placed into him sank in.

“Oh god!” Andrew laughed to himself. “We’re all so boned! I can’t lead to save my life!”

Then, upon realizing that Mint was staring at him with a glare, Andrew remembered two things. One, Mint was probably going to take up most of the leadership anyway, and two, you do not disturb a busy woman during her nap. Well, it was probably more busy mare in this case. Whatever the situation was, Andrew knew that it was time to vacate the area: he decided to break up the fun of the foals and retrieve his stick.

Blackie was waiting for him as soon as he turned around.

“Gah!” Andrew hobbled backwards.

Blackie blinked owlishly. "You have talked to the hornless’ fwalfa."

“Dude! Have you done that before? I feel like you’ve spooked me before.” Groaning, Andrew clutched a hand to his chest and nodded. “Yes… yes I did.”

"Have you made a decision for the cloudmasters?"

“Go for it,” was Andrew’s instant response. Blackie had a blank look to his face, irritating Andrew just a tad; he felt that his tone was clear. “Yes,” Andrew began, “you’re free to go ahead with the clouds.” He emphasized his statement by pointing to one of the nearby clouds that had been left behind by the earlier rainstorm.

"Very well, I will send for the clouds as soon as the gathering party returns."

“Sounds good.”

And so, Andrew waited.

He played with the foals a little bit in the dimming light of the sky. When they had scampered off to eat with their parents or simply rest, Andrew had turned to a newly awakened Mint who had begun teaching the ponies English again. Progress was unbearably slow, and Andrew made a mental note that the leaders of each herd seemed to have the easiest time of learning the language, especially Mint. By six in the evening, according to Andrew’s watch, the pegasi still had yet to return from their trip.

Andrew would not have been worried, had Blackie not begun to fear for them as well.

"The trips do not usually take so long," he whinnied worriedly. Andrew finished adjusting his hiking pack’s straps and listened to the stallion. "Perhaps we should check on them."

Andrew thought the plan over. On one hand, Andrew would be able to solve the hunger that had been plaguing him since noon, but on the other hand, leaving the camp meant that anything could happen while he was away. He didn’t want to return to a group of herds that had just been attacked. Then again, the odds were twenty-four adults ponies to however many things attacked. Andrew was sure the ponies would be able to handle themselves.

Suddenly, Andrew realized just how dangerous it was for the ponies to be out at night. The pegasi that had gone east should definitely have been able to return to the berry thicket within an hour, so there were only a few things holding them up: a lack of caught fish, a detour for something of interest to them, or worst case scenario, an attack had taken place.

Andrew clasped his hiking pack fully into place and gave a curt nod to Blackie. “Let’s go.”

With even more worry in his eyes, Blackie led Andrew away from the herds, unbeknownst to the rest of the ponies.

---

Darkness had fallen, though it was still quite easy for Andrew to see in the night. Unfortunately, Blackie did not seem to share the same vision; Andrew’s brief glances to the pegasus told him that he was squinting hard around him. They both knew what was going on around them, however.

Something was watching them.

Following closely beside Blackie, Andrew felt a shiver run down his spine as he crested the hill. The river was right ahead, and the approximately thirty minute walk there meant that it had definitely been possible for the pegasi to reach the river, fish, and return within at least two hours. But they hadn’t, and Andrew felt that it had something to do with the eyes he felt watching him.

Another shudder ran down his spine. What was watching them?

There was no obvious sign of a struggle, or any pegasi for that matter. The stones by the river were marked only by the water cascading down from the mountains. Andrew was wary as he stepped closer to the water’s edge and peered in. He immediately spotted a prawn in the crystal clear water, but did not reach in to grab it.

Something had just zipped past him.

On instinct, Andrew whipped around and hit the blur of wind with his walking stick. The impromptu weapon hit dead on with the flying critter, sending it careening into the rocks. There was an awful crack in the air as the side of its head landed straight on a large chunk of rock. Andrew limped over the rocks, his stick still held in both hands, and peered down at the creature.

Without a doubt, it was a pegasus.

Thankfully enough, the crack of the head meeting rock seemed to be a side effect of one of the pegasus’ teeth slamming into it. Surprisingly enough, the teeth hadn’t shattered despite the noise. Andrew muttered a quick prayer for the creature: he hoped that the blow hadn’t harmed it to badly.

Blackie alighted beside Andrew with a look of amazement. "That was an amazing blow, Bushkeepert…" he kicked the pegasus lightly with a hoof, causing a groan from the creature, "however, he is not of our herd."

“Then where did he come from?”

They both knew where the pegasus had come from, but neither of them dared speak aloud. In their thumping hearts and readied ears, Andrew and Blackie knew exactly what herd the pegasus had come from, and a clue as to the fate of the pegasi they had sent out from Blackie’s herd.

Because something was watching them.

The sound of thunder and a bolt of lightning caused Blackie and Andrew to jump to the side. Right where Andrew had been previously standing, a small gouge of flame had risen up. He stomped it out immediately, whilst Blackie busied himself with staring up at the nearby black clouds that had emerged from nowhere.

"Those are the clouds we saw before!" Blackie whinnied wildly, his eyes going wide. "They are not of the earth, those are of the cloudmaster design!"

Surely enough, Andrew could see forms zipping about in a group of black clouds above them. He readied his stick again and stepped back, but as another bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens, Andrew realized with horror what plan the traitorous pegasi had enacted to make sure that they received their revenge: Andrew could only walk, but the pegasi could fly.

“It’s a trap!”

Author's Note:

No Admiral Snackbar jokes allowed.
Procrastination is Magic: 1hr 15min writing time.

Comments

[sjo3989]

Thanks for the update, can't wait to read what happens next!

[mastermenthe]

bloody pegasi

[Forward-Unto-Fiction]

Hmmmm

No Meme Tyranny on the FimFiction

[Hein des Nisseroi]

“It’s a trap!”

Author's Note:
No Admiral Snackbar jokes allowed.

Aww...

[stephen51991]

No Admiral Snackbar jokes allowed.

...Alright then, have it your way.

Also:

Well well well, if it isn't Mr. Asshat McFishstealer. So, we meet again my dickish foe.

[Alondro]

Always knew ya couldn't trust dem dang featherbrains. Any more'n them dang beakies! They always steal yer socks!

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5n4tgkOPI1rp5f73.png

[Thesciencefanficwriter]

8167362 i get what you're saying now, but that is commonly described as uneventful

[Adjier]

I wonder what is wrong with his leg. It should have healed by now.

It might just be he hasn't rested enough, or something might be wrong. I hope it isn't infected.

Onward my friends! This story is tops. Can't wait for more.

[Odd_Sarge]

8168030 8168080
Those are 4 to 1 odds...

... I suppose I will allow the memes to pass this time.

Haven't done this in a while, but thanks for commenting! Had a close call yesterday with some real life events, but hopefully we'll hit 16,000 words worth of updates this week and next weekend. Cheers!

p.s. writing during the week is time consuming

[stephen51991]

8169547 You specifically said "No Admiral Snackbar jokes allowed". Mine was Gandalf.

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[Truthseeker]

Dude is going to have to learn how to kill. There is nothing else to it.