Bushkeeper

by Odd_Sarge

4 - Thoughts

Home.

Andrew stood in the center of the berry bush thicket. He watched the calmly sleeping forms around him. The sight reminded him of the time years ago, when he and his friends had started going on trips together. He missed that summer camp.

And his friends.

Andrew scratched at his stubbly chin. He had been looking forward to shaving off the hairs when he had gotten home from his latest hiking trip.

Home.

Dropping a few more berries into his pouch, Andrew left the clearing to silence.

---

Andrew dipped a hand into the stream, watching the water push past the wall of flesh. Seeing his hand in the water reminded him that he was not with his people, but instead with another kind of people. A kind of people he had never seen, heard of, or met until yesterday. Andrew brought his hand out of the water, just managing to catch a glimpse of the squirrel that had caught his thrown acorn a day prior. It waved at him, then disappeared back into its treehome. It reminded him that it wasn’t just one kind of sapient species in this world.

This world.

The strange phrasing in his mind made Andrew stand up suddenly. The squirrel poked its head out at the sudden start, eyeing Andrew questioningly.

“I’m fine. Thanks, squirrel.” With a nod, the squirrel disappeared again. It was strange, being able to communicate with animals, but Andrew found that he didn’t mind that.

In fact, he found that there was a sense of opportunity there.

Without noticing, Andrew began to pace back and forth, mumbling his thoughts to himself. One part of him demanded that he find a way back to his friends and his home. Another argued that he could wait and see where the ponies would take him. One last one cried at the other two thoughts, demanding time to speak. Andrew quieted the two bickering thoughts, motioning for the last one to speak.

“What if,” he began aloud in the living realm, “what if I treated this like a part of the hiking trip?”

“What?” Andrew A cried, shaking Andrew C maniacally. “I have to go home now!”

“I can wait!” yelled Andrew B, smacking A away. He gave a smile to C. “Continue.”

“Well, I originally came here to see the forest, right? So what if I just treated this like another exploration trip and just—” he waved his form around “—hiked?”

“But where would I go?” B asked. “I myself, find this place quite interesting, but I believe that the ponies are the way to go when it comes to learning.” He paused. “And staying safe.” All of the thoughts agreed on that; the eastern swamp was no joke.

“I think the ponies have something going for them,” C began again, watching as B clamped a ghostly hand over A’s mouth. “But I just get the feeling that if we ignore everything else about this place, we’ll be missing out on the rest of this once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“It’ll be the last lifetime I live!” A screamed, breaking through B’s form. “That hydra is enough evidence that this place is a hazard to my health!”

“It’s an adventure,” B and C stated in uniform monotone. “Of course there are going to be risks,” C finished.

“Risks? Is that all they are to me?”

“There are risks hiking,” B supported. “I knew that there were risks there, and I still took them. I might’ve stepped into a quicksand moat, or fallen victim to a nasty, unexpected cliff drop, but here I stand.”

C smiled at B, then turned to A. “I’ve been given an opportunity, and I know that all of I,” he gestured to the trio. “Want to be home more than ever, sitting on our computer and whittling away the time till senior year, but I want something interesting to happen this summer.” A now looked hesitant. “Haven’t I always wanted something like this to happen to me? We are getting the opportunity to live out our oldest dream!”

“Exploring a magical world of fantasy,” B hummed.

“I…” A looked up, grinning. “I can’t argue with that.” With a pop, the figure of Andrew disappeared into smoke.

“The ponies are interesting,” B reconciled. “But if I just stick to this pasture and the bushes, I’d be missing out on a whole lot more.” One last puff of dust signalled an end to Andrew’s contemplation as he was left standing there by the stream, chest puffed out forward and his arms just off his sides.

Popping a berry into his mouth, Andrew squeezed his eyes shut, enjoying the birdsong and sounds of the dribbling stream.

'Yes,' he thought. 'This can be an adventure.'

---

When Andrew returned to the clearing, he found all of the ponies patiently waiting by the bushes. They all stared at him as he approached. Halting, Andrew stared back.

“Uh… I’m back?” The white unicorn foal from earlier came bumbling up, then pointed from his open maw to the bushes. “Oh.” Andrew went to pluck a berry from his bag, but thought otherwise. He moved over to the thicket, the ponies’ eyes carefully following him. Plucking one of the smaller berries from the bottom, Andrew turned, held it up before the group, and then swallowed it whole. With a little bit of amusement, Andrew watched the herds rush to the bushes.

Except for Mint, who instead came to Andrew’s side.

"You’re absolutely adorable,” Andrew cooed, brushing a hand across the mare’s cheek. She leaned into his touch, letting out a very in-equine purr. “Who gave you that flower?”

“Woah,” Mint mumbled in the stead of an actual reply, too overtaken with the scritches as Andrew moved to her ear.

Andrew spied Greeny standing off by the bushes, chewing slowly on a berry with a glare. Sticking his tongue out at the stallion, Andrew pulled away from his pony.

“We need to teach you some more words.” Mint nosed his hand, then came under it, closing her eyes in anticipation. “I…” Andrew sighed, then smiled as he began scratching the mare behind the ear once again. “It can wait, I guess.” Eventually, Greeny came back over to put an end to the nonsense. Mint snorted and stomped away, Greeny following with a pout on his face.

“They’re really expressive creatures.” Andrew watched as the mare flicked her tail at Greeny, galloping away from him to the bushes. As the stallion drew close again, she galloped off to another part of the thicket. “Really expressive,” Andrew chuckled.

After a little while of sorting out the campfire’s rocks and his makeshift bed, Andrew was brought back to the ponies by the sound of a shrill whistle. He stared at the grey pegasus who had made the sound, and watched as most of the pegasi made their way over to her. Nickering softly, the group took the audio cue to begin gathering berries. One by one, they dropped their berries in a pile at Andrew’s feet.

“You guys too?” Andrew bent down, pushing the berries back towards the grey pegasus representative. “I’m fine guys, I could do with some meat but I’m fine.” Andrew waited for the group to grab their berries again.

But no single pony dared to move. Even the unicorns, who had been chewing up until that point, had stopped to watch Andrew’s reaction to the berries. Andrew threw his hands up in the air in defeat, making the herd take a few steps back.

“Screw it!” He scooped up the berries in handfuls, tossing them into his bag. He crossed his arms once he was finished, frowning at the ponies. “Are you pleased?” Whinnying, the pegasus bowed her head, and the others soon followed, even the foals. Mint came up beside the gawking Andrew, and nickered softly. Andrew looked down at the smug unicorn staring at the pegasi.

“Oh no, you get down too!” Chuckling, Andrew pushed the mare’s head downwards, much to her surprise. She reeled back, narrowing her eyes at Andrew. He returned the look with just as much animosity. Mint’s ears folded up against her head, moving the rose a little bit out of place. Sighing again, Andrew kneeled down to fix the rose. He stood suddenly as the thundering sound of flapping wings erupted across the clearing. Andrew stared in awe as the creatures took off, disappearing through the small hole in the canopy, just above the campfire.

“And just like that, they were gone,” Andrew said, shaking his head at the strange occurrence. He looked down at the mare, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “You gonna disappear on me, Mint?”

“Mint?”

Andrew gasped and clapped his hands together. “Oh that’s awesome! Say it again!”

“Mint!”

Pumping his fist in the air, Andrew laughed maniacally.

“Yes!” He grinned, settling down. “If Jared was here, he would be so mad that I got a unicorn to say their name.” Andrew recalled his friend’s cockatoo saying its own name. “That’s two-nil!” Unfortunately, the rest of the herd had decided that it was time for their own display of faith. Mint, just as she had earlier, plonked down by Andrew, right on his foot. Andrew, who had been just about to move, sighed as he was forced to watch the unicorns place their offerings at his feet.

“You guys know I don’t have much room in my hood anymore, right?” Snorting, Mint pulled a berry from the pile. One of the unicorns stepped forward, snorting loudly at the mare, only to be intercepted by Greeny. The two stepped forward, pawing at the ground, all the while creating fierce expulsions of hot air from their nostrils. Andrew slid his foot out from underneath Mint and pulled the two unicorns apart by their withers.

“One thing I have to make clear is that I don’t like bickering.” He pat Greeny on the back, then held his hand there to push him away. He turned to the new unicorn, a yellow stallion. “And I don’t appreciate you trying to start fights.” The stallion glared up at Andrew, making the teenager pull back for a second. Then, with surprising speed, the pony spat at the ground at Andrew’s feet and stomped away to the thicket. Andrew recovered quickly, feeling anger well up inside of him.

“Hey!” The stallion winced at the loud voice of Andrew. “Turn around!” The stallion did not move. Andrew swept a hand through his hair with a growl and came up to the stallion. He grabbed the stallion by the withers and spun him around quickly. Fear dominated the eyes of the creature as Andrew went down on him.

“I,” he jabbed a thumb at himself. “Do not appreciate you,” he poked a finger hard into the bottom of the stallion’s neck. “Spitting at me, or ignoring me.” He pat the stallion on the side of the neck and stepped back. “You got that? I do not like being ignored.” Whimpering, the stallion bowed his head, even going as far to sink to the ground with legs. “Good.”

“Now,” Andrew spun on his heel, facing the crowd. He folded his hands behind his back and looked over them. “Does anypo—” Andrew coughed into his hand, shaking his head at the mistake. “Anybody else want to start a fight?” The herd, without understanding what the human was saying, simply stared. Andrew sighed, rubbing a hand against his temple. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Good,” he muttered.

Andrew heard hooves moving, and opened his eyes. A couple of unicorns passed him, going around to comfort the still kneeling stallion. Mint pulled up in front of him and sat down, staring up with watery eyes.

“Woah…” she whimpered.

“Mint... Oh come on…” Andrew hefted the teary-eyed pony up into his arms, rocking her slowly. “Don’t cry…” Andrew stepped away from the scene and sat down on his log. He watched as the rest of the herd that wasn’t with the stallion came up to him, a forlorn look in each of their orbs.

“I won’t yell at any of you again, I swear.” Andrew took a shaky breath, feeling tears of his own rising. He wiped away the distractors with the back of his sleeve. He looked down at Mint, tears leaking down the fuzzy little creature’s face. It felt so wrong to see a pony cry, and Andrew couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that he had done this.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Pressing his eyes to the soft pony’s furry back. He felt the herd pressing up against him, some of them even crawling into his log bed. Before Andrew knew what was happening, he felt himself drifting away, a pony in his arms, and a herd supporting him.

Comments

[Advent Link]

Darn these ponies, they drive me to feelsville.

[ArcaneVisions]

Wonder exactly what was going on there.

[Lancerlot]

Well, in a natural equine group, there's one stallion, a number of mares with which he'll breed, and the rest are his foals. Eventually, another stallion will drive him away and take his herd. I'd guess that's what the ponies in this herd think is happening.

[Georg]

Horse #1: Well, he's not too bright, because he won't learn a single word of our language.
Horse #2: We've got him trained to pick berries for us. I say we keep him.
Horse #1: I don't know. Once you feed one of those creatures, they follow you home.

[Prismmirror]

That was confusing...

[Skylarking the Stargazer]

Damn it Mint, stop with your adorableness! Are you Fluffle Puff's ancestor?

[Detsella Morningdew]

You can always say the most with the fewest words.

[Enmar]

dang, its interesting that i cant understand the ponies but annoying as well
:D

[Geminii]

“Mint?” Andrew gasped, clapping his hands together happily.
“Oh that’s awesome! Say it again!”
“Mint!” Pumping his fist in the air, Andrew laughed maniacally.

Edit: the way this is formatted, it's as if Andrew's speaking all the lines, which is particularly confusing given what the scene's about.
Reformatted, it might be something like:

“Mint?”
Andrew gasped, clapping his hands together happily. “Oh that’s awesome! Say it again!”
“Mint!”
Pumping his fist in the air, Andrew laughed maniacally.

This way, the actions and dialogue for each character are separated into their own paragraphs, with a new paragraph when the dialogue or action shifts to a new character.

[Odd_Sarge]

8481211
A section I missed when I was editing specifically for this error. I'm sure there's plenty more of these around. Thanks.

[Viper Pit]

i like this story its a good story