• Published 29th May 2017
  • 505 Views, 2 Comments

Don’t bother me (but I don’t mind if you do, I like the company) - MiloBlackwood



Peace and quiet... or at least I thought

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Another peaceful day, or so I thought (rewrite)

I wake up as my old bell alarm clock goes off by my head, the sun is barely rising over the horizon giving the sky that nice cool grayish blue color of early morning. I look at the clock on the bedside table as the hands read five thirty so I roll out of bed and start my day. I have finally got a day to myself which is really surprising because ever since I came to this world Twilight would sit by me scribbling away on a bundle of parchment while I was fishing on one of the lakes in the white tail woods, always asking questions about my world like what the culture was like, if there were any other sentient species there besides humans, what technology there was like, somethings about science. That would happen every day until I snapped at her and told her that I didn’t know that much about my world because I didn’t care about all the things that happened or all the new discoveries that were being made. I shake my head to clear the memory of my first few weeks here in Equestria. Finding my clothes and putting them on I run through my mental checklist.

1. Rod and reel

2. Tackle box

3. Light weight collapsible chair

4. Five gallon bucket

5. Fishing vest

6. Snacks and a lunch

Grabbing everything I need for lunch now it's time to get out on the water and relax a little, as I was heading out the door I was stopped by Twilight. I give a small chuckle because this pony doesn’t give up but at least she is persistent. “I'd love to stay and play 20 questions again but I have other plans for my day.” I say while walking past her and heading down the small dirt path I made leading up to the small house I built on the outskirts of town. The sun was peaking above the mountains that held the capitol casting a beautiful Bob Ross-esq picture complete with some happy little clouds and trees (Fluttershy not included). The sounds of my boots softly thump on the damp earth while Twilight followed.

"Where are you headed off to today?" The alicorn hummed following behind me, the soft plodding of her hooves on the ground filling the air.

"Off to one of the many fishing spots in the whitetail woods for a little bit of relaxation." I tell her in a quiet voice as I look over my shoulder, she had a confused look on her face as if trying to solve a perplexing question on a test. As I crossed one of the bridges that was used for the running of the leaves, heading down the main path for a few more minutes I find the small overgrown pathway to what I like to call ‘my happy place’. I angle my fishing pole to avoid it getting caught up in the low branches or deadfall that surrounds the path, coming up to the clearing I made for the small dock that was falling apart before I spend a weekend repairing. “Here we are Twiggles.” I say as I motion to the decent sized lake in front of me, the sun dancing on the surface of the water with golden light as the early morning fog lifts off the water.

"This is it, this is what you are doing for the day?" Twilight asked with confusion in her voice looking at me. I look back at her with a big grin plastered on my face, a small chuckle surfacing as I pat the space next to me motioning for her to sit.

"Well when you put it like that Twilight, it sounds really boring, just like our game of 20 questions the first few weeks I was here." I told her while slowly getting my fishing rod set up, digging into the small backpack I had with me for the worms I dug up last night. "Have you ever tried to fish, its quite relaxing and just getting out of the house and being in nature." I set the drag on my reel and cast out, the small plunk as the bobber hit the water and disturbed the surface. I look over at Twilight who was taking notes furiously scribbling down anything she can about this experience.

“Twi, stop that scribbling.” I say softly as I poke her side getting an adorable little squeak from her and an angry glare.

“Why’d you do that, I almost dropped my parchment and quill in the water.” She fumes looking at me questioning why.

“Stop with the note taking and just enjoy the surroundings Twiggles, not everything has to have a whole damn dissertation just to understand it; it’s not like you’re gonna win an award for a new scientific discovery from explaining how the correct angle to cast a fishing rod is, or how much force is applied when I set the hook. Set aside the research for now and relax.” I tell her with a straight voice bordering on harsh, I give her a small smile as I pull her into a half hug.

“I…I….Okay, sorry.” Her voice soft sounding like she was caught with her hoof in the cookie jar again.

“Oh don’t get like that Twi, there’s more than studying and observing everything scientifically. While I know that there is a scientific or magical explanation for most everything in this world and I know your pursuit for knowledge is fierce because I was just like you before I came here, but when I was transported here through some weird mix of cosmic or divine fuckery I stopped caring about knowing everything intellectually and focused on sharpening the skills I have taught myself.” I try and reassure Twilight while patting her withers softly. Feeling a slight twitch on the rod in my hand I look out over the water trying to find the bobber only to notice that it went under. Jerking the fishing rod up quickly I feel the resistance of something on the other end of my line, pulling left to try and tire out the fish, I start to reel in my line.

“You got one Chase hurry reel it in, reel it in.” I hear Twilight yell in my ear, as she stands up looking out at the water. I pull the fish out of the water as it flops on the end of the line, grabbing hold of it to make it stop moving around I take the hook out and set my rod down beside me as I hold the fish up for Twilight to have a closer look.

“It’s big enough to keep.” I tell her, another puzzled look from Twilight as I toss the fish in the portable live well that’s tied on one of the pylons of the dock to my left.

“You’re keeping it?”

“Eyup” I do my best Big Mac impression

“As a pet?

“Nope, to smoke and later eat.” I tell the confused little alicorn by my side.

“That doesn’t seem fair to the fish though.” Twilight says to me almost pleading for me to release it.

“Twilight this was one of your twenty questions that you asked me when I first arrived, while greens are good same with fruit and nuts, i need some proteins for a balanced diet. And while most if not all of the livestock here is sentient that leaves me with fish and besides doesn’t your friend Rainbow Dash eat fish occasionally?” I explain to her without trying to sound like an ass.

“Well yes, same with other pegasi but….” She tries to trail off on some scientific explanation before I put a wet finger to her lips to silence her.

“So what’s the problem here, are you worried that I’ll get sick from it?” I reply as I cast my line out again.

“No….well yes, I don’t know.” She sputtered still concerned for some reason that eluded me.

“Twi I’ll be fine, I’ve been eating fish all my life.” Telling her that her concern is not needed but understood.

***

The sun was at its peak in the sky and it was hot, maybe a little too hot to be sitting on a dock with water reflecting everything back at you. “Alright, think it’s time to pack up and head on home.” I grunt as I get up from the small folding chair I brought.

“Agreed, I can teleport us back to your house if you want?” Twilight offered, she looked at me wondering the answer.

“Alright, but you know I don’t like being teleported, it feels weird. Let’s get this over with, fire up the bone wand Twiggles and beam me up.” I say as I am putting the folding chair and two empty brown bags in my day pack, twilight rolls her eyes at me as she casts the spell.

*pop*

“I’ll never get use to that feeling, I feel gooey and tingly.” I slur as if I am drunk.

“It’s not that bad besides it beats walking in the heat.” Twilight exclaims. “So what are you going to do with the fish you caught?”

“Give me a minute.” I say between dry heaves as I bent over with my hands on my knees. “That was worse than last time. Could you do some fancy magic and keep those fish cold so they don’t spoil please.”

“Sure that’s a simple spell give me a second.” Twilight replied in a sing song voice.

“Do you hear something?” I ask Twilight as I stumble over to the bucket.

“No.”

“It’s this faint whistling sound.”

“I don’t hear anything Chase.”

“It’s getting louder, fuck not again.”

Rainbow came crashing down making divots on the ground as she skids to a halt, she looks around frantically like a mate possessed. “Is it done yet?” Rainbow cries, I look at her quizzically trying to rack my brain on how she knows every time I am about to clean and smoke the fish I catch.

“How the fuck do you know every time, you’re not following me or something are you?” I playfully taunt the sky blue pony, eyeing her curiously trying to figure out if she is following me or if it’s something else. “So Rainbow Bright how do you always know when I am about to make some smoked fish?”

“Oh ha ha Chase you wish someone as awesome as me followed you around all the time, but you do this every week.” Rainbow said sarcastically trying to match my wit.

“Oh I don’t know what you mean blue fast, maybe you like the food I cook. If that is the case then you’re helping out with cleaning the fish.” I quip back to her, seeing her eyes shrink to pin pricks when I told her about helping with cleaning the fish.

“Hold on Chase I thought you were gonna smoke them.” Twilight spoke up.

“Obviously, but since I have my own way of smoking them, apparently it’s like crack for pegasi.” I chuckle.

I walk over to the small screened in fish house with bucket in hand open the door and set the bucket on the bench. I sharpen one of my favorite filet knifes on a handheld sharpener and get to work. I can see Rainbow Dash out of the corner of my eye pacing around the entrance wanting me to hurry up. “You can’t rush this thing Dash, as much as you love my pegasi treats you’re gonna have to wait a bit longer.” I say with a raised voice.

“Anything I can do to help Chase?” Twilight politely asks me.

“Yea can you start the fire and get a nice bed of coals going. There’s wood already stacked by the pit.” I reply not loosing focus on the task at hand.

Twenty minutes later and I come out with a tray of fillets and an eager looking Rainbow Dash hoping she can snag a few while whining impatiently. “Come on Chase hurry up and get those things on the fire.”

“In due time so slow your roll, how about you go inside and grab me some cracked pepper, paprika, butter, garlic, two whole lemons, and the big flat skillet. It would make the process go faster and you get to enjoy the pegasi treats after I’m done cooking them up.” I ask Rainbow, somehow my tone comes across like I was talking to my five year old nephew. Twilight looks over at me with a raised brow questioning if that was really necessary for me to use that tone of voice, giving her a sheepish smile and a shrug of my shoulders. I complement Twilight on the very well made fire that she built as I gather up the three decent size branches I use to hot smoke the fish I caught, setting up the branches to form a tripod around the fire pit and lashing them together with some rope I had in my day pack, and the trine for holding the skillet above the coal bed.

***

Trying to stay focused on the hanging strips of fish above the fire and adding more of the hickory and applewood chips when needed to create a constant heat and just the right amount of smoke, I hear Rainbow Dash pacing back and forth behind me as the soft plods of her hooves hit the ground. “So Chase, what was it like where you are from on earth?” Twilight asked as she sat next to me with her notes floating in her magical grasp beside her.

“Well I didn’t really care much for anything back on earth besides being out in nature, nothing really mattered to me as far as the societal aspect on anything that was considered ‘the next big thing’ or the ‘latest gossip of celebrities’. I mostly kept to myself and mainly focused on honing my skills that I already knew like hunting, fishing, basic survival, how to harvest meat from a hunt or how to clean fish, to building a fire without the use of matches and building shelters.” I respond never looking away from the fire, “I do miss the people I knew back on earth but I bet they are doing fine without me anyways, they never really noticed when I’d leave for months at a time when I tested my survival skills or even when I was in town and easily contactable they never really cared enough to call me up and ask how I was doing, I guess me coming here was the best thing that happened to me though.”

“Sounds lonely, anything you can tell me about the technology of your world?” Twilight tried to pry and pick my brain on the mystery that surrounds the knowledge of my home.

“I’ve told you what I know about all that stuff Purple smart. My advice to you is to not get so hung up on the how and why, just accept that some knowledge is far beyond comprehension and focus on what you can do to improve the quality of life around you. I can understand the need for better technology because it improves the quality of living and grants the people or in this case ponies an easier and less struggle, but when technology becomes too advanced then the population suffers from it socially.” I tell her as my voice darkens a bit.

“How do you mean, technology can’t be that bad right?” Twilight questions with a small bit of worry in her voice.

I stoke the fire a bit and throw a couple handfuls of wood chips in looking to my right seeing Twilight with her eyes as big as dinner plates. “Technology is neither good nor bad in that regard you are correct, it’s what ponies do with that technology that shape the society and ultimately the world.” I tell her as my voice came out just barely above a whisper, placing a hand on Twilight’s head and messing up her mane a bit and softly smiling. “This world is better than my own as far as society and its kindness to others, the technology while primitive is still very advanced given the use of magic and what it can do.”

“So what you’re saying is that you aren’t going to tell me how technology worked on your world because you want us ponies to progress our technology at the rate it’s going? For the first time in this era or any for that matter I have before me an alien from another world who’s technology is far advanced and much more sophisticated than ours and you’re not going to tell me how it works!” Twilight yelled as she got in my face. I look back at her with a stoic expression, my eyes meeting hers as my brow furrows a bit.

“Exactly, you should be the ones to progress your technology, I already know you’re well past what my home world calls the Bronze Age because you are using iron and pig iron also there is a high probability you ponies have found a way to make some form of steels, be it Wootz/Damascus steels. Although I haven’t seen any foundries or forges around here which is surprising since the town of Ponyville looks to be between the 14th century to the 17th century back on earth, but that was all depending on materials and location.” Replying with a puzzled tone of voice as I stroke the braided goatee on my face. “Or it could be that Ponyville imports it’s metal works from the neighboring towns or cities, but I doubt that would be cost effective in the long run because of the price of metal depending on where it comes from could cost quite a bit, then there’s the smelting process and all that work going into making the bloomery, then working the iron bloom down to workable metal.” I mutter to myself as I stare at the coals in the fire pit. “Where does Ponyville get its metals from Twi?”

“The neighboring towns and cities like you theorized, why?”

“How much does Ponyville pay to import its metal products, say cast iron cookware and building materials?”

“I don’t know, you’d have to talk to Mayor Mare about that. But I do know that it costs at least one hundred bits for decent cookware.”

“Alright, looks like I’ll help you on some technology then. But only getting started in metallurgy because if the town is having to import all that stuff it must be costly when you ponies could be importing raw iron for a much cheeper price and making essentials yourselves and only importing specialty items.” I tell twilight.

“Yes!” I hear Twilight say under her breath.

“Dash get your prismatic flank over here the fish is done!” I yell out, a small gust of wind is all I felt as Rainbow skidded to a halt beside me.

“Finally!”

“You can’t rush this Dash and you know it.”

“Yea, whatever just give me some of that fish.”

“Alright just slow your roll.” I say as I set the strips of fish down on a stump.

***

The sun was beginning its decent as the sky changed from its amber color to a pinkish blue, the air getting a bit chilly and the pops and cracks of the fire set a nice ambiance to the surrounding trees and forest where I made my home, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash had departed earlier in the day after some more questions from the adorkable bookworm. Now just the sounds of the slight breeze that ran through the trees and the crackling fire were my only company tonight. Sitting on a log with a bottle of my home made Mead and a hand made cup on the stump with the last of the smoked fish, I rub the back of my neck trying to get the small knots out and relax a little, it was the perfect way to end the evening after spending time with good friends.

Author's Note:

I decided to rewrite this story after reading it over a few times, the way I ended it before was not the best. Hopefully the rewrite gives the story some justice and a proper ending.

Comments ( 2 )

Is this your first story?
You had an alright idea for a slice of life story, but because of your style of writing it didn't turn out very well. It felt really awkward. Maybe ask someone more experienced for an advice?

8197262 thanks for the feed back. Not the first story I've written but it was an older one that I came back to today. If you have any suggestions so I can improve on my stories in the future pm me

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