The journey

by Dashed_Brony

CH2: Departure

A few days had passed since he had made the decision. He hadn't seen any more of that friendly yellow pony whom he had entrusted his decision with. He couldn't blame her though. He had said something that upset her, and he knew she wasn't the one to take things like that very lightly.

He wanted to at least say bye to her, but whenever he had visited the cabin, she wasn't there. That was all that kept him from going. He had said bye to the few he spoke to. At least past saying 'Hi'. Nopony else seemed to have seen her. Perhaps they were just hiding the truth from him, to keep a promise to her. Either ways, he wasn't going to find her any time soon.

What time he hadn't spent searching, he had spent researching. Finding out what information he possibly could about the greater world, what he'd need to survive, and a few books on creatures. It wasn't going to give him nearly the amount of tips or information he needed to get along, but it was a start.

Amongst them were two that nearly made him jump.

"Tartarella: A massive, hairy, eight-legged blob that can ignite itself, and has a nasty habbit of shooting fireballs at whatever it sees.

Rating: Very deadly. Avoid at all cost."

Very few had seen it and nopony had gotten close enough to get more information than those few lines.

Then there was the other...

"Saken: An all-devouring beast that is long enough to stretch through a forest from one end to another. It doesn't have arms, nor legs. Just an extremely strong nose, and jaws with a destructive force to compare to the length of the body. Black with red patterns all over it. The pattern varries from Saken to Saken.

Rating: Very deadly. Avoid at all cost."

He sat there for hours and read about the many 'Very deadly' creatures, but those two seemed more terrifying than the rest. Even the dragons weren't in this category, and that alone spoke for itself.

The list was, however, many hundreds of years old. Most had probably gone extinct. And those that hadn't, weren't likely to step outside under normal circumstances.

*Snap!*

He closed the last book. It was time to prepare. It wasn't like he could sleep anyways. All those creatures out there made it very little tempting. It was like every time he blinked, he'd expect one in front of himself.

"Paranoia... Heh... Isn't that a good start?" He snickered.

The night turned to day before he had finally found every last piece needed, only to realise he had to unpack some. After a facehoove and some time later, yet again, his bag was finally carriable. He put it on his back, and prepared to take of.

Too many days had passed. He'd have to tell her about the stories he'd go through when he returned, since he didn't get to say bye. He opened the front door. It was mid-days, and the market was crowded. He didn't care. This was the first time he had ever barged out without a second thought. He didn't care if they laughed. When he returned, they'd all be cheering. He was sure of that!

Drowning in his still obese backpack, he continued on. Down the long street. Every eye of every corner befell him. He almost regret the decision, but he carried on, his head raised high in the skies with pride. All he really wanted to do was turn around with his head low to the ground, but he couldn't disappoint himself... Or Shy...

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He was at the end of the town, and some ponies had even followed along to see where he was going. Not just some. Everypony stood and made up a massive crowd as he was just barely making his way out into the big world. He looked back at them. His eyes went wide open. The one leading the crowd was none other than that one shy pony he had hoped to say bye to.

"Uhm... Y-You asked if anypony would care if you left, r-right?"

He dropped the bag to the ground and galloped right over to her, hugging her as best as he could.

Neither spoke. Neither had to. Tears fell, from both sides. Both of them felt the salty liquid fall from their eyes, down along their cheeks and into their mouth.

"Thank you Shy..."

As their heads parted, and the hug ended, she smiled, as did he. He turned around and grabbed the plump bag once more, and after some 'Hnnng' and 'Mmmmfff', he finally got it back on, and started making his path forth. Behind him, everypony were waving and cheering, including her. She had already found herself a more comfortable spot far back in the crowd.

He no longer felt that sinking feeling of wanting to return. His motivation was at its best, and as he waved back, his focus was only on that one yellow hoove in the far background, but his wave was for everypony. He was grateful so many had come to see him part, when he wasn't even expecting Shy to be there. Even Alita stood up front. To his disgust, so did his competition, Algar, the alicorn, being right next to her.

He wasn't going to let a small assumption get the best of him. After all, Algar had come to see him off. That made him feel even better about setting off. Even he, the idol of the town, had cheered him off... He blinked. Was that lousy hayball just trying to send the poor pegasi off so he could have Alita all to himself? He shook the thought off his mind.

As he was, he didn't have any chance to win her heart anyways. His best bet was to come home as an even greater hero, and win her heart that way, but if so, he was at a race against time. And becoming a hero was no easy deed either.

And so... He now stood before the open wilderness. His goal was set, so was his motive and all he had to do, was make his way out into it.