Silent Steps
Chapter 6
Silent Steps
Edited by: CosmicAfro
"...That's when you came running into the field. And that's pretty much everything that happened." Sweetie Belle finished. The two other fillies nodded in agreement. Then turned their attention to the adults, of whom only five out of the seven present were conscious.
They were currently in Zecora's hut with the aforementioned zebra sleeping soundly in the corner on a large brown futon. Apparently using the path finding potion two days in a row like she had was very tiring and had the medicine itself had the side effect of extreme exhaustion. When they had arrived she had gone straight to her bed, plopped down and was out like a light.
Fluttershy was on her back, getting fanned by Pinkie and a giant palm leaf. She had barely managed to cope in the aftermath of the fight, and the very detailed retelling of the action had proven too much for her handle, along with the energetic re‐enactment the crusaders were all too happy to provide.
Rarity was looking on with absolute horror written all over her face. Rainbow Dash looked completely stupefied and Twilight's expression was the perfect representation of utter confusion and incomprehension. "And what did you say it looked like?"
"What 'd you mean?" Apple Bloom tilted her head like a curious puppy.
"Well you've told us a lot about what this creature did, but not what it looks like." The purple pony expanded.
"Well, it was really tall, probably as tall as Princess Celestia!" started Sweetie Belle.
"And it wore ah bunch of clothes, but only had a short mane on the top of its head. It didn't have any fur neither, just thin patches uh hair and pinkish skin." The farm filly continued.
"And it had these weird claws that weren't really claws, like, they were kinda like Spike's claws but without the pointy ends. OH, and there were five of them." the orange pegasus concluded.
"Wait, five? I thought you said there was one?" Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow as she hovered nearby.
"No, there was one creature, but it had five of the not claw things where a hoof should have been. And on the rear legs each one ended in an oval shape with five not claws that were really stubby looking sticking out, but you can't tell most of the time." Sweetie Belle supplied.
"Why not?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because it wears these corset things on them!" the miniature unicorn attempted to mime out the shape of the garment, only succeeding in falling over.
Twilight could only blink in incomprehension for a minute then shook her head, like the confusion in her mind could be shaken loose like cobwebs from her mane.
"So let me see if I have this straight," the lavender librarian said as she attempted to reclaim some modicum of sense without her brain stripping another gear. "After you entered the forest you got lost, correct?"
"Yes," Scootaloo answered.
"And then when you got lost, you took turns trying to find the path, hoping to get your cutie marks?"
"Yup," the youngest Apple in turn replied.
"And when that didn't work out you found a friendly river serpent that told you about the castle in the woods where you could spend the night?"
"Yes," Sweetie Belle replied in continuing succession.
"And when you reached the castle you were confronted by a really tall monster that wears corsets on its rear hoof things that are shaped like ovals, that you thought was really scary, but it turned out to be nice, invited you into the castle, let you sleep in its bed, sung you a lullaby and then when you got scared and tried to run away over a rotten log that was above a ravine it broke in the middle and the creature saved Sweetie Belle as you two had gotten over safely."
Twilight stopped and took deep breath before continuing.
"Then it carried her across said ravine on a bridge it made that only it could cross, after which it escorted you to the clearing we found you in, and when you became surrounded by Timberwolves, it threw the three of you into a tree, then proceeded to fight the five of them off, wounding one and killing four. Then when it got heard us coming it ran away back to the castle, which is also impossible because of ancient enchantments from both princesses themselves made keeps any and all monsters at bay. Which it appears nopony told this creature because apparently it lives there."
The three crusaders looked at each other then turned to Twilight to give a resounding "Yep."
For a moment the purple unicorn stammered and stuttered at the utter ridiculousness of what the girls were saying, after a minute of this her eyes crossed and the CMC could swear they could smell burning hair and see smoke coming out the pony's ears.
Rainbow Dash leaned over to Pinkie, "I think they broke her."
Applejack simply stared at the three with a look of utter disbelief with her ears lying flat, "Ya'll know that is the most ridiculous story I ever heard. And that's sayin' somthin' the way Braeburn carries on at the Salt Block."
"But it's true!" the girls cried as Apple Bloom trotted up to her sister.
"Sis, we ain't lien', honest." The lone crusader gave her sister the CMC special, the look of such undiluted cuteness that almost no pony could stand up to the combined efforts of all three of the crusaders. Applejack countered with a scrutinizing glare, any liar or wrongdoer locked in this gaze would immediately wither under its prowess.
The two battled for dominance in a contest of wills, after a minute had passed Applejack conceded, she couldn't see any sign of a lie and they had sounded perfectly honest before.
"Alright, alright. Ah' believe yah, crazy as it sounds, Ah believe yah."
At hearing this Twilight shook her head, seemingly done with her 404 ERROR impression. "I guess I can believe you too, after all, I don't think you three are capable of fighting off a pack of timberwolves all by yourself, much less slay the majority of them."
*eep.*
Twilight swung around to face Fluttershy, who had finally gotten to her hooves, shaky as they were, and was looking at the librarian in pure horror. At the remembrance of the grisly demise of so many creatures, the poor pink maned pony fainted once again, face-planting on the floor.
"Oh shoot, Fluttershy! I'm so sorry!" the lavender mare called out as she ran to her unconscious friend's side. Pinkie pie, who was sitting nearby, just shrugged and pulled out another palm leaf and resumed fanning.
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, "Nice one Twi." The unicorn shot the hovering Rainbow Dash a stern look then went back to tending to her friend when Applejack spoke up.
"We need tuh get back to Ponyville. Ah know Ah'm behind on work and Ah'm pretty sure Dash needs to be tendin' to the weather."
Twilight nodded in agreement, "I think that's for the best, Rainbow can you help me carry Fluttershy?"
The speedster landed and helped maneuver the canary pegasus so she was balanced on both her back and Twilight's.
"Yeah, we'll be back in no time. Come on, let's go."
As the group exited the hut a certain pink pony bounced up to the zebra sleeping in the corner and scooped her up into a big hug. The mystic never stirred from her slumber, "Thanks a bunch Zecora," the party pony whispered, "I'm sorry I never threw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and pegging you all wrong. But I promise I'll make it up to you." She set down the sleeping zebra and made to leave, but before she went out the door she turned around and whispered, "cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This shit's way too weird.
Troy was hunched over one of his wooden victims, he hadn't had the proper opportunity to examine the creatures before; especially since they had been trying to tear him into bite-sized chunks at the time. He was currently examining the most intact wolf, can I even call it that? It truly looked just like someone had glued a pile of wood into the shape of a wolf.
He had decided to attempt to follow the pony creatures after he had bandaged himself, that way the tracks would be fresh and he wouldn't risk exposing himself. As an added bonus any predators would be following the group or stalking their trail... and not him. It would give him ample opportunity to examine the situation in case something went sideways, rather than getting a nasty surprise.
He had followed his carvings back to the clearing and to his surprise found that nothing had approached the corpses left behind. He had assumed that some other creature would have tried to eat the carrion, but it didn't seem like they had been disturbed. The hiker was suddenly overcome with curiosity, what were these creatures and how did they function?
He paused for a moment and then removed his ax, after rolling the carcass on its back he began to hack at the wooden skin, drawing a line down the middle with gouges in the wood. After he finished his carving he slammed the ax into the corpse, splitting the wood down the line. He twisted the ax, trying to pull the chest piece in half, but it wouldn't give. Placing his foot in the crack and pushing with it while pulling with his left hand on the other edge of the crack, he slowly began to pull it apart. He quickened his progress by chipping apart key areas with the ax in his free hand.
Soon as he had the chest cavity wide open, the ax was returned to the belt and Troy drew his knife, slowly cutting away sinew and muscle, although those were poor words to describe what he found. While he found tough fibers that seemed to act as muscle, there were no sign of veins, a heart, or a rib cage. As he delved deeper into the creature he found what would pass as a stomach where he made a startling discovery.
There was no digestive tract, the stomach simply ended, he found the bones of several small creatures inside along with some dirty fur and dissolved pelts. Troy surmised that these creatures digestive system worked in a similar fashion to a pitcher plant. He also postulated that by the way some of the 'muscles' were arranged that once the stomach got filled with bones and pelt to a certain point it would regurgitate all the items it couldn't digest into a heap.
That would likely mean any territory heavily occupied by these creatures would be littered with such mounds. Troy made a mental note to look out for anything that fit that remotely fit that description. Continuing his dissection he found what would pass as a spinal column. Except, a spine had bone segments to protect the nerves and keep them from over extending in a given direction, here was no bone to speak of, or any thick fibers that could act as a proxy. Troy stopped his anatomization and pondered that for a moment. The more he learned of these creatures the less like wolves they seemed. He turned and looked at the fallen 'Alpha'. He examined one of the broken limbs, tearing the break in half to look at the center, No bones, just more pseudo‐muscle fibers.
It struck Troy like a bolt from the blue, these things were invertebrates. The outer structure acted as armor and structural support, which explained why the Alpha's head had been fairly easy to remove after he had weakened the surrounding neck area.
Looking at the head of the Alpha Troy walked over and picked up the severed cranium, he stared into the lifeless eyes that once threatened him with bodily harm. It suddenly occurred to him why these things were so dangerous. Presumably, they had no natural predators. The more he looked at the corpses the clearer it became, the lack of a heart, oily sap instead of blood, these where not animal/plant hybrids. These were plants, mobile carnivorous plants that operated on pack tactics equipped with natural armor. Any creature that would be capable of taking one of these down would be a carnivore as well, and uninterested in eating this thing since its digestive track wouldn't be able to handle the cellulose in the plant matter.
Additionally, any herbivore that could handle eating these things would naturally prey on surrounding flora, and would not be equipped to take this type of predator down. There was literally nothing to keep the population of these things in check.
An idea occurred to the hiker and he began prying open the Alpha's back, soon he had the sinews from around the spinal column. The fibers where thin but strong, perfect for bowstrings. Troy picked up the head and began to make his way back to camp. The man stumbled when his leg twinged in pain, the walk had opened up one of the cuts a bit.
Deciding to improvise, he cut down a thick branch from the nearby tree he had tossed the tiny pony creatures into previously. After he removed the branches he made himself a walking stick, he tested its strength and found that it was firm, but not brittle. After cutting down a second branch he continued back the way he came, his leg noticeably more cooperative with the additional support.
He quickly arrived back at the bridge and he started sharpening the second stick. The way he figured it, he had thrashed a group what were the current Apex predators of the forest, they could take on larger targets in big enough groups and nothing that could really stop them would bother the beasts, as it would be a waste of time and energy.
After he finished sharpening one end he flipped it over and began sharpening the other. Once he was finished he began driving the stick down into the earth, he twisted and turned the repurposed branch until he was certain it would stay up on its own accord. He gave it a test shove; it was solid and barely gave. Satisfied, Troy jammed the wolf head onto the sharpened end of the stick, working it into what he assumed was the cranial housing, or whatever was the plant equivalent of such.
The adventurer stood back to admire his work, it was pretty intimidating. The way he saw it, this thing sent a clear message.
To the wooden wolves: I can take down your toughest fighter and live to brag about it. How do you think YOU'LL fare?
To everything else: what lives here took the strongest of those wolves down, do not fuck with it.
After Troy made his way back to camp he found the rock he had dried his clothes on. He placed the fibers in a row for them to dry and now all he needed was a sturdy branch to make the rest of the bow and some arrows and he would be in business. He turned to the path to head back out, but paused for a moment, he would probably be better off equipping himself properly for an excision into the forest. He went inside and grabbed his lighter, then a green bandana from his clothes pile along with a green hoodie. The sweatshirt was a bit big, but it was thick and it would provide some mild protection, and if push came to shove it would serve as another shield.
Thinking about his backpack, Troy suddenly became acutely aware of how vulnerable his stuff was out in the open. He quickly gathered up all his items, including the bits of leftover rope and his water pail and placed them all in his sleeping bag. Once that was done he carried the sack up the stairs of the tower and hid it in the broken wardrobe.
At least this way if anything stumbles into this place it won't be tempted to swipe my stuff.
Tying his hoodie around his waist and his bandana around his head Troy set out once more. He passed the clearing without any trouble, as it seemed creatures were going out of their way to avoid it. He found the sets of hoof marks easily enough and marked the trail as he tracked the group. He made his way through the brush and tried to make as little noise as possible.
After traveling over the river, and marking the crossing with a pile of stones on each side of the riverbank, he continued into the wood for some time, checking the sun often as he guessed it was a little after mid‐afternoon. The sun was not dangerously close to the horizon, but if he didn't find anything soon he would have to turn back, he didn't want to chance this forest at night.
As he passed through a particularly thick bush he found a small tree hovel. There were a variety of bottles hanging from the tree's branches containing various liquids that he could only guess at. He crouched low and approached slowly, he chanced a look through one of the windows. He was surprised at how well the tree had been hollowed out, the inside sported various tables and shelves filled with apothecary supplies, in the center was a large cauldron and fire pit. Troy looked above the setup, and sure enough, there was a chimney of sorts to let the smoke from the fire out, so as not to flood the hut with smog.
What do you know, I have a neighbor, should've brought a fruit basket. Bitches love fruit baskets.
From what he could tell it was empty, seeing no reason to leave a stone unturned he moved to investigate. Walking to the door he gave the knob an experimental tug, pulling it open with ease. Ducking inside he made his way over to a table that had a few books adorning its surface. He picked a green one with an illustration of some kind of plant, standard fare for what he was rapidly coming to suspect was a herbalist of some kind. He idly flipped it open and paged through the tome, it was written in a different language than the one carved into the castle arch, but still illegible to his eyes. As he shut the book and placed it back on the table the young man heard the rustle of fabric.
The noise spun his attention to a corner of the hut where he spied the sleeping form of the zebra he had seen earlier. Even if it was fun-sized there was no doubt in Troy's mind, that was a fucking zebra.
Don't know about that other stuff, but this is for damn sure.
The sleeping zebra was seated on a bed, fast asleep under the window, its positioning had hidden it from view when he played peeping tom. Troy approached with caution, not wanting to wake the slumbering native. He carefully began to examine the golden neck bindings and hoop earrings. Not wanting to test his luck he turned to leave, however, his walking stick had other ideas. The bit of wood caught on his legs and he stumbled forward, he leaned back to try to balance himself but overcompensated, sending him sprawling on top of the poor creature.
Oh shit.
Troy braced for the cry of outrage and horror, maybe confusion and panic.
None came.
After a moment he decided to chance a look at the native he was currently lying upon. It was still fast asleep, and he wasted no time picking himself up off it. He hurriedly examined the bed's occupant again to, fortunately, find that it was still sleeping soundly, dead to the world.
Acting on impulse he slapped the creature on its hindquarters. Not even a flinch.
"Wow."
Heavy sleeper.
He turned to pick up his stick and leave, but a thought wafted to the forefront of his psyche. This was an opportunity to check what gender this thing was.
Do I really need to confirm this? Is the information that critical?
He pondered for a second, then two, then three. He sucked in a staggering breath. I want to way more than I reasonably should, but it's an intelligent being, no matter what gender. Besides, I'm pretty much breaking and entering here. I do anything else and they'll be sayin' some crazy monsters crawling in yo' windows snatchin' everybody up. So none of that.
Troy smiled and walked up to the sleeping zebra.
"Sorry for the intrusion, I'll get you an extra‐large fruit basket to make up for it. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be on my way."
The creature chose this time to spasm in its sleep, kicking Troy right in his injured leg.
"GAAAAAAAAAAH! SHIT! MOTHERFUCKER!"
Troy began hopping in a circle around the cauldron
"FUCK! FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!! Ngggggggnggngngnng... Ahhh‐hsssss"
He crouched and clutched at his leg for a solid minute.
"MMMMMmmmmmnnnn ...OK maybe a medium-sized basket, and we call it even."
The hiker exited the hut with a more pronounced limp than before.
It might have been the unexpected and violent blood loss this morning, the sudden attack via rabid foliage, the strange castle in the middle of nowhere, or the mythical abominations that wander the area, but something tells me this whole little adventure is going to SUCK.
He continued to mark his path, trailing the hoof prints to a patch of blue flowers when he noticed something odd. While the group had been spread out before, side by side, now the tracks had merged into a single line through the path. Not once did they stray into the flower patch.
Could be a coincidence, but creatures that are much more familiar with the local flora than you are deliberately avoiding these plants. For all I know these things melt the skin off your flesh...
...Let's not find out.
Sticking to the middle path Troy continued until the path widened and showed a great field before him. With the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon he could see a small town in the distance. The scene looked like a painting of a long-dead master, beautiful in the simplest of ways.
The exhausted and battered hiker leapt with joy, his pain temporarily forgotten. He raised his walking stick over his head and began to dance in a circle, hopping from one foot to another.
"YES YES YES YES! YES YES YES YES! FUCKING YESSS!"
Troy sang to himself as he spun around with a huge smile plastered on his face. After his dance session was done he bolted towards the closest-looking structure. It looked like the previous hut, but a lot more 'homey'. He was about to call out to whoever owned the quaint little cottage before he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.
Namely, it was two of the creatures that he had seen before, specifically the purple unicorn thing with the pink and yellow pegasus thing. He dived into a nearby bush, hiding from view. He was far enough away that he really didn't have to worry about being seen, but he wasn't taking any chances. He removed his bandana from his head and inverted it into a makeshift mask, then drew up his hood, hiding his face quite well. Though he was beginning to suspect that there might not be enough humans running around to throw off suspicion.
I get the sinking feeling that this disguise is going to be rather pointless.
Whatever, it made him feel like a badass, so it was worth it.
When he peered through the fringes of the shrubbery, he saw the two quadrupeds walk up to the entrance, which only now seemed small given the comparison. The yellow one seemed to be woozy as it conversed with the lavender one, after they finished the unicorn thing trotted briskly down the path towards the village and the other entered the house, only to be followed by a cornucopia of critters.
Only now did he realize how many animals were situated around the tree home. There was a chicken coop along with birdhouses and every kind of hovel any creature could dream of. Troy thought it better to avoid being detected near this particular house. As the occupant might have a stroke just from looking at him, judging how it had acted at the scene of his battle.
Additionally animals make wonderful people detectors, so let's avoid this place in its entirety.
Troy headed off in the same direction as the horned thing but chose to stay hidden in the brush surrounding the dirt road. Eventually, He came to a signpost that pointed in four different directions, though each of the signs were illegible to him and appeared to be written in the same script as the book. One of the signs pointed to a dirt path that led back to the forest another pointed in the direction of the cottage. Yet another was aimed towards the village, with the final two pointing down another dirt road. While he could see more trees in the distance he could see they weren't as wild as the trees of the forest.
Deciding he needed to kill time until it got dark enough so he could investigate the village he decided to check it out. As the newly appointed adventurer approached he noticed that many of the trees were covered in apples, in fact, most of them were. He noticed a large sign with an apple proudly displayed, carved out in silhouette, as if that explained everything you needed to know about the farm.
...They grew apples.
He looked around at the surrounding trees that lay behind the fence surrounding the farm, each one filled to the brim with apples.
Well... at least they have honesty in advertising.
Jumping the fence he continued through the light underbrush and took cover in the tree line. He made his way through the orchard, one of the most likely places that a human would be would definitely be a farm. Seeing as most farming tools would be difficult, if not impossible to use without hands. The only way one of these creatures would be able to use farming equipment would be if the tools were heavily modified for their use. He had yet to see anything that suggested anything along those lines. He saw wagons and large baskets of apples with handles and handles implied hands.
Now all he had to do was wait for the farmer to appear to collect his harvest, he could tumble out of the woods and give the old 'help I'm really lost' speech and everything would be better. Not great, but definitely better. As it turned out he needn't wait long, he could hear the scrapping and grunting of someone pulling one of those baskets.
As he poked his head around the tree his heart sank at what he saw. A large red pony thing, definitely male was dragging one of the bushels with his teeth. And with a flick of his neck, he swung the apples onto the wagon with the rest of the waiting crop. With only a single apple coming loose.
Troy was unsure how he managed to:
1. Get the apples on the cart without snapping his neck, judging by how high they were stacked they must have weighed quite a bit.
2. Swing an open-lidded container that full up onto that wagon and manage not to spill more than one single apple.
As he pondered these questions the apple rolled to the edge of the wagon where the big red pony expertly balanced the fruit on the tip of his nose and then flicked it into the pile with the rest of them.
As the pony pulled the cart up the road towards the barn, the only thing the hiker could think was: Did that guy just wipe his nose on the produce?
Troy just shook his head, as he did he noticed a difference in the sky's hue and looked to the west. The sun was falling behind the horizon and the heavens that had been previously dyed a bright orange was now a rich lavender. He stalked up the trail a little farther to get a clear look at the wagon-toting pony. It brought the wagon into a bright red barn, after a minute it left and headed to a large farmhouse.
The barn would be a good place to crash, as he couldn't leave for the castle in the night and hope to reach it safely. He circled around, staying hidden within the treeline until he was close to the barn. He slowly crept towards the door, staying low as he left the safety of the orchard.
He took a moment to look inside, there were bushels upon bushels of apples, stacks of hay in the upper lofts, and a large group of cows corralled inside. Troy felt himself smirk, the lofts would be a decent hiding place until morning. After he checked out the rest of the town he could sleep here if there were no other humans to be found.
He continued to the farmhouse, keeping low as the lights were still on. He slowly approached one of the windows this was a bit of a risk, but he had to be sure that there wasn't anyone else here. Maybe that guy was just a farm hand... does that term still apply if you don't have hands?
Troy slowly peeked around the corner of the frame, trying to keep himself as hidden as possible. He blinked as he saw four of the creatures seated around a large table. One was the large red one who seemed to be... talking sternly with the small one... That was wearing a ribbon.
So this is where that pony thing lives, hmmm?
He smiled as he looked at the orange mare as she nodded along with whatever the red one was saying.
Glad they got home alright.
The last one was an elderly green thing, he was honestly stumped unto what its gender was until it opened its mouth. Only old ladies could have that kind of high-pitched and screechy voice. It reminded him of his great grandmother, bless her soul.
Pulling himself out of his reverie he examined the table, four place settings. Troy nodded and pulled away from the window, certain he hadn't missed any of the home's occupants. That unfortunately meant there would be no help for him here. He walked down the dirt path to the main road. The night had fallen and hid him well. He idly gazed at the stars and moon, one of the reasons he liked hiking was that if you got far away enough from civilization you could see the stars in all their glory.
He was so enraptured by the beauty of the night sky that he almost ran into the signpost. Sidestepping the wooden beam, he lazily strolled in the direction of the sleeping village.
He started to pass houses, some had lights on, but those were few and far between. They were shorter than they would have been normally. The surrounding buildings sported thatched roofs and clearly visible wooden beams. It reminded him of a village from a Switzerland postcard. Almost idyllic in its presentation.
*Klunk*
Troy jumped at the sudden noise, his walking stick had struck the road which had become paved in cobblestone. A light turned on in a nearby house. Troy dove beneath the window and lay as flat as he could.
In the light cast upon the street, Troy could clearly see the silhouette of a pony, and could also make out a horn. He did not breathe, he did not move. He slowly shifted his gaze upwards, there at the corner of his vision he could see the end of a mint green muzzle peeking out over the windowsill. After a moment the jaw retreated back into the house out of sight. The shadow on the street moved away as well, but not before the nearby shutters glowed with an eerie green aura. Without warning the wooden covers slammed shut, causing Troy to flinch. Only after the lights behind the window coverings were extinguished did he allow himself to take a breath.
WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT!?
It just got all glow‐y and then BOOM. Closed.
No strings, no wires, no levers or mechanisms. Just, BOOM!
Despite his complete incomprehension at what had just taken place, the man couldn't help but smile. He felt like laughing at the absurdity of the situation. He was sneaking around a village, dodging from shadow to shadow, to avoid attracting the attention of the pastel-colored unicorns and ponies romping around. This shit was priceless.
Troy suppressed his urge to laugh out loud, as that would defeat the purpose of hiding in the first place. Instead, he allowed himself a private chuckle as he lay on the street right beneath the windowsill. Picking himself up and throwing his walking stick over his shoulder, he ventured forth. Deciding to stick to the outer edges of the town to start, as he could see lights coming from deeper in the village, he turned onto another street. While still fairly out in the open, he didn't like how exposed he felt, so he stuck to back alleys and shadowy passages when he could. As he traveled he quickly decided to make a quick itinerary for the night's activities.
Item one: If possible, find another human. I doubt there are any around here given the circumstances, but even an off chance is still a chance.
Item two: Determine your location. At best you find your way home, at worst you find a map you can't read.
Item the third: Try to glean any information about this society. Anything that can determine their current level of technology. From copper in their cooking pots to steel in their structures.
Troy continued ducking through alleyways before he spied something that caught his interest. There was a fairly large house on a little hill, just at the edge of town. Troy paused for a moment, taking a good look at the structure. It obviously housed a very well-to-do individual. He mentally shrugged.
Well, humans by nature are enterprising bastards, probably worth a look.
After a bit of gate‐hopping, the man entered the compound. While the mansion was rather compact compared to Hollywood star mansions this was by no means a disappointment. Two stories and a third centered around the middle of the building. Troy crept around the house, sticking to hedges and finely groomed shrubbery.
He peered into any room with open curtains. Now that he thought about it, many of the windows in the homes below didn't have window panes. He pondered on this subject as he located a dining room, four places at an extravagant table, most likely mahogany. The table was also extravagant in length, stretching the length of the quite sizable room. He could see four place settings, so a family of four. So much like the farmhouse, yet he suspected they didn't have such a happy demographic as the last one. Despite the obvious scolding the youngest was getting at the farm it was obvious the orange and red parents cared for their child.
Those born among the privileged rarely had to want for anything, because they naturally could have anything they wanted.
And they said socio‐historical studies were a waste of time, you can still see common medieval European social development and behaviors amongst the entitled.
Said entitled would get anything they wanted as children and as they grew into adults, they believed they could have whatever they wanted by right. Because no one could tell them otherwise. Thus from this viewpoint, they would begin to regard others that did not share their stature as 'the lower class' and viewed such demographics with disdain and would treat them as if they were less than human.
Now he was curious, did these creatures share such sociology, or were they above such viewpoints due to being herbivores and therefore did not require an 'Alpha'? Possibly perhaps due to their nature as pack animals? Perhaps, perhaps, but there was no point in hypothesizing that fact at the moment, so he continued his search.
He came across various lounges and waiting rooms, but nothing that would indicate the presence of one of his kind. He was about to abandon his investigations when he noticed a faint noise, sounding much like it was coming from the second-floor window. His curiosity piqued, he grabbed the side of the house and slowly climbed, leaving his walking stick leaning against the wall. The architecture had many extravagant designs and artistic protrusions, so the man had handholds to spare as he peeked in the second-story window.
His gaze was met with a lot of fur.
After a moment of confusion troy realized he was looking at the backs of a large collection of stuffed animals. They were stacked so high they covered about half of the window, which given its respectable size was a feat indeed, it was about five feet tall and about four wide. Ascending even higher he positioned himself so he was just sneaking a look over the edge of the plush mob, placing each of his feet on a corresponding buttress just above the window below and gripping either side of the window with his hands for stability.
His improved position showed a room overflowing with plush animals of all kinds, with a small pink pony like the ones that had visited his new residence before.
Holy crap, Noah's Ark didn't have this many animals.
The pink critter was pacing in circles, mumbling to itself in the low light. The room was poorly illuminated as the only light came from the moon and thus the heavily barricaded window. The animals near the window itself sat upon a stand covered in a lace tablecloth.
Troy began to maneuver himself down, as there was nothing of interest here when suddenly the pink creature in their apparent anger kicked the table, sending all the stuffed animals sprawling to the floor. The man froze, the creature hadn't noticed him though now he was plainly visible and his shadow was cast over the floor. If he moved now, so would his shadow, and the movement would no doubt attract the attention of the creature.
The oblivious creature continued toward a large four-poster bed in the middle of the room, still grumbling, and flopped down on the plush mattress. Now that his shadow was out of the creature's field of vision he resumed his descent, as jumping down would make far too much noise for his liking. He jumped slightly as the pink thing rolled onto its back and let out a groan of frustration. Troy felt his blood freeze as it rolled onto its side to face him. The creature didn't look at him immediately, as it was apparently lost in thought, but soon enough its eyes drifted over the hiker. The creature did a double-take and its head shot up from its pillow.
They stared at each other for a minute, neither one moving. Troy didn't dare move an inch, all this thing had to do was scream and he would probably be set upon by the whole village. Though now that he thought about it he must have looked pretty intimidating, his hood covering most of his head and his bandana covering everything else except his eyes. His arms stretched out to either side of the window, it would be difficult not to spook the creature further.
He saw its mouth open and without thinking brought his hand up to his own mouth and shushed the thing.
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*
Letting the hiss trail off he watched the creature close its mouth with a snap.
Fuck not making noise, I just gotta get out of here NOW!
Troy leaped from his perch and grunted as he landed on his non‐injured leg, grabbing his stick he ran along the side of the mansion towards the hedge surrounding the compound. He didn't even bother trying to jump it, instead, he opted to go straight through, popping out the other side onto the street that led away from the house and towards the village. Protected by his clothing he continued on with only a few errant branches clinging to his hoodie to show for his trouble.
He didn't stop running until he was down the hill and in a dark alcove with a clear view of the mansion. He paused to catch his breath and waited for the chaos to unfold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filthy Rich was awakened by a sudden prodding in his side, groaning he reached for his nightstand and flipped on the light. He could tell it was still dark out, looking at the clock that rested upon his nightstand he doubted he got more than five minutes of sleep.
He turned to scold the maid and demand a reason for waking him at such an hour. Only to find, to his surprise, Diamond Tiara looking like she was about to cry.
"Honey bunchkins, what‐"
Before he could finish his question the filly jumped, wrapping her hooves around his neck and began to soak his coat with tears. The poor thing was shaking, though he couldn't quite make out what she was saying due to her excessive sobbing. Despite himself Rich smiled, Tiara had grown distant in the last few years, but he remembered when she would come crying to him in the middle of the night. Poor thing had always been afraid of the dark, it had taken a while for her to abandon her nightlight.
"Shhh, hush dear. What is it? Did you have a bad dream?"
The pink filly relaxed her grip on the stallion's neck so she could look at him properly, or try as her eyes were still spilling tears.
"There *hic* was a m‐monster in my window, id was big, an id was scary, an id didn't have a face, only two small eyes an... An‐"
Filthy Rich placed a hoof under his daughter's chin and lifted her head.
"Now, now, it's alright dear," he placed a tissue on the filly's snout. "Here, blow your nose, honey."
The filly loudly blew her nose into the tissue, and sniffed as Filthy threw it into a waiting garbage pail.
"There, that's better now isn't it?" Diamond Tiara slowly nodded. "Now tell me about this monster."
Filthy Rich listened intently as his daughter quickly regaled him of the encounter. A dark figure without a face clinging to the outside of the window, and when she was about to scream it had shushed her. Like it could see inside her mind. It had weird squiggly appendages instead of hoofs and its eyes were like that of a mad pony, crazed and small they had stared right into her soul. She could feel it. It didn't have any face, just those eyes. Then it dropped from the window and when she went to look for it, it had disappeared.
Filthy Rich patted his daughter on the back, "It's alright honey, it sounds like you just had a bad dream."
The filly shook her head vigorously, "But it wasn't a dream daddy I saw it, I know I did!"
The tired entrepreneur sighed, "Then what do you want to do Tiara honey? We can't go looking for now can we?"
The frightened little heiress shook her head again.
The graying stallion looked his daughter in the eyes; they were so unsure, just like when she was younger. Poor thing had been afraid of her own shadow.
"Then what do you want to do?" he asked expectantly.
The pink filly dug at the carpeting with her hoof, "Can I sleep here, just for tonight?" she looked up hopefully.
The old stallion tried to sigh in annoyance, but the smile on his face ruined any attempt at the gesture.
"Sure. Just for tonight."
The filly visibly brightened and jumped into the bed, snuggling up to Filthy and giving him a small hug.
"Thanks, Dad."
Filthy smiled, times like these wouldn't last. One day she would grow up and be too old to come to him. Then she would go off to do something great, he was sure of it. Maybe if he was lucky she would one day bring home grand foals for him to spoil.
Filthy reached over and turned off the lamp as visions of the future drifted through his mind, filling him with a bit of melancholy and happiness at the same time.
I'm just glad she can still come to her old man. Even if it's just one last time.
Those were his last thoughts as he drifted off to sleep, all the while listening to the steady breathing in his ear and feeling the warmth at his side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Troy watched carefully as the light from one room on the third floor turned on. He was ready to bolt, the only reason he hadn't was because he still had a mission to do. He had caught a glimpse of an important-looking building. It actually had shingles and less crappy architecture. The light went out and nothing else happened for a moment. Then two moments.
Troy waited for another full five minutes while the house showed no sign of life. Only then did he allow himself a sigh of relief.
Damn, that was close. New rule, no more dealing with these things while they're conscious or in huge numbers, that's just asking for trouble.
The young man stalked through the streets, towards what he suspected was an important building, it had a circular design with a second floor landing with a Gothic look to it. It actually wouldn't look too out of place on top of a castle tower.
As he approached something glinted in the corner of his vision. Turning he scanned the area for the source. The glare apparently came from a tree a small ways away from the circular building in the square.
Or is it a circle, would they call it a square when it's round? Town circle just sounds ridiculous.
Pondering this Troy returned to investigating the large building at hand. He approached a window and stooped to peer inside. Inside was what appeared to be a large gathering area, other than that he saw a few rooms, but nothing that promised information. And after his last encounter, he was less inclined to make ill‐advised gambles.
Swiveling around he took a moment to relocate the tree and set off to his final destination. After this, he was calling it a night and turning in at that barn.
Though, now that I think about it, that's probably a really bad idea. Farmers are famous for getting up early, and even more famous for how they deal with trespassers.
As he walked, the man decided to try finding a better place to sleep until morning. Satisfied with his decision, he was contended to take in the scenery as he neared his destination.
Odd, the majority of the population appears to be ponies, so why do they have doorknobs? Better yet, HOW do they have doorknobs? In fact, how do you build houses with nothing but hooves?
...If I ever get an explanation for this, I know I'm not going to like it. I can just feel it.
Rounding a corner the large tree came into view, it was certainly bigger than most of the trees in the forest. Looking towards the top of the tree he quickly found the item glittering in the moonlight, it appeared to be... A telescope? Now that he had a better view of the thing he realized there were more lights coming off of various window panes.
You've got to be shitting me.
Someone had carved out a house inside of a tree... that was still very much alive. Yeah, sure the one in the forest was inside a tree as well, but at least that tree had the decency to look dead.
Shaking his head, Troy strolled towards the leafy abode before he noticed the sign in front. Unmistakably, it depicted an open book.
A library, if I can't find any useful information here I'll eat my hat.
Note to self: acquire a hat.
Hats are awesome.
A sudden fluttering of wings nabbed Troy's attention. A bird of some kind, darted out from what appeared to be a balcony and into the night.
He approached the library and gazed through one of the ground-level windows. The walls were lined with hundreds, if not thousands of books, confirming his suspicions. He grinned, he had a massive amount of information at his disposal, even if he couldn't read it. But chances were high that he could get something of importance from the books. Not only that, but with the library's only apparent guardian off scouring the night for food, he would have free reign to look through as many books as he could.
He walked over and tried the door. Locked, figures. Troy returned to the window he had been snooping through and looked for a locking mechanism. To his pleasant surprise, there was none. With a gentle tug the window slid upward, giving just enough room to squeeze through. Leaning his walking stick up against the side of the tree, the urban explorer shimmied through and landed on the floor with a subdued TWHUMP.
A stealthy melody popped into the young man's mind as he double-checked his surroundings.
Troy was in an alcove at the back of the first floor it seemed. He turned around, reached out the window and retrieved his stick before closing the window. No sense in making it obvious that non‐authorized personnel were wandering these annals of knowledge. Though, the man severely doubted that anyone would care that he broke into public property.
Holding his walking stick out in front of him like a stave he proceeded into the main section of the library, he wasn't taking any chances. He entered a large circular room, covered wall to wall in books, approached one of the shelves and removed a book. Flipping through it was fairly uninformative, as any picture he saw he could only guess the significance of. Placing the book back among its kin, he continued to paw through the books on the shelf.
After he had learned jack and/or shit he decided to give up looking for information in the written word for the moment. As he looked around for anything that would provide information for the newly illiterate, he hit the proverbial jackpot: a globe, sitting patiently in a corner of the room next to a small desk.
Troy slowly set his walking stick on the floor and retrieved his lighter from its prospective pocket. Flicking it open he lit a nearby candle and began to examine the orb. His face grew grimmer and grimmer as he found only unfamiliar land masses with labels written in more of that alien tongue, which was really starting to get annoying.
The foreign geographic orb provided one fact at the very least. He was not on Earth anymore, at least, not the one he knew. Whether or not it was all in his head or not was another matter. The possibility of this whole experience being a hallucination was diminishing quickly. While things were definitely bizarre there still was a certain sense of rhyme and reason.
Moving away from the infuriating geological sphere, He looked for anything that might lead to useful information. He spied a staircase leading upstairs along with three doors. Troy decided it would be best to explore the first floor before moving to another.
Taking the leftmost door first, he gently pushed it open to find another alcove with even more books. Pulling the wooden hatch closed, he continued to the next one. Upon opening it, he found a kitchen, which set off all kinds of alarm bells in his head.
Odd, what would a public library have for a kitchen? Does it double as a cafe?
Troy looked at a lone table, accompanied by only two chairs. Not even the most pitiful broke rundown shop would only have two chairs.
He looked around at the kitchen. It had a stove/oven setup and a fridge. Troy's stomach had no trouble reminding its host that the meals he did have, had been minimal at best. Opening the appliance, a small light *tinked* on. He scoured its contents: there were eggs, No time to prepare those, Hay, and various fruits and vegetables. Troy didn't feel too great about raiding the fridge at a public library, but his stomach was quite insistent.
Helping himself to some peach and cucumber, he was about to shut the heavy metal door when he noticed something sparkling in the corner of the fridge. A small cluster of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, and other assorted gems sat there on the shelf. Troy's mind ground to a halt, he carefully picked up one of the sapphires and examined it. The gem was huge! It was big enough to fit in his palm easily.
Troy stared at the glittering rock, looked back at the pile of equally sizable gems, then back again to the sapphire. For a minute he stood there, hunched over to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. Trying for the life of him to figure out why the in world someone would keep their precious stones in a public library refrigerator.
He pocketed the gem, deciding that anyone who could afford to leave such valuables lying around wouldn't miss one, especially one far from the largest. And if they were going miffed about it they should probably try putting them in a more secure location. The young man closed the refrigerator, extinguishing the small light. He pulled the peach out of his pocket and dug right in, the whole gem thing was hurting his brain and he needed a distraction. And the sweet succulence of the peach was just that, after two days of nothing but fish the simple goodness of the fruit was a sweetness that no confectioner could ever come close to competing with.
After throwing the pit into a nearby trash can he washed his hands in the sink, which had been built right into the wood of the tree it seemed. After taking a drink from the faucet he wiped his mouth and felt a satisfying spark of contentment, unfortunately, the feeling was interrupted by a small scratching noise.
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
Troy cocked his head towards the noise, it was coming from the main hall. It was faint, but in the quiet of the night was clearly audible.
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
The noise was coming closer when it clicked in the man's mind.
Something is LIVING HERE!
He whirled around, brandishing his sick, cursing his negligence.
I should have realized it as soon as I saw the kitchen, stupid, STUPID!
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
*Scritch*
Damn it all!
Troy threw himself into a corner of the room covered in shadow and pressed himself into the darkness, he held his breath as the source of the scratching came through the doorway.
What he saw confounded him no end, before him stood what appeared to be a purple and green bipedal lizard. The Creature was barely taller than his knee and sported a stubby tail.
Great, Barney the dinosaur's estranged son lives here, Fan‐fucking‐tastic.
The creature let out a long yawn as it moved towards the fridge, revealing wicked fangs. Troy could only pray that the shadows would keep him hidden and barring that, the creature would not see be able to spot him past the sleep in its eyes.
The creature whipped open the appliance door, and with a small *tink* the refrigerator light turned on once again. Illuminating Troy as he stood pressed to the wall behind the small creature. The man began to sweat, one errant look over the shoulder, one single glance in his direction and he would be caught. He could easily take the tiny creature in a fight, but he suspected that violence would not be well met amongst the locals. It usually never was.
What happened next baffled the young man, the creature picked up one of the rubies from the small pile and took a bite out of it.
Troy could only stare as the creature ate a ruby that was at the very least probably worth ten thousand dollars. He watched as the money-eating creature picked another hapless gem, intent on devouring it just like it had its brother. He was suddenly less sure of his combat capabilities against something that could literally bite through solid stone.
If that thing clamps down on one of my legs, I'm not gonna be getting it back!
The young man began to carefully make his way around the beast, rolling the heels of his feet to muffle his footfalls. Carefully, carefully, he rounded the creature, picking up the pace as soon as the refrigerator door was between him and the tiny rock-eating lizard.
Now in the main reading area, Troy looked at the window he had entered from. He couldn't leave that way, if the creature came back while he was wiggling through the portal he would lose more than his pride if it bit him in the ass.
The balcony.
He quickly ascended the stairs and in front of him, just past the open door was the balcony. The hiker turned thief quickly made his way to the jutting structure, ducking just enough so his head barely cleared the doorway. But not enough for his walking stick.
*Thwack*
Of course.
He heard a surprised voice come from the room he had just passed, after a second a new one followed the first, coming from the first floor landing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight woke with a start, a loud noise jerking her from dreamland. She looked to the small basket near the end of her bed, empty. She groaned angrily and rolled her eyes. "Spike! What are you doing up so late, and what was that racket?"
She rolled out of bed and shook her mane out of her face.
I wonder what he's doing, or what excuse he'll come up with.
...This is going to be rich.
The bedraggled librarian allowed herself a small smile as she pushed the door open and stepped out onto the landing.
"I'm sorry Twi, I got hungry so I went and got a snack."
The unicorn jerked to face Spike, who was downstairs holding a half‐eaten ruby.
"You alright? Did you fall off your bed again?"
Twilight was about to retort when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A misshapen shadow was framed in the light coming in from the balcony.
Fear suddenly replaced confusion, "So you didn't make that noise?" She asked, not once taking her eyes from the shadow.
"No, why? It wasn't you?" Spike replied, looking very confused.
Suddenly the shadow lurched down out of light, she could hear a muffled thump followed by a thud from outside. Her eyes widened in revelation.
"Spike," She called down, "We have a burglar, make sure the library is locked up!"
The tiny dragon's eyes grew in fear, "But, what if‐"
"I just heard him leave." Twilight interrupted as she ran to the terrace, catching a glimpse of a fleeing shadow. "Now lock everything down! I'm going after whoever this is, nopony, and I mean nopony steals from my library!"
As she finished speaking she teleported onto the street below, again she spied a shadow retreating into a dark alcove. She quickly went after it following its heavy off beat hoofsteps.
She rounded a corner and quickly realized why the steps sounded off to her, they weren't from hooves at all. She stared as she gave chase to the towering creature. It ran on two legs, faster than she would have thought possible of such a large creature. Its upper limbs were gyrating in sync with its lower ones to counterbalance its movement.
It looked over at her, never turning around, she could see nothing of its face as it was masked in darkness. It veered into another dark alley, as she took the turn she readied to grab the strange creature with her magic. Unfortunately, every time she would get close enough for a short-range telekinesis spell it would turn and she would lose her line of sight. And she couldn't use a long-range spell for the same reason.
The chase continued until they were in a familiar alleyway behind Sugarcube Corner, it went straight past the sugary looking structure with no turn offs but a single alcove that ended in a wooden fence that was in the middle. Twilight smiled and teleported to the far end of the alley. Just as she planned, the creature darted into the alcove, trapping it.
She came around the corner with a smug look on her face which promptly deflated as she saw the dark figure heave itself over the top of the fence. She facehoofed, she had forgotten to take the size of the creature into account. Anything that big wouldn't be trapped so easily by a fence.
Sighing in annoyance, she called up an image of the street that lay behind the fence from memory and teleported. She appeared out of a burst of purple magic in the middle of the street. She looked around for the creature, but it wasn't to be seen.
She listened for the creature's heavy hoof falls.
There were none.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Troy hid in a small recess between two houses, the wall behind him was too tall for him to climb over without making any noise. He could climb it but that would just mean that the chase with the strange little pony creature would start all over again.
He chanced a peek around the corner, he surprised himself when he recognized his tracker; it was the same purple pony from the forest, and the one he had seen helping the yellow winged one into her house.
It was facing away from him, scanning the street. As it turned he ducked away before it could spot him. He waited as he listened for any telltale signs. It sounded like it was turning in place, as the noise of its steps didn't seem to become closer or farther away.
That soon changed when he heard the soft clip‐clop noise the creature made approaching his hiding spot. He began to panic, he needed a distraction. He looked down at his walking stick, he had held onto it even as he had ran. A simple stick was the cause of this whole fiasco.
*Clip‐clop*
Well Corporal Stick, on account of almost getting caught once and ACTUALLY getting me caught. I'm afraid I have to give you a suicide mission, despite your previous loyal services. It is unlikely you will ever return.
Troy gripped the stick like a spear and aimed it over the nearby house and toward an adjacent street.
*Clip‐clop*
Goodbye Corporal Stick, may we meet again in the next life.
He hurled the stick silently over the roof and waited. The large bit of wood did its job, clattering loudly amongst the cobblestones. As soon as the sound died he could hear the pony giving chase to her imaginary foe. He peeked around the corner and watched as she turned off the street some ways away.
He stalked the dark alleyways again, this time directly toward the edge of town, only once outside its limits did he allow himself a sigh of relief. That had been a close call; he didn't want a confrontation with the locals yet. First off he was ill-equipped to defend himself, second, he needed to find a place where curiosity would overcome fear. The way the three small ones had cowered from him the first time around indicated they weren't used to human interaction. Or if they did interact with humans, it wasn't on friendly terms.
He began circumnavigating the town, holding to the brush when he could, and headed in the direction of the farm. He would look for a better hiding place, but if he couldn't find anything better, he'd sleep in the barn.
This night had been dragging on for far too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere
A small horned owl swooped through the air, approaching the edge of the Everfree forest. It quickly navigated into the dark wood, coming upon a large oak not too far from the edge of the forest. Using its beak, it knocked on a bit of bark that was adorned with a symbol of a circle with a line running through it.
After a moment a hidden door swung inward, revealing a rather large badger.
"Owlicious!" the brawny weasel bellowed with a smile. "Glad you could make it on such short notice. Come in, come in, the rest of the gang's already here. Dave brought a friend of his so you won't be the only one sitting in."
The large rodent led the owl down into the burrow. It was a bit of a squeeze but eventually, they came upon a large cavity. Inside, sitting around a small wooden table was a porcupine, a snake, and two rabbits. One of the rabbits was giving the serpent the stink eye, only flicking his eyes in the direction of the newcomers for a second, then back to the snake before doing a double-take and looking at the newest arrival with surprise.
The badger only let out a jolly chuckle, "I take it you two know each other then, good, this will go quick."
He turned to the other guests, "Everycritter! Welcome to my humble sett. This is Owlicious, we go way back, he and I."
"Owlicious, this is the gang, the pointy-looking one is Porcupine, but we just call him Pine for short."
The small spined rodent gave a smile and a wave as he shuffled a deck of cards.
"And this here is‐" As the badger turned to his feathered friend he could see he was giving the nearby serpent a leery look.
The Jovial critter just let out another laugh, "Don't worry about Snake, he's actually a decent guy once you get to know him."
Snake just rolled his eyes, "It's fine Badger, he'll come around eventually." The serpent smiled a genuine smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you Owlicious."
"Who?"
"You," Snake said, cocking an eye ridge, as he lacked eyebrows.
"Who?"
Badger laughed as the python gave him a look that clearly stated he was unamused.
"Relax Snake, He's just like that," He leaned over to his limbless companion, "It's a rather private matter." The brawny one whispered."
Snake just nodded understandingly, he then stretched and coiled into a comfortable position.
"Right, last but not least we have Dave," The rabbit on the left gave a little wave, "and his guest, Mr...?" He let the sentence hang for a moment before Pine came to his rescue.
"That's Angel Bunny, he lives in town." The critter smiled as he began doling out cards. "Introductions are over, let's play."
The table was soon filled with nick‐knacks, there were thimbles, buttons, and other odds and ends. These would serve as chips. Nothing of any value was ever won here, just bragging rights.
"So," Pine flipped a thimble into the pot, "Care to tell us why we're here on a Wednesday night rather than a Sunday?"
Badger shrugged as he checked his hand, "Thought it would be good to have an intro night, to break in the newbies." He checked the thimble and raised an eraser.
"Also, I won't be here on Sunday," he added as Snake folded, garnering looks of confusion from most present. The serpent's eye widened with understanding.
"Oh that's right, you're going to see your kids this weekend. You said something about that last week."
Badger's smile was a mile wide, "Yep haven't seen the little ones in ages. I just hope they still remember their old man."
Pine was the one to laugh this time, "I doubt there's any way to forget you, Badger." He watched as Dave and Angel Bunny placed their bets. He noticed that newbie was shooting Snake looks, though it wasn't the stink eye like before. It was obvious he was curious about something, and the porcupine smiled.
"Hey, newbie." the white rabbit turned his attention to the spiky one. "you got a question for our limb-deprived friend here?" He motioned towards the python who perked up at his mention.
Angel Bunny, paused for a moment before whispering something to Dave, who gave a small chuckle before leaning over to whisper into Pine's ear.
"Oi, what are you lot playing at, spit it out." Badger huffed as he tossed in his hand and Dave scooped up the pot, winning with a aces high straight.
Pine just smiled and turned to Snake, "He ssssssaid he wanted to know why you don't talk like thisssssss." He hissed, getting laughs from everyone except Snake, who just rolled his eyes.
"That's just a racial stereotype, though some guys just play it up for intimidation's sake. Or for fun. Seriously though we aren't the only ones around that hiss, cats do it just as much as we do, and you don't expect them to hiss with every S now do you?
The white rabbit just shrugged, earning a sigh from the serpent.
"See, this is why I can't go nice places. Just yesterday I got screamed at by a group of fillies. I didn't even do anything, I was just sunbathing on an exposed branch." He huffed as Badger tossed him two cards.
Snake continued to complain long into the night about the unfair stigma against snakes. While everyone else chatted about this or that, how Pine was finally seeing someone, how Dave had almost gotten run over, and how to figure out how Owlicious could win three straight hands without really doing anything.
Only when the sun came up did the group part, each heading back to their respective home. All except Owlicious and Badger.
The two stood outside of the burrow watching the sun rise, though the owl had to shield his eyes. They just stood there a moment before Badger spoke.
"I heard you got work at the Ponyville library."
"Who."
"That's good, I was worried about you for a while, is the work good?"
"Who."
"Good to hear," The striped badger turned and shook his friend's talon in his paw. "Take care of yourself Owlicious, If you need anything, anything at all, you know where to find me."
The owl simply nodded before taking to the air, riding the morning thermals towards the small village nestled in the fields of the valley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend.”
—Albert Camus
“I’ve dedicated this editing to Sir Corporal Stick who sacrificed himself bravely in the heat of capture to save Troy. May your splinters continue the natural cycle of decomposition and earthly rejuvenation.”
-Cosmic Afro
Authors note: The Mission Impossible theme alternate track has been added by popular demand, and fits pretty well. the link has been split into two. the left side is the original, right side is the alt.
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
1,043 users online
199,439 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yay update
732691
wow, you're fast.
732700
That's what sh-
*get's tackled by professional football player*
...ow...
My apologies guys, this would have been out 3-4 days earlier but I had some things to take care of.
732700
What can I say. Mail notification is awesome
........... Did.... did you just make me sympathize with Filthy Rich? Or is it Golden Coins? Either way, you are one clever son of a bitch.
To be honest, I was expecting the entirity of this chapter to be a longer version of the timberwolf scene. Glad to see that he's finally found Ponyville, although I hope that his actions haven't incited a riot/panic.
Keep 'em coming, or else I'll have to sic
on ya! XD
Also, random woodland creature scene is random.
732895
Is it really random? Or does the author know something we don't?
i love dis story
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png
He took a lot of risks. Twilight had a close encounter with an alien. This is going to be good.
So the I guess the hunt for the human youth is now ahoof... I wonder what shenanigans will happen next? Can't wait for the next update, keep up the awesome work
Rest in peace sir corporal stick...
I NEED MOAR!!!!!!
"Grizzly demise" Grisly.
The last bit sounds similar to a story I read when I was younger.
Animals of Farthing Wood.
Glad to see this updated! Good to know there's a HiE fix that doesn't immediately turn into sunshine and smiles it goes through that realistic state of suspicion and paranoia someone would logically have when meeting another species.
733129
True he did take a lot of risks, but sneaking into town is pretty risky to start with. Though he did let his curiosity get the best of him the first time around with diamond tiara, after that he tried to minimize any risks he took. Not that he was successful, but he tried.
733277
fixed, thanks for that.
MOAR! MOAR! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MOAR!!!!!!!
Only you, Cosmic Afro. Only you could make a dedication like that that makes me feel bad to laugh at.
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw4862-sadface.jpg
Corporal Stick, you will be missed. Your valiant sacrifice will not be forgotten.
While I did think the sneaky song was somewhat fitting, I instead listened to this.
Dun dun dada Dun dun dada Dun dun dada
Well... this story has definitely earned its random tag.
CORPORAL STICK, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
also, GREAT STORY BRO
Marilyn Monroe fucking a maple bar. WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT!?
LOL WTF
I have one very, very good question for myself.
"Myself, why didn't you favorite this story after reading the first four chapters?"
"I don't know, me. I don't know."
Wait, who won? I hope it was Snake, he has had a rough couple a days.
A toast!! "TO CORPORAL STICK!! GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!!"
Corporal Stick's sacrifice shall not be in vain.
A great chapter and I must say that Troy actually seems to be an interesting and well-rounded character, something that's rare in HiEs.
All in all I must say that this is a masterfully written, and edited, story and I look forward to much MUCH more.
Carry On
Corporal Stick's tour of duty has been terminated due to gross negligence of surroundings and insubordination.
Dedicated to Corporal Stick
Nice chapter, finally getting to the meat of the story
A library, if I can't find any useful information here I'll eat my hat.
Note to self: acquire hat.
Hats are awesome.
Eeyup
Hah! Twillight got owned!
New chapter. yay.
A moment of scilence please for Sir Corporal Stick. May he rest in splintery pieces.
But in all sincerity, excellent work.
too bad twilight didnt catch him she probably has a translation spell that might work... but then again i think it was celestias finding spell that caused troys stigmatta, i think that is what it is called. HOLY CRAP I just realized you ripped that off of X-men
oh well great story keep up the good work
733349
(and Alphas needs an apostrophe)
"An idea occurred to the hiker and he began prying open the Alphas back open"
You may also want to fix this one. There's one too many opens open.
Yay you got fettured today about six hours congrats
This is now at the top of my most wanted list. Write more, and more often.
733430
Same here! The MI theme was the first thing that came to mind for this scene. It just fit too perfectly!
Dude, this is amazing! When is next post?
734025
Actually, no I didn't, sorta... I didn't make the connection till you brought it up. but yeah now that you mention it is kinda similar. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_O_O.png
734105
thanks, for the tasty edits. fixed dem nao so it's all good.
733636
I might just use that line, just sayin'.
733430
734226
Your wish is my command. Added a link to mission immposible theme, though you can't really tell by looking at it, read the authors note at the end for details.
732728
Added the credits. whups.
knew I forgot something.
Troy's damn lucky Lyra didn't spot him, damn lucky indeed. Of course, his luck can't hold out forever...
I need more chapters!
And, they still don't meet, you goddamn tease!
Of course rabbits hold the dark secrets.
Hot damn you guys got this chapter out fast!
And its so full of awsome!!!!!!!!
And just a mountain of references for me to savor, you guys never let me down. "wipes away manly tear"
Troy is awsomazing and incredible sneaky for a guy with a bum leg, especially enjoyed the scene with Zecora and the window lurking.
.
Also really enjoyed how Troy looked from the pony perspective, that was great. And i'm REALLY happy that he put the wolfs head on a spear, was hoping he would do that for some reason?
I'm glad he got away from Twight, but since she knows where he lives wont she just hunt him down?
As always looking forward to more!
It's a matter of gargoyle securtiy! (Nice editing, and hope for a quick recovery from the football player tackle.
)
And 732991, what do you know that I dont!
733582 I'll raise my tankard to that, Long live the tale of Corporal Stick
products.boysstuff.co.uk/prod_zoom_center/27_6515IceTankard500_40600.gif
733816 Nope, needs to get a Fez not just any old hat. Fezzes are cool!
735450 I had to spend 20m convincing Sargent Staff that I would never do that to him.
735474 Only 20 minutes!
Thats what makes him a Sargent. Made of nails that one, or more probably Mahogany...
Or mabye it only took 20 min because he was only trying to convince you he had nothing to do with Corporal sticks untimely demise
...... After all, Stick was pretty close to a promotion, and rumor has it that Staff was worried about his position... I WAS NEVER HERE!
Corporal Stick was a true hero and will join many other legendary heroes in Valhalla such as Porkins, Joey's Rattata, Goomba from world 1-1, Private Wilhelm, Zoobat #2345, Hogger, and Trixie.
Great chapter! Gave me a Planet of the Apes vibe (1968 version) even had the soundtrack in my head when Troy snuck around. Although it would be odd if Troy were to act or quote Charlton Heston lol :P
I really like the direction of this story. So far you have avoided cliches and I like how Troy doesn't seem to make mistakes like other Human protagonists do in recklessness (like going to Fluttershy's cottage, sneaking in day.) Troy's different approach means that we get to see different kinds of mistakes which is actually great because it's fresh and fits the narrative. He's a more calculating believable protagonist with no brooding backstory who lives in the moment and it makes him likeable. Keep up the good work, my fav story on the site.
In loving memory:
i.imgur.com/GhELq.jpg
(I shouldn't be allowed to use Photoshop... God this was fun)
-Glassed
735703
Masterful, I am speechless.
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Bonbon_grin.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Soarin_dayum.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire_dayum.png
735719 Look at that beauty! I'm the new Van Gogh!
Hehe, I have too much spare time
-Glassed
Did I just give a salute in the memory of a stick? Great. Fics are getting to me...