Return to Equestria

by David Silver

8 - In Morning Light

"No! No no no." David woke up to worried sounds. "C'mon!" He pushed open the flap, staggering out to see what the trouble was, but it was fairly obvious. The tarp over the disc has done little to stop whatever decided it was worth raiding. The tarp was torn free. The contents, scattered about. Anything edible was devoured. The water and drinks remains, not interesting enough to whatever it had been, but the food was gone, all gone, and some other things had been smashed on the way, an accident really, but destroyed all the same.

"Crap," was David's eloquent response to the event. He got right to picking things up, tossing them back in the disc. "We have two choices."

"Why?" Joypad peered at him suspiciously. "You're way too calm about this!"

"They said that about my last adventure." He tossed the tarp aside, thoroughly ruined. "You can pack the tent?"

"Yeah? Guess." She grabbed the tent, easily folding it up just as smoothly as she had set it up. "But, seriously, I though you were a shut-in geek, like... me... and here you are acting like nothing big happened."

"I'm not panicking." David looked around for any abandoned bits, but everyone salvageable appeared to be tucked away. "Even if I did, we still have two choices. One--" He put out a finger. "We keep going and make do with what we have. Two--" Out came another finger. "We go back. We should be able to make that, in theory, though people will be upset. I'd be a bit upset, but dying sucks more than not, so... completely valid as options go."

"I don't like dying." Joypad crossed her arms with a pout. "Top ten things I don't like. So, is this when you reveal you have awesome human magic to feed us?"

He lifted his left arm, pointing to the band in view. "I can keep track of the steps I took."

"Yay." There was no excitement in her voice. "Alright, and then?"

He tapped the disc, getting it moving. "And then we either forage for food, or we head back. Still two choices."

She put her hooves on either side of her head. "We can't go back! They gave up so many bits to get us there... If we just told them we gave up..." She began to walk alongside David, her head hanging low. "Did you put points in the survival skill? Tell me you put at least a few in there."

"Technically, yeah, at least one point." David walked with that purposeful stride he tended to use. "I earned a merit badge for surviving. Let's see how well it works. Now... what can ponies eat? I know what humans eat."

"If it's a plant, I'll try it once, but try not to shove anything poisonous in there." She rolled her eyes as she walked along. "And that isn't always obvious."

"It never is." Would that plants could just tell you if they were good to eat or not. "Alright, so finding things for you should be a lot easier. Humans don't digest plants nearly so well, so we have to be way pickier." He hiked a thumb under his teeth as if to demonstrate. "We are all arounders. Meat, land or sea, always a hit. Fruits? Sure, but once you get to leaves..."

"Depends on the leaf." She shrugged, clearly willing to try a leaf out, which was more than most humans would tolerate. "Well... shoot, now I'm the one that was wrong."

"Hm?"

"Something exciting happened," she allowed with a suffering sigh. "And I wish it hadn't." She turned an ear on her human companion. "You have a plan for this?"

"Not especially." Not that this stopped him from marching onwards. "Worrying about it won't get us there any faster, or feed us.

"This is why young people get annoyed at older people." She hopped up on a log, trotting along it a few steps before she bounded back down. "Always sounding all wise and stuff, even when you don't have any answers. Why are you tracking that anyway?"

"Tracking what?" David didn't step up on the log, instead walking alongside it for its length as they slowly ascended up the slope. "Oh, steps?"

"That."

"It's silly, looking back at it." He curled his arm to bring the band into view. "It's not like I had a specific goal, but I liked knowing. It tracks sleep and things too."

"What doesn't it track? And I never saw you look at it, even once." She shook her head. "You sure it's not just a funny watch?"

Actually... David tapped at it, waking it up. "It is one of those too, and it's doing that just fine." Interdimensional time zones be damned! "It's tracking the steps for the day, but I can't check much more than that without my phone... which I didn't bring with me."

"Oh, one of those portable phones with a thousand buttons?" Joypad came in closer, though her eyes were on the path ahead. "Pegasi love those things. Bet you could get one there, make your doodonger happy."

What were the odds that a pegasus cell phone would be compatible with a human device? Did they use Bluetooth? Would they have the app that his device used, or something compatible with it? Part of him wanted to dismiss it as impossible, but he couldn't. Equestria was a magical world of impossibilities. It could happen. He put the odds closer to 50% than 0%. "Maybe."

They day passed them by, trudging ever upwards against the incline. They still had things to drink, thankfully. "Dinner's gonna be slim," warned Joypad as she set up the tent. with a sharp snap, setting it down. "Let's see your survival skills."

"Right..." Crud, it was time to put up or shut up. He got to wandering, looking for edibles. Berries! He saw a bush with some and gently picked one free. It was large, like a cherry. He tried to decide which were the most ripe. The ones that looked the most like a tasty fruit... right? The pale ones that seemed to err on the smaller size? No, not those. He took a nip. Sweet! Sweet and good. Hm... He began plucking others of the sameish size and color to bring back to camp.

"That didn't take long." Joypad sat up as he came closer. "What're you balancing there?"

He was holding his bonanza in his hands as best he can, using them as a basket of sorts as he dropped to a knee and let them fall out into the pan she had set up to cook with. "Nice!" She grabbed one of the berry cherry things and sniffed at it. "Doesn't smell like death." and into her mouth it went with a nice loud gulp. "Mmm, tasty." She spat up the pit despite having already swallowed. "Eat up! You're the one that found them. Or did you already eat?"

"Not yet," he assured, sinking down to sit with her and share the bounty of berries. "Do you recognize these?" He could hope.

"Uh, no? You do, right?" She paused mid-chomp. "That's why you picked them, right?"

Well... "They look similar to what I'd see, a world away."

She applied a hoof to her face. "Points for honesty. If we die, I'm going to haunt you, for, like, ever. Just so we're clear. Death vow and all that. No backsies!"

So it was that David ate under the looming threat that he may or may not be haunted forever in whatever afterlife was waiting for him. At least he went to bed without feeling like he was starving. That was a plus!

The next day, walking. Walking was such an important part of traveling, but never really brought up all that much. There was also gas. "Whatever that food was," grumbled Joypad. "It filled me in more ways than one." The effect was to ponies only, it seemed, as David marched on without difficulties.

Joypad, on the other hoof, was far more musical that day, except the instrument was on the wrong end of her, to her dissatisfaction. "I'm not dying," she reminded as if to console herself. "But I may make you wish you were." Still, it didn't really slow her down, just made her stink, and complain about the fact. "And why aren't you involved?!"

"Do you want me to join you that way?" David shrugged softly, walking onwards despite the troubles. "At least this morning had no surprises."

"We had nothing left for us to take. Look, when you go foraging, get not those, alright? I'm starting to wonder if I'd have..." She paused to let up the pressure building in her. "--preferred if you found something that just killed me and got it over with."

"I'd be very sad if you got hurt." He set a hand on her and she didn't dance away. "I'll try to find something that'll agree with you tonight, best as I can."

"You have no idea what you're doing," she scoffed. "But thanks, for the try. We're just two nerds in the forest. Why aren't we already dead?" She broke out into a little almost hysterical laughter, but they were proceeding despite it all, ascending the mountain that was at least half again as long as any mountain had a good reason to be.

Despite her words, he set out anew that evening to try to find something to keep their bellies from crying too long or hard about the situation. Those cherries were apparently common in the region, as he saw more of them. He pocketed some of them. They hadn't posed a problem to him, so... at least that was half the foraging done, hirrah! But he had a pony counting on him to find something.

Movement. He darted his head to see the back end of a rabbit leaping into a bush. "Hello bunny." He had gained some sympathy for rabbits, having adopted and cared for one. "Where are you headed?" He crouched down for a better look to see the rabbit digging at something, but it fled on noticing him there.

"Hm." He reached in and brushed the spot, revealing a great big root veggie. A carrot, or something like it? Maybe a potato? It wasn't an earth root veggie, but it was large, and the rabbit clearly thought it was good, so... He came back with it. "I suggest cooking this before biting it." If it was like a potato, eating it raw could pose problems.

"Already got the fire going." She was clapping as the big root thing was set down. "That looks like it could turn into something." She pulled out a big knife and got to slicing it up into wedges. "Gonna fry it up. Whatever looted us didn't know the oil was good stuff." And so in it went, sizzling soon, and appealing scents came after. It was like a sweet potato of sorts, with a dash of corn, all fried up thanks to Joypad's cooking. "Now this looks... good. Where'd you find it?"

"Would you believe a kind rabbit led me to it?" Her expression was enough to communicate that she did not believe it for a moment. "Either way, found it, enjoy it." He popped a cherry into his own mouth, chewing placidly. It was safe for humans, so far he could tell. "If you don't mind, I'd like a taste."

"Sure, you found it." She soon has it served on two plates, the same two she had used the first night. "Here's to not waking up with near explosive gas."

As it turned out, that veggie was quite good. The mild spices Joypad had sprinkled over it had worked well with it, providing a simple vegetarian meal that went well with the celebratory drink for the end of the day. "Last of them," noted Joypad. "I planned this out, uh, the shopkeep did... We should be getting close."

"About that..." David was looking at something ahead in the gloom.

Author's Note:

Survival! It's super easy, said nobody.

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Comments

[harts fire]

i hope that root was not a potato or you are going to have a vary sick Joypad.

a grate chapter to a vary fun story.

[David Silver]

11151985
They did cook that tuber, I note.

[Ponyess]

11151985
Why would a "Potato" be an Issue for Joy Pad?
At least, Horses do eat Potatoes quite happily along with Carots and these roots

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Actually... David tapped at it, waking it up. "It is one of those too, and it's doing that just fine. Interdimensional time zones be damned! "It's tracking the steps for the day, but I can't check much more than that without my phone... which I didn't bring with me."

Should there be a double quote mark as below?

fine." Interdimensional

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"I'd be very sad if you got hurt." He set a hand on her and she didn't dance away. "I'll try to find soemthing that'll agree with you tonight, best as I can."

find something that'll

[David Silver]

11221949
Both fixed!

[Honestblade]

I dub the berry "Brass section berries" XD