The Reader

by GnollReader

Chapter 11: Curved paths

The ponies were suicidal, he was sure of that now. Not only had they followed him into the woods at night, but they were talking loudly enough to be heard for miles. And to make things worse, the magic pony was creating light. Light, inside the forest. It was like a beacon. They might as well have been running through the forest blindfolded and screaming to be eaten.

The fact that they had a dog leading them did not trouble him greatly, he could still easily lose them in the swamps, or just eat the little critter and be done with it. But then they would wander the forest aimlessly, and this was no place for ponies to be at night. Not even at day.

He was frustrated, he wanted to leave the ponies behind but at the same time he felt strangely responsible for them. He gave an annoyed snarl, he was simply too caring for his own good. He didn't leave the three tiny ponies in the forest, and he'd curse himself eternally if he'd let these ponies behind. So he changed his direction and chose a very different path instead.

---

"This fella sure is making a lot of turns lately." Applejack commented, "Slow down Winona, let the others catch up!"

Purple Haze looked back at the others, "Damn it, were moving too slow, we'll never catch up to him like this." She tried to estimate their position, "Strange, he's been going fairly straight for the last hour but now he's constantly changing his direction. Where is he going?"

"Maybe he's lost, I mean does anypony of you guys still know where we are?" Rainbow Dash looked around herself, in the little light Twilight provided she couldn't make out anything at all.

Purple Haze shook her head, "No, he definitely knows were he's going. But what is he trying to do?"

Twilight was currently trying to read a map of the forest she had brought, it was nothing more than a rough estimate of its borders. The Everfree had never been fully charted. "Well, wherever we are, we're lost. With all these turns I completely lost track of our position. Do you think he's trying to lose us?"

Applejack shook her head, "How would he know? After all, it's us looking for him."

So they continued to follow his trail, making turns and constantly changing their direction seemingly at random.

Unknown to the ponies, the gnoll's path was anything but random. He was leading them back to the pony town. The task was not easy. He could easily avoid predators but the ponies could not. He chose his path with care, making sure it was easy to follow while leading them around the different territories of the creatures of the forest.

---

Rainbow Dash was not happy, they had been following the trail for hours and she had been listening to Rarity's whining all the time. She had taken to walking in front but even here Rarity could clearly be heard, "Argh, damn it Rarity. We know you're tired and dirty because we all are! How much longer are you..." she stopped abruptly, "Uhm, guys...I think you may want to see this."

The others caught up to her and the little dog. They stood next to one another and just stared, none of them knowing what to say or think. They were back. Back at the same spot were they had entered the forest hours before. "We're back." Rainbow Dash said flatly.

"I don't understand, does this mean he came back? But where is he then?" Fluttershy didn't understand what this meant at all. Purple Haze though was already getting an idea of what this meant.

"Strange, Winona says he went into the forest again from here on. I can't make heads and tails of it!" Applejack groaned in frustration.

"Everypony, go back to the barn." They all turned to back to Purple Haze.

Applejack spoke up, "What do you mean go back? I ain't backing down that easily!"

The others started protesting too, but Purple Haze adopted her military pose and used her best drill voice. "I SAID EVERYPONY GO BACK TO THE BARN NOW!" there was a shocked silence.

Twilight suddenly realized something, "He lead us back, didn't he?"

Purple Haze remained calm, "Go back to the barn. Wait for us there, I have to do this alone." she left them standing there, and walked into the forest again.

Applejack didn't like this, but they were all worn out. "I'm not sure this is okay. You think she can really get him back?"

Fluttershy smiled, "She said 'Wait for us', didn't she? I'm sure she'll do fine."

---

Purple Haze walked straight into the forest, not stopping until she reached a small clearing they had passed the first time. Everything was quiet. The forest around the clearing was completely dark, nothing could be seen except for the poorly lit open space.

"You're there, aren't you?" she waited. Minutes seemed to pass and then, without a sound, he emerged from the darkness next to her. "Thanks for getting us out of the forest."

"Forest is no place for ponies." he said with a grave voice.

The sky cleared for the first time that night, and they both stood there, looking up at the stars in silence. Each of them feeling a strange bond with the other.

He was the first to break the silence, "Did Scar hurt any ponies?"

"No. They're all shocked but they'll be alright. No ponies were hurt." he gave a sigh of relief.

"Please come back." he didn't answer, "I know it was bad, but they didn't mean to scare you. None of them would try to trap you."

He shook his head, "Scar remember last time it was trapped. Gnoll has no place with ponies."

"It wasn't a trap. It was..."

"A PARTY!" they whirled around in surprise. There was Pinkie Pie, showing her trademark grin.

Purple Haze was shocked, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to wait at the barn?" She was pushed to the side by the gnoll.

Scar towered over the pink pony, his fangs glinting in the dark. A low rumble escaped his lungs, "Pink Pie... why did Pink Pie try to put it in trap?"

Pinkie Pie didn't appear to be scared in the slightest, "Silly, it wasn't a trap! It was a party!"

The gnoll was confused by this, "Scar does not know that word."

Pinkie Pie tilted her head, "What word?"

"Party."

Her eyes went wide, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A PARTY IS? WHAT ABOUT CAKE?"

Scar shook his head, "No, Scar does not know that word either."

The pink pony froze, there was an uncanny twitch in one of her eyes. She whispered three words, "WAIT. RIGHT. HERE!" and just as she had appeared, she was suddenly gone.

Scar turned to Purple Haze, "Scar is confused."

Purple Haze smiled, "That makes two of us. I just can't make sense of that pony."

He looked back at the sky, "Shiny pony, what is party?"

Comments

[Midnight Everlasting]

You know I'm normally not a fan of shorter stories. Anything under three thousand words is iffy, but the way you make these little "snapshot" chapters work together is impressive! Keep up the good work.

[Lucky424]

That makes two of us. I just can't make sense of that pony

Don't worry about it, nopony can!

[DarkParable]

2501704

Pfft, Pinkie is easy to figure out. Lets use math!

To solve for Pinkie you simply divide the cube-root of mangoes by the existential crisis felt by everypony in their mid-life. Take this solution and throw it out the window, because it'll be funny. The resulting explosion will likely trigger a spark of inspiration and understanding that there's nothing to understand, Pinkie simply is Pinkie and Pinkie does as Pinkie will.... Darn it, forgot to add the kumquats into that little equation.

Sorry for responding to old comments, but I couldn't resist.

[Luckysweep]

Pinkie is a bit obsessed. Don't think that's a good thing.

[-Brutus]

Another example why I don't like Pinkie Pie too much, if I suddenly was sucked into MLP universe as pony or whatever; I would avoid her like she was a plague.

[Vitae]

5755639

I agree if It were me I'd try to kill her with poison or something just to keep her the hell away from me because I like my frown and I do not like cake

[FullMoon]

Well then, time to add another novel to my list of "Pinkie is a mindless Party plannex with no sense of mood"... Seriously man, why do you choose to have this kind of Pinkie is your novel?

[Panicing_in_pain]

"A PARTY!" they whirled around in surprise. There was Pinkie Pie, showing her trademark grin.

I know she likes parties, but really? At that precis moment.