Running with the Ponies, Part.1 (20)
Running with the Ponies
Waking up bright and early after a pleasant rest, having driven Nightmare from his mind, Nightshade no longer felt like he was going insane due to lack of sleep. Sure, he could take his exhaustion out on the various life forms around him, but there was no substituting rest for the mind. He make a quick breakfast, got Scootaloo's things ready for school, and headed off to Carousel Boutique to get the order. Sure, Rarity could have called for the mail ponies to deliver it, but remembering just exactly who was a mail pony in Ponyville, she decided she didn't want to take the chance of having Derpy do it, especially since it was a special order, and although Rainbow Dash could get in there faster, she was rather brutish and could easily cause the fabric to tear with her stunts.
Arriving at the store at 7 in the morning, Rarity was surprised to see that he was there that soon.
"Well, you certainly are an early riser." She said, half sarcastically, half actually impressed.
"Force of habit, I'm here to pick up the order?" He said.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot, here you are dear, now make sure to take care of it, it's highly important that this gets to Regal's shop in Manehatten in one piece. It could be a huge help to my business if the sales go well." She said, packing a number of folded dresses into a back pack. He took the back pack, and a map as well, (having never been to Manehatten it was a good idea), and headed off. Since the road was in a grassy plain instead of a forest, he'd have to pace himself or risk getting all burned out, so he went at a jog. He noticed that, even though he didn't have anything to draw energy off of, except endless grass which wouldn't do much good, even after two hours he still wasn't even slightly winded.
"Must be because I'm exercising all the time." He had never noticed it, but since in the forest he was always running or fighting, or working on something, such as building a house, he had put on a great deal of muscle. He thought to himself, "I really ought to check a mirror when I get back, see what I look like." After all, it had been at least two years since he did, his old house never had a mirror, and the last one he had taken a good look at himself in was before he went on the run.
"I may not be as strong as her, but I've probably got more endurance than Applejack now, even without draining the trees." He thought. His thought's were interrupted by a cart on the road with a missing wheel, and the owner being held up by bandits. "So, all is not well in paradise it seems."
Even ponies weren't perfect, as Nightshade saw the previous day in the case of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I guess that while it may be infinitely more rare, such things do occur. However, these bandits must have been idiots. You don't rob someone in broad daylight, on an open road, with tall grass behind you.....
Three of them, one pegasus, one unicorn, and one earth pony. They probably thought that if they had one of each, they'd be able to handle whatever came their way. They were so wrong. Tapping the pegasus on the shoulder, and saying "Pardon me", he turned around to have a fist meet his face, and dropped to the ground unconscious. The earth pony turned to meet their attacker, and was tripped by the agile human, getting a face full of dirt. The unicorn staring wide eyed at the creature wearing a black robe, (he was traveling and didn't want to get the white one dirty) began preparing a spell, only to pass out from exhaustion. These were highwaymen? They were pathetic! Even if all three teamed up, they wouldn't be able to handle even one timber wolf.
The cart owner, now recognized as a traveling merchant, really old looking, and scared out of his mind. Taking off his hood, Nightshade just smiled at the old stallion, not a crazy, monster's smile, a warm, comforting smile.
"Hey pops, you alright?" He said in the most unimposing voice possible.
"Thanks sonny, if not fer you they woulda done me in. I been traveling this road fer years, never been robbed once, I didn't think that kinda thing happened anymore, at least here in Equestria." Said the geezer in a raspy voice. Nightshade asked for some rope, which he used to tie up the bandits, took a pair of magic handcuffs out from behind his cloak. (ever since the episode with Celestia, he had been carrying a pair, just in case) Cuffing the unicorn, he took a piece of paper, wrote 'Bandits' on it, and stuck it on the unconscious magic user's horn, just for the added insult.
"There. Now that that's done, let me help you get that wheel back on." Borrowing some repair tools from the cart, he quickly fixed up the wheel. Throwing all three of the bound bandits in the back of the cart.
"Now when you get to town, you can turn these three in. You'll probably get a nice reward if they've got a bounty, and besides, we can't just leave them here in the cold." He said. Sure, he didn't like criminals, but there was no way he was going to let them freeze, it was almost December after all. After getting a couple plums from the old pony in thanks, he was on his way again.
Arriving at Manehatten, he was met with stares from everypony in town. A couple times he thought he was going to be stopped by the guards, but they just nodded and let him pass. He told the guards that there would be an old guy coming that way later, and to take some tied up bandit's off his hands. Finding the store quickly, he spoke to Regal briefly, explaining that he wasn't a monster, and was here to drop off an order. Honestly, Regal really just wanted him to leave, as he was frightening other possible customers.
Walking through town, many so called 'high class' ponies raised their noses and huffed at the sight of him. Stuck ups. Not wanting to spend any more time in that cesspool of snobbery, he began heading home. It was about 2 now, and being a little hungry, ate his plums. Passing the smiling old pony on his way back, he gave a wave, then broke out in a full run.
Nightshade had been taking it easy the whole time he was headed to Manehatten, because he didn't want to get worn out or ruin the dresses, but since he didn't have to worry about that any more, he figured he'd let loose a bit. He began running, faster, faster. He was really moving now. Then he thought of something, maybe he'd test his powers out a bit? He knew that the human body had limits, like not using all your muscles all at once. That way, the body would avoid degradation, and could operate for a long period of time.
The only time that the limit's were removed, was in the case of fight or flight. Usually, when a person is in danger, adrenaline make's their body work harder, removing the limit for a short time to allow the person to escape, or defeat whatever danger they are facing. What if he didn't have to worry about his body degrading? He should be able to use his full capacity for extended period. That got him to thinking.
"Well, I'll only do it a little bit, just to see." He said to himself. He took a single year of his life, and turned it into some life and stamina. It began flowing around him, like the time before, when he was falling. He broke out into a full sprint, running as fast as he could, dust kicking up behind him. The speed was amazing, and gave an adrenaline rush. He began running faster again. His speed kept increasing till he was nothing but a blur. To his surprise, a mach cone began to form in front of him, before the energy he released had run out, he hit a wall of air, and was flung onto his back.
Lying on the dirt road, he was in a little pain from having landed harshly, but he didn't care. He was laughing like a maniac. He had nearly broken the sound barrier. That would be useful in the race... NO. He promised not to use his powers for that, and while it would be impressive, and infuriate Rainbow Dash, he made a deal, and he wasn't about to give up on free labour building his house, having to buy a barrel of cider, and having to fix ALL those trees. Still, the fact remained, after years of running his ass off, if he had a bit of adrenaline, and kept it up with his powers, he could probably break the sound barrier. That was something normally outside the capabilities of a human, even considering his powers and training, he still should not be able to move that quickly.
"Maybe the magic of this world this starting to rub off on me. " He thought. "Either way, Rainbow is going to be soooooo mad."
It had taken him four hours to travel to Manehatten and one hour to find the store. Expecting to be back at about 6 pm, when he showed up at 3:30, he was quite impressed with himself. He went to Rarity to report the successful delivery, collected his bits, and looked around for something to do, when he saw Rainbow Dash flying overhead.
"Hey, you're back early? What's the matter, get lost?" She asked sarcastically.
"Nope, I made the delivery in record time. I would have been back earlier, but something hilarious happened, and I spent a half hour laughing my flank off." Nightshade responded, remembering not to swear in front of the ponies.
"He he, yeah, well anyway, good luck in the race on Sunday." She said, starting to sweat a little bit, after hearing he made the journey that fast. "I heard you made a bet with AJ too, man, you are going to end up way in the hole after you lose to the two of us." The fact that he had made a journey that takes four hours on foot in a single hour was a little unnerving. Sure, she could make it in 20 minutes, but that was if she was flying, this was a hoof race, no wings. She really didn't want to give up her naps to help him build a house, and she really didn't want to give up that cider.
Having the rest of the day off, Nightshade had finished framing the first floor of his house except for the supports for the roof. Winter was coming, and he needed to get it finished before the snow started to fall. Oh well, given that he'd have Rainbow Dash helping him on Monday after he won the race, it'd make it in plenty of time. Tomorrow was a day off, but he was spending it with Fluttershy.
Back at Fluttershy's cottage, Nightshade did his normal duties of healing the sick and injured animals. He passed his injuries onto a tree, as usual, and also got back the year of his life that he had thrown to the wind. After all was said and done, the two sat there, nothing to do.
"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" He asked her, trying to be casual. It didn't work. She blushed again, and this caused him to blush.
"Well, what ever you want to do is fine." She said in her usual tone. That wasn't good. He wanted to do something she liked, not the other way around. Thinking quickly, he decided he knew something she might like.
"How about we go into the Everfree?" He suggested. She visibly shrank at the thought, and started quivering. She was obviously afraid.
"W-w-why would we go into the f-f-forest." She said while shivering. "It's f-f-full of monsters, and the c-c-clouds move themselves, and it's not safe."
"Ahh, you forget, I lived there for two years, one of them with Scootaloo. Once you know how to deal with the forest, it's not scary at all. Besides, there are a lot of animals in there that don't come near the edge, so you could probably see all sorts of different wild life, and..." He trailed off. "It won't be dangerous as long as I'm there."
Fluttershy stopped shivering, and suddenly wasn't scared at all. He said he would protect her if it came down to it, and he did know his way around the forest, even better than Zecora. If Scootaloo lived there for a year, it couldn't be that bad, and she really wanted to see all the different wildlife that was in the heart of the forest. She had always been too scared to go by herself.
"That sounds... nice." She said in a timid fashion. The one thing was whenever she said 'nice' he didn't know if she actually thought it was good, or if she was just trying not to offend.
"Well, if you don't want to go, I guess we could do something else then, like." He was interrupted.
"Oh no, I do want to go. Seeing all the different plants and animals would be... lovely." She was careful not to use her previous adjective. She really did want to go.
"Well, alright then, I have to go prepare some things for tomorrow, like borrow a species catalogue from Twilight and such. I'll see you tonight." He said with a wink, and headed out. Getting some books from Twilight, as well as reading a few, he then made a list of thing's he'd need for the trip tomorrow, like snacks and such, as also went into the forest to get some certain things that were needed. After all was done, he picked Scootaloo up from school, and went home for dinner. Apple cinnamon porridge. Then they all went off to bed. He dreamt normally, no interruptions from sources sinister or annoying, thought of what he'd show her the next day.
Actually managing to sleep in late for once, he was awoken by the scent of pancakes, but no syrup. That was another thing he'd have to tell her about. Since it was Saturday, Scootaloo didn't have school, so she was home as well.
"So, you two ready for your date?" She asked, with a bit of tease in her voice. Fluttershy turned deep red, Nightshade just responded calmly.
"It's not a date, we're just hanging out, as friends. Getting to know each other a little bit better. That's all." He said with a smooth voice, knowing perfectly well that it was a date, but he was sparing Fluttershy the embarrassment.
"Well, if that's the case, mind if I come along to make sure you two don't go all mushy?" She teased again. Nightshade thought to ask her if she had been hanging out with Lyra, but she was still in Canterlot, so he dismissed it.
"That's fine, go get your stuff ready." He said. Maybe it would be good to have her come along, that way they could just keep it between friends, and not go any further. The three entered the forest, Nightshade and Scootaloo were fine, having lived there for quite a long time before hand, but Fluttershy was visibly nervous. Not scared, just apprehensive.
"Relax, you'll be fine." He said, soothing her worries. "Now that we have Scoots here, nothing can possibly go wrong." Throwing as much sarcasm her way.
"Oh ha ha very funny dad." All three laughed. They had killed the tension, and went into the dark forest singing humming a merry tune.
Looking at all the various plants and animals, Fluttershy was very excited. Whenever she went into the forest with her friends, it was always on a mission of some kind, and she was so afraid that she never really took a look around. Seeing it in the day time, even though the tree tops blocked out most of the light, it was strangely beautiful. Nightshade took three yellow and blue flowers from his pocket, and put one behind each pony's ear, and one behind his own. Fluttershy blushed, and asked what it was for, Scootaloo already knew.
"It's a flower from a very special tree. Hopefully we don't have to find out what it does." He explained. Fluttershy looked a little nervous, but since he was here, she didn't need to worry. This was all new to her, but for Nightshade and Scoots, it was familiar territory.
"Ah, here's one. Take a look." He pointed to a maple tree, young, but healthy.
"Yeah, it's just a tree." Scootaloo said. "I usually get all covered in yucky tree sap whenever I crash into them." Scootaloo didn't get it.
"Not just any tree, this is a maple tree. Unlike pine trees or other trees, maple tree sap actually tastes good." He said, pulling out his teaching voice.
"How do you know it tastes good?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Well, a long time ago a human got covered in the sap of a maple tree, and rather than having the normal 'yuck' reaction, he put it in his mouth, and discovered that it was actually sweet." Nightshade thought about all the other things humans discovered by behaving in ways that would have been seen as crazy at the time.
"But it's got tree bark and dirt in it." Scootaloo complained, sticking out her tongue.
"Well, that's because it's on the outside. On the inside of the tree there is lots of sap, and it's not nearly as thick. It's almost like water with a slight sweet taste. We put a tap in the tree, and in the spring, the excess sap that the tree doesn't need flows out, and we collect it in a bucket. Then it get's filtered, and boiled down to get rid of the water, and it turns into maple syrup. Then you can do all kinds of things with it. You can make cookies, or chewy taffy, or put it on pancakes."
Fluttershy and Scootaloo's eyes lit up. The thought of sugary sweets made from tree sap piqued their interest. Who would have known something like that could be found in the Everfree? Continuing on, they saw all sorts of other plants and animals, and they went through a checklist of the different things they saw. Until they saw something that they hoped to NOT have to check off.
"A basilisk! They cried." A basilisk is the cockatrices big brother. It also turns things to stone with a glance, but has very deadly venom as well. Everyone shut their eyes to avoid it's petrifying gaze, when Nightshade began to howl.
"Ayooooooooooooo." Fluttershy thought he was crazy, but Scootaloo knew what he was up to, and began to howl as well. Pretty soon, all three heard the sound of footsteps, a rustle of leaves, and the creaking of wood. Timber wolves.
"Why would you call timber wolves here?" Fluttershy screamed, tears pouring out of her closed eyes.
"Just relax, we'll be fine." He assured her. The group heard growls, shrieks, and creaking wood. Finally, all they heard was the panting of the wolves.
"You all can open your eyes now." He said. Scootaloo did immediately, while Fluttershy took some time to do so. When she opened them, she saw a pack of 10 or so of the wolves, just sitting, laying down, all calmly.
"What?" Fluttershy asked, genuinely confused. Timber wolves were vicious, but these ones were acting completely placid.
"Remember that flower I gave you earlier?" Nightshade said. "It's from the wolf tree. Timber wolves are not actually wolves. They are branches that have fallen off of that tree. When they reach the ground, the magic in the branches collects other fallen branches, leaves and what not, and turns into a wolf. They are automatons, part of the tree. They protect the forest from threats, and carry the tree's flowers to other locations. Because we have a piece of the tree with us, they think that we ARE the tree, and that basilisk was a threat to us, so they protected us." His explanation was a little complicated, but made sense.
"This forest has a different magic than the rest of Equestria. The magic of nature. If we learn how to co-exist with it, then we can learn to use it ourselves. I drew them here with the howl." Patting one of the wolves on the head, it wagged it's branch tail. "It's a trick I learned a long time ago. It doesn't have to be a flower, it can be a stick, or a piece of bark. Once you have it, you are recognized as part of the forest."
Fluttershy was in awe. When he said that if you knew the forest, you'd be fine, he meant it. He had been living within it for so long, he knew exactly what to do. She wondered if maybe that was how Zecora lived within the Everfree as well, unbothered by the dangers it held.
"Lets head back shall we? I think that's enough excitement for the day." Nightshade said. With that, they headed out of the forest, and back to the cottage. Fluttershy was blushing again. She made tea for the three of them, and just spent the rest of the day relaxing. Scootaloo had gone off to bed, leaving Fluttershy and Nightshade alone on the couch. Her face was red.
"I had a great time today." She said softly. "I was always afraid of the forest, but now, I don't have to be anymore. If I learn more about it, then I don't have to be scared, and..." She paused. "If I have you here, I won't have to worry." She said blushing even more.
"Don't mention it. I know when I first found myself there, I was attacked by about 20 or so of those wolves. I had no knowledge of the forest whatsoever, but as time went on, I learned, and now those very same wolves just saved all of us. You know, maybe I ought to write a book about it, that way, others can benefit from it." He said. Fluttershy just nodded.
They sat there for about an hour, just slowly sipping their tea. Angel was getting annoyed at the silence, and was stamping his foot. Trying to break the awkward silence, Nightshade spoke first.
"I'm in the running of the leaves tomorrow." He said. "I'm racing Applejack and Rainbow Dash."
"Oh, well, good luck on the race." She said meekly.
"Cheer for me?" He asked.
"I don't know, I'm not the best at cheering." She said, remembering back to the best young flyer's competition.
"Don't worry, even if there's a roaring crowd, as long as you and Scoots are there, that's all the cheering I'll need." He said with a blush. Yeah, okay, it was cheesy, but it was true. He didn't care who else was watching, just the two most important ponies in the world to him. Fluttershy blushed back. While he was looking at his empty tea cup, she slowly leaned in, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
She quickly pulled away, and just stared at him. He brought his hand up to his cheek, and felt where she had kissed, almost in disbelief. He turned to look at her, she was beet red. Their eyes met, staring deeply into the other's, until Angel jumped up and kicked them both in the head. It didn't hurt, he was just a little bunny after all, but it was enough to snap them out of it. Fluttershy blushed even more, and passed out again from the embarrassment . Angel looked up at Nightshade angrily, and Nightshade just sighed.
"I'll bring her to bed."
Aww, that was cute. Angel ruined the moment, but maybe it was a good thing. So far, they keep struggling with their emotions. Again, it was just a peck on the cheek, same as when he gave her one in the hospital, it's just that they are both so socially awkward that they turn red every time they see each other, making it seem a whole lot smushier than it actually is. The obviously like each other, but neither has any idea what they are supposed to do about it. Race is tomorrow. I liked the bit in the forest with the wolves, and had thought of that for a long time. The maple syrup thing was actually a moment's inspiration, Being Canadian myself, and having been to the Sugar Bush only about a hundred times, I decided to keep it.
Well, now that he has a proper cheering section, and learned that he can move pretty quickly if he wants to, how will he fare in a foot race against the fastest flyer in Equestria, and a farm pony with legs that can knock down a house? Who will win the all important bets? Find out in the next chapter of 'Monster' Running with the Ponies, Part.2!
Ps, After this is over, there is going to be a touching moment with the Apple family, the great and powerful nuisance, a distraught Lyra, and finally the main story. I've been at about 1 chapter a day now. Mostly because I've used a lot of my idea's already. Again, this is a part.1 chapter. I've been writing fewer chapters, and been having to cut them in half to avoid going over 10k words and as much as you like my fics, I don't think your eyes can handle ll the strain, so I give you all a bit of a break. It's still only 2 pm here, so I might write the race today, or put it off till tomorrow.
Pss. Once I'm done this fic, before I write the sequel, I'm probably going to write a different fic. Another human in Equestria, but this time, with a cynical attitude and no super powers. "The Mad Gentleman" From the title I'm sure you can figure out what it will be like. Not gonna lie. It will probably be crappy, and short as well, with no well defined plot, and completely random occurrences, but I'm going to write it anyway as an outlet for my insanity, and you're going to read it anyway aren't you? Either way, I'll probably just write it while I'm thinking of stuff for the sequel, letting me write down all my garbage ideas so I can leave room for the good ones.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
998 users online
1,653,630 hits today, 2,280,440 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.®
DANG NABIT!First Lyra ruins a Daaaww Moment and now ANGEL?!?!
Fluttershy finally got to be a tree
213494 YES! Someone get's it! I thought that I'd leave that little joke in there, and see if someone caught it. Congratulations, you win a LOL award.
Excelent story, and I like the fact that there's no ponyfication; too many perfectly reasonable HiE stories have been ruined by ponyfication.
-Mortem aut gloria. Eligere sapienter.
I AM going to read it anyways
Good chapter! Realy liked the explantion of he wolf and forest (druid much?).
Now. Lets introduce ''Mittens'' or ''Fluffy'', the pet manticore (maybe its the same one Fluttershy helped)!
I wonder why all HiE fics never have the human change into something else... I've seen one or two that have them turn into griffons.... why not a xenomorph, diamond dog, etc....
213494*steals your LOL Award*MINE!!!HAHAHAHAHA!*runs away*
I do say chap, a "romance" tag would be fine......but none of that......stuff....
angel you have my seal of approval for that moment was meant to be broken
ANGEL GAH!
Angel? More like demon.
Every time I read it, I absolutely love your idea about the timber wolves. It works so well.
hi! i'm late, but oh well. love the timberwolf idea and I wonder if Griffin was originally going to be this "Mad Gentleman"
213490 AHHGRUMLBUMPRAGHR (walks away grumbling)
Was this the birth of Griffin?
Before:
mocorochi.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/22.jpg
After:
i.imgur.com/uj3Baxf.jpg
Screw you to angel
It’s midnight for me...SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK
8909567
Weak* but yes indeed it is lol