Exposed

by Sandvich Brony

Everfree 101

=====|]Exposed[|=====
=====|]Chapter 3: Everfree 101[|=====

I woke up the next morning feeling somewhat tired. Then again, what do you expect to feel like when you've woken up after running around late at night? Groggily, I sat up and moved my legs so that they hung off the side of the bed. After a brief stretch, I pushed myself up to a standing position. Now more awake than asleep, I began my morning routine, which started with a short walk to my stores for a breakfast meal.

The cave I called my storehouse was small, but usable. It was about fifteen feet wide at the entrance, and was somewhere around thirty feet long. I discovered it after a brief exploration of the surroundings of my camp, and after finding it to be empty decided to claim it. Shelves of my creation lined the walls and back of the cave, as well as a few sacks filling the empty spaces. A few barrels I managed to roll in from town stood in the center of the room. And to top all this off, I built doors to fit the mouth of the cave to keep the larger things out.

Grabbing an apple, I started what could eventually become my morning chores. I scanned the shelves doing what I called inventory management. I looked at the amount of each item I had, and made a guess on if I needed more of anything. I finished this noting only a shortage of wood in my burn pile

I stepped across the cave to my non-food storage. This was where I kept all my equipment and tools, which included my weapons, clothes, and woodworking tools. I grabbed my ax and walked out of the cave. I then began the search for a tree to topple. Eventually, I found a suitable tree and began swinging.

The tree came down without too much trouble. I left the area and later returned with a saw. I then began to work, cutting the tree into sizable pieces that I would later burn. Once the tree had been completely sawed through, I started the tedious process of bringing each piece back to my woodpile. I left out a few pieces of wood for a fire later that day.

With my only chore done for the day, I grabbed some of my equipment and suited up for a stroll in the woods. Once prepared, I left the area and took to the trees.

If one were to go in a southward direction in Everfree, they would eventually find the edge of a cliff. Following the edge in an eastward direction would eventually lead to a deep canyon.

It was to this canyon that I now traveled.

Upon reaching my destination, I took a pensive moment and looked down into the depths. The bottom was visible from the top, but it would definitely not be survivable should something fall. Once finished with my peek, I reached into my bag and pulled out a long rope. I then tied one end to a tree close to the edge. I tugged on the knot a few times to make sure it was secure. Now prepared, I took hold of the rope with both hands, and repelled into the canyon.

The happier part of my decent was that I didn't look down. Then again, I didn't look at all. My eyes were closed the whole way down. I opened them a few times to find a foothold, but even then I only looked at the wall of rock in front of me.

If you couldn't tell, I was elated once I reached the bottom.

Once I had solid ground beneath my feet, I brushed the dust off my clothes, and began walking down the canyon to the south. In due time, I made it to the end of the canyon where it abruptly hit the cliff face. Though in my way rested a large manticore.

Unafraid, I walked up to the beast. I didn't bother using stealth. It was fast asleep and showed no sign of waking up. The scorpion-like tail curled around it as it slept.

Eventually, I was close enough to touch the massive creature during its sleep. Taking a large amount of fur in my hand, I hoisted myself up and began climbing until I was on top of it. The manticore shifted slightly as I did this. I then stood and walked across it until I was standing on its neck. I then knelt and began scratching with wide motions. By this point, the beast was shifting quite a bit. If anything, it definitely wasn't asleep now.

"Morning, sunshine," I said into its ear. "How was your sleep?"

The manticore said nothing in reply. It simply purred and turned its head to look at me.

"I'll take that as an 'okay'." I simply stated.

I stopped scratching and slid off its back to the ground below. The beast stood and turned to face me. I reached into my bag and pulled out a large chunk of meat.

"Here you go," I said, throwing the meat in the air.

The food's journey through the air didn't last long. The manticore caught it mid-flight in his massive open maw. He then munched on it happily.

"Glad to see someone's glad," I mentioned under my breath as I turned to walk away. The beast I called my friend, meanwhile, curled back into a comfortable position on the canyon floor, and began sleeping away.

The manticore's relationship with me has lately been much smoother than when it began. I first met him before I had weapons to use. To put it bluntly, I ran far, far away from there. Our second meeting was after I picked up my dagger. I actually put up a fight until it swiped at me. Then I ran again. Our meetings continued like this, with me consistently gaining more and more time fighting against him. It eventually came to a head when I came close to killing him. By that point, we were both exhausted and I was ready to fall to the ground and just rest, but I still triumphed. Standing on top of him with my blade to his throat. The only thing that stayed my hand was that he literally taught me everything I knew about fighting. Sure it was unintentional, but it happened.

From that point onwards, we never fought again. We would sometimes cross paths in the forest, but we simply looked, and went our separate ways. I think by this point, we both had a mutual respect for eachother's space. Eventually, I began taking trips to his place, and over time, we grew slightly closer.

And that, my friends, is how I befriended a manticore.

If there's one thing I learned from the entire ordeal, it's how to deal with Everfree animals. Most will eventually ignore you if you find ways to gain respect. For example, I found a cocatrice searching in the bushes for berries. Luckily, I had already read about them, so I immediately looked away. I then walked away slowly, using my dagger's reflection as a way to keep tabs on the creature. It eventually came close and lashed out at me with a claw. I retaliated by jumping away, closing my eyes, and making a blind swing. All I heard was a shriek, and some hurried slithering mixed with some bushes rustling.

From that day forward, I have only seen parts of cocatrices. Usually, they were running away from me, but a few turned to give a small glare. Nothing like their "turn to stone" stare, but still something to strike fear.

In any case, I eventually found my rope hanging on the side of the canyon. I took a firm grip, and began the arduous climb back up the canyon wall. Eventually, I reached the top, and began untying the rope. Once finished, I coiled it, and stowed it away in my bag. I then climbed the nearest tree and began freerunning my way back to my camp.

As soon as the clearing came into view, I dropped to the ground. I then walked to the small pile of wood I left earlier and grabbed some pieces. I started a fire, and put some meat on for a quick lunch. I checked the time on a sundial I had set up. The time read 1:45.

From this, I could definitely say that Zecora was already in Ponyville. She made trips once every month to town, but for some reason everything just shuts down when she arrives. Neither of us know why, but I've heard some tidbits from from some eavesdropped ponies, and apparently they think she's some kind of "Evil enchantress" or something like that. Somehow, they get this from monthly trips from a zebra who no one's actually talked to. Well, I shouldn't say absolutely no one. Some ponies actually look past everything else, but they are highly outnumbered.

Honestly, this is one of the reasons why I prefer to stay hidden and away from society. I would rather not have false rumors spread about me that have absolutely no fact to them. For all I know, they could say I'm some kinda creep who only comes at night to steal things from ponies.

Wait, that description matches me almost exactly... Um, moving on.

My meat was finally done. I grabbed some of my dining items and began digging in. I didn't have much. Just a single plate, bowl, fork, and spoon. I used one of my throwing knives or my dagger for a knife. Once I was finished, I cleaned and put everything away. I put the fire out only partially with a few embers still smoking. I then turned to the forest to check my snares. This was a chore I did almost daily, but it was necessary. I almost always found at least something stuck in one of the small nooses around the forest.

I began my rounds finding nothing. The next few yielded no more than the first. Eventually, I did find something, though not what I was looking for. A small timberwolf pup was trapped in the snare. I jumped down and cut it free, where it then ran off. I payed attention to the general direction it bounced off in and made a mental note never to go there.

The rest of my snares went along the same lines as the first bunch. First a whole lot of nothing. Then, something caught, either usable, or not. By the end of my run, I had enough fresh meat to continue on for a few more weeks. That on top of the deer from yesterday meant I had enough meat to last for a long while.

I let that sit for a while as I stood on the forest floor. It wasn't everyday I had so much food. I mean sure, life in the forest had it's ups and downs, but I never had this much before.

On a much higher note, I walked back to my camp. This was unusual, because I usually don't ever walk on the forest floor like this. The trees were faster, and normally kept me from danger. Regardless, I walked back to camp. I did make sure to avoid most of the plants that would cause harm to me. There wasn't honestly too much plant life that could cause harm to me, but the one I most definitely wanted to avoid was the blue flower known as Poison Joke.

The plant wasn't harmful by any means. The main problem are its affects. It doesn't poison you or kill you in seconds. Instead, it gives an affect that's more or less a joke. The other thing about it's effects is that it changes not just from person to person, but over time as more things happen to you. My first time being affected by it was during puberty. I'm not sure why, but I got a complete sex change. I'm just glad it was only temporary, but it was still a very strange experience. My second time was a missed branch falling into a large patch of it. By this point, I was getting better at hunting. To put it bluntly, it turned me into a griffon. Luckily, I knew Zecora by this point. As it turns out, there's an herbal remedy that can completely reverse the effects. I'm just glad I didn't have to live with it like I did the other change.

Speaking of Zecora, I noticed some stripes when I pushed through the bushes to my campsite.

"How long were you waiting?"

"Not to long, my biped friend," She began, "I came for my herb. I hope you kept to your end."

I walked to my storage and grabbed her bag of herbs. Upon my return, I tossed them to her.

"So, how was your visit to town?" I asked politely.

"Nothing has changed from my previous trip. They all simply hide, without a single tip."

"Must be hard for you," I commented.

"I am fine, at least for now. I just hope they will see more than my shadow." She stated.

"Well, who knows," I said, giving her head a few pats, "Maybe they will sooner than later."

She nodded. "Yes, that we can assume." Zecora began walking back into the forest. Before she hit the treeline, she turned to look at me. "Well, I must be off. I bid you Adieu."

"See ya." I responded.

Once she was gone, I looked at the time. It was now 8:48. Nearly sundown.

Seeing this, I stood and took to the trees. Eventually, I made it to my favorite. It was the same one I was on yesterday when I shot the deer. The reason why I favor it was because it was one of the few trees that broke the canopy. If you climbed it, you could see beyond the sea of leaves and branches and look into the sky.

Quickly, I climbed to a high branch and sat there, watching the sunset. It was a beautiful sky filled with pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows.

If only I had a camera.

Instead of taking pictures, I stayed there and watched until the last rays of day died out over the horizon. I waited until the first star appeared in the sky before I began my descent.

I dropped down into my camp without hesitation. I shed my equipment quickly and laid them by my bedside. I then got in bed slowly and found sleep without much trouble.

I slept like a rock, blissfully unaware of the preparations going on elsewhere.

Author's Note:

And so ends the setting of the story. Now we can start getting into the good stuff. The next chapter I can guarantee at least some action. Now if you don't mind, I need to get my ideas flowing. In the meantime, Like, Comment, Critique, maybe even follow me if you so choose. Until next time, Sandvich Brony signing off!

Comments

[lockpick]

keep it up bro! like and fav

[Delirium]

Stuff is about to get real

[DetectivePingles]

This is a very good story! You have a very good writing style, and you have very few errors, which makes for a smoother read. Along with this, you have a new and engaging take on the classic Human in Equestria. A solid 8.5/10.

[gear crash]

i need more

jajaja this is getting good

and one more cause this is real good

[no sh*t sherlock]

I love this story very much indeed truly alot.

[Armadaes]

cool

[Mr101]

This is very entertaining, first HiE I've seen like this, keep up the good work!.

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

alright this has definitely earned a favorite from me, it is well written and ive never seen a HiE like this before, keep up the good work

[ZergPony]

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[Me Myself and J]

I totally forgot about this thing. Oops!

So Nightmare Moon next chapter, right?

[Jack Kellar]

2519586 Glad to see you accept feedback!
You'll see the formatting thing is you set the font to "Large" in the chapter my last comment is posted under. It seems like you used Shift+Enter instead of just Enter, and it messed up formatting bad, as in every other line is made out of one or two words.
EDIT: Wait, hold the phone! Ya didn't correct the sentient/sapient thing in chapter 1, foo'!

[Sandvich Brony]

2524896 the sapient error should be fixed. Now I gotta get on an actual computer to fix the sizing issue.

Again, thanks for pointing those out!

[I am out yall]

I really enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to more

[Jack Kellar]

Interesting. I've never seen this concept, of gaining the general respect of the Everfree creatures, in a fanfic before, despite the many shows of semi-complex intelligence the beasts have shown. Another point for you, S-B.

[Sandvich Brony]

2528268 Why, thank you, my good sir. Have a moustache.

[Ignis Mortis et Doloris]

ETU? (Estimated Time of Update)

[Deve167]

This is very interesting, can't wait for next update.

[p0nypanda]

Interesting.

[Adam95F]

Please continue! I love this story.

[Sandvich Brony]

2566138 Should be fixed now. Thanks for pointing that out! Meanwhile, I await your opinion on the rest. Here's hoping it leaves a good impression.

[Chainlinc3]

Hmmm... Despite being less than impressed by that first chapter, I like where this is going. Well, where I'm guessing it's going, anyway. >_>

I still think you have a bit of an issue with telling what could be (and would be better if) shown, but it's not as bad as in the first chapter, and it's mostly mitigated by the first person perspective, because it, you know, necessitates some degree of telling. I haven't spotted any errors other than the one I commented on back in chapter one, and things stay pretty interesting despite the subject (most of wilderness survival is boring, from a narrative perspective). So, nicely done! I eagerly await additional chapters. :P

[Sandvich Brony]

2568772 In all honesty, I expected something else was wrong, but I guess I thought wrong.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Cheesejellycommander4]

Now more awake than asleep, I began my morning routine, which began with a short walk to my stores for a breakfast meal.

I wouldn't recommend using a word twice in a sentence (nor in a paragraph if it can be helped) as it adds redundancy.