Chapter V: The Howling Hunger
It didn't take long for the Human to return from his trip inside the wreck, when he eventually did exit through the open hatch he was carrying something in his hands. The folded black object that he was holding was thin like a stack of parchment, yet it's texture didn't seem as rough. It was nearly the same dimensions as a book, but it was nowhere near as thick. When Damian had cleared the hole he immediately opened his packet and began sifting though the contents, searching through the sparse amount of parchment for something among the papers.
Celestia sat in the snow with Luna as they watched the creature they had saved only a night before, observing the odd behavior with keen interest. The young mare wasn't sure what to make of what she was seeing; out of everything in this 'airplane' of his, the Human had grabbed only this. She couldn't understand how the thing Damian was looking through could be more important than so many other amazing gadgets and wonders. After the minutes stretched by she gained enough courage to ask the alien being what was on her mind.
Gulping down her nervousness, Celestia trotted over the the bipedal figure. "S-so what are you holding?" She ventured awkwardly, she didn't like the fact that Damian's face was completely covered under his crimson scarf, hat, and dark eyeglasses. It was as if she was talking to a faceless monster.
The man paused and looked over the tip of the folder at where Celestia was sitting before him, "This thing? Oh, It's just the shipment manifest," Damian stated simply with a dull and uninterested voice. Celestia wasn't satisfied with that answer though, mainly because she didn't know what a "Shipment Manifest" was.
So she repeated her question another way, "Why do we need that?"
The bush pilot blew out some air though his nose in frustration and snapped the manifest shut, "You're a nosy little bugger ain't ya? Fine, if you want to know why 'I' need this I'll tell you; I'll even put it simply so you'll understand," the condescending way he phrased that last sentence irked the young mare, but she bit her tongue.
"This thing," Damian tapped a gloved finger to the black cover, "Is a list of all the things I was going to deliver; meaning a list of all the things inside that pile of scrap. I'm trying to see if there's anything in those creates that can be useful or help me survive out in this hell hole. Oh, and another thing, what's this 'We' business all about?" By now the dark glasses had been removed as well as the scarf, revealing the Human's harsh scowl.
"Well, I just thought that 'We' would be sticking together," Celestia huffed, blood pressure rising as the Human looked down on her, "And besides, you haven't told us yet how this thing works yet!"
"Sure sure, I'll tell you how this thing used to work; but after that I want you gone. I never said that I was going to live with you in your little horsey lair, so find someone else to be your baby sitter. Now I'm kinda busy here, so why don't you kids run along and make snow-angels or something. I'm really not in the mood to deal with you two kids at the moment, this headache you gave me is starting to flare up again," Damian dismissed her with a wave of his document while the other hand pinched the bridge of his nose. He continued to ignore the pony as he went about looking through his binder once again, not noticing the roses on Celestia's cheeks as they heated with indignation.
Hot anger swelled inside of little Celestia. Sure, she and her sister had been rejected, ignored, and ridiculed by many other ponies most of their lives, but being treated like thin air by this crude creature was just too much; especially after everything she had done for him! If anything he should be thanking them non-stop for saving his sorry hide, not brushing them away like they were beneath him! That's it!
Stamping up to the busy Human Celestia swirled around on her front hooves. She coiled up her hind legs and let them loose into her desired target; the buck sent the air right out of Damian's chest. With a wheeze of the air rushing out of his lungs Damian was thrown ass backwards to the ground where he rolled around in pain.
After a few wet coughs and a puke later, the young man was able to speak again. The first words he said were violent and blood curses, his voice wheezing after ever syllable. "What the bloody *hack* hell! What did I *cough* do to you to deserve that?!"
Celestia stomped up next to the man as he grabbed at his ribs, staring knives into her, "You've been nothing but a big fat jerk to me and my sister ever since we met! Not once have you properly thanked us for saving your life, TWICE, but you even made us guide you through the forest back here, and all we get is disrespect!" Celestia placed a white hoof on the man's chest, causing him to wince as she pressed down into his gut. "Now say you're sorry," Celestia demanded, her pink eyes filled with fire.
There was a tense moment between them as both Pony and Man glared at each other in a hard stare down, seconds ticked by with no one making a move. The pony's horn was lowered so it aimed at Damian's forehead, and likewise the Human had his hand on the grip of his knife, waiting for a moment to strike. The silence was suffocating as nothing dared to make a sound. It wasn't until a third party stepped in that the silence was shattered and the conflict was put to an end.
"What are you two doing?! Stop it!" Luna squeaked as she tackled her sister off of the Human's body.
A soft thud rang across in the clearing as the pony-on-pony collision sent the sisters spiraling into the snow. The pony dog-pile rolled in the white powder until it came to a rest a few meters away from the crashed airplane. Celestia didn't even realize what had happened until after it was already over, now she found herself being pinned down by Luna in a near identical situation from not a minute ago. Even though the filly's tiny blue frame was smaller than her own, Celestia was held down by her younger sister with relative ease.
Looking up Celestia saw that Luna's large emerald eyes were shedding tears all over her in a mini water works, "Why Tia? Why did you do that? The sister that I know doesn't hurt anypony like that!" Soon Luna fell into a fit of sobs, the tears falling onto Celestia's white fur. "Why?" With the heat of the moment past and the fury leaving her Celestia was calm enough to fully realize what she had just done. Instantly feeling remorse her eyes began to spout their own tears. "I-I I'm so s-sorry!" She wailed, joining her sister in crying.
Across the littered clearing Damian sat watching his four legged company on the ledge of the broken rear entrance to the Aurora. The expression he wore was one of guilt mixed in with a healthy dose of exhaustion. Aw geez, now I feel like a total douche bag. I guess I had been a little too much of a jerk to them this whole time, and me being such a prick to them just pushed them over the edge I think.
"I agree, sometimes you can be a real pain in the Ol' Caboose," The voice snarked.
Oh shut up, and don't say anything unless it's useful. Now with those two embroiled in their touching little family moment I can't even get a chance to apologize.
Suddenly a deep rumbling entered the clearing, silencing the sisters and drawing the attention of everyone present. A second rumble emanated from the bellies of both ponies. With all the events of the last day or so the hunger that each of them felt had been largely ignored, but by the over use of her magic and her explosion of emotions had drained Celestia of all her energy; Luna had probably lost her's just from being more hyper and active than usual. In the end, the lack of sustenance and attention had forced their stomachs to voice their anguish to the world.
Luna wiped away her tears and looked up at her elder sister, her eyes pleading for the cure for her starvation. "Tia, I'm hungry..."
A large gash tore through Celestia's heart as she heard the heartbreaking words. She knew that without anything to eat they were likely to starve to death pretty soon, but at the same time she knew that they would never be able to find any food in time. They were doomed, and there was nothing Celestia could do about it, "I'm sorry Lulu," The damning words hung in the frozen air as more tears formed in Celestia's eyes, "I'm so sorry."
"Well well well, would you look at that? I think you already know what you should do, though I know you'd have done it regardless if I hadn't said anything," The voice said, sounding highly amused at the depressing drama unfolding only a few meters away from Damian.
"Yeah, I know. I guess now I have that chance to redeem myself," The man said as he sat up and re-entered the ruins of his plane. While the two florescent equines wailed there hearts out at their impending fate of starvation they didn't even notice a medium sized orange metal box being thrown out of the Aurora's open hatch.
Damian dropped to the snow below the opening and strode over over the the brightly coloured crate, he knelled next to it and began the process of prying it open with a strip of jagged metal he had found on the floor of the Twin Otter; the blade like chunk of the plane's structure perfect for unsealing the locked box. With a bit of leverage, and a whole lot of force the container was cracked open to reveal it's treasure within.
The sister's hadn't even noticed this event happening right before them, but took notice when a snow ball was chucked their way, "Hey, sorry for being an asshole awhile back; I'm just stressed but that's no reason for taking advantage of you. As a token of my appreciation for rescuing my sorry ass and as an apology I'd like to give you something," Celestia blinked a few times to wash away the hot tears and saw that Damian had reached into the strange box of his and had pulled out what appeared to be a small silver ingot.
"Sorry about before as well Mr. Walker, I don't normally act so violently," Celestia smiled weakly, "But I don't think my sister and I need any such things as coins or silver at the moment."
"Well then, I guess I'll just keep all this food to myself if you don't want any," at the mention of food both ponies instantly had their full attention on the Human, their ears perked and their eyes were drawn to the chunk of shiny metal. Their mouths went slack as a glove started to unwrap the silver ingot like a fruit to reveal a brown stick underneath, their eyes grew even wider as Damian took a bite out of the peculiar confection. Celestia's and Luna's mouths began to water as they watched the morsel being devoured.
With a satisfied look Damian swallowed the bite out of his granola bar and broke the remained chunk into two parts, holding them out in one of his hands, "You sure you still don't want some?"
What happened soon after was short of nothing more than utter chaos. The two starving critters charged the Human and pounced for the offered nourishment. Damian had to snap his fingers back from the mini feeding-frenzy just in case the chomping herbivores mistook his digits as edible. In a flash the bar was annihilated.
Huh, I guess they like those health bars more than I ever could. Eating that bit awhile ago made me remember why I hated granola bars as a kid a long time ago, they're just too disgustingly healthy.
As soon as the tiny amount of food was safely devoured Celestia returned back to her normal self once again, her cheeks were red at the embarrassing spectacle that she and her sister had just committed. For a second or two she had turned feral with the chance for something to eat in front of her. The pony's stomach still complained at its emptiness, but it was dulled for now, making it easy to ignore for now.
"Please Mr. Human, can we have some more?" Luna had finished her portion and had begun to use the full undiluted power of her adorableness to gain a second helping to an oat and honey bar. The thought that it might have been pushing their luck had crossed Celestia's mind, but she also hoped that there would be more things to eat coming her way as well.
"Sure, in fact I think I might have more than I could possibly eat in a year or two back there, so help yourself," Damian gently smiled as he tore open another bar.
Celestia became suspicious at the shift in character, not an hour ago the man had been cold and unfriendly, and now he was giving them his very own stash of food as if he had an unlimited number of those nutty bars. There had to be a catch, and Celestia knew that they had taken the bait... but a tasty bait none the less.
As she levitated the second bar over to them Celestia spoke up, her eyes judging as she looked over the Human who had moved back to his plane and was sitting on the sill of the hatch, "This is awfully generous of you Mr. Walker, but why are you giving us your food so easily? Most ponies would certainly be fighting to the death for the something like this."
Scratching the stubble on his chin Damian took a moment to ponder his answer, "I couldn't just stand by and watch you two like that without doing anything, it would have left a bad taste in my mouth," he said at last and then nodded towards the box, "Consider this an apology and my thanks for saving me; I hate living with a debt like that weighing me down, so consider the slate cleared."
I suppose that's a good enough reason, the young mare reasoned, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling she had that there was more to the gesture than what the was being said to them.
"I don't mind what the reason is really, all I know is that we don't have to worry about finding food no more!" Luna cheered as she took her head out from inspecting the container's contents.
"I certainly have enough to share, so why don't you two dig in while I go sort some stuff out. Call me if you need any help with some of those things; a few of those are meant to be cooked before you eat them, so be careful," with that Damian left the two ponies to their devices as he went back inside the Aurora.
More curious than hungry, Celestia trotted after the Human and into the crashed plane. Inside it was dark and cramped, but there was still enough room to move around in the confined space. A clanking noise came from further ahead, drawing the white pony's attention. The olive green jacket and red scarf was moving several of the boxes that cluttered the interior, but it appeared that the man hadn't noticed Celestia yet, or at least he gave no sign of acknowledging her presence.
Even though everything was a complete mess, and probably beyond repair Celestia couldn't help but be awe-stricken at every little detail. In one of the towns that she had visited she had seen a brand new printing press through a window, at the time she had gawked at the technological wonder as if it was crafted by the gods; the ability to print several books in a single day had fascinated the filly to no end. Even as they were being run out of town by the locals Celestia had still been impressed at the marvel that the town had created.
The things inside the Human's machine were beyond anything like what that printing press had been. Every panel, and every surface was ether made of a shiny polished metal or a weird white rock that bent and caved inwards when Celestia had placed a hoof against it. Behind every metal floor board and wall was also this network of wires and string, at several parts in the walls where a hole had been torn into the hull this web of red and blue cable had gushed out in a tangle.
"Aha! Found you at last, you rotten bugger!" From under a pile of metal boxes Damian had pulled out a dirty brown knapsack. The bag was roughly the same size as Luna and it looked like it had many different compartments, and as soon as it was clear of the debris the Human began ruffling through the many pouches with a grin on his face.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking Mr. Walker," Celestia peered at the bag as she approached, "But what's in the bag?"
The sudden company came as a bit of a mild suppose, and nearly caused Damian to jump to his feet, but the low ceiling hadn't made that possible; instead Damian ended up smashing his head against the paneling above him.
"Gah, Fuck! Didn't your parents ever tell you never to sneak up on people like that? Damn, that smarts," Sitting his body down on a box Damian rubbed his forehead, he glared over at the other occupant of the plane.
Celestia didn't respond to that and kept quiet, but inwardly her heart ached as the subject was brought up, "No... they didn't." Was all she said.
"Well they should have...speaking of which, where are they anyways? Off in the forest of Narnia?" The pilot smirked.
Celestia lowered her head and allowed some of her sadness to show, "I don't know..."
There was a gap in the conversation, as Celestia didn't want to further elaborate and the young bush pilot's eyes widened with comprehension. Well that went dark pretty fast; note to self, stay clear of that landmine of awkwardness. Deciding to do something about the heavy atmosphere Damian put on his back pack and headed for the door.
"Come on, I said that I was going to tell you about how this thing worked, didn't I?"
The day was coming to a close as the sky began to turn a fiery orange. Long dark shadows of the mountains surrounding the valley had already filled the forest below them with darkness. Eerie silhouettes danced among the tall pines and a Great Horned owl screeched as it dove for it's prey; if it hadn't been for the fire that Damian had erected close to the crashed plane then Celestia would have felt extremely vulnerable to the creatures that stalked the night.
The warm glow of the flames sat on a chunk of the Aurora's metal skin, held in place with a ring of stones. The fuel for the fire hadn't come easily since every single tree in the valley was waterlogged from the snow, but the trio had managed to find a few logs that were dry enough to begin the flames. Around the edges of the fire pit several other logs that were too damp to use right away were being dried for later use.
Damian had kept to his words about telling the ponies about his "Baby Girl" as he called it, though there wasn't much he could have shown before they had realized that they didn't have any tinder for a fire. Once the fire was made and stoked to a steady level the lecture had continued.
"...So the whole principle of flight is to create enough power from the engines to form thrust. This forward momentum makes the air flow around the wings and creates a high and low air-pressure..." The Human droned, not exactly interested in what he was saying, but he kept his to his word. Occasionally he poked the burning logs with a stick to keep the flames going.
Most of what Damian had been saying was incomprehensible, though that didn't mean that Celestia wasn't learning. She had grasped the general idea from what the foreign being had been saying and was listening quite intently to what the Human's lesson. Luna on the other hoof had fallen fast asleep after eating her full of those preserved nut meals, the wrappers laying about the makeshift camp site.
"...The shape of the wings form a lower air pressure above the wings, and since the air below the wing has a higher air pressure it lifts the wing into the air. There's a lot more to it than that, I'll admit, but that's the gist of it," as Damian explained more and more about how his craft worked his expression softened from its previous rigid glare.
"Fascinating, and you use this 'Airplane' to make deliveries, like a mail mare?"
Taking a bite out of his energy bar Damian nodded in agreement, "I guess you could say that, though my job was more specialized that that. My tasks were to bring supplies and people from the towns to some more extreme location, for example this trip was supposed to be for a small group of scientists out further north. Out there the only way they could get anything is by plane."
"So, what's going to happen to those Humans if they don't get their cargo?" Celestia asked as she began warming her hooves closer to the fire.
"Well my job this time was to get them their food supplies, now they only have two options available to them; starve, or be rescued. Though I believe they'll be picked up soon enough. It's a shame that they have to abandon their work because of this, but that's the reality I guess," the fire was starting to die down so another log was placed into the pit.
Celestia looked down at the wrappings from the meal that she had eaten and instantly felt guilty from eating the food, "Isn't there something we can do for them?"
"Nope," the answer came quickly, "Not if what I think is true..."
"And what may that be?" The young mare asked with a bit of curiosity.
Taking a stick that Damian had used for stoking the fire he drew a few crude shapes in the snow between the pony and him, after he had finished his snow art he poked the holes in the snow, leaving a bit of black ash as the stick was removed. "First things first," Damian pointed at the first hole, "This is where my home should be, a sleepy little town called Prospect Lake." The stick was then moved over to the second puncture in the snow, "And this is where I'm guessing where I should be if I'm still back in Kansas. As you can see this third one to the North is where I was going, a spot close to the Mackenzie River; but it's way too far to even think about getting there. Does any of this sound familiar?"
The shape of the rough map looked nothing like any of the maps Celestia had seen before, even given the messy lines it was nowhere close to her lands. She shook her head in response.
"Thought so. Here's another thing, and the one that will probably give me a hint as to how far I am from home; is the world that I'm on called Earth?"
"No, I'm afraid not. My sister and I have traveled quite a bit, but never have we heard of a place called 'Earth'. There's a race of ponies called Earth Ponies, but I've never heard of a placed called that. These lands don't really even have a name, except for maybe the territories that belong to the three tribes. Sorry if that didn't help."
Damian let out a heavy sigh and turned his head skyward to watch the stares above. The night sky was chock full of the shimmering little specks, the old saying that the stars were always more beautiful the farther you are from the city still rang true; the sight was breath taking even, though that only made it all the worse.
"I had a feeling that this wasn't Earth, this place is just too weird. Then I guess no one's going to find me and I'll be stuck here for the rest of my days... Everything is gone forever..." the words were soft and quite, as if Damian was speaking from a distant land.
Celestia saw the calm sadness and pitied the strange creature, she couldn't relate to his sorrow but she could empathize with the feeling of sadness. So, she began to ponder what she could do to make her company feel any better. "Mr. Walker, if you ever need some company my sister and I would be glad to have you around."
There was a pause as the Human remained staring at the stars, eventually he brought his eyes back down to the ground and slowly shook his head, "Not to be rude here, but I'd rather be on my own thanks. I appreciate the offer, but being stuck in a cave doesn't sound too appealing to me."
Slightly disheartened, Celestia carried on their conversation, "Then what are you going to do instead?"
The fire was slowly burning down and it was getting late, but the two still sat there in the freezing snow, a serious expression on each of them. "Well since there's no going back, I guess the only way is forwards. You mentioned that there were more of your kind around this place, so I'll go and find them I guess. There really isn't much to do actually, and I don't know what things may lie ahead, but I think it's better than sitting on my ass until I keel over."
"Oh, well that's great I suppose...you wouldn't perhaps mind if we could come al-" Celestia was cut off by a pile of snow being pushed onto the flames of the fire, dousing them with a hiss. The light and warmth had dissipated and now only the shadows and coldness remained. The silhouette of the Human rose from where he was sitting and entered the crashed plane.
"I take that as a no then," Celestia remarked as she picked a slumbering Luna with her magic and followed Damian into the shelter of the Aurora.
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what a dick.....this is geting less apealing the more i read i mean who would leave two children alone in the harsh winter
2794886 Well Damian is a dick, but he isn't going to be that big of a jerk. He's going to look after them, the only thing is that he doesn't really want to. He knows that having two weak and defenseless kids along for the ride will mean extra work and responsibility for him; but he also knows that he can't just abandon them. So he reluctantly looks after them. I'll get to that in the next chapter. Oh, and thanks for the input! I'll make sure his character is more clear next time.
2794931 cool did not want to see the two ponys be left alone is all