After an unfortunate chain of events, and a drop pod that sent him careening through the warp, he soon found himself in a world populated purely by... Colorful ponies?
Lug wasn't the smartest. He knew that. And he was fine with that. As long as he had a club to swing or a ripper gun to fire, he was content, and there wasn't much thought needed beyond that.
And like many other Ogryn, he was content to serve the Imperium and it's interests until he died.
Until one fateful space skirmish with the forces of chaos, a drop-pod sent him careening through the warp, and soon after, into the Land of Equestria.
A world made up entirely of xenos, most of whom were small, fluffy, and colorful!
Alarms blared their shrill scream as red lights flashed, the metal of the ship groaning like a dying whale. Within a long corridor of the ship, ran a group of men. At the forefront was an absolute goliath, towering above his smaller fellows considerably. The behemoth of a being spun on his heel as his smaller counterparts ran past him, raising a large gun to bare, firing it into the horde of malformed creatures that were chasing them. The Ogryn laughed as he watched them drop like flies.
“LUG! GET YOUR GIANT DERRIERE IN HERE!”
A man shouted from behind him, leaning out of the doorway in the side of the corridor. The ‘Lug’ in question turned to look at him, confused, blinking dumbly as he pointed towards the oncoming horde of mutants with very little, if any, urgency. Like he was pointing out a neat bird he just saw,
“But, don!” Lug whined, “Whole lotta beasties!”
Lug watched as Don’s scowl deepened considerably, his features filling with fresh irritation. He opened his mouth to shout once again, the ship rocking,
“YES, YOU BIG LOUT! THAT’S WHY WE’RE LEAVING!”
Lug huffed in indignation. There were so many of them! And they were so tightly packed, it’d be so easy to just mow them down with his ripper gun! No fuss no muss! So, so terribly simple to just clobber his way through them...
“If you charge into that horde, so help me...!”
Don began furiously as he saw Lug turn towards the horde with anticipation, club raised. Lug locked eyes with the man as he turned to address him, and almost withered once he saw the anger burning in them. It reminded him of his papa. His papa was scary... He didn’t like his papa.
He lowered his club and trundled his way inside the room, giving the horde of monsters a forlorn look as he shot off a few more rounds into the mass of mutated flesh.
“Okay...” Said Lug, rather morosely.
The blast door to the outside corridor clanged loudly as it closed behind him, the sound filling the relatively silent room like a death knell. Don clapped his hands together and began moving towards a large drop pod, dragging Lug along with him by the wrist. Of course, he didn’t have the strength to drag Lug anywhere, but Lug just followed along anyway. Lug was good at following.
“Alright lads! Strap in. We’re nearing the warp tear, and I’d much rather take my chances out in the vacuum of space.” The other men in the room were filing into drop pods as Don sat Lug down in one of the larger ones, strapping him in like a mother would for her child in a vehicle. Though, despite the large size of the pod, it was still somewhat cramped for The Ogryn, and he didn’t much like cramped spaces.. Not one bit. He shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable.
“Urhm.. it’s real small in ere’.” Lug said nervously.
Don, who had just finished strapping him in paused for a moment, his seemingly permanent scowl softening as he looked up at the nervous Ogryn. And in an uncharacteristic show of softness, he gave Lug’s knee a few comforting pats. The gesture brought a small, silly smile to lug’s face.
“You’ll be alright, lug.”
After those parting words, the man closed the drop pod door and got into his own. The countdown for the drop began as the rest of the doors closed, filling Lug with a sense of dread. He always hated the feeling of falling.
As the countdown was reaching its end, the ship’s intercoms screeched to life as a commanding voice shouted “BRACE YOURSELVES! WE’VE ENTERED THE WARP!” And like some cruel twist of fate, the timer hit zero.
Lug’s heart tightened with fear as he felt the familiar feeling of being launched into space, but it was so much worse. His drop pod was thrown to and fro as the chaotic energies of the Warp tried to tear it, and him, apart. All the while, Lug’s eyes were clamped shut as his life flashed in his mind like a tape reel.
His frown widened and his brow furrowed even further as he realized how bleak his life had been. A broken family, The day he had been sent to war, how mean his commissar was.. It filled him with such a strong sense of longing despite the perilous situation he was in. He wished dearly that his life had been a happier one.
But Lug was never that lucky.
And when he felt the metal walls of the drop pod begin to give way, a single tear rolled down his cheek as he awaited the inevitable. He had heard stories of people getting eviscerated in the warp, painful and slow. Not like the suffocation of space. And now, he too, would be added into that long line of tragic tales…
Or at least, that’s what he thought. Not that thinking did him much good. He braced as the pod was wracked with an especially strong blow, and then a second that blasted from below.
His eyes were practically glued shut as he awaited the painful death the warp was going to grant him... But, after a good 5 minutes of waiting, it was silent. The drop pod was no longer in the process of being tossed about, and the crackling energies of the warp no longer assaulted the walls of his metal coffin.
Lug tentatively opened his eyes, expecting to see a terrible daemon waiting right in front of him, ready to gobble him up! Just like his big sister said would happen if he didn’t eat his vegetables. But.. nothing. He saw the battered interior of the pod, and to his surprise, sunlight filtering through the small, cracked window.
Did he somehow pass through the warp unharmed? He laughed in disbelief, relief beginning to fill his terrified bones. Lug unstrapped himself and gave the door of the pod a few stern kicks, sending it flying by the third. He quickly stepped out of the claustrophobic space and soon found himself blinded by the light that surrounded him.
Holding up a calloused hand to his eyes, he slowly let them get acclimated to the brightness of his surroundings, and when they did... He lowered his hand, letting out a small gasp as the new world around him came into breathtaking focus. Rolling pastures of green grass at his twelve o’clock, and a forest that stretched into the horizon at his eight. He was whipping around, trying to take in the sights of the lushness of it all.
Birds flitted by him, singing a lilting song as they went. Butterflies danced their gentle waltz along the flowers as he watched with slack-jawed awe. Lug’s gaze was caught on a tall mountain, and what seemed to be a kingdom that rested upon its immovable cliffs. White castles stabbed the skies with their purple-topped towers. It was like he was in one of the fairy tale stories that his big sister would always read to him when he was a boy. He had been on a lot of tours and a lot of missions, but none had brought him to a planet that was so vibrant and beautiful.
Not to mention the sense of safety, of peace... Of harmony, that settled in his soul. Lug felt tears roll down his cheeks and into his sideburns as he stood there amongst the grass and butterflies, utterly enraptured but it all. The others may have laughed and joked, calling him stupid and dull... And that’s likely true, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t comprehend the soft, gentle beauty of the landscape.
Wiping the tears from his cheeks and inhaling through a congested nose, he shook himself out of the daze he had been in. He remembered what his big sister always told him. 'Big Ogryns don't cry!', And Lug was a big Ogryn! Lug needed to find out where he was, and contact his superiors somehow. Don wasn’t gonna be happy he got separated from the group.
He then began lumbering back to his very damaged drop pod. It was a miracle he and the pod survived the landing, considering how beat up it was. He reached in and grabbed a communications device that was rather small in his hand, and tried to turn it on.
Nothing. Not even a crackle of static.
Lug tried it a few more times before noticing the soft orange glow coming from inside the pod. He threw the device to the side in irritation, snorting as he did so. He turned to the glow and horror soon filled his features as he saw a small fire spreading across the inside of the pod, making its way to a dripping fuel pipe.
Lug immediately turned and sprinted towards the forest, scooping up an unwitting bunny rabbit that was just lazily grazing on a patch of grass. The rabbit in his hands squeaked in his cupped hands, biting at his fingers to no avail.
Diving into a bush at the edge of the forest, he curled up into a ball as an explosion rocked the once tranquil area, sending shrapnel everywhere like a giant grenade. The rabbit in his hands went quiet at the sound, and he could feel the poor thing shivering like wild. He’d never seen one of these critters before, but he’d be damned if he let an innocent, fluffy little ball of brown get blown to bits by HIS drop pod.
Lug groaned as he sat up, his ears ringing as he went upright. He opened his hands and set the rabbit down as he and the little bunny surveyed the destruction.
The explosion had left a deep crater where the drop pod once was, and deep, dark gouges in the earth could be found where shrapnel was sent flying. Lug pursed his lips as he sucked in air through his teeth, his face tightening into a wince. He then looked towards the rabbit to see if it was alright, and found it staring at him.
Despite the fear he saw, the intelligence in its eyes startled him, and he thought for a moment he could see the sparkle of a ‘thank you’ glimmering in its gaze. It hopped closer to him and tried to wrap grateful, fuzzy paws around his arm, nuzzling his wrist.
His heart absolutely melted at this display.
Lug then picked the bunny up gently, giving it a gentle scratch around the ears, which it seemed to love. He chuckled softly.
“Sistah always said I was gud wiff animals! I fink i’ll name you… eh.. Daffy! Cuz, cuz, you was chewin’ on a daffodil when I rescued yah.” He rattled on happily, the rabbit giving a happy squeak as he scratched a good spot.
He looked around as he gave the bunny scritches. He needed to get a move on and find a settlement. Judging by this planet’s star, it wasn’t even midday yet, and the shock of the recent events was beginning to catch up to him, instilling a deep weariness in his muscles as the adrenaline left them. Maybe finding a settlement could wait... He was dead tired after today's excitement.
He trudged back to the open field and walked past the large crater, Daffy now sitting upright on his shoulder. The little rabbit was looking at the giant hole that scorched the once lush dirt, and Lug could swear he saw a little grimace stretch across it's furry features.
“Nasty bid-ness, drop pods is. Nasty.” said Lug, clicking his tongue as he kicked away a piece of shrapnel in his path.
After traveling a decent ways away from the crash site and deeper into the pasture, he found a nice hill to lie down on. Daffy hopped down from his shoulder and then unto his chest as Lug got comfortable. He never had many chances like this, and since his only chance of reaching his superiors was just blown to bits and it’d likely be a while before they came looking, he decided he’d take a nice nap.
Though as Lug rested there atop the grassy hill slowly closing his eyes, gently petting a now curled up and sleeping daffy, he wondered if they’d even look for him at all. He was just another rank-and-file soldier. A nameless body that toiled for the war machine that was the imperium. And if they didn’t?
Lug had been snoozing peacefully until midday, the sun now high in the sky as he dozed atop the grassy hill. Lug was dreaming the average Ogryn dream of being showered in accolades by his commissar, and then sent off to battle to achieve an overwhelming victory. As always, it was finished off with a great feast with all his family, excluding his papa. He didn’t like his papa. But, it was a good dream, a great one even… And that made it all the more irritating to wake up from.
He had awoken to being poked at, soft jabs striking several areas of his body. He was still quite groggy, but didn’t want to startle whatever was poking in, in case it was big and mean. Well, he was also big and mean, though he’s only mean to people who hurt his friends. When his hearing finally started working again, he could hear three distinct voices whispering to each other.
“Ah don’t think we should be here, girls.. Mah sister always warned me bout’ lettin’ sleepin’ dogs lie.” Said one of the voices, seeming rather unsure, and young to boot. She had a certain drawl to her voice that Lug couldn’t quite place.
“Oh, pony up, Applebloom! If this hairless gorilla was dangerous, this cute wittle bunny wabbit wouldn’t be trying to shoo us away!” Said another, this one sounding rather high pitched and soft. Lug could feel Daffy racing across his body as the little rabbit tried to ward off the inquisitive voices. It tickled, and Lug had to force down a deep chuckle.
“Sweetie Belle's got a point. Plus, maybe this.. Uhm.. Whatever it is, can help us get our cutie marks!” Chirped another voice, carrying a very tomboyish edge to it. Lug figured this one was the one doing all the poking and prodding. It was starting to get difficult to hold in his laughter. Maybe she’s the ringleader of the group.
Lug had connected the dots and realized that these were children, very curious ones at that. Normally the sight of the Ogryn would make many smaller creatures balk upon seeing his hulking form, giving him a wide berth like he was some wild animal. But… These three seemed to be severely lacking in self preservation instincts, maybe excluding the first one, Applebloom he figured. She seemed to have a decent head on her shoulders.
Though the names were odd. He’d been on many tours to a lot of different planets, so he saw quite a few different cultures amongst the settlers of the imperium… But never before had he heard of such an odd naming practice. He was hoping he’d hear the last one’s name, so he waited.
And lo and behold, patience bears fruit as the first one, Applebloom, whisper-yelled at the tomboyish one. “Don’t chu remember that one time ya tried to get yer cutie mark in BEAR RIDING, scootaloo!? Ya near got mauled!” Lug found the last one’s name quite silly. He didn’t know why, it just sounded like a silly name. The prodding got a tad tiresome, so Lug decided that now was a better time than ever to reveal that he was, in fact, awake.
His eyes shot open, though he quickly blinked away the burn he got from looking directly into the midday sun. He groaned as he sat up, the action itself always a bit cumbersome. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he saw three colorful little ponies. An orange one with short, purple hair, One with a pearly white coat and a curly, lavender-and-pink mane, and a yellow one that sported a pink bow in her bright red locks.
And there was one thing they all had in common.
They looked very, very scared.
Lug raised a hand, eliciting a flinch from the shaking fillies, as if expecting him to strike. He slowly opened his mouth to say, “Ello’.” Which was apparently the worst thing he could’ve done, because a second after the greeting left his mouth, the three screamed in unison and took off in the other direction. This, of course, sent a hot knife of hurt into his heart. Sure, he was big, maybe a little scary… But he wasn’t mean! At least, not towards cute little ponies. Daffy crossed its paws in a cute indignant display, raising its snout high into the air as if to say ‘good riddance!’
Lug quickly got up to follow them, Daffy already on his shoulder as he reached his full height. The Ogryn then took off in the direction the fillies ran in, his lumbering strides easily covering large swathes of ground. He reached his hand out desperately, not wanting to be left behind.
“PLEASE WAIT!” Lug bellowed, causing two of the fillies to simply run even faster.. Though what surprised Lug, was that one of them actually stopped. It was the yellow one. She still looked quite frightened, but the desperation in his plea managed to reach past her fear and tug at her heart strings. As she stared at him, he stopped in his pursuit.
“E-ello, little’un’.” He said softly, raising a hand in greeting. He could see the fear slowly ebb away from the filly’s features as she tilted her head to the side, her eyes filling with curiosity. Despite his gargantuan size, he didn’t seem all that dangerous. After all, he had a very cross looking rabbit sitting on his shoulder. That certainly helped diminish his intimidation factor.
Applebloom began slowly moving towards him until she was about 6 feet away. She, too, raised her hoof in greeting, trying to mimic Lug’s gesture. “H-h-howdy, m-m’name’s Applebloom. Who m-might chu be?” she asked, unable to keep the shake out of her voice. It broke Lug’s heart to see such a cute little critter so scared of him. He needed to amend this.
“My uh, Mah name’s Lug. It’s an erm, ples- please- plurse- pleasure to meet ya, lil’ Acklebloom,” he stuttered as he tried to replicate a formal figure of speech his commissar always used when greeting newly-met superiors. Apparently the stuttering did wonders, as the yellow filly simply smiled up at him, the previous tension leaving her body.
“Applebloom. Say it with me!” prompted a now jovial Applebloom, to which they both did. Applebloom slowly said her name to help Lug pronounce it, watching with growing mirth as the gentle giant tried and succeeded, matching his proud smile with her own. She trotted closer to Lug and gave him a congratulatory pat on the shin, which elicited an even wider smile from the large man. Lug liked this tiny xeno. Even though Don said that xenos were bad and his commissar even went as far as to say inferior, Lug didn’t care much. As long as they were nice to him and his friends, Lug didn’t mind xenos.
“Say, erm, Ackle- Applebloom, wot are ya? I ain’t never seen a xeno like you before!” Lug asked inquisitively, squatting down to scratch her behind the ears. Most critters really liked it when he did that, and apparently so did Applebloom as she leaned into the gesture, closing her eyes as she sighed in relaxation.
“Ah’m not ah zeeno, Ah’m a pony!” She chirped, giggling as Lug’s fingers sifted through her mane. The gargantuan man made an ‘oh’ face and nodded, appreciating the clarification. Lug figured that If she says she isn’t a xeno, then she probably isn’t one. He was glad he didn’t have to worry about Don being mean to the little pony, as she’s been quite nice to him so far… But that thought brought to focus a sobering realization.
He was likely never going to see Don and his other tiny friends ever again. He stopped petting Applebloom and rose up as his face filled with a melancholic silence. Noticing this, she looked up at Lug, confused, though as she saw the look on his face that confusion then shifted into sympathy. “Ah yew alright, Lug? Ya look mighty sad…” she said worriedly, placing a comforting hoof on the man’s shin.
Applebloom’s words bought Lug’s attention, his glazed over eyes coming back into focus as he looked down at the little concerned filly. “Jus’... thinkin’ about mah friends, I s’pose. I’m prolla-be nevah gonna see em’ again,” he said woefully as Applebloom’s ears went flat against her head. She didn’t know what his history was, or where he came from, but… She could see he was just like any other pony.
“Don’t chu worry, Lug. Ah can be yer first friend here in Equestria!” She said, her face brightening at the prospect. And soon enough, so did Lug’s. He nodded and went to squat back down. “You’d be friends wif’ an Ogryn like me?” She nodded rapidly in reply, “I fink I’d like dat, lit'l Applebloom!” He said happily, earning a warm hug from the little filly as she jumped up and latched onto his neck, wrapping her pony-arms around him.
The gesture startled him. The only person who ever hugged him was his Big sister, and even then, that was rare. He sat there awkwardly for a few moments as she nuzzled his neck, before hesitatingly returning the hug, holding her there with his hands. He could feel another smile forming on his lips as he closed his eyes and simply basked in the friendliness of this little pony.
“Ah might as well bring yew to town to meet mah big sister. It’s right through the whitetail woods over yonder!” Said the little filly, clambering out of his hands and unto his wide shoulders and pointing at the woods that he and daffy had taken cover in when the drop pod blew up. Daffy immediately went on the offensive however, kicking and punching at Applebloom’s hoof. She didn’t seem too perturbed by it and simply giggled. It tickled more than anything, really.
“Ey, daffy! Be nice to lit’l bloom, will ya? No need fer that!” Lug said sternly, plucking the rabbit from his shoulder and holding it up in front of his face. Daffy looked crestfallen as he reprimanded them, and lug’s furrowed brow soon softened when he saw how upset the little critter was. He sighed and used a finger to give daffy a few scratches behind the ears.
“I know yous was jus’ protectin’ me, but as my big sistah always said, ‘Sharing is caring!’. And mah big sistah never lies. No she don’t. No sir.” Lug rattled on, daffy nuzzling into his palm. Sufficiently cheered up and now willing to share Lug’s shoulder, he set the rabbit back on its preferred spot next to his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Daffy and Applebloom shake, hoof and paw. He chuckled softly and began walking into the woods Applebloom’s friends ran off into.
While walking, Applebloom chattered next to his ear, telling him all about Ponyville and the wacky shenanigans she and her friends would often get up to. A few of the stories would elicit quite the belly laugh from the Ogryn, startling nearby birds as they nested and shaking the leaves with the sheer intensity of it. Lug also exchanged some stories with Applebloom, mostly the life lessons his big sister always drilled into him and the many planets he’s visited when on duty. He didn’t want to tell the little filly about his more ‘excitable’ exploits however, as they’d probably be a bit too gorey for somebody of her age.
Lug stepped onto a rotting log and felt his foot go clean through it, but he didn’t pay it any mind, and just kept walking. They had been silent for little over 10 minutes now, simply enjoying the ambience of the forest, and the pleasantness of each other’s company. Applebloom was stretched out on his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes when she raised her head to look at him, a question on her tongue.
“So, Lug, what are yew if ya don’t mind mah askin’?” She inquired innocently. Lug pursed his lips and lifted an eyebrow, the cogs in his brain turning as he remembered the title of his people.
“I’m wot the little’un’s call an Ogryn. An erm, an abheu- abhum- bah! Diff’rent from other humans.” He said, the term dying on his tongue as he gave up on pronouncing it. Sometimes some words were too hard to remember.
“What’s ah hyooman?” asked Applebloom, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
Applebloom let out a quiet giggle as she saw the dumb look that washed across Lug’s face, his mind on overdrive. He rubbed his head, really giving it thought for a moment. He never thought he’d have to explain what a human was. His brows that had been furrowed in concentration shot up as his eyes alighted with an answer.
“Well, Dey’s like me, but smaller! Flimsy limbs an’ all dat.” He chuckled, “Couldn’t lift ah club for the life of em’, heh.” He patted the hilt of the blunt weapon that was latched to his belt. He loved his club. It was such a simple device. Just swing it at what you want to go down, and down it goes! Easy as.
It was Applebloom’s turn to scrunch her face up in thought as he tried to picture a creature like Lug, but smaller, and with less muscle. She rested what Lug assumed was her elbow against her left hoof as she rested her chin on her right hoof. Lug let out an amused snort.
Lug lifted a finger to scratch the underside of Applebloom’s chin, but paused as something blue and fast crashed into his chest, making him shift a bit backwards. It didn’t really hurt much, just confused the poor Ogryn. When he looked down, he saw a dazed, sky-blue pony with multicolored hair and wings. The mare looked up at him with magenta eyes that swiftly bore a look he knew all too well.
Fear. And Hate.
He frowned as the pegasus shot up and got in his face, somehow grabbing him by his shirt with her hooves. “LET APPLEBLOOM GO, YOU- YOU- BIG GORILLA THING!” She demanded, her eyes intense as her gaze bored holes into Lug’s. For such a small pony, she sure was feisty. And mean. Lug didn’t like mean people very much. He had half a mind to clobber her, but he knew that’d likely land him in some pretty hot water. Lug furrowed his brow as irritation made its way into his eyes and his mouth opened with a rebuttal.
“Now, you listen ere’-” He began hotly, though soon interrupted as an orange pony burst through the thicket, a stetson atop her hay-colored mane. With lighting speed, expert accuracy, and a fierce expression, she looped a lasso around Lug’s neck and yanked on it. A confused look began painting her features when the Big Ogryn didn’t budge. Applebloom heaved a sigh next to his ear and promptly hopped off his shoulder, aided by Lug as he caught her mid jump and gently set her down.
The moment she touched the ground, the blue pony zipped away from Lug and scooped the yellow filly up, but quickly dropped her as Applebloom yanked her head back and hit the mare’s jaw. “WOULD Y’ALL QUIT IT!? HE’S MAH FRIEND!” She yelled, rushing back over to Lug before she could be intercepted by the orange one, Hugging his leg. “He ain’t gonna hurt me, or anypony!” Daffy squeaked in agreement from Lug’s shoulder, the two older ponies giving the little rabbit a surprised look.
Lug’s heart warmed a bit when he heard Applebloom and Daffy so passionately defend him, but that warmth was quickly swept away by the blue one’s response, “We don’t know that, Applebloom! Just look at it! It looks like it eats ponies for breakfast!” said the blue mare, rubbing her jaw where Applebloom struck it with her head. Meanwhile, the orange one had been giving this situation a level gaze, her ferocity gone.
“Now, Applebloom, could yew introduce to us yer friend here? We might’ve gotten off on the wrong hoof.” Asked the orange one, yanking the blue one down by the tail, promptly forcing her to sit down. The blue one simply crossed her arms and slumped, looking away as she glared at nothing in particular. Taking this as her cue, Applebloom let go of Lug’s leg and stood between Him and the ponies like a mediator. “This here’s Lug! He’s an Ogryn! And he’s a right swell fella. Just because y’all’re older then me don’t mean I’m gonna let yew bully him.” She said heatedly, giving the blue one a short glare. Daffy once again squeaked in agreement, jumping off of Lug’s shoulder and onto Applebloom’s head, shaking a clenched paw at the older ponies.
Applebloom took a breath and sighed, trotting over to Lug and biting a loose part of his pants near his ankle, leading him closer to the orange one, daffy retreating back to Lug’s shoulder. The Ogryn looked down at the stetson-wearing pony and gave her a small smile, attempting to be amiable. In return, Applebloom went to the Orange one’s side and lifted her hoof.
“Lug, this is mah big sister, Applejack. Applejack, this is Lug. He’s my friend. Now shake!” She ordered, stamping a hoof. This elicited a chuckle from both Lug and Applejack, and as their eyes met, they shook. Hand and hoof. “Well gosh, Lug. Ah’m terribly sorry about treatin’ you like some kinda monster. So is she.” AJ said, nodding to the blue one, “Aren’t we, Rainbow dash?”
The ‘Rainbow dash’ in question mumbled something and sighed in defeat. She got up and gave Lug a begrudging Hoofshake, “Yeah, yeah… I’m sorry.” she grumbled, not meeting Lug’s friendly eyes. Satisfied, Lug ended the interaction and smiled wider.
“Ain’t a problem, pretty lit’l ponies. Dat’s just tha’ natural reaction t’seeing a fully grown Ogryn. I may be big n’ scary, but, I’m not mean. As mah big sistah always said, ‘An Ogryn is friends with all the little’uns!”
“Well ain’t that just sweet. Despite yer, uhm, size, I think yer gonna fit right in if you choose t'stick around. Once ponies get used to ya, o’course.” AJ said with a chuckle, “Come on, I’ll treat ya to some apple fritters to make up for this little tussle.” Lug’s face brightened with the prospect of food, especially food from a different culture. He’d never had ‘apple fritters’ before, but they sounded good!
Soon after, they began making their way through the Whitetail woods once more, with Applebloom returning to her place on Lug’s shoulder, once again draped across it like a bag of spuds. While they walked, Applejack asked Lug a variety of questions about himself, and he’d answer them as best he could.
“So, what do ya do fer a living, sugarcube? That nasty piece o’ work on yer belt makes me think yer a mercenary.” AJ asked. Lug answered promptly.
“I’m a soldier fer the Imp- impera- em- IMPERIUM’S imperial army! Or.. rather, I uhm, I was…” He said, beginning proudly, but ending sadly. Applejack’s eyes grew sympathetic.
“Can ah ask what happened?” She said gently.
Lug nodded and recounted to the three ponies in his presence about how he got to this world, and he’d pause here and there to give a layman’s explanation of a few things when they got confused. When he finished, Applejack looked a tad disturbed, Rainbow Dash gazed at him with fresh eyes full of respect and a bit of awe, and Applebloom did nothing but hug his neck. Lug reached up and gave the little filly a few pats on the head.
He could tell by the look on Rainbow dash’s face that she wanted to ask about his more ‘excitable’ exploits, but a quick glare from AJ silenced any possible rude questions. “Fer the record… Ah’m real sorry you had to go through that, sugarcube. Say, Sweet Apple Acres could use ah big strong, uh, Ogryn, was it?” Lug nodded and she continued, “Yeah! We could use the extra helping hoof on the farm! We’ll even raise up a place fer you to lay yer head. What’dya say, Lug?”
He looked up in thought, though Applebloom's pleading certainly helped him come to a decision. Since he was probably going to be living here for the foreseeable future, he might as well put his muscles to good use. He looked back down at Applejack and gave her a friendly smile, “Awright den!” he replied, prompting Applebloom to cheer, waking the sleeping daffy. The rabbit gave Applebloom a few angry squeaks before curling up in the crook of Lug’s neck, next to his ear. The little filly blushed and gave an embarrassed giggle, her ears pressed to her head.
When the trees got thinner and the bushes became less numerous, Lug could tell they were reaching the end of the peaceful woodlands. And when they did, he was greeted by the sight of a rather quaint looking town, with more ponies than he could count on his fingers and toes simply milling about. He was a tad worried about how the ponies would react to his presence.
As they walked through town, many ponies stopped what they were doing to stare at the hulking creature. The looks in their eyes were as varied as they were in color. He saw fear, curiosity, and sometimes disgust. Though none of them went screaming and running for the hills, which Lug figured was because of the ponies on both sides of him, and the filly on his shoulder.
Applejack led Lug past a giant, hollowed out tree that was apparently a Library. Not that Lug cared, as he was very much illiterate, and likely wouldn’t be able to read this planet’s language even if he was literate. Applejack gestured to Rainbow dash, beckoning her closer and the blue mare went to hover beside AJ as the orange pony whispered in her ear. Rainbow dash saluted with a serious expression and took off. Lug didn’t pay the interaction any mind as he was too busy tickling a wildly laughing Applebloom.
A good 20 minutes later, the tickle fight long over, they came upon a large apple orchard and a farmhouse, apple trees stretching off for about as far as he could see. He’d heard of apples before, but only the Nobility could afford them. So maybe Applejack and her family were quite wealthy. But, judging by the rickety fences and old looking equipment, that may not be the case. He figured that apples were simply very plentiful on this planet, so much so that the average pony could purchase some without issue.
Applejack sat Lug down on a bench that creaked under his weight as she went inside, yelling something to somebody inside about getting ‘the big pan’. While he waited for the fritters to be made, Lug and applebloom played tic-tac-toe to pass the time. Of course, Lug lost very frequently, as the game was made for smart people. And Like Don often told him, Lug wasn’t very smart.
Applebloom quickly got tired of winning so terribly frequently and switched games. Lug soon found himself playing patty-cake with the little filly, trying his hardest to memorize the movements. His face was scrunched in fierce concentration, eliciting a tirade of giggles from Applebloom as she watched steam rise from his head when he tried to remember the second part that came after putting his hands together.
But alas, their game of patty-cake was interrupted as AJ returned with a large platter of lumpy, brown pastries. Fresh from the oven. The smell wafted into Lug’s nose and his mouth immediately began to produce a startling amount of saliva, prompting him to wipe his drooling lips frequently as the large platter of fritters was placed on his lap. AJ watched him with an amused smirk as he didn’t wait to begin wolfing the hot fritters down, his eyes lighting up like never before at the heavenly taste.
Now, Lug loved food. Probably more than the average Ogryn, so suffice to say it truly meant something when he declared the pastry his new favorite food, holding up the last one reverently as if it were made by The Emperor himself. He took small, savoring bites out of it, each one eliciting a groan from the Ogryn, his taste buds dancing. A single, joyful tear ran down his cheek as he ate, his eyes closed. He felt like a child again.
Applejack shook her head mirthfully, her smirk now a wide smile. “Ah don’t think mah cookin’ will ever get ah better reaction than yer’s, Lug, Consider me flattered.” She said with a giggle, ending in a cute snort.
And as if on cue, Rainbow dash returned… And with company. Apparently, she had been sent to retrieve the rest of their friends, which numbered 4 more, 6 in total. The new ponies gaped at the silently crying Lug with awe, though one of the 4 quickly broke out of the awestruck trance. She was yellow like Applebloom, though a shade paler with a flowing pink mane that curled at the end.
“Oh… The poor dear is crying!” she said softly, her voice as gentle as a butterfly. It seemed whatever trance that had taken hold of the others was overridden by this pony’s motherly instincts as she flew over to dab at The Ogryn’s tears with a handkerchief. Lug opened his eyes to see the soft pony cooing and fussing over him, making him smile. She reminded him of Mama. Lug missed his Mama. Applejack simply gave a short laugh in response, however.
“Don’t chu worry, Fluttershy, he’s just complimenting mah cooking.” which earned the orange pony an embarrassed look from fluttershy as she stopped fussing over Lug, making him frown. He was enjoying that. Though he was comforted by the fact she decided to sit next to him, looking up at him with a sweet smile that reminded him very much of his mother.
“Ello’, pretty pony lady. M’name’s Lug! It’s real nice t’meet you.” He said warmly, looking down at the pony by his side. It shocked her for a moment over the revelation that Lug could speak, but after getting over the initial shock, her eyes somehow softened even further than they already were and placed a hoof on his arm. “Well, aren’t you a sweetheart? It’s very nice to meet you, too. My name is fluttershy. Oh! And you have a little bunny friend!” She exclaimed softly as Daffy arose to greet the commotion.
Daffy squeaked a few times at Fluttershy, to which she nodded amiably. “It’s very nice to meet you as well, miss daffy.” Lug raised an eyebrow at that. He didn’t know Daffy was a girl. Well, the more you know, he supposed. The rest of Fluttershy’s friends looked on in shock at how easily she was interacting with The Ogryn. Rainbow dash wondered if it was because Lug reminded her of a bear or something.
Not wanting to let themselves get outshone by the shyest of their group, The next one to step up was a Purple pony with a horn and fiercely curious eyes that, frankly, scared Lug. Not that he’d show it of course. Like his big sister always said, ‘Big Ogryns don’t get scared!’ and likely don’t get scared because of a purple pony. He raised a hand in greeting, and the pony swiftly took down notes on a piece of parchment, muttering to herself as she did so. She reminded him of the scary, robed robot people. Lug didn’t like the robot people.
Lug looked to Fluttershy for help, and she gave his arm a few pats in response. “It’s okay, Lug. Twilight can get a bit carried away sometimes, but she’s very nice.” She said gently, her words assuring him and hardening Lug’s resolve.
“E-ello’, purple pony. Mah name’s Lug.” And at that, the scribbling only got faster and more furious, the mumbling reaching a new pace. Applejack had to come over and smack Twilight upside the head to get her out of whatever fever she was in. She looked around briefly before looking up at Lug with an embarrassed chuckle, blushing as her ears pressed flat against her head.
“I-I apologize, My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lug. Would you mind if I asked you some questi-” She was interrupted as Rainbow dash groaned loudly, her hooves covering her eyes. “We’re gonna be here forever!” she moaned, dropping to the ground. The interrupted twilight gave Rainbow dash a stern look before turning back to Lug to continue… Only to be interrupted by a certain pink pony’s giggling.
A pink pony’s head suddenly shot out of the sleeve of Lug’s shirt, looking at him with bright blue eyes and a smile, “Hi there! My name’s Pinkie pie! You sure have a whole lotta muscles! Like cheese and crackers, Luggy! You must lift a LOT of rocks, huh?” she finished with a giggle. Applebloom shrieked in surprise, falling off her place on Lug’s shoulder. Lug, on the other hand, looked at her dumbly. How’d she get in there? He wasn’t exactly the smartest person in the room, but he knew that wasn’t how things worked.
He began to laugh at the absurdity of it, causing the pink pony to crack up as well. He laughed until his face was red, the pink pony falling out of his sleeve as she laughed alongside him, which led to Lug laughing even harder. It took a while for Lug and Pinkie pie to calm down. As he wiped mirthful tears from his eyes, he lifted his other hand in greeting, like he’s done more times today than he cared to admit. However, his older sister always insisted that he greet new people properly. Or in this case, ponies.
“It’s nice t’meet ya, Pinkie!” He said jovially, ruffling the pink pony’s mane. The action elicited another bout of giggles from her. He liked this pony. She was funny, and Lug liked funny people. But this next pony… She was a bit strange. As she came up to him, she swished her mane and blinked rapidly. Lug wondered if she was alright in the mind.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, darling. I, am Rarity. The proprietor of The Carousel Boutique, fashionista, and seamstress extraordinaire.”
Now she reminded Lug of the nobles that he’d see every now and again. Pompous and rich, always talking with big words and flowery speech. And Lug didn’t understand a word of what Rarity just said. That didn’t seem to matter however, as she started inspecting the outfit he wore. Though it was more like ‘Armor’ than an outfit, as he wore the plated garb of a Bullgryn. Minus the mask. Lug didn’t like masks. As she peered at the armor, she started looking more and more disgusted.
“What a terribly brutish design…” She mumbled, walking away to stand beside Applejack as if the interaction left a bad taste in her mouth. “My dear, if you ever want a set of clothes that would better compliment your muscled physique, do come find me. I’m sure I can spare some time to fix this.. Fashion disaster.” She said, gesturing to the armor he wore.
Lug didn’t know if he should be offended or not. He simply shrugged as he nibbled on his apple fritter. Twilight once again looked ready to ask him questions, but was shot down unintentionally by AJ stomping her hooves and addressing the group.
“Well y’all, That there concludes the introductions! Lug here is gonna be workin’ n’ livin’ here at Sweet Apple Acres fer the time being, and ah need to give the ol’ colt a tour before I show him where he’ll be sleepin’. Ah appreciate y’all comin’ on such short notice, but, there’s work t’be done.” AJ explained, trotting over to Lug to give him a few pats on the knee, which earned her a smile from the Ogryn.
Fluttershy gently nuzzled him. “If you ever get hurt or you want to say hi, you’re always welcome to stop by my cottage. I’m sure Angel bunny would love to meet you and Daffy.” she said, smiling softly as Lug reached down to scratch her behind the ears. After the gentle scritches were dispensed, she hopped off the bench and took off into the air, waving a goodbye as she flew home. Lug watched a little forlornly as she left, wishing she could have stayed...
The rest of the ponies followed suit, with twilight looking a tad dejected. Lug noticed this, however, and didn’t want to let her leave on a bad note. He didn't want to think of what his Big Sister would do if she found out he let a purple pony critter be upset when there was something he could do about it.
“Ey’, erm, Twilight. Mah favorite food is apple fritters!” He said, hoping the information would cheer her up. Her gaze met his and she gave him a gentle, slightly amused smile, taking out her pen and parchment to write it down. She certainly appreciated The Ogryn’s attempt at cheering her up. And with that, she left, shaking her head as she chuckled to herself.
And now, It was just Lug, AJ, Applebloom, and Daffy. The orange mare gave Lug a few more pats on the knee. “Come on, big feller. Ah’ll show ya where yew’ll be sleepin’. The tour can wait fer tomorrow.” Lug promptly got up and brushed the crumbs from his mouth, turning to give the evening sun a steady gaze. It was almost sunset, and that would mark his first day in this new, happier world...
After Applejack had led Lug into the barn, he immediately plopped down onto a pile of hay, content to simply lie there in his somewhat prickly new bed. Though, it did take a couple minutes of shifting for Lug to create an Ogryn shaped indent in the hay pile so that it’d be more comfortable. Daffy had curled up on the hay as well, directly up against the right side of his head. The Ogryn felt a small smile tug at his lips, happy that he and the little bunny had grown so close.
Though it was a literal barn meant for storing tools and hay, Lug thought it was pretty nice regardless. Back in the Militarum, they always seemed to be short of Ogryn sized sleeping rolls. Don swore that they had them, but… Lug never got one. He noticed the commissar always looked oddly satisfied seeing the large abhuman sleep on the cold floor.
Lug’s old commissar was mean to him, even when he did as he was asked, yelling at him for the slightest mistake. He reminded Lug of his papa, and Lug didn’t like his papa. Don had always told him that the commissar was mean to him because he was an abhuman, But Lug never quite understood why. Just because he was different, he was bad? Lug found that rather silly.
Staring up at the barn’s roof, he was quite thankful for the bedding he was given. Though… Applejack said something about it being temporary. Was he going to have to sleep on the floors again? Well, if so, he didn’t mind too terribly much. As long as he got to sleep in the barn. He would’ve been upset if it were because of his old commissar, but, if the pretty pony ladies wanted Lug to sleep on the floor… He would. If that would make them happy.
Lug wanted the pony ladies to be happy. They had been so nice to him, nicer than his big sister even! And that was saying something, because his Big Sister was the second nicest person ever. His mama being the first nicest.
He missed his mama.
Lug quickly shut down that train of thought as he punched himself in the face, shaking his head afterwards. Big Ogryns didn’t cry, he told himself, seemingly forgetting the time not so long ago he was shedding manly tears over a platter of apple fritters. As the soreness faded, he cleared his throat and began closing his eyes, welcoming the dreams to come.
And for a good few solid hours, he slept peacefully, but a gentle prodding on his cheek disturbed any chance of that. A familiar voice drawled in the darkness of the barn. “Lug! Ah yew awake? It’s me, applebloom!” whispered the little filly, continuing to prod him.
He opened his eyes to find her right beside his head. Though he had to squint to see her in the darkness, he could still make out her relative shape. “Yea, yea.. I’m awake. Wot d’ya need, lit’l Applebloom?” he responded groggily, rubbing his bleary eyes. He wanted to go back to sleep.
“W-well, ah jus’ wanted t’see if ah could sleep with yew tonight. Ah’m not scared of the storm or nothin’! It’s jus’...” She explained quickly, giving up her fallacy halfway through as a particularly strong gale of wind rocked the barn. “...Ah didn’t wanna wake up the others n’ be a bother.”
She finished with a sigh, and Lug finally noticed the harsh storm that battered against the barn. Though it wasn’t like she was totally lying. But storms at night always seemed to play tricks on the little filly’s mind, and she could’ve swore she saw a monster in her closet. And considering The Ogryn was the strongest looking creature she knew (next to her big sister of course), she figured that he could protect her from any night-time beasties.
This reminded Lug of how he’d often go to his Big sister in the dead of night when he had a bad dream. Though she smacked him over the head for waking her up so late, she’d always scoot over to make room on her bed for him. The fond memory sparked a smile in his eyes. Maybe he could do for Applebloom what his big sister always did for him.
“Course’, lit’l bloom. Make yerself comfortable. Dat mean ol’ storm ain’t no match for a fully grown Ogryn!” Lug said proudly, raising up a fist and curling his bicep. The filly beamed and hopped up unto Lug’s chest, padding around in a circle before stretching out as much as she could. It was like the Ogryn was one big warm mattress. A mattress that smelled a little funny, but warm and comfortable nevertheless.
As Applebloom rested there on Lug’s chest, she let the strong thumping of the Ogryn’s heartbeat wash away all her worries. And despite the storm that raged outside, she soon found herself drifting to sleep. Once she did, Lug decided that he’d better sleep as well, following in her hoofsteps as he finally shut his heavy eyelids.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Once again, it was the standard Ogryn dream. Big battle, win, get award, feast, repeat. Though this time, A more lucid Lug began noticing more and more of the people in his dream get replaced by the colorful ponies he had befriended the day before. After all was said and done, he found himself the most lucid he had ever been in a dream.
He was within a large cathedral that he had visited in his youth. The same one his papa always went to in the morning after he had finished drinking his angry juice the night before. But that wasn’t what was strange here.
He wasn’t alone. Lug could feel another presence with him in the dream, and almost like on cue, the presence spoke.
“I have seen where you have come from, Creature of war.” Said a regal, feminine voice. Lug whipped around to look at the speaker, and found a taller, darker version of the ponies he had met. This one was odd, though. Her mane seemed to flow as if it were under water, and it was speckled with glittering stars. She had a horn like Rarity and twilight, but also wings like rainbow dash and fluttershy.
But that wasn’t what he found startling. He shifted uncomfortably as her cyan eyes bored into his, full of distrust and disapproval.
“I do not interfere with the dreams of our ponies, unless a nightmare requires me to step in. But you are not one of my ponies, are you, beast?” she said in a needlessly accusatory tone. And Lug didn’t like that one bit. He scowled as he pointed a finger at her.
“Now, there ain’t a need fer any of dat none sense! I may be big n’ all, but I ain’t no beast! I’m an Ogryn! An’ there’s a diff- diffar- driff-” he stuttered, his gaze becoming unfocused as he fussed over the word he was trying to say. He grumbled as he kicked a pew in frustration. He looked towards the mean pony with another scowl.
“I don’ appre-sheeian-ate you bein’ so mean t’me. I didn’t even do nuffin’!” He said hotly, crossing his meaty arms as he spoke. The mean pony curled her lip as she listened to him.
“It matters not what you’ve done, but rather what I fear you will do. Your dream showed me more than enough. You are not from Equus. Nay, not even this plane of existence. You come from a realm of eternal war,” She said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“And you most certainly do not belong here.” She finished coldly, slowly moving towards him as she matched Lug’s scowl with her own icy glare. Her words hurt Lug more than he cared to admit. Finally, after a whole lifetime of war and fighting and unrest, he found a place he could simply live without worry… And she claimed he didn’t belong?
Maybe she was right.
He was a brute. A beast of war, bred for conflict. Always ready to spill blood whenever he needed to. And that probably scared the mean pony.
But Lug, unlike other Ogryn, wanted to be so much more than that. He wanted friends. He wanted a family. His Big Sister always told Lug that he was a lot smarter than the other Ogryn. Maybe that’s why he only ever got along with the bone ‘eads. Perhaps it’s the enhanced intelligence that led to him wanting more out of life than blood and war.
Maybe he wasn’t as content with life in the imperium as he thought. His short time here with the ponies had certainly shown him that there was a lot more life had to offer, other than fighting in an endless war. Actually, ever since he got here, he’d been thinking a lot more than usual. It was the strangest thing.
Lug himself was surprised by this train of thought as he stood there, staring at the ground with his head hung low. But still. The out-of-the-blue reprimanding by the mean pony, creatures he thought would always treat him kindly, made his face flush with shame. He felt a pang in his nose and his eyes grew watery, but he chanted that same mantra in his head that kept them back. Big Ogryns don’t cry. They don’t. No sir. His Big sister and his mama always told Lug that he was a good Ogryn, and they never lied, not ever. He didn’t have to listen to this.
Meanwhile, the mean pony watched Lug with a curious expression, still laced with distrust however. She saw the mental conflict that raged in his mind as his dream shifted around them, the cathedral warping and twisting. As his head hung low and his face reddened with shame, she felt for the briefest of moments that she had made a mistake.
Lug sat down heavily on a pew, a loud groan escaping the wood in response. His arms were folded and he refused to make eye contact with the mean pony, turning away from her. The pony in question, on the other hoof, found this rather childish. She scoffed, shaking her head at the immature display. Like some colt giving his mother the cold shoulder.
“I suggest you-” She started again, though was interrupted as the Ogryn spoke.
“No! I ain’t listenin’ t’you. I’m ah good Ogryn, and Good Ogryns don’t deserve to get treated dis way. No sir.” Lug bit back, finishing with a very audible ‘hmph!’.
He had been treated badly by authority figures nearly his entire life, and he was done with it. Lug was sick and tired of being pushed around. You can’t push around an Ogryn! Especially one that didn’t want to be moved. Simply can’t have it.
The childish display thoroughly confounded the mean pony. She knew he was a simple creature, so maybe she should have expected this. Regardless, she stomped her hoof down and opened her mouth to fire yet another venom-filled rant, but her cyan eyes couldn’t continue drawing ire as she stared at Lug’s hunched over form. The words died on her tongue.
Despite being so large, he looked so... small. His hands gripped his shoulders now, and his knees had been drawn up to his chest. She had expected the creature to rage and lash out at her, but he seemed he’d rather curl in on himself than do anything rash. The feeling that coming here was a mistake only grew. So much so that she couldn’t ignore it.
“...And Good Ogryns don’ urt’ the lil’uns’. Mama always said so, an’ Mama’s nevah wrong.” Lug said quietly, his voice tinged with a sadness the pony couldn’t quite place. The mean pony’s gaze softened as that feeling became a realization. She didn’t need to come here and meddle with the creature. She had jumped to a conclusion and instead of confronting a monster, she needlessly hurt an innocent’s feelings.
She sighed softly and reached out to Lug, but drew her hoof back when she felt the instability of the dream. He was waking up. But she hadn’t amended this yet! She needed more time! Though before she could speak and try to apologize, the dream went up in smoke, leaving the dark pony standing there in the void. Alone, with the weight of her mistake.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Lug woke up to Applejack standing over him with a lit lantern, a light smile on her face as she rested her hoof on the ogryn’s shoulder. He let the memory of the mean pony wash away as he groggily grumbled a greeting. Was it morning already? He blinked away the sleep in his eyes and leaned up to see the soft light of the morning, the darkness of the barn a few shades brighter.
“Ahlright sugarcube, it’s time t’start yer first day here at Sweet Apple Acres! There’s ah lot t’do, but with your help, we should be done in no time at all!” Said AJ, excitement evident in her voice. The Ogryn’s help was going to be HUGE. Quite like he was. Maybe Lug could even help Big Mcintosh till the fields. Cracking his back with a groan, he plucked the still sleeping filly and rabbit from where they slept and draped them on his shoulder as he stood. He gave himself a few slaps to truly wake up, the stinging pain chasing away the morning bleariness.
Applejack opened the barn doors and led him outside, where the cold nip of the morning greeted his bare arms. Not that he minded, of course. Lug quite liked the cold. He thought it was pretty silly how his arms and fingers went numb. But, this wasn’t that kind of cold. A simple early morning chill, nothing more.
AJ had Lug sit down on the very same bench he had the day prior, and after some time waiting, he was given yet another large platter of apple fritters. The Ogryn thanked Applejack gratefully and dug in, noticing some fried eggs on his platter, too. The smell seemed to wake Applebloom and Daffy, and they roused from their sleep, Applebloom mumbling a good morning while Daffy simply squeaked. The little filly leapt down from Lug’s shoulder, once again helped by Lug as he caught her mid-air and set her down, all the while eating his hot apple fritters.
Lug watched Applebloom sleepily stumble her way inside the farmhouse as he ate, amusement coloring his features, chuckling through a mouthful of fritters. He figured that the days with the apple family often began early. Nothing he wasn’t used to, living half his life in the Militarum. As he got down to his last fritter, he broke off a chunk of it and handed it to Daffy, who squeaked in thanks and grasped it in her cute little paws to chow down on the tasty pastry.
“Awrighty, Lug. It’s time fer yer tour of Sweet Apple Acres! Let’s get ah mosey on!” Announced applejack as she exited the farmhouse in a trot, followed by Applebloom and another, much larger looking pony. He had a red coat and a green apple on his flank, and he had given lug a friendly nod, which Lug returned.
Lug then quickly got up to follow the group of ponies, his lumbering strides quickly catching up to them, though he had to slow down considerably to match their pace once he did. “Yes, sah! Thank ye, sah!” said Lug, already treating AJ like his boss.
Applejack cracked a wry smile as she glanced back at him, and Applebloom gave a short giggle. Lug wondered what was so funny. “Wot ya laughin’ for?” He asked, giving the ponies an inquisitive gaze, his eyebrow raised. All this did was elicit more laughter from Applebloom as Applejack opened her mouth to respond,
“Didn’t expect yew t’be the professional sort, Sugarcube.” She held an amused glint in her eyes that complimented the grin she wore. Lug snorted, briefly shaking his head. His big sister always told him to address his Higher ups properly. Considering he’d be working for Applejack for the foreseeable future, she was technically his superior in the chain of command.
“Mah big sistah always said dat ah Good Ogryn respects his high’ah auh-tor-ity, sah!” replied Lug, the botched pronunciation of ‘authority’ earning him a chuckle from the Red pony. The Ogryn didn’t mind it when people laughed at him. Don and his friends always laughed at Lug when he did something he wasn’t supposed to, and the man told Lug that there wasn’t any harm in it. And if Don said so, it must be true.
Lug missed Don.
Applejack took Lug all around the farm, showing him large swathes of ripe cornfields, bustling apple orchards, and even a vineyard for grapes. It was all rather impressive to Lug, who’d never been on a farm before. Not even during his time deployed in the Militarum. After the tour had ended, they had found themselves back in front of the farmhouse once again.
“Ahlright, Lug. We’re gonna go through ah few things t’see what yer good at. '' said AJ, already leading him towards the Orchard. Maybe he was going to start by picking apples. “Sah, yes sah!” Lug barked back, startling Daffy. Applejack shook her head in amusement as they went along the fenced path, the summer breeze flowing past them and around the idyllic landscape.
For the first task, Applejack set him in front of an apple tree full of ripe apples, a bevy of empty wooden containers surrounding it in certain spots. When he went to pluck an Apple from its place upon the tree, Applejack clicked her tongue. “Let me show yew how we do it here at Sweet Apple Acres, sugarcube.”
And as promised, she did in fact demonstrate with a nearby tree with similarly placed wooden containers. She confidently trotted up to it, turned to face Lug, reared up on her front hooves, and gave the tree one strong buck. Somehow, that was all that was necessary, as all the ripe apples then fell from the tree in droves, landing directly into the seemingly haphazardly placed containers. She lifted her muzzle into the air and crossed one hoof with the other, a blatant show of pride. “See? Easy as pie. Now yew try it, Lug.“
He figured it wouldn’t be too terribly hard. Daffy leapt off his shoulder as he turned to face away from the tree. He got on his stomach and lifted himself up, trying to match the motions Applejack had gone through. It took him a minute to figure out what he did after getting on his stomach, but soon enough, he reared up on his forearms and shot out both his feet towards the tree.
Lug expected to feel contact with the tree immediately afterwards, but, apparently he had fallen short. Not something you’d ever expect from an Ogryn, considering how tall they are, but! Here we are. He landed hard, his stomach getting rocked from the rough impact with the ground. He groaned lightly, turning over on his side, a feeling of light frustration beginning to well up within him. Applejack said it was simple! So why couldn’t he, one of the most simple beings in the universe, do it? He wasn’t about to call Applejack a liar, no sir. So the only logical conclusion was to blame it on his own inadequacy.
He gave it a few more tries, his frustration only growing. In a bout of short anger, he punched the tree square in the middle. A classic Ogryn problem-solving technique. It didn’t really hurt much, but it did elicit a gasp out of AJ and Applebloom. When he turned to look at what they were gaping at, he saw that the empty containers were now full, and the tree was now barren of apples. The sight made him smile, and his previous frustration had diminished significantly.
Applejack was quick to recover as she gave Lug a few good pats on the thigh. “Well, yew may not be made fer buckin’, But yew pack one heckuva punch! That’s for darn sure.” She said, nodding approvingly at Lug’s work. “Now that we know yew can do the apple-buckin’- or, would it be apple-punching? Well, regardless, now we can move onto the other chores.” She continued enthusiastically, quickly taking the lead as she directed Lug towards the next task.
The next task was apparently tilling the soil. Normally, it was Big Mac’s job, which was the name of the Red pony that had been walking with them. But two is always better than one it would seem, as AJ had strapped him up to a large iron tilling plow, and set him to walk in a straight line in the field. Seemed easy enough.
And it was, in fact, easy. All Lug had to do was move forward and stop when the plow reached the end of the field. Simple as pie, As Applejack had said. He didn’t know how to make pie, so he didn’t know how simple the process was, but he just took her word for it. AJ had been very pleased with how easy it was for Lug to plow the field, and with such speed! She made a quick joke about how Lug might just replace Big Mac, prodding him with her elbow. The large red pony chuckled nervously at that revelation, trying to keep the worry from his eyes.
After the plowing, they had moved onto a lot of other chores that required a steady hand. Which, of course, all ended in some kind of accident. He couldn’t collect eggs from the chickens, as he was far too big to even reach into the coop, and when he did get an egg, he pulled it out only to find that he had crushed it unintentionally.
Then they tried to get him to help clean out a water chute, which he accidentally sealed off completely when he applied a little bit too much pressure to the thin metal. Applejack assured him that it was fine, but Lug noticed she was also getting rather frustrated, which in turn revived an old fear in the Ogryn’s soul. The nagging anxiety began to tug at his heart, stressing him out and amplifying any frustrations that came with each and every shortcoming of the day. Applebloom and Big Mac had long since gone about to do their separate chores.
Near the end of it, Both Lug and Applejack were positively fuming. This time around, She had Lug trying to use a hammer that was far too small for him, to fix a fence by adding a couple new nails. Each missed swing collided with the fence, breaking it more than fixing it.
“Now come on, Lug! Hoof-eye coordination!” AJ said, reprimanding him as Lug had missed once again. Her face was fixed into a scowl as she stood beside him, pointing at the nail that stood proudly amongst the wreckage of the now ruined fence.
“I know, sah! I’m trying, sah!” He said, trying his hardest to concentrate on hitting the nail. Though it seemed that the harder he concentrated, the harder it was to hit the nail. The edges of his vision were starting to blur red with anger, intensifying with each miss.
“Now-”
“Yes, sah!”
“You’re doin’ wrong, see here, you gotta-”
“Trying, sah!”
“No! Look, you’ve got it all-”
“BE QUIET!” Bellowed Lug, rage overtaking him for a brief moment, seeing nothing but red. When his vision cleared and his breathing calmed, he blinked dumbly at his outstretched fist, a smidgen of blood decorating his knuckles. He unclenched the fist and inspected the red liquid, confused as to where it came from. When he lowered his hand to ask AJ what had happened, that’s when he saw it.
Applejack’s limp form, unmoving, sprawled over a newly broken fence… And the only words that could be put together in his shocked brain was the memory of the mean pony, and words that had cut deeper than he realized.
‘You do not belong here.’
He got up from where he had been kneeling, hands shaking and eyes wide. He took a few terrified steps towards Applejack’s unconscious body, his knees quaking as tears threatened to overflow from his sockets. He gently shook her, hoarsely calling her name.
“A-a-applejack?” He stuttered, his voice distraught and quiet, choked with emotion. When she did not move, he let out a small gasp, his hand flinching back as if he had been electrocuted. Was she dead? No, she couldn’t be, but she wasn’t moving… And when he subconsciously thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, He heard a familiar voice that now filled him with an unspeakable sense of dread.
“Applejaaaack! Luuuug! Lunch is ready!” Called Applebloom’s dulcet drawl, blissfully unaware of what just transpired.
And Lug didn’t want to be around to see the look on her face when she found her sister’s limp body. He at least had the courtesy of moving her onto the path instead of the fence, before doing something he never considered ever doing in his 26 years of life.
Lug ran.
He ran, and ran, and ran, his sight blinded by the tears that overflowed in his eyes. He ran until the muscles in his legs screamed at him to stop. He ran until his surroundings got darker and more compact, until his ears were filled with the howling of monsters and the breaking of branches as he sprinted through a dark forest. Creatures that Lug didn’t care to stop and gawk at quickly got out of his way, as the Ogryn had become a one-man stampede, crushing anything that got in his path. All the while, a striped equine watched this all unfold, being sure to stay well out of the path of his unintentional rampage.
Lug’s legs soon buckled under his own weight, everything below his right knee feeling a lot heavier than normal, exhaustion overcoming his fear and grief. As he slid, he caught a glimpse of a ruined castle, before suddenly plummeting…
As he went over the edge of a cliff.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ When Applejack finally woke up, she found Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Big Mac standing over her, their eyes wide with worry. Her jaw throbbed with pain, and her skull was wracked with a headache. All she could hear was a buzz, but as that buzz died, she could catch the concerned voices of her family asking her a barrage of questions, and if she was alright.
“A-ahm alright, ah think.. Did y’all s-see where Lu-” She stopped mid sentence, the memory of what happened rushing back to her. They had both been quite frustrated with how things were going, and Applejack had just kept pushing, not seeing how enraged the Ogryn was becoming… And one thing after the next, she woke up with a splitting headache and a sore jaw. While what he did was absolutely not okay, she felt partly to blame for it.
“What happened here, AJ?” Asked Big Mac, gazing at the broken fences. Granny smith and Applebloom both stared, their worried eyes demanding an answer. And with a heavy sigh, an answer she gave.
“Lug sent me flyin’ with ah right hook across the jaw- But it wasn’t all his fault!” She quickly added after seeing the looks of horror on their faces. She knew what it was like to get blinded by anger. Not to this extent of course, but she’s done things she’s regretted in blind fits of rage, things she sorely wishes she could take back. "We were both gettin' mighty tired n' frustrated, and ah kept pushin' him."
She got up with a moan, a hoof on her head as a fresh wave of pain throbbed across her skull. Judging by the tracks of the Ogryn’s boots, he left in quite a hurry, likely after he realized what he had done. She could only begin to imagine how Lug must be feeling right now.
As she looked to see where he had run off to, she soon came to the harrowing conclusion that Lug had run directly into the Everfree forest, and by the looks of the trail, he wasn’t going to be stopping anytime soon. She needed to find him, and fast, before something terrible happened. The poor giant was probably scared out of his mind.
“Ah need t’gather the girls. Poor feller's gone and run into the Everfree, and we’ve gotta find Lug before he gets hurt.” Applejack said with determination, stamping her hoof.
“Let me come with yew! Ah can help! Me n’ him’re friends. He’s probably hurtin’ more than yer jaw does right now, and ah’m confident ah can calm him down!” Explained applebloom, her voice surprising the adults. Not many would willingly charge headfirst into the everfree, especially not a filly, and especially not to rescue somebody that just struck their sister. It just went to show how strong their bond had become over the past couple of days.
As much as Applejack agreed and wanted her to come, she couldn’t. “Ah’m mighty sorry, Applebloom. The everfree is unpredictable and there’s no tellin’ what we’ll run into in there! Ah don’t know if we’ll even find him. Yew’ve gotta stay, no buts! Ah wouldn’t forgive mahself if somethin’ happened to you on my watch.” She said sternly, her heart aching as she watched the filly visibly wilt before her eyes.
Applejack then turned to Big Mac and gave him a sharp nod, his eyes hardening as he got the message. Rearing up on her back hooves, she broke into a full sprint, willing her hooves to carry her as fast as they could.
She hoped beyond hope that, wherever Lug was right now, she would reach him in time.
Ogryn... I have a feeling we're not in Ponyville anymore.
Lug awoke with a start, covered in a shoddy mix of mud, leaves, and twigs. He didn’t know where he was, but he did know that everything hurt, and that his left arm was broken. He groaned as he tried to rise, his legs wobbling precariously as his strength failed him. Falling back to the forest floor, he closed his eyes, recalling how exactly he ended up in this mess. Right. He had punched Applejack, and now surely all the ponies would hate him. The guilt and fear came crashing back into Lug mercilessly. He was going to be thrown out again, and he was going to be all alone.
Again.
He had hurt someone that had provided him a warm place to stay and a station to work, and how had he repaid her? By sending her flying into a fence. Sure, he got mad, but nothing excused what he did. There was no justification, and when the memory of the mean pony reared its ugly head, he recalled her biting words once again.
‘You do not belong here.’
He found himself bitterly agreeing with her. He was just a big stupid monster that punched things when he got upset. A beast that spat in the eyes of his benefactors, and he was as lowly a creature as his old commissar thought him to be, undeserving of kindness or comfort. The loathing that Lug harbored for himself in this moment made him want to break everything around him, which only further solidified the conclusion that he was a monster. There was nothing he could do. No way to lash out at the world or to fix what he had done.
This was it. He was going to die in this dark forest, cold and alone.
The Ogryn couldn’t help but curl into a ball amongst the squalor of the woodland ground, sniffling lamely as he tried to shut it all out. Though try as he might, he couldn’t stop the influx of thoughts, both good and bad. Hopeful and hopeless. Something deep within him, something he still hadn’t noticed, something new… Spurned them on. Lug was sure he had never thought so many, well, thoughts, in his life. He could feel something changing. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on unnecessary ruminations, not when survival was once again paramount.
The howling of beasts set all of Lug’s instincts into overdrive, easily crushing the novelty of stringing together somewhat complex thought, and the backbreaking weight of what he had done.
He willed himself to get up, and his muscles replied, now fresh with adrenaline that came with the roaring instincts that screamed at him to move. As he stood up, he took in his surroundings. He was at the bottom of a cliff, it would seem. To his back was a rocky wall, and the sight in front of him was much the same. Another howl in the distance told Lug that he needed to get going, and so he did, letting the heavy Bullgryn armor fall to the ground so that he could conserve energy.
As he trudged along the game trails of the forest, he began to notice how heavier his right foot felt to the rest of his body. When he looked down to inspect it, he found that it was turned to stone, and so was his shin. He grunted in irritation and resumed his search for shelter, sparing no time to wail or whine at the misfortune. He didn’t know how it happened, only that it did, and that it was going to be a problem.
Although he heard birdsong, it was harsh and discordant, nothing like the soft tittering of the birds back in the whitetail woods. It did nothing to ease his nerves, and only added onto the stress of being stranded yet again in a foreign, potentially hostile environment. With his relatively uninjured limb, he grabbed his Club and let it rest on his shoulder, his eyes scanning for any potential threats. Considering everything was a potential threat? Lug wasn’t doing all that well.
Sometimes he’d run into creatures he couldn’t even begin to describe, nevermind comprehend. They often scared him. But he couldn’t show weakness, not here. It was a luxury he could no longer afford, and he couldn’t exactly afford getting into a fight in his current state. Though luckily enough, all it took to scare them away was a good scream and a show of strength.
As he walked, his stomach began to gurgle, reminding him painfully of his hunger. He needed to eat, but he couldn’t risk eating any of the plant life here, nor the fruit that sometimes hung so plumply from the boughs of the dark trees. He needed meat. And he needed it soon. So, he began to hunt. As an Ogryn, one can be assured that they are nearly always the meanest creature in a wilderness environment… But nature always finds a way to sweep your expectations.
As he attuned all his rudimentary senses for the sole purpose of finding prey, he began to pick up on the guttural snorting that was relatively reminiscent of cattle. He approached the small clearing the noises came from, club at the ready as he parted the trees. His eyes spotted a creature he, once again, could not describe. But it looked plump. With the head of a boar and the body of a large, black buffalo, Lug had stumbled upon a catoblepas.
The brutish creature looked strong, powerful muscles rippling under its coarse pelt. But Lug instinctively knew he was stronger. All it would take to bring the hellish beast down is a couple strong swings of his club to the head. Lug didn’t even see it as a potentially dangerous monster, but instead as walking protein and energy he needed to survive.
He slowly approached it from behind, club raised above his head as his eyes narrowed. Just a few steps closer now, and he’d be within clobbering distance, and his dinner would be his to claim.
But things rarely ever went well for Lug.
A snap echoed in the newly fallen silence, and Lug realized that he had just thrown away any chance at a sneak attack by stepping on a dry stick. The Catoblepas whipped around with furious eyes to look at him, its ugly snout snorting visible, caustic air as it pawed at the ground. It looked quite ready to charge. But, of course, Lug had other plans.
The Ogryn charged with a warcry, making the Catoblepas flinch back as it tried to recover from the shock. When it did, the creature charged him, sickly tusks ready to gore Lug and spread his guts all about the forest floor. When it came into range, Lug swung hard at the beast’s head, a loud crack announcing the blunt weapon’s contact. But the beast just kept coming, regardless of its half-caved-in skull.
Lug couldn’t dodge, and it wasn’t even in the Ogryn’s repertoire even if he wanted to. All he could do was use his club as a shield to help soften the impact. The beast then rammed into Lug with all the force its failing body could muster, pushing back the weakened Ogryn’s club until it was directly against his chest. The catoblepas scratched up Lug’s ribcage as much as it possibly could before Lug retaliated with a swift fist to the cranium, finishing the job.
Lug stood back and bellowed a challenge to the sky, making the cacophony of the forest go silent with his animalistic fury. When he came back from the adrenaline-fueled rage, he clutched at his wounded ribcage as he dropped his club, wincing from the sharp pain that heralded the wounds. His legs were starting to get weak, but he couldn’t fall here. Not now, not with a fresh kill. Picking up his club and strapping it to his belt, he hoisted the corpse onto his shoulders and began searching for a place to eat, because he sure as hell couldn’t eat here.
It took a few hours of agonizing hiking, but he finally found a cave where he could begin to take apart his kill with his bare hands. He had no knife, so he had to use his hands and teeth to rip open the hide and eventually tear it off. He threw it into a corner and got to work emptying the animal’s guts, just like his Big sister drilled into him. It took her nearly a month to teach him how to field-dress an animal. Only then, after watching her do it countless times, did it finally stick.
Lug threw the guts out of the cave as he exited it, making sure no other creatures were watching and waiting for him to let his guard down. When Lug’s eyes failed to notice any sign of danger, he slowly went back inside. He pulled up a rock to sit on and he started simply eating the beast raw. He didn’t know how to start a fire, it was a process far too complex for his pea brain to comprehend, but he knew that his gut could probably take it. Even if the meat was tingly on his tongue.
As he sat there in the darkness of the cave, the emotions that he had fended off by way of keeping himself busy all came rushing back to him. All of a sudden, he didn’t feel so much like a Big Ogryn anymore. He felt small. When Lug felt small, he felt vulnerable, and when he felt vulnerable, he often curled up into a ball. Which is precisely what he did.
As he lay there on the cold, rough cave floor, he began to weep silently. He wanted to see his friends again. He wanted to play games with Applebloom and eat with Applejack. He wanted to pet Daffy, who disappeared sometime during the whole chore incident. He wanted to see Fluttershy again, the nice pony lady who reminded him so much of his mama. He’d even take rarity or rainbow dash. He wouldn’t mind sitting through a whole bunch of questions with twilight. He just wanted somebody, anybody, to be there with him.
He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted so badly to tell Applejack that he was sorry, and beg for her forgiveness. He wept until he eventually cried himself to sleep, letting the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness take him.
And no dreams or mean dark ponies disturbed him.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ When Applebloom had retreated to her room after being told she couldn't come, she found herself pacing, furious that she hadn’t been taken with her older sister to go find Lug. Applejack and her friends had left an hour ago to go looking for him, and they’ve yet to come back. She stamped her hoof and looked out her window, glaring at the wooded horizon. She wasn’t just going to stay put when her friend was in danger.
She needed to round up Scootaloo and Sweetie belle. She wouldn’t be able to do this without them.
With determination in her eyes, Applebloom ran out of her room, down the hall, practically leaping down the stairs, and then sprinting out the door. She had passed the broken fence where they had found applejack when a small fuzzy critter stopped her in her path. It was Daffy! The little rabbit squeaked a few times at Applebloom, pointing at her back.
“Yew wanna come too?” Applebloom asked, Daffy nodding rapidly in reply. “Well hop awn! ah’m gonna need ahll the help ah can get!” She said enthusiastically. Daffy then hopped onto her back and held onto a tuft of her mane, squeaking loudly as she pointed forward. Rearing up, Applebloom let loose a positively adorable whinny and set off running once again. It was almost nighttime, so she yanked a lit lantern off one of the fence posts as she ran past with her teeth.
She raced to Scootaloo's house, throwing pebbles at her window until she opened it. The tomboyish filly poked her head out and looked down at Applebloom with quizzical eyes.
“Applebloom! You’re okay! Me and sweetie belle thought you got eaten!” she shouted down to her, only to be shushed harshly by the yellow filly.
“Quiet, Scootaloo! I’m on a secret mission, and me n’ daffy need yer help!” She whispered-yelled up at the little pegasus after setting down the lantern.
“Who’s daffy?” She asked, prompting Daffy to reveal herself and wave at Scootaloo. The orange filly waved back. “Y’know what, count me in! I love secret missions!” She replied with gusto, making sure to lower her voice. She jumped out of her window and flapped her little wings as hard as she could, slowing her descent by a little so she wouldn’t get hurt. “So, what’s the secret mission?” she asked, looking just about ready for anything.
“Lug got lost in the everfree forest, and we need to go rescue him!” She said, stamping her hoof. Scootaloo just looked at her with a confused expression.
“Uhh.. First off, who’s Lug? And second, The EVERFREE FOREST?ARE YOU-” she began incredulously before getting cut off as Applebloom shoved her hoof in Scootaloo's mouth, getting shushed quite harshly once again. The yellow filly’s eyes glanced at a nearby house’s window as a light flared to life. “Yew need t’be quiet! And Lug is the big feller we ran into yesterday.”
Scootaloo’s jaw dropped at this revelation as applebloom removed her hoof, and shook her head wildly. “No way! That thing nearly ate us, and we thought it ate you applebloom!”
That little comment earned Scootaloo a stern smack upside the head, which the orange filly responded with an ‘ouch!’ and a hiss. She rubbed the spot Applebloom struck her. “He’s nawht a thing, he’s mah friend. He doesn’t EAT ponies, dummy. And he’ll be your friend too if we manage to save him!” She explained, her voice laced with irritation.
“Fine, but if we get eaten by timberwolves or something, that’s on you!” Scootaloo said begrudgingly. Applebloom gave her a steeled smile and ran off in the direction of Rarity’s boutique, Scootaloo in tow.
Applebloom repeated the same process and explanation with Sweetie Belle, who was more reluctant to go. Scootaloo and Applebloom had to cut a deal with the white filly to fill in for her when her older sister, rarity, wanted to play dress up. It was a hard deal to make, but in Applebloom’s mind, she’d do anything to save a friend. Even if that meant being subject to 3 hours of trying on tight dresses and thick makeup.
With her friends by her side, Applebloom felt she could do anything. Leading the girls back to the farm, she followed Lug’s tracks to the edge of the Everfree forest. That’s when Daffy leapt off her back and began sniffing at the tracks like a hound, taking off into the forest as soon as she got Lug’s scent.
How Daffy could even pick up Lug’s scent was beyond Applebloom, and she simply chalked it up to the same ambient magic that gave some wild animals sentience. As the little rabbit sped off into the forest, the three fillies hardened their eyes and ran after her.
It was pretty hard to follow the little bunny, but with Sweetie Belle's magic, she’d managed to make her glow in the dark so that the rabbit would be easier to follow. Daffy lead them through the sea of dark trees with an expertise that made Applebloom wonder if Daffy had lived in the Everfree before.
They went through winding trails and down steep hills, racing through the bushes and vines. Soon enough, they came upon a clearing that showed signs of a conflict. Lug’s tracks were all over the place. There was definitely a fight. Especially if the blood that splattered the grass meant anything. Daffy turned to Applebloom and pointed in another direction, before once again sprinting in the direction she directed. With a groan, the unicorn and pegasus followed Applebloom as she took off after the rabbit. They weren’t built for this kind of endurance running, and were beginning to become fatigued.
Applebloom’s ears swiveled wildly in all directions as she ran, trying to pick up on any sounds the Ogryn might be making, anything at all. But all she heard was the wild noises of the night as all they had to lead them now was Applebloom’s lantern and the glowing Daffy. She didn’t care how dangerous this was. She needed to find Lug, and soon.
And as if the universe deigned to heed her plea, Ask and ye shall receive.
Daffy led them into yet another small clearing, but at the end of that clearing was a cave. A familiar scent wafted into her nose amidst the earthy smells of the woods as they approached it. It was Lug! She raced into the cave to find the giant sleeping fitfully, and she nearly dropped her lantern in horror at what she saw, her eyes immediately beginning to brim with tears.
He was filthy, and without the armor she last saw him wearing. But that’s not what had her so worried. The Ogryn was wounded. The space just below his chest was covered in wounds. The blood had seeped out and stained the shirt Lug had been wearing, though now somewhat dry as the bleeding had stopped some time ago.
She looked to her friends to find them standing at the cave entrance, their eyes wide with fear as they stared at Lug’s sleeping form. They obviously had not gotten over how big and scary he looked.
If only they knew how nice he could be…
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Lug woke up feverishly, his head pounding. He didn’t want to open his eyes. Everything hurt even more, especially his stomach. Maybe eating the Catoblepas raw wasn’t a good idea. But then again, Lug was never known for good ideas. He was just a big dumb brute that ate anything put in front of him. He groaned as his stomach was wracked with another wave of pain.
That’s when it was revealed he wasn’t alone. After he groaned, he heard two ‘eeps’ sound off nearby, and immediately heard the all too familiar drawl of his first friend.
“Lug! Yer awake! We’ve been lookin’ all over the Everfree for yew! Me n’ mah sister were worried sick, And here ah find that yer hurt!” She cried, a sob in her voice as she clung to the Ogryn’s side. Meanwhile, Lug was completely still, his mind in shock.
She came looking for him? And not to get revenge? She was… Worried about him? But he hurt her older sister! When he opened his mouth, Her eyes became hard as she scowled, putting a hoof on his lips.
“No! No talkin’! Once we get yew outta here and all healed up, THEN you can explain yerself. And until help gets here, I ain’t leavin’ yer side.” She said, ending with a sniffle. She grumbled as she snuggled up next to him, calling him all sorts of names. But Lug didn’t mind, he was just glad that she was here.
And then, bursting out from Applebloom’s mane, was Daffy. The little rabbit jumped up onto his chest, squeaking rapidly as she shook a paw-finger at him. He assumed she was chastising him for being dumb and running off. When she finished her cute little tirade, she wrapped her fluffy arms around Lug’s chin in a hug, nuzzling his nose. When she broke away, she simply curled up in the crook of his neck. It warmed his heart.
He looked up to the side to see the two other fillies he saw when he first arrived had been with her. They still looked rather scared of him, but it seemed they’d rather be inside the cave with a big monster that was Applebloom’s friend, than stay out there where there were a lot of OTHER monsters that weren’t their friends.
He would’ve chuckled, if the action wouldn’t reopen his wounds in the process and irritate his already VERY upset stomach. Instead, he simply gave them a friendly nod, as that was all he could muster. That seemed to slightly alleviate their fears, as they then settled next to applebloom.
As they began to doze and rest their weary hooves, Lug thought it’d be best if he too slept. Though as he closed his sickly eyes, he heard something that filled him with dread. The howling of wolves. And they were getting closer. The sound woke the fillies, who were now quaking in fear. He slowly got up, disturbing Daffy from her sound sleep, but she squeaked no complaint.
Then the canine howling of wolves sounded off close by. Too close. He rushed forward out of the cave despite his aching body and protests of the fillies. He saw nothing. He was about to go back inside when he heard the bushes begin to rustle, and then he saw it.
A massive pack of glowing, yellow eyes staring back at him. It reminded him of the genestealers, the Tyranids. He slid his club from his belt and clutched it in his good hand, his knuckles going white. Like the fight with the catoblepas, he was not going to get out of this unscathed. “Stay inside the cave, lil’uns. Don’t come out fer nothin’.” He growled, steeling himself.
He side-eyed the pile of guts near the outside of his cave and internally smacked himself. He remembered that his big sister had told him that he couldn’t just leave the guts on the ground willy-nilly, or else predators would find the camp. Lug had no time to dwell on his mistakes, his instincts once again kicking into overdrive as his weary muscles once again filled with adrenaline, albeit weaker in force since the last few times. He couldn’t afford to drag this out. He needed to end this quickly. And so, he charged.
The wooden wolves seemed to expect this and broke into a loose circle around the Ogryn, barking and snarling at him as he swung wildly. Each time he went to swing for one, it leapt out of the way, just in time. It frustrated him to no end, and the sun was beginning to set. The forest was getting darker with each passing minute, and so were his prospects of surviving.
When he approached to swing, they went back. When he went back, they approached. Lug knew that if this dragged on, he’d certainly perish. With the second warcry of the evening, He charged at the biggest wolf, abandoning his club as he grabbed it by the neck and slammed it into the ground repeatedly. This, of course, prompted the rest of the pack to immediately jump him.
He felt sharp teeth sink into his flesh in various places, ripping out chunks as they assaulted him. Lug spun around with the alpha in his hand, using their leader to beat them off, dropping and rolling and jumping and swinging. He could feel his adrenaline slowly ebbing away, and as if they noticed this, they began attacking in earnest. Lug desperately fought them off, his fists caving in wooden heads as they bore down at him relentlessly.
Now he was practically at their mercy. He was tired and his lack of food was detrimental. He felt his scabbed over wounds reopen and fresh blood began to spill from the gouges in his ribcage. For a moment, he genuinely thought he was going to die here. He’d die fighting, yes, but not on a battlefield. He’d die pathetically at the paws of woodland beasts that he normally wouldn’t have trouble with. What would his big sister say? What would happen to the scared little fillies in the cave? He wasn’t just fighting for himself now. He was fighting for them.
As the wolves slowly whittled away at him, Lug’s life flashed before his eyes once again. The same old pains and traumas resurfacing, the life he had just recently realized was so incredibly bleak. And then they appeared. The fleeting yet sweet memories of his new friends. Daffy, Applebloom, Applejack and her colorful friends…
Lug knew he did them wrong, and that they probably hate him now... But he wanted to see them. To be with them. To laugh with them. To cry with them. To experience life beside them. But most importantly, he wanted to see them. One last time.
One. Last. Time.
With his final desperate push, Lug willed himself to go on one final assault. The wooden wolves yelped in surprise as the Ogryn went on the offensive once more, pushing past his exhausted limbs and screaming muscles, past his lack of energy and blood, bellowing his defiance as if screaming in the face of fate itself. Spines broke and heads were crushed as he raged, making his will a reality.
He felt a song well up from his soul, one of defiance and perseverance. The human nature that defied the impossible, spitting on the shoes of the ever growing odds. It was screaming at him to keep going, to keep striving, to go on despite it all. To rage against the unfairness of reality, to get back at the universe for all the wrong it had wrought. And as the song reached a crescendo, he felt something snap inside him. Like a chain holding him back, now gone.
His fists erupted into furious, whipping fire as crackling energy raced across his body. His eyes were aglow with the bastard lovechild of warp energy and equestrian magic, melding together to empower the Ogryn as he fought. Each punch atomized a wolf’s head, simply obliterating it from existence in a shower of splinters. The energy that flowed through him made him forget all about his wounds as he continued his onslaught, his mind clearer than it had ever been.
And that’s when he realized the song inside him wasn’t just inside him. It EMANATED from him. The ambient equestrian magic was responding to his desperate bid for salvation, and combined with the newly awakened warp energy, it transformed into a grand orchestra. As Lug finished off the last of the wolves, the orchestra began to quieten as the newfound energy left him. His work was done, and the threat was eliminated.
When the foreign power went dormant once again, the fatigue and exhaustion from the fight caught up with him all at once. He fell to his knees, his knuckles as bloody as a mess as the rest of him. His blood and the green goopy fluids of the beasts he just slain mixed together to paint a masterpiece of gore and grime that coated the Ogryn’s body, and he released a deep sigh.
Unconsciousness quickly claimed him.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
The three fillies, followed by daffy, rushed out of the cave to greet the miniature battlefield that Lug nearly lost his life in. They gaped in a mix of awe and horror as they saw the 20 something timberwolf corpses littered around an unmoving Lug. It must have been one of the biggest packs in the forest! They were horrified with all the death, but in awe of how Lug fought them all off alone, and won. Applebloom brought her lantern up as she maneuvered her way through the small pond of corpses, inspecting the now brutally wounded Ogryn.
The sight made her eyes fill up with tears once again, after she had thought she’d already cried them all away.
The bushes rustled again, and the three fillies whipped around to see what new horror would spring from the depths of the everfree, only to feel a rush of relief when Applejack and the rest of the gang burst out of the underbrush. A gasp of horror escaped the lot of them when they arrived on the scene. Fluttershy looked positively sick as she stared at the bodies of the timberwolves, though as usual, she was the first to act. She rushed over to Lug and opened a first-aid kid that she had with her, using a white fluffy rag to clean the many wounds
When they noticed the three fillies, they rushed forward, gingerly stepping around the field of corpses. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow dash respectively, all looked positively furious. For the next 10 minutes, the three fillies were admonished and reprimanded by their older counterparts, but Applebloom interrupted them before they could continue further.
“Now ain’t the time fer this, Applejack! Lug is HURT! He did all this to protect us!” She wailed, Shoving her hoof in the unconscious Lug’s direction. It seemed that in the shellshock that came with arriving at such a brutal scene, they had forgotten the very reason they came to this wild place.
Fluttershy was furiously attending to the Ogryn’s wounds, working with haste. “Applebloom is right, girls. Lug is hurt very badly, and we can’t move him to my cottage, or else we’ll risk hurting him even further.” She said, deeply serious. When the wounded were involved, all previous shyness seemed to evaporate from the pony as she ordered the others to construct a makeshift stretcher.
It seemed that the tone of her voice helped the others out of their stupor, as they immediately began working on getting a stretcher constructed by order of Doctor Fluttershy. After the stretcher was made, they painstakingly laid him onto it, making sure to gently set him down. It took the combined efforts of Pinkie pie, Applejack, rainbow dash, and twilight to carry the Ogryn inside the cave for further treatment.
As he was laid upon the cave floor, Fluttershy noticed the catoblepas corpse and immediately looked away. She couldn’t bear to. She made sure to take a quick look at lug’s teeth, and she divined that he was an Omnivore, so she didn’t hold it against him. But she also knew every part of that creature was poisonous. It was a miracle Lug had survived so long. “Rainbow dash, I need you to go fetch Zecora. Fly as fast as you can!”
Rainbow dash asked no questions as she zipped away with haste, leaving a contrail of rainbow as she went. Fluttershy went back to tending to Lug’s many wounds while Twilight studied his anatomy. She assured the others that it was so in the future, they could better treat any wounds or maladies. Applebloom and her friends sat nearby, big round eyes all concentrated on Lug. He had risked his life to protect them from the timberwolves, and by the looks of it, he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“I-is he gonna be ahlright, Fluttershy?” Asked Applebloom, her voice wavering. In return, Fluttershy gave the sweet little filly a soft smile.
“I’m going to do everything I can, Applebloom. I should be able to stabilize him, at least. When morning comes, we’ll fly him on the stretcher over to the hospital, so don’t you worry.” She replied, giving Applebloom a few pats on the head. The yellow filly’s friends pressed close to her, trying their best to comfort the distraught Applebloom.
Beside Lug, Applejack looked down at Lug with remorse and anger. She had her hat in her hoof, pressed against her chest. “Oh, Lug... Yew big ol’ fool. Ya didn’t have t’go and nearly get yerself killed…” She whispered softly. Fluttershy came to her side and placed a hoof on her withers, asking her to take the fillies home.
Applejack nodded, placing her hat back atop her head, taking rarity and the fillies with her as she left the cave. Applebloom cast one last worried glance at Lug before going to follow her sister home.
Fluttershy simply returned to tending Lug’s wounds, when all of a sudden his breathing quickened and his eyebrows furrowed. Fluttershy and twilight shared a worried look before the yellow pegasus gave all her attention to the unconscious lug.
“M-mama… Where are ye… M-m-mama, I-I’m scared.” whimpered a feverish Lug, tears trickling out of his eyes, his face twisted into that of fear and pain. Lug’s sleep talking took twilight by surprise, but Fluttershy was quick to act, taking one of Lug’s bandaged hands in her hooves.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. Mama’s here.” cooed the yellow pegasus. Lug unconsciously held onto her hoof as whatever she was trying seemed to work. His breathing slowed, and his fearful, pained expression seemed to wash away as his whole body relaxed. Fluttershy began to lightly stroke Lug’s face with one of her wings, humming a soft lullaby.
Twilight, on the other hand, was busying herself with her magic. She scanned Lug’s body from top to bottom, and quickly had a look of baffled incredulity on her face. She looked at the now peacefully sleeping Ogryn with new, curious eyes. She needed to study this further.
Two energies resided in Lug, and Twilight estimated that they had been steadily growing as Lug spent his time here among the ponies. She knew one of the energies was the Equestrian magic that existed in all things, but she was completely dumbfounded by the other. It was chaotic and… Almost angry, constantly shifting. Though curiously enough, it was being tamed by the innate harmony that Equestrian magic held, making whatever it was more pliable. Although both energies were rapidly fading, becoming the size of bits, she believed that they were now a permanent part of Lug’s physiology.
She was scribbling furiously on a long piece of parchment, documenting everything she could about this phenomena. As she finished writing about three scrolls worth of information, she stared at Lug’s unconscious form.
Twilight came to the conclusion that this goliath had a lot he could teach her, whether he knew that or not.
Lug had awoken groggily, his vision swimming as he tried to wake up. All he could remember was him fighting the wolves and… Then nothing. He definitely survived, that’s for sure. He wiggled his fingers and toes to check if they were all accounted for, and luckily enough, they were. The action seemed to elicit a giggle from a nearby pony.
Rubbing his eyes, he blinked away the last vestiges of sleep and came to the realization that he was still in the cave. Though it appeared that the interior had been transformed into a makeshift medical room. He tried to move, and the pain that lanced across his wounds demanded that he stay put. Which he most certainly did. He groaned lightly and looked to his side to find Fluttershy there, watching him with a soft smile, daffy perched atop her head.
“Good morning, Lug. I’m so glad to see you’re awake.” She said happily, giving him a few pats on the arm. Boy, was he happy to see her. Daffy clambered down the pony’s body and made her way to Lug, squeaking happily as she nuzzled his chin. He returned the nuzzle with a welcome scratch behind the ears.
Lug returned her smile with one of his own, but it was quickly chased away. A frown formed on his lips and his brow furrowed. Upon seeing this sudden change, Fluttershy’s expression grew concerned and she kept a hoof placed on his arm.
“What’s wrong, Lug? Are you okay?” she asked gently,
“I-I thought you n’ the others ated’ me.” Said the Ogryn, unable to look her in the eyes.
Fluttershy let out a small gasp, “Oh, you poor dear… That’s what you thought this whole time? Oh sweetheart, we could never hate you.” she said, her eyes wet with sympathy. She hugged the Ogryn’s arm, careful not to squeeze too hard.
Lug’s eyes went wide at this revelation. But surely they would have! He hurt applejack, after all! How could they not? Lug certainly wouldn’t forgive anyone that hurt his friends. Though maybe the ponies are simply a very forgiving people. It was hard for him to wrap his head around. Meanwhile, Daffy side-eyed the pony, wanting to monopolize Lug’s warmth. Nobody seemed to notice this as Lug continued.
“B-but I urt’ Applejack! I’m jus’ a big, dumb, stupid, stupid angry meanie beast creature.” he said, scowling once again as his self loathing made a comeback. This string of self deprecation elicited yet another gasp from Fluttershy, but it was an angry one. Even daffy gave him a stern smack on the chin, squeaking a long line of what Lug was sure to be admonishments.
“Now Lug, while what you did wasn’t okay, you are most certainly NOT all that.” she said tersely, her expression a rare one, but one of well-founded indignation. The little rabbit in front of Lug’s chin crossed her fuzzy arms and nodded, squeaking in agreement.
“I don’t know you very well, but I can tell you’re a sweet colt. You didn’t mean to hurt Applejack, did you Lug? you just lost your temper. We all know that, and it won’t happen again, will it mister?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lug shook his head rapidly in response, earning him another one of Fluttershy’s motherly smiles, “I’m glad. Oh! Um, where was I… Here you go, Lug. I asked Zecora to make a soup that’ll help you recover.” Fluttershy then raised up a wooden bowl, filled with a soup that smelled of fragrant herbs. Lug didn’t like vegetables. Not one bit, but he needed to be brave, or else Fluttershy would be sad. Mama would always get sad if he didn’t eat his medicine, and he didn’t like it when his Mama got sad.
Lifting the wooden spoon to his lips, he drank the soup like he would a shot, grimacing at the bitter taste. Fluttershy seemed to notice this as she gave him an understanding look, rubbing her cheek against his arm to comfort him. “I know it tastes funny, but you’re doing such a good job! I’m very proud of you, Lug,” she said kindly, which prompted him to eat more.
The more he ate, the more he got used to the taste. The more he got used to the taste, the more he ate. Soon enough, the bowl was empty, leaving Fluttershy quite happy with the results. She took the bowl from his hands and returned it to him, once again full of soup. It seemed she had an entire cauldron. Visibly crestfallen at the daunting task ahead of him, Fluttershy cooed softly, murmuring encouraging words of encouragement so that the Ogryn could make it through the trial with at least a shred of grace. Daffy did her best to help by sneaking quiet slurps of the soup while she could, though she wasn’t exactly a fan of it either.
30 minutes later and the cauldron was empty, leaving Lug feeling a tad queasy, but satisfied that he had managed to complete such a herculean task. Meanwhile, Fluttershy did another once-over of his wounds before sitting back and coming to a conclusion. He needed a better place to recover. Now that he was awake, he could be moved.
“Alright, Lug. We’re going to go to my cottage now, okay? Do you think you’ll be able to move?” She asked, earning a strong nod from the Ogryn. “Now slowly, gently, try to get up,” she then helped as best as she could, Lug wincing as the movement irritated his not even day old wounds. When he stood, he had a hand on the cave wall to support himself as he made his way to the exit, Daffy on his shoulder and Fluttershy slowly walking alongside him for emotional support.
Fluttershy originally wanted to fly Lug out on a stretcher, but considering the fact that she and rainbow dash only had so much strength, she had to simply settle for her cottage. Not that she minded of course. Luckily enough though, she had friends that could help!
As Lug made his way out, he was shocked to see a massive cat-like beast, it’s massive red mane like that of a lion’s. It gave him a level stare, its scorpion tail twitching as it laid eyes on him. Daffy was seemingly undaunted by the large creature, giving it the stink eye. The beast made no move to attack him or fluttershy, and its predatory glare softened once it saw the little yellow pony.
“I really can’t thank you enough, nigel. Just know that I very much appreciate you standing guard for us.”
Nigel purred as he smiled down at her, looking as if he were just happy to be there. Nigel and Lug then locked eyes again, and to Fluttershy’s surprise, they shared a respectful, almost knowing, nod. The two of them knew strength, as they were both apex predators in their own right, and both shared a desire to protect Fluttershy. With all seriousness, they shook on it, hand in paw. This little show of respect seemed to elicit a cute giggle from the yellow pegasus, making the two goliaths melt at the sound.
“Nigel, do you think you could give Lug a ride to my cottage? As you can see, he’s very hurt, and I'd be very pleased if you could lend me a paw!” she asked kindly, getting a slow nod from the beast in response. He lowered himself to the ground to allow the Ogryn to mount it, which he promptly did. Nigel rose, a purr rumbling from his chest as Lug ran his hands through Nigel’s mane, marveling at how soft it was. Lug quite liked the big kitty. Meanwhile, Daffy fumed with jealousy. She couldn’t believe that Lug was petting the oversized feline rather than her! She squeaked her protests, though was quickly silenced as Lug paused to scratch her behind the ears.
Fluttershy then flew up and landed on Lug’s lap, getting herself comfortable for the ride ahead as she used his thigh as a pillow. A tough, meaty pillow, but a pillow all the same. Lug scratched Fluttershy behind the ears like he did for daffy, the pony humming happily in response as Nigel started making his way through the forest. His confident stride gave Lug the inclination that the big cat was a sort of ‘king of the jungle’, that no other beast dared to approach. It was certainly reassuring to know he wouldn’t have to fight his way out.
Lug and Fluttershy simply enjoyed each other’s presence as they watched the scenery go by. The comfortable silence they maintained went undisturbed for a good hour, before the yellow pegasus perked up as she recognized the area they were in. They were almost to her cottage.
As she guided Nigel the rest of the way, Lug simply watched the little pony peacefully, committing her every feature to memory. Whilst lug was quite forgetful, he never forgot a face. The people in his life were often important to him, after all, and considering how much this pony reminded him of his mother he got attached rather quickly. How could he not? He wasn’t used to being showered with such kindness and frankly, it spoiled him.
As the quaint little cottage came into view, Fluttershy softly flew from Nigel’s back and gracefully landed on the ground. The giant cat lowered himself to the earth so that all Lug needed to do was swing his legs to the side to simply slide off, though the action still made his wounds prick with pain. Fluttershy waved Nigel goodbye as he trudged back into the Everfree, giving the Ogryn and the pony one last look before venturing onwards back to his forest home.
“Let’s get you inside, Lug. You’ve got a lot of resting to do.” Said Fluttershy, leading a limping Lug around the backside of the cottage. As they got to the door, Lug noted the rustic aesthetic of the cottage and found himself enjoying how humble it was. He grew up around giant stone cathedrals and hive cities, grand and dark. Lug never liked the dreariness of it, so the architecture of the ponies was a welcome change of pace. The way they built their homes seemed a lot happier than how the imperium did it. The buildings back home always felt sad.
She opened the door for him and he only needed to duck down by a little bit as he entered. It seemed her cottage had been built to accommodate creatures of varying sizes, and it made sense considering her occupation as a caretaker and vet. Lug was happy to see that the inside was just as quaint as the outside, the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the cottage making him feel right at home despite how unfamiliar it was.
“Is nice in ere’, innit?” rumbled Lug, the smell of flowers easily masking the underlying odor that animals generally carried. Daffy squeaked in agreement from his shoulder as she surveyed the house, her eyes locking unto another rabbit that appeared to be white as snow. They immediately glared at each other, Daffy curling a paw into a fist as she repeatedly hit her open paw.
“Why, thank you, Lug!” Fluttershy replied, patting the couch with her hoof. It took Lug a moment to decipher the gesture and when it finally clicked, he slowly walked over and gingerly set himself down. When he did, Fluttershy had him lie down further, placing a pillow under his head before it could reach the couch cushion. Out from under the couch, she pulled out a large quilt blanket that she soon draped over Lug, getting him nice and comfortable.
While the others were ignoring them, Daffy and the white rabbit were having a glaring contest.
“You just let me take care of you, okay?” The yellow pegasus cooed, smiling down at lug with one of her patented motherly smiles as she stroked his head with a soft wing. She was in full swing now. Daffy looked like she wanted to shoo Fluttershy away so she could have Lug to herself, but she held back, not wanting to ruin the silly smile that the Ogryn had on his face.
Lug nodded in reply to her, unable to find the words. Luckily enough, he didn’t need to, as she promptly continued on. “You’ll probably be here for a few days until Twilight can get a Doctor that knows a healing spell, so make yourself comfortable!”
Lug wondered if the spell was something similar to the strange needles that the scary doctor people in the Medicae stations would often jam into the Ogryn when he got hurt. They always told him that it’d make him feel better, and it did, but he still didn’t like the sensation of being stabbed with a needle. Lug didn’t like needles. No sir. Wasn’t natural.
“D-do it got needles?” He said somewhat fearfully, his mind conjuring images of a pony doctor with a comically large syringe and a wicked expression. Fluttershy washed away any fear he might’ve had with the giggle that followed, continuing to run her wing across Lug’s head.
“No dear, it’s just a spell. All you’ll feel is a slight tingle, I promise.” She explained, her voice laced with amusement, allaying the Ogryn’s fears significantly. They sat there in silence for a time, before Fluttershy asked if he’d like it if she were to read to him. Of course, he was very enthusiastic about it. The last time he remembered someone reading to him was his Big sister when they were in training together.
Fluttershy brought out a book about animals. Some might’ve been disappointed, expecting an adventure story or a fairy tale… But Lug was simply happy to have somebody read to him. The only other people who ever read to him were Don and the rest of the squad, and it was so he could understand the bigger words in the communications the squad would receive. Don always said that Lug and the squad were special, so they got special orders that only they could be trusted with. It made the Ogryn feel important, and that made him happy.
As Fluttershy began reading, Lug found himself dozing off. Not because of the subject of the book itself, no, but rather the soft voice that read to him. It was terribly comforting, and if he closed his eyes, he could easily imagine that it was his Mama. The thought played on Lug’s heartstrings, now taking greater comfort in the soft strokes of Fluttershy’s wing.
Lug missed his Mama.
That train of thought was quickly shut down, for a series of sharp knocks rattled the door of the cottage, making Fluttershy ‘eep’ in surprise as she nearly jumped from her seat on the couch. The yellow pegasus quickly collected herself and went to see who was knocking. It appeared to be a saddlebag ladened Twilight!
“Hey, Fluttershy. I got your message! I’m here to fill him in on the results of last night’s tests. Is Lug awake?” She asked, leaning to the side to peer within the cottage, smiling when she saw the Ogryn very much conscious and holding up a hand in greeting. Fluttershy stepped aside and held the door open for the lavender pony, giving a quiet welcome as she did so.
Lug couldn’t help but take note of the strong scent of parchment and ink that Twilight seemed to give off as she walked in. He always liked the smell of parchment. Even though he couldn’t read or write, the smell was always pleasant to him anytime he was within sniffing distance of it.
“Gud mornin’, Ms. sparkle.” Lug said in a welcoming manner, shifting on the couch to better face her.
“Good morning to you too, Big guy.” Twilight replied, taking a seat on the floor next to the couch. She let her saddlebags slip to the ground and began removing a variety of scrolls from them. He could only guess at the contents. Lug wondered if she was finally going to ask those questions she wanted to know, the ones she wanted to ask the day they had met. He’d answer them as best as he could if that were the case.
“While you were unconscious last night after your big fight with the timberwolves—” So that’s what those weird wooden wolves were called, Lug realized, “I ran a series of diagnostic tests to better understand your physiology and what makes you, you. So, believe it or not, I only have one question that still needs answering.” She said, the tone of her voice opening an ominous pit in Lug’s stomach. Of course, this wasn’t the only question she wanted to ask, but it was the one she needed to ask. The other queries could wait. This could not. Unbeknownst to the Ogryn, the next words out of Twilight’s mouth would change the course of his life permanently. for better, or for worse.
“Have you always been able to use magic?”
It left him a little stunned, if not confused.
“Wot?” was the only thing that the Ogryn could say. He was at a loss for words. What did she mean by this? He didn’t have to wait long, of course, as she seemed to pick up on his lack of understanding rather quickly.
“Unicorns have a natural 6th sense that helps us detect magic in our environment, and in nearby creatures,” she explained, reminding Lug of the many lectures he’d receive from his old commissar about the history of a location or statue. He always found himself zoning out when his old commissar did that.
“When we first met, your magical signature was so faint I couldn’t pick up on it! But now, after the whole Everfree debacle, I can very clearly sense it. After examining the location where you fought the timberwolves, There seemed to be trace magical remnants left over.”
Lug had to be honest, “Still lost, Ms. Sparkle.” he said dumbly, giving her a vacant look. He could see her right eye twitch before she put a hoof up to her head, heaving a weary sigh.
“You did something that night. That much is obvious. When you were fighting the timberwolves, did you do something you couldn’t explain? Something you could never do before?” She asked, leaning in with anticipation of his answer.
When Lug thought of it, he realized that yes, he did. It was like he had been one of the Psykers he heard so much about and even got to personally witness on the front lines. Though he also heard those Psykers received extensive training to control the erratic powers of the warp. It was confusing for the poor Ogryn. When he was a young boy, he’d hear a whisper from someplace he couldn’t find, no matter how hard he looked. But as he got older, the whispers stopped.
“Yea, when I was fightin’ them thingies, I wuz really upset cuz, cuz—” he began explaining, Twilight writing down each word he spoke. “If I lost, I wouldn’t be able t’see you ponies evah again, an’ that made me sad.” His brow furrowed as he recalled the desperate fight for life and survival. He swore he could hear the gnashing of wooden teeth and snarling of timberwolves as the memories came back to him. He opened his mouth to continue, his eyes hardening.
“If I lost, dem nasty tim- tilm- tib- uhmm.. Dem thingies were gonna urt’ lit’l applebloom and er’ friends… I couldn’t let dat appen’. No sir.” he said angrily, his eyes becoming unfocused as if he were back in that clearing in front of the cave, fighting for his life and the life of the fillies behind him.
“As mah big sistah always said, ‘If the lit’l un’s are in trouble, it’s an Ogryn’s job to make the trouble go away!’ and mah big sistah is nevah wrong.” He recited with conviction, raising a bandaged fist as he did so to emphasize the point. The scratching of a quill on parchment brought Lug back to focus, and he looked in Twilight’s eyes, staring deep into her amethyst depths.
“I wanted t’win a whole lot, cuz I knew wot I’d lose if I didn’t. Next fing’ I knew, mah fists were on fire, but it didn’t hurt none. Made mah punches more punchier, too.” he finished with an amused chuckle, remembering how the heads and spines of the wolves were brutalized with every swing. Meanwhile, Twilight was scribbling furiously at this point, her mind racing a million miles a second.
She knew what had happened, as this particular phenomenon had been documented thoroughly. It was called ‘Extreme Magic Response’ or EMR for short. It was a rare bodily response to a life-threatening situation that allowed an individual to tap into their deepest magic reserves, enabling them to perform beyond their limits for a time.
Examples included a unicorn that redirected a flood, An earth pony that took on an Ursa major on equal ground, and a pegasus who wrangled a tornado. But these happenings were very rare… And only ever documented in ponies.
While the other races in Equestria had their own special magics, a case of EMR was never documented. This is what made Twilight so fascinated with Lug’s particular case, wondering if it had anything to do with the other energy that resided within him.
“That somewhat answers that! So Lug, when I did a scan of your body after the fight, I found two energies,” She said, snapping a misty-eyed Lug back to attention.
“One was Equestrian magic, the one we all share, but the other… It was wild and chaotic, not unlike discord’s magic. Do you have any clue as to what it could be?” She asked hopefully, a glint in her eyes.
Lug indeed knew. His short waltz into the warp did something to him, and he could feel it. Although he was very hesitant to tell Twilight, because she seemed to be the ‘scholarly’ type that would go poking around where she shouldn’t.
He heard from Don that a group of Psyker heretics once tried to mess around with the warp and study it further, only for something catastrophic to happen. Lug didn’t know what exactly went wrong, but the ensuing accident had completely obliterated the heretic compound from existence, leaving nothing but a giant, smoking, crackling crater where it once stood. He didn’t want Twilight or any of the other ponies to suffer the same fate.
“Yeh, but it’s nuffin’ to be messed wif, Ms. Sparkle. It’s nasty, icky business, so I ain’t tellin’ ya.” He said sternly, shaking his head. Twilight visibly deflated at this news, and proceeded to go through all seven stages of grief as she tried to coax the information out of the stubborn Ogryn, leaving her a sobbing mess by the end of it. She had been acting like he denied her the sanctity of life itself, and it thoroughly pained him.
While the sight of the pony ugly-crying into the floorboards hurt the Ogryn’s heart, he couldn’t bring himself to explain what the warp was. He didn’t even know much himself, other than that’s where all the mean horned people came from and where Psykers get their powers, but he knew that Twilight would most certainly go looking. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to her.
Lug winced as he swung his legs over the edge of the couch, Fluttershy’s eyes hardening as he did so. She moved to stop him, but, once she saw the Ogryn cradling a still crying Twilight, did she stay her hoof. Lug laid back down on the couch with Twilight on his chest, petting her tiny head with his huge hand. After that and some ear scritches, she finally calmed down enough to be coherent.
“If it’s really that dangerous, I won’t ask any further… But, can I ask why it’s so dangerous?” She pleaded, her already large eyes widening considerably as she used her puppy dog eyes. She only ever used this on her parents and her brother when she was a filly, so she was a tad rusty. Luckily enough, it worked, as Lug’s face softened.
“Awlright. Bit scary though.” He said with finality, which prompted twilight jump off his chest and onto the floor, taking out a scroll of parchment and a quill, her face showing no evidence of a previous breakdown. Lug then dove into a rant about the many horrors of the warp, and the monsters he had fought. He spoke of the 4 chaos gods that ruled the chaotic plane of existence, and their great hordes of demons.
By the end of it, the two ponies in the room had been wide-eyed with terror, huddled together in front of the couch where Lug told his gruesome tales. When he finally finished, Twilight no longer looked very interested in the other energy that Lug held. Rather, she looked like she wanted nothing to do with it.
“Okay, I definitely see what you mean now. I’m gonna have nightmares for WEEKS.” She said fearfully. Fluttershy merely nodded rapidly in agreement, her eyes glued to the floor. The poor mare looked like she was about to faint. Before Twilight could make an attempt at comforting her, Lug already had her scooped up and held to his chest. The Ogryn draped the quilt blanket over the two of them, trying his best to make her comfortable.
“M’sorry, Fluttershy. The warp is real scary, innit? I don’t like it. No sir, nasty business it is. Tried to tell ya.” He said softly, petting the yellow pegasus as she shivered under the covers. He found it funny how the roles had reversed, and now he was the one doing the comforting. “But don’t you worry none. Dem daemon beasties ain’t a match for a full-grown Ogryn like me!” He said proudly, which seemed to somewhat quash Fluttershy’s fears, but she likely wasn’t going to forget anytime soon.
Getting up, Twilight gave herself a thorough shake as if she were shaking off the nerves. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath so that she may heave a sigh, and began packing up her saddlebags. While she didn’t learn what she wanted to know, she learned what she had to. She supposed that was better than nothing at all.
“Alright everypony, I’m gonna head home. I’ve got quite the letter to write to Princess Celestia. Thank you for answering my questions, Lug! I’ll see about sending a doctor over. Be seeing you!” Said twilight as she opened the front door with her magic, giving one last wave goodbye to fluttershy before quickly closing the door behind her. Almost too quickly, as if she were eager to leave the area.
After a good 20 minutes of gathering herself, Fluttershy vacated the warm covers and fluttered her wings. She gave Lug a grateful smile. “I’ve got some chores to do and some errands to run. Will you be okay here alone for a while?” She asked, receiving a nod in response.
“Okay then, Lug. Try to get some rest, okay? I’ll see if I can cook you up a fish tonight.” she said, suppressing a shudder at the thought of it. As Fluttershy then went about her business, Lug got comfortable with Daffy dozing against his sideburns. It had been a long couple of days, and healing took a lot of energy.
He had yet to see Applebloom and Applejack after the incident, and he was eager to make up for his mistakes. He never got to apologize, and he wagered he was still in for one helluva lecture when he got back to Sweet apple acres.
As Lug slowly closed his eyelids, he sighed in relief, glad to know that things worked out in the end. At least, as well as they could have.
Running his hand across Daffy’s sleeping form, his eyes shut, awaiting the dreams to come. Soon, his breathing slipped into the rhythmic rumble that signified sleep, marking the end of a rather pleasant day.
Lug’s stay at Fluttershy’s cottage had been quite pleasant, if only brief. A few days after Twilight had left, she had sent over a batch of Ogryn sized clothes from rarity and a doctor from the local hospital to perform a healing spell on Lug… Or, at least, they would have, if they didn’t faint the second they saw the gargantuan Ogryn. It took fluttershy nearly half an hour to convince the doctor that Lug wasn’t dangerous. Lug, of course, watched this interaction with amusement. Normally he’d be a bit hurt that a pony would react so violently to the mere sight of him, but as long as he had his friends he was more than content.
The spell felt quite strange. Like warm water flowing over his body, seeping into his many wounds. After the spell, Lug stood up to find that he was good as new! Even a few old injuries that always plagued him seemed to be cured. This put Lug in quite the good mood, because he was now ready to return to sweet apple acres, and more specifically, to the apple family. He gave Fluttershy a warm hug goodbye when he was ready to leave, thoroughly enjoying the time he had spent there.
“I’ll miss ye, Fluttershy. Yew come visit me, yea?” He asked hopefully, wanting to see more of her at the farm. Over the past few days that he spent recovering in Fluttershy’s cottage, the two had formed quite the bond. Fluttershy loved having somebody to dote on, and Lug was more than happy to be doted on. Meanwhile, Daffy and Angel bunny had formed a sort of shaky truce, shaking paws in a sign of begrudging respect as the two larger creatures shared a tender moment.
“Of course sweetheart,” She replied, nuzzling his bearded cheek. “If you’re ever feeling sad or you get hurt, you just call me, okay? I’ll come as quickly as I can and mama you until you feel better again.” She finished sweetly, pulling herself from the embrace to fly up and place a kiss on the Ogryn’s shiny bald head.
Lug smiled happily at the little gesture, rubbing the spot she kissed, a goofy look spreading across his features. He almost didn’t want to leave now, simply wanting to stay with her forever and help her tend to the animals that he had very quickly gotten along with. Especially the bear for some reason. But he knew that he couldn’t. He worked with the Apple family now, and was their faithful farmhand. He couldn’t forsake them… But maybe he could talk to applejack and work something out. Time would tell.
They gave each other one last goodbye hug, and then Lug set off for sweet apple acres, waving at fluttershy as he went. His gaze never left the soft sanctuary that were her cyan eyes as he walked and waved. Well, until of course, he tripped on his own feet and fell face first into the stream.
He picked himself up from the stream and looked back again to see a worried looking Fluttershy half outside her door, a hoof over her mouth. Lug stood up and looked down at how soaked his new clothes were, and then proceeded to laugh himself silly as he clambered out of the shallow stream and back onto the bridge.
The Ogryn’s goofy laughter melted Fluttershy’s heart, washing away her concern like a soft summer breeze and bringing a giggle to her lips. Whenever she looked at Lug, she had this strange tugging in her chest. She wanted to sweep him up despite his size and bundle him up in a mountain of cozy blankets, so that she may keep the Ogryn safe from the world, and to spoil him rotten beyond all belief.
During those quiet days in her cottage, something had awoken within her. Despite all the horrors that Lug had seen, he maintained this air of innocence and purity, an aura of childlike wonder that fluttershy wanted to protect at all cost. She found herself getting swamped with emotion as she watched Lug lumber away, as if she were watching her own child leaving the safety of the nest. She had to close the door before she was consumed by the feeling, and immediately went to busy herself with chores.
Meanwhile, Lug had felt a mix of emotions. Happy he was finally going back to the farm, yet sad he had to leave Fluttershy’s cottage. As he walked, his thoughts slowly grew brighter at the prospect of seeing Applebloom and AJ, as they hadn’t visited him during his stay with Fluttershy. He didn’t mind that. He knew that they were busy with all the chores they had at the farm, and was eager to start helping, to ease the load on their shoulders.
When Lug made his way through town, he was once again greeted by the sight of ponies dropping everything they were doing to stare at him. Though luckily enough, they recovered quite quickly this time and went about their business. Lug still didn’t mind much, already getting used to the curious gazes the ponies gave him, and his walk was peaceful.
Until it wasn’t.
A shrill scream ripped through the air and he whipped around to find the source. He saw a little pink filly with wavy purple and white hair, and what looked to be a tiny crown atop her mane. She looked at Lug with joy and a fierce, burning desire that, frankly, made the Ogryn flinch. She opened her mouth to scream again, tugging viciously at the necktie of whom Lug assumed to be the filly’s father.
“DADDY DADDY DADDY LOOK LOOK LOOK! I WANT HIM!” The little filly screamed again, which made Lug realize she was screaming with excitement. The father looked between the filly and Lug and heaved a tired sigh, as if this wasn’t the first time she’s done this.
“Diamond tiara, darling, you have an entire zoo of creatures at home. Do you really nee-” He began, only to be interrupted by his daughter.
“YES! LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS DADDY! JUST LOOK AT THOSE BEADY LITTLE EYES!” She squealed, covering the distance frighteningly fast as she latched herself to Lug’s leg. The Ogryn balked at the sheer greed of this little creature, utterly shell shocked with how she wasn’t even slightly frightened. Lug gave the filly’s father a frightened look, and he just returned it with his own exhausted gaze.
The wealthy looking pony walked up to the Ogryn and said nothing as he took out a rather heavy looking bag of bits, pressing it into Lug’s hand. The pony beckoned him to lean forward and Lug did so, the pony taking the chance to whisper in his ear as the filly buried her face in Lug’s shin.
“Just play along. She’ll get tired of this eventually. Just… Take the money for your troubles.” He said apologetically as Diamond tiara leapt up and clamped a leash and collar around Lug’s throat. He quite honestly didn’t even know what was happening at this point, his mind overwhelmed with the absurdity of the situation. All Lug could do was nod dumbly.
The wealthy pony backed up and addressed his daughter sternly. “Now, tiara, are you sure you’re ready for this kind of res-” He began, before being once again interrupted by his daughter. Lug wondered if this was a common occurrence. The Ogryn could never imagine talking back or, emperor forbid, interrupting his big sister while she spoke. He felt a twang of sympathy for the wealthy pony.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll feed him and water him and take him out to potty and yada yada yada. Come on, Goobins! Let’s go home!” She replied to her father curtly, and then smiled up at Lug. He didn’t know how to feel about his newly given name. All he knew was that he was given a hefty amount of money that he’d absolutely be giving to the apple family after this strange situation blew over.
The little filly led Lug to a giant mansion that he was honestly surprised to see. He didn’t think ponies built such grand structures. The ornate marble and gold inlays gave Lug the impression that they were much more wealthy than he previously thought, and he was suddenly daunted at the prospect of entering such a home. He didn’t want to mess anything up and get punished for it.
Lug didn’t even have to duck as Diamond tiara took him by the leash through two grand, dark wooden doors opened by a waiting servant. The dignified stallion gave Lug one studying look and for a second, the Ogryn thought he could see a glimmer of sympathy in the butler’s eyes. The shared eye-contact ended swiftly however, as he was yanked along by the impatient filly.
She took him throughout the mansion, giving him an impromptu tour of his ‘new home’ that he absolutely wasn’t staying the night in. He wanted out, and as soon as possible. Lug couldn’t trust himself not to break something expensive, and he knew how nobles could get over perceived slights against their pride and possessions. But before he could make any sort of protest, he was forced to duck inside a room.
He had to crouch to fit inside, but he saw that it was filled to the brim with mountains of plushies and dolls. It gave Lug quite the sense of foreboding, and that feeling only increased as Diamond tiara sat him down and began taking out make-up boxes. She slowly turned to face him, her eyes as big as saucers, filled with anticipation and glee.
Out of all the horrific things that Lug had seen, from watching grown space marines getting ripped apart by 10 foot tyranids, to getting into a bare-fisted brawling match with a Plague Ogryn, nothing quite scared him as much as the glint in that little filly’s eyes. He felt himself crawl backwards as she approached with the make-up boxes wielded like weapons, her crazed smile sending yet another tendril of fear into his heart.
He could feel his stomach drop when his hand slipped on a nearby plushie, and his back collided with the carpeted floors. He could barely let out a scream of raw, unfiltered terror as the Filly bore down on him with lip gloss and three different kinds of make-up tools, silencing the Ogryn with a surprising amount of strength for something of her size.
Four hellish hours later, Lug had given up any hope of escape, and lied there lifelessly as the little filly made him look like the ugliest drag queen to ever grace Equestria. She had been ruminating on what tiara would fit him best when a servant knocked on the door, Diamond tiara’s face twisting into an annoyed scowl.
“WHAT IS IT! I’M BUSY PLAYING DRESS-UP WITH GOOBINS!” She yelled angrily, prompting an old looking maid to open the door and gave Lug a look of undisguised horror and sympathy. She quickly shook her head and turned to address the young filly.
“It’s dinner time, Diamond tiara. Your father has a very special guest tonight, and he requests your presence at the table.” She said, giving Lug a few more glances before turning around and closing the door behind her as she left. Diamond tiara turned to Lug and heaved a sigh, grabbing his leash and yanking him towards the door. Lug prayed a waterfall of thanks to that old maid as he followed the little filly out of the room, his face absolutely covered in makeup and lipstick.
They soon approached the dining room, and Lug could immediately smell a variety of different scents, all mouth watering in their own right. A butler opened the large dining room doors for them as they approached, and they entered.
Lug could only gape in awe at the opulence of it all. Crystal chandeliers, velvet dining chairs, a long dark wood table that shined like metal, and the sheer quantity of food. Lug liked food. His mouth began to water as he stared at it, zeroing in on it all. Without warning, a maid appeared by his side and began wiping off the makeup with a glittering rag, cleaning his face without any effort. He gave her a small thank you before she disappeared. Where? Who knows. It was a big house, after all.
Diamond tiara had him sit down on the floor by her seat, a labeled food bowl already sitting there with the juiciest cooked steak he had ever seen. He didn’t even wait to begin eating, grabbing the hot meat with his bare hands and tearing into it with his teeth like the animal Diamond tiara thought he was. Luckily though, nobody was paying attention, as all focus seemed to be on the stunning white unicorn that sat close to Diamond tiara’s father.
The meat was the best thing Lug had ever tasted, even better than the apple fritters, and that was really saying something. It was perfectly cooked, and practically melted in his mouth as he ate. He was once again in food heaven, and he couldn’t be happier, unknowing how silly he looked squatting there, eating a large steak with his bare hands.
He was snapped out of his food trance as Diamond tiara began speaking about him. It appeared the pretty looking unicorn asked what he was.
“Honestly, I don’t know myself, but just look how cute he is!” She said, grabbing Lug by the collar and forcing him up to face the diners at the table. The filly’s father gave Lug a glance, and the white mare brought her gaze to meet his. The Ogryn felt rather awkward as they stared at each other in silence, which was soon broken as she turned to face Diamond tiara.
“Can he speak?” She asked curiously, her voice heavy with an accent that Lug couldn’t quite place. Diamond tiara then held a quizzical facial expression before turning to the Ogryn. “Goobins, Speak!” the filly ordered, her eyes stern.
Lug gulped audibly and raised his hand in greeting, a motion that was now well worn out. “Ello’ there, pretty pony lady.” he said nervously, side-eyeing the filly at his left, hoping that appeased her. The white mare once again focused her pinkish white irises on the Ogryn, and he noticed something shift within her gaze. He didn’t like the look in her eyes.
“Well, well, isn’t he quite the charmer? Si terriblement charmante, et robuste.” She practically purred, making the Ogryn visibly shrink back. He didn’t like this pony. The only time he was looked at like that was when he had to fight a slaaneshi demon by himself. That experience had him thoroughly shaken up, and since that day he always wore his belt a little tighter. He hoped that this dinner party would pass quickly so he could get back to Sweet apple acres, as they were probably worried sick.
As dinner progressed, the tall white mare kept flashing Lug glances that made him increasingly nervous. What was her problem? He didn’t like the fact that her glances had turned into full-blown stares as she eyed his rippling muscles with undisguised desire. And once again, for the second time that night, the servants came to his rescue as dinner had concluded. The dishes were swept away by butlers and the table was wiped clean by maids, with the occupants of the seats now rising to leave.
Diamond tiara’s father turned to address the scary white mare, a smile on his face. “Thank you so much for visiting, Ms. Fleur de lis. It was wonderful having you.” He said amiably, though the mare didn’t seem to be listening as she was still completely focused on Lug.
“Yes, it was quite the pleasure, Filthy Rich. I do so love making new friends.” She said, talking more to Lug than she was the wealthy stallion. Filthy Rich seemed to catch this however and he let out a nervous laugh, walking over to Lug and giving him a few pats on the arm.
“Yes, indeed! Now, Tiara, darling, why don’t you go get ready for bed? Goobins is probably very tired, and a creature of his size needs his rest.”
“Alright, daddy. Come on, goobins! It’s bedtime!” She said, Filthy Rich’s expression awash with surprise at how easily she listened to him. The little filly took Lug by the leash and sprinted out of the dining hall. They had nearly reached her room when they were intercepted by yet another servant. It appeared to be the old maid that had been his saving grace the first time around.
“Miss Tiara, your father asked me to tell you he has a present waiting on the front lawn for you.” She said in a monotone voice, still eliciting a gasp of glee from the little pony. With barely contained excitement, she let go of Lug’s leash and zipped off in the opposite direction, leaving him alone with the maid.
She sighed and shook her head, using her magic to undo the Ogryn’s collar. Lug rubbed his neck where it had started to chafe and thanked her.
“You’re quite welcome, now follow me. Mr. Rich asked me to help you vacate the premises. Also, don’t worry about Ms. Tiara coming to look for you. She’ll likely not even notice you’re gone.” she said quickly, leading the now free Lug through the mansion and to a back door.
She opened the door and looked around, as if worried she was going to be caught red-hoofed in a terrible crime. She gave Lug a smile and pointed out the door.
“Go you poor, misbegotten creature, you. Go.” She said, not unkindly, like she was freeing a wild animal that was held captive. Lug smiled in return and nodded, making his way through the small door and into the back lawn, which was quite expansive. He paused for nothing as he sprinted for the wrought-iron fences, barreling straight through them as the weak metal gave way for his hulking form.
He was finally free, and now homeward bound. He didn’t stop running, trying his best to forget about the horrid experience he just had, incredibly glad to be out of that mansion and away from the filly and the scary mare. It was nearly sunset now, and he had a lot of explaining to do.
After completing his dead sprint through town, starling many ponies that saw him go by, he approached Sweet apple acres absolutely wheezing. He nearly collapsed from the exhaustion his legs held, carefully leaning against a fence post as he caught his breath, his thoughts turning to how he was going to apologize to the apple family. A split second after he righted himself after catching his breath, He felt yet another filly latch onto his leg. Strange that it’s happened twice today.
He looked down to see who it was, and was glad to see a beaming Applebloom looking back at him. “Ello’ lit’l Applebloom!” he said cheerfully, patting her red mane.
“Welcome back, Lug! We missed yew!” She said, nuzzling his shin.
“That we did. Glad t’see you back again, Lug.” Said a familiar voice, prompting Lug to turn to see Applejack trotting up to meet him, a smile on her face. Applebloom turned her muzzle up again to look at Lug, a question on her tongue.
“Why do yew smell like perfume?” She asked innocently, giving Lug vivid flashbacks of the horrible experience he wished he could just forget. A look of fear washed across his face, confusing the two ponies in his presence.
“Don't wanna talk about it.” He said with finality, his tone giving no room for argument. Applebloom shrugged as she let go of Lug’s leg to go beside Applejack.
“Well Lug, I hate to bust your chops since you just got home, but it’s about high time you explained yourself.” Applejack said, the two ponies now looking rather stern. Lug sighed, nodding his head in agreement. The Ogryn then took a deep breath, and began his long winded explanation and subsequent apology.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ꕥ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
As the day was coming to a close and Princess Celestia finished her duties, she gave one last surveying look at the throne room, making sure that nopony was around to see what happened next. When the coast was confirmed to be all clear, she visibly deflated, drooping on her throne with a hefty sigh. Same problems, different day. Nothing but impotent nobility and petty grievances were brought to her court.
She almost wished that things would liven up, whether it be good or bad. She just needed something to break the terrible monotony of day-to-day protocols, and would soon find that her wish was granted, though not in the way she’d like.
In a burst of magic, A scroll appeared in front of her. When she opened it, it appeared to be from her student, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia smiled upon seeing this, as she always looked forward to the quaint little letters that her faithful student would always write to her about the joys of friendship. Unraveling the scroll to its fullest length, she found that it was quite long, which was uncommon but not totally rare. With a curiously raised eyebrow, she began to read.
That face of curiosity slowly melted away as she read, being replaced by a deep-set scowl that was wholly out of character for the matronly sun diarch. The letter spoke of horrors she knew well enough of. With a furrowed brow, she burned the letter. Celestia needed to speak with her sister.
She touched the bejeweled plate upon her chest and activated the magic within it, causing the purple gemstone to glow brightly before the light winked out entirely. Almost immediately afterwards, Celestia’s sister appeared beside her, a look of great concern on her face.
“Is something amiss, sister? I came as quickly as I could. You haven’t used your emergency signal since the rise of Sombra.” the moon diarch said, peering around as if expecting to see some long forgotten monster rise from the shadows. Princess Celestia once more heaved a sigh of astronomical proportions, prompting her sister to give her another concerned glance.
“Luna, do you recall the unnaturally large human you told me about? He has already made contact with Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” She grumbled ruefully, sincerely wishing she could have intervened, and that this letter had reached her days sooner. The lunar princess’ royal demeanor seemed to waver with this information, her posture faltering slightly.
It seemed that her scholarly student was so focused on learning more about the new creature that she completely forgot to write to her. This happened often when it came to new discoveries in any particular field. Celestia put her face in her hooves and groaned.
“I’m terribly sorry, Celestia. I cannot divine a creature’s location within their dream. If I could, I would have certainly informed you.” Luna replied, her voice tinged with regret.
“I know, I know… Just earlier, I would have given anything for a bit of action. Now? With this looming on the horizon? I sincerely wish I could take back that wish, as this has become something beyond us,” The sun princess gave Luna a forlorn look. “We may have to convene with the council.”
This news elicited a look of surprise from Luna, her wings fluttering. They hadn’t called upon the council in eons! One might assume that princesses had their own courts, and they’d be right, but the particular council that The Sun Diarch just spoke of, far surpassed any ordinary mortal gathering.
This council was one of Immortals, each ruling their own respective planets in distant parts of the galaxy, and each were equally difficult to deal with. But Luna surmised that this particular issue would once again unite them all on a common front.
The Moon Diarch had to sit down in her personal throne, as her sister had begun reciting from memory the letter that Twilight Sparkle wrote to Celestia, and each sentence only confirmed her fears.
Today, Lug was hard at work in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, punching trees and hauling big carts of their famed fruit across the farm. The night before, Lug had gotten quite the stern talking-to after he finished his story, but they ended on a good note so Lug wouldn’t go to bed sad. Applejack, Applebloom, and Lug stood there in front of Sweet Apple Acres in a hug that lasted 10 minutes, and the Ogryn loved every second of it. Especially how soft a pony’s fur was. Lug liked that the most. He liked petting the ponies.
After that night, Lug made sure to work hard, and soon enough, four weeks had passed during his stay at Sweet Apple Acres.
Sometimes, Fluttershy would come and visit, bringing him freshly baked goods from Sugarcube corner, which was apparently the place Pinkie pie worked at. The Ogryn always loved it when Fluttershy visited. She was so nice to Lug, and he couldn’t help but wish she would stay a little longer each time. Twilight would also show up every now and again as well, toting her usual quill and parchment, scribbling down notes as she watched.
Lug figured that she just liked watching him punch trees. Twilight was silly like that.
The Ogryn’s train of thought wandered to his slightly sore knuckles. At first, when Applejack had him start punching the trees, it always made his knuckles hurt a little bit at the end of the day. But as the weeks progressed, it ached a lot less, and he found that he didn’t need to put so much effort into it.
Overall, Lug had carved out a nice little life for himself. On fridays he’d go stay at Fluttershy’s house for the weekend and help her take care of the animals, and come monday he’d resume his work at Sweet Apple Acres.
The trek between the two locations wasn’t terribly long, though Rarity insisted she make him a pair of working boots to protect his feet, even though he already had boots. Those have served him very well so far, and proved to be quite durable during his chores and subsequent errands around Ponyville. He also noted that the ponies around town finally stopped giving him weird looks whenever he would walk alone, and actually started to approach him when they needed help with any heavy-duty lifting. Only the ones with horns and wings, though.
Some days Applejack would have Lug attend the local school with Applebloom and her friends, but he was too big to fit inside, so he had to watch from outside through a window. The teacher, Miss Cheerilee, was very kind. She didn’t look at Lug funny when they had first met, and even gave him an apple!
Lug liked Miss Cheerilee.
During class hours, Diamond tiara didn’t bother him either despite his quiet concerns, but she did have a nasty habit of being mean to Applebloom and her friends, alongside this other gray filly. Lug didn’t like that, not one bit. So, naturally, Lug yelled at them to go away. And go away they did, but the two fillies did so crying. That night, Lug received a letter from a pony by the name of ‘spoiled rich’, but he was still fatally illiterate, so he had Applebloom read it. She quickly advised him to chuck it in the trash.
He did so without a second thought.
Lug felt a little bad about yelling at Diamond tiara, though. But Applebloom thanked him for sticking up for her and her friends, so it was alright. There were a lot of mean people out there, and as an Ogryn, it was his job to stand up to them. He actually heard that line from one of his Bone ead’ friends back in the imperium. His mama was really wise, just like Lug’s big sister.
As Lug sifted through his memories of the past few weeks, he soon found himself wrapping up today’s work, loading big buckets of apples into a cart. The apple family was pleased to know that he was settling into his new chores rather well, and could do them all on his lonesome. The wooden bed of the cart creaked slightly under the weight of the apples, but it held despite its old age.
Applejack always liked to talk about Lug when they were in town as well, mostly about how much work Lug got done. Which always made Lug happy. He liked it when she said nice things about him. It’s one of the reasons why he worked so hard every day, even if he did have splinters in his knuckles by the end of it.
Applejack also gave Lug a little star sticker on his very own star chart after a week of good work, and the Ogryn was always overjoyed each time he got one. It was like getting his very own medal! Applebloom had a lot more stars than him, though. But that didn’t bother him. He felt that Applebloom earned those stars.
Whenever he went over to Fluttershy’s for the weekend, he’d be so excited to show her all his shiny star stickers on his star chart. The yellow pegasus always congratulated Lug with a big hug and a trip to Sugarcube Corner to see the funny pink pony and get some sweets! Sometimes they'd meet the speedy blue one on the walk home, which gave Daffy and Angel bunny enough time to socialize with each other.
But when it came to the money, the big sack of bits that was given to him by Diamond Tiara's father, Lug had made sure to give half to Applejack, and the other half to Fluttershy. It took a little bit to convince Fluttershy to take the money, but it took nearly 2 hours of straight arguing for Applejack to accept it, and she finally caved when Lug insisted it was a present to show how grateful he was. That sure was tiring.
Later, Applebloom had told him that her big sister didn’t like receiving charity. Lug didn’t quite know what charity was, but it seemed like a good thing, and that made it all the more confusing for Lug. Why wouldn’t Applejack like charity? Lug always loved receiving gifts! That, and he wasn’t allowed to handle money.
He wasn’t smart enough, after all. His best friend Haveloch always said so.
He shook his head ruefully as he remembered the silly fight, loading the last bucket of apples onto the cart. He went around to the front and grasped the two handles, and began to pull it forward, enjoying the sensation of pulling something heavy around. The squeaking of the wheels filled the air as he trundled forward. He took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, feeling satisfied with today’s work.
That, and he always liked pulling the cart. He didn’t quite know why, but it was fun, and it made him feel like he was doing something important. The Ogryn watched the landscape slowly roll past as he went along his way, stopping once or twice to let a colorful butterfly flutter across the path.
But then suddenly, without warning, a small body accosted his neck and hung there. Almost instantly he could tell just who it was. There was only one pony he knew who liked to greet him like this whenever they crossed paths. “Howdy-do there, Lug!” It was Applebloom! And she seemed to be as energetic as usual.
“Ello’ Ack- Apa- Applebloom!” Lug replied, the tongue twister getting to him a bit. “Hope yer not muckin’ about too much, lit’l bloom, or else Ay-jay will get angry.” He said, his features growing serious. Lug didn’t want poor little Applebloom to get in trouble, after all. Back in the Imperium, whenever a guardsman shirked his duties, the commissar would do some real mean things to him. Usually Lug and the others had to watch it happen, too. He didn’t think Applejack would do something like that though, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Don’t chu worry, Lug. ah already went n’ finished all mah chores!” The little yellow pony announced chipperly, earning her a wide smile from the Ogryn, alleviating his concerns.
“D’aww, glad tah hear it, Lit’l bloom.” He replied in kind, resuming his trundling gait along the orchard path. Applebloom absentmindedly fiddled with Lug’s beard hair, still unable to get over why he had hair on his face and not his head. It tickled quite a bit, eliciting a dumb chuckle from the Ogryn’s belly.
“So, got any plans fer after yer done?” Applebloom inquired suddenly. She was content to rest on Lug’s shoulder like a sack of flour as he formulated an answer.
“Not really. Prolla-by gonna go take a nap or sum’fing.” Lug answered, readjusting his grip as the cart was suddenly wracked with the impact of a wheel going over a rock. He quite liked the naps he took in the afternoon when his morning chores were finished, which consisted of punching ripe apple trees, helping Big Mac water the fields, and digging up weeds with Applejack.
Applebloom rested her cheeks on her hooves, her elbows together to form a ‘v’ shape, humming as he pondered Lug’s answer. And as if a light bulb lit atop her head, her eyebrows shot up and she looked to Lug, an excited look on her face. “Yew could help me an’ th’girls try an’ earn our cutie-marks!” She exclaimed.
There was only one problem though.
“...Wot’s a cutie-mark?” Asked the Ogryn as he stopped in his tracks. He had heard the term in passing whenever he was in town, mostly when gossiping mothers were talking about how so-and-so’s filly or colt finally got their ‘cutie-mark’ or some such.
“Eeevery filly and colt gets their cutie-marks when they find their special talent! It’s ah neat mark that appears on our flanks. Me an’ the girls haven’t had any luck though. That’s why we formed-”
She paused, leaping off Lug’s shoulder and onto the ground, The Ogryn failing to catch her this time around. But she seemed just fine. Applebloom looked up at Lug and stuck a hoof in the air.
“The Cutie-mark Crusaders!” she announced, before rearing up on her back hooves and letting loose a little whinny of excitement.
Lug chuckled at her boisterous display, “I guess I can help ah smidge.” The Ogryn replied, resuming his long-stride gait across the farmland trail. The little yellow pony moved out of the way and fell in beside him, walking at a comfortable trot.
“Ah’m glad t’hear it, Lug! Even though yer not a pony, I’m sure th’ girls won't mind if we make yew a Crusader too!” The filly said, the prospect of having a new member, especially one as big and strong as Lug, added onto her already palpable excitement. "first thing’s first! After yer done puttin’ them buckets away, ah’ll show ya to the treehouse we use as our clubhouse!”
A tree house… What a novel concept! Maybe it was like Twilight’s house. HER house was a tree, after all. Lug smiled, looking forward to seeing this ‘treehouse’ of Applebloom’s. 10 minutes later, The Ogryn was putting away buckets of apples in the barn, stacking them side-by-side to be later sorted by the wise Granny Smith.
Lug liked Granny Smith. She’d always feed him apple pastries when nobody was looking, saying that he needed to “Grow up big an’ strong” or something to that effect. Lug didn’t quite understand, because he was already big and strong, but he was getting yummy food out of it, so he just went with it.
Lug stepped out of the dim shade of the barn and into the light of the midday sun, and was immediately greeted with an excited looking Applebloom. “Awlrighty then, Lug! I’ll show yew th’way! Just follow th'leader.” She said, thumping her chest with a hoof before turning around and breaking out into a sprint.
Lug was good at following the leader! He and Haveloch used to play that game all the time during missions that had them in super big and confusing buildings! The Ogryn followed the little yellow pony at a leisurely jog, making sure to stay right behind her. They ran through the orchards, weaving through the many trees, his heavy footfalls making some ripe apples fall from their branches.
One even went ‘klunk!’ on his head as he went by. Not that he noticed, of course.
Soon enough, they made it to a very particular tree with a large ramp going up its trunk from the ground, leading to a tiny house that was held in its boughs. Applebloom quickly scrambled up the ramp's hoof-holds, but paused halfway through her ascent, looking back at Lug with a somewhat disappointed expression. “...Ah just realized, Lug, yew aren’t gonna be able t’fit up here…”
The little filly said morosely, expecting Lug to be disappointed as well. But The Ogryn merely quirked an eyebrow and looked down at the grass, his index finger and thumb holding his chin as he pondered what to do! Yes, that’s right folks, Lug was PONDERING! Intentionally this time! Using all his newfound brain power, he realized that if he just stacked a few layers of crates together, his face would fit perfectly in the treehouse window.
“I-Idea! I-I’ve got an idea!” Lug said in shock as all the little dots connected in his head. Even Applebloom’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. In the weeks she’s known Lug, never once has he presented an idea before, or even hinted at it. The big man normally just followed whatever orders he was given or tried to copy what Applebloom’s siblings did.
Glancing around wildly for crates, Lug let out a quick huff before turning on his heel and sprinting back to the farmhouse, leaving Applebloom still half-way up the ramp of the tree, calling out to him. Her words died on the wind as he stomped through the orchard, making even more apples fall from the trees. Lug was probably gonna get scolded for that, but this was no time to dwell on it! He had an idea, and he was determined to bring it to fruition.
He reached the barn in record time and practically tore open the entrance as he rushed inside to begin his search for crates. Lug barely had time to register Granny Smith’s presence as he rummaged around the barn for the large wooden boxes he required. The old pale green mare squinted at The Ogryn as he busied about, opening her mouth to speak.
“Big mac, Is that yew? What’re yew doin’ over there?” Granny smith asked, leaning forward to get a better look. Sometimes, the aged pony would mistake Lug for Big Macintosh, and would often mistake Big Mac for Lug. Applebloom always got a kick out of that. Lug quickly turned around to respond. “Jus’ me, Granny. Ah’m lookin’ for sum-”
“Crates? Yer lookin’ in th’wrong place, big colt. They’re over yonder in th’other side of th’barn, sugar.” Granny smith said, interrupting Lug mid sentence, pointing at a darker part of the barn with a creaky hoof. She then returned to sorting apples as the Ogryn made his way to the mentioned location. Low and behold, there they were! A bunch of crates containing who-knows-what, and they were perfect for what Lug had in mind.
The Ogryn loaded as many as he could onto the cart within the barn and began wheeling them out, picking up speed as he rushed back to the treehouse. The wheels of the cart were practically screaming at him as he plowed through the Orchard for the third time that afternoon, rushing past Applebloom, who apparently tried to meet Lug at the barn.
She groaned loudly as Lug sped past her and towards the Treehouse, which was now in sight of the Ogryn. Applebloom quickly tried to follow him as best as she could, but Lug outpaced her significantly. By the time she caught up, the behemoth of a man was unloading crates and stacking them side by side beside the treehouse.
“Lug, what in the hay are yew doin’?” Applebloom asked, a little irate at being left so out of the loop, and also left behind. Lug didn’t stop to look at her as he stacked crates, now reaching the second layer.
“I’m stackin’ these ‘ere crates so I can stick mah face in th’window!” The Ogryn stated excitedly, hoping that his idea was going to work out. He was positive that it would. After all, the crates were all he needed to be eye-level with the window of the treehouse. Before Applebloom could formulate a response, two very familiar voices spoke up behind her.
“Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said in unison, the yellow pony in question turning around to see her two best friends standing right behind her. It seemed that in the excitement of Lug putting to motion a plan, she didn’t notice their arrival!
“Uhm… What’s Lug doing, exactly?” Sweetie Belle asked, rubbing her chin with a hoof as she watched Lug stack crates. It looked like he was nearly done, too. But once again, before Applebloom could even respond, she was interrupted.
“Stacking crates, duh! What’s it look like?” Scootaloo said, poking Sweetie Belle in the chest before gesturing at Lug, who was now admiring his work. It was only 2 and a half stacks of crates slapped on top of each other as a sort of standing stool.
“Obviously, genius! What I’m wondering is why.” Sweetie Belle retorted, getting an understanding ‘oh.’ from the orange pegasus filly at her side. Applebloom cleared her throat to get their attention, holding a hoof up to her mouth before speaking.
“Girls, before ah explain what our big mutual friend is doin’ here, ah got summin' t'say.” the yellow filly said. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shared a glance before turning their attention back on Applebloom, awaiting her question. “Ah think we should make Lug a Cutie Mark Crusader. An’ before y’all make a fuss, jus’ think about how much he could help us! He’s big, he’s strong, an’ older ponies listen tah him!”
Applebloom quickly stated her case, her friends both giving her different looks. Scootaloo looked excited at the prospect, but Sweetie Belle seemed hesitant. “I mean, I’d be fine with that, but… I don’t think he can fit in the clubhouse, Applebloom.” The white filly said skeptically. Scootaloo’s expression fell a little with that revelation, but Applebloom simply shook her head.
“Lug’s got that handled. Y’see, he’s stackin’ them crates so he can stick his head inside th’window! He can attend meetings like that n’ everything!” She announced, gesturing to Lug as he was now tentatively testing his weight on the crates. Appearing satisfied, he stood up on the short standing stool he made, a big smile breaking out on his face as it held his weight, and he could fit his head inside the clubhouse window.
“Awh, sick!” Scootaloo said, fluttering her tiny wings with blinding speed and she raced towards the clubhouse. Applebloom giggled and chased after her friend, Sweetie Belle giving a little sigh that gave way to a wry smile before following.
When they were all in the Clubhouse, they met Lug at the window, their Cutie Mark Crusader capes donned. Applebloom sat right in front of The Ogryn, with Sweetie Belle to her right and Scootaloo to her left. The unicorn filly took out a lengthy scroll, cleared her throat, and began to read from it.
“We, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Lug the Ogryn to join us as a sis- brother, friend, con-fee-dante, ally, bosom buddy, gal- uh, pal, compadre, chum of chums…” She said, botching the pronunciation of ‘confidante’ and looked between the script and Lug as she reached ‘gal pal’, realizing that the ‘gal’ part didn’t really apply to him before continuing her reading.
Impatiently, Scootaloo cleared her throat and gave Sweetie Belle a look that said, ‘hurry it up!’. Sweetie Belle scrunched up her features in a cute show of indignation as she returned Scootaloo’s gaze. Lug chuckled quietly as he watched.
“Well, you wrote this!” she responded, which seemed to make a faint blush come to Scootaloo’s cheeks as she laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Oh, hehe, uh… Right.” The orange filly said, embarrassed. Clearing her throat once more, Sweetie belle started right back up again.
“Homegir- boy... Amigo... blah blah blah blah... Oh, yes, here! ...and fellow Cutie Mark Crusader! You are solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, friends, confidantes... bosom buddies... compadres…” Sweetie Belle read off, before being interrupted by Scootaloo once again.
“Congratulations!” She exclaimed, saving them all the trouble of having to sit and listen to Sweetie Belle read off the orange filly’s obviously flawed initiation rites. Scootaloo muttered under her breath soon thereafter, something about ‘revising that’. Lug was smiling that same goofy smile of his, his eyes alight with childlike joy.
“Wait! Ah got somethin’ for yew, Lug!” Applebloom said suddenly, standing up and rushing to one part of the clubhouse. She quickly came back with a big cylinder of red fabric, and let it roll out onto the clubhouse floor. It seemed to be a much bigger design of the cape all three fillies shared. “Ah figured Rarity wouldn’t mind makin’ yew a cape too, so… I went ahead an’ asked.”
Without waiting for a prompt, Sweetie Belle took the cape in her magic and tied the loose fabric around Lug’s neck in a neat bow. The cape hung down Lug’s shoulders and back perfectly, and the Ogryn let out a small gasp as he gave it an experimental touch. “A cape…!” he breathed reverently, his very own cape! Lug had always wanted a cape!
“Thank ye, lit’l friends! Thank ye so, so much!” The Ogryn said giddily, turning around on his standing stool and stepping down so he could try and get a better look at it. He struck various poses with the cape, trying to look like the Martyrs and Heroes of Imperium legend.
Finally, he simply let his fists rest on his waist as he looked off into a horizon only he could see, the wind billowing dramatically through his cape as he stood there, as if some higher power decided to humor him at that moment. The three fillies giggled at the sight of the overexcited Ogryn from behind the rails of the outer clubhouse.
At this moment, Lug felt special, and he made a silent vow to never take his cape off. He was going to dedicate himself to being the best Cutie Mark Crusader he could be.
And as his fellow crusaders gathered around him to throw up a cheer into the air, Lug was already looking forward to all the fun he was going to have.
