Are you ready for a fun adventure? Good here we go!
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with
Prodd was bored off his ass once more, and so he was found shooting the target... again. He still hasn’t gotten that bullseye, but hey, one day right? “Goddamnit...” He sighed under his breath, barely missing the center of the target. Prodd was just about to take another shot when he heard a pony approaching him.
“Hey Prodd, I’ve been trying for a while too, and ya know,” Lightning Runner trotted into his view, “,lets make this a bit of a game, first one to get a bullseye gets bragging rights”
“...H-how do you know my na-” Prodd said before being interrupted by a unicorn passing by.
Wood Chip was humming a little tune, several jugs of “bad” swamp whisky clinking on his back. He noticed the oddest sight: two militiaponies standing around over a target, but neither had weapons. “Er, hello there.”
“Oh hey...” Lightning began, unsure of his name “What’s your name again?”
Prodd hovers around in the background and retrieves his crossbow, paying no attention to the newcomers.
Wood Chip looks at the stallion picking up a crossbow intently, and turns to the blue pony closer to him. “Oh, my name’s Wood Chip. What’s your’s. Sorry, I don’t think we have talked much.”
“It’s fine, Name’s Lightning Runner” Lightning replied “Just a question... where are you taking that Swamp Whiskey?”
Wood Chip chuckles lightly. “Oh,this? This didn’t pass SmoothBlocks, heh, taste tests. I was going to move it away from the central food stockpile to the emergency one. Why do you ask? Want to try?”
“Sure, might as well. Sweet Potato tells me to cut loose more and what better way than having a drink with a new acquaintance”
Prodd goes back to shooting the target, ignoring everything around him.
Wood Chip uses his magic to set a bottle of the brew on a stump for Lightning, but cranes his neck to the odd pony shooting at the target. “Is he...alright? He looks kind of dazed. Sure he’s good with that crossbow?”
“Last time I saw him, he was fine... so I don’t know, want me to check with him real quick?”
“I don’t have a problem...” Prodd mumbles. He shoots, and hits an inch below the center. He doesn’t say anything else.
Wood Chip leans his head over near Lightning. “He looks like he has a problem.”
Prodd reloads the crossbow and prepares to fire again.
“If you’re that worried, I’ll go check” Lightning turned towards Prodd “Hey, Wood Chip here thinks you have a bit of a problem, not saying that you do of course” Lightning said, trying to be as tactful as possible.
Wood Chip gulps.
Prodd lowers the weapon and turns to face Lightning. He rolls his visible eye and goes back to shooting.
Lightning turned back to Wood Chip “I think he’s just trying to get a bullseye or whatever, now where were we” Lightning picked up his bottle with his wing
Wood Chip was mildly surprised at Lightning's ability to pick up things with his feathers, but he shrugged it off. “Fair enough.” He looks at the stallion for a few moments, and shrugged. “You know, I am not usually the sort who would ask this, but I personally think the stuff I am carrying is fine enough. Want to have a hit at it before it gets sent away to some dusty corner in this place?”
“Sure, let’s be sure not to drink it all, we don’t need someone chewing us out about this”
Prodd clears his throat. “...Shouldn’t we store that away... in case of emergencies or something?”
“I don’t think we would be in a bad enough emergency where we would drink booze instead of water”
Wood Chip shrugged. “Well, we could, but this is just the results of her hobby. It an’t really fort property.”
“...Whatever” Prodd mutters, firing his last shot before going to retreive more ammo.
“Come on, cut loose a bit” Lightning said, quickly galloping to his side
Wood Chip steadily trots over to a little out of the way building that was once built for holding seeds when the settlement was first started. “Well, let’s do it in the shade, anyway, Swamp Whisky is bad hot.”
“...Am I being dragged into this?” Prodd asks.
“Depends” Lightning answers... sort of
Wood Chip just keeps moving to the little place at near the outskirts of the fort, and gently opens the door on it. Three rows of benches, a few spare seed barrels, a little hatch that held a little cool room with a few wines, and nothing else. The perfect little break room. “Come on in, this is where it’s ending up anyway.”
“Oh yay, we don’t even have to explain why some of its missing” Lightning sat on a bench “You sure you don’t wanna drag Prodd in here?” Lightning asked, implying Wood knew who Prodd was
“...Sorry, who’s dragging whom in?” Prodd asks, walking into the little shack.
Wood Chip looks at the grumpy stallion wearly, but nevertheless levitates the stack of bottles on the middle bench. “Suppose you are both marksponies, right?”
“Yes, and?” Lightning asks “You want tips? There are these notches on the crossbow and you estimate the distance from you and your tar-” Lightning said before being cut off
Prodd glares at the pegasus mid-sentence.
Wood Chip stared at the two for a moment, and without turning levitated three decent bottles and uncorked their caps. “Well, I would like to think I know my way with an
axe, friend, but thank you. Actually, I am the head of the militia, not like it means much around here.”
“Oh, didn’t know I was talking to the head of the Militia, its an honor... even if the job mostly is pushing papers” Lightning joked
Wood Chip just snorted slightly, and raised his glass closer to his side. “It’s not even that, really. There’s no real organization involved, and Temperance, gods bless his soul, never did much ordering around. I am only the head because I
asked.”
Prodd stays silent.
“Prodd, Badger got your tongue?”
Wood Chip started to become concerned. “You okay, mate? Need to say something?”
Prodd looks between the two ponies and levitates a bottle whiskey in front of him. He rolls his visible eye at the two.
“Fine, don’t say anything”
Wood Chip gives the two military ponies a long, low look, and drained half his bottle without even tilting his head.
Prodd takes a small sip of the brew, still looking between the two.
Lightning takes a sip out of his bottle “Wow... this is a bit stronger than I thought it would be”
Wood Chip grinned widely. “Yeah, that’s my mare’s style. Most skilled brewer in the fort, I would imagine.”
Prodd takes a slightly bigger sip after hearing that.
“Sooo... want to tell stories about... things” Lightning suggested
Wood Chip grins slightly. “Why not? It’s not like anyone brought cards or anything.” Wood Chip. slightly embarrassed, coughed slightly and took a long sip from his bottle.
“I would have brought some if I had some warning... though I thought cards was more of a unicorn’s game?” Lightning said, taking another sip from his bottle
Wood Chips face became alert, and smiled like a scholar caught in the middle of preparing a lecture. “Actually, that’s funny you said that. I alway’s heard that the Zebras played it first, and they got it from a Minotaur or something like that. Something with claws, like a dragon anyway.” He took about another bottle, snickering slightly at the mental image of a group of dragons playing cards over a vast hoard.
Prodd finishes off his bottle and grabs another without saying anything.
“How would a Zebra play cards anyway, some voodoo magic or something?” Lightning asks, finishing off his bottle, quickly grabbing another with his wing
“Hooves.” Wood Chip said sagely. “I still wonder how Earth Ponies shoot crossbows with them.”
“Probably some mental willing or some other Earth pony magic” Lightning shrugged “That or they are just like that”
Wood Chip attempts, futily. to pick up a bottle with a forehoof. “You know, I think anypony can do it if they're not actually trying to. Like, how you cannot see plants grow but they still do.”
“Yeah... The only reason I don’t use my hooves is because I trained my wings enough to be able to pick things up... you’d be surprised how many years I spent just learning to move it in any direction other than up and down” Lightning took a sip of his drink
Prodd looks down to notice he’s holding his bottle between his forelegs. He quickly levitates it back to the table with his magic, hopefully before anypony notices.
Wood Chip looks at Lightning, smiles softly, and the entire massive stack of bottles levitate in the air and each individual one begins to do it’s own little arial dance. However, after a few moments, he quickly stacks the bottles up where they were before. “I like to think that I am good with m..magic myself.” He thens set’s himself on a drink from the second bottle of the night.
“I’m surprised this isn’t served all the time... this is really good” Lightning takes a longer sip, finished off his second bottle “Wow... two bottles already out of... enough” Lightning gets another bottle
Prodd nods in agreement with Lightning and grabs a third bottle of whiskey.
“Just hope I’m not wasted and do something I’ll regret later” Lightning takes a sip of his drink
Wood Chip chugs down the whole of his second bottle and quickly brings over another one.
“What can I say, SmoothBlock has a really nice hobby. Actually...” he grins slightly. “You both look like fine, upstanding young lads. Got a special somepony yet? I mean, military and all.”
Prodd looks up slightly. “...It’s... it’s complicated...” He almost whispers. He takes a rather large swig of his drink.
“I do, Sweet Potato, one of the farmers. Funny thing you ask, she said she’s expecting soon” Lightning says “And Prodd, it’s fine it’s a private conversation we’re having.. not like anypony’s spying on us”
Wood Chip laughs. “Well, congrad-ul-lations, Lightning! Now, as for me, my little Smoothie happens to be the mare in my life. You know, we were on the original seven pony team to get this place settled. Our first meeting was quite the adventure.” Wood Chip did not belive that embelishing the truth was bad when it made for good talk.
“The first seven? Wow, you don’t even look like you’ve been here more than a year.” Lightning took a swig of his drink.
“I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not. I turned forty last fall, and if anything I feel better than ever. I think it’s the herbs the zebras bring in. SmoothBlock’s the same way. You would think a thick little mare who drinks and smokes like it’s going out of style would look older than she is, but if anything Dusk has done good for us.”
Prodd sips quietly in the background, listening intently on the conversation.
“You do know the Zebras grow more than medicinal herbs and sell them... right?” LIghtning asked, taking a sip of his drink.
Wood Chip frowns a little at what the stallion says, but shakes his head. “No, not eat, drink. SmoothBlock has some old family secrets when it comes to brewing her drinks, and she’s interested in the stuff the zebras bring in a lot. Actually, I am utterly sure that some are magical in the usual sense, Lightning.”
“Oooh, I apologize, its just that I have heard rumors and assume they are true as I don’t think anypony has been to where the Zebra’s farm there crops so... yeah, its just a rumor.” Lightning said, stumbling over his words near the end.
Wood Chip moved on to his fourth drink and nodded at him. “Actually, the zebras almost never farm. Best herbalists on the planet, though. A few from the southern coastal cities used to live in my...old...” Wood Chips face hardened.
“Damn, need to work on my zebra history better...” Lightning took a sip of his drink, almost immediately afterwards, began feeling a bit tipsy
“Where did you come from, before coming to live here Prodd?” Wood Chip said, eyes suddenly blazing and face twisted into a little frown.
Prodd stops mid-sip. “I... I lived a little ways away from Coupledye, living off the land...” He answered.
“You didn’t live in a town?” Lightning asked, finishing off the bottle
“Nope...” Prodd replied.
Wood Chip waved a hoof in front of him oddly, and looked at Lightning as if he was a interesting painting. “What about you, kid?”
“I come from a city, ‘bout the size of Coupledye... I don’t like to discuss exactly what I did, but I did meet Sweet Potato there and spent a couple weeks in training at the local military camp before coming here” Lightning took another bottle, and took a sip from it “I don’t remember the last time I drank this much... now I wish I did this more often..”
Wood Chip just hovered over another bottle and popped it’s top off. “That’s nice, I guess. You know, it’s funny. I spent a really long time trying to get away from my home, but it just keeps coming up to me. It was a small village, a nice little place. Produced wines, you see. But you know what? What’s really funny? Do you want to know the last time I saw another pony from my village?”
Prodd nods while taking another sip.
“Sure why not, whats the harm”
“He tried to sneak in and nearly murdered Cream Puff. His name was Stoneback. Good stallion. Used to be, anyway. Entire village went like...Maize on one of her bad days, as you could understand it. Stayed that way. I was trying to harvest some trees, came back to the village cooking some zebras on a spit and my babysitter gobbling on my little sis.” He began to drink from the bottle and didn’t stop until it was empty.
“WHAT?! Your village ate a
zebra a freaking zebra! Your village went Fubar real quick...” Lightning took a sip of his drink.
“ I guess it did. But you know what’s funny? The day...the d...day before, a big red cloud of dust came up from the south. Like the ones that pass through every so often.”
“You think they have some relation...” Lightning’s eyes darted back and forth “If so... If we get whatevered by them... do you think that would happen to us...”
Prodd looks nervously at the other unicorn.
Wood Chip stared angrily at the bottle he had, and did not look up from his reflection. “I know it will. Maize should have had her neck sliced open when she first went into one of her little ‘shocks’, and the priest...Sanctuary is dead. Perhaps it could be moved by infected food and such, plants tainted by chaotic evil. Just...please remember that some....” Wood Chip loses track on what he was saying, and just let’s the bottle roll on the floor.
“Oh Amug... the alchohol is getting to me...” Lightning mumbles, waving his hoof infront of him, his vision blurring a little.
Wood Chip looks at Prodd, almost angrily. “Why were you a hermit? Father a bandit? Mother had one too many and decided to leave one for the crows?”
Prodd glares at Wood Chip for a moment. “...I think I was an only foal... my parents... they passed away when I was little or something... I lived on the streets for a few months and was sent to an orphanage... I grew up eventually and decided to live outside the city limits... ” Prodd explained.
“Did the orphanage treat ya good?” Lightning asked
“I’d assume so... I came out okay...” Prodd answered. “I don’t think I made many friends though...”
“Well, now that you’re here, you’ll make more friends than you ever had” Lightning said
Wood Chip began to ignore the conversation between the other two stallions and just stared intently at one of the bottles, mumbling slightly.
Shuda...got her....first heard...little clean cut..slice when she was ‘leep. Before Pret...foal...she left...clean cut.“So Prodd, ya feel like talking about your special somepony now that the badger gave you tongue back” Lightning chuckled
Prodd glances at Wood Chip for a moment then looks back at Lightning. “Uh... well... I don’t want to say much... she’s stubborn though, and pretty fierce if angered... but... she seems... distant. Not just from me though...”
“She live in a different city? You should send her a letter with the next caravan from Coupledye telling her to stop by here, I’d love to meet her” Lightning said, taking a sip from his bottle
“...I didn’t say that...” Prodd mumbles. He looks back to Wood Chip.
Wood Chip barely lifts his head from it’s low position, glazed eyes resembling that of a cow. “Love hardly...matters around here if you don’t show it...Pr...Prodd. Who’s the mare. Or stallion. We are a accep-pting bunch here.”
Prodd thinks for a moment. “She... she already lives here... and... she doesn’t want to be found.” He says while quickly taking another drink.
“She lives here? What’s the lucky mare’s name?” Lightning asked
Wood Chip cuts in. “Now, Lightning, what if the lucky colt’s friend isn’t a mare, or even a pony?” He stares at the ceiling for a few moments before shrugging and looking at Prodd expectingly.
Prodd glares at Wood Chip for the umpteenth time. “She’s a mare... and I-I already said too much...” He spits out the last few words.
Wood Chip grins, somewhat nastily. “Now, hold on there. You can’t just say something like that in front of the leader of the militia and not expect to tell the whole story. I won’t tell anypony else if it-ts not a big deal, but you need to tell me before I get, you know, curious and all. Flamberge...el, you know what he would do to subordinates who dunn’a tell the whole truth.”
“W-wood... I don’t think Prodd w-would feel comfortable sharing t-that information if it means that much” Lightning took another sip of his drink.
Prodd starts glaring at Wood Chip again and remains silent while finishing his fourth drink.
Wood Chip’s faux smile quickly fades into something foul. “I am not kidding, Prodd. I am NOT kidding ri...right now! As captain of the militia, I have the complete authority to make
citizen's arrests. You know what those are, Prodd? Not one has been made in Duskfield yet, but that could change right NOW if you do not simply tell me a simple little piece of information.”
Prodd continues to glare. “...You’re implying I even know her *HIC* name!” He hiccups mid-sentence in his slightly drunken speech.
“You *HIC* just said she lived here... y-you don’t have a marefriend and not know her name” Lightning asks, very confused at the information he has just received.
Wood Chip leans back on his bench, and hovers a hoof over the bottle he put on the ground earlier. He just watch’s Prodd intently.
Prodd notices Wood move a hoof under the table. “You *HIC* you know what I love ‘bout her? You *HIC* you... jackasses, couldn’ find her ‘ere no matter how hard you *HIC* tried!” He slurs out, looking at his discarded crossbow on the floor beside him.
“‘Course we couldn’t find ‘er*HIC*... unless we decided to ask*HIC*everyone around here” Lightning says.
Prodd slurs, “HAH! You’d *HIC* you’d ask all the wrong ponies!” He laughs like a drunken moron for a few moments and smirks.
Wood Chip smiles slightly, and levitates three corked bottles of swamp whisky into the air, a few feet or so above Prodd. With a sound like an internal explosion, all three bottles transform into clouds of glass shards and foul liquid...and mash together into a whirling red-tinted whirlwind above the stallion, not a single drop spilled. The little pieces clinked and sloshed around each other threateningly. “Lightning, you are a decent stallion, right? Was Prodd resisting arrest?” Wood Chip said mildly.
“No *HIC* if he was resisting *HIC* He would already be on the ground” Lightning grins
Prodd stealthily and drunkenly levitates his crossbow underneath the table and aims it in the general direction of the other unicorn.
“Lightning, Sweet Potato is a nice lass, right? She’s probably still tired right now. Wouldn’t it be terrible if she had to suffer through a scandel like, oh, her husband and a associate having a midnight mare to ride that nopony even know’s lives in this fort? I have to ask again, is Prodd resisting arrest?”
Lightning grins, obviously drunk “Who do*HIC*you have in mind?” He asks before turning towards Prodd “Thought I heard somethin’.. must’ve been my head...”
Prodd glares between the two ponies, he’s planning something. The crossbow remains tucked away under the table.
Wood Chip groans suddenly, and the swirling orb of sharp death is flung to the far side of the wall. Unceremoniously, he falls backwards over his bench without so much as a grunt.
“*HIC*W-we should... put the rest away...*HIC*Being yelled at wouldn’t be my*HIC*idea of a good time...” Lightning suggests
Prodd gently lowers the crossbow to the floor. He silently nods in agreement with Lightning.
Wood Chip simply curls into a fetal position, eyes wide like a deer, talking lowly to himself and pawing at the floor slightly.
“Though... It couldn’t hurt to have one more round...” Lightning grabs one last bottle with his wing
Prodd looks at Wood Chip on the ground and then looks back to Lightning. He shakes his head and picks up his crossbow.
Wood Chip still lies there, talking to himself.
“Come on... Wood *HIC* one more round?” Lightning got off the bench, stumbled around before getting his balance on a wall
Prodd gestures to the door. He slings his crossbow on his back and lifts Wood Chips onto his shoulder and makes for the exit. After stumbling around he gestures for Lightning to follow.
Lightning got his crossbow, clumsily putting it on his back, following Prodd to wherever they were going.
Wood Chip still talked to himself, and if anyone bothered they could tell he was scared half to death.
Prodd looks up to see the moon directly above him. The night was still somewhat young but dark enough to hinder vision. He carries the mumbling unicorn over to the well and lets him go for a swim, ready to levitate the unicorn out just in case.
Wood Chip opens his mouth, and tastes blood. He half-heartedly beats against the pool around him only to find he is in a nightmarish hole where bones were used for mortar. He whimpers slightly and begins to pray for any god, anything, in the bottom of his heart.
Prodd lifts Wood out of the water, waits a second, then dunks him back in and repeats this process. He chuckles to himself.
Lightning chuckled also, trying to keep himself from waking anypony from their sleeps, Amug knows how grumpy anypony could be if they didn’t get their sleep.
Wood Chip tries to scream, but only let’s out a choked gurgle when he see’s his old crush pull him out of the blood pool, laughing at his expense as she brushes of the lifeblood he was soaked in. He closes his eyes, hoping for the nightmare to end.
Prodd looks at the scared unicorn when he comes out. He considers taking him out and stopping... but then he dunks him again.
“H-hey P-prodd... Ya think we should*HIC*pull ‘im out?” LIghtning asked
Wood Chip could not respond to Lightning, still screaming.
Prodd hears Lightning and finally pulls Wood Chip out and lays him on the ground beside the well. He gestures for Lightning to come over.
“Yes?” Lightning trotted up to Prodd
Wood Chip looks at the sight of his sister and his former crush come close together, nearly touching, bodies slick with lifeblood. He watches in horror as the older mare gestures slyly to the younger one, and becomes crushed when his sister all but slinks over to her.
Prodd points to Wood’s face and chuckles. He shakes Wood a bit to wake him up.
Lightning chuckles also before shaking Wood too “What if he doesn’t*HIC* wake up?”
Wood Chip keeps his eyes closed and tries to still his breathing, in hope that he will not be forced to continue watching the blasphemy playing out before him.
Lightning gets the bright idea of getting some water “I-I’ll be right back...” Lightning galloped drunkenly to the bucket stockpile and grabbed a bucket in his mouth. He galloped back and got some water from the well into the bucket, as best as he could being drunk and all, and poured it on Wood Chip’s head “I t-think he should be up soon...”
Wood Chip’s mouth was still open slightly, so he sprung forward in shock, finding that pints of cold, slippery blood simply rained from the sky onto his head. Turning around, shaking in fright and gagging on the coppery liquid, he finds his little sister standing nearby, the handle of a filthy, rusted bucket overflowing with the dark red liquid in her mouth. Sea Breeze just looked at him and licked the front of a hoof slowly, as if to mock him for his inability to do anything but stand and cry.
“Wood... Let’s get home, we don’t need anypony finding us*HIC* out this late, with you passed out on the ground” Lightning said, confused at his shocked look on his face
Prodd taps Lightning on the shoulder and does a drunken impression of a dying badger pony.
Wood Chip watch’s in utter disbeliving shock as Sea Breeze begins to rub on his sister’s withers, elicting a array of terribly pleased sounds from both.
Prodd rolls around on the ground pretending to be stabbed in the kidney and makes gurgling sounds.
Lightning drunkedly laughs at Prodds display.
Wood Chip looks at the ongoing scene of sanity-blasting horror going on between his sister and her murderer, and his body, mercifully, locked up and promplty became dead to the world.
Prodd stops mid-writhe and points at Wood with a shocked look on his face.
“*HIC*Let’s just... take him h-home...” Lightning tries to pick up Wood, but is unable to “You get ‘im”
Prodd shrugs and stumbles over. He tries to flip Wood over onto his front to get better leverage.
Lightning grabs onto Wood “On 3.. 1... 2...” Lightning begins to lift “3”
Wood Chip, while seemingly passed out, was not in fact dead to the world. He could still feel what was happening around him. More importantly, he could feel that he was being lifted off the ground by the two mares. His mind, somewhat out of focus, could only process that his sister was still alive.
Prodd shakes a bit under Wood Chip’s squirming and murmuring. He gives Lightning a questioning glance.
“Sh-should we take him to Case tomorrow?” Lightning asks
Wood Chip merely hears the two ponies carrying him chitter and giggle in a bastardized version of the common tongue, and moans drunkenly for mercy from any god in hearing range.
Prodd gives a questioning glance to Lightning again after hearing faint moaning from the barely conscious unicorn.
“Should I go get somepony?” Lightning asks, looking at Prodd “I don’t*HIC* think we need any, but... if we have to”
Wood Chip suddenly all but cries out the first audiable words he has made in the last few minutes. “Gods...don’t let....dear....sister....knife...oh, kill me first....”
“Wood? You alright*HIC* This is the first time you’ve said something in a while...” Lightning asks
“Sister...stop...she will....oh Nirmek...”
“Sister? Who are you talking about? It’s me Lightning... the Markspony*HIC* You shared a few brews with” Lightning motioned for Prodd to set Wood Chip down.
Prodd drops Wood Chip down, curiously staring at the raving unicorn
“Don’t..die...again...run...sister...don’t...oh Amug! Avel! Nirmek! Anyone....please....my little...don’t let her...die...” Wood Chip all but cries out, words somewhat muffled by the bloody taste in his mouth and the tears running down his face.
“Wood, its LIghtning not*HIC*Your sister... Its okay, me and Prodd are trying to help you” Lightning was annoyed, oblivious that Wood Chip wasn’t hearing what he was saying.
Prodd steps back away from Wood and observes from a distance.
Wood Chips curled himself into a tight ball in an attempt to somehow get the droning voice of the mockery of his sibling out of his head. Quiet, now, he puts both of his hooves over his forhead in a interlocking position snuggly and attempts to ignore the outside world entirely until he wakes up.
Lightning opened his mouth to say something before being interupted by a voice that didn’t belong to anyone in the group of three
“Lightning*sigh* What are you doing out here... I thought you and the Militia were doing late night drills, but from what it looks like, your were out drinking” Sweet Potato said, annoyed beyond belief.
“I-I-I can explain...” Lightning said, stumbling over his words
Prodd slinks into the shadows.
Wood Chip off-handedly chokes out something muffled, but involved the phrases “Murder” and “Don’t die, little sister “.
“And you went and got somepony drunk out of their mind*sigh*I thought we left Fruitholds to get away from this” Sweet Potato nagged
“B-But... I don’t t-think he’s drunk though...” Lightning said, looking to the ground
“Blood...so much...why.....” Wood Chip whispered loudly, begining to shake slightly.
“Wood, get up... we have to get you to bed and I have to get home” Lightning said
“Wood is it? Come on get up... I’ll get case in the morning and we can fix whatever is wrong” Sweet Potato said, shifting emotions from angry to cheery
Wood Chip actually got up on all fours, only to sit up on his back legs and stare at nothing. “Please...dont...my little...she’s...can be....gods why....”
Prodd watches what’s unfolding from a convenient bush while trying not to laugh.
Sweet Potato put a hoof on Wood Chip’s shoulder(?) “What happened to your sister...” Sweet Potato asked
Wood Chip might have been lucid or not, but neverless he responded to her in a way, monotone and emotionless. “Why...why...why not...she was so...that...b...monster of a..mare...she wasn’t even...the bitch ate you alive....don’t die again...don’t let her trick you....!”
Prodd is on the verge of laughing himself to the point of tears.
“Oh my... this is serious...” Sweet Potato said, sounding very worried “We need to get you home immediately”
Wood Chip flinchs slightly at the sound of Sea Breeze laughing at him, but continues to mumble. “Temp.....Maiz.....Smooth...block, I am so...sor..sorry...for this...don’t...”
Prodd suddenly blows his cover and lets loose drunken laughter from the nearby bush.
Sweet Potato gives glare that would make a cockatrice run “You sir, are being very rude... this stallion is having traumatic flashbacks and you are laughing? Have you no shame!”
Prodd’s laughing is interrupted when he vomits all over the ground. “...S-s-sorry” He drunkenly coughs out.
“That’s better” Sweet Potato said
Wood Chip all but whimpers at the sound of his tormenter, and completely lays his head on the ground, covering his ears with his hooves as he struggles out some hasty prayers for mercy for the ponies in the fort.
“Come on Wood, I’ll help you home” Sweet Potato said, smiling faintly.
“D-do...do not...Sm-moothBlock...she’s...to..wouldn’t...under...wouldn’t...get..pl-please Avel...”
“Smoothblock? Avel? Who are you talking about sweetie?” Sweet Potato said
“Sweet Potato... leave this to me...” Lightning says
“No, you caused this and you barely look like you can stand up straight!” Sweet Potato barked
Prodd salutes Sweet Potato and hauls Wood Chip onto his back.
“Lightning, head back to the house, I’ll get to you later” Sweet Potato turned back to Wood Chip and Prodd “Let’s go, We can talk to him when we get home”
“Yes Ma’am!” Prodd says, he still sounds drunk and a trail of vomit is visible at the corner of his mouth.
“Wood honey, we’ll talk about what’s got you down when we get to your house” Sweet Potato said “You, I assume you were at his house, so you should be able to show me there” Sweet Potato said to Prodd
Prodd shrugs and carries Wood Chip as he walks over to the shack they drank at previously.
Wood Chip said little else,only flinching when he felt the rough hooves of Sea Breeze pick him up roughly.
“Get him onto a bench, don’t put him down harder than you need to, he doesn’t need anymore stress than he is already in” Sweet Potato said
Prodd approaches carefully, but unfortunately tripped and took a header into the wall while Wood Chip collapsed remarkably onto the bench like intended. “...ow” Prodd winced.
“For the love of Amug...” Sweet Potato put a hoof on her forehead “Atleast he landed on a bench”
Prodd shrugs to nopony in particular and starts hugging his thankfully unloaded crossbow.
Wood Chip moans, not out of pain, but of shear worthlessness.
“No, no its all okay Wood” Sweet Potato trotted over to Wood Chip and put her hoof on his shoulder “Just let your worries come out, don’t hesitate to tell”
Prodd starts snoring in the background.
Sweet Potato shoots a glance at Prodd
Wood Chip’s ear’s become assaulted with the sound of knives sharpening against each other, but still responds to the vague presence nearby, in a way. “ Why did it...it might..no..must have..followed..couldn’t but...Maize! She...herald...cloud...Cheerfulgrins...Duskfields...why would I be so impo...not really important...never really....I am not worth...”
“Now now, everypony is important, no matter what they do” Sweet Potato put her hoof on Wood’s chin “And if you don’t feel important, then we can change that by you trying something else you might be good at, regardless of its relevance at the time”
Prodd’s snoring gets louder for a moment then fades softly.
Wood Chip does not react to Sweet Potato’s kind actions, and jerks slightly when he hears a knife sink deep into something soft.“She devil...she...doesn’t matter what...can’t...couldn’t...dear sister...demon...all of them...attacking...” Wood Chip wheezes slightly, not out of thirst but out of tiredness. Against all odds, covered in blood and barely able to react to the world around him, he feels sleepy.
“No one matters more than friends and family Wood... No matter who did what and when... you can’t just toss someone away unless they truly did something evil” Sweet Potato smiled, hoping to snap Wood out of his melancholy
Wood Chip, if anything, became more audible. “Don’t...tell...Tem...Tempera....Flamberge...oh Laltur, how will...not Smoothblock.”
“Don’t tell Temperance what?” Sweet Potato asked, moving her head closer, if only to hear what he was saying better
“Not...Smoothblock..she doesn’t...need to get involved. Not...my little...Smoothie.” Wood Chip said, perhaps the first time in the night where he sounded somewhat contented.
“Smoothblock doesn’t need to get involved? Involved in what?” Sweet Potato tilted her head.
Wood Chip’s voice took a turn to the indigent. “Not...in....this...trouble....I...I want...her...we...she needs....my mare...she deserves to be...happy.”
“What trouble?” Sweet Potato said, slightly annoyed, but still keeping her smile.
Wood Chip’s voice took a darker tone, as if another, larger thing was using his mouth to speak through.
“....This...place...is...it...it was all...rigged...from...the...it’s already....here.”“Wha- Rigged from the start? Already here... what’s here?” Sweet Potato asked, losing her smile at the sudden change in pitch
Wood Chip raised his head up, and opened his eyes. Two pools of red ichor with little red pin pricks were revealed to the world.
“The true lords of the realm.”Prodd’s snoring stops in the background.
Sweet Potato forced herself to not throw up at this sight. “Who is this!” She asked, backing up, giving a stern look at... the thing inhabiting Wood Chip.
Wood Chip merely looked at the mare quizzically, and tilts his head to the side. Little inky trails of blackness begin to bleed down his face from his eye sockets.
“I am not Wood Chips, mare. However, I am also not many ponies. I am simply claiming what is mine. This land is my kin’s, however, just like the land that Wood Chip claimed was my kins. This world is my kin’s, and they craft the most exquisit of punishments. However, I have some mercy. I have no desire to kill those who are ignorant of their crime of existence, and my people enjoy the ability to make ourselves known. You will live today, mare, as well as little Wood Chip here. However, you will not remember this, nor will he. However, once my own race becomes free from their distractions and games in, say, a decades time, you will either become our servant or die.”The sound of a crossbow being loaded is faintly heard.
“You... can’t wipe memories! That’s magic even the most skill unicorns couldn’t perform...” Sweet Potato backed up “Even... if you can... Why would I want to be your servant... I don’t even know who you are!”
The ichor fully flees from Wood Chip’s eye sockets, leaving two untouched orbs, and forms a sickly little serpentine shape topped with two red pinpricks that stands oddly on the bench, several little splayed limbs shifting and shuddering to support it’s shifting and shuddering weight. A crown of wormlike horns forms on what might be a head, and several pairs of limbs of varying size form on random parts of its body.
“I am no unicorn, child. To compare my magic to one is to compare a drop of water to the oceans themselves. And while my true name would cause you to crumble to dust, you may learn to fear the name Penumbra, and I suppose Spite and Ravage as well.”With a little snapping sound, the figure seemingly boils into cold, magical darkness that fills the room.
“What the... Why am I so dizzy...” Sweet Potato collapsed from some unknown force.
Prodd quickly exits the room and waits for the smog to dissipate, his wits have come back to him.
Wood Chip lies there, unmoving. He snores gently.
Sweet Potato soon regained her senses “Uhg... h-how did I get here...” She got up “Why am I out here... I should be home...”
Prodd re-enters the room after the smoke dissipated. “...Hey... your husband is back home, don’t worry... the guard made sure you were safe...” He says.
“Why would I need a guard to keep me safe! Just because I am expecting doesn’t make me any less capable of bucking a pony in the muzzle” Sweet Potato said, feeling insulted
“...It was your husbands request... he’s doing some important work...” Prodd says. “You should go on home...”
“What was so important he had me sent all the way over here?” She asks
“...Crosshair needed some... input on a few strategic locations around the fort...” Prodd lies, “Like sections of the walls and rooftops...”
Feeling satisfied, Sweet Potato heads home while Prodd waves her off. “Man I’m smooth when I’m drunk...” He muses. Prodd checks to see if Wood Chip is still breathing and upon confirming this promptly passes out next to him after a long night of drinking. Tomorrow was going to be a lot of fun...
Wood Chip, perhaps by divine will, slips onto the floor, and stays in a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Author
Topic: Duskfields (My Little Fortress) (Read 48539 times)