This is a non-profit fanfiction created for entertainment purposes only. This story is a continuation to Silence of Ponyville, which is a side story of Silent Ponyville and Silent Ponyville 2 by author jake-heritagu on deviantART. While it is highly suggested to read the previous stories before this one. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Silent Ponyville concept belongs to jake-heritagu. Please support both.
The Shop - Chapter 9 - Bones
When Knick opened his eyes he found the world around him was draped in the darkness of night, the air was crisp and it smelt of the outdoors. Knick almost panicked that he was somehow back in the city streets that he'd escaped from the last time he'd come through to the other world. However a quick assessment of his situation shed light onto things. Unlike the smooth and hard cobblestone streets from before Knick was now laying on what felt like soft grass. The sky was different now as well in that there was a full moon shining down on him but it was blank, just a white face without the Mare in the Moon upon it. That somehow made him feel sad. The sight of the moon without its inhabitant to watch over him seemed hollow and empty in comparison to its usual appearance.
He listened to the night and didn't here a single sound. Not even that of insects moving about through the forest. His watch was silent as well and Knick could only assume that he was safe for the moment. He hadn't been attacked once yet when first arriving in the other world and he hoped that would continue to hold true. Finally rising to his hooves he took a moment to figure out where he was, made more difficult by the lack of his lamp. Still he had the blank faced moon to provide him with some light.
Before him was a forest full of dense trees and thick foliage. He was sure he could see a light in the distance in the woods and assumed that was probably the direction he was supposed to go. There was enough openings through the trees that he should be able to make a path that direction if he chose. The tree line of the forest itself curved around a grassy clearing that he was currently standing in the middle of, stopping when it hit what looked like a dirt road.
Turning all the way around Knick realized that things weren't as simple looking as he thought. Directly behind him was a covered wagon that was parked on the dirt road. It was larger than he'd expect the average wagon to be and it even had its own larger than average escorts to pull it; two skeleton ponies.
It was unnerving but Knick wasn't afraid when he saw the large skeletons standing at the front of the wagon, hitched up and ready to pull. They didn't move or make a noise, simply standing in place like statues designed for some Nightmare Night haunted house or something. Opposite of the wagon and its deceased drivers was an even thicker line of trees that Knick was sure he couldn't even wedge himself through with how unnaturally close they were. There was the option of the dirt road leading opposite directions but it went off into pitch black darkness despite the light of the full moon. He assumed it was similar to the train yard's pitch black space beyond the tracks. The idea of going that way filled his heart with dread.
"Somethings wrong with you isn't it?" He'd felt like there was something off about the skeleton ponies the moment he saw them. Not twisted or evil but something not quite right (in addition to being fully standing skeletons). Knick looked them over and realized that they were missing pieces. The one that looked like the bones of a stallion was missing his entire right back leg. The one that looked like a mare was missing part of her front left leg. In size they probably stood as tall as the cyclops unicorn that had tried to murder him back in the old house. That's when it hit him. "You're not unicorns."
They were earth ponies like him. Their bodies didn't have a place for wing bones to attach and there was no spot for their horns to grow from their heads. It was oddly comforting to see something different from the normal collection of monsters that was trying to kill him. Even if they were dead. "Then again... the last dead body I found gave me help too." Back in the school house that pony had food in his lunch box that he was willing to trade for milk. "Guess I should put you guys back together again, huh?"
As Knick proceeded towards the woods another realization hit him. There was no sign of the hole in which he entered through. Normally he could find the hole that dropped him off into the other world but this time there wasn't one. Did he just appear here? Was it covered up somewhere after he came out of it? Did he just fall to earth from the blank faced moon? "Worry about it later." Yes, there were more important things to do.
Knick tread carefully through the woods, listening intently to the sounds of the forest (or lack there of). It was unsettling that things were so quiet and the last time it had been that way the dog monsters with the long claws had tried to encircle him. Would he be able to outmaneuver them in a place like this if it came to a fight?
"Give them back!" Knick heard a voice in the distance as he approached what appeared to be fire light in the woods and he suddenly dropped low to the forest floor like a cat hunting a mouse. Though it was out of worry of being prey more than sneaking up on whoever was talking. "Please, give it back to me. I can put them together. Please just let me have them back." Another ghostly voice in the distance from a pony that never responds to a thing he shouts. So instead Knick just listened to what it had to say, noting this time that it wasn't a filly's voice but a colt's. "...I'll put you back together. I promise. I love you."
Knick stayed on his stomach for a while before he realized nothing more would be said. Rising back up to his hooves and cursing the pain he felt in them he began to wonder what that episode of disembodied voices was all about. It was the first time he'd heard a voice other than that of a female. As Knick got closer the trees began to open up further like a recognizable path towards the fire light.
"What's all this then?" He should have been bothered by the morbid things he found but at this point his mind was making sure to keep him focused on solving the task at hand. There was a fire place indeed in a small camp but it was odd. For one the fire was burning what looked like book bindings and paper as opposed to dry branches. Next was the three logs all set around the fire, one of which had something very interesting to Knick. "Could I be so lucky?" Knick approached the log and put his hoof on a woodspony's ax.
Its blade looked rusted but still solid. The handle had a wrap to be gripped with by the mouth, which Knick figured from the weight of it would be the best bet of usage than trying to swing it around wildly with his tail. He almost smiled and laughed at the sheer luck of finding such a formidable weapon out here in the woods. Putting his hoof on the log he pulled hard with his mouth until the blade came loose and he was now armed again. It was a bit awkward to handle though unlike the bat or the pipe so to investigate further Knick lodged the ax into the ground where he could easily pull it out if he needed it.
"More treasure?" Knick walked past the fire and rummaged through what looked like old suit cases and bags. Most everything was beyond use to anypony but there was one clean item amongst the strewn about belongings. "A lamp?" Knick picked up the brass colored lamp and looked it over curiously. Why would such a thing be out here? Remembering an old story Knick once read he took his hoof to the lamp and rubbed it three times. To the amazing effect of... nothing happening. "Well that was stupid of me. Did I expect a genie to pop out?" Well... kinda with way this world worked.
Pulling the lid off the lamp Knick realized it was filled with oil like a lamp traditionally would be. It was meant to refill his lantern to keep the flame going. So much for that. That lead to some interesting thoughts though. "This is here for my lantern... I was supposed to have it still. I messed up back there." All this time he had worked under the assumption that some unseen hoof had been guiding him through these horrible worlds and puzzles. With the intent to make him solve them or kill him or maybe even both. But if this was still here then it was a predetermined thing for him to have for his lantern at this point. "If I'm supposed to still have my lantern can I solve the puzzles here?" Maybe, were there any other lanterns or clues about?
Knick began to search diligently through the old suitcases but there was nothing of use to pull out. "The wagon." That must be where all of this stuff came from. If he got back there Knick might find something else. Turning to pick up his weapon Knick looked past the ax and noticed something on a nearby tree that he hadn't seen before. It was a rope tied around a tree, which would have been unusual on its own except that the rope was also tied into a noose to keep something secure.
Walking past his weapon Knick ran his hoof over the rope, something about it seeming familiar. It was the first time he'd really felt anything that he could recognize as something he recognized from outside of this world but it was also bothering him. Like the sight of him was making him recall... something. Something bad. He couldn't put his hoof on it. The longer he looked at it though the angrier it made him. Like its existence was taunting him. "No." Knick turned and picked up his ax, then with a swing of his neck cut into the rope and the tree.
Even after it had snapped off from around the trunk and fell to the earth Knick still kept hacking at it. Something about it was wrong and evil; it shouldn't be. He had to destroy it. Picking up the pieces he threw them into the fire and watched as each bit of rope burned slowly. It wasn't until he finished his task that he realized his eyes were crying. His legs shook and buckled from the weight of his own unrecognizable emotions as he fell to his stomach and tried to blink the tears away. "What's wrong with me? I just want to go home. Just let me go home. Just give me back my house and my friends and Annie. Please... give them back."
Through his sobs his watch began to grind.
Knick snapped himself out of his depression and grabbed his ax in mouth, looking about himself to where the source of the threat would be. Sneaking through the trees? Coming in from the sky or branches? Maybe it was something horrible burrowing below this time? He circled the fire looking around for the source of the watch's increased warning until he realized what was coming and wished he didn't understand the level of the threat it posed.
Down the path, walking with heavy and uneven steps approached the giant dog creature. Its gigantic snout proceeding it as it came into view through the light of the fire. Knick nearly dropped the ax when he realized the unstoppable monster would be upon him soon. Where could he possibly hide from that thing? Trying to process what to do Knick looked on further as the beast lumbered by and realized it wasn't even looking his way. Something else was different about it too.
It wasn't the same beast. It was a similar kind of monster to the first but he could see details now by the fire light. Its body was smaller than the one in the old street, not as large as a wagon but still with the deformed figure of giant shoulders that wedged its head in between like a hulking, muscle bound abomination. Also there was what looked like a white shirt pulled tightly around the monsters torso that was stained red with blood (what else). Most interestingly though in the creature's jaws it held a large bone. Large enough to fit the leg of an oversize pony skeleton.
Knick needed that bone, he knew it deep inside himself. He had to get that bone but how? Even though it was smaller than the first beast that tried to devour him it was still big enough that a direct fight would result in him getting killed. Even with the increased fighting ability he had with a metal, bladed weapon. He needed to think it through further. Looking at his resources all he had was his nutrition drink, his candle which he really wanted to save for an emergency and his ax. Oh wait there was also the lamp filled with oil.
Knick Knack smiled the most wicked expression that had ever passed his features as he formed his first plan he ever devised to kill something.
Sinking the ax into the ground near by one of the denser collection of trees but still wide enough for him to slip through Knick returned to the camp site with the fire. The watch was getting slightly quieter as the dog beast passed and Knick realized it was patrolling. Perhaps those huge shoulders make it hard for the monster to look around itself and it somehow hadn't heard him, lucky enough. Pulling the lid off the oil filled lamp again Knick stood on the opposite side of the fire place from where the path was and waited. His watch grew louder and the hairs on his mane stood up.
The dog creature was coming back from the other direction. When it was in view from the fire place Knick gave out a whistle like he was calling over a pet. The creature shifted its shoulders his direction curiously and Knick stood his ground. "Here boy. Come on, over here." The creature began to breath harder as it realized prey was before it, opening its mouth to growl and dropping the bone to the ground. Perfect. "That's a good boy, come this way, Knick Knack has a treat for you." Despite his arrogant tone Knick was starting to doubt the intelligence of his plan.
The dog beast breathed heavily and before long was lunging Knick's direction. He didn't have long but the few seconds was all it took. Knick hurled the open lamp full of oil at the dog over the fire place and took off running. The oil splashed onto the dog's face, fur and unusual cloth shirt. It caught flames in seconds.
The monster whined and barked in pain as it was engulfed in fire. Knick wasted no time in finding trees to hide himself behind as the beast whipped its body around from the sheer pain assaulting its senses. The oil had done well in coating its face despite the long snout and jaws, the dog beast unable to see Knick Knack or even process where he had ran to. It slammed its body into several of the trees and surrounding objects, kicking over the logs by the fire and scraping its body against the ground in a desperate attempt to put the fire out. Knick worried for a second that he might have just started a forest fire but thankfully none of the trees seemed to light up.
As it pushed itself further into the dirt the attempts to struggle against the flame were proving futile. The monsters body shook, convulsed and eventually ceased moving altogether. Knick waited a while to be sure but when his watch stopped making noise he was positive that he'd succeeded. The dog beast was dead.
Picking up his ax Knick proceeded past the dog body and looked it over, still glowing with fire from the lamp oil around it. The lamp itself had landed directly in the fire and there was no going back for it. At least it had proven useful to him despite not being for the intended purpose. Walking out to the trail Knick sunk the ax into the dirt again and picked up the bone the dog had been carrying. Sure enough, it looked like it would match up with the skeleton back on the road with little issue. "Now if only the others are that easy." Hopefully he didn't misjudge the race of the two pulling that wagon and would end up having to go find every bone for Pegasus wings or something insane like that.
Knick was tempted to run back to the wagon now to see if the bone fit but he decided running back and forth all night in the woods would tire him out fast with the state of his front legs. So wedging the bone into the saddle bag Knick dutifully trotted further down the trail into the woods. There was really no where else to go.
The moon allowed for some light to peer through the leaves but not much. Knick would have been happier with his lantern to give him some sort of light source to see more clearly but that just wasn't an option anymore. There was the silver candle but he decided that like the nutrition drink he should save it for when he really needed it. As Knick delved deeper into the wood though the trees began to separate more over the path and Knick came to another clearing.
There were random rocks, some wooden stumps and little to no grass over the cold earth. Mostly though it was just open space that was illuminated by the moon light, a welcome change from the darkness of the woods. Knick walked further in and began to inspect the open space as he tried to make out what the point of it was. He began looking over one of the stumps to see if it had a hollow bottom when he heard the thumping against the earth and the sudden screech of his watch come to life. Then it struck.
Knick hit the earth and rolled over completely from the force of the impact, his ax falling from his mouth when he gasped after being hit. His watch was still blaring out sounds of danger and Knick tried to pick his head up to see what the source of his attack was.
Towering above him in the moon light was another of the red eyed, dog abominations. This was was different than the others though. It wore a bandana over one of its red eyes and Knick could see the outline of a shirt or what was more like a vest on its body. It wasn't as big as the other one from the cobblestone roads either but its arms were still huge and powerful. Furthermore this one stood up on its smaller back legs, hunched over like a bear. And it was staring directly at Knick.
He tried to rise to his hooves but the beast knocked him aside again with one of its large paws, Knick rolling over from the impact in a desperate attempt to try and avoid some of the force. Looking up he could see another very big difference was the snout and jaws were much smaller on this dog beast, and clasped tightly in that short muzzle was another bone. Knick was supposed to fight this thing to proceed?
When he tried to move again the dog beast lumbered forward and pressed one of its paws down onto Knick's torso, apply pressure directly to the wound that had barely scabbed over on his side from the cobblestone road. Knick tensed and writhed from the burning pain of his skin and the crushing weight of the monster. It sniffed the air as it leaned over him, opening its mouth to drop the bone to the dirt. It was going to eat him.
As it leaned in towards him Knick took a desperate shot with his hoof at the dog's blind side, striking it hard in the face. It let out a surprised roar and Knick pelted it in the face five more times before it finally backed up. Seemingly tired of its prey assaulting it repeatedly. Knick used this opportunity to make a desperate attempt at freedom.
The dog wasn't far away or dazed for long, so Knick forced himself past his body's pain tolerance to make a made leap for his ax. The monster watched him run for his weapon and it started after Knick as well. Running on its larger arms and paws forward like some sort of deranged gorilla. As his teeth clenched around the ax handle Knick turned only to have his body flipped onto his back and feel the mind numbing pain as fangs sunk into his bandaged leg.
The beast had him down, pinned and it was biting into his flesh. Panic struck through Knick's mind; if this creature bit or pulled his limbs off it was all over. He'd never survive without all four legs. As the pressure grew around his leg Knick swung his head in an arc and landed the ax blade firmly into the dog beasts neck. It let his leg go with a roar, but it did not die.
Using one bloody leg to try and hold the creature off from biting at his face Knick began desperately beating at the ax blade with his hoof. Striking it over and over again while shouting back in the face of the monster that was trying to chew his nose off. His bandaged leg grew weaker by the second, the dog was leaning in closer. Knick's other hoof beat harder and harder at the solid metal of the ax blades dull and thick base. It hurt his burned hoof but he didn't care. He didn't want to die. He had to survive.
As the strength began to fade from his front legs the dog slumped forward onto his body but it didn't bite into his flesh. Instead resting over him like a large, uncomfortable and smelly mattress. It was dead despite its best efforts to kill the orange earth pony. He'd fought two monsters and Knick had come out victorious.
Pushing against the large body of the monster Knick managed to roll it off of himself with all four legs working together. The heavy corpse rolled onto its back and Knick slowly got onto his feet. He hurt everywhere. His side, his legs and internally everything was a dull throb of pain. "Nu...trition... drink." He spoke the words as if they'd summon the bottle to him but it was more a command to himself. His head sorted through the bag until he found the bottle, pulling it out and setting it on the ground. Carefully he pulled out the cork and began to drink the medicinal liquid, tipping his head back to let it rush down his throat. He'd been parched as well from all the shouting. The bottle helped him in many ways.
Sitting in the field and staring at an empty bottle Knick tried to both process and block out the fact that he had been as close to death this time as he'd ever been. His escape of the cyclops unicorn made him feel lucky. His victory over the smaller dog beast made him cocky for a short while. This thing here should have by all rights over powered him and ended his life. The fact he was still breathing and it was not was a miracle.
In response to these thoughts Knick got up and pulled his ax from the neck of the great beast. Then began to cut into it with strikes. "I hate you!" He took out the ax again and cut into its flesh. "I hate you!" Again he ripped the blade from its spot in the monsters torso and Knick struck again with a splatter of blood. "I hate hate hate you!" He screamed and the dead monster's face, not that it reacted to him. Still the actions made him feel better somehow despite their pointlessness.
When his breathing had calmed a bit Knick walked over to the bone the beast had been guarding and picked it up in hoof. Two down, one more to go. And then what? Assemble those skeleton ponies back together and go forward with whatever madness was waiting for him after that? Maybe a giant dog monster the size of a dragon would erupt from the depths of the woods and try to eat him next? That's assuming he survived the next battle.
Looking forward Knick saw that there was a road leading out of this wide clearing. He realized that the clearing he was in was probably a field that served as a place for wagons to camp out at some point before this evil place had swallowed the forest up for its own purposes to torture ponies. The dirt road had trees on either side of it that served to keep its travelers on route and provide a canopy so the moonlight couldn't penetrate well into where it went.
Knick just knew the giant dog beast was down that road waiting for him. It would have the final bone, the final key to his escape. It would want to battle him and consume his flesh like the other beasts up to this point. The same monster that desperately tried to eat him back on the cobblestone road. It was hungry and ready for his approach.
"Enough with these bucking games." Knick growled. These woods wanted to play games? Fine. He had a game they could play together. Knick approached the dead dog beast, pulling out his ax and cutting into the monsters flesh with it again. This time however Knick had a purpose as he started to set up for his second plan ever designed for killing something.
In the depths of the woods, stalking the dirt road that lead through the trees inside the forest was the huge dog abomination. Its jaws long and its teeth jagged, its eyes glowing red dots deeply set in the absurdly large shoulders on either side of its head. The monster stalked up and down the road, the bone of an oversize pony leg in its mouth as it walked. It patrolled and it waited for its prey to come down the road towards it.
The beast tensed and stilled when light suddenly appeared on the road. It was the bright light of a flame and it moved in jagged, rapid motions. After spotting the movement the dog beast ran on all fours in the direction of the light and stopped suddenly when it came to the source; a burning piece of tree branch.
The burning wood laid on the dirt road abandoned and the monster looked at it with its red eyes as if it couldn't make sense of it. But it did make sense of what was directly after it; meat. The beast lumbered forward and opened its jaws, managing to hold onto the pony bony in its mouth and scoop up the freshly cut meat into its jaws with its tongue. The dog beast swallowed the food that had been left out for it and sniffed the ground. There was more.
Lumbering forward the monstrous abomination found a trail of meat slabs, each one freshly cut and every so often another burning piece of tree branch to provide a small amount of light for the road. Each time the monster found meat it sniffed the road and proceeded further, being rewarded with more to consume. Walking forward the beast was eventually lead by the trail to the old clearing that used to be a camp ground and a delicious sight waiting for it.
There was a bigger batch of burning branches now, much like a fire place that ponies would use when camping in the woods. Next to that fire was a pile of cut meat. It was raw and bloodied mostly, with a few cooked slaps resting on the top of the pile. The monster lumbered forward eagerly and panted, dropping the bone from its mouth as it did. Stopping before the pile of fresh food it began to chomp and chew it down with abandon, filling its hungry maw. It didn't hear the sound near by of a pony grunting quietly as it worked its torn muscles as hard as it could to spring its trap. It didn't notice until it was too late that the tree closest to the pile of meat had been cut into repeatedly with an ax till it was about to bend and fall. However it did hear the snapping of wood, and felt the crushing sensation at the tree trunk fell hard onto its body.
The powerful muscles of the beast tried to lift the tree trunk off but it was very large. Knick had gone to some trouble to be sure and find the biggest tree he could use for this trap as well as still be able to cut through the trunk with his ax. Thankfully he hadn't passed out from the effort of putting all of this together. When the monster was trapped Knick Knack climbed onto the trunk and walked along it until he was over top the beast.
He smiled, he couldn't help it. This thing that would have over powered and eaten him was at his mercy. Something about that was liberating. That life and death was no longer out of his hooves but within his control. As such he exercised this power and chose death for the monster. Dropping his ax between the dogs eyes with a mighty swing. It roared, stilled, and stopped moving altogether. Knick Knack had won his battle.
Pulling the ax out of the dog's head with a savage ripping motion he got off the log and retrieved his prize in the form of the bone. Securing it in his bag for himself Knick Knack walked back through the trail of the woods. He was tired, his leg was bloody and freshly wounded and his body was still in pain from the beating he'd taken and the hard labor he'd performed in setting his trap. Still that all paled in comparison to the rush he got over his victory. The sensation of winning a fight against an opponent and choosing whether they lived or died was intoxicating. It made him both excited and afraid with how much he enjoyed it.
Arriving at the dirt road with the wagon again Knick went straight to task and approached the skeleton ponies. They seemed the same as he'd left them and he was thankful for that at least. The less surprises the better. Pulling out the bones Knick found that it was actually really easy to figure out where they went. Oddly enough the bones stuck right into place when he placed them onto the bodies.
Three leg bones later the two earth pony skeletons were complete. Knick took a step back from his work and looked them over waiting for something to happen. "... so... you guys are welcome I guess?" Nothing. "Was there something I missed? I mean I thought I put everything back on right?" He looked over the skeleton figures but didn't see anything wrong. Suddenly his attention was brought upward as he felt something wet hit his head. Several things actually.
Looking up Knick could see that storm clouds were starting to come into the sky, nearly blocking out the moon that was providing light to him in this dark world. As they gathered the clouds bellowed with the sound of thunder and soon after rain started pouring onto the dirt road and three pony figures on it. Then the skeletons began to move.
Their jaws opened up like they were taking their first breath in eons, their bodies shaking as their joints learned to move again. Soon the skeletons began to pull and move forward, leaving a soaking wet Knick Knack to watch in awe. As the skeletons pulled their wagon there was the sound of something hitting the wet dirt and Knick walked back to see what had fallen out of the wagon.
"A record?" Strangely enough there was a record laying on the road. It must have fallen out of the wagon, along side it another silver candle. Knick gathered these things up in his bag recognizing that they were most likely meant for him. Looking forward he also saw that the bottom of the wagon had hidden another surprise; a hole. The exit out of this world.
"Thank you!" Knick called out to the only friendly things he'd met in the world thus far. Perhaps they didn't have any intent to actually do something kind for him but their actions had helped him gain one step closer to getting out of this nightmare. "One more book, and hopefully this will be over." Knick prepared himself to drop into the hole.
"MARK!" Knick's body froze in place as he heard a mare's voice scream out in terror suddenly. He looked up to see that the wagon had stopped moving down the road just before the void of darkness. "Mark, Mark no!" The mare continued to scream and Knick felt the urge to run over and see what had happened to his skeleton friends when suddenly the wagon and its drivers exploded in a ball of light and flame. Knick shielded his eyes from the sudden flash and slowly looked up when it had ended.
At the end of the road where the wagon used to be was the cyclops unicorn. Its face was still covered by the flat mask that shielded its appearance, its horn sticking through it like a nail puncturing through something's flesh. That huge green eye staring down at Knick as it walked towards him. Each step seemed to cause electric veins to flash through its legs and up to its chest and neck. Each step echoing like the thunder in the clouds above. Knick watched horrified as it came his way and he was too afraid to do anything about it.
The hole was directly in front of him, in the ground no less. All he had to do was jump forward and he could escape down it and away from this monster. If he just leaned himself forward over the edge and tumbled into the tunnel he could leave these awful woods behind. Yet his legs refused to respond and his mind declined to let him form a plan of escape. All he could think of was that any sort of movement at all would get him killed in a flash just like the skeleton ponies.
The cyclops unicorn stood on the opposite side of the hole, looking down at Knick as if it were peering into his soul. It swung its tail and trails of smoke or ink seemed to flow off of its body as it moved. Knick's legs held him up for as long as he could before he couldn't stand it anymore. The stress had finally gotten to him and Knick felt his grasp on the world weaken as his mind retreated. He fainted and his body fell into the dark. He couldn't be strong anymore.