I'm just gonna get this out of the way now. NO. There will be no humanXpony sexual relations. That's just sick.
"Did we already look over there?" Asked the white filly.
"Where?"
"By that bush with the purple flowers on it." The two ponies turned their eyes towards a smashed bush, clearly the site of an earlier struggle. The blue unicorn filly, Petal drops rolled her eyes and smiled tolerantly at her spacy friend.
"You mean the bush you insisted I crawl through and run into a fox?"
"Umm... Yeah. That one" Lemon Brittle forced a smile. Petal Drops just raised an eyebrow and continued.
"And then get ATTACKED by the fox?"
The white filly looked sheepishly at the ground. She stole a glimpse at her friend. There was no overt anger, only some good-natured irritation. Lemon thought for a second. Finally:
"Sorry, Petal Drops...I didn't know that she had her pups in there. I really am sorry. But...I don't think we'll find 'em before the sun goes down!" At that, Lemon Brittle started to tear up.
Petal Drops sighed and shook her head. Honestly, her generosity got her into more situations than she cared to be in. At least this one was for a good cause. Petal put her hoof around Lemon Brittle and pulled her closer.
"I promise, I'll help you find those letter from your coltfriend. Have I ever left you hangin'?"
A single tear dripped off Lemon Brittle's nose. "No." Finally, she took her olive green eyes off the ground, and looked at her friend. She smiled forlornly. "No, you haven't."
"I wouldn't start now, either." Petal's feature's hardened into a determined grin. "Now, come on! Those papers aren't gonna find themselves!"
At that, a large grin appeared on Lemon's face. "Yeah!" The two fillies trotted further down the dirt road. Lemon glanced at the sun. "Oh...We don't have much longer!" she whined. "If we have to, I can light the way with my horn. We'll find 'em...Lemon? Lemon?" Petal Drops turned around. Lemon Brittle was staring at a hill. No, not a hill. There was something walking down the hill.
"What's that?" she gasped.
"I dunno, but it's coming this way."
XXX
"Well, they made me." Nicholas thought to himself.
"Alright, slow, steady pace. I don't need panicked mini-ponies bolting off this close to sundown. Especially not if I want to sleep indoors." He continued his slow trudge towards the two ponies. In spite of the dim light, he finally started to notice features...such as-
"What the fuck? Is that a horn?" Heaving a sigh at this latest revelation, he walked a final 10 yards to the ponies. Clearly, they were as amazed with him as he was with them. The white filly mercifully broke the silence. "Um...Hi!"
"Oh, they speak english. Miracles never cease." His mind laughed. He returned the greeting, smiling to offset the disbelief he felt in his mind.
"Hi, yourself. You got a name?"
"I'm Lemon Brittle, and this is my friend Petal Drops." Lemon gestured to the azure unicorn with her head. Petal Drops gave a quick, forced smile. "So..What's your name?"
"Nick. Nick Petrarch. And, uh. You're a unicorn...correct?"
Petal Drops face brightened at this. "Yeah! So, uh...What are you?"
"I'm what you call a 'human'. Heard of us?"
The two ponies shook their heads. "So, how do you know what we are, but we've never heard of a human?" Petal ventured.
Nicholas shrugged. "No clue."
An akward silence followed. Finally, after a long 10 seconds, Nicholas asked the first question towards his ultimate goal of shelter.
"You got anywhere to stay around here. Just for the night. I think it's gonna rain, and knowing my luck it will. So, an inn would be nice, y'know just somewhere to crash. Got anything that falls under that category?"
Lemon Brittle pointed down the trail heading away from the forest. Nicholas could just make out the silhouette of buildings from this distance. "That's Ponyville. I think somepony there might be able to help you out. I dunno why it would rain though. The pegasi have said it'll be sunny for the next 2 weeks" She smiled brightly at him.
Nicholas let the bit about pegasi go over his head. No point in getting wrapped up in things he didn't understand. "I think I'll play it safe. So, just walk down this road right?"
"You got any bits on you?" Asked Petal Drops. Always the logical one.
"Any what, now?"
"Bits. Money."
Nicholas inwardly cursed the damnable ponyworld for not appreciating the universal value of the almighty dollar. Outwardly, he kept up the facade.
"No...I guess not. We use different money where I'm from."
Petal Drops smiled cryptically. She had a plan. "Awww. That's too bad. You'd need some bits to rent a room." She raised an eyebrow in thought. "BUT! I think I have a plan. We're looking for something, and if you help us find it, there's a reward in it for you." The trap sprung shut.
The forced grin vanished like smoke in a gale from Nicholas' face. He looked at the still setting sun. 15 minutes at most until nightfall. His mind, ever predictable began to tick.
"They have money. I can take that money. Easily."
He finally decided to gather a bit more information before he acted; Nicolas spoke to Petal Drops.
"What're you looking for?"
Lemon Brittle broke her silence. "Some letters from my coltfriend. The wind blew 'em away, and we've been trying to find them for most of today." She gave a sad smile here. "We'd really appreciate some help. Please?"
"The sun'll be gone in the next 15 minutes, I promise. Why not wait until tomorrow?"
"Well, we've got 3 of the letters, we just need one more. If we find it now, we won't have to come this close to the forest again." Lemon Brittle said with some apprehension. Nick saw it, plain as day.
"Hold up. What's in the forest?"
"Monsters...and stuff..."
Ever helpful, these ponyfolk.
"Oh yeah, like what?"
"Manticores and cockatrices. Somepony also told me there's diamond dogs in there, too!"
Nicholas was becoming irritated at his lack of progress towards obtaining shelter. He thumbed the gun at his side. So easy. So fast. Something stopped him. Something that wasn't there before. He sighed.
"Tell ya what. I'll help. In return, you've gotta show me where this inn's at. I'm not about to go walk around a pony village without a guide. I got a gut feeling that would end badly."
"YAY!" Lemon Brittle jumped ecstatically. "Thanks so much! Come on! Hey Petal, use your light trick thingy!" At that, petal lit up a 5 foot area around the group. Nick raised an eyebrow.
"That's it?"
"What's it?"
"That's all the light we've got?"
Petal glared at the newcomer "I don't see you contributing anyting."
Nick laughed and reached into his pocket. A small black surefire. He pressed the button on the side. Instantly, the brilliant white light flooded the area in front of them. Turning back to Petal, he sneered.
"Get on my level, buttercup." Nicholas started forward with Lemon Brittle skipping happily behind him.
Petal Drops looked at the meager light around her sadly. Shown up yet again. The glow faded from her horn, and she trotted to catch up with the rest of her group.
XXX
"Are you gonna come with, or not?"
Lemon Brittle looked apprehensively at the forest. Creepy shadows seemed to leer at her, and trees seem to reach out their decrepit branches in a ghostly effort to snare them. Instinctively, she backed up. Nicholas scoffed in frustation.
"Look, I'm not doing this for me. So the least you could do is follow me into the forest and let me do my thing. It's common courtesy."
"I'll...I'll come. But can we please wait 'till Petal finishes checking out that rock cluster? You wouldn't just leave her here, would you?"
"You don't know me very well. It's risky to make those kinds of assumptions." Nicholas proclaimed with a sardonic grin.
The little filly's eyes widened at the revelation. "But you wouldn't, would you?" She adamantly begged.
"Not this time. Circumstances dictate what would- There. At the base of that tree by the cave. What's that?" Lemon Brittle glanced at the offending tree. A dawning of realization shot through her, and she galloped over to the tree.
"YOU FOUND IT! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! Petal Drops! Nicholas found it!" Her eyes sparkled as she pored over the letter.
Petal Drops came up from behind the human, giving him a smile as she passed. "Thank you. I don't know if it means much to you, but you've made Lemon so happy." Her promise flashed through her mind. "Here, I want you to have these. A promise is a promise." Her saddlebag lid flapped open, and a small bag tied with a string floated over towards Nicholas. He took it from middair and opened it, inspecting the coins inside.
"Cool, let's get out of here. This forest sucks." Nicholas turned around and started to walk back towards the dirt road. "Nick! Where's Lemon?" He glanced back at Petal, seeing her lavender eyes filled with worry. "I dunno. Maybe she already headed back." Petal vigorously shook her head. "NO! We came in together, she would have waited!" An anxious look crossed her face.
"The cave..."
"Yeah? You think she went in there?"
"Maybe, she's not the...brightest pony around."
"Wow. You're an awesome friend. I remember when I used to laugh at my friends shortcomings."
Petal trembled and a single tear splashed out of her eye. "STOP IT! How can you say that? Please, let's just go check it out! Please?"
Nick groaned and started towards the mouth of the cave. "You're coming with me. AND, this is gonna cost you extra. Gotta make a profit somehow."
"Yeah, ok, cool! Just please find her!"
The little filly and the black-hearted human began their descent into darkness. Nicholas had a flash of insight. Pulling his handgun out, he slid the small surefire along the rail until it settled against the trigger guard. He thumbed the pad on the side. The brilliant light illuminated the cave. Petal glanced at the black device in Nicholas' hand.
"What's that?"
"Insurance."
They made their way deeper into the confines of the cave, the smell of moisture and...something else in the air. Nicholas grew more and more irritated. His single 3-volt battery wouldn't last forever. Finally, he turned to the distraught filly.
"Hey, use your little horn trick."
She looked up at him with a hint of anger
"You said it wasn't very good."
"It's not, but this thing won't stay lit forever. And unless you're perfectly at home in complete blackness, you might want to do something."
Petal's horn began to glow. The same dull pink light began to glow around the duo. Nicholas thought for a minute.
"Project it forward."
"What's that mean?"
"Aim your light straight ahead so I can see straight ahead. Amazing, right?"
Petal blushed at the criticism. "I don't know if I can."
"Well, try at least."
The unicorn's eyes slid shut as she focused on the frail light. Slowly, the light began to form a rough cone in front of the group. Nicholas froze as the light fell upon a form in the blackness. Petal opened her eyes and looked, a smile on her face. "I did it." she sighed, satisfied.
"Yeah. You did."
She looked to her front. A gasp of horror escaped her mouth. A strange eyeless creature sat unmoving on a rock. Hairless and stick thin, the horror was perched on a rock, grinning a mouth of razor sharp teeth at the intruders. Petal froze with terror, the light on her horn beginning to fade.
"KEEP THAT GODDAMN LIGHT ON!" Nicholas screamed at the terrified pony. Petal jumped at the outburst, the light became brighter immediatly. Then vanished. But not before a sharp snap punctuated the dead silence of the cave. Nicholas thumbed the switch, and his surefire blinked to life. The top half of the abomination's skull was gone. Even with the suppressor, that fucker was done. Nicholas moved over to the wretched creature's body, and delivered a vicious kick to it's ribs. It didn't move.
"Stupid bitch."
"Wha-wha-wha...What did you do?"
I saved our fucking lives. No big deal or nothin'. There, behind that rock."
"LEMON BRITTLE!"
Petal dashed over to the still form of her friend. She shook the white filly tenaciously. Lemon Brittle rolled over and looked at her friend. Her eyes glazed, she whispered "Did you hear the music, too?" Nick's eyes widened.
"Oh-Kay. Nice way to infringe on several horror movies there, kiddo."
He grabbed the catatonic form of Lemon Brittle and threw her over his shoulder. He began to retrace his way back out. Petal trotted closely behind, begging her friend to hold on. Finally, the ethereal form of the moon shone ouside the mouth of the cave. As they exited, shelter returned to Nick's mind. And he was tired of playing games.
"Where's Horsehampton, or whatever the damn town's name was?"
Petal wiped her eyes with her hoof, and pointed at the road. "D-do you think they can help her?"
"Why're you askin' me? I've never been there. But, I'll tell you what. Since I'm a fucking gentleman, I'll take your little buddy here to the hospital or whatever your equivalent is. And then, I'm gonna go to the inn, and you're not gonna bother me until tomorrow. Got it?"
The blue filly tearfully nodded.
"Good, let's hurry. I'm tired."
