private Outcasts of the Everfree Forest

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay felt relief wash over her when Starshine replied.  He wasn't being mean after all!  Taking strength from his kind replies, she was able to steel herself to restore her prior level of translucency.  "You're still welcome to stay in my place," she said, "or we can go see Atlas' garden if you prefer," she said.

[Starshine 16,330]

 

 

"S-So w-we're g-going t-to S-Sunshine's p-place?"

 

Starshine almost chortled when Atlas mentioned Sunshine. Not that he would blame the giant for not being able to pronounce her name right, but that was a bit too close to his own name.

 

 

 

"You're still welcome to stay in my place," she said, "or we can go see Atlas' garden if you prefer," she said.

 

"Actually..." Starshine looked around the opening. He could barely feel it, but the lingering presence was still there. "I would rather not going too deep into the forest if there is a suitable place nearby. I'll go with your place." He turned to the giant. "Atlas, can you for today stay with us around Sunyatay's place? Maybe we can talk more about stuff." He smiled, hopeful.

[Gabriel Smith 53]

"I-I'll t-try." Atlas replied. It wasn't like he was deliberately avoiding or trying to insult the pair...though he did get the feeling Starshine was trying to push him away. Something about Starshine that didn't sit well. Regardless, he very carefully followed behind the pair as they walked back to Sunyatay's place, even having to tippy-toe (tippy-hoof?) it at points as he tried not to step on either of them.

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay put on her saddlebags and cloak, with her hood doffed this time.  It took most of her concentration to hold them in place, along with keeping the flower Atlas had given her tied into her mane.  The remainder of her brainpower ran around in circles trying to think of something to say.  Atlas hadn't answered her question about his interests, but she didn't want to pry.  And Starshine...  She could probably talk to him about magic, geometry, or science once he was rested.  But that common interest meant that he could subject her ideas--and Sunyatay herself--to informed scrutiny.  That frightened her more than the prospect of Atlas making a misstep.  He would probably step through her, rather than on her.  That wouldn't go so well for her books though, so she was careful to stay clear.  Suddenly, she had a thought.

 

What if scaling principles don't apply to him because he's existing in a bounded spacetime with a different metric?  Would his boundary squash me?  Or would I cross over into his metric...  Sunyatay pulled away from that train of thought, as it seemed headed for a rather strange rabbit hole.  If Starshine's "How did you get to be so big" made him uncomfortable, the questions that idea brought up would be an Atlas-sized faux pas to ask.

 

As they neared her shelter, it hit her: she was about to be a hostess for two ponies--and she hadn't had a chance to make any preparations whatsoever!  For now, Starshine looked like he just wanted someplace relatively comfortable to crash, so he would probably be OK, at least until the morning.  Accommodations for Atlas on the other hand...  She looked around, trying to find a clearing big enough for him to nest in without tearing out too many trees, and hopefully without any boulders in the way.  She'd been trying to avoid staring at him, trying to treat him like she would treat any other pony.  But that meant she hadn't really taken his measure with the kind of precision she felt she needed to try and suggest a comfortable place for him.  He might be able to lie down on the road, but then he'd be exposed.  She guessed he'd want more concealment.  

 

It still took some doing to summon the courage to speak, but it seemed to be getting easier with time.  "Goodnight Starshine.  As I said earlier, you're welcome to the fruit in my shelter if you want it.  Atlas...is there anything that you need?"  Not that I'll be able to do very much...but I've got to try, right?

[Starshine 16,330]

 

 

"I-I'll t-try." Atlas replied

 

Starshine smiled happily. "Thanks!" he exclaimed. Now he would have a huge protector for the night, even though Atlas himself looked concerned about something else. Could he sense the beast too? The group eventually arrived at Sunyatay's cottage.

 

 

 

"Goodnight Starshine. As I said earlier, you're welcome to the fruit in my shelter if you want it.

 

"Uh... Thanks, but I'm not that hungry. You can eat the fruits, I've had enough weeds today," he answered. Sunyatay looked a bit tired herself, but Starshine wasn't the one who would truly bother himself about others. He trotted briskly into the hut and yawned. "I think I'll get some shut-eye for now. Good night fellas!" he called out to Atlas and Sunyatay before taking off his saddlebag and curling up to sleep at the corner of the bed, leaving enough room should Sunyatay decided to share the bed with him. He was a hell lot smaller than she was.

[Gabriel Smith 53]

Starshine smiled happily. "Thanks!" he exclaimed. Now he would have a huge protector for the night, even though Atlas himself looked concerned about something else. Could he sense the beast too? The group eventually arrived at Sunyatay's cottage.

 

"Uh... Thanks, but I'm not that hungry. You can eat the fruits, I've had enough weeds today," he answered. Sunyatay looked a bit tired herself, but Starshine wasn't the one who would truly bother himself about others. He trotted briskly into the hut and yawned. "I think I'll get some shut-eye for now. Good night fellas!" he called out to Atlas and Sunyatay before taking off his saddlebag and curling up to sleep at the corner of the bed, leaving enough room should Sunyatay decided to share the bed with him. He was a hell lot smaller than she was.

 

 

Sunyatay put on her saddlebags and cloak, with her hood doffed this time.  It took most of her concentration to hold them in place, along with keeping the flower Atlas had given her tied into her mane.  The remainder of her brainpower ran around in circles trying to think of something to say.  Atlas hadn't answered her question about his interests, but she didn't want to pry.  And Starshine...  She could probably talk to him about magic, geometry, or science once he was rested.  But that common interest meant that he could subject her ideas--and Sunyatay herself--to informed scrutiny.  That frightened her more than the prospect of Atlas making a misstep.  He would probably step through her, rather than on her.  That wouldn't go so well for her books though, so she was careful to stay clear.  Suddenly, she had a thought.

 

What if scaling principles don't apply to him because he's existing in a bounded spacetime with a different metric?  Would his boundary squash me?  Or would I cross over into his metric...  Sunyatay pulled away from that train of thought, as it seemed headed for a rather strange rabbit hole.  If Starshine's "How did you get to be so big" made him uncomfortable, the questions that idea brought up would be an Atlas-sized faux pas to ask.

 

As they neared her shelter, it hit her: she was about to be a hostess for two ponies--and she hadn't had a chance to make any preparations whatsoever!  For now, Starshine looked like he just wanted someplace relatively comfortable to crash, so he would probably be OK, at least until the morning.  Accommodations for Atlas on the other hand...  She looked around, trying to find a clearing big enough for him to nest in without tearing out too many trees, and hopefully without any boulders in the way.  She'd been trying to avoid staring at him, trying to treat him like she would treat any other pony.  But that meant she hadn't really taken his measure with the kind of precision she felt she needed to try and suggest a comfortable place for him.  He might be able to lie down on the road, but then he'd be exposed.  She guessed he'd want more concealment.  

 

It still took some doing to summon the courage to speak, but it seemed to be getting easier with time.  "Goodnight Starshine.  As I said earlier, you're welcome to the fruit in my shelter if you want it.  Atlas...is there anything that you need?"  Not that I'll be able to do very much...but I've got to try, right?

 

Atlas calmly shook his head. "N-No, I-I'm f-fine...t-thank y-you, m-miss S-Sunshot.". With that, Atlas backed quite the distance away from the Cottage, before flopping over on his back and falling asleep...however, the pair had no idea that it was not going to be a sound sleep, least of all with a giant, PTSD induced Pony nearby.

 

(Not sure if I should have Atlas rolling around in his sleep now or next post, given Sunny and Starshine should be having their turn X3)

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay:

 

Sunyatay smiled, but held herself back from chuckling.  The last thing she wanted to do was make Atlas think she was laughing at him, even if the various ways he came up with to mispronounce her name were kinda funny.  He was...really sweet.  "Goodnight Atlas," she said softly.  He apparently found a suitable spot, since he threw himself onto his back with a rumbling thud, stretching his massive legs into the air.  With Starshine using her shelter, it suddenly occurred to Sunyatay that she didn't exactly have a place to sleep.  Starshine is small...so I could probably sleep in my cabin.  But he might want privacy.  I can sleep under the stars, like I did before I built it, she thought.  Picking a place next to her shelter, Sunyatay started using her horn to till up a patch of soil to make a soft nest.  She would phase partly through it, with the higher density of the packed soil beneath it holding her up, but the density gradient would make it more comfortable to sleep on. 

 

A flicker of motion above the trees caught her attention, and she looked up.  Somewhere in the night, she could hear the beat of leathery wings.

 

Nightshade:

 

With the twisting, shadow-wreathed forms of the trees of the Everfree Forest below her, stars and Moon above, Nightshade's green eyes sparkled with exultation.  Her bat wings clawed at the air, carrying her swiftly through a Night that was all her own.  Before her: Adventure!  The cool air hissed in and out of her lungs with each breath.  Never had she felt so free, so alive!  She soared over a towering black oak, then--

 

By the Crescent of Luna!  What is...that?  There was what looked like a stand of tall, thick, tree trunks--four of them, to be exact--swaying unnaturally as if blown by a mighty storm that affected only them.  Nightshade banked into a turn, then pulled up, trading speed for altitude so she could get a clear look, flapping her wings to hover.

 

Sunyatay:

 

A shadow silhouetted itself against the full moon, batlike wings and swirling long hair around the head and tail fluttering in the breeze like spectral flames cut from the night itself.  Slitted green eyes sparkled, looking down with an inscrutable alien gaze...

 

 

OOC: @@Gabriel Smith, "Sunshot" is a pretty good pony name...  Makes me think of a high-speed pegasus with a solar color scheme, or maybe a unicorn that specializes in "sun magic" light spells. I might have to use it one of these days, unless somepony beats me to it.  

[Gabriel Smith 53]

Unfortunately for everyone in proximity, Atlas was not exactly someone you wanted to sleep near. The colossal Pony thrashed and rolled around in his sleep as he lived out the same horrific nightmare each night, creating a raucous din for miles around and preventing anyone nearby from sleeping.

 

At least the Hut was not in danger of being flattened?

[Starshine 16,330]

 

 

. The colossal Pony thrashed and rolled around in his sleep as he lived out the same horrific nightmare each night

 

The tremor was enough to woke Starshine up from his sleep. "W-what the bloody hell? Is there an earthquake!?" The colt quickly scrambled off the bed and donned his saddlebag, he then galloped out of the hut. He looked around for Sunyatay's presence. Where did she go? Starshine watched in sheer terror as Atlas trashed about, his gigantic hooves threatening to flatten everything around him. He cursed under his breath. All this chaos would invite a lot of unwanted attention. "Sunyatay! Where are you?" They would have to evacuate any valuables from the hut before an unfortunate roll from Atlas would flatten the thing.

 

 

 

A shadow silhouetted itself against the full moon, batlike wings and swirling long hair around the head and tail fluttering in the breeze like spectral flames cut from the night itself. Slitted green eyes sparkled, looking down with an inscrutable alien gaze...

 

Starshine noticed the curiously shaped shadow on the ground and looked up at the moon. His eyes widened. Something was flying above them, its reptilian eyes bored to the ground. In his panic Starshine mistakenly concluded that it was a dragon whelp, not something one would want to see in the night. A full grown dragon would gave up if one found a perfect hiding spot, but younger dragons have a stronger resolve in hunting, especially when there was a huge prey such as Atlas. Starshine quickly galloped around the house until he found Sunyatay's buried form. "Quick, we'll have to get away from here. Take your books, I'll try to wake up Atlas."

 

Without waiting for a reply, Starshine galloped to Atlas head, evading his wildly swinging hooves. He jumped onto the giant's forehead and screamed, "Wake up, you big head! There's a dragon above us!"

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay:

 

A great tremor startled Sunyatay out of watching the creature above them.  Atlas was starting to thrash about violently.  "Atlas?  Are you alright?" she asked, but of course he couldn't hear her over the rumbles and crashes of his pony-made earthquake. 

 

 

 

"Sunyatay! Where are you?"

 

"I'm here.  Are you OK?"  Starshine found her and ran over.

 

 

 

"Quick, we'll have to get away from here. Take your books, I'll try to wake up Atlas."

   "OK!" Sunyatay said, using her telekinesis to throw on her saddlebags, then her cloak, then last but not least, she retrieved the flower Atlas had given to her.  She looked over at Atlas worriedly, then up at the flying creature.  Is it doing this to Atlas somehow?

 

Nightshade:

 

The "trees" were flailing around more violently, and with a better viewing angle she could now see that they were attached to a body, head, and tail.  At first it was difficult to make out shapes, but then...  Is that a Day Pony?  None of the histories say they are so--  Shouting below.  Nightshade turned her head, spotting a small cottage, and a smaller pony.  He ran around the cottage, shouting at...whom, she couldn't tell exactly.  If there was any response, Nightshade couldn't hear it.  Then he ran over to the giant and jumped on his head.

 

 

 

"Wake up, you big head! There's a dragon above us!"

 

"Dragon?  Vhere?" Nightshade said, looking around, ready to dive for cover.  Of course there was no dragon.  Oh.  Obviously nothing good could come from the colt panicking the titan unnecessarily.  She swooped down and came to a hover well out of the colt's striking distance, keeping a wary eye on the massive flailing legs.  They had a much longer reach.  "I am not a dragon!  You should get clear of him.  You are in danger!"   

[Gabriel Smith 53]

Atlas woke up startled. His body was covered in cold sweat, much to the misfortune of Starshine. He then rolled over in the opposite direction of where Starshine was standing, flattening a few idle trees in the process as he looked around in a dazed fashion.

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay:

 

"Starshine!" Sunyatay cried, reaching out for the colt with her telekinesis as he was flung away by Atlas' sudden movement.  With all of her power focused in Starshine, her cape, books, and flower dropped to the ground. Her grip was too weak, and not fast enough.  A dark blur swept into his path, catching him before he crashed into a tree.  The bat-winged creature set him down, then turned slitted emerald eyes on her.

 

Nightshade:

 

Nightshade was about to ask the colt if he was alright, when an eerie light caught her attention.  It came from the ghostly form of a unicorn, horn aglow.  Nightshade blinked in astonishment.  Nightshade had been taught spells for warding against, and pacification of, troubled ancestral spirits as part of her Apprenticeship, but never had she encountered such an intense, visible manifestation.  Fluttering in front of Starshine, she slashed her front hooves in the air.  As if striking sparks from flint, her hooves traced the lines of a glyph that briefly glowed with magical fire.

 

"Mert khesefet nesheniu nehemet uai eni aau," she intoned solemnly in the ancient sacred tongue of bat pony sorcery and ritual.

[Starshine 16,330]

Is this how I die?

 

The idle thought flashed in Starshine's mind. The crash momentum of Atlas' hooves had sent him flying over the treetop. Shocked, he could barely react when he reached the top of his trajectory. No, not like this. Not here. He quickly charged his horn to cast a magic, anything, to bring his hooves back to the ground. Before he could form a solid spell something swooped him out of the sky and set him down.

 

As soon as there was a solid ground below him, Starshine quickly scampered onto his hooves. His words were caught up in his throat when he took a good look on his savior. It was an... equine of some sort. Bat wings, sharper ears, and reptile-like eyes. Starshine stood there agape while the creature made some movements with its hooves. The hooves stroke a dreadfully visible leylines that briefly hung on the air, Starshine couldn't recognize what kind of magic was that but it didn't look friendly. He still needed Sunyatay for hell's sake!

 

Starshine galloped around and stood between the bat-winged pegasi and Sunyatay. "Whoa there, no need to do anything fancy." With a burst of his horn Starshine made a few airborne illusions of steel swords around him, coupled with a sound effect of glinting steel. He also lifted a rock from the forest floor, just in case the creature didn't buy his bluff. "I thank you for helping me back there, but it would be very appreciated if you don't flaunt your magic at others like that, whatever it does. What are you doing here?"

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Sunyatay:

 

Sunyatay watched the strange pony cast her spell, nervous but also curious.  Suddenly, Starshine placed himself protectively between her and the bat-winged pony, conjuring a set of whirling, flashing swords and lifting a heavy rock in preparation for battle.

 

Nightshade:

 

"It is...an apotropaic ward...to protect against spirit attack..." Nightshade stammered.  Nothing she'd heard or read about day ponies had ever led her to expect them to be so strange.  "I can dispel it if you like.  I do not want to fight you," she added, keeping a careful eye on the giant as well.  "I am here to explore, and to meet day ponies like you," she said in a fluid accent.*

 

OOC: *Her accent is similar to "Transylvanian," but with softer consonants and more tonality (like Chinese) to the vowels.

[Starshine 16,330]

 

 

"It is...an apotropaic ward...to protect against spirit attack..." Nightshade stammered. Nothing she'd heard or read about day ponies had ever led her to expect them to be so strange. "I can dispel it if you like. I do not want to fight you," she added, keeping a careful eye on the giant as well. "I am here to explore, and to meet day ponies like you," she said in a fluid accent.*

 

Starshine raised an eyebrow. The explanation didn't really sound all that believable, but the creature didn't seem to be lying. Instead, it looked nervous. With a sigh Starshine dispelled all of his illusions and put down the rock. He looked to Sunyatay. She indeed looked almost like a ghost from a distance. "Okay, look, I don't want to get in a fight either, but I seriously don't like seeing something bad done to my friend here," he said to the bat-winged pony. "She's not a ghost, or spirit, or whatever ethereal apparition you want to call her as. She's a living, breathing mare, she's just being translucent because there is a spell put on her. Dispel whatever you just made before I made you. And... What are you?" Starshine finally asked.