Pony Crossing: New Leaf

Chapters

Chapter 1: Welcome to Ponyville
Chapter 2: Residency
Chapter 3: Dawn of a New Day
Chapter 4: Approval Ratings
Chapter 5: Animal Forest to Everfree Forest
Chapter 6: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 1
Chapter 7: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 2
Chapter 8: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 3
Chapter 9: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 4

Chapter 1: Welcome to Ponyville

“I can’t wait!”

“How much longer now?”

“Oh! Oh! The train’s pulling in!”

“Everypony in position?”

The entire population of Ponyville was currently gathered around the train station, waiting for one particular pony to step off the now-stopping train. Miss Mare had recently retired as the town’s mayor, and today was the day the new mayor would be arriving.

Near the front of the crowd was a mint-green unicorn pony, hopping in place excitedly. While the rest of the town was just waiting to meet their new mayor, she had been given the job of being the mayor’s assistant and secretary, and she couldn’t wait to get started. It felt like the train took hours to finally slow to a stop and the door to open.

A few ponies trickled out, having either arrived back from a trip or coming in to visit the town. They all seemed a little confused, and upon reaching the crowd, turned to look back at the train. Finally, the last one on the train came out, and everypony in the crowd went silent.

For one thing, this last one wasn’t a pony. It resembled more of a cross between a monkey and a diamond dog; it stood on two legs and had two arms, and wore clothes that covered most of its body. A few members of the crowd recognized it as being a ‘human’; beings that were rarely, if ever, remembered or even considered real by the public.

This particular human had a pink tie-dye t-shirt on, along with a pair of dark gray shorts and green shoes. Its brown hair was a little messy, but not to the point of resembling a bird’s nest. Its entire appearance was topped off with a simple smile on its face, which quickly turned into a look of confusion when it looked around at the equine crowd.

Finally, the mint-green unicorn stepped forward. “M-Mister Chuck, correct?” Her voice shook nervously. She never would’ve thought she’d get the chance to meet a real human!

The human looked to her when its - or, as it seemed, his - name was mentioned, and he nodded. The unicorn, after taking a deep breath to steady herself, extended a hoof.

“I’m Lyra...Lyra Heartstrings. I’m your assistant.”

Chuck, as his name must have been, grasped her hoof in a simple yet firm hand-hoofshake. He tilted his head in confusion when she mentioned being his assistant, and the ponies in the crowd could almost swear they saw a question mark literally appear over his head.

Lyra didn’t seem to notice Chuck’s confusion, as she turned to the crowd of ponies. “Fillies and gentlecolts, please give it up for our new mayor, Chuck!” She started to stomp the ground with her forelegs in applause. After a small hesitation, the rest of the crowd joined in, gradually getting into it more and more.

As this happened, the human receiving the applause appeared more and more perplexed. He finally managed to get Lyra’s attention by tapping her on the shoulder.

“Who’s this mayor?” he asked. It was the first time the ponies had heard his voice. It sounded rather young; like that of a school-aged colt, perhaps a little older. The ponies were unsure if that was just how humans normally sounded, or if this Chuck person was in fact barely in double digits; they had no idea how humans looked according to age.

Lyra tilted her head, then broke into a grin and laughed. “Oh, come on! Quit joking around. You know who you are! You told us which train you’d be arriving on.”

Chuck shook his head. “That wasn’t me!”

The unicorn shook her own head. “Nuh-uh, you can’t fool me. Everything’s as you said it would be. It’s all fine.” She giggled. “You’re such a jokester, you know?”

“W-Wait...” The human seemed to practically be begging now, but Lyra was having none of it.

“Let’s continue this discussion at the town hall, alright? We need to get you settled in.” From her saddlebags, the unicorn levitated a moderately large piece of parchment. “Here’s a map of Ponyville for you, Mayor Chuck. It should help you find your way around. Head on down to the town hall as soon as you can, okay?”

Seeming to give up, Chuck sighed and took the map, glancing at it before tucking it away into his pocket. How he managed to fit it in without folding or crumpling it, nopony knew, but they decided to think of it as ‘human magic’.

Feeling ecstatic, Lyra took off for the town hall, knowing Chuck would be joining her shortly. The rest of the ponies began splitting off, either going home or continuing to run errands around town. Not a single one of them noticed Chuck look over the scene, sigh, and facepalm.

Thanks to the map, it didn’t take Chuck very long to find his way to the town hall. He occasionally bumped into other ponies along the way, who surprisingly didn’t give him a wide berth like he would have expected them to do for someone of a completely different species. In fact, a couple of them were willing to chat with him if they weren’t already busy with something else.

After getting acquainted with a fair amount of ponies, Chuck reached the town hall. He opened the door and walked inside, seeing Lyra using her unicorn magic to sort through stacks of papers at the front desk. She looked up as he entered and smiled.

“Oh, hello Chuck! Good to see you found your way here without getting lost.” She giggled, and Chuck couldn’t help but laugh a bit himself. “Anyway, we should probably get right down to it. You’ll need to start your work right away, of course.”

The unicorn flicked through the stacks of papers some more before pulling out a few sheets of paper and looking over them. As she did, Chuck entertained himself by looking around the room. It was smaller than one would expect given the size of the building from the outside, but then again, this was only the first room. The rest of the building was likely used for other things.

“First things first. We should complete your resident registration,” Lyra finally spoke, breaking Chuck out of his thoughts. She levitated a quill, dipped it in a jar of ink, and hovered it over the paper. “So, first...what’s your name?”

Chuck raised an eyebrow at her, and she suddenly blushed. “Oh...r-right. Chuck...sorry.” She scribbled that down and quickly moved on. “A-And...your address?”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

“...Mayor Chuck...do you have a place to live yet?” she finally asked, slowly. The human sheepishly shrugged, and Lyra sighed. “We’ll have to find you a vacant house, then...hopefully that won’t be too hard.”

She began looking through some more papers, only to scrunch up her face in annoyance. “Really? Not a single house in Ponyville is vacant? How...oh, never mind.” She sighed and took a breath to calm down, trying to hide her annoyance.

“Alright...well, there’s a real-estate office right on Mane Street. If you just head down there, you...can...” She trailed off when she noticed Chuck laughing. “...what? What’s so funny? Was it something I said?”

Chapter 2: Residency

“Are you sure that this is about where you want your house?”

Chuck nodded, gesturing to the mostly open space. He had found a spot that wasn’t too far from the town hall, but also close enough to the various stores and other houses that he could easily stop by places to pick things up or chat with the ponies without going too far out of his way.

“Hmm...there seems to be plenty of space to build a house here. We’ll need to move a few trees, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem.” The real-estate agent nodded. “Alright! This shouldn’t take long at all. It should be done by tomorrow morning.”

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. He was afraid the process would have taken much longer, but apparently the inhabitants of this town were rather skilled in speedy construction.

“Now, of course you must have other things to worry about, so don’t worry about the bill for now. Stop by my place some other time, and we’ll talk about it.” The agent turned around. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Iron Will has to get to work!”

With that, the giant minotaur walked off, leaving Chuck by himself in his reserved space.

“Did you get your home situation sorted out, Mayor Chuck?” Lyra asked as the human came back to the town hall. He nodded, and she smiled in relief. “Oh, good. Mr. Iron Will can be a little...intimidating. I think it comes from his old job as a motivational speaker...”

Realizing she was starting to get off topic, the unicorn cleared her throat and tried to refocus. “So, um...your house should be done by tomorrow, though I’m not sure about where you can stay for tonight...”

Chuck shrugged. He wasn’t sure either, but he didn’t want to worry about it just yet. It was still early in the day. Worst case scenario, he could see about borrowing money for a hotel room.

“Hopefully that’s something you can figure out. But please let me know if you need help, okay?” She smiled. “There’s just one last thing you need to fill out for the registration...when’s your birthday?”

Chuck reached for the quill and paper, which Lyra levitated over to him. Using the writing implement, he wrote “March 21” on the designated line before passing the quill and paper back to his secretary.

“Alright then...that wraps up just about everything!” she happily proclaimed. “All of us are looking forward to the changes that you’ll make to our town, Mayor Chuck.”

The new mayor just nodded, deciding to go along with it. He still wasn’t sure why he was the mayor all of a sudden, but things were going smoothly as they were, so he decided to just roll with it.

“You can go ahead and relax for the rest of the day,” Lyra told him. “I’m just going to finish up some other work here. Why don’t you go explore a bit? Maybe introduce yourself to some of the other ponies around town?”

Chuck smiled, nodding again. He waved goodbye and was just walking out the door when he nearly bumped into a gray pegasus mare with blonde hair.

“Oh! Sorry, sir!” she apologized, quickly stepping to the side to let him pass. Her eyes, which seemed to stare in completely different directions, both briefly settled on him and she gasped. “Are you the new mayor?”

Chuck nodded, and the pegasus smiled before holding out her hoof. “Nice to meet you! My name’s Ditzy Doo, but a lot of ponies call me Derpy. I’m the mailmare in Ponyville.” The human grasped her hoof and shook it, smiling warmly. “Oh! I think I have a letter for you, too...”

Ditzy reached into her mail-saddlebags and took out a white envelope, which Chuck took from her. “I better get back to work now. See you later, Mayor!” With that, the mailmare walked into the town hall, likely to speak with Lyra. Chuck began to walk down the street while opening and reading his newly obtained letter.

Dear Chuck,

Congrats on your newfound mayorhood! To be honest, I was supposed to become the mayor, but one thing led to another...and now it’s all up to you! I’m rooting for you!

- Keep it a secret!

Chuck raised an eyebrow before putting the letter away in his pocket. He wasn’t sure what to think, and soon decided to just not think about it at all.

“Welcome to Quills & Sofas, may I be of...” the pony said as he turned around, only to trail off. “Oh! Mayor Chuck! I...I didn’t expect you to drop by here so soon!” He smiled. “My name is Davenport. Welcome to my little shop! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Chuck smiled back and looked around the store, seeming a little confused. “Ah, you’re probably wondering about the name...I used to only sell quills and sofas, but apparently ponies don’t like a store that only sells two things. So I’ve been trying to increase my stock lately.” He gestured to the varied, if few, items he had on display. “I hope everything is to your liking, Mayor.”

“I want to sell,” Chuck said.

“Sell? Certainly! What is it you wanted to sell?”

The mayor reached into his pockets and pulled out a few baskets of apples. He had come across a large field of apple trees during his walk around town, and decided it was as good a place as any to start earning some money. He shook the fruit off the trees, filled his pockets, and asked for directions from a few ponies to wherever he could sell them.

Davenport looked over the baskets, silently wondering how the human had been able to carry them all. “Hmm...for all that, I can give you a hundred and thirty bits. Is that alright?”

Chuck nodded, and they made the exchange. Davenport put the apples to the side, planning to take care of them later. The human, meanwhile, looked around the store for a little while. Using his newly acquired currency, he purchased a shovel and a fishing rod, both of which he stashed away in his seemingly endless pockets.

“Thank you! Come again!” Davenport called as Chuck left the store. Once he was gone, the pony turned to the apples. “Now, where to put these...where did he even get so many apples from?”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at the strangely bare trees in her fields. “Who in the hay swiped mah apples?!”

Chapter 3: Dawn of a New Day

“Twilight, you okay over there?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing beside her friend on the ground. Even from the sky, she could see the confused look on the unicorn’s face.

“Huh? Oh, hey there Rainbow.” The librarian was more focused on a large rock jutting up from the ground. “...do you see anything off about this rock?”

The pegasus tilted her head and looked at the miniature boulder. “Uh...no?”

“Weird...I saw Mayor Chuck hitting it with a shovel earlier.”

Rainbow blinked. “Wait...what?”

“Yeah. He slammed his shovel into it a couple of times, looked disappointed, and walked away. I still have no idea what the point of that was.”

Scratching her head, the rainbow-maned pony sighed. “Maybe he was trying to break the rock, or something?”

“I doubt it. It’s hard to break a rock this big with a shovel.” She shook her head. “Never mind...I’ll figure it out later.”

“Huh...alright then. Oh! Before I forget, I should tell you that the weather pegasi are planning a big storm tomorrow. So you might wanna stay indoors...of course, you pretty much do that all the time anyway. Ha!”

Twilight glared as the pegasus laughed at her own joke. “Not funny, Rainbow.”

“Yeah it is! Someday, you’re gonna forget all about the outdoors and not come outside for, like, a year!” She giggled. “Try to make sure that doesn’t happen, okay? We can’t exactly turn back time.”

She sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind...”

“Thank you again for your donations! Have a pleasant day!” a brown stallion with a Trottingham accent called to Chuck as the human walked out of the large building. As he did, a white unicorn walked in, giving the mayor a passing glance.

“Mr. Turner, was that the new mayor?” she asked.

“Hm? Oh, hello there Miss Rarity. Indeed that was.” Time Turner, as the stallion was called, smiled in delight. “The museum hasn’t had a donation ever since I opened it, and then Mr. Chuck came in just now with about four dinosaur fossils! Quite amazing, I must say.”

Rarity’s eyebrows shot up. “Four fossils? In one day?!”

“Unbelievable, isn’t it?” The museum curator beamed. “I do wish I had that kind of talent.”

“Hmm...I wonder how good he is at finding gems?” the unicorn wondered aloud, tapping her chin.

The sun rose to mark the beginning of a new day. Parents were getting their kids up for school; ponies who had early morning jobs to get to were currently rushing out the door; weather pegasi were just about to kick the clouds; and one certain unicorn was struggling to muster up the strength to get out of bed.

Lyra sat up with a tired groan. She had stayed up all night sorting and filing papers, practically forgetting about going home until the sun was already just peeking over the horizon again. She had gotten maybe two hours of sleep overall, and she was not looking forward to coming in to work today.

It’s only the second day...you can’t be showing up late already…

Sighing, she forced herself to stand up and began to slowly move to her bathroom, only to jump at the sound of thunder and find herself facedown on the carpet. She stood back up with another groan, looking out the window for the first time.

A huge torrent of rain was falling from the sky, activated by the pegasus ponies just seconds earlier. The ponies who were already outside and not prepared for the storm quickly began running for shelter, or at least expressed some sort of annoyance at becoming soaking wet. Lyra, for her part, simply felt lucky to have not gone outside five minutes earlier.

She facehoofed when she realized she was still going to have to walk through the rain to get to the town hall. With a tired grumble punctuated by a yawn, she set about to cleaning herself up for the day. She made a mental note to purchase an umbrella at some point.

Leaving the hotel he had rented a room from, Chuck only glanced at the downpour before pulling out an umbrella made with a simple green fabric. Where he had gotten it from was a mystery to all, as he hadn’t purchased an umbrella since arriving in town and he didn’t have anything on him when he arrived.

The human began to make his way to the town hall. Thanks to his umbrella, the rain didn’t bother him, though he could do without the loud thunder and flashing lightning. It wasn’t particularly dangerous, but it left him a little unsettled.

Along the way, he glanced around at the other ponies heading out to start their day. Those who were inside when the rain started, or at least still close to their house and could go back in, had put on raincoats or grabbed umbrellas, if not both. The unlucky ponies who were too far from their homes to go back and get such things without being late for school or work had no choice but to deal with it. Occasionally, there were some generous ponies who would share their umbrella with these unlucky ones, or even give it up completely. Chuck couldn’t help but feel a little surprised at the friendship between these ponies, even if at a glance they all seemed to be complete strangers.

He was so busy looking around him that he failed to look ahead, and he accidentally bumped into somepony. He heard a feminine yelp, followed by a splash, as he tried to keep himself on balance. Aside from stumbling a bit, he managed to stay upright, and turned to see who he knocked over.

“S-Sorry about that, I’m in a bit of a hurry...” Lyra tried to explain from her new position sitting in a puddle, now even wetter than before and with a layer of mud covering her hooves and rear. She blinked as she recognized who she bumped into, and her eyes widened. “M-Mayor Chuck! I...I’m sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was...”

Chuck shook his head at her in a silent message not to explain, and extended his hand out to her. She gratefully took it and let him pull her up, not seeming to care about the mud getting on his own hand. “Th-thank you. I was just heading to the town hall...”

The human nodded with a smile and gestured for them to walk together. As they started off, he handed his umbrella to her, causing her to blink in confusion.

“Um...but don’t you-” She was cut off when he pulled a second umbrella, exactly the same as the first, out of his pocket. “...oh. Uh...r-right, thank you.”

Taking the offered item in her magic, Lyra smiled as she finally managed to put a barrier between herself and the cold water falling from the clouds above. As they walked, she frowned when she realized how much mud she had on her body from falling into the puddle. I probably look like a homeless pony right now…

As the town hall came into view, the unicorn turned to Chuck. “Head on inside, okay? I’ll be right in. I’ve got something important to tell you about.”

Raising an eyebrow, but not arguing, Chuck nodded and walked up to the door, putting his umbrella away before walking in. Sighing, Lyra began to look for a hose to clean herself up with.

Chapter 4: Approval Ratings

“I know your house is probably built by now and you’ll want to check it out,” Lyra began, “but there’s something I need to bring to your attention first, Mayor.”

Chuck, who was currently seated in a black leather chair behind a desk, nodded. He had a small smile on his face; the typical look for him. He rarely, if ever, appeared angry or upset, and only for brief moments. However, the tone in Lyra’s voice had made him somewhat concerned, a fact that his smile could only do so much to hide.

The unicorn read over some papers as she spoke. “Because of new laws that the princesses passed, while you are still the mayor of Ponyville, you can’t really…do anything yet.” She frowned. “Until you have a town development permit, there’s not much you can do aside from sit behind a desk and look official.”

Her attempt at humour seemed to go unnoticed, as Chuck had put a hand (she had to remind herself frequently that they were hands, not hooves) to his chin and seemed to be thinking. She decided to press onward.

“In order to get a town development permit, you need approval from the citizens. Most smaller towns require a ninety or even one hundred percent approval rating, while a lot of larger cities - such as Stalliongrad or Manehatten - require only fifty to sixty percent. Here in Ponyville, the requirement is...at least an eighty percent approval rating.” Lyra scanned over the papers some more. “We take polls fairly regularly, so all you really have to do is...well, make friends, I suppose. The more the townsponies like you, the more of an approval rating you’ll get.”

Chuck tilted his head at her. She practically read his mind for the question he was silently asking. “At the moment, you’re sitting at roughly forty percent. A lot of the ponies in town either aren’t too sure about having a human as their mayor, or they just aren’t sure about a new mayor at all.”

With that, Lyra neatly stacked the papers and placed them on her desk to file away later. “I’m not sure how long the rain will last, but while it goes on, you could go see your new house and get the amount you owe from Iron Will. That’d give you something to work on for the day.” She offered a smile. “Don’t worry too much about the permit for now. Just talking with other ponies should do wonders, and we’ve got plenty of time.”

Chuck fully smiled again and nodded, standing up from his chair. As Lyra returned to her work, the mayor stepped out into the pouring rain.

The house was small, but large enough to hold the couple pieces of furniture Chuck had gotten as welcoming gifts from a few ponies. He had no idea why he was being given things like lamps and chairs as gifts, but elected not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After emptying his pockets, he left the house to examine it from the outside. Like several other nearby houses, it was made out of light-coloured brick and had a yellow straw roof. He had a feeling the roof wouldn’t be getting painted anytime soon. There was a bright red mailbox beside the front door, which currently held no mail. This made Chuck feel somewhat relieved; the first letter he got upon arriving had already been odd enough.

Taking out his umbrella, the mayor started making his way through the town to Iron Will’s Homes. The streets were, surprisingly, not as barren as he expected; even though most ponies were at work, in school, or choosing to stay indoors to escape the rain, a fair amount were electing to brave it in order to continue with whatever plans they had laid out for the day.

As he looked around, he found himself slightly irked by the looks he was receiving. While most ponies were offering a friendly smile and wave, or just continuing to walk by without a change in their demeanour, some would give him an odd or disgusted look. He wasn’t sure if they always acted this way, or if it was ‘special treatment’ for him on account of being a different species...but as much as he hoped it wasn’t the latter, he doubted it was the former.

He started to wonder how hard it was going to be to get that eighty percent approval rating.

“Lyra?”

“GAH!” The unicorn in question snapped her head up from where it lay on a pile of papers, her eyes wide and her mane a mess. “I wasn’t sleeping! I was just reading...really up close!”

“Lyra! Calm down!” A creamy yellow-coloured hoof landed in front of her, and she yelped. “What’s wrong?”

The mare blinked, her blurry vision suddenly becoming a lot clearer. She looked up to see the light yellow hoof leading to a same-coloured earth pony with a blue-and-pink mane, looking back down at her with a concerned gaze.

“Oh...hey, Bon Bon,” Lyra greeted, yawning as she spoke her roommate’s name. “Sorry...thought you were the mayor...”

Bon Bon smirked. “I like to think that I look better than that thing.”

The unicorn glared. “He’s not a ‘thing’. Just because he’s not a pony...” She sighed and rubbed her temple. “Didn’t we have this same issue with Zecora a while back?”

The cream-coloured mare sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “Right...sorry.” She looked out the window. “Hey, the rain’s slowing down. How about we go get lunch, and you can tell me about your new job?”

Lyra shook her head. “Sorry. I’ve got way too much to take care of...”

“Lyra, ever since Mayor What’s-His-Face got here, you’ve been sitting behind a desk! You didn’t even come home last night!”

“That’s not true!” the unicorn exclaimed, only to then visibly deflate. “...I came home...at five...in the morning...”

“And left at seven-thirty. The last time I saw you, you were in front of the whole town welcoming the mayor!” As annoyed as she sounded, there was worry evident in Bon Bon’s tone. “You need to take a break. The paperwork can wait a few hours, can’t it?”

Lyra sighed, looking down at her desk and everything she had left to do. Sheets to file, polls to tally, forms to fill out…she felt a headache coming on.

“...yeah...it can.” She stood up, a little shakily. “Lead the way.”

Chapter 5: Animal Forest to Everfree Forest

After a short walk, Chuck finally reached his destination. Glancing up at the sign to make sure he was at the right place, he opened the door and walked into Iron Will’s Homes.

“Greetings, little pony! Welcome to - ah! Mayor Chuck!” The minotaur cut his introduction short when he realized who he was talking to. “Have you finished moving into your new house?”

Chuck nodded, there having been not too much he needed to do in the first place. Iron Will smiled. “Great! Meanwhile, Iron Will has been running the numbers on your loan...” He took out a calculator, which looked comically small as he held it. “It all comes out to...exactly 3500 bits.”

The mayor nodded again. That didn’t seem too unreasonable for him. The two talked for a few more minutes to iron out the details for payment, and then Chuck was on his way once again. By now, the rain had practically stopped, so he didn’t bother with his umbrella.

He decided his first stop would be Quills & Sofas to see if they had anything new he could buy, as well as to sell various fruits and items he had found around Ponyville. However, he was soon distracted from this planned quest by a trio of young fillies zooming by him, one piloting a scooter and the other two riding along in a wagon attached to the back.

Looking around after the trio were practically out of sight, he saw the other ponies nearby looking slightly unsettled, as if bad news had just been delivered to them. He walked up to a stallion, who turned to him.

“Oh, hello Mayor,” the stallion greeted, trying to put on a pleasant smile. “Can I help you?”

Chuck gestured in the direction the three fillies went off in. “Them? Oh, they’re some girls who are always getting into trouble. Pretty much everypony in town knows to get out of the way if it looks like they’re on some kind of ‘Cutie Mark Crusade’, or whatever they call it.” He squinted, looking down the path. “...seems like they’re headed off in the direction of the Everfree Forest...”

The mayor tilted his head, confused. The stallion looked back to him. “Oh, uh...the Everfree Forest is a forest just outside of Ponyville...I wouldn’t recommend going in.” He shuddered.

Chuck thought for a bit, nodded thankfully, and turned to run off after the fillies. As much as the stallion’s vague warning had made him want to steer clear of this ‘Everfree Forest’, he knew that if three fillies were going to be around there, they could end up in trouble. He needed to make sure they didn’t get hurt.

After several minutes of walking, Lyra and Bon Bon had travelled from the town hall to a decently-populated cafe. A few ponies who recognized one or both of them waved, and they waved back. However, for the most part, they were mostly able to just stick around each other and speak privately.

“I really think you need to ask Mayor Chuck about taking a break,” Bon Bon insisted. “You’re running on barely any sleep right now.”

“Once I take care of the rest of the paperwork, I’ll have plenty of time to sleep,” Lyra replied with a yawn to punctuate the end of her sentence. “All the more reason to get it done now...”

Bon Bon sighed and shook her head. “Lyra, if I have to chain you to your bed to make you get some sleep, I will.”

“Didn’t think you were into that sort of thing,” the unicorn remarked with a smirk.

The other mare blushed and groaned, burying her face in her hooves. “I walked right into that one...”

“Yes, you did. And for the record, I’m not going to just stop working. It needs to-”

“I’m not asking you to stop working,” Bon Bon cut her off, her red face slowly returning to normal. “I just want you to take better care of yourself. Stop working nonstop from sunrise to sunrise, okay?”

Lyra sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Fine...”

The earth pony smiled. “Good. Now, can we just enjoy our lunch in peace?”

As if on cue, there was a loud roar as three fillies familiar to every inhabitant of the cafe whizzed by with their scooter and wagon, causing the two mares to try and cover their ears from the loud sound. As the roar faded away, they then saw Chuck chasing after the trio, oblivious to the ponies around him looking on in confusion.

“Chuck?” Lyra started to stand up, but Bon Bon grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. “Hey!”

“You don’t need to go after him every time you see him,” the earth pony told her. “Let him handle himself. He’s not a newborn baby.”

The unicorn sighed. “Fine, fine...”

“See? You’re learning.” Bon Bon snickered. “You don’t have to do everything. It’s okay to relax sometimes, even with your new job. You can afford to let the Mayor handle some things. That’s why he’s the Mayor in the first place.”

Lyra smiled. “True enough, I suppose...” She sighed. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”

“Oh, everything will be fine. Calm down.”

The unicorn nodded. Adjusting herself so she was sitting more comfortably, she began to eat and steer the conversation to more casual topics, letting herself forget about the piles of paperwork for a brief time.

Chuck approached the entrance to what he believed was the Everfree Forest. Judging by the tracks and markings on the ground, the three fillies had already gone in.

With a sigh, the mayor reached into his pocket and pulled out his shovel. He wasn’t sure what kinds of things would be in the forest, but he wasn’t taking any chances, and his shovel was the closest thing to a weapon that he had.

Moving hastily but nervously, Chuck ventured into the Everfree Forest, unaware of the pegasus pony who peeked out her door and saw him just as he went in.

Chapter 6: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 1

“Are we almost there?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously. Despite the fearless looks of her two companions, she still felt that going into the Everfree Forest was a bad idea, even if it was to meet with a friend.

“I dunno! Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo called from her spot piloting the scooter.

“Turn left! And yep, we’re almost there!” the last of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders replied.

Following directions, the orange pegasus filly turned to the left, making sure to do it gradually enough that the wagon behind her wasn’t thrown off balance too much. They continued zipping down the path, going right through a patch of Poison Joke and barely avoiding coming into contact with it.

“Slow down!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Yer gonna go right past it!”

Reluctantly, Scootaloo slowed her speed about halfway, allowing the trio to take a proper look at their surroundings as they went through. Now lacking the feeling of adrenaline pumping through them, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom found themselves feeling just as nervous about the woods as Sweetie Belle. The pegasus, of course, tried to hide it, but the earth pony didn’t hold back a shiver of fear.

“Is that it?” Sweetie Belle asked hopefully, pointing at a wooden hut decorated with odd masks on the outside. Apple Bloom nodded, and Scootaloo parked her vehicle just outside.

Hearing their arrival, a zebra familiar to all three Crusaders opened the door and stepped out. “Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? And even Scootaloo?” She motioned with her head for them to enter her hut. “Come in, and tell me how I can help you.”

“Thanks, Zecora!” Apple Bloom said gratefully, tossing her helmet into the wagon before trotting up to the door. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, after depositing their own protective gear, followed her.

“There must be some reason you came out here,” Zecora stated as the fillies walked in, Scootaloo being the last to enter and the one to shut the door. “If it is for cutie marks, I cannot help you, I fear.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head, feeling much more comfortable now that she was inside some form of shelter rather than out in the forest. “Nope! This is actually completely different!”

Apple Bloom decided to break in. “Y’all remember when the ponies in Ponyville were gettin’ all scared of you?”

Zecora sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes, I remember that time very well. I believe I was there, if you could not tell.”

The earth pony filly blushed and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Oh, yeah...sorry. Heh...”

Scootaloo stepped forward. “Well, there’s someone new in town - the mayor, actually - and he’s getting the same treatment that you were!”

“Well...most ponies don’t really have an opinion towards him,” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “It’s just that there’s a lot of them who don’t like the idea of someone who isn’t a pony running the town.”

“We thought the two of you could get along well, being pretty much the only non-ponies around,” Scootaloo continued. “So we were wondering if you could come on into town sometime soon.”

“The new mayor has arrived? Of this, I was not aware.” The zebra lady rubbed her chin in thought. “Though I do see how what you are saying is quite unfair. He is not a pony, you do tell; what species is he, if it rings a bell?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ah keep hearin’ ponies sayin’ he looks like some kinda monkey, or a tiny minotaur.”

Scootaloo laughed a bit. “A tiny minotaur? What would that even look like? A tiny mini-minotaur?” Her laughter was cut short when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simultaneously elbowed her to get her to focus. “Uh...I mean, yeah! That’s what they say he looks like.”

“We haven’t really seen him ourselves,” Sweetie Belle admitted.

“You cannot always trust the things you hear,” Zecora warned them. “But if what they say is true, there is little to fear. If a creature like him was elected the mayor, there seems little reason for a monster slayer.”

The trio nodded, Scootaloo choosing to speak up. “Maybe you could help with getting the town on his side?”

Zecora nodded. “I will do my best, young Crusader...but for now, that must wait until later.” She walked over to hook where her cloak hung, picking it up and donning it. “For today, there are ingredients in the forest I need to collect. I shall have time to visit tomorrow, I would expect.”

Apple Bloom nodded happily. “Thanks, Zecora! This means a lot.”

The zebra smiled. “It is my pleasure, so do not worry. But I would suggest that to home you hurry; I must go now, so I cannot protect you...” Her smile vanished, and a dark look crossed her features. “You likely do not want a Timberwolf to get you.”

The Crusaders gulped nervously and nodded, heading off quickly after some hasty goodbyes. Hopping into their vehicle and throwing on their helmets, they sped off, back the way they came.

Continuing to follow the tracks, Chuck kept his shovel prepared in case anything jumped out at him. The entire area felt cold and spooky, even despite it being barely late afternoon. He kept looking back and forth, feeling paranoid.

He had avoided anything that looked even slightly dangerous or out of place. He didn’t dare touch any vines hanging from trees, strangely-coloured plants on the ground, or anything whatsoever that was off the dirt path he followed. A few times he had stopped to catch his breath, only to quickly start moving again when he felt like he was being watched.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound reached his ears, and he froze. Expecting it to be some kind of creature, he spun around, shovel at the ready…

...except there was nothing there.

The roar continued, and he soon realized it sounded more akin to a motor than a wild animal. Turning back around, he saw three familiar fillies coming down the path at an alarming speed, just like when he saw them earlier.

Not thinking twice, Chuck quickly jumped to the side to get out of the way, not wanting to be run over. However, his attempt at a simple sidestep resulted in him stumbling and falling off the path completely into a pile of bushes.

The fillies, having apparently not noticed him, zoomed past him and down the path back to the town. With a sigh, the human quickly decided his help was completely unneeded here all along, and started to pick himself out of the bushes.

A low growl made him freeze.

He slowly turned and looked over his shoulder, coming eye-to-eye with what appeared to be a gigantic lion. A second glance revealed to Chuck that this lion possessed large wings, a scorpion-like stinger tail, and a very angry look on its face.

It roared.

Chapter 7: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 2

“Twilight! Twilight!”

The voice, though quiet, was filled with worry and urgency, and was just loud enough for the purple unicorn wandering around town to hear it, stopping and turning to see her pegasus friend galloping over to her.

“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, quickly growing concerned. Even though it didn’t take much to scare her pink-maned friend, the fact that she came all the way out here to try and get help was likely cause for alarm.

Fluttershy skidded to a stop beside the unicorn, taking a second to catch her breath before speaking. “The m-mayor...he...he went into the forest!”

Twilight blinked in confusion before her eyes widened. “The…Everfree Forest?” The pegasus nodded, and the unicorn quickly began to panic. “Oh no no no, this is bad...”

CLANG!

The lion-like creature flinched back as the cold metal slammed into its face, letting out a cry of surprise and pain. Using this second of breathing room, Chuck jumped to his feet and started dashing down the path, hoping he chose the right direction and was headed back to town. However, he could hear loud thumps behind him, and he knew the creature was chasing after him.

Trying to keep running at top speed while still avoiding the forest’s dangerous-looking flora proved difficult, but possible. He only bumped into one or two vines, and managed to avoid anything coming right out of the ground. Nevertheless, he was still barely moving fast enough to stay out of the lion’s range, and he knew he wouldn’t have enough stamina to get back to town before slowing down. Not to mention that the idea of leading this thing straight to Ponyville, endangering the lives of everypony there, didn’t appeal to him too much.

The lion was practically on him now. He wished he had bought an axe while he was at Quills & Sofas, but he didn’t think he had enough bits. Instead, he was stuck with a shovel and a fishing rod...

As soon as that thought ran through his head, his eyes brightened and he skidded to a stop, turning around.

Before the lion could pounce, Chuck reached into his pocket, putting away his shovel and pulling out the fishing rod he had yet to use. Glancing up to make sure he aimed properly, he cast the rod, the lure flying high up in the air and over the head of the lion, where it wrapped around a tree branch.

The creature seemed to practically laugh at this before pouncing. At the last second, Chuck dropped the fishing rod and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the deadly jaws that were set to cut his career as mayor short. Instead, they grabbed onto the wooden fishing rod.

Growling at being avoided, the lion took its mouth off the rod and prepared to pounce again, but it stopped when it noticed something odd: the rod was floating in the air.

Perplexed, the creature batted at the tool, unable to notice the practically invisible string reaching from it up into the air above it. The rod floated around like a Hearth’s Warming tree decoration, and the lion swatted at it again. A comical smile appeared on its face, and with a meow one would expect from a small cat rather than a giant lion, it dropped to the ground and continued to bat at the floating fishing pole.

Chuck, very slowly, began to back away. The lion paid him no heed, more interested in its new toy than the escaping meal. Once he figured he was a safe distance away, he turned and bolted down the path once more.

“Lyra! There you are!”

The secretary looked up in surprise. She and Bon Bon were just about to head out when Twilight ran over to them. “Twilight?”

“Mayor Chuck...he went into the Everfree Forest!” the librarian cried. Of course, this instantly gained the attention of everypony else in the cafe. All conversations ceased, and all eyes were on Twilight and Lyra.

Lyra, for her part, just blinked. “He...what?”

“Fluttershy saw him running into the Everfree Forest like he was chasing something,” Twilight elaborated. “I don’t think he knows what’s in there!”

Murmurs began to fill the room from the various ponies.

“Does he really not know…?”

“What was he after?”

“He could get hurt!”

“Do we even care?”

That last question drew an immediate reaction from Lyra, who spun around to glare at the crowd. “Who said that?”

“Said what?”

“‘Do we even care?’. Who said that?”

The ponies all looked at one another. Some appeared confused; some appeared nervous. Finally, one stallion raised his hoof indifferently. “I said it. So what?”

Lyra slowly approached him, her glare not faltering. The crowd split to give her a clear path, nopony wanting to get in her way. Soon, she was looking the stallion right in the eye. “I care.”

He snorted. “And who are you to make a difference?”

SMACK!

His smug look became a wince of pain as a new red spot began to form on his face.

“How you haven’t learned your lesson from the past disgusts me,” she growled, lowering her hoof. “I’m keeping my eye on you. So watch it.”

As much as he wanted to keep his tough appearance up, the stallion found himself at a loss for words. With a huff, he stormed out of the cafe, not saying anything else.

Once he was gone, Lyra turned to the rest of the crowd. “Anypony else want to make any remarks about our mayor?”

The silence could be cut with a knife.

“That’s what I thought.” She turned back to Twilight. “Now...let’s go for a walk.”

Just as Chuck feared, he had gone the wrong way.

He sighed, looking around for any landmarks. All he saw were trees. At some point, he had reached a fork in the path and taken a turn, then a few others, and now he had no idea if he had turned around and was headed back home or just going deeper and deeper into the woods.

Getting tired and hungry, he sat down on a log (after making absolutely sure it was safe) and pulled out an apple, biting into it with a crunch.

As he did, however, he heard a different crunch from behind him.

Feeling an annoying sense of déjà vu, Chuck turned his head to look behind himself, seeing another pile of bushes that could easily be hiding something. Part of him wanted to ignore it and keep eating, but he knew that would just be giving whatever made the sound a big opening to attack.

Keeping the apple in one hand and his shovel in the other, Chuck stood up slowly and walked over to the bushes. Using the handle of his shovel to move some of the leaves and twigs out of the way, he peered in.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes glared back.

Chapter 8: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 3

Spurred onward by the thought of the danger Chuck could be in, Twilight and Lyra galloped across town to the Everfree Forest. As they ran, Lyra made a quick stop at Quills & Sofas, popping in for a moment before coming out with something in a bag around her neck.

“Why did you have to stop?!” Twilight demanded.

“I had a feeling this would be useful!” Lyra responded, not bothering to show what she bought before continuing to run, barely impaired by her new baggage. Twilight rolled her eyes and followed.

Due to neither pony being particularly athletic, it took a fair amount of time for them to actually reach the woods, where they stopped to catch their breath before actually going in.

The sun was getting ready to set now, and even though she had been in the forest many times before, Twilight still felt nervous about being in it at night. Lyra hadn’t been in the forest even once, so she was on edge far more than her librarian companion was.

Both unicorns walked for a short while, jumping at noises and carefully avoiding the flora. They soon heard a low growl and tensed up.

“It’s coming from up ahead,” Twilight quietly whispered. Lyra nodded, and they moved forward slowly and stealthily. Soon, they found the source of the growling: a manticore, who was playing with a fishing rod dangling from a tree branch.

Even though neither of them wanted to be seen and attacked by the manticore, the unicorns couldn’t help but move closer to make sure they were actually seeing what they thought they were seeing. Unfortunately for them, they failed to pay attention to the path itself, and Lyra stepped on a dry leaf.

The manticore paused upon hearing the crunch sound, turning to the ponies. All three beings froze. Twilight lifted a hoof in an awkward wave. “Um...h-hello there...we mean no harm...”

The manticore growled, and the ponies flinched. However, before it could do anything, its ears flicked as it seemed to pick up some sound that the mares were unable to hear. With another growl, this one not directed at anything currently in the vicinity, it turned and flapped its wings, flying off.

While Twilight tried to figure out what just happened, Lyra walked up to the fishing rod and looked it over. Her eyes widened. “Twilight...this is Chuck’s!”

The librarian snapped her attention to the rod. “What?!”

Lyra nodded. “He must have gone further than this...maybe the manticore attacked him and he used the rod to distract it?”

“That seems to be the only option that makes sense...” Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, then shook her head. “We need to keep going. We can ask Chuck himself when we find him.”

Lyra nodded. “Should we take the rod?”

“Leave it. With all those manticore bite and claw marks on it, I don’t think he could even use it anymore.”

“...good point...”

Chuck backed away slowly as he realized just what he was looking at. A wolflike creature, made entirely of sticks and leaves. He knew there were odd things in this world - the town full of pastel ponies had already proven that - but he never expected something like this.

The wolf stalked closer to him, soon being joined by two other wolves from the bush. Chuck gulped nervously and glanced down the path to see if he could make a break for it. However, he didn’t want to test the speed of these creatures; they all looked like they could move much faster than the lion from earlier, and he had enough trouble just matching pace with that one.

He thought about just attacking the wolves with his shovel, but he didn’t think their wooden bodies would take much damage from it. He did, however, get an odd idea, and he thrust his shovel into the ground. Before the wolves could attack, he pulled the shovel out along with a large pile of dirt, which he swung forward into their eyes.

With one wolf blinded and the other two distracted and confused, Chuck took this moment to start running, hoping they’d be too busy to follow him. Sure enough, he heard barking behind him that got farther and farther away, but faded steps soon also reached his ears. He kept running, hoping he had enough of a headstart to get away.

The steps got rapidly closer. He considered stopping and trying the dirt trick again, but he doubted it’d work twice in a row. He forced himself to keep running, despite his legs begging him to stop. The steps and growling became dangerously close, to the point where he could practically feel them right behind him.

At that moment, there was a loud roar from above, followed by three simultaneous yelps and the cracking of wood directly behind Chuck.

The mayor skidded to a stop, turning around curiously. There, surrounded by the wood and leaves that formerly made up three deadly creatures, was the manticore from earlier.

Chuck blinked. The manticore grinned at him like it just pulled off an impressive trick, then flopped down onto its back and whined.

The human couldn’t help but laugh. A little hesitantly, he stepped forward and rubbed the manticore’s belly, who purred in response.

“Chuck!”

Not stopping the rubbing, but turning his head to see who called his name, Chuck saw two unicorns galloping down the path toward him. He instantly recognized one of them as Lyra, but wasn’t sure who the second one was. Nevertheless, he smiled at them.

The mares finally stopped running, spending several seconds catching their breath. “You...why...in...here?” Lyra gasped, unable to form a proper sentence.

Chuck sighed, knowing he’d have to explain it all later. For the time being, he stopped rubbing the manticore’s belly and put his shovel away. The other unicorn seemed to realize his intention and nodded.

“Right. Let’s get out of here,” she said in agreement.

Before they could go anywhere, though, the sticks on the ground began to shake. They froze, staring in shock and fear as the three wolves began to reassemble themselves. The manticore stepped back beside them, growling.

As this happened, other Timberwolves seemed to get some kind of signal, as another three came out of the shrubbery and stood next to their self-repairing allies. The newly formed squad of six all growled at the two ponies, one human, and one manticore they had dubbed their prey.

“Chuck?”

The human glanced to Lyra, who had lit her horn and pulled the item she had purchased earlier out of her bag. “You...may want to use this...”

An axe.

The grin that came over Chuck’s face would have unsettled many if they were unsure of his intentions. For the two mares, they simply felt an odd sense of relief as soon as the weapon was in the mayor’s hands.

The Timberwolves growled and slowly began to approach. Chuck motioned for the two ponies to step back, and they did, the manticore following suit out of curiosity.

Holding the axe in a comfortable position, Chuck stared at the six wolves, ready for battle.

They pounced.

Chapter 9: Everfree Animal Forest, Part 4

Six Timberwolves pounced on a single human with an axe.

Twilight and Lyra winced, covering their eyes. As it turned out, they were right to do so; not to avoid seeing any bloodshed, but to shield their optical organs from the sudden spray of wood chips.

The first Timberwolf to reach Chuck was instantly split in half by a fatal swing of the axe, its parts flying all over the dirt path. Even though Timberwolves could repair themselves, it would take this one a fair amount of time thanks to the sudden damage caused by the blow.

The other five Timberwolves were too late, as Chuck ducked out of the way as soon as he destroyed the first one. Two of the wolves collided head-on and were left dazed, while the other three turned and prepared to pounce again. Chuck turned away from them and towards a tree that was close enough to the path that he could reach it without stepping into potentially dangerous vegetation.

Swinging his axe once, twice, and a third time, Chuck brought the tree down, crushing the three wolves that had been about to jump at him once more. He couldn’t help but snicker at the irony of killing wooden creatures with more wood.

He heard a scream from the other side of the tree, and his eyes widened. The two Timberwolves that had previously been dazed had gotten up, and instead of going after Chuck, they chose to go for the more defenseless prey of two mares.

The manticore, however, was having none of it. It jumped in between the wolves and the ponies, growling threateningly at the Timberwolves. These two species of creatures were known for being extremely hostile towards one another, but never had a living pony witnessed a true fight between them.

The Timberwolves pounced, and the manticore swung its massive paw. It smacked one wolf in the face, knocking it to the side, but the other got through and bit down hard on the manticore’s arm. The lion-like creature howled in pain, and the other Timberwolf stood up to charge in, biting the manticore’s neck.

As the creatures toppled to the ground, wrestling with one another, Chuck made his way around the toppled tree to the mares’ side. They stared at the ensuing battle, unsure of which side would win.

“We need to go, now,” Twilight finally decided. “While they’re all busy, I mean...”

Lyra looked to Chuck, who seemed to ignore Twilight. Instead, he stepped forward, axe at the ready. “Chuck?”

The manticore let out a loud howl of pain as the Timberwolf biting his neck finally drew blood.

CRACK!

There was another howl of pain, but this one came from the Timberwolf. It released itself from the struggle with the manticore and fell back, dead - at least temporarily. The axe that had been thrown into its back was quickly removed by Chuck, who charged in at the second wolf.

The creature of bark barely had time to look at the human before the blade, now chipped and dulling, swung at its head and separated it from the rest of its body.

“...and then, just to make sure the Timberwolves didn’t regenerate before we left the area, he took all their pieces and scattered them around the path,” Lyra finished. “Twilight took the manticore to Zecora’s place to get it some help for its wounds, and I took Chuck back to town.”

Bon Bon nodded, having been listening to everything her friend said. “He certainly seems...formidable,” she remarked. “Why isn’t he the Captain of the Royal Guard instead, or something?”

Lyra shrugged. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad he’s in our town at all. After word got around that Chuck walked into the Everfree Forest and came out after befriending a manticore and killing six Timberwolves, a lot of ponies have been feeling much safer.”

The earth pony mare smiled. “I can see why. What happened to his fishing rod, though?”

“Oh, we left it as a toy for the manticore. Zecora’s taking care of it - him - now.” Lyra giggled. “Davenport must have been really confused when Chuck walked in asking for a second fishing rod not even a day after getting his first.”

Bon Bon giggled as well. “Probably.” She let out a yawn and stood up. “I’m going to bed now...try to get some sleep too, okay?”

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “I’m not planning on pulling another all-nighter, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Good to hear. Night.” With that, Bon Bon left the room, heading up to her bedroom for some sleep.

While she planned to stick to her word and not stay up all night, there was still something Lyra needed to do. Once Bon Bon was in bed, she got up and went to her closet, looking around in it for a few moments before pulling out a pad of stationary.

Taking a quill in her magical aura, she began to write a letter, trying to be as formal as possible.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I apologize for not writing earlier. I wanted to inform you that Ponyville’s new mayor, Chuck, arrived yesterday morning. He’s been getting along rather well with the ponies in town, aside from the few who don’t like him for being a human. The ponies like that are slowly dwindling, however, so I think we’ll be fine sooner or later.

However, I would also like to request reinforcements to the Ponyville Royal Guard, if that is possible. We had an unpleasant encounter with a pack of Timberwolves earlier today, and while Chuck managed to take them out, we all know that Timberwolves are vengeful creatures. While I don’t think they would go so far as to attack Ponyville to try and find Chuck, I do not want to take any chances.

Thank you for your time, and once again, apologies for not writing to you yesterday. I had exhausted myself from working late and the thought slipped my mind. I promise to keep you updated regularly from now on.

Yours truly,

Lyra Heartstrings

Ponyville Mayor’s Secretary