The cold streets of Hoofington were now even more filled with ponies running about their business.

Vess was quite in awe at all the different colours passing him by as he carefully tread through the stony paths of the town. Needlessly to say, he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. Even so, he couldn’t resist staring at the colourful equines.

An even weirder center of his attention was at the horses’ backs.

Oh dear, he thought, and rubbed the thin bridge of his nose. “Everyone has a butt mark,” he mumbled quietly to himself, as a brown horse with a pastry mark on its ass passed him by.

What’s up with the freaking tattoos here?! he thought. Why would anyone submit to having their butts decorated like that? It would perhaps make sense if they were tribal marks, but it just feels like they’ve picked whatever they fancied at the moment. Alloy’s mark at least made a little bit of sense in comparison.

Suddenly, something very fast swooshed beside him. He quickly turned around and looked at what almost had collided with him. A white horse with a yellow mane had flown with great speed towards a house further away in the distance, landing safely at its doorstep.

What in the good names of the Elements is that? A horse with wings? Now I’ve probably seen it all, he thought to himself, as he pondered how exactly it could possibly stay aloft with such small appendages.

He didn’t dwell on this matter for very long however. His attention had solely become focused on a different horse a couple of meters in front of him. Vess stared at the little equine, who was a blue mare with long, black hair. It would have been any regular horse, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was clearly performing magic. She had a short horn on her forehead which glowed with a dim bluish hue. She trotted happily as she levitated a couple of books in front of her, making her way into another building further down the streets.

That was-? his brain took some time before it had processed what he had witnessed. When he came to the conclusion, he could barely breath because of the excitement.

“Hah...hah... ahahahaha!” Vess started laughing uncontrollably. There was no doubt in his mind, he had just witnessed a display of ancient magic, and the mare in question had accomplished the feat as if she has always been able to use it.

Amazing, simply amazing, he thought as he started to calm down. Wherever in the world he had ended up in, this was just too good to be true. Horses with wings, and others who performed magic, it was simply marvelous.

He grinned to himself, maybe if he stayed here long enough he could learn even more old magic, maybe even something that could help him get back to where he came from.

“There’s so much knowledge here, this is great,” he mumbled, until he noticed that some of the locals stared at him, whispering quietly to each other.

Oh crap, time to move for now. He picked up the pace, his angry stomach also reminding him that he hadn’t eaten yet. Well, food first, ultimate arcane knowledge later, he thought.

It would probably not be quite as easy as just walk into a store and throw money on the counter, no some observation was in order.

Vess had already made a mental note of not trying the market stalls, remembering that those were more likely to see an opportunity, and would probably rip him off given the chance.

All of a sudden, an alluring aroma filled the mage’s nostrils, it smelled like nothing he had ever encountered, its pleasant essence filling his senses.

Looking frantically around, he noticed a shop with a hanging sign that had a picture of a pastry on it, which seemed to exude the aroma

Mother of the Elements! It smells like something only a god could create, he thought. His body moved almost with an invisible force towards the pastry shop.

The spell on him was broken however, as he absentmindedly bumped into someone on his way, well, some stallion rather.

The equine turned towards the mage with a frown on his face, and it didn’t take a linguist to figure out that the horse wasn’t offering him to have tea with him.

Vess only nodded at the little, grey horse, apologetically raising his hands while making sure his face wasn’t properly seen.

The stallion let out a small snort of frustration, and made his way into the shop as well, Vess in tow, albeit treading lightly this time.

The inside of the shop was even more marvelous, decorated with sugary treats, a big counter with a see through glass, and the appealing aroma filling the air. Truly a place where gods resided.

Vess clutched his aching stomach, assuring it that they would soon eat their fill, as soon as he observed how much the gentleman in the front paid for the delicious goods.

He moved closer, and could easily see coins and pastries changing owners. For what seemed to be a couple of silver coins, the horse received a total of three baked delicacies, that looked like small, yellowish cakes with some kind of creamy topping.

The mage was lucky in the regard that they actually used silver, and the size of the coins were approximately the same, although if the coins were pure silver, he didn’t know. His belly was a demanding one however, and he saw no harm in going a little over the usual price.

Vess’ turn now came up. He strode up to the counter while untying his coin pouch on his belt, and looked the shopkeeper in the eyes.

He was greeted with a big smile by a, what he presumed, pale, female horse with long blond mane, and baby-blue eyes. She didn’t seemed too fazed by his strange appearances, but looked a little curious, as she seemingly inspected his choice of clothes.

Now, Vess hadn’t all of a sudden become an expert in horse-tongue, but he could very well recognize the usual friendly gestures. He bowed politely to her, then pointed at his throat and simulated a cough, which he hoped she would interpret as that he couldn’t speak because of sickness.

She shot him a worried look, but nevertheless, she got the point, and motioned for him to pick whatever he wanted.

The sensible choice and the one that would make him the least suspicious was to pick whatever the grumpy stallion had picked before. He pointed at the small cakes behind the glass, and held up three fingers.

She nodded, brought them up at the top of the counter, talked in her own language, what probably was the equivalent to ‘three silver, please’.

He slid the money over to her, she accounted for them all, and nodded. Vess had successfully acquired the pastries. He couldn’t help but to smile as she handed him the baked goods, almost like he wanted to raise them in the air, while a fitting tune played.

Huh, it really was as easy as just tossing money on the counter, who would have thought! he mused, while grinning.

The mage bowed again to the shopkeeper, and started to make his way out of the shop. He stopped however at the door, an idea springing to life within him.

Vess turned around, noting that the shopkeeper had gone into the kitchen in the back. He tapped into one of his two elemental sources in his body, conjuring a small crystal rose made out of ice. He then cast an enchantment that would hinder it from melting too quickly, enough that she could find it and keep it for a little while. Vess then placed the flower on the windowsill beside the door and walked out.

Outside, the town’s locals were still bustling about trying to haggle with the marketstand owners, some more successful than others.

Vess couldn’t care less for others at the moment, even the allure of the arcane faded to a mere footnote. He was going to consume the gods ambrosia, and wherever better to do so, than at a peaceful spot near nature.

He soon found what he wanted a little further away from all the market ruckus, a wooden bench near a park with a small fountain, which became his resting spot.

This was it, his stomach couldn’t take it anymore, with great passion he popped the first delightful pastry whole into his awaiting mouth.

Oh! Oh, this is-! Then everything went black.

o.O.o

Alloy quickly paced around his workshop, annoyed how he could barely raise the temperature of the forge to work with the platinum. He had given up several times, the metal cooling too fast for him to actually mold it like the noblepony wanted it done.

Pure Platinum had requested that the metals would become containers for the jewels he was going to have put into them.

Alloy only shook his head. Why does Platinum even want a cane at all? He’s fat. that’s for sure, but a walking stick wouldn’t help him to begin with, unless he’s planning to give it to someone. The smith paused in thoughts for a little while. Yeah, fat chance. He probably only wants to one up the other aristocrats with a new toy whenever they gather to brag about how wealthy and 'generous' they are…

The pony stopped trying to mold accursed metal once again, took off his protective mask, and massaged his temples. How many does that make? Ten, eleven? I-I need a break...I just can’t do this right now. He sighed audibly.

His thoughts were cut off as his stomach reminded him that lunch was way overdue. He sighed again, put his gear away, stowed the precious metal and the rod away in a chest inside the house. There was no use trying to work on an empty stomach anyway.

As he locked the door to the smithy, he couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was. Thankful that Vess had complied and stayed low, he made his way into the kitchen to whip up some food.

He hummed to himself as he diced up some large carrots he had bought from Carrot Stem at the markets. Once again he noted that the house was very quiet. He abruptly stopped at the realization. It was way too quiet. Something wasn’t right, and that something could only be his houseguest.

Alloy prayed upon Celestia and Luna that the guy was still in the house as he called out to him. “Vess? Vess, are you there?”

He searched the living room, no sign of the creature. He looked in his bedroom, almost like he expected him to jump out of the large, wooden wardrobe, but nope, wasn’t there either.

Alloy started to sweat. “This isn’t funny, you know!” he yelled out loud, but got no answer in return. Returning back to the small hallway, his eyes widened as he noticed that the front door was slightly ajar.

“No...no no no no!” he exclaimed, stomping his hooves angrily on the wooden floor when he realized that Vess had left the house. “How dare he go off on his own, if his disguise fails and gets caught then…”

He fumed in silence at Vess’ action. If that overgrown monkey gets in trouble it’s his own damn fault, I won’t even feel guilty if he gets captured...

However he soon realized that the town guards would probably recognize Alloy’s hoofwork, and could very well link it back to him. Alloy shuddered at the repercussions that could follow. He would be prosecuted for hiding a presumably unknown, and potentially dangerous animal. His house and smithy would be claimed by Platinum, and he would probably find himself new abodes, in the dim, murky cells of the town’s prison.

He gulped as his imagination spiraled out of control. My life would be over, everything I've struggled for, gone, just like that...just because of him..

Alloy cursed Vess in Luna’s name. What right did that creature have? To just come into his life and turn it upside down.That overgrown, unrespectful one...of...a kind...freak..of...nature.-

His angry ramblings ended abruptly as he realized the situation. If Vess got captured by the authorities, what would happen to him? His expression suddenly became panicked. T-they...they would most certainly lock him up in a Celestia damned cage somewhere, and...and..conduct..experiments on him, like he was some kind of dangerous beast….He could very well never see sunlight again…or..if Platinum gets hold of him...

“He would be put on display as some kind of exotic monstrosity...without a single friend in the world to hold him company or understand him,” Alloy said quietly. Even though he hadn’t known Vess for very long, he still felt that such a fate was too cruel and something he would never wish upon anypony.

The smith made his decision. He gritted his teeth, pushed the door to his house opened, and ran out to search for the troublemaker. Hoping that the damn monkey had had the common sense to stay out of the authorities way.

o.O.o

Vess floated around in the pseudo-world that was the Dreamlands. How he had managed to get here was beyond his understanding. He had been sure that it was still only afternoon. Nevertheless here he was, and his memories of old flowed freely.

He tried to settle on some of the more peaceful images together with Dave, and the time the retired ranger had taught him of the wilds. Yet they were blurry, not at all clear like they used to be. For some reason it was someone had put the memories through a filter, and only tiny snippets could come through.

It flashed to when he had first awoken at Dave’s hut. He had been feverish from collapsing after running mile after miles non-stop. He had been on the run from the Hold, yet when he tried to remember why, everything was just messed up. He knew he had disobeyed orders, people had been shouting at him. Lara had been crying, telling him to leave and not look back no matter what. He couldn’t stay there any longer. Why, she never said, but Vess was disheartened when he had noticed how fearful she had looked.

Lara…, he tried to think, yet the flickering visions made it hard to concentrate.

Back at the hut, he saw Dave as the old man smiled at him waking up, for the memories to flash abruptly again, turning the smile of the ranger into a ghastly look of terror, as Vess towered above him.

Something had happened to Vess back then, but he only remembered that he had to flee, to get away. One moment he had gathered whatever clothes and equipment he could find, and at the next one he was furiously running away, with tears streaming from his eyes.

Memories swirled around uncontrollably in his mind, no one of them staying for an extended period of time, except for one.

He was in an unknown mountain range, far from Dave’s hut, or so he believed. The Dreamland Vess observed his surrounding, only to stop and stare at what was closing in on him from the sky.

A giant, fluffy cake with a creamy topping descended upon him, and smashed his body into the cold, hard earth….

Vess awoke with a scream, cold sweat pouring from his body. He immediately sat up, and looked around. The mage was still on the same bench as before, but now a medium sized crowd had gathered near him, many of the them looking at him with concerned faces.

What in Hell’s Maw was that? he thought as he directed his gaze to the remaining pastries resting on the bench. Some of the horses let out a cough, as if they expected some kind of explanation to his outburst.

Knowing that he had attracted too much attention to himself, he quickly gathered the two remaining cakes and stood up, making his way through the crowd, without offering as much as a apologetic nod.

He picked up the pace when he passed them, considering breaking into a run, but decided against it. It would only make me look even more suspicious than I already am, he thought, as he paid no real heed to where he was going.

Also I can-, Vess’ inner dialogue got cut off, as he collided hard into another figure for the second time this day.

“Ah, fuck that hurt!” he said out loud, as his ass met stone pavement.

A familiar sound of pain also came from the one he had collided with, followed by a sense of dread from the mage, as the horse spoke,

“Vess!” a furious voice called out.

Looking up, he saw a fuming Alloy stare at him, who looked like he had every intent of murdering him.

Oh shit, he thought, as he tried to think of an escape plan. ‘Oh shit’ indeed.

Alloy would have none of that however. The horse closed in, and glared menacingly at him. Pointing at him with a hoof, uttering a short and angry sound, and then pointing towards the way he had come from.

This easily translated to: ‘You, me, back to the house, and now’.

Vess gulped and nodded at the angry horse, realizing he was busted. He hoped that the smith wouldn’t chew him out too much when they arrived. Not that he would understand much, but it was never fun when you got lectured.

Ah, fuck my life, he thought. He had hoped that Alloy wouldn’t had figured out that he was gone for a much longer time. He wanted to observe more of the arcane knowledge in this world already, and more importantly, eat more delicious food.

Vess noticed that he still held on to the small pastries. They had gotten a little crushed, but was probably still edible. Hmm, maybe he’ll forgive me if I share? he thought as he now followed the little horsesmith back to his house.

Back at the simple smith’s abode, Vess did indeed suffer a lecture of a lifetime, and did his best to alleviate the invoked wrath of the pony. After getting chewed out for approximately five minutes, Vess squirmed uncomfortably and offered up one of the small pastries to the angered smith.

Alloy simply looked at the delicacies for a while, until he sniffed at them with a frowning suspicion, followed by him smacking his own face with his hoof.

Doesn’t that hurt? the mage thought to himself, as the smith continued to berate him.

Dejectedly, Vess put the pastries down on the kitchen table, genuinely sorry that they hadn’t put Alloy into a better mood, genuinely sorry for himself, that is. He sighed out loud and plopped down on a chair, waiting for Alloy to be done.

o.O.o

To say that Alloy was merely angry at Vess, was the understatement of the year. The horsesmith could almost feel his blood boil as he spoke to the guy. He didn’t care that Vess couldn’t understand a tenth of it even.

“...And that’s just what the guards would have done! What in Celestia’s great name urged you to go out alone?” he exclaimed as he jabbed with his hoof as near Vess’ face as he could manage, “the gall you possess to actually put me, and yourself in danger like that is just darn right insensitive, you damn fool! What do you think the authorities, or Luna forbid, Platinum would have done, if they found out that an unknown creature roamed the streets of Hoofington, huh?”

As he continued to scold him, he noted that Vess was squirming where he stood, then revealing a pair of yellow cupcakes that he had held in his weird five-digited appendages, offering them to him.

What? Alloy observed the pastries, got closer and smelled them, then he facehoofed quite hard at Vess’ ignorance.

“You went to Lemon Dream’s shop, didn’t you? Luna give me strength,” he sighed and rubbed his temples, “that’s not your everyday shop, you ignorant dimwit, but what use is there in even explaining it to you? You don’t understand what I’m trying to say anyway. Hang on a minute, how did you get money in the first place?"

He looked up, and saw Vess sitting on his kitchen chair, partially looking disinterested in what Alloy had to convey, and started picking at his small claws instead.

The smith jabbed his hoof into the guy’s shin. “You could at least pretend that you listened!” he yelled.

This caused a very sudden reaction from Vess, and by sudden reaction, Vess immediately grabbed hold of his left leg, screaming out in pain like a banshee. Well if Alloy didn’t have the guy’s attention, he was probably more inclined to listen now. Served him right though, bastard.

If Alloy had looked intently at Vess’ mouth, he would maybe have been able to make out the word ‘motherfucker’, forming on his lips. Some things were just universal.

It was apparent however that Vess’ pain wouldn’t just pass as if he had been smacked lightly. He was now visibly crying his eyes out as he still held onto his shin for his life.

Alloy suddenly felt a chill going down his spine. What if he had broken something, who knows? The guy’s skeleton could be very fragile after all.

“U-umm, are you okay?” he quietly spoke to Vess, trying to get his attention. The creature shot him a look full of tears and anger, that Alloy interpreted as ‘does it look like I’m okay?’

“Shit,” he muttered. If Vess had indeed broken something, where would he go to get it fixed?

After a while, Vess’ wailing turned into a muffled sobbing, and the creature closed his eyes, looking like he tried to concentrate.

The smith’s eyes went wide as he saw a dim light illuminate from the guy’s dulled right claw. Vess touched the area where Alloy had landed his devastating blow, and winced a little as the light’s glow gently sank into the red area. He continued invoking this power, until the injured shin slowly got its natural colour back.

Alloy noticed the sweat that had formed on Vess’ forehead, and how excessively tired he now looked, yet couldn’t do anything other than gawk at what he just had done.

By the Sun and Moon, he just performed magic in front of my eyes! he finally thought as his brain finished processing the whole ordeal.

Vess slumped back into the chair, his leg looking visibly restored, albeit Vess himself was utterly exhausted, as was reinforced by his laboured breathing.

“Well, I’m not really sure how to respond to a situation like this,” the smith said out loud, “I mean, you just freaking healed your own leg, something not even the everyday unicorn could do without a lot of practice…”

Vess look at the pony hazily, while rubbing his own temples with his claws. He then glared at Alloy again, as if he dared the smith to try and repeat the action.

“Hey, look,” the earth pony started, “I’m sorry okay? I was just very frustrated and you were being a jerk, basically.”

Vess scowled at him, but nodded as well, perhaps noticing the tone and the worrying frown of the smith.

“I had no idea you could do magic though, have you always been able to do that?” he asked. Would have been useful to know prior to letting the guy stay, now Alloy’s headache only increased in its intensity. Vess was just a wonderful box of surprises, and trouble. In fact, Alloy paused for a second to let out a tired sigh, he was only trouble.

Vess only shrugged at what Alloy said, clearly not understanding the pony’s inquiry.

Alloy exhaled audibly again. “Yeah, stupid me, expecting you would actually understand me. But I mean all this time I-” he stopped and thought for a moment at the last word he had said.

Time? Wait a minute, wasn’t there-, his eyes widened and he turned quickly to look at his kitchen clock. “Oh..OH NO! No, no, no, no, no, oh fuck my life!” he exclaimed, and bolted for the other room which led to his workshop.

o.O.o

Vess cried out in surprise and pain, as he felt Alloy’s rockhard foreleg connect with his shin, fracturing his tibia. He doubled over, grasping his poor leg, while muttering swear words at the smith.

He heard some sort of concerned sounds coming from Alloy, and glared at him to make him shut up. He didn’t want his stupid apology.

Argh, motherfucker! It hurts so bad, this is worse than the time I almost got choked to death by Gilbert….Ah, fuck, I think the bone is partially broken, he thought, while he tried to hold back tears.

Okay, Vess concentrate, he encouraged himself. Just gotta stay calm, and focus to alleviate the pain, you can do it…

It took him a little while, but soon he could feel the familiar soothing touch of the healing spell, mixed in with a little bit of ice magic to cease the swelling.

He continued casting the spell to accelerate the healing process, until he could feel that his shin had been restored to its previous non-abused state.

Vess fell back into the chair, exhausted by prolongedly uttering the same incantation. It was a taxing spell if any, one that he seldom used anymore, since he mostly could dismiss close to any threat before they reached him nowadays. However, it had been great to heal bruises from his less patient instructors back at Skyshard’s Hold.

Alloy, the bastard however, had taken him by surprise. Vess never would have guessed the smith had it in him to actually jab at him like that, and thus had paid the price for trying to nonchalantly ignore his scolding.

Vess looked up and glared menacingly at the horse. He witnessed Alloy staring directly at him, his face a mix of wonder and worry, saying something in the process that the mage didn’t quite understand.

Heh, well. He didn’t expect that I presume, he thought as he rubbed his temples with his hands, and then continued to glare at the smith.

Alloy said something more in ‘horse’, which Vess only shrugged off, not even trying to grasp what the smith had tried to tell him.

What followed after was actually quite hilarious. The smith suddenly had some sort of epiphany, since he had looked up at the small clock on the wall and gotten a panicked look on his face. This was then followed by Alloy darting to the living room door, faster than a troll could pass gas in its sleep.

Vess could only mouth the words ‘the fuck?’ in response to the little horsesmith’s actions. He smirked as he realized what was going on. Looks like someone is in trouble, he mused, while he stood up to check if his leg would support him.

Finding it to be almost as good as new, he walked towards the door, and stepped out to ‘converse’ with the grey, little equine.

On his way out he noticed that the large chest near the door was now open, but empty of any content. He pushed the door open and stepped out in the chill of evening, his breath smoking from his mouth and nostrils, to see Alloy frantically working at the forge. The horse looked like he was trying to heat it up, but desperately so.

Vess could hear him panting heavily while muttering in his own language. He looked around to find the cane resting near the anvil of the workshop. It had now been expertly decorated with gold and silver, forming containers for small gems to be place inside, still missing the platinum.

He soon spotted it, resting near Alloy, looking like it had several dents in it, but remained a small ingot still. He can’t get the forge warm enough to work the metal, that’s why he’s panicking. He’s afraid he won’t be done in time, he thought.

Even though Vess was still pissed off at Alloy for almost breaking his shin in half, he couldn't help pitying the poor smith, whom forcefully tried to mold the metal. If noblemen were anything alike his home’s posh and stuck up lords and ladies, he knew that Alloy was in for hell.

Alloy sighed to himself. The things I do….

Changing his mind about taunting him, he strode up to the smith, who clearly had become frustrated with the fact that nothing he could do, would end up making the metal bend to his will.

Vess laid a hand on the horse’s shoulder, making him jump slightly, but then just brushed it off and sighed deeply, without turning around.

The mage contemplated the situation again, then smiled as he tapped into his resources. Alright, time to show him I’m not a complete ingrate, hope I still got some juice left in me for this.

Vess hummed melodically, while he focused on the flames in the forge. His fire-attuned magic always seemed easier to deal with while he was singing for some reason. Soon enough, they intensified and gradually got warmer.

Alloy's ears picked up the serene song coming from Vess, and a moment sooner became surprised as he felt the metal starting to groan and yield under his touch. He glanced around to see that Vess was in deep concentration, his hands glowing dimly with a fiery shine.

Vess opened an eye just at the time as Alloy turned his head. The mage made out a small ‘thank you’ from the horsesmith’s mouth, until the equine returned to the matter at hand.

Just finish what you started, you little dumbass, Vess thought, while containing a grin.
Throughout the chilling evening, almost long into night time, the echoes from the smithy sounded strongly in the town of Hoofington.

Author's Note

Sorry I took so long with this chapter, I've been busy battling a cold.
Well here it is anyway. Leave a comment if you'd like and tell me how you think of the story so far.

//ZergPony