A Short Tale

Chapter Ten: Stubborn as a Mule

With his new clothes on, and a fresh start, it seemed like everything was going pretty alright. Besides the whole injury deal, and the cyan nemesis he got acquainted with, but those didn't count to him. He wondered for a few seconds about a new bow, as well. Maybe when he could actually do it, he would. Unfortunately, he didn't have all the tools ready. He thought to do it, but remembered the lack of a knife he had. His claws might have been able to do it, but it would be annoying and tedious. He was honestly happy to not have much of a worry in that world.

Of course, his moment of laxity was rewarded by some sort of earthquake. He was outside the cottage when it occurred, and he was simply dozing off right before it happened. Now was no time to joke around, as this could have been serious. He remembered that Fluttershy was actually in town, so he had to go see if she was alright. It wouldn't do him good to have his only doctor down and out, would it?

He rushed off to Ponyville, and found the earthquake to be getting larger. It was about the time he actually entered the town to find that the shaking had stopped quite abruptly. He stood before a single minty pony with a single little horn. It's eyes were sort some of golden color. He noticed that ponies had a lot of different eye colors. The strange thing was that this pony was sitting there, staring at him. He decided conversation could scare it away, as he had slightly more important things to do. "Hello there, little pony."

It's eyes pierced into his, and then slowly moved downwards, a little off to the side. He wondered what it wanted to look at. He sat down, letting him get to see it eye to eye. It still looked down. He lifted an eyebrow and his hand, slightly wondering why it was looking down. As he lifted his hand, the pony stared at it. "You... You actually have those..."

"So you do have a voice. And yes, I do have hands. They are a thing, I suppose." He was slightly getting freaked out by this pony, but it was nice seeing how different they can be.

"Are you one of those... hu-nam things I had a dream about?" He was really freaked out now.

"I'm a close relative of them. Well not really. I guess we share the same body structure, but besides that not too much connects us. Their hands are softer than my hands. And they have nails instead of claws. I can't really think of them as anything but disgusting."

"But then... What are you?"

"If you somehow had a dream about humans, I would like to think you have an idea of what I am. I am known as a lizard-man. We were a strange mutation that occurred long ago due to magic, and a select few of us are magic voids." She looked at him strangely at the mention of a magic void. "Magic doesn't work on us. Whatever you put forth, we absorb with minimal, if any, damage or effect. Not the best thing, but definitely not the worst." He arose to his feet. "Anyways, I have something I sorta need to do. I'll be glad to answer any questions later." He wasn't planning on meeting this pony anytime later. Or ever. She was just too creepy for him. Dreams about humans? That was his one tip to say 'nope' and leave.

"Oh... Okay. See you later, Mr. Lizard Man!" She waved at him as he left, uttering nopes in quick succession. He tried to find Fluttershy, hoping there was no wreckage to the town he would have to sift through. Thankfully enough, he actually saw her come his way. He wandered over to her side, slightly lagging behind as he wasn't sure where she was going.

"Oh, Longshot! Hello. How was your day?" It was as if she didn't even notice him getting behind her.

"I'd say it was pretty fine, but there was an earthquake that interrupted my day dreaming."

"Oh... That was actually a stampede... Applejack managed to stop it though before it hit Ponyville, so don't worry! Everypony's okay." That was great news.

'Was Applejack the orange one or the pink one? Oh wait, it was definitely orange. Orange has the strange accent, and Applejack has a strange accent.' "That's great to hear."

"Pinkie Pie went ahead with Mayor Mare to throw a celebration for Applejack."

"How sweet. Guess I'll have to go there."

"Oh... No, you don't have to, I mean don't you have to sleep a lot?" Was he slacking off that much? He needed to go into the forest again.

"Not necessarily, no. Are you going?"

"Well, yes of course. I mean, it's my friend Applejack and I can't just not come." Sure she couldn't. Then again, she actually has friends. Travian had a marvelous lack of friends over his life. The only real friend he had was his brother, who wasn't really there for him except when he was needed.

"I'm coming then. I can't just leave you all alone! Your shyness would destroy you."

"Oh well..." She something really quietly.

"Excuse me, what was that?"

"Rainbow Dash is going to be there..." He lifted an eyebrow. "Don't you not like her? From what I saw, I mean, you two didn't get along very well."

"I trust her not to be a problem." He can now roll out the trust card. It was his second favorite, his first being the trump card. Basically, he put his trust in someone as a test. If that person doesn't follow through, all trust will be demolished. Thankfully Fluttershy stopped trying to persuade him not to come. He wouldn't stand in the crowd, so there would be no problem.

Travian had actually gone next to the forest, but only to perform some target practice. The magic needed to be culled, he needed it, and he had more than enough arrows to do so. After a week of doing so, he saw Fluttershy signal to him with a beckoning motion. He moved over to where Fluttershy was. "Whaddya' need?"

"It's time for the celebration... Didn't you say you wanna come?" He did. He simply followed Fluttershy into town, where he saw the streets being empty yet again. He left the bow and quiver on him in case of emergencies that might occur. Magically locked doors did exist, and so did dangerous magical creatures. Normal creatures also existed when he thought about it.

The crowd of ponies he saw was quite vast. He decided that instead of standing behind the stage, he would just stand where he was. It was better to remain out of sight rather than risk getting into it for a moment. Fluttershy walked on past him, up on to the stage. Travian decided to take a seat on the ground. He then heard a silly voice. "Oh no, what if I miss it?" He looked to his side to see a strange pony with wings. It was grey and had blonde hair.

"I guess every planet has typical blondes..." Travian said under his breath. Then the blonde pony looked at him with... Her eyes were extremely strange. One looked up while the other was down.

"Excuse me sir, do you know where the celebration is?" She must have also had terrible eyesight, as he was clearly not a pony. Still, he shouldn't be mean to people who can't see so well.

"It's over there." He pointed in the direction of the crowd, but then remembered that she couldn't see. Of course, he was wrong as she proceeded in that direction towards the end of the crowd.

"Thank you, kind mister!" She said that before she left. Travian really did wonder how all these interesting ponies appeared in this little town. He spent a few minutes looking at his bow before hearing something off behind the building. It was Twilight's voice.

"Welcome everypony! Today, we to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small! A pony who's contributions to-" The voice changed to that of his nemesis.

"Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week, she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's going to be SO AWESOME!" Twilight took over again.

"Exactly! And-" The pink one literally bounced in. He could hear a bounce.

"This week, I get to run Sugar Cube Corner for the first time!"

"... What does that have to do with Applejack?"

There was a pause. "Oh! Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!" A bunch of cheering occurred after that. Travian decided to cheer as well, even though it would be very quiet. It helped in spirit.

"Okay, that's great, now if I could just make a point without being inter-"

"Twilight?" A soft voice spoke. It was hard to hear, but Travian did it.

"-rupted."

"Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack's also helping me this week with the official bunny census-" Travian spoke out.

"Wait, that's an actual thing?"

"-, where we count up all the baby bunnies that were born this season. She's going to help gather them with her wonderful herding skills." Travian was really confused.

"Wait, just baby bunnies this season? And you can herd bunnies? What?" A short little pause occurred before Twilight said "Anyone else? Anyone?" A few coughs and a silence. "No? Well then, as I was trying to say," There was yet again a pause. These ponies and their pauses. "Ugh! Never mind!" Another voice.

"And so, without any further ado, it is my privilege to give the 'Prized Pony of Ponyville' award to our beloved guest of honor. A pony with the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity, Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend, Applejack!" Cheering soared throughout the crowd. Travian saw a flaw in her statement, however.

"Wait... Isn't dependability and reliability the same thing?" When he finished, however, the crowd was silent except for a certain 'dragon'.

"Whoo! Way to go, Applejack, that was awesome, I mean... Heh..." Travian had to look out from the corner to see the situation. Applejack wasn't there. That was most certainly awkward. For someone who was reliable, she doesn't seem to come to these things.

"Ahem." There was a big silence. Travian swore he heard something in the crowd, but he couldn't make it out. Then a loud voice with a strange accent made itself obvious.

"I'm here! I'm here!" He heard a yawn. It was plain to hear that she was tired. "Sorry Ah'm late... I was jus'... Woah, did Ah get your tail?" She was most certainly clumsy, as well. "Miss Mayor, thank ya kindly for this here... Award thingeh... It's so bright and shineh!" He then heard some siren sounds from the pony. A second pony was included. Twilight took the stage again.

"Oh... Kay. well thank you, Applejack, for saving us from that scary stampede and always being there for everypony." Travian had something to comment on.

"Always being there for everypony, huh? Well why wasn't she here when she was supposed to?"

Applejack spoke again, yawning quite a few times. "Yeah, I like helpin' the pony folks and... And stuff... Oh, uh, thanks!" He then heard a loud scratching noise. She was probably dragging a trophy or something. He would probably have to help her. Eventually, he saw her as she was dragging it. It was a little bit out of sight from the pony crowd, so he supposed he was alright. He crouched down low to avoid being seen and started his trek to Applejack.

The trek was not long and arduous. "Hey, Applejack. Do you need help moving that?" She dropped the trophy once he spoke.

"Huh, what?"

"I said do you need help moving that?" She yawned in front of him. Then she got some sort of serious look on her face.

"No! I dun need no help from nobody! I can do this..." She yawned, loosening her expression. "... all on my own..." Travian was not having that sort of answer when the trophy was on its side.

"Here, just lemme make it easier-"

"I told ya I can do it!" Travian's hand was just about to touch the little handle on the trophy, but then he backed off.

"Alright, fine. You can do it. Just don't blame me when you find out you can't do it." Travian turned away from Applejack and walked away. He did enjoy helping people within a certain degree. When it was something like that, he of course would help. If he was getting paid, though, he would move everything she wanted him to move. What she did kin of ticked him off, but it was a good day still.

Or at least it was until he saw Twilight. "Oh? Hey Longshot, what are you doing here?"

"Tried helping Applejack. Didn't work out as planned."

"Oh... That's..."

"By that, I mean she refused my help entirely."

"Oh. Wait, she did? I never thought she was that kind of pony..."

"She is. Anyways, I'll just go back to Flutter's place and probably take a nap." She halted Travian.

"Before you go, I need to ask you a question. Why is it that when Fluttershy talks to you, it's like she has more confidence, or that she's less shy than when she talks to us?" He could answer in multiple ways, but most would piss Twilight off. He could also answer any way and it would be wrong because he didn't understand a single thing about females.

"I guess it's because I'm more of an animal than a person. Or pony, or whatever you call yourselves." He fit the bill for reptile pretty well. He supposed that society was rather cruel to Fluttershy earlier on, making her rather scared and shy of ponies in general, making her resort to animals. Either that, or it was a complete accident.

"I guess that does make sense... Oh well, I'm off to see Applejack. Tell Fluttershy I said hi." She walked off towards where he left. He would have to ask Fluttershy why she was so shy.

He forgot to ask Fluttershy about his questions. When he remembered them, he discovered her missing. She was probably off doing her... bunny census with Applejack. 'Seriously, who does a bunny census?' He was eating a fish at the time. 'Oh no! The annual fish census is incorrect by one!' He laughed internally at his little comment. He noticed most of the fish he ate were raw. While he preferred them raw, he knew they were rather filthy and disease filled and what not. He would have to find some place to cook them.

Yet again, he felt a shift in the wind. He didn't take time to grab his bow and quiver to get up and run for the door to the cottage. He rushed for the knob of the door and tried turning it multiple times. It was locked. If he picked up his quiver, he could have discovered if it was a magical lock or not. Thankfully, he had a fish. Albeit half eaten, but still a fish! His ultimate plan for defense was simple. He would use the fish as a weapon, slapping anyone with the magical and immense powers of the massive trout!

The cyan devil, however, was not seen. She was getting good. He then looked off in the distance, seeing a small dot. He tried to focus on the object, finding it to be a large dragon. That was the shift in the wind. If he was smart, he would have reported the sighting, but knowing that Twilight had a enslaved dragon, he supposed that dragons weren't a big deal here.

'Still... A large dragon can do some sort of harm... Oh well.' He went back to his spot to demolish his weapon with his mouth.