FarNeigh

Freedom.

If one word could describe my feelings in the moment after the jump from the plane, it would be freedom. Cold wind rushed through my mane, while the sun warmed me up with its warm rays of blissful light,urther increasing my excitement. Not a single cloud dared to block the sky.

I opened my eyes, and gasped, for I had never before witnessed this kind of beauty. The blue ocean stretched around me, far beyond the horizon and in middle of this beautiful, endless ocean of blue, an island stood, which I was getting closer to by the second.

Jungle stretched for miles, all shades of green greeted my sight, only disrupted by what seemed to be small settlements, impressive ancient ruins and a giant grey mountain cluster, white Snow glistening on top of each.

"Yeeehaaaa", Smoky rushed down next to me, making me stop eye-balling the island.

Looking around me I now saw my friends, also dive bombing towards the island, ready to open their parachutes and get on this adventure with me. The only one without a chute was obviously Sunny, she just glided down with full speed, grinning and visibly happy to be out of that plane. I couldn't blame her.

"This is fucking awesome!" Trigger shouted from my left.

"It's just starting!" I shouted back, hoping he would hear me, "race to the shore, onetwothreego!"

With this I put my body in a straight position downwards and increased speed. My doubts about Trigger hearing me were quickly relinquished when he overtook me with what seemed like light speed. Oh it was on.

Aerodynamic was the key here, and I knew how to use it. Shifting my body in an optimized position I slowly caught up to my little brothers silhouette, before passing him. I took the time to look back up to him and wave my hoof before turning back down and diving towards the now fairly close island.

Details like the light blue colour of the water near the shores, or small islands cluttered all around came to view now. Beautiful bays and bright sand of the shores dominated the outskirts of the main island, ranging from high and rocky to low and sandy. I even saw some waterfalls crushing down into the water.

I didn't want to be at any other place at that moment.

"hey slowpoke"

I turned my head to look up but was greeted with a grinning Trigger rushing past and taking the lead. Shifting every bit of relevance of my body, I gained even more speed, and got closer to him one again. Our friends seemed to take it a bit slower since they were nowhere to be seen.

As I got closer and closer to my brother, I noticed that there was still a solid ground below us, and that we were moving directly at it.

I moved a bit and aimed for the shore.

"Trigger, time to open the chutes!"

He didn't care to turn into my direction, but I still heard him enough to understand what he said.

"Nice ruse bro".

I would lie if convincing him to open his parachute first wasn't atleast a bit of a ruse to win, but my concerns about crashing into the ground were real too. I knew Trigger, and this was exactly why I proceeded to open my parachute and started to glide down. I was sure he would have risked to hit the ground relentlessly to be the winner, and I didn't want to push it.

With the sound of my opening parachute, Trigger turned his head, and he gave me a smug grin before opening his own. We both now glided down towards the glistening shore on a same height level, our expressions matched each other perfectly, we just stared at our destination wide-eyed.

Soon after a sound caught my attention, I looked upwards and saw that the rest of my friends caught up and opened their parachutes while sunny was gliding down with both wings spanned out. I did worry a lot before jumping about us dispersing and getting lost on the way down, landing on different places, but seeing that everybody was here made me quickly forget about these thoughts.

"Let's see if you remember how to land", Trigger called to my right and I saw him preparing for the landing maneuver. I swallowed hard, he was right, I did not remember a lot about landing at all. Jumping down is easy enough, but landing without braking a bone? I shivered from the memories of all my failed attempts in the past.

There was no way i would give him that satisfaction though. The ground was just a few feet away now, I leaned back and prepared for the touchdown. When I felt the sandy surface I shifted back forwards and prepared for the landing roll I learned year ago. Left hoof, right hoof and- in a matter of seconds I was entangled into the parachute threads and stumbled over the shore.

The world was spinning around me and I thought it would never end, luckily a palm tree stopped me with a rather painful collision. I knew I halted but still the world around me spun and it took me a minute to regain all my senses. Finally being able to move and think straight I fumbled myself out of the miserable ball of cloth and threads I came to be.

Of course I knew what would be the first thing to greet me. A grinning Trigger Happy standing in front of me, without even a scratch, in the background the rest of the group landed without problems, Sunny, again, just gliding down softly to the ground. I really wished I was a Pegasus in that moment.

"Trigger. I love you, but if you say one thing I will personally kick you back to Manehattan, you understand that?".

He was really fighting to not give comment, I could see it, but after a few breaths he calmed himself enough to speak without risking to burst out in laughter. He simply turned around and started to walk towards our friends.

"On second thought though...Nice landing bro", with this he began to ran while giggling and laughing like a filly.

"TRIGGEEEER!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

20 minutes later and we were still walking down the shore towards our destination: A little holiday compound. At least this confirmed that Hoof island was as big as it looked, just the shore itself seemed to stretch forever. One time we arrived to some signs signed "Trespassing forbidden" and marked with a red pony skull, we assumed that maybe some deadly animals were at that point and happily used a secondary path to walk around it.

Even if everything seemed deserted and without civilization, the sound of a vehicle could be heard from time to time, and the omnipresent dark smoke clouds raising from all directions reminded us that settlements and pony life was on the island. Sunny was having the best time, looking at the different plants and animals on our path, but I admit that even i felt something magic from this environment, the singing birds and contrast of all colours really gave everywhere we went a unique look.

Half an hour and another "Trespassing forbidden" sign later we arrived at a small compound situated at the edge of the shore, between sand and jungle. It was no five star hotel, but after examining it we concluded that everything was in order. A fireplace for food and warmth, two rather large barracks with beds and cabins, as well as what seemed to be a office or workroom of some sorts in the 2nd floor of both. A garage stood between the two other buildings and a wooden fence that looked like it couldn't even stop a dog from entering, as it was full of holes and broken parts, making it acessible from virtually everywhere, encircled everything.

It was when we almost finished unpacking our belongings around our claimed sleep areas (we settled on using a single barrack, it was easier to organize and to keep warm) we heard Silver giving a shout of joy.

"Guys, guys!", he came running into the room, "you will never believe me what I just found".
He led us into the garage which apparently wasn't locked and made us form up in front of a cloaked pile of equipment, except that it was no equipment at all.

"Voilà!", he tore down the piece of cloak on top and revealed a beautiful and apparently well preserved Jeep Mustang in front of us. It was painted in a light brown colour with a slight military pattern, the back cover was removed and a spare wheel could be found in the designated place at the rear of the vehicle. While the mares in the room just raised an eyebrow or seemed to be happy that we found a way to travel, the jaws of us stallions dropped.

"Didn't they stop building those a hundred years ago? Oh Celestia, this is beautiful, lets make a tour! Let's make a race! Oh man this is awesome!"

"Smoky, contain your orgasm please, we don't even know if its working, but you are right, shes a beautiful lady, isn't she" Silver said, patting the chasis of the vehicle, "we could drive up mountains with this thing, it packs some serious power, how could someone leave it here?"

"Because it's old", Violet said quickly.

"Because its loud", Sunny followed.

"Or maybe because somepony called it beautiful Lady in front of his marefriend?"

A certain pair of eyes was now clearly focused on Silver.

"C'mon Violet, heh, you know how I meant it, I mean, uh-", ah yes, if there was one thing not so Silver about my brother it was his toungue.

"I see", Violet seemed to be unconvinced, "well, lets go Sunny, we will leave our car fetishists alone with their newest object and finish unpacking".

Silver didn't even have time to respond before they left the room.

"pff, mares, right?", Silver asked pleadingly.

"Yea, totally, man, mares, dude...", we all responded.

"Now, who wants to help me in testing if this badboy is still kickin'?"

A collective smile followed his question.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"IT'S ALIVE! YES!" Smoky gleefully shouted from the driver seat.

After rolling the Jeep out in the open, we tried to make a immediate start, which unfortunately resulted in a loud explosion and a rather big smoke cloud coming out of the engine, but now, two hours later, we finally found the problem and our baby was running as she was supposed to. We even named her: "Explorer I".

"Guys", Silver appeared between me and Trigger and put a foreleg on each of our necks, "I cant believe it, we finally repaired this boneheaded thing. Mhmm, and listen to that sound".

Silver was right, the strong engine was sounding like a beast. And apparently we were not the only ones who at least noticed our new asset.

"I knew these things were loud, but this is insane" Violet shouted from the door frame of our sleeping barrack. "I can barely hear my own thoughts!"

I bet she could.

"It isn't that bad, you're just grumpy because we interrupted "my ladies" nap", I shouted back.

"You have to be kidding me, this is monstrous!"

It wasn't.

"It isn't, now get Sunny and prepare yourselves, were going on a tour".

"Ugh, fine", she waved a dismissive gesture into my direction but I knew she and Sunny would be ready in a bit.

"And now I officially dub you, Explorer One!",

"No Smoky do-"

It was too late, he had already smashed a bottle of wine against the Jeep before I could even fully turn, the red fluid soaking in on some spots and changing the scent from old to, well, red wine.

We really couldn't do anything except face hoof at this point.

"What? I dubbed it, isn't this how it works?"

I took the job of answering him, through my hoof, still planted on my face.

"Smoky. you only do that with ships. And even then you don't just use our only bottle of wine!"

"Aww, come on, it will bring us luck, you will see!"

"Let's hope it will. For your sake".

Smoky actually dubbing the vehicle made me wonder why no one else does it. I mean sure, the Explorer I seemed to have a decent paint and chasis quality, and It didn't seem to have take any damage from the collision, but maybe one just had to use special bottles for casual cars so they wouldn't get a scratch? We had no more red wine, but at least now I could imagine that luck was on our side, and I was almost sure the others maybe thought the same way. Gotta stay positive, right?

"So, we are heading out or what?" Violet called from my side, with Sunny hovering above us.

With Sunny and Violets arrival nothing held us back to begin. We already had everything we needed on our bodies and decided to go immediately. Of course Violet wore her Military painted Bonnie, but I had to admit that it actually matched with the colour of the jeep and didn't look as out of place as every single other time I saw her wearing it.

This did not help to distract from the rest of Violets appearance, which was definitely way to classy for a trip through the jungle. Her mane was perfectly clean and styled, and her clothes...since when did those labels even make clothes like that?

Silver insisted on Driving, Smoky on sitting in the front row and the mares took the seats in the back, while I and Trigger took the places on the load space. It wasn't the most comfortable place, but there was a great view and enough means to hold on, so it didn't bother me at all.

"Okay", Silver started the engine with a powerful roar, "Let's see what this island has to offer!".

With these words and spinning wheels we drove on to our first exploration tour on Hoof Island.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

It took us only an full hour to get completely and utterly lost. The seemingly endless jungle with its hundreds of dirt roads left us all without a clue of our current position. Thank Celestia Violet found a map inside our sleeping barrack before we started driving or else panic would have been guaranteed.

But even without orientation, the jungle was a sight to behold. Giant trees ranging high to the sky, colourful plants and flowers I never saw before and even some of the wildlife presented itself to us. Majestic four legged creatures, with two horns roamed through the few open field spaces we saw. A Pack of wolves rushed through some bushes close to the road, apparently looking for prey. The most interesting creature that came to view though was a cat like animal, nearly resembling a lion, but with a completely dark fur and predatory eyes. I only caught a glimpse of it, but it looked dangerous and beautiful at the same time.

I didn't know much about animals, so I never knew if any of the creatures I saw also existed back home, but the sheer amount and diversity presented here was amazing.

We drove on the paths in moderate speed, to make sure to not miss anything, and only stopped when Sunny was telling us to.

"STOOOP!" And once again Silver hit the break relentlessly, nearly throwing me and Trigger off the Jeep.

"Sunny, what is it this time?" Silver asked with a annoyed tone in his voice.

Sunny jumped out of the jeep and hovered to a red flower next to the road. As I focused on the flower I noticed the little hummingbird sitting on top of it.

"Guys, this is a Linesis Lodigesia, I thought it was extinct, not a single one lives in Equestria anymore!".

"Boooorin-ungh" Smoky yawned with stretched out forelegs before getting a hoof of Silver in his stomach, cutting off his breath before ending his complain.

Sunny, not showing a reaction to Smokys comment, was still staring at the rest of us with big eyes, really fascinated by this little creature. Unfortunately it was one of those moments when I had absolutely no idea what to say.

"Uh, sweet, good to know", I started.

"Yea, I really like its....colour?" Violet tried before it was Silvers turn.

"Indeed, it's-"

"Oh Celestia, this is AWESOME!" Smoky suddenly shouted while getting out of the vehicle, startling all of us. He did not move to Sunny tough, but quickly trotted to a group of big, blue, flowers with an orange outlining at the edge of the road.

"Guys, do you even know what these are?"

"Uh...", I began but got cut off quickly, I should have known that it was a rhetoric question.

"These are Blue Devils! Oh, this is going to be awesome~", he chanted while stuffing one of his saddlebags full of the blue and orange blossoms, his eyes eying every piece he took, "trust me, this stuff will blow your mind!".

Yep, that's Smoky for you. While Sunny enjoyed the beauty of plants, Smoky worshipped the things you could do out of plants. Heck, neither of us was innocent on that matter, but that pony could make you anything you needed for a party if you gave him enough time and maybe a hint where to find the ingredients.

"Welp", I started, "Since Sunny has her hummingbirds and Smoky has his plants, I call that we make a break, I want to see whats behind that curtain of Bushes and trees".

I jumped off the back of our vehicle and stretched my legs with a long sigh, it really was uncomfortable up there.

"So, Trigger, Silver, want to join me?" I asked while grabbing a backpack from the loading space and strapping it on my back.

"You didn't even had to ask!" Trigger Happy shouted with glee and joined my side.

"Nah, you kids go and play in the jungle, I, uh, I'm gonna see what this Blue devil stuff is all about". Silver answered, visibly awkward due to Violet already beginning to realize what this was leading up to.

I began moving to the tree line with Trigger, but before I even crossed the first bushes Violet shouted at all of us:

"And what am I supposed to do?!"

It was a good question, but I knew the answer. I didn't want to leave Silver to her like this, so I answered.

"Have a snack and find a way back to the compound, sounds fun? Okaybai", I shouted back with a awkward smile and maybe, just maybe, a bit of a mocking tone in my voice. Not wanting to deal with the consequences I just increased my pace and moved further into the green wall, my little brother trotting eagerly at my side.

I could only Imagine Violets pissed off face in that moment. Was I feeling her stare in the back of my head? It sure felt like it, good that I was clever enough not to turn around.

____________________________________________________________________________________

A few minutes later, trigger and I were deep inside the jungle. I kept checking the compass I had strapped to my right foreleg, the last thing I wanted was to be lost in a jungle on my first day here. The rest of my concentration was focused on admiring the world around me, seeing, smelling and hearing the wonders of this island.

Every twig that cracked under our hooves, every animal that hushed through the bushes or flew from a tree, each sound of the birds, not visible in the trees, was just wonderful. Even the exotic smell of the mixed flora was interesting to me. I could see Trigger from the corner of my vision, watching his surroundings with the same awe as myself.

"Dude, this is awesome...I don't know how to thank you enough for this".

As Trigger started to speak I noticed that we didn't say a word since our first steps inside the tree line.

"Thank me?" I said and stopped.

"Yea, it was your idea after all, you bought the tickets-", I could recall most of the things that happened that night at this point and knew very well that I didn't "buy" them, but I decided to stay quiet, I didn't want to imagine how he and the others would react to such a lie, especially Silver, so I just nodded, "-started the whole thing and now you led us here, to this awesome place."

It wasn't often that my little brother got all emotional like this, but I guess the atmosphere of the jungle had a interesting effect on him.

"I didn't want to bring it up with the others, since I'm not sure if all of them are having a blast like I do, but I had to thank you, so again, thanks bro". He extended a hoof to me and I gladly bumped it.

"No problem Trigger, I'm sure the others are having fun too, I know I do."

I gave a little awkward cough and continued.

"Now, lets talk about how the pony known as Trigger Happy got so sentimental all over sudden, man, you nearly brought me to tears!"

Even before the last word escaped my mouth I ran further into the eastern direction, laughing loudly.

"Oh you- come here!!", was all I heard before he rushed after me, now laughing himself too.

Both of our laughter died down quickly though, as we didn't pay attention and stumbled out of the dense jungle into a huge clearing. Except it wasn't a clearing at all, it was a huge stone complex, with huge pillars at the edges of a square area, in the center of it a platform with what seemed like a big stone altar on top of it, stood a bit elevated. There were no roofs of any sort.

"Whoah", was all Trigger said, I for my part was literally speechless.

The Stonework was impressive. Every single pillar and ground tile was engraved and had ornaments. The numerous green tendrils surrounding and growing through the stone only added to the looks.

"Dude, this must be some kind of ancient ruin or something".

Smoky began to take slow steps towards the center of the complex. I wasn't really sure what to do at that moment. Yes, I was here for adventures, but I just had a bad feeling about it. I reluctantly followed him, always keeping my eyes on the surroundings. As we got closer to the center, I also began to make out more of the engravings on the pillars.

They showed all kinds of creatures, ponies, griffons and even what seemed to be a dragon. The pillar closest to me had some kind of, battle, engraved, while another apparently told the story of a dragon, who spit fire into the ocean? I couldn't really follow these things, and I had more important things on my mind at that time anyway.

I swallowed and finally opened my mouth.

"This sure is a interesting place. What do you think they did here?" I said without looking in front of me and ended up bumping into Trigger who had stopped and now was looking directly at the altar, his mouth hung open and his eyes had a slightly horrified look.

"What is i-" I started to say, but as I followed his gaze, I too noticed the bones on top of the Altar and a small shiver overcame my body. These were bones of a pony!

"Bolo, I don't know about you, but this place is giving me the creeps, we should bounce".

I was creeped out as well. Not only because of the bones and what seemed to be blood stains surrounding it, but from the sound of what movement around us.

"Yea, I think Violet should have figured out how to get back by now anyway. So, lets go".

Just as we began moving back from where we came from, the sound of rustling bushes could be heard again, and then I saw them. A pair of red eyes stared at me through the darkness of the dense jungle, then another one, and another, soon I counted four of them lingering there and staring at us, their growls already echoing through the ruins we were standing in.

Trigger obviously had spotted them too, as he was visibly getting nervous and trembled slightly. This was not how I envisioned our first trip out here at all. We should have taken the initiative and just ran back to our truck, as fast as possible. Unfortunately our bodies refused to do that right now, and all I could was was slowly move backwards back to the altar, Trigger was following me with the same moveset.

"B-Bolo?".

"It's gonna be okay Trigger, stay close to me".

Meanwhile the numerous red eyes moved out of the bushes and plants and showed themselves. Five wolves, their height ranging up to my neck and their coats grey as stone, were encircling us. It was the first time I found myself face to face with such a creature, I heard about these and other creatures before, yes, but you do not encounter these kind of animals in a big city, and actually standing in front of five of those beasts, their mouths already salivating from hunger and still eyeing us as the prey we were, was a completely different thing.

They walked in a circular motion around us, and soon me and Trigger found ourselves bumping against the disgusting altar, having no more space to retreat. Instinctively I began unsheathing my machete with my magic, making sure to not make any too drastic movements or use a lot of magic and startle the beasts for an early attack.

There it was, the slightest twitch in the leg of one of the wolves, in a matter of milliseconds it made a leap for me, but I knew what to do.

"Gah!".

I dodged to the side just in time for the wolf to miss me, giving me an opportunity to magically finish unsheathing my machete in the progress. I knew I had no other choice, so I took a swing without regrets, slicing a long wound in the hind leg of the wolf, now laying on the ground, stumbling to get up after the failed attack.

As soon as my blade connected with its flesh, splashing a streak of blood onto my white coat, it cried out a whine, having a immediate effect on its companions. In a single motion the other wolves began rushing towards us, bloodlust in their eyes.

"Bolo!".

I turned my head, and for a split second everything I saw was the hungry mouth of a wolf, followed of said wolf being thrown to the side by a white blur, an instant later Trigger was wrestling the wolf, that was just inches away from biting my face of, on the stone floor.

"Ahh, there are more coming!", he shouted using his fore hooves to keep the fangs of the beast on distance.

I wanted to finish what I had started, and do the killing blow to the wolf I had struck into the leg, who was now laying in a growing puddle of blood, but with two more incoming, I couldn't risk leaving Trigger there. I decided to meet one of the wolves mid way, using my machete to created a shield and block the anticipated leap towards me. With a crunch the grip connected with the jaw of the creature.

The only things that kept me from utterly loosing my mind in despair and disgust at this whole turn of events was the adrenaline rushing through my veins, and my little brother, which I had to protect.

The entire complex we were fighting in was now filled with our groans of fighting and the whining and growling of the canine creatures taking blows and cuts from me and Trigger.

I was just about to turn to the next wolf, already charging my direction, when I heard it.

BLAM

A loud bang resonated, followed by a loud whine and a body hitting the floor. Everything went silent after that, even the wolf I was about to fight with stopped in its track. I quickly looked in the direction of the bang and saw Trigger standing in front of the limp body of a wolf, a smoking gun was floating next to him, encased by his orange magic aura.

For the longest time we both looked around us, waiting for a reaction from the pack, now reduced to three, one of them wounded. After what felt like the longest time, one of the wolves let out a loud growl into the air, and with this they retreated and dispersed back into the tree line, one of them limping and whining, but apparently afraid enough to ignore its pain and going as fast as possible.

Seconds later we were alone again, one of the wolves laying on the stone floor, its head showed a bullet hole and a large puddle of blood was forming around it, dripping down the little stairs leading to the elevated altar. For a while all we could do was pant, then I regained enough breath to speak again.

"You...you packed your gun?!"

He was still under shock, but could answer.

"Yea, you never know", he shot a glimpse at the dead wolf, "what you may run into when you travel, right?".

All the tension of the past minutes faded, and I sat on my haunches to calm myself. My coat was full of blood stains, I had taken a good amount of scratches and even a bite in the shoulder, having left marks which were still slightly bleeding. Trigger got away much better, his shirt and backpack were torn up like mine, but he seemed to have avoided any damage at all and was storing away his gun inside his backpack.

"Yes, right...thanks Trigger, I think you just saved us both", with a weak chuckle I added, "and here I was thinking I had to protect you".

"Oh, don't be like that bro", he said moving to me, "you're just getting...old".

For a second I couldn't react at all, but soon ended up in a small laughter, and Trigger joined me shortly after.

"We should really go back, I do not want those wolves to get their friends and come back, I'll clean myself up on the way".

"What are we saying about the clothes and the...wound?", he pointed at my shoulder.

It did hurt, now that the adrenaline was fading, but it wasn't something I could not live with.

"We just fell down somewhere, I hurt my shoulder, we will cover it. Now come on, you hit that one, but lets not push our luck".

I began moving back into the western direction, and heard a small "hey! Whatcha mean with luck?!" before Trigger trotted after me, back to our vehicle.

If only we had known that another set of eyes had been watching us for a long time already.
________________________________________________________________________________

After twenty minutes of walking, cleaning, and thinking about better excuses for our appearance, we finally reached the road where our vehicle was parked on. We quickly spotted the rest of our friends. Smoky was giving Sunny and Silver some prayer about exotic plants, still sitting on his haunches next to his beloved "blue devil", while Violet sat in the Jeep, just looking utterly bored and annoyed.

"Hey guys, we are back!", I said, waving a foreleg and everybody moved to us or got back into the car.

"Ugh, finally, I just want to get ba- what in Celestias name happened to you?!", Violet said in a shocked tone as she saw my bandaged shoulder and our torn clothes.

"Ah, that, its just some scratches, we, uh, fell from a little cliff, yea".

"mhmmmm, riiiight", Violet looked at us with suspicious eyes, Silver too, "well, since you kiddos are finished playing in the dirt, can we go back to the compound please?".

"Thats probably the best idea, I'm getting hungry", I looked up to the sky real quick, "and I also think sunset can't be too far away anymore".

We took our places in the Jeep again, this time I really wasn't happy about the loading space, it was going to be a painful ride with my wounds on this uncomfortable place. Silver shot me a last suspicious look, before starting the engine with a roar again, and moving back the way we drove along go get here. Violet sat on the front passenger seat, holding the map and giving him directions. From my place I could see a red route marked on the map from my place, leading from a position on the eastern side of the island, our current position apparently, back to the shore south where our compound had to be.

The ride back went relatively calm. I fought against the pain in my shoulder on the loading space, but was still able to admire the environment a bit more. The wolf attack did not set back my mood by a single bit. It was dangerous, it was stupid, it was my fault, but in a twisted, even insane way, its exactly why I came here for!

Only the fact that I put my brother in danger nagged at me. I would kick myself forever if anything happened to my friends on here. It would be entirely my fault.

An hour later and we arrived back at the compound, parked the Explorer inside the garage and prepared for the evening. The sunset was slowly kicking in, and we needed a fire to cook our provisions and warm us up, the evening breeze was colder than I had expected.

"what about you prepare everything and me and Bolo here go and find some wood for the fire?", Silver didn't wait for an answer, "Sounds good? Okay lets go!"

with this he dragged me along to the beginning of the jungle, a bit away from the buildings. As we arrived he didn't say a word and began picking up dry branches and twigs from the ground. I did the same with my magic, unsure what to say, waiting for him to relieve me form this awkward situation. He finally started speaking.

"Bolo, you know why I took you here", he said with a stern tone and a emotionless expression on is face, picking up another twig and putting it in the saddlebag on his right, "what happened earlier?"

It was one of those discussions. Silver always took it really serious when we lied to him, he outright hated it. He also had this ability to know exactly when we had something to hide, it didn't matter how hard we tried, if he wanted to know the truth about something, he would find a way to make me and Trigger spill the beans. Fighting it was senseless.

"Okay, I wasn't exactly telling the truth earlier", I reluctantly answered and added a twig to my ow floating collection of lumber next to me, "is that what you want to hear? There was a little accident, some wolves attacked us, no biggie, I had everything under contro-oaaahl!" I shrieked out the last words because Silver thought it was a good idea to touch my shoulder bandage, ever so slightly.

"No biggie, huh?", he said with a cooked eyebrow. Smartass.

"So what, one bit me, its not that big of a deal. Look", I said and looked him into his face, "I lied. Yes. I know how much you hate when I do this, but it happened and I didn't want to freak out any of you, especially Sunny, you know her. Accidents happen Silver, you know I would do anything to protect Trigger, and you also know that I am old enough to take care of myself".

"Yes, I know know that", he said, his voice getting a bit softer, "but sometimes I worry that things like these will end up killing you", he added with a sigh. "Come on, we got plenty of lumber for a nice fire, lets get back and let this day come to an end".

I started trotting into the the direction of the compound when he blocked me with one foreleg".

"We cool?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course Silver, you know you don't have to ask this, now lets go, I'm really getting hungry, and I bet you can't wait to taste some of that stuff Smoky took as well", I answered and we began moving back. After arriving at the compound, we set up the campfire at its designated spot, using the wood me and Silver gathered. We quickly managed to get a big fire going and wasted no time cooking some of our rations.

The food mostly consisted of corncobs on sticks and other grilled vegetables. Together with some hay as addition, it tasted really good. We sat in a circle around the campfire, telling stories and enjoying the atmosphere. The crackling fire, the cold breeze fighting against the warmth of the flames. It was a wonderful time, even Sunny was relaxed and quite playful. It was a peaceful and quiet time, well, except of Smoky, who was really blazed out and shouldn't have smoked two joints alone. I myself had to admit, he did not lie about this "blue devil" stuff, it was awesome.

"No, dude, I tell you. What if, I move to that town, uh, Ponyville, and like, get some friends and maybe Celestia will make me an Alicorn! Like Princess Twilight!"

"Smoky, you are an earth pony, you realize that, right? And you really want to be a princess?" Sunny asked with a confused, but somehow still cute expression.

"Earth pony, schmerth schmony. Shes Celestia, she can do everything, also, being a princess would be badass, okay? Ouh, maybe I will even let you guys be my humble servants when I get my own castle". He couldn't resist to look at each of us with that smug grin of his.

"humble servants heh?" Violet asked with a mocking tone.

"Do not fear my violet, I will treat you honorably! After you clean my room that is, or cook me something, or- AH".

Yep. A good box to the shoulder always helps, Violet got it right.

"Okay, okay, no servants, geez. Why do you always have to be like that. Come on Silver, say it, she has this dominant side, you see it too, right?"

Silver first reacted with a giggle, like everybody else, but even in this condition he feared Violets wrath, so he quickly switched to a obviously faked dismissive stance and a roll of his eyes.

The evening turned into night and we soon found ourselves quite exhausted and tired. The rough flight, the skydiving and that little encounter in the jungle really wore me out. I decided to call it a night.

"Okay guys, I think we should hit the hay, tomorrow is a completely new day to explore", I said, standing up and stretching myself a bit.

Everybody agreed, or at least did not disagree, and we began walking towards our sleeping barrack in silence, well, most of us did.

"Can we go on top of that mountain tomorrow? It looked so nice, or better, we go hunting, I would love to have a Tiger or something on top of my bed, or even beterer! We -"

"Smoky! For Celestias sake, please, go to bed and be quiet now, or trust me you will regret this mental torture you are putting me through harder than you can imagine!" Violet said in a stern tone and cold eyes.

Smoky raised a hoof and tried to open his mouth, but decided against it and began to quickly trot towards the two story building with everybody else.

"Dominaaaant", he whispered as he passed by me and entered the building first.

Before I entered myself I could hear Violet snickering and talking to Silver.

"Told ya I could get him to be quiet, even in this condition".

"What would be we be without you, my love".

I internally smiled and went inside, with the two lovers and Sunny following shortly after. Soon everybody was in their beds, either trying to sleep, reading a book or already snoring loudly. I, for my part, laid there with closed eyes, my thoughts wandering off into the events of the day, and dreams about things that would come. I was happy, my friends seemed happy, and it was only the beginning.

Somebody killed the lights, and I let out a long, satisfied sigh before drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note

[Insert blatant excuse for taking so long here]