Chapter 17
The Town On The Edge Of The Forest Pt.3

When I opened my eyes I was gifted with the sight of Lucky still lying in bed with me in the same position we fell asleep in. We were still in each other’s arms, her soft body pressed against mine. Her muzzle was mere inches from mine and all my self-control couldn’t stop me from planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Much to my delight, her eyes shot open and her arms squeezed my body as she returned the kiss. She let out a happy sigh as her eyes closed, still pressing herself against me.

I squeezed her in return and slowly broke the kiss. “Sleep well?” I asked, feeling a big, dumb, Patches smile on my face.

“Oh yeah, you really helped me work the last few weeks’ worth of stress out,” she said as she stretched. “What about you, Scarface? You look like you just won the lottery or something,” she teased as she pinched my nose.

“Best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time,” I said as I gently swatted her teasing hand away. “Ready to go tackle the day?” I proposed, my eyes glancing out the window. The sun hadn’t come up yet but the sky had taken on the pale, pre-sunrise blue.

“Uh, the sun isn’t up yet Scarface,” she said flatly. “The only reason I’m awake is your dumb face,” she teased as she kissed me again.

“If that is the case, would you just lie with me then?” I asked after her soft kiss.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. She nuzzled into my neck and tucked her chin down.

I’m not sure how long we lied there, but it wasn’t nearly long enough.

Once I saw the sun beginning to rise, I rose myself. Lucky let out a soft groan of discontent and settled back into the bed, pouting at my departure. I knelt by the window and bowed my head to deliver my usual morning prayer.

I heard Lucky walking up behind me. She didn’t say anything at first, probably trying to figure out why I was kneeling by the window.

“Are you… Praying?” She asked softly. “You’re all kinds of weird Scarface,” she said. I could hear the smile on her face.

“Yes,” I responded quietly.

“What for?” She asked as she squatted behind me and hugged me. I could feel her cheek against the back of my head.

“Forgiveness for my mistakes, the strength to continue on and do whatever is deemed necessary, safety and health for my friends and family,” I slowly dropped my hands as I looked back at her, gently holding her hand. “Another chance to come back here,” I added with a smile.

“That last part is definitely something worth wishing for,” she said as she squeezed me gently.

After finishing my prayer I rose, Lucky still hugging me. “You’re practically glued to me,” I said with a small chuckle as I turned to face her. She loosened her grip enough to allow me and I returned her embrace.

“You sure you have to go?” She whispered, burying her face in my chest.

“Yeah, I am,” I spoke equally softly as I ran a hand through her mane. I looked around the room for a few moments, my eyes settling on our discarded clothes.

“Come on. Let’s get dressed and find Patches,” I offered a smile. “We can still spend the rest of the day and have fun looking for that big doofus.”

She smiled at my proposal and nodded. “Sounds good Scarface, but don’t forget breakfast. I dunno about you but last night really helped me work up an appetite,” she said as she retrieved her shirt and put it on. She picked up her shorts and made a face. “I’m gonna go to my room and get some fresh clothes, meet me downstairs in five?”

“Sure thing,” I responded as I picked up my clothes and started pulling them on.

Lucky headed out the door and downstairs, leaving me to ready myself. I got my clothes on quickly and started donning my armor. Five minutes would be plenty of time. After I put my helmet on I lifted my pack and headed downstairs, a carrot from my pack in hand.

The lobby was empty at first glance, then I saw Ray standing behind the desk with his arms crossed. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he heard Lucky.

“Damn, looks like you beat me Scarface,” Lucky called as she hurried down the stairs. She was wearing a different shirt and a pair of shorts that left a little more to the imagination than the pair she was wearing last night. They actually made it to her knees too.

“You two sleep well?” Ray asked, I couldn’t read his tone but Lucky seemed unfazed. She just walked past him into the kitchen.

“Yep!” She called from around the corner. I could hear the clinking of a glass and shortly afterward she came walking around the corner with a small glass of blood. “Just a minute Scarface, lemme knock this back real quick,” she said with a smirk.

“I hope you know you’re washing the sheets today Lucky,” Ray said, turning to face his daughter who was emptying the glass.

“Mmhmm,” was all she really managed as she flashed him a thumbs-up.

“I can’t embarrass you no matter how hard I try can I?” Ray asked as he looked away and shook his head.

Lucky lowered the empty glass with a smile. “Nope, keep trying pops. You might just get it right one day,” she taunted as she headed back into the kitchen to drop the glass off. Just as quickly as she had entered the kitchen she was back out and heading to the door. “Come on Scarface, the morning’s wasting!”

“I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Lazy Griffon Inn. Please come again,” Ray said almost sarcastically to me.

“I plan on it!” I said with a smile and a little wave to Ray as I left.

“One more thing before you two go!” I heard him call from inside. “Don’t you dare leave me hanging when the lunch rush starts Lucky!”

“Don’t worry dad I won’t!” She called back in reassuringly.

“Alright, since Patches never told me where he was going I guess we ought to just ask around and see who saw the giant red Pegasus last,” I said as Lucky strode over to me.

“Sounds good,” she sniffed and smirked. “Or we could just follow my nose,” she said as she took the lead down the street I had last seen Patches walk down.

“Ok that is handy,” I admitted as I followed her. “You can tell people apart by their scents?” I asked as I scanned the buildings we passed.

“Yeah, he’s got a real particular one too,” she said with a half-smile. “Like a mix between my favorite food before I got turned,” she paused a moment and thought. “Mixed with sex appeal,” she said with a chuckle.

“Wha?” Was all I could really manage.

“It’s a smell that you want to eat and screw at the same time Scarface, probably how he’s got such good game if he gets laid half as much as his ego makes it seem. Pheromones are pretty influential to people who can pick them up,” she explained as we stopped by a three story building that had several large wagons parked in front of it.

The wagons all looked like the kind caravaners carted around and the presence of goods in most of the wagons confirmed my suspicions. Except these were much larger.

“I can’t smell him past here over that other smell,” Lucky said as she scrunched her nose up. “Ugh, it’s so overpowering,” she closed her eyes and looked away.

I started to notice the smell too, the only thing I could think of that smelled that strongly were…

I spotted one of the caravan guards as he walked around the wagon and I realized why the wagons were so much larger than usual. The hulking figure had to be at least ten feet tall and built like a brick shithouse. A fucking Minotaur. He paused just a moment to look at us and narrowed his eyes, giving a snort.

“What’s your business here? Come to trade?” He asked as he eyeballed my pack.

“Actually I’m looking for a friend, maybe you’ve seen him? He’s a Pegasus, about nine feet tall, vermil-er, red, goofy smile?”

The Minotaur nodded and held up a hand for me to stop. “He’s inside with Gertrude, go bother them, I don’t care. I think they’re on the third floor,” he said with a bored sigh as he leaned against one of the wagons and watched the street.

“Alright, thanks,” I said as I walked past him, Lucky in tow.

“By the way,” the Minotaur called over his shoulder. “I know what vermilion is, he screeched it at us so much not even a rock could make the mistake,” he grumbled.

A rock? Weird analogy.

I stopped and shuddered a moment. Rocks… I did NOT want to think about sentient rocks.

“You alright Scarface?” Lucky asked with an arched eyebrow. “That was one heck of a dance you just performed,” she commented.

“Yeah I’m fine. I just remembered something disturbing is all,” I said with a dismissive wave as we made our way past a couch that sagged beneath the weight of a snoring Minotaur. The room was a mess, there were empty tankards that reeked of alcoholic cider, plates covered in scraps of food and clothes randomly strewn about.

Once we navigated the messy room we reached a hallway that was split down the middle, on the left it continued through the building and on the right it was a staircase that lead up to the next floor. To our immediate left was a kitchen that was even messier than the previous room. A lone Minotaur sat at the table groaning softly and rubbing his forehead, a tankard of fresh coffee in his hand.

We decided to tread lightly through the rest of the building until we reached the second floor where it sounded like the party hadn’t finished yet! It was dead silent on the first floor but up there it was so noisy the walls were vibrating. Someone had put one potent charm on this building! That or it was some object these merchants were using. I didn’t stay to find out.

“This is really fucking loud! Let’s get Patches and get the fuck outta here!” Lucky called over the din, her ears flat against her head.

We headed up to the third floor and the sounds and smells changed drastically again. The sounds of music, dancing and cheering had been replaced by the sounds of sex. A lot of it.

“What the fuck Patches…” I said with a sigh as we started forward.

There were several doors dotting the hallway, he could have been in any of these rooms!

SMACK!

“Aaaaahhaahahaha!”

“That was Patches’ voice!” I called as I started toward the door from which I heard his voice. Lucky reluctantly following me.

THWACK!

“Haaaaah! Is that all you got?!” I heard him yell from behind the door. Yep. Definitely this one.

I reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and gave an experimental twist. It was unlocked! I pushed the door open and what I saw shocked me. I must have stood silent in the doorway for at least a minute.

Patches had propped himself against the wall with his forearms and was completely naked. The Minotaur he was sharing the room with had her back to the doorway so neither of them took notice of us.

“You have been such a naughty pony! You must be punished!” The female Minotaur shouted before spanking Patches’ bare ass with a smack that echoed off the wall.

“Aaah! You got two hits left! Make em’ count!” Patches called over his shoulder, that cocky tone in his voice told me he was grinning.

“Such a very,” THWACK! “Naughty!” SMACK! “PONY!” SMACK!

Every strike caused Patches’ body to tense up and he visibly grit his teeth at the last strike. He opened his watery eyes after her assault ended, chuckling loudly. “Heheheheh, so we want to go past our allowed number of spankings do we?” He growled as he slowly turned around.

She backed away slowly, turning so I could see part of her face. I could see a look of mock-fear as she continued her act. “Oh no, I’ve made such a terrible mistake!” She looked away, the back of her hand against her forehead. “Are you… Going to punish me?”

“Definitely!” Patches shouted as he pounced with enough force to lift her from the floor and land on the bed a few feet away. They were using it as a crash-landing pad!

Patches pinned the Minotaur down, his wings flared up to the point where they were scraping the ceiling. His eye flicked for just a moment toward us and he stopped. Looking over at Lucky and I with a smile.

“Ohi Alex!”

“What the fuck Patches?!”

“Yeah I was about to do that,” he said calmly, like he was just having a normal conversation.

“Were you just letting a Minotaur spank you?!” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah, she’s kinda into that, and I’m the only pony tough enough to take a spanking from her, so she says anyways,” he punctuated the end with a shrug. “Plus do you not see this boner?” He asked, letting go of one of her arms to point down.

“I was trying very hard not to!” I yelled, looking up a little.

Lucky meanwhile leaned over sideways a little to get a better look. “Holy fuck. I figured after seeing him at the checkpoint that it was big but… Damn!” She said with a little laugh.

“Ease up Lucky, you’re gonna inflate his ego even more,” I warned.

“Are these friends of yours Patches?” The Minotaur asked as she sat up a little to look at the doorway. “They’re so small!” She called out, a massive smile on her face.

“I know right? It’s weird!” Patches said whilst looking back at his… New friend?

“Hey, Patches. You do know we’re due out the gate before noon right?” I asked the partially distracted Pegasus. How he was maintaining an erection in this situation was far beyond me.

“Yeah can you give me like two or three more hours? We won’t be late for our checkout time I promise! I just promised Gertrude here another round!” He looked at me pleadingly.

“Alright alright! I’ll meet you at the checkpoint no later than eleven! Don’t be late!” I ordered as I turned to leave. “Come on Lucky let’s get out of here.

“Right behind ya,” she exhaled through grit teeth.

We raced down the stairs, through the trashed front room, and out the front door of the building as quickly as we could. We paused for just a moment to look back and shared a collective laugh before navigating the carts. We bumped into that bored Minotaur again and he looked at us with an arched eyebrow.

“Find yer friend?” He asked, still leaning against the cart.

“Yeah, he was. Uh… Busy,” I responded.

“Hahahah! I could’ve told you that!” He straightened up as he laughed. “Ohhhh, but I didn’t! It was so worth it! The looks on your faces?! Priceless!” He continued his laughter for a few more moments as Lucky and I took our leave.

“Well we have a few hours Lucky, want to show me around your town?” I asked as we walked at a leisurely pace down the street.

“You want to spend a few hours just walking around?” She asked incredulously. “You’re leaving soon and neither of us have any idea when or if you’re coming back and you wanna spend the next few hours just walking around?!”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” I said as I held my hands up and stopped. “Cut the IF crap. There is no if. When. When I come back. I’m not gonna ditch you,” I offered a little smile. “I’d like to know the places around here that I like to visit for future reference! Then the next time I visit we’ll have fun things to do together and I’ll be able to spend more time here,” I said as reassuringly as I could.

“Alright,” she said with a little shrug. “But you owe me another good bang for this,” she pointed a finger up at me and smirked as she turned and started down the street.

“I’ll keep a tally,” I joked with a little chuckle. “If these are our last few hours together for the foreseeable future, we should try to enjoy them. No matter what activities we choose,” I added.

“Alright I get it Scarface,” she looked back with a playful smile. “Follow me around, you’ll see it’s a pretty average town. The only things that really stand out are the wall and the people who live here.”

“You almost sound bored with life here,” I suggested as I caught up with her.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love it here. I have a great dad who looks out for me and helps me stay fed, the community is really careful about the vampire population, we’re all documented and so are our feedings. My dad and I both have to sign off on a little sheet of paper every time I have a glass of blood and get the time stamped to verify my urges are kept in check,” she sort of spat the word.

“So no surprises?” I asked.

“That’s just it though! There’s never anything surprising or exciting! We’re so busy carefully maintaining order amongst the population that we barely have time for common celebrations and festivals. The last time we had a fireworks display we actually managed to NOT set a house on fire! I just wish it would get a little more exciting around here,” she said with a loud sigh.

We were passing out of the commercial district and into the residential one, there were a few rows of houses with little lawns. A few streets over I spied what looked like a playground, it was empty this early in the morning but a few people were beginning to mill about.

“Well if you wanted a change of scenery-”

“No Scarface, as much as I would love to just run off with you on some crazy adventure I just can’t,” she looked down and gave a frustrated huff. “The system we have here works, it’ll keep me fed and stop me from having some kind of incident. What if we went out there and you couldn’t keep me fed? I’m pretty sure there aren’t donors lining up outside the town to feed hungry vamps and you’d get sick and weak trying to keep me fed enough to kill my urges. What if I lost control and attacked someone? Or even you? I couldn’t risk something like that,” she said whilst shaking her head.

“Alright I understand, bad idea,” I said as I grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She squeezed back and looked my gauntlet over. “Your armor looks so wicked. I feel like hugging you would get me cut up,” she said with a little chuckle.

“I needed it to be this way to keep me safe. So far it’s done well outside the desert too. Sorry I can’t give you a proper hug,” I tilted my head and softened my expression.

“Yeah yeah, come on let’s get on with the tour,” Lucky said as she tugged on my hand.

We continued along until we reached what was called the Entertainment District. There were theatres, concert halls, art galleries, and a museum! There were also a few small decorative floral gardens and plazas that were exceptionally well-maintained.

“You complain about there being nothing to do when all of this is around?” I asked incredulously. “There’s music and performances and art to look at!” I turned out my hands and looked at her, expecting some kind of explanation.

She offered a shrug. “Eh, not a whole lot of new content pops up since the outbreak. The groundskeepers love the place though, so they work every day trying to keep the plazas and streets clean,” she said as she scanned the area. “The street performers are where it’s at. I heard you caused quite a stir yourself yesterday when you shot a bit twice,” she said with a smirk. “You almost caused a lockdown too, the guards were grabbing their weapons and taking to the streets before they realized it was a street performance,” she shook her head and chuckled.

“Yeah, I can’t help but stir up a little trouble every now and then,” I admitted. “Of course, when I’m not causing it, it’s following me on its own,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah you are pretty fun, and I guess we can spend some time around here watching plays and staring at paintings and sculptures if that’ll really turn your crank,” she stuck her tongue out. “Boring.”

We continued through the Entertainment District until we reached an area full of high-density farmland. There were little square plots each growing a different kind of crop. Suspended from several hanging pots of soil were tomato plants, growing with gravity rather than up a cage. There were a few Earth ponies tending to the crops.

“All these miniature farms keep everyone fed?” I asked as we walked along the edge of the farmland. We were keeping out of the way of the workers by not entering the spaces between the little plots of land.

“Mhmm, pretty much. We’re still able to trade a bit with travelers for things we can’t grow here or don’t grow because of space.

“Wait you said all the vampires are kept fed through donations, so how do you keep Gargoyles fed? I thought they had to actually eat meat and couldn’t get by on blood alone,” I said, stopping to look at Lucky.

“See those little huts on the edge of the farmland?” She asked whilst pointing toward a few small house-like structures. “They breed rabbits there, feed em to the Gargoyles. Thankfully we don’t have many to feed,” she said as she resumed the walk.

As we continued we came upon a much more relaxing looking garden with a few benches and a pair of willow trees providing shade. The edges of the garden were lined with small shrubs and there was even a bird bath tucked away into a corner.

Seated in the middle of the garden were a pair of Earth ponies. Each had a bright orange piece of cloth wrapped around their right arm, it was the kind of orange one would see on a hazard sign next to a construction zone.

“Are they?” I started to ask.

“Yeah,” she responded quietly. “Gargoyles practicing meditation and breathing techniques. If they get too pissed off they start transforming and it is always downhill from there,” she murmured quietly as she passed.

“So they’re basically monks now?” I asked as we left the area.

“Pretty much,” she said as we started back into a busier area of the town. More people were out and about after the sun had risen and we stopped in front of what had to be the tallest building in the town. It was maybe four stories tall.

“Town hall?” I asked, not looking away from the building.

“Yeah, new mayor is being elected in a week or two. We hold most of the festivals in this square and I guess town hall could be a pretty important place for you in the future,” she trailed off a little and smiled as she looked down.

“Important?” I asked, looking down from the building at her.

“If you ever… You know, need to apply for citizenship,” she said as she looked up. Was that a hopeful glint in her eye?

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a little smile of my own.

There wasn’t much of the town to see after her tour and before long we were waiting at the checkpoint for Patches. The clock on the wall read 10:30 and Lucky gave out a little sigh.

“As much as I want to be here to see you and your big, dumb, friend off I gotta go. Dad’s gonna need my help getting ready for the lunch rush,” she looked down a little and grabbed my hand.

“I’m going to come back Lucky,” I said as I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I promise.”

“Don’t go making a promise if you don’t know for a fact you can keep it Scarface,” she said looking up at me.

“You worry too much,” I said as I pulled her close and gave her a kiss.

“Oh take it somewhere else,” the checkpoint guard said with a groan.

“Hey! You don’t like it just blink for thirty seconds or something… Ya prick,” I heard Patches say from the doorway.

Lucky slowly peeled herself off me and let go of my hand. “Stay safe you crazy punk,” she smiled as she spoke but her eyes betrayed her sadness.

“I’ll do what I can,” I said with a reassuring wave as Lucky left the checkpoint.

Patches and I signed out on the roster and the guard time stamped it.

“Hey you two,” the guard said as we opened the door to leave. “Come back here sometime, you seem like good people. Plus I wouldn’t want to disappoint Lucky if I were you,” he said as he pointed at me.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I responded as Patches and I left the room.

We walked around the town’s wall, waving to the occasional guard in a tower or guard atop the wall. We continued along until we reached the rolling hills at the base of Canterlot Mountain.

“Well Patches, looks like we got a day or so of plains ahead of us,” I said as I surveyed the landscape. We’d be able to spot anyone approaching from miles away, but the same would be true of us.

“Yeah, you ready for this?” He asked as he started walking.

“You know it,” I said as I followed him.

Author's Note

So yeah Alex+Lucky = Diabetes and that ship sails itself!

Patches is being Patches again, and I really didn't like having to write about them leaving. Stay tuned folks, I'll try to get the next chapter out before too long!

-Jake