Of Amphibians and Equestriansby AegisExemplarChaptersOut of the EverfreeWelcome HomeTaking a Step BackOut of the EverfreeAegis hated this route. Of that, there was no question. Unfortunately, there was no way to get out of it today. The research team, wanting to chronicle all they could of the flora and fauna of the Everfree forest had wandered far, far off the path — if that's what it could be called — and were now days late. Aegis had been hired to go in and find them. Why, oh Celestia why, had he accepted the assignment? Of course he knew why. The bits were good, and the researcher's sponsors really wanted that report. The researchers hadn't been hard to track since their sponsor had given him the route they were to have followed, but they'd only followed that route a couple days before leaving the path. After that they'd seemed to just go wherever their hooves had led them. Up one game trail, down another; following whatever (hopefully) little animal had made it. Aegis had lost the trail for a while at the top of a waterfall, only to find it again at the bottom. All Aegis could figure is they'd decided to simply leap off. Aegis flicked his tail, swatting yet another mosquito that had tried to work its bloodsucking way beneath his dull, bronze-colored armor. His brick-red fur was matted beneath; sweaty and itching, much like the short, messy brown mane currently compressed beneath his helm. No dye-job for him, magical or otherwise. He wasn't a conscript after all, but a freelancer, taking what jobs he could for whoever had the bits and a problem needing solved. Well, within reason anyway. He wasn't a killer-for-hire. The very thought left him wishing he'd had a lighter breakfast. The sooner he found Flora and Wildlife the better. Earth ponies like Aegis were built for hard work and heavy loads, but he sure could use a pair of wings or a horn right now, if only to keep the bugs away for the briefest of moments. Aria had gotten a horn after all; why couldn't he? Nopony knew how far back a unicorn had been in the family, but everyone knew there was one somewhere back there now. His other sister, Alamode, had admitted a little jealousy over the years. Flora and Wildlife's tracks had remained steady, making regular stops to study and occasionally camp for the night. Aegis had made considerably better time. Surely he couldn't be too far behind the team by now. Even their tracks seem to be hurrying through the vine-riddled green expanse, pace quickening as if to catch up to their owners. Aegis quickened his own pace, glad to surely be close now. The tracks had gotten fresher and fresher as he threaded through a particularly thick patch of vine. Suddenly, he burst into a clearing and found what he was looking for. A pair of forms lay together in the small patch of sunlight that had managed to break through the thick overgrowth, peacefully still. Aegis approached, a grin finally plastering his face. “Well, about time! How are you ponyfolk do-” Aegis slowed to a stop. Peacefully still. TOO peacefully still. A shadow flickered by from overhead, and a thump behind him had Aegis whirling about. “Welcome to the buffet, my little pony.” Aegis lowered his head and snorted, never taking his eyes off the griffon before him. “You! Who are you? What have you done here?” Aegis looked the griffon up and down. Gold-laced black eagle feathers, typical tawny lion's fur – not that unusual for a griffon. Scruffy overall, this one didn't appear to spend much time preening. The griffon began pacing to the left, returning Aegis' critical eye with one of his own. “Ah, some sort of errand-pony. A lost escort, maybe? I'm just here for my lunch. What's your excuse for being late to the party?” A small, sniffling, sobbing sound broke the repartee, leaving both parties silent for a split second. The griffon spoke up first. “Oh-ho, and what's this? An hors d'oeuvre? Or, heh, HORSE d'oeurve?” The griffon chuckled. Aegis did not. Even on the best of days, that pun was terrible. Aegis flicked his ears about, trying to pick out where the sob had originated. But the Everfree was...weird. Sounds could sound like they were everywhere and nowhere at once. The griffon had the same problem, however, and for that Aegis was grateful. The griffon had begun cocking his head about. Suddenly, Aegis remembered why griffons were considered an apex predator. Lion's cunning. Eagle's flight. Lion's strength. Eagle's eyes. And it appeared those eagle's eyes had spotted something Aegis had missed. Aegis braced himself, preparing to leap into action. He risked a glance in the direction he thought the griffon was looking and saw it: a slight movement in the brush, and perhaps a glimpse of purple. With the first sob, Aegis' mission profile had changed. There was a reason his cutie mark was a dark blue shield with a tri-pointed orange flame. Aegis pawed at the ground and snorted again, hoping to draw the griffon's attention back to himself. Negotiations were breaking down. The griffon, for his part, seemed to be growing bored. But griffons are half cat, and cats are never as they appear. The griffon leaped into the air and with a stroke of powerful wings dove at Aegis. Aegis had been waiting for a move of some sort, though perhaps not this exactly. Aegis kicked up with powerful legs, leaping straight at the diving griffon. This was, of course, the last thing the griffon had expected. Ponies were supposed to be a prey species; they certainly were supposed to fall on the “flight” side of fight or flight. What was wrong with this pony? “This pony” collided solidly with the griffon, armored peytral driving into the griffon's own chest and forcing the griffon backwards and into the ground. Aegis landed with four solid thuds, each hoof easily finding purchase in the leaf-covered ground. The lightly built griffon had been driven back by the stout earth pony but was already back up upon it's own mismatched limbs. The snarl upon its beak was of a particularly nasty sort. The griffon charged at Aegis, forgoing the aerial route in favor of the traction afforded his clawed limbs by staying on the ground. Aegis held his ground this time, waiting for his moment to strike. Earth ponies are strong as a whole. That was a given fact. Pegasi were built lightly so as to be able to fly, and unicorns hardly ever built up their muscles thanks to their powers of levitation. Aegis was an earth pony, and he was an earth pony who constantly carried the weight of armor. Heavy armor. With a spin on his fore-hooves, Aegis drew his rear legs forward, then drove them back in an upward arc, a powerful buck slightly off-center to their now mutual left by plan. The griffon saw this, and flared out his wings, diving to the right in an attempt to clear the hard hooves. It almost worked. The griffon had made only the smallest of errors in his avoidance strategy. In flaring his wings out and adjusting his run to the left, he had brought his wing in line with the powerful kick. A sickening pop and a gut-wrenching snap met the griffon's ears first, arriving just before the nauseating wave of pain. The momentum from the impact whirled the griffon in a counterclockwise half-circle, causing him to lose his footing and tumble over onto his right side. The screeching and writhing began before the agony had even registered. Aegis huffed and puffed, his adrenaline high draining away slowly as he took in what he'd just done. He trotted over to the griffon, whose all-too evident pain was driving it nearly beyond capacity for thought. “Hold still, you great buzzard. You're hurt.” 'Hurt' was an understatement, as even Aegis could see. He'd managed to break the twin long bones of the griffon's wing, the radius and ulna; judging from the angle it was flopping around at, he'd also managed to dislocate the wing's shoulder joint from its shoulder blade. The griffon lept up, pupils constricted in anguish and swiped at Aegis in desperation, succeeding only in scraping a trio of shiny lines in Aegis' armor. The griffon began backing away slowly. “H-hey, wait! If those breaks breach your skin-” The griffon screeched at Aegis, all signs of intellect driven out of his mind by the pain, and turned tail, fleeing into the forest as fast as his terrestrial limbs could take him. Aegis drooped his head. He'd caused severe injury to the griffon, and even if the griffon had done...that...to the research team, it didn't deserve to go untreated. Aegis strode to the researchers and gathered their saddlebags, slinging them across his back alongside his own. It wasn't much more weight than he was already hefting, and practically nothing compared to his armor. Aegis waited another brief moment then turned to the undergrowth where he'd seen the bit of purple before. Aegis wasn't a great tracker, so it was likely he'd missed a third member of the team, possibly an intern or some such. Or maybe it was someone who they'd picked up to haul equipment. In either case, Aegis would escort the survivor back to civilization. “Hello? Are you still there? It's okay now, the monster's gone. Come on out.” Aegis nosed through the bushy undergrowth. After a minute, Aegis finally found the purple he'd seen: a ribbon tied in a bow. Aegis stopped, momentarily stunned. No one had told him that Flora and Wildlife had a little filly. The earth pony filly was a mess, her dark brown, nearly black mane tangled in the thin-branched spidery bush. Her yellow-tan fur was in bad need of a curry comb. She was sniffling quietly, large brown eyes looking up at Aegis with fear. “Um, h...hey there, little gal. Uh, I'm here to take you out of the forest and back home.” Never mind that Aegis didn't know where “home” was, in her case. He supposed his client, Flora and Wildlife's sponsor, would likely know. He glanced back in the direction the griffon had fled, then to where the filly's parents lay motionless, thankful that she couldn't see them from there. “I wan' go home. I don't like it here, it smells funny.” The little filly, no more than four, looked up at Aegis with tears in her eyes. “I'm hungry.” Hungry. Of all things, hungry. “Ah, then, uh, come on, kiddo. Let's get something to eat.” Aegis picked the little filly up by carefully nipping her mane, then swung her around to ride on his back. He then cautiously picked his way around the clearing, sparing the filly from the sight of her deceased parents. “So, do you have a name, little one?” “Salianura” “Sally what?” The filly giggled. “Daddy says that's fancy for Leapfrog. Mommy says it's Daddy for over-edgy-cated.” Aegis chuckled., but found himself losing that lightened mood quickly. It seemed that he would have enjoyed Flora and Wildlife's company. Instead, he found himself leaving them behind. “Well, Leapfrog, They call me Aegis. It means...uh... well, something, I'm sure.” Aegis trotted on, finally coming back upon the tracks he'd followed before. He began backtracking them and soon enough, he'd reached the path that would lead back to town. The town couldn't come soon enough, as the little filly hadn't let him forget he'd promised her food. “I'm still huuuuuungry,” whined Leapfrog. “Soon enough. We'll be back in town soon enough. Until then, I think I have some alfalfa sprouts in my right-side saddlebag, if you simply can't wait for a proper meal.” Aegis felt her shift over to his left side. “Your other right, darlin'.” “Oh.” Aegis felt her shift again, nearly falling off his back. He moved a little, leaning the opposite direction to keep his charge from tipping completely over. After a moment of digging around she righted herself, a small bag of green and white sprouts perched on her hoof while she happily munched away on the contents. Aegis's stomach rumbled loudly. Leapfrog looked up in concern. “Wow, you must be hungry, too. You want some? It's yours anyway, after all.” “No thanks, Leapfrog. I appreciate it, but I can hold on for a little while longer. You enjoy, ok?” “Are ya sure?” “Yeah, I'm sure.” Aegis smiled, then trod forward, making decent time on the open path. Not having to pick through the undergrowth made this leg of his short journey that much easier. Leapfrog and her parent's saddlebags were no heavy burden, though the news he bore was a burden unto itself. Having not known Wildlife or Flora he was able to remain detached. Aegis hated that feeling, but without it he would have a very hard job indeed. Finally, another hour and another snack for Leapfrog later, The forest's edge drew near. An half-hour after that (and after the consumption of Aegis's emergency rations) they had finally arrived. “Well, Leapfrog, here we are. Welcome to Snaffleton.” Welcome HomeSnaffleton wasn’t much larger than its neighbor across the Everfree, one Ponyville, but it didn’t see nearly the traffic since it wasn’t on the direct road to Canterlot. What it did see was a lot of traffic into and out of the Everfree, traffic that kept Aegis in his armor and food in his belly. The Everfree Forest was absolutely full of things demanded all across Equestria, be it medicinal herbs, exotic foodstuffs, and even truly wild animals to stock its zoos. All of which required ponies willing to go in after them. Aegis had found his niche in retrieving the retrievers, but for everyday life he was much more of a jack-of-all-trades, mostly performing farm labor (which he liked) and sometimes handy-pony work (which he didn’t). He made sure to always have a clause when he started that emergency work came first. Unprepared ponies left to the mercies of the Everfree weren’t often heard from again. Aegis trotted down Snaffleton’s main thoroughfare, heading to the local inn where he was to meet his current employer, Catalogue Zoologica, who had also been Flora and Wildlife’s employer. He strode into the Bit and Bridle and right to the front desk, the red-yellow light of the sunset illuminating the front lobby in a odd, but not altogether unpleasant glow. “Pardon, but is Catalouge Zoologica in? I’ve finished her task.” Leapfrog yawned widely as the tan earth mare behind the desk looked up Catalogue’s room number. “She is. Or at least I haven’t seen her come out lately. Room 201.” She smiled at Aegis. Aegis returned it with a nod, then made tracks for the stairs. Aegis clinked upstairs in his heavy plate armor, balancing the harvest-moon colored bundle of hooves on his back carefully with the increased angle. She looked to be growing sleepy and, considering she had wiped out the food remaining in his saddlebags, he could easily figure out why. Luckily, room 201 was the first room on the second floor. Aegis knocked quietly and waited for an answer. The door creaked open and Catalogue stood there, a light green unicorn mare with a solid, dark grey mane styled into a bun. She wore a pair of square-lensed spectacles and was hovering a large tome to her right. Aegis had apparently interrupted her reading. “May I help you..? Oh, Mr. Aegis. I assume you’ve found my wayward employees?” “Yes, Ms. Zoologica, I did.” Catalogue looked around out the door, leaning around Aegis to look up and down the short hallway. “Oh, my, then where are they?” “Right where I found them.” Aegis looked to her, a slightly haunted look in his eyes telling her all she needed to know. Her team wouldn’t be filing their reports themselves. “I..I see...and did you...” Catalogue managed to steel herself. “And did you manage to recover anything?” Aegis shot her a look, then turned and grasped the recovered saddlebags, dropping them to the floor in front of Catalogue. “Just those,” Aegis turned, revealing the now sleeping bundle on his back, “and her.” Catalogue blanched. “I-is that a...? Did they...? Oh, my Celestia, they had a foal? And they took her with them into the F-forest?” Catalogue shook her head furiously. “No..no no no. They had a foal and I sent them into the Everfree forest.” “Ms. Zoologica-” “No, no, call me Catazoo, please.” “Ms. Zoologica, calm yourself. You’re going to wake her up.” Aegis shot ‘Catazoo’ a stern look, then let himself into her room. He gently slid Leapfrog from his back to Catazoo’s bed, then rejoined Catazoo at the door. “Ms. Zoologica-” “Catazoo.” It was funny what some ponies would latch on to when they were emotionally destabilized. Aegis sighed, compromising. “Ms. Catazoo, you may have given them the assignment, or asked them to do the assignment, or even begged them to take the assignment off your hooves-” Catazoo looked away from Aegis in guilt on that count “-but it was always their choice to take each and every step into that Celestia-forsaken wood. They chose...” Aegis sighed, “they chose poorly.” Aegis looked to the happily sleeping lump of cute on the bed. “And it’s neither you nor I who have to pay for that mistake. It’s her.” Aegis pointed to Leapfrog with his right hoof. Catazoo, for the most part, had calmed down. “What are we to do with her? Flora and Wildlife had both told me in the past they’d no relatives to speak of. I can’t keep her here.” “Where else do orphans go? An orphanage. Snaffleton doesn’t have one, though. She has no idea the change her life is about to take. I pity her, but it’s out of my hooves now. For now, though, I’ll be taking my payment, if you don’t mind. Their notes and other belongings are in their saddlebags.” Aegis motioned to the four bags still laying by the door. “Then you’ll be wanting your fee,” replied Catazoo in a flat, weak tone. “I would. That’s why I brought it up, after all. Starting to get a might hungry, and the little one there wiped me out. I suggest you don’t delay taking care of her. She’s got an appetite, that one.” Catazoo was beginning to get on Aegis’s nerves. “W-wait, what, me? I told you, I can’t keep her here!” Catazoo looked between Aegis and Leapfrog several times, her pupils constricting in a minor state of panic. “I’ll pay!” Aegis raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you will. I retrieved the reports successfully. Our contract is fulfilled.” “No, no, I’ll pay you to take care of Leapfrog. A new contract. I...I owe her parents for their work, as well. It’s hers now. Maybe you can use it to get her to the nearest orphanage?” Catazoo pleaded with Aegis, desperately unwilling to take any sort of responsibility for the poor foal. She looked like she was about to break into tears. “At least take her for the time being while I make the arrangements.” Foalsitting? This job had gone south since he’d entered that clearing, but Aegis hadn’t been working without reason. He needed bits to live on, and so he took the new contract. It was basically an escort, after all, and what could go wrong if the escort was just to his own home for a couple days? “Ok. Fine, you have a deal. Escort, or rather, foalsitting, I suppose, is ten bits a day. I wouldn’t tarry, Ms. Catazoo. That can add up fast.” The relief so evident in Catazoo’s eyes almost embarrassed Aegis, and it should have embarrassed her. Aegis’s opinion had soured on Ms. Catazoo quite a bit in the past ten minutes, but she had paid what was owed him and now had given Aegis what she owed Flora and Wildlife to keep on Leapfrog’s behalf. Whatever personal issues he had with her, her word was good. He hadn’t been paid to like her, after all. Aegis packed away the twin bags of bits -his own significantly lighter than Leapfrog’s - placing each in their own side. After securing the buckles holding each side closed, he trod over to the sleeping Leapfrog, nudging her with his snout. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Looks like you’re spending the night with me.” Leapfrog mumbled something unintelligible and didn’t stir. Aegis looked around the room, then trod back to Catazoo. “S’cuse me.” He reached down and grabbed Wildlife’s saddlebag -or Flora’s, he wasn’t sure - and unceremoniously dumped it at Catazoo’s hooves. She was too stunned to protest. Taking note of a small knitted doll, he reached down and pushed it back into the saddlebag, leaving the now very unsorted paperwork and the like where it lay. He slung the saddlebag over his own back, once more taking its place beside his own, and then very gently, picked up Leapfrog and slid her into the bag opposite the doll. She snuggled in, getting comfortable. She’d probably rode like that before. Aegis spared a glance at the still shocked Catazoo. “What? The bag’s hers, too.” Aegis then strode out, calling back “You know where to find us.” * * * Celestia’s Sun and Luna’s Moon had exchanged places in their daily cycle while Aegis had been discussing matters with Catazoo. Tiny pinpricks of light almost danced across the deepening night sky, not a single cloud daring to blot Luna’s perfect night. It had almost seemed that the day’s tragic events couldn’t have possibly occurred, save for the orphan snoring lightly in the saddlebag Aegis now wore. Aegis actually lived on the outskirts of Snaffleton, on the edge facing the Everfree. He had passed his own home on the way back in, a three-room building of small-to-middling size, more than enough for himself. He was to have a houseguest in the form of Leapfrog for a while, but he could manage watching a foal for no longer than he’d have her. Couldn’t be as bad as that snotty dark purple unicorn he’d escorted to Canterlot once, but he probably shouldn’t talk about his sister Aria that way. It wasn’t like he’d charged her. He nosed his front door open and and walked inside, scanning the room as had become habit for any sign of unauthorized entry. Surprisingly, he found a small basket of fruit, fairly fresh, with a note: “Hope you’re back in time this time to enjoy this.” -Fireball Aegis had to grin. Fireball had thought of him again, and this time he’d not come back to a basket of rotten fruit. Despite her name, she was one patient, caring pegasus. He grabbed an apple and gobbled it down in a mere moment. He was hungrier than he thought. As for the Foal in the saddlebag... He unslung the saddlebag and set it ever-so-gently on the floor. “Okay, Leapfrog, up and at ‘em,” he started, “It’s time to go to bed.” Ok, he admitted to himself, that doesn’t make much sense. Another tactic. “Leapfrog, want a snack before bedtime?” That got her attention, as she popped right up. “Poppa?” She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Aegis’s heart broke a little more. “Oh, Mr. Aegis. Did you say snack?” “Yes, a small one, then to bed with you. It’s been a very long day for both of us.” Aegis motioned to his bedroom. He wouldn’t let a foal sleep on his sofa, in the most undefended part of the house. He handed her an apple and a pear from the basket Fireball had left, a suitable bedtime snack for a foal her age. “Ooooh, thank you Mr. Aegis, I like those.” She grinned up at him, then tore into the apple with a terrifying juice-scattering attack of appetite. The pear fell next to her assault, also winding up just a core. Aegis fetched a wash-cloth, then lifted her chin up with a hoof and wiped her excesses away with the other. “Well...that was was interesting. No need to eat so quickly, I didn’t plan on taking it from you. Now, come on, little one, bedtime.” Aegis led the way to the bed, turned back the blanket, then stood aside as she leaped up. A massive yawn belayed any attempt at claiming she wasn’t sleepy before she had even tried. “Can I have a story?” Uh oh. “Uhh...Once upon a time there was a little filly who needed to go to bed, and she did. the...end?” “Mr. Aegis! That’s not a good story!” Rats. “How about a song? My Mother, Celestia rest her soul, always sang to us. My sister earned her cutie mark that way...” Aegis smiled softly. Aria had earned her cutie mark singing one of her bedtime songs to Aegis and Alamode the night after the three’s mother had passed. He would never forget that song: “When your little heart needs to rest at night; Don’t worry dears, Your mother’s near; Your father’s just in sight; They’ll keep watch over you After the day is through; And they shall be Always with ye Forever now, in truth” Aegis wiped a small tear from his eye. The song in his rough baritone managed to do its job, however, and he silently slipped out of the room, closing the door and leaving only the smallest crack to act as a night light for the now sleeping filly. Aegis trotted back outside, careful not to make much noise, and stepped into the shop at the side of his abode. Once again quietly as he could, he shrugged out of his armor, hanging it piece-by-piece on the racks on the wall. A place for everything, everything in its place. Aegis stepped back out, locked the shop, then went back inside. He helped himself to the fruit basket again, leaving only an orange and two bananas. The two kiwi he’d taken would do for now. He gently lay on the couch, choosing to leave the lights on, ate his kiwis, then closed his eyes for a nice evenings slumber. Taking a Step BackExhausted as he was, there wasn’t a dream one that would disturb Aegis’s slumber, and it was like he had merely blinked when dawn’s first rays entered the window and shone into his eyes. He rolled about, positioning his legs beneath him, and a small, warm lump scooted closer in, snuggling tighter. Aegis’s eyes flashed wide. What had infiltrated his humble abode and, more importantly, his couch? Many things flashed through his mind, wild animals most of all. Snakes had been known to infiltrate bedding in seeking warmth, though this was too solid for a snake. Possum? The nasty massive rats were, as far as Aegis was concerned, too unpredictable, though this lump was too large. By Celestia, don’t let it be a possum THAT large. Honey badger? Naw. Mythological creatures weren’t common to Equestria. Aegis slowly, ever-so-slowly, gathered his legs beneath him, still unable to see the whatever-it-was snuggling against him. With an explosive effort, Aegis lept up and over the back of his couch, landing square on his back with a massive thud. His blanket flew over with him, floating serenely down to cover his head. He scrambled up and, tripping ever-so-gracefully over the blanket, made his way back around to the front of his couch. The yellow lump revealed itself to be none other than his houseguest, Leapfrog. Aegis’s sleep-addled mind finally recalled the prior day’s events, when he’d agreed to keep an eye on her. During the night, she’d apparently decided Aegis’s large, comfy bed wasn’t good enough. And now, despite the sudden action of making a complete fool of himself, she still lay there on the couch, serenely snoozing. At least Aegis could be happy there were no witnesses. “About time you got up. What were you doing on your couch, anyway?” Ah. Of course. “Good morning, Fireball. How do you keep getting in here, anyway?” Aegis turned toward the kitchen half of the room, where Fireball, a burnt orange pegasus mare with a semi-wild shock of hair just as brown as Aegis’s stood, sipping on a cup of coffee. Fireball giggled, having of course witnessed the whole thing, from start to finish. “Trade secret. Still, why are you on your couch? Too tired to drag yourself to your bed?” Fireball strode toward Aegis, leaving her coffee on the three-seater round kitchen table, and planted a kiss on his cheek. It was about this time she noted the lump of yellow on his couch. “Uh, Aegis, what’s this?” She motioned to the sleeping foal filly on the couch. Aegis shrugged. “A four-legged escort contract who apparently decided my bed wasn’t comfortable, to answer both your questions.” Aegis gathered up the blanket that had rode with him over the back of the couch and tossed it over Leapfrog. She must have brought it in with her, as Aegis hadn’t bothered with one on the couch. The weather would be just fine until Winter’s Breath Day came. “Ah. And where are you escorting the little bundle to? Isn’t it a bit soon for you to have gotten another contract already?” Fireball motioned to the bags of bits lying exposed in the carelessly dropped saddlebags from the previous night. “You look like you’ve enough to last quite a while.” “Snooping?” Aegis said with a grin. “Observing,” replied Fireball. “Eh, well, the heavy bag’s hers, actually. And as for where, it’s right here.” Aegis spared a glance at Leapfrog, who was still sleeping. “It’s directly related to my last contract. I was sent in to find what turned out to be her parents. They...didn’t make it. I found her, instead. I’m watching her while Catazoo-” Aegis grimaced at using the awful contraction, “-makes arrangements to have her picked up by an orphanage.” “An...an orphanage? No one else can take her?” “She’s no pony left in the world.” “I see.” Fireball sighed, looking down. She’d had orphanage experience, though for only a couple years before she had been old enough to qualify to apply to a weather patrol position. She never spoke of those years to Aegis. Fireball looked back to Aegis, deciding to try and lighten the mood a little. “So, um, you’re so strapped for bits you’re foalsitting now, huh? Y’know I could make you a little loan...” Fireball grinned. “Har har. It’s more like guard duty. And it’s paying well enough, thank you.” Aegis shot her a smirk. “Shouldn’t you be napping on a cloud somewhere instead of instigating a home invasion?” “Day off, thought we might do something, but if you’re busy...” Fireball sipped at her coffee, having retreated back to the ‘kitchen’ section. “Hey, now, don’t be so hasty. It’s an ‘escort’ contract, not a ‘stand there and look menacing’ contract. Mobilization approved.” Aegis smiled at Fireball. “Oh, and thanks for the basket. It didn’t stink up my kitchen this time.” “Not a problem.” Fireball snatched up a banana from the remainder of the fruit basket. Aegis immediately followed suit. Peeling a banana was a chore for both earth pony and pegasus, but the reward was well worth the trouble. After tapping the two fruit together in a ‘cheers’ motion (carefully, of course), they downed the bananas in a few bites each. The orange lay abandoned, as it was considered too much effort too early in the morning to peel. Aegis poured them both a bowl of oats from his dwindling supply. Aegis left his bowl a tad empty, making sure to leave enough for a nice, healthy serving for Leapfrog. The remainder of breakfast was eaten in happy silence. Aegis stretched while his breakfast settled, then checked the position of the sun in the sky. Leapfrog had slept long enough. He walked the short distance to the couch and nudged her gently. Aegis had to admit, she looked kinda cute laying on her back, all four hooves sticking up in the air. She’d managed to kick off the blanket somehow. “C’mon, sleepyhead, time for some breakfast.” Leapfrog stretched, then rolled over and sat up, blinking sleep out of her eyes. She looked up at Aegis, momentarily confused, but got right to the matter at hand. “Breakfast? Can I have haycakes?” Aegis had figured out the secret to waking Leapfrog up. Mention food. “Outta hay. Got a nice bowl of oats for ya, though, munchkin. Grab a chair.” Aegis motioned with a hoof to the table over his shoulder. Fireball waved, a goofy grin on her face. Leapfrog huddled against Aegis, placing him solidly between herself and the new mare. “Who’s she, Mr. Aegis?” Fireball giggled, then answered for Aegis: “I’m Fireball, I’m Aegis’s special somepony.” Fireball had closed the distance and leaned in, whispering the last part, like it was a secret between two. Aegis rolled his eyes. Leapfrog giggled, now part of the ‘secret.’ Aegis was lucky to have Fireball. He couldn’t help but smile. * * * It had been a year ago, now, but it sure didn’t feel like it. Fireball’s regular duties were with Snaffleton Weather Services, performing just as the name claimed. This night, however, was special. Princess Luna had been restored to her throne, though just how depended on who you had asked. A massive celebratory meteor shower had been planned, and Fireball’s true skills were called upon. Fireball was a meteor bucker. Her special talent, meteor redirection, came into play by patrolling the night sky during meteor storms, making sure stray meteors didn’t strike habitated areas. This shower was to be seen all across Equestria; strays were sure to be an issue. Fireball had, unfortunately, gone missing after a particularly bright meteor had zoomed across Snaffleton’s skies. She wasn’t believed to be hurt, but as the meteor had been spotted crashing into the Everfree, it was decided that Aegis, of course, would be sent in to at least investigate. Aegis, being nearly broke at the time, happily accepted the easy contract. He packed away a first aid kit and plenty of rations, consisting mostly of pressed oat bars, then headed into the Everfree. It wasn’t hard to track where the meteor had impacted; all he had to do was keep a general compass heading and check for the direction of the smoke when he came across the occasional break in the treeline. It had only landed a three-hour trot from the Snaffleton-side edge of the Everfree; a close impact in the astrological sense of things. The still-smoking crater was easily thirty yards across and had blasted trees away from the impact site, forging a devastating order out of the Everfree’s disorganized chaos. “Hello! Anyone here? Fire..uh..Firefly? FireBug? Fire...uh..umm...?” Aegis searched his memory for the mare’s name. Maybe he should have paid better attention to the non-directions portion of the briefing. “It’s Fireball,” muttered a voice above and behind Aegis. Aegis didn’t think he could jump higher if he had springs for hooves. He spun around, glaring upwards. What he discovered was an orange-red pegasus dangling upside-down from the viney overgrowth, thoroughly and completely tangled. Aegis nearly laughed out loud, but caught himself, producing merely a smile and a bitten lower lip. “Little help here, Red?” called Fireball as she lazily swung back and forth. “Getting a mite uncomfortable.” Her violet eyes gleamed in the odd rays of the Everfree-filtered sun, though the right eye was hidden by her brown mane. “It’s Aegis, and hold on a sec...” Aegis trod around the tree the vines had chosen to climb. Finally, he traced the vine he’d been looking for. “You may want to brace yourself, this could get...interesting.” “What do you mean ‘interesti-iiiiiing!” Fireball screeched in surprise as Aegis leaned forward and bucked the vine where it clung to the tree, severing it with an expert application of hoof-force. Fireball swung back and forth at a much lower altitude now, but still out of Aegis’s reach. Repeating his tracing routine, he walked to another tree and once more bucked and snapped the vine. Fireball whooped in joy as she swung this time, but once again another vine caught. Luckily, she had now descended to a height from which Aegis could reach her. “Glad you’re having fun,” grinned Aegis as he approached, then he leaned down close to her head. “You may want to brace yourself.” “Wh-what, why?” She shied away as best she could, considering she was hanging upside down from a tangle of vines. Aegis grinned, then nipped at a vine wrapping from her left hoof, around her neck, and across her right wing, severing the vine cleanly. With an “eep” and a whump, Fireball fell, finally, to the ground below. “You could have warned me,” she said with a smirk. “I believe I did,” he answered, the very same smirk displayed on his muzzle. Both ponies shared a chuckle as Fireball stood, but in doing so she was completely unable to hide a grimace. Aegis leaned in to support her, but as he brushed her wing she grimaced again, shying away. “I think I may have sprained my foreknee,” she muttered, then tried stretching her left wing. “Ow...and wrenched my wing...So much for flying outta here...” “Well, can you walk?” “I think I can manage that much.” Aegis dug around in his saddlebag for a moment, then pulled out the first aid kit he’d packed. It was simple, but it held everything he needed for his purposes. “Hold still, lemme splint that...” With those words and a little time, Aegis managed to get her foreleg splinted, utilizing the abundant choice of short limbs and sturdy stick the Everfree Forest provided. For her wing, he devised a simple sling. She would be able to heal her injuries with simple rest, but the Everfree wasn’t the place to get it. ‘And now the best part!” Aegis fished out his canteen, then held up a pair of small paper pouches, containing some sort of powder. “Painkillers! Some sorta Zebra concoction, can’t pronounce the name.” “Oh, goody, just what I needed. Bleh.” Despite her reaction, she dutifully stuck out her tongue as Aegis emptied a packet onto it, then greedily slurped at Aegis’s canteen. “That stuff always tastes so nasty.” “Yeah, I know. Are you sure you’re good to walk?” queried Aegis as he packed away the kit, slipping it back into his saddlebag. “Of course, I just-gYAH!” Fireball yelped as she accidentally put too much weight on her injured foreleg, then glanced sheepishly at Aegis. “Well, no way about it then. Hold still.” Aegis walked over to her, and then under her, easily lifting the light pegasus up on his back. Startled, Fireball provided no resistance. “Make yourself comfy, we’ve a bit of a hike.” “I, um, ok...” Fireball replied weakly, somewhat embarrassed. Aegis had hefted her like she was nothing. He was stronger than he looked, and he looked strong. “In my right saddlebag I’ve got a compass, in the small round pocket. You’re with weather services, right? Bet you can navigate for us,” Aegis grinned back to her, and Fireball shrugged, then awkwardly pulled out the compass as asked. “Plot us a course west.” “Aye-aye, cap’n.” “Hah. Dunno many captains that are also the vessel.” “In that case, shush, ships don’t talk.” Fireball stuck her tongue out at Aegis, who just grinned and trotted off in the direction indicated. Fortunately, Aegis was able to correct their path as they trod on. Fireball was a passable navigator by air, but her ground navigation skills were not nearly as robust. A generally eastward course got them about halfway to Snaffleton before the growling of Fireball’s stomach interrupted an otherwise pleasant chat. “Whup. Um, sorry, but do ya have anything to eat? I kinda haven’t eaten since supper last night...” Aegis glanced upward. From the position of what little sun he could see through the thick foliage above, it was around noon by this point. Perfect time for lunch. Aegis crouched, allowing Fireball to slide off his back and down his side, careful not to place any weight on her sore leg. Shrugging off his saddlebag as he stood, Aegis also subtly worked his back muscles. Fireball weighed practically nothing to a pony of Aegis’s build, but she’d been riding in a single spot for a while. Fireball whistled and, if a blush could be seen beneath his already dark red coat, it’d be even redder. Fireball giggled at his otherwise obvious discomfort at her cat call. She had, of course, felt each muscle on her ride so far. She had to admit, she was a little impressed. Aegis was just as impressed with Fireball, though he was too embarrassed to admit it. He’d been able to get a good look at pretty much all of her while tending her injuries, but what had really struck him was just speaking with her. He hadn’t struck it off so well with anypony before. He smiled through the unseen blush and doled out a few of the ration bars he so enjoyed. * * * And the rest was history. They’d been dating on and off for the intervening time, Fireball leaving the occasional treat for his return when he’d been out away from Snaffleton, Aegis taking time when he could to spend the day with Fireball. They couldn’t consider it serious, but both knew there was certainly a spark of something there. Leapfrog finished her breakfast in due time, a spot of maple syrup Fireball had added to Leapfrog’s oats sticking to her chin. Aegis looked at her, a smirk playing on his lips. “You, my dear, are a mess. Guess it’s as good a time as any to introduce you to the bathtub.” Aegis pointed to the third and final door in his house, helpfully marked with an old hanging picture of a sudsy tub. “Aww. Do I have to?” Leapfrog gazed at Aegis with large puppydog eyes. “Eeeyuppers. Hop to it, squirt,” Fireball giggled at the poor filly’s dilemma, having remembered fighting her own parents at the very same issue. A short while and several soakings for all involved later, three now clean ponies stepped out of Aegis’s front door, Snaffleton’s gentle sprawl spreading before them. * * * Golden eyes watched as the armored red stallion carried the yellow filly out of the Everfree forest. His left wing, shattered beyond use, and in the Everfree, beyond repair, hung painfully at his side. He would never be able take any kind of revenge for what the pony had done, not until his wing was healed. But for now... for now he would watch, and wait.
Out of the EverfreeAegis hated this route. Of that, there was no question. Unfortunately, there was no way to get out of it today. The research team, wanting to chronicle all they could of the flora and fauna of the Everfree forest had wandered far, far off the path — if that's what it could be called — and were now days late. Aegis had been hired to go in and find them. Why, oh Celestia why, had he accepted the assignment? Of course he knew why. The bits were good, and the researcher's sponsors really wanted that report. The researchers hadn't been hard to track since their sponsor had given him the route they were to have followed, but they'd only followed that route a couple days before leaving the path. After that they'd seemed to just go wherever their hooves had led them. Up one game trail, down another; following whatever (hopefully) little animal had made it. Aegis had lost the trail for a while at the top of a waterfall, only to find it again at the bottom. All Aegis could figure is they'd decided to simply leap off. Aegis flicked his tail, swatting yet another mosquito that had tried to work its bloodsucking way beneath his dull, bronze-colored armor. His brick-red fur was matted beneath; sweaty and itching, much like the short, messy brown mane currently compressed beneath his helm. No dye-job for him, magical or otherwise. He wasn't a conscript after all, but a freelancer, taking what jobs he could for whoever had the bits and a problem needing solved. Well, within reason anyway. He wasn't a killer-for-hire. The very thought left him wishing he'd had a lighter breakfast. The sooner he found Flora and Wildlife the better. Earth ponies like Aegis were built for hard work and heavy loads, but he sure could use a pair of wings or a horn right now, if only to keep the bugs away for the briefest of moments. Aria had gotten a horn after all; why couldn't he? Nopony knew how far back a unicorn had been in the family, but everyone knew there was one somewhere back there now. His other sister, Alamode, had admitted a little jealousy over the years. Flora and Wildlife's tracks had remained steady, making regular stops to study and occasionally camp for the night. Aegis had made considerably better time. Surely he couldn't be too far behind the team by now. Even their tracks seem to be hurrying through the vine-riddled green expanse, pace quickening as if to catch up to their owners. Aegis quickened his own pace, glad to surely be close now. The tracks had gotten fresher and fresher as he threaded through a particularly thick patch of vine. Suddenly, he burst into a clearing and found what he was looking for. A pair of forms lay together in the small patch of sunlight that had managed to break through the thick overgrowth, peacefully still. Aegis approached, a grin finally plastering his face. “Well, about time! How are you ponyfolk do-” Aegis slowed to a stop. Peacefully still. TOO peacefully still. A shadow flickered by from overhead, and a thump behind him had Aegis whirling about. “Welcome to the buffet, my little pony.” Aegis lowered his head and snorted, never taking his eyes off the griffon before him. “You! Who are you? What have you done here?” Aegis looked the griffon up and down. Gold-laced black eagle feathers, typical tawny lion's fur – not that unusual for a griffon. Scruffy overall, this one didn't appear to spend much time preening. The griffon began pacing to the left, returning Aegis' critical eye with one of his own. “Ah, some sort of errand-pony. A lost escort, maybe? I'm just here for my lunch. What's your excuse for being late to the party?” A small, sniffling, sobbing sound broke the repartee, leaving both parties silent for a split second. The griffon spoke up first. “Oh-ho, and what's this? An hors d'oeuvre? Or, heh, HORSE d'oeurve?” The griffon chuckled. Aegis did not. Even on the best of days, that pun was terrible. Aegis flicked his ears about, trying to pick out where the sob had originated. But the Everfree was...weird. Sounds could sound like they were everywhere and nowhere at once. The griffon had the same problem, however, and for that Aegis was grateful. The griffon had begun cocking his head about. Suddenly, Aegis remembered why griffons were considered an apex predator. Lion's cunning. Eagle's flight. Lion's strength. Eagle's eyes. And it appeared those eagle's eyes had spotted something Aegis had missed. Aegis braced himself, preparing to leap into action. He risked a glance in the direction he thought the griffon was looking and saw it: a slight movement in the brush, and perhaps a glimpse of purple. With the first sob, Aegis' mission profile had changed. There was a reason his cutie mark was a dark blue shield with a tri-pointed orange flame. Aegis pawed at the ground and snorted again, hoping to draw the griffon's attention back to himself. Negotiations were breaking down. The griffon, for his part, seemed to be growing bored. But griffons are half cat, and cats are never as they appear. The griffon leaped into the air and with a stroke of powerful wings dove at Aegis. Aegis had been waiting for a move of some sort, though perhaps not this exactly. Aegis kicked up with powerful legs, leaping straight at the diving griffon. This was, of course, the last thing the griffon had expected. Ponies were supposed to be a prey species; they certainly were supposed to fall on the “flight” side of fight or flight. What was wrong with this pony? “This pony” collided solidly with the griffon, armored peytral driving into the griffon's own chest and forcing the griffon backwards and into the ground. Aegis landed with four solid thuds, each hoof easily finding purchase in the leaf-covered ground. The lightly built griffon had been driven back by the stout earth pony but was already back up upon it's own mismatched limbs. The snarl upon its beak was of a particularly nasty sort. The griffon charged at Aegis, forgoing the aerial route in favor of the traction afforded his clawed limbs by staying on the ground. Aegis held his ground this time, waiting for his moment to strike. Earth ponies are strong as a whole. That was a given fact. Pegasi were built lightly so as to be able to fly, and unicorns hardly ever built up their muscles thanks to their powers of levitation. Aegis was an earth pony, and he was an earth pony who constantly carried the weight of armor. Heavy armor. With a spin on his fore-hooves, Aegis drew his rear legs forward, then drove them back in an upward arc, a powerful buck slightly off-center to their now mutual left by plan. The griffon saw this, and flared out his wings, diving to the right in an attempt to clear the hard hooves. It almost worked. The griffon had made only the smallest of errors in his avoidance strategy. In flaring his wings out and adjusting his run to the left, he had brought his wing in line with the powerful kick. A sickening pop and a gut-wrenching snap met the griffon's ears first, arriving just before the nauseating wave of pain. The momentum from the impact whirled the griffon in a counterclockwise half-circle, causing him to lose his footing and tumble over onto his right side. The screeching and writhing began before the agony had even registered. Aegis huffed and puffed, his adrenaline high draining away slowly as he took in what he'd just done. He trotted over to the griffon, whose all-too evident pain was driving it nearly beyond capacity for thought. “Hold still, you great buzzard. You're hurt.” 'Hurt' was an understatement, as even Aegis could see. He'd managed to break the twin long bones of the griffon's wing, the radius and ulna; judging from the angle it was flopping around at, he'd also managed to dislocate the wing's shoulder joint from its shoulder blade. The griffon lept up, pupils constricted in anguish and swiped at Aegis in desperation, succeeding only in scraping a trio of shiny lines in Aegis' armor. The griffon began backing away slowly. “H-hey, wait! If those breaks breach your skin-” The griffon screeched at Aegis, all signs of intellect driven out of his mind by the pain, and turned tail, fleeing into the forest as fast as his terrestrial limbs could take him. Aegis drooped his head. He'd caused severe injury to the griffon, and even if the griffon had done...that...to the research team, it didn't deserve to go untreated. Aegis strode to the researchers and gathered their saddlebags, slinging them across his back alongside his own. It wasn't much more weight than he was already hefting, and practically nothing compared to his armor. Aegis waited another brief moment then turned to the undergrowth where he'd seen the bit of purple before. Aegis wasn't a great tracker, so it was likely he'd missed a third member of the team, possibly an intern or some such. Or maybe it was someone who they'd picked up to haul equipment. In either case, Aegis would escort the survivor back to civilization. “Hello? Are you still there? It's okay now, the monster's gone. Come on out.” Aegis nosed through the bushy undergrowth. After a minute, Aegis finally found the purple he'd seen: a ribbon tied in a bow. Aegis stopped, momentarily stunned. No one had told him that Flora and Wildlife had a little filly. The earth pony filly was a mess, her dark brown, nearly black mane tangled in the thin-branched spidery bush. Her yellow-tan fur was in bad need of a curry comb. She was sniffling quietly, large brown eyes looking up at Aegis with fear. “Um, h...hey there, little gal. Uh, I'm here to take you out of the forest and back home.” Never mind that Aegis didn't know where “home” was, in her case. He supposed his client, Flora and Wildlife's sponsor, would likely know. He glanced back in the direction the griffon had fled, then to where the filly's parents lay motionless, thankful that she couldn't see them from there. “I wan' go home. I don't like it here, it smells funny.” The little filly, no more than four, looked up at Aegis with tears in her eyes. “I'm hungry.” Hungry. Of all things, hungry. “Ah, then, uh, come on, kiddo. Let's get something to eat.” Aegis picked the little filly up by carefully nipping her mane, then swung her around to ride on his back. He then cautiously picked his way around the clearing, sparing the filly from the sight of her deceased parents. “So, do you have a name, little one?” “Salianura” “Sally what?” The filly giggled. “Daddy says that's fancy for Leapfrog. Mommy says it's Daddy for over-edgy-cated.” Aegis chuckled., but found himself losing that lightened mood quickly. It seemed that he would have enjoyed Flora and Wildlife's company. Instead, he found himself leaving them behind. “Well, Leapfrog, They call me Aegis. It means...uh... well, something, I'm sure.” Aegis trotted on, finally coming back upon the tracks he'd followed before. He began backtracking them and soon enough, he'd reached the path that would lead back to town. The town couldn't come soon enough, as the little filly hadn't let him forget he'd promised her food. “I'm still huuuuuungry,” whined Leapfrog. “Soon enough. We'll be back in town soon enough. Until then, I think I have some alfalfa sprouts in my right-side saddlebag, if you simply can't wait for a proper meal.” Aegis felt her shift over to his left side. “Your other right, darlin'.” “Oh.” Aegis felt her shift again, nearly falling off his back. He moved a little, leaning the opposite direction to keep his charge from tipping completely over. After a moment of digging around she righted herself, a small bag of green and white sprouts perched on her hoof while she happily munched away on the contents. Aegis's stomach rumbled loudly. Leapfrog looked up in concern. “Wow, you must be hungry, too. You want some? It's yours anyway, after all.” “No thanks, Leapfrog. I appreciate it, but I can hold on for a little while longer. You enjoy, ok?” “Are ya sure?” “Yeah, I'm sure.” Aegis smiled, then trod forward, making decent time on the open path. Not having to pick through the undergrowth made this leg of his short journey that much easier. Leapfrog and her parent's saddlebags were no heavy burden, though the news he bore was a burden unto itself. Having not known Wildlife or Flora he was able to remain detached. Aegis hated that feeling, but without it he would have a very hard job indeed. Finally, another hour and another snack for Leapfrog later, The forest's edge drew near. An half-hour after that (and after the consumption of Aegis's emergency rations) they had finally arrived. “Well, Leapfrog, here we are. Welcome to Snaffleton.”
Welcome HomeSnaffleton wasn’t much larger than its neighbor across the Everfree, one Ponyville, but it didn’t see nearly the traffic since it wasn’t on the direct road to Canterlot. What it did see was a lot of traffic into and out of the Everfree, traffic that kept Aegis in his armor and food in his belly. The Everfree Forest was absolutely full of things demanded all across Equestria, be it medicinal herbs, exotic foodstuffs, and even truly wild animals to stock its zoos. All of which required ponies willing to go in after them. Aegis had found his niche in retrieving the retrievers, but for everyday life he was much more of a jack-of-all-trades, mostly performing farm labor (which he liked) and sometimes handy-pony work (which he didn’t). He made sure to always have a clause when he started that emergency work came first. Unprepared ponies left to the mercies of the Everfree weren’t often heard from again. Aegis trotted down Snaffleton’s main thoroughfare, heading to the local inn where he was to meet his current employer, Catalogue Zoologica, who had also been Flora and Wildlife’s employer. He strode into the Bit and Bridle and right to the front desk, the red-yellow light of the sunset illuminating the front lobby in a odd, but not altogether unpleasant glow. “Pardon, but is Catalouge Zoologica in? I’ve finished her task.” Leapfrog yawned widely as the tan earth mare behind the desk looked up Catalogue’s room number. “She is. Or at least I haven’t seen her come out lately. Room 201.” She smiled at Aegis. Aegis returned it with a nod, then made tracks for the stairs. Aegis clinked upstairs in his heavy plate armor, balancing the harvest-moon colored bundle of hooves on his back carefully with the increased angle. She looked to be growing sleepy and, considering she had wiped out the food remaining in his saddlebags, he could easily figure out why. Luckily, room 201 was the first room on the second floor. Aegis knocked quietly and waited for an answer. The door creaked open and Catalogue stood there, a light green unicorn mare with a solid, dark grey mane styled into a bun. She wore a pair of square-lensed spectacles and was hovering a large tome to her right. Aegis had apparently interrupted her reading. “May I help you..? Oh, Mr. Aegis. I assume you’ve found my wayward employees?” “Yes, Ms. Zoologica, I did.” Catalogue looked around out the door, leaning around Aegis to look up and down the short hallway. “Oh, my, then where are they?” “Right where I found them.” Aegis looked to her, a slightly haunted look in his eyes telling her all she needed to know. Her team wouldn’t be filing their reports themselves. “I..I see...and did you...” Catalogue managed to steel herself. “And did you manage to recover anything?” Aegis shot her a look, then turned and grasped the recovered saddlebags, dropping them to the floor in front of Catalogue. “Just those,” Aegis turned, revealing the now sleeping bundle on his back, “and her.” Catalogue blanched. “I-is that a...? Did they...? Oh, my Celestia, they had a foal? And they took her with them into the F-forest?” Catalogue shook her head furiously. “No..no no no. They had a foal and I sent them into the Everfree forest.” “Ms. Zoologica-” “No, no, call me Catazoo, please.” “Ms. Zoologica, calm yourself. You’re going to wake her up.” Aegis shot ‘Catazoo’ a stern look, then let himself into her room. He gently slid Leapfrog from his back to Catazoo’s bed, then rejoined Catazoo at the door. “Ms. Zoologica-” “Catazoo.” It was funny what some ponies would latch on to when they were emotionally destabilized. Aegis sighed, compromising. “Ms. Catazoo, you may have given them the assignment, or asked them to do the assignment, or even begged them to take the assignment off your hooves-” Catazoo looked away from Aegis in guilt on that count “-but it was always their choice to take each and every step into that Celestia-forsaken wood. They chose...” Aegis sighed, “they chose poorly.” Aegis looked to the happily sleeping lump of cute on the bed. “And it’s neither you nor I who have to pay for that mistake. It’s her.” Aegis pointed to Leapfrog with his right hoof. Catazoo, for the most part, had calmed down. “What are we to do with her? Flora and Wildlife had both told me in the past they’d no relatives to speak of. I can’t keep her here.” “Where else do orphans go? An orphanage. Snaffleton doesn’t have one, though. She has no idea the change her life is about to take. I pity her, but it’s out of my hooves now. For now, though, I’ll be taking my payment, if you don’t mind. Their notes and other belongings are in their saddlebags.” Aegis motioned to the four bags still laying by the door. “Then you’ll be wanting your fee,” replied Catazoo in a flat, weak tone. “I would. That’s why I brought it up, after all. Starting to get a might hungry, and the little one there wiped me out. I suggest you don’t delay taking care of her. She’s got an appetite, that one.” Catazoo was beginning to get on Aegis’s nerves. “W-wait, what, me? I told you, I can’t keep her here!” Catazoo looked between Aegis and Leapfrog several times, her pupils constricting in a minor state of panic. “I’ll pay!” Aegis raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you will. I retrieved the reports successfully. Our contract is fulfilled.” “No, no, I’ll pay you to take care of Leapfrog. A new contract. I...I owe her parents for their work, as well. It’s hers now. Maybe you can use it to get her to the nearest orphanage?” Catazoo pleaded with Aegis, desperately unwilling to take any sort of responsibility for the poor foal. She looked like she was about to break into tears. “At least take her for the time being while I make the arrangements.” Foalsitting? This job had gone south since he’d entered that clearing, but Aegis hadn’t been working without reason. He needed bits to live on, and so he took the new contract. It was basically an escort, after all, and what could go wrong if the escort was just to his own home for a couple days? “Ok. Fine, you have a deal. Escort, or rather, foalsitting, I suppose, is ten bits a day. I wouldn’t tarry, Ms. Catazoo. That can add up fast.” The relief so evident in Catazoo’s eyes almost embarrassed Aegis, and it should have embarrassed her. Aegis’s opinion had soured on Ms. Catazoo quite a bit in the past ten minutes, but she had paid what was owed him and now had given Aegis what she owed Flora and Wildlife to keep on Leapfrog’s behalf. Whatever personal issues he had with her, her word was good. He hadn’t been paid to like her, after all. Aegis packed away the twin bags of bits -his own significantly lighter than Leapfrog’s - placing each in their own side. After securing the buckles holding each side closed, he trod over to the sleeping Leapfrog, nudging her with his snout. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Looks like you’re spending the night with me.” Leapfrog mumbled something unintelligible and didn’t stir. Aegis looked around the room, then trod back to Catazoo. “S’cuse me.” He reached down and grabbed Wildlife’s saddlebag -or Flora’s, he wasn’t sure - and unceremoniously dumped it at Catazoo’s hooves. She was too stunned to protest. Taking note of a small knitted doll, he reached down and pushed it back into the saddlebag, leaving the now very unsorted paperwork and the like where it lay. He slung the saddlebag over his own back, once more taking its place beside his own, and then very gently, picked up Leapfrog and slid her into the bag opposite the doll. She snuggled in, getting comfortable. She’d probably rode like that before. Aegis spared a glance at the still shocked Catazoo. “What? The bag’s hers, too.” Aegis then strode out, calling back “You know where to find us.” * * * Celestia’s Sun and Luna’s Moon had exchanged places in their daily cycle while Aegis had been discussing matters with Catazoo. Tiny pinpricks of light almost danced across the deepening night sky, not a single cloud daring to blot Luna’s perfect night. It had almost seemed that the day’s tragic events couldn’t have possibly occurred, save for the orphan snoring lightly in the saddlebag Aegis now wore. Aegis actually lived on the outskirts of Snaffleton, on the edge facing the Everfree. He had passed his own home on the way back in, a three-room building of small-to-middling size, more than enough for himself. He was to have a houseguest in the form of Leapfrog for a while, but he could manage watching a foal for no longer than he’d have her. Couldn’t be as bad as that snotty dark purple unicorn he’d escorted to Canterlot once, but he probably shouldn’t talk about his sister Aria that way. It wasn’t like he’d charged her. He nosed his front door open and and walked inside, scanning the room as had become habit for any sign of unauthorized entry. Surprisingly, he found a small basket of fruit, fairly fresh, with a note: “Hope you’re back in time this time to enjoy this.” -Fireball Aegis had to grin. Fireball had thought of him again, and this time he’d not come back to a basket of rotten fruit. Despite her name, she was one patient, caring pegasus. He grabbed an apple and gobbled it down in a mere moment. He was hungrier than he thought. As for the Foal in the saddlebag... He unslung the saddlebag and set it ever-so-gently on the floor. “Okay, Leapfrog, up and at ‘em,” he started, “It’s time to go to bed.” Ok, he admitted to himself, that doesn’t make much sense. Another tactic. “Leapfrog, want a snack before bedtime?” That got her attention, as she popped right up. “Poppa?” She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Aegis’s heart broke a little more. “Oh, Mr. Aegis. Did you say snack?” “Yes, a small one, then to bed with you. It’s been a very long day for both of us.” Aegis motioned to his bedroom. He wouldn’t let a foal sleep on his sofa, in the most undefended part of the house. He handed her an apple and a pear from the basket Fireball had left, a suitable bedtime snack for a foal her age. “Ooooh, thank you Mr. Aegis, I like those.” She grinned up at him, then tore into the apple with a terrifying juice-scattering attack of appetite. The pear fell next to her assault, also winding up just a core. Aegis fetched a wash-cloth, then lifted her chin up with a hoof and wiped her excesses away with the other. “Well...that was was interesting. No need to eat so quickly, I didn’t plan on taking it from you. Now, come on, little one, bedtime.” Aegis led the way to the bed, turned back the blanket, then stood aside as she leaped up. A massive yawn belayed any attempt at claiming she wasn’t sleepy before she had even tried. “Can I have a story?” Uh oh. “Uhh...Once upon a time there was a little filly who needed to go to bed, and she did. the...end?” “Mr. Aegis! That’s not a good story!” Rats. “How about a song? My Mother, Celestia rest her soul, always sang to us. My sister earned her cutie mark that way...” Aegis smiled softly. Aria had earned her cutie mark singing one of her bedtime songs to Aegis and Alamode the night after the three’s mother had passed. He would never forget that song: “When your little heart needs to rest at night; Don’t worry dears, Your mother’s near; Your father’s just in sight; They’ll keep watch over you After the day is through; And they shall be Always with ye Forever now, in truth” Aegis wiped a small tear from his eye. The song in his rough baritone managed to do its job, however, and he silently slipped out of the room, closing the door and leaving only the smallest crack to act as a night light for the now sleeping filly. Aegis trotted back outside, careful not to make much noise, and stepped into the shop at the side of his abode. Once again quietly as he could, he shrugged out of his armor, hanging it piece-by-piece on the racks on the wall. A place for everything, everything in its place. Aegis stepped back out, locked the shop, then went back inside. He helped himself to the fruit basket again, leaving only an orange and two bananas. The two kiwi he’d taken would do for now. He gently lay on the couch, choosing to leave the lights on, ate his kiwis, then closed his eyes for a nice evenings slumber.
Taking a Step BackExhausted as he was, there wasn’t a dream one that would disturb Aegis’s slumber, and it was like he had merely blinked when dawn’s first rays entered the window and shone into his eyes. He rolled about, positioning his legs beneath him, and a small, warm lump scooted closer in, snuggling tighter. Aegis’s eyes flashed wide. What had infiltrated his humble abode and, more importantly, his couch? Many things flashed through his mind, wild animals most of all. Snakes had been known to infiltrate bedding in seeking warmth, though this was too solid for a snake. Possum? The nasty massive rats were, as far as Aegis was concerned, too unpredictable, though this lump was too large. By Celestia, don’t let it be a possum THAT large. Honey badger? Naw. Mythological creatures weren’t common to Equestria. Aegis slowly, ever-so-slowly, gathered his legs beneath him, still unable to see the whatever-it-was snuggling against him. With an explosive effort, Aegis lept up and over the back of his couch, landing square on his back with a massive thud. His blanket flew over with him, floating serenely down to cover his head. He scrambled up and, tripping ever-so-gracefully over the blanket, made his way back around to the front of his couch. The yellow lump revealed itself to be none other than his houseguest, Leapfrog. Aegis’s sleep-addled mind finally recalled the prior day’s events, when he’d agreed to keep an eye on her. During the night, she’d apparently decided Aegis’s large, comfy bed wasn’t good enough. And now, despite the sudden action of making a complete fool of himself, she still lay there on the couch, serenely snoozing. At least Aegis could be happy there were no witnesses. “About time you got up. What were you doing on your couch, anyway?” Ah. Of course. “Good morning, Fireball. How do you keep getting in here, anyway?” Aegis turned toward the kitchen half of the room, where Fireball, a burnt orange pegasus mare with a semi-wild shock of hair just as brown as Aegis’s stood, sipping on a cup of coffee. Fireball giggled, having of course witnessed the whole thing, from start to finish. “Trade secret. Still, why are you on your couch? Too tired to drag yourself to your bed?” Fireball strode toward Aegis, leaving her coffee on the three-seater round kitchen table, and planted a kiss on his cheek. It was about this time she noted the lump of yellow on his couch. “Uh, Aegis, what’s this?” She motioned to the sleeping foal filly on the couch. Aegis shrugged. “A four-legged escort contract who apparently decided my bed wasn’t comfortable, to answer both your questions.” Aegis gathered up the blanket that had rode with him over the back of the couch and tossed it over Leapfrog. She must have brought it in with her, as Aegis hadn’t bothered with one on the couch. The weather would be just fine until Winter’s Breath Day came. “Ah. And where are you escorting the little bundle to? Isn’t it a bit soon for you to have gotten another contract already?” Fireball motioned to the bags of bits lying exposed in the carelessly dropped saddlebags from the previous night. “You look like you’ve enough to last quite a while.” “Snooping?” Aegis said with a grin. “Observing,” replied Fireball. “Eh, well, the heavy bag’s hers, actually. And as for where, it’s right here.” Aegis spared a glance at Leapfrog, who was still sleeping. “It’s directly related to my last contract. I was sent in to find what turned out to be her parents. They...didn’t make it. I found her, instead. I’m watching her while Catazoo-” Aegis grimaced at using the awful contraction, “-makes arrangements to have her picked up by an orphanage.” “An...an orphanage? No one else can take her?” “She’s no pony left in the world.” “I see.” Fireball sighed, looking down. She’d had orphanage experience, though for only a couple years before she had been old enough to qualify to apply to a weather patrol position. She never spoke of those years to Aegis. Fireball looked back to Aegis, deciding to try and lighten the mood a little. “So, um, you’re so strapped for bits you’re foalsitting now, huh? Y’know I could make you a little loan...” Fireball grinned. “Har har. It’s more like guard duty. And it’s paying well enough, thank you.” Aegis shot her a smirk. “Shouldn’t you be napping on a cloud somewhere instead of instigating a home invasion?” “Day off, thought we might do something, but if you’re busy...” Fireball sipped at her coffee, having retreated back to the ‘kitchen’ section. “Hey, now, don’t be so hasty. It’s an ‘escort’ contract, not a ‘stand there and look menacing’ contract. Mobilization approved.” Aegis smiled at Fireball. “Oh, and thanks for the basket. It didn’t stink up my kitchen this time.” “Not a problem.” Fireball snatched up a banana from the remainder of the fruit basket. Aegis immediately followed suit. Peeling a banana was a chore for both earth pony and pegasus, but the reward was well worth the trouble. After tapping the two fruit together in a ‘cheers’ motion (carefully, of course), they downed the bananas in a few bites each. The orange lay abandoned, as it was considered too much effort too early in the morning to peel. Aegis poured them both a bowl of oats from his dwindling supply. Aegis left his bowl a tad empty, making sure to leave enough for a nice, healthy serving for Leapfrog. The remainder of breakfast was eaten in happy silence. Aegis stretched while his breakfast settled, then checked the position of the sun in the sky. Leapfrog had slept long enough. He walked the short distance to the couch and nudged her gently. Aegis had to admit, she looked kinda cute laying on her back, all four hooves sticking up in the air. She’d managed to kick off the blanket somehow. “C’mon, sleepyhead, time for some breakfast.” Leapfrog stretched, then rolled over and sat up, blinking sleep out of her eyes. She looked up at Aegis, momentarily confused, but got right to the matter at hand. “Breakfast? Can I have haycakes?” Aegis had figured out the secret to waking Leapfrog up. Mention food. “Outta hay. Got a nice bowl of oats for ya, though, munchkin. Grab a chair.” Aegis motioned with a hoof to the table over his shoulder. Fireball waved, a goofy grin on her face. Leapfrog huddled against Aegis, placing him solidly between herself and the new mare. “Who’s she, Mr. Aegis?” Fireball giggled, then answered for Aegis: “I’m Fireball, I’m Aegis’s special somepony.” Fireball had closed the distance and leaned in, whispering the last part, like it was a secret between two. Aegis rolled his eyes. Leapfrog giggled, now part of the ‘secret.’ Aegis was lucky to have Fireball. He couldn’t help but smile. * * * It had been a year ago, now, but it sure didn’t feel like it. Fireball’s regular duties were with Snaffleton Weather Services, performing just as the name claimed. This night, however, was special. Princess Luna had been restored to her throne, though just how depended on who you had asked. A massive celebratory meteor shower had been planned, and Fireball’s true skills were called upon. Fireball was a meteor bucker. Her special talent, meteor redirection, came into play by patrolling the night sky during meteor storms, making sure stray meteors didn’t strike habitated areas. This shower was to be seen all across Equestria; strays were sure to be an issue. Fireball had, unfortunately, gone missing after a particularly bright meteor had zoomed across Snaffleton’s skies. She wasn’t believed to be hurt, but as the meteor had been spotted crashing into the Everfree, it was decided that Aegis, of course, would be sent in to at least investigate. Aegis, being nearly broke at the time, happily accepted the easy contract. He packed away a first aid kit and plenty of rations, consisting mostly of pressed oat bars, then headed into the Everfree. It wasn’t hard to track where the meteor had impacted; all he had to do was keep a general compass heading and check for the direction of the smoke when he came across the occasional break in the treeline. It had only landed a three-hour trot from the Snaffleton-side edge of the Everfree; a close impact in the astrological sense of things. The still-smoking crater was easily thirty yards across and had blasted trees away from the impact site, forging a devastating order out of the Everfree’s disorganized chaos. “Hello! Anyone here? Fire..uh..Firefly? FireBug? Fire...uh..umm...?” Aegis searched his memory for the mare’s name. Maybe he should have paid better attention to the non-directions portion of the briefing. “It’s Fireball,” muttered a voice above and behind Aegis. Aegis didn’t think he could jump higher if he had springs for hooves. He spun around, glaring upwards. What he discovered was an orange-red pegasus dangling upside-down from the viney overgrowth, thoroughly and completely tangled. Aegis nearly laughed out loud, but caught himself, producing merely a smile and a bitten lower lip. “Little help here, Red?” called Fireball as she lazily swung back and forth. “Getting a mite uncomfortable.” Her violet eyes gleamed in the odd rays of the Everfree-filtered sun, though the right eye was hidden by her brown mane. “It’s Aegis, and hold on a sec...” Aegis trod around the tree the vines had chosen to climb. Finally, he traced the vine he’d been looking for. “You may want to brace yourself, this could get...interesting.” “What do you mean ‘interesti-iiiiiing!” Fireball screeched in surprise as Aegis leaned forward and bucked the vine where it clung to the tree, severing it with an expert application of hoof-force. Fireball swung back and forth at a much lower altitude now, but still out of Aegis’s reach. Repeating his tracing routine, he walked to another tree and once more bucked and snapped the vine. Fireball whooped in joy as she swung this time, but once again another vine caught. Luckily, she had now descended to a height from which Aegis could reach her. “Glad you’re having fun,” grinned Aegis as he approached, then he leaned down close to her head. “You may want to brace yourself.” “Wh-what, why?” She shied away as best she could, considering she was hanging upside down from a tangle of vines. Aegis grinned, then nipped at a vine wrapping from her left hoof, around her neck, and across her right wing, severing the vine cleanly. With an “eep” and a whump, Fireball fell, finally, to the ground below. “You could have warned me,” she said with a smirk. “I believe I did,” he answered, the very same smirk displayed on his muzzle. Both ponies shared a chuckle as Fireball stood, but in doing so she was completely unable to hide a grimace. Aegis leaned in to support her, but as he brushed her wing she grimaced again, shying away. “I think I may have sprained my foreknee,” she muttered, then tried stretching her left wing. “Ow...and wrenched my wing...So much for flying outta here...” “Well, can you walk?” “I think I can manage that much.” Aegis dug around in his saddlebag for a moment, then pulled out the first aid kit he’d packed. It was simple, but it held everything he needed for his purposes. “Hold still, lemme splint that...” With those words and a little time, Aegis managed to get her foreleg splinted, utilizing the abundant choice of short limbs and sturdy stick the Everfree Forest provided. For her wing, he devised a simple sling. She would be able to heal her injuries with simple rest, but the Everfree wasn’t the place to get it. ‘And now the best part!” Aegis fished out his canteen, then held up a pair of small paper pouches, containing some sort of powder. “Painkillers! Some sorta Zebra concoction, can’t pronounce the name.” “Oh, goody, just what I needed. Bleh.” Despite her reaction, she dutifully stuck out her tongue as Aegis emptied a packet onto it, then greedily slurped at Aegis’s canteen. “That stuff always tastes so nasty.” “Yeah, I know. Are you sure you’re good to walk?” queried Aegis as he packed away the kit, slipping it back into his saddlebag. “Of course, I just-gYAH!” Fireball yelped as she accidentally put too much weight on her injured foreleg, then glanced sheepishly at Aegis. “Well, no way about it then. Hold still.” Aegis walked over to her, and then under her, easily lifting the light pegasus up on his back. Startled, Fireball provided no resistance. “Make yourself comfy, we’ve a bit of a hike.” “I, um, ok...” Fireball replied weakly, somewhat embarrassed. Aegis had hefted her like she was nothing. He was stronger than he looked, and he looked strong. “In my right saddlebag I’ve got a compass, in the small round pocket. You’re with weather services, right? Bet you can navigate for us,” Aegis grinned back to her, and Fireball shrugged, then awkwardly pulled out the compass as asked. “Plot us a course west.” “Aye-aye, cap’n.” “Hah. Dunno many captains that are also the vessel.” “In that case, shush, ships don’t talk.” Fireball stuck her tongue out at Aegis, who just grinned and trotted off in the direction indicated. Fortunately, Aegis was able to correct their path as they trod on. Fireball was a passable navigator by air, but her ground navigation skills were not nearly as robust. A generally eastward course got them about halfway to Snaffleton before the growling of Fireball’s stomach interrupted an otherwise pleasant chat. “Whup. Um, sorry, but do ya have anything to eat? I kinda haven’t eaten since supper last night...” Aegis glanced upward. From the position of what little sun he could see through the thick foliage above, it was around noon by this point. Perfect time for lunch. Aegis crouched, allowing Fireball to slide off his back and down his side, careful not to place any weight on her sore leg. Shrugging off his saddlebag as he stood, Aegis also subtly worked his back muscles. Fireball weighed practically nothing to a pony of Aegis’s build, but she’d been riding in a single spot for a while. Fireball whistled and, if a blush could be seen beneath his already dark red coat, it’d be even redder. Fireball giggled at his otherwise obvious discomfort at her cat call. She had, of course, felt each muscle on her ride so far. She had to admit, she was a little impressed. Aegis was just as impressed with Fireball, though he was too embarrassed to admit it. He’d been able to get a good look at pretty much all of her while tending her injuries, but what had really struck him was just speaking with her. He hadn’t struck it off so well with anypony before. He smiled through the unseen blush and doled out a few of the ration bars he so enjoyed. * * * And the rest was history. They’d been dating on and off for the intervening time, Fireball leaving the occasional treat for his return when he’d been out away from Snaffleton, Aegis taking time when he could to spend the day with Fireball. They couldn’t consider it serious, but both knew there was certainly a spark of something there. Leapfrog finished her breakfast in due time, a spot of maple syrup Fireball had added to Leapfrog’s oats sticking to her chin. Aegis looked at her, a smirk playing on his lips. “You, my dear, are a mess. Guess it’s as good a time as any to introduce you to the bathtub.” Aegis pointed to the third and final door in his house, helpfully marked with an old hanging picture of a sudsy tub. “Aww. Do I have to?” Leapfrog gazed at Aegis with large puppydog eyes. “Eeeyuppers. Hop to it, squirt,” Fireball giggled at the poor filly’s dilemma, having remembered fighting her own parents at the very same issue. A short while and several soakings for all involved later, three now clean ponies stepped out of Aegis’s front door, Snaffleton’s gentle sprawl spreading before them. * * * Golden eyes watched as the armored red stallion carried the yellow filly out of the Everfree forest. His left wing, shattered beyond use, and in the Everfree, beyond repair, hung painfully at his side. He would never be able take any kind of revenge for what the pony had done, not until his wing was healed. But for now... for now he would watch, and wait.
