The Far Lands
Chapter One: Renegade
The sound of a friendly but strong wind was all that I heard, plus the sound of my feathers resisting it’s strength.
My eyes closed, my legs dangling below me as I allowed myself to relax and clean my mind.
It worked every time. I felt safe closing my eyes and gliding along at a relatively high speed due to the fact that there was nothing out here that could knock me out of the sky.
After what felt like a few minutes, I opened my eyes, coming back to life.
A monotonous but pretty scenery greeted me. Actually, it was just a seemingly endless forest.
I turned my head around, looking for that clearing between the trees which I knew held a pond and a small, miserable shack.
Got it. I turned dramatically and rolled over into a straight dive towards the ground.
Relaxation was checked off on the list, now I went for a bit of adrenaline. I swooped down, changing direction in a smooth arch as I closed in on the top of the trees. Trees were now all around me. Flying in an altitude just so that I wasn't completely surrounded by trees, but still so close that I had to dodge every other tree that reached just a little higher than the rest.
The last tall tree, I dodged with a roll. Immediately afterwards, I stretched my wings out as far as they could, instantly taking control of the momentum that had been ludicrously speedy before.
I glided gently down towards a small empty space under the shadow of a large tree. It formed a small beach (albeit without the sand, just dirt) next to the pond. A canoe with some fishing gear stashed inside had been pulled halfway up on the beach and had been tied to a small tree.
My hooves touched the ground, landing in a slide that sent some of the
dry earth flying, creating smoke all around me. It looked quite beautiful with the streaks of sunshine that slipped through the canopy and lighting up the dust.
I suppose I should tell you what I was doing out there, and even what "out there" means. It's a long tale, really, but it can be told shortly.
So, where was I? I was in what was commonly referred to as the "Far Lands". It was named and mapped of course, but most ponies didn't know much about the areas further away than Appleloosa. They didn't care. It was as if the whole world was split up in two; Equestria, where all the ponies were, and then everything else, which wasn't worth anyone’s
attention, because nothing happened out here.
Except that couldn't be further from the truth. The Far Lands were just as teeming with life, if not more than the main lands. But of course, since ponies weren't around here to build houses everywhere and strike down with their presence, this place is much different and far more dangerous than Equestria.
And what was I doing out here? Getting away. Simple as that.
Back home, some things have been bubbling for a long time now. The ponies back home are changing. All of them. Now, I ain't an old pony, but ponies used to be nice. Through the years, it seems that ponies have become increasingly suspicious of others, manipulative and greedy.
It's as if everypony are turning all hoity toity, forgetting about friendship and turning to scornfulness of others.
And truth be told, me and my family weren't doing that well at all. Me taking a lonely, long break from what is essentially considered to be the whole world, is partly because of the looming darkness that all of society is turning into, and partly because my personal life sucked.
Well, I exaggerated a bit there. My life didn't "suck", and there were many ponies whose lives really did suck. Mine was just boring, repetitive and unpleasant. My father had gone and become all involved in the big things happening, in fact the way I understand it, he was on his way to quite a bit of power. He was quite pleased about all that, going on
about it quite often.
My mother had been stressed out and acting strangely since I could remember. I don't think I ever saw her being truly happy. I myself was just a relatively normal Pegasus buck. Maybe a little isolated. I had my closet skeletons.
I think my leaving was primarily a jab at everypony. I was holding on to a lot of anger that had never really come out. I had that strange feeling of not fitting in. I was different, nopony understood me. Ugh, just listen to me. Stereotypical puberty-struck pony, huh? Well, I was no longer a child when I left Equestria. I am an adult now, seeking independence. I had thought much about me leaving, and had come to a conclusion that justified it, I thought.
I had come out here to clean my mind, maybe learn something about myself.
And I kept track on where I was heading, so I knew my way back. With that covered, I knew that I could always come back. So what did it matter if I actually was just going through a typical teenager rebel phase?
Besides, I think I was a loner at heart. I feel a certain solitude out here where there's nopony else. On one of my first days out, (Been out for soon a few weeks now) I revelled in that solitude by finding myself a lonely cloud, shaping it into a throne and I just sat there as the prince of the Far Lands.
It was a short lived feeling of complete ownership, though. I quickly discovered that clouds out here have a strange, shall I say will, to move. They acted on their own accord, unlike back home where all the weather was controlled by Pegasi. The throne I had built just kind of rolled away from me, the throne becoming flattened and I actually
slipped through a hole in the cloud that immediately after looked like a normal cloud, as if I hadn't even touched it.
It was as if it was trying to humiliate me.
Out here, a Pegasus like me was not in control. At all. The Far Lands loved to rain on me at unexpected times, teaching me to build shelters constantly.
My travels into the Far Lands were largely without a heading, almost completely random.
Before I went, I had read through books about living outside of society. Not that a lot of it stuck with me, after all, one of my first experiences in the Far Lands was of me completely forgetting about one of the simplest differences from main Equestria - that clouds move on their own. I guess I had just figured that just because clouds move on their
own, shouldn't mean they would dislike being shaped into a chair. Turns out they do.
So that means I'm now a Pegasus living on the ground. Bothersome, but actually somewhat satisfying.
It meant that I now had to put some work into living. I was actually building shelters out of hard materials,
wood, sticks, leaves and rocks. I was actually making campfires and cooking my own food. Mostly. Other times, I took what I could get and enjoyed not having to do anything myself.
I found that I had been standing on the same patch of dirt, staring into the canoe at the fishing gear, which consisted only of nets of different sizes. There were also a few jars at the bottom of the canoe, one was empty, two were filled with clear water, and another three were filled with a disgusting grey slime.
I knew it was possible to actually eat meat, and fishing seemed relatively easy. I had considered it, but really, the thought of putting meat in my mouth? Disgusting. But it would definitely be easier than finding edible vegetarian food in the woods. Well, unless I resorted to eating grass every day, which was basically what I had done most of the
time. And that, I felt, would always be more pleasant to eat than meat, even if it is boring as hell.
This canoe was not used to catch fish, it was used to find many strange things that lay in the dirt at the bottom of the pond, and plants that grew on the bottom and other things I didn't know of. I wasn't the one doing it, so I honestly didn't know much.
I turned to walk down a small path, the pathetic shack already visible through the many leaves and trees. The shack was actually not that small. It was a small house made from planks, and it had no front door. It looked like it would immediately fall over if anypony at all bucked at it.
But, it had been tidied up with some oddities.
Many colored bottles hung on the wall. Pearls hung from the doorway with no door, creating a colorful entrance. Over the door frame hung a large mask, clearly too big for anypony to wear. It was clear that this was the home of a traditional zebra. There was a campfire with a pot hanging over the fire almost right outside the entrance. The clearing in which the house had been built was not very spacious; the house took up
half of that space, so there was not much left for the campfire. It was really like a little home in the middle of a jungle, although this was hardly a jungle, rather it was just a lush forest.
"Zarena?" I called out.
"Yes, my dear friend! Come inside." a voice with a strange accent came back, turned slightly silent by the walls and the distance still between me and the shack.
I stuck my wings in between the many pearls that dangled from the door frame, and opened it up to allow myself through. I found it comical every time I saw Zarena go through the door frame, having all those pearls slide over her face, it had to be annoying.
The room was dark. Not too dark, but still gloomy enough to be somewhat eerie. More masks and flasks hung around the walls. There was a table at the far end of the room, which was completely cluttered with tools and bowls.
In the middle of the room were a low table close to the floor. Around it were two long pillows, shaped so that a pony could lay down on while using the table.
"Welcome back, Silver Leaf, are you hungry?"
"Uh, yeah actually. I could eat." I felt slightly awkward being in her home. I wasn't all that knowledgeable about zebra customs, so I often resorted to just not saying that much. On top of that, you often hear bad about zebras back in the main land nowadays. But I knew that it was bullshit, Zarena was as kind as any pony could be. Although we did avoid
speaking about the main lands, and the fact that one of us was a pony
and the other was a zebra.
It was a long time since it had all begun to turn nastily violent at times back home, so the conflicts touched everybody, not just ponies. An elephant in the room.
"Good, for the soup I was preparing is just about done." she smiled at me and
backed out through the pearly curtain. I grinned as she disappeared out of my view. I had a feeling that ever since she'd seen me getting through using my wings when I arrived a couple of days ago, she had felt humiliated by those pearls, so now she was finding tactics to avoid it.
"So Zarena, what have you cooked up?"
"Applebloom soup." I raised an eyebrow, then saw the two baskets next to a table at the end
of the room. Fresh apples in one, the other filled with flowers, all with vibrant red colored petals. Once again I grinned to myself, she wouldn't know who Applebloom is.
"Sounds good!"
She came backing in through the door with a pot full of steaming soup. She generously poured the soup into a deep bowl on the small table in front of us. I had placed myself on one of the pillows. I didn't know where to place myself when I was in her home, and I was afraid I would break some of the many bottles and jugs that hung from the ceiling, so one of the first things I did when I was invited into this home was to claim this pillow as my sanctuary.
I had come here 4 days ago. A lonely shack beside a pond was too interesting to fly past, and it looked abandoned, so my lazy mind had instantly figured that if that was abandoned, it would be worth sacrificing a few hours travel for free shelter. Besides, I hadn't gotten a real destination, so it didn't really matter that I didn't travel so far that day.
Turns out it wasn't abandoned. I was worrying that I would lose a few hours of travel time, now I had lost 4 days and I felt quite comfortable, not in a hurry. But I was still determined to leave soon.
As I was having my delightfully sweet soup, Zarena asked, popping my drifting mind.
"So, did you bring it?" Oh wow, I had completely forgotten why I had left the shack earlier.
"Eeyup! 'Course I did!" I shook the perplexed look off of my face, instead focusing my attention at the saddlebag on my side. With my teeth, I heaved out a jar (another one for the collection) with my teeth and placed it on the side of the table.
"Thank you, Silver Leaf, blessed are your wings. Truly. You have no idea how much this helps me."
Did she just turn her gaze to the pearly curtain as she commented on my wings?
I smiled and answered,
"Yes, they help a lot. I cannot imagine what a bother it must be to obtain this without a pegasus' help."
The jar was full of a white substance that did not make the jar any heavier. Zarena had asked for a jar full of cloud. While a cloud moved by itself, and anything you built using clouds would disintegrate immediately, they still could not do anything against physically being forced into a jar.
What Zarena was using it for, I had no idea. It was either a potion that could do something mind boggling, or an extremely special meal. I suspected the former, but I was sure that somepony somewhere would have thought of using clouds as an ingredient in food.
I took a break from sipping at the delicious soup, having just swallowed a big piece of apple. Clearing my throat, bracing myself to break the silence that Zarena seemed to feel perfectly comfortable being in. Angsty puberty pony again? Sigh.
"So, is this enough? I mean, I'm probably leaving soon to continue my journey. Would you like me to fetch another batch, maybe a larger one before I go?"
"No, dear, this jar is a a perfectly ample supply. I will not need more in a long time. And frankly, I cannot afford to store many more ingredients. But I thank you for the offer."
Briefly, I wondered what might be in all of those jars and bottles. Many of the bottles were colored or had cloth around them so the contents were out of sight, but one bottle actually had a green, slightly glowing substance in it. It was certainly interesting. I nodded in response.
"Silver Leaf. May I ask you for help yet again? This problem is of serious nature, and I will accept it if you will not aid. It is dangerous work."
I was intrigued, and nervous.
"Okay.. What is the problem? I assure you I will do what I can to help."
"When I was out picking the Quivering Blooms, not far from here, I saw a manticore." She paused.
"I fear that it also noticed me, and I think it followed me back. Not all the way back, as I slipped away from it, but I fear it is yet looking for me. Will you help me protect my home from the manticore? To slay it, if necessary?"
Well, there goes any sleep tonight. Up until now, I had always dealt with the wild Far Lands in a cowardly Pegasus way. If things got too rough, or I ran into a creature that looked a little too big or a little too mean, I'd just fly up and away.
Now was the time, it seems, to actually become a hunter. While I could fly myself away from a manticore, I could not fly away a zebra, let alone her home and belongings.
"I'll help. I'd do it now so we can get some sleep tonight, but it's already getting dark out, isn't it?"
"Yes. We will strike tomorrow morning. We will only search from here to the meadow. If we do not find the manticore, then we will all have won. Otherwise, we are hunters."
The meadow I knew where was, it was another clearing nearby. It made sense that the manticore would be somewhere between here and the meadow, as the area out there had many big trees that I imagined a manticore would sleep underneath. A sudden realization hit me like a brick. Manticores had wings. Even if I hadn't been out to kill it, I wouldn't have had the option to run away. In the face of a manticore, it was kill or be killed. Shit.
"Ayep. Sounds like a plan. And I can trust your powerful senses to wake us up if it comes trotting up to knock on the door?" I finished that sentence awkwardly, remembering that the shack had no door. Why did this damned
entrance seem to be the center of attention so often? Anyways. The thing about Zarena's senses was true.
She had amazing hearing and amazing smell, and she had the reflexes of a truly skilled hunter.
She was... Catlike.
"Yes. Do not worry, but be ready. I have never failed to wake up when an wild creature approaches my home. Most animals are much smaller than a manticore. I will wake up if it makes a visit."
"Also, it will not be knocking on the door." she added that, keeping her straight face. I knew she was jesting, so I allowed myself to grin.
"Yeah, my mistake. I'm so used to doors."
"Doors are indeed useful, it would keep out small animals and cold wind. I
would build one, but I think I would end up leaving it open anyways. I
tend to walk back and forth a lot, it would be troublesome to have to
open it all the time, you see."
Not that the pearly curtain wasn't being troublesome, I thought. But I kept that thought to myself, instead saying truthfully "Well, what you have definitely looks nicer than a door."
"Thank you, Silver Leaf."
I nodded. "Thanks for preparing the dinner, Zarena. It was really delicious."
We were both done with our soup. Zarena had gotten up and started carrying the pot and our bowls outside. She'd gathered them in a manageable stack and carried them all with her teeth. I thought about offering my help, but she had already backed out through the curtain. They made a relaxing clacking sound as the strings swung back, making the beads hit each other.
Next to me and the pillow I was laying on, were a bigger sheet that I would sleep on. There I had placed my other saddlebag, which was bigger than the one I was carrying now, which was basically just a pouch. I dug into the bigger one and heaved out a book.
I walked outside. I had brought more than just the book, feeling it was safer. But, as desperate for attention they were, the pearl curtain had wrapped around the long metallic thing I was carrying in my teeth, while the book was safely being held under my wing. I was trapped in a battle with the curtains. I backtracked and swung my head around. How did this even happen? I slowed down, using my wings to untangle the strings. And I finally walked through the doorway, I saw Zarena grinning up at me. I was wearing a face of victorious glory, so I felt a little embarrassed and a little amused seeing Zarena's reaction.
Zarena was already cooking up something again, this time I suspected a potion or something, rather than simply food. The smell wasn't exactly as delicious as the soup from before, either.
I placed the large, metallic and chaotic contraption at my feet to allow me to speak. Exactly the reason why I usually carried things using my wings, but this one was too big. "I'm gonna read a little bit before night. Can help look out for the manticore that way, too." I prodded at the contraption at my feet with my hoof.
She nodded with a smile.
She liked the silence I knew, and this time I would join her in relaxing with the sounds of the forest at night, listening to the sounds that a forest in the evening could provide, hopefully manticore-less.
It was getting dark quite quickly. The sun was already nowhere to be seen, only the redness on the clouds could still be seen.
The contraption at my hooves was a rifle. Albeit an old, primitive rifle. It had been my father's, but he had let me have it when I let him know that I considered leaving. I had brought a few other things. A map, a compass, a few books, a knife and this old rifle.
I started strapping it on, leather straps going over my back to keep it in place. I tried lifting my wing, it felt a little awkward as my wing now had less space, and when relaxing, it was still uncomfortably sharing it's space with the cold steel of the rifle now hanging on my side.
Standing up, I tried to get a feel of the gun. It felt nice. I felt powerful. Everything in front of me was now in danger.
With a front hoof, I kicked at one of the mechanical, metallic triggers that reached out from the gun and to the front of my chest. There was the sound of old mechanics and gears doing their thing, and the rifle snapped at the middle.
I put in some shells into the two empty holes in the gun. With a gesture of my body, I swung the front of the rifle back up, and kicked another trigger that locked it back in place.
I looked down and eyed the main trigger. Shaped perfectly to be pulled using teeth. The Unicorns and their magical ways and silly telekinesis have nothing on the Earth Ponies who creates stuff like this. I felt ready.
************
"Hurry. Protect the child. Protect it from the horrors of the Wild."
...
Click, click, click.