Philosopher of Earth

+++The next morning, in Ponyville+++

Silver Star awoke with a start. Creature, Inn, morning, bed, armor. She thought. Silver got up and stretched. On the opposite bed Nimbus was still fast asleep. She gently took off her armor.

"Ow." she whispered. Taking it off after wearing it so long had made it hurt. She stretched again, thankful for now lacking the hindrance. She trotted into the bathroom and drew a hot bath. After it was done, she slide in.

"Ahhhh... By Celestia that feels good." she smiled. After enjoying the warmth for a while, she rubbed down with soap and got out. Now, back to business. She thought. Silver got a quill, and some ink and paper out of her bag and began to write.

"Princess Celestia, I am pleased to report that our search for the unknown creature has proven fruitful in that the commander and I, have tracked the creature to the town of Ponyville. We have however, by no means our own, lost the trail of the creature to the daily activities of local ponies. We will however, keep our eyes and senses open to any strange activity in the area. We request your advice and command on the matter. A Faithful Soldier, Silver Star"

She signed the report with a flourish. She slipped out of the room to mail the letter to Canterlot. Outside, just as she was pushing the report into the inns mailbox, she heard cries of rage down the street. Curious, she finished sliding the report into the slot, and trotted down the street. There was a crowd outside the bakery. Not normally a cause for concern, but they seemed angry about something. She pushed her way through the crowd. Standing in front of the door was a ruffled yellow stallion, wearing what was probably the bakeries uniform, who seemed to be trying to keep the crowd at bay.

"Keep calm! I...I'm sure they'll have the new cupcakes done soon!" he shouted, only to be greeted with outrage. "Honey? have you found it yet?" he yelled into the bakery. A muffled but flustered voice came back.

"I can't find it! I know I put it here!"

"Keep looking!" he replied. The crowd seemed to be be getting angier. All this for a new cupcake? Silver thought. That was most certainly odd, but not the odd she had now promised to look for... But as a Royal Guard it was her job to restore order where possible, so...

"ROYAL GUARD! EVERY PONY QUIET NOW!" she yelled over the commotion, now standing in front of the crowd with the yellow stallion. The crowd silenced for a moment. Then somepony asked,

"Where's the armor?" The crowd once again began to get loud and angry. Silver was about to reply when a familiar voice boomed behind the crowd.

"ROYAL GUARD! EVERY PONY SHUT UP NOW!" yelled Nimbus, thankfully still in his armor. He walked through a split in the crowd. "Silver." he acknowledged

"Sargeant." she replied. Nimbus then joined her in facing the crowd.

"Go about your business!" he yelled. The crowd, now realizing the two unicorns were the real deal, grumbled as they dispersed. Finally the it was clear in front of the bakery. "What was going on?" Nimbus asked the yellow stallion. Clearly relieved that he no longer had to deal with an angry mob, the yellow stallion replied.

"W...well, today was supposed to be the debut of a new special kind of recipe for cakes and cupcakes. B..but, Mrs. Cake can't find the mixing pot that was used when we first discovered the recipe." with that he yelled back into the bakery. "Find it yet?"

"No!" came the reply from the presumed Mrs. Cakes.

"Well, keep searching, and I would suggest putting the "closed" sign up for today." recommended Silver.

"Yes, will do..." he said. With that he dashed back inside and flipped the open sign so that it read closed. The two guards starting walking away away.

"When I woke up I saw you were gone and I heard the shouting." began Nimbus. "I figured you had to be at the center of whatever was happening. Some things never change, just like that party during basic."

"For the record, I didn't cause this, and that wasn't a party." replied Silver, remembering the incident during her basic training.

"Either way, I was right, and you were neck deep in trouble." he grinned.

"Yea..." she agreed with a smirk.

"Did you send the report to the Princess?" asked NImbus.

"Yes, it was why I was outside when I saw the bakery crowd." Silver answered. They were silent for the rest of the walk back to the inn. Now all the two unicorns had to do was wait for orders.

+++ In the Apple family orchard, the same morning +++

The small fire I made now had the pot over it. Water fresh from the stream was beginning to boil. I had picked a few apples from nearby trees and was preparing a decent breakfast. The water soon began to roil in the pot, so I took the pot off and let it cool nearby. Ten minutes later it seemed to be cool enough to drink, so I sat on the ground and began to eat a breakfast, first half decent meal in four days... Gosh, had it been that long already?

When I was done my stomach still wanted something. Crap. Apples can't keep me going forever. I thought. I would need some protein soon, and that meant either some nuts, or hunting an animal or something. I didn't see any nut trees that I knew of, so I would have to kill something. I wasn't about to kill a pony, no, they were sentient beings just as I was, so some wild animal would have to do.  At that moment I saw a pair of rabbits dart past at the edge of my temporary camp site. So rabbits did exist here? A cage wouldn't be too difficult to construct. I started gathering fallen sticks in the area. Wait, it would be almost impossible to build a square cage. Fuck. The dry sticks wouldn't bend like I needed them to, so I started gathering green sticks from the surrounding trees. They bent wonderfully. I gathered some tough long grass and made a circle using the bending sticks. I then used the grass to tie them into a sort of bundle, using the tension of the sticks to help keep it together. I now had a ring of sticks. I gathered more material from the area. More sticks and grass. I started by bending the sticks so that the ends pushed against the inside of the ring bundle, then I secured them by tying the ends to the ring. And to make sure it all stayed in place, I tied the place where the sticks met in the center. It wasn't the sturdiest thing ever, but it would be easy to repair or replace. I then found a long stick nearby that would prop the cage up. I tested it to make sure I knew where to best hold it up, and that it fell at the slightest jiggle. Perfect, almost. Now I needed bait, a carrot would have do the trick. I thought I saw a garden near the barn, I would have to wait for the residing ponies to leave or look away before I stole anything... No time like the present, I hide my trap in some nearby bushes, memorizing where it was in accordance to the shack. I kicked out the fire and disguised it. Not very easy, but I had to try. I then packed the pot and a couple spare sticks in the bag and started sneaking my way to the barn.

The area outside the barn seemed deserted. But I knew that farmers usually came and went randomly while tending everything. So, I waited. My earlier guess was correct, there was a garden nearby, and I could see some carrot plants sticking out of the ground in a neat row. I was perched behind the tree closest to them. But it was a good five meters between the tree and edge of the garden. A little far in broad daylight. I saw some thing exit the barn. It was the female named "Applejack". She was pulling the stall cart out, probably to go sell apples in town again. Good, one less pony to worry about for a while. She soon left. I waited a few moments. I planned every move I would make in detail. Run over, grab a carrot, yank it out of the ground, run back. I was about to execute the maneuver when a huge red stallion came out of the trees with a cart full of apples in tow. Shit, that had been close. He took off the harness and left the cart next to the barn, and then pulled another empty cart out of the barn. He quickly strapped on the harness and began pulling it away. Suddenly realizing if he forgot anything he would come back in about 30 seconds, so I jerked up, rushed over, yanked a carrot out of the ground and was back behind the tree in less than three seconds. I looked at the carrot, a tad small, but I wasn't going to eat it. Good enough. I brushed the dirt off and began my way back to my hiding spot.

Everything was where I left it. I quickly found the trap and started making my way to the wild trees outside the orchard. Finding a secluded spot, I set the carrot down. I leaned the cage on the stick and put the stick on the carrot. Perfect. All I had to do now was wait, and hopefully a rabbit or something else that was edible would trip the trap. It was now in the afternoon, realizing I was thirsty again, I went to the shack to start boiling more water.

+++ Later that afternoon, Canterlot +++

Twilight Sparkle had set up an efficient command center in a Canterlot Castle room and was busily ordering her assigned Royal Guards to the tiniest detail. She now stood in the middle of the room with a map that she had drawn patrol routes and timetables on. One could hardly see the locations due to the amount of writing on it. She was giving orders to a fresh pair of Guards when a messenger ran to the table.

"Your Highness! Princess Celestia wanted me to give you this!" he handed her a report. It was the same report that Silver Star had written. She read it quickly.

"STOP EVERYTHING!" she suddenly yelled. Everypony stopped their tasks and looked at her with confusion. "Forget everything up until now! Pack everything! We're moving this operation to Ponyville!"

"Ponyville?" whispered everypony in the room.

"The creature has escaped the Everfree Forest and the team tracking it have reported it in Ponyville!" she yelled. At this everypony began packing everything in a hurry. Runners were sent out to give the units already on the hunt their new orders, Celestia was notified and everything was being packed into a last minute ride on the Pony Express, much to the dismay of civilian travelers, but they were compensated for their wait. Within two hours the command structure of the operation was packed, and on its way to Ponyville.