Nothing's More Important

As the human disappeared into the distance, a black furred wolf with streaks of grey along her belly stepped out into the clearing, where Justin could see her but Bruce certainly could not, even if he turned back. She looked at Justin calmly, taking a seat just in sight and waiting a moment for Justin’s reaction.

Justin thrust out a hoof at Bruce when he took off, his body urging him to follow. When the herd moves, it's wise to be a part of it. He didn't know what to do at that point. He turned back to see a wolf approaching and grit his teeth. He'd be brave and face what may come. "So… What are you protecting me from?" Besides his new friend.

“The humans, of course,” the wolf spoke. “Oh, they can be nice enough, individually, but in larger numbers? They can be very good at playing friendly and harmless until you have no chance of defending yourself.” After a pause she offered a paw toward Justin. “My name is Alice Walker. I didn’t quite catch yours.”

Justin tilted his head. This wasn't like a timber wolf, but she wasn't like a timber wolf. He reached out a hoof to set in her paw. "I'm Justin Thyme. I was gathering herbs when the fire happened all around me. I… Is he going to be OK? He's all alone now."

Alice shook his hoof firmly before releasing it. “He’ll be fine, as long as he doesn’t come back to look for us. The others will find him soon enough, and get him back where he belongs. If he speaks to them of ghosts and talking ponies, and voices in the woods, they’ll think he had a weird dream and move on. Humans can accept that,” she said. “It’d be a shame to rip him from his family unnecessarily.”

Justin gave a slow nodding gesture. "I suppose, um, so… Are you from here? Idaho?" Idaho was clearly some foreign nation he got whisked away to. "Which way is Equestria from here?"

“I am from farther west, past those mountains. But this is my territory now,” she said, pointing in a direction with a paw. “Equestria isn’t somewhere you can walk to. Did the ghost bring you here?”

Justin quickly nodded. "Oh, yes, I think so. She said she wanted to see a pony, and she smiled, and then she was gone." He put a hoof behind his head. "I never met a ghost before. She wasn't as scary as I expected. I feel more sad for her than anything else."

“They are always sad, and only sometimes scary,” Alice confirmed. “I doubt you’ll go home until you’re a ghost yourself, though a wizard might be able to help.” The wolf started circling Justin slowly, sniffing him from snout to tail.

His tail flicked softly as the wolf circled him, a bit nervous at her attention, though she hadn't proven worth worrying over yet. "I'm an alchemist…" His words came out lamely even as he pondered the impossibility of a potion that would get him home. "If you could tell me which way Equestria is, that'd be a start."

“It isn’t any direction,” Alice said. “You’ll need magic, or you aren’t going, and my magic doesn’t do anything of that sort.” She sniffed at his saddlebags. “And I’m guessing yours doesn’t either.”

He turned to face her as he shook her head. "Um, no, it doesn't go in, uh, no direction." He frowned a bit in thought. "How can a place not be in any direction?"

Alice shrugged before sitting back a bit to face him and converse. “I suppose it could be on the other side of the sky,” she said. “But I doubt that’s much use to you, even if it’s true. Are you that eager to get home? There’s a whole other world here… or even a nice grove to settle into if you prefer. I keep it nice here, and there aren’t any other predators to get you.”

Justin suddenly stiffened before he leaned towards the canine, sniffing at her. "Are you inviting me to stay with you? That's very nice of you." He smiled, clearly tickled by the offer. "I just want to know where I am. Oh! You said you do magic? What kind?"

“Yes, I told you that you were my guest,” she said, accepting the sniffing without objection. “My magic protects this grove. I kept the fire at bay, and the water clean. I’m a shaman, like my mother before me. Was one of your parents an alchemist like you?”

Justin shook his head. "My father's a salespony, and my mother likes to write. I learned alchemy from another pony, but I love doing it." He clopped his forehooves together before they came back down to all fours. "They can do a lot of things, if you have the right plants and recipe, but a lot of the plants around here I've never seen before."

Alice seemed pleased at that last comment, taking it as a compliment apparently. “It’s kind of hard keeping curious humans away so all these different varieties can thrive, but it’s worth it. In the future, you should ask me before picking, particularly if you’re going to take the whole plant. Some of these are hard to replace, and require going amongst the humans.” She looked at him thoughtfully, tapping her chin.

Justin shook his head. "I'll be extra careful, promise. Some of the potions use the roots, those are harder to take without hurting the plant." He frowned with thought. "Do you trade with the humans?"

“Sometimes, but I have to disguise myself as one of them to do so,” Alice answered. “I’m wondering what would be the best way to hide you if you wanted to come along. I think if your flanks were covered and you didn’t talk, you could maybe pass as an ordinary pony... “

Justin's ears twitched at the thought. "Are they that bad? He seemed so nice." He looked back at his own flank, adorned as it was with his broken glass cutie mark, then he looked at Alice, who had none. Hardly surprising there, only ponies had cutie marks. "You can turn into a human? Or just put on a costume?"

“He probably was. But when he got back to the others, some news folk would probably put you on camera, and then the not nice humans would know about you, and things would get real ugly before you know it," Alice answered. "They think they're the only ones who can talk, because they've pushed the rest of us to the brink of extinction, and our only chance of staying alive is to make sure most of them continue to not believe in us."

Justin gave slow nods, even if he didn't entirely grasp it. "I see, so you got really good at pretending to be one?"

“My kind can look like a human if we try, though it makes us weak and vulnerable. Also, humans insist on wearing clothes, so I have to cover myself up like them," she said with obvious distaste. “It can be worth it, though. As I said, they can be nice. But I prefer my own fur. What about you? Is your alchemy any good for disguises?"

Justin shook himself out. "I usually wear my fur too, and some other things." He had an assortment of bags, and a bandoleer of potions and vials. "But let me see." He settled on his haunches and pulled out his book. Setting it on the ground and carefully flipping with his hooves, he frowned as he dug into the portion of the book he normally left well alone. "I'm still not a master of alchemy yet…"

"Lucky you had your book with you then," Alice commented, before stepping away to help herself to some water.

"I don't normally go harvesting myself…" His words became mumbles as he tried to pick through the thick technical jargon that infested the 'advanced' section.

Alice waited patiently for a brief time before looking over his shoulder curiously.

The book did have some recipes for changing fur and mane colors, even hiding cutie marks, not that being a ‘blank flank’ was super popular. It wouldn’t do much to hide his equine nature, though. Certainly not become a human. On reaching the end of the book, he folded it shut. "If you told me what one of the ponies around here look like, I could probably disguise as one of them, best I can do."

“Aside from the one human that saw you already, you’d really just need to hide your flank marks. They’re a bit too flashy to pass as a brand,” Alice said. “But there’s no need to hurry on that. I am surprised to see you so alert so late at night. Are you a nocturnal pony?”

Justin raised a hoof before slowly lowering it. "It was day when I... " He looked up, yep, those stars were still there in defiance of his internal clock. "I'm not keeping you up, am I?"

“I’m normally up at night,” Alice said with a shrug, “unless I’m going to trade with the humans. I’m guessing you prefer being up in the day though. You’ll probably get tired in the morning as it is.”

Justin looked unsure a moment before he nodded. "If we're roommates now, I'll stay up with you, and we'll both go to bed at the same time. If I'm up by myself…" Well, what would he do, other than be alone. "I'm going to get the dyeing potions ready, what colors do I need?"

Alice looked him over. “It wouldn’t hurt to be browner, or blonder like your mane. You’re a bit red for an ordinary pony. Do you need anything? I can help you find the herbs.”

The book was consulted before Justin checked his stock. "That's an easy color. Can you get a clove or two?" He got right to work, mixing and grinding with that happy look he got when making things.

Alice nodded before padding off into the darkness. She was gone about a minute before returning with a mouthful of cloves to offer him. She couldn’t help but give a bit of a laugh when she offered them to him.

"Thank you." He leaned in to accept the cloves, practically kissing her as he took the cloves from her snout into his own and tossing them right into the bowl to grind away at. "What's so funny?"

She stiffened a bit as they exchanged the plant matter, before looking away, and wagging lightly. “Nothing,” she insisted. “Need anything else?”

Justin tapped at his chin with a hoof, "I could really go for a hayburger… What do you eat out here? Please don't say pony."

“I can honestly say I’ve never eaten a pony,” Alice said, raising a paw solemnly. “Though I do mostly eat meat. I don’t know how to make a hayburger, but I can try to get you something as close as I can from the humans at some point. Anything… simpler? Preferably something that doesn’t need to be cooked.”

Justin frowned as he returned his hooves to the effort of mixing. "A salad would work. Something nice and colorful. I know some ponies talk about greens, but bah, all the good stuff's in all the other colors! Purples, reds, so many.." He set the pestle aside and slowly swished around the stuff in the bowl carefully.

“Purples? That almost sounds like flowers… do you eat flowers?” Alice said, curiously. He was an actual herbivore, so surely his sense of what made sense to eat wouldn’t match a wolf’s or a human’s.

"Some flowers are very good," agreed Justin as he bottled up his creation and went on to the next. "Today's a busy day! I never made so many potions in a day, except that one time… That joke didn't end well, um, except for me. I guess it worked out for me."

“Got it, so just flowers, no greens?” Alice confirmed, “or some of each?”

Justin perked an ear. "Both are good. Please, don't go out of your way for me. I don't want to be a rude guest." He pushed up to his hooves. "Can I help?"

“Well, I don’t want to be a rude host,” Alice countered. “Just wait right here, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And with that she was gone, black fur blending into the darkness easily.