Chapter 2 - Chatter

We fled over several low ridges and across a stream before the place where the vines were was well out of sight, and we kept going until we were both barely able to stumble on. Showing surprisingly good sense the creature nudged me and directed my eyes towards a rocky lump that loomed off to the side of the glade we were attempting to cross; if there were any more of those vines about they surely wouldn't be able to penetrate rock to reach us there. Too tired to resister that the thing had touched me or how strangely hard it had felt I clambered up the side of the oblongish bolder with it and collapsed on top in exhaustion.

After a while my breathing slowed and I started taking note of my surroundings again. First and foremost, there was the creature laying on the rock next to me... Unsure what to do about that just yet I spread my attention to our rock and the woods around us.

Thankfully there was no sign of the vines to be seen, although interestingly the boulder we were on seemed to have once been part of a structure of some sort; the far side from our approach had the remains of a rough wall built up against it and there was enough toppled mason laying about to suggest there had once been a fairly large building here. Even the trees seemed farther back on that side.

As I contemplated the wall and the forest and wondered where in Equestria I was, my strange companion sat up beside me. I turned and for a long moment we considered each other in silence, and again I was struck by its dull blue eyes and eerily eroded form.

On its back what I had at first taken as some kind of half decayed clothing revealed itself to actually be part of the creature, although I had a hard time believing them to be the wings they appeared to be. Surely nothing so thin and wispy could actually be used for flight? Granted, I was a unicorn and not the best judge of wings, but they seemed impossibly frail and eroded for the task. I also noticed a small pouch worn in an unusual manner beneath the creature's chest and wondered at its contents. The face I tried to avoid, therein still lay monsters that I wasn't quite ready to tackle.

Interrupting my scrutiny and forcing the issue, the creature held up a hoof and gestured in a decidedly intelligent manner as if asking for attention. I sat comfortably and put on what I hopped was a patient encouraging expression, and it seemed to study me closely for a moment before cocking its head slightly to the side and saying something that sounded like a question, although in a language I didn't understand. I shook my head and asked in Equestrian if it could understand me, to which I received the same negative gesture I had given.

Then, demonstrating an impressive talent for mimicry, it repeated my question back to me in Equestrian. This was an intelligent monster then! Or was it? What was it? Surely it was a half dead pony, victim of the Plunder vines... And yet, it didn't act half eaten. If anything it acted elated and curious. Mentally struggling I held a hoof up and tapped my chest, saying 'Ren' as clearly as I could given the recent marathon, repeating the gesture and name before gesturing at it in hopes of learning something. Without gesturing back, the creature said something that after several attempts I was able to pronounce as 'Vair'. Having exchanged names we stared at each other thoughtfully.

I know not what was going through its mind, but as for myself I was fascinated. Sure, I was lost in an impossible forest with no idea where I was or how I'd gotten there, but the creature in front of me shouldn't even be alive, much less able to politely ask...

It wasn't finished however; again demonstrating an uncanny ability to remember and mimic, it repeated back the first words I had spoken to it, asking what I was. Amused and thinking it unaware of the meaning of the question, I humored it as I tried to work out how to ask all the questions I had in pantomime. Talking quietly I told the creature that I was a student of magic, and that I was lost in these woods and not actually sure how I had arrived here or even where here actually was. Wanting to keep the conversation going but unsure what else to say, I asked what it was doing in the woods.

To my surprise, the creature replied in flawless equestrian saying 'I arrived here the woods had magic'. A jumbled mess to be sure, but the words were clear and seemingly spoken with intelligence even if the meaning was murky at best... Without anything else to do and unwilling to examine my companion or situation to closely I applied myself completely to the problem of communication. Although I rarely call attention to it I pride myself on being quick and picking up on things other ponies miss, and as I sat there sorting the statement out it eventually came to me that the creature had used only words I myself had spoken aloud. Was it possible that it was learning their meaning through context? It seemed impossible, but then it also seemed to be dead and yet it here it was, demonstrably not dead... Who was to say what it could and couldn't do? And it had seemed to have understood the question; it's reply almost made sense.

Keeping an eye on the creature's horn and playing the hunch for lack of a better idea, I elaborated on my last comment, using new words and unconsciously speaking slower to allow for better emphasis. I told it that I was a unicorn and that I studied with the great Starswirl of Elm, that I was fascinated by machines and passionate about building and blending them with magic, and that I had been working with my friends on a project before this forest had replaced my familiar surroundings of books and scrolls.

As I spoke I caught the faintest flickers of magic darting around it's ruined horn, but as near as I could tell there was no actual casting taking place. Could it be using some kind of passive or 'natural' magic to learn my language? The master had often spoken of such things when discussing the Earth Pony's uncanny ability to grow and nurture, of how they intuitively knew what to do to help somepony even if they didn't actually understand the cause of the problem. Perhaps this creature had similar innate abilities? But then I wasn't even sure that it was a pony, so would I even recognize a spell if it casted one?

After I finished my discourse it seemed to think for a moment before repeating its previous statement, only this time in much clearer if still somewhat broken Equestrian. It said that it had 'come to the woods because seeking great magic master' and that it had 'been gathered by magic day ago'.

Encouraged and thinking the problem through, I recounted everything I had seen and experienced since the forest had appeared in detail, equipping the creature with as many relevant terms as I could. I even thought to add a few lines describing magic and society and ponies so it would be able to apply those to the conversation as well.

From this effort I was able to learn that Vair's home was some kind of outpost that had been built to guard a pass and that he had been sent to find a wise mare  to  ask for guidance. Or at least that was what I gathered, there seemed to be a lot more going on that we lacked the words to express. I did manage to learn that Vair was a 'Veroa' and that they were fighting against the 'Jotnar', but try as I might I couldn't remember ever coming across those names before.

Vair also told me he had been traveling for nearly half a moon* before being ensnared by the vines, and that he had been fighting them for more than a couple days before I happened by. The conversation was developing into the most remarkable rapport given the situation and language barriers we were smashing through when a long low howl came rolling through the forest behind us.

Timberwolves.