Broken Howls and Tattered Leaves

       You know.... I have never really told anyone this, but I have always found the night sky to be the most beutiful this on Earth, but living in New York made that almost impossible with all the light pollution. Yes, there is such a thing as light pollution. It is where there is so much light, that it outshines even the stars, leaving the night sky blank and dreary. So yeah, I guess you could say that the night sky in Equestria is a sight to behold. Also knowing that a certain pony princess actually paints it each and every night, telling us mortals stories of the heroes and legends of old makes it all that much more awe inspiring.

       Although, the only thing more beautiful than the stars was the moon. It was a large glowing disk in the sky that lit up the small camp I had set up for Roseluck and Keet. They were both fast asleep in a small tent I had made out of moss, limbs, and large leaves. I never actually realized it, but I had to admit that Roseluck was kinda cute for a pony. If I remember correctly, she was a tad asocial like me, staying in her garden to tend to her plants. I really did not know much about her really, although you ask me about Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash and I could tell you quite a bit. I was actually quite eager to meet them when I got to Ponyville.

       The one thing that kept bothering me the most tonight was the singular question that kept popping into my head no matter how much I tried to dismiss it. What the hell was Roseluck doing that deep in the Rainforest in the first place? Either she moonlighted as a Daring Do wannabe, or it had to do something with the Blood Rose. Now, I may be some sort of druid thing now, but that doesn't mean I know a lot about plants. All I knew about the Blood Rose was that it was extremely rare. At least, for a normal, non-druid, pony. But I do know enough about medicine that most remedies originally came form herbs or exotic flowers like the Blood Rose. Once again, I dismissed the question and told myself that I would ask her in the morning before we left.

       Now, being a Timberwolf, I really had no need for sleep, but I could if I had wanted to. Not sleeping for a few days is really hard on the soul. So I found it strange that I actually started to feel tired. Not normal at all, at least normal in the sense of what I am now. My eyelids felt heavy and instantly started to droop no matter how hard I tried to keep them open. I was supposed to keep watch for Celes- well, I guess I should start saying 'for Terra's sake' now, given the circumstances. But anyways, my mind slowly wandered into a place I would rather not have seen again.

       I was back in my room on Earth, game console and TV in front of me. The words, "Game successfully saved" in bold green letters superimposed onto a scene much like that of my Timberwolf self sleeping nearby a tent that looked as if it had been grown. "Gods damn it..." I cursed under my breath. I could feel something behind me and I knew exactly what it was.

       "Can't you just, I don't know, TELL me when you are going to do that?!" I growled at him. Growling is a strange thing to hear from a human throat.

       "Oh don't get your panties in a bunch Derek..." Deceit replied. How he knew my name was something for another time, but then again he was a god or something so I guess he could just find out with a snap of his non existent fingers.

       "What do you want now Deceit..." I said coldly. The large blob of shadows frowned(Which was surprising seeing as he ALWAYS had that stupid, shit-eating grin on his face).

       "Simple. I want you back..." Ooookay? This was new. I thought the only way I could get rid of my Patron was by having him give me up according to Adam.

       "Wait... What?" I asked, still slightly confused. "How the hell did you lose me in the first place?"

       He only growled at me in distaste. "Your thrice damned goddess severed our connection with that stupid seed of hers!" His amorphous form shivered as he grew angrier. "She knew that the Seed would destroy the connection! And I just had to choose someone with a damned pure heart! Choose a Hero Deceit! Heroes are more likely to win Deceit! Good always triumph Deceit!" He ranted. "I am never listening to Discord ever again..." He seemed almost sad. I almost pitied him. Almost.

       "Well, I guess that you can.... SUCK IT! HA HA! Now I don't have to put up with you and your annoying voice anymore!" I cheered. I was really liking this turn of events. "Thank you Terra! This has really made my day!"

       Deceit grew more and more agitated as I continued to cheer and insult his incompetence. "You know, for a god of lies and manipulation, you do a HORRIBLE JOB! It is almost like you were scripted by a horrible author who is just writing because it is an easy escape from reality!"

       "SILENCE!" Deceit roared. The dream/illusion thing I was in started to crumble and dissolve. "I CURSE YOU DEREK! I CURSE YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I WILL HURT YOU WHERE IT HURTS THE MOST. MAYBE NOT TODAY, MAYBE NOT TOMORROW, BUT ONE DAY YOU SHALL FEEL THE FULL EXTENT OF MY WRATH!"

       As the dream started to disappear, I said the one thing I knew Keet would appreciate.

"You Mad?"

       I woke up to Roseluck shaking me awake. "Oh thank Celestia! I was getting worried when you wouldn't wake up after Keet dropped that rock on your head!" I looked over to Keet to see him whistling innocently on top of the tent.

Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I paused thinking about the strange dream that seemed to fade the more I thought about it. Actually, I am more than fine. I grinned and got up onto my paws. Well? Shall we get going? We got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it a good ways to Stalliongrad by nightfall. I said, prancing on ahead. I could tell Keet and Roseluck were sharing a confused look.

       It was now mid afternoon, and Celetia's life giving sun was high in the sky and Roseluck and Keet were both feeling the full brutal heat of the Jungle. Me, on the other paw, was enjoying the stream of energy it bestowed to me. I always did like oranges.

Say Roseluck, just what were you doing so deep in the Jungle anyways? I wouldn't think that at girl like yourself would venture far from home, and yet here you are, walking through the middle of the Great Southern Rainforest with a parakeet and a vicious, deadly Timberwolf like me.

       "Vicious? Deadly?" Keet laughed hard. So hard that he had to stop and catch his breath for a few moments before starting again. "You couldn't hurt a fly! Let alone a Pony." He continued laughing as I put on my best pouty face. Scary, I know.

       "Aww, look. You are hurting his feelings Keet! Shame on you!" Roseluck chastised Keet while I inwardly grinned. Traveling with Roseluck was going to be fun.

Back to the question at hand. What are you doing so deep in the Jungle?

       Roseluck's expression took a deep dive into the sad zone. I actually started to regret asking her. I-if you don't want to answer, that is okay with me... I don't really need to know...

       "I-I really want to tell you, but..." She looked like she was going to cry. SHIT! I WAS MAKING ROSELUCK CRY! That was almost as bad as making Fluttershy or Pinkie cry! I was truly a monster now...

       "Now look at what you had to go and do Woody! You're making the poor mare cry!" Keet chastised, grinning all the while.

Shhh... It is all right if you don't want to tell me Roseluck. Take your time if you really need to... The rest of the day was left in awkward silence as we walked north by northeast towards Stalliongrad. None of us really could say anything, even while we were making camp. We were getting really close to the edge of the Jungle now. It looked less like a Jungle and more like a normal, if dense, forest. Keet and Roseluck both entered the new tent as I stood vigilant for anything dangerous. The only thing I saw the entire night was a small flash of light green out of the corner of my eye before it disappeared.

We reached Stalliongrad only a few days after my altercation with my ex-patron. Not much happened on the trip besides a run in with some Diamond Dogs. They were nice enough blokes, we traded a few rare herbs for some news from around. The only thing of interest to me were the tales of the new generation of so called Heroes. The most prominent was that of the Griffin Pirates on thair great airship, 'The Possiblity', and whispers of something that they called 'The Lunar Legend'. There were a few others that seemed interesting, but I just dismissed them. I had the itching sensation that they could also be like me. Players.

       The city of Staliongrad may have looked impressive from the outside, but after we payed off and assured the gatekeepers that I wouldn't kill anypony, I was quickly surprised how much like the USSR it got it's name from. It wasn't really cold enough to snow, but the streets looked dull and the buildings were grungy. The citizens weren't much better off. Sure, they looked like they were doing fine, but seeing this level of poverty in Equestria was jarring to say the least.

       We had split up to gather the necessary supplies for the distant journey to Ponyville. Roseluck had gone off to find food and possibly a carriage to take us, and Keet just flew off to look around the city. I didn't have any bits on me, so I couldn't really do anything except for scare the citizens with my very presence. It was fun for the first few times, but after awhile I started to feel sad. Not being able to communicate was starting to get on my nerves. I was still trying to figure out why Roseluck could hear me and no pony else, but I was interrupted by a strange, white pegasus stallion with a very unkempt mane and tail. His cutie mark was that of a gilded book and a pencil. His olive drab beret and light vest made him look Scottish.

       "Well now. Just what do we have here?" He asked, his right eye seemed to float down as he stared at me. "I bet there is quite a story to be told here mate."

Yeah, quite a story indeed... I rolled my eyes.

       He seemed surprised for a moment before replying. "Well then. Why don't you tell it to me over a pint?" Did he just hear me? "No, I read it!" He said with finality. This guy was really strange...

Well then... Sorry about the long wait, but I have been having trouble focusing...

ANYWAYS! Here is part 1 of Twig's adventures in Stalliongrad which is a part of the 'Journey to Ponyville' arc. I decided to split the chapter into two mostly because

1. My Wii was starting to lag.

2. There will be many drinking related shenanigans in the next part.

3. Because I can.

4. ???

5. Profit!

So there ya go. I wil also like to say this once again, but GO TO THE TWIGGY TUMBLR AT ask-twigleaf.tumblr.com AND ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS DAMNIT! Also go check out Eathlome's tumblr ask-cora-and-adam.tumblr.com. I apologise if I go the addresses wrong, but I will post the links whenever I get onto the computer. For now, you shall have to find them the hard way if you can.