Three Friends

Having finished his garden work for the time being, Hunter returned to the outskirts of the town he realized he knew very little about, much less what sorts of plants grew there. He would have to glean information from the residents before he could truly set up his grove.

Passing by the shy pony’s cottage, he briefly wondered about the insomniac chicken. He could easily make a brew of sleeping if he had the reagents. The problem would be a few things he had no idea how to obtain. He decided that the best place to go would be an information repository, so he began asking around for a library or anything related to it.

Once being directed to a large tree, he had to admire the craftsmanship of the feat. Making a steading out of a tree itself rather than merely cutting it down was a stroke of genius in his mind. And for a library even? He felt he could be easily at home here.

Stepping inside by ducking under the low door, Hunter began looking around the shelves, though the books seemed to be organized in a rather different way than he was used to.

The sound of two feet - not the four-beat of a quadruped’s hooves - coming down the stairs caught Hunter’s attention, and he saw what appeared to be either an imp, or a juvenile of some form of saurian species, though none he can recognize.

The eyes were certainly reptilian -or feline- but the short claws and bipedal stature reminded him more of an imp or other small humanoid. “What... are you?” asked the very curious witch.

The creature looked up in surprise. “Uh, I’m Spike. I’m a dragon. And what’re you?” the ‘dragon’ had a voice like a young boy, but clearly-spoken and eloquent, quite unlike the sort of speech Hunter would expect from a child.

“I’m a witch. Unless you mean my species, then I’m a human.”

“And I’m hungry!” Slendy said as he teleported right next to Hunter via the command block leaving it behind at his aquarium house.

Hunter sighed again. “Back to the subject at hand, I’m looking for an encyclopedia of sorts. Documents on the local flora and fauna.” he paused for a moment before asking another question that he desired an answer to. “And how many more nights before the next full moon?”

“And I’m looking for a book about cats in serious situations, or a comic book, either/or really.” Slendy stated.

Spike blinked. “... And what do you want with them?” he asked of Slendy, homing in on the request for comics.

“To read them of course; what else would one do with a comic?” Slendy asked.

“... Collect them, duh.” Spike said with an air of incomprehension.

“Do you have any for reading then?” Slendy persisted.

“I guess I have a few, but they’re not part of the library system. How would I know you’ll bring ‘em back?” he asked, as Hunter sighed, the two getting far off his original topic.

“Well I could read them here so you could keep them within line of sight, does that sound reasonable?”

Hunter shook his head and continued looking for his information. He’d ask again when the drake was finished. After a bit of discussion, the dragon decided to keep his comics to himself, which Hunter feared would not be well-received.

“Awww.” Slendy whined in protest.

“If you’re gonna act like that, then definitely not.” the little dragon stated, turning to Hunter. “So you needed a guide to the environment?”

“Yes, please. Anything you have on the nature of this town and its surrounding lands.”

“Okay... Uh, I think we have something like that.” the dragon said, heading for a set of shelves and returning with a rather large book. “It’s also got a bit of history of Ponyville in there as well, so there’s that if it’s interesting.” Spike says, offering the book to Hunter who takes it, thanking Spike in advance.

Flipping open the book, he found mostly what he was looking for, as well as a map of the general area. Moving to a table in the center of the room, he took out his notebook and began taking notes. His book was filling up and he’d need to get a bigger one. Carrying around several books was never an idea he liked to entertain after losing several notebooks due to having to mind them all.

Checking the maps, he found that the forest he had arrived in was known as ‘Everfree’ and that there was another, much smaller forest elsewhere called Whitetail. ‘At least,’ he thought, ‘I’d have a place to go should Slendy make the Everfree even more dangerous than the caution in this book seems to suggest it is...’

After a bit of writing, Hunter got up and decided he had stayed in one place long enough. Now was the time to get out and learn a few things firsthand. He thanked Spike again and, setting the book down, walked out of the library followed by Slendy. His goal was to go see what sorts of plants he could find, and identify them later, heading to the market first. Even if he had no money, he could at least ask where he could find some of his own in the wild.

The marketplace was, once more, buzzing with activity, and while Hunter got several confused or interested looks, none of the ponies run away or look frightened, and he spots several local food plants. He’d never heard of celery before, but it apparently goes with peanut butter... whatever that is. As well, he spotted a unicorn at a stall that was selling numerous plants listed as magical, which draws his eye more than the array of vegetables.

Then, he remembered he had no money still, and even less to barter. Hmmmm... he could at least ask for information on the plants. Walking up to the stall, he queried about some of the plants’ actual abilities.

“What sorts of ‘magic’ would these plants provide exactly?” Hunter asked, browsing the vegetation, his gaze landing on something that seemed familiar, but he was sure wasn’t in his notes.

“Well, Ghost Lilies are used in numerous spells for freedom of movement, transformation, and also make excellent center-pieces for dining areas. Wispy Cottonseeds are used for sleeping aids, just don’t mistake ‘em for Disturbed Cottonseeds. Needle-Cactus spines are hard to come by, but they’re really useful for sewing objects that need to avoid touching metal for whatever reason, and are superb quill-tips to mere brass ones. Snowbells are useful for iceboxes; if ya plant them in one with a glass top, it’ll keep growing and keep your food cold.” she said, pointing at each item in question as she described them. “I’ve got some more in the back, this isn’t my whole stock, but they’re the most popular stuff. I can also get some Maredrake root shavings, and some Belladonna leaves, but you have to show a license to buy those.”

“A license? For Belladonna leaves?” Hunter responded in disbelief. Every self-respecting witch knew it was the petals that added to brews the best.

“Well, yeah, they’re pretty toxic if they’re over-used, but tea made from the leaves is an excellent muscle relaxant.”

“Muscle relaxant? A mild byproduct of using Belladonna petals in a brew is to increase the effectiveness, making a potion last much longer. You can’t tell me that you have been using something as rare as wispy cotton for something like...”

She gasped at his comments, face brightening from ‘plastic, sell-to-the-customer’ to genuine enthusiasm. “Oh, you’re a practitioner! Most folks looking to buy are just looking for little things to help them out; I keep the petals and Cotton in the back for serious folks.” Well... she did say that the stuff in the front is ‘popular’, not powerful.

“Well, I would like to view your wares, but I’m afraid I’m just browsing. At the moment, my garden is sparse and I have little to trade, though I believe being able to sell some potions around town would acquire me some money. I will certainly return, and maybe I can bring you some samples of plants from where I came from.”

“Well...” she started, rubbing her chin with a forehoof. “Actually, if you can scrape together ten Bits, I can give you a Grow Starter. It’s got a bunch of seeds for some of the basics. And I’d be willing to buy any of the special plants you grow, and probably for better prices than you’d get selling the finished potions. Unless you plan on making a bajillion ‘love’ potions for all the couples around Hearts and Hooves day, but that’s only once a year. My usual supplier is pretty sporadic, ‘cuz he only passes by the natural growing places every once in awhile, and nopony feels comfortable enough near the Everfree.” she paused, “Speaking of, if you’re willing to go in there sometime, I can give you a list of really rare things to keep an eye out for, and I’ll pay top bits for ‘em.”

“Always happy to help a fellow witch; of course I would. In fact I’m currently residing in this Everfree forest. I’ve found it a very nice place to set up a grove. I feel that I should have a few basic brews by next moon.” Hunter replied, smiling softly, pulling out his notebook to add the list to. “And if you are unaware of it, I may have a few small samples of Spanish Moss to part with, very useful in more... defensive arts.”

“‘Spanish’ Moss? Never heard of it.” she said, looking intrigued.

“Hah, here, I have an entry on it from my own notes. It’s main use is in designing poppets. Dolls of self-protection. I figure I’d sell them by the handful once others start realizing their true usefulness. A chance at shaking off a brush with Death is worth quite a lot to some.”

“Oh, you mean Marecelonian Moss! And yeah, those’ll sell like hotcakes, what with all the things that happen to this town. You’ll probably get tired of making ‘em, actually. Still, it’s a good choice.” she said, using her magic to write a list of the materials she would pay well for.

Hunter, graciously taking a note to look into the difference between Spanish and Marecelonian mosses, thanked the mare and assured her he’d be back, the list of rare materials in hand.

She paused, before he could leave, “Oh, I totally forgot! I’m Shady Leaves, by the way.” she sticks out a hoof, as if for a handshake. Hunter took it and introduced himself in turn. “We shall meet again, miss. And next time I may have more to offer than information. May nature smile on you.” His warmest farewell phrase said, he left with a smile, which grew wider upon hearing...

“And may fate guide your fortunes.” she replied.