Of Twilights and new Dawns

Daisy Cutter finished another turn of walking in circles. The earth pony mare did that for about three hours by now. “Where are they? They should have arrived long ago. Hope they are ok.” She mumbles under her breath without a pause the whole time.

“By Celestia’s table silver, mare… just stood still for a moment. Any more pacing and we have a trench deep enough to defend for a siege.” The stallion muttered.

Now the mare stood still, she raised a hove-to her husband. “Are you not worried for your children?” she asked in questioning tone.

The Stallion, taller than most stallions, with the name Lumberjack, snorted. “By the sun and moon, cause but I’m just better in hiding it.” He snorted, before standing up and walking towards her. As soon as he was in reach, he hugged her. “Calm down, mare. I’m sure nothing happened to them.”

Hearing his assuring in a calm manner really manage to cool Daisy Cutter off and she started to relax, her ragged breath returns to a normal pattern, and the few wrinkles made due to the stress vanished.

Lumberjack smugly grinned, as he had managed to calm her, but before he could celebrate his victory, but a cry from the entrance shake both.

“MOM, DAD… WE ARE BACK.” screamed the mare running up the small way to the house and her parents.

Daisy was back in the worried mother modus and swapped her daughter Green Branch off her hooves. After a quick hug (with the obvious near breaking her daughter in half) she looks at Green Branches brown coat and green mane looking for any kind of injury.

Lumberjack sighed once, as his try to calm her was now undone, but he pushed all negative feelings about that aside, as his daughter was now her. “What took you so long and where are your brother and the cart?”

“We had an accident…” Green Branch started to say but was cut short, when Daisy Cutter grabbed her again.

Pulling her daughter again into her tight embrace, Daisy turned around and scolded her Sprouse. “This is all you say, where the cart?”

“Well, we need the cart to transport the wood we cut and so make bits. As it’s necessary to make more bits to keep a roof atop and food on the table, I think a few concerns are allowed.” Lumberjack said. “And you should ease your grip on our daughter.”

Daisy wanted to shout at him when she realized that Green was strangely calm. She looks down into the blue face of her daughter and quickly realized that she had nearly strangled her. So, she eased her grip and Green take a few breaths to get precious air back into her lung.

“Oh, sweet air, I missed you” she muttered, then spoke up. “We had an accident a few miles before the town. A wheel came to lose and the cart broke down. Bosk has swept aside and his hoof broke.”

Now Daisy Cutter paled, then started to tremble. Green Branch and Lumberjack could see, that every fiber in her body demanded that she should act like a mother… freaking out and rushing towards her hurt child.

Green spoke up before she even moved an inch. “Well, then a stranger came and helped us. He pulled the cart up, pushed the wheel back on, sprayed something on Bosk’s gashes and now he pulls the cart with Bosk on it here.”

Lumberjack listened to what with only a fringe of his attention, as he feared that his wife could run off, if he took his eyes off her for even a second, and nodded to what she had just said. After a moment he registered what she had said. Now focusing all of his attention his daughter he realized what she had said.

“He pulled the cart up, pushed the wheel back on and pulls the cart… alone?” he asks.

“A fully loaded cart with heavy iron oak… and my brother.” Green stated.

Lumberjack blinked a few times. “… Have you hit your head?” he asked, question what she had just said.

Green stomps with her hooves on the ground. “Now, the stranger is freaking strong… and bucking big.”

Barely suppressing his laughter Lumberjack looked at his daughter. Even for him was pulling a loaded cart an impossible feat. This is why he sent both his children, as the strength of two are needed.

But before he could outspeak his disbelief, Green shouted. “oh, here the cart comes.” And run towards the entrance.

Chuckling Lumberjack followed here, grabbing his ax as a force of habit. As soon as he stood near his daughter, he could see the cart entering and he gasped.

The stranger his daughter told was pulling the cart in. Bosk sitting at top of it. One wheel didn’t even roll properly anymore, showing that it, in fact, had broken down. The stranger pulled the cart alone, despite the heavy load and even despite that one wheel didn’t roll anymore… a feat not possible for a lone pony, but he does it and he doesn’t look like he is sweating.

After the first shock Lumberjack looked again and gasped again when he looked at the stranger.

Lumberjack knew he was a tall specimen, taller than average and years of hard work had given him the build of a work pony. He had been several times in Ponyville, where he had to meet Big MacIntosh, a farm pony living and worked on Sweet Apple Acer, the only pony bigger than him. Heck Lumberjack had even seen Princess Celestia himself once when he was young at a Summer sun celebration and knew how much taller she was. So, all in all, he knew how tall a pony could be.

The stranger dwarfs everything just with his presence. He was a literal MOUNTAIN on hooves. And to add to his impressive size he wore plate armor, but it looked so bulging and massive, it must weight nearly a ton. He didn’t wear any helmet, showing his black mane and brown coat.

Without saying anything, he flicked the harness off, that bounded him to the cart and turned around. He picked Bosk up and walked over to the house, where he simply dropped him on the ground, due to the height difference he dropped from nearly 3 feet height.

Together his wound Bosk cried out in pain, so triggering an instinct deep in Lumberjack.

Seeing his child cry out in pain, make him see red and so he acts. Rushing forward his trusty ax in the hoof, he quickly advanced towards the stranger and when he was in striking distance, Lumberjack swung his ax with all of his strength. Meanwhile, his daughter screamed in the back, but the words didn’t reach his mind.

The ax came down and the steel blade, normally able to strike into the iron like wood, which gives the timber he harvests and sold, the name iron oak, came down to and hit the stranger on his shoulder on a small part where the plate didn’t overlap and left an opening… and stuck there.

Lumberjack tried to unstick the ax but failed to do so. He tried once more, but then an avalanche hit him and he was sent flying. When he hit the ground, all air had left his lungs. Trying to comprehend what just happened, he tried to catch his breath, when suddenly the sun was blocked out. The giant towered over him, his eyes, these deep grey eyes, never left Lumberjacks, even when he slowly reached up and with one move ripped the ax out of him.

Shocked by this Lumberjack threw a quick glance at the ax and gasped when he saw the ruined ax head, the shock that the tool was practical destroyed.

The shock was visible for all to see, but before any pony could say a thing Daisy Cutter screamed. “Stop hurting my family.” She screeched while holding a crossbow in her hooves. She led the bolt lose and it rushed through the air, hitting the giant and buried in his cheek.

The last third shaft of with the feathers stuck out of the cheeks. A little bit of blood dripping from his flesh. His head had moved a bit, then slowly it moved back into the position prior to the shooting.

It was a freighting sight. The giant looking down at Lumberjack, a bolt sticking out of him, the mane and coat in a state of his disarray, but all of all… his absences of any reaction towards the bolt.

The giant seemed untouched by it even. His face didn’t really show any emotions, his grey eyes are equally unfazed. He moved his hoof to the bolt, grabs it and in a slow pace he pulls it out. When the tip gets free, it had ripped the hole wider, making a mess, but the stranger didn’t cry out in pain, heck he didn’t even grunt.

Instead, he dropped the bloody bolt next to the shattered ax, then he pointed his equally bloody hoof at his face, then at Lumberjack. “Apologize.” He spoke in a flat tone.

Fearing the worst Lumberjack starts to apologize. Frantically he spoke. “I’m sorry.” On and on.

But the giant just shakes his head and repeated to point his hoof at his face, then at Lumberjack. “Apologize.” He spoke again, still in his flat tone, although he seemed to grow more agitated.

Lumberjack starts to tremble, and repeated his apology, but the giant again shakes his head and repeated his pointing.

Now fear took hold and Lumberjack started to fear for his life. But before anything could happen, his daughter was at his side and pulled at his hoof, while screaming something into his ears. It took him a moment, to understand that she talks to him and even longer it took him to register the words. “Stop he means no harm.”

She was meet with a bewildered stare from her father and an equal bewildered mother, who had discarded the crossbow and rushed to her husbands’ site. Green Branch ignored his stare. “He didn’t want that you apologize. He’s apologizing.”

That catches Lumberjack off guard. “What?” was all he could stammers.

Turning around Green looked at the giant. “You want to apologize.”

The giant nodded.” Yes, … for dropping him. Your kind … so weak.” He spoke. “Apologize… for hurting him more.” He said to Lumberjack, then turned back to Green. “I helped you… now help me. Where citadel?”

Now Green was the one to look confused.” Citadel? We have no town called this way.”

“Citadel… the place where princesses live,” he said, his tone hinting that he is annoyed, that he must explain it.

Now the gears in Lumberjack head had turned and he gets what the giant said. “You mean the capital… Canterlot?”

The giant stared for a moment, then he nodded. “Yes… the way to the citadel.”

Gaping with an open mouth, Lumberjack stared at him, then he shook his head. “Well, the fasted way is following the river. “He pointed to the river near the house.” … against the tide, then a bit further you walk through a ford, then you follow again to counter the tide. All the way until the river connects with the big river, which you also follow counter the tide. You just walk until you reach Canterlot… It’s placed a top of the waterfall, which supplies the rivers.”

“Thanks…” was all he said. Then he turns to the river and walks towards it.

“W…Wait.” Green Branch stammered. “We need to treat your wound.”

The giants turned around. “No need.” Green wanted to protest, but she gasped, when she saw that the wound already healed so far, that it looked like it happened not minutes, but weeks ago.

Now he continued to walk towards the river. When he was near it, he grabbed the helmet, which had hung around the belt and put it on his head. When it was in place, his armored hissed and shifted, within a blink the gaps sealed.

After the hissing ceased the giant was up to his hooves in the water… and he continued to walk further in it, all while the family watched him.

Finally, Green catches on and screamed after him, but he ignored it.

He walks deeper and deeper into the water until he vanished beneath the water. Then the trail of bubbles starts to move, against the tide of the river.

Unable to understand the family watched, until the trail vanished behind a curve of the river.

All family members just stared at each other, as they didn’t understand what just happened. It was Bosk, who said the first words in a while. “Did he just walk into the river…?” he was greeted by slow nods of three heads. “Good, I thought that the pain starts to make me crazy.”

Lumberjack turned to his daughter. “Dear, can you fetch the small cart out of the shack, we put your brother on it and bring him into town, to a doctor.” Then he turned to his wife. “Daisy, could you fetch the old bottle of scotch, the one atop in the kitchen?” He looks at all three. “I think we all need a dose of booze to understand, the buck just happened.