The Batponyby Atlas INCChaptersThe CabinWhat’s Hearts And Hooves Day?Just The BeginningRoom for one moreThe HunterFor AmethystSunny’s SodaWe meet againThe Midnight MeetingThe CabinA bat pony wakes up in the middle of the night. The moon shines brightly onto her lithe body. She looks around and nothing is familiar. She picks herself up off of the soft, plant littered ground. She then starts panicking, she doesn’t know where she is anymore, the last thing she remembers is getting struck by lightning while flying in a storm. She shambles over to a cluster of thick foliage and hides in the center. Quickly, she scans herself over, surely she can’t be perfectly fine after falling out of the sky. Her assumption is proven correct when she looks at her left wing and sees large, violent scorch marks. She gasps and then quickly hushes herself, she has no idea what could be lurking in this forest. Hours pass as she remains curled up in the large bush. Reluctantly she stands up and gets out of the plant life. She wanders around the forest looking for shelter until coming across a cabin tucked away in the center of the forest. The night’s beautiful curtains were starting to be pulled away from the sky to reveal the show of the day. She couldn’t run the risk of being spotted by unfriendly animals lurking in the forest, she had to get into that cabin either peacefully or violently. She tugs on the front door a little, obviously it’s locked. She swings around the house to the back and finds an open window. To her utter amazement she manages to slip through the window into the house. She quickly surveys the insides of the cabin. It was a nicely furnished and well built house with no sign of any inhabitant. However this did raise some questions, if it was so well kept who was keeping it, or what? After a few moments her question is answered she hears someone snore in the adjacent room. She quickly cranes her head in the direction of the noise. She sees a door leading to the other part of the cabin presumably a bedroom. She quietly slinks over to the door and cautiously cracks it open. She sees a small bedroom with a single pegasus pony inside sleeping on they’re bed. She silently creeps over and observes the pony. White coat and blue maned stallion. She attempts to shift back out of the room, until she hears an audible gasp from behind. She turns around and looks back into the room. He’s sitting up in bed staring at her. The stallion shakily utters “W-what are you doing h-here?” “Just finding a place to stay, I hope you don’t mind, although I’ll still stay here even if you aren’t fine with me here.” she responds. “Well that’s sort of a dick move, why do you need to take residence in my home?” He questions. “I need a place to stay for a little while, that’s all” “You’re not a criminal or anything right?” “No, I’m not, although I do look like I could very easily kill someone, I mean with the fangs and all.” She then awkwardly trots out of the room and he’s left in shock, did he just let an absolute stranger stay in his home? He pulls himself out of the bed and shuffles back over to the door. He then throws on light blue polo and exits the room. The bat pony is sitting on one of his two chairs observing her burnt wing. “How did that happen?” He asks gesturing to her fried wing. “It got struck by lightning while flying” she answers. He walks over to the kitchen and starts cooking breakfast for himself. He hears the bat pony’s stomach grumble. He looks over and says “what do you want?” “What?” She answers. “Something to eat, I can hear your stomach growling” “Yeah, I think I might have som- Hey wait a minute, why do you have a gun on the counter?” “Huh? what do you mean gun? I don’t have a gun, nobody here does!” “I can see it on the counter, you’re really bad at hiding things.” “Actually I can hide things pretty well, well okay, I’m kidding, I am terrible at hiding things. Can’t we just put the gun aside and eat breakfast?” “Fine, but if you bring the gun over here I will kill you.” “I have a hard time telling if your joking or being serious, but I guess I shouldn’t find out.” He slides two pieces of bread into the toaster and cracks some eggs into a pan. He continues cooking until the food is done perfectly. He steps over to her and hands her the plate of food along with a fork and knife. He then finishes cooking his own food and sits down at the chair across from her. “I still haven’t caught your name yet, so what is it?” The Stallion responds. “I’m Sapphire” she answers. “And I am Ventura, Ventura Meadows.” “Nice to meet you.” “And you too.” What’s Hearts And Hooves Day?Author's Note Many visits to Thesaurus.com were made. What’s Hearts And Hooves Day? Ventura finishes eating and brings his plate over to the sink. While doing so he hears his new friend Sapphire yawn. He asks “So do you sleep during the day and wake up during the night or the other way around?” “I go to sleep during the day and wake up at night time.” Sapphire responds. “Okay, okay, so do you want to borrow my bed or something else?” “Yeah I think I’ll borrow your bed for the day.” Ventura goes back to his room and prepares his bed for the new friend. When finished he returns to the main room and hears a knock on the door. He quickly says “This is my friend, just try and hide your wings under the blanket.” Ventura walks to the door and opens it for his guest. A purple unicorn going by the name of Amethyst Star trots lightly into the room carrying large amounts of paper work and other items with her magic. She sits down, smiles, and finally says while gesturing to Sapphire “who’s the new marefriend sleeping in the other chair, which I’m assuming you just picked up at the bar” “What? Oh Sweet Celestia no! One, she’s not my marefriend and two, I didn’t pick her up at the bar, I don’t even go to the bar” Ventura responds. “Well who is she then” “Well that’s good, anyways here’s the plans for the town’s hearts and hooves day festival.” He surveyed the folders until finally stating “I think if we have the dance move to here we could fit in horseshoe toss over here.” Sapphire yawns in her sleep then rolls around in the chair exposing her bat-like wings. Amethyst Star gasps and declares “She’s a bat pony!” “How could you allow a bat pony into your home! They are dangerous creatures from the forest, why would you make friends with one?” Amethyst shouts. “She showed up in my house when I was sleeping, her wing is hurt and she was hungry, so I let her stay for a bit” He replies “You are the weirdest pony I’ve ever met, also don’t you think your being too friendly to her?” “No, I don’t, Equestria is built on friendship, I’ll give anyone a chance, it’s the same thing I told Sapphire.” Sapphire wakes back up to the two ponies arguing, and it takes her a minute to realize their arguing about her. She sits up, yawns, and says “What’cha ponies talking about?” “Amethyst here, was surprised that you were a bat pony and freaked out about my safety, as does a friend who cares.” Ventura answers “Well this isn’t what I expected so I guess I’ll just go” says Amethyst while trotting out the door. Sapphire moves over to the bed and goes to sleep again. Ventura goes to his office and works on the festival plans on his computer. When done working he goes out to the kitchen and makes some coffee to keep him up. Sapphire comes happily trotting out the door of the bedroom and states “Hello Ventura, what are you doing?” “I was actually just planning the hearts and hooves day festival for the nearby town, that’s why Amethyst Star came here earlier” Ventura responds “What’s hearts and hooves day?” “It’s a day full of love and romance, basically you find someone you really like and do a bunch of romantic stuff with them.” “That’s cool, I don’t think I’ve never known anybody I’ve really liked except, wait, my family! I forgot about my family! I need to get to them!” “Calm down, alright, we’ll both go back to bed even though you just woke up, and go out first thing in the morning.” “Ok, I’ll try.” They both go to bed, she reclaims the bedroom while he sleeps on the couch. A new journey is about to begin for both of them. Just The BeginningAuthor's Note I guess Sapphire got wrapped up in getting home *forced laughter* Just The Beginning Ventura gets up out of the couch and sees that it is right before dawn. He walks over to the other bedroom and Sapphire is gone. He walks out of the bedroom confused, where could she be? He checks the living room, the kitchen, and even loops back around to the bedroom and he still hasn’t found her. He then remembers about the bathroom. He trots on over and knocks on the door. “You can come in, I actually need your help with something” Sapphire answers from the other side of the door. Ventura pushes open the door to see Sapphire attempting to bandage herself but failing miserably. She’s tied her four legs together somehow and bandaged her head to the floor. Ventura chuckles lightly and attempts untying her from the trap she made for herself. He mumbles to himself a bit. “What are you saying?” Sapphire questions. “Hm? Oh, just talking to myself” he responds. “Okay” “What were you doing in here” “I was trying to fix my scorched wing” “And pull that out and all done! Your free from the bandages!” Sapphire stands back up onto her feet. “So, about the sun” Ventura begins “do you get hurt by it or are you fine, because if we’re going on this adventure to your home I think it would be good to know.” “I do get hurt by the sun but I should be fine as long as I have my magic necklace” she states while bringing her hoof up to her neck. “What necklace?” Ventura questions. “My necklace! It’s gone! How did I not notice that? I completely forgot about it until now!” Sapphire exclaims. “Calm down, alright, you’ll be fine, Amethyst left some clothes here from a previous time, do clothes work against the sun for you?” Ventura explains. “Yes clothes do negate the affects of the sun” she answers. Ventura walks away into his room and visits the closet. He returns to the bathroom with the clothes. “I hope these fit” he says. He leaves to the living room while she gets changed in the bathroom. About a minute later she struts into the living room showing off Amethyst’s leftover clothes. “They’ll work, do you think they look good on me?” Sapphire inquires. “I think you look better in them than Amethyst does.” Ventura returns. “Thanks” she says while blushing a bit. “where does the rest of your family live? Because then I can plot the course to get there.” “They live up over here, super close to the Crystal Empire” she remarks. Ventura goes and grabs a saddle bag (A pony backpack) he packs it up with a few snacks, bits, and other important pieces of gear for the journey. In his other hoof he holds another saddle bag then hands it to Sapphire. “Load it up with whatever you need” he says while pointing to the pantry with his free hoof. She goes and starts stuffing the bag with things she thinks will be useful. Ventura writes a note that says “I’ll be back soon” then he sticks it to the front door just incase Amethyst shows up while they’re gone. They finish packing their bags and head out. The journey that awaits them will be long and arduous but can they make it? Room for one moreVentura pushes open the front door and holds it open for him and Sapphire. She pulls the hat down more to protect her head from the sun. He pulls the map out of his saddle bag and observes it. He had circled the location they needed to go and marked the path to trek on the map. He shifted it over and let Sapphire take a look at the map too. He then proceeded to put the map back. “Alright” Ventura began ”let’s go.” They began walking down the path to the town to pick up some extra supplies. At the end of the road lied the mixed species town of AereDale a town known for being half in the sky while half on the ground. While walking through AereDale they bump into Amethyst again. “Why hello again” Amethyst says while gently waving a hoof at them. “Hello to you too” Ventura returns. Amethyst walks up to Ventura and Sapphire. “I don’t believe I have properly met you yet” Amethyst mentions while putting a hoof out to shake hands with Sapphire. “Y’know I still don’t approve of you being friends with a bat pony, but I won’t be a jerk about it” Amethyst announces to Ventura. “Not to butt in, but I’m Sapphire” declares Sapphire. “Nice to meet you, I’m Amethyst” retorts Amethyst. “You don’t happen to know a place where I can get an enchantable necklace and a sunlight protection spell” says Sapphire. “I actually do know, and I can help, if you tell me why you need me to do it.” States Amethyst. “Alright, we can do that” replies Sapphire. They stop talking and follow amethyst through the town. She stops at the local library to renew the magic book she got a while ago. Once at Amethyst’s home she opens up the book and retrieves the enchantable amulet. “Alright tell me, why do you need me to do this?” Queries Amethyst. “She needs it to protect her from the sun, the clothes were just a temporary solution.” Answers Ventura. Amethyst levitates the necklace with her magic and chants a couple words then she says “Ta Da! It’s a necklace that’ll protect you from the sun.” Sapphire picks up the necklace and tries it on then announces “Thanks for doing that, we’ll be on our way now.” “Actually” Amethyst begins “I think I want to come along, I haven’t really gone on a trip since before I moved here.” “Sure, the more the merrier, I guess” Ventura answers. And with that Amethyst joins Ventura and Sapphire as they continue on their journey through Equestria. First they must go through the Timber Wolf forest, known for many timber wolf attacks over the years. While walking through the a clearer part of the forest a lone timber wolf appears. It growls and snarls at the both of them. Ventura’s used to it but Sapphire isn’t and neither is Amethyst, they’ve never seen a timber wolf before. Both Amethyst and Sapphire cower behind Ventura as stares down at the creature with a threatening look in his eyes. Ventura and the wolf circle around the clearing sizing each other up. Ventura leaps forward in the direction of the wolf. It leaps out of the way dodging his attack. Quickly Ventura picks up a larger rock sitting on the ground and leads his throw to hit the beast. He throws, and the timber wolf gets smashed by the rock. They continue on their journey and as night closes in they set up camp. Ventura and Amethyst go to sleep first not being a nocturnal bat ponies. Sapphire stands guard and watches for danger. Hours pass by and the others get out of the tent. They both now starts packing up their supplies while Sapphire gets comfy in the tent. Ventura gives her a few hours in the tent before hoisting her up onto his back and carrying her instead of waking her up from her sleep. They have begun their journey and are going on an adventure with one more friend! The HunterVentura and Amethyst are walking through a small path in the woods while Sapphire sleeps on Ventura’s back not wanting to wake her. The birds chirp and cheer all around them up in the trees just about to begin the day. Ventura wandered off in his own thoughts, could they make it back in time for hearts and hooves day? This question plagued his brain, he had been planning something for that day besides the main event. It was something more personal, he had been planning that day for months now, why did he leave to help a bat pony he had just only met? He didn’t know why and asked himself “should I have done this?” “Hey, so about hearts and hooves day” starts Amethyst “do you think we’re going to make it back in time?” “I honestly don’t know, I hope so but still, I don’t know.” Answers Ventura. “This forest is pretty cool, I don’t know why I don’t go on trips anymore” Ventura could tell she was trying to have a conversation with him. She had a certain tone in her voice that she only had when trying to start a conversation. He gave in and said “I think that’s why I live out here, it’s beautiful.” “After this I think I might go on another trip, maybe to Canterlot.” Amethyst replies. “Could I tag along with you on the trip” “Sure, it would be good to have company.” Behind them Sapphire yawns and wakes up. She awkwardly gets up off of Ventura and onto her own four hooves. Sapphire just stays behind the two and walks with them. They continue walking until they get out of the forest. Once out they escape they take a break. Ventura pulls some snacks out for him and Amethyst while Sapphire searches her own food stash. Randomly, a griffin appears out of the forest. He’s wearing a small coat and has a bandage on his neck. He looks to the other Amethyst and Ventura. “You know that’s a bat pony, right?” Says the griffin. “Yeah, so?” Ventura responds. “I’ve been tracking her this entire day and I got a contract to fill, so give her over.” “What? No! Why would we do that?” “Because you don’t want to be killed by me” Sapphire walks to the front of the group, then bites him in the leg. “Run!” She shouts. They rush away from the griffin “I remember now! That’s why me and my family were flying away, we were being kidnapped by a bunch of other creatures!” Sapphire explains. The griffin, after recovering from the bite, barrels towards the three friends. Amethyst quickly casts a freeze spell, freezing the pursuer for a moment. The griffin quickly recovers and continues giving chase. The griffin is about to catch Sapphire when Ventura bucks his hind legs, bashing their adversary away. While the griffin is down they hide in a large bush. He later gets up and passes by, they were safe for now. “Who in the fuck was that?!” Shrieks Amethyst. “I think he was working with those bad creatures I was talking about before.” States Sapphire. “He mentioned something about a contract, maybe to fill the contract he has to catch a certain number of bat ponies.” Mentions Ventura. The rest of the day the three friends are in constant fear of him catching them again. At the end it goes similar to last night Ventura and Amethyst go in the tent while Sapphire stands guard. Inside the tent the other two share a short conversation. “That was crazy” utters Ventura. “Yeah if it wasn’t for that buck of yours we’d be dead right now.” Responds Amethyst. “About our talk earlier,” begins Amethyst “I’d really like it if you joined me on the trip I think it would be fun to do that.” “Well I’m sure we’re gonna fun into him again” Ventura declares. “Yeah, well goodnight.” Says Amethyst while yawning. “Goodnight to you too” replies Ventura. With every new friend comes a new villain to balance the world. For AmethystVentura woke up in the middle of the night. He dazedly wandered out of the tent and out to Sapphire. Sapphire gave him a confused look but just assumed that it would be best to leave him alone. He looked over to his saddle bag which he’d left outside of the tent. He reached over and shuffled through it. He eventually pulls out a dark blue notebook, a black pen, and a map of Equestria. He carefully copied the map into the notebook making sure to pay attention to the different cities spread throughout Equestria. He flips to another page and looks at a small list of places. He then looks up to Sapphire and asks “Do you think bringing someone on a trip of Equestria would be romantic?” “Well I don’t know, I haven’t really been anywhere than my home in the mountains.” Sapphire answers. Ventura returns to scribbling in the notebook. Drawing large broad lines from one city to another and mumbling to himself while he does. She glares down at the notebook wondering, what could that pony be doing? He continues making periodic checks to the map. He looks back up to Sapphire and inquires another question “What places do you think we should visit in the Crystal Empire?” “That I do know, I think you should go in the summer and visit the main castle, you’ll be able to participate in the crystal heart ceremony” Sapphire responds “what do you mean by places we should visit?” “Oh shit, well uh, I’m planning a trip for my parents, that’s what.” “Why are you planning a trip for your parents?” “Um, did I say parents I meant friends!” “So who are these friends?” “Oh Fuck, These friends are um, fine, I’m planning a trip for me and Amethyst, happy?” He says with a pale blush arriving on his face. He puts away his notebook and pen but keeps the map out with him. “I think I understand why you asked me if I thought a trip around Equestria was beautiful.” Sapphire states. “Your in love with her.” Sapphire blankly retorts to her own statement. “Alright I am, please don’t tell her I want to surprise her with this trip” Ventura replies. “Your lucky I’m a civilized bat, otherwise I’d be trying to tell her right now.” “I am lucky your civilized, because you would’ve already killed me” “Well I think it’s time for me to turn in for the day” “Well good morning” Ventura says while waving bye to Sapphire. Amethyst comes out soon after Sapphire goes in. Amethyst lies back down onto the grass and falls asleep again. Ventura sighs and gets down low right next to Amethyst. “It’s morning Amethyst” he quietly says to her. “But I don’t want to wake up.” Amethyst replies while half asleep. “But there’s snacks” Ventura whispers in an enticing tone. “Huh? What? Snacks! Where!?” Amethyst shouts as she gets up. “Here they are” Ventura says to his newly awakened friend while tossing his saddle bag full of snacks to her. She quickly opens up the package of breakfast cookies and devours them whole. “Thanks” she says. “Your welcome.” He answers. After a refreshing night of sleep and conversation the group is ready to continue moving towards Sapphire’s home. Sunny’s SodaThe day begins with Amethyst and Ventura talking to each other while Sapphire is now levitated by Amethyst. Amethyst says “what happened to her wing?” “Sapphire says it was struck by lightning while flying, and if so, that’s some incredibly bad luck” Ventura responds. “Oh, my horn begins to hurt after using magic for a sustained amount of time,” “Well that sucks, do you want me to take over?” “Thanks, I don’t want to drop her.” Amethyst hovers the bat over to Ventura’s back. Ventura instantly feels her weight on top of him. He pushes through her weight and continues to walk at the same pace as Amethyst. Quickly he uses his wing to pull out a bottle of Sunny’s a cream soda brand that he enjoyed. He unscrews the cap and tosses it to the side. He takes a quick sip of it, refreshing. “I thought you didn’t drink” Amethyst quizzically states. “It’s the non-alcoholic version.” Ventura quickly answers. “Well that makes sense” Amethyst retorts. “I really like it, do you wanna try some?” “Um, sure, if you like it I’m sure I will too.” Ventura pulls another bottle out and hands it to Amethyst. Her horn glows as she takes the bottle and unscrews the cap. She puts the bottle to her lips and takes a quick swig. It was an interesting taste, she takes another quick swash of the drink. She liked it, it was a new taste but it felt good. “Y’know I think I like this” Amethyst happily answers her friend who’s been waiting for input from her. He does a quick little hoof pump and shouts “Yes another thing we both can appreciate!” Sapphire wakes up, sees the two smiling and drinking what looks like booze. She flaps her leathery wings and gets up off of Ventura. “So your an alcoholic, are you?” Sapphire says in a tone that was half wondering and half joking. “I’m not an alcoholic, this is the non-alcoholic version” Ventura replies. “My wing is feeling better today.” Sapphire says. “Well that’s good” Amethyst states. “I could actually use them just now if you couldn’t see” Sapphire declares hoping that they had seen her fly just now. “Do you think you’d giving flying another try, we could probably move a lot faster if you could.” Ventura inquires. “Maybe but I need to wake up a bit more.” Sapphire responds. They continue walking until they reach a leveled out clearing. Amethyst takes everyone’s saddle bags and then says “Well, I guess you two should try flying.” They Ventura and Sapphire walk out into the field. “I’ll catch you if you fall, but you just keep trying to fly.” Sapphire takes a few steps forward ahead of Ventura and starts running, she outstretched her wings and starts flapping. She starts to get of the ground, rising steadily through the air. Ventura is down on the ground ready to fly up and catch her if needed. Amethyst accompanying Ventura is the last line of defense if Ventura isn’t able to catch her. “Oh shit, I’m flying! I’m flying! Oh Fuck, I’m falling!” Sapphire shouts while flying. Ventura jets up through the sky to save his falling friend. Luckily he catches her and hovers her down to the ground. With a bit of a stressed look on his face Ventura says “I was this close from not catching you.” He drops Sapphire on the ground gently. “Do you wanna try that again?” Amethyst questions. “Never in a million years, after that, fine” Sapphire retorts. They continue on their walk towards the high up mountain, the home of Sapphire’s family. Little did they know, a newly met adversary was watching them and is preparing to pounce. We meet againAfter that little flying excursion they continue on their trek towards Sapphire’s home. Ventura chugs down the last few bits of the soda and stuffs the empty bottle in his bag. “Why are you keeping the bottle?” Amethyst asks. Ventura responds “My friend reuser taught me that just throwing the bottle into the wild really hurts the environment, I normally wouldn’t care but on a big trip like this the last thing I want to happen is to throw a bottle into the trees and then meet some big and powerful nature goddess who would kill me for littering.” “That was a mouthful” Sapphire states. “Yeah I could have done that a lot better.” Ventura replies. Amethyst takes the map from Ventura’s bag and glares at the big red line from AereDale to a big mountain range and the giant city in between, she then asks “we’re going past the crystal empire?” “Yes we are, our endpoint is going to be a little above the Crystal empire, in the Crystal Mountain.” Ventura responds. “I know quite a bit about the Crystal Empire actually, did you know it’s nickname is The City Of Love?” Sapphire declares. “Actually yes, I been planning a visit there for a while, to see my parents again.” Amethyst states. “I never knew you were a crystal pony.” Says Ventura. “Really? I thought I’ve told you a bunch of times before” Amethyst answers. Ventura remembers all the times she’s talked about how she’s a crystal pony. Ventura tilts his head down and mutters ”I’m an idiot.” “What was that?” Inquires Amethyst. “Hm? Oh nothing.” Ventura replies. A small rustle of leaves comes from a bush. Ventura looks over suspiciously. The griffin leaps out and tackles Ventura, clawing and swiping, landing blow after blow. The griffin’s sharp claws pierce Ventura’s hide. Amethyst takes a moment and readies herself, then fires a powerful blast at the opponent. He goes flying smashing into a nearby tree. Ventura gets back up and pulls out the bottle ready to fight. Their adversary gets up and shake their head. The griffin launches forward and grabs Sapphire. Sapphire bites into his chest creating a deep puncture wound. Ventura smashes the bottle over the griffin’s head, shattering the bottle. Amethyst levitates him into the air and throws him back against the tree. He goes out cold. Ventura quickly scampers over and takes his bags and then returns to the group. They run for a good mile or two until everyone almost passes out on the ground. Ventura scans himself, he’s covered in scratches and scars. Amethyst takes one good look at him after the action and says “I brought bandages, didn’t think we would need to use them but here we are.” She trots up and pulls out a first aid kit and pulls out all the supplies. After she then warns “this might sting a bit.” She pours a bit of water onto the cuts. After that she cleans it up with a towel from Sapphire’s bag. She pulls out a little thing of cloth and places it on the few big gouges on his body. Carefully, she wraps the coil of bandages on him. About 15 minutes later his more worse cuts are all covered up. “I’m surprised you aren’t a doctor or nurse, your really good at it.” Ventura retorts after her care. “Being a doctor just isn’t who I want to be, my cutie mark says I’m a magically focused unicorn.” Amethyst declares. Meanwhile Sapphire has been setting up camp nearby. After she not so nicely asks “Hey can you two love ponies get over here I’m tired, and I get pissed when I’m angry.” “Be right over!” Shouts Ventura. Both of them walk on over and sit outside near a bright orange campfire. The fire cracks, sizzles, and pops. Amethyst looks over to Ventura and asks “could we stop at the Crystal Empire? I really want to introduce you to my parents.” “Of course! Why wouldn’t we?” Ventura responds. “Well, I don’t know.” Ventura scoots a bit closer to Amethyst and says “It’s a bit cold out here.” “Yeah, I guess it is.” Ventura reaches into his bag and pulls out a light blue scarf and ties it around his neck. He then reaches in and pulls out yet another scarf, this time light purple. He hands it to Amethyst and says “You might need this for the Crystal Empire.” “Thanks, I- Wow this is soft.” “It should it costed like 60 bits.” “Thanks, and I mean this honestly, thank you, I really like it.” “Your Welcome, Just thought it would be nice to get you something for the first time you moved to AereDale.” Amethyst wraps the scarf snuggly around her neck then states “I really like you, I mean as a friend but like a best friend.” “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve had a better friend than you, besides Whole Note.” Amethyst scoots up close to Ventura. After a few minutes she goes to their tent. Ventura puts out the fire then joins her in the tent. Amethyst is already fast asleep. Ventura whispers to himself “I love you Amethyst, I’m just waiting till the right time.” With everyone getting a full night sleep they will soon be ready for the adventure of tomorrow. The Midnight MeetingAuthor's Note In the earlier chapters Ventura was going to be shipped with Sapphire, I changed that at the last minute while writing the third chapter. This has nothing to do with this chapter I just wanted to say. Anyways, happy shipping! The Midnight Meeting Ventura is in a deep sleep. Sitting in his own little dream realm of unconsciousness. A world of him and his friends, a world where life is perfect and everyone lives in peace. Ventura is married to Amethyst in here, and they go on daring quests almost every day. The other days they do... something else. Currently Ventura is preparing to leap over a deep chasm to get the lost bell of Grogar. Then, in a sudden turn of events Amethyst is swept away and vanishes. The chasm and the bell magically disappear. The griffin, holding a red stained blade comes from the shadows. He points it to Ventura and shouts “you failed, you lost the batpony and the one you love. Such a shame really, who really cares it’s only one more pony dead.” He wipes the knife off with a rag and proceeds towards Ventura. Ventura backs up against the wall. The griffin is about to take him down when a bright flash comes from the sky. The griffin is instantly vaporized and the small room is transformed into a moonlit pasture. A certain dark blue alicorn floats down from the sky towards Ventura. She lands in the soft grass just a few feet away from him. “Did you do that?” Ventura asks. Luna responds “Yes, now, what is troubling you tonight?” “I’ve just started a journey with my friend Amethyst to get Sapphire, my bat pony friend, back to her home, while doing that we encountered a griffin who wants to capture Sapphire and we’ve barely fought him off these few times.” “A griffin you say, I’ve lost quite a few of the night guards to a group of griffins. These griffins sell the Bat Ponies to rich investors who use them for work. This is serious, you and your friends are in serious danger of being hurt, they do not relent they keep attacking until you die.” “I’m willing to do it, I’ve been in worse places” he pulls back some of his blue mane to show a scar running up the back left side of his neck. “I was attacked by a bugbear” Ventura starts “while driving home a bugbear attacked, I crashed and the new boards in the back became spears, almost killed me, then the bugbear would not stop trying to kill me, eventually I fought it off shoving a metal piece of the car into the bugbears... I’d rather not say.” “I see, but you do not understand, these griffins won’t stop until they get what they want, they have blown through the outer walls of canterlot to just steal some of my guards.” Luna replies. “I do understand, I just care too much for my friends to stop right here and now.” “Well then, safe travels and good luck” with that Luna flys off into the moon, ending his dream. Ventura wakes up breathing rapidly. His breathing slows down and he thinks for a bit. If some of Luna’s guards have been captured what chance do we have, he thinks to himself. He walks out of the tent the fire is a nothing but a few small embers. Ventura grabs his notebook and pen again. He also takes a map of the Crystal Empire for reference. He copies the map into the notebook. He begins to mark a path, Making sure to go by all the landmarks that he thinks Amethyst would like. Sapphire steps out of her tent out into the dead night and sees Ventura, scribbling in his notebook again. “You really have it bad for her don’t you?” Sapphire states. Ventura freaks out and jumps up in the air, landing face first into the grass. He realigns himself and picks up his things. “I was just planning our route through the Crystal Empire” Ventura says. Sapphire seizes the book despite Ventura’s efforts, she glares at the page then says “so our route is through the most romantic areas? Seems a bit odd, like somepony is trying to get another pony to like them.” Ventura swipes the notebook back and responds “I’ve told you this already but I guess I’ll have to tell you again, I really-.” Sapphire puts her hoof to his snout quickly silencing him. “I was joking with you” she begins “you forgot the Crystal library by the way.” “Uh, thanks, why are you going to help me?” “You helped me, it’s my turn to help you.” “Oh thanks.” “No problem, also because of the time we will be arriving the Crystal Heart Festival will be happening, so draw a couple of places here and over here.” Sapphire helps him until it’s perfect, then Ventura goes back to bed with Amethyst. After a meeting with The Princess of the Night Luna and finishing his plan for the Crystal Empire nothing can stop them, at least they think nothing can stop them.
The CabinA bat pony wakes up in the middle of the night. The moon shines brightly onto her lithe body. She looks around and nothing is familiar. She picks herself up off of the soft, plant littered ground. She then starts panicking, she doesn’t know where she is anymore, the last thing she remembers is getting struck by lightning while flying in a storm. She shambles over to a cluster of thick foliage and hides in the center. Quickly, she scans herself over, surely she can’t be perfectly fine after falling out of the sky. Her assumption is proven correct when she looks at her left wing and sees large, violent scorch marks. She gasps and then quickly hushes herself, she has no idea what could be lurking in this forest. Hours pass as she remains curled up in the large bush. Reluctantly she stands up and gets out of the plant life. She wanders around the forest looking for shelter until coming across a cabin tucked away in the center of the forest. The night’s beautiful curtains were starting to be pulled away from the sky to reveal the show of the day. She couldn’t run the risk of being spotted by unfriendly animals lurking in the forest, she had to get into that cabin either peacefully or violently. She tugs on the front door a little, obviously it’s locked. She swings around the house to the back and finds an open window. To her utter amazement she manages to slip through the window into the house. She quickly surveys the insides of the cabin. It was a nicely furnished and well built house with no sign of any inhabitant. However this did raise some questions, if it was so well kept who was keeping it, or what? After a few moments her question is answered she hears someone snore in the adjacent room. She quickly cranes her head in the direction of the noise. She sees a door leading to the other part of the cabin presumably a bedroom. She quietly slinks over to the door and cautiously cracks it open. She sees a small bedroom with a single pegasus pony inside sleeping on they’re bed. She silently creeps over and observes the pony. White coat and blue maned stallion. She attempts to shift back out of the room, until she hears an audible gasp from behind. She turns around and looks back into the room. He’s sitting up in bed staring at her. The stallion shakily utters “W-what are you doing h-here?” “Just finding a place to stay, I hope you don’t mind, although I’ll still stay here even if you aren’t fine with me here.” she responds. “Well that’s sort of a dick move, why do you need to take residence in my home?” He questions. “I need a place to stay for a little while, that’s all” “You’re not a criminal or anything right?” “No, I’m not, although I do look like I could very easily kill someone, I mean with the fangs and all.” She then awkwardly trots out of the room and he’s left in shock, did he just let an absolute stranger stay in his home? He pulls himself out of the bed and shuffles back over to the door. He then throws on light blue polo and exits the room. The bat pony is sitting on one of his two chairs observing her burnt wing. “How did that happen?” He asks gesturing to her fried wing. “It got struck by lightning while flying” she answers. He walks over to the kitchen and starts cooking breakfast for himself. He hears the bat pony’s stomach grumble. He looks over and says “what do you want?” “What?” She answers. “Something to eat, I can hear your stomach growling” “Yeah, I think I might have som- Hey wait a minute, why do you have a gun on the counter?” “Huh? what do you mean gun? I don’t have a gun, nobody here does!” “I can see it on the counter, you’re really bad at hiding things.” “Actually I can hide things pretty well, well okay, I’m kidding, I am terrible at hiding things. Can’t we just put the gun aside and eat breakfast?” “Fine, but if you bring the gun over here I will kill you.” “I have a hard time telling if your joking or being serious, but I guess I shouldn’t find out.” He slides two pieces of bread into the toaster and cracks some eggs into a pan. He continues cooking until the food is done perfectly. He steps over to her and hands her the plate of food along with a fork and knife. He then finishes cooking his own food and sits down at the chair across from her. “I still haven’t caught your name yet, so what is it?” The Stallion responds. “I’m Sapphire” she answers. “And I am Ventura, Ventura Meadows.” “Nice to meet you.” “And you too.”
What’s Hearts And Hooves Day?Author's Note Many visits to Thesaurus.com were made. What’s Hearts And Hooves Day? Ventura finishes eating and brings his plate over to the sink. While doing so he hears his new friend Sapphire yawn. He asks “So do you sleep during the day and wake up during the night or the other way around?” “I go to sleep during the day and wake up at night time.” Sapphire responds. “Okay, okay, so do you want to borrow my bed or something else?” “Yeah I think I’ll borrow your bed for the day.” Ventura goes back to his room and prepares his bed for the new friend. When finished he returns to the main room and hears a knock on the door. He quickly says “This is my friend, just try and hide your wings under the blanket.” Ventura walks to the door and opens it for his guest. A purple unicorn going by the name of Amethyst Star trots lightly into the room carrying large amounts of paper work and other items with her magic. She sits down, smiles, and finally says while gesturing to Sapphire “who’s the new marefriend sleeping in the other chair, which I’m assuming you just picked up at the bar” “What? Oh Sweet Celestia no! One, she’s not my marefriend and two, I didn’t pick her up at the bar, I don’t even go to the bar” Ventura responds. “Well who is she then” “Well that’s good, anyways here’s the plans for the town’s hearts and hooves day festival.” He surveyed the folders until finally stating “I think if we have the dance move to here we could fit in horseshoe toss over here.” Sapphire yawns in her sleep then rolls around in the chair exposing her bat-like wings. Amethyst Star gasps and declares “She’s a bat pony!” “How could you allow a bat pony into your home! They are dangerous creatures from the forest, why would you make friends with one?” Amethyst shouts. “She showed up in my house when I was sleeping, her wing is hurt and she was hungry, so I let her stay for a bit” He replies “You are the weirdest pony I’ve ever met, also don’t you think your being too friendly to her?” “No, I don’t, Equestria is built on friendship, I’ll give anyone a chance, it’s the same thing I told Sapphire.” Sapphire wakes back up to the two ponies arguing, and it takes her a minute to realize their arguing about her. She sits up, yawns, and says “What’cha ponies talking about?” “Amethyst here, was surprised that you were a bat pony and freaked out about my safety, as does a friend who cares.” Ventura answers “Well this isn’t what I expected so I guess I’ll just go” says Amethyst while trotting out the door. Sapphire moves over to the bed and goes to sleep again. Ventura goes to his office and works on the festival plans on his computer. When done working he goes out to the kitchen and makes some coffee to keep him up. Sapphire comes happily trotting out the door of the bedroom and states “Hello Ventura, what are you doing?” “I was actually just planning the hearts and hooves day festival for the nearby town, that’s why Amethyst Star came here earlier” Ventura responds “What’s hearts and hooves day?” “It’s a day full of love and romance, basically you find someone you really like and do a bunch of romantic stuff with them.” “That’s cool, I don’t think I’ve never known anybody I’ve really liked except, wait, my family! I forgot about my family! I need to get to them!” “Calm down, alright, we’ll both go back to bed even though you just woke up, and go out first thing in the morning.” “Ok, I’ll try.” They both go to bed, she reclaims the bedroom while he sleeps on the couch. A new journey is about to begin for both of them.
Just The BeginningAuthor's Note I guess Sapphire got wrapped up in getting home *forced laughter* Just The Beginning Ventura gets up out of the couch and sees that it is right before dawn. He walks over to the other bedroom and Sapphire is gone. He walks out of the bedroom confused, where could she be? He checks the living room, the kitchen, and even loops back around to the bedroom and he still hasn’t found her. He then remembers about the bathroom. He trots on over and knocks on the door. “You can come in, I actually need your help with something” Sapphire answers from the other side of the door. Ventura pushes open the door to see Sapphire attempting to bandage herself but failing miserably. She’s tied her four legs together somehow and bandaged her head to the floor. Ventura chuckles lightly and attempts untying her from the trap she made for herself. He mumbles to himself a bit. “What are you saying?” Sapphire questions. “Hm? Oh, just talking to myself” he responds. “Okay” “What were you doing in here” “I was trying to fix my scorched wing” “And pull that out and all done! Your free from the bandages!” Sapphire stands back up onto her feet. “So, about the sun” Ventura begins “do you get hurt by it or are you fine, because if we’re going on this adventure to your home I think it would be good to know.” “I do get hurt by the sun but I should be fine as long as I have my magic necklace” she states while bringing her hoof up to her neck. “What necklace?” Ventura questions. “My necklace! It’s gone! How did I not notice that? I completely forgot about it until now!” Sapphire exclaims. “Calm down, alright, you’ll be fine, Amethyst left some clothes here from a previous time, do clothes work against the sun for you?” Ventura explains. “Yes clothes do negate the affects of the sun” she answers. Ventura walks away into his room and visits the closet. He returns to the bathroom with the clothes. “I hope these fit” he says. He leaves to the living room while she gets changed in the bathroom. About a minute later she struts into the living room showing off Amethyst’s leftover clothes. “They’ll work, do you think they look good on me?” Sapphire inquires. “I think you look better in them than Amethyst does.” Ventura returns. “Thanks” she says while blushing a bit. “where does the rest of your family live? Because then I can plot the course to get there.” “They live up over here, super close to the Crystal Empire” she remarks. Ventura goes and grabs a saddle bag (A pony backpack) he packs it up with a few snacks, bits, and other important pieces of gear for the journey. In his other hoof he holds another saddle bag then hands it to Sapphire. “Load it up with whatever you need” he says while pointing to the pantry with his free hoof. She goes and starts stuffing the bag with things she thinks will be useful. Ventura writes a note that says “I’ll be back soon” then he sticks it to the front door just incase Amethyst shows up while they’re gone. They finish packing their bags and head out. The journey that awaits them will be long and arduous but can they make it?
Room for one moreVentura pushes open the front door and holds it open for him and Sapphire. She pulls the hat down more to protect her head from the sun. He pulls the map out of his saddle bag and observes it. He had circled the location they needed to go and marked the path to trek on the map. He shifted it over and let Sapphire take a look at the map too. He then proceeded to put the map back. “Alright” Ventura began ”let’s go.” They began walking down the path to the town to pick up some extra supplies. At the end of the road lied the mixed species town of AereDale a town known for being half in the sky while half on the ground. While walking through AereDale they bump into Amethyst again. “Why hello again” Amethyst says while gently waving a hoof at them. “Hello to you too” Ventura returns. Amethyst walks up to Ventura and Sapphire. “I don’t believe I have properly met you yet” Amethyst mentions while putting a hoof out to shake hands with Sapphire. “Y’know I still don’t approve of you being friends with a bat pony, but I won’t be a jerk about it” Amethyst announces to Ventura. “Not to butt in, but I’m Sapphire” declares Sapphire. “Nice to meet you, I’m Amethyst” retorts Amethyst. “You don’t happen to know a place where I can get an enchantable necklace and a sunlight protection spell” says Sapphire. “I actually do know, and I can help, if you tell me why you need me to do it.” States Amethyst. “Alright, we can do that” replies Sapphire. They stop talking and follow amethyst through the town. She stops at the local library to renew the magic book she got a while ago. Once at Amethyst’s home she opens up the book and retrieves the enchantable amulet. “Alright tell me, why do you need me to do this?” Queries Amethyst. “She needs it to protect her from the sun, the clothes were just a temporary solution.” Answers Ventura. Amethyst levitates the necklace with her magic and chants a couple words then she says “Ta Da! It’s a necklace that’ll protect you from the sun.” Sapphire picks up the necklace and tries it on then announces “Thanks for doing that, we’ll be on our way now.” “Actually” Amethyst begins “I think I want to come along, I haven’t really gone on a trip since before I moved here.” “Sure, the more the merrier, I guess” Ventura answers. And with that Amethyst joins Ventura and Sapphire as they continue on their journey through Equestria. First they must go through the Timber Wolf forest, known for many timber wolf attacks over the years. While walking through the a clearer part of the forest a lone timber wolf appears. It growls and snarls at the both of them. Ventura’s used to it but Sapphire isn’t and neither is Amethyst, they’ve never seen a timber wolf before. Both Amethyst and Sapphire cower behind Ventura as stares down at the creature with a threatening look in his eyes. Ventura and the wolf circle around the clearing sizing each other up. Ventura leaps forward in the direction of the wolf. It leaps out of the way dodging his attack. Quickly Ventura picks up a larger rock sitting on the ground and leads his throw to hit the beast. He throws, and the timber wolf gets smashed by the rock. They continue on their journey and as night closes in they set up camp. Ventura and Amethyst go to sleep first not being a nocturnal bat ponies. Sapphire stands guard and watches for danger. Hours pass by and the others get out of the tent. They both now starts packing up their supplies while Sapphire gets comfy in the tent. Ventura gives her a few hours in the tent before hoisting her up onto his back and carrying her instead of waking her up from her sleep. They have begun their journey and are going on an adventure with one more friend!
The HunterVentura and Amethyst are walking through a small path in the woods while Sapphire sleeps on Ventura’s back not wanting to wake her. The birds chirp and cheer all around them up in the trees just about to begin the day. Ventura wandered off in his own thoughts, could they make it back in time for hearts and hooves day? This question plagued his brain, he had been planning something for that day besides the main event. It was something more personal, he had been planning that day for months now, why did he leave to help a bat pony he had just only met? He didn’t know why and asked himself “should I have done this?” “Hey, so about hearts and hooves day” starts Amethyst “do you think we’re going to make it back in time?” “I honestly don’t know, I hope so but still, I don’t know.” Answers Ventura. “This forest is pretty cool, I don’t know why I don’t go on trips anymore” Ventura could tell she was trying to have a conversation with him. She had a certain tone in her voice that she only had when trying to start a conversation. He gave in and said “I think that’s why I live out here, it’s beautiful.” “After this I think I might go on another trip, maybe to Canterlot.” Amethyst replies. “Could I tag along with you on the trip” “Sure, it would be good to have company.” Behind them Sapphire yawns and wakes up. She awkwardly gets up off of Ventura and onto her own four hooves. Sapphire just stays behind the two and walks with them. They continue walking until they get out of the forest. Once out they escape they take a break. Ventura pulls some snacks out for him and Amethyst while Sapphire searches her own food stash. Randomly, a griffin appears out of the forest. He’s wearing a small coat and has a bandage on his neck. He looks to the other Amethyst and Ventura. “You know that’s a bat pony, right?” Says the griffin. “Yeah, so?” Ventura responds. “I’ve been tracking her this entire day and I got a contract to fill, so give her over.” “What? No! Why would we do that?” “Because you don’t want to be killed by me” Sapphire walks to the front of the group, then bites him in the leg. “Run!” She shouts. They rush away from the griffin “I remember now! That’s why me and my family were flying away, we were being kidnapped by a bunch of other creatures!” Sapphire explains. The griffin, after recovering from the bite, barrels towards the three friends. Amethyst quickly casts a freeze spell, freezing the pursuer for a moment. The griffin quickly recovers and continues giving chase. The griffin is about to catch Sapphire when Ventura bucks his hind legs, bashing their adversary away. While the griffin is down they hide in a large bush. He later gets up and passes by, they were safe for now. “Who in the fuck was that?!” Shrieks Amethyst. “I think he was working with those bad creatures I was talking about before.” States Sapphire. “He mentioned something about a contract, maybe to fill the contract he has to catch a certain number of bat ponies.” Mentions Ventura. The rest of the day the three friends are in constant fear of him catching them again. At the end it goes similar to last night Ventura and Amethyst go in the tent while Sapphire stands guard. Inside the tent the other two share a short conversation. “That was crazy” utters Ventura. “Yeah if it wasn’t for that buck of yours we’d be dead right now.” Responds Amethyst. “About our talk earlier,” begins Amethyst “I’d really like it if you joined me on the trip I think it would be fun to do that.” “Well I’m sure we’re gonna fun into him again” Ventura declares. “Yeah, well goodnight.” Says Amethyst while yawning. “Goodnight to you too” replies Ventura. With every new friend comes a new villain to balance the world.
For AmethystVentura woke up in the middle of the night. He dazedly wandered out of the tent and out to Sapphire. Sapphire gave him a confused look but just assumed that it would be best to leave him alone. He looked over to his saddle bag which he’d left outside of the tent. He reached over and shuffled through it. He eventually pulls out a dark blue notebook, a black pen, and a map of Equestria. He carefully copied the map into the notebook making sure to pay attention to the different cities spread throughout Equestria. He flips to another page and looks at a small list of places. He then looks up to Sapphire and asks “Do you think bringing someone on a trip of Equestria would be romantic?” “Well I don’t know, I haven’t really been anywhere than my home in the mountains.” Sapphire answers. Ventura returns to scribbling in the notebook. Drawing large broad lines from one city to another and mumbling to himself while he does. She glares down at the notebook wondering, what could that pony be doing? He continues making periodic checks to the map. He looks back up to Sapphire and inquires another question “What places do you think we should visit in the Crystal Empire?” “That I do know, I think you should go in the summer and visit the main castle, you’ll be able to participate in the crystal heart ceremony” Sapphire responds “what do you mean by places we should visit?” “Oh shit, well uh, I’m planning a trip for my parents, that’s what.” “Why are you planning a trip for your parents?” “Um, did I say parents I meant friends!” “So who are these friends?” “Oh Fuck, These friends are um, fine, I’m planning a trip for me and Amethyst, happy?” He says with a pale blush arriving on his face. He puts away his notebook and pen but keeps the map out with him. “I think I understand why you asked me if I thought a trip around Equestria was beautiful.” Sapphire states. “Your in love with her.” Sapphire blankly retorts to her own statement. “Alright I am, please don’t tell her I want to surprise her with this trip” Ventura replies. “Your lucky I’m a civilized bat, otherwise I’d be trying to tell her right now.” “I am lucky your civilized, because you would’ve already killed me” “Well I think it’s time for me to turn in for the day” “Well good morning” Ventura says while waving bye to Sapphire. Amethyst comes out soon after Sapphire goes in. Amethyst lies back down onto the grass and falls asleep again. Ventura sighs and gets down low right next to Amethyst. “It’s morning Amethyst” he quietly says to her. “But I don’t want to wake up.” Amethyst replies while half asleep. “But there’s snacks” Ventura whispers in an enticing tone. “Huh? What? Snacks! Where!?” Amethyst shouts as she gets up. “Here they are” Ventura says to his newly awakened friend while tossing his saddle bag full of snacks to her. She quickly opens up the package of breakfast cookies and devours them whole. “Thanks” she says. “Your welcome.” He answers. After a refreshing night of sleep and conversation the group is ready to continue moving towards Sapphire’s home.
Sunny’s SodaThe day begins with Amethyst and Ventura talking to each other while Sapphire is now levitated by Amethyst. Amethyst says “what happened to her wing?” “Sapphire says it was struck by lightning while flying, and if so, that’s some incredibly bad luck” Ventura responds. “Oh, my horn begins to hurt after using magic for a sustained amount of time,” “Well that sucks, do you want me to take over?” “Thanks, I don’t want to drop her.” Amethyst hovers the bat over to Ventura’s back. Ventura instantly feels her weight on top of him. He pushes through her weight and continues to walk at the same pace as Amethyst. Quickly he uses his wing to pull out a bottle of Sunny’s a cream soda brand that he enjoyed. He unscrews the cap and tosses it to the side. He takes a quick sip of it, refreshing. “I thought you didn’t drink” Amethyst quizzically states. “It’s the non-alcoholic version.” Ventura quickly answers. “Well that makes sense” Amethyst retorts. “I really like it, do you wanna try some?” “Um, sure, if you like it I’m sure I will too.” Ventura pulls another bottle out and hands it to Amethyst. Her horn glows as she takes the bottle and unscrews the cap. She puts the bottle to her lips and takes a quick swig. It was an interesting taste, she takes another quick swash of the drink. She liked it, it was a new taste but it felt good. “Y’know I think I like this” Amethyst happily answers her friend who’s been waiting for input from her. He does a quick little hoof pump and shouts “Yes another thing we both can appreciate!” Sapphire wakes up, sees the two smiling and drinking what looks like booze. She flaps her leathery wings and gets up off of Ventura. “So your an alcoholic, are you?” Sapphire says in a tone that was half wondering and half joking. “I’m not an alcoholic, this is the non-alcoholic version” Ventura replies. “My wing is feeling better today.” Sapphire says. “Well that’s good” Amethyst states. “I could actually use them just now if you couldn’t see” Sapphire declares hoping that they had seen her fly just now. “Do you think you’d giving flying another try, we could probably move a lot faster if you could.” Ventura inquires. “Maybe but I need to wake up a bit more.” Sapphire responds. They continue walking until they reach a leveled out clearing. Amethyst takes everyone’s saddle bags and then says “Well, I guess you two should try flying.” They Ventura and Sapphire walk out into the field. “I’ll catch you if you fall, but you just keep trying to fly.” Sapphire takes a few steps forward ahead of Ventura and starts running, she outstretched her wings and starts flapping. She starts to get of the ground, rising steadily through the air. Ventura is down on the ground ready to fly up and catch her if needed. Amethyst accompanying Ventura is the last line of defense if Ventura isn’t able to catch her. “Oh shit, I’m flying! I’m flying! Oh Fuck, I’m falling!” Sapphire shouts while flying. Ventura jets up through the sky to save his falling friend. Luckily he catches her and hovers her down to the ground. With a bit of a stressed look on his face Ventura says “I was this close from not catching you.” He drops Sapphire on the ground gently. “Do you wanna try that again?” Amethyst questions. “Never in a million years, after that, fine” Sapphire retorts. They continue on their walk towards the high up mountain, the home of Sapphire’s family. Little did they know, a newly met adversary was watching them and is preparing to pounce.
We meet againAfter that little flying excursion they continue on their trek towards Sapphire’s home. Ventura chugs down the last few bits of the soda and stuffs the empty bottle in his bag. “Why are you keeping the bottle?” Amethyst asks. Ventura responds “My friend reuser taught me that just throwing the bottle into the wild really hurts the environment, I normally wouldn’t care but on a big trip like this the last thing I want to happen is to throw a bottle into the trees and then meet some big and powerful nature goddess who would kill me for littering.” “That was a mouthful” Sapphire states. “Yeah I could have done that a lot better.” Ventura replies. Amethyst takes the map from Ventura’s bag and glares at the big red line from AereDale to a big mountain range and the giant city in between, she then asks “we’re going past the crystal empire?” “Yes we are, our endpoint is going to be a little above the Crystal empire, in the Crystal Mountain.” Ventura responds. “I know quite a bit about the Crystal Empire actually, did you know it’s nickname is The City Of Love?” Sapphire declares. “Actually yes, I been planning a visit there for a while, to see my parents again.” Amethyst states. “I never knew you were a crystal pony.” Says Ventura. “Really? I thought I’ve told you a bunch of times before” Amethyst answers. Ventura remembers all the times she’s talked about how she’s a crystal pony. Ventura tilts his head down and mutters ”I’m an idiot.” “What was that?” Inquires Amethyst. “Hm? Oh nothing.” Ventura replies. A small rustle of leaves comes from a bush. Ventura looks over suspiciously. The griffin leaps out and tackles Ventura, clawing and swiping, landing blow after blow. The griffin’s sharp claws pierce Ventura’s hide. Amethyst takes a moment and readies herself, then fires a powerful blast at the opponent. He goes flying smashing into a nearby tree. Ventura gets back up and pulls out the bottle ready to fight. Their adversary gets up and shake their head. The griffin launches forward and grabs Sapphire. Sapphire bites into his chest creating a deep puncture wound. Ventura smashes the bottle over the griffin’s head, shattering the bottle. Amethyst levitates him into the air and throws him back against the tree. He goes out cold. Ventura quickly scampers over and takes his bags and then returns to the group. They run for a good mile or two until everyone almost passes out on the ground. Ventura scans himself, he’s covered in scratches and scars. Amethyst takes one good look at him after the action and says “I brought bandages, didn’t think we would need to use them but here we are.” She trots up and pulls out a first aid kit and pulls out all the supplies. After she then warns “this might sting a bit.” She pours a bit of water onto the cuts. After that she cleans it up with a towel from Sapphire’s bag. She pulls out a little thing of cloth and places it on the few big gouges on his body. Carefully, she wraps the coil of bandages on him. About 15 minutes later his more worse cuts are all covered up. “I’m surprised you aren’t a doctor or nurse, your really good at it.” Ventura retorts after her care. “Being a doctor just isn’t who I want to be, my cutie mark says I’m a magically focused unicorn.” Amethyst declares. Meanwhile Sapphire has been setting up camp nearby. After she not so nicely asks “Hey can you two love ponies get over here I’m tired, and I get pissed when I’m angry.” “Be right over!” Shouts Ventura. Both of them walk on over and sit outside near a bright orange campfire. The fire cracks, sizzles, and pops. Amethyst looks over to Ventura and asks “could we stop at the Crystal Empire? I really want to introduce you to my parents.” “Of course! Why wouldn’t we?” Ventura responds. “Well, I don’t know.” Ventura scoots a bit closer to Amethyst and says “It’s a bit cold out here.” “Yeah, I guess it is.” Ventura reaches into his bag and pulls out a light blue scarf and ties it around his neck. He then reaches in and pulls out yet another scarf, this time light purple. He hands it to Amethyst and says “You might need this for the Crystal Empire.” “Thanks, I- Wow this is soft.” “It should it costed like 60 bits.” “Thanks, and I mean this honestly, thank you, I really like it.” “Your Welcome, Just thought it would be nice to get you something for the first time you moved to AereDale.” Amethyst wraps the scarf snuggly around her neck then states “I really like you, I mean as a friend but like a best friend.” “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve had a better friend than you, besides Whole Note.” Amethyst scoots up close to Ventura. After a few minutes she goes to their tent. Ventura puts out the fire then joins her in the tent. Amethyst is already fast asleep. Ventura whispers to himself “I love you Amethyst, I’m just waiting till the right time.” With everyone getting a full night sleep they will soon be ready for the adventure of tomorrow.
The Midnight MeetingAuthor's Note In the earlier chapters Ventura was going to be shipped with Sapphire, I changed that at the last minute while writing the third chapter. This has nothing to do with this chapter I just wanted to say. Anyways, happy shipping! The Midnight Meeting Ventura is in a deep sleep. Sitting in his own little dream realm of unconsciousness. A world of him and his friends, a world where life is perfect and everyone lives in peace. Ventura is married to Amethyst in here, and they go on daring quests almost every day. The other days they do... something else. Currently Ventura is preparing to leap over a deep chasm to get the lost bell of Grogar. Then, in a sudden turn of events Amethyst is swept away and vanishes. The chasm and the bell magically disappear. The griffin, holding a red stained blade comes from the shadows. He points it to Ventura and shouts “you failed, you lost the batpony and the one you love. Such a shame really, who really cares it’s only one more pony dead.” He wipes the knife off with a rag and proceeds towards Ventura. Ventura backs up against the wall. The griffin is about to take him down when a bright flash comes from the sky. The griffin is instantly vaporized and the small room is transformed into a moonlit pasture. A certain dark blue alicorn floats down from the sky towards Ventura. She lands in the soft grass just a few feet away from him. “Did you do that?” Ventura asks. Luna responds “Yes, now, what is troubling you tonight?” “I’ve just started a journey with my friend Amethyst to get Sapphire, my bat pony friend, back to her home, while doing that we encountered a griffin who wants to capture Sapphire and we’ve barely fought him off these few times.” “A griffin you say, I’ve lost quite a few of the night guards to a group of griffins. These griffins sell the Bat Ponies to rich investors who use them for work. This is serious, you and your friends are in serious danger of being hurt, they do not relent they keep attacking until you die.” “I’m willing to do it, I’ve been in worse places” he pulls back some of his blue mane to show a scar running up the back left side of his neck. “I was attacked by a bugbear” Ventura starts “while driving home a bugbear attacked, I crashed and the new boards in the back became spears, almost killed me, then the bugbear would not stop trying to kill me, eventually I fought it off shoving a metal piece of the car into the bugbears... I’d rather not say.” “I see, but you do not understand, these griffins won’t stop until they get what they want, they have blown through the outer walls of canterlot to just steal some of my guards.” Luna replies. “I do understand, I just care too much for my friends to stop right here and now.” “Well then, safe travels and good luck” with that Luna flys off into the moon, ending his dream. Ventura wakes up breathing rapidly. His breathing slows down and he thinks for a bit. If some of Luna’s guards have been captured what chance do we have, he thinks to himself. He walks out of the tent the fire is a nothing but a few small embers. Ventura grabs his notebook and pen again. He also takes a map of the Crystal Empire for reference. He copies the map into the notebook. He begins to mark a path, Making sure to go by all the landmarks that he thinks Amethyst would like. Sapphire steps out of her tent out into the dead night and sees Ventura, scribbling in his notebook again. “You really have it bad for her don’t you?” Sapphire states. Ventura freaks out and jumps up in the air, landing face first into the grass. He realigns himself and picks up his things. “I was just planning our route through the Crystal Empire” Ventura says. Sapphire seizes the book despite Ventura’s efforts, she glares at the page then says “so our route is through the most romantic areas? Seems a bit odd, like somepony is trying to get another pony to like them.” Ventura swipes the notebook back and responds “I’ve told you this already but I guess I’ll have to tell you again, I really-.” Sapphire puts her hoof to his snout quickly silencing him. “I was joking with you” she begins “you forgot the Crystal library by the way.” “Uh, thanks, why are you going to help me?” “You helped me, it’s my turn to help you.” “Oh thanks.” “No problem, also because of the time we will be arriving the Crystal Heart Festival will be happening, so draw a couple of places here and over here.” Sapphire helps him until it’s perfect, then Ventura goes back to bed with Amethyst. After a meeting with The Princess of the Night Luna and finishing his plan for the Crystal Empire nothing can stop them, at least they think nothing can stop them.
