Quite the Sight Through My Sight.
It was fairly grey today, the winds are acting up again and it seemed like the bulk of the cold season was about to come full force in the coming days.
Yet that didn’t stop you, as you stepped out of your fairly moderate hunting cabin that you have come to call home over the last few weeks. Located at the outskirts of the city and was located near the nearby forest, you managed to surprise yourself with the amount of “success” that you have managed to wrangle out of the past couple of weeks, with the scenery and all, not to mention the cabin being fairly larger and the change of scenery from the bustling city apartment you have grown used to being a welcomed change.
Walking to the entrance of the forest, your gear, and attire are suited for the worst-case scenario for the weather. You reflect on how you got to that point, a fairly competent manager who was due for a promotion, having found a niche of sorts in the hobby of guns and outdoor exploring, specifically collecting and shooting some of these gems of history in what is mostly the dense empty forest, and sometimes admiring what most would call “natures beauty”.
The gears that you carried were fairly much bulkier than what you would usually bring, apart from the camouflage and thicker attire to accommodate for the weather and gear, your weapon setup was a Kar98k with a telescopic sight and an MP7 as a sidearm, instead of your usual M1911 and TRG42 that you fondly use out on these “sporting” session, you have always preferred to pair the old with the new.
Speaking of which, as you walked across the dense forest, you suddenly notice the change in cloud pattern as you looked up. The sky didn’t change much for what it was worth, but it was clear that the clouds seemed to have shifted, almost as if they were being acted upon. Unfortunately, you didn’t have time to process that, as you began to quicken your pace as you try to find a good spot to make camp for your hunting season, today, it was just for the thrill of shooting, so no reason to overdo it, but it was best to prepare for what was probably a rainy day ahead.
‘Bloody weather,’ you thought to yourself as you made your way through the dense forest. ‘Can’t even give me break even on a good run.’
You continued to grumble as you made your way to a new spot for hunting, planning on making this next few days into a “change of pace” sort of activity. Making an encampment that would last a week at most.
Having found a new spot, the ledge from which you found to be a great vantage point with a cave nearby, it proved to be a reasonable place to make camp. So after a few minutes, longer than what one might expect from simply setting up a tent and the few things you brought with your backpack, you now found yourself laying prone, rifle in hand and its sight to your face. Peering through the telescopic sight, you started to observe the surroundings.
‘Fairly tame today,’ you thought as you disengaged the safety of the Kar98k and pulled the bolt back, starting to load rounds to the empty rifle, your eyes never leaving the sightline of your scope.
As you finished topping off the rifle with the fifth round, you pushed the bolt forward and slow made preparations to fire a shot, making sure that your forefinger stayed at the trigger guard until you were ready to fire.
As you continued peering through the scope, you notice some movement behind a bush, failing to notice how the forest seemingly had changed its structure and sudden increase in its density. A few moments passed and nothing came out, but before you could make out another thought, a small droplet of water landed in front of your scope. It was about to rain. Ignoring the telltale signs of rain, you continued to lay unmoving.
And so, your patients would again be rewarded when, at the corner of your other eye just as you opened it to have a greater field of view, you spotted what seemed to be a tail end of what seemed to be a panther, but it was quick to evade your sight.
‘What da faq?’ You thought to yourself. If you remembered correctly, the city, and especially its outskirts, didn’t have a zoo, much less a farm that could, or even dare, house such an animal.
‘T-there shouldn’t be a panther around here… there not a single enclosure or zoo for it, not for another city or so…’ You thought to yourself.
“Well, can’t just let the fucker roam around in this forest,” groaning in pain from both the cramped muscles of being prone for so long and the opportunity that had seemingly presented itself, “I might find even find a unique sight for once, and maybe some quick cash.” You said, unintentionally murmuring your thoughts aloud as you began to stand upright, you planned on taking that panther back alive, how? Well, you were still unsure, regardless, you still continued on despite not knowing what to do specifically.
Lifting your rifle and engaging the safety as you slung it to your back, you withdrew your MP7 at the ready as you started to walk from the ledge and down to a much lower and even ground, planning on retrieving whatever creature was quick and smart enough to evade your sightline, but really, you didn’t know what was in store you. And that fact alone was but one of the motivations that kept you going, a sense of chance, the thrill of the unexpected, again, you had a goal, quite shallow goal if you dared doublethink it for what it was worth, but a goal nonetheless.
‘ffffuuuuccckkkkk me, why, WHY THE FUCK DID WE DO THIS!?’ Your subconsciousness screamed in the back of your head, regretting the fact that you have been walking for what seemed to be, from where the position of the sun seemed, for four solid hours. With the sun en route to set anytime soon, and with you seemingly having forgotten to bring a flashlight, you decided to go the nomad route instead of just turning back to relative safety.
‘We really should have stayed back at the apartment, or better yet, WENT BACK TO CAMP!!’ Your subconsciousness screamed once more.
“Ok…” You started to pant, regaining the air that you didn’t realize you needed, being out of breath giving you the chance to actually think straight and not just forwards, “I actually see where this is going.”
‘No you don’t. ’
“Shut up.”
As you waged your mental battle of logic and profanity, out in the woods of this very same forest, certain ponies were just around, the reason unknown to you for now.
“Sister, I understand the need to… ‘Have fun’ and how you invited Twilight and her friends along, but I simply must insist that we return back to Ponyville.”
“Nonsense, Lulu,” Celestia responded, placing a hoof over Luna’s back to calm the night alicorn down, “this is simply a great learning experience for all of us, besides, both of us are the most dangerous beings out of anything in this forest has to give, there’s nothing to worry about! Fluttershy is after all a cable pony that what most will give her credit.”
‘Yea right.’ Luna thought to herself sarcastically, still keeping a keen open eye despite the jovial attitude of her sister.
“So, anyway, I think it’s just ahead of us, just after the next clearing,” Celestia said, leading the way, a smile of excitement adorned on her face as she drew closer to where she was headed.
And in a short while, they arrived at a fairly large body of water, complete with a waterfall and the river that headed downstream. The word ‘majestic’ could not begin to describe the beauty and purity of what Luna saw before her.
So sooner rather than later, she found herself and Celestia either swimming in the deeper parts or just floating near the shallow shoreline. And even when the rain started, they still continued, not a care in the world, just enjoying their time.
‘This is just fucked up, much less wrong in any sense of this deluded world.’ You thought to yourself as you peered through the scope of your rifle, the winds growing stronger by the second, and soon, the full force of rainfall would arrive. Your mental battle is still being waged in your head, but instead of regret, it was about morals, more specifically what you were either about to do or refuse to do.
Having just arrived and taken a peek at the waterfall below from your vantage point, you initially wanted to make camp behind the waterfall to protect yourself from the incoming cold rain. Unfortunately to your dismay, you weren’t the first, some creatures (which you could have easily mistaken as horses) had arrived before you, but what set them apart from normal horses was how they had HORNS AND WINGS.
‘HORNS AND WINGS! You didn’t just find mythological creatures, you just found something of equal merit for the field of SCIENCE!’ The voice said once more, out of triumph this endeavor actually paid off with the sight before you.
“Well,” a heavy sigh was made that left you breathless, still peering through the scope of your rifle, “I’ve officially lost my marbles.”
‘Oh c’mon mate, you just found something GREAT, you’ll be remembered, and you’ll go down in the annals of history for this discovery!’
‘And how do we prove such a thing exists?’ Another voice inside your head asked.
‘Simple, we’ll just bring it back to the cabin, make sure it’s nice and comfy until you could be properly rewarded’
‘Only one problem…’
‘And what’s that?’
‘we ain’t exactly a zookeeper, and by the looks of it, they are smart enough to travel in groups, and we sure as hell ain’t wasting ammo with our shit aim.’ You thought to yourself as you flicked your rifle to the new group of creatures that had suddenly arrived.
A small mental sniff was heard in that head of yours, you knew exactly the next train of thought that would follow suit, as painful as it was, and you also shed a small tear with the distant memory that accompanied it.
‘If only our aim was as good as our team comp. in CS. Oh, wait! MATCHMAKING IS FUCKING BITCH! FUCKING CAMPING, NO LIFE SMURFS, CAN’T EVEN DEFEND B TUNNEL, LITTLE SHIT BAGS DON’T EVEN HAVE BASIC SEN-’
Muting that specific part of your head into silence, you patiently took your time and kept that damaged ego of a global rank of yours in check, you observed your prey, well, you guessed that more cartoonish small ponies with varying degrees of non-consensual rape with physics and biology solely from their appearance was a clear indication that you might need some new glasses/contact lenses or a visit with your local mental institute.
Something you of course took note of and hoped you could avoid from degrading into a much worse scenario. You only hoped it won’t be as bad as that losing streak you had in CS that lasted nearly two entire months, sending that sorry ass of yours from global elite back to gold nova (Oh, the excruciating pain was unlike any other, having to deal with incompetent random’s or a competent communicating enemy team)…
“Please, darling, I know this is a trip courtesy of our princesses, but really Twilight, loosen up every once and a while.” Rarity said as the mane 6 walked towards the spot where the princesses had instructed them to go and ‘have fun.’
“I’m sorry, Rarity, but you know how I could be, I just don’t like the feeling of being watched and traveling down any forest, especially after Everfree. Really, I-” but before Twilight could finish her sentence, Spike interrupted her.
“And here we are!” the young dragon exclaimed, extending his arms as the mane 6 stepped out onto a clearing to see the beauty of both the scenery and the princesses who were currently bathing in the body of water before them.
As each pony made their way out towards the clearing before the body of water where the small luggage’s of the princesses seemed to have been left, a peculiar sight accompanied them. For Rarity, she of course with her own magic, levitated what seemed to be (arguably) a bulky briefcase, most likely full of clothes for swimming or a niche for them all to wear, Twilight had levitated around a dozen different books as she made her way, Fluttershy had several animals accompany her (some small and other large ones, including a certain egotistical rabbit), Applejack simply helped with Pinkie who had, with her everyday ability to break quantum physics, appeared out of nowhere and somehow set up a near entire buffet for all of them, from tables and chairs to several treats that would fancy Celestia’s sweet tooth, and finally, Rainbow Dash, who simply slept atop a cloud and had to be dragged just to attend this event.
And as the festivities began, soon, Spike excused himself for… reasons.
“Sorry ladies, but this little dragon would have to leave for a while.” He said, pointing to himself as he adorned some shades and began to fly upwards.
“Well, suit ya self.” Applejack said, shrugging as she nibbled away the apple treat she had taken from one of Pinkie’s treats earlier, a unified agreement by most of the mane 6.
“Where do you think you're going, Spike?” Twilight asked, raising a hoof and stopping the little dragon’s ascension any further with her magic.
“Oh, nothing much, I'll uh… I’ll just hang over the ledge of the waterfall. C'mon Twilight, just, give this to me please, and for yourself too, have fun, besides, I'll have a better view up there, besides, I got to read the new issue of Power Ponies! I missed several chapters of the comic...” Spike said with puppy eyes, the very same eyes that should be classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
Looking around and thinking hard on it, Twilight reluctantly agreed, “Alright, Spike. Just be careful.” Letting go of the dragon’s tail, which allowed him to fly upwards, but not before he asked that she lift him the comic he had just talked about, which she of course gave to the young dragon.
“Oki! And thanks, Twilight!” he responded.
Around 45 minutes later…
“Ok, so you’re a dragon raised by ponies, who doesn’t solely feed on a meat-based diet, and you eat gems as an alternative?” You asked the purple dragon, an eye twitched as you recalled what he said. Thousands, if not millions worth of gems, spent just to be food for a lizard with wings…
“Yup!” Spike said gleefully, embracing the scenery of royalty and friends before him from their ledge, the two unlikely companions sharing the moment. Although while you keenly observed the scenery, Spike did so halfheartedly as he simultaneously read the comic that he held with his claw.
“Besides, Rarity looks great from up here. How about you? What’s your plan after this, you still seem like a pretty chill guy.” Spike asked, his gaze never leaving the scenery below him that he took great pleasure in simply observing such immaculate grace, a sentiment you can’t fully appreciate and relate to.
Spike had perched closer to the ledge from which he could easily be seen by the ponies below, compared to you where you had positioned yourself, you remained hidden as off the moment, a good distance from the ledge. Your rifle still pointed down as you simply observed with him.
Your forefinger of course off the trigger, your hands simply content with holding the rifle in place, but you still had plans to return with something, especially since, as you hadn’t noticed earlier, it was raining a fair bit harder than the usual in these parts, and by miracle, there seemed to be an invisible bubble that shielded part of this scenery from it while the other half didn’t seem to be affected and just allowed the downpour to continue, from which Rarity, Celestia, and Fluttershy bathed in the downpour of rainwater. Spike explained earlier to you how it was all caused by magic, and for now, you dared not question it.
“Real shame…” You said, reminiscing about a certain oversight on your part, something you wished you’d have considered earlier.
The shift of tone to a much somber tone alerted Spike, who of course in his good nature, asked about it, “Hey, if I could ask, what’s wrong?”
“Oh nothing really, it’s just a shame I couldn’t picture this scenery, I don’t really have a map and I only have a compass with me, I really do wish I had a way to remember this moment without feeling insane. I left my camera back home.”
With your phone being one of those old flip-up ones made by Nokia, it was durably and reliable, no doubt, but with the camera quality being equivalent to that of the average security camera footage, not to mention that you forgot to charge the damn thing before you left the city.
‘And maybe present it as evidence, no wait people would say it fake. Hhmm… Ah! we could just say it's fan art, say it’s just a realistic take on something, some asshole would probably buy it for more than 2 grand, or we could always auction an NFT version of it, fucking idiots…’ A small evil laugh accompanied that only you could hear mentally.
“Hhmmm…” Spike thought for a moment before standing up, “Be right back.” He said as he jumped off the ledge. It didn’t instill any shocked expression from you, especially since he was going to use his wings, the same cannot be said for Rarity and Twilight, who upon seeing Spike seemingly having jumped off, maybe slipped, and had immediately ignited their horns to catch the still fairly small dragon.
After a couple of moments of peering through your scope to see what happened, you noticed that the ponies and dragon began to talk, and soon after, the young dragon waved a claw as he returned to his ledge.
And the moment he returned, you were the first to speak, “So what did they talk to you about?”
A quick shrug of his shoulders and the dragon replied, “Told them I wanted a snack, nothing to worry about.” He said as he lifted what seemed to be a gemstone, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t any run-of-the-mill ruby or sapphire.
“What’s that? Are you going to eat it?” You ask, dropping your rifle to your side (safety engaged, of course, gun discipline) to inspect whatever was held by Spike’s claws.
“Oh, this?” He said, raising the gem for you to see, “Apparently, from what Rarity told me, it’s a gemstone known as ‘Opal’, which, funnily enough, was what Rarity named her cat after. This specific one is called a ‘Crystal Opal’, I only tasted 2 of these gems so far, and I can say, they taste great!”
You on the other hand started to salivate, not because you were hungry, but because a gemstone was in your very grasp, greed crept through every portion of your body, you needed something to make this trip worthwhile, yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to just take it, well, not when you could still be lit aflame by this supposed dragon. So you just stared, shaking your head vigorously to break your stupor.
Noticing your predicament, Spike smiled, “Here,” he said, taking your hand with his claw, which to your surprise was smooth for a reptile-like creature like him, and gave you the gemstone, “take, sort of like a gift for you, I was supposed to eat it, but… I think you’ll enjoy it much more than with me just eating it, besides, I got plenty more other gems to eat down there.”
Taking the gemstone and inspecting it, it was admittedly beautiful, sure you didn’t have much experience when it comes to the field of pricing these sorts of things, but this dragon just gave you one for free, so, not wanting to test your luck further, you simply replied, “T-thanks, I... I’m actually baffled by this sudden generosity.”
“Ah, sheesh, don’t worry about it, I did learn a thing or two from the element of generosity herself.” Spike remarked a shit-eating grin adorned on his face, one you never expected a dragon – ‘more like lizard’ – to make.
Smiling in kind, the both of you shared more stories and such, and soon after, the festivities died down and both of you parted ways, with you actually giving Spike a sort of ‘memento’ from you, one of the bullets of your Kar98k, of course, you gave him a dummy round, but still, it’s the thought that counts, besides, he could make clam of being the first dragon to meet an actual human (an ancient race in Equestrian myth).
By the time you arrived back at your campsite, you were exhausted, the last thing you dared do was just lie down and rest your gear to your side. Still remember the horrid amount of effort it took just to climb back up to where you had initially made your camp. And so, before drifting off into another one of your dreamless sleep, your mind made its last few remarks for the day, thoughts that were admittedly persistent in your mind.
‘You’re gonna get a cold tomorrow.’
‘Yeah, I know.’
‘Hey, at least we got a gemstone as a memento of sorts out of this trip.’
‘He he, yeah, I know. It really was an interesting sight, do you think we should go to the psychiatric hospital?’
‘I would say yes…’
‘Bbuuuttt?’
‘Actually, no.’
‘I've gone insane, haven’t I? Have I gone insane?’
‘Just sleep already…’
‘Fine, fine…’
Fin
Author's Note
Was it a good story? I would argue it was meh, I am quite alright with what I was able to achieve, a fairly rudimentary story, nothing to write home about.
Perhaps I might be overcomplicating things again while I write this AN, so I’ll leave it as is, I would like to thank you all, to whoever may find and read this, for at least reading my story.
Thank you,
And Later!
