Author's Note

Sorry in advance for the info dump. It needs to be explained for the future.

Chapter 2

***

As the evening rolled over and the day work was done - Jackie and both of her sisters, Anna and Eva, were back to the house to have some alone time - Jacqueline approached her grandmother - Maria Smith, who most of the town called Granny Smith. Mrs Smith was an elderly woman with a lot of wisdom in her eyes. She's a grandmother of Apple siblings from their mother's side, watching them and helping on the farm from time to time, against the wishes of her grandkids. Lately - she couldn't stay on her feet for too long, as the joints of her knees started to ache when she walked for too long or stayed up without rest. In terms of appearance - the elderly woman more on a pudgy side, a relatively long grey hair for her age, that she often braided into a 'nest' on the back of her head. She often wore a green long dresses with a white apron and her red shoes. Currently she was at the kitchen, working on the dinner and making a pause every so often to sit down and let her feet to rest. Jackie caught that moment to talk to her.

"Granny, do ya have a moment?" - Jackie started hesitantly. She knew that Granny was kind yet very stubborn and suspicious when it came to something new. It wouldn'tbe a surprise if she reject the bought vinegar.

"I have every moment in tha world, Jackie. What's botherin' ya?" - The elderly woman said kindly, swiping the sweat from her forehead with an apron and looking at the girl.

"I've... met with one of the traders taday. Ya might hear bout' im. He's name is Val." - At that the face of Granny took a curious expression, but she nodded nothenless. - "He was sellin' a forest apple vinegar, told me that it's good for the achin' knees."

"I've heard of th' fella, alright. He's livin' in tha forest, ain't he? Must be knowledgeable 'bout it. Lemme get mah glasses and I have a look." - The elderly woman said, taking her glasses from the top of her head and putting them on her nose. Jacqueline was surprised, but still gave the bottle to her grandmother.

Marie looked at the simple, small bottle for a couple of seconds, read the small label on the string that was attached to the neck of the bottle and looked at the brown-ish see-trough liquid. She then uncorked it, taking a distant sniff and giving a small smile. - "Yup, that Val fella know his stuff, alright. Right colour an' smell. I'll try that, fer sure." - She nodded to herself, looking back at Jackie. - "How much did ya pay 'im?"

"Ten bits, even though tha' it could be bogus after he started to pack his stuff."

"That man didn't rate his work properly, I could pay thirty fer that bottle. Next time you see 'im - tell 'im that." - She shook her head, standing up and after putting her glasses back to the top of her head - returned to cooking.

"He also told me to stay away from th' Everfree for a week or so, sumthin' bout riled up timberwolfes and noks."

"That's kind o' im'. It's good to have fella like im' around. Thank ya for the warning, sugar. Tell yer sisters that too. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

"Sure will, Granny. I'm surprised ya took that vinegar that easy. Usually you are more suspicious towards th' unknown." - Jackie said surprised, leaning on the table with both hands.

"That's because others are more fer th' money, than quality. That fella made a fine brew and was humble bout it. Now go an relax, sugarcube." - She dismissed with a gentle smile.

"Sure will, Granny." - Jacqueline nodded, turning around and walking outside, in the still warm evening. Today was productive and profitable day, but like her eyes were on reflex - she looked at the top of the trees that were seen from the front of the house and hummed in thought. She should keep some weapon at herself, when working or walking at the far orchard, near the forest. Maybe some kind of revolver? Or just keep dad's double-barrel near her?... It's always good to practice from time to time and keep the old reliable in good condition. After all, Eva said that she heard the sound of a gunshot from the forest today, when Jacqueline and Anna were in town.

***

It was three days later after Val saved Zecora and she took refugee in his cabin. So far - the woman had a good experience with her savior, yet sometimes he was strange. He provided a more suitable clothes and footwear for her, had a place to freshen up (even if it was a simple metal barrel, instead of a bathtub), always cooked for her and even let her have the unused spare room on the second floor all for herself. But the oddities were that - Zecora didn't saw Val's face for all these two and a half days, he always covers it with his gas mask. The only glimpse she had is his short, spiky ginger hair with grey streaks. Also - it looks like he either have many pairs of the exact same clothes, or he just doesn't change them. But she didn't mind, he did smell quite good when she had a chance to take his scent in.

Additional to the overall picture of Val - he did, in fact, was mute. He explained it that he was born with his vocal cords not being fully formed, so as a baby he couldn't scream, opting for voiceless grunts, or so he was told by his parents. Also, as it turns out - his full name was Valentin, but he got used to the nickname Val. When it came to the question of his daily routine - Zecora asked about where he always going. To that he answered 'looking trough the forest for those, who lost their lives here.' He showed her his recent findings : an old locket with two old photos and a more modern, broken in half and chewed bolt action rifle with a little engraving of the name 'Harvey'. He can come to the town and turn them in, so the families could at least know - what happened.

Val also said, that the forest is bigger than Zecora might be thinking. For a start - Evergreen Forest is a summarisation of a group of the nearest areas. Those areas being : Whitetail Woods, Last Wish Ravine, Boggy Bottom Swamp, The Old Woods and Fort Blackrock.

Whitetail Woods is where they were currently now. It's a thick forest area, populated with common animals and couple of the monsters, such as timberwolfes.

Last Wish Ravine is a place, where most of the travellers lose their lives. Overall - that place is not very populated by predators, often housing small and medium sized avians and overall is safer than any other part of the Evergreen, but the path itself are extremely dangerous. Often Val could find corpses of some unfortunate folk that fallen into the chasm and broke most of their bones at his or her way down. They often die with an open eyes, the shock and pain still on their faces.

Boggy Bottom was more of a hunting ground, often used by hunters that were killing the monsters in there. Hunting season for monsters starts in the middle of spring and ends in the last month of summer. Good way for others to help in keeping the population of dangerous beasts in check and earn a trophy from killed beast, such as hydras, fungals, wolfes, bears and so on. Noone to this day couldn't kill the beast that resides deeper into the forest, giving their lifes or sanity away to this monster, mumbling in fright about black feathers with blue shine.

To the surprise of Zecora - Val almost begged her to avoid going inside of The Old Woods. Place was holding an old town with a destroyed castle and a deep underground tunnel system, that was leading into the Fort Blackrock. He was in The Old Woods couple of times and made a map of the place, sure, but there was more dangers than in any part of the Everfree. Dangers that he could only avoid, as fighting them is futile. Because not only wildlife prefers to inhabit this forest.

Speaking of The Blackrock Fort - it was currently a dead settlement. Back then - as he discovered trough the old books, recovered from the Castle's library - it was a mining colony, acting as a prison. Now none could tell - what's in there. Every bird avoided this place, set on the lone island, surrounded by the lake and a high stone walls without a gates. Val had gone there only once, and as he stared with a hint of terror in his always calm eyes at his notebook while writing - 'I was there for only two hours and yet - it felt like a fever dream. I can't even remember how I came back home. I don't want to go there and will not tell about what I remember without a good reason.'

***

As another Sunday was coming along, so does their plan. Zecora now was fit with new clothes, small backpack with blankets in them and her treehouse seed, potion to make the said treehouse and a couple of essentials that were recovered from her wagon by Val. Zebricanian was now dressed into a similar grey sweater, long beige coat, long knitted grey scarf, black pants and a high boots, fit to let the user travel trough the forest and stay warm. Plan for this Sunday was - find a suitable place for Zecora's house, recover the rest of her belongings from the wagon, stock-up for some cutlery and dishes for her house and if he will have some time - sell the finished chessboard with figures, along with a couple of trophies and another bottle of vinegar.

This time - Val had left his sawed-off at the cabin because of the lack of ammo, opting for his another firearm - a scratched, but overall well kept rifle. It held five rounds, the frame and wooden details were made out of the walnut and had a piece of thin cloth wrapped around the foregrip with the knot being under the barrel (I can't call it like that in the fic, but it's just a Mosin Nagan model 1891. The sawed-off that was mentioned is a Baikal MR-13 with an attachable wooden stock). To the surprise of Val - Zecora had an experience in shooting, but prefers to use something like a staff or a spear and a bow, saying that she was more comfortable with them.

For all of their expenses - Val had 247 bits, which was enough to buy everything Zecora required. They left Val's cabin at six in the morning, so they would get to the town in forty minutes at the steady pace. Before they were about to enter the town - Val fully wrapped his weapon in cloth to not agitate the guards. The weapon itself could be used as intended if the need arises, but walking around and parading his rifle was a bad idea. Most of the town guards used 5 shot revolvers and shortswords, the army already developed automatic weapons. It was strange and somewhat racist.

Those who had a gift of magic didn't need weapons, concentrating on artifacts of their choice to cast spells and fencing, often holding high ranks. They were often dangerous, because said artifact is either a ring, wand or tattoos. Without the first two - mages couldn't cast, the latter could be blocked by the wristband, made out of special metal. Overall - there is two types of tattoos - birthmark or a stigma. If mage was born with his tattoo - he often was a noble with 'pure' blood and had an affinity to casting. If mage had a drawn tattoo - it often was a family crest or one of the six main elements to boost the wanted type. Nobody could have both birthmark and a stigma, that was concidered as crime.

As for the types of magic and mages - they could be a battle mages, explicitly serving as soldiers and guards, because they could cast only harming spells, or simple mages that usually was able to control wind, ignite a fire, summon a small stream of water, etc. Of course, there was equestrians that didn't had any magic at all. It was a common thing and yes, there was that racism thing, but if you was born with magic in your body - your life already was more easy.

Magic itself was split into six elements : Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Arcane and Sacred. Fire is simple to understand - controlling fire and everything that is 'hot'. Water and all other elemental magic are self explained overall. Arcane concidered a supportive element and could act as a 'boost' for all other elements or even the body of a caster, but it could be self-sustained, usually binded with pure essence of magic. The most famous Arcane-Fire mage is Princess Coraline Sol, current ruler of Equestria, and the most famous Pure-Arcane mage to this day, a mentor of Princess Coraline - Adam Starswirl, that put magic into categories and discovered astronomy. The last type of magic is Sacred. The Sacred magic is akin to a myth, as it is extremely rare, often having different effects on different bearers. The most infamous Sacred mages to this day is Eris Hoss, 'Spirit of Chaos' and Alexander Noir, 'Undead Ruler'.

***

While Zecora had gone for a walk around the shops to purchase the required things - Val stayed on the street, showing his items for sale. To pass the time - he choose to braid a bow string. Val didn't mind that Zecora was staying with him - but he did understood that she wanted her own place. After all - everybody need a person around them, but it happens that it feels better when they are alone. Or so he heard.

He was in the middle of a string, when a young, high pitch voice called him. - "Good day, Mister Val! Can I buy the vinegar, please?"

He raised his head, looking at the owner of the voice. It was a young, maybe around twelve years old girl. Lanky, but with good amount of muscles in her arms and legs. Ginger, almost red straight hair, brown eyes, she wore a yellow t-shirt, jean jumpsuit with suspenders and a simple convers, a red bow in her hair adding to her appearance.

《You came on behalf of Jacqueline Apple?》

"Yup! Name's Anna Apple, sis asked me ta come buy the vinegar if ya had any. The bottle she bought last time did wonders to the Granny's legs. She couldn't come herself, because she's preparing for family reunion in a couple of days." - She brightly smiled, holding her hands behind her back and bowing forward a little.

《Good to hear. Hold up a little, I have something for her.》

He took a small, simple green linen towel with a small picture of three bear cubs out of his backpack, using it as a wrapping for the purchase. A bottle of said vinegar, four small yellow apples he picked up on the way to the town and a note, signed as 'to Jackie'. After tying it up - he held it to the girl with sparkling from happiness eyes, writing the price tag.

《That would be 10 bits.》

"Sis said that Granny rated yer work not for ten, but thirty bits and said to pay ya ac...accro... ac-cor-ding-ly, yeah that. So here..." - She stretched her left hand with a small bag of bits. At this - Val could only gave a voiceless laugh and a shake of hid head. Jackie did a smart thing sending her sister. She knew he would argue with her, but not with the little girl. She took the package and after waving goodbye - skipped away. Hope Jacqueline get his message in time.

***

After Zecora finished with her shopping and Val managed to sell the chess bundle to a woman named Cheerilee - they met at the town's centre and headed to the guard's station to turn in Valentin's findings. After they were done - they headed back to the woods. They were walking past the Sweet Apple Acres and fortunately - it looked like Jacqueline got his message, as she now was standing on the left side of the entrance to the farm. Zecora was confused to see the farmer approach them, but was keeping calm.

"Howdy there, Val!" - Jackie greeted him, while they both were shaking hands. - "This is the one ye wrote 'bout?" - The blonde eyed zebricanian from head to toe, after wich smiled. - "Well, name's Jacqueline Apple, me and mah family own this 'ere farm. What's yer name, sugarcube?"

A little bit hesitantly, but Zecora answered. - "My name is Zecora Mtunga Dawa. May I know of what are you mean by 'is this her'?"

"Oh, that? Val 'ere wrote me taday and asked to meet with ya. Apperently, we're goin' to be neighbours." - She shrugged, while Val already wrote his explanation.

《The closest clearing for Zecora's house is 50 meters inside the Evergreen. It's better to know - where your neighbors live so you could communicate and help each other if needed. I live too far away.》

"Well darn, that's mighty smart of ya, Val. Anyway, I'm happy to meet'cha, Zecora. Thanks fer the vinegar and apples, by the way, Val. Sour and sweet, just as I like 'em. And vinegar helped Granny with her legs." - She gave him a thankful smile.

At this - he shook his head slowly, giving out a voiceless laugh.

《It was clever to sent your sister, Jackie. You knew I would argue about the price with you.》

She grinned, winking at him. - "What did ya expect? Granny praised yer work and want ta pay ya as much as ye deserve." - She laughed, and then exhaled, gaining more troubled expression. - "Hey, um... Can I ask ya a question?" - At his nod - Jackie continued. - "We're havin' a family reunion in two days from taday and... I was wondering if... ya could watch the forest outskirts in this day? I just want ta make my family safe..."

《What do you want me to do?》

"Just... Be around the farm fer th' day. If sumthin happen - tell me. I'll pay ya accordingly."

He thought for a moment, after what nodded and wrote a reply.

《I'll be there in the morning.》

"Whew... thank ya. I'll be more at peace - knowin' that ye watchin' over us. Well, I hafta go back to mah chores. See ya in a couple o' days, Val." - She bid her farewell and headed back to the farm, while Zecora and Val headed to the forest. Now it was time to raise that treehouse.