I was finally let out of the hospital a week later, I was tired, I was kinda bored, and my leg still kinda hurt. Which leg? I dunno, one just feels slightly cramped. The sunlight made me flinch a little, but I quickly adjusted to the morning sun. I took a whiff of the air and let out a sigh of content. I hate being in the hospital. Chrysalis was now wearing a sundress she had apparently knitted while waiting for me to recover, and she looked kinda cute in it. Scratch that, very cute, very huggable, and sexy as fuck. So of course I hugged her as soon as we were out of the hospital. “How’d you even get the doctors to let you nurse me back to health? I asked.

“I merely threatened the doctors with castration; I did not trust them anywhere near you, when I have more medical experience and actually want you to recover. Those bastards wanted to keep you in order to rack up the bill from the organizers, hence the threats. Plus I did have the nurse outfit and I was hoping to pull it out at some point. And I know you liked it, you especially liked it when I was cuddled up next to you and sleeping.”

“Hey now, you are very cuddly…” The wagon rolled up next to us, with a very inpatient looking Kitsune-Kumiho in it. She did a few tippy taps while staring at us. “Let’s not keep our Kitsune waiting… Say Blaze, which side of you do you accept more? I don’t wanna actually make you upset.”

Blaze hummed. “I introduced myself as a Kitsune; I don’t like hurting anyone, believe it or not. If you refer to me as a Kumiho, I won’t mind, but I would prefer it if you called me a Kitsune.” Good to know. We hopped up into the wagon and sat down next to our fox. “So, are we going to explore Gryphus? This has to be the largest city we have come across so far, with a vastly different culture from what we saw in Everfree City, and even more different than what we saw in Canterlot or Ponyville. This would be a good opportunity to scout out for a location once we decide to settle down.” She took a whiff of the air. “I smell steak too. I may not need to eat, but I do want steak.”

I tapped my chin. “We may as well. What’s the point of a road trip if we aren’t going to explore the places we end up getting to?” Our wagon started heading up the street, taking a turn here, a turn there, and we finally stopped in what looked like a marketplace. We stopped at a few stalls, before we stopped at a very old-school-style bulletin board that had a bunch of jobs that the King was asking to have done. Of course, because there was a fuckload of souvenirs I wanted to buy, so I figured it’d be a good idea to take a few odd jobs before we start shopping.

I didn’t want to use our travel money on cool mementos.

The main difference with how old Equestria did these quests and how Gryphus seems to be doing it, is that you take the poster for the job down and store it somewhere. The job will not be reposted if the task was completed in a week, with solid proof that the task was done. Though if the task is not completed in a week, and somebody else takes the job, it is fair game if the job is completed before the new bounty hunter has completed it themselves. Basically, if I were to take a job and fail to do it within a timeframe, and somebody else takes the job, as long as I complete it before the new guy does, I’m the one who gets paid for the job.

So I took up a couple of easy jobs, getting them all done while Chrysalis and Blaze explored Gryphus without me. On occasion, a hiccup or two would occur, but it ended up with me accumulating a couple hundred bits. It only took about four odd jobs, which mainly involved delivering a package here and there. Maybe hold something for an old dude, allthst fun stuff. Despite me telling them to go explore, Blaze and Chryssy stayed relatively close by wherever I was doing an odd job. So when I got done with my last job, we decided to hit up a restaurant for more… Carnivorous residents.

I was surprised that Blaze was actually allowed in, or that a couple of griffins tried their claws at hitting on Chrysalis. Those that did ended up getting the stink eye from me. Except one, he decided to stick around because… “I bet you a little prey animal like you couldn’t be better in bed than a natural predator!” The griffin’s fist came down on the table we were sitting at. “I mean, I saw you at the tournament and you could barely even touch that dragon!”

“…That fucker had an extra meter of reach on me. If you want, I can make you suck your own, severed dick, keep flirting with my marefriend. I may have been your lunch a thousand years ago, but trust me…” I tapped my head. “I am no prey animal up here. Keep testing my patience; you will leave this restaurant with your own dick in your ass if you do.” The griffin simply laughed, while Chrysalis looked like she was being turned on by me being angry.

“Give me your best shot, pony. I’m certain-“ I uppercutted the motherfucker in the chin, sending his ass flailing to the ground. He groaned when he sat up, the birdcat’s head wobbled after his brain probably hit the back of his skull at the speed of sound. “Ugh… That hurt a lot,” he blinked a couple of times and shook his head. “What the heck are you even made of?” He slurred, probably because I punched him in the fucking chin.

“It’s called… Taking my shot at you. Now stop trying to flirt with my marefriend; she’s mine.” I growled. At that point our food got delivered to us, and I happily dug into my tiny little steak. You see, I think ponies can eat meat, and meat does feel good in my mouth. It’s just that I don’t think we can really stomach a whole lot of meat without either dying, getting sick, or getting sick and dying. It was like a holy man stuck his dick in my mouth and let me go to town on it.

Blaze and Chrysalis got a pretty big steak and were sharing it. Blaze probably could make use of the nutrients, but changelings apparently didn’t get anything out of eating, even if they could eat and enjoy the taste of whatever they are eating. “So,” I said, the griffin got back to his seat, but chose to ignore his food, since his head probably still hurt like a bitch. “Chryssy, wanna plan out our next date?” I asked.

“I would, but after you showed off how… predatorial you can be, I would enjoy doing more… Fun things tonight. Cuddles perhaps? Perhaps we can get even cuddlier and play.” We leaned in and nuzzled each other. “Now, my little griffin, next time you try to steal me from the love of my life, I will kill you. Ostri may be less inclined to do so, but I am more than willing to cause you bodily harm. My heart belongs to my stallion, not some pathetic rooster.”

The griffin’s head nearly hit the table. “But…”

“Sir, do you want to deep throat your own dick after I chop it off?” I asked. That woke him up pretty quickly.

“No! No! We… don’t need to go that far, pony. You’ve turned out to be more than I can chew.” With that, the griffin dropped some bits on the table and stumbled out of the restaurant. About an hour later, Blaze made me and Chrysalis go explore the city together while she watched the wagon. As for why? Well, that kitsune had a shit eating grin as she sent us on our way. So I was loaded with the money I got from the bunch of odd jobs I did earlier, and we were currently sitting on a bench, wondering what the fuck to do.

“So,” I leaned into Chrysalis. “What do you want to do?”

“I… Was going to ask you what you wanted to do; it’s usually the stallion that chooses what should occur during a date.” She hummed.

“Well, for humans, it’s usually the other way around; the girl, or the mare, chooses.” We both sighed.

“Cultural differences,” we said in unison. “You choose first,” we blinked a couple of times. “No, no, I can’t-” we both groaned.

“Horn, wings, hooves?” Chrysalis asked. “Loser picks,” ah that fun game. It was basically rock, paper, scissors. It basically played out the same way; horn trumps wings, wings trumps hooves, hooves trump horns. Usually you just say what you choose, since most ponies aren’t alicorns. After about six or seven rounds of us tying, we both groaned again, and we threw our backs into the bench we were basically stuck on. “I just want to know what you want to do; it would be nice to learn more about your personal interest!” Chrysalis shouted.

“And I just wanna hangout with you!” We both blinked again. “I suppose I’ll choose, but next time, you’re choosing something, missy, I want to learn more about what Chrysalis likes to do.” We both could agree to that. So we both hopped off the bench and started wandering around until we found a little carnival. It was pretty viking-esk, games such as ax throwing, archery, even a little wrestling arena for those who felt like doing so. “This looks fun,” I said as we paid for admission into… Well, the carnival.

“It does; I am quite excited to see you do the strength test. You did quite the number on that griffin earlier,” she hummed.

“Nah, I just sucker punched that fucker. I have never actually fought a griffin before. I stabbed that general while he was monologuing a thousand years ago, stabbed a griffin after he attempted to murder Cadance after faking a surrender, and then sucker punched the last two griffins I defeated. I don’t play fairly if failure leads to me dying a horrible death.”

“Good; honor is good to have, but self preservation is better. I hope you do not expect to fight in my stead at any point; we fight together should we have to. We are equals, and I am no slouch in combat, and I would rather us getting out of a fight alive rather than upholding any sense of honor. After all, I would much prefer you being alive, so that I can pester you every morning with kisses!” We both chuckled, before sharing one of those kisses. The two of us started going through each game, starting off with axe throwing. Every griffin who tried it seemed to be fairly decent, but none of them hit a bullseye. Me, being a genius at ax throwing, hit the wall… a solid foot away from the target.

I apparently had a good throw, but my aim was fucking amazing, as you can tell. Chrysalis then banned me from owning axes after I also nearly took my right, front leg off while throwing that ax. In fact, she dragged me away from ax throwing, before carrying me by the scruff of my neck. All while somehow scolding me and yelling at me for nearly getting myself killed on a magically dulled ax for children. How she managed to speak clearly with some of my fur and skin in her mouth is beyond me. “From now on, you are only allowed to use knives, any weapon I teach you how to use, and a bow and arrow.” She finally said, plopping me down at the archery game.

When I was given the bow and three arrows, I had one simple objective; destroy three vases. Each one had a little prize in it, all ranging from valuable to literally dirt. So when I hit the first vase… I got a ring, a gold ring with a ruby in it, it was more like a necklace that Celestia or Luna wore, so I’m going to assume that goes around Chrysalis’s neck. I shot three more vases and got a literal bag of dirt, and a thing of roasted sunflower seeds. I stared mostly at the bag of dirt while Chrysalis figured out how to put her new necklace on. “I won a bag of dirt…” I didn’t even care about the sunflower seeds, even if those would be a fun little treat later. What really mattered was a bag of dirt. “You know, there are things in life that I thought were either really funny, or really stupid. This is both,” I chuckled.

“This necklace is beautiful at least,” Chrysalis knelt down and hugged me. “I shall take a turn at archery; I want to get something for my handsome little stallion.” Chrysalis was handed the bow, as she held the weapon in her magic, she started aiming, had hit a hay bale, and actually hit two vases with one arrow. How she managed to become a goddess with that bow was beyond me, since she hit two more vases with her last arrow. “All I needed was a feel for this bow; it’s quite different from the ones I have used in the past,” she hummed. Chrysalis got a pair of matching rings, a silver crown, and a potato. Instead of the nice things, which she handed to me(she kept one of the rings for herself), she just stared at the potato while I put the ring and crown on. “I suppose we can grow potatoes on the wagon with your bag of dirt?”

“I don’t think ponies can even digest potatoes without having the runs later,” I hummed. “Do I look like a Prince?”

“You look fit to be my king, Ostri.” We shared another kiss, before stopping to get… smoothies I guess. That is one thing I had not expected to see at a carnival held by griffins, but they just had smoothies that were made from a combination of various fruits of your choice. Apple, banana, grape, sweet potatoes, oranges, all sorts of fun fruit. Chrysalis and I got one, large drink, took a seat at our table, and stuck two straws in it. It was mostly an excuse for the two of us to constantly nuzzle each other. At some point, Chryssy’s ears perked up and she had an idea. Within a flash, Chrysalis became Nightmare Moon, with griffin talons on one her legs instead of a hoof, and started scratching her ass with it. “Duh…”

“Chrysalis,” my ears flattened.

“I am duh night!” Chrysalis shook her ass in the air while scratching it.

“Chrysalis!” I yelled. My marefriend paused and immediately reverted back to her original form. “Please, do not become Princesss Luna, Celestia, or whatever fucking alteregos that they may have. I get that you mean well, and that you just want to make me laugh, but that isn’t my sense of humor. If anything, I get angry when I even see Celestia’s face, and I…” I let out a mix between a growl and sigh. “I’m sorry about yelling at you, Chrysalis, but please, please don’t assume Luna or Nightmare Moon. That just brings up a bunch of memories, memories that have long soured after what that cunt and her cunt of a sister put me through.”

Chrysalis’s ears flattened and she leaned across the table to nuzzle me. “I am sorry, Ostri, I merely figured you share my hatred for the Royal Sisters… I forgot that they left some fresh wounds on you,” she was actually crying now. “I-I-EEP!” I nipped her neck a bunch, bringing her right out of her shock.

“It’s fine, Chrysalis, now you know that our way of dealing with our hatred and pain are vastly different,” I walked around the table and hugged her. “Us dating each other, I want it to work, I know I love you, Chryssy. I also know that… We only started dating like two weeks ago? Three? There’s obviously some things we gotta iron out, and boundaries we gotta set,” we leaned into each other and sighed as we watched the sun begin to set. It was quite nice. “So,” I nuzzled Chrysalis. “How long do you wanna remain in Gryphus? I wanna head back down south into Equestria, so we can catch a boat, get to Eur Mono,” I pulled a map out from under my wing. “Then start heading west throughout Gilo Mono,” I drew my wing across to Hisui and Habando. “So we can visit Blaze’s homelands. Given her status, we might be safe in Habando, but it also turns out we may need to go through Habando anyways; it’s the closest point to Hisui for us to launch a boat from.”

Chrysalis hummed. “You have an odd knowledge of Equus, but I would not mind leaving Gryphus before the king notices that I am here and invites me to dinner. For one, I could walk into a trap, another, the king could also try to have me over for dinner. Though… I know you wish to help Blaze with her self confidence, but perhaps we can make a lot of stops? I, for one, would not mind seeing Prance, or even Layti.” Chrysalis tapped on an island that roughly looked like Greenland if it were to have all of its ice melt. Seriously, the only place covered in ice was Equus’s equivalent of Antarctica, and around where the Crystal Empire was, which was in the center of the North Pole. In fact, most of Equus looked a lot like Earth if most of the ice melted. “Let’s avoid this Tartarus Gate though, that’s where dragons live, and teenage dragons are horrible.” Good argument, we are steering clear of greenland.

Somehow, Doggerland was present, despite the apparently higher sea levels. Aso, on the bright side, Florida and Ohio were just fucking gone.

It was eerily similar to Earth in so many ways. “You know what?” I tapped my chin. “You raise a good argument, and I know Blaze knows where we wanna go, but we don’t have to rush through it. I did the math, using my world’s equivalent of the Wooly Path, and it would take about a hundred and forty days to travel to where I wanna go. We might as well stop and smell the flowers along the way; I only live life once, and I’ve always wanted to explore the world. Might as well do it in ponyland with my wonderful marefriend and beloved Kistune, right?” We then began plotting places to stop, and places to go after we pay Blaze’s homelands a visit.

Equu’s version of Australia was where the majority of Tartarus was, so of course I marked that as somewhere I wanted to go as a joke. “What? I’m going to hell anyways, might as well see what it’s like before I buy some property there.” Chrysalis snorted.

“I don’t know what hell is, but I can assume it is awful if you’re comparing it to Tartarus; I almost went there after I kidnapped Cadance’s little brat.” That was probably still better than accepting Starlight Glimmer’s offer of friendship, not gonna lie.

“Oh god, there’s more than four alicorns?” Chrysalis nodded. “Five bits says Cadance’s kid grows up into being just as much of a cunt as her ancestors?”

“I will not make that bet; it’s almost guaranteed for you to win.” We both shared a chuckle at that. We marked down at least fifty five different locations in just Eur Mono alone, or Europe if you’re a stupid, earth dwelling person. Gilo Mono, Asia’s Equus equivalent, had over a hundred spots to stop in. Africa, or Keshden, was our next stop after going through Gilo Mono. After a little while, a miniature tournament was set up in the carnival for anyone to join. Blaze had since joined up to watch me kick some ass.

Chrysalis mentioning how hot I looked while kicking the shit out of my first opponent in the first round, may, or may not have driven me to winning the whole fucking competition and fifty bits.

Author's Note

i have decided to heavily base Equus on Earth. Easy cheat sheet for the continents and existing country names:

Continent: North Amareca=North America
Equestria=USA
Griffonia=Canada
Mexico is still unnamed in my version of Equus.

Continent=South Amareca=South America

Australia= Literally Just Tartarus(borrowed idea from Diaries of a Madman)

Eur Mono= Europe

Gilo Mono: Asia

Keshden= African

North Pole is its own continent, mainly where the Crystal Empire is. It’s simple called ‘North Polaris’

Antartica has not been named in Equus. I did that on purpose, since I plan on having literally nothing live down there except racist penguins.
Also Atlanis Exists in the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

Will update cheat sheet in future A/Ns with countries, cities, etc.

Also, will establish a time since Dawn of a New Day with these A/Ns.

Also, cheat sheat for Timeframe for the stories in this series so far(timeframe for the period of time each story will stretch over)

Before the Night: A little under a year
After the Night: a month and a half.
New Horizons: Starts right after After the Night, so far, it’s been a month and half since the events of After Night. In total, Ostri has been in the present for three months.

I will speak to y’all in the next thing I post.