A Fizzling Hope

Chapter 2: Lost in the Woods

Fizzle didn’t know where he was going. Fizzle didn’t care where he was going. It just felt so good to be walking around on this beautiful day that he didn’t mind whatsoever where his hooves were taking him. He pretty much just picked a direction at random and started walking. He didn’t even have those gut feelings that he needed to be doing something anymore. He was just so happy to know his name and to be walking around in this beautiful weather.

It was getting hot out though, and Fizzle was starting to get rather thirsty. He thought longingly of the cool, bubbling creek he had left behind this morning and began to listen closely for any sounds of running water. Although he didn’t hear any running water, Fizzle certainly did hear some strange sounds off in the distance, and they were coming…closer?? Fizzle closed his eyes and strained to make out the noises. It was kind of a clanking….whirring…buzzing sound, and…was that humming? Yes, surely there were two voices humming a catchy tune in unison.

Fizzle’s jaw dropped as he crested the slight hill he was climbing and saw the source of the noise. It was a gigantic machine, painted bright red and gold, lumbering its way down the road. What on earth was that?? He’d never seen anything like it! Upon catching sight of him, the humming stopped and the machine increased its pace towards him. Instinctively, Fizzle edged to the side of the road to let it pass, but the machine instead ground to a halt next to him.

“Why, hello down there! How are you doing on this absolutely gorgeous day my good sir?” Fizzle started as the machine spoke to him.

“Huh? You can talk? What are you? Why are you here??” Fizzle was so shocked by this talking…thing that he began to babble off questions. However, his confusion was soon placated by a unicorn’s face popping over the balcony and looking down questioningly at him.

“Why, of course I can talk, m’boy! Why wouldn’t I? As for this piece of delightful modern engineering, it is the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!! Designed by yours truly, the Flim-Flam brothers!!” As the first unicorn spoke their names another unicorn appeared, this one sporting a mustache, who joined the first in unison.

At that moment, Fizzle looked just like a little filly lost in a foreign country. “You’re the who??”

“The Flim-Flam brothers, m’boy! He’s Flim, I’m Flam, and we’re the world famous Flim-Flam brothers! Surely you’ve heard of us?” The second pony, Flam, questioned.

Fizzle shook his head. “Uhh, no.” The twins looked a little put out at that response but maintained their professionalism.

“Well, that’s fine, we haven’t yet been everywhere in Equestria, after all,” Flim said consolingly, more to Flam than Fizzle.

Flam nodded his consent before turning his attention back to Fizzle. “Well, since you’ve never heard of us I don’t suppose you know what our fabulous invention does, now do you?” Fizzle once again shook his head. “Of course not!” Flam continued. “What our fantastic mode of locomotion does for us is produce the finest apple cider ever to be tasted in all of Equestria!! And all that the machine requires is a little bit of magic, courtesy of yours truly,” Flam said, gesturing to his horn.

At the mention of drink, Fizzle’s attention was suddenly piqued. “Did you say apple cider??”

“He sure did, m’boy, he sure did!!” Flim said excitedly. “Would you like a mug now?” he inquired, innocently holding out a mug of ice cold apple cider.

“Would I ever!!” Fizzle said excitedly, grabbing the mug and gulping it down greedily. Upon finishing, Fizzle let out a contented sigh and made a face of extreme pleasure. “Woooowwwie, that stuff is good!! Could I have another please??” Fizzle asked, handing Flim back the empty mug.

“Well, of course you can lad, just so long as you can pay for it,” Flim said, looking meaningfully at Fizzle. For his part, Fizzle just looked confused again.

“Pay?” he inquired innocently.

Flim glanced nervously at Flam before responding. “Yeees, pay, as in with money.”

“Money?”

Flim and Flam exchanged an exasperated look before Flam spoke up. “Come now boy, surely you know how money works?? Whenever one pony gives a good or service to another pony, that pony returns the favor by giving them some money. You know, shiny gold coins? And then that pony gives money to other ponies for goods and services, and so on and so forth. That’s how modern civilization works, after all. You honestly expect us to believe that you don’t know this??”

Fizzle wasn’t paying attention to their angry glances however, he was deep in thought. “Ohhh, so you’re saying that ponies give each other things that the other pony doesn’t have. I get it!”

“Erm, yes, well I suppose you could think of it like that…” Flim said uncertainly.

“Well, sure! I got all sorts of stuff in my wagon here! Just lemme look around…” Fizzle unhooked himself from his wagon and jumped into it, digging through the piles of stuff. “How about these?” Fizzle asked, tossing the brothers a bag of the yellowish crystals.

Flim and Flam examined the crystals curiously before Flam floated it back to Fizzle. “I’m sorry lad, but we have no idea what those are, and they certainly don’t look particularly valuable or useful. Surely you have some shiny gold coins, don’t you??”

Fizzle looked thoughtful again. “Ohhh, you like shiny things do you? Well, I got some of these shiny rocks,” Fizzle said as he hefted up a pile of glimmering gemstones. Flim and Flam’s jaws dropped at the sight of the weighty pile of gems. This guy has no idea what money is yet is loaded with gemstones?? Before they could even say anything Fizzle was already dumping the pile of stones into their laps. “One glass of apple cider, please!!” Fizzle said, beaming.

Flim and Flam stared some more at the stones before Flim finally managed to stutter out a response. “My good sir, I’m afraid you’ve given us far more than is necessary for…ouch!” Flim was interrupted by a sharp elbow from Flam, and the two of them engaged in a hushed, but very forceful, discussion. Fizzle wasn’t paying attention, but if he was he would have been able to hear snippets of what they were saying.

“…not worth that much…we can’t do that…just good business? Preposterous…at least a barrel…still a good deal for us…” Flim and Flam straightened up and addressed Fizzle after a few moments. “My good sir,” Flim continued, “the amount that you have given us is far more than what two glasses of cider are worth, so we have decided to give you an entire barrel of apple cider for all of these gemstones.”

Now, any pony who’s worth her salt would know that was a ridiculous rip-off, but to Fizzle this was great news. “Really?? An entire barrel? Wow, thank you so much Flim-Flam brothers! I’ll never be thirsty again!!” Fizzle proclaimed excitedly, beaming up at them. Flim and Flam exchanged a sheepish glance before helping Fizzle load a barrel of cider into his wagon, handing him an empty mug as well.

“Well, my good sir, it’s been an absolute pleasure doing business with you. Please do enjoy every last drop of Equestria’s finest cider!!” Flam called as they revved up their machine.

“Thanks so much! I certainly will!! See you around!” Fizzle shouted as they began to drive off.

“Let’s go, Flam! Fabulous Las Pegasus awaits us!!” Flim said, and with that the machine started off again, sputtering and clanking as it went.

“Hey, you two! Hold on a second!” Fizzle called, chasing after them. But Flim and Flam, thinking that the pony had finally caught on to the fact that he’d been ripped off, pretended they couldn’t hear him and continued to drive off. Fizzle eventually stopped running, panting with exertion and looking saddened. “Awww, guess they didn’t want to give me a lift after all. Oh, well.”

Fizzle paused for a moment to think. “Hmm, Las Pegasus they said? That sounds like a cool place. I think I’d like to go there too!” Fizzle said happily, and began to head off at a steady trot in the direction the Flim-Flam brothers were going. He didn’t care that he was backtracking.

Fizzle was just happy to be going somewhere, especially some place he knew the name of. He was happy to be out walking in this beautiful weather.

*****

Fizzle happily trotted along the road with a spring in his step. Despite the fact that Celestia’s sun was now high in the sky and beating down on him with its fierce rays, Fizzle was still enjoying the beautiful weather. Besides, whenever he got thirsty he could just pour himself a delicious glass of apple cider!! “Boy, it sure was nice of those fellas to give me a whole barrel of cider. And to think! All I gave them were a bunch of those dumb rocks!! Hah! Hmm, what was it they called them? Gemstones, was it? Yeah, those! I could find more of those in my sleep!!”

Chuckling to himself over the sweet deal he had just cut, Fizzle continued to follow the road in pursuit of the Flim-Flam brothers, day-dreaming about the wonders of Las Pegasus. Was it big?? Probably. Were there lots of other ponies? Almost certainly. Was there more apple cider?? Maybe not, but if there was he had plenty more gemstones to trade! “Hmm, maybe I should try to find some more before I get there, if I have enough I’ll bet I can get all kinds of stuff!!”

Suddenly, Fizzle came to a stop, confused. In front of him now was nothing but a big forest. The road split to the left and to the right, and there was a sign in the road that read:

Las Pegasus

2 mi

< - -

Baltimare

3 mi

• - >

Fizzle glanced left, looking down the endless road that led off into the horizon. Fizzle glanced right, seeing once again a long and winding path going nowhere fast. Finally he faced forward, considering the mass of dense trees and green shrubbery. “Hmm, this sure doesn’t look like Las Pegasus…at least, it’s not what I imagined.” Fizzle rubbed his chin thoughtfully before making up his mind.

“Enough standing around! If those guys will trade a barrel of cider for some lame rocks out of the kindness of their hearts, then I bet they’d know which direction Las Pegasus is in! I trust them! Forward it is!!” And with that, Fizzle happily skipped off into the woods, expertly navigating his cart through the dense trees as he forged deeper and deeper into the gloom.

*****

Three hours later…

Fizzle groaned tiredly. How long had he been walking? How far had he traveled? Was he there yet? How many times had he been forced to unstrap himself and untangle his cart from a mass of vines or dense bushes? Too many, that was for certain. As for the other questions, Fizzle really had no clue. The trees were so thickly clumped that he couldn’t even see the sun properly. But based on how bright it was, Fizzle estimated that it was sometime in the afternoon, but not quite dinnertime yet.

Speaking of food, Fizzle’s stomach lurched and moaned angrily. Oops. He had been so caught up with getting to Las Pegasus he had forgotten to stop for lunch!! Sure, several glasses of cider had helped but by now he was simply ravenous. Ok, new objective. ‘Las Pegasus can wait, but right now I have to find something to eat!’ Fizzle thought to himself. ‘I’m sure there’s SOMETHING in here that’s edible…’

Oh how wrong he was.

*****

It had been several more hours, and Fizzle had done nothing but continue to stumble blindly forward, deeper into the forest. He was pretty good with directions though, and had held roughly the same course since entering, so surely Las Pegasus wasn’t too far away?? But Las Pegasus was the last thing on the poor pony’s mind. The last few hours had been simply miserable, as his stomach’s protests continued to grow louder and more insistent. “Oh, for pony’s sake!! Isn’t there ANYTHING to eat in this forest!!” Fizzle shouted angrily.

As if in response, Fizzle suddenly caught a hoof on a large tree root and pivoted forward, slamming his face into the ground with an undignified “oof!!” His fall caused his wagon to tip forward, dumping a few items on top of him in a final mocking blow. Fizzle groaned in irritation as he righted himself and proceeded to place the items he had dropped back into his cart. “Stupid tree root… I wouldn’t have tripped if I could have just seen where I was…going??” He stopped in confusion and glanced around.

When did it get so dark? He had been so distracted by his hunger he had failed to notice that the sun was setting. The forest was now getting quite gloomy, with long shadows throwing the ground into a confusing pattern of light and dark, effectively obscuring potential hazards. ‘Oh dear, yet another problem. It’s about to be nighttime, and I’m lost in the woods. With no food. Or shelter. And there might be dangerous creatures.’ Oh boy, it was going to be a looong night.

‘Wait, over there!! What’s that??’ Fizzle hurried forward hopefully, praying to Celestia that what he thought he saw wasn’t an illusion brought on by the lengthening shadows. But sure enough, Fizzle exited the thick trees to find himself in a small, grassy clearing, large enough to hold him and his wagon very comfortably. “Well, I guess I’ll be spending the night here…” Fizzle said uncertainly, glancing around before beginning to set up camp, all the while trying to ignore the gnawing hunger in his gullet.

About two hours later, Fizzle wiped the sweat from his forehead and examined his work with a grin. The first thing he had done was dig a small pit and line it with some stones he had found a little ways away. Next he had collected a bunch of small sticks, some bark, and other dry plant matter and started a fire. He wasn’t really sure how he knew it would work, but he had simply smeared some of the black powder he found in the mountains on a pair of sticks and rubbed them together briskly. The whole setup was blazing in seconds!

Once he could see, and also had something to ward off potential predators, Fizzle had taken up his hatchet and chopped down a couple of trees, hacking them into rough boards like he had before. He built himself a small structure in the clearing, more reminiscent of a dog house than anything else, and stored most of his stuff in it. Placing a final board in front of his things to shield them from unfriendly eyes, Fizzle finally overturned his wagon and crawled under it, taking shelter there along with his precious barrel of cider and pile of “gemstones,” as he was calling them now.

With the fire dying down and his body aching from exertion and hunger, Fizzle quickly dozed off, hoping desperately he could find some food in the morning.

*****

Fizzle awoke after a fitful sleep. He groaned and began to stretch out his limbs, but as they touched the walls of his wagon he suddenly remembered where he had slept last night. He was also immediately reminded of the gnawing, ravenous hunger that seemed to be even worse than it had been last night, and had woken him up several times. In general, it had made last night the most miserable night in Fizzle’s recent memory.

Deciding that his hunger finally outweighed his exhaustion, Fizzle crawled out from under the wagon to find that the sun was just beginning to rise, its pale gray light slowly filtering through the light cloud cover above. Fizzle looked around his camp, making sure everything was in order. The firepit held a small pile of blackened matter that had long since ceased to smolder. His little shack was intact, and as far as Fizzle could tell everything that he had stored in it still seemed to be there.

Fizzle began to ponder which direction he should head in search of food, before remembering that he had marked the tree that he had walked past upon initially entering the clearing. It had been a quick, simple movement, and he couldn’t really explain what exactly had driven him to do it, but he was thankful now. He located the mark quickly and prepared to pack up and head in the opposite direction before something on the ground caught his attention.

The dirt around his hooves was disturbed by a series of marks and grooves. He could easily distinguish his own hoofmarks and the ruts made by his wagon’s wheels, but there was also a multitude of…rabbit tracks?? And they were all headed in the same direction?? Fizzle was no tracker or woodlands expert, but a collection of animal tracks all leading in the same direction could only mean one thing…food!!

His stomach growling hungrily, Fizzle quickly set out after the tracks, deciding he would return to his things after eating. He had to get there soon, before it was all eaten! Besides, his stuff would be safe. Who in their right mind would be out here in these woods at this time of day?? Oh right, him. Ignoring that little detail, Fizzle continued his tracking, marking trees in his path just in case.

The tracks continued for a good ten minutes before Fizzle began to get the notion that the trees were starting to thin out. Could it be?? The edge of the forest, and beyond that… FOOD?? As Fizzle walked past the final tree of the forest’s edge, he glanced around…and his jaw dropped nearly to the ground.

Standing on the edge of an enormous field, Fizzle’s eyes took in the absolutely magnificent sight…of APPLE TREES. He gawked at the sheer number of trees that lay before him, planted in neat little rows and extending as far as he could see. He’d never seen so many apple trees before in his life!!

Fizzle stood and gaped a few seconds longer before his stomach violently wrenched him back into reality, reminding him that a had a VERY important job to attend to. “FFFOOOOODDD!!!” Fizzle screamed at the top of his lungs as he barreled, flat out, towards the nearest tree. Although he’d never properly bucked a tree before, instinct took over as he firmly planted his front hooves on the ground, twisted his body around, and slammed his back hooves into the tree trunk with a very satisfying *CRACK*.

His efforts were rewarded by a collection of bright red apples detaching themselves from the tree and falling daintily to the ground. Wasting not a moment more, Fizzle scooped up every apple he could find and crunched it down greedily. After consuming an entire tree’s worth of fruit, Fizzle lay on his back, reveling in the wonders of a full stomach. “Aaaahh…finally, a decent meal,” he commented happily to himself, letting out a soft burp of contentment.

After enjoying the lovely sensation of fullness for a few moments more, Fizzle stood up and decided to collect a few more apples to take back to camp with him. Bucking two more trees, Fizzle scooped up all the fruit he could carry in his forelegs and headed back into the forest. No sooner had he disappeared then another pony entered the scene, and a disembodied voice could be heard floating across the fields.

“Now don’ y’all be ignorin’ me fer TOO long out there, honeybunch! Yer mid-day brunch be a-waitin’ fer ya RIGHT NOW!!” a female voice sounded out. The new pony called out in a gruff response.

“I hear ya, sugercube! Just lemme finish harvestin’ this here last row o’ trees and ah’ll be over inna jiffy!” The pony in question was an earth pony like Fizzle, but of a considerably stockier build hardened by many years of physical labor. He had a light cream-colored coat, bleached bright by the many hours of sunlight it had seen. His mane and tail were dark brown, but there were a few gray hairs starting to show. Indeed, his mustache was already entirely dark gray. The pony wore a large straw hat and had a hoe slung over his shoulder, the end gleaming in the sun next to his plain cutie mark of a halved green apple. His bright green eyes studied the trees in question with an approving eye before widening in surprise.

“Honey! Somepony’s been bucking our trees! Git a hold of the sheriff, we’ve been robbed!!”

*****

Fizzle’s Clearing; two days later…

If anypony had been around to see the clearing before Fizzle arrived, they would have hardly recognized it now. Fizzle had been busy. With his trusty hatchet, he had cleared several trees on the perimeter of the clearing, and used the wood to build himself an actual house. Him! With a house! Well, a house by his standards. Yet again, any professional craftsponies within ten miles would be feeling a most troubling disturbance in the force right about now.

Fizzle stood nearby, marveling at his creation. It wasn’t much, but it had a main room, a bedroom, and most importantly a roof that didn’t LEAK. As miserable as his first night had been, when it rained all through the second night it was even worse. Sleeping in the rain was definitely no fun. So far, his bed consisted of a few leaves, grasses, and mosses that he found in the woods. Altogether, they made quite the soft and comfortable surface to sleep on. His main room was pretty much a kitchen now, although it was pretty pathetic by kitchen standards. Basically, its only purpose right now was to store his apples. Which were running quite low.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll have these last two for breakfast and then head out for more!” Fizzle said happily. Although, it would be nice if he could find something besides apples out here, and Celestia knows he had tried. Fizzle had struck out from camp in every direction imaginable, traveling for an hour or so and marking the trees in his path before heading back. But no matter which direction he tried, only the one that led to the apple fields went anywhere besides deeper into the forest. At this point, he was really truly lost.

Resigning himself to that fact, Fizzle temporarily gave up his quest for Las Pegasus and proceeded to build himself a shelter in the clearing. After all, this was the way to Las Pegasus wasn’t it? Eventually somepony would come along and tell him which way he needed to go. But until that moment arrived, he intended to stay right here. At least he wouldn’t starve now.

Grabbing a few baskets woven from grass and twigs, Fizzle headed out to the fields to collect more apples.

*****

The farming pony was beside himself in anger. Three times in one week!! THREE!! In the thirty-odd years he could remember working his apple farm, just like any hard-working Apple family member (even if he was a few times removed), he had never been stolen from!! Ever! The pony paced around his living room, muttering angrily to himself and gnashing his teeth around his pipe. “Dear, please jest calm down fer a spell, all this pacin’ and stewin’ ain’t good fer ya health.”

The farmer’s wife, a lavender-colored pony with a curly purple mane, silver eyes, and a simple flower cutie mark sat in an armchair, doing some knitting. Her eyes followed her husband’s eyes with concern, and she spoke up again. “Honey, think rational-like fer a moment. We’ve ALWAYS lived right next door ta that big ol’ forest, an’ it’s jest natural fer a few woodland critters ta sneak on over an’ grab a bite ta eat. Ain’t nothin’ ta get yer tail in a knot fer.”

“Dearest, ah already TOLD ya. Them tree trunks had hoofmarks all over ‘em! Saw ‘em with mah own eyes!”

“Ah KNOW that dear, but ah too looked at ‘em mahself! Them marks were jest the same size as yer own hooves! Now ah know that yer all riled up ‘n all, but jest have some sense! We ain’t ever been robbed by nopony afore, and ah doubt it would start now fer no good reason. Seriously hun, ah think yer a few too many years down the road ta be makin’ wild accusations like so.”

The farmer pony lifted an eyebrow in amusement at his wife. “That so, eh? Well, by my great-grandaddy’s…” his speech trailed off into jumbled muttering as he resumed his pacing, his wife relaxing after seeing him smile a bit. Suddenly, he spoke up. “Honey, what day did the first o’ them apples disappear?”

His wife’s face scrunched up in thought. “Ehhh, let’s see here…’twas a Monday weren’t it?”

“So it was, so it was…” More pacing. “An’ then another batch went missing on Thursday dinnit?”

“Ah reckon so. Dear, whatever are you gettin’ at?”

More muttering. Another loop around the rug. “An’ then this fine Sunday mornin’ a few more trees are stripped bare. Now ah ain’t no scientist or nuttin’, but even ah kin see that we’ve been a few apples short of a bushel every three days this week! Hehe, so ta speak.” His wife chuckled at his joke. “Now dear, don’t ya find it jest a tad ODD that a handful o’ woodland varmints be takin’ our apples on a regular schedule?? It’s jest too strange!!”

His wife looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. “Well, ah s’pose it’s rather odd ‘n all, but ah still think it’s jest a coincidence. Ah think ya need ta…”

“No!” he cut in. “No more waitin’! Come this Wednesday morn, ah’ll be up at the crack o’ dawn, git out in them fields, an’ try ‘n catch whatever’s responsible firsthoof! An’ then ah’ll beat the livin’ tar out o’ whatever comes walkin’ out o’ them woods!”

His wife looked at him, alarmed. “Dear! Please DO refrain from such brutish ways! It ain’t right ta go ‘bout walloping ponies ‘n whatnot. If this really DOES turn out ta be somepony, ah trust that y’all will go about handlin’ the situation with grace.”

Her husband looked chagrined. “Oh, yer right dearest. O’ course yer right. Ah promise ah won’t harm nopony…but ah’m still gonna give ‘em a piece o’ mah mind!”

“We both will, ah reckon.”

*****

It was the morning of the third day since he had last gone to that wonderful apple field. Yup, that’s how Fizzle was keeping track of time now. He could hold about two trees’ worth of fruit in his baskets and that was enough to last him for the rest of that day and the next two as well, so every third morning he returned to collect more fruit.

At first he had been slightly surprised to find that some of the fruit was disappearing between his visits, but that was only natural he supposed. After all, those rabbits and squirrels that led him to the field in the first place had to eat too, didn’t they? Of course they did. Mystery solved.

But boy was Fizzle getting sick of apples. Despite his repeated attempts to find other sources of food, he was simply out of luck no matter what he tried. This was starting to get hopeless!! Seriously, when is somepony going to show up heading for Las Pegasus?? It sounds like such an awesome place, how could nopony want to go there right now? Fizzle didn’t have the answers to these questions, and it grated on him more and more with every passing day.

Huffing in frustration, Fizzle grabbed his trusty baskets and headed off. Without hardly thinking, Fizzle’s hooves found the path that he knew would lead him to the field and he trotted off. By now, he was so familiar with the route he could probably walk it in the pitch-black darkness that came with nighttime.

Emerging from the trees, Fizzle couldn’t help but stare in wonder again at just how many apple trees there were here. It was really quite a sight, but Fizzle’s stomach soon reminded him of his true reason for being here and he doggedly headed off towards a grove of unharvested trees. He’d been having to travel farther and farther from his point of entry to get good fruit, but Fizzle really didn’t mind. Besides, maybe he should explore this area? So far it’s the only place he’d found that wasn’t just endless forest for miles and miles. Perhaps there’s something of interest nearby?

Soon after Fizzle decided that yes, he was certainly going to do a bit of exploring next time he came by, he was startled by a loud angry voice:

“Ah-HAH!! Ah’ve got yer now, ya no-good thievin’ varmint!!”