Everfree Village

Lodestone flew easily with his powerful grey wings as he slowly circled the forest. His orders had been clear: scout the Everfree Forest and determine it's use for a new mining facility. He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "Idiots..."

Flim and Flam knew perfectly well he didn't know the first thing about mining, nevermind prospecting. Why in Equestria they would send him - and only him - he had been trying to figure out since he boarded the train to Ponyville.

He turned his head left and right, searching for... well, rocks, he guessed. Unfortunately he was surrounded by nothing but an endless sea of solid green treetops too thick to even see branches, much less the ground. He'd been hoping to find a cliff with exposed rock layers or something, or failing that, at least a clearing, but he was forced to admit there was nothing to be gained from looking at leaves up here.

With a small resigned sigh, he glided to the nearest edge of the forest and attempted to push his way through the thick canopy to the ground below. Eventually, having finally wrestled through the thickest part of the canopy, Lodestone weaved methodically down and landed solidly on all four hooves.

It would have been an impressive sight if his long, sky blue mane hadn't plopped down across his face.

He snorted and shook his head but some of the hair was sticking to the light sweat across his muzzle and he was forced to wipe it away with a hoof.

Only then did he notice the small mare watching him nervously from between two nearby trees.

Surprised, his ears folded down and he almost stepped back, but he regained his composure quickly and took a cautious step forward, speaking softly.

"Hey, sorry... hope I didn't scare you."

"Pffft!" she blew a raspberry. "Hope I didn't scare you!"

Something about that seemed to tickle her funny bone and she laughed. If there was an extra edge of relief in her chuckling, that couldn't be held against her, could it?

Despite her intentions of running away and the lingering anger from last night's row, the mare was happy to see another pony. She came forward and held out a hoof.

"Granite. Um, what are you doing here exactly?"

Too late she realized her folks might have hired this pegasus to look for her and drag her back. She dug her hind legs into the soft ground and tensed up, ready to bolt if he should make a grab for her.

The pegasus looked relaxed, but a careful eye might have noticed the subtle shift of his weight and the way his gaze scoured the small earth pony as she approached. The odds of there just happening to be another pony right where he touched down made him more suspicious than he let on. His official job title might have been Sky Crane, but unofficially he was effectively the security escort as well.

And yet... all seemed well. As far as his watchful eye could see, this really was just an ordinary pony. She wasn't even armed. He relaxed marginally and gave her a small smile.

"I'm just here for a job, checking out a possible dig site. You're the little mare all alone in a dangerous forest. What are you doing here exactly?"

He was fairly sure there was no danger here, but he kept his wings loose, ready to spring out in an instant... just in case.

Her ears went down with an almost audible flop and Granite suddenly couldn't hold the stallion's gaze. "Um..." she said, tracing a line in the dirt with a hoof.

"You're not here to take me back, are you?"

He had said he's here for a different purpose, but having run away, the mare was very frightened of being forced to go back. She would never be let out of her parents' watchful gaze again!

Something he said made her slightly hopeful, though and it overruled her fear. "Job? I wanna job!"

He had said 'dig site'. Even though her cutie mark didn't quite show it - the image was a simple spiral - Granite was very interested. Stones and rocks appealed to her. She liked their quiet, solid company. "I can dig. Do you think you could use another digger?!"

Lodestone chuckled and raised a foreleg as if to shield himself from a blow.

"Whoa girl, slow down!"

Still grinning, he moved his raised hoof to his muzzle thoughtfully.

"Let's see... take you back? Well if you're lost I'm sure I can help you get home, but from the way you said it I'm guessing that wouldn't be your first choice, would it?"

The pony shook her head emphatically. "No, sir! No way I wanna go back!"

Under her breath she added: "Even if I am lost..." but it wasn't quite low enough and Lodestone would easily hear it.

Wandering around on her own suddenly didn't appeal to Granite, not when she'd gotten the idea of a job lodged in her mind. She sprang up to her hooves and pranced a little in place. "I'll help! I know digging and I know rocks. What are you looking for? Then maybe you can give me a job?"

She was under the impression that Lodestone was in charge of the operation and was going all-out to prove her worth to him. "I can pull my weight! I used to work on a farm!"

His smile faded as he spoke quietly, hoof still held to his muzzle.

"Lost, don't want to go home, and awfully eager for a job..."

He set his hoof down and leaned in close to look her in the eye. He was careful to keep his expression from looking too serious - he didn't want to scare her off, after all.

"I'm not going to have to deal with some kind of search team looking for you, am I?"

"Umm..." Granite said doubtfully. The ears went down again and she blushed heavily.

"No?"

It wasn't so much a statement as wishful thinking. "They won't care!" she explained, trying to convince herself more than Lodestone. "They never cared before."

She remembered something and brightened up. "Besides, I'm old enough! I can go off on my own if I want!"

He sat down in front of her and tilted his head, a wry smile across his face.

"And how were you planning on handling the Cockatrices alone? How about the Chimera? The Timberwolves? Bears? Hay, even the Poison Joke?"

The news made the mare's face fall a little, but she rallied quickly. "Well.. yes, if you must know!" she bluffed.

It was painfully obvious she didn't have a clue what was further in the Everfree, nor any idea how to deal with it. The mare knew it too.

"I can run real fast! And- and..."

Granite cast around for another idea, then grinned fiercely when she got it. She lifted her rear up in the air and kicked with all her might, even if she didn't hit anything. "I can buck!"

The pony glared defiance at her new friend. "They said it's useless for farming corn, but I practiced anyway!"

The pegasus watched her antics with an amused expression, then feigned surprise in response to her intense stare.

"Impressive! Well now, don't let me hold you back, I'll just get back to work and leave you to your exploring."

With slow, deliberate movements, he stood up, spread his wings wide, and looked up toward the... well, what bits of sky were peeking through the thick canopy overhead.

"Wait!" Granite yelled out and tried to grab on to the pony before he could take off.

"Take me with you!"

She gave him her best pleading look and tried to come up with a bargain. "All I want is a chance, okay? I'll help you look for a dig, no charge. Just- lemme show you what I got before you decide! I want a job!"

Granite intensified her begging expression, but it just made her go cross-eyed.

He looked down at the pony practically hanging from his neck.

She was cute and if he was completely honest, he was eager for any help, but he couldn't just welcome the first mare with a pretty smile that came along.

"Alright, do you even know anything about rocks?"

Lodestone knew almost nothing himself of course, but over the years he had picked up some jargon, so he rattled it off with the assumption that a young, runaway farm pony would know even less.

"Can you find me an igneous extrusion or a tectonic plate? How about a sedimentary formation or a silica butte?"

Granite let the pegasus go and sat back on her haunches with a smug smile. "You, sir, know next to nothing about mining!" She pointed out. She giggled as she repeated the list silently to herself, then shook her head.

"Some of those make no sense and the rest you won't find until the Ramblies beyond Everfree. Maybe you'll get some ferrous stuff around here, but if you want igneous you'd better try south to the mountains of Appleloosa. That's Diamond Dog territory, but you probably know that."

The mare stayed on her haunches, with her forelegs crossed and an expectant expression on her muzzle.

Lodestone's ears started to swivel back, his eyebrows raised, and his tail lashed just once before he caught himself and forced himself to relax and smile.

"Ah... yes, good, you know the basics at least. Most everypony I ask just uh... just starts trying to point stuff out, not even realizing most of that was gibberish."

He stood and turned toward the center of the forest.

"Come along, then. You'll have to do better than that if you want to impress Flim and Flam."

As he began to walk, he looked back over his shoulder at the little mare, flicking his tail just a bit more than a friendly wave.

"Name's Lodestone, by the way."

"Oh! Nice to meet you," Granite said pleasantly now that she had passed his test. The smugness was instantly gone and she quickly fell in step with the stallion. "I'm Granite. I guess that makes sense, huh?"

She chuckled at her own weak joke.

"Flim and Flam? Never heard of them. What do they want around here?" If the mare was disappointed she wasn't speaking with the boss of the operation, she didn't show it. She also chose to ignore the comment about 'doing better'. She was sure she could impress anyone at all.

"Um, which way are we going?"

Granite knew the geography of the area, but only on maps. Now that she was actually in the forest, her sense of direction was essentially nonexistent.

His ears twitched awkwardly as he considered the question.

"Actually, I don't really have a specific location in mind. Can't see a damn thing through the leaves above..."

As the cow-patched pony caught up, he gave her a thoughtful glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you show me what you know and find me something useful?"

Granite just rolled her eyes. "What did you have in mind? A bakery? Pub?" It wasn't very funny, but it still made her giggle.

"Okay, a mine. A mine. There should be one around here. Or maybe..." The mare smiled widely. "Let's head south! There's better ground that way. Not as soggy. That is, if you know which way is south..."

Despite the jab, the pony went and examined a nearby tree. "Uh, moss always points north, right?"

The only problem was that the trunk was green all around. "Fat load of good that does us," Granite murmured to herself. Then she inspected the tree canopy above them.

"Can't you like fly up there and look around? Maybe you'll see which way..."

"Uh..." He looked around uncertainly, "I thought we were already on the southern end?"

He slowed to a halt and concentrated.

"I'm pretty sure I came down on the far side of from Ponyville, and that's due north of the the Everfree..."

Suddenly, he chuckled gently and shook his head, "Ah, what am I thinking. Just look at the sun rays!"

He looked up and pointed with a wing. The canopy was thick but no amount of leaves can block all the sunlight. Thin rays of sunlight shone through tiny gaps in the green, angled to their left.

"They're angled to the left, so that way," he pointed his wing to the right, "Would be east."

His ears drooped when he realized he was pointing straight back the way they came, toward the edge of the forest.

"Can't you fly?" Granite asked. "I thought you guys could fly. The wings, you know?"

She shrugged a little to herself, then inspected the patches of light on the ground. "So, south would be, um, that way?"

Her hoof pointed more or less correctly. "Once we get out of the swamp and to drier land we should start seeing some interesting minerals. Much easier to dig, too."

The mare set off, radiating confidence. "Come on, it's this way. I think the ground is sloping up."

Rather than follow behind, Lodestone trotted up beside her to avoid the distracting view... Sweet Celestia it's been too long since he had a mare. Flim and Flam had been taking far too much of his time the past couple of years!

He berated himself silently and brought his focus back to the present. He turned to look at Granite, his expression earnest, but his eyes were dancing merrily.

"What, fly? Me? Oh no, I was just climbing a tree earlier and fell! Darndest thing how I just happened to land on all four hooves like that."

"Must have some cat in your ancestry," Granite replied smoothly. It made her giggle again, but she didn't stop walking until they came to some thick undergrowth.

It was a forest and they weren't on any official path, so of course the plant life was thick and nearly impenetrable. "Here, let me get that," the pony said helpfully. She easily pushed through the thick foliage, snapping several sturdy-looking vines with ease. Her passage left a little tunnel.

She concentrated on walking for a while, but then stopped so suddenly the stallion would nearly walk into her. "We're not near any villages, are we? There's nothing this way until Appleloosa, right? Hmm..."

She didn't explain any further.

Lodestone was a bit taken aback by the question, "Uh...I don't think so? The Castle of the Two Sisters is somewhere over this way, but it should be quite a ways off still. Why do you..."

But then he caught it too: a faint whiff of smoke. Not that of a raging wildfire, but a cozy smoke, like from a warm hearth and cooking pot.

"Wait a sec... that's smoke, isn't it? But... good smoke. It smells like lunch." As if on cue, his stomach growled faintly.

"Campers?" Granite offered a suggestion. "Who would go this far into Everfree?"

She shrugged a little and angled herself towards where she believed it was coming from. "This way. Let's go check it out!"

In moments she was pushing through brambles again. Maybe she should have shown more caution, but given her experiences in the forest so far, Granite was feeling optimistic about meeting new people.

The pegasus hurried to intercept the little mare, thrusting a wing out in front of her, then leaned forward to murmur in her ear.

"Don't go rushing off, especially deeper into the forest. There's a lot of dangerous stuff here and most of it isn't even understood. We need to be careful."

He glanced meaningfully at her hooves resting on the next vine to break, "And quiet."

"Oh!"

The young pony blushed a bit at both the contact and admonition. "Okay!" This time it was a whisper.

She stepped away and allowed the stallion to proceed ahead of her. "I'll follow your lead. Who do you think it is? It's gotta be ponies, right? Dragons don't come this far and no other creature uses fire..."

It went to show just how little she knew about the world - other than the rocky bits.

He stepped carefully around the mare in the cramped space, looking troubled.

"I'm not sure... I suppose it could be ponies, but if so, I don't think they're from Ponyville."

With slow, deliberate movements, he began carefully bending the foliage aside, speaking softly as he worked.

"The Mayor assured me nopony comes out here except for a Zebra who lives near the northern edge and what few visitors she gets."

He held a foreleg up, holding a space open for Granite, "Looks like it thins out just past this bramble bush. Scoot through here, I'll be right behind you. Go slow and watch your hooves - avoid the branches and pine cones."

It was all well and good for Lodestone to say it, but of course Granite immediately trod on a branch, causing an audible crack. "Sorry!" she whispered.

Her next hoofstep was better as the mare carefully inspected the ground. There was barely even a rustle as she made her slow way through the thicket.

Once through, she stopped and waited for the pegasus to join her and tried to spot whoever was cooking. A small gasp escaped her. "Are there any other ruins round here? I think that's a wall!"

It was thinner past the brambles, but not by much. When Lodestone finally wiggled into place beside her, he immediately saw what she meant: a tall stone wall was up ahead, stretching to either side as far as he could see. It was well made, but seemed to be in disrepair - he thought he could see dozens of thin cracks curving and weaving all over the stone structure.

He turned to Granite and smiled reassuringly, "Looks like the wall is full of cracks, which means it's probably very old and not used anymore. I bet some traveling ponies just took up a temporary shelter here."

"Y-Yeah," the mare agreed, happy that there was someone to reassure her. Almost without realizing it, she stepped closer until her flank was brushing Lodestone's. "Maybe we should go around it?"

She looked to the left and right, but it was impossible to tell how far the wall stretched in either direction. "Which way?"

Lodestone shrugged his shoulders and looked out a little further, most of his head and neck now sticking out of the undergrowth.

Something twitched in the corner of his vision and his gut clenched suddenly. Without waiting to find out why, he sucked his head back through the bush as quickly and quietly as he could manage, raising a feather to his lips in a shushing motion. His ears perked up and swiveled nervously.

Seeing the motion was enough to shut Granite up. She followed his lead and listened intently for a while.

"I don't-" she began, but shut up when she caught Lodestone's look. "Sorry!"

The longer the wait went on, the more nervous the mare became, shuffling her hooves and swishing her tail like crazy.

At last, when she couldn't take it any more, Granite leaned forward to try and ease the branches apart so she could see.

His sky blue mane would stick out like a sore frog against the dark green and brown of the forest, but her mottled hide and dark grey mane would help her stay hidden... if only she could sit still. So, rather than try to stop her from leaning forward, he laid a firm hoof on her foreleg and wrapped her tail in his. He blushed slightly at the intimate contact, but he trusted his gut. If there was a real threat out there, neither of them could afford to be shy.

As she looked back at him, he whispered, "Go ahead, look, but for Luna's sake stop rustling!"

Granite twirled around at the unexpected touches, ironically causing yet more rustling. She watched the very forward stallion with big, curious eyes, but then matched his pink muzzle.

"Oh! Sorry!" she whispered back.

A thought seemed to strike her. "Hey - what exactly are we afraid of? We haven't seen anyp-pony yet..."

She sniffed the air once more. "It's just some wood smoke and, uh, bread?" It wasn't quite bread like she was used to, but it was definitely something baked. "And..." this next smell was causing her some issue. "Um... I dunno what that is..."

The ponies wouldn't be used to the smell of roasting meat.

Shaking his head, he spoke quietly, "I'm not sure, but my gut says there's something strange here, and I've been night watch too many times to ignore a gut feeling like that."

He nosed toward the small opening in the bushes, "Go ahead. You're a lot better camouflaged than me." He brushed aside a bright strand of hair with his wing to emphasize his point.

Her bravado was gone and any potential feelings at being touched as well. The mare gulped and placed a nervous hoof. She looked around and swiveled her ears madly, but couldn't catch anything out of the ordinary.

That seemed to encourage the pony and Granite made her cautious way out of the bush.

A strange whistling sound cut through the silence as the pony stepped out of the bush. It sounded as if it were coming from the forest behind the pair. Not long after, the pair would hear the sound of something following the path they came in. Whatever it was, it was big and it was not alone.

"RUN!" Granite yelled, already half-panicked. She jumped partially back into the bush to grab the stallion, then tried to pull him out and get him to follow.

She didn't know which way to go, so she picked left at random and galloped as fast as she could.

A few dozen steps farther she slowed to look behind and see if Lodestone was following her.

At the same instant, Lodestone tried to silently grab the mare and hunker down to listen. He flinched as she screamed in his face, then swore when she bolted.

He launched out of the bush after her, his wings giving him extra thrust as he galloped to catch up with her. He might be slow in the air but he's no slouch on his hooves!

"Wait! Granite!" He shouted, already knowing it was futile - her panic wouldn't allow her to slow now. If he could just get his hooves around her, he could easily fly them up and away, but nopony runs quite like a panicked filly, and it was precious seconds before he reached her. He pumped his wings powerfully and leaped through the air, reaching toward her with both forelegs.

Coming from the brush behind them was a dire wolf. It didn’t struggle with the vines like the Pegasus, it just ripped through them like they were thin string. Though the ponies had a lead, dire wolves were notoriously fast, vicious, and cunning creatures. The beasts fangs were like knives and its body was a mass of muscle made for the sole purpose of hunting. With its teeth bared, it raced towards the pair. It didn’t run straight at them though, instead it ran to cut them off and guide them towards the wall so their escape options would be minimized.

Poor Granite took one look and yelled even louder. Had she been capable of thought, she'd have let Lodestone catch her and pull her up into the air, but as it was the mare just bolted even faster away from the creature. The fact that she was letting herself get caught didn't seem to register at that point.

It wasn't long before she was running right alongside the wall, desperately looking for an opening and completely ignoring Lodestone.

The mare lurched suddenly to the side and his hooves closed on nothing. "Blackened body of Night, Granite!" He swore, flaring his wings to get his hooves back on the ground. He briefly considered spinning around to face the beast behind him, but he knew wolves rarely hunted alone and didn't want to lose sight of Granite, lest she find the wolf's friends by herself.

His hooves pounded into the grass as he tried desperately to catch up to her again, but she clung to the wall like it was the only thing keeping her alive, too close for him to spread his wings. He pressed forward, trying to shove his body between her and the stone wall, and some distant part of his brain realized the stones were not cracked, but rather etched with an intricate swirling pattern of deep grooves.

Up ahead of them a creature stepped out of a large opening in the wall. It stood tall, similar to a Minotaur, but in their panic they wouldn’t have time to examine the being. In its hand was a spear of sorts, though shorter than what typical guard ponies used. Lifting the spear above shoulder height, it hurled the thing in the direction of the ponies and the the wolf. The spear made a sickening sound as it buried itself in the head of the massive predator, forcing it to fall and slide through the grass. Just like that, the beast was dead, but now the ponies would have some new, unknown creature to deal with.

The imposing sight didn't seem to make much difference. Granite scrabbled on the ground to try and stop in a hurry, unfortunately placing herself right in Lodestone's path. On top of that, she tripped and rolled to a stop.

"NO NO NO," she whimpered as she tried to scramble up to her hooves, "WHAT IS THAT? WHAT IS THAT?!"

She wasn't having much luck with her footing, partially because her legs were twitching randomly and partially because she was still panicking. Her chest was heaving as the mare panted.

The dash hadn't been overly long, but the fright had taken more out of Granite than simple galloping.

Lodestone's wings sprang out instinctively as he strained to stop before he barreled right over the cowering mess of a mare. One wing smacked the wall and he felt a sharp pain, dulled significantly by the adrenaline coursing through him. His hooves skidded, then he hopped slightly, landing solidly to stand over Granite protectively.

Rising to his full height, he tried to look as threatening as possible, "S-Stay right there!" He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. What kind of monster was that? "Don't come any closer! I'm w-warning you!"

He drew a dagger from his hip, though made no effort to close the distance between them. Now that the two had a chance to look at him, they would see he was definitely not a Minotaur. He was clad in some kind of tan, thick material, almost like the hide of an animal. His face was flat in comparison to a pony’s and he wore two scars that ran diagonally from the middle of his forehead, over his right eye, down down to his jaw. His brown hair was trimmed short and he had a thin beard that looked well kept. His eyes, dark green in color, stared down at the two intensely.

“It’s the first time a beast from the forest has spoke--“

He was cut off as two more humans, armed with their own spears, came out of the brush nearby. They, unlike the man before the ponies, were sweating and looked as if they had been running.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Granite started panting faster. She was in danger of passing out from sheer fright, but at least she had enough sense to crawl in Lodestone's shadow. Her hooves sought out anything to grab and she ended up clinging to one of his legs.

"What are we gonna do! They have us surrounded!" the poor pony whimpered.

It had only been a matter of time and now the waterworks opened fully. For a moment it would sound like a cow moo-ing, but the noise quickly changed into loud bawling.

"I wa-wanna go hoooooome!"

The monsters behind started to approach, the pointed tips of their spears held out to try and box them in, hold them down. Lodestone almost laughed. Trap a pegasus? Please!

With a small hop, he twirled around to face the new threat and crouched, bracing his hindlegs against the base of the wall as if he would spring at his attackers. Instead, his forehooves snapped together under Granite's trembling frame and he thrust himself into the air with all his might. He spread his wings wide and...

His right side exploded in pain as the hairline fracture in his wing suddenly buckled under the strain of flight. He felt a dull thump and tasted dirt. His hooves flopped helplessly as he struggled against the darkness creeping into his vision.

The strange creatures wasted no time.

“Make yourselves useful and get these two tied up. Get them inside and lock them up for now.”

The man with the dagger kept it pointed at the pair, in case they tried something. At the very least, he didn’t threaten to harm them. Before they could get too close though, he stepped towards the closest of the pair.

“And we’ll talk about your failure later, in front of our beast master.”

By now Granite was holding the pegasus so tightly he was in danger of passing out from no oxygen. It probably didn't help how she landed on top of him when they fell, but at least she had enough presence of mind not to step on his wings.

"Please get us out of here! Please! I was joking when I said you couldn't fly, I'm sorry!"

The pony sniffled a little, but maybe the fact that they wouldn't be murdered outright was helping. She looked at their assailants and shrank back, trying to make herself as small as possible.

As a last-ditch effort, she tried begging: "Please don't hurt us! We didn't mean to come here!" Granite didn't know what exactly their offense had been, so she tried guessing. "I'm sorry I trampled your bushes! Just let us go, we won't come back ever, I swear!"

The adrenaline was rapidly clearing Lodestone's mind, but he couldn't quite make sense of what anypony was saying. "Concussion," a small part of him thought. On top of that, lack of oxygen was beginning to take effect now, as nothing makes a pegasus winded faster than wing-galloping except a crash, and he had just done both.

Still, his sides heaved against the earth pony's stiff limbs as he struggled to roll over his left side and onto his hooves. His right wing hung limply at his side but he slowly sat up on his haunches and glared at his attackers.

"Don't... hurt her... Have to... go through me..." His jaw felt clumsy and his tongue felt thick and stupid.

“They talk!”

One of the men stopped in shock at this, but the one that “saved” the ponies stepped forward.

“It doesn’t matter! Bind them and take them inside! The longer we wait, the more we risk another monstrosity coming at us! Just get them inside and we will take them to the shaman later!”

His words seemed to get the men in action. The stallion was easy to take care of, since he was already on the verge of being unconscious. While one man held him, the other tied his legs close together with some makeshift rope made from the vines in the forest. The “leader,” or what seemed like the leader, made sure the cow-like mare didn’t run away before the men could get to her. Like her friend, her legs would be tied so she couldn’t run without having to snap the rope, but she could walk, albeit wherever the men decided. Once they had finished, they handed the leash portion of the rope to the leader.

“You two take the wolf in to be skinned. I’ll take these two... creatures and make sure they are not touched till the shaman returns.”

With a weird salute, they grabbed the slain beast and began hauling it through the makeshift gate of the wall.

The handling, together with the word 'skinned' proved too much for Granite and she fainted with a quiet sigh.

Lodestone struggled weakly against the monsters, but one of them tried to close his injured wing so it could be bound against his side. His world was filled with pain, then darkness.