Chapter 2
Will's Quest

Tug woke up from unconsciousness for the second time that day, which was most likely not the best for him. He looked around at his surroundings to find that they were completely different from when he had fallen unconscious. Strange, he wondered what had caused him to pass out, it wasn’t the purple pony, Twilight, yes that was her name. No, he remembered a sudden cyan form colliding with him, what ever it was.

Tug got up from his bed and got a full understanding of where he was. He was in a wooden room, but it was not made of planks, like Will’s cabin was, it seemed to be that the room was a carved out tree. He didn’t think that this was even possible, let alone a tree that was this wide existed.

As he walked to the doorway, he saw his reflection on a shiny rectangle hung on the wall. As he investigated, he realized that this was a mirror, something that only barons and silversmiths could afford. So this meant that he was either in the home of a baron or a skilled artisan. He walked out the doorway to see Twilight scolding another pony, but this one was cyan, the same one that had hit him.

“I would really like to know why the blue one hit me, if you don’t mind” said Tug aloud, startling both of the ponies.

“Tug! I didn’t hear you get up, I was just telling Rainbow Dash who you were and that you weren’t trying to kill me.” Said Twilight with an annoyed glare at the blue pony, he assumed that this was Rainbow Dash. The name fit as he noticed her mane, which was a whole spectrum of colours.

“Hey, don’t blame me! I was just trying to help. Its not my fault that you didn’t tell us about your coltfriend.” said Rainbow Dash in a teasing manner. Tug could only guess that a “coltfriend” was a mate.

“He’s not my coltfriend!” yelled Twilight, then looked at Tug, who had thrown on his best hurt expression. “Oh, it’s not that I don’t like you. It’s just that I...um...I can’t.” stammered Twilight, obviously distressed.

“It’s alright, I was just having a bit of fun.” explained Tug.

“Yeah, I’m glad your feeling better anyway. I hope that Rainbow Dash didn’t hurt you too bad.” said Twilight.

“I’m fine, I don’t think I have any serious injuries. And as long as she’s doesn’t try to kill me again, I think we’ll get on fine.”

“Oh good, I thought you’d be mad that I almost killed you. I’m surprised I didn’t break anything. Huh, I must be loosing my touch.” mussed Rainbow Dash.
“Well, If you don’t mind, I would like to get a look at this ‘Equestria’ place that I’m now in.” With that he walked towards what he believed was the front door.

“Tug? That’s the closet.” said Twilight.

“I knew that.”

“It’s been two days and no sign of Tug” thought Will, as he sat in is cabin, awaiting Halt’s arrival. “Tug wouldn't run of like this, so that means that he must be stolen.” he thought. “Now now, lets not begin jumping to conclusions. Lets just wait to hear what Halt and Old Bob have to say.”

There was a rush of wind as Halt silently swept into the room. In his cloak and with his pale face, he looked like Death himself, if you overlooked the fact that he was barely over five feet tall.

The illusion was also put off by the sound of an younger man stumbling up the front stairs. That would have to be Gilian, Halt’s apprentice before Will, now a fully fledged Ranger. Gilian was a comforting and kind person, while Halt was grim, dark, and sarcastic, but he was Will’s former mentor, so he had gotten used to it. Halt looked back at Gilian with a glare, who in turn gave a apologetic look. In his usual sarcastic manner Halt spoke, “Gilian is there anyway that all the lessons in silent movement could be put to use, or did I completely waste seven years of my life?”

“Sorry Halt, It won’t happen again.” Said Gilian.

“Oh, but it will, it always happens again.” said Halt with a tired sigh.

“Could we on to the task at hand without getting into arguing like an old married couple?” interrupted Will with just the slightest bit of annoyance.

“Yes, lets get down to business. So your report stated that there was an explosion, but nothing was damaged. And it mentioned something about green fire?” said Halt.

“Yes, I had just finished clearing the river of the Redmont Pirates, so I decided to take a nap, knowing that Tug and Ebony would warn me if something came close. I had been asleep for about an hour when there was a large explosion. I had run outside, yet nothing looked out of place, but then I saw green smoke rising from the doorway of the stables. I ran inside using my cloak as a filter when I saw that the cause of the smoke was a fire with flames that were green in colour.”

Will paused to take a breath. He looked at Halt and Gilian, they both had serious looks on their faces and Halt was rubbing his chin, deep in concentration.
“Continue.” said Halt.

“Oh yes, sorry, The flames were green in colour but the unusual thing was that they did not seem to spread and once it caught hold of something it seemed to burn for an indefinite length of time. I was going to take a bit of hay to examine the flames, when I realized that the stables were empty, Tug was no where to be seen.”

Will retold his tale in utmost perfection, without exaggerating the details, but also with out providing too little information. The entire time, Halt and Gilian were listening attentively and in silence.

When he had finished, Gilian looked up and asked, “Did you ever get a sample of the green flames?”

Halt glared at Gilian and stated in a dry, sarcastic tone, “If you had payed any attention on our ride here, you would have noticed the clearing that we passed by that had green flames. I assume that was your’s?”

“Yes, I put the flames there to analyze them in discretion. I couldn’t risk having an open flame in the cabin.” replied Will.

“Good, because if you burn down my cabin, I will have your oak leaf.” threatened Halt.

Will clutched his silver oak leaf that hung around his neck, which symbolized his status as a full fledged Ranger. He couldn’t imagine not having one after he had worn it for all these years.

“So, sarcasm aside, why can’t you just get Ebony to track Tug?” asked Gilian.

“Ebony can’t find her, she tracks the scent to the stables where it just disappears.” said Will.

“Well have you spoken to Old Bob about this?” inquired Gilian.

“No Gilian, it had never crossed my mind to go and find the only person who new my horse better than myself when my horse had gone missing.” Will replied in a sarcastic demeanor.

“And what did Old Bob say?” said Halt, not wanting an argument about nothing to begin.

“He couldn’t make heads or tails of it. He said it was as if Tug had vanished of the face of the planet.” said Will.

“Well, It seems as if your in a proper mess. Make sure you get a replacement horse from Old Bob and I’ll try and figure it out, but there’s not much to go off of here.” Said Halt.

“If you want, I can take you to the clearing where the fire is.” Said Will.

“No, I think we can find it on our own. Besides, the Baron told me that you need to report to his office as soon as we had finished talking with you. Which is now, so you better be off.” Said Halt.

“Did he say what it was about?” questioned Will.

“If he did I would have told you. Maybe if you quit asking questions, you could find out what he wants for yourself.” replied Halt in a sardonic tone.

Realizing his mistake, Will grabbed his gear and began to make his way towards Redmont Village.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that William!” yelled the very flustered and shocked Baron Arald .

“Sorry sir, you wished to see me?” Replied Will, not sorry at all.

“Yes, it seems as if my scribes have discovered some information from the libraries in Castle Araluen about those green flames of your’s.” Said the baron.

This peaked Will’s interest, as the flames were the only link to Tug’s mysterious disappearance.

“What have they learned?” Asked Will, barely able to contain a composed face, despite his extreme excitement that was striving to break free.

“The scripts say that the green flames were a sign from beings from another world. It was said that the beings left the flames as gifts when they would take things that were interesting and unique. I don’t know much other than a brief summary that George gave me, but maybe you should go speak with.” Explained Baron Arald.

At the mention of George, Will knew that he was in store for quality and precise information that would help him to understand the strange event. Unfortunately, George would spend around an hour telling him about the origin of the text and he would have to suffer through it.

“And the flames were in fact a complex means of communication and recompense for taking what ever was stolen by these beings.” finished George, around four hours later.

“So your saying that Tug was taken by other worldly beings?”
“Yes”

“Do you have any idea how utterly ridiculous that sound? Honestly why would I ever believe a story like that?” asked Will.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s what the book says and it is written by the very prestigious author (insert impressive, famous, and extremely fictional writer name here).”

“I know you told me about his entire life.” said Will in an annoyed tone.

“Never the less, he was a very trusted and educated author and all of his works should be taken with absolute respect.” said George.

“It’s not the author I have the problem with, it’s the subject. How can there be beings from other worlds that steal our belongings and replace them with green fire?”

“I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s your only link to Tug, so I suggest you shut up and read it.” replied George with a matter of fact tone.

Will smiled when he thought back to the time in the ward where George couldn’t even put an entire sentence together without stuttering. Now he was one of Araluen’s greatest scribes and diplomats. He used to never argue with anyone until he gained his confidence at Scribe school.

“Alright, I’ll give it a read, but i’m still skeptical.” Said Will.

“Since your a Ranger, I expect nothing less.” Said George in a mocking tone.

“Don’t forget, your talking to the Ranger that has a dog that would enjoy nothing more than to take a gnaw at this book.” Threatened Will.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would do so without the slightest regret, so don’t test me.”

“Alright, be off. I have much work to do, what with the King’s coronation anniversary arriving soon.” mused George, as he began to ponder about the upcoming ceremony.

Will walked back to his cabin in the woods in silence, thinking over him and George’s conversation, still skeptical, but wanting to know more on the subject.

As he walk in the door, he was greeted by Ebony, who jumped up on him, even though he had tried to train her not to.
He sat in his chair and open the massive text.

“At least the fact that it’s large means that it contains a lot of information.” thought Will.

He sat back and began to read.

“The Green Flames were always topics of much controversy...”

Author's Note

Hey guy's, sorry for not posting for the past few days, but my blog explains it all. Same as last time, constructive criticism is accepted and wanted. I will try to update it more often.