Chapter VIII

“Candy? Candy?” Wally said gently shaking his sister.

She was still where he left her on the bank of the river, lying in the mud like a discarded doll. Her mane was a tangled mess of twigs and leaves and her coat was covered in mud. Bastian knelt down next to her and checked for a pulse.

“Her pulse is a little weak.” He said. “She may have a concussion.”

“Can you do that alien glowing hand thing?” Wally asked.

“No. I’m not a healer. Not like Esmeralda.” Bastian said reaching into his knapsack. “But I have something that might do the trick.”

He pulled a small glass bottle filled with a red mixture out of his bag and shook it up. He uncorked it, sniffed it contents and wrinkled his nose.

“Should be fine.” He thought. “You’ll want to hold her nose.”

“What is that? Some kind of secret alien remedy?” Wally asked as he plugged his sisters nostrils shut.

“Sure.” Bastian said tipping the mixture of ground up dragonflies and bird’s eggs into Candy’s mouth.

He held her muzzle shut so her unconscious body would swallow the foul smelling mixture and a few seconds later Candy’s eyes shot open and she gagged at the foul taste that pervaded her mouth. Wally burst into relieved laughter as Candy spluttered and looked up at him.

“Wally? What’s goin’ on? Why does my mouth taste like a hen laid a rotten egg in it?”

“Glad to see that old potion still had some life in it.” Bastian said.

Candy turned around and gasped at the strange looking creature behind her.

“W-wally? What’s going on?”

“Candy, this is my new buddy. He’s an alien!”

“W-what?”

“He’s an alien and he needs our help to ensure the survival of his people!” Wally said dramatically.

Candy turned back to Bastian stared at him incredulously. He could only sigh and shrug.

“Really?” She asked.

“I suppose I am, yes.” Bastian replied. “You’re brother has agreed to take me to the nearest town for help. Don’t be afraid. We have no desire to fight or make war. We come in peace.”

“See?!” Wally said. “Total alien!”

“Really?” She asked again, her tone of disbelief rising.

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh!” Wally said with his eyes full of excitement.

Candy looked to Bastian and back to her brother and then back to Bastian.

“Uh… Nice to meet you?” She said uncertainly.

Bastian held up an awkward hand in greeting.

“Where did you come from?” Candy asked. “I don’t see a ship or anything.”

“It’s kind of hard to explain.” Bastian said slipping the empty bottle back into his bag. “We have a lot of sick and injured with us. I’ll explain on the way but we really must get moving.”

They climbed the slope that led back onto the main road. While a small section of the Everfree Forest had been destroyed by the portal, the rolling fields of the Equestrian heartlands had been spared any serious damage. Wally spotted his cart a few yards from the main road and trotted over to it to inspect the damage. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive its flight. The wagon’s wheels were sundered, a few planks were missing from its sides and the whole thing was covered in watermelon juice.

“Dang. I guess we’re hoofing it.” Candy said. “Sorry about your cart Wally.”

“Forget the cart!” Wally cried. “What about my melons?!”

Candy nearly fell over in disbelief.

“Is that what you’re worried about?!” She barked. “Our cart is trashed and everything of any real value has been destroyed and you’re worried about your melons?!”

Wally fell to a sitting position and sobbed into his hooves. Bastian and Candy exchanged awkward glances. Bastian cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“I-I’m sorry about your… melons.” Bastian said. “But we should really get moving.”

“Kay.” Wally said tears and sobs ending abruptly.

Wally hummed whimsically to himself as he and his sister walked down the dirt road with their strange new friend. The sun was high in the late afternoon sky and Bastian was beginning to sweat through his fur lined robes. Though the two ponies had been more or less friendly towards the young mage, he refused to let his guard down. Along with the Wabbajack on his back, he carried his magic staff clasped firmly in his dominate hand and his other hand hovered next to a small hand crossbow he kept on his belt. The past few years of his life had been filled with terror and if the two strange creatures in front of him suddenly turned into flesh eating Daedra he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“So what kind of alien is a Bastian anyway?” Wally asked abruptly interrupting Bastian’s thoughts.

The sudden address startled the mage and his hand twitched towards his crossbow. Bastian had been running through every single plane of Oblivion he had ever read about but was coming up with nothing. The only place he could think of that might have talking ponies was the Shivering Isles and he knew for a fact that it didn’t look like this. But what did that matter? Daedric Princes could manipulate their worlds however they like. One moment it could look like a bright beautiful countryside and the next the ground could be spraying blood while Scamps pranced about in frilly skirts, a sight not unseen by the mage in his travels.

“I am not a Bastian, my name is Bastian.” He replied.

“Ah! So what kind of alien are you then?” Wally asked. “Do you have cool super powers? Can you fly and leap tall buildings in a single bound?”

“Can I what? N-no. I’m a human.” Bastian replied.

“What about ice-breath? Heat vision? Super strength?”

“No. Nothing like that. I’m a wizard. I study magic.”

“Oh cool! Like a unicorn?” Wally asked.

Bastian didn’t understand the question. He had read about unicorns before; that they were guardians of nature and powerful magical beings of good. He wasn’t sure in what way he resembled such a creature never mind the obvious.

“Er, no.” He said. “Like a… like a wizard.”

“Don’t pay Wally any mind.” Candy said. “He reads a lot of comic books.”

“Do you like comic books?” Wally asked. “I just got the new issue of Knight Stallion and it is awesome!”

“What books?”

“Comic books! You know like Bat Mane, Wonder Mare, and Super Stallion?”

Wally began tossing comic books to Bastian from his saddle bag. Bastian caught them and inspected the covers. He noted that while he and the ponies shared a common spoken tongue, this wasn’t the case with their written language and the symbols that made up the words in the largely illustrated book were completely different from any language he had seen on Nirn. The books contained pictures of costumed ponies posing heroically and fighting other costumed ponies, most of which looked completely deranged.

“We… don’t have these where I am from.” Bastian said.

“Aw that’s a bummer man. Guess you haven’t seen the new X-pony movie have you?”

“No.” Bastian said handing the comics back and not bothering to ask what an X-Pony or a movie was.

“So if you’re not from Equestria where are you and your people from?” Candy asked.

“Skyrim. It’s, well, it was a province of Tamriel.” Bastian replied.

“Never heard of it.” Candy said. “How’d ya’ll get here?”

“As I said it’s a long story.” Bastian said. “Are we almost there?”

“Yeah we should be coming up on Ponyville now.” Wally said.

“Ponyville?” Bastian asked.

“Yeah. It’s a small farmin’ village in the middle of Equestria. Our cousin Apple Jack lives there.” Candy explained. “Wally’s lookin’ to buy his own land and I’m visitin’ for the summer. Do you have any brothers or cousins?” The filly asked.

“Not anymore.” Bastian muttered.

“We’re here!” Wally said in a sing song voice.

They were standing on top of a hill and the village of Ponyville lied below. Ponyville was large, as big as any of the cities of Skyrim though it lacked a wall. Thatch roofed houses lined the city streets, vaguely reminding Bastian of Whiterun. Beyond Ponyville Bastian could see rolling farmlands and a large apple orchard.

“Wow!” Candy said. “It’s so pretty!”

“Come on!” Wally said. “We need to find somepony to help you guys right?”

“Yes of course.” Bastian nodded. “You lead I’ll follow.”

Back in Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and her friends were still reeling from the initial explosion.

“What in Equestria was that?” Rainbow Dash asked lowering her hooves from her ears.

“Pinkie Pie I told you to leave that party cannon a’ yours at home!” Applejack said rubbing the spots from her eyes.

Hey don’t look at me!” Pinkie said defensively. “If I could make a bang that big I’d tell you about it! I’d be proud to make a bang that big!”

“It sounded like it came from the Everfree Forest!” Twilight said. “Come on girls, we gotta check it out!”

The five of them broke into a full gallop (or flight in Rainbow Dash’s case) towards Ponyville leaving Fluttershy trembling underneath the picnic table. Rainbow flew back and grabbed the yellow Pegasus in her hooves.

“Come on.” She said impatiently.

The village of Ponyville was in a state of pandemonium. Vending carts had been overturned in the confusion and fruits and vegetables littered the ground as ponies ran rampant in sheer terror. Mayor Mare stood in front of town hall desperately trying to restore order but her cries were in vain.

“Everypony please!” She pleaded. “Try to remain calm!”

“Mayor what in Equestria is going on?!” Twilight asked as she and her friends galloped up to the Mayor.

“I wish I knew Ms. Sparkle! Everything was fine this morning until there was this mysterious flash of white light and an explosion! The ponies are panicking and I just can’t get them to calm down!” The Mayor explained.

Behind Twilight, Pinkie Pie slid past on her stomach with her mouth open trying to catch any intact morsels. As she slid by the group Applejack stuck her hoof out and stopped her in her tracks.

“Quit it.” She said sternly

“I’ll take care of it mayor.” Twilight said.

“-like yer covered in foal food.”

“It’s just fruit salad!”

The purple unicorn’s horn glowed with magical energy and a glowing bullhorn appeared in front of her mouth, willed into existence by her spell. She cleared her throat and spoke into it in a calm professional manner.

“Citizens of Ponyville please remain calm! We’ll get to the bottom of this but I need everypony to behave in a mature manner until the issue is resolved!”

Twilight’s speech had about as much effect as the mayor’s cries for order. The ponies continued carrying on as if the world was ending, paying the purple unicorn no mind at all. It was here that a panicking stallion backed into a cart and disengaged its brake sending the cart rolling down the street towards a small foal that was playing in the mush.

“Oh no!” Applejack cried.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled.

“On it!”

The sky blue Pegasus pony became a blur of movement as she zigzagged through the crowd across the town square. She grabbed the foal in her hooves and pulled up into the sky just as the cart crashed into the building the foal had been in front of. Rainbow Dash landed with sighed of relief as the foal gurgled happily on her back clapping its hooves together. A mare ran up Rainbow Dash and grabbed the baby off of her back.

“Oh thank you!” The mare cried. “Thank you!”

“No problem!” Rainbow Dash said as she proudly puffed out her chest.

The foal giggled and brushed a hoof against Rainbow’s face smudging her cheek in mushed food.

“ENOUGH!” Twilight Sparkle bellowed through the bullhorn.

Somewhere a needle scratched on a record and everypony in town square froze in place.

“I know that you’re all scared but just look at yourselves!” Twilight said. “You’re freaking out because of some weird explosion but you’re the ones causing all of the damage! Everypony please remain calm and return to your homes. My friends and I will get to the bottom of this but we can’t if we’re worrying about everypony here tearing the town apart!”

Fear gave way to shame and the citizen’s eyes fell to their hooves, unable to look Twilight and the mayor in the eye. Meekly, they muttered apologies under their breath and made their way back to their homes with their loved ones. Twilight sighed in frustration and rubbed her head with a hoof.

Across the town square Applejack spotted a familiar face crossing the bridge into town. She held a hoof up to her brow and gasped.

“Wally Melon is that you?” She called.

Wally waved to his cousin and his party approached her.

“Cousin Applejack!” He said as they embraced. “It’s been ages! It’s great to see you again!”

“Yeah it sure is Wally.” Applejack said mentally thanking Celestia that he wasn’t wearing a super hero costume like the last time she saw him.

And no, it wasn’t Nightmare Night.

“Hey there.” Applejack said kneeling down to candy. “You must be Candy. We’ve never really met but I’m your cousin Applejack!”

“Nice to meet you.” Candy said shyly.

“What are you guys doing here?” AJ asked. “I wasn’t expecting ya’ll till much later on.”

“I left a little earlier than I planned.” Wally said. “I just couldn’t wait to see you guys again. I hope that’s okay.”

“Aw shucks Wally that’s fine.” AJ said. “I was just concerned is all. There was some kind of explosion outside of town and I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to ya’ll on yer way to town. Gals these are my cousins Candy and Wally Melon. These here are my friends Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike.”

“And I’m Mayor Mare.” The mayor said. “Applejack told me that you were moving to Ponyville. It’s a pleasure to meet another member of the Apple Family. I’m sorry for the mess. Ponyville isn’t always in such a state.”

“It’s okay Miss Mayor. I love salsa!”

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously flying above Bastian.

“It looks like a monkey though I’ve never seen one like this before.” Twilight said stepping forward. “Is it some kind of pet of yours?”

Bastian’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Actually it’s not a monkey.” Fluttershy said before Bastian had the chance to speak. “It lacks a tail meaning it must be some kind of an ape.”

“And what are those awful rags it’s wearing?” Rarity asked in horror. “Wally I know we have only just met but if you insist on dressing your pet you could at least pick some decent clothes!”

“Uh… Hello.” Bastian said uncomfortably.

The six ponies gasped and staggered back from him. The mayor’s eyes widened and fainted on the spot.

“I-I-I-It talks! It talked!” Rainbow Dash stammered nearly falling to the ground.

“Sweet Celestia! It’s a talkin’ gorilla!” Applejack cried.

“AWESOME!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh this is so amazing! I’ve never met a talking gorilla before!” Fluttershy gushed.

“He’s not a gorilla guys he’s a Bastian.” Wally said.

“No dammit, I’m not-“

Fluttershy began zooming around Bastian examining him.

“What kind of creature is a Bastian? Where are you from? Oh my goodness this is so amazing! A whole new species!”

Squee!

“I think there has been a mistake.” Bastian said. “I’m not a gorilla or a monkey or a Bastian. I’m a human and my name is Bastian Bellrend. I met your cousin Wally in the forest.”

“The forest?” Twilight asked. “Do you mean Everfree Forest? Do you know anything about the explosion from earlier?”

“Yes, I think that was us. I can’t explain right now but I promise I will answer all your questions. We have sick and injured and your cousin brought me here to find help.”

“Oh there are more of you?” Fluttershy asked excitedly.

“About eleven score.” Bastian nodded. “Is there some authority figure like a Jarl or a Duke I can speak with?”

“I think you broke the Mayor buddy.” Wally said. “Sure is a lot of fainting happening today…”

“Sick and injured back in the forest? Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked nervously.

“I guess so?”

“Everfree Forest is home to some of the most dangerous magical creatures in Equestria!” Twilight said.

“Ohhhhhhhh…. Yeah didn’t think about that. Sorry buddy!” Wally grimaced.

“We have to get your friends out of there!” Twilight said. “The monsters of Everfree are bad enough on a normal day but there’s no telling what they’ll do if their home has been disturbed!”

As if on cue, a terrifying roar echoed from the forest. Bastian felt his blood turn to ice as the color drained from his face. He cursed and jumped onto Wally’s back.

“Hey what gives?!” Wally yelled.

“Shut up and run!” Bastian barked back at him.

“Kay!”

Wally broke into a gallop into Ponyville.

“Other way!” Bastian roared.

“Kay!”

Wally speed past the mares on the bridge and ran down the path towards Everfree Forest, his hooves kicking up dust on the dirt road as he galloped. He gasped in pain as he felt Bastian’s boots dig into his sides.

“Hey! Cut it- Ow! Why are you kicking me?!” Wally yelled.

“To make you go faster!”

“Why would you do that?! Just tell me to go faster!”

Bastian growled in annoyance. He felt like a fool. He left his sick and injured companions alone in an alien world he knew nothing about. The Blades could handle themselves against the worst that Skyrim had to offer but they weren’t in Skyrim any more. There was no telling what dangers dwelled in this land. He didn’t know if the gods could hear him here. The past few years had put serious strain on what little faith he had but he prayed to whatever force was out there that his companions were safe and he hadn’t simply led them into a new nightmare.