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Episode I

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"Ow... ow... ow... ow... ow-" Stone's voice, which echoes out of a cave in the woods, is suddenly interrupted by Limestone groaning in frustration.

"Will ya stop that already?! It ain't even that painful!"

"But it huuuuuurts..."

"It's just a bunch of splinters, ya big filly! Now hush up and let me finish getting them outta your cuts so ya don't get infected!"

"Okay, Mom~!"

She groans once again, before continuing her work.

*Slick*

"Aaa-haa-haaaa, that one was deep!"

"Shut. Up! This ain't really that fun for ME, neither!"

Inside the cave, Stone is sitting by a lit campfire, while Limestone is picking at the cuts and bruises on his arms, using tweezers that she firmly grips with her teeth, so that she could pull the splinters of varying sizes out of the Stone's cuts... some even winding up being a centimeter deep.

"I swear, sometimes it's like I'm filly-sitting an overgrown foal!"

He responds by merely sticking his tongue out at her, resulting in another questionably painful yank of yet another splinter.

When she finishes pulling the last bits out, she unravels a long, thick bolt of bandages and wraps his arms in them.

"Heh... after today, I might end up looking like a mummy!" he says, smirking at his fully covered arms.

Limestone merely rolls her eyes and trots towards the entrance to the cave. "Yeah, yeah... but keep gettin' yourself hurt, and I'll have you work with those injuries... make you wish you were a mummy, resting in eternal peace, and not busting your flank all day, just to keep your handicapped family fed... ah, forget it."

Stone turns towards her to say something, but she decides to look away from him, as if silently hinting for him to drop all subjects.

As they exit the cave, Stone picks the axe back up and walks with it propped over his shoulder.

As the note said, they were to get 10 trees cut and dragged over to the shed today. Apparently, there's something going on in Hollow Shades that requires plenty of lumber.

While it would be questionable why a bunch of bat ponies would need wood imported while their town's literally surrounded by trees, he learned that the trees in that side of the forest actually hold a lot of magical properties that keeps the town away from the dangers.

Luckily the lumber is delivered by train, so he doesn't have to worry about encountering any of those creatures.

Unfortunately for him, however, he has yet to cut a single tree down. As it turns out, he only hit a tree one time (making sure it didn't have bees in it this time), but he failed to notice that the leaves were holding onto a fallen branch that, ironically, was angled to where it could fall and land on him.

The results were quite painful and, had Limestone not been there to shove him back, would've resulted in it landing on his head, actually.

Regardless, though, she couldn't keep him from getting himself hurt, so she took responsibility in patching him back up. (Though she would refuse to admit it, however, she would've helped him regardless of responsibilities.)

When they reach the tree again, the two of them spend five minutes circling around it, and the surrounding trees, as a safety precaution. Seeing that everything is in order, Stone sighs in relief and hoists the axe up, and into both hands, positioning himself in front of the first tree again.

"Alrighty, then... everything's in order, shoulders positioned correctly, legs posed, and we are good to-"

"JUST HIT THE BUCKING TREE, ALREADY!"

Immediately he swings too closely, causing the handle of the axe to hit it. The impact forces the top half of the axe to snap off, and he is left with only a handle in his hands.

Limestone groans and somehow pops the back of his head.

He's not quite sure how she could even reach him, though, considering she stands just below his knees in height. After dealing with the other Pie sisters, however, he's learned that, more than likely, a tear through reality and logic was used in her favor... that, or she was made of elastic.

"Ow!"

"Great! NOW WE HAVE TO FIX THE BUCKING AXE, TOO!" she roars, as she trots around the tree and picks the other half of the axe up with her mouth. The two of them then begin heading back to the shed for the fifth time today.

With her voice muffled by the axe, Limestone mumbles, "Bucking axes, and bucking trees, it's always one thing or another... bucking humans always finding new ways to help us and buck up at the same time... bucking Stone, being too bucking oblivious and cute for his own good..."

"Wait, what was that last part?" Stone asks, having been wiping the dirt and wax out of his ears with his fingers... a common human habit Limestone never really could understand.

"I said bucking move faster, you idiot! Gosh, are you going to need some help cleaning those corncobs outta your ears, or what?!"

He sighs and continues following her back to the shed in silence; the only sounds coming from Limestone, as she continues to either joke about him, or complain about something random.

They leave the shed after gluing the axe handle back together. Stone, of course, is rubbing the back of his head, where Limestone struck him once more after he revealed to her that he technically had to repair the axe earlier today, before the incident with the bees.

"Y'know, ya really shoulda told us that sooner, so I coulda given you a better buckin' axe!" she roars as the two of them continue their trek towards the tree.

"Well excuse me, Princess!" he rolls his eyes, only to wince as he feels one of her hind hooves tap onto his thigh, not hard enough to cause any damage, but definitely hard enough to feel her anger.

"I'M A BUCKING FARMER!" she retorts. While he leans down to rub his aching leg, however, her tail flies up and whips him in the nose, emitting an audible "slapping" noise.

"My mistake..." he says nonchalant, as he straightens his back out and continues carrying the axe over his shoulder.

"Ya damn right it's your mistake! Keep makin' it, however, and I'll give ya my own kind a' Royal Treatment!"

"Let me guess... it involves your hoof and my face?"

A few seconds later, and he's arched to the ground again, with her holding his shirt sleeve firmly in her hoof. Her menacing glaring eyes are just a few inches from his, and her muzzle is arched low enough to add more focus to her eyes, which are glaring at him in a surprisingly scary manner... despite her being a little pony.

"Oh, trust me, Stone... you'd wish it was your face my hind hoof would be aiming at..."

He gulps and smiles nervously at her. "Got it, Boss!"

She rolls her eyes and releases him from her Earth Pony-Powered grip, and continues on the path. "Ugh... you're hopeless."

He, however, stands back up and continues to smile. "And proud of it, too!"

Somehow, she still manages to pop him in the back of the head.

"Oww! Hey, what's wrong with a little pride? Wait... why did you just smile at me like that?"

*Wham!*

"Aa-haa-haaah! Freakin' OWW, Woman! I need that to make babies with!"

"Oh, suck it up ya big foal! 'Sides, it ain't MY fault ya didn't sheathe it in time!"

"Humans don't have sheathes, though!"

"Oh... eh, not my problem, then."

A few minutes later, and he's face-down in the leaves, after having tripped over a root. Limestone, of course, helps him back up... while giving him a few more complaints about how he should, and I quote, "Watch where you're bucking going!"

The two of them then continue moving towards the partially cut tree again, completely oblivious and/or dismissive of the strange blue flower that his face landed on.

Finally, Mother Nature decides to cut them some slack. With one final chop, the tree begins to loudly crack, before it falls to the ground. Limestone, of course, takes the precautions and shouts "TIMBER!" before it lands... then pops Stone in the back of the head for not shouting it.

He rolls his eyes and moves on to the next tree that's been scheduled to be cut. (Having been quite busy cutting the first one down, Limestone left a noticeable imprint on the trees that she deemed "worthy".)

Whenever he reaches the fourth tree, however, he begins to feel as if something is off... like he's being watched from afar.

"Umm... hello?" His attention is now focused on a large set of bushes that surround a tree roughly a hundred meters from his current location. Though quite the distance, he could identify unusual movement coming from them.

And then, a pair of glowing green eyes look back at him from the shadows of the bushes.

"Oh, crap..." he silently mumbles to himself.

His ears pick up the all-too-familiar crunching of twigs to his right, where he could make out Limestone's annoyed breaths.

"Stone! Why the buck aren't you-"

"Shh!" he quickly covers her mouth with his hand, much to her shock.

Her shock, however, soon changes back to her usual grumpy attitude.

"Don't you shush me, ya-"

"SHH!" he shushes her a bit more aggressively, completely catching her off guard.

She's known him for about a month, now. During said month, he's either been playful, clueless, a little oversensitive (in her opinion, at least), extremely clumsy, and very dorky. He would either cry or complain when something bad either happened to him, or around him... which has actually been quite often.

But now... the man that looks her in the eyes... it's almost like a completely different person. For once, since he's been in Equestria, his expression is serious... calm... but unnerved, at the same time.

And his glare... it sends a sudden chill through Limestone's spine. For once, he actually manages to scare her, if only slightly.

She realizes, however, the urgency of his look... something is wrong... very wrong.

With her ears splayed back, she's about to ask him what's wrong, but his eyes shifts back to the distant bushes straight ahead... and so, she remains silent and follows his gaze.

She squints and inches her head closer towards the bushes.

A pair of glowing green eyes stare back at her.

"Uh, Stone..."
"Limestone..."

The two of them whisper, eyes glued to the large shadow that approaches them from the darkness of the trees.

"Get behind me, Lime..." he silently orders, to which she quickly complies.

"Alright, Stone, you got this! You've got an axe in your hands, right? Just remember your training... like... in those games you've played in that hospital! It's just a Boss Battle... but with real risks! All you gotta do is run circles around it, counter, rinse, repeat, victory!"

The creature growls, causing him to instinctively let out a not-so-impressive "RAWR!" as he hurls the axe over his shoulder, then towards the creature...

... It only lands halfway towards them, landing flat on the ground.

The creature's head finally pops out of the darkness, and into the light.

Its eyebrows are a pair of leaves, and its body is that of a wolf made out of wood. On all fours, it stands up to be almost twice as tall as Stone, who stands at around six feet (in human measurements, of course) evenly.

He gulps, then picks a large branch up that was lying by his feet. Limestone, of course, has already backed up behind a tree, staring in shock at the oftentimes cowardly human who, apparently, is about to challenge the beast in a ferocious battle.

But then the beast smiles at them... a gesture that quickly makes Stone's brave face switch back to the panic-induced terror he formerly showed when being chased by the bees earlier this morning.

Finally, the timber coated wolf leans its head down... and picks the axe up with its teeth; the blade glimmering in the sunlight, and pointing towards the "brave" human and his companion, who suddenly finds the urge to run away a lot more enticing.

...

And as for the brave human, a new thought springs to mind, as the wolf takes one step towards them.

As much of a coward Stone can be, Limestone silently admits to herself that, whenever confronted with life-threatening danger, he can actually run quite fast... even on pony standards!

She admires his speed, his concentration, and the sudden burst of strength he got when he turned tail and ran away from the timberwolf about thirty seconds ago.

And she expresses her fascination the only way she knows how, as he carries her, once more, above his shoulders.

"DAMMIT, STONE! MOVE FASTER, WILL YA?!"

He only responds with more girly squeals as the timberwolf's shadow continues to gain on them, inch by inch.

Even once they break out of the treeline, the timberwolf continues to give chase. However, the sudden change of the scenery slows it down, even forcing it to briefly halt, as if to take in the unknown environment that surrounds them.

And the shed, which they were headed for, appears to be getting closer and closer... much to both of their relief.

"Holy buck! We might actually make it, Stone!" Limestone calls out, unable to keep her voice in check. However, he's more than able to catch onto the relief that her voice lets out.

He smiles at this. His boss is finally happy! At him! And as the saying goes, "a happy boss makes for a happy employee"!

... That is, until said "happy employee" fails to notice a large, stray stone in his path.

As soon as he kicks it, his instincts kick in, and he tosses Limestone closer to the shed, while he performs a majestic-level faceplant into the dirt.

When he rolls onto his back, he and Limestone both gasp as the timberwolf rushes them, and leaps into the air.

"STONE!" Limestone calls out, but it is too late.

He tucks his arms over his head, closes his eyes, and lets out, what some would call, a "Not-So-Manly" scream, as the timberwolf's front claws land roughly six inches away from his shoulders, and its snout hovers inches over his face.

After ten seconds of mindless screaming, Stone finally runs out of breath, and opens his eyes. The timberwolf just stands there, but decides to back up, seemingly allowing the human to stand once more.

When he slowly sits back up, the timberwolf drops the axe and sits on the ground, tail wagging, and tongue sticking out.

"Umm... what?" Stone turns towards Limestone, who shrugs her shoulders, just as confused as he is.

Finally, he turns back around, towards the timberwolf. Lifting himself up off the ground, he slowly, and carefully, reaches back down to pick the axe up.

The timberwolf, having noticed this, quickly leaps back up on all fours, and pats the ground with its front paws, while its tail end shakes playfully. The creepy smile also returns to its face.

"Wait... you want to play... fetch?" Stone asks the timberwolf.

It, in turn, barks happily, before spinning in a circle one time.

"Uh... o-okay, just..." he places a foot on the lower corner of the axe head and lifts the stick from it. Somehow, the glue was no longer in effect... probably something to do with the green saliva that came from the timberwolf's mouth.

He then nervously smiles before shaking the stick in front of him, towards the timberwolf's nose.

It follows the stick carefully, and when Stone tosses it away, the timberwolf immediately chases after it, giving him time to ask Limestone, "What the hell even is that thing?!"

She scratches the back of her mane, replying, "It's called a 'timberwolf'... but I ain't sure what it's doin' so close to tha farm..."

"Timber... wolf?" Stone parrots, before deadpanning. Of all the...

"Yeah! Ya know... timber, as in 'wood', and wolf, as in-"

"- I get what it means! I just don't understand why so many things have to be such a big pun, or have such an ironic turn! What's next, it comes back with that stick, and considers us its new owners?"

"I do believe a timberwolf shall be a perfect addition to our family! Wouldn't thou agree, dearest?" Igneous Rock asks his wife.

Cloudy Quartz nods her head, and smiles at the timberwolf, who sits just outside their front porch, next to Stone, who's giving Limestone a bemused stare... one which she returns his way. "Indeed... and I am most sure that thy duties shall evermore be tolerable in the near future, so long as thy canine companion accompanies thee."

The human sighs, before looking back at the timberwolf. A small smile begins to form on his face, however, and he lightly chuckles, raising his hand to pet the back of the timberwolf's head.

"Well, I guess you are kinda cool. Isn't that right, boy? Isn't dat wight, booy~" he begins to coo. The timberwolf stands up and begins panting happily at the human, as he scratches behind its ear. Though he feels nothing but wood, he can't help but admit it feels nice to be petting a dog... perhaps it's a familiar feeling he couldn't recall from back on Earth?

Regardless, though, he's happy to know that the timberwolf seems tame enough. It turns to face him, clearly enjoying his petting treatment.

"Though we must warn thee, that apparently one of the reasons many ponies avoid them is not out of danger, but rather, because whenever playful, they can oftentimes cause-"

The timberwolf happily licks Stone's face, causing the ponies to wince, and the human to yelp, "AAAH! SPLINTERS!"

"... Indeed... but as studies have shown, the diet of a timberwolf heavily consists on leaves and vegetation, rather than meats. As such, he shall provide a valuable asset to removing the weeds from the gardens." Igneous concludes, before eyeing the human's face once more. "Erm... in the mean time, I shall grab the tweezers... and the ointment."

And so, for the rest of the day, things went smoothly. And by that, Stone ended up spending the remainder of the day walking with Woody, their new dog, while Limestone supervised the two of them.

Surprisingly enough, she was still bold enough to yell at the two of them, and Woody would oftentimes wince alongside Stone whenever something was screwed up.

But altogether, it ended up being a much, much better day than the morning hinted at.

The following morning, Stone wakes up and stretches his arms out. As soon as he opens his mouth to yawn, however, the room fills with the sound of a chicken calling out.

The sound catches him by surprise and causes him to leap up in the air. He then deadpans, before walking to the mirror, and wiping his eyes.

"Stupid chickens, always causing... wait... we don't have chickens here!"

He looks around his room, but finds nothing. Turning back to the mirror, he sighs and says to himself, "Probably just my imagination."

But to his horror, he only hears the sound of a mouse squeaking in-sync with his mouth... which he immediately covers.

"Oh, st..."