Aftermath of Beating innocent animals...
//
pat reon.com/blacklares
It was supposed to be a bit longer, but I was more or less as exhausted as Starfall throughout this chapter when I was finishing it, so you have to get satisfied with a regular length chapter and a teaser of the next one ;)
Hope you like it anyway, and like always EEEENJOY!!!
//
Unicorn horns were quite fascinating... Thought Starfall, as he observed the structure of the horn fragment under a magical microscope, his eyes betraying the excitement he felt at what he just discovered.
It wasn't just a simple pointy bone... obviously...
No! It was much more than that!
The horn, according to his preemptive research, was actually some kind of calcium composite, which, to his great surprise, closely resembled the structure found in crystallized magic!
What fascinated Starfall immensely, was the fact, of how much similar the two were to eachother, with the horn not actually being magical in its inner complexity! Truly a marvel of evolution!
Thanks to its unique structure, the Unicorns can channel magic out of their bodies with almost no resistance in comparison to the other pony races!
Now somepony could ask-"why wasn't it common knowledge? Surely somepony would have performed detailed studies on unicorn biology?..."- And they would have been right...to a certain extent...
The biology, and overall structure of the unicorn body was known, that's true... But you have to remember that Equestria isn't as technologically advanced as earth. You could substitute many technologies with magic, but most knowledge is still passed through books, schools, and the word of mouth.
And information about the chemical structure of a unicorn horn, and it's structural and nature oriented resemblance with a, frankly speaking, almost unheard of substance, is an information that would require someone to truly delve deep into knowledge far above that of your regular Townsponies...
There's also the unquestionable problem of ethics...Ponies are quite protective of their deceased, and a unicorn horn is generally almost considered sacred for the unicorns, so you won't find them being commonly studied or damaged in any which way among the population. That's also the reason why Tempest Shadow felt so estranged, and abandoned by everypony after the accident that left her with a broken horn and gave Starfall this fascinating sample to study...
*Knock Knock*
The sound of knocking woke Starfall from his inner thoughts. He was already starting to daydream about creating a synthetic material based on the horn structure. There were so many things he would have been able do with it, not even rejecting the idea of artificial horns for other ponies!
"I'm coming!" He called, quickly collecting his research papers and storing the horn back into a compartment that transferred it into the Storage. He had a habit of keeping his workplace clean after getting one too many talkings from Twily about it...
He was surprised when upon opening the doors, he was welcomed by the sight of a visibly troubled Twilight.
"Starfall! I was looking all over for you! Come quick!" She said urgently, going around him and pushing him outside without waiting for his answer...
"Uhh...Twily?... What's going on?" He asked, while getting comically pushed forward...
"There's no time! We need your help!" She said continuing to push him until he finally relented and started to walk on his own. Might as well see what's happening...
___________
...
...
"Right..." Starfall muttered to himself as yet another critter returned back into the forest after the small stampede...
"Hoo wee! That's the last one here Sugarcube! Thank ya fer your help!" Applejack said while wiping her forehead exhausted but happy for the job well done.
"Of course Jackie...Happy to help..." He said with a wry smile.
"But boy, I wonder what scared them all so much ta run into the Town..." She mused to herself while Starfall winced slightly.
"Well... I certainly have no idea..." He said looking away and trying to hide his embarrassment, while Applejack looked at him with suspicion...
Apparently the animals he scared during his fight with Ursa Major had reached Ponyville when he was studying the horn, and the girls were doing a fine work of sending them back for the first... one hour...
It was just the fact there didn't seem to be an end to the critters that had them go look for his help... Thankfully, none of the more dangerous creatures came out of the forest, probably each of them too adamant on protecting their own territories, but he heard that a pack of Timberwolves had been seen hunting the scared animals a few miles to the north...
All in all, it was an exhausting day and Starfall just wanted to sleep...
But as Fluttershy approached him with pleading eyes, clearly distraught about the aforementioned small creatures, he knew that he won't be able to refuse her... Clearly there was a pack of Timberwolves to teach a lesson... No one makes Fluttershy sad!
He would omit the fact that he was indirectly the culprit of today's trouble...
_________
...
Dealing with Timberwolves was surprisingly easy when you studied them excessively in your free time for months, the few specimen he had contained in the Bio Research Wing providing an abundance of information, on how to lower their danger level from living, wolf shaped, wood based, and pack hunting monsters, to a harmless, nonthreatening twig...quite literally...
Starfall couldn't help but smirk to himself as he glanced at the bundle of glowing twigs stuffed into his saddlebag, the remains of the Timberwolves' bodies scattered all across the ground behind him...
Timberwolves were a kind of natural living golems, their bodies formed around a 'core' of sorts, made usually from the wood scattered around the Everfree Forest.
He still wasn't certain about exactly how the Timberwolves were born to begin with, but he knew enough to understand that removing the aforementioned core would be the easiest and the most efficient solution to incapacitate the creatures, without actually killing them.
That the removed cores provided an excellent research material and a convenient form to transport the wolves into the lab and later contain, was without question...
___________
Having returned home from his little detour, Starfall quickly stored the 'twigs' in a secure containment and walked out of the Lab, the exhaustion of the day slowly taking its toll on his psychic...
He wanted nothing more than to jump into his bed, snuggle into one of his Marefriends and fall asleep in their embrace...
So he was honestly surprised when upon leaving the basement, he was met with the sight of Little Strongheart sitting alone by the fireplace on the sofa.
He slowly walked over and sat beside her, the petite buffalo never looking away from the fire as her head leaned onto his shoulder.
He put his hoof around her neck and sighed lightly in contentment. He really enjoyed such quiet moments...
They sat there for a while, just enjoying eachother's presence, untill Little finally broke the silence with a small chuckle...
"I originally thought you were crazy when you installed this fireplace without a reason, but now I can see the appeal...It's really relaxing to just sit here... and I like the additional warmth..." She whispered while snuggling more into the stallion.
Starfall also chuckled and rubbed her shoulder affectionately, holding her closer.
"I knew you'd understand me love. Magical heating is all fine and dandy, but sometimes a good old fire can really improve the atmosphere around the house. A hearth is associated with warmth and safety for a reason after all." He mused enjoying the moment...
Strongheart 'hmmed' at his words and continued to observe the fireplace in silence.
It was only after around fifteen minutes later that Starfall finally decided that he needed to sleep.
He gently kissed Lil on the forehead and stood up. The cute buffalo looked at him with a warm smile.
"I'll stay here for a bit more I think. You can go to bed Darling. You worked very hard today." She said and Starfall nodded, turning towards to stairway only to find himself stumped by her next words.
"Oh! I think you need to watch out Star... Fluttershy already heard that you took care of the wolves..." She gave him a last smile before turning back to the fire.
Starfall was a little confused with her words, but finally just shrugged, and went to his bedroom...
_________
There were many things the Stallion expected to find upon reaching the place, but getting pulled inside by an excited and blushing Fluttershy, wearing on her legs a set of kinky full leg socks of all things, wasn't one of his predominant guesses. Not that he wasn't used to similar actions from many of his girls, but for some unspecifiedreason, he was completely convinced that whomever was in his bedroom tonight would have been already asleep...
Maybe it was his own exhaustion speaking...
though judging by the way Fluttershy was acting, it was clear she wasn't as exhausted by the stallion, her cat like grazing over his chest with her cheek, and the way she slowly, uncertainty tried to bring the stallion towards the large bed...
Starfall felt a slight surge of energy go through his body, his magic clearly understanding his inner thoughts...He wouldn't let the adorable Pegasus down, when she used so much of he courage to do what she was doing...