Brute Almighty

>I'm up before the sun.

>I'm tired and cold as hell.

>Throwing on my pack, I dust the embers of my firepit and head off to town.

>Thankfully the wind is generally calm this morning.

>It still sucks, though.

>Trekking through some freshly-fallen snow, I make my way to town.

>A loud yawn escapes as it starts to become light out.

>Basking in the warmth of the sunlight would be awesome had it not been totally concealed by cloud cover.

>Hardly anyone is on the street at this time.

>Not surprising.

>If I could sleep late in a warm and secure home-

>No, fuck that.

>No self-pity.

>Onward to the sawmill.

 

>Cherenkov is sitting outside as I roll up.

>Several others walk away as I arrive, signifying that I must be late.

>Damn it all.

>Cherenkov sees me coming and waves me over.

>"Alright lets make this fast," he says.

"What do I do?"

>"Take this," he says, reaching behind him and giving you and axe.  "And that cart there," he points.  "And go cut trees."

"Point blank?"

>"That's right."

"Well that's easy enough."

>"You'll also be paired with another new guy."

"Who might that be?"

>"Big guy.  Goes by the name 'Brute'."

"Fitting.  What's he like?"

>"He's alright, if not a bit awkward."

>Cherenkov leans to the side to look past you.

>"And there he is now.  Brute!  Come here!"

>I look to where Cherenkov was waving and saw a large earth pony trotting towards us.

"You sure his name isn't 'Brick'?" I ask.

 

>"Hello, Cheren," says Brute.

>He also nods in my direction.

>I return the gesture and await further instruction.

>"So uh..." Brute rubs the back of his head.  "What do I do?"

>This is your new partner," says Cheren.  "I'll leave him to fill you in on the job."

>"Mmk."

>Cherenkov walked away, leaving the two of us alone.

>I had to look up to stare this bastard in the eyes.

>He just stared and my ears went flat against my head.

>"Well, uh..."

>He held out a hoof for me to shake.

>"Nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

>Feeling more at ease, I meet him halfway.

"What's up?  The name's Blue."

"Just Blue?" he asked.

>I let out an annoyed sigh.

"Yeah."

>"Well I'm just Brute."

"How's it going, Brute?"

 

>I release his hoof and walk over to our cart.

"So is this all we need?"

>Brute walks over and peers inside.

>It's empty save for some rope and another large axe.

>I deposit the axe Cherenkov gave me into the cart.

>"I guess so?  What, we just chop down whatever?"

>I shrug.

"That's all I'm aware of.  Lets get going."

>"Alrighty then."

>Walking around to the front of the cart, I get myself hooked up.

>"Hold up," said Brute.  "Let me pull the cart.  I'm bigger.  You don't need to do it."

>I wave a hoof at him.

"Nah, it's cool.  I got it."

>Brute let out a sigh.

>"Well then I'm pulling it back when it's full.  Deal?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure thing."

>A quick hoof bump and we take off down the road towards the farms.

 

>"So Mr. Blue," started Brute.  "What do you think of your new body and home?"

"Well.  A little pissed off that I lost my hands.  If I had magic to compensate then it wouldn't be too bad."

>"You do know that you can use your wings sort of like a pair of hands, right?"

"I use them more as an extra set of arms to hold my pack."

>I wiggle my pack around a bit to emphasize.

>We take a left at the intersection and walk past the farms towards the forest on the east side of town.

>"Do you know how much we'll be getting paid?" ask Brute.

"I was told we'll be getting paid in food.  That's alright by me."

>"What the fuck?  Dude, food is free.  We have an inn.  Who's in charge?  Cheren?"

"I was told this by the dude at the town hall.  Ikea.  'Rations for those who work for the town', he said."

>Brute let out a sigh.

>"I need to have a chat with him."

"Well I need the food so I'm willing to put in some work to balance it out."

 

>We come upon what used to be the edge of the forest but is not just a field of stumps.

>"So what did you do back on Earth?" Brute asked.

"Wierd.  No one's ever asked me that before.  It's always, 'What do you do now?'.  But to answer your question, I was an avid outdoorsman.  Still am.  That's partial to why I live in the woods west of town."

>"Neat.  I was enlisted in the military and waiting to go to boot camp.  Although besides that I was a big nerd and just stayed in my room killing Nazi zombies..."

>Brute let out a depressive sigh.

>I reply with a short laugh.

"Hell yeah.  We need a zombie apocalypse here because Earth failed to deliver.  I hope someone screws up a spell or something and raises the corpses from the cemetery."

>"Oh yeah.  I would love that."

>We both seem to fall into a little starry-eyed state while fantasizing about slaughtering hordes of undead horses.

 

>After a few more minutes, we finally find ourselves at the tree line.

>I drop my cart and stretch a bit.

"Welp.  Lets get started, I guess."

>"Fantastic!" shouts Brute.

>I gotta admit, that made me jump a little.

>Brute went into the wagon to retrieve the larger of the two axes.

>Walking over to the nearest tree, he waste no time in burying his axe head deep into the tree.

"Jesus Christ," I comment.  "Remind me not to piss you off.  I'd prefer not to be eaten."

>Brute repeatedly hacks away at his tree.

>"Blue please.  I'm about as dangerous as a box of kittens."

"Right..." I muttered to myself.

>Pulling my own axe out of the cart, I get to work on a seperate tree.

>After a brief silence, Brute asks another question.

>"So who was your favorite pony back on Earth?"

>I stop my work and stand silent for a bit.

"Honestly?  I can't even remember.  It's been a while and I haven't thought about it since before I got here."

>I continue hacking at the tree.

"I remember falling on my face in Canterlot and getting shipped out by customs.  This town was already here for a little over a week when I arrived.  How about you?"

>"I got here... Last week."

"Holy shit."

>"No, wait.  Last month."

"Oh, haha.  I was gonna say..."

>"Yeah, I couldn't speak for the first week I was here."

>The two of us share in a brief laugh.

 

>The cracking of a falling tree is followed immediately by a crash.

>Brute gets to work on pruning off the branches.

"So how you holding up?" you continue.

>"Pretty good.  Got myself house, a mare...  All I need now is some bits and I'll be ready to spend the rest of my life with the one I love."

"Whoa.  Check out Mr. Stud Muffin over here."

>Brute stops for a bit and blushes.

>"Blue please...  What about you?  Got a mare yet?"

"Yeah that's not exactly on my list of priorities right now."

>"Then what are you after?"

"A home."

>"Ahh."

"Cabin in the woods?  Hell yeah.  Lifelong dream with the opportunity made possible by being here."

>"Well you should talk to Mr. Ikea.  He got me set up with what I needed to make my own home."

>My tree collapses to the ground and I begin working on the branches.

"Screw that noise.  I want to earn my home.  Not be handed one.  Although I'm a bit worried I may be forced to move back to town due to the weather."

>"Well it's only for the winter.  Where are you sleeping currently?"

"I got a little stick hut mortared in mud in the eastern forest."

>"Stick hut?"

"It's cozier than it sounds."

>"Ehh...  I'll stick to my tree house."

"You have a tree house?"

>"Right next to the river.  Three-by-four cabinets for food and plates, a stove, 3 widnows, a chest, hammock, and the most beautiful mare in the world."

>He closes his eyes when he says, "the most beautiful mare".

>"Paradise," he says with a large exhale.

 

"I don't recall ever seeing one, albeit I haven't been looking around too hard. And I think I'll just stick to being single for a while. The whole horse thing creeps me out."

>"Ahh.  So I take it you've never 'clopped' before?" asked Brute with a grin.

>I give him a blank stare and hold up my front hooves.

"Kinda hard with no hands, dude," I say rather flatly.

>"Yeah ain't that the truth..."

>The cracking of a tree alarms me as Brute gets his second one cut.

>"Timber!" he shouts as it crashes to the ground.

>I sigh in relief when it didn't land on me and after I see that our cart wasn't demolished by it.

>Several hours later and we find ourselves staring at a nice stack of pruned logs.

>Getting them into a pile is one thing.

>Loading them onto the cart is another.

>I have to push and strain to get my end of the log onto the cart.

>Brute gets his up effortlessly.

"Okay, Lenny..." I remark.

>"Lenny?" asked Brute, tilting his head a bit.

"Mice and Men?"

>"Ooh...  Yeah I never seen it.  Or read it."

"It's alright."

>"Lenny's the 'special' dude, right?"

"Yeah.  The big strong bastard."

>"You're saying I have retard strength?"

"Meh," I shrug.

>Brute gave a laugh.

>"Yeah I am pretty retarded at times so it's fitting."

 

>Loading up the last of the cut trees into the cart, I toss my axe up and into the back along side them.

>Walking around to the front, I begin to hook myself up to the cart.

>"Is this all we have to do today?" asked Brute.

>He looked to the front and saw me finishing getting hooked up.

>"Oh no you don't," he said, chopping his axe into one of the logs and marching up to me.

"What?"

>"You rest.  I got this.  We agreed.  I get to take the cart home."

"I got this," I told him as I tried walking forward.

>I tug hard, visibly straining my body.

>Brute lets out an annoyed sigh.

>After a minute or so, I wear myself out and collapse after only moving a couple feet.

"Okay..." I say through ragged breaths.  "Fuck this."

>I stand up and disengage myself from the cart.

>"Alright then," said Brute as he stepping in your place and hooks himself to the cart.

>He starts walking with me beside him.

>"So..." he starts.

"Oh.  To answer your question, I think so.  Cherenkov just said to 'go cut wood'."

>"Well it could be worse.  We could be miners."

"Yeah, screw that.  I prefer to be outside and not suffocated."

>I try to look at the sky to get the time of day, but the cloud cover hides the sun.

"At least we aren't out here past dark," I remark.  "It can't be no later than mid day.  We haven't been out here that long."

>"Why don't you go ahead and try to get rid of that cloud, Mr. Pegasus?" asked Brute.

"Yeah...  Lets just keep going, shall we?" I say rather embarassed.

 

>Past the stumps and towards the farms we go.

>A gust of wind blows and hits us in the face.

>It causes me to shiver rather violently.

"God damn, man," I comment.

>"Dude?  You okay?" asked Brute, rather concerned.

"It's fucking cold.  How much fur do you got on you that you don't feel that?"

>He shrugged.

>"I feel it," he said with a slight shiver.  "But I try not to think about it."

"I could use a hat..." I say.  "Or some pants...  All I got is this here scarf.  It used to be my tent..."

>"Wow dude.  You've been misinformed."

"How so?"

>"First off, you can get a free coat from the sleeping halls."

"I wouldn't say misinformed more than just a lack of being passed information.  Although honestly it's hard to hear the word around town when you disappear for several months."

>"True.  And second,"

>Brute stops for a moment and removes his coat.

>"Take this."

>He droops it over me, cutting off my vision of the world.

>The coat falls over my eyes and even reaches down off my back to touch the ground.

>It's like trying to put on Santa's suit.

>"I'll get another one.  You keep this," says Brute.

>I shake my head free and inspect the gift.

"Yeah...  You keep your big ass coat.  I'll find something eventually."

>I decline his gesture of good will and hand it back to him.

>Brute laughs and puts his coat back on.

>Reaching the lumber yard, we find that Cherenkov is nowhere to be found.

"Uh..."

>"I guess we start cutting...?" suggested Brute.

"Screw that noise.  I was hired to chop trees."

>"Alright..."

"I vote we leave the damn thing."

>"Sounds like a plan!"

>Brute offers up a high hoof which I return.

>Taking one last look around, we take the axes out and place them next to the cart before we leave.

"They'll find it eventually."

>"Indeed."

 

>Back down the road and away from the sawmill.

>So much walking in this damn town.

>"Alright, so."

>I raise an eyebrow to Brute.

>"How's about you shoe me this mud hut of yours?"

>I hesitate on an answer but eventually decide.

>Fuck it.

"Sure," I say with a shrug.  "Can we make a stop first?  I need to grab something."

>"Yeah, dude.  Absolutely."

>I take the lead as Brute follows to the side.

>We take a left at the intersection, walking back in the direction of the forest.

>This roused a bit of suspicion in Brute.

>At least until I stopped at the front gate to Rain Drop's farm and held it open for him.

>He trotted through and I followed.

>As we came upon the farmhouse, Brute stood back while I went up to the porch and knocked on the door.

>Rain Drop answered.

>"Hello?" she asked.

"How's it going, Rain Drop.  Just stopping by to grab my rations like you said."

>"Hi, Rain Drop!  Nice to see you feeling better!"

>Rain Drop leaned to the side to see the large pony standing behind me and waving at her.

>"Hi, Brute.  Thank you."

>Then she returned her attention to me.

>"Please follow me."

>Rain Drop steps past me and down the steps.

>Brute and I follow close behind to the windmill.

>"Please wait out here," said Rain Drop as she stepped inside and closed the door.

 

>I take a seat and stare up at the windmill, watching it go round and round.

>Brute seems to be doing the same thing and asks, "So how do you think these things work?"

"I don't know.  Wind turns the fan, fan turns a rock, rock grinds the wheat?"

>"Sounds good to me."

>We sit in silence for a few more minutes.

>Rain Drops seems to be taking her sweet time.

>It's getting a bit chillier out here.

>Rain Drop finally emerges from the wind mill with a sack of flour between her teeth.

>She sets it down in front of you with a smile.

>"Here you are.  Three bread loaves-worth of flour."

"Thank you very much, Rain."

>I slip my pack off as Brute takes the sack of flour.

>Opening up the pack, Brute lowers the flour inside.

>I close it and throw it up onto my back once more, looping my wings through the straps.

>"So will that be everything?" asked Rain Drop.

"Yup.  Thanks again.  See you tomorrow."

>"Bye Rain Drop," said Brute.

>"Bye, guys.  See you later."

>Rain Drop went back to her farm house as myself and Brute left the property.

"Good to go?" I asked Brute.

>"After you," he replied.

 

>We cross the bridge over the frigid waters of the river.

>There are significantly more ponies out and about this time of day as opposed to this morning.

>Brute sighs.

>"Sometimes I hate this town."

>I turn my head to him and raise an eyebrow.

>That was random as hell.

"What?  Why?"

>"I don't know," he shrugged.  "I'm sort of hated around here."

"I'm almost in the same boat.  I can probably everyone I know on one hand.  It's hard to make friends when you isolate yourself as I do."

>"True."

>We make our way through town and out the east gate.

"Hope you don't mind the walk," I inform Brute.

>"Well what else am I gonna do?" he said jokingly.

>Trying to walk though the snow after we leave the main path is fairly difficult.

>I try to keep to my already trodden path while Brute just plows his own.

 

>We eventually come upon a small clearing with my hut on the edge of the treeline.

>"Huh...  I had no idea this was even here," said Brute as he looked around.

"Yeah.  It's kinda nice."

>I walk over to my hut, pull the curtain aside, and look inside.

"Uh, oh.  We may have a bit of a problem."

>"What's that?"

"I don't think there's room for two in here.  Not to mention that I doubt you can get through the door.  But if you want to take a peek inside, you're more than welcome to."

>"Yeah, sure."

>Brute walked up to the door and stuck his head in up to his shoulders.

>There really isn't much to look at.

>A small firepit on one side and a bed of pine boughs on the other.

"Hey wait.  I think I just got an idea."

>Getting behind him and taking a few steps back, I gallop forward and slam into Brute from behind.

>"Gyahh!" he shouts  as he's forced through the door and to the wall opposite of him.

>I fall into a crumpled heap behind him.

"Hey, it worked!"

>Looking back at the door, I find the curtain torn down and the edges of door frame were blown out.

"Aw man..."

>"Ow..." groaned Brute as he picked himself up.  "All I needed was to just see inside," he said with a laugh.

>He couldn't stand with the short ceiling, so he resorted to just lying down against the wall.

>I took a seat on my makeshift bed.

>"So nice place you got," complimented Brute.  "Not too shabby."

"It's a lot cozier when the fire's going."

>"I believe it."

>We sit in silence for a good minute.

>This is awkward.

"Well that's about everything.  There ain't much else I want to do."

>"Alright.  We should hang out sometime."

"I don't have a problem with that, but I may have some prior plans and obligations to attend to."

>"That's fine.  Any time you like."

 

>I back out of the expanded hole in the wall to allow Brute space to exit.

"Alrighty then.  I guess I'll see you later."

>"Yup.  Later, dude."

>Brute takes off back to town and I go back inside.

>Looking over the damage to the front of the hut, I could easily patch it up provided I get some more mud.

>The problem is, I'll have to wait for it to get above freezing before that happens.

>Trying to tack the curtain back up, it doesn't hold the same area over the door as it used to.

>Damn it all.

>Well at least I got some dinner.

>Pulling the sack of flour out of my pack, I also pull out my bottle of water.

>Awesome now I just need-

>Crap.  I don't have a bowl to mix it in.

>Come to think of it, I don't have any pans or an oven to bake it either.

>I look at the sack of flour at my hooves and then I look over to my firepit.

>Sighing deeply, I take a seat on my bed.

"God, I hate everything..." I say in a very annoyed voice.