Herp-The one and only moth. Ch.3 "At a disadvantage..."

>”So then, ready to go?”

“No, no I’m not. But I have no say on the matter. So I’m going anyways.”

>”Correct. Glad to see you’re still obedient.”

“Y’know, you’re kind of an ass for an Elder. Anyone ever tell you that?”

>”Only one pony. You will be meeting her shortly.”

>*This Elder. This Elder right here…*

“Was it Luna or Celestia?”

>”Celestia, of course. Only recently did Luna re-join the thrown.”

*Oh right. That’s a thing that happened.*

>”I expect Celestia to be her nonchalant self as usual. But I have no idea what to expect of Luna. I have never met her and I hear she’s quite old fashioned. That’s where your increased stature and obvious connection to nature will help you the most. They should take you for a proper magical being.”

>*Despite not actually having magic at my control.*

“Alright, alright. Go to Celestia and chill with her. Go to Luna and tighten myself to unhealthy levels.”

>”If you are lucky, Celestia will schedule for you to meet them both at the same time. I imagine these negotiations will not be done overnight. So we’ll be expecting you within the month. If you do not return or do not send word until then, we will send a search party.”

“Right, right. Y’know, I was expecting more of a going away celebration than this. Just saying goodbye to you seems rather lack luster.”

>”Every moth is asleep during the day. You leaving this way shows humility to all of the moths in the village.”

“Teaching the youngsters old values are you?”

>”I do my best.”

“Wellp, see you in a month, old moth.”

>”Hopefully sooner.”

>*And takeoff. Damn does it feel good to fly again. I can remember the first few evenings with this healed wing. It was hard as heck to control myself, the leafy texture is a lot heavier and smoother than my full wing. It was almost like learning how to fly as I was just going into maturity.*

>*This isn’t going to be a long journey. Despite the forest being expansive, crossing it by high flight is no trouble at all. Regular moths can’t fly this high, but a scout can reach almost as high as a Pegasus. Some have been known to surpass pegasi, but usually we’re a lot slower and we can’t fly as high.*

>*My first target is Canterlot. As soon as I get there I’m going to have to find a guard pony to help me out. With luck, he will either take me straight to Celestia or at least send word to her right away. Here’s to hoping he’s even SEEN a moth pony before. Let alone one like me. It would also be nice not to meet up with anypony on my way there. That way I won’t have any explaining to do.*

>*Maybe I should just wait for the evening and go find a batpony instead? They’ve definitely seen plenty of moths and I wouldn’t be risking meeting anypony along the way. But then again, I will be risking Luna’s unpredictable demeanor. No, going to Celestia seems best.*

>*After that… Wait. What am I supposed to do after that? I give word to a guard or Celestia and I have to wait till I get a meeting with Celestia or Luna. But where?? There are no Mothpony outposts outside of the forest, none that I’ve been informed of anyway. Am I to just wander in the park or something??*

“Groooan…”

>*I’m going to have to wander around the park aren’t I? Well, I can rely on luck once more and maybe request some lodgings from Celestia. Oh wait. I’ve got some bits! I can use those to buy a room in an inn or something. Hmmm, but what inn would let me in? I imagine the ponies won’t be too keen on letting me sleep in their inns’ looking like I do. Uggh… I’ll figure it out once I’m there.*

>A few hours of flight and plot unrelated thought later.

>*Finally! Canterlot! I can see it already! Or at least I presume that’s it. Now to just get there and find a guard pony. Shouldn’t be too hard. Just fly straight towards the castle, that can’t go wrong. I hope.*

>*Hang on, guard ponies are coming straight for me. At an alarming speed I might add! Oh shit I think I messed up! Okay, stop. You’ve seen them, they’ve seen you see them, you both know you’re aware of one another, they have no reason to bust you yet. I hope…*

>”Identify yourself. Who or WHAT are you?”

>-Gulp-*Okay, royal face on. Need to make this look good.*

“I am Pollen Seed, I come on the behalf of the mothponies to negotiate business with the royal sisters.”

>”I have never seen a mothpony like you before. I ask again, what are you?”

“A mothpony. Or rather, I am their designated protector, enchanted caretaker and God of the rot forest. They rely on me and me alone to keep them safe from the rot that surrounds them. And today, I have come here in hopes that I may not need do so any longer.”

>”God of the rot forest? That title goes to Saturniidae, their GODDESS. Not some mutated moth plant thing that’s just decided to turn up out of the blue. If you were truly a God, wouldn’t you have ways to communicate with Celestia without trying to fly in unannounced and straight into her guard?”

“Although your knowledge of our mythology is commendable. YOU WILL WATCH WHAT YOU SAY TO A GOD. Tis indeed true that I come unannounced, but the circumstances are too dire as not to react quickly. I would reach out to Celestia through the plants, but the rot has left me little room to move through the plants and I simply do not have the time to use my weakened powers.”

>”So you say. What are the dire circumstances then?”

“More and more moths keep dying to the rot every day. I cannot hold back the rot from them as they enter to hunt for food. Although I have helped cultivate some nectar providing plants, it is nowhere near enough for them survive. They go out hunting for nectar every week or so, and almost always return in weaker numbers. I cannot bear to let my creations suffer so any longer. So I come to the royal sisters with a request. A request to make space in their kingdom for at least one village of the moths.”

>”So you come on behalf of the mothponies? All of them?”

“Yes.”

>”The problem with you moths is that many of you come this way for the exact same reason with the same words. Yet every time we come to an agreement, it turns out the agent was of a single village alone, with none of the others informed of what is happening. Why should I trust you any more than I would trust a rogue moth?”

>”My exterior alone should already be a strong enough reason. Should we have this conversation on the ground, a unicorn would confirm my magical aura. But as you are not convinced, mayhap a demonstration of my powers will change your tone?”

>“Surprise me.” – with a roll of his eyes.

>*Good thing I anticipated this. Alright then, let’s see how you react to a face full of ROT. Best part about being a moth pony, you get to be dusty and no one’s much the wiser. I’ve stored plenty of dust from the rot within my leg tufts. One blow through them and BAM, his whole face is infected and stinging.*

>You fly up close to the guard and look him dead in the eye. Raise your hooves next to his face and blow into them. The dust scatters and goes straight through the guards face.

>”… So you can make dust out of your tufts, big whoop.”

>*Wait for it.*

>”You moths are always dusty.”

>*Wait for iiit…*

>”Without those tufts of fur on your legs, you wouldn’t even have been able to do-… Whoa. Wait, ow that hurts. HNN, my whole FACE stings!”

>*And just like that, all of them are terrified.*

>”What the hell did you do to me?!?”

”I’ve spread the rot on your face as punishment for acting so rudely towards me. You well deserve it as your tone towards me is not acceptable.”

>”SWEET CELESTIA THIS HURTS. OKAY, FINE, YOU WIN. I BELIEVE YOU. JUST GET THIS DAMN ROT OFF BEFORE I TURN INTO A HUSK!”

”Worry not then, I feel you’ve felt the pain enough. Come here.”

>*The matter of removing the rot is simple. Caressing the newly infected area with my wing covers the entire infected area. And as I am immune to the rot myself, the dust from my wings counteracts the dust of the rot.

>*It’s fun seeing their concerned faces. But I’m not here to strike fear. There we go, all done now.*

>”Hoh… Oh thank you for your mercy. That feels much better.”

“You are welcome. And now, will you take me to Celestia?”

>”Yes, yes. P-please, follow me. Speedy, go report straight to Celestia that Pollen Seed is coming. Tell her everything that happened here. The rest of you, head back to your posts. I will escort Pollen to Celestia by myself.”

>*SCORE! Strike one for Celestia’s cunningness. Convincing the guards is one thing though. Convincing Celestia is going to be on a whole ‘nother league.*

>*Whoa this is a huge castle.*

>*You’d think after 10 minutes of walking we’d be there by now. But not, apparently we’re nowhere near our destination yet.*

>*Whoa that’s a huge door!*

>*Seriously, its bigger than some of the buildings I’ve seen in my village!*

>*WHOA that’s a long corridor!*

>*Talk about a long buildup. This entire corridor could fit pretty much all of what’s left of the moths.*

>*WHOOOA… That is one magical being…*

>*I knew she’d be majestic but not to THIS extent. Compared to her, I’m just a dirty peasant… Which I am… Better not make that apparent. Kneel before the princess and keep your stature straight. Wouldn’t want to disrespect her even if she’s as chill as Elder says.*

>*That guard’s whispering something to her… And she’s saying something back to him. Why the secrecy? Either way, at least she looks happy. I wonder why. Oop, here comes the guard.*

>”The princess will speak to you right now. You are to make your point and she will decide whether you are worth the full meeting.”

”So this right now is just to see if I’m worth her time?”

>”Precisely. Good luck to you, Pollen. I hope Celestia decides to help you.”

“Yeeah, so do I…” – you say as you stand in awe.

>*So the guard walks off and closes the door behind him. What now?*

>”Pollen Seed, is it?”

>*Game face on.*

”Yes. That is me.”

>”So you come to me in request to let your moth ponies live alongside Equestrian ground?”

”Not alongside, but inside.”

>”Yes, of course. What are your reasons for this?”

”My moth ponies keep dying every week to that damned forest and I alone am too weak to do a thing about it. I keep small patches of the forest clear of the rot so they may survive within them, but those patches hold little to no food that they need. They go out hunting every other week and each time come back in weaker numbers. I cannot bear to let this continue any longer and wish for them to transfer somewhere safer. I plead a space within your nation so at least one village may transfer.”

>”I see. A humble request. A single village would be no trouble to transfer. What of the others?”

”It would be best if all of them were granted space, but if only one is allowed, I will continue looking after the villages left behind. With at least some weight removed from my heart knowing at least one village is safe.”

>”How many villages in total then?”

”12 in total.”

>”Can you guarantee the safe transfer of moths through the forest after I grant permission?”

”I can clear paths from each village out of the forest.*

>”You seem to have this thought out.”

>*This is going good.*

“I would not come requesting a room to an inn without knowing how to move my items into it.”

>-Soft laugh-”No. I guess you would not.”

>*VERY good.*

”So, will we have a meeting to discuss the details then?”

>”Don’t rush yet, Pollen. Although I realize that is what you do, being a scout.”

-Gulp-*Wait what? OH NO.*

>”But right now, I still have some questions.”

>*Oh no. The jig is up. HOW DID SHE KNOW?? Oh shit I’m almost trembling already. MISSION FAILURE. ABORT. ABORT.*

>”I see a sudden change in your posture, Pollen. You need not worry, you’re already here, discussing this with me. Whether I know you are a scout or not obviously did not matter 2 minutes ago.”

“S-So does that mean that you’ll still hear me out?”

>”Yes, yes it does.”