Peyote's Jourrnal

Peyote's Journal
->Day 1
>Wake up. Still on the boat, it seems.
>You'd expected to wake up back in your apartment, and still keep expecting to any second now.
>A day or two ago, after hitting the sack, you found yourself in... a Wild West movie set? No, no. The genuine article... full of ponies, though.
>It had taken a while to get over the shock, especially after realizing you weren't even human anymore. At least you had talons to try pinching yourself with.
>At least the ponies were friendly enough to seem concerned about you, and even try to comfort you during your freakout
>You're a griffon now, apparently. Not quite like one from the show proper, you're a mix of a hawk and... a cougar, if you remember them from the zoo right. Same aquamarine-colored eyes as before... oddly comforting to see the same eyes staring back at you when you look in a mirror.
>You'd barely put together how to walk before a townsperso-townspony came over to help you somewhere better
>An awfully nice stallion, too. Gave you some water, helped you through your shock and meltdown, and even gave you a bit of something to wear- a poncho. It fits surprisingly well, which is nice.
>You tried to calm your nerves and talked with the stallion, explaining what, and who, you are. You're not sure if he fully believes you, but he's nice enough to listen. He says you can take his spare room for a few nights until you feel better.
>Hopefully, you'll wake up back home
(1/2)
>You woke up several hours later, to the sight of a couple Royal Guards. Evidently, you're still in Equestria. They were rounding up 'mysterious appearances', and they'd come to get you. Seeing as they were so polite, and you didn't stand a chance if they weren't, you went quietly. The stallion let you keep the poncho, though, which is nice.
>They take you to a train and usher you on. The rest is a bit of a blur, mostly because you were lost in thought.
>They take you to a port town, and hurry you to the docks. From their, you're put on the boat to go to where the 'mysterious appearances' are being gathered
>There was enough space to get some alone time on the boat, luckily. You needed some, to try and deal with all of this.

"Hey, poncho. Boat's about to dock."
>You're snapped out of your thoughts by one of the guards. Since you never really gave a name, they took to calling you that. Works, you suppose.
>You get up and move for the exit.
>As you step off, you realize you're in a much different place. this looks, and feels, a lot more like somewhere in the Deep South.
>Guess you'll have to think on your feet- paws? talons? fuck -until you manage to get more settled. Or, you'll actually wake up from this. Whichever comes first.

->Day 2
>By now it's pretty clear this isn't a dream. That, or it's a really, really deep sleep. It doesn't help you relax much, quite the opposite.
>You didn't sleep too well tonight because of that realization, and you'll probably have trouble sleeping for a while until you get over it.
>You slip your namesake back on and head out of the 'house' you slept in. House is an underststement, though. It's large, and is divided up into a good amount of 'rooms'. They can each hold two or three people, but the town's a little sparse right now.
>Apparently, though, more are on their way. At least you'll be stuck in the swamp with company, then.
>For now, you need to figure out a couple things; first and foremost, a job. You don't have any idea what the town needs right now, but you figure you could try seeing about some kind of manual labor.
>It's more or less what you did back home, anyways. The first things to come to mind are all pretty simple ones; farming, mining, construction, or woodcutting.
>Woodcutting seems to sound like the best of the four. Wish you'd had a die to roll for it, but whatever.
>You make your way to the 'office' (little more than a large-ish tent set up, with a few tables underneath it. It doubles as the embassy, until the real one is built.
>While you're waiting for a chance to head up and get things settled, you take a chance to think about the second thing on your mind; a name. Poncho's nice, but it might be a better nickname, or something.
>going by your real name feels... off, so maybe something new. It takes a bit for anything to come to mind... but you figure something out eventually.
>You're from somewhere in the SouthWest. You popped up in a Wild West-esque town. Maybe something from that environment? A cactus, maybe...
>You go over a type or two that sound alright, before getting an idea. Why not have a bit of fun with it? What're the chances they even have some of these here?
>In that case... you decide on Peyote. It's a cactus, and it sounds kind of nice.
"Next in line, please!"
>The Equestrian at the counter snaps you out of your thinking, and you approach the table. The little form on it seems to ask for name, race, age, gender.
>"Oh, right. My name's Pey-"
"Oh, I think I remember you. I helped you off the boat when you slipped yesterday! Poncho, right?"
>You sigh internally. That might stick around a little longer than intended.
>"Ehm... Peyote, but either works."
"Oh, okay! As for the other stuff..."
>You go through the rest of the form with the Equestrian easily enough. Nothing more than a few basic questions.
>"This is where I see what kinda jobs the town needs, right? Doing something might help keep me a little more at ease. Or keep me too occupied to worry much."
>The mare nods a little, and pulls out a second page
"Beat me to it! Any talents or past experience, or any preferences?"
>You mull it over for a second, before responding
>"Not much that'd help here. I'm used to physical work, and I've got a bit of experience heading a team. Maybe something like... Woodcutting?"
"Sure! We've got some basic supplies here for you all, so there should be some axes!"
>She finishes up the form and files it aeay in a folder, before directing you to where you can get the supplies you'll need.
>At least you're getting somewhere. You're a lumberjack, and you're okay(ish).

->Day 3, Day 4
>Seems you're a little behind on some of your entries. You would've put something in yesterday, but... you needed some time to relax.
>You and the other lumberjacks get to work pretty early on Day 3, and make a good bit of progress
>Everyone's more or less used to horse bodies now, so no more stumbling. You and the others get things down pretty well, and you end up dipping out a little after lunch. You agreed to help Griff out with some kind of rescue earlier that morning, anyways.
>You try flying a little on the way over, but none of it goes well. You think you're doing a little better than before, but you're still eating dirt, so you've got a ways to go.
>You ask around at the embassy, and one of the guards is nice enough to give you some armor they had handy. It's old stuff- just some cloth and leather- but bad armor's better than no armor, definitely. You slip into it, grab your axe, and head to meet up with the others.
>The group seems pretty decent. A unicorn mare, a pegasus stallion (Stray Shot, you think?), Griff, and an Earth Pony (Homily?). Griff seemed decently optimistic about the group, so things felt alright.
>While she startled the hell out of you when she popped up into the group from the wilderness, Curiosity was nice to have along, too. You've never seen her in town before, so she must have decided to live outside the Outpost.
>Anyways, you and the rest of the group got moving towards where the group of ponies you're trying to rescue was last seen. After an... embarrassingly bad time getting across the river for almost all involved, you followed the path further into the jungle.
>That's where you found the first two... well, it was probably two. It was difficult to tell, with the bodies being as eviscerated as they were. It didn't even look like they were hunted to be eaten, just for enjoyment.
>While sickened, the whole group agreed to press on after hearing the cries of a survivor. You hurried along after the racket to find yet another dead pony, and a single survivor restrained by the... thing, holding it.
>The 'thing' in question was an abomination, to put it simply. Indescribably horrific and truly monstrous, it was no doubt the source of all the deaths. Luckily, as scary as it looked, it wasn't invincible. You and Griff hacked its hindlegs to uselessness, and
Stray Shot scorched the monster. Curiosity was knocked out cold, but one of the group was able to pick her up.
>With the survivor saved, the whole party decided to take the better sounding option and leave, before the fire made that too difficult. Unsure if the monster was well enough to follow, the party elected to try travelling down the river.
>The river wasn't too rough or fast, so things went alright. Everyone was (mostly) fine, including the rescued mare. As you all drew closer to town, Griff grew suspicious of the survivor. His suspicions were confirmed when she transformed into a hideous mass of flesh, and attempted to force herself in the front gate.
>It... ate? Stray Shot, but you and the others managed to free him, killing the aberration in the process. Good riddance, in your opinion.
>Having been thoroughly terrified by the day's events, you elected to try and sleep it off for a couple hours. It helped a little bit, but not too much.
>You managed to get yourself up and about for a little later, though. You had another chat with Key Tapper, Stray Shot, and Sameer. Apparently, the big bird's looking into medical work. Key Tapper's a little unsure of what he can do, but you try to reassure him that he'll find something. Everyone will, eventually.
>With all the... action yesterday, and the exhaustion today, you never were able to take that Northern Lights guy to look around outside town. Tomorrow, maybe.

>>Entry 4
>You'd planned on doing these daily, at one point. Turns out, sometimes there just isn't enough in a single day to warrant an entry. Best to do it when it feels right.
>Things've been going... well enough, it seems, aside from the occasional bizzare occurance. You've been building up strength thanks to woodcutting and lumber hauling, and you've even gotten the hang of flight... sorta.
>It's already getting muggy out, and it's only... May? Late April? No, definitely May. Either way, you aren't too excited for the summer.
>Aside from woodcutting and flight practice, you've had a few things of note happen. For starters, you've really been getting into the swing (no pun intended) of your hand-to-hand. The talons definitely help.
>Secondly, you encountered a... wolfpony? More like a Timberwolf-pony, honestly. You, Key, Griff, Lights, and a couple others went after it. It went pretty roughly, but you all managed to capture it! Which is great... it can get the help it needs, and the town doesn't have to fear it.
>Next, you finally went to a party! Not like, a celebratory one, or some mind of special event, or anything like that.
>Just Griff, Mich, a bunch of other griffons (mostly), and Homily. It was... fun, if a little destructive. You drank, sang, ate, and hauled the utterly inebriated Grif away from the insuing crackdown. He and a couple others spent the night at your place, sleeping off the alcohol.
>You managed to break your axe. Your fault, entirely. Swung wide, slammed into some god-awfully hard rock, and fucked the shaft up. It took a lot of begging to get it put on a new shaft, relatively free of charge.
>Lastly, as of late, you've taken to... exploring, a bit. Trying new things.
>You spent a considerable time trying to work out how to communicate better with the wildlife. You see so nuch of it on the work, it isn't difficult to find. Getting it to listen... That'll be hard.
>Though, just like flight; you can only get better from here! Though, you oughta try finding a book or two on it. Maybe the library can help? Speaking of which;
>You chatted with Lights in the library. He seems to spend a lot of his time there, with the goal of being an attorney, or something. Maybe he can help!

>>Entry 5
>Hard to believe you've been here for three weeks now... guess this isn't some sort of bizarre dream. You'd just sorta slid into a habit, and lost track of time. A good deal of stuff's happened, though, enough to feel like writing an entry's worthwhile.
>For starters, you finally decided to work towards something other than woodcutting. You met another really cool gryphon, named Whiskeyjack! He's gonna help you wrangle and rear critters! The two of you made an animal pen, and got a business set up, and everything!
>Getting ahead of yourself, though. A week or so back, you got the idea to try animal handling. You saw plenty of critters out in the wild, some nice, some not so nice... but almost all of them seemed useful, in one way or another.
>So, you figured... why not try wrangling some of them? Even if they aren't worth domesticating, they've got plenty to offer
>The first couple days you really... didn't do too well. You made attempts, and it coulda gone worse, but not /much/ worse. You didn't even get all that scratched up! Just a few bites here and there, and minor enough that all it took was a bit of first aid from Sameer.
>It really started looking better when you met Whiskey! He was even more enthusiastic about it than you were! It was his idea to build a pen, and, since you aren't the best at names, he came up with it; "The Bear Necessities"!
>...Yeah. It sounds a little silly. But, the both of you are pretty silly, anyways. The setup went through alright, and, within a couple days, the two of you had put together a really, really solid animal pen! All the while, you took some time to practice wranglin'. So did Whiskey!
>And, to make it even better, you two ran into a couple other folks that might be able to help out! The first of two was Flax, a female gryphon that looks oddly similar to you. She's apparently a tanner, and a leatherworker. While her experience might've been with smaller critters back home, she's pretty certain she can learn to work anything you bring her.
>The second of two, is Ceres. Some Zigress that seems to be a pretty decent cook, from the sound of it! She mentioned she'd want some of the meat, and bones, of whatever you caught (provided you killed it). Seems like a pretty sweet deal!
>Luckily enough, the two of you got your chance soon after! Apparently, the town and the embassy wanted some space near the town cleared out, so that the town could expand its reach. They'd heard rumors of big critters, and odd-seeming crystals. You and Whiskey hopped into it, along with a few other townspeople. You recognized one or two, like Stray!
>You split in to three groups; some of the town guard, you, Whiskey, Avion, and Bit, and the fourth group which was... Stray Shot, Tea Time, and a couple others, whose names escape you right now (I sure feel bad 'bout that!)
>Each group took a different route, and it seems you all bumped into trouble. Your group ran into a Wyvern, and a Crystal Monster! Luckily, they seemed focused on each other, and you all slipped away. You made it past some... breeding grounds? for the crystal monsters, and met up with the guard group, who was right in the middle of a crockodile fight. With the help of your group, they managed to subdue it! (Whiskey even tied it up!)
>You disposed of it quickly, since something that big couldn't be left unconscious, and the somewhat injured guard party made their way back to town, carcass in tow. You all decided to loop around and find the third group, who ran into... some sort of bird-dinosaur thing. Luckily, they seemed mostly fine! Wasn't as tough of a critter as the crocks, it seemed.
>As the two groups made their way back, you all came upon the scene of the Wyvern/Monster fight. The Wyvern'd lost, but fucked the monster up pretty dang bad. The group decided it'd be best to take out the monster while it was injured, so you could clear the area.
>The fight proved tough, even while the beastie was injured. Luckily, you all managed to lure it out of the cave and trip it, and after fumbling about, Tea Time managed to blast the hell outta the thing!
>Too bad she knocked herself out doing it, though. You and Stray eased her on to your back and you took her back to the clinic. Other than that, it went pretty well. None of the guards got hurt bad, either!

>>Entry 5-2
>Figured it'd be best to split this up into two parts, just to look neater.
>Anywho, the aftermath went alright, too. You went and checked in on the Guards, and Tea Time. They were all recovering pretty well, it seemed! Tea Time seems like an awfully nice person, and the two of you got to chat for a while.
>You managed to get Ceres some of the meat and bones (for the marrow?) to Ceres, and delivered the rest to Flax. She gave a rather interesting, if gory, display and explanation of her process as she skinned it. She seemed real good at all 'a that, too! She said the hide'd be worked in a few days, so you're gonna go check tomorrow.
>Aside from that, things've been going pretty smooth. You had a relaxing night chatting with Mich, Sameer, and... Addy? while perching on clouds. Well, most of you on clouds
>Sameer decided you were a better perch... at least he's pretty cozy with all that fluff. Mich and Sameer even managed some neat tricks with cloud manipulation! All you managed to do was rake the cloud, but it was neat to see what the other two did!
>You've been keeping up your wrangling and handling training with Whiskey, and your hand-to-hand with Sameer. Along with that, you've gotten way better at flying. You can stay off the ground a pretty good while, and you can even manage to hover pretty well!
>The house is definitely more full with Whiskey living there (in addition to you and Sameer) but it's been... nice. Even if you don't talk about the deeper stuff, or any big things, it's just nice to have other people around.
>You better get to bed, though. Long day of work tomorrow!