The "Cracked" nut (Appleloosa)

[Xiee]

The night had fallen as the moon slowly rose across the horizon. Cracker had thanked Luna that it was a full moon. This would have definitely made their search easier. With a firefly torch light on hoof, the two made it past the stampede trail near the Apple orchards. Cracker had recognized that the soil was moist enough to definitely grow some nuts. Looking at his pouch... he had 3 left. He had used the last one to quell his urge before they started the journey. He looked at Val and he was grateful that he was at his side.

"Val... I'm really thankful that you're here."

[ShadowStorm88]

Val grinned back cheerfull, as he said "No prob buddy!! I wasnt gonna let ya go through this alone"! Staring out over what he assumed were nut plants, he breathed in the cool air of the nite. Sighing, he smiled "Heh, well this certaintlly is a nice night for getting some nuts". Pointing over at the plants, he said "ALright, dosent look like any dogs are around; so follow me". Val took the lead as he got down low, looking left and right around the empty desert since he knew that Diamond Dogs were extremelty terriotorial and cuold jump out at any time and surprise the living Celestia outta the two of em. Best be sure to keep it down so that way they could avoid a problem.

[Xiee]

The two have made it to the outskirts of town and headed towards the apple orchard. The moon was on the rise and lights from Applelossa could be seen flickering as the ponyfolk had started to lit them up. With a shovel in mouth, Cracker had begun digging. His supply of nuts have by now dwindled to the last 2 pieces, so he was desperate to get something. He hasn't been shoveling for at least 3 minutes when a "clank" was heard when he hit something hard. He thought that he might have come across a rock or a boulder, but to his surprise, it was a small stash of various Gemstones. He looked puzzled and looked at Val as if throwing him a mental question.

[ShadowStorm88]

Val raised a curious brow, as he glanced back up at Xiee as he offered him a weak grin. "Well, this is certaintly an intersting reward. Its not nuts, but its defeintly something we can use for later" Val chuckled lightly. Placiing the gems into his pack, Val picked back up a shovel as he mused "Hmm, lets try somewhere over thier". He pointed towards a small patch of dry dirt Rushing over towards it, Val started to dig. Grunting as he pushed up dirt, he froze as he could have sworn he heard some movment around but quickly died just as fast as it had been heard. Shaking his head, he conitued to dig, focusing on getting his buddy some nuts but froze again when he heard the movemnt once again!!

[Xiee]

(( Lol you called me Xiee, its Cracker playing remember? XD ))

Cracker had clearly heard something moving. He grew wary as he nervously continued to dig. Nervousness was a bad thing for Cracker because this caused his urge to surface quickly. As he tried to fight the urge and concentrated on digging, he had heard another "clank" as his shovel had hit something hard. By Celestia... he thought. It's another stash of mixed Gems! This could be dumb luck or the fates were just playing with him. He looked at Val again.

"I don't know why I keep getting these. I'm not even a Unicorn who can cast a spell for searching gems!" Cracker grew more anxious as his urge began to overtake him.

His eye twitched a bit but he fought back knowing that he had two nuts left. He wanted to save them for something far worse. The scuffling noises could be heard more clearer now. Cracker spotted a few shadows by some boulders but they quickly vanished. He swore that he heard a few growling noises but he thought that was just his tummy.

"Val..." He moved closed. "I think we're being watched..."

[ShadowStorm88]

Val looked down, saddened that their discovery was merly another cache of gems. Placing them into his bag, he shrugged "Thier worth greatly, but not what were looking for". Sighing, he put a hoof to his head as he commented "Im really sorry Cracker, Im trying my best here to see if we can locate your nuts. Celestia, its much more difficult then i thought it would be". Looking up at him, he asked "Your right, and Im no unicorn either. So unless we get lucky, then I dont know where we'll find em. We wont give up, but best tooo..". He froze as he heard a low growl. Looking around, he said "What the..". That movement again!! Where was it coming from??! Noticing the same shadows that Cracker saw, Val narrowed his eyes "I think your right, question is by what"?

[Xiee]

"I have no idea!" Cracker nervously moved his head scanning the shadows. " It could be anything! That howling... are there Timberwolves in these parts?"

For a third time, Cracker nervously dug. And for the third time... "Clank!" This time he had sure that the land was playing tricks on them. Gems, more of them again.

"By Celestia!" He stomped his hoof. "Why is it when I'm trying to search gems with my brother we barely come up with anything, but if we're not looking for gems they seem to appear all over the place?!?"

By then, shadow appeared with piercing glowing eyes in the dark over the boulder, three of them. They couldn't be clearly seen because by then it was almost dark and the lantern's light could not reach them. This gave Cracker a fright and he ran like crazy towards the Apple Orchard to hide, forgetting about his companion Val.

[ShadowStorm88]

Val sighed as he watched Crackers frustration. This was gettin rather tiresome. "Oh trust me, I know all about that. Whenever he was seraching for something useful to help keep him warm like fire wood; he'd barley find any but find lots and lots of bits. Oh but when he was seraching for bits,yes the fire wood was plentfiul. Like some sort of sick, flip flop game. Spotting the piercing glowing eyes, Val froze as he gave it a fierce glare back. Turning to tell Cracker that they should get ready to defend themselves, he was surprseid to see him start running in fear. Hearing a snarl, Val turned back in time to see the creature lunge at him. Dodgeing aside, Val reared his hooves back as he delivered a mighty kick to it; sending it sparwling agiants a rock.

[Xiee]

Cracker had ran towards the Apple Orchard. He buckered down behind one of the bushes near a tree and started to shake. His urge, made matters worse. He reached for his pouch and grabbed the last two nuts and crushed them. It calmed him down a bit but he was still afraid and shivering all around. He had never realized that he left Val behind.

"Val?!" He gave out a weak shout. "Are you there?"

[ShadowStorm88]

Val ducked under another slash to his head by the unknown creature; gasping as he kicked and hoofed at it to keep it away from him!! "Ooof, that really su..Ouch" he shouted, as he felt a searing pain rip across his back. Seething, he let out a loud grumble as he collapesed for a moment; shaking his head in pain as he grumbled "That wasnt fun". Pulling his head back, he then head butted at the shrouded creature; grippin his forehead as he galloped away towards Crackers direction. "Cracker?? Cracker where'd ya go" Val called out for his companion.

[Xiee]

Cracker was kneeling, calmed down but still shivering a bit. He had gotten to his senses when he heard Val calling him.

"Val!" He shouted. "I'm over here!"

At that moment, more shuffling around the bushes could be heard. He looked warily and looked around. Not taking any more of this, he ran out of the bushes screaming until he bumped head on to his buddy, Val.

"OOOOOF!" He fell on his flank. "VAL!"

[ShadowStorm88]

Val let out a gasp of pain as he fell backwards onto his flank, rubbing his now aching forehead as he moaned "Cracker...". Gasping as he looked up to see monster about to take a lunge at Cracker, Val leaped into the air and onto the monster back as he attmepthed to get him in a headlock. "I goooooot hiiiiiiim" Val called out as the mosnter shook itself radpily in an attmepth to throw Val off of him. Letting out a grunt, Val put his elbow up as he rammed it into the monsters pressure point on its neck; rendering it unconscious. Sighing as Val rolled himself off the monster, he looked over it. "Darn it, almost got me" Val grumbled as he smiled at Cracker. "You alright" he asked.

[Xiee]

Cracker stood there and froze as Val wrestled with the shadowy "monster". When things settled down, Cracker got to his senses.

"I'm.... I'm.... alright..." He replied in a rather shaky voice. "But what is that?"

He lifted a lantern close to the unconcious monster. It was a Diamond Dog! All that howling and grunts that they heard were Diamond Dogs. Of course, where there are gems, there would be Diamond Dogs. He started to wonder if they have encroached upon Diamond Dog terriroty, which was most likely judging from the number of gems they "luckily" came across.

"Val! It's a Diamond Dog! We're gonna be in trouble they usually travel in packs! His companions might be around looking for us! What are we gonna do?!?"

Cracker had become more and more nervous, this made his urge kick in a lot more easily. His eye began to twitch but he was still keeping it all together.

[ShadowStorm88]

Val looked around radpily for a mean's to help the situation. This was bad. If his buddies were on the way to take care of them, then they needed to take care of this creep now, and fast. But how? Looking as he noticed the DIamond dog was about to let out a cry to alert his friends, Val's face slowly curled into a cocky smirk as he responded "What we do..is make sure he dosent call for his buddies". Headbutting the dimaond dog in the gut, Val jumped back as he mull kicked him in the chini as he sent the dimoand dog towards Cracker; still stunned as Val leaped into the air and elbowed the dog in the back of the neck to stun him once more, leaving him in front of Cracker. "Well, he's pretty beat up now...but we need ot make sure he stays unconscious whils the we search..wanna help me knock him out" Val asked Cracker with a grin.

[Xiee]

Cracker wasn't used to this kind of pressure. He was either gonna loose it or let his urge take control of him. He nervously reached for his pouch, but alas, empty. He was trying best to get this urge under control. One could say he was at the edge of his sanity. He wanted to crack a nut really bad but there was none in sight. He stood there looking over the unconcious Diamond Dog, not knowing what to do. He was shaking, his eye continously twitched and he stared at the Diamond Dog without paying any attention to Val.

[ShadowStorm88]

Valoren noticed how twicthy Cracker was now, wondering if something was wrong. Hearing a groan from the dimoand dog, Val let out a grunt as he hoofed the dog, knocking him out as he approached Cracker with worry. "Cracker, Im starting to worry for you. You dont look so good. Whats wrong"? Getting closer to the earth pony, he said "Im sure we can find a nut for you to crack somwhere around here. We just need to hurry up and find it is all".

[Xiee]

Cracker was fighting with his urge. Though he heard Val talking, it sounded as if he was at the end of a cave and only a faint echo could be heard. Cracker was at his limit. A voice in his head started to surface, it was a voice that he had feared to hear once again. In an instant, the twitching had stopped, he looked calm in a sense but something was different. His gaze met with Val.

"Where... nuts... need to... crack...."

[ShadowStorm88]

Val blinked in worry, at how Cracker sounded. This voice didnt sound like how he usually did. That wasnt good "Calm down, Im sure theres something around here somewhere. Hold it together Cracker" Val warned him as he tried to keep his friends mind in place. Looking around radpily for something, anything that could help his friend he thought "No nuts in sight!! Shoot, we're in serious trouble here. We need to do somethin quickly before he looses control". Sighing he asked "Do you know anywhere else that nuts are storred"?

[Xiee]

Though Val was talking to Cracker, all he could hear was distant whispers. There was only one thing in Cracker's mind right now, he needed to crack a nut. Without paying any attention to Val, he walked over to a pile of pebbles and started stomping on them with his front hooves. Seeing that they wouldn't break he moved further and started stomping on some fallen apples from the trees of the orchard. Oddly, instead of a crack, a squish was heard. This did not satisfy Cracker. He moved on further and soon found himself in town, back into Applelossa proper. He surveyed the area and found a wooden mallet on a table from one of the shops in town. He grabbed it with his hoof and set his eyes on something that he could crack. It was evening and by then most of the Ponies were indoors, so not too many had noticed him. He soon found a few more rocks, a bit bigger than those he had stomped on earlier. With the mallet in his hooves, he gave a full swing and smashed the rock. Somehow, that still didn't feel right... not the "crack" he was looking for... He moved on, next smashing a chair... but it still wasn't right... he moved on and found a table that belonged to a street vendor pony and smashed that. The poor Pony didn't know what to do and he ran to the Sheriff's office to get help.

Cracker went on to another thing to "crack", he was looking for that distinct "nut crack" and he wouldn't stop until he heard it...

[ShadowStorm88]

Val gasped as he watched with horror at the sight of his friend going haywire!! "Oh no" panicked Val, as he looked around radpily for a way to help his friend!! If Val couldnt gind a way to calm him down, then hed end up destroying everything until he smashed something. But what was he looking for? He just kept smashing things, and he needed a nut to crack...Crack...CRACK!??! Gasping, he looked arond to find something that cracked!! Anything!! He had to calm cracker down!! Eyes shooting around rapdily for a sight of anything that could make a cracking sound; he froze as he spotted a large barrel!! Rushing over to it, he gave it a kick to put a dent in it. Hearing a distinct crack, he grinned as he hefted the object over his head towards Cracker. "Cracker" Val shouted, to get his attention as he rushed in front of him. Setting the barrel down in front of the mallet wileding pony, Val insited "If you want something to smash, then smash this!! It cracks".

[Xiee]

Cracker had heard Val call to him but that wasn't what caught his attention. The barrel that rolled over seemed tempting. Instead of seeing a barrel, he saw a huge Peanut. His eyes widened as he swung the mallet back with both hooves. It came crashing down. WHAM! The barrel did crack but it wasn't the distinct "crack" that certain nuts made. For the moment, Cracker just stood there, sort of dazed and just looking into blank space.

By now, the Ponies of Appleloosa have heard the racket, many of them came out and asked what was going on. Others were clueless as they saw broken chairs and tables. No pony hurt but a lot of damage.

[ShadowStorm88]

Seeing ponies starting to show up, Val ran behind Cracker as he started to push him at high speed out of sight as he got him behind a building. Peeking out to make sure they werent followed, he said "Ahh, are you alright now Cracker"? Personelly, he wanted to shout for almost getting them in trouble but he knew he had to be letiant since if he wasnt careful; then his friend could go even further over the edge. Seeing him stare out into the distance, Val gently poked his side; hoping to snap out of it.

[Xiee]

"V-val?" Cracker's voice was uneasy. "Where... are the... nuts?"

His eyes were wide open. It looked like he was mesmerized by something, or possessed even. He was calm for now but all he could think of was cracking nuts. He looked at Val momentarily as if pleading something, but then he stared at blank space once more. He still had that wooden mallet on his hooves, clinging onto it like a little foal. He did not move but stood there motionless, only his breathing could be heard.

[ShadowStorm88]

Val had to be careful here. Crackers mentality depended on it!! He had to choo his words carefully... Thinking up something, Val said "Cracker, the nuts are around here somewhere. They will be found, but you need to keep it together. If you feel the need to crack something then...crack one of these". Val picked up a plank from the side of one of the buildings as he stepped on it; creating a loud cracking noise as he hopped it would help bring Cracker back temporality. "Its hard to focus but if you ever have the need to break or crack something, then crack one of these alright" Val asked Cracker gently.

[Xiee]

Cracker was still standing there motionless. He could barely hear Val speak. All he heard was a little voice in his head. It told him that he needed Nuts, lots of it. Unable to bear this any further, his mind suddenly went blank. It felt like he was alone in a dark room, void of sight and sound. A light appeared in the distance. He could see a faint vision of his brother running to him with a concerned look. He reached out with his hoof but the vision blurred as he saw Val's face instead, filled with concern. He didn't know what was going on but he just felt really heavy until he collapsed and became unconscious.