“Just get over here you fat bastard…”
“Pony!”
“Not you!”
Joshua is currently doing something he's never even dreamed of doing.
Herding sheep.
He feels strange. There's some weird sense of divine deja vu, a resurrected man herding sheep while wearing the cross.
Joshua only hopes that “he” isn't taking this as some sort of bsphemy.
False prophet and all that.
“I swear to all that is holy that if you don't get in the pen I'm turning you into a hat”
Joshua does not consider himself a patient man, but that pales in comparison to Jophiel. The mare is psychically prodding the sheep with sticks, rather violently.
“Ponyta!”
“B-Baaaa…”
“PONY!!!”
She's a bit of a bully, isn't she?
Honestly, thanks to Jophiel’s ‘gentle encouragement’, they have saved a lot of time.
There's another cry of anguish (can sheep feel anguish?) from the sheep as it's finally led into a pen made of wooden fences. Closing the fence gate, Joshua sighs in relief.
Looking over at the unicorn, she has a satisfied smile on her face, twirling her weapon, the stick, in the air.
He can't help but feel weirded out, did he get stuck with some… sadist unicorn? But with how annoying the sheep were being, he can't even bme her.
“If PETA comes to our door, just pretend we aren't home” He jabs.
“Pony” she agrees with a nod.
Thet fall into a comfortable silence, like two accomplices who totally didn't commit a crime.
But a message appears that draws
[IonoZone: ur being recorded tho… ( ′-ω-) ]
Joshua and Jophiel gnce at each other. A mutual understanding is shared with them, like a hivemind of fucking around.
“Pony”
[IonoZone: ????]
“To any w enforcement officers out there, it was Iono's idea”
[IonoZone: (;???) NO ITS NOT]
“Look, she's sweating, go get her boys”
[IonoZone: (ノ｀Д′)ノ彡┻━┻ YOULL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE]
He chuckles, Jophiel's withers shake as she holds back a ugh, bringing her fetlock to her muzzle.
“You know, how c-”
He gets cut off as another message appears.
Expecting Iono, he casually looks over and finds…
Not… Iono…
Just a single sentence, but it saps the joy from him.
[ There is something watching you ]
“...”
His back suddenly feels really cold. Like he's been dumped in ice water.
It's quiet. It was quiet when he got here, but now it feels…
He doesn't know how he's supposed to feel.
Not good.
Joshua feels… exposed.
Without saying anything, Joshua slowly makes his way to his house, Jophiel follows along, her head down.
Opening the door, he shuffles in with the mare, before closing the door.
He has a bed now, sitting in the corner, but he doesn't go over to it.
Looking out the holes he purposely left for windows, he cautiously looks out into the distance, his eyes going over the treeline.
He doesn't see anything.
But he catches a shine.
Startled, Joshua looks down, and catches a strange sight.
His cross, tempered in silver, is glowing.
Not reflecting the sun, or any light, but it's glowing an ethereal pale glow. It would be so majestic if it weren't so confusing.
It's simir to the light he saw… around “him”.
Why?
It seems to glow brighter, even vibrating slightly as he watches it.
What is…
He freezes.
A footstep. Unmistakably, a footstep.
It's close.
The familiar crunch of grass he’s become accustomed to.
He hoped it was just a trick of his mind, but something tells him it isn't.
Frozen in fear, his mind swirls as his head snaps to it. There it is again, and again.
It's getting louder.
It's getting closer.
He doesn't know what to do. God, fuck. What does he do?! What CAN he do?!
Joshua looks over at Jophiel. Her pearly coat slightly snapping him out of his trance as it contrasted against the wood.
Fuck, right. Jophiel.
Joshua regains his wits, pulling out his pnks he quickly fills the holes and, albeit with slight hesitation due to how awkward it is, pces two blocks of cobblestone in front of the door.
He goes over and grabs the shaking mare, and slowly goes over to the middle of the room. Bringing her to his chest, the cross was still vibrating against him, the dull buzz contrasting against his rapidly beating heart.
Moving to his first hotbar slot, a stone sword appears in his palm, which he grips fiercely.
The sound of footsteps became muffled now that the openings in the home were filled, but Joshua can swear that he can still hear it getting closer.
And as it got closer, the cross glowed brighter.
Wrapping an arm around Jophiel, who is trembling into his chest, Joshua points the bde towards the blocked door.
Another footstep. A calm, constant rhythm, like they are in no rush.
Then another.
Then another.
Time seems to crawl like he's stuck in this single instance. Each breath feels shallow, and his body is refusing to stop shaking.
Then, it stops.
Then, there is silence.
“...”
It is right outside the door.
“...”
“....”
“.....”
“......”
“Pony?”
Something is scratching at the door.
“Pony?”
Something is fiddling with the doorknob.
“Ponyta?...”
Jophiel is shaking her head violently, covering her ears.
She's been sobbing.
Not making a sound.
“P..o…ny?”
The door opened.
Something is cwing at the cobblestone.
There's another footstep.
“Pony”
Then another.
He doesn't know how long it's been. But after hearing the footsteps get further and further away, Joshua doesn't move for a while.
His cross has stopped glowing, that's… that's a good sign, right?
Building courage, he slowly gets up, setting Jophiel to the side. The mare sticks to his leg, unwilling to stray too far.
Equipping his pickaxe, his aura envelopes the top half of the stone barricade.
It disappears into his inventory.
The door is open.
Covered in scratches.
There is nothing outside.
Despite this, it does not soothe him.
Not at all.
Joshua looks down at Jophiel, who's been staring into the forest with an unblinking gaze. Her horn is glowing slightly, he isn't sure what she's doing.
Looking back though, a shovel is hovering just behind her, with her pastel energy surrounding it. It seems she took up the closest thing that could be a weapon.
Numbly, he looks back at her.
“Jophiel”
She doesn't move her gaze, but her head tilts towards him, showing that she's listening.
“We should move”
“Pony”
She agrees.
Witnessing the entire event, their spectator finally makes their presence known again after being silent the entire time.
[IonoZone: what the fuck]
