Hello everybody! YingoShabuki here with another story of mine. I came up with the idea of this story after seeing this picture: . /tumblr_m08jxkx7hu1r1jqquo1_ and so I thought "hm...maybe a story about this kind of thing wouldn't be so bad?" Anyways, this will most likely be a shorter story than Dead Rising: Case Equestria, and if you haven't already checked it out, I urge you to do so and review it please! It would be much appreciated! So without further ado, here it goes!
~Another Like Me~
"Oh come on!" A cry of frustration was heard from the vicinity of the Cutie Mark Crusaders treehouse. The cry itself had originated from a small orange filly with a purple mane and tail, it seemed that she was quite tired, as she was panting frequently, and covered in sweat. She furiously flapped her wings in a desperate attempt to get airborne, but alas, she could only hover for a split second before falling to the ground in a heap. Unlike the other times she simply decided to remain on the ground, taking a rest from her many attempts at flying, which had been going on for at least an hour. The sun had long since set into the horizon as Luna's silver moon looked quite beautiful tonight, glowing brightly while complimenting the many stars that shined along with it.
Who was this young pony in distress you might ask? Why, it was none other than Scootaloo, a Cutie Mark Crusader, and an all together lovable filly that usually found herself getting into mischief of multiple kinds along with her best friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in their endeavors to gain their cutie marks. Scootaloo however, was feeling down in the dumps today. "This is ridiculous!" she told herself in a huff, "no matter how hard I try, I just can't fly!" She sighed before slumping down, depressed, "I guess I'll never be able to be as awesome as Rainbow Dash...and even worse...Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were right..." at the remembrance of the two bullies, tears began to flow down her cheeks as she recalled the insults they had battered her with during school.
[Flashback: 5 hours earlier]
"Wow, this loser doesn't have a cutie mark or wings!" The pale magenta filly, Diamond Tiara, said jeering at Scootaloo.
"I do too have wings!" The pegasus filly shot back obviously angered at her words.
"Might as well not have them at all! Considering you can't even get more than an inch off the ground!" The other bully, Silver Spoon, said scoffing at her victim's rebuttal.
"I know, a blank flank and a lame wing! She's such a foal if she thinks Rainbow Dash would ever notice her!" Diamond Tiara said smirking as the pair of bullies began to laugh as they walked off, leaving Scootaloo both angry, and disheartened at their words.
[Flashback End]
"They're right," Scootaloo said, now breaking into sobs as she sniffled. "I'm just a loser...why would Rainbow Dash even think that I'd be worthy to learn from her at all." She took on a small smile, remembering how her friends had tried to comfort her afterwards.
Don't listen tah them Scoots! Apple Bloom had said patting her reassuringly on the back.
Yeah they're just jealous because we'll get Cutie marks that are 10 times better than their's! Sweetie Belle had declared, trying to cheer up her friend. Scootaloo at that time had shrugged and assured her friends that the bullies's words hadn't had an effect on her. However, now that her friends were gone, and her pride in no danger, she felt the full weight of the verbal assault take hold upon her, and she remained in the clubhouse, alone and depressed.
"I'm so useless..." She thought miserably as she simply decided to let the tears and sadness consume her, until she finally fell asleep, dreaming of the day she might finally fly, and the day her idol, Rainbow Dash, would finally notice her...
~Another Like Me~
"Come on Shingo! You gotta' try harder than that!" Shouted a youth, about 16 or 17 years old, at his opponent. This youth was none other than Kyo Kusanagi, the reigning champion of the King Of Fighter's tournament. He was a laid back young man that didn't care much for school, simply opting on training for the next tournament or hanging out with his friends and girlfriend. Today he wore a white jacket with a black t-shirt underneath, and some jeans that weren't overly tight, but not too loose either.
"B-but Mr. Kusanagi! This is ridiculous!" The opponent, a lad who was only about 1 or 2 years younger than Kyo, said tiredly. This youth was also brown haired, but chose to wore a blue button up jacket with a white undershirt and some dark blue slacks. "I'm used to fighting you and losing already, but with Ms. Chizuru here as well?!" He cried in panic as he dodged a punch by Kyo, rolling away to distance himself from his opponents.
"I know this is hard Shingo," Kyo said with a bit of sympathy for his student, dropping his fists for a moment, " but times are tougher now! You saw what NESTS did! They captured me, and I'm already a seasoned fighter! I'm trying to train you for any situation, and with the way those guys were, who's to say someone might not gang up on you in a fight like this? Understand?" The teacher inquired as he returned to his fighting stance.
"...Yes sir Mr. Kusanagi!" Shingo replied after a bit of a pause.
"Good! Then I want to see your efforts double!" Kyo cried as he charged forward. Shingo groaned as he tried to anticipate his teacher's movements while also keeping an eye on his other opponent, Chizuru Kagura, a young woman who had known the both of them for a few years now. She was quite pretty, having fair skin and black hair let down, but wore a white hair band. She wore a white robe that looked as if it was a bit formal for the fighting scene, but she paid no mind to that, while also wearing black dress pants and some black heels that she seemed unhindered by as she was fighting.
"Oh man what am I gonna' do?" He thought in fear as he knew that taking his eyes off of either of his opponents would result in a beatdown that he would rather not have. "Wait!" He thought, his face lit up as he remembered something Kyo had told him before.
[Flashback]
Shingo had been tired after having a long training session with Kyo that day, and afterwards his teacher had come up to him with some advice.
"Shingo," He said garnering the attention of his student.
"Yes Mr. Kusanagi?"
"You have been doing very well in learning so far, but their is one thing you have to learn."
"What's that Mr. Kusanagi?" Shingo asked curiously, dusting himself off as he sat up, having been lying on the ground previously.
"You must always learn how to switch tactics at a moment's notice!" Kyo said with a serious, but kind look, "If you continue to keep using the same strategy over and over again, your opponent will easily figure you out and find a weakness in your style!"
"So what do I do?"
"You must always learn to use even the most unexpected things to your advantage, if you find yourself in a situation that is terrible, and the only way out is risky, do something totally unexpected, you never know! It might just catch your opponent off guard!"
[Flashback End]
"Hm...unexpected eh?" Shingo grinned as he had a crazy idea. "Well I guess there's no other option!" He braced himself as he did the one thing a rational person would never do: run right in the middle of his two adversaries. Shingo knew his opponents were surprise, as they both raised an eyebrow at his move. However, as he expected they both charged towards him, seeking to catch him in a double team attack. At the last second, as Kyo was beginning to charge his fist with the power of his flames, which were inherent to his family line, and Chizuru about to unleash the power of her Yata mirror, he side stepped, making his opponent's attacks collide. Shingo grinned as his foes made contact with one another. However, his grin faded as he saw what happened next.
"Oh no the Yata mirror!" Chizuru cried out in horror as it began to grow with a bright white light after coming into contact with Kyo's flame.
"Wait what's going on? What's happening to it?" Kyo asked apprehensively as he ran over to her, all notions of the sparring session coming to a halt.
"I-I don't know!" She said nervously, "It seems like your flames may have inadvertently set off somet-" she was cut off as it let out a bolt of energy that headed straight for an unsuspecting Shingo, who cried out in pain as he fell to the ground after getting hit by the energy.
"Shingo!" His friend and teacher both cried out as they ran over to him. They saw that the bolt of energy had sent him into a state of shock as he began to gain a faint glow.
"What's going on? What's happening to him?" Kyo cried out in frustration to Chizuru who didn't respond as she remained speechless at what was occurring.
"WHAT THE BLAZES IS ALL THIS YELLING ABOUT?" Yelled a dark haired man who was dressed in a forest green gi as he angrily ran in wondering what had happened.
"Dad!" Kyo cried out, "It's Shingo he's-" He suddenly cut off as a bright flash filled the room, making everyone shield their eyes from the spectacle. Once the light had faded, they looked to see that Shingo was no longer in the spot he'd been in. "-gone..."
~Another Like Me~
Scootaloo, after sleeping for a good hour or two, finally woke up with a yawn as she felt a little bit better than she had before, but was still quite sad. "Maybe I should just give up on being a pegasus altogether..." She thought dejectedly, and began climbing down. As she turned to leave for her home, she heard a loud and strange sound that sounded like that of an energy crackle. "Could that be a Sonic Rainboom? No Rainbow Dash doesn't fly this late though!" The filly thought a bit confused, but finally decided to check it out. "It looks like it came from the Everfree forest..." She thought, hesitating at the idea of going in there. She had heard about the many terrible things in the forest: dragons, timberwolves, Apple Bloom had even told of a strange and scary town of grown ponies that had no cutie marks. However, strengthening her resolve she decided to head into the forest anyways.
After a few minutes of walking around, the orange-coated found herself lost, and growing a bit more terrified of the many sights and sounds of the forest with each passing minute. "Well, maybe if I can just find Ms. Zecora's place I'll be fine..." Scootaloo reassured herself as she looked around, and decided a direction to randomly walk in. However, she had no luck in finding the zebra's place, and simply found herself more lost than before. She sighed in frustration and turned around, "maybe it was the other wa-" she muttered but suddenly stopped as she heard a low growl emanate from behind her. "I sure hope that's my stomach..." she gulped nervously, breaking into a cold sweat as she slowly turned around to look behind her.
What met her eyes was one of the worst things she could think of, a canine, snarling and snapping at her with it's razor sharp teeth, and it's glowing green eyes staring right at her. It was completely made out of wood. "Timberwolf!" Scootaloo screamed as she galloped away as fast as she could, the wooden dog running and barking as it remained locked onto her. The chase continued for awhile until Scootaloo, in a moment of carelessness and terror, tripped over the root of a tree, making her fall to the ground. She winced in pain as she tumbled a few feet before finally stopping on her back. To her horror, she saw the timber wolf slowly advancing upon her, it's eyes narrowed and it's tongue licking its lips in anticipation of its next meal. "No! Go away! Shoo!" The filly shouted at dog desperately, but to no avail as it simply ignored her cries. "Oh no! Someone! Anyone! HELP ME!"
~Another Like Me~
"Oh man my head..." Shingo groaned as he began to awaken from his fit of unconsciousness. "Remind me never to order whatever I had Mr. Kusanagi...Mr. Kusanagi?" He suddenly shot up, taking in his surroundings. "Where am i?! How did I get here in this forest?!" He thought frantically as he looked around for some form of civilization, but could find none. Suddenly he recalled the events that had happened at his teacher's house only hours, but what seemed like moments to him, ago. "Wait a minute...that energy...it must've transported me here." He rationalized as he pieced the events together. "Yeah, that makes sense! One minute I was fighting with Mr. Kusanagi and Ms. Chizuru, and then her Yata mirror gave off a weird energy! I must've gotten hit by whatever light it gave off, and got transported here...and then fell a good bit then I suppose." He gained a look a triumph at having figured out his predicament, however, his look soon faded as he realized something. "Only...where ishere?" He took another look around and noticed something. "Why do all the colors...pop out?" He wondered, "it's like something out of a cartoon...man the energy probably messed up my head too..." he groaned as he finally got up off of the ground and decided to walk around to see what he could find.
"Someone! Anyone! HELP ME!" A cry suddenly made him snap out of his musings and gain a battle stance.
"That sounded like a little girl!" He thought wide-eyed, "She sounded like she was in trouble! I've got to help her!" He declared in his mind as he began to run towards the sound of the voice he had heard. As he got further in he began to hear the sound of snarling and growling. "A wolf!" He thought in realization, "There's not much time left then!" He then doubled his pace as he got closer and closer until finally he saw what he was looking for, but gasped in shock at what he found. "A wolf...made of wood!" He thought bewildered, but shook it off as he realized what he came here for. Using the skills he had learned in his training with his teacher, he went for taking a silent approach of attack, instead of foolishly yelling like most people would. Bracing himself, he rushed in and leaped towards the wolf, the creature itself turning around just as he made contact.
As Shingo engaged the timber wolf, Scootaloo, who had been keeping her eyes shut, but opened them once she heard the growling of the wolf stop, could only watch in amazement as she saw a creature she had never seen before leap onto the timber wolf and actually begin fighting it one on one! She took a breath that she didn't realize that she'd been holding in as she could only gaze in awe at the fighting prowess of this newcomer. As the timber wolf tried to viciously claw at its new adversary, the creature would simply roll away or sidestep casually, as if not even having a hard time fighting it. Everytime the wolf tried to lunge, the creature would simply dodge and unleash a flurry of its own attacks, a mix of kicks and punches that looked as if they visibly hurt the timber wolf. At one point, she gasped as she saw the creature outright pick up the timber wolf and slam it down on the ground behind it.
After a few minutes, the timber wolf realized it was greatly outmatched and ran away, giving shame filled yelps as it ran off. "Woah... that was... amazing!" Scootaloo said out loud without realizing it.
"Hehe..." The creature chuckled, "well I mean that wasn't that bad, but I hope you're alright little-" it stopped suddenly as it turned around, finally facing her as it gained a shocked look on it's face. "...pony?"
"Uh yeah...I'm fine thank you very much!" Scootaloo said gratefully, however the creature didn't seem to hear her as it began to try to speak, but found itself lacking the ability.
"Wait ok Shingo get a grip! It's only a talking pony! Nothing to be worried abou- oh who am I kidding of course this is something to worry about!" The poor boy's mind raced furiously as he tried to contemplate the notion of a pony talking. "I-you-b-but..." Was all he could stammer out as his brain finally shut down, resulting in him fainting outright.
"Uh...hello? Mr...whatever it is you are?" Scootaloo inquired as he lay on the ground. "Oh come on! He fainted?!" She yelled out in frustration. "Well at least the timber wolf is gone..." She thought as she opted to simply lay by the creature, deeming it friendly as it had not eaten her or acted hostile towards her. She snuggled up to Shingo a bit, trying to get warm as the brisk, cool air of the forest winds blew, making her shiver. "Well, guess the only thing to do now is to wait until morning I guess..."The little filly then yawned and snuggled up even closer to Shingo as she fell asleep, awaiting the dawn of a new day...