Author's Note: well, so far from the two reviews I've gotten so far, feedback is positive, and I decided to post this chapter because of it. Special thanks to UltraNova1225 and Manx1musofsparta for your reviews. Now without further ado, I present the second chapter of Equestria's Human Guardian.
Chapter 2
Equestria was having a very rare occurrence; a heat wave. Nopony could explain what was causing it, not even Twilight Sparkle, even after all of her extensive research and even consulting Celestia and Luna of how this just suddenly happened. The heat wave started earlier that day. The temperatures were normal, but they just suddenly skyrocketed. There was no explanation for what could've caused it. Celestia and Luna couldn't detect any magical interference, there wasn't any new dark threat, and Pinkie Pie hadn't accidentally moved the sun slightly closer.
The Equestrians had decided to make the most of it. Sales of frozen treats, cold beverages, sunscreen, fans, and other summer products went through the roof. Most ponies headed for the cold rivers, ponds, and lakes that dotted the land, or they stayed inside. Such was the case for three fillies. Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo lay on the floor of the CMC treehouse, trying to think of what new things they could try to get their cutie marks.
Scootaloo in particular was in agony. Sitting around in the sweltering heat doing basically nothing, wasn't exactly doing wonders for her. She wanted to be out having fun, preferably with Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Mane 6. Scootaloo suddenly leaped up from her chair.
"Come on guys, let's go do something fun. I'm sick of sitting here doing nothing, everypony else is having fun, and we should too." Scootaloo proclaimed loudly. Scootaloo traded in her usual Wonderbolts jacket and jeans for a sky blue tank top, and a black miniskirt. Sweetiebelle sat up on the floor. She wore navy blue designer jeans (a birthday present from her sister Rarity), and a teal t-shirt.
"Scoots is right. We should be out having fun, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's way too hot to find our cutie marks." Sweetiebelle said, staring at Applebloom. Applebloom looked at the two disbelievingly. She was wearing a red plaid button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a denim skirt. Applebloom stood up, and looked at her two friends.
"Now hold on a minute. There's no reason we can't have fun and find our cutie marks at the same time. I suggest we just head on out and see what comes our way." Applebloom said. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle readily agreed, and thanks to Scootaloo's scooter skills, they were enjoying large ice cream cones two minutes later from Sugarcube Corner. After they finished their cones, the three went to Twilight's library, to see what the Mane 6 were up to.
Unlike the rest of the Ponyville population, Spike wasn't bothered by the heat wave. Being a dragon, Spike had an affinity to incredibly hot temperatures. He was in the middle of one of Twilight's steamy, smutty romance novels, which she thought she had kept hidden from him (and everypony else), when he heard a knock at the door. Spike groaned, marked his spot, hid the book in his bed, and walked downstairs to get the door.
"This had better be good." Spike mumbled. Spike wasn't exactly surprised to find the sweating CMC on the doorstep. They had come to the library time and again to see what things they could try to do to earn their cutie marks.
"Come on in girls." Spike said. The three gratefully entered the cool library. "If you're looking for Twilight and the others, they're out at the lake, enjoying the day." Spike said, shutting the door. The three looked disappointed, Scootaloo in particular.
Spike was about to speak, when the sky lit up in a massive crystalline rainbow, followed by the loudest boom Equestria had ever known. The ground shook, as did most of the buildings. The shaking stopped as soon as it had begun, fortunately. Inside the library, it looked like a tornado decided to live there. Books were flung everywhere, as was most of the furniture. Food had exploded out of the fridge, after Scootaloo panicked and crashed into it. A few books were charred, courtesy of an accidental panic induced flame burst from Spike. Applebloom somehow ended up on the ceiling, and Sweetiebelle was buried under several thick dictionaries and history books.
Spike disentangled himself from the blankets that had fallen on him, and got the other three fillies out of their predicaments.
"Thanks Spike." Sweetiebelle said shakily, as she was hauled to her hooves.
"No problem Sweetiebelle." Spike said with a smile. He then frowned. "What could've caused that? Not even Rainbow's biggest Sonic Rainboom was that loud." Spike said thoughtfully.
"Uh… I think ya'll should come to the window." Applebloom said fearfully. Spike, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo rushed over to the window. The crystaline rainbow was swirling, transforming into something. They transformed into a massive vortex of swirling, whirling color. The vortex center grew wider, revealing an inky darkness dotted with multicolored orbs of light. Suddenly, the vortex spat out a white comet. As the comet exited the vortex, it dissipated, and attached itself to the comet. It hurtled through the sky, before crashing down in the Everfree Forest.
Spike was awestruck, to say the least. Nothing like this had happened before in Equestria. Suddenly, Twilight burst through the door. She was still wearing her swimsuit, and soaked from horn to hoof. Twilight had a half demented look in her eyes, as she zipped around the library, gathering scientific materials and changing into suitable clothing.
"Spike, watch the library while I'm gone, I'll be back in a few hours, if Celestia sends a scroll, improvise a response, and DO NOT go into the forest." Twilight said as she sprinted out the door. Spike stared at the door where his adoptive mother/best friend/boss ran out of. Twilight never went this nuts over a new thing, not even when she tried to find how Pinkie's 'Pinkie Sense' worked.
Spike turned to the three fillies, only to find them gone. Once again the door shut, and Spike watched as the CMC sped off towards the forest, on Scootaloo's scooter. He sighed, letting his shoulders slump. If those three got lost, not even Zecora would be able to find them, and they didn't know how to navigate the Everfree Forest safely. Besides, if they did wind up missing, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash would probably blame him for letting them get away. Spike shuddered at the thought of being on the receiving end of their wrath. With a heavy sigh, Spike blitzed out the door, determined to bring the CMC back at any cost.
Twilight met up with the rest of the Mane 6 at the edge of the forest. Applejack stood waiting, her arms crossed.
"Where've you been, Sugarcube. We've been waiting half an hour now, and had to send Rainbow ahead to scout a path to the crash." Applejack said irritably. Twilight looked sheepish.
"I was slapping together a tracer, to track the energy through the woods, as I was running over." Twilight replied sheepishly.
"Well, there's no need for that gizmo." A cocky, egotistical voice said. Twilight looked back to see Rainbow Dash touch down, smirking.
"I just found the crash site, and a path to get there." Rainbow stated proudly. Twilight scowled, and opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack stepped in.
"Twilight's gizmo will help us stay on the path to get to the crash site." Applejack said tactfully. Now it was Rainbow's turn to scowl.
"I can keep us on that path, without the help of a weird tracer thingy." Rainbow stated.
"Darling, it's just a backup in case we do get lost." Rarity said soothingly. Rainbow sighed as she fiddled with her flight goggles around her neck.
"Fine, we'll keep it." Twilight relaxed, reassured that her work would pay off.
"And if all else fails, Fluttershy can get directions from the forest creatures." Pinkie Pie exclaimed, as she bounced in. Twilight did a quick headcount.
"Where's Fluttershy?" She asked. Pinkie smiled.
"She had to make sure the animals were okay. She'll be here soon." No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when Fluttershy ran over to the five.
"Sorry… I'm… late." She said quietly between each breath. Applejack smiled kindly.
"It's alright, Sugarcube." Twilight adjusted the strap of her bag, as she looked at the trees.
"Rainbow, since you know the way, you should lead." Twilight said. Rainbow appeared in front of Twilight almost instantaneously.
"Okay everyone, forward march!" The Mane 6 then began the journey into the Everfree Forest.
Elsewhere in the forest…
Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo stared at the trees apprehensively. The two fillies hadn't set foot into the Everfree Forest, not even to accompany their sisters to Zecora's hut. Scootaloo tried not to show it, but she was quite terrified. Their plan was simple. Get to Zecora's hut, enlist her help, and get to the crash site. Zecora knew the forest like the back of her hand, and therefore was the perfect guide to get to the crash.
Applebloom had been elected the guide to get to the hut, because she had been there before and knew the path. They made it ther without incident, but had found the hut empty. After careful consideration, they deduced that Zecora was already going to the crash. Applebloom was now attempting to think of a way to get to their ultimate destination, but no ideas would come.
They had been sitting there for half an hour, when they heard something breaking through the underbrush. Applebloom shot over to her two friends, trembling slightly, as the thing got closer and closer.
"W-w-what if it's a f-friendly creature." Scootaloo stuttered fearfully. Sweetiebelle looked at her orange furred friend, as if her ears had become cabbages.
"In this forest?" Sweetiebelle stated incredulously.
"Knock it off you two. It's most likely just lost." Applebloom said in what she hoped was a soothing tone.
"But what if it's hungry!" Scootaloo exclaimed, no longer attempting to mask her fear. Applebloom swallowed, as the bushes in front of them rustled, and parted. The three relaxed at the sight of a friendly, and annoyed purple dragon.
"Spike!" They exclaimed, hugging him. Spike stared at them, his anger fading at their cuteness.
"Why are you here?" Applebloom said after they stopped clutching him. Spike sighed.
"I came to make sure you're safe… and because I kind of want find the crash." Spike said sheepishly. The three looked at Spike gleefully.
"You wanted to join us?" Sweetiebelle asked excitedly.
"I was planning on doing it myself, but then I decided to do it with you three." Spike said. The Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetiebelle looked at each other ecstatically.
"That's great Spike. Now if we knew where it was." Sweetiebelle mused. Spike grinned broadly.
"You three are in luck, because I know how to get there." Spike said proudly, as he strode off into the thick underbrush. Scootaloo was confused.
"How do you know how to get there?" She asked, as Spike used his claws to cut a new path.
"Dragons have a very acute sense of smell, and that comet-thing had a very particular odor of burnt rubber, the after effects of using elemental magic, and something else I can't identify." Spike called back. "The scent is strong enough to smell it from Twilight's library, but only ponies or other creatures with enhanced olfactory abilities can smell it." Spike explained. The CMC followed their new guide, excitement emanating from every inch of their faces.
Time skip: two hours later.
"Come on girls, the crash site is just up ahead!" Twilight called. She turned back to the tracer, smiling at it. It was doing rather well for a piece of equipment that she had slapped together in half an hour. The trail Rainbow had picked out kept leading them in circles, and Fluttershy couldn't get any of the animals to tell her where the crash site was. The second she mentioned it, the animal took off running. Even the manticore she made friends with shook with fear at its mention.
So, they resorted to Twilight's tracer, after a quick vote on whether they should keep going or turn back. Fluttershy wanted to go back, because of how terrified the animals were, but she was overruled by the majority. She stayed in the back with Rainbow Dash, the latter of which was sulking at being replaced as guide by a machine. Fluttershy endured her rant on how the trail looked clearer from the sky, that the trees deliberately moved themselves to screw up the path, plenty of other excuses and put downs of technology and science in general.
"Rainbow, shut yer trap. We've been listening to your complaining for the last hour, and I for one am done with it." Applejack said, as she turned to face the cyan furred pony. Then and only then did Rainbow shut up. She knew better than to make Applejack mad.
Rainbow was fuming inwardly, when she bumped into Rarity.
"What's going on?" Rainbow said angrily. Rarity hauled Rainbow up to her side.
"Hey, let go of me you-." Rainbow cut herself off. The Mane 6 stood at the edge of a massive crater. The crater was thirty feet wide, and seventeen feet deep. The comet rested in the center, a glowing mass of shifting, crystaline, multicolored light. Twilight was about to jump into the crater, when the comet pulsed. The six mares watched as it pulsed again, then exploded outwards. They ducked behind some nearby bushes, but the light didn't do anything.
They stood back up, and saw a strange creature where the comet used to be. Twilight leaped into the crater, skidding down the side. She ran over to the creature. The others looked at each other, and hopped into the crater. Twilight stared at it, unmoving, and the others saw why.
The creature looked like a pony, but it wasn't. It had no fur on it's body, whatsoever. It's mane only covered the top of its head, only extending to cover a short part of its neck and face. It's legs didn't go extend back at the knees. It didn't have hooves, rather it had feet, and it had no tail. The creature wore a black shirt, a black and red jacket, black fingerless gloves with red lines running along the seams, dark navy blue jeans, white socks, and red shoes with white soles. It's hair was a rich, lustrous shade of chocolate, with a chiseled face, with no muzzle, and tanned skin. The creature was far from scrawny though, possessing a toned, lean figure that simply rippled with muscle.
The silence was interrupted by Applejack's exclamation.
"What in tarnation is that?"
The creature stirred from it's slumbering state, beginning to wake up. Twilight's horn glowed, and the Mane 6 were teleported behind some bushes, hiding them from the creature's sight.
P.O.V shift: Raxtus
I felt like somebody had Irish step danced on me, in cleats, tossed me into an ice bath, used my head as a baseball, which hit a brick wall, and finally fell a thousand feet into lava. In short, I felt like shit. I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my head.
"Why hasn't Spitfire tried to kill Improv yet? Going this long without a morning incident is a new… record…" I stopped mid sentence, as I examined my surroundings. I was sitting in the middle of a thirty foot crater I guessed was sixteen-seventeen feet deep. I couldn't see out of the rim, so I could be anywhere on Earth right now. My backpack was sitting next to me, and I guessed that my grandpa's sword was what I was sitting on.
The second I looked at it, I remembered. Last night. The party, the attack, the explosion,Tenebris, and the rainbow bubble. Worst of all, I realized that the last friends I had were dead. I almost fell back down, as tears flooded my eyes. Everything that happened flooded back, images crowding my mind. The party, battle armor, fleeing, the explosion, Tenebris, Chief when he's enraged, the cliff, and Chief dying. Chief. Out of all of my grandpa's friends, I was closest to Chief. Chief and my grandpa were so alike, that at one point I asked them if they were brothers from different mothers. They weren't, but that's beside the point. Chief was like my grandpa reincarnated. His loss hit me the hardest.
After a few minutes, I wiped the tears from my eyes, and stood up, after emembering what grandpa said when I asked about grandma.
Flashback…
It was my seventh birthday, back when I had friends, and a year before my mom died. It was after the party, when I was practicing with my new dagger. I was pretending I was a warrior with mystical powers, fighting off a horde of monsters. My dagger flashed in front of me, slicing away at make belief demons, smoke coming from each strike, like from my favorite show at the time, Power Rangers (I was young, don't judge).
I had just dispatched the demon general, and was doing my victory pose, when I heard grandpa speaking to himself.
"Just like his grandma." Grandpa blinked a bit, as I realized he had been watching me the entire time. I walked over to him.
"Grandpa, where's grandma?" I saw my grandpa turn towards me, a few tear tracks still present on his face.
"Ummm… errr." I remember grandpa stuttering and looking uncomfortable, and that's when my innocent little mind suddenly clicked.
"Is grandma dead?" I asked hesitantly. Grandpa looked away.
"Yes. Grandma is dead, my child." Grandpa sat down, looking older and more weary than ever before. I climbed into his lap, and leaned against his still muscled chest. Even in his old age, my grandpa still had a rock hard six pack, possibly even an eight pack. I looked up at him.
"Can you tell me a story?" My grandpa smiled at that. He loved telling stories. The best way to cheer him up, was to ask him to tell a story. It was our bedtime ritual. After my mom would tuck me in, she would sit down on the floor, as grandpa told one of his stories. He was a true master at the craft. He could spin stories so convincing, you couldn't tell whether they were real or fabricated.
"What kind of story would you like to hear?" I asked for a story about grandma. His smile never wavered as he told stories of how he met my grandma, their first date, what they did together, some of their adventures before they had my mother, and so many other things. I asked him if this made him sad, talking about grandma. He looked at me, still smiling.
"The people we love will never leave us, no matter what, so long as we remember them. If we remember who they were, what they did, and how they touched our lives, they'll never be gone. If you do this, it'll help you move on, knowing they'll be with you for all eternity."
Flashback end…
I stood up, wiping away tears at the memory. Grandpa was right. I couldn't dwell on this now. As of now, I had to move. I surveyed the crater. My motorcycle wasn't with me, but my backpack was a few feet away from me, right next to grandpa's sword. I rushed over to them.
Somehow, my grandpa's sword had remained in its scabbard. I pulled it out reverently. My grandpa's sword was also the sword I had chosen to master. After my mom died, when I was eight, my grandpa took me in. I wanted to be a warrior like him, and I wanted to fight with a sword. My grandpa gave me a few days to decide which sword to master, and when I told him which one, he stared at me as though my head had suddenly become a pineapple. After he confirmed that I wanted to master this particular blade, he set to work on a rigorous training program.
The blade I chose was what he called the buster sword. These swords are ridiculously huge, between six to eight feet in length (the handle included), and around a foot and a half wide (blade thickness depends on the user's preference). My grandpa's is seven and a half feet long and a foot and a half wide. It's a medieval knight style sword, with the blade forged from obsidian and blue diamond. The obsidian makes up the center of the blade, and the blue diamond outlines it around the edges. The blade connects to a handle made of gold, inlaid with rubies and sapphires. The handle isn't made of pure gold, it's gold and titanium fused together, or so my grandpa says that's what he did when he was forging it.
The sword is incredibly heavy, though. I get that the weight was supposed to be used to generate more powerful swings, but it does make it a pain to carry and to wield, in some cases. Blades like this were used to mow down as many opponents as possible, in an incredibly short time. The downside to these amazing weapons is their weight, and the time it takes to master them. The training required puts you through hell every single day, except it gets more and more rigorous (and excruciating). Training also requires you to learn a variety of martial arts to train the body to balance itself out when fighting with this beast of a blade, and for defense when the sword is out of reach. I started training when I was eight, and finally mastered it 12 years later, but that's only because of my grandpa's training program he had set up. Usually, it takes longer to master this sword, like ten years longer.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed by grandpa's sword, and climbed out of the crater. I don't know how I did it with the sword. After a few minutes of rest, I looked around at the forest outside the crater, and then it hit me. I was no longer on Earth. What tipped me off; Earth trees don't have glowing fruit. I set out after comprehending this fact, trudging through the underbrush. I was only a few minutes into my journey when I heard screaming coming from the right. It sounded close. I rushed over to where the screaming was, and stopped a few steps short of entering a small clearing.
Three enormous creatures had surrounded a group of four anthropomorphic beings. There were three ponies, they looked to be in their teenage years, and I was pretty sure they were girls. One had yellow fur and wore a red button down plaid shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a denim skirt. She had her red mane tied into a ponytail secured with a pink bow.
The second had white fur, with a violet and pink mane, and wore a teal t-shirt with navy blue designer jeans, and had a horn on her head, making her a unicorn, I guess?
The last pony had orange fur, a violet mane, and orange wings on her back. A Pegasus. She wore a black flight jacket with a lightning bolt emblem emblazoned on the back, a sky blue tank top, and a black miniskirt.
All three were clutching each other, terrified of the creatures in front of them, that I guessed were manticores. Standing between them and the manticores was an anthro dragon. He had purple scales with green spines running down his back. He wore a green t-shirt, ocean blue jeans, and a grey jacket. He stood in front of the three ponies protectively, his claws out and ready to slash at anything that came at him.
The manticores suddenly struck all at once. I had heard the term 'fur flying' before, but had never witnessed it in person until now. When the dust settled, two of the manticores held the dragon down while the third reared up to strike a killing blow. The dragon was a mess. Lacerations crossed his torso, and deep bites pocked his arms and legs. The orange furred pony stood up, and threw a rock at the third manticore. It bounced off its head, drawing its attention away from the dragon. It backhanded the pony with a sickening snap. That's when I broke.
I lashed out with my Kunai and chains. They stabbed into the back of the third manticore, sinking deeply into its flesh. It roared in pain, as I pulled with all my strength. It fell onto its back, pushing the Kunai further into its body. I ended its misery with a swift slash of my dagger across its throat. Blood spurred out from the artery I severed, effectively ending the manticore's life. I looked at the other two left over.
"Next." I said, rage flooding my tone. The manticores left the downed dragon, and charged me. I stood and let them come. I whipped out my bo staff and slammed it into the ground, launching me above the two preadators, Master Roshi style. They crashed into each other. I lashed out with my Tonfa on my way down while they were disoriented. With each hit I landed, there were sickening snaps. When I landed, the manticores were lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Two slashes later, they moved no more.
I walked over to the dragon, who was staring at me in awe and terror. I kneeled down next to him, and pulled my first aid kit out of my backpack. I grabbed the washcloth, and poured a foul smelling liquid onto it.
"This is going to sting." I said lifting it above one of the lacerations. "A lot." I pressed the cloth to the wound, resulting in a loud hiss of pain from the dragon. I heard whispering behind me, and remembered the orange furred Pegasus.
"Keep holding this to your wounds, I'll patch them up in a few minutes." I gave the dragon the cloth, and dashed over to the Pegasus. She was on her back, whimpering in pain, as her two friends tried to help her.
"I-it's okay Scootaloo." The unicorn said hesitantly. The yellow furred pony stood up shakily at my approach. She clenched her fists, raising them up to fight. I simply grabbed her first punch, flipped her over, and gently set her on the ground.
"I'm not here to hurt her, I'm here to help." I said calmly. I took one look and knew the problem. I knelt down at the pegasus's side.
"Where does it hurt." I asked, just to be sure. She pointed at her arm. It was bent at two different places, and her shoulder was out of place.
"Shit." Was my immediate thought at the bad break. I grabbed my Tonfa, and a lot of gauze from the kit.
"I'm going to splint your arm now, but it's going to hurt a lot." I said as I placed my Tonfa on both sides of her arm. I took a deep breath and moved her arm back into place. She screamed so loudly it was a wonder that the trees didn't shatter. She flailed about, her good arm repeatedly hitting me. I didn't stop until her arm was properly splinted. I stopped, then grabbed her shoulder.
"Your shoulder is dislocated, that's why you can't really move it." I propped her into a stirring position, her back resting against my chest.
"I'm going to pop it back into place." I said. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes.
"Is it going to hurt?" She asked fearfully. I looked into her eyes.
"It will hurt for no longer than a second." I said, making my grip on her shoulder firmer.
"3… 2… 1." I pushed her shoulder back into its socket. She hissed and gasped, but just as I said, only for a second. Her breath steadied as I held her close. I beckoned to the unicorn.
"I need you to stay here with her while I tend to your dragon friend." The unicorn switched spots with me, as I walked over to the dragon. To my surprise, I saw the yellow furred pony tending to him. She moved out of the way, as I bandaged the wounds as best as I could, tightly wrapping them with gauze.
"Can you walk?" I asked as I stood up. The young dragon tried to stand up, but kept falling in pain.
"Crud." I thought. I would have to carry him back to wherever he came from. I walked over to the manticore corpses, and pulled out my Kunai. It took quite a bit of effort, because my Kunai have minuscule barbs on them, each one effectively stopping them from coming out easily.
After I pulled them out, I picked up the dragon, gathered the three ponies, and set out from the forest.
Time skip: two hours later…
We had been walking for hours, until we all finally reached the ponie's treehouse. I had learned the names of the three fillies were Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo, and the dragons name was Spike. Spike was deceptively heavy for a dragon of his size. Normally his weight wouldn't be a problem, but when I was also carrying an extremely heavy sword on my back, along with my backpack, and having to carry all that over rough terrain for two hours, and you can see why I was ready to drop to the ground.
We reached the treehouse safely, where Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo said they could stay for a bit. Spike however had to be taken into the hospital, because I had run out of gauze to change his bandages, he had lost too much blood, and we were running the risk of having his wounds infected. After resting at the treehouse for a minute, I picked up Spike, and rushed off as fast as I could to the hospital.
I had made it into the town when I was hit in the face by a giant purple blast of light. Instantly, I was knocked off my feet, landing rather painfully on my back. I stood back up, albeit a bit shakily, when a cyan blur slammed into my midsection. I was thrown back into the street, slamming up against a wall. Now I irritated. What the hell hit me?
"Get out of Ponyville, and stay away!" Yelled a tomboyish voice. I shook my head to clear my vision, and saw a cyan furred Pegasus in front of me. She wore a black flight jacket with a lightning bolt emblazoned on the front over a white tank top, and jeans. Flight goggles hung around her neck. For some reason, this Pegasus has a rainbow mane. No seriously, her mane was every color of the rainbow. She looked familiar, though I couldn't exactly place who she reminded me of.
Behind her was a violet furred unicorn, wearing what looked like a private academy uniform. Her horn was glowing, a violet aura surrounding it. I'm pretty sure she shot out that bolt of energy.
I decided it was best to leave, and possibly never come back. Why not return? I'd rather live, seeing as nothing is more deadly than an angry woman, no matter what species they are.
"As you wish." I said tiredly. The Pegasus looked shocked as I turned and left town. I fled for the forest, my last place of refuge. From what I could tell, the Pegasus was expecting a fight from me. I figured that the Forest was feared by the ponies, most likely because of the creatures that live there. I didn't mention this before, but when I was carrying Spike back to the town, I saw creatures prowling around in shadows, heard growling, snarling, and the occasional distant roar. I figured the Forest was my best bet if I wanted to stay hidden from the ponies.
I finally found my way back to the clearing where I killed the manticores. I sat down heavily against a tree, letting tears come to my eyes. I had just earned the trust of three new ponies and a dragon, only to lose it all again. I had lost my grandpa's friends, the last ones I had before being brought here. I was just losing it. I had been diagnosed with major depression when I was ten, and I've been fighting against it all my life. It's part of why my grandpa talked me into mastering a weapon. First off, it would teach me to control myself. Second, all that training and exercise would send more endorphins to my brain, further helping me combat my depression, and finally, I would also learn how to defend myself and others when it became necessary.
Needless to say, it worked. After my grandpa died, training helped to take my mind off of his death, and helped me get through high school. My training is a big part of my life now, I don't know what I would do without it.
All the pent up grief and pain I was carrying around was coming out in full force. I couldn't hold it in anymore. There was too much to handle. After a while, I stood up, and assessed my situation. I had to survive. There was a fresh brook not too far from this clearing, and I fortunately had a water filter in my backpack. I was good on water. The trees helped provide plenty of shelter, and there was a large amount of dead twigs and branches on one side of the clearing, perfect for making a shelter. I could survive on manticore meat from the three carcasses nearby, and I could use their skin to create some shelter. I had steel for a striker, all I needed was some flint, or a magnifying glass, and I could have fire.
It was time to survive. How long, I had no idea.
Author's Note: Raxtus' first day in Equestria, wasn't exactly the best. As far as he is concerned, the Mane 6 hate him, and he probably won't be able to see his new friends anymore. At least, that's what he thinks at the moment. Not to worry, not to worry, things will get better in future chapters. So, please bear with me for the time being. I hope to see your comments on this chapter. Please post reviews, or P.M me if you don't want the public to view them. Your feedback really does help. This is Imagineer379 signing off.