Chapter 37

Pain. That is what I felt once my senses came back. I then feel wetness on my hand, something dripping off of me and onto the altar, as well as something soft, like fur. The next thing that came back was sound. I heard the sound of crying, yelling, and laughing, all at once. The closest one, the crying, seemed to be right in front of me. I hear what sounds like talking next to me, the voice in a strong Spanish accent.

Suddenly, my memories of what just happened a few moments ago flooded back into my mind. I remember the blade coming down on Dinky, her look of fear and sadness in her eyes, me reaching out…

Slowly, scared of what I might see, I open my eyes, and what I do see is nothing short of horrifying. Standing in front of me was Ahuizotl, holding the Ikazuchi blade in his hands, the sword going into my hand. It then clicks in my mind that the fur that I could feel was none other then Dinky's coat, and with agonizing slowness, I turned my head to see if I was able to save my daughter.

She was breathing, her chest moving ever so slightly, making me sigh with relief. However, the sigh was caught in my throat when I noticed that while the sword missed her heart, it still pierced her shoulder, and it was bleeding a lot, the blood mixing with my own and pouring onto the altar, which in turn dripped off the edge and into the bowl, filling it.

I looked at Dinky's face, and I could see the pain in her eyes, and I knew that I failed to protect her, even if she is still alive, she could still die from the blood loss. With a wet *schling* sound, Ahuizotl pulled the blade out of my hand and the filly's shoulder, causing a small cry of pain from the pink filly, and even more blood began to poor out. I immediately tried to put pressure on it with my hand that was already on it, but the pain was too much, so I replaced it with my unwounded left hand, putting as much pressure on it as possible, slowing down the flow of blood. I heard her whimper in pain, and she turned to face me, her eyes filled with tears.

"It's ok, Dinky, your safe now, I got you. I'm here now." I whispered, not trusting to talk any louder, for fear of cracking my voice.

Dinky gave a weak smile, and shivered a bit. "I…I k-knew that…t-that you w-would m-m-make it." She whispered, whimpering a little as well.

At this point, the fighting in the clearing between the Tribal and RG stopped, everypony just staring at the altar. Daring, Shining and the others all made it to where I was, and were busy untying the ropes that held Dinky to the altar. Once she was free, I quickly pulled her off of it and onto my lap, cradling her in my arms, keeping pressure on the wound. Fluttershy was already busy getting the necessary medical supplies to start fixing the wound, while all I could do was just stare at my daughter, my tears flowing freely from my eyes.

"I…I f-feel…t-t-tired, D-Daddy…" Said Dinky, giving a soft yawn.

"Dinky, stay with me, please…d-don't fall asleep on me Muffin, I'm begging you." I said, but it was no use, for she soon closed her eyes, and I could hear her breathing getting shallower as the seconds passed on.

Suddenly, Fluttershy pushed my hand out of the way and began to bandage Dinky's wound up, but I feared that it might be too late already for her.

"Finally, I have beaten you, Daring Do, and with your own blood as well." We all looked up at Ahuizotl as he spoke, the sword in one hand, while the bowl of blood was in another, the dagger still in the bowl. None of us made a move to stop him, to tired to try. That, and the idea of charging him as he held onto the sword didn't sit well with us.

With his tail hand, he took the blood soaked Baransu blade from the bowl, the blood dripping a little. He then walked towards the crystal, and with another of his stupid flourishes, he pointed the dagger at the crystal and said, "Now, with the insertion of the Baransu blade covered in the blood of a young foal, I shall have control of the strongest warrior in Equestria!" With that, he plunged the dagger straight into the crystal, until the point just barely touched the human inside.

At first, there was silence, no pony dared to say anything. After a while, the blood seemed to be absorbed by the crystal, causing it to shake. It started small at first, just barely vibrating, and then it began to grow. As the vibrations grew, the hybrid took a few steps back, watching the scene unfolded in front of us with untold fascination. After a minute of shaking, it suddenly stopped, and then the crystal began to fall apart.

It didn't melt or explode as I thought it might, but instead pieces of it began to fall off, first a bit, then a few more, then the crystal was soon crumbling into pieces, slowly releasing its long held prisoner inside. Finally, after what felt like forever, the crystal was reduced to shards, the human lying face down on top of the pile.

No pony dared to breath, and just watched the human, expecting him to move at any moment. Thirty second went by, and the human didn't move a muscle. "Well, it looks like you just went through a whole lot of nothing, you asshole." Said Daring in a low and venomous voice.

I saw Ahuizotl about to make a retort, but suddenly, there was a large groan, causing everypony to look at the source, which was none other then the human on the crystal pile.

Argenteus was waking up.

(Argenteus's POV)

I groaned as I began to regain feeling in my limbs, the blood beginning to flow once more. The first thing that I felt was, well touch. I could feel that I was on some sort of pile of…sand, maybe, or pebbles of some sort. The next sense to return to me was smell. I could smell the hot sweat from many bodies nearby, and they smelled like they could use a bath. I could also smell some sort of iron tinge in the air that was familiar, but the smell escaped me at the moment. The next thing that came to me was sound. I thought that I went deaf at first for I couldn't hear anything at all for a few seconds, but then I could hear the wind blowing a bit, as well as the heavy breathing of someone nearby. Next came sight, which wasn't much, considering that my eyes were closed, and I had no desire to open them at the moment, wanting to make sure my body was ready for the shock of light.

Finally, I was able to start thinking more clearly about the situation that I was in, and the very first thought that came into my mind was:

'Next time, keep your mouth shut, you idiot.'

For it was indeed my mouth that got me into this mess, as so many other times it did as well. I couldn't help it, though. The woman asked if her dress looked good, and I just gave her my honest opinion. Granted, I could have said it a bit nicer then 'it would look better on a pig' but I thought that it was true. Also, I didn't know that she was a witch, nor did I think she would cast a spell on me, entrapping me in that damn crystal. I swear, I should start bringing some charms with me, just in case I run into any more magic users. And to believe that I thought magic was just a bunch of hocus-pocus.

Oh well, now isn't the time for wishful thinking. It felt like it has been forever since I've been able to move, and man did my muscles feel sore. Thankfully, my body was well trained to perform in high stress situations due to my training, but it still felt like my limbs were attached to giant weights.

Slowly, I placed my hands on the ground below me, which was a little difficult, since I was on top of a pile of some sort of rubble, and when I got myself up from my kneeling position, I slowly opened my eyes, wanting to see who it was that saved me from the boredom that was the crystal prison. What I did see, however, made me blink in surprise.

Standing in front of me was a large…creature, of some sort. He seemed to be a mix of dog and ape, with some golden jewelry on itself. He was also holding my Ikazuchi blade in his hand, and…wait, he had a hand on his tail as well?! Now, at this point, my blood was starting to pump properly, and with my sword in the creature's hand, I had to find a way to get it back. Luckily, I found Baransu right next to me, and so, without hesitation, I took my tanto and quickly got up, holding the blade in my usual backwards hold in my right hand, getting myself into a battle stance.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Argenteus." It said. Wait…it spoke?! Not only that but is spoke in some sort of accent as well. I was about to respond to the dape (dog-ape) creature, but I stopped, for I then realized that there were others here with us.

Noting my surroundings, I saw what appeared to be many different…equine like creatures. Not only that, but some of them had horns, while others had wings, and then the rest had neither. There seemed to be two groups of them as well; one of them were in armor like I've seen the Queen's Guards wear, while the others, which had neither horns nor wings, were dressed in what looked like to be jungle wear, like from the natives of a few of the forests that I've seen before. As I looked around, I then noticed another group of ponies that were next to some sort of altar. What frightened me the most, however, was that there was blood on the altar.

Now, I was no stranger to sacrifices, and I could tell that some sort of foul deed just took place here. Right next to the altar, was another group of equine creatures, and in the middle of the group was…another human!

This human looked to be a bit different, though. It might have to do with the fact that he looks like he just went through a sparing match with a griffon, which in turn made his shirt look almost non existing. The human also sported a large stab wound on his right hand, and by the looks of it; the stab went all the way through. Sitting on his lap, however, was something that nearly made me break my somewhat cool outer demeanor.

Sitting in his lap was what appeared to be what I assumed was a little child of sorts. I believe it is a child, since it was much smaller then the others around the human (Also, there were about nine other horse/pony/equine/whatever like creatures surrounding him). The child had a large stab wound on its shoulder, identical to the human's, and was currently being bandaged by a yellow equine. The child seemed to be unconscious at the moment, but I knew from experience that if it didn't get any serious medical attention soon, then it would die.

With my mental scan of the area complete, I looked eyes back with the dape, keeping myself on alert. I began to debate what I should say, since this was a very delicate situation, and I knew that one wrong word, and I could be sent back into a deep sleep, only this time, it would be permanent.

After a few seconds of very careful thinking, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and then I said:

"What the fuck are you?!"

Ok, so maybe subtlety isn't my forte, but hey, I've always preferred the direct approach anyways.

The dape gave me an annoyed look, but it seemed to force a smile on itself and said, "I'll forgive that one blunder of yours for now, but just remember that for future references, you will refer to me as master."

I did not like the sounds of that! I wake up to some sort of weird creatures, and then this dape thing says that he's my master? The only one who I called master was my Sensei, and as far as I can tell he was much nicer then this thing.

I raised an eyebrow at the thing and said, "Yea, ok…why should I call you master?"

This apparently confused it, and it was quiet for a few seconds. It then gave a sly smile and said, "Because, I freed you, and like the prophecy dictates. I offered the blood of an innocent soul, which means that I have total control over you."

Now, at the mention of offering blood to me, I glanced once again at the altar and the human with the group of ponies, who were now all staring at me, the yellow one having finished her bandages on the little one a few seconds ago. I took a glance at the human, and I could see that he was very upset and, for a lack of better words, very pissed off as well.

I looked at the others, and saw that they were all staring at me with curiosity, and also a little fear. At least, that's what I assumed by there facial expressions. I looked back at the dape and asked, "Ok, so…what the hell happened here, and what the hell are you guys?"

The dape was about to open its mouth, when suddenly the other human spoke in a low tone, still looking at the little child in his arms. "That 'thing' is Ahuizotl, and he is a monster and a murderer. And he…he tried to kill my daughter to wake you up."

Now, I already guessed that some sort of sacrifice happened here, but I assumed that it was some sort of animal (Well, a non-sapient one), but to hear that the creature actually used a young child…now that got my blood to start on a light shimmer. Even though I was pissed, I decided to at least ask the thing's side of the story, to try and give him a chance. I turned to face the creature called Ahuizotl and asked, "So, let me get this straight. You wake me up, presumable with the blood of an innocent child, and then you order me to work for you and call you my master?"

The hybrid shrugged. "Well, almost. If I did the sacrifice properly, then that bastard foal wouldn't be alive. But it matters not, for you are now awake, and now, with you as my champion, I will be able to take over Equestria, and-"

*BAM*

And now I couldn't have given a shit about the bastard.

I charged at him while he was talking and punched him right in the gut with my free hand, sending him flying back a good couple of feet. Unfortunately, he didn't release his hold on Ikazuchi. As he was getting up, he said, "How dare you defy your master, human! I freed you from your prison, and this is how you repay me? I'll show you what-"

"By Hrogier's beard, do you ever shut the fuck up?" I said, getting myself into fighting position, my right hand holding Baransu in a back hold in front of me, ready to deflect and counter attack any of his moves.

Ahuizotl got back up to his feet, coughing a bit from the hit that I delivered. He then raised my sword. "Very well then, I guess I'm just going to have to beat some discipline into you, human."

"Come on, freak show, and let's see if you really know how to use a weapon." I responded. I was quite comfortable with the situation, with all things considering. Judging by his stance that he took, he was somewhat versed in the art of bladed weaponry, but everything else about him was off. His grip was too tight, the point was too high, all of these things added together, telling me that while he knew how to fight with a blade, he wasn't necessary good at it.

I decided to let him charge first, and charge he did, yelling at me as he raised the sword up. I just casually raised my tanto up to block, and then deflected it to the side, before bringing the dagger up and slicing him at his stomach.

Everyone in the area gasped, most likely surprised by my speed. Ahuizotl staggered back a bit, stunned by the hit, but otherwise unfazed. He quickly gathered himself back up, and then charged at me again, this time with the point facing me.

I just casually stepped to the side, and then drew my blade up to slice his side as he ran by. Ahuizotl flinched from the hit, and then tripped, hitting the ground with his face.

"You done now?" I asked, getting a bit bored by the whole thing. I was still pissed at the fact that he tried to kill a child just to wake me up, but I was starting to get even more annoyed that he wasn't even coming close to hitting me yet.

My verbal jab apparently got him riled up, and jumping back to his feet, the hybrid yelled, "You will bow down to your master!"

"Yada, yada, yada. I'll tell you what. You let me, along with the whoever doesn't want to stay here, leave, and I promise that I won't beat you in a pulp, since I'm in a somewhat nice mood, being finally free from that damn prison and all (Stupid thing didn't even have any air holes). However, if you continue fighting me, then I promise that I will beat you within an inch of your life. So, what's it going to be?" His response came as another jab with my sword, to which I deflected easily enough. "Alright, you asked for it."

I charged back at him, and then jumped and landed in front of him, to which I slashed at his neck, intending on finishing this quickly. Lucky for him, he ducked, and I ended hitting the pillar behind him, causing me to cause a jagged cut on it as my blade hit the stone. He raised my sword up for a downward stroke but I just raised my blade up without turning, knowing that he was going to do that. I then did a back kick into his guts, knocking the air out of him. While he was catching his breath, I turned around and backhanded him in the face, sending him spinning. Once he stopped spinning, he slowly got his balance situated again, and when he looked back at me, I was in a more aggressive stance, and said, "Now, let me show you what real blade training can do."

With that, I went completely on the offensive, going through all my basic moves that I learned from my training. I didn't feel completely up to strength yet, but I still had a feeling that I could beat him easily. Turns out I was right. Despite being a lot bigger and supposedly stronger then me, he severely lacked technique, and I decided to use that to my complete advantage, flowing from one move set to the next. I went through slashes, stabs, kicks, doing just what came naturally to me, all the while this Ahuizotl character began to struggle with blocking my attacks, not even able to go through a counter attack of his own. A few of the times when he was really open, I was able to get a quick downward stab on his back or shoulder, and the wounds soon began to slow him down.

After a while, I noticed that he was beginning to tire out. Thank the Creator, for I was getting tired myself. It turns out that living in a crystal for gods know how long doesn't help with your stamina. I decided to finish this before it went out of hand, and waited for him to make his next and finale strike. It came in the form of a slow jab, and I once again stepped to the side, only this time, instead of slashing him, I grabbed the arm. Raising my other arm up in the air, I brought Baransu back down and stabbed his forearm, causing him to scream in pain, as well as making him drop my sword. I quickly took my katana from the ground, at the same time switching my grip on the tanto to the left, so that I could hold Ikazuchi in my right. Normally, I would have placed Baransu in its sheath, but I sadly lacked it at the moment.

I took a quick glace at Ahuizotl, but he seemed to be occupied with fixing his arm, so I took the chance and went over to the other human. When I approached them, however, two of the equine creatures, a blue one with wings and an orange one with some sort of hat stopped me.

I raised my weapons up in a non-threatening manner. "Hey, easy there, guys, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Oh really? And how do we know that, huh?" Said the blue one.

"You don't, but then again, if I did want to do you guys any harm, then I would have done so by now."

"And how do we know that it isn't a ruse, partner?" said the orange one.

"Wha…I just said why, now are you two horses-"

"Ponies." I turned to the voice, which came from the purple one with a horn on her head.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "So, you guys are a bunch of talking…ponies? What's next, the one's with horns are unicorns and the ones with wings are Pegasai?"

The purple one was about to speak again, but there was a sudden rumble that vibrated all around the area. This caused a bit of a stir to everyone around, and when I looked around, I noticed that the sky was…different from when I last seen it.

"Why do I get the feeling that we just ran out of time?" I said, looking at the others.

"Cause we just did! We need to get out of here right now!" Shouted the tan one, who was wearing a vest and a hat of some sort.

Now, I may be very confused as to why in Thralod's shining day were there talking ponies, and what the hell did I wake up to, and all sorts of things. However, staying alive was my first priority, and the only way to do that was to listen to these guys, since I had no idea as to how to get the hell out of here.

"Alright fine, save our skins now, then ask a bunch of questions later. Sounds like a plan to me." With that said, I also spot my sheaths right next to the altar, so I quickly took them and sheathed my weapons before tying them around my waist, Ikazuchi going on the left, and Baransu going on the right. Once they were on, I gave a nod to the ponies, signifying that I was ready to leave whenever they were.

They all quickly got up, the human holding the small foal in his arms. The white one that was in the same gear as the ones with armor began to yell, "Royal Guards, to me!" With that, we all began to run, the ones in armor following suit.

As we ran, I took a quick look around, and saw that the ponies in the tribal gear were starting to run as well, though some of them seemed to be intent on stopping us, getting in our way, making us have to push them off of our path. Just when we were going to hit another group of them, they were suddenly bowled over by a large pony that seemed to be made of stone, with a lizard like thing on its back.

"Rasi, you're ok!" Shouted the yellow one. The lizard seemed to smile at this and it gave a loud thrum of approval.

"I see you have awaken, Argenteus." Said the giant stone pony, giving me a slight bow of what looked like respect.

"Hold on, my name's not Argenteus, it's-"

"We'll discuss it later, now come on!" Shouted the other human.

Deciding to agree with him, I nodded and we all continued to run, knocking anyone and anything that was in our path. It was a bit difficult for me, since I kept tripping over things, and my legs felt like they were on fire for beings stuck for so long inside that crystal.

Soon, we reached an area that had a large staircase going deep into the ground, and in the center of it was a large water dragon statue made out of sapphire. There also seemed to be some weapons next to the area as well, which the human took and equipped to himself as we ran by. Out of pure instinct, I decided to take the statue for myself. I don't know what compelled me to do it, but something told me that it was going to be important.

We soon reached a cave entrance, and at this point, there were pieces of the ceiling that were falling off and onto the ground (I figured out that we were in some sort of underground cavern. With trees, and a jungle, and a sacrificial altar. Cause why the fuck not.) And the shaking just only got worse. We entered the cave only to find a large staircase leading up into the darkness. Not really having a choice, we took the stairs quickly, the whole area shaking to the point that I thought it was going to collapse on us at any second.

Finally, after what felt like hours of running, we all made it to the surface, where there was a bunch of snow all around us. We exited what seemed to be some sort of temple, and with a sigh, I slowly sank to my knees, relieved that I could finally relax (Which I found ironic, since that was all I was doing for the past who knows how many years).

As I sat there, I looked around, and saw that the majority of the ponies seemed to have made it, and this included some of the tribal ones as well, though they gave us a wide birth due to the stares of the guards that were with us. I looked at the ones that were with me, and saw that they were all doing different things. The yellow one was helping with some of the other guard ponies with the injured foal, trying to keep her alive, though if they were doing well, I had no idea. The stone pony and the lizard were with them as well, though it seemed as if all of them were giving it a wide birth, besides the yellow one. The rest of them seemed to be just taking deep breaths as they calmed themselves down from what we just went through. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the tan pony leave us to go over the edge of a snow bank for reasons unknown to me.

I heard footsteps coming my way, and I turned to see that the human was approaching me, his right hand having been bandaged. There were also a bunch of younger ponies that were following him as well; except for the one that he was holding, whom I saw was being taken care of by a few others at the moment.

The human stopped a few feet away from me and remained silent, holding his staff in his uninjured hand, while the other foals seemed intent on seeing what I was, coming to sit around me and stare at me with interest. After a brief moment I was able to tell that they were all females, at least. The young ponies were quiet for a second, seeming to look at me in awe, before the orange one began to speak.

"So, you're a human as well?" She asked me. I nodded, too tired to speak at the moment.

"And, are you a…w-warrior?" Asked the white one.

I hesitated at this, and after a few seconds of thinking, I said, "Well, I guess I am one."

"So, you fight like that all the time, mister?" Asked the yellow one.

"Only when I need to."

"What else have you fought?" Asked the pink child.

"Well, I had to deal with the occasional Spider Crab and Black Sun Bird, the later of which were always going after our live…uh, farm animals."

"Why does your hair have a silver stripe and Drak doesn't?" Asked the final one in the group, which was the silver one.

"Well, we humans all look different, so his parents must have had the genes to allow him to have his color hair, while mine…wait, did you say that I have a silver streak in mine?"

The filly nodded, making me pause in thought. After a second of thinking, I drew out Baransu, causing the foals to quickly take a step back, and the human to tighten his grip on the staff.

"Relax, I'm just checking my reflection." I said, making them relax a bit, though they still kept a wary eye on me. I held the blade in front of me so that I could see myself in the reflection, and when I saw my hair, I was surprised to find that the child was right. My normally grey hair had a silver strip going right through the front of my hair, and it reached all the way to the bottom of my length going to my shoulders. I was curious as to why that happened, but otherwise I decided that it was a small problem, since it did blend in a bit with the rest of my grey hair, and was only noticeable upon closer inspection.

Satisfied, I sheathed Baransu back into the sheath, and turning to the children, I gave them a small nod and said, "Well, I'm assuming that you guys all know what my name is, considering that I was part of some sort of ritual and all?"

"You're Argenteus, right?" This time, it was the human that spoke up. Him speaking surprised me a bit, but otherwise, I didn't show it, and turning to face him, I said, "Well, no, I'm not. I guess that's what the stone pony told you guys, huh?"

"Sort of. We first found your name written on the walls in the entrance to the testing chambers. If that's not your name, then would you care to give us your real name?"

"Of course, my real name is Andrews. Silver Andrews."

"Wow, you have the same first name as me!" Stated the silver child…or filly, I guess.

"So, your name is Silver as well?"

"Yup! I'm Silver Spoon, and this is my friend, Diamond Tiara." She said, pointing at the pink filly, who nodded in return.

"And who are you guys, if I may ask?" I asked the other fillies.

"Well, ah'm Applebloom, and these are mah friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo." Said the yellow filly, pointing at the white one and the orange one respectively.

"And together we are…" Said Scootaloo, before bunching up with the other two and then the three of them shouted out:

"THE CUTIE MARK CURSADERS!"

I could feel a bit of ringing in my ears after that announcement, and after a few seconds, it cleared up, but I was already starting to get swarmed by all of their questions.

"So, what else can you do? Can you fly?"

"Do you also lack a cutie mark?"

"How long were you in that crystal?"

"Have you-"

"Ok girls, that's enough, I think Silver Andrews here needs a few moments to rest." Said the human, bringing out a bunch of 'awes' from the group, but sure enough, they all got up and left to go to the other ponies, leaving me alone with the other human.

We were quiet for a while, neither of us saying anything. After a moment of silence, the other human sighed and sat down next to me.

"Sorry about them, they can be a bit…curious at newcomers."

I shrugged. "It's fine, they are just young and want to know what I was. The only thing that I'm really surprised of, however, is that there's another human in this world as well as me."

"Yea, well, I kinda had a freak out when I first noticed them."

"Wait, you freaked out over colorful ponies? "

"Not exactly. I freaked out because when they were first talking to me, I was the center of attention, and…I'm not comfortable with that."

"Ah." We then went quiet again for a while, and then I asked, "So, care to tell me your name?"

"The name's Drakalian, though most call me Drak." He said, raising his hand in greeting, which I accepted by shaking it.

"So, care to tell me where exactly am I?" I asked, deciding to get to the point.

"Well, you are in Equestria, or the Crystal Kingdom, to be more precise. And yes, ponies are one of the sentient beings here."

"One of them?"

"From what I can tell, there are also dragons and griffins. There are some more but I can't remember them off the top of my head at the moment."

"OK, so…why was I in this temple?"

At this, Drak became quiet, thinking about a possible explanation. After a few seconds, he said, "Well…you were in there for Celestia knows how long, and, well…you were basically looked upon as some sort of god during the ancient times of the tribal Earth ponies."

"You mean the ones that are here right now?" I asked, pointing at the ones giving us a wide birth.

Drak shook his head. "No, those guys are from a different place, as far as I can tell. They were lead by Ahuizotl, who I hope is dead, that bastard." he said, spitting out the last words.

"Well, he was certainly arrogant, that's for sure."

"Trust me, arrogant wouldn't be the word that I would describe him."

"Well, at least he's-" I began to say, before a shadow fell over us.

We both looked up, and to our shock, we saw Ahuizotl standing over us, holding a spear in his hand, his arm bandaged and a very pissed of expression on his face.

Drak immediately jumped up to stop him, but the dape (which I'm still going to call him) just back-handed him, sending him flying back. I tried to take my katana out, but he just punched me in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. As I gasped for air, I felt something sharp poke me in the stomach, and looking down, I noticed that he pierced me with the spear, sliding it at least a few inches deep of me.

"So, you think that you could disobey your master so easily, Argenteus?" He said, spiting out his words. "Well, if you won't accept me as your master, then you shall die like the beast that you are."

"You're one to talk, you dick." I spat, blood dripping out of my mouth.

The hybrid snarled, and then yanked the spear out, making me collapse onto the ground, clutching at the wound. I coughed up bit more blood, and looking up, I saw Ahuizotl raise the spear up for the fatal blow.

'Well, it was fun while it lasted. I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon…Mom…Dad…' With that final thought, I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

The next second, there was a loud, wet *shling* as the metal pierced the flesh, but after a few seconds, I realized that I was somehow still alive. A few seconds of waiting, when I felt no additional pain, I opened my eyes and looked up, and what I saw surprised me.

There, sticking out of the hybrid's neck was a large, black spike, blood oozing around the wound. In his shock, Ahuizotl dropped his spear, clutching weakly at his throat, trying to get rid of the intrusion. The next second, there was another wet *shling* sound as the spike removed itself from his throat, making blood spurt out, and making him stagger for a few seconds before falling to the ground. As he fell, I saw that Drak was behind him, holding one of his spiked weapons in his hand, which was now covered in blood.

I looked back at the dying dape, and somehow, he was able to flip himself over, so that he was lying on his back. He looked at Drak, and then began to laugh in a low (and creepy) tone, which lasted for a few seconds, before it slowed to a gurgle, the blood bubbling from the wound on his neck and to his mouth. Another few seconds later, he finally went silent; the only sound that we could hear was the wind blowing. Looking up, I realized that the confrontation didn't go unnoticed, for everyone that was near us was now looking in our direction, shocked expressions on there faces. Luckily, there was a grey pony that was distracting the young ones, so they didn't see it happen, and I prayed that it stayed like that for now.

Everyone was deathly silent; no one dared to say a word. After what felt like forever, the cyan pony took a step, and said, "Did…did you just…"

Drak simply nodded, not saying anything. After what felt like another eternity, he looked over at the yellow pony and said, "Fluttershy, can you take a look at Andrews's wound, please?"

The yellow pony seemed to be on the verge of fainting from what she saw, but nevertheless, she still went up to me and began to take care of my wound. It was at this point that I noticed that there was some sort of ship that was…flying? At any rate, I was too tired to be surprised by what was going on, and I just decided to accept that there were going to be some crazy shit happening to me very soon.

Once Drak was done talking, he immediately started off to the ship, not saying a word to anyone else. We all just remained quiet, watching him pass us and enter the ship, none of us sure what to say. As he was about to enter it, the tan pony walked out for a second, and then smiled upon seeing Drakalian. When she noticed his expression, her smiled faded, and she asked, "What's up, Drak? We just saved everypony, and now we can go home. Aren't you excited?"

Drak just remained quiet, entering the ship. Daring, confused, turned to us to ask what was going on, but she immediately fell silent upon seeing Ahuizotl's corpse, her mouth hanging open.

"Is…is that…" She stuttered, not quite able to get the words out. I simply nodded, and then, noticing that Fluttershy finished bandaging me, I slowly got up and decided to enter the ship as well, everypony else, except the tribal ponies, following suit.

Once we got in, the tan one closed the door, and then went upstairs without another word. A few minutes later, I felt a bit of movement, and I assumed that we began to move off.

We were all silent, none of us sure what to say to the other, especially considering what just happened. After a few seconds, the pink pony walked up to me, a big smile on her face, but it looked a bit forced on her. After a few seconds of silence, she cleared her throat, and, with an attempt at some enthusiasm, said, "So…do you like parties?"