Chapter 18

I sat on the tallest point of the roof of the treebrary and watched the people walking around the town with a straight face. It had only been a few days since the incident and I still feel indifferent about it. The images of what Dante did to those Diamond Dogmen were still fresh in my mind. I knew what he’d do to them once I let him loose, but I didn’t expect him to run so rampant like that. After we saved Rarity, she was taken to the local hospital to treat her injuries. I was told she woke up shortly after and didn’t really recall what happened down in that cave. Probably due to the shock, or the trauma to her head, maybe she passed out from the mere sight of Dante? I don’t know…I guess all that matters is that she’s safe and back to making clothes for people. When she was told by her friends that I was the one who saved her, she expressed her gratitude by telling me she’d make me some new clothes free of charge. Part of me didn’t want to accept her generosity, but I knew better than to argue with that girl.

To make things more bittersweet about it all, no one really knows about what I really did. As soon as everyone found out that Rarity was taken, they assumed the worst. I expected to be ostracized for Dante’s killing spree, but I’ve been getting nothing but positive feedback from the locals. More of these people are now greeting me with smiles and the occasional nod of appreciation, which confused the hell out of me. I fully expected to be public enemy #1, but instead I’m treated like I’m the talk of the town. After doing some light digging, I found out that Lapis had informed the mayor that I bravely jumped into action to save Rarity and drove the Diamond Dogmen off. Why Lapis would make up a story to cover my tracks was beyond me, but now Lapis is avoiding me.

Still hung up about it? Dante said in my head.

A little…

They deserved it, you know, they would’ve killed the girl had you not done anything about it.

But was killing them the way to go?

They needed to learn on the spot that they shouldn’t mess with forces they’ve yet to understand. You could’ve taken them all on and beat them into submission, true, but that would only be a slap on the wrist. You heard what the one said to me, didn’t you? That we don’t kill others?

What about it?

It means he probably thought you were one of these pony-humans. And he believed that you’d be as much of a pushover as the girl they took. Which can only mean that the pony-humans are looked down on.

That can’t be true, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who wouldn’t take shit from anyone.

Maybe, or maybe not? Why do you think the Northerners are skulking around? Because they probably believe this whole kingdom is easy pickings. I’d imagine that the ones we drove off had this town under their thumb before we showed up.

Well…what do you think we should do?

It’s as our agreement holds, you just keep being on the good side of the people’s public image while I handle all the gritty shit in the shadows and out of sight, whenever possible.

If people knew what you did, I’d be labeled as a criminal.

Let’s get one thing straight, Axel, I’m the criminal around here.

Yeah…I guess you are.

“Axel?”

I glanced over my shoulder to see Moon flying up behind me and I returned my gaze to the streets below.

“Hey, Moon.”

“Are you alright?” She asked as she landed beside me.

“Couldn’t be better,” I shrugged. “I’m just contemplating the fact that I have a psychopath residing in my head and he had gone on a killing spree, so my day is just peachy.”

“I see…” Moon knelt down next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder. “Do you regret letting him loose?”

“The cave has been sealed shut, the Diamond Dogmen aren’t coming back, my reputation around here has increased somewhat, and I can walk around town without getting the occasional stink eye. So to answer your question, it’s a pretty bittersweet feeling.”

“Why couldn’t you handle the situation yourself?” Moon wondered.

“I don’t know…I was just angry.” I sighed and shook my head. “Hearing that guy say that he and his cronies hurt Rarity set me off enough to let Dante take the wheel. Part of me wanted to handle the situation on my own, but I felt as though Dante would’ve handled it better.”

“He killed the whole pack,” Moon reminded me. “Diamond Dogmen are known to be a very vengeful race of humans. What if they return to seek revenge?”

“Then that’d be their mistake,” I said. “If their encounter with Dante wasn’t any indication that they should fuck off for good, that’s their funeral.”

“Do you truly mean that?” Moon asked, looking up at me.

“I just…despise seeing the weak being looked down on while others take advantage of them. I was too weak to stand up for myself against my own parents and took the coward’s way out and basically ran away from home. Did you know, before I came here, I had not even called or sent a freaking letter to my folks for over 6 years? And it’s not just my parents, it was the majority of my adolescent life!” I began to get agitated in my ranting. “Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. Everywhere I looked, there were kids being bullied the shit out of by bigger kids. There’s usually a reason for it, but most of the time it was so the bigger kids could look tough or do it for their own sick enjoyment. It’s the reason why I got into a lot of fights as a kid. I wasn’t the one being picked on most of the time, but I did my damndest to stand up for those who couldn’t.”

“So you’ve had a sense of justice since you were young?”

“Tch! More like anti-justice,” I corrected. “I was known to be doing all the wrong things for the right reasons, if that makes sense. It’s the same with Dante, he killed those Diamond Dogmen just so he could save Rarity.”

“Would you allow him to take control again if a similar situation arises?” Moon inquired.

“Who knows?” I shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to hope that something like that doesn’t happen again.”

We sat together in silence for a little while longer until I stood up and stretched my arms. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Would you like me to accompany you?” Moon offered.

“Thanks, but I prefer to be alone right now. Twilight and the girls won’t be back from their trip to that Appleloosa place for a while. Something about a tribe of Buffalo-Humans running amok. I think she’d appreciate it if you kept a close watch on the library and kept it tidy in her place.”

“Well alright, I will see you later then,” Moon nodded and flew back down into the treebrary.

I jumped off the tree and slowed my descent with my Smoke Thrusters and landed softly on the ground. I tucked my hands in my pockets and casually walked through the streets. The people either passed by me as if I was a normal dude, waved in my direction, or smiled at me to which I just responded in kind. I wondered what they all would think of me if they knew the truth about what I really did in order to get Rarity back. This world has been pretty good to me so far, since my arrival. It’d be a damn shame if it all blew up in my face. As I walked, I heard some kind of commotion near the marketplace.

I saw a couple people arguing with each other and it sounded pretty heated. One was a slightly pudgy guy with a scruffy beard and dirty clothing. The lady, on the other hand, was cleaner looking and wore casual clothes and an apron. She had long light brown hair that was tied in a simple ponytail with a red scrunchy. Embroidered on the apron was an image of a heart with a baby bottle in front of it. I almost turned away, since it wasn’t my business to get involved, but I caught the sight of a kid hiding behind the lady. I recognized the kid as Button Mash, one of that kid Pipsqueak’s and Apple Bloom’s little friends. The look on his face told me that he was nervous as hell from the guy giving the lady, who I can only now assume is his mom, a ton of shit.

“You think I give a shit about your little brat?! He ain’t nothing but an eyesore!” The man barked.

“Well I’ve had it with your inexcusable behavior! My son is not some punching bag you can push around whenever you’re drunk off your gourd!” The lady snapped.

“What did you say to me, bitch?!” The man snarled as he raised his hand, making the woman cringe. “I own your sorry ass! You’re nothing without me and that kid needs to grow a pair! If you won’t do it, then I just have to do it for you!”

“Get away from us!” The lady screamed, pushing the man away. The man growled and slapped the lady across her face, making me grit my teeth as I marched over to them.

“Mommy!” Button cried as he knelt down beside her.

“You little skank, I’ll show you to talk back to me!” The man raised his hand for another slap, but I arrived just in time to grab his wrist. “What the?!” He snapped his head to me as I glared at him. “Who the fuck are you?!”

“Someone who doesn’t enjoy watching a woman get beat in front of her son,” I said bitterly as I clenched my hand on his wrist.

“OW! Hey! Let go!” The man shouted as he tried to pull away, but my grip tightened more. I glanced down at the lady to see the bruise on her cheek.

“You fat, sack of disgusting scum,” I hissed. “Is this what gets you off? Beating girls to feel like a big man?”

“Why the fuck do you care?! I said let me-GAH!” I didn’t let him finish as I started to crush his wrist.

“I can’t fucking stand people like you, thinking you can do whatever the fuck you want just because you feel like it.” I kept crushing his wrist as he started to yell out in pain and fell to his knees. “You’re trash, just a piece of fucking trash who should be thrown away.”

“S-Stop! Stop! You’re hurting me!”

“Yeah?! I’m hurting you?! Well guess what, bitch, that’s exactly how she felt!” I glared down at the sorry asshole as my grip was on the verge of breaking his wrist due to my Conduit strength. “Say you’ll never bother her again, and you might keep your hand in tact.”

“Okay! Okay! I swear I’ll leave her alone!”

“Swear to me!”

“I swear to you! Just please stop!”

“Hmph, remember what I said about how you might keep your hand?”

CRUNCH!

“Yeah, I decided against it.”

“AAAHHHHH!!”

The man clasped his crushed wrist in agony as tears streamed down his face.

“Pick yourself up and fuck off, before I curb stomp your sorry ass,” I warned him.

He wasted no time to clammer to his feet and hobble off. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and turned to the two who had to watch the spectacle up close. I was able to get a good view of the lady’s face and I had to admit, she was quite the pretty one despite her bruised cheek. Even though she was a mom in her thirties, her body looked like that of a girl still in her twenties. However, I quickly cast such thoughts aside since she looked up at me in slight fear.

“I’m sorry you had to see all that, ma’am,” I said politely as I offered her my hand. “I just couldn’t stand by and let him hit you like that.”

She hesitated for a moment until she managed to take my hand and I pulled her up from the ground. “Thank you for helping, he just didn’t appreciate me trying to break things off with him.” She rubbed her bruised cheek with her hand.

“May I?” I said, raising my hand to her face. I activated Neon as a thin light shined from my finger and glowed near her cheek, healing the bruise. “There we go.”

“How did you-?”

“Hi Mr. Axel!” Button said as he appeared from behind his mom.

“Hey there kid, you alright?” I said, smiling down at him.

“I sure am! Especially since you drove off that mean guy!” Button nodded.

“Wait a moment, Axel? Axel Rickert? The Demon of Ponyville?” The lady said.

“I see my reputation still holds,” I sighed.

“Oh! Oh please forgive me, I meant no disrespect,” the lady said bowing her head. “I’ve just heard the townsfolk call you that many times.”

“Well I can at least assure you that I’m not the demon everyone thinks I am,” I said.

“I certainly can agree with you on that, considering how my son has told me about how you helped him with a certain project of his.”

“I’m just glad I could help the kid out, Mrs…”

“Cream Heart, but you may call me Ms. Heart or just Cream if you like,” the lady said with a smile.

“Alright, are you going to be okay on your own, Ms. Heart?” I asked.

“Do not fret for me, Mr. Rickert, I have managed just fine as a single mother,” Ms. Heart nodded. “I just will be taking a break from the whole dating attempt.”

“I used to know the feeling all too well, Ms. Heart, sometimes it’s a touch and go kind of thing when it comes to dating. Sometimes you just need to step away for a bit.”

“I’ll certainly try to remember that,” Ms. Heart nodded.

“Wanna join us for a snack, Mr. Axel?” Button asked.

“I’d love to, kid, but I’m a busy man,” I said to the boy as I patted his head. “Maybe we’ll hang out again sometime.”

“Really? That’d be so cool! Can he, mom?” Button asked his mother.

“I don’t see why not? You seem like a kind man, Mr. Rickert,” Ms. Heart smiled.

“Well as long as you’re okay with it,” I shrugged and turned to leave. “I’ll catch you later, Button.”

“Bye, Mr. Axel! And thanks again!” Button waved goodbye along with his mother.

Seeing the kid smile set me in a brighter mood somewhat, especially how Ms. Cream was appreciative of me healing her bruised cheek. It was nice to know I could still do some good around here, even though Dante can fly off the handle.

During my walk, as I greeted the people, they often asked me for help like lifting a cart to fix a wheel or carrying someone’s supplies to their destination; menial stuff like that. Along the way, I spotted a familiar-looking kid with white hair who carried a barrel of apples in his arms. Orion, the kid I met a couple days ago, was lifting the barrel with both hands and had a content smile on his face. Ever since he came to town, he and I would occasionally talk whenever I was running errands for Mr. Rich or little Apple Bloom wanted me to visit the farm. We talked with each other so often, we actually became pretty acquainted with one another.

“Hey Orion!” I called out to him.

He turned to see who was calling and smiled, he tossed one barrel into the air and waved with his now free hand. “Hey Axel, how are ya?” The barrel came back down and he caught it with ease before making his way over.

“Pretty good I guess, just crushed a scumbag’s hand for hitting a defenseless mom in front of her kid. So my day’s just swell,” I said sarcastically.

His smile faded as a look of concern replaced it. He placed the barrel down under a tree with shade and patted one as he sat on the other. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged. Instead of sitting next to him, I leaned on the tree and sighed. “I’ve been having a shitty few days lately.”

“I can tell. I’m no therapist, but I’m here if you need someone to talk to,” he said calmly.

“Have you heard the recent chatter?” I wondered.

He nodded. “Yeah I did.”

“And? What did you hear?”

“I heard you saved Rarity. That’s enough for me to know,” he said calmly as though he wasn't alarmed or disturbed.

“Yeah well…that ain’t all to it,” I frowned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I saved Rarity, true, but not without a price.”

“I’m well aware.”

“So you know that…I slaughtered the whole pack of diamond dogmen.” He nodded still with a look of calm on his face, much to my surprise. “How did you figure it out? I told no one what really transpired, and only a few actually know the truth.”

“I have my ways. I was just at the right place at the right time when I found out.”

“But you…Y’know what? Nevermind,” I shook my head. I watched the people walk past us with a frown. “These naïve people have no idea what happened. Imagine what they’d think if they knew a criminal was walking among them.”

“I’m sure word will get around.” Orion said as he started to stare up at the sky through the tree branches. “Look, the truth will come out, so until then you need to remain calm and ignore those who would give you grief.”

“If only you knew what I had inside…” I said under my breath before facing him. “You seem pretty lax for a guy who’s sitting next to a killer like me.”

He didn’t say anything for a while as he stared into the sky. “Tell me something. What’s the difference between someone who kills to protect, and someone who kills for pleasure?”

“Well on one hand the guy has a code when he kills, on the other the guy just kills to kill,” I answered.

He nodded slowly. “Now keep in mind, I don’t condone killing but I know sometimes it’s out of our hands. If you hadn’t gotten rid of those diamond dogmen, do you think that some other woman, or dare I say a little girl would have suffered a similar fate to Rarity?"

“Probably, who knows? I just did what I had to do.”

“Exactly,” he said, turning to look at me. “You had to. That same position could have been on anyone else in this town, and they wouldn’t be able to even lift a finger to help, let alone do what was needed.”

I thought about what Orion said, even though I wasn’t even the one we were talking about. These people are soft, but maybe they’d see reason if they knew why I did what I did. Maybe they’d even look past any other transgressions so long as it was within reason.

“Axel!”

We both turned to see Lapis Law, of all people, march up to me looking very pissed.

“Hey Lapis,” I tried to say but she then grabbed my arm and spun me around, pinning me against the tree and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“Shut your mouth! You don’t get to call me by my name anymore! I knew you were trouble, but to go so far?! Guess the gods are smiling down on me, cause I finally found the excuse I was looking for! Axel Rickert, you’re under arrest for voluntary manslaughter of the diamond dogmen!”

“What?! Arrested?!” I shot back as she cuffed my hands.

“Wow, so even the police in this world are corrupt and or stupid,” Orion said while watching the scene unfold before him.

“Shut it, kid! Go back to playing farm boy with those apples!” Lapis snapped at Orion as she pulled me away from the tree and glared over my shoulder. “I so much as see a bolt spark off you, I’ll take you down and chalk it up as another crime on your record for resisting arrest!”

“Lapis please, just let me explain,” I tried to say.

“Don’t bother, she’s too thick headed to hear anything but her own voice prattling on about how she is doing her job.” Orion jumped off the barrel and calmly walked over towards us.

“I’m warning you, back off or I’ll arrest you too for interfering with an arrest!”

“This isn’t interfering with an arrest.” He smiled before grabbing the back of her shirt and lifting her off the ground, getting her off me and holding her up. “This is interfering with an abusive cop who doesn’t know shit.”

“HEY! LET ME GO!” Lapis shrieked as she flailed around. “I swear to Celestia, I’ll arrest your sorry ass! And don’t you dare lecture me about how I do my job! If you knew what this…this…CRIMINAL did, you’d be begging me to haul him away as fast as possible!”

“Where were you when Rarity was being abused?” He said in such a cold tone that I’ve never heard come from him before.

“How were we to know she was abducted?! Sapphire Shores had that mini performance for her tour and the guards were asked to run security detail!”

“So instead of protecting the people, you were off protecting a celebrity? Good to know that the guards prioritize famous people over those who aren’t. You mean to tell me that the people meant to protect the innocent needed to all be focused on one pop star.” His cold tone slowly became serious.

“Orion, that’s a little much,” I tried to say. “I mean, you gotta admit, this happened on the outskirts of town by the base of those mountains.” I nodded to said mountains. “Not very many guards patrol that far out.”

“Exactly! You think we can just stretch ourselves out that far?! It’s like you expect a small army to be in charge of Ponyville! Now for the last time, put me down!” Lapis demanded.

“Both your arguments are invalid,” he said, still holding her up. “Axel, how exactly did you know Rarity was in trouble, if this occurred outside of the town as you mentioned?”

“That dragon kid, Spike. After I did a little performance of my own I saw him limping into town with wounds all over. After I healed him, he told me what happened and I told him to get the guard while I went to save Rarity,” I explained.

“Does saving Rarity involve killing an entire pack of diamond dogmen? I didn’t think you’d have it in you to pull something like that off,” Lapis huffed. “Spike came to me directly and informed me of the situation, I immediately took a few of my guards with me after informing the girl’s friends what happened and headed straight for the base of the mountains.”

“Yet somehow you hadn’t gotten there faster than Axel. Tell me something, what do you think would have happened to Rarity if Axel hadn’t shown up?” He asked coldly. “Because clearly you took way longer to get there than he did.”

“He has those crazy powers! He ran VERY fast!”

“To be fair, I did use my power to get there quicker,” I pointed out.

“We’re not like Axel here! Some of us can use magic or have wings, but no one has ever seen the things he can do before! It’s unnatural!”

That last part stung a little, calling my power unnatural.

“Did I ask for an excuse, or did I ask a question?” Orion jerked his arm side to side, causing Lapis to swing in the air.

“Hey stop! I’m telling you to stop! Damnit, I’m the Captain of the Ponyville Guard!”

“Answer the question or I’m gonna toss you up in the air,” he threatened.

“Alright, alright! They would’ve taken her back to their den!” Orion stopped swinging her as she frowned shamefully. “This…isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In fact, Ponyville didn’t even have a local guard some years ago. Recently though, strange occurrences and acts of violence have been springing up all over Equestria. The Diamond Dogmen even threatened to take people away under the dead of night, never to be seen again. When Princess Celestia got word of what was happening, she sent her personal guard here to drive the dogmen away. She then later established the local guard to keep an eye on things, and nothing’s happened ever since. We’ve done the best we can, but then those Northern bastards showed up, crime rates started rising, and now the dogmen took someone again! I’ve only been Captain for over a year, I’m trying my fucking best here! And I don’t need someone like you, Axel, further worsening the situation by killing a whole pack of diamond dogmen!”

“I…I had no idea,” I said.

“Of course you didn’t, you weren’t supposed to, but it doesn’t change the fact that you killed them when you could’ve done something different!”

“Done different? You mean like you doing your job to prevent something like this from happening? Because we both know how well that turned out.” Orion turned Lapis around to face him while still holding her up by the back of her shirt. “Tell me exactly what could have been done differently, because you clearly have the right answer.”

“We would’ve subdued them all with force, if necessary, and taken the correct precautions to rescue the victim. Not everything had to be solved with violence.” Lapis crossed her arms.

“Is this before or after Rarity was raped and or killed?”

“Before!”

“Wrong answer!” Without warning, Orion thrusted his arm upward sending Lapis 5 feet in the air. My mouth was gaped open as I watched her fall only to be caught by the back of her shirt again by Orion. “Wanna try that question again?”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Lapis shrieked.

“Dude seriously, put her down,” I said sternly. When he didn’t comply, I groaned as I activated Concrete. I covered my hands in stone and ripped the cuffs off with ease. “Orion, now.”

“Sorry Axel but you’re gonna need to trust me on this.” With another thrust Lapis was sent higher up then before, and like before she was caught. “Still waiting for my answer.”

“Put me down!” Lapis began to cry. “Please! I tried my best! What do you want from me?!”

“Damnit, Orion, you’re scaring her!” I snapped. “What the fuck are you trying to prove?!”

He looked at me and then back to the girl he was holding up. “Seems like you’re scared, miss. Would you say this level of fear you’re feeling is the same as Rarity’s when she was being abused or beaten?” His voice was cold as ice.

“I’m sorry!” Tears were streaming down her face. “I’m a bad captain, alright?! I failed to do my duty! I let someone get kidnapped and hurt! Just please stop throwing me! I wanna come back down!”

“That’s not what makes you a bad captain.” Orion’s voice changed again. “You’re a bad captain for using your authority to try and imprison someone, who despite his flaws, goes out of his way to protect you people.” Slowly he lowered her down till her feet touched the ground. “That fear you just went through is almost as much as what Rarity no doubt went through. Wishing for it all to stop or for someone to save you.” His icy tone slowly disappeared. “Yes he has his flaws, and yeah he can go overboard. But he hasn’t harmed anyone who is innocent. I don’t condone his actions, but I respect that he did what he had to do.”

Lapis fell to her knees and cried like a child as she wiped her tears. I felt bad for her as I knelt down beside her to place my hand on her shoulder, and she turned to burry her face in my chest. I was taken back by the action, but I just reached around and pat her back to comfort her.

“Subtle,” I deadpanned at Orion.

Orion shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, but I needed to get my point across.” He stepped closer and grabbed another pair of handcuffs from Lapis’ belt. He slipped them onto his wrist and waited. “Welp, I’m ready to go when you are, officer.”

“What…?” Lapis sniffled, looking up at Orion.

“Well I did technically assault a guard, so by that logic I would be put under arrest right?”

Lapis sniffled again as she stood up with me following. She stared at Orion, then to me, and back to Orion as she took out a key and unlocked the cuffs on his wrists.

“I won’t arrest you,” Lapis said quietly. “And I won’t arrest Axel either.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Lapis,” I tried to say.

“He’s right though, you did what we failed to do. Which means I need to reevaluate the local guard.” Lapis glanced at me but looked away again.

“I’m sorry for trying to arrest you…”

“What was that?” I said, leaning in.

“I said I’m sorry!” Lapis snapped. “And if you tell anyone what happened between us, I’ll cuff your balls together and shove the key up your ass!”

“Uh…okay?” I said sheepishly. In a huff, Lapis walked away, leaving me and Orion by ourselves. “I can never understand that girl sometimes, I swear.”

“My friend, the day men can fully understand the woman’s mind, is the day when pigs fly.”

“I guess,” I rolled my eyes. “Look man, I get you wanted to teach her some moral lesson or some shit, but scaring the piss outta her seemed a little much. And if I’m being honest, I was close to decking you.”

“Well I was expecting you to do that, it was all part of my plan after all.” He shrugged with a smile.

“And why’s that?” I wondered.

“By stopping me to save her, you would have shown her that you aren’t some thug or monster. That despite the fact she was going to arrest you, you would have still saved her.”

“Yeah well…I guess you could say I have a soft spot for not hurting my friends. Especially when they’re moral lesson teachings involve tossing girls two stories up in the air.”

He shrugged and moved to pick up the barrels. “We all have our ways of teaching. But believe me when I say I found no pleasure in what I had to do. But let it also be said I’m not just some nice guy who stands by while his friends are being harassed.”

“I appreciate that,” I nodded. Orion nodded back until we noticed there was a commotion on the other side of town. Not only that, but the people were running away and looked afraid of something. “Huh, wonder what’s got them all worked up?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe we should go take a look.” Setting the barrel back down, Orion sprinted off in the direction the noise was coming from.

I followed him and the noise of screaming was louder than before. We then both stopped dead in our tracks at the sight barreling towards us.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fuckn’ my shit!”

A group of monster-looking lions, with bat wings and scorpion tails, were charging through the streets and trying to pounce on anyone they could.

“Manticores?! What the fuckn’ shit are these monster cats doing here?!”

“From the looks of it, looking for a free meal.” Orion picked up an empty wagon and chucked it at one of the manticore as it was about to catch a little girl. “We need to get these people to safety!”

“Already on it!” I said as I knelt down in a running position.

I activated Neon and bright colorful lights covered my body. I sprinted towards the nearest set of people. I grabbed them before the manticore could swipe at them and pulled them away to a safe distance before sprinting back. I’ve never really used Light Speed this much before, but thanks to my increased speed the world around me looked like it was moving in slow motion a little.

I saw a manticore looking over a man and was about to take a bite out of his head. I ran towards him and pulled him out from under the beast before he manticore took a bite.

Next was a group of kids trying to run away as a manticore prepared to skewer them with its tail. I hopped over the monster lion and scooped up the kids before the tail had a chance to pierce any of them.

Once I set the kids I saved a safe distance like the others, I ran back to see most of the people were clear of the area. Suddenly, I heard a scream and whipped my head around to see Orion backed into a corner as he stood in front of the cellist girl, Octavia. Orion stood his ground as he held a piece of lumber in one hand, and the lid of a barrel in the other like a sword and shield. I could see that his leg was bleeding as he had three cuts in it, no doubt from the manticore claws.

“Oh no you fuckn’ don’t!”

I sprinted as fast as I could towards the manticore and in front of it. When it tried to swipe at me, I dodged just in time and began running around it in circles. The manticore spun around with me as I bound it in Neon and it fell to its side with its eyes swirling around.

“You two okay?” I asked Orion and Octavia.

“I-I’m fine, but this man is hurt!” Octavia said, pointing to Orion’s wound.

“‘Tis only a flesh wound,” Orion grunted as I could see his leg shaking. “I’m still good to keep fighting.”

“Not an option, pal,” I said as I raised my hand to his leg. My Neon closed the wound and Orion could walk on it better. “Go help steer the crowd away, I’ll handle the rest of these monster cats.

“By yourself?! That’s madness!” Octavia shrieked.

“Trust me miss, he is just the person we need to do this.” Orion patted her shoulder, guiding her away. “I’ll try and lead everyone away, you focus on those overgrown fur balls.”

As Orion left, I turned to face the group of manticore and narrowed my eyes at them. I pulled out my smartphone and earbuds and scrolled through my playlist as I put my earbuds in.

“HEY!” I called out to them, making them all face me. I smirked as I turned around and flipped them off. “YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?! BITE MY SHINY NEON ASS!”

The manticore seemed to respond to my taunt by roaring and charging towards me. I got into a running stance again and sprinted away. The manticore all chased me through the streets with the intention of making a meal out of me. I kept running but made sure to stay close enough so their attention was focused on me but also making sure they couldn’t get me. A few manticore were flying above me and tried to dive bomb at me. I noticed them and hopped out of the way from each one and made a sharp turn towards a building. I ran up the side of the building and front flipped on the roof and kept running. The manticore were still hot on my trail and most were now in the air as I hopped from building to building. One tried to outsmart me by flying ahead and cutting me off. I saw this a mile away and leaned my body back just as it lunged its tail at me. The stinger was about a foot away from my face as I ran past the attacking manticore and I hopped to another building in front of me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I jumped back down on the ground and resumed my sprint through town. Our chase eventually led us to the outskirts of Ponyville and we were headed to Everfree Forest. I glanced back at my pursuers to make sure they were all accounted for and thankfully they were.

“Time for our game of cat and mouse to end!” I said.

I led the pride back into Everfree and dodged and weaved through the trees. In the corner of my eye, a manticore flew straight at me with its stinger raised. I managed to weave my body out of the way just in time before I got skewered and made the manticore crash into a tree. Once I was satisfied with how far we were, I came to a halt and turned to face the pride. I charged my Neon even more and bolted straight towards the pride. I then began circling the whole pride as fast I could. A ring of light surrounded the whole pride and they couldn’t keep up with my speed as some even tried to bite or sting me. Once the ring of light was strong enough with energy, I jumped out of the ring as it closed in and constricted around the whole pride. The manticore were all tied together in one big pile with Neon light and some were a little dizzy from me running around in circles. I exhaled and wiped my brow as the song ended and I approached the group.

“Phew! Well, that sure was fun,” I smirked as the manticore struggled to free themselves. “Don’t bother, it may be light, but that’s strong enough to keep you kittens in place for a few hours. So if you know what’s good for you, don’t you EVER come near Ponyville again!” I made sure to be as intimidating as possible to them by raising my hand, threatening to shoot them, which seemed to work since some looked a little fearful of me.

I nodded and turned to walk out of the forest, and back home. I stretched my back and arms, earning a few pops here and there. As I walked back home, I realized that this was probably the first time I saved the whole town from a disaster. If it weren’t for me, those manticore would’ve made a meal out of quite a few people. It made me a little proud to know my good deed aided everyone and wondered how much more my reputation would increase; for the better I would hope.

“…mew.”

I stopped in my tracks when I heard a strange noise, something like a meow from a cat. I looked around and arched a brow until I heard the noise again. It sounded like it was coming from one of the hollowed out trees. I slowly approached the tree and peered inside, only to gasp at what I saw. It was a little manticore cub with white fur, black webbed wings, and a red scorpion tail. It was shivering and curled up in a ball and was meowing every so often, probably calling out for its mother. I frowned at the poor cub and looked in the direction where I left the bounded up pride. None of them had fur, wings, or tails like this one and I didn’t think it was a good idea to go back when they’re probably still pissed at me.

“Shit…do I just leave it here?” I wondered as I looked around. “It’s just a cub so it wouldn’t last long on its own, but it’s still a wild animal.”

…

I shook my head from all doubts and leaned in with my hand stretched out. “Hey, little guy.”

The manticore cub raised its head to look up at me. Its eyes were pale blue as I held out my hand to it. It leaned in to sniff my hand as I gently rubbed its nose with my finger. Once it got used to smelling my hand, I placed my hand on its head and lightly patted its head. The gesture made the cub purr a little and leaned into my hand as I started to actually pet it. I smiled at the admittedly cute cub as I pulled my hand away, only for it to meow at me like it wanted me to keep petting it.

“Jeeze, I’m a sucker for cute animals, especially cats,” I said aloud. It was true though, since I remembered when my family always had a pet cat or two, even my grandparents had cats.

“I must be out of my mind, doing this.” I slowly reached back in with both hands and pressed my fingers under the cub’s little body. Sensing the intention, it managed to stand up a little for me to wrap my hands around it all the way so I could pick it up. I lifted the cub out of the trunk and held it in front of me. The cub just stared at me as I stared back at it and it meowed again as its scorpion tail lazily wagged below it.

“Huh, this is the first time I’ve ever held a lion cub, but then again, you’re not really a lion.” I adjusted my hold on the cub so I was cradling it in my arms while being mindful of its little wings and tail. The cub meowed again in a more happier tone as it leaned its head in to nuzzle into the crook of my neck and purred more. My smile widened at the gesture and I continued my trek back home with my new little furry friend.

“I’m definitely crazy for doing this, but maybe it won’t be so bad?” I mused. “One thing’s for sure though, if I’m gonna keep you, I gotta know how to properly take care of you. I just hope Twilight and Moon don’t mind an extra companion in the treebrary.”

I eventually made it out of the forest and returned to town. The people seemed to be shaken up but all were still safe and sound. Suddenly, I felt a searing pain course throughout my body as I staggered and fell to my knee. The manticore cub meowed worriedly at me as I began sweating bullets and my breathing became hoarse. I soon realized the pain emanated from my arm and I looked to see a cut in the sleeve of my jacket and a little blood. My thoughts trailed back to when that manticore almost got the drop on me with its stinger and must’ve managed to graze me, which means I’ve been poisoned. I tried to use my fast-healing to counteract the poison, but my senses were too jumbled up and I was in too much pain. I was too late to notice the cut, which is why I couldn’t get a grip on myself. I dropped the cub in my arms and fell on my hands, sweat was dripping down my face and I coughed up a little blood. My vision began to get blurry as I looked up to see people approach me. I lost feeling in my arms and fell to my side as the cub meowed more loudly and nuzzled its head against me to try and keep me awake. Before I lost consciousness, the people surrounded me and tried to talk to me but my ears were ringing, so I couldn’t hear them.

“Don’t…hurt…him…” I managed to say, hoping they would understand me and not harm the cub.

Author's Note

Good morality goes a long way.

Hope you enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…