An interview with Aeros.
“At today's broadcast of The league of extraordinary ponies, where we visit ponies who have accomplished remarkable feats of strength, stamina or knowledge. Forget Daring Doo, we meet with a real life adventurer today, who will also tell about the less idyllic parts about the journeys he has made, deep into the Everfree forest and beyond, our special guest is called Aeros Dawnstar. A Blademaster proclaimed so by the guild in Manehattan. Welcome to the broadcast mister Dawnstar!”
“Thank you Madam, it is truly an honor to make an appearance on your show.”
“So, Mister Dawnstar, would you care to tell us something about your latest venture into the Everfree forest? The pony who brought it up to us claimed great things about you!”
“Well, I would not tell it was something great. I simply get payed to ensure a safe trip into the deepest and most shadowy places where nopony dares to tred when he or she has half a mind.”
“And he is humble beside! But please mister Dawnstar, Equestria is out there longing to hear the stories from your own muzzle.”
“Okay, it went like this; A couple of days ago a historian approached me with a lot of maps and research papers of either him or different scholars. He wanted to venture to the Everfree forest as he was on trail of some kind of ruin. A ruin located days of walking past the ruins of Luna's and Celestia's outpost castle in the forest. Anyways, after some negotiating about the price of my services I accepted the assignment and on the crack of dawn the next morning I and the historian found ourselves staring at the wall of vegetation that announced the Everfree forest.
As if nature knew, there was an ominous mist creating a eerie atmosphere already. And this coming from a pony who has seen a couple of things already. We had yet to pass the ruins of the castle and the historian had second thoughts. However the surroundings gave me the creepers as well we decided to press on and blamed the ungodly early time of day and humidity to the mist concealing everything more then a good 50ft away. Might have been longer or shorter, I honestly don't know since the dense plants and trees distort the estimation of distance. But I digress.
After a two hour walk, the mist seemed to lift its cloak from the Everfree forest and the sun was even breaking through the dense roof of leaves. We passed the castle and as the ghostly cloak lifted, our spirits did as well. If only that was something good. If there is one thing I know about that godforsaken forest, it's that when you think you're safe, you're not.”
“Thank you mister Dawnstar, you may continue your story after these messages from our sponsors”
(…)
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“Welcome back Equestria to the League of Extraordinary ponies, here next to me is Mister Dawnstar, taking us along on an adventure he recently made into the deep dark belly of the Everfree forest, continue as you want Mister Dawnstar.”
“Where was I... Oh yea, the historian and I both got the fake sense of safety as the weather cleared. However the deeper we went the older the trees grew and the denser the roof of green became until that roof denied any sunlight to hit either us or the floor. Or anything around us in the near vicinity for that matter. This is where things took a turn for the worse. I was wearing my trusted armor and sword but as usual the pony tagging along was unarmed and just dressed to avoid nettles and nothing more then that.” *he make a clearly audible sigh here, either from frustration or some kind of dismissive sigh towards the ignorance of the unarmored ones.*
“Plants became weird. Plants have to be weird to survive in such conditions. As do creatures and that's not even your biggest problem. The biggest problem is the taint of the forest beyond that point. There is a very good reason nopony dares to go there without properly arming themselves and properly preparing one self. It was not my first time but it sure was the first time for the historian. The poor fella was scared out of his mind. Telling me the mud felt like it was draining the very essence of life out of him. Even through my metal boots I felt the exact same along with the putrid feeling within you that replaces the life force drawn from you.
It's what this forest does. Get you in and drain you. Fortunately though this isn't too big of a problem. The creatures grown accustomed to this and the creatures that have adopted this taint along the trail of evolution are. Chimeras, Hydras in the marsh areas, Manticores and many others. As I feared and to the utter terror of the historian we soon found ourselves a Chimera.
The creature, a distorted mix of 3 creatures it seemed, fused in some horrible way which couldn't be pleasant whatever way you looked at it. It had the regal and strong head and chest of a lion, and the front paws seemed that of a lion as well. The hindlegs however appeared to be hooves of some sort but definitely not pony hooves. Lastly it's tail seemed to be a live snake. I don't know if this snake was poisonous and I am very glad I didn't find out then and there. Though that was a close call I daresay.
I don't exactly know what the deal with that Chimera was, if it was famished or there were other things at work. It charges for us as soon as it laid eyes on us. Heck, I barely had time to draw my sword and deal with the charge to keep the historian from getting hurt. So I dealt with the charge and I find myself dodging two lion's paws with razor sharp talons attached to them, the rows of sharp teeth oozing with saliva from the lion's mouth and that snake head for tail snapping at me or the historian, anyways in our general direction. It's hooved hindlegs allowed it to rear and attempt to slam attack us as well.
It took me longer than I like to admit before I finally started to see opportunities to strike at the chimera, rather than trying to fend off it's attack. A small dead point just before the slam, where the chimera had its belly exposed right before the talon equipped pawns would come crashing down on me. It wasn't very effective but at least it was something. A couple of scratches on that creature and me out of breath.
At this point I let my temper get the better of me and decided that the next time he would attempt to knock me over with the slam attack, I'd go in deep in disregard of the consequences. It had proven to be at least as dexterous as me and definitely superior in strength so I reached a point where I had to try to outwit it, and make use of the weaponry I had and the years of training to my advantage. So there it went, rising as high as ever. I bashed my shoulder into the beast's stomach. It had to interrupt it's slam causing to fall limp over me as it was. However at this point I forgot about that snake head on it's tail. Fortunately it didn't bite at an open spot so it didn't come trough, but still.
So there I was being squished under about four-hundred kilograms of chimera with a snake ruining its teeth on my armor. Not that I'm complaining but it struck me how stupid the beast actually was. But once again, I digress.
Now while this beast struggled to get off me, I saw the perfect opportunity to spit the beast on my sword. It created the most horrific sound you can possibly imagine in its death rattle before it fell on the ground, limp and lifeless. At this point the historian comfortably hid behind some tree and peeking at me dealing with the beast. When he came out he was pale as a ghost and he actually, and I kid you not, prodded the corpse with a stick like one would do in a children's cartoon!”
“Haha, thanks mister Dawnstar. We would love to hear how the story goes on right after these messages from our sponsors.”
(…)
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(…)
“Welcome back listeners of Equestria radio. Still next to me here is Aeros Dawnstar, fabled adventurer and I bet everypony is sitting close to their radio to hear how your story goes on Mister Dawnstar, you sure got me on edge!”
“So we, well, rather I had slain this beast but still, this beast seemed somewhat more violent than normally. Even though Chimeras aren't known to be very friendly, they usually don't act this aggressive towards ponies or other creatures. As I have mentioned before, the creature might have been famished although it looked sufficiently nourished. Or something else was going on. It was however a promise for much more to come.
Despite the ominous signs we pressed on. The forest was at this point as dense as it could get and I had to use my sword to hack and slash my way through the thick vines and bushes while simultaneously watching out we didn't end up as lunch for god knows what kind of creature would turn out next. By the time the sun set we encountered two Chimeras, three Manticores, a Crocatice that nearly reduced the poor historian to stone because I was still catching my breath from the flight we had to take from the hydra. It had seven heads, SEVEN! I might know the dance of blades, but seven heads is too rich.
Anyways, with a pile of corpses in our wake we set camp at a spot which wasn't too overgrown. The historian was exhausted and as soon as he ate his ration he was knocked out cold for the night. So the first watch was mine and as you might have guessed the creatures kept coming. Yet the strangest thing happened. All of a sudden a deer approached. Just your regular sized and regular looking deer. Usually very shy to come near anypony and herbivores. Well, this one seemed to have an appetite for some Pegasus wings because that thing charged me and tried to bite me. This was the moment I truly knew something was wrong.
Somewhere halfway through the night, give or take a few I had a nasty surprise for my traveling companion. It was his turn to keep watch since I also need a couple of hours of sleep. Fortunately for both me and that historian the rest of the night was uneventful. Because when I woke up I found that dude asleep. If anything wanted to have a late night snack we were sitting ducks... or sleeping ponies more appropriately.
So as the sun rose I woke up the historian, not too kindly though. He was quite disgruntled and spat some minor curses if I remember correctly but those kind of ponies are the worst to have along with you. I can't do everything, you know, so this guy can't even bother to stay awake and potentially changes us into a meal for whatever happens to stroll along. Anyways, since he was paying good bits I decided to press onwards hoping whatever got into all creatures and animals would be gone now.
Hah, ignorant fool I was. It wasn't over by a long shot. The closer we got to the alleged location the more animals seemed to be in a frenzy. Up until the point everything went from weird to batshit insane. It gets truly weird when you get attacked by even the smallest critters. Eventually it got so bad that we came across a family of bunnies. A mother, a father and 5 younglings. They all attacked us as if wanting to eat us. Not that I am particularly proud of this but I simply had to kill everything that came near in order to make sure we didn't get swarmed. Even small critters become a hazard in great numbers. Eventually as we continued even further insects joined in. at this point we had no other option but to return. There was surely some kind of zoning going on here, where different zones would affect different creatures.
At this point once we have actually made out retreat, mister scholar finally tells me what the thing is he wants to retrieve. All of a sudden a lot of things are clarified. Sometimes there is small wonder why the ancient civilizations are called ancient nowadays. They simply made magical items and possessed magic so strong that they caused their own downfall. But that being said, it seemed this historian was tracking an item that never should have been created in the first place, let alone somepony should have this thing. He called it... ehhm... I don't know, something long and complicated and I honestly can't be bothered to remember it. I am sure glad he mentioned it so soon. Then at least I would have known why I had to produce a pile of corpses that could reach the ceiling on this trip. So now I had to figure out a way how to get through those blasted insects. A sword isn't ideal to use against rodents but it can still work. A sword is on the other hand utterly useless when facing thousands upon thousands of insects crawling all over you.
This incident reminded me why I should always ask ahead what exactly they are looking for. That used to be part of my usual routine when accepting an assignment but I got lazy and too trusting of late it seems. Well, my own fault I guess. According to the historian there is a way to negate the effects of that item he needed but it needed magic. I could have strangled that colt right there and then. I am a Pegasus and he is an earth pony. And he mentions this now, a day's walk away from Ponyville. And that is if we don't come across too much trouble while backtracking to Ponyville to find a unicorn to take with us. It was as if everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. So far for the heroic stories of ventures deep into unexplored places.”
“All in suspense I must once more interrupt you Mister Dawnstar. Because this great interview would not be possible without our great sponsors.”
(…)
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(…)
“And we're back with Mister Dawnstar who left everypony in Equestria hanging on his every word while he takes us all with him on his latest journey. Mister Aeros, the Radio is all yours!”
“Thank you miss. So as I was telling, me and the historian who conveniently mentioned after a full day's walk and a night of encampment in the forest that we need a Unicorn to actually get to the place where we need to be. You know, I'm not even going to try my sarcasm and cynicism anymore since that dumb (beep) of a (beep) doesn't (beep, beep, beep).”
“got it all out of your system now mister Dawnstar? also, may I ask after you're done telling your story why your wing is bandaged?”
“Sorry for my language, I'll watch my tongue as I proceed with my story. And you really don't have to ask because I got this thanks to that historian. So onwards with the adventure that turned out to become a massive failure. So we had lost two full days, we would need another day finding a unicorn and getting back to the swarm of insects. With the big ones I can deal easily but with thousands of small things crawling all over me or my traveling companion my sword is utterly useless. And usually the small insects pose no threat. This was new to me.
I guess the advantage of scholars is, they know a lot of unicorns. So finding one to tag along wasn't too big of a problem. As it appeared the filly tagging along was a student in the historian's history class and in dire need for some extra credit. Well, not that I am familiar with the high level academics, but there must be easier ways to gain some extra credit rather then to put your life at stake to get some item that makes every creature in the near vicinity and for for that matter, go completely nuts. I guess that's beyond me.
But again, we stood at the crack of dawn before the wall of vegetation, yada, yada, yada. Another pile of corpses next to the rotting ones we came across. Man, 3 days dead and the smell, you couldn't even begin to comprehend. Anyways the trip up to the first encampment place was much the same as last time. The ashes of our last campfire were still visible and all. This time the historian simply decided he wanted a full night of sleep and let me and his pupil take the night's watch. My god was this guy obnoxious. I guess if he could get away with letting me go alone he would do it, while he comfortably warmed his hooves not thinking about the dangers.
He could have offered me a quadrillion bits and still I would have declined. Going in alone is suicide. Well, with this guy it wasn't much better. He absolutely abused his student, making her wear both her own and his gear. The poor filly was completely exhausted and hardly capable of holding through the night. This evening was mostly a repetition of the first night out. After eating the historian knocked out cold and only now did the student approach me and introduced herself. She told about what kind of pony that historian actually was. He hated his job, he hated his life, lived alone and vented all his frustration towards his students which resented him for it. I had a pretty good idea that guy meant little good, but I couldn't imagine him being such a (beep).”
“Mister Dawnstar, please mind the foals listening!”
“Yes, yes. I am sorry. I'm afraid that fella got me pissed more than I like to admit. But that aside. The historian was asleep and the exhausted filly carrying a load that would render anypony broken once you had to drag along such haul for the entire day through unforgiving and rough terrain I suggested she'd get some sleep. Remarkably she decided I was a safe haven and claimed my legs as a pillow as I sat peering into the endless darkness, occasionally sparing a foul stare towards the historian. What was he up to at this point?
(…)
“we interrupt this program for a breaking news bulletin. Today with the release of new anti changeling products 2 ponies have died from the changeling repellent already and 3 ponies have found their deaths whilst being electrocuted by the electric changeling swatter. CEOs of either company refuses to give any commentary on the issues with their products and point out that the user manual of the products explain everything. A multitude of the deaths has been injured ranging from minor injuries to ponies in critical condition. Already ponies have united to sue to respective companies since the user manual is written in a language that has about 5 speakers in all of Equestria. Health federations already warn ponies not to buy either of these products since they are highly dangerous. More on this subject on our next news bulletin after the league of extraordinary ponies.”
(…)
“A couple of hours pass and I feel sorry for the student who has to take watch the second half of the night. I am also concerned she might fall asleep due to the punishment she had taken the day before. There just isn't another option. I don't trust this fella with my life but then again, I don't know the student either. But she seemed a great deal nicer then the historian. Eventually the unicorn filly was awake and I went to sleep.
Morning was rough. For the second time this week we woke up at the same campsite. Not too kindly I woke up the historian and looked at his student. By god, this poor filly sat there half awake staring as if her very soul had left her body. Hey eyes expressing nothing but fatigue and still we had the entire day to plow through dense forest and hostile creatures which she had to repel with her magic. Things were certainly not looking all too good for us. As he historian woke up he stretched himself and as if to spite either me, his student or the both of us, he pointed out how well he had slept tonight given the circumstances.
At this point I am absolutely furious. This dude has had a blissful night of sleep and he was actually gesturing to his campsite whilst looking at the student. The poor filly was already getting up, face expressionless. If I ever saw a broken soul in somepony's eyes, it would have been then and there. I grabbed her and told her to sit down.
The older colt looked at me, his eyes flicker and something darker emitted. Not as much a dark sinister force, more his personality acting up I guess. Another thing I do not really care to find out about this dude. Anyways, he gets up and barks to his student to clean up the campsite, which consisted of his bedroll and provision scattered around. Once again she wants to stand up and I once again grab her to tell her to sit down. What first seemed as a routine assignment had rapidly taken a turn for the worst.
The attention drawn away from the young student he looks at me with a facial expression I will never in my life forget. I may some day forget my own name or forget how to piss in a toilet, but that face I will truly never forget. He tried to stare me down but honestly, I couldn't help myself but laugh myself out of breath while he did. He tried to intimidate me... ME, the guy he hired to keep his sorry flank safe in the forest. I of course paid no further heed to his absolutely pathetic attempt to intimidate me. With visible reluctance he cleared his own campsite and carried his own stuff contrary to the day before. I wish I could tell you things improved from that point.
So now we are on our way again. The student sticking next to me as if I was flypaper. The older colt internally cursing I bet and stomping his hooves with every step. Things certainly didn't improve. It was as if that dude deliberately put himself in danger from that point, trailing off the trail I cut through the dense vegetation and going near poisonous plants. Not only did I need to mind my own safety and make sure we didn't end up as lunch for whatever you can imagine, now I had to babysit this guy. I mean, he acted like a foal, and even most foals have more common sense than this fella had.
Each time he did such a stupid thing he apologized in this sarcastic fashion. Clearly knowing what he did and definitely doing it to make this job way harder than strictly necessary. Don't get me wrong, I do not back away when things are getting tough, but there is a difference between an annoying pain in the flank and a challenge. So I simply said that if he were to do something stupid deliberately again, I'd let him. It would be a bummer for the bits I would have missed but unfortunately the historian didn't do me the favor of acting dumb after this warning. I bet both me and that student would have danced on his corpse if he did.”
“Truly this is not what I had expected from the story Mister Dawnstar. But we'll be right back after these messages!”
(…)
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(…)
“And we are back with Mister Dawnstar and quite frankly one of the strangest adventure stories I have ever heard. But that's the nice thing about the League of extraordinary ponies. Mister Dawnstar, the ether is yours.”
“So now this dude finally behaves, kinda, we could go on. I still can't really put my hoof on it why he wants to get that item he wants that seems to send particular things in a particular range into a frenzy. Still I somehow think its a good idea to continue and fulfill my assignment as originally intended. The student had very little trouble keeping the insects and small rodents away from us while I dealt with bigger creatures that happened to come across. But as insects frenzied it seemed that those insects had driven the larger creatures away already. It became abundantly clear the device wasn't selective but nature certainly was.
One question remained though, and I asked him why he wanted that thing. I shouldn't have asked that because he turned to me, charged me and gave me a pounding before I could shake him off. Now I am very conflicted, the young student just watched in terror as she saw her teacher attacked me. Shaking him off was harder then I would have thought it was and he jerked hard on my wing as he well off, dislocating it. Hence the bandage as you have mentioned earlier.
I am still unsure whether to draw my sword or not. But I honestly can't grasp why the historian suddenly decided to attack me after just asking a simple question. Whatever the deal, there and then I decided I wouldn't help him get it anymore. The student in the meanwhile hid behind me, somewhat using me as a meat shield. Not that I blame her for it, I mean, I would do the same in her place if I saw someone go berserk and there was an armored pony to hide behind. Anyways, my decision was made when he once again charged for me and tried to give me a muzzle correction in a violent way.
Fighting an earth pony in general isn't too difficult. They are rather strong but unarmed or unarmored and untrained he would pose no real threat for me. This proved to be a dangerous underestimation as his eyes gleamed in an ominous greenish color and I found myself restricted from any movement while hoof after hoof landed on my face. Fortunately there are excellent healers in the hospital and they have restored my face for the better part. The remaining bruises can't be see through my coat.
This earth pony just used magic against me and it took a great deal of effort and a lot of punishment from that Historian before I managed to break free from the magical bonds cast upon me. A sudden realization befalls upon me. This dude is a changeling! Changelings are simply the worst kind of opponents to face in a fight. They have reasonably strong physique and their exoskeleton, not visible in pony form but ever present, isn't easy to break. Not even with a sword. I slashed towards this changeling in pony form and the invisible exoskeleton simply deflects the blows. The recoil from those strikes I felt through my entire body.
I know he could easily snare me again and beat my face some more. My muzzle was already violated as it was, but it appeared to me as if he thought it was way too funny seeing how my every strike deflected from the hard shield and saw no need to try to snare me again. Brute force and preferably something blunt is needed to break through those and as it happens I had neither to my disposal. So things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, again. You know, in hindsight I must admit that his tactics were absolutely amazing. I mean, he dragged me along the forest for 2 days uselessly, kept me and the student awake for the better half of the night causing us be be fatigued while he had uninterrupted blissful sleep. He actually was out to kill me, and nothing else but that. He made that abundantly clear as he snared me again and explained everything in a monologue.
The unicorn did soothe the frenzied animals, but all those animals were frenzied due to the changeling somehow causing them to frenzy. The multitude of creatures I had to fight was asking it's toll on me as well, along with the magical energy being drained from the student. As he was done explaining my already battered face took some more punishment and at this point the young filly unicorn is nowhere to be seen. Drained from her magical energy there was little she could contribute to the fight I thought. Yet I am glad to admit I was very wrong there.
While I am getting beaten out of my own body she trails around the changeling who only seems to have his focus on me. She wasn't quite stealthy but then again, she never had any training in combat or whatnot. I was long beyond the capability of breaking free from the changeling's spell since he had done a good job to wear me down before finally making an end to this all. The entire trip made a whole lot more sense now. But I digress. The filly carries along branch from a tree, somewhat oddly shaped but it would do its job. And it did. The branch landed upon the changeling and an unearthly cracking sound was heard, either from the branch, the exoskeleton giving way or both, I don't know and I don't care. What I do know is that the snare spell faded and the changeling now had a huge weak spot.
The rest was as easy as it would get, I simply kept harrying him on the weak spot, giving him no chance to channel another spell on me. Eventually I managed to land the final blow and that was that. The historian, well, the changeling was done for. Both me and the poor student sat down in silence, looking at the motionless body of the changeling now showing its true form. The student sighed a little and frankly I couldn't agree more with her. It was strange. The strangest venture I have ever made suddenly made sense. Although I am still rather curious why they would go through such lengths to put an end to me. But I guess I'll find that out another day.
So me and the student stumbled back to Ponyville, which took us almost one and a half days since we were in one of the most godforsaken remote places of that forest. My face lay in pieces and I could barely open my eyes or breathe for that matter. This one had me in a pinch here, the only mistake he made was not keeping track of everything around him. And I am very glad that his student saved my flank, else it would be very plausible I was the corpse laying at that spot, rather then this changeling. Now you know the story madam.”
“Thank you Mister Dawnstar for your extraordinary story. Listeners, this was our program for today, be sure to tune in next week on a whole new episode of League of extraordinary ponies for more stories. I am Feralda, your trusted host.”
(…)
