The Protectors

Chapters

First Impressions
First Contact(edited)
Walking to Town
Tense Situation
Introductions(edited by me)

First Impressions

Author's Note

I hope this story is doing well, thankfully I already have a fan. I hope I can match his expectations. Anyway, this story shall switch between the perspectives of the main characters and other characters. And whenever I feel it is appropriate, I will switch to third person view.

First Impressions

I was running as fast as I could. Funny, a Pegasus, running. You would think I would be up in the skies flying around. I would be feeling the cold wind on my face as I moved the clouds or just flew for the heck of it. But....those days are over. Ever since the newest 'Princess', and I say that with as much venom as possible, put into effect the "Equestrian Preservation" law.....nothings been the same.

"He's over there!" Damn it! One of the guards must've spotted me! I expected them to come after me, but I didn't think they would send the SRF! No stallion has gotten away from those six, but I can't let my father's sacrifice be in vain. Father....I'm sorry for what she did to you. I mean, when mom cut off parts of my wings.......I didn't know. I shake my head, I can't think of the past now. My father did that so that I could get away. I just need to keep going.

I grunt loudly, from a sudden impact to my right hoof. Bucking Tartarus! That must of been from the SRF's leader! Damn only she could've hit me with a paralysis spell from this far away in the Everfree! I can hardly feel my right hoof anymore, but I must press on! I just have to walk with a limp until I can get somewhere-there's a cliff in my way.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I shout to the heavens. Well that's what I get for not paying attention to where I was going. Taking a quick look at my surroundings, I notice that I have made it to a clearing. In front of me is a cliff face about 3 to 4 meters up. Around that cliff in a semi-circle are trees and bushes apart of the Everfree Forest. One part of the semi-circle looks traveled through, based on the broken up bushes, twigs, and leaves. That would be where I ran from, damn. They'll easily be able to track me with the trail I made.

Getting that thought out of my head, I decided to see if I had any lasting damage. My brown coat was covered in dirt, dust, and dried blood from running through all of that foliage. My yellow mane hadn't faired any better, it looked felt like there was a bird's nest in my head and it was home to fifty birds! Surprisingly, my yellow tail seemed to not be damaged at all. I wagged it a bit making sure nothing was stuck in there. Satisfied, I got the urge to check my wings....and then my heart sank.

That's right, no reason to check them. I know how they are, ruined. At least for a couple of years. Most of the ligaments and tendons that allow me control over my wings have been cut. Or they have been removed. This was my mother's 'insurance' that my father and I wouldn't get away. I still can hardly believe it. How could a parent treat family like that? I guess when a law is put into effect, some embrace it wholeheartedly.

That's why my father told me to get away. Today would be my 18 birthday, the legal age in Equestria. Unlike before, where it would be celebrated with parties, my mother would celebrate it by raping me. Even now, it's still hard to believe. The only reason why I am sure, is because just when she forced me onto the bed, my father tackled her from the side. She had to release my restraints so that she could have a 'better experience' thus leaving me free. The last words I heard my father say were "Run my boy! Run!"

And that's what I did. I ran. Until I hit the Everfree. I then relaxed for a bit, making camp and trying to figure out my next move. But on the following day, the SRF caught up to me. I've been running ever since.

I looked back to the cliff face. Looking it up and down, there were plenty of hoofholds I could grab onto. All I gotta do is wait for the spell to wear off and-

"Stop in the name of the Princess!"

I turned around quickly, and any hope of getting away immediately sank to the deepest bits of darkness in my heart. Standing in front of me, blocking all escape routes except the cliff, were the SRF and two Royal Guards. I panicked and began walking backwards, until my back hit the cliff.

"Just calm down, we won't hurt you," I heard a soft, quiet voice say from in front of me. Two years ago, I would've trusted that voice. I would've known it would lead me to safety. But now when I hear it, all I can hear is lies.

I frantically looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. I wouldn't go back! I won't go back! My frantic searching bore fruit as I found a rather sharp looking stick on the ground. I picked it up and looked at it like it was salvation wrapped in a bottle. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight them off, but as they closed in on me, another thought surfaced.

I'm not going back......no matter what.

Little did the stallion know that above him, were three humans who would be his and his gender's new salvation.

It wasn't really that hard to track the male who made the grunt down. The guy wasn't going for stealth, just to get away. Mike could tell it was a male by the deepness of the voice that made the sound. He mainly went after him because, he knew he was in trouble. And no matter where they had been sent, he still felt the need to help any being. Doesn't matter if they were animals or humans.

Mike moved through the trees with an almost unnatural grace. He had felt the same darkness from this forest as Nick had, but that didn't matter. No matter how evil a forest felt, it was still a forest. And if Mike was the master of anything, it was the forest. Swinging from tree to tree by grabbing on to branches, he ended up at the top of a cliff face. Knowing that this was where the male's trail would end, based on the fact that the sound breaking of twigs was coming this way, he got on the crevice of the cliff and waited. He made sure to crouch down, so that if anyone looked up they wouldn't see him. He stayed that way until he heard what sounded like a shout come from the clearing.

It was at this point Ray appeared at his right side, crouched just like he was, "Dude I told you to-," Mike interrupted her with a hand.

Not much later, NIck also appeared, a lot less quietly, and rushed to Mike's left side, "I told you two to-," Mike grabbed him by his leg and pointed into the clearing.

"The person who made that grunt is in this clearing at the bottom of the cliff face. Judging by the fact that he pretty much tore a path through the forest on his way here, he must be running from something. I have no idea how the local populous will react when they see someone who looks like a demon, a ninja with cult armor on, and a clear female with armor that some would call 'forged midnight'. So if you two don't mind, be quiet!" Mike hissed the last part in a whisper. Nick and Ray both clamed up and crouched down next to Mike.

Hearing some commotion from the clearing, he looked over the crevice.

HIs brain instantly went into overtime.

The first thing he noticed were the six creatures that seemed to stay close to each other. Out of everything in the clearing, they radiated authority. Mike saw that this species seemed to be a fusion of human and equine. While they walked on two legs, had two arms and fingers, their feet more resembled hooves than actually feet. That and their skin seemed to be more like a coat of fur with multitudes of colors, and they had tails that swayed in the wind.

Along with that, he noticed that the six were all female, or mares in the case of equines. He could tell because of their child bearing hips and 'well endowed' chest. On the left side he saw two hybrids with wings. Now that he thought about it, they were called pegasi. One of them had a yellow coat with a pink....mane he guessed. The other one had a cyan coat with a mane and tail that were all the colors of a rainbow. Judging by how the yellow one wore a modest yellow sweatshirt with matching skirt, while the cyan one wore a more athletic blue hoodie with blue jeans, the cyan one was the fastest out of them all. That and the yellow mare seemed to be hiding behind the cyan one, while that one looked like she was prepared to rush into battle. Her muscles, however, weren't very defined, so she was probably fast and brash, but didn't have the muscle to back it up.

On the right side, he saw what looked like normal human-horse hybrids. One of them had an orange coat and blonde mane, that she wore in a pigtail. Her clothing consisted of a checkered red and white tank top, that she tied in a knot under her breast, blue jeans, and a cowboy hat. While the other one was the very definition of pink. Her coat, mane, tail, shirt and skirt were all pink! Seeing that much pink on one creature nearly made Mike's brain overload. The orange one also seemed ready for a fight, and judging from her more defined muscles, Mike guessed she was the most powerful physically of the group. That and her build suggested that she must be a hard worker, probably a farmer of some type. While the pink one...he couldn't get an exact read on her. While she bounced up and down in the clearing, he could tell behind her carefree smile there was something dark. He couldn't explain exactly what it was, but he knew that she would definitely be a danger.

Lastly, in the center were two beings with horns. One of these beings had a bright white coat with a purple mane and tail. Judging by how she seemed to carry herself, her rather long and fancy cocktail dress, not very defined muscles, and well kept mane, she was a noble of some sort. That or she thought of herself as a noble, in which case she was just a fashion expert. He remembered that equine beings with horns were called unicorns. Most of these names he is giving these creatures are based off of the fantasy and mythology books he remembered reading from his time in the rainforest. Her magic would be a problem, but not much. If she was a noble or considered herself one, she was not very well versed in combat, physical or magical.

It was the last one, the leader judging by how she was at the front of the group, that he knew would be their biggest concern. For one thing, she did have a horn like a unicorn, but she also had wings like a Pegasus. Which means that among these hybrids, there are other hybrids(he says this cause he has no idea if there are more like her). This hybrid's coat was a dark purple, and so was her mane and tail, but they had a pink streak going through them. Along with that, she seemed to wear what most would consider a Japanese school girl's outfit, except with the skirt below her knees and white with pink mixed in here and there. Mike could sense an extreme magical energy coming from her, more so than unicorn. She was not the strongest of them physically, but her magic could definitely put a dent in Nick's armor, if she got a hit in.

Breaking his gaze away from them, he focused on the only male in the clearing. He was also a Pegasus, however he had a brown coat with a yellow mane and tail. His body was covered with dirt and scratch marks, furthering the evidence that he was the one who made the grunt. What confused Mike however, was that if he was a Pegasus, why didn't he just fly over the cliff?

That was when his power did something new. It seemed to zoom in on the male and allow Mike to see his every injury or scar on his body. And when Mike looked to his wings, he saw scars on certain parts of them. He had seen many birds with hurt wings and if pegasi wings were the same thing, then the parts that allowed him flight had been lost. But if that was scar tissue, then they had been cut, on purpose. Looking the, stallion's he believed, entire body over, he noticed other things that were off to. His neck and wrist had red marks on them, suggesting that he had been restrained with something, most likely a collar or rope. That meant that he was either a criminal or a slave. If he was a criminal, he wouldn't of hesitated to attack the six in front of him, or have the look of fear in his eyes that Mike could see thanks to his enhanced powers. Which means that he must be a slave.

Looking around the rest of the clearing, he spotted two more hybrids. These however, had on golden armor and carried spears in their hands. These were most likely guards that had been sent as an extra pre-caution. He didn't pay them much attention, considering that Nick could probably break those spears in two. However, he did make note of how one had wings and the other did not. That and the fact that they were both mares as well.

After looking the two guards over, Mike got out of his powered mode, and began to make a plan. He knew they had to help the stallion escape. It was the only right thing to do, if he was in fact a slave. That word made Mike's blood boil. Living in the forest for so long, Mike had a distinct love of freedom. He believed that, just like the animals in the rainforest, everything had a right to freedom. No matter what it is. And no one, and nothing, should be able to take that from you.

But Mike also had a limit on freedom. He figured you were allowed your own choices, allowed to live as you saw fit, and allowed to have your own thoughts on whatever it was. Be it religion, sports, school, whatever. However, when you squander that freedom and use it to take away someone's life, you have crossed the line.

Mike turned back to his two companions, a gleam in his eyes as a plan formed in his head, "Ok, here is what we're going to do....."

It would be easy. All I had to do, was raise the stick to my throat. Then jab it straight through, and the pain would be over in a flash.

No more whippings...

...no more hard labor in the hot summer sun....

...no more being paraded around town like a prize...

...I couldn't be raped....

...It would be over.

That was my train of thought, until a giant mass of blackness crashed down in front of me from on top of the cliff. The next thing I knew, I was felt something hit me on the back of my neck. Then, my vision went away.

First Contact(edited)

Alright, I can do this. I just gotta keep them distracted long enough for Mike and Ray to take that horse-thing away from here.

Mike had briefly filled me and Ray in on what he had discovered from watching our 'host' and I must say, damn. That ability he was talking about is no joke! I wonder if he knows about how I know that this is all a fan fiction written by a terrible writer? Ehh, most likely not.

Oh yeah, and that the things I was currently standing in front of were a fusion of humans and equines. Naturally, me and Ray's reactions were exceedingly skeptical. I mean really, a species of human-horses? That sounded like we were sent to a furries equivalent of heaven. But, as we descended the cliff face(me jumping off of it, while Mike and Ray both quickly slid down the rocks) I began to get a more detailed look at our 'host.' Sure enough, just like Mike said, they were a bunch of equine humans. They had hooves for feet, big eyes, and tails, but they walked on two legs, had hands with five fingers, and very large breast. They almost looked like anime women to tell the truth, but more...cartoony.

I was currently standing in front of the eight women-horse-things that were after our man-horse-thing. I had my arms and legs spread out to my sides to appear as big as possible. Of course this wasn't much trouble for me, since the armor I'm wearing is bulky as fuck. That and out of all three of us, I was clearly the tallest. We had each estimated our height up against a tree back at our campsite. I apparently came in at around 6'11", while Mike was 6'2", and Ray was an even 6 feet. Good thing I'm as tall as I am, cause even the tallest of the female horses(didn't Mike call them mares? And wouldn't that make the man horse a stallion?) only reached up to my chest.

"Hey! Hey you there! Yeah you! Look at me! Look at me wave my arms around like an idiot!," I shouted while performing the said action. While I may act brave, I was actually a little nervous. I mean, I knew I was strong, and the armor I was wearing was probably tough as nails. But I had no idea what would happen if that one that Mike had said was a magic adept blasted me with a spell. It would probably send me a good couple of feet into the air, and over a mountain somewhere.

The mares' eyes grew wider than dinner plates, well wider than they already were. Can someone tell me how they are able to have those massive eyes and a brain at the same time? No one, aw well. The first one to come out of shock was one of the mares in armor, "Stop right there....whatever you are!" she said raising her spear in defiance.

I stopped dancing around like a chicken with it's head cut off, and put my hands at my sides. Without making any sudden moves, I slowly turned my head around to look behind me. While my vision was slightly blocked by the helmet, I smiled as I saw no trace of the stallion we had just saved. I turned my head back to the mares, smiling behind my helmet. The purple mare hybrid, started walking towards me, slowly placing each hoof in front of the other. When she was about 5 meters from me, I held up my right hand to stop her, "That is far enough."

She stopped abruptly, clearly surprised that I could speak. "You speak Equestrian?!" she shouted out.

Now it was my turn to be surprised. "You can talk? And you speak English?" I questioned my voice partially muffled by the helmet.

"No. I'm speaking Equestrian, same as you," she said in a matter-of-fact voice that reminded me of my 6th grade teacher, while crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yeah, no. I think I know English when I hear it. I mean, why wouldn't I understand the language I've been speaking for just about, oh I don't know, my whole life!" I said as I to crossed my arms in front of me, almost mirroring her stance.

Before she could reply, the two supposed guards sprung into action, literally. They jumped up and used their wings to land right in front of Ms. Teacher Woman. "You can't speak to the Princess that way, Monster!" one said brandishing her spear threateningly. I couldn't really see any details on her since her armor covered up most of her body. I could only tell it was a her because of her voice and what Mike said. I guess I'll call them, guards 1 and 2.

I was about to reply, when suddenly what they said registered with me, "Wait, you're a Princess?!"

"Guards! Stand down!, " she said, pushing them out of the way and looking me where she guessed my eyes were. She was actually looking at the mouth covering, "Yes, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, newly appointed Princess of Friendship, and leader of the SRF. Now, do you mind telling me who or what you are?"

"Oh cool, if your royalty, then I have someone who can probably answer some of my questions."

"But you haven't answered any of mine!" she shouted sounding like a spoiled little kid for a second.

I rubbed the underside of my helmet in thought, "Good point. I know, you ask me something and I'll answer to the best of my abilities. Then you do the same. That way, everyone's happy."

She seemed to relax a bit, "Ok fine then. First," she started while her horn began to glow with a purple aura. Suddenly, a paper and quill appeared out of nowhere, covered in the same aura as her horn.

'So they do have magic,' I thought to myself, now that my skepticism was replaced with awe.

"First, as I have asked many times, what are you?" she said, a shine appearing in her eyes that showed curiosity and intelligence.

"I am what is called a human." I say, but judging by her confused face, my helmet must of muffled the last word too much.

"You're a.....Mooman?"

"No, human."

"Booman?"

"Huma-hold on a second," I then reached my arms up and took off the helmet. The cool air coming through the forest feels good against my brown skin. I wished I had a mustache, but I could never grow one for some reason. After closing my eyes and letting myself enjoy the cold air, I looked backed down at the mare, "Now as I was saying, I am a human. The scientific term for my species is-

"Guards, take him down!"

"Rainbow Dash! Wait!"

"I'm sorry-what?" In hindsight, I think I should've kept the helmet on. Almost instantly, the two guards from early got ready to lunge at me from both sides. However, before either of them could pounce, I saw the cyan mare, now know to me as Rainbow Dash, charge at me full speed reaching me way before either of the guards did. I closed my eyes and braced for the pain, but I didn't feel any. The only indication of impact was an almost inaudible DING sound. I opened my eyes back up, surprised that I wasn't flung back a couple of steps. What I saw was Rainbow Dash, frozen mid-air, both of her fist against my chest plate. I looked at both of the guards, and saw they were stunned as much as I was, not even moving from their original spots. I looked down where Rainbow(a fitting name if you ask me) hit me, and there wasn't even a small dent or scratch, huh. I looked Rainbow in the eyes, her bluish ones having about the same expression of surprise as my green ones did. "Well," I said, "That was unexpected."

Rather than respond, she began to zip around me at a fast pace, almost acting like Ray with the tree. She began to hit my armor everywhere she could. Chest, stomach, legs, arms, head, all futile as I just stood there still as a statue. "Ok, how long is she gonna be doing this?" I asked Twilight, pointing my thumb in Rainbow's direction. She was currently pulling on my waist from behind, trying to suplex me.

"Rainbow! Stop it!" she shouted, her horn lighting up again. I felt Rainbow's weight lift off of me, as she was levitated back to the group, that same purple aura around her. She was clearly struggling in the bubble of magic, when it suddenly disappeared and she was deposited very roughly on the ground. The Princess looked her in the eyes, the way a mad parent would a child, "And what do you think your doing?!"

Rainbow shot up from the ground, giving the me first view of her wings. They, like the rest of her, were cyan in color and seemed to be wider than her body. Man those were some huge wings! The way they flapped in the air, bringing up dust, awesome. If I was drunk and almost dead, I would probably mistake her for an angel. "But, Twilight! We are the 'Stallion Retrieval Force!' We're supposed to find colts, and bring them back to their masters! We trained for months trying to spot a stallion at least a bucking mile away! And that," she pointed an accusing finger at me, "is a bucking stallion if I ever saw one! I'm sure of it!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rainbow, "And do you have any proof, Dash?"

The wind fell out of Dash's sails a little bit, "No," then came right back around, "But I can get it!" She flew past Twilight and over to the orange Cow-mare? I guess. Speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, Dash said, "Applejack, hit him where it hurts."

The one now known as Applejack looked hesitant for a moment, "Ah....um...," she sighed and crouched down on the ground. Her hooves and hands were stretched out and on the grassy surface, like she was getting ready to sprint a mile. She looked at me with sad eyes, "If ya turn out ta be a gurl, sory bout this."

I was confused for a second, before Rainbow's words came back to me and I put two and two together. 'Hit him where it hurts.'

Where it hurts....

...the jewels!

"AW HELL NAW!" I shouted putting my helmet back on. I jumped backwards about five meters, putting a good fifteen between me and the soon to be rushing bulldozer. If what Mike had told me were true, and she was as strong as I gave her credit for.....I don't even want to think about it.

She looked surprised for a second, before she focused back and came at me like a speeding bullet. I ran straight at her, getting ready to have my right leg meet hers as we closed the distance.

We were 4 meters apart, both ready to strike.

3 meters

2 meters

1....

I had no idea how strong I was. Nor did I have any idea how tough my armor was. Heck, I half expected for my leg to completely break off when we clashed.

However, that did not happen.

Instead, when our legs met each other, mine coming in to block, hers coming in to hit me in my special zone.....nothing. At first, there was nothing. Then a shockwave came out from where our legs met. It blew back the leaves and branches on the trees, snapping some off. The very ground shook with power, as we were rocketed backwards. Thankfully, even though I felt the shockwave, my armor absorbed most of the blowback. I must say, that girl is strong! If neither of our legs fell off from contact, she must be able to punch trees no sweat! However, judging by how I was able to push her back and withstand her attack, she must not be strong enough to punch through trees. I ended up just sliding along the ground a bit, before stopping about 5 meters away from them.

The mares looked OK, well accept for the white one, who started messing with her hair and yelling something inaudible.

Twilight recovered and gave Rainbow a glare that said 'We'll talk later', "So sorry about that. Dash is just very brash sometimes and-." Realization dawned in both of our eyes as we remembered something important we were supposed to do. I looked back, and discovered that I had been moved far enough away that they could see the cliff face. "The Escapee!" she shouted, running past me to look at where the stallion should be.

However, all she saw was dust and a grey, rocky cliff face.

She frantically looked all around the area for any sign of the runaway. When she finally saw that there was no trace left of him, she turned back to me. It seemed like her eyes had been replaced with fire, and I could swear I saw steam coming out of her ears, "You!" she bellowed.

Looking around, I saw the rest of the mares staring at me with almost the same intensity. Except the pink one, who was just bouncing up and down with a smile on her face. There was something about her that made me feel, uneasy. Almost like she could, sense my strange ability to see 'The Wall'.

'It isn't strange, silly!' I jumped a bit as I heard an extremely bubbly voice in my head.

'What-the-who?' I thought, desperately trying to find whoever said that.

'It's not time yet, but the writer knows what's up!'

'What do you mean-wait, you know about the writer!' My gaze instantly shifted to the pink one. She was still bouncing up and down, but her eyes seemed to lock with mine. It was then I saw the exact same thing I saw in myself whenever I looked in a mirror. That glimmer in someone's eyes when they have figured out the one thing that no other TV show, video, or comic book character(except for Deadpool) knows.

Their whole life, is a fictional story, created by someone just for fun, money, or the enjoyment of others.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" I heard someone shout from in front of me.

Breaking my eyes away from the pink abomination's stare, I turned back to Twilight, who was still standing next to where the stallion had been. "Me?" I asked, pointing a finger at my innocent person.

Twilight pinched the bridge of her noise(snout?), probably in frustration, as she began to move closer to me. Then she began slowly speaking to me, "We are a very elite force of stallion catchers, known as the SRF. For two years, we have captured, detained, and brought back escaped colts and stallions. We have a perfect record of catching them within one day. We held that record, until now. Because of you! You distracted us for so long, he was able to get away and now, it will take us another day to find him! Our perfect record is ruined! ALL. BECAUSE. OF. YOU!" Man she was mad, like really mad. Heck her body is so red, I'm pretty sure that she'll burst into flames. I could practically feel the heat coming off of her as she came with touching distance of my chest plate.

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes until I finally found my wits, and said, "Well, all you have to do is start over. Just keep doing what your doing for maybe three more years. Then you'll not only have a new record, but you would've broken your old one!"

"OOOOh! I like this guy's thinking Twili!" the, I'm gonna call her Pinkie, said still bouncing with a smile on her face. Apparently no one else shared her way thinking, cause they all just stared at her. She must do this type of thing a lot.

Then Twilight said, "Guards! Take this....hooman to the Castle of Friendship! We'll see if it knows what-"

"Make one move and I'll put an arrow in the back of your head."

Twilight stiffened up a bit, fear showing on her face. I looked behind her, and saw a person who made me happy I held out as long as I did, "Hey man! How's it going?!"

"Pretty good man, lets get out of here. Our other companion is waiting at the camp we set," Mike said, his voice also muffled by the mask apart of his armor. He held his bow against the Princess's head, an arrow nocked and ready to fly.

"Twilight!" I heard one of the five behind me scream. I saw one of the guards try and make a dash for Mike.

An arrow whizzed past her head, embedding itself into a tree a view meters away. She turned to look at the arrow that almost took her life, then back to Mike. The guy looked like he hadn't move an inch. "Move again, and I won't miss next time." Stunned, the guard backed off and rejoined the rest of the stunned mares.

It was then I heard a new voice. One that was so quiet, I almost missed it, "Please, don't hurt her." I turned around and spotted the yellow mare, who let out a small 'eep' and hid behind the cyan one again.

I waved my hands in an innocent gesture, "Oh don't worry! My buddy here isn't a killer. Heck, I'm not a killer. We just don't like the idea of being taken somewhere by force. It was nice meeting you all, bye!" I waved and I walked around Twilight, until I was on Mike's right side. Then we backed up, slowly heading into the forest as Mike said, "Do not follow us. For if you do, we will not be so merciful."

"You won't evade us forever," I heard Twilight say, now facing us since the threat of the arrow was gone. "We will find you."

Mike looked her in the eye, no emotion present in his, "Believe me, by the time you catch up with us, we will already be gone." And with that, we disappeared into the forest.

After heading into the tree shrubbery, I turned to Mike and said, "You do realize we have probably pissed off just about the entire population of this planet?"

Mike simply turned around and walked away saying, "They won't follow us, I know it. And besides," he stopped in his tracks, "for everyone one thing they know about us, I learn five things about them." With that he turned around and began walking again. I stayed standing in place for a moment, before walking after him, making sure to look behind me every now and then to be sure we weren't followed.

Unbeknownst to the humans, they were being watched. However, it was by something that was not a pony, but a relatively young being of great power. "Godspeed young humans. Your journey hasn't nearly even begun."

It was about 4 minutes later until we reached the campsite, where we found Ray waiting for us by the fire. She was sitting with her left side to us watching the fire burn. In the fire were 5 sticks with fish speared on them, and a pile of about 10 more waiting to be cooked on Ray's right side. . Remembering how none of us had eaten yet, my stomach growled loud enough to cause some birds in the trees to fly away.

Mike and Ray's stomachs both followed after, almost seeming to agree with mine. All three of us had a good laugh, as me and Mike sat down by the fire, waiting for the fish to cook.

I looked around our campsite, trying to see some weakness in the foliage. The area we were currently in was almost pitch black, with only a few slits of sunlight here and there piercing the hanging canopy. The leaves looked to be a dark purple and seemed rather, foreboding. As if this forest had already sensed our coming, and was preparing our graves. The tree trunks looked no better, black and twisted, these trees seemed to further advance the theory that this forest was alive.

I looked back at the camp fire, getting lost in the dancing flames. Funny, I thought this was all just a lucid dream back home. Just a tale spun by my mind to keep me entertained. But that tree I punched felt real, my armor felt real, and that clash I had with that mare, most certainly felt real. I really was lost in a world filled with anthro horses. Hah. Some furries would call this a dream come true. But for me, I felt homesick.

I mean, back on my earth, I really didn't have much to do. I never thought I would amount to anything. I just figured I would go on and be one of those guys nobody seems to remember.

But yet, here I am. Expected to save this world from itself somehow. Along with my Motely Crew of friends right here.

Looking towards my friends, I saw they were deep in thought as well. The looks on their faces, the ones of lost hope. The lost hope of ever seeing home again.

I shook my head, I can't feel sorry for myself! Not now! It doesn't matter who I am, what I am, or where I am! I was called here to help this world! And that is exactly what I'm gonna do! And not only that, but I will make sure we see home again! I will make sure that my friends and I make it out of this!

With my new found courage, I looked up from the fire. A smile was on my face as I said, "Come on guys! We can't just mope around all day!" Both Mike and Ray looked up to me. I couldn't see it in their eyes, but I could tell they were probably confused as to what I just said.

Without loosing steam, I stood up, "We were sent here by a weird black heart to help this world! I'm not sure what we're going to help it with, or if we can even stand a chance against what it is! But that doesn't matter! We are humans! We will not stand by while others are in danger! We will fight to protect the weak! We will fight to win! And we will win! We will show them all exactly what humans can do! We have this armor, we have our weapons, we have epic powers! We can do this!" I shouted to the high heavens, raising my fist above my head as my voice carried throughout the entire forest.

Mike and Ray stayed quiet, letting me have my moment. Then Mike began to clap for me, "Well done my friend! Now, I guess that means you have a plan?"

I let my fist lower as my steam finally ran out, "Um, no actually." Their elation quickly faded, "But I'm sure we'll come up with something!" They didn't look as glum as they did before, but they didn't too happy either.

I have no idea why it took me so long to notice him. However, when I looked back down to the campfire, I noticed a certain brown color on the ground next to Ray. I pointed to the lump, "What is that?"

Ray looked to her left and spotted the heap, "Oh yeah. This is that stallion we rescued from those mares."

"They call themselves, the SRF or Stallion Retrieval Force," I said filling them in on what I had learned.

Ray turned back to me. Her mask covered her face, so I couldn't read her emotions, but I could hear a bit of panic in her voice, "So you mean they were trying to retrieve him?"

"That's what it sounded like, yes."

"Do you think he's a criminal?!" I saw Ray instinctively reach for one of her daggers.

"Unlikely," Mike said suddenly joining the conversation, 'I'd say if anything, he was the victim."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Ray replied, moving her hand away from the sheath.

"Because, when I saw him cornered he didn't fight back. If he was a criminal, he would've went down fighting. But instead, he was going to commit suicide. Normally, people only do that when they're desperate. And, as we've seen, these equines seem to be capable of sentient thought and have emotions a lot like humans. And judging by the fact that he has constriction marks on his neck and wrist," Mike pointed to said areas, "And the tendons in his wings are cut," once again pointing to that area, "I'd say he was a slave of some sort."

"You can tell all that just by looking at him?!" I asked incredulously. I had sat back down, but was still staring at the brown stallion. His chest was steadily rising and falling, signaling that he was alive. I breathe a little easier, then asked Mike, "How do you know about his wounds, I can't see them." It was true, no matter how hard I looked at the guy, I couldn't see a single mark on him. Mike simply looked at me, and pointed to his eyes. I facepalmed, "Alright, but still what should we do with him?"

"Well, we can't just give him back to those mares. Who knows what they'll do to him?" Mike said looking back at the unconscious stallion.

That was when we heard a slight groaning noise. All of our eyes darted towards our downed guest, who slowly sat up rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, what-" he said before opening his eyes and looking at us.

I wasn't sure, but I think Mike smiled behind his mask when our guest opened his eyes, "Well, hello Sleeping Beauty. We won't hurt you, but you will answer our questions."

He seemed surprised that Mike was able to talk, cause he fell backwards onto his back. Laying down he put his hands up, trying to protect his face, as if he expected blows. Yet even though he was panicking, his reddish green eyes still held a spark of defiance in them, "And-and what if I don't?"

"Oh no you will. Primarily because, if it weren't for us, you would be in the clutches of those mares back there."

The stallion seemed to think on this for a moment. Then put his hands down, but chose to remain in his position, "Who, or what are you?"

Mike put his hands in his lap, "We, my friend, are humans from another world, different from this one."

"Hoomans?"

"Yes. If it would not trouble you too much, do you mind telling us what world we are on and its history?"

Another pause from the stallion. Then he made to stand up and walked back to the fire. That was when we realized that he was naked. I put my hands in front of my face as I averted my eyes, "Woah, dude! Put some clothes on, sheesh! There's a lady present!" Peeking in her direction, I saw Ray had done the same as me and averted her gaze.

As he sat down by the fire between Ray and Mike, dismissing the view of his junk, he seemed confused, "Why? Where I come from clothes are optional. At least for mares."

The offending sight gone, I looked back at him, my helmet masking my confusion, "Wait, what do you mean 'at least for the mares'?"

He looked down at the fire for a second. Then he sighed and his voice took on an storyteller style, "To learn that, hoomans, we must start at the beginning. I will tell you what my father told me. How Equestria, used to be...."

Walking to Town

I still don't get those two. I mean, we just woke up in some cave a couple of minutes ago, and now here we are listening to some anthro male horse thing tell us the history of anthro horse world. How have these two not freaked out yet? How have they just accepted this whole mess to be fact? It may just be me being the only girl the group, but I just can't take this at face value. However, the only things that would make sense at this point would be drugs. And even though I would chalk this up to a hallucination, aren't those usually really trippy?

As of right now, we were still sitting around the fire listening to the stallion tell us this world's history. He had just about caught us up with what had happened before, whatever it was that put him in this situation. And I must say, only an idiot would believe him. I mean come one, unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi, alicorns(a fusion of all three) hydras, sirens, and two Princesses who could supposedly control the sun and moon?! This place just screams child's fairy tale! There is no way two freaking anthro horses can control celestial bodies, even with magic! And if they can, why the hell only them?! Why can't others do it too?! I mean, I thought magic could be done by anyone in anyway, shape or form, not just in certain small ways such as moving the earth or flight. If you have magic, you ought to be able to blast fireballs out of your hands regardless of it you had a horn!

"And after Tirek was defeated, unicorn Twilight Sparkle, became alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle," the stallion continued. The fire had gone down a bit as his tale went on, and the sun had gone down. Now the little clearing we were in only had one source of light, the fire.

Mike, Nick, and I had been steadily eating our supply of fish. Whenever the fire ran out of cooked ones, I would grab a couple and place them on the sticks we had already used. The stallion seemed a bit taken aback at first, but after Mike explained how we were omnivores and wouldn't eat anything sentient, he calmed down. We all had to take off our facial wear in order to eat, so the stallion had gotten a good look at our faces. His gazed seemed to linger on me when he examined us, don't know why.

Once he was sure we were still listening, he started back, "After that, the Element of Magic was stolen from Twilight Sparkle by a old unicorn student of Celestia's called Sunset Shimmer. She went through a mirror and escaped into a human version of Equestria. After following her, Twilight came back with Shimmer, however she had turned her good and brought her down the path of friendship," I scoffed a bit at that, but it went unnoticed since I had my mask back on.

Pfft, 'magic of friendship' what a load of bull. I mean, yes friends are important, and they can help you out on more than one occasion. They can pick you up when you fall down, stay with you till the bitter end, hell you might say they're like guardian angels.

But, even that has its limits. Like this horse-guy said, even the Elements of Harmony(the symbols of friendship) were corrupted by the God of Chaos, Discord. Friendship can do amazing things, sure, even transcend death. But, when your friends are shot with a bullet, stabbed by a sword, or get sick with a fatal disease, even friendship can't help them then. All that it will get them, is a few happy days before they end up six feet underground.

Don't get me wrong. I believe in friendship. I believe friends are important. However, I wouldn't base my entire life, hell existence, around that one concept. And the thought that this place has survived this long with just that one concept, I don't buy it. There has got to be some behind the scenes work going on. But, I guess we'll have to find that out later.

"And well, that is pretty much, our whole history up until two years ago," the stallion finished.

I swear that if Mike or Nick say anthing other than 'That is ridiculous' I'm going to lose it.

"Ok, so let me get this straight," Nick said.

That's it!

"You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled out, getting all the guys attention. "You two can't seriously just be accepting all of this?! According to this...thing, we are currently on a planet that could only be thought up by a little girl! There is no way this place is real! I mean, watch! I betcha this things head comes right off!" I advanced on the 'stallion' and grabbed him by his ears. I pulled and pulled with all my might, but only succeeded in getting him to grunt out "Stop it! That hurts-OW! Get it off!"

Nick came up to me and my prisoner and pushed us apart, "What the Hell is wrong with you?!"

If he could see my eyes, I'm sure he would've saw the fire in them, "What's wrong with me?!" I pointed my index finger at him accusingly, "What's wrong with you?! There is no way you could've just accepted this as real! There has to a reasonable explanation-"

"Then what is it, Blur?" Mike said to me.

I was about to answer, when I caught name he had called me, "What? My name's-"

"Blur, I know. Now, please continue, Blur."

Through my mask I squinted at him, trying to read his eyes. All I saw were sparkling green eyes, and a mask that covered up any movement of his mouth. "Right," I said, "Well the only things that make sense are either this is a lucid dream or, we are all in comas back home."

Mike shifted a bit in place, but remained sitting, "Well, if this were a dream, we would be able to think up anything we wanted to and it would appear." He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating for a second. When he opened them again, he looked around the clearing, then back to me, "I just tried to imagine a huge tiger steak in the campsite, and it's not here. So this is not a dream. However, it is not a coma either, because, if it was, we would already be awake since time would pass by quickly in our world."

I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it. I opened it again, then shut it again. He was right. There was no reasonable explanation for this to not be real. Which means that I am currently on a planet, inhabited by biped ponies, with possibly no other humans except for these two. Mr. I can tell all your secrets just by looking at you, and the gamer who talks to himself all the time.

"No Author, I will not go bang my head against a tree for no reason!"

Case and point....

The fire had started to dim, so I walked over to a tree and cut down some wood. I picked up the three dry branches and brought them to the fire, not even noticing the wet leaves on them. It was like I was in a trance, my body acted on its own.

I'm not dreaming.

I'm not on earth anymore.

Heh...heh...heh..hehehe.....

I was jostled from my mental collapse by someone putting their hand on my left shoulder. It was Nick, "Hey now, don't get all crazy on us."

"Me? Crazy?"

"Yeah. I mean, sure non of this makes any rational sense, but when the possible gets kicked out the window all that's left is the impossible. Which, is how me and my bro here came to terms with everything. We figure 'Hey, why worry about it?' The bright side is, we're alive, we've got some sick ass gear, and a world to save. If that isn't enough for ya, I don't know what is."

I'm not entirely sure what it was about that speech. Just something in those words, made me brighten up. I smiled underneath my mask, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," he said patting me on the back, "I'm an MC, I'm supposed to be right."

I shook my head, "True that."

Our guest cleared his throat to get our attention, "Well, if you're quite done trying to tear my head off, I have some questions of my own."

Mike turned to him, "Oh, then by all means, ask away."

Nick sat down next to me and we all leaned in to hear the stallion. The flames cackled with the newly burning wood used to fuel it. "First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Skyhold."

He went silent for a second. Then I asked, "That's it?"

"Yes, we slaves are only given first names, so our masters don't have to talk to us for very long."

"So you are a slave?" I asked, a little bit of relief coming off of me.

"Yes, have been for over 18 years. Before I go further into that though, I must ask, what are you?"

Mike took over the explanation, "We, my companion, are what is called humans. H-u-m-a-n, human. Or homo-sapien for the scientific term. We are from a planet know as Earth, where we are the dominant species. I am known as Predator, for I can move through forest with high speed and take out my prey quickly and efficiently. I am acutally very kind and do not attack unless provoked or someone else is in danger."

"Sompony." Skyhold said.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Here we say 'somepony' not someone."

"Well, we are not from here, so we shall say someone," Skyhold considered that, then motioned for Mike to continue. He pointed to Nick, "He is known as Bomb, for he can be kind and funny one minute, then explode and cause an untold amount of damage to his enemies." Then he pointed to me, "And, as you already know, she is known as Blur, for she can move faster than the eye can keep up with."

At the mention of my gender, Skyhold jerked up and prepared to run, but Mike stopped him with a hand. "Do not worry yourself, Skyhold. We humans come from a world where slavery is a serious affront to all humanity. It has been outlawed, but there are still some humans who practice it. But, those who do and are caught, are either sent to Jail or killed. You are in no danger, please, sit." He looked hesitant, darting his eyes between Mike and I. Then he seemed to relax and sat back down. "Now, it is our turn, why are you a slave?"

Skyhold looked somber as he spoke, "That, is because of the EPL, 'Equestrian Preservation Law.' Two years ago, after Princess Twilight's Castle of Friendship(Pfft) was finished, she noticed what she called a 'problem that could spell the end of Equestria.' Apparently, in our kingdom there is an overabundance of females. For every 5 colts and fillies born to a family, 4 are fillies. As such, after talking to the other Princesses, Twilight passed the EPL. It says that every male must have a female master, no matter who or what they are. It was originally made to increase the breeding rate, so more colts will be born. However, love was never put into the factors. As such, it ended up just putting all males into slavery."

"Wait, if you guys have magic, why didn't you just turn some of the females into males to increase breeding rates?" Nick asked.

"We did, the results.....weren't pretty," Skyhold shuddered a bit.

"Anyway, we pretty much have almost no rights, and are treated like animals. We are raped in the streets, forced to work on plantations, forced to walk on all fours and wear no clothes, and most of us are beaten everyday.

The worst part, are the Collars. They restrict our magic, causing unicorns to lose their spell casting, earth ponies to lose their strength, and pegasi like me lose our ability to fly."

"But wait," I asked, "If the Collars stop you from flying, why do you have your wings cut?"

"That, is extra insurance from my master. AKA my mother." No one said a thing at this confession. What can you say to something like that? Why would you do that to your own son?

"We slaves," he continued after a moment, "have been able to categorize the masters by tiers. Tier 1 are the good masters. They treat us like ponies, not animals. They give use extra water, food, and real housing. Even so, a gilded cage is still nothing more than a cage.

Tier 2 masters are the average masters. Nothing really special or bad about them.

Then, there are my mother's tier. Tier 3 masters. These master's are the worst of the worst. They beat their slaves for even the smallest infraction. Sometimes for no reason other than it's fun. Them, they aren't fine with just having the Collars on us. They think they need more to keep us in line. They cut off unicorn horns, put earth pony hooves and hands into iron restraints, and, well you can see what they do to pegasi. They are always running short on slaves, so you can easily tell them apart because they'll be the ones at auctions."

Mike nodded his head, "Thank you for the information, but I have begun to notice our light is burning low," he indicated the dwindling campfire. The light was so far gone, that only our small ring of people, and pony, were visible in the dark gloom. Mike stood up, "I think we shall have to save the answers to some questions for another time. I would like for me and my friends here to be able to sleep somewhere that is not in this clearly dangerous forest. Tell me good sir, do you know where the nearest hint of civilization is?"

Skyhold shook his head, "Yeah, Ponyville. But I'm not going back there. I just got away from the SRF and there is no way I am going to just deliver myself into their waiting hands. Thanks for saving me, but I would advise you guys to stay as far away from there as possible! They don't care what you are, if you're a male they're gonna put you in chains!" He glared at me, "But your 'female friend' here will probably be welcomed with open arms!"

I glared back at him, "Hey! I'm not the enemy here!"

"You mean not yet!"

"Why you-!" I clenched my jaw, then took two deep breathes in and out. "Ok, I understand why you would have trouble trusting me. But I promise you, I won't betray you," I said with my most sincere, motherly tone, probably muffled by my mask.

He didn't answer, he just huffed and turned his back to me. Mike broke back in, "Now, can you at least show us the direction of this 'Ponyville'? While I know that you doubt we will be able to get in without being made slaves, I promise you that we will take the utmost caution."

Skyhold once again shook his head and got up. I shied my head away a bit, so I could only see his back. I was thankful for my mask 'cuz it hid my blushing face. He began to walk towards the south of our little encampment. He stopped on the edge of the forest and pointed north, "Go straight until you reach a dirt road. From there just keep going east and you should get to Ponyville before Celestia raises the sun. Good luck, you'll need it." Then he jumped into the bushes of the Everfree and was gone.

"Man, my legs hurt." I groaned for about the tenth time since we started this walk. After Skyhold had left, we put out the fire and began making our way in the direction he pointed to. We were able to find the road easy enough, it only took us about 5 minutes. However, we had been walking for about 15 minutes east and we still didn't see any hint of this so called 'Ponyville'. I am starting to think that he may have been lying to us, the asshat! Accuse me of betraying them?! Argh!

We were currently walking in a single file line, Nick at the front, me in the middle, and Mike at the back. We kept a steady pace, easily able to see each other, even in this late at night.

Suddenly, a question popped into my head, "Yo guys, wait!" We all came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road. I called Nick and Mike to me so they would get close enough to hear, "I've been meaning to ask you, Mike. Why did you call us those names back there?"

Mike said, "Because, Blur I do not feel comfortable with letting these ponies know our real names. So I would suggest that we keep these personas for as long as we can. This may just be me being paranoid, but still I would feel better if we were to all just address each other by the titles I used last time."

"Dude," Mike said, "Did you just decide that without our consent?"

"Yes, because it was best for the group."

"Mike-"

"Predator"

"-we all decide what is best for the group. That's is what makes us a group," Nick poked Mike's chest to emphasize. "No one person just decides things for everyone. That is not how a democracy works."

I saw a small twitch in Mike's eye, "I thought you would be happy."

I chose to join in at this point, "And it is a good idea. We are happy you had it. But don't just decide things without our consent. Always ask us our opinion first, OK?"

Mike nodded his head, "Ok, I'll try to do that more often now."

Grrrrrr

"Bomb, I said I would try to-"

Nick, who I will now call Bomb, wasn't paying attention. His head was turned towards the direction of the town, "That wasn't me dude."

I looked where he was, and my body went stiff.

Standing in front of our path, was a massive three head snake thing. The thing took up just about the entire path way, which was about 7 meters wide. Its scales didn't seem to have a specific color. Rather they pulsated with different colors, never staying the same one for long. It stood on four legs, each with three claws that seemed to drip with a green substance. Something in my gut told me that was poison. The heads themselves were each a different color. The leftmost one was blue with the same color split eyes. The rightmost one was the complete opposite with red scales and blood red eyes. But the one in the middle, this one had no scales, but golden skin all across it's hide.

I had only ever seen these things in cartoons and video games. There is only one thing it could be. "Hydra.." I mouthed almost too silently to hear.

I saw Bomb and Mike, who I will now call Predator, both slowly draw their weapons. "Guys, what are you doing?!" I whispered urgently, drawing my daggers on instinct.

"This thing is in our why. I'm going to try to scare it off. If it doesn't work, we'll need to fight," Predator said, drawing back a black barbed arrow.

"Are you nuts?!"

"No, I just don't want anyone getting hurt." Predator released the arrow. It embedded itself a couple of feet in front of the hydra, just missing one of its legs. The hyrda looked down at the arrow, then back to the man who fired it.

Rather than run off, it roared into the sky.

"Well that plan went out the window!" Bomb said readying his sword. The hydra charged, and letting out a battle cry of his own so did Bomb. He ran straight at the hydra, seeming to go for the golden head and ignore the others.

That was a mistake.

Just when he was about to swing, the hyrda backed off, and swatted him away with its right claw. He slammed against the tree and bounced off it back onto the ground path face down, breaking the tree as well. I cringed. Since I didn't here the sound of broken bones, I'd guess that his armor had absorbed the blow. But that bounce definitely knocked the wind out of him, cause he didn't get back up.

The hyrda seemed to want to take him out first, and slammed one of its talons into his left arm. That woke him, up cause he screamed out in pain. I looked and saw that only, a tip of the claw had actually made it through the armor and pierced his skin. But if that was poison, then Bomb didn't have a lot of time.

"Blur! Don't just stand there help!" I heard Predator say, as he nocked another arrow and fired it. The arrow struck the middle head's right eye, causing it to roar in pain and pull its claw out of Bomb. Red blood oozed out of the wound inflict by the shot. By the time it turned to face us, another barbed arrow went straight into its left eye, blinding the middle head and causing another roar of pain.

Shaking off the shock that had kept me rooted in place, I saw what Predator had done. If there was one thing I knew about hyrda's, it was this. There were two kinds, one that regrows its heads whenever they get cut off regardless of which head it was. And the ones that have one head that is the brain of the entire body. Take that out and the rest of the body dies. Judging by the fact that this one's middle head draws the most attention then the other two, it must fall into the latter section.

Which means that Predator had given me an opening.

I gripped my daggers tight, and ran straight for the beast. It had drawn first blood, and I am going to finish it. Before it could react, I jumped up mid run and grabbed onto the monster's main head. Taking my right dagger, I shoved it straight into the middle of the head. The beast thrashed back and forth trying to toss me off, but my embedded dagger held firm. I took my left dagger and repeatedly stabbed at the beast, over and over and over again, trying to get to its brain. Its blood splashed over me, as I jammed by dagger deep into the beast hide, finally finding the brain.

But just when I was about to finish it, I felt something wrap around my leg and toss me to the side. My daggers both fell beneath the beast as I crashed into a tree. The blow made my body arch and crash to the ground, my breath taken away. I sat up against the pain and looked at my right leg. The armor was dented with teeth marks and coated with a slimy substance, but thankfully it held, and I would probably only get minor bruising.

A shadow fell over me as I looked up from my position. I was eye to eye with the golden head of the hyrda, it dripping with blood from my assault.

Its eyes were gone, so it couldn't possibly see me. But if it was a snake, it could smell me.

And it was probably pissed.

It roared in my face and brought its head up, preparing to bring its teeth down on its newest meal. Me.

I closed my eyes, prepared for death. But death never came. I never felt myself being chewed apart by three heads at once.

I opened my eyes.

What I saw, was a dead hydra.

All three of the hydra's heads had been cut off. and thrown somewhere within the forest for I didn't see them anywhere. The body had three stumps for where the heads used to be, all of them oozing red blood that pooled on the road.

However, it what was on top of the pile, or more likely who, that surprised me.

Standing there, covered in hydra blood from head to toe was Bomb. I was only able to tell because of his black armor. However, he was hunched over his helmet and chest plate leaking red smoke that rose into the air. Red runes were floating all around him in a double helix pattern. His sword was dripping blood on to the road, it smoking just like the rest of his armor. His sword was held one handed across his right shoulder.

He looked like the very incarnation of the devil himself.

Then as soon as it came, it was gone. Bomb stopped glowing and stood straight again. He looked around at the road, Predator standing there, me sitting against the tree, and the dead hydra at his feet. I heard him mumble, "Wha-" then he fell down, unconscious.

Tense Situation

Nurse Redheart was just about ready to go home.

Currently she was resting her head against the cold front desk of the hospital. It was way past visiting hours and most ponies had already gone home. Well, except for her of course, but that was only because she had drawn the short straw on who had to stay behind tonight. Even though most ponies came in during the daytime, there were always those special cases that came in for the night. This mostly included mares who had been drinking too much, or the ones who needed to bring their stallions in after some accident that caused them to have severe wounds.

None too proud of it, Redheart had to admit she was apart of the former.

Sure she was a nurse(doctor now ever since the Equestrian Preservation Law was passed) and she loved to help ponies who were hurt. However, everyone has those times where they are just so stressed out and need to unwind. For her, it was when she thought about all the ponies she had let down.

She sighed a little bit, thinking about the ones who she just couldn’t save. Pony medicine had advanced farther than before. But even then, they couldn’t save everypony. There were always the ones whose condition was too severe, too hopeless, too….everything. She still remembered the pain of telling them, “Everything would be alright,” just to have them die on her a day later.

When she thought about those times, she would get sad. She began to doubt herself, doubt her ability as a doctor. It was at these times that she would go home or to a party at a neighbor’s house and chug down a large amount of apple cider. The drinks basic ingredients couldn’t get anypony drunk only ingesting a small amount of it. But in a large enough quantity….

And she had recently heard about one of DJPon3’s parties going on right now.

But just when she was thinking of walking out the door, it slammed open and three bipedal figures came through it. Two of them were on the left and right side of the third one, and seemed to be carrying him. The nurse would have said something, when one of them spoke:

"There’s no time to explain! My friend was poisoned by a hydra, and my other companion's leg is bruised! We need medical attention STAT!"

Have you ever blacked out to a point where everything around you looks like it is on fire? Well, I guess when you black out, having visions is a given. But I mean like, when you black out, you tend to know you blacked out. Like, your brain can just tell you that you are currently laying on the ground somewhere letting time just pass you by, and it normally gives you happy dreams to amuse yourself with. At least, that’s what I always assumed. I haven’t really blacked out before. I’ve spent most of my life on the straight and narrow, so I’d never really experienced anything of the sort.

But my question is, have you ever had it happen to you and all you saw was fire?

Seriously, this isn't just some plot device the author of this thing cooked up for no reason. The entire fucking world was literally on fire. There was so much, I wasn’t even sure where the scorched earth began and the fire ended.

"What the Hell?" I asked no one in particular. I was standing right in the middle of the fire-filled landscape. Strangely, I was out of my armor and had no clothes on for some reason. Yet the flames seemed to stay away from my otherwise flammable tanned body. I visually searched the surrounding area, looking for some semblance of life. "What the Hell is going on here?!" I shouted to the world, hoping someone would answer me.

But no one did.

There was nothing, but all consuming fire.

“There are currently 4 different ways we can escape from this place. One is to jump out of the window; that would certainly be the fastest way, but Ray and Nick could sustain more injuries. It could also alert the entire town to our presence, since when Nick lands he will likely cause quite a racket with his armor on. We could always go without the armor, but that would be quite risky, since we don’t know these ‘ponies’ full capabilities yet. If we lose our armor, we would be at an extreme disadvantage.”

All of these thoughts and more were circling in my head as I sat on the windowsill of the hospital room. One leg was propped up on it while the other dangled off the side with my bow. My face was still darkened by the hood, and thanks to the moonlight anyone coming through the door would've seen the vision of a shadow. This way, no one would see my figure before I put them down. Not so much in the ‘kill shot’ sense, more like the ‘leg shot’ sense. I was currently watching over my companions and the room we were in. The room itself seemed like, well, a hospital room. Grey walls, bed, door, bathroom, and window all in the places you would expect. The door was right across from me, so if anyone tried to sneak into the room, they wouldn't get far.

My thoughts were primarily focused on creating a plan of escape for us. We were in unfamiliar, possibly hostile territory. There was no telling if the news of our little 'escapade' in the woods had reached this town yet. Worse, there was no telling what reaction the town had had to learning of us, if this was the case. We could’ve been wanted criminals, and I wasn’t taking any chances. Especially since Skyhold had said that this was the place where those mares from last time (the ‘Elements of Harmony’ I believe they call themselves) lived.

Right across from me, Nick lay in a hospital bed with his armor off and wounds healed up. His tan skin was contrasted with the white bed sheets he had been given by the nurse. On the downside, she had been the only one on duty. On the upside, she had enough skill and sense to treat my friends without asking any questions.

I frowned, there was that word again. 'Friends.' I looked over at Ray, also sleeping. She was slumped in a chair, hood off and black hair hanging off the back. Her armor was still on, however I knew that she had been healed as well. I was there after all.

I must say, this magic sure was interesting. That nurse, Nurse Redheart (how ironic) I believe, didn't even do much. All she did was give Ray a potion, and her bruises were gone. Even so, she still suggested staying off of it for a while.

Nick, was a different case. While his wounds weren't severe, the poison in his body had spread to his stomach area. Given any more time, and it could've reached his heart killing him. In order to properly take care of the venom, the nurse needed to inject the affected area with anti-venom. Which meant the armor had to come off.

However, to our surprise, she couldn't get it off. Every time she tried, it wouldn't budge. I started to think that it might be cursed, but then Ray just popped the pieced off without any trouble. So the armor wasn't cursed, but enchanted so that only we could take it off? Good to know.

After the armor was off(apparently we had to get it all off to see the progress of the poison. I didn't know human skin could get that purple), the nurse took out a bottle of this blue liquid. She said it was the anti-venom and began to fill a needle with it. I would've been skeptical, but Nick was about to die and I couldn't let that happen.

I frowned again. Or couldn't I? The antidote had worked and Nick's skin color returned in full, but why did I care about that? In fact, why did I care about any of this? I’d just met these two in a cave a day ago and I already trusted them. Why? And while on the subject, why did I care about this world? It wasn’t my world, it was theirs. If they wanted to live a life of misandry, that was their choice. What right did I have to change it? Why was I obliged to help these creatures? Because some floating heart said to? Because I was here? Why?

On top of that, how could I help anyone? Hell, how could we help anyone? Judging by how that hydra had come out of nowhere, I'd say that it was just a wild encounter. And we got our asses kicked by it. Ray got a bruised leg, and Nick got poisoned. Not very 'hero-esque' now, is it? And it was all my fault, me being the one that shot at the hydra in the first place.

I put my head in my hands, sadness threatening to overcome me. I was the one that froze up when Ray was getting attacked, and the one that did nothing while the monster poisoned Nick. They were my very first friends. You’re supposed to help friends in their time of need, protect them, not let any harm come to them.

And the first chance I got, I blew it.

I looked up at the ceiling, and shook my fist at it. I was hoping for an answer from something, anything. How could I save a world, if I couldn’t stop two people from getting injured?

Nick's words from back at camp rang in my head, "We were sent here by that weird black heart to help this world! We will fight to win! And we will win!" I looked over at him and laughed.

“Yeah buddy, you're right. We were sent here to help and I'll be damned if I let one hydra stop us. Feeling sorry for myself won't help a thing. And the best thing I can do right now, is to make a plan.”

Unfortunately, it was then that I was reminded of most basic of human needs that I had been neglecting for quite a while.

I yawned.

Laughing to myself yet again, I closed both of my eyes and settled into a comfortable position. The sun would be up soon, so I couldn't afford to sleep long.

By the sun’s golden rays, the town of Ponyville began to rise. It was a small town, not much to say about it. Over the years nothing had really changed since Tirek's downfall. The newly made Princesses’ castle was as pristine as ever, a shining example of all the friendship and love in the town.

Ponies went about their peaceful existence. They went to their jobs, had picnics, played with their children. The entire day just seemed like...a normal day. No monsters. No evil. No trouble at all. Just relaxing and peaceful.

Well, all except for a certain, energetic, pink mare.

Pinkie Pie knew something was going to happen today. Call it just a feeling, call it a hunch, but she just knew something was off today. She just couldn’t figure out what.

She was currently walking(well more like, bouncing) through Ponyville, waving to mares who stopped to say “Hi” to her. There were even some of her new griffon and changeling friends she had seen walking along the street. When she saw them, her heart leapt for joy at how before they had been such meanies before. Now, they were all living together happily in Equestria!

Pinkie, hopping along in her pink tank top and designer pants made by Rarity, didn’t really understand the Equestrian Preservation Law that Twilight had passed. All she figured was that if Twilight passed it, then it must be good. Besides, because of it, she was able to make soo many new friends in Ponyville! How could a law be bad, if it caused this much happiness.

She kept hopping along the road, heading to Twilight’s library. Her eyes always stayed up towards her target. All she saw was a her goal and any friendly mares she had come to meet along the way.

Never once did she look down.

Twilight was doing what any OCD having perfectionist who overreacts when just one little thing is wrong with her world would react to something new popping up in her life and turning it upside down.

She was reading.

Sitting down in the main room of the library, she was currently scanning through the latest issue of “Equestrian Wildlife for Dummies”. Twilight didn’t consider herself a ‘dummy’. She was after all, Princess Celestia’s former student, Bearer of the Element of Magic, and Princess of Friendship. However, when you’ve gone through almost every book on Wildlife in your library and come up with nothing, your options are very limited.

She never once lifted her eyes. All of her brain power was focused on finding the information she needed. This could be proven by the twenty other books she had left on the floor in a neat pile.

Her mind was set. Her goal was clear. Nothing would disrupt her adamant-

“Hi Twilily!”

Twilight’s concentration was shattered. She began to fail her arms, as the sudden surprise had caused her jump back against her chair. Her balance and composure gone, Twilight completely forgot about the fact that she had wings or magic and fell with the chair landing on her back. Thankfully, her wings softened the fall, but it would sting the next time she tried to fly.

Twilight rubbed the small of her back, “Ow…” she whimpered looking up at who had startled her. Unsurprisingly, it was Pinkie Pie. Twilight stood up, “Hello, Pinkie. What are you doing here?”

Pinkie continued to bounce around the room as she talked, “Well, IwasatSugarCubeCornerjustmindingmyownbusinesswhenallofasuddenIgetthiswierdfeelingthatsomethingisgoingtohappenI’mnotsurewhatitisbutit’slikeoneofthosetimeswhenyou-”

Knowing that her friend would probably go on like this for about an hour, Twilight placed a hand over Pinkie’s mouth. This stopped her tirade, while at the same time stopping her in mid air somehow, “Pinkie, can you please try to shorten what you are going to say? I know that you are excitable, but I’m a little busy here.” She said sweeping her free hand to indicate the books she had yet to put up.

Pinkie nodded her head, and Twilight released her,” Sorry Twilily! I was just trying to say that I got a feeling that something is going to happen! Something big!”

Twilight turned around and grabbed her chair. She placed it upright against the table and sat back down. “What is it,” she asked concern overtaking her demeanor, “Pinkie Sense?”

Pinkie nodded at her bookwormish friend. True to the librarian theme, Twilight was wearing purple rimmed glasses, a white button up shirt and black pants. “Yeah! And not just a doozy this time! Something worse!”

Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks. The last time Pinkie had got a ‘doozy’ they had almost been eaten by a hydra, and she had begun to believe in Pinkie Sense. “What could be worse than a doozy?”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie admitted, her hair deflating, “All I know is that whatever is about to happen will change everything.” Then her hair suddenly perked back up, “Or, it just means that I need to start preparing another party! Oh! I hope its the second one!”

Twilight facepalmed.

“But,” Pinkie continued, “I do know that if we want to see it, we need to gather the girls and head to the hospital right now!”

Twilight sighed, “Pinkie, I can’t. I’ve been trying to find out more about those ‘humans’ from yesterday.” Twilight’s horn began to glow as she levitated the book she was reading on to the table. “I have looked through every book I have on Equestrian wildlife and have come up with nothing. There's nothing on their anatomy, their culture, their aging process, and most importantly, their genders.”

Pinkie seemed confused about that last part, “But Twilily, why would that matter?”

“Because, Pinkie,” she said while turning a page of her book, “we need to know what their genders are so we can act accordingly and differentiate them at a glance. From what I observed from yesterday, one of them seemed to be about as tall, if not taller than Big Mac, while the other one was about our size. Because of Rainbow’s brashness, we did get an idea that the big one might be male, but as far as we know their females may just reach that height when they grow and they maybe a species filled with hermaphodites.” Twilight was starting to get excited. She always got this way when learning about a new species. This was when, what Rainbow called, her ‘Eggheadiness’ took over.

“Hermaphro-what?” Pinkie asked.

“A she-male. Somepony who has both male and female sex organs. It was in one of the books that talked about dragons.” Twilight shuddered slightly, “I’m glad Spike wasn’t born like that.”

“Oh! Where is Spikey anyway! I need to get his 18th birthday party ready, and I need to know what he wants!” Pinkie asked. It was true, within a weeks time Spike would reach the official dragon age of 18. It was when he would finally become an official adult. Since the day was getting closer and closer, Spike had been practicing his transformation abilities. As of now, he could appear about as tall as a fully grown mare, so he could finally walk around town with the respect he deserved.

“He’s off with CMC trying to help them get their marks.” Twilight felt a bit sad at the thought of Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootalo. They were all 16 now and, they still didn’t have their cutie marks. However, they didn’t seem as bothered by it as others their age were.

Twilight shook her head, “At any rate, I have to stay here and keep reading. We need to know what we’re up against.”

Pinkie replied with something that instantly changed Twilight’s mind, “What if I what I sense are those two? And they’re at Ponyville hospital right now?”

After a small moment, Twilight slammed the book shut, used her magic to put all the books back into their proper places and grabbed Pinkie by the wrist. “What are we waiting for?! We can’t miss this chance to learn about a new race!” Twilight’s eyes were wide and there was a massive smile on her face. The smile made her seem mad.

Pinkie simply said, “Yay!” and her and Twilight went to gather the rest of the mane six.

"HOLY SHIT EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!" shouted Nick as he shot up from his bed. His voice reached the ears of his two companions. These two, fearing for his life, took this as reason to act accordingly. Ray jumped up, her leg fully healed by now, both daggers ready to sink into flesh. Mike still sat on the windowsill, but this time, his bow was up and drawn. His eyes darted around the room, scanning for any intruder whom he could put an arrow into.

A collective sigh fell over the room as they realized they had reacted to nothing. This was then followed by a hearty laughed shared between the three humans as they all settled back into their original positions. Nick, choosing not to put his armor back on yet, sat down on the front of the bed, giving him full view of the entire room. Ray went back into her chair, this time choosing to sit a bit on the edge, while Mike leaned against the windowsill. He chose to stand this time, planting his feet on the grey tiled floor, "So, how was your sleep?" he asked Nick.

Nick waved a hand at him, "Eh, no big deal. Just pictures of an entire continent being on fire is all."

"Is that normal for you?" Ray asked.

"Nope, normally I dream about being surrounded by ladies feeding me grapes."

Ray face palmed, "If what Skyhold says holds true, the mares are gonna get a kick outta you."

"Hey, that rhymed," Nick pointed out. He then slammed his fist down into his hand, "Oh, that reminds me. Mike I've been meaning to talk to you about our codenames."

Mike raised his eyebrow, although his hood covered up the action, "What codenames?"

"You know, Blur, Bomb, and Predator? Yeah, they just don't sound right to me."

"What exactly brought this on, Nick?" Mike asked. He didn't see a problem with the names. They masked their identities, and seemed to work for each of them. Especially after Nick's.....reaction last night.

"Well, the names sound more like titles to me," Nick answered. "And titles should be earned, not just given. Otherwise we're no better than those villains on video games who call themselves something like "The World Eater" for no reason."

"I'm sorry, Nick but what is a video game?" Mike asked.

Nick's jaw dropped, "You seriously don't know what a videogame is?"

Mike shrugged, "None of the books I read ever mentioned one of those 'games'." He made air quotes to emphasize the point.

Ray chose this point to but in, "We can get into that later. I think the main thing we should talk about is how Nick here went all psycho on that hydra last night.”

Nick looked confused, "I went...psycho, last night?"

Mike sighed, "Allow me, Ray." He adjusted himself into a more comfortable position. Then he began....

I couldn't do anything. I had looked at this situation over in my head about 10 times. I had seen this end in ten different ways. And I wasn’t too keen on any of them.

Blur,(“Remember what I said about the names?” Nick interrupted.) Ray was trapped. The hydra loomed over her, master head in the middle, secondary heads to the left and right of her. They formed a circle, stopping any form of escape Ray could manage. Even though manage was an overstatement. I had only caught a brief glimpse of her leg, but that was all I needed to see it was bruised. It would slow her down, and unless she felt like injuring it further she needed to rest it. And the only way out of that hydra trap, was to jump.

I drew back my bow, but I couldn’t find an exploitable opening. The only weak spots on this thing were its eyes, mouth, underbelly, and middle head. The rest of it was covered by scales, far too thick for my arrows to pierce. And even if i managed it, I would probably be more annoyance than threat. It would ignore me and just continue to eat Ray.

I didn’t know what to do. I froze, unable to move do to the horror of the situation that suddenly dawned on me.

We hadn’t been on this world for two days.

And Ray was about to die.

However, luck must of been on our side that night. For that was the moment when Nick decided to say “Fuck you!” to the hydra.

It was then that I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t sure what it was, just that it passed in front of me and headed straight towards the hydra. At first I thought it was just a bird passing by the conflict that had flown a bit too low to the ground. However, I was also able to see the spot where Nick had fallen at the edge of my vision.

The spot was clear, except for a new cloud of dust that had settled over the ground.

Looking back at the hydra, I saw Nick rushing across the ground his hands stretched out behind him, sword held in his right hand. His feet were a blur of movement as he seemed to duck, roll, run, then jump all at the same time. You would think that his sword would’ve flown out of his palm, but he kept a firm grip on it with his rune covered gauntlet.

Before the hydra could even try to make a move for him, he had reached the leftmost head. This head was the one facing towards us and it didn’t have any time to react as Nick struck. He planted his right foot, pivoted and grabbed his sword with both hands. Swinging in a upward arc, his sword cut across the ground until it finally struck flesh.

The cut was clean.

The head came off.

As the head span in the air, Nick leaped up after it. Switching his sword back to a one-handed grip, which by the way is an almost impossible way to hold a great sword, and stabbed it into the still airborne head. The sword cut cleanly through the scales and came out the jaw, buried to the hilt in the forehead.

Not done yet, Nick flicked the sword to the right, sending the head careening into the forest. Dashing forward Nick sheath his sword, faced downward, and shot towards the hydra like a red missile.

Aware of what was happening by now, the hydra turned its two remaining heads upward...only to have the right head slammed back into the ground when Nick finally hit. Grabbing the head by its lower jaw, Nick pulled and pulled bending the head towards the body. The head continued to bend at an unnatural angle, until finally snapping sound began to resonate across the forest. Nick kept pulling, his armored boots giving him purchase across the back of the hydra. The beast was helpless as its main head couldn’t reach far enough to snap at Nick, and its other was in an unbearable amount of pain.

The head kept snapping until the flesh of the monster couldn’t hold on, and with a great wet ripping sound, the head was finally ripped off. The hydra thrashed its final head, as it roared to the heavens.

Then the thrashing stopped.

The last head was gone.

Nick, his body glowing with red runes, had tossed the other head away. This freed up both of his hands, allowing him to grab his still sheathed sword. The head’s thrashing was his perfect opportunity. He spun on his right foot, doing a full circle, as he swung in a horizontal slash. The head, flinging around in the air from the hydra’s frenzy, sailed off down the road. It passed over the horizon, out of sight and out of mind.

“After that, you seemed to come to your senses and passed out on top of the hydra’s body. Me and Ray then took your body and carried you all the way to Ponyville. There we found the nearest hospital and here we are,” Mike finished up.

Nick’s eyes were wide as he listened to the retelling of his ‘episode.’ “Wow, I took on an entire hydra. By myself. And killed it.”

“I was just as shocked myself,” Mike said. “I never knew you had that side in you.”

Nick shook his head, “I never even knew I could do that! I was actually a pretty chill guy back on earth. The only times I ever got into fights were when others started it.”

“What do you think could of caused it?” Ray said, leaning back in her chair. “When I first saw you after you killed the thing, you looked like the Devil incarnate. Your armor was covered in red runes that seemed to float around in a pattern.”

Nick rubbed his head in thought, “I really don’t know.” His eyes widened with a sudden realization, “Do you think the armor is-”

“Cursed? No.” Mike had anticipated this line of questioning and was prepared for it. “When we got you to the hospital, the nurse on duty wasn’t able to take it off of you, but Ray here could. It’s more likely that the armor is enchanted, so that no one but us may take it off.”

Nick relaxed, “Whew, that’s a relief.”

Ray nodded, “I don’t even want to think about what would it would be like if-”

“Wait,” Mike said holding up his hand to demand silence.

Ray, not getting the meaning, asked, “Huh? What’s going-”

“Shhhh!” Mike hissed. Ray got the meaning and stopped talking(although she was slightly pissed at Mike for hissing at her).

Mike was sure he had heard it. It was faint at first, but was slowly getting louder. Focusing more, he began to discern distinct sounds. The type of sounds that sentient creatures would make when going somewhere.

Voices, talking.

Footsteps, moving.

In their direction.

Mike relayed the information to his companions. Ray was a bit worried, but Nick seemed happy,”Dude this is so cool! Now we can properly introduce ourselves to the populace!” Nick began to get up and move towards the door.

“Wait,” Mike said. Nick stopped about 3 meters from the door, “You need to put your armor on!”

Nick looked back at Mike puzzled, “Why?”

“Because, I don’t think anyone here thinks it’s a good idea to have our first impression on these ponies be a half naked dude!” Ray said.

“On top of that,” Mike continued, “We still don’t know if the populace is hostile or not.”

“Pfft,” Nick said, “You’re overreacting.” Although it was true, all Nick had on at this point was his white boxer shorts, and white undershirt. Looking himself over, Nick nodded and went to look for his armor. Mike pointed under the bed. Nick looked and lo and behold, there was his armor in all its glory.

Nick was a little unsure of how to put the armor on, but figured it couldn’t be any different from putting on a normal shirt and pants. Then something weird happened. As soon as Nick’s hand touched the pauldron on the chestpiece of the armor, a bright red light burst forth. The three companions were blinded by the intense shine, all of them having to cover their eyes. Then the light died down. And standing on the right side of the bed, his back facing towards the door, was a fully armored Nick. “Well now, that sure is handy,” he commented as he flexed his arms to make sure the armor felt comfortable.

Nick put down his arms and looked towards Ray, “Plus, don’t you remember that Skyhold was naked back in the forest? And how he said that clothing isn’t allowed for males?”

Ray replied, “Yeah, but those are their rules. And we don’t have to follow them! At least I’m not gonna! Plus, they don’t know that you and Mike are guys yet! Based on what you told me, they suspect you are, but don’t know for sure! I think we should keep it that way.”

“I have to agree,” Mike said, his hand resting on the string of his bow, “I’d rather not have to be a slave to some perverted pony bitch. Pardon the language.”

Nick was going to reply, but a click was heard from the door. Nick turned back towards it and noticed the door handle was turning slightly.

Looking at his friends, smile hidden by his helmet, Nick said, “Alright, showtime!”

Turning back to the door, Nick’s smile quickly vanished when he realized who had opened the door.

There was a newcomer that he had never seen before. This one was a white unicorn mare, with a doctor’s uniform on. She had a red cross stitched to the front of it on her right breast and her mane seemed to also be a deep shade of red. He guessed that she must of been the one to treat him when his friends first got here. Her face showed that she was surprised at how quickly Nick was able to recover. To tell the truth, Nick couldn’t blame her. It hadn’t dawned on him when he first awoke, but he healed surprisingly quickly for someone who just got hit by a hydra. But he just chalked it up to the fact that the armor had absorbed most of the blow.

However, that wasn’t what made Nick’s smile fade.

It was the fact that she had brought the mares from yesterday with her.

And, with the exception of Pinkie one who just had a smile on her face and the Princess who was looking him up and down like a piece of meat, they did not look happy to see him.

“Oh, shit.”

Author's Note

Welp, here you guys go. The next chapter of The Protectors is finally up. I hope you all enjoy it. And I'd like to give a shout out to CreatureofHabit for pre-reading and editing this chapter. Thanks for the help man. In the interest of other stories I'm writing and time, I shall be doing what some authors on this site do and release chapters to be pre-read and edited later. If you guys did not enjoy this chapter, well that is ok. For I shall be finishing this story no matter what. Thank you all for your support and I hope to see you at the next chapter.

Introductions(edited by me)

Throughout the Multiiverse, there have been stories. Stories of warriors, stories of people, stories of things, you name it. Within all of these stories, there seems to be a continuing trend. There is always someone who rises to face adversity, and overcomes it. Sometimes, this person can be considered a hero. Other times a villain.

Right now, we are going to listen to a story about three different people. I do so hope you enjoy it.

"My dear human, you have been chosen as the warrior for a land in peril," the voice said. "Should you accept, you shall be given great power, and be transported from this world to another. This world shall be different from your own, but in some ways the same. Its inhabitants are enslaved and their drive calls out for saviors. What say you?" That was what the black heart said to me before I was sent here. The heart itself had spikes covering it in an 'X' pattern and would pulsate from time to time. The voice didn't have a specific gender, it just seemed to be male and female at the same time.

I stood stock still for a moment. A whole other world? Different from mine, yet the same? I'm pretty sure I haven't been taking any drugs, and my weird condition where I would break the(what I now know as 'The 4th Wall') 'Wall' were under control. The only thing that made sense was that I was dreaming, and I rationalized that I must already be in my apartment sleeping like a baby.

So, I did the only thing someone could do in a lucid dream, I played along. "Alright, I'll do it, but what exactly does it entail?"

"I am most grateful for your acceptance. You will be given immeasurable strength, as well as new weapons and armor. You shall also be joined by two others, who will be in almost the same situation. Good luck, and be warned, this new world is not as fair with males as your world is." Next thing I know, my head starts pounding and I black out on the cold hard ground.

When next I open my eyes, my mind becomes aware of a couple of things.

For one, the floor now feels like hard stone.

Two, my body feels taller and slightly heavier.

Three, there is a great sword in my right hand.

And that this, definitely, was not a dream.

I almost screamed, but then I remembered something that the weird heart had said.

"It's inhabitants are enslaved and their drive calls out for saviors."

Now, being an American, I have a very deep seeded hatred for slavery. Top that off with the fact that most slavery is justified just because your skin is a certain color, or your a certain race, well I just felt the need to save those people.

Setting aside my shock, I struggled to push myself off of the ground. I was a bit disoriented and had to put my hand up against the rock wall. As my vision cleared, I looked to my right hand, and stiffened a bit. In my right hand, was the absolute best looking great sword(at least to me) in all of existence. The sword itself was about 5ft in length and had a flat blade that connected to a curved hilt. The sides of the blade looked like a cascading fire that would come together at the tip. The hilt was black, with a red sash wrapped around it for better grip. I don't even think I should be able to lift this thing, yet it weighs almost nothing!

I brought it up to my face for a better look, and became aware of a clinking sound. Then, I looked at my right and left hands as they entered my field of vision. That was when I really became aware of my armor. My arms had on pitch black gauntlets, that seemed thicker than normal. Looking myself over, I saw that I had on a matching chest plate, greaves and, once I took it off and looked at it, helmet. On the chest plate, the face of what looked like a dragon was engraved. The face had glowing red spots for its eyes and mouth, giving the impression that the dragon was breathing fire. The armor felt engorged with energy, and just wearing it made me feel powerful.

Once again, the words of the black heart rang in my ears.

"You shall be given immeasurable strength, as well as new weapons and armor."

Ok, so I get the part about the weapons and armor. I was just surprised about what weapons she gave me. I mean, seriously?
I looked liked something out of a nightmare! How was I supposed to help anyone in this? I probably just scare them away!

Now that was when I started to freak out.

How is this possible? Why is this not a dream? Where the Hell am I? Why am I still screaming? Why did I agree to this? And who is making that groaning noise?

It was at that moment, I noticed the two prone forms on the ground a couple of meters away from me. One of them stirred, and slowly began to stand up.

"God Child. Your time is not yet done. There is a land in peril, and it requires champions to save it. If you were to accept my offer to be one of the three saviors, I shall heal your wounds. Not only that, but your abilities shall be enhanced, and your weapon shall be given its true form. What say you?" That is what the heart said to me as I lay on the ground, dying. The pool of blood beneath me felt warm as my vision began to blur.

Now, I'm pretty sure you would've questioned exactly what was going on. However, when your almost dead and don't want to die yet and some mysterious object gives you another shot at life, then come talk to me. I shook my head yes as best as I could, and the next thing I knew, my vision went dark.

I was knocked out for quite some time, that is until I heard some 'manly' screaming coming from right in front of me. I groaned and slowly stood up, taking stock of where I was. That was when I noticed the massive thing, in front of me with armor on. The armor itself looked like some kind of demon's face and the sword it carried sung with a power I couldn't even describe. It was like the blade itself were alive, just like my bow. We stood there staring at each other for a while. Then, using my common sense, I broke the silence, "So I'm guessing you're one of the other saviors of this world?"

The other one seemed taken aback a bit at the fact that I could talk, but then he regained his composure," Yeah, I am. My name's Nick. Nice to meet you," he said, his voice muffled by the helmet. He offered his right hand to me, but I couldn't take it because he was still gripping his sword. Realizing his mistake, he slung the sword on his back and offered his hand again.

This time, I readily shook it, "Likewise, my name's Mike." Once the shake was broken, I cradled my hand a bit, "Man you've got a strong grip."

He began to scratch his neck, embarrassed, "Yeah, that's kind from what the heart did to me."

"You saw it to?"

"Yeah, it's what brought me to this place and gave me this armor and this sword. Plus it gave me an untold amount of strength, so I have no idea what I can do now. But hey, this armor is pretty sweet, " he said, flexing his arms in front of me.

"If by 'sweet' you mean nightmare inducing, then yeah," I said stifling a laugh.

He seemed to deflate bit, "Yeah," before perking right back up, "But check out this sword!" He then pulled the massive blade out from behind his back. The same power I had heard before, resonated in the cave, causing a slight shaking. Nick instantly put it back up, "I have no idea what that was about. By the way, where did you get that armor and that weapon."

"What armor?" I then began checking my body and felt some kind of leather over my skin. The leather itself felt very light, but when I touched it I could tell it had layers upon layers of studs and leather underneath. This made it tougher than it looked, but still allowed for quick movements without hindering the wearer. I looked down and saw that the armor looked weirdly dark. It felt like it was apart of some kind of cult. I also felt the hood of the outfit on my head, and it seemed to cover up my entire face hiding my eyes and my expression. I then took note of my bow still in my right hand. I looked it up and down, and noticed that it had changed a lot. The wood, now felt a lot sturdier. I could almost say 'heartier'. That and it was twisted in a lot of places except the draw, which seemed to be covered in runes. "What the heck are these?" I asked incredulous at what I was currently equipped with. I couldn't remember having these on.

My eyes widened as, the heart's words rang in my head "and your weapon shall be given its true form."

'So this is what you were hiding from me,' I thought to myself while examining my weapon's new look.

You can imagine my surprise when I heard a faint voice reply, 'That is not all, my master.' I looked around frantically, but couldn't find the source before Nick spoke up again, "Hey man, are you ok?"

I looked back to him and calmed down, "Yeah, I-I'm fine. So, you know about this...gear?"

"No, not really. But I'm guessing that heart must of gave them to us." Nick looked to the ceiling, "Hey, if you can hear me, thanks!" he shouted to no one.

"Oh will the two of you stop screaming so loudly!" A new female and Asian voice said only 2m away from me. I looked to my right, and saw what I could only describe as forged midnight.

And, like the two suckers before me, a black heart appeared and began to speak to me, "My dear human, you have been chosen to-"

"Whatever it is, as long as it gets me away from here, I'll do it!" I found myself saying. Hey, if you were afraid of being chased by about a hundred government agents like I was, you would've done the same thing!

The voice actually sounded surprised, "Are you sure? This deal-"

"Hey, wherever I'm going can I change my name? Switch it to something like, 'The Benevolent Blur.' Yeah, that's good! Alright let's do this!"

"Very well."

The next thing I knew, my vision went completely black.

I was out for a while, and only woke up and after hearing Nick scream for like the fifth time. "Oh will the two of you stop screaming so loudly!" I shouted, slowly raising myself up. As I stood up, I took in my surroundings. Almost instantly, I noticed Nick standing there in his devil armor, and Mike at my left side in his cult armor.

A silence fell over us. One that I decided to break "So, while I was out.....did you guys.....I mean I'm only guessing you're guys but......you didn't try anything did you?" I noticed my voice sounded a bit muffled, only increasing the evidence against those two.

They both jumped back at what I said, both of them hands in the air in an innocent gesture, "NO WE DIDN'T-" they said in unison. They stopped when they realized they were both about to say the same thing.

Mike seemed to recover the quickest and cleared his throat before speaking, "What me and my 'friend' here meant to say is, that we did nothing to your body while you were unconscious. You see, I believe we all have the same reasons for our being here. I'm guessing that a black heart appeared to you in an hour of need?"

I pointed at him incredulously, "Yeah! How'd you know?"

Nick chose this moment to speak up, "Because sister, it happened to us too!"

Mike nodded, "Yes, you see both of us were approached by the heart and offered a chance to come to this new land. Now I would like to elaborate, but first I think we should get out of this cave."

Nick raised a finger at that, "Actually, Mike, I think we should first find out a little bit about the newest edition to our party. So what is your name?" He directed this question towards me.

"My name is Ray Lee Fung, but you can call me Ray."

"Ok, and secondly, are you aware you are wearing some badass armor?"

I was surprised at his sudden outburst, and began to search my body. Sure enough, I was completely covered in some kind of armor. The armor itself, felt like it was made out of both leather and metal, thus giving it a tough but light quality. On top of that, it game with a cape, a hood, and a mask that currently concealed my face. It felt like the armor itself would allow me to glide past enemies in the dark of night, or the cover of the moon. "Wow, where did this come from?"

"The heart probably put it on you when it sent you here," Mike said.

"Just like us, huh Mike?" Nick said. "Hey, do you have some kind of super powerful weapon like we have?"

A quick search around my character revealed that I had two daggers strapped to my waist. Both were almost the length of a short sword, but one looked more like a flat blade. While the other had two curved and bladed parts to it. The first dagger looked as if it was actually many blades in one, and I could take them off and put them on whenever I pleased. While the second almost had a, spiritual nature to it. Almost like it's Maker wanted to put spiritual beauty into something so, brutal. I mean the blade looked more like a torture tool than a weapon, with the barbs on the curved blades that seemed to be used to hook into human skin.

Mike looked the daggers over then looked back to Nick, "So, you're sure you don't know anything about our sudden appearances or equipment.

Nick seemed to scratch the underside of his helmet in thought, "Nope, none at all." His voice got more pep in to it as he continued, "But at least we're all prepared in case we come across hostiles."

Mike nodded his head once again, "Alright. I think that is enough of the greetings for now. How about we get out of this cave and find some place to settle?"

Nick here again, and that is pretty much how we got here. We are currently all off doing something while the campfire that Mike made using some dried wood he found burns. Man, that guy wasn't kidding when he said he could survive in the wilderness. As soon as we got out of the cave, this weight seemed to lift off of his shoulders. We were able to find a clearing in this dense as Hell forest. I've only been here a couple of minutes, and I can already tell, this forest isn't normal. Even though the sun was out, the darkness just seemed to close in on us.

I was currently fiddling with my sword, giving it a few test swings against a tree to keep my skills sharp. I was amazed at how easily I could swing it! I had already chopped down the tree, and I hardly broke a sweat! Wanting to test to see how strong I was, I went up to another tree and sheathed my sword. I brought my fist back, putting as much weight into the punch as I could. When I released my right jab at the tree, I broke through the trunk. I pulled my arm, out almost as easily as I had put it in, and looked at it in wonderment. I then heard a cracking sound and brought my gaze back to the tree. Apparently the hole I had made, which went all the way through, was spreading the cracks to the rest of the tree! The trunk finally gave with a loud groan and the tree fell down on to the ground with a loud CRASH!

I winced at the sound and looked behind me. Thankfully, the others seemed to be too into what they were doing to pay me any attention. Mike was shooting his bow at a tree that was sixty meters away from us, never missing a shot. We found out that his armor had a sling on its back and on our way out of the cave, we found some knives and arrows. The quiver with the arrows seemed to keep an endless supply of them, so Mike could shoot them all day and never make a dent in their number.

The knives we gave to Ray, since she seemed to know exactly how to use them. That was when we found another interesting feature about her armor. She had fucking Batman's belt attached to it! Seriously, we tried getting to the bottom of it the belt, but no matter what we did there was always room left! She was currently slashing at a tree, trying to make sure she could go full speed while attacking. I must say, she really does look like a blur. And her strikes were so precise, I think she hit everywhere she needed to in order to make the tree fall.

I smiled and sat back down near the fire. I had no idea what we were going to do, but I figured we would find some civilization sooner or later. Mike soon got down with his routine and also joined me by the fire. After a bit, Ray did the same. We were all sitting there in a semi circle, none of use really wishing to talk yet. We had told each other a little bit about our past. How my parents were both white and middle eastern, how Mike had lost his parents at a young age, and how Ray was running from the government. I was a bit skeptical of her when she said that, but figured she must of had good reason. I was about to ask what we were gonna do now.

That is, until we heard a loud grunt from the forest.

Without warning, Mike stopped shooting and ran through the forest towards the general direction of the grunt.

"Mike wait!" Ray shouted as she chased after him, both of their forms blending with the forest itself.

"Guys wait!" I shouted, holding my left hand out in a futile attempt to get their attention. "Uhhh, why me?" I asked myself as I slung my sword across my shoulder and ran after them.

Author's Note

Alright people, this is my new story. Tell me what you think, and any tips you think I could need to make the story better. Just so you know, the anthros will follow a pack mentality, so yeah. I hope you enjoy, and I will try to come out with a new chapter soon. Also I know that Ray's part and the ending are a bit lacking in content, that's because I am writing this at night and am getting kind of sleepy. But I'm finished now so goodnight!