A man awoke with a small stretch and a yawn, keeping his eyes closed. He then furrowed his brow, not feeling a bed underneath him. He opened his eyes then sat up, looking at his surroundings. He was in a dark forest, seemingly in the middle of it, though the man couldn't tell. He looked around confused for a moment, before he looked as if something dawned on him. He then nodded in understanding, then stood up.
'I was told I'd be close... So that'd make this the Everfree. Awesome.' He added to his inner monologue, sarcastically. He looked himself over, inspecting himself. He saw that he was wearing a dark brown, long tailed coat, along with boots, and black leather gloves. He smiled , seeing that himself, and his ensemble, was without a scratch. He then chuckled to himself. 'Lord, I bet I look like I'm about to go murder someone.' He thought as he put his hands into his pockets and started to walk towards where he hoped his destination lie.
'Well, I am more lost then the average viewers of Lost.' The man thought to himself as he examined his surroundings once again, coming to the conclusion that he was deeper into the Everfree than before. 'Seriously though, screw that show. And the people who watch it and claim that, if you can't understand it, that it's too complex for you, and that they can understand it just fine. Screw those guys' he thought as he continued on his way-not choosing to turn around or change his course in any way-allowing his mind to go on a small rant to pass the time.
'But I digress. I don't want to think about lost. Instead I'll think about... Something... God, I'm bored! I hope I'm there soon, then things should get-'. His inner monologue was interrupted by his hearing something close to him. He looked around for a moment, slightly panicking as to what was nearby. 'Oh, is it a manticore? A cockatrice? Oh, this is gonna suck. This is gonna suck.' He thought as he kept looking around.
He then saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and turned to meet his stalker. He was met with the glowing yellow eyes of a timberwolf shining through some trees that casted a shadow on it, making it so that only the eyes could be seen. His panicked expression fell to a bored one. "A timberwolf? That's all?" He said out loud to the timberwolf, who in turn growled.
Then, once again, out of the right corner of his vision, he saw more movement. He backed up so that he could see the new threat, while still seeing the old one. He saw that it was another timberwolf, which was shown more than the first one. He raised an eyebrow at it, then took another step back. "So, let me go ahead and make this guess." He said as he pointed to his left where, as he suspected, another timberwolf was showing its face. He snickered to himself. "Yeah, I figured." He said as all three of the timberwolves began advancing on him. He, in turn, began to take slow steps backwards towards a nearby tree, keeping his eyes on all three of them.
"I guess it's too much to ask that you all leave a brother alone?" He asked, with a smile. The second timberwolf, in response, leapt toward him. His smile fell as he sidestepped out of the way, letting the wooden creature crash into the tree, splitting apart from it's own force. "Well, I tried." He said with another smile, as he turned his attention to the remaining two timberwolves.
He then put his hands out to his sides, almost as if beckoning the wolves to attack him. The third one took the bait and ran towards him, intending to bite him. He, in return, punted the timberwolf, with enough force to split it apart, much like the first one to attack him. He then gave an almost giggle like laugh when he saw the first timberwolf begin to back up.
"Aw, what's the matter? Bite off more than you can chew? Wait, of course not, you've yet to bite anything!" He said, mocking the timberwolf. The wolf, not understanding him, simply growled in response. The man sighed as he shook his head. "Well, this was fun, but I've gotta get going. Got stuff to do, you understand... Metaphorically. Ciao!" He said as he began to walk away, paying attention to the wolf as he did so. The timberwolf, seeing that it's prey had turned its back, leapt at it, it's jaws snapping. The man, in turn, quickly turned around and grabbed the wolf by it's throat with both hands. The wolf flailed around in the man's grip, attempting to scratch him with it's claws, while he held it a safe distance away from him. He tsked at the animal, while shaking his head, almost in disappointment.
"Too bad. That was fairly brave of you, attacking me when my back was turned. Wait... No, the opposite of that. But I digress. Time I ended this, eh?" He said to the wolf, before he threw it down in front of him, and stomped on it's head, breaking it apart. He then cocked an eyebrow, and gave a slightly impressed look. "That barely wore me out. Huh. Interesting." He said to himself as he looked over the remains of the wolves. He then shrugged, and began to walk away. 'Ah, well. I'm sure I'll find out my limits soon enough.' He thought to himself.
He then noticed that the remains of the timberwolves were beginning to gather together. He looked on for a moment, as the remains began to form a giant timberwolf, before shaking his head. "I'll pass on this." He said as he turned and ran away from the area at a speed surpassing that of a typical human.
He continued running for some time, not looking behind him, until he reached what he assumed was the end of the forest. When he reached this point, he slid to a stop, and looked around, noticing that it was mid-day. "Yup... This looks like where I need to be. I think." He said to himself as he plopped down on the ground, on his back. 'I'll just lay here for a moment. That run really took it out of me.' He thought as he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes to rest them.
"And that's basically what happened. Now, scold her." Lowell said, pointing to Rainbow Dash. She was now unrestrained by Twilight's magic, and was simply sitting on the floor, looking grumpy. At this, however, she jumped up and pointed at Lowell accusingly.
"Are you joking?! I'm not at fault here; you joked about burning a town to the ground! After the changelings attacked Canterlot! You must've thought that would've been suspicious!" She yelled, glaring at the human, who in turn was giving her a look that practically said, "eh".
Twilight Sparkle, who remained silent during the entire retelling of events, interjected. "I must agree. Unless you're unaware of current events, that statement does prove to be slightly suspicious. Thought it would raise the question of why you'd announce such a thing if that was your plan... " She said, giving an offside glance at Rainbow. "In any case, I have to ask, why would you think that joke would be funny?" She asked.
"Well, everybody seemed so stressed out, and I was kinda tired of this kina crap happening, so I decided to just cut out the middle man and make a joke like that. I thought it'd be funny to see your reactions." He said, nonchalantly.
Twilight has several questions, however, she decided upon one for the time being. "What do you mean, you were tired of that happening?" She asked, omitting the crap, as she wanted to be professional, even if the human didn't.
Lowell gave a weary sigh. "I've been wandering Equestria for a little while now. I'd say just before the Canterlot invasion. Then, most ponies just stayed out of my way, wary of my presence. I didn't blame them. After all, I'd be pretty careful if some weird thing just waltzed into my town." He started. All those present fell silent, giving him the floor, all of them curious.
"Then, after the attack", he continued, after looking to see if anyone had something to say, "things... Changed. The residents of the towns, they stopped being cautious, and began to get hostile. They assumed I was with the changelings, and drove me out of town. I couldn't even walk a few feet without being driven out." The ponies seemed surprised at this revelation, and Rainbow now seemed rather uncomfortable, squirming in place.
Lowell grinned internally at this, then continued. "Given, not all towns were like this. Some ponies were even helpful. That's how I got this ensemble, actually. A tailor saw my battered clothes and gave me some new ones, even to my specifications. But... Eventually, I was run out all the same. And if I was helped by someone, and the town caught wind of it? They got run out too. Along with me. Accused of being a conspirator." Lowell paused to give a sniffle, then continued. "And... I'll admit, I got cynical. Jaded. Angry. I was tired of ruining others lives because they helped me. And so... I wanted to start anew. That's why I headed here. I thought that you, the elements of harmony, who defeated foes with friendship alone, could help me. And what awaited me when I came into town? One of those very elements getting on my case for just existing, and being different." He said, sadly. He then put his head into his hands, and seemed to be silently weeping.
Twilight, shocked at the humans story and display of emotion, attempted to move toward him to comfort him, but before she could, she was waved away by him. "Just... Leave me for a moment, can you?" He said, shakily. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, before she left the room altogether to give Lowell his space. Rainbow soon followed suit, still feeling uncomfortable, and now even guilty about her actions.
The last one to start to leave was Berry Punch, who seemed even more unsure of what to do then Twilight. When she started to head out, though, Lowell looked up, his face devoid of tears, and he actually looked proud, even slightly amused. "How'd you like my story?" He asked, mindful to not speak so loudly that everyone in the house could hear him.
Berry turned to him with a surprised look on her face. "You... You made that story up? Right now?" She said, being equally as mindful as Lowell.
"Made up implies thought was put into it. It was really ad-libbed." Lowell said nonchalantly.
"I... You... Wow." She stuttered out. "That was kinda impressive. You even had me fooled for a minute. Only a minute though", she said with a confident tone.
"Yeah yeah, shut up. So, I'm assuming your ruler sent you. I'm also under the assumption that your boys are all set, right?"
"Yeah. They're just waiting for my command now. We've even got a little surprise in store for them. More of one then what we've already got, I mean."
"Perfection. Now, I've got a plan. First, take my glove." He said, taking off his glove and throwing it at "Berry".
She caught it in her mouth, then spat it out in front of her. "Ech.", she gagged. "It's sweaty. What'd you do?"
Lowell smirked as he begun to explain his plan to her, grinning deviously all the while, amused at the downfall of Ponyville being planned right under the nose of it's protectors.
