I need to work on improving my ability to sense hostility. That pegasus got way too close before I sensed her

I was walking through the forest rather lost in thought, thinking of everything that just happened.

And why do those three horses and the village itself look so damn familiar?

I shook my head in an effort to dispel those thoughts. I decided to sit down at the base of a tree and resting for a minute or two.

Another time. Now I need to plan my next move. I guess I will have the darklings keep searching the surroundings. I’ll go back to that village in a day or two and try that again.

‘Hey, any ideas on why I was greeted with fear and hostility, you know, without me even doing anything threatening? To my knowledge at least...’ I asked my darklings

‘Probably because of your aura’

‘Aura?’

‘Ya Master, you got this aura. Here, try and see through my eyes, feel what I feel’

I try to feel where the link is to that specific darkling, after a few seconds I find it. I try to figure out how to actually do what he said. I just sort of tug on the link and suddenly I feel that kind of out of body experience I felt just before I woke up in this place.

I now find myself looking at my own body from up on a branch above me. I can understand what they were talking about now. It was like the shadows were coiling around me like some kind of second coat, that was alive. But it was more than that, just looking at the shadows just filled me with a feeling of wrongness. Like the shadows were some kind of primal fear. It wasn’t… bad, but it definitely would set anyone on edge.

After a few minutes of studying the shadows, I try to pull back on the connection. Basically I tried to do the opposite of what I had done before. Sure enough I find myself back in my own body.

‘So. Any particular reason that none of you told me about that before now?’ I ask

‘Two reasons Master: We thought you already knew about it and could control it, you didn’t have it yesterday. The other reasons is that we figured you wanted to make an impression with the locals.’ came the sarcastic reply

Well I did make an impression that’s for sure

‘Oh, that aura is also why you haven’t seen any wildlife aside from the imps. Any creature other than them seems to run in the opposite direction of you the moment they feel it.’

I decided to spend some trying to figure out how to stop that aura, looking for something like that link with the darklings. If anything it would make second impressions go better than the first.

I did what I do best in this kind of situation, Research. After making sure Dash was awake and OK, I headed back to the library.

I had already read through at least four bestiaries and number five was not looking good either.

“Nothing!” I say as I shut the book.

That was it. That was the last book that held any information on the creatures living in Equestria. I looked through every type of animal, from current creatures to ones that had gone extinct long ago even to creatures that were believed to be only a myth.

Absolutely nothing!

Even though it was cloaked in shadow, there was nothing that matched to description of the creature in the marketplace, not even anything that could make a pony feel like that just by being in it’s presence. It was something more than fear, something primal. How could there be no record of something like that!?

As I rub my temples to try and alleviate the headache I had developed, I turned to face the girls. Fluttershy and Applejack were tending to Dash’s bruises and black eye. Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were around the library. Everyone was in various states of worry. Well, except Pinkie, who was bouncing around mumbling something about a party, and Dash who looked more annoyed than anything.

“So… What happened, exactly?” Rarity inquired nervously

“I don’t really know myself, I had just met Fluttershy in the market when that thing just sort of appeared. Or at least it wasn’t noticed until it was in the marketplace. That’s when the panic started. Dash came shortly after and tried to dive bomb it but was knocked out. I -” Before I could continue I was interrupted by an indignant shout by Dash.

“Hey, it didn’t beat me up!” she yelled defensively. “It just got the drop on me. Ya! That’s what happened!” she finished

“Sure it did, sugarcube.” Applejack said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Thankfully before they could get into a shouting match, Rarity interviened.

“So what do we do now Twilight?” Rarity asked, changing the subject.

“I think it’s obvious what we have to do. We have to go into the forest, find the creature, and capture it.“

This did not have the response I had hoped, though I should have expected.

“What about it’s PARRRRRTY!” Pinkie shouted throwing confetti into the air followed by giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

Thankfully for my sanity, I had learned to stop questioning Pinkie’s antics.

“No Pinkie, we have to find it, subdue it, and bring it to Princess Celestia. She will know what to do with it.” I say

“Must we really? I just had a spa treatment yesterday and I dread what that forest will do to me.” Rarity said in a huff.

“Yes, Do we have to go?” Fluttershy meekly asked. Finally done fussing with Dash’s bruises. Which were not even visible anymore.

I knew she wouldn’t want to go, but we needed her.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy but yes, you saw how easily Dash was beaten -”

“HEY!”

“-just think of what would happen if that creature attacked a pony? Or an animal!” I threw in at the end. Knowing that the best way to get Fluttershy on board was to remind her of the dangers to her animals.

As I hoped, Fluttershy’s eyes went from worried to determined.

“You’re right!” she said with resolve.

“Girls, this is going to be dangerous. Can I count on you?” I ask, looking at the others

“Of course, I need to pay it back for that sucker punch it gave me!” Dash proclaimed.

“Ah’m in Twilight, you can always count on me” Applejack agreed

“Ya, that monster needs a cheering up Party!” Pinkie yelled as she jumped around

“Oh, I suppose if everyone else is going, I can get my hooves dirty.” Rarity acquiesced.

“Great” I exclaimed “Girls, grab your elements and Spike, take a letter...”

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even hear the rustling of leaves until my hostility sense began to tingle again.

This time however it was not the imps I have been facing so far exiting the foliage. It was some kind of lion, but it had large bat like wings on its back, as well as bat like ears on its head and it’s tail looked like it belonged to a scorpion. It also had two teeth that were sticking up that looked like they belonged to a damn sabretooth tiger.

I hear more rustling and turn to see more of the creatures exiting the foliage around me. I counted five in total, each positioned so that they surrounded me fully. Judging by the hunger in their eyes I realized that this was a hunting pack, and I was their pray.

What did I just say about my sensing ability... I thought as I stood up.

Instead of seeing this as an issue, I instead decided to look at this as an opportunity to relieve some stress.

I looked at the new creatures. Sizing them up and waiting for them to make the first move. To allow them to determine who would die first.

It seems that the one to my left seemed to be the lucky winner. Just as it roared and began to charge, I flash stepped right in front of it and using my scalpel, cut its head clean off.

I noticed at that point that these things were not like the imps, they didn’t disappear, nor did they drop any grist. I turned and saw the remaining four stop their charge at me. They looked at me and were obviously trying to think of a way to overcome my speed. They began to spread out to remake the ring around me.

After a few seconds, I decided to just end this quickly. I flashed stepped between the four slicing them to pieces.

When I finally stopped, I retracted my scalpel and began to walk away. After two steps I heard the tell-tale sound of their body parts hitting the ground. A third step and I heard the tell-tale gasp from a hereto unknown and uninvited guest.

This was not turning out to the adventure I had expected it being. Once again because of a certain hyperactive pony, who I should learn to expect the unexpected from.

“What do you think it eats? Should I bring cake? What about cookies?” Pinkie rambled, as she had been doing since before we even left the library.

I looked to the others, hoping one of them would would have the answer to silencing a rambling Pinkie. They were all very obviously trying not to make eye contact with me.

Except for Rarity who was complaining about split ends and needing to take another shower when she got home.

“Pinkie,” I begin, trying to think of what to say “You need to be quiet. How can we throw it a surprise party if it hears us coming?”

This sadly did not get the reaction I was hoping for.

Pinkie gasped dramatically “You’re right! OK everypony! No more taking starting now! Oh, I just talked, OK starting, now! AH! Wait no, NOW!”

This continued for a while.

“PINKIE! Shoosh.” I finally snapped.

Pinkie closed her mouth and made a zipping sound while running her thumb and index across her lips.

I was about to sigh in relief but a roar stopped me.

“What was that?” I asked quietly

“Sounded familiar.” Applejack whispered back.

“Manticore!” Fluttershy shouted before running towards the roar.

“Fluttershy, no! Wait for us!” I desperately called after her.

We caught up to Fluttershy after a second or two. It became obvious why she had stopped. There was was the creature and it was surrounded by four manticores with a decapitated manticore on the ground near it.

We watched in shock as he proceeded to kill the remaining four manticores in less than a second, causing Fluttershy to gasp in equal parts shock and horror.

I turn and look to where the sound emanated from. I saw not one uninvited guest but six. Three of which I had seen before. The purple, the yellow and the cyan, who I noticed was sans any bruises or black eyes. There were also three new ponies, an orange normal looking horse, another pink normal horse and a white unicorn.

I simply looked each of them in the eyes before turning around and beginning to walk away.

I got maybe two more steps before I found a lasso tied around my chest. I turned and saw the orange one had a lasso in her hands that I apparently did not see before and it looked like she was trying to reel me in. She actually managed to drag me a few inches before I pulled out a scalpel and simply cut the rope, causing her to stumble back.

“Twilight, get It!” the white one shouted, fear evident in her voice.

I saw the purple one’s horn light up with a purple glow then fire a small blast from her hand, a la megaman or something.

[Bloody Shield] I used nine scalpels that time, just in case. I had learned the more scalpels I used, the stronger the shield, but without using the trigger phrase I could only bring out three scalpels to make the shield.

The purple blast hit my shield and simply splashed against it. I didn’t feel even the slightest recoil from the shield being hit meaning I could have gotten away with my minimum three scalpel shield and still not have been the slightest bit worried.

From her expression, she was obviously not used to her attacks not working, or at least being blocked so easily, she began to preparing another blast.

“Hit it again!” The cyan one said, her tone was much closer to full on panic.

“I’m trying, Rarity grab it!”

I saw the white one’s horn lit up but nothing seemed to happen. I began to advance toward them, or atleast I tried to. I looked down at myself and saw a blue field surrounding my entire body, the same color as the white horse’s horn.

Through brute force I could move a little but not much. I tried to flash step my way out of the hold, and sure enough, I broke free.

“Gah!” the white one shouted.

I simply dodged the next shot from the purple one instead of wasting my time on a shield.

The pink one seemed to decide to join the fray at this point. Doing so by pulled out a huge cannon out of her hair. If I was not in fight mode I would have stopped and stared. Instead I made another shield ready to take the cannonball.

What I got instead was confetti and pies being fired at me. As the pies impacted my shield, even in fight mode I just had to stop and stare.

Really? Were in the middle of a fight and she pulls out a cannon and fires pastries and confetti?

Deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe she was just trying to distract me, I looked around. To credit her was the orange one that had been trying to flank me decided to try the direct approach when I spotted her. She rushed me and got into a boxer’s pose only to throw out a kick. I simply sidestepped and hit her right in the jaw followed by an uppercut.

She dropped like a rock.

I turned to the purple one who was charging for another blast. I flash stepped right in front of her and nutted her Glaswegian style.

Down she went.

I turned to the remaining four, the white one was the only danger left so she was next. I think she knew it too. I flash stepped in front of her and slugged her right in the gut.

She dropped to her knees clutching her stomach.

I turned to the final three.

“STOP!” The yellow one suddenly screamed, apparently getting over her catatonia.

I simply looked over at her impassively.

“How dare you! HOW DARE YOU! You do not go around attacking my friends. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME! Now you are going to apologize and stop, right, NOW!”

“No”

She seems genuinely shocked by that remark. I decide to elaborate.

“I have been attacked twice now, once in the village,” pausing to spare a glance toward the still catatonic cyan one, who had fallen to her knees “and again just now, both times completely unprovoked. As far as I am concerned I’m the one who is owed an apology.”

“You killed those manticores!” She shouts back, tears in her eyes

Manticores? Aren’t those supposed to have the head of a human?

“The laws of nature are rather harsh for predators. Kill or Be Killed. They tried the former, as did I. I succeeded, they did not.” I said

“They were STARVING! They were just looking for food” She cried, still not breaking eye contact with me I noted

I actually looked over to the corpse, well the only one that was still relatively in one piece, and sure enough I could very easily see its ribs and where I would assume it’s stomach would be did have quite the concave appearance.

“I stand by my earlier statement” I respond, still studying the corpse.

A flash of light made me snap my head back toward her. It seems I had given the corpse too much attention as the other five had gathered around the pegasus.

“Girls, we need to use the elements!” The purple one shouted

They take out what looks like a gem from their pockets, and in the pink one’s case, her cleavage, except for the purple one, a sceptre just appeared in her hand. The gems seemed to glow white for a second before becoming legitimate weapons.

What!? If they had weapons why didn’t they have them out and ready when they attacked me?

Purple had a white scepter with an amethyst star at the top. White had six throwing knives that were made of a much darker amethyst. Cyan had a katana with a blade that looks like it was made out of a ruby. Orange had a two crystalline orange sickles attached through a green chain. Yellow had a pink crystalline bow, didn’t see any arrows anywhere for her to use. Pink had a massive warhammer with the head that looks like it was made out of tanzanite.

Once again, all six of their weapons began to glow, this time instead of white, it was the same color as the weapons themselves. The light began to shine brighter almost until it became blinding then it shot into the sky in a rainbow of colors.

I realize I should be moving or at least making a shield to defend against the attack. It was also at that moment I realized I was really in trouble this time.

I couldn’t move at all.

SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT! I kept repeating in my mind as the rainbow beam arced back down towards me until it engulfed me fully.

I had no idea what to expect, but it certainly was not... nothing. Sure I couldn’t see and my body felt a bit warmer, like I was directly beneath a shining sun, nothing uncomfortable or anything.

Then...

Then I Understood. I just understood so much.

How to use Akabane’s powers.

How to view my character sheet and manipulate the game construct in general.

How to use my Sylladex, just... Just everything I needed to know to begin the sburb session.

As suddenly as it began, it ended.

Just like that, the rainbow beam disappeared. I looked back to those six and saw that they seemed exhausted and looking at me with looks that I could only describe as total despair.

Except…

Except the Pink one.

She was faking, I could see it in her eyes. She knew.

“It, it didn’t work” Said the purple one in a heartbroken voice, like it had personally betrayed her by not working.

“No it didn’t” I said simply

The fact that the Pink one was faking her despair was making me feel uneasy. I decided that it was time to abscond.

“Now I have had a long day already so... Goodbye.”

With that I performed a chain of flash steps, intending to simply get away from them to regroup and eventually make a real camp. There was no reason to tell them they just helped me more than they will ever know.

But, what I don’t understand is why. They obviously believed that it would destroy me or something. Why did it give me so much useful information instead? And what was with that Pink One? So many questions and no answers. Well, for now, I have a lot of work to do, and a session to start.

I could not tell if he was lying or being entirely truthful. It was… vexing. Nothing like this has ever happened.

“So the elements taught you about your powers as well as this... ancient magical abstract framework that serves as the foundation of your powers.” I ask

“Sort of, It was less teaching and more shoving in the information that made it seem like I always had it. It was like of like remembering something from a long ago that time pushed to the depth of your mind.” He responded

There were times during my reign that I wondered what it was like to be on the other side of my ever present smile. This man, Jack Frost, has given me a fair idea, he is so calm and collected at all times, it’s actually slightly worrying how in control he seems to be, despite his current predicament, its like he wanted to be here. Like it was all part of his plan…

“I believe that is enough for today.” I say “Guards, please escort him back to his cell.”

Jack stands up quietly and walks out with the guards without even a backward glance. That smile never leaving his face.

Author's Note

I wasn’t sure what gems the elements of Honesty, Kindness, and Generosity would be classified as so I guessed.

Next Chapter: I hope you like tutorials and info dumps!