Outcast

Prologue

By: Huntersquad6

Far out into the badlands near the Equestrian border lies many dangers from the common Hydras and Manticores to deadly monsters that even ponies never have come into contact with. Those who do live in the badlands are commonly called insane, for only a madpony would ever travel alone in this life ending territory, but there are still those few who manage to make a living out in these dangerous uncharted lands. One such madpony is travelling down a rocky, unstable mountain trail close to a Equestrian outpost where he intends to sell what goods he is carrying in his saddlebag. This stallion is in his early 20's, shorter than most his age. He is a earth pony with dark gray fur, his eyes are olive green and he has a two toned mane and tail with purple being the dominant outline color and light green in the center. The sun is beginning its slow descent and soon the moon will be out and so will the more nocturnal creatures of the badlands, but the stallion knows that fewer creatures live near the Equestrian border so he is not as alert as he would be. With a small smirk on his face the stallion trots onward to the nearby outpost which, by his calculations, should be less than two hours from his current location.

As he trots along, he comes to a turn around a large boulder and he is greeted by the sight of a destroyed cart. On full alert, the stallion checks his surroundings but all he sees is the tall rocky cliffs on either side of the trail and some dead trees and shrubs, with a sigh the stallion slowly approaches the cart to search for clues of what might have caused this and to see if there is anything of value that might have been left behind. Sadly as the stallion searches through the wreckage he failed to notice the small cavern that was next to the large boulder that he walked around, or the several glowing yellow eyes that were watching him. As the stallion finishes his inspection for loot he notices a large quilt that has a small hoof sticking out of it, the stallion narrowed his eyes at the quilt and walked towards it. When he is little more than two feet away from the object of his interest the stallion grabs the quilt with his teeth and pulls it away from whatever was hiding underneath, what he found was something he was what he had feared, he found a filly.

The filly was a unicorn with purple fur and a dark brown mane and tail, her eyes were closed and tears could be seen running down her face and she was physically shaking in fear. The stallion felt pity for the filly, but he was more concerned about why she was hiding under a quilt in the wreckage of a destroyed cart. So he found the best way to feed his curiosity was to calm the scared filly down.

"Hey you alright?" he asked.

Upon hearing his voice the filly stopped shaking and opened her eyes to look at the stallion standing over her. She had scarlet red eyes and the look she had was of fright, sadness, and a small glimmer of hope.

"I said are you all right?" the stallion repeated annoyance making its way into his tone. The fillies ears folded down out of fear of upsetting the stallion and quickly nodded to confirm she was alright.

"What's the matter manticore got your tounge?" the stallion said amused at the fillies lack of a verbal response. At the mention of the word manticore the filly immediately grabbed the quilt with her magic and pulled it over herself. "Whoa there what's got you all-" the stallion was interrupted by everything becoming clear to him.

"Broken cart in the mountain path with a filly all by herself and-" the stallion began to sniff the air around him and caught a horrid smell of a feral cat.

"Oh buck my luck" the stallion said before he noticed the charging beast heading his way.

Ten seconds, time slows in the stallions mind "Manticore, just reaching adolescence, very pissed and probably the cause of this mess and the-". The filly comes to his mind, he wasn't the only one here so he couldn't just run, eight seconds "Okay....weapon I need a weapon" the remembers there was a small dagger behind a crate to his right. Six, "won't be able to get to it before it reaches us need a way to by time......ah!". Four, the manticore was very close no more than three meters, the stallion quickly grabs the quilt and pulls it into the manticores path. One!, the quilt lands on the manticores eyes temporarily blinding it as the stallion goes for the dagger, the manticore enraged by its sudden loss of sight stops dead in its tracks as it attempts to remove the quilt. The stallion shoves the crate out of the way and picks up the dagger with his teeth and turns to face the still blinded manticore. At this moment adrenaline is already running through the stallion and the only option that he can perceive to follow is to charge the beast while he still has the advantage.

The stallion gives off no cry or yell as he charges the manticore the only thing he focuses on is to immobilize his target, "got to get on its back and hit it in between its shoulders". The stallion jumps onto a crate and then to the beasts back just as it finally gets the quilt off its face and as the stallion is about to plunge the dagger into its target the manticore swings its tail and knocks the stallion off, the dagger only cutting the beasts right foreleg as the stallion loses his grip on the weapon. The stallion manages to get on his hooves despite having the air knocked out of his lungs but, before he can make his next move the manticore swipes at him nearly decapitating his head but still managing to make three cuts on his muzzle. After the manticore failed its first swipe it immediately swings its tail directly hitting the stallions left rib cage, the stallion is knocked a good five meters right into a dead tree and the only thing he could hear is the unsettling crack of bone as his left front foreleg is caught in the impact. Dazed and immobile the stallion can do nothing but watch as the beast approaches its soon to be next meal when all of a sudden the manticore cries out in pain.

As the manticore turns to face away from the stallion he notices that the dagger he lost his grip on was now plunged deep above the manticores left wing and a red magical glow surrounding it. The filly that had been hiding the whole time pulls the dagger out of the beast and when it begins its charge to its new opponent she closes her eyes and plungers the dagger straight into its open mouth. The force of the dagger being pushed and the momentum of the manticores charge was strong enough for the dagger to pierce through the beasts mouth and spine killing it instantaneously. "Heh.....heheheheh" the filly opens her eyes to the sound of the stallion chuckling maddenly to himself as if he remembered a funny joke. She approaches the strange stallion and looks at him curiously as if asking "What's so funny?" and the stallion is all to willing to give her an answer.

"Hehe never thought that a filly would be the cause for me to get this battered up before" shocked at how easily that he is laughing at how he almost died the filly could only stare at the obviously madpony.

"Anyway I'm in a little bind here you see i think that manticore might have poisoned me and I'm in no case to move without help so if you can get into my saddlebag I have a emergency teleportation scroll that can be sent to the nearest outpost, if you would be a dear and get it and inform them of our predicament that would be wonderful", after hearing of the current information of how the stallion is possibly dying the filly rushed and rummaged though his saddlebag until she found the scroll. After writing down the course of events the scroll flashed in a green flame to its destination.

"Good, they should be here in at least half an hour, gah" moving his still functional leg to his bruised left ribcage the stallion takes several deep pained breaths.

"Hopefully I'll still be alive by then". Concern and fear are seeping its way into the fillies heart but she knew she had to be strong if not for herself but for the stallion that fought to keep her safe, so doing the only thing that she could think that could be helpful, she laid next to the stallion and placed her head against his shoulder.

"Normally I wouldn't let somepony do that but I guess I can let this go just once". The stallion lays his head on top of the filly to show appreciation for her trying to comfort him and slowly fatigue and pain bring him into unconsciousness.

Author's Note

This is my first time writing and I would appreciate any feedback that I am given.