Chapters Sunshine. A cool breeze. And the sounds of the birds filling the morning air. It couldn't be a better day if it tried. I hum a tune filled with mirth to myself as I trot down the streets that I call home, smiling and waving to the ponies that pass me by.
"Morning Bon Bon," an elder pony with a hat says to me as I pass by.
"Good morning," I cheerfully reply, bowing slightly as he tips his hat. My humming starts to mix with the rhythm of my hooves striking the ground, reminding me of a catchy tune that gets stuck in my head. Not getting that one out for a while. Oh well.
I glance around at the houses around me as I trot, knowing that it is too early in the morning for most to be up. But I'm an early riser. It was beaten into me along with the rest of my training. I guess that, while most of my training faded with time, being an early riser never went away. I giggle to myself, remembering that Lyra hates when I get up at the crack of dawn. She tends to throw things at me when I wake her up with me.
A quick glance up at the clocktower shows me that I'm moving at exactly the pace I had set for myself, meaning that I should be turning the corner of this house to find...ah, Sugarcube Corners. A smile crosses my face as I head towards the building, still unable to get over its design despite having lived in this town for nearly five years. Five years of peace...for the most part. Five years without-
I nearly jump out of my coat when I hear a faint roar off in the distance. My past experience kicks in and I immediately roll to the nearest cover, which turns out to be a barrel of rainwater resting next to an old house. My heart beats like festival drums as I glance over the edge of the barrel, my ears twitching for any sound while I try to locate where the roar had come from.
Yet the only sound I hear is the sound of hooves running, a sound that draws my eyes away from where I believed the roar to have come from, to the sight of six ponies that I know racing past me.
"What's going on?" I call over to them as they race by. Yet my words appear to have fallen on deaf ears, since all but Pinkie race on past me and towards the edge of the town.
"You didn't hear? There's a big, scary monster that is dancing around the edge of the town! We're going to go make friends with it!" Pinkie exclaimed with the same smile that she always wore, before racing to catch up to her friends. I slowly rise out from behind the barrel as my eyes follow her trail of dust, still having come no closer to figuring out how she moved so fast. For a brief moment I consider following her. To see the monster that they fought...
"No Bon Bon, you know better than that," I whisper to myself, closing my eyes and shaking my head to clear those dangerous thoughts. "It cost your team and nearly your life to get you out of that job in the first place. Don't allow yourself to get sucked back in. Fighting monsters isn't worth this happiness."
Forcing myself to smile again, I trot along towards the sweet shop. I know that those sweet drops that Lyra likes so much come in today, and I'm going to make sure that we don't miss them this time. Let Twilight and her friends handle the monster. That's what they do now. I'm a regular pony who doesn't fight monsters. Not anymore.
||X||
I hear the kid screaming in my ears, wailing both with her voice and on my back with her tiny fists. But as I sprint through the forest with all of my strength, her concerns and wails are the least of my worries. Because I can hear the screams of people running in terror behind us...and the metallic sound of the monsters that are destroying every thing in their path.
Sweat drips down my brow, but I'm lucky that the mask manages to mop up most of it before it can reach my eyes. Because any distraction could be fatal to the girl that I have on my shoulder, keeping a death grip on her so she can't break free of my grip. Her white coat makes her easy to hold onto, but the constant screaming and flailing is going to draw attention.
My heightened senses lead the way, with my nose and eyes making the normally black forest nearly as clear as day for me. But my nose also picks up the scent of buildings burning...as well as people. I'm glad that I can't see it. I want to go back, but to do so would be suicide for both the girl...and maybe for me as well. Because I know better than anyone what those things are capable of and why I need to run as quickly-
"Damn it!" I roar as a blast of energy tears by my head, just narrowly missing both me and the girl. I leap to the side as the tree it tore through comes down nearly on top of us, just clipping at my heels. While it's not enough to hurt me, for a brief moment I stumble to my knees. Another curse escapes my lips as I realize that I dropped the kid. I spring back to my feet and glance down to see her laying in the mud next to me. I kneel down and place my hand on her neck, a sigh escaping my lips as I find that she's still breathing. My hands wrap around her waist and I hoist her back onto my shoulder, though when I turn back to the forest I find that I'm no longer alone.
"So, you're the famous Wolverine. Got to admit, thought you'd be taller," a kid in a hoodie smirks at me. My eyes narrow behind the mask as I sniff the air twice, taking in his scent. I snarl the moment I realize where I've smelt the scent that's coming off of him before...and I feel my body crouch down on its own, simply in reaction.
"That scent...you're one of Magneto's mutants, aren't ya?" I ask with danger in every word, preparing for a fight that I don't need right now. The mutant laughs aloud as he removes his hands from his hoodie, showing me that his fingers have lightning practically flying from their tips. I feel myself tense slightly, already feeling the pain of their burn. I hate lightning. And I hate those who use it even more. "And you're here for the girl."
"Of course we are, Wolverine. I was just the fastest to get here," the kid laughs at me before pointing his hand at me, making his fingers look like a gun. "Bang." Instinct kicks in before thought or reflex, hurling me to the ground a moment before a streak of lightning sails past where I had been standing. My ears pick up on trees being felled from that attack, but I keep my eyes forward and on the mutant.
"You're not just going to turn around and leave, are ya?" I ask the kid, but the question is just a formality...Just an excuse I'll tell myself once I'm done doing what I do best. I accept what I'm about to do and begin to move the muscles in my arms, knowing that things are about to get bloody.
"Mutant detected."
Another point goes to instinct as I hurl myself out of the way once more, landing in time to see a blast of yellow energy tear through the kid. All that's left of him after the energy blast is done with him, is his shoes. No time to think about that. Because I know what that voice belongs to. I hurl myself up to my feet and switch the girl from my shoulder into my arms, tucking her in close as I sprint as fast as my legs can go. I grit my teeth as my muscles began to tear, the pain just starting before my body heals up the damage done to them...only for it to repeat again and again.
But the pain I can handle. I've made a career of it. A clearing greets my eyes and I race out into it...only for spotlights to shine down on me the moment I break free of the trees. A snarl escapes my lips as I glare up at the light, able to vaguely make out a massive, humanoid-like creature behind the light. I begin to consider my options before the sound of trees crashing to the ground spins me around, revealing to me another purple and blue robot that is advancing from the forest.
"Mutant detected," the one above me says as I hear an energy weapon power up. I spin around just in time to see a beam of energy hurtle down towards me. I leap back as fast I can, using my body to shield the kid as best as I can. I roar while agony sears through my leg, my muscles giving out for a moment as I collapse to my knees. I force myself to look through the pain at my leg, which is charred and burned from the attack.
"Ignore it, Logan. Get up!" I roar at myself, pushing the pain to the back of my mind as I rise back to my feet.
"Second mutant detected," I hear the second Sentinel say from behind me. "Terminating."
I hurl myself forward, roaring as I force my legs to move despite the pain that nearly blinds me. I race for the trees, relying more on my nose for navigation that my eyes. A blast of energy just barely misses the two of us as I race to the trees. At least luck still hadn't abandoned me.
I continue to sprint into the forest, glancing over my shoulder to see that the Sentinels have taken to the sky once more. Their spotlights rain down upon us, but I have just enough time to leap under a tree to avoid detection. But only for a moment; I know these bastards and it won't be long before they start scanning for mutant blood...and then we're both screwed.
"Mutant detected," I hear a Sentinel say. My reaction is to tense my arms, my claws ready to come out. But a quick glance down at the kid changes my mind. One Sentinel I might be able to handle. Two would be a stretch, even for me. But to fight two while trying to protect this kid? Even I have limits. So I grit my teeth as I prepare to run once more, looking out from under our cover so I'll know when to run.
But either luck continues to bless me or Lady Death doesn't want me yet, because the mutant that the Sentinels begin to attack isn't us, but instead one off in the distance. I don't wait to see how the fight will go. I know Sentinels. They'll win. And if they don't, they'll call in more. And then things get worse.
So I race out from under our cover and sprint through the trees, a sigh of relief escaping my lips as I notice that the pain is gone from my leg. I spare a moment to glance down at my leg to see that not only are the burns and disfigurement healed, but my yellow and blue suit has repaired itself as well.
"Well I'll be damned. Beast's self-repairing suit actually works. Have to thank him for that," I say, making a note to thank the guy. A groan reaches my ears and I come to a stop so I can look down to see that the kid is waking up.
"What's going on...where...?" she mutterers weakly as her eyes blink twice. Her eyes glance at the forest around me before she looks straight up at me. Her pupils shrink as her eyes meet mine and I see the fear well up within her. Before she can even tease the idea of screaming, I cover her mouth with my hand.
"Look, I know you're scared and rightfully so. But if you let out any sound, then the both of us are as good as dead. Understand?" I suck with kids. Always have. And that was made painfully clear for me when the girl chose to bite me instead of staying quiet. I curse at the pain but keep my hand over her mouth, lifting my eyes back to the forest...only to be stopped dead by what I saw before me.
It was a Sentinel. That much I knew. But it was a pure white, with golden trim covering most of its body. And while most Sentinels were at least twice the size of Hulk, this one was barely any bigger than me...
"GRAH!" I cry out as a small fist drives itself into a part of me that isn't coated in metal. Despite my incredible tolerance for pain, even I fall to my knees from a low blow. In the moment of pain, the girl manages to wiggle free of my grasp and lands on the forest floor beside me, scurrying away on all fours from me as fast as she can. "Kid...listen...you don't-"
"Stay away from me! Stay away!" she screams at me as her eyes switch from me to the Sentinel. I watch as the metal monster slowly begins to advance towards her, stretching its hands towards her with eyes glowing a golden color.
"New mutant detected. Capturing."
"No...stay away..." I hear the girl whisper from under the tree as she curls into a ball, holding her hands to her head. That's it. That's enough. I ignore the pain in my crotch as I push myself back up, with a look that I knew was upon my face. A look that was often followed by bodies.
Snikt! Snikt!
"Let's go, tin man! You and me!" I bellow as I lunge towards the Sentinel, metal claws extended towards the face of the metal monster. It turned its head to face me, its eyes seeming to scan me over right before I made impact. I tackled the Sentinel to the ground, drawing an arm back as I aimed straight for the center of the tin man's head.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Despite having the Sentinel pinned, the roar of the girl drew my attention away from the metal man and to her. Her eyes were filled with a white light and her body was floating off of the ground. But I found that what disturbed me the most, what sent chills up my spine, was the sphere of white light that was circling around her body.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" she screamed as light erupted from her eyes, causing the sphere of energy to erupt from her body and consume the area around her...which unfortunately meant me as well.
"Ah, hell," I mutter right before the energy wave struck me...and everything went white.
"Appreciate you getting these for me. The store always seems to run out before I get there. Stupid sugar gnomes always stealing my sweets," Lyra says with a large smile on her face to me. I smile in reply as she downs another of the sweet drops in the bag before offering it to me.
"No thanks, you know that I can't stand those," I remind her, before rolling my eyes at the smile she gives me. "And yes, I know that sweet drops is practically my name and that it's weird that I don't like some candy. You don't have to remind me every time."
"Hey, you make fun of me for my hobby, then I make fun of the irony," she shot back before popping another drop.
"For the last time, I don't make fun of your hobby. I just find it farfetched, that's all."
"Farfetched?!" Lyra practically screams at me with indignation. I sigh as she takes in a deep breath, knowing that once again I've opened the flood gates. "Humans are not farfetched at all! There is plenty of evidence to support the theory that they exist as well as numerous reports by ancient unicorns of meeting beings such as them!"
"Reports that were often mistranslated and in terrible condition," I mutter under my breath so that Lyra doesn't hear.
"And why do you have so much trouble believing that creatures that stand on two legs and have no magical abilities exist? We live in a land of manticors, hydras and whatever the heck Discord is. I bet you've fought stranger creatures than humans back at your old job."
Hated to admit it, but Lyra did have a point. Back when I fought against all sorts of unbelievable monsters, I had to fight or kill things that I never even knew existed. Not that I'd tell her this, or else she'd go on for days about how she was right. I tune her out as we reach our house near the edge of town once more, fumbling with the keys to the place while Lyra continued to lecture.
"...and even recently Twilight herself hasn't been able to deny my claims! Every time I mention humans around her, she seems to become fascinated with anything other than the topic at hoof," I hear Lyra say from behind me, but I don't need to look at her to know she's wearing that smug look of hers.
"And is that supposed to mean something?" I ask in a bland tone while also managing to open the door, stepping to the side so that Lyra can race past me.
"It means that when she became a princess, Celestia told her that humans are real. But it's information that she's not allowed to share with anypony. So that's why she avoids me every time I've asked her on the subject," Lyra continued on, bounding around the room while I try to find the newspaper. I spy it laying under the couch and crouch down to grab it. "But every time I've broken into the castle to look for clues or evidence, all I find are those darned spells she keeps putting up to keep me out. Well that, and that mirror she moved here from the Crystal Empire."
"You snuck into the castle? And here I thought that I was the secret agent," I ask with a smile as my hoof wraps around the paper. I pull it free from beneath the couch, shaking the dust off while sitting down. I flip open the paper to see what's new in the world.
"Huh, carrot prices are going up. Carrot Top won't be happy about that." I also see on the next page an image of Twilight and her friends standing around the monster that I heard about earlier today. Honestly didn't know how they'd fare. But if the picture is accurately showing off the beast, then it didn't look that hard to beat. I hear Lyra bound back into the room before she plops onto the couch next to me. I spy a strange device in her magical grasp, strange enough to draw my gaze from the paper. She was holding a small, grey, metallic box with a screen in the center that had longitude and latitude on the sides.
"Curious, aren't you?" Lyra teases while waving the object back and forth.
"What have you got this time?" I ask in a slightly annoyed tone.
"This, my dear friend, is a contraption that I, and when I say "I," I mean me and Time Turner, built to scan humans!" Lyra yelled with triumph. I sigh in response while smacking my face with the newspaper. "Okay, that was not the reaction that I was expecting."
"Lyra, why did you bother building that? And where did you get the materials to build it? Did you go through my old gear again?" I can tell when others are lying pretty easily, though not as easily as Applejack does, but I could see it on Lyra's face that she was innocent of robbing my old tech. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. So tell me, has it worked at all since you built it?"
"Well, no...but I'm sure that's only because-" The machine suddenly started beeping in the middle of Lyra's sentence. I felt my eyes go wide with shock, and a glance at Lyra's face told me I wasn't the only one surprised. We both glanced down at the small screen in the center of the machine to see a tiny, red dot appearing near one of the corners.
"Lyra, what does that mean?" I ask my friend.
"It means that there's a human here--not too far from us."
||X||
I hate waking up with a headache. It tells me that the rest of the day is going to suck. I also hate waking up to the sounds of voices that I can't understand. That generally means that there's going to be a fight. Oh well, time to get up. A grunt escapes my lips as I force my eyes open. A tarp ceiling is the very first sight that greets me, telling me that I'm flat on my back.
"Okay, what the hell happened?" I ask no one in particular as I sit up, hearing the rattling of chains as I did so. "What the-?" I ask as I look down to spy the source of the noise. Well, someone had the bad manners to go and put chains around my wrists and feet. Clearly they didn't know what they were doing though, because a simple shift of my hands allow me to get the chains right above my wrists.
Snikt.
I only need one of my claws to slice through the chain like salami. Once my hands are free, I slice through the chains that bound my legs. I hate being chained up. I also don't like not knowing where I am. From what I gathered about the room around me, I was in an old fashion gypsy caravan, but with more hay. Heh, haven't been in one of these since-
The girl.
Dammit all, I was so focused about where I was that I completely forgot about the girl that I was after. I sprang to my feet with a snarl and began to sniff at the air. No trace of her scent anywhere. All I could smell was hay, trees and horses. That meant I was definitely in a cart. The time for resting was over, it was time that I found out where the girl had gotten to. Spying a cloth that covered the back of the cart, I lunged forward and pushed my way out of the cart. Yet even as I hit solid ground on the other side, it became clear that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
If you had asked me what would have been on the other side, I could have given you a number of answers. None of them would have come remotely close to the sheer bull that awaited me on the other side. Because on the other side were ponies. But not ponies like actual horses. No, these were like the ponies that you found in little girl commercials...colored like the rainbow and cute enough to make you puke your guts out. I found myself fighting that sensation as I glared from beneath the mask at the ponies that stared back at me.
"Great. That girl's powers took me to a whole 'nother world, didn't they?" I ask myself.
Three of the four were around the same size and wore armor, a golden armor that covered their heads, forelegs and upper bodies. But those three all had the same look of fear upon their faces. Fear of me. They haven't fought something like me before, have they? I also spied horns and wings on some of them, meaning that I was in a land of pretty pegasi and unicorns.
Of freaking course.
Then there was the one in the back, a large, greenish stallion that had numerous scars over his body. Those scars, along with his eyes, told me that he had fought numerous deadly creatures before and that he wasn't scared of me. That made him the most foolish of them all.
The scarred one let out a command and the other three pointed their weapons at me. I may not have understood the language that he spoke, but it was clear from their actions what was about to happen. They wanted to recapture me. I didn't want that. And only one of us was going to get what we wanted.
"Alright look, you girls' commercial rejects, I don't want to fight you," I warn the ponies as they slowly began to advance towards me. "But I don't want to be captured more. So if any of you try anything, then you're all in for a world of hurt. Back off." Either they didn't understand my language too, or they were just plain stupid, but they kept advancing towards me. Their leader let out a roar and the three charged me with fear in their eyes.
"Fine. Pain town it is." The ponies were smaller than me, which was saying something, but they were all fast as well. But not fast enough. The one that was closest to me jabbed at my skull with his spear, but by the time the point reached where my head had been I had already ducked under the attack and hurled my fist towards his nose. My knuckles connected fully with the pony's jaw and snapped his head to the side. I felt myself smiling as the pony fell flat on its back.
"Heh, always wanted to knock that smile off of yer cute and innocent faces."
Focus on the battle. I spun around and hurled my leg into the gut of the second pony, kicking the air out of its lungs. It fell over and curled into the fetal position, coughing up its guts. I didn't waste anytime going after the third pony. I could see in its eyes that it was afraid of me. Making it easy for me to leap forward and-
My instinct kicked in and I snapped my head to the side just in time to see a blast of energy whip past my face. I leapt away from the pony with narrowed eyes as I try to figure out what the hell just happened. Wait, was that thing's horn always glowing? No, don't tell me-
Another blast erupted from the end of the pony's horn, but this time I chose to take the attack head on. Yep, that's magic alright. I'd recognize that energy and the burning sensation it makes in my chest. But I've taken far worse than the small bolt that the pony could dish out. With a roar I lunged forward towards the pony, who fired another shot at me in desperation. I didn't even bother to dodge.
"GRAAAH!" I roared as I took the spell in my chest, ignoring the pain as I extended my leg and drove the point of my knee into the face of the pony. It dropped with a loud crack. I glanced down at it to see that it wouldn't be bothering me anytime soon, leaving only the big boss to finish off. The head honcho said something to me as he drew his blade, taking up a fighting stance that I didn't recognize.
"Don't bother, bub. That fancy toothpick of yours ain't going to be able to keep me down," I promised him. He lunged at me with blade aimed right for my heart. I turned to the side, dodging the blow with ease. Yet when I brought my elbow down on where he had been, he vanished in a flash of light and appeared a few feet away from me. Guess they can teleport too.
I motioned for him to bring it on. I wanted to see what more he could do. The pony then reached into a pack he had and pulled out another sent of chains. A smile crossed his face as he nodded from me to the chains. He had to go and piss me off. He's going to regret that. Nobody get's to treat me like an animal...without losing a few limbs.
The pony lunged at me again, sword raised high. I don't bother trying to dodge it. I simply narrow my eyes and lift one of my arms to intercept. The sword cleaves through my flesh, carving through muscle and skin until it hits my skeleton. And that's where it stops. The look of sheer shock upon the bastard's face makes up for the pain. I give him a sinister grin before deciding that it's my turn.
"Think your blade's impressive? Let me show you mine."
SNIKT!
My right arm swings upwards faster than his eyes could possibly track. But tracking my arm is the least of his worries. Because that armor of his doesn't stop my claws. Neither does his flesh beneath it. And the moment I finish swinging my arm blood erupts from his body, getting the tough guy to scream out while also collapsing to the ground. I smirk down at the pony who now has three new scars to add to his collection, scars that cover most of his upper body. For a moment, I consider finishing him off.
Click.
A camera. That's the only thing that makes that kind of clicking sound. A glance to my left shows me that I'm right once again. There's three more ponies that I missed. Another stallion that looks horrified. A mare whose eyes were locked on the bloody guard. And a foal with a baseball cap that had taken the picture of me. A little family of ponies. Would be cute if the scene wasn't ruined by the blood soaking into the ground and the screams of the guard who had just given blood.
"What are you looking at?" I ask them. The mare pulls the foal in close while the father leapt in front of them. He was ready to fight me. But while I may not be a nice person, I'm not a monster. I won't tear apart a family for no good reason. I give them a one-fingered salute before turning to the trees near the cart and racing into them.
"What have I gotten myself into this time?" I ask myself aloud. I'm in a land where ponies wear armor and have cameras. I have no idea where the girl is that Charles sent me to retrieve. And my first introduction to the creatures that rule this sweet slice of hell, was to beat up three of them and slice apart another. Well, one out of three ain't bad.
But I do need to find the girl. It was her powers in the first place that brought me here, and I'd wager that she's here as well. I use my claws to climb to the top of a nearby tree, gazing out from the top across the large forest that seemed to go on forever. And if that girl is here, then it's only a matter of time before I find her. I just hope I do, before someone else does.
A lot of ponies around Ponyville are afraid of going into the Everfree Forest. Can't say that I blame them. Timberwolves, manticores, and all sorts of magical flora would scare any normal pony. But with what I've seen and with what I've been through, this place doesn't scare me. I've seen far worse.
It doesn't seem to scare Lyra either, because she plows along head-first into the forest, which shows she's far more focused on seeing whether or not her device was right about there being a human here. I'm skeptical. Not about the human appearing in the forest--this place is weird enough for that--but why would a human show up now? I decide to put that question forward to my best friend.
"How am I supposed to know?" Lyra shoots back at me with a roll of her eyes. I sigh in response while ducking under a branch, wanting to tell her that we should just go back home. But I know her and she won't leave until we know for certain whether or not that human is here. I also keep my mouth shut so I can listen. Just because I've fought far more dangerous creatures doesn't mean that I'll let my guard down in this forest.
"I really hope that the human's friendly! I don't want my first meeting with a human ending with us getting into a fight," Lyra calls back, adding unnecessary noise to the area. "From what I've read about their mythology though, humans can be pretty violent creatures. I hope that we can get along."
"You said that already," I remind her. My head is on a constant swivel, ears alert, taking in every sound around us. I hear the sounds of birds chirping, of creatures scampering through the underbrush, and of the howl of the wind through the trees. But nothing that sounds like danger.
"We're going to want to take a left up here!" Lyra calls out. I nod to show that I heard before taking a look behind us to make sure that we aren't being followed. "You're being awfully quiet. Something on your mind?"
"I'm just trying to make sure that something doesn't try to turn us into its lunch," I mutter in reply. "There's a lot of dangerous creatures in these woods, and you would do well to keep an ear out for them as well."
"Please, if Twilight and her friends have shown me anything it's that these woods aren't as bad as we made them out to be." Lyra's a dear to be around, but sometimes I hate how ignorant or dismissive she can be of danger around her. The glare I was giving her was apparently ignored as well, as she continued on down a dirt path with her eyes glued to her little machine.
I glanced up to see that the trees were beginning to block out the sun, meaning that we had entered far deeper into the forest than I had ever been. That put me immediately on guard. I hate going into a situation without any intel. I don't tend to trust in luck. I trust in preparation and skill.
"We should be able to see them any minute now!" Lyra said. Her words snapped me out of my thoughts, followed by an annoying beeping that was coming from her machine. A massive smile crossed my friend's face as she raced ahead into a small clearing, forcing me to chase after her. She bolted into the small clearing in the trees without bothering the look around her.
"Lyra, stop running ahead! You have no idea what might be in there!" I call out, trying to be the voice of reason.
"I know what's in there! A human!" she yells back without any caution in her voice. I snarl to myself as I force myself to go faster, catching up to my cerulean friend rapidly. I slammed myself into her side and used my bulk to bring her down. I'm actually far stronger than most would assume, making it easy to bring other ponies down. Lyra let out a yelp as I pinned her to the ground, using one of my forehooves to hold her down while using the other to scoop up the machine.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked while struggling to escape my grip.
"Lyra, you are being reckless and foolish in a place where we can't afford to be. Now I'm not going to let you up until you promise me that you will be careful."
"Alright, alright. I promise." Not good enough.
"Pinkie promise." That got her attention. Lyra may be a reckless, but even she knows better than to go back on a Pinkie promise. We all do.
"Alright, I Pinkie promise. Now let me up." I do just that and a moment later Lyra is back on her hooves while stretching her shoulder. "Ow. Alright, give me back my human tracker and let's see if we haven't scared the human off with all of our yelling." I give her a look as I hoof the machine back to her, but I don't know whether she saw it or not. All she did was take back the machine and glance down at it with wide eyes.
"What's the matter? Did it take off?"
"No...in fact...it should be right behind that tree there," she whispers in a tone filled to the brim with excitement. She then points to the tree that stood alone in the center of the small clearing. I nod to her as we both walk around different sides of the tree. Lyra was probably preparing questions to ask it. I was preparing to break a few of its limbs if it showed hostility.
"On three," I whisper to her. "One. Two. Three!"
The both of us leapt around the tree at the same time, neither knowing what to expect. But even with what Lyra had told me about humans and all of her knowledge on the subject, I don't think either of us were expecting what we'd see on the other side.
Lying on the roots of the large tree was a small creature. It had a long, golden mane that extended all the way down to its shoulders. Its bangs covered its eyes for the most part. A large coat covered its upper half and pants with penguin patterns on them covered its legs, but I could still see the pinkish skin upon its face and hands and also its feet. It had no shoes, which was odd considering Lyra told me humans wore shoes. But there was no doubt that this creature was pretty much exactly what we had both read about in the books. It was a human. And it was far smaller than I thought they were supposed to be.
"So Lyra? Is it everything that you wanted it to be?" I ask her, expecting her to start bragging. Instead, Lyra walked forward and gently placed a hoof on the human's forehead to brush away the bangs. She stared at the small human's face for a moment before glancing back up at me.
"It's a human alright, but it's not an adult. It's a child," she informed me. "And judging by its height and its choice of attire, I'd place it no younger than four and no older than six. I'm also thinking it's a girl, but until it wakes up I'm not certain."
"So what are you waiting for? Wake it up and ask it your questions," I tell her. But Lyra instead turned around to look at me with a mischievous look upon her face. One that I did not like.
"Bonbon, are you serious? Wake up a child in the middle of the Everfree Forest? Where it might attract Timberwolves, maticores or all sorts of dangerous creatures?" she asked me with the huge smile still spread across her face. "I promised to be careful and I don't break my promises. It would be far safer-"
"Don't you say it," I warn her. But it was too late.
"It would be far safer if we took it home with us and talked to it there," Lyra finished as she used her magic to lift the child onto her back. "Because staying here would be dangerous and would break my promise. And we don't want to break a Pinkie promise, do we?" I seethed in place while Lyra adjusted the child to make sure it wouldn't fall off of her back. She then smiled at me before trotting off.
"How can a pony be so dumb yet so clever at the same time?" I ask myself as I follow after her, just knowing that trouble would be sure to follow.
||X||
Had to admit, as much as I hated the idea of being stuck in a world that looked something out of a little girl's cartoon, at least the night was pretty. Billions of stars all soft-glimmered overhead while the moon commanded the main stage of the night sky, beaming down enough light that I would be able to navigate the rocky area even if I didn't have my super senses.
The temperature had fallen with the sun, but the costume that Beast had made for me kept me pretty toasty. Have to remember to thank him when I get back. But right now my main focus was finding the source of water that was somewhere in this rocky area. I could smell it and also hear the sounds of it crashing onto rocks. Meant a waterfall was somewhere nearby.
A large cliff face stood between me and the sound of water. Some things are hard for me to deal with: Idiots; government officials; and Summers are all things I have issues with. A cliff? Too easy. I start to scale the rocks with ease, not needing my claws since there was enough jutting out of the side to grab onto.
Five minutes of climbing went by fairly quickly and the reward of seeing a river flowing beneath the cliff I sat atop was more than reward enough for the small climb. I wanted to head right to the water, but then I recalled why I was here in the first place and instead lifted my head and gazed around. The cliff was pretty high up, higher than the trees around me. Perfect.
I inhaled deeply through my nose and was immediately assaulted with thousands of different smells. The smell of the trees, the smells of the animals and creatures within those trees. The smell of pony, the smell of blood upon my hands and the smell of some things I didn't recognize. But I didn't smell the girl.
"Must have gotten separated farther than I thought when she teleported us here," I mutter aloud as I leap off of the cliff face, gritting my teeth while the rocky ground below shot up to greet me. Pain lanced through my legs as I crashed into the rocky ground at the base of the cliff. A snarl of pain escaped my lips as I forced myself to remain standing. But the pain that would have floored a normal person vanished in a matter of moments as my healing factor kicked in, taking care of that pesky pain.
"Sometimes I forget how nice it is to have an adamantium skeleton...and then I remember the rest." Water was my first concern and then I would get back to trying to find the girl. I knelt down next to the river and cupped my gloved hands, dipping them into the cold rush to gather as much water as I could. After bringing my hands to my face, I gulp down cold water with a small sigh. Been a long time since I tasted water that was completely free of any pollutants. One point to this world.
My eyes catch movement in the rapids. Seems that numerous fish had gathered around to see what the hell was drinking their water. Guess that I'm also going to get dinner tonight as well.
SNIKT.
I impale three of the little fishies on my right claws faster than they can react. Their little friends swim off after seeing what I could do. Wasn't hard to find enough branches from nearby trees to start a fire either, and after a few minutes of preparation I was able to enjoy the fish I had caught. Just like with the water, my enhanced senses told me that these fish were completely devoid of any pollutants that I would find back on my Earth. They just had a good bit of mercury in them. Ah well, no meal is perfect.
After finishing my meal, I toss the bones back into the rapids before sitting back down in front of the fire to gather my thoughts. I was in a new world, that was easy to see. I've been everywhere on Earth and never once did I come across talking, colorful ponies like these. And given the information Chuck gave me about the girl, ending up in a different reality is no surprise.
Which made my job a lot harder than it was before. I was supposed to grab the girl and bring her back to the school before either Magneto or those damned tin cans got their hands on her. But then I had her scent. And I knew where I needed to take her. But in this new world, I've got nothing. Nearly every scent is foreign; I have no idea where anything is and worst of all I'm sharing this place with those ponies.
"Ah shit," I mutter when I realize what that meant I had to do. If I was to find the girl, I would have to interact with those ponies. Get directions from them or have them help me figure out where the girl was. "Heh, who knows, maybe they're not all bad. Perhaps we'll become good friends, talk about our feelings and then they can show me what it means to be nice...ugh, nearly made myself throw up."
As much as I hated the thought of getting anywhere close to those things, the girl was far more important. If both Magneto and the government wanted her, then I knew for damn sure that I needed to get to her before they did. I didn't have time to rest.
I rose to my feet so I could kick out the fire before scaling the cliff face once again, taking in another deep breath. Now that I knew what to look for, I could smell what smelled like a whole bunch of those ponies at the edge of the forest. Probably a town. And where there's a town, there's maps.
"Alright Logan, let's see how a town filled with these things reacts to you," I mutter with a thin smile on my face as I scale down the cliff once more. "Ten to one they see me as a monster and try to kill me. If they do that, then they're smarter than I gave them credit for."
From how far away the smell was, I assumed that it would take me the rest of the night to reach the town. So I headed back into the forest, keeping my senses on alert just in case something decided to try something cute. Kept the claws out though. I've been surprised too many times in my life to keep my guard down. Even with ugly ponies.
A cold draft of air was the first sensation to greet me as I awoke. My body shivers slightly as I pull myself out of bed, glancing out the window to see gray clouds forming overhead. Winter must be on its way. And that meant the running of the leaves, Nightmare Night...lot coming up.
I leave Lyra wrapped in the covers and on the floor as I head downstairs. When I reach the living room, my eyes immediately gaze over at the couch, where all I can see of the human is her hair sticking out from a cocoon of blankets. I walk over to her and pull the blankets back slightly. The moment that I found she was still breathing, I left her alone. Last thing anypony needed this early in the morning was a kid screaming at the top of their lungs.
"How does this always happen to me?" I mutter to the chilly air as I head into the kitchen. First, there was when Fluttershy asked me to look after her python. Guess how that ended? Then, when Lyra invited every member of her fandom that lived close to Ponyville to my house. Nearly got arrested that day. So I have a bad history of bringing things into this house that only cause trouble. I didn't expect the human to be any different.
Have to take my mind off of these negative thoughts. Pancakes, that'll do it. I lose myself for the next ten minutes in the simple task of making breakfast. That was until I hear a faint yawn coming from the entrance to the kitchen. I glance over my shoulder to see the human standing in the entrance, eyes practically shut and hair disheveled like you wouldn't believe. Oh right, we have another mouth to feed.
"You eat pancakes?" I ask her while also moving the pan towards her. She didn't understand my words of course, but I read the hunger in her eyes perfectly when she saw the cakes. "Go sit at the table then. I'll have food for you soon. And if you can understand what I'm saying, go wake up Lyra or else she'll sleep through the day again."
The imp ran out of the room, but whether or not she understood I had no idea. After cooking the pancakes, I also gathered up a few bottles of water for her as well. According to Lyra, humans did drink water. I balance the tray of food on my back and exit the kitchen, only to find the girl sitting on the couch instead of at the table in the other room.
"You listen as well as Lyra," I say. She gives me a look of confusion in reply and I simply sigh. "Here ya go, eat up." I place her plate of two pancakes in front of her before resting a bottle beside her as well. "Well, aren't you going to-?"
Dear Faust that thing can eat. I didn't even have the chance to sit down before she was already tearing into one of her pancakes. By the time I did get to my seat, she had already chugged half of the bottle of water. She must have been really hungry. She's been through a lot recently too. Can see it in her eyes. Of course she has, Bon. She woke up in a new land with no idea where she is. That would take a toll on anypony.
Seeing as neither of us could understand the other, I elected to remain silent during my meal. That was until Lyra came crashing down the stairs and wakes up the neighborhood with her antics.
"Sorry about that!" she apologizes as loudly as possible. I shrug in response, but with the human in the room I might as well have been invisible. In a heartbeat, Lyra was beside the girl with a huge smile on her face. "And good morning to you, little one. How did you sleep last night?" The human girl giggles in reply.
Ding-dong.
Somebody at the door this early? Guess they came here to complain about the noise. Seeing as Lyra was far to distracted with the human to get the door, the task fell upon me.
"Yes, can I help-" I began as I open the door, but when I saw who was on the other side I stop talking at once. It was a mare I knew well. Yellow coat. Green mane. Missing her left eye. Wildfire. "Wildfire? What brings you to these parts? I thought you left for Manehatten and never looked back?"
"That was the plan, Bon. But recently some things have come up. Old job things," she says in a whisper. That couldn't be good. "Can I come in? I don't want to talk about this outside." I glance back into my house to see Lyra wiping the food off the human's face with a napkin. I didn't feel like explaining that right now. Especially not to an old colleague.
"Sorry, but my friend is sleeping. But I do know a place we can go."
X|X|X
"Things have started to heat up again recently," Wildfire began as she pulls out a small suitcase. One that we used back in our old monster hunting days to carry the most valuable of information. Even though we were completely alone in the woods, I found myself moving in closer on sheer instinct. "Monsters have been springing up all across Equestria. And not too good kinds."
"What does that matter to us? We retired. We're done." The look she gave me in response sent chills up my spine.
"Yeah. Because Equestria got Twilight and her friends. They deal with the problems now. Leaving us to go off and live our own lives. But even though I'm out, I still like to keep up on monster news." She did that too, huh? Guess some things never change.
"That's why I figured you'd want to know about this," she continues as she reaches into her case and pulls out a single picture. She then offers the picture to me. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. In the picture was a large creature with a yellow and blue...outfit? Its skin was clearly visible on its arms and lower face, so I guess the rest of it would have to be a costume. In fact, with the way it was shaped...
"It's a human".
"That's what I thought at first. Until I read eyewitness reports of how this creature grew metal claws from its hands and sliced apart six members of the guard stationed in a small town." My head snaps up to look at Wildfire, whose face was grim. "According to the reports, it was a gruesome scene. It tore through the guards like they were paper. Some of them are missing limbs now. And nothing they tried could stop it."
"That is really bad," I agree. But then I glance back at Ponyville and remember who was there. "But that has nothing to do with me. Not anymore. If the creature continues to be a problem, I'm sure Celestia will either deal with it herself or send Twilight and her friends after it. I don't fight monsters anymore. Here." I try to offer her the picture back, but Wildfire refused.
"Keep it. Add it to your monster scrapbook. We all got one." The both of us stood up at the same time, this time with smiles on our faces. "But since I came all the way out here to see you, it would be rude of you not to show me around. Going to be here a few weeks and I'd like to see the sights before I go home."
"Sure. I can show you around. As long as you promise not to attack the local wildlife."
||X||
"Sure are a lot of forests on this godforsaken world. Must not have discovered deforestation yet." This is the third forest I've found myself in since I've arrived here. And all of them are around the same area in size as each other. Ponies must be a bunch of tree huggers.
Got to admit though, it's easier to sleep in a forest than it is in an open field. Less dangerous too. So far I haven't seen any patrols or parties sent out to hunt me down, but after my little incident in that town I'm willing to bet that they'll be after me. Nothing I can't handle. Being hunted is a part of me.
What I am having trouble with is this map that I snatched. In another vain attempt to figure out where I am, I open the map up. But once again the words are all gibberish to me and the picture is way too large to be of any use pinpointing where I am. At least I have a point of reference in case I come across any of these strange places. Time to keep moving. I roll up the map and start running through the trees, while also keeping every sense on alert.
Moving through the trees is something that I'd never forget. For years it was what I did every day, hunting with my pack. Back when I was far wilder...focus Logan, you've got a job to do. Let's recall what I'm up against. These ponies can use magic, at least the unicorns can, and back at that town I saw a few with wings. Pegasi too, huh? But if those guards are the best they can offer, then I don't have to worry about them getting in my way. Just got to find the girl. But I wish I knew more about-
'Logan.'
SNIKT. SNIKT.
Instinct and reflex brings the claws out, but I know that voice well enough to know that they won't be necessary.
"Chuck. Wondered when I would be getting a telepathic visit from you," I mutter.
'I am sorry that it took so long. We had trouble locating you after you went silent during your recovery of the mutant girl,' Charles responds from within my mind. 'I had Beast build me a machine that would help in locating your mind. It seems that you are no longer on Earth or any of the known worlds. But I take it you already knew that?'
"I figured as much when I came across the local populace."
'Really? And what sort of creatures are they?'
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Back to the mission, I lost the girl. She...did something weird with her powers and the both of us ended up here," I explain. "Ever since then I've been trying to track her down, but so far I've had little luck. Doesn't help that the idiots that live here keep attacking me."
'I hope you haven't done anything to anger the locals. As I am not sure where you are, I doubt that we could send you help...even if you wanted it.'
"Relax Chuck, I haven't killed anyone if that's what you're asking. Only mauled a few of them."
'Logan...I know that with your personality it can be hard for you to avoid...doing what you do, but I ask that you-'
"I'm a killer Chuck. Let's not try to pretend I'm anything better," I cut him off. "So how about instead you tell me more about this girl and why both the government and Magneto wanted to get their hands on her?"
'Her name is Alicia and she is five years old. She is a mutant and we discovered her only a few days before we sent you in to retrieve her. The orphanage that she was in is sympathetic to mutants and they have documented her abilities and sent them to me. Alicia's powers are still being studied, but from what I gathered from the minds around her, she has the ability to teleport and has telekinetic powers.'
"Not that special. We've got guys that do that."
'Yes, but what makes her so special and so sought after is that there seems to be no limit to where she can go and who she can bring with her. If what Beast has discovered is true, then you are in another reality entirely, Logan. And that was but a small taste of what she can do. And it seems that she can also teleport as many people around her as she wishes.'
"The ability to send whole armies through reality. Now I see why you sent me to get her in such a hurry. It's easy to see why the government or Magneto would want that power so badly."
'Indeed, Logan. I am not usually the one to say this, but the entire survival of both mutant kind and mankind depends on her being brought to us. If Magneto or others got their hands on her...it could mean the end of the world as we know it. Do whatever it takes to keep her out of their hands.'
"Whatever it takes, Chuck? Sure you don't want to put a few restraints on me to make sure I don't do anything crazy?"
'...I trust you Logan. I trust your judgment and your ability to know what you should do in which situations. So far it seems that no one besides us knows what happened to you and Alicia, but I doubt that will last for long. Time is of the essence. We will do what we can to support you on this side, but I ask that you please hurry. Also...did any of the other children survive the attack?'
"...Sorry Chuck, but Alicia was the only one I managed to get out. The others were taken or worse. I did all I could."
'I see. All the more reason to get Alicia back here where she'll be safe.'
"Don't worry, Chuck. I'll have her at the mansion in no time at all. Any advice on dealing with the locals?"
'If you can, be patient with them. They did not ask to be a part of this and I believe it would be best if we left them out of it as best we could. I wish I could talk more, but to even speak this much is a great strain on my mind. But if you ever need to speak to me, simply call out and I will do my best to answer.'
"Thanks Chuck, but I don't think I'll be needing any help. This'll be a slice of cake."
I felt Chuck's mind leave mine, leaving me stuck with the same old rage and pain that I always felt in my mind. No time to think about that though. I dig my claws into a tree and rapidly climb up it, reaching a point where I could see across the landscape.
Now that I knew how valuable Alicia was, I needed to move fast. If there is anything that's stuck with me in my wild life, it's that power attracts the wrong kind of people. Her power has already attracted me to her and I'm one of the "good" guys. Who knows who else comes after?
The ponies will be no help to me. My little skirmish with them showed me that much. So to complete this mission, I'll need the help of others like me. Outsiders. But I don't care how peaceful or perfect this world looks, even it has to have its share of rejects, outcasts and downright jerks. It'll be like I'm home once again.
So I tilt my nose to the sky and take in a deep breath. I smell the trees, the ponies...and also something that I've never smelled before, even in this weird land. That's as good a place to start as any. I leap down from the top of the tree and hit the ground running, letting out a curse to the sky as the pain rapidly comes then rapidly goes. I'll find that girl, no matter what this world throws in my way. Because I'm the best there is at what I do.
Let's just hope this world doesn't make me finish the rest of that sentence.
I have trouble sleeping. Ever since I stopped working with monsters, I've found that they get their revenge by haunting my dreams. Creatures that I've caught and others that I've killed continue our fight in my dreams. So once again I found myself up at two in the morning while reading a book on the couch.
It's a book about humans, written by Lyra, naturally. It's an alright story, but nothing I haven't seen in other tales. But what I find mildly funny is that the book is classified as a work of fiction, but that little imp has proven that humans aren't fiction. For me at least.
A faint creaking sound pulls my attention from Lyra's words and I turn my ears towards the upstairs, straining to hear another sound. I wait for about a minute, but no other sound reaches my ears and so I go back to my book. Yet right when I'm starting to focus on the words, I hear another sound. The faint sounds of a window sliding open. Immediately I assume that Lyra has opened the window to let in some cool air on this unusually warm autumn night. That's what I assume.
I then close my book and toss it onto the couch before heading up the stairs to discover what had made the noise. You don't survive fighting monsters for nearly a decade by relying on assumptions. I've lost a few teammates who died due to that reason. And it's a good thing that I don't, because when I arrived at the top of the stairs, I find Lyra laying fast asleep on the floor...with the spare bed devoid of its occupant.
"Why did I bother letting you watch her?" I ask Lyra before glancing to the open window, figuring that it was the same one that had been opened a few moments ago. I quickly glance out to see the human child sneaking in the darkness. I bet she believes that nopony can see her. I'll have to show her how wrong she is.
I pull a blanket off of the bed and drape it over Lyra, shaking my head at her as I did so. I don't know who needs to be taken care of more, her or the human child. I then hurl myself through the empty window, landing on all hooves with ease. Some things will leave me as I age, but I'm certain that the monster fighting training with stay with me all of my life. And I'm grateful for that.
Luna was kind enough to give me a full moon tonight, so it was easy to see the footprints in the ground that the little imp left. I follow after them at a brisk pace, not wishing to awaken any of the residents of Ponyville. Aside from Luna, I'm certain that no other pony would be up at this time. Except Twilight, if she's lost in a book again. And myself.
"For as small as you are, you move quite fast," I mutter aloud as I kept up with the trail, always seeming to be a step behind the human. For a moment I wonder if those strange powers of hers are the reason why I can't keep up with her. Then I walk into the marketplace and realize that it's not super speed, it's just the regular speed of a child that's awestruck by everything around her.
I watch as she races up to the Cakes' place and tried to take a bite out of the side of the store. Her attempts to eat the Cakes' store brings a smirk to my face, as I recall seeing many young foals try to do the exact same thing. It only takes the human girl a single bite to realize that the house isn't edible, and she spits out what she had tasted. The imp then turns her head and spies Twilight's castle looming over the town. Even at how far apart we are, I can see her eyes go wide with awe and she starts to run towards it.
"Okay, enough of that. You're coming home with me," I inform the girl as I reveal myself. She spins around to face me, shock and terror upon her face at first. But the moment she recognizes me, the fear is replaced with either annoyance or deviousness. She sticks out her tongue at me before racing off towards the castle. I gallop after her, easily able to start making up the gap between us. She may be an energetic little imp, but I'm in pretty good physical condition. She's not getting away from me.
The girl takes a corner and leaves my sight for a moment. But then I hear a cry of fear come from around the corner and my heart rate skyrockets. Something around the corner has confronted her. I brace myself for the worst as I hurl myself around to corner, ready to fight whatever it is on the other side...only for all desire to fight leave my body as I lay my eyes upon the Night herself.
Luna stands before me, glancing down at the human girl who was staring back up at the alicorn princess with a gobsmacked look on her face.
"Princess Luna," I whisper before bowing. I raise my head in time to see Luna nod to me before glancing down at the small human with a raised eyebrow.
"Hello, Bon-Bon. I am surprised to see you up at so late an hour," Luna says in a friendly tone, but her face looks more confused than it did happy. "I am glad that you are here though, because I am in desperate need of somepony to tell me how a human has ended up in Ponyville."
"Y-you know of humans, Princess?" I ask in a surprised voice.
"Of course I know of the humans. It is a princess' job to know of all creatures that may threaten the kingdom," Luna replies with a smile before looking down at the human girl once more. "But you don't seem to be dangerous at all, are you? I admit, I have never had the chance to meet a human before, much less a human child. What is your name, little one?"
All the imp did was stare back up at Luna with wonder before she reaches up and grabs hold of Luna's mane. The girl's eyes become as starry as the night sky as she drapes herself in Luna's mane. I flash Luna an apologetic look, but she seems to be taking it in good stride.
"I am glad that you find my mane pretty. But I asked for your name, little one," Luna asks once more.
"Oh, sorry princess, I should have told you. She doesn't speak the same language as us," I inform the princess. Luna's response was to lift her head with a look of confusion upon her face, while accidentally taking her mane from the imp's grasp.
"That is...strange," Luna mutters to herself. "According to what I've been told about the humans' world, they should all be able to speak the same language as us. So why is it that this one cannot?" The last question was directed at me.
"I don't know, Princess Luna. Lyra and I found this human girl alone in the forest outside of town," I say to Luna. "We don't know where she came from or how she got here, but Lyra insisted that we bring her back to our place until she awoke."
"I see. And why did neither of you inform my sister of the arrival of a human in this land?" she asks with a stern tone.
"Well...Lyra believed that if Celestia got involved that she would take the child. And you know how Lyra is when it comes to humans..." I remind Luna while rubbing the back of my head with my hoof. "So I was hoping that you would, possibly, keep the human girl a secret for the time being?" I felt my stomach tighten into knots asking this question, knowing that I had no right to ask Luna for such a huge favor.
"Hmm, I do not like keeping information from my sister," Luna mutters to herself before the little imp walks over to her and hugs the princess' leg. Luna glances down at the child to see that the girl was motioning for Luna to pick her up. It was at that moment that Luna's gaze softens and her horn began to glow. She uses her magic to pick the little human up and places her upon her back, where the imp laughs aloud with delight.
"But I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to keep my sister in the dark a little longer. After all, one of the rulers of Equestria has been informed about the human. And she believes that the precious little child is not a threat in the least," Luna informs me before smiling back at the girl, who hugs the princess' neck. "All I shall say to my sister is that I am keeping an eye on the creature in this town. Now come, Bon-Bon. It is late and the child needs its rest. Allow me to escort you home."
"She seems to like you," I inform Luna while the human girl gets entangled in Luna's mane once more.
"Indeed. And I like her. But once we arrive at your house, we shall discuss this matter more...professionally." I hate it when the princesses want to talk to me professionally. It means we have to bring up my old job.
||X||
Now this is my kind of place. Seedy, dark alleys. Creatures in cloaks that know better than to avoid eye contact with a being in a yellow and blue suit. And those that don't know better... I managed to find this rusty old town just as the moon began its descent to make way for the morning. My nose told me that there was booze and trouble here, and I was in desperate need of one of those.
A creature that was black and looked like an insect stood outside the entrance to the bar. It was reading a paper when I approached, but to my annoyance it didn't even look up at my arrival. Cocky little...
"Hey, bub," I say, informing it that it had a patron. It lifts its blue eyes up towards me and immediately backs away from me in terror, drawing out a smile on my face in the process. "I don't like being ignored, bub. So how about ya make it up to me by letting me in there without causing a scene?"
I was trying to be nice. I wanted to do this without violence. But with the town I had wandered into and the kind of beings that were here, I was already flexing my fingers with anticipation. Not to mention it probably didn't understand a word I had said. It moves in a flash, reaching down for a whistle that was around its neck. It was fast. I was faster. I snatch the limb that was going for the whistle before slamming my fist into the bug thing's nose. It goes down without another sound.
"Thanks fer being such a pal," I say with a laugh as I push my way into the bar. The moment I enter the establishment, familiar sounds greet me like a group of old friends. The sounds of glasses clinking, vomiting and other fighting. Finally found a place that feels like home. I take in a deep whiff to have a sample of every smell in the room. The alcohol here is good. The beings aren't.
I ignore the looks that the other patrons are giving me before walking to the only empty table in the room--which happens to be in the middle of the room and surrounded by every one else. Not a trap in the slightest. As I sit down, a waiter walks over to me, never batting an eye at me even though I'm clearly not from around here. But given all the other bozos that are here, not from around here is a normal night for this horse.
Since we don't understand each other, I point to a glass bottle that's sitting on the shelf behind him and he nods before taking off to get it for me. He returns a moment later with the bottle and a small glass, which he lays on the table before filling it up halfway.
"Thanks bub, yer a real nice guy," I say to him with a nod as I grab the glass. I don't expect a response. He probably has no idea what I just said anyway. Wonder if he'd be nice enough to put my drink on a tab. Don't know if they accept my kind of money here.
I expected to drink alone, but to my surprise one of the ponies that had been at one of the other tables sits down across from me and gives me a nice smile. I instantly don't like him. The pony then reaches into a small bag and pulls out a rock made of every color of the rainbow. He lays it on the table in front of me and begins to speak. I don't need to understand what he's saying to know that he's trying to sell that rock to me. I've got no interest in rocks.
What I am interested in, however, is why would the two bruiser-looking ponies be trying to sneak up on me. I lift my glass as if to take another drink, but as I do so I glance into the reflection to see that the two bruisers are practically right behind me. One's got a club and the other has a horn. Both are trouble.
But now that they're close enough, I notice that they smell like the pony that's trying to sell me the shiny rock--along with the scent of other dangerous smelling beasts. I'm debating my options when I see in the reflection one with the club wind up to crack my skull open. Gonna have to add damages to my tab then.
SNIKT. SNIKT.
By the time I'm on my feet one of my claws has already cleaved clean through the club. Realization dawns on the pony's dumb face when he realizes what has happened, just in time to receive a taste of my old Canunuckle head. I break his face with my forehead before kicking the table towards the ceiling, sending his precious rock to the floor as the table topples him over. The rock splinters into thousands of pieces when it impacts the floor and for a moment the room goes quiet, allowing me to see what I'm up against.
Five of them have the same scent as the seller, so I'm guessing they're all working together. The other patrons remain in their seats, but I see hunger in their eyes as the rest of rainbow rocks bruisers start to circle around me. Even if I beat these jerks, I'm not getting out of here unless I kick the crap out of every being in this bar. And I thought tonight might be boring.
"Look pal, I'm real sorry about busting yer pretty rock into all those pieces," I say with a smirk to the seller, who pulls out a knife in response. "Tell ya what, I'll do ya a favor. I'll carve yer body into as many pieces as that rock. That way you can look just as pretty as it!"
"So, a creature that you've only heard of from your friend shows up in Equestria, and your first thought is to bring it home, instead of informing the princess of the town?" Twilight asks me with a raised eyebrow. She's mad. Of course she is, she just became a princess, yet nopony really treats her like one. But as I smile innocently in reply, I think of all the monsters I had to deal with over the years. It's easy to be like this when you're the disciple of Celestia. I was trained to fight the hard way.
"Come on Twilight, cut her some slack," Lyra says as she pulls Twilight into a hug. "Bon was just doing a favor for me. You know how crazy I can get about humans."
"I know, but I wish that you would have had enough faith in me to at least tell me," Twilight grumbles with an upset expression, but the expression quickly fades as the girl walks over to Twilight. I smirk as the two make eye contact, shaking my head slightly when Twilight's expression became more motherly as she gazed down at the little human. "Okay, she's precious...but looks different from the humans I've seen."
"That's what I wondered when I spoke to Luna. We wondered if this little imp came from the same world of humans that you know," I tell Twilight, who places a hoof under her chin while she ponders what I said. "As she doesn't even seem to understand our language, I thought that perhaps she might not even be human at all."
"Well, she certainly looks human," Twilight mutters while she moves her face in to examine the imp. But as her face got closer, the imp reaches out and grabs hold of it, catching Twilight off guard. But with her starry eyes and look of sheer amazement upon her features, I bet that Twilight doesn't even tease the idea of getting mad at her. And as the princess smiles, I know that I'm right.
"You think she wants a ride?" Twilight asks Lyra as the imp starts trying to climb all over the princess.
"Go for it, Twilight. Seems she's already opened up to you," Lyra replies. Twilight crouches down a bit so that the imp can climb onto her back. Once she's up there, she lets out a cry of delight and wraps her arms around Twilight's throat. "Aw, look at that Bon. She's making friends with everypony. In fact, you might be the only pony she's met that she doesn't like."
"Well, the feeling is mutual," I reply while gazing at the imp. She catches my eye and sticks her tongue at me, further verifying my dislike of her.
"Thanks for taking the time to do this, Twilight. Bon-Bon and I were wondering just how we were going to introduce her to the ponies before you stopped by."
"No problem, Lyra. Just helping an old friend out," Twilight replies. With the girl firmly rested upon Twilight's back, the three of us exit the house and start to walk through the streets of Ponyville. "Do not worry everypony, she's with me. And don't worry, she's completely harmless!" Twilight calls to the ponies that we pass by. Most of them gaze at the girl with some interest, while others walk up to us and get a closer view of the girl.
I remain silent as Lyra and the Princess take care of the talking. Not that I don't have anything to say, but they're much better at talking to others than me. Not to mention that the imp seems to be loving the attention that she's getting from everypony. From the pure joy on her face, it's like it's the first time that she's ever received so much attention before.
I follow that train of thought as we start to move again. Aside from her being a human, we know very little about the girl. It would be easier if we could understand her, but even then with my years studying monsters, you'd think that I would be able to learn something about her from her behavior.
I take a closer look at the human upon Twilight's back or, more specifically, her clothes. They might not be the same as pony clothing, but even I can tell that they look like pajamas. Why would she have been brought here wearing pajamas? Does that mean that when she was sent to our world that it was night time on hers? Or did she just wear pajamas regularly? Hell, does she even have parents? Should our greatest concern be reuniting their family instead of parading her around the town?
"Whatcha staring at, Bon?" Lyra asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and turning my attention back to the real world.
"Nothing, just lost in thought."
"Whew, good thing I got you out when I did. Because when you get lost in thought, you get LOST," Lyra teases while nudging me in the ribs. "But thanks for agreeing to this. I know that I said I wanted to keep her a secret, but then I realized that wasn't going to work and well-"
"Yeah, you like to change your mind a lot," I reply with an understanding nod. "That's just a part of you."
"Yeah...do you know that the human has been having nightmares? I can hear her whimpering in her sleep. I wish I could understand her, so I know what's wrong."
"Nightmares, really? You'd never know with the way she acts."
I then glance over at Twilight, who is introducing the imp to Rainbow Dash. The imp seems fascinated with Dash's mane and Dash doesn't seem to realize that the girl can't speak the same language. The imp then gets ahold of some of Dash's mane and must have yanked pretty hard, because when Twilight separates them, I see tears in Dash's eyes.
"No, bad human," Lyra scolds the girl, who gets the message well enough. She hangs her head and lets out a little sniffle, one that makes me roll my eyes. Not because I'm unsympathetic, but because I know how Lyra's going to react. And sure enough, she pulls the girl in close and hugs her tight, all transgressions forgotten.
"So, where should we take her next?" Twilight asks us once Lyra finally releases her grip on the human.
"How about Sugarcube Corners?" Lyra offers. "So far all she's had to eat is whatever Bon-Bon cooked for her, and honestly I'm curious to see what else humans will eat."
"I can tell you what humans eat. I've eaten with them a few times," Twilight offers.
"Thanks for the offer Twilight, but I'm curious to see what this kind of human eats," Lyra blows Twilight off. Twilight looks hurt for a moment, but I know Lyra well enough to know that her words weren't meant to be hurtful. Once she gets going, there's no stopping her.
"Don't take it personally, Princess. Lyra can become oblivious to other ponies' feelings whenever she's lost in her own world," I say to comfort Twilight while Lyra uses her magic to move the girl from Twilight's back to hers. Lyra trots ahead without us, singing to the imp who's waving to all of the ponies.
"So...how do you think she got here?" Twilight asks me in a low whisper. I see. Serious time. "She didn't come from the world of humans that I know, or else I would have heard the portal open. But I've also been keeping track of magical anomalies for the past couple of months and we haven't had any recently. So how did she get here?"
"I have a theory for that, but right now it's nothing more than a theory," I reply, but my eyes are locked on the shrinking figure of the girl. I then lower my voice so that Twilight can't hear me. "But perhaps there's more to this human than any of you realize."
||X||
One of the greatest lessons I learned during my time in Japan was the power that was held in nothing. And I don't just mean that in a philosophical sense, I also mean physically. Back then, I was far more wild and prone to instinct. The ability to sit still for even a minute was hard for me. Then my teacher taught me how to not do anything. How to just...be. And honestly, it's one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned.
It's also extremely helpful for when I need to stay motionless for nearly a full day. Underneath a bunch of shrubs. With insects and critters crawling all over my back. If you think it was hard to stay motionless in a temple, it get's a lot harder when things keep trying to see if you're edible.
But I knew that my patience would be rewarded. Well, I didn't know but I knew. I've been hunting long enough that I get these kinds of feelings. Feelings that tell me when something is a good idea or not. Kept me alive this long.
I don't know how long I've been under these shrubs, but I do know that the night came and went while I was under there. The sun had also reached halfway across the sky while I was down there, watching the village of ponies whose bar I wrecked the other night. Wasn't reason or logic that kept me down there. Just a feeling in my gut that I should stay.
The ponies had a pretty interesting day from what I had seen. The bar was within my view from where I lay hidden and every one of the ponies in the town seemed to pass by it that day. I was also downwind from them, so that they wouldn't be able to smell me. I'm not exactly pleasant. Early in the morning, some of the ponies whose nights I had ruined came back with guards, who talked with the bartender before doing a whole lot of nothing.
Oh sure, they did stuff. They threw out the broken stuff in the bar, searched around the perimeter for my footsteps and interviewed ponies that had been passing by. But what I meant by nothing is that they got nothing done. I may have issues with S.H.I.E.L.D., but at least they're good at what they do. These idiots? Not so much.
One of the insects was getting closer to my eyes than I would have liked, so I quickly flicked him off of my face. The sudden movement from me upset the birds overhead and sent them flying into the sky. I had two reasons for doing this. The first is that itchy eyes suck. The second was to see how observant the guards were. If it were me down there, birds suddenly taking off would gain my attention.
But nope. They continue to bother the ponies on the streets without so much as a glance in my direction. I think one of the foals managed to notice the birds, but not the ponies that are supposed to be protecting the town. How about that?
I shake my head before starting to crawl backwards, figuring that I had wasted enough time. These guards weren't going to give me anything that I could use and I was losing valuable daylight. Not that I can't see in the dark, but I prefer not to.
Then I hear a commotion starting in town and I turn back to look, just in time for my eyes to go wide and for my jaw to go slightly slack. I've seen plenty of horses since I got here, but none like the one that was flying down towards the town. It was colored like the night itself and the moon on its butt convinced me that the night had more than one influence on it. Its mane was also incredibly long and looked just like the stars in the night sky. Yet the horns and wings are what really got my attention. Unicorns were trouble enough. I hadn't had the chance to clip a Pegasus yet. But if you combine the two? That can only spell trouble.
The tall horse begins to say something in a very female-like tone, but I'm more focused on her crown. Seems she's a queen or something. Definitely royalty. For a second I consider going over to her, but then shake my head as I retreat into the shadows. Royalty and I don't have a good history together. Doubt that would change here.
As I scoot back I startle some more animals, which in turn startles some more birds. I watch as this horse turns her head towards where all the birds are flying away from, and in turn towards me. I can't help but smile at the awareness this pony possesses. She might make things a little more interesting.
This horse starts asking what happened--or at least that's what I think she asks. When the ponies crowd around her and start to point and talk all at once, I figure that I figured right. After a moment, she stamps her hoof to silence them and a cold breeze fills the area. The royal horse then begins to speak, saying something in a powerful voice that seems to calm the other ponies down.
The bartender then walks forward and begins to talk to her in a voice that sounds like he's on the verge of tears. I get it, the little bastard is making up a sob story to look more sympathetic. Probably trying to get her to pay for the damages too. Yeah, go ahead and cry, but last night when I tossed you those coins you didn't look so-
Human. Mutant. Happy. Female.
I practically reel back as a smell overpowers me, but even as I'm struggling to regain control of myself I can't help but let out a small laugh. Because I know whose scent that is. That's the scent of a human girl that I held in my hands a few days ago. The same little girl that I've been looking for ever since I got here. The smell is faint and I can't trace it with so little I have, but that doesn't stop me from smiling.
"Because you've been in contact with that little girl, haven't you?" I ask the royal horse as I feel my grin grow large. "Which means that you know where to find her." The horse spreads her wings and takes to the sky, flying over my hiding spot as she passes by. As she does so, I take in a deep whiff through my nose, burning her scent into my memory.
Because while there might not be enough of Alicia's scent to allow me to track her, I no longer really need her scent. The ponies' reaction to me told me that they've never seen a human before, or if they have, not any like me. Which means that this royal pony is most likely keeping an eye on Alicia, if she hasn't already captured her. But to get to the girl, all I have to do is follow the night horse.
I burst out from under the brush and begin to race through the trees and forest, keeping up with the flying pony as quickly as I can. I know that I'll lose her eventually, but now I have her scent. And once I've got someone's scent, there's nowhere they can go in the world that I can't follow them. Now it's just a matter of time before I find Alicia again. And no one's getting in my way this time.
Another sunny day greeted us as Lyra, myself and the little imp walked out of the Carousel Boutique and headed towards the lake. Lyra wanted to take the human swimming and spent half an hour informing me of all sorts of "interesting" facts about how humans swam and how they wore outfits for swimming. Hence our little trip to see Rarity.
"You were so well behaved in there! It's almost like it was a completely different you from when you're around Bon-Bon," Lyra praises the little imp, who smiles up at Lyra, responding more to her tone than her words. "I don't get it Bon, what did you do that made our little human here dislike you so much?"
"Perhaps it was me being cautious and trying to learn more about this human, instead of the rest of you who seem ready to let her into your lives without any caution," I reply swiftly. I can't get too angry at Lyra though; she didn't see what I saw. And she didn't get blasted across the room by a force of energy that I am certain was caused by the little imp.
"Or maybe she just gets that Bon-Bon is grumpy all the time and wants to hang out with ponies that want to have fun!" Lyra adds as she smiles down at the human. The little girl clutches the bag with her swimsuit in close and smiles back up at Lyra. "Speaking of fun, Pinkie wants to throw the human one of her welcome to Ponyville parties. I'm all for it, but as this also concerns you..."
"Sure, as long as she promises not to make it a surprise party," I add as my demand. I don't want to know what the human might do if she's suddenly startled by the hundreds of ponies that Pinkie somehow manages to cram into a single house. At some point, I'm going to have to talk to Lyra about understanding the imp's powers, but I can't do that until she reveals her powers in front of Lyra. Lyra won't believe me otherwise.
"Why not? I love surprise parties and I bet she does too!"
"Yes Lyra, let's surprise the human girl that can't understand us...who is how many billions of miles away from her own world, and is stuck with you and me. I'm sure that will have no negative repercussions." Lyra rolls her eyes at my sarcasm, but the annoyance leaves her face when we pass through a pair of bushes and emerge at the lake. Luckily for us, there's nopony there.
In the first week after we revealed the little imp to the ponies of Ponyville, there was no stopping them from trying to get to know the girl. It was only after we told them that she can't understand our language, and Luna gave an order asking ponies to not bother the human, that they finally decided to stop. But every once in a while I catch a pony, mostly foals, that think they're clever and sneaky enough to get by me. They're not.
"Look at her! Are you sure that we didn't grab an amphibian instead of a human?" Lyra asks me with a laugh, bringing me back to reality. I glance into the water to see that the imp is already in her swimsuit and is paddling along without a care in the world.
"How would I know? You're the expert on humans," I shoot back with a smile. "Maybe you grabbed an aquatic human by mistake."
"Please Bon-Bon, don't be ridiculous. There's no such thing as aqua-humans," Lyra smirks with a shake of her head. "Silly Bon-Bon."
"And would that silly Bon-Bon like her paper?"
I glance over my shoulder to see the local news mare, Ditzy, standing behind me with my paper held in her hooves. A flash of gray races past her and I whip my head around in time to see Dinky leap into the lake with a laugh. The human and Dinky then stare at each other for a full second, before the both of them smile at the other and begin to splash water at one another.
"Maybe Lyra's right," I mutter to Ditzy as she sits down next to me. "Maybe I am the only pony that the human can't stand."
"She just needs to get to know you better," Ditzy replies as she waves my paper under my nose. "Are you sure that you don't want it now? I could always wait a day or two to give it to you."
I snatch the paper out of her hooves, knowing her track record. Ditzy is one of the kindest and most loving ponies that you will ever meet, but she has a terrible record of losing mail or breaking things. I figured that my paper was safer in my hooves than hers.
"Sorry to just show up unannounced, but I promised Dinky that I'd take her swimming today," Ditzy says to both me and Lyra, but I start to zone out as I flip open the paper and begin to read.
"Ah, don't worry about it. As you can see, both of the girls seem to be friends with each other already," I hear Lyra say, while also hearing the sounds of both filly and human laughing with high pitched shrieks. I grunt in reply, too absorbed in the paper to give a proper response.
My team lost in the qualifiers. Well there goes any chance of happiness I was going to have this season. I also read how Rarity is going to be honored in Manehatten for her newest line of work. Got to remember to congratulate her the next time we stop by her shop.
My eyes widen as I flip the paper to the next page and a single image stands out to greet me. It's the image of a town, a far off pony town, burned to the ground. My eyes quickly scan the article, fear and concern filling up my heart as I read.
"Ah, I read about that too. What a tragedy," Ditzy says from beside me, apparently having leaned over to see what I was reading. "According to reports not one of the ponies, be them adult or foal, survived. It was like...they were systematically exterminated."
"How horrible," Lyra whispers in reply. "What do you think the princesses are going to do, Bon?"
I barely register what Lyra's said to me. I couldn't answer even if I wanted to. Because one of the lines in the article has gained my full attention. It was describing the bodies of some of the ponies and the marks that were on them. Some of them were burned, others were crushed. But some...some of them had claw marks on them. Claw marks that were described in a way that sounded very similar to what I had seen recently. From a certain creature.
It might not be the yellow and blue being. It might be another creature with claws that I'd never heard of before. But no creature from Equestria had ever wiped out an entire town of ponies and systematically slaughtered all of the ponies that inhabited it. And that yellow and blue, humanoid, had already mauled six guards. Maybe it had only been testing us, seeing whether or not it could kill us. And when it found out it was stronger, it decided to unleash its full wrath.
I gaze up at the sun as my eyes narrow. I have a feeling that pretty soon I'm going to be getting another visit from the princesses. Call it a gut feeling. And my gut is never wrong.
||X||
Following a scent is generally easy for me. Even on Earth, with all of the pollution and other scents that might interfere, it's nearly impossible to lose me once I have the scent. But that's on Earth, where all I have to worry about is all the other scents getting in the way. I've never had to worry about the very forest trying to kill me...well, at least not often.
But as my claws cleaved through the stem of a colossal Venus flytrap that had decided I looked good enough to eat, I am reminded that this planet is very different from Earth. A hissing sound in my ears gets me to hurl myself to the side, and I roll back up to my feet in time to see an even larger flytrap lunging towards me, sap dripping from its mouth like saliva.
I bellow with fury as I drive my right claws through the creature's face, getting it to scream as green water starts to spray everywhere. Its screams are drowned out by my roaring as I plunge the other set of my claws into its stem, severing the mouth-like part from the rest of the plant. The head crashes onto the ground while I watch the rest of the body flail around blindly. Another flash of my claws turns the rest of the stalk to pieces.
I snarl before spinning around to fight whatever was going to pick a fight with me next, but to my surprise no other plants seem to want to eat me right now. I sheath the claws on my right hand before glancing down to see that the head of the flytrap was still moving around. A quick slash of my claws finish it off, allowing me to retract them with a sigh.
"Ya know, Beast always said that I might like gardening. Might be a way to calm me down," I mutter to no one as I sniff the air to pick up the trail once more. "But after today, guess I'm not that good at it. Everything I touch seems to die."
I keep my head on a swivel as I navigate the dense underbrush of this forest, using my ears and nose more so than my eyes. I was careless when I first entered the forest, thinking that nothing on this planet would have killing intent like those plants. But once again it seems that I get a reminder that mother nature is a cruel bitch.
On the plus side, the attack by the plants left me on guard. Heightened my senses. Means that nothings going to get by me now. And that includes the faint sounds of crying that I hear coming from the blacker part of the forest. It's a cry for help. I've heard enough of them to be able to tell, depending on pitch and volume. And it's the cry of something that's in a lot of trouble. Something that can't survive much longer.
"I should know better," I mutter as I gaze towards where the crying is coming from. In a forest this dangerous, anything that's crying out for help will be attracting a lot of unwanted attention. In fact, whatever's crying will probably be food by the time I get to it. But I'm an Avenger, dammit. I help things in trouble. Even against my better judgment.
I take off towards where the crying is coming from, extending both claws so that I can slice through the foliage without having to slow down. The forest is hard to navigate and the constant quicksand pits aren't making it any easier. With my metal skeleton, quicksand would be a death trap. And while I've never seen if my healing factor can survive me being buried alive in sand, I'd rather not find out.
With that thought I take to the trees, using my claws to gain a grip before using my legs to kick off onto the next tree. I may not be Hulk when it comes to strength, but I'm no slouch either. A few more leaps and I arrive at a small clearing in the forest, landing in a few bushes to remain hidden. A place where there's no trees or quicksand. And in the center of this clearing is a foal that's crying its eyes out.
This is a trap. I have a metal skeleton, a healing factor and lifetimes worth of experience and I almost didn't make it here. There is no fucking way that a foal is stranded out here all on its lonesome, in the middle of a forest where everything wants to kill you. Trap. I should just leave and be done with it.
But if I leave it as is, some other poor bastard might stumble onto the foal and get the trap sprung on them. And unlike me, they might not have the metal skeleton, the healing factor or the experience. And then there's the whole Avenger thing and not ignoring a cry for help. I shake my head at my own stupidity before I stand up and walk into the clearing.
The foal stops crying the moment that it sees me and I watch as its eyes go wide with terror. Considering how I look, I'm surprised that it didn't just fall over dead. I approach slowly, making sure I don't smell any other creatures that might be lying in wait. I smell plants, I smell insects and I smell death, but I don't smell nor hear anything that's lying in wait.
"Calm down, ya little punk. I'll get you out of here," I say in my most "comforting" voice, trying to calm it down. To my complete surprise, it backs away from me with a cry of terror. Five foot four, covered head to toe in a yellow and blue suit, and claws coming out of my hands...why would it be afraid of me?
I shelve the sarcasm and my claws, allowing me to extend a now clawless hand towards the foal. It glances from my hand to my eyes, which it shouldn't be able to see due to the white plastic that covers them. Then I hear rustling behind me.
"Wrong move!"
SNIKT!
With a roar I spin around and slash with my claws. My claws are already halfway through the armor of whatever attacked me before I have time to register what it is. What's left of the black bug-like creature falls to the ground, causing me to narrow my eyes as I sniff at it. It smells like any other bug, except that there's a faint odor of death that...is coming from all around me.
"Ah hell," I mutter to myself as I turn my eyes towards the trees, watching as dozens of the bug like creatures start to emerge from the shadows and stalk towards me. I snarl in reply as I crouch down low, preparing myself for a nasty battle. The first wave attacks, with three of them hurling their bodies at me. My claws make short work of the first two. The third bites at my leg, but then I flash my claws and it no longer has a head to bite with.
The remaining three attack as a team, coming at me from all sides. Not good enough. I plunge my claws into the closest one's head before sticking out a foot to catch the next one in the face. I rip my claws out of the bug's skull and use them to slash the third attacker into thirds, raining bits of him down before I turn my focus towards the last bug. One stab is enough to put him in the grave.
I glance around at the bugs to see that the rest of them are backing off, all of their blue eyes upon my claws. For a moment I believe that I have won. Then another bug comes forward, one that is larger than the others by at least a foot and has strange markings all along its side.
"Yer a special one, aren't ya?" I ask it while also glancing around to see that none of the other bastards are that tall. "Well, come on then. Show me how special you are!" I bellow as I lunge towards it, but I'm practically on top of the creature before its horn begins to glow. I have a second to realize that it can use magic before a flash of green fills my eyes.
Then everything goes black.
"It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of," I say softly to the imp, who's standing behind me with a look of terror in her eyes. Can't say I blame her for being afraid. Fluttershy, the pony that was trying to talk to her, is less harmless than the bunny that she keeps around. Bulk, on the other hoof, the brick wall of a stallion that was carrying Fluttershy's bags, terrifies me to some extent.
"Please don't be afraid. I just want to talk to you," Fluttershy says in a tone that would have calmed any other creature.
"YEAH! We just want to be your friends!" Bulk then screams at the top of his lungs. I hear the imp let out a yelp before she dives for cover under my body. Both Fluttershy and I give the guy a look. He hangs his head before muttering an apology and walking away from us, clearly upset that he had frightened the girl.
The moment the mass of muscle was out of sight, the little imp pokes her head back out from under me and walks over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy greets her once again, but the imp is instantly drawn to the Pegasus' wings. The girl stretches Fluttershy's wings out, before examining the feathers with wide eyes.
"Sorry about this...I think you're the first Pegasus that she's met up close," I apologize, but Fluttershy shakes her head in reply.
"Oh, it's no bother. She's just precious," Fluttershy says with a soft tone. The girl then wraps herself up in Fluttershy's mane and giggles, getting Flutters to giggle as well. "I'm surprised to see that you're alone with her today. Normally Lyra is always at the human's side."
"Yeah, well she went over to hang out with Twilight for a while. I bet the both of them are comparing notes about what they know about humans as we speak," I reply with a smirk. I remember finding the note on my bed from Lyra about how she had gone to visit Twilight, and how I'd have to look after the imp. I'm glad that the girl can't understand our language, or else she would have picked up a few words that a kid should not be saying.
"So, guess who got stuck watching the kid?" I ask Fluttershy. The two of us then watch the imp as she chases around Angel, who makes angry noises at the girl. The imp apparently doesn't understand rabbit either, because she just keeps chasing him around until he dives under a building for shelter.
"Well, I would gladly watch after her if you didn't mind," Fluttershy offers as the imp walks up to Fluttershy and wraps her arms over her body. Fluttershy smiles slightly at the hug before wrapping one of her wings around the little imp. As nice as the offer was, Lyra would have my head if I let the girl out of my sight for even a minute. I open my mouth to thank Fluttershy for the offer, but the words come to a dead stop when I see Wildfire standing at the side of a building. She waves me over before slipping into the shadows. That can't be good.
"Actually Fluttershy, I just remembered that there was a pony that I needed to go meet. So if you wouldn't mind watching the little imp--I mean girl, then I would greatly appreciate it." I race off before Fluttershy even has the chance to think of a reason to change her mind. I turn the corner where I saw Wildfire vanish and spy the mare leaning up against the wall, a paper in her hooves and a look in her eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" I ask her. I've known her long enough to know that when she got like this, it always meant trouble. Without a word she hoofs the paper to me. I take it and quickly glance over it, but I'm surprise when I see that it's the newspaper from the other day about the slaughtered village. "Yeah, I read about this. Why do you have it?"
"Because I'm going to be part of the team that gets sent in to stop whatever did this." My heart sinks as these words make it past my ears.
"Wildfire..." I try to think of a reason to stop her--to stop her before she does something that gets her killed. But she then flashes me a look that's so full of hatred and sorrow that I shut my mouth immediately.
"No. Don't try to talk me out of this. This is my choice," she says with a blazing passion. "Luna came to me and asked me if I'd be willing to help hunt down the blue and yellow creature. Yes, it's the blue and yellow creature that did this. We both know that the claw marks on the ponies' bodies perfectly match the shape and size of the claws the creature had. Luna even confirmed it."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Not about the claws or how the yellow-clad creature was responsible for the ponies' deaths. I had figured that out the moment I saw the wounds. But about Wildfire getting back into the hunting business.
"Wildfire...after everything that happened to us in...I thought for sure that you'd be the last one to sign up again," I say with no effort to hide the disbelief in my tone. Wildfire gives me a stern look for a moment before her gaze falters and she stares down at the ground.
"My sister was in that town." All of the anger and disbelief I had felt towards Wildfire melted away in a moment. She didn't mean her actual sister. We had no family. That's why we were picked. But by sister she meant her "sister" during her monster hunting days. Her partner. The pony she trusted with her life. I extended a hoof and placed it onto her shoulder, making sure that I was giving her the strongest stare I had ever given her when she looked up into my eyes.
"Then you make sure that you don't rest until the creature that did this is dead. Do you got that?" I inform her. I see the blaze of fire for which she got her name well up in her eyes and a moment later she flashes me the same, sinister smile that she gave me back before she'd do something crazy.
"Are you sure? A moment ago you were trying, and failing, to convince me not to go," she reminds me with a smirk.
"Of course I'm sure. Whatever creature this is made this a family matter. In fact...if you want my help..." Wildfire cuts me off there with a shake of her head, but she then gives me a grateful smile before the both of us share a hug.
"Please, I've seen the human that you've been watching. Seems like you already slipped back in to your old monster watching habits, despite saying how you've left those all behind you," she smirks as we break apart.
"That little imp isn't dangerous. Just annoying," I inform my friend as we both glance back to see Fluttershy trying to get the imp down from a tree. "I should go and help her. She has no idea what she's up against."
"And neither does that creature. Because as soon as we find it, Celestia told us that she'd help us to bring it down."
"Wow. So the top brass is going to be fighting with you. I almost feel bad for this creature. Almost."
"You and your bleeding heart. Don't you have a kid to go get out of a tree?" I wave to my friend as we split apart, her heading towards Faust knows where while I head towards the imp. But even though I have every confidence that Wildfire would succeed in bringing down the creature, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I was forgetting...no, missing something. Something that I should know.
But then the imp lets out a cry and leaps down from the tree, forcing me to sprint at full speed to catch her. And as I do so, all thoughts of the creature with the claws are put on hold. Because this imp is going to be grounded for as long as I can keep her grounded.
||X||
I hate waking up in chains. Think I said that before.
But that's exactly where I find myself when my consciousness finally returns to me. In chains. In a jail cell. Some couple miles beneath the earth, if my nose is still working. Great. I don't hurt, fortunately, but as my eyes adjust to the dark I realize that my arms were just chained up. They were also covered in metal and then chained together. Meaning that even if I got my claws out, I wouldn't be able to get myself free.
"And even if I slice through the bars, in the state I'm in it wouldn't be long before I was captured again," I mutter to myself. I could smell over a hundred of those insect things that attacked me in the forest, with most of them gathered together in a very large chamber that smelled of blood. And I could also smell at least ten of them just out of view of my cell. Five I might be able to handle like this. Six if I was feeling cocky. Ten is too risky.
Speaking of cocky, I shouldn't have let my guard down against the bug. Allowed myself to be caught off guard by his magic. I've got a pretty good tolerance for magic thanks to my fights with the doctor, but if I lower my guard it can get the better of me. And in this place I can't afford to mess up. Because if I do, I end up in chains like I am now. So now what do I do?
I figure my best bet was to wait and see what they wanted with me. If they wanted to kill me, I would have awoken in a lot more pain than I was in. Meaning they wanted me alive. Meaning that soon they'll probably show me why they wanted me alive.
I wait for another hour in silence before the bugs finally decide to visit me. And sure enough, the very first bug I see on the outside of my cell is the large one that knocked my ass out back in the forest. I could feel the tips of my claws poking through my skin just at the sight of him.
He smirks at me through the bars before saying something that I don't understand. I remain silent in response. Annoyance flashes across his face before he goes into this long winded speech that I still don't understand. It takes him at least three minutes to finally stop talking my ears off. In response, I spit off to the side. He must like seeing spit, because he smiled at my response before shouting something to the other bugs.
Three of them come into my cell, two of them pointing spears at me while the other one unchains me from the floor. I could take them all out here, but if I'm lucky they'll take the chains and metal off of my arms soon enough. Then I can thank them properly.
The bugs with the spears seem to enjoy poking me, because I can't go five feet without feeling one of the spearheads poke into my back. My anger's already at its boiling point, but I use most of my willpower to keep it contained. I don't need to explode yet. I'll save it for when I do.
I march on in the dark caverns for a good ten minutes, while constantly being poked by those assholes behind me. But as we get closer to where I'm being herded, I start to pick up on a sound. Multiple sounds. The sound of cheering. The sound of screaming. And the sound of dying. I don't need to know anything else. I know exactly where they're taking me. And it pisses me off like they wouldn't believe.
A set of iron doors blocks my path, but my nose tells me that blood and death awaits me on the other side. I glance over my shoulder to see that the bugs are standing a good ways back, with none of them daring to get too close.
"What's the matter? Afraid to see what's on the other side?" I ask them before the doors start to creak open. I go through them the moment that there's a space large enough for me. I'm sick of being poked by those spears. And I bet there's going to be something on the other side that's going to be poking at me a lot harder than those bugs were.
Metal bars formed a dome over my head. The sand under my feet was stained with blood and most of it was new. Hundreds of bugs on the outside of the cage screamed at me as I entered. Yep, cage match. I knew it.
The large bug takes his seat on a throne, which also has the best view in the arena. He then goes on one of his long-winded speeches about something, but I couldn't care less about that. Instead, I'm far more interested in the griffon that's standing across the arena from me. Her claws and beak are covered in blood and she has multiple slashes across her body. But I can see in her eyes there's still an innocence and kindness in them. She's not a killer. Or she hasn't been long.
A small bug runs across the field and inserts a key into my chains, causing them and the metal covering my arms to fall to the ground. I rub my wrists as I gaze down at the bug, who looks to be a kid by his age. His eyes are closed and he seems to be waiting for me to kill him.
"Beat it, kid," I snarl at him as I begin to walk towards the griffon, who was advancing towards me. This fight isn't going to happen. I bet that the griffon is as much of a prisoner as I am. In fact, on my way up here I had smelled numerous creatures being held in those cells. But as my eyes wander to the cage above, I know that that's not the only thing keeping us in here. There has to be something else. Time to find out what.
The big bug let's out a cry that I think means for us to begin. It clearly meant that for the griffon, because she flaps her wings and throws herself at me. I leap into the air, not to avoid the attack but so I'm lined up perfectly with the cage. Her shoulder slams into my gut and pain floods my body as I'm sent hurling through the air. Right before I crash into the cage I slam into a barrier of magic. I crash to the floor with a bad stomach ache, but now I know why none of the bugs are afraid of the combatants. Time to figure out how strong that magic is.
The griffon charges me again, this time with her claws extended. I roll under her attack and press both of my legs under her chest, this time allowing her to be the one to be sent into the air. She catches herself before she strikes the top of the cage, but by the time she recovers I lunge into the air after her. Her eyes go wide with fear as I tackle her, but I've got no interest in hurting her. Now the magic barrier...
SNIKT. SNIKT.
I then kick off the griffon and hurl myself at the top of the cage, slashing at the magical barrier with all of my might. My claws connect and for a moment I hold my breath...only to let it out as a laugh a moment later, as the magic shatters into millions of pieces. The bugs begin to scream as I carve through the iron bars with no effort and then pull myself out of the cage. My eyes instantly lock onto the big bug sitting on his throne. His horn starts to glow, but before he has the chance to even think about firing his spell, I'm on him. My claws slice right through his neck, causing his head to roll to the side as green blood begins to spurt from the neck stump.
I then turn my gaze towards the bugs below, who are no longer black bugs with blue eyes. Now they're red. Along with everyone else in this arena of the dead.
"Oh God, everyone run! The Wolverine is loose!" I roar at the crowd before I plunge into them, swinging my claws wildly while losing myself in the cascade of screams, panic and blood. I'm doing everything in my power to keep from going berserk. I hope I can keep it down.
How does this always happen? I look away from the darned imp for a second and then she's nowhere to be found. So instead of spending this beautiful sunset reading a book with Lyra, I'm racing through the streets looking for a human girl that's far faster than I gave her credit for.
It also doesn't help that Lyra is super mad at me that I lost her. And there's no point in trying to explain to Lyra that I didn't lose her, but that the imp likes to vanish on me whenever she feels that my life has gotten complacent. I swear that human was brought here to punish me for something that I did a long time ago.
Her trail is much harder to follow than when she snuck out a few weeks ago. Either she's gotten stealthier or she's doing something different. I doubt it's the first one. There aren't that many ponies out at this time in the day, so I'm stuck with asking the few I come across if they've seen the human. Of course none of them have.
"Applejack, I'm looking for the human girl. Have you seen her?" I ask Applejack when I spy the pony across the street. Applejack gives me a funny look before she places her hoof underneath her chin and thinks over my question. I trot in place while she does that, preparing at any moment to ditch her and race off to the next pony.
"Actually, ah may have seen her. And what ah meant by may is, ah'm not sure," Applejack finally says, but her answer is more confusing than helpful. "While ah was delivering mah apples, ah saw a flash of light go off in the Everfree Forest. When ah glanced over, ah thought ah saw the human in them. But it was too far away to-"
I don't stick around to hear the rest of Applejack's story. I take off as fast as I can go towards the Everfree Forest, already preparing myself for the worst when I find the girl. The Everfree Forest might not be the most dangerous place in Equestria, but that doesn't mean it's a cakewalk either. Plenty of beasts within can ruin your day if you're not careful.
Even though it's sunset, the sky immediately turns black the moment I set hoof in the forest. Everfree is a weird place, even by pony standards. It's completely natural, able to function without aid from ponies in any way. That makes it one of the more unpredictable places in all of Equestria. I've been in here before, but I try to avoid it if I can. But right now I can't.
My ears constantly adjust as I race through the forest, keeping them open in case I hear any sounds of the imp. My eyes, however, are being used for my protection. I might have years of monster training, but all the training in the world doesn't mean anything if the monster attacks you before you know its there.
There are also a lot of weird sounds going on in the forest. Birds that croak. Trees that whisper. And the faint laughter of Zecora. But I also hear the sounds of roaring, roaring that's familiar but a little different. I swivel my ears towards the sound of the roaring to hear another sound. The faint sound of a human screaming.
"Of course," I mutter. I take off towards the crying while mentally going over all the known creatures in the Everfree Forest and which one I'll come across when I find the girl. For a moment I fear that it might be a hydra or something along those lines. I can't afford to be scared though, so without a second thought I burst through the trees to where the cries are coming from.
The little imp is stuck in a tree. I can see her in the branches. But the creature that has her treed actually makes me breathe a sigh of relief. It's a manticore, a beast with a lion's head, bat-like wings and a scorpion's tail. Dangerous? Yes. The most dangerous monster I've ever faced? Hardly.
"Okay there, big guy. I'm not here to hurt you," I say softly to the manticore. It's been a while since I've had to fight one of these, so I know I'm a bit rusty. I still remember that if you are calm and respectful to a manticore, then sometimes they'll just leave you alone. The creature turns to face me and I see its eyes narrow at the mere sight of me. That's not a good sign.
The manticore turns away from the tree and slowly begins to stalk towards me, keeping its tail up while it focuses its full attention on me. Good news, it's no longer focused on the girl. Bad news, looks like I'm going to have to fight it after all. I quickly glance up at the imp and make a motion with my head for her to get away. However, the human is far too terrified to blink, much less escape while I have the creature distracted.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way." By the way the manticore roared at me, I figured that it agreed as well. The creature charges straight for me with murderous intent in its eyes. But I'm not looking at its eyes or even its claws. My sole focus is on the tail, the most dangerous part. The manticore is on me in a second, reeling back while lifting its claws over its head as it prepares to strike. I know better.
In a blur of motion the tail whips around from behind the manticore and stabs right at my chest. A trick that the manticores love to use: Look like they're going in for the claws and then bring out the tail. I've seen it dozens of times. Which makes it easy for me to grab the manticore's tail before it can strike me and plunge the stinger into the leg of the beast instead. The manticore howls in fury as it rips the stinger out of its leg, giving me time to plan my next move.
The poison in the tail won't kill it. Most manticores are immune to their own poison. Doesn't mean that it won't hurt like crazy. Manticores are also quick learners, meaning that it most likely won't go for the tail attack a second time, so I don't have to worry about that for the time being. So it's time to watch the claws.
I punch the manticore right in the nose to get its attention before racing over to the tree the human was in, bracing myself up against the bark while smirking at the manticore. Manticores are smart, but they're also prideful. And they hate being insulted. Guess what I just did?
The manticore bellows at me with all of its fury before it charges like a bull seeing red. I hold my ground, knowing that moving out of the way too soon might be fatal. The trick to this is timing. And I've got that down easy. Right as the manticore lunges at me with both claws I slip to the ground and push off of the tree, rolling right under the beast. I watch as it realizes what just happened before it goes headfirst into the solid trunk of the tree. I hear the sound of skull cracking before the beast collapses to the ground.
"That went better than expected," I say to myself before I position myself underneath the branch the human was on. A moment later she falls out of the tree and lands right on my back. I assumed that she would fall from the impact of the manticore hitting the trunk. Might even say that I planned for it to happen that way.
"You are in a hell of a lot of trouble," I say to her with a glare so stern that she doesn't need to know what I'm saying to hang her head. She understands just fine.
||X||
The caves took me longer to get out of than I would have liked. Actually, I would have liked to not be in those caves in the first place. But I suppose some good did come out of it, since I freed all of the fighters that those bugs had imprisoned down there. Then I wiped out every single bug I could find. I feel guilty about that, though. Because it wasn't really me doing that. It was the berserker within. And I hate it when that guy makes decisions for me.
I'm not a good person. Talk to anyone that's known me for more than a month, and they can tell you that. I kill people. Mostly bad people, but I still kill them. But I want that choice to be mine. So whenever I'm not the one that makes the call for my body to kill someone or thing, I hate it. Because I've been out of control for nearly all of my life.
"Ash?" I ask myself as I'm suddenly snapped back into reality. I tilt my nose to the sky and take in a few deep whiffs, able to clearly smell soot and ash coming from not too far away. I also pick up faint traces of blood and death on the winds as well, but the dominant smell is ash and soot.
I sprint through the forest (another damned forest) as fast and as silently as I can. Where there's fire, there's trouble. And where there's trouble, there's probably something there that wants to hurt me. But when I reach the edge of the tree line, I find that the fire and soot I smell is an aftermath. Even from how far away I am, I can clearly see the ruins of a burned down town.
Accident or something worse? I can't tell from here. Need to get in close. Another couple of sniffs tell me that there are live ponies here, but only a few of them. Probably a clean up crew. Shouldn't be too hard to get past them. I take a big risk by sprinting across the field towards the town, keeping my senses peeled in case one of the ponies happens to spot me. They don't and I make it to the town without any trouble.
"What the hell happened here?" I ask myself as I start to move from building to building. The place was clearly burned to the ground. I didn't need to see the buildings to know that. But what I do need to know is why was there so much death? There's so much blood in the air that it nearly overwhelms my senses. Did none of the ponies make it out of this place?
No, that can't be right. These little bastards can shoot magic, fly and teleport. There's no way that a simple fire would kill so many. There's more than that that went on here, I'm just not seeing it.
I keep moving along, sticking to the buildings as best I can. Then, I finally see the clue that I've been missing. Near the ponies that are tasked with cleaning up the town, I see the bodies. Or rather, the body bags. And I don't need heightened senses to see just how many there are. There's a bag for every pony in this town.
They were killed. No, killed is most likely wrong. More like they were slaughtered. A few of the bodies haven't gone into the bags yet, so I can still see the burn marks, the broken figures, and the ones that have been ripped apart by...wait a moment. Those claw-
SNIKT!
I swing my arm around just in time to slice through the crossbow bolt that had been aimed at the back of my head. I then turn my eyes towards the sky, where three...bat ponies fly above me, each of them armed with crossbows that came out of a nightmare. I'm a damned idiot. When I only smelled the relief ponies, I thought that they were the only ones here. This village was wiped off the map. Of course they'd have guards.
One of the bat ponies in the black armor yells something to the relief workers, who take off screaming at the top of their lungs. The lead bat pony then starts to talk to me, but I roll my eyes at him before roaring loudly enough to shut him up. I assume that he understands that words are useless, because he then lifts his crossbow and starts to fire at me again.
Dodging crossbows is easier than dodging bullets, but that doesn't mean that it's a cakewalk. The night guard's two buddies start to fire at me as well, making it even harder for me to keep throwing myself out of the way of their bolts. My other claw comes out and I use it to cleave through the bolts that got too close, but I'm aware that these guards are switching up their tactics. Since they can fly, they begin to circle around me and fire at my back whenever I'm not facing them.
These ones are smart. I'll give them that. I'll also give them some scars that they'll never forget. I race over to one of the few buildings that's still standing and propel myself off of the wall, aiming right for one of the guards. To my surprise, he takes aim with his crossbow instead of getting out of the way of my claw. I roar with rage as he shoots me in the shoulder, but I get even with him a moment later when I plunge my claw into his leg.
We both fall to the ground at the same time, but one of us is missing a few pounds and it ain't me. I grit my teeth before tearing the bolt out of my shoulder, tossing it to the ground as my healing factor takes care of the rest. The now one-armed guard cries out in pain as he clutches at his missing limb, but before I can make a move his two buddies fly down in front of him. They take aim at me, and I ready myself to deal with them, before their crying buddy says something to them. They look from him to me and I know what choice they're making.
"Good move," I tell them with a smirk as they lower their crossbows and grab their friend. The three then take to the sky, with the wounded one leaning on his friends for support. The group flies away from me, but not before the leader glares back at me and draws his hoof across his throat. In reply, I lift my hand and extend one finger towards him, before retracting my claws.
With the guards and other ponies gone, I walk over to the pile of corpses and take a closer look at them. My eyes narrow as I spy one of the bodies that has claw marks on it, three claw marks in a pattern that I know very well. I extend my own claws once again and insert them into the wound, finding that they fit perfectly.
What's going on here? That's the only question I ask myself as I race to the forest, not wanting to stick around in case more guards show up. Those claw marks were nearly identical to mine. The wounds even...smelled the same to my claws. Is it simply a case of coincidence, that a creature is running around slaughtering ponies with claws that are like mine? Or did I kill them all when I was in the berserker rage? That is a possibility as well.
I shake my head and get rid of those thoughts. My mission is to get the girl and return to our world. And the sooner I'm out of this world, the safer all of the ponies here will be. So when I leave, everyone wins. But I can't say that I don't feel a little bit nervous, as I scratch at my shoulder. Because I have a feeling that before I'm gone, there's going to be a lot more death.
"Um...thank you?" I say with some hesitation as the human girl places a small cup of tea next to my table. She beams up at me with expectant eyes. I pick up the cup of tea while keeping my eyes on the human, not sure why she's acting so nice. I sniff the tea, just to be safe, before I take a sip. It's my favorite, green, but I still don't know why the girl brought it to me.
"Hey Lyra, did you make this?" I ask my friend as she exits the kitchen and enters the living room.
"Nope. Our little angel made it for you all by herself," Lyra replies with pride before pulling the imp into a hug. "She spent most of this morning trying to make something for you. I helped her out a bit, but she poured it and everything."
I raise an eyebrow at this response before turning my gaze back towards the imp, who is giving me a large smile. But for the first time since she's arrived here, I don't detect any traces of dislike or annoyance in her smile. I nod to her to show my thanks before I turn my attention back towards the paper, but I had barely gone two sentences before the imp leaps onto my lap and nearly spills my drink everywhere.
"The hell?" I mutter as the imp wiggles her way closer to me and leans against my shoulder, looking over the paper. I could tell that she had no idea what the words said, but she pretended to read it all the same. I gave Lyra a glance of confusion, having no idea what was going on.
"Seems that she's warmed up to you," Lyra answers with a smile that I've only seen on her face when she was right about something. "Looks like when you saved her life the other day, she finally realized that she can trust you. Aw, this is such a sweet picture, with the two of you all cuddled up. Where's the camera?"
Knock knock.
If I could I would hug whoever was knocking on the door, for they saved me from another photo in the photo album. Or the "Let's take embarrassing photos of Bon-Bon and call it a hobby." I glance at Lyra before glancing at the imp on my gut. Lyra nods in reply before she walks over to the door and opens it. Her jaw goes slack as she backs up, and when I see our guest my jaw does the same.
"Princess Celestia," I whisper as the Princess of the Sun herself walks into my home, smiling at Lyra before nodding to me. I immediately feel a weight leave my chest and a second later the imp is trying to climb up Celestia's leg. The princess smiles down at the human before her horn glows, and Celestia lifts the human onto her back. The human lets out a squeal of delight before the princess walks over to me.
"Hello, Sweetie Drops." Oh. It's that kind of visit. I fold up the paper and place it on the table next to me before motioning to the couch. Celestia uses her magic to sit the child on the couch before she herself sits down. The girl begins to play with Celestia's mane, getting another smile out of the princess. "My sister was right. This little one is precious. I can see why the two of you took a liking to her so quickly."
"Well, it took some time," I reply with a bit of a dry tone. "What brings you to my humble home, Princess?"
"You know what brings me here," Celestia replies. That kind of talk, huh?
"Lyra, can you leave us alone for a moment?" I ask Lyra. Lyra gives me a worried look before she heads up the stairs, but I wait a moment to make sure that she isn't listening before I nod to Celestia to continue speaking.
"The beast with the claws returned to the town that we believed it had slaughtered," Celestia says. I raise my eyebrows with some confusion. Why would the beast return to the very village that it slaughtered? If it was smart, and I have no doubt it is, it would stay away until the heat died down. I voiced my thoughts to Celestia and she nodded in agreement. "That is what I thought as well. Perhaps this isn't the beast that wiped out that town. Perhaps there is another."
"But if there is, it's sure a damned coincidence that they both have claws that make the exact same wound," I add. Celestia nods once again before using her magic to summon a paper, which she then gives to me. "Some of Luna's night guards fought with the creature. One of them snapped that during the battle."
It was a closeup image of the creature, with a few new details. The first was that the creature had no pupils. Only white...slits. I could also now measure the length of its claws against its arm. Those things are long and they look like they hurt. The final thing that interests me is the smirk upon its face, like it knows the guard can't beat it.
The imp hops off the couch and races over to my side, glancing over my shoulder to see what I was looking at. Yet the moment she looks at the picture, the imp lets out a scream and hurls herself back as fast as she could. Both Celestia and I look at the human with surprised looks, while Lyra comes barreling down the stairs and is at the human's side in a moment.
"She's shaking like crazy," Lyra mutters as she pulls the girl into a tight hug. "Something has terrified her." I didn't need Lyra to tell me that, to see that the human was clearly scared witless. Celestia takes the picture from me before walking over to the girl and holding it out before her.
"Do you know anything about this creature?" she asks the human. The girl lets out another cry and hides her head in Lyra's chest. I reach out and place a hoof on her shoulder and the girl looks out from Lyra at me.
"Do you know who this is?" I ask this time, but in a far kinder voice. I hope that my eyes tell the girl what I want to know. For a moment the two of us stare at each other, then the human breaks free of Lyra's grasp and grabs the nearest paper she can find. She then digs out a box of colored pencils that belongs to Lyra and beings to draw on the paper. My soul sinks deeper and deeper into my stomach as she draws.
When she finishes drawing, she holds up the paper for all of us to see. There's a burning building in the back, while a being in a yellow and blue suit runs away from it with a crying girl tucked under its arm. I might not be able to understand what the imp is saying, but I know damned sure what this picture is telling us.
"It kidnapped her," I say softly, but I feel the rage building within me. "It kidnapped her and then burned her house to the ground. Maybe even killed her family...just like it might have done with that village."
"There is no question now. That creature must be stopped," Celestia whispers in a rage that made all three of us back away from her. "I wished to simply capture the creature, as it may not have been the one to cause that fire. But if what this girl drew is true and it truly burned her house down after taking her..."
"Maybe true? Princess Celestia, you saw the look in her eyes when you showed her the picture. She was terrified," Lyra reminded the Princess, who nodded with eyes set like flint. "This creature, whatever it is, might be the reason she's here."
"And that's what it's looking for," I realize. "That's what it's been hunting for across the land. That's probably why it burned down the village. It's after her. And it won't stop until it finds her."
"Then its quest shall be in vain," Celestia says with such fire in her voice that I'm afraid I'll burn away right there. "Because me and my forces will put an end to it. One of the guards managed to tag it with a tracker and it hasn't noticed yet. So I swear to you, little one, that your nightmare is over."
"That creature's rampage ends today."
||X||
The evening sun looks really pretty here. I'm usually not one to marvel at the sight of the sun, but this one really does look pretty. It's a blood red and makes the sky around it a nice color of orange. Haven't seen a sunset like that since my days back in Japan. Wonder if these ponies have a land here that's like Japan? Doubt it.
The scent of that royal pony is starting to fade and it's pissing me off. If I hadn't run into that bunch of bugs I would have been able to follow her right to Alicia. Hope the poor kid is doing alright. Being stuck in a strange land with strange creatures...she's going to need some therapy once this is over.
Another thing that's pissing me off is this damned forest. How many damn forests are in this world?! And why does each town or city seem to have one in-between them and the next town? Do the ponies not visit each other or do they just use magic to-
SNAP!
My reactions kick in a second too late and the next thing I know I'm upside down. A rope has wrapped around my leg and yanked me into the air, like one of those old school traps. My claws come out in an instant and I slice through the rope. I then roll in the air and land on all fours, eyes narrowed into slits as I gaze at the forest around me.
That was no random trap for an animal. That was meant for me. Which means that someone here has a problem with me. I take in a deep whiff, taking in the smells of all the scents around me. I smell trees, forest...horses. Horses with strange gear. A smirk crosses my face as I pinpoint their locations with my nose. One of them is behind the third tree ahead of me. The other two are behind me, waiting to ambush me.
I need to make this look good. Like I haven't caught on. I advance while looking from left to right, before spinning around to check behind me. Make them think that I don't know where they are. Make them think that they're still the hunters.
I can smell the sweat coming off of this pony. He...no, she is nervous. And tense. Meaning that she will probably jump me the moment I pass by her tree. Not going to give her the chance. I walk right up to the third tree, the one that I know she's hiding behind, before spinning on my heels and lunging into the tree. The pony cries out in surprise as my hands grab it by the neck, allowing me to hurl her out from behind the tree and onto the path.
The pony has a yellow body and a green mane, but the look she's giving me is a mix between scared and furious. She quickly rises to her hooves as I lunge at her again. I'll take her out first, then go back for her two-
CRACK!
My thoughts are interrupted from the spin kick that the pony just caught me upside the head with. I stagger back a bit from the blow, but I'm more surprised than I am hurt. I slowly turn to look at the pony to see that she's leapt back away from me. She then points down and I look at my feet to see numerous spheres laying on the ground.
"Son of a-"
Three explosions go off and a moment later I'm surrounded by smoke. But even as I gag I keep track of the ponies with my ears. Thinking that I'm helpless in the smoke, they've all surrounded me and are waiting for the smoke to clear so that they can jump me. Not going to let that happen.
I spot a branch hanging above my head and I make a gamble. I leap up with all of my strength and grab hold of the branch, praying that it can hold my weight. For once God seems to be on my side and the branch holds, allowing me to pull myself onto the branch and into the tree. With my vantage point, I wait until the smoke begins to clear. I smile the moment realization dawns on the stupid ponies' faces that I'm no longer there. The second claw comes out as I leap from my perch and dive towards the ponies, preparing to finish this.
She smiled. The green haired one just smiled. That's not good. My claws go clean through the pony, only for the "pony" to phase out of existence a moment later. I hit the ground hard, but manage to roll back up to a vertical base. I glance over my shoulder to see that one of the two ponies that I didn't see was a unicorn...and that he had created a fake pony for me to attack.
"Not bad, bub," I mutter as I spin around. The unicorn smiles in reply before he dives to the side to reveal that his buddy is standing behind him with...a rocket launcher? "What the actual fu-?"
The pony fires a blast of something at me, but I don't get the chance to see it as I hurl myself out of the way of the projectile. I glance up just in time to see the projectile go straight up and explode in the air, creating a firework of sorts. That wasn't a missile. It was a signal to the other forces that might be in this forest. No choice. Got to wrap this up. Things are going to get bloody.
I roar bloody murder before I throw myself at the pony with the launcher, using my full speed to close the gap in a second. His eyes go wide as I'm suddenly towering over him. My sight begins to turn red as I plunge my claws towards him.
Pain lances through my body before my claws connect and I stagger as I register multiple projectiles, almost like Widow's stingers, piercing through my back. I snarl while glancing over my shoulder to see that the green haired mare has a strange gun that I assume is where the projectiles came from.
These aren't regular ponies. I don't even think they're guards. They're more like special agents or something along those lines. Agonizing burning starts to course through my body from where the darts have embedded themselves, but the healing factor has already begun to take care of the pain. Meaning I can take care of them.
I plunge my claws forward once more into the pony standing before me, but my claws only strike magic as the pony shimmers out of existence. I stare at where the pony was before throwing my head back and letting out a roar to the sky that I bet could be heard for miles.
"You ponies are really pissing me the hell off!" I bellow as I start to see red. I spin as fast as I can and go for the unicorn, claws out and eyes crimson. But I know that he's a fake. That's why I use my nose to sniff out where he really is. And he really is...
"Got you!" I roar as I lunge past the hologram and plunge my hand into the bush. I grab the pony by the throat and pull the blue and black pony out. He starts to kick as I hold him over my head, but he's not getting away. I scream at him before driving him back first into the ground. I plant my foot onto his chest before I prepare to strike with my claws.
Pain. Horrible pain. Pain like being on fire. That's what I feel when a burst of magic slams into my chest and hurls me across the forest floor. I dig my claws into the ground to grind to a halt, but once I'm stopped I glance down at my chest to see that my chest is blackened and burned. Badly.
I suppress the pain as I gaze up at my new foe, only for my eyes to narrow when I see what I'm up against. It's a white pony with both wings and a horn, much like the dark one I saw the other day. She gives off the same regal appearance that the other did and from her height and scent, they might be related. But there's one crucial difference between her and the other one. That one had a look of like she was searching for me.
This one simply wants to kill me
The wind feels great against my face. Its fingers gently caress me as they drift by, almost taking my mind off of the little imp that's sitting on my back and pulling on my mane. I'm not mad at her, though. After finding out what she went through, I realized that I've been a bit...cold to her. So if her pulling on my mane makes us even, then it's a pain I can tolerate.
What I can't tolerate is, not knowing how the battle against the clawed creature is going. I open my eyes again and glance at the sunset, knowing that somewhere out there Celestia and Wildfire are battling with the creature right now. I'm worried about Wildfire. She's with Celestia, so she should be fine, but still...
"Hey, don't look so worried. The princess who can move the freaking sun is with them," Lyra says from my side while she levitates a mug of hot chocolate to me and the imp.
"How'd you know what I was thinking?" I ask her as I take the mug. The girl jumps off of my back and grabs the mug from Lyra, who sits down beside the girl and pulls her into a close hug. "She's such a little sweetheart. If I had known this is what having a foal was like, I would have adopted one a long time ago."
"But then you would have missed out on your very own human," I remind Lyra with a smile. I sip at the chocolate while my thoughts drift back to the battle. Lyra bumps my shoulder to snap me out of my thoughts once more, and when I glance at her she give me a look.
"Stop being so worried about them. They'll be fine. Besides, you're retired, right? What good would you be to them in that battle?" Lyra's words are true, but that still doesn't mean that I don't feel worried. Lyra then reaches into her bag and pulls out a picture, which I notice is similar to the image that the imp had drawn the other day.
"What's that?"
"I wanted to figure out more about our little human, and I figured that communicating through pictures was the best way," she says while showing the picture to the girl. The picture has a little girl, almost identical to the way the imp had drawn her picture, but with two taller humans, one male and one female, on either side of the girl. "So let's start with family. Are your parents worried about you?"
The girl gives Lyra a blank look in reply. Lyra sighs before she pokes at the adults with her hoof. The girl seems to get what Lyra is asking, but to our surprise the girls shakes her head. Lyra then points at each parent individually, but each time she does the girl shakes her head.
"So, she's an orphan," Lyra mutters as she tucks away the drawing. She pulls the imp a little closer before she starts to stare at the sunset. "Hey Bon..."
"I know what you're about to ask me."
"Come on, Bon-Bon. She's an orphan, she's stuck in our world and she's already taken a liking to the both of us," Lyra argues with some heat. "Why can't we take her in? What's so wrong with us raising a human child?"
"For starters, we don't know that much about her. You still call her a girl or human, you know that?"
"Well what about you? You still call her an imp!"
"Because that's what she is."
Lyra starts to pout and she looks away from me, getting the imp to look back and forth between us with some confusion. I sigh as I realize that we shouldn't fight in front of the imp, because we're probably the only source of comfort she has in this world.
"Look, right now I'm more worried about my friend that went off to fight that claw creature. And also...we need to figure out a name for her," I mutter, but the second I do so Lyra perks up immediately.
"What do you think would be a good name for her?! I'm thinking Golden Heart! Or how about Sweet Thing? Adorabelle?" Lyra goes on and on with the names, but I stop paying attention to her and start focusing on the girl. While I still don't think she can understand us, from the expression on her face she's started to catch onto what Lyra is doing. Some of the names make her smile. Others make her stick out her tongue. I guess when Lyra says one she likes we'll just go with that.
"Lyra, you're going over pony names. Shouldn't you be saying a few human names to see if she recognizes hers?" I suggest. Lyra then gives me a sheepish grin as she begins to rub the back of her head.
"W-well I would...if I actually knew any human names," she stammers out. "See, I only know about humans through myths and legends. And the humans Twilight met were all kind of...human counterparts to us, with the same names and everything. So no, I don't know any human names."
"Well, it was worth a shot. But until we think of a name I'm still going to call her 'imp'." To both my and Lyra's surprise, the girl starts to nod her head and make a commotion. Lyra and I share a look before glancing down at the girl again. "Wait a moment? Imp? You like being called Imp?"
"Imp!" the girl replies.
For a long second neither Lyra or I move. Then I throw my head back as I start to laugh, laughing harder than I could ever remember. Through the tears that I start to cry, I can see Lyra giving me a sinister look from the side.
"Good going, Bon. You've been calling her an imp for so long that not only does she think it's her new name, but it's also the only word that she can say," Lyra says in a seething tone. I couldn't care less at that moment. For all my worries were gone and I had the dumbest grin on my face that I'm certain I've ever worn. I pulled Imp into a tight hug and continued to laugh. Imp began to giggle as well and after a few moments she was laughing with me. Lyra didn't join in with the laughing, but I could see a smile crease her face.
"Thanks, Imp," I say to her with a smile. "I needed a laugh to take my mind off of things."
||X||
My blood boils as I duck under the spell of fire that near burns my face off. And I don't mean my blood boils because I'm furious. I am furious, but that's not why my blood's boiling. It's boiling because that damned white horse keeps trying to burn me alive with every spell in the book.
During our fight, I've noticed that she too smells like Alicia. And her scent is far stronger on the royal's body than it was the others. I think I might be able to find the girl now even if I can't trace the royals. But I save that thought for the future and return my focus to the battle.
I bellow with fury as I slash at her next spell with my claws, cleaving through it and giving me a clear opening right at her. I race forward at full speed, making myself look like a blur as much as I can as I close the distance. Her eyes go wide when I seem to appear right in front of her. I give her my most sinister smile before I drive my claws towards her face. The royals horn flashes and next thing I know I'm flat on my back with a blazing sensation burning through my chest.
"Yer gonna look a lot less pretty once I'm done with ya," I promise her as I pick myself off of the ground, gritting my teeth as my healing factor stiches the wound back together. I see that the royal's eyes narrow in surprise while she watches my healing factor in action, causing me to smile slightly. She doesn't know as much about me as she thought she did. Means I've got an advantage.
She then barks something at the ponies that had been attacking me and they all walk behind her. I assume that she told them to stand back so she could take care of me. I admit, my biggest concern in this fight was that I would have to worry about the shrimps while taking on the big girl, but she made this a one-on-one. Giving me another advantage. I should thank her for being so kind...once I'm done ripping her to shreds.
In a flash of movement I'm on the offensive again, closing the gap between us as quickly as I can. Before I have the chance to get close, the royal flaps her wings and takes to the skies. I snarl up at her as she starts to circle overhead, smirking down at me. I smirk back before I race forward and lunge at one of the other ponies, catching him completely off guard. I hear the royal cry out right as my claws tear through the unicorn's chest, sending him sprawling to the ground in a spray of blood.
I know what's coming next, so when the hailstorm of fire rains down where I was standing, I'm already out of the way. I roll across the ground before kicking back up to my feet, smirking at the royal as she floats down next to the wounded pony. Her horn begins to glow once more and I spy that the pony's wounds start to close. He's perfectly healed a moment later, but when the royal turns to glare at me I see that there's now hints of exhaustion along with the rage. Looks like she tired herself out with that one.
"Did ya really think that I'd play by yer rules?" I ask her as I clash my claws together, causing sparks and cleaning the blood off of my claws. "You've made it clear that this is a fight fer survival. And I'll do what I have to so I can survive. And unless yer ready to fight a beast like that, I'd recommend you walk away." I point to where the exit of the forest is as I say this, sneering at the royal at the same time. I see the rage reach a boiling point in her eyes, but then it cools. I don't like that.
Her horn glows once more and I brace myself for whatever light show she's going to hit me with next. But then I feel something grab my arms and I start to float a moment later. I glance at my arms to see what looks like a thin layer of magic is covering them, lifting me into the air. I struggle as best I can, but she's got me by the skin. And she ain't letting go.
The royal walks over to me and begins to speak, no doubt telling me what a monster I am and how I need to be stopped. I've heard it all before. I spit into her eye mid-sentence, causing her to back away for a moment. I smirk at her as she glares at my face before her horn glows again, this time levitating numerous vials filled with something towards me.
I take in a quick sniff and my nose goes slightly numb. Anesthetics. And they're potent. One or two of those my healing factor could handle no problem. But all of those...that might even put me under. And then I'm in a heap of a lot of trouble. That means that I've got to get out of here...and this is going to hurt like hell.
I take a moment to collect myself and realize what I'm about to do, before I begin to strain against her magic with all of my might. The royal stops advancing to watch me struggle, the smile on her face telling me that she's amused with my efforts. Good, you dumb kids' show reject. Keep that smug look on your face. Give me the extra strength to do this.
My goal isn't to break the magic. I'm fairly certain that even with my strength, I ain't breaking free. So instead I'm tearing...and I'm in for a world of pain. My arms begin to scream in agony as I pull them in with all of my power. I look out of the corner of my eyes to see that the skin near my shoulders is beginning to tear. Seems my guess was right and the magic holding me was only skin deep.
I brace myself and with every last ounce of fortitude I have, I pull with all of my might, tearing the skin in my arms clean off of my body. I bellow with agony as I fall to the ground, a bloody mess as blood seeps from the wound and pain rips apart my nerves. Even though I'm in some of the worst pain of my life, I can still hear the ponies all cry out in shock at what I just did. And as the healing factor starts to kick in, I remember my mission. I remember the girl. Along with all the other kids that had been killed by others. Just because they were different. And my rage gives me strength.
"GGGRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I scream with all my fury and rage as I lunge to my feet, swinging my skinned arms towards the royal with all the force I can muster. Somehow, despite watching a man just tear his own skin off, she retains enough sense to create a shield around herself. But her shield met my claws and adamantium won out. Shock spreads across her face as I cleave through her shield and one of my claws imbeds itself in her shoulder.
She roars in pain before blasting me in the chest with her magic, sending me crashing back. With all of the strength I have left I push myself back up, fighting to stay standing. And then I realize that I'm not just fighting the ponies now. The berserker wants to come out. With the amount of pain I'm in, it takes nearly all of my mental efforts to push him back, to keep him under lock and key. But the ponies don't know that. They see that I'm weak. That I'm not moving. If I were them, I'd attack.
A blast of magic catches me in the side and sends me crashing into the ground, sending my already peaked fury through the roof. I seethe in both pain and rage as I see out of the corner of my eye the royal approach me.
"Stay...back..." I warn her through gritted teeth, barely able to keep my rage at bay. My vision is practically crimson and I want to tear each of these ponies to shreds. "I can't...much...long-" Another blast of magic catches me in the side of the head and I feel my mind go blank.
Stay in control.
Another blast strikes me in the stomach and I roar with pain, my vision completely red at this point.
Stay in control!
The pony then raises a hoof over my face and breaks my nose when she stomps down.
Stay in...
A scream escapes my lips, but it's not my scream. My body then lunges back up to its feet and spins around to face the ponies, blood dripping from my mouth while my eyes stare them down with only one desire in them. To kill them all. Another blood curdling scream escapes my lips before I lunge forward, eyes as crimson as fresh blood.
No! I'm in control! I will not give into the berserker! I'm...
I'm back.
That's the first thing that comes to my mind as I feel my conscious return. A weak groan escapes my lips as I open my eyes slowly. The first sight that greets me is the reflection of my masked face staring back at me. Seems I passed out looking over a pond. I push myself up as I gaze down into the pool of water, seeing the reflection of a blue sky overhead. Guess I've been passed out for a long time.
I hold a hand to my head as I try to figure out how I got here. The last thing I remember was battling with the ponies and...
"Oh," I mutter to myself as I glance down at my arms, then the rest of my body. The yellow suit is now brown and the blue is dulled and dirtied. I'm covered in blood. Some of it is mine. Most of it isn't. I exhale while bracing myself for what I'm about to do before I take in a deep breath through my nose.
I recognize the blood immediately. Some of it smells like the royal. A lot of it smells like the green-maned pony that annoyed me. The rest smells of the other two. If there's this much blood on me and I don't remember what happened, then it's most likely that I went into the berserker state...and that those ponies are dead. I can smell the death on me as well. And there's a lot of it.
I close my eyes as the guilt nudges at the back of my mind. As much as I hate to admit it, I've killed so many times that I'm not really sickened by it like a normal person would be. But I still take a moment of silence for the lives that I've ended--or rather, the berserker ended.
I then extend my claws to see that there's no blood on them. That means that they've been in my arms for quite a while, maybe half a day. Meaning that I've been in the berserker state a while. That's not good. Probably raised a trail of destruction and cut down all those in my way. Great, just add their souls to the pile.
Can't think like this. Need to think of why I'm here. I take in another whiff and recall the scent of Alicia. At least one good thing came from that encounter with the pony. I've got the girl's scent locked in. I turn my head and take another whiff, but come up empty. I try two more times before I smell the faintest of traces. Good. Now I've got an idea where to go.
There's still not enough of Alicia's scent to track her, though. For the time being I'm relying on the scent of the two royal ponies that I've encountered. Their scents are everywhere. The lunar one is fainter than the white one, who flew close to where I am. I trace my steps back through another damned forest to where her scent is strongest, while also doing my best not to look at the slaughtered creatures that I walk past.
The berserker rage. Where I lose myself in my more animalistic side. A last resort, of sorts. In that state, I don't feel pain, I hit harder and I'm a lot harder to predict or have telepathic abilities used on me. The downside? I become a bloodthirsty monster, cutting down any that dare get in my way. I've almost killed a few of my friends while in that state. I've killed nearly all of my enemies.
I shake my head again and force the guilt for my actions back down. I can hate myself for what I've done later. Got to focus. I've been in this land nearly two weeks now. That means that the government and Magneto have been given two extra weeks to figure out where Alicia is and track her here. And if those bastards came here, then I might be the least of the ponies' worries.
Now that I feel motivated, I start to sprint through the forest, ignoring the burning in my legs as I push my body harder than it should be able to go. My healing will keep the pain from getting too bad. The rest is mental fortitude. The white royal's scent is getting stronger in the direction that I'm heading, but my other senses are telling me that there's something else up ahead. I skid to a stop at the edge of the clearing and lean down low to observe the structure in front of me.
It's an outpost, filled to the brim with guards. And ponies in strange, cloak-like attire. All of them are unicorns. Might be mages. Or high level spell users. Either way, I don't want to tangle with them. Not when they outnumber me this badly.
I decide to circle around and try to pick up the scent from where the royal entered. I also keep my eyes peeled as I do so. I stop and glance down at my foot, spying a pitfall just inches from my toe. They've got this place pretty well trapped. Got to be careful.
The next trap I come across looks like a bear trap, but with a different metal than steel or iron. Instead of tripping it, I slice clean through the center with my claws. A lot less noisy than letting two pieces of metal slam into each other. A snare, a spike fall and some kind of web are the only other traps I pass by (though I think the web belonged to a spider) before I realize that I've made a complete loop around the outpost.
I can't find her scent. I crouch back down into the shadows beneath the trees as I begin to wonder why I can't find her scent. Even if she flew pretty high above the ground, there should be something for me to find. But there's nothing. I tilt my nose upwards and inhale again, but aside from the ponies in the outpost, I've got nothing.
I glance at the base and focus on the ponies within. Maybe they can give me a clue as to why I can't smell her. I watch them for hours, biding my time for the truth to reveal itself. I then notice that one of the mages has separated himself from the rest of the group and has left the outpost. The wind blows in my direction and I take in a quick whiff of his scent. The unicorn's horn begins to glow and a moment later he teleports out of my sight.
That's it. That's how she got here without leaving a scent. Teleportation. I climb the tree closest to me and take in a deep breath, vaguely smelling the unicorn that had just teleported. I leap down and hit the ground in a roll, sprinting off as fast as I can towards where the unicorn reappeared. I'm lucky. If he had teleported downwind I may not have found him.
I spy the end of the forest and I race out of it, but I quickly skid to a stop when I realize where I'm at. There's a massive city standing in my way, way larger than any of the towns that I've come across. Almost reminds me of the cities back home. It's pretty far off in the distance, but even from this far away I can tell that it's huge. I glance to my side and spy the unicorn walking towards the city down a path a good distance from me.
I need to weigh my options. I could follow him towards the city and risk being seen, while at the same time hoping that I come across another scent that can take me to where Alicia might be. But with a city that size, they must have one hell of a security force. And no doubt now the ponies are on guard. Doubt the royal pony would have failed to mention that she was hunting a monster.
Then I look up and spy something that I never would have expected to see here. An airship. A literal airship. Looks like a freaking pirate ship with balloons attached to it instead of sails. And it's flying through the sky. I glance back at the city in time to see another airship beginning to take off. Travel this land by air, eh?
Sure. That just might work.
||X||
I remember when I was little my mom told me to never stare at the sun. She said that if you do it for too long Celestia will come down and take away your sight for a few days, just to teach you not to stare. It's not a true tale of course, but it did its job at the time and I never stared at the sun. That also carried over when I grew to a full mare, because I try to avoid staring at the sun (or moon, just in case) so I don't accidentally offend Celestia.
But when the sun is hanging up in the sky, dead center, without having moved for a long time? That's when I feel like I should stare. Because if the sun isn't moving, then that means that Celestia hasn't moved it. Who knows why she hasn't? Maybe she didn't want to. Maybe she forgot, she is getting on in years. Or maybe she wants to keep it there and give us a little extra daylight.
That's what I'd like to think. But then I remember that she went off with a friend of mine to battle a monster--a monster with claws that slice through bone like nothing. And has the ability to heal missing chunks of its body. They went to fight it the other day. And now the sun isn't moving. The sun isn't moving and my soul is the coldest that I've ever felt it.
I feel a hand gently press against my side and I tear my eyes away from the sun to see that Imp is looking up at me with a look of concern. She has no idea what's going on, but her face mirrors mine. She has a feeling that something is wrong as well. But then the imp gives me a kind smile and holds up the ball that we brought with us to this field.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up," I say to Imp before kicking the ball down the field. Imp let's out a giggle as she races after it. Perhaps I'm thinking to negatively. Wildfire was one of the best. She can handle herself fine. And Celestia is the...one of the most powerful alicorns in the land. She can put this monster down if she needs to.
Imp comes running back up to me with the ball clutched in her arms. I hold out my hoof and she gives it to me, before she backs up and starts to jump around like a rabbit. I pull my arm back as I take aim at the bouncing girl, before letting the ball fly. Imp staggers backwards and manages to catch the ball as it descends, but in doing so she trips and falls onto her rear.
"Nice catch!" I call over to her before the sounds of hoofsteps greet my ears. I turn around to see Lyra walking up to me, an annoyed expression on her face. "Well, somepony looks grumpy. Not happy that I got you up this early in the morning?"
"If you can even call it morning. Why is the sun already set at noon?" Lyra asks me as she shields an eyes with her hoof and looks up at the sun. I debate whether I should answer her or not before Imp comes running over, dropping the ball so that both of her arms were free to tackle Lyra with a big hug. "Well, you're up early if we believe this to be morning. Must be nice having so much energy."
"Yep. Alright, now that you're here Lyra, I can finally begin," I say as I pick up the ball off the ground. I sit down on the grass before placing the ball in front of me, motioning for both Lyra and Imp to sit across from me. Lyra does so and after a moment Imp catches on and sits down next to Lyra. "The reason that I got you up so early is because I've been doing some thinking. About the monster."
"What about it?"
"Well, the reason that it would be after her," I reply before swatting away Imp's hand as she reaches towards the ball.
"What reason? It's a monster, they do all sorts of horrible things."
"True, but that's mostly for mindless monsters. This one is smart. This one is intelligent. So it has to have a reason for trying to take her," I explain before motioning at the ball. "And I think I know the reason why. Lyra, can you please take this ball from me without touching it with your hooves?"
Lyra raises an eyebrow at me, but a moment later her horn glows and she slowly levitates the ball over to her. I nod with approval before motioning for her to levitate the ball back to me. She rolls her eyes this time, but does as I have instructed.
"Thank you Lyra. Now it's your turn, Imp." Lyra gives me a look as I turn towards Imp, pointing at the ball and then to her. She reaches our to take the ball, but I shake my head and she stops. I then point from Lyra to the ball, then back to Imp from the ball. I look into Imp's eyes to see that the wheels are beginning to turn. The girl then reaches out with her hand, but doesn't move. But the ball does start to move.
"Bon, what the hell is happening?" Lyra asks me with a whisper as the ball slowly begins to roll towards Imp, who has sweat dripping down her face from how hard she's concentrating. After a moment the ball stops rolling right at Imp's feet and she picks it up, giving both me and Lyra a tired smile. I stand up and walk over to Imp, patting her on the head for a job well done before looking over at Lyra.
"When we first met Imp, she managed to knock me back. I wasn't fully awake at the time and wasn't sure if she was just strong or if there was another reason. I've been watching her though, and she never showed any kind of super strength, nor did she show any kind of abilities."
"Then how in Faust's name did you-?"
"Because of the monster. I thought, "why would a creature that looks human have claws in its hands, and heal quickly? And why would it be after a little girl?" I explain, seeing from Lyra's face that she's starting to catch on. "And then I realized it was because she was just like it. She's not a human. Not entirely. She's similar to the monster. Imp has powers, which seem to be telekinetic in nature."
"And the monster. It wants to use her powers for something?" Lyra asks. I nod to show that she's correct.
"I'm not sure what, but it's clear that it's after her for her powers." A look of concern crosses Lyra's face, but then she shakes her head and her smile returns.
"Well, it doesn't matter what it wanted her for. Because after Celestia's done with it, it'll be..." Lyra's eyes go wide and I can tell she's looking behind me. I turn around to see Luna flying towards us, with a look on her face that makes my stomach drop.
"Hello, Bon-Bon. I need you to come with me immediately," Luna instructs the moment she's close enough, not even bothering to land. I take a second to glance into her eyes and I'm terrified by what I see. Because Luna is terrified. It's written all over her face.
"Something very bad has happened."
Took me about an hour to circle around the outskirts of the city before I could finally reach where those airships were coming from. It was the right decision, because even though the airport is a bit away from the city, I can still smell the hundreds of thousands of ponies that live in there. If I had tried to go in through the city, I would have been spotted easily.
Now I'm crouched down beneath a large, wooden walkway, glancing up through the gaps in the wood to make sure that none of the ponies spot me. I may be pretty stealthy when I want to be, but blue and yellow aren't exactly colors that blend in too well. Except in this world of color and rainbows, where the wood is painted the same color blue that's on my suit. I must be lucky.
The airport is elevated off the ground by pillars, pillars that hold the platforms up over a large river. To get to them, I had to swim my way over to the pillars without getting pulled away by the current. That part was easy, since I'm metal and tend to sink. Swimming to the pillars without drowning? That was the real problem.
But I made it and now I'm beneath their platforms with my claws embedded into the wooden pillars, hanging underneath until I can go on up. Even with the gaps it's hard to see, so I rely mostly on my nose and ears to locate where the ponies are standing at all times. Considering all the noise that they make and how they smell, I can practically see where each of them is standing.
The hardest part is that there are ten different airships that are currently docked, and I have little idea where each one is going or where they've been. And as I can't understand what the horses are saying, I just can't wait until one of them says where they're heading. Not that it would matter, I don't know where anything is in this godforsaken place.
Alright Logan, it's time to think. None of these ships smell like the royals or Alicia. But there has to be a way to tell which of these you need to take in order to get closer to the girl. The first thing I should do is smell each of them and see what I come up with.
Thanks to all of the noise going on above me, none of the ponies hear me as I leap from pillar to pillar and punch holes in them with my claws. I climb up close to underneath one of the airships, staying just out of sight of the ponies. I take in a whiff and am greeted with the scent of a desert. That's not the one I'm looking for.
I repeat the process six different times, each time coming up short with what I'm looking for. While some of the airships smell interesting, there's nothing there that tells me where I need to go. I feel my anger starting to bubble as I claw my way towards the seventh ship, and I start to wonder if I'll need to go back into the water in a moment to cool myself off.
But as I take a sniff of the seventh ship, I'm greeted with the scent of a city that might be on top of a mountain. While the thought of a city on a mountain intrigues me slightly, I feel a smile crack across my face when I realize that I've caught a faint trace of this scent before. I close my eyes and recall all of the scents that I had caught a whiff of, when battling with the white royal. The smell of Alicia is the first to come to mind, followed by the smell of cake. But then my smile grows wider as I notice that she too smelled of the mountains...and of a city.
"Bingo," I mutter aloud before I start to climb my way up onto the ship, taking care only to move when I was certain that there were enough sounds to cover my movements. I also began to weigh how long I was going to wait. I could wait until nightfall and sneak aboard, but from the number of ponies that I noticed moving cargo onto the ship, I doubt that it will be here that long. But if I try to sneak on in the middle of the day, I might be spotted. But if I'm not on when it takes off, then I lose another chance at finding Alicia.
I have to risk it. Who knows what that girl has gone through since she's gotten here? I bet she wants to go home right about now. I know I do. I sheath my claws before grabbing hold of the planks above me, hoping that they can support my weight. Then I start to move across them monkey bars style, with only my fingers holding me above the river down below.
Slowly, I inch myself closer towards the side of the ship that none of the ponies can see, planning on hiding on that side until we're away from the port. A cry of surprise and pain escapes my lips when I feel a hoof stomp down on top of one of my fingers. For a moment, I'm worried that I've been found out, but as I start to hear two voice shout at each other I realize that two ponies must have gotten into an argument.
That's the good news. The bad news is that some asshole up there is standing on my finger and it hurts like hell. I consider stabbing the pony, but that's a good way to get myself noticed. So I slowly begin to wiggle my finger to worm it out from underneath his hoof. It takes me a good minute, but eventually I manage to get it free. I sigh in relief before moving my hand to the next plank.
Anger floods through me when I feel the asshole's hoof come down on my other fingers. That's it.
SNIKT!
I hear the pony yelp in pain as I slightly extend my claw into his hoof. I know that the moment he felt the pain of my claw, he'd look down for what stabbed him. So I move quickly, swinging my body forward and letting go of the planks only to grab onto the ones at the end of the walkway. I hear the sounds of the planks cracking overhead and I know that I have only seconds to act. The claws on my right hand extend fully and I lunge forward to plunge them into the underside of the airship.
The planks give out the second I do this and I glance down to watch them fall into the waters below. I take a brief second to recover before the second set of claws come out and I start to scale the side of the airship that the ponies can't see. There's a set of decorative fins that provide some cover, and I claw my way underneath one of those, closing my eyes as I wait for the screaming to start the moment I'm spotted.
The shouting never comes and after a moment I crack my eyes open to see that the airship that I'm on is a bright yellow with blue decorative paint. The same colors as my suit, practically camouflaging me perfectly.
Go figure.
||X||
I don't know if I can believe what I'm seeing. When Luna first brought me to Canterlot, I had expected to see something terrible, but this...this is something I could have never imagined. Because as I stare through the glass that looked into the emergency room, I try to grapple with the fact that I'm looking at Princess Celestia fight for her life.
Her body is terrible to look at. She's been ripped apart, with so many claw slashes and impalements upon her body that I'm amazed any of her blood stayed within her. Speaking of blood, her coat is completely stained red, with barely any of her white color coming through her new coat. And then there's her right wing...or lack of now, I guess. Now there's just a stump.
"What happened to her?" I ask Luna with terror, a terror that's reflected in the princess' eyes when I look up at her. I don't know how she's managing to keep herself look so calm. If this were my sister, I'd be freaking out, filled with rage, or maybe both. But I wouldn't be calm and collected. Guess that's why she's a leader.
"From what she told me before she passed out, she engaged the clawed beast at sunset last night, with a team of ponies that you used to work with." Her face might be calm, but the moment Luna speaks I can hear the absolute terror that she's going through. "At first the battle went well. Celestia said that she was winning, even. Then the creature tore its skin, all of it, off of its arms and went... berserk. It was like it had lost its soul. She stood no chance after that. It sliced through her magic, through her shields...the others. There was nothing she could do."
"The clawed creature...did this?" I weakly repeat before turning my gaze back to Celestia. Celestia was an alicorn. She held within her one of the strongest magical powers in all of Equestria. Most would say that she was the strongest in all of Equestria by herself. And the creature with claws did this to her. Faust help us all...wait a moment.
"What about the others?" I ask Luna. Luna then slowly looks down at me, sorrow in her eyes as she shakes her head. My heart sinks into my stomach.
"From what little I got out of my sister, when it became clear that the clawed creature was overpowering my sister, they stepped in to try and save her. And...it slaughtered them," Luna tells me with her voice cracking every few words. "They stood no chance. It had sliced two of them into pieces before Celestia could react. By the time she realized there was nothing she could do, it had already killed the third...your friend."
"Wildfire," I whisper in a broken tone.
"Her sacrifice bought Celestia enough time to escape with her life. I know that it doesn't make the pain any better, but I thought you'd want to know."
I'm barely listening to Luna at this point. I stare at the gravely injured Celestia and wonder how this could have happened? How could everything have gone so wrong? Back when we all worked for the agency, we were prepared every day to give our lives stopping the monsters that plagued our land...but I don't think any of us would have believed that we would have died after we retired. Not like this.
"What are you going to do now?" I ask Luna in a near whisper. I don't look up to see her face, but from the long silence that answers me, I know that she's wearing a look of pain and confusion.
"I...do not know. What I have done...I strengthened the guards around here in case the creature makes it to the city. Other than that...aside from bringing you here, I have not left my sister's side," Luna admits. "And honestly, I do not know what to do. I want to gather Twilight and her friends to help fight this creature, but after seeing what it has done to my sister...I fear for their lives. The doctors say that the only reason that my sister still lives is because of her immortality as an alicorn. If Twilight and her friends were to fight it...there is no guarantee any of them would survive."
"What about you? Are you going to avenge your sister?"
"I...do not know if I can. Celestia was stronger than me in nearly every way. And even she could not stop it. I fear that I would fare no better." I glance up at Luna to see that she's hanging her head in shame, guilt and regret blazing in her eyes as she stares at her sister.
I'm the same way. Regret tears apart my heart as I think about my friend. I hadn't been there for her. I hadn't been a part of the team. We always stick together. That was one of the most important rules that they taught us back during our training, and I didn't follow it. Now my friend and two of my colleagues are dead.
I should only be feeling sorrow. I should only be hating myself. But even though both of those emotions are crushing my soul...I feel two more emotions. One is a rage. An unending rage that will not be quelled until I have slain this creature with my own two hooves. But the other, I am ashamed to admit, is interest. I am interested in this creature. I want to know more about it. I want to know if I can beat it. I have to try, at least. For Wildfire.
"I'll take it on," I tell myself, more than I do Luna. My words do cause the princess to look at me with both fear and disbelief.
"Sweetie Drops, you cannot. My sister-"
"Was powerful. She was brilliant. And she is kind. But she didn't spend practically all of her life training to fight monsters, did she?" I ask Luna. Luna apparently realizes that I have a plan, because she doesn't say anything. "You said it yourself, Princess. In all the years that I fought monsters, not one of them was able to ever defeat me. I'm the only member of the old organization that has never been bested by a monster of any sorts. Not when I was at my peak. Not when I was a rookie. I'll take on this creature."
Luna stares at me for a long moment, and all the while I stare back at her, waiting to hear her response. The look that she's giving me isn't one of worry or fear for my safety. She's wondering if I can do it. She's wondering if the best monster fighter that she has ever known can win this fight. Then I see her expression shift and doubt forms in her eyes. She's going to say no. I need to change her mind.
"Please, Princess Luna. For my comrade. For Wildfire." I've won. Luna is wearing an expression of defeat upon her face and a moment later she sighs and nods her head.
"You are correct, Sweetie Drops. No other pony alive has as much experience combating monsters as you. What do you need of me?"
"I'm going to need most of my old gadgets. Also, I might need the addresses of some old teammates. And access to the science labs that you have hidden under the castle," I inform Luna, and I smile slightly when she looks at me with surprise. "I'm also a pretty good spy, Princess. I know about them. Do you also think you can find the creature again?"
"Yes, one of my soldiers of the night managed to insert a magical tracker onto its clothing during their battle. So far, the creature has not seemed to notice," Luna informs me. "But why would you want to know where its location is?" She is not going to like my answer.
"Because in order to learn about what I'm fighting, first I'm going to need some intel on it," I inform Luna with a grim look upon my face. "And seeing as there's only one of these creatures that we know of, the only way I can learn about it is getting up close and personal. Let's hope that I can survive the first encounter to make sure it doesn't survive the second."
These airships are slow. Makes me miss the Blackbird. Been clinging to the side of this ship for over half a day now, if the sun is any indication. Of course, I've also realized that the sun hasn't been moving like it should be. Seems to be going slower then when I first got here. Wonder if it had anything to do with that royal pony I fought with the sun tattoo. Yeah, I pay attention to stuff like the sun moving. Even the smallest bit of information can be helpful.
What wasn't helpful was that the ponies up on the deck above me either have no idea how to fly this thing, or I've got saddled with new recruits. Because we barely missed a tall tree a few hours back and about twenty minutes ago the navigator nearly smeared us against the side of a mountain. The moment I get Alicia back to our world, I'm going to ask Chuck to erase all of my memories of this world and then sleep it off like a bad hangover.
Not that I really know what it's like to have a hangover. Healing factor keeps those away really well. Means I can drink as much as I want and barely get buzzed. However, it doesn't keep away the biting cold that's currently eating its way through my suit. Beast, next time ya create a suit that can fix itself, how about you make it repair the insulation as well?
The sounds of fighting coming from above distract me from the cold. I perk up my ears to hear the sound of a hoof hitting flesh, followed by the sounds of a body crashing onto wood. The scrambling of hooves tells me that whoever just ate it is back on their hooves, and from the sounds of fighting I take it things just got real interesting. I debate whether I should risk being spotted just to watch two ponies beat the hell out of each other. It's no contest.
I climb up the side of the ship, figuring that if they haven't found me with their magic or with their flying horses, then I'm good to go. Still, I chose an area that has numerous boxes to hide behind before I peek up to see how the fight's going.
The two ponies currently painting the deck with their blood are two bruiser-looking guys, probably brought on board for their muscle instead of their brains. Whatever they're arguing about I have no idea, but as I glance at the other deckhooves I can tell from their faces that this isn't the first time they've seen these two fight. Instead, they're placing bets and watching the action while cheering. Now these ponies I like.
I pull the upper half of my body onto the railing and lean against it, digging my claws into the backs of one of the boxes. Once I make sure that none of them have seen me, I shift the boxes slightly so that I have just enough room to see while the boxes cover my presence. I count seven ponies besides the ones that are fighting, and a quick glance at the helm shows me that the wheel is moving despite there not being a pony there. Magic it is.
Figuring that I should pick a side, I go for the one that doesn't have a scar over his face. Scars can mean that someone is really tough and can take pain, but they can also mean that that person was too slow to get out of the way of whatever gave him that scar. And from the way my horse is fighting, I'm figuring that the latter is correct.
"Alright Rocky, you got this," I commentate under my breath as the two keep fighting. "Remember to be loose, stick and move." Don't know if I've got the quotes right. Been a while since I've seen a movie and my brain's been messed with quite a few times since then.
My boy takes my advice and starts to duck and weave past his friend's punches, managing to get a good shot in on the others pony's guts. The stallion with the scar (gonna call him Scar) snarls and throws a wild haymaker in response. I shake my head in disappointment as my guy (gonna stick with Rocky) fails to dodge the hit. He blocks it, but the force of the swing still staggers him and leaves him open.
"Come on Rocky, ya got this," I cheer quietly from the sidelines. Scar doesn't press the attack and instead says something. Probably taunting my boy. That's a bad idea. A smirk crosses my face when my prediction comes true and Rocky throws a quick jab that catches Scar right in the mouth. "Good job Rock, but don't let up. Keep on him."
I know that the horses can't hear or understand me, but I smile when Rocky follows my advice and keeps up the pressure on his foe, landing body shot after body shot to take the wind out of Scar's sails. Scar tries to use his bigger size to smother my boy, but Rocky's smart enough to slip to the side and wind up a massive punch that catches Scar right in the side of the head. The big boy goes down without another word and falls to the deck, leaving Rock to start hollering in victory while the others applaud.
"Ding ding. And the winner is..." I mutter before sliding back down to the side of the ship. I'm glad that I managed to alleviate the boredom a bit, but now I'm stuck down here and God only knows how long it's going to take Scar to be ready for round two. I feel the wind shift on us and the ponies above start barking out orders in response. Wonder if I decked some of their members if they'd let me come up there and-
SNIKT!
My other claw comes out as a scent reaches my nose. I swing my body around towards where the wind is blowing from, knowing that the wind is what brought that scent. I can't be certain of what caused me to go into alert, with so many new scents brought in by the new breeze. But there was something in there, something that I haven't smelled in quite a while.
I narrow my eyes on the horizon, spying what looks to be the smallest traces of smoke. I'm instantly reminded of the town that I came across a few days back, the one that had been burned to the ground and its citizens slaughtered. There are faint traces of smoke on the winds and it worries me.
Now I'm torn, though. Do I stay with the ship and have them take me to where the girl might be? Or do I go see if any of these ponies need my help? I argue over it for a moment before I let out a frustrated snarl. Avenger. Means I help others.
"Sorry, guys, but this is my stop!" I call up to the ponies on the deck before retracting my claws, loosing my grip on the side of the ship and causing me to plummet straight down towards an unforgiving forest floor. Why does this world have so many damned forests? And then the pain started.
||X||
It's been a long time since I've been in this room. I gaze up at the starry ceiling with a sense of awe, the same feeling that I had the first time I saw it. That's because all the stars on this ceiling move in real time, without the sun there to block them. This was the lecture hall back when my organization was still around. I spent many hours learning how to survive in here. They seemed to have worked.
I'm worried about what I'm going to say to my old team. I'm not even sure I should convince them to come back, even if they want to. This creature is terrifying. I'm not afraid to admit that it scares me. But I'm also intrigued and I also promised Luna that I would stop it. And I'm trying not to break promises anymore.
I hear the sounds of hooves and I turn around with a smile as I spy my three old friends. The first is a massive yellow and black stallion that we dubbed "Stinger" due to him looking like a wasp--and the fact that when he punches you, it hurts. The next is "Lens," a pure black mare who is incredibly skilled at gaining intel on an opponent and also has a hobby for photography. Then there's "Reaper," a white mare with a black suit that covers everything up to her mouth. Her name speaks for her skills. There was a fifth member. And then the clawed creature killed her.
"Well, look who it is!" Stinger says with a large smile as he races right up to me and pulls me into one of his bone breaking hugs. I make myself go limp to avoid as much damage as possible until he lets me go. "Been almost six years since we saw you last! How goes it, Sweetie Drops?"
Sweetie Drops. My code name. They called me that because I was sweet one moment and would then drop a pony the next. It fits me. Still does. Lens takes a picture of me while Reaper just nods at me from the background, her white mane covering half of her face.
"I'm happy to see all of you again," I say with a genuine smile to each of them. While I wasn't as close to these three as I was Wildfire, they're still my allies and friends. Then my face darkened. "I wish that I could meet you all again on better terms, but there is a reason that I've called you in here. And that's because-"
"Because of the Wolf, right?" Stinger interrupts. I give him a confused look in reply. "The Wolf. The clawed creature that ripped apart that village and Celestia? That's why you've brought us together, isn't it? Don't worry, Luna gave us the details when she got each of us."
"Okay, but why 'Wolf'?" Stinger has a habit where he likes to name the monsters that we come across. A sixth of the creatures on file have either been named or given a nickname by him.
"Well, you know how that creature's claws make kind of a "W" whenever they carve into something? So, I was thinking we give it a name that starts with a "W." Like Wolf," he explains with a large grin.
"Yes, except that wolves don't have claws like that," Lens adds as she pulls out a picture of the creature, before giving me a knowing stare. "And we heard about Wildfire from Luna as well. So go ahead Sweetie, give us your whole 'why it's too dangerous for us to help you' like you always do, and then we can get down to what really matters."
They know me too well.
"I'm not asking any of you to stay because it might be too dangerous. We've all fought too dangerous and we came through. Why I'll ask if any of you simply want to be support, is so you don't get dragged back into this," I say as I motion to the area around us. The lab. "We got out. We were given a second chance to live a normal life. But if we go back in, there's the risk that we might not make it back to our normal lives. I just want to make sure that you're all okay with this before any of you sign on."
"Sweetie, please. If you actually kept in touch with us instead of going all ghost on us, you would know that none of us have normal lives," Stinger laughs before showing me his hoof, which was chipped and bloodied. "You know what I do with my "normal life?" Three time cage fighting champion. And not always against ponies."
"I go around the world and photograph all sorts of things. Locations, sights...giant colossi, and creatures that would make nightmares afraid," Lens smirks at me as she adjust her glasses. "And Reaper over there? She never got out. She's still the same old assassin that we know and love, except now she hunts evil beings instead of evil monsters. None of us have really gotten out, dear. And neither have you."
"What do you mean?"
"You went to live in Ponyville, the one place in Equestria that gets more monster attacks, supernatural disasters and world ending beings than anywhere else in all of the world," Stinger says to me with a knowing smirk. "You still live for fighting monsters and can't tear yourself away. So don't try saying that we'll get sucked back in if we do this. We're already in. So the question shouldn't be why we will do this. It should be what will we do next?"
They really do know me all too well.
"Heh, I should have just told you guys the plan instead of bothering to ask," I mutter, getting three sets of nods in response. I then turn on the projector that I was sitting next to, bringing up an image of the creature on the wall. "This is the creature that has been plaguing Equestria for the past weeks. We don't have a name for it yet, but-"
"Wendigo? Werewolf? Wolverine?" Stinger mutters under his breath, but just loud enough so that all of us can hear his names.
"What we do know is that it's incredibly dangerous, with retractable claws that can seemingly slice through anything, and the ability to heal rapidly from any injury inflicted upon it," I tell the group as I bring up another picture of the creature with a hole in its side. "These were taking by villagers when it first showed up. These are also the only real pictures we have of it."
"It's also highly intelligent. From every source that's fought with it, they say that it was fast on its feet and an even faster thinker, quickly figuring out traps and evading capture," I continue, with all three sets of eyes upon me. "It's also very well trained, because our best fighters could barely keep up. The night guards also say that it has a heightened sense of smell, but it's safe to assume that its other senses might be heightened as well."
"So what's it after?" Lens asks as she looks up from her notes. "All intelligent monsters are after something."
"Right now we believe that it's after a human girl with powers, that Lyra and I have taken into our home," I admit to the group. Lens and Reaper give me a look while Stinger lets out a laugh.
"You're even adopting strange creatures now! What did you name her?"
"Imp." Stinger starts to clap with a laugh, but Reaper then places a hoof on his shoulder and he goes quiet.
"So, what's the plan then?" Lens asks. "We just going to go in guns blazing and hope for the best?"
"No. So far everypony else has tried that and they all failed. You don't beat an unknown by going in guns blazing," I reply, getting a huge smile out of Lens as I said this. "We're going to gather intel on this creature first. That means getting close, but not too close. And if we have to engage, we fight to stall for time, not to kill. Am I clear?"
Lens and Reaper both nod their heads, with Reaper nodding a little less than Lens. I then look at Stinger, who seems lost in thought. His head then shoots up and he's got a huge smile on his face.
"I've finally got it! The Wombat!"
My life is plagued by death.
That is my only thought as I enter into the remains of what once was a village of ponies. Now it's a village of corpses. You'd think that after living for so long and watching dozens of people I truly cared about die, that death wouldn't bother me at all. I'm more numb than most, but not completely. That's the only way I know that I still have my humanity.
Not that I can call what happened here 'death'. It's a complete slaughter. Bodies in the roads. Blood pouring through the streets. I've fought in multiple wars and even I could feel myself cringing at some of the ways the bodies here were ripped apart. But I force the disgusted thoughts down as I kneel next to one of the bodies, extending my claw next to the wound that killed this mare.
"Same as mine," I mutter to myself. Three slashes. That's what did her in. Three slashes that match up with the way my claws are separated. From the size of the wound and how deep it is, if I was trying to figure out who did this, I would say I did. But I didn't do this. So the questions is, who did?
I need clues. I start with the ring of ponies in guard armor that are laying dead in a circle. I walk up to them and immediately notice how close they were grouped together. There would have barely been any space behind any of them. Yet all of their stab wounds are in their backs or in the backs of their heads. How did whatever did this get behind them?
I move on to where a family was cut down, having to avert my eyes for a moment when I see that not even the youngest of ponies was spared. My blood boils at the sight, but I force myself to remain calm as I kneel down next to them. My eyes narrow into slits when I spy that one of these three ponies wasn't killed by the fire or claws. It was killed by a beam of energy. After getting hit with so many, I've gotten pretty good at telling an energy mark from other markings.
"But it ain't magic," I muttered as I run my fingers across the mark, barely any ash coming off of the spot. While my fingers are running across the pony's body, I feel its ribs move in a way that tells me they're shattered. Yet the only injury that I spy upon it is the energy burn. "So whatever kind of energy hit you, it also shattered your ribs and most likely your organs. A concussive beam of energy. That sounds all too familiar."
I'm starting to get worried. Back at the first village, I thought that whatever had done this was a creature from this land. I'm beginning to think otherwise. I continue to walk around the village, trying to find any trace of survivors. I find none.
What I do find is that even babies were slaughtered. My anger reaches critical mass when I glance down at the dead child, trying to keep myself under control. Thankfully I spy something to the side that distracts me from the bodies. It's a blanket. But when I pick it up, I find that on one side it's completely invisible. I glance from the blanket to the kid, then to the two ponies that I assume were the parents.
They hid it under a blanket that was completely invisible. A blanket that even I wouldn't be able to see through. Now that doesn't mean much, the kid could've been bawling its eyes out while under there and gave itself away. But if it did remain quiet, then whatever did this saw through complete invisibility...and I only know a handful of things that can do that.
"This is starting to look real bad," I mutter aloud. A village slaughtered and all by weapons that I'm familiar with. Yet it's clear that a battle was fought, but aside from the footprints and scents of the ponies there's nothing else here. No strange footprints. No foreign blood. And no smells that are out of the ordinary...well, for a dead village.
But I can't shake the feeling that's there's more going on. That there's something I'm missing. Something that I should know. I growl with frustration, but there's not much more I can do. I turn towards the exit to the village before I spy something on one of the burned buildings. It's another black mark made of ash, but this one is all too familiar. It's from where a bolt of lightning struck the wall. And judging from the angle, that bolt of lightning came down from above.
I glance up at the sky, remembering during my entire trip on the airship I didn't see a single cloud in the sky. And this village hasn't been burned long. Two days at most. I'm using most of my willpower to focus on only the scents I want to smell. Also trying not to gag on the other scents. But no clouds, yet there's a spot where lightning has struck. I know a lot about lightning strikes. A lot of teammates like to use lightning.
"That's three...maybe four," I mutter, a picture starting to form in my mind. But if I'm right and-
SNIKT SNIKT!
My claws are out and I spin around in half a second, cursing my stupidity. Someone managed to get the drop on me. I probably wouldn't have noticed if not for the sound of a camera shutter going off. I glare at a tree on the outskirts of the village and know that's where the sound came from. I sprint at full speed towards the tree and lunge up it with a bellow. I reach a branch just in time to see a pony in camouflage leap out of it.
She hits the ground a half second before I do. To my surprise she runs away from the trees and to a clearing not too far from us. I race after her in pursuit, gaining on her rapidly. Ponies might run fast, but when I run I can tear myself apart to go faster. And that's what I do.
I ignore the agony in my leg muscles as I catch up with the pony. I debate whether I should kebob her or just bring her down before I spy the camera tucked under her cloak. So I was right and she was taking pictures of me. Time to find out why. I reach out for her, deciding not to slice her legs off. My hands are practically on her cloak and-
Cold. A chilling cold. A cold that I have only felt twice in my life. Instincts screams at me like a rabid animal and I hurl myself to the ground, just in time to feel the very air be sliced above me. I tuck and roll, allowing me to get back up to my feet a moment later. I spin around to see a white horse with a completely black bodysuit, covering everything except for her eyes and mane. And the midnight black scythe that she has rested on her shoulder.
I'm really concerned now. If that scythe got such a reaction out of me, then it can't be good. I don't know if it can go through my skeleton, but I know getting hit by it would hurt like hell. I then look into the pony's eyes. They're a lot like mine. That means she's trouble.
I glance behind me at the mare with the camera to see that she has come to a stop and is now aiming that camera right at me, waiting for me to move. I then glance to my other sides to see a massive stallion on one side and a mare with candy on her flank on the other.
"Alright kids, ya found the monster," I snarl at them as I slash my claws together, causing sparks as I prepare for the battle. "I just hope ya live to regret it."
||X||
I'm scared now, even more so than before. We've got the creature surrounded and yet I'm still scared. Nopony has ever been able to dodge one of Reapers silent kills, yet this creature ducked under it. Now it knows that we're all here and it's glancing from one of us to the other.
It's incredible to see up close. The claws shine in the sunlight and I realize that they're made of metal. Metal claws. That's bad. It's also really muscular, which explains its strength. But what unnerves me the most is that I can't see its eyes. There's only two, white slits. No pupils. I know that it's part of the mask, but I hate it when I can't see my foe's eyes.
The creature clinks its claws together and then says something in a really masculine voice. Going to assume it's male. It was also pretty easy to find. The tracker that's attached to its clothes gave off a magical signal that would be impossible to miss. And guess where we found it? In the center of a town that's been wiped out. Quickly too, I might add. It's dangerous, that much is certain. But the fact that he found Lens even when she was perfectly hidden...
I nod to Stinger and Reaper. Time to go into action. I whip my arms around behind me and reach into my bag, just as Stinger and Reaper rush the creature. The creature turns its focus towards Stinger first and slams an elbow into his gut, sending him staggering back before he narrows in on Reaper. She swings her scythe twice with speeds that I can barely keep up with, but the creature ducks and weaves past the strikes with such precision that I wonder if it's his first time fighting a scythe wielder.
Got to focus. Got to let Lens do her thing. I pull out two small bombs that I've dubbed the "Cherry Bombs" and hurl them at the creature right when he ducks beneath another scythe swing. My aim is perfect and I wait to hear them detonate against his skin...but then he slashes out without looking and cleaves my two bombs to pieces.
It did that without looking. This thing is used to being in fights and is used to being outnumbered. That's the only way it could be so skilled. Stinger comes back into the fray and Reaper backs off to avoid hitting him, but the creature barely seems bothered by the switch in tactics.
Stinger throws out his quick yet painful punches that he's known for, but the creature blocks each strike with the back of his claws. Stinger backs up and shakes out his hooves with a pained expression. Yet the moment he's backed away, the creature hurls himself to the side and out of the range of Reaper's scythe. Her expression doesn't change, but I can tell from the way her style has changed that she's getting annoyed. No creature has evaded her for this long.
"That's fine," I mutter under my breath while glancing over at Lens. She's taking pictures with one hoof and recording the battle with the other. "She's getting what we came here for. We just have to make sure that she has enough."
The next item I pull out of my bag is a massive block of metal I call "Jawbreaker." Guess why? I whip out a slingshot as well and take aim at the creature, letting the shot fly when he's distracted with both Stinger and Reaper. Whether he saw it coming or not I have no idea, but he doesn't avoid it and the breaker catches him right in the side of his skull. For a moment he seems staggered...and then the ball made of metal cracks in half and falls to the ground.
My soul drops as the creature slowly turns to gaze at me, eyes narrowed with fury. He then slowly lifts his hand and extends one finger up in the air, before a smirk crosses his face and he turns back to the battle with the others. I'm left trying to figure out what just happened. That ball was solid metal. And it cracked against his skull, which should be solid bone. Then I glance at his metal claws and a thought comes to me.
"REAPER! I want to see this bastard's bones!" I call to Reaper before I reach into my bag and whip out my two candy cane-like knives. I like sweets, alright? Long range isn't cutting it, I need to get in close. I close the gap in a quick gallop before going low and slashing at the creature's ankles. Yet even with it fighting both Stinger and Reaper it still manages to swing an arm down and slice right through both of my knives.
I then smile up at the creature, because that's what I wanted. It gives me a look before Reaper's scythe flashes and the creature roars in pain. It pushes Stinger away before lunging backwards, glancing down at its side where a large chunk of flesh has been removed. My eyes narrow as I see one of its ribs poking through its wound...and it's made of the same metal as the claws.
"Guys, its entire skeleton is either made of or covered in metal! Be careful!" I call out to the others. Then the creature's wound begins to heal. I'm no expert on anatomy, but I've never seen a wound heal as rapidly as his did, even with magic. In a matter of moments the wound was just a red patch and then even his damn suit begins to repair itself as well.
"Does everything on this guy heal?" Stinger asks me before the creature lifts its head to face us. The smile is gone and replaced with a look of fury. We've made it mad. That was the last thing Celestia did to it.
I back pedal as fast as I can to get away from the creature while Stinger and Reaper engage it. Stinger throws a haymaker, but the creature ducks underneath the punch before leaping up, and slams his skull into Stinger's face. Stinger goes down without another word, just in time for Reaper to swing her scythe towards the creature. He bellows in response as he swipes his claws towards the scythe.
Made of dragon scales and mythril. Forged in the hottest of furnaces. And wielded by the most deadly assassin that I know. That is the scythe that Reaper uses. And the claws of the creature cut the blade clean in two. Reaper is just as stunned as me, but she retained enough sense to leap away from the follow up that the creature did. Reaper drops what's left of her scythe and pulls out a long blade, but I can see fear in her eyes even at this distance. Even a coldblooded assassin is scared of him. That's it.
"Team, pull out!" I order. Reaper nods and races over to Stinger while I throw down "Gum Drops" around the creature's feet. The gum explodes and cements the creature to the ground, but I know with his claws it will only be a few moments before he's free. That's all the time I need. Reaper brings Stinger over to Lens and I join them momentarily. The three of us then turn our heads towards the creature that has just cut itself free. It bellows before lunging towards us, claws flashing in the sunlight.
"Don't worry. We'll meet again," I promise it. And then the four of us vanish in a flash of lunar light.
I hold a hand to my side as I march through the forest, a sneer on my face. Whatever that pony with the scythe did to me, it still hurts. I know that I'm not actually hurt, the wound healed long ago, but the phantom pain is still there. Am I just imagining it or did that pony have some sort of voodoo that made this pain last?
I push the pain out of my mind while turning my focus to the group of ponies that attacked me. They were nothing like anything I've faced since I've gotten here. They were focused, skilled and worked as a team incredibly well. And they weren't there to kill me. I bet they would have liked to, but I know that wasn't the goal. That's why the pony with the camera was there. They were documenting me, learning how I fight and how I move. I'll give them credit, that's pretty clever of them.
The one that had hung back and used candy-like weapons seemed to be the leader, from how much she barked. The one with the scythe was the biggest threat. Need to be worried about her the next time we fight. The bruiser isn't much of a challenge. I just need to tag him once and it's game over. But how did they find me so easily? Did they notice the destroyed village as well? Or are they somehow tracking me? Questions for later.
I cleave through the brush with my claws, sniffing the air as I move. The battle with the ponies wasn't a total loss for me, though. That one with the candy weaponry (I've seen weirder) was practically drenched in the scent of Alicia. And now I can smell the girl. I don't have her pinpointed, but I have a general idea what direction in need to head.
I'm not that far from wherever they're keeping her. Another couple days if I keep moving through the night and day. I tilt my head upwards and take in another whiff, detecting the girl's scent upon the winds blowing in from the northeast. I change my pace and start to move that way. I glance down to notice a faint path, meaning that at one time that village was connected to wherever I'm going. At least I assume so.
'Logan.'
This time I don't jump at the voice suddenly appearing in my head. I've been expecting a call from Chuck for a while now.
"Hey, Chuck. Wondered when ya were going to call me," I reply as I lean up against a tree.
'It has indeed been a while, Logan. Two weeks about. How are things going? Have you retrieved Alicia yet? How is the scenery where you are?' Good old Chuck. Always focused on the mission yet still able to try and strike up a casual conversation.
"I'm closing in on the girl. The locals here have been less than kind to my presence. With the way they're trying to kill me ya would think that they've heard of me before," I joke, but I feel Chuck's presence become a bit darker than before.
'Logan, you wouldn't have done anything that would warrant such actions against you, have you?' There it is. The daddy is upset with you tone. I've heard it so many times that it's rare when he's not using it.
"Chuck, it's me we're talking about. I've left a few bodies, but only because they attacked me." Chuck sighs on the other end and I know he's restraining himself from giving me a lecture.
'Logan...what is bothering you?' Right, he can read me like a book. He knows that my mind isn't completely on Alicia at the moment. 'There is another thought with your mind that is distracting you from the mission. And whenever you get distracted, it is usually not a good thing.'
"I've come across two villages. Villages where the entire populace was completely slaughtered," I tell Chuck, but he probably already went through my mind and figured that out already. Or maybe not. Chuck doesn't like to do that if he doesn't have to. "Not only is that out of the ordinary for this seemingly cute and colorful world, but I've found wounds that are eerily similar to some of our associates."
Chuck goes silent for a few minutes after I tell him this. I close my eyes and focus completely on the wounds that I saw so he can see them too, if he happens to be in my mind. I'm waiting for him to tell me what to do next. I'm no leader. I'm a strategist, but no leader. I tend to get angry way too quickly to be an effective leader.
"Chuck, what do you think I should do?" I ask him when he doesn't break the silence. I want to do something. I don't like to sit still unless I have to.
'The most important thing to us right now is securing Alicia and bringing her home. That is what we should do,' Chuck instructs me. I nod and start to head towards where Alicia's scent is. 'However, stopping whatever is killing the creatures in that land is what would be most important to the innocent there.'
"Giving me mixed signals here, Chuck."
'The choice is up to you, Logan. Do you secure the girl or do you save the creatures? You are the only one that can make that choice right now.'
"Great, helpful as always. Anything else you want to tell me before you get out of my head?"
'Just that we have a way to bring you home whenever you are ready.' Finally, a bit of good news. 'Beast managed to construct a portal that we can open at anytime to bring you home. However, due to the nature of the world you are in, Beast theorizes that the portal can only open once before it breaks. Meaning that we can only use it when you are ready to come back.'
"And I won't be ready until I've got Alicia in my arms," I tell Chuck. I start to walk again, reaching a crossroad where the faint path heads towards Alicia's scent. But the other path goes off in a direction that doesn't seem to lead anywhere. "Alright Chuck, going to hang up for now. I'll call again when I'm ready to come home."
'Alright, Logan. And know that I trust you, even if you do not always trust yourself. You're a good man.'
Sometimes I think he's the only one that believes that. I feel Chuck's presence leave my mind, allowing me to finally think in peace. I know that if I head to the left that I will find Alicia. That much is certain. I then tilt my head and sniff to the right. Many smells enter my nose as I do this. Most of them I recognize.
But then there's this one smell. So faint that I can barely detect it. It's a smell that feels familiar yet at the same time is new to me. I rarely forget a scent. I assume that whatever this scent is has something to do with whatever has been killing the ponies and burning down their villages. But now I'm faced with a question. Do I go straight for Alicia and get her before the ponies have time to learn about me? Or do I track down whatever this thing is that's killing all of them, despite knowing that it won't stop the ponies from trying to kill me?
I let out a sigh as I look up at the blue sky overhead. The answer is easy. I used to be a monster that hurt and killed a long time ago. Sometimes I still can be. But I refuse to believe that the monster, the berserker, is who I really am. I have to believe that I'm a better person than that. I know what monsters can do to the lives of others. The pain they can cause to a family or community...it never goes away. That's why I have to stop it before it can do what I have done.
I snarl before turning to my right and racing off after the faint scent, knowing that this only gives the ponies more time to prepare for me. But they didn't ask to be stuck with me, to have a mutant with claws and a healing factor create chaos in their land. All they want is to be left in peace. And after I kill this thing and grab Alicia, I'll leave them to their peace. Peace isn't my cup of tea.
||X||
I'm just lowering my hoof from knocking on the castle doors when they open up and I find myself face to face with Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight. I still haven't really gotten over that yet. Just about a year ago she was just another unicorn, albeit a smart one, that lived close to me and Lyra. And now here she is, ruler of friendship and protector of all of magic. Too bad that title came with an ugly castle.
"Hello, Bon-Bon. I didn't expect to see you here today," Twilight says in a polite, but confused tone. I bow to her slightly, knowing that she doesn't like being bowed to. She steps aside and allows me to enter into her castle, a place that I try to avoid if I can. I don't like castles. Never have. Too open, to grand...to prone to being attacked every few weeks.
"Can I help you with something? Lyra mentioned to me that you wanted to see me, but she said that you didn't tell her about what," Twilight continues. I nod before walking down the long corridor, glancing at each of the rooms. I'd prefer one with no windows, where we can't be overhead. But of course, every room in this place has a window. Whatever, the corridor is just as good a place as any.
"Twilight, I'm here to talk to you about something that I'm sure you and Lyra have discussed plenty. Humans." For brief seconds I see a shadow fall over Twilight's face, but in the next moment it's gone and she looks at me with confusion. Nice try, Twilight, but now I know you know exactly what I'm about to talk to you about.
"I see. Well, the secret's out I guess. I've been to the human world a few times," Twilight admits with a small laugh, but I give her a look that tells her that's not what I'm here for. "You're not here for that. You're here to talk about humans like Imp...and the clawed creature."
"Correct," I say in a professional tone. "I'm also here for any information that you have on them. Biology, strengths, weaknesses...anything that you can spare." Twilight gives me a look that I've seen her give a few bad characters, meaning that she's about to go into one of her speeches. Faust help me.
"Bon-Bon...you shouldn't be fighting this thing. You should be leaving it to me and my friends," she begins, trying to reason with me. "This thing is way too dangerous for you! Look what it did to Celestia! What it's done to two villages now! You don't have to concern yourself with it."
"It killed a good friend of mine, Twilight. This is my battle," I remind her with a cold voice. "And you said it yourself. Look what it did to Celestia. Who's to say it wouldn't do the same to you?"
"Because I'd have my friends with me. When we're a team, there isn't a threat that we can't handle." She's not thinking. Or rather, she's thinking this will be like her past battles, with magical creatures that want power or world domination. This creature doesn't want any of that. It simply wants Imp and will kill anything in its path to get her. Twilight needs to learn that.
"Celestia had a team with her. My friend and two other teammates that devoted their entire lives to fighting monsters," I remind her in a quiet voice. "We spent nearly fifteen years learning every way to trap, fight or kill any monster that we might come across, Twilight. We've fought things that you can't even dream of. We're professionals. And the three of them were slaughtered by this thing."
"We have the magic of friendship on our side," Twilight states with sheer confidence.
"It has metal claws that can slice through anything. HE has an ability to heal from a fatal wound within mere moments. And he has something that you lack. Experience." Twilight tilts her head in confusion at that statement, meaning I'm going to have to explain more. "You didn't see him fight. We had numbers, we had training and we had the element of surprise, sort of. And not only did he hold all of us off, but he downright kicked our flanks. He's used to fighting, Twilight. Maybe he's even fought creatures with magic before, or beings with powers like his. Beings far more powerful than him. And he's still alive."
"We have to at least try. With Luna and maybe Cadence on our side, we can fight this thing. He could fight one alicorn. I say, let's see how he handles three." She has an unwavering conviction. That's probably how she's gotten as far as she has. I let out a sigh as I force myself to not get angry. Twilight's heart is in the right place. She wants to help us, to make sure we don't get hurt. But the more I learn about this creature, the more afraid of it I become.
"Alright, Twilight. How about this? If me and my team can't stop this thing, can't put it in the ground, then you have my blessing to unleash all of your alicorn might upon it," I say with another sigh of surrender, but by the look that Twilight's giving me it's not good enough.
"How about my friends and I take on the creature first? And if it gets past us, then I guess we'll have no choice but to rely on you and your team?" she counter-offers with a sly smirk. There's no point in arguing any further. She's set on her decision. Might as well play along.
"Fine. But can I still have all the information on humans that you've got? Even if it's not like the humans you met, any information that we can use to learn about this creature would be beneficial."
"Sure. Stay here and I'll go gather all of my notes."
I watch as Twilight takes off into the castle, not sure whether I should be grateful or upset at her determination to help me. I want to be the one to avenge Wildfire. I want to be the one to stop this thing. I want to prove that even though our organization is gone, I'm still able to hold my own against the monsters of this world. But if Twilight and her friends end it, then Wildfire's still avenged and I don't have to give up my perfect life.
But this isn't about me. This creature is after Imp. The magical tracker is showing that it's getting closer and closer to us. It knows where she is. And Twilight and her friends have stopped so many threats before, so why wouldn't they beat this one as well? As long as Imp's safe, I don't care who kills the creature. It already took her home once. I'll do anything to make sure that the creature never harms her again.
"We should still study up on it. Just in case," I mutter to myself. Just in case it gets by Twilight and her friends. Just in case I have to fight that thing by myself. And if I have to, I'll need every advantage that I can get.
Blood. Fire. Screaming.
That's what assaults my senses. Even miles away I can still hear them. Ponies crying out. The smoke pluming up into the sky. My body is being ripped apart as I run with all of my might, tearing my leg muscles apart for extra speed only for my healing factor to stich them back together.
It's been three days since I started to hunt this thing. I didn't think that I'd find it so quickly. I had also hoped that there wouldn't be bodies. Guess I'm just not that lucky after all. And neither were they. The forest around me has been torn apart, but I only notice that in passing as I sprint down a hill towards the town which has been set ablaze. Not a small village this time. This is a large town. Whatever has been doing this has finally gone after the big fish.
"Hang on!" I roar into the blazing town as I reach the bottom of the hill and sprint into the town, but after a few seconds I roar in pain and collapse to my knees. The pain finally caught up with me, forcing me to take a break. I've got a higher pain tolerance than most, but even I have to rest eventually. When my healing factor returns my legs to normal, I shoot back to my feet and start to run through the streets again.
Now I'm worried. Not about whatever is causing this, but because the screaming has stopped. An entire town and not a single cry for help or of pain. Whatever did this has either managed to get all of these horses to be quiet or it's slaughtered all of them.
I find the first body next to hundreds of others. From the decoration and the festive looking items that I see strewn around the bodies I'm guessing that they had a festival today. Meaning that nearly all of the ponies would have been out in the open, making them easy targets. I kneel down next to one of the bodies, examining the corpse. It's been here for at least a day. This thing has been busy.
I continue my run through the streets, trying to find anyone. Either to save or to kill. Either will do. But all I find is fire, death and destruction. Just like with all of the other places, there is no mercy being shown. Adult or child, all have been killed by this thing. And from the wounds that have been inflicted, I know that it's my same buddy that I've been tracking.
This is the thing that has been responsible for my pain and the pain of the ponies here. And because of it, the ponies have been constantly going after me for the deaths of all those ponies. I don't need to speak their language to see the accusation that flashes in their eyes every time they fight me. I've seen enough of that in my life to know when it's being directed at me.
More bodies greet me as I continue down the roads, unable to find a sole survivor. All of them have been killed by either claws, lasers, lightning or a few other ways that I recognize as well. None of them make me feel any better about what I'm going up against. Maybe I'm wrong and it's not what I think it is.
But as I tilt my head back and sniff the air, I can smell a metallic smell far more clearly than before, that erases all doubt. Now I finally have the bastard's scent. What worries me now is that the scent isn't new to me. Great. I take off sprinting once more, following the smell as best I can through the town of death and fire. There's no point in me trying to save it. Even if I could combat the flames, this thing has done a good job of leaving no survivors. I hear no cries. I see no movement. It's like my worst nightmares, except I'm not the being killing everything.
The park. That's where it is. I smell its metallic ass that I'm going to kick in. I spy trees growing off in the distance and race as fast as I can, extending my claws while preparing myself. I'm going to kill it, that much is certain. The only thing I don't know is if I'll be able to. This one is different.
I let out a roar that would scare the shit out of any living being before I crash down on all fours, seething with hatred as I lift my head towards my foe. It has its back facing me and an arm extended, extended towards three helpless ponies who cower beneath it. Two adults and a kid. They aren't going to run. They're too scared. That means I have to get to them now.
With every last ounce of strength I possess, I hurl myself towards the back of the being, claws extended as I prepare to shred it to bits. I have to get there. I have to save them. The a flash of light erupts from the creature's eyes. And they're all dead.
I bellow with fury as I land on the back of the creature with a metallic clang, taking aim at its neck with one of my claws. Out of the corner of my eye I see two of the ponies' bodies fall to the ground, while the third had its lower half disintegrated by the blast. I failed to save them. Once again, I have to bear the burden of the deaths of the innocent because I was too slow. That's a pain I'm familiar with. No time to get emotional, Logan. Time to aven-
Faster than I would have given the tin can credit for, its head spins around and fires a blast of energy into my chest. I feel myself go flying through the air before I crash into the ground. I kick back up and let out a roar. I don't feel the pain. I'm far too pissed to feel anything but rage right now.
The machine turns around to face me and I recognize it almost immediately. The white coloring; the metal that its made of. The fact that I want to go on a killing spree, by just looking at the face of a creation that has caused me and my friend so much pain. And now it's here, killing everything in this land.
"Listen and listen well, bub. You've gone and done something that ya shouldn't have done," I say to the machine in between snarls. "And because of that, I'm not going to stop until every last piece of you has been so thoroughly ripped apart that even Stark won't be able to put you back together. Any last words, ya damn piece of scrap metal?!"
The thing glares at me. We're about the same height, same build, and same look of hatred in our eyes. Didn't even know these things could feel hatred. Must be a new model. But some things never change, because as I lunge towards the machine I hear it say,
"Mutant detected."
||X||
Three days. We've been watching the same footage of this creature fighting for three days. And despite having seen the images and footage hundreds of times, each time we re-watch it I find another reason to be afraid of this thing. His speed, his strength. The fact that he doesn't seem to feel pain, or if he does he hides it pretty well.
And then there are the claws. I had the local blacksmith come in to see if he could determine what they were made out of from the images, but without actually seeing them in pony, he told us that they could be made of anything. After telling him what they did to Reaper's scythe, he said that they couldn't be made of any material from this world.
But it's not all bad. Throughout these three days we've not only figured out how this creature likes to fight, but also how he responds to different situations. If teamed up on, he prefers to deal with the large threat while somewhat focusing on the lesser threat.
"He also appears to keep an eye on his surroundings while even in a fight, meaning that it's going to be hard to sneak up on him," I lecture to my teammates, but from the looks they give me they already knew this. I know that I've been beating material they already know into their heads, but I don't want any risk or uncertainty to be with us when we fight this thing. It could be fatal.
"So he's incredibly strong, can react to anything that we try to do, and has claws that slice through our strongest weapon. He also heals quick. So gang, any plan on how we're going to kill the Wombat before it kills us?" Stinger asks all of us with a laugh. He likes to joke about things that scare him. It's his way of dealing with things. Wish that my way of dealing with things could be so humorous.
"From the data that we've gathered on this creature and humans in general, it is safe to assume that they share a lot of similarities," Lens speaks up while bringing up two images, one of the creature and the other of human biology that Twilight loaned to me. "Skeletal structure matches up with his body shape and all of the facial features match the humans that Twilight knows. If you don't mind me saying, it seems this creature is more human than not."
"Maybe, but Twilight says that she sure as hell didn't see any humans that have blades extend through their hands before slaughtering a village," I remind the group. "So for now, we'll go off the assumption that it's humanoid and shares traits with humans, but is clearly different. Another species or an experiment, perhaps. But it's not human."
"Speaking of humans, how's your little human doing?" Stinger asks with genuine concern. I ignore his question while focusing on the next feature of the creature that we need to focus on. "Hey Bon, are we certain this is the creature responsible for the destruction of the villages?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Well...when we discovered he was heading for the town, we got their pretty quick. Yet the place was trashed," Stinger began. "I know this guy is dangerous, but...could he wipe out a town that big that fast?"
"He brought down Celestia. He's evaded capture and defeated everything we've thrown up against him. I wouldn't be surprised if he could wipe out a town that quickly," Lens answers before I can speak. "And even if he didn't, he's still killed multiple members of our family. Members of our family that must be avenged." Stinger looks down for a moment while Reaper nods, both of them agreeing with that last statement.
"I've shown some of these notes to Twilight, and she's started working with the scientist at Canterlot to help build weapons that we can use against the beast," I inform the group, changing the coversation. "She says that they're working as fast as they can and they hope to have something for us in the next couple of days."
"Not that it matters. What good will those weapons be if we can't get around that thing's ability to heal?" Lens asks. She brings up a good point. Luna told me how Celestia said that the creature tore off all of the skin on its arms to escape her magic. And then the skin grew back. Not only would that hurt like hell, but that's a rapid healing ability.
"I can't say anything on that right now, but I've asked both Luna and Twilight if they can think up any way to get around a creature that can heal rapidly. Once they have an answer, I'm sure that they'll report back to us. So for the time being, I think the best course of action is to go over the battle plan once more." I click a button on the camera and the image of our fight against the creature is projected up against a screen.
"The claws will be the hardest part about fighting this thing, aside from his ability to heal." The image continue to move, getting us to the part where his claws sliced clean through Reaper's scythe. The moment that scene shows up on the screen, a knife flies over my head and embeds itself in the screen. I turn towards where Reaper is sitting and give her a look, but she barely even gives me a glance.
She's pissed. She'll never say anything on the matter, but she's only gotten this angry once before and I remember she had the same look in her eyes that she has now. She's angry about the loss of her scythe. She treated that thing like her child and the creature ruined it. Well, at least I know that she'll be serious for the first time in a long time.
A knock at the door to our room snaps me out of my thoughts. I tell the group to keep watching before I walk over to the door, opening it to find the worried face of Lyra looking back at me.
"Lyra, what are you doing here?" I ask her once I've left the room and closed the door behind me. She takes a moment to respond and I take that moment to look at her face. She's worried. No doubt about the creature, and what it might mean if I go to fight it.
"Just...wanted to check up on you and your friends. See how everything was going," she replies with the fakest smile that I've ever seen her make. I give her a look to let her know that I'm onto her and she lets out a sigh, hanging her head in defeat for a moment. "Okay, I came here to talk to you. About this whole fighting the monster thing that you plan on doing."
"Lyra, I have to do this. I have to avenge Wildfire. This creature killed her and has killed so many. If we don't stop it, then who will?" I ask Lyra.
"I don't know?! Twilight and her friends, maybe? That's what they've been doing every since they moved here!" Lyra replies in an angry voice, but I can hear the fear under it as well. "Maybe Luna can help them! With all of that power on their side-"
"I don't think they can beat it," I cut her off. She gives me a confused glance in reply. "I've been watching what this thing can do for the past three days. We're professional monster fighters and it still held us off with an expert's skill. If we hadn't teleported out of there, we might not have made it."
"Exactly! So just leave it to Twilight and the others!" She's begging at this point. Lyra hates to beg, but she'll do it when she's desperate for somepony to listen to her. She's really worried about this...about me. She knows pretty well what this guy is capable of, and it scares her. It scares me too. But I can't walk away.
"Lyra...this is about the safety of our world. Of Imp," I tell her with a shake of my head. "And I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Lyra then stares at me for a moment, with a look filled with both acceptance at my decision...and the strongest desire to fight against me that I've ever seen flashing in her eyes.
"Before you make that decision, can I show you something?" she asks me.
"Of course, Lyra. What is it?"
I roar with unbridled rage as I hurl myself towards the Sentinel, claws reflecting the light of the lasers that it fires at me. I deflect one of the shots with my claws before rolling under the others, leaping back to my feet in time to slash at the machine. It leaps back from me while firing more lasers from its hands, searing my body with blazing energy.
At this point, the lasers are just annoying. I'm too far gone to feel any pain. So instead I bellow at the machine while hurling myself at it once more, closing the distance between us in a matter of moments. With another roar I slash at it with my claws, only to be caught in the face by a blast of energy that erupts from the Sentinel's eyes. I don't feel the blast, but it's still enough to get me to stagger backwards.
"So I was right, ya tin can bastard," I snarl at the machine as I narrow my eyes into slits. I know that blast better than anyone. I'm often on the receiving end of it. "You have Scott's energy vision. I thought I recognized the marks on the bodies of the ponies, but I hoped I was wrong. Seems I can't get that lucky."
The Sentinel doesn't say anything in reply. Instead it lifts its arms and starts to fire even more lasers at me, including the energy vision from its eyes. I bite down hard before racing into the fire, not bothering to dodge the blasts and allow them to hit me. I don't care how close to death this thing takes me, so long as it dies before I do. I slash at it when I get close enough, but to my annoyance the machine uses its rockets to leap back and just barely avoid my strike.
"Stop dodging me, bastard!" I roar while leaping onto all fours, racing towards the Sentinel as fast as I can. The Sentinel stops firing its lasers for a moment and raises one hand to the sky. My eyes widen when it does this and I use all of my might to hurl myself to the side, just in time to avoid a blast of lightning that descended from above. For a brief second the Sentinel looks confused, giving me an opening. I lunge forward and drive my claws into the stomach of the machine, a smile crossing my face as I stare into the face of the Sentinel.
"What's the matter, bub? Thought that you would catch me off guard with that? I may be an animal, but I ain't stupid," I inform the Sentinel as I tear my claws out of its stomach, spraying liquid and ripping wires out of its body. "The burn marks, the lightning strikes and other familiar powers all used on the ponies? Ya don't just have Scott's power; ya got most of ours, don't ya?"
The Sentinel says nothing in reply, it only fires another blast of Scott's energy into my face. I snarl as I stagger back, but I'm too far pissed to be deterred by something so trivial. I bellow as I plunge my claw towards the Sentinel, preparing to end it with a final strike.
SNIKT.
Metal strikes metal as three claws emerge from the right hand of the Sentinel and deflect my claw strike. My eyes narrow as I back off as the second pair erupts from the Sentinel's left hand, leaving it with a shiny pair of new claws that look an awful lot like mine.
"And there it is. Yer sad attempt to copy me," I growl, acting tough. I'm a bit worried, though. His claws didn't get cut by mine, meaning that they're made of adamantium or tougher metal. Might mean that it can cut through my bones, maybe even kill me. But I also know that I can cut through its body and kill it as well.
"So, this is how it's going to be?" I ask it, crouching down low as I prepare to fight. The Sentinel mirrors my movements, even turning its eyes red to look like me. "A fight to the bitter death? I'm fine with that, because ya ain't going to kill me, bub. But yer more than welcome to try."
A flash of lightning signaled the start of our battle and the both of us hurled ourselves at each other at the same time. I slashed in a blinding fury with my claws, but the Sentinel managed to either deflect or dodge each strike with moves that mirrored mine.
"So, yer a Sentinel that was created to study us and copy our skills, are ya?" I ask it as I roll under a claw strike before slashing at the Sentinel's heels. The Sentinel takes to the air and begins to fire more energy vision at me, forcing me to dive behind a boulder to avoid getting hit. I wait a beat before using my claws' reflective sides to glance around the corner and spy where the Sentinel is. "Well, let me show you why it doesn't pay to be a cheap imitation."
I roll out from behind the boulder just in time to see the Sentinel turn its gaze towards me, bringing the energy vision with it. I bring up both of my claws to intercept the blast, reflecting the energy off of my claws and sending blasts of energy everywhere. As I start to tilt my claws the beam of energy starts to get angled back towards the Sentinel. The machine catches onto what I'm doing a second too late. It then takes its own attack to the face.
"Gonna have to thank Summers for showing me that one," I mutter as the Sentinel crashes down to the ground, staggered. I close the gap between us, reaching it just as it recovers. I slash at its head with one set of claws while throwing a low jab to its side, but once again it manages to deflect both of my blows. Our claws clash and for a brief moment the two of us push against each other, each trying to overpower the other.
"I can get why ya want to kill me! Even Alicia! But why go after the ponies?! They ain't what you were created to kill!" I roar at the Sentinel, feeling my arms start to fail against its metal might. "They were innocents in all of this! Ya Sentinels might be the greatest threat to mutant kind, but even ya don't kill innocents without good reason! So answer me, ya overgrown trash can! Why did you kill them?!"
"They have potential to become mutants," the Sentinel responds in the cold tone that I've come to hate from them. "They had to be exterminated before they became a threat to the people of the world. Their deaths are justified."
The volcano within me erupts the moment it finishes speaking, fury and wrath burning through my veins at what the Sentinel told me. I slam my skull into the head of the Sentinel, staggering it and freeing up both of my arms. I bellow with a voice that's no longer my own as I swing down with all my animalistic might, cleaving through the metal that held its arm to its body and sending the limb flying.
The Sentinel stares down at the missing limb before it retaliates by plunging its remaining claw into my stomach. I don't even feel it. But I do know that with that claw in my stomach, the Sentinel can no longer move, meaning that it's my time to strike.
"Yer done. BERSERKER BARRAGE!" I bellow as I slash at the Sentinel in a flurry of motion, shredding through its metal body and sending pieces of it flying in every direction. With one last scream I plunge my claws into the center of the Sentinel and slowly begin to pull them apart. I can hear the screaming of the metal as it tries to resist being cut in two. But my claws and my rage are far stronger than the Sentinel can be.
I rip out one of my claws and aim it at what remains of the Sentinel's face, a dark smile crossing my face as I prepare to deliver the final blow. I then scream as I drive my claws down towards its face...only for my claws to strike empty air as the Sentinel vanishes from my grasp. The moment I realize it's gone I spin around and drive both of my claws upwards.
"Time to di-" the Sentinel starts right before my claws punch through its stomach and chest, piercing clean through to the other side. I let out a roar as the Sentinel's claws drive themselves through my right eye, but I force myself to ignore the pain as I glare up at the machine with my one good eye.
"What's the matter, bub? Thought that you could get the drop on me?" I ask it while forcing myself to pull my head back. The claws slicing through my face is a pain that I have never felt before, but it was all worth it just to see the terror in the Sentinel's eyes. And don't let it being a machine fool ya. These things can feel fear. They just rarely do.
"See, back in one of the towns that you decimated, I noticed a group of guards that were all killed from behind. Despite being in a circle and back to back. Meaning that you somehow got behind them without being seen. That's the Nightcrawler in you, isn't it?" I ask the Sentinel, thinking of all the lives that it had ended. All the families that it had ruined. "Good thing I've trained myself to kill all the other members of the X-men, should that horrible day ever arrive. Too bad for you, huh? Yer reign of terror ends here. I'm not going to let monsters like you tear apart any more families."
"Incoherent data. All databanks on target Wolverine do not classify him as this strong," the Sentinel spits out. "What are you?"
"Those yer last words? A question? Alright bub, I'll answer. I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do...isn't very nice," I whisper to it with a grin that the berserker loves. "Now I've got something I want to tell you...Weapon X." My claws are practically invisible with how fast I slash with them. I dive into the Sentinel while spinning, creating a whirlwind around my body as I carry the both of us into the air. I then slash down with both claws to drive the machine into the ground before I drive my entire body through it with one last slash, forming an X across the Sentinel...before it shatters into millions of pieces.
"And be thankful I went easy on ya," I snarl at the pieces as I crash down to the ground, breathing heavily as the berserker goes back to sleep and leaves me with all of the pain and agony that I had been ignoring during the battle. I take a moment to collect myself, to make sure the berserker goes back down. But I can still feel it. It's just beneath my skin, waiting for the next chance to come out.
I then hear the faint sounds of something crying in pain, crying out in its last, pitiful breaths before it died. I pick myself up and turn to look at the pony that had been split in half by the Sentinel, amazed to see that he's still alive. I drag my aching body over to him and look down, the rage within turning into pity. He'll be dead within a matter of moments. Nothing I can do to save him.
But when I look into his eyes, I see that he's in an incredible amount of pain. Don't blame him, being cut in half hurts like hell, even when you have a healing factor. Without it, it's just a slow, painful death. I can't let him suffer like that. He doesn't deserve to go like this. No one does.
"Hey bub," I say in as kind a voice as I can as I kneel down next to him. For a brief moment the two of us lock eyes and an unsaid understanding is reached between the two of us. I then place my fist under his chin, closing my eyes as I do so and remembering a saying. A samurai must be willing to shoulder the weight of killing. "Don't worry, the pain will all be gone in just a moment. Just-"
SNIKT.
"-close your eyes."
I've killed the Sentinel, the machine that has been plaguing the ponies and wiping out their homes and lives. I have the scent to where Alicia is, so soon I'll be able to get her and bring her back to Earth with me. Everything seems to be going my way.
Yet I still feel like I'm the loser.
||X||
"She really...drew this?" I ask Lyra with disbelief as I stare at the drawing left upon the kitchen table. It's a drawing of me, Lyra and imp, all smiling and holding hooves...and hands.
"That's right, Bon. And I take it you've also realized what other drawing it looks like?" Lyra asks me. When I reply with confusion, she sighs and grabs the drawing she made of Imp's family. "This is her response to my question of whether she has a family or not. She sees us as her family now, Bon. We're her parents."
I take a moment to take in what Lyra is saying. I knew that I had gotten closer to Imp, but for her to see me as a mother...
"And this is why you don't want to me to bring down that creature?" I ask Lyra. "Lyra, if she truly sees me as a parent, then I truly have to bring down the creature! That's my duty to-"
"And what if you fail?!" Lyra yells at me, cutting me off. "What if you fail and you die? Then Imp has not only lost her home, but also one of the few ponies that she sees as family. Bon, if Imp truly sees us as parents...then we have to take care of her. And you can't do that if you're dead."
"But...my team...protecting Equestria." Lyra places a hoof on my shoulder and gives me a weak smile.
"If you're team is anywhere near as good at monster fighting as you are, then they should be fine." I know that she's trying to talk me out of fighting the creature, but I just can't let it go. After all he's done, after all the lives he's ruined, including my friend...
Both Lyra and I lift our heads as Imp walks into the kitchen, giving us both a quizzical look before she spies her drawing in my hooves. A smile spreads across her face as she races over to me, taking the picture out of my grip before showing it to me. I nod with an approving smile that only makes her smile grow bigger. She then hugs my chest before rushing back off into the house. Lyra and I both watch her go, before Lyra turns back to me.
"So what do you say, Bon? Can you stay retired like you said you would? Leave the fighting to your friends," Lyra says to me. I think over it one last time, trying to think of as many reasons as I can for staying in the fight.
"Alright Lyra, you win. I'll stay here and watch over Imp. It's the least I can do for her."
As I pass by a castle that the years haven't been kind to, another wind blows through the forest, bringing with it an even stronger scent of the girl. I'm getting closer and closer to her. Soon I'll have her safe back at Chuck's mansion. Well, safer than she would be anywhere else.
There's a lot of dangers in this forest, though. Far more dangerous creatures than any other forest that I've been in during my stay here. There's always at least one pair of eyes that stare at me from just beyond the darkness, and the other scents within the place keep me on my guard. I don't know what kind of creatures await me in here, but I know for a fact that I'm not making it out of this forest without tearing my claws through at least one beast. But no matter how dangerous they are, I'm still the deadliest being in this forest. And maybe the whole world.
A roar that shakes the forest floor gets my attention. I turn around to see a massive lion-like creature glaring at me, fangs glistening in the darkness. I also spy a scorpion tail and bat wings on the thing. It also seems to have suffered a head injury, if the dried blood in its mane is any indication.
"Back off, bub. You don't want this fight. Because it'll be yer last," I inform it in a deadly whisper. The creature ignores my warning and lunges at me, claws extended. I show it the same favor by extending my claws and letting out a roar of my own. The two of us collide with such force that I feel the forest shake beneath our impact. The creature slashes at me with claws that could probably cleave a tree in two. That's cute.
I bring up one of my arms and slice clean through the being's arm with a single strike. It bellows with pain as its limb falls to the forest floor. I figure that with a wound like that it will back off, so I snarl at it once more before I turn to continue on my way. My kindness is rewarded when something sharp stabs into my back. I bellow in pain as I spin around and slice though whatever attacked me. My claws slice off the creature's tail, which it apparently had used to stab me in the back.
Even as the tail falls to the floor next to the arm, I know that I'm not done suffering just yet. That tail had poison in it and I can feel the toxin coursing through my veins. I know that the poison won't kill me, that my healing factor will eventually get rid of it, but for the next couple of minutes I'm going to be going through hell. I scream in pain as my veins burn with agony, my vision starting to go red as the poison works its way through my body.
The beast senses my weakness and lunges at me with its good arm, trying to strike me down while it believes I can't defend myself. But little does this damn thing know that I'm not helpless when I'm not in control. I'm even more dangerous.
My rage takes hold and I bellow with fury as I swing towards the creature, driving my fist right through the bottom of its jaw. My claws slice clean up into the creature's brain, killing it dead with a single blow. I'm not done with it yet. Not by a longshot.
I roar at it before hurling the dead body to the ground, where I start to stab at it repeatedly with my claws. Blood sprays my costume as I unleash my fury, but I'm barely aware enough to notice that. I know that the creature is long since dead, but I don't give a damn. All I want right now is to let loose.
I drive my claws into the corpse one last time before I tear its head from its body, sending the lion head sailing into a trunk. As the head rolls to the ground I stand in place breathing heavily, trying to get control of myself while the poison's burn starts to fade. Then I hear another set of snarls and I turn to see numerous wolf-looking creatures slink out of the shadows, their bark-like skin making it look as if they had emerged from the trees.
The six of them snarl at me as they start to encircle me. I know what they want. They've come to take the beast that I just killed away from me. They think that I killed it to eat it and now they want to steal my prey from me. My kill. I roar in reply as I crouch down and tuck my arms in, glaring at each of the wolves. I have no reason to fight them, but I don't need a reason. They want to fight? Then I'll fight.
"Come on!" I roar as I charge into the first wolf, catching it off guard by my ferocity and giving me the chance to slash my claws at its neck. The bark armor that protects it is barely able to resist my claws and a moment later that wolf's head is rolling around the forest floor. I turn on my heels and tackle the next wolf to the ground, where it manages to snarl at me once before I punch a hole in its forehead.
The other wolves realize that they have to kill me quick and a moment later I feel one of their sets of teeth sink into my shoulder. I roar as I reach up with my right arm and plunge my claws through its face, slicing its jaw clean off as it falls over.
The next two attack as a pair and rush me from each side. It doesn't work. I drive my foot into the face of one of the wolves before spinning around and cleaving my other attacker in two with an X slash. It falls to splinters while I turn and slam my fist down through the other's head. The lights go out in that wolf's eyes, leaving only one left. I slowly lift my head towards the final wolf, my eyes blazing with rage and hate. The creature lets out a whimper before it turns and runs for its life.
"Like hell you'll get away!" I scream as I start to chase after it...before I realize what I'm doing and force myself to stop. I'm letting the animal inside of me take over again. I'm letting the berserker win. I snarl as I clench my fists and force myself back into control, suppressing my anger with all of my will. After a moment I feel the rage subside, but I can still feel it beneath the skin. Just waiting for another chance to come out.
"I've got to be careful," I mutter to myself as I turn and head back in the right direction. Ever since I arrived here I've been nothing but angry. And the events that have led up to this point have only made me angrier. I've got to get ahold of myself. If I don't, then I'm more of a danger to the girl than a help. And I've done plenty of terrible things while in the berserker rage. Would I kill a child though? Risk I don't want to take.
After my outburst, the creatures of the forest have all seemed to agree that pissing me off is a bad idea. Because while I trek through the forest, not once do I see another set of eyes or hear a snarl. Hell, even the birds sit like stone statues when I approach. Seems that I've really made a first impression on them, haven't I?
"Chuck, I don't know if you can hear me, but it's almost time to put that portal of Beast's into action," I say to no one, but I know that some one is listening. "I've almost got the girl, but I have a feeling that it's not going to be easy. Might be a little hectic coming back to Earth. But don't worry, I promise that you'll never have to worry about her falling into evil's hands."
"No matter what I have to do."
||X||
"We can no longer be a family," I say in the most neutral tone I can make, refusing to look at the human girl.
"Bon, don't be like that," Lyra tries to say to me, but I hold up a hoof to silence her.
"She doesn't like the sour drops, Lyra. Those are literally the greatest thing that Sugarcube corners has ever created," I remind Lyra as I turn my gaze to the human, who is spitting out the candy all over the floor. It literally hurts me to see such a divine dish be wasted so casually. "How can she not like them? Ponies came from all across Equestria to try them when they were first introduced. Even Celestia said that they were the best candy she had ever had. How?"
"Well, maybe humans like different things than us," Lyra suggests with a glare that informs me that I'm starting to annoy her. I feel a tugging at my mane and I look down to see that Imp is offering the rest of the candy to me, a large, albeit slightly puckered, smile on her face. "And it seems that even if she doesn't like them, she's still kind enough to share with somepony who does."
I can't help but smile at the girl as I reach into the box and pull out a few drops, which I toss into my mouth all at once. Good Faust are they sour. I then pull Imp into a hug that gets a laugh out of her. "Alright ya little imp, you've won me back over. We can still be a family."
"Seriously Bon?"
"Don't worry, Lyra. I was just joking around before," I say with a laugh. The three of us then leave the corner and head to the edge of town, where we wanted to take Imp to see Fluttershy's cottage. Though with the way the clouds are flashing overhead, we might soon have to make a run for cover. "So as long as we keep her away from the more poisonous of Shy's creatures, then she should be alright to play with-"
"Hey Bon...what is that?" I turn my head to where Lyra is looking to see something walking out of the forest in our direction.
Have you ever felt your heart turn to ice? Feel every emotion vanish except for the most powerful of terrors that grips at your very soul? Because as I lay my eyes upon the creature that walks towards us, that is all I can feel within the very depths of my being. The creature walks on two legs, is covered in a yellow, blue and red soaked outfit and has a look on his face that will haunt me in my dreams. But where my eyes are drawn most, are to its eyes--the two eyes that are a crimson red.
"Lyra...take Imp and run," I manage to say despite the fear.
"What? Why..." She knows. She just realized what is walking towards us. Behind me I hear Imp let out a whimper and I know that she has realized it to. In a blur of motion I take the saddle off of Lyra's back and attach it to mine, wrapping it tight as if it grips on me for dear life.
"Lyra, you have to take her and run!" I say again, unable to keep the fear out of my voice. I know she's about to argue, to tell me that I can't fight it alone. So I have to beat her the way she beat me. "Lyra, he's here for Imp. And considering how many he's killed to get to her, we can't allow her to fall into his hands. If you love her the way I love her...then you'll run and let me handle this."
I don't turn around to see if she runs. I'm afraid that if I take my eyes off of this guy I'll be dead before I can turn back around. But then I hear the sounds of hooves racing away from me and I allow myself to let out a small sigh. I've given them a chance to escape. But now I'm here. Facing this thing alone.
I don't know how it's here. I don't know if it simply avoiding Luna and the others or if all of them are dead. From the amount of blood covering its costume I fear the latter. And despite all that I've been through...I'm afraid. I'm terrified. If this thing sliced its way through not only Luna, but the Guardians of Harmony and my team, then it's on a level that we could never had prepared for. And I know I can't beat it.
For a brief moment I feel anger replace the fear, anger at myself for being so afraid. I've fought the worst creatures that Equestria has had to offer, survived battles that claimed dozens of teammates that were just as skilled as me. I've never technically been beaten by a monster or creature in combat before. But I fear that streak will end today.
But with all of my effort I force the fears back down, thinking of what will happen if this monster gets by me. Not only would Lyra and Imp be in mortal danger, but all of Ponyville might be destroyed. And whether or not Luna and her team is dead, right now...I am Ponyville's only defense. I am their only defense.
The creature finally reaches me, coming to a stop a good twenty feet away from me. Its eyes narrow and I know that it recognizes me from our previous battle. My eyes narrow in response and my body tenses, waiting for it to make the first move. But then the beast sniffs the air and turns his head to where Lyra and Imp ran to, before it starts to walk after them. I swallow my fears before placing myself between the creature and its destination, getting it to stop as its eyes narrow.
It then points to the side, telling me to get out of its way. I shake my head and plant my hooves into the ground. I make it clear that I'm not going to move. The creature then draws its finger across its neck and points to me. I spit to the side. Then it smiles at me, seemingly impressed with my response. And now it knows that I won't be moved.
SNIKT. SNIKT.
I don't move a muscle as the claws emerge from within the creature's arms, despite knowing full well what they can do. I can't allow myself to be afraid. For the mare that has been there for me when nopony else was...for the girl that I never thought I could come to love...I have to kill him. I have to stop him here. I have to protect my family
"I'll give you one chance to give up," I say to the creature. I point to him and then to the ground. His answer is to stick a single finger up before letting out a roar and racing towards me. "I thought that would be your answer." I then scream with as much courage as I can and race towards him as well, the both of us knowing that only one would survive this battle.
My claws slice through the raindrops as I try to impale this damned horse, but she leaps out of my range a second before my claws tear through its body. I bellow as I rush forward and drive my knee at her head, only for frustration to kick in as she dodges to the side. I spin on my heels and lunge at her once more, but as I approach I notice that she's reaching into her bag.
She pulls out the twin candy cane shaped blades that she used on me the last time we fought. I smile at the sight of them, because not only do they look like stupid weapons, they'll also do nothing to me or my claws. I thrust my fist towards her head once more, but as my hand approaches I feel pain bite at my fingers. I pull my hand back to see that she's stabbed me with a small needle that she had been hiding under the candy canes, with a small vial on the back of it.
That must be poison or some kind of anesthetic. She's trying to slow me down or completely incapacitate me before I can do any real damage. Nice try bub, but that vial's way too small to be able to do anything to me. To prove my point I shake out my hand and give her a smirk. She doesn't do anything in response, but I can see her eyes looking at where she stabbed me.
"Don't bother thinking that little serum of yours is going to bother me. I've had far worse things in my system," I inform her before letting out another roar and hurling myself towards her. I aim for her chest this time and extend my arms as far as they can go to ensure the hit, but once again she's just outside of my reach. I snarl as the frustration starts to build. She's nimble, I'll give her that.
I decide to switch things up a bit and instead of going for another claw strike I throw out my leg towards her. She reacts a split second too late and only manages to bring up her arms to defend herself. My kick hits home and the little pony is sent flying across the grass. I race towards her the moment she hits the ground, not going to give her the chance to get back up. I leap into the air over her and descend with both claws aimed at her chest.
In what I think is a desperation move she flings her twin blades towards my eyes. I lower my skull to deflect the knives, but the moment I do so she rolls out of my field of view. I crash down and impale the earth where she had been a second ago. I slowly raise my eyes to look at the pony, who's holding a hoof to her chest, clearing taking in just how close she was to death.
"I'd prefer not to kill ya, I hope you know that," I tell her as I draw my claws from the earth and clash them together to get rid of the dirt that had clung to them. "But I know that look in yer eyes. You're not going to stop fighting me, not until you kill me or I kill you. And you can't kill me. So this can only end one way. Sorry to do this, but it's the only-"
The pony doesn't let me finish what I'm saying. She quickly reaches into her bag and hurls a small jar at me while clamping her jaw shut. I shake my head slightly before slicing through the jar with my claws, shattering the glass and causing the grey liquid that was inside to cover my claws. I look down at the claw in interest before I realize that the grey stuff is expanding across my claws.
The pony smirks at me before throwing a second jar at my head. This time I duck out of the way, leaping a bit of a way back to gain some distance between us. When I'm certain that I'm out of her range, I glance down at my right claw once again. The grey stuff has completely covered it, rendering my claws useless. That was her plan, to have me slice that stuff and get it on my claws. It seems to be spongy in nature, meaning that I can't break it. Great, now I'm down to one claw for the time being.
"Alright punk, ya got lucky with that one," I say with a nod to her. She spits to the side once more before reaching into the bag again, pulling out throwing knives. She then chucks them towards me, forcing me to act. I deflect the first one with the very sponge that she trapped my claw in. The blade gets embedded in the sponge, but doesn't seem to cut through it. Good thing I didn't try to cut this stuff off with my other claw.
I deflect two more of the knives before moving my head to the side to avoid the final one. I take a sniff of it as it passes by and smell a strange plant and chemical mix on it. Probably another poison or drug for me. Have to assume that all of her weapons are coated in some kind of toxin. That makes this a bit more difficult.
I've allowed her too much room. Time to get in close. I crouch down and tear towards her as fast as I can go. I hear her yelp at my sudden speed as she reaches back into her bag. It's too late. I'm already upon her. I slash at her with my left hand and she barely ducks underneath in time. But now she's off balance. I throw out my right hand and slam my claws into her gut. But to my annoyance she's only sent staggering backwards instead of impaled. Seems the spongy stuff also absorbs impacts. Dammit.
The pony whips out two more daggers from within the bag and lunges at me with them. I can't help but chuckle at the fact that she's willingly stepping into my range. I raise my good claw to deflect the first knife strike and immediately regret doing so. I let out a roar as electricity courses through my veins, causing me to stagger backwards.
The pony presses her advantage, letting out a cry as she plunges one of her knives into my chest. I roar with pain as the electricity within the knife courses through my body. My instincts kicked in, allowing me to plant my boot in the pony's chest and kick her away from me. I then reach down with my right hand and tear the knife out of my chest, snarling as I toss it off to the side.
"Alright, playtime's over!" I bellow at her as I lunge forward, slashing high while my leg comes up from below. The pony makes the smart move and moves out of the way of my claw, so my leg catches her in the chest and sends her sprawling into the grass. As she falls though, she throws out her second knife at my head. I move my arm up to deflect the knife and the knife embeds itself in my arm.
But then why don't I feel it? I lower my arm and glance down at it to see the knife clearing sticking out of my skin. It's in pretty deep. After a moment of waiting for the pain I grab the hilt and yank the knife out of my arm, waiting for the pain. Nothing. For some reason, I don't feel the sharp pain or the screaming of my nerves. But as I gaze at the wound that has blood streaming blood out of it, I come to a far more horrifying realization.
I'm not healing.
For a good ten seconds I gaze down at the wound, but it doesn't show any signs of stitching itself up like it always does. I then turn my gaze to the pony, who has the coldest smile upon her face. She's figured out a way to nullify my healing factor. She figured out how to hurt me and keep me hurt.
I then crouch down and take up my fighting stance once more, but with much more caution in my movements. Seems I was wrong about what I said to her. Now she just might be able to kill me. But I can still kill her. So that's one thing that hasn't changed. This battle is still to the death.
And for the first time, my life is on the line.
||X||
He knows. From his stance and the look he's giving me he knows that he's no longer healing. Good. I want him to be scared. We might not be able to heal like him, but we've got something that he doesn't. Magic. Twilight found a way to use magic to make it so the body doesn't realize it's damaged. Doesn't know it's hurt. And if it doesn't think it's hurt, then it wouldn't have any reason to heal, would it? How do you like-?
Can't think like that. I have no idea how long that magic medicine is going to last, especially since I'm sure the healing factor of that thing will be combating it. I reach into my saddle bag and whip out the donut discs. I can't risk fighting that guy up close anymore and with his ability to heal gone, I doubt that he'll want to get too close either.
But once again the creature proves me wrong as he lunges towards me, his one claw reflecting light despite the rain that's starting to pour down around us. His other claw is still stuck in the bog mud, but it won't be long till the mud dries. And once it does, he'll be able to get his other claw free. Need to finish him now.
I let the donuts fly towards the creature, the little razor discs slicing through the air as they home in on their target. The creature moves his claw at speeds I can barely see and the two discs shatter into pieces. In another moment he'll be upon me. I need to step it up now.
I reach into the bag, which I notice is starting to feel really empty. I grab hold of the Thunder Bolts and attach them to my hooves. The moment the beast is on me I duck under his claw strike before ramming one of the bolts right under his chin. The bolts generate a small explosion that snaps his head back and nearly knocks the beast over, but at the last second he rolls and lands on his feet.
I motion for him to bring it on as I start to hop back and forth on my hind hooves, jabbing at raindrops with my forehooves. In my line of work, you spent the first three years of your life learning hoof to hoof combat. And no matter how long you go without training, you never forget what they taught you. Because they beat it into you.
The creature realizes what I'm asking and gives me a smirk. He then advances once again, throwing a kick towards my head that I manage to just avoid. He follows it up with a claw strike aimed at my throat, but once more I'm able to get myself out of range just in time.
When we were studying the footage of him fighting back in the classroom, I learned his ranges more than anything else. I learned them so well that I could clearly image our battle in my mind and constantly worked out almost every scenario that he might try to kill me. I know from how he's standing or where his body is angled how he's going to strike at me. So I can get out of the way just in time. And from the expression that he's making, I'm starting to make him mad. Not good.
I catch movement out of my left eye and bring up both of my forehooves to catch his right arm. I didn't expect him to attack with this limb since the claw was covered, but I forgot just how crazy this guy is. I see him pulling back his free claw, which is aimed right at my side. With no other options, I look right into his face before spitting out a small blade that I had hidden in my teeth.
The creature doesn't react as the knife jabs right underneath of his eye. He doesn't feel pain anymore. But he knows that every blow I inflict upon him is another blow closer to finally putting him in the grave. He backs and reaches up to tear the knife out from beneath his eye. He snarls before tossing it to the side, his eyes slightly redder than before. I pull out another blade, my last one, and motion for him to bring it on again.
As he charges towards me I plan my next move. If I can get past his free claw, then I might be able to stab him in the heart. I have to hope that his heart is in the same place as the other humans, but even if it isn't he'll probably back off before being stabbed. He thrusts at me with his free claw and I duck under it, everything going according to plan. But when I stab up at him is when things go wrong.
He turns his body right before the knife enters where his heart is supposed to be located, so instead of killing him in a single strike I've now struck one of his ribs. The knife catches in his flesh and tears through his flesh, but then it sticks in his skin and is torn from my grasp. And now I'm in his range, with no way to defend myself. I look up to see a pair of red eyes looking down at me before his left arm slashes at me. I leap back as fast as I can, but it's not fast enough.
Pain so sharp slashes through my arm, causing me to cry out in pain as I crash to the ground a few feet away from the creature. I've been cut plenty of times, but never by something that sharp. It feels like I've been cut to my very core. I retain enough of my senses to toss down my only smoke pellet to create some cover for me to stagger away from him, clutching at the wound.
Once I'm free of the smoke, I glance down to see that blood is pouring down my left arm. I can't feel it. I can't move it. That's not good. The rain picks up and beats the smoke cloud out of existence, allowing me and the creature to see each other once more. My heart chills as he slashes at the mud with its claws, slicing the stuff off to free his other claw. My eyes shrink as it retracts and extends his claw twice, before he turns towards me with a sinister smile.
I can't afford to make any mistakes. We're both losing blood, but only one of us has the ability to heal from any injury. So if I can't kill him before his ability to heal returns, then I'm as good as dead. He reaches down and tears the knife out of his chest, causing blood to gush from the wound. But he's still smiling, with eyes that are now a bright crimson.
We both take up our respective fighting stances, except that I'm fighting with one arm while he's got both claws. But if I fall here, then he gets to Imp. And that can't happen. So I'll stop him here...or die trying.
Now that my other claw is free, I can't afford to hold back. I've got no idea how long my healing factor is going to be out, but at the rate I'm losing blood I might not be alive when it kicks back in. I've got to finish her now without taking any more hits.
I tighten my focus before charging at her once more, making sure to watch her one good arm for any signs of movement. Just as I expect, she reaches back into her bag and pulls out a small sphere. The pony hurls it at me, but I'm ready for any of her projectiles. I duck out of the way of the sphere just in case it's another way to sheath my claws. Then I'm upon her. I extend my claws towards her head as I prepare to...
Instinct kicks in once again and I spin around and slash with my claw, just in time to connect with the sphere that I dodged. It sticks to my claws the moment they touch it and a second later the sphere explodes. The explosion tosses me back a bit and I crash into the ground, still unable to feel anything. I lift up my arm to see what damage had been done.
It's bad. Most of the skin and muscle that had been in my right hand is gone, leaving only the metal skeleton and my claws, along with the charred skin that was still attached to my arm. That's going to hurt later. I turn to face the pony in time to see her toss another sphere towards me. I duck out of the way of it once more, but this time I keep an eye on it. Even though I ducked out of the way, I watch as it seems to stop in the air for a second before it flies right back at me. Or more specifically, my exposed metal hand.
Magnets. That's how it's tracking me. Magnets and maybe a bit of their damned magic thrown in for good measure. I snarl as I begin to run from the magnet bomb, but my legs buckle slightly and I lose my balance temporarily. It's only for a second, but it's enough time for the magnet to catch up with me. I slash at it with my other set of claws, hoping that I can destroy it before it detonates. I don't.
Another explosion goes off and just like the first one, when the smoke clears all that remains is the charred remains of my left hand and the metal bones underneath. I roar with more fury than pain before I swing my head to the pony, who's tossing a third sphere up and down in her hooves. She knows I'm hurting. She knows that she has me on the ropes. I can't hope to avoid those bombs in the state I'm in and she probably has a few more in there. How do I stop her from...of course. The stupid way.
I roar at her once more before I charge towards her, doing everything I can to keep myself from falling over as I run. She tosses another one of her bombs towards me, but I don't slow down. In fact, I get faster. The bomb latches onto the metal in my ribs and I know that it's only going to be another second before it explodes. But a second more is all I need to leap right in front of the pony, who stares up at me with wide eyes as she realizes my plan.
"Ka-boom, bitch."
The bomb detonates, hurling me away from the pony and sending me crashing back down into the dirt. I taste blood and mud in my mouth and I spit out both, groaning wearily as I start to push myself back up. Out of the corner of my eye I see the pony slowly pushing herself up as well, blood dripping from her mouth and some of her body covered in burns. I can't give up this advantage. I have to get her before she can recover.
I stagger over to her, my breath coming to me raggedly as I try to walk a straight line. She glances up to see me standing over her, just in time fore me to plunge my hand down towards her body. But without muscles in my hands or wrist, it's pretty hard to aim where I'm striking. She just barely dodges my claws once again before she punches me in the face with whatever she has on her hooves.
I roar as I stagger back, moving one of my limp hands up to my mouth as I spit up more blood. Damn whatever she's wearing on her hooves, I actually felt those things...wait a moment. I felt that. That means that whatever she used on me is starting to wear off. I glance down at my hand to see little bits of muscles and veins starting to form over the metal. And I smile.
She knows my moves, that much is certain. But only the moves of the Wolverine, the Avenger and trained fighter. Let's see how she does against the more wild side of me.
||X||
No. No no no. He can't be healing, not already. But even as I wipe the dirt and pain from my eyes, even with the rain that's starting to pour down, I can see the wound on his chest slowly start to stich itself back together. It's what I feared the most. While the potion Twilight made normally lasts upwards of an hour, the creature's healing factor was fighting the magic the entire time. And the magic potion isn't going to last much longer.
I have to attack now, kill him before his healing ability returns to its full strength. If it does then I'm dead. I bite down hard before forcing myself through the pain, lunging at the healing creature. The moment I'm close enough I drive my hoof into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and slightly doubling him over. I then drive my hoof into his jaw and activated the Bolt, creating another controlled explosion that causes blood to spray from his mouth.
But when the creature recovers he slowly lowers his head to look down at me. My heart goes even colder as I realize that he's not snarling or seething with pain. He's smiling. He knows that the battle is his. I roar with defiance as I drive my hoof right into his face, causing another explosion that sends him crashing head first into the ground. He spits out blood as he starts to push himself back up, but I drive my hoof into his face once again to keep him on the ground.
I throw out three more of those punches before he turns around and starts to slash with his claw. I leap back in time, and time it just right so that his claw will barely miss me. I land on my hind hooves and wind up a punch so I can smash his face in when he misses...only for pain to burn through my chest as the tip of his claws slice through me.
I howl in pain while I stagger back, clutching at my chest wound with both surprise and horror. It can't be. I timed it perfectly. I knew exactly how far his claws could go. So why did they still...? I slowly lift my head to look at the creature, to look at his claw. And as I watch on in complete horror, he lifts his left hand and slowly extends the claws even further than they had been.
He had never extended them fully.
Every plan, every strategy, every bit of my timing on his movements went out the window. I had no idea now how long his claw were. And he could control their length. We lock eyes for a moment and then his smile grows even larger. He knows that I know. He knows that he's just ruined everything I've learned about fighting him.
He charges at me without an caution whatsoever now. He has me pinned. I leap back from his first claw strike, barely missing the tips of the slightly longer claws. The second strike comes down from above and I have to roll under it to avoid being hit. I jump back up to my hooves, forcing down the burning pain that's trying to consume me as I block the next strike with my arms. I manage to use my shoulder to catch his hand, so the claws barely miss me. The force of his punch is still enough to send me crashing backwards.
I'm out of options. All of my plans have failed and nearly all of my gadgets and weapons have been used up. I can't even fight him in hand to hoof, because with his claws and skeleton I can't do any real damage. All I have left...is the weapon that Luna gave me. The combined magic of her and Twilight. The just in case.
I reach back into my bag and pull it out, undoing the straps for the saddle bag at the same time. I toss the bag away and hold the sphere of magic with the spike on it close. The beast narrows his eyes when he spies my weapon and I can tell that he's wary of it. But he continues to walk forward, slow enough so that he's ready for any of my moves. And I tense up too, waiting for the moment that he decides to throw a punch or one of his moves.
In a flash he takes a quick step forward, almost as if he's preparing to attack. I leap back away from him as I bring the spike up, preparing to stab him the moment he gets-
I feel my back slam into something. On reflex alone I turn around to see what I hit, to see what could have attacked me from behind. But when I turn all I see is bark and leaves. I've backed into a tree...no, more than that, I turned around. I took my eyes off of-
SHUNK!
As the sound of metal going through flesh reaches my ears, I slowly turn around and look down to see three metal claws sticking through my stomach. I don't feel the coldness of their metal or the pain that I'm sure my nerves are trying to inform me of. I don't feel anything.
The creature then slowly lifts me into the air, like I'm some kind of kebab on the end of his claws. I feel blood well up in my mouth and start to pour from my lips. I'm done. He finally got me. I can see the blood seeping from the three claw strikes and I know that no doctor in all the land can heal that. The creature pulls me in close, so close that for a moment our eyes are only separated by a few inches. He then smiles at me before hurling his arm to the side to toss me off of his claws and to the ground.
I failed. I couldn't stop him. I couldn't protect Imp. I couldn't even protect myself. All I can do as I lay on the ground dying is watch as the beast stares down at me, with all of the wounds that I've inflicted upon him starting to heal up. He then turns and slowly starts to limp in the direction of Imp and Lyra. And there's nothing I can do about...
Imp and Lyra. They put their faith in me. They both believe in me. They both believe that I would protect them from this monster. This monster that has already taken so much from all of us. It took Imp from her home, from her friends and very reality, and dragged her here. And he has taken some of the closest friends that I have made. It's taken sisters and brothers in arms. And now it wants to take the pony I care about the most. And the human that I care about the most.
The single thought of those two and what they mean to me gave me a moment of strength, a moment that I blocked out everything except what needed to be done. With every last ounce of will power I could muster, I forced myself back up, forced myself to grab hold of Luna's weapon.
I then let out a scream, the loudest scream that I had ever mustered before hurling myself towards the creature. It turned around just as I went airborne, swinging the spiked orb over my head as I took aim one final time. I expected the creature to stab me or slice me out of the air, but for that brief moment he was too stunned to move. And I took that opening.
I stabbed the spiked end right into the eye of the creature, driving it as deep as I could. I then fell to the side and caught the edge of a small hill, rolling away from the creature as he bellowed with pain and agony. What little strength I had left I used to push off the dirt one last time, to get as far away from the bomb as I could. A moment later the magic detonated, creating an explosion so powerful that I was hurled across the grass and landed in a broken and bloodied heap.
That was it. That was all the strength I had left to muster. If that didn't do it, then I've truly failed. I watch as a torrent of rainbow power spired into the sky, drawing the rainclouds in closer. Then the magic slowly faded away and at the center of where the explosion had been all I see standing there is a metal skeleton, a skeleton that has his head reeled back as if he's yelling at the sky itself.
A small laugh escapes my throat as I realize that it's over. I actually did it. I managed to kill him. Maybe it's true that I can't be beaten by a monster. But I sure came damn close. I wanted to let out a cry of victory, but all I had the strength to do was lay there and bleed. But I didn't care that I was bleeding out. The creature was dead. I had managed to defeat the monster. Lyra and Imp were safe from-
Skin. There's skin starting to form on the skeleton. That isn't possible. Almost his entire body was disintegrated. There's no way that he can come back from something like that! But my worse fears come to life as not just skin, but also muscle, blood and veins start to reform along the metal skeleton. And with no strength left in me, all I can do I watch as the muscle, then the skin, then the hair and even the costume itself slowly start to repair themselves.
All I can do is watch as the thing I killed comes back from the dead.
It takes nearly ten minutes for him to completely heal, but there the creature stands on the hill above me being bathed in the raindrops completely born again. For a moment he stands there, just taking in a few breaths. Then he turns his head to face me, with eyes so red that they glow bright as stars against the blackness of the clouds.
SNIKT.
The creature turns and slowly starts to walk towards me, one claw slowly sliding itself out of his arm.
SNIKT.
The second claw emerges as well, accompanied by a guttural snarling that he's making. And when he gets close enough, I weakly look into his masked eyes to see there's no longer a trace of the intelligence or the mind that was once there. There is only the rage.
It pulls back one arm, taking aim at my head with his claws. I can't move. I can't even cry out for help. But what I can do is glare into his eyes one last time, to make sure that he knows just how close I came to killing him. And then I accept my fate.
The next thing I know the beast is tossed off his feet and sent flying back a couple yards. He lets our a roar of fury as he shoots back up and looks around for who attacked him...only for the rage to in his eyes to go cold when he sees who is now standing between me in him. It's a little girl with blonde hair.
I want to call out to Imp. I want to tell her to run. But I can barely keep my eyes open at this point. So all I can do is watch as the creature slowly walks towards Imp, the red in his eyes fading back to white. He says a few things to her, but Imp responds by blasting him in the chest with her powers. He digs his claws into the ground to keep from being pushed back, but when he rises back up he doesn't get closer.
The two of them begin to talk, with the creature speaking in a low but calm voice while Imp practically screams at him. Imp says something that causes the creature's eyes to widen and he slightly takes a step back. He then looks down at me with a look that I can't read. The creature lowers his head for a moment, looking like he's lost in thought.
Then, very slowly, he starts to walk towards Imp, keeping his hands up as he approaches. She moves in front of me and extends her arms, making it clear that she's protecting me. Once he's within arm's range, he slowly reaches up and pulls back the mask that's been covering his face. I'm a little surprised to see that he looks human beneath his mask. He then says something else to Imp with what sounds like...compassion...in his voice, before he turns to face me and kneels down.
For a moment, the two of us truly lock eyes for the first time. And I'm startled for a moment by what I see. Compassion, sorrow...regret? He then stands back up and turns towards the field, where a moment later a purple vortex of energy appears. The creature then extends a hand towards Imp one last time, but she shakes her head and crouches down next to me. The creature smirks at her response before he turns and starts to head towards the portal by himself. When he reaches it though, he turns back and locks eyes with me one last time.
'Take care of her.'
He doesn't say it aloud. Even if he did, I doubt I would understand his words. But I could clearly read what his eyes were saying to me. And I could also see the compassion and what seemed to be...concern for Imp. And for me. The creature then waves to the both of us before turning and walking into the vortex, which then closes behind him and vanishes out of existence a moment later.
Then everything goes black.
It takes a moment for my head to stop spinning, but when it finally does I realize that I'm staring up at numerous lights that have been fixed into the ceiling. They're familiar lights, lights that I've stared at for a long time whenever I've gotten bored or just need to lose myself in thought. Oh, also Beast and Professor Xavier are staring down at me too.
"What are you two looking at?" I ask them as I push myself up, rubbing the back of my head as I do so. The blue furball offers me a hand, which I take and he helps pull me back up to my feet. "Thanks. Well, your portal worked Beast."
"Yes, Logan. You should be lucky Charles was so familiar with your mind or we may have never found you among the multiverse," Beast explains.
"Yep. I'm home."
"Indeed you are Logan, but I can't help but notice that you are here by yourself," Chuck points out. I groan as he says this. Time for me to explain myself. I walk over to one of the walls and lean up against it, making sure to empty my mind as best I can so that Chuck can't read my thoughts. He usually respects my privacy, but this might be a case where he'll look inside. I've got to be safe about this.
"Things were looking up for a while. I found where Alicia was, and I was enroute to pick her up," I begin to say, making sure that I keep my eyes closed the entire time I'm talking. "But then I found out something horrible. The natives of the world I ended up on were being killed. Slaughtered is actually the better term for it. Men, women and children were mercilessly killed and their homes were burned. So I took a detour to kill whatever had been attacking them."
"That was noble of you, Logan. I take it this was not long after we spoke?" Chuck asks me. I nod in response.
"I finally tracked down the culprit in the ruins of a city. And guess what it was? A Sentinel." The air in the room changes after I say this, and I can smell the concern coming off of the other two. "But this one was different. This one could shoot energy from its eyes, call down lightning bolts and teleport. Oh yeah, it also had a set of adamantium claws."
"My god," I hear Beast whisper to himself. "Logan, do you have any idea what this means? The government built a Sentinel that can mirror our powers now. And that was only with one Sentinel. Imagine what would happen with a whole army of those. Perhaps I should contact the Captain and tell him of this news."
"Go ahead, but yer going to miss out on story time," I inform Beast, while still keeping my eyes close. He mutters something that even I can't hear, but I don't hear him leave the room so I guess he's sticking around. "So yeah, had to fight that thing to the death. Seems they haven't worked out all the kinks in it yet, because it was nowhere near as hard to stab as Summers can be. It's now a pile of tiny pieces."
"I am glad to hear that you managed to destroy the Sentinel, Logan. But what became of Alicia? If a Sentinel was brought with you to that world, then there is no doubt that they would have hunted her as well." The prof's a smart one. He already figured out that Alicia's powers are what brought the Sentinel to the world of ponies. But now I've reached the dilemma. What do I tell them...?
"Yer right Chuck, they did hunt her. And not just the Sentinels, but a few of Magneto's goons as well," I mutter with some rage, getting a gasp out of Beast while Chuck lets out a small sigh. "They had been tracking her too and all three sides found her at the same location. A village where the natives had been taking care of her. What are the odds we'd all meet each other at the same time, huh?"
"You can guess what happens next. We fought, but I was hopelessly outnumbered. I managed to get to her first, but you better believe that they put up one hell of a fight to make sure that I didn't put my hands on her. I fought as hard as I could Chuck, ya gotta believe me on that. I don't think I've ever had such a tough battle in my life, unless ya count the Avengers or cosmic threats. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't get her away from them."
"...Logan, I do not like the tone in your voice. What happened?" I let out a small sigh before I answer. They're going to hate me for this, that's for sure. But I'm used to being hated. And it's the only way.
"You said it yourself, Chuck. We couldn't let her fall into Magneto's or the government's hands. Who knows what they would do with her," I said in a very dark voice. I could smell the fear coming off of my companions as they started to piece together what I had 'done'. "So before they could take her, I made sure that no one would ever use her powers for evil."
"In the name of God, Logan. Please tell me that you didn't-"
SNIKT.
"Don't worry, Beast," I say to him as I lift my claw to my face and open my eyes, looking into my reflection to see a face that was completely blank. "She's in a better place now. Where no one will ever hunt her again." Beast turns his head away from me in disgust when I say this, unable to even look at me. Charles is staring down at the floor, his hands white while he keeps them clasped together.
"There, I've given you my report. Can I go to my room now?" I ask the pair of them. Beast turns on me with fury flashing in his eyes, but instead of saying anything he walks right past me and out of the room. I then cast a quick glance at Chuck, who has a cold look upon his face that I have not seen in some time. He's beyond mad at me. I can't say I blame him.
"And that is your full report? The whole truth?" he asks me. I nod once again and his eyes narrow. "Very well, Logan, but do know that you and I will be having a very serious talk later...about your actions and about whether or not you are still fit to be a member of the X-Men after...what you did."
"Sure, Chuck. I've also got a few memories that I want to have erased from my head, if ya wouldn't mind," I inform him as I walk over to the exit. I place my hand on the wall and quickly look into the reflection of my claws. I can see Chuck sitting in his hover chair with a sad expression on his face. I've hurt him today. I've hurt him badly. Another sin I'll have to shoulder, I guess.
I never have liked having my memories erased. I've had it done enough times to me already. But I also don't do it because I want to remember as much as I can. Every friend I've had, every place I've been...the face of each person I've killed. I don't want to forget any of it.
'This is my home! They are my family! And if you take another step towards them, then I'll stop you! I won't let you destroy this family as well!' I find humor in what Alicia said to me. Here I was, thinking that I was going to keep her safe, going to take her to a place that she could call home. That I would make sure no monster ripped apart her life again. But she had already found a home and a new family. And had she not stepped in, I would have torn apart her new family. I almost was the very thing I swore that I would stop. I was her monster. How's that for ironic?
I reach my room and push open the door, finding everything exactly the way I had left it. Good. I crash down face first onto the bed and lay there for a few minutes, not bothering to change out of my costume. I had to tell them she was dead. That I had killed her. Because if they knew she was alive, it was only a matter of time before everyone else figured it out as well. And even if they didn't say it, there's a lot of telepaths in this world. It wouldn't take long.
So, I had to tell them I killed her. That she's dead. And yeah, they'll all hate me for it. Probably kick me out of the X-Men and the Avengers. But she'll be safe. No one else will know that she's alive. No one, not even Chuck, except for me. And I've had my mind read before. I can't let that happen. I can't let them know where she is. So I have one choice.
"Logan, I'm ready to erase those memories that you wished to be rid of," I hear the voice of Chuck say from outside the door. I hate to do it, but it's the only way to keep her safe. I won't remember where she is, what kind of world she's in, or even what happened to me while I was there. All I'll remember is that she's in a better place and happy. But if me losing my memories of her gives a mutant kid the chance to live without fear, without having to look over her shoulder because she's being hunted, then it's a burden I can bear. It's what a samurai does.
Enjoy your life, Alicia. And I hope you never have to see me again.
||X||
"Faust, you still look terrible," Lyra says to me with a sad smile. I smile back at her before I gently adjust my pillow and then glance over at Imp, who's fast asleep on the other side of the hospital bed. Been here for about three days now. Been hurting like hell that entire time. Well, most of me. The doctors are still trying to see of they can repair my spine or if I'll be wheelchair bound the rest of my life.
"Well, I feel pretty terrible," I reply to her in a soft voice. "The creature did screw me up good. Everything hurts, I've lost a ton of blood, and I'm pretty sure one of his claws messed up my perfect mane. Oh, does his evilness know no bounds?" Lyra rolls her eyes and shakes her head at me.
"Now I know you're not feeling well, if you're making jokes that bad," she says in a tone that's filled with relief and kindness. "I'm just glad that Twilight and everypony else finally bucked off. You didn't need that amount of noise while you're trying to recover."
I smile as I think back to the previous day, when Twilight, her friends, my friends and Luna all showed up to shower me with praise, amazed that I had managed to fend off the monster and push him back to his own reality. Of course, they only had my word for it. And that's what I had told them. I said nothing to them about Imp's special powers...or how the monster was the one that left on his own accord.
I still don't know how I feel about that. About it simply...leaving. Or the look that it had given me before it had left. It was almost like...he truly did care about Imp. That whatever she had said to him was what caused him to leave. And I know it had to be what she said, because the image of my broken and bleeding body probably didn't instill any terror in him.
"Bon, did you hear me?" Lyra ask, apparently for the second time. I shake my head weakly and she lets out another sigh. "I said that I'm amazed how well you're taking this. Just two days ago you were fighting for your life, and now you find out you might never be able to use your hind legs again...but you still have a smile on your face. Why is that?"
My response is to turn towards Imp and gently place my hoof on the back of her head. She lets out a small groan before she slightly moves her head, but she's snoring soundly a moment later. I watch her sleep for a moment before I give Lyra another smile.
"Because our family is still together. Because the creature didn't take her from us. We're still a family." Lyra's expression softens at my words, but then another look spreads across her face and she leans in close to me with a look she only gives me when she's seen through one of my lies.
"Bon, between you and me...you didn't beat the creature back to its own world, did you?" she asks me. "In the state that you were in, I doubt that you could barely move, let alone fight. So what did happen back there? How did you really get rid of the monster?" I think about my answer for a long minute, wondering how much I should tell her. But after all she's gone through, between worrying about both me and Imp, she deserves to know the whole truth.
"I didn't. After our battle, he was the one left standing. I was, as you said, unable to move, let alone fight. And he was ready to kill me. But then Imp intervened. She used her telekinesis to throw the creature away from me and placed herself between me and him."
"Then why didn't he just take her?"
"I'm not sure. The two of them started to talk to one another, and whatever Imp said to him was enough to cause him to leave," I tell Lyra, but I don't tell her about the look that the creature gave me--a look that demanded I take care of the little human. "So in reality, she's the hero in all of this. All I did was get stabbed a bunch."
"I guess she is then, isn't she?" Lyra agrees as she gives a loving smile to the human, before a large smile spreads across her face. "And I guess that you're not the undefeated monster hunter that you once claimed to be, huh? Seems that there's finally an L in your column."
"...Nah, not really. No monster has still managed to best me," I say after a moment. Lyra responds with a look that demands I explain myself. "That creature was a lot of things. He was smart, he was one hell of a fighter, and he had an animalistic ferocity that I don't think any creature in Equestria could match. He was the greatest foe I've ever fought." I then look out the window at the blue sky and wonder where the creature is now. And I think of the compassion and caring in his eyes that I had seen when he spoke with Imp. And then when he looked at me.
"But he wasn't a monster. I saw a soul behind those wild eyes. A soul that looked...a lot like mine. But now that we've dealt with the Wombat, we need to start investigating those towns we lost. If that fight told me one thing, it's that there was a lot more going on that we didn't know about."
Author's Note
And with the hunt finally over, it's time to move from forests and towns to cities and skyscrapers. Because when you have the ability to climb any surface, sense danger sneaking up on you and can swing through the buildings, some might just call you amazing. But perhaps amazing isn't a good enough word to describe our next hero. In fact, some might call them...
Superior.
"How did you talk me into this, Lyra?" I ask myself for the fifth time as I stare down at the human laying on my couch. It was bad enough that we had an unknown creature in my house, but the fact that Lyra had covered it in my blankets and used my pillows added insult to injury.
Not that the human had done anything since we had gotten back to the house. I kept my eye on it the entire time and all it had done so far was sleep. A hint of movement breaks me free of my thoughts, but to my relief all the human did was clutch the blankets closer to its chest and groan slightly.
"Has it done anything yet?" Lyra asks as she enters the room. I shake my head in response and her face falls, but a moment later it perks back up when she walks close to the couch. "Isn't this just amazing?! An actual human, in our house!"
"I still can't believe you managed to convince me to bring that thing here. We should have told Celestia."
"Yeah right, so she could snatch it away and lock it in a cage until she could determine if it was dangerous or not?" Lyra snaps back with a tone I haven't heard in a long time.
"Do you honestly think Celestia would do that?"
"You worked for her. Would you do it?"
"Fair point."
Lyra turns her head back towards the human. I notice that she had her book on them in her grips once more, and was drawing the little imp's face on one of the blank pages.
"Do you think it likes cookies?" I gave Lyra a look in response to her question.
"What?"
"Cookies. Do you think it likes them?" she repeats.
"How would I know? You're the human expert."
I can tell from the way she leans her head back and stares at the ceiling that the question was bothering her. I was more amazed that she was even considering making cookies for a creature that we knew next to nothing about. Guess that's Lyra for you.
I leave her to draw the human's portrait, and I head for the paper that I didn't get to finish. But even with a few bits of interesting news, my mind kept getting drawn back to the creature taking up my spot on the couch. From what little I knew of humans, mostly from the information that Lyra had beaten into my brain, they were supposed to be dangerous. But that little thing? Dangerous? Please.
"I'm gonna make it some cookies," Lyra speaks up. I nod my head, but whether or not she was talking to me or not I didn't know. I hear her enter the kitchen, followed by the sounds of crashing pans. Poor human. First day here and it's going to die from food poisoning. I turn my thoughts away from Lyra and back to the paper, before the faintest of sounds rips me from the paper.
The human is moving. That thought barely passes through my mind before I'm on my hooves. The creature lifted its head slightly and looks around the room, blinking its eyes. The two of us then lock eyes. I didn't know what it reads in my eyes, but in its, I read fear. I saw the fear spread as it gazes around the room. And I knew what came next.
The human let out a scream that could pierce stone. It sprung off the couch and races away from me. I chase after it, but it doesn't get far before it trips and falls onto its face. Ouch.
"Okay, fun's over," I tell it while placing a hoof on its shoulder. It spins around to face me, still the fear in its eyes as it gazes at me. Then its eyes went white and it punched me in the chest. The next thing I knew I was flying across the room, along with any other possessions of mine that had been near the brat. I felt myself slam back first against the wall, before I fall on my head. Double ouch.
"Okay, you little brat," I snarl while getting back up. "Time to see what happens when you mess with me." I paw the ground before letting out a snort. The human wants to fight, huh? I'll show it what happens when you-
"Don't even think about it!" Lyra might not be the most built of mares, but when she's motivated she hits like a carriage. And yes, I've been hit by a carriage before. Multiple times. And she hit me with that kind of force--I find myself flying across my living room once again.
"You'd better have a good reason for doing that," I seethe, once I pull myself back up. Lyra gives me an apologetic glance before slowly approaching the human. The imp's eyes flash with fear and hesitation. Then, its eyes glance up at Lyra's horn and its whole disposition changes. The fear is replaced with amazement and an excitement that I had only seen in Lyra's eyes when she talked about humans. The imp says something in a language I didn't understand as she reaches out to Lyra.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," Lyra promises as she stopped right in front of the human. It reaches up and gently touches Lyra's horn with its fingers, a huge smile spreading across its face. "Like my horn, huh? Bet you've never seen anything like it. Oh here, let me show you something cool."
"Lyra, what are you doing?" I ask her as she levitates a tray of cookies out of the kitchen and to the human.
"Calming her down. Something you clearly don't know how to do," Lyra snaps back. She then offers the tray to the human, but the thing seems far more interested in the magical aura around the tray.
"Wait a moment. Her? How do you know it's a her?"
"Didn't you hear her tone of voice when she spoke? Pay more attention."
And now Lyra's being all uppity with me. Whatever. I continue to watch as the "her" starts to examine Lyra, who was clearly loving the attention.
"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Lyra asks. The human says a few things that neither of us can understand. But from the look on her face she was just as confused as we were. "Um, did you catch any of that, Bon?"
"Nope. Seems we don't speak the same language." Lyra looks visibly hurt by that revelation. The human snatches one of the cookies off of the tray and wolfs it down, a large smile crossing her face a moment later. "However, it does seem that she likes your cooking."
That got Lyra's spirits back up. A smile spreads across Lyra's face as she starts speaking numerous other languages that she knew a little of, but the human continues to stare at her with an awestruck face that made no hints that she understands what Lyra is saying.
"None of it's working. Of course the first human I'd meet wouldn't speak the same language as us," Lyra says. She then brushes the bangs out of the human's eyes with a warm smile, one that seems to calm the girl down a bit.
"So, what are we going to do with her?" I ask. "I mean, we can't keep her here forever. Eventually Celestia is going to have to be told. We can't just keep a creature we know nothing about under my roof."
"Why not? You keep me under this roof," Lyra says with a smile. I give her my "I'm being serious" glare in response. "I know, I know. I just want to get this chance to study a human up close, without having to go through Celestia to do it. Come on Bon, you've dealt with worse creatures during your old job. Surely you can handle a human."
Was she trying to make a play on my ego? No, I think she's being serious here. And she's right, after all I've dealt with, handling a human child shouldn't be...but what about those white eyes of hers and power that threw me across the room? Lyra did state a while ago that some humans were strange, but...
"Alright. But we tell Celestia soon.
||X||
I had hoped to get to the town of those strange horses by dawn. That was before a massive, Venus flytrap tried to eat me for a late night snack. Unfortunately for it, metal doesn't digest well. The whole experience put me in a bad mood, though. Not that it's entirely the plant's fault. I'm almost always in a bad mood.
Instead, it was around noon that I walk out of the forest and into the small town, a snarl on my face. Their town was nothing special. Buildings, carts, some other things that I didn't care about. All I wanted was a map and maybe the chance to see if I could pick up the girl's scent. Then I glance at the first citizen and knew that none of that was going to happen.
The pony I was staring at was terrified of me. I was used to getting that stare, but usually it was after the claws had come out. Should I take off the mask? Would that even help to calm the thing down? Then it starts to scream. And apparently when one starts screaming, all of the damned beasts do because a moment later, nearly every pony in the town is running around in circles screaming at the top of their lungs.
"SHUT UP!" I bellow at them. Naturally, my suggestion didn't work and all of the ponies scream louder in response. However, my shout did gain me the full attention of six armored horses that emerge from the woodwork. They surround me and point their spears towards my chest. I glance around to see that two of them were unicorns, while the rest were regular. That meant two of them were trouble.
The lead guard, the one with the fancy helmet, yells something at me that I don't understand. I assume it was something along the lines of surrender. Even though I don't understand, I slowly put my hands up anyway. I'd prefer to get out of this without a fight. They're just doing their jobs. No need to-
Then the lead guard says something to another one of his men, one of the unicorns. Its horn glows, using its magic to create a ball and chain that fastens itself to my leg. With me "secured," the ponies then began to approach me. I then chose to lower my arms.
"Even if you can't understand my words, understand my tone," I whisper to the guards with rage in every word. "If you take another step towards me, you're going to have three new holes in your bodies."
Most of the guards backed off after I spoke, clearly understanding the rage in my tone. But the lead guard didn't and continues to get closer. So all the leaders in this world are idiots. Good to know. There was no fear in his eyes either. He considered me trapped. Time to change that.
SNIKT!
The metal had barely punched through my flesh before I swung my claw down and ripped right through the ball and chain on my leg. Even if it was magic, my claw went clean through without any resistance. The magic dissipated and left me a free man, something that did not make the guards happy.
The lead guard then yells out another command to his troops. I think this time he said "Get it." I'm not certain though, because after he said it I lunge forward and slam my fist into his jaw. He went down without another sound.
Taking out their leader seems to have inspired courage in the other guards, because they all chose that moment to jump me at once. The closest thrust at me with his spear. I slash at the spear with my claws. Guess who won that battle? I kick the now weaponless guard in the chest for good measure before turning towards the next unlucky S.O.B.
He wants to stab me as well, but I don't like being a pincushion. I grab hold of the spear myself and tear it from his grip. Wait a sec, how do creatures with hooves hold spears? Ah, who cares. Wood splinters as I slam the shaft of the spear across his face. Three down.
"ARGH!" I cry out as something strikes me in the back, something that burns like the sun. Snarling, I force myself to stay standing while glaring over my shoulder at my attacker. It's one of the unicorns and this one had his horn glowing like a candle. The fire I could stand. The smirk on his face though? That tore it.
"Okay bub, you just lost your chance to be my friend!" I bellow as I felt my vision begin to go red.
SNIKT!
The appearance of the second claw wipes the smirk off of his face. Also gives me a moment to lunge at him with the claws pointed right at his chest. He recovers a second too late, and I easily dodge the blast of fire that he shoots in a vain attempt to hurt me. My time to return the favor.
"GRAAHHH!"
I ram the one of my blades on my right hand right through the armor on his chest. Then I drive them through his chest. The horse lets out a scream as my claws erupt from his back, causing blood to flow down from the new hole. Whaddya know? They bleed red as well.
From what I've learned about horses, this shouldn't be a fatal blow. It'll hurt like hell though. I slam my skull into his nose to shut him up before hurling his body off to the side. These ponies have built towns and have magic. They should be able to fix him. Then I turn my attention back to the other two, who are gazing at me with absolute horror in their eyes.
"That's right. I'm not like the monsters you're used to fighting. I'm far worse. And if you don't want to end up like him...run." The two get my message and flee for their lives, dropping their weapons as they did so. I smirk at their retreating figures before turning back towards the town, only to feel another blast of magic tear through my side.
I roar with agony while collapsing to one knee, gritting my teeth in pain. I glance down at my side to see a small chunk of my side missing.
"That...hurt." I push myself back up and turn around to see that the leader of the guards is back. He points his glowing horn at me in response and fires another blast of magic. A flash of my claws is enough to slice the spell into oblivion. I see annoyance flash across the guard's face at how easily I dealt with his spell. But then I watch his eyes glance down at my side and smirk as that annoyance is replaced by fear.
"That's right, bub. I heal quick. Now answer me this question," I begin as I crouch down, everything in my field of view red. "Do you?"
"She looks so peaceful when's she's sleeping," Luna says to me as we walk down the stairs, leaving the little imp in her bedroom. Hope she'll stay in there this time. "I still can't believe that a human managed to enter Equestria without Twilight knowing about it. I will have to inform her that she is getting sloppy."
"If that imp did come from the human world," I mutter to myself, but I must have spoken louder than I thought, because Luna nods at me to continue my thoughts. "Look, I don't know that much about humans. Everything I do know comes from Lyra. How about you tell me what you know about them, and I promise that I'll give you my thoughts afterwards."
"Well, I assume that I do not know much more than you," Luna replies as she sits down on the couch. I chose the chair across from her so that I could watch her face as she talked. I've gotten decent at telling when ponies are lying. It's how I keep Lyra from doing anything too crazy. "And all I do know about them comes from Twilight, who has visited their world a few times."
"So, the ponies were right in assuming that Twilight has been meeting with beings from across reality," I confirm. Luna smacks herself in the face and, I'm guessing, because she wasn't supposed to let that information out. "It's alright, Luna, I got really good at worming info out of ponies a long time ago. Guess some habits die hard."
"Yes...back when you were our top monster fighter." I feel my face tighten as those words leave Luna's lips. Seems I was right in assuming that she would bring that part of my life up again. "I've been reading about what I missed while I was trapped in the moon, and your organization came up multiple times. Celestia put an organization together designed to fight monsters about two hundred years ago, and they've been keeping Equestria safe from monsters ever since...until recently."
"Yeah? Well things happen and we can't dwell on them," I mutter loud enough on purpose.
"Agreed. Your file did impress me though, Sweetie Drops," Luna says with a smile, but I give her a look that makes it clear I don't like that name. Royalty or not, I never want to hear that name again. Too many memories. "Is it true that you were never defeated by any monster that you fought?"
"If you mean the beasts and creatures that we fought, then technically yes, none of them ever beat me," I confirm for Luna before losing myself in thought once again. "But if we count that traitor as a monster..."
"Perhaps I should continue," Luna butts in, and I'm grateful to her for doing so. Those memories I had started to go down can consume me if I'm not careful. "From what I have learned through Princess Twilight, humans are beings without magic, but seem to have superior technology to us. What I find bizarre is that she informed my sister and me that they spoke our language just fine. So why does the human you have not speak it?"
"I've had several thoughts about that," I mutter as I press my hooves together and lean my chin onto them. "The first and most likely reason is that she never learned how to speak the human's language. Perhaps no one taught her."
"Yet, she clearly doesn't understand anything we're saying. That would mean that she does not know the language of the planet she grew up on," Luna points out.
"True. This next reason my be harder to understand, but there is a chance she's not the same kind of human as the ones Twilight knows," I continue. Luna went into thought after I told her this and I didn't interrupt her, as I was pondering myself. "In fact...she might not even be human. But perhaps that's too much of a stretch."
"Perhaps. Well, it is getting early and I must be heading back to Canterlot," Luna says as she rises from the couch, bowing to me before walking herself to the door. She places a hoof against the door, but then stops to look back at me. "Speaking of not being human...have you heard the rumors of the clawed being?"
"You mean the creature in the yellow and blue suit? I've seen pictures, but little else," I say to her.
"That is all my sister and I have allowed to be released to the public right now. Tomorrow I will be looking into the creature," Luna says before turning her gaze to the ground. "Do you believe it is possible that this creature is also a human?"
"Unless humans can grow claws from their hands and regrow chunks of their missing bodies, then no, I'd say it's safe to say this creature is not human," I reply with a shake of my head. "Human-like, maybe. But definitely not human."
"I see. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I promise that I will talk to my sister about not doing anything rash. Farewell, Agent Bon-Bon." Luna then nods before she spreads her wings and takes to the skies, vanishing into the clouds that rumbled overhead. I watch her go until I can no longer see her before I close the door and head towards the stairs. I try not to think about what we discussed. The creature with the claws was her problem now.
I reach my bedroom a moment later and fall face first onto my bed, trying my best to quiet my mind so I can fall asleep. It's not easy. The monster fighter in me wants to analyze, wants to learn about this creature she is going to go meet. Once again I have to remind myself that I no longer fight monsters.
"So, what you two talk about?" Lyra asks me from the other side of the bed.
"The imp for the most part. And then about that creature that's been causing trouble," I mutter in reply, trying to focus on sleeping.
"Is she going to tell Celestia about her?" I hear the fear in Lyra's voice. She doesn't want to lose the human, anymore than I want to keep her.
"Unless we give her a reason to? No, Luna will keep her a secret," I grumble. "But I don't know how much longer we can keep her a secret. She snuck out not long ago. I won't always be there to keep an eye on her and make sure another pony doesn't see her."
Lyra goes silent after I say this, and I believe that she might have finally drifted off to sleep. But just as I feel the blackness of sleep starting to overtake my mind, does Lyra finally decide to open up her mouth once more.
"Well, what if we didn't keep her a secret?" she asks. "What if we showed her around to everypony in the town?"
"And have them all freak out? You know what they're like."
"That's what they used to be like. And it's not like she's some sort of giant monster or unstoppable abomination. She's a little girl," Lyra argues. "I think they might even like her." I'm too tired for this.
"Fine, if that's what you want to do," I grumble before turning over.
"Thanks, Bon. We'll show her to everypony in town first thing tomorrow!"
Tomorrow?
||X||
The screams. The smell of alcohol. The crashing and smashing of a group fighting. Makes me feel right at home.
I let out a laugh as I duck under a horse's right hook before slamming my knee into his gut, my strike lifting him off the floor before he crashes down onto one of the tables. One of the unicorns uses their hocus pocus to fling a bottle at my head, but I've managed to weave out of gunfire before. Catching a bottle is child's play.
I snatch the bottle out of the air before returning it to sender. A smirk crosses my face as the glass cracks the horse right in the jaw. He goes down without another sound. I back up to the bar to find that every one of the ponies is now involved in the fight and all of them seem to be gunning for me. Well, I would hate it if they made it easy for me.
"Take it this isn't a normal occurrence for ya?" I ask the bartender, who's cowering behind his bar. I take a swig of whatever was in the bottle next to me before lunging forward with a roar, head up and claws out. I slash through the chair that one horse thought would make a good shield before driving the heel of my foot into his chest. He ain't going to feel good in the morning.
I feel a weight upon my back and I glance over my shoulder to see that one of the ponies has leapt onto my shoulders. It wraps its hooves around my neck and starts trying to strangle me. While I may have one of the most incredible healing factors known to man, I still need to breathe and suffocation hurts like a bitch. Means that I got to get rid of this extra weight.
The obvious solution is to slice his arms off and call him stumpy for the rest of his life. But these are bar patrons. They're practically family to me. So instead, I leap towards a table and roll around in the air so that the horse is set to cushion the impact. I hear it scream right before we impact, shattering the table and getting the pony to release its grip on me. I kick back up to my feet and glance under my arm to see the pony passed out on a table of splinters.
"Sorry bub, but I don't do piggyback rides," I snarl before whipping my head around. There's still six of them left and the unicorns are all still standing. From the way their horns are burning like candles, they're about to use their magic to make my life suck. Can't have that.
The one off to my right fires first. I kick up a chair that had been near my feet to intercept the blasts. It does its job and now it's time to do mine. The magic had just turned the chair to ash before I hurl myself into the air, claws aimed right at the unicorn's throat. A single slice is all that it would take to keep him down. But I don't take the shot. I only kill when I have to. And I don't have to right now.
So instead, we put our heads together. Or rather, I slam my head into his. So unless his skull is made of adamantium, he ain't going to be standing after that. And he doesn't. As he falls I spin around to my next opponent, who just happens to be the horse that wanted to sell me that special rock--who is somehow holding two knives in his hooves. Without thumbs. Whatever, I've seen weirder.
"Come on, bub. You really want to knife fight with me?" I ask him as I raise my claws next to my face, reflecting his image in them. "Ya should know that yer butter knives don't compare with what these babies can cut through. Ever hear of the Hulk?"
He doesn't understand a word I'm saying of course. But the action isn't lost on him. For a brief second the pony looks down at his own knives. And there's my window. I lunge forward, claws extended. I could kill him too, but I won't. He's definitely getting a few new holes, though.
That's what I think, until a blast of magic catches me in the side and hurls me across the room. I slam into the wall and hear glass break, meaning that I probably hit a window. Great, guess I'll be picking glass out of my back for a few days. I grunt as I hit the floor, but a moment later I'm back on my feet and glaring at the unicorn that shot me out of the sky.
"Ya shouldn't have done that," I inform him before roaring and lunging forward. I duck down low and make sure to weave around whatever tables are still standing so that he doesn't have an easy shot. Two bolts of magic whiff, giving me a chance to get in close. I take the opportunity.
I tackle into him shoulder first, sending him crashing into the bar stools. The moment the horse is dazed I'm on top of him. My eyes lock with his and I see the fear spreading across his face. And with the fear comes the desperation shot. I see his horn begin to glow. I could dodge it, but I'm here to make a point.
Pain roars through my nerves as the bastard shoots me right in the mouth, tears apart the skin, and leaves my lower jaw looking like Wade's ass. But I keep my smile upon my face as my skin begins to heal, the burns begin to fade, and a few moments later my face is back to how it was. And of course, the horse is absolutely terrified by what it just saw.
"Pleasant dreams," I say to it before slamming my face into the creature's nose. It drops and allows me to get back up. Right in time to see one of the bruisers charging right for me. Which is funny, because I remember breaking his face with my face. "Glutton for punishment, are we? Well I've got plenty of punishment to dish out!"
I wrap my arms around the horse's neck when he reaches me, while digging my heels into the floor at the same time. A normal horse would be nearly impossible for me to throw like this, but even as a bruiser this pony ain't hardly as tall as me. And that's saying something. And it also allows me to lift the pony off of his hooves and hurl him over my head, slamming him down onto the bar and cracking the thing clean in half.
With the last threat down, I let out a sigh as I survey the damage. Six broken tables, numerous broken chairs, multiple unconscious bodies strewn across the place and one pony left standing that's wetting himself. When did I become so restrained?
I walk over to the pony that I left standing, the guy that wanted to sell me the rock. I glare down at him, flaring my nostrils as I do so. He immediately caves and stares down at the floor, whimpering at the same time. I think of the best way to make his night miserable before I smell something hanging from his bag. Smells like gold. I use my claw to remove the bag from his belt and pick it up, opening it to see that small gold coins are what lay inside.
"Here," I say to the bartender before tossing him the bag of gold. "Fer all the trouble I caused. If there's any damage left over, put it on his tab. He started it, after all." The bartender didn't understand the words, but money transcends all languages. He looks at the bag of coins before nodding to me and then motions for me to get out. I did so without any further trouble.
'Now what?' I think to myself as I stand alone in the middle of the night, under the gaze of the moon and in the arms of the evening breeze. If I were a smart man, I'd leave town immediately. Because after word of this gets out, there's no doubt that this place will be crawling with guards or worse. If I were smart, I should leave into the forest and not look back.
Yeah, that's what I "should" do.
Shouldn't have destroyed the Sentinel. Or at least, I should have kept it somewhat intact. Perhaps then I could have shown the ponies that I'm not the one wiping out their villages. I'm just the one killing the ponies that kept coming after me. But I don't think clearly when I'm berserk. I barely think at all.
I still feel the berserker. He hasn't gone back to sleep, even after all that's happened. I don't like that. The last time he was this out of control, I ended up on the wrong end of a god's hammer. Don't let Hulk's bragging fool you. Mjolnir hurts. A lot. Made of one of the few metals that can hurt the metal in my bones. Maybe something in the land is aggravating him or maybe Alicia's powers had a side effect on me. I've got no idea, but maybe Stark or Richards could...
The thought of the Avengers and my past conflicts with them started to stir up the beast within, so I change my thoughts to think of something else. Like, how in the hell do these special forces ponies keep finding me? First it was the sun princess and her band of misfits, then it was the candy mare and 'death' in pony form. I've been covering my tracks pretty well, aside from the times that I'm forced to fight, but they still keep finding me.
I sniff at my costume again, trying to locate any foreign metal or signature that they might be using as a tracker. But all I smell is myself and blood, so nothing out of the ordinary. I sigh in response. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. After all, they still fight with spears, for God's sake. Making a tracking device that I couldn't find? That's hard to swallow.
Besides, when would they have had the chance to even place one on me? In every encounter I've had with the ponies, I either beat them without them touching me, or, in the sun pony's case, I ripped off the part of me that was touched by magic. So they would never have had...
Magic. That's the answer. I come to a stop next to a small pool of water and kneel down next to it, glaring down at my reflection. I place a hand to my shoulder, the very spot where one of those bat pony's crossbow bolts had struck me in the shoulder. There's no way that a device could be there. If my nose didn't smell it in me, my healing factor would have gotten rid of it. But I never did check, just to be certain.
I extend a single claw and use it to tear away the fabric by my shoulder, peeling back my suit. A grim smile crosses my face when I spy a small disc of what I think is solar magic stuck to my shoulder. I reach up and peel it off, having to rip off my skin to get rid of it. While my healing factor deals with the bleeding, I move the magic close to my nose and take a whiff. It smells the same as me. That's why I couldn't find it.
"I didn't give ya punks enough credit. While yer technology might not be anything special, ya got some pretty interesting party tricks," I mutter as I start to squeeze my fingers together, trying to crush the magic. But after a moment I stop. If the tracker gets destroyed, then the ponies will know and they'll increase their efforts to find me. But if I keep it active for a little while, they'll know where I am and not feel as pressured.
That's what I'd like to think, but as soon as they get news that a full blown large town was wiped out, they'll be after my guts soon enough. What I need is a way to keep this tracker moving without keeping it on me. Where can I put it so it will do just that?
I scale the nearest tree, leaping from branch to branch while using my claws only to steady myself. I reach the top in a few moments, able to see the whole area around me from my vantage point. I squint my eyes and see far off in the distance another village. Probably where the Sentinel wanted to go next after it was done with the town.
Then I take in another deep whiff and a scent that I'm really familiar with enters my nose. It's the girl. And she's close. A few hours away at most if I sprint at full speeds. I cross my arms while leaning back in the tree, considering what to do. Do I go straight for her? I still have the tracker and if I do that they will see me coming. But if I leave the tracker behind, they might get suspicious of it not moving for a long time and up their guard. Maybe they'll think I'm sleeping, but I don't want to risk it. The rumbling of clouds overhead turns my gaze skyward, where I notice numerous black clouds forming overhead.
"Looks like rain," I mutter to myself. Which is odd, considering that I hadn't smelled the rain coming. Something zips by overhead and I instantly slide down to the bottom of the tree, moving to a bush after a few moments to make sure that I was better hidden. To my surprise, I found that a Pegasus was moving clouds together. Storm clouds, to be precise.
A few minutes later more and more Pegasi showed up, each of them helping to move clouds to create a massive thunderstorm. I guess that the pegasi in this world can move the clouds and control the weather. Sure, I've seen weirder things done with magic. Hell, with science. I watch them create the weather for about ten minutes while the cloud gets larger and larger, eventually blocking out the sun.
Clearly finished, the pegasi start to take off in different directions, except for a few that fly down close to where I am and start to talk amongst one another. I shift through the underbrush and get closer to the horses, silently sniffing them when I'm close enough. A grin crosses my face when I smell that one of them has the same scent as the village I saw. That gives me an idea.
I wait until they're done talking and start to fly off one by one. I move myself closer when it's just the pegasi from the town and his friend left. I get lucky; his friend took off before he did, giving me a moment to leap out from the underbrush, tackle the pegasi from the town out of the sky and roll behind cover before he could make a sound.
I clamp one hand over the pegasi's mouth before extending the claws in my other hand, moving them dangerously close to his face. The pegasi's eyes went wide as he stared at the metal blades with terror. I then move my hand close to my lips and place one finger against them. The pony nods once to show me he understood.
"Hey there, bub," I say to him in as dangerous a tone as I can muster. The pony then wets himself. Good, I've got him scared. But I can also see in his eyes that he's just waiting for his chance to bolt, to run in fear from me. Exactly what I want.
I take the tracker in my free hand and wrap my hand around the back of the pony's neck, terrifying him even further. "Don't worry, bub, you'll get out of this alright as long as you do what I want," I snarl with a sinister smile that makes him whimper. I lightly drag my claws across his neck, drawing three thin lines of blood. "Yeah, you don't understand a word I'm saying. But you sure understand my tone. You're a dead pony. I'm going to kill you. Unless you fly as fast as you can to the-"
I cut myself off on purpose and snap my head to the side, making it look like I heard a sound. The pegasus doesn't disappoint and a moment later I feel his hoof crack my jaw. I barely register the pain, but I pretend like his blow was strong enough to knock me off of him. I fall to the forest floor while roaring with rage, but when I glance over my shoulder I spy the pegasus flying towards the village as fast as his wings can carry him.
"Thanks fer taking that off my hands, bub. I owe ya a drink," I chuckle before I stand back up and start to run towards where I had smelled the girl. I don't have much time. I have no doubt that they have heard of me or at least my description, so the ponies of that town while call for reinforcements at once. That's why I scratched the guy, so they know that I was here.
Hopefully the lunar pony and all of her little friends will come here searching for me. After all, they've just lost a town to me. If I were them, I'd be out for blood. Meaning that while they're busy, I might have just enough time to grab Alicia and leave this place behind like a bad dream.
That's what I want to happen. I highly doubt it will. I've been way too lucky as of late. And lady luck is a temperamental bitch.
||X||
I hate having to watch as my friends gear up to go into battle. Every time I see it, I fear that it's the last time that I'm seeing them. But what I hate even more is when I can't go with them into battle. Can't be there to fight or die along with them. As we stand in the middle of a field outside of Ponyville, I can't help but hate myself for not going.
I made my choice, though. As much as I hate not going with them, I'd hate letting down Lyra and Imp even more. They're my family. And I can't imagine the pain that I would inflict on them, if I went off to battle this creature and didn't make it back. So I watch from the sidelines as my team, Luna, and the Guardians of Harmony gear up to go fight him.
"Luna, are you sure that this is the time to attack?" I ask the princess once more. What I get in reply is a murderous glare from the night as her nostrils flare.
"Sweetie Drops, you have heard the news, am I not mistaken?" I don't need to ask what news. Everypony has heard of how Dustfield was completely wiped out by this monster. We've clearly been underestimating its ability to destroy if it was able to take out an entire town and leave no survivors. "This creature is beyond dangerous. It might just be an embodiment of evil. We have to strike it down now. It's already in another town and they've called for help. We're the only chance they have."
"Don't feel too bad though, Sweetie. I promise that we'll bring back the claws so you can examine them up close without needing to worry about the Wombat stabbing you," Stinger assures me. I give him a smile in reply, but my gut is in knots. This thing wiped out an entire city. How can my friends hope to stop it?
"Now you all have your weapons that I made, right?" Twilight asks the ponies, who all nod with vengeance in their eyes. "The darts, the bombs and all of the other items? You do? Good." She then casts a glance back at me and I avert my eyes. I feel like a coward. I should be going to fight with them.
"Bon-Bon, don't be too upset. I promise you that we'll get it. Your friend will be avenged," she promises me.
"Not just my friend. Every life that he's taken. And Celestia, even though she's not dead," I make her promise as well.
"With all of the material that we've gathered on the creature, along with the Guardians and Princess Luna, we will be forever shamed if we fail to kill this thing," Lens adds with a smirk. Luna then pulls me to the side with her magic, using her wings to shield our conversation from the others.
"Sweetie Drops, I wish for you to take this," she whispers while pulling out an orb on the end of a spike, which she then gives to me.
"What...is this?" I ask her as I take the orb in hoof, feeling raw, magical might flood through my body.
"A last resort. The combined magic of Twilight and myself. The full power of two Alicorns," she replies. My eyes shrink as I realize what I'm holding onto. She then slides a saddle to me, one that's filled with a small number of the weapons that Twilight had made. "I give these to you in case the worst is to happen. If we fall, you are the only one that knows enough about the creature to fight it. I pray that you will not need to use these."
"But it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Don't worry Luna, you won't lose. You're the defenders of Harmony. You always win," I assure her. She smiles back at me before joining the rest of the team. She nods to them before she spreads her wings and takes to the skies. She and Twilight use their magic to lift those that could not fly. I watch them go, watch them go on without me. For a brief moment my whole body shakes with rage at my staying behind. Then a hoof places itself on my shoulder.
"Hey," Lyra asks me. I turn around to face her with both guilt and rage flashing in my eyes. She nods with understanding. "Yeah, I figured that you'd be this way. You always act like this when something goes wrong and you can't stop it. I think I know the cure to that, though."
"Candy!" Imp yells as she jumps out from behind Lyra and tosses a number of treats at me. My reflexes kick in and I catch most of the items out of the air. My moves cause Imp's eyes to go wide and she starts to clap, while I glance at the candy to see that they're all my favorites.
"Since when can she say more than just her name?" I ask Lyra as I crouch down, allowing Imp to crawl onto my back. I offer some of the candy to her and she snatches it from my grasp, downing the treats faster than what should be good for her. Lyra picks up the alicorn bomb and places it in the saddle, which she then slings over her back.
"I've been teaching her some new words. At the rate we're going, it won't be long before she'll finally be able to speak the same language as us," Lyra informs me with some pride. I give her a warm smile in reply. Imp then yells something I don't understand, but I figure it's along the lines of go faster. So I take off at a brisk trot with Lyra right beside me, trying hard not to think of the battle that my friends will soon be going through.
And the clouds that are thundering overhead.
