The Marked Guardian: A New World

The morning would be a typical morning in Ponyville, if it wasn't for that strange dream. Twilight woke up with a pounding headache and a puzzle of thoughts. "What type of dream was that, and what did it mean" she thought as her stomach groaned in hunger. "Maybe I'll think about that after breakfast".

Spike: Hey Twilight! You ok?

Twilight: Of coarse I am. Why do you ask?

I kept hearing you mumble and kick in your sleep. Was it a bad dream?

(sigh) More confusing than bad. I cant make any sense of it.

How about some pancakes? I got too hungry to wait, so I already ate.

Oh that's ok. And thanks! I'll have to talk to my friends about that dream later.

Scot watched as the skin of his wife turned from pale to grey, and as she bled from the eyes. He could only watch as the love of his life turned to a weeper in front of him. With one final breath of bugs and disease, she spoke to him...

Why didn't you protect me?

He took off down the only path his dream gave him. A path riddled in rats, weepers, corpses, and blood. So much blood. Enough to cover the whole path, as if the path was made of it. He kept running, running fast and hard and without looking back, as the world around changed from city to ruin. He kept running till he couldn't run anymore, because the path stopped. He didn't want to turn around, but what other choice did he have? As he stood there however, he kept feeling something on his shoulder. A hand? Then he turned around, and the Outsider stood there, amongst the pile of corpses.

This is the path your choices and poor judgment made in your life. The choices you made as a puppet of Dunwall. These choices however, will not affect you now, no matter how they haunt you. You live now in a land that doesn't know violence the way you do. But that doesn't mean that you are safe. A shadow of a past killer didn't die off the way he was supposed to. His spirit resides here, waiting to get his revenge on a noble that had wronged him long ago. Since this noble has died off, this spirit will attempted to kill the closest noble here. The two princesses who control this land. He is just a soul of rage and anger that needs to be dealt with, and that's why your here. But don't be fooled. This soul still has great power and skill, and will put you through challenges you will need to overcome in order to achieve your goal.

This is your story now, and there are no strings to hold you back.

Scot shot up, awaken from his sleep to reveal where he was. A dense forest that blocked out most of the sun, has surrounded him in his sleep. Or maybe he was put here by the Outsider? He didn't know anymore. He tried to sort out the thoughts and think about his situation, but the pounding in his head made it difficult. Then he began to focus on the forest itself. It was far different than any forest he has heard of. Then again, he was never actually in a forest before, so even a normal forest would be foreign to him. That still didn't change the ominous silence of the forest he was in. As he focused on his surroundings, he noticed how dark and twisted the foliage was. The many thorns, vines, and scratched tree trunks gave the forest a menacing feel to the forest, and the size of those scratches told him that something much bigger than a rat could be watching him. He realized then that the only thing he should be focusing on is a way out.

Making his way through the webs of roots and vines, is wasn't that long till he found a path. Although Scot was relieved to find something to lead him out, he couldn't help but notice the tracks left behind. Hoof prints, and rather fresh ones, were left by something heading towards a less dense part of the forest. Maybe it was a way out? He didn't care as long as he found someone who could help him. He began heading down the trail and noticed a dark figure in the distance. As he got closer, he noticed the figure wore an dark blue coat. Scot got excited to find someone and began to call out to it.

Hey! You over there!

No reply

I was wondering if you could help me! I'm looking for any nearby town!

Still nothing

Could you at least point me to a way out of the forest?

Suddenly, the stranger ran at Scot with terrifying speed, and soon Scot found himself pinned against a tree. He couldn't get out of his situation, and couldn't reach his sword. Then he realized that the person pinning him was no person. Anything not covered in its coat was pitch black. Its face was nothing more than two red globes that resembled eyes staring at him with hate.

I will not let a person like you ruin my plans! You don't belong here, so you will die where you stand!

The shadow grabbed a folding blade from a pocket of the coat and ran it through Scot and the tree. Scot shouted in pain and tried to reach for his pistol, but it was gone, along with his sword. The shadow then vanished before his eyes and left him to rot. Scot had no elixir and was forced to try and yank himself from the tree, and after seconds of agonizing pain, he pulled himself and the blade from the tree. He then pulled the blade out and put it in his own coat pocket. Scot knew he needed to find help fast, but he could only limp his way out because of the pain. His vision became blurry after a minute and as soon as he heard a voice call out, he fell to the ground with a thud. The last thing he saw was a yellow blur running at him.