What was Lost

by Troutking

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 91474

You know how most those fictions say that Equestria is a utopia? Well they're true for the most part, that is if you're a pony. This is the story of me in Equestria, not as a human, pony , gryphon not even a diamond dog! Not these are my adventures as a bugbear and my quest to gain something lost.

This is in the Game of the Gods universe created by Rust, Blackwing and a few other authors.I would like to thank Shadowweaver for the coverart he made me!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-27 20:00:28 UTC

Something gained (2)

Drip drip drip drip drip.

What's with all the dripping in my room?

Drip drip drip drip drip.

There must have been rain or something last night and the water finally caved through the roof.

Drip drip drip drip drip.

Screw this, I'm gonna go have breakfast.

I started getting up. My body was a bit sluggish, the dragging of my body becoming scarily apparent through my ears. Now just to open my eyes. I cracked one eye open and slowly started to open my eyes to the world around me.  I thought I was going to see my room with all the posters of bands and a small computer in the corner.

What I did not think I'd see was a damp cave with puddles of water surrounding me and a single reflective stone in front of me with the light of some creature reflecting off it. What the hell is that thing?The unknown reflection was a creature dyed with a little yellow hue, decorated with wedge-shaped ears and tinted with brown hair that ran through from the top of his head to the sides of its face. That's strange it kinda looks like a bugbear, but those are just myths. I started to stand up slowly as to not scare away the creature and it mimicked me. Its full height was a staggering 8 feet tall, the tattered clothes covering it hung lifelessly through the cave air, a soft fluttering for the lifeless skin.

Despite all these strange things, it was the monster’s right arm that said more of its bizarre nature. The arm’s surface was a metallic gray. The arm was capable of moving but then was no life in it. It was an extension that didn’t belong to the monster. It didn’t have any nuts or bolts but it clearly wasn’t of the monster’s origin.

"Excuse me, but can you speak English?"

To my surprise the creature was still copying me, its lips quipping as my lips spoke.

"Now look here, its rude to copy people like that!"

Again the lips moved as naturally as mine. Now I can say with confidence that I can keep my anger in check but something about that monster just made me lose it. I lunged forward and set to smashing the stone with my right hand.

To my surprise, the stone shattered like I had just punched a wall of gingerbread. To continue my surprise was the fact that I realized I had punched it with my RIGHT arm. The arm that was lost under the rumble of that building, the arm I lived without for 8 years! I turned my head down towards where my right arm shouldn’t be and shock came to see not a thin pale human arm but the artificial one I had seen on the creature.

At that moment, I had made the obvious connection and my response was as followed:

"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...."

I stopped myself from finishing that thought. It was mostly because I need to stay calm for now and figure what the hell is going on. Freaking out could come after that. I started to inspect what I had become with a clearer eye.

I had claws on the end of my hands but they weren’t claws meant to strike at the lives of prey. I wore some tattered pants around my waist and a brown worn out trench coat was my outer skin outside my skin. After inspecting all the "natural" parts of my body I began to inspect the foreign existence, the alien, “unnatural” part that didn’t naturally belong.

The arm was very similar to my other in size and shape. It truly looked like a duplicate of my other arm, the image of muscle fibers showing, and the smooth design of human imitation. If it weren't for the gray skin it showed, it would be picture perfect example of a right arm. My eyes darted from the arm to the shoulders. A small note was perfectly taped there, as if mocking the incompetent of the finder. I tore it off and noticed a picture of bishop from chess was on the shoulder but I started to read whatever sick joke this was.

Dear, Craig

I give you these two gifts, in hopes you’ll become my friend.

Signed, not your friend yet.

P.S. the second gift is behind that rock you just pulverized.

Scarlet begun to color my world with the shade of rage, a picture of anger became my thoughts.

That bastard, he stole me from my home, turned me into a bugbear and still wants to be friends with me. Wait, how did he know I smashed that rock? Gah! My head will hurt if I try to figure out the thoughts of a nut job! Recalling what he had written about that second gift, I scoured the rock and around it for what was so important. I finally came across it. It was a crossbow of defected design. There was no string to pull arrows back nor were there bolts to skewer enemies with. It was a weapon with no method or ammunition to fire. On where the string should’ve been, there laid another note, set tidy and clear, which read:

Dear, now new friend:

Do you like it? All you gotta do is say the magic words and it shoots.

Signed, your friend.

P.S. I'm not a nut job.

P.P.S. Tell the dragon I'm sorry for stealing his treasure.

Dragon, what's this nut job talking about? My question would soon be answered when a flow of hot air gripped my neck. A breath of supernatural nature grabbed my attention.

"TINY ONE, WHERE IS MY TREASURE!?"

Please don't be a dragon, please don't be a dragon, please don't be a dragon. The snort of the fire breathing wonder shot that thought down. My god, I must be a bad luck magnet. I turned around to see a green dragon, and my god he was tall. The roof barely accommodated his height, his head just barely scrapping the tip of the cave. His claws shone with the greed of claiming countless treasures and lives. His tough scales’ appearance of dried blood gave a lingering message to any fool stupid enough to consider opposing him. It were the eyes that captured me the most.

You know that feeling you get when you stare at a bug and you consider crushing it? That’s just the thing. You’ve already bypassed the attempt to connect with it emotionally. You’ve already considered its existence to be so small you don’t even care of wasting emotions on such an insignificant existence. You’re considered crushing him to be little more than entertainment. You don’t spare him remorse, grief or feelings. Why should you? It is not the same as your fellow people, why should you offer the same feelings to a bug than to your fellow people? You let him know the motivation of boredom and show him the value of where he stands. His life is in your hands, whether whim you choose becomes his fate. And he was staring at me with that superiority, that disdainful look of one looking at a pest. Come on Craig think of something clever to say!

"Um, well you see um.... someone took it." I stammered to the dragon nervously, slowly taking steps back. Smooth, Craig, smooth.

"AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IT WAS STOLEN LITTLE ONE? MAYBE BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STOLE IT!"

"Oh, you raise a good point but as my rebuttal, I would like to say four words."

"AND WHAT MIGHT THOSE BE?"

I cleared my throat, now or never. "Ahem...HOLY SHIT A DISTRACTION!" I cried out, pointing to the side of the cave, and ran between his legs toward what I hoped was an exit.

“A DISTRACTION WHERE? WAIT A MINUTE...." It took the dragon a moment to figure out what had just transpired. His lame mind finally realized the trick I pulled on him.

"GET BACK HERE, WHELP, SO I CAN SKEWER YOU ON A ROCK LIKE A SHISKIBOB!"

I had long enough of a head start that I saw the light at the end of the tunnel before I turned to see him. As I approached the light I failed to realize how thick the darkness in the caves truly was. As I stepped outside of the cave, I was blinded not only by the light itself but how bright everything else seemed to be. After having my eyes coated in darkness for so long, I failed to realize the slope right outside of the entrance and there I went, falling and tumbling. And having my body flung in the air with a vengeful arm. That wasn’t flying, that was falling with style.  I reached the bottom after about five minutes of falling, rolling and bouncing down the mountain.

It took me a minute to get my head straight, and then I hid in case the dragon decided to pursue his vendetta against me. While hiding, I inspected the crossbow in a brighter environment. It was adorned with a brown color, kinda looked like it was made out of a gem with the way it shone in the light. On it were different glyphs, I figured out a few of them like fire, water, air and earth but a few of the others slipped past my understanding of the magic language. Say the magic words is what the note read....

"FIRE!" I yelled at the top my lungs.

The crossbow laid motionless. A slight whine escaped the crossbow as if to mock me in my futile attempts Hmmm... Maybe I used the wrong language.  Magic words were commonly pulled from Latin. Ok let's see Latin for fire is ignite… ignute… ignum...

"IGNUM!" I shouted, expecting nothing to happen again but to my surprise a bolt of fire fully strung up materialized on my crossbow, preparing to skewer whatever was in front of the crossbow.

That’s wicked cool.

I fired the fiery bolt at a nearby rock as a practice shot. The arrow cut through the air effortlessly and started to make contact with the rock. I fired the bolt, fully expecting it to bounce right off the rock or shatter on impact like a normal arrow would. It pierced through the rock, as easily as a hot knife would make contact with butter. There was now a hole in the rock where the bolt had struck. The rock’s melting surface told of exactly how much of a fiery temper the bolts would carry.

Damn, this thing is cool but that doesn't matter right now. I have to find civilization. Wait. If he could turn me into a bugbear maybe he could have sent me to.... nah that's ridiculous. Ending up in Equestria, I'd be the luckiest fool in the land.

I left the tree I was hiding in, to go look for some people or a town nearby. As I walked through the forest I heard a growl coming from the bush ahead of me, informing me of a predator’s presence.

I was about to ignore it and pass by, however, the owner of that growl seemed to have different ideas. The rustling of the bush came with the appearance of the predator. The frame of the kingly beast, the wings of the creatures of the sky and the tail of the venomous hunter was what my eyes registered in the light of day.

We stared into each other’s eyes, we realized what would happen, that one of us would have their blood coat the ground with vibrant red. The blazing sun reflected his fangs to the brilliant shine of my artificial arm. Our bloodlust filled the air with our intents to tear at each other.

It pounced on me, the instincts and actions of a predator flashing faster than my eyes could follow. My crossbow firmly flung by the force of its swung claws, leaving me with no weapons to fight back. The merciless fangs preparing to tear at my face, my right arm flashed without thought. Instincts running faster than my mind, I let its teeth rip into something tougher than my flesh. The maw of the majestic beast yelped in surprise at what it just sunk into. Its face contorted with pain.

Damn this thing’s durable. Ok so I need to find a way out of this, let’s see…

My crossbow had been flung to the far side of the clearing, so that was out of the question. The beast was planning to strike yet again, its surprise fading and its urge to kill growing. The beast’s roar howled through the clearing. Letting its intention clear, it stomped on a rock not much smaller than my head, pulverizing it into dust. The only proof left of the beast’s wrath was my sight.

Oh god, if he can do that to a rock…

I let my paws touch my face.

What the hell would he do to my head?

Once more, the peerless beast of the clearing sprinted at a speed faster than my eyes and pounced to rip my face off. The mark of experience, allowing it to realize to firmly avoiding the imitation arm, became the bane of my life. A wrestling contest of strength between the hunter and hunted started. It was a struggle for both of us. For the beast, it was a struggle to take advantage of a weak moment in me. For me, it was a struggle to think of a weak moment in him.

My mind going at light speed, I change tactics.

If I had a sword or a dagger I could probably stab it in the eye, but where would I get a...

My thought was interrupted by a blade shooting forward from the top of my fake arm.

Well, ain't that convenient?

I pushed the beast off of me with the force of a giant. The sight of him flying through the air allowed me to get into a fighting stance. After his paws touched the ground, the beast’s natural intelligence allowed him to take a natural four-leg stance, a stance ready to lunge at any sign of change. Its stance betrayed no intent to take advantage of any signs of weakness in me.

"Here kitty kitty, here boy," I taunted the beast to make the first move. I waited for my first and last chance to plunge the merciless edge into his flesh.

The beast charged at me. The mark of experience quickly became a two-way street, allowing me to predict and side step away from its charge and proceed to drive the ruthless edge down its head with merciless precision.

Bright red flew as free as the beast’s head rolling along the ground. The predator’s body grew limp without the strength of life. Finally, transiting from beast to corpse, the body of the hunter finally buckled to the weight of gravity and fell. I looked at the sight before me. Red became my world in that instant, the ground dyed with the hue of life. The sight of the eyes of the limp head clouded with the glass of ignorance. It never even knew its life had ended.

After taking a look at the scene we had caused, I inspected my right arm to see if it had been damaged. My arm looked unscathed without a tear or dent in sight. It was not even a scratch worthy of notice. As if it knew it had served its duty, the blade had retracted back into my arm.

I'm not sure if I should still be mad at that guy for kidnapping me or give him a hug for giving me this arm.

I continued through the forest until I reached its end. What I saw was something I thought was not possible. It was Ponyville, the place that I have wanted to go to ever since I started watching MLP. Wait I'm in Equestria, a land filled with magic. Maybe they have something that can give me back my arm. Ok, time for a To Do list.

1. Meet some ponies.

2. Befriend those ponies.

3. Find a way to get my original arm back.

4. ???

5. Profit.

As I approached the small village, my footstep trudging through the ground with a dull thud, I thought to myself. Alright, this is going to be interesting.

Meeting the Locals? (3) Revised.

As I made my way toward the small village, the shadow of an airborne mass engulfs me. My eyes shoot up, the sight of a blimpish thing hovering over the skies. I didn't know Equestria had airships. The calm was what I enjoyed the most out of walking to Ponyville, thinking about how different it was compared to earth. There weren’t any pollutants to make lungs hack and cough, no cars whizzing by to fill my ears with the noise of engines and no towering buildings to cover the radiance of the sun. There were just the birds chirping their melodies, the wind’s breath breezing through the grass and the whooshing sound of something falling through the air making the that funny noise it does in cartoons.

Wait a minute something falling?!?!

In a mad dash for safety, I hurdle myself out of harm’s way. A crashing thump shattered the peace of the area. The discordant noise finished disturbing the calm air. I decided to take a peek at what I was trying to avoid. Big, tough, and unusually familiar in a pony setting, an anvil was what I was trying not to get crushed by. Hmmm, that would have left a mark. A deadpan thought crept into my head. I heard the apologetic tones of a whisper above my head.

“Sorry.”

With an indifferent shrug, I continued my trek to Ponyville with a step as springy as a pony. There was that peace in mind for me. A smile curled at the thought.

No more anvils.

I had reached the outskirts of the small village. The sight of ponies flooded my sight, the modestly sized cottages accompanying the wonders that my eyes were treated to.

Alrighty then, two opinions. Opinion A, walk into town hoping they don't run in fear and try to capture me or opinion 2, sneak around Ponyville, get to the library and talk to Twilight of a way to getting a new arm.

I chose the obvious choice of sneaking around the town like a big furry ninja, every MLP watcher’s dream after Pinkie Pie imagining that ninja scenario in “MMMystery on the Friendship Express”. A few minutes and after overhearing the ramblings of an overly excited Lyra talking about human conspiracies, I stealthily snuck around to have the sight of the tree house appear before me.

Wow. The library was a lot bigger than the show brought on. It was a marvel of nature, the strong bark of the building, the fresh leaves that adorned the top. The branches that arched upwards as if to grasp at the sky and the patio where Twilight would take an outdoor view to studying, sipping her tea. The windows just tipped with the hoof marks of a pony that opened her library to the sound of birds chirping, the sight of the sun glazing her eyes open when she was asleep. That door was the one thing that made me realize that I was in Equestria. That’s the door. That was the door that opened to the sight of the best magician in Ponyville.

A few minutes of silence had to go pass to make sure I wouldn’t be seen by any other ponies. Once I realized the coast was clear, I swaggered towards the door. I didn’t feel a need to be ashamed. I was going to meet Twilight! I honestly couldn’t stop grinning. That was a stupid smile pasted on my face but I could care less. My paw made contact with the door, banging loudly three times. I wasn’t able to control my strength and so the whole tree house shock with a groan. Oops. A slightly high pitched shout was heard beyond the door.

"It's a public library! You don't have to knock!"

That didn’t seem like Twilight’s voice, it was higher in pitch. If it wasn’t Twilight, it was definitely Spike’s. I entered the building, squeezing my body through the door, having to crouch a little to avoid breaking my head against the top frame.

"I swear, sometimes, everypony forgets th..." Spike moaned as he walked down the stairs. His stature stopped as soon as his eyes saw me. I was actually kinda scared how unflinchingly still he had become, it was like what someone seeing something and assuming it to be a hallucination would be. God, this is starting to get awkward, let’s lighten the mood, Um, hello… Out loud you idiot! Out loud! I cleared my voice to speak first.

"Um, hello?" I offered a toothy grin.

Spike just stood there, looking at me with eyes of fear. His eyes were starting to glaze. I honestly didn’t know whether or not he had mistaken my clearing of the throat as the declaration of prey marking or maybe my awkward smile as the smile of a predator looking over his prey. Oh screw it. I decided to simply cut to the chase.

"I came to look for a book on potions and spells, please?”

Spike’s eyes snapped back to attention at that. The overactive imagination of an approximate five year old was probably filling him with more paranoia than rational thought. His lips jerked with the yell of distress.

"Monster!"

Well that’s new. Before my mind could think of a response, the steps of his clawed feet scurried through the library. I quickly looked back up to where the small dragon running. I saw the upstairs door just slammed shut. I took a few precautious steps up the stairs to realize the faint scratching of ink on parchment. Shit, he’s writing to Twilight! I quickly ascended the stairs and stormed through the door to see him putting the finishing touches on his letter. Quick gotta think of something...

My mind was racing with plans of what my next move was at this point. My body however, seemed to have a different mindset and started to move separately from my thoughts. It was slowly thumping closer towards Spike. The weight of my body was making a reverberating fury in the floor and causing the books and other magical tomes to shake and crash onto the floor. As I closed the distance, the dragon assistant finished, his feather pen dropped with a dull thud. He stood up and cleared his throat. He was about to release his breath of fire onto the parchment. My mind reeled with urgency, sending that parchment would spell the end of my trip here. As fast as he was, the young dragon still fell with a dull thump right after my arm made contact with his skull. A few dazed seconds of consciousness, and he dropped like a puppet with cut strings.

Holy crap, his skull’s hard. I cradled my throbbing paw, the sting of impact still throbbing. I took sight of the fallen before me. I picked him up and placed him where I assumed his bed was. That mess of blankets and pillows next to Twilight’s bed. I placed him gently, like putting a baby in his crib. God, I hope I didn’t cause permanent damage… I was in the hospital long enough to know the mental consequences of blunt trauma to the head.

Not the best start to a new life Craig. Hmmm, new life, new body, maybe I should get a new name. Let's see, bugbears originated from Celtic mythology so... I shall be Celt the bugbear!  I laugh at myself. Really original, Craig. The thoughts about my new name were still lingering as I descended down the stairs and look for what I came for.

Oh, god… Just as Twilight’s tree house looked bigger from the outside, the shelves apparently didn’t want to feel left out in that regard. They were enormous giants of knowledge, all filled to the brim with books, texts and tomes of the mundane, the magical and the strange. The sturdy cradlers of knowledge stood almost as tall as me, being slightly taller by an inch as if to mock my height. I focused on what I came for. I scrounged for any sign of what I’m looking for.

Let’s see, magic or potions… My eyes scan through the bookshelves, skimming the sections with a lax eye. Alchemy, Botany, History, Philosophy… I ignored the great tomes of ancient and mundane lore, being of no immediate interest to me, and stayed on track.

Finally my eye caught the magic words I’ve been looking for. Potions. My fingers glided across the spines of the books until a title caught my attention. The result was me taking the book out and dropping it on the floor for later use, the roaring thud filling the air. This continued with every book that either had to do with growth or healing.

At last, the last book dropped and the section exhausted of over a quarter of its occupants, I start the longest reading session I’ve had since my days in the hospital. I sit cross legged, with the sun cracking through the window as my light. The only thing missing from this perfect reading setting was a nice cup of water. The first book opened, a cracking sound resonating through the empty library, I got in the spirit of reading for the first time in a while.

There were no “How to Get Back your Arm in 5 Easy Steps” books. If only it was THAT easy… With a critical eye, I quickly start reading at the speed of lightning. Words of unknown origin start filling my eyes and confusing the hell out of me. After unsuccessfully reading through the first book, I dropped the book down, my senses focusing above the thumping sound, and went onto the next book. The only words I had my eyes set on were any references to magic or potions that could help me grow fresh limbs.

After the seventh book, with no clues whatsoever, I groaned and decided to simply skim the titles of the rest of the books to save time and my patience. How to Heal Bones… Yea, maybe when I get broken bones, I’ll give you a read. I dumped the book on the mess of other read tomes starting to spread through the floor.

Finally… The Supernaturals. That book from the poison joke episode. A gut feeling took control of my hands and, with the groan of a recently opened book, I take sight of the table of contents. I only saw subtitles that disinterested me until my eyes caught sight of the one subtitle that gave newfound vigor to my search. Lost Potions. I flipped through the pages and slowed down to the beginning to start my careful search. I saw potions that gave form to emotions, turned spirits into demons and gave birth to wonders lost in time. My eye stopped short of one particular potion. My head crept closer to clarify what I was seeing.

“The Restit Potion…” A potion that restores any lost limbs and gives new one that the drinker desires. This is the potion I want! This potion can give me what was taken! My mind already made up, I read down to the last letter for any list of ingredients for the concoction. I stopped at the very last printed letter of the potion’s section. The list wasn’t there.

After the near blinding urge to rip the book in half, I started to read for any signs of the list. I found a small hope, in the form of a footnote in handwriting. All known copies of this potion are held in the Royal Archives in Canterlot, it said. I sighed, my paws shutting the book with a satisfied thump and dropping the book along with the others.

With a reaffirming nod, my body gets up and starts for the door. The size of my body threatening the floor as it groaned and moaned in pain with every step. I spied through the window beside the door. I scanned the outside to see no one out. Good. The library door flung open with a flourish and I was out my way as the door closed with a roaring close. Oops…

The cover of alleys became my ally, allowing me to swiftly pass through town to avoid any lingering or curious eyes. After passing through Doctor Whooves and getting a strange look at my direction, I was out of town.

The sight of grassy fields allowed me to drift off while on my way to Canterlot. The sound of a smooth voice singing brought the feel of a tempo and a spring in my step. My feet were jittering and dancing to the sound of a fine melody. The sound of a bulldozer made that feeling crash and burn, the growl and rumble of gears and heavy machinery snapping my mind back to the path before me. My eyebrows twitched with the pang of attention and burrowed in confusion. Do they even have bulldozers here? Past that, the walk was, for the most part, a peaceful respite.

I decided to dabble and experiment with my new crossbow while the peace of the walk was talking hold. I took sight of a plain tree and focused the crossbow on it. As the bolt of flames struck through the tree, I reaffirmed that the crossbow spat out bolts of elements. I decided to experiment with the different kinds of elements this weapon could shoot out. I decided to try the wind element, recollecting my knowledge of Latin, I roared the incantation of wind.

“VENTUS!”

From there, the crossbow formed a bolt of air. The invisible arrow coated in biting winds takes form and renders itself invisible in multiple layers of wind that distorts the refraction of light. It unleashes its blade on the helpless tree, the merciless edge slicing through the bark like a master swordsman’s stroke cut.

A peculiar thing I learned was that I could combine two Latin words to make a command that controlled other aspects of the shot. A rabbit lingered in my sight, its thumpers pounding into the earth. The poor creature was simply walking around. I took hold of the Latin word of ignorant. A calm voice took control of the reality that would be my next arrow.

“Nescius ventus.”

The arrow of unknown sight took form again, no visible difference from the addition of a new word. I took sight of the rabbit. The crossbow focused its target on it. The bolt, unleashed, its path concentrated solely on the rabbit. The slicing of the arrow through air itself was to be expected. The rabbit getting struck at the shoulder by a peerless edge was inevitable. The rabbit falling on the ground like a lifeless doll was new.

I should’ve eaten that rabbit but DAMN… it was so cute. I decided to stop the tinkering of my crossbow and leave the knocked out rabbit to its ‘slightly permanent’ nap. Other than that minor detour, the walk was rather peaceful, only a slight regret over the uneventfulness of it all.

"Well looky here brother, another shmuck to rob!" A nasal voice from behind me spat out.

"Why I do believe so, brother of mine!" An equally as nauseating voice quipped.

Oh god, no please don't be those two, anyone but those two. I turned around. What are you, bored up there or something, God?

Flim and Flam were driving up behind me in their vehicle. The gaudy vehicle filled with various gadgets, switches and knobs that moved only in accordance with unicorn magic made me throb at the misery they almost caused the Apples. Their cocky smirks only made the feeling grow and the throbbing extend to my eyes. The sight of those two made me seriously consider placing them at the top of my ‘most annoying things that could possibly exist’ list.

"Well, would you look at that, Flim. It has a nice shiny new crossbow for us!”

"I do brother! Well beast, here’s our offer, you give us the crossbow and we might consider not hurt you."

And now it’s official. I take the crossbow in my paw and instead of pointing it at the two, a tree laid in the line of fire of the crossbow. A confused look struck their faces as I took command of the magic words. An evil grin becomes my face.

"Explosivae ignis." The fiery bolt that engulfed all resistance and melted any surface with its scorching flames took shape. The crossbow poised to target the tree, released the arrow of destruction.

The tree was struck by the arrow. The difference between my first bolt and this one was that the result of the impact. The impact that this arrow caused became an explosion of reckless flames. The flames ate through the flesh of the tree, the fresh flames eating through the bark. The shock of the impact caved the bark of the tree further out, the groan of pain coming from the tree. The wild inferno devoured more than what was aimed at. Its uncontained fury tore through the ground and the grass surrounding the tree. In the end, only a smothering crater of crushed wood and decaying life remained, the only evidence that such destructive magic exists.

Now these two are proof as well that this magic exists. I flashed an easy smile.

"New offer, why don’t you two give me a ride to Canterlot? If you do, I might consider not shoving a bolt down your throats.” I derisively sneered at them with a wicked grin.

"Well, how can we refuse such a generous offer?" Flim’s chattering teeth muttered to his brother.

"Indeed brother, well, come aboard." Flam said, his eyes expanded as his irises shrunk.

“We’re going to be goooooddddd friends,” I happily chortled as I made myself comfortable in the outlandish vehicle. The vehicle moaned with the breath of motion and off we went.

The ride to Canterlot was peaceful enough. The blue jays sang and the robins chirped as we went along the road. The grass joined in on the melody with the whistling granted by the breath of wind. I scrunched my eyes to see a familiar sight. The towers of Canterlot soon allowed me to marvel at the magnitude of their presence as we grew closer to approaching the city.

"How far are we?" I asked.

"We're here," Flim responded with a tense tone.

"So you guys are robbers?" I mused briefly, a thought slowly creeping to my head.

"Yes, we are," Flam answered under distress.

"Stop the vehicle here and get out," I commanded with an authoritative force.

The vehicle squeaked with the resistance of wheels against earth, gradually slowing to a creaking stop. I waited for the two to get out first, I wasn’t going to get out first and let them drive off. They shook with the presence of fear. They finally managed to get out of the car to be sentenced. That was my cue to get out next. I got out the respectful way, opening the door, ‘accidently’ tearing it off. With a slight irritation, I threw the door clean through the air, the sight of the door eventually blending with the afternoon sky. They both approached me nervously. I took a quick step towards them and, with a swift grab on both sides, got their heads and smashed them together. Both of their bodies fell limp onto the ground with only the ground to cushion their fall.

"That was for trying to rob me, earlier," I said as I picked both of their bodies up. Geez, you’d think scam artists would be smart enough to NOT pick a fight with a towering bugbear.

The walk to Canterlot wasn’t as bad, I mean sure, I’d like to think that I had better things to do then drag two idiots with my paws to Canterlot but to hell with it, this was fun. As I finally saw the visage of the pearly white gates of Canterlot, two guards took notice of me, one of them a unicorn with fewer wrinkles than the other.

"Halt beast!" The younger unicorn yelled with a slight nervous edge.

"Here," I started, placing both Flim and Flam's bodies on the ground next to them, "Take these two in for robbing. I don't want the bounty if they have one. I just want to enter the city."

The guard looked at me with nervous eyes and walked to his superior. A few seconds later, he returned.

"My superior says that we can take their bounty as your fee to enter the city."

"Fine with me," I said as I shrugged.

The guards stood aside, obviously with reserves and qualms about letting a giant 7 foot monster with a crossbow enter the city. Ignoring the sights of Canterlot, I walked over to the nearest alley and began to plan how I would break into the royal archives and steal the book I wanted. I cracked my knuckles, a cockiness rising in me.

Let's get started.

A/N I'd Like to thank my editor Proud-Dust, please check out some of his stories. Thank you

Making a few Connections (4) Revised

My footsteps echo through the empty alleys. My legs carry me through passages where nothing moves but stale air. I really don’t feel like causing a scene and having pretentious high class snobs scream like little girls at me probably won’t help me in that. I linger at the edge of alleyways, just enough to eavesdrop on the voices of high society. I’m so glad these high and mighty Canterlot ponies talk so pronounced and articulately, it makes eavesdropping so much easier.

The whispers and hushes of these gossiping ponies tell me that the Grand Galloping Gala is in a week, that there are apparently pirates in Equestria and that a changeling is inside the castle. After a half hour of this, I lose interest in the prattle of ponies more interested in slander than respect. I retreat to the deeper shade of the alleys. I recount the accounts and information of the chattering ponies.

Probably most of what they say is news meant for a cheap fuss and noise. The Grand Galloping Gala however… it’s probably going to be the best time for breaking into the royal library and steal the book. Most of the guards will be busy with keeping some degree of order in the party. They’ll have more urgent matters than a seven foot bugbear slipping in and out.

“Now I just have to find a way into the castle without being detected. The few guards that may notice me should be easy enough to knock out.”

I start to shift through between alleys to get closer to the castle. I wait awhile for the few nobles around the castle to go about their business. After the crowds start to leave, I begin to move, my target being the castle. The walls protecting the castle put a halting stop to that examination.  I use my hands and eyes to examine any noticeable faults or flaws in the construction.

The polished walls are incredibly well maintained, no nooks, cracks or indents that I could use to scale the walls. The walls have an incredible strength in its protection. Without rhythm, without a sign, I smash my metal arm into the wall. The thud of impact resounds through the wall. My arm definitely hit the mark.

Nothing.

No dents, no fissures, no cracks of metal against stone show. The wall truly is impregnable. I give up on the wall and consider alternate routes.

I test the ground around the walls, perhaps there’s a soft spot to dig into. I take a few probing swipes at the earth, digging further to find a way around the wall. After about three meters of digging through dirt, I finally realize that the wall extends below, beyond the surface of the city. It’s probably a good guess to assume the wall is embedded ten meters into the earth.

“Tch.”

A sound of irritation passes through my lips as I continue to walk along the wall for any weaknesses I could exploit for entry.

“If you’re looking for a crack in the wall, you’d have a better chance killing a dragon with a pebble.”

A voice sneering with amusement and a slight boredom takes my attention by force.

I turn around to see a unicorn with a black coat and brown mane, his face the classic look of someone who taunts and teases as a way of living.

“So why are you trying to get into the castle?” he asked with a leering smirk on his face.

“Who said I was looking for a way in? Maybe I just have a love for walls.”

I mentally cringe at myself. Even I know how ridiculous that sounded.

“Hmmm, I suppose that could be true, but if you’re not trying to get it, I guess I’ll give this ticket to some other lucky pony.” A magic glow shines in front of the unicorn. The mystic light holds a ticket of golden sheen. A ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala (which I’ll now refer to as the GGG) appears before me.

My mouth reacts before my brain.

“No, wait!” I yell at him as he tries to trot away. “Please can I have that ticket?”

The same smirk fixed on his face extends further. He walks back to me and extends his hands of magic in the pocket of my trench coat, dropping the ticket into the safety of my possession.

“Think of this as my final gift to you,” he says as he walks towards the alleyways of Canterlot and into the shadows where ponies don’t linger.

Final gift?  It took about a minute for my brain to realize who he was. “HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!”

He disappears into darkness before I could think of grabbing him, the alleyways’ shadows obscuring him now. It’s truly fitting for a bastard like him to hide in the shadows. I reach into the pocket where the ticket had drop from his magic. I examine the ticket, a golden shine with bold silver letters that states, “You are invited to the Grand Galloping Gala.” How did this bastard get a hold of this ticket? Oh god, did he kill someone for this? I wouldn’t put it past him... wait a minute... he’s a god-like entity that can kick you into separate dimensions. It’s not unlikely he simply conjured one from thin air. Wait. a. minute.

"THAT BASTARD COULD HAVE GIVEN ME MY REAL ARM BACK!"

After a minute to let myself calm down and let the desire to smash his head like a grape lessen, I realize that the GGG is in about a week. What should I do while I wait? I could get a bit of work, to get some bits. Yea, that sounds like the best plan so far.

I begin my search for work in the town center. Yea... it went as well as you would expect a seven foot bugbear going into town would go. The murmurs and hushed tones of the town ponies has as much variety as “What is that beast?” and “Someone should tell the zoo one of their animals got out.” has. I spy a small board in the middle of the town square with posters of possible jobs nailed to the rickety board. I walk towards the board. The pages overlap with each other and crowd one another. I sample some of the job listings.

“Let’s see here, dog walker? No, I’m horrible with animals. Hmmm, street vendor? I wasn’t good with people to begin with, imagine me with ponies...”

A slight shudder shakes my shoulders before something catches my eye, a page with a anvil on it captures my attention.

Blacksmith assistant? This seems interesting.

I take hold of the poster, rip it off the board and read it over thoroughly.

“Let’s see, blacksmith assistant wanted, amount given for your bread and butter: 250 bits. Only a week will be needed of your assistance.”

Well this seems perfect. Oh wait, a warning.

“Must not be afraid of extreme heat.”

Oh good, I was expect him to warn me about the dangers of falling anvils.

My legs start to move, walking to the directions given in the poster. They take me to a medium sized building, a large chimney puffs black breath out of its mouth. As I get closer, I can feel the heat growing more and more intense even as I reach the first steps into the workshop. I enter under the small patio of the workshop.

Swords, spears and various deadly weapons decorate and tell of the craftsmanship of the blacksmith more than words need to. I turn my eyes to the centre of the patio, a forge is being put to work, a gray pony with ashen black hair and tail pouring his energies into the craft at hand. His back is in front of me. I take a look at his cutie mark, a shield with a hammer poured on it, the flash of impact separating the two.

I take a closer look at the material he’s working on. It seems like the armor of the Canterlot guards. The difference was the material used, instead of a golden shine radiating, brilliant silver gleams its sheen onto my eyes. It must tell more of the blacksmith’s skills to be able to concentrate such a glimmer despite the need to reinforce the metal with repeated poundings.

“Excuse me but I’m here for the job offer,” I told him firmly, deciding to cut to the chase.

He keeps on pounding away at the armor.

“Oh, are yah now? Well you’re gunna have ta pass a little test o’mi...” He turns around and sees me stand there. “What in Celestia’s beard are yah?”

I offer a smile for the gruff blacksmith.

“I, my little pony, am a bugbear.”

“Alright bugbear you got a name?” he questions, never taking his eyes off me.

“I’m Celt, and who might you be?”

“Iron Mane, nice ta meetcha Celt. It said I got a test before you can work in my smith.”

“Well what is this test of yours?”

“Simple,” he points to the smith with his front hoof, “All yah gotta do is put your arm in the smith here for a minute.”

Seems easy enough, probably not. I’ll use my mechanical arm in case of any funny business.

“Alright.” I walk over and put my mechanical arm inside of the smith. “Like this?”

“Eeyup, yah just keep your arm in there for a minute.” He starts to walk away, “Oh, before I forget.”

He walks back over to the smith and puts some ore on it. Then he directs his magical glow onto it. After a few seconds, my skin starts to prick, a sizzling hiss escapes my body.

The smith starts to melt through my skin without direct contact. The claws of the inferno start to tear at my flesh, not content with simply raising the temperature of the room. After a while, the full force of a furnace blasts me, the smith practically searing my body alive. If the arm I put on here was my normal arm, it would have full past melted, becoming a stump dripping skin on the smith.

The blacksmith remains indifferent to the stroke of heat biting at every pore in my body.

“Alright, jus wait here for a minute, I’ll be back soon,” he said as he made his way out of the workshop.

Wait a minute...

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That bastard...

Ten minutes later, he returns with a small brown sack in his magical possession. He walks over and after a flash of magic, the intense heat lessens its grip on my body. The pain slowly diminishes and finally it disappears as easily as it came.

"Wow, yah kept your arm in there the whole time?"

“You said I’d get the job if I kept it in there,” I said, pulling my mechanical arm out of the smith.

“Uh, lad, your arm’s on fire,” he stares intensely at my arm. “and glowing.”

I turn my head to see what he’s saying. There was indeed fire on my arm. Strange my entire jacket hasn’t gone up in flames. I rush to dunk my arm into a nearby bucket of water. The kinds used to cool metals after they haven’t been shaped. The water releases a hiss as the steam, that water and fire make, rises and pats my body with its warm touch.

Iron Mane let the glow of his magic dissipate and the bag falls onto the table besides me with a thud of wood meeting metal. A jingling ring tells me that the contents of the bag must be of monetary value.

“Here’s your first pay, you get your pay at the end of each day. Give me lip about having it earlier and you’ll get a nice hammer to the head to get some sense pounded into you and a permanent retirement. You start tomorrow.”

I see the blacksmith walk out of the workshop,  lingering at the door. I soon realize that he’s waiting for me to leave with him. As I leave the room, he slams the door behind me. A clicking sound tells me I won’t be able to get back in anytime soon without him. I realize something at that moment.

I have no place to stay until the GGG.

With a sigh, I walk back into the alleys, wandering around for awhile. I find a nice little space between some boxes to sleep in. The rest is history.

The next morning I went straight for the marketplace to spend money I didn’t have earlier. After a few chilled looks, faces that expressed fear and eyes that stayed frozen even as I was talking to them, I manage to get out a happy camper, a smile plastered on my face.

The things I bought were a rabbit for lunch, (what, I’m a carnivore,I have needs.) a satchel and a holster to load my crossbow in.

Thank god I bought this, it was annoying having all these ponies look at me as if I was a madmen with a crossbow and trigger-happy fingers.

After my trip to the market, I went back to the blacksmith’s for my first day of work. As it turns out, my iron arm is an effective hammer to flatten and reinforce blades and armor. As my brows sweat from effort, I think to myself.

Soon it will be the GGG and then I’ll be closer to my goal.

Preparing for the GGG (5)

A/N I changed the previous chapter a little bit. Nothing much just gave Celt a week before the GGG instead of a day.

The crack of dawn wakes me up, the same ashen colored sky greeting me like yesterday. The sound of murmurs, the noise of the city, echoes through the alley. The bustling of the heart of the city reaches my ears and disturbs me. I rub my eyes to clear my head.

The ground was less comfortable than I originally thought. The hardened, packed ground stiffened my back and forced me to switch to awkward positions to try to be more comfortable. I slowly rise myself up the boxes of assorted junk, cracking one eyelid open as well. I’m glad I don’t have to stay here long.

I wander about the same empty alleyways that I’ve awaken to the sight of for two mornings so far. My footsteps inch me closer to the town center, a casual pace sets the mood of the morning. I stop by the city boards to check for anything that might catch my eye besides the GGG or what hair style Fleur de Lis has this week.

As I browse the latest rumors and news, I notice a small clipping on the wall with these words streaked across: “Brothers Black Strikes again!” Brothers Black? Sounds like a band name with no originality. I scan the details of the news.

“This trio of ponies, known by the names of Black Sun, Black Wind and Black Soil, along with their mob, has killed yet another member of the royal staff. This marks the seventh murder this mouth. The victims have been murdered with a small calling card left on their corpses. The most recent victim was a blacksmith for the royal guard known as Iron Mane.”

The news slowly follows with a picture of my employer and continues onward about how the royal guard was doing nothing to stop the murders and how their incompetence allowed these murders to go on. The news finally ended with a few stinging words attacking the royal guard’s inability to uphold order forced the citizens to live in fear with these murderers roaming around.

I let out a sigh, noting of my employer’s passing. I only met him a few days ago but still…

"Poor old bastard, I suppose I better go pay my respects."

With that in mind, I take a trip to the market to purchase something to pay my respects with. Afterwards I begin my march towards the blacksmith’s forge, my former place of employment. The walk there has a strained silence to it. An eerie calm takes hold of the street and makes me considers something.

Not a single pony is walking through the street. I don’t even see the ponies that usually try to hide behind their stalls from the mere sight of me. Only wind moves in this desolated street, a breeze bringing more than fresh air arriving.

Why does this remind me of a showdown at high noon? I continue forward, strolling down the street still looking for a sign of anyone or anypony. The sound of my footsteps stomping the earth echoes through the street besides the bellow of wind rushing through the alleyways. My eyes are finally opened to the sight of the familiar workshop, the tall chimney puffing black smog out from its stone lungs.

The sight of the place I worked at for two days starts to expand, the size of it getting larger as my walk takes me closer. My body closes in on the workshop, only a few meters left to cross. The walk to here was rather brief. The sun hadn’t even crawled further upward in the time I took.  I take the first few steps up to the door of the workplace. As my footsteps inch closer to the door, the trotting of hoof steps behind me reaches my ears.

“Brother, it looks like we have another monster to slay!” A voice from behind me rings out.

I turn around to see two strangely familiar ponies. They each have a coat of mango yellow with red manes streaked with white stripes, the strands of hair drooping down their faces. They have black vests covering their torsos and black hats on their heads. They have fedoras here?

I see sheaths hanging from the sides of these loud mouths, hiding swords in them with only the hilts showing. By the shape of the sheaths I can guess that one of them is lugging around a European sword, most likely claymore, and the other is carrying around a sheath of thin design, a rapier most likely inside the sheath.

The only difference between the two pegasi is that the one carrying the claymore is much thicker in build than the other. The muscles bulging through his skin, kind of like that one pegasus from “Hurricane Fluttershy”. You know, the extremely buff one called Roid Rage or whatever name the fandom gave him.

I don’t have time for this.

“Who’re you two clowns?” I snarl as I spit these words out of my mouth.

The larger pegasus steps forward.

“We are Crash and Burn! Monster hunters supreme!”

God, that voice sounds nauseating familiar.

"What do you want and why should I give a damn?" I growl to show my irritated mood.

"Shall we tell him brother?" the pegasus continues onward, completely disregarding or ignoring my growl.

Either this pegasus is very hard of hearing or incredibly stupid.  I’m going to go with the latter.

"Yes we shall, Crash!" agreed the smaller one apparently named Burn.

Oh god… Someone rip my ears off please.

"Oh, we have an opportunity in this..."

"Stop, no. You will not start singing now or anytime while I can hear it!"

"Well brother, it seems this beast isn't very musically inclined."

"Certainly not brother, perhaps we should just make it so that he doesn't have to hear music anymore."

…You know what? Those voices are so annoying, just give me the gun and I’ll blast my ears off me.

The two idiots finally focus their eyes back at me.

"Capital idea brother, so monster… are you ready to die at the hoofs of the famous Crash and Burn brothers?" inquired Burn.

God these two feel familiar but where... I freeze. The mango yellow coat, the red mane so gelled up, it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s made of jelly. It took only a few seconds to match this pair of morons to Flim and Flam. What are you, bored up there?

There’s probably a good chance they know I’m the one who put Flim and Flam in jail. Maybe that’s the reason they’re trying to kill me?

"You two wouldn't happen to know the two dumbasses I put in jail named Flim and Flam, would you?" I question in an exasperated tone, my head throbbing from the headache I’m having from these two idiots.

The two turn their heads to each other and… it’s almost as if I can hear the gears in their minds slowly creaking to a conclusion. Finally, their faces light up and they sharply turn their heads towards me, surprise in their eyes.

"YOU PUT OUR COUSINS IN JAIL!" They both yell at me in synchronization.

Apparently stupidity is contagious.

"Yes, I did. They tried to rob me so I taught them an extremely painful lesson in failure."

After the period of surprise in their eyes… 5... 4… 3… 2… 1… ok, now their eyes are coated in rage, a boiling resentment cracking just beyond the surface.

"Well Crash, it seems this beast needs to be taught a lesson in proper manners when dealing with famous ponies doesn't he?" Burn remarks with a snarling fury.

"Very much so brother, may I be the first to take off one of his limbs?" Crash asks in a much more angered tone then before.

"After you," Burn says before he grips his rapier with his teeth.

"Thank you" Crash replies, unsheathing his claymore. His teeth bite down on the hilt, steadying the claymore with his jaws.

The street holds a strained silence. The tension between the two and me is thick enough to cut with a knife. There are only the three of us in the street, waiting for a signal to start the fight. The air warms up with anticipation. My brow sweats a little. A drop of sweat slides down my face and falls down with a splat.

With that, Crash’s legs dash fore at me, a furious lunge that tears at the air. He closes in a single moment, his jaw preparing to swing down the sword. The upraised sword swings down, preparing to cleave a chunk of my arm off.

I silently laugh. I remember my first fight here, a memory of a bloodthirsty beast.

This is so much easier than the manticore. The manticore was unpredictable at least.

I reach out with my mechanical arm and grab at the swung claymore. A tight grip on the blade, the claymore abruptly stops. He tries to wrench the sword out of my grasp but my iron grip refuses to waver, keeping a firm clasp on the steel.

I take advantage of this chance and bring out my crossbow. The crossbow is pointed at him like a fixed glare locked on him.

“Obtusum vis!” Mass forms at the centre of the crossbow. A swirl of dark energy gathers on the crossbow. The ‘arrow’ that forms shows no shape of an actual arrow. Only a pulsating black mass shows its shape, a force that pushes away everything, even air. There is only a mass as black as the Flim Flam brothers’ heart. The outline of the bolt shows no sign of being able to pierce flesh. The bolt shows more the shape of a mortar bomb, a bullet meant to slam into the body, crushing bones and breaking limbs.

The bullet is aimed point blank at the stallion. He sees the bullet for a second and a gulping sound escapes his throat. I pull the trigger and the bolt launches forward, a forceful motion shoots through the air. The bullet smashes dead centre at his chest, the cracking of bones echoes through the street.

The blast flings him through the street with the impact of a train crashing into him. His body slams into a fruit cart, the groaning of wood escaping through the air before a violent crack shatters the innocent cart. Crash is laying on the ground now.

“My, you’re a strong brute, aren’t you?” he says with a smug tone as his mouth violently coughs out air. He slowly gets up from the rubble of what was once a fruit cart. The smug tone tells me he’s still got some fight in him.

My teeth grind in a snarl, a growling disdain lets out from my lips. I hate that tone, the kind that tells of one’s ego as if it’s their only quality. It’s the same kind that smug ass used before he sent me here.

I decide to make them realize how screwed they truly are. With a calm demeanor, I start to crush the claymore still in my hand. Using only one hand, I tighten my hold on the blade. The crumbling of the blade comes slow at first. It’s like the sound of rocks being mashed together, a jarring crack filling the air. Soon cracks start to form, at first a line or two appears but soon they start to spread like cobwebs of ruin.

Finally one last crunch of steel groans out before the blade gives way to the strength of my grip. They become fragments of what was a cleaver of flesh. The crisp sound of the blade’s sudden change in shape causes the two to shiver, their eyes fixated in fear of the sight they just saw.

The blade drops to the ground and falls, making a nice clank as the blade meets the stone pattern of Canterlot’s streets. I look at the sight of the two brothers fixed in fear, shaking intensely at what they’re fighting. Not done yet, I aim my crossbow down on the thick steel.

“Confringo!” I utter the word of decay. A bolt of red hue forms on the crossbow, a tainted feel seeps from this cursed arrow. The air itself seems to corrode from simply being around this bolt. I pull the trigger and the cursed arrow is launched down the claymore.

The moment the bolt smashes into the blade, the signs of decay work their plagued touch on the unwavering steel. The rust comes slowly, in the shape of brown crystals. The first to go are the sides of the blade, the tiny pieces of the further corroding blade just trickling from the main mass of steel.

It spreads from there, becoming a weakened form of what was once strong.

The brown touches of rust cling their rotten touch tighter onto the claymore as the blade starts to deteriorate. The wrapping on the handle begin to rot along with the hilt. The wood and the wrappings slowly fall off, decaying into dust as they descend. The blade soon corrodes into a skeleton of its former glory, a twisted form of what was once strong.

The dust of what was once Crash’s claymore is soon carried away by the calm breeze of day whisking away all traces of weakness with the light of a still bright sky. Only the gold that was on the hilt was left intact.

I bend down and pick up the gold that is the only proof left of the claymore’s existence. I hold the gold up in plain sight for Crash to see, dangling it in front of him with a cruel smile forming on my face.

“Oops… I’m sorry, did I do that?” I taunt him by swinging the gold in front of his face, a golden pendulum shining in front of his eyes.

“Why you little…!” Crash steps forward, his legs crouching to prepare for a charge.

“Brother, allow me to take this oaf.” Burn stops his brother by stepping in front of him, the rapier in his mouth poising to strike at me.

“Nice blade,” I sneer at him, “but mine’s better.” The moment after I say that, the same blade that saved me from the manticore shoots out from my mechanical hand.

The blade shined in the sun, the blood from the manticore that I had slain earlier was still sprayed on it, a brown crust decorating the edge and showing how peerless the blade was. As his eyes scan the blade, Burn’s throat let out a gulping sound as his eyes latch onto the brown crust.

After that moment of timid fear, he slowly starts to advance on me until he comes right at my side. He raises his blade, the sword of execution about to thrust down. The upraised sword lunges down at me, hoping to run through my heart.

Taking full advantage of his predictable movements, the rapier is blocked. My bladed hand stopping the blade’s run suddenly as it meets the rapier.

I quickly take action in this moment of stopped motion and smash his head with a kick to his face. The marks of disorientation show on his face, the glassed eyes and the shocked look on his face. It was as if he didn’t recognize what had just happened. His body backs off for a few seconds to regain his composure and mind.

It takes three seconds for him to regain some form of consciousness. For me, it was more than enough time to chip at his blade. As the light of his eyes shines again, I’m already swinging my arm at his rapier. The impact of the bladed arm meeting the rapier chips the tip clean off, a cracking sound telling how quick and easy the deed was.

I prepare my second swing, preparing to smash into his rapier again. The upraised arm in the air, I swing it down full force to snap off the rapier’s thin blade-

I retreat my sword arm with a sudden motion. The pegasus before me, regained awareness and slashed at my sword arm, a feeble attempt at trying to prevent my strike. The piercing of the steel trying to run through my metal arm fails flat as the sword reaches only my coat, cutting only a thin point in the coat’s fabric.

He quickly backs away, a smirk on his face as if he had just won the fight.

“What’s this? It seems he was armored the whole time! Hah! Brother he chea-” The sentence remains unfinished as my blade arms slams against his rapier.

A look of utter confusion crosses his face. Maybe it was at the shock of being interrupted. Maybe why I didn’t slash at his head and cleave it clean off, letting his head meet the earth for the last time.

Both brothers show shock in their faces as the top half of the rapier snaps off with a violent jerk as my sword arm bashes against the steel. As their shocked faces went on, I smash again with a smaller part of the blade breaking off with a snap. I continue to swing the arm at full force at his blade until only a stump remains of the once proud rapier. He looks at me with eyes afraid of what will happen next. I point my crossbow at him, fixed on his chest like a predator’s gaze on a prey.

“Obtusum vis!” I shout the words of impact, waiting for the bolt to appear. The crossbow remains as still as always, no masses of energy gathering to become a bolt. I examine the crossbow more carefully. Maybe it needs to recharge after such a big use of energy…

I look back at the dynamic duo that has turned their backs on me. The trotting of hooves alarms me of their intentions. As they start to run away, I close the distance immediately and grab their tails.

“Doesn’t work that way, boys,” I let a laugh out as I pull them by their tails back to me, an evil grin creeping at my mouth. “Ever wanted to learn to fly?”

They both shook their heads in no. I merely guffaw at the fear etched on their faces as I start to spin their tails round. At first, they start to jerkily move in a roundabout manner, dragging their hooves across the ground in a rotation. After a while, I manage to lift the two off the ground, still spinning round and round in circles.

When the moment is ripe, I decide to let them go. Throwing them in the air, they rip through the sky. I can still see them until after a minute, as they turn into dots melting into the ashen sky. They’ll probably land outside of Canterlot, probably. I turn my back from the sky to do what I came here to do.

As I ascend up the stairs to the patio where the forge and smith are kept, I open my bag and take out a small rose. A dark pink flushes the flower’s petals. I spot the anvil that I first saw him working at. I place the rose on the anvil and pay my respects to the old fart I had met just two days ago.

I feel the anvil once more. It’s lukewarm now as if he was working on it a few hours ago. Now it’ll probably be cold for a long time.

After the paying of respects to Iron Mane, I get up and start to take the short walk to the market, where the ponies start to come out and set up shop. Right before I arrive at the town centre, I stuff the gold from Crash’s hilt into my bag.

The chatter of gossip and rumors floods the town centre. Most of them are of the same nature, nonsense meant more for shock value than honesty. There’s one rumor that talks of a monster with a metallic arm that beat up two monster hunters. I whistle innocently at that piece of news.

As I enter the market, I decide upon what I want to buy. After I finish deciding what to get, I set out to search for vendors and shops carrying the items I want. After a day of through searching and bartering, my bag contain the new contents of ink, paper and a feather pen in case I ever want to try to draw again.

I also bought a new pillow of passable quality, not too rough but definitely not cuddly. It would still be more comfortable than sleeping in the alley without something like this. I swear my back’s going to kill me if I try to sleep like that again. As I set out for the alleyways, to stay the day before sleeping, a voice catches my ear.

"Mr. Monster," said a small voice from the side of me "is it true you beat up those two mean monster hunters?"

I turn my head and look down to see a small light purple unicorn filly with a blonde mane. I swear I’ve seen her before. I decide to tell her the truth."Yes, it's true."

"It was cool how you cut up the skinny one’s sword," the little filly looked up at me with big eyes, "are you gonna tell your monster family about how you beat those mean ol'brothers?"

I smile a little. This filly’s kind of amusing. I’ll humor her a little.

"Maybe someday little filly, maybe someday."

A feminine voice calls out from the market. A gray pegasus with a blonde mane quickly rushes behind the small filly. She’s crossed eyed, her eyes going in opposite directions. It takes me only a few seconds to realize one of the most popular ponies on the show. Oh my god it's Derpy! Oh wait, or maybe it's Ditsy, the damn fan base could never decide. I try to remain calm as the pegasus approaches me.

"Dinky there you are, you had me worried for a second!" Derpy says to the small unicorn. Dinky? Oh, how could I forget, Dinky is Derpy's daughter in some fictions! I mentally dope slap myself at forgetting this. Derpy turns her head toward me, staring at least one eye at me. Instead of shrieking for help from a monster or running away in fear like every citizen of Canterlot has done, she simply said:

"Oh I know you! You’re that thing I almost squashed 3 times back in Ponyville!"

"Actually, 4 times but who's counting right?" I says with a smile. Derpy remembers me. How fun.

"Heh, sorry, well come on Dinky, let's get home for our nightly muffin!"

"YAY, MUFFINS!" the infant squeals in joy.

The mother and the child walk away and out the alley and into the city streets. It allows me to be left to my thoughts. A thought of loneliness creeps into my head. I wonder how my parents are doing right now....

I gaze at the sky, a vivid blue and puffy whites filling my eyes with a landscape of clouds and clear blue backgrounds. It doesn’t seem like today’s going to end anytime soon. I stare down at the ground, waiting for today to end so I could sleep. As I wish today would end, a voice echoes through the alley.

"So... I take it you went to pay your final respects?"

Meeting the Wolf (6)

"So.... I take it you payed your final respects?"

I look up to see a large bipedal wolf. His fur was white but what was most interesting was his eyes.  They were like fire and ice, one red and the other blue. He stood quite tall, he nearly reached as tall as me. On his hip was a sword, slightly curved but hard to tell what kind of sword it was.

"Yes," I look him in eyes and see a warrior," why aren't you afraid of me like the ponies?"

"Should I be?"

"I did just throw those two monster hunter out of Cantorlot."

"The ones that tried to kill you?"

"Yes," This guy is obviously not some street thug."knowing them they'll land in a nice patch of manure."

"I overheard, trying to defend family honor is one thing, but when it resorts to violence," He stepped forward, "One needs to know their place.."

"I defended no ones honor nor do I have any of my own."

"I was talking about them... Crash and Burn right?"

"The supreme monster hunters!" Both of us gave a short chuckle.

"Right..." He began to pull out a peice of paper from his pocket.

"I assume you want to look into the blacksmith's murder?"

"If I wanted to look into it I would have."

"Aren't you a little curious?" he stared down at me, "Or are you not one for getting into the business of the dead."

"Depends the dead I suppose," I look down at my arm," but I am somewhat curious."

"I was there last night," He was there when Iron Mane died?"but the killers got away, I couldn't get a glimpse of their faces, but I did reinspect the scene..."

It was obvious he was trying to perk my interest in this.

"....I found some interesting clues." Clues? Maybe we can find the ones that did it.

"Oh?" I ask with somewhat fake curiousity.

"And what would those clues be O'mighty wolf ?" The sarcasm dripped from the sentence.

"Drop the attitude, sarcasm may seem nice, but can irritate, unless that's your goal. How about we talk about it over some tea..." he cocked his head slightly, "or do you prefer liquor to celebrate the dead?"

Sure, I haven't had tea since I left..." I remember back to cafe right before I had came here.

He had taken me to a small cafe I had passed a few times over my days in Cantorlot. We sat down with two of his friends both of them diamond dogs. I had to turn in two criminals to get in here, how the hell did they make it in? They both seemed like your average diamond dog but it was clear they had hidden wounds.

"Why is it always TEA?" groaned one of the diamond dogs.

"You can order something else if you'd like..."

"Just stop complaining, your not helping anything." I interrupted the wolf.

"Your not the boss of me!" The pup called back at me.

"ENOUGH!"

"Short fused are we?"

The wolf ignored my comment and was staring at the waitress. Oooh maybe this wolf here got the hots for a pony waitress! I look toward the young pony. She was shaking and her face distorted by fear. Better give her, her chance to leave this situation.

"Miss," I asked in a polite tone as to not frighten her more, "can I please have some more herbal tea?"

"Y-y-y-yess sir, right away sir..." she stuttered, "and y-y-y-you?"

"Black tea...."

"Right away..." She looked at the pup that had back talked me.

"Just a glass of milk..."

"Your a growing boy aren't you?" I quiped.

"Nothing for me..." The second diamond dog who had been silent this whole time who seemed distasteful of the of the drinks they had on the menu.

The pup was shooting me a glare. I know he is trying to intimidate me but by doing so he looks so damn cute!

"You know it's impolite to stare at others, no matter how attractive I am to you."

The waitress came back with our drinks. The smell from the tea quickly filled the surrounding area. I took a quick sip of the tea letting it's calming properties take hold just enough that I won't pull the trigger of the crossbow currently pointed at the wolf's crotch if he scratchs his nose.

"So what's your name?"

"Celt and yours?" taking another sip of tea.

"Aoi" Sounds japanese, probably just a coincidence.

"And your friends?"

"Ubi..." the quiet one said.

"Eol and don't you forget it!" This kid reminds me of Naruto, overconfident and doesn't know when to shut his mouth.

"Eol, you remind me of a character from a TV...." I stopped myself from finishing the sentance, " I mean a character I used to know."

"Oh? And what character was that?" Aoi asked much more interested in the conversation now.

"Just a kid who wanted to be important despite everyones beliefs," I took another sip of the tea, " overconfidence is deadly."

Aoi shot Eol a "stand down" stare.

"Sun Tzu?"

"Art of War."

We shook hands, he was obviously somewhat worried by my arm.

"Welcome to Equestria Celt..."

"You aswell Aoi," We stopped the hand shake, "I suppose I should take my crossbow away from your crotch now."

"And my blade from yours." I stare under the table to see his sword positioned just right to have killed me if I tried to attack him. This guy isn't a newbie to killing. I put my crossbow back into my holder as he sheathed his blade.

"Now, portaining to the recent murder..."

"Ah yes, we were getting a bit off topic now weren't we?"

"Just a little. You do have quill and parchment don't you?" Aoi taking a sip from his black tea.

"Yes, I do have some." I shift through my satchel looking for ink and some parchment.

"Here you go."

"Thank you... Now, I looked around the building and noticed a couple of things..."

"Such as?"

"For one, the murder weapon was a blade, inspecting the would I found it to be laced with poison..."

"Well, aren't they clever."

"Conclusion... they're pros... but still sloppy..." he countinued.

"They have been at it for a few months mind you."

"Not enough... trust me... Ash marks were left near the crimescene, on closer inspection..."

"Magic?" I interrupted him in hopes it make me sound much more knowledgable on this situation.

"Hoof prints," Mission failed. "Being in a blacksmiths forge, one is bound to step on a coal or two..."

"Brilliant deduction sherlock, we already know their ponies"

"Ah.. not just any... pegasi, after the initial footprints none else were found..." he stopped again to take a breath, "They flew in their escape..."

"So they're a group they are bound to have a few pegasi"

"You obviously haven't investigated before... if their are pegasi, their hideout wouldn't be grounded..." his tone still calm, "They'd be in the air where no one would find them..."

"Makes sense but wouldn't the weather team notice a cloud they hide in?"

"Not if it's a cloud that looks just like anyother... high in the sky..."

"Stratus?"

He looks up into the sky and points to a single could. It was barely visible but the weird thing was it's shape. It was kinda like a star. Huh, he figured it out pretty damn well.

"Sure is purty friend." I take a sip of my tea again, letting it warm me, "one problem though."

"That is?"

"If their in a cloud how are we supposed to get them?" It was a good question and I was hoping that would trip up.

"Simple..." finishing his tea, "Up is where they are, so Up is where we'll go..." Is he seriously pausing for dramatic effect? "Or shall we bring them down to earth's level..."

He smiled widely, it wasn't a normal smile that you'd see everyday. It had a evil behind, cruelity and wanting of destruction was hidden in that smile.

"I like that look" Making my own evil smile, "It means death is near"

"So now that I've divulged my findings, let's see yours..." Oh shit, he wants to know what I know. I'll just tell him what I read off that article."

"He was killed by a group called the Black brothers" calm tone takes over my voice, "The leaders are called Black Sun, Black Star and Black Soil

"Then to me... it's just another bust.." Fuck he read the article already.

"Thats what I know"

"How well can you handle yourself?" He looks at my crossbow.

"I do just fine." Best not to gloat.

"Can you go up against 30, 50, maybe even 100?"

"Depends" Come on ask depends on what, I have the best line ever ready for it!

"Then this just might work... by the way, I need to stop by the local fireworks shop..." Damn it!

"Alright"

Ubi, Eol and I finished our tea and we headed off towards the firework shop in the industrial district. The store was called "Boomer's Boomers", and as the name suggests the pony who ran it was called Boomer. We left the store with me carrying large amounts of roman candles, Aoi with a oversized bottle rocket, Eol with a cannon with the labels danger and highly explosive on it and Ubi who was carrying a wads of sparklers. Lucky ass, getting the light load.

"Why does the pipsqueak there carry the light crap?" I roared at Aoi.

"Actually, he's 26, so he's technically not a pipsqueak," I lean in close, "And trust me... you do not want him near the big stuff..." Really? I'm more worried about Eol near the high explosives.

"Right...." Wait did he say 26? "26? I'm 16 and I'm taller than he is!"

"Don't ask, cause he won't tell."

We reached a hill that was directly under the cloud and the sun was high in the sky. We strap the sparklers to the end of the bottle rocket, the roman candles to the head, and use the cannon as the bottle. We position our newly made artillery so that it would hit the could dead center.

"You sure this will work?" Eol asks somewhat nervously.

"....Actually, I have no freaking idea." Aoi even less confident.

"FIRE ZE MISSILE!" I roared in my best german accent.

Eol pulled the cord and the cannon fires the bottle rocket into the sky. Once the bottle rocket had reached it's maxium height it lit the sparklers sending them into the cloud. The explosion ripped the cloud apart in a very colorful manner. A pony walks by us as we watch our master peice.

"Little early for fireworks don't you think?"

"Eyup" My response got a chuckle from Aoi but not Ubi or Eol since they had no idea where we got it from.

"Do you think they heard us knocking?"

"I think they need a new door."

Eol replied to my comment "Yah they're definatly going to need a new door."

A swarm of pegasi started to form from out of the smoke of the cloud and began to dart toward us.

"My god their like bees," I start to get my killing time grin again, "C'mon let's go say hi."

"Quickly Eol get the newpaper!" I say in hopes he gets the joke in which he promptly runs back into town.

As the swarm grew closer and closer we drew our weapons. Aoi sword came out from it's sheath, my arm blade extended, Ubi's claws came out and Eol came back with the press. How dafuq did he convince them to come here? Eol turns and faces the crowd of news ponies and says,

"Please take a seat, your gunna want to see this."

The swarm of angry pegasi had finaly reached us. We charged down the hill toward them. One of them tried a frontal assault fallowed by me side stepping him and cutting his wing straight off with my blade. Two more fallowed after their friend from opposite sides of me, I pull out my crossbow at one and shout

"Opprimendi vis!" a silver bolt appeared on the crossbolt and I fired.

The bolt made contact with the pegasus' head and the sound of his skull being crushed in quickly fallowed suit. His body fell as I turned to his advancing friend whom was trying to pull up from his charge. He raised over my head but met my blade as he supplied enough force for it to cut through his body. Both halves of his body fell by his friends body. Two had gone for the back of my legs hoping to get me to kneel as their friend prepared to buck me. Instead I jumped on to his friend making it look like I had fallen to kneel but in reality crushing them under my weight as the other pegasus attempted his buck on my face. I grabbed his leg with my organic and arm and crushed the bone then brought my blade to his stomach. I dropped his body to face the rest of my opponents.

One of the bulkier pegasi stepped up to face me. I charge and so did he instead of colliding I grabbed his neck and held my crossbow in my other hand. I smiled at him with pure bloodlust.

"Ignum" I said in a voice that would be children cry easily.

The fiery bolt appeared on my crossbow and I held it up to him. I squeezed his throat ever so slightly as to make him gasp for air. I dropped the bolt into his mouth. You could see the glow as it made it's way to his stomach. I dropped him, as to leave him die in pain. Wait, I'm forgetting something aren't I? I heard a explosion from behind me. Oh now I remember, they explode when removed. I turned to the six remaining pegasi all with looks of horror on their faces.

I crack my knuckles and step closer to the pegasi. Four of them got brave and charged my in another frontal assault. I grabbed two of the pegasi's wings and tearing them straight off the bodies. The other two quickly lost their heads as I slashed at them in the sky. Their bodies landed by the one winged ponies. I aimed my crossbow and fired another fiery bolt in their heads ending their pain. I turn back to the last two pegasi. One of them was one the ground, while the other looked down at him. Must have died of fright. I walked toward the last pegasi and extended my blade into his neck, decapitating him on the spot.

After the bloodshed, the press were taking pictures of us and the bodies. Resist urge to kill. Must resist the urge! Aoi approached me.

"What happens to the brother?" I asked back in my normal tone of voice.

"Do you want to interrogate them?"

"Yes and no," I look back at the reason for the bloodshed, "I wanted to find out which one kill Iron Mane and give him a little....test" I smile as I remember the test iron mane gave me.

"By all means... I only need 1200 bits of the bounty, you can keep the rest..."

"Wait there's a BOUNTY!"

"Of course, they are a wanted criminal syndicate that noone's been able to capture..."

"How much?"

"Including the 30 we just wasted, plus all their confiscated goods... 65 grand..."

"Take half, I have to go find a pegasus." My mind goes back to the single pegasus mom that had shown me kindness.

"If you insist."

"Tell the guard to send one of the bosses to the smith." He nods and signals Eol to get one of the guards.

"Have a good life, you only get one." I wave back to him as I head into the town.

I began my search at the mail post which was simple to find. Just look for the building with a huge ass letter on top of it. I had to wait in a line, to see if Derpy was around. The ponies around me kinda released a aura of worry and nervousness as I towered over most of them. I reached the front desk and asked the clerk if Derpy was in currently or where she lived.He gave me a address and I was on my way to Derpy's. I find her place about an hour later. It's a run down old place, the garden was kept in order but still was a sickly greenish brown. Some of the windows were cracked or had a peice taken out of them.  I knocked on the door and almost knocked through it with all the rot on it. The door opened to Dinky.

"Hello Mr.Monster!" The voice filled with joy even though what had happened earlier.

"Hello Dinky is your Mommy home?"

"Why yes I am." I look up to see Derpy smiling and coming down the hall of her house.

"I wanted to give you a thanks for being kind to me when no other creature was." I hand her the bad with most of the bounty.

"Oh you didn't have to." She tries to push the bag back but I remain firm.

"Please take this gift, or I will leave it on this doorstep for any to take."

"Oh alright," she looks in the bag and her eyes go wide, "h-h-how much is in here?"

"If I counted right about 30K give or take a few bits."

Her eyes begin to water and she pulls me in for a hug.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Her tears fell on to my back.

When she let go, I said my goodbyes and began to walk to the alley where I have been living for the past days. Check list go over:

1.Meet ponies, check

2.Make friend with ponies, check

3.Find a way to get my arm back, check pending

4.???, ???

5.Profit, check.

It's been a great day. I think as I lay my head on to my pillow and allow sleep take me.

A/N This has been a crossover with Io's fiction, The Blue Stranger, The Red Curtain.

Fighting a Hygon? (7)

The birds singing from the rooftops echoed down to the alley below. I slowly rose from my drool covered pillow. God that was a great bacon dream. I stood up and began to stretch my limbs but with little success due to the small size of the alley. I began to make my way down the alleyway preparing for another day in the wondrous world of Equestria. Those two idiots yesterday had some pretty cool fedoras. Secondary Mission added! Find fedora! I made my way into the town square.Sounds of commerce filled the air, the battering between customer and vendor. The ponies must gotten a little more used to my presence.

I began my search for a fedora in the fashion center of Cantorlot. The fashion center had a much more high society air to it. In the town square the ponies had their nose in the air, in the fashion center they had their nose so far up that they could see behind them. Besides the high society the only difference is that it is all fashion stores. Hat store, hat store where the hell is the hat store? There were stores for specific articles of clothing. Dress store, suit stores, jewelry stores and hat stores littered the streets. Thats all there were, ponies don't exactly wear a lot of clothing, so I'm lucky that they even have hat store. I enter the store and the ringing of the bell fills the room.

"Just a moment." Called a voice from behind the counter.

A blue earth pony with a large black top hat with a ace of diamonds and a king of hearts in the strap around its base was firmly placed on his yellow mane.His cutie was of a top and a monocle.

"Now what can I do for you..." his sentenced drifted off as he looked up toward me, "sir?"

"Please don't run and hide, it's getting quite annoying when every other creature does so."

"Alright, " He quickly recovered from his stupor, "My name is Top Hat, what can I do for you?"

"Really just like that? No questioning gaze, no nervous shaking?"

"If you were going to harm me or my store you would have done so by now. Now what can I help you with?"

"Fair enough," I begin to walk between his selection of hats that varied from cowboy (cowpony?) hats to berets, "do you have any fedoras?"

"Ah fedoras! Those have become quite popular since that griffin fellow came to town a while back."

Top Hat marched down his rows upon rows of hats, quickly disappearing from sight. The shuffling of boxes could be heard from the back of the store. The earth pony returned from the rows of hats with a box in his back. He approached me and placed the box on the counter.

"Try this one on, it was made for griffins but I should fit you fine."

I open the box to reveal a black and gray fedora that alternated colors in squares with blue strap at the base of the hat. I grab the hat and feel the felt. I place the hat on my head, it bends my ears slightly so that made it less comfortable than it should have been but other than that it felt great to have a fedora on my head.

"How much?"

"35 bits should pay for it"

I bring out a small bag where I've kept the bits I have accumulated over the past few days. I place a few bits onto the counter and walk out the door. Mission complete! I began my stroll back to the general district where I could possibly get the gold I received from beating those two dumbass hunters. My hopes of a peaceful walk back to the general district and those that concerned having a normal day were quickly swept away when I heard.

"Dragon! A dragon is attacking!"

Another screaming voice shouted "But it has two heads so it can't be a dragon, it must be a hydra! A hydra is attacking!"

"Run for your lives it's a..." the stallion paused in the middle of the chaos, "A hygon! A hygon is attacking!"

A hygon? Better see if I can deal with it.

I begin my walk toward the hygon dodging stallions and mares running the opposite direction. It's almost peaceful if it weren't for the creature attacking the city thing. I walked around a corner only to be greeted with a two headed-dragon thing also coming around the corner. We both tumble from the sudden impact and land with a thump.

"Damn ponies never watching where the hell their walking. I oughta shove my boot up their ass." snarled a angry voice from the left head.

"For the last time Max we are not eating the damn ponies!" the right head retorted to his conjoined partner.

The hygon looked up toward me as I also stood up.I looked behind them to see Crash and Burn cowering in fear. They've probably pissed themselves already. The heads stare at me with a little surprise and confusion in their eyes.One of the heads looks back toward the brother as the other kept his eyes on me.

"You two," both brothers looked up at his head "is this the bugbear thing you were talking about?"

Both brothers shook their heads yes and the head turned toward me. I pull out my crossbow just in case this gets hairy fast.

"Maybe we should talk to it before we try and kill it."

"Nope, kill first, questions later!" the left head lunged at me.

I quickly raised my metal arm to defend, the hygon's head bit down on my arm chipping on of his teeth. As he brought his head back to his body I leveled my crossbow and shouted "Ignum!" a bolt of fire appeared on the crossbow fully strung up as last time. I guess it's finished recharging from yesterday. I released the bolt and it hit directly against the creature. Instead of the monster going up in flames, the bolt rebounded off of him and shot through my new hat narrowly missing my head. I take off the hat to inspect the damages, there was now a hole in the hat slowly growing larger as the fire grew. My hat fell to the ground as I turned back toward my opponent.

"You just done and fucked up son."

I begin my charge toward him. I bring back my fist and shove it straight into his chest. There was a small wait time when the fist connected with his body before it began to soar through the sky and into a building. It went through the wall and collapsed on to a store counter. Before it could rise I started towards it hoping to catch it with out defenses. It got up before I was even half way there. The head that had lunged at me looked to see my charge and shouted at his other head.

"Evan you dumbass do something! Nightmare said you could summon crap, so summon some crap on him!"

"I hold on I think I may have got it!"

I continued to run towards them but the whistle of air being cut by something falling got my attention. I stopped my charge in time, had I continued an anvil would have crushed my head in. A fucking anvil? I look up to see nothing but sky. Where the hell did this anvil come from?

"Damn it Evan you gotta aim it closer to him!"

"Shut up Max and let me concentrate!"

Again I hear the whistling of the air and narrowly dodged another anvil falling. More and more anvils kept falling from the sky, appearing out of thin air. I kept dodging but it put more distance toward the hygon. Screw this. I pick up one of the anvils with my arm and start rushing toward the head. I throw the anvil at the right who seemed to be focusing on something. As the anvil connected with his head another had connected with mine sending me into the ground.

"Hell yeah! Evan you got him! Evan?" the head looks to see his partner's head under a anvil.

"Get up you lazy ass!"

I extended my blade and cut the anvil off of my head. The world was spinning and spinning around like it was a rollercoaster going on the loop da loop. Slowly my senses came back to me. I began to hear the birds sing instead of ringing, instead of doubles of everything I saw only the single thing. The hygon seemed to be going through the same process. I stood up and began my march over to them. My blade still extended, slowly I made my way over to them to end this battle. Both heads looked up at me.

"We're sorry."

"Wait what?" This caught me totally off guard.

"My friend Max here was a bit over excited and attacked you with out reason."

The right head named Evan looked toward the left head named Max with a glare.

"Yah sorry and stuff..." grumbled the head in obvious disappointment.

I retracted my blade and grab their skulls in each of my hands. I moved their heads further from each other slowly, then smashed them together.

"That was for destroying my hat."

"I guess we deserved that," the heads regained their sense quickly, " May we ask if there are any important events happening soon?"

"There is the Grand Galloping Gala in about 5 days, other than that no."

"Thank you come on Max let's go."

As they began to walk away, I shouted,

"If I ever see you two again, I won't retract my blade!"

The hygon left and I walked back to the town square. Lucky no pony had seen me fight the hygon or I'd either be celebrated as a hero or forced to pay for the building we blew a hole through. The news that the hygon had left quickly moved along as I saw ponies walking around again. Celestia's sun began to set and I made my way to my alley and took a nice long rest from today's battle.

A/N This is a crossover of Orrkon's, Dragons Fury

Rigging the Game (8)

I woke up to the sounds of busy city bouncing off the walls of the alley. For the life of me I was going to do something yesterday but I can't remember what it was. I walked out of the alley still having that sense I had forgotten something. I went to the cafe that Aoi had taken me to two days before in hopes I would remember what I had forgotten. I took a seat. The chair groaned from my massive weight. I ordered a herbal tea, that always helped me remember things. I sat at that table drinking tea and watching as the world around me went by. It had to be something important or else I wouldn't be so worried about it. I saw a guard coming toward me, he didn't look scared but just monotone, no real emotion to his face. He came up to me and spoke,

"Are you Celt the bugbear that defeated the Brother's Black two days ago?" Brother's Black I thought it was Black Brothers...

"Yes I am good sir, what can I do for you?"

"I am here to take you to the blacksmith so you may conduct your buisness with one Black Sun, the murderer of Iron Mane as you requested." His voice was stable, obviously not a newbie to the job.

"Alright lead the way." I finished my tea and left my payment.

We walked down the streets side by side as to not lose one of us in the crowd or more than likely for me to not lose him. I watched as the buildings slowly changed from urban to industrial. The buildings got bigger and wider the color slowly faded from the houses. Buisnesses went from fashion boutiques to  grimy dark repair shops and factories.The stench of oil became more and more noticible the further we went in. I looked down at my escort noticing he was not used to the smell as I was and had crinkled his nose. We came up the steps of the blacksmith to see two guards holding a scared pegasus.

"Please don't kill me, I don't want to die!" The tears rolled down his face in streams.

"Can he fly?"

"No sir, there is a spell placed on him stopping all forms of flight." The guard to right of the crying murderer explained.

"All three of you guard the entrance, only come back if I call you back."

"Yes sir." The three stallions went down the steps.

` "So your the one that killed Iron Mane correct?" He stopped crying but it was obvious he was afraid of me.

"Y-y-y-yes I k-k-kiled him." He stuttered with his speach.

"He take your money, steal food, sleep with your wife or killed all you love?"

"N-n-n-no he just..."

"Was a pawn in your game that was rigged from the start?" I kept my voice steady as I began to turn on the smith.

"Y-y-yes, we got him to tell us the names of all undercover agents of Cantorlot, t-t-t-then we killed him to stop him from leaking any info about us."

"Well, I'm going to give you a chance to live and go free if you want it."

"Really?" His voice was more cheerful but still filled with sorrow and fear.

"Yes, the game is simple," I turned the smith to full," all you have to do is keep your wing in the smith longer than I can keep my arm in there."

"T-t-t-this is the only way I can get out of this alive and free?"

"You could try to run but you'd be a blood splatter on the wall before you could reach the outside world."

"Alright shall we begin?" He shook his head.

He placed his wing inside and I put my metalic arm inside. The smell of his feathers burning filled the room. His face was contorted with the pain of his wing burning, he was biting on his lip and drew blood. His eyes were shut trying not to think of the immense heat and pain being unleashed on his wing. More tears fell to floor as the top of his wings were being covered in fire. I sat there whistling, as I watched the pain he was going through. He retracted his wing from the furnace. Most of the wing had been consumed by the fire and was still being burnt by the little bit crawling up the wing. I removed my arm it still glowing. I splashed one of two water buckets on my arm and than his wing.

"M-m-m-my wing it's useless, I lost my wing."

"God for a leader of a crime syndicate you sure are a wimp."

"My brothers Wind and Soil took care of me most the time and gave me simple kill missions."

"Well I have to show you something," I remove my sleve to reveal robotic arm it covered," I cheated."

"D-d-d-does that mean I am free to go?"

"No, it means the game was rigged from the start." My expression deadpanned.

"You cheated Iron Mane by giving him hope you wouldn't kill him by revealing the agents," My experssion turned from deadpanned to anger,"But you killed him anyways."

"I gave a false hope that you would go free but instead I rigged the game just like you and your friends did."

"You wanted a fair trail, to prove your innocence correct?" He nodded.

"You wanted to be given a chance when you cheated a stallion out of his," the anger filled my voice, "doesn't make sense does it?"

"That's not fair I...."

"Not fair, NOT FAIR? Life isn't fair dumbass, you should know that by now!." You could feel my anger surround me.

"I am going to be your judge, jury and excutioner. I find you guilty," I raise my blade. "for rigging the game of life."

I swung down ending his life in mere seconds.  I called the guards in to dispose of his body. One carried his head in his magical aura and the others dragged his body off. He is lucky I killed him. I walked out of the blacksmith drained from using all of my anger on that one stallion. I trudged over to general district, slowly being released from the stench of oil and smoke.  I made my way down the alley I had come to call my home for my stay in Cantorlot. I should also be convicted of rigging the game like him and his brothers... The world for a instant fell silent. I will face my sins when I die and until that day I shall not regret my choice today. I thought as my mind wandered off to dreamland.

Lies and Slander is the way to go! (9)

The week went by fairly quick, no more rampaging monster going through the streets, no crime organizations and no random events that involved me to step in. As the days had passed by I got my supplies and prepared for my heist. I went by my buisness, I had gone to the tailor to get my coat repaired. I also got a new satchel much better than the last one. The unicorn had placed a enchantment on it to literaly bottomless. I could put anything in it and all I had to worry about was the weight. The new bag allowed for more supplies that included, more parchement and ink since Aoi had used quite a bit during our investigation; I also bought water to last me for awhile, blankets, food that wouldn't spoil for quite awhile, rope and a few pairs of custom made pants and clothing. Oh god I forgot how comfortable having real pants was. I still had quite awhile after buying all the supplies needed. I used my remaining time to brush up on my latin. Who would have thought all those days learning latin alone in my room would come in handy? I also practiced using my arm in combat with and without the blade. The poor rocks were pebbles when I was finished training. While training I learned something interesting about my arm and crossbow. The crossbow only worked in the robotic arm, but the more the crossbow is used the weaker the arm feels. As if the arm is a power source and the crossbow is the oulet of that power.

It was almost the GGG and my robotic arm didn't feel right. It felt powerless, the crossbow showed that the arm was out of power because no matter how many times I yelled Ignum, Aqua or any other latin word no bolts appeared. I practiced using the arm anyways, the blade still worked fine and it didn't seem any duller or weak. I have to find out what powers this damn arm. Why didn't that god or whatever give me a damn instruction manual! I finished my training and began on my way to the general district to have some tea at the cafe I have become quite used to. Maybe I need to charge the arm with magic... I sat down at the table and ordered some Blackcurrent tea, you know try something new. I could possible hire a unicorn to charge my arm up or something.

"Excuse me," a small voice from behind me squeked, "Mr.Monster mommy said you gave us money to help."

I turn around to see the small unicorn filly I had my first real conversation with besides Iron Mane.

"Oh, hello Dinky how did you find me and where is your mommy?"

"Mommy is at work," I guess it's to much to ask for her to get a completly new lifestyle with those bits,"and Mr.Monster your not hard to find."

"I suppose not Dinky," I give a hearty chuckle," so what is it that you wanted?"

"We have a project for our school, we have to draw a picture of our hero and write about them."

"And you chose me as your hero?" She nodded.

"Alright what did you want to know?" The filly brought out a small clipboard from her bag.

"What is your name Mr.Monster?"

"Celt, my name is Celt"

"What are you?"

"A bugbear"

She scribbled down a note, "Where did you get all that money for my mommy?"

I can't tell the kid I killed a crime syndicate to get it. What do I do? Wait I know I'll lie my ass off!.

"Internet." A small buzzing came from my robotic arm but I ignored it.

"What's a intur-net?"

"A internet is..." C'mon brain work! "is a very special kind of magic that only bugbears can do."

"Oh that is soooooo cool!" The filly exclaimed.

"Could you show me?"

"I'm sorry but I can't it's a secret so I'm not allowed to show anypony." My arm buzzed more and more.

"Oh," she seemed a bit disapointed at the fact she couldn't see this magic," the teacher only gave me one free to ask question, so um why is your arm like that?"

"Oh this?" Shouldn't tell her the truth she may not take it well. "I was just born without it, it's a extremely rare condition but they gave me this fancy arm as a replacement." I smilied hoping that she would believe me anwser.

"Awww that's so sad, well Celt think it's awesome how you helped my mommy even if your arm is like that!" Her cheerful tone only made my heart heavier for lying in her face.

"I should get going now, recess is almost over or Mr.Learning Curve won't be happy."

"Alright have a good day."

The filly put her things back into her saddle bad and began to run off into the streets quickly disappearing in the crowds of ponies. I was going to go back and drink my tea but when I grabbed it the liquid was shaken out of the small cup. I look around to see if anything is causing the sudden shake but there was nothing but ponies walking back and forth between stalls and stands. I look back down at what was left of my tea. The cup was shaking, almost buzzing. I fallow the shaking to my arm which was buzzing all around. I began to examine my arm looking to sse what was causing the sudden shaking. The symbol of the bishop on the shoulder was glowing ever so slightly.

"Lovely design don't you think?"

I look over to see the same pony that had given me the ticket. The same bastard that has started all this crap in this first place. I clenched my fist in anger as I stared at his smug smiling face.

"Oh don't you start with the anger crap now," Did he just read my mind? "no I didn't read your mind."

The creaking of the chair could be heard as he leaned it by pushing his feet on the table. I held a relaxed pose and looked around. During that time I noticed the silence that had over taken the streets and cafe. I look around to see ponies all frozen in place. Some were being held mid air, others having their mouths open as if they stopped mid sentance. I look in the sky and see a flock of birds frozen in place.

"You mortals are all the same but that's beside the point, I'm here for one reason," He sips a cup of tea that had appeared litteraly out of thin air," to tell you how to use that arm and power it and after this conversation you won't see me for quite a while due to Odin and Thor getting on my ass about breaking the rules of the game to much" I used air quotations for the last part. How the hell did he do that?

"Anyways that arm of your is made of the same thing my brother's hammer is, Uru. A quite remarkable material, nearly indestructable and quite litteraly you need a sun to change it's shape let alone melt it. Anyway that's not what I have to explain, what I do have to explain is that your arm there is powered by lies, deceit, treachery and all those other wonder full tools of a trickster. It has a enhantment that takes all your dishonest or treacherous acts and converts them into pure arcane energy then stores is until you release it using your crossbow there." He points at my holster.

He looked down at his at his wrist (do ponies have those?) and taps his watch with a hoof.

"It appears it is time to say farewell my young peice, enjoy the game while it lasts!"

He began to shine.He slowly began to pulse shining brighter and brighter each time until the light became so intense I had to sheild my eyes from it. When I looked back to where he was sitting and the only sign of him ever being there were a few bits that he had left behind as payment for the tea. Wait did he say Thor and Odin? If Thor is his brother then that means that the fool that sent me here was Loki the god of Tricksters. I got up and left the cafe, not anywhere near as calm as I wanted to be. I walked back to the small clearing the park I had used as my training grounds to see if Loki was telling the truth about my arm needing lies to be powered up. I walked to the middle of the clearing and pulled out my crossbow.

"COLLISIO!" The words rung out and a bolt appeared on the crossbow.

This bolt was a brownish color but much more intense then all the others I've fired. It almost pulsed with color and energy. I aimed it at a rock and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew faster then all my previous bolts, you could hear it cut the air as it rushed to meet it's target. The bolt hit and instead of causing a small impact crater on the rock like all my previous attempts with the same word, it pulverized the rock and left a bed sized crater in the earth making a nearby tree tip into it. The bastard wasn't lying. The more deceit I feed it the stronger it gets. I left the training ground to head to bed early. Tommarow I go to the Grand Galloping Gala and take my first step to getting back what is mine.

A Even Match (10) GGG

Today was the day of the Grand Galloping Gala. I packed all my supplies into my satchel and removed any evidence of my staying in the alley. I walked out from the damp alley I had come to know as my home during my stay in Cantorlot. The day was just coming to a close as the sun slowly set under the mountain. I began my march to the castle, I saw many very well dressed ponies. Monocles, tuxedos, dresses and all sorts of pony fashion statements. The street lights flickered on as I walked by. The houses casting their shadows on the streets gave everything a air of mystery and wonder. I was almost at the entrance of the castle and one step closer to my goal. I shuffled through the void in the bottom of my bag searching for my ticket. Should have put it in my pocket before I left the alley. I found the ticket and pulled it out just in time to show it to the guard.

"Sir, guests are not allowed to carry weapons." The guard pointed at my holster and my arm.

I pull out my crossbow and show it to the guard."No strings friend, it's more of a decoration."

"And the armor on you limb?"

"That is my limb, I lost it in accident involving a careless cart driver and alcohol. Any more questions, comments or concerns?"

"No, I am sorry for this inconvience sir, please enjoy the party." The guard moved to the side allowing me passage.

There were guards all over the entrance to the castle. I guess I have to find a way to the archieve from the inside. I entered the main entrance attracting alot of unwanted attention as ponies turned their head toward me. I made my way up the steps into the ballroom where I would look for a way to the archieve. As I rose the steps, I saw a large white unicorn with a extremely light brown mane. It had to be Blueblood didn't it? I reached the top of the stairs to see Blueblood finish greeting one of the guests. He looked at me disgusted that I was even here.

"Why did they let a filthy beast such as this one into the castle? Guards dispose of him."

"How dare you call me a beast! I am Lord Fester of the Bugbear Empire!" I shouted in a snobbish voice.

"Bugbear Empire? I have never heard of this  so called empire."

"Of course you wouldn't you twat! Our empires have just met a month ago! If you payed attention a little more you would have known that." A few snickers could be heard from all around us.

"I-i-i-i-i-i mean of course I've heard of the Bugbear Empire! It's so nice to finaly meet you Lord Fester have a wonderful time at the Gala." His voice and face betrayed him and showed how worried he was.

I begin to walk away, "I plan to have some fun Blueblood, I plan to."

My arm buzzed from all the power it was receiving. Apparently the bigger a lie the lerger amount of energy is collected. I made my way into the ballroom carefully side stepping ponies in hopes they would not notice me. The guests were the usual snobby uptight ponies I have encountered on the streets over the past week. I managed to sneak my way over to one of the side doors. I slipped out of the party unnoticed and made my way down the hall. I began to wonder around, going down each hallway until I finaly found a exit to the gardens.  I saw the statue of Discord still frozen in the ridiculous face he had when the elements had defeated him.

"Heh, stoned again Discord?"

Ok bad joke aside, I made my way around the garden. If I didn't know better I'd say that the castle warps space time... I let my thoughts wander as I walked around the garden searching for the archieve.I countined to roam the garden until I saw a building, it was quite large with big windows that unlike the rest of the castle I have seen so far did not have stained glass in them. I began to approach the building slowly recognizing the surrounding area from the one episode Twilight had broken into the archieve in a attempt to stop time. I was almost at the door when I heard a familiar surfer boy voice call out from behind me.

"What do you think your doing here? If your a guest go back to the ballroom and if your not a guest then we have a problem."

I turn around to see Shining Armor, he wasn't a small dinky little unicorn that needed his wife to really do anything big. No he was a tall and fit unicorn that seemed like he was a marine. Why couldn't he be the silly unicorn that was on the show? He was the opposite of silly he was a prime example of pure badassery in the flesh and blood. He made a sharp whistle and about six other unicorn guard walked over to us.

"Oi! Answer the question are you a guest or something else?"

"Well you see good sir I...."

"Don't bullshit me with your proper speak! Now answer the damn question or I'll kick your bipedal ass!" He interrupted.

"I am a guest."

"What's your name?"

"Celt, and I am simply here to sign out a book."

"I am Shining Armor the Unbreakable Shield," He glared daggers at me, "and this isn't a public library."

"I noticed it wasn't but you see I still have a book I want to sign out here and I will be taking it today gentlecolts."

"You against 6 guards and the Captain of the Royal Guard? HAH!" Laughed one of the six unicorns.

I pulled out my crossbow and leveled it with the laughing stallion.

"Obtusum vis!" A black bolt appeared on the crossbow.

"Ob-ta-sam viz?" The stallion asked before I fired.

The bolt flew through the air creating a small cone around it. It the stallion right in the chest and sent him flying back into a wall, creating a small crater where he was once standing. I cracked my neck and smiled at Shining who had a look of anger on his face.

"Break him!"

A bubble appeared around Shining and he began to charge at me. I held both my arms out ready to stop the stallion from impacting me. The unicorns horns glowed as their spears that they were carrying started to dance around me. A spear shot out at me but I caught it with my robotic arm before it could touch me. I heard the sound of wind being cut as another two shot out at me. I extended my blade and brought it down on the spears crushing them. I used the spear I currently had in my hand to break the heads off the other spears before they could cuase serious damage. I swear I'm forgetting something. I thought right before Shining slammed into me full force. I went flying into the wall causing a imprint of my body to left in it.

I got slowly got up from the rumble of the wall. Some of the rubble was jagged and managed to peirce the back of my jacket and into my skin. Shining had backed away as the guards brought their spears toward me. Shit I can't be defensive. I have to rush them. I regained my composure and began to run toward the unicorns. A spear crumbled as it hit my arm, along with a few other spears had in the unicorns attempt to stop me. The unicorns picked up the spear head of the broken shafts and used them as projectitles. Lucky their aim sucked enough they missed me quite a bit or hit my robotic arm. A few lucky shots managed to cut my arm and one even got lucky enough to cut into me. I countinued on my run hoping once I got over there I'd could smash their skulls together. Three spears began to chase after me. I finaly reached the unicorns and jumped over them. They watched as I dived over them almost forgetting about the spears they were still controling heading right for their heads. A wall shield appeared infront of them making the spears shatter into splinters.

I grabbed one of the unicorns by the horn and lifted him up. I began to swing him side to side like a mace in a attempt to bash both his friends. My mace stallion slammed into both of the unicorns sending them flying toward their other unconscious friend. Shining Armor came up behind me once more slamming me but this time I use his friend as a cushion. I got up from the rumble leaving the stallion firmly planted in the ground. Four down, Three more to go.

Three more spears were being aimed at me. Damn it where the hell do all these spears come from?!?! The spear shot toward me.I rolled out of the way of the other two spears, I look back to see them turning around for another attack. I look for the unicorns controling the spears. I pulled my crossbow out and aimed. I gotta hit both of them...

"Ignum Vis!"

A bright red bolt appeared on the crossbow. It radiated heat and force, always pulsing with energy. I fired at the two unicorns. The bolt exploded on the first one sending him into his unconscious friends by the wall and the other flying back into a tree and making a large crack sound. I turned back toward Shining wearing a  smug smile with a hint of "Im going to fuck you up for throwing me into a wall."

"I forgot to mention before we started but I cheat."

He formed another shield around himself. I guess old dogs can't learn new tricks. A ball made of his sheild shot out toward me at break neck speeds. I just barely dodged it in time to see the second one heading right toward me. The ball impacted my stomach. It was as hard as a cannon ball but felt as if a train hit me. I looked up to see another heading toward my face. Oh shit this is going to hurt. The ball impacted me sending me backwards. I heard Shining call out.

"So do I."

I got up and faced the smug bastard. Just imagine he is Loki and your being given the chance to kick his ass! I got up and started to rush him, more and more shield blasts were being fired at me. I dodged to left nearly being hit. I unholster my crossbow and shouted.

"Vis!"

A black bolt appeared on the crossbow. I fired the bolt at the wave of magic cannonballs heading at me. The bolt collided with one of them and stopped it in mid air. Both the bolt and the ball disappeared. There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to fire enough bolts to stop all the balls before I run out of power.  I countinued to dodge the balls slowly closing the distance. He stopped firing and began to charge at me. He leaped up into the air and claws formed on his hooves as he came down on me. A large clang sound resonated off the shield claws Shining used to strike at me as he hit my metalic arm. At least Loki wasn't lying about the industructable part. I jumped back a few feet, not far enough for him to be able to use the shield blast but just far enough he couldn't his shield claws.

He charged at me and instead of the shield charge or his shield claws he created a giant shield sledge hammer. Oh that's just not fair! He swung down at me and I jumped out of the way in time before I was crushed under the hammer. He brought up his hammer in order to swing again and I took this as my chance. I charged at him in order to break his focus from the hammer. Unforunatly of him breaking focus on the hammer he swung it sideway sending me into a bush. Oh bush how  I love you for saving my ass.  He fell back to the ground breathing heavily.

"Looks like your stronger then I thought," he panted. "I suppose I should finish this now."

His horn began to glow bright. A shield slowly envolpes him in a bright aura. The shield grows and raises him off the ground as two shining pairs of legs touch the ground with a thump. A tail of a scorpion sprouts from the giant glowin form. Wings come into existance on top of it. Holy shit. He made a fucking shield manticore! The beast charged at me and swung down with it's claw. There is no way in hell I'm going to lose a manticore made of shield spells! The paw swung down and I dodged. The second claw caught me as I was in the air. I slammed into the wall hard. The stone nearly gave way to the massive pressure but stood strong. I'm not going to win by going head to head with him. So I guess I'll beat him the way a trickster would. I slumped down and pretended to be knocked out from the impact. Shining made his way slowly over to me, being careful to see if it was a trick or not.

"I guess your not as tought as I thought," He turned around," I'll let the normal guards lock you up."

I open my eyes to see him walking away. Cocky bastard. I pull out my crossbow and whispered "Obtusum vis" under my breath. A familiar bolt appeared on my crossbow. I slowly got up, still in pain from the rubble in my back and the peice of spear in my arm. I leveled the crossbow to his head. Bastard deserves this.

"My title isn't unbreakable shild for nothing. There is no way you could possibly hit me with your pathetic crossbow."

"Hey dumbass," He turns around just in time to see me fire the bolt, "I forgot to tell you I lie aswell."

He attempted to create a shield to stop the bolt but he was a second to late. The bolt slipped by just as the shield closed. It hit him and sent him flying into his own shield. He bounced off it into the other side and countinued to bounce over and over until finaly the shield disapated. He fell on to the ground, still conscious I walk over to him and grab him by his horn. I look him straight in the face and say.

"This is the time I shove your head through that wall for hitting me."

I began to drag him over to the wall. I lifted him slightly and thrusted his head into the wall. Shining was knocked out instantly from the impact. I let go of his head to see his horn firmly planted in the wall making him just hang there. As much as I'd hate to leave him hanging, I have a book to find." I pulled out the shard of the spear in my arm to see my blood trickle down the sleeve alittle. I searched through my bag and grabbed the bit of cloth I bought and wrapped it around my arm. Thank god for all those survival shows and medical programs. I walked over to the door of the archieve. The archieve's inside wasn't amazing, the walls were a dull gray that matched the marble floor. Each section was labelled. There were sections for cooking spells, fire spells, wards and the list goes on and on. I reached a door labelled potion, the door was locked behind a iron gate which. I extended my blade and cut the door open. As I stepped in I heard the voice of Celestia come from nowhere.

"You want these books? Well you can have them! ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONA!"

Just as she finishs that sentance runes all over the room start to glow. Each has the number 10 and begins to countdown. I rush grabbing all the books I can from everywhere in hopes that one of them is the book I need. I shoved the books into my bag. I quickly look at the countdown. 3 There is no way I'll make it to the door in time! 2.. I walk over to the window. 1... 0

"So long and we thank you for all your.."

The message was interrupted by a explosion coming from all the runes. Celestia you troll. Was the last thought in my head before I felt the pressure of the explosion hit me full force. I flew back out the window, soaring through the sky with my jacket on fire. The flames of the explosion chased after me then drew back as all the other windows of the archieve were being blown out by more of the flame running through the building. I guess they should have accounted for the dust build up before installing a self destruct mode in a freaking archieve! I hit the ground hard. I got up, I had no time to lolligag around while the rest of the guard are most likely on their way here to find out why the hell the archieve is on fire. I stood and patted out the flame on my shoulders. Hope the fancy nobles enjoy burnt bugbear smell..

A/N Others that are in the GGG are Griffin the Griffin by Blackwing, From nobody to knightmare by JJ, Blue Stranger,Red Curtain by Io, In a Pinch by Akailo and Dancing Flames,Coling Ember by Tamara Bloodhoof.

Party Hard! (11) GGG

I made my way around the garden dodging in and out of bushes to avoid the guards rushing toward the sound of the explosion. Soon I found the doors I had used to get outside and slipped in right before another batch of guards came rushing by. I walked through the halls backtracking my steps to get back to main ballroom. It took a while mostly due to everything looking the same and somehow every room has stained glass with moonlight coming through it. How is that even possible.You know what screw it. It's magic that's all the reason I should need. I wandered around the castle for a good five minutes before I managed to make it back to the ballroom.

I began my traverse across the ballroom carefully attempting not to attract any attention. I almost make it to the stairs to the exit before my vision was filled with pink. I take step back and realize who the pink blur is that is standing in front of me.

"OHMYGOSHIVENEVERSEENANYTHINGLIKEYOU!" screamed the pink pony.

"HEYWHYAREYOULEAVINGTHEPARTYSOSOONAFRIENDOFMINEISGOINGTOPLAYASONGYOUSHOULD*gasp*TOTALLYSTAYANDPARTYANDSTUFFITWILLBESOOMUCHFUN!"

I tried to make sense of the gibberish that the party pony was spewing but it was like trying to kill a guy by beating him with a loaded assault rifle. Pointless. I cleared my throat just in case some of the smoke had gotten into my lungs.

"I'm sorry but I really must be going."

"Why don't you come party with us?"

"Because I really don't want to come party with you."

"You know earlier I heard a explosion," Wait what?," when I went over to it I saw a big monster that looked just like you come out of the building."

I was trying to compute what she was saying to me.

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Snappy comeback not found.

Running BackupRetort.exe

"Yah so? I could have been any monster who was there."

"I suppose, but it be a shame that you didn't get to party because of somepony calling the guards on you for suspicion of blowing up the archive now wouldn't it?" Did...did I just get threatened by Pinkie Pie?

"Y-y-yah it would."

"Great! Come on let's party!"

Pinkie started walking toward the dancefloor while I fallowed. All the ponies were glaring at my direction. They weren't looking at me however. No they were looking at the pink party pony that I was fallowing across the dance floor. I saw quite a few nobles nothing special, that is if you don't count the griffin with a giant ass sword on his back. Kinda looks like Aoi's sword but fatter... There was also a changeling on the stage looking at me. As both Pinkie and I approached the stage I started feeling a little less stressed. If the guards haven't found me now it means they are treating Shining and the others before looking for me. What dumbasses. Pinkie hopped on to the stage and whispered into the ear of the changeling. A smile grew on the face of the changeling, I climbed up onto the stage wondering just what exactly they were planning.

"Yo, Griffin!" A griffin named Griffin must be some pretty unimaginative parents he had., ""Me and Pinkie are gonna do something 'special'!"

The reaction was almost immediate, the griffin named Griffin had a look of disgust. God why does he have that face? Wait something 'special' oh god and they dragged me into it! I was having a mini panic in my head. I leaned forward to see what Pinkie and the Changling were doing. The changeling was whispering into Pinkie's ear. Celestia and Spike drew closer to the stage. I guess I knocked him so hard he forgot. I began to hear a familiar tune.

You

Oh fuck yah I love this song! Wait this is a human song. Huh changeling human who knew?

Pinkie and the Changeling start off with me and the other two right behind them in the song.

You work all night (all night)

And when you work you don't feel all right

And when,

When things stop feeling all right (all right)

And everything is all right

Me,the changeling whom I shall now refer to as Ted, Celestia, Spike and Pinkie began to stomp foward. We leaped off the stage and on to five separate tables.A soft creeking noise was heard from my and Celestia's tables. Been putting on the pounds haven't we princess? She turned back at me and glared. How the hell did she? Ah screw I'll just say magic and be done with it. We landed in this order left to right: Me, Pinkie, Ted, Spike and Celestia. We each struck a pose and bounded forward.

'Cos we will never listen to your rules (no)

All five of us flipped off the nobles to our left. How ponies managed to flip off someone I'll never know.

We will never do as others do (no)

Flip 'em off to the right

Know what we want and we get it from you

We all pointed forward with both hands

Do what we like and we like what we do

Fuck yah! I haven't danced like since.... Hell I never danced like this!

We jumped to different tables, and struck the classic Devil horns pose. We countinued to step forward, jump and pose directly to the rytheme of the song. Soon the nobles started to loosen up to our pelvic thrusts and headbanging. The ballroom was in a uproar with the nobles finally cutting loose a bit. Are those two making out?!?

So let's get a party going (let's get a party going)

Now it's time to party and we'll party hard (party hard)

Let's get a party going (let's get a party going)

When it's time to party we will always party hard

Party hard (party hard, party hard, party hard party hard, party hard, party hard party hard, party hard, party hard...)

All right

You,

You fight that fight

And when you're fightin' you feel all right

But when,

When things stop feeling all right (all right)

And everything is all right

'Cos we will never listen to your rules (no)

We will never do as others do (no)

Know what we want and we get it from you

We do what we like and we like what we do

So let's get a party going (let's get a party going)

Now it's time to party and we'll party hard (party hard)

Let's get a party going (let's get a party going)

When it's time to party we will always party hard

Party hard (party hard, party hard, party hard party hard, party hard, party hard party hard, party hard, party hard party hard, party hard, party hard...)

The thump of my feet against the ground was drowned out by the music. I dodged out of the way of a few nobles. As I walked through the crowd toward my goal I noticed that some of the guests weren't ponies. I noticed a few griffins walking throughout the party and what I could only describe as bipedal cats. My pacing became faster as I marched closer towards the stairs and my eventual getaway. Before I take my first step up the stairs that lead toward the door being  I was stopped by the pink fuzzball called Pinkie Pie again.

"Oh no you don't mister you're going to stay and party but Aunt Pinkie is fair. Tell yah what! Drink this drink in one gulp and I'll let you leave!"

Pinkie brought out a small shot glass filled with a pink liquid. The liquid bubbled and was translucent and almost seemed to change shades of pink every second.

"I call it 'The Royal Pink'! Go ahead and try it!" She giggled.

I grabbed the glass from the party pony and eyed it. I raised the glass and brought it to my mouth. With a giant gulp I drank the entire thing. I felt the liquid go down my throat. It tickled to be quite honest. The concoction slithered it's way to my gut. When it reached my stomach all the tickling sensations that were over my body a moment ago vanished. I looked back at the pink fluff who had given me the drink, she was laughing her ass off. Oh god what did she make that out of to make her laugh so much? I started to have a panic in my head, thoughts racing off what she had given me. Slowly my head slowed down and relaxed. I felt calmer but yet still so much happier. I started to chuckle alongside the pony. Heh... that was a interesting drink but I really should be... What was I doing before? I thought to myself.

"Hey Pinkie," I said slowly, "what was I trying to do earlier?"

"Party silly filly!"

"OH YAH! Come on Pinkster LEZ PAR-TAY!" I shouted at the excited pony.

I fallowed the pony for a short while. We danced for a short bit and then the drink really hit me hard. My vision began to blur my mind almost stopped. I looked around to see the world full of brighter colors and wonderful sounds. My god this feels amazing! Eventually the pink pony was consumed by the crowd. I paced toward the bar. The soft creak of the wooden chair as I sat. I asked the bartender for a drink and he dropped a small crate of drinks in it labelled "For the Big guy." The bartender said a pink pony had paid for 3 others just for me to enjoy. I reached into the box to find a similar pink drink that she had given me. Bless your soul, Pinkie. I began to scan the area to see if anything interesting was happening. I spotted Ted talking to the griffin.

"SPIDER!" Ted seemed shocked about something.

The griffin seemed to notice the thing that frightened Ted. "Oh shit!"

Ted begins to swing his guitar/axe thing at something."FUCKING SPIDERS!" He shouted as he ran away.

He pulled out his sword and slashed at something. I never noticed when the sword was on his back but the blade was black just like Aoi's but it seemed more like a blunt weapon due to it's size then a blade. He rose in the air and turned vertically pointing his sword directly toward the ground. He began to plunge the sword in the ground and shouted.

"Ignis!" A tower of flame erupted from his sword, burning the red carpet underneath him. So Griffin can use magic aswell?

After the destruction of the griffin,Celestia walked up behind him.

"....OK...I hate spiders, too...but doncha think that was overkill?" Ted told the griffin giving him a disappointed look.

`

"Why did you burn my rug? What did my rug ever do to you?" The princess inquired.

The griffin was breathing a little hard. "Um.... there was a spider."

"...Did you kill it?"

"Yes ma'am he did." Ted responded to Celestia's question for Griffin.

"Um...Yes."

A face of pondering over took the princess."...All is forgiven!" I call hacks!

The griffin looks behind himself and sees a laughing Luna. There was a stick right beside her as she laughed her ass off.

"Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuna!" Shout the griffin screamed bringing out his sword.

The two begin to run around the ballroom. Celestia makes her way over to the bar and orders a Royal Pink.

"Sorry Princess but the one over there currently has our entire stock." He points toward me.

"Help yourself your majesty, there is no way I can drink all this."

The princess takes a few bottles from the box and quickly gulps down the first. A few riffs of Benny Hill chase song, AKA 'Yakety Sax' reach my ears as I drink alongside the sun princess. Shouts of guards echoed behind. I hear a large crashing noise. I look back at the scene I was previously watching just a moment ago to see that the griffin was now covered in the cake. He slowly got up and looked at himself and then toward Luna with a big smile on his face.

"Um, Griffin...are you ok?"

He begins to sniffle and making a pouty face. "Auntie Woona, Griffy needs a hug."

"Griffin....no" She slowly backs away from the cake covered griffin. Is he thinking what I think he's thinking?

"YES!" He launched himself at the Princess before she could get away. He pinned her down to the ground and began to smother her in the cake. His feathers begin to puff as most of the cake is cleaned off of him and added to the Princess of the night's blue coat. Pinkie hops over to Luna and licks her cheek. Cheeky girl. Heh I made a funny.

"MMMMMMmmm Tastes like cherry." she giggled as she bounced off.

I look over to Celestia who is downing her 8th drink already. Damn that one can handle her alcohol. Restarting my search for interesting events, I look around taking the occasionally drink from my bottle. I spot Aoi asking Griffin something but it was too soft to understand what he was saying. The griffin seems to say something that upsets Aoi slightly. I watch the conversation between the two countinue until I spot Trixie jump up beside him. Huh Trixie is a cyborg... wait when the hell did Trixie become a freakin cyborg? They talked alittle more. Griffin held up a small gem and Trixie seemed to be casting a spell on it. Aoi walks up to the stage and looks back toward Griffin who seemed to say something most likely advice.

The alcohol was wearing down my patience." SING YAH DOLT!"

"YO DAWG, LET'S HEAR YA SING!" Ted shouted at him from a few feet away.

"Quiet Knight, nobody likes you! Give him some space!" Griffin snapped at the changeling. Ted seems to stick out his tongue at Griffin's comment. Who the hell is Knight?Aoi approaches the mic.

Slowly the room filled with this tune. The music bounced all other the room causing the sound to come from all directions as the hard beats started. Soon he began to sing the first part. I guess the furry bastard really is japanese. All the ponies start looking at each other not understanding the lyrics.

"HAH!  An anime theme song!   This is just RICH!" laughed Ted.

I ignore Ted's laughing and look back to Celestia who has just finished another drink. "Need another Celestia?"

She nodded her head.

I reach into the first crate pulling out the last one and handing it over to Celestia's magical grip. The bartender put a second crate on the table and I pulled out another drink for myself. I return my gaze back at Aoi who now had Pinkie singing along with him. How the hell does Pinkie know japanese? I slowly begin to tap my foot to the beat.

"Y'know it's not actually that bad."

Celestia drinks some of her drink and bobs her head up and down."Yeah, it's really good but this stuff will knock out most stallions." She said in a slightly slurred speak.

The stamping of hooves on the dance floor was evident now as I looked back at the ponies finally getting into the groove of the music. They had made a semicircle around the stage. The ponies and the other various creatures that were currently attending the Gala were all headbanging, the electric guitar crescendo rolling up to the second part of the song. The piano begins to play during the second portion of the song and the ponies were going wild as the song came to a close. Silence soon filled the room when the music ended. Damn that was good. I begin to clap my hands. Slowly the ponies began to stamp their hooves on the ground and the other guests, the griffins and the cats also began to clap. Cheers roared up from the crowd as the song ended. Griffin climbs onto the stage and shouts into the mic.

"Hello Canterlot! That was Aoi with 'Rumba'!"

If he can sing up there then I can freaking sing up there. The chair creeked as I rose from my spot.

"Been a pleasure drinkin with yah Celestia"

I begin my march toward the stage as Aoi was descending the steps, he seems to be swaying alittle. I walk up to Trixie. She notices my approach as does Griffin as their stares points toward me. I came a few feet from the cyborg unicorn and kneeled so that we were at eye level.

"Little unicorn do me a favor" I asked in a very polite tone.

"Depends, what's the favor?"

I look up and see Griffin standing behind her. "Do that thing you did for Aoi on this crossbow, I got a song I want everyone here to hear." I pull my crossbow from its holster and hold it in front of her. The gem substance the crossbow was made of shined in the light.

"Grif, should I be pouring magic into a weapon at the grand galloping gala?"

"It's got no strings and I got a few bits if you do it" I pointed out to Griffin.

"Well, if anything goes wrong, you can just claim you were drunk, so, WHY THE HELL NOT?"

Trixie's horn began to glow, she began to pour energy into the crossbow. I could feel the crossbow fill to the brim with pure arcane energy. The crossbow shone brighter and brighter with all the magical essence being forced into it. When she finished I headed toward the stage and up to the microphone. I was about to sing but I remembered Aoi saying something before the music began. I turn my head back to Griffin.

"What did I have to say again?"

"Muscia a memoria! Then just think the song!" He replied.

"Alright then," I think real hard on a old favourite of mine "Musica a memoria!"

The crossbow dimmed expelling all the energy that Trixie had placed inside of it. The floor began to shake with the vibrations of a familiar beat of a song beginning to play. I begin to tap my foot creating shaking the ground around me to the beat. I opened my mouth and leaned into the microphone and began to sing.

We can dance if we want to

"OH MAN IT'S THE SAFETY DANCE!!!" I heard Ted shout. I guess he really is a human.

We can leave your friends behind

Cause your friends don't dance

And if they don't dance

Well they're no friends of mine.

Slowly the ponies began to get in the beat of the song. I grabbed the microphone and began to dance to the rythem of the song.

"Come on yah furry bastard dance with me!"

I lunge forward and grab Griffin's hand in hopes he would join my dance. I had nearly pulled him into the dance floor when pulled back sending me back on to the stage. I look at him and then look back at the crowd. I place my arms on my hips and sing into the microphone.

I say, we can go where we want to

A place where they'll never find

And we can act like we come from out of this world

Leave the real one far behind

We can dance (Come see! )

I pointed out toward the crowd and waved them to join me on stage dancing. A few ponies jumped up and danced. The ponies began to stamp their hooves to the beat and did their own unique dance. Even one or two of the cats came up and did something similar to the egyptian dance. I left the small group of ponies on stage and resumed my song.

We can go where we want to

The night is young and so am I

And we can dress real neat

From our hands to our feet

And surprise'em with a victory cry

I say, we can act if we want to

If we don't nobody will

And you can act real rude

And totally removed

And I can act like an imbecile

I say, we can dance, we can dance

Everything is out of control

We can dance, we can dance

We're doing it from wall to wall

We can dance, we can dance

Everybody look at your hands

We can dance, we can dance

Everybody's taking the chance.

Safety dance

We'll safety dance

Yes, the safety dance

I see Ted dancing alongside Pinkie. I walk toward the edge of the stage and jump off. I landed with a solid thud. I grabbed a few ponies. I hooked on to one of their front legs using it like a arm in order to get him to stand bipedal. We started to skip in a circle still locked in arms. The other ponies joined into this jig. I unhooked from my partner sending him into another arm hook with a pony. We began to exchange partners and continue the skipping circles. I broke from the group of dancing ponies who quickly dissolved into their own separate dances. I jumped back on to the stage right before the lyrics picked up. I continued the tune.

We can dance if we want to

We've got all your life and mine

As long as we abuse it

Never gonna lose it

Everything will work out right.

I say, We can dance if we want to

We can leave your friends behind

Cause your friends don't dance

And if they don't dance

Well they're no friends of mine.

I leave the ponies to do their own dance and climb back onto the stage to finish my song.

I say, we can dance, we can dance

Everything is out of control

We can dance, we can dance

We're doing it from wall to wall

We can dance, we can dance

Everybody look at your hands

We can dance, we can dance

Everybody's taking the chance.

Safety dance

We'll safety dance

Yes, the safety dance.

The last verse of the song bounded off the walls creating an echo.I walked back toward the  I place the microphone back on the stand. This may be my only chance to say something to all these nobles at once. It must be something inspirational! Meh screw it... I tightened my grip on the stand and brought to the front of my face. I shouted into the microphone.

"THANK YOU RANDOM PONIES WHO I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT!"

The ponies cheers came to a end and are replaced by looks of confusion and one or two of anger. I walk off the stage. I navigate my way through the crowd of ponies. A few tried to pick a fight with me for my vulgar shout out. They quickly met the back of my hand as I sent them to the sides of the room. I walked toward the bar to get another drink. Where I had once sat before was a stallion drinking some cheap booze. I tap him on the back and he slowly turns his head to see who had disturbed his drinking.

"Oi, mate that's my seat, get out or I'll punt yah to the moon."

He looks back at me and starts looking me from head to toe then turns to his drink saying something about the drink getting to his head. He did not just ignore my warning. I grab his mane and lift him off of the seat. I turn his face toward me and I smile. I turn back toward the party with the stallion still in hand. I rear up my leg for a kick as I drop him. I swing my leg forward with great force smashing into the stallion. The impact sends the pony flying into the air and then straight into the middle of the crowd. I take my seat back to where I was. I look over to where Celestia sat earlier to see a empty seat. She is a royal princess she probably has some duty to attend to. I waved the barkeeper to give me a drink. He brought up a crate, I reached in and grabbed a drink. This is relaxing... I sat back into the chair and hugged the drink Pinkie had given me.

Griffin jumped on to the stage. He advanced toward the microphone.

"Alright, now, here's a song that you can all actually sing with me. In fact, you don't have a choice. You have to. If I do it myself, then it's just awkward. It's one of the few happy songs from my home, and I think Pinkie Pie will love it. Get on up here you crazy pony."

The feeling of confusion over takes most of the room. The ponies most likely did not expect that this Griffin guy whoever he is was going to play a happy song from his "world'. Is the griffin a human too? A joyful tune began to play. Soon the cats,Trixie and all the griffins were dancing to Griffin's song. They all balled up their fists and put them on the side of theirs heads to make them look like bunny. They moved their hips side to side at the rhythm of the beat of the song. He must be hoping the noble ponies would join if the saw a group join in... hmmm screw it Royal Pink can wait there is no way I'm missing probably my only chance to dance to this song. I begin to walk over to the stage and I see the stallion I had previously booted from my seat.

"You can have the seat mate I got some more singing to do..." I tell the poor stallion in his landing crater.

I walk up to the stage and began to imitate the dance. Soon ponies began to join in the dance standing on their hind legs using their front hooves as the bunny ears. I started to lose my balance when one of the mares pushed me forward. I waved my hand back and forth as to not fall of the stage. My plan did not suceed. I tumbled through the air landing on one or two ponies. I look down to the pancake ponies and apologize as I give up on my try to dance to the song. I push my way through the crowd to see the same pony that I had punted in my seat again. I'll just skip the asking him to move part... I grab his mane and turn toward the stage. I pull my arm back with him still in my grip.

"Go have some fun and dance!" I under hand throw him onto the stage. He gets up slightly confused what just happened. He began to walk the stairs.

"DANCE YAH FOOL DANCE!" The stallion looked over to me. I had extended my blade making the message clear.

I laughed as the song progressed. Quite a few of the nobles had let loose enough to join in the ridiculous dance. I heard a few comments about "If that big furry thing can do then so can I!' or "We can dance better than them!" it was hilarious watching the snooty nobles doing a dance while making bunny ears on their heads. The song ended and the nobles went back to their conversations and groups. I look around to see if anything of interest is happening. I see the nobles talking, griffins talking, Aoi approaching Rainbow Dash, cat people talking... Wait Aoi approaching Rainbow Dash? I noticed Aoi making his way toward Rainbow Dash who was wearing a red, leaf pattern kimono. It had a black waist band tied around her. Aoi walked nervously up to Rainbow. Furry bastard is going for Rainbow...

Preparing for Adventure! (13)

My consciousness returned to me. I stood up to see rather than green grass and plains or forests and life but an empty void, random objects floated defying all logic. I scoured the landscape in hopes to see any landmarks or any other living beings. A cracked old wall stood out among the crowd, various holes shaped like a ponies were carved into it. On top of the wall a man in a black leather jacket. His words echoed in the void as he sung a tune.

"Forged in a fire.

May all draw your ire?

The chances are dire,

But you. Are a liar.

You smash

And crash

And burn

And Turn!" He pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked down to me.

"AH Craig or is it Celt now? Doesn't matter how have you been?"

"Well I..."

"Don't answer that I already know. Anyway how'd you like the poem? Doesn't matter either since I know your gunna say it sucks."

"Loki where the fuck are we?"

"Ah we my friend are in the land of dreams!" He pats the stone wall. "And this specifically is the fourth wall."

"You’re sitting... on the fourth wall?" I tilt my head to the side as I ask.

"Well it's a physical representation of a metaphysical concept, I could explain but," He reaches behind him and pulls out a large booklet, "the  Author wants to get the move on."

The snap of his fingers rings all around, a pair of glasses form out of thin air. He grabs them and begins to read the book all while having a bored expression on his face.

"Loki what the fuck do you want and why am I here?"

"Hey you skipped some lines! Meh, doesn't matter much. We can just wing it." He tosses the book behind him.

"Well you see your here in this world because my brother and father don't want me visiting Equestria to talk to you. So I just pulled you here to talk to you. As for your other question, I need to make sure my piece doesn't die." He pushes himself off the wall and lands just in front of me. He quickly pulls my arm in front of him. "You know I said almost indestructible not completely indestructible. You know how long it took to make this arm? 5 hours of dwarf labor!"

"How was I supposed to know his sword was that sharp?"

"Doesn't matter," my arm drops down after being released from his grip, "I removed the ugly scratch that walking feather duster put in it. Alrighty, now I am going to explain uru to you so you don’t get the arm cut off."

"If it can be cut off it's not very indestructible." I retort back at the god.

"Do not speak to me like in that manner mortal! I can easily replace you!" He boomed with divine power.

"Y-y-y-yes sir."

He clears his throat. "Ah well yes we all have our breaking points, Anyway uru is a unique metal. The more magic contained in it the harder it becomes. You faced that turkey dinner with a near empty battery. So your arm was as strong as diamond. So yah, always keep that arm charged or I may be looking for a new piece."

Thunder echoed in the background. Slowly storm clouds started to form around Loki.

"Well it seems my brother figured out my trick. Well," A bat appeared from the air, " goodbye."

"Wait what's the bat for..." I could never finish as the bat made contact with my head.

The water sprayed against my feet. A feeling of tingling ran up my spine waking me up. I pushed myself on to my back and looked up at the sky. No clouds wandered the empty sky. I pushed myself up into a sitting position using my mechanical arm as a balance.

I grab my head with my free arm, "Oh God it's like one drill going into one ear, and another drill going in the other ear, and they're meeting in the MIDDLE."

I crawl over to the river I had come from. I look over to see my reflection and cup my hands to splash water on my face. After I finished washing my face, I begin to search around for a town that may be close. I look back up and see a pegasus fly overhead. Well I guess I head that way. I begin to trek through the forest. My journey was mostly unhindered with the exceptions of the thick brush and a few low branches. I crawled out of the forest to see familiar town. Must have floated all the way down the valley. The gravel shifts under the weight of each of my steps. Better look for somewhere quiet to read the books. God I hope I grabbed the one with the recipe. I made my way into the town not caring for stealth at this time, mostly due to the feeling of my brain being beaten with a sledgehammer. The ponies shifted to the side of the street as I walked by. I came to the town square where most of the vendors were located. I scanned the area briefly for anything of use. I spotted a large red stallion by a cart labeled "Sweet Apple Acres Apples". I walked up to the cart with the bag of bits in my hands.

"Hello, how much for an apple?"

The stallion opened his mouth only for a high pitched voice to come out. "3 bits mister."

"That's a.... interesting voice you have." I hand him 3 bits while he hoofs me an apple.

"That was me not mah brother!" Exclaimed a voice from below me

I look down to see Applebloom. "Oh hello. I'm sorry I didn't see you down there. Well I must be off have a good day."

"Eyup"

I began amble around the town in hopes to find a peaceful place to read my recently 'borrowed' books. As I walked I had the strangest feeling that someone or more precisely someponies were following me. I turned my head back toward the street. Three boxes were in a straight line were right behind me. My god they must think I am stupid... I continue my walk until I reached the park. I found a corner of the park where no ponies were and sat on a bench. I shuffled through my bag looking for one of the books. From the void I pulled a medium sized book. I began to read it taking the occasional break to enjoy the scenery. About half way through the book I began to hear whispers,

"He is just sitting there reading."

"Calm down Scoots he looks just like the poster."

"Not a chicken are yah Scoots?"

"No way! Come on let's do this!"

I turn my head back just in time to see three little fillies launch out of a tree screaming.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BOUNTY HUNTERS!" You must be kidding...

A white unicorn used her magic and flung a basket over my head. The small pegasus and earth pony managed to hit me in the  back sending me forward out of the bench. My god they are serious. May as well play the part. I push myself up sending the two fillies tumbling off me. Hmm how over board do I go? I grabbed the basket on my head, I used it to scoop up the unicorn head first. I rolled the basket with the filly still inside toward the two still dazed ponies. A large crash was heard from the collision. I walk up the three and squat to be closer to eye level.

"Can you tell me why you three are jumping out of trees screaming?"

"You look like that guy in the poster, and we thought we could get our cutie marks in bounty hunting." Scootaloo explained, she looked at the ground, "I was hoping if we caught you and got my cutie mark in bounty hunting I could join my dad on his adventures."

I stood to full size and crossed my arms, "One, I'm taller than all three of you combined. Two, bounty hunting does not fit you three in the slightest. Lastly, what poster are you talking about?"

"There's a poster with a picture of you that says you’re wanted."

"Probably a mistake," Christ their mail system works fast. "show me where the poster is."

The girls began to lead me around the town until we arrived back at the town center. In the middle of the square was a poster board. Directly in the middle of the board was a picture that read "Celt the Bugbear, Terror of Cantorlot. Wanted for theft, assault and destruction of the Royal Archive." Oh that's bullshit! Her damn security system did that! "Reward is 5000 bits. Caution, his crossbow dubbed Spellslinger is capable of shooting magic. His arm also has a hidden blade." 5k for little ol'me? Celestia you flatter me. I grab the poster and put it in my coat pocket.

"I haven't even been to Cantorlot, so it can't be me." Fake joy fills my voice in hopes to trick the girls.

"We're sorry for attacking you mister." They say in unison.

"Don't worry about it. Now you should run home, it's getting dark."

The three fillies run off to their homes. I should find a place to sleep. I walk a little more around the town until I found a suitable alley where I could sleep. I hid behind a few boxes and began to read more of the books until I found what I was looking for. Here it is the Restit potion. I scanned over the page until I found the recipe list. Let's see, grounded changeling queen horn, bark of the world tree, water from the river Styx, alpha diamond dog teeth ground into fine powder, tooth of a hydra matriarch, Jewel of a griffin king, a piece of pyremare's mane, a shaman's staff, fang from each head of the elements, string of fate, sands of time and a scale off the World Snake. Holy fuck couldn't they have made it an easier list? I close the book now knowing what I needed to get my arm back. Tomorrow I'll visit the library to get some info on some of the ingredients and maybe a map or two. I should also get a few more supplies. Slowly darkness overcomes me.

The sounds of commerce filled my ears as I slowly wake up. I yawn as I stood up. I began my walk around the town making my way slowly to the giant tree library. I round the corner to the Books and Branches Library when I collide with something. I push myself out of whatever I ran into only to be in front a humanoid Chrysalis, I look up at her face and then back down the bosoms which I had just had my face in. She looks at me and was about to say something when something that sounded like "mew" came from the library. She ran faster than lighting, quickly after a human Celestia with a large kitten plushy making childish cat noises. I feel like I missed something. I look back toward to see another thing come out of it. I was half expecting Luna to come running out of the building but instead it was a twelve-foot-tall mountain of muscle cat women. She stomps toward me. Wow how I wonder if she knows roid-rage. Most likely does. Strange no beard.

".....Wassup?" 'she' asks, shifting to the form of Ted the Changeling.  "Long time no see, brony!"

"Ted? Is that you, you changeling bastard?" I wonder if I should ask him his real name...

"....Ted!?  ....."  *He grabs me and slams me into the wall, "How the ever-loving FUCK do you know that name!?" he hisses, breathing rapidly in panic.

"Um I’m god? I know all!" I laugh as he tries and holds me up

Ted's eye twitches, "Inside...NOW!"  He shoves me inside the Library rapidly

"Looks like I hit a nerve didn’t I?" I look at the changeling breathing hard, "From the looks of you either you just had sex or you're worried that I somehow know your name."

  "Little bit of both, actually...  NO ONE knows my name, here!!!!"

"Who said I did?" I look at my nails acting nonchalantly, "You’re the one who told me jackass. Also not nice slamming people into walls."

Ted twitches, "THEN WHY DID YOU CALL ME TED!?"

"Cause I guessed it"

Ted blinks....and facepalms after a pause, "Dammit...OK, sorry I snapped....I...just wanted to leave my old life behind, y'know?"

"Eyup, word to the wise though never pick a fight with someone you don’t know the full power of"

Ted rolls his eyes, "You weren't there for the rest of the Gala, were you?"  he chuckles and lets Celt go, "Sorry about that.  What do you prefer to be called, anyway?"

"No I wasn’t that furball Griffin hit me out the window. Remind me if I ever meet him, to kill him and everything he has. I go by Celt anyway. You?"

Ted chuckles, "Knightmare is what they call me.  'SIR Knightmare DemonBane' to be exact, at least now.  You can call me Knight,"

I laughs at the obvious pun," Sir Knight? Hah that's a ridiculous name yah know.."

Ted chuckles again, "The ponies began calling me 'Knightmare', and the 'DemonBane' thing is a title.  I've been officially knighted by Celestia herself...." He takes out his guitar, "Meet Nyx."  He play a quick riff, summoning the visage of Nightmare Moon without her armor, "Better known as 'The Nightmare'....."

Huh, I wonder.... oh god that's just stupid.  "Oh that's very funny, your incredibly funny aren’t you?" The phrase drips with sarcasm. "Well I have a title apparently as well."

Ted nods, holding up a wanted poster, "The Beast with the Iron Arm.  The Terror of Canterlot.  Celt the Bugbear...."  I smile.  "Nice we should finally introduce ourselves."

"Yes it is." I smile "Well anyway since you’re a knight and I'm not going to be back for a while how is Shining? How long did it take to get him out of the wall and please don't spare me the details," I smile," One of my finer works"

Ted laughs bounces off the library walls, "That reminds me, Armor is...kinda pissed about that.  Especially since his training session with Celly and me came the morning after....he was...less than pleased."

  "Ah to bad I missed it, but you know he would have thrown me off the mountain if Griffin didn't" I grab a few maps off the shelves also some books I had previously read on my last visit and shoved them into my bag. I also took a number of books about legends or anything relating to my ingredients.

"He was barely in  shape for throwing punches, let alone tossing out a bugbear.  Plus, Celestia already had the archives repaired and the lost books replaced.  But she DID beef up security." Damn she works fast. Ted blinks at the number of books I'm taking off the shelf, "you plan on taking those out?"

"Indeed, long journey and many things I have to slay and crap..." I look through the shelves, " "Let’s see ah here we go, 'Legends of Equestria'" I read through the book to find all the creatures I want in it.

"Just wanted to know.  Twi might want to know what books need replaced.  Apparently there have been a number of book-thefts lately and she's trying to keep track of the missing tomes." Oh crap that reminds me, does Spike remember me?

"Tell me does a sudden blow to the head cause memory loss?"

"Usually, especially with smaller, younger folks.  Why?  Plan on trying to knock me out?"

"Came to mind but hold on hold my bag for a second" I hand him my bag which now has the combined weight of all the books and survival supplies.

Ted oomphs, stumbling backwards, accidentally knocking into one of the bookshelves, ".....uhoh....."The shelves begin teetering over, slamming into each other like a set of dominoes, "....Twiley's gunna be piiiiiiissed....."

"Lightweight," I grab the final book and grab my bag "Well I should leave soon, you know Twi gunna be pissed and I don't need the extra trouble." I wonder..., "By the way are you a Changeling Queen?"

Ted blinks, and begins laughing, "Tch, No!" he continues laughing, and The ‘Queens’ are the leaders of the different changeling hives  the nearest Queen is Chrysalis and she just bolted out because she doesn't have a taste for pussy."

"Hmm I’ll deal with her later then..." I shift through the shelf and find a bag of coins. Well I am running out of funds soon., "Well yah I must be going also tell Twi I’m sorry for stealing some of her money..."

I think about what I just said, "While I'm actually not." I say tossing a bag of coin up and down.

Ted shrugs and waves, "OK, have fun being a bastard and-HEY WAIT WHAT!?"

"She needs to hide this crap better, BYE!" I jump off the ladder and book it out the door.

Ted throws my bag of books at me Fucking idiot gave me the one thing I would have come back for, "GET BACK HERE!!!!"

I begin to run down the street dodging carts and ponies. I run into a huge crowd of ponies ducking low so that I would blend in. I slowed my pace to blend in more. I made my way toward an alley with many patios and over hangs so not to be spotted from the air. I look above to see Ted fly over me. I walk out of the alley and head toward the main path. I see a large sign with the words "Stalliongard" pointing down the road. I begin walking down the road ready to face what I need to. Look out world here I come.

Give a God a Bone (14)

I have been walking for about three day now. I set up camp every night after I found a suitable area; luckily I had packed plenty of supplies so I had no trouble besides the occasional animal hoping to steal some of my food. The gravel pushed against the hard skin on my feet. The wind blew through my hair while I kept up a constant jog. On my walk I pasted by a few ponies, most of them kept their distance when they saw me but a few offered to trade supplies and other things. I bought a pair of enchanted sunglasses. They are made to be one way so any magic that needs direct eye contact is ineffective, it also helps against cockatrices. I fucking look like Adam Jensen now, badass and mechanized. I continued my pace slowly approaching a fork in the road. I reach into my bag and grab my newly 'borrowed' map.

"Hmmm, let's see I followed this path here so I must be...."

A vial of liquid flew toward my face, I ducked before the glass could hit me. I turn to face my new foes only to be greeted by a net flying overhead and entrapping me. I gazed over to where it originated from. There stood about 5 diamond dogs, one of them had a large cannon with smoke bellowing from the end of it. Hmmm, Diamond dogs. Must mean there is a den nearby and where there is a den there is an Alpha. Looks like it's my lucky day. One of the taller diamond dogs approached the net. I should keep them alive to show me where the den is.

"Beta what is this ugly creature?"

"Don't matter either it work or Alpha eats. I don't think Alpha cares which."

"How do we carry it to the den? It too fat to be carried by us."

He did not just call me fat and ugly. Screw it only one of them needs to live. "Hey Mutt wanna hear something real interesting?"

"What you want ugly thing?" The dog leaned in close.

"Well you see my fist here?" The dog nods, "Well the metal around it is actually a gem around my hand, I'll give you the gem if you let me go." C'mon be a greedy bastard, be a greedy bastard!

He grabs my hand and takes a sniff of it, "Stupid thing your gem fist mine now and you work in mines!" He pulls my arm into his mouth.

"Here have treat!" My blade shoots out from the top of my arm going all the way through the dog's head, "Good boy." His head slowly drops off his body and his body drops to the ground.

I swing the blade up ward slashing the net open. The rest of the dogs looked back at me after hearing the commotion.

"You killed Ol'Yeller! We kill you and feed you to Alpha!" The bulky one in the back barked at me.

"Alright, come play yah rock suckers." I taunt them.

The first dog runs at me on all four while the beef cake at the back is preparing to throw another vial.

"Sorry fleabag, but not all dogs go to heaven. Ignis!" Heat collects into the bolt.

My finger presses against the trigger , letting the string go sending the bolt of heat streaking through the air. The bolt flies into the ear of the charging diamond dog. Its howls of pain could be heard for miles. The bolt continued its journey unhindered by the diamond dog it had just burned through. The bolt collides with the vial filled with a green substance. The force of the explosion sent the diamond dog into a tree.

The scent of burnt flesh and hair quickly spreads around the area. I turn my attention to the diamond dog groveling in pain from his new ear hole. I raise my blade up high in order to gain enough momentum to kill him quickly, before my arm was half way down, one of the other diamond dogs tackled me to the ground. We rolled around in our scuffle, the dog constantly trying to bite my face off. I bring my mecha arm up to his mouth. I grab the entire muzzle of the dog and squeeze down on it until multiple cracking noises could be heard. The dog drops off me holding its muzzle in pain. I stand up brushing off a bit of dust before I walk over to the diamond dog. I raise my foot over his head and allow my weight and gravity does the work. The body stopped moving as I moved to the last two D-dogs.

I picked up the diamond dog that was on the ground. "You are such a pussy." I grab his arm.

"Please don't break my arm." His tone showing his fear. He attempts to pull his arm out of my grip with no success.

"Hmmmmm, let me think about that, no." I crush his arm, making several him howl in pain. The skin bent inward to where the break was. I unholster my crossbow and shove it against his stomach.

"Fulgar!" Static began to build up on the crossbow releasing mini arcs of energy into the ground.

The dog looks at his broken arm, the tingling feeling of pain still overwhelming almost all of his senses. He releases high pitched squeal as lightning arced on to his stomach leaving singed marks on his body.

"That arm will hurt for the rest of your life," He looks up at me, his eyes are filled with agony, slowly tears form on the edges of his eyes, "lucky for you, your life isn't going to last much longer."

I release the bolt and it shoots straight into his body. He begins to shake violently from all electrical energy frying his insides and burning his brain to a crisp. After a short while he stopped moving and fell to the ground dead and smelling like burnt dog. The last dog growls as me as I approach him. I grab his fur and lift him up to eye level.

"You know there is a certain sport I excel at." I grab the back of his neck making him gulp.

"What sport that be?"

" Oh you know," I wind up my arm with him still in it, "competitive bitch toss!"

I throw my arm forward releasing the diamond dog into the air, he goes soaring through the clouds and quickly only a speck of him could be seen. His screams still linger in the air a little while after he is gone. This dog better not be dead. I walk over to the one dog that had been blown away by the explosion. As I draw closer his body twitches a little and his chest is expanding and deflating. I grabbed him by the fur on his back and lifted him to my face. I brought my hand back then forth and slapped him. The shock woke him up and I dropping him made sure he stayed up.

"What's your name mutt?"

"I am B-b-b-beta." He looked behind me to see his allies slaughtered.

"Well B-b-b-beta you are going to take me to your Alpha. If you set an ambush for me you will know it feels like to become a living bomb. Understood?"

He shakes his head furiously. He crosses his legs and puts his hands on them.

"You pissed yourself didn't you?" He nods, "Well I don't give a shit. Move your furry ass to the damn Alpha."

Beta begins to walk into a small forest just a little ways away from where I met him. He leads me to a small cave. The entrance was illuminated by torches using the skulls of various creatures. I look at Beta.

"Alpha's idea."

He brings me deep into the cave, on our way down we passed many slaves that varied from griffin to pony. A gray tint covered all of the captives. Their skin firmly outlined by their bones making them look more like zombies. The feeling of gloom and despair is enhanced by the skulls of what I could only assume were the skulls of previous slaves. The griffin slaves seem to have been hit the hardest by the lack of food and water. Most griffins had little to no plumage left, leaving only a skeleton of their once graceful wings. Beta lead me further into the cave, slowly the amount of slaves dwindled and the amount of diamond dogs increased the close we got to the core.

We reached to an opening to a cavern being illuminated by torches along the walls. Craters and rubble from fallen stalactites littered the area. Must be tremors or something to cause them to fall. I look forward to see a large door. The metal that made up the door could most likely be described as rusted iron. A single scene was depicted on the doors. A single massive wolf was fighting against several humanoids. In the jaws of the wolf was a hand.

"What is this place?"

"We dig into cavern week ago, many metal monster lived here but we diamond dogs crushed them." We walked half way to the door before Beta turned around.

"Alpha up ahead please don't make me come in with you."

"Why? Are you scared?" I taunt the dog in an extremely annoying tone.

The dog looks downward in shame, "Yes..."

"Fine, but if I find out you went to get help. I will come from the depths of hell and break you." The dog backs away quickly running on four legs into one of the tunnels.

I march toward the iron door, my heavy breathing echoing around the chamber. As I neared the door I noticed quite a few things. The door only opens outward due to the hinges being visible from this side of the doorway. The door is divided into two similar to those large doors you find on mansions; griffins, diamond dogs, ponies and zebra skeletons were spread all around the door all. Among the skeletons were a few mechanical devices that vaguely resembled one of the golden golems from Hellboy 2 but the pieces were trashed and gnawed. These must be the metal monsters Beta was talking about. The diamond dogs must have found an old inventors workshop that sunk or something. The doors were slightly ajar just enough for me to slip in.

My footstep bound off the walls so that the sound came from all sides, creating a feeling of something surrounding me. The smell of rotten flesh fills my nostrils, when I passed the threshold of the doors. I was standing in a large circular room. The roof was dome shaped and at the center it easily reached 25 feet. The start of where the roof began to curve was rigged and held up by 8 pillars. In the ridge of the dome fire burned giving light to the room. Each pillar held a torch that faced the wall casting shadows of the pillar toward the stone like the shadow of death looming over his next soul to reap. I walk behind the large marble pillars, taking note of the ancient runes giving off a slight red glow as I passed them giving me the impression that each one was cursing me and my family for invading its home.  I trek between the pillars in and out of the shadows that surrounded me on all sides.

I made a full circle around the room and then I stared toward the middle of the large room. A little ways away the marble floor halted allowing rocks and dirt  to fill the empty space in between all of the pillars. Not far away from me is a large scar in the ground. As if something dug into the dirt and stone with their claws to get away from something. In the middle of the large courtyard stands a rock that touches the ceiling above. A crimson silk band surrounds the rock tightly, large indents most likely from pulling on the band are clearly visible from the door. I begin to walk toward the rock where each of the pillars shadows rested on. As I drew closer I noticed several bite marks and scratches similar to the ones dug into the ground on the rock. The closer I came to the rock the more the shadows released its grasp on what was in them. Soon I could see the entire rock, the lower half still shrouded in darkness while the fires in the ridge illuminated the top portion creating the illusion of the rock being an elder looking down on the lesser beings beneath it.

"Who enters my home? Is it another mutt that wishes to fight me?" Boomed a voice from the shadows.

"I do, and I am no mutt. Now show yourself."

"No you do not seem like a mutt, overconfident and too proud to see the knife at his neck. I will show myself to you whelp," slowly a large gray wolf stalked out of the shadows.

"Why have you entered my domain whelp and why do you smell of my father?"

"Your father?"

"Yes, I am Fenrir and my father is Loki god of mischief and chaos."

I take a short moment to put two and two together. "Well your father, brought me here and gave me this arm."

He lowers himself downward and sniffs my arm. "Ah, yes that arm is the source of his stench on you. That arm also has the scent of uru, is that correct?"

"Yah my arm is made of uru why?"

"Do you see the rope that binds me that rock?" I look at his neck to see a red ribbon wrapped around his neck and leading to the rock, "It is rope the gods made to be almost indestructible. Everything has a weakness, the ribbon's weakness was blades crafted of uru. A simple slash and the rope would break while everything else you could imagine would have no effect on it."

"I don't see how this has to do with me."

"I would like to make a contract with you. If you cut the blasted rope that has binded me to this spot for the last several millennia I will offer you my services on whatever journey you may have." Have a god as traveling buddy that would be interesting.

"What would those services be?"

"I will aid you in any manner I can unless it violates your or my honor. I will also become your 'mount' for the journey, to carry any burdens you cannot." The wolf seemed slightly reluctant to say the word mount.

"What about the diamond dogs? They won't exactly allow me to leave with their Alpha and some gems without argument."

"I have no love for the whelps, their former Alpha challenged me to a fight in order to prove his supremacy. He failed horribly and I feasted on his body," There goes getting the Alpha teeth from here., "they chose me as a new Alpha even though I did not care for their pathetic pack. If any of them hinder our progress, I will feast upon them as well."

I walk up to Fenrir and look at him the eye. "You have yourself a deal Fenrir."

I extended my right arm and he extended his left foreleg and shook on our deal, finishing all the negotiating. I walked back toward the stone, feeling its rough surface in my left palm. I walked toward the red ribbon and sheathed my blade. I raised my arm upwards toward the sky and swung down with force severing the ribbon in two. I walked back over to Fenrir and grabbed the length of rope still attached to him and cut it off as well. All that was left of the robe was a small collar made of the ribbon around Fenrir's neck. I grabbed the remains of the red ribbon rope and put in my bag. Never know when it may come in handy.

Fenrir and I began to walk back into the large cave system, slaughtering any diamond dogs in our way and breaking any slaves free. Fenrir enjoyed slaying every diamond dog, the look of joy and triumph glittered in his eyes while he sunk his teeth into another pup. The songs of birds echoed down the tunnel the closer we got to the surface. A large blinding light appeared in front of us and we moved through it. We wind blew through my hair. I took a large breath sucking in every last bit of fresh air I could, letting the sweet feeling fill my lungs. I look over to Fenrir, his features much more visible in the light. He stood about 15 feet tall towering over most of the slaves that slowly began to flow out of the mines saying their thanks. His fur was dark gray that slowly grew darker the closer to the head you looked until you reached a dim gray. Slight hints of red highlighted his fur. His eyes were a hazel nut brown, a small tooth stuck out a little from his mouth. I strap my infinity bag on his back, checking to see if he can handle the weight. Soon I jump up on to the mighty wolf and point him in the direction of the crossroad that this little adventure started at. He walked along the forest taking in all the sights he was deprived of for so long in that cave. We made it to the sign much quicker than the time it took me to walk to the cave. Soon we headed off toward Stalliongard.

Eye of the Mealstrom (15)

It had been a few days since the diamond dog den and we had learnt quite a bit about each other during that time. I learned the reason why Fenrir had been imprisoned down in that cell a mile below the ground. Apparently the gods were afraid of a prophecy that described that he would swallow Odin whole.  My thoughts kept me occupied while we traveled along the rolling landscape, closing in on Stalliongard. The wind whistled in my ears as I rode Fenrir. The sound as gravel landed after being dug up by Fenrir's paws as he kept up his moderate pace. A few song birds flew beside us on our journey. The river the path ran along glittered with the reflections of sun light.

I decided to end our silence, "Fenrir may I ask you something?"

"What is it Celt?" He replied unwavered by my distraction.

"Do you feel any hate towards the gods that locked you up in that prison?"

"I feel no scorn toward them imprisoning me, they had just cause to fear me being free to roam. I do however hold anger for the manner in which the trapped me."

I shift my gaze from the scenery to him, "What do you mean?"

"They tricked me, no honor or valiant fighting jus  the deceit of the gods."

"Last time I checked your father was the god of tricksters...."

"He is a coward that has no honor. How would you say it? He is a giant asshole?"

I chuckle, "Yah that sounds about right."

A moment passes before Fenrir breaks the peaceful tune of nature, "Celt may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you want to get your old arm back? Why not keep the mechanical arm my father gave you?"

"It's kind of hard to explain Fenrir," I take a moment to collect my thoughts, "I already told you I lost my arm when I was young, well back then I was too young to appreciate what I had. It’s not exactly me not wanting this mech arm but more to feel what it’s like to have both of my naturel arms again, to know what things feel with both hands."

"I see, it is like the old saying. You never know what you have until it's gone."

"Exactly Fenrir, you hit the nail on the head."

Fenrir continued our journey, striding across the path. Several moments past and the breadth of the river slowly increased until it split in two separate streams around a large island. Birds flew over the island occasionally landing on the large watch towers on the wall of the city. Moss and vines encrusted the grand stone wall like snakes slithering across the stone surface. Guards watch stone faced in the towers ready to stop any violence in the city and out of it in an instants notice. We continued down the dirt path until we came across a large stone bridge leading to the island city. Stone rails on the bridge to stop any ponies from falling into the water bellow rose about 1 a foot or so high. Large black pole that hold flickering lights were spread across the bridge. Loose stones were pulled out of their homes as Fenrir's claws dug into the path. We came to a gateway with guards checking every passerby.

A guard walked up to me, "Sir, you are not allowed to enter the city with your pet," The guard flinches as Fenrir growls, " unless you muzzle him and pay a 'fee'."

"If you dare put a muzzle on me, I swear by the gods I will spade and neuter you." I turn toward Fenrir, to see the seriousness on his face. Better save the guard before Fenrir eats him."

"Does the exit on the other side of the city lead toward the Great Southern Rainforest?"

"Yes it does."

"Fenrir walk around the island to the other exit, I'll meet you there after I deal with some 'business'"

"Fine." Fenrir begins to march off.

"Sir, we also need to check you for weapons. Don't worry we will give them back after your visit."

"Fine be quick about it." The guard begins to pat me down to check for any weapons. He stops and pulls out my crossbow.

"It doesn't have any strings, it is completely harmless."

"Fine, I'll let it pass for a fee."

My eyebrow arches, "You want a bribe?"

"Yes, you don't have to give me one but if you want your weapon to come with you in the city you'll have to."

I pull out my coin bag or should I say Twilight's coin bag, "What's the fee?"

"Hmm the whole bag should be fine." He reaches his hoof to take the bag before I stop him.

"You  can have 20 bits, it isn't negotiable."

"Who are you to make demands? I am a guard, I am the fucking law here!"

He shrinks down as I stare down at his pathetic life, "I am a guy who can break every bone in your body just as easy as snapping a twig in half." The guard nearly wet himself from the tone I used.

"T-t-t-t-twenty bits is fine," He chuckles nervously as I hand him a few bits," go right on in sir...."

"Come try that shit again when your balls drop."

I walk inside of the city, there were no large stone towers or fancy designer shops. The entire city was similar to the industrial district only without the grand factories and mechanical wonders. The stones that made the paths and streets of Stalliongard were mismatched and broken. Small pebbles bounced around to the stomping of hooves and rolling of carts. Bars littered the streets, each with its own variety of patrons that came in short and small, thin and wide, male and female. Each patron yelling and cheering even though the sun was still high in the sky. Must be one of those places that's motto is "its five o’clock somewhere." I continued down the street looking for something important that I needed. The medieval feel of the town was evident as I walked by the buildings made of stone and timber. I surveyed the area in hopes to find the one thing I needed. I spotted the thing I was so desperate for and made a mad dash for it, another pony had the same idea and galloped towards it. We both closed in, each of us desperate for it. We both reached it at the same time, he looked up at me with determination in his eyes.

"Sorry buddy but you must be this tall to enter." I raised my hand over his head. "So instead you can have a free flying lesson. Unfortunately I teach via experience.

I grab him by the back of the neck and lift him high. I walk out of canopy, the sun blazed down on. I look around for a good target to hit with pony. I stop searching and aim towards a bar a distance away. I pulled my arm back, placing my legs in a stable position. I shoot my hand forward causing swooshing noise as the stallion flew through the sky. I turned as the poor stallion flew into the bar causing a ruckus among the patrons as he crashed onto a table. I opened the door to building, shutting it behind it.

A few moments pass before I exit the building released and refreshed. "God it's been like a week since I last took a dump? Christ."

The wind whistled as it was being cut. I look forward in time to see a scythe heading toward me. I jump to the side, landing against a support beam making it creak. I stare at the scythe now firmly planted in the door.  The scythe was double bladed, the shaft was about 5 or 6 feet long. The entirety of the shaft was black, the black covered the blades for the most parts. The edge of the blade had worn the color of the blade making uneven coloring between the silver colors of the edge.

"You aren't supposed to dodge the damn scythe." Exclaimed in rough gravelly voice.

I look over toward the source of the voice. A griffin walked over and started to pull on the shaft of the scythe. The griffin stood about as tall as me maybe a little shorter. His feather were unorganized and ruffled from the large leather band that most likely was to hold his scythe when not in combat.. His face was much more aged then Griffin's was but still had the same shape. A small scar went along his beak and his eyes felt almost hallow. He yanked the scythe out of the wall and turned to face me. He stared at me with cold dead eyes, like a butcher looking at his new fresh venison to chop up.

"Your Celt the Bugbear?" I stand up and prepare to face my new foe. He turns his head to the side and spits, "I've seen scarier things in my bathroom. Ponies always over exaggerate this kind of shit."

He cut the air as began to twirl the large double ended scythe with one of his hands. The blades reflected the light hitting them giving the appearance that his weapon was glowing with divine power. He stopped the spin and launched forward screaming.  A moment passed before I could raise my arm in time to stop the blade from taking my arm off. The force of the blow pushed me back piling up some dirt behind my feet.  Slowly a bemused smile formed on his face. What's he so happy about? He quickly pulls the blade away from my arm sending the other side of the pole upward hitting me in my jewels. A low baritone moan escapes from my mouth as I cup my jewels in pain. The griffin thrusts his leg up into my jaw knocking my backwards against the support beam. I gaze at the griffin standing so confident with a smug smile.

"This will be easy money, I've fought small frys stronger than you with a eighth of your bounty."

"Oh yah? Well I guess I better step it up then."

"I guess you do." He returned to his stance.

The support creaks as I lift myself off of it and stand. My blade swing out its hidden sheath ready to take another life. We both charge letting out our howls of combat.  He swings low in an attempt to take out my legs. I stop just time and begin to use the pole at a straight to him. I duck downward and strike at his legs, before my arm could make contact he jumps in the air and flies. He comes down with his blade acting like a guillotine. I roll out of the way of the blade. I recover from the roll and prepare to fight again. Pebbles falls off the blade of his scythe as he wrenched it from the ground. I can't beat him up close. I'll have to use my crossbow but at the speed he moves I'd never get the chance.

"You know, it's considered honorable to give the one you’re about to kill your name. My name is Maelstrom."

I spit on the ground, "Mine is Celt."

He smirks and twists the pole section of his scythe. What's he doing? I pull the two ends apart revealing a chain that connects one end of the scythe to the other. Oh fuck! That's a Kama! He pulls the two ends making the chain go straight. The wind screeched as the kama flew through the air while Maelstrom charged. I lift my arm to block the blade forgetting about the other end. He pulls the kama back into his hand and uses both in a swing. I sidestep to avoid major damage but he slashes my side, drawing blood. I hold my side to try and stop a bit of the pain.

"You may think your tough, but you’re really just an inexperienced kid." I stare at Maelstrom cursing him.

"You’re almost not worth the money. In fact if you didn't have such a high bounty I wouldn't even bother with you."

A low growl emanates from my mouth. I stood up straight and pulled my crossbow out of its holster.

"Ah that must be Spellslinger, huh I expect more..."

"IGNIS!" The bolt appears releasing its heat while I aimed.

The twang noise as the string stopped sending the bolt flying echoed around the town. A small cone formed around the bolt, creating small amounts of steam when cold air met the bolt's fiery power. Bolt met Maelstrom’s kama but it did not melt through the metal, it simply moved along the edge as he deflected the bolt to the side. The bolt turned and smashed against a cart creating a torrent of flame.

"Much more." He pushed forward.

His wings unfurled, during his run. Each beat of the wings pushed him further, faster. He brought his kama down against my arm. The power of the strike caused me to sink into the dirt. Eventually the force blew me back. He slowly walked up to me reattaching his kama together. Shit shit shit shit! What do I do?!?! He is going to kill me! I pull my crossbow out as I laid down on the ground. I softly whisper the words that I needed, i grab the bolt as it appears and hide it in my palm.

"Any last words?"

"Yes, please take this to Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville." I hold the bolt out to him.

He bends forward inspecting the object, "What is it?"

"Nothing much," I crush the bolt, "JUST A SMOKE SCREEN!" I shout as the steam explodes sending Maelstrom backwards.

I use my hands to gain my balance as I begin to sprint from the fight. I dodged and sidestepped out of the way of oncoming traffic, slowly making progress towards the gate where Fenrir was waiting. I look behind me to see several guards. Why the fuck are they fallowing me? I take a moment to think. Oh yah the bounty thing.... I take a sharp turn causing most of the guards to fumble as they collided trying to turn. I close in on the gate while more guards from the gate charge toward me.

I grab the first guard's head use it a as a stepping stone to jump over some guards. My side bled as I landed but I pushed forward, toward my escape. More guards charged me, I dodged and weaved past them careful to not allow them to hit my wounds.

"Fenrir you furry bastard get over here!"

Rocks jumped as Fenrir dashed toward me. He stopped in front of me and released a low growl at the guards making them back away a little. I climb on to Fenrir's back careful not to bleed on his fur. Fenrir turned and began taking long strides, easily out running all the ponies. After we were clear from danger, I took a large cloth from my bag and wrapped it around my wound. I guess watching all those survival shows wasn't a waste of time. Soon we set off toward the Great Southern Rainforest and my next ingredient.

A/N The bathroom scene was specificly for Father Night's tumblr question. Your welcome. If you don't know what we are talking about go here!

Being Snipers (16)

Fenrir ran for a good while before we decided that the ponies weren't following us. I reached into my bag and grabbed a few survival supplies I had bought in Cantorlot flint and tinder, a sleeping mat and a pointed metal rod. Fenrir left to collect some firewood while I set up our camp. I had just begun to roll out my bed mat when a rustling is heard from  the bushes. I slowly pulled out my crossbow careful not to make any sudden movements as to alert whatever may be lurking in the bush. My crossbow locks on to the bush as my trigger finger itches. The wind carries the sound of me whispering "Ignis ventus". The had taken form. A slight warm blow emanated form the bolt. Slight red color peeking out from the constantly shifting whirlwind surrounding the bolt. I pulled the trigger sending the bolt off on its mission. A moment after the bolt hits the top half of the bush falls off, the branches giving off a burnt smell. I trudged over the remnants of the bush. The leaves rustled when I separated them to reveal a headless fox. I reached down and grabbed the head of the fox and inspected the cut. Hot damn it cauterized the entire cut.

I brought the fox's body over to my mat and grabbed a survival knife from the void. The skin peeled off the body easily with each stroke of the knife until the entire fox was furless. I checked to make sure the blood drained out into the grass, so that it didn't create more red splotches on my coat. I began to cut the fox into separate chucks so that each peice would cook better and faster. I grabbed one of the legs and ran it through with the metal rods. I lowered myself down on to my bed roll and leaned back while I waited for Fenrir to return with the wood need for the fire.

The crickets sung, while the moments simply flowed away. Soon Fenrir returned with a large stack of sticks and twigs. I piled the twigs and stick in the dame manner they did on Survivor Man and Bear Grylls. I created a large pile of dry small twigs and grass in the center, and then made a tepee over top of it. I searched the nearby area for rocks; I found a few large enough for what was needed. I created a circle of stones around the tepee, to insulate the fire. I lit the kindling with the flint. It took a few seconds for the fire start going hard enough for me to cook the meat. Once it had reached the peak temperature I hung the piece of fox meat over it allowing the sweet smells of cooking meat to spread around us. A loud yawn escaped my mouth.

"Hey Fenrir, why do you hate Loki so much?"

"I do not hate my father, I simply do not agree with his ways."

I check the meat, "Daddy wanted you to go in the family business?"

"Yes, he wanted me and my brothers to be like him. He may have gotten us to follow, had he done anything besides tricking others for his amusement."

"What about your mom?"

"She was a witch."

I put the meat over the fire, "That's not very nice..."

"No, I mean she was a literal witch. When my father met her, he stole her heart."

"That sounds very romantic."

He turns his head toward me, "No, he ripped the heart out of her chest to make me."

"That's, less romantic." We both chuckle at the joke. I cringe with each laugh from the pain of the wound.

Fenrir looks at my face and notices the pain, "You said that one of your ingredients was bark from the World Tree, correct?"

"Yah, why?"

"I may know someone who can help with your wound."

"Oh please it's not that bad. It will heal up without any need for medics."

He gave me a slightly worried face, "The cut is deeper than you think, it will get an infection unless you get help and the healing needed for that would take weeks. I have seen stronger and better warriors then you be brought down by a simple cut."

"Fine," I reach into my bag and pull out my map, "it says here that the closest town, besides Stalliongard, would be Wethoof, which happens to be in the jungle. We'll head there tomorrow, and get me patched up ok?"

"That is suitable. We do not want to end this adventure early because of an easily healed wound." He lowers his head to rest on the dirt, “You should rest, I will watch for any enemies."

I yawn, "I guess you’re right, first thing in the morning, we head out to Wethoof to see if they can treat the cut." I lie down on my mat and allow the sweet peace of the darkness to envelope me.

PoV of Maelstrom

Rocks and gravel fly as I sprinted down the path on all fours. The indents of the monstrous wolf that the bugbear ran off on lead my path forward. Zephyrinus bounced loosely on its strap with each stride. The wind carried the song of the crickets across the fields. Subtle breezes blowing the grass, creating waves. I will hunt down that bastard down and drag him face in the ground to the bounty office. I stop, noticing the tracks go on a straight track down the path. Stupid wolf, all it did was fallow the path. I reach back to adjust the strap of my weapon so I didn't cut my own wings off mid-flight. I unfurl my wings and prepare to take flight. I slowly begin to flap the wings creating more and more lift. Soon my feet lifted from earth as I rose from the sky.

I flew 30 feet in the air to get good view of the entire area. The hills went on for miles, with small forests spread across it. The Soaked Cat River off in the distance. I still don't know why they named it after that old nursery rhyme. I began to push forward cutting through the air. With each flap I became more determined to find him. It was strange though. He didn't act like most big bounties, he didn't act high and mighty or afraid shitless. It's strange, and that arm of his. My Zephyrinus' blade is titanium but his arm stopped it like nothing. I continue to fly passing any birds that may still be flying at this hour. The moon shone down on my back as I flew. All I do know is that I will find him. And with that last thought I continued to fly through the mid night air.

Button Masher (17)

My consciousness slowly returns, the feeling of the grass on my back, a subtle breeze blowing against my skin. The smell of burnt toast filled my nostrils. Wait, burnt toast? I'm in the middle of a grassland, why for love of god do I smell burnt toast? I prepare to open my eyes to face whatever may be making the smell when I feel a sudden pressure on my chest. I open my eyes; the sun did not greet me nor did Fenrir but instead a rooster with the head of Loki.

"What the fu...."

"COCK-A-DOOODLE-DO!" It screeched into my face.

I grab the Loki/rooster by the neck, making sure to block its wind pipe, "You even act like Loki."

I sit up with the Loki/rooster still in my hand. The grass waved back and forth even though there was no breeze. The bright color of the world around me was strange, a purple hill there,  orange tree with blue polka dots and even a rainbow colored rainbow to make it look rainbowier. How is that even possible? I look in the sky to see no birds soaring through the clouds but flying condiments. Ketchup leading the packed with mustard flying a little ways behind it. I stood up, to take it all in. I look down at the Loki/rooster to find out I was holding a rubber duck.

"Wait, when did he?"

I begin to walk forward, glancing around the landscape. Everything was different than what it would be normally. Saw a cat chasing a dog around the hill, the clouds were raining everything except water and even the earth didn't remain constant by always shifting, raising hills or moving a forest.  I came to an area filled with words, like wake ,papaya, up and moron littered all around it. After the word area I came to a place made of bacon. I think I found heaven. Tears form on my eyes as I begin to nom on the area, taking bites out of a bacon tree. Then a shadow descended on the miniature paradise. I look up to see what blocks out the light, only to glare right at a momentous trout swinging down at the ground. The fish fast approached heralding my death. Before the fish the fish impacted the ground, I said my last words.

"Mother of cod." The fish collided with the ground.

I sit up as I get startled awake. My breathing hard from the surprise of the dream I just had.

"Good your awake, I have been trying to wake you up for some time now. I only just now woke you by slapping you."

I look over to see Fenrir holding a large trout in his mouth. The pain from the slap just now kicked in after the first shock. I place my hand on my cheek rubbing it to reduce the pain with little success. I look back to Fenrir, who had just eaten the trout whole.

"I think your dad fucked with my mind. I just had a dream involving a Loki headed rooster, flying condiments and a land made of bacon."

A wolfy chuckle echoed from Fenrir, "That does sound like my father. Now pack up your bed roll, we should head toward that town soon."

I begin to roll up my mat and making sure the fire was truly dead. I place the bed in my back and hook it back onto Fenrir. I climb on shortly after and we soon set off toward Wethoof. The pacing of Fenrir slowly increasing as we near the jungle. The trees rising almost to the clouds, vines droop down from tops like arms reaching down to snatch any passerby. The howls and wails of the exotic beast that lurk within resonate from the forest. Soon the trees towered over us both when we entered.

We begin to fallow the map by heading south-west from our point of entry. With every stride I hoped no predator may want to strike now, when I am most vulnerable. During the dash to Wethoof, various shadows shifted in the jungle, some fallowed us others simply passing by. The most common shadow looked feline in nature but was bipedal with the way it moved. The sight of a wooden wall peeked through the wall of trees. The closer we came to the wall the less shadows fallowed us or appeared. Soon the tree opened up to a clearing with a rather large town surrounded by the remnants of a wall.

"Go around to the front of the gate, I don't think they will enjoy a giant wolf coming from behind them."

"That would be wise."

We hid in the forest slowly circling the town until we found an entrance. The entrance wasn't anything special but it did have the telltale signs that there was a wall once. Dirt up turned from removing of poles and lumber spread around. We begin to walk out of the forest toward the town. Now that we were out of the treeline airships from the town were visible and workers hauling supplies marched around doing their business. Until I came into view most of the workers stopped and watched me approach the town on Fenrir. With each step I took the guards tensed slightly. We walked into the city with little trouble until the guard finally manned up (ponyed up?).

"H-h-h-halt st-st-state your business!" He points a spear at Fenrir.

I climb down, my wound aches as I reached the ground. "One, I wouldn't point that at him," I step closer and whisper to the guard, "He has a tendency to eat things that point sharp objects at him."

The guard gulped, "D-d-do not tell me what to do, now state your business!" He said with a little more force. Oh little pony has some balls.

"What my business is here? Let me think." I begin to rub my chin and think.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking, I understand if you don't do it much but I need to." A few snickers were heard from the guards.

That got him angry, he pushed the spear toward me. I caught it before he pierced my body and snapped it like a twig, "Play nice, now as for my business, I am here looking for some medical aid."

"Medical aid?"

"Yes, well you see being me, I get into some 'arguments' and sometimes in these 'arguments' the other guy tries to kill me."

"What kind of arguments?"

"Oh you know the usual, who drank the last bit of milk or stole the last piece of cake." More snickers from the guards.

Another guard runs up to him and whispers into his ear, "The mayor would like to see you."

"Alright lead the way."

He points toward Fenrir, "He can stay here until we get back."

"Fine, Fenrir stay here, if they try to take anything, treat them like the diamond dogs."

"Fine." Most of the guards jumped when Fenrir spoke.

The guard led me through the town, passing buildings with thatched roofs held up by poles and connected by rather large suspended walkways. I look around and spot a few taverns and a blacksmith. Ponies walked around doing their business. I look over to alley seeing a small unicorn huddled against the wall. That's strange.

"Hey, guard guy, who is that?" Pointing over at the child.

"Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't just curious."

The guard sighs, "That is Twitchy Tale, he moved into town not too long ago. He says his parents abandoned him but he refuses any of our help." Hmmm, something doesn't add up but what? I'll talk to the kid later.

We continued down the street to the barracks of the town. It was quite large and quite a ways from town. The building was made of stone and was clearly sturdy. Outside of it ponies either trained or lazed around in the shade polishing weapons while chatting with their fellow comrades. We entered through the common rooms. The room was deserted and eerily lit by a few windows and torches. Tables spread all around the world with the telltale signs of lunch just happening. We passed through the room into another field. The grass was trampled, making the ground have an uneven level. In the center of the room was table, filled with a literal shit ton of paper. In the middle of the mountains of paper was a huge charcoal unicorn. This guy was as big as or bigger than Big Mac.

"Sir, we brought you our 'guest'." Saying the word with minor annoyance. What's got his jimmies in a twist?

"Thank you, Sword Lunge, you can return to do duty." The pony Sword Lunge trotted back to the entrance.

"Please sit," I sat down on the chair, " May I ask your business in our town Mr. Celt?"

"You know my name, I'd like to know yours."

The pony leans forward, "Baritone, now I'll ask again what is your business in my town?"

"I'm just looking for someone or somepony to clean my wound."

"Fine, you can find a medic over in town to help you. If you need supplies, buy them. If I hear a single word about you stealing I will call Canterlot and tell them where you are." His tone was threatening and firm.

"Really? Your just gunna let me go as long as I don't cause trouble?"

"If you want I can call Canterlot anyway."

"No no, you don't have to do that."

"Good now leave, this paperwork won't fill its self out."

I walk back out the where we came passing by more ponies. I made my way over to the bulk of the town in search for a medic. The streets were abuzz with all the working ponies rushing from one building to another. I search around the town until I finally find a sign with a red cross on it. I enter the building, looking for a doctor. The room I entered looked somewhat like a waiting room you would find at any other clinic on earth, a bored nurse at the desk and chairs with various magazines around them.

I walk up to the desk, "Excuse me, I'm looking for someone to clean my cut."

"Doctor Sore Spot will be right with you." She didn't even look up.

I took seat, while I waited for the doctor but instead when I sat down I broke the chair. I sat on the remains of the chair and began to read a magazine. Snake pony eats a foal. Wow these are like the tabloids back at home. Full of shit. I continued to read the magazines until the doctor arrived.

"You wanted some help?"

I look up at the pony, "Are you a doctor?"

"Yes, I am doctor Sore Spot what can I do for you?"

"I need you to help me with my cut."

He looks at my side, "Alright, come into the other room and we'll see what  I can do about it."

He leads behind the counter into a small room with examining table in the middle. The room was extremely clean, everything was labelled and in its proper place. Twilight would love this place.

"Alright hop onto the table and we will check out that cut."

I climb onto the table like he asks. He uses his magic to unwind the cloth covering the cut, each time it made a full circle pressure release off my side. He removes the cloth and puts it to the side. He begins to inspect the cut making hmmms and Huhs.

"Well the cut is fairly deep, if you hadn't wrapped it when you did you would have bled out. Hold still while I clean the cut." He pulls out some cotton and wets it. Slowly he dabs around the wound cleaning up the wound. Next he takes a bottle off the shelf and pours it in the wound. The liquid burns as it touches the cut making me cringe. Then he takes a cloth and washes the remains of the liquid out of the wound.

"Well, that's the best I can do. I don't know any healing magic and that cut won't heal for several months."

"I wasn't looking for a complete healing. I just wanted it clean until I can get to someone who can."

The doctor gives me an unsure look, "Alright I'll rebandage it up for your trip but if it's not healed soon and it's not cleaned you risk an infection."

"That's alright, I know the risks. Now what is your fee?"

"20 bits should be fine." I reach into the bag I brought with me and handed him the bits.

I was about to leave when I remembered that kid from earlier, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"I suppose, what did you want to know?"

"You know that kid, uh.... Twitchy I think was his name."

"Oh, you mean Twitchy Tale!"

I cross my arms, "Yah him, anyway what do you know about him? Sword Lunge only told me his family abandoned him but do you know anything else?"

"Unfortunately no, any of the times I offer to help him, he just refuses. If you mention his family he won't say anything other than they abandoned him. May I ask why you are curious about Twitch?" He looks back at me with a questioning gaze.

"Just curious is all." Something is not right about that kid and I intend to find out what.

I leave the clinic, the sun was still high in the sky. I begin to search for the kid, asking a few ponies about him or if they had seen him. The only information I ever got was he was abandoned by his family and refuses all help offered to him. No pony knew anything about him, he had only shown up about a month ago aside from that information, I learned that I'm not the only strange thing to show up in the past year. Apparently a pale bipedal creature showed up and a diamond dog that couldn't speak.

Let's see, the kid was abandoned by his family and refuses any and all aid. No one has seen him eat or drink. Let's see with the way that they protect their food here, there is no possible way he could steal some. The local wild life would tear him to shreds. So what is he surviving on if not food? Wait, there is one possibility but I'd have test him first to confirm it.

I go to a cart and buy a rotten apple for when I find the kid. What? A rotten apple is way cheaper than a good apple. I continued searching the streets for the kid. I reach an area where the lumber of the old wall was piled up. Sitting against the logs was a small unicorn foal. His coat was a metallic grey, his hoofs were a darker shade of grey. His blue and black mane waved side to side with the subtle breeze. On his neck hung a normal compass. I began to walk towards him making sure he did not notice me. I was a few feet away from him before he spoke.

"You can stop trying to sneak up on me. It's not working." His tone was bland with little emotion at all.

"Oh, so I'm not as sneaky as I thought."

He didn't move at all, "No, you’re not."

"Can I ask you something?"

"If it's about my parents all you will get is the same answer the rest of the town gets."

"No, nothing of the sort," Time to see if my guess is right. "I was just curious what your cutie mark meant."

He looks up at me with surprise, "My cutie mark?" He looks at the picture of a compass and a map on his flank, then back toward me. "Oh, yah it means, uh, it means....."

"Don't ponies get their cutie marks when they figure out their special talent?"

"Uh, yah they do." He gives a nervous laugh, "My talent is um, mapping! Yah, my special talent is mapping." He said while a nervous smile crossed his face.

"Mind showing me one of your maps?"

"My what?"

"Well, if your talent is mapping then you would have had to do some mapping before."

"Uh, well you see, my maps are, uh...."

"Non-existent and you’re not who you say you are?"

"What? Pfff, don't be ridiculous. I'm totally who I say I am. I mean come on who else would I be?"

I lean forward, "A changeling."

"A-a-a-a changeling?" A bead of sweat goes down his forehead.

"Well, you could be since all the joy around here is so easy to feed off without anyone noticing but if you were a changeling then you couldn't eat normal pony food right?" I pull out the apple I bought earlier.

He eyes the apple nervously, "Go ahead take a bite and prove you’re not a changeling."

He takes the apple in his magic and eyes it nervously, "Oh come on, and it’s just an apple. It's not going to kill you."

"Yah, of course it won't." He takes a bite into the apple and begins to chew. "Mmmmm, it's delicious!"

"It is?" He shivers at my grin, "Why not swallow and take another bite?"

He gags before he could swallow, "I can't do it."

"Oh come on that is a good apple why couldn't you do it?" I take a moment for a dramatic pause, "Ah, so you are a changeling?"

"Yes, I am. Please don't tell the town." He looks at me pleadingly.

"Fine, I won't but how long do you think you can keep this facade up? Eventually they will make you accept your aid and who knows what will happen when they find out."

"I-i-i never thought of that...."

"Of course you didn't. No one ever does. Now I have an offer for you my insectoid friend."

"A deal?" He tilts his head.

"Yes, a deal, you can either stay here and wait until the town finds out you’re a changeling and face their judgement or you can come with me."

"Why would you want me to come to you?"

"Well, you’re a changeling, you have a hive which is probably the 'family' that abandoned you and in the hive is usually a queen, correct?"

"Yah, there is always a hive queen."

I take a seat on one of the logs, "Well, I happen to need a hive queen and since your hive abandoned you, you probably don't like them much, do you?"

"N-n-no, not really. Why do you want the hive queen?"

"A potion I am making needs one, nothing special."

He starts to open up his body a little, "Ok, you take me with you and all I have to do is show you where the hive is?"

"Maybe help set up camp or a few small errands as well but nothing huge."

"And if I do those you'll basically take care of me?"

"Eyup" I said doing my best impression of Big Mac.

"A-a-alright, I'll go with you."

:"Are you sure? I'm not taking you with me just for you to ditch halfway through." I look at him with seriousness in my eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure. Like you said the town will eventually figure me out and there is no definite on what they may do."

I smile and jump off the logs, "Good, now come along, we have something to do before we head off."

He begins to fallow me into the middle of town, "What is it?"

"We're going to go to the middle of town and you’re going to change back into your original form."

"Wait, what?!?! Why do we need to do that?!?"

"Multiple reasons actually, one if they see you running off with me they might think I foalnapped you. Two, I want to make sure you don't just come running back here if it gets to hairy. Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you but I have to make sure you won't backstab me."

"Fine, but you have to promise you will keep me safe from them and anything we might meet."

"I promise on my honor." If the kid is smart, he will know I have no honor to swear on.

"Not good enough, swear by something important to you."

I turn around and face the small disguised changeling, " I like you kid. I swear by my real arm I will keep you safe from anything we may face. Happy?"

"Very much so."

We continued back toward the town, getting a few gazes from the working ponies. All of them in shock the foal that refused their help for so long was following the monster that just came into to town. Most of the workers got over their shock after a moment or two just thinking that the kid was curious about the creature. Even then, they all watched me with suspicious eyes just in case I try something with the kid. God, I feel like a vegetable in a fruit basket... We came to a large open space that was used as the town center from what Twitch told me. I stood in the middle of the square and shouted.

"Attention residents of Wethoof!" All the ponies turned toward me and Twitch, "Twitchy Tale would like to tell you something!"

Twitch stepped in front of me, "Hi everypony, I know you have all been very nice to me over the past month but I have been lying to you all. You see, well..." His disguise vanishes, showing his insect like body to all the ponies, "I am actually a changeling."

The crowd was silent as they gazed upon the changeling until one pony stepped forward, "It's another one of those changelings that attacked us!"

Another pony stepped forward, "Yah! Let's teach it a lesson."

Soon all the ponies began to converge on me and Twitch. Twitch continued to back away from the crowd until he bumped into me. He looks at me, with pleading eyes. Better get out of here before the guards show up. I release a sharp whistle that travels across the city, all the way to Fenrir. Soon the earth shakes as the wold rushes to me. Fenrir leaps over the crowd and faces them. He snarls at the crowd halting their advance.

"Took you long enough Fenrir."

"I am sorry but there was traffic." I grab Twitch and throw him on Fenrir.

Fenrir notices the new weight on his back, "Who is this?"

"I'll introduce you two later but for now," I climb on to Fenrir, " Let's get away from the angry mob that wants us dead."

Fenrir strides forward, weaving between the ponies still on the road and those in carts. Some ponies attempted to climb on top of Fenrir but were quickly kicked off by me. I look down at Twitch holding onto Fenrir for dear life with a face of pure fear. How does he grab things without fingers? I begin to chuckle as we leave the small town. The voices of angry citizens slowly fading away. We get a bit of distance between us and the village before Fenrir stops in his tracks. I look down at the leviathan, wondering what was the matter. He violently sniffed the air in search of something.

Twitch hides behind me, "What's wrong with your wolf?"

"I'm trying to figure that out myself," I lean over Fenrir's head so my eyes met his, "Yo, Fenrir what's wrong?"

"I smell it."

"Smell what Fenrir?"

"I smell Tartarus again."

Baritone belongs to Rust.

Off to Hell we go! (18)

"You smell... Tartarus?"

I question Fenrir. It’s a fair enough question, who’s heard of an animal able to smell out a location from god know where?  Then again… I furrow my brows. Fenrir is a demi-god, so it’s not completely impossible. Some lost canines are able to find their way back home through familiar smells. I could probably apply the same train of thought on Fenrir’s sense of smell except probably more exaggerated.

Fenrir nod to confirm my thoughts before continuing his observation, "Yes, even though it is a different cell, it has the same scent."

At light of this newfound clue, Twitch, using his hole-filled hooves, did a timid crawl up Fenrir's back. He passes through me and directs his attention at Fenrir’s ears, "D-d-different cell? Does that mean there’s more than one?"

"Yes, there are multiple cells spread across this world, each holding a prisoner," Fenrir says in a neutral tone.

"H-h-h-how do you know this?" Twitch stammers as he speaks like a frightened child cowering under the blankets in the midst of a thunderstorm. His jaws are shivering from fear, the chatter of teeth sounding off in the distance. His hooves are shaking like a child who just realized he got into something way over his head.

Fenrir pauses before responding to the scared child’s query, "I know this information because I was once a prisoner."

Twitch’s eyes jump at the sudden information, not at all expecting this answer. Then his face relax at a realization, a hope of an improbable possibility, "Y-y-you were a prisoner and they let y-y-you go free?"

I look back at Twitch and smile, "Well, not exactly. You see, it wasn’t so much good behavior, rather me busting him out."

"You freed a Tartarus prisoner!?" As Twitch speaks, his pupils dilate, the tiny black dots making his fear apparent shrink. The marks of panic grow smaller, making his feelings of dread more transparent to us. They finally shrink into two tiny dots, so small you would need a microscope to see anything but the white of his eyes.

I sigh a little before answering Twitch’s growing concerns and continuing my discussion with Fenrir, "It's a long story. Anyway Fenrir, would you happen to know if the river Styx is in that Tartarus cell?"

Fenrir shook his head, "No, the river Styx is inter-dimensional, so trying to smell it specifically without something from it is like trying to tear apart a ribbon of the gods."

I sit back down, relax myself on Fenrir’s coat and begin to think. Fenrir isn’t able to smell anything specific except for the fact that what he smells is a Tartarus cell. Well since the Styx River is a part of Tartarus itself... "Well, if finding the Styx by smell is impossible, I guess we will have to visit every Tartarus cell until we find it.”

Fenrir gives me a look of apprehension, "Are you sure, Celt? It will not be as easy as freeing me from my cell since my guardians were already destroyed.”

I return his anxiety with a carefree comment, "Meh, how bad can they be?" Oh god, I jinxed it...

"If you are absolutely sure about this, Celt, then I will take you there. I can’t guarantee that you will survive.”

Twitch pushes to move right in front of me on Fenrir's back, "Do I get a say in this?"

“Well, Twitch let me think about it," I take a brief pause, "Eenope, let's go!”

"That doesn't sound fa-." Twitch’s complaint cuts short as Fenrir’s legs burst forth in a dash of unparalleled speed.

I have to hand it to Fenrir, when it comes to speed, no creature on land can overtake him. The more surprising part of his speed is the amount of finesse he uses to skillfully cross around the unpleasant surprises that the jungle has to offer.

Trees that bunch up together, branches and vines able to stop clumsy runners without polish in running technique straight in their tracks and trenches and pitfalls able to claim mindless runners with a 20 meters unhappy collision. The unpleasantness of the jungle takes form of these traps and snares.

With a quick step, Fenrir weaves through the narrow spaces in between the trees enclosing on each other. Without losing speed, he rushes pass the trees that would normally greet sprinters with a crunch of the bones in their face. Sprinting through the jungle, Fenrir zooms past the landscape with a frenzy pushing his legs forward from the earth with every step.

I look down at our new companion. I see Twitch with his eyes and jaw fixed in utter terror, his pupils still as shrunken as a dried up eggplant. His back is pressing firmly against my coat, shaking slightly in a terrified dread.

I guess going at 50 miles per hour while on a 15 foot wolf that can easily crash into a tree or a low hanging branch that can take your head off would be rather frightening to a child. I laugh at the thought that my life could end by the same branches I see every day outside, just lazing around.

I turn my head away from Twitch and focus on the landscape zooming right past us with every stomp on the ground Fenrir does. Tree trunks wider than Fenrir and thinner than needles whiz by us. As Fenrir tramples through the jungle, I see in the distance a brighter light opening further out of the jungle.

The shadows that followed us earlier soon return and creep at us, skulking and hiding between the trees, their obscured hands and faces letting us wary of their presence. They seem to shift and zoom past the trees we pass to make sure I don’t forget their presence as I turn my head at them. They seem to be able to almost keep up with Fenrir’s agility, as their slight nods creeping beside the trees seem to tell me.

I do a quick count as I scan across the jungle, trying to figure out how many I saw despite Fenrir’s blinding speed and their shifty movements. I sigh as I finish counting, grown tired of even trying. The best I could figure out was about five in total but I don’t know, their constant shifty movements and Fenrir’s rush through the jungle seems to make it hard to keep track of how many there actually were.

I begin to ignore the shadows. From what I could see, they had no intention of attacking us, merely content in observing us, waiting for something. I don’t appreciate the sudden fan club but right now, I have better things to deal with.

I look forward, I see out ahead in the far landscape, a large hill sticking out like a sore thumb in the distance. We finally rush past the jungle and stop at this hill. Fenrir’s smart enough to give a little distance for stopping. At the very least he wouldn’t abruptly stop and let us fly, giving us a painful lesson in inertia. Fenrir slowly changes his pace to a run then a jogger’s run and lastly he gently slows to a walk, letting a few steps forth before firmly stomping on the earth to stop.

Fenrir stopped right here so I’m going to assume this place is the entrance to the Tartarus’ cell he sniffed out. I examine the hill before considering my opinions. There isn’t anything particularly special about this hill, coats of green lay blanketing the earth, the trees decorated with leaves of different hues loitering around the patchy green and the patches of brown dirt that the green blanket couldn’t cover.

Everything is the very perfect picture image of a normal hill with the exceptional of the large gaping hole in front of me. The hole is big enough for a small van to fit through it, the savage claw marks dug into the walls of the inner caverns and tore into the outer part made it painfully clear that mostly Diamond dogs roamed the caves the hole opened to.

I scan closer at the entrance that is the hole and open my eyes to the sight of a few tipped trees, roughly slanted in an awkward angle. The deeply sunken footprints in front of the hole and passing through the caves tell me someone had already taken their entrance inside.  I jump off Fenrir, a heavy stomp on the ground echoes my landing. Twitch does the same thing, only a light stamp on the ground sounding off his landing.

"This is where the scent leads," Fenrir speaks up in a clear voice, confident in his statement.

I wait to collect my thoughts and consider a plan for entrance. Well, the hole’s size kind of makes my planning easier.

“Well, there’s no way you’ll fit through and Twitch is only one step closer to literally pissing himself." I turn toward the cave, "Fenrir, you and Twitch stay here. I'll go inside and check the cell."

Fenrir states a last attempt warning, "It isn't wise to enter alone, Celt.”

It didn’t matter what Fenrir had to say, if what I wanted was in the Styx River, then nothing’s going to stop me from getting it, "I don't care. If the Styx is here than it's worth the risk.”

That sentence made Fenrir back down, a begrudging acceptance passes through his mouth, "Fine, I will stay with the bug.”

"Don't die..." Twitch said quietly. I pause slightly at this. He’s already able to say something like this. Well, I can’t say something discouraging now. I have to say something reassuring! I rack my brain to think of something confident.

"Don't worry. I am totally, probably, maybe, not going to die." I wince. That didn’t inspire as much confidence as I hoped it did. Wow that was so reassuring, I should give pep talks to stunt doubles I take my first few steps into the belly of the hill, take a last look at Fenrir and Twitch, and continue onward into the caves. There was only the shifting of my feet being the only sound echoing through these desolated caverns besides my breath.

My footsteps echo down the cave until they’re only a whisper ringing through the darkness. The jagged rocks digging into my feet with every step I take causes a minor discomfort, irritating me slightly almost as much as the darkness. I open my eyes to pitch black as I walk farther away from the entrance.

Slowly but surely, the light from the beginning of the tunnel fades, every step farther from the ever-dimming feeble light brings me another step closer into the darkness. After a few meters into the tunnel, the darkness greets me completely, engulfing the light and embracing my senses in its empty, cold feel. The cold embrace of pitch-black shade renders my vision useless in this land of endless shadows.

With my irritation towards the darkness, I reach at my back and pull out my crossbow from its holster. I whisper the word of flames, “Ignis” to the crossbow like a man whispering sweet nothings to a shower nozzle. A spark of fire lights up my sight for a second with surges of heat swirling around, spinning around  the crafted form of a seemingly intangible bolt. A soft red glow illuminates through the tunnel, a calm flame flickering bravely against the cold darkness with its warm light.

I continue to trek through the tunnel with this new light. The tunnel seems endless in depth and distance. The grey walls of the cave inclined slightly in a slant, giving the only sign that I was indeed getting deeper into the belly of the hill. A stagnant air, stale from lack of wind bringing in fresh air, made their company in the tunnels.

I push forward, determined to find the Tartarus cell. I finally approach a space that extends out past a few meters, a circular dome shaped room. The scent of diamond dogs and the familiar claw marks on the walls makes me consider this is where the Alpha usually hung around. I guess this den is abandoned.

I walk to the center of the room. I see the possible paths that this room extends towards. Eight entrances into tunnels more convoluted and time-consuming as the next time extend past the circular dome of the room, all in completely different directions. I lean forward at each entrance to check how far each tunnel would stretch in terms of distance only to meet with darkness.

"Well fuck, it’ll take me forever to go down each path," I curse at the idiots who dug these tunnels out, wondering who would make them so convoluted. I look down at my crossbow. Ignis would cause an explosion and I'm not taking my chances at surviving a cave in.

I walk around the room, clearing my head and checking each hole more clearly for some overlooked sign of Tartarus. A few lingering steps after and look down on my crossbow, considering a possibility, “I wonder if my crossbow can do more than simple elements."

Ignis, Ventus, Confringo… the basic elements can definitely be done. It’s already established that I can add a second word for further effects. But what I’m about to do goes a level further from manipulating the simple elements.

"Extinguo." The bolt dispersed its heat suddenly fading without a trace, "God I hope this works…. Lux.”

It shines. A bright light shines through the darkness of the cavern. The glow of the light radiates such a blinding shimmer that I turn my eyes away. This light is a glimmer too pure for even my eyes to take in. I take a peek at the light, not directly looking at it into the rays. Light swirls and envelopes the arrow in a glowing sheen. A coat of warmth covers the bolt in light. It bends and shifts around formlessly, only the bonds of magic holding it together. An existence that expels even the slightest darkness takes form as a bolt.

I quickly scan across the room, the walls lay bare for the entire world to see and even the slightest shadows are exterminated by this radiant shine. I take aim at the first of the eight entranceways, letting the arrow’s path run free in my head. I calm my breath to allow for a precise shot. I squeeze the trigger, letting the bolt soar through the shaft, illuminating the way as it flies. The light remains steadfast in its shine as it flies forward further into the darkness. The light finally settles, revealing a dead end before the light fades away.

I repeat the process once again, each time with the next tunnel way. The same light engulfing the darkness around me. The same pose and shoot. The same bolt flying through and hitting a dead end before dimming away are all done once again 6 times after the first.

I reach the last wall and take aim, my arm poises to shoot once again. If this one is a dud too, I swear I will light this jungle on fire.I fire the bolt, the bolt unleashes with a roar and burst of wind. It continues loyally forward just like the previous arrows had. This time is different. The arrow’s shine fades into darkness before I can hear the familiar sound of a dead end.

I begin my trip descending into the ever present darkness of the tunnel. The tunnel where the bolt’s light faded before impact swallows me as I descend further into the shadows. By now, my night vision has gotten to the point where I can at least scout out a few stone pillars that jutted out of the floor and ceilings. The jagged edges of the stone columns are nothing as long as I avoid them with my passable night vision.

My footsteps stop at a seemingly dead end, a large pile of rocks and dirt blocks the way through the shaft. I kneel down and look at the heap of rubble, examining with my fingers and eyes. I tip the few loose bits of stone and it crumples on the ground. The dirt and rocks haven't settled yet. Someone or something must have moved It. This wasn’t a natural occurrence, if that’s the case….

I take the crossbow out of the holster, still in my kneeling position. I take aim at the mountain of nature’s debris, crawling back a few meters in case of ricochet.  After a deep breath, I command the word of earth.

“Terra!” The word echoes through the cavern and rebounds off the wall, making me hear double or triple what I said. Yet even after this ear-splitting agony, the crossbow remains the same. No bolt of any element shows and the crossbow remains still in its dominant state of inactivity. Huh, Tartarus must cancel magic.

I stand up and prep my arm back. I lash with a violent force at the dirt, only to be met with a resounding thump. The rumble is too solid to smash through and I’ll probably be done in fifty years if I start to dig through it. I inspect the walls before me for anything that can be of use. I only see more rocks and a few small gemstones of weathered quality. I rip the gemstones out of the walls just in case and begin to retrace my steps out of the pitch-black passage.

The feel of a draft signals my arrival back into the Alpha’s room. My footsteps lead me back to the circular dome once again. It takes me a few more steps into the room before I notice something’s wrong. The darkness in the room obscures my vision further. I’m barely able to see through unlike last time when it was something acquired night vision could deal with. I walk to the center of the room with an uncertain step. I hear the sound of shadows laughing, a child’s laugh. Night vision lets me see shadows dancing and sauntering with a light step. The shadows move as if given life and form.

"Whatever you are, you can stop messing with the shadows,” I demand the shadows.

”Well then, I better stop hiding," A grave voice rings through the dome. The shadows gather at the center in a mass of pitch-black. As if clay is being added to preexisting clay, the shadows grow larger and more immense in presence. They merge, growing in size one shadow can’t hope to achieve. Finally, the shadows take form of a large ball, the shadows meshing together by strong bonds of unity. The ball takes concrete shape.

As if the surface of the ball is a lake, ripples form on the skin of the unknown creature. Suddenly, claws jerk out as if a being was trying to get out of its cage, tearing apart the bonds holding the ball together. A creature is ripping apart the constraints binding it from the outside. Finally, the unknown creature finally shreds through the final layer of mass, a resounding crunch echoing through the dome. The shadows fall on the ground only for the creature to take in, as if by force of nature, its darkened flesh. A few lingering shadows coat the ground in its black hue. A vaguely humanoid shape is facing me.

"What brings you to my home, fleshling?" The same voice resounds through the dome once again.

I can’t believe my eyes. The creature has no legs, his body suspended in space. The creature floats off the ground, having no choice to stand. The bottom of his chest holds only a torn cloth slowly fluttering through the slight breeze of the cavern. The wisp of his ghostly figure is where normal legs should be. His eyes were glowing white with malice, small tendrils flickering off them. His shoulders are covered by what looks like metal shoulder pieces but the shadows surrounding his body conceal any minute details about them. His arms start thin and weedy at the shoulder and slowly begin to expand until the hands.

Arms as thin as rope dangle in the dark. Hands, as thick as stone, waver back and forth in the dark. His hands only have three fingers. They’re jagged where nails should be, twisted and annular where the palm should be and the whole arm looks as ghastly and diseased as shadows should be. Each finger wavers in the dark dome, each extending further than a normal finger should, with the middle one being the longest. They wander in the murky black, dangling gently as if to make a statement. How easy it would be to drive one of these into my chest. He kinda looks like Nocturne from League of Legends, just without the giant blades on each arm.

I refuse to be scared of this, "If you must know freaky shadow thing..."

" My name is not 'freaky shadow thing', it is Tenbrion, God of Shadows and you will refer to me as such.”

Wow, does this guy have a short fuse or something? I have bigger fish to fry, freaky shadowing thing, "Yah, whatever, freaky shadow thing..."

“My name is Tenbrion! You will speak with respect or I will end you!" I notice the grave voice getting slightly agitated.

This is getting nowhere, I might as well play along with him for now, "Fine, the reason I'm here 'Tenbrion'," I put extra emphasis on its name just to annoy him,"is so I can get to Tartarus.”

“Why would you need to go to Tartarus? Are you a Warden? Did that new bitch in charge hire you to capture me?" I now sense…. a little fear, maybe irritation fits better?

I’m actually absolutely confused, what is he talking about? "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me! I am the god of secrets and tricksters!” The voice roars in an accusative tone.

Hmmm….? What’s this? I cross my arms, "I thought you were the god of shadows.”

"I am all three of them. Do not change the subject, I can tell you are hiding something from me! Now tell me or I will devour your soul and use your body as my puppet!"

I sigh at his stupidity, is every god a dumbass or something? "Wouldn't that fall under the god of puppets or death's rule? I don’t think that counts as being a god of shadows nor a god of secrets and tricksters.”

"Enough of your questions! If you will not tell me your secrets then I will rip it from your mind!" His form begins to sink into the lingering shadows on the ground. A shade darker than the rest begins to move with the other shadows as a group, moving and shifting through the dome as they blend with the darkness.

I bring out the blade in the metal arm, ready to pierce his body when he appears. I slowly start to circle the dome, looking every possible direction for a shadow darker than the rest. I see shadows shift and move at unnatural speeds but not one of them is the one I’m looking for. They all look the same to me. I dart my eyes up for a second, hopping that the pay-off will be worth him skewering me if I’m wrong and he takes advantage. The same shadows greet me again with the same movements, as if to mock me.

If it isn’t left, right, forward, backward or above that means-! My eyes jump with realization. I flash my eyes down right below my feet to see a shadow of the darkest shade. I leap back right before I see a spike, formed from the ground, piercing where my body was. No…. where my heart was. My breath runs ragged and my heartbeat pounds faster from almost being impaled by a shadow.

I press my back against a wall, eyes darting left and right searching for the darkest shadow again. A large spike erupts from the center of the room and launches itself at me. The spike drives through the cave air and aims for my heart…

I swerve left, dodging death once again. The spike bashes into the wall where my heart was against. The impact caving in parts of the wall and shattering others crashes through the cave. I look at the tendril piercing through the stone wall. The spike sinks into the stone as it was a hot knife on butter. The tendril tries to withdraw, a crater of pulverized stone telling how deep the spike embedded into the wall.

I realize my chance. As the spike retreats back to the ground shadows, I rise up and slash down at the spike. The resulting slash tears the shadow’s body in half. I smile at my achievement until the shadow fades, meshing with the larger mass of shadows on the wall.

You think your mortal blades can cut me? FOOL! I am a god of shadows! I AM TENBRION! I suddenly feel air under my legs. No longer having the safe hard earth to ground me, I feel suspended in space. I feel what the Tenbrion feels. I wriggle my legs and feet in a frantic dance to get a sense of being grounded.

I grasp at my neck as Tenbrion’s ghastly grip clamps onto my windpipe and begin to squeeze it, a crunching sound echoing through the dome. He lowers me down to his eye level. I can see his eyes. I stare into those eyes that take in nothing. There’s nothing in them, no pupils or anything. I see only a landscape of pure white overseeing everything in the world before him. There is an emptiness that takes in no light, no joy and no human emotion. They reveal a bare void in them.

Tenebrion brings his translucent arm down and proceeds to throw me against the wall, smashing it. The crashing impact dislocates a few loose rocks out and caves in part of the wall, the debris collecting any fallen pieces of the cavern.

Think, Celt, think! Ok, let's see what I know. He can hide in the shadows and manipulate his body in any manner. Trying to cut him won't work since he’s basically a shadow. He clearly wants something from me or else he wouldn't have shown himself. So why didn't he appear while I was in the tunnels? There were more ways he could’ve kill me there then here. What changed to make him show himself? The only difference between now and then is that I had.... light.

I pull myself up and look at my foe. His body, constantly shifting in and out of the darkness lies in my sight. The outlines of his body flicker and shift like an off-focus photograph, allow me to see double or triple of him. His translucent body floats above the jagged rocks that bugged me at first. He’s approaching closer to me, drifting pass the troubles I go through like a child uninterested if he’s killed an ant as he steps on the ground.

He’s right before me. He lifts his arm towards me. The ghastly claw shoots out and seizes my neck, holding me high in the air. The shadows that compose his body obscure and conceal his other arm in a murky darkness. After a few seconds, a blade of pitch-black becomes his other arm, the smooth dye of black shows how peerless this blade is. Only a few feet separate us, his blade lightly pressing against my bare chest.

"Any last words mortal?" Tenbrion gives me a moment of mercy before killing me. How nice.

"Hmm, long or short version?" I ask him to humor me a bit.

Tenbrion thinks for a moment, "I have much time, long version.”

"Alright," I clear my throat, "This fist of mine glows with an awesome power! Its burning grip tells me to defeat you! Take this! My love, my ang-“

Tenbrion cuts me off, "Never mind, I prefer to not have to cut my ears out after listening to last words, especially half-baked clichés. Give me the short version instead.”

"Fine then,” I bring my crossbow up against his body. The crossbow is aimed point-blank at his chest, "Let there be light, bitch! LUX!”

The bolt begins to take form, light swirling and converging together around the bolt. The rays of light shifts and turns formlessly, the bonds of magic holding them together. The light weaves its magic around the small bolt shape and releases a blinding shine.

I fall down to the ground as Tenbrion releases his grip and wails in pain. The light is poison to him, an existence that eats away at his being. I stand back up and poise the crossbow at him again. I release the bolt as it pierces straight into Tenbrion, sending him spiraling back with screeches of anguish flooding the air.

The word of light howls through the air many times. The same brilliant light summons onto the crossbow, becomes an exorcising arrow and unleashes its radiance onto the so-called god of shadows. The first time I did so, it causes more shrieks of agony to echo through these tunnels. The second time I did so, it causes more screams of torment to resound and rebound through these walls. The fifth time I did so, it causes only moans of suffering to tell of his torture. I fire away at the monster without mercy again and again. Finally, I corner the bastard with his back shoved against the wall and my crossbow aimed point-blank at his chest.

I decide to taunt him with his almost exact words, "Any last words Mr. God of Shadows?"

“Just seven,” He takes a moment, “I'll get you next time.” A large circle of darkness opens behind him. He begins to fade into it.

"Oh hell, you’re not getting away after what you did!" I lunge into the circle.

I begin to float, shadows enveloping my entire being until I just seem to fade away. I feel different, I’m in something weird.  It feels like a sea or ocean here. I can flap my arms or kick my legs around but gravity doesn’t affect me here-

I don’t have time to consider where I am! I look in front to see that bastard slither away. I begin to race through the space like I was swimming, taking large strokes to push forward. I reach Tenbrion in a matter of seconds, colliding with him and sending us both to the side. After I kill this asshole, I'm going to get to Tartarus!

We continue to rush to the side until we hit another large circle. The circle isn’t made of shadows but a shining brilliance fills my eyes. We pass through the circle and I feel the shadows let go of their clutches on me. The world turns strange for a moment and I abruptly land with a solid thud on top of Tenbrion. I scan around the scene to see where I am. A large underground cavern is around me. A large castle is placed in the center and a river flows right besides it.

There’s really only one thing to say.

"Where the fuck am I?"

Seeing the Light (19)

Warning this chapter gets a bit violent! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNEDED

I begin to scan the area of cavern that I and Tenbrion appeared in. Large stalactites erupted from the roof their size matched only by the stalagmites that littered the area. A castle in the distance released a soft glow, its spires raised high but from what I could see it was either unfinished or was attacked recently. The river that flowed past the castle had a small fog over it but the waters were still clear enough see. I look back down at Tenbrion only to see he had already gotten up, he spun around looking at the large cavern both in fear and hatred. He stops spinning and looks at me. His eyes were solid, no tendrils of light coming off it or subtle glow. His body was more solid than before, the shadows that covered his shoulder plates had faded.

"You fool! You interfered with the Shadow Walk!" His voice boomed.

I stand in a laid back fashion knowing that I had the upper hand because of my crossbow, "And I care about that because?"

"Idiot! You sent us to Tartarus! If the Wardens find me again they'll try and cage me again with that bitch again!"

"And what will they do about me?" I question him.

" That won't matter since I will kill you before they ever get here!" He lounges forward.

I dodge to the left; he looks down at me with even more hatred. "If you’re not going to play nice, I guess I'll have to kill you. Lux!"

A moment passed and no bolt had formed. My crossbow was cold and lifeless, I realize at this moment I feel the same sensation in my arm. It felt dead, less like a limb but more like a metal attachment that fitted in its place but didn’t truly belong. I deep laugh erupts from in front of me. I look up at Tenbrion who I could only guess had a look of pure joy on his shadowed face.

"Stupid creature! Even you should know that magic is useless here! Now perish, you annoyance!" He lunged forward again.

I lift my arm to block the strike, just as his claw was going to hit my arm it seemed to bend around like how a stream would flow around a rock. His claw scratched my torso, while his strike did not draw blood it hurt. A large red mark streaked my chest marking where he had struck at.

"You don't get it do you? I am not flesh and blood! I am not limited to a mortal body! I am the shadows and even attempting to stop me is futile!" The shade bellowed.

He comes in for another strike, sending his arm forward in the hopes to pierce my body. I pivot out of the way of his left arm. He sends his other arm toward me while I am pivoting. His finger just misses my wound but unfortunately he cut away some of the bandages. I jump back clutching my side, my breathing is heavy.

" You can't hope to defeat me! Your mortal weapons do nothing! I am pure darkness!" He begins to float over to me preparing to strike again.

Shit, he's right. My arm can't hit him and my crossbow's magic is being stopped by Tartarus. Then there is only one option... I take a stance and face him.

"I only have 3 words for you Tenbrion."

"What might those be?

"LOOK A DISTRACTION!"

" I am not stupid whelp that won't work on me. He continues to advance.

Huh, that worked with the dragon... hold on, maybe if I change it up a bit.

"Can I ask you a question. Would that army behind you, happen to be, those wardens guys you were talking about?"

He turns his head back toward empty space in fear of whatever the Wardens were. As soon as his head is turned I begin to run the opposite direction of Tenbrion. With each stride a jolt of pain erupts from my side. Small pebbles are flung behind me as I sprint across the cavern floor. The echoes of Tenbrion's screams of rage reach my ears. I continue to dash forward. I look back and see the shade slowly gaining on me. I need a place to hide but where?

I look at the cavern's wall for any spaces I could fit through. Various pockets were in the wall but all of them either too small or not deep enough into the wall to effectively hide myself in. I spot a large opening in the wall. A faint glow emanated from the gap. Going into lighted places is probably my best bet. I take a sharp turn into the gap. The entrance was a little tight but nothing too hard to get by. I drop out of the tunnel area into a much more open area. A large round room, there was nothing all too special about the area. Small gems were scattered around the top of the room, each releasing a small amount of light. They must give off a natural light or something.

I take a seat against the wall trying to catch my breath. Small rough bumps on the wall poke into my back as I rested. My breaths soon become lighter and less frequent. I close my eyes to organize my thoughts. Ok how do I beat him? He can't be hit by physical objects and my only effective weapon against him is useless.

"You realize he will find you before the Wardens can stop him again." An emotionless voice declared from in front of me.

My eyes fly open, realizing I was not alone. I quickly stand up and face towards the voice. "Oh, did I startle you?"

I look forward only to see nothing there, I look at the other sides of the room but still nothing was there.  I scratch my head wondering where the voice had come from. "I'm down here."

I look down to see the strangest thing ever. A small alicorn foal stood about 5 feet in front of me. Its coat was a bright white but it seemed to shift colors for a few seconds like how white light changes when it hits a prism. It rose to around my knees, its head was about the same size as Twitch's but smoother, and the appearance was less solid. Its eyes took up a fair bit of its head, the entire eye was golden. The horn had a rounded top obviously it was not able to pierce skin. The wings on its back were slightly larger than they would be on a normal pegasus.

"What the? Who or what are you?" Smooth, Celt interrogate the foal...

The face of the alicorn foal remained dead panned, " I am Hikari, and I am your only hope of defeating Tenbrion."

"Oh really, a child is my only hope to defeat Tenbrion?" I cross my arms and stare down at the child, "So how do you know how to beat him?"

He continues to glare at me with a dead expression, "If I tell you how I know will you accept my help?"

"Why would I need your help in the first place?"

"Because your weakened, inexperienced and in all likely hood going to die if you try to fight Tenbrion without my help." His tone was cold.

"Alright, fine I'll accept your help if you tell me how you know how to defeat Tenbrion."

The foal's horn gave off a white glow, "How can you use magic here?"

"That will be explained, " A large square appeared in the wall, the border was golden while the inside was clear. "Now look."

I gaze into the mirror.

"It was a centuries ago when this happened and yet I remember as if it was yesterday. Long ago there was a village of ponies."

The clear parts of the square disappeared allowing images of a village to take over the screen. The outer limits of the town were a farming country where several farmers that supplied crops to the town were located. In the center of the town was a large circular building, the building was constructed out a mixture of reed, mud and brick all covered by reed outer layer for appearance. Around the central build various stales and shops were spread about. Just past all the shops were houses, all of them had thatched roofs and were only 2 stories.  On the outer road leading to elsewhere read a sign "Welcome to Rada."

"Equal Scale, was a stallion who lived in Rada. He had a talent of keeping everything fair. As he grew up in the village made many friends."

The image shifted to a pony walking down the street. A breeze blows his white coat and black mane. His golden eyes set forward and a goofy smile on his face. His mane was combed around his horn and a single streak or white in the back of the mane interrupted the intense black of the rest of his mane. His cutie mark was a simple gold scale, one side of the scale held a dove and a crow balanced perfectly.

"He was trusting. He did not judge others based on appearance or race. Equal thought everyone good until proven otherwise."

The image shimmers, and a picture of a diamond dog appears. The dog was thin, his ribs were clearly visible. Patches of fur were missing from all around his body and several scars were scattered on his back and chest. He had bags under his eye and his eyes were almost void of all life. It was obvious that if he didn't receive help that he would die and from the look of his legs and arms he wouldn't be able to get it himself to his den or a village without assistance from an outside force.

Beside the dog was Equal, his black hair blowed in the wind. You could tell he was worried about the dog just how he looked at the old mutt. The pony and the D-dog conversed about various topics and told stories from their live, during the encounter it was evident that the dog's health was on a downward spiral. The pony talks to the diamond dog some more and asked if he needed any help at all. The old dog declined saying he would be fine when he got to his pack saying they had enough supplies to keep him alive long enough to do what he needs to do. The pony did not argue or try to force the dog to get help instead he simply said.

"Drop by my village sometime it's just over that hill." He smiled as he pointed toward the hill.

"He had a good life...until the raiders came."

The image of the smiling stallion was torn away violently. The image in front of me of horrible, the entire town up in flames and D-dog raiders captured and beat the ponies as they stole every precious object they could get their grubby paws on. The hungry looks of D-Dogs as they stared at their new slaves, all walking in a row chained together. Various cuts and bruises littered their bodies from the torture of the diamond dogs. Little foals cried for their mothers and fathers as the D-Dogs barked orders. The slaves were one of the lucky ones. Those that were too sick or too weak were taken out of their homes and into back alleys and violently beat on them until they stopped twitching, Once family homes began to crash down against each other destroying anything left inside of the houses for the ponies to return for. Black smoke filled he sky as the howls of the diamond dog's victory echoed across the land.

"Equal had hid inside a hidden wine cellar a little ways away from town with a few other folks who made it there. Unfortunately nothing else survived..."

The image shifted to the stallion walking back into the skeleton of what once was his home town. He followed the same path he took to get home from work, occasionally gazing at the carnage. He looks at the old blacksmith to see the forge broke open and coals littering the nearby floor next to a charred body of the blacksmith. He continued his walk past the large circular building which has collapsed in on itself. Ashes of stalls blew in the wind giving a choking fog obstructing his vision. He approaches his house. The door had parshally saved, only showing a few burn marks and indent in the center showing where the Diamond dogs must have kicked in the door. He trots into the house his face devoid of emotion.

He walks around the remains of the house. All of the living room furniture was char wood with no more fabric on it. The fire place had collapsed outward and crashed into the next house over. Equal continued his tour of what was once his home. He reached the kitchen, the stone oven had been smashed and the cupboards burned and smashed in. Various pieces of shattered glass littered the floor. The back door in the kitchen had been kicked out. The stallion marches into his backyard, the grass burned to a fine crisp creating a crunch with every step he takes. A harsh wind blows pushing the swing forward creating a rusted creaking noise. The stallion ignores the noise and heads toward the shed, various claw marks imprinted into the wood. He treks over behind the shed and his eyes grow.

There lie in the corner where the fence and shed meet sit two ponies. The first was a mare, little tuffs off a red mane peek of the skull while other areas are completely missing the skin showing that it have been ripped off. Her horn was missing it's tip and instead was a cracked edges. Her left eye had been removed placed a little ways before her. Large bumps covered her body, and various places had either been burned or cut. Her cutie mark was shredded leaving no way of knowing what it was. The right leg was bending backwards at an awkward angle.

The other pony was a foal, the more rigid features made it obvious it was a male. In the dead center of the foals head was the other pony's horn. The colt's eye lids were completely ripped off almost as if to say you can never rest.  Various cuts are made around the foals legs and chest. His hooves were crushed a to a pulp. The child's head was completely scorched off. Various bumps and bruise was scatter all over his body.

The stallion sat down, a single tear was in his eye. "Why..."

"At that point Equal became obsessed with protecting people from others and destroying those that attack others. The village rebuilt with his help, and everyone was happy except him." Hikari choked up a little.

"He wanted to save the ones the dogs had stolen and more importantly destroy the diamond dog threat once and for all but he didn't just want revenge he wanted to make sure that no creature would dare commit such evils again. So he stole a ritual book and preformed the Purity Being Ritual in hopes he would become deity and strike divine justice on the villains of the world. However the ritual went wrong..."

A picture of a forest came into picture. A large circular area had been cleared out, not even leaving the stumps. Magical lines traced into the soil, to form ancient symbols of power. There were 8 medium sized circles on the outside and a single large circle in the middle. In each circle was a different kind of gem or magic holding item. In the center stood Equal Scale he studied his stance and his horn glowed with a ghastly grey. The perimeter began to glow with a grey energy. Slowly the grey energy crawled toward the 8 circles until they were enveloped by the glow. The gems inside began to shine with great intensity and rise off the ground. Slowly the gems span around their own circle until they were only blurs. The grey light continued past the 8 circles and slowly crept it's way to the largest circle in the middle like a poison slowly creeping up your bloodstream.

He smiled at his achievement and watched as the first gem stopped and then exploded into dust particles. Then another exploded and another. This continued until there were only 2 gems left, a white topaz and a onyx. Both gems stopped and began to follow the line of grey up to the largest circle. Equal's smile faded from his face and was replaced with worrying visage. The gems began to spin slowly. The gems slowly gained speed, spinning faster and faster until they were only blurs again. A drop of sweat rolls down the stallions face as the gems seem to stop speeding up. The circle of white and black slowly started to close in on the stallion. The gems finally collided into the stallion causing a great amount of energy to be released. In the crater where the stallion should have been rose two figures.

"Me and my 'brother' were born from his altered ritual. The spell was meant to create a new being that is pure not change an existing creature into a pure form. The spell split him, all his dark ambitions and evil ended up in Tenbrion and all his hopes and goodness ended up in me." The large golden screen vanished.

I couldn't believe what I had seen, all that pain and misery inflicted on a single living being was horrible, "But that doesn't answer how you can stop him and why you could use magic."

"The second is easy, all I was doing was bending the light my body produces so that it created the pictures." The little foal remained emotionless.

"And my first question?"

"After the ritual Tenbrion fulfilled Equal's darkest desire, to kill the diamond dogs. He slaughtered them just for the fun of it. After that he destroyed Rada saying it was no longer useful. He then went after the Bast, a cat like people that lived in the jungle. He forced them to worship him as a god and demanded blood sacrifices in his name. The Wardens eventually intervened..."

That catches my attention, "Who or what are the Wardens? Tenbrion seemed pretty afraid of them."

"The Wardens are the guardians and jailers of Tartarus. They are a undead army that cannot be stopped. He fears them because they captured him but he escaped the cage they put him in and they couldn't kill a shadow. So a cycle of him being captured and then breaking out was started. This lasted 10 years, many bast and other creatures lost their lives to his hate and rage."

I lower down so that I was eye level with the foal, "So what changed after 10 years?"

"I finally intervened. I offered to be the cage for Tenbrion to save those from his wrath and himself. They captured Tenbrion once again and they made me into a cage. He could not escape my cage, because one cannot run from oneself."

"Ok, so how would you help me defeat him?"

His eyes remained cold as they stared at me, " You can fire me from your crossbow, and if I hit him then I can become his cage once more."

"And if I miss?"

"Then he will kill you and the Wardens will capture him and put him back in the cage. It's a win-win for everyone except you and Tenbrion. At least this way you have a chance of survival."

I stand back up and pull out my crossbow, " Fine, hop on the crossbow. We have some hunting to do."

Hikari began to glow, his form shrank bending light until he was only a about the size of an arrow. I grab Hikari and place him on the crossbow. A golden string appears pushing the bolt back so that when I pulled the trigger it would surely fire fast and hard.

"Remember you only have one chance to fire me, do not waste it." A soft voice emanating from the bolt spoke.

"Yah, yah."

I walk back toward the entrance of the small hideaway. I  squeeze through the narrow corridor once again until I reach the large cavern once again. I look around the area with my crossbow still in my hands. I begin to walk beside the wall in hopes I would find the shade. I developed a rhythm take a few steps, stop and check around, rinse and repeat. I slowly make my way down the cavern. I pass a small nook where in the corner of my eye I see a spear like hand shoot out. I take a step back and just barely avoid the claw. I prepare myself as Tenbrion floats out of the nook.

"I see you've come out of your hiding place. Does that mean you are ready to die?"

"I don't need to hide from you."

"You have confidence, I will enjoy this more than killing those pathetic villagers all those years ago. His voice sounded as if someone took a sand belt to his vocal chords.

He lunges forward with unnatural speed. I try to lift my crossbow only to have him hit me with a side swipe sending me backwards and my crossbow against the cavern's wall. I stand up just in time to see his claw clutched together to form a spear shape darting toward my head. I duck avoiding his spear arm, I look forward to see his other claw swinging low to slash at me. I roll backwards to avoid the claw and land in a kneeling position.

"This cavern shall be your grave and I will be your grave digger fleshling." He releases a low laugh.

I stand up once more and this I lunge toward him. I unsheathe my blade and cut him vertically, for a single moment his body was split in two but slowly the shade reformed. His claw shoots outward and grasps on to my neck. His grip tightens as I squirm to try to get free.

"Now do you see how pointless it is to fight me? If not then you soon will."

His other claw begins to push into my wound. I wince in the pain. He retracts his claw and flings me toward the cavern's wall. I land with a solid thump, a few loose pebbles and stones tumble downward. I look to the side and see my crossbow just lying here on the ground, Hakari still ready to fire. I reach over to grab Hikari and hold her in my fist but keeping it close enough that the light does not shine outward. I look up at Tenbrion looming over me like the specter of death.

"I'm almost sad. You’re the most fun I've have in a long time. In fact the last time I had this much fun I needed to destroy an entire town. He grabs me by the neck.

"I loved killing that pathetic village, all the happy little ponies prancing around. It disgusted me to no end." I could tell he was smiling as he reflected on the fond memory of his. " Now, for the last time any last words before I rip your spine out and use it to beat the bitch Grey that runs this place?"

I remember what Hikari showed me earlier, "Would your wife and child be proud of you now Equal Scale?"

" You must have spoken to Hikari that goody two-shoe bitch. To answer your question, I do not care what they think of me, they were simply stepping stones to this form of perfection.

"Then you can rot here, for all eternity!" I grab Hikari and shove her deep into the chest of Tenbrion.

He dropped me, screaming in pain as veins of light covered his body. A circle carved itself into the stone around their feet. It began to glow golden as a large golden bubble began to envelope Tenbrion. Soon the bubble had fully formed and swallowed Tenbrion, the bubble suddenly collapsed in on the body of Tenbrion creating a kind of golden sarcophagus all around him. The screams stopped as a golden version of Tenbrion fell to the ground. I stand up and approach the golden casing. I tap it with my foot to know if it was solid or not. A clang ringed out from the mysterious metal prison. I look up to see that the river from earlier is not too far off from where I am. I begin to march toward, what I hope was the river Styx.

Dust 'N Bones (20)

I marched toward the river, keeping a steady pace. My bandage around my cut bounced loosely with a single band waving behind me. Sharp rocks push into the tough spots on my feet. My breath is still heavy from my previous fight with Tenbrion. He caused so much pain to get what he once had but instead pushed it further away I think as I push closer and closer to the river. The river gave off certain energy and with each step the energy pulsed harder and harder.

I finally reached the bank of the river; the strange energy it gave off was still pushing against me, almost as if it was saying turn back. The water was shrouded in a thin fog, the waters below the fog was dark. If it weren't for the ever shifting waves it would almost appear as if the river was a solid. I stare down the river seeing if there was an end to it, there was not. In each direction the river seemed to flow endlessly only stopping when it the shadows consumed it. I reach in my bag, my fingers reach the void. Thank god this still works. I grab a few empty vials, each the same size. Lower myself down reaching toward the waters. The bottle enters the water along with my hand. A bite of cold sinks into my hand. I wait until the bubbles in the water stop and then pull the vial out.

At first the bottle comes out full but soon water drips out. I place my over where it seems to leak from only for it to just drip through my finger. A cold sensation overtakes my finger each time it dripped through. This persisted until the vial was bone dry. I stare at my hand to see it with the same dryness of the vial as if I never touched the river in the first place. I knee back down and try to fill the vial again only to reach the same result. I tried again with a different vial, but it made no difference. I place the vials back into my bag and cup my hands. I dip my hands into the water allowing the chilled water enter the cup I made. I bring my hands up toward my face. The water slowly drains away from my hands, causing the feeling of the bone being chilled.

Hmmmm, seems that glass can't hold this water at all but my hands can... maybe if I drink it, then it will stay.

I stretch my arms toward the river, and fill my hands. I slowly raise the water up to my face. I stare into the water for a moment, my reflection is shown on the shadowy water. The reflection stared back at me with dark eyes like an evil clone. Finally I begin to bring the water to my face ready to drink the liquid. My hands are about 4 inches away from my face when I hear a rattling of bones from behind me. I quickly drop the water to the ground and turn. I try to send my blade out but it didn't respond to my command. Must be the anti-magic.

I look forward to come face to face with a skeletal face. The creature stood about 6 foot 6', it wore an old fashioned viking helmet with the large horns protruding out from the sides. The helmet was darker then the river flowing just a few inches behind me. It wore a chest plate that matched the same color of its helmet. Small bits of padding rested on its shoulders, with sleeves of a shirt underneath it reaching a little further down its arm. Past the sleeves skeleton arms hung downward, metal bracers on each arm the color showed it was the same material of the helmet and chest piece.  In its right arm it held a black spear and in the left was a large shield. Below the chest plate was a leather skirt, with black metal disks studded into each stripe of the kilt. Large metal greaves clung to its boney legs.

(Here is music for this. I Stand Alone by Godsmack)

He lunged forward sending his spear my arm, I quickly raise my arm to block the spear. The spear makes slides to the outside of my arm, as the metal touched my mechanical the arm felt even more mechanical and less a part of me. The skeleton pauses then slams the spear against my arm pushing me further to the side and away from the river. I lose my balance and quickly step back to gain my footing again. The skeleton takes this brief second to dash forward with amazing speed and slam me straight in the face with his shield. I roll backward and land in a kneeing position. I stand up wincing from the strain on my wound. I look at dead eye sockets of the skeleton and smile.

"You can do better than that can't you?" I spit some blood on to the floor and get into a sturdy stance, "Well, don't just stand there come at me skelebro."

He throws the spear toward me and I quickly block it with my arm, "That all you go..." I looked back at the skeleton who was now charging at me with a small sword.

He swings down and I block with my arm, the force of the blow returns me to my kneeling position. As he pushes the sword down I see brief moment to attack.  I quickly push his sword upward and lunge forward with my real arm in order to punch the boney bastard. My fist makes contact with his skull, a subtle crunch noise echoed outward as his head flew off his body.

"Weak skeleto..." The shield arm swung and punched me in the stomach.

I jump back, the pain quickly spreads throughout my body. The skeleton's body walks over to its head and places it back on its head. The skeleton moved its jaw back in place and took stance. I charged with my arm flung back. It raises its shield with one arm. The two forces collide causing a resonating clang of metal, as he held his ground. His feet dug into the ground as well as mine. We push against each other until I hear sound of a blade cut air. I spin around in time to block a sword from slashing my back. I look toward my second opponent to see another skeleton. I roll to the side to avoid the first skeleton's sword swing down at me.

The skeletons charge at me the first one striking low and the other high. I raise my arm at just the right time to block both the blades, their force pushes me further back. My back presses against a large stalagmite. In unison the skeletons stab their swords forward. I duck just before the blades embed themselves into the stone. They try to pull their swords out of the stone. I get to their sides and smash down against their arms shattering the first ones bones. I use my other arm to push him away. I grab the handle of the weapon and yank it hard, causing rocks and dust to pull out as the sword left its hole.

"My turn assholes." The skeleton's rattle, most likely their way of laughing.

The bits and piece that were once the arm of the first skeleton shot back toward him, slowly the bones knitted themselves back together until the bone was a solid piece again. The skeleton walks back the spear it had thrown at me earlier and picked it as the other wrenched it's sword from the wall. They reformed their stances and prepared to fight once again. I held the sword in my left hand so I could use my right arm for defense. I charged forward, slashing down the spear skeleton. He blocks the hit and his friend slashes at me but I stop the blade with my arm. The spearman pushes my arm up and swings low knocking my feet from under me. They stand over me ready to end it. It can't end like this. The skeleton raises the spear over my body. I did too much just for it to end now. He begins to send the spear down.

No, I won't let it end like this! I thrust metal arm upward and grab the spear mid-air. I let go of the sword and grab the spear with both hands putting as much force as I could into pushing it to the side. I succeeded the skeleton hold the spear was flung into his friend leaving his spear in my hands. I quickly stand up, the strain from the fight made my legs weaker but the adrenaline flowing through my veins kept me moving.

"I am Celt the fucking bugbear! I faced a god just today! I will not be killed by two damn skeletons!"  I rush forward.

The skeletons were still getting up as I attacked. I first used the spear to bat one of the skeletons' head off in order to buy me a bit of time. Then I twisted the spear around so that the point was facing the other skeleton's head. I shot the spear down impaling the spear through his head. The other skeleton had just recovered from his recent decapitation. I swing to the side taking off the sword skeleton's head in the process. I swing low severing the legs at the knee joints making him fall to the ground. I raise the spear still with the other ones head still on it and impale it through the fallen skeleton's head.

I release the spear and back up a little bit. I smile at my handy work. The skeleton's bodies walked around looking for their heads patting the ground since the head could not return how the normally would. The bodies bump into each other and the stalagmite where I had almost lost my life. I give a hardy chuckle at my success. I walk over to the sword and shield the one skeleton had been carrying before it abrupt decapitation. I grab the shield first, it was roughly shaped like a kite and its edges were rounded. The shield color was a deep black just like the other stuff the skeletons wore.

Next inspected the short sword he had been using. The blade was widest near the hilt then curved in a ways before curving out once more, one final curve to create its tip. I grab a hair off my head, and drop it on the blade. Sure enough the blade cut the hair in two. The hilt was the same as the blade with a slight curve to make it more comfortable for the hands. I strap the shield to my left arm and hold the sword in my right. Better to have these in case there are more of them. I turn around and walk back to the river. What I saw off in the distance as I turned literally made my jaw drop.  Thousands of the skeletal creatures marched in formation, each carrying a spear, shield and sword like the other two. The army of the dead halted for a moment as each one of them pulled out their spear.

"What in the hell are they doing?"

Each of the skeletal figures brought their arms just like how a javelin thrower would. Oh god please don't tell their going to... They all pushed their arms forward sending the spears into the air. The spears created a shadowy cloud blocking out the ambient light shining down from the roof of the cavern. Well fuck... I lift the shield to block the incoming projectiles. A few moments pass before a spear lands a few feet behind me reimpaling the skeleton's bodies. Serves them right. More spears begin to descend on me. The first spear that hits the shield pushes me backward, I keep my stance standing strong against the waves of spears that continue to pound against the shield. A spear cuts the side of my neck and a small trickle of blood flows down my back. Oh god that was close... A spear shoots downward and enters my foot.

"HOLY SHIT THAT FUCKING HURTS!" I scream.

The spears stop falling, I look around to see the entire area covered with spears. I look back to the army to see them charging. I pull out the spear from my foot and throw it to the side. The wound was minor, since the spear had not fully penetrated my foot.

"Well, when in Rome." I begin to charge at the massive army.

I unstrap the shield while running and grab the non-pointed end. I quickly stop using the momentum to send the shield darting forward like a bullet.  The shield hit the first row of undead soldier causing them to stumble back leaving an opening in their ranks. I spit some blood out before I begin rush into the break. I scream as I punch forward smashing into one of the shields leaving a dent. They begin to surround me, each held their shield and swords ready for anything. I see my previously thrown shield lying on the ground. I quickly strap it back on.

They made the first move, each one swung downward, I raise the shield and block the strike, and the force sends me to my knees. I push back up making the skeletons step back returning to formation. I circle around waiting for one of them to strike, but they did not. Each one was ready to strike but they did not move.

"What? Did you all lose your ner..." I choke a little.

A slithering feeling crawls over my leg. I look down to see a chain, moving on its own it slowly made its way up my leg. Suddenly my leg gives out, there was no pain, and no warning before it happened almost like its energy had been drained instantly. Wait, oh shit it's draining my energy! I reach down and try to pry the chain off of me but no matter how much strength I put into stopping the chain, but still it persisted. My other leg gave out and I fell to the floor. The chain slithered its way up my body, sapping the energy from the places it passed over. I crawled past my arms and taking their energy with it. It finally circled around my neck, draining the last bit of my energy.

I saw a black leather boot in front of me and with my last remains of energy I muttered, "You cheating asshats." Then I slip from consciousness.

Meeting Mother Nature (21)

Cold dirt pushes against my back sending chills up and down my spine. I open my eyes only to shut them immediately afterward due to the sun light shining directly into them. I groan, the damage of the previous fights finally taking their toll on my body. I sit upwards and hold my head in my hands. I lift my head up from my hands finally opening my eyes fully this time. I was on a large hill, trees spread around the land. I must still be in the feline. I roll over to my side in order to get up when I felt something made of glass touch my hand. I look at my hand and see a vial of a black translucent liquid. A small note was attached to the bottle. I reach down and grab both the note and the bottle.

The note said: "Dear Celt, this vial contains the water of Styx, it can only be opened once and I am not giving you another." -Skeleton Jack.

I crumble the paper together and throw it behind my shoulder then I check out the vial. A familiar black liquid swirls inside the tiny vial. I place the vial into the void of my bag. I stand up and look around, the terrain was extremely similar to the one just outside the tunnel. Wait... I walk over to the steepest edge of the large hill and see Fenrir and Twitch sitting and talking. Hmmm how to scare the shit out of them.... I smile as I devise a plan to scare my companions. I back up a little ways on the hill and begin to sprint forward. I leap off the cliff and land with a roll. I stand up and look at my now shocked comrades.

"Miss me?" I laugh as the pain from the landing hits me.

I spit a small amount of blood, "Celt, how did you get to the top of the hill? Me and Fenrir checked around and this is the only entrance we could find."

"Oh, you know magic and all that jizz. I have good and bad news however!"

Fenrir walks up to me with a cold expression that could rival Hikari's, "What is the good news Celt?"

"Good news is I got the water from the river Styx."

"And the bad?" Twitch spoke showing less fear then before.

"Well, I kinda maybe got stabbed through the foot and had my bandages cut."

"YOU WHAT?" They both screamed in unison.

I rub the back of my head, "Well, I met this one guy called Tenbrion and I beat him but then I ran into some skeleton dudes..."

Fenrir's face changed from dead pan to concerned, "You faced the Wardens and survived?"

"Huh, that’s what Tenbrion was afraid of. Anyway yah, I fought them was pretty sweet if I might say but I got a spear through my foot."

Twitch rushes up to me, "Are you ok? I mean getting up after a spear to the foot must be hard."

"Twitch are you showing.....concern?"

"Well, I have to make sure my guardian doesn't die don't I?"

I chuckle, " I suppose you do. Well, Fenrir I don't know about you but I think I need that healer you spoke of."

"Yes, it would be for the best." Both Twitch and I climb onto his back.

Fenrir strides forward, leaving a small dust trail behind us. With each leap forward my cuts pulsed with pain, I felt around my body for the bruises of the fights I had previously had. I had several around my head stomach and back as I felt each one a small prick of pain erupted through my back causing me to flinch. I search the trees to see the shadows jumping between trees. After I get healed I am going to beat them to death for following me. I continue to stare daggers at the mysterious followers. Twitch notices my anger toward them.

"Celt, let it go for now. You can beat them to death after you get healed." Did he just read my mind?

I stop my glaring, "I suppose your right Twitch," I look down at him, "When did your balls drop anyway?"

"Well, I was talking to Fenrir and he told me what little he knows about you and it was kinda cool. I mean facing against the captain of the guard must be tough."

I smile, "Yah I guess it was."

Suddenly Fenrir stops sending both me and Twitch up to his neck. "Yo Fenrir buddy, why did you stop?"

"We're being watched..."

"Fenrir if you haven’t noticed we've been followed since we first got here."

"No, I mean something else is watching us." he growled.

I sit back on Fenrir, "Hmmmm, Twitch time to pull your weight. Go up a head and see if our new friends want to say hi."

"You must be kidding me," I give him a nice big smile, "By Celestia, the hive and any other deity out there you’re not joking."

"Nope, now get your changeling ass out there so we can meet our new friends!" I push Twitch off Fenrir.

He crashes against the ground, he slowly picks himself up. He begins to walk forward keeping a cautious pace looking to the side every once and a while. He sweated with each step like how a man knowing he would die the next moment would.

"I feel somewhat bad for Twitch." Fenrir whispered.

"I'd feel worse for whatever is gunna eat him," Fenrir looks up at me, "What? I heard changelings give you indigestion."

Twitch slowly advanced into the jungle, his head flipping back and forth looking for the enemy apparently watching his every move. A bush rustles and Twitch's head snap toward it, the moment his head turned several blurs shot out from a nearby bush. They quickly surrounded Twitch, the shadows hiding their forms from me. Twitch shrinks, the enemy circled him sizing up their prey. Soon they began to close in on Twitch.

"Celt!" Twitch screamed in fear.

"Yes?"

"Help!"

I jump off Fenrir, "Fenrir, mind showing our friends who is the alpha?"

"With pleasure." He spoke with a savage grin. My god remind me never to get him to smile...

Fenrir leaped forward with blinding speed. He struck the closest enemy, biting down in the middle causing cracking noises to be heard. He threw the body at two others and then made his way to the next victim. He leaped forward slashing at the beast cutting it in half between his claws. He swings his paw outward batting a leaping enemy into a tree.  The two that had their comrade thrown at them finally rose up and tried to strike at Fenrir's legs. He swung both of his hind legs backward in a fluent motion smashing into the enemies. The first one smashed into another tree and the other landed beside me.

I looked at our foe, it was vaguely canine. Large pointed teeth, slim frame with its hind legs bigger than the front. Small twigs poked out of the wolf and some ever had leaves growing on them. It's eye fling open, pure yellow eyes stare at me. It quickly returns to its feet and prepares to charge at me.

"Before you worry about me, worry about the 1000 pound wolf coming after you."

The wolf looks behind itself just in time for Fenrir's paw to descend on its body crushing it. Fenrir raises his paw only to see a bunch of sticks and twigs.

"They're Timberwolves, if they are coming after us then that means we're close."

I jump onto Fenrir, "Alright, Twitch good job as the bait now get up here so we can get going."

Twitch flies onto Fenrir, still quite shell shocked at what had happened a few moments prior. His eyes still wide from the beasts and how easily Fenrir beat them. We both were jerked back as Fenrir took his first stride toward our destination. He weaved between the trees, almost how a master swordsman weaves around the battle field. Bounded off rocks and leaping to the side to avoid trees. Soon the trees stopped suddenly, Fenrir stopped a few feet away from the sudden drop off. The cliff slopped down about 100 feet or so before giving way to a tree wall. In the center of the large crater stood a massive tree. The branches reached outward I bet a dragon could easily sleep on one of them.

"Yo Fenrir what is this place?"

"Celt, this is the World Tree, Yggdrasil."

I laugh, "Well this is an ingredient on the list but what about that healer you talked about? It's not very good if I drop dead in the middle of collecting the bark."

"She is also down there. We should hurry the entrance is on the other side."

I jump off Fenrir and walk over to a large tree. "You know I've always wanted to try something in my life."

"Celt, this is not really the ti..." I rip  a sturdy board of bark off the tree.

"I've always wanted to board down a hill." I ran over to the slope then jumped.

I jumped onto the board and landed against the slope. I continued to board down the hill, bobbing up and down form the occasionally bump. I look behind me and see Fenrir sliding down the hill with Twitch on his back holding on for dear life.  I laugh as I look back down. We were about 3/4s of the way down when I hit a rather large rock on the way down. My board went backward sending me forward. For a few moments I flew, for another few moments I saw my life flash before my eyes and with the last few moments airborne I said.

"Oh this is going to hurt." I crashed into the trees with much force.

I fell through the trees breaking a few branches on the way down before landing in the nice soft thorns that layed at the bottom of the trees. I groan as I get up and out of the branches, collecting a few more thorns in my body in the process. I finally get out of the thorns just in time for both Fenrir and Twitch to make it to the bottom. I hear a few snickers come from Twitch while Fenrir remained stone faced.

"Yah, laugh it up now. Just so you know it isn't hard to fall off Fenrir when your asleep." I pull a thorn from my arm, "Now do some magic and remove these damn thorns!"

Twitch's horn begins to glow, the same glow envelopes the thorns scattered around my body. All at once the thorns pulled out, the pain was basically trying to help cuts all over your body by taking a bath in lemon juice and salt. A few speckles of blood flow down my body. I crack a few of my joints making Twitch cringe.

"Alright, now that we're done getting down here where is this healer?"

Fenrir walked toward the wall of trees, "Through here. Celt if you wouldn't mind, could you just break through it with your crossbow?"

"Sure," I pull my crossbow out of its holster, " Terra Ventus!"

The ground rumbled around, a few pebbles and clouds of dirt began to collect onto the crossbow. A solid brown bolt formed, next a swirling wind wrapped around the projectile. The final product was a swirling mass of brown and clear wind all contained within one shape. I raise the crossbow and take aim toward the wall of trees. I pull the trigger sending the bolt forward, a small cone formed around the missile as it collided against the trees. One after another the trunks of the trees were shattered, causing the tops to collide with the ones by them. The end result was a large hole through the entire wall.

"Now that we have that wall out of the way shall we go visit your friend Fenrir?"

"Yes." Both Twitch and I jump onto Fenrir.

We began to head toward the large tree in the center of the crater. Past the wall was a small clearing with the gnarled tree taking up most of the space. The sheer size of the oak could be compared to the Empire State Building. Must have been here since the beginning of time...  We enter the clearing and the wall behind us regrows, thorn vines taking back their place and trees regrowing at a rapid pace.

"Fenrir, who is your friend?" Twitch questioned.

Fenrir stopped and both Twitch and I got off him, "Her name is Terra, and I am fairly certain she can help your injuries Celt."

"Hold up, if were still following the logic of this place. Then that mean your friend Terra is someone to do with the earth." Wait a minute only two ponies have latin names. "Your friend is a god isn't she?"

"Yes, I am." Spoke a stern motherly voice.

I look over to the voice, in front of us was an alicorn much like Celestia, royal presence but with a subtle motherly feel. She stood quite tall, nearly as tall as myself. She had a light brown coat with darker brown swirls running across her body giving off the appearance of knots in wood. Her mane and tail flowed like Celestia and Luna's but instead of a dark blue or a multicolored mesh it was a dark forest green with tiny bits of white to give the appearance of light peeking through a canopy of trees.

"Hello, as you know I am Terra goddess of nature. Now please tell me who you are?" She spoke in a soft yet steady tone.

Fenrir walks toward the tree. What is he doing? "Well Terra, I am Celt, the bugbear."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Celt. I hope that the guardians I sent to meet you didn't cau...." She stops and stares at Fenrir who had just raised his leg toward the tree. "If you try and do your business on my tree I will remove your wolfhood."

He instantly lowered his leg and walked back to me. "Anyway, may I ask what happened to my forest guardians I sent to meet you?"

"Your forest guardians wouldn't happen to be Timberwolves would they?"

"Yes they are."

Fenrir stepped up, "I crushed them, I mean no offense to you Terra but your guardians are weak."

"I will keep that in mind for later. Next time however do refrain from crushing them."

"Wait, how did you know he crushed them?"

"I could sense you destroy them a while ago."

I cross my arms, "So why did you ask then?"

Her face remained plain, "Just curious, anyway, what brings you here Twitch, Fenrir and Celt?"

"Wait how did you know our names?" Twitch questioned.

"Hmmm?"

"Only Celt introduced himself, how do you know mine and Fenrir's names?"

She didn't even react, "I know Fenrir from old legends about him and some other things burning down the tree."

"Ok, that explains how you know Fenrir what about Twitch?"

"Oh him? Anything happening in my forest I know about it. Now that introductions are out of the way we can move onto buisness, I suppose. So Celt why are you here?"

"Two reasons actually, the first is we need Bark from the World Tree and second I need some healing."

"Hmmm, we shall make a deal then, if you complete a task I assign you, I will give you the Bark."

I cross my arms, "And what about the healing?"

She stared at me, "I will speed up the naturel process of healing on your body for a few moments. That way you are at your peak condition while you do my task."

"Alright then, you have a deal."

She walks up close to me, "Hold still while I speed your healing."

"Before we start, can I ask if this will hurt?"

She stops and thinks for a moment, "No you can't."

Her horn glowed brightly. I feel a tingling feeling spread all across my body. First the bruises faded leaving no hint that they were ever there. Next the newest cuts began to clot, a slight ping of pain spread across my body. Next the large slash against my side, slowly the skin began to knit back together, then the meat inside reformed back its original form while it happened pain pulsed throughout my body. The last part was my foot, the skin sealed and reformed the muscle tissue that had been cut from the spear. Her horn stopped glowing and she backed up alittle ways.

"There your body is healed."

I remove the bandages and see a large scar across my side. "Why do I have a scar then?"

"I sped up the naturel healing process, so a scar was left where your cut was."

" Well I feel slightly cheated, but I suppose a deal is a deal. What task do you want me to complete?"

"I simply wish for you to stop a rampaging basilisk heading this way, turning everything into stone."

My jaw drops to the floor, "And how am I supposed to get close enough to stop it without being turned to stone?"

"Well, you could run at it with your eyes closed and hope for the best."

"That doesn't sound effective at all."

She stares blankly at me, "No, it probably isn't."

"Any other suggestions?"

"You could use something to stop direct eye contact."

I reach into my bag until I find the sunglasses from earlier, "These should stop anything requiring eye contact. Fenrir you should stay here just mostly since you have to defense against it. Twitch can that eye shield thing you have stop direct eye contact?"

"Uh, yes the Hive said that our 'eye shields' does block eye contact...Celt why do you want to know?"

I laugh, "Cause Twitch we gunna go basilisk huntin!"

"You seem strangely accepting of this task."

"Well, I want that bark. Now Twitch we better get going, that basilisk isn't going to kill itself."

I grab Twitch and begin to jog toward the large entrance that had just opened in the wall of trees. At full sprint, I still felt no pain at all. God, I love magic! I continued to dash forward ready to hunt and kill the basilisk. Behind me I hear a bit of dialogue between Fenrir and Terra.

"You realize he is slightly crazy."

"I wouldn't have followed him this long if he wasn't."

I am not a good snake charmer (22)

Both Twitch and I ran through the forest, small bits of gravel and a few twigs were sent back with each of our strides. My body felt in amazing condition, no pain from running and no limitation to my movement. I got to admit she did a good job at healing me even if she kind of cheated me. I thought to myself between my strides. My breathing was steady, keeping a good pace both Twitch and I journeyed further into the jungle.

"Celt, how exactly are we going to kill a basilisk?"

I look toward Twitch doing a half flying, half walking type thing, "I do not know."

"How are we going to find it?"

"I do not know."

"Is there anything you do know?"

"I know where you sleep." I speak in a semi serious tone.

"I guess I'll shut up now..."

I laugh, "Good plan."

We continued to dash through the forest in search for the basilisk. I look to the trees and see no shadows had decided to follow us this time. I notice the lack of noise, no birds sung their exotic songs, no beasts roared during the hunt, and no life could be heard. Only the subtle back and forth motions of the trees in the wind filled the air around us. We continued forward searching for some sign of life. A little ways ahead of us a large stone structure stood. The closer we got the more we could see what it was. We reached the statue, it stood on four legs and stood to about my height. It had lion's head, scorpion's tail and a quite large body. Hmmm, no moss or plants on it means it was recently placed, that means...

"Twitch we are getting close to our prey of the day."

Twitch seemed slightly shocked "Wha? H-h-how do you know that?"

"Many reasons, one no noise at all , that usually means everything is dead or ran away. Second this wasn't originally a statue. Now come on we got some basilisk huntin to do."

We begin to march forward, keeping a slower pace than before just in case the basilisk was hiding somewhere nearby. As we progressed further into the forest we began to see more statues of various creature spread around the land. Every statue shared the same expression of fear permanently plastered on their faces. Their eyes completely devoid of life and color.  The further we went in, less life was shown around. We soon found a large trail, as if something had been dragged across the dirt.

We progressed further, following the large track of whatever animal it could be. If every other animal is being turned into a statue then this must be the snake bastard. Soon the trail stopped, both Twitch and I looked at each other. I began to scan the area surrounding us for any sign of the snake. It's as if it just flew off... It suddenly hit me, when I head a slight whistling noise. I grab Twitch and push away from our location just in time to avoid an object crashing on top of our heads. I push myself off the ground and help Twitch up before both he and I face our opponent.

The dust of the crash has finally settled revealing a large serpent like creature. Its body was coiled like a fire hose mounted on the wall. Its appearance in general gave off a vibe of death and despair, its dark scales perfectly lined up reflecting almost all light that hit it. the scales located on its belly were larger and much lighter, they didn't seem to reflect the light as well as its top scales. The body itself was quite thick almost larger then one of those cement pipes that you find at construction sites. Its head was very similar to that of a normal snake, with the exception of the small horns near the back of its head. Its eyes shone yellow, like two large topazes. Long pointed tipped teeth darted out of its mouth.

"Hello David, how's Octacon doing these days?" I speak in a somewhat lax manner.

"I do not know who thissssss David is nor hissss friend. I am..." It then proceeded to make several gurgling noises mixed with hissing, "and you and your friend shall aid me in my quest to assssscend!"

"I'm going to call you Myriam mostly since I don't want to say, " I repeated it's gurgling and hissing noise the best I could, "every time I say your name."

"Celt, why are you naming the thing that wants to kill us?"

I laughed a little, "Kill us? You wouldn't do that would you Myriam?"

Myriam lowered itself slightly to get to eye level, " Not at all I sssssimply wish to feed on your life essssssence in order to asscend to the council but for sssssome reason my attemptssss are not working."

"Ah you see Myriam these," I point toward the glasses on my face, " block any and all eye contact. So I can see your eyes but you can't see mine."

The snake rose back to its original position, "And why would you have thosssssse?"

"The anwsssssser is quite sssssimple." I mock it's voice, "I am here to kill you."

"And the bug?"

"He is here on a school project for career day, he wants to become a professional snake charmer just like me. Now can we get to the fighty part?" I get into a stance and unsheathe my blade.

"I will indulge your wisssssh to fight, but only briefly so that I may continue as I planned."

"Righto, I'll make it fast so you won't miss your train to hell."

The snake lunged forward hissing violently. I quickly dodge to left pushing Twitch to the right. The basilisk flies right by us into a tree. It sunk its teeth into the trunk of the tree lodging them firmly into the timber. I manage to stand myself up just in time to see Myriam rip its teeth from the tree sending splinters every direction.  I shove my blade down toward the end of its tail, the blade slide harmlessly down the scales. Damn the scales are to smooth for my blade to catch an edge. The snake quickly whirled around to face the minor annoyance on its tail. I jump back a few paces in order to get some distance between me and the snake. The snake prepared to lunge just before a ball of flame collided against its face.

I look over and see Twitch's horn smoking slightly from his spell. Hot damn the kid has balls. I rushed toward the basilisk and aimed for the bit of large scales on the belly of the snake. I jump on to its tail and jump once again and slash downward. The blade catches the large white scale which gave some resistance before my blade cut through it. Myriam roared and swung his tail toward me, the tail hit me hard. I skipped along the ground before I stopped. I hear the outraged roars of the snake in front of me.

"How dare you ruin my perfect sssssssscales! I shall desssstroy you!" He shouted in a sharp tone.

Myriam's eyes glowed darkly. His body become encompassed in a dark aura the fluctuated up and down. The ground began to rumble near him. Four large hands shot out from the ground, slowly the hands pushed out the rest of their bodies. Large humanoid structures stood in front of me, their bodies towered over me, dirt and rubble still stuck onto their forms. Their eyes gave off the same glow as Myriam's. Wow this guy must have really liked his scales... The golems began to march toward me. I began to rush toward them.

"Twitch fire off anything you have at them to slow em down. I am about to do something incredibly stupid." I hollered in the middle of my sprint.

Twitch got into a stance, "So same as usual." Smart ass.

The first golem swung down at me, I quickly jumped onto its arm and ran up it. I reached the golem's head and punched downward, smashing the head inward turning it into rubble. Another golem was about to swing down at me when a large chunk of dirt slammed into it sending it onto it's back. I pull out my crossbow and take aim at the nearest golem.

"Ardens Vis!" I shouted on top of my lungs.

A bolt began to form, solid black swirled into a vague shape. Soon flame began to shroud the bolt. The flame burned red only showing subtle hints of the black beneath it. I squeeze the trigger making sure to get the aim correct. The bolt let loose shredding through the wind. The bolt shot through the golem's head, releasing force in every direction causing it's head to explode in separate directions. The body began to fall over, and collapsed with a large thump making some pebbles nearby jump.

"Twitch when I say fire in the hole I want you to shoot out the last ones legs!"

"Why?"

I begin to run forward, "Not the best time to question my methods."

The golem lumbered toward me as I dashed toward it. I was about half way to the golem. Almost.... almost...

"FIRE!"

A large bolt of fired barreled toward the golems legs. The ball bursted taking out the front prochain of its legs. The golem began to tip toward me. Slowly, the stone sentinel hurtled towards me.. I brought my metal arm backwards and timed the right moment to thrust. The golem was about half way down when I jumped forward, quickly extending my arm at its head.

"Shoryuken!" My fist smashed against its head, crunching the stone into pebbles.

The stone soldier landed just in front of my feet. The cold lifeless stone sunk into the ground slightly. I smile at our job and look toward Twitch who also was smiling. My gaze returns to the serpent that had brought the stone giants to life. Myriam's face was covered in rage and fury.  From sheer anger, his eyes gave off a red glint. He gave off a mix of growling and hissing. The aura blazed darker the soft waves it once followed become more jagged. The fallen golems began to shake violently.

Slowly the stone were dragged in front of the basilisk until there was a large pile of boulders and pebbles. The rocks began to hover, slowly swirling in a circle. Twitch walked over to me with a worried face that mimicked my own. I stared as the stones began to hurtle inwards grinding against each other to form a large ball of stone. Soon two thick rock legs erupted from the main ball. The ball changed to from arms and a head. The eyes of the stone goliath came to life. The behemoth towered over both me and the basilisk.  The shadow of this creature blanketed both Twitch and I.

"Twitch, stay away from it and take as many shots as you can to take out one of its legs."

Twitch backed up behind me, "Alright Celt."

I unsheathe my crossbow and hold it firmly in my hands. Let's see it's large so must be slow and must carry a lot of weight. How can I beat it?" The golem lifted its arm and swung downward. I dodged to the side right before the massive fist collides with the earth. The momentous creature lifted its arm from the new crater. Small chunks of dirt fell off the arm. I began to fire off my crossbow, letting loose multiple fire bolts at it's one leg as Twitch bombarded the same leg with offensive spells.  The creature brought it's arm down low and did a swipe, knocking me into a tree causing it to collapse onto the giant. I stand up and take the chance I have. I quickly begin to climb the trunk up to its head, ignoring the pain of my recent crash.

The goliath throws the tree away a second after I made it to its shoulder. Before I hand a clue a massive hand began to descend on me. I take a hard sprint toward its head narrowly avoiding the hand of death crushing my every bone. The stone monster attempts to shake me but I manage to implant my arm into its head.

Weakness, what is it's weakness... the only thing that stands out about the golem is its eyes... So maybe if I overload the eyes!

I remove my fist and punch back into the golem in order to create hand and foot holds. I slowly make my way across the beast, hanging on for dear life and avoiding it's constant attempts to remove me. From down below I hear the basilisk hissing commands at the golem. In a faint voice I hear Twitch cheering for me. I finally manage my way to the front of its eye. I unsheathe my crossbow hold it against the cold illuminated stone.

"Fulgar!"

Light and energy began to form on the bolt. Energy pulsed from the bolt, yellow streaks of power contained within a single form. The energy of the bolt itself made my hair stand on ends. I steady myself and begin to squeeze the trigger. I soon let the bolt take it's short course and collide into the eye. For a brief moment the eye sparked but after that nothing seems to happen. Below I heard the harsh laughter of Myraim. I need more bang for my buck. I use my uru arm and stab a hole into the eye, just big enough for what I planned. I settled the crossbow and shouted.

"Fulgar!"

The same bolt appeared as brilliant as ever. I grab the bolt, and a sudden jolt of energy runs throughout my body. The bolt's form looked stable for now. I shove the bolt as far into the hole as I could. I could feel the energy begin to build up, slowly the power grew and grew until it released at once. The explosion of electricity sent me flying into a tree, where I continued to fall onto low branches or smaller trees. I soon landed beside a tree, my back propped against it. I see Twitch rush to my aid, asking I was alright and if I was alive. I ignore him and watch as the stone that once formed the stone goliath dissemble and crumble to the ground.

A brief smile crosses my face, "Heh, he wasn't so tough."

"You ssssseemed to have forgotten about me." Lisped a sharp voice.

I stare behind Twitch and notice Myriam, "I guess I did," I spit some blood that had collected in my mouth, "now what are you going to do?"

"I shall rip you to sssssshreds and not give you the honor of aiding me asssscend." He positioned himself to strike.

I hear a faint cry from Twitch, "Bring it."

Myriam lunges forward teeth bared and all. I close my eyes accept my fate. Well damn, I killed a god just yesterday and now I die to a snake. Well a giant snake that can turn you to stone but a snake non the less. I thought to myself as I awaited the snake to tear me to shreds. A moment passes and still nothing, I slowly open my eyes and see the mouth of the snake wide open ready to kill but it was frozen in place. I look down and see Twitch with his head firmly pressed into the basilisk. I pull the basilisk away, removing it from Twitch's horn. Blood dripped from his horn onto my leg.

I hold Twitch who was frozen in fear, "You saved me."

"Well, I suppose if I want you to take care of me I should make sure you live." His entire body was shaking.

"Right, Twitch what you did is something you can't take back you know. You will forever know you took the life of another being. How does that make you feel Twitch, to know that for the rest of your life?"

He looks up at me, his face covered in tears, "I don't feel good really, it almost feels like I was punched in the stomach."

"That's good, you feel guilt for killing it. That means you aren't like the monster you killed."

He sniffled a bit, "But I still killed it."

I laugh, "On this journey we will probably kill many things sentient and non. You got to remember that even if you feel guilt or pain of it that you have me and Fenrir."

"Thanks Celt."

I punch Twitch in the side, "Now don't get soft on me bug boy. Come on Fenrir and Terra are waiting for us."

"Alright Celt." Twitch began to run beside me.

We swiftly ran through the forest, ready to face Terra. God I hope this works out.

Getting Wood (23)

The dirt pressed into my foot with each step I took. The life of the jungle slowly returned, songs of birds of all sorts, roars of beasts and movement of the leaves echoed in the background. Small bits of sunshine occasionally shined through the canopy splashing orange light in my face. The day must almost be over... The temperature slowly descended, from warm to just a slight chill. The world around us darkened as we made our way back to the tree. I stared toward Twitch running beside me; his was still scared from his trauma earlier.

We soon reached the crater, the immense tree located in the center nearly blocked out the light as well as the canopy. From the cliff we came from the entrance was visible. A much more slanted area of the crater's side, right at the bottom of the entrance was a gap in the trees but still guarded by vines and thorns. Both Twitch and I made our way around the crater instead of taking my previous method of trying to board down the cliff side.  We reached the entrance, and began to make our way down the path. Pebbles and rocks pressed into my feet. When we reached the bottom, the vines and thorns moved to side leaving a large opening for both of us.

We re-entered the opening, various flora and fauna were scattered around the landscape. The grass was strangely well kept, in the middle of being like a lawn and overgrown almost like a pasture. Fenrir rested near the tree, his face a mixture of worry and anger. His leg occasionally twitched, almost as if he was running. I wonder what he is dreaming about... I walked up to the mighty wolf and debated whether to wake him or not. I'll let him rest for now. I walked over to Twitch.

"Terra, you there?" I exclaimed

A familiar figure stepped out from the tree, "I am here Celt, how have you been?"

"Oh just fine and dandy." My voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That is good to hear. Have you done the task, I asked you?" Her face remained deadpanned.

"No, not at all. I spent the entire day faffing about doing nothing."

"That is unfortunate do come back to me when you have beaten the basilisk."

I cross my arms, "Must you do that?"

"Do what Celt?"

"Act as if you don't know what happened even though you said you knew everything that happened in your forest."

"Actually it's a jungle."

"You see this face?" I point at my face, "This is my I don't give a fuck face."

"I'll remember that face. Now if you haven't beaten the basilisk then I'll be going."

My face went dead pan, "Terra, I beat the basilisk."

"That's wonderful news Celt. Now that Myriam is gone the jungle can go back to normal."

I ignored her saying Myriam mostly due to it would take too much energy to just get her back on track. "Yes, well that's all fine and dandy but can you now make due on your part of the deal?"

"Ah, yes, you wanted bark from my tree correct?"

"Yes."

A small piece of wood floated over to me, “I have not had such a stange request for quite some time."

"You mean someone else asked for some of the bark?"

"Yes, a zebra came here many years ago seeking the same thing."

"Was he missing a limb as well?"

Her voice did not change tone in the slightest, "Yes, in fact he did."

I suppose it's possible, in order to make sure a potion works someone has to make it... I lower my arms back to my sides and look over to Twitch. The small changeling had collapsed from exhaustion. He snored lightly, his eye lids slightly fluttered but other than that he looked at peace. I haven't seen that kind of peace since before the accident.

"He is lucky to have you." A motherly voice spoke from in front of me.

I look at Terra, "Why is that? I'm a crazy bugbear on a most likely suicidal mission and I brought him with me."

"Had you not brought him with you then he would have lived a life of sadness and sorrow."

"I suppose that is true. When did you get all motherly?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about; I am simply saying what is true."

I grab the wood and place it inside my bag. "Well thanks. Now that we have the bark we should head out."

I begin to walk over to Fenrir in order to wake the sleeping wolf but nearly fall over, "Celt it isn't normal for that to happen."

"Nah, you kidding me. Bugbears are known to stumble around."

"While that may be true, I think you should rest here for the night. In the jungle when it is dark it's best to remain in a safe place."

I was about to say no when I yawned. I guess the fights took more out of me then I thought. "Fine, you win this round Terra."

Terra walked back into her tree, she seemed to fuse into the wood. She disappeared completely into the tree leaving no trace of her ever even being there. I grab Twitch and begin to carry him over to Fenrir. I place him down so that he leaned against the mighty wolf in order to be warmed by the fur. I slowly lowered myself down next to him, Fenrir's fur pushed into back giving my entire body warmth. I finally sit on the ground lying back onto Fenrir. Grass cushioned the ground underneath me as well as giving my legs some comfortable area to be on.

I stared up into the sky and see the stars scattered all around. Luna's moon soared across the sky radiating light across the world. Gentle breezes pushed against my skin. My body began to relax, slowly my mind began to drift. My thoughts became slower, breathing gentler and eye lids heavier. Soon my entire consciousness slipped away from me.

Echoes of the Past, Fenrir's Fable (24)

Fenrir's POV

The realm of Asgard is truly a magnificent sight to behold even by a god's standards. Large towers of a lustrous material known not to the mortals that lived below our realm.  Each monolith scrapped the skies themselves, a golden glow given off by the towers reflect of the sun light. The spires each were constructed to house the deities of Asgard, and each one smoother than a newborn's head. A dozen or more halls and palaces were scattered throughout Asgard. Each hall or palace became more and more intricate the closer you came to Valaskjalf the hall of where Hlidskjalf the throne of Odin was located.

The cheers and chants of the warriors long since past as they drink and feast all they desire echo from the great hall of Valhalla. The smell of fresh meat and brew flew through the air into my nostrils. Large walls the surrounded the grounds of our world, stood tall and proud over everything, leaving only a shadow for the enemies of the realm to cower in. The rainbow bridge, Bifrost, stood at the only entrance to Asgard.

I rested inside a small forest located in the mighty land. Large oak trees scattered various places around me. The forest itself was filled with life, birds sang their lovely songs from up above in their nests. Various animals walk past me with curious faces but none dare approach me. I lay on the grass enjoy the beauty of the forest. The day had been quiet one, the gods had not bothered me the entire day. They must have feared to lose another contest of strength to me! I release a slight wolfish cackle at the thought of the gods fearing anything.

Memories of breaking the pathetic chains that the gods challenged him to escape from. The feeling of pulling was still on my neck, the gods had suddenly taken a liking to challenging my strength by attempting to chain me up. It makes sense why would the gods wish to have a weak wolf live among them?

The day continued to pass by each moment making me more and more restless for another of the gods' challenges. While they were simple tasks and fairly easy it allowed me to prove my honor and strength to those I looked up to.  The day was soon coming to an end, slowly the sun sunk below the horizon and I decided to head back to the city. As I began to leave, a voice shouted from behind me.

"Fenrir, the gods have another challenge for you!"

I turn around to see a familiar face, "Ah, Tyr, I was beginning to think the gods had no more challenges for me!"

"No more challenges? That is like Valhalla having no more mead! Now come over here, we must make haste. Better to not keep Odin waiting."  Tyr spoke in a firm manner.

"Yes, I remember last time we did. It was truly a sight! I almost thought he was going to start Ragnarok."

He looks down to the dirt for a moment, "He was truly angry with us."

"Well, when you are personally challenged to a fight, it would be quite hard not to be angry if your brothers in arms and family did not come and watch." I give him a grin which he returned.

"I suppose not Fenrir, now come they await our arrival."

I walk over to the god I had seen as an older brother my entire life. His blue eyes, giving a gentle yet stern stare at me. The difference of height between us slowly grew smaller and smaller until I was basically the same size of the mighty warrior. He wore a rounded shield on his left arm, small bands of uru encircled the fortified the shield. His body was clothed by simple cloth pants and shirt, he wore a kilt over top of the pants. His chest was covered by a thick hide body piece made from one of his prey. Near Tyr's waste hanged a small dagger and his blade. In his right hand he held a simple spear. A massive fur pelt hung on his back contacted by two points near his shoulders. The head of his bear pelt cloak rested on top of his head.

I soon reached Tyr and stood beside him. Slowly a divine aura enveloped his body, his once blue eyes turned pure gold. He placed his shield hand on my head, slowly the aura spread across my body, giving off the feeling of divinity and peace. The light surrounding us became brighter with each passing moment until we simply blinked from existence. I could feel my body be turned from matter to energy then back again as we traversed the gap between the forests and where the gods awaited us. I felt the aura leave my body as we returned into existence. Slowly my vision returned. The gods must learn a more effective way of travel that doesn't blind any mortals that they take with them.

I began to see again, surrounding me were most of the deities. Odin stood front and center, he wore a metal chest plate that only covered the front of him. A brown cloak flowed in the breeze off of his shoulders. His grey beard hung low along with his hair. A single patch covered his left eye, a symbol of asgard was etched onto the path. Beside him were his Valkyries stood on each side of him. Many other gods also stood before me.

Thor, Baldur, Freya, Freyr and various other gods crowded around Odin. I look around my current location. It appeared I was in the middle of a monumental arena. The arena was shaped as a perfect circle, ground I stood on was solid and compact. The dirt was tinted red from many eons of combat between noble warriors. A few bones and remains peeked out of the soil. This would take a lot of my strength to even create a small crater. A wall was erected around the ground floor most likely in order to stop the participants from running.

Above the walls were the seats. Each seat was in a row of twelve taking small breaks to create pathways up and down. The seats left one large seat open for Odin if he ever decided to watch the events. In the walls were various passageways in order to allow participants or creatures into the arena. Pillars stood on each side of the doorway, if they served a reason I could not tell. The last thing that stood out in the arena was an enormous stone in the shape of a tear drop. The pillar stood taller than myself, casting down a shadow onto my body.

"Fenrir, it is good to see you once again." Odin spoke in a stern tone.

"You as well Odin, may I ask where is my father? He usually comes to these events."

Odin's face remained plain, "He is tied up at the moment dealing with a rather large snake."

"Send a snake to fight a snake?" That comment got a few snickers from the minor deities until Odin hushed them.

"Fenrir, son of Loki and Angrboda. We the gods challenge your strength once more." Odin shouted getting to the point of this meeting.

I stood firm, "I accept your challenge, Odin."

"Good, let us test your strength Fenrir, we have created a new rope for you to attempt to break."

A small dwarf walked in front of the gods. His stumpy legs moved at a steady pace. A dark metal covered his body, he wore a face mask with goggles. Only part visible of his face was his brown scruffy beard, which bounced with each step he took toward the deities. In his arms he carried a large box, made of wood. Cravings of the gods and their foes were etched into the side of the box, each character was precise to the god they showed. Dwarven creation is truly an intricate think. I thought to myself right before the dwarf reached Odin.

The small creature kneeled making him even smaller than before. His raised the box above his head to present to Odin. The god of gods used a small wooden key and unlocked the box. The lid opened slowly until it stopped at a 90 degree angle. Odin smiled for a brief moment as he stared into the container. A box so small to house a chain to bind me? It must be a dwarven enchantment to make the inside bigger than the outside. Odin reached into the box and began to pull out something. I stood in shock as I saw what this new chain looked like.

The chain was a length of ribbon. Odin held the crimson ribbon in his hand firmly. The ribbon reflected light, other than that sole feature there was no difference between it and the kinds mortals make for their fairs. Odin grabbed another section of the rope and pulled outward. The rope tightened, however it did not break.

"Surely you are mistaken Odin, chains of the heaviest metal besides uru broke like twine to my strength. Surely you are not suggesting actual twine could stop me?" I questioned the deity.

Odin stared up at me from the ribbon, "Do you question my challenge?"

"I do Odin. I will not be insulted by testing my strength against a piece of ribbon that even my father could break with minimal effort!" I growled.

"Very well Fenrir, what if we give a symbol of piece to show you can trust us?"

"That would make it acceptable I suppose but it must be something important so I know you tell me truth and not lies."

Odin furrowed his brow while thinking, "What would be a suitable symbol?"

I take a moment to think. What is important to the gods? Not any mortal things like food and drink. Weapons and be replaced. Something a warrior needs to be at full strength.

"I want one of the deities here to lay their hand in my mouth during the challenge."

All the gods backed away slightly and few released gasps of surprise. I could hear a few of the gods whispering to one another about what I had demanded. Sounds of worry echoed from the gods' mouths. Then after a moment a cold silence filled in the space creating a rather awkward moment for both me and Asgardians. Odin stepped forward and broke the silence.

"Surely Fenrir you can ask for something more reasonable for the gods to offer. None of us wish to lose either of their hands."

I stood my ground, "They may keep their hands if the challenge isn't a trick. As honorable warriors I know you wouldn't try and deceive me."

"If you know we are honorable then why question the challenge?"

"Because of a lesson Tyr taught me, you can trust your friends but never trust them blindly." Several of the gods gave Tyr icy stares which he quickly returned.

"I see well surely yo....."

"I will place my hand in Fenrir's mouth." Tyr interrupted Odin half way through his sentence.

Odin stares briefly over to Tyr, "Very well, Tyr you will put your hand in Fenrir's mouth while he attempts to complete the challenge we have set for him."

I stare in awe as do many of the other gods, he was the only one who would have ever done it. He slowly began to walk to me. Each step almost made me flinch as he drew near. He finally reached me and offered his hand. I open my mouth and put his hand inside careful not to harm it. I looked at Odin and gave him a nod. The god of gods walked up to me and tied the red ribbon tightly around my neck. I carried the rest of the ribbon over to the large rock. Near the center of monument was grove where the ribbon would fit perfectly. Odin tightened the last knot then backed away a fair distance away from me.

I began to pull the ribbon, pulling it just enough that all the slack would come out of the knots. Once I knew that the knots wouldn't give away I began to push forward. I came a few steps before I was choked backwards by the ribbon. I push forward once more only for the same thing to happen. I soon used all my force in order to snap the chain with no success. I look upward and see the various gods smiling happily. A few snickers from the very back reached my ears. Odin remained stone faced. I continued to pull throughout the night until I finally gave in.

"I suppose I fail this challenge of strength don't I?"

"Yes Fenrir, if you give up now you will." Tyr spoke calmly.

One of the Vanir named Skadi broke from the group, "Stupid mutt! This wasn't a test of your might! It was a lie just so we could chain you up!"

"What?" I asked in disbelief being careful not to harm Tyr's hand.

"This. Was. Not. To. Test. Your. Might. You. Stupid. Mutt!" She shouted pronouncing each word.

I begin to feel anger well up inside of myself, "Why? Why would you trick me?"

Odin stood forward this time, "I am sorry Fenrir, it was to protect the nine realms. The Norns say that you will commit a great offence in the future."

"You leash me because 3 old hags say that I committed a crime that hasn't happened?" My rage continued to rise.

"You cannot understand Fenrir you are still a pup." Odin declared firmly.

That was the breaking point, "Understand what? That you want to seal me an away for something that hasn't happened or may not happen? That you those I looked up to for their honor in all things used lies and deception? What don't I understand?"

I began to clench my jaw. I felt as my teeth sunk into Tyr's skin. Blood began to fill my mouth, the sweet taste covering my tongue as I dug deeper into the god's body. I begin to jerk my head left and right in order to tear the skin, more blood came rushing out of the hand. I bit down harder, I felt the first muscle get cut and the rest of them as my teeth cut them.  My teeth hit the bone. I tightened my jaw making subtle tracking noises as the pressure on the deity's hand became too much for the bone. The crunch of the bone echoes from Tyr's arm as I bite down hard one last time. The bite completely severed the hand from Tyr. I swallowed the hand and the blood enjoying every last bit of it.

I stare up at Tyr, a bead of sweat dropped down his face, "Tyr you betrayed me. I thought of you as my brother and you misused that trust. You took away my freedom, so I take your hand as payment."

Tyr backed into the crowd of gods, covering what was left of his arm. My breathing was heavy from the excitement and adrenaline of taking his hand. The gods stopped staring at me and went into a huddle. I heard a few sentences.

"We can't allow such a threat to be in Asgard." A voice whispered.

I heard various mumbles, "We could put him in a separate realm."

"No we can't allow him near the realms. We will put him in separate universe from our own." A deep voice mumbled.

"It should not have access to uru but primitive enough that they wouldn't find him."

"Why not Equis? It's magics are weak right now and there is barely enough uru to make a ring."

Odin's voice boomed, "Then it is settled, Fenrir, for crimes you will commit I hereby banish you to the realm of Equis. Where you shall never return."

Odin laid a hand on the stone pillar. A dark glow grew out from Odin's hand until the stone was covered completely. The glow began to cover the ribbon as it approached me, like a virus slowly making its way up the host. Soon the glow reached me. A cold feeling over took my body as the glow covered me. Soon I was completely blanketed by the glow. The world grew darker, with each passing moment the shadows enveloped more of my vision until I was completely blind. I felt myself pass through the void between worlds, the empty feeling surrounded me. Soon I felt the void leave my body as with the glow. I began to regain my vision. The shadows did not leave however. With what little vision I had I could see I was in a cavern of sorts.

"This was not what I wanted to happen..." I lay my head down and began to wait.

A Cat named Owl (25)

   Slowly my senses began to return to the world. The smell of the leaves and flowers lofting in the breeze dancing around head were the first things I noticed. The sound of many birds singing in a chorus of their own song that they know simply by nature. The feel of grass and thorns pushing into my legs sending pulses of pain up my spine. Wait thorns? I roll over only to land on more barbs. I continue rolling around, running into more thistles until my roll was halted by two hooves. I open my eyes slowly so I did not repeat my mistake of being blinded by the sun. As the world clears, I find myself facing the stone faced goddess standing beside me, looking down towards my prone form.

  "It is good to see you're awake Celt."

  I stand up groggily, "Did you grow those there?" Pointing at the thistles where I once was.

  "I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. I simply allowed the plants to grow where they wanted."

  "Yes and apparently they wanted to grow under me, completely on their own without the help of mother nature."

  Her face remains indifferent, "Yes."

  "Can you at least help me get some of the thorns of out my ass?"

  "Remain still for a moment please."

   Her horn glows brightly in a green aura. One by one, the thorns are slowly pulled from my legs and side; each thorn sending its own tendril of pain through my body. This process continues for a few short moments until all of the barbs are finally removed.

"Why do I feel you did that in the most painful manner possible?"

  "Because you are a paranoid bugbear who has almost been killed on several occasions within the last month and is also piece of a game where the point is mindless violence to see who stands on top." Her tone remains bland through the whole thing.

  I feel a little uncomfortable how much she knew about me, "That’s.... oddly specific."

  "Yes, I suppose it is. In any case you should consider leaving soon."

"Why?"

"Because there are worse plants that grow then thorns." She said before re-entering her tree.

"What is with this world and it's females threatening me?"

I walk back to my position near Fenrir and Twitch. Twitch is propped against Fenrir's stomach, breathing gently. He has a strange peace about him that is almost foreign to me. How long has it been since I slept like that? I think as I watch them sleep. Fenrir lays beside the enormous tree trunk. His leg twitches several times as if he were running through a field. I slightly smile at the scene.

  I pull my crossbow out of it's sheathe, "Lenis Aqua."

  The moisture in the air begins accumulating on my crossbow. Slowly the droplets of water gather into an ever-shifting bolt. The water is clear allowing me to see the brown of the crossbow beneath the projectile. I press my finger against the trigger and let the bolt loose. The dart takes a short journey before hitting Fenrir, causing a massive splash.

Fenrir immediately jolts upward in a fighting stance. The movement causes Twitch to barrel forward, impaling his horn into the ground. Fenrir's head sweeps back and forth before he saw me chuckling with my crossbow out while Twitch attempted to free his head from the ground with little success.

     "That's what you guys get for laughing at me yesterday."

Twitch continues to attempt to free himself, "Ha ha ha, very funny Celt. Now help!"

"Ok." I pause for a moment and savour the victory.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute."

  "Celt! Get me out of the ground now!" Twitch shouts.

  I walk over to Twitch and grab one of his hooves, "We have lift off!"

  I pull upward, sending Twitch flying. I hear his screams as he spins around in the air. I laugh when a large thump is heard from the direction Twitch was flying.

"I hate you so much right now!" He yells from a distance.

"Agreed." Fenrir added.

  "Love you guys too. Anyway I think Terra wants us to leave soon."

  Twitch is just recovered from his recent flight, "Alright, I guess we don't want to anger a goddess."

"It would be wise." Fenrir said after finally rebounding from his sudden awakening.

I sheathe my crossbow, "Alright which way we heading?"

  "We should head west to the Volcanic Badlands, while you were in Stalliongard I heard it was a refuge for criminals." The wolf advises.

  "I think we should head east to the Blackmarsh, the hive said that it was somewhat safer. Also they would assume you would head that way wouldn't they?"

  I take a moment to think, " You both bring up excellent points. That's why I say we take both!"

"Celt, I know your a bit adventure happy but between east and west is where we are now..."

"That's the way my buggy friend were heading south!"

That worries Twitch some more, "The Hive had sent scouts that way. Very few returned, all of them said it was a vast desert that went on and on."

"Hmmm," I pull out the book with the list on it, "let's see. Ah, sand from the sands of time! Where else would you hide the sands of time rather then a desert?"

     "Somewhere cleverer Celt, I would assume the gods would have hidden that artefact where no creature would find much as myself. They hid me underground in the middle of nowhere. Imagine the trickery they put in place to hide the sands!"

     I laugh a little, "That's what makes the desert such a good place to hide it! If you want to hide something put it somewhere so obvious no one would bother to look there!"

"You really want to go to the desert don't you?" Twitch asks.

I jump onto Fenrir and smile, "Yup, now get on I'm sure we got some traveling to do!"

Twitch flies on top of Fenrir and sits himself just behind me. I give Fenrir a pat to signal that we are ready to move, and he rushes forward. We start slowly, but when we reach the exit of the crater he is at full speed. The wind howls from the speed we are traveling at. He takes long strides up the hill, constantly making both my and Twitch's heads bob up and down from the landings. We soon reach the top of the crater and stop to stare down at the area, giving a brief moment to thank Terra for her kindness. We turn toward the forest and Fenrir begins forward once again. We re-enter the jungle, vines hanging low like grasping arms waiting to grab their prey. We make a distance in before the shadows that had followed us throughout our journey returned. I still could only see vague shapes of what they were. They were humanoid, but they shape was slimmer than any human. Other than that their shape remained concealed form the speed and darkness of the jungle.

Alright enough of this crap. I'm getting rid of these guys right now." I pull my crossbow. I say 'Ignis' yet no bolt forms. No familiar heat or glow radiates from the crossbow. Crap I must be out of juice. I stare at Twitch and begin to think back to the Grand Galloping Gala, how Trixie had charged my crossbow before. It might work on my arm...

"Twitch can you pour pure magic into my arm?"

"Sure but why?"

"Just wanna try something."

"Alright, I hope you don't blow up from it."

His horn begins glowing with green aura, but it was different from Terra's. His  was more neon and alien, whereas Terra's was resemblant of spring grass. Slowly I felt the energy in my arm grow, and the normal feel of the arm returns once more. I feel the magic flow around the limb, tingling sensations running through the skin contacting the metal. The glow stops, the flow of energy suddenly halts. The pins-and-needles feeling slowly dissipates and everything returns to normal. I'll use minimal power so my arm still has juice.

I whisper, "Terra Ignis."

The pebbles that are flung behind by Fenrir's strides slowly gather above my crossbow. The rocks and dirt collide with each other, creating the shape of a bolt. After the spike had taken its full shape, a strange heat radiated out from it.  A soft glow eminated from the arrow. I raise the crossbow up to eye level and slowly follow the pattern of the shadow, then lead it. I take a deep breath, slowly pull the trigger back, and send the dart flying forward at a astonishing speed. Soon the figure appeared in front of the arrow, and contact between the two was made. Echoes of something breaking are swiftly followed by a wave of heat from a small ball of flame bursting outward. The heat dissipates, leaving me with a brief moment to enjoy my shot. Everything shot, bitch.

  I pat Fenrir on the back to signal him to stop, then quickly jump off the colossal wolf and begin searching for the area where I would find the body of the thing that has been tailing us this entire time. Burn marks on several trees and a few decimated bushes indicated that this area was where the bolt had hit. I begin looking around, after five minutes or so I find a log. The wood was smashed in half around the same area as where I would have hit the shadow. Splinters of the log are embedded into the surrounding trees. It dodged? Who dodges anymore? I walk back to Fenrir and Twitch.

"Fenrir, I probably should have asked you this earlier in hindsight, but can you smell whatever is following us?"

  "Yes, I could possibly find them. The closest things near us that I can smell are, several flowers, a manticore, a cat and a few insects."

I cross my arms, "You can smell insects?"

"They are rather large bugs."

"Right.... I think we should start with the cat since it sounds the most out of place." I hop onto to Fenrir.

"Alright, I'll start following it's scent."

I grab hold of Fenrir as he begins to stride forward. We meander through the jungle, occasionally stopping in order to get the barings of our newfound prey. Fenrir continues walking forward, ready to find the feline we were tracking. I look to the sides and see no shades leaping through the trees in order to follow us. If it's smart enough to dodge then it might have formed a community with others of it's species.

  "Fenrir, search for large groupings of the cat rather then the single one."

  "Why?"

"Stop questioning me and do it. I have not once been wrong about my guesses!"

Fenrir laughs a little from that, "Except all those times you were."

"Fenrir, just look for groupings or I'll take Terra up on that offer of removing your wolfhood."

"I'm sure you would Celt." He says with a hint of sarcasm, "I'll look for groups."

  Fenrir begins sniffing the air, jerking his head left to right searching for the scents of the furballs we were looking for. His head stops moving as he sniffs in a single direction. His back stiffens and he points his body one way.

  "Do dogs actually do that?"

  "Sometimes. Mostly so our owners know where to go or if we want to confuse them."

  "Huh... Anyway did you manage to find a group of them?"

   Fenrir shakes his head, "Yes, there are a few groups nearby I could smell. The closest is the direction I pointed."

    "Alright, we will head to the closest one and if it isn't the one that followed us then we head to the next one."

   "Sounds good Celt." Twitch pipes up.

   Fenrir begins again, ducking and weaving through the trees to our new destination. I take a brief moment to let myself to enjoy the scenery. Rays of light beam down from the heavens through the canopy. Branches hang high and low, almost like knarled arms of the trees reaching to hug one another. The sole sound of grass lofting in the breeze fill my ears. Wait, where are the bird songs? I listen closely, yet only the waving of leaves and grass can be heard.

  "Fenrir, how close are we?"

   "Not too far, why?"

  "Just wanted to know, thanks."

   I take a moment to process all the information I have acquired while adding what little I know about history and nature. Let's see, no animals around the area means there is either something scaring them or they have been over hunted. A group of cats is nearby. Obvious conclusion, cats are hunters and have over hunted. I pat myself on the back for figuring that much out about our feline friends.

  "Are we there yet Fenrir?" Twitch whines.

  "No, but the village isn't to far ahead. You should reach it soon." An unknown voice spoke from behind.

  Twitch smiles, "Thanks Fenrir, hey when did your voice change?"

"I didn't say anything Twitch."

  "No, I did." The mysterious voice spoke once more.

  I turn my head around in order to see the source of the voice. A humanoid cat was sitting directly behind Twitch. He has a slender frame: tall but no visible muscle, sorta wiry. If he did it is concealed by the orange fur that covers his body. Around his neck hangs various claws and teeth held together by a bit of string. His face is concealed by the top portion of a large skull that he bears on his head. Two blue beads of light are apparent in the eye sockets of the skull. His ears poke through the top of the skull from two large oval holes. On his back was a large spear, the shaft is normal enough; however, the blade is made out of a large scale of some sort and bonded to the stick with twine similar to the necklace, except thicker and slightly darker.

    "Who might you be? And why shouldn't I shoot you?"

    He grins, "Two reasons, first I'm here to invite you to a feast in honour of such a great kill you had! Second you would be dead before you could draw your weapon."

The word 'feast' seems to get Fenrir's attention, something to keep in mind, "What kind of feast?"

"The one with a lot of eating, drinking and very bad dancing!"

  "Sounds like a feast at Asgard!"

  Fenrir begins speeding up again, making all three passengers heads jerk backwards. His speed is a step above earlier: instead of just ducking and weaving he simply dances through the trees. Each time an obstacle passes I feel the rush of wind as the object moves behind us. The whistling of the wind is louder than ever before.

Christ, he really must like feasts.

   Fenrir continues rushing through the jungle, and slows only when a clearing became visible in the distance. I make out a vague wall of large sticks shoved deep into the ground. As we get closer I could make out heads, feathers and bones of a variety of animals all hanging from the wall. Some of them appeared to be others to simply ward off any predator that may come to the village in search of food.

Fenrir begins to slow down, his panting becoming more audible with each passing moment. He slows to a walk as we exit into the clearing around the village. From above, Fenrir I could see that the roofs were similar to the fence with the exception of having large leaves on top in order to make the water flow off the roof rather than through it. I look behind myself expecting the cat to be there. Nothing is behind Twitch anymore. Wow, that thing is a ninja.  I turn my head back to the village only to come face to face with a familiar skull helmet.

     "Holy shit!" I shout before I fall off Fenrir from surprise.

"Is that how your race says hi or is that introduction?" The cat turns his head to the side.

I groan slightly, "Yah, it's totally how we say hi..."

"Oh ok." He takes a moment, "Oh shit!" Then falls off Fenrir and lands directly onto me.

The cat jumps off, allowing me to catch the breath he had just knocked out of me, "You don't get sarcasm do you?"

  "Oh, that was sarcasm! Heh, sorry then." He rubs the back of his head. "Anyway, welcome to the Vena tribe village!"

I stand up, still recovering from having the wind kicked out of me. I crack my joints and the cat doesn't even flinch. My gaze moves behind him and settles upon the village. It is fairly large, several gardens were visible from the gate, each was located near a house, and is most likely that each household tended to a specific garden. The building walls are made of sticks but held more firmly with twine and some dried mud. Each house is centered around a large pit with a cage over top of it also held together with twine. At the far end was a building larger then the rest in both width and height. It's roof rose over top of all the other roofs.

I begin to follow the cat into the village. I look around, seeing all the cat people doing their business without even paying me a glance.   Weird, being so long I got so used to being stared at. This is strange. Various cats are planting and taking care of plants. Others are in small areas practicing using weapons. I see swords, axes, hammers and all sort of weapons all made of scales and or bones. As I stare a common theme occured to me: all of the cats that weren't children wear a single piece of an animal. One of them is adorned with what looks like a bone belt, and another had a had a wolf rib cage chest plate.

  We approach the large building at the end of the village. Various animal skulls hang around the house. Unlike the other houses, this one had a large porch and steps leading up to it. Must be where their leader lives. The cat leads me up the stairs and then knocks on the door. He waits a brief moment then enters the building leaving me, Twitch and Fenrir waiting outside. I hear various mummers come from inside of the house until finally two cats left the building.

There was the cat from before, standing a little prouder than earlier, and beside him is a bulkier cat. He wears several pieces of bones around his body: two skulls on his shoulders, both from a different animal, on his chest he bears several bones that got smaller as they got closer to the waist. Each bone is attached with a twine that went over his shoulders.  His legs had several bones along with a much smaller skull covering his left foot. In his hand he weilds a large sword. The sword reminds me of Griffin's from the Grand Galloping Gala.

  "Hello fellow hunter," His voice is deep but rough, "I am Torak chief of the Vena tribe. The one who brought you was Owl, my son."

   "Well since were doing introductions, I'm David Bowie, the wolf is Scooby and the bug is Bugs Bunny." My arm buzzes with the new energy flowing into it.

The chief's expression changes into a frown, "Do not take me for a fool. I can tell when something lies to me. Tell me your actual name and show some honour."

"Alright, I'll be serious this time, I'm Celt, the wolf is Fenrir and the bug is still Bugs Bunny," He gives me a glare, "Kidding, the bug is Twitch."

Behind Torak, Owl is snickering. I didn't know if he understands the joke or just thought it was funny when someone messes with his father. His father give a quick glance back and glares at Owl with the same intensity as me.   That guy needs to calm down for a little while. Owl stoppes laughing and almost went straight as a plank. Torak lookes back at me, his face returning to a slight smile.

"Well, Celt I am glad you came to the feast."

  "Now that you brought it up, why did you invite me your tribe's feast? I'm not even the same species."

  His smile widens slightly, "Bah, it does not matter. A hunter is a hunter, whether it is a giant or a miniscule speck. Your species does not concern us."

"A wise moral to go by, young chief." Fenrir walks up beside.

"Young? I am hardly young. I have seen things you wouldn't think possible."

Fenrir gave a wolfish grin, "I have seen eons pass by me. To me you are a infant."

How about we stop that conversation before you two break into a fight." Twitch steps up.

I look down at Twitch, "I agree with Twitch let's change the subject. So why don't you tell me about the feast?"

The chief is about to speak when Owl interrupted him,  "Oh it's a great thing! There is food, drinking, music, and the fights!"

"Owl, what have I told you about interrupting me? Even if I wasn't your father, it is extremely rude to interrupt the chief." If looks could kill then he would have committed mass genocide.

"Sorry, dad." He stares harder. "I mean Chief Torak."

The chief relaxes a little, "Sorry about that, my son sometimes forgets my position and how he has to call me Chief rather then dad."

"Yeah, so what was that last bit about fights?"

"Well they are so..." The chief glares back at Owl once again instantly shutting him up.

"The fights are special part of the feasts. It's where anyone may challenge anyone else to a fight in the pit. If they challenge me then they have a chance to become chief."

"That seems to be a lot to risk on a fight." Twitch speaks up once more.

"Twitch, these are true warriors, if they did not risk that much then the fight would be pointless. This is their way of life, you should not judge it." Fenrir whispers to Twitch, just loud enough for me to hear it.

"Never mind Chief, I understand now."

The chief smiles warmly,  "That is alright Twitch, I understand how hard it is to think how we do if you have not lived our lives."

What is with this guy? One moment he has a glare that could kill you, bring you back and then kill you again and now suddenly he is all smiles...

"Anyway ,when is the feast?"

"We usually hold them at night when most the prey has gone to bed." Torak's smile fades back to a blank face.

"Alright, if we are staying till tomorrow do you think you could give us somewhere to camp out?"

The chie takes a moment to think, "You can use the training field in the in the corner of the village."

  "Dad, can I show them around the village?"

"Yes Owl, you may."

  Owl walks over to me and grabs my arm and leads me away, "Come on I've''s  purpose. The largesthouse belongs to the chief and is where the hunters plan their hunts. Also, the Chief house had a small arsenal underneath it just in case a predator got into the village and was blocking the way to the actual arsenal. The house just beside the Chief's building is the weapon workshop, it serves as a place of education and where the hunters would arm themselves. Generally the current Weapon Master chooses several young ones to train in the art of literally making a weapon from anything. He also tells me all the weapons in the village are created from past hunts as a way to honour the death of the animals.

There is also a medical building, they use the plants that grew in and around the village to create healing potions and remedies for diseases. It also serves as a bomb factory. Brilliant. Place the bombs next to the healing potions, nothing can go wrong with that combination. Owl says that for bigger prey they combine a few volatile chemicals, and for the extremely life threatening prey they use a mineral they found, it generally causes sickness if held to long and must be in an oil until they are ready to make the bomb. When he finishes explaining it I tell him he should call it Frank. He asks why and I simply say,

"SCIENCE!"

  Needless to say it confuses him to no end. After he recovers from my mindfuck, he explains that all buildings serve a purpose and house a single family. There is also a butcher, trophy maker, scout meeting house, grave diggers and child daycare/nursery for the little ones. There is no school. Instead the children learn through direct experience at the trade they either chose or are chosen for. Everyone has their job and they are expected to do it well.

"So your dad is a little...."

Owl turns his head, "Strange, serious, weird, moody and angry?"

"Yeah..."

"My dad is chief, it's a lot of responsibility. He does everything he can to make the entire tribe happy and it's surprising how easily he can handle it."

"Wow, so you must really look up to him."

He stops and turns to face me, "Not one bit. I love my dad but I don't want to be like him in the slightest."

"That's not exactly what I thought you would say."

"Let me guess, you thought I would say, 'Yes, I do look up to my father and I hope to one day become chief just like him,' didn't you?"

    I scratch the back of my head, "Yeah, something like that."

"I don't want to be chief, that's a lot of responsibility and it would limit me more then I'd like. I'd rather be an adventurer like the ones in the stories they tell us."

Fenrir steps in, "Owl, that is a foolish thing to want. I have seen many that had the same goal, and all of them have met their ends before they could do anything really worth mentioning."

"What about you and Celt aren't you guys adventuring?" He tilts his head to the side like a kitten would.

  "In all honesty, I didn't think we would make it this far."

  I look at the wolf, "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence Fenrir."

   "Do you want the truth or lies?"

   "At this moment, lies..."

  "Alright, go Celt you will totally do that stuff." His tone is bored.

  "Thanks... anyway Owl if you want to be an adventurer then why no be one?"

   Owl's smile lessens, "It's apart of the tribes rules. Unless given permission by the chief, one can't leave the tribe or else they will be hunted."

"That sounds like the hive's rules. The queen would only allow a few changelings out as scouts or scavengers. If you left without her say then the swarm would come after them."

  "Sounds a bit harsh."

"Harsh or not, it's tradition. An able body is valuable thing. Now come on, I still got to show you the training ground where you will be staying." His smile returns as he began to walk forward.

"Alright." We begin following the cat once again.

  We continue to walk through the village, the strange feeling of no one watching me crept up my spine. I turn my head left and right seeing the cats doing as they were supposed to. As we walk my mind begins to wander. Poor kid, unable to do what he wants because of those that are supposed to take care of him. Brief images of my parents pop into my mind and how they completely ignored my wants and needs after the accident. I hang my head slightly, a tiny ping of guilt of leaving my parents why no clue to where I am hit me.

I look up once more, we are walking to a fairly large clearing pushed against the fence. The area is all dry solid dirt. A few dummies made from a unknown substance are spread around the outside of the field. Each one has cuts and holes from many days of training on them. The dirt has several indents most likely from the use of crushing weapons. A large ring of grass circles the area showing the boundary of the training area.

Owl stands in the center of the area and turns toward us, "Well, I've shown you the entire village. This here is the old training field."

"Does anyone use it anymore?"

"Mostly the new hunters, it's far back enough that they would only cause minor disasters while training." His smile is wider then ever.

  "Heh, funny joke."

  "No, actually it's true last training session here nearly killed half of the newbies."

He gives me a serious face mixed with a smile, "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed that they managed to almost kill themselves or just sad."

"That's what the chief said when it happened. Anyway you can stay here till the feast begins or walk around the village. I'll assume your staying over night to avoid the beasties that hunt at night, right?"

I take a moment to think, "Yah, I think we will. Twitch come on let's unpack the camp."

"Alright, Celt." Twitch walks over to Fenrir and begins poking around in the bag.

"Well I hope to see you at the feast but for now I must be going." Owl runs off into the village to leave me and the others to set up.

Twitch and I pull out two bedrolls. We both roll out the bed rolls so that they are placed near each other, but with enough room between for Fenrir to lay in. I go around the training ground collecting a few loose branches and dry leaves to use for a fire, then create a small circle of stones and place the sticks in a tepee, placing the dry leaves under it along with a scrap of paper from my bag. The sun is about to set as we finish setting up our camp. I stand and stare at our small camp.

"Fenrir, Twitch, what do you think about Owl?"

Fenrir looks over to me, " He is a good warrior but his goal is misplaced."

"I'd have to agree with Fenrir. I know he can fight but what he wants to be is unreasonable and I see why the tribe wouldn't let him go."

I take a another moment to think, "So you two think there is no way the chief would allow him to leave?"

"No." They both say in unison.

"Well then, we better get to the feast." A smile crosses my entire face.

"Celt, I know that face. that's your 'I got a stupid idea' face." Twitch says nervously.

I grab Twitch and hold him to eye level, "Yes, it is my stupid face. No, I'm not telling you what the idea is and yes you have to come. Any questions?"

"No....."

"Good, now let's go we have a feast to attend." I drop Twitch causing him to land with a thud.

I begin walking toward the village center. Various torches were lit that made the entire village glow with a clam orange light. Several of the villagers are just leaving their huts, a few hold food or are guiding children to the main area. As we came to the central square, I see a large flame rising above a few of the houses. Around the flame are the inhabitants of the village sitting according to their respective jobs.

Laughter echoes from the villagers, each one wearing an unusual happy smile. Several are having a contest to drink a random liquid that they must have brewed up. Others are digging into their meat viciously and laughing as they do. An aura of merriment pulses outward, causing more and more of the cats to join in the festivities. The tribe chief sits on a larger chair than the rest and is eating a large portion of meat.

As we enter the party we are happily accepted. Several cats shove food into my arms and other drinks that foam continuously. I look behind me and see Fenrir being swarmed by children, each one of them climbing all over him and laughing. I think I may have heard one of the elder cats say to put down a knife to the children, but it was most likely my imagination. Twitch is transforming for the cats and showing the different shapes that he could pull off. The cats gave off various oohs and aahs. I smile at the scenes happening before me.

The feast continues throughout the night, howls of the cats echoed through the air. The feast soon calms down a little. Many of the cats are sitting telling stories of hunts or their jobs. The chief finally stands up, causing everyone to become silent.

"Tribesmen and women, it is time for the best part of our feast! Now begins the fights!" The crowd gives a mighty cheer.

  Torak replies with a large smile, "Now who would like to challenge whom?"

  A large grey cat with a skull on his back and a small mouse on his shoulder stands up, "I, Tom, challenge Azreal in a battle of honour!"

  "I accept your challenge Tom." Another cat stands up.

  "Good, both competitors grab a weapon and enter the pit." Torak  back in his seat.

  The two cats walk to two separate weapon racks. Tom grabs a largat looked like several bones and a large scale with a sharpened blade. Azreal, a large black bast with a rib-cage chest piece, takes a thin blade resembling a katana from the rack. Both enter from opposite sides of the pit, behind them the gates closed. The chief rises up once more.

"Begin the fight of honour!"

With that the two warrior clash against each other. Each one dances around the battle field striking and blocking at a extreme pace. The two cats show great force as their blades meet against each other. The fight begins to slow and the warriors take their distance. They begin circling each other, preparing to strike at any moment. Azreal charges forward at amazing speed holding his blade ready to pierce. Tom strikes downward only to have his blade be deflected off of the katana. Azreal closes the distance in enough time and stops mid-swing, his blade pressed against Tom's neck. A moment of silence passes until the crowd erupted with cheering.

"The victor of this fight is... Azreal!" Shouts the chief over top of the cheering crowds.

The fights continue throughout the night, each battle ending by cheers of the villagers.  Every time they fight they fight hard and fast, trading blows yet still pushing forward.he competitors fought weaving through battle like ballerinas through the dance floor. Soon the night came to a conclusion and the chief stands up once more.

"Tonight has been blessed with much honour! If there are no more challenges to be issued then I officially call this feast to a..."

  I stood up, "I Celt the bugbear challenge Torak, tribe chief, to a fight of honour and the position of chief."

  Whispers spread around the villagers along with many faces of surprise, "Are you certain Celt? I will not be easy on you and most likely you will get hurt."

"Yes, I am prepared for it."

  The chief looks me over once, "Fine, I accept your challenge Celt. Go to the weapon rack and choose a weapon then proceed to the pit."

  I walk over to the weapon rack only to be stopped by Owl, "You challenged my father? What reason do you have to be chief?"

"My reason will be explained later but for now move. I have a battle to fight."

Owl moves to the side, the familiar feel of staring eyes returned to my body as the villagers watch me proceed to the weapon rack. I look at the weapons which held an amazing amount of variation. Large clubs made of skulls, swords with bone handles, and even a few axes were spread among the collection. One weapon catches my eye, it's handle is made of bone. The blade above it is dark brown wood lacquered in a crust of blood. The wood is built fairly sturdy, but held no edge of it's own. Instead, teeth on the side of the weapon were placed in order to not only cut the opponent, but create a saw motion as you pulled it out.  I grab the weapon, it's weight was not too much, but enough that I could use the flat end to crush my foe.

   I walk over to Fenrir and place my crossbow in the bag. I then continue to the battlefield ready to fight Torak. There is a slope where I could enter the pit. A large gate is held up by a series of pulleys. I enter the pit and the gate shuts behind me. I look forward to see Torak holding a spear similar to the one earlier only with some feathers for decoration. The chief stands ready to fight, holding his spear out toward me and his legs bent and spread apart.

"Celt, this is you last chance to give up on the challenge." Torak shouts to me.

   I take a stance holding my blade sturdy and legs in a bent position also, "No, this is something I will do."

   "Very well. You may make the first move."

  I begin to charge forward, readying my blade to strike when he jabs forward with his spear causing me to block with the flat end of my weapon. The tip of his weapon embeds itself into the wood. I quickly jerk back, dislodging the spear from my blade. I take a few steps back and prepare my next step, but the chief makes his move first. He dashes forward swinging his blade wide. I turn to block only to have his foot connect with my face, sending me back.

"Always watch your opponent, next time I won't be so nice."

I growl at him and get back into position. I slow my breathing and begin to circle as does the chief. A few moments pace before the chief strikes once more. He swings downward, causing me to use my arm to stop the blade. I use my free arm to slash at him, the blade creating a swooshing noise. The chief jumps using the blade as a launch pad in order to launch himself over me. He brought his spear behind him cutting my entire back, as I was trying to get him back in my sight. I quickly turn to face my enemy only to receive another kick to my face. I loose balance and he takes that moment to strike forward with his spear. I life my sword up in time, but the force of the blow causes me to fall backwards.

I look up from the ground and see him flying over me jabbing his spear down. I roll to the side and narrowly avoid being impaled. I push dirt behind me as I scramble forward off the ground at the chief. Holding my weapon with both hands, I swing forward with as much force as I could muster. He lifts his spear and deflects my sword over him as he jabs his spear at my arm. I jump back and regain my position, I take a quick moment to spit some blood that had collected in my mouth.

The chief take a much more lazy position, " Celt, there is no way you can beat me. I have experience. All you have is brute strength with little skill behind it."

I clench my teeth and stare at him with fury in my eyes, "Fine, Celt this time I will not go easy. I will strike at you with full force."

"Good, I was getting bored." I laugh a little.

The chief takes position once more, his stance becomes sturdier than it was before. He charges at a new speed I didn't know he had. He begins to repeatedly jab at my body, allowing me only to dodge or block the strikes as they came in. I am forced against a wall, the feeling of cold dirt crawled up my back. He spear lunges forward as I dodge, causing it to embed itself in the wall. I take this brief reprieve to strike at the chief only for him to jump onto the handle of his spear just at the moment I thought I had him.

  I look back at him, a smile plastered across his face, "Smug bastard!"

  I quickly recover and take a wide swing at the chief which he easily blocks with his spear. I lunge forward with my other arm, my fist connecting with his face as I felt the subtle crack. The chief reels back, his smile long gone. I ready my blade and smile at the chief.

He charges forward, slashing his spear rather then jabbing. I manage to block his strikes once more but his rapid pace left no room to attack. There must be a pattern. Let's count the tempo. 1, 2, 3, 4... 5. 1,2,3,4... 5. I found it, every four strikes there is a pause. He continues to strike and with each one I count to double check to see if my theory is correct and I found it is. I wait a few more strikes and then count. 1. His hits comes down hard right. 2. A left swing almost makes it to me but I manage to block it. 3. His last strike comes down causing me to be pushed back a little bit. 4, now. I must strike now! I lunge forward in the short period of time he has given me. I bring the flat end of my sword against his side sending him to the ground and his spear away from him.

I rush over to him before he can recover and hold my blade over his neck. I stare down at him, my breath is heavier then I thought it would be. I push the flat end of the blade against his throat.

"Celt, you should know something."

"What would that be?"

"When you hold a weapon against someone you want to keep it a fair distance away from them or else they can do this." His leg comes up and kicks my hand, causing me to drop my weapon.

  He quickly recovers and holds the blade against me. The teeth face toward me as he prepares to deliver the final strike. He swings down, and it seems as if  the wind itself was shredded as it descends. I raise my arm and stop the blade. He pushes hard, but with little success.

"Before this fight comes to a end I must ask. Why didn't you let your son go?"

  He laughs as he raises the blade off my arm, "That's a stupid question boy! I kept him here because I wanted to!" His voice holds an obvious lie.

"Alright." My voice loses all emotion.

I stare at my enemy and let my blade come out from my arm. The chief smiles, and readies himself. He lunges forward, his blade came to my side but it was slower than the spear. I see, the extra weight slows him down. I grab the blade mid air, then the shattering of the teeth echoes outward. I squeeze hard on the wood causing it to shatter from the pressure. He jumps back and reaches for his spear. I dash forward, grabbing the spear in his hands before he could begin to lunge once more. I squeeze once more, causing the handle to shatter.

  I hold my blade arm up to his throat, "The victor is Celt. The new chief is Celt the bugbear," Torak said.

The crowd gives mixed reactions. A few simply stand there clueless, others clap and the rest give me dirty looks. I walk to the center of the pit and stand proudly. I stare up at the villagers and they stare down at me.

"Members of the Vena tribe, I Celt the bugbear, your new chief, hereby give permission to Owl to leave the tribe freely as well as myself. This order can not bet undone by any chief after me Do you all understand?" I receive several nods.

"Good, I now hereby forfeit my status as chief to Torak. He is now your chief may he lead you well." I give a smile to Torak, which he briefly returns.

We have no smores...(26)

I begin to walk toward the newly opened gate leaving the chief staring at me. The crowd that had been watching us was silent from shock. Many of them didn't know exactly what happened. Just walk away like a badass Craig. The gate made from sticks, twine and a few bones rose up as I approached. A small climb up the slope and I was on even ground with the rest of the tribe, a few of the children that had managed to stay awake were huddled in front of me each trying to talk to me. I brush off the children and continue to my camp in the corner of the village.

Fenrir and Twitch soon join me in my walk,  the children had given up in their attempts to talk to me. We all share a silent walk to the camp. With each step the mood lessens slightly. Soon the small flame of our camp comes into view. The orange glow painted the two sleeping bags laid on the ground. All three of us soon take our places, Twitch on the sleeping bag beside me and Fenrir between the two bags. The silence persisted for a little while after until finally Fenrir spoke.

"Celt, that was incredibly stupid."

I smile, "It was."

"You could have died for a person you don't know with a dream of suicide."

"I could have."

Twitch turned toward me, "Why?"

"That's simple Twitch, no one should be held back from what their dream is."

"Even if it will end up with them dead?"

I lay back on my sleeping bag, "If people didn't follow their dream because they might die then there would be no heroes. Life would be brought to a standstill."

"Celt, though the days I have spent with you have not been many I know that there is a personal reason you did it." Fenrir spoke with the same bland tone.

"You know me well Fenrir." I sat back up.

Fenrir gave me a slight smile, " I know you enough that you only do things for reasons of your own."

"Fair enough, the real reason is because I was in his position. When I lost my arm I could do nothing I dreamt of. There were ways I could but my parents always said no. I didn't want Owl to have the life that I had for so long."

"Celt, you are quite possibly the stupidest creature I know. Owl has lived that life his entire life." Twitch added.

"Twitch, I wanted him to enjoy the rest of his life and not be stuck here where he will never have his dream."

Twitch lowered his head a bit, "I guess that makes sense."

"Anyway what did you guys think of the fight?"

"Oh, it was pretty cool, I guess." Twitch said first.

"The chief was going easy on you the entire fight. A fight is pointless unless both combatants are trying their hardest."

I look over to Fenrir, "How do you know he was going easy the entire time?"

"Celt, I was raised by the best warriors to ever exist, I know when a warrior does not fight to his fullest."

Why wouldn't he fight to his hardest? "Well that doesn't matter much right now."

"Mind if I join you three?" A familiar voice spoke behind me.

I turn my head and see Owl standing not to far away, "Sure why not? Take a patch of dirt and join us."

"Thanks..." His tone a little less cheerful then it was earlier.

"Not a problem."

"No, I mean for everything, I didn't think anyone could ever beat my dad. I thought I would be stuck here."

I stare at Twitch and Fenrir with a smile, "You don't have to thank me for that. All I did was give you options but it is still you who chooses if you leave the village or not."

"Well thank you anyways."

"No problem anything to help an adventurer."

"Celt, if you keep getting more people to join us then we will have to get a wagon for me to pull just to carry them all." Fenrir said in a much more cheerful tone.

"We could call it the shagwagon!" I laugh.

Twitch entered the conversation, "Celt, even I know that sounds like a 3 year old came up with it."

"Yah, your right does sound like a pretty stupid name now that I think about it." All four of us laugh in unison.

Owl takes a seat near Fenrir and turns toward me, "While it would be fun to travel with you guys, I kinda have my own plans."

"What might those be young cat?" Fenrir questioned.

"Well, so many weird things have been happening in the jungle. A timberwolf left the jungle, a metal creature ploughed through the creatures living here and two tribes moved away because of some griffin. All these things come to or go to one place. Equestria."

"Ah so your gunna go to that place? Good luck, I know there are more then a few screws loose there." I laugh.

Owl smiles widely, "I bet and that will be the most interesting part. I think I'll just wander around see if I can find any other cool things like you or those other things."

"That's quite the dream you have."

"Shoot for the moon so even if you miss you'll be among the stars. That's a old saying my mother used to say."

"Sounds like the opposite of the Hive's ideals. They say 'Follow orders, and you will be content.'" Twitch said.

Fenrir spoke this time, "Twitch, that are the sayings of slavers and tyrants."

"I'd have to agree with Fenrir, Twitch."

"I know, that's one of the reasons I was kicked out by the Hive."

This caught my curiosity, "You never did tell us what happened Twitch."

Twitch's face changed to one of unease, "I'll tell you guys one day but for now can we just leave it as is?"

Kid has been through more then he let's on. "Alright Twitch we'll let it go. Anyway, I think it's getting late and we should get to bed if we want to have early start tomorrow."

"Yah, your right. Hope you don't mind but I'm going to sleep in my own bed one last time."

Fenrir smiled at Owl, "It is fine Owl, many warriors wish to enjoy one last thing before leaving their home."

Owl stood up and gave us a weak smile, "Thanks, I'll see you guys in the morning."

We watched as the cat left us to our business. A small silence filled the air only interrupted by the cracking of the wood in the fire. I stare back at my friends. Twitch had fallen asleep almost instantly and Fenrir was doing no better. A soft smile crossed my face. Thoughts of the fight invade my mind. Why would the chief risk his position to me? Did he know what I'd do? These thoughts race around in my head for sometime before I decide to take a short walk. I stand up and look back at Twitch and Fenrir both sleeping soundlessly. Heh, if I had a camera I could use this as blackmail. I turn toward the village and begin to walk.

Small pebbles are flung back with each of my steps. The prickle of cold air encompasses my entire body. A subtle breezes blew my air back slightly. I take deep breaths taking in the cool air allowing it to fill my entire body. I stare around seeing the village shrouded in shadows that danced from surface to surface with only the flicker of the torches as a limit to their movement. I soon approach the center of the village where a single form sat on one of the seats facing the pit. As I get closer I see the familiar bone armour of the chief.

I take a seat near the chief, a brief moment of silence takes places before I talk, "Why are you here so late?"

"I could ask you the same."

"I needed to take a walk in order to figure something out."

The chief kept his head to the ground, "What would that be?"

"Why you went easy on me."

"I guess your smarter then I thought. " He laughs a little.

"Well?"

He sighs, "I suppose you deserve an answer don't you? Fine, as chief I must ensure the safety of everyone then their happiness. My son's dream put him in danger so I had to keep him here to protect him from himself."

I turn my head toward him, "Even I know that is stupid."

"Stupid or not it's my duty. There was no way I could allow him to put himself in harm's way. When you came along, you gave me a chance to free him from me. So when you challenged me, I let you win."

"Not without roughing me up a bit." I joke,

The chief laughs a little, "Well, I had to make it believable or else they would never had agreed to you being chief even for the brief moment you were."

"So you used me in order to allow Owl a chance to chase his dream."

"Yes."

"Good, it wouldn't be right if you hadn't." I stand up and begin to walk to the camp.

"Please don't tell him, he must think I truly kept him here for a selfish reason or else he will stay here because of a sense of loyalty to me."

"Me, lie to your son? I never lied before, oh my." I give hardy chuckle, "Alright, I won't tell him but he will eventually figure it out."

"I am fine with that."

I continue my walk leaving the chief alone to his thoughts. I make my way to our camp, only being lead by the torches spread across the village. This is confusing world I've thrown in. Soon I see Fenrir and Twitch resting, Fenrir snoring lightly making the fire flicker back and forth. I lay down in my bed mat and allow darkness to overcome all my senses as I drift off to the dream world. Please god don't let it be another mindfuck dream..

Stetson Fedora and a Whip (27)

I stood in the center of an endless field of flowers and grass. The only colors that were shown in the flowers were blue, purple and strangely enough black. They seemed to be arranged in triangles with black pointed towards me. Blue and purple were located on the other two sides. Each direction held no hills or any discernable features or landmarks besides the flowers. I take a look at the sky to see no clouds, no birds or even a sun for that matter. All that was located above me was a deep blue void that I could see no end to.  I begin to walk through forwards in the plain but it seemed nearly endless.

After what seemed like an hour maybe more figures began to appear off in the distance of the field. Each figured varied in size they were mostly pony looking but a few were humanoid and one was a large blob of some sort. Began to rush towards the figures but to no avail.

"Hey! Wait up!" I shouted at the figures.

Every step I took towards them made them move only further away until I was once again stuck alone in the void of flowers. I stopped walking for a while in order to take a break. I picked one of the black flowers only to be pricked by one of its many thorns. I begin to suck on my thumb to stop the blood from dripping all over.

I rest my head on the ground. The flowers giving more head support then you think they would. I close my eyes for a second taking in the peaceful silence before opening them again. When I opened them I was greeted by a shadow covering myself and the area around me. I stare at the sky in disbelief. I took a deep breath. The giant trout overhead of me soon came down on me.

"Damn it Loki..." I managed to say before I was completely crushed.

I quickly jolt into upward from the sudden shock. My heart was racing. I began to take deep breathes, exhaling and inhaling slowly. I manage to catch my breath and take a look around. Standing beside me was Fenrir holding another trout in his mouth.

"Seriously? Another trout?" I stretch my arms out.

Fenrir threw the fish in the air then quickly swallowed it. "I thought you would like a classic."

"Yah, right... Where did you even get a trout in the middle of a jungle anyway?"

"You can thank me for the trout." I turn my gaze behind Fenrir and see Owl approach.

I stand up and stretch the rest of my joints. "That doesn't answer my question. Where did you even get a trout?"

"I got it from a small lake not too far from here."

"Convenient..."

Fenrir gave a wolfish smile. "It is, isn't it?"

"Oh, your little bug friend is in the village playing with some of the kittens."

I look behind the two and see Twitch being chased by cat kids. “Heh, so when are we heading off?"

"Soon I hope.” A low voices speaks from behind me.

I turn around to see the chief standing there with a staff. "How do you manage to sneak up on me like that?"

"Practice."

"Fair enough I suppose."

"It also helps you’re a little unobservant...”

"Yah, I guess."

"A bit dim too." Fenrir added.

"Hey!"

Owl smiled. "Ugly too."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Owl shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing really. I just wanted to call you ugly."

All three of us give a quick laugh. "Alright since I'm awake I suppose we should head out."

"Shouldn't you eat?" Twitch spoke.

"How did you manage to sneak up on me?"

Twitch smiled. "Well you are..."

"No, stop right there. We are not repeating that!"

Another round of laughs occurs within our group. "You and your friends can take a fish to go for your journey but I would like you to leave immediately."

"Why so hostile all of a sudden?"

"You, your friends and now my son are a threat to our way of life now. The longer you stay the more likely it will cause disorder and chaos. I hope you can understand.” The chief's tone held steady the whole time.

"He is right Celt. The longer we stay the more likely another member of my former tribe would wish to follow you."

I hop on top of Fenrir. "Alright, as soon as I get those fishkabobs the sooner we can head off."

Twitch joined me on top of Fenrir taking his place between me and Fenrir's head. Owl opted to remain on the ground saying he was faster running then weighing down Fenrir. I gave him a solid nod. The chief and a few other village members loaded the infinity bag with some fish, herbs and other things that may come in handy for our journey. Began to set off but I stopped Fenrir before he could begin running.

I turned toward the chief and smiled. "Hey, you said it was a tradition for the current chief to wear the greatest kill of the previous chief correct?"

"Yes..."

"Well then here." I took off my basilisk eye necklace and tossed it to him. "Since I was a chief, I think its only right you get my trophy don't you think?"

The chief gave a warm smile. "I suppose it is. Just so you know Celt. You are welcome to comeback anytime. In the eyes of the Vena tribe you are a friend."

"Good to hear. Always could use some friends rather than enemies." I turn away from the village.

Fenrir darted forward. He began slowly so he could get the rhythm of the forest but began to speed up gradually. He finally reached his top speed. I grabbed one of the cooked fishes the tribe had given us and began to eat with the wind in my face. I looked around the forest and saw the shadow of Owl as he jumped through the trees matching Fenrir's pace. The scent of the fish was constantly pushed against my nose due to the wind whipping past us.

We traveled for quite some time. I looked at the sun through the thick leaves of the trees overhead. The sun was near the middle of the sky signalling it was around noon.  I begin to check around the forest in an attempt to distract myself as we traveled through the jungle. Just through the brush I managed to get a glimpse of what looked like a man made structure. I could only get a glimpse of brick through the thick foliage.

"Yo, Fenrir hold on."

"Do you have to go pee Celt? I told you to go before we left."

"What? No, it looks like there is something interesting over there."

Fenrir began to slow down. "You wanted me to stop for something... interesting."

"Yes."

"Right..." He finally came to stop.

"Ok, I saw it over there." I pointed off to the right.

"Fine."

Fenrir began to march toward the direction I had pointed to. I look around for Owl but he seemed to have disappeared.

"Where are you guys going?" A voice spoke from behind me.

I jumped upward and quickly turned around to see Owl. "Dude, you really gotta stop doing that."

"Alright, I'll try to be less sneaky. Anyway why are you heading toward the Shadow's Temple?"

"Shadow's Temple, so that's the name of the place we're heading towards."

"Yes."

I scratch my chin. "And would there be treasure inside this temple?"

"Yes, an old bast tribe used to make offerings to their god. Usually either living or in gold."

"What would the name of the god be called?"

"I believe they called it Tenbrion."

A smile formed on my face. "Oh, this is too perfect."

"What are you talking about?"

"Gentlemen, today we are raiding a temple."

Twitch looked back toward me. "Why?"

"Revenge, pleasure and were running low on funds."

"And who would you be getting revenge on?" Owl asks curiously.

I give a bigger smile to my friends. "Tenbrion, don't ask it's a long story involving a trip to hell."

"Right...."

"So do you think you can give us the grand tour Owl?"

The cat thought about it for a moment. "Fine, but do as I say. We don't need you tripping any of the traps."

I nod in agreement as we begin to approach the temple. We passed through the initial brush that had been hiding the temple. The building was larger than I had thought. It rose up to around half of the size of the trees. A green sheen came off of the structure as the light hit the moss coating the temple's bricks.  It took form of a pyramid shape at first but near the top it flattened out. On the peak of the temple was a large statue of a ghostly figure which I knew as Tenbrion. Man that guy had an ego. A large entrance was directly in front of us. The light didn't make it too far into the temple but from the outside I could see webs.

"Owl, when was the last time this placed was used?"

Owl turned his head slightly as we got close. "It's been abandoned for a year or so. A strange creature wiped out the entire tribe. We didn't see what had happened but from the amount of blood and destruction, we knew it was a slaughter."

"Sounds like a lovely fellow." Fenrir joked.

We stood at the front of the structure.  "Fenrir mind taking look out? It's nothing personal but trying to shove a giant wolf into a corridor that small is... well impossible."

"I do not mind. I rather not enter confined spaces if I do not need to."

I pat Fenrir on the side before jumping off him. "Come on Twitch time to go treasure hunting."

"Maybe I should stay here with Fenrir? You know have an extra pair of eyes in case something comes rushing out of the jungle?"

"I will be fine on my own Twitch." Fenrir spoke right before bumping Twitch off his back.

I grab Twitch and begin to walk into the temple. "Time to be a man Twitch. Owl if you would please lead the way."

"I would if I could see in front of me."

I look around and find a stick. I wrap tightly a piece of cloth from the infinity bag around it. I unsheathe my crossbow and hold it close to the cloth.

"Ignis."

Heat condensed on my crossbow once more. The flaming bolt appeared slowly. I held the cloth against the bolt until the flame caught onto it. I extinguish the bolt quickly and hand the newly made torch to Owl.

"Will this do?"

He accepts the torch. "Yes, it should work fine."

Owl began to lead us inside of the temple. The light of the entrance slowly faded away the further we ventured. Soon only the orange glow of the torch allowed us vision of anything. The hall was covered in webs and moss. The floor was mismatched making every step you took a hazard of tripping. Twitch kept close to me. His wings buzzed every so often when he heard a sound or if he nearly tripped. Owl moved slowly always weary of any trap that might be ahead of us.

"Owl what kind of traps are you looking for?"

"Mostly trip wires and pressure plates but it's best to watch for other kinds of traps. The tribe that built this place were a bit eccentric at times."

"How do you know if a brick is a pres..." I took another step and my foot sunk down with a solid thunk sound. "You know what? I think I can figure it out..."

I quickly looked toward each wall. For a brief moment I felt relief that nothing happened. A split second later I saw the shine of metal appear in a small slot in the wall. I quickly raise by arm up to block whatever was coming. A large blade swung out from the wall making contact with my arm. While the blade couldn't cut my arm the force of the hit was enough to send me up against the wall. For a few seconds I was pinned by the blade until it released. The blade sunk back into its slot leaving me to fall against the floor.

Twitch ran up to me. "Celt! Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy. I may be in extreme pain but other than that I feel right as a rose." I gasp.

"Good, because the longer you rest the more time there is for bad things to happen."

I manage to stand up. "Bad things?"

"I'm you asked for a tour so don't you judge my vocabulary."

"Fine, fine, keep going oh noble leader."

We proceeded forwards more. Owl kept a closer eye on the floor for any pressure plates as we continue onward through the tunnel. We soon came upon what looked like the central room. Various stone statues of Tenbrion were scattered on the walls. In the center of the room was what looked like a sacrifice table. A single tone slab table was located under what looked like a mouth of a dragon. Blood stains were covering the slab and the area around it. A single metal chain hung down from the mouth. The burn marks the accompanied the blood stains informed me of the purpose of the mouth was for.

On the sides of the room were mounds of treasure. Various gems and golden object glittered in the light of the torch. Owl moved to the sides of the room lightning each of the torches on the walls to give more illumination. Near the back of the room was a stand where it looked like a sword would fit. I scan around the room but find no sword that could possibly fit in the room.

"Hey Owl, I got a question."

Owl turned around. "Yah?"

"Why were there so little traps besides that one I triggered?"

"It's simple. Someone else has already been here Celt. Most likely the same creature that killed the tribe who built this place." Owl began to walk up to me.

It looks like all the treasure is here. So what did they take? "I guess it doesn't matter right now. Twitch, Owl help me carry some of this treasure out to Fenrir."

"Alright." They both say in unison.

We begin to bring out the treasures in small loads that we could each carry. Twitch was the most helpful since he could use his magic to lift the treasure rather than having to carry them manually. After a while we managed to get the majority of the treasure out of the temple. We began to load the treasure into the infinity bag that Fenrir was carrying as well as the bag Owl's bag. I went into for the final hull of treasure when I saw the chain in the middle of the room once more.

"I wonder what would happen if I pulled it..." I begin to walk over to the chain.

Cautiously I reach out for the metal chain. The ruff texture of it constantly being burned over years scratches my skin. Slowly I begin to pull the chain down. I manage to bring all the way down and let go of the chain. I wait a moment or so but nothing happens. I pull down the chain once more but again nothing happens. I pull down the chain once more as hard as I can. A solid thunking noise resonated from above me. The sound of more chains and metal hitting the ground filled the air around me. What did I do?

The dragon mouth closed and open similar to the way you would when you first wake up. The mouth opened wider and large bellowing sounds come from it. The walls began to crack from the pressure of the mouth exerted outward.  The mouth rose out of the ceiling and vanished for a moment. For a second there was only silence.

"Where am I? Why is it so dark? Who did this?" A low voice shouted.

I began to run down the tunnel as fast as I could.

"I can hear you worm! Get back here and explain why I am inside of this stone prison! If you thought you could contain me then you thought wrong!"

I see the light of the entrance as I run. My breaths grew shorter as I ran. I began shouting down the tower.

"Get ready to run!"

I finally reach the exit and see all three of my comrades looking at me.

Twitch is the first one to speak. "What's wrong Celt?"

"No time to explain! Get on Fenrir! Owl starts running now!"

"Why?"

The roof of the temple exploded outward. In the place of the statue to Tenbrion was a green dragon head. Its yellow eyes darted toward us.

"Because that!"

I quickly hopped on Fenrir. He started in a solid sprint as soon as I got on top of him. Owl jumped through the forest faster than I thought he could go. I give a glance behind us to see the dragon breaking out of the temple piece by piece. Bits of rubble were sent all over the area as we ran. Fenrir continued to dodge past trees and stones as he ran.

"I will find you worms! I have seen your faces and I will never stop hunting you for attempting to trap me!"

A large roar echoed through the jungle causing birds and various animals to run away. We managed to get a far enough head start. After about an hour of running we decided to hide in a nearby cave for the night just in case the dragon was right behind us. Various shouts and threats of the dragon reached our ears but he never did find us. As my worry of the dragon lessened I began to drift off into my unconscious. Soon I was asleep.

If you go into the woods today...(28)

Feelings of warm breezes brushed past my face as I began to awaken. The floor I slept on provided a excellent counter to the breeze by chilling the side that laid on it. Breaking the small bit of crust, I opened my eyes slightly careful to not repeat past mistakes of being blinded. The same stone grey walls from when I fell asleep greeted me once more. Light from the entrance of  cave shone on top of me. Rolling onto my back, I look up at the ceiling in time for a drop of water to splash onto my forehead. Using my metal arm to clear out the remain junk that had formed on the ends of my eyes during sleep, I slowly sat up. For a brief moment I stopped and stared at my newest limb. I could still feel the sensations of having no arm despite the fact I could see this robotic replacement.

I gave a brief sigh. One day...

I stood up and began my usual routine I had developed over the few months I had been in Equestria. I stretched out each of my body parts and cracked every joint. Proceeding towards the small bag that contained a great deal of the recent memories and trophies that I had 'obtained' during my short time in this land of techni colored ponies. Sinking my arm down into the bag I felt around for an apple that I could munch on. Satisfied with the fruit I had collected from my bag, I gave a glance around the cave for my companions.

"Must of gone outside or somethin..." I whispered to myself.

I took a large chunk of the apple before walking to the entrance. Light filled the opening of the cave for a short while almost as if it was the end of the tunnel. Three shadowy figures stood in the center of the entrance not moving at all. I walked a bit closer to the trio before calling out to them.

"Hey guys! What's up this morning?"

Fenrir looked back me. "Celt, you remember the dragon from yesterday?"

"Yah?"

"Was it capable of breathing fire, correct?"

I took a moment to think before responding. "Yah, I think it could. Why?"

He turned his head back. "Hmmm, as I thought. Look..."

I marched a little further out of the cave. The blinding light subsided leaving only the lush canopy of the forest in view. I looked around for a moment seeing what the three might be so worried about until I froze. A large column of ash grey smoke rose into the sky like the specter of death. I filled the sky with a dark cloud larger than any bonfire could.

I look over to Owl quickly. "Owl, is there a village over in that direction?"

"Only the Sef Tribe village."

"Do you think..." Owl nodded his head.

I scratched the back of my head. "How many lived there?"

"5-6 families at most. They weren't a very large village. We sometimes traded with them so I don't know much."

"What do you suggest we do Celt?"

I looked at Fenrir. "What do you think we should do?"

"I'd say leave them. It was a dragon and I highly doubt there would be a survivor."

"Celt, " I looked down at Twitch. "I think we should go and try to help them. Even if it is a slight chance."

"Owl?"

The cat rubbed the back of his head, "I can't say. I have no real opinion one way or the other. It's your choice Celt."

I gave a long sigh and looked at Twitch's face. He was obviously unnerved at the potential destruction we might have caused. Holding my head in my palm I gave a few moments to think.

If we go there it will only take longer to get the ingredients... but if I don't I might be leaving others to die from my mistake. Is this what those teacher were blabbering on about 'life altering decisions.'? Ok, Craig, we gotta keep going they are probably already dead, so there is no point in going over there.

"Alright guys, let's pack up. We're going to go give a visit to the Sef tribe to see if they need help."

Damn it, Craig.

The other three took a moment to snap out of their trance before heading into the cave to pack up. Standing on the grass just looking at the smoke as it rose so high, all I could do was think. "Is it my fault they might be dead?" kept running over and over through head like a broken cassette tape. I eventually snapped out of it in time for my companions to finish packing up. Both Twitch and I hoped onto Fenrir's back settled into our usual sitting areas. Quickly jolting forward Fenrir was off, not too long after Owl was running right beside of us. The strides of the wolf began to take a rhythm as they usually do. I took the time on his back to think about what we might have done.

Why did I say that? I mean, like Fenrir said, it's a dragon there is no way there could be survivors right? And besides it's not like we could help them anyway. I'm not medic. Fenrir's a bloody wolf of ancient worries die on a daily basis. Twitch is... Twitch and Owl is a hunter whose only medical training is where to stab someone to kill them the fastest! Ok, calm down Craig, all you have to is tell them what you really think. I thought.

I felt a nudge on my back. I spun around and saw Twitch sitting there. A mixture of sadness and guilt had taken over his face. His entire body was slumped down and for the first time I could really see that he was just a kid.

"Celt, do you think we can help any survivors there might be?"

I put on a fake smile and look at the child. "Don't worry Twitch, I'm sure we will be able to help them. Though I have to ask why you want to save them so much with such low odds."

"I think everyone should get the chance to be rescued..." He looked down at Fenrir's fur.

Shouldn't push the subject right now. We don't have time for a sappy background story. "Alright, we'll try to help anyone we can."

"Ok."

Fenrir continued to dash through the forest weaving through the trees as he always does. The closer we came to the village the smell of smoke and ash became stronger. Less animals became visible either due to the village being there or whatever had caused the smoke. Soon we entered a large clearing, the smoke's source not to far away.

In the center of the clearing was a large pile compose of the individual bodies of many of cat people. A roaring blaze had consumed most of the bodies leaving the skin charred. Around the bodies were several ruins of what would have been houses. Very few of the buildings were left standing and those that were had large slash marks and blood covering them. I shut my eyes for a moment hoping that it's all an illusion but when I opened them the remains of the village remained as they were. Hopping off of Fenrir when he came to a stand still I approached the village. Fenrir followed behind me his face of neither sorrow or joy but just neutral. I held back the reaction to vomit at what I was seeing as I took out my crossbow.

"Owl, do you think another village will come to bury them?"

"More than likely one of the other tribes will give them a proper burial. Though they might take a day or two."

I sighed. "Nothing we can do about that. I'll put em out so they don't cause a forest fire."

I entered the village's boundaries and aimed my crossbow at the bodies. Noticing my hands shaking I attempted to steady my aim. Come on Craig you've seen worse... You saw that weird light creature's memories. Just relax and play it off like normal. I breathed slowly making my hands shake slightly less. I slowly whispered the word "Aqua" into the air. The moisture from the forest itself began to form on my crossbow. Going from a liquid form to a almost solid crossbow bolt. Breathing once more I squeezed the trigger letting the bolt fly into the fire. A large hiss of steam erupted from the fire as it went out from the magical water. The smell of burnt flesh still filled my nostrils as I put my weapons back into it's place.

"Alright, let's go..." I turned back to Fenrir.

"Wait... shouldn't we... you know... at least look for some survivors? Maybe a few of them found a hiding place."

"Twitch, you must realize how small the odds are. There is no conceivable way they could have survived. Let us go and honor their memory as true warriors."

Owl walked around the village a little. "Actually, Mr. Big Bad Wolf, there is a chance that they survived. The Sef tribe used to dig emergency tunnels for escape. If we checked in some of the buildings we might find an entrance and maybe even a survivor in those tunnels."

"See? There is a chance, so we can't just leave them in there. They might be hurt and need our help."

"Twitch, just accept that sometimes people ca..." I placed my hand on Fenrir and shook my head.

Fenrir looked at Twitch for a moment and sighed. "Fine, let us begin searching for them."

We began systematically searching in each building whether fallen or not looking for a entrance to the tunnels. The majority of the buildings had nothing of notice within them and some had a few bodies that had escaped the burning. The bodies were usually either crushed by the rubble or had a hole through their chest making it very unlikely that they could have survived very long. Searching through every building until we finally found the thing that we were searching for. A large wooden trap door buried under a rather large building became visible after Fenrir pulled a wall off of it. The was nothing noticeable about the trapdoor itself. A large wooden slab with a big metal ring attached to it. We stared at the doorway for a moment.

"This it, Owl?"

"Yup..."

"So there might be a survivor down there?"

"Possibly..."

I sighed. "Alright let's open her up shall we?"

Reaching down and grabbing the hand, I yanked open the door. A ladder connected to the edge of the trap door and descended all the way down to the bottom of the tunnel. We peered down into the tunnel system only to see a small cloaked figure laying on the floor near the base of the ladder. The form shifted around but remained in the same place.

"Hello down there!" I shouted at the form.

The cloak rose up and turned around to look up at me. The figure remained hidden under her robe, all that was visible from the darkness were two yellow eyes peering at me.

"Oh thank goodness! Someone finally came to help me." A feminine voice rung out.

"Yah... do you know what happened to the tribe that lived here?"

She form looked down. "No... I was told to hide down here while they dealt with something."

"Huh... anything else? Do you know if the thing they were dealing with was a dragon?"

"I think so... I heard large steps and screaming. When the noises stopped, I wanted to peak outside but something heavy was holding the door shut."

Twitch pushed his head up to the door. "Is there anyone else down there?"

"No... I was the only one they told to stay down here."

"Only you? That does not seem very wise of the elders of the village."

"I'd have to agree with Fenrir. Why only you?"

"Well I was one of the only things in the village knew medicine so I suppose they wanted to keep me safe just in case?"

"Right." I looked at her but she kept her face hidden under her cloak.

The figure began to clamber up the ladder. Creaking with each step she took the ladder nearly broke. Owl offered her his hand to aid her in getting out which she politely accepted. Shifting his weight to help pull her out of the hole, Owl fumbled backwards almost falling over. The figure still hiding her face with the shadows created by her hood brushed off some dust. She turned towards me and offered her hand.

"I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. I am Elizabeth D. Bellum, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr...."

Something is right about her... "Adam Bugbear..."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Adam. Who might you're friends be?" She looked behind me.

"The wolf is called... Skoll, the bug...Hadi and the cat is... Filcher."

She giggled a little. "Are you sure? It sounded like you were making them up on the spot."

"What, no, I would never lie. I just had to take a moment to remember their names. We haven't been together for long so it's a bit hard."

"Oh, it must be nice to travel in such a large group. I only have Mortimer to talk to."

Twitch walked up to her. "Who is Mortimer?"

"Oh, Mortimer is my crow friend. He's just over there." She pointed a finger over to a crow perched on a table on top of one of the only intact huts.

The crow looked down at us from it's perch. Small crimson eyes were the only thing to off set the ebony feathers that coated it's entire body. Not moving a single muscle the bird appeared as though it was a statue. Elizabeth whistled sharply causing the bird to swoop down onto her shoulder.

She petted the crow on it's head. "Oh, Mortimer! You had me worried for a while you know. Don't you ever do that again."

All four of us leaned in waiting for the crow's response but all we got was silence. "Does... he talk back to you?"

"Oh, no. I sometimes pretend he does so it's a little less lonely."

"Right... could you give a second?"

"Don't mind me. Me and Mort will be here when you come back."

I walk all of us over behind one of the buildings out of the sight of Elizabeth and Mortimer. I checked around us to make sure they hadn't followed us before speaking to my companions.

"Ok, what should we do with her?"

"Leave her, we don't need more dead weight. No offence, Twitch."

"None taken... but I think we should at least help her get to the next village or town. We might have caused this entire town to die so it might be the least we could do."

I sighed. "Let me guess, Owl you say you have no opinion one way or the other."

"You would be correct."

I hate them so much...

"We might as well take her with us. Safety in numbers and all that. Come on let's go tell her."

We marched back to the hole only to see Elizabeth sitting there. She remained hidden under her cloak with Mortimer on her shoulder.

"Well Elizabeth, we've decided to help you get to the next village safely. That is if you want to travel with us."

"Oh my really? Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along and help me."

"Yah... well let's get going." I turned toward Fenrir ready to get on his back to leave.

"Celt, the sun almost down. We might as well set up camp nearby to conserve energy."

I gave another large sigh before turning back to Elizabeth. "Change of plan. Let's stay in the jungle by the village until tomorrow."

"That sounds lovely! I've never been camping before!"

"Ok, guys and girl let's set up camp..."

Trickster and a Liar (30)

We had returned to camp rather swiftly and safely. The aches and pains of my battle still pinged through my body. Elizabeth's taunts and words still rung in my ears. Various emotions filled my head. Fear, sorrow and anger were the most prominent emotions. Fear seeped into my mind like an ooze. Fear of dyeing because of this game. Fear of what I would have to do to win it. Sorrow for the people who she might already have killed. She talked like she has been doing that for quite a long time. Planning assassinations of people the moment she meets them. Lying better then I thought anyone could. The last emotion was by far the strongest. The moment that we reached camp I sat by the fire silently. I allowed the anger fester within myself until I could no longer stand it.

I rose up suddenly. "Fenrir, I want to talk to Loki."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm angry and he is one I'm angry at. Now do you know how to summon him or not?"

"I do, but I suggest not talking to a god while angry Celt. Piece or not you shouldn't provoke a god."

"Wait... what did you just say?"

Twitch perked his head up. "He said 'Piece or not you shouldn't provoke a god.' "

"Piece? Fenrir, you knew about it, didn't you?"

"Knew about what, Celt?"

Fenrir remained still and emotionless. "He wants to know if I knew about the Game beforehand. Which I did."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"You never asked."

"Don't pull that crap on me. That only works for comedic situations where I didn't almost get killed by a psychopathic chick with a bird!" I shouted at Fenrir filled with anger.

"Celt, you shouldn't blame the wolf for not telling you something. It seems that even without the prior knowledge you did fine. So why should it change now?"

"Because, now I know that their are psychopaths that want to murder me for a wish upon a star!"

"Technically it's a wish upon a god or godlike being."

"Fenrir, just tell me how to summon your father before I shoot someone."

The massive wolf sighed and rose up. "Fine, but you face the wrath of my father. Leave the rest of us out of it."

"Fine."

For the next few minutes Fenrir showed me the summoning ritual for Loki. We grabbed various types of leaves from the forest and began to draw a summoning sign for him. The sign was a large circle with nine individual circles in side of it. The nine circles were then connected by lines that created an almost tree looking shape. A few more symbols were placed on the outside of the circle before Fenrir informed me that we were ready.

"There you go, Celt. Now just say the words I taught you and he should be summoned."

I nodded to Fenrir. "Loki, son of Fárbauti and Laufey, I summon thee to this place. By the will of Odin and the world tree, Yggdrasill, you shall heed this call. By my name..."

"I get it, you want to talk to me. You can stop with the chant." A feminine voice rung out from behind me.

I turned around to face a beautiful young women. Her face was smooth and so delicate looking. Her eyes were a dark brown that nothing could compare to. Black strands of hair swung infront of her face before she blew them away. She looked in perfect health and showed no sign of imperfection from what I could gain.

"I... who are you?"

"Please don't tell me, my own piece can't distinguish an illusion from a reality." Her voice changed to that of Loki's.

"I... what... uh, your a... girl?"

"You mortals and your preconceived notions of gender of gods. Do you honestly think that beings of nearly unknowable power aren't capable of turning into the opposite gender?"

"It's not that... It's more, why are you a girl?"

Loki crossed his arms and looked rather annoyed with me. "I was on a date. Which you interrupted by summoning me here. Now, please make this quick, I want to get back to seducing a mortal."

It took a moment to get over the fact that Loki was a girl. "That doesn't matter right now I suppose. What does matter is why you didn't tell me about this damn game?"

"You never a..."

I quickly interrupted him. "Don't you say 'You never asked', your son already said that and I won't let it slider twice. Now give me an actual answer!"

"Don't get pissy with me. The only reason you're alive at all is because of me."

"I was thrown into life threatening situations because of you."

"If it wasn't for my intervention then you would be playing a rather permanent game of hang man right about now."

"What does that mean?"

Loki shook his head disappointingly. "You don't really need me to tell you Celt. You were on the brink of breaking. The constant bullying and being ostracized by basically your entire world. If I didn't come in then you would have snapped like a twig."

"Like I'd believe the god of tricksters."

"God is the keyword there. If you don't believe then that's fine but it doesn't make it less true. With how things were going for you and how they would keep going. You would have finished that building's work."

"Well...uh... that still doesn't make up for you not telling me shit about this damn game!"

"I suppose it doesn't but let me ask you this, does it really matter?

I shocked for a moment. "Yes, it freaking matters!"

"Why? What would you have done differently? Would you have avoided any chess piece at all costs, because that is practically impossible. You would be found eventually and it would just be a mercy killing for someone so pathetic. "

I took a step forward in defiance. "I'm not pathetic!"

"Well, not now anyway but frankly you would be if you tried to hide like a little child."

"Well, I might not be able to hide but maybe I could..."

"Could what? Kill them? Do you honestly think you could even attempt that after getting your ass shot out a window by the poster boy for angst weekly, nearly decapitated by bounty hunter, almost becoming a statue and having the ever loving shit beat out of you? And besides, could you even handle having that much blood on your hands?"

"Of course, I can handle it!"

"Oh really? Is that why you hide behind a mask of abrasiveness and lies? Because you can handle it? Kid, you can't even handle the puddle of blood you have on your hands. Let alone the ocean that you would have to spill to kill the others."

"I am perfectly fine killing! I've done it before and I can do it again!"

"And now you are blatantly lying to me and yourself."

"I am not!"

Loki sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I am not going to get into a 'am not, are so' fight with you. I am a trickster god, and I can see when mortals try to lie to me. Celt, Adam, Craig, or whatever the hell you call yourself, your not a killer. Your a kid in Disney Land realizing that the commercials were bullshit."

"If I am just a kid then why did you pick me? I mean there has to be a reason for you putting a piece into this game. So why not a professional killer can actually win you the game."

"Honestly, it was just luck. I was going to meet another person at that café and get him to become my chess piece. You just happen to be there and you were the only one to answer my questions at all. So I ditched the other guy and threw my chips in with you."

I stood there a bit shocked at what he said. "So, you threw me into a death match because I answered your questions..."

"Yes, that is basically the reason."

"I think I've developed a hate for both you and Lady Luck."

"Careful with what you say, you never know who you might offend. Now, if you're done being a bratty child, then I must going. My date is probably freaking out that I randomly bursted into flames."

All I could really muster to say after all the shock was, "Kay..."

"Oh, and Fenrir, I'm calling a family meeting soon about the whole you being ridden around like a pack mule thing."

"A family meeting?"

Loki didn't reply but merely smiled as he vanished into thin air. The summoning sign had disappeared along with the all of the ingredients. There was silence before Owl broke it.

"Well that went better then expected."

"What do you mean?" Twitch questioned.

"I didn't think Celt would let off easy for summoning a god like him when angry."

"It is strange for my father only to give him something like that. Usually, he would either abandon you because his toy 'broke' or he would simply play some trick on you to teach you a lesson. He almost never gives the message straight."

"Sound like some kind of parenting technique."

"The portion that mortals call the 'talk' was quite awkward and interesting."

I looked back at my group. "Wait, was that Loki's letting me off easy?"

"Yes."

"So giving me the third degree was getting off easy for him."

"Better then getting third degree burns."

"Um... Celt, are you done being angry?"

"Yah! Do we need to summon up another god for you?"

"I know a summoning incantation to summon my sister."

"No, no ,no , I'm good. I just needed to get that bullshit off my shoulders. Though I do want to punch Loki in his non gender specific face..."

A wolfy howl resonated from Fenrir. "As do most gods in Asgard! If you managed to do it, I'm sure they were reserve a seat in Valhalla for you!"

"I'd love to be there when it happens."

"I wouldn't... I frankly like keeping my life."

Getting over my emotions after attempting to throw them on Loki, I quickly run back to my seat by Twitch. "Twitch, come on! Your too scared! The next time we have a psychopathic killer come after us, you will be the one we throw at them."

"Wait what?"

"I second the motion! Twitch, would make a fine warrior for the halls of Valhalla!"

"I third the motion!"

"Motion passed! Twitch is now the next warrior of our battle!"

Laughter resonated from all of us except Twitch who hurriedly tried to quell the idea of him having to fight. The jokes and conversations continued on for quite sometime. Yet, the words Loki said to be stuck like Glue. Would I kill to get back my arm? Better yet, will I have to? Even with those thoughts I refused to let it show. I continued to laugh with group and tell stories with them. Twitch was nearly frozen in fear after Fenrir's first story about the dragon Fafnir and his greed. Owl told stories of some of his greatest hunts. I attempted to share some old horror stories that I usually heard. Twitch was far to scared to even speak let alone tell a story. By the end of the night I had almost forgotten everything that had happened. My anger had vanished along with the rest of the emotions due to the fun with my companions. Yet there was something scratching at my mind more then anything. More then the moral dilemma I might face in the future. One thought that occurred to me was. What did Loki mean by a family meeting?

History Lesson (31)

I awoke fairly early in the morning. The sun could been seen just rising above the horizon and the sounds of life just now coming to existence. Birds chirped a merry song of what the hell birds sing songs about. Subtle breezes roiled through the forest blowing leaves in it path. Beginning my morning routine by stretching out my limbs attempting to shake off the numbness of sleep. I gave a big hearty yawn when I went over to examine my companions. All three of them sound asleep like newborns. It almost brought a smile to my face seeing them but the memories of last night stopped that.

Images of Loki scolding me like a 5 year old who stole from the cookie jar popped into my mind. It didn't help that he was a attractive women at them time either. Stupid sexy female Loki... I shook my head to get rid of that horrid thought.

Looking back at my friends an idea emerged. This idea brought a smile that even the devil would be proud of. They look so peaceful. I slowly circled around them to make sure they were fully asleep. Fenrir's loud snoring seemed to make the ground around shake a bit. The changeling laid against Fenrir as if he were an oversize plushy. The odd one out of our group, Owl, was off on his own side of the camp. He slept against a small boulder with his skull helmet still covering his face. That's... creepy. My smile only grew larger learning that they were still deep asleep.

I reached to my back and pulled my crossbow out of it's sheathe. The brown gem that made up the weapon shone in the light of the sun. Still smiling, I whispered into the crossbow.

"Aqua."

It began to get damp all around me as water was pulled to the crossbow. Drips and drops quickly came together into a semi solid mass. The water bolt glistened under the light. My smile only grew larger as I took the bolt from it's place. I held onto the new born water explosive before tossing it into the air as hard as I could. I quickly ran over to a tree and hid behind it preparing for the fun.

Looking up I saw the bolt contract and expand ever so slightly. Just as it reached it's peak, it exploded. A large amount of water erupted from the spot of the bolt all at once. It sprayed the trees and nearly soaked me as well. Yet most importantly the torrent of water collapsed down onto my friends with quite some force. Twitch was washed to a nearby tree while Owl struggled to keep his helmet from being washed away. Fenrir got the brunt of the water which completely soaked his fur. All three of them got up from their attack and shook furiously. I was almost amazed by how fast Fenrir and Owl seemed to shake a good portion of the water off them. Twitch was not as lucky and walked back to the camp from the tree still dripping. I could not contain my laughter after seeing the changeling walk around with an annoyed expression with water dripping off him.

Coming out from behind the tree. "And that is revenge for all the times you guys screwed with me while I slept."

"I gotta admit, it was funny but that doesn't mean I won't get you back for it."

"I can see why Loki likes you so much. You are basically a clone of him."

"Except he is taller."

:"And much more powerful..."

"And less of an asshole..." Twitch quickly put his hooves against his mouth.

For a moment all of us stood silent before breaking out into laughter. "Yes Twitch, my father is much less of an 'asshole' than Celt!"

"Alright, now that were all awake, thanks to my brilliant prank. Shall we be off?"

"I suppose so."

"I wouldn't want to make the water you used a waste..." Twitch grumbled.

I smiled happily before looking back at Fenrir. "Fenrir, I want to ask you somethings."

"I suppose it's about the game isn't it?"

"Yes, if I am in this death match I want to know at least the rules of it."

"Really?"

"Yes, so if I see another cute and innocent girl who happened to be in a wrecked village, I know what she is and isn't allowed to do to me... that came out wrong."

"For second there Celt, you sounded like a warrior."

Owl yelled out right after Fenrir. "For the other second he sounded kinky!"

Another round of laughs came out of our merry crew. "But if you do really want to learn about the game, then I will answer your questions as we travel. For now help dry and put away our camping supplies."

"Alright."

After nearly an hour of waiting for the camping supplies to dry out from a combination of the sun and the heat from my ignis bolt, we finally set out. We continued on our way to the desert. Owl resumed his ridiculous tree jump traveling while me and Twitch rode on top of Fenrir. The familiar breeze of going high speed which I had become accustomed to hit my face. After a short while I looked down at Fenrir and decided to start this makeshift lesson.

"Fenrir, can you now tell me about the game?"

"Alright, I cannot tell you about this current game since I was imprisoned long before it even started. I can tell you a bit about the history of the games."

"Kay, lay it on me."

"This is Game used to be an old tradition that fell out of practice for quite sometime. The creator of a specific game would create the rules for it. Usually they were the same rules, such as: no helping them once they arrived or no smiting other's pieces. The prizes for each game tend to vary as well."

"Hold up, did you ever play this game?"

"No, though I did watch quite a few of them. I remember one specifically, where the kitchen god, Zao Jun, challenged all other gods to see who could make the best chef inside a hostile environment. I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the judges due to my *cough* hunger..."

"Wait... there is a kitchen god? There is actually a god for the kitchen!?"

"Yes, and I must say he made the best Game in history. I will never forget the taste of butterfly'd and braised cockatrice, with a mushroom sauce. It was like Valhalla and a War had intercourse and created that marvel of taste!"

"Damnit, we should have hunted a cockatrice..."

"I didn't get the recipe though... Anyway the winner of that competition, was rewarded with a godly 5 star rating. I think he set up a small restaurant. I wonder if he is still open..."

"Fenrir, focus on the things ahead of us... Not your stomach..." Twitch commented.

"Relax, Twitch, I am a warrior, I was made to run hungry! It just means I can eat more food later!"

"Anyway back onto topic... Fenrir what else can you tell me?"

"That the amount my father interferes is a sign of the limits created by the rules. From what I can guess, you're on your own and you won't be smited."

"Didn't you say those were the usual rules?"

"Yes, that why I can say that they exist in this game."

"So the only thing we really know is were not getting help, were not going to be exploded by godly furry and that this isn't a cookoff... Which is a shame because I can bake a mean gingersnap cookie."

"Gods will not be impressed by gingersnap cookies."

"How do you know? Maybe they have a soft spot of them!"

"Because some guy at that cookoff thought the same. Zeus was so annoyed that a mortal thought that would be suitable for a god that he turned his life span into a box of donuts and threw it into a fat camp. The guy watched his life get eaten away by morbidly obese children."

"I still think my gingersnaps are worthy enough..."

"And I think you need to focus more on hand. Now that you know about the game, you should be more cautious towards others and not try to draw attention to yourself."

"I never drew attention to myself!"

"Celt, weren't you the one bragging about being a wanted man in Equestria?"

"Twitch, you are not helping right now."

"You're not listening... Fenrir is right, you can't just flaunt your 'stuff' anymore. You don't know if... if someone might be waiting around the corner with knife."

"Relax, Twitch, I'll be fine. If someone tries to shank me, I'll shove their head into a wall."

"Celt, just try to lay low."

I notice he isn't looking at me but rather his compass. "Alright Twitch, I'll try to lay low."

"Low and behold a miracle has been bestowed upon us. I guess I was wrong about divine intervention."

"Oh shut it..." I slumped back and crossed my arms.

We traveled forward with only the sounds of the nature around us. I had just began to get used to the green foliage that had surrounded me this entire time. Such strange life seemed to flourish in this place. I smiled as I gazed upon a sight that would make any artist jealous of me. In front of me was a lush grove of flowers all showing such amazing colors. It almost seemed as if a rainbow had made it's home. Light shone upon the opening like the light of the gods themselves. In an instant we had passed the sight. I snap myself out of the trance I had come into by watching it and turn my attention ahead of us.

Directly in front of us was a what looked like a pathway. It was a rough dirt path that lead towards a opening ahead of us. I could make out a small town with a river of some sort beside it. Once we got closer the river almost seemed to expand. It grew larger until it stretched past my vision and disappeared into a fog. I looked at the dirt path, only to notice a small wooden sign that read "Welcome to Port Longwood." in old shaky writing. My mind went aflutter when I read that sign thinking up a bunch of jokes about it like: "The citizens must be compensating for something." or "I wonder if their able to do push ups." After my short joy ride of bad and immature jokes all I could only think one thought. God, I am immature...

Right before the village both Owl and Fenrir stopped. Twitch and my head jerked forward from the sudden halt. I looked down at Owl and got off Fenrir.

"Yo, Owl what's up?"

"This is where we part ways friend."

"What do you mean? You're our friend dude, come and join us!"

"Celt, you're a fun guy and I like all three of you but I have my own goals and ambitions. If I get tied down with your ambition then there would be no point of even leaving the Vena Tribe."

"Well then I suppose this is goodbye?"

"Nope, there are no such things as goodbyes. Instead I will see you later. Hopefully with a matching set of arms."

"It was an honor to travel with a hunter such as yourself, Owl."

"Same to you big buddy. Oh and Twitch?"

"Yah?"

"When we meet again, I expect you to be a badass and remember the vote passed! You kill the next psycopath!"

Owl rushed into the forest leaving us to ourselves. A joyful smile covering his face and a skip in his step. I couldn't help but feel happy for him. Can't wait to see him again... I turned towards Fenrir and Twitch.

"Well guys, time to get down to buisness."

"Yup."

"Indeed."

With those word we walked forward into Port Longwood.

Someting Lost... (1)

This takes place in the universe that Rust, Blackwing and many other authors stories have taken place.

You know about all those stories where the hero ends up in Equestria? You know the kinds of clichéd stories where the hero is a chosen one or some random guy picked off from home? There’s that moment right before their epic journey where they preach some self-proclaimed valuable piece of advice to every person reading? You know what I’m talking about. It’s that one piece of advice that seems completely worthless in real life? Yea, well it turns out that it’s a lot more useful than the average reader, which is you, will think. So, I will say that same advice that so many before me have said.

If some random dude comes up to you and asks if you want to go to Equestria, just say no.

Maybe I should start from the beginning.

Hello, the name’s Craig. I’m pretty screwed up in terms of mental and physical capabilities. When I was seven, I lost my arm when an apartment complex collapsed due to a resident’s unfortunate addiction to setting crap on fire! The building just tumbled on top of me and darkness fell. Despite all sense of reason saying otherwise, I survived. What happened?

Well, by good fortune, a street lamp managed to shield me from some of the collapsing building. Turns out it held open a small pocket of air for my body to squeeze through.

Well, by bad fortune, it turns out that the pocket hadn’t quiet stabilized yet. When I entered through, one of the more jagged pieces of cement came crashing down. I don’t know what happened next, my eyes were grazing at what my arm had become and my senses were focusing on the debilitating pain separating my arms from my shoulders. I was probably screaming, I don’t know, it all became one giant memory of pain. I must have passed out from shock before the rescue team found me.

When I come to, comforted by the bed and my eyes adjusting to the lights of a hospital, I noticed something. I couldn’t feel anything from my right side. I tried moving my right arm and when my eyes darted to my right side, I realized what had happened. They said it had to be done. The damage sustained was just too much to bear. It was either that, or risk the consequences of traumatic rhabdomyolysis or, in laymen’s terms, crush syndrome.

Two months had passed, I had walked past the entrance of the hospital with a brand spanking new plastic prosthetic arm. My parents weren’t exactly the ideal picture perfect example of caring parents. They did spend a minimum amount of money while I was in the hospital, but it wasn’t to save money for a better arm replacement nor was it them simply being frugal. It was all for that expensive vacation the two of them took while I was in the hospital.

Once the realization dawned on me, I fell into a depression. I couldn’t draw afterwards, at least not as well as before. I even tried to end my suffering a few times over the next few months. Unfortunately, I realized that trying to slit your wrists with a single arm was difficult to say the least, so was trying to hang yourself. Eventually I learned to overcome that depression and with it, I now carry a motto.

“If it can happen, it will.”

Discovering My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic when I was 14 was probably the best thing to ever happen to me, having been hooked onto it ever since. I’ve pretty much watched every episode about two to three times. The one episode that holds a special place in my heart was Luna Eclipsed just because of the premise of the episode. Luna being an outcast, the only thing I could do was sympathize with her plight and see myself in her. MLP, no matter how cliché it sounds, it changed my life.

After discovering it, my outlook on life had brightened, but there was still a shade of grey in there. After a while, I started reading some stories like Devil’s Due by All American, realizing just how much of a shithole our world was compared to the heaven that was Equestria. I’ve always wanted to live in a place like that. Just to get away from the hurt, pain, suffering and misery that being a one armed freak seems to entitle you to.

Anyways, a year after my discovery of MLP and my becoming a brony, I decided to celebrate.

I didn’t tell anyone I was a brony, not that I had anyone to tell. I decided to walk to the local cybercafé. You know, have some tea and rewatch, for the fifth time, some MLP episodes and parodies. It was a calm, peaceful afternoon, the birds outside were chirping, the tea tasted heavenly in my mouth and the sound of Twilicious ringing in my earphones brought a smile to my face. It all went to hell in a hand basket when the entrance ringed out.

A strange fellow, wearing a thick black leather jacket, a fedora and black dress pants, it seemed black was him. He went around the café asking people questions and was, with a will and a way, rejected as quickly as his sudden questions. Then the footsteps stomped closer to me. I tried to close the tabs with MLP on them but as fast as a one armed person couldn’t be, he reached me in a flash.

“How’s the show, Craig?” the man asked with a somewhat amused tone.

"How'd you know my name?" My eyebrows arched.

"I dunno, just took a random guess at it," retorted the man with a smug smirk.

"Right, and the show is just fine, I take it you’re a brony as well?"

The air echoed with his chuckle. A mad crackle hacked through the café. A low baritone voice, it was the kind of laugh that a villain would use as the hero falls into his trap.

"Yes, I suppose I am," he said with his fingers applying just the slight stroke to the small tuff of hair on his chin.

"I have a question for you, friend." He pressed onward, still creasing his chin beard with the slightest brush.

"You’re not my friend," I said with an irritated tone. I wasn’t his friend and I wasn’t making any plans on starting now.

"Doesn't matter, anyway the question is if you could go to Equestria, that wondrous land of joy, ponies and friendship that you've been watching for the past year would you?" the man said in a half serious, half indifferent tone that made it hard for me to take him seriously.

"Yes I would, wait how'd..."

"I know you watched the show for the past year?" He interrupted. That was annoying.

"Yea and..."

"Don't interrupt you again?" He interrupted again. I was starting to see red at that point.

"STOP DOING...."

"That?" he said with his face betraying the smuggest of smiles you could imagine only in your dreams. "And as for your previous question, that would be spoilers."

"Ok then, well yes, I would go to Equestria, given the chance." I chose to entertain this man’s delusions.

"Oh? No family you'd miss, no crush on a girl that would claw at your heart for not admitting your love or maybe, you swing the other door?"

I gave him the "are you fucking serious?" look.

"I suppose not," he looks at the watch on his wrist, "Oh well, look at the time, it's time for you to leave, Craig, or maybe I should say arrive..."

"What are you talking about?"

"The cafe is closing, you should probably head to your home," he replied as he started heading for the door.

I look at the clock at the other end of the cafe, it’s seven pm already? I just looked at the clock a moment before we started talking and it was five then. And what he did mean by arrive? I had no further interests in entertaining the delusions of a mad man. As the man latched onto the door handle of the entrance, his mouth echoed only a few ominous words.

"May want to go home and rest, who knows, it may be your last chance to have a good rest."

I left the cafe shortly after I had drained the last of my tea, its fragrant taste still pouring down my throat. My walk home was uneventful aside from the usual jeering of bullies shouting insults like ‘Five Finger Freddy’ and ‘Sideclops’ or asking stupid questions like "If someone tries to shake hands with you with their left hand do you just go in for a fist bump?" and other god awful insults and taunts that only the brain dead and moronically stupid would find funny.

I managed to reach my home around eight, when the sun had started setting under the mountains. My parents were soundly asleep on the couch snuggling each other with the T.V. still ablaze with the light of old home movies from before the accident. What showed was the flash of a five year old, walking around a playground as if the world around him was his. The one thing that struck out the out: that smile.

It was a smile that only looked at the present. It was a smile that didn’t care for the future or the past. It was simply content with just going down the slides.

I looked so happy back then.

I continued the march to my room and started checking up on Equestria Daily and FIMfiction to see what was new. Drowsiness had started to overcome me. My body wasn’t moving to the bed which I wanted, choosing to pursue its own agenda. Finally, with a thud, my body obeyed, with it meeting the bed, and letting the darkness of sleep take me away. Before sleep became my world, the words of the mad man echoed through my head:

"It's time for you to leave, Craig, or maybe I should say arrive…"

A/N edited by Proud Dust.

Booze Finally Kicks In...(12) GGG

He tripped up a little and she giggled. The sound of a romantic song beginning to play. I look around to see the couples getting together. I take one final look at all the happy couples enjoying the company of their companion. I guess it's just me and my thoughts again. I finish off the last box of Royal Pink and rest my head on the bar. Huh whadda you know, I miss those jackasses back at home. Who would have thought? A sharp prod hits me in the hip. I remove my head from the counter and look down to see a familiar pony. Oh look it's the pony that tricked me into staying.

"What do you want?" My voice is failing to mask my loneliness.

She smiled at me. "Would you like to dance?"

I look back at the counter filled with empty bottle and then at the crowd of happy dancing ponies. Maybe this may cheer me up.

"Sure..." She begins to pull my hand toward the dance floor.

We reach the center of the dance floor and she smiles. She got up on her hind legs and I grabbed her front hooves. We began to rock back and forth in our dance. We floated randomly around the dance floor seeing all the happy couples dancing. We continued our dance, me moving my foot forward and her leg back. This is nice... I smiled as I looked down at my partner who smiled back. Slowly the song came to an end and I let her hooves go. She returned to her normal quadruped position and looked back at me.

"It was fun!" She smiles brightly at me.

Pinkie started to bounce off to some unknown location. I don't think I will ever understand that girl or girls in general... I laugh at the joke in my head and see Aoi and RD getting all romantic. I smile at the happy scene and walk toward the bar I've come to use as a home base during the Gala.  I took my seat and relaxed a little. A drunken pony stumbled toward me. He leaned on the bar and looked up at me.

"Hey Mishter why donsh you join ush?"

"Piss off or I'll I kick make you regret coming close to me."

He put his hoof on my back. "Come on buddy join ush!"

"Last warning before I kick your ass..."My tone becoming more hostile toward the drunk pony.

"Thatsh a good one man yoush should do come...."

My fist launched toward his face before he could finish his sentence. His head went back and he landed against the side wall.

"Told you to piss off." His friends looked at me and backed away.

I look back the bar and notice a closed sign. I guess it either must be getting late or he is tapped out. I turn from my seat to see ponies discussing with each other. I see Griffin over by the buffet table. He looked at the food for a while and then left somewhat disgusted. My stomach growled a few moments later. I haven't eaten since this morning. Better check the buffet. I get up from my seat and make my way over to the buffet table to see what these high society ponies ate for food. I reached the table but much to my dismay most of the food looked like someone had vomited on it and then burned set vomit. I grabbed a plate of a strange looking substance. There were green cubes with toothpicks in them. There were chunks of some unknown food inside the cubes. I held the plate of the substance up to my face to inspect the "food".

"Excuse me sir, but may I have one of those?" One of the more polite ponies at this Gala asked me.

"Um, sure." I lower the plate so he can grab one of the cubes. He then levitates a bit into my coat pocket. Is he giving me a tip? Does he think I'm a fucking waiter? I look down at the pony that had just finished his cube of crap.

"Excuse me, do you think I am a waiter?" I ask as polite as he did the first time he asked me.

"Why yes I do. Are you not one of the exotic waiters Celestia hired for the Gala?"

Resist urge to punch... I looked at the pony. He seemed somewhat afraid of me. I gave him a smile, right before my fist whipped around and smashed in his side. The pony flew to the side of the ballroom and crashed against a wall. Forgive me lord for I am weak.

"I'm not a waiter dumbass."

Better look a little harder to find some actual edible food to eat. I walked up and down the table staring at the variety of food. All of which seemed to look worse than the last. A few of them even pulsed with what I don't want to know. I grab a plate of something black. It was like a black slimy carrot. I felt a poke at my hip, I looked down to see a mare standing there.

"May I have one of those waiter?"

I was forcing my arm not to wind up and punch this mare to the moon. Before my urge could overtake my body Griffin called out from outside.

"Hey, you, bear-thing. If you're looking for food that isn't garbage, the apple cart is over here!"

"I’m not a fucking bear! IM A BUGBEAR ASSHOLE!" It took a moment to realize what I had just said," oh wait..."

Damn it brain why did you fail me now of all times? I stroll over to the cart that Griffin was located. I see him facepalm at what I said. Boy don't you facepalm Me. I walk up to the cart and notice Applejack behind it. This may not be good. I need lies for my arm. At most I could use two more minimum power bolts , the most one medium bolt. I look at Applejack who was busy dealing with her other customers. I inspect the food to see what she is selling. Let's see, apple pie, apple chips, apple apples... I ponder as I browse her selection of apple related foods.

"Well shucks, you folk sure do seem ta like mah apples. Here! Try tha streusel." The western accent was evident.

"Yah yah like your apples... hmmm now, what to get." I say not paying attention to what was happening around me.

I stare intently on the products to figure which I would spend my bits on. Subtle scent of the apple products linger in the air. My mouth begins to water a bit from staring at all the good looking food. The apple pies were too much for right not, the apple chips didn't seem to last as long as I wanted. There were small cupcake shaped pastries on the side of the cart. They were no bigger than a cupcake, they were each held inside a cup. The tops of them were flat with crust rising a little higher than the middle. I smell the tiny bits of lemon inside them.  Before I knew it a fork was being shoved into my mouth.

"Just eat it already, before it's all gone." Aoi says as he let's go of the fork. I hear the cough from Applejack in disbelief at the words "before it's all gone".

"Little earth pony what is this?" I say in simple terms as to not draw suspicion from the Element of Honesty.

"Ma'am, your name is Applejack, right?" I look over to the voice to see Aoi.

"Uh huh" Did she just ignore me?

Applejack turned around and faced me with a smile.

"It's an apple tort." She says as she shoved one into my mouth. Oh god it's like god himself blessed this food to be able to kill with just taste!

"Little earth pony, what is your name?" Better play dumb so they underestimate me. Better to fight an unprepared enemy than a prepared one.

"Ahm Applejack."

"How much each?"

"Uh... two bits?"

I open my satchel and reach inside. I reached in further in order to find where my bit bag was in the void of my bag. I managed to get my entire arm inside the bag, I felt a sense of void around the middle of my bicep. I reached around then felt thread of my bit bag and grabbed it. I pulled my arm out of my bag and reached in and grabbed ten bits. Me, Griffin and Aoi all were trying to tell Applejack something.

"Whoa whoa whoa hold on! Ah can't keep up that fast, y'all are gonna have ta line up, one at a time so I can get tha orders straight!" Applejack says, with a mile wide smile on her face.

I scowl that I have to wait. "Fine...."

Both Griffin and Celestia shout "Yes, ma'am!"

We all get into a straight line leading to the cart. Aoi was first in line, he bought two strudels in his left paw while balancing a pie in his right paw. He gave the pie to Ubi along with a fork. I took a few steps forward to approach the cart and placed 10 bits on it and grabbed a single tart. I go find a nice place by the cart to sit down and just in case I want some more. I take a bite out of the small tart and my taste buds explode with the flavor. The apple flavor overwhelms me and I just sit there stupefied by the amazing taste of the apple tart.

"You know what? Screw it. Here's three hundred. Gimme the whole damn cart. Come on guys, let's eat!"

I look toward Griffin with an irritated expression. “Wait what? The whole thing? The hell I wanted some more!"

Griffin drops a bag of bits on the table and it makes a small thud as it landed.

"Aoi, bugbear, let's eat!" I look at him with suspicion.

"What? Something the matter? I'm sharing, what do you care?"

I was about to reply when Ted interrupted me. "BUT WHAT ABOUT MEEEHEHEHEHEEEEE!!!!!"

I ignore him and decided to correct Griffin's mistake. “My species is bugbear idiot, my name isn't fucking bugbear!"

"Knight, you can't even eat real food. That's too good. Finally gets to Equestria, and can't eat Sweet Apple Acres food. Sucks to be you!" Griffin chuckles. Who the hell is Knight?

I grab an apple pie and take my earlier seat in the grass near the cart. "YOU'RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE, GRIFFIN THE GRIFFIN! A COMPLETE AND UTTER ASSHOLE!" Ted shouts at Griffin.

I ignore Griffin and Ted's arguing as I eat the apple pie. I begin to think why Griffin is being so nice to me.

I certainly haven't given him a reason so what could it be? Meh, maybe the drink Pinkie gave me is finally getting to my head and I’m just freakin out over nothing...

"Bugbear, what IS your name?" Griffin says snapping me out of my thinking.

"My name is Celt and yours is Griffin right?"

"Celt, glad of you to show up... I thought you weren't into high society type socials..." I look over to see Aoi.

I look back to Griffin. "Yep. How long you been in Equestria?"

I turn to face Aoi. “I’m here for reasons of my own." I turn back to Griffin, “Did Aoi tell you I was human?"

"Nah, As soon as you sung the safety song I figured it out." Should have known that....

"By the way, do you like bananas?"

I remember the archives and the warning system. “You are not making that joke with me I already got blown out of one building today from that stupid line!"

Griffin doubles over from laughter and is soon joined by Pinkie. Where the hell did she comes from? Applejack simply had a look of confusion on her face.

"What the hay is with you aliens and yer bananas?"

"Internet." We all say in unison.

Ted stomps over, holding a glass of punch. "Fucking hell, finally get to Equestria and apples will kill me." He holds up the glass of punch, "THE ONLY THING I can eat while here....non-alcoholic punch."

Aoi nearly chokes on his piece of apple pie when Ted exclaimed that. "Iie (NO!), Someone spiked the punch!"

I look over at Ted and Aoi as Aoi is starting to freak out right before Ted could drink the punch. I grab another tart and watch the scene happen. Frustration soon overcame Ted's face realizing that he couldn't drink the punch.

"Chrysalis says the only thing safe for me to have is the punch....and some fucktard spiked it, so I can only get one cup.... Anymore and it's fatal."

"Hah! That is pretty damn funny!" I laugh at Ted's misfortune. What can I say I'm a little sadistic on the inside.

Aoi stares back at Ubi, "Remind me to kick the guy's ass..."

"And for once, I can honestly say it wasn't me!" Shouted in glee.

Celestia walks up behind Ted, somewhat swaying but still proud and confident. 'Lord Fester' and I have had...*counts on her feathers* about a case and a half each of 'The Royal Pink'. It's not hitting hard yet but...delayed effect....yeah, we're gonna have unimaginable hangovers by dawn..." My god even the Princess bought that lie...

"Yup that’s me good ol'lord Fester!"

Griffin snickers, “Lord Fester?"

My eyes roll when he makes his comment, “And Griffin the griffin is so imaginative."

"Hey, it's my REAL name!"

"Oh and how do you know my name isn't Lord Fester?" I hear Aoi say something in Japanese.

"Because it's too ridiculous"

"I now have the urge to shoot you..."

Ted begins to vibrate his wings and the theme for the Adams Family. I slowly scooted right beside the changeling placing myself with in an arm's reach of him. I raise my fist up in the air behind Ted.

"Not that Fester jackass!" I slam my fist on the back of his head.

"You're drunk, and I don't have a drop in me. Besides, you're not the only one who knows magic." He moves his hand to his sword hilt, cracks his neck, and glares at me. He must be talking about my threat of shooting him. "This will only end one way."

"Hah I like you but I got a surprise for you amigo!" I roll up my sleeve to reveal my arm, "Not even your sword could cut my arm!"

"Is that so?" He draws his blade, and puts it against my arm. A soft clank of metal is heard.

"It's made of Uru, pretty much indestructible!" I chuckle at his.

"Lacero." He slides the sword across the metal limb, and it leaves a deep slice into it. The cut wasn't a perfect clean cut however, the inside of the cut was rough showing that the arm did offer quite a bit of resistance.

"Huh that’s new..." I look at the cut intently making sure he didn't just use an illusion on it, "Imma tell Loki his indestructible arm is bullshit."

"Dragon scale. Magically enhanced edge." Maybe I can get my blade and arm enhanced.

"Can I try?" I look at Aoi and give him a glare.

"No, you can't. I don't want scratches on my arm it's pretty much impossible to find a metal strong enough to repair it."

"Wait, Loki? As in Trickster god? As in earth's version of Discord?" He seemed surprised by this fact.

"You actually KNOW who sent you here?" I guess Loki may have bent the rules...

"Yes, I had a chat with him," I pause to see if anyone wanted to interrupt me, “His brother was pissed at him for not telling me how I control my arm. Which he did very poorly I might add."

"Damn it. I'm still looking for the guy who brought me here so I can buy him a beer." That means that coming here gave him something. Hmm, most likely his crew and Gilda who seemed a bit more friendly.

"I know you can do magic as well," I pull out my crossbow and hand it to him," go ahead and try your mumbo jumbo on it."

"I can't do it. Wait, why could Trixie? It is receptive to certain types and not others?"

I laugh at him as he passed the crossbow back to me. "You can try until judgement day but it won't work for you. Vis!"

A brown bolt which I had come know during my time in Equestria.

"Explosive or straight shot?"

"Ah, so rather than charge and release, it drains from an established reservoir. Straight shot." Bastard figured it out quickly.

I look around for a suitable target. Need a tree that is weak enough for a weak bolt to destroy.. I look around to see a tree, the wood on the outside made it look fine but with my improved eyesight and night vision I saw noticeable things that made it weaker than most trees. There was a small termite hive on the side of the tree also it seemed the tree was actually hallowing most likely a home for a bird or some other animal. I steadied my aim at the tree and fired. The bolt made contact with the tree. The force of the bolt smashed into the tree sending splinters all directions. Totally smashing the tree into bits.

"Explosive is much funnier," I thought back to the fight with the Brother's Black and making the stallion eat one of the bolts," I made a stallion eat a fire bolt once. It wasn't pretty."

"That can't feel good. And are you sure you should be saying that with Celestia right behind you........... swaying drunkenly?"

"He was a criminal actually..."

Celestia begins to wrap her hooves around Griffin. Pushing her head against his neck.

I laugh a little bit. “You should be worried about her more than me!"

"Oh, you weren't lying.... you’d soooooooooooo soft......" She snuggles her head into his neck. He quickly jerks out of the way of her hooves. The princess falls forward with the lack of support and lands on her face.

She lifts herself off the ground and pouts at Griffin. "Why you do tha? I just wan' cuddles."

I laugh a little at the scene that is happening in front of me. I turn my head toward the sky and see most of the western sky is filled with black smoke. How has no one noticed yet? Doesn't matter best not to question what happens and doesn't. I looked back to see Ted trying to cuddle with Celestia. I give a hearty laugh to the scene playing out in front of me. I keep my crossbow out in case any of them make a move against me when and if they notice the smoke. Then it hit me. The alcohol's delayed effect as Celestia had put it finally kicked in. My vision began to blur and shift making everything brighter more colorful in all aspects. The world seemed so complex yet simple at the same time. I look over to the group Griffin looked more puffed out his feathers waving. Aoi looked like a one of those cute little cartoon things called chibis. Ted was most changed instead of an equine looking bug, I saw a four legged beetle thing with its wing out and one antenna. Oh my gosh it's so pretty!

"Everyting ish sho bright! Ish sho beautiful!" My speech became slurred from the sudden effect of the alcohol.

"I want a hug now too, come ere puppy give me a hug..." I lean forward to hug the fuzzball when Ted poked my head. I started to lose my balance and fell face first just like Celestia had into the ground.

I move my head to the side. "Why does the ground hate me so?"

"Ahm serious! We gotta get ya'll somewhere you can sleep off this drink!" Said the earth pony whose name escaped me.

"Oh, lighten up Aj, it's a party!" Said the rainbow pegasus.

"Speaking of Party, Aoi, Um, do you, I don't know, um, want to dance again?" The pegasus crossed her legs asking the wolf nervously.

Griffin nudged Aoi with his elbow 'RD acting as shy as Fluttershy? Aoi you sly dog!'

"Sure, Knightmare, play something upbeat!" Who the hell is Knightmare?

"I've got the perfect song, but first we need to get Celt and Drunk-lestia to some beds. I don't know the castle layout too well, and I've gotta get set up for the song so, do you wanna take her?" Ted said as he looked down at Celestia.

"Might as well." Applejack nudges me. I look up at her and she motions for me to lean on her to walk. Meanwhile one of the cat people, Gilda, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash lift the Alicorn off from the ground and begin to carry her away.

"Shanks earth pony, pleash take me to more drinksh and ponishe to punch!" I stammer as well walk on the sidelines of the Gala.

"Oh no you’re not, you've had enough drinks tonight!"

"What are you gunna do about it shmall pony?" I stand up on my own and wobble a bit as she walks ahead of me. She looks back toward me and brings her hind legs against my head. It took  a moment for my brain to register what had happened. When it did I slowly fell backwards and landed with a solid thump. The last few words I heard before sleep overtook me,

"Ah been bucking trees all mah life, never once has my hooves felt sore from it. Thick skulled." I hear her country accent before I lost consciousness.

The beat of jazz reaches my ears, slowly I regain consciousness. I sit up on the bed. It squeaked from the shift of weight. A pounding feeling eminent from my skull. I place my head in my hands from the pain. I stand up from the bed and look around the room. It had mostly while furniture with a few exceptions like the wooden supports on the bed or the wardrobe. The beautiful colors I had seen in before in my haze were gone. All the colors blurred as I turned my head. No wondrous beauty just mish mash of colors. It was probably that earth pony that hit me did this to the colors. I'm going to find her and make her pay for it. I thought as I left the room.

I made my way through the corridors, ducking behinds statues and suits of armor in order to avoid a few guards and castle staff. The castle seemed to be endless, almost every room seemed to have windows with light shining in through them. I fallowed the sounds of jazz music. The upbeat music bounced off each wall to reach my ears. I reached an arched hallway where the source of the music was. Ted was playing some upbeat jazz. I looked into the crowd, I saw Rainbow Dash and Aoi dancing. I ignored the couple and made my way through the crowd in search for the earth pony that had hit me.

"Stop there beast!" Shouted a unicorn in front of me.

I pushed by him, “I have no time to punch yous I hash an earth pony to punissh!"

A bottle flew at my head and I turned around to face him," Beast you will not ignore me!"

"Fine pony you ashked for dish!" I walked up to the pony and towered over him. I brought my arm back and punched him square in the nose. The pony flew back, his nose clearly broken from the impact. Griffin flew down and looked toward me.

"What the hell is going on here? Shouldn't you be lying in bed, sleeping off your stupor?"

"I hash an earth pony to find and punch. Friggin bucked mah head."

"You're ruining the party." He draws out his blade. "Don't make me knock you out."

"I ish nert aferd a yooooooo." I shout at him.

"Hey, Celt, calm down..." Aoi says in an attempt to stop me from what I'm doing.

"You don’t shcare me" Griffin shakes his head.

"Come at me bro."

I pull my crossbow out of its quiver and aim it at my future turkey dinner. I only have enough power for one more bolt, better end this fast.

"Ignis Vis!" I shout as a brown red bolt appears on the crossbow. Bastard is gunna die!

"YOU’RE ALL GUNNA FUCKING BURN!" I shout at them before I pulled the trigger. I laughed as the bolt approached Griffin. Griffin pulls out his sword and wields it like a baseball bat. He slams the weapon in to the bolt sending it flying. It crashes out of the window. Shortly after an explosion is heard.

I turn back toward the griffin and utter one word. "Shit..."

"You just bought yourself a one way ticket on nighty night airlines!"

Come on brain if there is one time you could help me please be now! "Um, Well, you see, I'm sorry?" Griffin looks at me and brings his sword back. I push my metal arm in front of my stomach to avoid serious damage as he brings it sword forward. You know what? Screw you too brain.

"Ventus!" A powerful gust blows around knocking a few hats off. I feel my feet come off the ground as I fly out the window that had just recently been smashed. So this is how I die? Alone, a bugbear and really fucking hungry. Was my final thought as I hit the ice cold water of the Cantorlot resveoir. The shock knocked me out before I could register the pain from the fall.

Prepare for a big surprise (29)

We began to set up camp for the night not too far from the village's ruins. We made sure to stay enough away that if the wind did pick up that it wouldn't carry the stench of burnt flesh to most of us. After getting ourselves arranged into specific tasks to help get the camp set up, we split ways. Twitch was told to build up an area for where we could properly set up everything. Fenrir and Owl were sent to hunt down some food so we could eat. Me and Elizabeth had one of the most boring of the jobs. Looking for firewood. Both Elizabeth and I were a fair bit away from the camp as the sun began to set across the horizon. We both had sizable stacks but yet she insisted we would require more if we wanted the fire to stay alive the night. Something is off about her...

"Oh, Celt would you mind helping me move this log here? I think there might be some edible berries under it." She points to a rather large log covered in bushes.

"Our job is to get firewood. Fen... Skoll and Fletcher are in charge of hunting down some food for us."

"I know but I thought it would be nice to have some fruit along with our... uh... meat."

I sighed. "Alright, I'll move it but if it's poisonous berries it's your fault."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Though the hood hid her face I could feel a smile coming from her.

I strolled over to the log and grasped it in both hands. With one mighty yank I pulled upward. The log began to lift up for a short while before the sounds of cracking filled the air. Slowly the top portion of the log began to bend back to the ground despite my efforts. With a resounding crack the log split in two; one half with me, the other lying on the ground. I toss my half to the side. I rubbed my eyes before looking at the area where the log once was. There was what looked like a branch with white berries with tiny little black dots on them. I kneeled down to get a closer look at the berry. I reached down to grab one of the berries before Elizabeth stopped me.

"Oh! Those are Doll's Eyes!" She exclaimed with glee.

I stared down at the berries then back at her. "What?"

"It's a delicious berry. Great for stews and such. Maybe I can make a meat stew with them, if we can find wild onions out here then it would be perfect!"

"Well, then I suppose I should test them. To see if they are... poisonous." Grabbed a few berries only for them to be slapped out of my hand.

"No you don't. We're having them for dinner. If you eat them now it ruin the surprise taste for and it won't be as good!"

"Yes, mother."

I could feel her roll her eyes at the comment from under her hood. "Well, I suppose we should head back. They might get worried if we don't hurry back."

"Alright."

We began to walk back the direction of the camp after she had picked up a few of the berries for a stew. She placed the berries within a small satchel under her cloak. I watched as we walked back, completely carefree and unafraid of the jungle. Something is off, but what...

"Hey Elizabeth, I have a question for you."

"Yes, Adam?"

"Why do you hide your face in that cloak?"

She turned her head to me for a moment. "I dunno, why are you such a liar?"

"I don't lie, I just suck at telling the truth."

A subtle giggle came from Elizabeth. I smiled and we continued to walk back to the camp. The walk was mostly peaceful except for the feeling of being watched. Occasionally I looked over to the sides of us to search for the presence watching us. The further we went, the larger the feeling of being watched grew. Eventually I began to slow down in an attempt further examine the surroundings.

It's here somewhere...

"Adam, why are we slowing down? Won't it become dark soon?"

"Something is... watching us."

"W-w-watching us? If you are joking please stop. I don't take scare jokes well." Her tone began to hide something more than fear.

Is she angry? For not even pulling a joke? "No, it's been following us for a while... Where is your bird?"

"Mortimer? I told him to stay at the camp." Once more I could hear the subtle shift in her tone.

"Then something else might be following us..."

"Oh my..." She seemed to shrink down.

There was a sudden tapping noise resounding all around us. She darted her head to the left. I looked the same direction only to see nothing. Elizabeth seemed to relax and return to looking at me. Why only look left? It was coming from all around us... Sighing, I rub my eyes for a moment. Before I knew I heard a sharp screech from the girl. I quickly spun around to see her breathing hard. Her hand hid beneath her robe but I could tell she was holding them against her chest.

"What's wrong?"

She motioned towards the bushes. "There is something there."

"Alright, stay there I'll check it out." I slowly began to approach the bush when the fluttering of wings filled my ears.

I soon reached the bush. Slowly I peered over it only to find nothing there. No foot prints and no signs of something being there.

Something isn't right...

"Hey Elizabe..." Before I could finish my sentence an ashen spear darted past my head.

"You moved." Her tone shifted into one of cheerful malice.

It took a moment for my to figure out what had just happened. "Elizabeth did... you throw that at me?"

"No, it was the spear fairy who threw it." Sarcasm was nearly dripping off the words.

"Really? Because if it was, I wouldn't be surprised that it exists in a world of technicolor ponies."

A black figure darted past my head and landed on Elizabeth's shoulder. It took a moment for me to realize that it was Mortimer.

"I always hated this feeling. You know the one you have right after you try to kill someone."

"Can't say I do."

"Really? That either means you're really good or..." She began to laugh maniacally after thinking for a moment.

"What?"

"Oh gods! I can't believe I found a freaking newbie! Oh, this is too perfect. I thought this was going to be hard with how you recruited so many allies. Look at me! Planning an elaborate assassination only to find out the guy doesn't even know about the game!" She kept laughing.

"What?"

She began to catch her breath after laughing. "Just... just give me a moment to get over this. Man, that is funny! The look on your face is priceless when I said that! Though it would look much nicer when you're choking on your blood as you die."

"What are you..." My sentence was once more interrupted as she lunged forward at me.

She has no weapon so what is she trying to do?

I only had a few split seconds to dodge when I saw the blade appear in her hand. I stumbled back and tripped over a route. Staring up at her, I could see that Mortimer had become the weapon. His black as night feathers became the blade. The feet took the form of the handle. Even the beady red eyes glared at me from the blade's center.

"Come on, don't be shy. I'm a professional at this kind of stuff just like a doctor really. So it's best to follow doctor's orders and let me take care of you. Nice and quick, then you're off to the Afterlife."

"Gunna have to pass on that one, doc."

I reached to my back and pulled out my crossbow quickly. As soon as I aimed the crossbow at her, kicked it out of my hand. Note to self, grab crossbow with robot hand, not organic one... My weapon was sent flying over to a tree a fair distance away. I gaze a quick glance to the crossbow then looked back at her.

"Naughty, naughty. I usually make these fast but because you tried to fight back I'm going to have to make this very slow." I could swear I could see her eyes glow red under that hood.

Her sword slowly morphed into an axe. I could feel her eyes on me the whole time it was shifting. Sensations of cold were sent down my spine as I could feel her almost dissecting me with her eyes. She tilted her head and looked at me before cracked her neck back.

"So, let's change the location shall we? A jungle isn't exactly a good place for this kind of thing." She reached up a hand and rubbed her chin before snapping her fingers. "Oh, I know! Let's turn this into a operating room shall we? Today I'll be your surgeon. How about we even up that arm to robo arm situation."

She raised her axe into the sky. For a short moment I could feel the adrenaline began to pump through my veins. Craig, let's kick this bitches ass. I quickly darted forward into open posture with her axe in the air. I released my arm blade and stabbed forward into her shoulder. The sound of blood and muscle being torn was faint but I could hear it. She dropped both her arms to the side leaving the axe on the cold floor of the forest. She lifted both arms and grabbed my mechanical arm. Slowly she pulled out the blade out of her shoulder.

"Tsk tsk, such sloppy work. You obviously haven't been playing this game for long have you?"

"I stabbed you in your freaking shoulder!"

"But the shoulder isn't the heart is it? Unless you want to lost you'd better go for killing blows next time."

"Fine!" I swung at her neck ready to kill.

In one fluid motion, she dodged my fist and grabbed it. Using my own force she flung me into a tree causing a loud crash. It took a moment to regain my senses before seeing her sword coming towards my face. Quickly I rolled out of the way, allowing the blade to embed itself in the tree. I hopped to my feet and quickly took notice as to wear my crossbow was. If I can just get to it I can use Lux to call for help... I began to run to my crossbow before suddenly a black pole blocked my way.

"Nope, we aren't done yet. You joined the game so you gotta play by the rules." The blade had apparently shifted into a spear reducing the length of the blade thus freeing it.

She swung the spear at me with blinding speed. I just barely manage to block it with my arm. The force of the blow resonates through my body. Before I know it the other end hits me in the stomach causing me to rile back. Before I have time to think she jumps a little ways above me. What is she doing? I look up in time to see her claws grab my head and smash it into the ground. She releases her grip on me and rolls me over. Grabbing my hair she pulls me up to eye level. I could barely see behind the shadows of her robe. After she let me go , I fell into a kneeling position. I look to her side and see the weapon has shifted into a hammer.

"Fore!" She quickly swing at my head sending me flying into another tree.

Mother Nature, I thought we were friends... Why your trees gotta hurt so much.

I open my eyes, only to see my crossbow laying beside me. I slowly reach over to it and hide it under my body. I whispered "Terra" briefly. Making sure that the bolt couldn't be seen, I rolled over to face Elizabeth.

"So, just curious, do you even know what this game is for?"

"The gods to be assholes?"

"Eh, close but not quite. This is a death match, Mr. Bugbear. Gods pick their pieces and throw them into an arena to slaughter each other! Guess what the prize for the last one is! Go ahead! Guess!" She stopped moving forward.

"A free ice cream sandwich?"

"Yes, a free ice cream sandwich! Or a computer! Maybe even a small country to rule. The entire prize for this game is a wish. So, since you're not going to be able to make your wish allow me to ask. Any last requests, wishes and/or desires?" Her hammer shifted into a scythe.

How appropriate... "Just one..."

"What might that be?"

"I really wish that this will work."

I sprung up and brought the crossbow around as if I were going to punch her. I drew closer to her body and began to slowly press down on the trigger. The small rubble that formed the bolt seemed almost as anxious as I was worried. Elizabeth watched it approached calmly.

"Mortimer, aegis!"

Within the crow morphed from a hammer to a black wall in an instant. I pressed my crossbow against the wall and pressed down on the trigger. Within a fraction of a second the bolt flew into the wall and explode against it with more force than it should of had. A thunderous boom erupted outward from the bolt. The resulting explosion of force sent me skidding backwards while it sent Elizabeth and her crow into a tree.

If they can't hear that then they are freaking deaf.

I sighed and relaxed at my victory and smiled. I felt my body ache all over leaving almost no place either sore or just pain hurting. I looked over to the body of Elizabeth only to she her get up slowly. Using the tree to support herself, she stood up and looked at me. The hood that had hidden her face was now off.

Brilliant blue eyes stared at me through the locks of black hair dangling in front of her face. Her smile sent shivers down my spine. Her arm that had held Mortimer was clearly out of it's socket. It hung lower than her other arm yet she didn't seem to care in the slightest. With her good arm, she took hold of the other and pulled it up back into place. Elizabeth cracked her neck to each side before standing up straight.

"I thought this was going to be a boring fight! God, I love sometimes when I'm wrong!" Her voice filled with more glee and malice than before.

"Oh god dammit!"

She gasped at the word. "Oh, you said a bad word. I guess I have to teach you some manners now too!"

"With what weapon! You may have lived but your crow couldn't!"

Fluttering resonating in my ears as the bird landed on my shoulder. "You shouldn't underestimated, Mortimer."

"Gah! Demon crow! Demon crow!"

The bird flew over to Elizabeth and landed on her shoulder. "You shouldn't call others names. Except for their real names of course. So as a courtesy allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Elizabeth D Bellum, daughter of Edward Bellum, leader of the Bellum mob. I am also the piece of The Morgan and this is Mortimer Black, my weapon and associate." She gave a little curtsy with her robe.

"Um..."

"Now you give your real name and family. It's apart of a honor system. Your real first and last name."

"I am Craig Marlton, son of Carl Marlton, accountant at Shroudein's law firm..."

"Pleasure to meet you. Now, let us begin." Mortimer shifted into a rapier.

I put my crossbow in my organic hand and unsheathed the blade within my arm once more. I took a ready position and watched her. She kept her upright stature keeping the rapier ready in the air.

"Lux!" I quickly shot the crossbow in an attempt to blind her.

Elizabeth dashed around the bolt of light ignoring it's brilliance and went straight for me.  Lunging forward, she sent the blade right towards my face. I managed to use my robotic limb to deflect the blade. She moved at near impossible speed as she brought up her free fist to slam into my belly. I bowed down and she raised her arms and drove down onto my back with her elbows. I bent down and pushed forward ramming into her. I kept running until we slammed into a tree. Out of breath I backed away from her leaving her to stand there holding the rapier. A smile cracked across her face.

God she is twisted...

I caught my breath and retook my stance. I should get the first strike next. Then I'll choose the pace of this battle. Darting forward I prepared my crossbow.

"Fulgar!"

The familiar sensation of electricity accumulating spread across my body. Dashing forward, I paid no mind to the formation of the bolt. Elizabeth's smile grew wider as she appeared ready for my attack. I brought the crossbow forward at her. She grabbed the crossbow and pulled me forward. In a panic I pressed the trigger sending the bolt flying into a tree. The impact did nothing due to the lack of conductivity. Losing my balance I fell towards Elizabeth. She swung her elbow towards my face as she pulled me forward. The sudden impact sent me riling backwards. I took a step back to regain my position only to have her grab my head. She pulled my head down and kneed me in the face. Once more I took a step back only to see her change Mortimer into a broadsword. She took a two armed swing with blade in an attempt to decapitate me. I raised my mechanical arm and blocked the swing. I took this chance and shoved the crossbow directly against her stomach.

"Ignis!"

Elizabeth looked down at the bolt forming. The broadsword shifted into a glove of sorts while she swung down with it at my arm. I quickly pulled back to avoid her fist destroying my crossbow. She stopped and brought the glove upward smashing into my chin. Momentarily stunned she took the moment to grab my crossbow arm and grab the bolt from the weapon. I backed away from Elizabeth.

"Whatcha gunna do now that I have your little bolt?"

I smiled widely. ""I'm going to watch."

"Watch?"

"The fireworks." My grin grew larger.

She quickly looked down at the bolt. The red hue of the light radiating from the bolt had grown bolder. Elizabeth threw the bolt at me in time for it to explode directly in the middle of both of us. I shielded my eyes from the massive amount of light and heat being produced by the explosion. After the initial detonation I looked around to see a few spouts of flame on the ground. Eh... Mother Nature can get that....

I looked over to the murderous girl trying to kill me. She stood there, grin wider than I thought possible. Her eyes filled to the brim with joy and hate. She reached up and put out a small flame singeing a strand of her hair. Why doesn't she die?!?!

"This is so much fun! I haven't had this good of a fight since that chimera chess piece who thought that medicine wasn't poison!"

"You have some odd tastes in fun..."

"Everyone has their hobbies. Mine, just happen to include murder."

"I see that."

Elizabeth froze and looked towards the forest for a brief moment. "It seems our little battle must be postponed. No one likes party crashers."

"Wait what? You attempt to murder me then leave?"

"Shame, I know but I'd rather not deal with that wolf." Before I could say another word Elizabeth dashed into the jungle.

"I wonder if all girls in this world are psychopathic serial killers..."

I stood there for another 3 minutes before my friends finally arrived to see what the commotion was about. I hopped onto Fenrir and said absolutely nothing until we got back to the camp. The aches and pains spiked with each of his leaps forward. Twitch and Owl continued to ask curiously throughout the night about what happened but the pain surrounding my body and the pain of being beaten by a girl was too great for me to tell them. When they began to ask what happened to Elizabeth I only had one answer.

"Bitches be crazy..."