Chapters A fair warning, I'm not that good of a writer but I thought I should contribute to the community so enjoy.
ps. italics are J'lae's thoughts.
Night fell upon Riften as the sun set and the shadows of night rose. Though the city was infamous for the Theives Guild and even some murders from the Dark Brotherhood, it always was a sight to see. Tonight was no exception as the moon and distant planets were in full view as well as the northern lights which danced in the night sky with grace.
'Breathtaking, J'lae wishes for his brother and sister back in Elsweyr the opportunity to see such beauty. Though J'lae does not wish for them to experience the horrible insults that the Nords spew at me on a daily basis. Even after J'lae has saved their skins and souls from Alduin. Ha! Even their dead try to kill me! Ah well, this one has experienced much beauty in this land of hate. Now, back to business... '
With that you walked towards the orphanage for your first contract.
'Hmmm. Let us see who J'lae must kill.... Grelod the kind? That old hag that runs this establishment? Well a contract is a contract and gold is gold. J'lae could use the money for a horse. The ground here is hard and cold, not at all like the soft warm sands of my home... '
Even from outside you could hear the hag talking down to the children.
"Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Grelod."
"And one more thing! I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you riff-raffs are getting adopted. Ever! Nobody needs you, nobody wants you. That, my darlings, is why you're here. Why you will always be here, until the day you come of age and get thrown into that wide, horrible world. Now, what do you all say?"
"We love you, Grelod. Thank you for your kindness."
"That's better. Now scurry off, my little guttersnipes."
Ha! Who knew you would get so lucky and get this heartless wench as a first contract? Well enough festivities, its about time you made your entrance, isn't it?
With your first steps inside you could see the condition of the place.
'Disgusting. '
At times like this you wish your over sensitive nose was gone. The odor of rotted food and feces attacked you while your sight was approached with dirt and dust everywhere, including one frail looking old woman.
"What do you want? The children are not for adoption so get out!"
You couldn't help but let out a grin, baring your fangs. This will be fun.
"The Dark Brotherhood has come Grelod. Are you ready to serve Sithis in the void?"
"What!? Nobody comes into my orphanage and threatens me!"
From what you could see, she pulled out something that resembled a butter knife and charged straight at you.
'Oh J'lae must admit, he admires her bravery but even more so her stupidity. '
Once she closed the distance, she struck at you, only to be stopped by your steel armor.
"Did you really think that your little trinket could cut through my armor you hag?"
You couldn't help but laugh at the fear in her face.
'Now how should J'lae kill her? Should J'lae turn into a werewolf and bath in her blood and intestines, or should J'lae burn her to a crisp? Who is J'lae kidding, the divines gave me these claws for a reason. '
Thats all the thought you needed to bury your claws into her neck. Oh how you loved that feeling of skin breaking and muscle tearing. Little effort was needed to lift her into a choke hold and gracefully plummet her into the ground. With a grin you began to leave the scene only to hear another women from a room you did not notice call the guards.
"Guards! Guards! That cat just murdered Grelod!"
'Damn, J'lae should have been more careful. '
"You, halt! By the order of the Jarl stop right there!"
"I'm the thane of Riften, release me at once."
'That line always works. '
"I'm sorry my thane but you already used the Jarl's influence when you stole those 27 cheese wheels."
'Damn, J'lae forgot about that. Divines, why must the nords make such delicious cheese? '
"I wont ask again, come peacefully or die."
"How bad will the punishment be?"
"You just committed murder dragonborn, and you know the law. A life for a life."
'Well, might as well die like a gentleme-Er gentlecat '
"Fine, J'lae will come peacefully."
"Smart cat, now come with me and the Jarl will decide your execution."
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"So it seems one of my own thanes is to be killed? Such a shame."
"Unending sorrows my Jarl. So, how will J'lae die? Will you drown me in Riften's canals? Or maybe even have me roasted by your court wizard? Or how about a traditional head chopping?"
"None."
"Then what?"
"About a week ago we found a crevice at the base of the throat of the world with powerful magic seeping through it, so we're going to push you in and if you come back alive, you will be set free. If you dont come back, well... I think you get the point."
'.....Bitch. '
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Stripped of your armor and weapons you were only left with a ragged robe and a lockpick you hid somewhere that your not so proud of.
Only two people were at the crevice, you and your executioner.
"Are you ready cat?"
"Yes, yes. Just push me in already."
"As you wish."
All that you heard was a soft grunt as you felt being pushed into the crevice and into the unknown. It could have been mere minutes or hours since you first entered. The vastness of this space was amazing and terrifying. But it all ended when you saw a light come from the bottom. This however confused you as you got closer you saw moonlight and trees at the other end. Before you could even explain to yourself what was happening, the earth seemed to spit you out at a unnatural speed into the sky, only for you to plummet into the ground with greater speed. The impact of the crash cracked the earth while from as far as you could tell crushed your lungs, filling them with blood, as well as breaking most of your bones.
'Cats always land on their feet? Lies.... '
Before you lost consciousness you could see a group of animals running towards you.
'Ahh, filthy scavengers. '
However as they came closer, their colors looked unnatural. True you have seen many strange creatures in Skyrim but you have never seen animals with bright yellows, pinks and.... cyan? By the time you knew it these creatures were right in front of you.
'Are these.... horses? No that cant be. J'lae just drank some bad skooma. But are those looks of concern on their faces? '
Thats when everything went black.
Time to switch the pov. Asterisks mean the pov has changed
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"Um, Twilight?"
"What is it Fluttershy?"
"Are you sure I can't go back home?"
"Look Fluttershy, I know you're scared, we all are."
"Not me!" The cyan pegasus proudly exclaimed while punching an imaginary target in midair. Twilight couldn't help but roll her eyes at the over confident pegasus.
"As I was saying, you know that Celestia sent me a letter telling all of us to investigate that newly opened crack of magic in the Everfree Forest. For all we know it could be Discord's doing or maybe even Chrysalis plotting her revenge." The timid pegasus's eyes only widened more in fear to the horrible possibility of their old foes seeking revenge for their humiliating defeats.
"You really think it could be one of them?" Seeing how her explanation only deepened her friends fear she could only let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but if it really is one of our old enemies, we have to stop them now so nopony will get hurt."
"And if it is one of them vermin, you have us behind your back sugercube." The honest earth ponies words calmed the scared pegasus and put them all in higher spirits.
"Oh and if it is Discord then their will be chocolate rain girls! Chocolate rain!" The over ecstatic pony chimed.
"That would horrible darling! Last time that happened it took weeks to get all that chocolate off my coat."
"Stop your whining Rarity. All the apples back on the farm still taste like chocolate!"
"Oh that's not whining, This is whining! "
Fwoosh
"Eep!" was all that escaped Fluttershy's mouth before diving into a bush.
"Fluttershy get out of there!"
"But what was that sound Twilight?"
"I don't know but it came from where the disturbance of magic is supposed to be, come on girls!"
Crack
AAUGH!
The very ground shook under the groups hooves as they heard the thunderous sound and the pained scream of something.
"Eep!"
"What the hay was that?"
"I don't know Applejack, but whatever it was, it sounds like something is hurt."
"Then come on! We have to help", Rainbow Dash said before promptly leaving the group behind to find the source of the pained screams. With a new task at hand, the ponies trotted to the disturbance, unaware of the strange new creature they were to find.
"Have you found anything yet Pinkie?" Twilight asked in a worried tone.
"Nope! Nothing so far Twi!" The hyper pony retorted.
"Well keep looking."
"Okey Dokey Lokey!" Pinkie said before going back to happily looking for clues
"AAAHHHH!!"
"Was that Rarity?" Rainbow questioned.
"I think so, come on we have to find her!", Twilight said before setting off to where they last seen their friend. "Rarity, what's the matter?"
"I-I found a dead jaguar!"
Hearing that an animal was in danger or possibly dead the yellow pegasus shed her fear and replaced it with concern.
"Rarity are you sure it was dead?", Fluttershy asked the startled unicorn.
"I don't know! All I saw was that it was drooling blood and one of its bones was sticking out of its body!"
That was all Fluttershy needed to hear before leaving the group behind to search for the wounded animal.
"What are we waiting for? We have to help too!" Applejack screamed to the fazed ponies.
"Your right, Lets go!", Rainbow Dash said as they struggled the keep up with the butterscotch blur.
Its no wonder that Rarity thought the poor creature was dead. True to her word the feline was covered in blood coming from its mouth and open wounds. What amazed them however was the creatures appearance. Though its fur was stained with blood, it was such a beautiful midnight black that seemed to hypnotize you if you stared to long at it. Though it did heavily resemble a jaguar, its body structure seemed to suit it to walk on its hind legs opposed to all four. Last however were the creatures eyes, which were slit and a deep ice blue.
Noticing that the creature was feline in origin, the pink pony couldn't help herself but cradle and pet it.
"Aww, your just a hurt little kitten. Its okay we're here to help."
"PINKIE, DON'T TOUCH IT!" Twilight yelled. However Pinkie was oblivious to her and continued to pet the wounded creature.
"I shall call you Fluffy, and you will be my Fluffy."
"Um, Pinkie could you please get away from Fluffy so Twilight can carry it to my cottage with her magic?"
The timid pegasus's words surprised the others who only stared at her in astonishment.
"What? This poor thing is hurt badly and I don't think we can get him to the hospital soon enough, if that's alright with you."
"Fluttershy is right, we have to help whatever... this is, and fast." With that twilight enveloped the body in her purple aura and carried the broken thing back to Fluttershy's cottage."
************************************
'Huh? What is this light, has J'lae crossed to the other side? Such a shame, never got to try that new trick Brynjolf told me. J'lae thought he was daft when he said all that was needed was to put a bucket over the traders head and take whatever J'lae could carry. Wait, this is not the afterlife calling for me.... It's candle light! J'lae is back in Skyrim! But where?'
As you surveyed your surroundings, you saw that you were in a bed. Not only any bed though, but a one fit for a High king. But that was not all you saw, there were also tables and a wardrobe decorating the room, whose walls seemed to be made entirely of wood. Almost as if it were carved from the inside of a tree.
'What? No creature lives in a tree besides the.... Oh no. The Thalmor... '
The very name of those damned high elves left a sour taste in your mouth.
' It seems they have finally caught me and are taking me prisoner. Divines, why did J'lae have to steal all there armor and make them walk naked? '
Before you could scold yourself for such a crime, you noticed a blur of pink in your peripheral vision. Trying to sit up, a pain shot into your body that only forced you back down. With a closer look, you noticed your torso and right leg were heavily bandaged. That's when the memory of your not so graceful landing reminded you that this place is not Skyrim.
Out of nowhere a pink pony wearing a huge grin appeared mere inches from your face, smelling heavily of sweets.
"Hello mister Fluffy! My name is Pinkie Pie and this is your Glad you're still alive party!"
'......Fluffy? '
That's all for now and a big thanks to Sounds Right for proof reading.
New chapter, new shenanigans.
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"Oh come on Fluffy! Don't be shy, we just saved you!" The pink pony energetically chimed.
'What is this creature? A talking horse? No no, much to small. Perhaps a pony? '
Before your logic could kick in, another feminine voice came from the doorway.
"Pinkie get away from him! You don't know how dangerous he is! We don't even know if he can talk."
"Oh Twilight, calm down, he's just a scared hurt pussy cat."
'A pussy cat? Can't talk? How dare she! J'lae is a renown warrior of skyrim who has defeated Alduin himself! But does the purple one have a horn? A unicorn... Well, J'lae has seen manly outlandish things but this.... '
During your deep thought, the room has been occupied by three more creatures. All of them with unnatural looking colors and emblems on their flanks.
'Hmm... At least they are not Thalmor, but J'lae must get out of here. '
Once again the pink one seemed to appear out of nowhere and invade your personal bubble.
"Why are you so quiet Fluffy? Cat have your tongue?" You couldn't help but chuckle at the ponies joke. Well at least you tried to considering all that came out of your mouth was a cough and even more blood. From your display of "health" it has seemed to put a look of worry on your saviors faces. However another one seemed to have appeared from a hiding spot and rushed to your side.
"Please don't strain yourself sir, you were very hurt when we found you and we almost weren't able to save you."
Though you were skeptical that their motives were pure, you can't help but feel at ease when you stare into the yellow winged creatures eyes.
'Strange, J'lae has never felt this calm and safe. It is almost as if J'lae was a cub again with my mother happily watching over me. But how do they know as to address me as male unless... '
Looking under the covers once again, you saw that the bandages on your torso and leg were the only
Like that the room was silent, whether it was for the fact that a wild animal could talk or because of your sudden question. Either way, all six creatures looked down at the ground with red cheeks. The orange one was the first to speak up.
"D-don't get the wrong idea mister, you were just covered with blood and we had to clean it off." The cyan one was next to defend herself.
"Yea it's not like we meant to see y-you know..." You can't help but feel bad for the flustered creatures. However there was one nagging question that you had to have answered."
"J'lae apologizes for asking that, but may J'lae ask you something else?" The purple ones ears seemed to perk up at your question.
"Yes what is it?"
"Who and what are you?" Having the chance to answer your question, the unicorn changed her demeanor from embarrassed to ecstatic.
"Oh, well my name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm a unicorn." Having her introduction out of the way she pointed a hoof to each of her friends you presume and introduced them all.
"This is AppleJack, she's an earth pony."
"Howdy."
"This is Rainbow Dash, she's a pegasus." All you received from Rainbow Dash was a cold glare.
"That's Rarity, she's a unicorn like me"
"Hmph."
'Great another pompous brat... '
"And I think you've already met Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy."
"Hiya!"
"Oh, umm hello..."
With the introductions out of the way, you now have a new problem at hand.
'How will I get out of here... '
Before formulating a plan that involved using that trusty lock pick and a tomato, Twilight Sparkle spoke up.
"If you don't mind, may I ask what you are and how can you talk??"
'Hmm... J'lae can not let them know how he got here but he can't keep everything from them either. They may turn hostile without answers, and J'lae is in no condition to fight. My name would probably be a good start though...'
"Hey Fluffy you still there?"
Noticing you spaced out, you cleared your throat of any obstructions and spoke.
"Ah forgive me, my name is J'lae who hails from a far away land called Elsweyr. My people are named Khajiit and as you can see, are part feline."
Hearing you'r last statement, Pinkie once again invaded your space.
"Oh does that mean if I scratch behind your ear will you purr?"
"What? No of course not that's ridiculous... What are you doing? WAIT DON'T TOUCH ME THER-[Puuuurrrrrrrr. ]"
"Aww who's a cute little kitty cat?"
"STOP. [Puurrrr ] SCRATCHING. [Puurrrr ] THERE! [Puurrrr .]"
"Pinkie, please stop harming mister J'lae"
"Come on Fluttershy, I'm not hurting him. Look, he's purring right?"
"Pinkie..."
"Oh fine."
Recovering from the attack, you muttered a thank you to Fluttershy who only hid behind her hair.
"Before J'lae was so graciously interrupted," you threw a glare at Pinkie who only giggled in response, "May J'lae ask a few more questions?" Having another chance to answer more questions, Twilight spoke up.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Where exactly is J'lae?"
"Oh, well we're in the outskirts of Ponyville which is in the Kingdom of Equistria."
'Even their town names are ridiculous. But J'lae is conversing with a talking pony, so things could be worse... '
"As for where we are right now, we're in Fluttershy's cottage." Twilight gave a small wave of her hoof to Fluttershy who only nodded in response.
"Just one more thing." This time Rainbow Dash arrogantly retorted with an annoyed what. Ignoring her outburst, you continued.
"Why?"
Seeing the confused looks on the ponies faces, you rephrased your question.
"J'lae means why did you save me? You have already seen my fangs and claws, indicating me as a predator who could easily kill you with them. J'lae a threat, it would have been much easier to just have left me for dead, yet you still saved me. So, again. Why?"
With your change of demeanor, the ponies started to reel back in fear at the fact they already knew yet chose to ignore. What caught you off guard however was the faint sobbing of Flutershy who slowly walked to your side.
"H-how could we not save you? You needed h-help and there was so much blood! What kind of p-ponies would we be if we didn't try to save you?"
Seeing how your question has only saddened your rescuers, you couldn't help but experience a feeling that you would have preferred to be left in your past. Guilt. Slowly raising your hand, you went to comfort the crying pegasus who tensed at your touch but soon relaxed. "J'lae apologizes for making you cry Fluttershy, it's just that J'lae is not accustomed to this kind of hospitality."
Hearing your excuse, everyone relaxed and became quiet once more.
"Well if that is all, J'lae will burden you no longer and be on his way." Before you could get up, everyone restrained you to the bed.
"What is the meaning of this!?", you shouted in confusion. AppleJack was the first to scold you.
"Are you crazy!? Its only been a few hours since we found you!" Rainbow was up next.
"And what do you mean that's all? You were in a pool of your own blood with a bone sticking out of your body!"
Realizing the only reason you were stopped from leaving was your condition, you only let out a laugh,"Ha! Is that all? Well to reassure you that J'lae fine, watch this." Raising both hands, a yellow light began to emit from them. Slowly the warm illumination enveloped your entire body.
'Sands of time, mother of Nirn. Heal my wounds and mend my bones. Let me feel the fire of life! '
Once completing the spell, you jumped out of bed and ripped the bandages off as if no injury or pain infected your body. Turning around, you saw the ponies mouths agape with widened eyes before they quickly looked down with reddened cheeks.
'Why are their cheeks red? Oh... '
Feeling your own cheeks redden, you grabbed the curtain from a nearby window and wrapped it around your body.
"Twilight, please teleport J'lae to my boutique so I can make him proper clothing."
"Yea, sure thing Rarity." With that you felt Twilight's magic grab you as a flash of light blinded you. Regaining your senses, you noticed that you were no longer in Fluttershy's cottage, but rather in a strange clothing shop.
"Hold still darling while I take your measurements." That was all the warning you got before you felt various parts of your body be choked by a string like substance.
"Now please wait in that room while I finish up some proper attire for you." Doing as you were told, you waited in the room that Rarity pointed out. That is when you noticed a white cat staring at you.
"Hello young one, are you Rarity's companion?"
"Meow"
"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY MOTHER!"
"Meow"
"MY FATHER DID NOT SMELL OF ELDER BERRIES! Wait what are you doi- WHAT, HOW DARE YOU DO THE LITTERBOX AT ME!"
"Me-ow"
"YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Before you could pounce the arrogant cat, Rarity came through the door carrying a white tunic and black pants.
"Here you are J'lae, consider this my one and only gift for you."
'So that's where this cat gets its nerves from... '
"Yes thank you Rarity." As you put on your new clothes, they embraced your body warmly. The pants even had a hole for your tail.
"Now I think it's best if you head to Twilight's house, its just east of here."
"Thank you much again Rarity." With that you took your leave of the unicorn and stepped out into town... Only to be greeted by screams of terror.
"IT'S A PREDATOR! EVERYPONY RUN!"
'Oops..... '
'Well it seems a good first impression for the residents of...what was it? Ah yes, Ponyville, is no longer available... Hehe, though it is rather amusing to watch these ponies flee in terror. Wait is that one wearing armor? '
As the pony drew closer, it's armor appeared to be gold plated, covering the distance from its head to flank with a mohawk like structure adorning its helmet. The pony itself however was a unicorn displaying a stark white hide with a blue tail that matched its weird helmet.
"You, stop right there!" The pony guard yelled, while charging a dangerous looking spell on its horn.
'Ooh, even here they have guards? Who knew such an innocent looking place could have crime. Well since J'lae is a threat they might just kill me here to stop any damage that would come from me. If that is the case, J'lae might as well have a little fun. '
"I said stop! Come with me or I will forcibly contain you!" The guard's empty threats threw you out of thought.
"What does it matter? You will still sentence me to prison or death, is J'lae correct?" Your response obviously startled the guard who only showed fear for a split second. Whether it was for the fact that you could talk, or that you correctly guessed your unjust punishment.
"I will not ask again. Come with me or I wil-"
"Oh shut up already. you're starting to bore J'lae." The guard was not ready for your interruption and was taken aback. Seeing the surprise on his face, you let out a genuine laugh which startled him even more.
"Fine then! Prepare yourself!"
Recovering from your laugh. you barely had a chance to roll out of the way from a blast of magic. The onslaught did not stop there however as the guard kept charging up his horn with scorching magic.
'Hmm, these spells remind me of fire bolts, but with less fire... Well J'lae wonders if the schools of magic are the same if not similar here. Well J'lae never did like mages so he should just finish this. '
Dodging another attack, you rushed the guard and bashed your shoulder into his chest. The impact from your attack made a sizable dent to his chest plate and left him dazed.
' Perfect, now J'lae has ample time to transform. '
With that you focused your mind, letting the dormant beast inside of you awaken. As your mind became feral, your bones began to grow and morph into unnatural lengths. Muscle tore and reformed into devastating arms that could deal crushing blows. As your face morphed from feline to canine, your coat stayed the same midnight black while your eyes still held their ice blue color. With your transformation complete, you let out a bloodcurdling howl which only terrified the citizens of Ponyville more. Seeing your "humble" transformation, the guard did not even try to continue the fight and fled with a speed that only pure fear could fuel.
'Ha! Another who can not appreciate glory, even if it howled in his face. Well, J'lae must find Twilight before completely losing control. '
With that you pounced into a sprint on all fours, heading east as Rarity said towards Twilight's home.
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As the rest of the ponies witnessed the transformation of the monster in the plaza, Applejack was paralyzed in fear at seeing the familiar figure.
"C-could that really have been J'lae?" Applejack thought, "Him healing up so fast with that magic was enough to surprise us, not even the best doctors in Equestria are capable of that. And now he can turn into t-that thing? What is he? Wait a second, he was heading towards Twilight's place as that thing! I have to warn her!"
Startled at the new found revelation, AppleJack ran towards Twilight's place through the alleyways of the town to reach her faster than J'lae. "What is he gonna do at Twilight's place? He wouldn't hurt her would he? Or maybe even..." With the new thoughts in mind, Applejack quickened her pace to protect her friend.
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'Finally here. '
Observing the place Twilight called home, it would seem as if it was carved from a tree and served as the town library.
'Hmm, such interesting creatures these ponies are. Well J'lae should transform back as to not scare her. '
Calming your mind and body, the beast within you once again fell dormant. As your bones and muscle reversed back to normal, a soothing sensation fell upon you as you gained complete control over your mind again. Even your tunic and pants were still intact, though how this was possible always perplexed you. Regaining your senses, you walked to the door and gave three solid knocks. A few seconds passed before you could hear Twilight respond.
"I'm coming, please hold on."
Hearing hoof steps on the floor the door opened... only for you to be greeted by two orange hooves in the face, knocking you to the ground. Grasping your face in pain, you felt yourself lift into the air. Realizing it was Twilight's magic restraining you, you found yourself trying to break free only to be kicked in the stomach by Applejack. Recovering from the attack, you looked into both Twilight's and Applejack's eyes seeing both fear and aggression. Twilight was the first to yell.
"Applejack told me everything! What were you thinking when you attacked that guard? Not only that, but you also turned into something that put all of ponyville into panic! What are you?"
Realizing that anything you say would end up in pain, you decided it would be best if you explained farther on who you were. Keeping a calm voice despite the pain, you tried to defuse the situation.
"Well as for the guard, he attacked me and J'lae was only defending myself. But J'lae does suppose he did go a bit to far." Letting out a apologetic grin, Twilight only shined shined her horn harder and a strangling sensation was felt on your throat.
"Sure, but Applejack mentioned that you transformed into something that scared everypony. What did you do?" Were it not that you were struggling for breath, you would have laughed at their use of the word everypony.
"J'lae has the blood of the beast churning inside him. It is a power given to few who are capable of controlling it." Hearing your explanation, Applejack had to interject.
"Beast blood? What the hay is that?" Once again, you could laugh at how innocent the creatures of this world are with there silly words.
"It lets me transform into a werewolf, though unlike those of legend, J'lae still has control over his mind and actions." Once again looking at Twilight, you saw the anger and fear in her eyes be replaced by confusion. Feeling the magic grasp loosen, you let out a sigh of relief. Observing that Applejack still eyed you suspiciously while Twilight was still in thought, you heard the voice of a small child come from inside.
"Hey Twilight! What's up with all the noise coming down from there?"
Looking closer inside expecting a little pony to come from the stairs, your eyes only widened in surprise as to what actually came down. A baby dragon. However this dragon possessed purple scales with green spikes along its body. Something was not right though... Yes, he has no wings! Though it was a infant, it was still a dragon and your destiny dictated one thing.
Seeing the growing rage in your eyes, Twilight tried to calm you.
"Why are you looking at Spike like that? He's only my number one assistant."
Twilight's words fell on deaf ears however as you readied your throat for the shout that the nords created themselves to weaken dragons. Opening your mouth, you let out a shout that thundered through the air.
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!"
For those of you not familiar with the shout or forgot its SPOILER------->>>> Dragonrend
As your shout connected with Spike, the baby dragon was enveloped in a blue aura restraining any type of attack or escape. Obviously frightened, Spike called out to Twilight and Applejack for help.
"T-twilight! Whats going on? I cant move!" Hearing the cries of help from the dragon, Twilight snapped out of her astonishment and tried to comfort the frightened beast.
"Don't worry Spike I'll save you!" Turning her attention to you, it seems that the confusion in her eyes were now replaced with pure hatred. "What did you do to him!?" With a calm demeanor you answered the agitated unicorn.
"Nothing." Throwing a glance to the still paralyzed dragon, you let out a small grin. "At least not yet."
Fearing that one of her friends may meet their ends, she threw a dangerous looking spell at you. Dodging the attack, you looked back at the still traveling spell which connected to a nearby building, completely turning it to ash. Seeing the growing fear in your eyes, the unicorn yelled out something that surprised you.
"Who do you think you are? Hurting one of my friends and expecting me to let you go!"
'Friend? Is she talking of the dragon? Does she really think dragons can be trusted? Even Paarthurnax had to meditate daily to keep his dragon nature at bay, and even then J'lae saw him attack merchants on the road. '
Before you could ponder more on the unicorns motivation to befriend a dragon, she charged another spell and hurled it at you. Thinking quickly, you summoned a ward in both hands for the oncoming attack. You swore you could feel your arms snap under the impact of the hit. Though the ward was still present, from just one hit several cracks began to form. Before being able to repair the ward, another shot of magic hit, completely destroying the ward and sending you flying into a cart nearby. Opening yours eyes from the impact, to your surprise only one could complete the feat. Reaching to your right eye you felt a scorching pain. Realizing that Twilight's hit connected and even managed to blind you in one eye, it seemed this was a fight you were not going to win.
Getting up you manage a chuckle. "J'ae has fought both many men and beasts in his time, hell J'lae has even defeated the greatest evil in his land and became the champion of all daedric princes. Yet here he stands dying and losing to what? A unicorn? J'lae will be damned if he dies in this place you call Equestria!" Charging at the unicorn you dodged several other attacks and slowly closed the distance. Less than ten meters away, you pounced at your attacker. Twilight being backed into a corner let out a single green looking spell which only grazed your shoulder. Before your unsheathed claws could reach Twilight's throat, you felt a tremendous pressure kick you in the side, knocking you several meters away. Knowing the only one who could kick that hard was Applejack, you tried getting up only to feel an intense sizzling sensation envelope your body. Turning your head to where Twilight hit you with the odd spell, you saw a bright green glow coming from it.
' Paralyzing spell. Just great... '
Unable to move, you could only hear the conversation between the two.
"What are we gonna do with him Twilight?"
"I don't know Applejack but I'll send a letter to the princess, she'll know what to do with him."
"How long will the spell last?"
"I don't know, but we should hurry"
"Ok, but let me at least knock him out so he don't try 'nothin" Not a second later did you feel a sharp pain in the back of your head before everything went black.
As you stepped through the doorway, you were greeted by a balcony rather than a hallway. To your right was Celestia who was calmly awaiting your return while on the left was Luna doing the same. In front of you however was, to put it plainly, one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen. In the distance were buildings of magnificent structure which seemed to glow in the moonlight. Though the streets were empty, you could tell that during daylight, merchants of all calibers filled the streets with stalls to provide for their families. What struct you the most however was the smell, or rather absence of smell. Back in Skyrim or anywhere really, it always smelled of death, dirt or feces, sometimes all at once! But here, it smelled clean, your keen nose even managed to pick up a few baked goods from a distant bakery. As you looked up, you could see that the balcony you were on was part of an enormous castle.
'Amazing, the Blue palace is nothing but a tent compared to this grand place. '
Your comparison wasn't exaggerated either, the grand palace you were beholding was at least ten times grander than the Blue palace or really any palace you have seen during your time. Like the other buildings, it seemed very clean, almost as if it were scrubbed down daily.
"Canterlot is a rather beautiful city is it not?" Realizing that you were to captivated by the magnificent view, you let out a small blush before responding to Celestia.
"This place you call Canterlot, it is something by the likes of which J'lae has never witnessed. True J'lae has seen many palaces, both thriving and in ruin, yet the size and structure of this place is very unique... and clean." Hearing the compliment to their fair city, the royal sisters spoke in unison.
"Would you like to hear the history of Canterlot?" Seeing the joy in their faces, who were you to deny them on giving you a small lecture?
"It would be an honor to be taught the history of Canterlot by none other than the Princesses themselves." You said in a playful tone while giving a mock bow. The sisters almost jumped in joy and began to recite the history of this place, almost as if they were a part of it. Listening attentively, you were unaware of the horrors that your "little" lesson were to bring.
Several hours and pots of tea later...
"What most people didn't know was that Star Swirl The Bearded was a bed wetter until he was thirteen!" Luna blurted out.
"Luna! He told us to keep that a secret!" Celestia scolded while trying to hold back a giggle. From as far as you could tell, it had been hours since the princesses begin their "lecture" which not so later turned into them sharing fond memories. Though some of the topics they brought up caught your attention, the rest you just blocked out while you absentmindedly started grooming yourself. From the nonstop babbling, you were able to pick up a few basic things. Both Luna and Celestia were very, very, very old, are considered alicorns and raise both the sun and moon.
'To think beings such as these have the power to control the very moon and sun. It is fortunate J'lae is not considered an enemy anymore... '
Still sharing memories of their very long lives to you, Celestia's pupils dilated as if something was wrong. Her worried tone did not help either.
"Oh no I'm late! Luna, please escort J'lae to our blacksmith Strong Steel!" With that the distraught alicorn spread her wings and jumped off the balcony, probably to raise the sun. Luna giggled at her sisters forgetfulness of her sole duty and took another sip of her tea before putting it down.
"Are you ready to be fitted for your armor J'lae?" Looking over the balcony and the steep fall, you let out an audible gulp. Unsure of how you would get to your destination without going from cat to splat, you looked up to Luna.
"Would you mind if J'lae rides you?" Luna seemed taken aback by the question and even gave a little blush.
"R-ride me? We have not even known each other more than a day!" You could only stare blankly at Luna who shifted under your gaze. Slowly letting the dwemer cogs turn in your mind, you realized your mistake. After all this is a race of ponies, for them "ride" may have more than a few meanings.
"Oh... OH! J'lae didn't mean it like that Luna. He was only asking if he could mount you." Luna only seemed to blush harder at the mention of the word "mount". Realizing that you needed to get a better grasp of pony slang, you simplified your words.
"Can J'lae go on your back Luna, so you could fly him to Strong Steel, instead of me becoming a big blood stain on your city?" Luna realized your mistakes and regained her composure.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Smacking your forehead with your paw, you only reeled back in pain as you forgot about your claws. Seeing the "warrior" that was going to help Equistria act like that, Luna let out a giggle. Regaining from the attack on yourself, you jumped onto Luna's back and held on tight as she spread her wings and delved into the moonlit night.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALL YOU HAVE IS IRON!?" You angrily screamed at Strong Steel.
"Well that's all we have since you refuse to wear gold armor." Though the thought of having pure gold armor was an amusing one, it would provide almost no protection against normal attacks, let alone dragon bites.
'What kind of race uses gold as armor? Have these ponies never been to war? Maybe that's why they needed my help with the dragons... '
"What if J'lae makes the armor himself? Will you be able to provide him with better materials?" You suggest.
"You can go ahead and try, but I'll still only give you iron." Strong Steel retorted. The earth pony was very different compared to the guards and servants of the palace. For starters, he wasn't terrified of you... yet... Aside from that, instead of having a pure white hide and blue hair like the guards, Strong Steel possessed a shade of dark red for his hide while his hair was black but was starting to gray from age. Realizing there was no way you were going to persuade the pony to provide better materials, you let out a sigh and gave in.
"Fine, where is the iron so J'lae can start working?"
"Its in storage. Just go through that door to the left of you and it'll be right there." Doing as Strong Steel said, you stepped through the door. Just as he said, the iron was right in front of you on a shelf. However, next to it was a black cloth that seemed to glow and pulse in a red light. Knowing a bit about enchantments, you realized that the clothes glow was a effect of an enchantment. Which one however you had no idea.
'Should J'lae take it? No, it isn't right... Well J'lae is going to fight dragons and is going to need much more than iron... '
Realizing all you had was iron protecting you from dragons, you took the cloth without a second thought.
After about an hour at the forge, you finally completed a set of iron armor. Well almost a set, considering you only had enough iron to make greaves, boots and a chest piece. The absence of a helmet didn't bother you though, considering that it always hindered your hearing and sight. From the cloth with the unknown enchantment, you fashioned a cloak whose hood had slits for your ears to poke out of. Putting on the gear, you gave inventory of yourself. True the armor you made was not the best, but it would provide enough protection for the time being. The cloak also gave out a strange feeling on your fur, almost as if it froze it, only to have it heated back to life in a matter of seconds. Another thing was that you weren't able to fashion a sword with what little iron you had. However, this did not bother you as you always had your claws ready. Spending time at the college also gave you quite a bit of extensive knowledge in magic. Ready to take on any foe, you walked towards Luna who was waiting for you.
"Well, J'lae is ready to fight dragons." You said. Luna seemed to eye you suspiciously.
"Where did you get that material for your cloak J'lae?" Luna quistioned. Thinking of a quick lie, you responded.
"While J'lae was looking for the iron, he found many scraps of cloth on the ground and used them for his cloak." Luna seemed to accept the answer but you could hear her mutter something about Strong Steel and how messy he is. "Well where is J'lae headed?" You questioned.
"To Ponyville." The mention of the town made you brake down in a nervous sweat.
"Ponyville?" you questioned.
"Yes, you are going there to apologize for the attack on the baby dragon." Luna said calmly. Remembering that you left Twilight and Applejack more than mad at you, the thought of them accepting your apology was quite far fetched.
"Can't J'lae just go fight dragons and possibly be burnt horribly to death?" you said with pleading eyes. All you got in return was a cold glare from Luna. Letting out a sigh, you respond, "Fine....."
You wish that fear was nothing but a plague of the mind. You wish that dragons weren't such assholes. You wish that you didn't throw up a hairball in fear driven instinct. However these are mere wishes, just another tool in a cub's imagination. If wishes were real, you probably wouldn't be in a half destroyed, airborne carriage spiraling into the ground led by demon, bat-winged pegasi. Looking back, the ride on the demon pegasi driven carriage started out so well...
Two hours and a hairball prior...
"Umm, Luna?" You questioned.
"Yes J'lae?" Luna responded.
"Why are there two demon-ponies attached to a carriage?" You asked, pointing a claw at the bat-like guards. Luna seemed amused at the question and put on a look of innocence only a child could muster, well except Braith...
"Oh them? Those two are guards under my command. They will be serving as your means of transportation to Ponyville."
'Well it can't be that bad. After all J'lae will be riding in a carriage... '
"Well if it means less walking, J'lae will oblige. This armor is heavy..." You said.
"Wonderful! When your ready just step into the carriage." Luna said enthusiastically. As you walked towards your means of transportation, a thought came to mind.
'J'lae should probably get acquainted with these two. After all they are the only ones that are separating me from a messy death. '
Once you were next to the guards, you noticed that you would never want to play a game of cards with them. They had no expression whatsoever. Attempting to break the ice, you asked a common question.
"So what are your names gentleme-err gentlecolts" You asked.
"You can call me Sunshine." The one on the left answered.
"And I Morning Dew." The one on the right responded.
".....Ok?"
'For such an intimidating exterior, their names are rather.... Unique.... '
Not wanting to cause any more discomfort, you entered the carriage. As the door closed, you felt the carriage lurch forward slowly until it gained a rather impressive speed. As the speed continued to increase, you felt a sudden rush of vertigo, and then calmness. Looking out the window, you could see that you were already in the air. Though the city of Canterlot seemed calm and tranquil at night, during daylight you could see much life and commotion in the city. The roads were filled to the brim with ponies, merchants and stalls of many different professions and specialties. It all seemed so....nice. Sadly, you could not gaze at the city forever as you had more pressing matters at hand.
' Such a shame J'lae has to leave so soon. He will make sure to visit this Canterlot again sometime. '
Soon the city was nothing more than a speck in the distance. Deciding you should save some energy for the feud to come, you did something you have not done in the past month. Sleep.
You were awoken by a rather disturbing sound. Though you were still in the air, you could hear a growl in the distance. Looking to the demon-pegasi, you could tell that something was horribly wrong. They showed fear on their faces. Once again you could hear a roar of some sort far out in the distance.
'That sound... Its so familiar... a bear? No... Wait, where are we? '
Taking a glance out the window, you could see that you were still pretty high up. However, down below you could see a forest of some sort. The next thing you saw nearly made your heart stop. It was a vague silhouette in the sky, but you knew exactly what it was. A motherfucking dragon.
'Why a dragon? Sure they are no big deal on the ground or a mountain, BUT IN THE FUCKING AIR? Not to mention those two outside... '
Before you could think of a plan, the silhouette of the dragon was no longer in sight. As you searched for the dragon, you had no time to react as the back part of the carriage exploded into noting more than rubble and splinters followed by the red scales of your new foe. The sudden shock of the hit must have dazed your drivers as they started in a spiral towards the ground. Instinctively you threw up a hairball in all the commotion for the battle to come. Digging your claws into the remaining part of the carriage, you saw the dragon right above you.
"YOL TOOR SHUL!" The dragon shouted as a massive fireball came from its mouth right at you. Seeing no escape with what little time you had until impact, an idea came to mind.
"TIID KLO UL!" You shouted, freezing time to a standstill. As time slowed, the fireball was still close, so you had to work fast. Climbing down the carriage to where the guards were, you could see that the poor things were terrified. Releasing their reigns, you threw both of them in the air and jumped with them as time slowly came back to life. Once time was back to normal, the fireball reached the carriage, obliterating it, and making the guards come back to their senses.
"W-whats going on? And why is the cat riding me?" Sunshine yelled.
"No time to explain!" ,you yelled as the dragon slowly came back to finish you. "When J'lae says go, you fucking go and find shelter in the forest!" you ordered the guards.
"Who are you to command us ca-" Morning Dew yelled before catching sight of the dragon. Seeing both guards in absolute fear, you once again gave your commands.
"Like J'lae said when he says go, YOU FUCKING GO IN THE FOREST! ANY QUESTIONS?" Seeing the guards nod, you put your legs onto Sunshine's back, tensing them for a powerful jump. As the dragon came closer, you were starting to regret your plan.
'200 meters. '
The dragon came closer.
'100 meters. '
As the dragon started to close more distance, the guards lost control of their bladders.
'80...60...40...20 meters! '
"NOW!" You shouted as you jumped off Sunshine's back and onto the dragon. Once you were on the dragon you did all you could at the moment, dig your claws into the gaps of its scales and scream like a little bitch. The dragon, however was in utter shock as to how you got on its back. It started to do flips and barrel rolls to try and shake you off, but you weren't going to give up that easily. Looking into the forest below, you could see the glint on the guards armor from the morning sun.
'At least they're safe.... '
Once you assured you had a firm grip on your left paw, you released your right paw and slowly climbed towards the outraged dragons head.
The dragon now was in a full rage, trying to get you off as you came closer and closer to its head. However, once you reached the top of the skull, the fun was about to begin. Raising your claw into the air, you brought it down with full force into the dragon's eye. The dragon was soon writhing in pain, and with good reason as you did not let up on the assault in its cranium. Loosening your grip on your left paw, you gained even more leverage and dug your arm even deeper into the bleeding beast's eye socket. Once you were elbow deep, you summoned a fire ball into your right paw, still in the dragon's head. The pain of having the inside of its head cooked was too much for the beast as it lost altitude and roared its last words which sent a chill up your spine.
"It is no matter if you kill me dovakiin, he is back!"
'....Who is he? '
You wish you could ponder more on who "He" was, but alas, the image of the fast approaching ground made you remember of your predicament at the moment. Taking your hand out of the dead dragon's skull, you once again climbed onto its back, awaiting the unpleasant crash to come.
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The two guards watched in awe as the fast approaching corpse of the dragon came crashing into the ground. The earth quaked as a boom resonated throughout the forest.
"Brother?" Sunshine asked.
"What is it Sunshine?" Morning Dew responded.
"Do you think he is still alive?" Sunshine questioned, still in awe at the dragon corpse in front of them.
"He may have killed a dragon, but I don't think anyone could survive a fall from that high up. Not even on a dragons back." Morning Dew answered. Sunshine was about to ask another question but was interrupted by seeing a silhouette appear on top of the dragon's corpse. Soon after, the scales, muscles and everything but bone from the dragon slowly faded into a white light, enveloping the warrior that defeated it who stood victorious on top. Both guards stood in shock at the cloaked warrior, who only stood still until the eerie white light was gone. The warrior then slowly walked towards both guards who were still paralyzed in fear and amazement.
"Are you two alright?" The warrior they were supposed to be transporting asked. Gaining their senses, the guards both asked the same question in unison.
"What are you?" The figure only smiled at the question before responding.
"J'lea of Elsweyr. Warrior, companion, assassin, thief, and chef. More importantly however, lost. So will you two continue to be my escorts to Ponyville?" The two guards only nodded sheepishly. "Well then, lets get a move on!" J'lea said with a chuckle
Thanks to my readers and editors!
I have been procrastinating way too much......
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After defeating the dragon and absorbing its soul (Which oddly left a sweet taste in your mouth), you took a quick glance of your surroundings. TREES, TREES EVERYWHERE . True the forests of Skyrim were filled with trees, but this place was packed with the damn things. Climbing onto one of the trees, you could see that the only clearing for miles was the one created by your crash landing. Jumping down, you walked towards your escorts who seem to have calmed down from the past events.
"So do you two know where we are?", you asked. Morning Dew hesitated before answering you.
"We're in the Everfree forest, sir."
'Hehe, he called me sir. Seems like slaying dragons here earns respect.... and sweet, sweet dragon souls. ' Reveling in the fact that you finally had some authority in this damned place, you spoke up.
"How far are we from Ponyville?" Both guards looked lost in thought for a moment before meeting each others eyes and giving a grunt of acceptance.
"We were making pretty good time until that dragon attacked us." Sunshine replied.
"We should only have about 10 miles more to cover until we make it." Morning Dew added.
"Any thing else I should know?" You asked. Both guards seemed to grimace and let out a sigh.
"Well... the only reason we made such good time was because of the airborne carriage, instead of walking through the forest." Morning Dew stated.
"If that's the case, won't either of you be able to carry me while we fly the remaining distance?", you questioned. Sunshine and Morning Dew only looked down to the dirt and swayed nervously. "You two are afraid another dragon is gonna attack us in the air, aren't you?" The brothers only nodded their heads slowly. You let out an annoyed sigh.
'Really can't blame these two for being scared of dragons... '
"Well the cover from the canopy could be useful for cover..."
Both guards raised their heads, probably due to the fact that the factor of facing another dragon was now lower. Letting out another sigh, you asked another question. "So since J'lae has no idea where we are, you two will lead the way.
"Like I said, it should only be about 10 more miles south." Morning Dew answered.
"That's not too bad. The density of the forest will slow us down though. We better get a move on then.", you said. Before you could take a step towards what you assumed was south, Sunshine grabbed you by the arm.
"Sir, are you sure you should be walking?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" you questioned.
"Well, um.... you're covered in blood." Taking a look at yourself, no wonder Sunshine was worried. The arm that you used to dig into the dragons skull was soaked in the now dried blood. There were also many dents in your cuirass, none too serious, though they still did pinch at your body. There were also a few tears on your cloak, but it only made you seem more intimidating.
"J'lae has had worse.", you said.
"Really?" Sunshine bewilderedly asked. With that, you and the two demon-ponies headed into the ever expanding forest.
The surrounding forest reminded you of your days as a cub and gave a nostalgic feeling. Collecting a few vines and branches from the ground and trees, you made a makeshift pack. Removing your armor and cloak, you placed them into the pack. Swinging the pack onto your shoulders, you felt the open air on your body where your tunic and pants weren't covering.
'The breeze in this place is calming, yet there is a feeling of despair lingering in the air. Ah well, might as well enjoy this new found peace for as long as it lasts. '
The walk through the the Everfree was silent for the most part. Your escorts seemed to move their ears in different directions, trying to hear any threat that may come your way. However, you were more occupied by a white rabbit who seemed to be actually taunting you. Considering you haven't eaten for four days, it was time for a little hunting.
Tensing your legs for the chase, you pounced at the rabbit who fled into the thick bushes. You could hear the guards yelling at you, but the gift of Hircine drove you into a mad sprint towards your next meal. Dodging the roots of trees and low hanging branches, you almost had the rabbit at arms length. Tensing your back legs, you pounced at the rabbit. Unfortunately, the white little devil anticipated this and made a hard turn left, leaving you to crash face first into a tree. Raising yourself onto the ground and rubbing your face in pain. Looking to where the direction your furry foe fled, you caught a glimpse of the rabbit running into a cave.
'First J'lae is defeated by a unicorn and now outsmarted by a rabbit? What is J'lae doing with his life... '
Lifting yourself onto your legs, you walked towards the cave. Once you were up close, you saw that the cave was massive.
'You could fit all of Whiterun in this cavern... '
Looking into the cave, you could see the rabbit staring right at you, cowering in fear.
"Ha! J'lae has finally caught you!", you yelled triumphantly. The little rabbit rose a paw to its mouth, almost as if making a shushing movement. "Are you trying to shush me? Too bad cause this, is going to be loud!" With that said, you unsheathed your claws, and pounced at the rabbit. However once again the rabbit dodged your attack, but instead of running away. stared in horror at you.
'That damn rabbit. Wait... what did my claws sink into? '
Looking to where your claws should have met the cave walls, a muscle like substance that gave off a slight violet glow replaced it. Examining what your claws were in, your eyes traveled upward, observing that what you attacked was actually a creature of tremendous proportions. It heavily resembled a bear, but its hide seemed to project the night sky with stunning detail. Your eyes still traveled upward, finally resting upon the creatures face, which was formed into a very aggressive scowl. You could hear a very low, but loud growl emit from it. Looking towards the rabbit, you could see the poor thing was paralyzed in fear.
"But you're supposed to be food...", you whined at the rabbit, who only looked at you with pleading eyes. "Fine..." As you released your claws, you quickly scooped the rabbit up into your grasp, and ran out of the cave. Alas, the bear like creature chased you for disturbing its slumber.
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"Where the hell is that damn cat!?" Sunshine yelled. Morning Dew only sighed in annoyance.
"I don't know brother, but Luna told us to keep an eye on him." The two guards searched for their 'cargo' and hit a stroke of luck as they saw him running straight at them.
"Hey! Where the hell did you go?" Sunshine yelled. However the duo then saw the humongous creature that was chasing J'lae. The guards only stared in fear as they tried to run.
"How the hell did he manage to get chased by an Ursa Major?!" Morning Dew yelled. Sunshine was equally confused but raised another question.
"Why is he carrying a rabbit?"
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As you ran, you saw both guards a little ahead of you, who seemed to have noticed your pursuer. Running into a sprint, you caught up with them when both of them gave you a quizzical look.
"What?", you questioned while still running.
"How the hell did you manage to get an Ursa Major chase you?" Morning Dew yelled.
"Oh, is that what that thing is called?", you said, pointing a claw at the creature chasing you.
"Umm, why are you carrying a rabbit?" Sunshine asked.
"Oh this little guy? Long story short, he was supposed to be dinner...." Both guards looked in disgust at you. "What? J'lae eats meat. Either way we have a bigger problem right now." Looking back, the Ursa Major seemed to catch up and flattened any trees that were in its path. Trying to formulate a plan, you saw a river up ahead.
'This is a long shot. '
"Hey you two! Fly the rest of the way to Ponyville. J'lae will take care of the big guy." You yelled at the guards.
"You're going to Fight an Ursa Major? Are you mad!?" Morning Dew questioned.
"J'lae will be mad if he has to drag your corpses to Luna and Explain what happened!", you yelled back. The brothers seemed to understand the circumstances and flapped their wings until they were over the tree tops. The Ursa paid no mind to the tiny morsels who flew away, its main target was still running on foot. As you reached the stream, you made a hard turn right, to where the water was flowing. However the Ursa raised its massive paw and brought it down, hitting you directly on the back. The claws of the beast weaved three deep wounds into your back. Were it not for your pack filled with armor, you probably would have been slit in half. You weren't sure as to how you were still running as the blow nearly grounded you, not to mention the pain and loss of blood. However, your poorly thought out plan paid off, as you heard the currents of the water become more violent. Still running by the riverside, your vision began to blur as your breath became labored. You did manage to see what you were hoping for. A waterfall. With your goal in sight, you made a mad dash towards the edge, with the Ursa still in pursuit. Nearly at the edge of the waterfall, again the Ursa attacked by trying to grasp you in its mouth. That's when you jumped into the air, narrowly missing being bit by the creature and landed on top of its head. Because of the creatures momentum and your added force from above, the Ursa lost its balance as it fell over the edge of the waterfall, with you and your furry companion.
"Hang on little buddy!", you said to the rabbit as you and him rode on the doomed Ursa's back. The Ursa fell head first onto some painful looking rocks, sending you and your companion crashing onto the riverside, bleeding and unconscious.
A thanks to my readers and editors and whatnot
Ok I know I said 5000 words but I didn't want to give to much away and after 4000 words my brain just gave out
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Painful, cold and damp, these were the only three words that came to your mind.
'Ugh, where is J'lae? My back is killing me... J'lea is not dead is he? Only one way to find out. Neck? '
Moving your neck with only slight pain, you went to check the rest of your body parts.
'My neck seems fine. Arms? Check. Legs? Check. Paws? Check. Whiskers? Check. Right eye? '
Opening your right eye, you were only greeted by darkness.
'Ahhh! I've gone blind!...Oh yeah... '
Once recovering from fright, you opened your good eye, which was greeted by the image of the night sky.
'The sun has already set? How long has J'lae been out? Ah well, at least the cuts on my back have closed as far as J'lae can feel. '
With your eye still set on the night sky, you began to observe your body for any damage you haven't noticed. To your surprise, you were covered by your cloak. Raising yourself with your right elbow, you lifted the cloak and saw that the little rabbit was resting on your chest, shivering slightly.
'Why does the food in this place have to be so adorable....'
Taking your eye off the adorable morsel, you began to observe where you were. As you expected, you were still laying on the riverside below the waterfall. Looking to where the Ursa fell, you saw that its entire head was missing, probably from the impact of the fall. What puzzled you however was the water flowing downstream from the corpse. It gave off an unnatural dark violet glow.
'Is that its blood? As if these creatures weren't strange enough... J'lae wonders how it tastes. '
While you were debating on whether or not to take a bite out of the body, the little rabbit awoke from its slumber. The little thing yawned and did adorable stretches. Considering you were out in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, you let out an audible d'aww. Your sudden outburst seemed to startle the creature, which only searched for the sounds source, until it rested its eyes on you. For a split-second, the rabbit showed great fear, until relaxing once again.
"How are you feeling little one?", you asked the rabbit. The rabbit responded by only giving you an angry stare.
"Well falling off a waterfall isn't good for your health, but we're alive." The little rabbit only face-palmed to your response.
"You don't have to be so rude... Anyway, were you the one that found my cloak?" A quick nod was all you got.
"Well J'lea is grateful, but this is where we part ways." With that said, you scooped the rabbit off your chest and set it on the floor. Raising yourself to your feet, you put on your cloak and begin to walk to what you hoped was Ponyville. Before even taking a step though, you felt a tug on your cloak. Looking down, you saw the rabbit staring up at you.
"Do you want me to protect you?", you asked. The rabbit once again nodded.
"Well too bad, getting to Ponyville will be hard enough, let alone protect you." The mention of Ponyville seemed to catch the rabbit's attention, as it once again tugged at you.
"What now?", you asked impatiently. Once the rabbit had your attention, it drew an X in the dirt, followed by a crude drawing of a pony.
"You know where Ponyville is?" The little rabbit nodded.
'First demon-ponies and now charade playing rabbits... '
"Fine, you can come along if you lead me to Ponyville." With that, you picked up the rabbit and placed it into your hood. With your escort pointing the way, you began your journey.
As you traversed through the forest, paranoia began to set in. The sounds emitting from the dark reaches of the forest made you feel that you could be ambushed at any second. Your little furry friend was doing no better, as he was moving around in your hood with growing discomfort. However you shrugged off the feeling and kept going to where your companion pointed. Pushing away bushes in your path, you failed to notice an uplifted root, which effectively made you fall on your face. With your face and ego bruised, you went to search for the culprit. Looking back though, in place of what should have been a root, there was a stone statue of a snake.
'What is a statue doing out here?'
Pondering on the out of place statue, you picked it up and were surprised to see how life like it was. Out of the corner of your eye however, you saw some bushes to the side rustling. Unsheathing your claws, you went to investigate the source of the disturbance. As you drew closer, your rabbit companion shook violently while covering his eyes.
'Great, adorable and frightened easily.'
Once you reached the bush, you raised your claws to attack whatever was hiding in the bush. Anticipating another strange monster of some sort, you were slightly disappointed when the head of a chicken revealed itself. Looking back to the rabbit, you gave him a grin to calm him.
"Oh calm down, its just a chicken." Your words though had no effect, as the little rabbit continued to cover his eyes. Rolling your own eyes at the little things cowardice, you turned back around, only to find the chicken was no longer where it was.
'Odd, it was right here...'
Satisfied that all that scared your companion was a chicken, you began to start your trek back to Ponyville. However, your path was blocked by the chicken. Well if you could call it a chicken, the damn thing had the body of a snake! The chicken-snake hybrid thing only stared at you though, showing no sign of true aggression.
"Uh, could you stop staring at J'lae?", you asked the chicken thing. The snake thing seemed to be taken aback by your question, while soon after intensifying its stare at you. To say the least, you were starting to get freaked out by the thing and slowly began to circle around it. The thing was staring at you so hard that it was actually building up a sweat. Realizing that whatever it was trying to do was not working, it suddenly lunged at you. With a quick swipe of your paw, you sliced the things head off clean, while catching its body in your other paw. Examining if the meat of the snake part was poisonous, you really didn't care at that point and plopped it into your mouth as you contently chewed off the meat and skin. Your little companion seemed horrified at what it just witnessed though. Realizing that if you keep scaring the poor thing it might not be able to lead you to Ponyville, you tried to calm him.
"Don't worry, J'lae will not eat you." The poor rabbit still seemed horrified. Rolling your eyes, you responded.
"Fine, if you show me non
"By the way, how long until we get to Ponyville? The sun is already beginning to rise." The little rabbit punched you on the head twice.
"Either you want to be made into soup, OR you mean two more hours." The rabbit nodded in response to your second suggestion. Realizing you didn't have much further to go, you quickened your pace, unaware that the animals of the forest do not take kindly to unusual presences in their territory.
Nearing the edge of the forest, you could not contain your glee, as you ran on all fours towards the growing light through the trees. Alas, the divines seemed to find tragic events happening to you very amusing. While in your mad sprint, you failed to notice the shadows that have been stalking you ever since you killed the chicken-snake thing, as one of them emerged from the darkness and dug its teeth into your sides. Letting out a yelp of pain, you, your companion, and your attacker were sent rolling into a tree. During the commotion, you managed to wriggle free from whatever attacked you, and began to look at the new wound. Instead of just torn fur and skin, you soon realized that their was a massive amount of splinters in your wound, which you quickly healed. Wondering what creature could have done this to you, you looked up to see a pack of wolves. These wolves however, seemed to made of wood. Considering all the things you have seen in your short time on this world, it did not surprise you much, but it did present a challenge. With your only escape blocked by the wolves, you started to weigh your decisions.
'They do seem to be made of wood, fire might work, but they might burn this forest down...Or maybe....No, that will only cause an earthquake....Oh! J'lae has an idea! '
Finally formulating a plan, you were barely able to dodge one of the wolves as it pounced at you. The others followed suit, as they too began to pounce at you. Removing your cloak with the rabbit still inside, you threw it into the nearest tree top, while dodging the first two and forcing the thirds head into the ground. The largest of the pack only watched from a distance. Realizing that he was probably the Alpha, you charged your paws with electricity, and ran towards him. The Alpha however remained motionless, waiting for you to close the distance. As you were at arms length, you punched at the Alpha, who only moved away with frightening speed, leaving you to only hit a tree. Taking a glance at the tree you hit, the desired effects you were hoping for showed. The spot where you hit the tree was missing a good amount of wood and bark while it was scorched, but not set ablaze. Smiling at your new technique, you charged your paws once again. The wolves once again circled around you, waiting for an opportunity.
Four minutes passed as you and the wolves were locked in place, looking for any sign of weakness. One of them grew restless, as it charged at you. You let out a smile as the wolf pounced the remaining distance. As the wolf was still in the air, you punched it on the top of its head, which crackled with electricity before exploding into nothing but splinters. As the headless corpse fell to the ground, it let out a sickening thud which echoed through the forest. This only sent the wolves into a fury, as all them attacked you at once, except the Alpha, who still only watched. Two wolves came running at you from the front while the other tried to flank you. The one from the front pounced at you. Swinging your arm out for another hit, you went to punch the creature but failed to notice that the other two attacked from below and knocked you off balance. While falling, you managed to take out the front legs of the wolf that pounced from above, which was now on the ground, whimpering in pain. However, the other two did not stop their assault on you as they kept biting onto your arms. Realizing that if you did not escape from their grasp you would be shred to pieces, you began to thrash from side to side, loosening the grip from your arms. Once out of biting range, you began to heal yourself, not noticing the Alpha pouncing for your back. The attack surprised you, but you kept your balance as the wolf began to nip and scratch at your back. The other two saw you occupied with trying to buck of the Alpha, and pounced at you from the front. This knocked you to the ground, as the three began to take your life away. You felt yourself being eaten alive as one of them took a bite out of your shoulder.
'Is J'lae really going to die? ', you asked yourself. You soon found your answer when one of the wolves tried to bite off your tail.
'NOT TODAY, NOBODY MESSES WITH THE TAIL! '
With the fury growing inside if you, your body began to burn with a passionate fire. The sudden heat warded off the beasts, as they backed away from your body. As you rose to your feet, a wall of fire surrounded your body. The fire licked at your wounds and healed them as tissue and muscle began to grow back. However the fire still grew larger as it enveloped the wolves and surrounding trees. With a spontaneous boom, the area around you was reduced to ash, including the beasts that almost killed you. Letting yourself calm down from the ordeal, you suddenly felt very light headed, and collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
'J'lae used up way too much magika... '
Looking around the newly made clearing, you saw your cloak smoking a few feet away. Stumbling to your feet, you unfolded the still hot cloak, only to be greeted by a wide-eyed rabbit. Letting out a chuckle, you went to pet the little thing as you put on your cloak and walked out of the forest.
'This cloak sure can take some damage. '
Walking past the last tree, you were greeted by sunshine and a spectacular view of the rolling hills. Once you walked a couple of steps, the rabbit jumped out of your hood and made a motion for you to follow him. Realizing you still had no idea where Ponyville was, you decided to follow. You walked for about five minutes until you saw a cottage of some sort out in the distance. The little rabbit seemed exited to have the place in view, and sprinted the rest of the way. Rolling your eyes, you ran after the rabbit. Once you were at the door of the little home, you couldn't help but feel you have already been here. The little rabbit paid no mind to you, as he entered the home through a little hole. Still trying to figure out the feeling of familiarity of this place, the little rabbit came back out, looking very worried. Realizing that this was probably the rabbits owner house, you asked him.
"Does your owner live here?" The little rabbit nodded, still looking very worried. Realizing something was wrong, you asked another question.
"Are they not here?" The little rabbit once again nodded. Trying to comfort the rabbit, you asked yet another question.
"Do you have any idea where they might be?" This time the rabbit looked deep in thought for a few seconds before making another motion to follow him. Letting him lead the way, you were soon walking on a dirt path towards an unknown destination.
After a thirty minute walk, you soon guessed your destination was Ponyville. When you asked your escort for the remaining distance, he made a motion as if going over the hill in front of you. Out of nowhere though, a deafening roar came from over the hill. A roar you were all to familiar with. Grabbing the rabbit and running over the hill, you were soon greeted by a horrible sight. Ponyville was under attack by a dragon. Buildings were on fire, while you could hear the feint screams of ponies in terror. Fearing the worst, you ran towards the town, ready to once again save the lives of the innocent. As you came closer to the burning town, you soon spotted a purple bubble enveloping the center of the town. Taking a closer look, you soon realized that the bubble was filled with ponies, including the demon-ponies, while the one called Twilight Sparkle was in the center of them with her friends. She seemed very uncomfortable as a strong aura of magic was surrounding her horn. Realizing that she was the one maintaining the shield, you made a mad dash towards her to drop off your companion, while you would deal with the dragon.
*************************************************************
"Twilight, how much longer can you hold up that shield of yours?" Applejack shouted over the increasing cries of the terrified citizens of Ponyville.
"I-I don't know!" Twilight blurted out. The strain from keeping the barrier present put a great toll on Twilight as she not only had to maintain, but had to repair it as well because of the dragons constant barrage of attacks.
'What kind of dragon is this? They've never been this violent, and those words it utters, they sound familiar...' Twilight's thoughts were soon taken away as the dragon came and once again attacked the shield.
"FO KRAH DIIN!" The dragon shouted, as a massive blizzard moved towards the barrier, enveloping it in frost and weakening its strength. Twilight grimaced at the impact, while barely keeping the barrier up. On the edge of the crowd were Sunshine and Morning Dew, keeping a watchful eye for their late guest.
"Miss Sparkle is quite gifted in magic, is she not?" Morning Dew asked, observing the barrier that was protecting them from the dragons attacks.
"Well she is Celestia's most prized student." Sunshine answered, amazed as well at the unicorns power.
"Hey what is that in the distance?" Morning Dew questioned. Both brothers squinted their eyes, trying to get a clearer image of the figure in the distance. As the figure came closer, it soon took shape of a cloaked figure, running towards the barrier.
"Well its about damn time he got here." Sunshine said.
"Come, let us warn Miss Sparkle so she can create an opening for him." Morning Dew said. Sunshine let out a grunt of acceptance before both guards ran towards the center of the crowd.
As they reached Twilight and her friends, they soon realized that she was nearing her limit. Her fur was matted with sweat while her knees began to buckle.
"Miss Sparkle! The cat has arrived, you need to create an opening for him to get in!" Morning Dew shouted. Twilight seemed to struggle even more before letting out a response.
"I can't!" She yelled, before going back to concentrating on the barrier.
"Why not!?" Sunshine yelled in confusion. Twilight seemed annoyed at the constant disturbance to her concentration and once again responded.
"I can barely hold the barrier like it is right now! If I try to create an opening now, the whole thing might fall to pieces!" Both guards were starting to lose hope, the only one they knew that could kill a dragon wouldn't be able to come to them. From behind the distracted ponies came a voice with foreign accent not from this world
"Actually, there is no need to create an opening for J'lae." The ponies turned their backs to see the cloaked figure, standing right behind them, holding a bunny. The ponies stood in shock, excluding Fluttershy, who quickly walked towards J'lae.
"Is that Angel?", the timid pegasus asked. J'lae soon released the little rabbit, who ran towards Fluttershy and embraced her. The yellow pegasus began to cry while checking her most closest friend for any injury.
"Oh I was so worried about you Angel! When you disappeared I thought you were hurt and lost! Then we had to come to the town square so the dragon wouldn't get us, and when we couldn't find you I got so worried.", Fluttershy said before sobbing some more. While Rarity and Rainbow Dash went to comfort their friend, Applejack and Pinkie Pie only stared at the cat in confusion.
"What?", asked J'lae.
"It took ya long enough to get here!" Applejack shouted in annoyance.
"So your not mad for what J'lae did?", J'lae questioned.
"Oh ya darn right I'm mad, and so is Twilight! But those two over there explained the situation right now." Applejack said, pointing a hoof at the the night guards.
"Hey Fluffy, how did you get past Twilight's barrier? Did you get bitten by a radioactive spider and get superpowers? Wait a second, that wouldn't let you get past Twilight's barrier, you would only be able to shoot webs out of your claws like Peter! Well he doesn't shoot web out his claws because he doesn't have claws like you!" Pinkie Pie said with her usual energy. J'lae could only stare blankly at the pink mare, not really knowing what to make of it.
"Well..." J'lae said as he began to tell his journey of getting there.
*****************************************************
"So when J'lae saw his cloak unharmed by my fire spell and how J'lae passed through Twilight's barrier with ease, it told me that the cloth was enchanted for magic resistance.", you said. Everypony stood still from your story, not sure what to say. Looking up, you saw that the barrier was starting to flicker.
'Oh no, Twilight's spell is starting to falter. J'lae has to act fast.'
"Well story time is over.", you said as you jumped onto your feet and exited the barrier. Once you were out. you began to search for the dragon which was no big challenge as it was coming in for another attack. Readying your throat, you shouted at the dragon as it went into a downward spiral into the shield.
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!"
Once your shout came into contact with the dragon, it lost its ability to fly, becoming a scaly white blur headed towards the center of the crowd.
"Shit shit shit shit shit! J'lae did not plan this through!", you screamed as you ran back towards the center of the ponies. You made it just in time, as the dragon hit the barrier, completely destroying it as if it were made of glass. Feeling her spell fail, Twilight collapsed in exhaustion as rest of the ponies began to panic. Mothers and fathers held their fillies, crying in fear as the dragon came closer and closer. Starting to panic, you thought of another poorly thought out plan.
"No, its too soon to shout... But damn it all, J'lae has to save them!", you said. Readying your Thu'um, you saw the dragon mere seconds away from crashing into multiple families.
"FUS RO DAH!" As the shout left your mouth, you coughed up much blood. Your insides as well felt out of place and you felt a crippling pain throughout your whole body.
'Heh, guess this is why the Greybeards told me to wait between each shout'
Looking to where the dragon was, you were glad to see the beast landed far away from the ponies. Casting a slight paralysis spell on yourself to ignore the pain, you limped towards your awaiting foe.
As you closed the distance, the dragon grasped you in its claws, squeezing the life out of you, before tossing you into a nearby building.
'Ow... '
Struggling to your feet, the dragon once again lunged at you. This time however, you ducked, while grabbing a hold onto one of dragons claws. With all your remaining strength, you wretched the thing free from the dragon as its blood squirted all over you. The dragon roared in pain before trying to grasp you in its mouth. Side-stepping to the side, you were still caught, as the dragon managed to take a piece of your leg. Screaming in pain, you fell to the floor in a heap, bleeding profusely. As the dragon saw you weakened, it took you in its grasp before flying upwards into the sky.
As you felt being lifted up into the sky, you let out a smile. Turning to face the dragon, you locked eyes with it as you waved your paw in a goodbye. The dragon showed pure confusion, before realizing it was doomed. Readying your throat for one last shout, you let out a genuine laugh at the dragons fear.
"LIZ SLEN NUS!"
The dragon soon started freezing solid from its tail until it finally reached its head, Without the force from flapping its wings, the dragon began to plummet to the ground, with you still in its grasp. As you felt the wind rush past you, the image of the ground came all too soon. The dragon landed on its back, before shattering into tiny ice crystals. The dragon did give you some protection from the direct impact of the landing, but you still felt your life slipping away. Looking at the world around you for one last time, you saw that you landed on the edge of town. All types of ponies came towards you, some were cheering for the dragons death, while others were crying. In the front of the crowd was Twilight with her friends, tears in their eyes.
'So this is death? Its not so bad, at least J'lae's death was put to good use protecting these ponies. '
Exhaling your last breath, you felt Twilight levitate you, and then nothing.
(Boring author note) Yea this is a filler chapter until I get better ideas for the next chapters. Some of this may not be lore friendly, but I tried.
As your body was dying, memories of your past soon came to life.
14 years ago, Elsweyr.
"Come on J'lae!", M'aiq, your childhood friend yelled at you over the sounds of the busy market. Breathing heavily, you sprinted towards your friend with your stolen goods in hand. Reaching M'aiq, the both of you proceeded to your usual hiding spot. Crouching into the hollow trunk of a tree, you opened your bag to only grin widely at the contents inside. Reaching inside, you lifted the delicate item with growing caution. By the time you had your prize out, both you and M'aiq were salivating.
"It's so beautiful.", you said with gleaming eyes.
"Moon sugar pie!", M'aiq shouted in bewilderment.
Examining the pie, you knew it was common food, yet it always left you wishing for more. And why wouldn't it? Made with condensed moon sugar and sometimes fruit filling, only to be surrounded with sweet soft dough, and glazed with even more moon sugar! Splitting it in half, you gave one half to M'aiq. Storing away your half, you saw your companion do the same as well. Still grinning widely, you went to say your goodbyes to your friend, but were only greeted by a terrifying sight. The two guards that were chasing you finally found you and were grabbing M'aiq by the scruff of his neck. While one was grabbing M'aiq, the other only stared at you until breaking out into a smile.
"Caught you." He said.
Scared for yourself and your friend, you had no time to think as the guard lunged at you. With no time to react, you were soon trapped the same way as M'aiq was. Desperate for escape, you flailed your arms wildly, hoping for them to make contact with anything. And it would seem the divines were in your favor as you felt your arm connect with your captors nose. Staggering in pain, the guard loosened his grip on you. Searching for M'aiq, you let out a sigh of relief as you saw him released from his captor as well. Without hesitation, both you and M'aiq grabbed your bags and soon fled through the market place to your homes. Dodging the many carts and stalls, you heard the guards yelling at you to stop. Fearing not only for yourself, but as well as your pie, you sprinted the remaining distance to your home. As you reached your home, you felt a hint of guilt for not checking if your friend made it safely away. Dismissing the feeling, you stepped into your home. True it was not a luxurious house, it was more of a glorified shack. This did not matter to you however, this was where you grew up and lived, and that was enough to call it your home. As you entered, you were greeted by your younger siblings.
"J'lae! What did you bring today?", Khrin'da, the youngest of your siblings asked with excitement.
"Yes brother, were you able to gather anything?", Jo'va, your younger sister asked with interest.
Checking your bag, you were ecstatic to find the pie unharmed. Pulling it out, your siblings were gleaming with joy at the sight. Hearing your entrance, your mother came to greet you as well, but was confused with the sight of the pie. Her confusion was soon replaced with anger.
"J'lae, where did you get that?", she asked.
Your ears folding down was all she needed to see to know what you did.
"J'lae, did you steal that?", your mother asked in a scolding tone. Not wanting to lie and worsen your punishment, you told the truth.
"Yes momma...", you said while looking down to the floor. Hearing your answer, your mother let out an exasperated sigh before continuing.
"How many seasons old are you J'lae?", your mother said in a disappointed voice.
"Seven momma."
"Then you should know better than to do things like this."
The disappointment in your mothers voice was to much for a cub to handle as you felt your eyes fill with tears. Seeing this, your mother pulled you into a hug, comforting you.
"Do not cry little one, your mother is just worried that you may be caught and one day, and you might not come home."
Your mother's words soon soothed you.
"Come now, let us eat some of this pie.", your mother said with a grin. Though she did not approve of thievery, she did not mind the extra help. After all, being a seamstress did not bring much money, so any help was appreciated. Your siblings let out audible glee as they ate their share of the pie. However the moons were already in the sky by the time you finished. Going to your cot that you shared with your siblings, you soon fell asleep. All to soon though, you were awoken by the sound of sobbing. Looking to where your siblings were, you were scared to see that they were no longer beside you. Fearing you were alone, you jumped off of the cot and called for your mother.
"Momma?", you said. No answer came, but the sobbing only increased in volume. And it never stopped increasing in volume, the sobbing only became louder and louder until you felt it was coming from right next to you. As you looked around, the walls and floor of your home soon vanished into nothingness. Surrounded by darkness, you felt alone, scared and helpless. With nothing else to do, you soon joined the sobbing with your own as tears flowed down your face. Yet in all the darkness, you saw a faint light in the distance. With nowhere to go, you ran towards the light. As you got closer, the sobbing only became louder. This did not faze you though, with the light as your only beacon out of the darkness, you ran towards it as you felt your body fill with its warm touch.
Darkness was now the only thing presented towards you. The sobbing was still audible, but was lower in volume. However, another sound soon came.
........Beep.......
'W-where is J'lae?'
........Beep.......
'What's that noise?'
........Beep.......
'Anger..... RISING! '
....Beep.....Beep......
'HEART PUMPING!'
..Beep..Beep..Beep..
'STOP THAT FUCKING BEEPING!'
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep.
As the mysterious beeping kept going faster the angrier you got, the sobbing suddenly stopped and a feminine voice soon pierced your ears.
"Nurse Redheart, whats going on?" A familiar voice said.
"His heart rate is increasing. We have to stabilize him." A calm voice responded. For a moment there was silence, then the sound of metal rubbing and a feint electrical current.
'What is that sound? J'lae hopes its nothing ba-AHHHHH! BY THE TWIN MOONS!' .
A sudden electrical current passed through your whole body, jolting your eyes open. At first there was only blinding light, but as your vision refocused, you saw a white mare with a pink mane above you, holding a pair of metal sheets. You saw her mouth move, yet no words came out, probably due to the fact that your ears were still ringing from the previous shock. Oblivious that you were awake, she rubbed the metal sheets together and planted them firmly onto your chest, sending another strong current throughout your body. Not only did this one send pain, but it also paralyzed you. Praying to the divines, the sadistic mare once again charged up the metal sheets of PAIN. Still paralyzed, you did all you could at the moment.
"FUUUUS!"
As the shout escaped your lips, it not only shocked the mare, but it also staggered her enough for you to escape. Without thinking, you jumped to your feet. This was a fatal mistake however as a trembling pain forced you to the ground. Trying to spot what caused such pain, you were terrified to find yourself in bloodied bandages. As the memory of the dragon came back, you realized that you just opened your previous wounds. Gathering what little magicka you could get, you had enough to at least close your opened wounds. Without the threat of bleeding out present, you observed your surroundings. To your surprise, you were once again in a white, clean looking room. As your eye picked up every detail of the room, from the bed you were in to the little pieces of furniture adorning it, right up to the occupants as well. With no surprise, you spotted the white mare sprawled on the floor wide-eyed. However, Twilight and her friends were present as well with red puffy eyes. Staggering to your feet, you walked or rather limped towards the stunned ponies. As you drew closer, the ponies began to back away. Fastening your pace, you were soon in front of Twilight Sparkle. Lowering yourself to one knee, you were soon at eye-level with the trembling unicorn.
"Sorry...", you said in a labored breath before passing out from pain. As your body went limp and hit the floor, Twilight only stood in place, confuse at the event that just transpired.
"Sorry?"
I need some drugs inspiration.....
Slowly but surely, you were returning to the living world, with your mind soon filling with complaints.
'Divines, why do you torture J'lae? Why does J'lae always have to black out EVERY SINGLE DAY.'
When you were done complaining, you slowly fluttered your eyes open. Once again, you were greeted by the sight of the white room. Raising yourself with your elbow, you looked around for any danger, specifically the sadistic white mare called Redheart. Content with the absence of the mare of PAIN, you decided to check yourself of your injuries. In place of the bloodied bandages you remembered, there were clean ones with a rose like smell. Moving certain parts of your body, you were glad that there was only slight pain in your previously bitten leg. Swinging yourself off the bed, you stretched your sore muscles and bones. Hearing the pleasurable pops of joints gaining flexibility, you let out a content sigh. In the corner of your eye you spotted a window. Walking towards the window with only slight pain, you opened the blinds and saw a beautiful sight.
In front of you were many quaint little buildings that had a friendly and homely vibe to him. Although you've already been to Ponyville before, certain...circumstances made it rather hard to focus on its scenery. With a smile parting your lips, you let out a chuckle before examining the room further. As you reached a table next to the bed, you saw a black fabric neatly folded on top. Picking it up, it gave off a hint of lavender, herbal tea and....sweetrolls? Unfolding the mysterious fabric, your eyes went wide in surprise when you noticed it was your cloak. However, it was completely intact. All the tears and stains that it adorned were completely gone. Putting it on, you felt a certain comfort and softness to it. Looking back at the table, there was another set of fabric, but these were a stark white. Picking them both up, a note fell from the folds of them and landed near your feet. Reaching for it, it had a rather...fabulous feel to it. Reading the note, your brows raised to the contents of it.
Dear J'lae
I am very sorry for our misunderstandings in the past. I see now that you have a good heart. So when you get better, please do come to my boutique for a spot of tea.
-Rarity
'Well at least that's one more problem out of the way. '
Examining the fabrics further, you noticed that they were actually a set of clothes. Realizing that you were once again only covered in bandages, you were grateful to the fact that you were alone. Putting on the new clothes, they were a bit more fancy than you would have liked, but you could tell that Rarity put a lot of work into them, causing you to smile. Now getting bored of your surroundings, you headed for the door. Unfortunately, as you tried twisting the doorknob, you realized it was locked. Letting out a sigh, you soon took out that trusty lockpick of yours from a very uncomfortable spot. Although you were a bit rusty, you soon heard a loud click, and saw the door swing open. Wiping the lockpick on the bed sheets, you soon placed it into one of the pockets in your newly acquired pants. Leaving the room, you entered a rather long corridor with many other doors dotting it and some wandering ponies. Not knowing which way was the exit, you just decided to take a turn right. As you walked, there were many ponies staring at you in disbelief. Not caring though, you continued to travel down the hall until you saw a big open room. Taking a closer look, you saw many chairs and little plants decorating the open room while on the far side were doors that seemed to lead outside. In the middle however was a big circular counter with your worst fear inside. As the both of you locked eyes, you tensed your legs to run from the white mare. Before you could do this though, she spoke in that same calm voice she used when she used those metal sheets of PAIN on you.
"Well look who it is, mister dragon-slayer. I'm glad to see you up and walking. You gave us quite a fright when you woke up three days ago."
"T-three days?", you asked very confused.
"Well if you ignore the part when you woke up, you've been in a coma for ten days in total." Redheart replied in a calm manner.
'A coma? Suppose its better than being dead. '
As your thoughts trailed off, Redheart cleared her throat, effectively snapping you out of your trance.
"If you would allow us to take some tests to make sure your okay, you'll be free to go. Your friends are very worried about you after all.", she said.
"Friends?", you asked.
"Don't you know Twilight and the others? They did carry you all the way here after the dragon attack.", she replied.
'Heh, once again these ponies show me kindness. Even after all that's happened.'
Looking up at Redheart, you soon let a small grin before responding.
"Ha, Guess that does make them my friends. Please perform the tests on me so J'lae can thank them personally."
Nurse Redheart let out a smile before leading you to a closed room to perform the tests.
"This invention is genius!", you exclaimed in excitement. Nurse Redheart rolled her eyes at your child-like manner.
"Its just a wheelchair.", she said in a playful tone.
"But a chair with wheels? You could traverse all of Skyrim sitting down on this!", you said.
"It's just protocol, so don't get too used to it.", she said in a sing-song voice. Hearing your fun with the chairwheel was going to end, you ears drooped down. Letting out a sigh, Nurse Redheart felt a little bad for you.
"I suppose if you come in for checkups every now and again, you could have more time to use it.", she said. Perking your ears back up, you felt a smile part your face.
'Heh, today is going to be a good day.Wait a second...where am is J'lae supposed to go?'
As you exited the hospital, you realized you had no idea where your savior's homes were from the hospital. Using your sensitive nose to try and locate them, you were soon distracted by the smell of heavenly sweets. Following the scent, you were oblivious to the fact of the many mixed faces of the ponies you passed. Some were of terror while others were of gratitude. This did not bother you, as you were preoccupied with weaving through the streets of the busy market place. As the scent became stronger and stronger, you stopped in your tracks as you were now in front of what appeared to be a giant building made of sweets.
'What the.... '
Trying to comprehend how such a thing was possible, a sudden urge soon controlled your body.
'C-could it really be..... Maybe just a taste.... '
As you approached the building, you soon ran your paws over its design.
'It doesn't feel like sweets, but still.....'
Opening your mouth, you soon bit into one of the walls. However, what you feared was now confirmed, as you soon let go of the deceiving walls. As you moaned in disappointment, a rumbling soon reminded you of a new problem.
'J'lae supposes they could wait, he is hungry after all.'
With your mind set, you walked into the building and hoped it sold any type of food. Your entrance was accompanied by a ring of a bell, and a strong smell of sugar. As you looked around, the main theme was obvious, as the seats, tables and even the floor and ceiling were candy related. Learning your lesson from outside, you thought it would be wise to not test if they were real candy or not. Walking towards what you presumed to be the counter, there was nobody present. Taking another look around, you soon realized that the place was empty. Wondering if you just broke into someone's home by accident, you saw a bell on the counter. With nothing else to do, you rang the bell. A few seconds passed before a gloomy voice came from another room.
"Coming...", the voice said. Another few seconds passed before a pink mare with a long, straight mane came around a corner.
"What would yo-", the mare said before getting a good look at you. As your eyes met, hers began to fill with tears, while yours filled with fear.
'Is that...'
Before you could finish your thought, the pink ones mane soon bounced to life as it turned into a poofy explosion.
'Oh no...'
Before you could run to safety, the pink one jumped at you with frightening speed.
"FLUFFY!", she screamed in joy. As she made contact with you, both of you fell to the ground in a heap. Before you could recover, Pinkie soon scooped you into a lung crushing hug.
"Oh I missed you so so much! When that big mean dragon attacked, we were so scared! But then you came and saved us! But you got really hurt and we were so scared you weren't gonna make it! But your here and all better now!" Pinkie said in one collective breath. Still in her death grip, you wheezed out any words you could.
"Lungs....Crushing....Air.....REQUIRED...."
Realizing that she was taking your limited hp away, Pinkie dropped you on the ground which was accompanied by a dull thud. Greedily breathing in what air you could, you dusted yourself off as you stood up. Looking at Pinkie, she wore a huge grin as she stared at you. Being a bit freaked out, you cleared your throat for a greeting.
"Yes it is good to see you Pink-", you said before feeling your body tense up and falling face first into the floor. Now only seeing the floor, Pinkie rushed to your side.
"Fluffy are you ok?" Pinkie said in a worried tone.
"Withdrawal symptoms....NEED....moon sugar...", you replied.
Pinkie only rolled her eyes and giggled. "Oh is that all? Here you go!", she said as she pulled a bowl out of thin air. Raising your head, she poured a bit of the moon sugar into your mouth. Feeling the sweetness tingle your taste buds, you jumped to your feet as a burst of energy went through you. Feeling better, you went to thank Pinkie.
"Thank you Pinkie, but where did you acquire moon sugar?", you asked.
"Oh, I just used my powers! Although I can only use them once a day..." Pinkie stated. Not wanting to question her further, you weighed your options.
'This is going to be a long day....'
Short chapter is short.
'Ugh, J'lae really should find the others....but J'lae is still hungry.... '
"Hey Fluffy, you alright? You keep zoning out." Pinkie asked.
"Huh? Oh sorry. Wait a second, why do you call me Fluffy?" you retorted.
"Well because when you freak out your hair stands up and looks fluffy." she said.
"IT DOES NOT!" you shouted.
"IT DOES SO!" Pinkie shouted back.
"NOT!" you said
"SO!" Pinkie said
"NOT!"
"SO!"
"NOT!"
"NOT!"
"SO! MY HAIR STANDS UP WHEN J'LAE FREAKS OUT AND THAT IS FINAL!"
"Whatever you say Fluffy!" Pinkie said with a giggle. With a hop to her step, she went back to the room she came from, leaving you very confused.
'What the hell just happened... '
Your little exchange with Pinkie left you rather tired. Taking a seat at one of the nearby tables, a thought popped into your head.
'These are really small chairs. '
Trying to find a comfortable position and failing miserably, you settled with just sitting on the table instead. Clearing your mind, you were finally able to relax a bit and evaluate your situation.
'Okay, J'lae has found Pinkie and she seems fine. Just need to find Rarity at her boutique, Twilight at her Library, Applejack at her farm, Fluttershy in her cottage and Rainbow Dash at.... Where does she live?.... SHIT. '
Having a long day ahead of you, you opened your eyes to only find your view obstructed by two ponies. One was a mare that had a blue coat with a pink mane while the other was a stallion that had a light orange coat with a mane that was a darker shade of orange. What they shared in common however were two big grins that rivaled even Pinkie's. Starting to get a bit freaked out, you spoke up.
"Can J'lae help yo-"
"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" Both ponies said in unison to you. To say the least, you were utterly confused at the two ponies in front of you.
"Uh, who are you and why are you thanking me?" you asked. The two ponies exchanged glances before turning back to you.
"My apologies, I'm Mr. Cake while this is my wife, Mrs. Cake." The orange stallion said while pointing a hoof at his wife. "As to why we were thanking you, well you saved not only our lives, but our foals lives as well!" Mr. Cake said with gratitude. Thinking back to the attack and when the dragon broke through Twilight's shield, you did remember spotting the couple with two fillies in hoof about to be crushed by the dragon.
"Oh yea, you two were in the crowd when the dragon was coming down, and like you said you had children with you, are they alright?", you asked.
"Yes they're fine. In fact, I think they would like to meet you." Mrs. Cake said. Both of the cakes left and went up a set of stairs you somehow didn't notice.
'That's right, J'lae did save a lot of lives that day. J'lae probably shouldn't milk that for all its worth... Probably..... At least not too much. '
Waiting around for a few minutes, you saw the cakes come down the stairs with two foals. One with a light tan coat and brown mane while the other shared similar traits with her father.
"Poundcake, Pumpkin Cake, this is the nice fella who saved us." Mrs. Cake cooed to the foals. The two little foals craned their necks at you and gave a quizzical look towards you before bursting into giggles. Hearing their laughter brought a smile to your face.
"They're adorable." you said. The Cakes only smiled in response. During your little 'play-date', you failed to notice that Pinkie entered with a tray full of baked goods. Setting them on a nearby table, Pinkie hopped towards you.
"I heard your stomach rumble Fluffy so I brought you some things to fill you up!" Pinkie said with her usual cheerfulness.
"J'lae would love to eat these wonderful, sweet looking.... mouth-watering treats... But he doesn't have any money." you said.
"Oh don't worry about paying, we owe you our lives! The least we could do is keep you well fed." Mr. Cake said. Your stomach answered for you as it let out a loud grumble, causing the two little twins to giggle.
Five minutes later
"He-he ate the table too..." Mr. cake mumbled.
"What? J'lae hasn't eaten in a week." you replied.
"It was made of plastic!" Mr. Cake whined.
"Wrong. It was made of DELICIOUS plastic."
'Whatever the hell plastic is anyway.'
"Anywho, J'lae needs to check on the others, so farewell Cakes and Pinkie."
"Come back soon Fluffy. And don't forget the directions I gave you." Pinkie said as she waved goodbye. Exiting through the door, you went over where Pinkie told you where her friends resided.
"Rarity is up first. Better to get out that out of the way." you said to yourself.
Walking in the general direction Pinkie pointed you to, you began to notice the various looks you were getting. Most of them were of confusion or curiosity, some ponies even waved at you.
'It feels good getting some recognition that isn't of fear or bloodlust. '
Walking for a few minutes with more stares directed at you, you were at Rarity's doorstep. Stepping through the door, a bell dinged to alert the residence of your presence.
"Coming." A familiar voice said in a sing-song voice. The door from a side room swung open as Rarity stepped through. Seeing you, Rarity let out a small gasp before addressing you.
"J'lae, what a pleasant surprise. I see you fully recovered, thats wonderful." Rarity said genuinely.
"Well my leg still has some pain, but everything else is fine. J'lae actually came to thank you for the clothes you left m-" your thanks was interrupted by a scream coming from seemingly nowhere.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LION TAMERS!"
Hearing the source from above, you looked up towards the rafters where a trio of small ponies came falling towards you with a net.
'Oh shit. '
So I feel like something is wrong with this chapter besides it being short. I'm not really sure what it is, but its annoying me. If you guys notice anything odd about this chapter, tell me so I can make it seem better.
Another short chapter
"TIID KLO UL!", you shouted with only a trickle of blood escaping your mouth.
'My innards are still messed up, ha.... Ow, it hurts when J'lae laughs.... Ha... '
Time around you slowed to a near standstill while you were still able to move freely. Looking up, you saw the trio of fillies still falling, but much more slower, with VERY big smiles.
'Those creepy little fucks.'
Unsheathing your claws, you began to scale the wall next to you quickly until you were at level with the cutie mark crusaders . Grabbing the little trouble makers in one arm and the net in the other, you fell to the ground below. Landing on your feet with only a soft thud, you placed the trio slightly off the ground with the net a few feet above them. Standing to the side, you watched your handiwork go into motion as time began to go at its usual pace.
Once time was back to normal, the trio fell on the ground in a heap. Seeing their faces in utter confusion almost made you burst out in laughter. Although when the net fell on top of them, you fell to the ground, holding your sides in joy and pain. It took a bit of time for Rarity and the trio to register what happened, but when they did, two things happened.
Rarity stood there with her jaw agape while the cutie mark crusaders rushed to your side, asking various questions.
"Are you some sort of unicorn?" The white filly asked.
"How can he be a unicorn if he don't got a horn?" The yellow one interjected in a accent similar to Applejack.
"Aren't you supposed to be a lion?" The orange one asked while raising a brow. Finally able to compose herself, Rarity ushered the girls to leave you alone.
"What were you girls thinking? You could have not only hurt yourselves but as well as my guest J'lae." She chastised. The girls let out a small apology before entering another room.
"I'm so sorry about that, the girls were just trying to get there cutie marks." Rarity said.
"It's fine, when you could be killed at any moment, you never really let your guard down.", you said with a wave of your hand. Rarity had a look of concern in her eyes before she spoke up.
"Is it really that dangerous where you come from?" She asked.
"Not really if you keep to yourself, but when it comes to my profession, the risks are much more greater. If J'lae recalls a quote from a good friend 'The world is ripe with people ready to spill your blood.'" Rarity looked absolutely shocked at the calmness in your voice when discussing such a subject.
"What exactly was your profession?" Rarity asked nervously.
"J'lae was a handy man of a sort. You needed wood chopped? J'lea could get it done. You want me kill every last bandit in that cave? Let me get my wood chopping axe. Play tag with children? Hell yes."
"I'm not sure if your answer helped me calm down..." Rarity said. You merely shrugged at what she said. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Rarity spoke again.
"Would you like some tea J'lae? It would only take a few minutes to make." Rarity offered.
"That would be pleasant.",you said. Rarity led you to the kitchen where she offered you a place to sit. Once again you were faced with the problem of the too small chairs. Learning your previous lesson, you opted for the table instead. A few minutes passed before Rarity levitated cups and a kettle to a nearby counter. As she poured the steaming liquid into the small cups, the scent it gave off relaxed your muscles and gave you an air of calmness. Once done pouring, she levitated a cup to you, which you took gladly. Sipping the tea, its flavor was a sweet yet smooth combination.
"How is it? Earl Grey is one of my favorites." Rarity asked as she took a sip from her cup.
"J'lae must say, he had gotten the wrong impression of you. From your attitude when we met, J'lae did not think you were capable of making such refreshing tea and amazing clothing.", you answered. The unicorn showed a small blush at your compliment.
"I truly am sorry for how I appeared. In all truth, I was absolutely terrified of you, I was trying to hide it is all.", Rarity said.
"Even the Rainbow one?" Rarity shuffled on her hooves uncomfortably before responding.
"She would never admit it, but Rainbow Dash was also intimidated by you. No offense, but your appearance when we first met put a few of us off."
"It is fine, but may J'lae ask you a question?" Rarity simply nodded in response. "Those girls back there were talking about cutie marks. J'lae is guessing those are the images on your ass?" Rarity blushed more at the bluntness of your question but answered anyway.
"Well yes, the three diamonds on my side are my cutie mark."
"What does it do?"
"Well when a pony finds out there special talent, it appears and corresponds to their talent."
"So it just appears magically?"
"Well yes..."
"...... Eh, J'lae has witnessed stranger things." Getting off the table, you thanked Rarity for the tea and headed for the exit.
'Two down, four to go. Twilight is the closest now so she's next.'
As you walked through the streets, you realized that they were now somewhat empty. Taking a glance at the sky, the sun was now already set and the moon now adorned the sky. Letting out a yawn, you felt tired from the day.
'J'lae didn't even notice it was dark. Ah well time to take a nap.'
Remembering passing a park on your walk, you backtracked until you spotted a tree with a low hanging branch. With a small leap, you landed on the branch and shifted yourself into a comfortable position. Falling asleep rather fast, you enjoyed the sounds of crickets and nocturnal creatures which lulled you into a deeper sleep.
But your sleep was short lived as you felt a yank on your leg and fell to the ground. Trying to get back up, a hoof connected with your head, which not only knocked you back down, but also made you spit blood. Searching for your next victim, you were face to face with a blue pony with a rather large scar on his face.
"You know its not safe at night, right you little pussy cat?" He said in a mocking tone. Turning your head to the side, you were surprised to see you were surrounded by even more ponies.
"Think carefully on what you're about to do next.", you said in a low voice. The only response you got was another punch to the head. Ignoring the pain, you simply shook your head while making a tsking noise with your tongue.
"That was the wrong answer." you said in a cheery voice.
"B-boss? I think this is the one that beat that dragon." A scared voice from the background said. The ponies eyes in front of you widened in fear at the possibility. While they all backed away in fear, you simply smiled as you dug into the blue ponies neck with your claws, ripping out his windpipe and savoring every moment of it. Throwing his twitching body to the ground, you heard small gurgling noises which were his attempts at last breaths. Bringing your leg back, you kicked the pony in the stomach, launching him into the center of the terrified thugs. Licking the blood off your claws, you stared at the ponies which were paralyzed in fear.
"Who's next?"
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How do you like your ponies, rare or medium-rare?
IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE. I will explain the sudden change of personality in later chapters. I would also like to mention that I am not very good with writing gore, so this chapter probably sucks.... and its short....
The sensation you were feeling was one that you haven't felt ever since you came to Equestria. The act of killing that pony shot adrenaline into your system, sending your senses into overdrive. Your eyes shrank into thin lines but still gave you the ability to see through the darkness. The smell of blood filled your nose which sent a primal feeling your ancestors felt when on the hunt. The feeling of your raw power sent you into a frenzy, a frenzy that would almost be able to cure your addiction of moon sugar. ALMOST.
Lowering yourself to the ground, the ponies were still frozen in place, giving you the perfect opportunity to scout them out.
'Let's see.... There are eight in total, two unicorns, five ponies and one pegasus.'
Planning to take out the pegasus first to prevent him from calling for help, another devious thought came to mind.
'J'lea will take them out from the shadows, it will be so much more fun this way!'
Putting your right hand into the air, it began to vanish into nothingness, which slowly infected your whole body until you vanished into thin air. To say the least, the thugs were flipping their shit. First they witnessed the gruesome death of their boss by the hands of a "Pussy cat", but now they just saw the same cat disappear without a trace. The group looked franticly around, searching for any sign of your location.
'J'lae loves the fear on their faces, it almost makes me feel bad.'
Sneaking up behind the pegasus, you grabbed both of his wings and put your foot on his flank for leverage. With a hearty tug, you ripped his wings off. Before he could scream in agony, you put your hand over his mouth to prevent him from warning the others. With your free hand, you traced three deep gashes into his neck, and set him down quietly. With the others still unaware of your presence, you were only slightly annoyed at the little fountain of blood that spurted out of the the two little stumps where the pegasus's wings used to be. Still oblivious to you, you sneaked behind two earth ponies that were standing next to each other. With your claws still dripping from fresh blood, you licked them clean. The taste of iron and copper sent a shiver down your spine and almost made you moan in pleasure. As you were right behind the two, you managed to get in between them and were almost at their heads.
Positioning your hands below their jaw line, you raised them up with enough force to bypass the skin and muscle of their jaws and landed your claws into the inside of their mouths. With a swift movement, you slid your hands back to your sides and slipped back into the shadows. Examining the two new corpses, they began to ooze out bubbles of blood from their mouths and exposed flesh. With three down, you began to slink to the three remaining ponies who were closely huddled next to each other.
'They're making this too easy.' , you thought with a smirk. Raising both your hands, a feint, green glow emitted from them. As you waved them into the air, one of the ponies spotted you.
"There he is!", he warned the others. With your location found, the trio of ponies charged at you. You only let out a small chuckle at their stupidity. Bringing your hands down, a pale green aura spread throughout the vicinity, causing the trio to go limp and and fall to the ground, paralyzed. Walking towards their still bodies, you placed your hand on the nearest one and sent a constant flow of frost into his cranium. Repeating the process for the two remaining ponies, you searched for the unicorns.
With no surprise, you spotted them a few yards away from you, eyes widened in fear and shaking in a puddle of urine. As you walked towards them, they made no movement for fear of your wrath. Slowly caressing the face of one of them as if to comfort them, you brought your mouth around her neck. You slowly traced two lines with your canines that split her skin and left a shallow mark. Hearing her struggle for breath was almost too much for you. Having enough fun, you took a chomp out of her neck and simply pushed her to the ground. Savoring the taste of raw meat, you were unaware of the other unicorn charging at you. As you turned around, you were too late to react as the unicorn plunged his horn into your stomach. You stood there unmoving, examining the unicorn. He had a cocky grin that portrayed him as the winner. But with you still breathing, you reached down to his horn which was impaling you.
Taking a grip of the base, with a flick of your wrist, you snapped his horn in two, causing him to fall on the ground in pain. Digging into your open wound, you twisted the horn out, and flicked it to the side. Healing yourself, you grabbed the unicorn by the neck and raised him in the air.
"Who are you?", you whispered. The unicorn simply laughed at you.
"You'll never know considering you killed the Don's son. By the end of the week the Don will know something is up when we don't come back. He'll have your head.", he said. This brought a smile to your face.
"Me? Dead? Even old uncle Sheogorath finds it hard to kill J'lae." With that said, you conjured a flame into your hand and plunged it into the unicorns exposed stomach. The flame ate away at his fur and skin until it reached his muscle and intestine. The smell of his cooking flesh brought another problem though.
'How is J'lae going to get rid of the bodies.... The smell of pony meat is quite enticing. '
Having a new plan formed, you dragged all the corpses into a pile and set them aflame. Within minutes, the meat and bones of the corpses were burnt to a crisp, save for one wing you put aside which was only cooked slightly.
'Pegasus tastes like chicken.'
Burning the rest of the evidence and the bloodstained ground, you noticed it was still dark out, maybe around midnight. Walking with a hop to your step, you returned to your branch and prepared yourself for a nap.
'Today was a good day.'
The unicorn eyed you with expectancy, impatiently waiting for your response. Before you could open your mouth though, Twilight's magic enveloped you in her familiar aura and practically threw you into her domain. As you flew through the air, you were able to examine the tremendous mess that Twilight called her home before crashing into a pile of hard cover books. Momentarily dazed by the assault, the lavender coated mare appeared right in front of you within a purple flash.
"I went to the hospital yesterday to check if you were recovering well from the dragon attack but Nurse Redheart said that you already checked out that evening and I got so worried! I mean no offense, but you seem like the type that won't listen to medical advice even though you nearly had your leg chomped off. Well I became so concerned that all I could do was come back to the library and try to occupy myself until you showed up, but then I started making a mess of everything and then you come knocking at my door! It surprised me so much that all I could do was drag you into my hom-", Twilight rambled before you put a claw to her mouth to silence her. Examining her appearance, you could see that the unicorn was honestly concerned for your well being, a concept you still found difficult to grasp. Pushing yourself off the books, you stood at your full height, leaving Twilight in your shadow.
"As you can see, J'lae has recovered and still has complete control of all his appendages. Well, almost all of them.", you responded while eyeing your tail with malice. Twilight seemed to relax a bit, if not seem more confused by your response. " As for now, J'lae only came by to see if you and the rest of your companions were unharmed." Eyeing the mess behind Twilight, you raised your brow in concern. "At least there seems to be no physical harm present, but J'lae can't say the same for your mental health."
Twilight looked at the floor in shame as you pointed out her mess. Slightly annoyed at how easily these ponies are insulted, you began to walk yourself out the door to find the rest of Twilight's gang.
"Wait!"
The mare's sudden outburst caught you off guard as you span on your toes to face her. She pawed at the ground some more before looking you straight in the eye.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions now that I had the chance."
'What would she want to know about J'lae? Might as well comply for now less she pain me with her magic again.'
"It seems that J'lae owes you at least that much for preventing him from turning into a corpse on more than one occasion."
Twilight practically beamed at your agreement and quickly levitated a quill and scroll in front of her. Rubbing your eye in angst, you were hoping that this would end rather quickly.
"First things first, could you tell me more about your species?"
"Before we began this rather boring interview, may J'lae ask you one simple question?" Twilight looked rather hurt at the word 'boring', but nonetheless slowly nodded in agreement.
"How are you so powerful?" Once again Twilight was in a state of confusion. You felt further explanation was going to be needed. "When we fought not so long ago, you destroyed my ward rather easily. J'lae is not trying to boast, but not many of his enemies are able to do that with incredible ease as you." In response to your makeshift compliment, Twilight blushed slightly and shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, about that..."
"Yes, go on."
"I never really used any offensive spells on you besides paralyzing you." You felt your expression turn into that of a bewildered one.
'No offensive magic!? The damn bitch blinded one of J'lae's eyes!'
"If you used no offensive magic how do you explain those fireballs, breaking my arms, blinding one of J'lae's eyes and reducing a building to ash?" Twilight began to rub the back of her head before letting out a sigh of defeat.
"Well to explain the fireballs and burning down that building... They were all illusions."
Your right eye twitched.
'I-illusions? Thats not possible...'
"As for your ward, all I did was reverse the polarity of it so that it imploded in on itself, but I never thought that your ward was strong enough that the blowback would hurt you that badly." Twilight said while giving you an apologetic look.
'Using ones magic against them by just slightly altering it. J'lae has never heard of such a thing, perhaps he should ask the purple one to teach him of this.'
"J'lae... understands. Now that that has been explained, J'lae supposes he should tell you of his people. As J'lae mentioned before, his kind are called Khajiit and hail from a land called Elsweyr. We believe that our ancestors bred a litter of children and in turn kept doing so until our original father became angered and punished our brood mothers children. In defiance, they created the first of our kind and set them free in the lush forests. In more anger, our brood father turned our once beautiful forests into nothing more than barren deserts and toxic marshes. Azurah, one of the children, gave our kind the gift to change shape and this is where the Bosmer came from. J'lae knows what your thinking, but he knows nothing of those elves, so don't ask. After settling in a forest untouched by our creators wrath, we were not much more than quadruped cats that ran on instinct. After some time though, we began to from tribes and still loosely do in a sense. As for ourselves, our appearance depends upon the aligning of the moons back in Tamriel. J'lae was born under the Secunda Waxing, granting him the gift of being bipedal. Does this answer your question?"
Twilight was still furiously scribbling down notes she was taking before looking up at you.
"I still have more questions, but this will do for now."
"If that is all, then this is my farewell." Walking out the door, you heard Twilight say bye before you shut the door behind you. Looking around, the roads of Ponyville were much more livelier than before. Taking in a deep breath, you could taste the crisp and cold air that signaled autumn was near.
'The atmosphere is quite quaint in this little town. A much better improvement than the dread that Skyrim emits. Might as well enjoy it now while J'lae finds the rest of those talking hor-'
Your thoughts were interrupted by a soft thud you felt on your head. Looking around for the object that struck you, all you spotted was a muffin with a bite taken out of it in front of you.
"Pastry? How odd." Reaching down to grasp the culprit, you outstretched your arm to pick it up. As your paw wrapped around it, a heavy looking anvil fell from the sky, right onto your hand.
"......"
The pain did not reach you immediately, but it did eventually.
"BY THE TWIN MOONS! WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS. CURSE THIS LAND OF TALKING HORSES AND ALL THAT IT HOLDS DEAR. LET SHEOGORATH TURN EVERYTHING IN THIS DAMN PLACE INTO CHEESE!"
A voice from above called for your attention.
"Sorry about that!" As you looked up, you saw a rather buff looking pegasus carrying a carriage of equipment while a gray female was hovering beside him.
'There's something off about that gray one.'
The gray pegasus began to descend to the ground near you and promptly helped you lift the anvil off your hand. With your hand freed from the anvil, you were only slightly annoyed that all the bones in it were broken. The pegasus on the other hand looked like she was about to have a panic attack.
"I'm so sorry! We need to get you to a hospital!" She said with wide eyes. Ignoring her suggestions, you simply readied a healing spell in your other paw and got to work. As the bright light enveloped your broken hand, many pops and cracks signified your bones were aligning back into their proper positions. The pegasus seemed entranced by the spell you performed until it was complete.
"Amazing" She muttered under her breath. Looking her in the eyes, you finally spotted what was off about her.
'Hmm, her eyes seem... unbalanced...'
Realizing that you were staring at her, she forced out a chuckle to try and ease the rising tension.
"I'm really sorry about your hand mister. We were just making deliveries and I just don't know what went wrong."
"It is fine. Your depth perception must not be very good with your eyes like that." The pegasus seemed like she was about to cry at you mentioning her eyes.
"Y-yea, I g-guess you're right." She said with her voice breaking.
"Do not fret, J'lae meant no harm. His eyes are broken as well. Well at least one." You said while pointing a claw at your right eye. As the Pegasus took a closer look, she saw that your right eye was lacking any color. She giggled slightly before covering her mouth.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh." You grinned at her.
"Do not worry, we are both at a disadvantage, the important thing is that we should never let others hurt us so easily with words." It was her turn to grin.
"Yea, you're right. Thanks for that! By the way, my name is Derpy, and I'm guessing you're J'lae?"
"That is correct."
"Well it was nice meeting you. And sorry again for your hand. Oh! Hang on a sec." Derpy said as she began to dig into her parcel. What she pulled out was a very delicious looking muffin. "Here, take it!" She said as she gave you it.
"This is not necessary, J'lae has already forgiven you."
"Well then take it as a gift! I have to get back to work, but I hope I see you again J'lae. Bye." Derpy said while she went back to her deliveries. Taking a bite out of the muffin, it was still very warm and left an excellent taste in your mouth.
'Such an odd one she is, but kind. Now what was J'lae supposed to do...
'J'lae can not remember what he was supposed to do. Perhaps that dragon did more damage than J'lae previously thought. Ah well, might as well wander the town in hopes of remembering my task. '
Having your hunger sedated and with nothing else to do, you decided that the best course of action was to familiarize yourself with this place called Ponyville. Scanning the area for any immediate danger or a certain pink pony, you were relieved to find nothing that would cause you harm. You began to walk with no specific destination in mind and were presented with many pleasant greetings and even a few gifts from the locals. Some gifts were as simple as an arrangement of flowers while others were as complex like a saddle bag that seemed to have an infinite amount of space in it. One gift in particular though caught your attention for the sheer unlikeliness of it even existing in the world you were in. The one who presented you with it was a mint green unicorn who called herself Lyra. As you met her on the street, you felt her eyes trace your entire being before she broke out into a smile and said, "Eh, close enough!"
She then levitated a pair of purple gloves to you and said they were for you. As you took the gloves you could see that the actual sewing was barely keeping it together, but the unicorn seemed so proud of herself that you put on a forced smile and slowly nodded your head. She then began to babble about how she felt the urge to make this article of clothing and then became obsessed with it and its shape. She also mentioned that that the materials she used were made out of some demonic spider silk that got into her home on something called 'Nightmare Night'.
Putting the gloves on, they fit surprisingly well and were very smooth on your fur. Once again thanking Lyra for the odd gift, you parted ways and found yourself in front of another building that resembled a shop. It was nothing as grand as Sugarcube Corner, but rather had simplistic wooden walls that gave off a slight sheen. Walking into the store, your entrance was accompanied by a small ding and what you found in front of you almost brought a tear to your eye. There were shelves and shelves full of all kinds of alcohol.
Many of the names and brands were silly and odd such as 'The hung horse' or 'Crying pegasus.' Nonetheless, they still made you give a chuckle. As you inspected more bottles and various other little accessories that were used with drinks, you hadn't noticed the purple pony who was eyeing you oddly.
"Oi! Is there anything I can help you with?" The sudden voice caught you off guard and you dropped the bottle of 'Screaming Manticore Cub' you were holding which shattered on the floor and left a red puddle in its place.
"Oh, umm, yes.... J'lae thinks someone spilled that...."
"Uh huh, and you wouldn't have had anything to do with breaking that 10,000 bit bottle of wine?" She said with an annoyed look.
'10,000 bits! Wait, how much is that worth in septims.... '
With no currency of any kind, you began to stammer an excuse and you felt your ears fold down. The pony only watched in what seemed like amusement until she finally let out a very loud laugh.
"Ha! You sure are fun to mess with, you know that?"
"..... So you're not mad that J'lae broke your 10,000 bit wine?"
"Don't worry about it, it actually is only a shabby knock off. It only costs 10 bits." You let out a genuine laugh at the joke the pony pulled on you, even though you were slightly mad at her trickery. "Hey, aren't you the wanker that saved us from that dragon a couple weeks ago?"
"Yes that would be me."
"Why didn't you say so in the first place! I got a bottle of 'BLACK URSA' vodka with your name written all over it!"
"That is kind of you, but if J'lae may ask, who are you?"
"Me?" The pony asked while pointing a dramatic hoof to her chest. "I am Berry Punch, one of the finest wine sellers in all of Equastria." She said with pouted lips before she broke into laughter. "Follow me, that vodka isn't going to drink itself!"
Following her behind the counter, Berry pulled out a bobby pin from her mane and unlocked a drawer with it. Pulling out the bottle of BLACK URSA which was a black liquid contained in a red bottle. The label looked like the humongous creature that you killed in the forest but was only a solid purple color. As she grabbed two shot glasses from the drawer, she poured a shot into each and offered you one.
"Now I have to warn you, this stuff isn't for pansies. If your not careful you'll be on your rump in no time"
"J'lae has drank with the god of debauchery, no pony tonic is strong enough to defeat me."
"If you say so." Berry sang in a sing song voice.
Three shots later
"Heeeeeey kitty cat *hic* where'd you get those gloves?"
"Oh these?" You said while putting up your hands unsteadily in the air. "I gots them from this one gurl called Lyra."
"Oooooh *hic* You have a crush on Lyra!"
"I do not! But shes is very kind."
"Ha! You do like *hic* her! I won't lie, I'm sorta jealous..."
"Whaaa? What are ya talking about?"
"Aww, who wouldn't want ya. You fought a dragon and wun, you funny *hic* and yer lips look so inviting....."
You felt your cheeks blush even more. Something you didn't think was possible considering how drunk you were. Looking at Berry's lips, it was almost as if she was begging for you to take her right there and then. Not one to waste an opportunity, you closed your eyes and leaned in closer to the drunk pony. She followed your actions and leaned forward as well. Just as your lips were about to touch, you felt rope covering your entire body. This prevented any movement, causing you to fall over. Looking around for the perpetrator, you found the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing over your body with smiles sewn across their faces.
"Thanks for helping with our plan Berry!" The orange one said.
"No problem gurls *hic* Just let me have a turn with him all tied up like that once your done interrogating him."
The Crusaders seemed confused by her request but still shook their heads in agreement.
"Berry, how coulds you!?" You yelled in sadness. She simply gave a drunken shrug before falling asleep on her counter. You then felt yourself being dragged across the floor and dozed off, ignoring the many exited cheers from the Crusaders.
View Online
Breaking walls ( No not the 4th wall you silly filly)
Why are there suddenly more people reading this? Oh well, more words for you while less sleep for me.
Opening your eyes, or rather eye as it were, you awoke to the same darkness as you fell unconscious to.
'At times like these J'lae is glad for being part feline. '
Concentrating on your good eye, you activated your nocturnal senses and observed your surroundings. It would seem as if you were back to where you started, bound to a bed with bandages covering your body. However on closer inspection you saw that both your arms and legs were restrained by a steel like structure. Shifting them around, you could feel under the restraints that both your arms were bandaged as well.
'Hmm, this is not good. True they have healed my wounds, yet they still restrain me as a prisoner. What purpose have these creatures for me? Ah well, enough thinking. Time for a nap. '
Closing your eye for to rest, you heard a door creak behind you and saw lights illuminate the room.
'It would seem J'lae has visitors. How interesting... '
Hearing hoof steps approach behind you, the first to enter your vision was a male unicorn with a ruffled grey mane and tail with an even paler looking coat, which was oddly covered with a vest.
'Strange creatures these are, wearing clothes yet not enough to cover their valuables. Just look at his sack! Swinging with each step he takes! He must have at least 40 gold pieces in there! '
Taking your attention away from the unicorn's coin bag, you realized another pony has entered the room. Though still male, you see he is neither a unicorn or pegasus and has a black tussled mane and tail while wearing a similar vest which covered his blue coat. Both begin to observe strange constructions that beeped at a steady rhythm. Noticing that you were conscious, the graymane lifted a clipboard from a table with magic and begin to scribble onto it with a quill.
Realizing you were being observed like a lab skeever, you gave that unicorn a piece of your mind.
"Hey feather brain! What are you doing?" The only response you got from him was a simple eye roll.
"Hey small horn didn't you hear me?" That one seemed to hit home as the unicorn let out a small gasp and headed for the door.
'Hehe, J'lae showed him. Wait, what is he carrying? '
Once the graymane returned, he was sporting a rather large needle. You could feel the sweat begin to run down your forehead.
"H-hey, you don't need to do that now, do you?" As the needle inched closer and closer the grey mane kept a smug look on his face. His smugness ,however, did not last as he dropped the needle and suddenly bowed as did the other.
"Ha! That's more like it. Its about time J'lae got some recognition."
"They are not bowing to you." The voice caught you off guard, as did the change of atmosphere in the room. It was almost as if the room was parted in half, one being the brightness and grace of day while the other the tranquility and beauty of night. Though many questions begin to form on how such a thing was possible only one came out.
"If J'lae may ask, how should I address thee your graces?" You only wish you could see the look of surprise on royalty. On your left side, a being both possessing of wings and horn with an unblemished white hide that was adorned with a sun on her flank and hair that seemed to dance as the northern lights did approached. On the right was a similar creature, this one however had a hide which resembled the night sky and had a moon on its flank with blackish blue hair that seemed to always flow in the night breeze. Both of them adorned crowns and necklaces which proved your theory of them being royalty correct. The first to speak was the lunar princess.
"Creature, how did thou know we were royalty?" You couldn't help but notice how loud the creature talked, but royalty is royalty.
"My grace, it was rather quite easy to deduct. Once the two ponies who J'lae may mention are still bowing," You looked at the still bowing ponies and gave a little chuckle, "It told me that either J'lae gained an insane amount of power insulting them or that a higher authority figure was present. When J'lae heard your voices, it certainly contained the authority and wisdom only a true leader could have." Finishing your explanation, you could see the look of surprise in their eyes before it changed back to a calm demeanor. "Now If J'lae may, you never did answer his question."
"Yes, we did not. You can address me as Princess Celestia."
"And thou can address me as Princess Luna."
As they spoke, you could pick up a hint of passive aggressiveness in their tones. "You speak to me like a child being scorned, why?" Luna was ready to shout before Celestia intervened and judging by their facial features, looked almost insulted at the question.
"We do not take kindly to those who have threatened and terrified our citizens." Celestia said calmly.
"Dragons are considered citizens in this place?" You said in a calm voice as well.
"No, but the baby dragon is a... special case as it were."
'Ooh, what is she hiding? '
Luna was next with questions.
"Creature, what was thy motives for the attack on said dragon?"
"First of all stop calling me creature, my name is J'lae. And to answer your question it was instinct."
"Instinct for thou is to attack the innocent?" You were taken aback by the question.
'How dare she say J'lae hurts the innocent! J'lae has always tried to do the right thing during his time in Skyrim. Helping the poor recover lost valuables from bandits with no pay. Saving at least 20 lives a day for the very same people to spit on my fur and call me a thief! Yet no matter how much work J'lae did, there was always one person whose life has ended or became worse from one small mistake of mine. No matter what J'lae will never be enough, so they shun me for not being able to help everyone. '
Trying to keep your anger at bay, you respond to Luna.
"No, where J'lae comes from hesitation means not only death for him, but for others around as well. You are the rulers of Equistria are you not? Then you know how one mistake or hesitation can end up in hundreds of deaths. No matter where J'lae goes there will always be that decision waiting for me. It usually ends up with J'lae saving a bunch of ungrateful bastards or burying their corpses for their loved ones. No matter where J'lae goes, Death is always near! Wanting J'lae to make another mistake so Death can claim more victims!"
At this point your anger was replaced with sorrow and you felt tears form in your eye. All the deaths that were caused by you was indeed a great burden to carry. Some were justified such as Grelod or all those bandits, but whenever an innocent bystander died because of you, it only added to the growing grief inside.
'J'lae is crying, but why? It is true he feels responsible for those around me yet never has he openly expressed it. What is with this place and why is it easier to just let go of my defenses and show emotion? '
Letting the tears flow, you opened your eye to see both Celestia and Luna with a look of concern on their faces. Celestia glanced at Luna who nodded in response and spoke.
"It is true me and my sister have been faced with many decisions that could kill, or save many. But you do not look like royalty, how do you know of these types of choices?" Still trying to recover from your breakdown you answered Celestia.
"Where is J'lae from, He is a warrior who has vanquished the greatest evil in the lands." Luna seemed to be amused at the thought and let her tone drop to a more friendly timbre.
"If you were such a great warrior, then how did my sister's apprentice defeat you?" Letting out a chuckle you responded in a warmer tone.
"I had armor back then." Your answer seemed to amuse the royal siblings who let out small giggles. Celestia was the first to put back a serious demeanor,
"Though your situation is unique, we will still have to punish you." Hearing the news, your ears involuntary folded down.
"However..." Noticing you may have a escape from torture or worse, your ears perked back up.
"You did mention you were a warrior of great strength." A nod was all she needed for confirmation.
"Perhaps you could help us with a problem we've been having lately." You could barely hold your glee in at this point and responded in a cheerful manner.
"Yes, what is it you need help with?"
"The dragons of Equistria have grown very aggressive in the past few weeks and have even attacked some settlements. If you are the warrior you state to be, then we could use your help to fend off the dragons." And like that your bubbly happiness is gone.
'It seems in even other worlds us khajiit can never find peace... '
Not wanting to waste a golden opportunity though, you accepted Celestia's deal.
"Then we should get you some armor, don't you think J'lae?" Luna said.
"You are certainly right my dear princess Luna"
Trying to hop out of bed you were laying in, you were stopped short by the restraints and only end up with pain in your already broken arms. The siblings once again let out a soft giggle and glowed their horns to unlock the magically sealed restraints. Realizing that armor would be useless if you couldn't get into it without screaming in pain, you readied another healing spell. Laying limp in your bed, you felt the all too familiar yellow light envelope your body.
'Sands of time, mother of Nir-oh to hell with it. just heal me. '
With that done you successfully jumped out of bed and ripped off your bandages, but this time wearing clothes. Both princesses looked at you, almost as if proud.
"Impressive." Luna said.
"Yes, not may ponies can complete such fast healing without exhausting themselves." Celestia stated.
"Well J'lae is no pony." You proudly claim. Looking around the room you could see that the two other ponies ended up sneaking out of the room.
'Not bad, not even J'lae could hear them escaping. '
Looking around the room you noticed something odd. Waving your hand in front of your right eye, you quickly realized that it was still blind.Though the restoration spell seemed to regrow the hair around the burn, it was not able to cure the injury itself.
'Great, another permanent scar... ' Celestia's voice threw you out of thought.
"When you have regained your senses, we will be waiting outside." Both Luna and Celestia headed for the door and quietly closed it behind them.
'Well it seems J'lae will always be destined for fighting. Oh well, mothers words always did calm me. When you feel lost and alone Jlae, just look up at the moon and stars, knowing that me and your siblings will always be looking up at the same vision of the night sky. How J'lae wishes this were true mother, but these are not the same moon and stars of my home. J'lae is truly alone in this place. '
Almost forgot, a big thanks to all the proof readers who helped make this story readable. Sounds Right , s00perguy and IRISHWULFHOUND
Thats how many times I rewrote this chapter before giving up and settling on this. I sorta lost the flow I used to have when I first started writing this story, but I will finish it sooner or later. Most likely later since we're not even at the halfway mark of the story. Enough of my rambling though, enjoy this short chapter.
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As the morning sun rose over the majestic hilltops, its warm and inviting rays roused you from your sleep. Parting your eyes slightly, you stretched your limbs and felt major relief as many pops and cracks accompanied your movements. Setting your eyes on the ground below, you noticed many burnt patches of grass, but other than that there was no evidence of the night before.
'It seems that there is no trace of my assailants. Good. '
Rolling off the branch you were perched on, you landed on all fours as you hit the ground. Steadying yourself up, you examined the placement of the sun and made a guess of the time.
'Sevenish? Eh, it does not matter. Time to go and see the rest of those little ponies.'
Getting rid of the stiffness in your legs, you continued your walk towards Twilight's home. As you walked through the streets of Ponyville, they were rather empty excluding the early risers who were either going to work or setting up their stands to sell merchandise. Most ponies you passed either gave you a warm smile or waved a hoof at you like the day before. One particular mint unicorn however examined you rather closely with curiosity. Shaking off the creepy feeling, you spotted the familiar tree library in the distance. Quickening your pace, you jogged the rest of the way until you were in front of her oak door. Remembering what happened last time you knocked on her door, you cautiously knocked before taking a few steps back, expecting the worst. As the door opened, you were greeted by Twilight with a disheveled mane and bags under her eyes.
"Where were you!?", she practically shouted at you.
'This won't end well...'
