The Fearless Warrior

The cyan pegasus was almost dying from boredom in the hospital bed. It was a real challenge for the doctors and the nurses to keep the filly in the bed to rest. She only had quiet down when the doctor threatened her to not give her any more painkillers if she did not behave and that made Rainbow Dash to give up her attempts to escape the hospital, after all, a broken rib and a damaged wing did hurt a lot after the painkillers lost the effect. After two weeks of nothing to do but to look at the ceiling and have long talks to her friends the cyan pegasus was finally good enough to leave the hospital. But the doctor had warned her to not fly too fast or try any kind of stunt for at least one week, to avoid further problems.

Rainbow Dash was walking out the hospital next to her friend Apple Jack, waving goodbye to the nurse behind them.

"GOSH! That took forever to get better. If I put my hoofs on that weird creature that did that to me…" RD started in an angry voice while walking next to her friend, going down one of Ponyvile streets.

"Hold yer horses sugar cube." The orange earth pony said. "You must know better than anypony how tha'creature is dangerous! If princess Celestia didn't have come in to save yer tail, tha'thing would have killed you!"

Rainbow Dash lowered her ears and her head a little.

"I… I know that. But he was going to attack us, all of us! I HAD to do something" She was a little frustrated that in the end she could not do a thing and, instead of protecting her friends, she had to be protected.

"Hush now sugar cube. That thing came from Everfree forest, is not like you could do something about that." The orange pony said striking her friend's shoulders in a gentle way. "Ah still have some apple cider at home, why don't we go there to drink some and forget all this mess?" The cyan pony just nodded and started to walk beside her friend toward sweet apple acres. It was hard to accept but she was beaten.

Meanwhile, Twilight was at Fluttershy's cottage. The yellow pegasus was more than just scared right after the incident. What made it all worse was that at the next day she found the mutilated corpse of the manticore lying in the forest. It was not a pretty sight and Fluttershy had some problemswith nightmares after that. But it was all on the first week after the attack. Now the yellow Pegasus was better. It was just the chock after having witnessed so much violence, something that never happens in Equestria.

On that afternoon Rarity and Pink Pie were there too. They wanted to go to the hospital do see Rainbow Dash but Applejack knew how her friend was a proud pony and the presence of her friends there would only hurt the already damaged pride of the cyan pegasus, since she failed to defend them.

The cottage was like a part of the landscape. There was grass and other plants growing in the walls and at the roof, almost as if the nature were trying to claim the house. Inside the cottage, there were small shelters for other critters to live. In the center of the room were a big couch and a center table with some teapots, cookies and cupcakes. The four ponies where sitting around the table with a little concern on their looks, except for Pink Pie.

"Twilight, dear, have you received any words from the Princess yet?" Rarity asked with a concern voice. Twilight simply shake her head in a negative motion.

"Not yet. Last thing she wrote me was for me not to worry, that she had handle it all but... I don't know, I'm a little worried. I mean, what happen to that creature?"
"Oh I bet Princess Celestia just taught him a lesson! Nopony has the right to do what he did to a friend of ours without getting punished!" Pink Pie said in a happy tone, grabbing a cupcake to eat. Twilight and rarity looked at her smiling pink friend. That was a weird thing for her to say, especially in that… joyful tone.

"I... I hope nothing bad happen to him..." Fluttershy said taking her friends in surprise. All the looks were turned towards her. "I mean, you all saw him right? He was hurt so bad..."

"And what that has to do with the fact that he almost killed OUR Rainbow Dash?" Rarity said with indignation in her voice, but Fluttershy just answer in her usual low tone.

"Well... we could have run from him... I know, Dash just wanted to protect us, but it was not nice of her to just... charge on him like she did..." Fluttershy was almost hiding into her pink mane as the words left her mouth and before Rarity could protest Pink Pie stepped in.

"Yeah, but it was not nice that he tried to kill us in first place. How would I be able to make parties if I was dead? Huh?" Twilight and Rarity just looked at her pink friend and sighted, not wanting to keep up the topic.

They had already discussed it many times. Twilight was uncertain about what to think. Rarity didn't look like she liked the creature and so was Pink Pie. The pink pony was one of the most dependable ponies around. She was nothing without her friends and the very tough of losing one of them drove her mad. Both, the earth pink pony and the white unicorn held a deep dislike of the creature. The only thing preventing that they hate him was the good nature of them, since they were the elements of harmony.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, was used to deal with wild creatures and she knew that, sometimes, they could be very violent and act without thinking at all, to defend themselves.

"Well, I know that the Princess won't let him harm anypony else." Twilight said and took a sip of her tea. The ambient fell in an awkward silence. None of the ponies there knew exactly what to say next. All they could hope was the right judgment of their ruler.

The days passed. Almost two weeks since Rainbow Dash left the hospital. The incident was almost completely forgotten now as the mane six returned to their usual activities. The happiest of them all was Dash. She was finally back to her training and stunts after what seemed to be like forever. The good mood of the athletic pony touched the heart of the other five. Life was good again and the incident was left in the past to be forgotten.

After hours of training some old tricks and trying some new ones she was exhausted. The cyan filly laid in a near cloud to rest, her chest going up and down in a fast pace, a smile crossing her face. This was life for her. She was just enjoying the peace of the sky, the warmth of the sun on her chest when a big carriage passed fast over her head. She could see two royal guards pulling it and assumed it was Princess Celestia. She flew fast after the carriage to greet the royal alicorn but as she approached the carriage from the side her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. There was no royal alicorn on the carriage. Instead she could see the same creature that had attacked her. The difference was that now the creature was not covered in blood but it still had those weird clothes and the metal piece on the head, covering his face.

She stopped the flight, almost falling, totally in chock.. A chill went down in her spine. The memories of that day a month ago came vivid to her mind. The dark forest, the creature coming out of it covered in blood. The eyes of a beast ready to attack. The fear she felt, the same fear that gave her strength to charge at him. But then she got hit. The pain was excruciating. She could remember it all, and the deep despair as she, from the ground, saw he rise that long piece of metal to deliver the final blow. Her body was shaking lightly and she landed in a near cloud, hugging herself.

The monster was going towards the Ponyvile! Not only that, but he was riding a royal carriage! She had to warn her friends as fast as she could. Gritting her teeth, rainbow Dash took off to fly as fast as she could towards the small city. Her target was soon at sight, the library, where Twilight Sparkle lived. The library was actually a tree, a huge hollow tree. It was still alive, but it has several windows around and a big balcony.

The purple unicorn was humming a song while placing one book on the shelf. She never saw it coming until it was too late. A cyan blur broke through the window, sending glass all over the place. Rainbow Dash grabbed her friend by the shoulder, pinning her down shouting at her.
"HE'S HERE! THAT MONSTER IS BACK!"