The Fearless Warrior

Rainbow Dash was in her home laid in the roof. The entire house was made of clouds so, it doesn't matter if it was the roof or her bed, it had the same feeling of softness. She watched as the sun went down and then the moon rose. She could swear that the moon was more bright that night than the other but maybe she was just imagining thing. The cyan filly was being tormented by the knowledge that the creature from Everfree forest was on the loose, and worst, had the protection of the Royal Guards, in other words, the protection of Celestia herself! How could the Princess shelter a monster like him! Her body shivered as she remembered the feeling of having her life in the line. If Celestia had come a second later... Rainbow Dash stood up to push that though away.

She felt tired, mentaly tired. She was not in condition to think anymore and decided to just go sleep. Tomorrow was another day and she was sure that the monster would not dare come back. Not after the beating she gave him and also, she knew that Celestia would do something against him since he threatened the filly. Yes, this was for sure. No way he couldn't escape that unharmed.

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I could see my house getting close. I thanked Luna mentally for the bright moon; it made things a lot easy. But as I approached my home, carved in a tree, a blur came charging at me. It was too fast to react and I felt the strike in my stomach and sending me to the ground.

"DAMN YOU! IF YOU EVER MAKE ME WORRY LIKE THAT AGAIN I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU SO BAD THAT YOU WILL WISH TO FIGHT ANOTHER MANTICORE!"An angry Steel Head shouted at me.
"OK! OK!" I said covering my face with both arms. "I won't! I promise! Just get off me, dammit, you are heavy!" I said and he stepped out of my chest snorting at me.

"Really, what were you thinking! Running into Everfree forest like that!" He stomped at the ground, angry. I could not held a chuckle.
"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that ok? I'm sorry, really. I just... had to have some time for myself to think." I said standing up.
"Yeah, and I hope that next time you need some time to think, you just go inside your room and lock yourself in!" He said starting to walk towards home.
In the end, we had to sleep at the living room again. Our house was still a mess but Steel Head said that he found a contact at the city to clean it all up. He didn't though that i would run into the forest so he didn't came straight after me. Next day we woke up early in the morning, and I found that we had no food supplies. The fact that I had no dinner the day before made me feel a little weak.

Since we made a scene the day before I asked for Steel Head to go to the city to buy us our breakfast. I was starving and probably would eat even flowers if he brought some. Gladly for me he remembered about my diet and got some sandwiches of carrot bread and a cup of hot milk with cocoa.. It was not much but as my mother once told me: 'Hungry is the best spice for any food'

Shorter after that I went outside wearing only my boots and my pants. I brought my sword with me to do some exercises as my father taught me to do. It became a habit of mine and I didn't feel good if I skip them. Also, that would make me stay away from home until the clean team had finished the work. I spend the rest of the morning near the woods, training some moves against imaginary enemies. At lunch time, my companion came carrying two saddlebags with our food. He said that the team had finished the cleaning and now we just needed to go to the city to get our furniture. I took the chance to tell him a plan of mine. Something that came to me while training.

"I think that something fell on your head too hard." He said looking at me with an eyebrow arched. "Do you have any idea of the consequences of this 'plan' of yours?" He asked in a serious tone.

"Yes and I'm ready to take the consequences, no matter what." I said confident. "If I don't do it I'll never be able to look at myself again. I have to take this weight of my heart, once and for all!"

"You are going to get yourself killed" He sighed but he knew that nothing could stop me. I had made my mind and no matter what I would make that plan work!

I was wearing my full armor and both my weapons, I needed the comfort that my equipment weight gave me to gather courage. Firm steps towards my final destination...

"Excuse me!" I hear a soft voice calling me and turned to see who was. I saw a yellow filly pegasus approaching, coming from a near cottage that looked like a farm of small critters. When she saw that I was armed, she stopped her advance a few feet away. I just smiled at her an took of my helmet, exposing my face. She looked curious at me.
"I... I didn't knew that you could take that off..." She said in that soft voice.
"Well, I can. I just did not feel comfortable without it." She looked at my face for a while, analyzing me. My light brown eyes and my hair that had the same color. They were big enough to go almost at my shoulders.

"Ahm, where... where are you going?" She asked avoiding eye contact with me..

"I'm going to see Rainbow Dash." I said in a calm voice. But that information made the young pegasus wide her eyes.
"What! oh... no... no no no no! You can't! She... she did not attacked you on purpose, please! I'll make her apologize with you just... just..." She started to panic. I knew that she was one of those five that meet me at the forest, few weeks ago.
"Hey, calm down ok? uh..." I started to say but I didn't knew her name at all.

"Fluttershy..." She said.

"Thanks... So, Fluttershy... I just wanna talk to her; you have my word that I'll not harm her." She looked at me, not sure of what to say.

"do you... do you really promise?" She said approaching a little more. I nodded at her and then, kneed in front of her, bowing my head a little, enough to look at the ground. I grabbed my axe's head, pressing my palm at the edge. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes in pain as the sharp edge cut into my flesh and then showed Fluttershy the bloody cut.

"I swear for the blood that runs in my veins." I let the blood drip in the earth, sealing a pact with the nature. It was a tradition to seal a promise with blood. It bound you to your promise even after you died. When I looked back at the Fluttershy she was pale and I saw she faint. Probably at the sight of myself inflicted wound. I sighed and then took her back near her cottage, leaning her at the door. The animals around me just watched. I could swear that they had a human level of intelligence because, as soon as I stepped away from the young pegasus all the animals gathered around her to help.

I could see the cyan pegasus house floating in the sky. That was quite a sight. A house made of clouds, floating around. I took a deep breath drawing both my weapons and then shouted.
"RAINBOW DASH! SHOW YOUR SELF!" My shout echoed through the field. Silence at firs but then I say the cyan pegasus coming out the house, staring at me in anger. Her body shivered a little at the sight of my weapons in hands.

"What do you want monster!" She shouted back at me, not daring to come closer.
As an answer I threw my weapons away, one for each side, outside my reach. She looked confused. Then, I took of my Helmet, My armor, my leg armor, my bracers, my gloves and my belt. I was just with my ordinary line cloth, totally exposed. My hands were shaking a little now that I had no protection nor weapon.

"Come! You said you would beat me up if I showed myself again!" I dared her.
"What! You think that I'm stupid? Just because you took of that weird skin I'm not idiot enough to get close!" she answered.
"So, you admit you are afraid of me!" I teased her. She growled at me, gritting her teeth. "I'm without my armor, my helmet and my weapons. I'm just like you, bare hands. Now come! I dare you!" I shouted again. "Unless you are too afraid for that!" I teased her again. That was the limit and then she snapped. I saw she flying towards me as a missile, screaming and leaving a rainbow trace as she flew straight to me. I opened my arms and prepared myself for the impact.

Her head touched my stomach first. I felt the air being pushed out from my lunges. Luckily my lunch was no longer on my stomach or else I would have puked. I flew a few feets behind and landed hard on the floor. She was staring me, panting a little. I forced myself to get up and grinned at her.
"Is that it?" I teased her again. "And here I was hoping that you would be a challenge..." I saw the rage burning in her eyes... She charged at me again. Her forehoof hit me with all her might, right in the face, sending me to the ground... I could taste blood and felt part of my face starting to swell. My head was spinning but I gathered some more strength and started to stand again... I spit some blood and... aw damn it... a teeth too. I ignored that and looked at her defiant.

"Still not enough... still too weak!" I provoked her again. This time she lost control. Rainbow Dash jumped on me, sending me to the ground. Sitting in my chest, she started to hit my head and face in a frenetic rhythm, not even aiming. Blow after blow coming merciless at me. Her voice echoing through the field as she screamed in a blind rage.

I could take some punches but her hoofs where hard as wood. I feared that my skull would be smashed at any second now. She stopped punching me and finished with a headbutt right in my forehead. I saw all the constellations spinning around me.

My nose and my mouth were bleeding and my face was completely deformed, full of purple marks. I looked at her with only one eye, the other was badly swollen and I couldn't see a thing. I saw that she was crying, her face marked with tears and with an angry expression. She was panting heavily and looked tired. Not tired at beating me. Oh no, it was the opposite. Rainbow Dash was tired from holding back. She had the strength to rip a tooth with a single punch. If she didn't held back, my head would be probably something like… porridge. I think that's the best definition.

We kept staring to each other for a few seconds as I focus my strength in my arms. I lift both of them and warped around her neck, pulling her softly for a hug. She came without any kind of resistance. Maybe too shocked at the sight of what she had done? I knew that they had a pacific nature, so this lost of self control must have been something terrible to her... but it was necessary.

"'I'm sorry... I'm... truly sorry for what I did..." I said. My voice was weak, almost a whisper. It was hard to speak or even to think straight after that beating.
I felt she laying flat on me, put her face on my shoulder and cry in silence. All the strong emotions that she held against me were released in those punches. Now, the only thing left was saddens, a feeling that I knew for experience that no amount of violence could cure. Her hot tears soaked my shirt while I felt her sobs. I just cared her back and mane, fighting to not lose conscience now.

We stood that way for long minutes until she finally stopped. My arms were still around her body, in a soft hug.

"Why...? Why you did not fought back? Why you let me hit you so badly without defending yourself?" Rainbow Dash asked looking at my face. "You... you just kept provoking me... you made me do this!" She had a sobbing voice.

"You held a strong hatred towards me… And hate can lead to a path of self destruction." I started saying. "I had… to prove to you that I was not... that dangerous. That... I regretted the fact that I almost took your life..." Each word made my jaw hurt like hell.

"But you should have stopped me!" She said holding back more tears.

"I couldn't... because... you were just... acting out of fear..." I said smiling at her... or at least I hoped that a smile came out of my lips. "And I hope you can forgive me... because...me too... what... what I did that day... and what I did yesterday... was out of fear... fear is a terrible feeling... that develop in anger and rage... and turn you into a monster..." She let out two tears that fell on my face... I rubbed her back softly and saw a smile crossing her lips. I knew that she had finally forgiven me, and she only had to beat me up. Yeah, I think it was worth it. I relaxed, closing my eye, and then I felt the world diving into darkness.