[Craig POV]
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-!*
I woke up with a groan, turning towards the stand next to me and shutting off my alarm clock. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I got out of my bed. “Another day, another dollar…” I said, whispering to myself.
I got dressed and turned on the TV as I got ready for work. “-are seeing an exponential rise in the monthly death count as a mysterious disease has been claiming the local population. The Center for disease control is dumbfounded by the sheer magnitude at which this disease is spreading.”
I shuddered and continued to eat my breakfast, horrified at the number of the death count. I shook my head, scoffing, “Bah… I’m just going to watch some anime,” Smiling, I hummed to myself, “Maybe Hitman Reborn is on?” Grabbing the control, I changed the channel, smiling when I spotted the Funimation logo. My smile widened even further as a rerun of my favorite episode of Fairy Tail came on. “Well, close second.” I quickly got my underwear on and looked in the mirror before laughing and pulling a Tsuna pose. “REBORN!” I then put on my pants and a T-shirt before getting my suitcase and my Mp3 player. “Well… Time to go to work…” I took a step forward and fell, my vision fading to black…
Where…
Where am I?
What’s going on?
Why can’t I see anything?!
I looked around in a panic, seeing only a bright white light. I briefly looked around, trying to find out where I was, but all I can see was a light… and everything else besides was too blurry. It was as if I was trapped in some sort of orb... I felt a comforting warmth flow into me before the wall that surrounded me began to crack, light streaming out of the orb and into the darkness around my glowing prison. As soon as the crack in the wall open far enough, I leapt out of my prison and onto the ground beneath me. I began to worry, as anything that made you feel comfortable while you were inside it, was definitely bad news, well… so says all those horror movies. I turned around to see what was holding me, and saw a giant crystal egg crumbling away into dust in front of a freaking rainbow tree straight out of a hippies pipe dreams! “Okaaay… either I’m tripping the freakiest balls ever… or I am dreaming…” I turned around and walked away slowly before I noticed that I would be surrounded by forest on all sides as soon as I head up the stairs… and there were a freaking ton of stairs…
As I looked around for a way up that didn’t include walking up a wet dream of my fitness instructor. I saw myself reflected in some crystal roots from the aforementioned rainbow tree, AND DAYUM! I was freaking chiseled now! ‘I’M FIT! I have abs!... what the hell happened to my fat rolls?’ I quickly checked the inside of my pants and whooped in glee, “I CAN SEE MY JUNK!”... that could of been embarrassing had anyone been around me… Anyway, I was wearing a white and gold vest along with a white button up shirt, a scarf that looked to be from the wardrobe of Fairy Tail’s Natsu Dragneel except instead of the black lines on white material, it was a white and black stripe color scheme. The vest reminded me of Natsu’s as well, but was black with gold trim. ‘Hey… wait a minute… my shirt and pants… they are just like Tsuna’s!’ I then noticed, the best. Possible. THING! I WAS WEARING TSUNA’S GLOVES AND RING! I was so excited, I just ran up the stairs, not even caring about my legs inevitably screaming in protest! Funny thing, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought, barely hurt at all...
...or maybe I should’ve been thinking about how my excited whoops would attract predators… to which life decided to make my dream both even weirder and more awesome by making wooden wolves leap out of the bushes. I carefully walked up to one to try to pet it, thinking this was still some weird dream, but as soon as I reached out to it, it snapped at my hand, and the gloves took the hit like a champ! Seriously, freaking wolf's teeth broke! The other wolves growled at me menacingly as I looked around and behind me, considering bolting, but that idea quickly died as three more wood wolves hopped out of nowhere. “What the fuck is with today?!” I then saw what looked like a large branch on the ground, big enough to use as a club, and ran for it, sliding to the branch and grabbing it before springing to my feet and swinging out at the closest wolf’s head, the wood splintering against each other as the wolf’s body fell apart.
“Huh… that was way easier than I thought…” I then cursed myself for saying that out loud, because of course the world just HAD to prove me wrong! The freaking thing just reformed, it and it’s buddies were looking even more pissed than before! I desperately looked for anything that I could use as a weapon once again, this time not finding anything! ‘No… NO! I don’t want to die!’ I lashed out in a blind panic, my fist igniting mid swing and connecting with one of the wolves’ head, burning the wolf to embers as a green mist rose from the wood, blowing away on the wind.
…
…
…’WHAT THE ACTUAL BLOODY HELL!?’ The wolves ran like hell away from me as I stared at my burning hand wait a minute. The flames… they looked so familiar… “OH MY GOD THEY ARE DEATHPERATION FLAMES!” I ran down to the weird tree and looked to my reflection, and there it was, plain as day on my forehead. I had a deathperation flame, blazing on my right hand and my forehead. “This is one crazy day… I like it!” I then finally put one and two together, and came up with my situation. “Okaay… I have the most badass possible look, and I have Tsuna’s powers... let’s see…” I took a deep breath and did the pose for my favorite skill of Natsu’s. “FIRE DRAGON ROAR!” I then promptly launched a burst of flame into the air above me, most likely visible for miles! “I probably should not have done that… but… HOLY HELL I HAVE NATSU’S POWERS TOO!” I whooped in joy as i then realised something else. “I… I’m in some weird fantasy… or… maybe I’m being punked?” I then quickly dismissed that idea, beginning to pace and freak out “Get a grip, Craig, this is obviously a new world, or some type of Twilight Zone shit. Nothing from earth could make a crystal rainbow tree, or wood fly into a wolf shape…” I continued pacing, my eyes wide as I began to think of multiple theories to explain what’s going on.
Hearing a branch snap behind me, I panicked, quickly bolting to a nearby bush and hiding there in wait. “Better not be another one of those freaky wood wolves…” I grumbled, peaking out of the bushes to see what was coming.
[Rebecca POV]
I was caught off guard… I was so shocked that I didn’t even register the other voices trying to speak to me. Just a minute ago a pillar of flames had erupted from the center of the Everfree Forest. Shakingly, I stood up, brushing off any grass or dirt that clung onto me. A large shadow had suddenly loomed over me, snapping me out of my trance.
The large figure behind me carefully grabbed my shoulders, shaking me lightly. “Rebecca! Are you okay?!” the ogre asked, its small beady eyes scanning my body for any signs of injury.
Shaking my head, I pushed the giant away. “There’s no need to fret, Grother, I’m fine.” Reassuring him, I picked up the discarded compass, growling when I noticed the cracks on it. “Great,” I muttered bitterly, “The stupid thing’s busted.” Tossing the compass away, I turned towards the rest of my crew.
Glaring at the three short goblins, the trio instantly saluted, the ogre doing the same. “Gobber, Rachet, Giblet.” The three goblins tensed up. “I want you three to scout the forest and come back to me if you find the target, understood?”
The tallest of the three, Rachet, stepped forward, “Yes boss, we scout!” The bandana wearing goblin turned towards his two shorter siblings, raising his club and darting towards the forest.
The large ogre tilted his head, scratching the metal mask that covered his head. “Rebecca… what about me…?”
Turning towards the big oaf, I gave him my biggest smile. “Why Grother, you’re going to be with me, after all what am I going to do if I run into a predator?” I said, crossing my arms and pretending to be scared, knowing the ogre would buy it.
He stood still, pondering this for a moment and then nodding, “Yeah, don’t worry Rebecca!” Grother raised his fist in the air, “I won’t let anything try to hurt you!”
“That’s a good boy.” I smiled, turning around and taking a step forward. “Now just stay right behind me, won’t you?” The oaf laughed, following me as I went deeper into the woods.
Suddenly a few timber wolves jumped out of the bushes, all of them looking badly beaten, even carried some scorch marks. The group snarled when they saw us.
Scoffing, I turned towards the ogre. “Grother… smash these wolves for me, won’t cha?”
Grother nodded, stepping in front of me. The ogre waved his arms and the metal chains attached to his wrist swung at the wolves, beheading one of them. Growling, he smashed the other two with his fist, sending wooden debris everywhere.
I clapped my hands, the ogre perked up and turned towards me. “Good job Grother! Those timber wolves didn’t stand a chance!”
Grother laughed, clapping his hands. “Alright! No one can beat us!”
I nodded, going towards the direction the wolves came from. “That’s right Grother, no one is as strong as we are!” Moving some of the bushes out of the way, I tensed up when I heard someone talking. “Grother.” I called, the oaf stopped celebrating when he detected the seriousness of my voice. “Stay here, don’t come for me unless I tell you to, got it?” I asked, whispering harshly. Luckily, the ogre slowly nodded, showing that he understood.
Carefully making my way into the bush, I cursed silently when I heard a twig snap, looking under my foot, I saw a twig snapped into two. I held my breath, hearing nothing but silence now. ‘Damn… must’ve heard me…’ I growled, “Well… so much for stealth…” I grumbled. Walking out of the bushes, I looked around, seeing nothing but trees and bushes. Taking a deep breath, I yelled, “Come out wherever you are! I know you’re there! So come out of hiding!”
[Craig POV]
I sighed as I heard the thin, orange haired beauty shout. I guess me hiding was no longer a viable strategy. I rose, rustling my own fiery red hair free of leaves and walked out of the bushes to meet her. Eyeing her, she wore a jeans jacket that barely covered up her pink shirt. Her orange hair was tied up to a ponytail, and right above her eyes rested a pair of goggles. I smiled awkwardly, turning away quickly before she could notice me staring. “Sup? I was just hiding in case if it was some big beast that would try to snack on me was coming. Element of surprise tends to help, and I have had it up to here with weird shit.”
The orange haired girl stood frozen, staring at me wide eyed. “Another human…?” she whispered to herself, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “You seem a bit lost… how long have you been here?” She asked.
I shrugged, thinking back. “Umm… maybe about a half an hour? How long have you been here?” I asked curiously.
She sighed in relief, putting a hand over her chest. “Just around an year or two,” she answered.
I smiled and laughed. “Well, can you tell me who sent those freaky wolves? I walked up the staircase from hell and there they were!” I sighed “If I didn’t have these awesome powers, I’d probably be mulch right now.”
The girl raised an eyebrow. “Sorry guy, no one sent those things, they’re one of the many wild animals that live in this forest,” she explained, “Anyways, name’s Rebecca, what’s yours?” She asked.
I smiled and held out my hand. “Name’s Craig, so tell me, what’s a beautiful young thing like yourself doing here?”
Shaking my hand, Rebecca smirked. “Well, handsome,” she punctuated that with a wink, “If you must know I was just looking for something valuable here.” She hummed, her smile growing wider. “Say, you wouldn’t have happened to see a huge weird glowing tree thing, have ya?”
I instantly felt a nagging feeling in my gut that I shouldn’t tell her about the tree. I smiled charmingly and laughed. “What is this, Skyrim? No I haven’t seen a glowing rainbow tree.” I instantly cursed myself mentally after hearing what I had said, having not been told of its color.
Rebecca frowned, crossing her arms. “I didn’t mention anything about its color…” Narrowing her eyes, she took a step forward. “You know where it is, don’t you?”
I shook my head “Nope, no idea, been running around and got completely lost.” I then looked her in the eyes, a burning intensity in my eyes I did not intend. “Why do you want to see this tree so bad?”
She immediately took a step back, putting her hands up. “Whoa there, I’m not trying to do anything to that tree,” she tried to assure me. “It’s just that I’ve always wanted to see that tree, after hearing legends of its overwhelming beauty, its delicious fruit, I just have to see it for my own eyes!”
I deadpanned, “Really? How dumb do you think I am? I have a Ph.D. in psychology.”
She growled, stomping her foot. “Come on!” Taking a deep breath, she took a step closer and laid her head on my chest, using a hand to rub my chest. “Oh Craig, won’t you please tell little ol me where you saw that tree~?”
I grabbed her hand gently and took it off of my chest. “Please do not try to use your sexual attractiveness to sway me, nothing will upset me further, seconded by lying to me. I HATE when people try to take advantage of me, I would love to help you in any other way, I would gladly do it, but that tree is my closest bet to getting home. My family needs me. I have to take care of my mother or at least tell her I am okay...”
Rebecca sighed, taking a step back. “Well I hate to break it to ya, but that won’t be possible.” She twirled her ponytail, “You’re dead, well at least the you on Earth is.” She shrugged, “Think of this as the afterlife… only it isn’t, you were kinda reincarnated into this world, and going back to Earth is impossible.”
I sighed. “Even so, that tree seems capable of transmitting information, it is ALIVE, and it FEELS. I will not let someone destroy something that... precious.” I then sensed a timberwolf sneaking up behind her and blasted a fireball at it as it pounced, burning it to ash. “Now, I don’t know who sent you, but you can tell them to FUCK. OFF.”
She glared at me, her fist clenched. “Fine,” she said, walking backwards to the direction she came from, “If you won’t tell me…. I suppose I’ll force the information out of ya!” Rebecca yelled, “Grother! NOW!” The ground suddenly shook as a large green beast jumped out of the bushes, landing right between the both of us. The creature was a 12 foot tall, green skinned monster, a large metal pot covering his whole head, with an opening where the face would be, but it was covered by steel bars. The creature had a large stomach. On his wrist were metal cuffs with chains on them. The lower part of his body was covered by a pair of brown, worn out shorts. Pounding his chest, the creature roared.
I leapt back, accidentally leaping too far and hitting a tree before my deathperation flames ignited once again, my forehead alight with the flames. I lit my gauntlets aflame. “Wanna fight, big guy? I grew up in a bad neighborhood, I know how to take care of bitches like you!” I took a combat stance, ready to take this giant ugly bastard down a peg.
Rebecca growled. “Grother! Knock him down a peg or two! Just make sure to not kill him!” she ordered. The massive ogre groaned, raising his fist and bringing the chains down towards me.
I growled in a bestial manner and grabbed the chains, leaping up fast enough to bring his arms into the air, then I landed on a tree on all fours and welded them together with my flames before cooling them using my zero point breakthrough skill. “Now, let’s see how well you fight when bound!”
I then ran at him, grabbing his arms and wrapping the long chain around them. I then circled his legs and effectively hogtied him. “How you gonna fight now, big man?”
The ogre growled, thrashing around. “Rebecca! I can’t get up! Help me!” he cried, slamming his body on the ground.
Rebecca sighed, facepalming, “You had one job…” she muttered distastefully, turning towards me and glaring. “Look can you please just make things easy for me and give up? Grother isn’t the only monster I have.”
I snarled and cracked my knuckles. “You wanna go, princess, or you going to have your grunts fight for you all day? I’ll have you know, I could’ve just killed your friend here, but I just restrained him instead. I would much rather we did this civilly, maybe even be friends, but I will NOT let you hurt something so pure.”
She growled, her body shaking slightly. “I’m not going to be able to convince you to tell me, am I?” Rebecca sighed, turning around. “Fine. Keep the location a secret if you want… but I will find that tree, with or without your help.” She walked towards her partner, trying her best to untie him.
I walked to the pair and grabbed Rebecca, leaping up to a tree and leaving her at its top before moving the monster to a good distance away, hiding him in a bush before speaking to him. “Just to let you know, she does not care for you, I can tell, you are but a puppet to her. I can tell you are an intelligent individual, so please, consider leaving this woman who will only use you.”
Grother stayed still, staring at me. Turning back towards Rebecca, he shook his head. “No… I can’t leave her… She’s my friend… she’s just lost and alone… she’s a good person, I know it.” He shook his arms, trying to get rid of the chains. “She doesn’t think so, but I do… she needs me.”
I sighed and nodded. “I know, she probably is, deep down. But I cannot let your master destroy the tree, it is a living thing, and I owe it my life.” I smiled sadly. “It’s a shame, I would've loved to have gotten to know her.” I then ran towards the Rainbow Tree, determined to guard it with my life.
Before I could make it, Rebecca had jumped right in front of me, blocking my way. “And where do you think you’re going?” she asked, her glare hardening. “Back to the Tree of Harmony? I don’t think so, this forest is too dangerous for a newbie like you to play hero, the forest’s monsters can protect the tree without assistance.”
I looked to her doubtfully. “And what exactly would I do otherwise? All I’ve been able to find is you, and I don’t think you like me that much.” I laughed. “Pretty sure you’d kill me if you could.”
She pouted. “Didn’t I tell Grother to make sure to not kill you? Besides, a newbie like you would only get eaten by a cragodile or a hydra in a matter of two days.” She smirked, “So since I’m such a generous and kind person, I’ll take you to the nearest village just outside this forest,” Rebecca offered, extending her hand, “So what do ya say?”
I took her hand and kissed it in a gentlemanly manner. “I say, beautiful AND helpful? You must have to beat the boys away with a stick.”
Rebecca blushed, taking a step back. “H-hey! I’m just taking you to safety! So don’t start thinking that it’s okay to do or say stuff like that, got it?!” She held her hand, not being able to look at me in the eyes.
I laughed and tousled her hair as I took her hand and led her to Grother. “You are so cute when you are flustered. Oh, and I’d treat Grother better, seems he’s really loyal to ya, seems he loves you like a daughter, too.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened, and scoffing, she turned away. “I don’t need you to tell me how to treat my crewmates, and don’t call me cute!” she yelled, gritting her teeth.
I laughed and patted her back as we reached Grother. “Trust me, you have no idea how much you love someone until they are gone.” I realised what I said and sighed. “A-anyway… let’s just… go take care of the big guy. Eh? I’ll untie him and cut him loose.”
She nodded, stopping in front of the giant beast. She sighed, patting him on the head, “Got tied up with your own weapon… don’t worry big guy, we got ya.” Rebecca grabbed the end of the chain, and began to pull, trying to find some way to untie him.
I smiled and quickly gave the chains a jerk, whipping him up and into freedom, as well as onto his feet shakily, as I melted the chains apart before cooling them again. “There we go.” I then looked to Rebecca and sighed. “I suppose you wanna know, huh?”
Rebecca stayed silent, eventually turning towards me, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she said, patting my back, “I’ve... lost people too.”
I smiled weakly before hugging her gently. “Thank you…” I wiped my eyes and broke the hug before I looked to Grother. “Take good care of her after I go, ‘k ya big lug?”
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Go?” she questioned, “Just where do you plan on going?”
I looked to her in amusement. “I am fairly certain you said you were just going to be taking me to civilization, not going to stick with me. Although, I wouldn’t mind you sticking around.”
She huffed, crossing her arms and turning away. “I was assigned to stay in this area for at least a week, something about that tree, and the chaos energy that this place just reeks.” She frowned, “Basically I’m supposed to do some research in this area, finding that tree is just a bonus. So whether you like it or not, you’re going to be stuck with me for a while.”
I smiled and patted her back as I looked to Grother. “So, big guy, care to lead the way to civilization?”
Grother stood up with a groan, nodding. Picking up Rebecca, he set her on his shoulder, walking towards the direction they came from. Rebecca hummed, taking out a silver compass, which had three needles pointing at random directions. “...Those goblins are probably lost…” She shrugged, “Eh, not my problem, I’ll look for them later.”
I shrugged. “So I guess you weren’t bluffing, then. Good to know.” I then walked to Grother’s side and gave him a playful punch. “So, what else lives here, eh?”
Grother titled his head in confusion at the gesture. Rebecca scratched her head, “Well there’s a whole bunch of creatures that call this place home. Here in the Everfree Forest it’s home to a whole bunch of monsters like timber wolves, manticores, hydras, cragodiles, and cockatrices.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “Doesn’t sound like any of those’ll bother holding a conversation… I was hoping that there were some people around who’d need work done? I could use some cash, all I had on me before is gone, that includes my food…” I sighed sadly, my stomach growling. “and I had bought some jerky that I was looking forward to…”
Rebecca chuckled at my misfortune. “Must suck for you.” She waved her hand, “But don’t worry about that, in the village we’re heading into you’ll be able to find a job there, the ponies in that area are really friendly towards newbie humans like you.” She smirked, giving me a lopsided grin. “Although… You can always just work for us? Our group is always looking for some new recruits.”
I looked to her in a mischievous manner. “So, what are the benefits of working for you, and what’ll I be doing?”
Rebecca’s smile grew, “Well for one thing, you get to be working with me! And that’s reward enough!” She chuckled, “But seriously, there’s a whole bunch of benefits that come with working for the Fallen! For one, once everything is all set and done the boss promised to grant us all one wish, and it can be anything we want it to be!”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but, you know, I am really attached to my clean, yet perverted conscience, although working with someone as sexy as you is an attractive concept.”
She blushed and turned away, gritting her teeth. “Your loss, you could’ve had your deepest desires come true.” She sighed and shook her head. “Though I’m sure you’ll come around eventually, newbies like you are always trying to be the heroes, sooner or later though they realize that there’s a much more better road to take, one that comes with a reward.”
I sighed. “Sometimes, the greatest treasures and riches aren’t nearly worth the price you’ve gotta pay to get them.” I shook my head and smiled “Anyway, looks like the forest is ending soon, so…” I leapt up to Grother’s shoulder and kissed Rebecca’s cheek before running through the treeline. “WORTH IT!”
Rebecca screamed, her face completely red. “What the hell's the matter with you?! You perv!!” She seethed. “Grother get him!” The ogre ran, trying his best to catch up to me. “Come back here!”
[ one hour later ]
I was sitting under a bridge as Rebecca was still looking for me, laughing my ass off as I was FAR too fast for the ogre. During my laughter, a bright pink pony suddenly appeared right in front of me, smiling. “Hiya!” she greeted, tilting her head, “What are you laughing about?!”
I stared at it in abject horror before I rose up and ran away, screaming “DEMONIC TALKING HORSE! AAAAUUUUGH!” I ran blindly until I ran into a purple unicorn with wings. “WHAT THE HELL!? THE DEMON HORSES HAVE WINGS?! NOT EVEN THE SKIES ARE SAFE!”
The purple unicorn frowned. “Hey! I’m a pony! Not a horse!” she clarified, her eyes suddenly going wide, “Wait a minute…” Her annoyed expression turned into a concerned one, “Um, excuse me sir, please calm down so I can explain everything!”
I was already running as she grabbed me with her magic, in response to which I began running in midair, then doing the breaststroke, doing anything to try to get away! “DON’T EAT MY SOUL! IT IS PERVERTED AND HIGH IN SODIUM!”
The unicorn’s frown deepened. “I’m not a demon horse, if you’ll just calm down I can explain everything. You aren’t the first human I’ve had to explain things to…” She turned away, grumbling, “And most likely not the last…” she sighed, gaining a hopeful smile. “Hi there, my name is Twilight Sparkle! What’s yours?”
I looked to her a moment, trying to collect myself. “Well, my poorly named friend who reminds me of a horribly made book series, I am Craig, and I am looking for a friend of mine…” I then realised that she mustn’t be that popular if her faction was called the Fallen… and was probably still mad about the kiss. “Actually, nevermind, I’ll find her later.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? If she’s new like you, we can help look for her?” she offered. “It’s a bit dangerous for a human who’s new to wander around by themselves.”
I nodded. “She’s tough, like me!” Hearing a loud screech, we all looked up and saw a large brown bat flying straight towards us, we both ducked and the monster flew just right above us. Turning back towards the bat, I saw that it looked like something straight out a horror film. The man sized bat was a bit skeletal in appearance, its lower jaw was a lot longer than its upper jaw, as if it was an exaggerated underbite, allowing us to see its long, jagged, sharp teeth. Looking closely I saw that it had four bright yellow eyes glaring down at me.
I looked to Twilight and shouted. “Let me go, I gotta fight!” I looked to the bat as it flew around for a second swoop and used my magic to fire a large fireball at the bat, not enough to hurt it, but enough to act as a deterrent. “TWILIGHT! LET ME GO!”
Twilight stood still, her eyes wide as she continued to stare at the large bat, “T-that’s a Darkmaw Bat!” She shivered as she took a step back. “What is one doing all the way here?! It should be in the Badlands! Not here!”
I sent a spark over to her horn as a wild guess, burning her horn tip a little and making her release me as I ran towards the Everfree, far from Ponyville. “HEY! THIN BROWN AND UGLY! OVER HERE!” I threw a small fireball at it and had it explode into a shower of sparks that burnt its fur, enraging it and making it focus on me as I ran.
The four eyed bat screeched, swooping down at me several times, trying to use its feet to grab me. After the fourth attempt at grabbing me, the creature landed right in front of me, opening its mouth wide and letting out a high pitched wail that had me clutching my ears in pain.
“Ah! Bloody hell!” I then fell to my knees and was grabbed by the bat, being carried high into the air, soaring through the sky as the bat, which I now noticed was a she, looked on with an almost triumphant look. I sighed and began to poke the bat’s toes, hey, I might be beat, but that does not mean I can’t annoy the living daylights out of it!
The bat snorted, turning her head towards me. She gave what appeared to be a smirk as she suddenly let go of me, letting me fall and quickly catching me before I could hit the ground. I then laughed as I felt my stomach lurch. “Do that again and you’ll be picking chunks of my lunch out of your fur.” I then looked to the bat and sighed. “Let me guess, you are another of Rebecca's pets?”
The bat snorted, turning her head high as it roared. She jerked her legs, causing me to almost lose my lunch right there.
I groaned in discomfort as I looked up to the bat, coming up with a very dangerous gambit “This… is going to suck…” I lit a fire in my hands and focused on it, letting it spread up my arms and onto the bats talons, causing it to release me and cry out in pain, I then began to free fall towards the forest floor and focused on my still flaming arms and forced them to face downward as I released a geyser of flame, slowing my fall to a hover. “NICE!” I then saw that the bat was flying at me and looked pissed, thus I decided to fly like hell in the opposite direction, not thinking fast enough to realise it was tricking me into flying straight towards Rebecca.
Seeing the smirking girl, I immediately put my hands under me, making me fly upwards towards the sky. Hearing the loud screech, I turned around and saw the large bat’s mouth wide open, flying straight towards me. Acting on pure instinct, I put my hands in front of me, accidentally turning off my powers at the same time. Realizing my mistake, I started falling, fear overwhelming me to the point where I didn’t think of using my powers. Screaming I feel directly towards a large tree, the branches snapping whenever i fell ontop of on, I let out a silent scream when I fell on top of a sturdy branch that didn’t snap upon impact, unfortunately the branch had enough mass to withstand my crotch hitting it at high speeds, after which I slowly fell to the side and landed face first in the mud as I clutched my lucky charms. “TREE, WHY YOU NO SOFT!?”
Hearing a burst of laughter, I slowly looked up to see Rebecca’s laughing face as she hugged the giant bat from before. “Wow, you must be the unluckiest Reborn I’ve met.”
I rose up and made some ice in my hand, via my Vongola powers, and put it in my pants “Ahhhh… Feels better already.” I then turned around and looked to Rebecca and grinned. “So, what’s tall, brown and fugly’s name?” I then clapped once “Oh! Let me guess, it’s Oak, which stands for Oh Ass Krack! Named after her face!”
The bat’s fur stood up as it growled threateningly, screeching loudly. Rebecca put her hand on top of the bat’s snout, rubbing it gently, and using her other hand, she began scratching its chin, whispering softly to it with a calm expression. Seeming to be satisfied, she turned towards me and scowled. “What the heck’s your problem!? Insulting such a pure and sweet creature like Zoey!” She huffed, turning back to the bat with a smile and petting it. “Don’t listen to him Zoey, you’re a gorgeous Darkmaw, he’s just jealous that he doesn’t have fur as gorgeous as yours.” Zoey puffed out her chest, looking proud.
I sighed and looked Zoey in the eyes. “Sorry, insults are my go to response when people try to kidnap me.” I then looked to Rebecca. “Yes, it has happened before, and I am not going to talk about it, and no, I do not regret kissing your cheek, you needed the affection.” I then looked back to Zoey. “And yes, I am jealous of your beautiful fur, it is quite soft.”
Rebecca frowned, “I don’t need affection from someone I just met.” She turned back towards Zoey, patting its chest and taking a step back. The bat roared, taking off in the air, flying towards some random direction. Rebecca waved at the bat, watching as it took off. She sighed, turning towards me. “Maybe you should explain to me why you think I would need affection before I decide to have Zoey come back and eat you?”
I smiled and laughed. “Well, you seemed sad, and I figured giving you a reason to want to punch me would be better than you having a reason to be sad.” I then looked her in the eyes. “I also wanted to keep you around. Ya seem nice, and I can tell the bad guy schtick isn’t your thing. I was hoping I could get ya to change your mind about working for this ‘Boss’ prick.”
Rebecca scowled. “You don’t know anything about me. Who knows, maybe I’m just acting nice to get you to trust me?” She got closer to me, keeping her scowl. “Besides, how would you know that we’re the bad guys? You’ve just barely arrived here.” She scoffed, crossing her arms, “Not like I expect you to understand, what we’re doing here is something much more bigger than you could understand. Besides, I’m only here for the reward.”
I scoffed this time. “You are killing a self aware, cognisant being, purely for the reward? I KNOW you can see the problem with that… that was a kind thing you said to Zoey, and you care about your friends… so what makes me know that this is wrong, is that I felt the tree’s thoughts. It is a pure, innocent being, pure as a baby, yet so… so selfless, it could’ve easily let me die, it could've easily told me to kill you, it could’ve done these things… but it did not. How does this make your side, that apparently wants it destroyed, look?”
Rebecca continued to glare, keeping her arms crossed. “That ‘pure’ and ‘innocent’ tree has killed thousands, or heck, maybe even millions of humans.” She uncrossed her arms, turning away. “Do you remember how you got here? I’m assuming you’ve must’ve just suddenly dropped dead like all the other Transcendents. Do you remember seeing those news reports about an unknown disease killing a lot of people?” she continued, not waiting for me to respond. “That was the tree, it’s ruined people’s lives, torn families apart. Heck, a few of our members used to be Transcendents who joined us in order to take revenge on that tree. So how can you call it innocent when it’s done so much damage?”
I sighed and looked to her. “That tree, is the only thing keeping your boss from ruling this world, for all I know. And from my life's perspective, I NEEDED to leave there, my mother was so senile that I was LITERALLY a stranger to her, my brother died from goddamn gang violence, and my father was dead 10 years from alcohol abuse. I was THIS! CLOSE! to jumping in front of a bus!”
She kept her neutral expression, continuing to stare at me, “Then why don’t you join us? Our boss can grant you any wish you desire, you can see your family again, be the king of your own country!… Forget about that tree, and conquer the world?” She smirked, “The boss has bigger plans in mind than mimicking a cartoon villain.”
I looked to her sadly before turning to leave. “Sorry, not interested, murder just isn’t my thing, no number of wishes will change that.”
I then left her behind and kept walking, making my way back to Ponyville as I reached the same bridge and sat down, sighing as I looked to the river, staring at my reflection as a cyan mare with wings flew up to me, I looked her in the eyes and smiled sadly. “‘Sup, Skittles?”
The cyan mare frowned, narrowing her eyes at me. She face-hoofed, muttering to herself, “Why does every new human always call me that?” She rolled her eyes and looked at me, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be Craig, would you?” she asked.
I nodded sadly and sighed. “Yeah, for what it’s worth, I am.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and smiled. “Seems I have been messing up left and right, should've just stayed in bed, then I would’ve died without hitting my damn head on the floor.” I then laughed weakly. “I guess she was right, I AM unlucky.”
She frowned, giving me an apologetic look. “Hey, it’s alright, you couldn’t have known this would happen.” She turned back, facing the town, “Anyways, Twilight sent me here to find ya, when she saw that Darkmaw kidnapping you, she threw a fit, called in the special guard unit up from Canterlot,” she explained, looking around. “Seeing as it’s not here and you’re here all by yourself, I’m guessing you escaped from that thing. We should go in case that bat monster comes back with some friends.”
I smiled and nodded, deciding not to rat out Rebecca... Yet, at least… I got up and walked with the mare. “So… what’s yer name, unless... do you want me to name you after a rainbow colored candy?” I then noticed that my (apparently fireproof) pants were wet at the crotch, I lit up a fireball and dried out my groin from the melted ice.
“The name’s Rainbow Dash!” she introduced herself, smiling, “The fastest pony in all of Equestria and future Wonderbolt!” Rainbow turned back towards me, stopping when she noticed the slightly wet spot in my pants. Snickering, she smirked. “What happened to you?”
I winced. “I banged my balls on a branch getting away from that bat, made some ice and put it in my pants to cool em off.” I then finished drying it off and shrugged before eating the fireball “Hmmm… tastes like a burger, with bacon and cheese… yum.” I then looked to Rainbow Dash and saw that she was staring at me in shock, no longer moving.
“H-how are you eating fire?!” she asked in shock, flying around me. “I get elemental powers, but being able to eat fire?!”
I smiled and made several fireballs, which I then began to juggle before tossing them in my mouth and swallowing them. “Tastes good, don’t know how, but I love it!” I then paused and smiled. “Ah, right, Fairy Tail, I have Natsu’s powers. As well as Tsuna’s.” I then looked ahead to a giant crystal castle. “...I guess that’s where we’re going?”
She nodded, keeping her eyes ahead. “That’s Twilight’s castle, it’s pretty big, got the whole thing after sealing a giant soul sucking demon away,” Rainbow explained with a smirk. “Don’t know if you know this, but we’re heroes, we’ve stopped a whole bunch of crazy super villains trying to conquer this place,” she boasted.
I shrugged. “Sounds cool. I can eat fire, fly, and dance a wicked robot, as well. I am also a certified psychiatrist and I punched a wolf made of wood in the face, reducing it to ash..”
Rainbow smiled, “Maybe you can show me that robot dance sometime after we calm Twilight down? The things you humans know are always good.” We stopped in front of the crystal castle, then without even knocking, Rainbow opened the door and walked inside. Hesitating at first, I walked in, following her.
I looked around and smiled, shouting out a loud, “HEY-O!” to hear the massive echo. I walked in to see Twilight and some more mares, including one familiar pink pony. “Oh, hey! Sorry for freaking out earlier, I’m new here.”
The pink mare smiled and giggled. “Aw, it’s okay, silly! I thought it was funny!”
I then nodded and fist… hoof bumped her? Anyway, I looked to Twilight and smiled. “So, what’s up?”
“What’s up?” she repeated, her eye twitching. “Is that all you have to say?! You’ve just been transported to an unfamiliar world and been kidnapped by a giant bat, and all you can say is what’s up?!”
I shrugged. “I am just happy I’m not dead!” I smiled and looked to the others. “So… who are these people – er, ponies? I am glad to finally meet some locals.” I then laughed and smiled again, this time more genuine. “Besides, check this out!” I lifted myself up into the air with my flames again, and zoomed around the room. “CHECK ME OUT! I’M FLYING!!”
Twilight gritted her teeth, then taking a calming breath, she used her horn to catch me and set me down in front of them. “Look, I understand that you’re pretty excited about having these amazing powers, but there are a few things you have to know, and you can’t just go around playing around with those powers, you need to learn how to properly control them.”
I deadpanned at her and began to juggle fireballs before catching them in my mouth and swallowing them. “Control, eh? I have watched every episode of the animes these powers came from, I spent MONTHS figuring them out before I died and could actually use them, and turns out, I was pretty close!” I then pointed at the white and purple one. “Now who’s the marshmallow?”
The white mare frowned, turning her head away. “Well that is certainly no way to talk to a lady,” she commented, refusing to look at me.
Twilight’s eye twitched. “You can’t just eat those fireballs! You have no idea what they could do to you!! Sure it might not be hurting you, but you don’t know if it might be causing some harm to your body!” She snorted. “Now just because you know where these powers came from, doesn’t mean you automatically know every single thing about them! You need to learn everything about them before you go doing dangerous stuff like that!” Twilight said, stomping her hoof.
Having been ignoring her, I dug in my pockets to find my mp3 player and was singing along to the words, happy I still had it as I danced the robot. “Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto…” I then gave a thumbs up with my thumb alight and then ate the flame. “Tasty as danger!”
Twilight facehoofed, shaking her head. “I really hope he doesn’t try out for the Royal Guards… he won’t survive long with Cynthia’s strict training…” Her horn glowed, taking away the mp3 player, “Can you please pay attention! This is serious! We still need to know if that friend of yours is okay!”
I flew over to twilight at high speed before stopping in front of her and booping her nose, making her release my mp3 Player, which I then took as I waggled my finger at her. “Now now, that’s naughty! I never kiss and tell, I’m afraid, she’s fine, but that’s all I’m going to say!”
She groaned. “Can you please tell us where she is? We need to make sure any new humans are safe and brought back here so I can explain things to them,” Twilight explained.
I pointed in two directions and smiled, “That way!”
Rainbow frowned, taking a step closer. “Hey, come on man, why are you acting like that? Just tell us where she is so we can make sure she’s safe.”
I beckoned Rainbow over and whispered in her ear. “Sometimes, it’s better to act the fool and keep your friends in the dark, than to tell them what they want, and to let them get into harm's way.” I then smiled and continued. “I don’t know if you are on the same side, I don’t want to get a nice girl like her hurt because of my big mouth.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why would she get hurt? We only want to make sure she’ll be safe.”
I smiled and sighed, continuing to whisper. “I think she’s against you guys. I’m not sure, but… I don’t want anyone to get hurt…” I then looked to Twilight. “Now, are you going to drop looking for my VETERAN friend, WHO HAS BEEN HERE FOR YEARS. Or am I going to have to pull a runner?”
Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “Well if she’s been here for a while now, then I’m sure that she’ll be safe.” She looked back up towards me, “Since you insist on keeping her location a secret, I suppose I’ll have to drop it.” Turning around, she started walking towards an empty hallway, a large green door stood at the end. “Come on, it would be better to talk about this sitting down.”
I shrugged and ate another fireball, just to be an ass. “Mmmm tastes of meat and blood.” I said this specifically to creep out Twilight as I made my way inside. “I wonder if there are other talking animals… would suck if I couldn’t eat cow anymore… I love burgers.” I then thought. “Although, tofu Is pretty good with ketchup...” I made my way to a chair that was set up in the room, seemingly grown out of the floor, as the white mare from before came by. “Oh, and by the way, I think marshmallows describe you pretty well, cute, small, white and fluffy.”
She only smiled. “It still isn’t particularly polite to refer someone you just met by a different name, darling.” The white mare made her way towards to one of the empty seats. “Oh and by the way, the cows in this world are sapient, though there are still some ways to acquire meat,” she informed me.
Twilight cleared her throat, catching our attention. Taking out a checklist, she looked it over before turning back towards me. “Now, Craig, I would like to be the first to welcome you to Equestria, this town is called Ponyville in case you were wondering,” she said, marking the paper with a quill. “Now, I’m sure you have some questions for us, and I’ll be sure to answer them all. But first, you are probably wondering why you’re here, right? Well… you were summoned here by the Tree of Harmony, to act as one of this world’s many guardians,” she continued, pausing for bit, “You aren’t the only human here, nor the only one who has been summoned by the tree. There are many humans, who are now known as the Reborn, which by the way you are, there are a few who work for the royal guard, helping maintaining the peace in this land.-”
She was cut off when a spear landed right in front of me. “There’s no need to explain anything to him, Princess.” We turned towards the opened door, to see an grey armored woman with black hair standing in the doorway, glaring straight at me. “After all, he probably already knows all of this stuff… probably someone from the Crystal Catacombs explained it to him.” Behind her were four armored figures, two of which were human shaped, their whole bodies were covered in armor. The other two were white ponies wearing grey armor, all of them had a sun crest on the breastplate of the armor, and a moon crest on their helmets. “Isn’t that right… you Fallen scum!”
