Chronicles of Hope: Book 1: A Guardian’s Rising

Chapter 2: A Wanderer’s Arrival

*A few days after the Breakout…*
[POV: 3rd Person]
Location: Border of Ponyville

…and with the Amulet in hand, victory taken from Caballeron’s grasp, Daring Do, after once again saving Equis from utter destruction, rides her airship off into the sunset.

Another day, another edition of the Daring Do series gone by. Rainbow Dash was lying down on a cloud by the border of Ponyville, reading A.K.Yearling’s new book, Daring Do and The Amulet of Seven Sins. So far, it had shown plenty more promise just like past books, which just makes readers like Dash crave for more like it.

Anyway, it had been a few days since the whole incident with Starlight, and so far, everything was too normal for comfort. Rainbow Dash was currently restless, seeing as since there were no friendship problems present to be taken care of that involved her, and no threat to Equis popping up from the blue, she was dead bored just as the day started. So, to pass time, she volunteered to keep lookout in the borders for anything suspicious or anything that could exit from the Everfree to cause harm to the inhabitants of Ponyville. For her patrol, she was wearing a sleeveless jacket, a white shirt underneath, and track pants that showed off her athletic curves – mostly her casual wear. Now, despite having been preoccupied with the book from earlier, she was still able to keep a vigilant eye on the lookout, and of course, she’s perfectly able to spot the figure coming out of the woods, looking no doubt suspicious to no end.

She floated, along with her cloud, to inspect the stranger walking out of the woods. The figure was cloaked in brown, with hints of red and blue on the arms, metal kneecap guards, and a hood fully concealing its face. He was also carrying a satchel around his side with a unique symbol on it. Currently, the figure was reading a tattered book filled with papers sticking out while on the path out of the Everfree, and en route to Ponyville.

Rainbow, still somewhat suspicious, decided to confront the stranger to see their business, jumping off of the cloud, and landing at a distance in front of the stranger, but just enough to try and give the guy a small scare. She was then able to get a better look at the stranger’s figure: judging from the body build, it was a guy, and was actually about the same height as her. But right now, that wasn’t too important right now.

“Alright, pal. That’s about as far as you’re going right now,” she says, “what are you doing creepin’ around out of the Everfree, and what’s your business here?”

“Is that really how you greet every stranger you come across?” the stranger says, his voice younger than what she anticipated, “’cause that’s one really good way to give an amazing first impression.” Rainbow winced at that; seeing as she just deliberately judged somepony by looks – again.

“Sorry. It’s been a slow day, and I thought I’d get some action for once.” She says, her voice slightly tinged with guilt and disappointment.

“Willing to give this introduction a do-over? ‘Cause I am. Actually, let me start,” the stranger says, “The name is Cree. I’m a wanderer journeying across Equis, and I came here for no apparent reason but to wander and see more of the world. What’s your name, ma’am?” he said, finishing off with a joking curtsey.

Rainbow chuckled at his playfulness, despite giving him hostile treatment earlier, and decided to play along. “Well, Cree, my name is Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in the world, future Wonderbolt, and also The Element of Loyalty, at your service!” , she said, finishing off with a pride-filled grin.

However, she failed to notice Cree’s smile slightly falter.

‘Makes sense really. At least everything had followed up to the show until now. Yin no doubt must’ve woken me up seeing as this is between Season 5 & 6. Guess the bastard really did something right this time.’

Fuck off, Sam.

Love you too, shitstick.

“Quick question: you said earlier you were looking for some action, right?” Cree adds, “From the looks of it, you’re for the more physical type, more so a good old one-on-one, am I right?” Rainbow, despite being shocked that he easily read her like a book, nodded a yes in response, liking where this was going.

“Well,” Cree says, “I happen to be a pretty good brawler myself – so why don’t we spar for a bit? It’s actually been a while since I’ve limbered up, so this is a good opportunity.” This statement was half true – seeing as he didn’t mention the part about “a while” being over a thousand years.

“Are you sure about this? No offense, but there’s no doubt that I’ll practically mop the floor with you. I may not look like it, but I’m a black belt in Karate. And there have been only a few that have been actually able to hold up against me.” Rainbow says, cockily warning Cree of what he’s throwing himself into.

“Black belt, huh? Well then,” Cree says, readying himself into a fighting stance, “hopefully I’ll help make this fight as interesting as possible.” Right as he said that, Rainbow noticed his gloved hands slightly glowing, but shrugged it off as her imagination.

However, since her attention was slightly drawn away, she may have just missed the huge crowd of ponies en route to their fight, led by a certain pink mare.

*A Few Minutes Earlier…*
Location: Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville

Pinkie was sitting idly by the counter of the store, wearing her casual clothes – a pink dress with a bow on the side of her waist, along with a somewhat frilly skirt with her cutie mark on the side, accompanied with a white vest with pink accents on the edges. She was currently the only one present in the shop, as she was taking her day off from work quietly – as she could manage, but then again, it’s Pinkie Pie, so no way she’s quiet all the time-

That’s not true Yin!

OH CHRIST! Pinkie! Don’t scare me like that!

Goes to show: I can be as quiet as I want – even when dishing out surprises!

Yeah, especially ones that’ll scare the life outta someone.

Sorry! Just been a while hasn’t it?

Damn straight, Pinkie, it’s been too long.

What have you been doing lately?

Nothing much. Just chillin’…

Cool. Cool.

… And also building up to the fight involving Dash coming up.

*GASP* AND YOU DIDN’T BOTHER TO TELL ME?!?!?!

What do you think I was here for?

...Because you missed me?

…OK, I’ll bite – maybe I also came here to see you.

Thought so.

The fight’s gonna start in a few minutes, so round up an audience, will ya?

Okie-dokie-lokie!

And Pinkie, remember… I was never here. K?

Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!

AND DON’T SPOIL THE STORY, PLEASE!

… And like that, she’s gone, bouncing off to Faust knows where.

Welp, to the fight we go.

*Present Time*
Location: Border of Ponyville

To say that the two were surprised is a complete understatement.

They were beyond it.

It looked as though half the town of Ponyville was there to watch, minus the other Elements of Harmony, seeing as they were busy doing other daily things to attend.

Hopefully, this won’t draw too much attention to me.

Don’t worry, Celestia’s too occupied by the fact you escaped to do shit to notice anything right now, so no worries on your end.

“Alright everypony! Today, looks like we'll witness a challenger from faraway lands do battle against our very own Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie says into a mike, causing the crowd to roar in applause at hearing Rainbow’s name, most of those cheering being fans and a few stallions.
“Will our hometown hero win this fight in ten seconds flat, or shall the mysterious hooded stranger prevail?”

“Hey, speaking of which,” Rainbow says to Cree, “are you gonna remove that hood of yours, or what?”

“Oh, right! Totes forgot – gimme a sec…” Cree then reached out for the scruff of his hood, and then pulled it off with a strong flourish in the process.

No one, not even Rainbow and (probably) Pinkie, really expected how he looked.

Hidden under the hood was the face of a young, yet handsome griffon, with cobalt blue head feathers, and a hint of a lighter blue accent around his eyes, the left eye having a bold blue iris, and red on the other. He wore a peculiar headband that flowed on a non-existent wind, making him look all the more badass as he stretched out his wings.

And just as his face was revealed, a lot of the mares in the crowd squealed in awe, never seeing anyone so damn handsome. Even a majority of the female pegasi in the crowd had gotten their wings stiff-

*POMF*

…even Rainbow, still in shock that this was the face of the guy she just met earlier.

Looks like the disguise works… a little too well.

She shook her head of the various thoughts involving Cree, adjusted her wings and prepped herself in a battle stance.

“Are the combatants ready?!”

“Aw yeah!”

“You know it, Pinks!”

READY…
FIGHT!

Rainbow initiates the starting move, charging at Cree with speeds that make her a visible blur, while he stands there calmly.
As Rainbow reappears behind Cree to deal a strike, the unexpected happened: Cree looks back behind him, plainly staring at her, then simply sidesteps out of the way, then deals a roundhouse kick to Rainbow’s side, sending her rocketing into the plains. Not only does this surprise Rainbow, but also the audience in the process, causing enormous shock amongst the crowd.

Rainbow was able to recover from the kick, but confusion and disbelief was strung across her face like never before.

How was he able to get a read on me? I gotta try and be smart about fighting this guy.

Looks like Dashie here’s spooked. Hopefully, she’ll be playing smart for this little tussle.

Dash then decides not to rush him, but to try and create space for close quarters combat, by zooming right at a distance face to face with Cree. She then sends a flurry of chops, kicks and punches towards him for a while, but he blocks, counters and dodges every single one, much to the shock and awe of the crowd, who are at the edge of their seats ( if there were any.) And just as Dash throws the last blow, he sends every hit he's blocked back in spades with a final counter that tosses her high into the sky, but she quickly recovers in the air.

“Now THIS is a workout! Haven’t seen anypony with the kind of speed and stamina you’ve got for a while now! Keep that up, along with your talent, and no doubt about it – you’ll be making it pretty damn far in the world, Rainbow!” Cree says, his voice filled with glee and good - hearted pride, to which Rainbow returns the smile with a slight blush.

“But it’s only been a couple minutes- let’s shake things up a little bit, shall we?” he finishes, unfurling his wings and taking off to the sky towards Dash and allowing them to continue their battle in the air.

“You know, if you’ve been paying attention during this match, all I’ve been doing this whole time is block and dodge.” If anypony was looking close enough, they’d notice his left iris shine as he grinned. “That was only me assessing your abilities. And within the first minute we fought,” he said, getting back into a fighting stance midair “I’ve already found every weakness on your body.” Right as he said that, he had somehow instantly vanished in thin air, leaving only a small blur in his place.

Rainbow was beyond stunned to see such speed – especially one that’s faster than her’s – was actually possible for anypony to pull off, leaving her staring into the space where Cree once was.

Big mistake.

Before she could realize it, Cree had already reappeared in front of her her, but before she react, he had lightly struck parts of her body with his gloved talons, which had somehow caused her arms and legs to loosen up. He then disappeared and reappeared again, but this time behind her, striking spots behind her wings, locking them up and sending her plummeting back first to the earth.

But before she can hit the ground, Cree reappears on the ground and catches her, holding her bridal-style.

“What? Did you think I’d let you crash like that? Naw… you’ve been the best fight I’ve ever had so far. Ain’t gonna let this go down - especially if it’s from somepony as awesome as you.” He says heartfully, smiling to Dash as she lay in his arms blushing at the compliment.

“Ohohoho~” Pinkie says smugly, “We aren’t even holding out prizes on this match, but it looks like our challenger still won something else in the process!”, and at that very declaration, plenty a stallion and mare were jealous for the couple born from the clash, but most of the remaining crowd cheered regardless, and it took Cree and Dash a mere ten seconds to let the info sink in, and the former duly helped the latter up, the paralysis faded away, and yet the blushing from both their faces having a hard time to do so as well – Dash being the most affected.

“Pinkie! Not cool!” Dash says, still somewhat flustered from the whole thought of her and Cree as a couple. ~~Even though it was nice to think about.~~

“Yeah Pinkie, ’sides,” Cree adds, but not before slinging his arm over Rainbow’s shoulder with a mischievous, smug smile on his face, “it’ll take more than just a fight to win this mare’s heart, amirite?” he finishes, causing the crowd to woop and cheer, and make Rainbow blush even harder, but not before turning to glare at the griffon.

“CREE!!!”

And with that statement, she lunges at Cree... only to miss again, and find him right behind her.

“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!!” he says laughing madly, running towards Ponyville, with Rainbow Dash on hot pursuit.

“YO PINKIE!” he screams out to the pink mare (who, not surprisingly, was able to catch up to him), “Why don’t we settle this match as a draw, and we’ll talk when everything’s all calm?!”

“SURE! Actually, there’s a party I’m gonna throw for ya, seeing as you’ll be setting up home after a while, right?!” she says, somehow audible to only the both of them over the chase.

“Why am I not surprised you know that!”

“Read Yin’s plans, duh!”

“Love torturin’ the Author a lot, don’t ya?”

“You know it!”

“This is what I love about you Pies!”

And at this, he speeds off, with Rainbow still hot on his tail, still laughing his ass off as he ran around town like a grinning idiot.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note

Honestly, why won't those two knock off of breaking the 4th wall?!
The cleanup's just murder. BTW, thanks to Dielox Vufrezal for taking the time for proofreading this chapter.