A Coward's Story

Am I... dead? were the first words to come to the creature's head. If it weren't for the ache following them, he would have surely believed so, too. "Uuggh..." he groaned and rubbed the back of his head. Getting up on all fours, he finally opened his eyes to gaze at the sight below him. Is that... grass? he wondered. Soft and green, even more so than the fields back home... This is not home... but this can't be hell either.

He pushed himself off the ground and stood up. He rubbed his eyes before opening them again, but doing so only made him want to rub them again, for as he stared forward, he saw six sets of eyes staring back at him, but none of their owners looked even remotely similar to any of the creatures he could recognize... and they most certainly did not resemble anything he would have expected to see.

Demons in disguise, he told himself and drew his sword. They might not look threatening, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're harmless either. He pointed his blade at the deceitful beings in front of him, ready to rid the first one to come at him from its head... Alas, just as he readied himself for a small skirmish, a loud choir of shocked gasping surrounded him from all sides.

Quickly shifting his sights left and right, he realized that he was completely surrounded by the creatures... Whatever theses creatures were, he had just landed right in the middle of their nest.

This is hopeless... he convinced himself. After letting out a heavy sigh, he dropped his sword right in front of the hooves of the six creatures that appeared to be their pack leaders . "My fate is in your hands," he declared in a voice full of shame and reluctance. At this point I can only hope that they are actually disguised demons... otherwise I'm about to become the first warrior in the history of Mernolia to ever surrender to a pack of fairy tales.

The purple one in front of the pack inspected the blade in front of her meticulously before turning her sights back to the warrior. "Uuuhh..." she uttered a sound of confusion, incidentally also confusing the creature in front of her and making him raise his eyebrow.. What in Equestria am I supposed to say!? she wondered. Unable to find an answer within herself, she simply cleared her throat and asked him to clarify what his words meant, "I... beg your pardon?" she asked and stared back at him.

And so both creatures stared at one another with raised eyebrows for about another fifteen seconds before anything happened...

"Don't play games with me, demon," the warrior said with disgust and spat on the ground, nearly hitting the hoof of one of those standing in the sidelines. Even though the saliva did not reach her, her reflexes still made her lift her foreleg up. Ignoring the scowls directed at him from the sidelines, the warrior continued. "I don't know what you have in store for me, but you're not going to make me beg or bend the knee." He hung his head before adding a few more words, "I've already dishonored myself... I'd prefer to at least die on my feet." He raised his head again and met the eyes of the purple one with an unforgiving glare.

Dead silence claimed the air. Out of the two parties present, both were confused beyond words. However, the said demons were still the ones at a disadvantage here.

What in Equestria is going on here!? the purple one wondered. "Does anypony know what's he talking about?" she asked and looked for answers from both her own companions and the ones observing the scene from the sidelines. Unsurprisingly, the only response she got was a series of shrugs and confused blabbering. "Look..." she addressed the alien. "I don't know who or what you are, but evidently you are even more confused than we are, so... umm..." she rubbed the back of her head again. Still unable to think of a way to resolve the curious situation.

While the purple one tried to come up with something to say, the outlander got tired of their attitude. As he lost his patience, he slapped his palm against his face and started slowly dragging it downwards. "Fine, then! I'll play your game," he retorted and went over to pick up his sword. "If what you say is true, then I take it you won't mind if I keep this close at hand?" he asked politely while sheathing his blade.

"As long as you don't start waving it around again," the purple one responded after a short moment of irritated staring.

"Not without a good reason, I won't," he admitted with a look on his face that didn't make any of the locals feel any better. "I am Exhorresco of Mernolia. Sworn swordsman of the double-edged blade tribe," he formally introduced himself. Crossing his arms, he waited for the other party to return the gesture. "And you are?"

Retaining her politeness, the purple one held her hoof up to her chest and obliged. "Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville. Princess of friendship," she answered with a proud smile.

Exhorresco seemed a bit stunned by that introduction. Well, now... that makes me twice as glad I didn't surrender... Imagine being recorded in history as a great warrior that was defeated by a munchkin horse who calls herself the princess of friendship, he thought to himself and barely managed to hold back his laughter. "Introductions aside, what happens to me now?"

"Why are you asking me?" Twilight counter-questioned. "I wasn't the one that brought you here..." She paused for a moment and rubbed her chin. "Speaking of which... how did you get here? You just quite literally appeared out of thin air!" she curiously inquired.

Hmm... these demons aren't as foolish as I had initially imagined, Exhorresco thought to himself whilst maintaining his unfriendly stare on the princess of friendship. But if my suspicions are correct, then they should already know all about how I came to be where I am now... In which case, they would be able to see right through me if I tried to lie. "I was sent here as an envoy from a far away land. The king of Mernolia wishes to know if our kingdoms can live together in peace and friendship," he lied.

An envoy from a far away land? Here to negotiate peace with Equestria? Without stopping to try and find any flaws in Exhorresco's words, Twilight let out a squee of pure joy as she found yet another opportunity to fulfill her role as the princess of friendship. Oh, my goodness! This is the chance of a lifetime! Imagine Equestria joined together with a far away kingdom inhabited by fearsome creatures that nopony has ever even heard of before! And it would be all thanks to me! ... I can't let this chance pass by! I must do whatever it takes to secure their trust! Calming her excitement, she took a graceful bow and replied in a respectful manner, "Well, Exhorresco of Marenolia, you've come to the right place! As the princess of friendship, it is my sworn duty to spread the magic of friendship all across Equestria!"

Yet again, the warrior in the center of attention was left completely baffled by the words of the purple one. That smile... No demon could ever fake that... Jumping back into reality, Exhorresco cleared his throat and continued. "Right, erm... As I was saying--"

"Will the king be coming here himself?" Twilight interrupted the warrior with an excessively cheerful expression.

"I'm afraid not." He shook his head. "The king is very busy these days and simply cannot put aside enough time to personally attend every matter such as this one... Hence the envoy."

"Oh..." Twilight's smile faded in an instant upon hearing those words. "That's all right! We can come to him!" she exclaimed with newfound joy.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Pack your things, girls! We're going to Marenolia!" the purple one exclaimed, and her friends all approved of the notion with a round of jubilant cheering.

Despite Exhorresco's emotionless expression, his mind was just about ready to retire from the path of logical thinking as he watched the pack of mutated foals celebrating the chance to go on a journey that he had only made up for the sake of seeing whether they could be trusted.

... Blasted demons...