A Hardened Warrior

Chapter 7 - Discoveries

As Roderick sat in his newly-immortal body, and without need to eat or sleep, he casually talked to Nightmare. She had gone silent, because of Roderick constantly angering her, and resisting. He only kept talking, and talking, until he ran out of things to say, but quickly started telling epics from his homeland. They had been there for a month, moving to location to location, in a sort of circle every week. The elements tried still to find him, but only being encountered with eerie silence when they called out his name. The animals had left their homes, for fear of Nightmare's presence.

Twilight and the girls were still looking for him, they knew he was here because the animals had left, and never came back. So they kept on searching, afraid of what he might be planning. They knew he was corrupted by Nightmare, because Princess Celestia had told them, and why. They were trotting through the Everfree, except Pinkie, she was bouncing and hopping, with a grin plastered on her face. They were following Winona, AJ's pet dog.

Rainbow Dash: "Can't we just get the elements and wait for him? Like with Nightmare Moon?"

Twilight: "No, she won't try the same thing twice. She's too smart for that."

Fluttershy: "What if he beat her?"

Twilight: "I doubt it, if Luna couldn't I don't think anypony can."

Pinkie Pie: "But he's not a pony silly, he's a human"

Twilight: "Pinkie..."

Applejack: "Maybe shes right Twi, he was trained to be strong right?"

Twilight: "I suppose... but we can't be certain, we should take every precaution."

Applejack: "Winona's been taking us in circles, think he goes to the same spots?"

Twilight: "Only one way to be sure, we'll come back here every day for a week."

The girls and dog turned around to go back to their homes, but Roderick was lucky, much like humans, ponies never bothered to look up. He had been sitting on a branch listening to their whole conversation. It was time to move.

The girls had all gone home, most sleeping soundly, except Twilight. Her fears nagging her that she was being watched back in the forest. She kept trying to dismiss it, but it crept back every time.

When the girls grouped back together, except AJ, who has to work the farm, and Rarity, who had a number of dresses to make, they worked their way into the forest. This time however, the animals were back, and Twilight's fears as well. They waited outside of the area for a solid hour, before turning back. Roderick had moved already, Fluttershy could tell.

Fluttershy: "I do-don't think he's c-coming here anymore."

Twilight: "Why's that?"

Fluttershy: "W-well... the animals are back..."

Rainbow Dash: "I think Fluttershys right, It's warmer than yesterday here, but its colder back at Ponyville."

Twilight: "I knew it! We were being watched!"

Rainbow Dash: "Whad'you mean you knew? You're not getting pinkie sense are you?"

Pinkie: "Yeah! 'cause if you have pinkie sense we could be like... Pinkie Sisters!" she exclaimed, while receiving confused looks from the other three.

Twilight: "No, but I felt like I was being watched, I thought it was just animals, but now I'm sure it was him. Roderick saw us looking for him. We need to get a real search party going."

Pinkie: "Ooh! I'll invite everyone in town! It'll be a great big party!"

Rainbow Dash: "Not that kind of party Pinkie."

The conversation about types of parties continued, and Twilight's fears came rushing back. She looked over her shoulders frequently. Only to find nothing unnatural. The others were starting to think Twilight either wasn't getting enough sleep recently, or that she's gone over the deep end again. That is, until Pinkie's tail went 'twitch-a-twitch' and was followed by sounds of a branch snapping, a thud, and a groan of pain. The girls all looked towards each other, before sprinting off to find the source of the noises. They found a man-sized imprint in a bunch of mud, as well as foot prints. Rarity fainted from the pure sight of mud. again. for the fifth time that trip.

"Damnit. I knew I shouldn't have jumped to that branch. I knew it was too frail."

'Then why?'

"Silence."

'They'll keep looking for you, and when they find you, what will you do?'

"They won't. I'll run, and if they do... I'll tie them up and throw them on the edge of Ponyville."

'Yes... of course you will.'

"I said silence."

He had been running with a limp for a while, five minutes at the most, since the fall. It had most likely fractured his left thigh bone. But with his uncanny immortality, It would heal up fairly quickly. The same could be said for the stick lodged within his upper right arm. He finally came to rest within the edge of a cave. Fearing what might lay within, seeing as he had no armor, he wasn't ready for a fight. His mind wasn't ready to cast another spell anyways. So he lay there, until morning, to start his travels again.

A/N: About next chapter... It's all about Roderick, just conversation between him and Nightmare ;3