Armored Soul, Darkness and Light
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhhaaaaa, shit, shit, fuck ,ssssshhhhhiiitttt!!!!" " I yelled while sprinting for my life buck naked from a damn manticore I just happen to run into not five minutes after getting here. I stumbled and fell repeatedly in my mad dash to get away from the damned beast only to roll back onto my new legs. The damn beast was lazily running after me and taking half-assed swipes at me, it managed to raked it's claw down the right side of my back and over a good portion of one of my new appendages. "Aaarrrgggghhh" I screamed while running putting on a new burst of speed, the pain and panic pushing me, adrenaline pumping hard through my veins driving me to move faster.
With this new burst of speed i started to pull away from the beast and stealing a quick look back a saw a mild surprised look on it's face, I smirked to myself, thinking I had gotten a way, my first mistake. I didn't see the low hanging branch that I ran into at full force, it hit me in the side of the head while my head was turned knocking me senseless. I was sent violently tumbling down a steep incline from my momentum, thick with foliage and numerous barbed plants that I failed to see due to how thick the vegetation was. I slammed into trees, rocks, barbed plants and vines, the vines catching and slowing my roll down hill (not by much through) but I heard several meaty wacks and a sicking pop in my right shoulder as I rolled. Then followed by a lot of pain then everything went black.
"Oooooowwww " I moaned finally coming to, I slowly opened my eyes taking in the the sight of the cold hard ground and the log I apparently hit my head on. There was a sizable dent in the side of it along with a hole were my forehead would have been. "Well, definitely not a dream if the pain and nausea is anything to go by." working into a sitting position from my sprawled out one on the ground (with a lot of difficulty), I quickly learned that my right shoulder was dislocated. "GOD DAMN IT!!!" I clutched my shoulder in the hope that would ease the pain but did little at the moment. I rubbed the joint for while until the pain eased. I then began to look over my body to take stock of the damages.
What I found shocked me to say the least, I knew a form change might happen when I went to the convention but not THIS!!!!. "WHAT THE HELL!?!?" looking over my naked form, I found I now had black fur now covered every almost of my new body, it was vary soft to the touch. Shaking my head to clear away some frustration a silver-violet lock of long hair fell into my eyes. I grabbed it in my left hand giving it a good look it was the same color hair or mane that my alicorn OC has (also vary silky to the touch). I quickly ran my hand up my forehead just to be sure and found a horn there. The moment I touched it strange and unnerving (but not unpleasurable) sensations shot down my spine and out my body, a loud "pomf" sounded behind me and I became aware for the first time of a set of new appendages. I slowly turned my head to see them, then cackle like a mad man at the sight of them.
There on my back were a set of glorious black and silver-violet wings, the primary feathers had this beautiful sliver sheen to them. But this was not why I was laughing like a deranged idiot, that merchant, that DAMNABLE red cloaked merchant screwed EVERYTHING UP!!!! This was not how I wanted to come here. I wanted to go to a standard Equestria not an anthropomorphic one. I stayed like this for who know how long until my throat started to feel really dye and I went into a coughing fit.
This broke me out of my ravings as I clenched my throat to ease it some and allowed me to think some what start."FUCK!!, I am going to eviscerate him if I see him again." I said hoarsely clenching my throat again "Man I've got to stop talking to myself." braking in to a cough again. I went to stand up only to fall right on my dislocated shoulder, I quickly bit into my left hand and screamed into it (would have pounded into the ground to but one arm out of commission at the moment) to try to dull the pain. Once the pain died to a manageable level and open my eyes I look down at my legs to see what I tripped on.
Once again I was shocked not by what I tripped on, but at were now my new legs. My leg had be changed from the standard human legs I was used to, to a digitigrade style with hooves (how I miss that I don't know and yes I am prone to being oblivious). I then look over my new body in greater detail to see if I missed anything. The tail I knew about but was longer then I found comfortable (it was also what I tripped over). I look at my right arm and found the tattoo from the Ronin Outfit from Mabinogi the MMORPG I love. It was white instead of black and I didn't need to see my face to know I had the tattoo from the Long tattoo eye-face (that one was my favorite one from the game). The scar on right shoulder is also there, I ran my hand over it. It felt real from front to back yet i couldn't feel anything wrong with the nerve connections, the pain from my dislocated joint confirmed that.
After giving myself a thorough check to make sure I didn't miss anything; I found a number of cuts and bruises, a few looked serious but not bad enough to impede my mobility to much beyond a slow walk. I glanced at my back to see how bad the the claw wound was, its was still bleeding but lightly which meant that it was a shallow wound. After finishing up and removing a good number of barbs from my flesh a sudden thought hit me.
Fuck, all this is going to really hurt when the adrenaline finally ware off. I thought looking around for my things. Where's my stuff? Looking for the items I had with me my eyes fell upon the path I made rolling down hill. There a quarter of the way up the incline was my backpack that had all the items I purchased from the Merchant (the guy had a bargain bin) hanging off a branch a little ways off the ground. Slowly working myself into a working sitting position I went about looking for a vine to tie off my arm with, they were all over the area I was in. After finding one that was just right, I tied off my arm as best I could and considering I am right handed and had only one hand to work with it took a while.
After I got my arm tied down and in a sling I tried to stand only to fall over and land on face, which hurt more then in my human body because of my now slightly elongated face. Finally after my tenth attempt I just grabbed a good sized stick to help me keep my balance and hobbled over to the incline. As I slowly moved towards its, I worked out how to move as best I could with with these new legs and let me tell you it wasn't easy. Try walking on the balls of your feet with no heels and throw in an extra joint and hooves for feet, it a challenge to move let alone walk. I had my wings extended straight back to help with my balance and that was a task on its own. I keep getting them mixed up with my arms, and got a few twinges of pain from my shoulder for that.
Finally reaching the incline I crawled up the slope digging my new hooves into the soil to get traction. Minus some pain from the effort the climb went with out incident. Reaching branch I rolled on to my back and dug my hooves into the soil and used the stick to bring the pack down to me. After I had it in my grasp I pull my new hooves out of the dirt and slid down the slope to the flat forest floor below. Not the smartest move considering how damp the ground was, but I felt the temperature dropping for a while now and the light was beginning to fade.
With my pack now in hand I sat it on the ground and rummaged through it searching for the things I normally keep with me just encase I ever needed them. Disregarding the Items I got from that Red Merchant and others like my kindle tablet and Iphone I searched for what I needed. I wasn't in any condition or have the time to mess around with things I didn't need or have any idea how to use. I found my pocket knife, Swiss army knife, lighter, and matches. I also pull out my family's old compass, it didn't work, it's more of a good luck charm, been in the family for over five centuries and anyone who had it is said to find a to live through anything no matter the odds. And right now I needed all the luck I could get, with how things have been going so far I'll be lucky to survive the night.
Now I don't know much about surviving in the wild (next to nothing really) but I've seen survival shows and gone camping with my family a lot when I was younger. But I knew I had to find shelter and fast that much I did know, but in this new form with no real idea how to use it's abilities and barely able to move properly. Yeah, I am pretty fucked, my chances of surviving this were maimed to dead and with only second hand knowledge of the area I was in my odds seemed none to slim at best.
So I began my search for shelter for the night and hoped I lived till morning. After, a few hours of searching I found a rock formation in a clearing that had an overhang that dug into the rock face of a ways with a natural rock column supporting the roof with the rock floor separated from the forest floor by about 3 feet. It would mostly shield me from the wind and rain. The air was starting to feel really damp and the wind was picking up so I had to work fast, so I started by collecting any wood around dry, wet, or rotted it didn't matter at the moment. Now I don't know how to build a shelter out of whatever's around, so I improvised; not that it takes a lot of imagination to build a shelter out wood, leaves and vines, just skills which I sorely lack. But I didn't need it to be perfect, I just needed a wall to keep the wind back so I could start a fire and keep warm for the night, I knew there was going to be no rest this night.
The sun had just finished setting when my wall was finally finished after I tied off the last vine. I set it up in the opening most exposed to the wind and then set about making a fire. I searched through the wood I collected which quite a lot, found the driest prices and piled them like I was taught when I was younger, pulled out my matches attempted to start one. Not easy with only one good arm but I could still move parts of my right even if it did hurt a lot. It took a few tries and several small burns but I got it going. Interesting note the vine sap of the vines in this place are 'highly' flammable. I quickly learned that when a few embers Ignited the sap that was stuck to my coat from tying my wall together and rolling around to put them out. Minus the light burns, singed coat and the new crap I got in my wounds (which I am sure will get infected a some point) I had a nice fire going. I just used the damn sap to get it going, squeezed drops on the wood and tossed a match, the thing went up in a blaze.
After that ordeal with the fire I settled in for the and tried to get some rest, I couldn't fall asleep not because I didn't want to but because of were I am. So I just let my mind wonder and laid down on left side because my right was torn to hell, normally I sleep on my stomach but no point in making my side worse then it already is. Looking up at the night, gazing at the stars I thought about were I was.
"This has to be the Everfree Forest, it matches everything in the show to a tee. But the question I want to know is were in the Everfree am I? I am close to Ponyville, to the Castle of the Two Sisters, in the south close to Ghastly Gorge, or in the deepest parts?" I questioned "If I am in the deepest part I am Infinitely screwed." Suddenly I heard a rustling sound causing me to shoot up in a panic, not the smartest idea considering the adrenaline wore off in the hours I was working and the pain dulled to the point I forgot about it while I was laying down and wasn't prepared for when it returned.
ELSE WERE
At the edge of the Everfree near Ponyville four ponies were settling in for the night when one thought they heard a agonizing scream. Rushing to her window and opening it the youngest of the four searched for the source scream. Looking around she saw nothing but the deep ominous black from the Everfree forest, the direction the scream had come from. She has seen this sight many times before and never give much thought, but now her blood ran cold at the thought that somepony was in the Everfree alone at night and hurt. She left her room in a hurry rushing to her older sibling's room.
"APPLEJACK, APPLEJACK!!," she shouted rushing into her sister's room " Ah thought Ah heard a scream from tha' Everfree Forest it sounded like somepony's hurt bad!!"
"Applebloom, simmer down, an' tell me what's wrong" Applejack said turning to her sister from her seat on her bed," Now what's this here about a pony being hurt?"
"Ah heard a pony scream, it sounded like their hurt, BAD!!," Applebloom said looking at her with deep concern in her eyes.
"Applebloom it's aright, ah'm sure its jus' sum critter makin' noise," Applejack said while pulling Applebloom into a comforting hug " You an' Ah both know that nopony goes into th' Everfree at night, its jus down right' foalishness. Shoot, nopony gose in there at all cause of all them monsters an' what not. "
"Ah know that Applejack, but..." Applebloom said looking up at her sister with concern in her eyes but was cut off by Applejack.
"No buts, th' Everfree's to Dangerous an' ya know how that forest plays tricks on ponies, with how all unnatural it is." Applejack said pulling her sister into another hug "besides its time fer bed, but if ya feel that strongly bout' this we can go and see if someponys gone missin' in th' morin'."
Applebloom looked up into Applejack's eyes, those honest clear eyes that only ever spoke the truth without doubt or hesitation, sighing in defeat Applebloom relented "fine, but we have ta check tomorroa, ah jus hope nopony's hurt." and with that Applebloom returned to her room and went to bed but found little sleep that night.
POV CHANGE 1 PERSON
"Okay, that hurt," I hissed out, my movement caused my wounds to bleed a bit. I just lay there breathing heavily trying to get the pain under control. When I managed that I turned my back to the fire, hoping it would dry out the blood and prevent an infection. I didn't get me hopes up through, I've always had a good immune system but with the species change I didn't know.
"God why did it has to be the Everfree, that's the most cliche and over used entry. Oy vey, why, why, did it have to be the Everfree, why not the desert, or Canterlot. Some place, any place but here, but no I have to fallow a cliche, and be thrown to the wolves." I sighed "Another issue why haven't I been set upon by any predators, I mean with all the blood I lost and screaming I've been doing you would think they would have had me for lunch by now. Another thing why hasn't that manticore that was chasing earlier cone to finish me......
This analysis of my situation and talking to my self when on for a while I need to distract myself from the pain, and stay awake. I couldn't let the fire go out and I needed to stay awake if some was out there so I could make a brake for it. I did what ever I could to stay awake, from checking my self over again (turns out my crotch has a sheath now stupid species chang) to going through my backpack. While looking through my pack for something to eat I took out everything I had with me when I got here.
Finally having time to do an inventory check, I notice something was off with my pack. When I reach my hand in my arm went further then it should have, pulling it out I look inside only to find seemingly infinite blackness. Curious, reaching in once more and sticking head into (cause why not) I suddenly lost my footing and fell into my pack!!
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" I screamed, but quickly stop when I realized I wasn't falling to my doom, I felt no wind in my mane, I didn't feel any pull from gravity, I didn't feel any of the things you normally feel when falling long distances. "What the what? Okay way is there a void in my backpack How am I just floating here?" I said just floating there in that void, after a while I started to get antsy "Ugh, this is boring, why the hell is this even in here I know I didn't buy anything like this. Were'd my stuff go anyway, I know put all in my pack before I even left."
Looking around all I saw is endless blackness "man wish I had some instructions I don't want to spend eternity in here." As if answering my plea a piece of folded paper flew into my head bounced off it and roll floated away, I grab it quickly and open it and read what it said. I've read enough fiction to know that a piece of paper that comes out of no were and hits you in the head typically has convenient answers in it.
Dear Costumer,
If you are reading this you have no doubt found your way into your new "INFINITE STORAGE PACK"!!!!. This wondrous storage apparatus is your for no additional charge. As you are no doubt aware as the name implies this wonderful item can store a limitless array items. As well as not weight you down with the mass so many items would create through the use of exclusive mass displacement enchants which keep the weight of the pack the same at all times. This model also comes with voice control item summoning system and contact telepathy inventory awareness. As an add bonus this pack is all but indestructible; immune to damage from all but the most extreme of forces.
'It look just like my pack, ware and tare included, how and when the hell did it get switched It was normal a few hours ago?' I thought, reading further down I got my answer.
The INFINITE STORAGE PACK is also designed to convey a sense of comfort by assuming the look, feel, and what ever else make the pack unique, like it smell or stain marks. This marvelous feat is accomplished through binding a type of item fusion.
'Like in White knight Chronicles? I did buy the Players Knight Ark cause he had it even if it was a bit pricey. But why would he give me something like that?' Wondering about but just moving on I read more of the letter.
As a courtesy for costumer satisfaction, continued business and proof of the quality of our products I will give a brief description of each of the purchased items.