Author's Note

sorry for the delay but writer's block is as bad as everyone made it out to be.

i am not quite sure about this chapter, i might edit it in the future but maybe i will leave it be.

this chapter felt slightly forced and a little repetitive but it was the best i could muster while suffering the pain of having NOTHING better in my head at the moment.

so silver lightning, this chapter may change in the future, just in case you guys dont like it, but still, do give me feedback.

all ideas are considered and criticism is welcomed.
i want to better myself after all.

stay frosty my friends and see you soon!

Chapter 2: Encounter of The Demigod Kind

It took Noah a total of 3 days for him to reach the very edge of the canyon. The evening sun blared mercilessly upon him, being unforgiving with its heat just as it had been during his arduous travel through the deserted land. During that time, our stressed, tired, and thirsty demigod had made some interesting findings regarding his strange condition. There was little for him to do but to reflect on his situation as he made his way through the canyon afterall. It would seem that whenever he tried to convey other sounds beyond words, such as growls, roars, yells, hums, sighs and laughter, they would come out rather naturally and without problem; however when he tried to form any actual sound that even remotely resembled a word, his throat would not produce a single noise. Instead he would enter a very painful coughing fit, as if trying to regurgitate a ball needles, tearing its way through his throat.
Now, Noah is no stranger to physical pain. He prides himself in his great endurance and stamina -leading the kind of life he has would do that to a person- but this was easily among the top ten worse sensations he has ever felt. It was so painful trying to speak that after the third attempt he just gave up entirely, thinking he should at least figure out exactly what was wrong with him instead of pressing on without knowing if what he did actually made his condition worse.

All in all, it was all rather confusing for Noah that some sounds could be made without a hitch while actual words caused him so much discomfort. It was too specific to be an accident or some random magical event, so the only logical conclusion that he could think of was that the moment he arrived -wherever "here" is- someone or something nullyfied his ability to speak while he was unconscious.
There was always the possibility of his current disability being the byproduct of phasing through Chaos himself, but he had his doubts regarding that particular theory.
If he somehow made it to "the other side" of the void (whatever that meant), he seriously doubted that being mute would be the only single symptom of being exposed to the very origin of everything.

It was too simple, too forgiving.
And his life is many things, but forgiving is rarely one of its traits.

Still, during the days and nights it took Noah to reach his destination, he disregarded his broken armor and remained simply in his camper clothes, which weren't doing any better if he was to be honest.
The armor, if it could even be called that at this point, wouldn't be of any use to him now in the state it was in, they couldn't even protect him from a butter knife, much less anything really deadly.
They were just dead weight to him.
And so, exposed solely with a pair of jeans, his hiking shoes and his camper shirt, he journeyed on the dry and unforgiving terrain while passing the idly hours, thinking of all the stuff that where probably happening back home.

With Gaea gone for good-at least he hopes she was- his fellow campers and friends would probably mourn their losses but also celebrate saving the entire earth from a rather unpleasant end.

Some gods may even participate in the celebration, be it on the camps themselves or on Olympus itself.

He could see it in his mind clearly. the camp would grief, but eventually, they would blow out some of that pent up sadness and aggression in the form of a big ass party. he could imagine it: the campers laughing and playing, even if it was a little forced. Everyone partying and trying to enjoy themselves, celebrating the fact that they were alive to see another day.

Well...at least most of them would be happy.

His closest friends: Jason, Leo, Nico, Bianca, Thalia, Calypso, Reyna, Frank, Piper, and Rachel would seriously grief his "passing".
They were against the idea of sacrificing himself for them from the start, and even towards the end they tried to change destiny, to alter the prophecy so that it could be more forgiving to his fate.

They should have known better.

There was nothing they could have done to change things, it was impossible from the beginning.
Such is the nature of fate.

He wasn't sure about Annabeth though.
She tried to hide it (poorly he may add) but even towards the end he could see i, clear as day. She still didn't fully forgave him for what happened to Percy.

Not that he could blame her. He still hasn't forgiven himself after all.

...and probably never will.

And Zoe...his precious little nightshade...he didn't even want to think of what she must be going through.

Just thinking about her made him feel as if his heart was caught in trap of thorns, with each individual thorn digging into it deeper and deeper with each beat , making it bleed out slowly and painfully.

Just to give you an image of how he feels.
it could have been simpler to say that he just missed her to death that wouldn't be quite as dramatic now would it?

Noah spent the vast majority of his time letting these dark and painful thoughts cloud his mind, further dampening his mood and leaving him a brooding mess and, before he even realized what had happneend, 3 days had passed, finally standing before the very destination he had sought.

Before him laid what he could only assume was the edge of the canyon, a gigantic rock formation resembling a wall that stretched almost beyond of what the eye could see, tall as a building and brimming with plant-life.

It was rather odd to see such plantlife near the border, and ONLY near the border, all he had seen up to this point was rock, dirt and sand, as if life made its way to avoid at all cost being in contact with the very earth beneath his feet, but he wasn't complaining.

He could even make out what appeared to be a small pond near the wall itself.

Water! At last, just what the doctor ordered.

thank god! I was in no hurry of going another day without a sip of water.

As he reached for the oasis, Noah didn't waste any time into digging his head into the water to quench his thirst. The moment his skin made contact with the water, it was as if all the soreness and the tiredness flushed away from his body, being replaced instead by overflowing energy and strength. He was a dead phone and the water was his battery. And he was charging up fast with each glup.

The perks of being part nymph.

It was a rather silly sight though. To see the strongest demigod head in first in the water as if he were a starved dog digging its face into the bowl of food, but right now dignity was the least of his concerns.

He knew from experience that even the most weakest of demigods (as if there was even such a thing as a "weak demigod) could survive what to a normal human would be an instant death or at least a very severe, near deadly, damage.

Regardless, he was in no hurry to test the limits of his endurance regarding thirst and starvation. He was okay with staying healthy and in pinnacle condition thank you very much!
Experimenting with such things was never his style, he was more the do-everything-in-your-power-and-ability-to-survive kind of guy.

With his thirst finally quenched, Noah removed his head from the water,allowing the trails of the heavenly liquid to drift along his hair, face and throat, all the way to the base of his stomach feeling the familiar healing and rejuvenating sensation that could only belong to his unique demigod regenerative abilities.

While not as quickly as it is with ocean water, Noah felt as the liquid melted away all remaining soreness, his sunburn skin regaining its light olive skin tone, and his energy returning to one hundred and ten percent.

He was at full strength now, without a single speck of tiredness, insomnia or pain to be felt in every corner of his body.
Water healing truly came in handy in situations like this.

As Noah cleared away the dripping water from his hair hairs and face with his hand, he took a look upon the waters that helped him and gazed upon his reflection.

It was more obvious to him now the sorry state his shirt was in, completely ripped and tattered, the words camp half blood breley recognizable, with the sleeves pretty much non existent and a gigantic hole to the right side of his torso; this shirt was useless now.

Grabbing the collar of the shirt, noah ripped it from his chest with one simple swipe to the side, leaving only noah's exposed torso free to feel the heat of the sun and the moisture of the water that was still dripping from his head.

With his exposed body fully receiving the light of day, sans his legs, noah could better see the current condition of his body and while he never really considered himself very handsome (so he says(he is humble like that)) he takes pride in his physical condition.

While he would never actually brag about it in the open or with others (so, as the writer, i will have to do that for him), Noah is considered the most physically fit in both camp half blood and camp jupiter, surpassing many of the Ares and Hermes kids, who are known to be the most physically active.

Years of surviving on the streets, followed by constant training at camp, accompanied by extensive combat exposure, mainly done by monsters and enemy demigods, will do that to someone.

The reflective properties of the pond served like a near perfect mirror that detailed the multiple scars that ran along his body, each representing a different reminder of his previous fights.
However,among all the memories of his battles, the one that stands out the most is the one on his very face, a little goodbye present from Kronos scythe, given to him by the father of zeus himself, or rather...the vessel he was in.

A long scar going from the edge of his right eyebrow, all the way down to the edge of his lower lip.

Running his moist fingers alongside the scar, Noah stared back at the pair of pale green eyes looking straight at him from the pond.
As if those eyes were judging his very existence. Judging his very heart.

"What have you done to yourself Noah Castellanos,how could you have failed us so." The eyes seemed to scream at him.

...

He couldn't answer... how could he?

To answer such a question would imply going to places in his mind he rather leave behind.
Wherever this place may be, it sure doesn't need "The Wrath of Achilles" unleashed without control.
He was supposed to be better now...or at least he tried.
It was deafening, the sound of silence and solitude, crushing him heavier that the skies he had lifted so long ago now.

Or at least it would have, were it not for the sharp scream that pierced the silence like a hot knife to butter.
Standing up upright in a flash, all of Noah's senses went into override and his hand instinctively shot straight to his pocket where he exposed to the air a peculiar object.

A silver and gold twist ballpoint pen.

Without wasting any time, Noah twisted the cap of the pen twice to the right, immediately transforming the ordinary pen into a silver, leaf shaped double edged sword with a brown and golden handle : a xiphos.

The blade was emananting an unnatural humm and glow that most certainly did not belong to the glistening of the sunlight beams, as if the blade itself was in great anticipation for the oncoming conflict, aching for action and ready to cause a little mayhem.

As the scream became louder and desperate, Noah didn't hesitate to jump right into the center of the pond, splashing water all over the ground in every direction.

Closing his eyes in concentration, he felt the familiar and welcoming tug in the base of his stomach. He sensed the very flow of the water as it began to move and crawl its way up the waist and into his torso as if alive and sentient, following the command of the demigod.

The water began to boil and to weave as if exposed to great amounts of heat and, faster than anyone could blink, the water shot up into the sky like when a powerful geyser erupts from the depths of the earth, propelling Noah high into the sky like a rocket.
As he flew upwards to the top of the canyon, Noah concentrated once more on his surroundings, only this time, instead of the water on the earth, he commanded the very air and wind around him; willed it to propel him upwards even faster than before. Immediately after, the wind currents responded to the command,surrounding him like a shield, speeding him up like a bullet even further while also making him look more like a blur as he began to ascend faster than before, while leaving behind a trail of moisture, reminiscing of the one found in storms on the ocean.

it smelled like rain.

He continued doing this without haste or hesitation until he reached the very top of the ledge at maximum speed, were he stopped his concentration and allowed the winds to cease their help. The effect was instantaneous, as the momentum from the fast ascension stopped dead on its tracks and he began to float for a few seconds off the ground, only to fall like a leave, not making any sound nor disturbing the earth of the forest as his feet touched the green soil beneath them.

He was presented with the sight of a thick forest, from which the sounds of screams only became louder and clearer.
Searching with his senses, Noah was able to pinpoint the exact location of where the yells came from. not wasting any time, ,with an incredible display of speed, no different from the one he displayed before, noah made his way into the depths of the woods. if someone where to actually see him in action (if they could see such a fast moving object at all) they would swear his feet were actually glidning on the air, just a few centimeters above the ground.
Again, leaving a trail of moisture behind him.

As Noah moved expertly into the forest, dodging with skill the occasional log on the floor or in-the-way branch blocking his vision, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity to the situation at hand.

Playing hero is the one sure way to expose himself to the unknown elements of this land and that means that his chances of survival might be tested in the most unpleasant of ways.
It was not the wisest of decisions, but after all the mistakes he has done, all the people...the friends he has failed and let down, there has to be something he can do right, to make up for all of his sins.
Even if that means helping a complete stranger from an unknown danger in an unknown land.

This was the right thing to do.

...

At least...that is what he thinks Percy would say.

Celeste Dawn never, in all of her professional life, thought it would end like this. Sure, such kind of thoughts could be attributed to the innate hubris that the ones around her told her was her "character flaw", but she liked to think that she only acted the way she did because she was confident in what she was good at.

And in all of the scenarios that she could have foreseen related to how she would die, this was not one of them.
She could think of many other, "better", ways she would rather die. Painless eternal slumber due to old age, a painful beating, contracting a rare and incurable disease, calling Celestia fat.

So many ways to die, all of them with at least some speck of dignity.
All of them way better options than to be mauled alive by a savage human.
Thinking back to before all of this bullshit, maybe she should have seen this scenario coming, however miniscule the possibility was at the moment. But, as always, her damm hubris or whatever, prevented her from seeing it.
And it all started with the mission.
When she was first asked to go undercover into a caravan of human pit fighters by princess Luna herself, she was more than ecstatic, she was thrilled!

Finally! A chance to prove herself more than just the average lunar guard grunt, a chance to prove all of her other comrades in canterlot that she was more than just the upstart rookie, that she was more than just a gifted batmare.
This was her time to show all of her superiors that she was worthy of being a lieutenant, despite her young age.
This mission was her golden ticket into an ascension; after all, this was no walk in the park.

The leaders of the caravan she was after were among the most wanted ponies in all of equestria, famous for their illegal human trafficking, organizing most of equestrias pit fights and of illicit human experimentation and pit training.

They were the owners of most pit arenas around the land. Infamous for their cruelty, abuse and total disregard towards human life. And while it is true that their reach in cruelty is not limited to JUST human exploitation, it is their bread and butter.

They are the specialists. The absolute elite at being the worst.

What made them especially dangerous and elusive in comparison with other criminal organizations was their subtlety, their anonymity.
They couldn't be found unless they wanted to be found, that is were their strength laid.
That and the lack of evidence to incriminate them. They had their sticky hooves on pretty much everypony.
They were secure within the deep pockets of currently unknown corrupted nobles, giving them an almost perfect immunity and apparent innocence.

Bringing them down not only would be a massive hit towards the pit fighting business and illegal human trafficking, but it would also put a dent in crime AS A WHOLE!
They were no pushovers and this mission was definitely not for newbies or rookies.

Only the best of the best were allowed to take part on the mission, so imagine her excitement when she was selected to infiltrate the enemy ranks to gain their trust.

The concept of the mission was simple: infiltrate deep into the caravan, gain the trust of the main leader and trick him into operating a pit fight in the crystal empire where an ambush was prepared for them to arrive, allowing the crystal guard to catch them red handed.
Taking them down and everyone involved with them.
It was the perfect set up.

It took time, effort and a lot of sacrifice before she was able to enter the inner circle of the caravan, learning their secrets and tactics.

The leader of the group, Somber Shade, was a cold-hearted and slightly sociopathic Unicorn that believed in two things: human exploitation and in profit.
Everything else OR anypony else was either an inconvenience or a tool for him to use and discard when it pleased him.

She liked to call him sir ass-hat when he isn't near. She liked to think it was clever.

Gaining his favor was not a simple task (nor was she proud of how she gained it) but after a lot of ass-kissing and some really bad sex, she managed to get into his good graces and influenced him to hold a special pit fight in the crystal empire, which not only would be the biggest yet but also would include special guests, such as the majority of benefactors that allowed for said fights to take place.

When Celeste heard that, she couldn't believe her luck and had a very hard time keeping her cover. Not only would she aid in stopping a major crime syndicate but she would also help in exposing most of the noble ponies that were involved in protecting them!

Hitting two birds with one stone.

Forget lieutenant, after this she would surely become a Captain. Or even better: the personal elite guard to the princesses themselves!
Only the best of the best, the elite of the elite, could achieve such a thing.

However, before her dream could become a reality, she needed to make sure that the path to the crystal empire was a smooth one.
They were still a long way to go, just having left Apple-lossa two days earlier and making their way near the edge of Badlands, hoping to reach Baltimore before the week ended.

It seemed that their secret to avoiding the law's eye for so long resided in a combination of bribery, light traveling and some incredibly strong cloaking magic.

We are talking about ultra-high levels of magic that she only thought possible if performed by the unicorns in the elite guard, and those guys are only second to the princesses in terms of magic-aptitude, so it was no laughing matter.
Still, even knowing that she could be discovered by the slip of the tongue at any moment was not enough to dampen her good mood.
Just a few towns left and all of them would get what they so justly deserve, especially her (in the good sense of course).

And then shit went sideways in the most colossal way.

They were just about to exit the border of the desolate and unforgiving canyon that was the badlands when out of nowhere a massive tremor, that seemed to originate from the badlands itself, shocked the path they were in, tumbling the carts in which the humans where in, setting them free in the process.
The humans made a run for it into to the forest faster that any of them could blink and before they knew it, all of the ponies were chasing behind them as well, trying their best to catch them before they were out of their range.

Now normally, an ordinary human, be it male or female, would greatly struggle to keep up with the speed of the most common of ponies.
Even with their impressive stamina, they just couldn't outrace a earth pony , a unicorn, no less a pegasus or other winged creature.

Their bipedal physiology simply did not allow for them to keep up with the quadrupedal ponies.
However, these were no ordinary humans, these were pit fighters!

Trained in the most horrid and unforgivable conditions since birth, giving them an exceptional physical condition, allowing them to fight and kill not only themselves but also against the worst creatures equestria had to offer. This gave most the pit-humans an edge over other ponies, and Somber's humans were specially deadly; not only were they "equipped" with the latest in human alteration weaponry but they were also immensely savage.
She has seen many of them, in the pit fights she was forced to supervise, take on manticores, timberwolves, pretty much anything deadly with fangs and claws, with mindless savagery and primal fury.

And they were in their natural habitat.

She, alongside the rest of the caravn, were at a very high disadvantage that only seemed to increase with each day that they failed to find them.
Trying to look for them by air was pointless thanks to the forests thick flora that made it downright impossible to make out any other form of moving life.

Trying to use magic was another pointless effort thanks to the special magical brands etched into their skins that prevented them from being located from even the most advanced of tracking spells.
(they were not the most elusive human traffickers for nothing).

So basically they would have to find them the old fashioned way, or rather the earth pony way.
It was terrible.
But that wasn't the worst of it.

The real terror began once Celeste realized that, the moment they stepped into the thick and dark forest, they were being hunted by the very creatures they once subjugated.

One by one, ponies began to disappear, the only reminder of their existence being the loud cries for help and the horrifying sounds of chewing that penetrated the trees, cutting through the ominous silence that once reigned in the forest like a sword.

She didn't want to admit it but she was scared.
Scratch that, she was terrified!

Such horrid things...back when she was a rookie, her trainers had been pretty straightforward towards the kind of things she could witness on the job. She never actually took them seriously. She took the advices and recommendations to heart but was so confident in her skills, she never considered this outcome.
To feel actual fear on the job... it was a thought so many light years away from her mind it might as well not even exist.

But here she was, being hunted like an animal BY an animal!

By the third day she was pretty sure she was among the last 5 remaining ponies (out of 20) to still linger in the forest. The anxiety and fear within her was so grand that she was seriously considering just turning tail and running away, consequences be damned.

Fear can change even the proudest of ponies. She could see that now.

She was already heading in the direction the road was, completely prepared to explain her superiors how she failed to complete the mission they had spent months a investing on, when she stopped dead cold at the sound of it.

The sound of a low growl.

Celeste turned around slowly to find the source of the growling and was met with one of the humans she needed to find, but in this scenario, the human found her.

He was standing a full 6 feet tall, with no hair to cover its head, a bundle of thick and powerful muscles, horribly scared due to his exposure in all the pit fights he had survived, completely naked and with a horribly beaten up face that displayed his univen and terrifying facial features, resembling more a gorilla than anything else.

He was one scary looking motherfuker but even that was not the worst of it.

Where his right arm was supposed to be, there was instead a metallic prosthetic that had a very nasty looking spike-drill, rusted and with specks of dried blood from its previous victims.

But the drill in it of itself was not what made Celeste almost run away with all of her might, rather what was impaled in it.
Hanging from the end of the drill, with all of its hairs tangled in an uncomfortable way, forming some sort of knot, with its broken horn emanating small sparks and lights, was the blood dripping head of one of the members of the caravan.

If she remembered correctly, the unlucky mare was Lila love.

Despite being part of the organization, she was a rather sympathetic unicorn, respectful and surprisingly caring, even towards the savage humans.
In the few conversations she had with her, she discovered that the only reason she was part of the caravan was because she needed the money to treat her little sister who was fighting a rather powerful and seemingly incurable sickness.

Despite being far from innocent, she had solid reasons for being part of something so grotesque, and in her eyes that was enough to earn a second shot at redemption, in fact, celeste actually planned to spare her from the fate awaiting her other companions at the crystal empire.

Not like she could do that now.

By luna, those lifeless eyes and that face, stuck forever in a permanent soundless scream, would haunt her for years to come.

Celeste was so lost in thought towards the horrible deed and too shocked to move, that she failed to react to the bolting human that closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds with a bestial roar of animalistic desire, crashing into and knocking the wind out of her.

The next thing she knows, she is pinned against the ground, trying to regain her breath and doing all she can to push away the towering human who was using his legs to pin down her wings painfully across the earth, alongside the rest of her body.

The human, who was growling and drooling uncontrollably, began to activate the drill with a single thought, which still had the head of poor Lila tangled in the mechanism, and began to lower it towards the head of our terrified lunar guard.

Celeste bucked and struggled with all of her might but the strength and weight of the beast had her pretty much trapped with no possibility of release.

Desperate, and with the drill coming each second dangerously close to her forehead, Celeste threw away her warrior pride, casting away the hubris, and did the only thing that she could do at the moment:

-Please! Somepony! HELP ME!

How humiliating...her fellow guards back at home would be so disappointed in her. To resort to such pathetic pleading, but at this point what other choice was left?

With death apparently imminent, Celeste shuted her eyes in fear, ashamed of herself for being so incompetent, all the while awaiting the slow and painful drilling sensation that would no doubt send her in an uncontrollable fit of pain and torment.

...

...

...

Except it never came, as the grunting and growling of the furious human were replaced with the muffled sounds of choking and a strange tightening noise.

Opening her eyes with hesitation, Celeste was met with a rather incredible sight that, in her life, would have never thought possible:

The ferocious human, that was previously inches away from turning her head into swiss cheese, was locked in a strange hold by another, unknown human, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Her savior was using both his arms to immobilize the beast, using his right arm to grip the prosthetic one, moving it away from her forehead 90 degrees to the right, and his left arm grasping tightly around the neck with enough force to make the savage turn blue, his own arm trying, and failing, to pry the strangeling apendege off his neck.

Before Celeste could even blink, the new challenger stood up and, with the savage still in its grasp, spun him around and threw him like a ragdoll in a incredible display of strength, right towards a big tree almost 20 feet tall and 5 feet wide, snapping it in half with a resounding crack, as if the tree itself was made of weak little twigs.

Celeste forgot how to breath at that moment, her jaw comically dropped almost touching the ground. She was having a difficult time even accepting that what just happened actually happened.

That beast was among the strongest humans of the caravan, having won more pit fights that she bothered to remember. It took her all of her combined strength and might just to hold him off long enough to buy herself a few seconds more of life and yet, this human holds him off with little to no effort and just throws him around like a bag of potatoes and throws him into a tree, breaking it in the process.

Her savior, who had his back to her and looking straight into where he had thrown the beast to make sure that it was down for good, turned to look in her direction and-hamana hamana hamana hamana hamana hamana HAMANA!!

Hello there handsome.

It was as if all the tension, fear and anxiety of the last three days simply evaporated into the air and was replaced by curiosity, attraction and a little bit of arousal.

This was the most handsome human she has ever seen.

Wait, scratch that...

This was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most handsome anything she has ever seen PERIOD!

He was roughly 6 feet tall (give or take a centimeter), athletic yet strong with scars covering his muscled torso and powerful arms. His legs, which were covered by ripped pants, displayed a layer of muscles that practically screamed speed and agility. Strapped to his hip was an impressive looking sword that seemed to glimmer and shine despite the thickness of the leaves blocking almost all forms of sunlight. His face and, perfectly symmetrical, were complemented with a bundle of jet black hair and a very uncommon pair of pale green eyes, such a big contrast to the common human male. The scar on the side of his face was a little unnerving, but it didn't take away from the overall attractiveness of this fine specimen,

Not to say that cute or handsome human males are impossible to find, just very rare to find.
It was not something you would find just anywhere with anypony but there were cases nonetheless.

But this was different. She couldn't fully explain it but it was as if this new specimen was surrounded by an aura of power. Thick and imposing, his scent was overwhelming her senses. She couldn't possibly begin to describe that magnetizing smell, but if she focused hard on it, it would be like the smell of oceanic rain. Life a drift of marine winds, pulling her closer and closer towards the ocean and into the thundering storm in the horizon. She felt attracted to it, like a slab of metal being pulled by a powerful magnet. She couldn't keep her eyes away from him.

like a tiny boat being pulled in by a powerful whirlpool it didn't want to escape from.

In a way it reminded her of the royal sisters. Their mere presence alone spoke of the power they held, the life they had lived and of the knowledge they carry.
Every time she was next to Luna, the few fortunate moments she was assigned to be near her, just passing by or just standing to attention while she walked the gardens, she could feel it.
As if the moon itself came into the ground to grace her puny mortal life with its mighty shine of silver light.
Calming but very much superior and imposing to her in every way, a goddess in pony-skin.

This human was similar but different, and that is all she could make of it.
Besides, even with unnatural beauty and abnormal behavior this still was just another human.

It is not like he actually helped her because he knew she was in danger or anything.

Humans only aide and protect others to which they had bonded with or have been subjugated by them, and she highly doubted this was the case with this peculiar being.

Still, even knowing all that, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that in that pale green stare headed in her direction was filled with an understanding and empathy, so much beyond that of a mindless beast.

It was as if he could understand her situation, beyond the primal instinct of an animal. But it was more than that, as if he was seeing into her very soul, her very being. As if his eyes were seeing beyond the proud lunar guard, desperate for recognition and admiration, and was seeing the underdog batmare that wanted nothing more than to be somepony worthy of remembering.

Maybe that pit-human hitted her harder than she thought because there was no way that was the case right?

He was just another, albeitly, strong human right?

...

Right?