The alarm woke Prince Frost with an extraordinarily annoying and repetitive buzz. Prince cracked an eye open and blinked a few times before sighing contently. It was time to go to school, but it didn't bother him, because it was also Friday. He sat up and tapped the stop button on his phone alarm as he yawned and stretched, the morning rays breaking through the window blind like spears of light.
Prince was an eighteen year old senor who had relatively long white hair - somewhat wavy and always messy, complimented by his bright blue eyes. He thought he should cut his hair, but apparently his classmates liked it long. He was about the most popular boy in his school, which he didn't mostly mind, but sometimes it meant he didn't get too much time to himself when he was at school except when he was with his best friend, Nikki Ickamachi or Sony Breaks. He considered them to be his only real friends.
Nikki and Sony had been Prince's bet friends since they were just little kids, and they'd never been anything but best friends since then. He could trust them with almost anything.
Almost anything. Prince chuckled to himself at that thought. There was always only one thing he could never trust anyone but his parents with. Prince had this unique ability to manipulate fire. For whatever reason, Prince's fire was always blue. He thought it was a little strange, as if his power wasn't strange enough in the first place, but he liked blue anyway. Where this power came from, he didn't know, and whatever his parent's knew about it they weren't going to tell him any time soon. His parents told him to always keep the power he had a secret, because if he didn't, he and his family would be ruined.
Of course, the usual things that ran through his head when he thought about what might happen if he told someone where maybe the government would capture him and dissect his body for study; maybe he would be regarded as a monster and everyone would be afraid of him. Whatever the reason, he was sure that the outcome wouldn't be good, and so he trusted his parents and kept his power a secret.
He clacked his tongue a few times to get rid of that icky dry feeling in his mouth that the morning usually gave him. In nothing more than his pink, porky pig, pajama pants, he walked out of his room to make himself some breakfast and get ready for the last day of school for the week, and after quietly preparing for school, he sneaked out to the garage with a waffle in his mouth and tossed his backpack in the back of his dad's black hummer. Prince wasn't supposed to drive his dad's car without asking, but he promised to show some of the girls that he'd show them the new wheels he got, even if they weren't really his, but Prince never went back on his word. Prince popped open the garage door, pulled out of the drive way and sped off.
Prince pulled up into school parking lot, his hummer making a lot of noise as he did so. His ride really stood out in that parking lot. It was a lot bigger in comparison to anyone else's little dink-around cars. Of course, being in high school, most of his friend either took the bus, couldn't afford a nicer car, or couldn't drive. That was, unless you were Damien Trent.
Damien was, like Prince, was quite a popular boy in school, but he was also a real nasty jerk. He couldn't fathom why Damien was so popular, but he was. He also belonged to a filthy rich family, and he didn't mind showing that fact. Every day he rocked in with either his Equus Corvette or his homemade "monster truck", which was basically just a customized Chevy Silverado. What was worse was that Damien was actually really handsome and charming. But that's about where his good looks ended, because once you got to know him, he was nothing more than a pain in the neck or, in Prince's case, a pain in the kidney.
Damien and Prince had fought once, which ended in Prince getting nailed in the right kidney, ending the fight. Later he had to go to the hospitable. His side was bleeding a bit, but not too much, though it did hurt quite a lot, he remembered. Apparently there was a piece of gravel wedged under his skin. How that happened, Prince hadn't the foggiest idea. If Prince were to be honest, he got a little distracted in the fight. He had a second thought about frying the punk, but of course he couldn't. For one, showing his power in front of the whole school would have been really stupid, and secondly, killing Damien would...well, it certainly wouldn't help his parents pay for all the bills.
The Frosts weren't really all that rich at all. Actually, they were quite poor. The only reason they had the hummer was because his dad's coworker gave it to them. He said he gave it to them because he "hated to see his compadre drive around in an old shoe". Well, that "old shoe" was actually Prince's car now. It was really nice of him though. Prince never thought anyone could be that generous.
As it was stated, Prince was very popular, but for a completely different reason than Damien. Prince too was charming and handsome, but not just on the outside. He was courteous and kind, always looking out for others and he always made sure to make everyone around him feel like they were worth something.
Almost as soon as Prince pulled in, several of his friends were gathering around him, including Sony Breaks, who was one of the people who didn't believe whatsoever that Prince had a nice new car, since everyone already new that the Frosts were rather poor, though no one liked to talk about it, especially not in front of Prince. Sony could only smile and say, "Alright, you proved me wrong. Big deal."
"Hey, if you want to challenge me like that, I'll be sure to prove you wrong, buddy," Prince replied, laughing.
Sony laughed as well.
Prince and his friends started for the school, quiet along for the way for the most part until Sony pipped up and said, "You know, Nikki's been looking for you. I told her you were going to be here, since you don't usually arrive very early as she does."
Prince sighed and said, "Well what is it now? Did she lose her homework again?"
"She didn't say, but she was insistent that she find you as soon as possible. I'm not sure what's up with her, but she's been a little strange lately."
Well, typical Nikki I guess, Prince thought to himself. Nikki had a knack for acting weird, being clumsy, losing her things a lot, and so often asked Prince for help. Prince couldn't deny it, but it was actually really cute sometimes. However, other times it was exhausting. It was almost like taking care of a puppy or a kitten.
Like Sony, Nikki was one of the students who took the bus to school, which meant that she also had to ride the bus with Damian's right hand man, Darius Tate. Darius was a mountain of muscle and attitude, making him the ideal body guard for the little punk. Darius hated Nikki and everything to do with her. Of course, Darius wasn't the only beast in the school. Darius was a 6'7" giant whose shoulders were as broad as an ox. But if it weren't for Sony, who evenly matched Darius in size and strength, Nikki might have been a flat pancake several times over on any given bus ride. Unfortunately, Prince could barely pay for his tuition fees, and he had no room in his wallet to pay for the bus, meaning that, even for as much as he wished he could help Nikki out more, Sony was the only one on the bus willing and even physically capable of stand against Darius, which was the only reason Nikki was still alive whenever the bus pulled up.
Prince dispelled those thoughts from his mind. Darius had been gone for the past week for something regarding family, so Darius wouldn't have been the problem that was bothering Nikki. Prince decide to not worry about it too much.
School was usual, which also meant boring. Prince was intently looking forward to lunch break, which came after calculus - his least favorite class. Prince kept looking up at the clock, almost begging the the minute hand to hit 12:05. Only five more minutes, he told himself. Ugh, what a drag.
Nikki, however, sitting right beside him, was a very attentive and exuberant student. She was soaking in every word of what the teacher had to say and, as well as working on her lesson, also took notes on the more complex equations she didn't fully understand. Prince never understood how she could love school so much.
Nikki was a petite little girl with long, dark brown, straight hair, big, piercing, green eyes, and a sharp chin. She had this ever adorable smile and high voice. She was always regarded as the cutest girl in school, and Prince had to admit that he thought that as well. He merely thought so as a simple fact and not so much as if he had any real interest in her, although he'd been teased about it. Nikki was unusually fidgety today. Although she was usually unable to sit still, it was a lot more noticeable to Prince.
After what felt to Prince like hours, five minutes had finally past and the bell rang. "Alright everyone," the teacher said, "make sure to complete today's lesson for Monday!" Prince had hardly even heard the teacher as he grabbed his bag and left the room, not even having touched his pencil to his paper.
"Hey Prince! Wait up?" Nikki called, running out of the classroom after having fumbled to put all of her things away as fast as she could to catch up with Prince. Prince fiddled with his silver thumb ring a bit as he walked. He turned around when hearing his name to see Nikki waving at him as she caught up. "Hey, don't just run off on me like that!" she said, a little disgruntled.
"Eh, sorry. I guess I'm just in the mood for lunch," he shrugged, watching the locker numbers for his. His eyes caught the number 225 and he stopped and opened up his locker, shoving his back pack into it and pulling out a brown paper bag with his lunch.
Prince never bothered to buy food from the cafeteria, but instead made his own lunch. "So what's up?" he asked, closing his locker and continuing to walk down the hall.
Nikki fidgeted a bit more, fingering her little skirt. Prince knew that look. She was seriously thinking about something. Prince raised an eyebrow expectantly. "I..." she said, then paused a bit. "I need to tell you something after school, alright?"
Prince chewed his cheek, wondering why she would need to talk to him after school, but replied, "Alright, I guess. Is everything alright? Damien isn't bothering you, is he? Because if so, I'd be more than happy to pay him back for that jab in the kidney."
Nikki laughed and said, "Oh no no, not at all! Actually he hasn't been bothering me at all since Darius left. Although I think it's weird. As soon as Darius was gone Damien hasn't dared to even come near me. I guess he really relies on his "body guard", don't you think?"
"Yes, he does. A little too much, I'd say. Anyway, I told Sony that I'd sit with him and his buddies today, so I've gotta run. See you after school?" Prince asked with a smile.
"U-um...yeah, sure," Nikki replied, looking down a bit, seemingly disappointing.
Prince, however, didn't notice as he was already off to the lunch room, calling after Sony. Naturally, girls all down the hallway turned their heads as Prince passed by. It always annoyed Nikki how often Prince didn't notice her. She thought that if she just showed him...he might finally notice. Not like he never noticed her, but just not in the same way that she noticed him. Maybe if he just saw that she was special...
School had let out, much to Prince's relief. He knew that he had agreed to see Nikki afterwards, but he needed to take care of something first, and his fingers were itching to play with fire. He quickly made his way to the back of the school where he agreed to meet with Nikki, but he made sure to be there before she did. There was a wall at the back of the school to keep sand from the beach from blowing in and making a hazard for the students, since the school was near the cost of California. The wall was slanted slightly outward as it got father to the top. It was slanted enough that no ordinary person could climb it. But Prince was certainly not so ordinary.
Prince flicked his wrists and small jets of blue flame burst from his palms. He ran at the wall and jumped, beginning to run up it, the power in his palms propelling him up all the more. He quickly reached the top of the wall and jumped off of it, using his fire to push him back and onto the roof of the school. Since the roof was flat, it made it easy to stand on, and nobody could see him up there, so it was the ideal hiding spot.
The white haired boy sat down with a sigh and a smile of content. He crossed his legs and folded his hands. Up here, he could play as much as he wanted, and no one would ever know. Fire as blue as sapphire burst into his hands. He concentrated the fire into a sort of knife, so he could hold the "handle" while the "blade" stuck out from the bottom of his hand, just like holding a knife upside down. He'd always thought it would be amazing to actually use his power for something good, like protecting people from harm, but he knew that if he did, they'd more likely shun him than thank him, so he was still content to play around with it on the school roof.
He began to juggle fireballs and make little puddles on the roof evaporate. He even tried to make a little blue dragon out of his fire, but it never worked. Every time he tried it just ended up looking like any old blob of blue flame.
Prince heard the back door open and he immediately quenched the fire in his palms as he peeped his head over the side of the school roof. "Oh, heya Nikki!" he called, waving down at her.
She was looking around for a moment, trying to find him until he called her and she looked up. "Prince? What're you doing up there? How'd you even get up there?" she asked incredulously.
"I uh...I jumped," he said with a shrug. It was the truth, but only partially so.
Nikki scrunched her nose, not really believing him, but she dismissed it. "Whatever, would you just come down here?"
"Yeah yeah, sure," he replied. He backed up or a running start.
He sprinted off the top of the building, his boots planting on the slanted wall as he held onto the top ridge. Nikki gasped a bit, not having expected him to actually jump. He let go of the wall and slid down the smooth concrete brick, quickly landing on the ground, kicking up dry dirt as he did so.
Nikki let out a breath she had been holding and punched him in the shoulder, though it wasn't very hard, as she could even punch that hard in the first place. "Don't scare me like that!" she yelled at him.
Prince laughed and patted her on the head. "Hey, don't worry, I'm tougher than you think," he replied with a smile.
Nikki blushed. "Whatever. Anyway, I wanted to tell you something," she said, brushing his hand off.
"Yeah, you mentioned that earlier, just before lunch. So, what's up?"
"Well, I guess, more accurately is, I wanted to show you something."
"Oh really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what's that?" Usually when she had something to tell him, it was often her personal problems, or her asking him to help out with some jerk or a high and mighty "princess" from her basketball team. Nikki was always really shy and reserved to anybody but him and Sony, and so she wasn't ever one to stand up for herself when it counted.
There was a long pause as Nikki scuffed her shoes, looking down at her feet. She wasn't exactly sure what to say. She knew what she wanted to say. "Prince...?"
"Yeeeeeees?" he asked, motioning for her to go on. "Don't leave me hanging, go one. You have something to say, so say it. After all, you can't just drag me out here to make me curious and then-"
"I really like you, Prince!" she blurted out, and immediately eeped and covered her mouth, blushing like a red apple.
There was yet another long pause, all the while Nikki became more fidgety and nervous. Did I say it wrong? Was it the right time to tell him? Does he hate me now? Thousands of thoughts ran through Nikki's mind as she stared at the ground, beginning to hate herself more and more, thinking that she just made her best friend hate her on a dime.
Prince made a bittersweet smile. He didn't need to ask what she meant, because he knew exactly what she was talking about. He'd tried to ignore it and just hope that she got the message that he didn't feel the same way. He wasn't stupid, he could read most anyone like a book, especially Nikki.
"Nikki I-" he said before she cut him off.
"Wait, before you say anything, I want to show you what I brought you here to see," she said, her eyes on the brim of tears. Prince cocked his head to the side as Nikki lifted her palm, her fingers outstretched.
When it looked like she was about to do something, Prince heard Damien's skin crawling voice. "Well well, what's this? A confession of love? How cute."
Prince whirled around to see Damien standing about ten feet way, a cocky smile on his face and his arms folded. Damien was a tall, blond boy with brown eyes - those eyes always looking for trouble no matter where he was. "What do you want, Damien?" Prince growled.
"Ah, nothing much, I was just wondering what your pet was up to," Damien replied, examining his nails with a nonchalant look.
Prince twitched. "My...what?" he asked in a dangerously quite voice.
"Oh, you didn't hear me? Well let me say it again. I was just wondering what your pet was up to," he repeated, his smile growing cruel and crooked. Prince's hands began to itch, his palms heating up with his fists clenched. Prince took a step forward, his left hand cocking back a bit. "Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you," Damien said and snapped his fingers. Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant of a man jumped down from the roof of the school and grabbed Nikki's writs while covering her mouth. Prince heard her muffled screams and he turned his head to see Darius standing behind Nikki, holding her tight and secure.
Darius had long black hair and eyes were yellow and thin like a cat's, almost bleeding with hatred for everything, especially Nikki, while his strong, muscular jaw brought out his wicked smile, his long tongue licking his perfect, white, sharpened teeth. Darius was already a creepy guy, but for some reason it seemed being as creepy as he was wasn't good enough, so he apparently had every one of his teeth sharpened and where cat eye contacts, or that's what Prince assumed anyway. He'd never seen him otherwise.
Prince yelled angrily and whipped around to charge Darius, but as soon as he did, he was knocked down from behind, something hitting him in the back of his knee, making him fold backwards onto his own legs.
Prince quickly got back up, glaring back at Damien, ready to literally wipe the smile off his face. However, to Prince's surprise, Damien hadn't even moved. Nikki screamed again, but not out of panic. It sounded like she was trying to say something, but Darius only tightened his grip, making her scream out of pain. Prince got up again and tried to charge at Darius, but his feet didn't move. He looked down to see that the dirt around his feet had begun to swallow his boots, keeping him in place. His eyes widened as he tried again to move, but with no success.
"Frustrating, isn't it? Trying so hard to get just one simple thing done but not being able to do it," Damien said, walking up behind Prince. Then he almost cooed in his ear, "I know how it feels, Prince. Trust me."
Prince growled and tried to elbow Damien in the side, but his elbow was caught by something a lot stronger than Damien. Prince glanced down to see Damien's right hand covered in stone, holding onto his elbow. "Ah ah ah, that's a bad idea," he said, squeezing Prince's elbow, making him yell in pain before he landed his left elbow into Damien's side.
Damien stumbled back and let go of his elbow, the dirt around his feet receding. What's with this guy? How is he doing that? What's going on!? Prince asked himself. How is this possible? Is he really controlling the stones!?
In a split second while Prince was thinking about what had just happened, Damien had launched at him, his stone fist cocked back as he moved at an incredible speed. In just that split second, Prince had to make a decision. Prince raised his hand, left palm bursting with a jet of blue flame. The white haired boy grit his teeth and grabbed Damien's stone fist, the fire in his palm pushing back against the power behind Damien's punch. Prince parried the strike and headbutted his opponent, leaving Damien dazed as he stumbled back, clutching his now bleeding head.
Prince also wiped blood from his own forehead after the blow. Damien looked slightly surprised, but then his face calmed down. Damien eyed Prince's flaming hand. "So, you finally show us, do you?" he sneered, his fist making horrible crunching noises as he flexed his stony fingers. "It's about time."
Prince was now more confused than he was to begin with. What was Damien talking about? He said it as if he knew about Prince's power, but that just wasn't possible. Nobody knew except him and his parents.
Prince lifted his hand but a clump of dirt flew from the ground and encased it, extinguishing the flame as well. "Let's not have that," Damien said, wiping more blood from his forehead.
In the mean time, Nikki had been struggling with Darius. There was no way that she could get out of his grip. When she saw Damien's first attack as Prince tried to charge Darius, she was shocked. She hadn't expected more of them to be here, least of all that Damien and Darius were one of them.
Darius had one massive right hand holding fast to both of Nikki's own hands, clasping them behind her back so that she couldn't do anything. Nikki didn't know what to do. She couldn't use her hands, but even if she could she might risk hurting herself or Prince if she tried to attack either Damien or Darius.
Damien struck the ground with his fist and a barrage of slanted stones protruded from the ground and cascaded toward Prince, who just barely had time to jump, fire igniting under his feet and propelling him upward. Damien's attack stopped and Prince landed on the now extremely rugged ground. Seriously, what is going on!? he asked himself. Was he not the only one with power like this? Was Damien like him?
"Not bad, not bad," Damien said, the stone around his right hand cracking and falling away. "You're light on your feet, and that makes you quick, but you're not quick enough."
Prince once again heard Nikki scream at him as if she was trying to say something, when suddenly there was a sharp pain in his neck and he fell from the rocks and onto the ground. What's going on now! I can't move! Prince's brain screamed at him to get up, and yet his muscles wouldn't respond. It was almost as if he was numb. The only thing he could do was move his eyes and look up, and what he saw shocked him. Damien jumped down from where Prince had fallen from, but when he looked at him more closely, he could see that it wasn't Damien at all. It was some sort of earth clone.
The clone smile cruelly at Prince, raising its fist. "It's too bad you're not worth anything to me. I'm just here for the girl." The earth clone brought down its fist at Prince's head. Prince clamped his eyes shut, unable to do anything.
At that moment, Nikki had managed to bite Darius's pinkie finger, making him let go of her at the unexpected pain. "NO!" Nikki shouted, thrusting her hand out in the air, a black beam shooting from her palm and and it struck the ground at the the earth clone's feet.
Darius then smacked Nikki in the back of the head, knocking her out, but it was too late. She had already done it. Nikki had created some sort of black vortex that had began to tare away at Damien's earth clone, ripping it apart piece by piece. However, it was also within proximity to Prince. The force of whatever Nikki had just created tugged at Prince's immobile body, sucking him up into its invisible jaws.
Prince tried to move, tried to scream, tried to do anything, but nothing worked. He couldn't move or speak. All he could to was breath and watch himself be pulled into the back vortex.
The alarm woke Prince Frost with an extraordinarily annoying and repetitive buzz. Prince cracked an eye open and blinked a few times before sighing contently. The soft rays of the sun breached the tree canopy above him as the crisp, frosty morning air nipped at him.
He then suddenly shot straight up, his eyes wide with confusion. He wasn't in his bedroom. He was surrounded by trees - lots and lots of trees. It looked like he was in a forest. It was a mixed forest of deciduous and coniferous, which was odd because, for one, he never slept outside, and secondly, he lived in California, where he only saw palm trees. Here, there were maples, spruces, horse chestnuts, firs, and a whole host of other trees he couldn't even name.
The alarm continued to buzz until he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his smart phone. The screen was now cracked and half of it was completely black when he turned the screen on. How had this happened? Where was he?
Prince looked around and took a step forward, but he stumbled as he stepped on something. Prince looked down to see the severed head of the school bully, Damien Trent. Prince yelled in surprised, but then was a little confused. It was only a stone head. Why was there a stone head of Damien out in the middle of the forest?
Then everything came back to him - being behind the school, Nikki Ickamachi confessing her feelings to him, Damien and Darius showing up out of nowhere, then Damien calling Nikki Prince's pet just before displaying an incredible earth power of his, then the fight between the two of them. It ended with Prince on the ground in some form or temporary paralysis, just before the earth clone of Damien was about to kill him. Then Nikki saved him. What did she even do?
Prince plopped down on the ground, clutching his head as he began to develop a headache. "What's going on?" he asked himself aloud, looking down at his left hand, letting a small blue flame dance across him palm. "What was that that Damien did? Does he have power like me? And why did he want Nikki? And what did Nikki do? And why am I out in the middle of a damn forest!" Prince shouted. Blue fire erupted from his entire body, burning the grass and trees around him from the intense heat. In a twenty foot radius, everything had turned black and lifeless. That was the first time he's ever actually used his fire like that. He looked around to see the damage. Trees black and smoldering, grass crumbling to ashes, even a few birds and rabbits scorched to husks.
Prince curled up into a ball, his eyes welling with tears. He was so confused and frustrated. He had no idea what was going on or where he was. All he knew was that it was cold and he was all alone.
Author's Note
Alright, first story! Boom baby! Criticism is welcome, and I won't smack you for being honest.
*Ehem* Anywhoozies, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I know some people aren't exactly into introducing humans with weird powers into an MLP fanfic like this, but I happen to like it, and if you don't then...well, why are you reading this?
Four days and and three nights it had been since Prince Frost ended up wherever he was - in the middle of some forest with nothing more than a stone head of the school jerk. It turned out Damien Trent was much more than some school bully though. Damien possessed some form of stone manipulation, a lot like how Prince could control fire. Prince trudged through the forest, his blue jeans now ragged and torn in places and his shirt even more so, which he already took off and left because it was useless, his white hair greasy from the lack of washing it, and the rest of him was incredibly dirty.
There were many burnt spots along the forest floor where Prince had either started a fire for the night, or killed an animal for food. Having lived in the city all his life, Prince didn't know the first thing about survival. Well, he knew about it, but he'd had no experience in it an didn't know how to carry out the survival tactics. He understood that he needed to kill to eat, but he didn't know how to prepare his kill to eat. He understood that he needed a shelter, but he didn't know how to build anything suitable, and neither did he know what to look for when in search of a cave, so he could only hope that he came across one without bats or bears or wolves in it.
The only reason he hadn't seen any predators out for his skin yet was because of his destructive fits of rage and grief and frustration that would burn everything around him in a burst of emotion. He still hadn't a clue as to where he was, but he knew that he was no longer in California. He tried to deny so many times what had happened between him, Damien, Nikki, and Darius. He told himself that what happened wasn't real - that is was all in his head. Yet, every time he opened his eyes, everything he saw around him told him that it had all indeed happened, and now he had to deal with its consequences.
After the first three days of denial, he finally gave into accepting that what he saw was real. He knew that what had happened five days ago was real and that Nikki had led him to this place. Whether she did it by accident or on purpose, he didn't know, but what he did know was that there was no apparent way back home, and it scared him.
Throughout the three nights he'd been stuck out here, he'd had dreams about Nikki and what she told him - that she had deeper feelings for him than friendship. But in his dreams, that's not all she said. She also asked is he was alive, and told him to seek out the Diadem. He woke up often confused. He'd dreamed that same dream each night he'd been there.
"Seek the Diadem? What's that supposed to mean?" Prince asked himself, kicking a rock from the ground.
Prince's throat was parched and his stomach growled for food. All he had to eat within the past few days were rabbits, birds, and snakes, none of which sufficiently sustained his body. He'd gone the entire day thus far without any water, which gave him a massive headache.
His ear twitched. The sound of running water reached him. A smile painted his face and he began running ahead towards the sound. The endless maze of trees suddenly broke at the bank of a wide, but shallow river. Prince fell to his knees and laughed. He'd never been so happy to see a river in his life. He scooped up some water in his hands. It was cold, but that was to be expected. Wherever he was, it was a lot colder than California. He remembered first waking up and feeling the cold morning air. The nights were even colder, threatening to freeze him to death. He could easily start a fire, but the wind too quickly put it out, and he couldn't maintain a fire in his sleep - not voluntarily anyway.
Prince sipped up the water cupped in his hands. The water was cool and the river was rocky, so he deemed it suitable to drink without side effects. He became a little more eager and stooped his head down, sucking in water like a pump. With several gulps down his parched, dry throat, he sat up and wipe the water dripping down his chin. He sighed with relief, though it was short lived when his stomach growled at him again. Prince put a hand on his tummy and sighed again, but in exasperation.
Just at that moment, something caught his eye on the other side of the river. Something was walking behind the treeline. His stomach growled again as he stood up and watched the creature. He couldn't make out what it was, but all could see was that it walked on four legs and it was rather small. Perhaps a faun? Prince shrugged it off and looked for an easy place to cross the river.
Just a little ways down stream to his right, there was a patch of stones poking out of the water. It was shallow enough there that even if he were to miss a stone, he'd only get the bottom of his boots wet, which were already water proof. On the other hand, if he misses a stone he could make a splash and scare his food away, which was not at all what he wanted.
He crept down stream as quietly as he knew how, keeping a glancing eye on his prey. It hadn't moved much, thankfully. It seemed to actually be resting, which was rather fortunate. He took one step out into the river, hopping from stone to stone with as precise movements as possible, keeping just as quiet.
He safely crossed the river and made his way back up stream after pushing back behind the treeline. He didn't want to stay along the bank where he could be easily seen. His footsteps were quick and quiet as he made his way back upstream to his prey. Nearing its position, he hid behind a tree, his heart beating faster with anticipation. He peeked out from behind the tree, his left hand ready to blaze. However, what he saw was not at all what he had expected to see.
Instead of a stray faun resting by the river, he saw what seemed to be a little equine sort of creature with a tan colored coat of fur, much like his skin, but also a rosy lock of hair complimented with a pink forelock off its mane, and its tail was much the same. As horse like as this peculiar creature was, it was also disproportionate to any other horse he'd ever seen, with its tiny muzzle, big eyes and even bigger head, short back, and a odd brand of a rose just barely in Springtime bloom on its flank.
Prince reeled back behind the tree. What in the world did I just see? he asked himself, not believing that what he thought he saw was real. I must he going crazy. Maybe this whole thing really is just a dream, he told himself. Many times he had said that to himself in the hopes that he may be right, but everything around him was too real for him to keep that denial.
He peeked out again, and the creature was still there. Not only was it still there, but he also noticed this time that there was a set of bags over its back. Prince shook his head. Maybe it was just some stray pony. Maybe its owner dyed its hair. Maybe it was deformed as well. Whatever the case, Prince was hungry, and whoever owned this pony was about to be one animal short. He needed to eat and he needed it immediately. He took a few breaths to calm himself down. It wasn't really like he hadn't seen more peculiar things. After his last fight with Damien, he decided that he might as well at least try to accept the unbelievable.
He changed his footing, but in doing to, overturned a stone by his feet. The stone clacked as it turned over, making him stop. Did he just give his position away? Surely not, he thought to himself. With all the other noises of the forest flitting around, there's no way it would have-
"Hello? Is someone there?" a feminine voice called.
Prince froze. Someone else was there to? He hadn't seen anyone around when he got to the other side. For that matter, he hadn't seen anyone at all for the past few days. Did that mean that if someone was nearby, then shelter was to? Furthermore, if someone was close, that likely meant that they were the owner of this peculiar pony, meaning that if he tried to kill it, he'd be in a load of trouble with someone else. His curiosity and hopes piqued, he poked his head out again. He didn't see anyone, but that odd pony was on its hooves again and looking around. Maybe it recognized the voice? Maybe its owner was calling?
Then he heard the voice again. "Hm, maybe I'm just hearing things."
Prince's eyes went wide. As he heard the voice, the lips of the creature moved in accordance to it. Had that rosy little equine actually spoke? No, that's not possible! I must actually be seeing things this time!
This he had told himself over and over for the past few days, and yet over and over he'd been proved wrong.
It spoke again. "Well, perhaps I've spent enough time here as it is. I'd better get back to town."
All of a sudden, Prince's heart skipped a beat. His mind fuzzed and he had completely forgotten about the pony or even that fact that it was talking. All he really heard was that there was a town somewhere, and by the sound of it, somewhere nearby.
Prince then shook his head, coming back to his senses. He had gotten a little too exited about hearing of a nearby town that he had lost his focus. He stood behind the tree for a moment too long. The pony passed by him, not noticing his presence until Prince accidentally let his knee brush against the creature's side. The pony's head whipped in his direction, its face suddenly painted with fear as it screeched and stumbled, falling away from him.
Prince himself was in a bit of shock. His brain seemed to be short circuiting. There was too much confusion happening too fast for him to understand anything of what was going on. Something snapped in his head and he suddenly shot forward and clamped his left hand over the pony's muzzle, making its screaming muffled. His hand was burning as his anxiety rose, making the fur on its muzzle become burnt and singed in a hand shape. Prince wasn't even sure what he was doing before he did it, but with his left hand over its muzzle, he lifted his right hand and brought it down on the creature's left temple, knocking it out cold. The pony's muscles went slack.
Prince just stood there for a little while, still holding the rosy pony by the face as a bitter smell came from the burnt fur. His heart hammering his chest and his breath coming in panted bursts. He stared at the pony he was holding onto a bit longer before letting it go, letting its head hit the ground hard as smoke fumed from its burned face.
"What the hell is going on..."
One Hour Ealier
Roseluck had just finished up with planting her white willows in the back of her and her sisters' shop. Roseluck and her sisters ran a flower shop, though it also somewhat doubled as a pharmacy for herbal medicines. Roseluck's sister, Daisy had a high fever that hadn't quelled for a week, and the fever had only gotten worse. As if to add to that, Rose didn't have the money to pay for a doctor. Rose had already gotten yarrow, elderberry, meadowsweet, and feverfew, meaning she only needed one last thing, and that was boneset. Unfortunately, there was only one place that she new to get some that was close by, and that was the Everfree Forest - the place of restless beasts and rouge weather. It wouldn't have been the first time that she had gone in that dreaded place to collect medicinal herbs, but she still never liked being there.
Rose had to ask Lily to watch the shop and keep Daisy in good health while she was gone. With Rose gone and Daisy sick, it would put a lot of strain on Lily, but being the oldest of the three sisters, she never hesitated to take the work load for them when ever she needed to.
Rose had put all that she needed in her saddle bag and was about to head off before Lily stopped her. "Rose, wait a minute," Lily called, walking up to her sister.
"Hm? What is it, Lily?" Rose asked, the door halfway open.
Lily went to the the coat rack and fished around in her jacket a bit before pulling out a six inch dagger. "Here, take this with you," he said, holding it out in her hoof for Rose to take.
Roseluck laughed a little. "Honestly , Lily, you really do worry about me too much. I'll be fine!"
"You say that far too often, Rose. There are beasts out there in that forest, you know, and most of them wouldn't hesitate to tare you apart."
"And you say that far too often yourself, sis," Rose rebutted. "Do keep in mind that there almost never any sorts of dangerous creatures near the banks of the Royal River. Celestia herself blessed the river to be a safe passage to all ponies, so I'm sure I'll be fine."
"All the same, please take it, just in case, okay?"
Rose sighed a smiled, saying, "Alright, I'll take it. Would you mind put it in the bag for me then?"
Lily sighed with relief, unbuckling her sister's bag and slipping the dagger in before buckling it back up tightly. "There, now you're all set to go," Lily said with giggle.
"As if I wasn't before?" Rose replied with a bit of snark. "Anyway, the longer I wait the worse Daisy gets, so I must go. I should be back this evening, and if I'm not, you can get help from Zecora." Lily nodded and Rose then headed off out the door.
Roseluck and her sisters lived near the edge of town and by the river, so all she really had to do was walk beside the river and follow it as she entered the forest. The forest itself was dark and unsettling with is unusual noises and peculiar flora and fauna. There was always something that kept her on edge. Even after having made similar trips into the forest before, and each time knowing that she was safe from manticores, or timber wolves, or hydras, or even cockatrices, she couldn't help but being jumpy at ever sight and sound. However, the Everfree was the closest and most easily accessible place where boneset grew, and she needed it as quickly as possible, else Daisy sickness would worsen all the quicker.
It had been about another fifty or so minutes of walking upstream on the river before Rose finally decided to take a rest. She hadn't found what she was looking for yet, which was unfortunate, because she'd already been in the forest for far longer than she would have liked or anticipated. Perhaps it would be better for her and Daisy as well if she placed an order from the Canterlot pharmacy. Either way, Rose was tired and in no position to keep walking into the forest. At that rate she might as well walk all the way upstream to Canterlot herself to by the boneset personally, but there was no way she was going to do something as crazy as that.
Rose sighed and laid down, opening up her saddle bag and pulling out a daffodil sandwich. She thought about how Daisy was doing and how well Lily was keeping the shop running. Lily was always hard at work regardless, keeping customers satisfied and working through the lines. Rose had always looked up to Lily, trying harder to be a little more like her, but she never could quite seem to make her rank.
Rose finished off her sandwich and licked her lips. She heard the clack of what may have been a stone on the forest floor. Her ears twitched and her brow furrowed. Standing back up, she asked. "Hello? Is someone there?" Rose looked around for anyone or anything nearby. She had a second thought about drawing the dagger that Lily gave to her, but then decided it was nothing and said, "Hm, maybe I'm just hearing things. Well, perhaps I've spent enough time here as it is. I'd better get back to town." Sorry Daisy, but the boneset will have to wait. With her decision made, turned back around and started walking back downstream to Ponyville where she lived.
As she passed by a thick horse chestnut tree, her side brushed up against something apparently sticking out of it. She turned to see what it was, and immediately yelped and jumped away, falling to the ground as she did so. Standing over her was a creature at least twice as tall as she was with a bare, muscular, naked chest, lacking any fur on it, only but a tuft of white hair atop its head. Its eyes were a piercing, icy blue, though its face was dirty. It wore only some kind of blue pants and boot as it stood on its hind legs in a bipedal position.
Rose screamed again, but the creature suddenly shot forward and clamped her mouth shut with one of its soft talon like appendages. The creature kept her mouth securely closed, disallowing her to make any noise. Her muzzle began to burn with pain as if it were on fire, and she began to squirm and scream with her mouth closed before she was hit in the temple and her vision went black.
Lily was exhausted. She had gone through almost ninety ponies who were buying flowers or herbs, and all the while she kept checking up on Daisy to make sure that she was alright. "Ugh, Rose, what's taking you so long?" she asked herself as she once again got back to the counter, reapplying her sales pony smile and attitude. "Hello, sir! What can I do for you today?"
Author's Note
Second chapter complete! So, I'd like to know what you all think, as well as whether you think the story is too rushed so far, or even perhaps too slow.
