Fall of Equestria: Hail the King, The Armor King

One thing Armor King knew about pain was that it would never get old to him. He thanked the pain for keeping him awake but, what he’d do for some morphine and a nap. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he sat up rubbing his head. After clearing his mind, he noticed he was sitting in a clearing of a disturbingly dark forest. Everything seemed to be normal but, the trees gave off a strange aura and the fauna didn’t sit right with him. Perhaps it was nothing. Summing up whatever strength he had left over, Armor King crawled over and sat between the large roots of a tree. Armor King took a minute to catch his breath, then began to examine his wounds.

At least one hundred gashes from Dain’s magic whips covered the entirety of his body. The contact from the fiery whips sealed the wounds closed but, they still hurt like hell. Armor King glanced at his broken arm, his forearm bent in an awkward, jagged way, blood running down the entirety of his forearm. Fearing the worst, Armor King turned did his best to rotate his arm to the upper side wincing while doing so. The radial bone in his arm poked out of his skin as he thought it would. Quickly grabbing his wrist on his broken arm he pulled it out then sharply angled it down and pushed. The bone reset with a crack and a roar from Armor King that echoed through the trees.

He tilted his head back and let out a long breath. With his energy sapped he wasn’t going to get very far if he tried looking for civilization, not to mention his wounds would slow him down immensely. He decided to rest in the cover of the tree’s giant roots. They provided enough cover to hide him and were strangely comfortable. Armor King closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Armor King’s eyes shot open and he sat up faster than ever before. Out of panic or instinct he leapt to his feet and readied himself for something anything to attack but, he stopped. His environment was completely different than he remembered. Instead of the dark forest and the erie fauna, Armor King found himself in a hut of some sort with African-styled wooden masks, strange plants and ingredients, bottles with bubbly liquids covering almost every color of the rainbow, and in the center of everything sat a large iron cauldron. He looked back where he had woken up. A small cot that was fashioned mostly out of hay with a green blanket and pillow lay where he was previously. Where ever he was he didn’t recognize it and he definitely didn’t remember being in the hut when he passed out. He assumed somebody found him and brought him here but, who ever they were weren’t here.

Pushing aside the questions for now Armor King thought he should explore the little hut incase he had to escape. Walking over to the cauldron he ran his hand along the outer rim, when something caught his eye. He looked down and his broken arm was completely healed, amazing! Not even a scar showed. He checked over the rest of himself and found whatever wound he had sustained during his fight with Dain was healed. The same couldn’t be said for his armor though. It still looked like it was put through a cheap paper shredder, multiple open gashes in the armor showed his dark skin underneath, the large spike on his left shoulder pad had snapped off, the spikes on his wrist guards were chipped and cracked, his black pants were torn, the steel plates on his hips were missing, and his shin guards and boots were blackened with what he could only assume was ash. Ignoring his decision to explore the hut Armor King sat back down on the cot.

His mind raced with thoughts he didn’t want to think. Was he dead? Is this some sort of purgatory whatever divine forces stuck him while they judged him? Will he get to see his brother again?

His thoughts were interrupted as the door to the hut creaked open. Armor King panicked. Looking from side to side frantically hoping to find a place to hide. Glass shattering made AK freeze. He slowly glanced toward the door, what he saw was not what he was expecting. Frozen in place, a yellow skinned human with long pink hair that curled at the tip and bright aquamarine eyes stared at him. He also noticed a second length of pink hair protruding from behind her like a tail, and feathered appendages on her shoulder blades as if they were wings. She had very little adorning her body, revealing more than Armor King needed to see. He had to admit she was very well endowed. A broken ceramic bowl with a damp towel lay at her feet in pieces. Armor King studied her for a moment, judging whether she’s a threat or not. But he did wake up in a safer location with his wounds healed, so maybe she’s the one who helped him. He relaxed seeing this girl was no threat.

Armor King slowly walked toward the girl with an outstretched palm. He didn’t want to frighten the girl anymore than he thought he did. Suddenly, the girl flew at him in the blink of an eye. Armor King didn’t have time to react before he was locked in a warm hug.

“Oh, Mr. Kitty I’m so glad you’re awake! You were terribly injured and I did everything I could to make you better. You were asleep for 5 days, I didn’t think you would wake up, I was starting to worry about you.” The girl looked up from her hug to meet Armor King’s gaze. Armor King saw nothing but sincere concern and kindness in the girl’s eyes.

Armor King opened his mouth to speak, “Thank you for all you’ve done. I must go. I have someone to finish business with.” Armor King said as he started for the door. He stopped, realization hit him like one of Kuma’s paws to the forehead. His mask moved when he talked.

The black jaguar mask that he wore everywhere he went, with its unmoving mouth and wide eyes, had moved its mouth when he spoke. Granted it was still only a growl but, it still moved like a normal mouth, like it was his mouth. He reached up with fear to remove the mask but, alas it didn’t budge. He pulled harder and harder, determined to tear off the mask to find his human face, but that was not the case. The mask he had worn for many years had become one with the wearer. Armor King sighed in defeat but it wasn’t a total loss. With an actual jaguar’s head he could use the teeth if he needed to and his sense of smell should be sharper than ever so, he wasn’t at a total loss except he wasn’t fully human anymore.

“Excuse me, Mr. Kitty?” Armor King turned back to face the girl. “Is e-everything alright?” The girl nervously shuffled her feet and held her hands behind her back with a concerned look.

“Armor King, not Mr. Kitty,” he growled.

“O-oh! My apologies I didn’t mean to offend you, Mr. Armor King.”

“It is fine. Can you tell me if you where I am and how I came to be here?”

The girl blushed a little as she spoke. “You’re in my friend Zecora’s and my hut. I found you in the Everfree forest when I was gathering herbs and saw how badly you were hurt. I ran to get help from Zecora and we dragged you here to heal you.” The girl’s face seemed to blush even brighter. “I sat by your side the entire you were unconscious caring for you. You were so bloody and beaten up, I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.” The girl had started to break into tears.

Armor King was taken back at this young girl’s caring heart. She had saved his life even though she didn’t know him or if he was dangerous. He looked down at the girl who hid behind a curtain of pink hair as she cried. Armor King knelt down and laid a hand on her shoulder. She cleared her hair from her face as she met Armor King’s eyes, and ceased her tears to sniffling.

“I thank you everything you have done for me, Miss-”

“Fluttershy.”

“Ms. Fluttershy. You got guts, you took me in without a second thought because you wanted to help me.” Armor King took her hand and stood her up. “I must go, there’s a certain caribou “King” that needs his ass kicked.” He turned to walk out the door again but was stopped by Fluttershy grabbing him from behind.

“Don’t go! If you’re looking for who I think you are you’ll be killed!” Fluttershy grabbed Armor King’s arm. “Please, King Dain has killed all the males who have rebelled against him, the strongest warriors Equestria had fell at his feet!” Fluttershy’s eyes welled with tears, tears of one who has lost a brother.

Armor King turned back to Fluttershy, and that’s when she saw the pain in his eyes. “I’ll kill the bastard for what he’s done.”

She saw the all the pain he had to endure over the loss of someone very important to him. He held a threatening wide-eyed glare of anger, his nose twitched every now and again. The very air around him produced a strange feel to it as a black substance rose from his body. Then, the anger he held was gone as soon as it came.

Armor King pried Fluttershy’s hands off him and set off out the door. The part of the forest the hut was located in was somewhat brighter than the surrounding woods. Torches imbued with a strange purple spark in the center of the flames covered the corners of the hut, and a glimmer that encased the hut caught Armor King’s eye.

“Strange world,” he said to himself. He stopped at the edge of the torches bracing himself for whatever this forest threw at him. Focusing on his newly acquired jaguar senses he could sense an abundance of life around him like he never could before. The strong scent of primal beasts lingered in the air and the musky atmosphere the forest carried stung his sensitive nose. To the right he could pick up the sound of soft rustling in the bushes and breathing from a small animal a mouse hopped out then scurried back to safety when it felt frightened. Soft footsteps sounded behind him. Armor King looked back to find Fluttershy nervously standing there.

“If you’re going out there I can help you navigate the forest so you can come back here if you’d like,” Fluttershy said. Armor King nodded and they both set foot outside the barrier and into the Everfree forest.

The trek through the forest was surprisingly quiet for how dangerous it felt. Armor King and Fluttershy trampled over bushes and roots, Fluttershy pointing out certain markings on trees and other objects of nature to Armor King in case he got lost on his way back. Armor King felt the predatory glare of beasts on him and his companion the entirety of the trek through the forest; it made him uneasy.

Fluttershy continued to point out markings along their journey unaware of the glowing, green eyes in the shadows of the trees on both sides of the path. The eyes followed her from the bushes, coming closer and closer while still keeping distance from Fluttershy’s companion. Whatever the eyes belonged to began to grow impatient. Low sounding growls caught Armor Kings attention, his ears perked up at the sound. He stopped walking and glared into a beast’s eyes. Ahead Fluttershy screamed in fright as a pack of wolf-like creatures surrounded her, six in total, snapped and barked at her.

Armor King roared as he charged toward the surrounding pack. A lone wolf pounced him from the shadows, tearing into his arm with its teeth. Armor King grabbed the wolf with his free arm and flung it away from him. The wolf jumped at him again but this time Armor King used the wolf’s own momentum and helped it into the ground, then he stomped the wolf’s head in. The wolf literally shattered into pieces and sticky, green sap covered his boot. Upon a quick inspection he noticed these were not normal wolves but, rather some strange play on the species of timberwolves.

Fluttershy screamed again as the timberwolves circled tighter around her. Armor King snapped his attention to the pack. Without thinking his feet moved on their own, sprinting towards the pack of timberwolves. He rolled into a cartwheel and jumped into a body slam landing on a timberwolf and shattering it under his weight. The three nearest ones responded by jumping at Armor King. One lunged for his throat while the other two circled around him and pounced from behind. The timberwolf that lunged for his throat had his muzzle clamped shut by Armor King’s hands, he crushed the muzzle with ease and discarded the remaining twigs and sap in his hand as the timberwolf crumbled to sticks. A weight landed on Armor King’s back who, from years of wrestling training, instinctively reached back and shifted his own weight to use against his attacker. The timberwolf widened it eyes as Armor King brought its snout into his knee, the timberwolf whined as Armor King rolled the body away. The third timberwolf sprung into a leap as Armor King turned back around, murderous intent filled its eyes leaving them a deep orange. It managed to push Armor King to the ground and wasted no time in going for the kill, its pointed teeth dripped with sap as it stood over Armor King’s body. The timberwolf snapped at the jaguar’s throat barely missing it as Armor King rolled out of the way. Armor King kicked the timberwolf in the jaw causing it to shatter and green sap spilling out of the wound, then sweeped the timberwolf’s legs out from under it and sent his foot through its chest, it crumbling into twigs around him.

“EEEEEEK!” Armor King shot up on his feet sending every ounce of focus he had on Fluttershy. The remaining timberwolves backed Fluttershy against a tree with vicious snarls and barks from their razor filled mouths. The biggest timberwolf, most likely the alpha, stepped away from Fluttershy as he saw a hulking mass of darkened muscle with splotches of sap barrel toward him at full speed with no signs of stopping. The sap sent the alpha into a rage at the scent of his fallen pack. He snarled with a mouth full of sharp wooden teeth that could pierce the armor of the royal guard. The alpha burst into a full sprint towards Armor King, readying itself to pounce on the large wrestler and tear him to shreds. A few yards away from making contact with Armor King the alpha sprang high into the air landing right behind Armor King. Before he could turn around the alpha sunk its teeth into Armor King’s calf, shaking viscously as to tear it off. Armor King roared as he fell to the ground in pain. Turning over he smacked the alpha in the temple with the heel of his boot, it let go giving him just enough time to quickly wrap his legs around the alpha’s neck and squeezed with outstretched legs in a scissor lock. The alpha’s neck collapsed in on itself making the timberwolf itself collapse into a pile of sticks.

The two remaining timberwolves shared a glance at each other then gazed in Armor King’s direction. With nothing but an intimidating jump the timberwolves scrambled in fear running off with their tails between their legs.

Armor King checked the surrounding environment before approaching Fluttershy. He couldn’t sense anything in the immediate area, thus deeming it safe for now. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her fear widened eyes and brushed back her long hair. “N-no, I’m okay,” she stammered. Then she noticed Armor King’s bleeding calf. “Oh my! You’re hurt, stay there!” She demanded with a motherly tone before flying off into a seemingly random direction. Seconds later she appeared with flowers and herbs in her hands. She knelt down by a nearby slab of stone and began grinding the plants together into a paste with a smaller stone. Using a leaf as a makeshift plate Fluttershy scooped up the paste and quickly applied the paste onto Armor King’s calf, making sure to push it into the wound.

“HEY!” Armor King growled, pain shot up his leg as Fluttershy pressed the paste into the bite. The paste seemed to be getting to work immediately. The pain Armor King felt had subsided to that of a needle prick. “That stuff works pretty good. Now let’s get out of this damn forest before anything else tries to eat you.”

Fluttershy blushed behind a curtain of hair.

Finally, there ahead was sunlight piercing through the thick canopy of trees, lighting the exit of the Everfree forest. Armor King and Fluttershy stepped out of the treeline to take in the comforting warmth of the sun’s rays in the grassy meadow they stood in. Armor King took a deep breath, the scent of flowers filled the air, a cool breeze carried along the tang of blood… wait. Despite the calming scene before him he stood on edge. Whether seen or smelt, blood is never a good sign. Filling his newly acquired nostrils with the scent he stepped further into the meadow. Fluttershy lifted an eyelid from her own peaceful meditation when she heard the clinking of armor. She tilted her head curious as to what could have caught Armor King’s attention.

He was entranced by the scent. The bold smell stung his scent glands with pleasure. Every instinct he had was telling him to stop, to turn back but, there was something else pressing him on. Something strong enough to cause him to ignore everything around him as he slowly walked into a village. The scent here was especially strong, hinting at the source being nearby. The thought of a big, juicy mam-

“Hey, you there. Halt!” A voice hollered a distance away. Before Armor King could look for whom the voice belonged to he was pulled behind a corner and into a dark doorway. His eyes adjusted quickly to find Fluttershy with an expression of fear painted on her face. The darkness around them revealed dusty upturned furniture and ransacked belongings scattered about the large room.

Fluttershy tugged on Armor King’s arm pulling him down to eye level. “What are you doing? If you walk around like that you’ll be killed for sure!” Fluttershy whispered sternly. Her eyes then widened and she hid her face behind her hair. “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that you walked straight into Ponyville without knowing what’s going on. I am terribly sorry for yelling at you!”

Armor King cocked an eyebrow in confusion. What the hell was she talking about?

“What are you on about, Fluttershy? Where are we, and who’s going to kill me?” Armor King growled quietly.

“You headed towards Ponyville, the town we’re in right now, and you completely ignored everything around you. It was like you were hypnotised by something. You were snarling and growling like a starving wolf, and your eyes… your eyes looked empty.” The shy girl brushed her hair back letting Armor King catch a glimpse of her eyes. Strangely, he felt an immediate calming sensation run through his body.

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, “Who is going to kill me?”

The door of the abandoned house burst to splinters in a cloud of smoke. Armor King shielded Fluttershy from the debris as he peeked at the door to see three beings that resembled Dain stand in the door way. Two of the caribou were fashioned with armored loincloths and steel plated leg wraps with hard leather boots. Their bodies were not armored except for a strip of knives that was fastened to their waists while studded leather gloves covered their hands and most of their forearms. The two armored caribou wielded standard military grade swords that were sharp enough to slice through a manticore’s tail. The third caribou wore a long red robe with gold lining with the hood down. In his hand was a tall wooden staff that formed an egg shaped cradle that housed a glowing crystal at the top.

“Hey, Cat-Man!” The middle caribou called out. “What are you doing here? This is a restricted area you’re in so, I’m going to have to escort you out or there will be consequences.”

At first Armor King stayed still careful not to reveal Fluttershy to them, then he slowly turned his head with a cold stare. He stood facing the caribou with closed fists. Fluttershy did her best to hide behind his bulky body but the caribou with the staff noticed her. Armor King noticed the armored caribou reach for their swords and dashed at them. He was suddenly stopped in his tracks and thrown to the floor, not being able to move. A red aura surrounded his body that matched the crystal in the caribou’s staff. ‘Magic,’ Armor King realized what was going on.

With Armor King out of commision, the armored caribou stepped towards Fluttershy who burst to tears and collapsed to her knees. Armor King roared gnashing his teeth. The caribou ignored the struggling jaguar on the ground and seized Fluttershy by the arms. They pushed her to her back and held her down. Armor King didn’t need to see anymore to know what they planned to do to the girl. He heard buckles come undone and the soft pitiful whimpering of an innocent girl. One pried her legs open while the other pinned down her arms.

Armor King was furious! With a surge of energy he struggled against the magical hold, roaring out of anger. “YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER! I’LL KILL YOU!” He continued struggling against the magic, thrashing about with every ounce of energy he had. The caribou with the staff had started to grow tired from the constant movement from Armor King and he struggled keeping him at bay.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a figure in a brown cloak landed on the caribou’s shoulders and snapped his neck with one movement. Armor King burst up from the floor grabbing the caribou closest to Fluttershy’s nether regions. He spun the caribou around to face him and with all his might threw a powerful punch straight into the caribou’s face. The accumulated dust around them was blown away as the caribou flew into his comrade. The remaining caribou looked on in fear, an angry jaguar surrounded by a flow of dark energy pierced his soul with the cold gaze of a bloodthirsty animal. The caribou scrambled to get up and run, falling a couple times before he got a grip. Armor King simply stepped and in a flash he appeared in front of the fleeing caribou, raising a fist. Before he was able to knock the caribou’s block off the unknown person in the cloak tapped him on the forehead with a wooden pole, instantly numbing all adrenaline and washing a calm sensation over his mind then, and just as quickly struck the caribou on the knee causing him to fall holding it and cry in pain.

“Who are you?” Armor King growled.

His question was answered as Fluttershy jumped on the person with a caring hug. “Zecora! I’m so glad you’re here.” Didn’t Fluttershy mention her friend Zecora helped her with his wounds?

Zecora took her hood off showing the black and grey fur pattern that copied itself onto her mohawk. The gold ear and neck rings she wore seemed strange to Armor King but he chose to ignore them, after all he did wear a black jaguar mask everywhere before it became a part of him. She had a warm smile on her face but her eyes said different.

“Good to see you have awoken. Let us introduce ourselves as we have not yet spoken.” Zecora spoke in rhyme, which made Armor King question his grip on modern English language. People didn’t talk like that these days right? “Zecora is my name, a friend of Fluttershy’s I am. I helped heal your wounds grave, a service I am happy I gave.” She gave a deep nod of her head and bowed slightly.

Armor King took it upon himself to be as thankful as he could toward his other savior. “Thank you for saving my life. I would have made it on my own but I wouldn’t have gotten very far without your help,” he growled.

Zecora turned to Fluttershy with an inquisitive look. “I am sorry but I do not understand,” she said. “Do you speak a language we share on common land?”

What did she mean she couldn’t understand him? Fluttershy understood him just fine like everyone back home did, so why couldn’t she? There must have been some sort of language barrier.

“What do you mean a common language? You should be able to understand me like she does,” Armor King growled whilst pointing at Fluttershy.

A groan came from across the room as the caribou Zecora dispatched crawled his way to the door. Zecora’s hit on his knee must have broken something for him to crawl like that. Armor King wasn’t sure if it was just Zecora who couldn’t understand him so he stepped over to the injured caribou and spoke to him.

“What the hell is this thing saying? He’s not gonna eat me is he?” The caribou asked wide-eyed.

The language barrier has been proven to be sturdy. If nobody could understand Armor King problems would surely arise in the future. But it seems to be that Fluttershy is the only one capable of understanding him. ‘Shit.’

Armor King rubbed the back of his head in frustration as he realized the problem affect future encounters. “Damn, this sucks.”