Another day… another desperate attempt at survival. Looking out towards where we came from, I can't shake the feeling that we won't have long till we have to move again. Glancing back at our moderately sized group, my heart sinks just a little bit more at how pathetic we all look. Everypony just sitting around, trying to get some rest. Even the children lay about, looking almost lifeless spare for their shallow breathing. Can't blame them, we had just stopped running less than an hour ago.
We have no choice but to run either; It's not like we can fight back. How could we? We have no ground to stand on. No nation to call our own, no place to call home, no skills to use weapons we don't have. We have nothing but each other, a small collection of food that we gathered while traveling, and our desperation to keep us going.
Hope was something we didn't have anymore…
I look down at the broken makeshift spear I hold ineptly between my hooves. It belonged to somepony we lost yesterday. The only one who even had any experience fighting the monsters. He died while trying to fend off the Zu that showed up out of nowhere. I can still hear him screaming… Screaming as it thrashed around with him in it's beak. That's how I got ahold of this. He must have lost his grip on it and it got sent flying my way while I ran.
Of course, he tried to teach us what he could with the short time he'd been with us. But it won't be enough. Out of everyone he taught, those of us who were even fit enough to fight, I'm the only one left. And he'd only been with us for a little less than two weeks.
I look over at the group again, trying to decide when we should start moving again to try and put some distance between us and the monster. Everypony still looks much too tired to move; some passed out from exhaustion, others munching on their daily rations. We'll have to find more soon. We're lucky we didn't lose all of it during the attack… but we did lose too much. But we did lose half the herd as well … as morbid as it is to say, that might make the food stretch a little bit longer.
My head turns on a swivel back to where we came, suddenly aware of something out of the ordinary. Loud gusts of wind… my blood runs cold when I hear an ear piercing screech. Of course, I'm not the only one to hear it, and everypony behind me quickly wakes up and start panicking. Well, some do… some start crying, sitting there and accepting their fate; too tired to go on, no hope left after losing those close to them. Others immediately started running as soon as they heard it, some carrying children too tired to move. The food was all but forgotten.
I heft myself up, and take up a basic defensive stance. I'm too tired to run, but if I can buy the others just a bit more time… maybe my death won't be for nothing.
I can see it now as it crests the tree line. It seems to look me dead in the eye with it's terrifyingly large eyes… it's huge black veiny wings creating huge gusts of wind that it's almost impossible to stay on my hooves. It's big tail thrashing about faster than it has any right to, it's big mangly talons stained black with blood, it's legs red for the same reason. It's mouth, filled with jagged and blood soaked teeth, a big tongue hanging through a gap in them, let's out a deafening roar as it dives down and lands a few feet from me.
Strangely, it stands there, seeming to take its time in deciding what to do, surveying the area. Of course, it knows it can take whoever it wants… I want to make sure it goes for me though. After what feels like forever, I find my voice and let out a battle cry as I charge at it, broken weapon clutched in my teeth, pointing directly at the monster. Thankfully, it notices this, and lets out another screech and accepts my challenge, as it charges straight at me, head first, ready to snap me up in an instant.
But then, something happens. Something that I’d never in a million years would think could happen. Out of nowhere, something slams into the side of the giant bird, sending it sprawling on it’s side. I come to a stop, unsure what to think of what just happened. I’m immediately back on alert though, as obviously it wasn’t a killing blow, and the Zu clambers to it’s legs again and lets out a blood curdling shriek; louder than I’ve ever heard.
From within the settling dust, I see the form of a pony. Never in my life did I think a pony would have the strength to stand up to these monsters. Let alone actually knock one off its feet. This pony gives it no time to do anything else however, as they launch from the ground and straight into the monster's center mass, knocking it back another few feet.
From the quick blurs I can make out, the pony seems to have wings, and has a dark gray coat. There are a couple other details that I can’t quite make out because he keeps moving, but to be fair, I’d rather he keep moving, for his own sake if nothing else. A quick glance behind me shows that everypony else has stopped and is now watching this spectacle. Can’t blame them, I’m doing the exact same. I turn my attention back to the fight after a particularly strong impact to the ground.
The pony seems to have picked up and thrown the monster to the ground, a feat of strength I thought impossible. He hovers in the air for a moment, assumedly calculating his next move. It’s at this moment I can get a better look at this pony. Like I saw before, he has a dark gray coat, but on it are some sort of colorful markings, alternating in colors, set out like tribal swirls all over his body. His hair is long and unkempt, black with colored tips that match his swirls, tied with a rope near the end to keep it together and out of the way, I assume. A similar situation for his tail, long, black with colored tips, but also wrapped up with something to keep it bunched together. With as long as it is, he probably needs it. His wingtips also end in different colors. Something that catches my attention is what appears to be a wooden horn sticking out of his head.
Wings, AND a horn? Unheard of! His dull scarlet eyes lock with mine for merely a moment, before he switches his attention back to the bird that’s now slowly getting to its feet. It takes off into the air, and flies directly for him, sending a powerful gale his way to knock him off balance. My heart sinks when it works, and the bird closes in quickly. He recovers unnaturally fast however, and his wooden horn lights up with magic in a dark rasin color, knocking his head own head to the side while keeping his attention focused purely on the Zu. At the same time, the bird gets knocked to the same direction by a mass of the same color that envelops his horn.
He continues his onslaught, so relentlessly that I’d almost feel bad for the bird. Almost. At least when it killed us, it was a quick death.
Left, right, up, and straight into the ground. Screeching all the while, barely able to move anymore. Whether from pain, or broken bones, I can’t tell. It raises only its head off the ground, probably unable to move anything else, and releases another screech of defiance. However, it’s cut short when the mystery pony bolts towards it’s head, and hits it at such an insane speed that he actually pierces straight through it, coming out the other side as all manner of assorted internals come flying out behind him.
The bird’s head flops lifelessly to the side, and the now bloody pony gazes at it critically for a moment, before nodding its head and decisively and landing down in front of the group, seeming to eye us cautiously. Everything is silent for a long moment, before he turns and starts walking away. He makes it a couple steps before one of the little ones lets out a yell, causing everyone to turn their attention to them. A small purple unicorn filly with blonde hair starts running towards the mystery pony. Her mother tries to stop her, but she was so slippery that she escaped her mother’s grasp, and continues to run.
The mystery pony, who had noticed the small outburst, watched as the filly ran up to him, a small looking trinket clutched between her teeth. He sits down as she gets close to him, and regards her curiously, with a tilt of his head. She takes a small moment to catch her breath before taking the trinket in her hoof and offering it to the pony. His attention jumps to the trinket, examining it with wonder.
His horn is enveloped in the same magic that had previously been used to attack the monster, to which everyone lets out a collective sound of unease, but are put at ease when he simply picks up the trinket. He holds it up to the light, turning it over and looking at it from various angles. He offers it back to the child after a moment of looking, but she shakes her head.
He looks between the trinket and the child, before tying the string attached to it to his hair behind his ear. He gives it a few experimental tugs, making sure it’s secured in place, then turns back to the filly, closing his eyes and smiling. The filly smiles back and leaps at him, surprising him with a hug. Would be a cute sight, had he not been covered in blood. He simply hugs her back, and rises to a stand again. He walks back to the filly’s mother while carrying her, and hands the child back. Dumbstruck, she takes her child back, and holds her close managing a weak smile in thanks.
He turns away again, and takes flight.
I don’t know who that pony is. But I’m glad he came along. Maybe… maybe there's something worth living for after all. This could be a new chance.
Author's Note
this is the monster. a Zu. a giant bird from final fantasy 10. this chapter is set WAY far back in the past, since before the times of even Celestia and Luna. it was difficult to portray this, along with trying to keep with the current theme of primitive, early pre civilization sorta stuff. i hope i managed to make it work.
Other than that, let me know what ya'll think in the comments below, as I always read every single one of them!
