The Not So Deadly Deathclaw

Chapters

Chapter 1: I have become death...-claw
Chapter 2: First New World Problems
Chapter 3: The Nightmare and The Terrified Mare of the Night
Chapter 4: Unintentional Scarring and Friendship-Making
Chapter 5: Run Through The Forest
Chapter 6: A delightful day with a side of dismay
Chapter 7: Mingling with a Monster
Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Shitstorm
Chapter 9: The Coming of the Aforementioned Shitstorm
Chapter 10: Riders of the Aforementioned Shitstorm
Chapter 11: Picking up from where we left off...
Chapter 12: In the wake of all things shit and aforementioned
Chapter 13: Snap back to reality
Chapter 14: Rest & Ramifications
Chapter 0 (Prologue): The Unrelated History Lesson and The Day the World Went Boom

Chapter 1: I have become death...-claw

When Richard awoke, he knew only darkness.

He could see nothing but pitch black for as far as the eye could see, or not in his case. When he tried to rub at his eyes, he found that he couldn't move either of his arms, in fact he couldn't even feel them despite knowing that he should definitely be able to move them right about now!...noooow...now?

Nope, nothing , the man thought

Well then, maybe the legs?

Nothing...either, the hell?

Still seeing and feeling absolutely nothing, Richard began to slowly lose his cool as his heart began to beat faster and-

wait...why can't I feel my heart beating. And my voice? I-I can't talk! ...Oh this is just complete bull-!

With his latest discoveries having been made, the man had decided (with all the careful and collective consideration of a mature adult) to throw reason and maturity into the void and dive straight into a bitch fit. And what a bitching bitch fit it was. He yelled, cursed and thrashed about in the blackness of empty space with the ferocity of a dozen toddlers and a swearing capacity that would make even the saltiest of sailors cringe. And despite not having literally anything to thrash about with, he was sure that at the very least the mental image of himself going completely bat-shit ballistic brought some semblance of peace to his pissed off soul. Yes, it seemed that after realizing just how fucked the situation he found himself in was, Richard would most likely remain in his state of silent destruction for all eternity, till his soul cracked in two and the last cells of his physically-nonexistent brain were burned away by the scorching heat which radiated from the nuclear-fueled fire that was his internal bitch boy set loose.

It was, for lacking of a better term, sad that all this lasted for about thirty seconds.

After having expended all his mental energy and reducing the tire fire of his emotions to that of a few grumbling embers, Richard resigned himself to simply floating, or at least he thought was floating, through the void that surrounded him in complete silence. It was in this quiet state of quietness that Richard soon found himself reflecting on all that had happened up until now. He thought back on his life and the many things that came from it. He remembered his first day of High School and the day he graduated from it,. He remembered the day he was accepted into his chosen college, the four years of endless work and house parties followed by graduation. He remembered when he was accepted into one of the biggest weapon manufacturing plants in the country and the years of office work he had to do before he was able to rise to the easy-living position he had managed to snag before the world back-flipped right back into the stone age. Even thinking back to the day he purchased Diablo from the pet store left a aching pain in Richards chest, despite lacking one at the moment.

So, this is how it's going to be, Richard thought, left alone in a void, with nothing to do but relive old memories, until I either go crazy or my consciousness fades into absolute oblivion.

...

Fuck.

It was at that moment that Richard suddenly felt the cold embrace of reality envelope him as he came to the chilling conclusion that yes, this was what the afterlife was really like, and yes, he was probably going to remain in this void until at some point he just stopped existing, and yes, things just couldn't get. Any. More. Worse.

...

Huh, really, nothing?

...

Damn, well at least I tried. Now, what should I do for-

Suddenly, there came a burst of light that was so sudden and unexpected, it made Richard mentally jump before falling on his physically-nonexistent ass. While wishing he should have just kept his mind's big mouth shut, the light meanwhile was seemingly trying its damnedest to impersonate the sun with just how damn bright it was. If he didn't know any better, Richard also could have sworn the lighthouse bulb he was staring at was blinking, flaring brighter (if that was even possible ) for a second before returning to its normal yet barely tolerable level of blindingness, almost as if it were calling to him.

Hmm, so my choices are to either die in this void, or go towards the bright ass light...you know what, Fuck it, I'll take my chances with the overcompensating spotlight. Besides, what's the worst that could happen, I die?

Resolving himself to what was likely the best (and only) option to go out on his own terms, Richard floated towards the light like a moth drawn to a flame. And for what was the second time that day, that Richard found himself once again enveloped by another blinding light.

When Richard awoke once again, he felt like shit.

And not like your average 'damn, what did I do last night?' kinda feeling-like-shit feeling, but more along the lines of 'how am I even functioning?' kinda feeling. It was the kind of feeling where upon waking up, literally everything in the body had to be rebooted, senses in all (just to make sure that you were actually alive and all that).

What first came back to Richard was his sense of hearing, which consisted of hearing an insufferable ringing noise that lasted for a full minute before slowly dying to complete silence, only to be replaced by the faint beating of his heart, followed by several other noises that he couldn't immediately identify, or just didn't care to register right now.

The next sense to return to Richard was his sense of feeling, and oh was he feeling something alright. Besides a heavy sourness that seemed to envelope his entire body, Richard also felt the cold and very solid floor of whatever he was currently sprawled across.

Then came his senses of smell and taste, which for as far as he could tell, weren't picking up anything too interesting smell-wise, but damn was he hankering for a drink.

And now finally, the sense he was saving last.

After Richard had taken a few moments to ready himself, along with a few deep breaths that seemed a bit deeper than expected, he slowly, ever so painfully slowly, opened his eyes to...to...more darkness?

Blinking a few times, Richard looked around to find only darkness greeted him in all directions. well great.

'Well great' Richard thought, 'and here I thought things were going to be looking up for me. Couldn't I have been dropped anywhere but in the fucking ground?'

After looking around once more, Richard couldn't help but sigh (rather heavily in fact) at his current situation, but rather than start up the bitching earlier than expected, he opted to instead actually do something about it. That something meant that he had to first get off the floor.

'Well, here goes nothing'

Fighting through the soreness, Richard tried to move what he thought were his arms under himself before in one motion pushing himself up and immediately regretting it. Yup, ceiling to the back of the head was not what Richard was hoping for.

'Ow, fuck!' Richard inwardly, and surprisingly outwardly growled as a hand instantly went to massage the area of contact. Once He was kinda sure the pain was sorta gone, most likely mixing with the just bearable soreness that still racked his body, Richard decided to switch gears and resorted to the tried and true method of "feeling around in the dark like a blind dumbass." Suffice to say, this method actually worked wonders for Richard since he wasn't bumping into shit and was actually making progress by going...somewhere. Well the bottom line was that he wasn't constantly bumping into shit and in Richard's book, going somewhere was definitely better than going nowhere.

Going somewhere ended up being a slow, blind shuffle through a long and winding tunnel, most likely deep underground if the noise of shifting earth and his luck had anything else to say, and it felt like several minutes of going somewhere went by before the soreness of Richard's body finally dulled to that of a few aches here and there, though wherever here or there was had yet to be determined as his mind was fixed on more pressing issues. For example, once Richard had stopped feeling only pain, he began feeling other things. Somewhere along his journey through the unknown, he had began hearing a noise, like someone was dragging something heavy. That didn't seem right. Then after shuffling in the dark some more, he found that the dragging stopped when he did and started up when he pressed on. That was not alright. Turning around Richard couldn't really see anything and again had to rely on feeling around for anything that may have been the cause, yet as soon as he spun around to check, he banged something along the tunnel's walls and man did it sting, and also thud apparently. Feeling around for it, he was then awarded with feeling a long something that as he followed it along, ended at what was essentially his back. It took him only a few seconds to put two and two together.

'...I have a tail.'

...

Suddenly, Richard all but threw himself to the floor as he began to vigorously touch himself all over, and after checking his entire body, he had made several more startling discoveries.

He found that he had a number of spikes, maybe two dozen or so of varying sizes and curves (?), that where located throughout his body, from small ones that ran along his tail or seemingly sprouted from his arms and legs and up his lower back to a cluster of larger ones that dotted the upper half.

'So that explains the occasion scratching.'

He also found that his hands had been switched with claws.

'Or I just have really long fingernails?'

And his ten little toesies had been reduced to six claws, three on each foot with one on each side even raised up where the big toe would've been.

'Raptor feet...honestly that's actually kind neat.'

Also a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and a pair of curved horns too.

'Hmm, not sure now I feel about either of those.'

Well, considering all the evidence currently present but yet to actually be physically seen by Richard, there was only one logical conclusion to be drawn from all of this.

'Not only was a dropped into the deepest pitch black pit in Hell, but I was also turned into some sort of demonic hellspawn as an added bonus to my eternal suffering.'

...

'Or i'm just going insane from lack of oxygen and or dehydration.'
...

'Man I really want to drink something.'

On that final thought, Richard continued shuffling down the tunnel, tail now raised and hunchback mode in full effect as he pressed forward. It couldn't have been less than two minutes before Richard found himself groping at a wall which impeded any further progress he'd make going forward.

'Son of a bitch.'

With a another heavy sigh, Richard began feeling up and down the walls until he managed to find a breach in the wall to his left, one which (if his monster hands were feeling up correctly) was just big enough to accommodate his abnormal bodily features (by which he was referring to the huge ass spikes on his back), but only if he could move the rest of the way on all fours.

'I swear, this damn hobbit hole better be leading me somewhere good,' Richard mentally grumbled. Falling down to his knees, Richard began the slow process of moving through the smaller tunnel doggy-style (not that kinda doggy-style). Moving forward on all fours was at first bizarre and degrading for Richard, being the bipedal boss he once was. Yet, as he continued, he found it even more bizarre that this way of getting around, at least for now, actually felt somewhat natural to him, though the reason why that made sense had yet to be determined. After dogging it for what may have been an odd amount of minutes, Richard could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, well it was more of a faint bluish glow, but damn it all if seeing something after potentially hours of seeing nothing didn't set the light-starved man into a full on gallop.

'Finally, something!' Richard thought joyfully. With a burst of sudden energy, he shot out the dark and cramped tunnel and into...an open and less darker cave.

'Sigh...well, fuck it, at least I can actually see now.'

And did he ever. Richard found himself in what looked to be a large underground spring, complete with a large open space, numerous rocks of varying sizes scattered about, pockets of subterranean vegetation like fungus and actual glowing mushrooms, and at the center of it all, a large pool of sparkling water just begging to be slurped up.

'Water!'

Still on all fours, Richard made a beeline to the water's edge, where upon arrival to his own fountain of refreshment, promptly dunked his head into its cool, watery depths. A solid thirty seconds of ungodly shlurping and lapping noises followed before Richard decided to come up for a gasping breath. A pleasant sigh escaped Richard as his thirst was finally quenched. Wish of not drowning himself but also not dying again from dehydration fulfilled, Richard now set his sights on the water's surface, watching the ripples dance across it until they began to clear, returning the pools's surface to a near perfect mirrored clearness. A mirror which allowed Richard to, for the first time since waking up, finally see himself. Himself. Itself.

...Holy-

'AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!'

"ROOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

A clawed hand suddenly slap-covered a toothy maw as the echo of a deafening roar shook the cave to its rocky roots, sending small bits of the ceiling to come crashing down or splashing into the pool below it. Even as the ghost roar faded and the cave settled, several long minutes of utter silence went unopposed as a now slightly trembling clawed hand remained over a definitely quivering toothy maw. After those several silent minutes were up, the claws reseeded and the maw was now posed over the reflective pool.

At that moment, Richard should have been staring at what was definitely, undeniably, without a doubt, his own reflection. The very same reflection that he woke up to every day, what he saw every day whenever he got up, went to the bathroom, or just before he was heading off to bed. The reflection that he grew up with and, up until recently, should have died with.
What he was now seeing was NOT the reflection of the grown ass gamer business man that he was, but of a...of a...

"Rawrar?" ("A deathclaw?")

Blinking, Richard watched (and heard) the reflection of a genuine meat-shredding, claw-swiping, dinosaur-roaring, no-fucks-giving, absolute-beast-always-looking-for-a-feast, deathclaw say (or at least tried to say) what he had just said.

"Roa." ("Whoa.")

After several hours worth of breathing exercises, light napping and just a small (not really) amount of glowing mushrooms (which tasted kinda like blueberries) consumed, Richard was now relaxed enough to fully appraise his demonic features without further bat-shit-crazing. Leaning over the pool, fear and anxiety was replaced with renewed interest and curiosity as he took in everything he could, even doing a few spins for good measure. From twisting his entire body in order to admire the shark-fin looking spikes that jutted from his back, to running a claw along the scales and heavy looking plates that made up his brown crocodile-like hide. Even a lightly swishing tail wasn't left unchecked as Richard unconsciously wagged it along the pool's edge. He then got down low to better examine his face, figuring right off the bat that he wouldn't be winning any 'good looks' contests anytime soon.

He looked into the pool to see a solid yellow eye staring back. A pair of curved horns that were honestly more akin to a pair of high top heels that had been glued to his head were also of considerable interest to Richard as he idly traced a single claw along one horn's curve. Opening his mouth just slightly also threw him for a bit of loop as two dozen or so jagged, razor sharp teeth practically shined back at him, though closing his mouth wasn't any less calming as he had no skin or scales to cover the organic blades, leaving them exposed for the world to shiver at.

Funny enough, when he looked at his reflection again, Richard had noticed that a pair of his lower teeth were parted below a pair of smaller, flatter teeth, just enough to actually create a noticeable gap in the front of his mouth, just below his nose. But just when he was about to trace the opening with a claw, he instead jerked his head back when a long forked snake tongue slithered through the gap to greet him. Blinking, he left his tongue hanging and was for whatever reason reminded of a dog, or even a bit more close to home, Little Diablo when he was on one of his particular warpaths.

'Damn, sure wish the little guy was here with me, two badass lizards versus the world, we would've been unstoppable.'

Looking around, Richard had spotted what looked to be a larger tunnel on the other end of the pool, one which he hoped would lead him outta here.

'Whatever, I'm sure the little guy's fine, probably raising hell in Lizard Hell or something...heh, yeah right.'

And with that little scene playing out in his head, Richard exited the cave and braved the darkness once again. Despite feeling a bit down after leaving the comfort of the glowing mushrooms, Richard was given a sudden surprise when the absolute darkness that he was sure he'd be stumbling through for whoever knows how long actually began to lighten up, allowing him the ability to at least see a few feet in front of himself.

'Huh, maybe it was something in those mushrooms?'

Whether due to mushroom magic or an abundant amount of time spent wandering through the dark, Richard was grateful nonetheless as he pressed forward and not long after leaving the cave did he spot the bright glow of actual sunlight, which grew brighter as he continued forward, now motivated by the prospect of finally getting out of the ground. With one last burst of speed, Richard exited the cave and after a brief moment of rubbing at his eyes, opened them to a truly shocking sight. Standing at the edge of a cliff, there was a sloped drop twenty feet below where a great forest stretched almost endlessly for as far as Richard could see. Above him, a blue sky with fuzzy white clouds greeted him just the same.

'Whadoya know, and here I thought I was actually in Hell,' Richard thought while taking in a deep breath of air that was surprisingly lacking in the lung-poisoning department. 'No lava lakes or pits of the screaming damned, no shiny golden gates, and not even a hint of air pollution too...just where the not hell did I end up?'

With claws on his hips, Richard took in another breath of air, surveying the sea of green before him. This was it after all, a fresh start, a new life to be lived...as a deathclaw.

'Oh this is going to be good,' Richard thought, and on that note, he decided to start off his new life with a literal roaring proclamation that sent birds and various other woodland creatures scattering.

"Look out World, cause your newest Apex predator has just arrived!"

It was about midday when warm sunlight pierced through the large stained-glass windows of Canterlot Castle. Oddly enough, it was in the royal dining hall where the warm rays of the sun seemed to shine just a bit brighter and the atmosphere just a bit more livelier. Yes, it was in this dining hall, which was quite possibly one of the most, if not the most important room in the castle. The reason for its importance? Why it was the very room where one of the two co-rulers of Equestria frequented the most, and it was at this particular time that Princess Celestia, ruler, teacher, and divine equine embodiment of the very sun itself, sat leisurely at the end of a long dining table, finishing the last bits of her salad before a maid pony collected the empty plate and proceeded to the nearby kitchen. After a sip of tea brewed to near perfection, the white alicorn sighed with great satisfaction.

"My, that salad was truly wondrous," Celestia mused, "and now, to complete this delightful little lunch."

And with that, a golden glow encompassed the alicorn's horn and not a second later was a there a soft pop before a slice of banana-flavored cake, previously pilfered from the royal cake reserves and placed upon a plate bearing the cutie-mark of the Princess of sweets (oh and also the sun too), was now set before its respective end-bringer. Yet strangely enough, just as Princess Celestia was about to partake in her delectable desert, she suddenly stopped, blinked, and to everypony present's utter shock, actually pushed the plate away from herself. There was even an look of hesitation that set upon the princess's features, which in itself was an extremely rare sight to see come from the ever-always calm and collected princess, before she popped the cake away. And if there ever was a more shocking or unnerving thing to ever hear come from Princess Celestia in all of Equestrian history, it had to most certainly be what she said shortly after banishing away her beloved cake.

"How strange, I...suddenly lost my appetite."

Chapter 2: First New World Problems

It was like any other chaotic neutral day in the Everfree Forest. The Sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the local wildlife was being, well wild. Now to your average Joe, this place would appear normal by nature's standards back home. However to many ponies, especially those that live near its green borders, it is anything but. And taking into account the very much alive plants, a magically tainted ecosystem devoid of any pony alteration whatsoever, and the mythical, supernatural, and downright give-a-duck-some-teeth-and-call-it-a-cryptid kinds of creatures that probably, and most cases literally, lurk within its foresty depths, they would be right. Truly, the Everfree Forest was a formidable beast in its own right. Able to turn back any visitor with but a single glimpse into its darkest depths. An entity that did not obey the laws of the land, but rather made others submit to its own. A wild animal that could be neither tamed nor easily defeated...until today that is.

At first, it was only the sounds of the forest, of birds and other small animals going about their day to day lives. Then came the oddities. The sounds of branches cracking and leaves rustled in abundance. Of course considering where they currently were, the birds and animals simply shrugged away these sounds as those indicating larger animals on the move elsewhere, maybe a few birds flew away and a rabbit or two hopped just a bit faster than usual, but the rest simply ignored them. Until they couldn't.

A deep, vicious roar sent birds scattering from their nests and branches alike. A thunderous beat of footfalls and the ever recognizable sound of falling trees sent many smaller critters scrambling for whatever hole they could dive into while bigger animals simply fled or hid.

A particular family of raccoons decided to take shelter in a burrow below a fairly large tree, watching as other woodland creatures passed by them in an frenzy for safety. Hugging one another, their collective cowering only intensified later as the ground itself literally shook from the ever-approaching steps of whatever was causing them. Then with one final thunderous step, a large clawed foot landed mere inches from where the raccoon family now huddled in shaking silence. It was also made very apparent to the family of raccoons that this area of the woods was now deathly quiet as the only sounds they could hear were the beatings of their own hearts. But even those sounds were soon drowned out as the creature suddenly dropped down to all fours, its front two limbs making thunderous contact with the ground as its large body seemed to lower to just mere inches off the ground.

The father and mother raccoon then clutched their two young ones ever tighter as a monstrous maw lowered itself just a hair from their hiding spot, close enough to where they could even see their own reflections in the creatures exposed fangs.

The creature meanwhile sniffed sniffed at the forest floor for a few seconds before a long reptilian tongue slithered out from a gap between its front teeth while its mouth still remained close, only to open slightly and release a low hiss which was then followed up by an even lower growl which shook the still shaking raccoon family to their very cores.

Seconds seemed to tick by like hours as the raccoons dared not to make a sound, the little ones even going so far as to hold their breaths, eyes tightly closed and paws covering eachother's tiny snout out of fear of tipping off the creature's senses even in the slightest.

The mother could do nothing but also partake in keeping her eyes closed, clutching her children ever tighter, for if worst came to worst, at least she would be near them till the very end.

Only the father continued to watch as the creature continued to sniff, to hiss and to growl. He watched its feet shift, its claws dig into the dirt, and even its tail slowly wag out of the corner of his eye. But never did he blink, for if he did, he knew that he and his family would pay dearly for it.

He also didn't blink because if he did, he could have risked forgetting what was standing in front of him, forgetting the curve of its claws, its toothy maw, the color of its scales, the arms, legs and whatever else he could see from where he stood. For when this creature finally left, hopefully miles away, only then would he take his family to safety, maybe tell every creature on the way about it, then tell them to tell others until every creature in the Everfree knew.

Maybe even Miss Fluttershy too.

Maybe...no, he was definitely going to tell her.

But first.

After an eternity and a half of watching, the raccoon almost wept with joy as the creature lifted its front limbs, and after one final growl, walked away. The raccoon then listened intently as the creature's great footfalls grew quieter and quieter until the ground no longer shook and the beating of his heart was the only thing he could actually hear. Once he knew it was truly safe, he shook his wife and children, their gasps for air almost music to his ears as it meant that they were still alive.

The raccoon family then spent the next few minutes or so hugging and calming down one another, and in that time the father raccoon had also relayed his plan to the mother raccoon, who agreed almost immediately after and had even suggested their kids stay with a relative so she too could spread the word. Though the father raccoon hesitated at that, he still nodded, and after checking that the coast was clear, lead his family to a close relative's den, stopping only to tell any animal they came across about the monster.

"Man this forest fucking sucks," Richard growled, knocking his head against, and promptly obliterating, yet another low-hanging branch. Actually scratch that, all the branches were alright, he was just big as hell.

"And really, why are all these trees so damn small?" An inquisitive mix of a growl and long hiss came from Richard as he stopped to eye another tree, one which like all the others he'd passed by in the last hour or so, was just a few feet shorter than he was. "Either the trees in this forest were just planted, or I was just served an extra helping of tall-ass."

Now, given what basic information Richard knew about deathclaws, or whatever the fandom for them could come up with, their base height could be anywhere between ten to fifteen feet tall, twenty feet long from head to tail, and posses claws in a size twelve inches or more.

Now if Richard were on all fours, the tops of the trees would maybe match the height of his tallest back-spikes. Maybe. If he were slouching, kinda like how he has been for the past hour since leaving the cave, then the leaves and branches of the trees would sorta be at smacking-face-level, kinda like how they have been for the past hour since he left the cave. But if he were to stand up straight? That would put him at maybe five feet taller than any tree for literally miles. Instant access to the sky. That's pretty much how he's been navigating this midget forest for an hour, though at this point it would be a mercy to admit that he was just fucking lost.

"Yup, definitely an extra helping of tall-ass."

With that little issue resolved, he tucked his arms beneath himself, slouched his back, and resumed his dinosaur-deathclaw walk forward, stopping only to look above the treetops to confirm that yes, the many green trees around him were still green.

A little bit later, Richard had stopped momentarily to wonder whether he had seen that same rock just a few minutes ago when he suddenly received the infamous call of nature. With a short hiss, Richard looked about for a place to answer the call and growled happily when a collection of bushes all but beckoned him near. Standing over them, Richard was ready to relieve himself when he happened to glance down and suddenly froze. Holy shit, where was-

"WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DAMN DICK?!?!"

A vicious roar or pure confusion and utter shock shook the very air of the forest, sending nearby birds and small animals fleeing for the hills. The roar also seemed to have a negative effect on Richard as he found himself stumbling backwards by it's shear power, well that or he was just really fucking surprised to find his member missing.

Yet in his shocked state, he had't realized that while stumbling backwards, his arms had gone flailing as well as his tail, and when he had fallen on his giant ass with a mighty boom, the accompaniment of three lesser booms followed. But that was just background noise to Richard as he had yet to tear his eyes away from his groin. Then as if some inner switch was finally flipped, probably when the body realized it was actually about to die from shock, there came a shift in Richard's lower regions and not a second later did his lil deathclaw spring from its hidey hole, much to Richard's growling relief.

Though thankful to see he still had one to use, Richard still couldn't help but give his reptilidick a longer-than-needed look over, and though he was by no means an expert on lizardology, he still couldn't help but chuckle nervously at it in comparison to his former man meat.

"Hehe, now I know why they cover these boys up, they're big fucking targets."

Picking himself up, Richard approached the bushes once again, and with a calmed heart and just a hint of added pride, he happily relieved himself.

A solid minute and a dozen flooded bushes later, Richard had finished draining his lizard and was now currently wondering how- oh. Okay, I guess it knows when its done too. Stepping away from the small yellow pond, Richard was now ready to continue his journey, nerves steeled and dong now departed to its dick domicile defensively tucked away within his deathclaw depths. But before he could continue, he stopped to consider two things.

The first thing that he noticed, or rather didn't notice up until finally finishing his piss, was that nearly everything within a good twenty foot radius around himself was destroyed. One tree, recently uprooted, was now smashed in two against another tree, the large dent in its side proving that Richard's massive tail swipe was super effective. Two other trees also didn't far any better as they both were cleaved clean in half, their bottom halves still remaining rooted to the forest floor while the upper halves lay at their roots. Looking around, several other trees were also decorated with a set of monsterish claw marks cut inches deep within their woody exteriors. Oh, and there was also a near perfect imprint of his ass, tail in all, now depressed into the earth for any creature to find and potentially laugh at too.

Now the second thing, the second thing was that Richard was now definitely sure he was lost. Looking around, he wasn't quite sure where he had actually come from, and seeing as any indication of where he had come from previously was now likely destroyed from his earlier dick dilemma, he was fucked. And again looking over the treetops did absolute jack for him. So, with common means of navigation now out the window, Richard had to resort to more extreme methods.

"Alright other senses, you're up." Falling once again on all fours, Richard began to bloodhound around his little circle of destruction, sniffing here and there for any possible clue on how to proceed. And believe it or not, he was actually getting something, though whatever that something was, he didn't know. "Well, something is better than nothing." And with that being said, or growled, Richard began to move in the direction of that something, but not before sparing one more glance around his little 'impact zone.'

"Eh," Richard shrugged, "It's a big forest, like anyone'll really care." And with that being growled, the man-turned-deathclaw proceeded onward, hoping whatever this something was that hooked his nose was worth it.

Minutes went by while Richard tried to zero in on whatever had peaked his interest, but when he thought he had the something, it suddenly vanished for a moment, before reappearing somewhere to his left, or his right, or even behind him a few times. With his 'pissed off meter' nearing the red every time his nose navigation had to "recalculate," Richard decided to take a break near a fairly large (though still shorter than him by a foot or two) tree. There, he took a moment to breath, collect his thoughts and plan out his next move.

'Damn, I really hope I find something new soon. I'm starting to get hungry now.'

Falling to all fours, albeit with a bit of a louder emphasis on the falling due to lingering hints of pissed, Richard then lowered himself ever closer to the forest floor, practically hugging it with how close he was, so that he could hopefully get better readings scent-wise. Closing his eyes, he lowered his maw down to the ground and proceeded to sniff sniff away.

At first he wasn't really getting anything, seeing only darkness and hearing only himself sniff about. But as he continued, he soon began to pick up something, several somethings in fact that became clearer and clearer the more he sniffed. Then upon finally opening his eyes, he was met with a literal world of grey, a sight which definitely elicited a bemused hiss from Richard. Of course, rather than freak out after apparently sniffing so hard that he went colorblind, Richard simply growled a quiet "fuck it," and Let whatever was happening happen, and was he glad he did so. Because not a moment later, Richard was now seeing more than a dozen thin, wispy streaks of colorful air dance about his monochromatically-grey vision. With seemingly every color of the rainbow having its own smoke trail, Richard could only assume that what he was seeing was the visible scents of animals, and not just another random side effect from eating glowing cave mushrooms. But weird trip or not, Richard now had to decide on which scent to follow.

Maybe the red one on the far right that smells kinda like wet fur?

Or how about that green one on the left that stinks like hell?

Hmm...well what about that orange one that leads right under the tree next to him?

...Nah, nevermind, probably just a rat or something.

'Wait a minute, what's that one?'

With one deep sniff, Richard noted a particularly unique smell, one that was, in a word, spicy. A good kinda spicy. The kind of spicy that would give the nose a slight kick while simultaneously ringing the good ol' belly bell. And with one hell of a loud growl that came from his gut rather than out his maw, Richard needed no further convincing and with tail wagging happily, he headed off towards what he hoped was a damn fine meal.

Situated near the edge of the Everfree Forest, a small cottage rested peacefully atop a small hill near a small stream, surrounded by a plethora of animal dwellings, such as birdhouses, burrows, and even a chicken coop nearby. Now if you thought this cozy little home may seem to be the residence of some whimsical animal whisperer straight out of a fairy tale picture-book, then you'd be half right.

For this quaint little home belonged to none other than Fluttershy, a butter yellow pegasus who not only cared for any and almost all creatures, sapient or not, but specialized in knowing almost all there was to know about animals as well as provide a number of services for many of her animal friends. From feeding to healing, to literally offering her home to any creature who asked politely enough. And if you take into account that this particular pony has also had tea parties with an grizzly bear, has offered advice to snakes on dietary habits, and has even stared down a fucking dragon, and won, you'd probably wonder what didn't scare this kind, yet almost fearless powerhouse of a pony?

And to answer that question...yes, pretty much anything and everything scares her.

A door is closed just bit too hard, you get a eep.

Somepony sneezes across the street, you get an eep.

And if you're in the process of making a nice salad for a certain white bunny and your house is suddenly rocked to its foundations by a super loud and super scary roar that sends every animal nearby into a ecstatic frenzy...well let's just say that an eep can be expressed in many forms, liquid included.

"Yo Fluttershy, you okay?"

"Ye-e-es I'm a-a-alright."

A blue hoof rested over Fluttershy's still shaking wither, rubbing it slowly in an attempt to calm her down. It had been well over an hour or so since that initial scare, and a good ten seconds after that which Fluttershy used in an attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart before a certain rainbow-maned pegasus made an unexpected and rather explosive entrance through her front door, an entrance that caused Fluttershy to promptly faint.

When she awoke an hour later, she found herself resting on her couch, an apologetic Rainbow Dash sitting beside her, while the rest of her friends stood about with worried looks.

"Are you sure, sugarcube? Cause when we all got here, we found you surrounded by all these critters," her ever-honest friend Applejack said, waving a hoof around the room, which to Fluttershy's surprise, was absolutely filled with hundreds of animals. Almost every inch of the cottage was brimming with them, with tiny animals and birds sitting along the rafters above, while small
and bigger animals took up whatever floor space they could. She even spotted her friend, Mister Bear, currently trying to console a large family of bunnies with many sitting atop his head and shoulders. And to make matters worse, almost all the animals in the room were strangely quiet, save for the occasional flapping of wings or soft wimperings.

"o-oh my."

"Here dear Fluttershy, this tea should work wonders at calming your nerves," her generous friend Rarity proclaimed, offering her a cup of freshly brewed tea with her magic. The still-shaking pegasus gladly accepted the tea, blew once, then twice, then practically downed the cup in one gulp, much to the white unicorn's shock. She then sighed happily as the warm liquid worked its own magic, washing away here fears while enveloping her in a satisfying warmth.

"You should also try these super duper special turn-that-frown-upside-down sugar cookies!" her always-ever-joyful friend Pinkie Pie said while pulling out a plate of diabetically-delicious treats from somewhere. Yet another offer that Fluttershy couldn't refuse, she simply nodded and took one of the cookies, nibbling at it much like how a tiny mouse would.

"All of this is rather peculiar, do you have any idea why all these animals are here Fluttershy?" her studious friend Twilight Sparkle asked, her head almost on a constant swivel as she noted the many different species currently crowding her friend's living room.

"Ain't it obvious Twilight? they all got scared by whatever made that crazy roar and came running to Fluttershy's," the prismatic pegasus said, waving a hoof in the direction of the Everfree. "Definitely wasn't some manticore, that's for sure."

"Be that as it may Rainbow Dash, I still don't believe it could have been anything but a manticore with the way you described it," Twilight retorted, much to Rainbow's annoyance.

"What do you mean? I told you exactly how it sounded!" Rainbow spouted, now hovering over the sighing purple unicorn.

"Telling us 'it was loud' and 'sounded like a dozen manticores roaring at once' by no means convinces me!"

"Well what if it was some big critter that lives deeper in the Everfree, sugarcube?" Applejack suddenly added in, to which an exasperated Twilight sighed before turning to her.

"That also wouldn't make any sense, considering the only creatures big enough to replicate whatever Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy heard would either have to be bigger than a hydra or an ursa minor, but there hasn't been any reports or sightings of any creature that big in the last three months. And since Rainbow Dash didn't see either of those creatures, it can be reasonably concluded that it had to have been a manticore, or maybe even a alpha manticore.

"But...but." Rainbow Dash was at a loss. And although she hated to admit it when she was wrong, especially to such an egghead like Twilight, it was probably best to just accept that it really was a-

"Actually, it wasn't a manticore."

"huh?"

The two arguing ponies suddenly looked at Fluttershy, who hid behind her pink mane when all eyes fell on her.

"And How do you reckon that, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, as neither Twilight or Rainbow Dash could find the words to.

"We-well, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash were arguing, Mister Raccoon here told me everything." Fluttershy said, pointing to a raccoon that introduced himself to the girls with a wave. "He said it wasn't a manticore, or a hydra or even a ursa minor."

Twilight blinked, Rainbow Dash landed, Rarity raised a brow, Applejack tilted her head, and Pinkie Pie munched loudly on some popcorn.

"Then, what was it?" Rainbow Dash hesitantly asked.

Looking back down at the raccoon, who after uttering something in raccoon-speak began to shake slightly, Fluttershy nodded and after looking back up to her friends, said rather eerily, "Something scarier."

It had been well over five minutes or so since Richard had embarked on his quest for that spicy scent. And with each passing minute of not finding whatever he was looking for, his stomach elicited a growl which seemed to build upon the previous growl in both duration and decibel the longer it was denied its meal.

"Dammit stomach, quiet! You're gonna scare away our meal." Richard growled through gritted teeth. Though even as he stepped into a rather large clearing and looked about, his stomach only seemed to growl even louder in response, as if explicitly voicing its dissatisfaction of being empty while also posing its concern as to why he had chosen to stop so suddenly.

"Because stomach, it's here."

And with that final statement to his stomach, Richard's vision soon began to return to normal, just as the bushes on the other end of the clearing began to suddenly rustle. Then slowly, ever so god damn slowly, Richard's meal emerged from the bushes. One furry paw after another, until it fully revealed itself as being a-...uhm...

"The fuck are you?"

One confused growl was met with a ferocious roar as Richard simply stared at what looked to be the end result of someone taking a lion, slapping a pair of oversized bat wings on its back and then finally stapling a big ass scorpion tail on its ass. Course, while that may have scared the piss out of Richard if he was still a regular-sized human, he just couldn't find the urge to turn tail, literally in his case, when this apparently "big" and "bad" cat of the woods had to crane its neck just to look Richard in the eyes.

Now, for a second, Richard wondered if his nose had messed up or something, but a quick sniff did confirm that what he had been hunting was now standing before him, albeit now looking just as confused as Richard probably did and maybe feeling a bit more hesitant after finally encountering something that was bigger than it despite Richard slouching.

And although the staring contest between the deathclaw and lion-thing could have gone on for maybe a few more seconds, it was brought to an abrupt end when the little big cat realized its hesitation, roared again, though this time with a bit less ferocity than the first, and charged what it thought would be its biggest meal yet.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Can you point out the mistake that this apparent "apex predator of the Everfree" made when it decided that the most ingenious way to take down a deathclaw was to charge directly at it?

Because in Richard's honest opinion, he didn't think that "get back-handed so hard that your body creates a two foot deep trench from one end of the clearing to the other" was a key part in this pussy's master plan. He also didn't think that the thing would actually go that far since he didn't think he put that much power in the slap, but I guess that just wasn't the case.

"Huh, guess i'm gonna have to work on that," Richard mused as he slowly approached the downed lion-thing that was still somehow alive despite taking a super-sonic bitch slap to the money maker.

Now standing over it, Richard took a moment to hiss in awe as he morbidly admired his clawwork. In a word, the thing itself looked like absolute hell.

Its jaw was completely broken, bent severely to the right and left to hang limply by the flesh. Where four large fangs should have been obviously visible were now absent, as for most of, if not all of its other teeth, save for a few small ones that were situated at the back of the mouth, though those ones were now difficult for Richard to see as they were soon flooded over by bleeding gums which began to form a deep crimson pool in the dirt.

And if you think all that's bad, then you obviously didn't get a look at its face. Or what was left of its face. Cause really, at this point it was probably more recognizable as a crumpled piece of paper than an actual face.

Its skull was probably- no wait, definitely cracked in several places. It also had a massive and heavily bleeding bruise that took up about three quarters of its face, and to top all off, one eye was almost swollen shut while the other dangled out of its socket by the nerve. Fucking Yikes.

And despite all of that, this little bastard still had the nerve to continue breathing, albeit very shallow and very chokey breaths.

"Sorry buddy, Not on my watch." Richard growled, raising a clawed foot over the cat's neck before, in one swift motion, promptly dropping it down on the thing's windpipe. There then came a loud cracking noise, followed by some twitching, before its body finally went still.

A few seconds of silence then proceeded before Richard blinked, suddenly realizing that he really did just kill another living creature.

"Damn...that was fucking metal."

And with that little murder settled, Richard now had to worry about more pressing matters, like how he was going to cook this thing for starters.

'Hmm, maybe I should find some wood first. Try and get a fire going. Then maybe I can try and skin it. Should also get rid of that tail too, don't want to...don't want to...to...'

Richard's thoughts ground to a full halt as he stared at the corpse before him. He was also faintly aware of the drool that began to rain from his mouth, at first being only individual droplets before switching to full-on waterfall mode. Licking his maw also didn't help as he could practically taste the stench of meat in the air, of blood, organs and all that other good shit. And if he thought his stomach was loud enough before, that shit was nothing compared to the beastly wail that suddenly erupted from his stomach, a siren wail which seemed to come from everywhere, and could only be silenced if he alone answered its call.

And did he answer it.

...

"Fuck it."

"OM NOM NOM NOM!"

"So it was a dragon then?"

Fluttershy listened intently to her Raccoon friend once again repeat as many details as he could remember, before looking at Twilight and shaking her head.

"Mister Raccoon says that he didn't see any wings, and he is absolutely certain that he never heard any wing flapping."

Twilight massaged her head, trying and failing to comprehend just what Mister Raccoon was telling them. Even with her extensive knowledge of the known and considerably unknown, she was actually drawing a blank as to pinpointing what exactly this mystery creature was. What a first.

"And you're sure it didn't just fly away later?" Twilight asked Fluttershy, to which she nodded.

"Oh yes, many of my bird friends who were close by said that none of them saw anything that scary fly off, isn't that right guys?" the pegasus asked turning to a collection of robins, blue jays, a parrot, and a trio of crows, who all squawked their individual confirmation, much to Twilight's sighing dismay.

"So what, are we dealing with some oversized lizard or something?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying a few lazy circles around the room.

"Now you heard what the critter said Dash, this thing had a tongue like a snake, maybe its like one of them Chimeras?" Applejack posed, to which Fluttershy shook her head once again.

"Mister Raccoon said that it only had one head, and that it had no hooves or fur."

"Then its got to be some kinda snake monster with legs!'"

"Now that just doesn't make any lick of sense, Dash. Snakes don't have legs and they definitely don't have teeth the size of stakes." Applejack said, shaking her stetson-topped head.

"Come on! It's the Everfree Forest, nothing makes sense in there. I bet it had to be a some kinda snake monster!"

"Or maybe, it was just some deep-Everfree critter that decided to take a stroll." Applejack retorted.

"Yeah, like a snake monster with legs!"

"I wasn't going to say that Rainbow!"

"But I bet you were thinking it!"

"Maybe it was a snake with legs?" Fluttershy wondered, to which Mister Raccoon shrugged while Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Ha! See? Flutters believes me!"

"She wasn't agreeing with you!"

"Yes, she was!"

"No, she wasn't!"

"Yes, she was!"

And with that, the two natural rivals continued to bicker with one another, all the while Fluttershy continued to converse with Mister Raccoon, Rarity sipped at her tea, Pinkie ate her snacks, and a silent Twilight sat in the center of it all, deep in thought.

"Just what is this creature?"

An undisturbed and unsettling chewing noise persisted to echo around the clearing, broken only by the occasional slurping of something or the sudden snapping of something else. But after a time, the sounds of beastly consumption quickly ceased as the sudden rustling of bushes all around the clearing filled the air.

Then one by one, they emerged. More lion-things, similar to the one that Richard had beaten not five minutes ago and was still eating five minutes later, entered the clearing. There were eleven of them by Richard's count, and each and every one of them was pissed. Maybe because one of their own had been bested by an outsider. Or maybe because he killed one of their own. Or maybe because he was still in the process of eating one their own and he chose that moment to loudly slurp up an intestine like it was a stray noodle, then lick his teeth clean in full view of all of them before emitting a low growl.

"Oh i'm sorry, did you guys want some?"

There was a brief moment of silence as most of the lion-things present just stared at him, clear hints of disgust and rage, plain as day, adorned their liony features. That brief silence was then promptly shattered when Richard, for whatever reason, decided to lock eyes with one of the lion-things in front of him, and just fucking smiled. The lion-thing's eye then twitched once before it roared and made a dash for Richard's throat. The rest of the lion-things then collectively roared as they too all charged him at once.

But just as Richard was about to be pounced upon by five or so lions-things from literally all directions at once, time suddenly slowed to a snail's pace. And for whatever reason, Richard's vision also decided to once again change in color. But rather than having his world go grey, all he could see was red.

"Well then," Richard growled, noticing a faint echo in it as he shifted his feet, drew back a clawed hand and calmly hissed.

"More for me."

"You know girls, why don't we just go out and find this big guy?" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked, to which everypony present instantly stopped what they were doing and just stared at her.

"Come again, Pinkie?" Applejack questioned, while an equally curious Rainbow Dash blinked, still caught in a hoof-lock by her orange adversary.

"Like I said silly, why don't we just go into the Everfree and hunt down Mister Lizard?" Pinkie said, before suddenly gasping. "What if it's actually an super friendly alien that recently woke up after being buried in the ground for a super duper long time and now wants to take over all of Equestria through the power of hugs?!"

One lion-thing was suddenly swept off its paws as Richard swiped his feet under it, then with a quick twist of his body, introduced the lion-thing's chest to his massive tail, which upon making bone-shattering contact with it, sent the beast hurtling through two trees before it slammed violently against a third. The third tree then splintered in half before falling on and effectively putting the creature out of its internally bleeding misery.

...

"Okay Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said while the other girls simply stared at her like she'd grown a second head, "how many of those sugar cookies did you eat?"

"Twenty-seven and a half." Pinkie said matter-a-factly, "Why?"

"Cause what you just said was definitely crazy."

"Actually, she makes a good point." Twilight said, to which everypony's, even Pinkie's, jaw fell to the floor.

"Twilight Darling, you're not serious are you?" Rarity begged, as she was the first to somewhat recover from the initial shock before the others.

"I am." Twilight said with a nod of her head. She then attempted to remain upright when Pinkie suddenly glomped her just as the rest of the girls were coming out of their own states of disarray.

One lion-thing had managed to get on top of Richard's back while he held another one by the neck. Extracting his claws from the creature's stomach, he tossed it aside and without warning, fell backwards. With a loud thud, and a pained roar following immediately after, Richard rolled over and on all fours pounced on the fallen lion-thing. The several gaping holes in its shoulder and chest were then instantly forgotten as a set of large, razor sharp teeth dug deep into its throat. The tearing and spraying noises that followed were the last sounds the creature heard before its world went dark.

"Really Twilight!? You actually believe that Mister Lizard is a world-conquering hug machine too!?" Pinkie exclaimed, stars exploding in her eyes as she stood snoot to snoot with her friend.

"What? No. That alien idea was complete nonsense. I was just agreeing to the idea that we should go and look for it in Everfree." Twilight said, much to everpony's relief save a deflated pink party pony.

"So what, you actually want to go looking for it now?" Rainbow asked, to which an equally interested Applejack followed up on.

"Yeah Twilight, are we actually gonna go wrangle up this critter? Cause if we are, I need to know so I can get my wrangling rope."

"Well of course. If what Fluttershy's animal friends say is true, we could be dealing with a whole new species of creature, never before seen by ponykind. And if it is actually native to the depths of the Everfree, we could possibly uncover new evidence regarding the behavioral and evolutionary aspects from that specific habitat. Oh, can you just imagine all that new scientific data just waiting to be uncovered and thoroughly analyzed?"

As Twilight began to suffer from the early stages of what Rainbow referred to as "the nerdgasm," the prismatic pegasus decided that now was a good time as any to make her exit.

"Okay Twilight, how about we start our hunt first thing tomorrow morning, sound good?"

Twilight blinked a few times before an intense blush set over her muzzle. And in an attempt to recover what little dignity was left, she nodded and the blue pegasus took to the air.

"Awesome, I'll see you girls later then."

And with that, Rainbow dashed out of the house, a rainbow streak left in her wake as she headed home.

"I best head back to the farm then too." Applejack said, making her way to the door. "Gotta make my own preparations and all that." and with a tip of her hat, she set off for Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well I guess if we are going to venture into that horrid place, I must make all necessary preparations at home, ta ta darlings." Rarity said, taking her leave.

"And I have to finish up any other orders for the Cakes before we go out," Pinkie said already hopping out the door. "See you girls later!"

Once all the others had left, Twilight turned to Fluttershy who was sharing some final words with Mister Raccoon before he too scampered out the door.

"You going to be okay tomorrow, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked nervously. To which the pegasus in question simply smiled at her.

"Of course Twilight. In fact, i'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

Twilight blinked, tilting her head as she raised a brow.

"Oh, and why's that?"

"Because Twilight," Fluttershy said reassuringly. "I'm sure that even if whatever is out there may seem scary, It's probably just misunderstood. Maybe it's actually really friendly and sweet.

Richard sank both his claws deep into the chest of the the lion-thing currently writhing in his blood-stained grasp. He saw the pain and fear in its eyes. And even if the roar that came from the creature may have been one last plea for mercy, it fell only on deaf ears as he bent his claws inward, then with blood-chillingly fluid ease, he spread his arms wide, ripping the lion-thing clean in half, as if he were simply parting window curtains. Bloody, messy window curtains.

"If you say so, Fluttershy." Twilight said, smiling as she made her way to the door.

With one final hoof wave to her friend, Twilight soon headed off for home, ready to begin some extensive research regarding the Everfree Forest's newest inhabitant.

"Friendly and sweet, eh?" Twilight openly mused as the town of Ponyville came into view. "I'm sure we'll see soon enough."

Blood dripped from Richard's everywhere as he quietly stood surrounded by the bodies of eleven lion-things, left in various states of dead or dismembered, which ranged from slashed throats to the almost complete liquidation of the body.

Now, if he were his regular human self, he'd have probably been on the now blood-drenched grass, emptying his entire stomach. Yet as he stood literally coated in a thin layer of blood, gore and whatever else had been inside those lion-things, to which was now definitely outside at this point, he strangely didn't feel anything. Asides from being a bit sticky of course.

"Damn, I really need to wash all this shit off." Richard growled, and as he looked up, he noticed that the sky had now switched from a light blue to a bright orange. "And soon."

Looking past all the bodies and meaty chunks, Richard decided on just going straight and started moving, either while stepping over or just kicking aside chucks of lion meat as he once again continued forward.

A few minutes of walking and periscoping later and Richard soon found himself standing on one end of a flowing river. Now given that Richard was pressed for time, what with the sun steadily setting as it was, he had made the executive decision that bath time and river-crossing time had to be done at the same time. And without a second of hesitation, he simply walked straight into the river, wooden wagon raft forgotten and given the middle claw. And seeing as how he was able to easily walk through the river, despite the currents splashing against him and with the deepest part of the river leaving the water to stop only at his shoulders, Richard was now on the other end, dripping wet but clean nonetheless.

Following a good shake down of all exterior features, Richard pressed ever-onward into the forest. Minutes of continuous walking soon went by as Richard felt his energy reserves slowly dwindle and with them, any hope of finding a nice place to sleep before nightfall. Yet it wasn't until after brushing away one last tree branch from his face, that Richard finally stepped into the open late evening air and took in the sight of-.

"Is that a fucking castle?"

It was, to Richard's surprise. Albeit one that was in extreme disrepair following a few centuries of neglect. But beggars can't be choosers and given Richard's current situation, a ruined castle was definitely better than any cave or hole in the ground, that he was sure of.

Now, before he could approach the castle, Richard soon discovered that he and it were separated by what looked to be a ten foot long ravine, connected only at both ends by a little bridge made up of wooden planks and rope.

"Like hell that's going to support my ass." Richard growled, shaking his head as he thought of another way across. Give or take a few seconds later of thinking and Richard simply shrugged, backed up a few steps, dug in all four limbs into the dirt, sighed, and promptly shot off.

Dirt, grass and small rocks were sent flying as his claws tore chunks out of the earth, his body picking up speed as he dog sprinted towards the edge. Then at the last second just before he was about to go rocketing into the ravine, he jumped, and in easily clearing the gap, he also cleared an extra twenty feet before coming to a skidding and dirt-shoveling halt on the other side. Blinking, Richard looked from the ravine he just flew over to the crumbling stone walls of the castle which stood before him. Getting up, he approached a large set of double wooden doors that were luckily just as tall as he was, though as he opened them, he had to bend his back a little so as not to break his back spikes over the threshold.

But once he passed that, Richard was able to actually stand at his full height of over fifteen feet, and the ungodly cracking that resonated through the entrance hall immediately after was definitely music to his ears.

"Hot damn, I haven't even been here for over a minute and I'm already loving this place." Richard said, all the while committing to some very-much needed stretching, if the series of cracks, pops and hisses of pure bliss had anything to say about that.

By the time Richard had finished his little impromptu yoga session, the entrance hall had darkened significantly as the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. But one light source was apparently replaced for another as just a bit later after the sun set, the room was suddenly bathed in the glow of the rising moon, A sight which Richard was able to watch and actually admire through a large hole in the ceiling.

"Huh. Now isn't that just...just..ju-"

Rather suddenly, Richard began to sway back and forth as his vision darkened and his body felt a lot heavier than it was just a second ago. Then without warning, Richard's knees buckled and he suddenly collapsed, falling face first upon the stone floor with a loud thud.

A few seconds of silence then followed before the growling equivalent of a snore came from Richard's now slightly drooling maw. Arriving to the obvious conclusion that he had instantly fallen asleep due to an overexertion of the mind and body, coupled with not meeting the daily nutritional needs that'd keep a growing deathclaw happy and healthy, Richard could do nothing but continue to snore away on the stone floor as he slipped peacefully into the land of dreams.

Author's Note

Well folks, now you all know why this story's rated M. Because of gruesome violence and dick jokes. I hope you all enjoyed that hellspawn of a chapter as there definitely will be a few more like it later on. Though I should apologize in advance if there's a significant delay between chapters, as I am basically winging it with this story till the very end (if there is one).

But seriously folks, I'm really grateful that you all gave my fever dream of a story a chance. And I can't thank you folks enough for getting this thing actually featured. It's really giving me the motivation to stay off my lazy ass and continue writing crazy stuff like this (and trust me, if you think this story's entertaining enough, I'm sure you'll enjoy a few of the other ideas I got in the works). But anyways, I thank you folks for reading this and your comments and constructive criticism is always welcome. And so, until next time folks, stay casual.

Chapter 3: The Nightmare and The Terrified Mare of the Night

"Mister Richard."

"Excuse me, Mister Richard, sir."

"Mister Richard!"

"Huh?! What?" Richard said, jolting awake and nearly falling out of his swivel chair. Wait a minute.

"I apologize for waking you sir, are you alright?" A cold, feminine voice questioned.

Locating the voice almost instantly, Richard had to tilt his head a bit in order to meet the icy gaze of a tall, slim woman, with blonde hair cut short at the shoulders and adorned in a snow-white blouse, tight black dress pants and a tablet held squarely at her supple chest.

"Uhh, yes, I-I'm quite alright. Ahem, was there something you needed from me, Miss Winter?" Richard asked, suddenly using that authoritative "business only" kind of tone, that only seemed to elicit a slight twitch from the woman before she continued.

"Hmm. Well, I just came to inform you that you have a meeting scheduled in a few minutes, followed by a- ." As the secretary listed off the do's of the day, her ice blue eyes skimming over the tablet's screen while perfectly manicured fingers taped away at its surface, Richard meanwhile just stared down at himself. He was his normal self again. He still was his normal self, with same old human hands, expensive-ass suit and same old drool on the side of his face. Quickly wiping it away with his sleeve before Miss Winter saw, He then took a look around room he was now currently in. It was his office after all. With same big desk, same comfy chair, same steel cabinets, computer, and mini bar. And as her turned his chair, he saw that just outside his transparent wall of a window was the same city he had called home for years.

"All of that really was just a dream, wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry sir, did you say something?" Miss Winter said, to which Richard quickly swiveled back to face her, albeit looking as though he'd just been held at gunpoint.

"No no, I was just thinking out loud to myself. Everything's fine." Richard said, more so of a reassurance to himself than an actual response.

"Are you sure, sir?"

Richard nodded.

"Positive."

"Well alright sir. Would you care for me to at least escort you to the meeting room?" Miss Winter asked, brow raised while she clutched her tablet just a bit tighter.

Now before Richard was about to decline her offer, seeing as how he had been working at this company for more than ten years and definitely knew his way around, he suddenly hesitated. Then after thinking it over, he smiled.

"Actually, yes. Could you please?"

The secretary stood emotionless, nodded, then turned to leave, albeit with the tiniest bit of added sway in her hips. And just as she stepped outside his office, Richard swore he saw his ever-icy secretary do the fainest of a happy dance while making one of the quietest squees he was just barely able to hear before the door closed.

Still sitting at his desk, Richard leaned back in his chair, sighing away images of blood, destruction, and deathclaws.

"Man, I bet Diablo will get a kick out all this once I get home." Richard said, chuckling as he got out of his chair and approached the door, but not before sparing one last glance around the room.

"What a hell of a dream."

And with that, Richard opened his door into the open hall of a busy office floor, to the chorus of typing keyboards and shuffling papers that came from the rows and rows of cubicles that made up the accounting department of MILTEC.

"Are you ready, sir?"

Richard stood for a few seconds, just taking in everything, before he turned to his secretary and smiled.

"Lead on Miss Winter."

Giving a quick smile of her own, she turned on her gleaming black high heels and proceeded down the hall, clicking away as Richard matched her pace from behind.

Several minutes later of turning this way and that, passing cubicle after identical cubicle, Miss Winter continued on without hesitation, while Richard nervously tapped his fingers against his pants leg.

"Something's not right, we should've been at the boardroom by now."

Looking up at Miss Winter's back, he pondered the idea that maybe she had just gotten herself lost after taking one too many turns. Or maybe she probably knew they were both lost and just decided to save face and try to find the meeting room without making here mistake known. Sadly, Richard knew when enough was enough and decided to stop this little diversion before it went on any longer. But just as he was about to tell her to stop, there came a sudden buzzing sound that stopped him dead in his verbal tracks. Shaking his head, he made for another attempt, when the buzzing persisted, even louder and more irritating than before.

Now convinced that a swarm of flies probably had it out for him all of a sudden, he began to swat furiously at the air, first with one hand and then with both soon after. And for several seconds did Richard stand in that hallway swatting only at air until all at once, it suddenly went dead quiet. Looking around, he realized that not only were there were no flies, and despite being a packed office floor not a second ago, there was also nobody else around him save for Miss Winter standing just a few feet in front of him.

"We-where did everyone go? Miss Winter?" Richard asked, looking around while leaving his arms still hovering in mid-swatting pose. Yet Miss Winter still remained silently standing, and before Richard could once again question her, there came a quieter buzzing sound that drew his attention down to his arm, and there, resting upon his hand was something that Richard couldn't believe was real.

A cazador. A tiny cazador no bigger than your average mosquito.

And how could Richard tell it was a tiny cazador?

Well, was it natural for mosquitoes to have four large yellow wings, massive red eyes and tiny but very noticeable spikes protruding from its back?

Didn't think so. And neither did Richard as he stood there, staring at it as it crawled about on his hand before taking flight just as a blinding light encompassed all of the nearby windows around him and the building was suddenly and violently shook at the accompaniment of a deafening explosion.

Blinded, Richard could only cover his face as glass shattered and pieces of the building crumbled around him. Then as soon as it had began, it quickly stopped and Richard spared a glance at what revealed to be a scene right out of Hell itself.

All around him, bodies laid twisted and deformed, with most burned to black husks, and either stacked in piles or pinned beneath fallen slabs of ceiling and walls.

Turning to a what used to be a transparent wall encompassed in large glass panes, now nothing more than open space and jagged shards, he blankly stared out at a world set ablaze. Every Building for as far as Richard could see was reduced to either crumbling ruin, stripped steel frame, or simply a massive pile of rock and steel beams. Massive fires burned across the landscape,either throughout the floors of some towers still left relatively intact, or across whole city blocks where the only things that remained were the scorched frames of many cars, buses and trucks that laid scattered and abandoned, or at least most of them were abandoned. And past all of that and reaching miles into the orange horizon, a monstrous mushroom-shaped cloud still remained just beyond the city limits, ever rolling and ever roaring.

Forcing his gaze away from the utter hellscape that was the outside world, Richard turned to the one other person that seemed to still remain upright and alive besides himself. Though just as Richard went to grab the hand of his secretary, he suddenly realized just how wrong he was on that whole alive assumption. For as Richard stared through the hazy smoke at Miss Winter, who at that point finally decided to turn around and fully face him, he was met with a sight which far exceeded his previous reaction upon seeing the shrunken cazador.

What stood facing Richard was no Miss Winter. Where there had once been flawless tan skin was now nothing but burned, rotting red flesh and exposed bone. what had once been a stunning office dress was nothing more than a few shards of torn rags and loose threads. And what had at once been a face of composure and beauty was now nothing but a sickly, diseased, nose-less husk that stared ahead with empty white eyes, growled through broken and jagged teeth, and was covered from bald head to bare feet in a number of bulbous sores that emitted a sickly green glow.

"She's a fucking reaver." Richard swore under his breath before taking a shaky step back. Which seemed to be the wrong move as the feral ghoul before him broke from its stupor, released a guttural shriek and promptly charged at him.

With composure thrown out the broken window, Richard turned tail and booked it down the crumbling hallway, skidding around collapsed cubicles and vaulting over fallen debris all while the reaver behind him continued to close the distance between them. Then just as Richard was about to be caught in the ghoul's grasp, he suddenly yelled as the floor collapsed beneath him. Down he went maybe two floors before his fall was cut short by landing on a long wooden table surrounded by chairs. Well looks like he made it to the meeting room.

"Fuuuccckkk." Richard groaned, rolling over the table's surface before ending up in a heap on the carpeted floor. Slowly picking himself up, Richard then winced when pain suddenly flared through his right arm, and after experimentally poking at it and wincing, he concluded that it was most likely broken.

"Well that's just fucking dandy."

Now standing, Richard hobbled his bruised and bloodied ass over to the room's entrance. But just as he clutched the door's handle, there came a loud thud from behind and Richard didn't need to turn around in order to guess that his pursuer had finally decided to join him. Looking over his shoulder, his assumption was right as the reaver stood atop the table, chest heaving and white solid eyes locked on its pissed-off prey.

"Seriously?"

With another guttural shriek, the creature made to jump at Richard, but just as it was about to there came a noise from above, causing the creature to pause and look up before seemingly regretting that decision a second later.

After all, It seemed almost instant as one moment the creature stood there still, then the next moment it was lying crushed and twitching underneath a large steel refrigerator.

"Huh, well that was convenient." Richard said as he opened the door and proceeded down the empty hall. Course that little easy brake wouldn't last for long as yet another shriek rang through the crumbling hall.

"Oh now what?!"

With yet another sigh, Richard turned to the other far end of the hall just as a another person-turned-reaver came shambling around the corner. The reaver then turned its rotting head and regarded Richard for a moment before shrieking yet again and slowly limped its way towards him.

Richard couldn't help but actually chuckle at the ghoul as it rushed him.

"Heh. Well at least I can out-walk this one." Richard joked before he instantly wished he didn't.

At the accompaniment of a thunderous chorus of footfalls, the one reaver was soon pushed to the side, and by side that meant out the damn window, by about twenty-one other reavers who came skidding around the corner and running towards the much less cocky and now definitely scared shit-less human who now broke into a full sprint down the hall.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Fuck!" Richard swore furiously as pain and tiredness was ignored on account of the horde hot on his tail. Sparing a glance back, Richard eyed a few reavers at the front of the pack steadily draw closer, forcing him to push past the burning in his legs for a bit more speed.

"Augh, can this shitty fucking nightmare get any worse?!"

It most certainly could, to Richard's immediate regret. For just as he was halfway down the insanely-long hallway, his level of despair rose exponentially at the sight of another dozen or so reavers barreling down the front end of the hall towards him.

Oh, now that's just fucking unfair!"

Continuing to run forward, despite having reavers close in on him from both sides, Richard waited until the very last second before suddenly falling to a slide around the corner of a three-hallway intersection, much to the dismay of his chasers as the sounds of bodies slamming against one another echoed behind Richard as he quickly ran towards his apparent salvation, which in this case lay behind a set of double doors below a sign marked "Cafeteria." With one final burst of speed, Richard burst through the doors and quickly shut them just as a few of his faster pursuers slammed into them, shrieking and growling behind the doors as he braced his back against them in an attempt to assure that the closed doors stayed closed.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Richard had then realized that he had made two grave mistakes.

The first mistake was that by bracing himself against the only thing separating him and his flesh-craving friends, he knew that the second he made a brake for it, they would most definitely be on top of his ass in one second and happily tearing into it the next.

And the other grave mistake which he made? Well, he simply just didn't check if the cafeteria was occupied.

With the sounds of buzzing permeating in the air, Richard could only raise his head dejectedly passed overturned tables, broken metal chairs and the bodies of his deceased coworkers to meet the red, bug-eyed stares of two dozen or so human-sized cazadors.

"You guys wouldn't mind letting me pass through without making a snack outta my ass, right?" Richard asked with just the faintest of hope in mind. That hope was then quickly dashed as all the cazadors present took to the air and slowly buzzed towards Richard's sighing form.

"Fine. If that's the case, then you fuckers are gonna have to get in line!" Richard yelled and just as one cazador made to skewer him on its massive stinger, he quickly dove to the side just as the doors behind him were blasted open and a ghoul was unluckily stabbed clean through in his place. And that's when shit got crazy.

Hiding behind an overturned table, Richard watched in stunned silence as the two masses of cazador and reaver collided with one another, spilling brown blood for green as rotten torsos were stabbed or slashed while bug limbs were scratched, bitten out of or torn off completely. The cacophony of ghoulish shrieks and frenzied buzzing only added to the visual carnage that raged before Richard's eyes.

"Damn." Richard quietly swore before having to forcibly look away from the absolute chaos in order to thankfully spot a glowing green "EXIT" sign at the far end of the room. Just passed the mosh pit of murder.

"Diablo give me strength." Richard said before beginning to crawl as best as someone with a broken arm could towards salvation. He stayed as low as he could to the floor and as close as he could to the nearby wall in order to remain mostly out of sight of those currently killing eachother in the middle of the large open room. The only times Richard had to stop were either when a cazador passed over his head or when a reaver was thrown onto the floor near him or onto a nearby table and he had to play dead amongst all the actual dead before continuing on when the reaver returned to the fighting.

This little game of hide and sneak went on for maybe a few tense, heart-racing minutes before Richard finally made it to the door which, after checking through its broken window, lead to a somewhat-intact stairwell.

"Perfect." Richard said relieved as he pulled open th-...tried to-...to open-

"Why the hell isn't this damn door opening?!" Richard growled, pulling on the door as hard as he could. He even went as far as to plant one foot on the wall as he again pulled with all his might, but sadly to no avail.

Cursing up a storm, Richard stepped away from the door to catch his breath. But just as he was about to try again, he felt a sudden chill go down his spine, and hesitantly sparing a glance over his shoulder, he noticed one reaver that, despite all the carnage happening around it as well as missing both its arms, had stopped gnawing on the torn off leg of a cazador when it had noticed Richard.

For a few seconds, the two stared at one another before Richard broke eye contact in favor of desperately yanking on the door handle as the reaver ran towards him with the leg still in its mouth. With the realization of dying due to a fucking closed door, Richard sighed as he leaned against the door handle, fully prepared to welcome death.

Well, that is until there came a soft click and the door opened into the stairwell.

...

"Huh, so it was a push, not a pull...yeah death can suck my ass."

And with that little proclamation, Richard literally dove into the stairwell, and not a moment too soon as the arm-less reaver was just a few inches from reaching him before it violently bounced off the door frame and fell backwards due to the leg that was still in its mouth.

Looking at the downed and struggling reaver, Richard spared a second to chuckle before slamming the door closed. Now free from that little shred of Hell, Richard took this moment of peace to really catch his breath. After his breathing relaxed, he poked to confirm that his arm was still broken. Great.

Looking over to the side, Richard also noticed that the only direction he could go was up, seeing as how the stairs leading down proceeded for a few steps before they broke off into a drop fifty floors down.

"Well that's fine, I didn't want to leave anyway." Richard sighed as he looked over at the wall, noting the large number fifty-one painted on it. With another sigh, Richard began to ascend the stairs, one tired step after another. A few minutes later, Richard was opening the stairwell door of floor fifty-three. Then, after some brief time spent retracing his steps, he now was opening the door to his surprisingly intact office. And after closing the door with a soft click, he made his way over to his desk and sat down in his still-cozy chair, all the while the world continued to burn just outside his windows.

"Things just can't be easy for me can they?" Richard said to no-one in particular. And after spinning around in his chair a few times, Richard suddenly stopped. Then after opening one of his desk drawers and briefly rummaging around in it, he acquired a silver key which he then used to unlock the left bottom drawer and retrieve from it a bottle of hard hooch.

"Was going to save this for a rainy day, but I guess a fiery one sorta counts."

Shrugging, Richard popped off the cap with is teeth, and after spitting it into the nearby waste bin with pinpoint accuracy, downed a third of the bottle in one breath before pulling it away and sighing blissfully as its burning contents dulled both his senses and the pain in his arm.

"Ahhh. Now that's some good shit." Richard said, smiling as he took another swig. Sighing once again, he looked over to the little intercom on his desk and smiled cheekily. Then after setting his bottle down, pressed the little red button and uttered the following in what he thought was his best serious voice despite being semi-shitfaced.

"Ahem. Miss Winter? Could you please send down Mister Satan to my office, cause I'd like to have a few choice words with him...oh, and if you can't, you know on account of being dead and all, I completely understand. Thank you."

Releasing his finger from the button, Richard chuckled drunkenly as he grabbed the bottle, swirled the brown liquor once, then tipped his head back and chugged while he kicked his feet up on the desk. There he sat, ignorant to the minutes that ticked away while he merrily drank away, without a single fuck to be had.

Well...until there actually came a few knocks from outside his door.

Stopping instantly, Richard blinked before looking over to the door with the bottle still in his mouth. There the knocks came once again, and Richard knew then that he wasn't imagining it. Setting down the bottle, Richard got up from his desk and slowly shuffled over to the door.

There he stood, staring at the door as the knocking persisted, this time with a bit more urgency added in. Finding himself frozen, he just couldn't find the will to actually open the door, despite all that cheeky shit he had said earlier.

"H-hello?" Richard asked, just the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

"Hello? We have arrived just as thee asked. Could thee please open the door?"

Blinking, Richard didn't actually expect a response, nonetheless one that sounded so quiet and...feminine?

"S-Satan?" Richard stuttered as she reached for the handle, but just as he laid his hand on it, there came a sudden smashing noise behind him, and before he knew it, a massive clawed hand had surrounded his entire body and with a great blast of wind, pulled Richard from his now very much destroyed office.

Struggle as he might, Richard could do nothing as he was suddenly brought face to giant toothy maw. Looking up, Richard stared slack-jawed at a deathclaw, with scales as black as tar and size dwarfing that of the skyscraper that he had been yanked from.

"Well, this fucking sucks!" Richard yelled as the monstrous deathclaw growled deeply, as if seemingly to regard him for a moment before it suddenly raised him above its head and with bone-chilling slowness, opened its massive mouth. "Oh cool, it get's worse!"

Then, as if to confirm that it does get worse, the deathclaw simply opened its hand and Richard was sent into a spinning, screaming free-fall straight down into the awaiting maw of this demonic-looking deathclaw-of-the-damned. Following a fall that lasted maybe ten or twenty seconds, Richard was finally met with complete darkness following the crocodile-like snap of the deathclaw's teeth.

Blinking, Richard was once again met with absolute darkness in all directions. Save for the sudden igniting of a fire from behind him, prompting him to quickly turn around just as the fire seemingly began to spread by itself, forming a large ring around himself. Taking a step back, Richard was also aware of another presence, and after spinning back around, Richard stood shocked before the glare of a pair of massive red eyes.

The eyes hovered ominously above Richard. Cold, unblinking, and if Richard didn't know any better, almost familiar.

"What?! What do you want, huh?! Who are you?!" Richard yelled, pointing at the eyes, which to Richard's rising anger and confusion and also besides the obvious, they remained silent. But just before Richard was about to fire off some other question or choice string of expletives. There came a soft buzzing that froze Richard as soon as he heard it. And as if he already knew ahead of time, his eyes slowly fell to his outstretched arm, to where the same mosquito-sized cazador that he had seen not long ago once again landed on his hand. But rather than crawl about, it too just sat there on his hand, staring at him while occasionally twitching its wings.

Then it raised it back and stung him.

With a yelp, Richard grabbed the bug and after giving the pain in his right arm the finger, hurled it into the ring of fire before tightly clutching his hand, which now sported a prominent hole the size of a thumbtack. If only that were the end of it.

It first began with a searing pain that ignited from the tips of his fingers to fully encompassing his entire left arm. Then the veins in his hand and across his arm took on a oil-black appearance, doubling in size as they throbbed at the pace of his ever quickening heartbeat. Then the real shit started.

Richard was at a loss for words as his fingers began to violently twitch, his hand shaking before it suddenly snapped to the side, forcing Richard to his knees as he vainly tried to hold down his suddenly possessed arm. The horror further continued when the black veins slowly began spreading throughout his entire body, sprouting about his legs, rooting about across his chest, and soon traveling up the sides of his neck before, in one sudden rush of molten pain, he puked out a large helping of oil-colored blood. Richard then fell completely to the floor, his body rocked by violent convulsions as all he could really do at that point was utter a brief yell or scream before he resumed coughing up copious amounts of blood that he vaguely wondered if it was actually his own or that of whatever creature was now tearing him apart from within. And it only got worse from there.

After one excruciatingly-long convulsion, Richard's body suddenly went limp for a few moments before, all at once, his body erupted in a pain unlike anything Richard had ever felt.

He screamed.

He screamed as if his body was set ablaze from within. As if he were being slowly torn in half, inch by blood-curdling-screaming-induced inch. As if- As if his body were being reshaped from the inside-out. And in that instant, it most certainly was.

Bones cracked, snapped and splintered, and then slowly reorganized themselves, either sliding up or down or having to push passed one another while simultaneously doubling or even tripling in size.

Organs, arteries, veins and blood vessels all simultaneously popping open before stretching and expanding, then resealed and replaced in altered arrangements or switch to completely different places.

Even the skin and muscles weren't spared as both were promptly torn open or ripped apart, stretched, pulled, twisted, expanded or contracted. Then they were reshaped, molded, smoothed or hardened in certain places while being completely remade from scratch in other places. Additional parts where then either added or discarded entirely.

And throughout all of this happening, Richard remained awake and oh so painfully aware. He remained awake when his arms and legs literally broke themselves, and in many places spearing shattered bone through skin. He also remained awake when his torso burst open due to a shattered but steadily growing rib cage. And he even somehow remained conscious when his heart burst open, his blood vessels popped and pooled, and when his muscles began to increased in size, ignorant to the tearing of his skin as it was pushed past its limits from below and in pieces or whole layers, were discarded onto the floor, much like how a reptile would shed its old skin, except in this case with the inclusion of copious amounts of blood and silent screaming due to already burst lungs.

This horrid process of bodily-reorganization went on for minutes, maybe hours. The seconds are rather difficult to count when the one thing on a bleeding mind is pain. Though it only became more unbearable, if that was even possible at this point, when after Richard's body had decided that all its little pieces were in their new places, the body now began to sew itself back together. And that meant even more agonizing pain as a new layer of skin was added on, and with that new thicker layer of skin, came the added features.

Large razor sharp claws burst forth from Richards bigger and less broken fingers and toes, though a few had been discarded in the process earlier before. Dark brown plates and scales materialized all throughout Richard's body, head, and newly formed tail that had been only recently introduced to the rest of himself. A pair of horns sprouted from Richard's now reformed head as each molar or canine in his mouth was simultaneously and individually ousted from its bleeding gums as a new set of larger, sharper, meat-atomizing teeth began to take root. And finally, the icing on the bloody cake, the spikes. Those were in a whole new ballpark of misery for Richard as he laid across the floor, now fully-orange eyes welling with tears as he gritted his now fully grown teeth at the red eyes that still had not once ceased in their staring at Richard throughout the entire process of his transformation. But as the spikes continued to break all throughout his skin, his only saving grace was when he felt that his voice box was finally coming back to him, for when it was finally finished as was the rest of his body after the last spikes joined their counterparts, Richard growled, now able to fully see himself in the reflection of the dark blood which pooled around his knees.

This was him, the new him, the deathclaw him.

Picking himself up, he raised his head to glare at the eyes, which as he did for the first time since he saw them, had actually showed the faintest flicker of emotion through its black slitted pupils, though whether that emotion was supposed to either be disgust or even pity, Richard didn't care, because all he really cared about was the pain, that those eyes were likely the cause of his pain, and whoever they belonged to would soon feel the same pain he had just suffered except times a hundred, maybe even a thousand.

"Whoever the fuck you are," Richard said coldly, though whether the eyes understood Richard's incoherent growls and hisses didn't matter at that point. "I hope you're ready. Cause when I find you, I am going to make you pay for this. You hear me?! I. Will. MAKE. YOU. FUCKING PAAAAYY!!!"

And with that proclamation made into a promise, Richard sealed it with a monstrous roar that, if coincidental or not, shook the foundations of reality to the brink of collapse as the empty blackness around Richard suddenly cracked before completely exploding into a bright blinding light that engulfed Richard in an instant.

He then promptly woke up on the cold castle floor with half his face practically submerged in a pool of his own drool while the sun's morning rays shined warmly onto him. Raising his head, he blinked away the last bits of sleep from his eyes before uttering a deep growling yawn.

"The fuck did I just dream about?"

There came a content sigh from Princess Luna, alicorn co-ruler of Equestria and equine-embodiment of the moon, as she trotted along the countless doors floating side by side eachother in a space completely separate from reality known simply as the realm of dreams. It was here in this colorful void that Princess Luna felt calm and happy. After all. In the past five or so months since she had been rid of the evil that was Nightmare Moon, thanks to the elements, she had made it her goal to prove to her subjects that she was to be feared no longer. And in this realm that only she had near-complete control over, she was able to prove that and then some.

Each night, after her sister lowered the sun and she raised the moon, Princess Luna would set forth for the dream realm. And while she did have other matters to attend to, like night court for example, she found the whole ordeal simply boring since nothing was ever brought up during night court. Most ponies where after all either asleep or tended to wait until day court so they could pile their issues onto her sister. But that was okay. Because where her sister saw to the issues of her subjects during the day, Princess Luna sought the safety of her subjects while they slept. And did she ever.

Night after night, the Princess of the Night would see to it that most of, if not all, of her subjects' dreams remained free from vile nightmares. That if their dream suddenly turned dark or twisted, she would see to it that all wickedness was purged and the pony was comforted before she moved on to the next. And after just a few weeks of doing this, Princess Luna soon began to receive wagon-loads of letters, filled with all manners of praise and appreciation from her subjects, especially from many foals and colts alike, for her diligence in providing every one of them with a good night's sleep. It was also because of this diligence that Luna was sometimes addressed as being the "Defender of Dreams," a name that Luna wore with blushing honor.

It was after remembering that little title that Luna currently found herself once again happily blushing as she continued to walk past door after door of happily sleeping ponies, until she suddenly stopped.

Blinking, Luna turned her head to a door she had definitely never seen before. And how was she sure of this? Well seeing as most of the doors that belonged to the subjects were made from wood, this door that she now stood in front off was made seemingly of polished metal, and upon running a hoof across, she had confirmed it so. it also appeared double or even triple the height of the doors that flanked its sides, further proving that this door was definitely new, that Luna was sure of.

"How strange." Luna said, rubbing a hoof up and down the tall metal door. "How would we open thee?"

Looking up and down, Luna could see no door handle or knob. There were also no levers or pulleys in sight, which definitely threw the ancient alicorn for a loop. That is until she looked to the side and saw what looked to be a white, shiny button next to the door. Looking up at it, Luna smiled as her horn glowed a deep blue and so too did the button as it was pressed. A few moments of silence later and Luna could not help but pout at the door's unwillingness to work with her. The royal pouting soon ceased when Luna's ears twitched at the sound of a low humming which steadily grew louder until a soft ding sounded and the tall metal doors suddenly opened from the sides, causing the alicorn to do a small jump before she slowly entered the room within.

Though in her opinion, Luna considered it more along the lines of a bright metal closet, and with a quick scan around the metal closet, confirmed it as such seeing as there was no pony in sight.

"Most strange indeed." Luna said, stepping into the closet before doing a little spin so that she faced the opening. Looking again to the side of the opening, Luna stumbled upon a panel full of the shiny buttons, each with a little number painted on its surface.

Looking at all the buttons, Luna wondered what each did before one button in particular caught her attention besides all the others, a button with the number "fifty-one" brightly flickered just at the very top of the panel, and since all the others didn't flicker as brightly, or at all really as this one did, Luna believed it to be special and magically pushed it.

After a moment, the doors slid closed, and to Luna's surprise, the metal closet suddenly shook before it began to ascend at a moderate pace which made Luna's hooves vibrate ever slightly.

"Ah, so this metal closet is actually a sky chariot of sorts, how interesting." Luna said, looking up to actually see a thin glass panel above the doors actually count up in bright red digits, making a little beep noise every time the digits increased. "And it even displays a magical counter, most interesting."

But just as the magical numbers were nearing her desired numbered button, there came a sudden muffled explosion and before Luna could even question the noise, the entire metal box violently shook, throwing the alicorn princess to the floor as the light overhead flickered once, then went out completely and plunged the room in utter darkness.

Blinking, Luna looked about in confusion, and despite pouring some magic into her horn, the dark blue glow it gave off did little to save her from the encompassing darkness. But that was soon rendered useless as with another shake, the light above flickered back to life, and with it, the closet continued its ascent, much to Luna's relief. That wouldn't last for long.

After a time, Luna began to cough as the room became hazy from smoke. And not a moment after that, the doors opened and Luna was met with a site that froze her almost completely. Just passed the metal doors, lay a room of fire and destruction.

Luna, in all her elegance and maturity, took on a look of absolute terror and shock, for never in the many months she journeyed into the dreams of her subjects had she ever seen such a more horrific sight than that which lay just a outside the metal closet.

"B-By the creator." Luna shakily whispered. Taking a hesitant hoof forward. Then before Luna could even reconsider retreating back into the confines of the metal closet, there came a slight tearing noise from above and on instinct, she dove onto the cracked floor, just barely clearing the frame of the metal doors as the entire metal box fell a few feet, before plummeting down to the darkness below in a screeching and sparking mess.

Looking down the chasm which had swallowed her beloved metal closet, Luna gulped before turning to face the horrors ahead. At a slow, creeping trot, Luna braved the burning unknown before her, and despite her features appearing stoic on the outside, her shaking hooves and inner innocent filly betrayed her true feelings. After all, as Luna continued further down the scorched, crumbling, and blood-stained halls of a building that appeared to be similar in architecture to the modern glass towers of Manehattan, Luna faintly wondered if she may have somehow stumbled into a portal to Tartarus. And what she soon saw next only seemed to confirm it.

It was after a bit of walking that Luna soon came across the first bodies. She had just rounded a corner after passing several open rooms filled with long tables and chairs before her hoof hit something, and looking down, she all but jumped out of her skin at the sight of a corpse, though of what, she did not know as its identifiable features were burned beyond belief. The smell of cooked and rotting flesh then hit her snout like a tidal wave and she gagged heavily, raising a hoof to cover her nose as she quickly backpedaled, to her increasing horror, into another corpse. Looking about with teary eyes she couldn't help but whimper foalishly as she had somehow become surrounded by dozens of burned and deformed bodies which lay at her shaking hooves.

"What is the meaning of all of this! Who could be responsible for all of this!?" Luna said, taking to the air with a beat of her wings before she rocketed down hallway after horror-filled hallway of death and destruction, searching for the source of this nightmare and ready to put a swift end to it. Or so she thought.

For as Luna made another sharp turn around one especially blood-streaked corner, she came to just as sharp and sudden a stop when a small number of tall, horrid creatures stood blocking her path. Falling to her hooves with a soft clop, Luna starred at the things as they turned to meet her gaze. They were as tall as a minotaur, but lacked horns or hooves. They also seemed to lack any muscles as most of them appeared sickly thin if the visible ribs were anything to go off of. And to add to the appearance of sickly, these creatures definitely fit the bill as the solid white eyes and glowing green sores dotted about their fur-less flesh confirmed to Luna's worry that these abominations had likely been brought to life by some manner of dark magic, with necromancy being a definite.

"If thee monsters believe thee can halt us from putting an end to all of this madness, then thee are severely mistaken." Luna said, slipping into older Equish as she took a defensive stance while powering up her horn. One of the creatures in front of her shrieked and began to rush at her before it stumbled back when Luna fired a bolt of pure magical energy into its chest. Luna smirked as the creature uttered a pained grunt before to her horror, the creature shrugged off the blast, that which Luna was absolutely sure should have vaporized it or disabled it at the very least, and just stared at her. "Or not."

Releasing another shriek, the creature charged at Luna, joined by other shrieks from its feral companions before they too added to the chase, and soon enough Luna was now beating a hasty retreat down hallways and over debris as the monsters kept pace despite their weak appearances. And despite firing off as many powerful blasts as she could over her shoulder, Luna could only run or fly ever faster as the creatures remained unaffected by her attacks.

Minutes of this persisted before Luna was finally able to lose the creatures, though now she found herself hiding in the corner of one of those large meeting rooms, praying to higher powers that her seemingly unstoppable pursuers did not find her.

"How can this be? Why doesn't my magic affect these creatures?" Luna quietly wondered, covering her muzzle when one of those things came shuffling near her hiding spot, growled, then shuffled away, leaving Luna to once again shutter in fear. It was truly pitiful, she had to admit to herself. To hide rather than fight. To cower in a corner and hope for a miracle.

'Yeah, like that was going to happen.' The alicorn thought bitterly.

And somehow it actually did, more or less.

From somewhere nearby, there came a shriek from one of the creatures and like moths drawn to a flame, the rest of the creatures ran passed Luna's spot, leaving her to quietly thank the powers above and to also wonder what had caught the attention of these abominations.

"Perhaps the pony whom this nightmare belongs to?"

Luna blinked when the realization hit her, when it reminded her what she still had a job to do. She still had a nightmare to vanquish and a poor pony to comfort, and that's exactly what she was going to do! After a few more minutes of waiting to catch her breath and replenish her magical reserves of course.

Once those minutes were up and Luna couldn't hear any of the creatures nearby, she chanced a peek and after seeing that the coast was clear, she slowly pressed on. Throughout her journey, she made sure to look around every corner she passed and stopped if she heard a noise, waiting a few moments before further continuing on. Peeking around another corner, she found herself staring down a super long hallway. Looking about, she saw no creatures, which was good...for them that is!

Gulping, Luna proceeded down the hallway, passing by a few more of those large meeting rooms before she stopped to peer into one room in particular. Though this one looked similar to the others, she couldn't help but wince at the sight of one of those creatures having met an unlucky demise under a steel fridge larger than the one in the castle's kitchen. Looking from the room to the hall, Luna then turned her head to the side and froze at the sight which lay just beyond the large broken windows.

It was a world, much like her own yet seemingly different somehow, plunged in flames. The landscape laid cracked and burning, with many towers much like the one she stood in reduced to some degree of ruin while the streets below were barren of any life save for a number of odd melted steel boxes that littered the broken asphalt.

"All this destruction and devastation seems...familiar." Luna said before her ears suddenly perked up at a number of strange sounds that came from further down the hall. And as she slowly moved closer, Luna could just faintly make out a few shrieks and growls from those creatures as well as something else, something...buzzing?

Moving ever closer, Luna concluded that the sounds were coming from around a corner on her left, but just as she neared it she suddenly jumped back as something large buzzed in front of her. It looked like a bug, but bigger and nastier than any insect she'd ever seen before. It also looked heavily wounded, and judging from having one of its four orange wings torn off, countless wounds and scratches adorning its body, and two of those bipedal creatures still hanging off of it and still biting away, Luna figured that the massive bug just didn't care about her as it attempted to take off with its extra biting baggage through the broken windows, staying airborne for maybe a few seconds, before plummeting to the fiery floor below. Looking from the window that the bug had left through to where it had come from, Luna's heart threatened to leap out from her chest as she was met with a sight of absolute carnage. With a short trip down a light-flickering hallway, Luna stood wide-eyed just below a sign marked "Cafeteria," before a scene that emphasized every letter of the word "bloody."

From where she stood, almost to the other end of the spacious room, there was barely a tile of floor that didn't have a body or bits of a body currently covering it. In fact there was so much blood and guts strewn about that Luna had to actually stop and wonder whether or not a pony could actually puke in their sleep.

The stench also didn't help as it practically locked up all of Luna's other senses, causing her wings to beat on their own in an attempt to fend off the stank while her face went into full-on scrunch mode. And seeing as she didn't want to chance the possibility of falling into any of that if her wings were to suddenly lock up, she decided to hop along the tops of the tables until after one last hop she managed to clear most of the gore and still twitching bodies, to thankfully land on white tiles. After one last shiver upon looking over dead creatures and massive bugs alike, Luna turned her attention to a door with a glowing green "EXIT" sign above it, or more so to the only abomination that still remained alive despite having both its arms absent.

Luckily, it didn't seem to pay Luna much mind as it continued to repeatedly bump into the door, caring not for the fact that the door was closed or that the leg in its mouth would hinder its ability to pass through.

Now seeing as this creature wasn't worth the magical energy, and that she needed to find whoever this nightmare belonged to ASAP, she decided to just whistle, which immediately catching the creature's attention as it began to move towards her, before she took to the air, flew around it, pushed open the door, and closed it behind her, much to the muffled disappointment of the creature on the other side. Once that was over with, Luna peered up at an ascending stairwell, where after taking a few breaths to steady her nerves, ascended the stairs in the hopes of finally putting an end to all of this.

And soon enough, Luna now found herself pushing open the door to "floor fifty-three" as was boldly labeled on the wall. Looking around, Luna noted that it appeared relatively quiet and calm on this floor, which was definitely a major improvement from what she had experienced two floors below. Keeping at a relatively brisk pace, Luna looked about the large open office floor, forcing herself to pay little attention to the bodies laying about while she peeked around corners or flew over those strange little walled-off desks until she came to a stop at the sound of a sharp beep which came from one end of the room where a large desk stood near a set of those same metal doors that had brought Luna to this horrid place. Quickly flying over to it, Luna was actually surprised when a stallion's voice came from a small black box located on top of the desk.

"Miss Winter, could you please send down Mister Satan to my office, cause I'd like to have a few choice words with him...oh, and if you can't, you know on account of being dead and all, I completely understand. Thank you."

Now, whoever these "Miss Winter" or "Mister Satan" were, Luna didn't know. What she did know however was that the pony whose nightmare this belonged to was definitely nearby, and if Luna had to hazard a guess...

"He's in his office."

Turning to the far end of the room, Luna saw that there were several smaller rooms along its side, and one of those rooms in particular had its lights on.

"There he is."

One quick glide later and Luna now stood facing a tall wooden door labeled "Department Manager" in black and gold lettering. And though the windows which flanked its sides were covered by blinds, she still noticed that the lights were on and, if here ears weren't fooling her, the sounds of laughter and drinking definitely tipped her off to the presence of somepony just beyond that door.

Now while she could have blown the door clean off its hinges, Luna decided on the more subtle approach of knocking so as to not to startle the poor pony behind it which, for if she didn't know any better, had most likely retreated to the confines of this room so as to escape the same horrors that she had encountered not long ago.

Taking a deep breath, Luna knocked thrice on the door and waited. But aside from hearing the pony on the other side cease their actions, and maybe shuffle around inside, she heard nothing else. She decided to knock once again, this time with just a bit more force to it, and yet the door still remained closed.

'Surely they must have heard me, right?' Luna mentally pondered, to which she was finally rewarded with a response.

"H-hello?" the pony on the other side of the door asked, with just the slightest hint of fear in their voice that made the alicorn princess wince before offering a quiet, hopefully-relaxing response of her own.

"Hello? We have arrived just as thee asked. Could thee please open the door?"

'Please just open the door."

Hoping that her tactics payed off, Luna waited with bated breathe as the stallion behind the door seemed to consider her words, and whatever the stallion had said after was left to the imagination as there suddenly came a loud crashing noise from within the room, followed by the sounds of somepony in distress.

Quickly throwing subtly aside, Luna charged her horn and blasted the door off its hinges and into the burning streets bellow as she took in the sight of a destroyed room and...

"A-A tartarian!?" Luna gasped, staring up at the giant horned beast. "But, but how-"

Blinking, Luna was suddenly brought out of her stunned stupor when she heard the distant yell of somepony, but when she saw where it was coming from, she found that it wasn't from some pony, but from some thing. And while it did look like those bipedal creatures from before, it was by no means the same as she could see and hear that the creature was in obvious distress. And that distress only seemed to double as the creature was lifted above the massive demon's opening maw and, without warning, dropped into it.

"NO!"

Taking to the air, Luna flew as fast as her wings could propel her in an attempt to save the creature from its screaming demise. Faster and faster she flew, and just when she thought she could actually reach out and catch the creature, there came a loud snapping noise and before she knew it, Luna was engulfed in darkness.

Several seconds ticked by as Luna stood silent in the darkness. Then blinking, she turned her head this way and that to no change in scenery.

"Hello?"

...

"HELLO?"

...

Hearing only silence, Luna made to call out again when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she instantly spotted the creature, who to her shock as well as its own, had been encompassed by a ring of fire which burned brightly around it. Huffing with relief nevertheless, Luna quickly dashed towards the creature, but just before she could reach it, she suddenly found herself bouncing to the floor after her muzzle collided with something. But as she rubbed it, she saw that nothing could have stopped her. That observation would sadly be proven wrong when, after getting up, she proceeded forward a bit before her muzzle once again collided with nothing. Blinking, Luna stood on her back hooves as she now pressed her front hooves onto some invisible barrier which rippled like water at the touch.

"What magic is this?" Luna said, tapping her hooves onto the invisible wall which separated her and the suited creature which now stared intently at something above itself, and as Luna paused in her taping, she too looked up and froze.

For just above the creature's head hovered a giant pair of red eyes with black slitted pupils, eyes which in all honesty, frightened Luna to no end as their emotionless gaze sent a shiver down her back.

"What is that?" Luna wondered, before her ears suddenly splayed back at the creature's sudden outburst.

"What?! What do you want, huh?! Who are you?!"

Looking from the creature to the eyes, Luna heard no response from them and when she looked back at the creature, it had switched its focus on something else. Stepping to the side, Luna soon saw that the creature was staring at what appeared to be a small bug , similar to the larger ones she saw not long ago, which rested on its strange paw.

The same strange paw which the bug then stung without warning.

Flinching, Luna heard the creature yelp before she watched as it grabbed the insect and, without warning, throw it at her, but just when she was about to dodge it, the bug suddenly vanished in the flames of the burning ring.

Shaking her head, she looked up at the creature, rather lividly-

"Why would you throw that at me you-!"

and went immediately silent when she saw the creature fall to its knees while clutching at its shaking arm. Blinking, she stared at the creature as a look of pain flickered over its face before she went pale at what happened next. In a matter of seconds, Luna watched as dark lines appeared all over the creature's left arm, which began to jerk about erratically, before spreading across the rest of its body like a parasite, traveling all the way up to the creature's neck before without warning the creature suddenly puked a large quantity of ink-dark blood.

"No."

The creature then fell to the floor as its body violently began to twist and convulse, all the while the creature painfully cried out and coughed up even more of the ebony liquid.

"NO. NO. NO!" Luna cried, now furiously bashing her hooves against the barrier. And when she still could not breach it, she soon began to fire shot after shot of magical energy into it, to which each shot was reduced to harmless sparks. Teary eyed and desperate, Luna charged her horn and, after a few seconds followed by a pained cry, released a mighty beam of magic which, while in theory could have pierced clean through the moon, did absolutely nothing to the invisible barrier besides leaving only a smoking and shimmering spot where the beam had made contact. staring through the undamaged barrier, Luna looked to the creature to find it now lying limp and silent on the ground.

Blinking, she was nonetheless shocked when the creature suddenly screamed in shear agony.

Backing up a few steps, Luna watched in stunned, quivering silence as the creature continued to let out that bone-chilling scream for several more seconds before it was reduced to quiet gasps and raspy whimpers, which were then drowned out by even more horrific sounds.

The tearing of muscle and skin, the breaking or snapping of bone, and the splashes and popping which all came from within the creature brought Luna to a state of absolute terror and shock. This kind of torment, this heartless and evil form of torture was something that Luna had never, in her entire lifetime, had ever thought possible, nonetheless thought that she would ever bare witness to that which even Nightmare Moon herself would surely shutter at.

"Please stop this! Stop this right now!" Luna pleaded, to whom she did not know, but to which silence was her only response as she watched the poor creature continue to be mercilessly ripped apart from the inside out, tears now streaming down her eyes and matting her fur as she also soon realized that throughout this whole ordeal, she could still see the creature's eyes open and aware. Oh, by the creator, how they seemed to beg for it all to just stop, despite its voice only coming out as gurgles and shaky inhales. "Please."

Without an end to the creature's misery in sight, Luna simply fell to the ground, covered her eyes, and wept. She cried for herself, for her uselessness and for her failure to save the soul of another. She also cried for the creature, for the torture it was going through to just stop and for its suffering to end.

Yet it did not end for the creature, for as each minute that passed which Luna spent crying, another minute went by where the creature's body continued to undergo the horrific changes to itself. It was also the noises which kept Luna from raising her head, for with each pop, crack, or hiss, she only remained buried in her hooves, repeatedly wishing for the sounds to just stop, as that was all she could really do at that point.

And after a while, they did stop. For several moments, Luna strained her ears for the noises, but all she could now hear was a low growl.

Slowly looking up, Luna was shocked to see that where there had once laid a suffering creature of flesh and bone, now stood a towering abomination of brown scales and razor sharp claws.

It had become a demon.

She further stood in silent horror as the now fully-transformed demon now regarded itself before once again looking up at the massive red eyes. It then began to utter a series of low growls and sharp hisses that Luna couldn't actually understand, but was nonetheless sure that they carried some deep meaning as the creature directed them to its red-eyed spectator.

Then, just after the creature seemed to get more heated at the end of its incoherent speech, the demon then fiercely roared, causing Luna to cover her ears while she watched the void around her and the demon begin to crack and waver, before suddenly shattering altogether and engulfing it, Luna, and the rest of the void in blinding white light.

Luna awoke in the early hours of morning, gasping loudly while she clutched her blanket tightly, despite her shaking hooves. She quickly looked about, and after confirming that she was indeed in her room, she breathed a deep, shaky sigh.

"By the creator."

Author's Note

Well... that was a hell and a half of a lot of writing for me. Just damn.

Now, before some of you folks even start, let me just say a few things first.

Firstly, I would like to give a little shout-out to a mate by the name of Mocha Star who, in my opinion, I owe nearly this entire chapter to in terms of the wicked idea he requested of pitting cazadors against feral ghoul reavers (pretty much the whole nightmare actually). I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, Mocha mate.

Next, I would like to apologize to those of you who were hoping for six certain ponies to be thoroughly scarred this chapter, and while there was none of that, I hope what I delivered instead was sufficient enough to act as an alternative.

Let me be clear. The main six WILL most certainly be in for one hell of a shocker come the next chapter. I Pinkie-promise on that.

Now there are a few reasons for this. The first being that I felt like rather than adding that little bit in at the end of this whole thing, I decided on just leaving it for its own climactic chapter where the ponies hunt for and soon encounter our scaly friend.

The second reason was that due to having several ideas on how I want the next chapter to go, I wanted to spend a bit more time in hashing everything out.

And the third reason was that while I was planning on holding off the good shit till the next chapter, I had also come to a startling realization...I got too much shit in my head!

Yes, I had found that while I was cooking up ideas for this story, I had been completely ignoring all the other ideas for stories I had left sitting on the back-burner.

So, after much consideration (i.e. sleeping and daydreaming), I decided on a solution to remedy this issue. I decided that while I would take a "little" break from writing this story, I would then focus on getting out a few more stories (mainly a few one-shots) onto the site.

So with that being said, fret not my deathclaw-loving deviants! For I will return to this story, just got to unload some things is all. This deathclaw-powered fever dream ain't done just yet. So until next time folks, stay casual.

Chapter 4: Unintentional Scarring and Friendship-Making

"Binoculars?"

"Check."

"Notepad?"

"Check."

"Extra Notepad?"

"Check."

"Quills?"

"Check."

"Extra Quills?"

"Check."

"Ink?"

"Check."

"Number one assistant monster hunter?"

"Che- wait, Spike."

A chuckle came from the small purple and green dragon. Spike, Twilight's number one assistant, best friend, and adopted brother, smiled at the unicorn who simply rolled her eyes at his childish antics.

"Oh come on Twilight, you and the girls are heading off into the Everfree to find some mysterious monster, can't I come along?

The unicorn sighed.

"No Spike. This is a very important expedition, one in which the girls and I might be able to discover an entirely new species of Everfree entity. It could be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."

smoke blew from Spike's nostrils as he crossed his little arms.

"Oh? And what about you girls? Won't you be in just as much danger if I didn't come along?"

Double checking that she had everything she needed, Twilight closed her saddlebags and proceeded over to the door.

"Well, I'm sure the girls and I can handle whatever's out there. It's you I'd be more worried about."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can take care of myself!" The little dragon said, fuming as the unicorn simply giggled.

"Oh really? Do I need to remind you who was the one who needed to be tucked in every night while we were still living in Canterlot?" Twilight said cheekily, brow raised and mouth smirked at the blushing baby dragon.

"I-I thought we weren't going to talk about that! Besides, I'm much older now, aren't I?"

Once again the unicorn giggled, approaching her best friend and offering a reassuring nuzzle.

"Of course Spike. But you're still technically a baby dragon, and that's why you should stay her in the library."

Staring up at the unicorn, Spike tried and failed to come up with a proper response, choosing instead to just sigh and nod his finned head. To debate against Twilight Sparkle would have been a losing battle from the start.

"Hey, don't worry Spike. The girls and I will only be gone for a few hours. We'll be back before you know it, hopefully with some answers regarding the newest addition to the Everfree."

For a moment, the little dragon stayed quiet before smiling at her.

"Alright Twilight, you and the girls be safe, okay?"

"I'm sure we will!" Twilight said making her way to the door, but just before she left, she turned back to the little dragon. "And don't worry, I'll make sure Rarity stays safe as well."

Blush now returning and brighter than ever, Spike sputtered on his words as the unicorn simply giggled out the door, closing it behind her and leaving the dragon once again to himself.

"Sigh...sure Twilight, just don't go overboard, alright?"

It was about ten in the morning when Twilight had left Ponyville behind and met up with the rest of her friends, all standing near the edge of the Everfree Forest. On her approach, she was waved down by Pinkie and the rest of her friends followed suit.

"Hey Twilight! Ready for our super-duper fun hunt?" The pink mare said bouncing in place.

"Pinkie, for the last time." Twilight said, noting the mare's lack of supplies as she joined the group. "This expedition isn't for fun, its for research."

"Sure Twilight, keep telling yourself that." Rainbow Dash said, smirking as she looked over at the Everfree.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The unicorn said, scrunching her muzzle.

"No offense Twilight, but every time there's something new to discover, you're the one jumping around like Pinkie Pie after one of her sugar rushes." Rainbow said, to which Twilight could only blush as the rest of her friends silently nodded.

"Whatever Rainbow. Anyways, why aren't you packed?"

The cyan pegasus chuckled, taking to the air.

"Who says I need anything else besides these bad girls?" the mare said, flexing her forelegs and doing a few poses all while the Twilight shook her head and Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Oh please Rainbow, like we'll ever need what you're packing." The county mare said, which Twilight noticed was sporting her own saddlebags as well as a set of black combat boots. "But if we need a cloud kicked, you'll be the first to know."

The pegasus, easily insulted, rounded on the mare as the two began to argue over who was supposed to be the apparent muscle of the group while Twilight simply shook her head before looking over to the other two ponies present.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy were thankfully equipped with their own saddlebags, though as Rarity was in the process of applying some sort of makeup and Fluttershy was busy conversing with the same Raccoon from yesterday, she couldn't help but wonder if she and her friends were really prepared for tackling such a quest as finding and documenting a supposedly new and potentially dangerous creature of the Everfree. No turning back now.

With a sigh, Twilight looked over her friends once more.

"Alright girls, are you all ready?"

The girls all looked to Twilight and each gave their own hearty reply.

"Let's do this!" Rainbow said coolly.

"Ready as ever sugarcube." Applejack nodded.

"Ready ready ready!" The bouncing Pinkie proclaimed.

"Just about...and done." Rarity said, putting the final touches to her face and mane before looking up at Twilight. "Now I'm ready dear."

"I am too, if that's okay." Fluttershy said.

And with a final nod. Twilight walked passed the group and stood before the Everfree.

"Excellent. Well then Fluttershy, is your friend ready as well?" Twilight said, turning to the pegasus as she nodded.

"Yup, Mister Raccoon is ready to show us where he saw the creature." Fluttershy said, looking over to the raccoon who nodded as well before slowly making his way into the forest interior.

"Well then girls, let go find us a new creature!"

And with that proclamation, Twilight and company proceeded into the forest, ready for whatever they may find.

A deep yawn came from Richard's maw as he walked down the empty halls of his new castle. For shortly after waking up on the stone floor, he had decided that today would be dedicated to exploring his home for the foreseeable future.

So with that idea in mind, he simply chose from one of the six secondary hallways that lined either side of the main entrance hall at random and just started looking around. Minutes would fly by as Richard took the time to look into every room he passed, though all it would be was a simple look as he couldn't fit his head, much less his whole body, through a majority of the doors he came across. Luckily the lot of them were either spare bedrooms or janitor closets.

Once the hall ended, either at a dead end or blocked by rubble, the deathclaw would turn around, return to the entrance hall, pick another hall, and repeat.

This process went on for maybe an hour or so before Richard, rounding another corner of one of the longer hallways, stumbled across a set of tall wooden doors, the left one sporting a carving of what looked to be a crescent moon while the right one, a shining sun.

'This looks promising.' Richard thought as he approached the doors. Luckily enough, they were as tall as him, which hopefully meant they lead to somewhere important.

Placing his claws on the doors, he gave a small push before the doors loudly creaked open, revealing a sight which didn't disappoint. After all, considering that the room which Richard now found himself in was none other than this castle's very own throne room, how could it not. Below him, a large red carpet that rested under Richard's clawed feet and stretched almost the entire length of the large room. Above him, a long balcony that wrapped around the room's upper area with stone stands situated further in that nobles or other spectators probably sat from and watched. And finally, passed all of that and several dozen feet in front of Richard rested two grand thrones, teardrop in shape and of the same color as the ripped banner which hung above it, the left one being dark blue below a starry moon banner while the other was of a bright yellow, its banner having a shining sun banner.

"Well that certainly is something." Richard growled, sparing the thrones another glance before looking up to the ceiling...to find that there wasn't one and instead only the blue sky above. "And that could be a problem. Ah, I deal with it later."

Natural skylight aside, Richard couldn't help but smile a toothy smile as he looked around the room once more, and with a nod of his head, decided that this room would be where he'd set up shop.

"Now that I got my bedroom figured out, time to get back to exploring."

And with that, Richard left the throne room and, after a bit of backtracking, found himself once again in the main foyer.

"So..." Richard growled. "Where the hell can I find more cool shit at?"

Looking around, Richard's eyes fell on the stairs at the end of the hall, just behind two massive torn banners that he hadn't actually notice until just now. And while they did look similar to the ones he saw in the throne room, the banners that hung before Richard's squinting eyes, there was something about them that held Richard's attention, or maybe it was what was on them instead.

The left banner was dark blue, featuring the picture of a crescent moon rising above a horse, though to Richard's raised brow, the horse was not only dark blue, but also had what looked to be a horn on its head and a pair of wings on its back.
It also appeared to be looking at something to the right, which lead Richard to turn his head to the other banner, a worn yellow one which featured a shinning sun above another winged horn-head horse, though the only difference between this horse and the other was the snow white color of its fur.

For a moment, Richard looked between the two banners, wondering what they meant, especially with the whole day and night theme.

"Folks here must really like their horses." He hissed softly, before shrugging and proceeding up the stars. Once he was at the top, and after having to choose between which of the two entrances he wanted to go through, he decided on the left and proceeded down the corridor.

A short walk later and Richard was now standing before a door just a few feet below his full height. And upon opening it and stepping inside, he was now in what looked to be a grand library, though with everything seemingly covered in about five layers of dust and cobwebs, it seemed anything but grand.

"Yeesh, get a load of this place." Richard growled to himself as he proceeding in.

Looking over the many wooden bookcases, and yes literally too, his eyes wandered over the many worn and surprisingly well-preserved books that filled their dusty shelves. He also happened a glance or two at the few books that were left open on some of the long wooden tables, and was genuinely surprised when he found that the writing within was actually in English, albeit of the older, medieval manner of writing, but still good ol' English nonetheless.

"Huh, well I'll be damned." Richard growled quietly as he closed one of the books he'd been looking over with a claw. "Maybe I'm actually in some sort of alternate Europe? that would kinda explain the horses."

Giving the library one last look, Richard turned and made his exit, stopping just outside the room to close the door before proceeding back down the hall. And after he had made it back to the lobby, he then returned to the throne room where after several moments of staring, thinking, and light tail swaying, the deathclaw had made up his mind.

"Well, time to do some cleaning."

"How much longer Fluttershy?"

The pegasus listened to her raccoon friend once more before turning to Twilight and the rest of the girls.

"Mister Raccoon said It shouldn't be that much longer now."

Sighing, Twilight and the rest of the girls continued to follow after Fluttershy and her animal friend as they lead them further into the Everfree. Though it hadn't been too long since they had entered the forest, maybe a half hour or so, the walk through the dark and dangerous forest was already beginning to put stress onto one or two of the group's members.

"How much longer must we go through this accursed place!"

Okay, maybe only on one of the group's members.

"Rarity. We've only been walkin' for about half an hour, calm yourself." Applejack said, closing her eyes as the fashionista responded with yet another whine, which made that the tenth one in the past half hour.

"Oh please, while you can most certainly enjoy the outdoors, I for one wish we didn't have to spend another minute in these horrid woods!" Rarity said, a hoof over her head as if she would suddenly faint from the sheer horrid-ness of the woods.

Applejack wasn't amused.

Rolling her eyes at the unicorn's foalish antics, she looked over and watched her other friend Pinkie Pie busy herself by jumping around the group and looking just about everywhere for the creature they were searching for. Though for Pinkie Pie, that meant that no stone was left upturned or bush unrustled as she darted about, occasionally going "Here Mister Lizard," or "Oh Mister Scaly, where are you?"

"Well, at least somepony is enjoyin' themselves." The farm mare said before she turned to regard her other friend Rainbow Dash, who kept her searching a bit more reserved by keeping her head on a swivel, looking this way or that for either anything dangerous or for their mystery creature.

"Seen anythin' yet, Dash?"

"Naw, nothing yet." The pegasus said, her eyes still scanning the woods around them. "You'd think finding a big walking snake-thing would be easy but all I've seen is trees, trees, and- wait a minute."

The mare suddenly stopped, her eyes squinting at something off in the distance to the group's left. Applejack had also stopped and looking over to where Rainbow had been looking, saw nothing but trees, even when she squinted her eyes as well.

"Dash, what do you-"

"I'll be right back." The mare said before quickly darting off, leaving Applejack confused and causing the rest of the girls to stop as well.

"Where's Rainbow Dash going?" Twilight asked, approaching the orange mare as she simply shrugged.

"Don't rightly know. She just said she saw somethin' in those woods over yonder and then flew off." Applejack said, to which Twilight hummed at while Rarity sighed heavily.

"Shouldn't we keep moving?" The unicorn asked. "Why must we stop just because Rainbow Dash thought she saw something? hmm?"

Hopping beside the flustered mare, Pinkie simply giggled.

"Weeeelll Rarity, maybe Dashie did find something." she said before she suddenly gasped. "Maybe she found a clue that was left by Mister Scaly, huh Twilight?"

She turned to the unicorn in question, who also shrugged.

"Maybe?" Twilight said, raising her brow as she looked over to Fluttershy. "Are we close to the spot, Fluttershy?"

After looking back to Mister Raccoon and listening to what he had to say, Fluttershy nodded at him before she looked backed to Twilight.

"Mister Raccoon says that we are."

"Hmm, well I guess we are then Pinkie, so maybe Rainbow did-"

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash.

"Girls, come quick! I found something crazy!"

A series of great rumbling noises echoed throughout the old castle halls as Richard pushed aside fallen stone arches and large chunks of rock, adding them to a steadily growing pile of debris that accumulated in the center of the main lobby. And after several minutes had passed and the pile of rock was just about half of Richard's height standing up, he then bulldozed the pile out the front doors and into the grassy field beyond.

Once most of the larger debris had been cleared from the entrance hall and throne room, Richard then proceeded to sweep the rest of the halls. Though without a properly sized broom, his tail would have to do. Down the halls Richard went, lightly brushing his tail side to side against the cobblestone floors, kicking up dust and smaller debris which was either quickly dissipated or simply pushed to the side. Richard would even occasionally stop and lightly tap his tail against walls and pillars alike, sending up clouds of dust that elicited a few sneezes from the towering hunk of terror.

And once the dusting was finished, at least to the point where Richard's vision wasn't impaired from a constant haze of smoky air, he returned to the throne room, several ideas already coming to mind as to how he would make the room more homely.

"By Celestia."

Twilight's mouth was left agape as she stared at the scene before her, just as astonished and slightly scared as the rest of her friends as they too looked on at what she could only really compare to the aftermath of a spell gone haywire. A clearing, or what was left of one stood before the group in absolute ruin. Almost every tree surrounding the clearing was damaged, with some barring large slashes across their bark to a few seemingly torn from their very roots and thrown aside as if they were matchsticks.

"Oh, you poor things!" Fluttershy gasped, flying over to one of the uprooted trees before brushing a hoof across it in a soothing manner. "Who would do such a terrible thing to these innocent trees?"

"Not a who Fluttershy, but a what." Rainbow Dash suddenly said flying over to one of relatively intact tress. "Check out these wicked claw marks."

As she rested a hoof against the tree with a look of apparent wonder, Twilight also approached the tree, examining the bark and the slashes across it.

"Hmm, these slash marks are way too large to be from any manticore, even from an alpha one at that." She said, taking a closer look. "Amazing. By how deep the slash marks go into the wood as well as the length from which they reach across the wood, the creature that created them must posses claws of an equal or greater length than that of the average pony's leg!"

A slight shiver went up Dash's spine when she heard that.

"Re-Really? Uh, I mean, pshh really? That's it? It doesn't sound that scary."

"Oh sure Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, levitating up a notepad and quickly scribbling down some notes. "Compared to the claws of a ursa minor or an adult dragon, the size difference isn't all that remarkable." She stopped to look up at the claw marks before returning to her writing. "But for a creature to posses claws of this size and sharpness, it would definitely be of a higher threat than the common manticore or timberwolf."

Rainbow Dash took a moment to process what she just heard before chuckling nervously.

"He he, yeah."

"Ahhh! Disgusting!"

All heads quickly turned to Rarity as she speedily backpedaled from some dead bushes.

"Rarity? What's wrong?"

The distraught mare, nose scrunched and eyes slightly watery, turned to her purple friend.

"What's wrong? Oh I'll tell you what's wrong Twilight!" She said, pointing to a bushes. "Some miscreant relieved themselves in these bushes and the smell is simply abhorred!"

Walking over to the bushes in question, Applejack shook her head.

"Oh come now Rarity, It can't be that-" The orange mare was quick to gag as she too got a whiff of the smell and removed her hat to fan away the stench. "By golly! That there's a smell if I ever smelled one."

Approaching the large pool of piss, Twilight did scrunch her muzzle, but still remained close as she opened her saddle bag and levitated out three small empty vials.

"It is only natural girls." She said as she lowered the opened tubes towards the edge of the pool and watched as they were quickly filled before she lifted them, capped them, then replaced them back into her bags, much to the uneasiness of her friends.

"Twilight dear, surely you're not going to be carrying those with you...right?"

Looking over to Rarity, Twilight simply shrugged.

"Samples are samples Rarity. They're crucial to the process of learning more about the unknown, and in this case, learning more about our mystery creature." Walking away, she turned to her friend. "And if you're worried about the smell, then I can just do a simple anti-odor spell."

The marshmallow-colored mare visibly cringed.

"It's not just the smell I'm worried about dear."

Before Twilight could inquire further, she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie giggling up a storm. Well more than usual. Turning to her friend, she raised a brow as the party pony continued to giggle at the forest floor which she sat upon.

"What's so funny Pinkie?"

The pink pone looked over to her studious friend.

"Oh nothing in particular, just having a little laugh at Mister Lizard's hilarious gift."

Raising a brow, Twilight was about to ask what she meant by that when she happened to glance at the ground and stopped. For what she had at first mistaken for a deformation in the dirt was actually an massive imprint most likely left behind by their mystery creature.

As Pinkie continued to giggle away, the other girls, save for Fluttershy who was still trying to somehow nurse the felled trees, gathered around the spot of interest.

"Well I'll be." Applejack said, eyeing the ground with surprise. "Wonder how this got here?"

Rainbow Dash hovered overhead, turning and tilting her head in order to make sense of the imprint.

"The tartarus is it supposed to be?"

"A pawprint perhaps?" Rarity wondered aloud.

"If it is, then it's the strangest and largest one I've ever seen." Twilight said, rubbing her chin as she gave the odd crater a critical eye.

"Hehe, come on girls. Isn't it obvious?" Pinkie said from her seat, to which none of the girls couldn't reply. After a few silent moments, Pinkie couldn't hold it in anymore and whooped. "It's a flankprint sillies!"

After a few moments of Pinkie laughing to herself as the other girls looked at the imprint, they all Ohhh in unison as they too all shared a giggle amongst themselves at the realization.

"Heh, guess we don't have to be worried if the thing's just a big klutz." Rainbow Dash said, seemingly more to herself than to anypony else. The other girls simply giggled, all except for Twilight who continued to stare at the imprint.

'I guess we don't." She thought, before looking over to Fluttershy, who up until this point had remained quietly sitting near the uprooted trees while her raccoon friend patted her back. Walking over to her friend, Twilight tapped her shoulder. "Fluttershy, are you okay?"

The pegasus sniffed before she looked up to her friend, a sad smile adorning her features.

"Yeah Twilight, I'm alright." Her expression suddenly hardened. "But we need to find this creature soon so that it can apologize for hurting these poor trees."

Blinking, Twilight could only offer a reassuring smile at her friend's sudden eagerness to find the creature, though the reason behind it did garner a raised brow.

"Sure we will Fluttershy."

"Heck yeah, lets go find this thing!" Rainbow Dash added in as the rest of the girls also joined them.

Looking over the group then back to Fluttershy, Twilight smiled once again as she offered a hoof to the sitting mare.

"Ready, Fluttershy?"

Smiling herself, Fluttershy took the offered hoof and once she was back on all four hooves, she puffed out her chest a little as she nodded.

"Yes I am."

Smiling, Twilight then turned to Mister Raccoon who, needing no further instructions, continued on the path to their destination, all while the girls followed along with a new wave of enthusiasm.

Richard casually strolled along the perimeter of the castle, looking over the various bits of rumble that piled around the cracked and crumbling outer walls. On his stroll, he would occasionally stop to examine a large piece of broken wall before shaking his horned head and continuing along. This little stroll lasted for maybe a few more minutes before Richard finally stopped to regard a particularly larger chunk of rock that had broken off from one the the castle's outlying towers. He then took the time to examine the chunk, raising a clawed hand to his chin as he tilted his head in thought.

'Hmm, it looks big enough.'

After a moment, Richard shrugged and, with a low grunt, he hefted the several hundred of pounds worth of stone slab as easily as if he were lifting a pizza box and turned to make his way back to the castle entrance.

But as he began to leave, there came the sudden noise of shifting rock which prompted the deathclaw to stop. Looking over his shoulder, Richard eyed the pile of rocks from which he had taken the slab from, yet saw nothing out of the ordinary. Shaking his head, Richard turned to leave once again when he happened to glance down and almost drop the slab in surprise at the sudden sight of a small creature perched right in the middle of the slab in his claws. Blinking, Richard peered down at the little thing that stared up at him, its black orbed eyes looking into his solid orange ones.

'It's a lizard.'

It was in fact a lizard, an orange little thing that was probably smaller than his pinky claw. Kinda looked like a gecko actually. And as the little gecko-lizard-thing continued to look up at Richard with its big yet little eyes, the towering scaled behemoth couldn't help but be reminded of a certain other little lizard. After a moment, Richard decided to humor it.

"You need something little guy?" He growled, to which the lizard responded with a little skwee of its own that Richard surprisingly, and I shit you not, actually understood. In fact, after hearing the little thing inform him that he had picked up its favorite sleeping spot, the giant rip-and-tear-reptile couldn't help but be genuinely shocked at just how clearly the little thing had sounded, as if it had just spoken legit English despite only uttering sounds akin to a chew toy.

"Oh. Um...I'm sorry." Richard hissed, still slightly perplexed at the fact that he was actually conversing with a lizard. "But I need this for a table."

The gecko tilted its head before it asked in lizard speak where Richard would be putting it.

"In my new castle." He replied, whilst nodding his head at the building in question, which the lizard also looked up at before it suddenly asked if it could come along. This made Richard pause for a moment and in his confused state, he asked the little lizard, "You wanna come along? Actually wait, shouldn't you be afraid of me though?"

The lizard in turn nodded its head at the first question before asking Richard to explain the second one. This however only further confused Richard to the point where he had to put the slab down before he stepped back to regard the lizard.

"Why? Because I'm a giant lizard of absolute death and destruction!" He roared, waving his arms. "I mean, you do realize that I could kill you without a second thought." He then fell on all fours, his maw now mere inches from the little lizard as he hissed quietly. "Or eat you whole in a single bite."

Richard then turned his head to the side so that the little lizard got a good look at not just his massive gleaning teeth, but of his eye, which now squinted at it, waiting for the lizard to call its bluff.

And yet, the little guy didn't falter. In fact, the lizard actually stepped forward from its spot on the rock, causing Richard to turn his head so that he now fully faced the lizard with one hell of a brass pair. The lizard then looked up at Richard and, without a single fuck to be had and or given, told him that it was not only not scared of Richard, but genuinely thought that he was cool and still wanted to come along with him. What a badass.

For several moments Richard was too stunned to say anything. I mean, how could he not be when the little gecko before him had literally stared down death itself and he was the one who blinked first. That definitely earned some respect from the mutant lizardboy for sure.

"Hehehe, well I'll be damned. Okay then, you got a name little guy?" Richard growled, to which the lizard sadly informed him that it did not. Yeah, that wasn't going to slide.

"Hmm, well that just won't do." Richard hissed, shaking his head while he crossed his arms in defiance to this utter bullshit. "A little badass like you deserves a cool ass name to boot...in fact."

Eyeing the lizard, Richard lowered his right arm, his clawed hand palm-up and presented to the lizard who, after taking a moment to look at it, hopped aboard before Richard raised his hand up to his face, bringing the two face to maw. He then pointed a claw with his other hand at the little lizard and with a roar, happily proclaimed, "From this day forward, I'll call you...Badass!"

The lizard, after having been given its new name, and repeating it a few times to itself, skweed with joy as it happily hopped around in Richard's open hand, all the while he continued to grin like a proud parent.

"I take it you like the name?" Richard asked, to which the lizard nodded its head vigorously before suddenly darting up his arm and coming to a stop atop his head in between the bases of his horns in just a few seconds. This however only elicited a deep chuckle from Richard as he lifted up the stone slab and began to make his way back to the castle entrance.

"Glad you do. And you know, where I come from, having that name means you're real tough. And after what you did, I think you deserve it."

"Is this the spot?" Twilight asked Fluttershy once the group finally stopped near a particularly large tree after a few minutes more of walking. The pegasus turned to her Raccoon friend who nodded, confirming their location. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder at the unicorn.

"Yup."

The unicorn sighed happily.

"Finally. Alright girls, spread out and look for any clues."

With that, the remaining four girls began to look about the area while Twilight approached the yellow pegasus who was just saying her goodbyes to the raccoon.

"Thank you so much Mister Raccoon!" She said, smiling brightly at him. "You can head back to your family now, if you want to that is." The raccoon in turn nodded, and with a wave, he dashed off, leaving the girls to their hunt. Watching him go, Fluttershy sighed happily before she turned to her friend.

"Wasn't he the most helpful raccoon you've ever met Twilight?" She asked, to which Twilight could only nod and brandish a smile of her own.

"He really was. And because of him, I think we're definitely getting closer to finding this creature."

Suddenly Rainbow Dash again.

"Hey Twilight, I couldn't find anything nearby so I'm going to go fly around and see if I can't spot anything from above."

Turning to the pegasus, Twilight blinked.

"Oh, well sure, but maybe it would be better if we stuck to-"

"Don't worry Twilight, I won't be gone too long. Later!"

And before the purple unicorn could finish what she was going to say, the rainbow-maned mare shot off, leaving the two ponies in her rainbow-tinged dust.

After a short coughing fit, Twilight sighed as she looked up to where Rainbow had dashed off to. Fluttershy waved a wing to dispel the dust but smiled nonetheless at Rainbow being Rainbow. And Pinkie Pie simply giggled at Rainbow Dash being true to her name.

"Hehe, Rainbow sure loves to dash off, right Twilight?" The giggling mare said, to which Twilight only groaned at while Fluttershy elicited the quietest of chortles.

"Sure sure. Anyway, did you find anything Pinkie?" The unicorn deadpanned, to which the pink party pony actually nodded, surprising her.

"Wait, you actually found something?" Twilight asked, to which PInkie nodded once again to. "...Well where is it?"

"Here."

The unicorn blinked.

"Here?"

"Here."

"In this clearing, you mean?"

"Yuppy."

"Okay, well where in this clearing?"

"Here."

"Where exactly is it, Pinkie?"

"Under."

"Under?"

"Under."

"Under where?"

The pink mare giggled.

"No silly, under who."

"Under who?"

"Under you."

"Under me?" The unicorn blinked, raising a brow while PInkie only nodded. "There's nothing under m-me-me- whoa!"

Twilight all but jumped into the hooves of Fluttershy, much to the pegasus' surprise and dismay as she wobbled on her hind hooves, trying and failing to support the shocked unicorn's weight before they both fell onto the dirt. A few seconds of apologizing, well more from the pegasus than the unicorn, and untangling of limbs later and Twilight was now practically muzzle to dirt examining the massive how-the-absolute-shit-did-they-not-see-it-earlier clawprint that most definitely belonged to their mystery monster while an ooo-ing Pinkie Pie stood by and tilted her head this way and that to better admire the print as a lightly blushing Fluttershy also happened to spare the clawprint a few glances from behind her pink hair.

The racket that Twilight had made earlier had also drawn in the other two mares and now all five were left in similar states of awe as they took in the imprint for themselves.

"Land sakes! Applejack hollered, raising her hat. "Now would you look at the size of that. Its definitely gotta belong to the critter we're chasing."

"It is rather impressive." Rarity said, before a slight shiver went up her back. "Though I can't help but shudder at what this dreadful creature must look like."

"Sure, it may seem scary now." Fluttershy murmured. "But, maybe it won't be so scary when we meet it."

"Hehe, Mister Lizard's claws are really big." Pinkie said before raising a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hmm, I wonder how many cupcakes he can hold in just one?"

"I'm still surprised I didn't see it earlier, but this imprint," Twilight said, opening her saddlebag and taking out a camera. "I just have to document it!" And document she did as she took several photos from several different angles, even having Fluttershy fly up to get a aerial shot.

Coincidentally, just as Fluttershy landed and returned the camera to her friend, Rainbow Dash made her return as well, though as she landed, there seemed to be something off about her. Ironically though, this oddity wasn't immediately picked up by Twilight, being the most studious out of the group, as she approached the pegasus with a smile.

"Hey Rainbow, you would not believe the amazing shots we got of the clawprint over here!"

The mare however remained quiet, as Twilight's smile faltered slightly.

"Di-did you also find something Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, to which the mare remained quiet but nodded nonetheless, making the unicorn squee with renewed joy. "Excellent, then could you lead us there?"

The usually-boisterous mare flinched at that, but after a few moments of shuffling her hooves and ruffling her wings, she again nodded silently, albeit with an obvious bit of hesitance, before turning around and simply walking off, throwing the whole group for a loop.

"Is dear Rainbow Dash alright?" Rarity asked to nopony in particular, to which Applejack couldn't help but answer.

"Not rightly sure. But then again, maybe whatever she saw just left her plum speechless."

There then came a gasp from Pinkie Pie, and when the other girls looked at her, she was smiling up a storm.

"Oo oo oo! Maybe she saw a really surprising clue left by Mister Lizard that left here so super-duperly-surprised that she kept quiet so as not to ruin the surprise and now she wants us to see it for ourselves and be super surprised like her!"

And with that, the pink pony hopped off after the pegasus, giggling and guessing to herself what the surprise could be. The other girls however were hesitant to proceed, well almost all of them.

"Pinkie might have a point." Twilight said, starting to follow after the two as the others looked at her. "Maybe Rainbow was just a little surprised. Come on girls, lets go see for ourselves!"

And with that little spout of determination, Twilight was off. And after a few moments and a trade of looks between eachother, so were the other girls, albeit hesitant to proceed but curious all the same."

"And...there we go." Richard hissed, placing down the stone slab onto the throne room's cracked floor. Stepping back, he looked at it for a bit before nodding and looking up to his new friend.

"What do you think, Badass?" He growled, to which the little gecko that had been atop his head vanished suddenly, only to reappear atop the slab's surface, looking around, then up at the open sky, and finally back to Richard before skweeing happily. Hearing that it found this new spot for its sleeping spot to be better than the last spot it had been in earlier, Richard chuckled deeply. "Glad you like it buddy, now if you'll excuse me."

Turning around, Richard headed for the doors, but just as he was about to leave, he heard his friend utter a questioning squeak and the deathclaw turned his head to address it.

"Don't worry Badass, I won't be gone for long. Just going to go grab some things. Stay here, take a nap, and I'll be back before you know it."

After a moment, the gecko nodded and Richard couldn't help but smile toothily in turn. And with the wave of his massive tail, he was off, leaving the little gecko and his slab alone in their new room. There was a few moments that the little lizard spent staring at the entrance where the bigger lizard had left through. Turning its head here and there, the newly named "Badass" looked at its new surroundings and sighed, for despite being in a new place as well as always having been going solo for most of its life, it couldn't help but feel somewhat lonely with the absence of its first ever friend. But the big lizard said he'd come back so the little lizard shouldn't be worried. And since he also suggested that Badass should take a nap, a nap Badass would take.

Doing a few spins to get comfortable, the little gecko plopped itself onto the slab. Then, once its legs were tucked snugly under its orange little belly, the gecko curled its tail around itself before it rested its head upon said tail and closed it eyes.
A minute or two later and the little gecko was now quietly snoozing away under the rays of the sun. An unknown number of minutes spent snoozing uninterrupted later and the lizard was slowly opening its eyes to the sound of approaching footfalls, and judging by the weight that each step carried, the little lizard couldn't help but wag its tail happily at the sight of its big lizard friend's return. Though as he entered the room once again, Badass couldn't help but tilt its head at the many smaller slabs tucked under the large lizard's arms. Smaller and thinner than its own stone slab, rectangular in shape and white in color, The larger reptile boasted four under each arm, and as he growled his return, the little gecko chirped its question.

"Oh these?" Richard replied, raising the slabs under his arms a bit higher, to which Badass nodded and he smiled rather devilishly in turn. "Oh you're going to get a kick outta these."

Twilight pushed away another branch as she followed after Rainbow Dash, with Pinkie Pie at her side and the other three girls following up the rear. For the some time now the girls had been walking in relative silence, save for the occasional grunt or giggle as the group traversed the dark woods. Throughout their trip, Rainbow Dash had yet to ever say anything since she had returned from her scouting, and the distance that she kept from the rest of the girls only added to the unease that plagued them, save for Pinkie Pie of course. And out of the other girls, Twilight seemed to be the most perplexed by this, obviously, as she would occasionally glance back at the other girls, mostly to Applejack who had also picked up on Dash's odd behavior earlier on.

"So...Rainbow, are we almost there?" She asked, to which the pegasus simply nodded and silenced reigned once again. Twilight blinked before looking back to Applejack, who was now looking at her prismatic friend with suspicion. Truth be told, this silence was getting on Twilight's nerves as well, and if she wasn't already under a similar suspicion that Rainbow Dash was now definitely hiding something, there was little else to say before Twilight simply stopped and demanded that the mare just tell them what-

"Ohhh! My word!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed. "What is that horrid smell!"

Turning to the unicorn, Twilight was just about to ask what she was going on about before she to began to pick up something, and that something was scrunching her muzzle up something fierce. Pretty soon the other girls also began to voice their own disapproval of the stench, some more enthusiastically than others, and that disapproval only increased both visibly and audibly as the group soldiered on.

At that point, Twilight was how holding a hoof to her muzzle in a vain attempt to combat the smell. The other girls tried to ward off the smell as well, either covering their muzzles with hoof or wing, or even holding their breath as Pinkie was so expertly demonstrating. But their attempts were also in vain as the gagging and exclamations persisted.

Turning back to Rainbow Dash, Twilight was baffled that throughout the whole ordeal, the pegasus had not once voiced her own disgust nor did she attempt to cover her face as she continued on before disappearing through a bush up ahead. With confusion, disgust and interest all duking it out internally, Twilight wiped away at her teary eyes before pushing through the bush, smells be damned. And as Twilight forced her way passed the bush, so did she pass into the light of the evening sun.

Blinking away tears and rays of light, Twilight squinted up to see Rainbow Dash standing stock still beside her, her face unreadable as her eyes remained forward. Tilting her head, Twilight followed Dash's gaze and in that moment, everything stopped. Her hooves stood still, her senses dimmed, hell maybe even her own heart forgot to skip a beat. For at that very moment, Twilight was rendered utterly quiet. Everything around her seemed to slowly fade away, as if she were in some trance that not even the heavy rustling of leaves and the collection of gasps that followed shortly after could have snapped her from this apparent dream state. For what lay before her and her friends was a scene of true, absolute horror, an utter nightmare made a reality.

Is this real? Is this a dream? How is this possible?

These questions and more slowly drifted through Badass' mind as the little lizard laid sprawled across one of the many strange stone slabs that its larger friend had brought with him, its little body slightly sunk into the soft embrace of the slab's surface. As it rested upon the slab, its mind thought back to earlier on.

After its friend had returned, the lizard had watched its larger friend take the strange slabs with him, and with a single jump, ascend up to a space above and behind those two colorful piles of stone. Curious, the lizard had zipped up the stone walls and passed the elevated rows of stone above and had stopped just short of the platform that had been somewhat concealed by those two large oddly colored leafs that hung above the two colorful piles of stone below. There it stood, watching as its new friend busied himself by arranging the stone slabs into a collection which, to the lizard, resembled a larger version of the individual slabs. Once all the slabs were in place and the larger lizard had nodded his apparent approval of said arrangement, he turned his horned head over to the little lizard, who looked at him, then at the slabs, then back to him again before tilting his head. The larger lizard simply chuckled as he waved a clawed hand over the slabs.

"Wanna try them out?" He growled, to which after some hesitation, the little lizard agreed, and after a short trip via a open clawed hand, the little lizard touched down onto the surface of one of the slabs, meanwhile expecting a cold and solid exterior much like its own stone, but instead being taken aback by a strange, almost alien sensation.

"Comfortable?" The larger lizard hissed, to which the little lizard gave pause to before slowly nodding.

Comfort. that was what the little lizard was feeling, and oh did it enjoy that feeling. The little lizard couldn't help but dig further into the comfort of the whimsical slab, and as it sunk further in, as if it were being absorbed, the little lizard did not care, for all it knew then, there, and now, was comfort.

"I knew you'd like them." The monstrous reptile hissed, a deep growling chuckle following shortly after. "Who doesn't like a comfy mattress? Had to bust down a couple walls to grab them though, but it looks like it was worth it."

The larger lizard then fell to all fours as he made his way over to the supersized bed, then as he casually plopped onto it, he chuckled once again when his lizard companion went airborne following his plop before falling back down and still remaining oblivious to the world.

"I'm guessing this means that you won't need to sleep on that slab anymore?" Richard asked, to which his lizard friend mumbled something along the lines of a half-response-half-snore before completely succumbing to the powers of the comfy and being reduced to a curled up and happily snoozing heap. "I'll take that as a yes then."

And for several minutes following that, Richard rested upon the many mattresses, simply watching his little friend innocently sleep away. The sight was familiar to say the least. It reminded him of times when he'd find Diablo snoozing in his bed or resting upon one of his pillows. And despite either hissing at him when he wanted the little devil off it or ignoring his demands altogether as he just got more cozier, he still couldn't find it in his heart to be mad at the little guy, slightly pissed sure, but never passed that and never for too long.

"Good times." Richard quietly growled to himself, before his stomach suddenly and loudly growled. "And now those good times are gone, thanks a lot stomach."

Looking over at Badass, Richard was glad that his insufferable appetite hadn't woken up the still happily snoozing lizard. Carefully getting up, he shuffled around the bed of beds and, with a claw over the side, swung himself down to the floor so as not to further risk waking his new friend. Heading over to the doors, he paused before looking over his shoulder at the somewhat hidden balcony he had found while he was cleaning earlier on. A moment of silence passed before he simply smiled and turned his head back around, heading through the doors before slowly pushing them closed with his tail.

"Sleep tight buddy, I'm just going out for a bite."

And with that being growled, Richard proceeded down the hall and was soon out of the castle, leaving his new friend to dream happy little lizard dreams while he went hunting.

Was this real? Was this a nightmare? How could any of this even be possible?

These were just a few of the dozens of questions rushing through Twilight's mind as she stared silently, almost breathless at the gruesome scene before her. So gruesome, so horrid, violent, and just downright nightmarish that words simply failed her, reducing her to a state of shock that seemed to cripple her to her most basic of primal instincts. Instincts that, at that very moment, were screaming at her to run. To hide. To do something. Yet she did not move, shake like a leaf in a hurricane yes, but she still remained still as she took in each and every minute detail of the literal massacre presented to her on a blood-soaked silver platter.

And for a few moments, in that clearing, she simply stood and stared. Her eyes moved from one mangled manticore carcass to the next. She counted ten, no wait eleven, the last one appeared to be under a tree a ways away from the clearing. She also took in there countless injuries, forced by some morbid fascination to see and identify there causes of death as plain as day, and for some of the manticores, simply having to guess from the lack of identifiable remains.

And the smell. Oh, the smell. To her, it was likely one of the worst things she had ever smelled, or will ever smell. And if what she saw wasn't horrible enough, then the stench of rotting flesh and exposed entrails dwarfed what she was currently seeing in comparison to what she was smelling. In some backwards way, the unicorn was actually glad that she didn't eat anything in the morning, because if she had, she would've most definitely been alongside Applejack who, as she turned around to see her, was now currently halfway through the process of emptying her stomach behind a nearby tree. Turning to Rainbow Dash, Twilight found the pegasus on the forest floor, shaking slightly as she tucked herself into a little ball of fear.

"Ra-Rainbow?" she asked, her voice almost as quiet as Fluttershy's. The mare flinched at the utterance of her name, but after a moment, finally spoke.

"I used to hang out with Gilda, so meat shouldn't bother me." The mare said, more to herself than to her friend. "But, I already barfed before I came to get you girls."

Blinking, Twilight didn't quite know how to respond to that, and after a few attempts to form a coherent response, she instead remained silent as she looked for the others.

The next mare she set her sights on was Rarity, who had fainted earlier on and was now lying unconscious in the dirt. Though at what point she had fainted, and whether it was the sight, the smell, or a combination of the two that had been the cause of the mare's collapse was anypony's guess.

Then came Pinkie Pie. Oh, Pinkie Pie. When Twilight had seen her, she found the mare sitting in the dirt, her back hunched over and facing the carnage while her own face was turned away and her hooves were shakily covering her eyes. She rocked back and forth ever so slightly, her usually poofy mane reduced to a wet mop of dark pink that also shook in turn with her. A collection of sharp breaths and other odd and incoherent sounds came from the sitting pone that, as Twilight got closer, were found to actually be words.

"They're just sleeping. They're just sleeping. Those big kitties are just really tired and are just taking a super long cat nap. Yeah, that's why they smell too, it's because they're so tired that they just forgot to take a bath. Heh, Silly kitties. Silly kitties. Silly kitties."

Twilight tilted her head slightly at Pinkie's words, and as she raised a hoof to address the mare, she hesitated. Then after a bit of consideration, she lowered it and quietly watched the mare vainly assure herself of the impossible. Honestly at this point, Twilight really couldn't find it in her heart to fault the mare, seeing as how she was likely one of the most innocent mares she had ever met, well second only to-

"Fluttershy."

Blinking, Twilight whipped her head around in search of the pegasus before finding her and gasping shortly after.

Fluttershy, poor poor Fluttershy. At some point during Twilight's moment of shocked pause, she had failed to notice the timid mare approach one of the closer and relatively intact manticores before simply sitting down beside it. And there she had remained beside the dead creature, slowly and silently petting the creature's blood soaked mane.

It had taken several moments for Twilight to gather up any bits of remaining courage she had left before she stepped into the crimson-coated clearing. Several other moments were then spent taking step after hesitant, shaky step before the unicorn was standing just a few feet behind the still silent mare. Now closer to the body, Twilight actually whimpered when the smell hit her, yet even as she considered whether or not it would've been rude to openly gag, the butter yellow mare still remained quiet.

"Fl-Fluttershy?" Twilight whispered, to which the pegasus ceased in her comforting, her hoof still mid-pet as it rested on the creature's side. "Are you...are you alr-"

Twilight immediately went quiet when Fluttershy suddenly withdrew her hoof from the creature and slowly got up. Still staring down at the manticore's motionless body, she began to softly speak.

"Twilight, I'm okay. After all, it's the circle of life. Some creatures just need to ki-, to kill other creatures in order to survive, even if it means those creatures have to suffer so that another can live its life. Where there's life, there will always be loss. I've seen it all before Twilight, and now, I just have to be strong. To go on living and helping others. I'm sure its what they would have wanted."

Twilight was taken aback. For how could she not be when Fluttershy, sweet and caring Fluttershy could stand on four solid and blood-caked hooves, say what she had just said, and yet remain so calm and collected while she did so, while the unicorn herself could barely keep herself from pulling a Rarity any second now. So for a moment, Twilight remained silent. She just didn't know what to say, which in this case was almost so laughably ironic after considering who had spoken while the other simply remained shy to answer.

"Fluttershy." Twilight finally said, approaching the mare before stopping beside her. "That was amazing. It really was."

A faint smile appeared on the mare's face before it disappeared just as suddenly as it arrived, replaced by a slight grimace as she lowered her head.

"Are you really okay, Fluttershy?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just- it's a terrible day for it to rain."

Blinking, Twilight slowly looked up to the cloudless, late evening sky, Before turning back to her friend.

"Wh-What do you mean, It's not raining."

Fluttershy however, remained quiet as she to slowly raised her head to the sky, her expression hidden behind her long pink hair, but made ever painfully clear when she once again spoke.

"Yes." She softly replied, as a single tear rolled down her exposed cheek. "It is."

Realizing what she had meant, Twilight blinked before she turned her head away from her friend in mourning.

"O-oh, so it is."

Looking over the bodies of the other manticores, Twilight could understand the pain that her dear friend was experiencing, if only partially. For despite being dangerous monsters of the Everfree, they were still living, breathing creatures, who most likely had harder lives to live out in these woods then Twilight could ever possibly imagine. And maybe it was due to the smell, or maybe the fact that her friend was crying over the deaths of some creatures that she didn't even know yet considered as close as her own friends, or maybe even due to suddenly realizing the damning reality of all of it, of the death, the suffering that these creatures went through, and of the cruel fate which awaited them basically meant being swallowed by this forest and simply forgotten, that a deep pit now formed in the unicorn's already aching heart and already empty stomach. And with that pit, came tears as well. But for what exactly? Well, that was anypony's guess at this point. However, those tears didn't last long before a certain earth pony cleared her throat.

Turning her head, Twilight saw Applejack standing just a couple feet from the two mares. On her back laid a still unconscious Rarity, While a quiet Rainbow Dash and a equally gloomy Pinkie Pie with a visibly red hoof mark across her left cheek flanked her sides.

"Twilight, I think its time the lot of us headed home."

Looking at her friend, Twilight remained quiet for a moment before wiping away any stray tears and nodding once. The farm pony nodded in turn and with a shared look amongst the other two, they began to make their may towards Ponyville. Beginning to head back as well, Twilight looked over her shoulder to see Fluttershy still standing by the manticore's body.

"Come on Fluttershy, you should head back home before your animal friends get worried."

Hearing that, the pegasus sniffled once before she rubbed at her face and turned to follow after the other two girls. Watching her walk past, Twilight sighed before she joined the others as well, but just as she was nearing the edge of the clearing, Applejack suddenly stopped her with a hoof. And as Twilight raised a brow at the farm pony, her features suddenly became very serious in response.

"Twilight." The mare said, her voice lowered so as not to let the others hear. "What are we going to do?"

Twilight for her part merely blinked.

"A-About what?"

"Abou-" Applejack sighed heavily before she waved a hoof at the clearing behind Twilight. "About all of that, Twilight. What are we going to do about all of that?"

After a few moments of the unicorn trying and failing to say something, she simply sighed before glancing back one last time at the horror which lay behind her. When she spoke, her tone sadly betrayed her feelings, and the utter defeat, hopelessness, and fear that rode on every letter of her words did little to appease the orange mare, simply confirming her own fears instead.

"I...don't know, Applejack. I- I just don't know."

Author's Note

Well well well folks, there you have it. The moment some of you have been waiting for for so long now, the moment where we scar the ever-loving shit out of the main six. I know some of you were real eager to see their reactions. Well, there you go! I just hope I made it worth the wait.

I also hope that some of you can forgive me for that horrible reference near the end of the chapter. But in my defense, I honestly thought that it would've been a mistake if I didn't add it in. Besides, I'm sure that at least a few of you guys would've agreed with me, right?

Oh boy, the comments.

Anyways. I hope you all really liked this chapter. Have mercy on me in the comments. And as always folks, stay casual.

Chapter 5: Run Through The Forest

Richard's belly gave another low growl as he ducked under another low hanging branch. Growling just as lowly in annoyance, Richard patted at the outer layer of skin and scales that covered his rather obnoxious organ.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the last ten times."

As his stomach growled once again, basically just telling him to fuck off at this point, Richard merely gave it the metaphorical middle claw as he stepped over another small bush and into the light of a familiar, blood-bathed clearing. Looking about, Richard was momentarily amazed by the fact that the eleven lion-things he had violently put down were still left undisturbed, or as undisturbed as a pile of disturbingly mutilated carcasses could be in a forest populated by countless other creatures. Maybe it was the smell? Sniff sniff. Well it was certainly smelly, probably kept most creatures away. Yet to Richard, it wasn't so bad in his opinion. In fact if he was being honest with himself, it was actually kinda-

Cue stomach once again being a little bitch.

"Augh, you really want me to eat rotting meat don't you?" Another inner growl and another outer growling exhale later. "Fiiiinnnee, I'll eat the shit, but only because I couldn't find anything else."

Approaching one of the more intact bodies, Richard knelt down to sniff at the creature and, despite the absolutely wicked stench that seemed to visibly waft from the downed creature, Richard couldn't help but wipe at his maw as drool began to drip from it. But as he was just about to go in for the chomp, he halted, much to his stomach's vocalized displeasure.

Standing up, Richard began to sniff curiously at the air, and despite his belly's protests, the overgrown lizard couldn't help but be lead by the nose to whatever it was smelling for.

"Fuck off stomach, I think I'm picking up something else." And he most certainly was. For as Richard continued to sniff at the air, he began to leave behind the stench of meat for something else, something familiar.

Approaching the other side of the clearing, Richard could tell the smell was definitely getting stronger, and though he couldn't quite give the smell words, it was certainly enticing to say the least. Coming to a stop near the treeline, Richard fell to the ground as one spot in the dirt seemed to practically radiate the scent, and now that Richard could smell it more closely, he now knew what he was smelling.

"Perfume?" He hissed curiously.

With another sniff, it was confirmed. This smell was definitely perfume, and not just the cheap stuff either, real top shelf shit.

Looking around, Richard blinked twice at a thin wisp of purple smoke as it trailed through the trees. And if his schnoz wasn't sniffing bullshit, he was sure that he was also picking up several other fainter scents along with the one he was seeing snake through the air.

Stomach growls curiously.

"I'm not sure stomach." Richard growled, looking from the limp lion bodies to the direction that the new scents went in. "But could you shut up for a bit." Another stomach growl. "Five minutes tops. Sound good?" A moment of silence reigns before Richard's stomach grumbles one last time, causing him to smile toothily. "Groovy."

Falling to all fours, Richard wasted not a second longer before he was suddenly off, trees and foliage passing by him in a blur as he ran off, a little joyful roar signaling to no one in particular that the hunt was on.

Twilight gave a slight yelp as she stumbled over yet another exposed tree root, and much like the other dozen or so roots she had tripped over during their walk back to Ponyville, this root was not spared from punishment as she gave the guilty glorified twig a cute little death glare before she sighed and continued forward. Of course, this little incident would do little to stop the others from repeating the unicorn's mistake as all their heads were just as filled with conflict as her's was. And after a good ten minutes since the girls had left behind that abhorrent scene of horror, it was only reasonable to assume that such thoughts, of which clouded every one of the girls' minds with Twilight's being the most filled while Rarity's was likely the least on account of her still being rendered unconscious , would still linger long after the girls had left this forest far behind.

Figuring that she would likely be spending the next few nights sleepless, Twilight sighed dejectedly as she looked back at her friends. Yeah they didn't seem any better. Just a bit behind her, Applejack was still carrying Rarity on her back looking a bit pissed all the while. Just behind her was Pinkie Pie who was looking more down than Twilight could ever possibly imagine seeing the joyful mare ever be as she kept her eyes to the forest floor. And behind her, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were silently walking beside eachother, the former keeping her head on a near-constant swivel while the ladder simply walked on. Facing forward, Twilight couldn't bare the silence any longer as she attempted to lighten the overall mood.

"I think we're almost back to Ponyville." She turned to regard the group, but no reaction was discovered. "Shouldn't be much longer."

Silence was once again the group's response as Twilight sighed and turned back to the direction ahead and-

"Everypony stop!"

Immediately stopping, Twilight and the other girls looked at Rainbow Dash, who was now staring at the treeline behind them, her ears swiveling as her eyes peered into the dark woods behind them.

"Rainbow Dash, what's-" Twilight tried to ask before she was suddenly and somewhat rudely shooshed by the pegasus, who had yet to peel her attention from the trees beyond. Twilight huffed as Applejack simply raised a brow.

"What is it Dash?"

Keeping her eyes on the trees, she responded in a hushed tone.

"Something's following us." And as if she knew that Twilight among everypony else was going to ask the obvious, Rainbow Dash simply raised a hoof at the other mares. "Stay quiet and just listen."

And so the girls did. For a few moments the girls simply stayed quiet as they too tried to hear whatever it was that their friend was apparently hearing. But after several moments of silence, there was nothing to be heard.

"Rainbow Dash." Twilight whispered, for what reason she didn't know. "I don't hear anything."

To which the rainbow-maned mare simply replied, her voice just as hushed if not more so.

"Exactly."

Blinking, It took Twilight and the girls a few moments to understand what Dash had been implying before it suddenly clicked. The reason they couldn't hear anything before was because there was nothing actually making noise. No small animals, no birds, no nothing. It was silent. Suspiciously, dangerously silent.

Almost instinctively, the girls slowly backed towards one another. A moment later and the girls were now standing flank to flank, their eyes and ears flicking from one area to another, searching, listening, waiting. The silence continued, seemingly growing to the point where it practically surrounded the girls, raising tensions while simultaneously lowering their spirits.

And yet the girls still stood strong, yellow legs nearly buckling aside. After all, they were the elements of harmony, they couldn't be scared, not now. They had to remain brave even in the face of danger, purple brow slightly sweating aside. They had a job to do, and that job right now meant that they had to find this creature.

Snap

Five set of ears swiveled in the direction of a snapping twig.

Crack

Five heads turned to the sound of a nearby branch being pushed aside.

Rustle

Five mares turned to face a collection of bushes several feet away.

Rustle rustle

Two mares got into semi-fighting stances as two others stood still. The last one simply shivered in place.

Rustle rustle rustle

All five mares braced themselves for their encounter with the, with a-

Rust- hop hop hop

A bunny. A little brown bunny.

The girls collectively blinked at the small creature as it too blinked up at them with large black eyes.

Opening her eyes, of which had been tightly closed up until this moment, Fluttershy was the first to sigh with relief as she happily approached the bunny.

"Oh my. You gave us quite the surprise Mister Bunny. You know it isn't nice to scare ponies like that."

The bunny looked up at the pegasus for a moment before it glanced over its shoulder and suddenly dashed off, leaving Fluttershy to shake her head at the animals antics.

"What a silly little bunny, right girls? Girls?"

Turning to her friends, Fluttershy raised a brow as the four of them were standing stock still, staring at her with varying looks of shock and horror.

"Girls? What's wrong? Did that bunny really scare you girls that much?" She suddenly giggled to herself, oblivious to their frantic hoof-waving and wordless breathes. "Well don't you girls worry one bit, because Fluttershy's here-

There suddenly came a rustling noise from behind the yellow pegasus.

"...to...protect-"

There suddenly came a low hissing noise from behind the now slightly shaking pegasus.

"...all of-"

There suddenly came a deep huff as a small gust of wind blew from behind the now violently shaking pegasus, jostling her mane passed her face. Slowly, so very slowly, the pegasus turned her head around until her pinprick-sized eyes revealed to her a creature of absolute terror, a beast that brought fear to every inch of her being, a monster that stared into her very soul.

"...you."

For Richard, there could have been several things that he was expecting to find when he finally zeroed in on the strange scent. The most obvious being humans, probably a group of them with some girl who sprayed herself one too many times with lady cologne. Or maybe a wild dog that had been doused with something that gave off the same flowery stink of perfume. Or hell, maybe some weird-ass creature that just so happened to excrete the same smell of a Bath and Body Works when it felt threatened.

But five small, colorful as hell, horse-looking creatures. Yeah, not exactly at the top of the list. Like not at all. And honestly, that description was pretty much spot on in Richard's opinion. Because they were definitely small. And not like half-his-height small, but like if he stood to his full height, they'd probably come up to knee height for him, if barely at all.

They were also really fucking colorful. And not just your typical horse shades of brown, black, and white, but straight up colors of the rainbow. And if his eyes weren't already fucking with him enough, Richard swore that one of the little horse things, a blue one, literally had a rainbow for hair. Mane color maybe? Anyways it was pretty much like someone dipped its head in a vat of melted skittles. And the other ones? Well the other ones were each a solid color of their own. There was a purple one, a really fucking pink one, an orange one with a cowboy hat for some reason, what looked to be a passed out white one on the orange one's back, and a yellow one too.

And if the midget-sized, pastel-colored horses weren't enough of a mind fuck for Richard, the extra appendages that a few of them were sporting only went to further prove that he definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore. No, it wasn't just the bright-ass fur colors or freakishly large eyes that the horses had, it was what was on their heads and on their backs that made Richard's head go full tilt. A pair of small, bird-like wings rested at the sides of two of the horses, the blue and yellow ones, while a single cone-shaped horn jutted from the forehead of two more of the horses, the purple and white ones. The last two didn't have anything, though from where Richard was currently hiding in a bush, he couldn't be sure if the orange one wasn't also hiding a head-spear under that little yee-haw hat of hers.

Wait. Was it a her? Well, now that Richard thought about it, it probably was safe to assume that they were all female due to the lack of any apparent man bits.

'Well, I found them, so now what?' Richard thought. Though, he wasn't really given much time to consider his options before the bush he was in suddenly rustled, causing all the little horses' ears to flick over in his direction. Blinking, he looked around in his hiding spot before his eyes fell on a small, brown bunny that had stopped beside his head. The bunny then looked at Richard, who in turn looked at it as if to ask 'The fuck do you want?' before it hopped further into the bushes. This in turn created a shit ton of rusting noises which caused the horses to now look directly at his hiding spot, causing Richard to inwardly curse.

'Oh, you little shit.'

The rustling continued, and the horses looked to be preparing themselves for battle, the orange and blue ones at least, the other two didn't do much else while the yellow one just shivered in fear. Luckily it didn't have to come to Richard shoving the bunny out of the bush as it had apparently filled its insistent bush-rustling quota for the day and finally managed to slip free from the grip of the green leaves. Once it was out, the horses were more or less surprised to think that they were scared of a small-ass rabbit. The yellow one however seemed to be the first one to recover, for as she hesitantly opened her eyes, she appeared to immediately relax, even looking as though she got a real kick out of it as she now calmly left the safety of her companions and approached the small creature.

And then she spoke.

...

Or, well, it looked like she was speaking to it, but all Richard could really hear was a collection of soft neighs and whinnies. Maybe she was telling it off or something. Though with those expressions of hers that seemed just a tad too human-ish in Richard's opinion, she was probably giving it a sweet, motherly, "silly-rabbit" kinda talking-to that made the concealed beast humorously huff. And apparently the rabbit somehow heard that as it looked back at him for a moment, seemingly as if it were considering something as Richard simply froze.

'Don't you fucking dare rat me out, you little shit.'

Luckily, or unluckily, the bunny decided to dash off into a nearby bush, leaving the winged yellow horse's side. By herself. Alone. Away from the rest of her friends. Huh.

'Well. I guess it's now or never.'

Slowly, Richard lifted himself onto all fours. Then with one claw in front of the other, he effortlessly emerged from the bushes with but a single rustle. Of course, the other little horses were able to noticed him almost instantly, each looking every bit of shocked and absolutely terrified. Yet as Richard continued his approach. the little yellow horse remained happily oblivious to her friends' vain attempts to warn her.

'Guess this needs a deathclaw's touch.'

Now standing just a few inches behind the little blind horse, Richard let out a low hiss, noting the horse's reaction as she seemed to stiffen slightly before beginning to shiver slightly. Adding on to his apparent act to wordlessly make his presence known, Richard purposely huffed through his nose, sending a small gust of wind to blow the horse's pink hair forward. By that point, the little pony was now shaking up a storm as she ever so slowly turned her head. And oh damn.

Maybe it was the deathclaw in him. But damn it all if seeing this little horse absolutely terrified of him didn't make her look just a bit more cute. Course, the five of these little horse things were all cute in their own ways, but the little bird horse in front of him, straight-up adorable. So adorable in fact that it even made Richard bare his teeth just a bit more in a sort of demonic grin that may or may not have made the yellow one's fur go just a few shades paler.

Small jokes aside, Richard still needed to figure out what he wanted to do with these horses. At this point, eating them was obviously out of the question. Too damn cute. Maybe he could try leading them back to his castle? From his point of view, these little horses probably couldn't survive a night in these woods, much less without any apparent way to defend themselves, though maybe the horned ones were safer in that regard. Maybe he could escort them out of the woods? It was possible that they may have gotten separated from their parents and or owners. Though Richard had yet to actually find the exit out of this massive forest. Well thoughts aside, maybe it was best to start with a friendly greeting first. Couldn't hurt to try, right?

Coming out of his thoughts, Richard looked down at the little horse, who had yet to make a move at all, save for continuing to shake with fear. Lowering his head so that he was somewhat eye to eye with the little thing, he tried to put on his best winning smile before he gave the coolest hiss he could muster.

"Sup."

For probably the first time in her life, Fluttershy was left absolutely speechless, terrified, and confused all at the same time. Here was the creature she and her friends had been looking for, the mystery monster of the Everfree, its toothy maw lingering just inches from her face, hissing a simple hello and yet, she didn't know how to respond. In all her years of dealing with, caring for, and conversing with animals of nearly all shapes and sizes, she had yet to ever encounter a creature that possessed such a imposing physique, terrifying aura and relaxed tone all in one. She was baffled to say the least.

"H-Hello th-th-there." She responded, trying to meet the creature's eyes and instead focusing on its exposed teeth. "Ni-Nice to m-me-meet you."

The creature tilted its head at her, but gave a casual growl nonetheless. What was growled however left the mare's cheeks to quickly grow bright red.

"I'm cu-cu-cute?" The massive lizard actually nodded its head, repeating what had been previously said. "Oh my. Um, th-thank you."

Feeling her nerves starting to calm down, Fluttershy tried to offer a small smile at the creature, who in turn reached out to her with its claws. And despite the suddenness of the action, of which caused her to flinch, she was surprised at the creature's gentleness as it lightly patted her on the head, all the while offering a low growl that assured her that its intentions bore no ill will.

With that being growled, along with the pets and occasional ear scritching that the creature gave, what little remnants of doubt were quickly swept away as the pegasus cooed and giggled at the creature's acts of friendliness. So much so that for just a single moment, Fluttershy wouldn't have believed that this creature was the same one who had slain those manticores. So after one last pat on the head, she nodded.

"Oh I just knew it. She said, smiling up at the creature who simply tiled its head at her. "You were just being misunderstood. You never really wanted to hurt anypony, now did you?"

Withdrawing its claws, the creature watched as the mare stepped back from it and turned to address her friends, who as she could see, were left completely blown away by this new development. Fluttershy merely giggled.

"See girls, our lizard friend here doesn't want to hurt us. He was just a little misunderstood, that's all." Looking up at the creature, Fluttershy smiled as it seemed to go in for another pet. "In fact, I think the only thing that Mister Lizard wants are more frie-eep!"

Before she could finish what she was going to say, Fluttershy was surprised when she was suddenly engulfed in a purple aura of magic and quite literally yanked through the air, away from her new friend mind you, before being all but dropped beside her other friends, who then formed a semi-circle that effectively separated her from the creature.

"Twilight? Why did you have to-"

"Fluttershy are you okay?" Did that thing hurt you?"

Blinking, Fluttershy was confused beyond belief why Rainbow Dash would ask that, especially when it was so out of the blue.

"W-What? Yes, I'm fine but why did-" She was suddenly cut off by Twilight who, much to the mare's shock, had her horn pointed at the creature.

"Why?!" The unicorn all but yelled. "Oh! Oh, I'll tell you why, Fluttershy. Because that monster almost killed you!"

Absolutely baffled by her friend's accusation, the pegasus was about to give the mare a piece of her mind when she happened to glace back at the creature and all but froze in horror.

The creature, whom she had been happily standing beside just moments ago was now staring at the ground with a unreadable expression. It stood upright, its torso twisted slightly as its right claw was hovering above the ground in a mid-swinging pose all the way across to its left side. And if that sight wasn't incriminating enough, Flutters nearly went white when she saw that in place of where she had previously stood was a massive set of slash marks several inches deep in the dirt. Marks which, as she slowly followed them with her eyes, started from her previous spot, ran parallel in front of the creature, and ended upwards across the bark of a nearby tree, which then promptly split in half before the upper half fell onto the forest floor with a loud crash.

"See Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed "That could've been you just now!"

"But, But it, I-I thought-"

"Rainbow Dash is right Fluttershy." Twilight interrupted, her eyes squinting at the creature who was just now realizing what had happened and looked up at the girls with apparent confusion. "Luckily though, I noticed its right claw twitch and was able to grab you right before it stood up." She then gulped. "But if I was just a second too late." She quickly shook her head, before lowering her eyes on the creature, her horn beginning to charge up all the while.

"Pinkie Pie! Take Fluttershy and get ready to run. Applejack. Rainbow Dash. Get ready to run too."

While Pinkie Pie silently nodded, Applejack was a bit more vocal with her response.

"Now you wait just a darn minute sugarcube! We are not leaving you alone with this monster!

Rainbow Dash was, as always, quick to voice her opinion as well.

"Yeah Twilight! Let's take down this overgrown lizard together!"

The unicorn however, shook her head.

"No! We don't know anything about this creature. If it was intelligent enough to trick us like that, who knows what else it can do. No, the safest thing to do right now is run. I'll distract it while you girls run to Ponyville.

"But Twilight-"

"No, Rainbow Dash! We cannot afford to lead this thing back to Ponyville. So just get ready to run!"

Before any of the other girls could continue voicing their concerns, the creature suddenly moved, its arm raising towards the girls as it growled.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Rearing on her hind hooves, Twilight fired off a bolt of pure magic which, upon striking the creature's snout, erupted in a blinding flash of light. This in turn caused the creature to roar, more so in surprise rather than pain as the unicorn turned to her friends.

"RUN!"

Richard was at a complete loss for what had just happened. So much so, that he had to take a moment to replay the events that had just occurred over in his head.

In the beginning, things had been going well for the most part. For after stepping out of the bush and introducing himself to the little bird horse, the little thing actually spoke back. Though with the soft and slight stuttering neigh it gave, Richard could only assume that it was either also introducing herself to him or was probably pleading for its life. Either way, that shit was cute and Richard had made sure to say it so.

"Damn, your cute."

This apparently got a reaction out of the horse as it actually blushed. How it somehow understood him or how it was able to blush with fur was anyone's guess, but Richard wasn't complaining. He nodded to himself.

"Yup. Fucking adorable."

Looking down at the little thing as it offered the most innocent smile he had ever seen, Richard couldn't help but feel a slight pain in his heart.

'Daww, now that deserves a pet.'

True to his thought, Richard reached for the creature's head and despite its flinching at his actions, the horse gradually eased into his claws as he offered pets and ear scritches.

"There we go. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

After one last pet, the little horse nodded and began to neigh at him, though whatever was said fell on deaf ears as Richard watched the thing go off on some sort of joyful rant.

'Man I wish I knew what the hell you were saying.'

Following her soft, unintelligible words, the little horse turned to look over at her friends who, to Richard's amusement, were left absolutely stunned by their friend's first contact with big bad him. She then began to speak to them as Richard simply listened on, but after a moment or so his attention had wandered over to her back.

'That fur. Those wings. I wonder how soft they are?'

Raising a claw, he looked over at the little horse who, after speaking to her friends, paused for a moment to regard him. But seeing as how she only smiled and wasn't outright objecting to Richard's actions, he simply thought that he had her permission and went in for the pet.

And that was the moment when several things all happened at once.

In the blink of an eye, Richard's eyes in this case, he was suddenly up on his hind claws. He was staring at the ground. His body was in a weird ass pose. And the little yellow horse was gone.

'What...just happened?'

Blinking, Richard's stared dumbfounded at the dirt and what was most definitely his claw marks slashing across his path. There also seemed to come a loud crashing noise from somewhere else but that was ignored as his attention shifted upwards to the noises of loud and somewhat frantic whinnying.

To say Richard was confused was one hell of an understatement.

Just a second ago, the little yellow horse who had been standing in front of him was now laying behind the other four horses, her expression was something of a mix between shock and betrayal while the others adorned looks of surprise and anger. The purple one was especially pissed as she squinted at him with a blazing fire in her eyes and the horn atop her head pointed at him. And what's more.

'Is-Is that thing glowing?'

It apparently was, and was continuing to glow ever-brighter as the purple one spoke to the others. At her neighing words, the pink one had nodded while the orange and blue one seemed to be in disagreement. The purple one however wasn't having it as she replied with a bit more bite in her neighing,

Seeing as shit had suddenly went from zero to a hundred real fucking fast for no fucking reason, Richard, in as vain of an attempt as it had seemed, tried to calm the horses down.

"Uhm. Could you girls maybe calm do-"

As Richard took a step forward, his arms raised in a placating gesture, the purple one reacted almost instantly. Rearing on her hind legs, the purple horse whipped her head about, her horn flashing for a moment before she shot. yes actually shot, a bolt of something at him, and before Richard could even form a coherent anything, the bolt hit him square in the snout. And then it exploded.

"AHHH! THE FUCK!?!?" Richard roared as he was effectively flashbanged by the purple horse. Sure he didn't feel any physical pain but fuck if his eyes and ears weren't beyond fucked up. And as he growled his distaste for being rendered partially deaf and blind at the same fucking time, he could just barely make out the muffled noise of his attacker and the other horses over the ringing.

Once the ringing in his ears had died to a low dull and Richard could actually see passed the dots dancing in his vision, Richard soon found himself alone as the little horses had already beaten a hasty retreat.

Richard was pissed.

"Ohhhh, I see how it is!" He growled lowly, his vision slowly reddening all the while. "Can't handle your friend having all the pets so you throw the fucking sun at me and run off?"

Falling onto all fours, It took Richard only a moment to sniff around before he suddenly looked up and smiled toothily.

"Found you."

"Eh! Oh! Let me down Applejack!"

Ignoring the other unicorn thrown across her back, Applejack continued to dig her hooves into the dirt as she galloped alongside her other friends, with Pinkie Pie to her left carrying a teary-eyed Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash flew on her right, keeping a eye out for the monster.

"Didn't you hear me Applejack?! I said I was going to distract it so why did you grab me!?

Hopping over a log, the mare grunted.

"Because I wasn't going to let you stay behind with that thing is what."

"But if we lead it to Ponyville then-!"

"Then we'll deal with it then and there together! Like hay I was actually going to just let you fight it off alone!"

"But-!"

"But nothing Twilight!" The farm pony huffed as the trio continued to dart around a tree after tree. "You said it yourself that that thing was dangerous and that we shouldn't go acting all scatter-brained. Honestly Twilight, I expected you of all ponies would've come up with a better plan that wasn't downright idiotic."

Twilight's eyes widened at that.

"Wha-, but Applejack-"

"She is kinda right, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said as she glanced at the stuttering mare. "I mean sure, I would've done the same thing but right now all that matters is all of us getting out of these woods." At the mare's continuously failing attempts to refute her, the pegasus added. "Plus, if Applejack didn't grab you, you'd probably be torn to shreds by now." The unicorn quickly shut up at that while Dash chuckled ."But it was kinda awesome when you blinded that thing. I mean, didn't you hear it? Heh, I bet that thing totally wasn't expecting that!"

Before Twilight could say anything regarding that, Pinkie Pie suddenly giggled, and when Twilight looked over her shoulder at her, the pink mare almost seemed like her usual self.

"Dashie's right! Did you see the look on Mister Lizard's face, Twilight? You were all like boommm, fllasshhh, eeeeeeee. Hehehe. And Mister Lizard was all like-

ROOOARRRRRR!

"Hehe, yeah, kinda like that!"

Turning their heads around, Twilight's fear came to fruition as she and the other girls watched with horror as the monster came barreling into view, Its front claws tearing chunks out of the dirt as it closed in on them.

"See?! This is what I was afraid of happening!" Twilight yelled alarmingly. "We'll lead that thing to Ponyville for sure!"

"Not if we can't shake him off first!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, and before Twilight or any of the other girls could ask how, she suddenly darted off, leaving the others to continue running for their lives.

"Now just where the hay is she going off to?" Applejack asked, to which Twilight, Fluttershy or Pinkie couldn't say. Not like they could however as there came another roar from their pursuer, prompting the two earth ponies to put in that extra leg work.

"I don't know, but she's right. we have to try and lose this thing fast." Twilight said before she turned her head back to the creature, who seemed to mostly focus on her rather than any of the others, and maybe that's exactly what she needed right now.

Charging up her horn, Twilight fired off a bolt of pure magic at the creature, watching as it glanced harmlessly of the creature's hide but nodding nonetheless as it still brought the desired effect.

Blinking back pinkish-purple sparks, the creature growled angrily before letting out a ferocious roar. Or it tried to before it was immediately interrupted by another bolt, followed by another, and then another, and several more, and soon a dozen more after that.

Words probably couldn't give justice to the copious levels of pissed off that the creature was experiencing as Twilight continued to fire off shot after shot of magic as quickly as she could. So pissed in fact that as Applejack and Pinkie darted around trees or hopped over fallen logs, the creature would simply smash right through them, sending shards of woods or entire tree trunks flying as its only priority seemed to be catching the purple menace in front of it.

"Applejack, do you see any large rocks nearby?" Twilight asked over the sounds of magic blasts and roaring.

"No, I don't think so. Wait. Yeah I do, on the left in front of us."

Pausing in her creature suppression, she glanced ahead to where Applejack had said the rock was and smirked at the sight of it beyond the trees.

"Excellent! Head straight towards it now."

"What? Why?"

"I got an idea. A great one, so just trust me!"

Reluctant to go along with such an idea, Applejack still nodded as she made for the rock while Pinkie Pie kept pace alongside her. The creature, ever more pushed over the edge by Twilight's actions, also picked up the pace, gradually closing in with each clawful of dirt. There had even been several instances where it would manage to grab a large chunk of wood from some the obliterated trees before launching it at its fleeing targets, but due to Twilight's early warnings, Applejack and Pinkie were able to evade each attack.

Pretty soon, the large boulder had come into view and it would only be a matter of moments before it sealed their doom. For Twilight however, seeing the rock coming ever closer filled her with hope as she ceased her constant firing in favor of charging up for a single spell. And as she charged her horn, she glanced from the creature to the rock, gauging the distance, solving mental calculations and simply hoping to Celestia that this little stunt worked.

"Twilight, what do I do?" Applejack asked as the rock got steadily closer.

"Keep going." The unicorn said, closing her eyes as she tweaked and finalized the spell.

"Twilight?"

"Keep going and get ready to turn right when I say. Pinkie, you'll go left."

"You got it!" Pinkie nodded.

"Twilight!"

Opening her eyes, Twilight fired off her spell, sending the bolt of charged light straight at the creature's face. Seeing ahead of the unicorn's plan however, the creature made ready to dodge her attack, when it was caught completely off guard as the bolt suddenly curved upwards as soon as it was fired, effectively making the creature roar out bullshit as it was, for the second time that day, blinded and deafened.

"Turn Now!"

And by her command, Pinkie and Applejack turned in their designated directions, coming to a skidding halt not a moment later as the sounds of roaring beast, followed by cracking rock, filled the air.

Give or take a few seconds later of blinking away the spots and waiting for the ringing to cease and the girls were slow to turn and gasp at their hoofwork. For between the four staring girls, laid the massive body of the unconscious creature, its head lay slumped, eyes closed and tongue lying limp at the side of its maw. What's more, a large crack was also visible across the rock's surface, which on second thought, actually seemed to be split in two because of the creature's cranial collision with it.

"Golly! That actually worked!"

"It did! And all it took was a little alteration of the spell."

Looking down at the creature's body, the girls couldn't help but feel a deep sense of relief, though that relief was short-lived as the creature gave a low, pained growl, causing the, to step back.

"It won't stay like that for long." Twilight said, looking over the creature's sorry state.

"You're right. We need to trap this critter somewhere. But how?" Applejack asked, rubbing a hoof under her chin. "And just where the hay is Rainbow Dash?"

"Right here!" The pegasus said as she landed behind the girls.

Turning to her, Twilight made to get off Applejack's back before she addressed her.

"Rainbow Dash! Where were you?"

"Easy Twilight. I was just finishing up on my little surprise for the monster." She replied before she looked over at the creature in question and whistled. "But it looks like you girls already took care of it. Awesome."

The unicorn however, sighed.

"No, its just knocked out. it'll probably wake up in a few minutes so we should definitely hurry out of this forest."

"Sure, we could do that. Ooorrrrr, we could do things my way and not have to worry about lizard-face ever again."

Raising a brow at her friend's smugness, the unicorn was almost afraid to ask.

"What do you mean?"

Rather than outright tell them though, the mare simply turned and headed off into the woods, stopping only to motion her friends to follow before leaving.

Looking to one another, the girls seemed hesitant. But after hearing the creature give off another low growl, they could do nothing but follow along.

For how long Richard had been out for, he did not know. When he woke up however, it was likely that he had been out for maybe a few minutes at least, seeing as the splitting headache he was feeling was still somewhat fresh.

"Fuuuuccck."

Groaning loudly and slow to rise, Richard rubbed at his sore snout as his brain eased off of its pain high. Blinking his eyes open, he found himself alone once again, aside from one cleaved boulder of course.

"That damn purple horse." Richard swore as he lifted himself off the forest floor. "That's the second fucking time she blinded me."

Standing up, Richard gave the air an experimental sniff, and after finding out that his nose surprisingly wasn't broken, he sighed in relief before returning to his search. And in no time in all, the scent of perfume and several others, of which most notably smelled of candy, apples, and fresh paper, wafted passed Richard's eyes, directing him somewhere off to his left.

"Run all you want, Purple. I'm still going to make you pay for all that shit you pulled one way or another."

And with that being growled, Richard headed back into the trees, hoping against all else that he wouldn't keep a certain purple horse and her friends waiting.

And luckily, for him that is, he did have to. For not long after continuing his pursuit of the little horses did Richard not only manage to catch up to them, but also find them stuck in the most problematic of pickles.

There they stood, all three of them. The orange, blue, and yellow ones that is. The other three? Well, lets just say that they were a bit tied up at the moment, and by tied up, they were actually tangled up in a mess of black and green vines. And as Richard looked on, any semblance of anger or announce that he had, especially for the purple one, was dashed away in an instant at the sight of her dangling helplessly in the air, looking equally parts pissed and embarrassed as she uselessly flailed her little hooves, all the while her friends tried and failed to get her down. The pink one seemingly giggling up a storm as she swayed upside down in the vines' grasp while the white one lay wrapped in the green ropes like a swaddled newborn also made Richard grin toothily as he slowly emerged from the trees.

"Well, well, well." Richard hissed smugly, gaining the immediate attention of all but one of the six horses as she was still unconscious. "Even in another world, Karma's still a bitch."

At the sight of his approach, the purple one began to struggle ever-harder, neighing frantically as the orange and blue ones took up defensive stances while the yellow one simply stood from the sidelines, looking between him and her friends as anxiousness betrayed her frantic features.

Taking a step forward, Richard growled.

"Honestly? I was not expecting to spend the rest of my day today chasing after six little-ass horses. "

He took another step, crunching some leaves under foot.

"I had also never even considered the possibility that just one of you could give me more crap in a hour than what I've already had to deal with up until this point."

And another step. crunching even more leaves.

"But congratulations!" Richard roared happily, unnerving the ponies present. "You all managed to make today just as amusing as it was irritating. Except you Yellow, you're cool." Seeing the little horse blush at that, Richard chuckled wholeheartedly before he quickly stopped.

"You, though." he hissed, squinting at the purple horse who flinched as she met his gaze. "You and I still got beef to settle."

At the utterance of the word, there suddenly came a loud growl from Richard's stomach and after Looking down, an idea suddenly came to mind. And as he slowly looked back up, It was very likely that the five horses, the purple one especially, knew just exactly what he was getting at.

"But that's okay now." Richard growled softly, idly running his snake-like tongue along the side of his gleaming teeth, an action which caused even the braver two of the six to visibly falter. Taking another step forward, he growled.

"Cause now?" Richard said. "Heh. Now, I think I know just how you can pay me ba-"

creak

"Huh?"

Looking down in confusion, it took Richard only a moment to realize his mistake. That of which was failing to notice the significantly large abundance of leaves on the forest floor, of which seemed to be centered specifically in one spot, that spot being where Richard was currently standing over.

Slowly looking up, Richard's mistake was further confirmed when he spotted the universally-recognizable expression of a shit-eating grin plastered across the blue one's face. Fuck.

"...Oh you little shi-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!"

Following a loud series of snaps and cracks, Richard soon found himself at the mercilessness of gravity as he was sent plummeting down a pit some seventy to eighty feet deep. Several seconds of roaring terror later, followed by a resounding boom shortly after, Richard now found himself groaning below the surface.

"Ow."

Laying on his back, Richard stared up at the hole he had just previously fallen through, his eyes squinting at the sunlight that beamed down on him and, more importantly, to the several heads that peered over the edge at him, though with their distant neighs and expressions obscured by the light, he could only assume that they were most likely checking to see if he was dead. Which surprisingly, he wasn't. Somehow.

"Fucking little horses." Richard groaned, slowly lifting himself back up. "Tricking me like that."

Now standing upright, he looked over his surroundings, and after seeing nothing but dirt and darkness, he sighed as he looked back up to the hole.

"Clever girls, I'll give them that. But how the hell did they manage to dig a hole this fucking de-"

Before Richard could finish what he was trying to say, there came a noise of shifting rock from somewhere nearby. Looking around, it took Richard a moment before his eyes could properly adjust to the change in lightning, but when they did, he found that dirt walls surrounded him on three sides while what looked to be the entrance of a cave made up the last one. Glancing down at his feet also revealed some rather large, black vines or roots, of which seemed to snake-out from the deeper darkness beyond, prompting Richard to peer into the dark depths while simultaneously failing to notice the vines at his feet slowly slither up said feet before beginning to coil around them.

"What the he-EEEL?!?!"

In an instant, Richard was on the ground. Looking back, his eyes widened as he spotted one of the large vines wrapped securely around his foot. They then widened even further when the vine suddenly went taught and he was soon being quite literally dragged into the darkness. And despite his claws digging into the dirt as he tried to crawl away, they did little to impede the vine's unnatural strength. Quite adamant on not wanting to know what was trying its damnedest to capture him, Richard roared as he raised one of his claws and swiped at the vine, being almost shocked at how easily the vine was cut in two despite what had just happened before he became very shocked at the appearance of several more vines that quickly find themselves latched onto both of Richard's arms, legs, and one of his horns. There was a following brief moment of silence as Richard stared at them.

"...Oh shi-IIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!"

For several moments, nopony present said anything. For in those several moments, the girls simply stared down the hole in which the creature had luckily fallen through. And after hearing it hit the ground, followed later by its encounter with the other monster below, the ponies present now listened with bated breath as both creatures fought. Though to the girls, the confrontation remained invisible to the eye as the girls could only hear the heated exchange of roars as anything else was shrouded in darkness. Give or a take several seconds more of unseen fighting and, rather sooner than expected, it had suddenly become very quiet.

"...Did...did we get it?" Rainbow Dash asked, to which none of the other girls immediately responded to. "I-I mean isn't it obvious that we did. I uh...I just wanted to know if you girls knew is all."

After several more seconds of intense listening, Twilight took a step back from the hole.

"I...think we did Rainbow." She said, turning to the pegasus. "I really think we did!"

At that proclamation, the rest of the girls seemed to physically relax.

"We I'll be!" Applejack said, raising her hat in wonder. "Heh. We sure showed that critter, now didn't we Twilight?"

"I guess we did. But Rainbow Dash....how in Equestria did you know that there was an Everfree Flytrap down there?"

The pegasus suddenly got real nervous from that question.

"Oh. Well...I kinda found out about it when I was watching over the CMC that one time. Hehe."

Applejack suddenly became very interested.

"That one time?" She asked, raising a suspicious brow at her rainbow-maned friend, who chuckled nervously in response.

"Yeeaah. When the girls wanted to earn their botanist cutie-marks." Dash explained, though that seemed to do little to ease the farm pony's ever-hardening features. "Oh come on! If I didn't find it when I did, then we'd all probably be monster chow by now! Doesn't that count for something?!"

Applejack stared at her for a second more before she sighed.

"Well, I guess it kinda does." She looked back up at Rainbow Dash, smiling. "If it weren't for you Dash, we'd probably be in a heap of trouble by now, so thanks a lot." Her features suddenly became a tad darker. "Though that doesn't mean that Applebloom won't be in mess a trouble when I get back home."

"Speaking of going home." Twilight said, gaining the attention of the others. "Why don't we do just that?"

Looking amongst one another, the girls all nodded and following in step with Twilight, continued on towards Ponyville. Well, most of them anyway.

"You okay Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked as stood beside pegasus who continued to stare into the hole.

"I am, it's just..."

"Mister Lizard?"

The pegasus nodded.

"Di-Did we really have to trick him like that? "

The pink mare looked her friend square in her sad eyes, the possibility of losing what could've been another friend weighing on her just as much as it likely did on the pegasus.

"He did try to hurt you Fluttershy." Pinkie said, turning around to follow the others. "Even though it kinda looked like he didn't want to."

The pegasus sadly lowered her head at that, ears splaying back before they raised at what her friend had just said.

"Wait, Pinkie. What did you sa-"

"Come on Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled. "We gotta get back to Ponyville before it gets too late!"

"O-Okay!"

Sparing one last glance back at the hole, the pegasus shook her head before turning around and quickly galloping off after her friends.

Following the mare's hasty retreat to regroup with the other girls, a deep sense of relief seemed to sweep across the forest proper soon after. Birds returned to their nesting spots, small animals left their hiding places, predators went about their ways as usual and the general atmosphere of the Forest appeared to improve rather significantly. Truly, did it seem that, to some degree, normality had returned to the Everfree Forest once again.

...

For a few seconds at least.

In a somewhat dramatic and quite frankly familiar manner, a large, outstretched, clawed hand suddenly burst from the lip of the pit before it found purchase on the soil topside. Another set of claws then followed shortly after, and a horned head, a massive torso, a set of large clawed feet, and a long swaying tail shortly after that.

With its feet once again above ground, the creature slowly took stock of its surroundings, noting what was present and what most certainly was not.

Sniffing at the air, the creature turned its head to the left before, without a word, headed off.

Pushing passed one last bit of leaves, Twilight sighed with relief as she was the first to exit the Everfree Forest and embrace the openness of the rolling green plains beyond. She was then joined by Rainbow Dash, followed shortly thereafter by Applejack with rarity still on her back, Pinkie Pie, and after a moment later, Fluttershy.

Having successfully braved the dangers of the Everfree, as well as having apparently defeated one of the most dangerous creatures that Twilight had ever encountered thus far, she was just glad that all her friends had managed to make it out seemingly unscathed, however impossible of an outcome that may have seemed.

"Well girls, we did it, we made it out!" She cheered.

"Heh heh, yeah." Rainbow Dash said, walking up beside her. "We sure showed that monster too! Now no creature will think twice about messing with us!"

"Honestly I'm just glad that we're done with all that." Applejack said, before her ears suddenly perked up at the sounds of a familiar groaning noise. "Well shoot. Look who's finally awake."

Rarity, choosing now of all times to wake up, groggily rose her head to meet the eyes of her friends. Blinking, she looked from one smile to another, raising a brow as her mind was slow to catch up.

"Wha-, darlings?" Rarity asked. "What...happened? Where are we? And...why are you carrying me, Applejack?" The farm pony in turn simply shook her head before smirking at her passenger.

"Its a long story, Rares. We'll tell you when we get back to Ponyville."

"We should definitely head to Sugarcube Corner then! I tell ya, all that running and flying got me hungry as heck." Rainbow Dash said, stretching out like some winged cat.

At the utterance of two very important words, PInkie Pie suddenly bounced into view, a renewed look of joy on her face.

"Oh oh! we should totally go to Sugarcube Corner! That'll raise everpony's spirits right up for sure!"

Having confirmed their destination, Rainbow and Pinkie began to have a little Q & A session regarding various available
confectioneries back at the bakery.

Applejack meanwhile, was helping Rarity stand on her own, and after having confirmed that she could in fact walk on her own, they joined the other two as the four of them made for Ponyville. Watching all this, Twilight sighed once again in relief that things had turned out well enough for the lot of them, almost all of them mind you. Turning to Fluttershy, Twilight sadly saw the mare staring off into the Everfree, a distant look on her face as she approached the mare.

"Fluttershy? Do you want to come with us to Ponyville?" She asked, to which the pegasus, after a moment of thought, shook her head.

"Sorry Twilight, you and the girls go on ahead though. I need to get back home to my animal friends before they get too worried."

Blinking at her friend, Twilight was momentarily stunned by her friend's willingness to part from the group despite what had happened just minutes ago. But after some thought, she smiled nonetheless as she nodded at her.

"Sure Fluttershy. You stay safe, okay?"

The pegasus smiled in kind.

"I will Twilight, tell the girls I said goodbye."

"Will do!"

Nodding theirs heads to eachother one last time, Twilight and Fluttershy turned and went their separate ways, the unicorn heading off to join the rest of her friends while the pegasus heading home before abruptly stopping.

"Hey Twilight, isn't Flutters coming along?" Rainbow Dash asked, to which Twilight shook her head.

"She wanted to head home instead, but she wanted to tell you girls she said goodbye."

"Well shoot, can't really blame the girl. It's probably for the better that she be alone with her animals anyway." Applejack said.

"G-Girls."

"I guess you're right, Applejack." Rainbow Dash said, before suddenly turning to Pinkie Pie. "Say Pinkie, do you think you could whip up something for Fluttershy when we get back to town so I can give it to her later?"

Pinkie Pony gasped.

"That's a great idea Dashie! I'll have to make the bestest, tastiest, scrumptilious treat for her."

"Hehe yeah. Oh! and speaking of treats, you still got any of those cider-dipped cupcakes left?"

"Hmm, I think we still have a few left, I'll have to see when we get back."

"Awesome."

"Girls."

"I do have a sudden hankering for an apple crisp."

"I can make one as soon as we get there."

"I think tea will be enough for me darling, must keep my figure and all that."

"Sure thing!"

"Hey Pinkie, it wouldn't be any trouble if you could make something for Spike as well, I wanna give him something when I get back to the library."

"Not a problem, Twilight!"

"Girls!"

"Fluttershy? What's wro-

Hiiiisssss

"Well now, this is all certainly new." Richard hissed, to which the five little horses ahead of the yellow one stopped immediately at. "Course, Now I know that there's actually an end to this damn forest."

Squinting, Richard watched as the five mares slowly turned as one. And as they faced him, it would be fair to say that they looked as if they'd all seen a ghost. Sadly for them however, the massively sized and massively pissed-off lizard standing just a few feet beyond the treeline was no pussy-ass poltergeist. and he was going to assure them of that.

Taking one step forward, Richard watched with a burning intensity as the little horses all took one step back.

"You little horses thought that you we're all so clever." Richard growled, steadily raising the fear factor as he advanced another step.

"You all thought that after blinding me, TWICE in fact, having me chase you all around this stupid-ass forest, making me run into a damn rock and tricking me into falling down a big-ass hole, that being eaten by an oversized plant was the way I'd go out?" He suddenly roared. "A. FUCKING. PLANT?!"

The little horses scrambled back a bit at that. Good.

"I wasn't reborn in hellfire as the baddest motherfucking lizard on the block just to be done in by some super-weed with teeth!"

He advanced further, stepping into the setting sunlight. It was the first time he had actually been in the open. Out of the forest. The feeling was strangely uncomfortable. But he still had a few things to say.

Looking down at the little yellow one, he saw something in her eyes, but whether that was fear or wonder or just fear, he wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it seemed as though she was actually listening to him. Whatever.

"You lot." He growled, pointing his claw at the five other horses who flinched at the action. "I don't give a flying fuck if any of you can understand me or not, but I'm still going to try and make as clear as I possibly can. So listen up!"

He waved a claw at the forest behind himself.

"That forest." He growled, placing his claw to his chest. "Is mine." He pointed at the forest again. "Everything inside of it." He pointed at himself again. "Is mine." He pointed a claw at all five of the other horses, his claw seeming to linger on the purple one the most out of all of them. "And if I ever see any of you inside of my forest ever again?" He raised a single claw to his neck and made a quick swiping motion across it. "There'll be hell to pay." He then squinted at them, putting on his best death glare as he hissed softly. "Understood?" Of course they understood him, how could they not. He could see the understanding in their eyes, hear their gulps and shaky breathes, even smell their fear, some more so than others. They got the idea.

Having made his point clear, his attention suddenly shifted to the yellow one, his gaze seeming to soften ever-slightly as he approached her. Of course the other horses looked every bit against it, the purple, orange, and blue one especially. But at this point, it should've been understood on both sides by now that if Richard actually wanted to do something, he would most certainly have done it by now, so with much hesitation and uncertainty from the others, he was left undisturbed as he stood before the yellow one. And while he felt the urge to return to the depths of the forest grow ever-greater with each step, he still wanted to say one last thing before he left.

Crouching down, he looked the little yellow horse square in the eyes. Tilting his head slightly, he stared at her for a few moments before he suddenly growled in as hushed a tone as he could.

"You can understand me, can't you?" He simply asked, to which after a brief moment of silence, the little horse slowly nodded. And after another brief moment of silence, Richard hissed happily as he stood back up. "Good. That'll make things easier from now on, now won't it?"

And with that, Richard turned around and heading towards the treeline, but before he did, he suddenly stopped. And after looking over his shoulder, he growled back at the yellow horse.

"Oh, and if your friends still didn't understand me from, just tell them that they're not allowed in this forest anymore. Sound good?" The little horse nodded. "Groovy."

And with that final growl, Richard turned right around and headed back into the forest, his footfalls steadily growing quieter as he went further in.

Heading in the general direction of home, Richard felt the strange feeling from earlier dissipate as well, instead being replaced by a sudden sense of tiredness most likely brought on by a excess amount of physical and emotional exertion coupled with a severe lack of food in belly, a belly which, after a few moments of silent walking, suddenly reemerged to the forefront of Richard's focus with an audible vengeance. He however, merely growled tiredly in return.

"Sorry about all that. Is rotten meat still up for consideration."

Fluttershy lowered her head at that.

Author's Note

Well damn, another chapter breaking the 10k word count? Oh well.

Sorry that this chapter took a bit longer than expected folks. To be honest, this actually wasn't supposed to be the next chapter at all. Buuut after a few of you were being soooo enthusiastic in the comments about a encounter happening right after the previous chapter (you all know who you are) I just had to take it into consideration. And, well, here we are folks. So to those few and potential others, I hope what I delivered was decent enough.

So with that in mind, I also wanna thank the lot of you for reading and commenting, its really helping me stay on this story and and I can't thank you folks enough! And to those just now picking up the story, thank you and hope you like it!

Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter out a bit sooner, so fret not folks! Or do, whatever suits you.

Again, thanks a bunch for all the support in general. Constructive criticism in the comments is always welcomed, error spotting is also greatly appreciated and maybe some ideas for upcoming chapters may be put under considerable consideration as well. Maybe Richard recruits more little lizards to his flock? Maybe he raids a dragon's cave? Maybe he asserts his dominance over the local hydra population? Who knows.

But all that aside, take care folks! And as always, stay casual.

Chapter 6: A delightful day with a side of dismay

It was a quiet, peaceful day in the quaint little town of Ponyville. The sky was a semi-cloudless blue, with temperatures that allowed the many of the town's residents to spend their day out and about. Of course with weather that practically screamed cliche perfection, it wouldn't be an odd sight to see foals and fillies running about and playing while their parents relaxed on the nearest bench or under the closest tree.

Yes it seemed like today was just one of those days where anypony who wasn't anypony would definitely utilize this opportune day for any and all manners of relaxation and recreation.

Well, all excluding six certain mares currently sitting in Ponyville's very own Sugarcube Corner. Yes, while seemingly everypony was out enjoying the rays of the sun and the joys of an actually peaceful day in one of Equestria's more active settlements, the main six were busying themselves with an issue of the highest priority. It was an issue that required all of them to be present for, personal duties and jobs temporarily set aside. An issue that only they could tackle. An issue that oozed controversy and absolutely demanded discussion. That is...if any of the six girls present would actually say something to begin with. For over the course of maybe a solid ten minutes of silence, save for the occasional light cough or awkwardly long sip of drink. Of course none of them wanted to continue this communal silence, but then again, none of them could really summon up the will to speak first and instead just waited for somepony else to go first. And thankfully, somepony finally did.

"Weelllll..." Twilight said rather awkwardly, instantly grabbing everypony's attention. "How are you girls doing?" She attempted a smile, one which quickly faltered when her question was answered only by a collection of mumbled or halfhearted replies before silence once again took over. This manner of response didn't help to quell the atmosphere and she sighed as a result.

All things considered, today probably wouldn't be any different from the other days if Twilight were to wager. It had been well over several weeks or so since the "incident" and the girls had yet to really talk much about the events that transpired that day. How many days ago and yet it was still so fresh in their minds.

The blood. The chasing. The monster.

Twilight shivered in her recollection.

Luckily though, things had more or less returned to relative normality. In fact, looking from each of the girls, Twilight had found that almost all of them had eased back into their normal lives one way or another, albeit with some slight alterations.

For instance...

Ever since their encounter with the creature, It had been heard that Applejack had been putting in more effort in her work down on the farm. And by more effort, that meant that she was actually waking up even more earlier than before, like before the sun even thought of rising level of early. And in addition to waking up even before the roosters did, she was also shouldering a larger majority of the daily workload, bucking more trees, pulling wagons, and taking on a number of other chores that would've been done by her brother or little sister. But despite their best efforts to convince her otherwise, she would always hit them with the "I just wanna do a little extra work? What's wrong with that?" bit in return. Yeah, okay.

After waking up, seeing the creature, and hearing what had happened during her time under, Rarity had since then chosen to confine herself in her home and workplace, Carousel Boutique. Word around the local rumor mill was that she had been apparently struck with the need to create and in doing so, had taken on numerous orders from clients both in Ponyville as well as Canterlot, and as such, would rarely be seen out of her store if only for grocery shopping and the occasional visit to the town's local spa.

Rainbow Dash had decided that ever since she saw the strength and utter brutality of the beast, that she would need to get stronger. And in a real shocker of a move, she had decided on spending less time on napping and more time on training. And so from early morning to late evening, she would be out and about. Whether it was flying circles above Ponyville or hitting Ponyville's gym, Rainbow Dash spent hours on end building up her strength, lengthening her endurance, and straining her flight speed to the point that some would even say that they had been woken up by the sound of a whistle or boom, but only spot a thin rainbow-colored contrail in the sky when they went out to investigate. But if one were lucky enough to catch the mare when she was taking a break and ask what she was training for, they'd probably be given a boasting "I'm just increasing my level of overall awesomeness," or a vague "Its to protect my friends." How humble.

Ever since the her meeting with monster, Pinkie had taken it upon herself to...well...be Pinkie. Honestly, the rest of the girls didn't really know what she did but after doing it for a week, she was seemingly back to her former, joyful self who always served her customers with a smile and spread joy wherever she could. And while there was the occasional moment where she would choose walking over hopping or when she happily shook her head at the extra offering of cake slice, those moments were still few and far in between.

You could say that the same could also be said for Fluttershy as well. Nopony really knew what she was doing, well besides caring for her animals that is. However, if you were to believe the outgoing mare or wondering colt, you'd hear that she had been sometimes seen going into the Everfree Forest, but then again you'd also know that the mare was just passing a glace or that the colt may have had one too many extra servings of ice cream. Still, that is rather odd. Oh well.

Looking amongst her five friends, Twilight sighed with relative ease as she considered how things could've turned out. But she knew better. Her friends were strong, resilient, and the very embodiment of the elements of harmony. They had faced hardships before and this monster was no different.

Or was it?

Shaking her head, she tried to banish the thought, but oh how it seemed to constantly plague the corners of her mind.
This monster. This entity that, as far as she could tell, was an enigma that baffled her scientific prowess to no end. Just think about it. A mysterious creature of unknown origin, with an unspecified level of intelligence and strength, suddenly reveals itself to the girls. Its physique, traits, habits and overall character were all, up until this point, nonexistent. And because of that detail, Twilight was constantly met with questions with little else to answer them. Where did this creature come from? Is it actually native to the Everfree? Is it some sort of sub-species of dragon, reptilian, or a category all its own? How dangerous is it? Has it's appearance ever been recorded before? Did the princesses know of it?

Questions, questions, and even more questions were all that Twilight thought about. And considering that she couldn't answer them herself, she needed to do something about that. and something about that, she did. And then some.

Twilight. Oh boy, Twilight. See the thing is, that ever since that day, she had turned her library upside down thrice, had almost completely supplemented coffee for water, had a total of eight hours worth of sleep over the course of each passing week, and had occasionally forgotten that healthy mares still needed to use the bathroom as she vigorously combed through book after book pertaining to even the slightest of detail regarding Mister lizard. No book was left unopened, no page unturned, and no title dismissed no matter how outlandish or unrelated it may have seemed. Encyclopedias, autobiographies, memoirs, survival guides, stories fictional and nonfictional, anything and everything that featured, included, or maybe even mentioned a lizard or reptilic creature of any sort was grabbed, read, and promptly thrown aside.

Shaking her head once again, Twilight returned to the task at hoof, in which she was trying to start some genuine conversation between her and her fri-

"So Twilight." Rainbow Dash suddenly asked, drawing everypony's attention. "What are we going to do about the monster?"

Twilight's train of thought was violently derailed and sent into a blazing inferno when all eyes fell on the pegasus before they slowly turned to the unicorn in question. Of all the things to start the conversation with, that's what Rainbow wanted to talk about? Actually in all honesty, Twilight should've known that would've been brought up sooner or later. But at this moment, all she was drawing was blanks.

"Wha-wha-"

"Really Dash?" Applejack asked, looking at the pegasus. "Of all the things you wanted to talk about?"

"Well I just wanted to know!" The mare said, growing defensive. "It's been how many days since we saw that thing and after all that time, we still haven't said what we were going to do about it."

"Honestly, Rainbow." Sighing, Applejack then turned to Twilight. "But she does have a point sugarcube, what are we going to do about that critter?"

Twilight looked from the farm pony to the flyer, quickly trying to formulate a proper response.

"We-Well we could, um-"

"Well I for one think we should just forget about that brute of a beast!" Rarity suddenly said, causing the others to look at her. "In fact, some of us were trying to do that before a certain somepony had to bring it up!"

Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"OH sure Rarity! Why don't we just forget about the giant lizard monster!?" She said, sarcasm oozing off of her every word. "It's not like its literally living just outside of Ponyville or anything!"

"Be that as it may Rainbow Dash!" The white unicorn said. "As long as we don't go back into that accursed forest, we don't have to worry about it coming back out, right?"

"Are you kidding me, Rarity!" Rainbow exclaimed, nearly flying out of her seat. "That's probably what that thing wants you to think! We leave it alone for a while, and the before we know it, BAM! It's already eaten everything in the Everfree and decides to make a meal out of everypony in Ponyville!"

"I think you're thinking a bit too much there Dash." Applejack said, raising a brow at the mare flying to conclusions. The mare only slammed a hoof on the table, causing the girls' drinks to ripple.

"Am I Applejack?" Rainbow said, turning to her friend while raising a accusatory brow. "Or am I the only one thinking at all?" She suddenly glanced at Fluttershy before hesitantly continuing. "I-I almost saw a friend of mine get hurt! Like hay am I going to let that happen to anypony else!"

She looked around at the other mares present before her eyes fell on somepony in particular.

"You're with me, right Pinkie Pie?" She asked, to which the mare in question looked up at her.

"O-Oh well." She suddenly became very fidgety. "Maybe we should just leave Mister Lizard alone?" She looked up to Rainbow, who as expected, didn't seem to like that answer. Neither did she, honestly.

"Oh come on Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm just saying, maybe Rarity's right." The pink pone said, waving her hooves. "I'm sure that Mister Lizard will leave everypony alone if we leave him alone."

"Thank you Pinkie!" The unicorn said before raising her snout at Rainbow Dash. "At least somepony agrees with me. And I'm sure Fluttershy does as well!" She turned to the mare in question. "Right, dear?"

Suddenly on the spot, the pegasus grasped for words.

"Oh well uhm-"

Or she would have before she was interrupted by the one other pegasus in their pony party slamming her hooves one again on the table's surface.

"No fair! Fluttershy! Back me up here." She looked straight into the yellow mare's eyes. "That monster almost hurt you real bad! You of all ponies have to agree with me on this, right?!"

Faint desperation was met with shyness as Fluttershy shifted her attention anywhere but Dash's eyes.

"W-Well, Rarity and Pinkie Pinkie Pie are kinda right." The pegasus hid behind her mane as the others looked on, Rainbow looking to be at a total defeat while Rarity in particular noticed the tone in Fluttershy's voice.

"But what, darling?"

Fidgeting with her pink hair, the mare replied, more quietly then before.

"B-But." She said, peeking out from behind her locks. "While I think it would be good to leave him in peace, I think we should...also...make peace with him?"

...

"WHHHHAAAT?!"

Spike hummed to himself as he tidied up the library. And as books were reshelved and wooden surfaces dusted, the little dragon thought back on how things had progressed during the previous weeks. And by things, he was mostly referring to Twilight and her definite obsession with researching the monster they saw in the woods.

To say she ran herself ragged while she researched was an understatement, so much so that for a certain purple and green baby dragon, the correct and universally-understood term was "Twilight being Twilight." And when Twilight was being herself, Spike knew through years of experience that when she got like that, it was probably for the best to just leave her be. Leaving a nearby plate of salad or daffodil sandwich with the crust cut off was also the best option when it came to ensuring that study pony didn't become starving pony. And while Spike was interested to hear about the creature that the girls found, his questions were either ignored or traded for vague or mumbled details. Luckily though from what he was able to overhear from Twilight's ramblings and the occasional, audible thoughts, included a few pieces of information that the little dragon found interesting.

Firstly, whatever the girls had faced in the Everfree was big, bigger than the girls, or the princesses, or even bigger than most of the creatures in the forest. Not bigger than a hydra or adult dragon of course, but still big enough to pose a significant threat.

Secondly, from what he gathered, it sounded like the creature was some sort of bipedal lizard, maybe even some sort of wingless, land-dragon if what Spike had overheard from Twilight talking to herself that one night had any merit.

Actually come to think of it, Spike had at one point read about such a creature when he was bored that one time.

Apparently such a sub-species of dragon had existed before, but they sadly went extinct a few hundred years ago due to equine expansion and fighting between themselves and other larger creatures like ursa majors, hydras, and even other land-dragons. They could vary in size, being either as small as him, potentially, to being literally as big as mountains. Neat. They were also very temperamental, more so than the average adult dragon actually, and extremely territorial, two factors which, if Spike could guess, likely sped the species towards its inevitable demise.

Or did it?

From what Spike had overheard from Twilight, maybe this creature was actually a land-dragon. Maybe it had been sleeping all this time, considering the lifespan of dragons and the fact that they could sleep for years on end, and only now did it choose to wake up. Though, with that being thought, Spike couldn't help but pause in his cleaning to consider the third thing that he was able to draw from Twilight's ramblings.

It was intelligent. More so than the average land-dragon if what Spike remembered was true. For where your usual land-dragon was more brawn than brain, like by a factor of a lot, this one had not only been able to sneak up on the girls, but had also manged to trick them, though how Spike wasn't sure, and keep up with them despite their attempts to trick and escape from it. It was even able to communicate with them, albeit with more claw-motions than intelligible words, but communication nonetheless. A regular land-dragon was somewhat feral in comparison to their winged counterparts and would've just growled and roared at them and that was that. But not this one. No, there was definitely something different about this one.

"Sigh, now I really want to see this guy for myself." Spike said sadly, picking up a nearby broom and proceeding to sweep away. "Hmm. Maybe if I ask Twilight again, she'll let me-"

Spike suddenly stopped in his sweeping as a small shiver ran up his purple-scaled back, lasting for only a second before it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Blinking, Spike looked to the library's door.

"Yeesh, Twilight must've heard something real crazy just now."

For a few moments the little dragon stood, broom still in claws as he wondered what had become of a certain purple unicorn before he simply shrugged and returned to his sweeping.

"Whelp, I guess I'll hear about it when she gets back."

Once the slight ringing in her ears had dyed away, Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes to the sight of all five of her friends staring at her with varying degrees of shocked, aghast, and bafflement plastered across all their colorful snoots. Of course they were going to react like that, it was only natural. Though with how far to the floor some of their jaws were, Fluttershy could tell that she wasn't going to hear the end of any of this anytime soon. A moment of silence hung in the air before Rainbow was the first to recover.

"Are you serious Fluttershy?!" She said, now snoot to snoot with the pegasus as she hovered over the table. "Please tell me if this is a joke, cause this isn't funny!"

"Rainbow is right deary." Rarity said, fanning herself with a hoof as she felt another faint coming. "Surely you're just joking...right?"

"W-Well, I-" The pegasus tried to speak before she was suddenly interrupted.

Applejack! Is she joking?" Twilight suddenly asked, to which all eyes fell on the farm pony.

"I can't believe I'm saying this." Applejack said, looking incredulously at the pegasus in question. "But you're really telling the truth here, huh Flutters?"

She simply nodded.

"Oh come on!" Rainbow exclaimed, before she turned to the yellow mare. Placing her hooves on the mare's shoulders, Rainbow stared into Fluttershy's eyes, as if looking for an answer to the many questions that were currently pinballing around in her head.

"Fluttershy! Why would you say something like that?!" When the mare failed to immediately respond, the rainbow-maned mare pressed her attack. "You of all ponies shouldn't be saying that. You were the one who almost got hurt by the monster. You saw it for yourself that that thing tricked you, that it chased us out of the Everfree, You saw how dangerous it was and yet you're still trying to be friends with it?! Heck! Its almost as if...as if..."

Rainbow Dash suddenly blinked, all her previous energy seemingly gone in a flash as she stared into the pegasus's eyes with almost a look of comprehension. She then squinted at her.

"As if you already have." Rainbow slowly said, and as the pegasus tried and failed to come up with a proper response, the blue pegasus could already see the answer in her eyes. As plain as fucking day.

With renewed vigor, Rainbow jumped away from the mare back to her side of the table, pointing an accusatory hoof at her.

"You've been going back to the Everfree to visit that, that thing, haven't you?!" She said, to which a ring of gasps filled the room. And as five sets of eyes fell on the pegasus, she could do nothing but silently nod. More gasps shortly followed.

"Fluttershy." Twilight said, looking at the mare with a sense of shock and awe. "How long?"

The pegasus sniffled a bit before she responded.

"A-...Almost every day."

Gasping noises intensify, Rarity faints, and Twilight puts the final pieces of the puzzle together.

"You've been visiting that creature in the Everfree." Fluttershy nods. "Alone." She nods again. "For weeks ever since we last saw it?" And again she nods.

A sigh was heard. Hooves were loudly thrown onto the table. And a slight eep was uttered as two snoots were forcibly booped against one another.

The rest of the girls, excluding one passed out unicorn, stared wide-eyed at Twilight's and Fluttershy's display of sudden closeness. Well, more so at Twilight as she stared deeply and somewhat wildly into the pegasus's eyes.

"Tell. Us. Everything." She said, each word emphasized by an added inch of smooshing snoots together.

With personal space promptly invaded and conquered, Fluttershy could do nothing but look to her friends for help, and only find expressions similar to that of dear Twilight's, that of which being intensely interested, awaiting, and curious as all hell.

Sighing to herself, Fluttershy knew now that there was no use hiding anything anymore, and with a glance to her friends, who all of which were at the literal edges of their seats, she looked to Twilight who just floated out a quill and a notepad, and began her tale.

"It all started the day after the creature went back into the woods."

Chapter 7: Mingling with a Monster

"A-Are you sure that he's in there?"

Caw

"Oh. O-Okay then. Thank you for the directions, Mister Crow."

With a nod of its head, the aforementioned Mister Crow gave the pegasus his last parting words before flying off to his friends, leaving the butter-colored mare alone to sigh to herself before nervously looking off towards her apparent destination.

The castle of the two sisters. A place that even in the bright, early morning sun seemed to radiate a aura of absolute danger and darkness. To bad Fluttershy was a big girl though, because big girls didn't get scared of things like scary old castles or stories about scary old castles, or even dangerous creatures living in scary old castles.

Yup, she was a big girl.

She was a big girl.

She was a big-

Okay maybe big girls can be scared once in a while too. Maybe she just needed to think things through at home and come back when she was a bigger girl. Yeah, maybe that was for the-

"No!" She suddenly said, stomping her hoof lightly. "I'm a big girl. I can do this." She then began to cutely pace. "Right now, there's a creature in there that's being misunderstood and I'm the only one who can show the girls that its not just some mindless monster. I can do this. I. Can. Do this."

Turning back to face the looming castle ahead of her, Fluttershy once again sighed before steeling her nerves and, with as much courage as she could muster at that given moment, made her way over the bridge and to the castle's great wooden doors beyond.

Badass stirred from his sleep as the light of the morning sun crept over his closed eyes. Opening them, he gave a small squeaking yawn as he stood up from the gloriously soft mattresses below him and stretched. A few popped joints later and he was now fully awake and just raring to start the day.

GROWL

Or well, he was at least.

Looking over his shoulder, the little lizard stared up at his larger friend, tail curled around himself as he snore-growled the day away. And while the orange gecko could relate with the bigger reptilian that sleeping on such wonderfully soft surfaces was a luxury in itself, it was still unhealthy to stay asleep for too long lest he waste away the whole day.

So being the good friend that he was, Badass approached the sleeping giant. And with a nuzzle to his snout and a chirping him good morning, the little lizard happily awaited his friend to wake up. Sadly he would have to wait a little longer seeing as the big guy emitted a low growl before turning over in defiance of the morning's call.

"Ugh. Mmm. Five more minutes D, today's my day off."

Tilting his head in confusion, Badass wondered what his friend meant by that before shaking his head and attempting to wake him once again. And again was the little lizard rudely ignored as the mighty lizard before him continued to stay in dreamland.

Huffing a tiny puff of black smoke, the orange gecko finally sighed as he conceded to the giant lizard's apparent request to remain asleep. And seeing as the big guy was his best, and only, friend, Badass let the lizard have his rest as he hopped off the pile of cloud-colored slabs before darting down a pillar and across the carpeted floor before then coming to a stop just before the room's front doors.

Turning around, Badass gave his sleeping friend one last glance before he squeezed his way through the gap in the doors and proceeded at a leisurely pace down the hallway.

At that given moment, several things were on the little gecko's mind as he walked along the stone floors and around the many piles of dusty ruble. What should he eat? Where should he explore next in the castle? How long was it really going to be until his friend finally woke up? So many questions, yet very few answers for them. What a conundrum to start the little lizard's day as he entered the castle's main foyer.

Taking a look around said foyer, the little lizard let his eyes wander as he briefly thought back to yesterday, or more specifically, to the events that had transpired that day.

He remembered when his friend introduced him to those amazingly soft slabs. Remembered his friend telling him that he was going out and that he shouldn't worry for him. "Relax," he had said. So that's what he did, he relaxed. And by relaxed, he slept for about an hour or so before waking up, his friend nowhere to be seen. He remembered how that made him a bit sad, but after thinking that the big one was just staying out later than expected, the lizard should still relax, so he thought he'd kill time by exploring some parts of the castle, and he did. He explored such places as those rooms where his friend found the comfy slabs, the dusty room with all the smaller slabs with white leaves in them, that big room with the long wooden slab in the middle, and the room next to that one with all the strange shiny things and rocks that clanged when they fell on the floor. And after he had had his fair share of exploration for the day, he returned to the slab room hoping to see his friend back.

But that was sadly not the case as he was still nowhere to be seen. And as the bright ball in the sky was steadily lowering, the little lizard remembered getting more and more anxious. So much so that he was almost about to head out and search for him. But luckily, his friend did return before it really got dark. And sure the little lizard was happy when his friend finally came back, but the state he had returned in, of which was significantly different to the one he had left in previously, left him rather rustled.

He looked upset and smelled like death, this the little lizard remembered clearly. He was also strangely quiet, aside from a few hisses and a growl, and had wanted to go to bed straight away. Finding this strange and somewhat suspicious, the little lizard had asked what had happened. And his response?

"Nothing, Badass. Just had a...a bit of trouble finding food, that's all."

And without another word, the giant lizard had left his tiny companion for the comfort of the slabs, confused by the bipedal reptilian's distant attitude and worried for his overall wellbeing.

Knock Knock

Blinking away his thoughts, Badass's head turned sharply to the large wooden doors on the other end of the room, swearing that he had heard something. Still staring at them, he raised a brow as the sound repeated itself, this time a little louder than the first.

Now certain that something was trying to get in, he slowly approached the entrance, before instantly jumping back as one of the doors slowly creaked open.

"H-Hello?"

Fluttershy hesitantly peeked her uncovered eye around the edge of the large wooden door, scanning the empty space beyond for anything that may've posed a danger to her. But after seeing nothing of the sort, she sighed in relief before slowly opened the door even more, pausing once to flinch at just how loud the door was being with its creaking before she fully opened it and stepped cautiously passed the threshold.

"M-Mister lizard? Are you in here?" Fluttershy asked, her ears twitching and turning as she listened for even the slightest hint of a response, but after a few moments of silence and bated breathe, the pegasus sighed when she heard nothing of the sort.

Looking around the entrance hall, Fluttershy briefly wondered where she should start her search first before she simply chose from one of the several hallways at random and proceeded down it. Unbeknownst to the mare however, was that as she began her search of the castle's interior for its newest resident, she had failed to notice the castle's other newest occupant observing her from the shadows up above.

From his shadowy spot on the ceiling, Badass narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the creature who had intruded into his and his new friend's territory, wondering what or who she was referring to when she had called out that name earlier. Did she know his friend as well? Or was she...was she hunting him perhaps?

Hmm. Well in any case, this sudden intrusion was a potential danger, that Badass knew. And if he was going to repay his friend for introducing him to those soft slabs, tailing a potential threat, gathering information, and then informing his friend about said threat with said gathered information was something that the little lizard knew was just up his alley.

And so after a moment of waiting for the creature to move further into the castle, Badass quickly dashed down the wall and towards the direction that she went. And when he had caught up with the creature, he made sure to remain in the shadows or behind some rubble at a significant distance, close enough to hear and see her actions, but far enough to where he could remain relatively undetected the entire time. When she moved, he moved. When she went to search a room, he waited, and when she left, so did he.

And for minutes did this one-sided game of hide and watch proceed before Badass finally came to the conclusion that this creature wasn't really a threat at all. She just wasn't. She wasn't being threatening in her searching, nor did she appear physically threatening even in the slightest. Helpless and meek sure, but to Badass, the polar opposite of dangerous.

Sighing to himself, the little lizard felt that he had seen enough and was now in a bit of a bind on how to proceed. Should he go and wake up his friend? Or should he reveal his presence to her? Well, she was still an oddity, so maybe it was best if he got his friend first, and then came back for introductions. Yeah, that was probably his best bet.

So with that in mind, Badass cast one last glance at the creature before turning to make his exit. But wouldn't you know it that as he was just about to leave, he heard a sudden gasp from behind.

"Gasp, oh my. An orange gecko!"

Freezing, dread filled the little gecko as he slowly turned his head to see the creature's abnormally large eyes fixated on his features.

"While I've seen many kinds of lizards before, I've only ever read about orange geckos in books." She happily exclaimed before crouching down low. "Hi there little lizard friend. My name's Fluttershy. What's yours?"

Blinking, the little lizard was at loss for words as he was put on the spot. Here was this creature, whom he had never seen before, waiting patiently for him to give her his name, just after he had gotten done spying on her.

...Well she didn't know that he was spying her now did she? And she didn't have to know that anytime soon. So, seeing as he was in the clear, Badass decided to feign innocence as he wagged his little tail and offered her his name.

"O-Oh?" She said, strangely wavering on the exoticness of his name. "Bad-As. Did I say it right?" The little gecko, happy to her that this Fluttershy could actually understand him, smiled and nodded. "Oh! Good. Um." She seemed to hesitate before continuing. "Co-Could you tell me how you got that name? If you don't mind that is."

Nodding his head again, Badass took a few moments to quickly tell her of his encounter with his large friend, how he was tested and passed, and that he was given the name as a reward. He also made sure to include the meaning behind the name as well, filling the little lizard with a bit of pride as he finished his tale and awaited the creature's reaction.

However, where Badass had thought that he would see a look of amazement or wonder plastered across her features, there were instead traces of shock, worry, and disbelief dancing in her eyes.

"Oh my." She said before brandishing a somewhat forced smile. "Your friend. H-He wouldn't happen to be really tall, have two big horns, a long tail, and wake on two claws, would he?"

Tilting his head at her surprisingly, and rather suspiciously might he add, accurate description of his friend, the little lizard nodded, and the one named Fluttershy elicited a sort of hushed cheer in return.

"Woo-hoo." She yelled softly, before looking at the gecko with pleading eyes. "Then if you do, could you also tell me where he might be? That is if it's okay with you."

Seeing that this Fluttershy seemed very anxious to meet his friend, and the look she was giving him was evidence of that, the little lizard felt as though he just couldn't refuse her. So with a sigh, the little lizard conceded, nodding his head as he told her that he not only knew where his friend was, but that he could lead her their too. And after seeing her do another quiet cheer, Fluttershy let the little lizard lead the way as they both headed off in the direction of the destination.

Several minutes of walking and talking later and the duo now found themselves standing before the large wooden doors of the castle's throne room.

"He's in there, Bad-As?" Fluttershy asked as she turned to the little lizard beside her who nodded. "Okay. thank you so much for the help. I can take care of myself from here on."

And she would. At least, that's what she believed. All she really knew was that there was a creature just beyond those doors who needed help. Who needed kindness. Who needed to have their voice heard and their misunderstandings cleared. And as the bearer of the element of kindness, Fluttershy was going to do just that.

At least, that was supposed to be the case until her little guide stopped her just as she was about to open the door. Confused by this, the mare kindly inquired the gecko for a reason, and he hastily obliged, informing her of the possibility that the big lizard in question was likely still asleep and that it would be for the best if he would be the one to go in first. Course, when the mare tilted her head at that, the lizard was quick to expand on his plan, reasoning that since it was her friends who were to blame for upsetting him, as he had been told by her on their walk to the throne room, seeing her appear before him so soon and unexpected would only prove to make things more complicated, hence the idea for him to go in first and make sure their friend was in a good enough mood to accept visitors.

Hearing all of this, and after taking a moment to mull the main points over, Fluttershy found the lizard's idea to be both reasonable and beneficial to her efforts and happily agreed with him. And after he smiled and nodded in kind, he turned and darted into the room through the opening in the doors. This opening, which was no more than a few inches wide, was not left unnoticed by Fluttershy as she looked from side to side before slowly approaching the doors and leaning in, hoping to see if Bad-As's plan came through.

Peering into the large room, Fluttershy was just able to see her little friend make it to the other end of the room before turning sharply and heading straight up a nearby pillar and disappearing somewhere above and behind the thrones of the two sisters.

A few moments then proceeded in silence before she could just make out the sounds of her little friend conversing with somepony else, and judging from the deeper tone of growling and hissing being elicited, it wasn't hard to guess just who he was talking to.

Then, after all the conversating was apparently done with, the little lizard left his friend and returned to the mare's side, giving her the good news that his friend was ready for her and that she could now go in.

With a nod and a smile, Fluttershy thanked the little gecko again before turning to the door and readying herself for the meeting ahead.

"Sigh. Alright. Here goes nothing. You can do this Fluttershy." She said to herself before, with one last breathe, she opened the door and headed inside.

"Well I'll be damned." Richard quietly hissed as the yellow horse from the other day entered the large room. "She really did come alone."

Course despite his words the other day, Richard still found himself utterly perplexed by the yellow one's...innocence? Bravery? Well whatever it was, it certainly was worthy of praise. And that's exactly what Richard was going to do as he slowly withdrew from his hiding spot and stopped just before the edge of the balcony.

Standing at his hunched height, he peered down at the mare who, after taking a moment to regard her surroundings, looked up and immediately spotted the creature staring down at her with calculating orbs of orange. Then with a single step, Richard walked over the side and fell the short distance before landing on his claws with a loud thud, causing the mare's legs to wobble slightly as he simply rose to his full height and casually approached the now slightly quivering mare.

"You know." Richard hissed, causing the mare's ears to twitch his way. "When I said that only you could come and visit me, you didn't actually have to come here." He stopped in front of her, his head tilted slightly down while hers was straight up.
"Still. I'm curious as to how you actually found me. Unless..." He trailed off, raising a brow as he turned to regard the little gecko standing beside her. "You had something to do with that, Badass?"

Seeing the little lizard shake his head, Richard hummed deeply to himself before their came a squeak from the mare, and after turning to her, he found himself blinking owlishly at her incomprehensible neighing. Still, from the tone in her voice and the motioning in her hooves, it seemed as though she was trying to defend the little lizard. Daw. Now ain't that just the sweetest thing.

And apparently she had been defending him, for as she finished presenting her little case, the lizard beside her wagged his tail happily before darting up Richard's body and stopping atop his head. There he was able to relay to Richard the she had apparently found his location with the help of one "Mister Crow," whoever that was. But snitching birdmen aside, what was more important was-

"Wait a minute, Badass." Richard said, plucking the gecko and transferring him to the palm of his claw. "You can actually understand her?" The lizard nodded, unsure of the reason as to how or why, but glad all the same. And he wasn't the only one.

"Well shit, Badass!" Richard suddenly and enthusiastically roared, causing the pegasus to eep. "That's all you had to say! Shoulda told me that sooner though."

Detecting an incoming pout, the little lizard was quick to apologize, but after a moment, Richard simply shook his head and chuckled.

"It's alright B. Cause now?" He said, looking from the gecko to the mare tilting her head curiously at him. "I've got myself a translator now."

"So then what happened?"

Neigh Whinny

…

"Damn! Talk about a hell of a miracle. Liked the little life lesson at the end too. And what did she call it again, a 'sonic rainboom,' right?"

Nod

"Wow. That's actually pretty cool. Almost makes me forgive her for that stunt she pulled when we first met. Almost."

Seeing the mare's face contort into a cute little scrunch, Richard chuckled deeply as he carefully plucked up a tiny, for him at least, teacup between the tips of his claws and leisurely lapped up the warm liquid within, careful not to spill too much on the red checkered picnic blanket that the two were currently dining over.

What? A towering, blood-thirsty murder-monster can't enjoy his morning in the sun whilst drinking tea and dining on small egg-salad sandwiches? You gonna say that picnics are gay or something? Well, say what you will, but that tea was simply bitching. And the sandwiches too. All of it was perfect, and coming from someone who wasn't really a picky eater even before he became a ravenous reptile, he wasn't lying, and he made his opinion quite clear after she offered him his fifth sandwich in the last ten minutes they had been atop the blanket. She didn't have to say anything either, her blush was welcome enough.

"This was nice." Richard suddenly growled when the mare fully recovered from her blush. "The food, the talking, all of it." He then nodded to the other end of the blanket where a certain little gecko was now happily snoozing atop a half eaten sandwich. "Badass certainly enjoyed it."

Hearing her softly giggle at his joke, Richard turned to warmly regard the mare sitting in front of him once again. After all, with all the secret visits she had been paying him and his friend, Richard still worried if all of this coming and going to the forest was burdening the pegasus, but whenever he would ask, she'd simply smile in return and tell him that she was fine.

Well, she had been visiting them almost everyday for a week now so it must've been fine. But still though...

Pulled away from his worrying, Richard suddenly felt a soft something touch his snout before it disappeared a second later, prompting him to blink and reflexively huff, before looking down at the now-standing pegasus, her raised hoof now rejoining the other three after it had served its boop-related inquiry.

She seemed...upset.

Tilting his head at her in confusion, she shook her head before offering him some kind, unintelligible words and a reassuring smile. Still unsure of what she had said but not wanting to have that frown from earlier resurface, Richard offered a smile of his own, though with his unsureness of the context, it came out as more of a forced snarl. But it apparently worked as the mare nodded once before she stretched, much like a cat would, and began to clean up the blanket.

Once the plates and cups were put away, the blanket was folded up, and the sleeping gecko's sandwich bed was swiftly relocated to Richard's stomach, the pegasus picked up her little picnic basket and, with a wave goodbye to her bipedal beast friend, she headed back home.

Watching her go until her form disappeared passed the tree line, Richard sighed before looked down at the little gecko snoozing softly in his open palm and smiling.

"You sure do love that girl's cooking, eh Badass?"

Cute snoozing gecko noises continue.

"Heh. Yeah. She really can make a mean-ass sandwich, can't she?"

Jokes aside, their was still sincerity in those uncouth growls of his as Richard entered the castle and immediately headed for the throne room. Thinking back on it, he had learned much in the last week or so from Fluttershy. For with Badass's help in translating, not only had he been able to learn her name, but of many things regarding herself, her friends, and the world that Richard now dwelled in.

The Everfree Forest. Ponyville. Equestria. Everything and anything that the pegasus could remember was offered to Richard on a silver platter. From the listing off of numerous species, sentient and non, that called Equestria its home, to daily life and tales of her friends as well as her own. For such a shy girl, she really had a lot to talk about when she was comfortable enough.

But seriously though...

Dragons?

Magic?

A governmental diarchy headed by two ponies, "alicorns" Fluttershy called them, that had the power to, get this, raise and lower the sun and moon?

Like...what?!

Voting? Psh. Who needs that when you have two literal fucking gods in charge of politics for life here in fairytale land. Jesus Christ.

Sure. The two alicorns in charge, uh...Cela and Lunestia? Wonderful leaders, or so Flutters says. Apparently, they're so good at their jobs in fact, that they've been able to not only manage their nation on their own for centuries, as Richard was informed of their insanely long lifespans two days ago, but have also managed to maintain a relative peace both within and outside their borders for decades. Guess you really don't have to worry about rebellions or invasion when your ancestors were responsible for creating the world itself. Nukes? Heh. Who needs those when you can just smite a motherfucker with a star? Or better yet, reduce just about anything and everything the light touches to a burning ash heap.

"Fuck." Richard growled tiredly to himself as he pushed open the doors to the throne room. "For a race of peace-loving herbivores, that's some real metal shit."

Closing the doors behind him with a swish of his tail, Richard walked the length of the room before making a short jump to the second floor above.

There in their secluded sleeping area, Richard then carefully deposited his little friend on the spot where he usually sleeps on the bed of beds before he himself settled down for a short after-meal nap of his own.

And so with an appearance rivaling that of a dog playing dead, Richard closed his eyes and let the warmth of the sun and the food in his gut guide him on down to Laze Town. But just as his eyelids grew heavy and the sandman was at his doorstep, the tired manclaw's final thoughts were not of the food and drinks he had, or of the forest he resided in, or even of the lizard snoozing blissfully beside him. Instead, they all seemed to revolve around a certain little yellow pegasus and her sweet, caring, understanding, innocent, alluring nature.

"Heh. Man Diablo, I wish you were here with me, buddy. Yawn. You woulda liked Badass and Fluttershy. I'm, yawn, sure you...would...have."

"I'm sure I would have liked them as well...master."

Author's Note

Well there you go folks, another chapter. A bit half-assed if you ask me. But hey, updates!

Okay, I'm sorry this chapter took a bit of time to come out. Wanted to get another story stared up before I leave. To where you may ask? Why off to the military of course!

That's right, Imma be a boot camp boy in a week or so, so yeah there's that...

...

Ah shit.

Sigh. Listen folks, I'm real sorry I gotta say this but...because of that, I'll be offline for a few months. Maybe more. Yeah, no more new chapters for now.

I know. I know. Some of you folks really enjoy this story and really I shoulda started this thing up earlier on if I knew it'd get this popular.

But don't any of you damn dare say that this story is already dead. Because since so many of you lads loved it so, I'll be planning on picking it back up later on. When I find time that is. So don't ya'll fret. Because if I'm going to start a story and have receive all the praise it got earlier on, I damn well intend on finishing it. It'll just take...time.

Okay. Sad words aside, I'll definitely try to get one or two more chapters finished before my departure so here's to hoping for that.

Again, real sorry for all that. But there're still plenty more fics on the site, so you all don't have to only wait for mine to return.

And again, thank you folks so much for all the love you've given this story up until this point. I'm real grateful for all of it and its because of that love that I'll definitely be pressed to return to it once I'm able to.

So until that time comes, thank you all so much.

And as always folks, stay casual.

Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Shitstorm

"And that's what I did with him and his friend yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that as well."

"And the other days before those?"

"As I said earlier. After I had him clean up that mess he made in the forest, I spent those days teaching him about proper predatory standards while I also had Mister Bear teach him how to fish and forage."

"What?! Why the hay would you teach a monster how to be a better monster?!"

"Well..."

"I'm with Rainbow on this, sugarcube. That just don't make a lick of sense."

"But it does. And he even swore to me that he would only hunt when he was hungry. Never for sport."

"Ooh, that's just rich. Then I guess he'll be hunting a lot in the future huh?"

"That's not-"

"If he's hungry, why don't we just send him some pies from Sugarcube Corner?"

"Pinkie. Not helping."

"What? If Mister Lizard and his friend Baddy Assy want to eat so much, shouldn't they at least try Missis Cake's new Fantastical Fudgelicious Fudge cake?"

"That's not the point, Pinkie!"

"Well it should be!"

"Not it shouldn't!"

"It really shouldn't, sugarcube."

"Uh, girls?"

"Should too!"

"Should not!"

"Should too!"

"Should not!"

"ENOUGH!"

...

"Sigh. Regardless of whether the topic of what the creature eats should or should not be disputed can be left for another day. Right now, we still have yet to acknowledge the real issue at hoof.

"And that is..?"

"That Fluttershy is banned from seeing that creature anymore."

...

"WHAT?!"

A growling yawn came from Richard's maw as he stood hunched at the shoreline of the river that flowed near his castle. The reason? Why to catch his breakfast of course. Granted it was considerably later in the day for breakfast, but after that good ass nap he had woken up from earlier, and given the fact that he had yet to meet anyone who could be capable of telling him otherwise in his current state, he had come to the conclusion that breakfast could be whenever he damn well said it could be. And after discovering a sudden hankering for seafood upon his return to the mortal realm, Richard had little else stopping him from heading out of the castle and strolling on down to his local river. And that's where he now found himself, his body posed over the water as he stared down into its blue depths, watching the little fish within swim by, oblivious to their reptilian reaper who currently perceived them the same way one would when staring into the depths of their fridge during the late hours of the night.

Now, keep in mind that when it came to fishing, even in its most basic practice, Richard had yet to ever actually fish once in his life...past life that is. Yeah, a corporate career really didn't leave much leeway for grabbing a pole, renting a boat, and heading for your nearest fishing locale. Fishing alongside his old man? Yeah, Richard's dad wasn't really into fishing either. I mean, why waste hours waiting for a fish to bite when you could simply wait a couple minutes for your personal chef to prepare you the finest plate of fish money could buy? At least that's what his dad once said, that is, before he was poisoned by said personal chef who later turned out to be a hitman hired on by a rival corporation. Yikes.

Poor fatherly advice aside, Richard had to instead rely on the pointers given to him by Fluttershy's friend, Mister Bear. Did I forget to mention that Mister Bear was also a literal bear? Yeah, that little meet and greet between the two was...awkward to say the least. Of course, considering just who Fluttershy was and what she did, Richard really shouldn't have been too surprised when Flutters visited him that one day with a bear at her flanks. And after one brief scare involving Richard reducing said bear to a quivering mess as he held it literally by the scruff of its neck while threatening to "turn all its insides outside," and another moment spent apologizing profusely to the bear under the harsh gaze of one very upset mare, he was finally able to learn how to properly utilize his claws. And by "properly utilize," that really just meant that Richard would violently stab at the water until he would skewer the right amount of fish on his claws that he thought would meet his appetite. Hey, if it worked, it worked.

And today was no different as Richard, after having placed two dozen or so fish into a sheet he took from the castle, tied the sheet to his tail and headed back to the castle.

"Now all I need is a pot and some seasoning." He growled to himself.

But as Richard made his way home, he suddenly stopped to look up at the sky, or more specifically, to the grey clouds that began to slowly build over the trees of the Everfree.

"Hmm. Looks like it's going to rain later." Richard hissed to himself before simply shrugging and continuing towards his stone fortress. "Eh. As long as it doesn't rain on my bed."

"As I said before, Fluttershy. You're not allowed to visit that creature anymore."

"But...But-"

"No, Fluttershy!” Twilight suddenly yelled, causing the yellow mare to eep. “You will not talk to that creature again, or see it again, or...or even go anywhere near wherever that thing sleeps!”

Verbally and physically shook to her core, Flutters again attempted to speak in defense of her friend when her other friend pressed her own advance.

“And if I ever find out that you went back to its lair again, I’ll...I’ll...” She shook her head. “Oh I don’t even know what I’d do, but I'll do something all right!”

Finishing her little attack, Twilight finally looked up with wild eyes and heavy breathes to see Fluttershy, her friend, reduced to tears. Oh boy.

Blinking, Twilight found herself with a pit in her gut as she had come to realize the error of her argument, and upon glancing at the others, revealed her fears to be true, if not with blatant obviousness.

“Oh no. Fluttershy, I-I didn’t mean to-“

But in reality, she did. She knew it, the girls knew it, and Fluttershy especially knew it, which was the reason why rather than stay and hear an apology she knew wasn't all that sincere, the mare instead bolted out of her chair and was out the door a second later, her friends silently watching her go while a sullen Twilight vainly reached out to nothing before dropping her hoof and sighing to herself.

"Well...that could've gone better."

"Not now, Rainbow."

"URrrp. Yup. That shit was good. Could've used some salt though."

Patting his stomach, of which was now filled with about a dozen or so semi-burned fish, Richard sighed happily as he relaxed on his reptilian rear in the glow of the evening sun. A turn of the head also revealed his little buddy Badass to be happily basking in the rays of sunlight as he too lay beside the larger lizard, his stomach noticeably rounder due to the accomplishment of eating half a whole fish before succumbing to the warmth of the evening light and laying down for a quick afternoon nap.

Seeing the little lizard curled up and cutely snoozing beside him, Richard could only utter a deep chuckle before his senses were suddenly alerted to the approach of a very familiar scent.

Smiling toothily, Richard turned in the direction of the scent and, sure enough, his good friend Fluttershy was soon in clear view after braking through the treeline not a few seconds later. However, upon spotting her and offering a wave of his claw, and tail as well, his growing positivity and optimism for what he thought would be another nice day was abruptly put on pause the second he locked eyes with the mare. Teary eyes that is. Oh no.

"Fluttershy?" Richard hesitantly growled, to which upon hearing her name, the pegasus in turn all but darted towards the deathclaw, her wings flapping wildly despite her galloping hooves never leaving the ground. And once she got close enough, the mare then leapt into Richard's claws, sending the manclaw for a hell of a loop as she just cried into his scales.

Blinking, Richard was now left sitting stock-still as the butter-yellow pony continued to weep and whimper against him, unsure on just how to proceed given his current predicament.

"Umm...Fluttershy?"

Still the mare wept and still was the deathclaw left confused as fuck.

"Uh...hmm...Fl-Fluttershy?"

"..."

Still nothing, huh? Well, time to try something different.

Ever so slowly, Richard raised one of his claws and wrapped it around the mare's quivering back, a back which tensed up at his touch. So far so good. Then with his other free claw he ever so slowly began to pet her head, introducing a simple back and forth motion that while intended to offer some manner of support, was without much comfort as it was awkward for the deathclaw trying his best not to accidently snap the poor mare's neck. And while he continued to pat the mare's head, Richard tried to offer what manners of verbal comforting he could.

"There, there, Fluttershy. It's okay. Everything's okay."

Now, while his actions may have seemed in vain or may have been having the opposite effect on the poor girl, it was actually surprising to Richard when he heard the mare beginning to actually calm down, if the sniffling and eye rubbing were anything of a giveaway.

"Nay. Whinny."

Okay...well she seemed alright now. Course, Richard wasn't sure if she was either thanking him or telling him to stop, but at least she didn't seem to be against his idea of helping so...progress?

"There we go. All better." Richard hissed, hoping that that was the end of that emotional rollercoaster. It probably wasn't. "Now. Why don't we get our good friend Badass awake so he can help me figure out what's wrong, yeah?"

With one last sniffle and a rub at her cheek, the little pegasus cutely nodded and Richard couldn't help but smile, which in turn earned a little smile from the mare as well. Daww. See? Progress.

"That's the spirit." He growled before turning to the little lizard still happily snoozing beside him. "Badass? Come on buddy, wake up. I need your help with something."

"Do you think Fluttershy is doing okay?"

"I'm sure Fluttershy's alright, just a little upset is all."

"...Heck, I bet when we get there, she won't even be sad anymore."

"You sure about that, Dash?"

"Positive...ninety-five percent...okay, maybe like eighty-"

"Uggh."

Shaking her head, Twilight upped the pace as she and the other girls hoofed it on over to Fluttershy's cottage in the hopes of settling differences and possibly having to make amends, despite the tiny lingering voice at the back of her head telling her that she was more or less in the right.

Still though, To think that their friendship was at risk all because of some creature they found in the Everfree. Ooo, if or when she ever got the chance again, she was so going to make that big dumb lizard regret ever messing with her friends. But current objectives demanded current attention, and right now, all Twilight was worried about was how far she'd have to go to make up with Fluttershy. And as they were soon walking up to the door of her home, Twilight was about ready to bite the proverbial arrowhead And apologize like a big mare.

Knock Knock

"Hello? Fluttershy? Sigh. Look, Fluttershy, Can you please just open the door? I-We still haven't finished our talk earlier so could you please just come out here and-"

Before she could finish, the door suddenly swung open, and rather than being met with a saddened Fluttershy, the girls were instead introduced to one very irritated-looking rabbit.

"Oh! Um, hi...Angel." Twilight said, forcing a smile. "Is Fluttershy home?"

Course, while the bunny standing before her couldn't actually talk, Twilight was still somewhat put off when the little thing began berating her in rabbit tongue, likely exhausting every curse word in its arsenal in the process as it simply informed her that Fluttershy wasn't in fact at home, and that the girls were basically wasting their time. And then it slammed the door on Twilight. Yup, guess she wasn't home. And if she wasn't home, then that could only mean...

"Oh no."

Turning around in a flash, Twilight looked spooked as all hell as she quickly galloped passed her friends and made for Ponyville.

"Twilight dear?" Rarity asked as she and the others followed after her. "What's-"

"No time to explain Rarity, Fluttershy might be in danger!"

Hearing this, Rarity was then about to ask when Rainbow Dash flew passed her and was at Twilight's side in a second.

"It's the monster, right? She went to go see it again, didn't she!"

Pursing her lips, the unicorn could only nod as she picked up the pace, sending the others into a gallop as they all neared the edge of Ponyville.

"I knew it!" Rainbow growled, before looking back at the mare expectantly. "What's the plan then?"

Rather than answer though, Twilight remained silent all the way to town. And even after they had finally reached Ponyville proper, Twilight then headed straight for Golden Oaks Library, her friends hot on her hooves. Nearing the front door, Twilight rushed on ahead, opening it and making a beeline for the stairs, her friends entering the library's wooden interior just as she crested the top.

"Twilight! Wait up!"

But she did not wait up, for as her friends had finally caught up with her, they found the unicorn in her bedroom, frantically searching for something underneath her bed. And when she didn't find what she was looking for, she moved to her closet, pulling bits and pieces out in a rushed search for her item of apparent importance.

"Sugarcube!" Applejack finally said after several moments of watching her friend not find what she was looking for. "Just what the hay are you looking for?"

"I'm...looking...for...aha! Found it!"

Pulling out the item she'd been searching for, the girls were stunned to see her reveal to them a chest marked up and down its wooden exterior with magical runes. Runes which, with a wave of her horn, were set aglow before disappearing one by one in a matter of seconds. And finally when the last rune evaporated from view, Twilight opened the chest, showing to her gasping friends five gleaming golden necklaces and one very eye-catching tiara.

"The Elements of Harmony!" The girls collectively said, eliciting a single nod from purple book horse.

"So, we're really going to use them?" Rainbow asked as Twilight levitated each of accessories out and into her saddlebags. "On the monster?"

"If worst comes to worst...yes Rainbow Dash, yes we will."

The blue pegasus grinned.

"Awesome."

Apple pone then stepped forward.

"I don't know about this, sugarcube. You really think Fluttershy's really going to agree to us using the elements on it?"

Upon hearing this, Twilight stopped to ponder that for a moment before she simply shook her head and brushed passed her friends.

"We'll just have to leave that factor up for consideration later. Right now our friend's in trouble and it's up to us to help her, now come on girls!"

Watching their friend go, the girls looked to one another before a silent agreement had been finalized between them and they were soon following after Twilight as she headed back down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Twilight?"

Hearing her name, the unicorn stopped, her hoof rested on the door's handle as she regarded one very confused purple and green dragon.

"What is it Spike?" She asked, impatience creeping into her voice.

"Where are you and the girls going?"

"To save Fluttershy and kick a monster's teeth in!" Rainbow chided in, much to Twilight's displeasure.

"Rainbow!"

"What?"

Blinking, it took the little dragon a moment to process that before he finally put two and two together.

"So wait. Fluttershy's in trouble and you girls are going to go rescue her from that creature you saw in the Everfree?"

"Eeyup. Pretty much, Spike."

"Applejack!"

"What?"

"Can I come?"

Now it was Twilight's turn say what.

"What?"

"Can I come along with you girls?"

"No. Absolutely not." Twilight said, and before Spike could ask again, she opened the door and stepped out, her friends followed suit.

"Oh come on, Twilight! You wouldn't stop talking about this thing ever since you saw it. And if it really is as dangerous as you said it was, then why can't I help you and the girls take it on?"

"Because it IS dangerous, Spike!" Twilight all but shouted. "And right now, I don't want you getting involved with something that's between us and the creature!" She then set the door handle aglow with her magic. "So just stay home and wait for us to come back with Fluttershy."

And with that, she practically slammed the door, unsettling the little dragon a tad. But only a tad mind you, for as the five girls headed off with thoughts likely centered around either the monster or their friend, It was very likely that they all thought that he would simply follow Twilight's orders and stay home like a good little dragon.

...But suffice to say, while good little dragons would stay home, heroic little dragons would think otherwise. Would do otherwise, more like it. So guess which one Spike wanted to be at that given moment?

"Heh. Sure thing Twilight. I'll stay home. Surrrre I will."

Author's Note

Well folks, I'm back.

And surely enough, this story isn't dead, not yet at least.

Yeah, sorry for being gone for so long as I was, boot camp was a pain to say the least. But now that I'm in school, here's to hoping that I can actually get this fic rolling again.

...Hopefully.

But anyways, glad to be back folks. Now let's see if I still got it in me to keep this thing interesting.

Chapter 9: The Coming of the Aforementioned Shitstorm

For Richard, several minutes to an hour had seemed to passed unnoticed as all attention was placed upon the little mare currently nestled in his lap, relaying to him an emotionally-centered recount of the day, of which may have included a significant degree of detail that would have captivated the deathclaw to no end, had it not been for the underlining reality that almost all of it was of course, spoken in horse. Also coupled with the fact that the mare's voice was set to a whisper by default and that during several instances the pegasus had to pause, either to collect her thoughts or receive the much-appreciated-but-secretly-needed ear scritches and heat pats that could only be properly distributed by a certain deathclaw in order to continue, and it was suffice to say that this whole ordeal was as taxing on the deathclaw patience-wise as it was interesting. But then again, considering that Richard's schedule for just about every day was comprised primarily of sleeping, snacking, and scratching himself, this little exchange wasn't entirely unwanted.

So again, for several minutes to an hour, Richard listened with tilted head and slightly wagging tail to whatever it was that had caused the little mare to pay him and his friend this oh so emotionally-charged, unexpected, but not so unwelcomed visit of hers. And when she was finally done, she looked up at him the same way a puppy would, with eyes that hinted at expectation, yet seemed to practically scream for attention.

She's definitely got Richard's attention, that's for sure. Now just what was she expecting? A head pat? A smile? Maybe some reassuring words given by you know who?

Because if that's what Fluttershy was expecting when she continued to silently stare up at Richard with those unexplainably large eyes...well who was Richard if not a slave to cuteness?

"Well...heh heh. That definitely sucks...whatever that is that you were talking about. Like a lot. Heh, uhm."

"...?"

Yeah this wasn't working at all.

Okay...well she's still looking like she's expecting something from him, so...head pats maybe?

Pat Pat

Alright, well she definitely liked that, but still...okay then how about that smile?

...

Yeah, okay that wasn't it either. The hell?

Hmm...well I'm out of ideas. Let's go back to Richard then, shall we?

"Okay then." Richard growled to himself before turning to the little lizard standing beside him. "Mind helping me out here, Badass?"

Having heard the whole story himself and already having accepted the reality that he was the de facto translator, Badass happily nodded his head before darting up the deathclaw's body and coming to a halt at his usual perch atop the larger reptile's head, just between his two curved horns. The little lizard then spent the next few minutes to an hour filling Richard in on what the mare had been trying to convey to him the first time. And while Badass was unable to replicate the full emotional edge that Fluttershy had seemed to present, he was still able to get a majority of the important bits across to Richard, while only ever stopping on several occasions so that he could have the mare repeat certain facts simply for the benefit in clearer understanding of her listener.

And boy, was he listening alright.

In fact, Richard was so engrossed in what the little lizard above him was saying that he hadn't yet realized that once Badass had gotten passed the part where Fluttershy had been yelled at by her friend that he had been growling rather loudly until Badass had to pause in his story-retelling and Fluttershy had to tap him, with a shaking hoof, several times that the deathclaw finally blinked and glanced down, noting the mare's blatant worriedness, before apologizing and further ceasing all unintentional utterances. After that, Badass finished the last bits of the story uninterrupted and the reptile, along with Fluttershy, now sat in silence, patiently awaiting what their friend had to say after all that.

"Well..." Richard growled after several long moments of silence. "As much as I want to call complete bull on all that. Maybe...sigh...maybe your friend's right, Fluttershy."

"...Neigh?!"

"So...when we get there, what are we going to do, sugarcube?"

After a bit of walking, Twilight responded.

"Simple. We confront Fluttershy and the creature."

"...And what exactly do you mean by that, Twi?"

There was a bit more of silent walking before she responded again.

"What I mean, Applejack. Is that when we get to the castle, we find Fluttershy, rescue her from the monster, and if need be, use the elements against it."

"Right." Applejack said, not sounding so sure.

"Applejack." Twilight said, glancing at the farm pony behind her. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing sugarcube, it's just..." She bit her lip.

"Just what?" Twilight inquired.

"Well...I've been thinking."

"Oh? About what?"

"Well, it's just that...after telling us everything about her going to see the monster and such, I'm starting to think that maybe we've been taking all of this the wrong way?"

"..."

"I mean, don't get me wrong sugarcube. I want to make sure that Fluttershy's safe, same as anypony else here. But after all that she's told us, maybe we're, I don't know, taking things a bit too far?"

"...Is that so?"

Applejack, after a bit of further consideration, made up her mind and nodded.

Twilight, after a bit of silent walking, stopped, with the rest of the girls stopping behind her shortly after. She then turned and after eyeing Applejack, turned to regard the others.

"And what about you girls?"

Looking amongst one another, the other girls were quiet a moment until finally somepony broke the silence.

"Well, darling." Rarity said after hesitantly raising her hoof. "Despite that creature's...appearance. If dear Fluttershy feels so adamant about there being good in it, well...why not hear her out one last time, hmm?"

"Hmm...what about you Pinkie? What do you think?"

"Uh-huh! I agree with Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said, stepping forward. "And Applejack! And Fluttershy!" She then paused and, after looking off to the side for moment or so, turned back to address Twilight. "And the comments too!"

"Uh-huh. Wait, what comments?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh...kay then. Well...Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said, to which the prismatic pegasus looked her way. "What do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" The mare repeated before huffing rather angrily. "What I want to do is give that lizard one hay of a hoof-sandwich!" She then bumped both her front hooves together before she suddenly faltered at Applejack's expression "Sigh. But...I also want Fluttershy to be happy so..." The mare then growled. "So I don't care what that thing does so long as it doesn't hurt Fluttershy! Eh-uhm...or something, I guess."

Blinking, Twilight was not expecting that little outburst, least of all from Rainbow of all ponies, considering her dislike for the creature being nearly on par with her own. Then again, it also seems reasonable to assume that when regarding friendship-making, it really does come down to what they want over what you want for them, huh?

Returning to silence, the purple unicorn seemed to consider the words of her friends for several tense moments before, with a heavy sigh, the mare hung her head in what was to be a defeat realized one potentially ruined friendship too late.

"You know what? Maybe...sigh. Maybe you girls are right." She was quiet for a moment. "Maybe...Fluttershy's...right."

A small shiver went down the mare's back. And whether or not that was over the fact that she was either admitting her failure in handling previous situations like a reasonable mare or coming to terms with the reality that yes, even smart ponies can still make dumb decisions was, and likely forever will be, up for debate.

But luckily for Twilight "Smart-But-Not-So-Smart" Sparkle, she wasn't alone in this little endeavor of hers. And one of them was going to remind her of that."

"Ahh. Come now sugarcube." Applejack said, resting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Don't you go thinking that you've only got yourself to blame for all this." She then blushed. "I mean, I wouldn't exactly be the element of honesty if I didn't admit to my own mistakes. No pony's perfect."

Twilight looked up, her eyes slightly watery.

"R-Really?"

"Eeyup."

"Sniff. Thank you Applejack." She rubbed at her eyes. "That, I really needed that."

"No problem, Twi."

"Soooooo." Rainbow Dash said walking up to the two. "Now that that's settled, are we still going to go "save" Fluttershy?"

Looking at the pegasus, then at the general direction of the castle, Twilight was again silent a moment before she finally made up her mind.

"No, Rainbow. But we are going to go apologize to her."

"And what about Mister Lizard?" Pinkie suddenly added in. "Are you going to say sorry to him too?"

"..."

"Sugarcube."

"I'll...I'll get back to you on that later, Pinkie."

The doors to the throne room of the ruin castle were pushed open and aside with a bit more force than usual as Richard lumbered passed the threshold, a low and somewhat irritated hiss escaping his maw as he made his way across the carpeted floor.

"B-But what do you mean that Twilight might be right?! I-I though that you would be against such a thing in the first place?"

"..."

"Look Fluttershy! As I had said before, even though your friend is one hell of a raging cunt, I just think that things would be a hell of a lot easier if you just, I don't know, didn't visit me and Badass for a while. That's all!"

"But...But...But what if I don't want to?! What if I want to visit you and Bad-as everyday?!"

"..."

"Okay, that's actually really fucking nice, I will admit. But you only just met me a couple of weeks ago. What about your friends?"

"They- I don't want to see them anymore."

"..."

"Oh come on, you don't mean th-"

"But I do!"

"..."

"I...I do mean that! Every word of it!"

"I...can't believe it." Twilight whispered as she listened from around the corner of the hallway leading towards the throne room doors. "She, really doesn't mean that, do-does she Applejack?"

Sitting besides the mare, Applejack rested a hoof on her drooping shoulder.

"I-I'm not quite sure myself, sugarcube." she then looked over to Rainbow Dash who was peering around the corner. "What are they doing now, Dash?"

"Not sure. The big lizard just sat down, and I think I see a tiny lizard too."

"I tiny lizard?"

"Yeah, an orange one, on top of the big one's head. Not sure what's the deal with that, though."

"Oh oh! Lemme see!"

Suddenly appearing below Rainbow's head, Pinkie Pie peeked around the corner, watching as the little lizard appeared to talk to Mister Lizard who, after hearing whatever it was he was told, he shook his horned head and uttered a low growl at Fluttershy, followed up by a short roar near the end.

"Huh. Looks to me like Mister Little Lizard's acting as the translator between Mister Lizard and Fluttershy."

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked, raising a brow down at Pinkie before looking back up. "How can you tell?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"No, not really." Rainbow responded.

"Well I think it-"

"Hush the both of you!" Rarity whispered sharply. "Some of us are still trying to hear!"

"...Sorry, Rarity."

"I...if they can't see that there's good in you, like I can, then...then what makes them think that they can boss me around like they did? Like...like Twilight did?"

"..."

"Fluttershy-"

"Well I had it! I had enough of their bossiness! I'm a big mare! I can make my own decisions! And if anypony else says otherwise, then...then..."

"Fluttershy!"

"Then...then...then they can just go jump off a cliff!"

Gasp

"FLUTTERSHY!"

With a roar of her name, the mare all but froze, her pent up aggression having suddenly disappeared as instantaneously as finding herself suddenly engulfed in the claws of her friend.

Blinking, the pegasus slowly looked up and into the sad eyes of her friend, with his smaller friend looking down at her from his perch, noticeably worried as well.

"Fluttershy." He quietly growled. "I get it. You want to be friends with me and that's okay. But at the same time, is our friendship really worth the friendship you have with your five other friends?"

"I-I..."

He then squinted at her, an edge in his growls and hisses.

"And don't you even think about lying to me or else you can just forget our friendship too."

She went silent after that.

"...N-No." She finally said, looking up at him. "Sniff, it isn't worth it."

Hearing that, or what his little friend up top had translated to him, his features immediately softened, and there was even a hint of a smile too.

"See? Now was that so hard to admit?"

"I-It was."

"..."

Hearing that from Badass, Richard chuckled before finally releasing the mare from his awkward hug and, after taking a few steps back, fell to all fours in order to continue this little heart-to-heart of theirs eye-to-eye.

"I'm sure it was for you. But that's just real life, Fluttershy."

"But-But I don't want to leave you alone!"

"..."

"Heh. Now who said that I'd been alone? I still got Badass here to keep me company." He looked up. "Don't I, buddy?"

Squee!

"Hell yeah." He then looked back at Fluttershy. "So there you have it, Fluttershy. You don't have to go worrying about me. Not like I'm gonna pass without you coming to check up on every day." He then carefully booped her on the nose with a raised claw. "And neither are you. Okay?"

Looking up at him with sad eyes and just the cutest of scrunched muzzles, she finally nodded, if a little hesitantly.

"O-Okay."

"Good. Now that that's settled, why don't we-"

"C-Could I ask you for something?"

"..."

"Oh. Alright then...what can I do for you, Fluttershy?"

With a light blush, the pegasus seemed unable to meet the deathclaw's eyes as she hoofed at the floor, her wings slightly ruffling behind her.

"Could...Could I-" She took a deep breath, then several. "C-C-C-Could I...p-pet you?"

"..."

"You. Want to pet. Me?" Richard growled slowly, trying to fully understand the mare who, after blushing harder than he'd ever seen her, nodded. "Huh."

"I-If that's okay with you!"

Looking at the mare, who at this point was trying and relatively failing at hiding her entire face behind her mane, Richard just couldn't help but laugh. Sure he tried to hold it in, keep a straight face and all that. But after all that emotional shit he had just gone through with her not a minute ago, there really was no point in holding anything back. So yeah, he laughed his ass off. And yeah, that also made the mare blush even harder, if that was even possible.

But luckily once Richard was done, he had somehow found it within himself to actually grow up and give the mare what she wanted.

"Heheh. Oh what the hell, sure."

At that, Fluttershy blinked before hesitantly peeking out from behind her mane.

"R-Really?"

"..."

Now, rather than outright answer her, Richard chose instead to lay down, tucking his back legs forward while simultaneously crossing his front claws together , then resting his head atop said claws. And after uttering a whispered hiss to Badass, who nodded and relocated to a spot on the floor beside him, Richard then simply tilted his head, raised his brow just ever so slightly, and replied to her question with a question of his own.

"Well?"

Blinking, Fluttershy was quiet a moment before she began to slowly approach the awaiting deathclaw. And she remained silent up until she stopped just a few inches short of his snout.

"S-So you're still okay with me petting you?"

"..."

"Yup. Just be careful of the horns, yeah?"

"Oh. Okay then. Well...excuse me."

Raising a shaky, outstretched little hoof, the mare carefully placed it atop Richard's awaiting snout. There was then a brief pause before Fluttershy began to move the side to side, earning a happy little hiss from Richard, much to her relief.

Now feeling both relieved and just a bit more braver, Fluttershy then began to move her hoof upwards, petting the top of Richard's head while also keeping mind to avoid his horns.

"I'm not petting you too hard am I?"

"..."

"Heh, No Fluttershy, you're good."

"Oh, okay then."

"...Hmm. If you don't mind me asking, there a reason that came along with this little request of yours?"

"O-Oh! Well..." She paused in her petting. "Since you liked petting me so much, I just thought I'd...do the same."

"..."

"Is that so, eh?" Richard growled, to which the pegasus could only blush before silently nodding.

"Well, in that case...thank you, Fluttershy."

"..."

"Fluttershy?"

Raising his head, Richard stared curiously at a silent Fluttershy, her hoof still outstretched despite an apparent absence of deathclaw.

"Fluttershy? What's wro-ONG!?"

Gasp

Rather sudden and completely unexpected, Richard found himself at a loss as the timid mare he'd been conversing with not a second ago was now literally upon him, having leapt at him for no apparent reason as she wrapped her hooves around his snout, much to his verbal displeasure.

"Eh?! Fluttershy, what are you- hey careful, watch the horns!"

Still adamant on hugging his face without rhyme, reason, or care for possible impalement, Fluttershy continued her silent sneak attack all the way up until she was forcibly pried off by Richard. Now having his face freed, Richard took a moment to steady his breathing and beating heart before looking back at the mare now dangling by the scruff of her neck.

"Okay, Fluttershy. Mind telling me why in the fuck you thought that was even remotely a good idea?"

Fiddling with her mane, the mare was silent for a moment before she Looked back up to Richard's awaiting features.

"W-Well...I just thought I'd hug you. You know, for being a good friend."

Glancing over at Badass, the little lizard quickly filled him in.

"Really. That's all?"

She nodded.

Now for a moment, Richard just stood there, pony in claw as he tried, and failed, to find the reason behind Fluttershy's reason for glomping his face. And after several moments of coming up with nothing, he sighed, placed the pegasus slowly back on the floor, and sat down, stretching his legs passed his arms as he looked down at the crazy, yet insanely cute pony before him.

"Honestly Fluttershy, it baffles me that you can do stuff like that, yet still have trouble talking to your friends."

Hearing that, the mare blinked before lowering her head to sad realization.

"S-Sorry."

"..."

"It's quite alright Fluttershy, just next time? Warn me before you do something like that, okay?"

She nodded. Then paused a moment before looking back up at him.

"Then, could I do it again? Hug you I mean. I-If that's okay with you."

"..."

Blinking, Richard tilted his head at her.

"Really? You want to hug me again?"

She nodded, and Richard couldn't help but glance at Badass as he too simply tilted his head.

"Uh...sure, I guess. Just not the face again, okay?"

Smiling, the mare uttered what sounded like a a little woo-hoo before she approached the sitting deathclaw and, after standing up on her back hooves, spread her front hooves wide and gave Richard what he could consider the smallest and awkwardest hug he'd ever received, in this new world at least.

Several moments then went by before Fluttershy finally met her hug-quota for the day and stepped back from Richard with the smallest of smiles on her face.

"Feeling better?" He asked, to which she cutely nodded before suddenly lowering her head again. What now?

"Something else wrong, Fluttershy?"

"It's just...what should I do now? About my friends, I mean?"

"..."

"Well I'm sure talking to them should be obvious."

"B-But...hmm...sigh. You're right." She then looked up at him. "When do you think I should."

"..."

"Well...as soon as possible, maybe?" Richard said, scratching his chin while absent-mindedly glancing upwards.

And then he froze.

"Or maybe right now, actually."

Blinking, the mare raised a brow at that before realization finally sunk in. And slowly, ever so slowly, she peered over her shoulder at the sight of her five friends quietly staring back.

In a word, Twilight and the girls were bucked.

How did this come about?

Well, it all started not a few moments ago after having been properly consoled by Applejack, Twilight had been under the impression that after having heard what Fluttershy had said thereafter, the chances of them all making up was next to impossible. And that assumption alone was what had almost sent the mare into shock had it not been for the monster's outburst.

And after that, Twilight, Applejack and Rarity were soon beside Rainbow and Pinkie in an instant as they all watched the monster grab their friend, an action which almost sent an angered Rainbow Dash their way had it not been for the quick act on Applejack's part to grab the mare by her cyan tail.

Luckily though, it didn't take long for the girls, mainly Pinkie, to recognize the telltale hints of a hug, an unharmed Fluttershy being both an adequate giveaway and undeniable evidence to her words bearing truth.

"I-I can't believe it." Twilight whispered after seeing the creature then release their friend, who seemed to be in higher spirits from whatever it had said to her. "Fluttershy-...the monster...everything she said."

"Shoot, sugarcube." Applejack quietly added in. "Still think she's fibbing now?"

"I-I..."

"It is rather hard to believe, dear." Rarity said, brow raised as she watched the creature carefully boop Fluttershy, an action the mare found cute, if not obviously un-monsterish.

"Aww. See Twilight? Mister Lizard really was just misunderstood." Pinkie also added in before her tone suddenly became a tad softer. "Poor Mister Lizard."

"I don't know." Rainbow said, squinting at the creature as it then began to laugh at the yellow pegasus after she had said something to it, or at least that's what it looked like from where she was standing. "I still think that thing she stay away from Fluttershy."

There was then a moment of silence as the girls observed the creature lay down in front of Fluttershy, and after several questions were silently raised in regards to why, their answers were then brought to light as the timid mare approached the prone beast. Then after several moments of bated breath, the girls watched in stunned wonder as their friend began petting the creature as if it were some oversized dog.

"She's...petting it."

"Seems more like it's letting her pet it to me."

"Hmm...I do wonder how rough those scales of its are."

"Hehe. If he likes pets, I wonder if Mister Lizard also likes belly rubs."

"Huh. Well Dash? Think that critter still shouldn't be near Fluttershy?"

"...Shut up, Applejack."

Small comments aside, Twilight and the girls simply couldn't believe just what they were witnessing. And even more so finding it difficult to keep quiet about it despite the need to remain undetected. Luckily enough however, what Fluttershy did next had caught the monster off guard physically more so than it did verbally for the girls.

GASP

"What the hay?!"

"Woah nelly!"

"Oh my!"

"Wowwy!"

"What the buck?!"

Yes, it seemed that all it took for both parties to go full tilt was for Fluttershy to suddenly and rather violently hug the ever-loving shit out of the creature. And, judging from the surprised roars and hissing, the monster was completely caught unawares and thus was left blind, both figuratively and literally, to the other girls as they witnessed, with wide eyes and hushed expressions, his violent receiving of a hug to the face.

"Wh-What is Fluttershy doing!?"

"It's attacking her!"

"More like she's attacking him, darling!"

"Hugging him's more like it!"

"Twi, should we do something?"

"I-I...I don't know?!"

Yes, suffice to say, Twilight and the other girls were at a total loss on how to proceed. Should they intervene? Should they yell out to their friend to stop? Keep going? Or should they just watch and see how things progress?

Well they were watching when the monster finally peeling Fluttershy off of its face, and they were still watching well after when it seemed as though the monster forgave the mare. And then they heard that Fluttershy wanted a redo on that hug from earlier.

"Seriously?" Rainbow breathed, tilting her head. "Does she really think that that lizard's going to let her hug it again after that stunt she just pulled? Why if that were me, I'd-"

Rainbow then paused when she and the rest of the girls heard the beast hiss something, then Fluttershy did that little woo-hoo thing of hers before approaching the creature and once again hugging it, only this time, she aimed for a regular, if not awkward-looking, around-the-waist hug.

"Aww, now that's more like it!"

"Indeed, darling."

"Shoot, never took Fluttershy for the direct type."

"Scoff. As if, she's just like that because he's a big dumb lizard. Right Twilight? ...Twilight?"

As one, the girls looked to their friend, finding the mare more or less at a loss for words as she stared ahead.

"What's the matter, Twilight darling?"

"Monster."

"What was that, sugarcube?"

"Staring."

"Uh, Twilight. You're not exactly making sense here."

"At us."

Blinking, the other girls looked to one another before seeing the realization in eachother's eyes, and as one, slowly turned to see not only the monster staring back at them, but also, to a more or lesser worrisome degree, Fluttershy.

"G-Girls?!" Fluttershy gasped, taking a step back from her friends. "W-What are all of you doing here?"

Seeing that the jig was in fact up and that an immediate answer was not only wanted but demanded, Twilight, being the take charge mare that she was, responded first. She would then regret it immediately after.

"W-What are we doing here? W-What are YOU doing here?!"

Hearing this, Fluttershy blinked before shaking her head and stepping in front of Richard, all the while donning the best resentful look she could muster.

"Oh me?" she said, brow raised and frown doubled. "I'm just spending time with my real friends."

Hearing this reassurance of their acknowledged friendship, Badass made a happy little squee noise, a sound that earned a passing smile from the yellow pegasus before she quickly returned to 'Serious Shy.'

Also hearing this, Twilight and the several other mares in the room visibly flinched from that little verbal swing to the feels, drooping ears being one such giveaway.

"Fluttershy darling." Rarity said, taking a step forward before retracting it as the mare's eyes focused on her. "S-Surely you don't-"

"Oh but I do!" Fluttershy interrupted. "In fact, I'm starting to think that he's the only one who actually cares about me!" She then turned to look up Richard, who couldn't look more confused about all of this even if he tried. "He actually listens to me, cares about what I have to say, cares for me! Unlike some mares."

"Now you wait just a minute, Fluttershy." Applejack said, stepping up to the plate. "While I'll admit we haven't been the best of friends to you as of late, saying something like that is just plain unfair."

"I'm being unfair?" Fluttershy quietly repeated, causing the farm pony to freeze.

She then snapped to the mare, eyes ablaze.

"I'm being unfair?!"

She took a step forward. The others took a collective step back.

"I didn't hunt down a creature just because it sounded dangerous." And another step. "I didn't want to fight a creature first just because it looked dangerous." And yet another. "I didn't try to kill a creature just because it thought that we were dangerous." She paused in her advance, having successfully backed the girls into a moral corner. "But no. Because even after all of that, after all I did to prove to my new friend that my other friends and I weren't dangerous AND that he should forgive us for our mistakes...which he did!"

"He did?" Twilight asked, blinking slowly alongside the others.

"I did?" Richard growled, tilting his head after hearing Badass translate that last bit.

"Yes. He did." Flutters said, nodding once before continuing. "And yet, I'm the one who's still unfair?"

With ears drooped and cheeks crimson-colored, Applejack knew that the pegasus had a point, and after having driven home that point several dozen times over, she could do nothing but pull her hat down below her eyes and make a strategic retreat to the rear, blond tail tucked between her legs.

"But Fluttershy!" Rainbow said, dashing ahead of the others in order to face the pegasus next. "Do any of us need to actually remind you that that lizard you're defending almost tried to kill you?!"

"Maybe he did." Fluttershy said after pausing for a second of consideration, before shaking her head and returning to her uncharacteristic show of stoicism. "But maybe, maybe he just wasn't thinking straight."

"Wasn't thi-? Do you even hear yourself right now, Fluttershy?!" Rainbow yelled, pointing a hoof at the creature behind her friend. "That big, dumb, THING, almost ripped you to shreds and yet you're STILL defending it!"

Staring down the cyan-maned mare, Fluttershy remained silent a moment before her features suddenly grew more serious then they ever had before, and that definitely threw Dash for a loop.

"Rainbow Dash." Flutters said, so slowly and quietly that it seemed to send a shiver down the mare's back. "You can see me standing here. Right?"

Dash blinked.

The question, though insanely, obviously, undeniably rhetorical in every sense of the word, was a question that she just wasn't expecting from the mare, like at all.

"Wh-huh?" She said, head going full tilt as she tried to piece together a coherent response. Well, coherent-er response.

Fluttershy continued.

"I said," she said almost unemotionally, "Do you see me, right now, at this very moment, standing in front of you?" She then glanced at the others standing silently behind Rainbow. "In front of all of you?"

Though the others nodded, if only hesitantly, Rainbow was still a bit slow on the response.

"I-, yes?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Good. Now, if what you say about Mister Lizard being just a monster is true, why am I still standing here?"

"Uh..."

"In front of all of you."

"Uhm...Well-"

"Alive."

"..."

Seeing as Rainbow was in no way able to come up with anything worth even a quarter of an counter-argument, Fluttershy let slip the tiniest of smug, shit-eating grins before she coughed into a hoof and turned to the others, a brow slightly raised.

"Anypony else?"

The others looked to one another, quiet, silenced either by their fear of losing an uphill battle of words or just downright fear of this new, serious, take-charge-and-give-no-shits-in-return Fluttershy.

"Heheh, well you don't have to worry about me Fluttershy." Pinkie said after her own bout of silence. "I always had a feeling that Mister Lizard was good the whole time!"

"And I'm glad to hear that, Pinkie." Flutters said, giving the party pony a genuine smile before it shifted to a deep frown. "But that still doesn't mean you're completely forgiven. You should've been more vocal with the girls about Mister Lizard actually being nice."

The pink pone flinched at that, and judging from the way her mane seemed to literally deflate a bit just from that comment alone was proof enough that despite her apparent innocence in this whole matter, she still felt just as responsible as though she were damning Mister Lizard to Tartarus herself.

"Hehe, yeah...you got me there, Fluttershy."

Nodding once again, Fluttershy then turned to the last mare who had yet to offer up her own two bits in this ordeal.

"Rarity?" She simply asked.

"Darling." Rarity simply responded.

"Do you have something to say about Mister Lizard as well?"

At that, the white unicorn paused, glancing up at the lizard in question who had yet to actually do anything sides from uttering the occasional hiss or tilting his head when given the reason to, before locking eyes once again with the pegasus patiently awaiting her response.

"Honestly darling?"

"Uhmm."

"Well, up until this point while I only ever considered the creature behind you nothing short of an absolute, unintelligible brute who's only real goal was to use you for sating its own nefarious needs."

"B-But..?"

"But...being the fashionista that I am, it doesn't take a perceptive eye for anything and everything fashion to see that you do care for this Mister Lizard." she paused, glancing at the creature before continuing. "So much so in fact, that if it makes any the difference, then I will not stand between either of you."

Fluttershy was surprised. Now this was certainly unexpected for sure.

"R-Really, Rarity?"

She nodded, smiling.

"Why of course, darling! I mean, how could I keep calling myself the element of generosity if I simply hogged my friends all to myself?"

Wow. That was actually a really grownup thing to say, and coming from the mare who said it? The same mare who'd faint at the sight of her little sister spilling juice on one of her dresses? The mare who managed to literally whine her way out of slavery at the paws of a pack of diamond dogs? Yeah, that very same mare.

In fact, that statement alone was just what Fluttershy needed to hear as the pegasus succumbed to her emotions entirely and galloped up to the mare before proceeded to hug the ever-loving shit out of her, tears openly streaming down her face and onto the unicorn's pristine coat, the unicorn who, though slightly grimacing at that little fact, sighed nonetheless as she accepted her friend in a much-needed embrace, hoof slowly stroking the mare's shaking back as she wept the pain and relief away.

And, needless to say, the emotions currently being displayed also seemed to be rather infectious as the other girls also seemed to find themselves reduced to a similar teary-eyed, hug-needing state, and one by one, the girls all joined in what had now become a hell of an emotional group hug. A group hug that could only ever be conjured up from the deep bond shared among only the closest of friends. A group hug that not even the steel-nerved Rainbow Dash herself was immune to as she too joined in the mess of limbs and tears following only a temporary hesitance and the beckoning of a certain orange mare.

Course, while this scene of absolute friendship was playing out, none could find themselves more at a loss of words, or in this case hisses, then Richard as he and Badass remained the only silent spectators to this heart-felt spectacle.

"Well...this was rather unexpected and sappy, huh Badass?"

Squee

"Heh. Yeah, sure. If this little reunion means that they're friends again then...then I guess I can't really say anything, now can I?"

Sque Squee!

"Yeah, you've got a point there. Maybe now, we can try and set things right?"

Squeek

"Okay now that's just pushing it."

Squee?

"But-"

Sque!

"Uhh. Fine. Silver-tongued little shit aren't you?"

Knowing that the probability that the little lizard atop his head was currently sporting the biggest shit-eating grin it could muster was absolute, Richard sighed heavily as he let the girls have an extra minute or two to really empty out their tear ducts before he stood back up on his hind legs and slowly made his way towards them.

Upon hearing and seeing his approach, the girls quickly broke from their hug, with Twilight and company taking a few steps away from a slightly amused Richard while Fluttershy found herself uncomfortably in between.

Coming to a full stop, Richard looked down at the little ponies, noting their looks of hesitation tinged with a hint of fearfulness. His gaze also seemed to linger just a little bit longer on a certain purple unicorn, who only narrowed her eyes in response. Course, this only earned a deep and rather unsettling chuckle from the deathclaw before he turned to the the pegasus next to him.

"Fluttershy." He growled, earning the mare's full attention. "Could you please tell your friends that I want to have a...a truce, I guess?" He looked up. "That right, Badass?" And Badass nodded. "Yeah, let's call it a truce."

"Really? A-Are you sure?"

"..."

"Yeah Fluttershy, I am. Now tell your friends, please?."

Blinking, the pegasus stared at Richard for a moment before she caved upon his raised brow and informed her friends of his request.

And their response?

Well, they didn't necessarily seem completely opposed to it. Least that's what Richard though when he saw all of them look at him as if he were the most shadiest dealer on the block. Yup, they weren't buying his shit not one bit. And of course none were more suspicious then the purple plague that was that damned unicorn, as she was the one who had been the most vocal to said request, with little miss skittles being a close second.

However, Richard knew full well that they'd obviously respond like that, being the scared little herbivores that they were. And by that course of logic, it only seemed logical, if not downright plain fucking obvious that in order for Richard to garner interest, and with that, willing cooperation, he needed something a little extra to swing opinions in his favor. And what wouldn't gain instant attention like some bait? Say...a carrot on a stick?

"Fluttershy?" He hissed, to which the mare looked up at him. "Could you also please tell your friends that by offering this truce, I would also be willing to offer up myself in any way that'd further prove my innocence?"

Fluttershy flipped.

"Wh-What?!" She yelled, much to the surprise of the others. "Bu-But why?!"

"..."

"Heh. Because I'm just that serious, Fluttershy." Richard simply said, much to the pegasus's stuttering dismay. "Besides, I'm pretty sure your friends wouldn't believe me if I didn't pull something like this, right?"

"Bu-Bu-But, but you can-!"

"Yes. I can. Fluttershy." Richard said, cutting the mare off as he already knew what she'd probably say and thus needn't to wait for Badass to translate. "And I will. Now, would you kindly tell your friends? Please, Fluttershy?"

Blinking, the mare stood silent a moment as she looked into Richard's eyes, hoping to see some hint of falsity. To call his bluff. But she couldn't. She just couldn't. He really was serious about this, wasn't he?

"O-...Okay."

Turning back to her worried friends, Fluttershy hesitated a moment before she revealed to them his proposal, and as he had expected, they took the bait. Sure there was a great deal of shock and surprise on their end if the gasps and excited whinnies where anything to hint off of, and sure the ring leader herself still looked to be in disbelief of the whole thing, but after hearing whatever Fluttershy had said to her, along with some unintelligible words from a orange, white, and pink ones as well, it seemed as if the mare had been swayed, and she seemed to look up at Richard with an expression that he could've sworn was full-on guilt intertwined with...admiration?"

'Just what did that she say to that girl?' Richard thought. Course if anything, Richard was just glad that they were all now more inclined to play nice. Granted, he was still curious on what had been added onto his proposal in order for the purple one to see reason, but whatever. The carrot had already been bitten into five times over and that was more than enough.

And now it seems that Miss Purple is coming over.

Blinking, Richard raised a brow as the purple unicorn approached him, her expression seemingly neutral and contrasting to the very relieved look that Fluttershy was sporting as she walked alongside her.

"Oh? You're approaching me?" Richard growled, to which the two mares halted just a few feet from him. "Got something to say?"

Staring up at him, the purple one remained quiet for a moment before she suddenly bowed her head.

"I'm...sorry."

"..."

"...Excuse me?" Richard hissed.

"...W-What'd he say?" Twilight asked.

"He asked for you to repeat that." Fluttershy responded.

"Oh! Uhm, well I'm...I'm sorry. For everything."

"..."

"For...everything?" Richard repeated.

"Fluttershy?"

"He's not sure what you meant by 'everything.'"

"Well...everything is...everything! The fighting. The magic. That trap from before. Heck, all that time that I've spent thinking you were just some mindless monster Tartarus-bent on making a meal out of us when you were actually an intelligent, caring creature!" She took a few breathes after that. "So, I want to apologize for being nothing but a threat to you. For hating you for no reason, and rushing to conclusions when I should've stopped and actually listened to Fluttershy when she said that you weren't just another heartless...THING from the Everfree. So I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry!"

"..."

"Oh?" Richard hissed, tilting his head as he narrowed his eyes to study the mare's features for any sign of a deception. Yet as he stared her down, smelled her even, he could detect no sign of deceit, nor catch even the faintest whiff of a lie. And considering just what he was and what he was capable of, this mare currently prostrating herself was either a master of deception, or was simply just telling the truth. Regardless, Richard couldn't help but chuckle deeply, causing the girls to all look up at him curiously, Twilight included. When he was finished he nodded at the unicorn.

"Alright then. I forgive you."

"What."

"WH-WH-WHAT?!" Twilight yelled, startling everypony in the room besides Fluttershy, who simply smiled after having told her Richard's answer. "Just like that?! Bu-But I don't understand!"

"..."

"You heard me, Purple." Richard growled, amused by her little outburst. "I forgive you. Simple as that."

"E-Excuse me?"

"But...just like that?" Twilight repeated following Fluttershy's translation, still at a total loss. "Why? H-How?"

Now following Badass's translation, Richard raised his left hand and clenched it, leaving three razor-sharp claws up to the mares' confusion.

"Three reasons." He growled, taking two claws away. "One, because Fluttershy told me to." He added the second claw. "Two, because if I didn't, then Fluttershy would hate me." And then the third. "And three, because I just don't give a fuck."

"I-I never said I'd hate you, dummy." Fluttershy quietly said, blushing slightly much to Twilight and the other girls' confusion before she repeated everything to Twilight, which in turn only made the mare more confused than ever before.

"I...you...what?" Twilight slowly said, trying to comprehend Richard's thought process before altogether succumbing to the utter nonsense that was his reasoning, sighed heavily as a result, and after a moment of silence, actually chuckled.

"Heh. You really do care about Fluttershy, don't you?" She asked, smiling sadly. And after he was informed by the little lizard atop his what Twilight had said, Richard casually growled his response back.

"Oh please. Out of the six of you, not only was she not scared of me when we had our first little encounter, but she actually came looking for me after that. Even had the nerve to come alone." He then paused, glancing at the pegasus and noting her crimson complexion with a deep chuckle before continuing. "And Let's not forget all those times she's ventured through the forest just to visit me and my little friend. Now that takes one hell of a pair." There was then another brief pause as Richard also allowed Badass to add in a squeaking praise of own, causing the pegasus to blush even harder in the process. "That's right Badass, can't forget she's also a beast of a woman who commands respect without even trying." He then turned back to Twilight, confused as she was. "So to put it simply, little Miss Purple, you can thank my reconsideration of peace to the little yellow pony beside you."

Wow. Just...wow. That was certainly one hell of a response. And no pony could dare to agree more than the butter-yellow pegasus seemingly at the center of it all. And following a few moments spent recovering from her initial shock and embarrassment following that slew of compliments all directed at her, Fluttershy spent the next few moments relaying everything that Richard had said to Twilight, even including Badass's little comment that certainly, if not definitely, sent a few eavesdropping heads turning. And of course after hearing and seeing Fluttershy repeat all that, as well as seeing the reactions of her friends, the purple one's especially, Richard just couldn't keep from sporting the toothiest grin he could muster. Hell, even Badass was caught smiling too, little cheeky fuck.

But of course, all good things must come to an end, and in this case, Richard and Badass had to reign in their enjoyment as Twilight approached the massive lizard, a determined look on her face that was only slightly diminished by her slightly reddened cheeks, which may or may not have been due to hearing one of her close friends be drowned in compliments by two reptiles of drastically opposite sizes.

"Ahem. Choice reasonings aside," Twilight said, glancing at a still very red Fluttershy before smiling up at Richard. "I'm so glad that you chose to forgive me and my friends! It truly means a lot to know that you're not actually the big bad lizard we-, well...I thought you out to be." She then took a step forward. "So...with that being said." And to everypony's surprise, Richard's and Badass's included, offered a raised hoof and an abashed smile. "Why don't we start over? Hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle. Wanna be friends?"

"No."

"..."

"A fresh start, eh?" Richard said, raising a brow and mulling the idea over for about a five seconds before he finally chuckled and shrugged his massive arms. "Oh what the hell. Sure, I'll play along."

"No!"

Smiling toothily, Richard then raised a claw of his own and took a step forward, reaching towards the mare's awaiting hoof.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Twilight! The name's Ri-"

"NOOOOOO!"

"Hmm?"

"Princess? Is something the matter?"

"..."

"Princess Celestia?"

"It's...nothing my little guard, just...felt a slight chill, is all."

"Hmm...shall I retrieve the royal blanket, Princess?

"That...that won't be necessary. But thank you, though."

"Of course, Princess."

Fear.

Fear and confusion were the two main emotions that all six of the girls were feeling when Richard, who not a moment ago was just about to shake claws with Twilight before he suddenly froze, claw just inches from the unicorn's hoof. Blinking, the mare had of course tilted her head in confusion and was just about to ask him what was wrong when he suddenly, and very violent jerked his entire body backwards, eliciting a sharp roar of pain which in turn caused Twilight to immediately backpedal towards her friends with a yelp of her own, the other girls already having taken up defensive stances almost instinctively.

"Mister Lizard?" Fluttershy called, worry instantly filling her everything as she saw her friend suddenly clutch at his head with both claws as he shook violently from horns to tail. "Mister Lizard, what's-"

And then he roared.

It was sudden, practically instantaneous . A deep, ear-splitting cry that seemed to shake the very earth itself. And the girls were at ground fucking zero.

Literally diving to the floor, the girls tried to save what little was left of their hearing as they all threw their hooves either onto or into their ears, their cries of surprise being easily drowned out as bits and pieces of rubble fell down and around them.

But just as suddenly as it started, the roaring ceased and the girls, temporarily left unaware of anything besides a constant ringing, were left deafened and incapable of moving from their spots on the stone tiles beneath them.

"Uhhh. Gi-Girls! Girls?!" Twilight yelled, or at least she thought she was yelling as the ringing seemed to drown out any and all other sounds.

"Twilight?!"

Blinking, Twilight was vaguely aware of her name being called and repeated several times, though from where, she had little clue. But luckily for her, the ringing seemed to slowly be subsiding and Twilight was soon able to make out the voice calling her name to belong to Applejack.

"Applejack?!" She called and after feeling a tap on her shoulder, found the farm pony to be standing beside her, offering a helping hoof up that she graciously took.

"Yeah sugarcube, I'm here. Though I'm honestly wondering if my hearing is too."

"You girls okay?" A voice from behind called out, and sure enough as the two turned their heads, they saw Rainbow Dash, followed closely by Rarity and Pinkie, trot up and stop beside them, each looking just as shook as they were currently feeling.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Applejack is too." Twilight said, before looking amongst the five of them and blinking. "But wait, where's-"

"Mister Lizard?"

With five pairs of ears all perking up as one, the girls all turned their heads to see Fluttershy, seemingly unfazed by what had just happened and was currently, slowly approaching the large lizard hunched over in front of her.

Mister Lizard, please tell me what's wrong."

"Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie yelled, gaining the pegasus's attention for only a brief moment before she heard a low growl come from the big lizard before her. Fearing that he might be in serious pain, the pegasus quickly rushed over to the creature's side, much to the very audible dismay of the five other ponies present.

"Mister Lizard! Don't worry, I'm right here! Are you okay? Are you injured?! Ohhh, please say something!"

And something he did say, or rather growled, though whatever it was that he had told her was apparently so surprising that it caused the pegasus to freeze before she then began to shiver like a leaf caught in a storm. And without another word, she slowly began to edge away form the creature, all the while her eyes, whose pupils had shrunken to pinpricks, did not leave the deathclaw's hide for even a second. And she did not stop her careful retreat until she had rejoined her friends.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight said, looking the mare up and down. "Thank Celestia you're okay! What happened? Why did Mister Lizard-"

"That's not Mister Lizard."

Blinking, Twilight stared at the pegasus, dumbfounded, before glancing between her and the creature on the other end of the room. What was she talking about?

"W-What? Fluttershy, what are you talking about, he's standing...right...there?"

Turning to the deathclaw in question, Twilight and the others watched as he seemed to finally recover from whatever had happened to him and slowly rose to his full height. But as he did so, there suddenly came an icy chill that snaked down Twilight's spine, along with the others' as well. Something wasn't right. Not right at all.

"What in the Celestia-damn?"

"What the buck?"

"Oh...my word."

"Uh-Oh."

"Wh-Wh-Wha?"

"...Mister Lizard."

Fear.

It was a mixture of mainly fear and-...actually...no. No, it was only fear that all six of the girls were currently feeling as they stared at hi-, fuck. At just whatever the hell it was now standing before them and staring back with cold, cold crimson eyes.

"Hello, ponies."

Author's Note

Ho-ly Hell! This took a HOT minute to make, folks!

And damn it all, if I don't feel like adding one last scene from the dozens I've got cooking up.
But...as they say, There's always the next chapter. Or am I just saying that?

Oh whatever. Point is, another chapter's finally out! No thanks to my laziness and inability to properly utilize time of course, but I'm only human after all. We all work at our own paces and all that jazz.

So yeah, tired as all hell after getting this chapter out. Hope you folks enjoy it as much as it was a hassle and a half for me to properly piece together story-wise. Will try to get the next chapter out sooner so as not too strain your guys' patience more than I already have (Also thank you guys so much for being patient with my slow ass while waiting for this chapter by the way, really do appreciate it!).

By...yeah, you folks know the drill. Report them errors of mine in the comments, post that much appreciated feedback, and as always...

Stay casual, folks!

Chapter 10: Riders of the Aforementioned Shitstorm

…

"Did...Did it just...talk?"

"N-No, it couldn't have. T-That'd be-"

"Impossible?" The creature asked, to which the six mares collectively eeped. "Oh, I can assure you, I most certainly can."

"B-But," Twilight stuttered, catching the monster's eye. "But how?"

The creature scoffed, seemingly insulted.

"Believe me, horse." The creature said, causing the mare to flinch. "I've BEEN able to speak for some time. Though, how I've yet to be heard until now is beyond me." It then turned its head, mumbling something to itself. "Especially by him."

"Th-Then...that's great!" Twilight said, catching everypony present off-guard, monster included as it looked up to regard her. "Now that we can finally understand you, we can clear up all our previous misunderstandings!"

"Oh? I don't think so."

Twilight froze.

"Wh-What? But I thou-"

"You may have tried that with him." It said, eyes briefly flashing red as it squinted. "But I am not one to be as easily swayed. So cut that insolent, innocent crap!"

Okay. NOW Twilight was just confused.

"But...but I-"

"Twilight. Let me handle this, please."

Blinking, the purple mare now found herself at a complete loss for words as she was suddenly pushed aside, or slightly nudged in this case, by the yellow pegasus who now stood in front of her, seemingly squaring up to the creature herself.

"Now. I will only ask this once." Fluttershy said, as calm as she could startlingly be at the moment despite her body physically appearing as though it couldn't decide between either wanting to run or remain still. "What, did you do, with Mister Lizard?"

The creature blinked, before huffing.

"That's what you call him?" It asked, raising a brow to which Fluttershy and the other five remained quiet to. "Hmm. Then again, that is what you only know him as, isn't it." When the pegasus blinked, ready to ask the obvious, the creature merely continued. "As to what I did with him...You could say that I simply sent him away. For now."

"Why?" Fluttershy asked, taking a shaky step forward. The creature scoffed again.

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Again the mares responded with silence, leading the creature to growl irritably. "It's because of you ponies! You AND your vile lies."

"L-Lies?"

"Yes, lies." The creature spat. "Honestly. Did you really think that after everything you did to him, all it would take to earn his forgiveness was to play innocent and give a simple apology?"

"Well..." Twilight paused, unsure and almost too afraid to give her answer. "Yes?"

"LIKE HELL IT DOES!" The creature roared, causing the girls to flinch in unison.

"B-But, but Mister Lizard said that he forgave Twilight and the others." Fluttershy said, stopping a little hoof. "He even said that he'd do whatever he could to show his sincerity! Doesn't that mean anything?!"

At that, the creature hesitated, earning a relieved look from the pegasus before it vanished a second later at the shake of the creature's head.

"No. No, you ponies. You must have done something to him. Corrupted his senses somehow!" The creature then paused, as if struck by a sudden and startling realization. And as its eyes shifted to Twilight, and then slowly up to her horn, it all suddenly made sense. And the looks the ponies were giving it, the purple one's especially as she quickly shook her head only confirmed it. The creature's features suddenly grew dark. Demonically dark.

"So that's what it was." The creature quietly said as its body trembled, its claws balled into tight fists and its teeth barred in the nastiest of snarls. "Fucking magic."

"N-No!" Fluttershy said, waving her hooves frantically. "That's not-"

"ENOUGH!" The creature roared, taking a step forward. "I now see you creatures for what you all truly are! Lying, deceiving little-!" An exasperated roar echoed through the room as the creature took another step forward, its restraint growing more nonexistent by the second. "So just quit your little cutesy acts now! Nothing you do or say will convince me otherwise."

"How could you say something like that?!" Fluttershy unexpectedly yelled, yet again halting the creature's advance and shocking her friends with her boldness. "I would NEVER even think of lying to Mister Lizard like that and if you think that for a single second that I would, then...then you can just go drown in a lake!" She then took a few deep breaths to calm herself before she added in a cold, defiant tone that few have ever heard her use. "Sorry, not sorry."

Wow. So that just happened. And all Fluttershy's friends could cough up in response to their friend's awe-inspiring defiance were a couple of gasps and the audible pop of a pair of wings suddenly opening. No, not Fluttershy's.

And the creature? Well suffice to say, if the pegasus didn't already have its attention, she most certainly did now. And that was only proven by the creature once again coming to a halt as it mulled over several instances it remembered, or reminded of in this case, that it had perceived in the past as being evidence to Fluttershy's words before ultimately sighing.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I do believe you yellow one. Aaand because of the kindness that you offered Mister Lizard, I...guess I'll spare your life." Buuuuut? "As for your friends however..." The creature continued, her tone switching from slightly embarrassed to deathly serious in the span of a single second. "They will not be receiving that same kindness from me."

Fluttershy was taken aback.

"B-But why?!

"Simply put, yellow one." The creature stated, pointing a claw at Twilight and the other four girls. "Not only did those five seek to harm Mister Lizard, but they even attempted to...t-to..." The creature suddenly shuddered, though whether out of anger or fear was unknown as it then roared. "To Kill him!"

"..."

"To...to even think that he'd just let all of that go..." It slowly shook its head. "Shameful." It then looked back at the girls. "No matter. I will not let this farce continue any longer. My master…he deserves so much more and I will be damned if I let this disrespect tarnish his actual name any longer!"

The girls took a collective step back, but not before a certain unicorn had picked up on one certain little detail. Something that seemed so crucial that it apparently needed to be brought up.

“Wait. Master?" Twilight questioned, raising a brow.

The creature froze, apparently having let slip something it shouldn't have. This of course made Fluttershy and the others look between the mare and the monster several times over before the pegasus decided to add in her two bits.

"J-Just who are-?"

ROOOAR

With little to absolutely no warning, the creature let loose a mighty roar and charged the girls, giving them only seconds to dive or fly away before claws measuring several feet long hacked and slashed at the floor their hooves had been previously occupying just moments ago.

"None." The creature said, it's voice trembling with rage as it stood before the six mares that now formed a loose circle around it, each adopting a fighting, defensive, or quivering stance of their own. "I WILL LET NONE OF YOU LEAVE THIS CASTLE ALIVE!"

Snapping to one the mares, Rainbow Dash in this case, the creature lunged, aiming to hack the mare to bits but was instead left emptyclawed as the pegasus took flight, leaving a stone slab to be reduced to pebbles in her stay.

"Gotta be quicker than that, lizard face!" The cyan mare laughed as she hovered over the beast, leaving the monster to only growl at her before it was suddenly fired upon by a flurry of flying stones.

"Take this you vile brute!" Rarity yelled as she peppered the creature's hide without remorse. Course, this did little but piss off the giant lizard as it switched targets and charged her, roaring all the while before a pony-sized slab suddenly connected with its snout, the beast roaring both in pain and surprise as it hit the floor with a mighty thud, rolled twice, and slid for several feet with the betraying assist of its own momentum.

Hissing in pain, the creature's head snapped to its left and found, to its growling anger, both a very upset Twilight Sparkle as well as several large chunks of rock encased in her magic and floating above her head.

"I was sorry! We all were!" She yelled as the stones tilted and turned in the air, seemingly aiming themselves at the downed deathclaw. "Why can't you just accept that?!"

The creature growled right back at her.

"Like hell I would...like hell I ever wi-!" It said before it felt a sudden and sharp tug from below. Turning, it found the orange one with the hat, Applejack, had tied a rope around both of its legs and was now standing beside it with a lasso twirling in her tail, somehow. And after having been found out, the mare simply tipped her hat as she nodded at the monster with a determined grin.

"Howdy."

"What are you-"

Then with a speed that surprised even the fastest flyer in Equestria, the apple farmer pounced on the creature and in a whirlwind of spins, turns, and twirls accompanied by a number of grunts, growls, and expletives, the mare had the monster hog-tied before the dust even settled. Tightening one last knot with her teeth, the mare then watched the beast struggle for several seconds before nodding at her hoof-work and hopping off the thing, leaving it huffing and hissing behind her while she approached her friends with her head held high.

"And that." She said, crossing her hooves and looking smug like the farm pony chad she was. "Is that."

"Eh." Rainbow said as she landed, not trying to look as amazed as the others did. "Anypony could've done that!"

"Oh?" Applejack said, raising a brow. "Is that so, Rainbow? Well. I didn't exactly see that critter budging when you were running away from it."

"I wasn't-!"

"Pardon. Flying away, is what I meant to say."

"Why you-!"

"While that was incredible, Applejack." Twilight interrupted, passed the farm pony by and stopping just in front of the group. "You shouldn't celebrate just yet."

And she was right. For just after saying that, the creature rolled itself over and, with a spring of its tail, was back on its own two feet. Give or take a few seconds of brute strength and snapping ropes later and the creature was now staring down the girls once again.

"If you thought that some measly rope would stop me, then you five are by far the most idio- wait...where's the-?"

"Surprise!"

And in a fashion that was in a word, Pinkie, the party pony had managed to somehow sneak up, literally under the snout of the creature and, with no hesitation, tossed half a sack's worth of flour right into its face, leaving the monster reeling as it roared in absolute shock of this sudden attack. An attack that was further accented in grandness by a giggle befitting a true prankster and the words to match.

"Hah! Pocket Flour! Take that Mean-Mister-Not-Mister-Lizard-Lizard!"

"Greh! You insolent little-" The creature roared before she suddenly paused at the sound of laughter clearly directed at her. Turning in the general direction of the chortling, it hissed. "And what's so damn funny?"

"Haheh. Isn't it obvious?" Rainbow Dash said between breaths, getting in a good few more laughs much to the rising anger of the one being laugh at. "Some monster you are! Hah, classic Pinkie!"

Growling up a storm, the creature furiously wiped at its eyes, attempting to clear its vision but only succeeding in further smearing the flour into its eyes and evening causing it to sneeze a couple times. This of course only proved to anger the deathclaw more while its onlookers, primarily Rainbow, found it all the more entertaining, her laughter seemingly keeping pace with the rising volume of the creature's vocal irritation. Finally after a minute straight of this back and forth nonsense and the creature finally gave up, leaving it well beyond fuming.

"Alright, whoever you are." Twilight said, causing the creature to blindly turn in her direction. "I think this game has gone on long enough. So why don't you just return Fluttershy's friend and go back to wherever you came from?"

At that the creature paused, considered the question for several seconds, then simply and rather cryptically answered.

"Easier said then done, you cur."

"What?"

The creature then looked down, its claws bawling tightly as it continued.

"Believe me, purple one. I would wish for nothing but to return to that place with ma- with him." It looked up, its flour-caked features portraying a mix of hatred and sorrow that certainly threw the girls for a loop. "But that's no longer an option. So instead, I will make this world his new home. For both of us! And if cretins like you continue to get in my way?" The creature then raised its foot high before bringing it down with all its might, roaring all the while. "Then they have no place in his world!"

With a deep boom, the stone cracked under the creature's claws, leaving a sizeable imprint before the very ground around it cracked and broke, before bursting forth into a sudden blaze of crimson fire that traveled like a wave from the epicenter, leaving the girls stumbling as a radiating heat blew passed them. And once they recovered, they were shocked to see the creature before them had taken on a new form unlike anything they'd seen before.

For as the red flames settled, they revealed a creature whose hide had been blackened darker than coal yet seemed to glow like molten rock from the deep red veins that pulsed from beneath and between its ebony scales. Whose height had risen several feet than previously seen, excluding the already massive horns atop its head that now curved out and up like wicked scythes. And whose searing, rose-emblazoned eyes stared back at the girls with an unimaginable depth of fury.

"What's wrong, ponies?" The creature hissed in a deep, echoing voice. "You dare to summon a real monster, yet shudder and your own folly?" It narrowed its eyes. "Pathetic."

"You think we're scared of you?!" Rainbow yelled, before audibly gulping as the creature looked at her. "Yeah right! D-Don't make me laugh!" She then turned to the others, forcing a smirk. "Right, girls?"

Their mumbled replies did little to assure her.

"Right." The creature said before it began to slowly approach the girls. "Well, I see no reason to continue this game any longer, so why don't all of you simply just per-"

Squee!

Halting abruptly, the creature found itself now facing yet another obstacle that dared to get in the way of its plans. And the creature was more than certain that the orange, pint-sized reptile currently sizing it up knew that as well.

"So is that it?" The creature asked, more so snarled. "You would wish to share the same fate as these vermin?"

The gecko, whom up until this point had only been watching the whole ordeal go down, squeaked its reply, confirming its choice to interfere while also restating the request that Twilight had made earlier on.

The creature in return, despite its absolutely beastly appearance, seemed to hesitate a moment before nodding at the lizard whom it believed truly deserved its master's respect as well as its own.

"Hmph. So be it." It said, and without warning or remorse, the creature reeled back its arm and sent its clenched claws straight at the little lizard. The impact to follow was almost as deafening as thunder, and the hole in the floor swallowed half of the creature's massive arm. And while the mares were left shell-shocked at the sight, the deathclaw simply pulled its arm out of the hole and examined its hand, then the hole, before finally sighing and turning its head to regard the orange lizard standing just a few feet away, completely unharmed.

"I had a feeling you weren't just any normal creature." The creature said, turning away from the absolutely dumbfounded girls to give the tiny gecko its full attention. "Then again. I doubt any creature who would willingly strive to befriend my master was anything but."

Narrowing its eyes, the gecko remained silent as it only cracked its neck, readying itself for the upcoming fight. Staggering difference in size aside, if the little lizard was feeling any bit fearful or hesitant now, he certainly didn't show it as he dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and the behemoth of a beast before him in an instant before leaping to near eye level with the deathclaw and letting loose a torrent of fire right in its possessed face.

The roar of agitated surprise to follow as the creature took a blind swing at the gecko would be accompanied by another as the gecko, rather than try to dodge the incoming arm, instead climbed aboard before sending forth another belch of fire right into the creature's eye. And while the deathclaw's hide was more or less everything proof, fire to the eye was still fire to the eye and as Badass darted around its hide, the creature was left to claw at itself in a enraged frenzy, spinning about as it tried to shake its passenger off to no avail and in doing so doing more damage to itself than Badass ever could. Clever.

"Why you- ugh! Get back- augh! H-Hold still so I can squash you, dammit!"

Squee!

"You! You take that back!"

Squea!

"Why you little-!"

Squee! Squeek!

"How DARE YOU!"

And around they went. With Badass attacking the beast both verbally and fire-breathily, the beast attempting to swat or pulverize the gecko and instead causing more harm to itself, around, and around, and around they went. And all the while the two continued their dramatic little game of whack-a-gecko, as one-sided as it was seeming at the moment, none were more at odds emotional-wise than the main six who were currently watching the whole thing with mixed reactions. By which that included Pinkie Pie, Rainbow, and Applejack cheering the little gecko on, Fluttershy appearing as if she wanted to intervene but at the same time wondered if that would be rude, and Twilight and Rarity simply watching in silence.

"Twilight dear," Rarity said to the unicorn beside her. "sh-shouldn't we intervene?"

"..."

"T-Twilight?"

"Oh!" Blinking, the lavender mare turned to her friend, though seeming to do so with some difficulty as she had to rip her eyes away from the action, and regarded her with only a slight blush. "I'm sorry Rarity, you were saying something?"

Blinking herself, the unicorn shook her head before nodding over at the two creatures locked in combat.

"Shouldn't we be doing something about those two darling?"

"I...suppose." The mare finally said after watching the fighting a moment more before glancing at her friends, then at the creature, and finally at her saddlebags with the elements jingling within.

Sighing, she knew what needed to be done.

"Girls." Twilight said, catching the others' attention. "Gather around." And so they did.

"Got a plan, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded.

"More or less." she said, before levitating her saddlebag off and opening it for all to see.

"The elements, huh?" Rainbow said, peeking in. "Was wondering when were going to use them."

"Considering current circumstances, we have to if we have any chance of defeating whatever that creature is now. That is..." She trailed off before turning to regard a certain yellow pegasus as did the other four. "If everypony agrees."

Fluttershy blinked.

"M-Me?"

"Well Mister Lizard is your friend after all, dear." Rarity said, giving the mare a look. "If anypony should have the final say in all this, it most certainly should be you."

"R-Really?"

"That is true." Applejack said, nodding. "You know more about that critter than the five of us, Fluttershy. Wouldn't be fair if we just up'd and zapped it without your blessing...if I'm being honest."

"Oh."

"Yeah! And besides," Pinkie added, or more so jumped in. "How could we use the six elements of harmony if only five of us want to use them? Silly pony."

"Th-That is true."

"like I said before, Fluttershy." Twilight said, putting a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder. "I realized I was wrong in my judgement before and wanted to make amends with you AND your friend." She nodded firmly. "And I meant it." She paused before smiling. "So it's your call."

Taken aback by Twilight's sincerity, as well as by her friends' willingness to let her have the final say so, Fluttershy didn't quite know what exactly to say.

"Tw-Twilight. Girls I-" She seemed ready to cry. "I don't know what to say."

"Weeeelll could you maybe figure it out a little faster?

"Rainbow Dash!"

"What?" Rainbow responded, pointing a hoof at the two lizards still going at it. "Just saying that I don't want that little guy over there to have all the fun is all."

"Be that as it may, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said, much like a mother scolding her filly. "This is Fluttershy's decision, not yours!"

"That's okay Rarity, I've already decided." Fluttershy suddenly said, catching both ponies off guard.

"You did?" They both asked, to which Fluttershy simply nodded.

"Uhmm."

"A-And?" Twilight hesitantly asked, To which the pegasus sighed.

"We'll use the elements."

"..."

"You sure, Fluttershy?" Applejack questioned, to which the mare nodded again.

"Yes."

"But why-?" Twilight tried to ask before the pegasus cut her off.

"It's okay Twilight." She simply said, glancing at the creature just as it clocked itself in the crotch. "I know now that you girls just want to help Mister Lizard. And if it means using the elements...then I'm sure it'll all work out in the end." She chanced a small smile. "Right?"

"O-Of course!" Twilight said, semi-shook by her friend's painfully adorable optimism. "While I have done a bit of research on the elements as a side-project, I found that their effects, while usually unpredictable, aren't always necessarily dangerous whatsoever!" She then nodded, as though her very words were fact, before letting her inner egghead take the reigns as she continued. "And if this situation were to play out exactly like the Nightmare Moon incident, then I'm unmistakably positive that the elements will only purge the evil entity currently possessing him while leaving his body and mind relatively unharmed!"

Hearing that, especially come from Twilight of all ponies, Fluttershy couldn't feel more relieved as she smiled and nodded.

"Oh that's just Wonderful!"

And just like that, the decision was made. So without further delay or a recount of votes, out came the elements as each was given to their respective beholders. And once each of the five golden necklaces and one tiara were equipped by their wearers, the girls took to their positions with Twilight at the front and the five others at her six.

"Alright, girls!" Twilight said, glancing at the others over her shoulder. "Is everypony ready?"

"Uhmm!" Fluttershy confidently hummed.

"Heck yeah!" Rainbow agreed.

"Always am, sugarcube." Applejack affirmed.

"Ready as can be, darling." Rarity confirmed.

"WAIT!" Pinkie Pie suddenly yelled, causing all eyes including Twilight's to fall on her.

"Pinkie?" She asked, brow raised. "What's wrong?"

"What about Mister Gecko?"

"Mister Gecko?"

"Yeah! Shouldn't we warn him so we don't accidently friendly-fire him with friendship-fire?"

"That's right!" Fluttershy suddenly piped up before turning to the unicorn. "We should warn him, shouldn't we Twilight?"

"Well...I guess we should. But how?"

"Hmm." Hummed the pondering pink pony before she was suddenly struck with an idea. "Oh! I got an idea! How about before we blow away Mister Beasty with our befriending beam, we yell 'HEY MISTER GECKO, GET OUT OF THE WAY SO YOU DON'T ACCIDENTALY GET HIT BY OUR SPECIAL ATTACK!?'"

Squee?

"What?"

Face hoof times five.

"Seriously Pinkie?" Rainbow deadpanned, to which the pony simply and innocently shrugged.

"Heheh, oops?"

Five exasperated sighs followed that.

Blinking, both Badass and the creature had paused upon hearing the pink one yell what she had yelled. And after taking one look at the other girls, then at the creature, then back at the girls, it seemed curiosity won over consideration as the gecko stuck its tongue out at the creature before darting over to the girls and stopped just beside the smiling yellow one.

And it seemed that curiosity, the merciless reaper that it was, would apparently be killing more than just cats as the creature simply stood in place, its crimson eyes full of doubt as they narrowed at the six mares standing before it.

"Oh? A special attack. Is that right?"

"Buck yeah it is!" Rainbow Dash, being the mare to hurtle over cannons, jumped at the opportunity for a second shot at intimidation. "Should just let us kick your scaly butt BEFORE we brought out the elements. Colt, are you in for it now!"

"Reaaallly now. Me? Be concerned much less intimidated by whatever you little inferiors call anything an 'attack?'" It scoffed. "Please. Don't make me laugh." It then paused to consider something as Rainbow sputtered to reply. "Though then again, if it's supposed to be what you ponies consider a last resort, I suppose it would be all the more entertaining when it fails spectacularly." The creature then nodded to itself before grinning toothily at the mares. "Very well. Since Mister Lizard was so willingly merciful with you six, I suppose It would only be fair if I gave all of you somewhat of a fighting chance. So go ahead. Show me this special move of yours. And if its as laughably worthless as I'm sure it'll be, then maybe I'll let one of you live as a reward. Maybe."

"Oh we'll show you what's laughably worthless when we shove our friendship beam right up your-!"

"Dash!" Applejack called, an orange hoof against the bridge of her snoot. "Ju-Just, just stop talking. Like now, please."

"Applejack's right, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, sighing at the the pegasus's antics. "Besides, I think you're just giving the creature what it wants."

"Heh. You friend's right." the creature chortled, much to cyan mare's scrunching face. "You really are."

Having quelled the Dash, the main six were now stood ready to reveal their ace in the whole and thus unleash upon their foe a friendship fuckening befitting only the most vile of entities such as the creature that patiently awaited its apparent demise.

"Alright then, whoever or whatever you are, prepare to be defeated!" Twilight said with determination practically dripping from her every word. The creature however, merely yawned.

"I'm waiting."

Huffing slightly, Twilight didn't make the creature wait a second longer as she and the girls closed their eyes. Slowing their breathing down all the while, each of the girls felt a tingle within themselves that steadily grew to a warmth that washed over their everything until it could no longer handle its confinement and the energy, seemingly the very magic of friendship itself that seemed to swirl about inside their beings like a whirlpool, burst forth, and set up each of the girls for a one hell of a light show as their eyes opened to reveal only a bright glowing white while their necklaces and one tiara each shone spectacularly a color of the rainbow. Then for the grand finale, as each pony took to the air without assistance from neither horn nor wings, a beam of colored blasted out and straight up from each of the crystal symbols on the front of each weaponized accessory before colliding at a cone-shaped point and literally exploding into a spiraling mess of rainbow that then rocketed towards the creature at near light speed.

The end result was just as spectacular. For as the creature braced itself for what would likely feel like trying to stop a flaming bullet train, it was shocked to realize that upon making contact with the beam, by which it engulfed the creature entirely and near-instantly, it felt as though a warm breeze was simply passing through. A calming wind that left the creature...relaxed? At peace even? To the creature, the feeling was...bewildering to say the least and at the most it was...familiar. Well whatever it was, the creature was almost disappointed when that sensation disappeared and slowly morphed from a slight irritation, to a slight burning sensation, and then to an almost excruciating, searing agony that racked the body seemingly from the inside out. How so? Well, considering the ear-splitting roar that the creature was omitting as the rainbows consumed it, one could only speculate.

This agonized roaring persisted for several more long seconds before it finally ceased altogether, leaving the room in relative silence as the girls returned to normal. Then once the rainbows dissipated, the girls were more or less baffled to see the monster still relatively unharmed as it laid unmoving on the stone floor.

"Did, did it work?" Applejack asked as she squinted at the creature.

"I-I don't know." Replied Twilight as she took a hesitant step forward, then several hasty steps back as the creature suddenly stirred.

"Ughhh."

"It's still alive?!" Rainbow Dash yelled as the creature growled again, confirming the obvious.

"Wait a minute!" Fluttershy suddenly said, raising a hoof. Blinking, she slowly approached the downed deathclaw, noting its obvious disorientation as it struggled to push itself up. "M-Mister Lizard?" She called, to which the beast paused in its action. "Is that you?"

Turning its head, while not making direct eye contact, the giant lizard seemed to remain quiet a moment before it hissed a reply that only one mare, and gecko, could understand.

"Y-Yeah Fluttershy, it's me alright." He said, the corner of his maw curving up slightly. "Did you miss me?"

Hold back on the waterworks, Fluttershy took a shaky breath before nodding.

"Uhmm."

Squee!

"That you too, Badass?"

Squee.

"Heh. Is that so? Well, why don't you come over and tell me more then."

Squee!

Fluttershy smiled as she watched the little gecko, happy as could be for his friend's return, made his way over to the prone reptile. Well, that is until there came a sudden chill that shot clean through the pegasus's fur. Blinking, a curious question was about to be posed before a startling realization was made and-.

"Wait! Badass don't, that's not-!"

And she was too late. For just as the little gecko turned his head, he was suddenly in the air, his little body clutched tightly within the claws of what he thought was his friend lying on the ground just seconds ago was now standing at his full height. Squeaking in pain, the little lizard was shocked to find himself unable to utilize his fire breath on account of the slowly enclosing claws choking him. Now left with no other options but squirm in vain, he instead chose to growl at the creature holding him, who of which laughed wickedly at his current conundrum.

"AH HAA HAHAHA! YOU FOOL! You actually bought that?! Wow, and to think it would be that easy too!?"

The creature cackled once more, its grip eliciting a cough from the little gecko as it tightened.

"And you." It said, looking up with a wicked smirk at a slightly shaking Fluttershy. "Thanks for fooling this little one here too. Really sold it with how happy you looked to see your friend return. Well...thought he returned, that is."

"I...I-I...but I thought."

"Oh? That your precise friend was back. That I would be defeated that easily?" It narrowed its eyes. "Well. I ALMOST thought so too. But seeing as I still stand, it simply goes to show just how truly pathetic you ponies are. Hm, guess I was right all along."

"Like hay you were!" Rainbow Dash yelled before she suddenly took off towards the creature, hooves ready to serve up a cider barrel's worth of beatings up until she was sent flying backwards and straight into a pillar by the entrance, the impact cracking the stone and causing the mare to fall to the ground in a limp heap all from the mere flick of the creature's tail.

"Yes. I was." It stated matter-of-factly as it took a step towards the others.

"Rainbow!" The girls yelled in horrified unison before rushing over to their down friend with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy making it to her side first. Quickly the girls checked her over and, after finding that she was in fact still breathing, if only barely, they were nonetheless relieved before that relief was dashed by the slow approach of the creature.

"Hm. Was sure she would've died from that attack...no matter, I'll finish her off after I deal with all of you."

Gulping, a bead of sweat rolled down Twilight's brow as she stared down the murderous beast before her. Well, that is until she was pushed aside by Applejack as she brushed passed her and continued toward the creature, her head low and silent.

"Oh? Is that anger I smell? Prey tell, just what are you planning do with all of that anger?"

Stopping, the farm pony was quiet a moment before she suddenly responded in a hushed, unidentifiable tone.

"I'm...I'm..."

"Yes?"

Gritting her teeth, the mare's head suddenly snapped up, and as Twilight looked on, she was shocked to see Applejack's eyes as red with rage as the creature's whose crimson orbs held amusement instead. A sight that was only made that much more horrifying when the mare spoke, or rather...screamed.

"I'M SENDING YOU STRAIGHT TO TARTARUS!"

And with that, she charged the monster head on, an orange bull seeing only red as it charged its chuckling target, deaf to her friends calling her name and blind to everything else but her rage as she closed the last few feet between her and the creature with a sudden leap, roaring through the air as she spun to buck its stupid smirking face before she just stopped. Or more specifically, the creature caught her by the hoof with its open claws before suddenly twisting, garnering a sickening crack and an even more stomach-churning scream from the mare before it raised its arm, and the mare it was holding, and threw it and her to the ground. Hard. Some much so that after hitting the ground with enough force to leave a small impact crater, Applejack's body was then lifted again and promptly thrown straight through, yes through another nearby pillar and skipping several times across the stone floor before coming to a skidding halt against the wall beside the wooden doors.

"Applejack!" Twilight yelled.

"You-..!" Rarity yelled, drawing the lavender mare's attention and finding, to her ever-increasing shock, her friend levitating several dozen rocks of varying sizes and edges that she turned and rotated in the air, their sharpest points all aimed at the creature as it looked on with indifference. "You freak!" And at that, she fired, launching a impressive barrage of debris that actually gave the creature pause. A slight mistake on its part as it made the creature loosen its grip on its little captive just enough for the creature to take a breath and let loose the smallest of flames right into the creature's eye, surprising it and thus allowing him to slip free just as the creature was pelted with just about everything the white unicorn had and or could get her aura on, giving the creature little time to do much but throw up its arms and shield its face from the avalanche of throwables that broke and cracked against its scales in rapid succession.

"Take that! And that! And that! You brute! Scoundrel! Tartarus-Spawn! DEMON!"

Twilight didn't know what to say. She was without words as she witnessed a feat of magic that was well beyond what she knew her friend was capable of. A feat she knew could only ever come from the raw emotions of those who attempted them, and as a result, suffered from them. And as she watched, her fears were only affirmed as she noticed her friend begin to steadily grow more and more fatigued, her breathes labored, her face scrunched from heavy magical output, even her horn seemed to spark and fizz from the constant flow of energy she was pouring into it as she fired off rock after stone after pebble, at a rate which to her horror decreased both in viciousness and velocity just enough for the creature to slowly but surely advance towards them, under fire, one sluggish step at a time.

"Y-You fiend! Y-ou beast! M-M-Monster." Rarity panted, gasped, growled and hissed as the pounding in her head and the shakiness in her hooves increased. And yet even up until the last moment, when she thought her mind would break or that she'd bite clean through her lip, she somehow managed to continuously pour on the insults alongside each bit of rubble she flung at the creature, up until she heard what sounded almost like shattering glass before everything went black.

Twilight meanwhile saw everything, and was, as she is now, speechless. Hell, she may have probably been breathless too at that moment and not even know, maybe not even care either. The sight was just that...fuck. I mean, to see something like that happen to another unicorn, to a friend no less...just...fuck. And just what did happen to Twilight's friend? To Rarity?

Well to put it morbidly simple, her horn just...shattered.

No, not all of it mind you. But from the tip to maybe halfway down her horn, that portion was just...gone. Shattered like glass and scattered like flakes of snow around the mare's now unconscious body, having dropped just a second after the bits of horn and a two seconds before the remaining rocks and debris that Rarity had in aura at that time fell with her. And her body remained there even as the beast found this moment to be opportune and charged, claws raising and soon falling on the mare's unmoving form, even as Twilight was halfway through screaming her name but stopped at the sight of something dart towards her downed form. A very pink something.

"PINKIE PIE TO THE RES-!"

SLASH

"-cue."

Thud

"P-Pinkie?"

"…"

"..."

Zap

"Damn you."

Zap Zap

"Damn you."

Zap Zap ZapZapZapZapZapZApZap

"CELESTIA DAMN YOU TO TA-Augh!"

"Are you done embarrassing yourself now?" The creature asked as it held Twilight by the neck. The mare promptly responded by firing a magical bolt point blank into the creature's face. But much like the dozen other shots she fired at it, the bolt bounced harmlessly off of the creature's hide, leaving it to huff in annoyance. "Very Well."

With no effort, the creature raised to its full height, bringing the mare with it while only slightly tightening its grip on her neck. She gasped, kicking air and bruising her hooves blue as she beat them into the creature's skin in an attempt to break free.

"Do you insects not get it?" The creature asked, bringing the struggling mare just a few inches away from its face. "You've lost. There is no point in resisting any longer." It raised a brow. "So why do you still persist?"

"I-..." Twilight gasped, making the creature tilt its head ever so slightly as she fought vainly to breathe. "Am g-g-going..." She clutched at the creature's claw which tightened around her neck with shaky hooves. "To e-end y-you."

The creature sighed, after hearing that and seeing the glare that its prey was trying to give it, the creature sighed before raising its free arm, the blood-soaked one, and bringing it to eye level with the mare.

"And just look where that got you and your friends." It brought the dripping appendage closer before rubbing a crimson-coated claw just below the mare's teary eye. "Soon to be dead...almost dead...already dead."

The mare trembled.

"And do you know who's to blame for all of that?" It asked, raising a brow. Twilight however didn't respond, she already knew the fucking answer. The creature booped her with its bloody claw. "That's right...you."

Though she could no longer speak with the creature's grip slowly getting that much tighter, Twilight opted to instead stare at the creature, holding a gaze that the creature almost immediately took offense to.

"You know, I don't like the way you're looking at me right now." It stated, bringing up the bloody claw and pointing it inches from the mare's now pin-pricked eye. "Maybe I should just...pop it." In what was likely her definite last moments, the creature watched as the mare used the last of her energy to again struggle out of its grip, much to the creature's disappoint, but then again, her suffering would make all the difference so the creature really didn't have any other complaints. So, it simply moved its claw closer and closer to the unicorn's open eye, before suddenly stopping.

She...she was looking at something. Not it, or the claw, but something else?

"What are you staring a-?" The creature tried to asked before it paused, noticing a flicker of light just out of the corner of its eye. Blinking, it turned its head to look before freezing at the sight of a beam of pure white light shinning out from its shoulder. "What is tha- AHH!"

Stumbling back a step, the creature gasped as more spikes of pain stabbed from within, and to its horror, with each jab of pain, a thin beam of white light speared through the skin and out, leaving the creature's hide riddled, and slowly growing ever brighter.

"What's going on?! What's happening to me?!" The creature roared before looking at the unicorn still in its grasp. "Is this your doing?!"

And yet, despite being roared at and the grasp on her neck becoming almost vice-like, Twilight did not answer. Though, while she couldn't actually respond verbally, even if she wanted to, the creature still got its answer when it looked into her eyes. And it threw her. It roared, turned around, and chucked the mare's body clear across the room, letting gravity dish the pain as she rolled, skidded, and slammed into base of the thrones of the two sisters.

And with herself free, Twilight greedily sucked in as much air as her lungs could allow in a couple seconds before turning to see the creature, to her horrified wonder, clutch at its head, its body leaking more and more light by the second before, in an instant, it disappeared altogether in a bright, roaring flash of blinding white.

Chapter 11: Picking up from where we left off...

"Damn, you're one hell of a cool-looking lizard, you know that?"

Hiss

"You don't say? Heh. Well since I own you now, I guess a proper name’s in order, huh?"

Hiss

"Hmm...well in that case, how about...Di-"

A deep gasp escaped Richard's maw as he abruptly awoke atop the castle's stone floor. Fighting to get his breathing under control, the man-claw slowly brought himself into a sitting position, a shaky claw still clutching his massive heaving chest as he quickly took stock of his surroundings.

"What tha-?"

Whipping his head about, confusion was met with shock as Richard found not only the room looking as if a bomb had gone off, but that each of those six ponies who he'd been in wholesome company of not even a second ago we’re now lying about the room in various states of fucked up.

Orange and blue were out for the count. The white one was…fucking missing like half of her horn. The pink o-…holy shit the pink one.

Blinking, Richard stared in absolute horror at the state the pink one was in. Just…blood…pooling. And the purple and yellow ones were just-

"Fluttershy!"

Blinking herself, Fluttershy's ears perked up at the call of her name and from her spot beside Twilght, who of which was desperately trying to tend to their gravely injured pink friend, she turned to stare at the creature responsible for rendering said friend to such a graphic state. Course, having witnessed all of that earlier on, it was of course to no one's surprise that as the creature before her had managed to get its claws under itself and took a step towards her, she did not realize she'd backed herself into a nearby pillar until her wings met stone. Twilight could only stare.

"Fluttershy! Thank god you're alright!"

"S-Stay away!"

Blinking, Richard paused where he stood from the trembling mare, brow raised and worry ever-present.

"W-What? Fluttershy, it's me! Why are you-"

"No! I won't believe any more of your lies!" The mare spat back, averting her gaze from the now seriously confused deathclaw. Twilight just looked between the two.

"Lies? Fluttershy, what are you talking about? It is me! Why would I lie about that?!" The deathclaw yelled, then paused, realization dawning. "Actually wait. Wait a minute. You, I-, how the hell can I understand you now?"

Blinking herself, Fluttershy's ears again twitched at that little tidbit of genuine confusion and she chanced a glance passed her pink curtain of hair.

"Y-You don't know?"

"I-, No?" Richard responded, looking as lost as a motherfucker.

Hearing that, the mare fully turned her head to regard the hulking lizard who grew increasingly uneasy with each passing second under her scrutinizing glare. Course it was only for a few seconds before Fluttershy's eyes widened and all traces of lingering fear disappeared.

"I-It is you!"

"Uh...yeah, it's me alright." Richard said, relieved to have finally gotten through to her. "Now could you please-"

"The girls!" Fluttershy suddenly gasped, causing the deathclaw to raise a brow.

"Wha-"

Suddenly Fluttershy in your face.

"We need to get Pinkie and the others to the hospital now!"

"What? But, wha-"

"No time to explain!" She hastily replied.

"But-"

"Please Mister Lizard, just listen to me!"

The man-claw stood quiet, his features in conflict as he stared at the teary-eyed mare. This, all of this was way too damn sudden. But, but damn it all if those eyes of hers didn’t shut his whining up any faster.

“I-” Richard started before he grimaced and nodded. “Alright.” And with that, He turned to regard the purple one as she got up, her eyes…damn it no time. Approaching the two, she quickly stepped aside, giving Richard a moment to stare at the poor girl.

It was bad, real bad. How bad? Well judging from the three deep ass slash marks that stretched from one end of the mare’s side to nearly up to her neck, it didn’t take a doctor to know this one needed a fucking doctor and stat. But, but fuck, all that blood. Shaking his head, Richard went to grab her before he got a look at his claw and blinked. He…dammit not right now! Looking from the pink one, Pinkie he remembered, to Fluttershy and her friend who had left to check on the other three, then back to Pinkie, an idea suddenly sprung. A good one? Probably. probably not. But damn it all if wasn't desperate for something good to come out from all of this.

So with a gulp, a made up mind, and all his bets riding on that one time he fell asleep halfway through of watching Animal Planet, Richard did just about the last thing any sane, logically thinking person would’ve done in in this instance.

Crouching down, he began licking her wounds.

…

Yeah, notice how I mentioned any sane, logically thinking person? Richard was no longer a person, now was he? At least physically speaking. And really for Richard, as fucking weird as it seemed, this course of action not only seemed like the best, it just seemed…right to the hulking lizardman. Almost…instinctual if that made any lick of-…sigh.

Unintentional and unneeded puns aside, Richard continued to hastily lap at the mare’s barrel until with one last flick of his snake-like tongue, he stopped, gave the mare a once-over and nodded.

“Alright missy. Let’s get you up.”

Careful as could be, Richard slowly slid his massive claws under the mare. Then with barely an effort, lifted her up as he rose to stand, raising a brow at just how light she was before shaking his head and instead turning to see Fluttershy and Twilight approaching him, with Shy weighed down by her blue pegasus pal slung over her back while Twilight had the white one over her own.

“How’s Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked with a pant, to which Fluttershy hastily nodded as well. Richard simply grimaced.

“Not good. She’s lost a fair deal of blood and needs to get to a doctor quick.”

Nodding herself, Twilight glanced over her shoulder.

“We’ll I’ve got Rarity and Fluttershy will carry Rainbow but we still need to get Applejack.” She turned back to look up at Richard. “Could you please carry her too?”

The man-claw could only nod.

“On it.”

Moving quick, Richard stopped near the room’s entrance, scooping up the unconscious farmpony with a free claw before bringing her up to his chest beside Pinkie, careful as to not let her little hat fall.

Once the two were situated, Richard glanced at the two mares who in turn nodded to him and together the trio set out, with Richard taking the lead as he made for the castle’s main hall, unknowingly leaving the two mares in his dust all the way up to entering the main foyer and promptly exiting it through the large front doors, of which were blown open and off their hinges by the deathclaw pressed for time and with other priorities in mind.

However, all that was seemingly put on hold almost instantly for Richard at the sudden sight of two things. The first of which being of course Badass, who at the sight of his friend, by which he quickly deduced was no longer under otherworldly possession, jumped for joy as he squee’d with joy. And the second thing? Well that was just what Badass was jumping with joy on, that being one very small and very surprised purple and green lizard.

Spike, for a lack of a better, more cooler sounding summarization of his current situation...was scared. Why? well let's rewind a bit.

After the girls had set out for their trip into the Everfree, Spike had given it a good ten or so minutes before he too slipped out the door of the library and broke for the woods, making sure that he gave the girls a significant lead before venturing after them himself. Give or take an hour later of walking, getting lost, and backtracking, and Spike was soon coming up to what looked to be a small clearing. Coming out of the brush, Spike then blinked as he gave the open scenery somewhat of a wide-eyed gander.

"Woah. What happened here?"

Looking around himself, Spike could tell something wild had definitely happened here, if the beaten earth and broken trees had anything to show about it. And as if to only confirm his suspicions, Spike had only the inclination to look down that he noticed the massive claw and assprints in the ground, leaving him momentarily in awe.

GRRRRRRR

That moment of awe was then immediately cut short when a deep growl from behind sent a shiver up Spike's scaled spine. Turning slowly around, Spike's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight of a dozen or so pairs of glowing green eyes peering back at him through the brush. He then spent the next few seconds silently cowering as one wolf, presumably the alpha if the scared eye and doubled size were any indications, stepped forward, sap oozing from its maw as it starred down at its presumably next meal.

"Uh...h-hey there." Spike stuttered out, his voice as shaky as his quivering legs. "Y-You wouldn't have happened to see five ponies come through here a while ago, r-right?"

In that moment, the timberwolf licked its maw, leaving Spike only to sigh before he turned and sprinted off, earning a grin from the alpha while his lackeys ran passed in pursuit of their latest prey. Prey which, to their immediate irritation, wouldn't give them a free meal laying down as he ran this way and that, skidding around trees, jumping over logs, and of course dodging every attempt the wolves made to snap or bite at him. But after nearly an hour of this, Spike's stamina soon began to border on empty and knowing that timberwolves were nothing more but a conjoined mess of hangry wood and magic, he knew that all they needed to know was that he was getting tired, and that fact alone was well enough a cue to press their
attack, throwing finesse and common sense out the window in favor of speed and ferocity. And despite shaving off bits of themselves against tress or chipping off bits of wood whenever they made contact with something other than their desired target, the wolves continued their relentless chase, much to the swearing of their exhausted meal. Yet, just as Spike was about to throw in the towel, when the wolves had closed the distance between them to just a few feet and the promise of dinner being all but assured, something short of a miracle happened. They stopped.

Yes as weird as it sounds, Spike was probably just as confused in that instance when he chanced a glance over his shoulder, saw the wolves hitting the brakes, and was left only a second register a question before he tripped, fell, and rolled into a large clearing with all the finesse of a burning tire. There on the ground, Spike only had enough time to mutter a tired ouch before the bushes behind him began to rustle. And after a quick head turn, he was soon face to face with his pursuers, followed shortly thereafter by the rest of their pack.

Sucking in a shaky breathe, Spike slowly rose to his feet, eyes hastily dancing among the snarling faces of the wolves before, with another chill down the spine, finally settling on two wolves at the forefront of the pack who both stepped aside to allow their alpha to pass.

It was then at that moment that the others instantly quieted down, letting the sounds of the forest and Spike's rapidly beating heart to be the backdrop as the two silently stared one-another down. For a few seconds at least.

"W-Well?! What gives? A-Aren't you gonna come at me or something?"

"..."

Gritting his teeth, Spike was about to further press his taunting inquiry when he too spared his sparse surroundings a glance and also stopped, going as far to give his pursuers the shoulder as he took in the mangled trees, shoveled-out earth, and a dozen or so patches of blackened grass that dotted the open field with a raised brow.

"W-What happened here?" Spike asked before turning to the timberwolves, as if they knew. And...it looks like they did as in response, all woodspawns in attendance save the alpha quietly began to back away and back into the depths of the Everfree until only the alpha remained, his single glowing orb of green remaining trained on the little dragon who, after giving the bark-skinned boy one last glare of his own, turned and continued on through the clearing, ill-concealed hesitation a plenty, and all the way up until his purple form disappeared passed the mess of greens on the other end, did the timberwolf finally accept the loss of his meal, turned with a disgruntled growl, and left to rejoin his pack in the hopes of making up for lost time, lost food and, most importantly, lost face.

But that's okay, the timberwolf probably assured itself, because next time...well, let's just say the little guy won't be so lucky then.

Hmph. You're damn right.

...

A little bit more of walking and river-crossing later and Spike now found himself pushing passed bushes to reveal the castle of the two sisters in all its old and ruined glory. Nodding to himself, he stepped out into the open and soon began walking confidently towards the castle.

"Alright. I'm finally here. Now I just gotta find the girls and-"

Rustle

That is until he heard the all too familiar sound of rustling foliage from behind and quickly spun around, previous confidence now gone with the wind as his eyes darted about the bushes with fearful quickness. Had the timberwolves been tailing him all along?

Rustle

Did they come back for round two? But wait, why didn't they want to follow him before?

Rustle

Spike gulped. Whatever the case was, now wasn't the time to be questioning things since he was about to get busy cutting down some firewood in a sec, shaking legs be damned. So...raising his arms, he balled his claws, gritted his fangs and-...blinked when a small orange lizard suddenly immerged from the bush, tilting its head up and to the side as it peered at his impromptu fighting pose with seemingly innocent curiosity.

Squee?

Blinking once more, Spike, having now realizing that he was about to just throw claws with a harmless little lizard, was instantly filled with relief as he dropped his arms and let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Oh boy. You really had me going there little guy." He said, watching as the little gecko tilted its head cutely to the other side before it suddenly zipped around him and up to his arm where it stood somewhat eye level with him, gaining a surprised look from the baby dragon. "W-Woah. L-Looks like you're a fast little guy too. That's cool, I guess." He then pointed at himself smugly. "I just so happen to be baby dragon which is also pretty cool."

There was then a hint of confusion that seemed to play behind the little gecko's eyes before he suddenly squee'd excitedly, causing Spike to recoil.

"W-What wrong little guy?"

Squee Squee!

"Huh?"

Shaking its head, the little gecko jumped from Spike's claws and dashed around him several times before it suddenly stopped, pointed at the castle over yonder, and then jumped several times after that, earning only a very confused look from Spike as he looked from the castle to the lizard and back to the castle.

"You...want me to go to the castle?" He finally said, pointing to the castle, to which the gecko actually nodded, earning a smirk in return. "Well buddy you're in luck, cause I was just about go there myself." He then chuckled. "Gotta apparently save them from some big bad monster." He then chuckled again before noticing the lizard give him an odd look. "Something wrong buddy?" Suddenly lizard in the face and now all over the place. The little guy was everywhere and all Spike could do was blink as he watched the little guy go at it until he instantly stopped, turned, and was on top of Spike's head in an instant, jumping and squeeing excitedly in the effort to hurry him along so that they could save not only his friends, of which Badass could only assume he was referring to those ponies who'd come to the castle seeking Miss Fluttershy, but also save Badass's friend who, at this very moment, was still fighting against said friends. But since after previously relaying all that to this newly met Spike only got a confused look out of him, jumping and pointing to the castle had to do.

And do it did as Spike finally put two and two together and made for the castle, crossing the wooden bridge and stepping up to the large front doors several minutes later. But just before he went to open the door, he suddenly paused, earning a questioning squeak from his rider. What's wrong? Why are you hesitating? Why aren't we going inside?

"Hey uh, little guy?" Spike asked, looking up at the gecko atop his head. "This may sound weird to suddenly ask but...do you actually know the monster my friends were talking about? Like know know?"

Huh, well I guess that confirms Badass's suspicions then. And not giving the question too much thought after that, the little gecko nodded, even added a smirk for reassurance, which gave Spike some well needed calm. But only until another question suddenly came up.

"Right. But he's not like actually a monster monster like my friends say he is...right?"

"..."

"...R-Right?"

"..."

"Uh...little guy? Why aren't you-"

But before Spike could figure out why his little passenger wasn't answering his question, there came a sudden commotion from inside and Spike was only able to glance up before the that commotion was then transferred outside as the large, heavy, most certainly sturdy wooden fronts doors were promptly blown off their ancient hinges and blasted outward some several feet before clattering somewhere behind one ducked down and very much shaking baby dragon. One who, once the threat of an immediate beheading via spontaneous projectile furnishings wasn’t so immediate, slowly rose to stand while his claws slowly fell from having previously flown upwards in an instinctive attempt to cover not only his own little think tank but that of his rider’s as well. A previously closed eye then peeked open, followed shortly by the other, before both instantly widened as they and the body they were connected to found themselves engulfed in a shadow.

Squeak!

Now, it was in that moment that Spike had only faintly heard his little lizard buddy say something up top, mainly in part due to the ever-quickening and seemingly deafening beat of his heart through his ears as his eyes fell upon a pair of massive claws before slowly rising passed a pair of massive brown scaled legs, an armored crotch, an equally armored stomach, two tree trunk sized arms, and finally, below a pair of evilly curved horns, rested the solid orange eyes, long and hissing snake-tongue, and maw of many a dagger-sized, shaped, and sharp teeth of the most scariest and, by far, coolest beast Spike’s peepers had ever had the privilege of befalling.

And now here we are, back to the present, with Spike currently being scared as all fuck, Badass being relieved as fuck, and Richard not having a flying fucking clue why Badass chose now of all times to go out and make a friend. I mean sure, cute, good on him and all, but seriously Bad, timing.

"There you are Badass, where have you been, buddy?"

Squeak! Squeak!

"I-It talks?!" Spike said, immediately dropping one bit of shock for another from affirmed communication with an actual Everfree entity.

"You can talk?" Richard said, himself briefly in disbelief by the acknowledgement of another scale-skinned word-sayer.

"Yeah, I AM a dragon after all." Spike responded, as if it was common-knowledge. "Why wouldn't I be able to speak?"

Richard blinked, before shaking his horned head and cracking a toothy grin.

"Yeah, sure little guy. Keep dreaming like that and I'm sure we'll all become dragons too one day."

"But I AM a dragon!" Spike all but roared, voice crack aside, before pointing a claw up at the deathclaw hunched before him. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're one too! You big-." He then stopped dead in his tracks after just now noticing what, or rather who the manclaw had been holding against his plated chest. "Wait! You! What did you do to my friends?!" And there he goes that stance of his again, holding firm despite seeing Badass step between the two of them, sure to stop things should they turn physical. Luckily though, all that got out of Richard was only a slight brow raise.

"Umm...and just what exactly are you doing, kid?"

"I'm not letting you go anywhere with them!"

"Oh?" Richard hissed, his voice suddenly lower than usual. "And does that include the hospital?"

"A-" A slight twitch, but Spike only balled his fists tighter. "A likely story. But until I know the truth, you ain't going nowhere with Pinkie or Applejack without getting passed me first!"

"Kid I-" There suddenly came a deep growl from down below but Richard held it. "Look, kid. I don't got time right now to be playing games with some over-imaginative iguana."

"Hey, I'm not an igu-"

"Cause you see this pink one here? She needs a doctor stat, and I intend to get her to one AFSAN. So if you don't want the REST of her blood to be on your claws, you'll kinda step the fuck aside and let me be on my marry way!"

"I-, b-but you-"

It was in that moment that Ricard, after growling rather ferociously and not but one second away from saying fuck it and sending this little shit of a lizard to the goddamn moon, Both his sanity and probably the lizard itself were luckily spared their metaphorical and quite literal dick flattening when the sounds of labored panting came chugging up from behind the deathclaw dealing with defcon-one levels of pissed. Turning around however, those levels miraculously dwindled to nearing nothing when a slightly sweating Fluttershy trotted up beside him-

"T-Thank you for waiting for us to catch up Mister Lizard, but it's really urgent that you get Pinkie to-...Spike? What are you doing here?"

"Uhh, I-"

-Followed up several moments later by a definitely sweating and obviously out of shape Twilight.

"Hah. Hah. Oh Celestia I've really got to lay off the hayburgers or-...SPIKE?! What in Celestia's name are you doing here?!"

"Uh, oh buck, um, h-hey Twi- RARITY!" And at the sight of his beloved...friend, Spike was out of Richard's way and at the unconscious unicorn's side in an instant. "Wh-Wh-What happened to her?! And her horn! What happened to her-" Blinking, it didn't take the baby dragon long to look passed his friends and up to the towering beast beside them to put two and two together. "YOU!" Spike roared, and before Twilight or Flutters could get a word out, the little dragon launched himself at Richard, intent to do some bit of bodily harm had it not been for Twilight's magic, as little as there was left, to hold him at bay. "YOU! I'm gonna put you in the ground for what you did to Rarity!"

"Spike, calm down!" Twilight yelled, physically straining just to keep the little dragon in check, and once her magic flickered out again, a hoof was then supplemented. "H-He, he didn't-"

"No, Twilight! Ugh. Let go of me! Augh! Now!"

"SPIKE. STOP IT!"

And just like that, he did. Hanging and huffing over Twilight's aching hoof, he just stopped dead in his efforts, surprising even himself with now quick his body obeyed. But I guess that just goes to show...that when Fluttershy of all ponies tells you to stop, you. Fucking. Stop.

"Wha-, but Fluttershy-"

"No! No more but's! And No. More. Blaming!" She said, emphasizing her point by stomping a hoof cutely with each word. "We'll explain everything once we get back home. But right now, we-!"

"Not enough."

What?

"W-What?" Fluttershy asked turning, as did Twilight and Spike, to the deathclaw with a deathly serious look across his maw.
Glancing from those in his arms to those on the ground, to those they carried, he only nodded to himself.

"I said we won't have enough time to make it to a hospital," He glanced at the two mare's, his eyes seeming to linger longer on one more so than the other. "Not at the pace you two would hoof it." He glanced back to Fluttershy. "No offense."

"O-Oh my, um...of course." The pegasus said with a light blush before tilting her head back up to him curiously. "T-Then how- eep!"

At that moment, a light gasp escaped Flutters as Richard's large tail suddenly snaked around and under her barrel before she was then hoisted up with ease, momentarily coming to eye level with the deathclaw as he then used his maw to nab Rainbow by the scruff of her blue neck and quickly deposited her besides Applejack who, still in her unconscious state, rolled over and hugged the prismatic mare closer, only earning a slight grunt from her before she too, in her equally unconscious state, embraced the farm pone as well, earning a quick 'daww' from deathclaw and pony alike before Richard raised his tail up further, sliding out from under the mare after she was carefully draped over his left shoulder.

Turning his head, he looked to see if she was okay, saw her nod once she had better situated herself, and turned back to see Twilight looking up at him with yet another weird expression.

"All aboard." He said, causing her to blink. It wasn't a question. And before Twi could even respond, much less even choose, Richard's tail had already snaked under her barrel, lifting her yelping form a second later and bringing her and her unknowing rider closer to his awaiting maw.

"Hey! Be careful with them!" Spike yelled from below. Not like Richard was really listening however as he plucked the white unicorn off her friend's back and placed her snuggly alongside the pink priority, background nitpicking and squeaks of reassurance easily ignored as the purple one was swung about and placed across from her pegasus pal on the opposite shoulder. A moment was then spent impatiently waiting for the unicorn to become situated before he sighed and suddenly set off for the forest, his passengers yelping in his ears as they bounced from his motions and scrambled to get a better hold, all the while a certain little fuming dragon was left to sprint after the moving monster, but was sadly only left in the dust several seconds later. Damn timberwolves.

And of course Badass, being the sweet little innocent gecko that he was, just had to unintentionally rub salt into the wound by not only making it seem like a breeze in keeping up with Richard's gait, but also going as far as to zip circles around the moving deathclaw, dashing up his leg to check on the state of his passengers, get a pat or scratch from the riders, then dip right back in step with Richard. Spike had never seen such bullshit before.

"Spike! Hurry up!" Twilight yelled over her shoulder, or Richard's technically. "We can't waste anymore time, so come on!"

But try as he might've, Spike was just too out of it to keep up, and while the only replies that escaped his burning lungs were wheezes and pants, they were miniscule in volume to the deep growl that escaped one very disgruntled deathclaw. Taking several steps back, Richard's tail whipped back, Snaking around the dragon's small figure, and before he could protest, promptly tossed his little ass into the air, much to the verbal surprise and shock of his passengers and tiny friend, before doing a little spin, caught him, then dangled him by his little tail inches from his blazing orange orbs.

"You done bitching, kid?"

...Nod.

"Good, now hang on tight." And with that he brought his tail back, flipping it and Spike so that the little drake now had an arm and a leg on either side of the slightly swishing appendage. "Cause I'm about to speedrun the fuck out of place."

"Umm...Mister Lizard." Flutters meekly meeped as Richard bent down and took up a running stance. A quick glance and slight smirk was also casted to his little buddy beside him who, after seeing it and responding with a smile of his own, readied himself at the starting line. "What's a speedru-UNNN?!" And as the starting gun was fired, Richard was off, giving his riders barely a second to hold on as he barreled down across the open grass, closing in on where dirt dropped into a ravine, and with only a grunt acting as a warning, he leapt. And within those few seconds that he was airborne, the wind did not whip louder than the girls and dragon who yelled all the way, nearly losing their grips and touching the sky themselves had it not been for the rather life-saving convenience that was Richard's back spikes, plentiful from shoulders to tail tip and readily handy for when one needed to quickly grab hold of something or risk hitting the ground just a tad too hard. And with a mighty thud, Richard had not only cleared the gap of earth, nearly by double its width, but had also gracefully stuck the landing and continued on without missing a beat, all the while his companions continued to hold on for dear life, some more so than others. For while the two mares atop the deathclaw's shoulders we're thrown this way and that whenever he made a sharp turn or had to jump over some obstacle at the last second, their ride was relatively more forgiving, ducking to avoid tree branches and literal neck-breaking speeds aside, at least they got a heads-up.

"W-Woah!" Spike yelped for the dozenth time that minute of straight running, still somehow holding onto Richard's tail despite the speed of the beast and the scenery rushing passed constantly threating to tear the little dragon away from what was his only lifeline in that instant, well that is when it wasn't already threating his life as it did. For with every turn, twist, and occasional jump of the monster's body as it ducked, dodged, weaved around or sometimes just straight up plowed through some of the many organic obstacles that made up the Everfree, Spike faced being bashed against trees, slammed against or across the surfaces of rock and grass, or even spontaneous liftoff whenever there was significant obstacle or sizeable chunk of missing earth that demanded it be jumped over, much to the displeasure of Spike's stomach as well as his everything else. Yet try as fate, gravity, and the powers above might, Spike would not let go, His fear-powered, vice-like grip on Richard's swishing and swinging appendage made sure of that.

Meanwhile, Badass didn't have to worry about any of this because he had already made the concept of danger his bitch all his life simply by being smol and fast.

But luckily enough, both for Spike and the girls" sake, all that near-death shit would be drawing to a surprisingly-quick close as Richard, in his pure, badass, super mutant-lizard adrenaline, neared the Everfree's edge in nearly half the time it took for the girls, trees thinning and sunlight brimming until in one last great burst of speed, he busted out and into the open, the several trees he busted through to do so taking the lead as they flew outwards and into the open air beyond.

There he stood, out of the Everfree, huffing but barely winded as he took a moment to just take in the vastness that was the expanse of the open world before him, new world mind you. But of course, pink and red priorities first.

"Where to now?" Richard asked impatiently, glancing down at the precious cargo that rolled and groaned in his grasp. The mare on his right shoulder quickly responded.

"We'll need to head into town." Twilight stated, grimacing slightly before shaking her horned head. "From there, I'll guide you. Now go!"

And go he did. Picking up the pace once again, Richard practically flew over the small green hills and down the winding paths and roads until he spotted the tops of thatched roofs, followed by the whole of Ponyville itself. But sights could not be admired and cute little townspones could not be dawed at as Richard kept focus, listening to the Twi's directions all the way up to crossing the little stone bridge that lead into Ponyville proper.

And that's when the screaming started.

Now at first, the citizens of Ponyville we're calm, happy, and going about their day like any other. Simply soaking up the sun and just living life, you know? Then, all at once, seemingly at the drop of a hat, all of Tartarus had broken loose. First came the screaming, ponies raising their heads to the sounds of panic and the cries of a monster attack. Then there was the running, as ponies usually did whenever there was even a hint of trouble, and of course it had to be in groups too, as was standard procedure. But then came him, THAT'S when shit really went south. One instant, there was of course panic without reason, with many ponyvillians opening windows or stepping into the street, confused as to what was happening. Then, like a bat out hell, or another monster spat out of the Everfree, came Richard and company, skirting around a corner, charging down the road like some absolute mad lad, and well...there was the reason. Luckily though, No other pones were hurt during Richard's mad dash for the hospital, thanks in part to everypony running for the hills as soon as they even caught a glimpse of him. can't really say the same for those several wagons that Richard smashed through but hey, not like wood has feelings too, right?

Thankfully though for both his passengers and the populace of Ponyville, Richard's little stroll through town had finally drawn to a close as with one last turn around a corner, he spotted the bright red cross of Ponyville General, and didn't hit the brakes until he was practically breathing on the glass front doors, which actually opened automatically for him to his slight surprise, allowing him a barely cleared entrance to the main lobby, where one nurse nearly fainted at the sight of said entry had it not been for the immediate disembarking of his passengers as they hurriedly explained the situation. A moment later and the four girls were all whisked away to parts unknown with the exception being Pinkie who was wheeled straight to the emergency ward.

And just like that, that was that. The girls were going to be okay. Pinkie Pie was in safe hooves now by all accounts. And now...now that just left two mares and a baby dragon, alone in an hastily emptied hospital lobby, with a deathclaw.

...

Huh.

"So..." Twilight said, awkwardly scuffing a hoof on the tiles.

"...Yeah" Richard responded.

"Umm...hmm." Fluttershy expertly added, glancing up at Richard, then everywhere that wasn't him.

"Yup." Was Richard's reply.

"Well...this is kinda awkward." Spike brilliantly deduced. Dumbass.

Squeak

"Agreed." Richard hissed before nodding. "Well, I'm out." And with that he turned, his tail waiving a hasty goodbye to the wordless trio as he nearly broke through the sliding doors on his way out. "See you girls never, I guess."

"Wa-Wait!" Fluttershy frantically called, scrambling after the retreating deathclaw with Badass hot on her heels while Twilight and Spike stayed right where they stood, watching. That is, until Twilight cleared her throat.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, Twilight?"

"You do realize that you're in big trouble now for going into the Everfree, right?"

"...Yeah."

Chapter 12: In the wake of all things shit and aforementioned

"Mister Lizard!"

Just ignore her.

"Mister Lizard, wait!"

Just keep walking. Just keep walking.

"Please Mister Lizard just-, just wait a minute!"

Eyes forward. One foot after the other. This is for the best. It is. It just is.

...Isn't it?

"MISTER LIZARD, STOP!"

...Goddamn it.

Pausing mid-step, Richard's massive body tensed as he slowly lowered his leg. A short huff was then audibly exhaled, though that could barely hold a candle to the exasperated heaving that the manclaw could hear behind himself.

"Huff huff huff...ju- huff, just...wait."

"..."

"Sigh...Mister lizard." He heard her start, her breathing steadying yet shaky. "Why?"

"..."

"Why did you just leave like that, Mister lizard?"

"..."

"W-Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"..."

"Why aren't you answering me?!"

"..."

"...D-...Do you...hate m-"

"Don't you fucking dare."

Blinking, the pegasus, teary eyed and surprised by the creature's sudden response, stared up at him with wide eyes as he finally turned his head, starring down at her with eyes ablaze with a mix of emotions.

"Wha-What?"

"I said." Richard said, narrowing his eyes as he fully turned to address her. "Don't. You. Fucking. Dare."

"B-But why did-"

"Fluttershy."

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you think I hate you?"

"...N-No?"

"Did I ever say I hated you?"

"N-No."

"Good. Cause I don't, nor will I ever hate you. Period. Got me?"

...Hesitantly nods.

"Good."

"So...th-then why-"

"Why'd I go?"

Another nod.

"You really wanna know?"

Yet another nod.

"...Sigh. It's because of you and friends."

"So it is because-!?"

"LET ME FINISH!"

"...Sorry."

"Huff. It's alright. Look Flutters, I...I just got a lot on my mind right now and just want to get back to the Everfree. Nap this shit off. I-...I just can't stay here right now."

"But Why?"

"Well..." Richard said, raising a brow as he casted an eye over their surroundings, or more so to the many multicolored ponies who were currently cowering behind said surroundings yet still peeking at him with fearful albeit curious looks. "I figured that part was obvious."

"...But they're not the real reason, are they?"

Glancing at the butter-colored girl, Richard knew then that just by her look alone that he wasn't going to get passed her lest he just come clean.

Better to just get it out of the way then, huh? Sigh. Fuck it.

"Yeah. They aren't. Cause the real reason's me."

"Y-You?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah. Well...me AND these, I guess." Richard corrected, raising his claws. "Your friends were right, Flutters. I'm too dangerous. I'm a monster."

"No you ar-"

"Yes. Fluttershy, I AM a monster. Literally a giant, bone-crushing, meat-tearing monster." He chuckled dryly. "Can't really hide that little fact

"But you're not just a monster."

"FLUTTERSHY, I ALMOST KILLED YOUR FRIEND!"

"..."

"A-And the others, they-, the white one, she-...and I wasn't even THERE. I was...somewhere else." He growled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that makes me to others?! T-To you?!"

"...Mister Lizard?"

"Like, like come on!" He roared, throwing his claws into the air. "What even is that shit?! I mean seriously, If I had to guess this is like...the THIRD time something like this has happened!"

"Mister Lizard."

"And, and, fuck. I-If I...blacked out again...a-and it was you?! ...I-I don't think that I could-."

"Mister Lizard!"

"WHAT?!" Richard breathed, his massive chest heaving as he stared the patient mare with wild eyes.

"May I need to remind you..?" She started, slowly advancing on the bewildered beast before her. "That you already came close to hurting me once before?"

"That's exactly my point, Fluttershy! I shouldn't-!"

"That you wanted to hurt Twilight and the others after what they did to you before?" She stated, one step after the other, towards the now slightly uneasy deathclaw.

"Well!" Richard started before reconsidering. "Well okay so maybe only Twilight and that crayola cunt but even then I was only-."

"That you threatened to hurt them again, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack too, if they ever went back into the Everfree?" Fluttershy merely continued, continuing her approach towards the towering and now obviously cowering monster before her.

"W-Well..." Richard stuttered out, before a sharp brow raise from the pegasus shut him up near-instantly as he realized that he DID in fact say that, gestures and all.

"And after everything that happened that day..." Flutters said, stopping just a foot from the thoroughly shook beast. "After all that time I spent with you and Badass after that day," She further drove, her eyes never leaving Richard's, demanding that he keep her blazing gaze even if it seemed his slightly shuddering limbs and tucked-in tail suggested that he wanted to do anything but. "After what just happened, not even an hour ago, TODAY, did I EVER say that I hated you for it?"

"N-No, but-"

"For any of it?"

"...N-No?"

"Are you sure?"

"...No." Richard all but whispered, the cocktail of emotions that stirred within him having now been watered down to only a few, the lead of which being fear as he now stared up, yes up, at the butter-yellow pegasus who had backed his scared ass, of which mind you was nearly five times her size, into the side of a nearby building before being practically ordered to kiss the dirt seemingly by the mare's aura alone.

"Well, I didn't." She said matter of factly, eyes peering up, down, and through the quivering deathclaw before, at the drop of a hat, the aura vanished and Richard now found himself flinching before the might of the mare's gentle head pats. "So you don't have to worry about all that." She nodded at that, though to Richard's blinking, he was pretty sure it was more for her sake than his. "Okay?"

"...S-Sure."

With his unsure agreeance and another nod, the pegasus smiled and stepped back.

"Stand up." He quickly did. "You okay now?" He hissed quietly but nodded firmly nonetheless. Another smile.

"Wonderful. Now, let's get back to Twilight and the oth-"

"Fluttershy?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks." Richard stated, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Really, I... I needed that."

"Of course. Now, why don't we just-"

"Buuuut I'm still not going back."

"Hmm?!" The pegasus went, her obviously expected happy little ending unexpectedly shattered. "B-B-B-B-But I thought-?"

"That it'd be that easy?"

"W-We-...Well, yes."

"Heh. Well, sorry to disappoint you Fluttershy." Richard said, approaching the mare before resting a patting claw on her pink little head. "But my point still stands. Gotta make myself scarce until all this bull blows over." He then suddenly growled lowly, his horned head dipping as his voice quieted. "Or until your friends decide to forgive me." He patted her head once more before his arm fell back, revealing a heavily pouting, and lightly blushing, Fluttershy. He noted this and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, 'But it wasn't even my fault.' Right?"

"But it wasn't!" Flutters kinda shouted, her little hoof stomping in protest.

"Heheh. Sure, Flutters. You can keep on believing that, but until I start to, well..." He suddenly paused. Glancing up, he noticed the number of onlookers to their little chat had increased rather considerably, with many more fresh pairs of eyes steadily adding to the spectacle as more and more of the townsfolk came to see what all the fuss was about. Around street corners, through windows and doors, hell if Richard were to glance a little more upwards, he would've also noticed that a number of those spectators were also cautiously but curiously peeking down from their perches atop the tops of roofs and...clouds, apparently? Well, it was cute that they were at least trying to be sneaky about it, thinking that their ruffling feathers, not-so-subtle whispering, and literally driving their little clouds into place hadn't caught the beast's attention in the slightest. It did, by the way, if you were wondering. Like way early on.

But the ones on the ground? Sure, some of them hid but really the lot of them just wanted a look it seemed cause the lot of them at this point were just standing about at a safe (what THEY thought was safe at least) distance, swapping whispers with one another, keeping some the younger and more curious viewers at bay, all the while they continued to watch.

"Huh. You really are a nosy bunch, aren't you?" Richard said to nopony in particular, to which some of the onlookers did take a step or two back, but stayed their ground, despite their flinches when he'd glance their way. "Then again, can't really blame you folks for wanting to see the two of us argue like some old married couple, hmm?" Now, though nopony outright responded to that, save for a few audible gasps and some visible blushing, Richard still shrugged before giving his scaly hide a stretch, reaching his full height to the gasps of many a few, while also giving his high-ground-having gawkers a smirk, before looking back down to Fluttershy, who had this strange little expression on her face. "Ain't that right, Flutters?"

Having heard Richard's previous statement however, the mare blinked, looked back up at Richard, blinked again, then promptly blushed, HARD. She tried to say something, but all that came out was a bunch of incoherent sounds, squeaks, and maybe a mumbled word or two before she shut up altogether and began to bat furiously against Richard's legs. Though with thickness of his scales and her miniscule attempts of assaulting him being barely felt, the display was really more so cute to the deathclaw than problematic. And judging from some of the looks he was getting, many in the crowd also seemed to agree, aside from the few of course who thought Richard was going to swipe back at any given moment. Understandable. As if he ever would though.

"You done?" Richard finally asked after nearly a minute straight of attacking had reduced the pegasus to a tiredly huffing, and blushing, slump. Once she got her breath back, she nodded. "Heh. Well, sorry for the joke Flutters, but really I gotta be going now."

"...Please, please just stay."

Chuckling deeply, the beast used a claw to brush aside some of the mare's strands of blossom, revealing more those eyes that, while commanding one moment, appeared innocent and sorrowful. It fucking hurt to see her look at him like that. Still he smiled.

"Sorry Fluttershy, but I got to. Don't want to overstay my welcome and all that. Besides." He glanced about. "Pretty sure you and your friends are gonna have your ha-, hooves full once I go." He looked back down at her. "So the sooner I go the better."

"But I-" Fluttershy started before pausing as Richard suddenly turned and began to make his exit, the crowd quickly parting to allow him. "But I didn't even-!" He paused, head turned slightly to give her a raised brow. "I, I didn't get to tell you what happened though! W-When will I-?"

"A week." Richard said, smirking at her. "Give it a week or so, and we'll see." She blinked, beginning to say something before he cut her off with a raised claw. "By then your friends should be better too, right?" That got her. "After your friends are all fine and well and things have calmed down on both our ends, THEN you can come find me. Alright?"

After a moment of consideration, and some ill-contained disagreement with his terms, the pegasus finally nodded, earning a glad growl from the deathclaw before he turned and, without a look back, headed off in the direction of the Everfree.

Watching him go, Fluttershy huffed. She wanted to run after him, she really did. But what she just agreed to, she had to stay her ground. Even if she wanted to join the others who were brave enough to follow after the deathclaw, see him off as he left town, headed for the green fields, and watched as he disappeared back into the depths of the forest beyond. But still she stood, even sat, thinking about everything that had happened today, everything...

Drip

"W-Wha-"

Drop

Suddenly blinking away tears, it was at that moment that Fluttershy had regrettably realized that the emotional toll tied to the previous events of the day had finally caught up to her. And it was from this toll that the tears were left to fall freely, followed soon after by the sniffling and shallow, shaky breaths thereafter.

The girls. Mister Lizard. The facing of reality and realization of what could've happened rather than what did. It was all too much. Too much to bare for our poor little pegasus. Falling to the ground in a shaking heap, the mare closed her eyes, tucked in her hooves, and just began to cry. For how long, she didn't know. A minute? An hour? Like she cared.

Blep

"Sniff. H-Hmm?"

Slowly opening her reddened eyes, Fluttershy suddenly blinked, finding herself in familiar company as a certain little orange gecko was standing just inches from her muzzle.

"Ba-, Sniff, Badas? Wha-, What are you doing here?"

Squeak?

"Oh, Badas. I...all of it, it's all my fault."

Squeak?

"E-Everything! What happened to the girls, t-to Mister Lizard, it's all because of me, I just know it!" She sniffed. "All because I wanted to make things right." She shook her head, feeling a new wave of tears welling. "Now look what's happened. The girls are in the hospital, and Mister Lizard he, he...he says he doesn't, but what if he really..."

Squeak?

Sniff Nod

Sigh Squeak

"H-Huh?"

Squeak Squeak

"Y-You, but how do you-?"

Squeak

"'Because he's who he is?' But...but w-what does that mean-?"

Squeak

"Wha-, well you say that but-"

Squeak

"Bu-"

SQUEAK

"Oh...okay then." There was then a moment of silence between the two. "B-Badas?"

Squeak?

"Why are you and Mister Lizard such good friends?"

Squeak

"...Giggle. I see. So that's why." The pegasus said, before she slowly began to get up, wiping away tears and baring the cutest of smiles. "Because he is who he is."

Sagely nods

"Hmm." Looking off towards the Everfree, Fluttershy suddenly nodded to herself, negative emotions gone with the wind in favor of newer, warmer feelings. She turned to look back down at the little lizard, his tail wagging as he smiled. "Alright. I believe you…and him. A week it is. Sigh Now then..." She bent forward, giving the gecko a hopeful look. "Badas, can you do me favor? If you don't mind that is."

Squeak?

"Can you watch over him for me? Make sure he's really okay? Oh! And maybe, i-if your able to that is, you could visit me often and fill me in on how he's doing? I-If you want to that is."

Squeak!

"Ohhh, thank you so much Badas!" The mare said, nuzzling him gratefully. "I'll be counting on you."

Squeak!

And with that last squeak of affirmation, the little scaly orange turned and was out of sight in an instant, leaving Fluttershy to happily wave off his smoking trail bound for the Everfree.

“So then what happened?”

Squeak

"Uh-huh."

Squeak

"R-Really?"

Squeak Squeak!

"No fucking way."

Squeak!

Richard was shook. I mean, how could he not be?

Shortly after leaving Ponyville behind and maybe spending ten or so minutes collecting his thoughts as he traversed the Everfree, the deathclaw had found himself in pleasant company once again when his little buddy Badass had finally caught up with him. And after giving the little guy a rest on his head, five or so minutes worth as Richard pressed for home, a sudden, but not completely unexpected question was finally brought up.

"Hey, Badass?" Richard started, his voice level and eyes forward all the while.

Squeak?

"I-...could you..." Shit this was harder than he thought.

...S-Squeak? The gecko hesitantly finished, his body tensing as he practically felt the air itself shift. Took the words right out of Richard's maw.

"Would you, buddy?"

Remaining silent a moment, the little gecko had thought it over, spending maybe a solid five seconds before he shook his little head at his own unsureness and instead nodding in favor of favoring his friend's wishes before his own. Because that was the right motherfucking thing to do.

So, with a mind made up and another moment spent wrangling up all the little details that he could remember, he began to tell Richard everything.

And nothing was spared. He didn't lie, he didn't beat around the bush, he didn't sugarcoat shit. Badass told him everything that had happened after he...well…wasn't himself anymore.

He told him all about this other him. He went over what it said, what it was after, and most importantly, that all it’s thoughts seemed to be centered around Richard. Yeah, Richard was immensely weirded the fuck out after hearing all that. But luckily it was then that Badass followed up that bit of story with his recounting of him whooping its -and to an extent his- ass, a fact that the little lizard found just as much prideful as Richard simply found amusing.

But then there was what happened after all that, when the thing got struck by this beam of color by the girls, who Richard found to be becoming more fond of after hearing their previous battle with the monster; each of their own little ways of taking on the body snatcher raising Richard's spirit significantly.

…That is until the next part came. The part he and Badass were kinda secretly dreading.

Man, the next few minutes of Badass having to...go into detail about what this thing did, from its initial deception, to its dismissal and disposal of the girls, to the things it said while it used Richard's body to hurt Badass, the girls, …Fluttershy.

Well, let's just say that during that whole bit of recounting, Richard wasn't exactly a happy camper. He growled, he hissed, he may have even knocked down a tree or two during certain parts of the story while he was passing them by. Of course there was also a solid minute Richard spent apologizing to his little rider for crimes that said rider repeatedly assured he didn’t commit.

But…the things Richard heard Badass quote from that thing, what it said to Fluttershy, and to Little Miss Purple? Christ, Even Badass started sweating bullets after Richard suddenly stopped in a clearing, the same one he’d actually murdered all those manticores in not so long ago, plucked Badass’s cute little ass off his head, placed him gently on the grassy ground, stood up and silent a moment, and roared.

“FuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUCCKK!” Richard thunderously swore, his ill-contained anger and unchecked irritation for whoever royally screwed him over let free like an avalanche, sending birds and animals alike scattering for miles.

“MottttthhherffFUCKER!” He ferociously roared, slamming his claws into the earth
with such unbridled ferocity that two equally massive craters dug into the earth, carving out dirt as several unsettlingly-sizable cracks spiderwebbed from the explosive epicenter that was Richard.

Fuming, borderline volcanic at this point, Richard stood a heaving mountain of pissed. His hisses like escaping steam while puffs of the stuff blew from his nostrils with gusto. A growl that could give a hydra chills only barely suppressed behind a maw of grinding teeth that sent sparks flying with each pass. Clenched claws that drew blood from the body and deep gashes in the ground. And of course a pair of eyes that, if a look could kill, would’ve probably been reported for hacking by now. But as they blazed across the clearing’s tree line, they suddenly became fixed upon a single boulder roughly Richard’s height and just as wide as he was tall, sitting all by its lonesome just meters from him. To put it simply, his means to vent.

Without a word, really a string of grunts and growls, Richard reached the rock and, with no difficulty at all, lifted it, spun, and promptly yeeted the motherfucker at mach fuck all right into the sky, huffing and puffing as he watched it disappear into space, cartoon sky twinkle and all.

Give or take a moment or two of cooling off his jets later and Richard had finally calmed down enough to realize what he just did and just who he did it in company of and, somewhat hesitantly, peeked over his massive shoulder to see Badass, still present thankfully, but definitely shooketh to a considerable extent. Cue the cringe.

“S-Sorry about that Badass. I just…had to blow off some steam was all.” He noted his buddy’s silence. “Did that…scare you a bit?” He nodded, forced himself a bit there but Richard could reason why.

In fact, he even chuckled.

“Heh. Great.” Richard said, minor sarcasm detectable as he turned away from the little gecko. “And here I thought you were the crazy one for not being scared of me, buddy.” He scratched at his head. “Course it’s when I’m not trying that you get shook. Huh. Just…great.”

At that, there was a moment of silence before Richard heard and soon felt the little guy scramble up his body and sit once again atop his head. Glancing up, he could see Badass was giving him a look as well. Not a fearful one, no, really only just worried. Damn it.

“Huff. What a mess I’ve become, eh Badass?” Richard tiredly asked, to which the gecko, unsure himself really, could only squeak squeaks of reassurance and refutability, even if Richard could tell they were halfhearted. Still, lord bless this little bastard’s soul.

“Right. Everything happens for a reason, huh?” Richard tiredly said. A sad nod in return. “No reason really to bitch and moan now that what’s done is done, huh?” A hopeful nod. “Figure we should just get back to the castle and hopefully sleep all this sad shit off?” A very hopeful nod. “Awesome.”

And with that, they were finally off. Well Richard was, Badass was just along for the ride, as he always was, the cheeky bastard.

Course it would be a slow one mind you, heavy shit weighing heavily upon the tired mind and all. But, thankfully, it wouldn’t be so bad. Gotta unload that shit somehow, right? Who says you gotta start with the bad first?

“Heh. So you really can kick ass, huh?”

Squeak squeak

“Shiiit, only because it wasn’t MY ass you were kicking then.”

Squeak!

“Yeah, yeah, okay.”

Squeak squeak!

“Sure Bad, whatever you say.”

Squeak!

“Anytime. Anyplace. We’ll see who’s little ass gets kicked then.”

Squeak!

“Hah! It’s a fucking deal, then.”

“What?!”

“You heard me, mister.” Twilight said.

Oh Spike heard her alright, but still-

“A-A month?!” He whined. “But, but that’s not-!”

“Fair?” Twilight finished for the bewildered young drake, raising a brow at his nodding to this obvious outrage. “Oh I think it’s fair alright.”

“B-, B-But why?!”

“Why?” The unicorn repeated, much to the dragon’s immediate regret. “Why?!” She paced, dammit there she goes with the pacing again. “Not only did you go into the Everfree Forest, A place I’ve ALWAYS told you time and time again is dangerous for a baby dragon. But you did so, not only knowing that I told you specifically not to, but that there was also a new and highly dangerous creature residing in said forest. And yet!” She stopped, turning sharply to face him. “You still went in there and, WHAT, happened?!”

“I…” Spike gulped, back against the metaphorical and now literal wall as he vainly grasped for an exc-, a reason that would bail him out. But upon finding none, he simply sighed. “I got chased by a pack of timberwolves.”

“Annnnnd?”

“Sigh. And almost got eaten.” Twilight nodded.

“Exactly. And that is exactly the reason why I’m grounding you for a month.”

“But Twilight!” Spike yelled, to which the mare rose a brow. “Y-You and the girls went in there and-, and look what happened to you! To them! Rainbow Dash, Applejack…Rarity! Pinkie Pie!?” He was fuming now. “And that big guy. H-He goes and hurts all of you and…and…and you and the girls are just fine with that?!”

“Spike.”

“Why aren’t you mad at him, huh?! Why am I the one who’s getting punished here, while HE’s the one walking free?!”

“Because it wasn’t HIM doing all that in the first place.”

“And you believed that?!”

“Spike!”

“…”

“Sigh. Look, Spike, I understand that you’re angry.”

“Uhh yeah, no kidding.”

“And, I understand that you don’t have all the details right now and that its only obvious for you to assume that Mister Lizard-“

“That can’t be his name.”

“THAT MISTER LIZARD.” She reiterated, slightly irritated. “Is…at fault here.” She then sighed. “And I thought so too.” But then she looked back up at Spike. “But now I’ve come to realize, that if there’s anypony to blame for what happened today, it would be me.”

“Wha-…why?”

“Because. Like you, right now, I was quick to judge. I didn’t have all the facts. And…because of that…” She paused, blushing as the memory returned and hanging her head as the results of that day brought them to the now. “Not only did I almost lose one friend, but I almost lost all of them too.”

“Twilight.”

She shook her head.

“But what’s done is done. The past is the past and right now you need to accept the consequences of your actions as much as I must.” She then suddenly turned and headed for the front door, just as Spike was revving up for another bite of back talk. “Now. I need to go back to the hospital and check on the girls. Then I need to go to Sugarcube Corner and tell the Cakes about Pinkie…then to Sweet Apple Acres…Then Rarity’s sister-“

“But Twilight!”

“Spike.” She said, opening the door as she walked out. “Look we’ll talk about all this later, okay?” He crossed his little arms “So…clean up the library while I’m gone. Please.” She then paused again just as she was closing the door. Turning around completely, she pointed at him. “And don’t even THINK about going back into the Everfree talk to, or ask, or anything with Mister Lizard!”

“Why would I-?!”

“Just!” She squinted. “Don’t! Please. Or I SWEAR, by Celestia’s sun, you will never even remember the taste of ice cream again!” And with that, she only lightly slammed the door, leaving one very pissed off purple dragon to himself.

Spouting smoke from his nose, the little drake steamed. He growled, he tapped his foot, he may have even thrown a book at one of the shelves in a fit before immediately rushing over to check if it was okay. But he was still pissed. And he had good reason to be too.

Like…like come on! All of this. Not like any of it was his fault, right? If anything, he wanted to help Twilight and the girls! Maybe if he was there with them in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. Maybe then, Rarity…

No. No, if anyone should be responsible for what happened, then it was certainly, most definitely, without a doubt…

“W-What kinda name is Mister Lizard anyway?!”

Huffing, the little dragon glanced over at the door, mental gears turning. Dangerously so.

‘Twilight’s right.’ Spike thought, before he suddenly began walking towards the door. ‘I don’t have all the facts.’ He then stopped, standing just feet away from the door. ‘But I bet he will.’ And without another thought, the little drake opened the door and stepped out, aiming for the Everfree Forest with a simple objective in mind…to get some motherbucking answers.

And besides…Twilight specifically said not to ask Mister lizard for anything.

“Who says I’d be asking.”

Pushing passed the brush and entering the open once again, Richard was once again graced with the familiar view of the ruin castle. A poor sight but a welcomed one nonetheless. And with the promise of a well-needed retreat to a pile of comfy old mattresses all but certified, Richard should’ve been all for getting in there post haste.

And yet, yet he remained standing where he emerged from the dark depths of the forest. The memory of his first day in this new world, traversing the Everfree and discovering his new crumbling abode had halted his advance only momentarily as he thought back to that day, how long ago it seemed yet felt as if were only yesterday. Wild.

“I never did tell you how I got here, did I Badass?

Squeak? The little gecko went, looking from Richard to the castle then back down to him.

“No, not just the castle. I mean this…forest.”

Squeak?

“Well funny enough, it was actually after I woke up from…a nap actually.”

Squeak?

“Heh. Okay yeah, sure, maybe to you that doesn’t sound all that incredible, but for me…sigh…well let’s just say it was a real good nap. A long one, but it still had its moments.”

Squeak

“Really? You think you have better naps than me?”

Squeak!

“Heh. Sure buddy.” Richard chuckled as he continued on towards home. “Keep dreaming.”

Good spirits and jokes aside, it was sad to know that they would not last for long as Richard again began to slow his pace, causing the previously pouting gecko above him to tilt his head as Richard began to lower his.

Squeak?

“It’s nothing Badass. It’s just…” Richard sighed, a light thump resonating behind the two as his tail fell limply to the ground. “What the hell am I going to do now?”

Squeak?

“Well obviously yeah, I’m going the fuck to sleep.” He said, jostling the little smartass on his snout with a head bob. “I mean after that, Bad. I told Fluttershy A week, but what the hell am I going to do during that week?”

…Squeak?

“And besides sleep?”

Squeak…squeak?

“A hobby, huh?” Richard repeated, squinting as he actually gave the idea some thought. And honestly? “Huh. You know what, Bad? That actually doesn’t sound half bad.” He glanced back up at the gecko. “Any ideas on what I should try?”

Squeak…squeak squeak? The gecko cheekily went, earning another jostling from the deathclaw.

“Sleeping isn’t a hobby, Badass, it’s a way of life.” Richard shortly said. “And right now, I’m looking for another way to live my life besides just sleeping.”

…Squeak

“Sigh. It’s not your fault.” Richard said, raising a claw to give his buddy a scritch. “Thanks for the hobby idea, though. I’ll just have to sleep on it is all.”

And with that, the deathclaw quietly resumed his walk, passing the castle’s tall wooden doors that he left in the grass-

“Gonna have to see if those can be fixed later.”

Before he came to a stop just before the base of the castle entrance’s stone steps. There he raised a hand by which Badass took down to the grassy ground floor before hopping off and, with a gesture from Richard, dashed up the stairs and off to the throne room where napping was to be had.

Watching him go, the manclaw chuckled before his positivity was once again overshadowed by the bad and sad shit of the day, coming back yet again to remind him and retest his fucking nerves. And from that, a growl soon began to rise from Richard’s throat before, with a huff and clenched claws, it was suddenly gone as quick as it came, coming out only as a pissed half-hiss tired half-sigh instead.

“What’s happened to you Richard?”

“Funny. I was just about to ask the same thing.” Another voice suddenly said, to which the deathclaw, blinking, turned to, and in turning to found a suited old man standing beside him. “Last time I checked.” The well-dressed man continued, pulling out a pack of cigs before opening it and, after nabbing one with his mouth, replaced the pack and pulled out a golden zippo. “I didn’t raise a little bitch.”

Raising a brow, the deathclaw watched as the man flipped open the ornate lighter and, bringing it close, attempted to light his cigarette.

“Wha-…Pops…I’m like three times your height and hundred times your weight though.”

“True.” The elderly man said, cursing under his breath as his lighter continued to cough up only sparks. “But that doesn’t mean I still can’t drop your sorry ass.”

Chuckling softly at that, the deathclaw watched the old human continue to thumb at his uncooperative fire-starter a few more times before he suddenly, gently plucked the tiny device from the man’s hand and, with massive claws that could easily tear the feeble man to bits, effortlessly flick the lighter to life.

“Here.” Richard said with a smirk, holding the lighter close to the man who begrudgingly but thankfully brought his cig close and after taking short drag, pulled it away, blowing a cloud as the deathclaw closed the lighter with a click and handing it back to the man who pocketed it with a nod. “Always gotta help you with that, don’t I?” The man simply huffed.

“Yeah, yeah, fuck off.”

“…There a reason you’re visiting me, old man?”

“Hmph.” The man went, taking another drag before he finally looked up and met the deathclaw’s eye with his own. “The nerve of you.” His eyes narrowed. “Here I am, the man who brought you into that world, taught you everything I knew about business, came back from the fucking grave to see you and this is how you repay me?” He took another drag. “Kids these days. No damn respect.”

The deathclaw simply chuckled.

“Apologies, sir. If you have a complaint, you’ll have to bring it up with my father.” He said, to which the old man genuinely chortled at. “But really, Dad.” Richard said, smiling warmly down at the old businessman. “It’s great to see you again.”

“Heh. Right back at you son.”

“…How’s mom?”

At that the man huffed, taking a longer drag.

“That damn woman.” He grumbled, tapping his foot. “Till death do us part, my incorporeal keister. There hasn’t been a single day up there that she hasn’t been a pain in my ethereal ass.” He spat. “I mean really! A whole goddamn eternity together and she STILL finds ways to hound me! Can you believe that?!”

“…But?”

“…Sigh. But…I still love her, god I do. But by God does that woman-.”

“Dad, you’re rambling again.”

“Right, right, sorry.” The man said, waving his hand. “…She says hi by the way.”

Hearing that, the deathclaw smiled, his tail producing a light wag.

“Glad to hear that, Dad.” He said, the man nodding as he took another drag from his cigarette. “So why the visit?”

“Ain’t it obvious?” The man puffed, to which the deathclaw raised a brow of his own.

“Not…really, no.”

“Sigh. Do I really need to spell it out for you?” At the deathclaw’s continuing silence, the man sighed once more. “Jesus Christ Rich, I swear you’re gonna be the death of me, you know that?”

“But Dad, you’re already de-“

“It’s because you’re being a whinny fuck, okay?”

“…Really.”

“Yup.”

“…Really?”

“I wouldn’t be ghosting here if I was lying, now would I?”

“But…how?”

“Christ kid, how the fuck should I know?” The man breathed, raising his arms. “One minute I’m playing poker with the Kennedys and the next I get a call that my son turned into a giant fucking iguana and is crying his eyes out in fairytale-book land.” He crossed his arms. “So here I am.”

“…That’s why you’re here?

He nodded.

“Seriously?”

“Papa didn’t raise no bitch.” He simply repeated, before adding with another puff of smoke. “Plus, your mother was worried.”

“Heh. Figured as much.” Richard said, smiling before he sighed. “Honestly pops? I fucked up. Bad.”

“So what?” The man huffed, raising a brow. “Not like you haven’t before.”

“I-…I know that, dad.” The deathclaw grunted, blushing slightly. “B-But this time I’m being serious. I…sigh. I almost killed people. Good people.”

“Oh yeah?” The man asked, leaving the massive lizard to feebly nod, his tail instinctively tucking inwards. “Is that all?”

Blinking, Richard stare back at the old man standing before him, staring up at him with that look that He always knew him for.

“D-Dad.”

“You heard me, you mutant little shit.” The man continued, arms crossed and brows furrowed. “Or did whoever give you that body of yours forget to spare a single point for intelligence?”

“Dad, I’m not messing around!” Richard said, agitation rising at his father’s indifference. “These were good people and I-!”

“Yeah, yeah, you almost killed them, I heard that already, your record get scratched or something?”

“DAD!”

“Richard!”

“…”

“Sit your ass down.” He sat. “Sit the fuck up.” He sat up straight. “And shut the fuck up.” He did. “Now. You said you almost killed some folks. Right?” He nodded. “Did you actually kill anybody?” He shook his head. “So you didn’t kill anybody then.”

“But I-“

“What the fuck did I say?!”

“…Shutting the fuck up.”

“Good. Now, again. Did you. Almost kill. Anybody?”

…nod-

“Let me repeat myself.” The man said, cutting Richard short. “Did YOU. Y-O-U, YOU. Did YOU almost kill anybody?”

…He slowly, hesitantly, shook his head. And at that, the old man finally cracked a smile as he clapped his hands.

“Well there you go then, kid!”

“B-But da-“ The man rose a brow, shutting his son up instantly.

“But wha-a-t?” He chuckled, smoke puffing with each breath. “Still hung up on the fact that somebody took your scaly ass for a joyride and you didn’t even get their name?”

“It’s not that, it’s just-!“ Richard suddenly froze. “Wait.” He pointed at his father. “You…you knew about that?” At that, the man simply nodded. “How?”

“Oh Please, Richard. You don’t get to where I was without knowing when someone spikes your wine or pisses in your oatmeal.”

“But didn’t you die after your sushi chef-?”

“Kid I swear to God, bring that shit up again and I will ghost-slap the everliving shit out of you.”

“Yes sir.”

“…Good.” He puffed. “Now look here, kid.” He said, gesturing Richard forward, which he did by lowering his snout down to the man’s level.
He then pointed. “You aren’t a bad kid. Sure you were a pain in the ass sometimes, but you knew better. And you still do now.” He rose a brow. “Right?”

“R-Right.”

“Good.” The man said, nodding before he glanced at his watch and suddenly swore. “Ah shit. I gotta go, kid.”

“What? B-But Dad-“

“Sorry son.” He said, passing the deathclaw by as he began walking off towards the woods. “But if I stay any longer, your mom’s gonna be banging on those pearly gates for an express ticket down here and that is the LAST thing I want happening.”

“R-Right.” Richard said, smiling at that the thought before he sighed and hung his head.
“You take care dad.”

“Oh enough of that mopey shit.” The old man suddenly said, causing Richard to look back up at him standing some feet away, lit cigarette in one hand and the other pointing at him. “You’re a grown-ass man lizard. Act like it!” He took another drag. “Or so help me, I really will send your mother down here!”

Hearing that, Richard immediately shut his face.

“Y-Yes sir!”

“Hmph.” He simply said, turning his back to Richard. “Chin up kid, even I’m not that cruel.” He was silent a moment before he sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll come visit you again, hopefully AFTER you decided grown a pair.”

“…Heh…sure Dad, it’s a deal.”

Hearing that, the man remained silent a moment before he brought his cig up for one last drag, puffed it, then literally flicked it out of existence to Richard’s surprise. Digging his hands into his pockets, he then sighed.

“Look Richard. What some advice?” The deathclaw nodded. “Fuck all that dumb shit. Everyone gets fucked over at some point in their life. It just happens. Life always finds a way to fuck you over and that’s a scientific fact!

“…Wha-“

“But that doesn’t mean you just take it sitting down! Sure, it’ll suck when it happens to you, but you know what? That’s life! No successful man has ever gotten far in life by being its bitch. You got problems, got something holding you back from getting shit done? You take whatever that is, and whatever else life decides to throw at you and you fuck it. Hard. And if life decides to fuck you over again? You know what you do?”

“…You fuck-“

“You fuck it right back! Exactly! That’s my boy!”
He stood silent and stoic a moment before he sighed. “Heed these words, kid. ‘Life will never just throw you a bone. Because if it ever does? You best believe the fuckening will follow.’” He glanced back at Richard, stunned as he should’ve been. “Got me?” He nodded, he just had to. “Good.” And with that, he began to leave. “Now go on inside and get some rest kid. Last thing you need now is a cold.” Huh?

“Huh? Wait, Dad, what-“

Drip

Blinking, the manclaw slowly lifted his head up to the quickly darkening sky above just as another drop of water broke against his snout. And upon lowering his head, he found his father had vanished.

“…See you later then, Dad.”

Drop

And with that, one by one, droplets of rain soon began to pop and patter against Richard’s head in tandem, a leaky faucets worth that only quickly devolved to a shower as the clouds tore and poured forth over Richard’s poor and sorry hide. Ah yes, the fuckening.

Being honest? Richard probably should’ve seen this coming.

…Heh. Life finds a way, huh?

“Hmm. It sure does.” Richard said as he stood there in the open, staring up into that clouded sky, lost in thought, before suddenly smiling “Thanks Dad.”

And with that, Richard turned, headed up the wet stone steps, and finally entered the castle proper, his swaying tail being the last bit of himself to bid the world one last goodbye and goodnight before it too passed under the threshold and disappeared from view.

…However, the same could not be said for his other tail, who after watching him disappear into the depths of the castle, finally emerged from the edge of the tree line with claws tightly clenched and slick purple scales briefly shining in the lightning’s light.

Author's Note

Ghost dad knows best I guess?

Sorry about suddenly dropping that on you guys by the way. Just figured who’d know better on how to get a guy back into the fight than his old man spitting facts from the grave?

Chapter 13: Snap back to reality

Darkness. That was all Richard saw. Just...darkness.

No matter what direction he turned, up, down, or even around, that was all he saw. Or well, didn't see, in this case.

Course, that wasn't to say that he didn't only see just nothing around him, as upon looking down he did in fact see something. Himself actually, his human self.

"Well, guess this is happening again." Richard sighed, as he looked over his well-dressed form, noting the familiarity of once again wearing clothes, and expensive ones at that. In fact, besides the jet black tailored suit and fitted suit pants, crimson pressed tie, and polished dress shoes that still somehow shined despite a obvious absence of light, it was only reasonable to assume that all of this was leading to the setup of another dream.

And if that realization were a cue of some sorts, it was only until after that that Richard felt the familiar grip of something on his wrist, and upon pulling back his cuff, revealed to him a glimmering golden cased apple watch that, after being tapped once out of curiosity, revealed to him the current date and time displayed upon its small glowing screen. He raised a brow.

"Five forty-five, June sixth, twenty twenty-four?" He blinked. "Why does that seem familiar?"

"Sir? Hellooo?"

Looking up, Richard all but jumped out of his old skin at the sudden sight of a young goth girl looking back at him expectantly.

"Wh-?" Richard failed to say while the girl simply raised a pierced brow.

"There a reason you came in here today, or..?"

"Here?" Richard slowly repeated, before suddenly noticing that he now found himself standing in a large store. A PetSmart of all places.

"Yeah, here." The girl said, folding her arms under her chest. "So what can I do for you?"

"Uhm..." Richard said, before glancing at all the glass boxes off to the side housing various creatures and critters of similar and differing sizes alike. "I…guess I was looking into buying a pet."

The girl chuckled.

"Really, now? So…as a gift? For your kid?"

Richard shook his head.

"For myself...actually."

She nodded.

"Uh-huh. Well, what kinda pet do you want?"

"Well...I'm looking for something small, low-maintenance. Something that's also relatively quiet and safe to keep in an apartment would also be a plus." He then raised a brow. "Got anything here like that?"

Tilting her head at his list, she thought a moment before looking up at him.

"Well...If it's small, quiet, and doesn't take much to care for, maybe a fish?" She asked, to which he shook his head.

"Not a fan of owning fish."

"Then...how about a hamster?"

"Don't they make a ton of noise, though?"

"Then what about a tarantula? We got a couple in the back."

"Yeah, no."

"Ugh! Then what the hell do you want, a reptile or something?"

"No, not a-" He stopped. "Wait. Reptile?"

"Yes. A reptile. Holy shit!"

"Actually, can you show me some?" Richard asked, his genuine curiousness met with exasperated relief.

"Finally! Follow me, sir."

And so Richard did, keeping up a brisk pace behind the girl as she lead him passed fish tanks, weaved around bird cages, and through aisles of pet foods, toys, and other items before finally turning a corner and coming to a stop at the farthest corner of the store.

"Here we are."

Looking up, Richard blinked as he took in the sizeable assortment of reptiles presented to him. However, as he walked passed each of the small glass windows, taking in the details of each of the occupants within, he felt as though he were the one being judged instead of the other way around.

Lizards, snakes, and turtles of various colors, patterns and other noticeably unique traits either hissed, snapped, or blinked back at him as he walked along, giving each a look-in before continuing forward. And as Richard moved further down the aisle, he began to notice the creatures on display becoming more and more eye-catching. How so? Well there was one turtle with six legs. Then there was a snake whos scales seemed to practically shimmer in the light, making its body almost transparent save for its glowing yellow eyes. And lets not forget the little green geckos that were apparently able to divide themselves mitosis style, which was by far the most mind boggling thing Richard had the liberty to witness, especially when he'd stopped to see one just sitting there before its entire body suddenly split in two right down the middle, creating an almost perfect double before going about its business like nothing happened. Fucking wicked.

"You know, we're having a sale on those little guys. Get a dozen for the price of one."

Richard just stood there, completely at a loss as to what he had just seen before looking back at all the other crazy ass reptiles he'd passed by.

"Just...just where the hell did you guys find these things?"

"Australia." She casually replied.

"..."

"Well most of them anyway, the rest were brought in from out of state."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Heh. You're telling me." She then sighed before giving him that expectant look again. "Now. You going to pick one or...?"

Looking at the girl, whom he just now noticed had on a name tag with the word 'Savantha' written on it, then at the wall of reptiles, he was quiet a moment before finally responding.

“Could you…give me a minute or two to decide? I think there's also a few more cases I haven't seen yet."

Rolling her shadowed eyes at him, Savantha noticed a another customer walk passed before looking back at him.

"Alright. I'll go help someone else I guess. Please, take your time to decide on which one you want."

And with that, the girl left, leaving Richard to shake his head at her sarcastic remark before returning his attention to the reptiles beside him.

Approaching one of the cases, the one which housed the almost-invisible snake, Richard took the time to study it, as it was most definitely the most kickass of the lot, at least to him that is. And as he took interest in it, so did the snake take an interest in him as it slithered up to the glass, apparently putting its scales on full display. And what a sight they were. It seemed, at least to Richard's eyes, that the cause of the snake's active camouflage lay in it scales, and as he watched them, Richard could see that that they almost seemed to move on their own, shifting this way and that in order to hit the light just right enough to produce an almost mirror-like effect. A deadly trick for sure, but a neat one all the same.

"Aren't you a special one, eh?" He asked, to which the snake simply hissed at him in return. Maybe it agreed?

Taking a step back, Richard glanced at the side of the glass and whistled at the price tape.

"Damn. Ten grand? Ain't you a spoiled little sucker, huh?"

The snake, surprisingly enough, smirked at him. Or, at least it looked like it did, the cheeky bastard. He definitely knew exactly how much he was worth, for sure.

Tapping a foot, Richard considered the price, pondering the pros and cons of owning a see-through snake before ultimately sighing at the reality that this may not be one investment he was willing to go all in on.

"Maybe I should just give the fish a chance?" Richard said to himself before blinking at something out of the corner of his eye.

Turning his head, Richard raised a brow at the sight of a glass case on the very end of the wall, who's light seemed to flicker rather ominously, as if it were almost beckoning him towards it. And damn it if it wasn't so convincing.

Strolling up to it, Richard gave the box a once over, noting the first two things that came immediately to mind. The first was the the state of the box itself, for with each flicker of the bulb above, Richard could see numerous claw marks decorating just about every inch of the box's interior. Even the glass itself sported a fair deal of damage as several large cracks ran along its surface like bolts of lighting. But with the appearance of the box being one of considerable disarray, that could've been easily overlooked by the second thing which Richard noticed, and that being an obvious absence of whatever had caused all that damage.

Looking over just about every inch of the box, Richard wondered whether or not the box actually was occupied until the light flickered off, leaving Richard to get closer to the glass and squint. And at that moment when his eyes were just inches from the window, Richard could've sworn he had seen something shift in the darkness.

And that's when the light decided to suddenly flicker back on.

HISS

"Oh shit!" He yelled, backpedaling a few steps before tripping and falling on the tiled floor with a thud. Sparing not a moment to rub his bruised ass, the man didn’t skip a beat as he slid back across the rest of the floor until his back met shelf. And even when cans of animal food and toys clattered or squeaked around him, the man couldn’t care less as he tried to quell his racing heart, wide eyes locked on the thing the whole time. “H-Holy shit.”

HISS went the scaly jump-scaring little shit before it backed away from the glass, leaving the man to collect himself before slowly picking himself back up, patting himself on the ass a few times, then slowly, hesitantly approaching the box once again.

The thing inside, for its part, didn’t back away or even flinch when Richard got closer, and only stared up at him with those unblinking, searing red eyes of its.

“Damn.” The man finally breathed, his heart now returning to its normal pace. “You really gave me a hell of a scare there, little guy.” He actually chuckled, much to the very slight twitch of the lizard’s form. “Bet you’re real proud of yourself for that one, huh?”

When the lizard didn’t respond, or even move for that matter, Richard squinted. Silent treatment huh?

“You want out this place, buddy?” At the mention of freedom, the lizard seemed to stiffen, it’s eyes growing that more fiercer. “Word of advice. Keep that shit up and you can forget about ever getting outta here.“
Responding with a hiss, the lizard suddenly paused halfway through as it pondered the human’s words. And, after a few tense moments of apparent reptilian brainstorming, the little lizard…actually nodded. Huh.

“Well now.”

“Woah.”

Blinking, the businessman turned and was surprised to see the goth girl from earlier standing beside him, her previously uncaring features now replaced by genuine disbelief.

“What?” the man asked, to which the girl could only turn to him, gesturing between him and the box with a finger.

“You…It…that thing actually listened to you.”

“Well…it was pretty basic advice. I’m sure that-“

“N-No, you don’t get it.” She suddenly, said placing a hand on his shoulder. “That lizard…it’s not normal.”

“Yeah? So wasn’t that snake and those other things you showed me earlier. What’s so different about this one?”

“Dude. You’re not getting it.” The girl said, suddenly getting uncomfortably closer to Richard as she leaned in to whisper. “That thing isn’t what you think it is.”

“A black lizard?”

“…A demon.”

What.

“Excuse me?” Richard said, brows furrowed. The girl huffed.

“You heard me.” She said, crossing her arms. The man just nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Yeah I did. But can you just repeat that one more time?”

“I said it’s a demon, alright! What more do you want from me?!” The girl suddenly, unnecessarily yelled. “Demon! Hellspawn! Devil incarnate! The damn devil itself in disguise! Any of that getting through to you?!”

…Okay…wow.

“Uh-huh.” Richard nodded, glancing at the ‘demon’ in question who at that moment was staring pure death at the girl, but upon seeing that Richard was seeing it stare absolute death at the girl, it suddenly froze, lowered its head, and did this cute little bit where it turned around, laid down and slowly curled into a little ball by biting its own tail, quiet little whimpering noises included.

“Well. I don’t know about you.” Richard said, glancing at the girl as he slowly crossed his arms. “But I think someone outta apologize right now.”

“The fuck what?!” The girl said, turning on the man. “You can NOT be ser-“

“Oh yes the fuck I can and I am, miss…” he quickly glanced down at her tag before meeting her eyes once more. “Savantha.” The girl scoffed.

“Hah. If you think for a second I’m going to apologize to that-“

“Oh no. I wasn’t talking about the lizard.” Richard said, to which the girl blinked.

“You…Weren’t?” He nodded. “Then who did-“

“Me.”

“…Wha-“

“I want you…to apologize…to me.”

“Wha-, why?”

“For insulting my pet.”

…

…What.

“E-Excuse me?!” The girl yelled with shock. The lizard, still in ball form, simply glanced over its spiked little shoulder. That was…unexpected.

“You heard me.”

“Oh I most certainly did, but you don’t understand-“

“I’m waiting.”

“Buddy this thing, you don’t know what it’s done, how many times it’s been re-“

“Still waiting.”

“I am trying to save your life, pal! You’re not-“

“I’m sorry Miss Savantha, but are you going to do the adult thing and just apologize or am I going to have to have a little chat with your boss?”

“But…But I-“

“Well?”

“…Dude.”

“Wanna apologize to my lizard inste-?”

“I’m sorry.” Bingo.

“Hmm. See? Now was that so hard?” The suited man said, smirking at the exasperated girl. She simply sighed.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, pal.”

“Eh. Maybe you’re right, miss.” Richard said as he walked over to the box, where by this point the lizard was now standing a foot from the glass. Crouching down, he narrowed his eyes once more at the little lizard who now stared at him with…was that interest? He chuckled. “But it wouldn’t be an investment otherwise, now would it?”

“…Sigh. Fuck it. Your funeral.”

Several minutes later, whereafter buying the lizard, trying to put it in a small plastic carrier only to have it reduce said carrier to plastic pulp and ending up hand-carrying the little thing, all the while the girl continued to vainly help the suited man see reason, Richard now found himself sitting quietly and cushy in his car, still parked in the Pet Smart parking lot.

Why, You may wonder?

Well, try asking the coal-colored lizard staring up at him expectantly from his open palm.

“…”

…

I wasn’t asking.

“So…” Richard started, the lizard tilting its head slightly. “Now that you’re uh…out, of there…I guess that makes you my pet now, right?”

The lizard’s features seemed to twitch at that, but the man barely noticed.

“So…since you’re my pet now…” Richard went, glancing out the window. “I guess you’ll need a name too, huh?” Glancing back, Richard couldn’t help but crack a smile when he noticed the little guy’s tail definitely twitch at the mention of a name. Got its interest now.

“Alrighty then.” The man started, raising his lizard-filled hand up to his dashboard and nodding slightly when its passenger silently disembarked. “Now, I didn’t necessarily have a name ready when I went in so…” He paused, noting the reptile’s immediate and apparent dissatisfaction. He quickly raised his arms. “Hey, I honestly didn’t even know if I was getting a pet today in the first place, much less which one, cut me some slack, yeah?”

At that, the lizard’s features did seem to relax, if only barely, but that just made it look that more expectant.

“Thanks. Now, let’s see.” Richard said, narrowing his eyes in thought at the lizard who in turn simply stared right back.

…

Okay yeah, this was going fucking nowhere fast and both the man and lizard knew it. Sighing, Richard leaned back in his chair, a hand to his chin and eyes closed as he hummed some more.

“Hmm…now what was that lady spazzing about earlier?”

‘Demon…hellspawn…devil incarnate…devil…de-‘

“Hey now.” Richard suddenly said, eyes shooting open as the idea suddenly struck. Glancing down at the lizard, who only tilted its head back at up him, he smirked.

"You know what? I don’t think I said it earlier, but damn you're one hell of a cool-looking lizard, you know that?"

Hiss went the lizard, curious as it probably wondered where this sudden compliment was going.

"You don't say?” The man continued, feigning understanding. “Heh. Well since I own you now, I guess a proper name’s in order, huh?"

Hiss the lizard replied, it’s dwindling patience and rising curiosity clashing as it insisted a reason for the human tempting it with-

"Hmm...well in that case, how about...Diablo.”

Now at that, the lizard actually paused, the name seemingly stopping it in its little lizard tracks as it stared up at the beaming human with a look that boasted utter befuddlement and demanded explanation despite the silence that hung for several moments between the two.

“What do you think?” The man said, raising a smirking brow. “Figured if you could raise enough hell in the past to have a goth swear the devil outta you, you’d appreciate keeping the name, least the cooler-sounding version of it.“

The lizard, for its part, continued to stare silently at the man a moment more before it suddenly looked down, seemingly in thought. What did it actually think of the name? Well, it wasn’t anything negative apparently because the next thing Richard knew, the little thing was happily doing several little hops and spins atop his dash before it caught itself mid-hop, remade itself proper, and gave a single, approving nod. The suited man in return simply smiled, himself nodding once before giving his newly named pet a scritch under the chin.

“Heh. Glad you like it, buddy. Now how’s about we head back to my place and celebrate, eh?”

Gratefully receiving the scritch, and offering the man a tail wag for his troubles, the newly
named Diablo looked up at the man with those burning crimson eyes of its and, without a second thought, happily-

Squeak!

Huh?

“Diablo? D-Did you just-”

Squeak!

Blinking slowly, the man, now realizing his pet wasn’t the one in fact doing the squeaking, and the lizard, now realizing they weren’t the only two in the car, both slowly turned to stare down at the suddenly very present, orange-scaled, charmander-looking gecko sitting cozy in the center of the passenger seat beside the perplexed pair.

“…Who are-“

“And what are you doing here?”

Wut.

“D-Diabl-?“

“Sup cunt. Time to wake the fuck up.”

…What the fu-

Squeak! Squeak!

“Ugh…D-Diablo?”

Squeak

Slowly and drearily blinking himself awake, Richard’s vision, fogged to fuck as it previously was, quickly cleared to reveal not his beloved companion of the past, but his present pilot light of a pal bouncing about before his sleepy sight.

“B-Badass?”

Squeak

“Oh, hey.”

Squeak?

“Am I okay?” The ma-…deathclaw repeated, raising a scaly brow as he glanced from his claw lying beside the little lizard to the lizard standing beside the claw and staring back at him, head tilted to the side in cute worry. “Yeah…just fine.” When his buddy looked to inquire further, he used his previously mentioned claw to coincidentally rub the apparent sand away from an orange eye, throwing in a yawn for good measure. “Anyways, what’s up buddy?”

Tilting his head to the other side, the gecko was silent a moment, a moment in fact that had the deathclaw discreetly sweating out of fear of being instantly found out, before it suddenly remembered what it was in fact that had it jumping around in the first place.

Squeak! Squeak Squeak!

“An angry purple lizard? What li-“

“He means me.”

Looking up and over, the pair were greeted with the sight of a very much indeed, pissed off looking squat purple and green lizard, dripping wet scales and glowering green eyes accentuated by sudden and dramatic lightning-light.

Hey, wait a minute.

“You’re…wait, who the actual fuck are you?”

The bipedal reptile in question growled.

“Oh you know exactly who I am!” The angry little lizard yelled from across the room. Too bad all Richard really did in return was slowly shake his head.

“No, I don’t.” The deathclaw growled before glancing at the gecko beside him. “He a friend of yours, Badass?”

The orange gecko shook his head. The purple one growled.

“Take a wild guess.” He hissed, little arms crossed.

Bringing a claw to his chin, Richard squinted in thought at the waiting lizard, taking several moments to review previous events to the impatient foot tapping of a certain scale-skin growing more impatient with each passing second. And then Richard suddenly snapped his claws.

“Oh yeah!” Richard said, the answer dawning on him.

“Finally.” The little lizard sighed with an eye roll.

“That’s right, the purple one said your name a couple times.” Richard said, pointing a claw at him. “Uh…Spunk!”

“What?! No!” The reptile shouted, a faint blush adding to his already beyond frustrated features. “It’s Spike!”

“…The gecko?”

“Dragon!”

“Hm, right.” Richard chuckled, earning another irritated growl from the purple pipsqueak over yonder. “So, Spike, there something I can do you for or..?”

“Answers.”

The deathclaw blinked.

“Huh?”

“You heard me!” Spike yelled, pointing a claw at the lounging lizard. “I’ve got questions and YOU owe me some answers!”

Now at that, Richard actually got a bit defensive.

“I owe you?” He repeated, brow raised before his eyes quickly narrowed. “Bro, I didn’t even know you’re name up until a couple seconds ago, how-“

“FOUR!” He suddenly yelled, causing the colossal lizard, and little lizard beside him, to shrink back a bit. “Four, of my friends, are in the hospital right now!” He gritted his fangs. “And WHO brought them there?!”

Richard saw where he was going with this.

“M-, Me?”

“That’s right.” Spike said, eyes narrowing. “And the way I see it, you’re the reason they’re there in the first place. Aren’t you.”

That wasn’t a question, by the way.

“Well kid, the thing is-“

“Applejack.” He took a step forward.

“Kid, look-“

“Rainbow Dash.” Another step.

“Listen, I wasn’t-“

“R-Rarity.” Another step with an added snarl.

“Look, Spike, It wasn’t me that-“

“Pinkie Pie.” Another step and-

“IT WASN’T MY FAULT!”

-and then the dragon stopped, eyes slightly narrowed up at the deathclaw whose heaving chest and wild eyes said it all. The balled up claws he’d slammed on the now-cracked stone ledge only emphasized that which was yet to be said.

“Then prove it.”

…

"…Sigh. Sure. Fuck it."

And with that simple statement, Richard stood, jumped from his spot, and landed with a boom before the drastically, comparatively tiny dragon. Standing up to his full height, he peered down at the little guy before him with a pissed but resolved glare.

The dragon, for his part, simply remained still, his gaze never wavering, claws clenched at his sides and little chest puffed out. A perfect look of fortitude.

And yet, despite the little runt doing his damndest to melt Richard with his eyes, the man-turned-deathclaw knew it was all just for show. How so? Well, despite being an apex predator, it didn’t necessarily take the keenest senses of the pool, genetically bread to sniff out shit like fear when you practically reeked of it.

And this kid? Literally stank of fear. Didn’t help none that Richard could see it too, what with the fumes clouding around him. But besides that, he also saw him shaking, saw his claws practically paling with how hard he was clenching them, heard him gulp, watched him sweat. And yet...

Besides all of that…

He didn't shy away. He didn't flinch or concede. He just stood his ground and kept his pose, despite the fact that Richard could very well end his whole career with little to no effort.

…Huh, deja vu.

With a single hiss, he raised an arm, claws as easily as tall as the little dragon they fell towards and with but only the last noise to be heard before contact being the breathe that Spike took in as he braced, was quickly found to be for nothing as he felt only the gentle touch of hard hide lightly patting his head.

Blinking, he slowly looked up in obvious confusion to see passed razor sharp claws to a smiling maw that bore no wickedness and orange orbs that showed only a startling warmth to them.

"Well kid," Richard spoke, sounding tired yet oddly satisfied. "Looks like you really ain't budging on this, huh?"

After hesitating a moment, he only shook his head, eliciting another sigh and chuckle from the monstrous deathclaw, now coming to slowly lay down on the stone tiles with a light thud.

"Sigh. Fine. If you're so damn adamant then…take a seat kid, gonna be a long one."

Hesitating once more, Spike gave the prone monster a rather disbelieving and very suspicious look before, after seeing the manclaw only raise an innocent brow, finally dropped his guard and, without much else to say, plopped himself down and crossed his arms, looking up at the him expectantly.

"So…” Richard started, giving the drake a once-over before glancing to his side and noting the sudden presence of another eager listener “Guess you…two want some context first so shit's less confusing, right?"

He nodded. As did Badass.

"Alright. Well...fuck. I guess I really do gotta start from the beginning then, huh?"

Another nod. And another nod, with an added squeak good measure.

"Sigh. Well, it all started after I woke up in a mountain."

Chapter 14: Rest & Ramifications

One Week Later...

Beep…Beep…Beep

Knock Knock

“Come in.”

…

“Ah, good morning Miss Rainbow Dash.”

“Uh huh.”

“I believe you know what time it is?”

“Sigh. Gee, I don’t know? Is it time I finally get outta this place?”

“Hmm. Funny. But no, Miss Dash, it’s time for you to take your medication.”

“Oh, great. Pills for breakfast. Again.”

“Is there a problem, Miss Dash?”

“Oh, I think you know the answer to that, Red.”

Nurse Red Heart did. She just wanted to hear what the bedridden pegasus, wonderbolt, and element of harmony barer just had to say this time.

“Do remind me again, Miss Dash?” She asked, earning a stink eye from the pegasus which she matched with a pointed look of her own. Crossing her hooves, she scoffed.

“I already told the doc. I. Don’t. Need them.”

“And I’d already told you nearly a dozen times yesterday and the day before, Miss Rainbow Dash.” The nurse responded, before turning and nabbing one of several small serving trays from a metal cart she’d rolled in with her teeth. Turning back to the rainbow-maned mare pouting like a rainbow-maned foal, she approached the mare’s bedside and, when she got close enough, placed it gently on the little nightstand beside her. Two cups rested on it, one filled with multicolored pills while the other was filled with water “You. do.”

The pegasus blew a raspberry.

“Please. Did Daring Doo need meds after she broke a hoof AND a wing fighting the Shepherd of Fire atop the Cliffs of Clover?”

“…Y-?“

“N-Nope! Ow.” The pegasus roared, slamming a hoof on her nightstand, wincing, then playing it off as she shook her head. She hoped the nurse hadn’t noticed but then I’d be lying to myself too if I said she did not not notice. “She mared the buck up, tied on a pair of splits she made outta some vines and bones she found in a nearby cave, fought the dragon that was living IN that cave, WON, and rode it all the way back to Equestria!”

"And then she checked herself into the nearest hospital where she would receive proper medical treatment while also adhering to everything that the medical professionals there advised her to do. Because IF she didn't listen to them, then she NEVER would've been able to EVER go on anymore adventures. That IS why she didn't argue with them, right?" The white coated nurse shot back, never breaking eye contact with the scrunching pegasus. She raised a brow. "Because she was a responsible mare?"

"Why you-"

"Dash. Can ya please just shut yer yap and take yer darn pills already?"

Snapping her head to her left bedside, the pegasus stared daggers at the parting white curtain to reveal a very familiar and very annoyed farmmare. Yet despite the pegasus's glaring and growling, the stetson-toting earth pone simply gave her the same look she'd give her younger sister whenever she was getting cross with her. Suffice to say, after several more seconds of their little staring contest, the pegasus relented and, with a final growl, downed both cups in a single gulp.

"There." The cowgirl smirked, earning one look of ire from Dash and one of gratitude from Redheart. "Now, was that so hard, Dash?"

Grumbling to herself, Rainbow rolled over, crossing her hooves and giving her smug southern neighbor the middle feather before wincing at the accompanying pain that had plagued her since her admittance to Ponyville General. And sure, the meds did relieve most of the physical pain that stemmed from her bandaged wings and barrel (though she'd never admit it in front of the others, especially the nurse), no amount of bed rest nor painkillers would help quell her wounded pride.

To not only lose to that...that thing, and so...easily as she did. But to fail to be there when her friends needed her most? When they were getting it worse than her? When the others were facing down death and she was busy being knocked the buck out?

'Buck that noise.' Dash thought bitterly as she tucked herself in under a blanket of warm cotton and cold uselessness. 'I'll get my revenge. I'll summon that thing up from Tartarus if I have to...just so I can buck it's flank back down there myself.'

Watching the rainbow-maned mare grumbling under her bed sheets, both the nurse and AJ gave each other a glance before the nurse simply shook her head, chalked it up to her just being grumpy, and approached the farm pony's bedside with another tray of meds and water in tow. Placing it down on the bed, she smiled again.

"Thank you Miss Applejack. At least SOME ponies can be a little more reasonable than others."

Chuckling at the nurse's comment, as well as the stick eye she shot towards Rainbow's back, she downed her meds and water without incident and leaned back against her pillow.

"Shoot, it's nothing at all, Miss Redheart." Applejack remarked, before pausing, then suddenly sighing. "But, I wouldn't blame her too much for being a mule in the mud. She's just...hurting, is all...we all are."

Blinking, the nurse's ears folded at the realization, and she made quick to recover.

"Oh, Miss Applejack, I didn't mean-"

"No need for worrying, Miss Redheart, it ain't yer fault." The farmpony assured, smiling as the nurse looked relieved once more. "Just...give her some time, and maybe a Daring Doo book or two, and I'm sure she'll be right as rainbows soon enough."

Hearing that, the nurse gave it some thought before a smile crossed her snoot and she nodded, suppressing a cute giggle. She then relieved AJ of her tray before finally making her way over to the last of the occupied beds at the other end of the room.

"Miss Rarity?" The nurse piped up, slowly passing by the curtain that bordered Applejack's beside to see that the fashionista in question was still sleeping away. Nabbing another tray for the unicorn, the nurse idly wondered just how the mare could still be sleeping despite her friends' antics. It wasn't until she placed the tray down on the nightstand beside her bed however, that the nurse noticed the fuzzy pair of jewel-bedazzled ear muffs and equally bedazzled sleep mask as the unicorn turned her head over, blissfully snoozing the day away without care or interruption.

Until now that is.

"Miss Rarity?" Redheart called, a little louder than before but not so much yelling. And when the mare remained unmoving, the nurse pouted before reaching out to her with a hoof...and hesitated once she noticed her horn.

Or rather, where her horn should've been.

Staring at the broken stump, the nurse remembered back to the day when she heard the news. She had been on break when a younger nurse had barged into the breakroom, her face pale as a bedsheet as she frantically announced that one red and three oranges had just been brought into the lobby. The response thereafter was immediate when several doctors and nurses, herself included, had literally dropped whatever they had been doing, or in that case eating, and rushed to the hospital's entrance with gurneys in tow.

But it wasn't until they all arrived in the lobby did the mass of medical staff freeze upon seeing just who had been brought in and by who, or rather, a what if she was being honest. Bigger than any bipedal creature she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting in pony, it towered over the others with oblivious ease despite its hunched frame. And coupled with its scaly hide, shark-like maw, massive claws, and piercing solid orange eyes, it had taken every fiber of Redheart's everything to NOT just turn tail and run right then and there. Despite everything in Redheart screaming at her to do just that.

But luckily enough, it was thanks to Twilight's quick intervention, in which she slapped a doctor or two, before everypony, Redheart included, snapped to their senses and in a few minutes time the four injured mares had been rushed off to the ER.

Still. Seeing not only Rainbow Dash and Applejack's broken and unconscious forms, but also Miss Rarity's shattered horn had shook the seasoned nurse to her very core. Sure, ponies knocking themselves out wasn't a new thing to the nurse. Nor were the rarer cases when a pretentious unicorn lost a portion of their horn trying, and failing, to impress their friends with casting a spell that was obviously out of their league. But after seeing Pinkie Pie? Oh, Celestia. Had that other nurse not barged in sooner, Redheart was sure she would’ve been right there alongside some of her younger and less experienced peers, either fainted on the spot, or emptying their stomachs into the nearest receptacle.

It was just that horrible. And to think, that it had happened to her of all ponies. That anything like that would happen to those girls.

‘Guess their luck finally ran out,’ the nurse sadly thought. And with that last thought, she lightly shook the mare several times, calling the mare’s name with each shake until with a huff and less than light half-shake half-shove, the sleeping beauty finally revived.

“Huwah?”

Albeit with the grace of a dazed drunkard, but awakened nonetheless. Rolling her eyes at the unicorn as she groggily set to removing her muffs and eye covers, any rising temper from the nurse was gone the moment the mareshmellow opened her eyes.

Now, nurse Redheart was no stranger to missing sleep. She herself had the bags to prove it. In fact, she’d be surprised if any pony in her line of work ever got a full night’s rest in their entire career. The mare before her, however? Yeah, Redheart wondered if the mare even knew what sleep was. Because with her unkept bed-head-ridden mane, sunken sockets, and sporting a look that could flay a lesser mare, Redheart was now genuinely concerning over whether this unicorn had ever slept for more than half an hour since her admittance.

“Yes?” The mare asked expectantly, causing the nurse, who had just realized she’d been caught gawking, to quickly blink before offering an apologetic smile.

“Sorry for waking you, Miss Rarity.” Redheart answered, before retrieving a last tray in her little cart and depositing it at her bedside. “Your medicine?”

Glancing at the two cups in question, the bedridden fashionista could only hold her glowering glare for a second later before her features finally relaxed, a tired smile hinting her gratefulness.

“Oh. Thank you then, Miss Redheart.” Rarity offered, glancing at the pill-filled cup before with a look of concentration, attempted to magically retrieve it. But try as she might, little else came from the mare’s horn stump besides some sparks and a pained grunt from the now mentally exhausted mare. Luckily, the nurse was there for the assist.

“W-Why don’t you just use your hooves instead?” Redheart raised, quickly offering the cup to the panting unicorn who, after a scrunch and look of blushing defeat, took the cup.

“T-Thank you.” Was all the mare could muster in return before daintily downing both cups and, after replacing her sleeping mask, then reached for her fluffy muffs. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really must be getting back to my beauty rest.“

“Of course, Miss Rarity.” The nurse replied, smiling as the mare rolled over for what was presumably some much needed sleep before glancing at the last bed in the row.

And noting it’s emptiness.

And just like that, Redheart’s smile faltered before vanishing in the breeze of a tired sigh. Turning, she collected Rarity’s tray, replaced it back onto the cart and, after bidding the remaining mares her farewell, wheeled the cart out.

And almost into a doctor.

“Oh! Doctor Suture,” the nurse started, blinking rapidly. “My apologies, I didn’t-“ to which he immediately waved her off with a dismissing hoof.

“It is quite alright, Miss Redheart. I was the one not paying attention. Apologies.”

Blinking, the nurse hesitantly nodded before pushing the cart around the doctor and continuing on. But before she could fully depart, he suddenly spoke up.

“Oh, Miss Redheart?”

“Yes, Doctor?”

“Miss…Pie. Did she-“

“Y-Yes…regrettably.”

“Hmm. I see. Well, then if you would be willing-“

“Consider it done, Doctor Suture.”

“Right. Carry on then, Miss Redheart.”

Nodding, the mare turned and pushed the cart further down the hall, turned a corner, and was gone from sight. The doctor, after seeing her go, glanced down at the clipboard in his hoof before adjusting his glasses and turning to-

“Oh! Doctor Suture!”

-See a certain purple unicorn mare approaching him.

“Ah, Miss Sparkle, was it?”

Nodding, Twilight gave the doc her best smile as she came to a stop just a few hooves from him.

“That’s me!”

“Hmm, come to visit your friends, again?” He asked, glancing up at a nearby clock and raising a brow. “And not a second before or after visiting hours have officially started. That’ll mark a whole week straight of that. Heh, quite the punctual one, you are.”

“Yup! Oh, and thanks. I certainly try. It’s as my old magical kindergarten teacher used to say, ‘Early is on time and on time is late. So, if you’re not early, you better not be late!’ Hah!”

Chuckling himself, the doctor extended a hoof towards the door.

“Then in that case, please, after you.” He offered, to which she accepted with a smile and a nod as she entered the room first with the doc closing the door behind them.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack! You two are looking better everyday!” Twilight happily exclaimed, to which Dash, being Dash, smirked as she responded in kind.

“Uh, yeah? Shouldn't be a surprise. Ain’t nothing keepin’ down The DA-oh!” Rainbow winced, her latest attempt to rock a pose in bed once again being met with pain as she winced, but not so much that the others noticed. At least, that’s what she hoped.

“Heh. Serves ya right, Dash.” Applejack said, shaking her head with a smirk all the while as she crushed the flustered flyer’s hopes. She did give the unicorn and doctor a more genuine smile though. “Good to see you again, Twi. Doc.” The mare greeted, nodding to the pair.

“Likewise, Miss Applejack.” The doctor agreed, pushing his glasses up before glancing at his board again. “And Miss Rainbow, please, I did and still suggest that you hold off from any excessive boasting while being admitted here. Posing included.”

When all the doc got was a huff and crossed hooves from the mare, the stallion simply shook his head before flipping the first page over And briefing skimming the next one. “Speaking of which, that’s actually the reason I’ve come in to see you girls today.”

“Finally!” The prismatic pegasus joyfully shouted, throwing her hooves up as her comment only got an eye raise from the doc and a sigh from the farm mare beside her.

“Ignore her, Doc. She’s just being a foal is all.” Applejack said, earning a insulted "Hey!" from the girl in question before continuing on without missing a beat. “But is that really true, Doc? We really getting outta here?”

“Well...no, at least, not today that is.” He responded, earning a disgruntled groan from the aerophile. He paid her no mind. “But, once I’ve given all of you a final diagnosis, filled out the necessary paperwork, and distributed your respective medications, you can expect to be fully checked out of Ponyville General in three days.”

The two bed jockeys certainly brightened up after hearing that, as did Twilight as she beamed at the pair.

“Isn’t that great, girls?”

The pair nodded, though of course a certain pegasus had to add her two bits in.

“Yeah. I GUESS I can survive here for a few more days.” she sighed, before being decked by a pillow. “Oof! Hey!” Her resulting glare however was only traded for a snort from the farm pony beside her who just shook her head, yet again unamused.

“Honestly, Rainbow.” Applejack huffed. “Would it kill ya to just shut yer whin’n yap for a cloud-bucking second and just thank the kind staff and doctor here for helping your sorry flank?”

Rainbow took exception to that.

“What?!” She shouted, to which the apple farmer rolled her eyes, and only ticking off the mare all the more. “I don’t whine! Rarity whines!”

“Oh yeah?” The farm pony pressed, raising a brow. “Well from where I’m sitting, you’re certainly doing an awfully good impression of her.”

“You-!” The mare growled, “You’re one to talk!”

“Oh? And how-,” the farm mare asked, crossing her hooves with a smirk and a brow raise. “Do you figure that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Rainbow began, playing innocent as she rolled her eyes in faux thought. “Maybe you should ask the mare who was crying her eyes out before her shot?”

Applejack’s smirk immediately vanished. Coincidentally as Rainbow’s one doubled.

“You, ya darn varmint! I-I thought you were sleeping!”

“Maybe I was? Or maybe your whining was what woke me up?”

“Listen here, you rainbow-dipped little s-“

“Ahem!”

…
…

“Girls?” Rarity asked, her polite tone patient and almost jovial despite the aura of sheer pissed that the others, even the doctor, could feel emanating from her bedside. The two rivals didn't need to see the unicorn to know she was as cranky as a sleep-deprived ursa minor and would bar no fury to match one if the pair didn't shut up right then and there.

They did, for all of a measly three seconds, before Rainbow attempted to once again call somepony else's bluff but immediately shut her wind trap when Rarity's head instantly snapped to her, her eyes baring a fire that shone brighter than Celestia's sun and burned twice as hotter with every passing second it remained on Rainbow's wilting form.

"On...second thought, maybe Rarity's right? Heh, heh." croaked the pegasus as she sheepishly smiled, leading the fashionista to raise a brow. When the flyer broke her gaze and stared at her sheets like a wounded diamond dog, only then did Rarity nod curtly before pulling a complete one-eighty and bestowing the visiting bookworm and bespectacled doctor.

"Twilight, darling. It is so good to see you again. and to you as well, Doctor."

"Me too, Rarity!" her friend happily responded. The doctor merely nodded, pushing up his glasses.

"Likewise, Miss Rarity. May I continue?" He took the other girls' collective silence as his cue. “Hmm, good. Now, where was I..? Ah yes, I-"

"Wait a minute." Twilight suddenly said, unintentionally interrupting the doctor who gave her a not-so concealed look of irritation. "Where's Pinkie Pie?"

"I was just getting to that, actually." The doctor responded, pushing up his glasses as he raised an unamused brow at the unicorn who could only offer an apologetic chuckle back.

"Heh heh, sorry." Twilight responded, taking a couple steps back as she rubbed the back of her head. "Please! Continue."

Holding his gaze with the unicorn for a second longer than he should've needed, just to nail the point home, he slowly turned towards the others, like a teacher finally reining in his noisy class, wondering just who'd be the next one bold enough to interrupt him. His bits were on Rainbow Dash, if anyone was curious, but he wouldn't say that out loud. He was a professional after all.

"Rrrrriiiight. Ahem. As I was saying, concerning the matter of when all of you will be released, I have some...saddening news." Again the doctor paused, not to be dramatic of course, but just so anypony who wanted to spontaneously interrupt him could happily do so now without further striking his ire. When nopony jumped in as he'd half-expected, he nodded at having their undivided attention and continued. "It is...with a heavy heart that I must inform all of you that Miss Pinkie Pie-"'

"Is riiiiIIGGGGHHT HERE!" The pink menace cheered, throwing her hooves up as she suddenly barged into the room in a wheelchair. Despite getting a yelp and a jump out of Twilight, the doctor wasn't even surprised. Though he did raise a brow when a heavily exasperated Redheart came rushing in after the mare before nearly keeling over in a fit of panting exhaustion.

"So-, huff, haah, sorry, Doctor Suture." The staff member tried to apologize, resetting herself straight as best and proper as she could. "I-, I was just escorting Miss Pinkie Pie from the maternity ward when she suddenly sped off!" She then fixed the party pony with a scalding glare. "And nearly crashed into three other patients on the way here." The pink health hazard simply giggled innocently to herself.

"Ahh. Sorry Miss Redheart! I just wanted to wish a humongulous happy birthday to ALL the cute little fillies and colts there!" At the nurse's undiminished fury, Pinkie hastily explained herself.

"And...well...thenIgotthisuperyduperyfuzzyfeelinginmytummblytumthatcouldhaveeithermeantmyfriendswerevisitingtodayorthatthepuddingfromthecafeteriawasabouttoeightysixmyguttygutbutthenIrememberedthatIalreadyhadsomedelishiliciouscupcakesfrommypinkiepocketalittleafterbreakfastandthosecouldnothavebeenthecausebecauseIalwaysmakesuretheypinkiepromisetostaygooduntilIwantoneso-hm, mHMM, hmHMMhm?"

"Miss. Pinkie Pie." The nurse interjected, simply, pointedly, and a little impatiently. All the while the bottom of her left forehoof rested firmly against everything audibly-inclined below the mare's scrunched snoot. "You're speaking too quickly. Again."

"Hmm hmm, hmhmm. Hmmh, Hmm Hmhmm!"

[Heh heh, whoopsie. Sorry, Miss Redheart!]

"Hm mhm hmmhm mhhm mh hmmhm mhhmm hm hmmhhm mh hm mmmh!"

[I was just trying to explain myself as hastily as I could!]

"Hmm hmhm hmhmh mhhhmh mhhhmhm hmhmh? Hm hmhm mhmhhmm, mhmhh?"

[Should I've explained myself expeditiously instead? Or maybe hurriedly, perhaps?]

"Hmm, hmhmh! Hm hmm hm hmm mhh mhmm hm mhm hm hmm hmm mhmh, mhm mhmhm mhmh mhh mh-"
[Hey, Author! I know you just got back after being gone for a long time, but could you do me a teensy favor and-]

"Miss Pinkie Pie!" The nurse groaned, finding no comfort in knowing, much less feeling the cumulating amount of spit drenching her hoof as she attempted to plug the leaking dam that was the mare's mouth. "You're also getting severely off topic. Again."

"HMM?! Hmm mhm hmhmm hmmhmm mhh!"

[HEY! You can read subtitles too!]

"What are you even-?"

"While...ALL of that is well and...commendable, Miss Pinkie Pie..." Doctor Suture started, appearing mostly unperturbed by the mare's remarkable ability to say so many words in a single breath up until he failed to suppress a impulsive brow raise at her ongoing efforts to say more despite the nurse's best efforts to shove her whole hoof down Pinkie's sporadically-spewing word-dispenser.

"I have news that may not only concern you, but your friends and possibly even your family as well. So, please. Would you allow me a single moment to say what I must." With a tone mixed between a subtle, professional seriousness and weathered patience few besides some parents, doctors, or teachers could replicate, the mare found herself immediately complying.

Straightening up, a reaction which surprised both nurse and friends, the pink patient solemnly nodded and uttered not a syllable thereafter. The doctor, after meeting her eye for a few scant seconds, nodded as well, before proceeding to remove his glasses and fix each of the girls with a sweeping look destitute of anything even remotely reassuring.

"Miss Pinkie Diana Pie...will, regrettably, NOT be leaving this hospital."

Chapter 0 (Prologue): The Unrelated History Lesson and The Day the World Went Boom

In times long forgotten, before the elements of harmony found their bearers, or even before the banishment of Nightmare Moon, there was once a great evil that sought to consume Equestria and the world of Equis.

In a time where the three pony races of pegasi, earth pony, and unicorn were unified under the banner of the sisters of the sun and moon, there suddenly ignited below their hooves a glowing ember which grew ever brighter with each passing day.

Where the windigos once threatened to plunge the world into an frozen wasteland, a greater threat burned under the earth, and where the windigos fed off of the conflict that the three pony tribes created amongst themselves, so did the entity below grow ever stronger with each sinful act committed by the ponies in their new "united" kingdoms.

Pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. These seven sins were what fueled the creation of a race all its own, of creatures who craved only destruction and suffering for all, and for their unholy desires and the dark abyss from which they were birthed from, they were given the name Tartarians.

The tartarians desired nothing more than to cause endless pain and suffering. With each day, as their numbers grew, so did their lust for domination and destruction. And on one faithful day, their wish would be granted.

Discord, Master of Mischief and the very embodiment of chaos itself, appeared before the tartarians and proposed an offer. In helping him spread chaos throughout the lands of Equestria and beyond, he offered them a chance to invade the surface, a chance which the tartarians instantly accepted. And on the day which chocolate milk rained from the skies, the tartarians unleashed their forces against Equestria.

In a few mere weeks, almost all of Equestria was in ruin. Its cities destroyed, its once vibrant landscapes reduced to ashes, and many of its pony inhabitants now dead or imprisoned. And despite their best efforts to combat the near endless hordes of the tartarians, the co-rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, feared their defeat was inevitable.

Yet in what was likely to be their final hours, they were visited not by some hero born out of prophecy, but by Discord, seeking a truce.

Yes, that's right, the spirit of chaos wanted nothing more than to help the ponies, a rather sudden and unbelievable turnabout that was birthed from believable reasons. For despite wanting to spread chaos wherever he went, Discord was positively shocked when he discovered his form of chaos and that of the tartarians was two completely different things. Horrified by the absolute evil of the tartarians, he begged them to stop, to which their outright refusal and eventual betrayal lead him to instead seek the aid of the princesses.

Though they were initially enraged by the draconequus's absolute foolishness, a foolishness which had promptly called for a immediate ragdolling of his body against every surface imaginable, along with several magic rays to the face, the sisters eventually accepted his help and with their combined might, the forces of Equestria once again pitted battle with the forces of the tartarians.

For three bloody years, a great war was waged between the ponies and the tartarians' hordes. To the ponies and their princesses, their foes went by many names, such as monsters, tartarus-spawns, and most commonly, demons. These abominations of fire and flesh constantly fought the ponies wherever they could. And whether it was due to luck or a misstep by the tartarians, many other races like the griffons and even the dragons allied themselves with the equestrians in hopes of putting an end to the tartarians once and for all. And did they. In the last days of the war, the equestrians and their allies had managed to push back the tide of the tartarians all the way to the gates of Tartarus itself. With their combined might, power, and magic, the forces of Equestria wiped out the tartarians at their source, ending the war and bringing peace to Equestria.

But with the war at an end and the allies of the ponies having returned to their respective lands, the princesses now faced many more pressing issues.

Despite his help in the war, the ponies still demanded Discord pay for unleashing the tartarians upon Equestria. But rather than sentence him to death as many of the ponies demanded, the princesses (mostly Princess Celestia) decided to instead forever encase him in stone, a punishment which was eventually accepted by the masses.

Following Discord's imprisonment, the princesses then set about to rebuilding Equestria, offering shelter and comfort to those who suffered the worst before and during the war. Cities were rebuilt and countless laws and reforms were also passed by Princess Celestia in the following years to ensure that peace and order would forever remain and that all her little ponies would know peace for generations to come. But with such a peace in mind, Princess Celestia also had to commit to less-appropriate means of insurance.

By her decree, all written works relating to the war or to the Tartarians was forcibly confiscated by the royal guard and was either locked away or simply destroyed. Talking about the war or of the demons was also heavily discouraged and in some cases resulted in punishment or imprisonment.

But despite all this censorship, Princess Celestia knew it would help her ponies in the long run, and in the grandness of it all, it did. For besides the rarest whispers, few hidden journals or diaries, and just the faintest of lunacies regarding the identity of secret underground cults who committed to sacrifices, dark magics, and the worshiping of long dead demons, Little was known and even lesser was remembered as the years became decades and those decades became a few centuries, all the while a great peace remained ever unchallenged throughout the lands.

Until Nightmare Moon that is

Yes, it seemed quite clear that such a dark chapter in the history books of the world such as this would forever remain ripped from its binding, lost in time and given only the faintest of life in legends. Yet, it should also be noted from the words of the wise, that when one story may end, another story may also begin.

“Good morning listeners! This is Tommy Rocky of Rock Radio coming at you with the tunes to start your day off right. And what a day it is today folks. Today's date is the fourteenth of July, twenty thirty-five and the weather’s looking mighty grand today with blues skies expected all through next we-”

The DJ was suddenly cut off as a hand came down on top of the digital clock he had been broadcasting from with a click, followed by a low groan. The hand receded and was set to massaging the face of its owner, who begrudgingly began to wake from his disturbed slumber.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccck,” the man groaned tiredly, a hand still over his face. For a few moments the individual lay in his bed, eyes still firmly closed and face-massaging hand now draped over his blanket-covered stomach, contemplating whether he should remain confined to its warm and heavenly comforts for another hour...or just get the hell out. Hmm, that was a tough one indeed. So tough, that it seemed that if the forces of fate did not soon intervene, this poor soul would continue to be condemned to rotting in bliss and laziness, doomed to lay comfortably in his bed for all eternity. Luckily for his health and sanity, which would have surely melted to nothingness as his body succumbed to the clutches of the mattress, fate had saved him the only way it could, with righteous intervention.

*fwup*

That “righteous intervention” of fate just so happened to be the man’s pet lizard, which had taken it upon itself the task of liberating its master the only way it knew how, by jumping from the nearby nightstand and onto his face.

*thwup*

“Huuh?” broken from the mental confines of decision-making by a surprise attack on his face, the man cracked an eye open and was met with the almost paper-thin slit of a black and red reptilian eye staring back. Now while such a sight would have sent just about anyone else five feet into the air, such an occurrence was practically routine for the man as his only response was a slight raise of the brow.

For a good thirty or so seconds, the man simply continued his one-eyed staring contest with the reptile, knowing full well that the damn things don’t have eyelids and could probably stare down death itself and still win. Finally the man sighed, closing his eye in tired concession to his pet’s victory.

To lose against a lizard that still hisses at its own reflection, a sad day for mankind indeed, the man thought.

Yet as the man silently shamed himself, he felt something thin and wet wipe against his eyelid, a feeling the man instantly identified as being licked by his lizard. That gloating bastard. With ease, the man plucked his pet by the softer hide of its neck between thumb and index finger and raised him slightly skyward, halting any further tongue-play by the lizard. Now fully awake, the man finally opened both his eyes and got a decent look at his attacker. With what light the sun managed to coat the bedroom, despite the vain attempt of the curtains to actually block said sunlight, the man was able to get a good look at the little hellspawn that dangled in his grasp.

“And good morning to you too Diablo,” the man deadpanned, trying and failing to suppress a yawn from escaping him. “You just love to cause me hell every chance you get, huh?”

The aptly named Diablo blepped at him, which could have either been a fairhearted reply, a sly remark or an insult to his mother. He would never know.

Diablo was a strange creature afterall, though he was an armadillo lizard on paper, he was certainly not like the rest. His spiked skin was almost a jet black, a far cry from the normal tones of brown others came in, his red eyes with black slitted pupils a complete opposite to the orbed ones that his fellow reptilians sported, and with the addition of two spikey scales that were situated above and behind his eyes and to which curved upwards just enough to be mistaken for horns seemed to complete the whole "hellspawn" look that inspired the man to name his pet reptile such.

With yet another sigh, the man placed his cold-blooded companion onto the nearby nightstand before throwing blankets off himself and setting feet to the carpeted floor below. With a grunt, he was up and moving to his walk-in closet where he stood deciding which shirt amongst the literally dozen or so, exactly the same, white dress shirts he should grab. After a solid minute of hmmmm-ing, the man shrugged and after grabbing one randomly, he then turned to the other side of the closet and repeated his earlier dilemma, this time with the shirts now having been replaced with a row of the exact same pair of black dress pants times a dozen. After that whole ordeal was dealt with, the man, now well dressed, made his way to the bathroom but stopped when he was met with a mighty obstacle. His lizard, standing in between him and his destination.

Looking down at the little guy, he tried to slowly step over him when a tiny hiss of absolute death halted his advance. When the man tried to instead go around the teacup-sized demon denying him safe passage, the same verbal warning was reissued and the man, slightly exasperated, sighed.

“Do we really need to do this EVERY time I go to the bathroom?” the man asked, to which his lizard kindly responded with another hiss, thus confirming the man’s suspicions.

Sighing, the man knelt and extended an arm out to which the little lizard scrambled up with great speed. Once the reptile was as comfortable as a lizard his size could be riding on the shoulder of its human owner, the man stood and walked into the bathroom, switching on the light in order to properly see himself.

A man in his late thirties, dark brown eyes and warm black hair stared back at him as he began getting ready for the day while his lizard dealt with business of it’s own. With a hiss reserved for only his most hated enemy, his own reflection, the reptile began throwing his usual threats and other verbal lashes at his mirrored self while his owner went off to use the toilet, having earlier placed the livid creature on the sink counter before it got the idea to launch a preemptive strike from his shoulder and probably hurt itself.

Coming out thirty minutes later, the man was met with the sight of his lizard slumped beside the edge of the sink, tongue lolled out of its mouth and little chest rising and falling. An adorable sight that the man couldn’t help but chuckle at.

“Another stalemate again, eh?” the man joked, picking up the little spikey ball of defeat that his lizard would turn into when things didn’t go his way. With tail in mouth, the lizard seemed to squeak with just the slightest hint of pissed off, eliciting another chuckle from the man as he carried off his pet.

“Heh, don’t worry Diablo. Good old Richard’s got your back.”

With lizard in hand, Richard exited the bedroom and entered the main area of his high rise apartment, scratching himself with his free hand as he yawned all the while.

Looking first at the kitchen area and all its modern appliances to the living room across from it, separated by the long L-shaped couch that faced towards the entire wall of glass window which bathed the room in morning rays and the giant wall mounted flat screen that seemed to beckon him to it. Tempting, but first things first.

Strolling into the kitchen, Richard plopped his little lizard onto the counter before opening his fridge and retrieving the items that would start his morning right, a can of soda and some leftover Chinese takeout still in its little white box from the night prior. Hell yeah.

A few minutes later and Richard was now sprawled comfortably on the couch with steaming food in hand and soda nearby. Grabbing the remote, he flipped on the TV and after a few moments of channel surfing, Richard was soon eating away while the woman from the news filled him in on the latest topics.

“...and the puppy was later awarded a medal for his bravery by the chief of police himself.” The anchor finished. “In other news, tensions continue to steadily rise between the United States and the UCCP in what many government officials are dubbing the ‘Second Cold War,’ isn’t that right Ron?” The woman turned to her partner and he nodded.

“That’s right Lorran,” he said, turning to the camera. “And things have only become more heated ever since the last round of peace talks between President Samuel John and President Ivan Ivanovitch Ivanovsky ended in shambles after President John had made a rather crude joke regarding sexual intercourse between President Ivan’s full name and a quote unquote "Generic Russian name generator." He and his fellow newscaster then proceeded to chuckle a moment before the two quickly stopped and the male anchor continued his spiel. “Ahem, in fact, I do believe we actually have footage of that whole incident, can we play some of that back?”

The scene of the calm and semi-professional newscasters was suddenly replaced with one of pure chaos before Richard’s eyes. What looked to be a large domed room was filled with a cacophony of noise which seemed to be focused mainly in the very center where two suited men were being held back at opposites sides by groups of similarly dressed men, who were all adding to the growing noise with their incoherent shouting. As the camera covering the whole thing zoomed in specifically on the two men in the center, Richard could only look on and listen in utter bemusement as a very heavily accented man’s voice was picked up through his TV’s speakers.

“Ublyudok, suka, how dare you make fun of name! My mother gave me name, and you dare mock it?!?!” the very pissed off man spat. No seriously, he was practically foaming at the mouth as his five guards physically struggled to hold the bald, red-faced, raging Russian man back. All the while the other man stood calmly, sleeking back his blonde head of hair (which was definitely not a wig) and grinning ear to ear as if he had told the best joke ever. His guards were also not so much holding him back as they were standing defensively between him and the man who strangely kept trying to reach for something in his suit but was suddenly stopped when he was tackled to the floor by about another twenty guards, including the five that had vainly tried to keep him in check by themselves.

It was at that moment that the video ended and was replaced by the newscasters, who had apparently been laughing at something. The male newscaster coughed in his hand and then said “Well following the failure for peaceful conclusions at that session a week ago, the White House has remained quiet and no further comments have been made by President John or President Ivan. And now onto the weather, James how are we-” the man was cut off as Richard switched the TV off and sighed.

“...Well, that was something. What did you think of all that, Diablo?” Richard asked his lizard compadre who had at some point climbed up on his shoulder. The lizard in question hissed and Richard chuckled. “Yeah, I could go for some video games after all that, good thinking.” With a scritch to the chin that earned him a happy squeak from his happy little lizard, Richard switched on his PS6 and went to the cabinet below the TV to recover a game from his collection. After having found one of his personal favorites, he let the ‘Fallout New Vegas: Remade and Remastered’ disc slide into the console and grabbed his controller.

Ahh, now this game was a real classic. Though it was not the original that Richard had played when he was little, it was just as good, if not better than the original. Better graphics, a plethora of DLC's and a bunch of other stuff that really did the original a true service. And all that was accomplished with the help of fellow Fallout fans and an game engine of another Fallout, though Richard still wondered if it was from Fallout 4, 5, or that horrid Fallout 76: Remastered that always gave the man shivers just from thinking about it.

“Man, those were some scary few years. Anyways Diablo, lets go kill some stuff.” Richard smirked and it seemed his little lizard was just as enthusiastic to the idea, happily hopping on his shoulder as he started the game up and loaded his last save.

After a few moments, his character was loaded in and off Richard went. Minutes melded into hours as Richard traveled the digital wastes, slaying creatures and bandits alike before he finally found himself standing before the entrance of the infamous Death Wind Cavern. With controller firmly grasped, Richard looked over to his lizard and in that moment, whether it was his mind playing tricks on him or whatever was thrown into that chow mein, he swore he saw Diablo nod to him, looking just as ready as if he were going into that cave himself. With his mind finally made up, Richard nodded, but just as he entered the cavern with guns and grenades at the ready, a sudden noise from outside caught his ears.

From beyond his balcony, he heard a low wail which quickly rose in volume before dying and starting up again. Pausing, then quicksaving his game, Richard stood up from his couch and slowly walked over to his windows while the siren, now joined by several others, continued their haunting wail even louder as he slid his glass window open and stepped out onto his balcony. There he stood for a few moments confused as to why the sirens were suddenly blaring, that is until he finally took stock of his surroundings.

Across from him, he could see people coming out of their highrises and standing on their own balconies or pressed against the glass of their office buildings. Thirty stories below him, he could see people crowd the sidewalks and streets, some even standing on car roofs as the sirens continued. To Richard, Diablo and the thousands of people out and about, the question of why the alarms were going off were at the forefront of their minds.

But the reason, the horrifying reason which Richard took only a second to consider, had hit him like a tiny lizard to the face...times a hundred. It was at that moment that the screaming soon started.

Below him, Richard watched as people spilled out of cars and buildings alike, running, sprinting to wherever there was a potential shelter. Cars were abandoned, people were pushed and all Richard did was just watch. Then he heard his lizard squee something, and as he turned to look at him he noticed the little guy had his eyes on something skyward, and when Richard slowly looked up, he could only stare. At first he thought it was a plane, then he noticed the finer details. Like how It had no wings. No windows. Oh, and it was falling...rocketing...towards him. You know, the finer details.

For an entire minute, Richard stood motionless.

For sixty whole seconds, Richard watched the nuclear missile barrel towards his apartment, not even registering anything else. Nope, forget about the sirens, forget the chaos in the streets, and those seven other rockets that just broke from the clouds, fuck them too. For in that single minute, Richard was only fixated on that rocket and that rocket alone.

Until the minute passed and Richard sprung into action. Turning around, he power walked back into his apartment, sliding the window closed on his way in. Next, he went over to his kitchen and after a brief search, retrieved an expensive looking bottle of hooch, popped it open and poured it contents into a glass cup, fresh ice cubes clinking together within. Putting the bottle away, he grabbed his drink and proceeded over to the couch where once seated, proceeded to slowly sip the burning alcohol away. He then paused and looked over to his faithful companion, who still remained atop his shoulder. He saw the look in his eyes, the fear within those red spheres as they seemed to focus on him, begging almost for guidance or some sort of reassurance. What the little lizard got from its human was a smile, a lying smile but a smile nonetheless, and that was all that the lizard needed.

“What’s wrong Diablo? Did you really think a little nuclear armageddon would stop me from enjoying my Saturday?” Richard joked, giving his little friend a little pat on the head before grabbing his drink, downing the rest of it, then casually throwing the glass across the room where it shattered against the distant wall.

Sighing, Richard grabbed his controller and once he was finally comfortable enough, (knowing that it may very well be the last time he would ever be comfortable again.) unpaused the game and got right to the fighting.

Guns were fired until they broke, grenades were thrown until Richard’s character was left empty-handed, and various combinations of drugs were munched or jabbed into his character more times than Richard could care for, all the while songs like ‘Big Iron’ blared from his pipboy as loud as the in-game volume could allow, almost cancelling out the wailing of the sirens outside. Almost. But nevertheless, Richard was having a blast, probably more fun than anyone else in the world could be having at that moment too, you know, on account of it being literally in the process of exploding.

He glanced at his pet lizard and noted that he too was also enjoying the game, hissing when a deathclaw appeared and squeeing when its head was suddenly and explodingly separated from the rest of its body. Yes sirree, nothing short of an atomic holocaust could ruin this man’s, and his lizard’s, final moments of fun. That is until the game froze at the exact moment a deathclaw had just grabbed his character, had just roared in his face, had raised him above itself, and was just about to tear into his character a new asshole with its deadly (deathly?) claws still locked in mid-asshole-ripping motion.

It was at that moment that Richard wanted to say something along the lines of “Are you actually [insert unnecessarily long string of cursing and creative expletives here],” but was suddenly and somewhat rudely interrupted by a blinding light, followed by a deafening explosion seconds later.

Author's Note

Well golly gee folks. Demons, deathclaws, and pet lizards, ain't that one way to start off a story. Hope you mates enjoyed the prologue, and I hope some of you will stick around to see wherever I plan on taking this story. And while i'm open to constructive criticism, a little bit of mercy is appreciated, this is my first ever story afterall. Anyways, thanks for giving my story a read. Stay casual folks.