Centaur Warrior

Sweetie Belle slowly started to awake from her state of unconsciousness, a slight migraine pulsing through her head as she brings a hand to her forehead, and trying to sooth the pain away. As she rubs her forehead, the filly noticed that she wasn’t lying on the grassy forest floor like she remembered, instead, the little unicorn noticed that she was lying on something softer. Managing to open her eyes, Sweetie Belle looked around her surroundings, and found she was indeed not in the Everfree, but in a room resting on a bed. turning her head to the sides the filly found her friends also resting on the bed, although neither Scootaloo nor Apple Bloom were awake. As both were still unconscious.

Sitting up from her spot between her friends, the unicorn looked around and found that the room she was in was fairly large, and was remotely an empty chamber of some kind. The only form of furbishing in the chamber aside from the make-shift bed, there was also a large wooden table on the far end of the room, while on the left wall was what appears to be a large wooden tub, and finally in the right corner was what looks to be some kind of, kitchen. In the kitchen corner there were cabinets that were stocked with various vegetables, ranging from mushrooms, roots, something that looked like potatoes, carrots, and some other vegetables one would normally find on a farm. Aside from the shelves and rack for holding the vegetables, there was also a decent size firepit with a large black kettle, and a little table comprised of two chopped logs and a long wide plank.

“Where…are we?” the filly whispered to herself as she recoils in pain as her headache grows. “My head. It feels like I got hit by a cart.”

“Might as well be after getting hit by such a large chunk of wood.”

Sweetie Belle looked around the room for the source of the voice. And when she looked to the other end of the room the filly saw the same creature that came to hers and her friends rescue, entering the chamber from an entrance that she seemed to have overlooked. The creature was trotting over to the large pot, with an arm full of what looks like herbs and other plants.

“I’d advise you to take it easy. You did after all get clonked on the head pretty bad.” The creature said as he gave the filly a concerning look.

“Who are you? And what are you?” Sweetie asked as she watched the creature lay down and place the plants he was carrying on the small table, and starts to sort them, while occasionally depositing one plant into the pot.

“In order. My name is Sagittarius, and as to what I am, I’m called a centaur.” The creature, Sagittarius he calls himself, said in a perfectly calm tone as he finishes sorting the plants, and starts stirring the pot.

“By the by, I’m sorry that you and your friends got injured.”

Sagittarius said as he reaches for a small wooden bowl, and dips it into the pot. As for Sweetie Belle she seemed a bit confused as to what the centaur meant, but that’s when the filly remembered being hit in the head by the remains of the timberwolf’s body, which was caused by Sagittarius punching it to splinters. The filly then saw the centaur get up from his spot on the ground, and trotted over to the bed, bowl in hand. Reaching the bed Sagittarius offered the small bowl to Sweetie Belle, who looked at the bowl suspiciously, especially at the dark green liquid that filled it, but she accepted it and brought it to her mouth and drank it. Though the moment it touched her tongue the filly nearly choked on it, as it tasted both bitter and sour, but she managed to swallow the small amount of liquid. But once she swallowed it all, Sweetie Belle started gagging and coughing as she dropped the bowl onto the blanket.

“YUCK! It taste like pickles and lime juice, mixed with tons of salt! I never tasted anything so bitter, what was that?” the filly coughed as her face cringed as the lingering taste mulled over her tongue.

“Just a remedy that helps with physical pain.” Sagittarius said as he took the bowl, and trotted over to the shelves of food, and starts picking out some items. “I know it taste disgusting, but trust me. Give it an hour and you’ll feel better.”

“If you say so.” Sweetie Belle said as she laid back down on the bed. “By the way Sagittarius, where are we?”

“In truth, under a bunch of ruins in the forest.” Sagittarius said as he approached the pot, and pour it’s remaining contents into two other small bowls.

“Now you should really get some more rest, it’ll help the elixir to sooth the pain.” The centaur said to the filly, who decided to heed the centaurs suggestion, and bundled up back under the sheet so that she could fall asleep more comfortably.

~~Ponyville~~

It’s roughly been an hour since Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have gone into the Everfree Forest to search for their missing ball, and both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were already feeling a little, worried for the three other fillies. Sure they weren’t exactly friends, if anything they were enemies, mostly social status wise but nonetheless, both foals were getting a little worried about the trio. That sense of worry only grew when they heard distant screaming, and the howls of monsters coming from the forest. after hearing those sounds and noises, both fillies ran back in town in a panic, and looked for an adult to go and see if the other three fillies were alright. That’s when they bumped into Applejack and her circle of friends, and when the adults asked the two what was wrong…

“THEY WENT WHERE!” both Applejack and Rarity shouted at the top of their lungs, scaring the two already scared fillies.

“W-we didn’t think they actually do it.” Diamond said as she nervously clutches the hem of her frilly skirt.

“But when they went in, we waited for them to see if they, chicken out, but they never came out.” Silver Spoon said as she stayed close to her friend.

“That’s when we heard screaming and howling. We got scared and ran off to look for somepony to help.”

“We’ll I’m glad you two did the right thing, but you should’ve tried to stop them from going into the forest, its off limits for a reason.” Rarity said as she gave both fillies a gentle pat on the head.

“Now, why don’t you two head home. we’ll take it from here.”

The fillies nodded before trotting off to their respective homes, while Rarity and her five friends rushed to the edge of town and made a mad dash into the forest. as they entered the Everfree, the six mares started to look around for any clues as to where the troublesome trio might have gone, and while the majority of the group was searching the ground, foliage, Fluttershy was flying around and asking any animal if they’ve seen anything. Unfortunately, the animals haven’t seen the three fillies. Continuing on with their search, the group headed a bit deeper into the forest, after finding some light hoof imprints in the grass, but they still couldn’t find any significant clues as to what happened to the three fillies. And as they looked around, Pinkie Pie started to search around a large hedge, and found something.

“Girls!” Pinkie Pie said loudly as she came running over to her friends.

“Pinkie what—”

“Look!” the group looked at what Pinkie just presented to the group, the flatten and slightly ripped remains of a red ball. Applejack took the ‘ball’ from her friend, and started to inspect the flatten plaything, finding the initials A.B on it.

“This…this is Apple Bloom’s ball…” the farmer said in a low tone as she clutches the remnants of the ball in her hands.

“Easy Applejack.” Twilight says as she tries to comfort her friend. “For all we know, whatever happened here, doesn’t mean that the girls got hurt or anything. They’re probably just hiding from whatever popped the ball.”

“Yeah. And all we have to do is keep searching for them.” Rainbow said as she flew off in a random direction, the others following behind the blue pegasus, leaving Applejack behind as she kept clutching the ball. But after a few seconds, the farmer shook of the worry that was enveloping her, and followed her friends, while mentally praying that her sister was alright.

~~Elsewhere~~

“YUCK!” both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison after drinking the bowl of medicine that Sagittarius offered to them.

After Sweetie Belle had finally dozed off back to sleep, her friends woke up a few minutes later, and like their unicorn friend they were confused on where they were. As well as reeling from the headaches they were having. And of course, when they saw Sagittarius, they to asked who and what he was, and the centaur calmly answered their questions.

“That stuff taste horrible.” Apple Bloom groaned as she mouth tinged with an odd, tingly sensation.

“As they always say, ‘Good medicine often tastes bitter’.” The centaur commented as he trots to the bed, with a small wooden bowl, and cloth bandages in hand.

“Show me those hands of yours.”

Apple Bloom did as she was told when Sagittarius sat down on her side of the bed, and when she did so both she and Scootaloo saw the horrible gashes on her palms. The centaur carefully took one of the fillies hands into his, and started to examine the wounds. After Sagittarius had finished examining the wounds, the centaur then reached over for the bowl that he brought over, where he placed on the mattress in front of him and dipped two of his fingers into, what looks like a pinkish-orange salve. When his fingers had enough salve on them, Sagittarius then very carefully, and gently, started to brush his fingers over Apple Bloom’s palm. This caused the filly to whine and cringe in pain, as she feels the ripped skin being moved about, the raw nerves flaring with pain, as the centaurs fingers brushes over them, and feeling her cuts starting to feel like they were being stung by red hot needles. Scootaloo could only sit there an watch, as her friend twitches in pain, and quietly whimpers as Sagittarius continues his work.

“I know it hurts, by try and bear with it. this will help the skin repair itself, while also disinfecting the gash. So just hang on in there, kay?” The centaur says as he finishes rubbing the salve over the torn flesh and skin.

“Okay.” The filly said as she sniffled back some tears that were starting to swell up.

Sagittarius then wrapped the clean cloth he brought over around the wound, not to tightly or to loose, before tying them off. the centaur then quickly started to work on Apple Bloom’s other hand, where the filly again cringed and whined as she felt the same sensations course from her hand, and up her arm then to the rest of her body. After a minute had gone by, Sagittarius was done treating Apple Bloom’s other hand, finishing by tying another bandage over it. once he finished the centaur instructed the filly to not use, or even move her hands to much, as even flexing her fingers would cause more pain, to which the filly did wholeheartedly as she just laid them palm up on the blanket. That’s when the fillies stomach gave tiny little grumbles, but in the rather quite room, the grumbling was louder than they normally would be.

“Sounds like you two are hungry.”

“Yeah. We didn’t get a chance to have lunch yet.” Scootaloo said as she rubbed the back of her head, wincing as a sharp pain pulsed. “OW! My head.”

“You must’ve got knocked there when that wooden wolf pinned you to the ground.” the centaur said as he trotted to the large pot near the shelves of vegetables, stirring it’s contents with a wooden ladle. “The elixir should make the pain go away, so don’t touch it for the time being.”

“Kay.” The pegasus said as she removed her hand from the back of her head.

The two fillies then watched as Sagittarius continued to stir his pot, steaming wafting from it as tiny pieces of grounded up herbs were dropped into it. as whatever it was that the centaur was making kept on stewing, the fillies noses were then filled with the smell of cooked potatoes, carrots, and some other vegetables and spices. It caused the pair to hum in delight, and already forget about the still lingering sour, and bitter taste from the elixir they drank earlier. Just then the two fillies noticed that Sweetie Belle was starting to wake up, yawning as she sits up and stretches her back out. And before she said anything, the fillies nose was filled with the smell of cooked food.

“Mmmmm. That smells good.”

“Wild vegetables stew, simple, yet easy to make.” Sagittarius said as he looked over to the trio. “Feeling any better?”

“A little, my head isn’t aching anymore.”

“Glad to hear that.” The centaur said as got up, and trotted over to ‘kitchen’ counter, and pulled out four small wooden bowls.

Well, they looked like more crudely made ones, than the ones Sagittarius used to treat the fillies with. But that’s when the foals watched in amazement in as Sagittarius just, created a transparent blue knife, and started to chisel at the bowls, one by one. Making them more smoother looking. After he had finished chiseling, and smoothing down the bowls, the centaur then brought the bowls to the pot and filled each one with the stew, before offering each one to each filly.

“Here. You three should eat something.”

“Thank you.” the trio said in unison as they all took a sip of the stew, and again in unison they all said. “SO GOOD!”

“This is delicious, the broth is good, and the potatoes and carrots, they’re so tasty.” Scootaloo said as she gulped her bowl of stew down.

“Glad you like it.” Sagittarius said before taking a sip from his own bowl. “Once you three have had your fill, and recovered enough, I’ll escort you out of these.”

“Thank you Mr. Sagittarius.” Sweetie Belle said as she finishes her bowl of soup.

“Just call me Sagittarius, no need for honorifics.”

“Hono-what?” Apple Bloom asked confusedly.

“It’s just another way of not saying ‘Sir’ or ‘Mr.” to someone.” Sagittarius explained as he took the bowls from the fillies. “Seconds?”

“Yes please!” the trio said altogether before the centaur offers them another bowl of stew, which they all enjoyed thoroughly.

The group continued to eat their fill of Sagittarius stew, while the fillies started to ask various questions, one of which was how Sagittarius made that transparent knife. After the fillies had most of their questions asked, each having four bowls of stew, and were starting to feel better, Sagittarius lead the three fillies up the steps from the chamber to the upper section of the ruins. Reaching the main floor of the ruins, the centaur started to lead the fillies outside to escort them home, but when the fillies left the ruins and turned to see them they all nearly fell back in surprise at what they saw.

“This is…the ruins of the royal sisters!” Sweetie Belle muttered as she kept looking at the ruins.

“Come on girls, its already high noon. We need to get a move on if you want to get home, before it gets to dangerous out here.”

The fillies snapped out of their state of wonder, and followed after Sagittarius as he cross a rope bridge, and heading back into the dark looming forest. When the group entered the forest the fillies stuck close to Sagittarius, and were constantly checking their surroundings for even the smallest sign of movement, even their ears were swerving around to catch even the tinies sound.

As for the centaur, his eyes were also scanning his surrounding, but unlike the fillies the centaur was far more calm and composed. But as they trotted through the woods, the three fillies noticed just how much, taller, that Sagittarius was. Compared to them, they fillies were barely as tall as one of his legs, and if they had to guess, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom would think that their sisters head only reach the centaurs ‘waist’ line. But as the group had been walking for about ten minutes, Sagittarius stopped in stride and appeared to be looking around for something.

“Sagittarius, what’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked up to centaur.

“…there’s a fight going on. And it’s close by.”

“How do you know that?” Scootaloo asked as she tried to listen for this supposed fight. “I don’t hear anything.”

“When you’ve trained your hearing, you can—” Sagittarius paused in mid explanation, as he looked into the distance, and his face showed signs of worry.

“Quick, hop on and hold on tight!” the fillies looked at each other with confusion evident on their faces, but they did as they were told and climbed onto the centaurs back when he knelt down, and then like a bolt of lighting Sagittarius galloped off into the woods.

~~~~~

“Pinkie watch out!” Twilight shouted as she used her magic to pull her pink friend away from the gapping jaws of the massive cragadile!

During the search for the three missing fillies, the group headed a bit deeper into the woods, following a lead from a, squirrel of all things. When the group were following the directions the squirrel gave them, via translation by Fluttershy, the group came upon the edge of a large pond, where the squirrely little rodent said he saw the fillies they were looking for supposedly went to. in the end though, the only thing they found was the giant cragadile that came bursting out of the pond, and was trying to clamping its gaping jaws on the mares for a meal.

“Take this!” Rainbow said as she came crashing down on top of the cragadile’s head, but all that did was cause pain to shoot up the pegasus’s legs and spin, and made the reptile thrashing about trying to snap its jaws around the cyan mare.

“Rainbow stop trying to play hero, and trying to take on things by yourself!” Rarity said as she used her own magic to pull her friend away from the reptile, who nearly managed to rip the pegasus left leg off.

“I was trying to distract it, so all of you could escape.” Rainbow argued as Rarity released her.

“You could’ve done that without throwing yourself into is jaws!”

Applejack shouted as bucked a tree, using her great strength to knock it over, in an attempt to squash the cragadile. But the large reptile just swatted away with its thick tail. As the mares tried to escape from the cragadile, something caught their attention as they were running away. Out of the corner of their eye, something fast and blue was coming towards them, and as it came flying out of the forest the six mares and cragadile saw the object burst into light…before a glowing blue net ensnared the stone reptile.

“What in the world?” Pinkie said before she and the others heard something come galloping out of the tree line, and seeing the most unusual creature any of them has ever seen.

“Looks like I was just in the nick of time. Anyone hurt?” the tall creature asked the six mares, but none of them could really respond, as they were to stunned at what the creature before them looked. However their attention shifted from the creature, to the three fillies riding on his back. they each hopped off the creature, and ran towards their sister figures, and hugged one another.

“You had me so worried when I heard that you, and your friends came into this forest.” Rarity said as she held her sister close.

“I’m sorry.” The filly said.

“Me to.” Apple Bloom said.

“Same. But don’t think your off the hook missy, you knew better than to go into the Everfree.” Applejack scolded as she held her baby sister close to her. but the touching reunion was interrupted when the creature cleared its throat loudly.

“I hate to spoil the mood, but perhaps you should all wait until your out of this forest, before rejoicing in your reunion.”

The group nodded and proceeded to go back the way Twilight and the other came from, with the creature accompanying them for protection. And to make sure nothing else would try and attack them, or if they got lost. While the group left the cragadile struggled to escape the net that was tangling its body, but its efforts stopped when the glowing net vanished, allowing it to growl in irritation that it’s meal got away. Rejoining with the group, they continued to make their way out of the forest, retracing their steps as they did so. And after twenty minutes of trotting through the trees, and managing to avoid of creatures of the forest, the nine ponies and one centaur reached the border of the forest.

“Finally, we’re out.” Fluttershy said as she collapsed to the floor, exhausted from not only the search, but the scare and chase from the cragadile, and the returning trip out of the woods. as the rest of the group rested after jogging through the forest, Twilight looked up to the creature who wasn’t as exhausted as the mares and fillies were.

“Thank you for helping us, and for returning the girls.”

“No problem.” The centaur said to the lavender mare.

“If I may ask sir, who are you?” the other five mares looked over to creature, who gave them all a small smile as he gives a small bow.

“My name is Sagittarius.” The centaur then stood back up as he rested a hand on his waist. “And it’s nice to meet you all.”