Second Chance at Life

I do not own Dark Souls or the “My Little Pony” Franchise I do own my OC

Ch.2 New Lands

Where in the hells am I?

The man thought as he observed his surroundings. The forest was thick, despite the full moon out, very little made it through the canopy. He could only see a few feet into the dark woods. What he did see, was a partially overgrown dirt path a few feet ahead. He looked behind him to the gap he jumped and frowned.

I really don’t want to have to jump this bloody thing every time I want to get back here. Perhaps I can find something to use as a makeshift bridge.

With a goal in mind, he brought out his skull lantern and started on the path. As time passed, the man noticed distinct differences in the woods as he walked along the path. It seemed to be less hostile than ones he had traveled through. Of course there were still dangers amongst the trees, that much was certain, yet there was a measure of tranquility that matched the perils. One such peril seemed to have been following him for the last half hour or so. He could feel himself being watched, catching the occasional pair of glowing eyes in his peripheral vision. It was when he came to a fork in the road did his stalker show himself. The man raised his lantern to see the creature. It looked to be a large wolf with the exception of glowing eyes and lack of fur. The wolf growled at him, teeth bared.

This is it? Your whats been following me? I admit, I am a little disappointed.

Just as he reached for his weapon he, heard bushes rustling behind him.

Ah, I remember how it goes now. Where there's one…

He looked behind him as four more of those wolves hopped from the foliage and snarled at him, eyes glowing in the shadows.

More are sure to follow.

The creatures circled the human. He drew his sword from his side and readied himself for the imminent fight. It was one of the creatures behind him that struck first. The wolf leaped at his unguarded back, trying to end the fight quickly, but the man has learned such strategies. He feinted to the left and spun to bring down his lantern on the creatures head. To his surprise, instead of the creature being stunned, it burst into flame. It howled in pain and fled into the forest while he and the other wolves watched bewildered at what just happened. The man looked down at the smoldering embers left from his attack and saw shards of the creature he struck on the ground. He knelt down and picked it up.

Is this…some kind of bark? These creatures are made of wood? Surely they can’t be that easy to defeat can they?

Curious, he dropped the lantern and ignited a small flame in his hand. Stretching it forth to the nearest wolf he snapped his fingers and a large plume of fire engulfed it. Like its pack mate, it too caught fire and ran away in a panic.

Apparently so.

He looked at another wolf and snapped his fingers again, but the wolf jumped away before it could get hit.

Smart. They are at least somewhat intelligent. Interesting.

Realizing that their prey is too powerful for them, the last three wolves retreated back into the dark forest, leaving the man standing alone. Smirking beneath his mask, he sheathed his sword and retrieved his lantern. Looking again at the splitting paths before him, he shrugged and pulled out an engraved gold coin and flipped it into the air. Seeing the result, he headed on the left path.

Hours later, the man noticed the trees thinning out and wide open plains before him. The moonlight bathed the hills in a silvery sheen rendering his lantern unneeded. Climbing a nearby hill he pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed what he could see. There seemed to be a settlement nearby and a larger one further away.

While it’s not exactly ideal to trespass in unknown lands in the middle of the night, I find that I have little choice if I am to get supplies to build that damn bridge. Ah, well.

As he was putting away the binoculars he heard a familiar growl from behind him. He quickly twisted around and drew his sword in a fluid motion and faced his attacker.

Only he saw no one.

He glanced around in confusion before lowering his sword. He heard it again but louder and deeper, sounding like it was right on top of him. Moving on instinct he rolled forward and swung his sword behind him simultaneously. He quickly got to his feet to face his enemy, but again, no one was there.

Where is it?! Don’t tell me those beasts are back and they can turn invisible!

Again, he scanned the area around him and saw only open fields covered in moonlight. Frustrated, he closed his eyes and strained his hearing, listening for that sound again. Moments passed before he heard it again, this time it sounded like it was close in front of him, almost like it was…

Wait… is that my… stomach? That sound, it means that I am… hungry? How is this possible? Of all the thousands of years, this is the first time I have heard it. Or, perhaps it has sounded before and I merely was not paying attention?

Shaking his head in embarrassment he sheathed his sword again and sighed.

No matter. Right now, First things first. I will figure out what’s going on later.

The man traveled carefully, constantly keeping aware of his surroundings, looking for threats that might hide in the shadows of the clouds or beneath the earth. A nervous habit, but one he learned to embrace since it saved his life more than once. The moon was beginning to descend by the time he reached the wooden fence of the settlement. Judging by the buildings he assumed it to be a farm of some kind though he saw no evidence of livestock. Hopping the fence he snuck as quietly as he could to the barn and opened the door. Glancing behind him to make sure he had not been seen, he entered and carefully closed the door behind him.

While it was dark inside, a few slivers of light passed through the cracks in the wooden walls, illuminating enough to see some shapes. Stacked barrels and full baskets took up most of the barn, but he saw a small alcove of scattered materials. Hoping he could find what he needs there, he searched and found a dozen sturdy boards and a few bundles of thick rope. Smiling, he grabbed a small black satchel from his side and opened it. Bringing the first of the boards to it, black mist rose from the satchel and touched the board, turning it into black mist and then entered the satchel. He did this with everything else and reattached the small bag.

As he turned to leave his foot struck a basket, spilling its contents into the ground. Mentally cursing he rushed to pile everything back into it until he saw what he was grabbing. One of the objects rolled into a section of moonlight and he saw that it was a kind of fruit. He grabbed it and looked at it closely. Its skin was smooth and firm. It was deep red and as nearly as large as his hand. As he stared at it, his stomach lightly growled and he felt something wet leaking from his mouth. Without thinking he grabbed three baskets and opened his bag again. Black mist rose, and as if reading his mind, floated over to the baskets and slowly absorbed the fruit. When it was done, he tossed the empty baskets behind him and picked up his bag.

Unknown to him though, one of the baskets he threw struck a precariously perched barrel on the second level of the barn. Said barrel fell onto a large stack of other barrels causing them to fall and break open, spilling their contents. Golden liquid soaked his boots as he turned around to see what he had done, but he only managed a glance. He immediately heard a dog barking like mad, and saw through the cracks in the walls lights turning on in the nearby house. Cursing his luck he reached for a ring in his satchel. Putting it on, his form began to fade and become transparent. He wasn’t completely invisible, but it would have to do. He quickly kicked open the door, and ran outside as he saw three creatures and a dog standing in front of the lit doorway. He stopped, stunned at what he saw.

Horses? The beings in the house, the owners of the farm were…Horses?

…………………

Applejack had a long day. First off, she'd gotten up late and nearly missed breakfast. Then as she was bringing her fully loaded cart into town, one of the wheels broke! And to top it all off, some mice got into the barn and chewed through five baskets, meaning they would need to be repaired. Now she was looking forward to a nice relaxing night’s sleep after the hearty dinner granny made. Lying in bed she thought back to the day she had, more specifically, to that one strange thing that happened.

That thing of fire over at Everfree… ah do hope it’s nothin’ to worry about.

Turning over in bed to get comfortable she drifted off to sleep. She slept for hours, caught in a pleasant dream. She was just beating the hay out of the flim flam brothers and watching as their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 getting ready to explode when-

SMASH!!!

She's jolted out of her dream by a loud sound. Getting up from bed she hears Winona scratching at the door and barking. She rushed to the stairs and met both Big Mac and Appleboom, both having heard the noise and coming to see what was going on. Applejack and Big Mac made it past the door just in time to see the barn door burst open and something come out. They were too stunned to notice Applebloom had squeezed past them and saw what had them stupefied. Whatever it was, it was tall, maybe taller that Big Mac. It was standing on two legs, and what stood out the most was the fact they saw right through it!

“W-What in tarnation?!” was all Applejack could say as Winona growled and stepped forward.

The creature took a step back before turning tail and running towards the forest, Winona in pursuit. She was gaining ground quickly, but before she could get close enough to snap at it, the creature leaped over the fence and continued running, not slowed down by the obstacle at all. Winona merely barked at the retreating figure until it disappeared into the forest.

“Big Mac… d-did ya see what ah saw?”

“Eeyup.”

And here’s the second chapter. I know, it’s essentially a wall of text but I felt it necessary not to rush the introduction between the ponies, and to know a little bit of the personality of the newcomer. Next chapter should be less confusing if my referring to him constantly without a name bothers you. I feel that it would go with the story that you find out his name when the ponies do. As for chapter number three, I have an idea on how it’s going to go, so it should be up sooner than this one. As before, please let me know what you think!

P.S. Sorry Applejack lovers if I got her accent wrong. Never really wrote in a southern drawl before.