Author's Note

Whatup people!

Now, normally I put the author notes at the bottom of the page.
BUT! This chapter, I have to put it at the top because I need to put up a warning.

Mentions of self-harm is pretty obviously implied in this chapter. For those who're actually paying attention can probably already guess, at least a small piece of the premise.

This chapter was actually supposed to come out like two days ago, but I managed to fuck it up in one of the most stupid ways possible. There I was, casually writing the story, until a cousin suddenly knocked on the door. Now, personally, when guests suddenly come in through the door, writing fanfic is one of the things people would like to hide.

So, I saved the chapter and greeted them, blah blah blah, then at some point, I laid down on my bed. Take out my phone to continue writing the story.

My phone was already on the site, so, screw thinking twice, I didn't even think once, and pressed the save chapter button. Successfully erasing 3500 words.

Without further ado!

Thank you for reading!

And see you next time.

Edit: I forgot to name the damn thing at first.

Problems Of Birth

Ugh.

What the fuck?

My head hurts.

Wait.

Shit.

Did it happen again?

With a random burst of energy and a colossal migraine following shortly after, I sat up and forcibly opened my eyes. Only to close it shortly after as I was met with a blinding light.

"Remedy." A dry voice called me out.

"Huh." I half heartedly answered.

"Where do you keep your water?" Celestia asked with a pained expression.

"That bucket. It's not boiled." I gave my warning and laid back down.

My head landed on something soft, but the hangover forced me to ignore it and continue sleeping. Fuck, I went overboard.

Well, that's ten years of sobriety down the drain.

"What time is it?" I asked out loud while covering my eyes.

"Morning?" Celestia answered.

"Wait, you stayed the night?"

"I guess so. Or I'd be in bed, equally in pain." She answered as I heard something burning.

"Please tell me that's the campfire." I spoke out loud and rolled over to my side.

"It is, don't worry." She said in a casual way.

With the smell of smoke filling the air, I peacefully took in the morning breeze and snuggled up further into the softness. Not entirely minding exactly what the softness was, I was fully comfortable with my current sleeping arrangements.

Until I felt something hard, with a wood like texture covering me.

Wait, what?

Realizing something was wrong, I fought against the sun rays and sat up again to look behind me. Before I could say a word, I felt something wet and slimy go over my face.

"Hi." I spoke before wiping off my face.

"Oh yeah, it was here when I woke up." Celestia told me.

"It's a she." I answered and stratched the back of the timberwolf's ears. "Is it time already?" I mumbled as I laid back down.

Seriously, how much did I drink?

I heard a soft whine coming from the wolf. With a sigh, I rose and turned to Celestia.

"Celestia?"

"Yeah?" She answered as she cut up a leaf in the air with magic.

"Do you know how to deliver a baby?" I nervously asked her.

Her face froze as she stared for a few seconds.

"Well. I, have a very distant memory of watching Luna being born." She spoke with an unsure tone.

"How different do you think a timberwolf's biology is from a pony's?" I asked again as I stood up with a groan.

"It's definitely different, wait a sec. She's giving birth?!" She asked with a freaked out expression.

"I think so, I may be wrong though." I replied and held the wolf carefully in my hooves. "Where the fuck is Moon?"

"Uh, right above you." She answered and came running over.

A bit confused at her answer, I looked upwards. There was Moon, hanging off of the branches of the big tree. She had covered herself with her wings, sleeping like a bat. A few dried fruits were hanging off of her hoof, tied to a string.

"Moon!" I yelled.

"Wha! What happened?" She woke up startled and flailed around as she fell down.

Celestia caught her with magic and placed Moon on the ground, the fruits weirdly turning to dust. Though, the current situation allowed me to ignore it.

"Ugh." Moon groaned loudly as she held her head. "Ffffuck. I think I went overboard." She complained as she shut her eyes tight.

"Yeah, no shit, you drank about six shots in one go, as a start." Celestia spoke with an amused tone.

"Fuck you." Moon cussed and stood up, almost falling back down again. "Oh hey, it's one of your timberdogs." She cheerfully spoke.

"Timberwolves, and she's about to give birth." I told her firmly and continued to hold the wolf.

"Oh cool, what's her name." Moon said casually.

"Hmm." I thought a bit as I realized I haven't actually named any of them. "Where were dogs important again?"

"Uh, Neighpal?" Celestia answered.

"Country whose language that I know." I stated and moved the wolf to a more comfortable position.

"Why can't it be in Equestrian?" Moon asked.

"Because, I never had a pet before." I answered and gently put the wolf's head down on the ground.

"Please don't name her in either draconic tongue, or griffonian tongue"

"Why not?" Celestia interrupted.

"I don't want to make gargle sounds whenever I say her name." Moon answered.

"Hey, that's kinda racist." Celestia stated firmly.

"I, kinda remember having a race war." Moon responded drily.

"The Draconic war happened thirteen hundred years ago, and the Griffonian war ended twelve hundred years ago." Celestia spoke like a teacher. "Those were truly dark times"

"Well, I clearly remember it." Moon responded.

"Girls, please." I interrupted their shenanigans.

"Right." Moon spoke.

"Sorry." Celestia apologized.

Starting to become slightly frustrated at not being able to help the wolf in any way, I just sat there, giving her comfort. Though, the thought of giving her a name did come up a few times.

"Could one of you get some water?" I asked out loud.

"Eh, you do it. You have magic." Moon answered lazily.

"Fine." Celestia was not amused.

With the previously boiled pot of water floated over to me, I took a gulp first to quench my thirst, then brought it to the wolf's mouth. She greedily drank it as she laid flat on the ground.

"What about Broncovia? Or Germane?" Moon suddenly suggested.

"Maybe Neighpan?" Celestia spoke up.

I felt a random spark as I heard that one. "Neighpan, that works." I muttered.

"Wait, you know how to speak Neighpanese?" Moon asked with disbelief.

"I traveled there a few times, a very honorable place, is all I can say." I spoke while trying to remember the language. "Seriously, I saw on average, three duels a day about honor"

"Well, Neighpan has always had a history of being all about honor. Sometimes, weighing it more than actually living." Celestia spoke some more knowledge.

"Hahoaye, no that's not right. Hahaoye? Hahaoya!" I finally remembered.

"What?" Moon was confused.

"Mother?" Celestia was slightly less so.

"Yeah, and uh, Sizen? No, Shizen." I got the words.

Celestia and Moon looked at each other for a second before shrugging.

"Shizoya." I stated.

They stared in silence for a slight few seconds.

"How the fuck did you get that?" Moon asked.

"You do realize that's not how naming in Neighpan works right?" Celestia asked with an amused expression.

"Well, how does it go?" I asked back.

"Remedy, seriously, drop the fucking Neighpanese thing." Moon told me.

"Fine. Then how about, Daydrin." I stated. "It means Caregiver"

"Oh, Oxian." Celestia recognized it.

"Thank you." Moon said sarcastically and walked away.

Then she randomly fell down.

"You sure your migraine is manageable right now?" Celestia asked.

"That's not why I fell." I heard Moon say in an annoyed tone. "Who the fuck tied up my legs?!" She angrily shouted.

Deciding to ignore the two, I fully focused on Daydrin. If I have to some up with even more names, I'm fucked.

She was breathing a bit heavily, her eyes were shut tight.

"What the fuck." I muttered as I looked closer.

The smallest of lights was glowing inside her neck. Normal, except it was red. Trying to get a better look, I touched it with my hoof.

"Fucking hell." I mumbled as the wood covering her neck fell off.

Observing closer, I noticed several different colors flowing through the gaps in the pieces of her wood.

"Hey!" I yelled at the others. "Come take a look at this!"

Not hearing a response, I turned around. The two were nowhere to be seen.

"The fuck?" I reflexively cussed as I felt an annoyed frown grow on my face. "Really just left without saying anything huh?"

*Rustle*

"You gotta be kidding me." I turned towards a bush on my left.

Grabbing a piece of rock from the ground, I tensed my body as I kept staring at the bush. Seconds pass in silence as the movement in the bush has stopped completely. Yet I still kept my eyes locked on it. The long period of silence continued, with nothing to show for it.

In an instant, I threw the rock to my right side.

The beast swatted the rock away with its tail. A scorpion stinger. Bat wings and ears, and a lion's body. It's a manticore.

But what the hell is wrong with it? There's a green glow in some parts of its hair. Its muscles are bulging much more than I remember these guys having. And isn't it, bigger than usual? About twice the size.

With a standoff happening between us, I took the chance to thoroughly examine our surroundings. With confirmation that there isn't another one, I prepared to dash in.

The manticore roared in response as its body tensed up.

Exhaling softly, my leg muscles tensed up as my body went lower. Speed, will be my advantage in this. With a burst of speed, I rushed towards it with my full speed.

Right as I entered its attack range, I jumped upwards as a paw slid under me. Grabbing at the last second, I used the paw as leverage to pull myself under him, successfully dodging its stinger.

A single uppercut.

"Fuck"

I instantly rolled to the side as its jaws closed at where I was standing.

I need something sharp.

*BANG*

My thoughts were interrupted as a beam of light was shot to the sky from the direction of the river, slowly disappearing after an earsplitting sound, with a constant tremor coming right after. Quickly waking up, I ran to the camp right after throwing a rock towards the equally shocked manticores eye.

With the roaring and the stomping acting as confirmation it's following me, I made my way past the campfire and right next to the firewood.

"There you are." I mumbled to myself and grabbed the axe lodged into a stump with my mouth.

Right after I bit into the handle, I jumped away with the axe as a lion paw came down on the stump. Grabbing the axe from my mouth with hoof, I got into a stance.

"Alright asshole, let's see how you act with your head split in half." I taunted with a small smirk as I tensed my muscles.

The manticore took a cautious stance as it bent down as far as it could. Its tail was slightly raised than before. Its mouth was a permanent snarl as it growled.

*BANG*

Another sky piercing pillar rose to the skies. I took that as a signal and ran straight towards the manticore. It responded in kind as it roared to the sky.

Right as we met, I leaped upwards as its stinger hit the ground underneath me. Taking this chance, I grabbed onto the stinger as I felt myself being thrown around.

"Alright, Ow. One, two, fu-NOW!" I let go of the stinger and landed on its back.

Quickly acting, I bit into its mane as I swung the axe its shoulder. The manticore started to jump around, trying to swing me off. I held myself on top as I observed the situation.

I can either wait until this thing takes a pause to catch its breath, which seems unlikely, or I can take a chance and try to get close to its head.

As I was being bounced on his back, I took a glance at Daydrin. My eyes slowly widened at what I saw.

Timing it just right, I let go of the manticores mane as I felt myself get launched upwards.

Feeling as if the world slowed down, my eyes lock onto the snake just about to pounce on Daydrin. My body moved reflexively as the axe quickly left my hoof.

*Thud*

A simple sound rang out as a beheaded snake fell to the ground.

*Roar*

Hearing the manticore, I looked downward as I continued to fall down.

"Ah shit." That was all I said before propping my hooves infront of me to block an incoming swipe.

I felt like a carriage had ran into me as I felt myself breaking through several different trees. Although I couldn't feel it due to adrenaline, I was sure my bones were broken.

*Bam*

"Ugh." I groaned.

My vision was blurry and the world was spinning. Every part of my body hurt immensely as my sense of hearing became muddied.

Holding my head with my left hoof, I carefully tried to stand up, only to stumble down as my front right leg collapsed.

"Fuck." I cussed and looked at the aftermentioned leg.

A giant bruise on the outside and bent at an angle it shouldn't be.

Leaning against another tree, I rubbed my aching head as I tried to recover a bit.

"Hmm." I let out an annoyed sound as I noticed my bloodied left hoof.

I'm bleeding from my head.

Punching the ground once for some more adrenaline, I force myself to stand up, only to fall down again.

*BANG*

Another blast of light went off.

*Shuhk*

My ears flickered as I heard something get stabbed into the ground. I concentrated closer, and heard something else among the woods. Something moving.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to at least sit up and look at what dropped to the ground.

"What?" I muttered.

It was a familiar thing. A dagger with a serrated back. And although I couldn't see it from here, a hollow handle for storing utilities.

Why the fuck is it here?

I buried that damn thing next to the bell. I could remember it as clear as day. It's impossible to forget my last caper.

As I was having a mental crisis, another weird phenomenon surprised me.

A single vine started to come down from up high. It soon touched the ground as it started to move around.

'you know what to do
you are running out of time'

My mind blanked as I read the two sentences the vine wrote, only working once more as the vine quickly disappeared to the tree tops.

Then I realized, I couldn't feel that manticore walking around anymore.

With panic quickly filling me that it could be aiming for Daydrin, my body shot forward as it closed in on the dagger. Feeling like every second wasted was a disaster, I crawled forwards, and soon reached the dagger.

Gripping it with my one good hoof, I lifted it out of the ground and took a good look at the pristine edge.

"Moon revived fast enough, right?" I asked nopony in particular.

*No one POV*

With the whimpering sounds of Daydrin ringing through the area, the heavy steps of the manticore drowned out everything else.

*Rustle*

The manticore quickly turned around, wary of the enemy it had just flung away. Although it was sure the nimble creature had been too heavily injured, it was still careful in order not to die.

*Rustle*

It quickly swirled around as its head whipped towards the source of the sound. It was confused, the sound came from two completely different directions.

*Rustle, Rustle, Rustle*

It was now utterly confused as the sound seemed to be coming from everywhere. Letting out a simple whine, the manticore was spinning around in place, hoping to catch its enemy off guard.

Then it stopped.

An eerie silence, only broken by the whimpering wolf, filled the area as the manticore felt uneasy.

Then it felt it.

The single reason the manticore had been wary of its enemy. The soul crushing pressure it felt when it looked at the pony. The immense bloodlust that threatened to break his mind completely.

And he felt it from above it.

Acting as quickly as it could, it sent its head upwards and had prepared its stinger.

That was swiftly proven to be a mistake.

It roared in pain as blood sprayed out from a fresh wound.

*Thud*

A wing, dropped to the ground.

*Bam, Bam, Bam*

Black smoke randomly rose through the area as it felt a searing pain on its legs. Randomly swinging its paws and stinger throughout the black smoke in anger, it was scared from whatever that been attacking it.

Right then, his entire body froze as a certain sight entered its eyes.

Two green lights shone, cutting straight through the ominous smoke as it circled around the minotaur in a slow pace. It was scared, utterly terrified of its life as the lights slowly faded out of existence.

Seconds passed, the smoke seemed to clear away just a tiny bit. Allowing the manticore to see one last sight.

A green blur suddenly appeared in front of its eyes.

*ROAR*

It screamed out in pain as its vision was suddenly turned to dark. It's eyes were in searing pain as it couldn't see anything.

Stumbling blindly across the camp, the manticore didn't know what was happening as it started to feel cuts from every part of its body. A new injury every second, a new cut forming at every movement.

Then suddenly, it couldn't move anymore.

All strength was lost as its body felt numb, and impossibly heavy like it was made of metal.

"Bye." That was all it heard before the world turned silent.

"ARE YOU EVEN USING THE RIGHT SPELL?" I asked Celestia with more anger than I had intended.

"Yes!" She yelled back as she teleported away. "I vaporized it! Like five times!"

"Well you didn't do it good enough!" I yelled and rolled out of the way of a pretty large fist made of rocks.

This weird golem thing isn't natural. It just can't be. There's no way for a natural occurring golem to be this powerful.

"Fuck." I cussed and jumped out of the way. "Oof." Landing pretty heavily on my gut, I rolled and looked upwards as a foot made of rock was coming down. "AAAAH!"

"Moonshine! Shut up and get up!"

"Aaah, what?" I was confused as I saw myself lying right next to Celestia

"Focus!" Celestia shouted once again.

"Yeah! Yeah. Thanks." I quickly spoke and stood up. "So, any actual idea on what we should do against this fucking golem?"

"Yeah." Celestia blasted a crap ton of pure magic at it.

It only pushed the golem back a bit.

"We need to find its source. It's not inside the body, so it has to be somewhere close by." She explained with a serious tone.

"Alright. Any clue where it is?" I asked as I stared at the rock giant coming ever closer.

"Not really, you'll just have to-." She was interrupted as a sudden explosion went off on the golem's head.

"Did you?" I subconsciously asked Celestia.

"Not me." She answered back with an equally confused tone.

"You two so fucking owe me an apology!" I heard the pissed off voice of Remedy echo through the area.

"Remedy!" I called out on reflex. "How the fuck are you echoing?"

"Real important." Celestia said sarcastically.

"More importantly, I found this." Remedy suddenly appeared from behind us with a glowing rock on his hoof.

With a grunt, he slammed it down on the ground as the glowing rock shattered to pieces. The, rock.

The golem quickly broke down into a pile of rocks.

With the adrenaline quickly wearing off, I sat on the ground to catch my breath.

"Welp, I'm pretty late for my job. So, see you later?" Celestia spoke in a casual tone like she wasn't just in a fight.

"Yeah, see you later." I answered her.

"Understood. Good luck on the Day Court." Remedy wished her farewell and Celestia walked away.

"So, do you have some wisdom as to where these creatures suddenly came from?" I asked Remedy.

"It's the Everfree. Impossible bullshit is this place's specialty." He answered casually and headed towards the golem.

"Aight." I was too tired to argue, so I just accepted and followed him. "Where the fuck were you when we were fighting the golem?"

"Fighting a manticore." He spoke nonchalantly.

A manticore.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah? You need to see the corpse?"

"No, just, you fought a hydra about a week ago." I spoke confusedly.

"Yeah? It wasn't dead yet, so it ran away, but yeah." He simply replied.

"And you, legitimately destroyed it. Like, you tore through it from the inside and kill-defeated it." I caught myself as I was making my point.

"Okay?" He said in a questioning tone.

"Then, how the fuck did it take you so long to beat a manticore?"

"Well, you can ask the corpse. It was pretty strong." He said as he pulled away a few boulders.

"Pretty strong huh?"

"Yep." He replied. "There you are." He said in a mixed tone.

"Whatcha got there?" I asked as he held a super sharp looking knife with a serrated back.

"Something I should destroy." He said it like he didn't care at all.

"What? Just give it to me if you're not gonna use it." I refused. "That thing looks cool"

He stared at me with a raised eyebrow, and sighed.

"Fine." He said and tossed me the knife.

"Thanks." I happily said and tried to catch it. "Oh fuck." Cussing reflexively, my hooves tried to swipe it in the air as I failed to catch it.

With one final attempt, I perfectly grabbed the knife. Just, on the wrong area.

"Ow!" I yelped in pain as I pulled my bleeding hoof back.

*Shuhk*

The knife stabbed itself into the ground, through a pebble.

As I stared in shock at the sharpness of the blade, Remedy looked at me with an incredulous expression.

"Really?" He uttered that single word.

"Fuck off." I retorted casually and grab the knife in my mouth as we start to move.

Still, this thing is pretty damn cool. And that sharpness just makes it even better.

"Was my cut that deep? There's a lot of blood on this thing." I commented without thinking much.

Remedy suddenly froze as he turned his head slightly. "It's probably the manticore blood." My eyes widened in shock as I stared at him, just now noticing a new detail.

There was blood on his neck.

"Remedy, did you?" I asked, not believing it.

He sighed and turned to me with a lazy smile. "Didn't get a choice." He said and turned to continue walking.

Giving a worried glance at Remedy, I continued after him.

"It really is manticore blood though. I stabbed it in the throat." He suddenly spoke up.

"Please let me hold him!" Moon begged me as I held a certain pile of wood in my hooves.

Harkon, meaning 'leader' in, I guess, old, Oxian. That was what I named this little pup that was laid next to Daydrin.

"No, you didn't help in protecting him." I vehemently denied her request.

Daydrin was laid next to me, sleeping peacefully with her head resting on my outstretched hind legs. A piece of manticore bone was placed next to her head.

"Please, Remedy, PLEASE!"

"Shut it! You're gonna wake them up!"