Striving for Adaptation

Quiet. And dark. The only thing I felt were my tired muscles. These are probably the consequences of mastering the runes I took from the book I borrowed from Twilight a few days ago. Well, I think it was worth the effort.

After a few deep breaths, I was able to gather enough strength to open my eyes and look around the room. Guess where I fell asleep last night? Yes, on the couch. Damn, if I fall asleep so often in the living room, should I rent my room out to someone? I've already run out of money. And my food is not endless. . .

Yes, I really should have thought more about money when I started doing magic. Although the idea of a room sounds good.

Suddenly another, much cooler idea popped into my head. Try out the runes I've learnt, show Daniel his place and finally get the money. How will I do that? Ahem, arm wrestling. Fortunately, one of the runes I have seems to have been created specifically for such tasks.

After a few quick breaths, I was able to force my burning muscles to rise from the couch. Quickly searching my pockets, I realised that the only thing there was my phone. It's probably still charged, as I've hardly used it. Well, I really got into a state of flow with all the training.

"Although it would be nice to wash up." I muttered, looking down at my clothes, which I hadn't taken off for days. Can you at least change before you go looking for Daniel?

Oh, no. It's better to worry about money here and now. I do not know how often taxes are paid in Equestria. Maybe they collect them every two weeks? Then I'm finished if I don't find the money by tomorrow.

I really want to try a new rune against Daniel, okay? I sighed before finally leaving the house. As I pushed the door open with my hand, a satisfied sigh escaped my mouth on its own. It's really nice to finally have a door. I guess it's one of those things you don't really appreciate until it's taken away.

Shaking my head slightly, I came back to reality and kicked it lightly with my hand so that it at least looked closed. Then my eyes scanned the area in search of my target. So, the earth is covered in ash, more earth, and, of course, even more ash. Seriously, it seems to me that this guy has already destroyed a square MILE of forest!

Oh, here's the hero of the hour. Daniel was once again sitting on a stump that was very far away from me. So far away, in fact, that there was a possibility that I had imagined it. Well, even if he's not there, at least I'll stretch my muscles a bit after sleeping. It would also be nice to start feeling them.

Yes, but it's going to hurt most of all. My muscles are still sore. And for some reason, the healing rune does nothing for that pain. Damn the balance.

"Oh, Arthur. Are you glad that there are no trees left to burn near your house?" Daniel's voice asked suddenly. Well, first of all, no, because everything around my house still smells of burning. And secondly, what?

I turned at the sound and saw that he was sitting on a branch of one of the trees in the line of fire. It was as if a clear line had been drawn between the trees that were to be burned and those that were not to be touched.

Anyway, Daniel had his very large walkie-talkie on his feet, and he was wearing the same black T-shirt he wore when he invited me on my first adventure. Then I had a quick look to see where the stump was. And finally, an embarrassed question escaped my lips: "Don't you usually sit on a stump after your great work of cutting down trees?"

Daniel snorted and said, putting his hand on the walkie-talkie, "There are no customers. Looks like the people of Ponyville are used to flamethrowers by now. It's a shame, I wanted to plant at least an acre. "

Slowly shaking my head, I asked with a frown, "Did you destroy an entire ecosystem just for the money? "

In response, Daniel wagged his finger and said with a grin, "Very bad thinking, Arthur. I need the money to fulfil my goals. Besides, I'm the one who rents out the territory. In the future, a house will be built here where I will live first and then many, many generations of my relatives. "

Are you serious?

"You do realise that there are only two representatives of the human species in all of Equestria, right? And we're both men. " I asked slowly, unable to contain my indignation.

Daniel waved his hand dismissively and said, "There will be ways. Sew on a horse's penis, temporarily transform into a pony, or simply raise a child in a test tube. I'll think of something when I find someone to marry. "

"I don't think ponies are big fans of bad guys. " I replied with a snort and couldn't help but grin.

Daniel rolled his eyes and replied with his head on his fist: "OK, what did you want? You obviously wouldn't come to me just like that. "

As soon as he asked the question, my eyes widened slightly and I replied with an active nod: "Exactly! I wanted to arm wrestle you! For money. "

For the moment, all I could see were his eyes, which blinked slowly, making me doubt my idea more and more. And finally he asked: "What is arm wrestling?"

Wait, is this a joke? Is he so far away that he doesn't know what arm wrestling is? Like, what!?

Unable to contain my embarrassment and curiosity, I asked: "Daniel, you're an asshole. But can you please answer one of my questions absolutely honestly?"

"I've always answered you honestly, but you don't like it. But okay, ask me." He replied with a shrug.

"Have you been living under a rock on Earth? Why the hell don't you know the usual games, don't understand the references and your phone is completely fucking empty?" I asked, confused. Hang on.

I didn't want him to know that I'd gone through his phone looking for personal information.

Fortunately, Daniel didn't seem to be angry. Or he was very good at hiding his emotions to give me an emotional boost. In any case, he slowly raised his single left hand and said, counting his fingers: "An extremely conservative father, a lack of peer relationships and, perhaps most importantly, a contempt for culture as such. Does that answer your question? "

Despite the strangeness and, frankly, disappointing brevity of the answer, I nodded: "Yes, it's more or less. You won't get any thanks. "

" Well, then answer my question. What are you planning to do when Princess Celestia arrives here, in a hour or two?" Daniel asked, causing me to stagger slightly. I wasn't prepared to face a creature that controls the sun so early!

"Is the princess coming today? Why didn't you warn me?" I asked, irritated and nervous.

Daniel snorted and replied calmly: "If you had known in advance, you would have prepared for the meeting. But this is primarily necessary to evaluate how I have helped you adapt. There should be no falsification. "

On the one hand, it seems logical. On the other hand, wouldn't it be worse for you if I showed myself badly?

Then I shook my head quickly. It's not worth wasting your energy trying to figure out this guy's crazy thoughts. So I just asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose, "Can you give me some advice for the sake of decency?"

Daniel tapped his hand lightly on the walkie-talkie before saying in all seriousness, "Try to concentrate on how nice she is. There is no need to focus on the fact that she is far from the best ruler."

"Okay, that almost sounds like a normal answer. I said, nodding slowly. Daniel repeated my gesture and we remained in silence, which allowed me to consider my next move.

I clasped my hands together and said, gesturing with them in parallel: "In short, arm wrestling is when you grab like this, put your elbow on something and try to push your opponent's arm to the side. You can't lift your elbow".

I seem to have explained everything normally.

Unfortunately, Daniel just grinned and said, looking into the distance, "What a stupid game. And you want to play it for money? Arthur, gambling is a dubious activity. It is one of the few things that everyone and I know."

"Damn it!" I hissed irritably, preparing to argue, but suddenly Daniel raised his hand to stop me. Then he turned towards the forest and stood motionless. It was as if he was looking deep into the darkness.

Suddenly, in a flash, Daniel disappeared from a branch, along with his huge walkie-talkie. Before I could react, I heard his voice behind me: "Hello, Rising, do you read me? Over."

I turned to see him crouching in front of the radio. Several lights were flashing in different colours and the antennas, which had been hidden, were now proudly protruding. Suddenly there was a slightly familiar voice on the other side: "I hear you, Daniel. Has anything happened? Over."

Exactly! This guy convinced Daniel to help me out when I first arrived in Ponyville. I should probably thank him sometime.

While I was thinking, Daniel glanced at the forest before saying, "I feel like something is happening to the forest. It's as if its magic is, er, vibrating. I think it's time to start Operation Storm. Over."

For a while there was a tense silence on the other side. The wind blew hard, knocking some leaves from the trees and making me shiver with cold. Daniel took a deep breath and asked tensely, "Rising, do you hear me? Commence Operation Storm. Over."

Suddenly there was a hiss on the other side of the radio and the words came through: "Roots! Tanks. . .retreat . . . it's not worth it!"

My eyes widened slightly, but Daniel said loudly into the radio: "Stay in Canterlot, protect the princesses! I'll take care of this myself. End of communication. "

Immediately after that, he pressed a button and all the lights on the radio went out. Slowly, Daniel ran a hand through his hair before letting out a frustrated groan: "UAAAAAAAAAA."

I'm even kind of embarrassed.

"Bitch." Daniel growled irritably, pulling his leg back in an apparent attempt to hit his walkie-talkie. But he still stopped and let out a heavy sigh.

Daniel rubbed his glasses and said, looking at me indifferently: "Arthur, tell the heroes to stay in town and help the civilians. I'll work here. "

"Why on earth are you the boss here? "I asked, crossing my arms.

In place of an answer, a pitch black root suddenly emerged from the ground and grabbed Daniel's leg. Judging by the spikes on it and the fact that it seemed to be tightening its grip, it must have been painful at the very least.

"AAAAAAAAA!" A furious roar erupted from Daniel's throat before he grabbed the root in an instant and pulled it sharply towards him with one hand. Further and further he pulled it out of the ground until suddenly I heard a loud rumbling from my side. A quick glance was enough to make me gulp.

One of the trees just collapsed on its side. He pulled the root out so much that it lost its support.

Daniel threw the uprooted root to the ground and quickly drew the sword from its sheath, which I had not noticed before. With a sharp movement he cut the root and turned to me with crazy eyes: "Arthur, now is not the time to show off. Do as I say!"

Slightly startled by the sudden realisation that he had taken a weapon, I took a step back and turned around: "You're not the boss anyway."

Before he could say anything to me, I took a few steps back and held both hands out in front of me to form a rune, which I had intended to use against him, but now the situation was also appropriate. So, as my feet carried me forward, lines of magic came out of my fingers and began to weave themselves into the correct signs. An outer circle with spikes inside, a central circle without effect and, at first glance, meaningless, a symbol of three interconnected lines.

As soon as the rune was finished, I relaxed, but the magic continued to flow from my fingers for a while. As Ahirata explained to me, when the magic used to create the rune itself is not enough to activate it, it draws as much as it needs from the body. I don't want to think about what will happen if it takes more than it needs.

Anyway, when my eyes closed slightly from fatigue and the rune finally activated, I felt as if my limbs had become a little bigger, more voluminous and, to put it simply, stronger.

So, I think it's already possible to reveal the cards.

My foot hit the ground, leaving a dent in the shape of my heel. The next thing I knew, I was running forward at a faster pace than I had ever run in my life. This rune creates extra muscles from magic. Of course, this is only temporary, and when the action is over, my whole body aches. But it's still very cool.

I ran between the buildings on the outskirts of Ponyville and found myself on a straight road to the town hall. Luckily, it was still early enough for the ponies to continue sleeping. So I can start thinking about who exactly I'm going to run to. Although the choice is not great. I only know where Twilight is and where Pinkie Pie is. Hmm, I should have walked around Ponyville a little longer earlier, right?

Suddenly, the street became much brighter, as if the sun had suddenly appeared at its zenith. It happened absurdly fast. I lifted my head and opened my mouth slightly. The sun and the moon were in the sky at the same time. It wasn't an eclipse, but as if they were in some kind of confrontation. With a bright road on one side and darkness behind me.

The only thing that is one hundred percent canonical. I would prefer everything to remain uncanonical, so that nothing gives me hope.

"No, Arthur. You shouldn't allow yourself any depressing thoughts right now." I commanded myself as I reached the town hall and quickly turned left, making my decision. Twilight Sparkle. Not that it's difficult. Seriously, how is Pinkie Pie going to help me in this situation, other than some kind of joke?

My thoughts were interrupted when several roots suddenly began to sprout from the ground. They were very small at first, like weeds, but they quickly made their way out of the ground. After taking a few deep breaths, I tried to speed up, just to get away from all the danger. And it seemed to be working.

Suddenly, when I took the next step, it seemed to me that my right leg was not moving at all. Before my brain could properly comprehend the situation, my face was already heading towards the hard ground below and, even worse, another thorny root began to appear right where my head should fall.

Well, extra muscles come in handy here too.

In the final moments, I managed to avoid a head injury by crushing a root sprouting from the ground with a whiplash. Then my gaze shifted to my right leg and I noticed that several very small roots were wrapped around my leg. And some of the more distant roots were beginning to grow towards me. It was as if I was their main target.

With a little effort, I managed to cut off all the small roots, but the only result was the scars on my leg. With a painful sigh, I planted my foot on the ground and hurried out of the library. But there was one detail I couldn't ignore. There were more and more roots.

When I finally reached the door, I opened it without hesitation, but with such force that it hit the wall loudly, and shouted without hesitation: "Twilight, have you seen what's going on outside!?"

Is it natural enough? It seems to be.

It was only after these words that my eyes properly processed what was happening in the room in front of me. All six of the main characters were seated at the round table, which was convenient, of course. What wasn't convenient was that they were all staring at me with their eyes wide open. Judging by Fluttershy's position, over Rainbow's shoulder, I must have scared them quite a bit too.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I straightened up and said, rubbing my neck, "Um, hi. I don't want to get in the way too much, but there's nothing good happening out there on the street. And if I remember correctly, you're sort of local heroes!"

The ponies were surprised for a moment and just blinked. But suddenly Rainbow flew into the air and said to Twilight, "You see, Twi? There's no point coming up with a super complicated plan when this is happening to Ponyville!"

Before Twilight could reply, Applejack lowered Rainbow to the ground, grabbed her tail with her teeth and said, "Calm down, Sugarcube, You shouldn't act so rashly. "

Twilight rubbed her temples wearily with her hooves and said, "I just don't know what to do. These roots just keep growing and growing. I don't think we can just rip them out and be done with it. We need a proper plan to stop this. "

It's nice, of course, but it seems to me that very soon the roots will grow so much that it will be impossible to break through further.

Clearing my throat, I decided to push her into action and said slowly: "You know, Daniel asked me to tell you to stay in the city and protect the civilians."

"Hmph, as always, he thinks there's nothing we can do. " Rarity snorted, lifting her nose and closing her eyes. This caused a few ponies to roll their eyes, but not much else. Okay, we'll have to push them harder. The main thing is that I look at least a little natural. Otherwise there will be questions I am not morally prepared to answer.

I took a nervous breath and tried not to tremble: "I heard that you used to have magic things that represented friendship. Maybe you don't need them? Maybe your friendship is a powerful thing in itself?"

At first, all the ponies stared at me with wide-open eyes, making me freeze like a statue. There are too many of them. Twelve eyes piercing my soul. They must think I'm stupid. Maybe they'll even ask me where I got this information, and then it's over!

In the end, after looking around, Twilight asked, "We don't really have any other options, do we?"

"Well, I'm definitely not going to let this guy push us into the background." Rainbow replied, crossing her hooves.

So we have the main characters on our side. Hmm, does that mean the story armour is working now and I can be afraid of nothing while I am with them?

I shook my head and looked at the open door. During our brief conversation, the roots had grown, to put it mildly. To the extent that they were comparable in height to the buildings of Ponyville. Swallowing hard, I said, "Can we go somewhere from here? The plan can be worked out on the way."

"It's kind of dangerous there. And it's scary. And it's dark. . ." Fluttershine whispered, covering her face with her mane. Well, I wasn't expecting much enthusiasm from her.

Fortunately, Rainbow responded by taking to the air again: "I'll figure it out. I suggest you watch this, hooman!

"It is correct to say. . ." I tried to say, but was cut off as she flew past me straight to the exit door. The other five ponies sighed in shock at such recklessness and ran to the exit to see what had happened.

Do I have to tell you that it's a bit uncomfortable to be surrounded by ponies?

Sighing, I pulled myself together and looked towards the road. There, Rainbow Dash was flying extremely fast between the tall roots, probably kicking them with her hooves. The speed of her flight made her appear to me as a blurred rainbow. Ha.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a purple glow. And the next thing I knew, a big laser of the same light was going towards the roots. To my surprise, it easily cut through several of them, clearing the way for us to continue!

Rainbow Dash suddenly hovered in the air and said, "Twi! I could do this myself! "

Twilight smiled awkwardly and replied: "I'm sorry! I really wanted to try at least one of the spells I found in the old books. I didn't think the ancient spells would be so powerful. "

Why are ancient spells always so powerful? Shouldn't they be, well, primitive?

I shook my head as I saw the ponies begin to move forward. But as soon as my right leg tried to take a step forward, I let out a moan of pain. Fluttershy immediately turned to me and asked worriedly, "Oh dear, are you hurt?"

Unfortunately, the other ponies noticed this and stopped a few paces away from me. Applejack was the first to speak, in a tone of instruction: "Um, Arthur, right? I think you should stay in the library or somewhere safe. We'll figure it out. "

" After all, you just arrived in Equestria and are hardly, er, ready for any challenges. Besides, your leg doesn't look too good. Twilight continued cautiously.

"And if you keep running, it's only going to get worse and you won't be able to come to my next party! And that's absolutely, absolutely, horrible!" Pinky remarked as she jumped up and burst into my personal space.

But I want to rub Daniel's nose in it. Besides, I'm not a child! I can do things for myself.

I took a deep breath and quickly created a treatment rune. Before the ponies could say anything, it was activated and I felt the pain in my right leg diminish. With a deep sigh, the words came out of my mouth: "I'm fine."

"Then why are all four of your hooves so red?" Rainbow asked unimpressed. Damn, the extra muscles won't last forever.

"It doesn't matter! Let's do something! I shouted before suddenly taking off and running past the pony. And judging by the hoofbeats behind me, I was listening.

The roots continued to burst from the ground, but this time they were growing much faster. Fortunately, Twilight's lasers quickly destroyed them from a distance. I'm sure Daniel can't do that.

Speaking of him, when we turned right from the Town Hall and went straight to my house, I could see him. Daniel was surrounded by a lot of thick, spiky roots, but he dealt with them surprisingly quickly. A swing of the sword - three down. A kick from a U-turn - five more roots crushed. And then another swing and a high kick. It's as if each action flows into the next.

No, it doesn't matter that he fights hard. He's still a bad person.

When I and the six main characters were close enough to Daniel, I opened my mouth to say something. But he cut me off as he continued to fight: "I told them to stay in the city! How are you going to counterattack the forest if NO ONE is defending the city? "

Twilight quickly shot out a beam of magic, destroying several roots, and replied, seemingly on behalf of the whole group: "Well, we're worried that you can't handle it alone. That's why we've all come to help you.

"And anyway, if you want to protect the town so badly, do it yourself! " I replied, a little annoyed at how polite TWilight was being to him.

" Yeah, what makes you think we'll follow your orders anyway? Rainbow Dash asked, crossing her hooves as she hung in the air. I took a quick look at her.

Indeed, my sister knows how to choose her favorite pony.

As soon as a small smile appeared on my face, Daniel asked through clenched teeth: "Okay, offer your ideas. Show your strategic genius!"

Almost immediately I replied, trying to sound uncertain: "Well, the forest must have some kind of core or something! You just have to go in, find it and do something. "

Daniel's eyes pierced me as he hacked at the roots with his sword. He obviously understands where this idea came from. He can reveal everything now. It's going to be so awkward, so uncomfortable. And it's generally weird! Why did I do it in the first place!?

To my surprise, Daniel sliced through all the roots in front of him with a wide sweep of his sword before slamming it into the ground. Then he stretched out his left hand and what little was left of his right hand and said irritably, "Okay, devils. I will push back the forest to give you enough time. Cover me, Twilight."

Push back the forest? How can you even imagine that?

As if in response to my question, he began to release blue lines to form a rune. But he was releasing them from all over. Fingers, palms, wrists, the stump of his right hand and even his face! At least half a hundred lines of magic began to weave into a rune as Twilight fired lasers from the horn into the approaching roots.

"Hey, let me help you too!" Pinkie offered, and without waiting for anyone to answer, she pulled a festive cannon out of nowhere and fired it at the largest of the roots, which were the size of the trees. Perhaps as some kind of reinforcement?

My eyes darted back to Daniel to take in this incredible detail. He was weaving several runes at once, as if layering them. And he did it so that it looked like a glowing blue ball. Very much like. . .

Tirek, from the show. If I remember correctly, he also created orbs between the horns before he started shooting magic. Did Tirek really give Daniel advice about runes?

Before I could even begin to think about it, Daniel suddenly shouted loudly, "STEP BACK, THE ARTILLERY IS WORKING!"

The volume of the voice made me take a step back almost reflexively. And as soon as all six ponies repeated the action, a thick beam of magic shot out of the blue sphere Daniel had formed, somewhere to the left. The next moment, a huge explosion shook the ground and my hands instinctively reached for my ears.

But it was far from the only one. Another beam shot out of the blue sphere. And more. At least a dozen! The ground began to shake so violently that I staggered and dropped to my knees. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Fluttershy and Rarity had both fallen to the ground.

The mini apocalypse finally subsided, allowing me to remove my hands from my ears and open my eyelids. The tree line had been replaced by a moonscape. Trees, grass, bushes, roots. Everything had been destroyed, leaving only a few craters that together formed one large crater. Here and there, the ground was littered with broken and burnt tree bark.

Daniel pulled the sword from the ground and turned his head so that I could see his half-closed eyes. Despite his obvious fatigue, he said, piercing me with an emotionless stare: "I hope you all understand why I didn't want to do this."

You wanted to rent out the whole area. But because of these explosions, hardly anyone will agree to pay for it. Despite the fact that you put so much effort into it. . .

I had to suppress my sympathy so that I could step forward and reply sarcastically: "If you didn't want to save or sacrifice anything, then you couldn't have come here."

As soon as my words had hung in the air, the ponies leaned between Daniel and me. Rainbow Dash had an approving grin on her face. But the others looked much more tense. On the one hand, I could understand them, but on the other, someone should at least put him in his place!

Finally, Fluttershy said quietly, "Can we go? I want this to be over as soon as possible."

"But where to? The forest is huge. " Twilight said thoughtfully, looking at the trees on the other side of the craters. It seems that the destruction caused by Daniel has stopped the progress of the roots, at least for a while.

I took a deep breath and pushed again: "Can we look for anything remarkable in the forest? There used to be a castle or something. "

The ponies looked at me again and, to my utter dismay, Pinkie Pie asked: "Wow, Arthur, have you been with us since the first season?"

Damn, damn, damn, damn! What if they take this as more than just a Pinkie's joke?

Suddenly Daniel cleared his throat loudly and said, shaking his head: "Let's stop this nonsense. I've spent too much time and magic to be able to get distracted."

Immediately after his words, he walked forward towards the crater, scraping the ground with his sword. As if he wanted to make his decision unthinkable. In any other situation, I would point out how selfish and arrogant this was.

But as the other ponies sighed and began to follow him, I couldn't help but whisper under my breath, "Thank God. "

Exhaling my gratitude, I quickly followed the group forward to the many craters Daniel had made. As soon as we reached them, the ponies began to help each other down. Twilight was the first to descend to the bottom of the crater with Daniel's help. Then she used her magic to help her friends get down safely. Rainbow, of course, just flew over.

But when Fluttershy came down and it was my turn, Twilight had already turned away and was walking along the bottom of the crater. It's like I'm not even here. Outraged, I jumped down and landed at the bottom of the crater, staggering slightly. But the matter is being discussed.

Did they just forget I was coming? Or did they already dislike me for something?

I shook my head quickly to dispel any negative thoughts and started jogging to overtake the pony and get to Daniel. When I caught up with him, he asked without even looking at me: "Anything you want to tell me?"

Looking at the part of the forest that had not been damaged by Daniel's magic, I asked tensely: "Tell me, psycho, what were you planning to do? Judging by your eyes, that one super rune has already pushed you to the limit. "

Daniel clicked his tongue and said calmly: "In fact, it was more than a hundred runes that I combined into a single system. "

"Does that change the situation in any way? "I asked, looking at him with a sarcastic grin.

In the blink of an eye, Daniel suddenly stepped forward and struck with his sword. Shocked, I took a step back and saw that he had sliced through a thick root that had appeared right in front of me.

Don't get distracted by talking.

I swallowed hard and, for the sake of decency, kicked the severed root with my hand. Fortunately, my magic muscles were still working and the pieces flew far, far away. Daniel commented anyway: "You've never fought in your life."

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. But instead of answering, Daniel turned quickly and squinted towards the forest. Following his gaze, I saw the roots moving towards us. But that wasn't all.

Wolves made of wood began to emerge from the tree line and leap into our crater. Since our last encounter, they have acquired many vines with thorns all over their bodies. It is completely unclear how to attack them without weapons.

But that's not all! Many Manticores flew over the trees and soon landed in the crater. But unlike in the cartoon, instead of eyes, they had thick roots that pointed straight ahead, like strange peaks. Also, the Manticore's snout was covered with a thick mask of trees that seemed to have eaten into the animal's flesh.

And there are more and more of them.

I swallowed at the sight, but Daniel didn't give me a chance to speak as he ordered loudly: "You six, keep doing what you're doing. I will solve this problem."

"Do you think so?" Fluttershy asked quietly from behind.

"You're obviously out of shape. " Rainbow remarked as she fluttered in the air. I remind you, there are many of these creatures. They didn't attack us because they are gathering more and more forces.

"And as always, you overestimate your abilities. " Rarity said with a snort.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! I will attack, and Twilight will teleport you all behind them, deep into the forest. All of you. " Daniel said irritably, before heading off towards the huge crowd of monsters and plants.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, worried and, I must admit, scared. Instead of answering, Daniel plunged his sword into the surface of the crater and continued walking forward with his bare arm. The message is clear.

"Take it and fight"

The sudden sound of lightning behind me made me jump. And a quick glance back was all I needed to understand what had happened. Twilight and her friends had gone along with Daniel's plan. I can't believe it.

Swallowing, I gathered enough courage to pull Daniel's sword from the ground and walk beside him towards the growing crowd of enemies. When I reached him, I asked slowly, "Are you going to kill me? Because it seems that way."

"If you don't want to fight, then go. I won't stop you. Do you want to go?" Daniel replied, completely unperturbed, and continued to move forward. And you know, I thought for a moment. My house is not far away. These craters have definitely protected it from the roots, at least for a while. I can just sit here and wait for the heroes to win. They always win, right?

No. In this world, the canons of the series practically do not work. For the heroes to win, you have to make an effort. And I'm no exception. Besides, I'm going to show this idiot that I'm not a weakling or a coward. Besides, what would my sister think if she saw how her older brother hiding like this? What would the ponies think if they saw that among humans there were only bastards like Daniel and cowards like me? What would they even think of me if I ran away?

"To hell with it. I'm staying." I replied resolutely, raising my sword and preparing for any movement from the crowd of monsters.

"Excellent, Arthur." Daniel exhaled with satisfaction before adjusting his glasses and quickly assuming a fighting stance.

Really, that's excellent of me. And it seems like . . .

the stupidest thing I've ever done.