Year 983 July 27

Breakfast was pretty good, a bit too sweet so I decided to have a different approach towards lunch.

I will hunt my own lunch, forage, maybe just eat anything that smells edible, and for that I needed to go into the forest, the Everfree was much more appropriate for this, as it has a large density of animals and plants, as well as huge biodiversity.

I had gone back to the farm after breakfast, only staying a bit longer to go say goodbye to the Cakes, by that I mean the ponies, not the actual cakes! Mr. Cake was kind enough to let me into their amazing kitchen to meet Mrs. Cake who was a lovely and kind mare, we talked a bit about baking and what sweets we enjoyed the most, and then I told them I had to go.

After that I headed back and met with my parents and my good friend Thunder, as well as Kari, all having some friendly conversation by the door of the household, and I told them my silly idea of going to find myself lunch.

Momma said if I could catch something for her, but she and Thunder decided to stay with Kari to play with the foals and keep them company, not to mention feed the hungry little ones, Kari had to feed the cub and mom had to feed the twins.

I stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, next to me was my dear father, he was looking a big nervous, but not truly scared.

"So, you ready dad? Just watch your step, be careful where you place your hooves, I've read in some books that in this forest, there is a blue flower that if you step on it or touch it with any part of your body, you will catch a magical condition and while it's usually funny, it can be quite bothersome, embarrassing and also dangerous. I'll tell you if there is any animal nearby who can be dangerous, okay?" I warn him, also reassuring him that I'm with him, and he's safe.

"Y-yeah, I trust you, now let's go before I regret coming along, this place looks spooky..." He says looking into the treeline with apprehension, I just shrug, it looks like a regular forest to me, back home we had similar places, the trees here were a bit thicker and shorter and the leaves darker, but it wasn't some unnatural or scary place.

"Follow me then." I said simply and walked across the bridge into the Everfree proper, a small clearing around and a path headed deeper in.

I follow that path, it goes into the right direction and seems to be well traveled by most likely animals, doubtful it's ponies. I decide that it's not a bad path to follow, sniffing the air as I walk, the scent of many animals is apparent, but I'm unsure what most of them are, there is no timberwolves nearby that's for sure, however I did not lower my guard, there are lots of other deadly creatures in this forest.

Around us, the sound of various birds chirping and bugs buzzing, I even saw a few parasprites flying around, and a crow catch and eat one right out of the air, nature certainly was more wild here.

I shook my head and looked back towards the path I was walking, the forest has natural pathways, animals also prefer to use the easiest trail sometimes, it made getting caught by surprise much less likely.

"Whooa, this forest is very dense, it's hard to see far with all the plants and trees around, are you sure we won't get lost?" Coconut asks with a slightly concerned expression, I just shake my head, suddenly I feel an odd smell, and it's coming from deeper into the forest.

"No need to worry, I've got a map! I don't think you all have it, but I do, and it shows where I've been and where I am, so I can see and compare to previous locations, I can't get lost. Also... I smell something weird here, it's like... A chicken, and something else that isn't a chicken, not sure what it is, let's keep going, whatever that smell is, it can't be far." I urge him to follow, looking intently further into the forest, what the heck was that? It smelled bad, farm chickens smelled far better, and that's saying something because they stink.

We kept going further away from Ponyville, still following path, it did narrow down into a much smaller one by now, trees were closer, the sound of various insects, frogs and birds was constant, it was summer, mosquitos were very active too as well as flies, but neither of those even landed on me, probably not very attracted by my colder body temperature.

The unicorn with me, was a completely different story, I saw him constantly having to slow down and brush away bugs with his hooves and his tail was constantly swiping at the annoying bugs, not to mention the huge amount of spiderwebs we were constantly running into, the bramble wasn't a problem for me, but it was annoying for my companion.

"Okay let's stop for a second, I'll help you get rid of those bugs, stay still." I stopped and turned around and he stopped too, nodding with a thankful smile.

"Please, It's getting really itchy with so many bug bites." He was the only one with blood that was edible for the blood sucking insects from the forest, I was basically an alien to them... In more ways than one.

"Ice shield." I formed the spell in my paw and gently booped my dad, a faint transparent slightly light blue shield shimmered into existence around him, creating a barrier of frost, both keeping him cool and protecting him from any form of bugs, most of them hated the cold and couldn't even see him through the spell.

"That's gonna keep the bloodsuckers out of your mane, next time we come here you should bring bug repellent." I smirked and patted his head before turning and continuing walking, it was peaceful for a while, but the scent got stronger and even dad could feel it now, whatever thing was around, it was close, then I heard it, chicken like noises, but they sounded distorted, something was not quite right, I felt a strong sense of dread going down my spine, something told me that sound wasn't normal.

It came from the trees next to the path, up there, a large chicken like creature was devouring a squirrel, beak tearing into its flesh while the head of the smaller animal hanged on by a thread from its lifeless corpse, the strange, half chicken and half lizard thing was standing on a thick branch, it was slightly bigger than a regular chicken, and it had red tipped scaly wings too but they seemed only suited to glide rather than to fly, and yet I knew that didn't mean much here, where pegasi could fly with wings smaller not much larger than their hooves in length.

It seemed to be too distracted to see us, because it didn't even bother turning to us, despite it being a bird, a chicken, it clearly had carnivore fangs, small but sharp, it was easily chewing bones and all, the noise of tiny bones breaking carried far.

'Very carefully step back, I'll take care of it, maybe it can make for a nice meal.' I commanded telepathically, while backing away quietly.

'Understood, be careful son, it looks scary.' I nod briefly in agreement, he's very much right, its never a good idea to underestimate your opponent.

'Inspect' I say to myself, while looking at the distracted creature.

LvL 20 Cockatrice
50/50 HP

Cockatrice are dangerous, fearsome creatures who have the body of a snake and the head of a chicken, they are omnivores but usually eat carrion and hunt small animals.

They have sharp beak full of small razor sharp fangs, as well as sharp claws, but their fearsome and dangerous reputation comes from their special ability that it used to defend itself from larger predators.

Perks

Petrifying Gaze: Looking into the red glowing eyes of this creature produces a magical compulsion to not look away, which can be resisted by a strong enough creature, those who stare into the eyes of a Cockatrice are stricken with fear, the main effect of its ability starts to manifest, if a creature is able to resist this unnatural fear, and can somehow convince the Cockatrice to look away and break eye contact, the petrification is undone. Killing the Cockatrice will undo any petrification it has used before during all of its life.
Petrified targets are in stasis, they do not age or form memories while petrified, for all intents and purposes, their existence pauses. Breaking their stone form will cause the same damage once they are back to normal.

Limited flight: this creature can glide and takes no fall damage if it's conscious, because it can flap it's wings to slow it's descent. It can also fly short distances upward for climbing trees.

Resistances and weakness: none.

Condition immunities: none.

STR 10
DEX 14
CON 14
WIS 8
INT 6
CHA 4

Seems like a very dangerous being, but... If I could maybe learn more from it... Or gain its form, it could be an useful weapon, and who knows? Maybe it's eyes could be an useful component for enchanting, if I could infuse the effects into something and weaponize it... The potential was huge.
Physically this rooster snake was harmless, relatively speaking, but its perk to make threats harmless was most admirable, it would be a good subject to study, to capture alive, but now I was hungry, and I could tell this thing, while smelly, probably tasted like chicken.

Petrifying Gaze or not, this cockatrice was going to be my meal. I held my paw out towards it, focusing on a spell, silently gathering mana in my mind and forming the runes necessary, I would take it safe this time, going for the stronger version, it was honestly, extremely overkill, but I couldn't risk this thing even moving its eyes or head at all.

Once ready, I released the spell, and runes glowed in the air around it, and at the same time, the creature was enveloped in a specialized magical energy field, It was strong enough to hold any creature up to the size of a pony. Now it was completely stuck in place, facing away from us, it could not even move it's eyes.

I smirked and approached it, pulling it down the tree with my telekinesis, and holding it floating in front of me, facing of course away so I didn't see into its eyes. "Relax, its safe to approach, just don't look at its eyes, I'm keeping it facing away from us anyways." I call out to the nervous unicorn, who is a few meters away from me, but approaching.

"Are you sure this is the thing you want? it... stinks." He said with a disgusted expression, looking at the cockatrice.

"Well... yeah, but the skin is probably what it stinks, maybe it has some scent gland to make it stink. Hmm, looks like its a rooster, male huh? maybe I could cook some dish I know with it, Coq au vin.
I'd need some wine, shrooms and bacon, I have some salted bacon, but we will need wine and mushrooms from Ponyville. Darn... its gonna take a long time to be ready, but I'm sure marinating it in red wine for a few hours will take away some of the gaminess out of the meat." I think out loud, while pulling out my shortsword, holding it in my claw, I grab the cockatrice by its head, covering its eyes and keeping it's beak shut, and aim the sword at its neck.

You have obtain additional information on this magical beast by touching it..

"I-i dont speak Prench Onyx, but... I think I got that, i'm sure Sylf will love it, now... allow me to look away, I don't want to see what you're about to do to it." With that he turned away.

"It will take too long, I may need to do something else for now, using the snake part, but I've never made snake before... I honestly have no idea, I guess trial and error it shall be." I swing the sword in an arc, cutting off the head of the cockatrice rooster, It was surprisingly easy to do, the Hold spell failed right after that, as it required a living creature to function.

Cockatrice has been slain, party earns 5000 exp!
Onyx lvl 34 38804/49196
Sylf lvl 34 24181/49196
Kari lvl 34 19440/49196
Coconut lvl 31 22117/28470

The head and body were now separated, both held in my indigo color field, I quickly turned the body upside down, allowing the blood to flow out, while the head, I carefully wrapped in a cloth after the little blood still inside drained off thanks to gravity, it took a few seconds. I kept the head in the inventory, safely and even if the petrifying effect persisted for a few minutes, it should be safe while the cloth is covering it.

With the body headless, it went limp in my telekinetic grasp blood still flowing into the ground. "The head's gone, now just gotta wait for it to bleed out completely, fucked had a lot of blood in it, you can look if you want."

He turned around and saw the dead snake chicken, frowned with a disgusted expression, but didn't turn away from it anymore. "I guess this is what hunting is like, right? I suppose its not that bad if you know you that you are doing it to eat, I mean... pegasi do eat fish from time to time, some ponies enjoy fishing, but never hunting, I think."

"I'm not surprised, ponies don't like meat, only fish and only some, not even all pegasi do, now... I should get to butchering this thing, it could get a bit gruesome, just saying, in fact, would you keep watch for me while I do this?" I get a nod from him, and he turns away, looking to the forest and slowly going back and forth.

I start by plucking out all the feathers from this thing, there isn't many of them, so its not too difficult, then using my index claw, I cut off the wings, only leaving the larger muscle, having to break off the joint to pull it off cleanly, my onyx black claws are sharp enough to do this without much resistance, specially so because I'm putting some good force behind them.

Next I have to take off the bird part from the snake part, for this, I need to simply cut the creature right from below its legs, all that is higher is part bird, even if most is covered by scales. I started cutting, going all around until its separated, I quickly peel its scaly skin right off, tearing it from the firmer muscle underneath, cutting as needed, I didn't want to eat the scales, so I discarded them on a pile next to a tree, if scavengers came sniffing, I was ready and I had someone to watch my back.

I separated the animal in two parts, slowly cutting the flesh apart, then severing it's spine, and carefully opening the thorax by prying apart the ribs, they snapped easily enough when bent backwards.
I stored the longer snake half of the cockatrice into the inventory to process later so it wouldn't get in the way or get dirty on the ground.

The next step was to remove the organs, they were okay to eat, but I didn't have time to prepare them or any dish, and as much as I knew there wouldn't be a problem eating them raw, I decided to only keep the heart and liver, I like those.

Now without organs, only de-boning was the last step to have the entire chicken prepped. I sliced carefully the chicken breast from the carcase, and cut apart every piece of meat out of it, using that same carcase as a plate or bowl because I forgot to bring any, just as i forgot to bring a kitchen knife or a de-boning knife and had to use my claws. I'm not perfect.

It took a few minutes, but I had the full chicken de-boned, wings and legs too, although the legs were a bit trickier, it had been a long while since I last de-boned an entire chicken, I was rusty as hell.

With the chicken meat neatly packed in its own carcase, I stored it in the inventory and pulled out the snake half, peeled off the scales and hide off it and sliced it open, removed the guts and dumped them, before rolling it and storing it.

"Everything is ready! Let's go back to the farm and I'll cook this m-" suddenly I was blindsided by a large creature jumping out from behind the bushes and into the clearing, throwing me off balance and making me fall into my side, before I can react, I'm pinned under the large paw of a Sabertooth tiger, or what it looks like at first.

There was no smell, branches breaking, no leaves rustling, nothing. One second I was talking and un the blink of an eye I was staring death in the face.

Onyx has taken 6 damage. 268/274
Bestiary entry for Chimera added and additional information compiled.

It was heavy, and it pinned me down hard, my ribs would have cracked from the impact if I didn't have an extremely dense skeleton, yet it pushed the air out of my lungs and left me very shocked and surprised.

It came into my close proximity so fast I didn't see it coming, even with my blindsight, it was definitively strong, I couldn't do more than struggle, thankfully it's claws couldn't pierce my scales, it was certainly trying, but at least while it was pinning me down, it didn't have a good angle to stab it's claws.

I couldn't move or react, my brain was still trying to process what happened, I was unable to form a plan.

I was centimeters away from a hungry looking predator, then I noticed it has a goat head next to it. "Little morsel, you and this pony will be our lunch today! I have been following the two of you since you entered this forest." It spoke in a very smug feminine voice, then I looked beside it, somehow it had grabbed my dad with its... snake tail?! The snake was coiling around his neck, tightly and keeping him there. At first he was able to keep the snake from choking him, using his hooves and pushing it back, keeping his neck free.

It was more or less an even match, until the snake tail bit him right on the side of the neck.

Coconut is paralyzed, he can't move or use magic!

Coconut is afflicted by paralyzing poison, his heart and lungs will become paralyzed if he is not healed within the hour.

I felt my blood turn to ice, as right before my eyes he was paralyzed and left struggling to breathe, his resistance waning as the powerful snake choked the life out of him, now helpless and unable to struggle, he was going to die if I didn't stop it right away.

The gravity of the situation finally reached my mind.

I couldn't let this happen! If air was cut off, he could suffer brain damage or worse! It was a deadly attack, one we were unprepared for, but why?! This monster could have picked up anyone else in this forest, why us?! Why hadn't it killed me yet?

It said it was stalking us all along. It was extremely hard to detect.

It didn't matter what it was doing, i had to stop it now!

Pulling my mind out of the shocking attack, I focused on forming a spell, one that would certainly get that snake off my dad, but that I needed to be careful or I would kill him instead of the monster.

Not even two seconds later I was ready, I extended my index claw.
"Disintegrate!" Growled out, aiming at the base of the snake.

All the while the sabertooth head looked at me, focused but seemingly amused by my reaction, far too calm and confident on itself to have killed me right away.

Little did it know, playing with its food while it's alive was a very bad idea.

The impact landed, severing the snake tail and turning the entire creature to dust, instantly freeing the paralyzed unicorn, who fell to the ground with a soft thud, wide eyed and breathing erratically, he could not even blink his eyes, but he looked at me with fear and worry, I tried to give him a reassuring look it wasn't all safe just yet.

Chimera has taken 80 damage, critical hit! Snake tail destroyed. 220/300 HP

The deadly attack seemed to finally make the monster realize we weren't harmless and defenseless prey to be toyed with, making its eyes widen and it's pressure on me lessen considerably, giving me enough time to think of a follow up attack and a plan to kill this damn murder cat, don't get me wrong, I love cats but this thing... It was deadly dangerous, and if it didn't flee right now I will have to end it's life.

I quickly came up with something, simple and straightforward. Forming another extremely powerful spell in my mind, I looked into the eyes of the Chimera, they were full of shock, fear and anger.

"Y-YOU KILLED SISTER! DIEEE NOOOOW!!!"
It seems the anger won out on the end, as a loud terrifying roar came from it's maw, right on my face, before it bit me, right on my head, its huge fangs have no issue piercing through my scales and flesh, only being stopped by my skull. Again it could very well have crushed my brain box and killed me instantly, if it wasn't for having bones denser than the gemstones I usually consume.

Onyx has taken 60 damage! Critical hit, internal bleeding and major lacerations in the muscles and arteries of the head, bleed out detected. 208/274

Severe bleeding detected, health lost at 50 per minute.

I roared in agony, trying desperately to claw out the beast's eyes, but it wasn't having any of it, it's powerful paws swiped down my forelegs like I was nothing. I needed to keep focused. Focus on the spell! "Ghhhaa!! LET GO OF ME!" I couldn't stop myself from screaming in pain from a brutal bite.
In my desperation, I summoned my dagger and stabbed it over and over, as hard as I could on its head eye, and neck, however, it was extremely strong, the dagger didn't penetrate much more than a few centimeters, its hide was as thick and hard to hurt as mine.

Chimera is immune to poison!
Chimera has taken 17 piercing damage! 203/300
Chimera has taken 14 piercing damage! 189/300
Chimera has taken 18 piercing damage! 171/300
Chimera is suffering from bleedout, at a rate of 10hp per minute.

When it realizes it can't simply crush my skull and kill me, it started to shake me, it got my entire head on its maw, and bit me again, deep into my neck, severing many of my veins and arteries, tearing through muscle as if it was tissue paper, I needed to be quick, the spell was almost ready, I just needed to endure a few more seconds. My eyes were tearing up from agony and fear, i knew if the spell failed and I lost my focus... I would be devoured.

I tried my best to focus my mind, as my body was shaken violently by the head, I grabbed the head of the sabertooth and held as firmly as possible, keeping my body weight firmly held by my arms so the damn monster wouldn't tear my fucking head off.

Critical hit! Onyx has taken 120 damage!
Warning! Severe neck trauma, possibility of spinal detachment is 50% and increasing!
Emergency! Deadly bleedout detected, death will occur within the next minute if the bleeding is not stopped. 88/274

Once again I found myself feeling that terrifying sense of impending doom, not just a feeling that something bad may happen, but the sensation of getting closer to death by the second, blood gushed out of my open neck artery and sprayed around like a fountain.

The sound of tearing muscle, scales cracking and hide stretching and ripping, increased by the second, each little noise send a mind shattering pain impulse into my brain, that threatened to shatter the concentration right as I was about to hopefully save myself.

I couldn't even make a sound as my throat was ripped open too, this was my last chance to free myself, this spell, I have never used it, it's one of the worst types of forbidden magic, the spell was forbidden for a reason, it caused bone deep necrotizing wounds that only a high tier divine healing spell could cure, and that was only scratching the surface of how nasty it was.

No amount of pain will stop me though, I focused my mind in a laser like focus, the spell, it was the only thing that mattered, I pushed through the agony of near death.

Finally its ready, and I open my maw just enough to barely release it, a greenish light blue beam lights up my entire field of view for an instant.

I send the attack directly to the back of its throat, making the monster spit my head out right away as it roars and squirms in agony, dropping to the floor, thrashing around wildly, I back away quickly, holding my head that is barely attacked to my body with my claws, managing to walk on my hind legs.

But It doesn't seem to care about me anymore, the pain of the spell is so bad that it stops considering me.

Taking advantage of that, I pulled the Amulet quickly from my inventory and used it on myself, instantly sealing all my wounds, internal and external around my head. I let out a small sigh of relief, I wasn't going to die anymore, I continued to watch the Chimera suffer under the effects of the aptly called "Necrotic Beam of Death" or "Finger of Death."

It roars at the top of its lungs, those roars soon turn into horrified screams that sound far too much like begging for death, as the skin on its head and neck turns grayish green right in front of my eyes, then the flesh sloughs off in blackening chunks, the smell of advanced decomposition starts to permeate the area, it starts shaking and clawing desperately at it's neck and head, tearing off chunk after chunk of its decomposed flesh, before it finally stopped screaming, instead it makes a raspy whimper before going quiet.

The neck gives up a few seconds later and the sabertooth head falls right off it's muscular feline shoulders, landing with a splat on the ground, it eventually becomes nothing more than a skull surrounded by black, foul smelling ooze in a puddle.

Chimera has taken 100 damage, critical hit! Sabertooth Tiger head is destroyed. Attacks from the inside deal increased damage and bypass most defenses like armor and magical protection, as well as dealing thee times the normal damage by hitting near or at vital organs directly. 50/300

Chimera is suffering from dead blood, it's blood has become necrotizing and it will die in less than an hour unless purified by divine magic.

Even after all of that, it's still alive somehow, but as I looked at it over, I could see only the goat head was alive, it tiger neck was blackened and rotten partially into the shoulders, but it's vital organs we're still somewhat functional, however the sabertooth tigress was dead, nothing but a skull with rotten eyes, those eyes... They were looking right though me, I decided I don't want to look at them anymore and sent a ray of frost into each, turning them into balls of ice, pulled them out of the skull and crushed them with my telekinesis.

"M-my dear sisters... I-i always told them, eating sapient beings would get us killed one day." It spoke in a shaky voice filled with agony, then it paused, coughing up blood that looked more like tar, it smelled awful, rotten as if whatever thing it came from had died a long time ago.

My trachea, neck and head are fully reconstructed and healed, I was able to talk again.
"You are right, You three were extremely powerful, but you didn't kill me when you had the chance, you instead toyed with your prey before killing it, and look where that got you. Now, do you have a way to heal my father's condition?" I offered, looking to my dad who was on the floor paralyzed, but the goat shook its head slightly from side to side.

"I do not, sister's poison stops the heart, your father has less than an hour to live. Now, please kill me, the agony is far too much after-" I didn't need to hear any more of its words, a greataxe materialized into my extended right hand, I stood up next to the weakened monster and I sliced the last of its heads off, it's body stayed upright for a few seconds while it's head fell to the ground and rolled, I didn't look at it, just cleaned the blood off the axe and stored away.

"Your death will save him then, such a shame, had you surrendered after I killed your snake tail, we could have made peace, maybe we would have, one day, all laughed over this while sharing a nice meal, but you chose death, for whatever is worth, you were the closest I was to dying lately and I will not make the same mistake of underestimating this forest ever again because of you." I spoke to the goat head, holding it in my telekinesis, then storing it into my inventory.

Chimera has been slain!
Your party earns 99000 exp!
Onyx has leveled up to lvl 36! 29573/70842
Sylf has leveled up lvl 36! 14950/70842
Kari has leveled up lvl 36! 10209/70842
Coconut has leveled up to level 34! 17487/49196

Chimera's head added: Goat 2kg

A loud gasp was heard from the ground, followed by quickened breathing and panting, dad sat up and checked himself over, placing his hoof on his chest to feel his pulse. I ran over to him and sat down right next, but this time I placed a shield around us.

"Are you okay?! I-i'm very sorry I couldn't help you earlier! You weren't breathing well, I hope having gained power has fully purged your system from anything harmful, it should have, I need you to use your healer ability, check for anything left from the poison." I urge him to, holding him on a gentle hug.

"Just checked myself completely, I'm fine son, thank you for saving me back there, I thought I was dead but you managed to get it away, if you hadn't, I would have been suffocated very quickly, and the poison? Killing that creature... Somehow removed even the smallest trace out of my system, can you believe it? It's just like divine magic!" He said the last part excitedly, then his tone shifted back to worried.

"But back there, when you were fighting that thing, I could see you almost died, right next to me! I-i could see it bite into your head, I could see it's huge fangs sink into your neck, there was so much blood!
I was expecting the worst, I'll be honest, I... I thought the both of us were dead, for a few moments, I felt my heart slow so much I thought it had stopped, my breathing, it stopped almost a minute before you killed that thing finally, you helped me regain hope when I saw the head of that monster fall right next to me, even if the sight would have made me sick." He chuckled darkly, a humorless laugh of someone who is trying to keep his mind distracted from something that traumatized him.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you better... I should have expected some creature would come after us, but I put too much trust into my senses... My blood is everywhere around here and I'm gonna attract even more predators in search of a meal." I realize as I look around me and at myself, covered in both red blood and my own glowing indigo blood, I've become far too used to the sight, I need to stop getting caught unaware... But this damn tree headed monster somehow sneaked up on us, it thought that we probably were easy prey, had it gone for the killing blow right away, we would have been easy prey.

I let out a tired sigh, I could have prevented all this, I could have kept a decently strong shield on us active at all times, ready in case anything like this ever happened.

I could have kept a weapon ready, I could have brought more help, I'm sure mom wouldn't have been too upset at having to come, but she deserves to have free time with the foals and to hang out with her friends, and so did Kari, I could have handled everything better by myself!

Fuck... I almost caused both of us to lose our lives because of my stupid overconfidence, I'm NEVER coming here again without fully enchanted heavily protective armor and weapons.

"I think we should just teleport back to the start, we need to wash the blood off our bodies so dear mum doesn't finish the job that Chimera started, I wish I could have had time to scan it... It was way more powerful than me physically, and it had very good defense to physical attacks... Those things are truly monstrous! If it hadn't been playing around when it first pounced, and instead went for a lethal attack, it would have ripped my head right off without a doubt." I admit with a whole body shiver, I could still almost feel that excruciating pain of my spine stretching to its limit, and my muscles and tendons ripping like rubber bands being stretched too far once again.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." I stopped in place, and dad stood next to me, I felt sickened from that mental image of getting my head ripped off, felt whatever breakfast I had threatening to come out, I felt a bit dizzy so I leaned against dad, taking deep breaths I felt teary eyed and my mouth salivating excessively, a clear sign I was about to puke, but I tried to relax.

Everything is okay, dad is with me, the shield will keep us safe, I am fine, my body is healed and everything is where it should be, my neck is fine.

I touched my neck, gently massaged it just to reassure myself it was all okay.

I stood there for a few more minutes, taking deep breaths, gradually my stomach calmed down, that horrible sensation went away, I need to stop thinking such thoughts.

Even after all I've been through, and all the power I've acquired, I'm still not even a whelp yet, I'm still in hatchling stage, my scales are soft compared to what an adult dragon's would be, my magic and my abilities are my largest advantage, and I need to rely more on my equipment.

He stayed by my side, letting me lean on his body, now I felt better, making sure the shield was holding up, then I moved away.

"I-i feel better now, let's teleport back to the exit and take a shower on the river, okay?" I ask gently and then he nods, I stay leaning against him while I prepared the spell.

Focusing on my spellcraft, and creating the necessary runic formula in my mind and making sure both the location and the fact I'm taking dad along with me are taken into consideration. Not even a minute later and the spell is ready, we both teleport right outside the deadly forest, across the bridge heading into it.

I have been a stupid idiot to underestimate the Everfree, that mistake almost costed both of us our lives. I wanted to cry happy tears to be safely outside, but I instead looked at the small river the bridge crossed, and I jumped into the water.

Its delightfully cool, and it's fresh and clean water, seems like the really keep their water sources fresh and clean, this is the water that goes to Ponyville and around the village, i scrub myself clean and drink water, in that order, the blood and grime from going around the forest is mostly completely gone by the time Coconut decided to jump in, so I go to him and offer to help him wash, he nods and smiles.

"Sure son, just keep it to my back and mane, the rest I can do myself with my telekinesis, you understand?" I nod, standing next to him, the water here is shallow, not enough to submerge even myself, but good to relax by floating on I'm too of the water.

I learned to not purposefully annoy dad, I think he deserves much more respect than what I was giving him before, at first he was just some guy who I felt weird and slightly uncomfortable around, but now...

I love every single minute we spend together, he's my best friend too, he does his best and I appreciate that very much, that's what I think as I massage his neck, back and wash his mane, there are fish around us, curious or maybe attracted by the blood on the water, but they're all small and don't try to attack, maybe I should have just decided to fish instead.

Too late for that, better relax and enjoy the moment.
I scrubbed his mane and loosened all the dirt and the blood stuck to him, it wasn't much compared to me, so it didn't take too long, we stayed a few extra minutes in the water, I was enjoying the cool flow over my underside and legs, while he was only hooves deep if he stood up.

Just like he said, he scrubbed clean all other parts of his body with his magic, while I climbed out the water, I was done already, I stood on the sand and shook myself dry, getting the rest of the way there by casting prestidigitation on myself.

"This was a failure, we will be late for lunch as well... It's about 2pm and we haven't gone back, I hope the apples have made some lunch for the others in our absence." I admitted, I was better emotionally and mentally, but I still felt like I had messed up by deciding to go hunting, stupid overconfidence, to think I could just magic away any problem and not expect an ambush.

"Your intentions were to bring something tasty for lunch for Sylf, Kari and yourself, we were being cautious, if anything it was my fault for having my back turned just at the moment it attacked, I also didn't prepare any spells just in case... But yeah, I agree that this little expedition was a mistake, I learned something I didn't want to learn, what almost dying feels like, i-i know it won't be the last time either, look I... I don't blame you son, and I won't give up despite this, but maybe I need more training before tackling anything more dangerous?" He asked in a pleading tone, he was genuinely wanting to learn better, I could only agree.

He started to get out of the small river as well, walking to the sand where I was and shaking the excess water off his fur, but he still was wet so I did him a favor and used prestidigitation too on his body, removing the excess water.

"There you go, dry and ready, now as for training? I completely agree, we need specialized training, actual military training even, but I don't know if joining the guard would be a good idea, because we won't have time for anything else, you still want to work at the parlor and also heal I injured ponies, don't you?" At my question, he immediately nodded.

"Then we need Sylf's help, or... We could travel all the way to Griffonstone and have the good General Steelwing there to give us a proper training too, with exercises and everything, we have options, think about them and then when you're ready, let's train together! Thunder also wants to join, she said she wanted to spar together so that would be the perfect chance for all of us to grow our skills."

Now let's go back, but please don't tell mom that we both almost died? I'll get into so much trouble! I'll do anything you want in return, deal?" I begged, giving him my best pleading sparkly puppy dog eyes.

"Anything huh? Really?" He looks at me with a mischievous smirk, I can't help but swallow nervously, but after giving it a minute of consideration I answer him.

"Yes dad, aaaanything you want, and yes even that!" I confirm to him, his smirk widens and he nods eagerly, offering me his hoof.

"Then we have a deal, dear son, but you better don't back out of it later, 'kay?" We start walking towards the way we came in from, I kept the shield fully powered at all times, it was strong enough to deflect at least a couple of hits from one of the Chimera we faced before, it would easily get through but we would have time to prepare and see it coming, this would make any attempt at a surprise attack completely useless.

I nodded with a smile, and shook his hoof, then gave him a loving hug across his neck and nuzzled the side of his head with my own. "A deal's a deal, we will define a date and a place for it some other time though, preferably at your business... Just don't go too crazy this time please? I love trying new things, but don't forget I'm still only eleven and I have not fully developed my tastebuds."

He chuckled at me and shook his head, giving me a confused look. "Onyx, you're making sound a bit... Weird, I just want you to taste my experimental ice cream flavors, if you phrase it like that and somepony overheard us... You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" He gave me a stern look, and I couldn't help but snort out a laugh, he couldn't keep his serious expression for long and chuckled too.

"Hah! Sorry, i just love messing with you sometimes, I prooomise I won't back out of tasting all your whacky ice cream inventions, happy dad?" I said with a less playful tone, meaning it this time, it wasn't so bad, it was fun, like a game he organized with various overly complicated steps and even puzzles, all in an effort to make it more interesting for me, and ice cream was always the reward.

I really appreciated him, and the way he was with me, he always tried to make me laugh and played with me, he even picked up on tickling me after I did it to him enough times that he decided to get revenge and learned how to.

"Very happy, now... There's something I want to tell you, that we should talk about." He said in a soft but serious tone.

"Glad to hear you, what do you want to tell me?"

"I wanted to say that whatever happens to us now, I want you to remember that I love you, Onyx, I'll stay by your side and help you with anything you need, as long as you want me to, if something bad happens to you, I'll make sure it isn't permanent, I can bring you back... If, and it hope it never does, but if you die, I'll get you back to life, I promise." He spoke softly, almost like a whisper in my ear, as I held his hoof.

I felt the stress and fear of dying I felt today, and every traumatic experience from not long ago, practically melt away as I started to cry on his chest, he held me, rubbing my back with a hoof. "T-thank you, I... I'm always messing up and you treat me with such kindness... I don't think I deserve it but you just make my life better, you and mom are wonderful and make me feel like I'm never truly alone."

I looked up at him with tearful eyes, smiling softly.
"I'll do the same for you, i-i promise I'll save you, I'll make you and mom proud, if anything ever happens to either of you, I'll bring you back, I will talk to Goddess Faust and ask her if I she can help."

"I know you would, in fact she told me she wants to speak to you, to all of us together, but specially you, would you go with us to meet her this time? I know you said you were scared last ti-" before he could finish, I interrupted him.

"Yes I will, I was dumb to be afraid, after meeting Boreas and talking to him, I know that she is probably tame compared to him, and I was incredibly silly to be so afraid... Boreas is a prankster, but he is also honorable and even friendly, obviously he takes his role as a god seriously but he's not above having a bit of fun, I suppose Faust is not too different, they're all good people after all, they are good friends, isn't that right?" By now I had stopped crying, only occasionally sniffling and having to wipe off my face.

"Exactly right you silly dragon, she's not gonna hurt you, ever she is really sweet, and she even said she wanted to be our friend, at least Sylf and myself, I bet she also wants to befriend Thunder and yourself, it's the feeling I got from talking to her this morning." I couldn't help but smile, that sounds nice, I love making friends and this would certainly be an interesting person to meet.

"I definitively will join you all, but first let's get back, shall we? Before we start to worry the girls." I offered, standing up and pulling back from the hug, feeling a lot better emotionally and mentally.

"Yes, are we teleporting back?" He asked while I prepared the spell, it didn't take long.

"Do you really need to ask? Teleport!" Indigo energy enveloped both of us, and we disappeared in motes of light and reappeared at the same time right in front of the Apple family residence, the crackle of energy must have alerted everyone inside because not soon after, Thunder, Sylf, Pear and Bright Mac came out to see us.

"You think that washing yourselves and pretending everything is alright is gonna keep you from getting into trouble?" Sylf spoke as she walked over to us, her eyes harsh and her expression serious, she glared at both of us, her lips raising with a slight snarl.

"Onyx! You, I told you countless times before by now, you should call for help, if anything happens, you should retreat right away, and yet you thick headed pup can't understand such a simple bucking concept?! Now what do you have to say for yourself?" She huffed angrily, walking around us.

Surprisingly, dad spoke up first. "We were attacked by surprise, it was way too fast, the monster used it's tail to paralyze me, then it tried to rip Onyx's head off, I couldn't do anything other than look, while I was also dying, it all happened in less than a minute, from the surprise attack to the monster being dead, Sylf my dear please! don't blame him, he has already suffered enough, it was my fault as a parent, for not having prepared any countermeasure against attack."

That stopped her, the expression on her face softening as her angry mask slipped, then the tears starting to fall, she rushed over to us and pulled both of us into a hug, sobbing loudly. "W-when I saw the alerts, I wanted to go, but it all happened so quickly I didn't even get to the Everfree!" She cried as she held onto us, she really sounded like a wolf at the same time she spoke, her sad howls echoing far into the distance.
"I-im so sorry for getting angry, I don't blame either of you, i-i just... I wish you would be safer, I want to know what happened exactly, please tell me everything." She begged at the end, looking at me meaningfully, her ears lowered.

"Mom, I understand why you were angry, I... Okay I admit I messed up, I should have kept us shielded at all times, at least a shield strong enough to deflect one or two strikes so we have time to fight back, but I got overconfident. Here is what happened." Then I started to explain everything, from seeing the Cockatrice and hunting it to gutting and preparing the animal and then suddenly when I was about done the extremely quick attack by the Chimera, that was much deadlier than any monster I had encountered before, it was faster than me, stronger than me, tougher than me and the only way I was able to beat it was by outsmarting it and letting it think it won.

"I should have gone... Dammit guys! You both are going to start intensive training tomorrow, no resting and no excuses! It will also include exercises to increase both your strength and flexibility. We need to get your minds to work faster to react to threats and also increase your muscle density and strength." We both nodded at that, it was something we could easily agree on.

"We both were talking about that, and we can agree that it's what we need, now how about lunch? I brought a snake half and a chicken, I think we could grill the snake on some coals and make the chicken for dinner, anyone can run to Ponyville and bring back a kilogram of culinary mushrooms and a bottle of red wine? Any variety or price as long as it's not sweet wine." My change of topic seems to bring everyone out of the previous tense and worried mood they were in, many expressed their relief to see us healthy and back here, and we got a few more hugs from all, including the foals, the twins were specially glad to see their dad and older brother.

Lunch was late but we got some appetizers front the Apples, a few salads with croutons and cheese, and of course a few of their desserts while I made a fire using the firewood the family had stored, they didn't mind lending us some wood to cook outside, and I found some unused thick steel mesh to cook over, since they didn't have a metal open grill.

Once the wood turned into coals, I spread them out with a shovel, evenly over the ground, then placed the steel mesh held taut and spread with some large rocks, and on top of it I placed the snake meat I had previously cut, I added some spices and lots of salt to it, rubbing it with some olive oil they gave me.

The Apples had a nice herb garden, and while they didn't grow spicy peppers they had a good amount of dried chili, for a meat like this I wanted it to be spicy, and maybe add some lime juice, lemon was the only thing they had but it was a decent replacement.

The meat cooked nicely over the coals, while I laid there in the sun, a nice homemade straw hat was given to me to protect me from the sun, while I laid on the grass comfortably. The buzzing of bees and other insects and the breathing of my siblings napping on me, as well as Wishpaw and Kari laying to my side, the crackling of the coals and the sizzling of the fat and other juices from the meat, it was all calming and relaxing. Only thing I was missing was a refreshingly cold drink, but I wouldn't change this moment, its wonderful.

Except for the fact that I was late, and we would be having this by around 4 in the afternoon. I should have just used the oven... Well at least everyone had some food by now, I didn't have to feel so guilty.

I stayed like this, almost falling asleep at some point myself, but the smell of the meat kept me awake, it smelled... Good actually, it seems like whatever bad smell came from the animal was on its scaly skin or it's organs, maybe some scent gland to alert predators that it was dangerous, who knows?

By now the meat was ready, I grabbed the large wooden board and the knife I brought with me, again leaned by Pear, and checked the meat, its fully cooked, crispy, fat rendered nicely and the meat tender and cooked all the way through.

This was a wild animal and there is no way I'm eating it anything other than well done, I have no idea what kind of parasites an omnivore snake chicken has in it, and as much as I have confidence in myself, I don't want to check how parasite immune I am.

Nor do I want to risk mom, who is definitively not a dragon, or the twins, Wishpaw, Kari, all of them probably want to try this. I cut a chuck of meat, pulling it from the ribs of the snake.

Using the fork I bring it to my mouth, tasting it slowly, the flavor is... Oddly similar to chicken, much more gamey, but also not unpleasantly so, the texture however is far less tender, the meat is slightly stretchy and stringy, nothing unpleasant it's odd, no real complaints, it's delicious, exotic but also familiar thanks to all of the herbs and spices.

I cut it into chucks, then get it all in a bowl to offer to anyone who wants to try, I think it's tender enough even for the foals, but I don't know enough about their diets, I should take it to mom and let her deal with that.

The twins had woken up by now, as I placed them on the ground, and they were walking closer. "Biig brothar!" The adorable little colt, Lightning said with a cheerful voice as he jumped up to my back, and flapped his wings a few times for stability, he got to my neck and wrapped his little hooves around it, hugging me tightly, he was surprisingly strong for such an adorable small foal.

"My sweet little brother, are you hungry? Did the smell wake you up?" I asked in a soft tone, I felt extremely happy and proud of him, but I tried to act calm, wouldn't want to scare him or Wander, she ran over and grabbed my front leg and shook it gently to get my attention.

"B-brother?" She adorably asked with a slightly doubtful tone, testing the word a few times more.

"Yes, I'm your brother." I explained softly, in a clear tone, to both of them, her unsure expression turned into a smile, and she started to prance around me.

"Brother! Brother! Brother!" She cheerfully repeated, before also jumping onto my back and grabbing my tail instead, she pulled it up, making me let out a surprised yelp, but I didn't want her to lose her balance so I didn't pull my tail down.

Now I understood why Treble got so upset when I tugged his cat tail, I should have been more considerate with him, damn.
It was really embarrassing to be on the receiving end, my tail's base is my no-no spot. "Come on Wandeeer, don't you wanna to play?" I started to wiggle the tip of my tail like a cat lure, hovering in front of her so she would let go of its base, it worked! She started following it wards my head where her brother was, she turned to him and stuck out her tongue and closed her eyes in a playful mocking display.

"You too behave and I'll show you what flying is like, okay?" I offered, giving them pause, they both looked thoughtful as if trying to understand my words.

"F-ffly? Flyyyyin." The filly tried to say, she got pretty close all things considered, I nodded happily, smiling at her.

"Flying is what pegasi do, what birds do, and what bees do, do you know birds?" Both nodded their heads.

"Bir?" I nod at Wander's attempt, but also correct her.

"Bird." I sit and wave my forelegs like a flapping bird, making both of them giggle, they're so adorable! I can't help but smile and chuckle a bit myself.

"Birrrd?" She tried again, and I petted her head, nodding again.

"Good job sweetie! Yes, bird, birds fly in the sky."

"To fly is to... Flap wings, in the air. Only ponies with wings, or birds can fly, and also some bugs, Lightning, you too can fly if you learn." I do the flapping forelegs again and then point to the sky, then stand in two legs and jump while flapping my forelegs, I look very dumb and they both laugh at me, but I just smile more.

"Big brother? Me... Fly?" I nod to him, before gently lifting them both into the air with telekinesis, making them float, Lightning as if by instinct, starts to flap his tiny wings, oddly enough this makes holding him up a lot easier, and I just have to direct his movement so they both fly together, they're both wide eyed, smiling wide and making excited noises, cheering.

This commotion wakes up the other two, who look on with smiles of their own, Kari pretends to be asleep after winking at me, and Wishpaw happily runs over and asks to be lifted too, of course I can't say no to such a cute cub, soon the three of them are playing in the air, I lift them and let them float guiding my magic by their movements.

They 'swim' in the air while I lay down, relaxed and with a happy smile, eventually the twins tire themselves out and both fall asleep, and Wishpaw is left alone and soon gets tired too and goes back to sleep.

This time thankfully they go to lay next to Kari and Wishpaw, leaving me to finish working on my task at hand.

That day we ate well, the cockatrice was pretty tasty and even the twins had a good portion, they loved it, apparently they could have solid food and that's what the Apples have been feeding them while we were gone.

The night was relaxing and I stayed until midnight stargazing by myself on the roof of the house, I needed to train, to practice, and to study on both magic and combat, days like this where I could unwind and play would be less frequent when I returned back to school, of that I was sure of.

I need to work on preparing enchanted accessories, something that can be work when going outside, jewelry, but what spell? A shield? A teleportation that takes the wearer back to the teleportation circle at home? That last one would be a lot more complicated and far more advanced than what I could currently do.

A shield would be doable, it could be set up so if someone approaches at a high speed and collides with the wearer or at least comes close enough the spell will stop the wearer from suffering any injury from the impact, be it from a weapon, a flying kick, or a thrown object, even a tackle.

One of this for everyone in the family would be a very good start, something that had a divine spell imbued in it would be wonderful too, but divine magic works under different rules so I don't know if it could work.

Today was... A bittersweet day, I have killed a sapient creature, I killed someone, I used a forbidden spell and decapitated... Her, afterwards to finish the job.
Could I have used another spell? Maybe... Disintegrate? Freezing Sphere or Cone of cold from inside the creature's maw instead? Any of those would have probably worked, but I needed it to let go of me, the worst pain I could inflict was necessary, it was necessary to warrantee it would let go.

At least that's what I told myself to be able to sleep tonight.

Those were some of the thoughts I had, right before deciding that I had enough stargazing and teleporting back to bed on the sofa, closing my eyes and drifting off into sleep.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!
Yes I made the Chimeras extremely overpowered monsters that have high stealth, ability to produce no smell or sound when the sneak, and strong as heck, this hopefully will make Onyx start taking the dangers of the Everfree more seriously, it's a high level area after all. Lots of potential huge exp though.