Alpha's Sojourn

Alpha sat there as a pair of cerulean and magenta eyes pierced the darkness. His enormous form indistinguishable in the shadow that surrounded him. The cool night air enunciated his breaths with soft puffs of steam, as his eyes stayed locked with the pair before him. With an unconscious snort and a blink the eyes he had seen a moment before vanished with a small pop and a flash of lavender.

The minotaur sat there dumbfounded for a few seconds before shaking his head clear of the myriad of confusing thoughts. With a sigh Alpha stood and began trudging through the dense forest chains clinking behind him. Hours passed as he wandered aimlessly through the Everfree only the soft buzz of cicadas and chirping of crickets accompanying him, that is untill he heard a soft sobbing in the distance.

Fluttershy and Twilight sat in the darkness as their hearts pounded furiously within their chests threatening to rip their rib cages asunder. Eyes locked as the ebony monstrosity slowly exhaled puffs of steam into the night. Seconds ticked by, and the only sound that could be heard by either of the frightened mares was that of their own frantic heats pumping blood to their ears. The shadowy beast let out a snort and Twilight's horn flared to life, instinctively teleporting the two as far away from the creature as her magic would allow.

A groggy daze followed, as it usually did, the instinctive teleportation that Twilight had preformed. Luckily the two were sent not far outside of Fluttershy's cottage just outside of the woods.

"S-so w-what do you think that thing was," stammered out the terrified unicorn. Fluttershy only squeaked in response. "I dont suppose I could spend the night could I Fluttershy?"

"O-of c-course T-Twilight. I was actually planing on asking if you wanted to spend the night. I-if that's okay with you of course."

"Thanks Fluttershy I don't think I'll be able to walk around at night for a while after what happened," Twilight stated finally gaining some of her composure back.

"I guess that makes two of us."

With a nervous chuckle and a quick glance over their shoulders they quickly darted into Fluttershy's house up the stairs and into her bed. The warm quilts were pulled up to their respective chins, but neither would feel the relief of sleep that night instead they lay there discussing what they had seen that day. That is untill the sun broke the horizon with eternal fire, and both minds finally felt the fatigue catch them and carry them to the realm of dreams.

Chitin sat in the horrifyingly white hospital room as the stench of disinfectants and solvents permeated the air, a single thought crossed his mind what if the queen blames me for what got loose in the Everfree. His heart raced, senarios flashed in his mind, as cold sweat poured down his back. What if she banishes me, or throws me in the dungeon, or throws me in the dungeon in the place she banishes me to? An infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number typewriters locked in a room for an infinite number of years could still not provide a probable positive solution to Chitin's woes.

Suddenly a thought hit him, not unlike being struck by a spherical flying object, I should chase after the monster that escaped in the Everfree. That way the Queen will most likely take pity on me and may be even reward me for a job well done. This idiotic plan in hoof Chitin set off, wich proved more difficult than first thought as the hospital bed was exceedingly comfortable, and none of his limbs wanted to respond to his brain's commands.

Oh when i want to clop you guys are all over the damned place but now that I need something you leave me hanging, jerks. With a burst of green Chitin was next to his bed, limbs flailing as gravity's cruel embrace caught him once again.  A loud thump and he was lying on the floor. As he stood he could feel his muscles groan and strain under his light use. Cautiously he walked torwards the door wary of any lingering medical staff, upon arriving at said portal to freedom his face made contact with the mahogany slab before his brain could react. A nurse entered the room confused by the sight she saw, nothing it appeared as though Chitin had just up and left with that she departed.

With the door no longer an option, the Queen had clearly booby trapped it in order to keep him from escaping, Chitin looked torwards his only other means of escape ... the window. His clearly flawless plan did have a small kink in it, and that was being several stories above the ground. If his muscle aches were any indication he wouldn't be able to fly very well and he wasn't sufficiently trained in magic to attempt such a long teleportation. A short prayer to the Ageless Queen and he was off.

For a brief moment it appeared as though Chitin's plan had succeeded. His eyes paned out against the skyline of The Hive, he felt at peace. Wow. I wish i could feel like this all the time, he thought. That thought would stay with him for a lifetime, if he survived that long that is. Alternating between buzzing flaps and bursts of green Chitin managed to reach the ground relatively unharmed. Now for the fun, part escaping the city. The wayward changeling slunk across the city careful to avoid any otherling, that of course just happened to make him look incredibly suspicious whenever he came across anyling.

"Halt! State your business!" Shouted a guard from across the street

"I am Chitin returning to my post in the Everfree," he said with unnatural authority, "and you best let me pass before the Queen becomes agitated and expels a single, lowly guard such as yourself." Emphasizing every word with a stomp.

"I-I'm sorry sir I-I didn't realize it was you s-sir. Please forgive me, I've got a wife and two grubs to feed."

"Don't worry about it THIS time but I catch you out of line one more time and I'll have you thrown in the pits. Is that clear."

"Yes sir," with a salute and a wobble the guard was off. Guarding the place in the Everfree did have some perks one of wich included celebrity status as well as being a mid ranking officer right away, not to mention semi-frequent audiences with the Queen.

Chitin resumed his journey to the edge of town, with more of a strut than normal. Finally he could see it, the daunting, ominous bane of his exietence the Everfree forest. His swagger now gone he adopted a steely façade, and strode into the Faust forsaken forest.

Alpha neared the source of the sobbing with caution, many predators were said to imitate the cries of the distressed in order to lure their prey into false sympathy. He neared the clearing; the early dawn light shone and revealed a powder blue mare with a two-tone silver mane sobbing next to a wagon in the clearing. Tip-hoofing into the clearing he attempted to slink past the mare and avoid a confrontation. Unfortunately the chains rattled behind him like so many metallic skeletons.

"Hi." Said Alpha applying his best "innocent guy" face.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Asked the mare between sobs.

"I-I'm just passing through," replied Alpha.

"Riiight. So I'm supposed to belive some jolly jackass just happened to run across me in the middle of the Everfree. What's your name and what are you doing here," she replied with force.

"Hold your tongue child I'm older than your family name, and I will have proper respect shown." Alpha spoke with nearly unbearable pressure in his voice.

"O-okay s-so just w-who are you then?"

"My name is Alpha, forger of the Elements of Harmony, immortal spirit of the earth, and leader of the minotaur race, what name pray tell do you go by traveling ... uh prostitute."He said with powerful indignation in his voice.

"I-I'm not a hooker you jerk, I am The Great and Powerful Trixie."

"I just assumed that with the wagon full of stuff and the pity party, that you were a traveling 'mare of the evening'." He said with a mild smirk, and a shrug.

"So I'm supposed to belive you're an ancient god and creator of the most powerful objects in existence."

"Uhh ... yeah."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Thats the best joke I've heard all year."

"Way to go stick a claymore in the old ego there, so you're telling me that even a seasoned traveler such as yourself has never heard the tale of Alpha's Sojourn?" His mood now seriously deflated

"Nope sorry."

"Not even the minotaurs weave the epic of Alpha?"

"Minotaurs? How dated is your information, the only minotaur I know of is Iron Will, and he only hangs around a bunch of goats. Most of the other minotaurs hang around in nomatic herds and even those are scarce."

"Wait what," Alpha's face now pale and voice shallow, "no, the minotaurs have a great kingdom to the north, farther still than the crystal kingdom."

"Sorry I've never even heard of the crystal empire, or any north of it."

"Not even any mention in any historcal texts?" Alpha asked now growing worried

"Sorry, can't help you there."

"Damn, so anyways moving on why were you crying in the woods here?"

(Meanwhile in Ponyville)

"... just to move the story along, the transition seemed half-assed at best and there was absolutely no reason given for the change in subject."

"RD Ah've no idea why you think Ah want t' discuss tha new Darin' Do book now, we've got to keep lookin' fer Twi and Shy. We haven't seen hide nor hair of either of 'em since yesterday."

"I know but I'm just so bored, wanna go make out."

"Sure."

(Meanwhile back at whatever the hell it was that I was doing before)

"I-I was going to finally take my revenge on a certain purple mare for running me out of town, and making a laughing stock out of me."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh that's a good one. Trust me kid when your sole reason for existing, the only reason that you've been able to keep yourself from going insane after an eternity in darkness, is the thought of rending the flesh from your enemies bones and watching as the last of their ragged breath escapes from their bloody twisted form in the moonlight as a pyre burns to devour their lifeless corpse, then that is no existence at all." As Alpha spoke, his voice grew in volume until it reached a low yell. "So take it from me foal move on with your life and drop this subject live and be sure to enjoy it because if this mare truly does loathe you then that will be sweeter than any torture you can devise."

Trixie sat there shaking as a leaf in the wind, while the hulking beast regained his composure. She was scared but not for herself but for the object of his anger. She knew he wasn't going to stop until she stopped her petty revenge fantasy and continued to move forward.

"But what do you do if you feel horrible inside every time you think about it, how do you simply forget all of the pain and humiliation they've caused you." Tears now welling in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm not asking you to forget, just move on, soon enough it will be but a distant memory in the back of your mind, and that pain you feel deep inside is a poison that will eat you from the inside out until there's nothing left but an empty husk. Trust me I know what I'm talking about."

"So who are you going to 'forget' about."

"I don't know. I honestly dont know."

They sat in silence for about half an hour before either one of them spoke.

"Ponyville's in that direction," Trixie said pointing a hoof in an arbitrary direction,"you may want to stop there to see if there is anypony there that can help you out."

"Thank you, but where are you going to go?"

"I have a few contacts in Trottingham that can hook me up with a few gigs and help me get back on my feet. Not to mention move on. Who knows maybe I'll even be able to find out a bit more about what happened to the minotaurs."

With that Alpha stood and lumbered down the path that Trixie had pointed out to him, chains clicking horribly behind him.