Daniel Book Four- Zebrica

The quest had traveled enough leagues into the desert that the town they had come from had disappeared, and was replaced by the dry sand that covered the ground beneath their hooves. It was currently night, and they had set up camp. Ditzy and Gilda had already went to the tents that had been packed, and Daniel and CC were still sitting at the fire they had created. Daniel was staring into the fire, his eyes deep in thought. CC just stared at him.

"So, how did you get to this world anyways?" CC said gently, hoping to get Daniel's mind off of whatever was bothering him.

"I'm not sure, maybe it was Faust, or maybe I died and came here. Your guess is as good as mine." Daniel said darkly, his gaze not leaving the fire.

"Did you like your old home world?"

"No," was the reply, CC could feel hatred flare up, along with sadness. She swallowed.

"Okay, you're emanating hatred like a bad disease, might I ask what's troubling you?"

"I just feel like, for whatever reason, that when we're done with this trek, I'll lose something important. The only thing is, I don't know what I'll be losing," Daniel said with a humorless chuckle.

"Well, I'm no alicorn, but I am here to help."

*   *   *

Gilda and Ditzy sat in a tent. "So, Gilda, can I ask a question?" Ditzy said, turning her good eye on the said griffin. Gilda shifted to face her. she gave a nod. "Why do you always follow Daniel into the stupidest of things?" Gilda laughed gently.

"I don't know really, it's just that, whenever Daniel says something, it's not like he's just saying some random bit of nothing, like everybody else, but as if he tries his best to actually think about what he says. Whenever I see him get in danger, I get this feeling in my gut that tells me to stand by his side, I'll always follow him, and I'll always follow you. Even if it means my life," Gilda said, eyes squinting slightly as she thought about her words herself.

"Wait, I understand that fact about Daniel, but what do you mean you'll follow me?" Ditzy asked curiously.

"Well, while Daniel may be the voice of both rhyme and reason, you always seem to know what's best for others. You are cheerful when you need to be, and serious when that is needed as well. You and Daniel are the perfect pair, because when you two are together, nothing is impossible, and to top it all off, when I see you two together, it's almost as if... as if your love can warm even the darkest corner of hell, sometimes, I wonder what it's like," Gilda replied.

"What's that?"

"To be loved, and part of a nest, or herd in your case. Especially with those as wonderful as you two."

*   *   *

"What do you mean help?" Daniel asked, moving his eyes to meet CC's.

"I'm a changeling, I have some control over emotions, and that means I can feel them, and I know how people that I have been around long enough react to certain things. The thing is, you can't really lie about your emotions around a changeling. So, I guess I'm suggesting therapy," CC replied. Daniel let out a cheerful laugh, and CC felt his flicker of amusement, which died quickly.

"No, that's alright," he said gently. "You know with those sharp canines, I bet you like meat, huh?"

"Well, I guess, but what's your point?" CC asked, as Daniel pulled out a bit of jerky, and gave it to her. She took it hesitantly, and swallowed it. Daniel smiled and closed his eyes gently, just as the ground began to shake with a large rumbling boom. they both sat up straight and stared out at the desert night as the moon began to rise. Again there was a large rumble, and a pony, jet black in color, with a sharp short horn, and bug like wings came to a stop at the campsite.

"You ponies need to leave. Now." He said darkly, his red eyes seething with anger.

"What? Why?" Daniel asked boom. Suddenly the air and the ground became very cold, and the fire flickered out of existence. boom. A shrill screech filled the air, and Daniel drew his sword out quickly. CC stood up as well, as Gilda and Ditzy came out of the tent.

"That answer your question idiot?" The odd pony said. Suddenly a giant talon hit the dirt by Daniel, sending all three of them flying. "We are so boned."

"Not yet we aren't. Can it think as anything more than a beast?" Daniel asked.

"No, it's just a demon, wait a minute, is that Deadstrom?" The odd pony asked, pointing at Daniel's sword. "Never mind, of course it is, you must be one of Luna's angels. Good, let's go for the attack." The pony said, and darted into the air with a kick of the dust, and charged directly at the large beast, which turned out to be a hideous mix of bird, pony, and rabbit. The left foot was that of a rabbit, the right, a bird's talon. it had the head of a pony, and had large wings that darkened the sky. the body itself was undefinable, for it had a mix of grey fur, red patches of skin, and feathers all the same scattered randomly in splotches. Daniel was about to jump in, just when he felt a small tug in his mind, and Tenebrae whispered softly, "blades, Daniel, you have blades." Daniel smiled, and let several blades come out of his body, one at each heel, one at each elbow, and as he grew his wings, and his sword became his tail, two more stuck quickly out of each of his shoulders, two above, and the others below the arms. Everybody, save for the new arrival and CC took a step back. CC smiled gently.

"You're learning kid," She said softly as he jumped towards the large beast. With a quick takeoff, he had landed on the back of it. He quickly started to jab it with his many blades, jumping and flipping in an odd dance of destruction. Meanwhile, the other pony, was busy launching spells into the eyes and mouth. The beast roared in annoyance, and quickly shook both of them off. Daniel landed with a hard thud next to Ditzy. His blades were gone. He looked around, and found them still in the back of the large beast. He looked to Ditzy, who smiled and nodded towards the thing.

"I'm bedding a warrior tonight," she said slyly. Daniel blushed slightly at this, and then quickly shook himself out of it, as both Ditzy and Gilda charged past him to get to the battlefield. Daniel jumped again, and instead of real blades, he made spikes come out of everywhere upon his skin, and curled into a ball. landing on the demon, he proceeded to launch these spikes directly into it. This time they hit closer to home, ripping through its body, and coming not so cleanly out the other side, and hitting the sand below. The creature wailed in agony, and quickly jerked its head back around, revealing that its neck was that of a snake, and swallowed both Daniel and the new pony, whole.

"Oh shit!" Gilda yelled, and went up to the beast as it roared in her face. She quickly was blasted back by the mere force of the breath. She hit Ditzy, and they both went flying. CC just examined the battle as it went. Daniel's life force, along with that weird pony's were still going strong, judging by the fact that their combined hatred in that thing's stomach were more than everybody's else capacity, save for Ditzy's, which was growing past the point of no return.

"You killed Daniel. Now I'll obliterate you!" She yelled, then charged, her horn glowing an extremely bright gold, as she became a complete alicorn. "Now Die you stupid son of a--" She couldn't finish her sentence as the creature exploded into a disgustingly array of guts spattered across the sand. In this array, was two beings, one human, the other pony, whose eyes were glowing a faint red as they approached. Each were covered in more blood and bits of flesh matter than the others.

"Okay, my work here is done, now, goodbye, and give me a call if you ever find another one of those. They're harder to find than to kill, believe it or not." the odd pony then disappeared in a flash of red.

"Okay, weirdo besides, how the fuck did you do that? Blow the creature up?" CC asked, walking up to him.

"I didn't, that other pony did. I just went along on the ride, oh shit, there go the legs," and with that, Daniel once again passed out.