A Promise Not Forgotten

I walked to the throne room to see Luna, “Luna, mind if I go check out that meteor?”

“Ok, I’m sure you don’t need any assistance.” She asked jokingly.

“No, thank you, princess,” I said sarcastically.

Before heading out I went to my room and grabbed my revolver and armor. You never know what will happen, right? I better have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Luna provided a carriage for me to fly to the meteor with. The pegasi pulling me along were more than happy with getting out of patrol work.

We flew directly there and the guards landed the carriage. They came with me to investigate the meteor, didn’t want to be bored waiting I guess. We walked through the Everfree slowly. I didn’t notice it the first night, too tired I guess, but the Everfree was scary. I’m not talking like horror movie scary; I’m talking a manticore could jump from those bushes and murder me scary. With every step sticks broke and the guards and I were getting more and more paranoid. Why did the meteor have to land here, of all places in Equestria?

The guards were muttering things to each other, too quiet and far away for me to hear. But something else did, a manticore let out a loud roar. Wait a minute, that wasn’t a threatening roar, but rather a roar of pain. What could hurt a manticore in here? Sounded far away, but I decided to move on a little faster. If something could make a manticore whine like that, what could it do to me?

As we got to the meteor we found nothing but a large rock. At least nopony was hurt.

“Hey, what do you think made that manticore cry like that?” I asked, hoping that we weren’t in trouble.

“Nothing that I know of, manticores are the biggest things in the Everfree that are predators,” One guard said.

“Honestly, I don’t think we should stick around to find out,” The other said timidly.

“Listen, whatever did that is far too close to Ponyville to overlook. If you want, go back to Luna and tell her that I will stay here for a bit, just to make sure nothing bad happens,” I said. That was enough to make the guards happy. They both decided to get out of the forest as quick as possible, leaving me alone.

“Well, better take a look around…” I said to myself.

The meteor itself had not caused that much damage. A tree was knocked over though. It’s the Everfree, so who really cares?

Vis, what do you think caused that manticore to scream?

Well… Let’s assess the situation. A few days ago you killed Prophet’s dragon. Big meteor comes from Celestia knows where and lands exactly where you woke up. He was right, I hadn’t noticed that before. And now you decide to investigate, I’d wager it’s something of the Prophet’s.

Good point, I guess, but that doesn’t explain what I’m up against. I thought to him as I grabbed the magical revolver from my holster. Whatever it is, I won’t let it get to Ponyville.

Just be careful, I don’t want to have to reveal myself because you acted stupid.

Oh, I won’t, trust me.

I walked in the direction that we heard the manticore scream before. After a few minutes of walking in the dark moonlit forest. What I saw next was revolting. The poor manticore that screamed in pain was lying before me. Both of its front legs were removed, not by blade, but ripped off and thrown several feet away. The feline hybrid was covered in its own blood and left to die here in this forest. Whatever did this was either a feral beast, or a sociopath. The scorpion tail was ripped off and rammed into its chest, the poor thing didn’t even stand a chance. To top it all off the manticore’s face was frozen in a form of horror and regret.

I had better tell Twilight about this so she can inform the princesses. I know this doesn’t happen every day in Equestria, even with war brewing. I spent some more time walking toward Ponyville until I came across Zacora’s hut, and knocked on the door.

I forgot that she hadn’t met me nor even see me. She responded with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. “Is that the Prophet I see? This cannot be!” Finishing her annoying rhyme she bowed to me. How much did she know about him? Perhaps she is another pawn in his mission, better keep an eye on her.

“Uhh, yeah I’m not the Prophet. Listen, have you seen something that would have been able to thoroughly kill a manticore? And I’m not just talking killing, I’m talking dismemberment.” I said in a flat tone.

“This beast is not weak, are you sure it is he that you seek?” She asked.

“If he can rip the limbs off a manticore and jab its tail through its chest, I’d hate to think of what it could do to a pony. I need to stop this before anything bad happens.” I said, assuring her of my role.

“You must look around, he will certainly be found.”

“Yeah, have you heard or seen anything?”

“This beast I have not heard. What you tell me is quite absurd.”

“I can assure you that everything will be ok, for the time being you should stay indoors,” I said, trying to make myself sound professional. With that I walked out of her hut and shut the door behind me. I don’t like rhyming, not at all.

I spent another thirty minutes or so walking my way around Ponyville. I still couldn’t remember where everything was so I got lost a few times. By the time I finally found the library it was sunrise. I knocked on the door and Spike answered. “Hey, Aidan!” He said enthusiastically.

Tired and not in the mood for any formalities, “Hey Spike, is Twilight in there, we have a bit of a situation.” The baby dragon caught on to the serious tone in my voice.

“Yeah, what’s up anyway?” He asked, slightly worried.

I ignored Spike and walked inside to meet Twilight, “Hey Aidan, nice to see you again!”

Damn it sucks to ruin her day, but she has to know. “Twilight, we have a bit of a problem.”

“What happened?” She asked worried that somepony was hurt.

“What kind of things could dismember a manticore and leave it to bleed out?” Maybe I was a bit blunt, but it got the point across.

“Nothing I know of is that savage, usually they just eat their prey, not kill for no apparent reason.” She said worried.

Then it occurred to me. Maybe this wasn’t something from around here; I don’t know how I didn’t connect the dots before. “Twilight, did you notice anything odd about that meteor? Any magical anomalies or anything?”

“No, nothing like that. Why, what’s happened?” She asked. I was surprised she knew what anomalies were.

“Well, whatever killed that manticore might not be from around here. I just hope it can be reasoned with,” I said contemplating the possibilities.

“You look terrible, no offence,” Spike said, looking at my half asleep face.

“I hardly slept last night and came to investigate the meteor crash site, can you blame me?”

“Why don’t you take a nap for a bit, ill warn the others, tell the mayor, and send a letter to Princess Celestia,” Twilight said taking control of the situation at hand.

“Thanks,” I said too tired to argue. I was worried, but in the state I’m in I wouldn’t be much help in a fight.

Twilight showed me to a guest room in the library, and left. Laying on the bed, I quickly let myself fall into a deep sleep.