Remembering the directions Twilight had given him, Zero made his way towards Fluttershy's home. Immediately evident was the fact that Fluttershy, like himself, preferred seclusion. She lived a good distance from the town, but not too far as to make the walk there a bother. As he began to approach her cottage, he couldn't help but notice how serene it was. It was quiet and peaceful, making Zero a bit envious of Fluttershy's home. His jealousy quickly faded as he began to notice the various species of animals that seemed to crowd the outside of the home. At first Zero thought the mare might be having trouble with a critter infestation, but then noticed that there seemed to be housing constructed for them around her house and its surrounding land. Done with his observations, he approached the door and gave it a light knock. A few moments later, a voice was heard from behind the door.
"W-who's there?", the timid voice belonging to Fluttershy asked. Zero noticed that along with the normal shyness in her voice, there was something else. Sorrow. The mare had recently been crying.
"Is everything alright?", Zero inquired, ignoring her question.
"Oh it's you, Zero...I'm fine, no need to worry", Fluttershy lied horribly, as she opened the door a creak to look outside
Zero raised an eyebrow but decided not to push any further, instead returning to his main purpose for coming, "I was hoping to be able to spend the day with you in hopes of learning....kindness.", that last word left a bitter taste on his mouth. He was not really used to using that word.
"Oh I see...I would love to, but I'm doing something at the moment.", Zero could tell the mare was on the brink of tears. Despite seeing many a man and woman cry, having this particular mare on the verge of tears was literally tearing at him.
"There's no need to hide your problem from me. I may be able to aid you.", he assured.
Tears were sliding down the pegasus' face, earning a cringe from Zero. "Oh it's horrible! My little bunny Angel ran away when I didn't make his breakfast right and he went directly into," she paused with a gulp, "the Everfree Forest."
Zero raised an eyebrow, "Tell me about this forest."
Fluttershy calmed down a bit, now aware that Zero was legitamately trying to help her, "It's only one of the scariest places in all of Equestria! There are all kinds of mean and evil creatures in there...and just imagining my poor Angel in there alone...", once again tears began to fall.
Zero could not take it anymore. Having this mare cry was a crime against Nature itself! He gave her a stern, but reassuring look.
"Lead me to him."
Fluttershy was shocked by his command, "I couldn't! Its way too dangerous....and scary.", she hoped that would deter him.
However, he pressed on, "I promise you, we will find your pet."
Something in his eyes told Fluttershy that Zero was not going to backdown. With some reluctance, she caved in, "O-okay"
A short walk later, the two ponies found themselves at the edge of a forest. Zero recognized the forest, for he was near it's edge before when he first came into this world. At that time, however, he hadn't gotten a chance to notice how eerie it actually was.
" You were not joking/ This place oozes with evil/ Very ominous."
His companion could only manage a terrified whimper as they approached the edge of the forest. Despite it still being early in the morning, the forest seemed to be so dense that it actually appeared to be midnight inside. With a nod to himself, he entered the forest. He soon stopped, noticing that Fluttershy was not following him. Instead, she sat there at the edge of the forest, cowering behind her mane while shaking violently. Zero only sighed as he walked back towards the terrified pegasus, knowing well he would not be able to find Angel alone.
"There is nothing to be afraid of.", he spoke softly with what he thought was compassion. Another thing he was not used to.
It was clear she did not believe him. He couldn't help but feel bad for having her come out here. She had to be the least qualified person for this task.
He placed a hoof under her chin and forced her to look at him. "We must continue/ There is nothing here to fear/ I will protect you." There was strong emphasis in that final phrase.
This seemed to work, perhaps a bit too well. The mare wasted no time clinging to the stallion like her life depended on it, basically burying herself into his side. Zero facehoofed. Atleast they could move on now.
The duo inched deeper into the forest. They had been looking for atleast an hour now but to no avail. Zero decided it was time for a break, for traversing the forest proved quite the challenge due to the massive amount of undergrowth that thrived on the forest's floor. He could tell his companion was beginning to lose hope, her fear slowly being replaced by grief, already under the assumption that Angel was truly gone.
"Don't abandon hope/ I can sense that he is near/ We have to press on", he tried to convince her.
She was the image of sorrow and no longer clinged to him anymore. As he was about to attempt to cheer her up again, he was interrupted as something disturbed a nearby bush, causing him to wrap a hoof around the hilt of his blade. The sound seemed to break Fluttershy out of her funk as she once again buried her face in Zero's coat. Zero sat there, preparing for the worst but was surprised to see a small rabbit hop out of the bush.
"Angel!!", shouted Fluttershy, nearly causing Zero to go deaf.
As the pegasus ran up to embrace her pet, Zero couldn't help but notice something was off about the bunny. He was resisting the hug of the mare, a distinct look of terror in his eyes. He had recently been running. But from what?
His answer came in the form of a low growl and more rustling, much more in fact. This new creature was alot bigger than the rabbit just from the sound it made while disturbing the flora. The beast showed itself and was as large as Zero assumed. The creature could have passed as an oversized lion, if it weren't for the fact it had what appeared to be bat wings and the tail of a scorpion. As he began to scan his foe, looking for a weakness, he was utterly shocked to see Fluttershy calmly approach the beast.
"There,there", she cooed,"Is someone cranky?"
She grabbed the beast's paw, rubbing it gently. Zero sat back, his eyes glued to the strange beast. It seemed Fluttershy's plan was working, but Zero noticed the beast wasn't "cranky". No, this beast had a primal look in his eyes.
He was hungry.
Fluttershy did not notice this. She had no time to react as the beast brought down a paw upon her. Time slowed for her as she realized this would be the end for her. She sat there, petrified by fear. She managed to cover her eyes with her mane and waited. And waited. And waited. What was taking so long? She forced herself to take a peak and was taken a back by the scene before her. Directly in front of her was Zero, standing on his hind hooves with his blade in his forehooves. His blade had intercepted the manticore's blow and was holding the beast back. She wasted no time reeling away to a safe distance.
Zero had caught the beast by surprise as it just sat there and stared at him in disbelief. Was this tiny creature really challenging him? Zero on the other hand wasted no time. He shifted his blade down from the beast's claws on it's paw. Once in position, he slid the edge of the blade against the manticore's paw, tearing open a significant sized gash, rendering it virtually useless. The creature roared in outrage as it brought its undamaged paw down upon Zero. Once again the stallion was able to intercept the claws, but he noticed there was a great deal more force behind the blow as he began to lose his footing. Before allowing himself to be pushed fully onto the ground and most likely to his doom, he began to concentrate, his horn lighting up as it dug through his pack, his hooves much too preoccupied at the moment. He finally managed to pull out his Gh0st. He gave the manticore a quick smile.
"Ghosting", he said quickly as he vanished. The manticore claws dug into the ground below where his target once was. It spun around, trying to ascertain the location of his prey. Before long, however, a sharp pain rippled through the it's back. His target had reappeared, clinging to his back and unleashing a quick succession of blows in hopes of crippling the beast. The manticore did not enjoy this one bit as he forcibly bucked his unwanted rider. Zero was thrown quite violently into a nearby tree, dazing him.
By the time he managed to gather himself, the manticore had already begun to take another swipe. Zero attempted to evade the blow, but was caught on his right side as a large tear opened up, causing a large amount of bleeding. He fought through the pain, placing his blade in his mouth as he got on all fours in order to pick up speed. He darted to the right side of the creature, once again hoping onto it. He managed to get onto the beasts shoulder which was attached to it's good paw. After he got a favorable grip, he took hold of his blade and drove it through the manticore's shoulder.
He then began to furiously twist the blade inside the wound.
The monster roared and bucked furiously, but was unable to throw off his enemy, whom had made sure to get a much tighter grip. It resorted to the only thing it could. The manticore began to raise his tail, preparing to strike. Zero only smiled at this. As the tail reached the end of it's windup and shot towards where Zero was, the stallion simply let go of his blade and fell harmlessly to the beast's side. The manticore could only watch in horror, for it was too late to stop himself, as his own tail ripped into his flesh.
Now for a manticore this is one of the most embarassing things imaginable. Granted, the creature was immune to the toxins stored in the tail, but it still hurt like hell. As his foe howled in pain, Zero took the time to use his magic to retrieve his blade from the beast's shoulder. The beast finally recovered and the two combatants locked eyes. Zero knew this was it. If he did not finish this fight here, then he was going to die. The single wound he had sustained took too much out of him, as he was beginning to feel woozy. He gripped his blade tighter than ever before, his foe also preparing, imitating a bull right before it attacks. They both gave each other one last look.
Then they charged.
Before blade could meet claw in one last catastrophic collision, a shout from the sidelines caused the stallion and manticore to stop dead in their tracks.
"Stop it!", shouted a clearly distraught Fluttershy. Tears flowed freely from her face due to the gruesome battle she was being forced to witness. She sat there sobbing, unable to speak another word. Zero returned his gaze to the manticore, who was also staring back. They continued this staredown for a full minute before Zero, with a sigh, lowered his blade. He wasn't going to expose Fluttershy to further bloodshed. He was surprised to see his adversary give him a look he knew well. A look of respect. The beast knew it had met its match and with what seemed to be a nod, the manticore limped away into the darkness of the forest. Once it was completely out of sight, Zero allowed himself to succumb to his wounds and fall to the ground. He had grown weak. He went too long without honing his skills and nearly died because of it. He was brought back to reality by the voice of a terribly concerned pegasus.
"Oh no, please, stay awake! Don't fall asleep or you might not wake up!", the mare cried. She was convinced this was all her fault. She was the one who caused Angel to run off in the first place. As she drowned herself in guilt and sorrow, she was shocked to see Zero pull himself up despite his horrendous wound. He wasted no time with pleasantries, and immediately began making his way out of the forest. Through a feat of extraordinary endurance, he managed to make it all the way to the path outside Fluttershy's cottage. He had been ignoring whatever the mare had been saying, only focused on getting to safe haven. He collasped, this time for good. He looked up at the terrified face of Fluttershy and smiled.
"My energy spent/ I must rely on your aid/ I am in your hooves.", and with that last haiku, he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness.