It's a brutal world mate...

by shattered_sky

The broken world: The Manticores

I fucking hate all of these ponies. Isaac told his sister about our venture into the Everfree. Not including the deer – saying it was a spirit of the forest – that scared me to death. Knives then requested Vinyl to enhance her voice to tell the whole tale to the guild, of course with her whole ‘charming’ version of the tale. Most of the guild laughed at my expense.

Thunderlane and a few didn’t seem to laugh through. They looked scared or grave. Octavia was simply smirking at me while Vinyl gave me a tiny nod. Somehow I felt that was payback. “Jokes aside where did you teleport Knives?” She asked.

“The Everfree.” I glared back at her. Isaac gasped and went right after Knives. She actually looked shocked. “Don’t believe me? You can get a fucking express ticket.” I continued with my best shit eating grin. I stood up and yelled. “YEAH ALL OF YOU SHITHEADS! ONE WAY TICKET TO THE EVERFREE STEP RIGHT UP!” Any takers? All the ponies at my table looked at me nervously.

“You aren’t serious, right?” He nervously asked. I stepped down the table as he poked Derpy. Derpy had her muzzle in some book and smacked Thunderlane with her wing. “Ow! Would he do it? He just kidding right?” He continued to pester Derpy. He seemed shaken by the idea.

“No. He’d throw a tantrum of god tier level. Then bestow unto you the punishment of one.” She evenly replied. “Half of the ponies of the guild would do something similar too. If somepony is annoying.” Her eyes glinted as she stared at Thunderlane. Thunderlane gulped and downed his mug in one go.

“You should really calm down Dusk.” Derpy suggested as she closed her book. Vinyl nodded as her horn glowed. Two sets of eyes appeared, looks like someone drew in the air with a magic marker. One eye got crossed out, then one of the other pair. Then both pairs. Ten more pairs of eyes appeared crossed out. Derpy concentrated on the images before turning back to me. “If everpony charged eye for an eye, everypony would be blind.”

“Yes, because all of you are such forgiving saints.” Thunderlane deadpanned before downing another drink.

“Not to mention, you just want me to take a chill pill. But I’ll simmer down okay?” I took in deep breath and let it out slowly. “Now I’m a chilled eggplant.” I concluded with a nod. They all eyed me with amusement for some reason.

“Yeah right.” A mare countered. I looked behind be and there was the prismatic Pegasus behind me. “Twilight can’t pull off a teleport like that without getting tired. You probably just teleported knives somewhere in town.”

I just stared at the hovering smug Pegasus for a bit. “Rainbow crash is cool right ponies?” I nudged Thunderlane and he chuckled. “You’re quite amazing. I have no fucking idea how you could nail a landing into a literal shithole!” I declared and the whole guild erupted in laughter.

Then a pain and a tingling sensation all over my body. She blurred into me and dragged me through the dirt. Spitting out the dirt I faced RD. Damn how did she move so fast!? She was grinning as she crouched low. “Yeah. I get you. I’m too fast. Better not blink, you might miss the awesome!” Her bracelet then morphed into an ornate white and gold Warhammer. Twilight and applejack started taking bets. A blackboard with a scowling purple drawing of me and a grinning blue Dash. The bets were 13 to 36.

“Now I don’t have to listen to you.” I summoned five arcane blades overhead. As I launched those at her she blurred and striked me in the face. She danced around be striking everywhere, the hammer crackled as it hit me. Eventually my body locked in place. Fuck I can’t move!

She then tauntingly hovered around me. “One of us is all talk eh?” She slung the hammer over her shoulder. “Well this is over.” She then raised the hammer above her head. I can still use my magic!

My horn glowed as I forced her down with my magic. A small crater appeared as if gravity was pushing her down. That’s one of Weaselcake’s abilities! I then slammed her up and down a few times before pushing her down again. The battered Pegasus screamed in rage as she tried to stand up.

“Stay down! You’re so good at crashing you should just! Stay! Down!” I yelled. Sparks began to run over her body. What is she doing? A bolt of electricity shot at me but I teleported out of the way. Before I could get a lock on her she started charging at me again.

…

Everything went black for a moment. Then a lot of fucking pain.

“Is he out?”

“He’s been staring like that for a bit.”

“A-HAH!” Okay what was happening? Oh yeah cheeky rainbow horse. “C’mon fork it over! I won!” RD complained. My surroundings blurred for a bit before refocusing.

“He’s still standing.” Derpy supplied. “A kick to his backside should remedy it.” Ok not cool. Wait why is she smiling at me? RD blinked for a moment before giving a wicked smile and flying behind me. A few moments later Derpy mouthed ‘kick now’. I did a double buck with whatever strength I had. A loud crunch and few crashes ringed out.

“GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!” Thunderlane shouted as a fourth of the ponies cheered. The rest muttered curses.

“Wait a darned minute! He hasn’t beat her yet!” Applejack argued with Thunderlane. “Just you wait, she’ll come soaring back.”

“Perhaps. Because if there’s one thing she’s well versed in, it’s crashing.” Twilight agreed. “Although… She might be hovering back with broken legs though.” She guessed as she tapped her chin. “Or maybe a broken pelvis. Or a spine. Hmm. it’s hard to tell.” She shrugged as she levitated a bronze pocket watch.

My body felt numb all over as I walked over to them. Thunderlane started chanting a countdown. I looked at the direction of Pegasus sized holes. Huh, neat. “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!” The crowd began to stomp as he counted down.

“Faust dammit! Why has no pony started the count on this buck?” She pointed accusingly at me.

“I’m still standing.” I simply replied.

“You’re a hot mess colt.” She retorted as she shoved Thunderlane aside.

“Hooooweeeeeee! Now butter mah butt and call me a biscuit! Y’all this mare here is throwing a might hissy fit!” I drawled in a mock southern accent. She snorted as she stared me down a few inches from my muzzle.

“I’d reckon at full strength. You. Couldn’t. Beat me.” She punctuated with a few pushes.

“Right now certainly not. He’s about to fall over.” Derpy replied. No I feel fine. Wait something warm is trailing down my mouth. I wiped my muzzle with a hoof. Huh, red.

Twilight opened her watch and muttered. “Time. Dusk won.” She sighed. “Huh. I was right.” For somepony who won a bet she isn’t happy.

“You bet on him?” Derpy asked curiously. She grabbed the bag handed to her and jingled it a bit. “Don’t try to stiff me. I didn’t miss the five missing bits.” The pony sputtered then sighed in defeat. Tossing the five bits to her.

“It was obvious. There’s a huge power gap. The way it played out was… comical. It’s was greatly disappointing how RD played it though. She has ranged attacks and a wing power of 15.7 on average.” And she placed the bag of bits she earned in her saddlebags. “She gloated, twice. Giving him an opportunity to lock her down, then knock her out. She had him.” She shook her head and sighed. “I’ll go fetch her.” She disappeared with a pop and a violet flash.

Now I’m feeling lightheaded. Why is everybody staring at me like tahabbamnsbabdj-

***************

Sands. As far as you can see. It’s been so long. I cannot recall anything else. As mountains wear down under the assault of winds so too has my memory. But I am certain, this was what my home looked like. Was my home I suppose?

My travels have brought me through Equestria. All over fighting wages. Your kind waste what bounty it has, and you drag all with you. I do believe this is the nature of most creatures of your intelligence. Birth. Life. Create. Consume. Endless renewal. Endless garbage. Nature has been forced by your whims. And as you fall even the forces of the world fail to assert themselves. Wounded. Possibly forever.

But hope is there. As once the Desert sands were once bountiful oceans, I believe that this world can return to the green paradise it was. The forest which is free from your kind’s meddling was not always so. The forest required the spirits of ancient in order to persist. The soul of one who once roamed the heavens. So here I rest.

What the fuck?

I feel like I got hit by a truck. What in hell happened to me? Oh right Rainbow Pegasus. To my left I saw two sleeping ponies. The fluffy unicorn and the light blue unicorn. They snored softly as their heads rested at the foot of my bed. Trixie was cuddling Isaac’s head. Damn. He looks so comfy, like a stuffed toy or something. I couldn’t help but give a goofy grin at the sight.

His horn looked burnt though. He overtaxed his horn on something I guess. After I teleported knives earlier my horn was smoking a bit. He must really pushed himself. I pushed off my blanket and my stomach was covered with bandages. Also patches of bandages were all over the rest of my body. I began to feel the mild pains all over my body.

How long was I out exactly?

I rest my head and turned to the right. The rainbow maned Pegasus glared at me with her bloodshot pink eyes. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and her intense gaze chilled me. I slowly looked up then back at her. I seized the curtains with my magic and closed it. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Wow she is super pissed at me.

I might be in danger. I got super lucky the last time I fought her. I slowly tried to get up but the pain shot through my body. “Arggghhhh…. fuck!” I swore as I lay down once more. Both ponies stirred and woke up. “Hey.” I casually greeted as they stared at me sleepily.

They both blinked and Trixie swatted me with a newspaper. I blinked as she glared at me. She then began whacking me over and over again. “You. Are. Not. Indestructible!” I blocked her assault with my hooves and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Ohhhhhh! Stupid! All of the ponies in this guild are stupid!” She scolded. Finally I caught a piece of the rolled up paper and ripped a piece off and chewed. Fuck this tastes like plastic! I spit it out.

Trixie and Isaac looked at me in shock. “Newspaper is synthetic I think.” I concluded. They weren’t laughing though. They exchanged worried glances. Isaac looked at me with a hint of fear as his eyes glowed golden. Trixie stared at the fluffy unicorn in confusion. She felt or saw it too then. So I wasn’t just seeing it.

“So… Have you ever seen Princess Celestia?” He spoke in a hushed tone. I shook my head. He relaxed a bit. Trixie looked around frantically at the inquiry. “She’s… done a lot of horrible things. And Princess Luna used to be so nice. But now they’re the same.” He swallowed as he phrased his next question. “Did you work with her?”

“Never. And I don’t plan on becoming a henchman or something. She’s crazy and bad news. It can never be worth it.” I countered hotly. Why is he bring this up? This world’s Celestia is the equivalent of a power hungry dictator. Closest thing to a god around here. Who moves the fucking sun. Or does she? I then turned to Derpy as realized why he was asking. He knew. “Does he know, what I am?” Trixie gulped then nodded.

I sighed as both unicorns looked at me with uncertainty. “We can talk about it later Isaac. But I’m not going to annihilate ponies with mah lazor gun.” I joked. “What I am. Has nothing to do with any of those locos. I’m just trying to make a living here.” I explained. Isaac relaxed as he eyes stopped glowing. He smiled. That was more honesty than I would prefer.

“I believe you. And so does Miss Trixie.” He replied after a bit. Trixie bit her lip and looked away. There was a few full minutes of awkward silence.

I coughed and scratched my mane. “So what’s been going on?” I asked desperately. We needed a different topic.

“Oh nothing much…” Trixie sighed as she straightened her mane.

“Now that I think about it, what DO you normally do?” I asked. Usually all she does is read books and clean. “You’ve thought me some things about Equestria and spell casting.” And I admit, reading more complicated spells make my head hurt. It’s the formulas and the theories that I have a hard time grasping.

Isaac put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Miss Trixie we could bake together if you want! Or we could trade spells.” He suggested happily. “I need to work on my spells.” He admitted.

“Or we could go somewhere. I mean there are probably some amazing places around. Right?” I suggested. I’ll widen my travels so that I could take her places. I just realized that’s she’s very lonely. It’s kinda sad now that I think about it.

Trixie actually blushed as we smiled at her. “W-well I could get some fresh air from time to time. But I’m fine!” She insisted as she pawed at the air.

“Miss Trixie is really pretty though. Don’t you think so Mister Dusk?” The little ray of sunshine was blushing too.

“She’s too adorable honestly.” I muttered as I rubbed my chin. “I definitely take her out. Hey Trixie what do you thing about Lasagna?” I asked her jokingly. She blushed even harder and actual steam came from her head. Trixie stammered something for a few moments before disappearing in a pink flash. “I think I broke her.” Honest to God thee ponies could be so adorable.

“Mister Dusk we have to talk about one thing however.” Isaac declared firmly a few minutes after Trixie left.

I was caught off guard by the sudden shift in his tone. “Sure I guess.” I replied after a bit.

“You and Rainbow messed each other so bad. Twilight managed to perform surgery on Rainbow. If I just healed her, her bones wouldn’t set right. She would have been a cripple.” He explained softly, lowering his eyes. “You were lucky though. Anypony else would have had died. But you’re a lot more durable. In fact, of you shouldn’t even be awake right now. Twilight expected you to be out for weeks.” Yeah but I’m not a unicorn.

“How long was I out?”

“Three days. What I found out though…” He shook his head. “We were worried you know. You should be more careful.” He then stood up and headed for the door. He turned back. “I need to go now Mister Dusk. I hope you get better soon.” He gave me a sad smile as he left.

Maybe I should slow down a little. So much has happened ever since I got here. Maybe I should take a break-
“AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!”

Time seemed to slow as Rainbow Dash cut the curtain with an ornate spear charged with lightning. She flew at me, screaming in rage. I tried to summon a weapon or my magic but nothing happened. She was aiming for my head. Now I felt scared.

Time returned to normal. My gut erupted with pain as she landed on top of me, raising her spear overhead. Her face was contorted in rage as she tried to skewer my head. I caught the spear between my hooves and the point threatened me inches away from my face. My nerves felt like they were on fire. I couldn’t do anything! I can’t muster any magic. I’m already dead.

Then she went limp and fell on top of me. The spear glowed and transformed into a bracelet on her hoof. She was really light actually. I shoved her aside and an armored pony caught her. “Well now. I believe that is not how we must treat or wounded guildmates. No?” The pink pony then lay her gently back on her bed. Braces adorned the knocked out Pegasus’ legs. “Everypony always destroys indiscriminately. Guild property or not. Master hates dealing with all of the complaints you know?” She explained in monotone. She gave a tired smile as she looked at me.

This was Pinkie pie. Her mane was straight and her blue eyes and pink coat were dull. She wore some sort of heavy iron armor. “Well. I hate being murdered. And she hates losing. I did have it under control Miss Diane.” I joked. I’m trying to shake off my nerves. “I could make her stop. Maybe kiss her or something.” She snorted at that.

“A yes. Copulation while angry. That’s a thing now apparently.” Her coat seemed to brighten for a few moments. “You must be Dusk Shine, our newest member.” She offered me a hoofshake, I shook it. “Good, a firm grip. Especially for a unicorn.” She praised, but her tone didn’t seem too into it. Of all of the mane six, she seemed the most out of character. The Pinkie from the show wasn’t always cheerful either though. And what if Pinkie couldn’t make ponies laugh anymore?

She stared at me intensely. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re a lot less energetic than the others.”

“It’s better not to waste, energy too.” She frowned as I got up. Everything still hurts. “You shouldn’t be up.” She then sighed and walked out. “What am I doing? Nopony does the smart thing here anyways...” She sounds hella depressed. And I’m still sore all over. I retrieved my bags and my vest on the way out.

Walking out of the infirmary I see Applejack and Rarity tying Twilight up. She was screaming through the gag. Pinkie stared at the scene and simply walked away. Rarity was clamping down Twilight’s horn with something. Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw me. She slammed herself into Rarity and the white unicorn lost focus. Her horn lit up and she disappeared.

My gun summoned to my side and all I knew I was pointing it at Twilight. “When… When did you get so fast?” She croaked as I pressed the rifle to her throat. She was floating what appeared to be a bonesaw fused with a needle.

“Guess I needed electrotherapy. It did wonders.” In the corner of my vision the two other ponies were slowly advancing. “Drop it Twilight. Or else I’m going too. I’m tired, hungry and sore.” She stared at the two ponies flanking her and ‘tch’d’. Her needlesaw thing disappeared in a flash.

“Ah don’t know Twi. I’d reckon you should just ask him.” Applejack reasonably. “Well he’ll snark you ah guess.” She smirked at me.

“Hmm… I don’t think we were introduced properly.” Rarity mused.

“Yeah. I’m Dusk Shine.” I did a slight bow. “And I have the pleasure of meeting-“

“Rarity.” She looked me up and down. “Goodness you definitely need better armor darling. That vest won’t protect you from anything. And no offense, you look like a tourist.”

“Armor ain’t my style. And you look like you have a personal beautician.” Her mane was meticulously styled, coat was almost sparkling and she smelled good compared to everybody else.

She giggled. “In our profession we must look pleasing.” She stared disdainfully at two drunk ponies headed to the infirmary. “Or in the very least, fierce. You should don armor, if not a fine looking vest. You should stop by my shop.” She offered.

“Yeah I guess… But what I’m really wondering what the hell were you three doing?” I demanded. All of this was just too much to roll with.

“Twilight wants to open you up ta find out what makes you tick.”

“Hey!”

“Twilight, darling we’ve talked about this. You need to be more subtle.” Rarity chided. Wait what?

“He’s a unicorn! How did he survive that!? The feedback alone would have killed him!” Twilight complained. “You should be in a coma! Or dead because you brain was supposed to hemorrhage!” She shook me as if it would give her the answers she needed. I summoned the gun again and pointed it to the side of her head. She raised her hooves and growled in irritation.

“Yeah. I just really like not being dead.” I easily replied. “But the real reason why I’m durable is…”

“Are you an experiment of some sort? Or is it a curse? Or a spell?”

“Ah think ‘cause he’s too stupid to realize he’s dead.” Applejack smugly added.

“Well ever since I was a colt I-“ I leaned forward and Twilight did also. I pulled my head back. “I’m just magical! Lata bitch!” I put my hoof on her shoulder and teleported us outside of the guild. I then teleported back inside. The two ponies looked at me in horror.

“What are your measurements Dusk? I think you might need a new suit. For your funeral that is.” She offered. Oh I can handle that freak easily. I’ll just be more on guard. RD caught be off guard last time and so did Twilight but it won’t happen next time. “My condolences.” She placed a hoof on her chest and bowed slightly before heading to the main hall.

“Oh you darned did it this time. Now she’s going to go after you now.” AJ chuckled as she followed after Rarity. “You better sleep with one eye open from now on Dusk.” She cautioned.

“Snakes sleep with their eyes open.” I replied with as much confidence I could muster. Oh I was more powerful than Twi. She couldn’t get me, unless she got the drop on me. Eh whatever. Maybe I should see the other members of the guild. I’ll just handle things as they come.

So meeting new ponies…

“Hey kids you wanna see a magic trick!?” Knives yelled at two young ponies. They both shared a tan coat and one had an orange curly mane tied with a blue ribbon and the other had a brown mane in the shape of an ice cream. And knives was elbowing Fluttershy. “Pssst! C’mon stab me in the head.” She whispered. Fluttershy just stared at her before walking away.

Uh oh now she’s looking at me. “Hey look who’s up!” She darted over to me and hooked her hoof around my neck and dragged me over to the two nervous ponies. “This guy took a few dozen thunder charges of RD and he’s still somehow not a vegetable!” She proclaimed. Wait, these ponies are the cake twins!

“Wait, really?!” Pound cake exclaimed.

“Yeah, then Dusk kicked her through a few buildings!” Wait that happened? I think. Hmmm I’m not really sure. My head hurts a ton. “So if he survived that I can definitely survive being stabbed in the head.” She concluded. How did she even come to that conclusion? Oh wait, she’s drunk. And she makes my head hurt even more.

“He doesn’t look so good.” Pumpkin cake pointed out in concern.

“Yeah but he messed up Dash pretty bad! Which means she looks way worse.” Pound Cake seemed to be amazed. “I wish I saw the fight.” He pouted.

“Comes with being a living lightning rod. It doesn’t give you awesome super magic.” I rubbed my temples and sighed. “It gives you migraines. Or for most ponies, death.”

“Except for pegasi with a larger mana pool.” Pumpkin cake mused. “Oh! We haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Pumpkin Cake.”

“And I’m Pound Cake!” He cheered as he did a few loops. I only now noticed their golden plates. So they had a higher rank than Thunderlane, Octavia, Vinyl and Dash? That makes me wonder what the standard for ranks are.

“Dusk shine.”

Knives’ eyes gleamed as she followed my gaze. “Heh. So you must be wondering why the twins have a higher rank than the others you’ve met.” She asked as she was sprawled on the floor. This pony had selective reasoning and senses.

“It’s because they aren’t the screw-ups.” The yellow Pegasus offered as she approached. “Dash and Thunderlane have a great deal of skill and power. Octavia knows the lay of the land well, alongside being the only pony shaman in the guild. But they consistently fuck up their missions.” She sniffed disdainfully. I got a peek of a platinum plate. It was hidden by her pink mane near her left eye.

“Ehhhhhh… Not really. More like they can’t hold on to their shards.” Knives’ delicately put it. “Also ponies can’t be shamans. But she was a DJ.”

“What kind of shards?” I asked. Fluttershy groaned, rolling her eyes.

“Well… Honor shards are granted to those who excel. If you can get a certain amount you can take a Trial. If you pass you rank up and if you don’t you lose a few shards.” She explained to me. “Although in Thunderlane and Octavia’s cases they underperformed or committed bad acts to the point they got Dishonor shards… Which if you keep for too long get you demoted.”

“Yeah… Ain’t Thunders fault, he just had a few run-ins with the Ideals. He used to be gold ya know.” Pound Cake hissed in sympathy,

“Octavia’s just a fucking ass.” Fluttershy grumbled. “In fact, she’s got multiple dishonor shards. Too bad she can’t drop any lower. There should be a rank lower than bronze.”

“Yeah. And you’re the kindest, sweetest mare I’ve ever met.” Knives’ coed as she grabbed one of Fluttershy’s hooves. The yellow Pegasus growled and repeatedly stomped on Knives’ head. She didn’t seem to be fazed at all. In fact she was laughing. The Pegasus took off with Knives in tow.

“Lower than bronze? Scrap I guess.” He shrugged.

“It has to be tin.” Pumpkin concluded.

Lightning seemed to flash between the two as they locked gazes. They then shouted ‘tin’ and ‘scrap’ at each other. Pumpkin explained the properties of tin while Pound explained that scrap was scrap and therefore it was worth less. I honestly think it would be plastic, that wasn’t even a metal. It would be like a kiddie badge or something. I decided to leave them to their argument and slip away.

Then suddenly I was on the ground. My horn ached. Did I hit a wall or something? A deep laughter boomed. I looked up and I saw a huge beige colored stallion. His mane was incredibly long, fiery orange and braided. Six thick braids and I wasn’t sure if it was all mane or all beard. “Ah hello there! You must be the new blood.” His deep voice rumbled.

I rubbed my head as I got my hooves. He looked at my injuries and he smiled broadly. “I see you got well acquainted with some of the other members.” He declared with a deep-bellied laughter. “My name is Rock Hits the Wave… The Third! And I am the Guildmaster of Manticore Sting.”

I blinked as I looked at the red plate hanging from one of his braids. He held the highest rank of Adamantium. “Yeah I’m Dusk Shine. You certainly look like the Stallion in charge.”

He really laughs a lot. “Bwahahahaha! Bigger than life itself! That’s the way I live Dusk.” He then put a massive hoof on my shoulder and swept the other across the crowd. “And how everypony else here lives. Some live pushing their limits. Others savor their life together. But most live for the journey, the fame and the glory."

His face adopted a grave expression for a moment. “But these are trying times, I feel many have lost their spirit.” He sadly told me. “But things will get better. That’s the cycle of things.” He then started pushing me around to meet the other ponies. Some I’ve already met, others not yet. But things slowed down and felt like I was watching from far away.

I just feel so tired. And before I knew it I was back on the couch resting. Trixie insisted I take her bed for a few weeks but I turned her down. I guess I just like it.

Author's Note:

Huh. I actually didn't take a long time (compared to before) Also I'm not sure what to say. But I feel author notes are somewhat expected so I'll ramble here instead. Also maybe I should show this to someone before I post these...