The crowd roared as Armor King stood victorious over his opponent. Sweaty and bruised, the armored wrestler growled in approval, throwing his muscular arms into the air to get his audience even more excited then they already were.
“ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY! GIVE IT UP FOR ARMOR KING!” The announcer energetically boomed over the intercoms causing the stadium to erupt into cheer once again. “THAT FIGHT WAS INSANELY INTENSE AS EXPECTED FROM THE CHAMPION! BUT IT GETS BETTER FROM HERE ON OUT, WE HAVE ONE LAST OPPONENT THAT JUST MAY GIVE ARMOR KING A RUN FOR HIS MONEY!” The audience clapped and shouted.
“Nobody can beat Armor King, he’s the best fighter here!”
“Somebody that can beat Armor? Ha, I’d like to see them try.”
“Armor King can beat anyone who steps in his ring!”
Armor King looked down at his hands, they were bruised and bloodied from the constant fighting. Since the tournament started he hasn’t taken a moment's rest to regain his bearings. Opponent after opponent, match won after match won, Armor King kept fighting. It was what he lived for, what he promised he’d do. Armor King recalled the duo matches he would have with his older brother and how they fought with everything they had every match. Armor King looks up with renewed determination. Puffing his chest out and growling, he waited for his next opponent to reveal themselves.
The stadium’s lights flickered on and off causing a small panic in the crowd. Then they stopped flickering as soon as they started. In the ring in front of Armor King stood a figure shrouded in a dark cloak. Armor King stepped back in surprise, readying himself. The intercomm crackled as the announcer spoke again.
“EVERYBODY PLEASE WELCOME, KING OF THE CARIBOU, DAAAAIIIIN! LET’S HAVE A GOOD FIGHT AND MAY THE BEST FIGHTER WIN!”
The audience booed Dainn at the mention of his name, cheering for Armor King instead. Armor King scoffed at the title of King this Dainn character possessed. Dainn reached up and in one swift movement, tore his cloak off. His name wasn’t just a title afterall. Before Armor King, a tall humanoid caribou with large antlers and a short snout stood proud. How did he hide his antlers under that hood? Steel plated armor decorated with dozens of shiny medals and elegant designs covered Dainn’s muscular body.
Armor King stared down the newcomer. Dainn returned the gesture with an ice cold glare, his forest green eyes piercing in nature. There was something about Dainn that made Armor King uneasy, but he couldn’t place it. Then the bell rang signaling the start of the match.
Without a second's notice Armor King charged Dainn, rolling into a cartwheel before launching himself forward to bash his elbow into his opponent's face. Dainn staggered back as the hit landed and Armor King wasted no time to continue attacking. Armor King reared up with his leg and brought it back down on top of his opponents head before pulling his arm back and throwing a devastating haymaker, a Hammer Impact as he liked to call it. Dainn’s head was knocked to the side and Armor King took the opportunity to grab Dainn and lift him upside down. Dainn’s body was straight up and down like a pencil; Armor King jumped into the air, bringing Dainn’s head between his legs, and slammed the Caribou king’s head onto the ring hard enough to fracture a normal human skull.
Dainn recovered just barely fast enough to avoid the three power stomps coming down at him. He rolled off to the side and spun on the floor of the ring, catching AK’s foot and knocking him on his face. AK quickly sprung up, putting some distance between the two of them. As Dainn stepped toward him in a guarding stance AK slammed his foot into Dainn’s shin, and as Dainn stumbled AK threw a combo of punches into Dainn’s face. AK’s fist smashed into Dainn’s snout as an audible crack was heard. His opponent covered his snout in pain and charged Armor King, who readied himself. Dainn leveled his large antlers to Armor King’s chest at the last second and flung the black jaguar into the air. AK came back down to the ring to meet Dainn’s fist in a gnarly uppercut that sent him flying again. Dainn took the open opportunity to land some free hits, small orange balls of energy formed around Dainn’s antlers in a semi-circle before homing in on Armor King. The energy balls impacted against Armor King’s skin and exploded into flames, searing his flesh with fresh burns. He landed hard onto the ring, bouncing a little from the impact but used it to flip onto his feet. Armor King growled deeply, glaring into his opponents eyes.
“HOLY COW, PEOPLE! THIS IS ALREADY TOO INTENSE! I’M ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT UP HERE JUST WAITING TO SEE HOW THIS TURNS OUT!” The overly excited announcer actually had his chair slide out from under him as he literally was on the edge of his seat. The loud boom of his head smacking off the table was heard before he got back up and continued commentating the fight.
Armor King charged. Dainn flares his nostrils, throwing his arms out to catch whatever Armor King threw at him. AK was on his target in a second and grabbed Dainn’s right hand pulling him down to a knee, then used Dainn’s knee as a step and kicked Dainn in the chin. AK flipped off the kick as Dainn went down. He quickstepped to his opponent, grabbing the caribou’s left leg and flipping him over. AK spun counterclockwise to avoid the free leg and landed on Dainn’s thigh, pulling Dainn’s leg towards his chest as he leaned back. Dainn roared in pain as his leg was too far back, he pounded the ring’s hard surface to take his mind off it. AK then quickly transitioned onto Dainn’s back, putting him in a half-nelson and began to pound on the back of the caribou’s head. Dainn threw his head back in between punches, catching AK with his antlers and flipped him overhead. AK rolled into the throw and jumped to his feet, his opponent doing the same.
They sprinted towards each other. Armor King dropped to the floor sliding into Dainn’s ankles, bringing him to the ground with a thud. AK rolled onto Dainn’s back, wrapping his arm around the caribou’s neck, and rolling onto his back with his legs wrapped around Dainn’s waist in an unbreakable lock. Armor King tightened his hold hoping to choke Dainn out, the strain on his muscles painful but bearable. Dainn, showing no signs of giving out, retaliated against the hold by elbowing Armor King’s ribs, which was futile with the steel armor protecting him. Armor King began to grow weak in his arms from the strain he put on them, and broke the hold by giving one last pull on Dainn’s neck, the force capable of shattering vertebrae. He rolled Dainn off him and stood up, giving his opponent a chance to recover. Dainn coughed roughly before standing himself, and rolling his neck with multiple cracks. He pounded his fists together aggressively while moving to Armor King. Armor King did the same, they then began returning blows to each other. Fists, elbows, knees, and feet flew with great speed and force, each landing hit just as powerful as the others. Armor King blocked and countered Dainn’s attacks; Dainn returned the counters with counters of his own for them to only be re-countered. Finally, after minutes of countless attacks Armor King and Dainn seemed to copy each other for a final punch. They stomped their left foot down for support as they reared back their opposite fist and used the stomp to act a sort of push to increase the damage of their punch. Their fists split the air in a straight line. Both punches hit their target, and the two fighters found eachother sliding back from the forces colliding. Blood dripped from Dainn’s shattered snout and Armor King’s mask.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Dainn snarled. His hands became engulfed in a pale blue fire-like energy. He stomped his left foot forward getting into a stance and placed his hands to his side a ball of energy forming between them, it growing by the second. Armor King anticipated his enemy’s move. Was he going to shoot the ball straight at him, or was it going to flank him as Dainn moved onto him? Dainn threw the basketball sized ball of energy straight at Armor King.
‘Too easy,’ Armor King stepped to the side as the energy ball passed him. He had expected Dainn to move close the distance, but instead he just stood there charging up another ball of energy as fireballs surrounded his antlers. Armor King wouldn’t have realized it until it hit him. The first energy ball Dainn threw at him came back around and hit AK in the back of the head. Armor King stumbled forward and saw Dainn throwing the new energy ball into his face as he fell. AK backflipped into the air from the impact. Dainn shot forward fireballs as Armor King fell then quickly formed black fire whips in each hand. He flicked the whips up burning Armor King with them as well as making small cuts. Armor King landed back into the ring and laid there. The pain from the energy Dainn used was like no fire he had been burnt by. Dainn continued to lay down punishment from the whips as Armor King lay there. The whips sliced through his steel armor like butter and the same could be said for his skin. After an endless torrent of slashes from the whips Dainn stopped to catch his breath.
Armor King couldn’t move with how much pain he was in. He willed himself to get up and at least try to land one last hit before he went unconscious, but no matter what he did he couldn’t move. He lifted his head just enough to see Dainn step towards him from the corner of his eye, black whips in hand. Why did they allow weapons in this tournament? Dainn was now standing over him. Malice clouded the Caribou King’s eyes as Armor King looked into them.
Dainn spoke with venom in his voice. “You’re a tough bastard. Let’s see how much more you can take before you burn to death!” Dainn raised his hands in the air as the whips followed. He brought them back down onto Armor King, the whips slashed his body all over burning and leaving deep gashes. Dainn stopped for a second and stomped down on Armor King’s left arm. The bone snapped shooting pain along his arm. Armor King roared and lashed out, the pain sending him into a primal rage. He caught a whip in his good hand and pulled it, sending Dainn tumbling over. Armor King stood up despite the pain. Good thing adrenaline numbs it. A red aura surrounded his body, and as AK moved towards Dainn a solid black energy flowed from his body. Armor King grabbed Dainn’s head as he got up and bashed his own into Dainn’s three times before throwing another haymaker. He followed with a series of punches of only his right arm with a few more Hammer Impacts here and there. Dainn took the punches with resistance, throwing his arms in the way to soften the blow, he even ended up with his arms broken in several places from the sheer force of Armor King’s punches. AK could feel the rage subsiding as he hurried to knock the bastard caribou out.
As Armor King was going to throw one last punch before the adrenaline wore off, Dainn exploded with energy knocking Armor King back down. Armor King didn’t have any time to understand what happened as Dainn was already upon him. The caribou stomped the ring bouncing AK into the air and threw a barrage of powerful blows and kicks as he juggled Armor King in the air. He came back down only for Dainn to hoist him up into a standing position and begin his attacks again. Armor King caught a glimpse of Dainn’s eyes as he was being pummeled. His eyes had changed from a piercing forest green to a dark green with a red iris and a wispy purple energy flowing from them. They pierced Armor King’s soul with a dark power resonating off Dainn.
Armor King could feel himself lose consciousness as each attack from Dainn seemed to be getting stronger. The pain was unbearable, each blow caused Armor King to gasp for air and cough up liquid inside his mask. When Armor King felt the blows stop he saw a glimpse of Dainn form a black vortex in front of him, his antlers covered in a bubbling green substance. Armor King could barely stand, the ropes of the ring keeping him up. How was he even alive at this point? He tried with all his might to move his legs to avoid the vortex as it sped towards him.
Is this how it was going to end? He had never fulfilled his revenge for his brother since Craig Marduk killed him in Arizona. He was not going to die here; he still had a job to do! With all the willpower he could muster, Armor King guarded himself with his arms in an X. He wasn’t going to go out without trying to protect himself, even though he knew this attack would kill him. Armor King roared as the vortex neared him, his roar shocked Dainn as it was one of pure primal aggression and rage. The vortex was almost upon him now. Then a bright flash of white light blinded Dainn. When he looked back to where Armor King was, the only thing that was there was a scorch mark on the ring.
Dainn clenched his fists and released the dark energy inside of him with an ear piercing scream of wrath. The stadium went dark, the audience was too shocked at the performance they didn’t even notice Dainn was gone when the lights came back on.
One thing Armor King knew about pain was that it would never get old to him. He thanked the pain for keeping him awake but, what he’d do for some morphine and a nap. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he sat up rubbing his head. After clearing his mind, he noticed he was sitting in a clearing of a disturbingly dark forest. Everything seemed to be normal but, the trees gave off a strange aura and the fauna didn’t sit right with him. Perhaps it was nothing. Summing up whatever strength he had left over, Armor King crawled over and sat between the large roots of a tree. Armor King took a minute to catch his breath, then began to examine his wounds.
At least one hundred gashes from Dain’s magic whips covered the entirety of his body. The contact from the fiery whips sealed the wounds closed but, they still hurt like hell. Armor King glanced at his broken arm, his forearm bent in an awkward, jagged way, blood running down the entirety of his forearm. Fearing the worst, Armor King turned did his best to rotate his arm to the upper side wincing while doing so. The radial bone in his arm poked out of his skin as he thought it would. Quickly grabbing his wrist on his broken arm he pulled it out then sharply angled it down and pushed. The bone reset with a crack and a roar from Armor King that echoed through the trees.
He tilted his head back and let out a long breath. With his energy sapped he wasn’t going to get very far if he tried looking for civilization, not to mention his wounds would slow him down immensely. He decided to rest in the cover of the tree’s giant roots. They provided enough cover to hide him and were strangely comfortable. Armor King closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Armor King’s eyes shot open and he sat up faster than ever before. Out of panic or instinct he leapt to his feet and readied himself for something anything to attack but, he stopped. His environment was completely different than he remembered. Instead of the dark forest and the erie fauna, Armor King found himself in a hut of some sort with African-styled wooden masks, strange plants and ingredients, bottles with bubbly liquids covering almost every color of the rainbow, and in the center of everything sat a large iron cauldron. He looked back where he had woken up. A small cot that was fashioned mostly out of hay with a green blanket and pillow lay where he was previously. Where ever he was he didn’t recognize it and he definitely didn’t remember being in the hut when he passed out. He assumed somebody found him and brought him here but, who ever they were weren’t here.
Pushing aside the questions for now Armor King thought he should explore the little hut incase he had to escape. Walking over to the cauldron he ran his hand along the outer rim, when something caught his eye. He looked down and his broken arm was completely healed, amazing! Not even a scar showed. He checked over the rest of himself and found whatever wound he had sustained during his fight with Dain was healed. The same couldn’t be said for his armor though. It still looked like it was put through a cheap paper shredder, multiple open gashes in the armor showed his dark skin underneath, the large spike on his left shoulder pad had snapped off, the spikes on his wrist guards were chipped and cracked, his black pants were torn, the steel plates on his hips were missing, and his shin guards and boots were blackened with what he could only assume was ash. Ignoring his decision to explore the hut Armor King sat back down on the cot.
His mind raced with thoughts he didn’t want to think. Was he dead? Is this some sort of purgatory whatever divine forces stuck him while they judged him? Will he get to see his brother again?
His thoughts were interrupted as the door to the hut creaked open. Armor King panicked. Looking from side to side frantically hoping to find a place to hide. Glass shattering made AK freeze. He slowly glanced toward the door, what he saw was not what he was expecting. Frozen in place, a yellow skinned human with long pink hair that curled at the tip and bright aquamarine eyes stared at him. He also noticed a second length of pink hair protruding from behind her like a tail, and feathered appendages on her shoulder blades as if they were wings. She had very little adorning her body, revealing more than Armor King needed to see. He had to admit she was very well endowed. A broken ceramic bowl with a damp towel lay at her feet in pieces. Armor King studied her for a moment, judging whether she’s a threat or not. But he did wake up in a safer location with his wounds healed, so maybe she’s the one who helped him. He relaxed seeing this girl was no threat.
Armor King slowly walked toward the girl with an outstretched palm. He didn’t want to frighten the girl anymore than he thought he did. Suddenly, the girl flew at him in the blink of an eye. Armor King didn’t have time to react before he was locked in a warm hug.
“Oh, Mr. Kitty I’m so glad you’re awake! You were terribly injured and I did everything I could to make you better. You were asleep for 5 days, I didn’t think you would wake up, I was starting to worry about you.” The girl looked up from her hug to meet Armor King’s gaze. Armor King saw nothing but sincere concern and kindness in the girl’s eyes.
Armor King opened his mouth to speak, “Thank you for all you’ve done. I must go. I have someone to finish business with.” Armor King said as he started for the door. He stopped, realization hit him like one of Kuma’s paws to the forehead. His mask moved when he talked.
The black jaguar mask that he wore everywhere he went, with its unmoving mouth and wide eyes, had moved its mouth when he spoke. Granted it was still only a growl but, it still moved like a normal mouth, like it was his mouth. He reached up with fear to remove the mask but, alas it didn’t budge. He pulled harder and harder, determined to tear off the mask to find his human face, but that was not the case. The mask he had worn for many years had become one with the wearer. Armor King sighed in defeat but it wasn’t a total loss. With an actual jaguar’s head he could use the teeth if he needed to and his sense of smell should be sharper than ever so, he wasn’t at a total loss except he wasn’t fully human anymore.
“Excuse me, Mr. Kitty?” Armor King turned back to face the girl. “Is e-everything alright?” The girl nervously shuffled her feet and held her hands behind her back with a concerned look.
“Armor King, not Mr. Kitty,” he growled.
“O-oh! My apologies I didn’t mean to offend you, Mr. Armor King.”
“It is fine. Can you tell me if you where I am and how I came to be here?”
The girl blushed a little as she spoke. “You’re in my friend Zecora’s and my hut. I found you in the Everfree forest when I was gathering herbs and saw how badly you were hurt. I ran to get help from Zecora and we dragged you here to heal you.” The girl’s face seemed to blush even brighter. “I sat by your side the entire you were unconscious caring for you. You were so bloody and beaten up, I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.” The girl had started to break into tears.
Armor King was taken back at this young girl’s caring heart. She had saved his life even though she didn’t know him or if he was dangerous. He looked down at the girl who hid behind a curtain of pink hair as she cried. Armor King knelt down and laid a hand on her shoulder. She cleared her hair from her face as she met Armor King’s eyes, and ceased her tears to sniffling.
“I thank you everything you have done for me, Miss-”
“Fluttershy.”
“Ms. Fluttershy. You got guts, you took me in without a second thought because you wanted to help me.” Armor King took her hand and stood her up. “I must go, there’s a certain caribou “King” that needs his ass kicked.” He turned to walk out the door again but was stopped by Fluttershy grabbing him from behind.
“Don’t go! If you’re looking for who I think you are you’ll be killed!” Fluttershy grabbed Armor King’s arm. “Please, King Dain has killed all the males who have rebelled against him, the strongest warriors Equestria had fell at his feet!” Fluttershy’s eyes welled with tears, tears of one who has lost a brother.
Armor King turned back to Fluttershy, and that’s when she saw the pain in his eyes. “I’ll kill the bastard for what he’s done.”
She saw the all the pain he had to endure over the loss of someone very important to him. He held a threatening wide-eyed glare of anger, his nose twitched every now and again. The very air around him produced a strange feel to it as a black substance rose from his body. Then, the anger he held was gone as soon as it came.
Armor King pried Fluttershy’s hands off him and set off out the door. The part of the forest the hut was located in was somewhat brighter than the surrounding woods. Torches imbued with a strange purple spark in the center of the flames covered the corners of the hut, and a glimmer that encased the hut caught Armor King’s eye.
“Strange world,” he said to himself. He stopped at the edge of the torches bracing himself for whatever this forest threw at him. Focusing on his newly acquired jaguar senses he could sense an abundance of life around him like he never could before. The strong scent of primal beasts lingered in the air and the musky atmosphere the forest carried stung his sensitive nose. To the right he could pick up the sound of soft rustling in the bushes and breathing from a small animal a mouse hopped out then scurried back to safety when it felt frightened. Soft footsteps sounded behind him. Armor King looked back to find Fluttershy nervously standing there.
“If you’re going out there I can help you navigate the forest so you can come back here if you’d like,” Fluttershy said. Armor King nodded and they both set foot outside the barrier and into the Everfree forest.
The trek through the forest was surprisingly quiet for how dangerous it felt. Armor King and Fluttershy trampled over bushes and roots, Fluttershy pointing out certain markings on trees and other objects of nature to Armor King in case he got lost on his way back. Armor King felt the predatory glare of beasts on him and his companion the entirety of the trek through the forest; it made him uneasy.
Fluttershy continued to point out markings along their journey unaware of the glowing, green eyes in the shadows of the trees on both sides of the path. The eyes followed her from the bushes, coming closer and closer while still keeping distance from Fluttershy’s companion. Whatever the eyes belonged to began to grow impatient. Low sounding growls caught Armor Kings attention, his ears perked up at the sound. He stopped walking and glared into a beast’s eyes. Ahead Fluttershy screamed in fright as a pack of wolf-like creatures surrounded her, six in total, snapped and barked at her.
Armor King roared as he charged toward the surrounding pack. A lone wolf pounced him from the shadows, tearing into his arm with its teeth. Armor King grabbed the wolf with his free arm and flung it away from him. The wolf jumped at him again but this time Armor King used the wolf’s own momentum and helped it into the ground, then he stomped the wolf’s head in. The wolf literally shattered into pieces and sticky, green sap covered his boot. Upon a quick inspection he noticed these were not normal wolves but, rather some strange play on the species of timberwolves.
Fluttershy screamed again as the timberwolves circled tighter around her. Armor King snapped his attention to the pack. Without thinking his feet moved on their own, sprinting towards the pack of timberwolves. He rolled into a cartwheel and jumped into a body slam landing on a timberwolf and shattering it under his weight. The three nearest ones responded by jumping at Armor King. One lunged for his throat while the other two circled around him and pounced from behind. The timberwolf that lunged for his throat had his muzzle clamped shut by Armor King’s hands, he crushed the muzzle with ease and discarded the remaining twigs and sap in his hand as the timberwolf crumbled to sticks. A weight landed on Armor King’s back who, from years of wrestling training, instinctively reached back and shifted his own weight to use against his attacker. The timberwolf widened it eyes as Armor King brought its snout into his knee, the timberwolf whined as Armor King rolled the body away. The third timberwolf sprung into a leap as Armor King turned back around, murderous intent filled its eyes leaving them a deep orange. It managed to push Armor King to the ground and wasted no time in going for the kill, its pointed teeth dripped with sap as it stood over Armor King’s body. The timberwolf snapped at the jaguar’s throat barely missing it as Armor King rolled out of the way. Armor King kicked the timberwolf in the jaw causing it to shatter and green sap spilling out of the wound, then sweeped the timberwolf’s legs out from under it and sent his foot through its chest, it crumbling into twigs around him.
“EEEEEEK!” Armor King shot up on his feet sending every ounce of focus he had on Fluttershy. The remaining timberwolves backed Fluttershy against a tree with vicious snarls and barks from their razor filled mouths. The biggest timberwolf, most likely the alpha, stepped away from Fluttershy as he saw a hulking mass of darkened muscle with splotches of sap barrel toward him at full speed with no signs of stopping. The sap sent the alpha into a rage at the scent of his fallen pack. He snarled with a mouth full of sharp wooden teeth that could pierce the armor of the royal guard. The alpha burst into a full sprint towards Armor King, readying itself to pounce on the large wrestler and tear him to shreds. A few yards away from making contact with Armor King the alpha sprang high into the air landing right behind Armor King. Before he could turn around the alpha sunk its teeth into Armor King’s calf, shaking viscously as to tear it off. Armor King roared as he fell to the ground in pain. Turning over he smacked the alpha in the temple with the heel of his boot, it let go giving him just enough time to quickly wrap his legs around the alpha’s neck and squeezed with outstretched legs in a scissor lock. The alpha’s neck collapsed in on itself making the timberwolf itself collapse into a pile of sticks.
The two remaining timberwolves shared a glance at each other then gazed in Armor King’s direction. With nothing but an intimidating jump the timberwolves scrambled in fear running off with their tails between their legs.
Armor King checked the surrounding environment before approaching Fluttershy. He couldn’t sense anything in the immediate area, thus deeming it safe for now. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
Fluttershy wiped the tears from her fear widened eyes and brushed back her long hair. “N-no, I’m okay,” she stammered. Then she noticed Armor King’s bleeding calf. “Oh my! You’re hurt, stay there!” She demanded with a motherly tone before flying off into a seemingly random direction. Seconds later she appeared with flowers and herbs in her hands. She knelt down by a nearby slab of stone and began grinding the plants together into a paste with a smaller stone. Using a leaf as a makeshift plate Fluttershy scooped up the paste and quickly applied the paste onto Armor King’s calf, making sure to push it into the wound.
“HEY!” Armor King growled, pain shot up his leg as Fluttershy pressed the paste into the bite. The paste seemed to be getting to work immediately. The pain Armor King felt had subsided to that of a needle prick. “That stuff works pretty good. Now let’s get out of this damn forest before anything else tries to eat you.”
Fluttershy blushed behind a curtain of hair.
Finally, there ahead was sunlight piercing through the thick canopy of trees, lighting the exit of the Everfree forest. Armor King and Fluttershy stepped out of the treeline to take in the comforting warmth of the sun’s rays in the grassy meadow they stood in. Armor King took a deep breath, the scent of flowers filled the air, a cool breeze carried along the tang of blood… wait. Despite the calming scene before him he stood on edge. Whether seen or smelt, blood is never a good sign. Filling his newly acquired nostrils with the scent he stepped further into the meadow. Fluttershy lifted an eyelid from her own peaceful meditation when she heard the clinking of armor. She tilted her head curious as to what could have caught Armor King’s attention.
He was entranced by the scent. The bold smell stung his scent glands with pleasure. Every instinct he had was telling him to stop, to turn back but, there was something else pressing him on. Something strong enough to cause him to ignore everything around him as he slowly walked into a village. The scent here was especially strong, hinting at the source being nearby. The thought of a big, juicy mam-
“Hey, you there. Halt!” A voice hollered a distance away. Before Armor King could look for whom the voice belonged to he was pulled behind a corner and into a dark doorway. His eyes adjusted quickly to find Fluttershy with an expression of fear painted on her face. The darkness around them revealed dusty upturned furniture and ransacked belongings scattered about the large room.
Fluttershy tugged on Armor King’s arm pulling him down to eye level. “What are you doing? If you walk around like that you’ll be killed for sure!” Fluttershy whispered sternly. Her eyes then widened and she hid her face behind her hair. “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that you walked straight into Ponyville without knowing what’s going on. I am terribly sorry for yelling at you!”
Armor King cocked an eyebrow in confusion. What the hell was she talking about?
“What are you on about, Fluttershy? Where are we, and who’s going to kill me?” Armor King growled quietly.
“You headed towards Ponyville, the town we’re in right now, and you completely ignored everything around you. It was like you were hypnotised by something. You were snarling and growling like a starving wolf, and your eyes… your eyes looked empty.” The shy girl brushed her hair back letting Armor King catch a glimpse of her eyes. Strangely, he felt an immediate calming sensation run through his body.
He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, “Who is going to kill me?”
The door of the abandoned house burst to splinters in a cloud of smoke. Armor King shielded Fluttershy from the debris as he peeked at the door to see three beings that resembled Dain stand in the door way. Two of the caribou were fashioned with armored loincloths and steel plated leg wraps with hard leather boots. Their bodies were not armored except for a strip of knives that was fastened to their waists while studded leather gloves covered their hands and most of their forearms. The two armored caribou wielded standard military grade swords that were sharp enough to slice through a manticore’s tail. The third caribou wore a long red robe with gold lining with the hood down. In his hand was a tall wooden staff that formed an egg shaped cradle that housed a glowing crystal at the top.
“Hey, Cat-Man!” The middle caribou called out. “What are you doing here? This is a restricted area you’re in so, I’m going to have to escort you out or there will be consequences.”
At first Armor King stayed still careful not to reveal Fluttershy to them, then he slowly turned his head with a cold stare. He stood facing the caribou with closed fists. Fluttershy did her best to hide behind his bulky body but the caribou with the staff noticed her. Armor King noticed the armored caribou reach for their swords and dashed at them. He was suddenly stopped in his tracks and thrown to the floor, not being able to move. A red aura surrounded his body that matched the crystal in the caribou’s staff. ‘Magic,’ Armor King realized what was going on.
With Armor King out of commision, the armored caribou stepped towards Fluttershy who burst to tears and collapsed to her knees. Armor King roared gnashing his teeth. The caribou ignored the struggling jaguar on the ground and seized Fluttershy by the arms. They pushed her to her back and held her down. Armor King didn’t need to see anymore to know what they planned to do to the girl. He heard buckles come undone and the soft pitiful whimpering of an innocent girl. One pried her legs open while the other pinned down her arms.
Armor King was furious! With a surge of energy he struggled against the magical hold, roaring out of anger. “YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER! I’LL KILL YOU!” He continued struggling against the magic, thrashing about with every ounce of energy he had. The caribou with the staff had started to grow tired from the constant movement from Armor King and he struggled keeping him at bay.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a figure in a brown cloak landed on the caribou’s shoulders and snapped his neck with one movement. Armor King burst up from the floor grabbing the caribou closest to Fluttershy’s nether regions. He spun the caribou around to face him and with all his might threw a powerful punch straight into the caribou’s face. The accumulated dust around them was blown away as the caribou flew into his comrade. The remaining caribou looked on in fear, an angry jaguar surrounded by a flow of dark energy pierced his soul with the cold gaze of a bloodthirsty animal. The caribou scrambled to get up and run, falling a couple times before he got a grip. Armor King simply stepped and in a flash he appeared in front of the fleeing caribou, raising a fist. Before he was able to knock the caribou’s block off the unknown person in the cloak tapped him on the forehead with a wooden pole, instantly numbing all adrenaline and washing a calm sensation over his mind then, and just as quickly struck the caribou on the knee causing him to fall holding it and cry in pain.
“Who are you?” Armor King growled.
His question was answered as Fluttershy jumped on the person with a caring hug. “Zecora! I’m so glad you’re here.” Didn’t Fluttershy mention her friend Zecora helped her with his wounds?
Zecora took her hood off showing the black and grey fur pattern that copied itself onto her mohawk. The gold ear and neck rings she wore seemed strange to Armor King but he chose to ignore them, after all he did wear a black jaguar mask everywhere before it became a part of him. She had a warm smile on her face but her eyes said different.
“Good to see you have awoken. Let us introduce ourselves as we have not yet spoken.” Zecora spoke in rhyme, which made Armor King question his grip on modern English language. People didn’t talk like that these days right? “Zecora is my name, a friend of Fluttershy’s I am. I helped heal your wounds grave, a service I am happy I gave.” She gave a deep nod of her head and bowed slightly.
Armor King took it upon himself to be as thankful as he could toward his other savior. “Thank you for saving my life. I would have made it on my own but I wouldn’t have gotten very far without your help,” he growled.
Zecora turned to Fluttershy with an inquisitive look. “I am sorry but I do not understand,” she said. “Do you speak a language we share on common land?”
What did she mean she couldn’t understand him? Fluttershy understood him just fine like everyone back home did, so why couldn’t she? There must have been some sort of language barrier.
“What do you mean a common language? You should be able to understand me like she does,” Armor King growled whilst pointing at Fluttershy.
A groan came from across the room as the caribou Zecora dispatched crawled his way to the door. Zecora’s hit on his knee must have broken something for him to crawl like that. Armor King wasn’t sure if it was just Zecora who couldn’t understand him so he stepped over to the injured caribou and spoke to him.
“What the hell is this thing saying? He’s not gonna eat me is he?” The caribou asked wide-eyed.
The language barrier has been proven to be sturdy. If nobody could understand Armor King problems would surely arise in the future. But it seems to be that Fluttershy is the only one capable of understanding him. ‘Shit.’
Armor King rubbed the back of his head in frustration as he realized the problem affect future encounters. “Damn, this sucks.”
