//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Darkness Comes // Story: Equestria's Black Swordsman // by TheEveryDaySparkle //------------------------------// Guts had been walking for quite sometime. Long ago had he forgotten the seething rage he felt at the god for transforming his body. Now he simply felt the need to find shelter. He had left Zecora's hut and stepped back out into the rain. Because of that, he ended up getting soaked. Despite all her warnings about the forest being some dangerous place, nothing had attacked him. Not even once. He did see a shadow looming in the woods, stalking him for a while before it had finally decided to leave him alone. 'Maybe I don't seem like good enough prey to it?' He thought as he trotted along. 'Well I am a friggin' pony now, after all. Stupid god.' He remarked once again on his unfortunate circumstances. Off in the distance, he could swear he saw a small town looming over the horizon. "Finally! Civilization!" He said aloud as he made his way toward the buildings he saw. But, despite his lucky find, all his efforts were thwarted when he heard a scream coming in his direction. So focused on getting to civilization that he was only just barely paying attention, he was soon hit headfirst by a heavy flying object. Said object was moving at a high speed, but, Guts being Guts, simply shrugged off what would have knocked any normal person (or pony, in this case) out instantly. He shook his head free of the confusion he was feeling as he took a look around. There was another pony in front of him. Was she the one screaming? What had she been running from so fast? Upon closer inspection, he found that she had wings. 'A Pegasus now? How many different species are there in this world?' But he did not have time to focus on that now. Whatever this Pegasus was running from was no doubt going to chase her down. He had to help her. He sat her up against a tree and pulled out the Dragonslayer with his teeth, readying himself for a fight. He was surprised at how light it was despite being the same exact size it was before. Then he took a look at it, examining it closely. It wasn't as big as before! Don't get him wrong, it was far bigger than any weapon in this world could be by his logic, and he was pretty sure it still weighed the same, but it was still smaller. How? He couldn't dwell on that either. He looked up. While he was worrying about his weapon, the beast had caught up to them. He was mildly surprised at what he saw. He had seen manticore before, but never, one so...colorful. Nor was it so whimsical looking. He thought that if this was what manticore were like in this world, he could take them out easily. How wrong he was. The beast stared him down, and he stared back. Him being a pony, the beast believed it could take him out easily. How wrong it was. In its arrogance, the beast took a swipe at him, hoping to knock him away and out of its way. Guts simply parrried with the Dragonslayer and sliced at its midsection. The beast howled in pain and stumbled back, only to return with a crushing blow that, surprisingly, Guts could not dodge. He did however, block the attack. But, that was all he could do considering his body type now. He did still posses his unimaginable strength. However, he would have to get used to working with his new body. A fact he would soon learn, as the manticore gave another swipe at Guts, sending him flying into a tree. If not for his armor, his back probably would have broken. He got up on shaky forelegs and charged the beast, rage burning in his eyes and blurring his vision slightly. He jumped. To his surprise, he could jump just as high as he could as a human. maybe even a bit higher. This was a boon to him, as he brought his blade down on the creature. Now it was his opponents turn to block. Only it couldn't. The sword pierced its flesh and cleaved right through it, killing it. With the battle over and his opponent dead in a bloody heap on the ground, he went to check on the mare who had just previously been in danger. He walked up to her, only to notice that she had been awake for quite some time. Flutter's POV The beast was coming after her. She didn't know what to do. She had only been in the woods to find Angel Bunny more carrots to eat. Why was she being chased? As she cranked up her flight speed, she saw in front of her a strange looking pony. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get a chance to see just how strange because she was heading for a collision course with said pony with only minutes to spare. She crashed into the pony before she even had time to react and was knocked out. When she awoke, she was up against a tree. As she lifted her head to see what had happened to the pony she had run into, she saw an unbelievable sight. An earth pony was fighting a manticore. And winning! She watched as the beast smashed its palm down upon the pony only for it to block with some sort of large weapon. "What's going on over there?" she said as she watched the beast deliver a blow that should have injured the pony greatly. Thanks to some armor it wore however, the pony had survived and was now struggling to stand up. 'Oh no! Run, Mr. Swordsman' she saidd mentally as she watched the impossible happen before her eyes once more. The pony charged the manticore, rage in its eyes as it jumped higher than she had seen any earth pony do. Apple Jack couldn't even jump that high, and she was the strongest pony she knew! Then, using its large weapon, the pony literally cleaved the manticore in half. The fight apparently over, Fluttershy simply sat there staring at the pony who was currently walking up to her. Once it stopped to look at her she realized. It had been protecting her. She could barely form words, the thought of what she had just seen leaving her speechless. Guts' POV The pony before him didn't say a word. Was she mute? Was she in shock? Did the blow to the head give her a concussion? He had started to wonder for her safety once more when he heard her say "Um...what...was that?" "I just helped you. Now get up and run away. It's dangerous here." Guts silently laughed at himself. Here he was doing exactly what that zebra had told him not to do, and now he was trying to tell someone else the same thing. Talk about a hypocrite. He walked away. Once he was a distance away, Fluttershy noticed he was hurt. Most likely from the fight. "Wait! Mr. Swordsman! You're hurt!" "It's nothing." "But what if it gets infected?!" What was she a doctor? "I'll be fine. I've suffered much worse pain." That thought scared the yellow Pegasus. To think that he had suffered more painful injuries that this before made her nearly faint from worry. But she had to strive on. She had to help him. She flew up to him. "I insist! You need first aid!" Guts looked into the ponies eyes and saw genuine concern. He almost qanted to give in and let her do as she pleased. if only to stop her griping. But then he realized. This was a good deal. He could get treatment, and she could stop worrying over nothing. "Fine." Fluttershy smiled. "Come with me." With those words she led him off to her home, which just so happened to be on the edge of the very forest they just left. Guts had to wonder how she didn't get eaten by now. She opened the door for him and he stepped inside.