//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Distractions // Story: Friendship is Ancient // by Alexander Jack //------------------------------// The figure cloaked completely in shadows extended it's full black wings past the dark mist, with red eyes gleaming bright enough to fight it's way through the darkness. It stepped forward in an assertive and self-assured manner. His voice breached the wall of echolocation that shielded their ears with a demonically tuned pitch. “So, my queen, can I trust the use of your very best?” Chrysalis steeped down from her seemingly termite infested throne of carapace to meet the mysterious, if not downright evil, guest at eye level. “If your word is true, and I can have my revenge, then yes, my elite are at your disposal.” A pearly white smile cracked as he stood straight, as opposed to his normal slouched position. Now being joined by presumably best-of-the-best changelings, the figure popped it's wing joints and took flight, into the dark night. Stupid mortal, he thought for a queen of deceptive beings, she sure can't tell when one is lying. He laughed as the plans he has set, played out with intended result recurrently in his head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alexander woke up with a pounding headache, gnawing on his worn out nerves. Sugar may not cause a lapse in memory, but in large enough amounts, can leave a pretty good mark on your, well, everything. Maybe he just got dehydrated from dancing, or having too many of the delicious rainbow cupcakes, he couldn't remember. But damn, those cupcakes were good, if not spicy. Fluttershy was there, he could remember that. It had taken him all his mental strength to not think of his daughter. May god forbid he lose his mind, in the middle of a party, with everyone watching. Pinkie Pie invited everypony in ponyville, and many of them had made it, to his discomfort. It was quite the party indeed, she even managed to get DJ-Pon3 there on such short notice. Not that techno was exactly his favourite, albeit it could have been worse. Like scream-o, that stuff is just nasty on oversized speakers. The digital beat of electronic synthesizers was alright, but it would have been nice to throw in some light rock 'n roll. Oh well, he thought can't ask for everything I suppose. Without opening his eyes, Alexander turned on his side and reached for his glass of water on the nightstand. It was too far out of reach, he stretched his arm out, but lost his balance, and fell over on the hard wood floor, face first. “...Ouch...” He looked up. There wasn't even a night stand. “Maybe someone did spike the punch last night.” Alex picked himself up and sat on the edge of the bed. He threw off his dress shirt, which he had worn the night before, and applied a fresh t-shirt to his torso. Feeling his fingers around his neck, he reassured himself that his necklace was still there. He stretched out his legs before getting out of his comfortable, although small, bed, and walked down the flight of steps that connected the upper sanctum to the resting place. He opened the door, and as soon as he did, a wave of delicious cooking batter hit him. He took a deep breath and entered the main room, near the small kitchen. “Good morning Alexander. was last night fun?” He took a seat at the table, on the other side from Twilight. Spike had already eaten his pancakes, and was cleaning about the library. “Very. I haven't seen a party like that in years.” “I haven't either, I’ve never seen any pony have a staring contest and eating contest at the same time, it's a shame you lost to Pinkie Pie.” She nearly laughed at the thought of them again. It's a miracle he could even keep up with her eating for 5 minutes, let alone 20.SHE could go on for hours, who knows how many pies she can fit in her stomach. And he blinked only after 23 ticks on the clock. “No shame in losing, she was quite the party-goer.” “Well, I’m glad you had a good time. Would you like some flapjacks?” “I would love some if you wouldn't mind.” She offered a smile as she set a stack in front of him. He returned with a gratuitous 'thanks'. The two held more conversation between bites. “So Alex, I finished this morning...and I had a few questions.” She prompted him as she hinted the book on the table, with the familiar cover. “Finished already?...a quick reader we are. Fire away.” He stated, confident in any answer he could give. “Well, you said your armour has something to do with spirit, but I hardly saw anything about that in the book.” She asked, genuinely concerned she was missing out on something important. “Well, I didn't give you the exact same spell, the one you have is different, all spirit plays in that one is to fit the wearer's body and personality.” “What do you mean fit them?” “For body, I mean light ponies, light armour, heavy ponies, heavy armour, simple as that, fit to the skin...or coat. For personality, I mean it will be fitted for running, fighting, charging, carrying, magic, flying, etc to reinforce strengths. Also, the armour is usually tinted to preferred colors. Pretty cool, eh?” “Yes,” she replied, “I'm just wondering why it wasn't in the book.” “Because I hadn't written it in yet. But the book's yours now, so you can write what you want.” Twilight sat thinking about what information she could possible be missing on the spell. “I'll tell you a little known secret about it. If you concentrate hard and charge up the spell, you can detonate it, giving other ponies around you the same effect.” “Really now? That would be quite useful.” She said. Silence fell for a few moments as both finished up breakfast. “Hey Twilight, I have a question. Are ponies typically herbivores here in Equestria?” He sincerely asked. “Not really, we eat eggs often, though mostly for baking, and fish is acceptable cuisine here since that's what griffons and dragons eat in many meals. Why do you ask?” “I was just wondering if I would have to give up steak.” He said honestly. She gave him a shot of confusion. “What's that?” That would be a yes. “It's...uh.............tender?” Please don't pursue it. “You don't think I should know, do you?” She bluntly asked. His only reply was sheepish nod. “In that case, just try not to scare any pony by telling them you eat small animals.” Wait.. Twilight gave a worried smile, realizing that it sounded much better in her head than out loud. “I haven't scared them yet, have I?” It seems the situation was successfully salvaged. “No, I guess not.” Twilight got up and took their empty plates to the sink. “But there is a first time for everything.” “Well, I suppose that's true. But alas.” Alexander stood up and went near the door to grab his backpack. “I'll be off today to find a job; don't want you to have to keep buying my food.” Twilight walked into the Lobby to watch him leave. “Alright, good luck then.” “Thank you.” Alexander reached to the door knob, but just as he did, the door swung open and hit him square in the face, knocking him to the side a bit. In rushed Applejack and Rarity. “Twilight! We have an emergency.” The orange mare said, surprisingly calm. “Somehting's been takin' ponies into the everfree forest!” Rarity cut in. “It's got out sisters, and Fluttershy!” “WHAT?!?” Thoughts were zipping around through Twilight's head. Who could do such a thing? Why would they do it? Why did Fluttershy have to be taken too? Now, it was personal. “AJ, Rarity, go get Pinkie and Dash, and meet us in the square as soon as you can.” “Alright, we'll be there.” The two ran out and split up. Twilight turned to Alexander. “Alex, could you~” “Yes, just let me get ready.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Within thirty minutes the six had gotten ready and were just on their way into the Everfree. Even during the day, the forest seemed to have a shrouded look, covering what truly lies within. The group made their way in, keeping an eye out for any clues for the whereabouts of any ponies. Alexander seemed to be the only one that had physically prepared. Over his white t-shirt, he wore a synthesized leather vest with two columns of pockets fitted to specifically carry throwing knives, steel vambraces with a few more throwing knives on the underside, steel greaves, with the left one having a leather slot with a dagger, and the right having a blowgun and some darts. On his back, he had a large, two-handed sword and an over-sized sledgehammer. Dash watched him intently from behind. How does he even know he'll need all those weapons? Why is he even here? He only just met everyone. Maybe he's just returning the favor from the other day. Or was this about Fluttershy to him? Twilight had told her close friends, including Fluttershy, what had happened a couple nights ago. Rainbow is rather surprised that Twilight isn't trying harder to find what had happened, being the oh-so-curious one she is. Maybe she's watching him just as much as Dash is. It would make sense, since she usually tries to help solve problems from the start, but didn't this time. Twilight came to a dead stop, as the rest followed suit. She and Alexander stared at the irresistible evidence presented before them. Two linear indentations in the ground, that led towards a few shrubs and a willow. One of the shrubs was halfway uprooted; blood on it's throned branches. The willow, weeping as it were, had a side of it clean of bark, as if pried off by a strong individual. After looking at the remnants of the battle for ones life, Alexander spoke in a thick monotone. “Looks like someone went down fighting.” Twilight looked even closer. With the ease of the breeze she picked up a black rock that was scraped onto the ground. It was charred, with dead tree roots and a fresh worm digging itself out. She looked back at the previous evidence, taking note that scrapes and scratches of the charred rock followed back with the taken pony. She dropped the broken piece of earth and turned towards the others. “Girls, and Alex, I know where they are. Come on.” She bolted away, with the rest of them keeping it tight, except for Alexander; Even at a full sprint he was quickly losing ground. Relying on sound to follow them was his best best. The harsh, dry wind blew past Alex as he forced his body across the grass covered and ash sprinkled forest. The breeze flew against his ears, forcing him to choose between seeing where he is, or hearing where he needs to be, the choice evident in whether his head was forward, or tilted sideways. Why choose? He simply kept switching between the two. The further he ran, the more dense the forest grew. Only hurting his struggle to keep up, he simply had to move through the thick brush. The carefully woven canopy was host to much moss and mistletoe; even worse, vines. They crawl up the oblivious trees, and over their fragile branches, just to hand it's dead weight down in the open, ready to lynch it's victims with itself. There was a whole wall in front of him, with no way about or over, only through. He dove, clearing as much as he could in one fall swoop, before having to edge his way through. I wish I had a flamethrower on me, didn't think id need one. Or at least a machete..wait, I have a sword. I am an idiot. He marveled at his own stupidity as he crawled his way through. The small amount of exposed upper arm felt only the passing of smooth and soft immobile flesh, almost inviting to suffocation in comfort. Alexander felt the dirt again, and began pulling himself into the partially eaten grass. He narrowly escaped, and began to pick himself up, just to be anchored by his ankle. Hearing the voices grow weak, he retrieved his dagger and swiftly swung at the vicious vines. Once. Twice. His captivity was short lived, but he couldn't hear the group of mares anymore. Crap...where did they go? Alex threw himself up and~ “Jack, this way!” He heard a voice cry out. Setting his eyes on the direction it came from, he now saw a colt running away from him; The same white colt from yesterday. With a single push, he dashed towards the stallion. Chasing him as fast as he could, he followed the colt towards the girls. The pony was just far enough away to hide his cutie mark. Wait...How does he know my name? SMACK! He hit his head on a tree, disorienting himself a bit. In those few precious moments, he regained his focus, and saw no living creature ahead of him. He was gone. But something else was more important, he saw a break in the treeline. A perfect gap; no bushes, and trees are separated well. He closed his eyes, focusing on the voices he could barely hear now, so calm yet clear. The cool breeze blew on his lightly sweat-dabbed forehead. As the smashing of leaves below his feet stopped, and the warm sunlight heated his skin, Alexander opened his eyes. He panicked, dropping into a power-slide, and forcefully stabbed the ground, causing a gap to appear up to the edge where he now hangs. With the blade held in the ground, he used his legs to turn to the open. With only about a 10 meter drop, the crater spanned a little less than a mile in diameter. “Huh, I wonder what caused this.” He looked below the ridge near himself to see five pastel colored figures. “There they are.” The group stood out very well, seeing they have candy colored fur. He averted his eyes to a bit further down the edge. Some of the ground collapsed to form a ramp. A bit too convenient, but chances are to be taken! Alex turned towards the ledge he was hanging from, and pulled on the staked knife. The brittle blade broke under his weight, sending him for a fall. His knees buckled on the slope, causing him to slide his way down on his steel plated shins, backwards. After reaching the bottom, Alexander stood up and dusted himself off, and emptied his boots of the dirt that managed to get in the cracks. He looked at the handle left in his hand, and threw it away, cursing himself for thinking a steel dagger would be strong enough. “Took you long enough.” Dash chimed in. “Your legs stop working or something?” They walked together to the others. “For your information, humans can't run nearly as fast as equine.” She gave a huff. “Yeah, well, then get a motor-scooter or something.” “You know, I have a feeling that you don't like me very much.” He asked in a serious tone. “It's not that I don't like you...” She paused. “...It's, just....i don't trust you in the slightest.” She stated blatantly. “Ouch.” He threw a hand on his chest in fake agony. “...My ego...” “And just so you know, being sarcastic and condescending doesn't exactly help it.” Of the few conversations the two had, he recalled them quite easily. “Well....i, suppose I wasn't aware of my manners?” Dash rolled her eyes and let silence fall as they got to the others. “Are you sure they're here, sugercube?” said Applejack. “I'm very sure, my detection magic confirmed my suspicions....but where are they?” A rolling plain of broken earth was laid before them. Only the empty echoes of what was once a lively forest filled the silence. The air stood still, and only worsened the worry. Time burned like a candle, slow, with uncertainty of any change at all. They stood, wondering, for less than a minute, but it died at the rate of an hour. Suddenly a buzzing came into earshot as a small amount of ground in front of them began to break up. Following the creation of a gap in the ground, three fillies crawled out. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Escape Artists are a success!” Said Sweetie belle. “It's a good think you borrowed those spellbooks from Twilight.” Scootaloo admitted. “Girls, before we celebrate, we should go get...Big sis!!” Apple-bloom jumped on her sister in a tight hug; Sweetie did the same to Rarity. “It's a good thing ya'll are safe 'n sound, but where's everypony else?” AJ asked. “They're all still underground, we were going to get help to get 'em out.” Applebloom replied. Marking the end of her words, the ground shook, earth separated, roots raveled and unraveled. A large, collective mass of boulders resurrected itself from the ground. AJ quickly commanded her sister, “Applebloom, you take your friends and go to Zecora's, we'll come get you when it's safe.” Applebloom nearly contested the idea, but a roar louder than thunder tamed her thoughts. She grabbed Sweetie and Scootaloo and booked it, getting out of view rather quickly. The mixed rocks assembled themselves into a shape that resembled a human, but thickened at the torso and limbs, and cut off at the shoulders. It let out trembling outcry as it pounded it's club-like appendages against the world in a threatening manner. AJ asked, “Twilight, what's that?” “That's....a golem....a really, really big golem.” The twenty foot structure stepped toward them, and pointed it's arm directly at Alexander, as if a public display of it's hate towards the only other bipedal in the area. Alexander drew his greatsword. “It seems I have a challenger. Very well then, I’ll fight.” He proclaimed. (Theme Music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O9K7E3lDRU Suddenly the ground farther behind the golem burst up, revealing trapped ponies. At least three dozen were tangled in live roots and stone traps, stuck to a dirt wall that rose high enough to be used to spectate. “And we'll fight with you.” Said Twilight in a very stern voice. She quickly charged her magic and shot a pulse of light that moved away from the epicenter; Her. As the circular line of light passed over her friends, it left metallic armor that was tinted their fur color, like Twilight's; Aside from Alex, whom stayed without armor by choice of withstanding. “A quick learner I see.” Said Alex. “Yeah, pretty much.” She replied. Twilight charged up her magic again. When she fired, a cylindrical field surrounded her to protect herself. Purple tentacles of light seeped from the ground around the golem and threw themselves around the legs to secure it in one spot. Rarity began to pick up rocks from the ground around her, sharpen them to a fine point, and fire the newly formed spear-heads like bullets into the wounds that were opened from the others. Dash launched herself into the air, climbing as fast as she could, and used all her might to force herself down and slam into the golem with stunning shockwaves. Pinkie Pie jumped around in front of the monster, taunting it among other things, to distract it from the others. When it lost interest in her, she would jump on it and play 'dodge-the-massive-rock-monster's-arms' to trick it into hitting itself. Alexander and AJ looked at each other;they smiled, knowing what to do. Alexander impaled an arm as it made a pass at Pinkie. It threw him up and he landed at the limb's base. He shoved the sword deep into the shoulder, causing the golem to let out another cir de coeur. He jerked the sword around as much as he could to break up the tough roots and rocks that composed the golem. He slid his way down as Applejack ran her way up. She smashed her hooves on the sword to break up as much stone as she could. She jumped up and bit the leather handle of the blade on the way down to cut off the arm completely with the force gravity gave her. The pained shouting of the golem effectively shook the earth. Black and dark purple mist formed at the end of the freshly severed arm at and exposed shoulder. The bleeding shadows drew at each other and began to pull the arm back, until it was reattached. The projectile rockets that Rarity shot helped keep the magic wounds open, especially after Dash smashed against the now non-severed arm, breaking apart the surface. Pinkie Pie jump and stuck to the front of the torso. The golem smashed itself as Pinkie dodged it's intact left arm. Applejack seized this opportunity by stabbing the elbow-resembling area of the fully-functioning arm. The golem flicked it's arm out in pain, throwing off AJ. Dash mauled the monster again, beginning to break up the surface of the torso, and stunning the golem for a few precious moments. Alexander leaped onto the sword and twisted, damaging the area greatly. With a final push, he broke off the arm entirely at the elbow. He hung on tight with his legs, leaving him upside down while the limb was temporarily paralyzed. He pulled out a fist full of throwing knives and shoved them all on the end of the broken appendage, handles facing inward. Alexander dropped as the severed arm began to levitate back up. As the rocks connected, the upper section visibly split out into several cords, and was bleeding magic profusely. AJ and Alex stood away a bit, in a defensive type stance, as a reaction to the high pitched whistle they heard above them. Dash shot past their heads as she slammed her hooves against the abdomen of the golem, forcing a small explosion of color, and breaking apart the boulder. The torso bled a brighter red mist than the dark purple and black the arms bled; It could almost be mistaken for real blood. A large gap stuck out from the rest, being a bigger target and going down the center of the golem. Alexander threw his sword as best as his skills allowed, nailing it deep in the crack. He removed his hammer from it's tie, and looked at AJ, whom was at the opposite side of him from the golem. He ran at her with true focus. “BUCK ME!” He yelled. She didn't need a second thought. She cocked back; He jumped. Hooves met feet, as the enhanced strength of Applejack sent Alex up. He pulled up the hammer as he was about to smash the golem with all his power. A half-ton rock fist flew in from the side, blasting Alex into the ground. The hammer flew up, and was caught in the teeth of a pegasus covered in sky-blue armour, with multicolored secondary pieces. Dash's wings sliced through the air as she built altitude. She began to feel the freezing air over her eyes, being the only part that wasn't at least partially covered. She closed her eyes as her innate instincts took over. She didn't have to see to know her altitude, she could simply feel it. Her wings halted as she achieved her goal. Her body flipped upside down, and she bolted down. She could hear the air piercing sound of her own descent. Her eyes opened to see the target; A glistening on the golem showed the sword. With a swing of the hammer, metal on metal, the sword plummeted through the golem, taking massive chunks from the inside that connected the front and back. Every ounce of force was exerted from her body in that on hit. The sword was lost somewhere underground, miles beneath them now, and there was now a gaping hole in the middle of the now deathly-still golem, bleeding a bright red aura. It creaked as it fell over on it's back, and began to moan pained bellows. Twilight, exhausted, relinquished her grip on her three powerful, and tiring, spells. With the exception of Alexander, they all went to help the abducted ponies to help them out of the tree-root chains. Alex was more interested in the golem than anything. He walked up next to it, observing the bleeding aura. “I'd start off with a normal conversation, but from the looks of your wounds, you'll be dead within a couple minutes. So, why did you abduct the ponies?” A long low moan followed by low stutter was made, similarly sounding to a whale. “Oh, I can help you with that.” Alexander knelt down and stuck his hand in the gaping hole. The aura tinted purple, and slowed it's escape. “Better?” The rumbling sounded lighter, and peppy. “Now, back to the question.” The golem let out a groan, then a quickly fluctuating frequency of sound. “Distract us? From what?” The fluctuating sounds trailed on. “Really now? Given this, I almost feel ashamed for having killed you. I’m sorry you were summoned to simply die, I wish I had known you were forced. I truly am sorry.” Only the soft mystic sound of the golem's bleeding, and the slow breeze filled the silence. The aura disappeared, taking with it, the only sign of life in the rocks. Alexander felt the last of it's- ...his soul, trail between his fingers, and stood again. He looked ahead of himself, at the group of ponies leaving, and jogged over to the only six standing still. Just as he stepped within earshot of their conversation, a messenger landed next to them from nowhere. “Twilight Sparkle and company?” He asked urgently. “Yes” She inquired. “Princess Celestia had been abducted, and the captor left a note that said 'Everfree Sisters'. Luna suspects the abductor has taken her sister to the castle where you found the elements, and requests that you six-” He looked at Alexander with slight distrust. “-and, uh...him, go rescue her.” “All right then, inform her we are on our way.” The messenger pony fly off, leaving the seven alone. Twilight looked towards the direction of the castle, and gave a sign as she took a step forward. ~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Sorry this took so long everybody. But Dark Souls, Prototype, Torchwood, and Team Fortress 2 take up a LOT of time.... In any case, i'll try to release the next one as soon as i can, but i am still in the middle of fiddling with ideas, so it's a doozy. Feel free to comment or criticize, i need the information to help me be a better author anyways. ~CPTgentlementlegen [AKA Alexander Jack the Paladin]