//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: A Wolf in Gentlemans Clothing // Story: The Tale Of A Lost Wolf // by Solaris Night //------------------------------// "Are you three sure this won't be like one of your regural escapades? Cause Twilight'll have my hide if get back with as much as a scratch." Trider asked the CMC as they were making their way down a road. The three fillies sighed. "Like we said Trider, we're not going to the Everfree. We're going to Froggy Bottom Bog. There are no monsters there." explained Scootaloo. "Ok. But why are you going there?" the Kanisar continued to question the fillies. "Cuz' I heard mah sister say that you can find some of the best truffles in all of Equestria here." Apple Bloom said with great glee. "If we can gather enough of them we might get our Cutie Marks in gathering them or at least cooking them." "And you need me for that why exactly?" "You promised us you'd go with us on one of our crusades. Don't you remember?" said Sweetie Belle as she gave him a slightly gloomy look. Trider pondered and pondered, as he tried to remember if he had really said that. "Ah whatever. I had nothing better to do anyway." he sighed as he stopped for a bit to alleviate the pain in his shoulder. "I thought you'd be all for this and yet you're whining like a scared little colt." Scootaloo taunted, knowing it would aggravate the Kanisar. And it did. Trider grabbed the pegasus by the back of her shirt and lifted her to eye level. "All right you little twerp, for one I'm still recovering from my adventures in Crystal Empire and two, you guys have this tendency to turn an even miniscule task into something bothersome. So sorry for trying to be careful for once." he spoke to her with a fiery gaze. The fillies giggled at his outburst and his expression soon softened and he joined them as well. He put Scootaloo down and they continued their march. Despite being treated in the hospital and not experiencing that much pain, Trider still had days before he was completely healed. When he was told to take it easy, until his injuries recovered, he wondered why can't they simply magic it away, like they always did. Apparently it's not as simple as that. From what he could understand, the doctors and Twilight told him, the healing magic uses ones internal magic to heal themselves,beside the one that is conjured by the unicorn. But since Trider has so little of it, almost none, they can't heal him as it would take too much of unicorn magic to do so. Even when Luna healed his fists she used up a lot of magic, just to stop the bleeding. So now he'll have to recover the old fashioned way. A thought then popped into his head and he looked at the fillies. "You said these truffles can be cooked." he wondered and the CMC nodded. "So that means you can eat'em, right?" They looked at each other with knowing smirks and nodded again. "Well what are waiting for, let's go get'em!" the Kanisar shouted and picked up his pace. "Have ya found any yet?" Apple Bloom called out to her friends. "No!" answered Scootaloo. "Nope!" replied Sweetie Belle. "The only thing I found was a reason to leave." Trider said in annoyance. They've spent a good hour looking through the bog for the illusive truffles. "Are you sure Applejack said we can find them here?" "Yeah, ah can clearly remember she said they grew here." Apple Bloom confirmed. The CMC and Kanisar joined up and sighed in defeat. "Maybe they don't grow at this time of the year." said Sweetie nailing the final nail. "Alright pack up, I think we're done here." Trider said and beckoned the fillies to follow him back to town. "It'll be lunch time soon and I don't want Twilight to give me an earfull, if I get back late." He saw how downtrodden the fillies were, so he gave them a big smile. "Hey maybe you'll get your marks next time. Ya never know." he encouraged them. The CMC returned the smile and joined him in their trek back. "At least nothing bad happened this time." Trider thought as he walked behind the trio. And as if Murphy himself was listening the ground shook slightly and followed by a loud roar. The Kanisar and CMC looked between each other with widened eyes. "That wouldn't happen to be your stomach, right?" Scootaloo asked, with false hope. "Not this time." Trider answered seriously. The ground began to shake even more and another roar could be heard. All of a sudden a large column of water rose from the ground. When all water dropped down it reveald a creature unlike any tider had ever seen, not even in the Everfree. It was huge. At first glance it looked like a multiheaded dragon, without wings and only one pair of limbs to walk with. Its body was covered with brown scales and on the side of each of its head were a pair of red spikes. Their green eyes were scanning its surroundings and soo n they fell onto the group. "What in the fucking name of all that is holy is that thing?" Trider asked, clearly not expecting this turn of events. "I-I-I-It's a hydra." answered Apple Bloom, while she was standing frozen. Suddenly one of the heads shot forward and tried to grab one of them with its jaw. Trider however grabbed the trio and jumped out of the way, just in the nick of time. But as soon as he landed another head tried to make them its meal. With quick thinking the Kanisar threw the CMC into the air and he punched the head with all his might. The head was steered away and Trider took advantage of the opening. He grabbed the filles as the ywere still falling and ran towards some of the trees. Once he made sure they were hidden enough he looked at the fillies and then at his hand. He grabbed it and squeezed it tight. "Are you alright trider?" Sweetie said in concern, as she saw his pained expression. "I'll be fine, just stings a little." he lied. "Then you can get us out there and kick that monsters butt right?" Scootaloo exclaimed as she shadow boxed. "Not this time kiddo." Trider said. The fillies looked at him with horror, not believing what he had just said. "Why not?" the pegasus asked. "In my current state I'd probably just end up more hurt or worse." he answered with a grim tone. "Even that punch now barely fazed it." "Then how are we suppossed tah get back with that thing tryin' tah eat us?" Apple Bloom wondered. Trider looked at his friends and saw they were scared, Sweetie Belle was eve shedding some tears. Closing his eyes he began to think of a way to get them out of here, while making sure he wouldn't end up dead. "Guess I have no other option." he said as he stood up. The fillies looked at him with hope. "I'll get its attention and lure it away from here while you guys run back to Ponyville." "What about you?" asked Sweetie with tears in her eyes. "We can't just leave you here, with that monster." Trider just smiled as he made his way out of their hiding spot. "Don't worry. It'll take more than some freak of nature to take me down." With that said he made a run for it. The hydra noticed and gave chase after him. Meanwhile the CMC ran inthe opposite direction. However oone of the heads noticed and alerted the others. Losing interest in the Kanisar they instead decided to have the fillies for lunch. Triders eyes widened when he saw they weren't chasing him anymore. "Oh no you don't!" Charging his Ki, he shot a large ball of energy at the monster stopping it in its tracks. The heads all turned their attention towards the Kanisar and glared at him. "Come and get it ya big dumb dragon wannabe." Trider taunted. Almost as if it understood what he had said the heads roared and returned to chasing him. "Oh shit!" Trider exclaimed as he realised he was their target yet again. Quickly turning around he began to run. The hydra, though large, was surprisingly fast. The distance Trider had before was quickly disappearing. "Shit, shit, shit!" Trider cursed as he tried to outrun the massive creature. When it was close enough it launched one of its heads at the Kanisar and he dodged it by jumping into the air. While he was mid-air another head tried to catch him in its mouth. Trider however twisted his body, just enough for its teeth to graze his clothes. As he slid past the head he grabbed it by its spikes and hoisted himsef on top of it. The head tried to shake him off, but Trider was grabbing on for his dear life. In his peripheral vision he saw another head quickly approaching him. Quickly jumping he dodged the attack and made the head bite the other head. It cried out in pain, as did the rest and the glared at the Kanisar. "That's what ya get ya dumbass!" Trider mocked. He failed to notice though, that the hydra swung its body around and whipped its tail at him. With a tremendous force, he was launched into the air. As he soared upwards the heads gathered under him in expectation of an easy meal. Trider however, thought otherwise. "Eat this!" he shouted as he began to charge his Ki. "I hope this works." he silently prayed. Right before he could fall into one of their maws he unleashed the energy he was gathering up. "WAILING NOVA SPHERE!!!" he screamed. The orb exploded and engulfed Trider and hydras heads in blinding light. An explosion sounded off, followed by painful screams from the monster. Trider on the other hand was sent flying through the sky at incredible speed. "Please let it be a soft landing." he mumbled as he expected the inevitable crash landing. Soon he fell through numerous branches until his body hit the ground with a loud crash. Groaning he picked himself up and looked around. He could recognise the scenery around him and he knew he was on the edge of Everfree Forest. Looking down he noticed he fell into a small patch of blue flowers and completely ruined most of them. "Still better then getting eaten alive." he said with a heartened tone. He stood up and dusted himself off. "Now I should head back. I'm sure Twilight has a thing or two she would like to say to me." he groaned and begrudgingly headed back to town. The room was filled with light snores, as the lavender mare slept soundly under her sheets. The clock on her drawer struck 7 and even before it could begin its ringing, Twilight used her magic to stop it. Raising herself up she stretched herself and yawned. With a small smile she looked at the clock. "Another day for studying." she announced to herself and got out of bed. Her horn glowed and her bed was made and her clothes changed. She walked to her dresser and levitated a brush out of one of the drawers. Ash she brushed her amne and tail she hummed a little tune. She was in a good mood today, since she knew she was about to spend it reading some of the new books she got and what was even better was that she would be doing it with Trider. When he arrived home yesterday she wanted to literally smack some sense into him. He got hurt, again, because he was being reckless. But she couldn't put all the blame on him. He didn't know that a hydra resided in the bog and he did save Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from the monster. Still she was mad and she made it clear to him. For punishment she decided that he should strengthen his mind and not just his body, as she put it, and he reluctantly agreed to it. Once her mane was done she walked out of her room. As soon as she stepped out she was assaulte with a heavenly aroma. "Spike must already have made breakfast." she thought to herself as she made her way to the Kanisars room. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she loved to wake him up. The sight of his peaceful sleeping face made her mornings even better. She didn't know why she loved it, she just knew she did. When Trider was in coma she could see his sleeping face everyday, but it was different. She saw he was in pain and she couldn't bear to watch it, as it made her hurt as well. But now she once again could see his slumbering, peaceful face once more. When she arrived to his room, she knocked lightly and whispered. "Trider, wake up. It's morning already." She knew he couldn't hear her with that kind of a wake up call, it usually took a cannon to even get him to stir. She knew she wouldn't get a response, so she grabbed the knob and opened the door. She slowly walked into his room, expecting to see him still lying in bed. But to her surprise he wasn't there. Instead of a sleeping Kanisar she saw a neatly made bed. Baffled she walked out of the bedroom and made her way downstairs. She usually also checked the basement, where Dynamism and Rose were staying, just to make sure they wouldn't sleep in, which had not yet happened, but she didn't do it today, as they were both recalled back to Canterlot when Trider woke up. "Spike, have you seen Trider? He's not in his room and-" her inquiry was cut short when she walked into the kitchen. The sight before her made her halt and do a double take. Usually, when Trider woke up this early, it was Spike who was making the meal and Trider sat at the table, waiting for said meal. This time however it was the exact opposite. Trider stood at the stove making breakfast and Spike sat at the table watching silently. "Ah good morning Miss Sparkle. It is a lovely day today would you not say? Almost as lovely as yourself." Genereally Twilight would be flustered at his remark, but she was too shocked to respond. Not only was he up early and making breakfast, his overall appearance had changed. His normally messy hair was combed and slicked backwards, giving him a refined look. His usual attire of a sleeveless hoodie, worn out cargo pants and combat boots was replaced with a white dress shirt, black dress pants and polished black shoes. "Spike." she called out to her assistant. "Yeah?" he responded. "What is going on?" she asked him. "I have no idea." he replied. Trider turned around and put two plates of eggs and hay bacon, down on the table. "Please enjoy." Trider said with a smile. Dumbfounded twilight sat down and put a piece of egg into her mouth. Her eyes widened at the delectable taste and Spike was no better. She remembered that he once told her that he was evn worse at cooking than she was. She looked at the Kanisar with a questioning gaze. "Trider are you feeling fine?" she inquired. Trider just smiled at her and nodded. "I am feeling quite excellent, thank you for asking." he responded. "Is the food to your liking?" Both Spike and Twilight nodded. "Excellent. I am happy you enjoy it." Trider said with glee. "Aren't you going to eat as well?" asked Spike when he swallowed his bite. "I have already eaten, so you don't have to worry about me Spike." he reassured him. He then switched his attention to Twilight. "Miss Sparkle, I know we had made previous plans as to spend the rest of the day reading in each others company, but I would very much like to ask you if we could reschedule it?" "Why?" she questioned. "Well when I woke up this morning and tried to change my clothes, I had made a startling discovery that my warderobe manly consists of hoodies and cargo pants." he shivered when he mentioned them. "Luckily I have somehow found this attire I am wearing right now and I wish I had more. So I am planning on giving Miss Rarity a visit and see if she could spruce up some more. Maybe even a blazer or a tie." Twilight and Spike stared at him with wide eyes, not believeing what they're hearing. Eventually the mare shook her head and smiled. "Sure you can take the rest of the day off if you want, I'll just go through some of the books by myself and we can read the rest of them together." Triders face brimmed with happines and he bowed his head. "Thank you very much Miss Sparkle. This is quite splendid. I shall take my leave immediatelly." As soon as he said that he was out the door leaving the mare and dragon alone. "We're gonna follow him right?" "Oh yeah." For the past three hours Spike and Twilight had been following the Kanisar around town. At first he stopped by Raritys, but she wasn't home as she had and errand to run, so Trider decided to walk around Ponyville until she returned. At the moment Trider was sitting on a bench in the park and was listening to a mint green mare playing her lyre. His two stalkers were hiding in a nearby bush. Spike was watching him through binoculars, although he was only a few feet away, while Twilight was writing down everything he had done. "10.27 A.M. The subject seems to be sitting down and relaxing while listening to a mare play on her string instrument." Twilight whispered as she wrote down her log. "What's he doing now Spike?" "Same thing he was doing just a second ago." Spike said, a bit aggravated. Nodding the mare wrote down her next entry. "What are ya two doin'?" someone suddenly asked. Startled the two turned around and saw it was only Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Don't scare us like that!" Spike exclaimed as he picked up his binoculars, that he dropped. "Sorry 'bout that." Applejack apologized. "But seriously what're ya two doin' here?" "We are watching Trider." Twilight said as she pointed to the Kanisar. The mares looked at him and the back to the mare with massive smirks. "Wow, I know you have the hots for him Twi, but spying on him? I didn't take you for that kind of mare." Rainbow teased, as Applejack tried to hold back her laughter. The lavender mares face flushed red. "It's not like that!" she shouted, but immediatelly put a hand over her mouth. She looked at where Trider was sitting and saw he didn't notice them. "It's not like that!" she repeated in a hushed tone. "He has been acting weird all day. We are just worried something must've happened to him yesterday, when he went to Froggy Bottom Bog." "Weird how?" inquired Rarity with a raised brow. "Well for starters he got up before me or Twilight, he's wearing a shirt that has sleeves on it, he made breakfast for us..." Spike counted. "And while he was around town he had not even once stopped by any vendors. Somepony even bumped into him and Trider was the one who apologized." twilight continued where Spike left off. Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other with worried glances. "That doesn't sound like him at all." the cowmare said as she scratched her head. "Oh please. I bet he is only pretending to get out of your punishement Twilight." She stepped from behind the bush and began to head towards the Kanisar. "Just watch, I'll make him drop his act." The others watched as the fashionista made her way to Trider. "Excuse me?" she called out, gaining the mans attention. Turning his head, the Kanisar looked at the mare and smiled. "Miss Rarity just the mare I have been looking for." he exclaimed. "You have?" she asked, slightly confused as to why he would be looking for her. "Yes!" he confirmed. "I am in dire need of a proper attire. The clothes that I own currently are just too..." He paused as he looked for the right expression for them. "Crude." "I see. So what do you want me to do? Add some flare to them or-" "Heavens no!" Trider said, shocked. "I want you to make me a completely new assemble. One that will put some more class into my life." Rarity was at a loss for words. She never in her life expected for Trider to make such a demand, and in such a polite way nonetheless. Usually he would make a vulgar comment and then rudely ask for some new clothes, but this... "I'll be happy to help you. You have no idea how long I have waited for you say those words." she stated ecstatic. "Splendid!" Trider exclaimed, equally happy. "You are a life saver Miss Rarity." He grabbed her hand and planted a small kiss on it. Rarity laughed nervously, as she blushed and fanned herself to cool off. Meanwhile the others were watching the whole spectacle from their hiding spot. The mares were flabbergasted at the Kanisars response, while Spike was clenching his fists and grinding his teeth. "Ah don't believe it." Applejack exhaled. "What in tarnation happened to the fella?" "I don't know, but he better have a good reason." Spike said, small flames shooting out of his nostrils. "Maybe the hydra knocked some screws loose?" Dash speculated. "Anyway there is one sure way to tell if he is really alright and just pretending or if something wrong." "And that is?" asked Twilight. "Follow me." The pegasus mare walked up to the man, followed by her friends. Seeing them approach, Trider raised his arm and waved to them. "Miss Dash, Miss Jack, Miss Sparkle and Mr. Spike, what are you doing here?" Rainbow quickly closed the distance and shoved a finger into his chest. "Don't you Miss me buster. I know you're just playing so how about you drop the act or I will make you." she threatened as she pushed him backwards. Stumbling for a bit, Trider regained his balance and looked at the mare with a hurt expression. "I do not know what you are talking about Miss Dash. I am not playing anyone for a fool and I would rather prefer we settle whatever dispute you have with me with words rather than violence." Nobody moved an inch. They all just stared at the Kanisar and mulled over what he had said. Suddenly Rainbow grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Alright who are you? Who sent you? Are you a changeling? What is my favorite color? What kind of underware does Twilight wear?" she began to ask as she shook him back and forth. "Dash stop that!" Rarity said as she enveloped her in her magic and pushed her away from Trider. "You are going to make his shirt wrinkly." "She does have a point though. How do we know this really is Trider and not just some impostor." Applejack wondered. The group looked at him with suspicion. "Please. That statement is ridiculous." the Kanisar defended himself, but to no avail. "I am me." "Prove it then." Spike challenged. "If you really are Trider, then you should be able to tell us who was the man that saved you when you were a kid." The others looked at him expectantly and waited for his answer. He sighed as he looked at them in disappointment. "It was Sir Richard Shepherd." The mares sighed in relief, but Rainbow just made the 'I'm watching you' gesture. "So ah guess it really is him. But that still begs the question, what happened to him?" contemplated Applejack. "Maybe Rainbow was right and something happened when the hydra attacked them." Twilight claimed. She looked at the Kanisar and asked him. "Did something unusual happen when you were fighting it?" Trider put a hand to his chin as he began to think. "Nothing that I can remember. But honestly Miss Sparkle, I am telling you I am fine. there is nothing wrong with me." he implored her. "I agree with him Twilight. Is it really that bad that he behaves more composed now? Isn't this change for the better?" Rarity inquired. Her question earned her glares, especially from Spike, but it was for some reason directed at Trider. "I was joking. Really, who would want to have a kind gentleman over a brutish, inconsiderate, barbaric-" Her rant was stopped when Twilight cleared her throat. The fashionista gave her a sheepish smile. "Let's just get going shall we." "Where exactly do we go anyway?" wondered Applejack. "We go back to the last place Trider was still acting like himself." Twilight proclaimed. "Ya mean?" "Yes." she affirmed. "The Froggy Bottom Bog." "Do we really need to walk through here? Have you any idea how long it would take to get all this muck out of my dress?" Rarity whined as she carefully made her way with her friends. "We never said you had to follow us ya'know?" Rainbow said with agitated tone. "If you have trouble with the dirt fair Miss Rarity, then would you be fine if I carried you?" offered Trider with a bow. Immediatelly Spike jumped in between the two and glared at Trider. "If anyone is carrying Rarity its me!" the drake threatened. "It is quite alright boys." the fashionista waved them off while jumping on a small rock. "It's just a little mud, I've been through worse." "How much farther until we reach the spot Trider?" asked Twilight. "We are here actually." the Kanisar said and the group stopped. "This is where we began to look for truffles and where we met up once we were done." The mares spread out and began to look around to see if there was anything that might be the cause for Trider change of behaviour. After a while they stopped and regrouped. "Anypony find anything?" asked the lavender mare. All of them shook their heads. "So that means it must've happened during or after the hydra attacked." She looked at Trider as she spoke. "Is this also where you were attacked by hydra?" "Correct Miss Sparkle." he confirmed with a nod. "When the beast sprouted from the ground we took shelter under those trees over there." he said as he pointed toward the group of trees. Heading toward where he pointed they soon reached their destination and as before began to search. Again they came out empty. "This is getting us nowhere!" complained Rainbow as she hovered in the air. "Not true. We now know where the incident didn't happen. And as the great detective Brandybuck Cuckooclock once said 'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.'" Twilight quoted. "We just need to continue our search and we will get our answer." The group looked at their Kanisar friend who began think. "Well once the fillies began to run away I made the monster chase me." he began to explain. "At one point I had to run through their heads and when I landed I was swooped up by their tail and left to be devoured mid-air." Twilight and Applejack exchanged worried glances as they listened to his tale. "But in the last moment I used Wailing Nova Sphere to blast myself away from the beast." he raised his hand as he tracked and invisible object through the sky. "I was sent soaring through the sky, until I crashed in the Everfree over there." he finished. "Rainbow, can you fly over there and see if there is anything strange?" Twilight asked her rainbw maned friend. "Already on it." Dash saluted as she jetted away. Not even twenty seconds passed, when she returned with a small smirk. "Did you find anythin'?" asked Applejack. "Oh yeah. I know exactly what happened to our wolf friend." Rainbow said as she pulled out a small handkerchief. When she opened it up everyone looked at with wide eyes. Rarity pointed a finger at it. "Is that...?" "Yup. Poison Joke." concluded Twilight. "Poison Joke? What is that?" Trider wondered as he eyeballed the blue flower. "It's an annoyin' little flower that once you touch it, plays a joke on ya." Applejack explained as Rainbow discarded the plant. "We had the pleasure of runnin' into it a long time ago." "And what did it do to you?" the Kanisar wondered further. "It made me small, Twilight got a floppy horn, Rainbows wings became inverted, Rarity began to rock the rastafarian look, Pinkies tongue became swoll and Fluttershy voice became so deep it made mah brother seem like a little girl." Applejack told him. "That is terrible." Trider gasped. "But wait, each one of you only changed physically. How come I have not changed like you and instead my personality shifted?" The mares and Spike looked between each other in search of an answer. In the end they couldn't come up with one so they could only shrug. "We have no idea. But we do know how to cure it. We should have the old Trider back before lunch." Twilight said with conviction. "Whoope-de-doo." cheered Rarity with absolutely no enthusiasm. They were interrupted when the ground shook and a loud roar reverberated through the area. "What was that?" asked Spike as he began to look around. "Oh crabcakes." was all Trider said, before the heads of the hydra rose from the ground. Five heads looked around and they locked on to the group. With hungry looks they looked at their prey, as they licked their lips. "RUN!!!" shouted twilight as they began to run away. The hydra followed them, each head snapping at its own target. Everyone was trying their best to avoid the monsters strikes, with varying succes. Rainbow flew around one of the head, making it dizzy with her speedy maneuvers and hit-and-run tactics. Meanwhile Twilight casted a magical shiled to defend herself from her head and she occasionally fired a few bolts at it. Rarity wasn't doing so well as the others, her dress made her slower than the rest. She fell, when she tripped over a small rock, but luckily Spike was there to pick her up and carry her away from the hydra. The head however didn't let up as it continued to chase the couple, so Spike spit fire at it. Applejack, like the cowmare she was, lassoed one of the heads and pulled it down with all of her might. The head struggled against it and they were at a stalemate, neither one of them moving an inch. Unlike the rest, Trider just ran away from the beast, barely dodging its attacks. he hid behind a boulder as a head came down to bite him, instead it bit directly into the rock. Breathing rapidly Trider looked up from the rock and saw that the head lost interest in him and was instead charging the pegasus mare. "Rainbow watch out!!!" he screamed, but it was too late. Attacking from behind the head struck the mare down to the ground. But before she could collide with it, she was enveloped in purple aura and levitated inside Twilights shield. "You ok?" the lavender mare asked. She made a few experimantal flaps and winced. "I think its sprained. I can't fly back ou there." she clarified. "That wouldn't be possible anyway." Twilight replied, as three of the heads simultaneously attacked the barrier, creating a small crack in it. Meanwhile Spike was still struggling with his own head. He tried to run behind the monster, hoping he was out of reach back there. But he was surprised when another appendage struck him. The hydra swung its tail, sending the drake and Rarity flying through the air. The two landed separated from each other. Spike tried to reach out to the mare, but was crushed under the monsters foot. Crying out in pain as the air left his lungs. Rarity cried out for her friend, but saw that she couldn't help him, so with teary eyes she ran to where Trider was. When she reached him she saw he was just sitting behind the boulder, watching what was happening. "What are you doing?! Shouldn't you be out there helping them?!" she screamed at him. Trider gave her a worried look as he looked her in the eyes. "I cannot. I am not a fighter. I am a gentleman. And gentlemen do not fight." he protested. Rarity slapped him as she glared at him. "You listen to me you self-centerd prick. Those are your friends out there that are in trouble. Are you really going to let them die just because you're trying to be gentlecolt?" she lectured him. "You may be a gentlecolt now, but isn't a gentlecolts duty to also protect the damsel in distress?" Triders eyes widened as he realsied she was right. "Yes, you have a ponint Miss Rarity. It is a gentlemans duty to protect the ladies." with renewed vigor he jumped out from behind the boulder and walked up to the monster. "Hey you scalebound monstrosity!" he called out to the hydra, earning its attention. "You are one of the most foul beasts I have ever laid my eyes upon. I demand that you release my friends and go on your merry way or else." The monster, as well as everyone else looked at him in confusion. Eventually the hydra began to produce a sound that was akin to laughter. "So be it then." Trider said when he got his reply. He folded his shirts sleeves to his elbows and raised the in front of himself. "Have at thee." he shouted as he did a couple of shadow punches. Hydra however swung its tail and smashed Trider against a tree. With a pained groan he fell into the mud and remained lying there. The hydra returned to smashing the barrier. Slowly more and more cracks appeared on the dome and Twilight began to sweat profusely. Rarity reamined hidden behind the boulder as she thought of what she should do next. Meanwhile Applejack was still playing tug-of-war with one of the heads. Trider tried to get up, but the pain was too immense. He looked towards his friends and saw that they were being beaten. "No." he groaned. "Don't!" he begged. Applejacks arms were begining to grow tired and she knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer. "Gosh darn it, how strong is this fella?" Suddenly she lost her footing and the head took advantage of it. With one sharp yank it pulled the mare from the ground and into the air. Applejack watched as the sky and clouds came into her vision. She knew what was coming and she knew there was no pony who could help her. The mares and Trider watched as she slowly fell towards the monsters jaws. "Applejack!!!" they all called out to her. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!!!" The yell drew everyones attention to the Kanisar, who was standing up. His hair was standing up straight and his eyes glew blue. Suddenly his form was engulfed in what seemed like bloody red fire. He dropped down into a kneeling position, the kind the runners used at the start of their race. "FINISH BREAKER!!!" In a sudden burst the Kanisar charged forward, reaching speeds that would make Rainbow jealous. The hydra didn't have time to react as Trider plunged into its chest. He continued to charge forward, creating a hole in the beasts stomach. Then without warning the monsters body gave in and the Kanisar ran straight through it, killing it immediatelly. The mares watched in awe as the monster fell, freeing Spike from it claws. Seeing they were fine, Twilight dropped the barrier and collapsed due to exhaustion. Rainbow caught her before she fell into the mud. As she caught her, she realised Applejack was still falling. Shifting her gaze into the sky. Applejack felt as air rushed past her and she knew it would be anytime soon that she would either be eaten alive or splattered across the ground. Her fall stopped, but she felt no pain, quite opposite. She felt a warmth, like somepony was holding her and the feeling wasn't strange to her. She slowly opened her eyes and locked gaze with Triders. "You ok AJ?" he asked. The cowmare nodded as she hugged him. As she was hugging him her eyes drifted downward and she realised something. They were still in mid-air. "Trider yer... Yer flyin'!" she exclaimed. The Kanisar joined her gaze and smiled. "Guess I am." They slowly began to descend and soon touched ground. Everyone else joined up with him. "Trider, AJ you guys ok?" Spike asked as he ran up to them. "We're fine. Thanks for asking." Trider replied. "Dude you were flying! I didn't know you could do that." Rainbow gushed. "Neither did I." he shrugged. "You learn something new everday." "I am glad everypony is fine, but I really think we should head back before something else decides to attack us." Rarity jumped in. "What are you so afraid to get your dress dirty?" Trider teased. "I'll have you know this dress is made out of some of the finest materials, thank you very much." she huffed as she turned her head away from him. "So from your kitchen rags then?" "Augh." Trider began to laugh at her dismay adn Twilight looked at him curiously. "Trider are you acting like yourself?" she asked. "Yeah, why you ask?" he replied. The rest looked at him with confusion. "Trider do you want to practice with me tomorrow?" Dash inquired. "Would love to, but Miss Stick-up-her-butt here would probably be against it." he said as he pointed at Twilight with his head. "He's back." "But how? I thought you had to bathe in the herbs Zecora gave us to get rid of the Poison Joke effects." Spike wondered. "You know what I don't care right now. All I want is to get back home, wash up and have a nice lunch." Twilight proclaimed as she began to walk off. "We can figure it out tomorrow." "Amen to that sister." Trider agreed with her as he bega to follow. He was stopped when Rarity cleared her throat. "I know it must be pleasant to be carried like that Applejack, but don't you think Trider should rest his body after what he did?" the fashionista said with a grin. Realising she was still clinging to him while he was carrying her, Applejack let go and began to follow after Twilight with a massive blush. "Ya ain't tellin' nopony 'bout this." she threatened. "Wouldn't dream of it darling." Rarity replied with a smirk. Spike began to walk as well, but stopped when he saw trider wasn't moving. "Hey, are you coming?" he called out to him. Shaking his head Trider adressed the drake. "Y-yeah coming." he said as he followed after him. While he walked he looked at his hand and clenched and unclenched it a few times. "Damn that is one fine ass!" he thought as he made his way home with his friends.