//------------------------------// // Digging deeper into the hole // Story: The Runaway // by jordanwriter //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Digging deeper into the hole. After Aaron regained his senses, he noticed he was falling towards a giant tree that was situated in the center of a small mideval era type village. He wasn't to interested in the scenery though, he was to busy trying to brace for impact. Aaron landed in the lush canopy and hit a few small branches on the way down. But there was enough foliage to slow his descent so when he hit the ground, the only major injury was a sprained ankle. As Aaron was busy steadying himself to his feet, from his left he hears, “Seize the creature! It's after the princess.” Aaron turned his head toward the source of the noise only to find a large winged horse flying towards him at a alarming rate. Aaron side stepped the charging stallion and watched him slam head-first into a fruit stand, scaring a white mare with a fruit bowl cutie-mark half to death. “Now, what's all of that for?” he coyly asked. “You will never get to Princess Celestia, foul beast!” the guard spat at him, struggling to escape the wreckage that surrounded him. 'Princess Celestia?' Aaron thought to himself, 'I can't be were I think am, could I?' His train of thought was derailed when a large object came crashing into his side. Aaron was thrown back quite a bit but quickly got to his feet unfazed. He looked at what had stuck him and wasn't surprised to see another large white pegasus looking at him menacingly. He was flying above the previously taken down pegasus and was helping him to his feet. He was quickly joined by to unicorns and to earth ponies. “HALT!” the pegasus that just attacked him bellowed, “WE HERE TO PLACE YOU UNDER ARREST FOR THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE PRINCESS AND ASSAULTING A ROYAL GUARD. BY ROYAL LAW, YOU WILL BE PLACED IN A DUNGEON FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE. COME FREELY AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED.” Aaron couldn't believe what he heard. He crash lands in the middle of Ponyville and gets charged with crimes he didn't commit. Wasn't going to stand for it, but he wasn't going to go Willy-nilly either. “I didn't do anything! I refuse to be punished for no reason.” he shouted at the guards. “If that is your answer...” The pegasus quickly responded, “Light Caster, subdue the creature.” The larger of the two unicorns stepped forward and a blue aura surrounded his horn. In a flash, a energy beam shot towards Aaron but when it hit it quickly dissipated, leaving the unicorn severally confused. 'Humph,' Aaron thought, 'I must be magic proof. I know I have seen Twilight pick up twenty foot bears without a problem so thats the only explanation.' His attention was quickly focused back to the battle at hand as he heard another guard yell at the unicorn. “Forget it then, we will do this the old fashion way. Guards, ready spears! CHARGE!” As if the dinner bell was rung, all the guards charged simultaneously, coming at different directions with about four foot long spears. However, as intimidating as this may seem, Aaron noticed that it was an unorganized and uncoordinated frontal assault. Aaron quickly took advantage off their glaring weakness and quickly sprung into action, trying to disarm the guards without hurting anyone, or pony. Aaron grabbed the spear of a pegasus that was charging from the sky and made him stab the ground while he took a elbow and smashed him in the check, sending him off to his right. He then pulled the spear out of the ground and blocked an attack from a unicorn by stopping the swinging spears momentum by meeting it with his about three fourths up on the shaft and then swung the but end of the weapon into the guards bronchial trap, causing him to fall to the ground with a now very sore throat. Next, the two earth ponies came sweeping at him from the sides. Aaron launched himself in the air at the last second by using his spear as a javelin. The two guards were unable to stop there momentum and slammed head-first into each other. However, the shear wait of Aaron's body and the pressure he was putting on the shaft caused in to splinter. As Aaron fell, being caught off guard by his sudden drop in elevation, landed on a spear that sliced part of his upper thigh muscle. Aaron was to busy avoiding a spear that the other pegasus threw from the air to notice the fresh gash. He rolled barely enough to avoid the sharp end of the spear as it landed mere centimeters away from his head. The second unicorn charged at him from behind while Aaron was still on the ground processing what happened. He quickly used his hands to spring in the air, about six feet above the unicorn. He seemed unamused at Aaron's agility, as he used his magic to shoot the spear upwards towards Aaron. With one swift motion, Aaron grabbed the shaft under the spear head and used his other hand to completely break the weapon. As Aaron descended back towards the earth, he brought his elbow down onto the back of the confused unicorns head. The unicorn didn't make a sound as he stumbled a bit before falling down. Then, a ear piercing scream came from the sky. Aaron looked up to see the remaining pegasus with another spear in his hoof charging hard at him. Aaron dropped to one knee an waited for the pegasus to get closer. In a instant, Aaron sprung upwards, spinning and making the pegasus miss and slam into the ground. Before the pegasus could register what happened, Aaron gave a wind taking elbow into the guards ribs. The guard fell over onto his side, clutching it in pain. Aaron looked upon his handy work. He was successful at beating the guards and he didn't have to kill any of them. Some of them are going to have a hard time breathing for a while, and some are going to have a major headache, but he didn't truly have to attack them. He was getting ready to bolt, but when he tried to move his leg, the pain from the gash caused him to stop. He was going to start cursing at his dumb luck when a blinding light appeared in front of him. When the light subsided and he regained his vision, he saw a very pissed and fuming Celestia. He gave a quick glance at his surroundings and found he was standing in the middle of a circle of beaten guards. 'Oh crap, this doesn't bode well for me.' Another blinding light flashed, and when Aaron refocused,he was standing before a small army of Pegasi and and Earth guards ponies. Before he could even speak, Celestia gave a very vociferous order, “CAPTURE THE HUMAN, HE IS NOW THE BIGGEST THREAT IN EQUESTRIA!” All of the guards took a charging stance, but before they could do anything, the human grabbed a spear and started running in the other direction. They made haste and started to pursue him, jumping and diving at his feet. Aaron on the other hand, knew that he was to greatly out numbered to fight them off. The odds were at least 70:1 them. So, he figured it would be easier to hit and run, mostly run, than to stand and fight. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he picked one of the spears off the ground and ran in the opposite direction. He knew there was no way he was out running ponies, especially if half can fly. He was zig zagging his way through town, making ponies miss when they dove at his feet. He soon found himself on the outskirts of town heading towards what he assumed to be the Everfree forest. He knew it was the Everfree forest when he hurdled a very confused and scared Fluttershy outside of her cottage. He didn't land on his feet though, he didn't land at all. As soon as he went airborne, a set of large white hooves wrapped around his waist. “Got you now creature!” the guard shouted. “Thats what you think!” Aaron retorted before head-butting the guard, causing him to release Aaron who landed with a thump. He didn't stop to contemplate what he had done as he made a straight B-line for the trees. He glanced back before entering the forest to see Fluttershy passed out on the trial and the guards halting there pursuit. He wasn't about stop and ask why, he was to busy making his escape. He sprinted for a couple of miles before it got to dark to keep trudging forward. Aaron gathered some loose twigs and leaves laying a round and made a small fire. He took off his shirt and tied it tightly above the gash on his leg. He removed the spear head and placed it on the fire and waited for it to heat up. When it was hot enough, he gingerly placed it on the wound, holding back screams of agony, and burnt it shut. The rest of the night went peacefully for Aaron as he laid in his make shift bed which was no more than a pile of leaves. “I need to figure out how to clear my name.” Aaron thought aloud, “I'm also gonna need to find some food.” With his to-do list fresh in his head, he rolled over and went to sleep. Meanwhile, back in Twilights tree house, Princess Celestia paced back and forth trying to conjure up a plan of action. This human was either very brave, or very stupid to run into the Everfree alone. She also couldn't help but wonder why this human didn't try to kill anypony. Maybe there were to many witnesses or maybe he got cold feet. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was different about this one. But she trusted one before, and it ended in the deaths of hundreds of innocent ponies. Celestia cringed at the memories of walking down the streets of Canterlot, bodies lying motionless and covered in blood on the once regal streets. It all could have been avoided, but she was to trusting and he took advantage of that. She stopped reminiscing when she heard Twilight walk up the stairs. “Princess,” she spoke, “ I have organized search parties to go an capture the beast tomorrow.” Princess looked down and smiled at her student. She was glad she was helping her, but she was sadden by the fact that she has no idea what she's up against. A hundred years, she has kept their kind a secret, and now if this isn't solved soon, the cat could escape the metaphorical bag. “Thank you Twilight, may I see the plans you have drawn my dear.” The princess asked in her usually motherly tone. Twilight floated a piece of parchment paper and her fake smile that was across her face quickly faded. “Twilight?” “Yes princess?” “Why do you have you, your friends, and most of Ponyville on search parties.” Twilight gave her a confused look. “Why wouldn't we princess? We don't know what they're capable of so it's best to have everypony we can searching for it.” Princess Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “'sigh' Twilight, I know exactly what he is capable of, and for that reason I don't want innocent ponies getting hurt. It's one thing when it's the guard, but it's another when my little ponies are in harms way. I think it would be best if you sat this one out.” Twilight gave a disappointed sigh and looked to the ground shamefully. “Alright princess, if that is your wish. I will draw up new plans and have them to you tomorrow morning.” Celestia hated seeing her star pupil like this, but she wouldn't be able to bare herself if she knew she allowed Twilight to go on this mission and to only find out she was killed by those heartless monsters. Celestia gave a simple nod and started to walk out the door when Twilight asked her another question. “Hey princess?” “Yes Twilight?” “What do you mean that you know exactly what he's capable of?” Celestia mind froze. She had accidentally said to much. She had to shut her down before she got too curious. “Let's just say it is a secret that I know, and it needs to stay that way.” Celestia didn't let twilight get another question in before she was out the door and on a carriage to Canterlot. 'Hate doing this my star pupil,' Celestia thought while looking at the carriage window at the beautiful night sky, 'but I can't have another incident like last time.' Twilight on the other hand was just siting in the library, contemplating what happened. She had never seen the princess act in such a manner. Even when Discord returned, she was alway would let her in on the most secretive stories of Equestria's past. Never was a stone unturned so it shocked her to know that Celestia would be so secretive all of a sudden. “Maybe I should talk to Luna about this, maybe she can inform me of whats going on.” Twilight said aloud while heading up to bed. Little did any pony or person know, tomorrow would be a little more exciting for both groups. A/N: Special thanks to E-Ranger for Pre-reading this chapter. If you don't already know, I'm rewriting my Chess Game story, 'Shadow Mike', because it sucked so chapter 3 will be out about the same amount of time plus a couple of days then after that expect updates every day or every other day excluding any pop-up events.