//------------------------------// // Ch4: A short Crashcourse // Story: Equestria: The Afterlife // by Timzocker201 //------------------------------// POV: Rainbow Dash You know, I’ve seen stuff, that should be surprising to anypony else, but has by now almost become my daily standard, since I became the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. But I must say, finding an almost hairless ape in AJ’s orchard even had me just a little surprised. He has been here for a day by now and I was on my way to Twilight’s to ask her if she’s already got that new Daring Doo Book in the library. That’s when I saw Markus, the hairless ape I just told about, walking into Carousel Boutique. I didn’t think much of it actually, until I also saw Twilight storm in there with a speed that almost came close to rivaling mine. So I flew down to see what was going on. When I landed at Rarity’s, I immediately saw Twilight standing in the entrance. Markus was standing in the middle of the Boutique and Rarity stood beside him. I started to walk closer, when Twilight suddenly started screaming. “MARKUUUUUUUUUUUS!” I ditched the slow pace and flew to her. “What’s going on? Did Markus just make one of Rarity’s dresses explode?” I joked, but Twilight was not very amused by this. “No. He thought it would be a good idea to leave in the morning without telling me or Spike, only leaving a note that read >>Dear Twilight; went on a morning stroll; if not back by lunch probably either lost or dead; yours: Markus<<. And as if that wasn’t enough, when I went searching for him, Fluttershy came to me, crying. From what I could understand over her tears, she said that he wanted to eat innocent animals!” I felt my head get hotter, as I suddenly only saw red. He made Fluttershy cry?! I started flying again and, without a warning, dove, hooves-first, towards Markus. To my surprise, all he had to do was a side-step and I hit the wall behind him, knocking over some of Rarity’s Mannequins. I turned around and charged at him again, but was stopped by an aura of turquoise magic. “Rainbow, calm down, we can work this out! There just seems to be a major misunderstanding of some sort.” Markus waved his Hand at me, trying to calm me down. Being the awesome Rainbow Dash, I was, of course, immediately calm again and heard him out. “CALM DOWN?! I’M GONNA MAKE YOU CALM DOWN WITH A HOOFPRINT ON YOUR FACE!” Ok, maybe not immediately, but I eventually managed to get my calm and he started to explain. “You see, I am an Omnivore, meaning, that I eat meat as well as fruits and such. However you ponies are, as you know, Herbivores. This makes it quite difficult for me to get proper nutrition without going hunting myself. That’s why I went to Fluttershy and asked her permission to add myself to the roster of predators in the Everfree. However, contrary to the story you just told us, she actually was pretty ok with it.” I looked over to Twilight, unsure of what to say to this. “That can’t be true! Fluttershy is actually standing just outside, look!” Twilight went back to the door and looked outside. Of course she didn’t see Fluttershy standing there. Would have been pretty dumb of me to have missed her, right? Twilight wondered where she might be, but I told her that I didn’t see her when I got in. Markus then suggested, that we could go see her at her cottage and just ask her. Twilight didn’t even bother to agree and just took off. Markus and I both shrugged and followed her. “Well, um, I mean, Markus did come here a few minutes ago and asked if… well, if he could, um, you know.. go hunt animals to… eat some meat? He said that he needs the meat to properly sustain himself and I thought that, um, when there are already animals eating animals anyways, one more wouldn’t be bad, right? It’s of course sad, but I can’t just forbid Markus to eat properly, right?” Twilight and I looked at each other for a moment. We both knew Fluttershy long enough, that we knew something wasn’t right with that answer. I looked over to Markus, who now knelt down to Fluttershy. He obviously was thinking the same, as we were, now that he listened more closely. “Say Fluttershy, are you afraid, that I might eat you instead, if you were to oppose me? If that’s the case, then I’m deeply sorry to make such an impression, I certainly didn’t mean to. It’s just that there are certain vitamins that I can’t get without eating meat.” Fluttershy suddenly scrambled back, as Markus knelt down, which actually surprised me a good bit. I mean, I know she is very shy and anxious, but seeing her back down so hard made me want to hit Markus again. Her eyes began to water and she looked at us. She then turned to Markus. “I-I, I went into the Everfree this morning to see Zecora, but she wasn’t there, so I went a bit further to search for her. After a while I heard Markus and her speaking, so I walked to them. Suddenly though I heard a smack and a thud and when I came to look, I saw Markus stomping at something on the ground. I ran back to my cottage and tried to calm down, but a few minutes later, you knocked on my door. I panicked, but I couldn’t leave my poor animals behind, so I let him in and tried to get him out as fast as possible. When I heard that he wanted to kill more animals, I got even more afraid! I didn’t want to let those poor critters die, but I had to save those who are here first.” Fluttershy started to cry again, but kept on talking. “Then, when I agreed to let him kill animals, he left and I ran out through the back door and tried to find you, Twilight.” She sobbed and I felt my anger rise again. Markus extended a Hand towards Fluttershy, but Twilight and I placed us between them, looking at Markus. “So, you did upset Fluttershy, huh?” I said to him. I started floating before him and swung a hoof. He catched it in midair and held on to it. I tried to wiggle myself free, but He had a pretty firm grip. He looked at me, with an almost unnerving calm and I stared back in anger. He then started talking. “That actually makes it clear how things came to this, however, I can assure you that Zecora is unharmed. What actually happened was, that a Cockatrice attacked us, when we were talking and I – sadly – had to take it down. That stomp you saw was most likely me, making sure that Cockatrice was really down and not just waiting for me to open my eyes. As for killing animals: I never said, I would do this for fun and I thought I actually told you. Anyways, as I already told the others here, I am an Omnivore, meaning that I need meat AND Fruits or Vegetables to sustain myself. I am sorry, but that means that I will have to kill animals for my own health, however not all too often and, while I can’t promise you to keep away from meat, I can promise you that I will never kill the young or pregnant and that those who become my pray won’t suffer. After all, living and dying is the way of nature and I am no exception to this cycle.” Markus let go of my hoof and I landed next to Twilight. Fluttershy meanwhile had regained herself and stood before Markus, staring him dead in the eyes. Twilight and I looked at this scene in anticipation. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Fluttershy spoke up. “Fine. I can’t say that I’m okay with it, but I can’t tell you to just starve yourself. But don’t kill the animals close to my cottage and NEVER kill anything that isn’t grown up yet. I will have an eye on you.” Markus nodded and Fluttershy came to us. We embraced her in a hug, while Markus stood beside us. When we finally loosened the hug, Fluttershy looked at the clock and noticed, that it was time for lunch already. She asked all of us, if we wanted to eat with her. Even Markus. We all agreed and had Sandwiches together. Markus seemed quite nice now and talking with him really was fun. He was almost as intellectual as Twilight, however he always had that certain way of saying things, that made me feel like he could even make death sound like a funny thing. After we’d all finished and wrapped up, I looked at the clock. “Oh my god, it’s almost time for flight training! Come on Fluttershy, we’ve got no time to waste!” Markus looked at me as if he wanted to fly with me. “Oh, flight training? Mind if I joined the audience?” He asked me. Twilight meanwhile jerked her head around. “What?! No! I’ve still got so many questions! You have to answer them or I might forget them!” “But that’s not a problem at all. I think I can manage watching Rainbow Dash fly AND answer your questions meanwhile. At least I don’t think I will need my mouth to watch her.” Markus answered with a slight smile forming on his face. “Ok, fine. But you have to answer all of them in detail. I want to learn as much as possible so I can send Celestia a full report an-“ “Yeah, we get it, let’s go!” I quickly interjected before Twilight would start one of her speeches again. I flew out of the cottage and the others followed. I decided that the Pink Tree Plains would be a perfect training spot, so we headed there. On the way I got curious though: “Hey Markus, You said you were pretty popular in the military. Did you earn any cool Nicknames?” I asked him, while hovering directly in front of him. Markus looked up at me and chuckled slightly. “Well actually I earned two, one with our allies and one within my squadron of the Luftwaffe, the German Airforce.” He paused shortly and looked over to Twilight, who, of course, was already writing down everything he said. He sighed and continued: “Well, as I said I earned two. >>Battlefield Baker<< with the Luftwaffe and >>Devil of Tehran<< with our American Allies. Before you ask: America, or rather the United States of America are yet another country from my world.” “Cool, how did you get them?” I asked. “Well, you see: >>Battlefield Baker<<, or >>Schlachtfeld Bäcker<< as I was actually called in German, was a pun on my last name and the way I used to provide ground support. My name, as you might have guessed translates to >>baker<<. As for the ground support: whenever I had dropped my payload, I would turn around and do another run with my Cannons, pulling up in the very last minute which caused the exhaust flame of my Jet Engines to >>bake<< the ground and everything and everyone that was standing on it.” “Wait a sec, payload? Jet Engines? Twilight?!” I looked to Twilight in confusion, but she seemed to know just as much as I did. “Eh, I will probably tell you about them later on.” Markus told us. “For now, please let me continue.” I sat on the ground before him and listened closely. “So, about my other Nickname: That story is actually kinda funny, you see: I was shot down once, while giving Air Support over a City called Tehran. Luckily for me, I took the >>Einzelkämpferlehrgang 2<<, which literally translates to Lone Fighter course and actually is like an advanced training for survival behind enemy lines. I proceeded to survive in the outskirts of the city for about two weeks, until the next operation into Tehran started. When the battle started, I took shelter between the buildings and tried to get through to my own lines. However the enemy defense network inside the city proved to be tightly woven towards both the enemy and the friendly lines. I had to wait. Four days later, I finally had my chance: a small American force was attacking an entrenched position, causing the ones holding it to use all their forces in the defense. So I snuck in from behind, killed the camp leader and proceeded to empty the entrenchments with a few well-placed grenades, which were lying around in the camp, and a few shots from my P8, which was part of my equipment as a Pilot. After the position was clear, I signaled the Americans with my flashlight and told them, that there were friendlies inside and they should cease fire. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw a single German Pilot, armed only with a pistol, singlehandedly take down the outpost they had been hammering on for the last four days straight. This minor showcase of my capabilities brought me a medal, my promotion to 1st Lieutenant and the Nickname >>Devil of Tehran<<.” I was amazed by that story. Actually just as much by the story, as by the way he described all that violence like it was everyday business. It actually made me feel a little uneasy and I could tell Twilight felt the same. Then I saw Markus looking at me. I got a little nervous, so I just stammered: “Ah, nice story Markus! Oh damn look at the time, we need to get going!” I took off to the Pink Tree Plains and decided to wait there for the others to arrive. When everyone was there, I started to fly maneuvers around the clouds, popping them, forming them into sculptures, or tying them up in my rainbow trail. I looked down to the others several times, to see if they were still watching and I actually saw Markus and Fluttershy talk about something. Twilight of course asked thousands of questions and Markus seemed to answer most of them to her liking. It was then that I noticed I concentrated so much on looking at them, that I actually circled the same cloud for five minutes straight! The others already gave me confused looks, so I quickly resumed my training program. When I was done, I landed in front of them and asked how I did. Fluttershy was of course complimenting me again, saying how awesome I was. Markus however actually pointed out quite a few things that I could do differently, some things about how I should angle my dives and how I should hold my wings when going to speed and such. I told him, of course, that I couldn’t take advice from someone without wings, but when they were gone, I actually tried a few things he told me and they worked! Maybe I should ask him to watch me fly a bit more often?