Zecora had warned me that there had been some sort of cataclysm recently, including the reemergence of the windigoes of all things, and it had set the local wildlife crazy – apparently, that was why the chimera that had attacked her was in the Everfree Forest in the first place. I wasn't sure how the evil wizards were involved yet, but I barely had time to set up my last alarm in Van Hoover before one of my gems began humming.
Trouble at the Silver Stable retirement home! What kind of dastardly monster would attack elderly ponies?
I actually paused to tap my chin and think about that. No point rushing into battle unprepared, after all. Still, I couldn't think of any monsters with a particular preference for old ponies, so I decided to just get in there and see for myself. One long-range teleport later (those were getting easier and easier), and I was on the roof of the retirement home, in full disguise.
It didn't exactly take a master detective to find the source of the disturbance; ponies were screaming and fleeing full-tilt from a giant, furious-looking bird.
A roc! I thought they only preyed on dragons, normally. I guess the monsters really are agitated. Let's see, roc, roc...
I quickly threw together a plan. Rocs weren't exactly talkative or social, so manipulating it that way was out. Still, they had certain instincts...
My rumination was cut off as the roc swept down and snatched a screaming pony in its talon.
Okay, just gotta go with it! I've gotten a bit better at disguise magic, so let's give it a try!
My horn lit up and I made several quick, subtle alterations to my disguise. A ridge of scales, webbed wings, and one seriously nasty smell.
The roc, which had just circled to leave, suddenly u-turned and dove for me.
Yay, it worked!
The roc bore down on me with terrifying speed.
Oh no, it worked!
I barely managed to evade the creature with a quick teleport, and I blasted off from the ground, the giant bird hot on my tail. But I wasn't flying off in a random direction; I'd taken the time to study the geography of Equestria a bit (courtesy of a book at Zecora's house).
The one that knows the terrain and plans ahead is assured of victory! This stupid creature can't hope to match wits with the great Dashing Savior!
I quickly zipped over to a nearby marsh, and stood on a patch of vines, ducking as low as I could and charging my horn. The roc dove for me, and just as it clamped its talons around me I teleported to the side. As expected, the roc got its talons tangled in the vines and was stuck for a moment – just long enough for me to grab the hapless pony it had grabbed and teleport them back to the retirement home. I finally got a good look at them; a very old, light purple mare with a faded white and pink mane, and a book as her cutie mark.
Oh great, a nerd.
She quickly set a hoof on my withers.
"Oh, thank you, little lady! I—"
I cut her off in my most heroic-sounding voice.
"Get inside, quickly! I, Dashing Savior, will deal with the monster!"
I dropped the draconic alterations to my outfit, and replaced the scaly wings with what appeared to be magically-conjured rainbow wings; I figured I would be less likely to be recognized if folks thought I was just a powerful unicorn mage, rather than an actual alicorn. The nerd-pony leaned back in surprise and stared at me in appropriate awe and wonder.
"It's far too dangerous! A little foal like you should get to safety!"
Or maybe she was just horrified that I was going to take on a monster all by myself.
Typical adult, underestimating me! I'll show them just how powerful I am!
I snorted in disgust and blasted back off into the air before she could undermine my confidence any more. The roc had gotten free and was on its way back. It was time to set the next phase of my plan in motion.
Which would have been a lot easier if I'd planned this far ahead. Instead, I just charged up a nasty laser beam and shot the creature right in the eye. I figured I would hurt it and maybe drive it off, but I was shocked when the bird was actually smacked out of the air like it had been run over by a giant cart, shrieking loudly in the process.
Whoa. I'm waaaay more powerful than I realized. That wasn't even that hard!
The roc screeched and made to flee as quickly as possible, and I chased it, firing off low-power blasts the whole way and screaming at it at the top of my lungs.
"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU HAD BETTER RUN! IF YOU EVER BOTHER PONIES AGAIN, I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT ALL THE WAY TO ABYSSINIA!"
What followed was a most-definitely heroic cackle as I singed its rear with a blast that got a really gratifying, chicken-like squawk out of it.
Not so tough now, are ya?!
I chased it for a good fifteen minutes, which took us far out of sight of the retirement home. The creature thoroughly driven off, I flew back to the retirement home to see if anyone else needed assistance. To my surprise, two alicorns – one huge and white, the other smaller (though still pretty tall!) and dark-blue – were reconstructing a part of the building that had caved in.
Whoa! Didn't expect to run into other alicorns so quickly! That means they're princesses, right? But... I don't know if they're with the evil wizards or not, so I'd better play it safe.
I set down near them, and carefully dispelled the rainbow-wing illusion while hiding my real wings under my costume. I trotted up to the giant white alicorn, who smiled down at me with an almost nauseating level of warmth before speaking.
"You must be the 'Dashing Savior' Dusty Pages mentioned. What you did here today was very brave."
I struck my best heroic pose, which barely came up to her knees.
"Just doing my part to keep Equestrian ponies safe, ma'am. Do you all need any further assistance today?"
To my surprise, she giggled. Giggled! At me! I can't get no respect, I tell you!
"No, little one. I believe we have things well in hoof from here. Why don't you come in and get some hot cocoa? It's chilly out."
To be honest, I hadn't noticed the cold at all. I chalked that up to alicorn resilience, but it wasn't like she knew that. I just shook my head; even though a reward sounded nice, I knew the more-heroic thing to do was to turn it down, and I was determined to be the best hero ever.
Besides, the longer I spend here, the more I run up chances of getting discovered.
"That won't be necessary, miss...?"
She blinked at me in confusion, before realizing I was asking her name. She held a hoof up to her chest.
"Princess Celestia...?"
I puffed myself up to look as heroic as possible. After all, a hero who makes a quick exit after saving the day is mysterious and cool!
"Got it. That won't be necessary, Princess Celestia! I must be off to save other ponies!"
She seemed about to object, but I teleported straight back to Zecora's before she could do so.
"Hah! I nailed it!"
I did a little dance in place before realizing I wasn't alone; Zecora was brewing something in the center of the room, but had paused to watch my little celebration with a smirk.
"I see my hospitality you've well-availed; might you tell me how you've prevailed?"
I froze in place, blushing furiously, and coughed to conceal my awkwardness. I spent the next ten minutes telling Zecora of my glorious heroic deeds, and discovered she was actually a really good listener; she commented or questioned in all of the right places, always in her frustratingly clever rhymes, and seemed genuinely impressed at my bravery.
I'd expected her to think I was fibbing, but I guess since I saved her personally, she knew better. It wasn't long before I'd worn myself out, both from the magic expenditure and the rapidfire chatter, and I crawled into bed with a deep sense of satisfaction.
Look at how incredibly powerful I am. And I'm just getting stronger! And ponies admire me!
As I drifted off to sleep I thought of what might have happened to that 'Dusty Pages' if I hadn't shown up. It brought a little shudder to me to imagine the same happening to me; powerless, at the mercy of forces beyond my control, held against my will... imprisoned...
I bit my lip and swore nopony, myself included, would suffer that fate.