//------------------------------// // Monsters // Story: Tales of the Abyss: Hymns of Equestria // by Genis94 //------------------------------// Luke and his new friends had been walking in the forest for just a few minutes, but Luke could still sense the danger. Tataroo Valley seemed to be dwarfed by the massive size of the forest, meaning it was likely more dangerous than even the area near the Sephiroth. Luke's thoughts were interrupted when he spotted a new creature come forth from the bushes. "What's that thing, Twilight?" He asked as he gripped his sword. "That's just a wallaroo. Don't worry they're harmless." The lavender mare assured. The group continued on their trek once more, until another creature caught Luke's attention. "And what's that?" "That's just a toucan. Also harmless." Twilight said somewhat annoyed. *GRRRR!* A pair of large wolves made out of branches and twigs jumped out from the bushes. Their piercing yellow eyes instilled fear into the hearts of the travelers. "A-and those?" "Timber wolves! Not harmless!" Twilight shouted in a panicked state. "I'll take care of them!" Luke said as he regained his confidence. "Wait! You can't kill them!" "Why not? They're just monsters." "Look, this world is a lot less violent than yours. It's for the best that you avoid killing things when you can. Not to mention Fluttershy is here. Do you have any idea what seeing something like that could do to her?" Luke thought it over for a moment. He wasn't particularly happy with killing monsters in his world, but over time he got used to it. It truly hurt him when he had to kill humans, and since the ponies and other animals were just as smart, he could understand the request. "Fine. I'll try and avoid killing whenever I can, but if I have to kill, I'm sorry." Luke removed his hand from the hilt of his sword as he charged at the first of the timber wolves. The wolf snarled as it lashed out at Luke. Luke jumped above the wolf's reach, and twisted himself in midair, bringing his leg downward in an axe kick on the wolf's head. "Havoc Strike!" The timber wolf's head slammed to the ground, knocking it out instantly. The second one took this opportunity to attempt to pounce Luke. "Raging Havoc!" Luke called as he performed the axe kick of Havoc Strike, followed by the energy explosion of Raging Blast. The second timber wolf was sent flying backwards into a nearby tree. Once it hit the ground, it attempted to get up, but lost its remaining strength and fell unconscious with its pack-mate. "Phew. Looks like they're okay." Luke turned to face his new friends, who all had their mouths agape, apart from Fluttershy who was now hyperventilating. "A-are you all okay? I didn't kill them." "I-it's just-" Twilight began, but was interrupted by her cyan friend. "THAT WAS TOTALLY SICK!" Rainbow paused when she realized how loud her outburst was. "What I mean is, you took out those two timber wolves without even breaking a sweat!" "I guess so. They weren't really all that tough..." "Heh. Look at this fella bein' modest. Timber wolves are some of the nastiest varments in the Everfree Forest." Applejack explained. "Really? This might be easier than I thought if those are one of the toughest things here." Luke turned his attention to the cream pegasus that was still in shock. "Uh Fluttershy? Are you going to be fine?" Fluttershy immediately responded by falling flat on her back unconscious. "Hey! Nopony told me we got nap breaks!" Pinkie Pie blurted angrily. "Oh man! I'm sorry!" Luke apologized. "Don't worry. She can get upset rather easily. We just need to give her time to rest and she'll be back to her lovable old self." Rarity assured. Luke felt bad about being one of the reasons Fluttershy fainted, so he slung her over his shoulder and carried her as they continued along the path. -------- Asch had managed to find enough leads to point him to the Everfree Forest since he finally got away from that annoying unicorn, although he was a little glad to have his uniform in peak condition again. One thing still bothered him however... "How long do you plan on following me?" He asked the gray pony trotting behind him. "Oh, well..." "Go home. This is none of your business." "But you're still hurt! I'm not leaving!" "Tch. This whole situation keeps proving itself to be more irksome every minute." "Why do you have to be so mean to me? I'm only trying to help." "I don't need your help." "Well, why didn't you just work with your brother Luke?" Derpy's comment definitely struck a nerve. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face his pesky caretaker. "We are not brothers! Don't you ever act like we are! He's nothing more than a copy of me!" "But why do you hate him? You may be different, but you're practically family. Besides, he seemed like he wanted to be your friend." It was true that Asch may have accepted that he and Luke were two different people and gained some respect for him at Eldrant, but he still held some resentment towards him for stealing his life. "You wouldn't understand..." -------- Fluttershy went into her kitchen to fetch Angel his usual lunch of carrot cake from Sugar Cube Corner. She didn't exactly like doing this since he was spoiled as it is, not to mention she could barely resist having a nibble herself. As she set the plate down on the table, Angel hopped up to speak, er, pantomime to her. "Oh, what is it?" Angel began to pantomime out his message. "You're saying you think I should have it since I work so hard?" Angel nodded to confirm. "Oh that's so sweet Angel. Thank you so much." Fluttershy proceeded to take a dainty and adorable nibble of the carrot cake. "Hey! Quit nibbling my ear!" A voice called out. Fluttershy stopped moving her teeth, but kept them pressed against the cake. She looked down to Angel, who was the only one in the room. "Okay, you stopped. Now can you please take your teeth off my ear?" Angel spoke. "Angel!? You can talk?!" "Of course I can talk! And my name is Luke!" Angel's face began to morph into that of the red haired human. Fluttershy blinked several times in shock, clearing her vision back to reality. She saw that she was slung over the human's shoulder and was still nibbling on his ear (perhaps one of the cutest sights in all of Equestrian history). The other girls in their group were suppressing giggles, except for Rainbow Dash who was rolling on the ground in laughter. "O-oh my! I-I'm sorry! I must have been dreaming." Fluttershy apologized as her cheeks turned red. "I-it's fine. Are you feeling okay though? You fainted back there after I beat those timber wolves." "Oh well... I'm not really used to violence, so I guess I just blacked out there. That and..." "And?" "Well... it's a little scary to think how strong you are." "I uh... I'm sorry that I scared you then." "It's alright. Oh uh, you can put me down now. I should be okay to walk." Luke gently placed Fluttershy down on her hooves and proceeded to look at the sky through the tree line. "It's starting to get a little dark. Do you think we should camp for the night?" "That's probably for the best. I can set up a fire with my magic. Applejack should have food, and Pinkie said she had some tents." Twilight started to list off provisions. "It's a portable party house! Tent just sounds so boring." Pinkie corrected. "Ahem, well while this is all well and good, I simply need to start unpacking my provisions. I can't go a night skipping my beautifying routine." Rarity interrupted. "Sheesh. Rarity the snobbish." Rainbow Dash muttered. "I thought I told you not to make those kinds of remarks behind my back. If you insist on calling me a nickname, make it something befitting of me, like 'Rarity the Gem'." "Sounds like you and Dist the Reaper might have a bit in common." Luke smirked. "Ugh. With a name like that I shan't even consider such a thing." "The snob kept insisting that we call him 'Dist the Rose'. He was totally annoying, but now he's locked up where a wacko like him belongs." -------- Elsewhere... "Achoo! *Sniff* Drat! It feels like someone is talking about me behind my back. Probably that traitorous wretch Jade! I'll get back at him for doing this to me! I swear it!" A pink haired man was yelling at the heavens inside of his jail cell. He wore a black suit with a lavish plume that looked like pink petals surrounding him, and lavender pants to match. His glasses had a glare that hid the eyes beneath them, giving him the look of a rather maniacal individual. "Oh? I don't think that could possibly be me. I can't be talking behind your back if I'm right here." "W-what?! Jade?! I-I was just kidding! I- Hey what are you doing with that?! STOOOOOOP! I'M GOING TO DIE!!!" Author's note: Updates may start getting a bit harder to pump out as my senior year starts in a week. I promise to get this updated as I can, but your patience will be appreciated. Also I love having fun at Dist's expense XD