“God, I love these powers.” I muttered as I placed the newly summoned fedora on my head, glad to finally have something to block the snowfall. “Now all I need is to learn how to use a bullwhip.” I chuckled at my own joke.
A growl echoed throughout the dark forest and I froze. This forest creeps me the hell out, always feeling as if something is watching me. I scanned the forest, sure I had some unwanted company. The sun was out, but covered by grey clouds so any light barely made it through the tree canopy.
I aimlessly walked, trying to find a place away from the freaky talking ponies. None of those ponies was the one I heard… I wonder who it was- I heard movement behind me and tilted my head slightly. It was getting closer and I dashed behind some bushes. I peeked through and saw it was Fluttershy, walking around and quietly calling for ‘Mr. Human’. I smirked at my nickname and watched her flinch at every noise, every crack of a tree branch. If she’s so scared, why did she come in here?
Suddenly some huge animal burst through the underbrush. It had a lion’s body and head, the tail of a… scorpion, and wings? What the hell is that?! I stared at it as Fluttershy froze in fear. The animal roared at Fluttershy, sending her hair straight back. I heard her mumble something to it and it stopped, cocking its head.
She smiled and walked towards it when it roared again and smacked her with its paw, sending her stumbling back and falling to the ground. It slowly walked up to her, paw raised to strike as she laid there unmoving, paralyzed with fear.
I quickly jumped out of the bushes and ran as fast as I could over to her and barreled rolled over her, picking her up and using my momentum to avoid the attack. I heard a rip and felt the claws shred the back of my jacket. I held her as she cried in my arms; she was surprisingly light for a pony. I looked up and dodged another attack by the animal. As I was dodging another attack, I heard a very small eep and glanced down at Fluttershy, to see her face bright red and she stared at me, petrified. I ran farther away from the …manticore, I think they called. As we got some distance from it, I gently put Fluttershy down and she started to curl up in a ball.
“Fluttershy it’s going to be alright but I need you to get out of here.” I said, trying to soothe the scared pegasus.
She didn’t say anything and continued to shake. I went to say something else but the manticore went to attack Fluttershy. I jumped in front of her without thinking and raised my arms to defend against his claws.
“God, I wish I had something to defend against those claws, like a sword or something.” I muttered.
Suddenly there was an unfamiliar weight in my hand and I looked up to see a katana, like Ichigo’s bankai from Bleach, all black. I stared at it for a second before I used it to block against the manticore’s claws.
“Kick ass,” I said, the sword shaking under the manticore’s attack. Huh, to be honest, I thought this would be a lot harder to hold.
I saw a flash of movement before excruciating pain exploded in my stomach. What the hell? I looked down and saw the manticore’s tail had impaled me. “Oh… that would explain it.” I said and coughed up some blood. The manticore removed its tail and I grunted in pain. My hand dropped and covered the wound, blood pouring freely through my fingers. I sank to my knees and the manticore easily smacked me with its paw. I flew a few feet away and laid there, the world getting a blurry filter. I looked to the side to see the manticore looming over Fluttershy.
Come on soldier, you haven’t let anyone… err, pony down before, why start now?! My mind screamed. I felt adrenaline rush through my veins and jumped up before I launched myself at the manticore. I slashed down with the katana and felt it tear through flesh and saw a paw hit the ground. It screamed in pain and whirled around before it tackled me to the ground and tried bite me but I pushed the sword into its mouth.
“Get off me, you damn, dirty monster!” I screamed, somehow getting my legs underneath it and pushing it off. Without its arm to support itself, it flipped and I quickly stabbed it in the heart with my sword. I felt it shiver once then grew still.
I panted heavily, my body feeling the adrenaline rush recede. I looked down and saw I was covered in blood, mostly mine but some from the manticore. I staggered over to my fallen fedora and picked it up. I somehow made it to Fluttershy, who was still curled in a ball, shaking. I fell onto my butt and sat there, breathing heavily. I let go of the sword and it clattered on the ground.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” I said and gently placed my hand on her back. She stopped shaking and looked at me through her mane. I smiled and went to say something only to slump forward and promptly blacked out.
--**--
Fluttershy stared at the human who had slumped over, the claw on her back slipping off. She looked around and saw the manticore, not moving, with one of its arms lying off to the side. She was sad that an animal had to get hurt, but for some reason it hadn’t listen to her and he had to kill it to save her. She faintly smiled at the human, thankful. She got up and slowly turned to it, hiding behind her mane and hesitantly looked at it.
“Um… I wanted to say… thank you…” she said, trailing off when she noticed it hadn’t moved. “Um… excuse me?” she asked, hesitantly poking it.
The human fell over, not moving; it was barely breathing and she noticed the hole in its stomach and the red liquid continuously pouring out. She gasped and looked around for something to stop the blood. She saw his jacket and somehow maneuvered it off him, forcing him onto his back before she gently put pressure on the wound. The jacket quickly took on a reddish hue and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry… I should have listened to you.” She muttered.
“Fluttershy what the hay happened?” Twilight yelled as she and the rest of the girls finally arrived. They all gasped when they saw the human bleeding and the manticore dead.
“Did that thing kill a manticore?” Rainbow asked and Fluttershy nodded.
“He did… to protect me and he got hurt again because of me.” She said crying, still trying to keep pressure on the wound. “Twilight… um… could you try and heal him?”
Twilight was speechless. “I don’t understand; in the book I read, humans are supposed to be self-centered, egotistical, corrupted monsters.”
“Well he could just be doing it to gain our trust and wait till we lowered our guard.” Rainbow theorized.
“Ah doubt that Rainbow; sure gainin’ our trust is one thing, but nearly dyin’ is another.” Applejack responded.
Rarity’s horn started to glow as she tried to make him a little more comfortable, healing minor cuts and bruises.
“Rarity, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, shocked at her friend.
“Well he obviously needs help and I’ll give him a chance to explain himself. He deserves that much after saving Fluttershy.” She defended.
Twilight sighed and thought of the strongest healing spell she could, her horn shimmering. She let the power build up as she spaced her legs evenly, balancing herself. She fired the healing spell straight at the human and Fluttershy dived out of the way, letting the jacket drop. The girls gasped at the wound and saw all the blood. Twilight’s spell slowly closed the wound, the flesh rippling before mending back together and left her exhausted. She fell to the ground, taking deep breaths before Rarity helped her up while Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow rushed over to the nonresponsive human. He lay there, suddenly not breathing.
“What are we supposed to do?” Rainbow asked, slightly concerned.
“Twilight, why don’t you use your magic to restart his heart?” Rarity suggested.
Twilight shook her head. “I can’t, I’m too tired from healing him and I’m not entirely sure on their anatomy and the heart is something you don’t want to mess with.”
“Oh… hmm…” Everypony was silent, deep in thought.
“Well…I um…I have an idea…” Fluttershy muttered.
“What’s your idear sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Her face became bright red. “Well… when my animals stop breathing like this, I usually do…” she muttered.
“Ah’m sorry?” Applejack asked.
“Fluttershy muttered something too low to hear.
“Oh just spill it Fluttershy.” Rainbow demanded.
“Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” Fluttershy said, her face bright red and hiding behind her mane.
Everypony stared at Fluttershy in shock that she would even suggest such a thing. “Well… I guess there’s no harm in it; he did save your life after all.” Rarity said, quickly defending Fluttershy.
“So what do we do?” Applejack asked.
“Someone find his nose and plug it shut.” Fluttershy said.
“I’m on it!” Rainbow said as she floated over his face. “Now… where is it?” She asked herself. She found what she assumed was his nose, something over his mouth. “I got it.” She said, pushing it closed with her fore hooves.
“Now… um… somepony has to put their mouth on his and breathe into it…” she said as her face brightened. No pony answered. She eeped and looked at the thing’s mouth. She gently opened it and went to put her mouth on his. Her lips gently pressed against his as she blew into his mouth, forcing oxygen into his lungs. As she broke contact she looked at Pinkie Pie. “Um… Pinkie, I need you to jump on his chest, but gently.”
She pulled an army helmet out of the air and placed it on her hair and gave Fluttershy a salute. “I got it!” She said as she jumped onto his chest.
“Okay… we need to work together.” Fluttershy told Pinkie and she nodded. They began to work in tandem, slowly getting air into the human’s body.
--**--
“You’re so useless, I’m glad you’re dead. All you did was drag me down.” My best friend, Nick, said.
I sat on the ground, crying. “You bastard; I thought you were my friend!”
He started laughing. “Friendship isn’t real; there’s no such thing. If I can use you to help myself, so be it,” he smiled, “I should’ve won an Oscar, had you fooled the entire time.”
“Why? Why did you do it?” I asked.
“Well… to be honest, I just wanted to see if I could fool you; that I liked having a servant.” He said with an evil smile.
“You son of a bitch!” I yelled, running towards him, getting ready to punch him as the world started to disappear. I stopped. “What the hell?”
“Please… I have to thank you… please, you can’t die.” I heard a vaguely familiar voice say.
“Fluttershy?” I asked. “What the hell is going on?” I asked the ending world.
Suddenly there was bright flash and I gasped, coughing as something was holding my nose shut. I groggily opened my eyes to see a cyan colored pegasus floating above me and then I felt pain as something bounced against my chest.
“Ouch! What the hell was that for?” I asked, trying to move.
“Oh my gosh, he’s awake!” I heard a voice yell and suddenly there was something pink in my face.
“HIYA! I thought you were dead since you weren’t moving or breathing, but Fluttershy was breathing air into you and I was using your body as a trampoline. That was fun! I hope it didn’t hurt too much; hey wait, since you’re alive, that means I can throw you a welcome to Equestria party! Oh wait, I also have to throw you thanks for saving Fluttershy party-”
“Pinkie I think you’re scaring him.” Another voice said.
Pinkie stared at me as I was trying to move away from her. She giggled. “Oh sorry.” She said, hopping off of me.
I finally looked around and saw that I was surrounded by talking ponies. I gasped again and tried to move but flinched in pain. I took an unsteady breath before I leaned up on my elbows.
“I wouldn’t move too much if I were you, I only closed the wound.” Twilight said as she was held up by a marshmallow colored unicorn.
“Umm… thank you for saving me.” I heard Fluttershy whisper. I looked over at her and saw her hiding behind her mane.
I smiled. “No problem, I’m just glad you’re alright.”
She came out from behind her mane and smiled. I saw the rainbowed-mane Pegasus stealthily fly behind her and pushed her towards me. Surprised, Fluttershy stumbled into my chest as I caught her, but her momentum pushed me to the ground with her on top. I suddenly felt something push against my lips and saw that Fluttershy had accidently kissed me. Both of our eyes opened in surprise and our faces went both bright red. I gently broke the kiss as her face became even brighter when all her friends started laughing, expect Twilight.
“I-I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” she whispered, stuttering and trying to hide behind her mane.
“It’s okay, d-don’t worry about i-it.” I whispered back, smiling. We stared into each other’s eyes briefly, her ocean blue stunning…wait the hell am I thinking. She continued to stare into my emerald green eyes. “Um… Fluttershy, do you m-mind if you could get o-o-off me?” I whispered, suddenly snapping her out of her revere. She looked and saw that she was still on top of me and blushed harder, gently getting off me and starting to look like she wanted to run away.
I gently raised my hand and ran it briefly through her mane and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her mane was softer than I thought, a lot softer than human hair. She turned and sat down a little bit aways from me, looking as if she calmed down.
I heard the other ponies start to laugh even harder and I looked at them. “So… I’m in a world with t-talking p-ponies, huh.” I said, my face red.
“Yeah… What’s your name?” Twilight asked.
“Oh… sorry… kinda scared me back there.” I said, scratching the back of my neck. It’s going to take a while to get use to this. Okay, imagine they were…people. “My name is Leon. Leon Kennedy.”
“Okay Leon… my name is-”
“Twilight Sparkle, I remember.” I said. I then pointed to Fluttershy. “And that’s Fluttershy.” She nodded slightly.
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Yes; now, the rest of our friends.” She said motioning towards the other unicorn. “This is Rarity, the fashion queen in Ponyville.”
Rarity nodded. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She said in a stereotypical high class accent.
Oh god… not that type. I did an awkward bow. “The pleasure is all mine.” I then noticed how dirty my shirt was, covered in blood and tried to hide it from her.
Twilight pointed towards the orange pony wearing a hat. “This is Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acres, supplier of the best apples in Equestria.”
Applejack’s orange face took a red hue. “Well shucks Twi, thanks for that.” She said and modestly kicked at the ground.
I nodded towards her. “Nice to meet you Applejack and if ya need any help on the farm, let me know; I’ve done a bit of gardening.”
“Ah’d mighty appreciate that Leon.” She said, her southern accent making me grin despite the situation.
Twilight pointed at Pinkie Pie. “And this is Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s party pony extraordinaire.”
Pinkie Pie jumped up and down. “I can’t wait to throw you a party! It’s going to be so much fun, with cake and candy and games! I love playing party games! Don’t you?”
I blushed, shaking my head. “I’ve never really liked parties; besides, I haven’t really been invited to many.”
Pinkie hovered in mid-jump. “WHAT?! How can you not like parties?””
“Well… yeah. I’ve never been very s-social and I never really had any friends.” I said, twiddling my thumbs. “This is actually the longest time I’ve ever spoken to anyone.”
That made all the ponies gasp. “What, how can you not have any friends?” Twilight asked.
I shook my head and avoided their eyes. “…It’s a long story.”
Twilight took the hint. “I see…” She pointed to the cyan Pegasus. “And this is Rainbow Dash,” she said, changing the subject, “fastest flyer in Equestria.” Rainbow puffed her chest out with pride.
“Nice to meet you Rainbow.”
She smirked. “Nice to meet you too.”
I went to say something else when I coughed up blood. All the ponies rushed around me as the went dim again. “Huh, must’ve done more damage than I thought.” I slurred as I passed out.
--**--
The ponies stared at Leon’s body. “What the hay happened?” Applejack asked and poked him with her hoof.
“Oh dear, he isn’t looking too good.” Rarity mumbled.
Fluttershy frowned and stared at him, noticing him turning blue. “Um… is he supposed to be turning blue?”
Twilight gasped. “Oh horseapples; we got to get him to the hospital.” She said as her horn started to glow.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, worried.
“He’s going into shock. We need Nurse Redheart to look at him right now.” Twilight answered as they all disappeared in a flash of light.