//------------------------------// // Taste of Things to come: Overwhelming Appetizer // Story: And Then... My Life Changed // by frutineo //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Taste of things to come: Overwhelming appetizer. ‘Princesses Celestia and Luna: It has been a week and a half since I came to Equestria and I could not be more relaxed even if I tried. This country is so laid back and quiet that it almost makes me want to turn into a pony so I can live here the rest of my life. I wrote ‘almost’ because even though the inhabitants of this town and both of you fair Rulers have been very kind and accepting, I still feel that I need to go back to my world at some point and I have heard nothing from the council. I don’t mean to be rude nor impatient, but if you have any updates on the situation please contact me as soon as possible. Your newest subject: Foraneo.’ I sighed heavily over the letter as memories of home begin to crawl back to my head. It annoys me as every day when I see something that reminds me of home. First it was Ditzy Doo at the welcoming party, whom I kept staring at and smiling. She thought I was making fun of her but after explaining how she reminded me of the times I used to donate eyeglasses to charity and the numerous times I had to deal with people with Strabismus, she and I managed to become friends. Then it was Rainbow Dash’s loyalty and Applejack’s workaholic attitude that reminded me of my brother enough to make my first day at work in Sweet Apple Acres downright moody. Over the rest of the days it was just the mere sight of foals with their parents that made me feel all sad. With all this brooding I am starting to feel like a straight version of Cloud Strife right now. My thoughts were interrupted by the voice of my landlady or mare to be more precise. “What are you writing Foraneo?” I turned around to see her. “Oh, hello Twi. It’s just a letter to the Princesses about my situation.” “Why? Princess Celestia promised to let you know when the council has decided on letting you go back to your world.” “I know she did Twi.” I stood up straight. “But that was a week ago.” “And you think that a decision like that is going to be easy to make?” “*Sigh* No it won’t be, but what am I supposed to do meanwhile?” “Maybe you could come with me to watch the Sister Hooves social event this afternoon” “What now?” “It’s a competition done here in Ponyville where mares and their sisters compete in pairs in a set number of challenges to determine which sisters work better together. Last year Rarity and Sweetie Bell won the race and this year they are going against AJ and Applebloom.” “That sounds so cool.” I stated. “Did somepony mention Rarity?” I looked up to see young Spike in the bedroom doorway. “You are so predictable.” I told the young dragon. It’s funny how the first time we met he tried to obliterate me, but after hearing how I stood up against Goodwill, he came to accept my presence here in the library. “Hey, shut it pal or you’re gonna get it!” “I want to see you try.” “Guys stop now. Now that you are here Spike, would you like to take the day off and come with us to the Sister Hooves Social?” “If Rarity is there, sure I will!” We laughed at him a little and we made way to our destination talking all the way. It might seem weird but Twi and I are getting along; she is smart, sweet, sometimes a little nervous, in the end she is a great friend. As we were about to enter the apple farm our idle chatter became interrupted by the growl of a beast. “Oh no…” Twilight muttered. “It can’t be!” “What is it?” I asked her as I didn’t understand what she was saying until I saw a huge creature in the distance; it was a serpent-like creature that had 6 heads, walked on 4 tiny legs that looked like… No it can’t be. “Is that a Hydra?” I said turning my head to see Twilight in look for an answer. I saw Twilight running off to the farm. “YES AND WE NEED TO GET EVERYPONY TO SAFETY NOW!!!!” That was my queue to run behind her wishing that we had seen Arcane or Trixie on our way here. “FORANEO!” “FORANEO!” Two very distinctive voices yelled and at my sides the two mares ran at my pace in the direction of the event. “Girls where were you?” “We were fixing our new home when we saw you and Twilight coming here so we decided to follow you.” “Glad you are here Arcane, but if that thing comes any closer we are going to need some combat expertise; maybe that wall of smoke could come in handy Trixie.” “If you say so.” We managed to get halfway through the apple fields when the ponies form Ponyville went rushing past us and we heard the screams of the beast even closer. “Where are they going?” “To mah barn sugarcube.” The accented voice of Applejack interjected. “We should be safe from the Hydra until the guard can get here.” The roar of the beast was even closer now that it had appeared before and as I turned my head I could see that the beast had already arrived to the farm’s entrance. “How is it possible? That thing is faster than it looks!” The reptilian behemoth saw all of the ponies running away and gave chase throwing his heads in wide arcs trying to gobble up any pony it could come across, I didn’t want to sit there watching but getting everypony to safety was first. It was then that I noticed the rest of my friends distracting the monster; all except for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, they are supposed to arrive this afternoon from a trip up to Cloudsdale they had to take. After looking for a while the girls were starting to look tired and I knew that if kept like this the beast would eventually claim its meal so I got closer to Twi. “Twi this is getting dangerous” “I know, but there is nothing we can do. If only Fluttershy were here, she could tame this beast in a jiffy!” I wasn’t about to contradict her as I had seen the yellow Pegasus using her stare. “There has to be something…” Then an idea hit me. “Can you encapsulate me with your magic?” Twilight looked at me as if I was crazy. “What for?” “So he can swallow me” “ARE YOU INSANE?!” “Yes I am, but that’s neither here nor there.” “But what are you going to do inside of him?” “You’ll see.” I turned to look for Arcane when I spotted her. “ARCANE I NEED YOUR SWORD!!!” Arcane hearing my plea ran to meet me leaving the rest of the girls to distract the monstruosity as she arrived though. “What are you planning?” “There is no time to explain, just give it to me now!” “You are planning something crazy, are you not?” Before I could answer Twilight told her my plan. “He is planning to get swallowed up by the Hydra.” “WHAT?!” was Arcane’s reaction. I was losing patience, seeing how time was of the essence. “It’s just as you heard Arcane, I need that thing to swallow me so I can defeat it from the inside.” “I won’t let you; you are going to get yourself killed!” “If we don’t hurry then it will be our friends who will be swallowed up!” “But that is the same as suicide.” “Our friends are in danger and so is the town.” “I won’t…” I couldn’t let arcane end that sentence. “HE IS GOING TO EAT OUR FRIENDS AND IF WE DON’T DO SOMETHING HE COULD VERY WELL EAT THE WHOLE TOWN!!!” I yelled at her without thinking, I calmed myself down and talked to her in a more calmed tone. “Sorry but what I am about to do is very dangerous but I see that this is the easiest way to deal with it… besides I don’t want Fluttershy mad at any of you so please thrust me” I looked at Arcane expectantly and she understood she gave me the sword by the hilt the sword resembles a roman sword but the hilt is covered in layers of cloth in case a pony needs to use it with their teeth and the blade is barely longer than the hilt. “Just come back to us okay? I don’t want the Princesses to think I failed my task of protecting you.” I took the weapon and looked at Twilight who adverted her eyes knowing what was about to happen. “Be careful please.” was the only thing she said. “If everything goes as planned, then you need not worry. Remember to encapsulate me once I wave my left arm.” with that I ran off to meet the beast. “GIRLS GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!!” I yelled to my friends looking at me confounded. “DO AS HE SAYS! WE HAVE A PLAN!” Twilight yelled as well and so my friends made a tactical retreat. Once they were out of reach I faced the hydra, which I must tell you it is huge, judging that I am at least 1.72 meters high and the fact that Twilight Sparkle’s head reaches my chest when on all four hooves, that leaves me at the size of a smurf compared with this damn reptile. I hope this plan work… I am SO fucked. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The rest of the elements of harmony and Trixie had retreated to where Twilight and Arcane where and after explaining the plan. “IS HE BONKERS?!” the Pinkie Pie yelled. “I know this is a crude plan but we need to thrust him.” “Crude plan? Tha boy is gonna get himself killed” “Please Applejack I… want to thrust him.” “Now Arcane Ah don’ mean no offense but that is no plan; that is suicide.” At the same time they looked at the human that had been running around the hydra barely missing several attempts at executing his plan that was until he saw a fast approaching head that seemed impossible to avoid. “There’s the signal” Twilight said and with that she used her magic quickly trapping the human just at the nick of time when the hydra head swallowed him. All of the mares saw as the magic capsule went through the elongated neck of the beast all the way to its stomach. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Inside the Belly of the Beast You know, maybe being swallowed by a giant serpent-like beast wasn’t such a good idea I should make a mental note so I can avoid it in the near future. *SPLASH* EW! I landed in his stomach juices… When the capsule dissolves I am in for a nasty bath. After a while of floating in the remnants of what appeared to be a crocodile and a rabbit (stupid wabbit hehehe) I finally saw the capsule disappear. After floating a bit trying to get my bearings I noticed the stomach moving “Great now he is moving…. Shit he’s moving, I must act fast!” I don’t know why but I feel the need to narrate my actions right now. “Ok now the front should be in the entrance’s general direction or at least I hope it does” I reach the ‘wall’ that is below the end of the throat and put my hand and ear to see if I could listen to the Hydra’s heart. “… Shit it isn’t here.” I sincerely didn’t know what to do. I had hoped that the heart could be in the chest but then again this is a reptile not a human or pony so I have no idea where anything is. Then I notice that the back part of his stomach is swelling pushing the stomach juices towards me “What is he” I didn’t finish my sentence for the DAMN hydra roared which completely took me by surprised and I am quite sure broke my eardrums as I am now hearing that damn piiiiiii sound you get when air pressure changes drastically. “FUUUUUCK! THAT! IS! IT! YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!” I was pissed at the damn thing and so I made my way to where his lungs are, easy to spot when the inflate that much. Finally I managed to get where the lungs are supposed to be, I level the sword and see that he is taking air once again, I don’t want to hear him scream again so with all my might I drive the sword to the stomach wall and embed it down to the hilt. Bad move, the air in the hydra’s lung was so pressurized that it sent me flying backwards stomach juices entering my mouth, ears and eyes. I surfaced trying not to vomit now for I need to escape. Getting to the wound I created I took hole of the wound and widened it with the sword eliciting screams of pain from the beast, once I created a void big enough I jumped outside its stomach to see that his organs are all messed up. Both lungs are behind the stomach and the heart is nowhere to be found. “Maybe I should’ve asked Twi if she knew anything about hydra anatomy…” -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Arcane Knowledge found herself running from the hydra, drawing it away from the farm alongside a certain lavender mare. “Say what?” Arcane asked Twilight. “As I told you before, nopony knows how the hydra’s internal system works since they have the tendency to die where other predators roam, hence the reason I didn’t want him to go there in the first place.” “I hope he can deal with the hydra before the hydra deals with us then” Once again the Hydra wailed in pain completely stopping its movement to vomit whatever it had in its stomach. Looking at the content of the Hydra’s stomach Twilight noticed the lack of a certain individual. “Why is he not in the content of the stomach? What happened to him? Did he…?” “Calm down Sugarcube, ah know he must be just fine and dandy, like Arcane said before; we should thrust him.” “Y-you are right Applejack I should have more faith in him” From a side Rarity and Pinkie Pie got close to their friends. “Darlings, look!” said the alabaster unicorn to the group seeing how the Hydra was silent just before falling to the ground in in a lifeless heap. “YAY, HE DID IT!!!!!” The Ponyville’s premier party pony yelled in celebration. “Nowweneedtogethimoutofthereandthenwecanbringponyvillehereandhavethisawesomeerrificthankyouforbeingbaitandkillahydraandsaveponyville-“ Her rant was interrupted by an orange hoof. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- “Where the hell is your heart?” I said to no one in particular. “Come on, my eyes and skin are both burning a little.” I then heard it, something that I missed before in my turmoil and desperation. Looking up I saw it, the heart of the Hydra was right next to the entrance of the stomach in the upper part of the body… Why? No time for questions I need to get up there. I take myself ahold of the ribcage that protects the whole roundish body structure of the hydra until I finally meet the damn muscle. I need to do this in an epic fashion… “Hasta la vista, Hydra!” Arnold can suck it. With that I let my borrowed blade pierce the heart causing it to bleed out. Then after a few seconds, I finally hear the last wailings of the beast and shortly after, I feel it drop to the ground. I lay there over the organs of the Hydra for a while until I decided to get out of there by making a hole in at the base of the throats. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The girls all saw the appearance of the sword making a wide arc at the place the throats of the hydra connect and ran to take a closer look just when they arrived the human took a step outside of the corpse of the beast; he smiled and then threw up. “I need a doctor” was the last thing he said before passing out. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Later that day, somewhere in the Everfree forest: A very angry Shadow Rune was interrogating his spy. “You mean to tell me that this hydra just walked in to town by itself Marble Frame?” “Y-yes sir Shadow Rune; It just appeared in the distance and when it walked all the way to the farm, the human jumped into the hydra’s body and killed it from the inside.” The colt knew he could die if he tried his master’s patience so he spoke hastily but with as much detail as possible. Shadow Rune could not lose his cool now, as it would ruin his plans. “So afterwards, they took the ‘human’ back to the hospital and Princess Celestia and the royal guard arrived correct?” “Yes sir, they did and after that, the Princess announced that she would put a team of guards to investigate ‘Froggy Bottom Bog’ as to try and see why it drove itself from its habitat.” “This will set back our plans until the guard leaves but that is ok; we still have to prepare a few things for the ritual. You are dismissed Marble Frame.” with a bow the earth pony left his leader alone. Shadow Rune sat on his haunches meditating what he could do in case the guard decided to stay longer than his patience could accept. “If only I could get rid of them in a quick and efficient manner…” That’s when an idea struck him. “My soldiers are ill-prepared for quiet killings, but those other 2 can… I just need to contact them and see if they are willing to help, but assassins like them are just so unpredictable, though very worth the risk” With that Shadow Rune took some parchment and wrote a letter in his own blood. After finishing it, he opened a flask of dark blue liquid and poured a drop to a candle making its flame burn the same sickly color as the liquid. With it he burned the letter and instead of burning, it popped out of existence. “I wish I didn’t have to look for them, but desperate time’s call for desperate measures.” With that, he sat inside his new dark, lonely room that sat atop of the only remaining tower of an ancient castle that had seen better days.