He Fell From The Sky?
'I'm falling? Strange, I don't remember jumping off anything.' I feel the cool breeze rush past me as I fall towards the ground. I see a beautiful sun and a clear blue sky. I hear birds chirp a cheery tune, they won't fall like me, they can't.
It's obvious that I didn't jump off something, not this time. There aren't any cliffs, towers, or buildings around. Thrown from a plane? No, I couldn't have been ambushed, and I couldn't have been falling for long, there's no sign of an aircraft around. So why am I falling? But you know what? I don't care, I've been trying to kill myself for a while now. With failure every time.
'Maybe this time will work.' I breath deeply through my nose one last time. I smell many things, flowers, apples, cupcakes, various animals...... cupcakes?
I turn my and see a small town getting closer. I assumed I was going to die in the wild because I saw a forest on the horizon. 'I feel sorry for any poor bastard we may land on.'
'Yeah.' I close my eyes, accepting death.
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Darkness; that's all there is. And a killer headache. I put my hand to my forehead, subside the throbbing. I open my eyes when the headache passes and sit up.
I'm in someone else's bedroom. Curtains pulled over the window to reduce sunlight, there are books all along the walls of the room. And I mean all along the walls. The bed I've been sleeping in has star covers; and the sweet scent of a woman. Whoever brought me here was kind enough to bandage me up. But not kind enough to leave my shoes or shirt around.
I quietly climb out of bed and unwrap my bandages to inspect my body, see what the damage is. Scratches. 'No pain, no injuries, not dead, not surprised.'
'Didn't work this time either, huh?'
"I'm telling you Twilight, he fell from the sky and was a mess. His body was horrific. I don't know how it is he's still alive." A woman's voice, she sounded elegant and formal, but her voice was trembling, must have seen me when I landed. A body is never pretty after it falls a few hundred feet.
"Listen Rarity, I'm not saying that you're lying, but maybe you were just in shock from seeing all the blood." Another woman, she sounded well versed. "I inspected him myself, though I may not be an expert doctor, I know a thing or two about medical treatment. Only a few fractured bones and bruises, nothing a little first-aid couldn't fix. But there being so much blood was a mystery, there was no indication of his body expelling that much. There was only small internal damage and a few cuts." I feel around to make sure none of my bones are still damaged.
Nope, everything's in working order, healed this fast. Must be close to a full moon. I close my eyes to narrow my sense of smell. I know there are already two women downstairs, so there could be more. Let's see what we got here. Heh, another four. One can't stand still and smells like sweets. Another has the smell of apples on her. A third keeps moving around, she's impatient. But I don't hear footsteps, there's a gust of wind hitting the floor, like she could fly; that's odd. The last I would have missed if she didn't have the scent of various animals over her, she's staying perfectly still and quiet. 'Heh? Wait, there's a seventh person here!'
'What?'
'In the hallway! Heading here!'
The door opens and a young boy walks in holding a tray that had a sandwich and milk on it. I was too busy trying to find the little clues when the giant give-away was right in front of me. He saw me out of bed and froze, shocked to see me up. In the whole second we saw each other, I did the only thing reasonably. I shielded my face and jumped out the window. When you have a past as bad as mine, you learn a lot of things. Trust no one and run from everyone.
"TWILIGHT!" He yells as he watches me run down the street.
I had a few questions going through my mind. But one that stood out amongst the rest. 'Why'd he dye his hair green?'
'Could be a punk thing the kid's going through.'
Twilight Sparkle hears a loud crashing sound and Spike calling for here right after. She and her friends run upstairs to little Spike looking out a broken window.
"Spike what happened? And where's the guy that was injured?" She asks.
"I, I come up to give him something to eat and drink when he wakes up. But he was already awake and when he saw me he just jumped out the window and ran down the street." The small boy said in a panic.
"But given the extent of his injuries he shouldn't have been able to do that, or get away so quickly. Plus the fall would have increased his injuries, he shouldn't even be able to walk away from that. Come on girls, we have to find him." The seven of them ran out the door, following his trail. "Oh this isn't good. We need to find him as soon as possible." Twilight says getting worried.
"Why? I mean sure, we should make sure he's okay and all, but why should we hurry?" Rainbow Dash asks flying above the rest.
"Because Dash, Rarity said he fell from the sky, but he doesn't have wings like you or Fluttershy. And she said his injuries were far more severe than when we found him. And now he's jumped out the window and ran away like nothing was wrong. There's something with this guy that we need to know about." Rainbow Dash grumbles to herself knowing that her friend is right. They find their way to the market place, everyone is scrambling around from one booth to the next.
"Okay, Rainbow Dash, you fly around checking the east side of Ponyville, try and spot him from the sky. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy, you check here then work your ways south and west. Pinkie, Spike and I will head North, if any of you spots him make sure to call for the others." Twilight lays down the plan, she always does.
"Okie dokie Twilight. But I have just one question. Who's he?" Their overexcited friend points to a large man in a big green coat and a hat pulled over his face. He sees that they've noticed him and runs away.
The girls chase after him. Twilight yells after him to stop, he doesn't. The crowd begins to thicken, they begin closing the gap between him and them. But it suddenly widened. With one powerful push, he flies over the crowd with a single bound, his hat falls off revealing his black hair. Everyone's eyes were on him as he soars over their heads and lands clear on the other side of the crowd. And another jump onto a building rooftop with a second bound.
Even the seven of his pursuers watched in awe at the amazement. The first to snap out of their trance was Rainbow Dash, she flies over everyone's heads and after the guy.
"Now how th' heck does someone do that? He don't have magic or wings." Applejack asks scratching her head from under the stetson hat she wore.
"I don't know." Twillight Sparkle grows even more worried about this mystery man now. He seems to be able to great things without the aid of magic or wings. Just who was the man?
The five remaining girls and young boy follow in the direction that Rainbow Dash was heading in after the odd man. They reached the edge of town and see a figure in the field. It was their friend Dash, on the ground clenching her stomach in pain.
"Oh my gosh. Dash what happened?" asks Twilight concerened for her friend.
"He gut-punched me!" She blurts out, short on breath. "All I told him to do was stop so we can talk. But he said like he hasn't heard that one before and punched me. When I get my hands on him... "
"Come on y'all," Applejack helps her friend up on her feet, "you can have yer revenge after we find him."
"Twilight, are you sure we should chase after this man? After all, he just attacked Rainbow Dash unprovoked." Rarity was getting more nervous about the stranger with each passing minute. After all, she found him when he first landed.
"Yeah Twi, I don't know about this." Spike said taking his crushes side.
"He may have attacked Rainbow, but he said like he hasn't heard that one before. He may have hurt Dash but by the way he acts it seems like he's someone with a very troubled past. It's our duty to find him before he gets into any more trouble and show that we really mean no harm."
"We may be a little too late for that one Twi." Dash looks towards the large forest in front of them. "Because after punching me he ran into the Everfree Forest."
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The Everfree Forest, as beautiful as it may seem at times, it is very dangerous. People mainly stay out of it because of the viscious creatures, poisonous plants, and who-knows-what-else that lies within. No matter what it may be, big or small, beautiful or ugly, alive or dead, nothing was to be taken for granted. The girls have journeyed in more times than someone would comfort, and they've never ran out without something attacking them.
"Are you sure we should be doing this Twilight? I mean, maybe he's not in the Everfree anymore." Spike asks his surogate sister, staying close to her for protection.
"Don't worry Spike, we'll find him soon and leave right away. I promise." She says comforting him. She doesn't want to be here anymore than he does. None of them do.
Suddenly they hear a lod roar echo through the trees and a manticore jumps infront of them from the bushes. The girls huddle together and scream in terror as four more jump out and surround them.
"Five manticores? Twilight, why are there five maticores? Aren't they territorial?" Asks Applejack seeking guidance from the leader of their group.
"I'm not sure. Maybe there's a female around. They're very rare amongst their species and every male in the area will compete for the right to mate with her." Says the know-it-all huddling close to her friends.
Oddly enough, it was Fluttershy to break from the group and protection of her friends. She walked towards the first manticore. Out of their group, Fluttershy would seem like the weakest one and is the meekest one of them. Too meek at times. She frightens easily and isn't very open to others except her friends. But when it comes to animals and creatures of the sort, she is in her element. She seems to be able to communicate with animals on an eniterly different level than most people. Even to the point where she can scare them, she once stared a cockatrice into submission.
"Wait, Fluttershy, male manticores become extremely aggresive when a female is around. It's a sign of dominance." Twilight tries warning her friend.
"It's okay Twilight, I'll be fine." She says it with full confidence, not denying herself for a second. She turns back to the manticore. "Excuse me, but do you and your friends think that you can leave? We're trying to find someone and you're kind of in our way." The manticore sniffs her. She's not terrified, not one bit, and the manticore dosn't like that. How could he appear dominant and get the right to mate with the female if others do not see his might? His eyes turn hard and angry. With a bloodthursty roar he brings a massive paw up, and down on the sweet woman.
'Alright, I got out. Now we have to figure out where we are.' I walk through an alley, trying to stay away from anyone who might spot me. I come to a house were a couple were sunbathing. Their clothes were hanging on a wire behind them. The guy looked to be about my size, I swipe his boots, a white tee-shirt, a long jacket, and a hat I wear to hide my face without them noticing. Now I won't have to walk around town half naked.
I turn around a corner and bump into someone. She falls over and letters fly everywhere. "Oops, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She says it like it was her fault.
"It's alright. It was my fault actually, here let me help you with those." I help her pick up the letters, they were mailed to various people. She must be the one who delivers them. I glance at her as she's on her hands and knees picking up the letters.
'What the hell?' The woman was like no one I've ever met before. Okay so she did look fairly normal, except she had yellow eyes. That looked in two different directions. But that wasn't the strangest of thing about her if you could actually believe that. On her back were two beautiful grey wings. She had actual bird wings on her back. Like she were an angel.
I hand her the fallen letters. "Thank you." She took the letters and left.
'Did she have...?'
'Uh-huh.' I walk through the steet and made my way to the market. There's a lot of people around, people that look normal, and people that have wings or a horn on their head. Weird. No one seems to mind those things like it was normal.
"Okie-dokie Twilight. But I have just one qustion. Who's he?" A voice from the crowd grabs my attention and I see a girl with cotton candy style hair point at me. With her were five more woman and that kid from before, it must be them.
'Run!' I don't hesitate. I move through the crowd of people, pushing them out of the way. The crowd soon becomes too thick to push through and the seven people were closing in on me, calling out for me to stop. I can't let them capture me. I just want to be left alone. With one powerful jump I fly over the crowd of people, they all stare at me in amazement. My hat falls off, but quite frankly, I don't care. It was to keep myself in a low profile, now that I've been noticed it doesn't matter.
I land way on the other side of the crowd and escape my pursuers. With a second jump I land on the rooftop of a house. I jump from one roof to another, heading to the forest I saw before. I'll be safe there.
I look beind me and see one of the women chasing me. Unlike the others she had wings, making pursuit easy for her. "Hey! Hold up man!" She calls after me. Like hell!
I jump off the last house and sprint for the jungle. A shadow passes overhead and the woman with wings lands in between me and the forest. "Hey, easy there buddy, we just want to talk is all."
"Like I haven't heard that one before." I ran at her and drove my fist into her stomach. It was only enough to knock the wind out of her, no sense killing her, not yet at least. She falls to the ground clenching her stomach, gasping for breathe. I make a break for the trees.
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'This forest is odd. You can smell familiar things, but there are also things that shouldn't exist in this environment.'
'Not to mention the things I can't even recognize. Do you?'
'Nuh-uh.' But all in all, it was a fairly nice place, birds chirped, trees were green, and no smell of pollution. It was a patch of heaven.
I hear the sounds of screaming back the way I came. I knew it was them, I knew they were still pursuing me, but why were they screaming? My damn curiosity gets the better of me and I head towards the people I was running from. Smart.
I jump from tree branch to tree branch, I may be checking things out but I'm not prestening myself. I find them, huddled together while a pack of beasts surrounded them. 'Just when I thought I've seen everything, there's something new around the corner.'
There were five manticores circling them. 'Heh, humans are weak. Dull senses, no natural weapons, scare easily if there's something bigger. They're pitiful really.'
'Shut up! Don't think like that, Fenrir! Don't think like that bastard that took everything from us!'
'... You're right. I'm sorry.'
I notice one of the girls with long pink hair faces the manticore directly under me. "Excuse me, but do you and your friends think that you can leave? We're trying to find someone and you're kind of in our way." She asks it. Seriously? He wants to turn her into lunch and she's asking it to leave? Does she have some sort of death wish? Strange thing was, it looked like it was actually about to do as she asked. About.
He brings his paw up, about to slaughter her. 'Aw hell no.' I drop down from my branch and land on the manticore's head, driving his face into the dirt. I bring my right foot up and down on his neck. Even with his mane there to soften and minimize the attack, his neck snaps like a twig from the impact.
So, here I am, saving a bunch of strange women who were pursuing me not too long ago from strange creatures in a strange forest. So now I have to ask myself: why? Because there are manticores! People shouldn't have wings, they shouldn't have horns, and there shouldn't be freaking manticores! I need some answers, and these ladies seem like the best solution. Besides, I'm not going to let a bunch of people die while I do nothing. I'm not running away, never will I run away from those who need it. Not again since that night.
Oh god, why can't my life be normal?
'Because of what we are of course.'
'Heh-heh, yeah. What we are.'
I casually step off the dead beast, gaining the other fours' attention. "Here puss, puss, puss." I intimidate the four of them. And it worked. They charge at me all at once, to everyone else, they were fast. To me, they were slow as hell. All I do is dodge, weave, slip, and slide past all of them with ease. And I laugh. God how I laugh.
The manticores are furious that I can slip by them all so easily. That's good, I want them to lose it, go berserk. 'Well, why don't I wrap things up quickly? I don't feel like fighting a bunch of beasts.'
One manticore charges at me again without the others, wanting to prove he's the best. I bring my left leg straight up and down on his head. His skull shatters on impact. The next one swipes at me. I grab his paw with a single hand and twist it until it breaks. He roars in pain and agony and reels back from me. I jump up and snap off a thin branch from a tree making a nice makeshift spear. It may be thin, but it was quite sturdy. He tries backing away in fear, but just like back in town, I jump over him and land nicely on his back. I bring the spear over my head and lodge it deep into the back of his head. He slump over dead like the last two.
'Nice work.'
The next guy pounces at me. I crouch under him, but with my blinding speed I grab his underside as he soars over me. Using his own momentum and weight against him, I send him face first into the ground with his body facing vertically up. I straight myself out and kick him so hard in the stomach that it sends him sliding across the ground, still eating the dirt. He slams so hard into a tree that it makes a cracking sound. And I don't think it was just the bark.
The last one tries sneaking up behind me while my back is turned. He's not quiet enough. Before he jumps me I do the one thing far worse than what I did to any of the others. I quickly flick my head so he can see a single cold eye, and I stare at him. It was an intimidating stare. One that asked him--no, pleaded him to try it; one that made him scared, inferior in every aspect. One that said, 'just try it, and I'll show you how merciless and deadly I can truly be'. I humiliate him.
He's smart. He runs away with his tail between his legs.
The carnage ceases, three maticores dead, one unconscious with a few broken bones, and a fifth scared to high hell.
"So," I turn to the group of six woman and a little boy, expressions of awe, astonishment, disbelief, and fear all mixed into their faces. "Maybe we should have that chat."