The cold was the only one out to comfort me. The tree in front of me was marked with a huge indentation from where it had been struck repeatedly with Equality.
Practicing has been the only thing keeping me sane since Nightmare Night. Thinking about it makes my heart ache. Ditzy's eyes filled with tears. Luna basically raping me. They hurt. All of those memories hurt. The worst being the ‘I hate you’ Ditzy said before she ran off into the night. Every time I tried to talk to her, Carrot Top or Vinyl would always get in the way. They didn't buy my side of the story either.
Ever since that night, depression had slowly begun to consume me. It didn't help that Draco left. Thanks to that splint it healed up faster than it would normally take for a dragon wing to heal. I told him to visit often. I needed it. Also, Wolfgang ran away. He just opened the door and left. That took a hit on me. I couldn't blame him, though. I wasn't taking very good care of him. I forgot all about him when I bought Ditzy's birthday muffin. I just left him outside of Sugarcube Corner. He should be able to fend for himself.
I shook away the burning memories and focused on the tree. I let out a battle cry as I swung at the trunk of the tree. Each slash I delivered caused the gashes in the tree to grow bigger and bigger.
For the past few weeks I've come to this small clearing I found while walking through the Everfree Forest. This is the only thing successfully keeping my mind off of Ditzy. I trained from dusk till dawn. Days seemed to have melded together into one long blur of sword swinging, eating, and sleeping.
Before I knew it, the tree I'd been practicing on is almost ready to fall. Most of the bark at around torso level was gone along with the trunk of the tree. Deciding this tree had been put through enough pain, I put my foot against the trunk of the tree and begin applying force. Sure enough, the sound of wood cracking echoed through the forest, cancelling out the white noise of animals and foliage and causing my heart to ache.
The sound of splintering wood. That was the sound of the table breaking over the head of the thug that tried to shoot Ditzy. That's the sound of the wardrobe as it hit the ground that night.
I shook off the memories as the tree fell to the snow covered ground, muffling what would have been a louder thud. I stared at the fallen tree in thought. That's the twelfth tree I've cut down since I started. Maybe I should take up carpentry.
The ruffling of leaves from behind me broke me from my thoughts. I turned around and readied Equality for a fight, just in case whatever was lurking in the forest was hostile. I tried to look into the trees to spot whatever creature is hiding within them, but the low sun and early morning clouds prevented me from doing so.
The rustling became louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. Suddenly, a figure jumped from the shadows of the trees. It was a man. "Run!" he shouted at me as he sprinted past. I looked at him, confused, until another figure burst through the shadows. This time, it was a manticore, and it did not look happy. It beared its teeth, ready to attack, as it chased the man.
Being the heroic thing to do, I stopped thinking and charged at the manticore, tackling it to the ground. It was at that moment I realized something. I can be a total dumbass.
I quickly got back on my feet and jumped back. I readied Equality once again as the manticore dazedly got to its feet. It locked its eye onto me and let out a roar to try and intimidate me.
We began to circle each other, anticipating who would make the first move. I took this time to remember all the information I had on manticores. Okay, a manticore is a combination of a lion, a scorpion, and a bat. Wait. I could pour alcohol on its back. I heard scorpions sting themselves when you do that. Wait. I don't have any alcohol. As I rummaged through my mind to gather information on this creature, I remembered a conversation I overheard back in my days at the castle. Someone was telling a story about some group of friends who were attacked by a manticore. One of the members of the group was able to subdue the manticore... by treating it like a cat. She just started petting it and it was all purry purry.
Normally, I would pass off this information at false, but you’ve got to remember, I was kinda depressed at the time, didn't care for my own well-being, and I was curious.
I let out a sigh, knowing my idiocy may be the death of me. The manticore took this as a sign that I was distracted. It let out another roar as it pounced at me. I quickly side stepped it using my circle walking and it landed on the ground behind me. As it turned around and began to pounce again, it was surprised to find that I was not there, only my sword lying in the snow.
Without wasting a moment, I dropped from the trees above on top of the manticore. Using my weight, with some help from my magic, I forced the beast to the ground. It roared as it struggled to break free from my grasp. With a burst of courage, I placed one hand behind its ear, one hand on its side, and began scratching and rubbing and every other synonym of petting. The manticore slowly stopped struggling, and I heard it begin to purr.
Holy shit, this is actually working.
After a moment, I released the manticore from my magical hold, half-expecting it to pounce on me and eat my face off. To my surprise, it didn't. It just laid there, purring like a kitten to my touch. After another moment, I picked myself up from the beast and backed away, still cautious of my face. The manticore just got up and started brushing against me, still wanting more attention. I placed my hand behind its ear again and began scratching. It purred louder as I continued to satisfy its itches.
"Is that really happening?" I turned to see the man who was once running from this supposed savage beast. Not really believing it myself, I answered with a shrug and awkward smile. He then began to laugh. "That's awesome!" he managed to get out. I couldn't blame him. If I wasn't so sure this thing would eat my face if I started laughing, I would be too.
The manticore began to growl at the laughing man. In fear of it attacking again, I scratched harder. Its growls turned back into purrs. After a moment, the manticore lay down at my feet. I continued petting until it closed its eyes and slowly drifted off back into its slumber.
Carefully, I stepped over the sleeping beast, as not to wake it. Once free, I addressed the man who was still laughing. "So," I began, "who are you and why was that manticore chasing you?"
Wiping a tear from his eye, he said "Well, I was just strolling through Everfree-"
"And already you sound like an idiot," I interrupted.
He stared at me. "...when a loud cracking noise echoed through the forest. Then this guy must have woken up from wherever it was sleeping and just decided I made the noise and it started chasing me." Despite having a near death experience, he talked with pep.
Loud cracking noise? That was probably the tree... I almost killed a man.
"Also, the name's Good Vibration, but everyone calls me Good Vibes." His gave me a smile. "And what, may I ask, is my saviour’s name?"
For some reason, his happy demeanour pissed me off. "I'm Golden Scale, but everyone calls me Scales." I walk over to where Equality lay in the snow and returned it to its sheath.
"Well then, Scales, thank you for saving my life." He was somehow able to get behind me and wrap his arm around me without me hearing him. "Since you helped me with my problem, I'd like to help you with yours."
I raised an eyebrow at this. "What problem?"
"I don't know, but I know you're sad. I can see it in your eyes. Something is bothering you and I would like to help."
How could he tell I was upset just by looking at my eyes? That's weird.
I began walking to the freshly fallen tree. "It's personal. Wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it with a stranger." Little did I know, saying that sentence would make the journey of recovery a much faster and more entertaining one.
Again, almost like a ninja, Good Vibes' arm wrapped around my neck. "Well then, looks like I'll just have to be your friend."
"What?"
"To say thanks, let me treat my hero to a nice, hot meal." He starts pulling me in the direction Ponyville.
I free my self from his grasp and continue to the fallen tree. "Thanks but no thanks. I don't need your help." I lift the the trunk up into the air (with magic) and lay it with the rest of the logs that have been slain.
"Come on!" he insists with his damn arm around me again. Fucking arm. "You don't look like you have anything important, so why not let a humble, thankful citizen treat you to some food."
His constant pestering is getting annoying. "Listen, I don't want your damn help. I want to be alone. So, why don't you get that through your thick skull and-" I was cut off by the sound growling. Its origin my stomach, not the manticore.
My face grows red as that cheeky smile grew on his face again. "Well, that settles it." With that he begins dragging me off back to Ponyville. I was all ready to decline his offer, but I was getting hungry.
Author's Note: Hey hey hey. Sorry for the long wait. Like, a month, right? I've been preoccupied. Not with homework or anything, just internet and two new video games. This chapter was originally going to be longer but procrastination and a future character's name kept causing problems. I will (barely) try to get the next one up before (or during [possibly after]) December. Again, thank every single one of you who liked and Favorited my story. Never before have I thought I could write one that people would like.