John’s eyelids fluttered rapidly as he gradually became aware of his surroundings. The pile of leaves and branches he was using as a mattress crackled slightly underneath him as he rolled onto his side. The ever-present roar of the waterfall outside the cave was a little irritating, but it was worth putting up with since the spray muted his scent and it would be hard for any predators to hear him. Even if the mist did constantly fill the cave, requiring a constant fire going to keep him from freezing to death in his sleep.
The fire was starting to die down, and John briefly toyed with the idea of simply tossing some of the branches he was lying on onto the smouldering fire and going back to sleep. Deciding against it since he didn’t really want to remain in this unpleasant cave any more than he had to, John hauled himself upright and began his early morning stretches. Keeping his body busy, he tried to ignore the thoughts that had been chasing each other through his brain for most of the night.
Pushing the thoughts aside – he had been considering them for most of the night and still didn’t have an answer – he finished up his stretches. Wondering how he should spend his day; whether he should find food, make weapons, or watch the creatures again, he happened to glance down at the pile of twigs and sticks. Sticks he had been forced to tear off of the trees with his bare hands.
Fetching his axe it was.
About an hour later, he stood in the burnt-out clearing where he had fought the six ponies. It was hard to see through the trees, but the sun was already high in the sky. He must have slept in later than he thought. His tattered clothing clung limply on his body, seeming to match his mood. Depression filled him as he looked at the carnage and destruction, remember what had happened here and wondering if he had really been in the right.
Trying not to give words to his thoughts, since that would force him to acknowledge them, he stepped over to the large blackened tree in the middle of the clearing. His shoeless feet crunched through the scarred landscape, throwing up small amounts of ash with every step he took.
Pressing his hands against the trunk of the tree, he braced himself and gave it an experimental shove. It wobbled a little before falling back into its original position. Whistling softly to himself, he picked up a nearby unburned branch and shoved one end underneath the fallen tree. Using the branch as a lever, he pulled down on the free end and flipped the tree over. A strange feeling ran up his spine, like someone was watching him, but he ignored it.
He quickly stepped away from the tree as a large plum of ash was thrown into the air. Covering his face, he waited until the ash settled before gingerly pacing forwards. As the air cleared, his eyes skimmed across the bark of the tree before resting upon what he was looking for. There, embedded about halfway up the tree, his axe awaited him. It was undamaged by the fire, which must not have been able to reach underneath the smothering tree.
Gripping the handle in both hands and bracing a foot against the tree, he yanked on the axe as hard as he could. It was lodged pretty firmly, and it took several yanks before he was able to free it from the grip of the tree. Resting it on his shoulder, glad that he would now be able to cut down branches for the fire instead of needing to tear them off, he started making his way back to his home cave.
“Now, Rainbow Dash!”
Not understanding the meaning of the words but hearing them all the same, he turned towards the spot they had come from just in time to catch a blue hoof to the face. His entire body twisted around with the force of the sudden blow and he was abruptly lying on the ground, one hand clutching his broken nose. Blood ran freely through his fingers, staining the ash beneath him a bright red.
Looking up, he saw the blue winged pony he had fought before walking confidently towards him. Her wings were flared open and one of her front hooves was speckled red with his blood. She lowered her head so that it was level with his, their faces only a few inches apart.
“I’ve been looking forward to a little payback,” the fearsome creature snarled at him.
“Ya’ll do remember he probably can’t understand a word we’re sayin’, right?” another voice drawled from behind him.
Risking a look, he saw that the orange pony had snuck up behind him while he was distracted. The pink and white ponies flanked him on each side while the yellow pony was holding her position above him. The purple one was standing well back, her eyes closed and her horn glowing.
“Of course I remember, AJ. I just wanted to say it anyways. Hey!” A kick to his head forced him to look directly at her. “So are you going to surrender, or are we going to have to do this the hard way? And by that, I mean the fun way.”
“Be careful, Dashie. Oh, and try not to hurt him too much,” The pink one said from off to John’s right.
“Really, this would be so much easier if I or Twilight could just grab him with our magic,” the white one standing on John’s left said, looking down at him disdainfully.
"I don’t know if you understand me, but we would be ever so grateful if you could please surrender and come with us. If that’s okay with you.” The quiet voice came from above him, and John looked up to see that the yellow winged one was perched in a tree above him.
Icy cold fear crept up John’s spine as he realized just how bad his situation was. He was completely boxed in, with the creatures cutting off any possible means of escape. He hadn’t expected to run into any trouble, and had only brought a pair of explosives. He had to escape. If he made it to the undergrowth, he might be able to lose them.
Wildly swinging his axe at the pony standing in front of him, he hurriedly clambered to his feet. She flapped her wings as she jumped back, easily propelling herself out of range and throwing up a large cloud of ash, covering the entire area in a blinding cloud of white.
“Looks like he’s chosen to do this the hard way.”
Unable to see anything, John sprinted in the direction he had seen the white pony standing. Unlike the others, she hadn’t performed any particularly impressive physical feats yet. Charging out of the cloud of ash, he aimed directly at her, intending to simply bowl her over and make a break for it. She simply arched an eyebrow at seeing him coming for her.
“Attacking a lady, are we? So uncouth.” Leaping into the air, she gracefully pirouetted so that she was facing away from him. Her mane and tail fluttered wildly, the movement drawing his eyes and temporarily distracting him. Lashing out with her rear hooves, she struck against his chest with a thunderous impact.
Knocked back several steps, his arms flailing as he fought to keep from falling over, something suddenly struck and wrapped around his left arm. A quick look revealed to him that the orange pony had lassoed his arm with her rope and had the other end clenched securely in her teeth. A firm yank from her torn away at his delicate balance, bringing him down to his hands and knees.
“That’s yer idea of somethin’ a lady would do, is it?”
“Oh shush, Applejack. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to find a spot to hit that wouldn’t get blood on my hooves?”
The creatures were making noises again. John tried to stand up, but fell back on his rear in surprise when the pink one suddenly popped up in front of him, somehow appearing from the blind spot behind his arm.
“Hi there! Are you ready to surrender yet, or do we have to hurt you some more? I mean, we’ll try to fix you up later, but it would really make thing a lot easier on all of us if you would just give up.”
Not understanding what she was saying, John tightened his grip on the axe handle as he pushed her away. Raising it above his head, he prepared to swing it down on the rope wrapped around his arm.
“Oh no, ya don’t.”
The rope wrenched hard on his arm, pulling him into the air. A scream of agony escaped his lips as he felt his shoulder detach from its socket, ending in a grunt of pain as he struck a tree.
“Don’t you think that was a bit much, AJ?”
“Probably, Dash, but he’s a lot more fragile’n Ah would have expected.”
Moaning weakly, John cut the rope with the axe before pushing himself into a sitting position, leaning against the tree for support. Trying not to jostle his dislocated shoulder, he stared in despair at the five ponies closing in on him.
“Oh, the poor dear looks so scared.”
“Be careful, Fluttershy. Scared he might be, but he’s still a dangerous brute.”
“What are you worrying about, Rarity? We’ve already got him on the ropes. I was hoping for a little more payback, but I’m willing to let it go with this.”
John’s breath rattled in his lungs while every beat of his heart caused a line of pain to shoot through his shoulder. Bracing himself against the tree, he cautiously stood up. The axe held defensively between him and the ponies with his good hand, he wavered unsteadily on his feet.
Looking past the ponies, his breath caught in his throat as the icy claws of fear gripped his neck at what he saw. Risking a look over his shoulder, his heart plummeted to his stomach at what he saw. Large trees had been torn down and carefully piled on top of one another, creating a wall that completely surrounded the clearing.
“Give it up.”
The purple pony stepped towards John. Her horn was no longer glowing, but he had no doubt that she was responsible for the barricade. Not after what he had seen at the river.
“You can’t escape us and we will not allow you to leave this clearing. Throw down your weapons and I promise you will not come to harm.”
“Ah hate ta interrupt, but it don’t look like he intends ta surrender.”
Tucking his axe underneath his right arm, John reached into his pocket and pulled out an explosive fruit and a match. His shoulder screamed at him with every movement he made, but escape was the only thing that mattered! Fumbling a little, he managed to light the match and stick it into the fruit.
Tossing his makeshift grenade at the barricade behind him, he hunched down to protect his body from the coming explosion. Nearly blacking out from the pain caused by the abrupt movement, he barely managed to remain conscious. Instead of the explosion he expected, unbroken silence filled the clearing.
Looking behind him, he saw the one thing he had never considered but really should have. The fruit and match were wrapped in a purple glow and the match had been removed from the fruit. As he watched, the tiny flame sputtered pathetically and died. He felt his hope die with it. His sight started to fade as he saw the creatures walking towards him, throwing up ash with every step they took. The world became consumed by white and he prepared to surrender to his fate.
…not…finished…
The world snapped back into focus as the alien voice echoed within John’s skull. It was strong and powerful, overpowering everything inside his head. But at the same time, he could barely hear it.
…you…magic…escape…
He couldn’t understand the words that the voice was saying but he somehow understood the meaning behind them regardless. It was insane! It was reckless, foolish, desperate, impossible!
It was also his only hope.
Clenching the axe handle between his teeth – he hadn’t come this far just to leave it behind – he pulled out another match and his last fruit. Lighting it, he turned and held the fruit and match against the wall, bracing himself for the pain.
“What’s he-?” One of the voices asked
“Get down!” another shouted desperately.
A horrible explosion ripped everything apart. John let out an agonized shriek as his flesh was roasted and charred. The sickly sweet smell of cooked meat overwhelmed his senses and he nearly collapsed on the spot. His arm was burnt black and even the slightest movement caused his skin to crack and flake open.
Most of his mind shut down in a futile attempt to protect him from the pain. Only one thought made it through his mind: escape. Before the smoke cleared, he fled into the hole made by the explosion. Both his arms hung limply at his sides, every step causing the skin on his right arm to futher fracture and crack. Blood and cooked fat ran freely, dripping off what remained of his fingers and staining the ground below.
Back in the clearing, Twilight tried to understand what had happened.
“I didn’t consider that! He can’t be affected by magic, nor can anything he’s touching. Argh, I already knew that. How could I have not taken it into consideration?” Twilight focused and cast the locator spell. Sensing John escaping, she grunted in denial. There was no way she was letting it end here, not after what Luna had confided in her last night. “You’re not getting away.” Her horn glowed even brighter and she teleported in pursuit.
John stumbled suddenly as Twilight appeared directly in front of him. Tripping over her, he twisted his body so that he would land on his back instead of his arms. His teeth dug into the axe handle as his jaw clenched, trying not to scream from the pain that assaulted every nerve of his body. Twilight stood stock still, staring in horror at the ruination of his body her plan had caused.
His eyes looked deeply into hers, causing her breath to catch at what she saw there. Not hate, not anymore. Instead, his eyes were full of pain, fear, and a plea for mercy. She took a fearful step back, unable to comprehend all the suffering she was responsible for. John took advantage of her moment of weakness to scramble to his feet and vanish into the woods.
“Twilight!”
Twilight slowly turned her head to stare at her approaching friends. Seeing her unresponsive response, they slowed down and gave her five identical concerned looks.
“Are y’all alright, Twi?” Applejack asked. Twilight licked her dry lips and her voice croaked like a bullfrog when she responded, prompting her to start again.
“How-how did you girls catch up so fast?” Rarity silently pointed at the trail of blood and fat. Twilight stared at it uncomprehendingly for a moment before she connected it with the injuries she had seen on the creature. Her face turning green, she rushed over to a nearby bush and vomited noisily into it.
Twilight sobbed uncontrollably as her stomach purged itself, regretting what had happened; what she had made happen. After several retches, her heaves were only able to produce a small amount of bile, and she became aware of a light pressure on her flank. Her friends were hugging her, and had been since she started; not knowing why she was hurting so much but wanting to help her regardless.
Heedless of the vomit covering her mouth, Twilight turned and gave herself to their embrace. Tears running freely down her face as she looked into their kind, concerned eyes. Her sobs eventually steadied as she cried herself to sleep.
“Poor Twilight,” Pinkie said quietly, not wanting to wake the slumbering unicorn. “I wonder what happened.”
“Ah dunno, Pinkie,” Applejack answered, gently lifting Twilight onto her back, “but it looks like we won’t be catchin’ that critter today. You alright, Rarity?” The fashionista was staring in disgust at the vomit staining everypony’s coat.
“Just fine, darling, but I am definitely making an emergency visit to the spa when we get back to town.”
Dear journal;
I attacked by creatures today. Pain. So much pain. Why does it not hurt. Healed. How? Skin is fine. Arms are fine. Nose is fine. Blood remains. So much blood.
Hear voice in my head. Stronger after healed. Don’t understand it. Musn’t understand it. If understand it, something terrible happen.
Creature attacked me. Doesn’t matter; right or wrong. Not able to live in peace with creatures. Must remove them. Kill them. Plan prepared, ready.
They die. Die die die die diediediEdIEDIE!!
KILL THEM!!!!!