ADT Chapter 11
The Everfree Forest wasn't that bad. There was the occasional mosquito or gnat, or slithering sound as a scaled body would slip just out of sight into the underbrush, but aside from the general creepy atmosphere, it was pretty much the kind of forest that I was used to.
When I say 'used to', I mean 'used to seeing on television', but it's the same difference, right? While I had been half-fearing, half-hoping for a manticore or hydra around every shadowy bend and dark corner, I instead got a gritty but completely uneventful hike, in which I marched to the tune of Rainbow's snarky voice as she read aloud Twilight's list(s) of supplies, so that the ever-prepared unicorn could be sure she'd packed all the necessities, most of the maybes, and at least two of each 'what if'.
Zecora's hut was a brief ten minute walk from the forests' edge, so it wasn't long before we were at her front door. Twilight raised a leg to knock, but it swung to meet nothing but air. The makeshift wooden frame was pull inwards before it had a chance to connect, revealing none other than the smiling witch doctor we were hoping to meet.
"Hi, Zecora," Twilight cheerfully greeted.
"Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash too," the zebra said in reply, getting her first look at me as she did so. "I'd greet your friend as well, but to me, he is new."
Headache. Forming. Rapidly.
What do you have against the intricacies of rhyme? I don't know about you, but to me, it's subli-
I swear to Zeus, if you start that bullshit, I'm going to bludgeon myself till one of us succumbs to brain trauma.
Easy. Easy. Your threat's understood. I'll stop while I'm ahead.
Good... DAMNIT.
Hiding my personal detestation for all things versed, I provided my title.
"Name's Joseph," I told her. "Human. From a far off land that you've never heard about. Here for a new life and exploration. Blah blah blah and all that." Introductions were getting old. "We came looking for some tips on navigating the deeper parts of the Everfree Forest."
Zecora didn't seem to take offense to my curtness, and smiled as she spoke in turn. "To say I've never heard about your kind would be an assumption most accurate, but if it's guidance you seek, I'm sure I can facilitate."
"I knew we could count on you, Zecora," said a grateful Twilight.
The shaman stepped aside to grant us passage through her doorway. "I only try to help, and that's not me being modest.
Now, shall we discuss the Everfree Forest?"
Accepting the invitation, we entered her abode. She had no benches or chairs set up, save for a stool at a table with various pestles and vials for herbal mixing, and a small threadbare cot in one corner. Resourceful the reclusive zebra may have been, but she had clearly not set up her home with much thought given for having company over. Since we had no real place to rest, we simply sat on the mat before the room's center table. Zecora shut the door and came in after us, seating herself on the opposite end.
"Now," she began, "tell me what you lack, and what is already known. I'll do my best to aid your knowledge with my own."
Twilight spoke first. "Threats are what I'm mainly worried about right now. There's limited research material for the forest, which I suppose is the reason for this expedition to begin with. Aside from small dragons, manticores, cockatrices, snakes and the like, what dangers can we expect to run into once we leave the familiar areas of the forest? Is there anything that magic won't be enough to protect us from?"
I think I'm starting to understand exactly why she thought your plan was stupid...
Zecora nodded sagely as she answered. "To concern yourself with the threats of nature is a decision most astute. Your answer is 'Yes', and your fears you should not refute."
Rather than immediately elaborate on what she'd said, Zecora got up and retrieved a large, sealed wooden box from atop one of her many shelves of herbs and medicinal brews. Before three curious pairs of eyes, she pried it open to reveal something that I'm sure none of us saw coming.
"Skeletons?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.
It was stashed full of tiny dead animals, be they the remains of things once furry or slimy, or the empty shells of insects that had long since been dried and preserved.
Rainbow's response was similar to mine, except she jumped straight to my second reaction.
"Awesooooome~!" we said in chorus. Only Twilight, who was less than enthused by the spectacle, failed to join in.
"Zecora, what exactly are these?" she asked, leaning back a generous distance and eyeing the arrangement of over a dozen miniature bodies that were stashed haphazardly within the box, each bone picked clean and bleached white, and each carapace dry and hollow.
"These, child, are the creatures of which you should be wary. Each poses a threat that you would find most scary. For instance..." She selected one seemingly at random and held it up for us to see.
It was one of the many insect specimens, and looked almost like a spider, with emphasis on 'almost'. Know what a 'daddy long-legs' is? It looked almost exactly like one of those, except it had four legs instead of eight. These legs were long, thin, and in life would have held its relatively tiny round abdomen about five inches off the ground even when reasonably spread out. The bulk of the creature was that orb of a body it had, which sported neither eye socket nor antennae. It was completely round and—from what we could see of the outside—smooth as well. The shell itself was a dull brown that seemed to trap the bright afternoon light striking it from outside, and did not glimmer in the slightest. My first impression, beyond the obvious fact that it made my skin crawl, was that it would be difficult to spot in poor lighting conditions that would be inevitable deeper in the forest.
"This," Zecora explained, "is a Harvestite. It may seem harmless now, but alive, it would give you quite a fright."
Twilight's ears perked up. "A harvestite? I've read about those! They're not seen often outside of dark, moist environments that are often too hostile for all but the toughest of animals. If I remember correctly, they're carnivorous insects that scavenge off whatever..." she hesitated, "leftovers... they can find from predators. They're sort of like nature's little cleanup crew."
The way she ended her factorial had an inflection that suggested she found the bugs to be useful, and maybe even a bit endearing. Such foolish notions were soon dispelled.
Zecora nodded approvingly as she continued her lesson. "As usual, you are very well informed, my dear, but you lack vital knowledge that could avert a fate most severe. While what you know is all well and good, there is another side to this creature which must be understood."
She flipped over its body—which had been right-side up till then—revealing a circular segment along the base of the orb. A line split the segment in half, making it look almost like a curved beak. First appearances turned out to be accurate this time, as Zecora demonstrated by prying open what turned out to be its mouth, exposing the hollow cavity within.
"While the harvestite does indeed scavenge, you'll find its true nature to be quite savage. They are hunters, and quite adept at it too. If no easy meal can be found, they'll be quick to make one of you."
She paused to let the two mares shudder at the thought before moving on, "They track in swarms of hundreds, and make use of not web nor sight. What they lack in sense, they make up for with a truly wicked bite. Its saliva carries eggs, you see, and the host within them would be far from your cup of tea. Once a creature is bitten, the eggs are passed on to the victim. The larvae within then hatch, the host they soon dispatch. I will not scare you with the details of what they do, but know that once they are in, there is not much hope for you. I believe that when it comes to safety, prevention is second to none, and so my advice is that, should you meet this animal, you'd do best to run."
"'Run'?" I repeated incredulously. "That's your big advice? Run? You tell us about a pack of hunting spider-things that catch their prey by injecting living parasites to do Celestia-knows-what to them from the inside out, and your counter is running away?"
She held up a hoof to stop me. "Calm yourself, Joseph, for that was merely simplest route to take. I've yet to say what to do, should you fail to escape. The harvestites' want for dampness is not one of pleasure, but rather a necessary safety measure. When exposed to heat, their eggs begin to die, and their bodies fail them as their innards fry."
"So you're saying we have to burn them alive?" asked Twilight, looking more than a little green.
"Not necessarily," corrected the experienced shaman. "Even the smallest of blazes will cause them to flee."
"Well that's one problem taken care of," I said. "Now about the rest..."
That had been one animal. One freaking threat to look out for. It was essentially a giant spider, that hunted in swarms like ants, and killed its prey like wasps. As far as I was concerned, that was nothing but nightmare fuel, and that was just one of the things we'd have to deal with.
We were in for a fun trip.
Zecora replaced the carcass in the box, and picked up yet another of the mummified remains. This time it was a normal (I use the term loosely) set of bones, instead of a hard exoskeleton. The new animal had been about the size of a large hamster, with the shape to match. There were a few key differences though, the most noticeable of which was the fact that it had wings. It also had a clearly distinguishable head, with a fanged mouth to top it off. And then there were its relatively long legs, each of which ended in... Miniature hands, with opposable thumbs on each one. All things considered, I only had one thing to say in response to the sight of this new monstrosity.
"Oh boy..."
"What you see here is the Similian. While the harvestite seeks sustenance, this one seeks fun. They come often as one, but sometimes as many. They'll steal anything that they can, be it food, clothes or even money. But do not relax because of its mischievous intent, for a lack of supplies could turn your trip into and most tragic event."
"And to deal with them?" Twilight asked, who cast a protective glance towards her saddlebag.
Zecora chuckled and pointed to the one horn in the room. "Magic can rid you of a Similian with ease. They'll be sent tumbling by even the slightest breeze. They are made for the forest, where there is little air flow. Change the air currents, and away they will go."
I take a closer look at their hands and understand. In the immortal words of Foghorn Leghorn: I say, "I see. Their hands are more suited for grabbing onto things than walking along a flat surface, so if they're on airborne or on trees, they're completely stuck."
Rainbow snorted. "Similia Schmilian. These things sound like nothing but chumps. Real fliers don't care about a little bit of turbulence. I think we can handle them, no trouble! Show us a real challenge!"
Please don't...
Zecora, however, was quick to comply. We spent the next hour going over species after deadly species. When the box of small dead animals proved insufficient, she resorted to vivid descriptions of the larger predators out there, and not one was related to my targets. Only when we were sufficiently terrified of the things that lurked in the shadows did she decide that we were ready.
Were we ready? Let me tell you that I did not feel prepared to face a lycan, or any of the equally horrible things she'd told us to look out for. Twilight looked just as nervous, but also somewhat curious to see the mysterious devilbeasts in the flesh. Rainbow was another case entirely. She went as far as to fake a yawn when it was over, just to prove her toughness. If any of the grisly imagery had shaken her, she gave no sign.
Where did that leave me? About to be shown up by two girl ponies a full two feet shorter than me? Fuck no. I did what a real man would do; Hid my shaking hands behind my back, and my unsureness behind a steely grin. If they could do it, so could I, right?
As far as our increased preparedness went, the brilliant Twilight had come up with a way to help avoid incident altogether. For every suggested deterrent and preventative measure given to us by Zecora, she'd come up with a spell that would project an illusion of the specific conditions to select minds. After organizing over two dozen of these protective enchantments, she then threaded them together into a conditional matrix that would envelop our group while we walked. The moment an unwanted specimen entered the field, the illusion specific to that species would activate and be imprinted on the mind of that creature alone, hopefully scaring it off. On a whole, her idea was more energy efficient than manipulating the elements themselves to achieve the same effect, and as a bonus, the environment would suffer no adverse side effects from simple illusions.
That took care of all the tensing and fretting. We lacked a true game-plan, but we had goals. Twilight and Rainbow both got to see the pictures of the insects I was on the lookout for, so all that was left was to travel onwards and hope that we find them soon. If all went well, I wouldn't even have to worry about coming back alone the following day.
We gave Zecora our thanks and headed North East, which she had told us was the quickest path into the wild Everfree. We'd offered her a chance to join us, but she had commitments to fulfill to Ponyville residents who had paid for her herbal remedies and supplements, and so hadn't had the time to accept. She had, however, asked me to procure some Rumroot for her. It was a natural anesthetic and relaxant that grew a respectable distance away from her home, and in less hospitable conditions than she was used to. Those conditions meant that she would have to commit time if she wanted to get it herself, and as explained, time was something that she didn't have. Eighty bits for a couple pounds was more than worth it, so I was happy to accept.
For a while after departing, the path we took was wide and, for the most part, clear. It did gradually close up, and get darker to the point where sightings of the sky were few and far between, but we met nothing of interest. In fact our only previous quibble with the forest, which had been the mosquitoes and other parasites that were constantly trailing us, was no longer an issue. In coming up with her anti-death-by-everything spell, Twilight had gone the extra mile and implemented a repellent for the tiny bugs as well. The moment any of the inch-long mosquitoes, or roaming ticks, or any of the other nuisances got within ten feet of any one of us, they'd spaz out as if suddenly exposed to intense flame, and beat a hasty retreat.
Because of the lack of effort required in this part of the journey, it's safe to say that it was actually somewhat relaxed. Relatively speaking, of course. I mean, what's crossing twenty feet of raging rapids via the unstable and rotting trunk of a fallen tree while being piggybacked by a lanky unicorn that's too nervous to risk the unstable footing herself? How big a deal it narrowly evading stumbling into a patch of giant carnivorous plants? What are these trivialities, in comparison to something life-threatening, like what we encountered about twenty minutes into the second part of our hike?
***
We trudged along through the progressively darker forest at a steady pace. The many scrapes and bruises earned along the way from one or more we'd encountered obstacles had our bodies sore, but had left our spirits undampened. Between my back-to-back wisecracks and Rainbow's insistence on laughing in the face of danger, the forest hardly seemed as fear-inducing as I'd initially expected it to be.
Even so, when the sunlight being filtered through the gaps in the leaves above began to thin out and because a scarcity, we found ourselves talking less and less, eyeing the shadows more and more often as sounds of various animals, which had previously been simple background noise, seemed to draw nearer, increasing in both clarity and frequency with each passing minute, almost as if the sources of the sounds were trailing us. We tried our best to ignore them, putting our faith in Twilight's protection spell to keep everything at a safe distance from us.
That faith was was brought into serious question when the improvised trail we were following was crossed by an rarity in such a diverse environment; A plain leopard, no signs of magical influence or crossbreeding visible. That in itself what's such a big deal, because I'm sure any one of us could have handled a jungle cat, but the thing is that it didn't simply walk into view. It leapt out of the side-brush without warning, kicked up a flurry of leaves upon landing, looked left and right in a panicked frenzy, made brief eye contact with us, and practically flew off in the same direction it had been initially running.
At first I thought that Twilight's spell had saved us some trouble, since that was its first real test aside from insects, but the leopard had been in a state of fright even before it showed up. We breathed a sigh of relief and resumed walking, but when that realization hit me, I couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that it wasn't us that it had been running from. I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary alarm, so I kept my worries to myself. Still, I kept glancing left and right as we walked, wondering what was hiding, if anything at all.
We found out soon enough.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw one shadow two shades darker than the ones surrounding us silently break off from the rest and meld out of sight. It was difficult to tell if I'd seen true, since by the the illumination from the sun was poor and our only source of light was a glowing sphere that Twilight had conjured. It was only bright enough to allow us to traverse the rocks and fallen trees without tripping over them, so anything beyond our immediate range of sight was heavily obscured. With the lack of vision and potential of a stalking predator looming over us, I decided it would be best to pause and do some observing until we had a better grasp of our surroundings.
I stopped suddenly, and the ponies following my lead were quick to follow suit. Their hoofsteps came to rustling halts against the carpet of fallen leaves and moss that covered the floor of the Everfree.
"What's the matter?" asked Twilight, showing some concern as my reason for stopping wasn't yet clear to her. Her pen ceased scribbling observatory notes into the notepad hovering below it as she awaited my response.
"Yeah. Why'd you stop?" reiterated Rainbow in her usual impatient tone. "Did you spot one of those bugs we're looking for?"
"No," I told her quietly, "but I think saw something else. Try not to make any noise for a while. Just listen."
They obeyed, one willingly and the other reluctantly. We stood there in silence for a minute, then two, but heard nothing aside from the chitters of birds and insects hiding in the foliage, and the occasional far off chatters of what may have been monkeys or parrots. I kept my eyes focused on the green-tinted shadows before us, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever large form I'd seen slipping between the silhouettes of the trees moments before, but I couldn't make out a thing.
The seconds dragged by tensely, and as much as I have loved to relax and forget I'd seen anything, I was reluctant to do so, considering the potential cost if I was wrong.
Rainbow Dumbass Dash, on the other hand, saw the time spent silent as time wasted, and just as I was about to make a tentative suggestion to back away slowly...
"Geez Louise! Come on already! Why're you two getting all worked up? Twi's got her repelling thing up, right? I'm sure if there was anything there, it would've already-" and in keeping with the true spirit of ironically timed bullshit that happens in my life, that's when all Tartarus chose to break loose.
The very second I turned politely request that Dash to shut her Apple-pie hole, there was a mighty roar and an explosion of wood and leaves behind me. Twilight shrieked and Rainbow yelped in surprise, but before I could so much as turn my head to see what had caused the commotion, something flat and hard struck my back with enough force to not only lift me off the ground, but send me flying several feet into the solid trunk of the nearest tree.
I would have shouted, sworn, and cried out in pain all out at once if I'd had the ability to do so, but the lack of warning and the sheer power behind the attack left me gasping for breath on the forest floor, vision blurry and head reeling.
"Joseph!" I heard Twilight's muffled call, before an abstract burst of violet light alerted me to the sudden and violent use of magic.
I did my best to shake off the confusion and ready myself for combat before I or either of my companions ended up hurt, or worse.
HEY! Contrary to what the movies say, shaking your head does NOT help rid yourself of potential concussions. Stay the fuck still and let me steady your nerves, and I don't mean that figuratively! You took one hell of a hit just now. Be glad the trunk was round and somewhat pliable, otherwise you'd be in some serious trouble.
Well... I let Casper handle that whole 'shaking off the confusion' part. Anyway, when my eyes were finally able to focus, I was greeted by a spectacle that would have seemed awesome under literally ANY other circumstances, but was actually a nightmare to be facing in the flesh.
It was a manticore. Let me stop you right there and say that it wasn't the cut-and-paste variant with a lion's head, dragon's tail and whatnot; We didn't get off anywhere near that easy. What had ambushed us had the trunk of some large predatory cat, but also the head and massive forearms of a gorilla, the primed tail of a scorpion, and the tough, scaly wings of a dragon clamped down to its back.
It was big, and I mean huge—ten vertical feet of solid muscle, fur and bared fangs. It was angry, and the only things that came out of its mouth were spittle-filled roars and screams of impotent rage at its inability to land a single blow on either of its targets.
Twilight was hiding behind a translucent bubble of magic that she'd projected over herself to protect her from the deadly strikes being rained down by the beast towering above her tiny form. The glinting point of the barbed tail glanced off the shield ineffectively, leaving not a scratch on its glowing surface, which only served to further enrage the monster.
Rainbow was taking a more active approach, flying around and delivering rapid flurries of powerful but apparently ineffective kicks wherever she could reach on its massive body while dodging every sluggish haymaker sent in return. She danced about in mid-air with teeth grit and eyes focused, deftly darting to the left or right with less than a fraction of a second to spare between each punch and sting sent her way.
While she was having no trouble evading it on her own, the low-hanging canopy restricted her movements, and the darkness had her relying more on her ears to avoid the attacks than her eyes, which, due to the sparse sunlight, had to make use of the feeble glow being cast by Twilight's magic to navigate between vines and branches. She was safe for the moment, but would need help soon, and Twilight wasn't being given a chance to interfere because of the constant pressure being applied to her as well. The only one who seemed to have evaded the manticore's attention was me, and so I was the only one capable of intervening in the hopes of fixing the mess that I'd dragged the two of them into.
Well... Fuck.
What do you plan on doing? Fun and games are all fun and games till a pony gets maimed.
I... I'll think of something.
Despite my intentions, I couldn't bring myself to move from my fallen position against the very tree I'd been flung into. I could only watch on with a sick mixture of wonder and dread as the manticore continued to assail Rainbow and Twilight, and it was clear from the start which of the three would outlast the others. Hint: It wasn't the pint-size ponies.
Against such a fearsome opponent, what could I possibly do to help?
Well?
I'm thinking! What the hell am I going to do?
You've got three options-
I'm NOT leaving them.
You've got two options: Use your superhuman strength and agility to defeat the beast in unarmed combat...
Anything that doesn't involve having my ass handed to me in several pieces?
... Or, you could use that magic you've been so conveniently blessed with.
How?! I can barely lift a pound of plastic off the ground. Heck, even to use that defragmentation spell from yesterday takes too much time, focus and energy for me to even consider it, not to mention the fact this this thing's a thousand times bigger than that cube was, and ALIVE.
Who said you had to use something so intricate? You've got the most practice with mental manipulation. Go with your strengths.
'Strength', singular, but I get the point. I’ll try it. Ready the runes for connection, and have something at the ready as a fail-safe, should anything go wrong.
The best thing I’ve got is a spell for reflection, courtesy of Twilight, which is essentially what she’s using right now. While you could technically charge and use the spell, know that she has years of practice and a veritable well of energy to draw on in order to power something that involves equal exchanges of momentum. You try something like this against something like that, and you'll likely end up fainting after a single hit to your barrier, assuming it doesn't outright fail and end up getting you killed, that is.
It's a last resort, I get it. I don't exactly have a whole lot of options. If they die, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'll bring that thing down, or die trying.
Runes at the ready. Standing by for infiltration.
With my intent already at the forefront of my mind, I shut my eyes, focused, and pushed my aura outwards. It was easier than any prior attempt, and it responded to my will like an invisible muscle. My adrenaline-fueled alertness all but trivialized the effort required to expand my awareness to the full twenty feet needed to cover not only the distance between me and my two companions, but the entirety of the beast as well. As my aura expanded, I became aware of the fact that there were very few active minds in the area, and even those presences were receding fast. Whether or not the majority of animals had fled upon hearing the roars of the manticore, I could not tell—I could only be grateful for it, because it meant that I could focus on my task without fear of any other external interruptions.
Rainbow kept on flying about, unaware of what I was about to attempt. Twilight, however, flinched beneath her barrier as my mind overlapped hers, and she physically looked towards me. I could literally feel the questions as they crossed her mind, but she said nothing, instead choosing to trust me and hold out as well as she could while I did what I had to.
With my field set up, I began to narrow my attention down to the turbulent mind of the manticore raging before me. Whereas everything I'd interacted with thus far had been relatively calm, and had their thoughts in some semblance of order, the manticore was—for want of a better term—a whole other animal.
Its thoughts and emotions were in an utter tempest, with no reason in sight. Its inner voice spoke not English or Equestrian, but was instead a raw pull of vivid images, instinct and emotion, and at that time, the manticore had the overwhelming desire to do nothing but attack, attack, attack—till everything in its path was rendered to nothing but blood and bones and it could feast on its kills without opposition. This creature got what it wanted through brute strength, and the fact that it had survived till adulthood against all competition was a testament to its power.
In this strength, I was beginning to see the possibility for a plan that would save us all with minimal effort on my part. All I needed to do was-
I just thought of something.
What? Now?! I’m sort of busy here...
This could be of use to you.
I’m listening.
The manticore lives here, in the forest. It looks like it has for a good many years. Something with such a huge appetite must get around, which means...
... That it would know where the insects are! I get where you're going with this. Alright, let's see...
It was a quick and simple procedure, thankfully. I envisioned the individual insects and projected them as visual stimulus to the animal's mind. The images sparked connections in its memory, and the manticore’s mind unconsciously reacted with several images of its own, even if they were somewhat blurry due to lack of focus on little details. These memories told me in what directions relative to our current position the insects could be found. As an added benefit of thoughts being ingrained with instinct, I learned via a blurry recollection of pain that the blue beetle was not to be trifled with. There were no details as to why, other than the memory of being injured in some way, but that had left enough of an impact on the animal’s mind for it to not want to relive the experience.
And so within the span of a few seconds, I’d found us a lead. I got to see the most hassle-free routes to take to our destinations, so the risk of further attacks would be minimized. I'd say stolen information was a fair trade for the hit I'd taken. With that in my back pocket, it was back to finding us away out of the situation.
It was a good thing that I finished when I did, too; After minutes of frantic flight, Rainbow had one close call too many, and one hairy trunk of an arm grazed her wing. It was only a brush, but the wind displaced by its strength and speed was enough to send her spiralling out of control. One second she was flying acrobatically this way and that, the next she was crashing into a heap on the leafy forest floor. The fall didn’t seem to phase her, but by the time she’d righted herself to take off again, she found herself forced to the earth by a massive looming maw, already descending to finish the job.
There was no time left. I’d analyzed the beast's blind, dumb anger and brutish self-confidence, and I’d seen weakness. I saw the firmness of its belief that none could stand against its fists and mighty tail, and in the face of this fearsome opponent, and in desperation, I laughed.
"HAH!" I shouted aloud, grabbing the attention of all present. The manticore froze in place mere feet from the petrified pony, and its head snapped to face me with a thundering yell that screamed ‘Shut up! I’ll deal with you after.’ Rainbow slowly let out an impossibly deep breath that she had been holding and craned her head my way with a wide-eyed stare. I didn’t have time to be concerned about her or Twilight, though. That call had been close enough, and my focus had to be entirely on the lummox between us.
"That's it?" I asked the creature, of course getting no form of recognition in return from its dull gaze. "That's what I'm so afraid of?! A two ton sack of meat with more muscle than brain? You're a joke!"
Despite my verbal activity, I was still holding fast to its mind. With the simple insertion of a new element—one that neither fought nor tried to escape, but stood unguarded to challenge it—the anger quickly turned to irritated confusion. What I realized upon seeing its single-mindedness was that the simpler the mind of the creature, the simpler the reasons behind the decisions made, and by extension, the easier it would be to influence. Its stimulus consisted only of prey and competition for that prey, both of which, upon recognition, it would promptly beat till they were beyond recognition. What was I, then?
I had been struck first, but I remained to face it once more. I stood fast, and unwaveringly met its eyes. I was shouting at it, and though the words themselves were not understood, the aggressive nature of them was. These facts were enough to plant me firmly in the category of 'competition', and it didn't take long for the glorified ape to come to that conclusion.
With a mighty battle roar and drumming of its chest, it charged, knuckle over gnarled knuckle propelling its colossal black bulk towards me. Twilight immediately dropped her field and began working up the magic to save me in some way, but she didn't even get a chance. Before any of us could comprehend it, the manticore was towering directly above me. Any feeble light that had still been reaching me through the dense leaves above was completely blocked out, leaving me in almost pitch blackness with nothing to look at but the gleam of its smoldering eyes and bared fangs.
It raised a boulder of a fist to crush the tiny challenger with impunity...
And I laughed once more.
Its hand did not descend to end my life. On the surface, I seemed to be engaged in a simple stare-down with the manticore—a test of wills. In truth, however, I was flipping trigger after trigger in its brain, introducing it to something completely alien; Fear.
I posed no threat to it, and it could have killed me with so much as a careless swat, but it didn't need to know that. It did, however, know that most things were afraid of it. I could tell from its stream of thought and the many scars crisscrossing its wide chest that had met near-equals before, and triumphed though a mixture of sheer bone-headed determination and natural endowments. The moment it decided I was challenger, there was a predatory instinct that cropped up in its subconscious mind. For prey, the instinct was to kill and eat. For an opposing animal—for me—it was 'kill or be killed'. For that instinct to have any significance to the manticore, there needed to be an understanding of what failure was, and a subsequent fear of that failure to make it relevant.
That tiny but significant spark was all I needed. It did know fear, even if it had never truly experienced it. Luckily for the manticore though, I am a firm believer in learning through experience, and I felt that it would do well to learn something on that day, so that perhaps it wouldn't make such poor conversation in the future. The moment it had determined that I represented danger, and its fighting instinct surfaced, I fixated on that one nugget of understanding and magnified it. To fully put myself in the shell of one so dim-witted would have been a chore, and not worth the effort. What I did was use a single tendril of my consciousness to nudge its will in the desired direction, rather than dominate it outright. Then in that one corner of my mind, I made myself afraid. I put myself in the shoes of a terrified creature that was about to meet its untimely demise at the hairy hands of a terrifying monster (Wasn't that hard). I trembled and cowered in that one pocket of conscious thought, and then I linked that reaction to the manticore's instinctual understanding of fear—fear of losing, and dying.
It froze, its glaring eyes losing their angry heat and instead taking on a shining glimmer of something unfamiliar to the beast. Its fist slowly unclenched as it stared at me for several silent seconds, internally trying to sort through the stream of new emotion. It briefly clenched its teeth, and I momentarily feared that my ratched plan was about to fail catastrophically, but instead it let out a snort of acquiescence, turned tail, and lumbered off into the forest without so much as a glance back. Twilight and Rainbow had been in the midst of preparing to launch their own assault to save me, but when the ape just gave up and walked away, they stared open-mouthedly at the miraculously unschated human it had left behind.
Rainbow was flabbergasted, and possibly a little disappointed as well, judging from the way she reluctantly dropped the stick she’d hastily snatched up to use as a club. “What? Why’s it running away all of a sudden?” she asked.
“Magic and intelligence trumps physical ability any day, my friend.” I shakily told her, wiping my brow clean of sweat that I’d only just noticed streaming down the sides.
"I tell her that all the time," Twilight said with a smug grin. "I don't know how you did it, but you can tell me later. Right now, I think it's best that we be on our way."
"Actually, I have good news for both of you," I declared.
“You’re going to chase down that manticore and let me teach it what-for the right way?” Rainbow asked, her wings abuzz with excitement.
“HAH! No.”
"You’re calling it all of and and letting us go back to Ponyville?" Twilight guessed hopefully.
"Nope!" I happily declined. "I looked into the manticore's mind and found out where the insects live, and how to get to them. We just need to snatch a couple of each, and then you're free to go."
Twilight gave a familiar groan of annoyance, but nodded reluctantly.
"The sooner this is over, the better. So, where are we headed?"
“The beetle is quicker to get to from where we are now,” I told the two of them. “And I have even more good news! Because of where it lives, we’re in for a pleasant change of scenery.”
Rainbow quirked her head and Twilight narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean by ‘pleasant’?”
“How do crystal caves sound to you?”
A selfish moron that can do magic, a selfish moron that flies, and an unofficial S-class wizard that doesn't even want to be here, wandering around sharp and jagged crystalline formations. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
Stop worrying. What could possibly go-
DON'T SAY IT.
End of Chapter 11
The world didn't end today. Now I have to actually bother doing my School Assessments. -_-
Anyway, for those who missed the blog post, I didn't update yesterday because of an overnight 'Here's to Hoping' End-of-the-World party/Birthday get-together with some friends. I feel that some parts of this chapter (*cough*ZECCHY*cough*) may be rough, but bear in mind that this is my first real attempt at writing anything, so it's largely a learning experience for me, and I can only improve if you, the viewers, let me know when I misstep.
I'd like to give a big thanks to Jorofrarie for assisting in proof-reading for this chapter, along with every single one proceeding the first two. He's endured many a grammatical error or story inconsistency to ensure that you all get the best this lazy author has to offer. It's a shame we live on opposite ends of the Earth, though, because time zone differences are a BITCH when editing (11 hour difference OP).
I plan on sticking to Friday as my new update day, as I'm already here. My reasoning? I want it to look like my delayed chapter was completely planned. ._.
See you all next week, assuming the world doesn't really end before then/I get a magic closet for Christmas. :3
Cheer- Wait, I have one better.
*ahem*
MERRY KWANZA!!!!
Much more appropriate and racially sensitive. :D
P.S: I don't need no section for Author's Notes. How will people downloading this to their phones get to read all my ramblings?