Chapter 12
Monster
Cross woke up to the smell of pancakes and fresh coffee. Cross got to his hooves, threw his hat on and made his way downstairs. He trotted into the kitchen and saw the yellow mare flipping the pancakes onto a plate.
“Morning.” he said with a smile.
“Good morning.” she said as she trotted over and gave him a kiss. “I made some pancakes, if you want them that is.” she said in a timid tone.
“Sure they look great.” he said as he sat down next to the yellow mare. They smiled and began to eat their breakfast in silence. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Just thinking, I haven’t seen Ace since yesterday morning.” he said as he scratched his chin.
“You think he’s okay?”
“Yeah I’m sure he’s fine. Ace has spent weeks on his own and he always manages to find me.” he said with a smile.
“He must be smart then.”
“Yeah, he’s-” their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Cross and Fluttershy got to their hooves and trotted over to the door, Rainbow was standing there with a sad look on her face along with Twilight and Rarity giving her a stern look.
*Ahem* Rarity coughed as she nudged her cyan friend.
“I’m really, really sorry I tricked you Shy. I shouldn’t have done that to you.” she said with tears in her eyes.
“It’s okay-”
“No it’s not okay! I tricked you for no good reason and almost ruined your first date! I guess I was just jealous because...I’ve never been on a REAL date and seeing you be on one before me just got under my skin.” the ponies looked at her in surprise. “Every time I’ve been with a stallion they only wanted be for my looks and nothing else. I understand if you think I’m the worst friend ever, I just wanted to say I’m sorry and I’ll never do anything like that again.” she said as she began to cry. Fluttershy trotted forward and hugged the mare. Rainbow’s eyes shrank at the motion.
“It’s okay Rainbow Dash.” she said with a smile.
“R-really?”
“Yes, what are friends for?” she said with a warm smile.
“Thanks Shy, you’re the best.” she said as she returned the hug. Rainbow looked back at the grey stallion who smiled at her. “I’m so sorry Cross I just-” he raised a hoof.
“It’s okay. We all make mistakes.” he said with a warm voice. “Sorry for threatening you last night, I was just angry.”
“It’s fine. I probably deserved it.”
“Still I shouldn’t have done that.” he said in a low tone.
“Thank you.” Rainbow said with a smile.
“Forget it, is there anything else?”
“Actually...I need a hoof with something. If you’re not too busy that is.” Rarity chimed in.
“What is it?”
“Well the jewel you paid me with gave me a brilliant idea for an outfit, but I ran out of sapphires.”
“Sorry, I’m out of those as well.” he said as he scratched his mane.
“I thought that might be the case, I need you and Ace to come with me for some jewel hunting.”
“Fine by me. I just need to find-” he looked over to see Ace running towards them at a break neck pace. “Oh hey Ace, Rarity needs us to-”
“Good let’s go!” he yelled.
“What’s your problem?” Cross looked over to see a familiar orange mare running towards them with a rope clenched in her jaw. Ace grabbed the two ponies and threw them on his back. “Ace what are you doing?” the wolf quickly took off with the two ponies hanging on the wolfs back. Applejack approached the group out of breath and had an angry look on her face.
“Hey....do...y’all know.....where...that flea bag.....ran off to?”
“They went jewel hunting. Why?” Twilight said.
“Forget it....They gotta com back eventually.” she said as she started to walk back to the farm.
“What was that about?” Fluttershy asked.
“No idea.” Twilight answered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ace HEEL!” Cross yelled as the wolf came to a stop. He got off and looked back at Rarity who was scared out of her mind. “Now what’s got you so scared?”
“I did something bad.”
“What did you eat this time?”
“I didn’t eat anything.”
“Then what did you do?” Ace let out a series of barks. “Ah-huh.....Okay.....YOU DID WHAT?” the wolf looked at him with a sheepish smile. “Oh my Luna! No wonder AJ was pissed!” he yelled.
“What did he say?” Rarity asked still on the creatures back.
“Nothing....Where do we need to go?” he said as he got back on the wolf.
“A few miles East of here.” she said as she pointed with her hoof.
“Okay, hang on!” Rarity wrapped her hooves around him as the wolf took off in the other direction. The seemingly endless amount of trees seemed to end, to reveal a barren plain, riddled with dead trees and tumble weeds.
“Here we are.” Rarity chimed. The wolf stopped and let the ponies off his back, Rarity adjusted her mane and began to trot ahead of the two.
“So where are we going?”
“Well before we get our hooves dirty I have some...associates that live out here that might be able to accommodate us.” she said as she came to a field riddled with holes. Rarity withdrew a small whistle and blew a sour note. Soon three grey and battered dogs rose from the surface. The one sporting a red vest looked like the leader of the small brigade. “What happened to you three?” she asked.
“Attacked....lost all our gems....can’t get them back.” the middle one said as he laid down in front of her.
“What happened?” Ace asked. The dogs looked up at him in shock.
“A Dire Wolf?! Yes! You can help us!” the larger one said in relief.
“How?”
“A dragon came and stole all our gems! We want them back!”
“What’s in it for us?” Cross said.
“What do you want?”
“Sapphires, lot’s of them.” Rarity said.
“Fine take all the Sapphires you want AFTER you give us back what’s rightfully ours!”
“Deal. Where’s the dragon?” the dogs pointed to a cave that was around two miles away from them. Cross, Ace and Rarity made their way towards the dark cave. Cross looked behind him to see the dogs following him. “Why are you three coming?”
“We want to make sure you ponies don’t try and take our gems.”
“Suit yourselves, just don’t blame me if you get turned to ash.” Cross said with a shrug. The group had arrived in front of the cave. “Let me go try and talk to it first.” Cross made his way into the dark cave, it was massive, his eyes soon fell upon a massive pile of gems. On top of the shinning pile was not a massive dragon but three teenage dragons, napping. One was bright red and had a large yellow spine. Another was brown and looked quite fat, while the purple one was as skinny asa toothpick. Three dragons? Should’ve seen this coming. He slowly approached the beasts and threw a few rocks at the three sleeping monsters, they started to stir and rise from their slumber. “Hello. Sorry for waking you up.” he said with a smile. The three dragons smirked and surrounded the pony.
“Well look at what we have here! A little pony that’s gotten lost.” the red one said with a laugh.
“No, I’m not lost. I was just wondering if you could kindly return the gems you stole from the diamond dogs.” the dragons reeled back in laughter at the offer. “I’m willing to work something out.”
“Heres our offer!” the ring leader grabbed Cross by the tail and threw him back outside the cave entrance, his back hit a rock which started to crumble from the force. Rarity and Ace rushed to his side.
“Are you alright dear?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“What was that about?” she asked.
“It means peace talks have broken down, now we do things our way.” the wolf howled. The grey stallion then turned towards the dogs. “You didn’t say there were three dragons.”
“So what? We need those jewels back!” the large on barked.
“I expect triple to what we agreed upon then.”
“Out of the question!”
“Fine. Then YOU can go get your jewels back.” he said as he began to walk away.
“Wait!” Cross stopped and looked back at the dogs. “Fine, triple the pay.” the dog said.
“Deal.” the wolf and the pony walked back in front of the cave and looked inside. Ace let out a growl as he caught the dragon’s scent. “Don’t kill them if you can help it.” he said in a calm tone. Ace let out a scoff and made his way inside as Cross leaned up against the side of the cave.
“Is he going to be alright?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah he’ll be fine.” the group then heard the three dragons roar and Ace howl. “Maybe I should watch his back.” Cross said as he hurried into the cave. He looked to see that the three dragons had surrounded the wolf. The grey stallion lunged forward and pulled the dragon back away from the other two. Ace took the opportunity to go on the offensive and tackled one of the dragons, Ace’s teeth sank into the dragon’s scales and began to chew on the beast. The dragon let out a cry of pain as the wolfs teeth sank into his muscle. Cross was thrown off the ring leaders back and was sent crashing into the wolf, knocking him off the dragon. The two got off the ground and faced their attackers, who were staring at them with malice in their eyes.
“You two are gonna die!” the leader yelled. Cross looked at Ace who gave him a slight nod.
“I’m giving you three one last chance. Give up the gems and we’ll let you go.” he said as he put a hoof on his eyepatch.
“You’ll let us go? Oh I’m so scared!” the purple dragon said in a mocking tone.
“Then what happens next is your own doing. Ace! Sick em!” he said as he removed the eyepatch. Rarity look in shock as she saw the grey stallion’s coat turn to scales and became more dragon like. “ Here I come!” he said as he launched forward and clawed one of the beasts. Ace had launched forward and tackled the purple lizard. The brown dragon breathed a massive red flame at the stallion, Cross returned fire with jet black flames shooting out of his mouth. The two inferno’s met and a power struggle was happening in between the two. Cross horn began to glow and the black flames started to engulf the red blaze. The brown dragon felt the force knock him on his back. Cross looked over to see that Ace had pinned the purple dragon to the floor of the cave.
“CROSS!” The grey stallion looked over to see that the red dragon was holding a claw to the mares throat.
“Looks like I’ve got the upper hand.” he smirked.
“Don’t hurt her!” he yelled.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands.” he said as he increased pressure on the mares neck, Rarity let out a small squeal of pain. Ace walked up next to him with the purple dragons neck between his jaws.
“How about a trade, your two lackeys for one pony and what you stole from the dogs.”
“Pfft! Like I care about those two.” the two dragons looked at each other in surprise. “Do me a favor and kill them for me, that means I get all the treasure.” Cross let out a heavy sigh and materialized his knife.
“Rarity, don’t move.” he said as he put the knife in his hoof.
“What are you-” Cross threw the knife at the dragons head. The ring leader dodged it just in time to see Cross right claw dig into his chest. The dragon cried out in pain as Cross ripped his claw out of the hole holding the dragons beating heart. The light started to fade form the red dragons eyes, he fell onto his back; lifeless. Rarity looked at the bloodied grey stallion in horror as he crushed the organ in his claw.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Y-you killed it!”
“If I didn’t then he was going to kill you.” he heard sounds of struggling coming from inside the cave. He looked back to see the two teenage dragons looking at him in fear. “I ask again, do we have a deal?”
“T-take what you want! Just don’t hurt us!” the brown dragon pleaded.
“Deal. Sorry about your friend.”
“No problem, he was probably going to kill us anyway.” the purple one said in annoyance.
“You two can leave.”
“Thank you.” they said as they took flight and flew away from the stallion. Cross shifted back to normal and looked at the shocked white mare. Rarity was still adjusting to what she had just witnessed, Ace walked over to them and inspected the red dragons corpse. Cross looked over at the wolf and gave him a nod. Ace sank his teeth into the dragons neck as the body glowed bright red and turned into a small red sphere. Ace opened his jaws and swallowed the glowing ball, his eyes shrank and let out a triumphant howl. The grey stallion walked over to the diamond dogs who were cowering behind a rock.
“C’mon you three, let’s get your treasure.” he said as he put his eyepatch and hat back on his head. The leader blew a whistle and five armored dogs came running up to them with hauling carts, the dogs began to pile the jewels inside with glee. Cross had gotten his own cart and started to collect the sapphires. As he hauled a pile into the cart he saw something that caught his eye, he reached down and pulled out a long straight sword, the blade was white as the snow with black lettering strewn across the blade. “I think I’ll keep this one.” he said as he sheathed it and threw it over his back. As he continued to pile the jewels into the cart he noticed that Rarity was still shaking from the ordeal, Cross walked over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You okay Rarity?” the mare had snapped out of the trance and looked at the stallion.
“Y-yes dear. Forgive me I’m still getting over the shock.”
“It’s fine. Think we have enough?” he said as he looked back at the overflowing cart.
“Oh yes darling, that’s plenty.” she said with a nervous smile.
“Okay then.” the wolf walked over to him panting heavily. “You okay to walk?” he asked as the wolf looked at him.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Cross hitched himself up to the cart and began to walk back towards Ponyville with the wolf and the mare walking beside him. Rarity kept looking at the stallion with a nervous look strewn across her face.
“Thank you dear and not just for the jewels.”
“No problem, what are friends for?” he said with a smile. The group walked back into Ponyville in silence, Rarity continued to stare at the stallion with an uneasy look in her eye. As they approached the boutique they saw the others racing towards them.
“Hey guys how did the- WHAT HAPPENED?” Twilight said as she saw the blood on Aces mouth and fur.
“Oh..we ran into some dragon trouble, don’t worry we took care of it.” Cross said as he gave them a weak smile.
“How did you ‘take care of it?’ You two look like hell.” Rainbow said.
“How do you think?” Ace said as he liked the blood off his lips. The ponies cringed back in disgust.
“You killed it?” Twilight yelled.
“He gave me no choice.” Cross said in a low tone. “He was gonna kill Rarity, I had to do something.” he said as he unhitched himself from the cart. He then saw the orange mare look at him with a stern expression on her face. “We didn’t want to kill it but-”
“Ah ain’t mad about that. Ah’m mad about what yer mutt did!” she yelled.
“Oh...right.” he said as his eyes shrank at what the wolf had told him earlier.
“What’d he do?” Dash asked.
“Let’s just say that thanks to Ace they’re going to be a few more Dire Wolves kicking around.” he said as he stared at the wolf.
“I’m not following.”
“Winona is having puppies!” AJ blurted out.
“WHAT?” the mares yelled as they stared at the wolf.
“Nice one Ace, real nice.” Cross said in a sarcastic. The wolf shrugged and gave them a sheepish smile.
“How do you know?” Twilight asked.
“Her stomach was starting to bulge I suspected it but, I took her to Fluttershy for a check up just to be sure.” she said as she looked at the yellow mare.
“I-it’s true.” she said in a timid voice.
“Since there ain’t many dogs around here, Ah can guess who the father is.” she said as she shot a dirty look at the wolf.
“Sorry.” the wolf said with a nervous grin. Applejack started to trot forward with a rope in her mouth.
“Easy there AJ.”
“SHUT UP! It’s yer dang mutt’s fault that Winona is puppies!”
“Hey do you think that only ponies go through heat cycles?” the wolf interjected. “If anything she came on to me!”
“Why you-”
“Let’s figure this out later.” Twilight interjected. “What happened out there?” she said as she looked back at Cross.
“Oh right. Rarity, Ace and I went out jewel hunting so we went to go see the diamond dogs to see if they had any sapphires. Turns out they were robbed by these three teenage dragons that were holding out in a cave a few miles away.” he said as he took a breath. “I tried to reason with them to return the jewels, I even said I would trade something for them. They tried to kill me, so Ace and I took them down a notch.”
“By killing them?” Twilight said in shock.
“I didn’t want to, but they forced my hoof. I just wanted to beat them up and take what they stole, things got complicated the ring leader was holding his claw against Rarity’s neck.” the ponies let out a gasp and looked at the white mare. “I reacted and I killed him before he could hurt her.”
“What about the other two?” Dash asked.
“I let them go, they didn’t want to fight me after that and they gave up their jewels.”
“So how did you kill em?” AJ asked. Cross’s eyes shrank at the question.
“I don’t see how that’s important.”
“But if you could kill a dragon then we could learn-”
“I used my claw to kill him. I doubt that you guys or anypony else for that matter could do it.” he said in a stern tone.
“HOW DID YOU KILL HIM?” Rainbow hollered.
“FINE! I ripped the heart from his chest and crushed it in my claw!” he bellowed. The mares looked back at him in shock, Twilight looked over at Rarity who nodded her head at the answer. Cross looked down at the ground in shame.
“The important thing is that everypony is all right. Cross was only trying to defend me.” Rarity in interjected. “He risked his life to save me and I’m forever grateful to him.” she said as she put a hoof on his shoulder. "His methods were....unorthodox but he did what he could.”
“Thanks Rarity.” he said with a weak smile.
“Did you...take it’s soul?” Twilight asked.
“No, Ace did.” he said as he looked at the wolf. He then saw a small purple dot racing towards them with a letter in his claw. Spike ran up to Twilight trying to catch his breath.
“Twilight.....I have.....a message......from.....the Princess.” he said as he handed it to her. Twilight unraveled the parchment and looked at it in confusion.
“It’s for Cross.” she said as she levitated the message over to the stallion. Cross’s eyes started to skim the letter and he let out an annoyed sigh.
“Oh great.” he said as he trotted past the mares.
“What?” Twilight asked as she and the other mares caught up to him. Cross held up the letter and began to recite it.
Dear Cross Hair
I’m sorry to say this but the Dragon King is having issues concerning the meeting. He does not wish to hold it on Equestrian soil for fear of a possible assassination attempt. I would like you to talk to him and negotiate a place where we can meet. Ask Twilight for her direct line to me, I’m currently conversing with him via portal. I know this is a tall order but the situation quickly get out of hoof..or claw as the case may be.
~Princess Celestia.
The ponies followed Twilight into the library and waited while Twilight got out an old mirror and placed it in front of the stallion.
“What is this thing?” Rarity asked.
“It’s a portal mirror. I use it to talk to Celestia when the matters are too important to be sent by letter, or if I want to chat with my brother.” she said with a sheepish grin.
“Okay, so how does this work?” Cross asked. Twilight tapped the mirror with her horn and the flat shiny surface began to ripple. Soon the image of the sun goddess was seen standing in front of a large crystal. “Hello? Princess can you hear me?” the image suddenly turned around and smiled.
“Ah good you got my message. So you know of our situation then?”
“Yeah, where is he?” Celestia then moved the crystal so it was facing the mirror. Cross only saw the creatures outline. “How are you sir?” he asked with a smile.
“I’m well. It’s good to see you again Cross it’s been far to lo-.....Who are those ponies?” he said as he looked at the mares.
“Oh that is my faithful student and her five friends.”
“I wish for this conversation to be private.”
“Right. Hey Twilight is there a place where I can have some privacy?” Twilight nodded and teleported him and the mirror into the guest room. “Okay we’re alone. So what’s wrong?”
“I don not wish to attend a peaceful meeting in a place where I’m expecting a knife in the back!” the shadow said in a harsh tone.
“I assure you that no harm will come to you.”
“One can always make promises Celestia, but to actually follow through with them is a feat of it’s own.”
“I would NEVER go back on my word. Further more-”
“Enough! Both of you, we’re here to discuss a meeting place. It’s quite obvious that you don’t wish to travel to Equestria.” he said as he looked at the shadow. “Princess Celestia does not wish to leave her kingdom as well, for similar reasons.”
“So what should we do?” Celestia asked.
“I suggest we make a compromise, a spot that is secure and neutral to both of you.” he began to scratch his mane as he thought of a a place. “I can only think of one logical location.” he said as he let out a sigh.
“What’s the place?”
“The Crimson Estate.” Celestia and the shadow looked at him in surprise. “Think about it. It’s secure and can easily accommodate you and your guests.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with going back there?” the shadow asked.
“It’s been a few years and I want to make sure the investment’s I’ve made haven’t gone to waste.” he said as he let out a sigh.
“That place still has an odd aura about it. It feels unnatural.” Celestia chimed in.
“True. But it’s seems to be the only logical choice, neither of you want to leave your kingdoms and the Griffins won’t accommodate you.” Celestia and the shadow exchanged glances and nodded. “So we are agreed?”
“I will be there.”
“As will I.”
“Excellent, I will depart immediately and prepare for your arrival....Oh, before I forget.” he said as he looked at the white Alicorn. “Twilight and the others seemed interested in coming along for the meeting. I told them they’d have to clear it with you first.”
“Who are these ponies?” the shadow asked.
“My personal student and her five friends are the Element Users.”
“How can I be sure that they won’t-”
“I can vouch for their credibility sir. They saved my life and I have become close friends with them.” Cross interjected.
“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, they have my permission to be present at the meeting.” he said in a calm tone.
“Perfect. When will the meeting be held?”
“The end of the week.”
“That should give me just enough time to get the place ready, I’ll bring the mares with me so they can help out and adjust to the estate.” he said with a smile.
“Very good. I look forward to seeing both of you there.” Celestia said with a warm smile.
“We will have to compare notches my friend, it has been far too long since we did last.” the shadow said in a confident voice.
“Oh you can count on it.” he said with a smile. “I will see you two later.” the images began to fade and the mirror returned to normal. Cross opened the door to have the six mares fall onto the floor. “You heard?”
“Yes.” Twilight said with a sheepish grin.
“Good, then start packing.” he said with a smile.
“Why?” AJ asked as she got to her hooves.
“You six will accompany me to the meeting as honored guests. We leave tomorrow morning.”
“Where are we going?” Rainbow asked.
“The only place that no pony ever goes.”
“Which is where?” Twilight asked.
“Meet me in front of Fluttershy’s cottage tomorrow at eight o’clock sharp.” he said as he walked to the library exit.
“How much can we bring?” Rarity asked.
“What ever you can carry, but keep it light. Be sure to bring a nice dress with you as well, we will be meeting with royalty after all.” as he reached for the exit the door was wrapped in a magical purple aura.
“Just hold on a second!” Twilight yelled. “What is going on?”
“You, your friends, Princess Celestia and I are going to meet with the dragon king at my family’s estate.” the ponies looked back at him in surprise. “It’s a nice place, but it needs work and quick cleaning, which is where we come in.”
“We’re the maids!” Rainbow yelled.
“No, I’m asking you guys to help me clean up my house a bit before the meeting starts. It shouldn’t be too bad, I’ve paid for it’s upkeep for the past few years.”
“Is that where all those gems went to?” Twilight asked.
“Correct."
“Can I come?” Spike asked.
“I don’t see why not. We are meeting with the dragon king after all and you are a dragon.”
“I’ll pass on going.” Ace said.
“Good idea, last thing we need is a diplomatic incident.” Applejack the approached the wolf.
“You stay away from Winona!”
“I think we’re long past that stage in the relationship Aunt AJ.” the wolf said with a smug grin on his face.
“WHY YOU MANEGY-” she was about to attack the wolf when Dross grabbed her and held her back.
“Easy Applejack, he didn’t mean it!”
“Let me at em! I’m gonna skin him and use em as a rug!” she said as the grey stallion pulled her away from the wolf.
“Rainbow, a little help please.” he said as he was struggling to restrain the farmer. Rainbow flew to his side and held the mare in place. “Thank you, now where was I?.....Oh yes. Be in front of Fluttershy’s cottage at eight o’clock sharp with bags and a nice dress.”
“Wait. Can I ask you something?” Twilight said.
“Sure.”
“You got my hair sample the first night you were here right?”
“The first night I was conscious, yes. When I showed you that trick.”
“I guess my question is, where did you get the others hair samples.”
“C’mon Twi, I’ve been hanging out with you guys for almost two weeks. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to get a sample off of you and your friends. The only one here that I don’t have one of is Fluttershy.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to get to know her on my own, without that little trick I have.” he said with a smile.
“That still didn’t give you the right to learn all of our secrets!”
“Did you have the right to spy on me last night?” he said in a cold tone. Twilight tried to speak up but found no argument. Cross let out a defeated sigh. “You’re right. I didn’t have the right...So I’m going to correct that mistake.” his horn glowed and as small ball of light emerged from his horn.
“What’s that?” Applejack asked.
“This is all the private information I know about you guys. If you want me to I’ll destroy it and no-pony will ever hear anything personal about you from me.” Twilight looked at him in amazement.
“Y-you’d do that?”
“Sometimes a friendship is more important than information.” he said with a smile. Cross took the orb in his hoof and smashed it on the ground, the sphere crackled and dissolved on the wooden floor. “There, what ever info was in it is gone now.”
“So you don’t remember what was in there?” Rarity asked.
“Nope.”
“What’s on page 256 of my diary?”
“You have a diary?” he said with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s Magic Kindergarten?” Twilight asked.
“You guys are saying things that are making no sense to me.” he said as he looked at the mare’s in confusion. “Just be on time tomorrow otherwise you’ll get left behind.” he said as he moved towards the door. “I’ll see you back at the cottage Fluttershy.” he said with a warm smile. The ponies watched their friend leave the library, Ace got to his paws and looked at the ponies.
“Listen, do me a favor while he’s over with Celestia and all of you.”
“What?”
“Don’t let him take that eyepatch off again.”
“Why?”
“He’s becoming more and more feral, like an animal. You saw him today.” he said as he looked at Rarity, the white mare cringed back at the memory. “If he continues to use that power then the Cross we all know will cease to exist.”
“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked.
“Every time Cross uses that power his mind is taxed heavily, his personality and morals will begin to shift.” he let out a sigh and walked past the mares and ran out into the cold dark night. The ponies gave each other an un easy look as they sat in the library.
“Okay...who here is really creeped out?” all but one mare raised her hoof. Rainbow looked over at Fluttershy who remained silent.
“C’mon Shy. You have to admit he’s a little creepy.”
“But he-”
“He killed a dragon!”
“Only because he was trying to save Rarity. He was defending her and-”
“Stop trying to hide behind that! He’s dangerous to us and to you!” Twilight exclaimed. Fluttershy instantly shrank back and tears started to well in her eyes.
“Y-you’re right. I-I didn’t want to believe it but....he is dangerous!” she said as she slumped to the floor in a fit of sobs. “Ever since I saw him the other night I’ve been scared of what might happen if he’d ever lose control." the lavender mare trotted over and put a hoof on her friends shoulder.
“We weren’t trying to scare you. We’re just looking out for you, I’d want you to do the same thing for me if I were in your shoes.”
“S-so what should I do?” she said as she fought through the tears.
“We keep watching him and see if he’s REALLY dangerous and we’ll play it from there.” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. Fluttershy nodded and smiled at her friends. The mares returned the gesture and hurried back to their homes. As Fluttershy opened the door she saw that the grey stallion had taken refuge on the couch and was letting out a soft snore. She trotted over to him and outstretched her hoof towards him, something in the back of the yellow mares mind held her back from waking the stallion. She quickly withdrew her hoof and trotted upstairs with tears in her eyes. As the door shut Cross opened his eyes and looked at the wolf who had a blank expression on his face.
“She really is scared of me isn’t she?”
“Can you blame her? Just imagine how that mare felt today seeing you tear that dragons heart out while she was no more than five feet away form you.” Ace said as he laid his head down on his paws.
“Sometimes I forget what I am sometimes.”
“What’s that?”
“A monster.” with that final statement he pulled his hat down over his eyes and drifted off to sleep.