//------------------------------// // Beyond the Everfree // Story: Mega Man X: Forgotten Legend // by Blue Bomber //------------------------------// The Everfree was a lot darker now that X was below the canopy layer of the trees. X did a quick scan of the surrounding area, and after confirming that there were no immediate threats, X marched forward towards the town beyond the forest. X felt a strange feeling that something was watching, and he swore that a branch from a random tree would swipe at him, although he was never hit directly. The more X walked, the more uneasy he would feel. After about 10 minutes of feeling watched by the trees, X pulled out the Z-Saber and thrust it into a nearby tree. It wilted slightly as the blade tore through its heartwood, and X immediately lost that sense of being watched. Smiling, he continued on his walk towards the forest. His trek through the forest was relatively uneventful, until he came across a patch of beautiful blue flowers. They were unlike any other plant he had ever seen. Curious, X reached out and picked one. *BZZZZT* "What the hell!" X was laying on the ground. He pulled himself up and noticed something peculiar. His systems were functioning as intended, although the font appeared to be 8-bit. He looked around; his vision seemed to be normal, and the only thing around seemed to be the strange blue flowers. X looked at his hands, then at his body. They seemed to be... less detailed. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" --- Fluttershy was feeding her birds when a loud scream came from the forest. "Eeep!" The timid pegasus mare quickly hid behind her mane, and the birds that were around Fluttershy quickly scattered. Oh no...what if it's an animal that needs help? With that, Fluttershy flapped her wings and flew into the Everfree. --- GET EQUIPPED WITH REDUCED GRAPHICS X stood there, and stared dumbly at the weapon get notification. Perhaps changing into a form of lower graphics counted as a great achievement. After all, you don't see reploids walking around and transforming into some video game character from 500 years in the past. X selected "8-bit" from his Variable Weapon System and turned it off, and he morphed back into his original form. It wasn't like him to scream, but seeing himself in reduced graphics mode had really put a strain on his emotional processors. Breathing a sigh of relief, X turned around to keep on walking when a strange animal appeared. It looked like a chicken, but it had the wings of a bat and the body of a snake. It's red eyes were staring directly into X's optical sensors. X stared back; he had never seen an animal like this before. It had a very piercing gaze. Was it some sort of hybrid? Or maybe it was some sort of gene splicing experiment gone wrong. X continued to examine this strange animal. This chicken thing is really focused on my eyes for some reason. The cockatrice was beginning to sweat. It was staring as hard as it could into the robot's eyes. "Why wasn't it working?!" it thought. After a minute or so of staring, X reached out to pick up the cockatrice. The cockatrice opened its beak to reveal a set of sharp teeth. This didn't deter X at all, and he lifted the cockatrice up to get a closer look. The chance to study a new species up close didn't happen every day, you know. The cockatrice bit down on X's hand, and realized that it was as hard as a rock. "Sorry buddy, but you'll need more than that to break my titanium-X body." Suddenly a wolf crashed into X, knocking him backwards and made him drop the cockatrice into the patch of blue flowers. When the cockatrice got back up, it was just a chicken. The confused chicken quickly ran off. X looked carefully at the wolf. It was made of wood, and it had two bright yellow spots where its eyes would be. It howled, and X instantly assumed that it was calling the rest of its pack, like the wolves on Earth did. He decided that he wouldn't underestimate the creatures of this world, and X armed his left buster and began to charge. --- 10 minutes later... X had a pack of timberwolves all over his body, biting, gnawing, and scratching at his body. X had a exasperated look on his face; he'd overestimated these creatures so much it wasn't even funny. They might be dangerous to an organic animal, but to X, they were literally biting on a rock. X's auto-repair system was more than able to handle the various scratches that the wolves' teeth and claws were leaving on his outer skin. X dragged himself along the dirt path leading towards the outside of the forest. The wolves were clinging to their prey tightly despite said prey being made of titanium-X and therefore inedible. X sighed as the wolves slobbered over him. Then X noticed a small yellow shape move behind a nearby tree. X stopped, and the timberwolves clinging to him fell off. "Hello?" No response. X silently moved towards the tree as the timberwolves silently looked on. He slowly made his way around the back of the tree. What he saw surprised him. It was a small yellow pony with a pink mane and tail, with three pink butterflies on its flank. What surprised him the most was the fact that it seemed to have wings. "Please don't hurt me..." Fluttershy attempted to hide behind her mane. X blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected the pony to speak. It had a soft, feminine voice, and it spoke so quietly that X might have missed it had it not been for his advanced hearing systems. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to convince these wolves to leave me alone." X spoke with a soft voice, and his eyes radiated kindness. "Wolves?" Fluttershy's demeanor immediately changed as she flew over to the pack of timberwolves. The timberwolves seemed to be docile for some reason. Fluttershy had never seen a tamed timberwolf before, much less an entire pack of timberwolves. "Dear Celestia! How did you do it?" "Huh?" X was distracted by the thoughts of trying to comprehend talking ponies. "Taming the timberwolves of course!" So that's what the wolves were called. X thought carefully. Had he done anything to tame those timberwolves? Of course. --- During the fight with the wild timberwolves... The timberwolves had knocked X back down into the patch of the strange blue flowers. It didn't seem to affect X anymore, and X quickly got up and primed his X-buster. But he hesitated. He couldn't bring himself to shoot a living creature. But then X saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw the cockatrice-turned-chicken slowly attempt to sneak away from the battlefield. X dashed over to the chicken and hurled it at the pack of timberwolves. --- "I...um...fed the wolves. Yeah! I fed the wolves, and they've been following me ever since." Something told X that it probably wasn't a good idea to mention the chicken throwing part. "Oh! Maybe I should try that if another timberwolf shows up sometime." "No! Um...if you feed them too often, then they'll...um...become dependent on ponies for food! Yeah! They'll become dependent on ponies feeding them!" X looked quite proud of himself. After all, that was the basic rule that was posted in zoos around the world when they still existed. Never feed a wild animal. "Hmm...I suppose you're right. You seem to be very knowledgeable about animals. What's your name?" X closed his eyes and gave a silent sigh. Of course he was knowledgeable about animals. Most of the mavericks he fought were based on animals one way or another. "You can call me X." "X? That's a strange name. You can call me Fluttershy! If..you don't mind." "...Nice to meet you, Fluttershy." X looked at the sky. The sun had begun to go down, and X didn't want to spend another cold night sleeping on top of a tree. "Perhaps we should get out of the forest?" Fluttershy stared blankly for a secondly before responding. "Huh? Oh, yes, we should probably get out of here. Dangerous creatures roam outside at night in the Everfree. You can stay at my cottage. If you don't mind." This pony had a cottage. Perhaps these ponies are more advanced than I thought. "I'd be glad to stay at your cottage, Fluttershy."