“Die you pathetic pieces of nothing!” I yell as I slice an attacking diamond dog with my katana. Another comes at me from the side so I take out my pistol in my free hand and shoot him once in the face. I’m covered practically head to toe in blood from all the lives I just ended right now. Dozens of bodies litter the ground around me.
And not all of them are diamond dogs.
“Die you traitorous son of a- Cah!” I don’t give the chance for the man to finish as I stab his throat with my sword. I tear the blade to the side and cut the head clean off another. With two more humans dead, I ready myself. Somehow, my kind was able to come forth through the portal that Celestia didn’t fully close. And after killing some of them at first, now they’re coming at me with full force. More diamond dogs and humans surround me, all with the same intent: to kill me.
I look at how many there are, over dozens of them. I holster my pistol and take out my knife. With my katana in my right hand, my combat knife in the other, I’m ready to take on all that dare to stand against me. It also helps set the mood when it begins to rain but I pay it no mind to myself personally as it slowly washes off the evidence of my battles from before, making way for new stains to be formed in just a matter of seconds.
“C’mon!” I shout and charge at them. I hit from left to right, hitting the major and vital but life threatening points on all their bodies.
I don’t flinch.
I don’t falter as I end the lives of all these bastards one by one. Body after body collapses as they attempt to get close to me but fail. I slice heads off, drive my knife into their temples, watch as I cut an artery and let the blood spew all over me, their allies and the ground.
For seconds, which quickly turn to minutes, yet feels like hours, I take the lives of so many here that I’ve lost count. When I stab my sword into the stomach of a sneaking human, I twist the blade, making him groan before I tear it out, disemboweling him in the process. He collapses onto his knees as he tries to hold the wound close but can’t. He screams out from the pain and anguish, just barely looking up to see me. I stare at him with a blank emotionless stare, not even caring if he’s in pain or dead right now, either way, I don’t care.
“Please! Kill meeeee!!” he shouts with little breathe he has at me. I continue to stare at him for a few more seconds. I then decide to take my sword and slice him with one quick movement from my sword, making him fall down dead instantly into the mud. I holster my knife as I stare around me. The field of body’s around me are stacked that much higher with the new additions I just added to it.
I don’t feel happy right now, nor do I feel angry either. I just killed so many people and other living things right, and I don’t care. I just killed dozens of my own kind right now, and I don’t care. No guilt, no pain, except for the cuts and bite marks I have but still. I didn’t kill all of them because I wanted to, but I don’t know the reason either.
*Crunch*
“Heyaaaaa!” In one swift motion, I do a complete 180 degree turn and slice in front of me. Except I don’t see anything behind. I quickly look to my left and then my right in hopes of finding the person who I was sneaking up on me. I slowly look down to see my best friend in a longtime who has agreed to be just that. The one of many people, or pony’s to be specific, standing there, Twilight Sparkle… with a look of worry plastered all over her face.
“Twilight? I told you to stay inside while I was fighting. I can handle myself. You’re lucky I missed you.” I sternly say to her, a little miffed that she disobeyed my order. She doesn’t move, she looks like she’s not even here and staring at something else. I crouch down to her level and look her in the eyes. “Twilight? You okay?” I gently nudge her.
My mind turns black, my eyes widen, my heart breaks, my muscles tense up, my sword drops as her head slowly moves to the side and falls to the ground while her body goes the other way. I stare down at her, collapsing onto my knees as I begin to hyperventilate and shake uncontrollably.
“No, no no no no no, Nooo! Oh god no! Please! Twilight! Don’t… please! No!” I begin to shout. I grab her head in a futile attempt of placing it back on her body as tears begins to stream down my face like a waterfall, the rain only adding to it. She doesn’t move, she doesn’t blink. I don’t know what to do. She’s dead… by my hand. All the work and fighting I did to protect her… but I was the one that killed her!
“Swift!” I hear multiple voices yell my name. I look up and I freeze to see a bunch of ponies a fair distance away. The ones that clearly stand out are the other Elements of Harmony, and Princess Celestia as well as her Sister Luna. I slowly stand up.
“I… I don’t… I didn’t mean too-!” I choke out words in an attempt to defend myself.
“Silence!!” Two booming voices interrupt me and before I can react, an invisible force blasts me far back through the air until I’m slammed against the side of a building. I collapse onto my hands and knees and begin coughing.
“You have ended the life of an important pony, Swift Wind!” Celestia’s voice rings loud against my ear drums.
“She was a friend to many…” I see the rest of the Elements crying around the body of their deceased friend, the friend I killed.
“A daughter…”
“A student and apprentice…” I manage to look at Celestia’s face to see tears streaming down it.
“I… I don’t know… I’m sor-… I’m sorry.” I try to muster the strength to say. Seeing what I just did to her, her head just… Oh god!
The familiar feeling of my lunch moving up my throat is present and I upchuck all over the ground in front of me.
“Sorry, will not bring Twilight Sparkles life back.” I hear slow hoof steps walking closer to me. “I should have let you die when I first met you.”
Her words sting coldly against me as she whispers them to me. I don’t blame her. I killed my best friend, the greatest friend I could ever hope for when it comes to pretty much anything… and in the heat of one of my battle moments, I couldn’t control myself and I ended the life of what I was supposed to protect. Some guardian I am.
“So… what will you do now?” I ask the princess without even looking at her. I can still feel the bitter aftertaste of my lunches from before still lingering in my mouth.
“I will finish what I started that day.” She says coldly. The events of what happened that day still plague my mind, the unimaginable pain of having a massive hole blasted into my stomach, the fast paced blood loss that made me lose consciousness in a matter of seconds, the stitches, the magic they used to keep me alive that burned every cell and atom in my body. It was horrible and I don’t intend to relive it again. Of course, only the first two parts I mean.
“I don’t blame you.” The words leave my mouth blank and emotionless. I don’t need to look up to know that Celestia is charging up her horn now to execute me right here and now. I’d let her do it, “But if you’re going to kill me now…” I look up at her, “You’re going to have to work for it.”
Before anything else is said, I jump up and tackle the princess away. Due to here tall demeanor, it was a little difficult to take her down. I quickly look up to see Princess Luna with her eyes glowing and her horn charging up, obviously mad at what I just did. I jump back and run straight into an alleyway with barely enough time as a loud explosion collapses a good chunk of the building right behind me. I bound, dodge and jump over the obstacles within the alleyway as Princess Luna continues to hit me with her blast attacks from above.
“Thou’ shalt pay for thy insolence!” Princess Luna’s voice booms loudly against my eardrums, no doubt waking up every living creature in and near Ponyville. I continue to move as much as I possibly can through which ever path that comes in front of me. When I don’t hear the sounds of Luna’s attacks or her voice anymore, I stop at a corner in an alleyway. I gently poke my head out and look around to see everything is clear. I slide down against the wall so I can get a breather.
Son of a bitch. This is just like back in my world. Being chased by the law without relent. Only this time, I actually know what it is I did wrong. I feel tears welling up in my eyes yet again. I don’t try to suppress them; I don’t think of anything else, I just let them flow. It’s been so long since I actually cried like this, I think. Still can’t remember. I don’t know why the hell I am running. They have gods that are so much more powerful than me, they’ll find me, they’re better than my kinds police force.
But from years of experience, I’m used to making them work for it.
I look out again and see if I can find anything familiar. A giant lightning bolt illuminates the entire area around me and I spot a simple little bridge that leads out of town, and up the hill to my house. If I can get to my truck, I can hightail it out a here, hopefully.
I get into a running position and brace myself against a wooden crate. My heart begins to beat a little faster in preparation for the marathon run I’m about to pull off. I blink a few times and push. I shoot myself right out of the alleyway and head full speed to my truck. At first I expect some form of explosion to destroy the bridge, an explosion right next to me that would send me flying into a building, but I don’t. Nothing happens and I quickly close the distance over the bridge. I quickly move towards my truck, a bit of relief washing over me now that I’ll-
“Aaaahhhh!” I shout loudly as a massive explosion blinds me and send me flying towards the tree line of the Everfree forest.
I roll around on the ground a few times, trying to get my bearings on what the hell just happened. My head throbs like I’m being hit with a sledgehammer, over and over and over again. I slowly get up and with my vision clearing, I find out what just happened. My truck just got destroyed, taking half my house with it. Fire is blazing all over the area, taking grass and some trees along with it, as well as what’s left of my house and not even the rain is snuffing out the fires. I feel a curious heat close to me. I look to my left to see my arms on fire.
“Oh shit!” I quickly begin slapping the fire with my free hand to try and put it out. Once I do, I hear trotting sounds. I look past the fire to see two large beings walking right up to the fire. A blue aura and a yellow aura surround the fire and the pieces of my truck and send them crashing right into what’s left of my house. The beings are all too familiar as soon as they come clear into view, Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna. As they walk forward, other guardsmen from Canterlot begin to fly in on chariots. They begin to pull out spears, swords and bow and arrows before they begin to surround me.
“For a crime against Equestria, I hereby banish you to the deepest part of the dungeons in Canterlot for the rest of your life.” Princess Celestia says loudly. I even through the rain, I can tell that she’s crying at the loss of her student. Some of the Elements come into view. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity are mad and angry beyond belief with tears in their eyes. I don’t see Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie, no doubt still grieving over the loss of one of their best friends. I don’t blame them. I’ve been trying to help them out for so long, trying to do something to bring peace to me, but instead I just ended up turning everything to hell. I see Celestia’s horn charge up, “Any last words?”
From the tone of her voice, I’ll never see the light of day, nor will I see my fri- my former friends either.
I’m scared. With my people, I know what I’m dealing with, but this level is way too far for me to reach. As I take one last look around, I stare directly at the Princess:
“Yeah… come and get me.” I turn around head straight into the Everfree forest, jumping behind a fallen log that helps shield me from the Princess’s attack. The guards didn’t surround me completely, only in front of me and my sides. Guess they didn’t want to take the chance of something flying out and grabbing one of them and would have preferred it if I was that casualty.
Arrows fly past me and begin embedding themselves in the trees around me. Even spears begin falling around me from the sky, one tears off a good chunk of my shirt. Look up I can see chariots firing arrows at me and throwing spears. Looking back I can see a platoon of guardsmen chasing after me as well. Thing is, I’m running fast, like really fast. There aren’t that many things to dodge through the forest and my ability is kicking in. The guards behind me lose sight of me and the chariots up top are missing me completely. I continue to run for I don’t know how long, I just keep running.
Minutes pass and I don’t see any of the guards behind or above me either. Up ahead I can see what looks like a clearing. I don’t want another incident like the first time so I try to slow down. I slide to a halt in the clearing.
“Whoa.” And just in time too. Right at my feet is a sheer cliff going down that possibly stretches to half a mile. I slowly look down to try and get a more accurate estimate of the distance. “Damn that was too close. A few more feet and I would have- Arrgh!!” My words are interrupted by my own screams of anguish as I feel three arrows embed themselves into my back. I almost fall forward in the process as well. I take a few more steps back and turn around to see a bunch of royal guard pony’s begin to appear from the dark trees of the Everfree Forest. Looking up, I can see the same thing as well. I slowly look left to right, examining my predicament as the pain from being tired of running and the arrows all begin to take a toll on me. I soon hear flapping noises and from the sky comes the Princesses.
“There is nowhere left for you to run now… guardian.” Princess Luna says the last part in a sarcastic manner. The image back in town flashes in my mind, hurting me again at what I have done.
“I didn’t mean to kill her!” I yell back to her as I take a step forward. The Princess and the royal guards all ready themselves in case I attack. Princess Celestia holds up a hoof and instantly all the guards back down, except for Luna who is surprised a bit.
“Sister… don’t you realize what he has done? You know what he deserves.” Luna tries to reason with her sister. I can’t blame her. A pony is dead back in town, a very important and loved one at that, along with the town’s main square being a bloodbath from my battle. I didn’t even try an attempt to make things peaceful.
I just… attacked… relentlessly.
“That may be, dear sister. But if we just execute him right now, then we’ll be just like his kind that he has told us for so long.”
“Tia, I don’t think-“
“Stop!” I stop them. I have no intention of being imprisoned for the rest of my life, nor do I feel the need to go unpunished, but mostly I don’t want this conversation to continue. All eyes are averted to me.
“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia… for what I have done. I’m sorry… to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity… for killing their best friend. My… best friend.” I say the last part quietly to myself. I take a couple steps back until my feet are right at the edge of the cliff. The Princesses look at me surprised.
“Swift, don’t! You don’t need to do that!” Celestia yells at me, hoping to stop me from my plan… but I have to.
“I do, Princess. I’ve never done anything good in my life. And probably made things worse here as it is!” As I’ve said, I’ve never done much to make myself the good Samaritan I claim myself to be. I never helped anyone else out. I never went through all that I said!
No…
This is better off.
“Goodbye.” I take a step back and the ground falls before me. I don’t scream, I don’t struggle against gravity, I just… fall. As I fall, I can see the Princesses looking at me as I plummet to my death. As the wind flies past me, feeling the wind tear and mess up my hair, the flapping of my clothing as well, I don’t care in the least bit. I slowly turn my body around so I can face my death instead of taking a stab in the back.
I don’t know what to think right now. I’m about to die because I killed one of my best friends who would never deserve to die in a million years. The ground comes closer to view.
I guess this is it then. I think to myself as the ground comes even closer. Closer and closer.
One second, I’m right past the top of the trees, the next…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Aaaahhhhhh!!!” I yell loudly as I shoot up. I don’t see the ground, instead I see the whiteness of my walls, the glare of the sun to my side, and the cold beads of sweat that drip down effortlessly along my form.
“Oh god… just a dream… or a nightmare.” I say as I wipe the sweat off me.
The nightmare was so real, so lifelike, the explosion, the fighting, everything! It also doesn’t help that my body feels a million tons heavier right now. “Maybe a shower will help me.”
I make my way to the bathroom and waste no time in disrobing and turning on the shower. Feeling the cool running water wash down my entire, the weight on me lifts and I start to feel a little better. Every detail from my dream repeats over and over again in my head, embedding everything it was into my mind. I lay one arm against the wall and just let the shower head spray me.
“How long can I live here… before I go insane?” I don’t know the answer to that, nor do I think anyone or anypony can. I feel only slightly better but hell is what I feel like. With how everything is, it’s pretty obvious this world isn’t meant for me. Should I go through with what happened in my mind, or should I just go on living?
My mind is interrupted my three loud knocks on my door.
“Coming! Hold on!” I yell back in response and turn off the shower. After drying myself off, I quickly put on some boxers, pants and a shirt, not even bothering with my shoes right now. I open my door to reveal the same purple pony from last night.
“Hello Swift! How are… you don’t look so good?” My entire demeanor has changed upon looking at my friend who I thought and killed last night. I’m glad you’re alright, Twilight. From her words, I snap back out of my stupor and try to make myself look less like crap.
“I’m fine just… had a rough night.”
“Bad dream?” she always know just what to expect. I nod yes. “That’s never good.”
“But sometimes, they make you think.” It’s true. I’m still contemplating on the questions I asked myself not long ago. But that’s for later. “Anyway, what’d you need?”
Instead of a reply, she turns her head to my right. I lean out and look to see my five other friends standing around something with a white sheet draped over it. As Twilight makes her way over to her friends, I walk along the porch until I lean over the railing to them. Wonder what they have for me?
“Swift, as a token of my appreciation for coming to my rescue while I was being held by those vile Diamond Dogs…” Rarity begins.
“We did a little looking around and found this!” Twilight says enthusiastically and grabs the sheet with her magic.
“Surprise!!” Pinkie shouts while jumping into the air.
“…” Man you could cut the awkwardness and embarrassment in the air with a butter knife. “Pinkie, darling. She hasn’t taken the sheet off yet.”
“Oops!” I quietly laugh to myself. If I had a normal life, I’d be blushing like hell with embarrassment right now if that had been me.
“Annnnnnnnnnnd, now!” Twilight now lifts the sheet up. I can’t believe what I see before me. My eyes widen with surprise. Standing there, surrounded by all my friends, is a motorcycle. But not just any motorcycle! It’s a Suzuki DR650! How I know you may say? It’s mostly because of the instruction manual that Twilight hands me with her mouth that basically describes on how to keep it maintained and what the layout of it is.
At the edge of my tunnel vision on the bike, Applejack nudges Pinkie Pie and whispers something to her.
“Ooh! Surprise!” Pinkie shouts while jumping into the air, again. I pay it no mind and instead I jump the rail and walk over to my present. The only thing I notice is how nice the grass feels on my bare feet, and the odd black thing on Fluttershy’s back. Once I’m right next to the motorcycle, I can get a more accurate feel of it, and it’s awesome!
“Woooooow!” I am in awe. My truck has seen better days and this new ride is the perfect substitute for me right now.
“Umm…” I feel a tugging presence on my shirt, so I look to see Fluttershy being the source. “We... also found this… right next to it.” The cute but shy mare shows me what it is she’s carrying. I can’t tell if she’s still scared of me from what happened back in the caves, but it’s kind of hard at this point to truly make out when and if she’s actually scared, or just scared on the usual basis.
Anyways, what she has. It’s a helmet and a badass one at that! It’s onyx black with bright red fiery flames on it. As I look at my gift, all doubt on my mind about my purpose here is completely gone as a smile creeps up along my lips. “It’s perfect.”
“Great! Now would you mind telling us what exactly it is?” Rainbow asks in an annoyed tone. I shouldn’t blame her. With all the new equipment I’ve gotten, especially since most of it is completely alien to them in both function and appearance, she must suspect it’s something different than from my truck.
I take a step back.
“Twilight, would you mind?”
“Of course!” With that said, the same familiar purple aura surrounding my ride is all too familiar to me. Once she’s done, I get a giddy grin to be able to test this thing out.
“Unfortunately we don’t have enough time for you to show it off.” Awwwwwwww!
“Awww, but why?!” I ask her in a bit of whining tone.
“Because! We gotta go to mah’ cousins in Appaloosa to escort Bloomberg there!“ Who the hell is Bloomberg?
“Uhhhhh, who’s Bloomberg?”
“Why, Bloomberg’s mah’ boy! Raised that little guy since he was just a little seed.” … either she’s talking about the plant seed, or the other type of seed that you just can’t go planting anywhere you choose. Annnnd since I haven’t seen hide nor hair of this, boy, in all the time I’ve been here, I can take a wild guess and say it’s a tree.
“Ummmm, okay. So when do we leave?” I ask them. They all look at each other a little bit surprised.
“You… want to come with us?” Twilight asks me, unsure of my offer. I smile and cross my arms.
“Heck yeah! Any chance I have of getting to know this country better is fine by me!” I’ve been cooped up in this town for far too long. I haven’t been to Canterlot since Princess Celestia almost killed me, and the only other place I’ve been too is Cloudsdale, and we all know how fun that turned out to be, especially since I can’t just stroll right up to it all willy-nilly!
“You sure?”
“Definitely.”
“Well, alrighty then! I guess he’s coming with us.”
“Good, now I reiterate my question, when do we-“ Before I can finish, a loud train whistle goes off a few times. Everyone, including me, looks at the direction of the train station. I look back over to them.
“That would be it.” Twilight says in an annoyed tone.
“Whew-we! We better get a move on girls! And boy.”
“Wait! I have to go get Spike!” I stop Twilight before she decides to go running off to the library.
“I’ll get him. I can go much faster with my new ride. Just let me change and we can get there in no time!” I say as I begin walking back into my house.
“Fine! But please hurry!” With Twilight’s final words on the subject, I hear the trotting sounds as all six of them make their way straight to the train station, or wherever it is they currently need to go. I put on a more comfortable shirt and my shoes as quickly as I can but also making sure that everything is there. Once I’m fully clothed, the sounds of the train are heard yet again. I quickly run out the door, grabbing the bag of bits I have that I’ve saved up from my time in helping out at Sweet Apple Acres from time to time, even back at the library when I take some of the stress off of Spike, and the small reward that Mayor Mare gave me from my most recent defense of the town. I also grab my compound bow with the arrows attached to it and sling the string on it over the body. Since I’m sure the train is leaving like, right now, just gotta get on my new ride and go. I jump the railing again and quickly get on my motorcycle and fasten the helmet on. It fits alright and I can see pretty clearly through the visor. I turn the key and relish for a second in the sound and feel of the vehicle under me. I rev the engine a few times before I hit the accelerator, peel out and take off.
I gain some air when I go over the bridge and it feels awesome. Reminds me a bit of when I was driving my plane, but that’s for another time, right now I need to book it. With the library in sight, I hit the accelerator a tiny bit more to close the distance before I hit the brake and slide to a stop just outside the door. I stay that way for a second, collecting myself before I realize I am just within arm’s reach of the door. I knock on it with the engine still running before a familiar draconic face looks up at me.
“Swift? What are you-?”
“Not time! You got everything you need for the trip?”
“Wha- I-. Yeah, I got everything.” He’s only carrying a small blanket and pillow on him, which means the trip is probably gonna be an overnight one at that. I look towards the train station to see the puff of smoke from the train already starting to pool above it.
“Crap. C’mon!”
“Hey- Whoa!” Before he can do anything, I grab him by his arm and pull him up and place him right in front of me so I can make sure he doesn’t fall off.
“Hang on!” I shout as I rev my engine again before taking off. I chance a glance down to see the scared and sort of frightened expression on the little dragons face as he clings to me and his stuff for dear life. I’m lucky his claws aren’t as sharp as how I’ve read adult and teenage dragons are, otherwise I’d need a new shirt, and skin. With almost perfect precision, I manage to bound through the streets and alleyways of Ponyville without hitting anypony. I even say hi to some of the more common faces I’ve seen since being here in town, like the Cakes, the Mayor, Big Mac, even the two ponies I saw when I first came here say hi, although the Aqua one has been pretty interested in me as of late. Regardless, I skid to a stop in front of the ticket booth for the train station, scaring the hell out of some of the ponies who are patiently waiting. I slide my visor up to get a clear look at the ticket pony.
“Ticket. That train. Now.” I demand while pointing to the closest train. I know it’s the right one because a couple factors, one, it’s the only one leaving, and two, Pinkie Pie has her head poked out the window and is looking around all over the place until she spots me and Spike. We both wave to each other before she goes back in.
“Alright that would beeeee… 50 bits.” 50 bits?! Son of a-!
“50?! What the hell?! That’s-!” Before I can finish, the train whistles loudly before it begins to move slowly. Aaahhh, hell! “Alright, here.” I say before I grab my bag of bits and begin fishing out 50 bits. I could take off right now and possibly be able to jump onto the train but then I’d be considered a stowaway. Can’t have that now can we.
“Sir, the train already left.” The ticket pony says. Instead of replying, I slam the bits down on the counter.
“That’s not going to stop me.” I grab the ticket and rev up my engine again and drive right off the platform towards the train. In just a short time, it’s gained some speed and now I have to go almost to my top speed in order to be able to catch up to it. As I make my way over to the side of between the cars, I help Spike get ready to get on. “You ready?!”
He looks up at me with fear in his eyes, “NO!”
“Good!” I grab him with one arm and get as close to the train as possible. “Three, two, on- Son of a-!” I don’t have a chance to finish as a rock makes the front part of my bike almost jerk into a completely different direction. I quickly let go of Spike and regain my movement with two handed driving instead of one. Looking down, Instead of the lush green grass under us, now it’s yellow-orange with dust and rocks. I can’t get any closer without the rocks and bumpiness making me spiral out of control and crash. “You alright?!”
“NOO!” If he didn’t say anything, I would have already guessed with how deep his claws are digging into me. I let out a light chuckle and contemplate on what to do.
Hmmm, just simply stepping onto the train is too risky, plus I was hoping to bring this thing on board with me in case I needed it. But no. No ramps and the rocks are making it hell on me right now. Maybe I can-
“Swift!!!” I’m thrown out of my thoughts at the sound of a familiar voice over the loud chugging of the train and the constant buzzing of my motorcycle. I look towards the train to see if I can spot the source of the voice. “Swift!!” Looking down it some more, my eyes stop at the purple blur on one of the freight cars towards the back. Getting a little closer, I can confirm it’s Twilight with the side of one of the freight cars slid all the way open. I move closer to the train where I tap Spike on the head. He looks at me for a second before I jerk my head to the side towards Twilight. He smiles when he sees her and prepares to jump. After taking a small breather, the second he leaves me, the unicorns magic completely envelops him and carries him safely on board along with his stuff. On shaky legs, he hugs Twilight before waving for me to jump on. I shake my head no and move away from the train. I smile to myself now that Spike is safe, now to contemplate on what it is I should do to get on board. Looking ahead, I spot a low level rock that seems slightly flat. I smile at the thought of my make-shift ramp. I move away from the train a bit to get into the proper position and angle to make it onto the train. With a steady breathing, I jerk to the right and just before I hit the train, the rock I was aiming for lifts my bike up and lands me right into the freight car, thankfully Twilight and Spike ducked out of the way just in time. I slam hard into the other side of the freight car and stop myself before I crash into anything else. I breathe a sigh of relief for a second before I look myself over to see if everything is there. Everything on my person is there, along with my bow, which thankfully still has all my arrows. “Swift! You okay?” Twilight worriedly asks me.
I grab my helmet and slowly pull it off my head and I gently let out a breath of air as I wipe the beading sweat on my forehead. “I’m fine,” I rub my arm up to my shoulder as well, “Just a little banged.”
Her smile makes me feel better already. “Good. C’mon, let’s get you settled in with your bunk.” Sleep, laying down, that sounds good right now.
“Sorry for scaring you like that Spike. With the move I was gonna do to get on here with my bike, didn’t want to take the chance of you crashing with me.” I apologize to the purple dragon.
“It’s cool. We’re here anyway right?” That’s true. At least now I was able to break in my motorcycle.
“Yeah, your right. Let’s get settled in.”
Me and Spike get settled in in no time. The bed bunks being of an average feel to them. They’re a little cramped for me but I was able to get a top bunk so I can have just a bit more free reign to stretch my legs out.
“Hey, Swift! Whatcha’ doin’?” Rainbow Dash asks me from her hovering position to my right as I lay back on my bunk and begin fiddling around with my bow. Since I’ve been using guns most of the time, and blades, I haven’t gotten the chance to properly test this thing out. Being in a hurry this morning I just grabbed whatever it was that caught my eye. Right now, I’m mostly checking out the arrows. Broad tipped arrows. Deadly as many you can have when it comes to a bow.
“Just inspecting this thing. I’ve never used a bow before but it looks interesting and cool.”
“Then why’d you grab it instead of one of your other weapons?”
“I was in a hurry! It was a bit tricky getting on to this train, Rainbow. Especially with the new ride you girls got for me.”
“Okay okay, sheesh don’t blow a gasket.” I chuckle to myself. She’s always been a pretty fun pony. Strong, athletic, hell of a win freak. I look around until I look under my bunk to spot Twilight, reading a book no less.
“Hey, Twilight.” Her ears perk up and looks up at me, “You know how long this train rides gonna be?”
“I’m sorry, Swift. I don’t travel this much to anywhere else besides Canterlot. If anything you should ask Applejack, she is the reason we are going anyways.”
“Hmmm, your right. Hey Applejack!!” I yell loudly in hopes of getting an answer. I don’t. “Applejack!”
“I think she went to go sing a bedtime story to Bloomberg.” Reading… a story… to a tree?
“She’s reading to a tree?”
“I thought the same thing too.” Spike replies. I chuckle at the new info. So funny on how things can be around here.
“Ahh, well. Alright then. Where is he anyway?”
“In his own private cart at the back of the train! This is unacceptable! I’m going to go give Applejack a peace of my mind!” Rarity informs me and begins to storm off in a huff.
“Oh hey wait! Ask Applejack how long before we get toooooo…” And I forgot where we were going. I look at Twilight, hoping she can read my mind and come up with the answer.
“Appaloosa.”
“There we go!” Rarity shoots daggers at me, making me slowly recline back into my bed until I hear the audible click of the door closing behind her.
“She looks mad.” Rainbow points out the obvious.
“Gee, ya think?” I smugly say, making her glare at me. I chuckle a little before I place down my bow and drop down onto the ground. I forgot to do some exercises this morning and since this trip might take a day or so, better get to it.
“What are you doing, Swift?” Twilight asks as I begin to do some pushups.
“I do these on a regular basis. I need to get stronger if I am to continue to assume my role as guardian of Ponyville. I have to be stronger, better, faster than I was before I can take on anything stronger than what we’ve already faced.”
“You really think there’s something else out there that can do a lot more chaos than what’s already been done?” Rainbow tries to bring me down, but I get right back up.
“Expect the unexpected… ugh… that’s what I always go by. Whew… and it’s just that that has saved my life on more than one occasion over the years.” With the exercise I’ve already done in the past, I feel good and better today. With each time I do these, I increase how many I do each time, hopefully I’ll be able to see the results soon enough in time. After 15 minutes or so, not really sure I lost track of time, I climb back onto my bed with sweat covering most of me and fatigue settling in.
“You okay?” Twilight asks me. I give her a thumbs up since I don’t feel like talking.
“Hrumph!” From that voice and grunt, I can tell just who it is that just entered all furious.
“Didn’t get your private cabin car, Miss Rarity?” I smugly say to her in playful voice.
“Mmmmm, if you must know, no… I did not. Applejack cares more about that tree over the needs of why I need my own private car! It’s just not fair!” Rarity whines.
“Yeaaaahhhh. But what can you do… not everyone or everypony holds the cards they want.”
“Hrm!” The white colored unicorn grumbles and slides under the covers of her bunk.
“Awwww, does Rarity have a froowney-woowney?” Pinkie Pie all of a sudden asks the sad mare the question. I chuckle at her silliness. But I pay it no mind as I place my bow on top of a luggage rack within arm’s reach of me. The world practically shuts around me as I already feel my eyes beginning to close. Outside the window reveals that Celestia’s sun is well past being low to the ground. In a matter of an hour or so, it’ll be dark for sure.
“Are you alright, Swift?” I don’t have to be a wizard or a genius to know who’s the pony that’s so interested in me right now, the giant puffy hair being a dead giveaway and all.
“I’m fine, Pinkie. I just prefer to turn in now than later. Thank you for your concern.” I blatantly tell her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you really really sure?”
“Yesssss, I am.”
“Are you really really really really sure?” Okay now she’s definitely trying to tick me off.
“*Sigh* I am.”
“Are you-“
“Pinkie, please, I had a bad dream last night and I couldn’t get much sleep. My eyes are really heavy right now and I just wish to let them drop.” That is probably the reason why I really am so damn tired. I must have been tossing and turning all night to make me this tired, I was practically soaked in sweat this morning if I remember correctly.
“Awww, I’m sorry. Good night, Swift. Sweet dreams. Hey! Maybe if you eat a sweet, you’ll probably have all sort of sweet and cool dreams. Oooohhhh, what will you have? I have-!” Before she can finish, I close her mouth shut with my hand.
“Pinkie… before you go one continuous rant about the different types of sweets and foods you somehow got on this train, with all their sugar I’ll probably be awake most of the time.” I slowly let go of her mouth and she looks a little sad. I give her a warm smile and pat her head. “But I appreciate the offer and the thought in it.”
She grins wide and then hugs as best she can in the positions we are in. “Awwww, thank you, Swift!” With one arm wrapped around her for a few seconds to return the hug, she lets go and jumps down onto the ground.
Now… rest.
“Whoa!!” I shout as something collides and I’m thrown out of my bed onto the floor. “Ow!” Why the hell did I go with a top bunk?!
“Ugh! Wha- what’s going on?” I try to put words together.
“Look out the window!” I waste no time and I quickly jump up and look out the window. Buffalo is the thing I first see. A whole bunch of them riding alongside the train.
“What the heck?” The next thing that happens is a bunch of different buffalo standing on top of one another as the bottom one continues to run with all his buddies on top of him.
“Ooohhh, Looky! Now they’re doing tricks!” I look over at Pinkie Pie for second before I look back to the Buffalo. The next thing I notice is that some of them have some type of decorative headwear on them, which look vaguely similar to something to my people but I can’t put my finger on it. A smaller buffalo jumps on top of the stacking. “Ooh ooh ooh, Now do a back flip!”
Much to Pinkie’s disappointment, the small Buffalo instead jumps onto our train. “Something tells me this isn’t a circus act.”
“What was your first clue?” Me and Rainbow quickly get off the bed and hear the hoof steps move farther away.
“I’m going after it!” I nod and grab my bow.
“I’ll take care of these Buffalo and make sure they don’t derail us!” With our missions assigned, we make our way out of the train and up to the top
I run as fast as I can towards the front of the train. These buffalo want something and I have no idea what it is they want. If their looking for a fight, they got one. As soon as I make my way to the front I notice the caboose isn’t pushing by itself, instead there is a column of ponies pulling it, really fast. Makes me remember like how you would have a team of dogs pull a sleigh. The buffalo move in again and they slam against the ponies, nearly derailing us and almost making me lose my footing. Making my way down and around the caboose, which is tough as hell considering the constant bashing against the train almost makes me fall off on more than one occasion.
Just before the buffalo can move in again to bash against the ponies again, I jump up and land on the closest one, scaring the hell out of him. I wait for my target to come closer until at the last second, I use one leg and kick him hard in the face, making the buffalo recoil and disengage his attack. This continues to go on for a while, much to my hate since I’m already feeling tired from all the jumping, balancing and kicking. As I push one more away from the train, they stop and move back. As I watch them leave us, I breathe a sigh of relief now that that’s over. “How much longer till we make it to Appaloosa?!”
“One mile and closing!” The train engine pony I am on replies. I nod and jump back onto the train. As I begin walking back, I notice something towards the back of the train. I see a small rainbow like blur and a light brown blur as well on top of the trains cars.
“Is that… Rainbow? Yeah, it has to be, but who’s- Holy!” I duck at the last second as something nearly cleaves my head right off. Looking back up, after making sure no other surprises are coming, from my best guess, Rainbow gets nailed bad by the thing while the brown speck, the smaller buffalo from earlier now that I think about it, just jumps over. Grabbing the edges to the roof of the train car, I jump up and begin sprinting as fast as I can towards the back of the train. I take a little more caution with my running so I don’t fall between the cars or slip off the edge. The top of these trains cars aren’t the roughest in the world you know.
As I sprint my way to the back, I notice the gap between the last car and second to last slowly gets bigger and bigger. To add to that, I don’t see the smaller buffalo from before.
What the hell are they doing? I think. Something else clicks into my mind. Wait, wasn’t that the car that had Bloomberg in it? If I remember correctly, Applejack went to the far back of the train to take care of him, and Rarity had gone to complain! They want the tree! But why?
I shake my head. It doesn’t matter to me, but it matters to my friends! I run faster and faster as best I can. If I can gain enough speed, I may be able to make the gap and make it onto the car that their trying to steal. As I push myself as hard as I can, the gap continues to get wider and wider. If I’m going to make it, I better really work for it. As soon as I my foot touches the edge of the cart I am on, I push off with all my might. I’m flung into the air instantly and I outstretch my arms in hopes of making it.
“Yes.” I quietly mutter to myself as I can clearly see the edge of the car is in reach of me. Before I can grab it however, the car with Bloomberg in it is pushed back hard and I lose my chance to grab it. “No!”
Out of reflex, I turn my body to the side and put my left shoulder out in hopes of cushioning the fall. It doesn’t help. “Aaaaaarrrggghh!!” I groan loudly in pain as my shoulder hits the train rails hard. I feel something pop in the process as well. I quickly roll over off the tracks and breathe heavily. Looking up, I can see why I missed the Bloomberg’s train car, the buffalo are pushing and keep pushing it until it starts to go out of sight. But something catches my eye. At the top of the car through a window, I spotted something purple and another color but can’t get a good look on it, can’t place my finger on it.
“What the hell was- Aaaagggghh!!” I groan as I try to push myself up but I can’t move my left arm, barely my fingers even. When I manage to stand myself up, I grab my left arm with my right and move it around a bit. “Owwww! Damnit!” Instead I just get another sharp pain through my nervous system. Son of a… Damnit, my arm must have popped out of it’s socket. I don’t feel the bones broken or anything, but something does feel out of place. Turning around, I groan at the sight of nothing there, just the large expanse of open desert, except for the train tracks of course.
Didn’t even bother to stop. I then check to see if my bow is still alright. I didn’t land on it directly so it’s still in working order thankfully. Groaning, I slowly make my long trek to Appaloosa, hoping that it’s closer than what they said…
With the blistering sun on me, the dry desert sand sticking and making me get drier, I finally make it to Appaloosa, which to my surprise clearly reminds me of an actual wild west town that are usually portrayed back in my world. Looks pretty cool, but right now I need to find the others, which I hope one of them is willing to help me pop my arm right back into it’s place. I quickly make my way through town in hopes of finding my friends. As usual, I get more than enough stares because of my appearance, but my main concern right now is to get my friends, plus the sharp pain in my arm also helps me forget them as well.
From the long trek I made through the desert, I’m dry and tired as hell, thirsty too. My burden is lifted when I see a barrel nearby filled with water. I waste no time in making my way over to it and looking at my reflection in the cool, clean, clear water. Taking just a tiny bit of the water with my regular hand, I drink it and feel relieved in an instant. I immediately dunk my head under the water and begin drinking my fill. If anyone or pony were to see my right now, they’d see my head and neck completely submerged under the water with bubbles popping up every so often. The second my lungs begin to burn up a bit, I pull myself out.
“Huuuuuuuuu!” I breathe in sharply and let the air fill up my lungs. “Heeeeewww. Man that is the best tasting water I’ve had in my entire life.” I don’t bother wiping my face clean of the water. Feeling the droplets fall and roll down my face feels divine.
“Swift!!” I loud cry of happiness knocks me out of my wake. Looking to my side, I see my friends standing there.
“Girls. So nice to see you.” I say nonchalantly. Twilight is the first to respond by hugging me. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!” Unfortunately, she hugged me on the side of my dislocated arm.
“Ohh, I’m so sorry I’m so sorry I’m so sorry!” she immediately apologizes to me as I lightly grab my arm in an attempt to stop the pain.
“It’s fine Twilight. Ow. Actually, that reminds. You think you can help me with this?” From her expression I can tell that she’s probably a little confused as to what I mean. “You see, the buffalo stole Bloomberg and I ran to try and jump onto the car that he was in, but the buffalo pushed it at the right time and I missed, allowing the set of railroad tracks to cushion my fall and dislocate my arm. So now I can’t move it. Can you help?”
“Umm, sure Swift. But I don’t know how to… relocate unattached bones.”
“That’s alright. You just need to pull my arm, twist it and push it back in. That should give me control of my arm again in a few minutes or more.”
“Alright, seems easy enough.” Yeah, maybe for you. Twilight takes both her hooves and places them around my wrist. I plant my feet firmly on the ground so she doesn’t accidentally pull me with her.
“Ready?” I ask her.
“Ready.” I take a deep breath and ready myself for the pain to come. “Oh, also, Spike was kidnapped along with Bloomberg.”
“… wait, wha-aaaaaaaaaa!!” Before I can fully say my question, Twilight does what I told her to do, pull twist and push. The pain immediately spurs through my nerves and has me gritting my teeth to the gums. When she lets go, I let my arm hang since I don’t have feeling in it anymore, but it’s slowly coming back. I breathe a few times to center myself from the pain.
“Sorry.”
When I’m clear headed, I reiterate my question, “It’s fine. Now, as I was saying before, wait, what?!”
“Yes, I’m afraid Spike has been kidnapped by the Buffalo. See, he was sleeping in Bloomberg’s car because me and the others were a bit uhhh…”
“Noisy?” Rarity finishes the purple unicorns words.
“In a way. Anyway, when the Buffalo took the car, they took both Spike and Bloomberg!” Twilight voices in worry. She’s obviously worried as hell for her number one assistant’s well-being. The same can be said for Applejack, almost like a mother worrying for her lost child. But something else also feels… off.
“Where’s Rainbow Dash… and Pinkie Pie?” Those are the two faces I don’t see. Clearly because Rainbow has that only unique mane above all other ponies, and Pinkie… she’s the pinkest thing anyone can find for miles away.
“Rainbow Dash went after the Buffalo, and Pinkie’s right…” Rarity gestures behind her but she’s stopped when she see’s nothing. “Where did she go?! She was just here a minute ago!!”
“Pinkie!!” Twilight shouts loudly, hoping to see the Pink pony pop right out of nowhere like she usually does.
Nothing, just silence. “There you all are!” A different voice instead answers. “I was wondering where ya’ll… what is that?” Looking around, behind my friends, a stallion with a light gold coat, pistachio eyes, and a mane of Amber and Gamboge while also wearing a cowboy hat is standing right behind them, obviously weirded out by seeing a human for the first time.
“Braeburn, this is our best friend Swift Wind. He came here with us toooo… uhhhh?” Applejack doesn’t have answer for why I am here exactly.
“I’m here to provide escort for the safe travel of my friends, and Bloomberg, apparently.” Damn Buffalo, stealing my friends!
“Oh! Well, nice to meet you then!” Breaburn happily replies. I smile and shake his hoof.
“Likewise, now as much as I’d like to answer all the millions of questions you may have, I some friends to go and save.” I look over to the rest of my friends, “Alright, I’m gonna grab my bike from the train and go after Bloomberg, Spike and Rainbow Dash. You four look around town for Pinkie. If she’s not here, then see if you can come and give me and the others some back-up. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“You got it , pardner.”
“If it must be so.”
“Ummm, okay.”
I nod and begin sprinting towards the station to find my bike. Thankfully the feeling has returned to my arm so I can move it again. Thank Celestia too, otherwise I’d be in big trouble if I tried to drive a bike with only one hand. After making it to the train, I quickly slide open the car. Smiling at the machine in front of me, it’s time to go for a ride.
The next couple minutes are spent with me speeding down the large open desert like a bat out of hell. My friends are out here alone with the Buffalo. Dash is fast but she’d probably be hindered a bit with having to take care of Spike, plus Bloomberg is there too! He may be just a tree, but Applejack seems to really care about it so, I care about it. I spot something far ahead of me. A large brown blur is seen far off but as I get closer, I can clearly see they’re surrounding something, what exactly is anybody’s guess.
Hold on guys, I’m coming! I rev my ride faster and I spot another slanted flat rock ahead. I smile and head straight for it. The second my wheel hits the rock, I stand and jump off the bike in mid-air and land right into the middle of the herd. I roll a few times and slide the last bit. Throwing my helmet off, I quickly pull my bow off me and immediately pull an arrow back and look around.
“Where are my friends?! The tree and a dragon?! I will destroy everyone of you if you don’t tell where they are!!”
“Swift?” Two separate voices catch my attention. Looking, I see that what the Buffalo were surrounding: Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. That’s where she went.
“Hey, girls. Was just looking for you.” I don’t take my eyes or aim off the surrounding Buffalo.
“Nice entrance.” Clearly I impressed the ever proud rainbow pony.
“Thanks. Now get out of here. I’ll hold them off while you go get the others.” I order my friends. Rainbow is unfortunately stubborn enough to want to stay, and Pinkie Pie… she’s just being herself right, thinking it’s some type of game.
The Buffalo huff a breath of visible air and begin to charge. I grip the arrow tighter, about to end the life if another creature. “Stop!”
The Buffalo stop and one side begins to part. I keep my aim up and see a figure behind some dust.
“Dash, Swift, Pinkiiiiee! ‘suuup!” What the hell? Spike?! “Hey no worry’s, I know those guys. They’re cool.”
“If you say so Spike, catch you later bro’.” Spike and a Buffalo hoof-and-fist bump and the Buffalo begin running off, away from us. I stare at the Buffalo moving away from us, a look of surprise and confusion on mine, Pinkie and Dashes face.
“Did… that just happen?” I ask no one in particular.
“Yeah, it just did.” Rainbow replies. I look over at spike as I place the arrow back.
“Care to elaborate on what just happened Spike?”
“I’ll explain at their camp. C’mon on! It’s just over here!” Spike points and begins walking away to where the Buffalo went. I stare for a second before shaking my head and placing my bow on me.
“Might as well.” I grab my helmet and head over to my bike.
“Are you sure?” As much I admire Rainbow’s skepticism, now I don’t think we have choice. We still need to find Bloomberg.
“No… but we might as well find out what exactly is going on.” After I pick up my Suzuki, I find that it’s still in working order, barely a scratch on her.
Built to last, huh? I like it…
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night has already fallen and me, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are guests of the Buffalo. Now I know what they reminded me of. They remind me of the Indian tribes back in my world because their headdresses and the tepees they live in.
“Seems they took me by mistake.” Spike is right now explaining what happened between the buffalo and the whole kidnapping thing while we are sitting around a fire. “They feel awful about it too, poor guys… Fortunately, they totally respect dragons!” Spike snaps his fingers and some buffalo push some bowls in front of me, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. The bowls are filled with some kind of grayish food slop I’ve never seen before. “So they treat me like an honored guest! Still don’t like ponies much though, but there with me so it’s cool.”
Judging by Rainbow’s expression, I can clearly say that she doesn’t like to partake of the slop for now. “I still don’t trust them! I say we turn tail and bail on before we-!”
“Mmmm, Armf, Mm,” As Dash gets ups and begins scooping the area out, she unfortunately gets interrupted by the loud voracious eating noises of one Pinkie Pie. I’m not really surprised to see her just dig in and eating like that. She is Pinkie Pie after all. “Before we finish eating?! Are you loco in the coco?!”
“Sorry to disappoint you Pinkie, but as admirable as their hospitality is I don’t like the idea of being in a place I’m unfamiliar with. Remember how cautious I was when I came to Ponyville?” I then take a whiff of the food in front of me, and recoil from the smell. It’s bitter and slightly foul smell to me. Might be because all I’ve been accustomed to is the sweets that Pinkie and the Cakes make or the various apple foods the Apple family makes. Either way, I’m not eating.
The smaller buffalo from the train slowly walks up to Spike with a bowl in its mouth, with something blue in the bowl but I can’t make them out. “Can I please have more of that mushy stuff?! Whatever it was.” Pinkie asks the Buffalo. You don’t even know what it is and you down an entire bowl in seconds?! Oh Pinkie.
“Certainly!” The buffalo replies once she sets the bowl down, and judging by the tone, female. “And mister Spike? You like gemstones yes?” Spike practically drools at the sight of the bowl in front of him.
“Turquoise! Mmmm, haha!” He eats the bowls contents as fast as Pinkie Pie did her food. “This here’s little Strongheart!” She gives a meek little wave with her hoof at us, “And these are my friends Swift Wind, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash!” Me and Pinkie give her a wave back but Rainbow just glances at her once.
“You!!” Oh boy. Looks like something bad happened between these two.
“You?!”
“I’ll teach you not to mess with me!” Rainbow immediately jumps into the air and flies at Little Strongheart.
“Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Dash! Don’t do anything stupid!!” I quickly grab her before she can even get to Strongheart.
“Let me at her!!”
“Sorry, Can’t do that.” Damn she’s one strong mare!
“Why?!” She stops struggling and looks right at me.
“Because this is something like from my world, we have the strength but they have the numbers. And in most cases, numbers usually triumph.” I whisper to her. She gives a disgruntled grunt and begins walking off.
“That’s it! We are out of here!” Rainbow Dash storms off, leaving me and Pinkie here with an embarrassed look on Pinkies face until she gets pulled by her tail by dash. I quickly jump and walk after them.
“Wait!” Little Strongheart stops us. “Please accept my apologies for what happened on the train. We didn’t mean for anyone to be hurt!” She tries to apologize.
“Yeah right!”
“Understatement of the year. I’m pretty sure you saw me dive for the car and fall onto the tracks. Dislocated my shoulder on the fall.” I say while moving my arm around to make sure it’s working alright.
From her expression, I can tell she’s still sorry.
Rainbow Dash begins walking in a different direction now, only to be stopped yet again. “We only wanted the tree! The settler ponies have overtaken the land and planted an orchard all over it! Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds!”
Me, Pinkie and Dash stare at each other for a second before turning back to Spike and Strongheart, “What?” I blankly say, not sure what it is that she meant right now.
“Uhhhh I think it’s time they met Chief Thunderhoof.” From expression on Little Stronghearts face, Spike’s suggestion doesn’t bode well with her. Doesn’t matter. We need info on the whole situation and Thunderhoof’s are best guess right now.
A few minutes later, a large circle of Buffalo surrounds me and the others as an even larger buffalo with a much more distinct headdress stands in the circle with us.
“We have a long widening stampeding trade we have run upon for many generations.” The chief Buffalo I‘m starts. “My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him…” The chief continues on. And it’s not just me that already starting to fall asleep from his slow talking and repetition.
“I think they get the idea chief.” Thank you Strongheart, another second and I’d face plant on the ground.
“Hmgh, it is a sacred tradition to run the path every year… but this year…” the chief starts to say in a deeper more hateful tone. “These settler ponies, theesssse… Appaloosans…!” The chief starts to huff again and again, obviously pissed off at the town. Little Strongheart finally manages to stop him.
“They planted apple trees all over it without asking our permission!” She manages to finish what the chief was saying.
“Well that wasn’t very nice! Right Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie suddenly interrupts and asks the rainbow pony.
“Hmph!” Is Rainbow’s reply. “Ow! Heeeey!”
I nudge her with my elbow, “Play nice.”
“The ponies refuse to move their trees, so we are stuck here! And it is not fair!” Rainbow looks unchanged from the look she has on. All this clearly reminds me that of my peoples history. When America was first getting started, the government sort of took over most of the Indians territories with their permission, ran them out, killed a lot of them, lied to them, betrayed them, a lot of things happened. Hopefully this time I can help mediate this dispute without any bloodshed, or fighting.
“See Rainbow Dash, they had a good reason too-!” Before Spike can finish, Dash flaps her wings hard and sends herself flying up into the air. She lands hard onto the ground into a sort of fighting stance, making every Buffalo gasp. Damnit Dash! In an instant, I grab two arrows from my bow, turn into the reverse grip and twist upwards onto my feet into a bladed position so I can be ready to dodge and counter if need be. Some of the Buffalo back-up a little more with my intervention.
“I’ll say they had a good reason!” I drop my stance as Rainbow flies up to the chief, “C’mon! We have some apple picking Appaloosans to talk to!” In almost an instance, Rainbow’s mad demeanor from before turns something of a helpful nature to the Buffalo. Amazing, Dash. “Are you with me, Swift?!”
I feel all eyes immediately fall on me. I give a light chuckle as I walk back over to my bow that’s laying on the ground, “You know, something like this happened back in my peoples history.”
“Really?!” Little Strongheart seems a little elated that I’m close to having experience like this. My face turns to sadness as I grab my bow.
“It ended badly. Very badly.” My words seem to strike a blow as I can already feel the depression in the air. I counter with smile as I place my arrows back. “But hopefully I can make sure things turn out differently here.”
“You really think so?” The chief replies. I finish setting the bow back on me and turn around back to my friends.
“No guarantees… but it’s not like I’m not going to try.” They feel happier with my words now than before.
“Well, I am glad to hear of that then!” The chief says and soon the rest of the buffalo begin to depart.
“Why don’t we rest first? We should leave in the morning when we’re all better.” Little Stronghearts suggestion hits me in the sweet spot as I can already feel the tiredness hitting me. I go to look at my watch but I remember that I forgot it.
“Awww… ahh, you’re probably right. I was rudely interrupted from my sleep this morning.” I give the small Buffalo a glare. She looks away and fiddles the ground with her hoof in embarrassment.
“Alright fine, we leave in the morning.” Rainbow grumbles. I look over at Pinkie who nods.
“Let’s go to bed then, await for what tomorrow brings.” Little Strongheart leads me to an empty tent with a bedroll the size of a buffalo. I lay down and just before I close my eyes drift off to sleep, I hear my friends talking with the small buffalo. Even hearing my name a few times. Guess if I can’t answer the questions right now, might as well ask the friends then huh?
Let’s just see what happens next…
“You think this’ll work?” I ask my friends as we walk towards Appaloosa. It’s morning and we are making our way back to Appaloosa. Little Strongheart proposed that she’d be the Buffalo’s so called Ambassador to the ponies and hopefully come to an agreement on whether the ponies should move elsewhere, or the Buffalo move elsewhere.
“It has to! If we continue this needless grudge, both sides will suffer dearly. I just hope the ponies of that town are reasonable.” I have to agree with Little Strongheart. From my history, I still remember what most governments have done or tried to do to lesser civilizations, namely the Indian tribes. Hopefully with my intervention, I can prevent any of that from happening and have them coexist peacefully, not be taken for granted and then just thrown away. Right now it’s just me, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Little Strongheart walking to Appaloosa
“Huuuuuuhh?!” A loud gasp breaks me from my thoughts and right before us, all our friends are standing before us, along with Braeburn. From their looks of surprise, and on how much equipment their carrying, I’d say we just saved them a few days of searching all over the desert.
“Hi guys!”
“Pinkie!” Fluttershy expresses her gratitude of the pinkie pony’s safe return by tackling her to the ground in a hug. “We’re so glad you’re safe!”
All of our other friends come over to the rest of us and begin saying how grateful they are that we are back, how much they missed us, and so forth. “How did you escape from the Buffalo?!
“We didn’t!” Pinkie replies to the Twilight’s question.
Another round of gasps happen as soon as Little Strongheart jumps out from behind a rock. I didn’t even notice her doing that. “We promised the Buffalo a chance to talk.”
“Oh yeah… about wha’?” I’ve been long enough around sleazy people to know the unsureness of Applejack’s voice.
“We brought our friends Little Strongheart here to explain to the Appaloosans why they should move the trees off Buffalo land.”
“That information will be quite help-“ Before Braeburn can finish, Applejack just has to interrupt him and start jumping to conclusions.
“That’s weird, ‘cause mah cousin Breaburn here wants to explain to the Buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay!”
“That would be a useful thing to-“
“The land is there’s!” And just like Applejack, Rainbow interrupts for Little Strongheart with a bit more assertiveness. “You planted the trees not knowing it. Honest mistake. Now you gotta move ‘em, that’s all.”
“Well, hehe…”
“They busted their rumps here! And now they’re supposed bust their rumps again just ‘cause some Buffalo won’t stampede somewhere else?!”
At this point, the two go back and forth with their argument on who stays and who goes. The land isn’t big enough for both sides unless they work together. The place is big but the terrain doesn’t necessarily agree with both sides needs. As my eyes dart back between each ponies arguments, Little Strongheart and Braeburn have backed off, so have the others, except Twilight seems like she wants to say something. This is getting old.
“Heeeeyy!!” Silence immediately follows. “I think we’ve heard enough you two bickering.”
“But-“
“Look,” thankfully it’s Twilight’s turn to interrupt, “Both the settlers and the Buffalo have good reasons for using this land! There must be something we can do.” Twilight trails off. At this point, I can’t think of anything that might help me accomplish what it is I’ve wanted to do, but hopefully someone will have something.
“Hey! I’ve got an idea!” Speak of the devil. Pinkie shouts as she jumps into the air and falls onto the ground. Let’s hope it’s something serious that can actually help…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was wrong. I was dead wrong. Way wrong. Pinkie’s little song she did was sound, but the chief and sheriff really didn’t like it, and now because of Pinkie Pie, the town of Appaloosa and the native Buffalo tribe are about to go to war. Right now me, Pinkie, Dash and Spike are back at the Buffalo’s camp and hopefully do what we can to have the Buffalo back down from this fight. Hopefully, Twilight and the others will have better luck.
“I know you don’t want to do this.” Rainbow tries to console with the Chief. Spike’s with Little Strongheart and Pinkie… you have to admit it’s pretty damn hard trying to keep tabs on that specific pony.
“But they have taken our land!” The chief says sadly and looks away, “What would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?”
“I don’t know.” That isn’t a reply that most people like to hear. The chief turns to me.
“And what about you, Swift Wind?” I groan and look down. Everything’s slowly starting to come together.
“To be honest, if someone were to take something from me… I’d hurt them and do everything in my power to get what it is I’ve lost.” The chief sighs, “But that’s me! My people have had a history of fighting! All this is starting to become vaguely familiar and I don’t want it to!” I shout. I lean down close to the chief, “Please, don’t do this. I’ve seen too much pain as it is, and I’d hate to see more. Are you sure there’s no other alternative?” I plead to the Buffalo chief.
“There has to be something else, right?”
“At noon, everything will be set,” chief Thunderhoof wipes war paint on his face, a couple lines of red and white on both sides of his face, “And it will be too late.”
From the tone of his voice, all the events are set and it doesn’t look like anything is changing as of this point…
You have to admit, you got to give settlers credit. The entire town has been outfitted for an all out war. Doors and window’s boarded up, barricades placed all over the front of the town, and their arsenal… pies. Apple pies to be exact. Since they don’t have any major equipments in any type of fighting, I guess they have to go with their most abundant source of supplies… apples.
“C’mon think! Think think think think think think thiiink.” All the times you say think, Rainbow, it ain’t gonna change the fact that we are screwed.
*DING*DING*DING* The loud thumming of the town’s central clock tower makes everything else silent. My body tenses up and so does my friends and everyone else that hears it. The Buffalo are gathered at the top of the cliff, ready to move and trample over the town while the settlers that are able to fight are gathered at the barricades. The anxious and nervousness of the immediate battle already fills the air.
With my eyes, I see Little Strongheart lay a hoof on Chief Thunderhoof’s cheek, a way of saying ‘don’t do this.’ The chief sighs and doesn’t look motivated anymore in doing this. “*Gasp* He’s not gonna do it!” Me and everyone else sigh in relief.
Thank you Celestia.
“You got to shaaarrreee,
You got to caaarrreee!”
My eyes shoot open and I spot the Pink pony. “Ohhhhh, hell no!” I shout and I immediately charge towards Pinkie who’s in the middle between the town the Buffalo and doing that same damn song and dance that started this whole mess!
“It’s the right thing to do!”
Before she can continue, I’m on her… but she’s still singing!
“You got to shaaarrrre-!”
I silence her with a hand over her mouth. “Haven’t you done enough already?! I lightly shout in her face. She just gives me a stare. Whew… at least she stopped singing before-
“Chaarrrrrrrrrggge!!” Following the loud war cry of Chief Thunderhoof, dozens of stampeding hoofs trample the ground and make mini earthquakes. Me and Pinkie turn our heads to the side and watch as the Buffalo comes right at us. I quickly jump up and pull her up as well, “Get to the others and find somewhere safe! Go! Now!” I yell at her when she doesn’t first comply. She quickly begins booking it back to the others while I slowly back up away from the Buffalo. My slow movement soon turns into a full on sprint as I make my way to the sign of the town. With the Buffalo only a few feet behind me, pretty much determined to run my ass over, I jump up onto the sign of the town and quickly pull myself high enough up so that the Buffalo can’t hit me. The second I pull my elbow up, my heart beats just a little faster as I hear cracking noises. Looking down, I notice some of the Buffalo are grazing the signs supports, making it already start to topple. I get up and I run along the sign and jump off at the last second towards the water tower. Thankfully, the water tower is not within range of the Buffalo’s stampeding so it’s stable. I drop and make my way into town, hugging the wall until I find my friends huddled behind a table that’s acting as a door for the dead end alleyway they are in.
“This was not what I had in mind that would happen.” Pinkie says sadly.
“Heh, what was your first clue.” I say as I watch the ponies and Buffalo duking it out, I mean literally, some of them are actually duking it out while the settlers keep nailing buffalo with pies, huh.
“What are we going to do?!” Rarity whines loudly. I quickly turn back to shush her.
“Will you be quiet! If they hear us or see us then they’ll trample us all into mush with how close we are in here!” Looking up, my heart drops just a bit more as I notice some boards are layed out and about above, all with nails in them. No way is Rainbow or Fluttershy getting through that unless they want a few boards sticking to them.
“Well, what are we going to do, then?” Twilight sternly asks me. The fight’s still going on and there doesn’t look to be a winner on either side yet.
I turn back to Twilight, “I have no idea. We’re stuck here till everything cools down, and it doesn’t look like it’s letting up anytime soo-“
“Swift!!” Fluttershy suddenly yelps my name and points at me. At first, I’m confused so are the others, at least until they look at me as well. I turn around and my eyes widen to see a large Buffalo barreling directly towards us.
“Get back!!” I shout to my friends as I brace myself against the table. Like a train against a truck, the Buffalo impacts the table with all his might, piercing the table clean through with his horns, clipping me in the shoulder and sliding me further and further back until I am just a couple feet from my friends who are backed against the wall. I hold my own against the Buffalo as much as I can but it’s far more stronger than me in the muscle department.
“God… daaamnnnnniiiiit!” I strain as I try to hold Buffalo back. However, my actions are wasteful as I continue to slide back inch by inch.
Damnit! I can’t do this! He’s so much stronger than me. I can’t… fuck! Looking back at my friends, I see the scared look on most of their faces, including Twilight’s.
My eyes widen. Her eye’s… I’ve seen them like that before. An image flashes through my mind from this morning.
My dream.
She’s lying on the ground hurt, or dead.
Noooo.
I failed to protect her.
Nooooooooo.
It’ll happen again!
“Noooooooooooo!!!!” I yell loudly with anger and determination in my voice. My adrenaline pumps through me and my muscles tense up. My eye sight increases, allowing me to see the absolute details of anything I see, with my mind racing with details.
“I…” I push the Buffalo back with one steady step forward.
“Will not…” Another step is made.
“Let anyone…” Another.
“Hurt…” I take five more, much to the Buffalo’s surprise.
“My…” I’m continuously pushing him back.
“Friends!!! Raaaahhh!!” I let out a war cry and push the Buffalo clean out of the alleyway into a running speed. Before the Buffalo can react, I quickly grab his horns and use his momentum against him. I side step and help him send himself flying against a nearby. He smacks it hard, knocking him unconscious, almost toppling the pole down. I look around still see the battle ensuing. I reach over myself but I frantically pat myself in an attempt to find my bow. Damn, must have dropped it.
Looking around, I grab a plank off the broken table and ready myself. A buffalo charges at me. Just before he hits me, I side step and smack him hard into the side, sending him running straight into the side of building. He falls unconscious just like his friend from before. I look and spot a large group of ponies on the other side of the road from me with a large pile of pies and a good defensive barricade made of hay bales and wood. I aim just right, pull my arm back and send the wood plank I have straight into the pile of pies. They all topple over, rendering the ponies ammo useless. Now all they can do is just stay there and hold out. If I can exhaust both sides of their ammo and men, I can bring this battle to a close without a winner.
“Swift!! Look out!” I manage to hear Rainbow’s voice over the battle. I look around to try and find the danger she’s talking about, but I see none.
Suddenly, I hear a loud cracking sound. I look up and see the clock tower starting the fall, directly on me!
“It’s just not my day.” I jump out of the way in the last second before the tower falls. I lay on the ground a few good seconds, trying to get my bearings back together. I look up and spot Sheriff Silverstar throwing pies at Buffalo with pinpoint accuracy. “Damn, dudes good.” I mutter to myself.
I hear huffing sounds. Looking around, Chief Thunderhoof scratches his front hoof against the ground, preparing his charge, that’s aimed directly at the Sheriff. I can’t let him! Looking around frantically, I look for something to engage the Chief with. My eyes stop when I spot an intact pie amongst the pile I toppled over. Without a moment’s notice, and not being picky, I bolt over to the pile as the Chief charges. I grab the pie just in time to spot the Chief jumping into the air. “I don’t think sooo!” I yell as I reel my arm back and throw.
The pie fly’s through the air and hits the Chief square in the face. The force of the pie knocking him off his crash course of the Sheriff. As soon as the dust settles, all eyes are laid on the fallen Chief. An uncomfortable silence soon follows. Buffalo’s begin to cry as ponies take their hats off in honor of the fallen Chief. He’s not even moving. Did I throw it too hard? Damn. I don’t even know if I’m right, but Spike soon cry’s and grabs Twilight’s leg as my friends stand near the Chief Thunderhoof. I sit down and look away and sigh. Why can’t anything ever go good these days?
“Yum!”
“…” I look up and see the Chief standing on all fours with all the pie bits gone from his face. How the-?
“Hey, I’ve got a much better idea!” The Chief yells to everyone. Please let this be better…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m sure you already got the letter that Twilight sent, but I feel as I should send you this as a way of helping me better atone for my place here in Equestria. I have been plagued with dreams and nightmares that usually end the same way, with me or some of the others getting hurt because of how different this world is to mine, making me feel a bit of an alien to it, even though I’ve already been here for more than a few weeks.
What I’m trying to say Princess, is that I’ve been blind to ‘some’ of the similarities you have to offer me. The events that transpired today have opened my eyes enough for me to fully realize that I’m not as much an alien as I thought I was. In finding these similarities, I can safely say that I hope from now on that I can sleep peacefully at the thought of truly finding a place here, and that I can do my job without hurting anyone or anypony I care about in the process. I wish to thank you again Princess, for letting me stay here and find a place for myself here.
I promise you, as the almighty that watches over me, whether it’s you and your sister, or the one from my world, you will not regret ever making the decision to keep me alive.
Sincerely,
Swift Wind, Protector of the town of Ponyville, and Guardian to the Elements of Harmony.
“Thank you, Twilight.” I thank as I hand her the quill and roll up the letter. Tying the usual seal on it, I hand it to Spike, who blows a stream of fire on it and sends the scroll flying off to its sender.
“You’re welcome, Swift. Feel better?” I can’t help but smile as I stare out into the open orchard of the Apple family’s life. It was just a couple days ago that the ponies and Buffalo were at each other’s necks and willing to tear down an entire town in the process. But that one little throw I did, now both are happily together and coexisting peacefully together.
I look over at Twilight, “Way better.”
“Hey, Swift!!” Looking around I find the source of the voice is none other than Rainbow Dash.
“What is it, Rainbow?!” I shout back.
“Me and Little Strongheart here were planning on racing to see who’s the fastest. Why don’t you show us just how fast you really are?!” I smile at the proposition before me. In hind sight, I could probably keep up with just my legs alone, especially with my ability and all, but I haven’t really put much effort into my endurance and stamina. Looking down on my ride, I think, maybe now’s the time to really push this thing to it’s limits.
Placing my helmet back on, I rev up my engine a few times and twist myself so I’m aiming towards my friends. “Let’s see if you can keep up with human Ingenuity!” Not a second later, I peel out and fly right past Rainbow and Little Strongheart.
“Heeeyyy, no fair!” Dashes voice becomes a voice in the wind as I continue to travel forward. Looking to my right, Rainbow Dash easily catches up to me. To my left, Little Strongheart does the same a well. Looking forward, the sun is on the horizon and a clear road is ahead. Pulling the throttle again, a sudden burst of speed comes from my bike, propelling me faster. I pull up the front of it and go into a wheelie, feeling exhilarated and happy at the same time.
“Whhoooooooo-whooooo!!”
Not everything requires pain to solve an issue…