//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Out of the Pan, Into the Forest // by SpikeShip //------------------------------// The wine was splendid, most would say that find themselves in this position, sipping delicately on finely crafted glass filled plentifully with perfectly aged wine made from the best grapes of harvest, aged beautifully while sitting on the couch in front of a roaring fire next to my wife, asleep, resting on my shoulder. It's times like this where I tend to look back on my life, remembering the good moments as well as the bad, to recant the stories of how I acquired my wealth, how I built my house, how I conquered and tilled the land to my desire, how I gained my reputation and power throughout the land, and how I was banished from the ponies who raised me, only to have them... you know what, why don't I tell you that one now. It all started many hundreds of years ago, back when Luna had just returned from her banishment, back when the crystal empire's resurfacing was the newest news, and back when Discord was temporarily released to try and do good... he he he, I remember that, it wasn't even a decade before he was entombed in stone again, and that was only after they found him. But back to the point, I was a lowly assistant, living by my guardian's means, the one who took me after the one who raised me decided it was best to live with my hatching mother, but I doubt she knew what that would entail for me. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, a very powerful lavender coated unicorn, in fact she was the Element of Magic. While she’s technically my ‘mother’ in that she hatched my egg, she’s more like a boss or guardian than family, mostly because she didn’t even see me after the day she hatched me until she requested an assistant to help her run the canterlot library, and even then she treated me like a slave. If it wasn’t for Celestia making sure I got payed for the work, I would’ve quit the first week I started working. But I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, she isn’t really a mean pony, she’s just lonely and not used to interacting with others, it wasn’t really until a month later that she asked me about myself, but since then we had become good friends, actually, I think I was her only friend until we moved to Ponyville. Oh, now that’s an old story, Celestia’s sister was trapped in the moon because she wanted to keep the world in eternal darkness, and when the stars aligned on the thousandth year, she escaped, kidnapped Celestia, and was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, lead by Twilight. You know, now that I think about it, the other five elements were the only friends I remember her having. Sorry about that, I tend to ramble on at times, do stop me when I do next time. Anyway, we lived in the town’s library, an old tree that was carved out to make room for books and living quarters, just a block away from the town square. It was a nice and cozy little place, the kind of place you dream of settling with your family to play, not that I saw most of it. No, a grand majority of the time I was forced to spend in the library, doing the Job that Twilight was supposed to be doing, in fact, the closest thing I remember her doing to work was rearranging the library once a year, while having me do it practically every other week, other than that, she only picked out books to “study” during every second she wasn’t either out with friends, sleeping, or eating, oh, who am I kidding, she’s been read while eating for years. So in every way other than in paperwork, I ran the library, I sort the books, I take care of the customers, I clean the shelves, I cook the food, I wash the floors, I clean the sheets, all with rarely a thanks from her, especially now that she had other friends, she barely had time to spend with me. But I could deal with that, a job’s a job, work is work, but I can’t say Celestia has been treating me any better. I used to talk with her every day, but then it got to every other day, then every week, but since we’ve moved to Ponyville, I’m lucky if she sends a letter that isn’t addressed to only Twilight. I can’t even say she remembers who I am, if she recalls the person that she raised with her own hoof, taught with her own words, even slept in her very bed when I was but a hatchling. But regardless of all that, I can’t say I had a bad life in the slightest, I had a warm bed to sleep in every night, even if it was a dog bed, warm food every day, again that I had to prepare, and a solid roof over my head, that I had to maintain. I was happy, I was at peace, I would’ve wanted this time to last until my final days, but it was not to be. The trouble started on an otherwise uneventful day, the sun was again shining brightly as it had done throughout the summer, the soft and gentle breeze brought a cool refreshing chill from the heat, the birds were out and singing graciously, while in the calm meadow which our story shall begin, a lone doe was feeding upon the grass, calmly chewing its food without any worry of danger, and why should it be? This was practically a safehaven for them, even though it is in the Everfree Forest, it was still far from any real threat, no manticores, no ursas, no hydras, only the rare occurrence of tinberwolves, and they were becoming more and more of a rarity. Yet even so, it would never rid itself from its cautious nature, to freezing in its place and gaze towards even the slightest sound or motion, which this doe does not hear. But unbeknownst to the doe, another creature was in the meadow that day, hiding in the nearby bushes with a similar, but far more sinister purpose, one that involved his razor sharp claws and vicious fangs. He was silent in his motions, learned over much practice and careful patience, moving only inches at a time, waiting for the perfect time to strike. The doe did not stand a chance, the beast struck as silently as it crawled, not a leaf was shaken by time it hit its mark, driving its fangs and claws into its neck, killing it instantly. Though this was not some snarling, mindless beast, it did not carelessly feed upon its prey as soon as it killed, no. As soon as it released the body from his jaws, he made sure it was no longer suffering in its demise, and after apologizing to its lifeless body, he carried as much as he could over his purple, scaled shoulders. Being no bigger than the body itself, he had to partially drag the body to a nearby stream, where the cover was much denser and it could finally quell his restless stomach in peace, even if he did not enjoy doing it, nor did he particularly like the taste, but he knew needed to do this. For months now he has been having occasional cravings, clenches and turns of the stomach that demand that certain kind of food, it didn't happen often, once a week if he only ate small 'meals', but each time he felt worse and worse, thinking about what his friends would think if they ever saw him like this, but he knew the cost of withholding his urges were far worse than the alternative. He still remembers that first week, the first time he had acquired this strange craving for something he could not pinpoint, but after attempting to quench it with various vegitables, fatty foods, gems, and even dirt by the third day, but it only seemed to get worse. He could barely sleep those nights, the pain was agonizing, excruciating, and even with Twilight's attempted help, nothing could be found in their library home to help, mostly due to equestria's absence of draconic knowledge. But something changed the fourth day, when he and Twilight went again to Fluttershy's house to see if she could help, and while both of the girls were talking, he had taken a look at one of her animals in a new light. He did not enjoy it, in fact he fought it most vehemently, but he knew then and there what he needed to do to sooth his pains: he needed to consume meat. Yet even knowing this fact, he desperately tried to search for another answer, desperate to escape this dilemma, that was until the sixth day of his torment, when he broke down, cringing in pain, until he shouted to himself, "ALRIGHT! I'LL DO IT!" Glad to know that his caretaker was out of the house at the time, he immediately ran out of the house, through the town, and into the forest, close enough that he would not get lost yet deep enough that he knew he would never be seen by anyone wishing to keep their hide from the forest's reputation. That's when his instincts kicked in for the second and final time in his life: his eyes slit, his breathing slowed, he crouched down, and almost slithered into a nearby bush. He silently scoured for any kind of motion, silently navigating through the brush and eying his first target, a cockatrice with its back turned to the young drake, allowing him to pounce undetected until his razor sharp claws and fangs were buried deep into the beast, killing it nearly instantly. It was only upon reflection that he knew how lucky he was on his first kill, mostly due to them almost never being found in groups outside of mating season, but also due to the fact that it was practically helpless without its gaze, which could've frozen his small body instantly. And it was only after sinking his fangs into the creature's flesh and wolfing down the first few mouthfuls of meat that he came out of his trance into a scene of disgust, though his stomach was still craving desperately for the meal, and he reluctantly satisfied it. But this meal would not be the same as those many others he regretted having, today he had an audience, one that held eyes of fear that even his most horrendous nightmares would not dare to show. The eyes that once held innocence, the eyes that spoke of the care this world could bring, the eyes of unfathomable kindness, were now shaken in unequaled fear and drowned in unfathomable sadness. But he did not see those eyes when they saw him, not for many pieces of flesh did he see them, if only for a moment. The eyes darted away as soon as he saw them, but he knew exactly what he saw, he saw the eyes of one of his ’friends’, the yellow coated pegasus who was known throughout the land for her unequaled kindness and care for others, but that was not the mare he saw today, he saw the eyes of a frightened mare, one that feared her very life was about to end as soon as their eyes met. He could only sigh in defeat, knowing this day would eventually come, but never that it would come so soon, he slowly finished off the carcass and bathed the blood off his scales and headed back to town with his head hung low, but took much longer in his distress, having forgotten the way back several times. “Mmmmmnn... Yeahhhh... m... mn... ah! Oh, good morning honey!” “Heh, good morning, sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?” “I always do with you as my pillow. What time is it?” “Almost time for dinner, you getting hungry? “For the food you make? Always.” “Alright, let’s go grab a bite to eat.”