“What in Tartarus happened here?!” Twilight huffed her breath in both disgusting astoundment and bitterness. The Ponyville jailhouse was a mess, and not by an abundance of misplaced junk, but by the bodies of two bleeding stallions.
Fluttershy could only whisper to herself, “Oh-oh my…” She shivered in place at the gruesome sight. It took every ounce of bravery, of what little she had, just to stay by her friends.
Celestia held her posture and her head high, but it was all a well practiced ruse. Internally, she was in great pain. It’d had been so long since she’d ever seen one of her ponies get into a heavy conflict like this. Then and now, it always brought ache to her heart to see any one of them hurt.
Rarity on the other hoof, didn’t ride the emotional roller coaster like the rest. Instead, she joined the two guards in unconsciousness; falling faint onto the cold floor. Fluttershy quickly took the opportunity to divert her own attention. She tried to wake her friend by tapping her cheek and whispering her name along various things about clothes and dresses.
Twilight was quick to recover from the shock and rushed to pegasus. She picked his head up from the small puddle of blood and gently tapped and shook it, trying to wake him up. Celestia kept herself calm and slowly walked into the room. Fluttershy kept her attention to Rarity. After a few moments, the pony’s eyes finally opened up.
Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. He was alive. Twilight made a quick inspection of his head; the skin had been ruptured and the skull seemed fractured.
At first, his eyelids were half shut, and the iris lazily floated from one side to another. After a few seconds, the concept of true consciousness finally reached him, and his eyes shot open along with a quick gulp of air upon realizing who was just in front of him.
“Oh, Princess.”
“Oh good, your awake. Are you alright, can you tell me your name.”
“Umm…” The pegasus took a while pondering the simple thought. He lifted his head upwards and stared at the ceiling. Had he not been in Twilight’s hooves, he would’ve fallen back onto the floor. “Hhmmmm, wasn’t it Sticks?”
The caring and motherly side of Twilight seemed to have taken over, “It’s okay, I’m here. You’ll be fine Sticks, but we need to get you to the hospital.”
The pegasus waved a hoof, “Oh you’re just a concussion, my highness. I’ll be ring as rain in some time at all!” Only one side of his face grinned.
“No, no! You’re going to the hospital and that’s that. “Twilight turned to the earth pony. “Now what about your friend?”
Sticks turned to look at his fallen comrade. “Oh Stones? He’s ummm…“ Stick’s head leaned to one side and nearly fell on the floor again. “…umm, I don’t really know. HEY STONES, what’re you doing?!”
The earth pony didn’t move.
“STOOOOONES!!”
Stones remained unconscious.
Twilight nearly had a panic attack at the thought. Is he dead? No, no, he can’t be. He’s just unconscious, right?
she needed to…she needed to…
Twilight’s worries were cut short when Celestia walked to the other fallen guard. She lowered her head, and taped her horn on the body. Stones instantly glowed in a deep yellow aura. After a few seconds, the glow disappeared, and Celestia lifted her head. Even the princess couldn’t hide her relief.
She smiled and turned to Twilight, “He’ll be fine, but not if he stays here.” Celestia’s horn glowed again. This time, both of the guards were enveloped in the solar aura. They were lifted into the air and hovered behind their princess as she made her way to the jailhouse door. “I’ll take them to the hospital, but you should be the one to find your new friend.”
Twilight took a step back in surprise, “Me? But princess, I’m not a guard, and we don’t have the elements of harmony anymore. How can I capture Dave when he’s powerful enough to do all this? Princess, I don’t want to see anypony else get hurt. Wouldn’t it be best if we just let him be?”
“Twilight, I didn’t mean to force him into custody, we can already see how that turned out. I think this would actually be perfect practice for your position as a princess.”
“How?”
“Instead of forcing him to co-operate, try to be kind and convince him. Whenever possible, a princess should avoid using force and use her words instead. A princess should always lead in a way that says ‘obey, and I will reward you’, rather than ‘obey, or I will harm you’. By doing so, you will bond with your subjects and create harmony for your land. Do you understand, Twilight?”
It took a moment for Twilight to process it all, but her mind was quick, and it did make sense. She lightly nodded her head, “I understand, Princess.”
Celestia smiled, “Good, I’ll leave it to you then.” With that, she left the jail house with the wounded in tow. As she left, Rarity finally came to.
Rarity shook her head a little, “That was undoubtedly the most awful and gruesome scene ever!” She let out a sigh, “But I do hope those stallions will be alright. By the way, where ever did they go?”
“Celestia took them to the hospital. Come on girls, let’s go!” Twilight wrapped Rarity in her own magical aura, lifting her off the ground and on her hooves. Rarity wobbled on her hooves.
After making sure Rarity wouldn’t fall over again, Fluttershy spoke up. “Twilight, are we really going after Dave?”
Twilight’s head was high and her voice was firm. “Yes we are.”
Rarity interrupted, “Excuse me darlings, but who is this ‘Dave’ we’re apparently going after.”
THUNK!
To everypony’s surprise, Fluttershy raised a hoof and smacked the side of Rarity’s head. She wore a deep frown. Her eyes glared heavily at the white unicorn.
Rarity rubbed a hoof against the sore spot. “Oww! Fluttershy, what has gotten into you?”
Fluttershy’s frown deepened. “Dave is the human you and Rainbow Dash brutally attacked!”
Rarity’s eyes opened in shock. “Do you mean that creature that attacked us inside Applejack’s barn and held you by the throat? Why in equestrian would we want to be involved with that uncivilized thing? Furthermore, you’ve named it?!”
“I didn’t name him, he already had a name. Rarity, he can talk, and he’s just as smart as you or me or any other pony.”
“I know that, but what about what it did-“
“HE! Dave is a HE!”
“Fine, what about what he did at the barn. Fluttershy, what if he just attacks you again? What if he attacks some other pony or even a foal at that?”
“He won’t. Not out of the blue or for the fun of it.”
“Well, how do you know?”
“Remember when we were in the Everfree Forest when Nightmare Moon came back?
“Yes.”
“Remember that manticore that ‘attacked’ us?”
“Yes.”
“It’s just like that. Dave wasn’t really trying to hurt us. He was horribly hurt. He was hiding in the barn. And you know what we did?”
Rarity said nothing.
“We followed his trail of blood. Rarity, don’t you understand? We hunted him like a pack of timber wolves. So of course he tried to fight back. He was out numbered and too hurt to run away.”
Rarity stared to stare at the floor, contemplating the thought.
“Look at me, I don't have a single scratch! He didn’t want to hurt me; he just wanted to get away.”
Rarity lifted her head. At first, her eyes were wide again in surprise, but every feature on her face fell in sorrow. “I-I’m sorry Fluttershy, I never thought of it that way. I just wanted you to be safe.”
Fluttershy sighed and smiled. “It’s ok, Rarity. But you’re still right; he could end up hurting some ponyelse.” Fluttershy made her way to Twilight and the door. “Let’s go, before it’s too late.”
Fluttershy left the jailhouse; Rarity followed. Twilight waited an extra moment. She listened closely to the conversation, and made her own conclusions. Fluttershy had a point.
Maybe this all just started on the wrong hoof. Maybe I really should try to just talk to him. Maybe Dave isn’t so bad after all.
Maybe… we can all still be friends…
===
My sides ached and stung. It took a while, but I finally made it. Granted, I had no idea were to look, and I was trying to avoid undue attention, but I made it. I was standing in front of the wooden cottage what I’d woken up in only yesterday. Now that I had a minute to observe, I had to admit the landscaping and decorations were amazing.
The house had an earthy feel to it, but was probably because either the roof was made of grass or the cottage itself was half buried. Along the walkway was a bridge crossing over a very small creek. I noticed there was a skinny tree that was just full of bird houses, as well as several animal burrows in the area around the house. Though impressive, none of it was any concern to me; right now I had to get inside. I got little lucky; the front door was in fact a Dutch door, and the top halve was wide open.
Still holding my wound, I reached over like a burglar to unlock the door. To my surprise, it was already unlocked. That was another odd thing about this house, but I wasn’t complaining. I stepped inside without difficulty. I was about to make my way up the stairs, but I caught something in the corner of my eye. Before I could think otherwise, I swiveled right towards the kitchen, arms up and ready for another fight.
But my supposed combatant was not looking for a fight. She, I think, had her backed turned to me. On the counter in front of her and on the wagon beside her, was a large set of chemistry tools, beakers, flasks, and many colored chemicals. She was using her mouth to swiftly grab and pour various mixtures. She looked like she was cooking up drugs, and it smelled like it too.
This pony was different from the ones I’ve seen before. Unlike the others, she didn’t have a single color, but rather was white with black stripes. I also noticed the hair style was new to me. Instead of a free flowing mess of hair, this one was much shorter. It stood on end and was stripped in the same pattern as the rest of the body. It reminded me of a Mohawk. But now that I had a second to think, it looked less like a pony and more like a miniature zebra.
I didn’t know if she was friend or foe, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I slowly stepped closer, intent on keeping the element of surprise. But it seemed I never had it. I made a silent step into the kitchen, but her voice nearly made me jump.
“It is nice that you finally came. I am nearly ready with the potion to ease your pain.”
I kept my guard up and remained silent, trying to figure out what she was doing. I kept my eyes on the chemicals, wary of what she was doing with them. For all I knew, she was making a bomb. It was too risky to attack. No, I’ll just let her made the first mistake.
She put down her beakers and twisted her head to face me. “I can sense all of your hate; you should let it go, before it’s too late.” She returned to her giant chemistry set.
I relaxed, but only a little. I said, “What are you doing, and what did you mean by a ‘potion’?”
“Your friend is a delicate flower bud, she cannot stand by and watch flowing blood. For my help, she made a call, so I am here to heed her squall.” She grabbed one flask filled with some sort of deep yellow liquid. She threw he head back and sent the bottle airborne towards me. It wasn’t a difficult catch, what was difficult was trying to figure out what this stuff is.
She continued with her work and the conversation, “That potion is meant for you; it will make your body as good as new.” I continued to stare at the potion. All of this was hard to believe.
“I see your thoughts within your eyes; you find as much truth as a pig that flies. If you do not trust my work, give it back, and I’ll show you I’m not a lying jerk.”
I took a moment to think, and stared at the flask in my hands. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about the false legitimacy of what she was saying, but I’d already seen few impossible things like talking ponies and magic. So, potions? Why the hell not?
I tossed the flask back to the zebra. She caught it within her mouth. She put the potion back on the table and took up something else. She turned around and extended her leg, as if she was pointing at me. She now had some sort of scalpel in her mouth. With little warning, she jerked her head and slashed at her own leg. Fresh blood fell freely from the wound and stained the fur all over her leg.
Surprised was an understatement for me; it must’ve hurt like hell! The zebra, however, was not fazed by the wound. She just turned around, and put the scalpel back on the kitchen counter. She then took the cork off the flask I’d given back to her, wrapped her lips around it, and tossed her head back, taking a sip.
One again, surprise was an understatement. She turned around and extended her wounded leg for me to see. Every drop of blood was retreating into the wound. I couldn’t help myself getting closer to watch it. Within seconds, the wound had completely healed. The whole procedure looked like she was bleeding in reverse. I took a closer look at her leg. There wasn’t even a scar or a single hair out of place.
Now I wanted that potion, whether it was given to me or stolen by me. I reached over her, not a difficult task considering her height, and took the flask off the counter. I spoke a half-serious ‘Thanks’ as I turned around and left the kitchen.
As I neared the archway into the living room, she called out to me, “You are not just something new; to say you are from anywhere near would not be true. Before you go and say adieu, tell me, who are you?”
I stopped for a moment to think. Not many people ever ask me things, so I wasn’t sure how to respond. Truthfully, I didn’t want to tell her my name. Considering the things I was planning to do, the less people or ponies that know me, the better. So I turned my head and said, “Don’t worry about that, you’ll know about me soon enough.”
I immediately made my way up the stairs and into the bedroom. The zebra hadn’t said anything else to me, and I didn’t want to linger around any longer than I had to. I opened the small door, and instantly I could see my armor just where I left it. I set the potion down on the floor and got dreseed. I took each piece and plate from that pile at the foot of the bed and equipped them one by one. Every second that went by made me look more and more like the monster that I originally came here as; like the monster I planned to be when I was done with those two ponies that attacked me. Luckily, every piece was accounted for, including my bandana and shades.
With my gear now in check, I pocketed my potion and made my way downstairs. To my surprise, the kitchen was now completely empty. The zebra, the wagon, and her huge assortment of chemicals were now completely gone. I stuck my hand in my pocket. If I hadn’t had that potion with me, I might’ve assumed that was all some sort of illusion. I took a closer look at the kitchen counter. There wasn’t a single bit of evidence that the zebra was ever even here.
*grrrrrouuuu*
That was my stomach. Now that I though about it, I haven’t eaten anything since that salad this morning. I opened the nearby fridge to look inside. There was an assortment of various fruits and vegetables, but that was it. Then again, it’d be weird if herbivorous ponies did have meat in their fridges. I was used to eating unpleasant food, but I wasn’t fond of carrots. I kind of like lettuce, so I took two stalks of them. I stuffed one in my free pocket while I munched on the other. I closed the fridge and made my way out the door.
As I left, a thought came to mind. Didn’t that house not have electricity? In fact, didn’t every house in this town looked like something from middle-age Europe? Hell, all those houses had roofs made a straw, too. Now that I recalled, there was a stove in that kitchen as well as a fridge. I rolled my eyes and quickly tossed the thought. I filed it all under ‘impossible stuff that happens here’. I can’t afford to be distracted now.
Number one of the checklist: Done!
On to number two; time to get my blade back.
***
I remembered that barn was in the middle of an apple orchard. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, most of the outlying regions of this town was farmland for apples. It took me a while to find a hill big enough to find that barn, and even longer still to get to that barn. By the time I found it I already finished both my lettuce stalks. I made no delay getting inside. It had a latch, but no real lock, so getting in was no challenge at all.
To my right, I recognized the many barrels of apples. To my left, I could see all the tools still neatly place near or on the wall. I even recognized the ledge I waited on and the cart I jumped down on during the attack. I looked around through the dust. My knife wasn’t here. I looked around again and found nothing. Frustrated, I stormed out of the barn. I looked around and found a farmhouse on the next hill. Maybe they own the farm. Maybe they have my knife. Maybe I’ll go ask for it.
I jogged over to the farmhouse. As I got closer to the front door, I stretched my shoulders and cracked my knuckles. I never said I was going to ask nicely. I knocked on the door a few times.
A high pitched southern accent called back, “Who is it?!”
I paused for a second, telling them who I am wouldn’t be good. I didn’t answer, and knocked on the door a few more times.
“Uuugh! Ah’ll get it!!”
After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal an extra small pony. It had yellow fur and red hair as well as an oversized crimson bow. It looked at my knees, and then slowly reared its head as it looked up to my face. I could see the terror washing over its face. It made a loud ‘eep!’ as it tried to slam the door on me, but it was too late. I already had my foot in the door, and under my bandana, I was grinning.
I slammed my shoulder into the door, forcing it open and knocking back the smaller pony. Before it could run away, I quickly reached down and picked the little thing up. It kicked and thrashed at me, or at least as much as it could. Its small legs couldn’t faze me. Like the child I assumed it was, it called for help, “Big sis, Big Mac, HEEELP!!”
Immediately I could hear hooves pound rapidly at the floor as two more ponies came to the smaller one’s call. An orange one with a rancher’s hat came down the stairs, and a larger, bulker, red pony with a hammer in his mouth came from the back of the farmhouse. They were both very angry at me.
The orange one, the sister I assumed by the size, yelled at me first, “Put Applebloom down now or Ah’ll-“
“You’ll what?! You’ll spend the day putting all her bloody limbs back together?!”
The orange one froze, but the red one slowly stepped towards me. I wrapped my hand around the back of my hostage’s small neck and out stretched my arms so they could its face. I tightened my grip around its neck until I could feel and hear its body beg for breath.
"Ga-aah-uug-ag-"
“Step back or it doesn’t get to breath.” The large red pony stopped its advance. I could see the rage in it intensify further as it slowly stepped back. As he did I slowly released my grip. “Now that’s a good pony.”
I grinned under my mask again; this time I had the advantage. “Now, on to business. I’m sure you’re aware of the…incident that happened in the nearby barn yesterday.” I turned my head towards the orange pony, “In fact, I believe you were there. You see, I lost something of mine in that barn and I’d like it back or at least know where it is. It’s a black blade.”
The orange and the red pony both looked at each other. The red one nodded at the other. The orange one then put her hoof in her blond hair and seemed to be digging something out of it. Sure enough, with a ‘clank’, my knife fell out of it. The pony kicked it back to me with a hoof, sliding it across the floor. I reached down to pick it up with my free hand, careful to keep my hostage high and off the ground. I put the knife back in its sheath at my waist.
“Ah’ll right, your got ya stupid knife back, now let our sister go!”
I let out a hardy laugh, “Hahahahaaa! Why? So you can jump me as soon as your friend is safe? No. I’ll take her with me for a mile or so and then let her go. I won’t keep it longer than I have to; it’s just dead weight to me. But if I see someone so much as look in my direction, I’ll just kill her on the spot.”
The two ponies tried to keep their gaze, but I can tell fear and worry was getting to them. “So how do we know ya won’t just kill ‘er anyway?”
“You don’t.”
The air immediately silenced and stiffened all around us. It wasn’t broken until several moments later when knocking came at the front door. I whispered, “Answer it; if you raise any suspicion, you know what I’ll do.” I raised my hostage over my head, well out of reach of its siblings, and walked past them into the kitchen area in the back, out of sight to whoever may be at the door.
I rested my back against the kitchen wall. I know somebody was at the door, but I didn’t pay attention to what was being said. I gave more focus to the little pony in my hands. It twisted it around and changed my grip. My hands now held the front of its neck, so that now I could get a good look at its face. It had red and orange eyes that were brimming with terror.
“You know, you’d make a good pet.” The little pony eyes started to water and tear up. I brought my face closer to it and almost whispered to it, “If you scream, I’ll hack your jaw off.” Its eyes shut and tears began streaming down its face, but at least any screams were reduced to tiny whimpers and whines.
When the little pony opened its eyes, it shifted suspiciously to the right. I turned by head, trying to see what –
THUNK!
Something impacted my head and sent me to the floor. My little hostage tried to run, but I kept my grip on it. My head hurt like hell, but I got up as quick as I could to face my new assaulter. It was another pony; an obviously elder one at that. Her fur was green, and her gray hair was made in a bun. The sagging wrinkles and thin muscles showed obvious signs of advanced age. She stood with a walker and held a large frying pan in her mouth. She didn’t look happy at all.
“I ‘ant gonna let ya eat ma gran’daughter, ya fancy varmit!”
I clenched my fists in anger and even started chocking my hostage again. I was ready to charge and just beat this old granny when I something colorful in the corner of my. I turned my head to see it, and realized that the tables have turned.
Things went bad fast!
It turns out I was knocked out of the kitchen and into the plain view of every other pony. At the door were three of the same ponies I first saw in that barn. I instantly recognized the white one, one of the ones I wanted dead. There was also that purple one, but I forgot her name. And the last pony was…Fluttershy?
There were too many of them. The advantage I had with the hostage evaporated. I was ready to just snap the damn thing’s neck and run for it, but something inside me wouldn’t let me. Something about Fluttershy, something about the fact that she was watching made my muscles freeze. Why was this so hard all of a sudden? I’ve killed dozen of times; I’ve even killed plenty with my bare hands. But right here, right now; it’s just an animal, but I…I just couldn’t. I owe her so much; I can’t do this in front of her.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I had no time to fight myself; so I took the little pony in my hands, and pitched it as hard as I could. It went flying through the air, screaming all the way, towards the ponies at the door. I didn’t even give myself time to see where it landed; I had already spun around and bolted to the other end of the house.
To my luck, there was a back door. I didn’t plan to stop to unlock it. Instead, I twisted my sides and angled my shoulder to the door. I lowered my head and shut my eyes, ready to impact.
The old door had no chance.