//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Of Dogs and Stars // Story: Of Blood, Skulls, and Friendship // by The Harvester //------------------------------// You know I've always liked the woods. Nice, quiet, and beautiful in an unknown, dangerous way. You could always count on a forest to be peaceful. "Fucking wolves!" I yelled, throwing the last one into the distance. A group of wooden wolves just burst from the undergrowth and attacked me...and failed horribly at that. Their teeth did jack shit against my skin and when they jumped on me, I barely felt them. They were also very weak; so weak that they can't even take a glancing blow. Seriously, even when they reformed into one big wolf, I just gave it a pimp slap and BAM! No more big wolf. After that, the rest just ran back into the forest while one had the smart idea to try one last attack and go for my groin. 'I should try to find a way to change me back to normal and get back home, but where the hell am I suppose to start?' I kicked a small rock hard enough to embed it into a tree. 'I remember there being princesses that have incredible magical powers, so maybe I could convince them to change me back and send me home.' A roar pulled me out of my thoughts, followed by a dog's yelping. A second later something small, white and fast shot out from the undergrowth and hid itself behind one of my legs as a very familiar cat bat jumped out. It roared, looking around for it's prey with narrow eyes, and then it saw me. It went from a big fierce predator to a terrified kitten facing down a Rottweiler in half a second, shaking under my glare. Deciding that I could have a bit of fun, I just said one word. "Boo." It let out fearful cry and ran in the opposite direction, a trail of piss following behind it. I laughed, making the leaves shake as I did before looking down at the thing near my legs. It was tiny, even smaller than those ponies, and standing on it's hind legs. It had a black coat and, oddly enough, had goggles just above it's small beady eyes; a contrast to the ponies' huge as fuck eyes. It bared a resemblance to pugs, if pugs could walk on their hind legs and wear goggles. It let out a sigh and then seemed to realize that the thing it was hiding behind was a leg, and slowly looked up. I saw a whole storm of expressions appear on it's face, and I just couldn’t help but say, "How's the weather down there?" "Just fine really," it, or rather he, said, sounding like he was in his late...teens years I guess? Then he just tipped over and fainted. 'Is everything I encounter going to faint or run way?' Deciding that if this bipedal pug could talk, then there was a good chance that it could have some information on this world. I picked up it’s tiny body in one massive hand and went to find someplace to stay. After a few minutes of walking, a thought just came to me. "How the fuck can I hear when I don't have ears?" Canterlot Castle. Celestia Celestia stared at the letter Twilight had sent her minutes before, and its contents deeply scared her. If what she read was right, then Equestria wasn't playing host to an alien, but rather a demon. She and Luna knew of such creatures, as they were often horribly twisted parodies of any sapient race. While very strong physically, most demons lacked magic and were often crazy berserkers incapable of any tactics besides charging head on at an enemy, only truly presenting a threat in large numbers. The small number of demons that could use magic were often very cowardly and would avoid direct battles. Still, one shouldn't underestimate a demon as they were capable of taking large amounts of damage before finally going down. The one that Twilight had described troubled her though. First, the demon arrived as a flaming meteor from the sky instead of going through the gates of Tartarus, meaning that it had somehow not only bypassed Cerberus, but the countless spells she and Luna had set up. This alone made her worry, as it meant that demons could leave Tartarus undetected. Second was the demon's appearance, as it didn't sound like any demon she fought before. Third was how it fought, as Twilight described in detailed that it fought like an experienced fighter and beaten a Chimera, an animal once native to Tartarus, without gaining a scratch. A demon that was both physically strong and skilled in battle; Celestia shivered at the thought. Not even Discord would fight a demon directly, as they were one of the few beings that could inflict permanent harm on him and alicorns. The spirit of Chaos found that out the hard way when he lost one of his fangs. "Captain Saber," the white alicorn called for the new royal guard captain, who took over after Shining Armor became prince of the Crystal Empire. She.was a unicorn that had a blond tail and mane with a light blue coat to match her eyes that shined with determination and courage. Her cutie mark was a star made up of swords crossing over each other which reflected her talent perfectly. A master at any sword of any kind; she even impressed Luna with her skills. Strong willed, outspoken, and sharp as any of her blades, Saber fulfilled the duties of the Royal Captain perfectly. "Yes Princess," she said in a military tone, standing at attention. "Prepare yourself for a mission to the Everfree to assist the Bearers of Harmony." Normally she would sent a five pony team, but Saber's skills in combat should be enough for this mission, not to mention the effects that the Elements of Harmony had on demons. Celestia was certain that once the demon saw the Elements, it would beg to be sent back to Tartarus. After all, the Elements of Harmony were toxin to demons of all kinds, and not even the most insane demons would test their might against them. Everfree Forest. Nick 'Well, I'm completely bored,' I thought as I sharpened a branch out of boredom. It turns out that my claws are sharp enough to cut through a thick branch like it was nothing. Currently, I was in another cave, just waiting for the pug to wake up so I could start asking questions. I also took a closer look at the little guy and saw that he was as skinny as a twig. I could see his rib cage, and his limbs were like toothpicks. I mentally promised myself that once I get my answers, I was giving this pug something to eat. "Oh, my head," he said, slowly waking up and shaking his head. "Uh where am I?" He sat up, looked around, and froze like a deer in the headlights of a car when he saw me. I saw him begin to shake and held up a hand. "If you're going to faint, then at least let me ask some questions before you do," I stated in a clear tone, and watched him nod. "Okay. First off, what's your name?" I wanted to make him more comfortable in my presence so that way he could answer my questions more clearly. He gulped and said, "G-Gizmo. Uh, I don't mean to sound disrespectful but..." He looked over my body with a fearful gaze. "What are you?" I mentally debated with myself for that question. Should I tell him that I was a human? Would he even know what a human is? Or should I play the part of the Skulltaker? Ah fuck it. I'm playing the part, and besides, no way it could come back and bite me in the ass later. "I am U'Zuhl the Skulltaker, and you are going to answer my questions," A few hours later, I was pleased with the information I had acquired. I started asking about Gizmo himself so he would be more comfortable, and it worked to a degree. I learned that he was a Diamond Dog, basically bipedal dogs with an obsession for gems, and was kicked out of his pack. "I always hated digging in the dirt. It made my paws dirty and messed up my books," he said. "Unlike other Diamond Dogs, I loved to learn, to read, and even tried my best to be polite!" Apparently Diamond Dogs weren't in the best light of other races, due to their practice of slavery. There were several reasons why he was kicked out of his pack; he hated digging, thought gems were just colorful rocks (technically they are), enjoyed tinkering with things and preferred an herbivorous diet. However, the last straw was when he set a couple of pony slaves free and he was forced to either be exiled from his pack or become dog meat. Honestly, I could feel where he came from. My group of friends were made up of the weirdos of society, those that didn't fit in anywhere else. We had bronies, otaku, cartoon lovers, gamers, goths, and so much more. All of us were different from each other, but that bond, the fact that we stood out, made us closer. Man, I'm missing them already. Among other things, I learned that the ponies were ruled by two princesses who could control the sun and moon (I still have trouble believing that), ponies were split into three types: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, with the first able to use magic, the second able to control the weather, and the last mostly dealing with the land. There were other races like dragons, minotaurs, zebras, and others. As I mentally promised, I went and hunted some deer, then skinned and cooked them over a fire I made during my questioning. Gizmo wasn't too keen on eating meat, but his empty stomach soon convinced him otherwise. "By the way, what's with that amulet hanging between your horns?" Gizmo asked, making me pause in taking a bite out of a leg. "Just something called the Alicorn Amulet, no big deal," I replied, and took a huge chunk out of the leg, bone and all. My teeth were just as sharp and as strong as my claws. I saw Gizmo narrow his eyes, doing his best to avoid mine. Turns out that my eyes made him feel like I was going to kill him. "I've seen the Alicorn Amulet in books before, and I don't think that's it." Wondering what he meant by that, I asked him to find me a gem so I could use it as a reflection. He protested a bit before doing so, finding large diamond that he needed two paws to carry, but was like a pebble in my grip. Still, it served it's purpose and I used it to look at the amulet. "What the fuck?" I stared at the amulet, or rather, the symbol that now hung between my horns. It was an eight pointed star with a golden skull that had large sharp teeth, four horns growing from it, and blood red eyes. On the forehead of the skull was a boxy 8. It was a symbol that I knew by heart, the chaos star of Khorne. '...So this amulet just went from pony princess to chaos star of Khorne,' I thought as I stared at the star. 'Sure universe, why not? What next, I'm going to fight Jacob Black from Twilight? Or maybe I'm going to meet Solaire from Dark Souls?' I shook my head and heard a yawn from Gizmo. "Alright, you go to sleep, and tomorrow you're taking me to that home of yours. I'm going to need a lot of books to learn more about this place. Got it?" He gave me a nod and laid on his stomach, paws under his head as a pillow, and just went to sleep. I went outside and stared at the night sky with a displeased gaze. It wasn't the moon or night sky that I knew by heart. All of the constellations that I knew weren't there. "I will find a way home, no matter the price." Unnoticed by Nick, the eyes of the star flashed a blood red for a second before returning back to normal.