//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 Motives // Story: Not What I had Expected // by Frosthowl //------------------------------// Applebloom was sleeping right next to Aran by a large tree in the middle of the field. She crept as close as she could to the warm human. She was afraid of the dark and hoped that the human would wake up soon. Knowing that he would not harm her and would protect her, made her feel a lot safer. But she was curious though, what could have happened to him? He had several scars on his body and a still healing wound on his arm that he had suffered a few days ago after killing a wolf with his bare hands. He had a long and drawn out beard that old earth ponies had, hanging from his face. She wondered how old he could be if he had a beard like that, but most of all, she was curious as to what he looked like underneath. Applebloom looked up at the sky and wondered if Applejack was worried for her. Maybe coming with Aran wasn't the best idea after all. But there was no turning back now, she didn't know the way back home and even if she did, she wouldn't survive on her own. For the moment, the only thing she could do was to sleep and wait until tomorrow for Aran to wake up. *** Aran ran through the streets of Canterlot, he had killed his captors with his bare hands and literally tore them apart, but he couldn't let his chance for food get away, he tore into the necks of his victims, his hunger letting him force down the raw tough meat, gagging as he forced it down his gullet. He gulped down as much as he could, not wanting to deal with more guards, he was in no shape to fight a battalion of guards. However, fortunately for him, the streets were filled with captive civilian ponies who all screamed at the top of their lungs as they saw the hulking human approaching them. There were also a lot of Changelings that were performing some kind of spell on the unconscious guards. Even though there was an active invasion going on, only a few changelings dared to cross the human. But those that confronted him, experienced firsthand what he did to an entire unit of changelings. They were squashed, crushed, smashed or even ripped apart as they tried to shackle him to the ground, not realizing that their magic did not work against him. Aran, seeing that the ponies were losing did whatever he could. Even though this was an escape, he saw restaurants and bake-shops abandoned and a once in a lifetime opportunity to eat sweets again. His hunger had already driven him to eat raw pony meat, he was desperate enough to eat whatever he got his hands on. Smashing several windows and taking what he could, he quickly started to realize that the ponies were losing badly. The thought of his vengeance going up in smoke could not be ignored. Besides, these changelings were nothing against him. Fighting his way to the castle he eventually caught sight of a much bigger changeling laughing, talking and bragging about her victory. Aran was peeking through a key hole where he had seen something unexpected. Shining armor staring into the sky like the moron he was. Aran’s heart rejoiced to see the Stallion that had mistreated him for weeks on end, the thoughts of revenge bringing a much deserved smile to his face. The human had prepared to storm the door, but as he did, he could hear and see things unfurling. His eyes widened as he saw Cadence walking up to Shining Armor and hugging the inactive pony with tears sliding down her face. Aran had no idea that she was the bride's groom. Aran felt hesitant, he recognized the pink winged unicorn. She had brought him food in secret several times. Were it not for her, he would have starved to death. Though she was a pony, she was the most compassionate amongst them. However, the human’s internal conflict had to wait as suddenly a giant pink bubble sprung past Aran and impacted against the changelings sending them flying. He quickly ran to the closest window and saw that the ponies had been freed and a new protective ward had been set up. "Fuck!" He shouted out as he realised that any moment now, the castle would be swarming with guards. Revenge would have to wait for another day. He ran the same way he had came and as he left the castle premises several guards took notice, and began hunting him. *** Aran woke up in shock. Cold sweat seeping down his forehead as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. Though his senses quickly kicked in as he realized where the hell he was. He looked down to see Applebloom still sleeping and with a saddlebag full of vials and other items. What confused the human even more was the blanket on him and the filly. "What the fuck happened?" He asked in a hissing whisper to himself. Though one thing did receive his attention and that was the fact that he had bandages on his arm, Real bandages that he never could acquire. Aran scanned his surroundings and could place a guess that he was just by the border of the Minotaur planes and Equestria. But how did he end up here? Seeing that no one else was around, he reached over and peeked into the saddlebag close to the filly. Inside, were a few vials of colored liquids and some fruits and hay. Aran had no memory of ever seeing the filly with a saddlebag, or any vials for that matter. "Did this bitch roofie me?" He asked himself under his breath. But then he remembered what had happened just before he was knocked unconscious. "Oh yeah." Aran sprung up. He quickly took a closer look at the saddlebag and saw that it was of zebra origin. He had seen a few zebra's during his trades with Korvax, most that traveled were well-known as herbalists and hex-doctors. Aran stopped for a moment, knowing that the zebras had helped him out, though he was unable to pay back their kindness. He hated ponies with a strong conviction, though zebras were always very polite, generous and even helpful, especially the one in the Everfree forest. But the biggest mystery of them all was why the hell Applebloom decided to stay with him, even though they had foolishly slept in the wild, where any predator could have killed them in their sleep. Though he couldn't complain. He had been unconscious for a while guessing from all the help that he had been given. Though what was he going to do now? Steal the supplies and leave while the filly was sleeping or just wait for her to wake up? He didn't have any obligations to stay, though he didn't have an obligation to save her in the first place, it was very stupid of him risk his life to save the filly. Aran did remember being poisoned, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how, he did have images in his mind of snake vines that could possibly be the source of the poison, but a bite from them should be lethal. However, he quickly assumed that the Zebras probably provided an antidote to counteract the poison’s toxin. Now that he thought about it, it would also explain the vials in Applebloom’s bag. He also remembered jumping into the river from a waterfall. If that was true, then it was most likely Applebloom who got the zebras’ attention in the first place. He continued to stare at the filly, contemplating her. But that still didn't answer his own question. Why did He save her? *** "Princess, did ya find mah sister!?" Applejack asked with tears swelling in her eyes. She had been worried all night about Applebloom. After Shining armor had been brought from the forest, every second had felt like an eternity for her. "Calm yourself, Applejack. I know for a fact that your sister is still alive and I promise you that we will return her safely, as soon as possible." Celestia said, one of her hooves pawing at the ground. "Princess, what happened? We all heard an explosion coming from the forest. Is my brother alright?" Twilight was looking nervous and upset, some of her mane sticking up in places. Celestia stiffened. "From what I was told by your brother, Aran demanded that one of them should drink the water that they had brought for him, because he was afraid that it was poisoned. Though one of my lieutenants took a sip, he was still not satisfied and went for the attack. As for your brother, Twilight, he is in the Canterlot hospital at the moment and will be fine. He is only suffering from a minor concussion and a few bruises, he should be out of bed in a day.” Celestia then scowled as she said, “Only he and another guard made it." "Princess Celestia, how come your guys can't take him down?” Rainbow Dash flew closer to the princess, an upset look on her face “I mean its like twenty against one. He doesn't look so tough!" She raised both her hooves in the air in exasperation. Celestia gave Rainbow Dash a stern look. "You have no idea how wrong you are. His kind are the dominant species on his planet. Despite their lack of obvious advantages, no fangs, venom or magic, they tamed their savage world with an iron will and a constant desire to dominate. Aran is just one of the seven billion humans who live on their planet." All the ponies were shocked to find out this new information about Aran's world. The thought that there were even more of his species, but rather, seven billion humans frightened the mares. The human’s population was several hundred thousand times greater than that of Equestria’s. It was terrifying to imagine what would happen they ever formed a gateway to Equestria, the ponies wouldn’t stand a chance against such ferocious creatures. "Princess, how do you know so much about him and his world?" Twilight asked, still reeling from the information. There was a brief silence before Celestia decided to answer. "When we first arrested Aran, he refused to cooperate with us. My sister and I were very worried what this new species was capable of, and whether or not they came here with a purpose. Since I was left with no other choice, I searched for my answers in his mind.” Celestia looked a little guilty, admitting to probing Aran’s mind, but continued with her tale. “At first I used relatively harmless mind vision spells, but as his body started to build a tolerance against the simple spell, we were forced to use more drastic measures, that had a few side effects...like memory gaps. We learned everything about him and his complete knowledge of his own world. Every private thought, every opinion, and every dark secret that he clung on to. But the end result was that he barely even remembers himself, what he is, and who he used to be. All he remembers now, is his hatred to ponies in general. "Princess..." Twilight was at a loss for words, shocked by Celestia’s secret and treatmen of the human. "I did what I had to, I do whatever is necessary to protect Equestria, I bear the guilt for what has happened to him, and I am responsible for what he has done, So it is up to me to stop him." Celestia raised her head a little higher, gaining a determined look. "How will you do that?" Applejack asked. "I...I don't know. It is true that without magic, we are practically defenseless. My only course of action is to watch his movements, and wait for him to make a mistake. I will not send any more of my guards to face him head on, it would be too dangerous and I won't risk anymore lives." "But...But what about my sister!?" Applejack asked anxiously. "For the moment, we must only the hope that he will keep her safe, despite what Aran is, I doubt he would hurt a filly. He would have nothing to gain or benefit from that, the only problem is that if he chooses to protect her." *** Aran traversed the jungle alone, in hopes of finding food, he didn't need to find fresh water luckily. The Zebra's were kind enough to send them away with a water pouch that could last a day’s worth of travel. Aran had to be careful though, without a weapon, he was at a great disadvantage. He stopped to mourn the loss of such a good axe. It had weighed almost nothing but had packed quite the punch. Despite his losses, though, he carried on to find any meat or fruit in the jungle. Half an hour passed by and he had found nothing. Aran slapped himself across the face as he had wasted precious energy and time, with nothing to show for it. He turned around and made his way back to the grassy plains that he had come from. As he started walking back, he heard the rustling of foliage and sticks snapping, something was following him. Reacting naturally he turned around and started walking backwards, keeping track of where he was going whilst at the same time keeping an eye out for any possible predators. Aran stopped moving as he could hear steps of some kind very close to him, though it was hard to pinpoint where it was coming from with all the exotic birds squawking above him in the trees. Closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, Aran waited for the creature to take another step. Hearing the brushing of leaves and sticks being crushed to his left, Aran immediately pounced on whatever was following him without a second thought. He and his prey quickly fell on the ground together as he firmly grabbed the neck of what he quickly saw was none other than his 'favorite' princess, Cadence. Aran however, had enough experience to know that he should never let his guard down, no matter who it was. He did not say anything and just stared intently into her blue eyes with his bloodshot brown ones. Several seconds passed and the killing silence became an awkward one. "Well, aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?" She asked bluntly. "If I've learned something from my recent encounters is that every single one of you ponies are untrustworthy. But I guess you of all ponies wouldn't come alone to a place like this unless it was absolutely necessary." Aran loosened his grip on Cadence’s neck and stood up at his full height again. "I'm guessing you are here because of the spanking I gave your husband last night, and if you're wondering, yes he cries like a bitch." Aran smirked. Ignoring the jab, Cadence stared at a small necklace with a small blue half heart symbol. "I remember when I gave this to you." She pointed towards the necklace. "It was after my third visit. You were lonely and upset over how you had nopony to talk to. I gave you this necklace so that we could talk, whenever you felt sad or lonely.” Cadence gained a sad look in her eyes, but then quickly glared at Aran, “But now I need to talk to you. About what you have done." "You have a lot of nerve coming here and asking to talk to me. I waited for weeks for you to activate it for me so that we could talk. Every night I waited for you to ask me how I was doing or if I was holding out alright, I thought I could count on you to be a... an acquaintance." "You killed twenty-two guards on my wedding day! And besides, I wanted to ask you about what happened during your escape. The guards reported that you came out of the castle when they started chasing you. I want to know what you did there." "I have no obligation to answer that, I also have no obligation to keep you alive." He spoke coldly, glaring at her. Cadence was not affected by his threat. "You have no obligation to not answer. And I’m well aware that you have no obligation to keep me alive. Yet here I stand." "Then what the fuck is stopping me from tearing you apart!?" Aran shouted out in confusion. "Maybe its because despite my absence, you still think of me as a friend?" "You're funny, I have no friends, all I have is enemies like Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor and anyone that gets in my way. Even you are no exception from that rule." "Then why didn't you when you had the chance!? I know that you could have killed Celestia and Shining armor during the invasion. There were several dead changelings everywhere outside of the ceremony hall that had your name written all over it." "You're really pushing the limits of our relationship here,” Aran growled out. “I was out of time and I knew that any moment the castle would be swarmed with guards." "Didn't you just say that you would kill anyone in your way?" "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" Aran shouted out from the top of his lungs his face red with anger. "Do you want me to say some bullshit confession about how I couldn't kill Shining, because he was your fiance? Were you afraid that if you told me that you out of all ponies would marry that asshole? Maybe you were afraid that I would hate you if you told me. But you can only imagine how I felt when I found out that you were the one getting married.” He jabbed a finger at Cadence. ”And no, I didn't let that piece of shit live because he was your fiance, I let him live because I repaid my debt to you, meaning that, all the kindness you had shown me, all the times you had brought me food in secret, I weighed my hatred towards Shining armor with my appreciation of everything you had ever done for me!" "So where does that leave us?" Cadence asked, a little frightened at his outburst "There is no 'us'. You and I are not friends and I showed no mercy when that dickhead showed up at my house the other day. I only let you live because a small part of me still cares for you. ” He trailed off a bit, realizing what he was saying, before once again glaring at Cadence and continuing,” But make no mistake, if I ever see you or Shining armor again, I won't hesitate for a single second." Aran turned his back on the alicorn and made his way out of the jungle without looking back. Cadence tried her best to not cry over the loss of her friend, but even if she did not shed tears, it still hurt a lot. "Have it your way..." And like that, she disappeared in a flash. Aran went back to the grassy plains, trying to repress the twisting feeling in his stomach. “What the hell am I going to do with Applebloom?” he contemplated aloud. “Do I steal her stuff and be on my way? Or do I kill her quickly so that she doesn't have to suffer.” He stopped walking and rubbed his eyes as he had no idea what he was going to do with her.