The wounded Pegasus looked up at me with unnatural terror in her eyes.
“Don’t worry, as long as I’m here no more harm will come to you,” I promised her as I used my magic to close the gash on her left foreleg. I ran my free hoof over the rest of her body to magically check for additional injuries. “Two cracked ribs,” I gently lifted her wing to feel the joint, “joint has slipped slightly and there’s some tearing in the muscle.” I moved down the laying pony’s hind leg, “A break in the Metatarsal.” With each injury mentioned I surged a little magic down into the nerves alleviating the pain to some extent.
The creature that caused the injuries did nothing to stop me. It simply paced back and forth walking upright on its hind legs and keeping a keen eye on my proceedings. Its stare still held plenty of malice but even more interest in the magic I was performing on the poor Pegasus. I took my time trying to help the little pony and did my best not to let my own fear show.
“What do they call you?” I asked trying to sound unrushed.
“Rainbow Dash,” she answered through gritted teeth. I poured more magic into the nerves as it seemed the pain was still too high. I stroked her front leg where the gash had been and found the skin to be whole.
“So, you can fix what I can break and then let me break it anew,” the creature growled. I didn’t turn around right away as I didn’t want to show any weakness to the monster.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Rainbow Dash with a gentle smile and a pat on the foreleg. Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears and I winked to reassure her.
“I’m afraid your fun is finished,” I stated, finally turning to face the creature. The creature’s pacing went on uninterrupted as it noticeably looked me up and down as if analyzing if I was a threat or not. I was nervous as I hadn’t had the chance to really get a grip on my new powers, but I was also determined not to let any insecurity show. I knew the slightest slip could be fatal. I also knew I intended to keep my promise to keep Rainbow Dash safe.
The creature was unlike any I’d ever encountered, it stood on two legs, was covered in thick course mud-color hair, its bulging eyes were black and mirror-like and set underneath a very pronounced brow. Two small horns protruded on each side just above the forehead. The creature carried itself in a way that screamed confidence. The large knife in its right long-clawed paw looked comfortable as if it belonged there. The slight sneer only added to the self-assurance that oozed from the creature.
“You really mean to stop me, don’t you?” it asked amused. “I’ve stalked world after world creature after creature and it’s few and far between when there is someone who tries to stand up to me, but even more rare when someone as powerful as you crosses my path.” His pacing finally paused as his body straightened and he tilted his head back, looking down his broad nose at me. I noticed his claws playing on the hilt of the dagger, clenching and unclenching, not due to nerves but what I realized was sheer joy. Unnerving was an understatement, but I refused to let my resolve crack.
“You’re wrong,” I started, hoping my bravado would intimidate rather than anger. “You’ve never met anypony like me.” I took a step towards the creature accenting my words.
“Anypony!? How very peculiar. Even I can sense that this isn’t the form you’re used to.”
How did he know?
The surprise obviously showed on my face. “What? You thought I wouldn’t notice?” he laughed. “You’re clumsy. You don’t move with nearly the same easy grace as the rest of the inhabitants here, I can feel your magic surging and ebbing as if you can’t quite control it yet, and most telling of all is your uncertainty and fear.” My ruse had obviously failed. He tucked his knife into the sheath at his side. “Don’t worry I’m not going to kill you... yet,” he smiled a smile I imagine only the reaper himself should wear. “As I’ve said, someone like you doesn’t come along very often. I want to fully appreciate killing you, so I’ll give you time. Get used to your body or better yet, regain your previous form,” the smile continued. “We’ll have a battle that will impress and awe the Gods.” With that he turned and stepped into nothingness.
I knew I was standing sturdy but my insides were jelly. Is this the reason I’m here? To deal with whatever this creature is? I pushed the thoughts aside and turned to focus on Rainbow.
“So what were you doing in the middle of the Everfree Forrest anyway? I have to say I’ve not seen any ponies out here.” I poured healing magic into the Pegasus as I spoke.
“Just practicing my flying, perfecting moves.”
“Out in the middle of nowhere?”
“I don’t want to give anything away until they are completely awesome.”
“So how did you end up getting mixed up with... that monster?” I asked as I helped the shaky Pony to her hooves. She stretched her wings testing their strength and sturdiness.
“Psycho-job there? I heard strange noises and flew down to check it out. That monster attacked me from behind – Lucky on his part.” She took a step but was still weaker than she knew. I quickly got my head under chin just as her leg buckled.
“Lean against me if you need to.”
Her cheeks turned a crimson that stood out on the cyan Pegasus. She did everything to avoid eye contact as she leaned against me. “He moved fast once he had a hold of me and threw me against that tree there. That’s about when you showed up.”
“Hmmmm,” I tried to think on how I had happened to be in the right place at the right time which led to wondering how I came to this world in the first place, but I was soon distracted. I couldn’t help but notice how soft the Pegasus’ coat felt as she leaned into me. I could feel the toned muscle in her side expand and contract with each breath. I noticed how small she felt against me. I felt my face burning and hoped she didn’t notice. At least she had distracted me from my uncomfortable musings.
After a bit it seemed the magic had finally taken full effect and, to my disappointment, Rainbow moved away from me to walk on her own. “So what do they call you anyway?” she asked as she led the way.
“Fireblade,” I answered knowing my new name but not understanding how I knew it.
“Fireblade, hunh?” she glanced back at me as she continued walking. “Well Fireblade, where are you from? It’s just I haven’t heard of many Stallions who happen to be Alicorns.”
“Alicorns?” I was unfamiliar with the word.
“You know, the horn and the wings.”
“Oh, right,” I tried to play it off like as if I had of course known what she was talking about. “I’m from...” I was at a loss. I could tell her the truth about my origin let her know that I hadn’t been a pony all that long, I could make up a place and probably be caught in that lie pretty quickly, I decided on my third choice. “This might sound crazy, but I really can’t remember anything past a week or so ago.”
“What? Really!? Some type of amnesia?”
“Something like that I think,” I answered.
“So I’m guessing you don’t know anymore about that creature that attacked me than I do. That’s too bad.” She tilted her head slightly and looked back at me with a kind smile. “Don’t worry we’ll see if Twilight knows anything about the monster. She may have some ideas about your amnesia as well.”
“Right, sounds good.” I figured I just as well have help figuring out what it is I’m supposed to be doing here, and there was the added benefit of maybe spending more time with the young Pegasus. I knew it should be unnatural to feel attracted to her, given I wasn’t in my usual form, but I couldn’t help but think about how good she had felt next to me.
With Rainbow leading at a quicker pace we arrived at our destination shortly. As we walked through the town of Ponyville, Rainbow pointed out a few of the important buildings and such, but I didn’t hear much of what she said as I noticed that I was receiving odd looks from about every pony we passed, a few even giggled as we passed. I tried to make sense of it but couldn’t figure it out.
“Why is everyone looking at me so wierd?” I finally asked.
“Well, ummm...” Rainbow Dash blushed unexpectedly and looked as if she were searching for what to say. “Oh, here we are.” She seemed relieved to have the interruption.
The building she had stopped in front of was a large structure built into a tree. The red sign showed the building to be a library which we entered as I rubbed at my face thinking I must have something on it to get everypony to react so.
The smell of parchment and ink was heavy and the walls were lined with shelves filled with books. Books also were stacked around a small desk where a purple pony sat reading an open tome. Sitting nearby was a small dragon who looked up as we entered.
“Hey, Rainbow, who’s your friend?” he asked with childlike curiosity.
“This here is Fireblade,” Rainbow answered. “He could also be called the pony who just saved my life.” This got the purple pony’s attention as she finally looked away from her book.
“W-Wow!” she said after a short pause. “Saved your life? What happened? Are you alright?”
“Chill-out Twilight, I’m fine.”
Twilight still rushed to her friend’s side and proceeded to concernedly look her over. “What happened?” she repeated.
Twilight listened attentively as Rainbow shared the story of everything that had happened with incredible detail. After hearing the whole story, and once again making sure Rainbow was ok, she turned her attention to me.
“So, you healed Dash with magic? What did you do exactly? How did you do it?”
Her questions were asked with an inquisitive intensity and fervour for knowledge that made me slightly uncomfortable. I honestly didn’t have an answer for her. I looked to Rainbow for help, but when it was clear none was forthcoming I attempted to answer as best I could.
“I can’t really tell you exactly how I did it,” I answered honestly. “As I’ve already told Rainbow Dash, I can’t remember really anything before about a week ago. I don’t know how I ended up in the Everfree Forrest I just was there somehow. As far as the magic I used, it was more instinct than anything else. I just knew she was hurt and needed help and I kind of just knew what needed to be done.” I was answering truthfully but Twilight still looked speculative and unsure.
“I see,” she said. “Well, thanks for helping Dash anyway. I think the issue we really need to look at is who this creature that attacked you was, and why he seems to be so interested in you.”
“I agree, but I don’t really have anything to go off of. I was hoping I might be able to learn a little more here honestly.” I could tell that Twilight still didn’t completely trust me and I really wanted her to. “Listen,” I started, sounding desperate, “I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but I’m willing to do whatever necessary to figure it out.” I looked pleadingly at Twilight. “I’m just looking for whatever help I can get.”
Finally Twilight smiled at me and it was a smile that could melt Jack Frost. “You’ve definitely come to the right place.”