And they shall know no fear

by Naroe_Clan


Chapter 8: fighting and friendmaking

I stop in between the house and the forest, standing there as I close my eyes. I steady my heartbeat as I breathe in. I notice everything in the world around me as I breathe out and open my eyes.

The racing hearts of a family of mice trying to be unnoticed. The smell of fear-sweat from a rabbit that fled moments ago. The eyes of six manticores staring hungrily at me and the leaves set loose by a wyvern amongst the treetop, waiting to scavenge their kills.

I breathe in once more and spring forward as I breathe out, upon the beasts before they can react. My sword swings to the right and up, slicing a scorpion tail in half. My spare arm reaches to the left to grab a tail as it plunges for my neck. A simple squeeze and I feel as much as hear the joint pop in a spurt of ichor. I spin around on my right leg, my left slamming into a leonine side, shattering bones and sending a body flying a dozen meters into a tree, making splinters fly off into the darkness.

Another swing of my sword severs a third tail, and a punch to a shoulder sends a second body crashing into another tree. I spin around and catch the last threatening stinger. I look into the beast's eyes, and I see fear. It tries to pull away in panic, but my grip is too strong. I raise my sword and press the tip to its throat, making it stop moving entirely.

The only noises in the forest are the pained yowls of the stingerless manticores, backing away from me, and the faint noises of movement from one of the distant beasts. This lasts for several seconds until “Stop!” is yelled from behind me. My head slowly turns around until I see eight equines staring at me with mixes of awe, fear and in one case, anger.

Fluttershy is trying to Stare me down, but it has little effect. “Let him go! He did nothing to you!”

I tilt my head slightly but keep my arms motionless. I keep my hold on my emotions and monotonely respond “Incorrect. He and his pack tried to kill me and all of you.”

Fluttershy seems to deflate slightly at that, but still has some steel in her voice as she says “But that still doesn't mean you can hurt them!”

Some steel enters my own voice as I respond with “No it doesn't. It means I can kill them.” At that, she realizes that she's trying to look threatening to a creature that just dealt with an entire pack of massive, lethal creatures in just a few seconds. She leaves a streak of color as she retreats behind a nearby bush.

All of the others back off slightly and I turn back to the motionless manticore. I stare into its eyes for another few moments before lowering my sword, releasing its tail and leaning back slightly.

Everything around me stops for just a second before I release a roar directly into the thing's face, making a deafening amount of noise for several seconds during which every other manticore flees into the distance and the equines have their hooves clamping down on their ears.

The manticore wastes no time vanishing after its packmates to the sounds of birds protesting in the distance. I stare after it, making sure it's gone before I vanish my sword into the immaterium and turn around to face the ponies.

They are all afraid. They saw me fight. They heard what I said, and know that I meant it. They are too innocent for this. They are too innocent for me.

I look down at the ground, sighing. “You should all head home. The manticores won't be back, and it's likely none of them will ever threaten any of you again. This forest and its creatures remember me now, and most now know that I will protect you. But there are still dangers here.”

I turn back towards the forest and begin walking into its depths without saying anything further. They all watch me go with mixed emotions before following my advice and leaving, first to Zecora's house to have a heartfelt discussion, and then to their own homes to think on the day's events.


Twilight enters her treehouse late in the evening, tired from running and walking all day. “Hi spike. I'm home.”

“Twilight! What happened? I've been worried all day!”

“Well, first we went after Applebloom, then Chaplain tried to run us over with some smoke-spewing contraption, then we went to Zecora's house and were almost attacked by manticores but Chaplain fought them off, then we had a chat with Zecora - we're friends now by the way – then we all came back to Ponyville.”

Spike looks a little dumbfounded at that, but eventually responds with “......um...are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I need to send a letter to the princess, okay?”

Spike scrabbles around for parchment and a pen for a few seconds before saying “Ready!”

“Alright. 'Dear Princess Celestia...”