Makita slowly trotted through Ponyville glancing back, from time to time, to determine if the prince was still onto him. Luckily for the disguised hunter, the prince and his companions were nowhere to be seen, allowing Makita to release a sigh of relief.
Once he realized he was in the clear, Makita let out a deep breath of relief. He was still pretty unsure how he escaped before Darkrim turned around. Something saved him, but what? All he could remember was a blinding light appearing and then he was outside.
Why did that happen? Last he recalled, he didn’t have any angelic beings protecting him from far above. Maybe some demons?
“Oh what am I thinking?!” Makita shook his muzzle “There has to be a more rational explanation.”
As he pondered, Makita noticed something peculiar peeking out of his forehead. As he realized what it was, he almost burst out in laughter.
“I guess that’s what saved me,” Makita chuckled to himself, but soon enough his laughter stopped and was instead replaced with a wicked grin.
“I wonder what else I can do with this thing,” he thought to himself.
However, before he could test his new found abilities, Makita had to find a proper place to hide out. And what better way than to use his new found powers.
He concentrated really hard, trying to think of a place, just outside the town, where he could be safe to observe and plan. All of a sudden a blinding light appear for a split second and Makita was gone.
As he reopened his eyes, Makita saw he was in the middle of a forest. It seemed his spell worked a bit too well as he was out of the limits of Ponyville, but he had no clue where he was.
The thick groove of the dark leaves above prevented nearly any sunlight from escaping its grasp. The few rays of light, which slipped by, barely illuminated Makita’s path. Their light was the only orientation Makita had in this place, yet he knew it seemed familiar. The various sounds of wildlife, which ranged from snarls and growls from the beasts below to beautiful symphonies sung by the birds above, mixed with the dark atmosphere of this place seemed a bit too familiar to Makita.
Even though he knew that he was probably the scariest thing in this place, Makita still felt unnerved. There was just something unnatural about the trees that surrounded him, how the glowing eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went. Through the serenity of the forest, Makita suddenly noticed something. Just outside his field of view, the ferocious hunter noticed some slight rustling in the bushes.
Swallowing his fear, the hunter slowly approached the bush. The disturbance only seemed to increase, the closer he got to it. His heartbeat increased and his breathing quickened, but he could not stop himself.
As if by some outside forced, Makita felt compelled just to see what was making all this ruckus. He leaned in to the bush as close as he could. Right at that moment, a creature jumped out at him! Makita screamed in fear and tumbled over himself and fell to the ground. His heart pounded and he began to dry heave.
“Angel bunny!” he heard a soft, yet firm, feminine voice call out to the white creature that was pointing its paws and laughing at Makita.
As his vision focused he noticed a yellow Pegasus with pink mane scolding the nefarious ‘monster’ that startled him.
“You should be ashamed of yourself!” Fluttershy scolded Angel “How many times have I told you not to scare ponies like that. You almost gave that pony a heart attack!” she finished telling Angel off and turned to Makita, who was still on the ground.
“Are you alright sir?” she asked Makita shyly and offered her hoof. Makita accepted it and got up to his hooves.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, barely standing up.
In his panicked state, Makita fell over a rock that was just behind him, causing him to hurt his hind legs. He winced a bit as he stood up. Fluttershy quickly noticed it and offered her wing to support him.
“You seem like you’re awfully hurt,” Fluttershy said compassionately.
“Yeah, I guess the fall made me sprain something,” Makita said.
“Well, then you best come with me so I can help you,” Fluttershy invited the disguised beast.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you for that. Besides I don’t think it’s too bad,” Makita tried to walk away, but felt he would fall again. Luckily, Fluttershy helped him up once.
“Nonsense, you are clearly badly hurt. Besides, it was Angel’s fault you were hurt in the first place and I would feel just awful if anything else happened to you,” Fluttershy said with a kind smile.
Makita looked into her big, puppy dog like eyes. Something about those large eyes felt both unnatural and strangely compelling to him. The instant willingness of this pony to help him combined with her unnerving look made Makita wary of this creature- Still, he felt as if he couldn’t say no. Besides, here willingness could provide him the safe haven he needs to hide away.
“Well, when you put it like that, how could I say no?” Makita said and convulsed his mouth to form something akin to a smile.
“Then it’s settled,” Fluttershy exclaimed as she picked up her basket full of berries and nuts “I will help you get better, mister…”
“Marker,” Makita quickly spat out “Book Marker.”
“Okay, Mr. Book Marker,” Fluttershy said with a raised eyebrow.
Makita was surprised by how fast he could think up a name like that. It almost came naturally.
“So, Mr. Marker,” Fluttershy said, breaking the hunter away from his thoughts “What made you come to the Everfree forest?”
“What do you mean?” Makita answered quickly, trying to stall for time.
“Well most ponies are quite scared to even go near these woods,” Fluttershy said, nervously looking around.
“You don’t seem that frightened,” Makita responded, averting the conversation as quick as he could.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said and blushed slightly “but I have to be brave; If not for myself, then at least for my animal friends. They’d surely
starve without these berries,” Fluttershy explained.
“What sort of animal friends?” Makita asked.
“Well, all kinds. Chickens, canaries, bunnies and all sorts of other cuddly critters,” Fluttershy spoke with ecstasy, but quickly stopped.
“I hope you won’t mind,” she said and hid her face under her mane.
“Don’t be silly,” Makita swallowed his pride “I love animals.”
He could feel his brain trying to go against every instinct he had, just to hide his disguise. As a predatory creature, Makita had always been thought to only think of all creatures as either a food resources or a potential target, so hearing this hippy dippy pony talk about them like they were just the most darling things made his skin crawl.
“The ends will justify the means,” Makita reminded himself as he listened to the yellow Pegasus yap on and on about her ‘lovely animals’. It only took them a few minutes to arrive to her cottage, but to him it felt like it was years.
As he saw her cottage, he felt as if his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. The little stream and bridge in front of it, the butterflies flying around a small green field in front and the cottage itself which seemed to be swarming with all kinds of animals, made Makita question the very reality he was thrown in. However,the thing that sealed the deal was the scene that he saw play out as Fluttershy led him to the inside of the cottage.
Outside, in the middle of a green field stood a six foot tall bear, a ferocious animal, playing with little bunnies like they were his cubs. And what’s more, the bear seemed to have honey around his snout yet bees were still following him, without a single stinger landing anywhere near the ferocious beast.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or to just stand there in awe as this scene was near impossible.
“W-what’s going on there?” Makita muttered out.
Fluttershy turned her head from the doorknob to observe the scene.
“Oh, that’s just Harry playing. He may look awfully scary, but he really is a sweetie,” Fluttershy responded and led Makita into her home.
The second they entered, small birds began to flutter above and mice, ferrets and all sorts of rodents began to scurry about. Gently passing around these critters, Fluttershy led him to a small couch and laid him down there.
“Now you just wait here, while get some bandages for your leg,” Fluttershy said and trotted upstairs.
Makita sat there and observed as curious mammals surrounded him, looking at his pony form with intrigue and a little bit of fear. However, the second his eyes met with one of these creatures, they would cower and began to scurry around the room, as if his very appearance scared them away. He ignored them and searched through his mane for his little black book. As soon as he found it, he began to write down something inside.
“Progress report
I have managed to secure a temporary sanctuary. Even though I question the owner’s sanity as she seems to have some unnerving obsession with collecting various animals, she still seems willing enough to harbor me. However, her questions may prove to be troubling. I will have to done a new identity in order to stop her curiosity.
I have managed to locate my target, but he seemed to have recognized. I am still unsure how or why, but the prince may be onto me. If my suspicions prove to be correct, I might need to rethink my strategy.
I will continue to report as the situation progresses.
Regards, Makita”
As he finished writing, Makita placed the little black book next to him and breathed in deeply. All was going according to plan.
Before he could even begin to relax, Makita sharply jolted. He searched through his mane nervously, trying to find his little brown bag. He nervously ruffled through his mane until he finally found it.
As the fearsome hunter brought the bag to his face he le ot a relieved sigh. It was there, still hanging in.
With the bag now in his hooves, Makita opened it up to check on the red gem that was inside of it. As he took it out, he noticed that looked no different than an ordinary ruby. Sure it was more oval shaped and appeared to be a bit darker than other rubies, but aside from that nothing really stuck out bout it.
“To think that both Ares and the Royal Sisters want you in their grasp,” he thought to himself as he observed the gem in his hooves “So many are willing to die for you and yet you are no different than a million and one gems I have seen before. What is your secret?”
As he thought so Makita felt that his gaze was directing deeper and deeper into the ruby. He felt as if he were falling through some invisible portal right into the, now liquid, bottom of the ruby. The sea which he saw began to sway as waves began to form and disappear right in front of Makita’s eyes. As if paralyzed by its transcending power, Makita felt compelled to look into the ruby. Instantly he was transported to a dark red sea. As far as he looked nothing but the red ruby sea surrounded him.
All of a sudden he could hear a song, far behind the horizon, increasingly becoming louder. He watched around him, but nothing told him where the sound was coming from. In his last ditch effort, the fearsome hunter watched above only to notice three figures slowly coming towards him. Their voices sounded harmonies and the crystals imprinted on their chests glowed brightly as the Sun.
As they came into focus he could notice their unique look. Their sleek, dragon like body gave off a reptilian design, however their frontal hooves were more akin to the ponies he used to see. They were all in different colors as well, with the middle one being orange while the other two were cerulean and violet.
Once they were but a few feet above him, the sirens stopped their song. The orange began to slowly descend towards him. As she reached him, the other two chimed in as the orange began her song.
“Relinquite Te in rubro Mari,
Et nostras voces liberabit vos
In cuius manu te mentiri te perdite
Et circa orbem cadit seorsum
Ut et fluctibus , et corusco luceat
Tu sentis in ortum Divini bestiæ”
Even though he did not understand a single thing they said, Makita felt their melody calm him down. His senses began to go numb, which shot him wide awake. His primal instinct fought against the soothing melody of the sirens, trying to preserve him from drowning.
Once Makita was fully aware, he began to feel something under his hooves. Scales of a large beast seemed to pass underneath him as the waves themselves shook more violently than ever before. In panic, Makita began to swim away as hard as he could, but it was all in vain. As if everywhere he went he could hear the deadly roaring of the waves as they increasingly got bigger and bigger. No matter where he went, no matter how fast he swam, the beast was one step in front of him. He eventually stopped as he saw a horrifying sight in front of him.
What he thought was a colossal wave, began to rise in front of him. However from the sides of this watery mass two, bat-like, wing and two frontal claws began to emerge. Silver scales covered them whole as they slowly revealed the elongated snout of a horrifying sea serpent.
It had three mouths, each one laid atop of another and each one laced with different teeth. The upper seemed to have long teeth, sharp as a dagger and just as effective. The middle one had small, almost fang like teeth, while the bottom one had dog like teeth.
On the top of its head lied two huge, twisted horns and in the middle of its forehead lied the same ruby, Makita felt he was now trapped in.
He couldn’t utter a word. All thoughts seemed to elude him. The only thing he could fell was paralyzing fear in the presence of the behemoth.
The beast opened its beady black eyes and noticed Makita lying there. It lowered its head towards him as if it were observing him. It then opened its lower mouth as Makita embraced himself for the beast’s wrath.
Instead of devouring him, the beast talked. Its voice was as booming as thunder and its words came out like a storm.
“Insolent mortal, you lie in the presence of the almighty Leviathan, ruler of seas and the enemy to the Equestrian land. Prove your worth and release me so I can reinstate my dominion and I shall grant you with riches beyond your wildest comprehension,” the monster spoke.
Makita still remained silent.
The beast growled at his silence.
“As your silence prove you are not worthy of our presence,” Leviathan’s middle jaw spoke.
“Therefore we sentence you to return to your world and find us a stronger creature. One that will understand our divine plan to purify the earth,” the lower jaw spoke as the beast’s eyes suddenly turned emerald.
As Makita watched, horror clear on his face, the beast began to roar as a storm formed around the horrific monster. Loud thunder could be heard as the clouds swirled above. Four pillars emerald, ruby, opal and sapphire light formed around the fearsome hunter. He tried to escape its grasp, but their light had already formed a barrier.
Makita screamed once s the pure white light rained down from the sky, returning him back to his old body.
As Makita returned, he panted heavily and nearly screamed at the sight of the ruby.
“Is everything alright in there?” Fluttershy asked as she descended down the stairs.
“Yeah, everything is fine,” Makita yelled nervously, quickly trying to hide the jewel, back in his mane. Now he knew the secrets it held and wished never to touch it again.
Soon after his response, Fluttershy came down the stairs carrying some bandages for his hind legs.
“You are far too kind,” Makita said as Fluttershy wrapped his hind legs.
“Oh don’t be silly,” she waved “I am just happy I could help you out after Angel scared you like that. Speaking of which,” Fluttershy ended as a little white rabbit came out from her mane.
The little white rabbit seemed to be quite displeased with having to apologize to Makita, much to the hunter’s pleasure.
“Angel, I think you owe poor Mr. Marker an apology, don’t you?” Fluttershy asked the little white furrball.
Angel firmly shook his head.
“Angel! How can you say that?! Mr. Book Marker is badly injured because of you! Now apologize to him right this instant!” Fluttershy said and firmly stared at the little rabbit.
Angel felt a cold shiver run up his spine as Fluttershy stared at him. He quickly hopped over to Makita and extended his paw. Makita accepted it with a kind smile.
“That’s better,” Fluttershy happily exclaimed and watch outside. The sun seemed to have started to descend slowly.
“Oh my, it’s nearly night time already,” Fluttershy said as she watched the moon replace the descending sun “I have to tuck Angel in to bed.
Will you be alright there, Mr. Marker?”Fluttershy asked.
“Yes, I’ll be quite alright,” Makita said as he fully laid on the couch “Thank you once again for your hospitality. It really means a lot to me.”
“Anytime, Mr. Marker. Good night,” Fluttershy said as she went to tuck the rest of hr animals in their beds.
As the moon slowly repositioned itself in the sky, Makita felt his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. The rest of the animals had gone asleep already and only the nocturnal beasts still prowled silently about. It was in this calm and serene place that Makita began to finally at ease.
The sounds of owls and timberwolves felt like ocean waves, easing him down as he drifted away into the sea of his dreams.