The Angel of Equestria

by Robobrony

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Charles followed close behind the group of timberwolves that led him through the Everfree forest, not knowing if this was indeed a trap or not, but the creatures before him didn’t give him much of a choice. If he didn’t agree to come along, they would have turned Ponyville into their own private buffet, he didn’t know how many of themethere were but he didn’t want to take the chance that the wolves could make good on their threat. He still had his armor and swords at the ready just in case.

The forest grew dark after a while of walking into it, it felt like hours had gone by while they walked, but had to only of been two hours. “Are we almost there yet.” Charles asked, annoyed it was taking so long to get to their destination.

The leader with the symbol answered back. “Be silent creature, we are almost there, you will remember to show our king the proper respect upon meeting him.”

Charles furrowed his brow. “Stop calling me creature, I’m a human, and my name is Charles, got it.” The timberwolf didn’t respond back.

After another hour of walking, the wolves led Charles to a somewhat open area, there were ancient looking pillars with moss and vines growing on them, around them were hundreds of timberwolves all sitting or standing on the ground or perched on fallen trees, also covered in vines and moss. Charles looked at the sight in a bit of fear. “Looks like they weren’t kidding, there’s so many of them, no way Ponyville would survive an all-out attack from these things.” There was a clear path through the horde of timberwolves along an ancient stone walkway that led to a large rock with crudely carved steps.

Atop the rock sat a massive timberwolf, it looked just like the others, only much bigger and looked older than the others. The lead Timberwolf led Charles to the foot of the rock and stepped aside. The large wolf then motioned with a claw to one of the other wolves on its right. Another timberwolf came forward and got in front of Charles. The talking timberwolf spoke. “Take the necklace.” Charles looked at the speaker first, then back at the wolf in front of him.

He noticed a necklace in the jaws of the timberwolf, the necklace had a small ruffly carved green crystal wrapped in a spiraling wooden setting with green leaves near the bottom. Charles stuck his left sword in the ground, took the necklace from the wolf and asked. “What is this, what is it for?”

“It is a necklace that will allow you to hear the language of the animals, it will allow you to understand us and our king, as well as any other animals.”

Charles looked at the necklace again, the green stone seemed to give off a faint glow. He placed it around his neck and took his sword up again. “Now what?”

The massive timberwolf spoke in a voice that seemed to ring deep with wisdom. “Now we can speak, I am Forest Fang, pack leader and king of the Timberwolves, I thank you for coming here creature.”

“It’s not like you gave me much of a choice, your troops kidnapped and frightened three innocent little fillies and threatned to destroy Ponyville if I didn’t come.”

One of the other timber wolves spoke up with a snarl. “GRRR, you will show our king the proper respect human!”

“You want my respect, don’t go trying to make a meal out of my friends you termite infested bark brain!”

This set off all the wolves as they started growling and snarling, Charles readied his sword to defend himself. “ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU BE STILL!” Forest Fang shouted. The wolves fell silent and went back to their positions. “I did what I felt was necessary to get your attention creature, would you have come any other way?”

Charles thought for a moment, the king was right, Charles wouldn’t have come any other way. “All right, fine, you made your point, I’m here now so what was so urgent that you needed to speak with me, and why me in the first place?”

“There is a threat in the forest, a threat that we timberwolves cannot fight, it threatens to take over our territory and may very well destroy us. My scouts have seen you in combat during your fight with the diamond dogs in the caverns, ever since that day when you defended the six ponies from my subjects, I grew curious as to what you were, so my scouts kept an eye on you. Your strength is greater than anything I have ever witnessed from what I have heard.”

“And why should I help you?”

“Two reasons, one is that this threat will only grow and expand from the forest to the town you call Ponyvill. The other is that there is an even greater threat approaching this land, one that will be too much for the ponies to handle and will threaten this forest as well, and we will not give up our home without a fight. It is so great that even the manticores have agreed on a pact with you.” With that, the King of the timberwolves stepped aside and a large creature about the same size as the timberwolf king approached. It had the body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion, one eye was pale and had a scar going down it.

Along with it, the timberwolves around Charles stepped to the sides a bit and were joined by other creatures similar to the giant one on the rock with Forest Fang. The new creature spoke. “I am Swift Sting, King of the manticores, we have made an alliance with the timberwolves for we too fear the threat that is coming in the future, we ancient ones can sense a threat looming, one that will require all the strenght that can be mustered to face it.”

Forest Fang continued. “We are not enough to face the current threat of the forest, but our streangth combined with the ponies will hopefully be enough to face the future threat.”

Charles looked over the gathering of timberwolves and manticores. “If you all aren’t enough to stop the current threat, what makes you think I can stop it? And what is this threat that’s looming anyway that would make you join forces with the ponies?”

Swift Sting answered. “The threat in the forest is the fiercest in the land, a dragon, no creature in current existence can stand against such a beast, normally, dragons are content to keep to themselves and ignore others, but this dragon seems to have become greedier than most, so greedy that he seeks to rule this forest and the rest of the land. Your strength is greater than any we have seen. If you can defeat this foe, you will have our allegiance and may call on us for aid whenever you need it.”

“If you are able to sense this great threat, then why hasn’t Discord said anything, if you can sense it, then surly he has, you do know who Discord is don’t you?”

Forest Fang answered. “We do, my only guess as to why he has not said anything is because he is not completely reformed or he is just enjoying others being in the dark for a time, then he will act or say something.”

Swift Sting spoke up. “Discord is a mischevious creature, he may not be trustworthy, but if he is reformed, then perhaps you can speak with him about what we have sensed and see if he will be willing to help.”

Charles couldn’t take it anymore. “All right hold up, let me make sure I have all this down. There is a threat in the forest that you believe only I can defeat, a dragon, if I do so, than the timberwolves and the manticores will aid me against whatever greater threat is coming. On top of that, Discord, the god of chaos, as well. Am I on the right track here or what?”

Forest Fang answered. “You are correct, IF you can convince Discord to join you.”

“Look, I’m just a simple guard for Ponyville, I may have been able to defeat a giant diamond dog, but I’m willing to bet a dragon is a lot bigger and stronger, how do I stand a chance against such a thing?”

Swift Sting spoke up. “Because you have a reason to fight, you have great power within you, you just need a reason to let it all out and use your strength to win. If you do not, the ponies you call friends will be doomed.”

Charles started pacing in confusion. “I don’t BELIEVE this, first Solaris and Cosma come to me in my dreams telling me about this great threat, asking me to find the elements of life, and now the kings of the timberwolves and manticores are asking me for help?! I DON’T BELIEVE THIS! This is CRAZY!”

Forest Fang and Swift Sting looked to eachother, then back to Charles. Forest Fang spoke up. “You met with the former king and queen of Equestria?”

Charles kept his pacing as he looked at the two before him. “Yeah, they spoke to me last night in a dream, asking me to find the elements of life so I would have the strength to fight off this threat that you all are afraid of. How am I supposed to do all this?! I’m just a human, A HUMAN! One…..individual, how am I supposed to protect an entire world from such a threat, and why would you throw your support behind ME? I’m no leader, I’m just some poor shmuck who got dealt a bad hand in life and now all of a sudden, I’m expected to save the world from some great THREAT? THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY NUTS!” Charles stopped his frantic pacing and just stood there breathing heavily.

“Are you saying you will not help us?” Swift Sting asked.

Charles looked at the two. “I…..I didn’t say that, it’s just…..a lot to take in, I guess the gravity of the situation is just now starting to get to me. I want to protect my new friends, I do, but to be given so much responsibility is so much, I’m not only expected to protect my friends….or the country I now call home, but the entire world from what I understand.”

A manticore nearby spoke up. “Hmm, we should have known better than to seek help from an unkown creature, he is weak.”

A timberwolf next to it argured. “GRRR, you dare doubt our king’s wisdom?”

The manticore argured back. “It is scared, it cannot help us, it is weak.”

“If our king says it can help than it can help, you will not question our king feline.”

“Bring it on bark breath.” The timberwolf snarled and the manticore roared in anger.

“ENOUGH, THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTING AMONG US!” Swift Sting yelled. The area fell quiet. The two kings turned their attention back to Charles. “Human, will you or will you not help us with the current threat in the forest? Do so and we will help you with the future threat approaching.”

Charles took a moment to collect his thoughts. “I suppose I might as well take this whole save the world thing one step at a time, all right, I’ll do what I can against this dragon that seeks to control the forest, but to be honest, I don’t know what good I’ll do against it.”

Forest Fang spoke. “You have our gratitude human, our subjects will guide you to where the dragon is.” Two timberwolves and two manticores came forward. “Be warned, we are not the only creatures in this forest to fear, there are cockatrice about, they are simple creatures and are not as smart as us. They will see you as trespassing should you stumble in their territory.”

Swift Sting then spoke up. “Our subjects will act as bodyguards as well as guides should you encounter such things.”

One of the two manticores to guide him spoke. “Come along human, let us not waste time.” Charles put the bottom of his swords hilts together and reformed his staff. He placed it on his back and began to follow the two timberwolves and manticores away.

***

Charles followed the four through the forest with unease heavy on his mind, he was in the middle of a dark forest he was told was dangeruous, being led through it by two manitcores and two timberwolves to fight a dragon, not to mention he had to keep an eye out for cockatrice. Then a thought hit him, what was a cockatrice? Twilight seemed to forget to tell him about those while he was in the hospital. He decided to try and ask his guides through the woods. “Excuse me, I have a question.”

The lead timberwolf looked back. “Speak human, what is your question?”

“I’ve never heard of a cockatrice before, what exactly is it?”

The lead Manticore answered. “It is a small creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake with bat like wings.”

Charles looked a little confused. “And why do you need to protect me from something so rediculuous?”

The second timberwolf answered. “While the creature may look silly to you, it has a dangerous power, if it stares you in the eyes, it will turn your body to stone. It is best to avoid such a creature.”

“That does sound bad.” Charles commented. “So, do your kings know what this bigger threat is that got them to agree to side with me should I succeed in dealing with this dragon?”

The lead manticore answered. “No, our king does not.”

The lead Timberwolf answered next. “Nor does ours. However, it most certainly is real if the former king and queen of Equestria had contacted you and asked for your help.”

“So you know of them?” Charles asked.

The second manticore answered. “indeed, all know of the former king Solaris and former queen Cosma. They are revered by all ancient and powerful creatures, we ourselves only know of them through our rulers.”

“And why is that?”

The second timberwolf answered. “There is a legend that says it is believed they were once gods among the stars, they fought a great evil to protect the galaxy, they were successful but were weakened and could no longer sustain themselves among the stars, so they created a world and filled it with life, they watched over the world for a time until the evil they thought they defeated returned in a weakened state, but still powerful. They took on forms that allowed them to be a part of the world they created. Because of this, they were vulnerable so they had to hide in a part of the world where they could not be found for a while until they could find a way to stop it, that evil was Discord. The king and queen knew they would be unable to fight the being in their current state, they had daughters and raised them for a while, once the two were old enough to take care of themselves, the king and queen used all their power to create powerful weapons their daughters could use against discord. Upon doing so, they gave up their mortal bodies and went to a place known as the realm of the eternal herd. A place only for the ponies.”

The lead manticore continued. “The elements of harmony and the elements of life, the elements of harmony to combat dark magics, and the elements of life to combat any evil with pure strength, the sisters used the elements of harmony to turn discord to stone and imprisoned him. we are aware of this legend as it is passed down from our kings to us. Our kings had it passed down from their fathers and so on.”

“Wow, that’s some legend, but wait, how are they considered the former king and queen if they never ruled Equestria?” Charles asked.

The lead timberwolf answered. “because of what they had done, in the legend, they formed our world and created the life it now has.”

“Do the other ponies know of this then?”

The second timberwolf answered. “No, the legend has been lost to them, the princesses are most likely the only ones alive today to know of the story, if it is even true. Even we are unsure if such a tale is true or not, but we dare not question our king, we have no reason to either. It is merely an entertaining story.”

“I thank you for sharing it with me. I guess you aren’t such savage beasts after all, just creatures who follow closely to your baser instincts while keeping some intelligence. It just so happens that your carnivorous.” Charles commented.

“We are almost there.” Said the lead timberwolf. “For your sake, I hope you survive.”

The four had led Charles to an ancient looking stone town covered in moss and vines, barely any buildings were still standing, it looked very ancient, like it had been here for centuries. “What is this place?” Charles asked.

“Our king has not told us, therefor it does not matter.” Said the lead manticore. “The dragon lies at the center of this place.” It was easy to spot, the ancient looking place wasn’t very big and, because of how much of it had fallen down, it was easy to see the center of the place where the dragon lay. Charles formed his swords and made his way to the dragon, maybe he could get the drop on it while it slept. Charles snuck through the ancient ruins in hopes of ending this quickly. The manticores and timberwolves just stayed where they were to watch in case Charles failed and they had to report to their kings the human died.

Charles dared not use his wings for fear of his flapping draw the dragons attention. He snuck and ducked behind what ruins he could, as he drew closer, he could hear the dragon breathing as it slept. It had black scales with a white underbelly and red spines down its back. It was a massive beast, easily bigger than the diamond dog Charles faced.
A little close and he could behead the dragon and be done with this, closer and closer he got. Just a little closer and the dragon would be dead…..if only he had seen the out of place stone in his path. Charles’s foot got caught and he tripped.
He fell to the ground with an ‘OOMPF!’ His armor didn’t help either, it made a loud clattering sound as he hit theground.

The dragon stirred from its sleep as it slowly opened its eyes, it sat up, let out a loud yawn and stretched. Charles tried to find a place to hide before it noticed him, but he had passed all the buildings that could hide him. The dragon looked down to the source of the sound that had awoken it from its slumber and saw Charles with his swords at the ready. The dragon growled in anger and narrowed its eyes. “Who are you to intrude in my home and disturb my slumber, I should roast you alive you pest.”

Charles stood defiantly, a little unsure if he could defeat this beast or not. “Surrender dragon, I will not let you rule this forest or the land beyond, I am well aware of your plans to take over the land! I will not let you do so!”

The dragon smiled and started to laugh. “AH HA HA HA HA! AAAHH HA HA HA HA, OH my, that is too funny, do you really think you can beat me, I can squash you like a bug, and how do you know of my plans creature, what are you?”

“My name is Charles, I am a human, I am aware of your plans for the king of the timberwolves and the king of the manticores has told me thus, I will not let you take over Equestria! In the name of the royal guard of Ponyville, I order you to surrender or face death!”

The dragon just laughed harder at Charles’s proclamation. “AH HA HA HA HA HAAAA, AH HA HA HA HA, this is too much, please stop, I can’t take anymore!”

Charles was getting mad the dragon wasn’t taking him seriously, he decided now was the time to act. He flared his wings and charged for the beasts gut, if he hadn’t been yelling as he charged, he might have succeded in his attack, the dragon ceased his laughing and saw Charles coming at him for a cross slash. The dragon brought his left claw up and swung it down, Charles was too focused on his target to see the claw coming at him, it struck him and slammed him into the ground.

The dragon lifted his claw up, Charles was now lying face down in a crater with bits of rock on his back, he managed to pick himself up with a groan. “Oh man, I just had to yell while charging.” He complained to himself. Charles picked himself up on one knee and glared at the dragon, he just now saw the claw coming back down for another slam. Charles rolled out of the way just in time. He jumped up to his feet and too to the air.

The dragon looked at Charles now hovering in front of him. The dragon took in a breath, Charles saw this and figured the dragon was about to do what dragons are known for, he quickly started zipping around as the dragon let out a massive flame from its mouth.

Charles was able to avoid the flames, but just barely, his right wing was nearly singed. He tried to circle around the dragon and went for a strike at its back, but he forgot that dragons have tails. The dragos tail whipped up and slapped Charles in the air, causing him to go falling backward and back to the ground at an angle and with such force he skidded along the ground. He pushed himself back up. “UGH, how do I beat this thing?” He grumbled to himself. He got all the way up and turned around just in time to see the dragon readying to stomp on him.

Charles then got an idea, he quickly pointed both swords straight up and braced himself in case he got stomped on. The dragon brought his foot down and was met with great pain as Charles’s swords pierced the bottom of his foot. The dragon cried out in pain as he quickly lifted his foot up and grasped it with both claws, jumping on his other foot. “OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH, OW OW OW OW OW!” Each hop caused the earth to shake. The dragon had pulled his foot up before it came all the way down on Charles.

Charles saw this as another opportunity to try and get in a blow. He charged forth with his swords ready to try and take the dragon’s head. He flew fast for the neck as the dragon was distracted, just as he was about to cut off the head, the dragon moved at the last second away and Charles missed, causing him to slam into a stone pillar. “OOF!” Charles was able to keep himself from falling back down, he pushed himself off the pillar, kept himself afloat as he shook his head to regain his senses. He turned to see the dragon sitting down, blowing on his foot to try and relieve the pain. Charles charged forth again.

The dragon saw him coming again and went for a swipe of his claw to slash at Charles. Charles was ready this time, he swiped his right sword, causing a deep cut in the dragon’s claw before it reached him. The dragon brought it back and yelped in pain, Charles was still coming and swiped at the dragons right shoulder. Charles left another deep gash that spurted blood. The dragon winced in pain and grasped at it with his left claw. Charles had continued on his path and was now behind the dragon, he flew and swiped at the dragons other shoulder, the dragon winced again and cried out in pain again.

The dragon growled out. “I am getting tired of this you little pest!” Charles was a good distance away from the dragon. The dragon let out a monstrous flame towards Charles, Charles quickly formed his staff and twirled it around in front of him creating a tornado. It was almost as big as the flame coming at him, the wind met the flame at the center. The dragon tried to increase the power behind his flame, it worked as it grew fiercer. It started to push Charles’s wind back. He thought quickly and came up with an idea. Once he stopped spinning his staff, the wind died down and the flames closed in on his location.

The dragon saw his flame reach the spot where his enemy was and continued his flame until he was sure the human was nothing but a pile of ash. The dragon finally relented and sneered at his victory, he laughed. “Ha ha ha , that’s what you get for messing with me you ant.” What the dragon failed to notice was a hole in the ground below where Charles was flying. Charles erupted from the ground from behind the dragon, his body glowing white. The dragon was too caught up in his false victory to notice Charles. Charles then launched himself forward with such speed, he was just a white streak, he zipped past the dragons neck. As soon as he did, the dragon stopped laughing. Charles landed on the ground on one knee, his wings spread and his swords pointed straight out to his sides. A second later, the dragon’s head fell off and a fountain of blood gushed from his neck. Charles was victorious.

The headless body fell over with an earth rumbling ‘THUD’. The glow around Charles’s body faded and he reformed his staff. He placed it on his back and made his way back to where his escorts waited.

***

Charles was now standing in front of the two kings that had asked for his aid. King Forest Fang spoke first. “Human, we are in your debt, as promised, we will side with you and the ponies for when the danger to this world emerges.”

King Swift Sting then spoke. “Should you need us, call on us, and we will be ready to help. Also, we swear that from this day forth, no pony shall come to harm should they wander into the forest.”

“Thank you your majesties, and thank you for the necklace, I suppose I should inform Celestia of this as well.” Charles responded.

Forest Fang responded. “Indeed, if she has not sensed it yet, she must be made aware of the growing danger. Four of my subjects will escort you out of the forest.” Charles then followed the four timberwolves, and his new allies out of the forest and back to Ponyville where he would inform Celestia of their new friends from the woods.

Author's Note:

DOUBLE CHAPTER DAY!! SURPRISE!

Comments

[Jman796]

Just added some more details on all of my OCs on my blog. Do you have any ideas for new characters? I'm having a artist's block

[Robobrony]

2877900 do you have one that's good at stealth?

[Jman796]

2877932 Soundwave- head of communications and real time intelligence gathering (he has a black phoenix named Ravensheart that acts as a drone, he was also a special forces operator under the RFRU (Royal Force Reconnaissance Unit *equivalent to the USMC Force Recon*)
Ghost Eye- head of the espionage task force. I had the idea of creating 3 spies under Ghost Eye's command (2 changeling defectors and a earth pony).
Carbon also was a special forces operator that deals with clandestine (top secret/ black ops) missions (Nightstalkers Unit *equivalent to the US Army Green Berets and Delta Force*)

[Robobrony]

2878031 I should have just looked and seen what OC's you already have before making a suggestion. I'm an idiot.

[Jman796]

2879725 it's ok. Go ahead and take what you need. I'll be at work so I'll see you decision later today

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Damn, that was worthy of Skyrim!