A Black Belt in a Colorful Land

by DismantledAccount

Chapter 24: A Horse and an Axe

Chapter 24: A Horse and an Axe

The Same Day, Day Four of Alexander’s Calendar Stick, Early Evening…

Alex was lying down by the campfire. The sun was slowly setting and its golden glow was already hidden by the treetops. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow while he listened to the sounds of the animals going about their lives.

He felt the heat from his fire slowly beginning to subside so -with his eyes still closed- he carefully placed a few more sticks on the fire to keep the blaze going.

He tried to keep calm while he battled with the thought that kept going around his mind. “What now?” he said, hoping that somehow saying the words out loud would make a difference. The thoughts just kept coming though. “Never again will I see my mother, my brother, my sister, or any of my friends.”

Alex rolled over onto his side and rested his head against his pillow, also know as a short log with some thick moss on it. “Just… stay calm, Alex. I’m sure everything will look better in the morning. The first of many pointless mor-” He just closed his mouth in mid-sentence so that he wouldn’t add to his already rising depression.

He shifted in place and tried to get comfortable, an extremely difficult task for anyone living in the wilderness. As he began to drift off he became aware of a disturbing phenomenon. The forest was completely silent.

Alex sat up straight and looked around. The forest was quickly getting dark because of the setting sun. Nothing… he thought, listening carefully.

He heard the sound of something moving towards him from the direction of the crazy horse place. Alex faced the direction of the sounds and shifted his balance to his uninjured leg.

Eventually he could hear what sounded like soft galloping. He picked up the stick he had been using as a crutch and held it in front of him like a bo staff. He tensely waited while the noise came closer and closer.

Without warning, a lion burst out of the foliage and tackled him to the ground. The lion stood over him with its forepaws on his shoulders. It looked at him with eyes filled with pure terror. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it leapt off of Alex and disappeared into the forest. But not before Alex was able to see a pair of bat wings and a scorpion’s tail.

“Friggen mythological creature,” groaned Alex, getting back to his feet. He turned around and peered into the darkened trees, hoping to get a glimpse of the disappearing creature.

He had the thought that he should probably be afraid of whatever that beast was running from. I bet it’s right behind me. That’s how things work, right? Always look behind you, thought Alex, quickly looking behind him. Nothing.

“Hmmm… How usual...”

Alex felt a light breeze on his head. The cool air felt nice but there was a problem. This forest is too thick for a breeze, up until this point I haven’t felt so much as one puff of fresh air in here. So that means… Alex turned around again and was not disappointed this time.

“Hello, Alexander,” said the yellow pegasus sweetly, sitting by his fire.

“Your a quiet one, aren’t you?” Alex asked, noticing what looked like a wood axe glinting in the firelight.

“Can I ask you a question please?” she said, inspecting the axeblade.

“I guess,” said Alex, looking over his shoulder to make sure that whatever the lion thing was running from wasn’t sneaking up behind him.

“What do you eat?” she asked, locking her eyes on his.

“As I told your grey friend, I’m an omnivore, if it lives I’ll probably eat it. Most animals and many kinds of plants have made it into my mouth at one point or another,” he said.

“Hav-ve you e-ver eat-en a-a bun-ny?” she choked out, tears dripping from her eyes.

“Why do you ask?” Alex said, unsure if it would be a good idea to answer the question.

“Plea-se… jus-justt te-ll me…” she sobbed.

“Well you go away if I do?” asked Alex.

The pony nodded, still crying.

“Well, I ate one on the day I arrived and a few more since then, I think. The only reason I remember eating the first one was because it was using a carrot like a sword. There, will you leave me alone now?”

“Angel…” whispered the pony, closing her eyes and lowering her head.

“Now if you will excuse me, I have to worry about whatever that creature was running from.

“Do you mean the manticore?” she sniffed.

“If a manticore has the body of a lion, bat wings, and a scorpion's tail, then yes,” replied Alex.

“I know what he was running from…” she said quietly, stroking the axehead.

“In that case, would you mind telling me?” Alex asked. “I’d like to know what I could be up against.”

“Me...” she whispered, still not looking at him.

“Right… definitely running from the horrifying, yellow pegasus with a pink mane,” Alex said sarcastically.

Suddenly, her head shot up and her eyes locked on his. “Yes. Me,” she growled.

Those eyes… thought Alex, completely transfixed by the teal irises. He felt his legs weakening and his grip on the stick loosening because of the gaze. He was unable to do anything as the pegasus took to the air and slowly made her way over to him, the axe still in her hooves.

She stopped right in front of Alex and hovered at his eye-level. “This is for Angel. And all of the other animals you have eaten or might eat,” she hissed as she brought the axe above her head.

Alex was unable to respond or move because of the unnerving properties of the pony’s eyes. He felt like his head was both exploding and imploding while being beaten on. He tried to fight the pony’s glare but he couldn’t even blink.

However, as the pegasus brought down the axe, she made a crucial error. She closed her eyes.

As soon as her eyes closed, Alex felt his strength return. He immediately tightened his grip on the stick and thrust it upwards, angling it horizontally as he did so.

The stick met the axe right below the head, impacting the handle and damaging neither weapon.

The crack echoed throughout the night, scaring what few animals that hadn’t ran deeper into their holes.

The pony’s eyes snapped open, but Alex was not going to fall for that again. He kept his eyes off of her eyes and instead focused on her centermass. He yanked backward on his stick, causing the stick to catch on the axehead. The axe -and the pony hanging on to it- flew over his shoulder and landed behind him.

He quickly turned around and saw a low sweep coming at his knees from the right side. He hastily planted the stick in the ground and held it in the way of the axe’s path. The axe bounced off of the hard wood, but not before chipping the stick.

“You killed my little Angel!” screeched the yellow pony, sending diagonal attack after attack angling from his shoulder to his hip. There was hardly any variation in her strikes, she just hacked and hacked like she was cutting down a tree.

Alex blocked each consecutive attack, the stick vibrating violently with each blow. After five chops, he swung his injured leg backward. He then rapidly swung his leg forward -knee bent at a ninety degree angle- as the pony swung the axe back to prepare for another chop. His leg’s momentum pulled him forward and he slid to within striking distance. He drove his knee into the pony’s jaw with a dull clacking sound as he forcefully brought the stick down on the yellow hooves that were somehow grabbing the wooden handle.

The axe fell to the ground with a thud and the pony stumbled backward weakly.

Alex balanced carefully on his one good leg while he picked up the axe. He dropped the stick in favor of the bladed weapon and limped in for the kill.

The pony fell to the ground and started crying. “Why did it have to be Angel?” she sobbed. “Why?” She huddled herself into a ball and started rocking back and fourth. “Why Angel!” she wailed.

Alex stood over her shaking form and raised the axe.

“I just want my Angel back!” she yelled at nothing in particular. “Is that so wrong?!”

As Alex stood over her, he realized several things. I guess I don’t want to die yet. Not struggling at any point would have been the perfect opportunity to give up. Also, I don’t think she is emotionally stable. Which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. And most importantly, I referred to her as a pony.

“I friggen hate this place,” said Alex, swinging the axe downward with all his might.

The pony screamed and then fell silent.

Complete silence fell over the forest.

The blood spilled onto the earth.

The dying flesh quivered then fell motionless.

“Fluttershy?” called a different pony. “Twilight said that you would be somewhere around here…”

The rainbow-maned pegasus froze upon entering the clearing. Her gaze traveled between Alex, the bloody axe, and the motionless pony lying below him.

“I’m gonna kill you!” she screamed. “I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

I reiterate, I really, really, really friggen hate this place.

Author's Note:

I was working on a little project that turned into a big project.
I almost gave my pre-reader a heart attack from cuteness.
Her suggested title of the story is: Puking Rainbows from D'awwws.
The actual name is I'm a Cat!
Check it out if you like. It was really fun to write and I hope you enjoy it.

Comments

[Cloudy Serrano]

Mmm, yes, this is turning out quite good. 5 bucks says he didn't hit Fluttershy and instead hit either himself or an animal.

[Raistlin]

3533177

Did he actually kill Angel?

[hs0003]

Soo Fluttershy is dead.. That turned dark pretty quickly.

[Gamerteen13]

3533182
Not necessarily.
He could've eaten Angel Bunny whole and alive, then let his stomach acid do the killing.
But, more than likely(since we saw him strangle the little varmint in one of the earlier chapters, and Angel would've given him a SERIOUS case of indigestion if he tried the above) he killed Angel with his bare hands.

3533200
Either Fluttershy is dead, or he lopped off a limb.
Considering the plot relevancy of such a thing and the fact that I doubt the author wants the ERG on Alex's hide, it's probably just a wing.
Or, since the author doesn't care about my theories... Yeah, she's probably dead, and there'll be a court case later on.

[LaughingZombie]

Probably killed a poisonous snake and Fluttershy most likely passed out from fear. And does Rainbow Dash really want another broken wing? 'Cause I'm all for it. I never did like her anyway.

[Raistlin]

3533354

He could claim self-defense. Dash witnessed Fluttershy going literally axe-crazy, and running after the human, and she arrived to the camp just after Alex finished Flutter with her own weapon (thus the details of the battle are up to him).

[Kitsuja]

If he did kill Fluttershy, there'd be such hell to pay. So I doubt he did, and this is probably another misunderstanding.

I hope.

[candyman20XX]

Ah dammit...

Lovely place to end on...

I'll just chill here I guess.

img.izismile.com/img/img4/20110127/640/extreme_hanging_tents_640_01.jpg

[Cleake]

I really wish Angel is still alive.
I hope those other bunnies he ate were those generic expendable background extras that the almighty author willed to exist for the sake of his omnomnomnoms.

3542407 Them cliffhangers...

[laser68]

so that happened....

[Old Diggy]

I can't help but think that he just knocked her out with the blunt side of the ax.

[unknowncape7377]

4447847
I'm hoping that he did just that