To Avert a War

by Malozi

Chapter 2

Virtue was not entirely sure that the current situation was his fault. He would very much like to not take responsibility and say that it was someone (or somepony?) else's fault. But from how the forest was reacting to his recent chopping of trees and the fact that he remembered that a tree might've been moving earlier before he had run into Fluttershy, some of his memories were starting to return now, it might be entirely his fault.

Virtue chopped at another weed, he'd been at it for minutes now and he was having a very hard time keeping the growth of the forest away from Fluttershy's house. And something like this rendered what fortifications that he had already built completely useless. He obviously wasn't prepared to handle something like this, but he had to do what he could.

Fluttershy dropped in soon enough, however, to check on her animals. At least, that's what she might've normally done had she not looked so panicked at both the forest and his fortifications (building that might not have been the best decision... but he was only human.) Fluttershy didn't appear to have time to scold him on it though, or maybe she did. Whatever the case, he couldn't understand what she was saying to her animal companions anyway.

"I'm sorry!" Virtue said, but it was pointless when it sounded like 'Ini Vedi!' to Fluttershy's ears. "This isn't my fault! I think... at least I hope not. Okay, it probably is."

Fluttershy didn't pay any attention to what he was saying and instead pointed to the open door to her cottage. "Hurry! Get inside! It's not safe out here and I can't let my friends see you, not yet!"

Virtue took the hint... he was being punished for building the fortifications and not defending the house from the growth of the forest, or maybe the forest did this on a regular basis and he had just screwed something up. Virtue hefted his ax on his shoulder and walked up to the door of the cottage slowly and turned his head to take one final look at Fluttershy again only to see five other ponies rushing towards Fluttershy with Fluttershy waving to them. Virtue guessed that the other reason that Fluttershy wanted him inside might be to hide him from the others.

Virtue entered the cottage as quickly as he could but he forgot the door wasn't the size he was used to and that he had an ax hefted on his shoulders. As he entered, the edge of the ax hit the door frame and tore a chunk of it off. Virtue cursed himself and slammed the door, in retrospect this wasn't a very good idea either because he was trying to stay quiet.

Rainbow Dash heard the door slam and was immediately curious about the missing chunk of the door frame. "Hey, Fluttershy," She asked. "I didn't notice that you were missing a part of your door frame. And what's with all this... stuff?" Dash said, waving her hoof in the general direction of the fortifications, though she didn't know what they actually were or what their purpose was as she had never seen the design before.

"Oh, I um-" Fluttershy tried to say before Pinkie cut her off.

"And why are some of the trees of the Everfree forest cut down?" Pinkie asked, still remaining cheerful somehow.

Virtue stared at the ponies from the little peephole in the door, watching the conversations unfold. Fluttershy was trying hard to keep the others from going to her cottage but Virtue watched in horror as the pony that had freckles (was that even possible where he came from?) started walking towards the door. Virtue drew back and climbed to the ceiling as best as he could.

The pony, whose name was apparently Applejack from the way Fluttershy was saying the word, opened the door and looked inside but could see nothing, as Virtue was clinging to the ceiling as best he could.

Applejack gave Fluttershy a look that seemed to indicate a hint of distrust, but she let it slide for the sake of the bigger problem at hand/hoof and closed the door.

Virtue gave a silent sigh of relief. He was glad that Applejack hadn't caught on. At least something had gone his way today. However, just as he thought that he knew he must have jinxed it when he felt the most agonizing and mind-numbing pain he had felt in a long time. Virtue didn't scream or yell for fear of being discovered but he instinctively put his heads to his head to attempt to stop the pain but his body didn't seem to know that he needed those hands to stay clung to the ceiling, the result was him falling. Virtue was glad that he had had enough sense to keep his head covered when he hit the ground but unfortunately he made a very loud sound when he hit the ground.

Applejack hadn't even walked ten steps when she heard the loud crash behind her that came from inside the cottage. "What in tarnation was that?!" She exclaimed as she rushed towards the door, immediately suspicious that Fluttershy was hiding something now more than ever.

Virtue got up as quickly as he could, the pain was a result of a sudden rush of his memories returning all at once, not exactly all of his memories, he still had many more to go before he fully recovered but he now knew quite a bit in order to know what to do next. Virtue rushed towards the door, knowing that that meddlesome pony Applejack would try to open it.

What Virtue hadn't factored in, however, was how strong Applejack actually WAS. The first time she attempted to open it hadn't been too hard to keep the door from opening, but then she rammed it and Virtue had to struggle against her strength. Another attempt on her part nearly let her inside and Virtue was forced to use magic, another good thing his memories had revealed to him was some of his magic.

Applejack didn't know why this door was refusing to open, she had tried ramming it twice and now she was about buck it, with Fluttershy attempting to protest that this would break her door, but Applejack could pay for that later, whether by actual payment or building her a new one, it didn't matter. What mattered was that something was behind the door that didn't want her inside and she was going to find out what it was.

Virtue felt his magic draining when the massive thud came from the other side and the only pony that Virtue knew that could possibly possess that kind of strength, that he knew of so far that is, was Applejack but it was one of the strongest blows he had ever come close to and he hoped to never actually be hit by her. But the growl of frustration on the other side was a sign that she hadn't broken through his magic barriers that were reinforcing the door, which was some goods news at least. He just hoped he hadn't jinxed that as well.

It seemed as though Applejack was preparing to try again when Virtue heard arguing on the other side of the door. Whomever had just distracted Applejack, he was glad for their interference and he would have to thank them later if that chance was ever presented to him, he knew it certainly wasn't Fluttershy from the tone and assertiveness of her voice.

"Applejack! I'm just as curious as you are about what's behind that door but we have a much bigger problem and we can't afford to waste time right now." Twilight said, and she meant every word of her sentence.

Applejack looked back at the door one last time before relenting to her friend's judgement. Virtue waited, hoping that Applejack was finally leaving. Thankfully for him, she did and now he was able to breathe easy.

As the six pony friends were leaving, something malevolent was watching the cottage. It wasn't from this world, only being here due to the chaotic nature of the portals. This being, this... creature, was ancient and it knew what it was doing. It had been watching those six ponies, but it knew it couldn't try to fight them, the mysterious power and magic that was within them was simply too strong for it to overcome alone.

So it waited.

'Patience is a virtue,' they say on some worlds that the creature had visited. And patience was indeed a trait exhibited by this Virtue person hiding in the cottage. The wraith, as it was known back on its original world, had arrived around the same time that this man had before it and the wraith had been stalking him up till this point. It was about to make its move when three more ponies arrived on the scene, fleeing from something. The wraith personally took this as an affront, for who or what was more terrifying than itself? But it could also be because of the sudden growth of the forest that it was inhabiting, the forest it had now attached itself to in order to exert more control over its new territory... its new feeding ground.

However, these ponies did not seem to carry the power that had been radiating from the previous six and the wraith came to the conclusion that the energy simply wasn't a part of these creatures. But their life force indicated to the wraith that they were still young. Still good enough for consumption. If the wraith had an actual mouth or facial features attached to a permanent physical body it would be smiling, but the shadows that made up its form did the job for it.

Tendrils of darkness extended from underground, unseen until it was too late for the unfortunate victims. If it wasn't for magic, their screams would've been heard for miles instead of the area surrounding the cottage.

Virtue heard the screams immediately and when he looked out of the hole that his ax had made he could see a horrifying sight. A creature was attacking three helpless ponies, it was a creature of darkness in the literal sense. But what it was doing to the ponies was horrible to describe to Virtue's human mind, but his mind processed the images before him whether he liked it or not.

One pony was having its very essence drained from its body. Another was being poked by the tendrils of darkness, experimenting on the body to find out how it operated, the blood dripping from the holes a bright red that stained the ground. But the third pony was the most horrifying one of all. It was simply being torn apart, the vital organs and blood being sprayed everywhere on purpose.

Virtue for some reason, was able to stand the sight. And he decided that he couldn't possibly be human if something like this didn't immediately make him recoil in disgust or try to help the dying ponies in some way shape or form. What kind of soldier was he? What was it that he actually did back on his world?

Somewhere in his mind, Arldon was laughing maniacally. He was enjoying the spectacle and the other personality, who insisted being called Virtue as well once Virtue found out his real name, had simply shut himself off, away from the rest of the world... away from the sight.

Virtue didn't want to handle the situation, and Arldon was more than happy to take control of his body, which was for the best because as soon as the creature was done with the three ponies it had extended some kind of darkness over the cottage. It was attempting to get inside, and while Arldon was a cruel, homicidal maniac, he did have a sense of honor, and it was on his honor to defend Fluttershy's home and her animals.

Arldon readied his magic and he started to repel the creature, but it was powerful and he didn't know how long he could fend it off. For once in his life, from what he could remember that is, he hoped that help would come soon. Outside the creature let out a sound that sounded eerily like laughter. It was having fun.