Wandering Prey

by Rikkity

Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Chapter 2 is also updated!

This took quite a bit of time due to me not really having the confidence to upload. I tend to worry about how others think which causes me to stagnate quite a bit.

Please leave your feedback!

Special thanks to Soaring and Chaospaladin!

Rainbow Dash had arrived at the library, but there was an issue: it was late, and there were no lights on inside. ‘She must be asleep already,’ She thought. Still shaken from what she went through just minutes ago, she just had to tell Twilight exactly what happened. She lightly knocked on the door. Rainbow swiveled her head, scanning her surroundings. Twilight opened the door, rubbing her eyes. Rainbow Dash bolted past Twilight into the library, much to the alicorn’s surprise.

“Rainbow Dash, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked. Her eyes widened. “Why is there ice on you? Did something happen?”

“Another one of those… those…” Rainbow Dash’s voice trailed, trying to catch her breath amid her

A tired groan could be heard upstairs. “What’s going on?” Spike said in a tired voice.

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “Calm down, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “Calmly tell me everything that happened.

Rainbow Dash took in a long breath, and exhaled. “I saw another human, but like, he wasn’t human at first. He was that pony that would occasionally come through town, but then he turned into that human thing. And he lives in the Everfree Forest like Zecora does, but deeper than that!”

Twilight and Spike’s eyes widened. “Another human in Equestria? In the Everfree?”

Suddenly, a voice can be heard from a corner of the room. The voice of someone the three of them have gotten not-so-chummy with these past few months. “Oh another human? Please say more about this one.”

“Vince, what’re you doing here?” Twilight said, furrowing her brows.

A tall, tanned man appeared from his little corner of the room. Where had he been all this time? Was he following Rainbow Dash? That miserable jack-off. Oh this guy, Vince, had been causing quite a lot of trouble since he got here. Princess Celestia and Luna have put a tight leash on him until they found a way to get rid of him, but that didn’t seem to bother this guy. Not. One. Bit.

Rainbow Dash took a defensive stance and glared. “Yeah,don’t you have better things to do?” As he approached, she flared out her wings.

“Oh, I just saw poor little Rainbow Dash here nearly get frozen to death by some... real ghastly creatures as she exited the forest.” That was the fakest attempt at sympathy she heard. “I was shadowing her earlier because I was concerned.” He said, mockingly sliding his finger up the pegasus’ chin, which prompted an angry chomp at the appendage.

Rainbow Dash let out the hardiest, and intimidating snort she could. “You really are the worst!” She said with a growl. “And if you were following me, why didn’t you try to help a little, huh?!”

Spike gave a snarky comment in addition to hers. “I’d go as far to say you’re worse than Discord before he was reformed if that’s the case.”

Vince walked up to Spike with a twisted smile on his face, but before he could reach him, Twilight put herself between him, and the dragon with her wings flared. “Don’t you touch him!” She shouted with a vicious scowl.

Vince stood there for a moment, the corners of his cheeks turning up. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, and both ponies were alerted by the sound of something crashing against the wall. Rainbow and Twilight turned their heads in the direction of the sound, and saw Spike on the ground in a pile of knocked over books.

Twilight really did not like that.

In a spark of rage, Twilight shot out a blast of magic from her horn at Vince. Rainbow Dash quickly charged in with a follow-up tackle to take him down, but just as quickly, he swatted the magical attack. The pegasus only saw him take only a subtle step, and she found herself pinned to the ground. Vince tightly gripped her wing, ceasing her movements.

Vince chuckled as he squeezed tightly on her wing. She let out a whimper of pain as he picked her up. “Now, now, there’s a reason both of you are alive.” He said. “That’s because…” he leaned into Rainbow’s ear, and said in a low voice, “you’d just be easy prey.” Vince loosened his grip, dropping her flat on the floor.

This guy…!

Twilight went to aid Spike who was just tossed about the room like yesterday’s trash. “Are you okay, Spike?”

Spike stumbled to his feet and dusted himself off. “Yeah… I’m fine.” He stared daggers at Vince.

She turned to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, what about you?”

Rainbow Dash shakily got back up to her hooves. “I… think so.” She tended to her mangled wing with a forehoof and gave it a good stretch. She gave it a light flap to shake the rest of the pain away.

Vince slowly shifted his gaze to Twilight. “Know that your Princesses’ magic doesn’t have much bearing on what I’m capable of.”

“Get bent, you jerk!” Rainbow Dash fumed.

Vince returned his attention to Rainbow Dash and knelt down.

He drew his face in close to hers, the bangs from his black hair obscuring the right side of his face.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Manners, little Dashie. Also, it’s late. Others are still trying to sleep. Best to keep your voice down.” Vince seemed to revel in the torment he brought down on ponies. “What did this person look like?” He asked, producing a sheet of paper from behind his back with a picture of a person drawn on it. There were some numbers on the bottom, and below were words written in bold: 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖔𝖗 𝕬𝖑𝖎𝖛𝖊.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide. “T-that’s him!”

“Delightful. My luck seems to be turning for the positive this time. That reward is as good as mine.”

Twilight wasn’t having any of it, and she tried to hold him in place with her magic. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

This just jerk clenched a fist, and shrugged off Twilight’s spell like it was nothing!

“Tonight is as good a time as ever to take care of this problem before it… things get out of hand.” He turned towards the door, and left.

“The only problem right now is you!” Rainbow Dash shouted, the muscles in her neck tensing up.

Rainbow Dash never wanted to buck someone so hard into a wall before. This guy really got to her, especially after the way he tossed spike and aggressively grabbed onto her wing. The sense of helplessness wracked her body and her eyes shut tight as her body quivered. That human could do anything he wanted, and nopony could do anything.

She let out a frustrated grunt.

“Thought he’d never leave.” Spike said with his arms on his hips. He sounded just as frustrated as she did.

Well he was just rag-dolled into a bookshelf.

Rainbow Dash, who was still glowering at the empty space Vince occupied seconds ago, turned to Twilight when she spoke up. “You know, he is right about one thing.”

“About what?” Asked Rainbow Dash as she turned to Twilight with a puzzle expression.

“About dealing with that other human.”

“You mean the one who isn’t really a pony in the first place?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her face. “Yes, that one.”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow gave a sheepish smile.

“So, was it actually a human or a changeling? Explain everything.” Twilight said with furrowed brows.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, and gathered her thoughts. She began to recap everything that had happened.

*****

Rainbow Dash was stealthily following Cipher through Ponyville then the Everfree. Keeping herself inconspicuous, and making sure he wouldn’t notice her along the way. She was curious about who this ‘pony’ was. ‘Who turns down one of Pinkie’s parties in the first place? Especially for that long?’ she thought as she hunkered down in some bushes nearby.

‘Just who is this guy?’

What she had just witnessed next, right in front of her not only made her wince, but left her slack jawed. He changed from a pony to another one of those human things!? Or is he a changeling?! And those…monsters! Just then, the air grew cold around her, and she felt something from underneath her slowly start to wrap around one of her hind legs.

“Huh!?” She yelled as she spun around and looked down, then up, then forward. Various monsters crowded her surroundings, slowly blocking all routes of escape.

What the heck are these things?!

To say she was just a little scared would be an understatement.

She was downright horrified.

She quickly searched for a way out of her current predicament, her eyes darting every which way with each turn of her head Her gaze eventually landed on a small opening between a tall rocky creature and a floating hooded one. Rainbow unfurled her wings, and began flapping them as fast and hard as possible as though her life depended on it. With blinding speeds, she took off towards the narrow gap between the monsters, flapping harder and faster. The strong beat of her wings was enough to break the grip of the shadow beneath her, and gradually, she picked up enough speed to dart through the Everfree forest.

She evaded many of the ghosts that flew in front of her from nowhere, and the giant rock monsters that seemed to be grabbing at her with their… hands? Is that what that jerk Vince called them? She shook her head, and kept her focus on getting away from these things. “Do these guys ever give up?!” She shouted in frustration as another one of those ghosts suddenly appeared next to her. How were they even keeping up with her? With a quick glance up ahead Rainbow Dash could see the exit to the forest. Just a little further now. Her body grew more cold, and frost formed around her wings, mane, and tail. The realization crossed her mind that this sudden cold might be why she wasn’t flying as fast as she normally could.

‘Just a little further. Just. A little. Further!’

Closer and closer the exit drew nearer. She could only dodge and maneuver sluggishly as this thing reached for her at any opportunity it got. Rainbow Dash crashed through the last line of thickets of the forest and landed safely on the edge of Ponyville. She snapped her head over to the forest entrance to see if those creepy monsters were still chasing her. They weren’t anymore which was a relief. But why, though? What stopped them? What were those things? Rainbow decided not to question her fortunate escape and pried herself away from those thoughts. Even if she was the best flier in Equestria, that was way too close for comfort.

Rainbow Dash shook her head from the shock of everything that had happened. She almost forgot how out of breath she was so out of breath. She felt her heart racing not just from how hard she pushed herself to escape, but also from fear that she might not have made it out of there. “I gotta,” she huffed, “tell Twilight!” She didn’t wait to catch her breath before she once again took flight to the Golden Oak Library.

*****

“And that’s everything I could find out about him. Weird right?”

“So, all this time he was a human?” Twilight paused as she levitated a quill, and a fresh scroll over to Spike. “This is very concerning, and there’s no telling how dangerous he might be with those monsters. We have to tell the Princesses right away. The fact that those creatures could even keep up with you, Rainbow Dash, is even worse.”

Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane, causing some flakes of ice to fall down. “It’s still very strange that those things didn’t chase me all the way here.”

“Why didn’t they though?” Spike said as he grabbed the quill and parchment.

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brows as she thought about it. She rubbed her noggin, and shifted her eyes around as if to summon all her effort to think of a reason. Nothing was coming to mind. She only made her best assumption based on her encounters with ‘Cipher’. “I can’t think of anything other than he always just said he wants to be alone.”

“Regardless, this is still very important, and if left alone, things can get out of hoof if Vince goes after him.” Twilight said, laying a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “And besides, you could have gotten really hurt back then too. I don’t think we can afford to take any chances here.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed one foreleg with the other. “N-no, we can’t.” She thought about the ponies who were hurt by Vince. Ponies ended up in the hospital in… rough shape, to put it mildly, because of him. There was a report a few days ago when a filly needed immediate medical attention because of his violent nature.

This had to stop.

“Right, then. Spike, let’s get this letter to the Princesses as soon as possible.”

“Ready when you are.” Said Spike with the paper and quill in claw.

Twilight cleared her throat and provided a detailed report of the evening’s events to Celestia. Rainbow Dash went up to the dragon and watched intently as he wrote. Spike rolled up the parchment once it was done, and with a puff of his breath, a small plume of fire sent the scroll to Celestia.

Rainbow Dash turned her head to Twilight. “What do we do about Vince?” She asked. “Like you mentioned: we can’t exactly leave him alone.”

Twilight furrowed her brows. “We follow him.” She declared. “You heard him. Vince is going to hunt down the other human. Plus, it’ll give us a chance to see if he’s actually a threat.”

Rainbow Dash nervously gritted her teeth as a chill ran through her. “What about those monsters?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin as she thought it over. Once she found her answer, she looked back to Rainbow Dash, face stern with determination. “We’ll find a way to navigate around them. It’s going to be tricky from what you described, but I think we can do it.”

Rainbow Dash gave a smile that was weakened by uncertainty. “I-if you say so.”

Spike yawned loudly. “Good luck you two.” He said as he made his way back up stairs. “And be safe.”

“We will, Spike.” Twilight said as she turned to give a nod to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow and Twilight left the library to go after Vince. One way or another, he was going down, and this other guy was going to give them answers.

*****

The following morning had come as Aiden laid motionless in his bed, fast asleep. He enjoyed his recovery from yesterday’s exhaustion. An arm hung off the edge, another rested on his chest. He stirred violently and tried to ignore a feeling that began to flare through his body. His servants outside were causing loud vibrations.

A signal of an intruder.

Aiden leaped out of bed, and scrambled to his closet. His hand shakily gripped onto the handle and flung the door wide open to his wardrobe. He quickly grabbed what he needed: a shirt, some pants, and his shoes, threw it on, before shutting the door.

“W-who and how… did they get past my servants?!” He said with his voice quaking a bit. There was no time for calm. Someone definitely found out about him, and the golems were causing a ruckus. Even here his calm was fated to be disturbed it seems.

Damn it all!

He scanned the shelf above him, and reached for his pauldron. Its steel was colored crimson and had enchantment runes carved into it. He quickly strapped himself in, making sure it didn’t catch his undershirt with how much he was shaking. The protective magical energy flowed through his body.

He reached back up for his specially made athame, which he crafted from obsidian. He placed it in his coat before and rushed out of the house.

Worst part of all this was that he didn’t have a chance to shower.

Aiden shook his thoughts from his mind, and hurried outside. Once he was outside, he observed his surroundings to see his servants struggling to bring down… somebody? A man cutting down sentinels, golems, and watchers left and right was seen taking slow steps forward. Nothing was making him flinch as they came after him. Taking a few steps forward, he wondered, ‘just how did this guy find out where I was?! Who-’ his thoughts were halted at the realization of just who this might be. The two of them have never encountered each other before, but he has caught a few glimpses of him in town and nothing more.

“Oh, there’s the bounty I’ve been looking for!” He called out to Aiden. “Did I disturb your wittle nap, boy!?” This man, closing in on Aiden, cut down another watcher with what appeared to be a small dagger. But it wasn’t an ordinary blade he was carrying if it could do harm to these kinds of creatures. “You know it took me all night to find you. I’ve got to give you props on a nice round of hide n’ seek.” Vince jeerfully applauded.

Aiden turned to face a man adorning a scarf, short blue vest, and tight leather jeans. He sported a bandelier of small knives and bullets, complete with a blue stetson. His belt holstered small tools and weapons, some of it emanated with a purplish glow of… was that anti-magic!?

He called out to his servants. “All of you back down! This one I’ll handle alone.” The servants halted and backed away from the enemy, making their way to the treelines to observe.

The mysterious man bellowed with laughter. “That’s it! We fight like men!”

Aiden took only a few steps forward, maintaining a distance from his foe. “Just who are you exactly?” He asked. He knew who this guy might be, but he wanted confirmation.

He asked with a smug grin. “Why should I tell a dead man like you?” He twirled his dagger around his finger.

“You said I was your bounty. Who I am is obviously not a mystery to you.”

He shrugged and answered with the same cocky mug. “If you insist,” he said. “Name’s Vince. Not that it matters.”

So this was the guy he heard so much about? No spell he cast was going to make this guy flinch based on the rumors. One other thing confused Aiden though: his clothes were not glowing the same aura, and neither was he. There was just something… off about him altogether.

Vince grew impatient, his bloodlust oozing from his body, and he was just itching to receive his payday. “I’ve had enough standing around and talking.”

A silvery glint caught Aiden’s eye, followed by a thud on the tree behind him. A quick glance revealed the dagger that sliced his cheek. He wiped off the blood, wide eyed. When did he throw that?

Vince’s alacrity was surreal.

Aiden kept his gaze fixed on Vince. His eyes trailed over to a bloody knife that seemed to have materialized in his hand. A sudden pain shot from his leg, causing him to fall to his knees.

His body dragged like an anchor catching ground. He slowly cocked his head and squinted as his vision swayed. Blurriness and muffled sounds burdened his senses, Vince’s figure seemingly doubled.

“Damn it…” Aiden grunted. He tried to blink away the fuzzy vision, only to find Vince in front of him, a revolver pressed against his forehead.

Vince wore a sinister grin as he twirled the blade in his free hand. “Heh! I expected more from prey like you.”

A shadow quickly wrapped around Vince’s legs as it coiled up his frame. He quickly glanced down his torso in surprise. “What the hell!?” He snapped his head to his right to see several shards of ice hurtling towards his skull. He narrowly dodged the shards by leaning back as far as he could.

The sentinel spiraled around Vince’s arm to restrict any further movement. “Son of a bit-”

Aiden seized this opportunity to catch him off guard with a desperate tackle. They both tumbled to the ground and scrambled for the revolver, dislodged from Vince’s grip. Aiden used what bit of magic he could to power up to pin down Vince. The weapon in question was caught in his peripheral and started reaching for it.

“Like hell!” Vince growled and headbutted Aiden.

Pain exploded in his vision. As his grip on Vince loosened, he felt the force of his palm crush against his chest. A sharp kick to the gut knocked the wind out of him. He grunted and staggered back to his knees, and held his stomach with both arms.

Heavy heaves of breath escaped his lungs. Vince rolled backwards onto his feet to gain some distance. Aiden saw he had already dispatched the two creatures with the revolver. Vince pointed it at him. He was back to square one.

Vince spat off to the side. “Nice try, but your little friends can’t help you.” He pulled the hammer back. Aiden’s heart pounded, threatening to burst.

The trigger squeezed.

Aiden’s breath hitched, eyes tightly screwed shut.

A gunshot rang out.

The sound of a solid surface being struck was all Aiden heard. He slowly opened one eye to see a large, stony hand in front of him. Aiden traced the appendage back to the face of the rocky giant that protected him. At the sound of crumbling stone, he snapped his gaze back to its hand.

The stone had crumbled into dust, leaving Aiden without a moment’s hesitation. He furrowed his brows and balled his hand into a fist. He brought his free hand to the forest floor.

Vince leaned his head to one side. “Awe, are you upset at me breaking your toys?” He sneered.

The light blue aura of mana seeped into his hand from the grass beneath him, causing it to wilt.

“Not going to happen, kiddo.” Vince declared, readying another chamber on his revolver. He pointed it at him. The golem swatted at him with its other hand, but he noticed this and jumped out of the way.

Aiden focused the mana through his body, converting it to magic. He surged with blue arcs of arcane energy across his form, illusory copies appearing with each pulse.

Four, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty illusions surrounded his foe.

“Hah, so you are as they said,” Vince said wryly. “Always using cheap tricks to get your way. Although, I see you no longer have that dainty little bug I was briefed about to assist you.” He licked his lips. “It was delightful to hear about the dread you must’ve felt when you ran off with its corpse.”

Aiden’s face burned. His muscles tensed, teeth gnashed with fury. His heart pounded ferociously against his chest. He took in heavy, shaky breaths. With another pulse of arcane energy, he hastily nestled himself behind the leg of the golem.

Vince loudly inhaled and let out a breath of satisfaction. “Ah, I love the smell of cowardice. I can feel the small quakes of your shivers from here.” His taunts fueled Aiden’s adrenaline more and more. “C’mon, pissant, I haven’t got time for your little game of hide n’ seek.”

Aiden kept himself as subtle as he could, not inching any part of himself from his position. Not that he could in his current condition. He narrowed his eyes for a close read on Vince’s movements.

He watched Vince reach for a small blade that hung from his belt, the same purple glow outlining its features. That same purple glow that dealt him a devastating blow earlier. Aiden’s eyes went wide when Vince pulled out the blade. It was attached to a long, steel, retractable chain. Vince, gripping the chain, whipped it through the air. In an instant, several of Aiden’s illusions poofed from existence. He reeled back the cadena, spinning it off to the side as he chuckled.

Vince shouted, “Come out! Come out, you spell slingin’ tramp!”

Aiden swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He pulled out his dagger and brought the blade down to his hand. He winced, making a small cut across his palm. As it seeped through the incision, he coated the dagger in his blood. He traced his fingers along the blade, a faint crimson glow tracing its edges. Leveling the dagger with his gaze, he turned it to the ground and let it fall.

With the last traces of borrowed mana he had, he muttered a single word, “Construct.”

The red glow of arcane energy shifted to lavender around the blade and made contact with the earth. Blue arcane threads sprouted from the dagger and laced themselves in the forest floor. Chunks of dirt and rocks loosely flowed up to the athame, forming a small malleable ball of clay. It expanded and took a form, matching Aiden’s height and shape before it solidified. The form took on his exact appearance.

A few more poofs were heard, causing Aiden to quickly look around the golem’s leg to see Vince slowly encroaching on his position. He brought his gaze back to the new, much more solid copy. He furrowed his brows, and nodded.

Aiden slowly wiggled his fingers on one hand. The clone mimicked the gesture. Mana wove between their fingers, slowly tracing their fingers with a blue glow. He motioned with a hand for the construct to step out ahead of him.

“Now that’s a good sport.” Vince chortled, seeing ‘Aiden’ finally reveal himself.

The real Aiden lifted his hand and snapped his fingers.

All at once, the illusions and construct moved in to surround Vince. Aiden quickly moved into the crowd of his illusions, blending in to not give himself away.

“Smoke and mirrors aren’t going to help you!”

Vince raised his arm, readying his cadena for another swing. An illusion rushed up from behind to grab his arm. Vince quickly dispatched it with a shot from his revolver before he flung out his chain to deal with the others, the sight of silvery blurs cutting through multiple copies.

The rest of Aiden’s illusions kept at their assault, going down one by one from the chain. There were less than ten left, but all Aiden needed was a distraction. The construct came at Vince’s left, and Aiden at his right. The copies seemed to be overwhelming Vince’s senses, his movements slowing down throughout the onslaught.

“Back off!” Vince shouted angrily, leaping into the air.

The opportunity presented itself to Aiden. He snapped his fingers again, signaling to the construct to jump into the air. Its altitude came just above Vince’s, forming a chunk of earth from its hands. Aiden brought his arms up, the illusions morphed into blue spheres of concentrated energy and floated upward to the construct. They circled around and were slowly absorbed into the core of the earthen puppet’s core. Aiden brought his hand into the air and heavily brought it back down, the construct mimicking its creator’s motion. Vince’s eyes went wide, turning his head to see the hulking mass of rock coming down on him. He spun around and flung his chain at the copy, piercing its shoulder.

Aiden felt a sharp pain from the cadena’s blade piercing the construct, and tightly held his shoulder with his free hand, maintaining his downward strike. Vince was struck hard by the massive ball of rock and stone, sending him careening to the ground. He slammed into the forest floor and let out a pain-filled grunt. The revolver was dislodged from Vince’s grip a second time, landing a small distance away in front of Aiden.

The construct descended to the ground and touched down next to Aiden. He took a glance at it then to Vince who now lay on the ground. Vince hissed, struggling to lift his head to look at Aiden, spat out a glob of blood.

“Y-you… How did you… agh!” Vince’s head fell back to the ground, his body probably already registering what had happened.

Aiden reached his free hand into the core of the construct, pulling out the athame. The ritual that bound it all together dispelled and the construct crumbled into the earth. Aiden allowed the leftover mana flow back into the forest, the grass once wilted regained its greenery. He placed the blade back into its sheath inside his coat. The sound of a concerned groan came from the golem at the sight of Aiden coughing out some blood.

As the adrenaline slowly wore off, Aiden’s body shook and his chest ached. Blood poured from his shoulder, making him clench it tighter to slow the bleeding. He crept over to the gun with painful steps, his leg still in pain and his breath shaking with each exhale. Without stopping to think about it, he slowly bent down to pick up the revolver.

“You… you gonna use that… on me?” Vince asked through forced huffs of breath. “Y-you…” Vince’s ramblings faded in Aiden’s ears, deaf to the unintelligible rant of a psychopath.

With a somber expression, Aiden continued to stare at the six-barrelled gun. The faint purple glow of anti-magic outlining its features still shook him to his core. If it were a regular weapon, he’d have no issue standing his ground against it, but that wasn’t the case here.

Setting aside his thoughts, Aiden lifted his head and fixed a glare on the agonizing Vince. He flicked his thumb on the barrel of the revolver, spinning it before stopping on a random chamber. He slowly encroached on Vince’s position — not that he was going anywhere anytime soon.

Aiden spoke for the first time since Vince showed up, “I wonder just how many shots you fired. Three? Four?” Once he was standing over the hunter, he stopped and aimed the revolver at his head. “Are ya’ bettin’ man, Vince?”

“What… what the hell are you talking about?” Vince growled, staring down the muzzle of his own gun.

Aiden sighed and pulled the hammer back on the revolver and placed his finger on the trigger. He slowly squeezed the trigger, making Vince squeeze his eyes half-shut in anticipation.

Click

Vince grinned and chuckled. “A dud.”

He pulled the hammer back and pulled the trigger a second time.

Click

Another.

Click

Once more.

Click

Vince’s smile widened across his ugly mug. “Out of bullets… haha.”

Aiden prepared one more chamber to be fired. The sound of rustling bushes came from bushes nearby. He perked his head up and looked them over. Was someone watching this entire time? He swiveled before returning his attention to Vince. He wrapped his finger around the trigger and aimed again.

He stopped the moment he heard a voice shout from the bushes. “Stop!”

Turning his head back to the bush, two ponies he recognized as Rainbow Dash and Twilight jumped right out in front of him. “Don’t… don’t do it… whoever you are!” Twilight shouted.

Aiden’s eyes widened. “W-what are you two doing here? How did you know where we were?”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brows at him. “We’re here for answers!” She declared.

“Rainbow Dash and I followed Vince all the way here and-” Twilight stopped and folded her ears, shrinking at the sight of the watchers and sentinels that suddenly loomed over the two equines.

“Stand down,” commanded Aiden, “they are not a threat.”

The servants stopped and backed away from Rainbow and Twilight, maintaining a protective formation behind their master. Twilight recovered and breathed a sigh of relief, while Rainbow kept up a defensive posture with her wings flared out.

“Y-you two are a couple of idiots.” Vince spat. “Let the kid finish the job… if he’s got the guts that is.” He mocked in an attempt to coax Aiden into pulling the trigger.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash ignored him, keeping their attention on Aiden.

Twilight cautiously approached him with pleading eyes. “You don’t need to do what I… we think you’re going to do.”

“This isn’t any of your business.” Aiden answered back, narrowing his eyes at Vince.

“It is our business!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “You kept yourself a secret from us for three years, and all this time you weren’t who we thought you were?!”

“Then we come to figure out that, during these past three months, you could have dealt with Vince all this time.” Twilight stared at him, her expression becoming somber. “Why didn’t you come out sooner? Surely you must have seen all the trouble he’s caused?”

Aiden bit his lip, shaking his head. “I-I…” His voice trailed, trying to think of a clear answer. She was right and the guilt tore at him to this day. “I hesitated.” He put his head down.

Vince was heard tittering under his breath. There was the sound of a clattering chain, prompting Aiden to snap his attention back to Vince. Witnessing the chain about to be launched at Twilight, he reflexively tightened his aim and pulled the trigger.

Both ponies squeezed their eyes shut and folded their ears at the resounding gunshot. They both looked back at Aiden then followed his eyes behind them. They gasped as they saw a fresh hole in Vince’s forehead. He laid there still on the ground, motionless with his fingers loosely wrapped around the cadena.

They turned their attention back to Aiden, their eyes the size of pinpricks. He dropped the revolver and slumped to the ground. He sat there, gawking past Rainbow and Twilight.

“Did you just…” Twilight shuttered with her voice trailing. “...kill him?”

“No way.” Rainbow Dash said, her mouth agape.

Twilight shakily waved a hoof in front of Aiden’s face. He continued to stare blankly. He slowly covered his face with his free hand, still keeping the other tightly on his shoulder wound.

“A-are you okay?” Twilight asked, likely worried about his mental state.

Realization wormed its way into his mind…

“I… this is…”

His eyes widened. His stomach churned.

“This…”

He quickly turned his head and brought his hand to his mouth, heaving the contents of his stomach out for him to see. Rainbow and Twilight recoiled, each closing one eye tightly.

“I… killed him. I-I killed him.”

His hands shook.

“H-he…” He turned to Twilight. “He was going to kill you.”

Twilight quickly looked back at Vince’s corpse before returning her attention to Aiden. She opened her mouth, but closed it, unable to respond.

Rainbow Dash stepped to chime in, answering his earlier question. She folded her ears, looking guilty with her head lowered. She seemed… scared? She’s hardly ever scared, if at all. “Look,” she said, “we knew where you were because… I followed you last night.” She admitted to her skulking around.

Aiden couldn’t believe it. She was willing to put herself in danger, and for what? He wasn’t mad… a little upset, but not mad. “So you followed me last night, potentially putting yourself in harm's way?” He growled. “Not only that, but you went poking around where you shouldn’t have.”

Twilight furrowed her brows. “Excuse us?” She asked. “How about you explain these past few months, or rather, the last three years!?” She finished, poking a forehoof into Aiden’s chest.

He didn’t know what to say at that moment.

There wasn’t anything he could think of in response.

She was right.

At the very least, Aiden could have done something sooner about Vince to stop his torment of these equines. For all they knew, Aiden was just as guilty as the man he just killed.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t do anything sooner.” He said somberly. “I was scared, and let my fears get the best of me.” He hung his head, staring down at the ground. “There’s no excuse for it.”

At that moment, Armored Pegasi swooped down from above to surround Aiden. Twilight and Rainbow Dash backed away before two alicorns landed in front of him, giving him stern looks. The armored ponies held their spears at him, their tips just inches away from his face.

“W-what? What the hell’s going on here!?” He panicked.

Aiden observed the alicorns thoroughly. It took a moment for his mind to register just who these two were. His eyes widened, recognizing the two as the rulers of Equestria: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

“You…” She trailed off, turning her head back at the dead Vince and her two subjects. She glowered at him and continued, “You are under arrest.”

Aiden’s blood ran stone cold. “Wait a minute! I’ve done nothing wrong. Ple-”

Luna leered at him when she cut him off. “You are a trespasser in our lands.”

“I-I… That’s… I wasn’t harming anyone…” he trailed, his head hanging low.

Celestia addressed Twilight with a question, keeping her gaze fixed on Aiden. “Are you alright, Twilight?” Her voice was laced with worry.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

She then asked Rainbow Dash. “How about you, Rainbow Dash?”

“I’m alright.” She answered.

“He didn’t hurt us.” Twilight said. “At least he hasn’t tried to.” Her voice went low.

“You and Rainbow Dash head back to town and rest a while. My sister and I will take it from here.”

Both Rainbow and Twilight turned and quietly headed back to Ponyville.

Celestia stood there, staring down silently at Aiden for a moment, his hands up in surrender. “You are to be presumed dangerous, and shall be sent back to whence you came.” Celestia said with a cold, stern expression. “Until then, you will be taken into custody until we finish the spell to send you back.” She declared.

“I was just protecting myself against…” he slowly trailed over to the body once more, “him.”

His servants encircled the two alicorns. Both Celestia and Luna tightened their glares.

“Tell these creatures to stand down, and there will be no conflict.” Luna commanded.

Aiden motioned a hand in the air, signaling for his servants to desist. There was no fighting back against two powerful beings like them. He knew that this was a losing battle, and any retaliation would only hurt his case. Without any resistance he allowed his apprehenders to take him in. As he was taken away by the Princesses, Aiden’s remaining Sentinels and Watchers were ordered by him to remain in Everfree. They respected their master’s wishes; therefore not acting upon their instincts to go save him. They only did what they normally did: patrol the area around their master’s home.

After Aiden fully left their sights they dwelled within the shadows, awaiting for their master’s homecoming. Most of them, at least.

*****

Some time went by during the ride to Canterlot. Aiden sat in silence as the flying carriage he was in flew over the many sights below. The Friendship Express was making its journey to the capital as well. When he looked ahead he saw the city built onto the side of a mountain. It only made sense to him that the city had such a foundation as it seemed to make it harder for opposing nations, if any, to invade it.

. He decided not to focus too much on anything though. Afterall, he was a criminal. “Ah’ just wanted to be alone.” He mumbled. In turn this earned him a few stares, especially from the princesses.

“What was that?” Celestia questioned.

“Nothing. Ah’m-” Aiden cut himself off, and came to the realization his drawl was slipping through. He mentally kicked himself, and forced himself away from it, returning back to his usual one. He cleared his throat and finished his statement, “I’m fine.” He wasn’t angry, nor did he sound upset. Him expressing his emotions would only earn him pity and he didn’t want that.

Luna looked over at him. “You could try defending yourself. Argue your case so that we may know the whole story.”

“What’s the point?” He argued, “It’s not like you’re going to believe me. Ah’ am a cri-” he drew in a deep breath, and after another mental kick, he spoke normally again, “As far as you’re concerned, I’m a criminal. Not sure if telling you everything would help.” he solemnly gave his answer.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at him. As far as she was concerned, he committed a crime, but she didn’t seem to think it should deter him from defending himself. “Perhaps you would reconsider? It is the only viable option for you to remain here in Equestria.”

Aiden was about to respond, but quickly took a few steps back in his head to think about his reply. After thinking for a moment he broke his silence, placing his head into his hands.

“I just don’t want to go back, and after what happened back in the Everfree most likely ruined that chance.” He let out a heavy sigh to cover up a light sob that escaped his throat.

“Perhaps.” Was all Celestia said in reply.

*****

They finally made it to Canterlot Castle after a long, uneventful ride. Upon entering the palace, Celestia ordered her guards to take care of his wounds and take him to his cell. As usual, he didn’t resist at all.

But why?

He only complied with a nod of his head. Both Luna and Celestia were perplexed by his behavior. After the guards took him away, the two started to discuss the matter.

“I don’t get it, Luna. Why doesn’t he fight back?”

“Perhaps he is more docile than Vince was?” Luna answered. “While he did manage to dispatch him,” She winced. The sight of Vince’s lifeless body on the ground in the forest was rather unpleasant. “Maybe he doesn’t mean any real harm to our subjects.”

She took a breath and replied. “I don’t think that’s the case. Though he doesn’t seem to be as dangerous as we anticipated, it’s as if he’s hiding something from us.”

“What might he be hiding?”

“I don’t know exactly, but we are going to find out.”

*****

Aiden laid in his cot inside his cell, thinking deeply about how he could convince them to let him stay. They had dressed his wounds before escorting him to his cell. His current predicament about how to defend himself agitated his mind. He viciously clawed his fingers into his hair, and every time he came to a dead end. No matter what defense he came up with in his head it would only end badly. He clenched locks of his hair at the thought of failure to come up with a good argument.

He turned his head to look over at the guard standing in front of his cell. “Is it alright if I got a glass of water? Kinda thirsty here.”

The guard craned his neck to look back at Aiden and rolled his eyes. “I guess there’s no harm in it.” He walked away for a moment to satisfy his request.

After a minute he came back with a glass of water. The guard held his hoof through the prison bars to give it to Aiden.

Seriously though, how do they do that with hooves?

“Thank you,” He grabbed the glass and took a sip before placing it next to his bed.

“No problem.” The guard replied, resettling at his post. “Heh, normally when we catch criminals they try to escape, not stand there and just go with it.”

Aiden stared at the guard whilst he laid back down in his cot, taking another sip of his water with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah? And? What does this have to do with me?” He put his glass back on the ground, and put his head back down onto his pillow.

The guard coughed into his hoof. “Well, you don’t seem to be as aggressive as the rest of the other criminals. I’m just wondering why that is.”

“What reason do I have to attack innocent people, or ponies in this case?”

“Maybe you were provoked in some way?”

Aiden flattened. “I had an unfortunate run-in with that guy Vince.”

The pony’s ears flattened at the mention of that name. “That is unfortunate.”

“You know him?”

“Kind of. I’ve seen him around the palace when he first came to Equestria, but he wasn’t exactly a friendly guy to say the least.”

“You… are not wrong.”

“What happened exactly? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Aiden swallowed hard, and shuddered. “He… I-I killed him.” He sunk as if the weight of his sin suddenly pressed on his shoulders.

The guard’s eyes went wide with his mouth hung open. “That’s… gotta be rough, buddy.” He brought a hoof to his chin. “But you might have just done us a favor if you ask me.”

A favor? Aiden thought about his words for a moment and shook his head. “Killing people or ponies isn’t something I enjoy.”

“That guy was trouble, and anypony he interacted with was… w-well… Many of them would end up in the hospital in critical condition. Some pegasi were left unable to fly,” He flapped his wings, “Some unicorns felt less capable with magic.” His ears fell. “I’m actually… kind of glad he’s gone.”

“I’m not particularly proud of it though.” Aiden drew in a breath, and exhaled, allowing himself to relax.

It was very weird that he was… being thanked for it? Then again, based on this information, things have been this way for a while. So it was only natural. Right?

Whatever.

He was an idiot for not doing something sooner. It shouldn't have taken so long. There was no reason to thank him necessarily.

Aiden shook his head, deciding not to think about it too much.

He chuckled lightly. “You know, this is actually the first time I had any real interaction with anyone.”

“...In how long may I ask?”

“Three years, give or take.”

The guard’s eyes went wide again for a moment, seemingly unable to imagine how anypony could go that long without interacting with others. This kind of reaction from others if they didn’t already know was expected, but if they did… oh goodness heavens above the laundry list of questions.

“How did you even go that long without going insane?”

Aiden opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, unable to really explain it well. He thought his words over and gave an answer. “I’m just used to it? It kinda just grows on you after a while I guess.”

He really wasn’t so sure how to explain it, nor could he aptly articulate it at the moment.

“That makes sense... I think,” He seemed to ponder for a moment, probably feeling the staleness of the conversation. “So, may I have the honor of knowing the name of the human I’m talking to?”

“Aiden. And yours?”

“Sky High.”

Aiden turned his head to look the guard over more thoroughly. He couldn’t see his mane or cutie mark because of his armor. The pony was a gray colored pegasus with topaz eyes. He was also pretty strong looking, and seemed capable of taking down a few fugitives if he needed to. Done inspecting him, he laid back down in his bed.

He stared at the ceiling, getting lost in his thoughts.

Would he be banished?

Can he defend himself?

What’s really going to happen to him?

He couldn’t shake this feeling of worry from his mind. Maybe it was just going to be all over for him.

He didn’t want that.

Hoofsteps could be heard echoing around the cell block as guards roamed back and forth down the hallways. Aiden could hear them conversing as they passed by each other. He paid no attention to them. His eyes were already closed, and was trying to get much needed rest.

Slumbering away the moments, he could hear his cell door open and close.

A stern, feminine voice woke him up.

“Excuse us, but we need to talk to you.”

Aiden opened his left eye to peek up at the one who disturbed his slumber. When he did, he saw Princess Celestia and Luna standing before him. He stretched and let out a small yawn, and shifted himself in an upright position in his bed, his legs dangling off the side.

“About what, exactly?” He finally answered, rubbing one eye.

He kept his head low.

Celestia looked back at Sky and nodded, as if signaling for him to leave them in private while they spoke to Aiden. She looked back at him with a stern expression.

Celestia led off with a question, giving that same authoritative expression he’s seen before. “Let us first begin by asking about the state of your injury?”

Aiden lowered his head down at his leg. He lightly rubbed the injured area with his hand. There was still a small twinge of pain, but there was no bleeding and it was certainly much more bearable. He lightly swung his leg, the small sensation of numbness was nearly gone.

He spoke up. “I-it’s doing fine. I can also feel my magic slowly being restored, so that’s a plus. Not every day I face a life-or-death scenario." He paid no mind to their brief exchange of worried glances.

He rolled his shoulder slightly, the pain much more mild than earlier. Yeah, he was getting better if he had to guess.

Luna chimed in with a question, her voice just as tempered as Celestia’s. “How did you manage to defeat Vince? Neither my sister nor I could do much to him, even with our magic.”

“I just got a little creative, but if it weren’t for my servants, I’d be dead right now.” He held in a heave from another glimpse of Vince’s corpse appearing in his thoughts.

They both gave Aiden a worried look. “Are you alright?” Asked Luna.

He waved a hand, and took a deep breath as his body shook. “Yeah… just still in a bit of shock from it all.” His gaze trailed back over to Celestia. “You didn’t come here to just make small talk, correct?”

She nodded. “We need to talk about how and why you came to Equestria, and how you managed to remain in secret. First, what is your name?”

“Aiden.”

“How and why did you come to Equestria?”

Aiden took a slow, deep, and shaky breath. “I-I didn’t want to come here the way I did, but it was necessary at the time.” He replied.

The Princesses exchanged glances. “What exactly do you mean by that?” Luna asked.

He didn’t want to recount everything leading up to him escaping to Equestria, but he thought he should at least give them an “I…was going to initially escape to this place with someone very dear to me.” His hands shook. “But that was meant to be…” A sob forced its way between his words.

He desperately fought back his tears, to his mild success.

Their expressions softened.

“I eventually finished the spell we worked on to traverse here, and took up residence in the Everfree Forest. I’ve been there ever since, visiting Ponyville occasionally to study the culture.” His cheeks turned up slightly. “You’re all very fascinating.”

Celestia was intrigued by his ending statement. “Really? How so?”

“For starters, our societies are remarkably similar in mannerisms and speech: common phrases, common motions and the like. And while your technology isn’t quite as far along as my world is, it’s approaching it. I’d give you 200 years, give or take, before you catch up to us fully. And…” he was going to mention Earth’s horses, but he figured that would cause the conversation to become very awkward.

“And what?” asked Luna, picking up on his pause.

Aiden nervously rubbed the back of his head with a. “Uh, the flora and fauna. Completely different from what’s on my planet for the most part. That’s part of the reason why I stayed in the Everfree because of all the interesting plants and such.” He hoped they wouldn’t catch his hasty cover-up statement. When their expressions didn’t change, he mentally sighed in relief.

“I see. Well, it must be very fascinating for you to live here. How long, exactly, did you say you have been staying in the forest?” Celestia asked.

“I didn’t exactly say how long, but I’ve been here three years now,” Aiden answered, not volunteering any more information.

Celestia and Luna shared a glance, then Luna gave Celestia a short nod and turned to walk out of the cell. She departed, and left Aiden alone with Celestia.

He sat with some slight confusion, but figured out what was going to happen quickly. “Alright, time to go, I guess. Go ahead,” he held out a hand then let it drop. His head hung down futilely. “Send me back home…”

“Aiden?”

He peered his eyes up at Celestia. “What?”

“I’m going to be honest here.” She leaned her head slightly closer to him. “Do you wish to stay in Equestria?”

“What?” His face lit up with a glimmer of optimism. “Yes! I-I mean… yes. Yes I would!” He laughed nervously, hoping that she wasn’t just making a joke out of the situation. Still, this made him perk up. He wasn’t going to be banished, and that was a good thing.

“Good. Then you may stay,” she finished with a smile.

“Just like that?” Aiden asked with trepidation.

“My sister and I have come to the conclusion that. While you do seem a bit of a threat, it’s not directed at my little ponies. And I trust that you will keep it that way.”

Aiden’s eyes grew big. “T-thank you! Thank you so much!”

Celestia smiled softly. “We’ll take you back to Ponyville to get you properly integrated and adjusted to society, so you may move freely among them.”

“Actually I’ve already been doing that.” He paused, smiling sheepishly. “In secret.”

Celestia blinked a few times, cocking her head. “How exactly?”

“I made a potion that would transform me into a pony for a few hours at a time.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “I’ve been visiting Ponyville almost daily since the first few weeks that I got here.”

“That’s very resourceful of you.” Celestia commented. “Tell me, how did you manage to make such a potion?” She asked.

“I just happened to do a bit of research on some of the plants in the Everfree and managed to make a potion out of them. One of the ingredients the locals happen to call Poison Joke.” He explained. “It wasn’t easy at first, but once I figured out what effects each plant had I was able to deduce which ones were more useful.”

“What about when you first came to Equestria?” Celestia inquired further. Aiden could tell she was getting even more curious about his accolades. Whether or not this was a good thing, he couldn’t tell.

Aiden thought for a moment. “Well, I just cast an illusion on the ponies at the time. For the most part, I was lucky enough to make it out of the library in Ponyville in time with some notes from specific books. Was there anything else you might inquire about?”

Celestia held her head up with her gaze, gathering her thoughts. She shook her head. “I believe there will be plenty of time on the way back to Ponyville for that.” She turned to exit the cell. “Come along now.”

Aiden followed her out of the cell. He and Celestia made their way out of the dungeon, and he noticed Sky High standing at the entrance. “Hey, Sky,” he addressed the guard, “Thanks for, uh, keeping me company in that cell.”

“Hey, I’m just glad it wasn’t too boring. If you ever find yourself back in Canterlot, we should hang out. I know a good donut place.”

“I definitely will.” Aiden extended his hand and Sky a his forehoof and they shook.

They both said their goodbyes, and Aiden followed Celestia.

She smiled. “You two seem well acquainted.”

“Y-yeah, we had a chat. Actually, it felt kind of nice interacting with someone like that after three years.”

They continued through the castle to the exit to see a chariot had been prepared.

Just a moment ago he was a prisoner, but now his new lease on life here in Equestria was finally signed and approved by royal hooves.

Comments

[User Gone]

Cool stuff, duder! Keep on knocking out those chapters.

[Omega Delta]

[NobleValor]

It's good, but I wonder if you are writing this on your own, or are working in conjunction with Sandcroft?

[Rikkity]

4559931

I am in fact writing in conjunction with sandcroft. Any of the dialogue or actions done by Aiden are written by me. Lucien is also written by Sandcroft due to the fact that it is his OC, and I don't want to do anything that would make him seem OOC.

Anything else written is what we both had written are scenarios we thought might work. I really hope to not screw this one up though.

[treegrowth]

ok I really like the story, but is this a sequel to another book because it seems that there is some info that needs addressing.