Beyond the Portal

by Firestar463

Chapter 6

The world rushed by as Kyle dashed through the forest, the trees blurring into a collage of browns, greys and greens. Just behind him, he could hear the thunder of hooves and the rustle of bushes as the Princesses charged after him. Though most likely far faster than him under normal circumstances, their larger size was apparently hindering their ability to move through the dense undergrowth.

Another scream pierced the air, much closer this time. Kyle veered to the right, following the sounds of the screams. Not too far away, he could see the bottom of a cliff. The sound of the Princesses behind him grew fainter as he outpaced them, his feet and hands allowing him to better navigate the terrain than their hooves.

Kyle heard a snarl from a clearing just in front of him. He looked around for a split second before hopping on top of a boulder, and from there leaping onto a low-hanging tree branch. He scrambled up the tree and to the other side, where he could observe the clearing. Poking his head through the leaves, he was met with a most unusual sight.

A pack of wolves, at least half a dozen, were crowded around the bottom of the cliff he had seen earlier. Unlike the wolves he was used to, however, these wolves appeared to be made up of thick sticks and branches. “Those must be... Timber Wolves.” he muttered. He paused and covered his face with his hand. Oh sweet Light, that’s horrible. he groaned to himself at the terrible pun. Returning to his observation, Kyle noticed that one of the Timber Wolves had its paw inside a crevice in the rock face, grasping for something.

Another scream rang out. It sounded like it had come from the crevice. Dammit… someone’s in there! Nearby, the other wolves paced impatiently. One of them was noticeably larger and angrier-looking than the others. While the other 5 had green eyes, this one’s eyes glowed a vibrant, feral yellow. That must be the Alpha Male. Kyle mused. If I can get him down, the others should flee… Just gotta plan out my strike... Looking back down, Kyle saw the two princesses just outside the clearing, looking up at him. He held up 6 fingers to them, and Celestia nodded. Luna nudged her head forward in a clear signal of ‘whenever you’re ready’.

Kyle nodded grimly, regretting his decision to leave his armor behind at Fluttershy’s cottage. He had even been foolish enough to leave his brews behind! Still, it wasn’t like he could saunter off and go get them before coming back here. Kyle took a deep breath and focused himself, gathering his Chi into his feet. He pushed off from the branch, flying silently into the air above the clearing. As gravity took over and he began to fall, he extended his right leg, aiming for the wolf reaching into the crevice.

The wolf yelped in shock as Kyle landed heavily upon its shoulders. With a resounding CRACK, its front two legs and neck fell apart, the head rolling away as the rest of the body crumpled to the ground. Kyle spun around just in time to see Celestia and Luna charge into the clearing. Two of the Timber Wolves turned to confront the new intruders, while the other three, including the Alpha, circled Kyle, the one that had already defeated one of their own. The Alpha let out a blood-chilling howl, and a second later another howl could be heard not far off. Calling in reinforcements eh? Kyle growled to himself. Let’s make this quick, then.

The closest wolf to Kyle leaped at him from the right. Kyle took a step forward and gave the wolf a solid kick that sent it flying into the cliff behind him, where it landed on the ground, dazed from the impact. The other two growled menacingly and continued to pace, seeing another comrade go down. Kyle risked a glance behind his two foes to see how the Princesses were doing

Celestia and Luna were circling with their foes. As he watched, one of the wolves leaped at Celestia. Her horn glowed, and bright light shot out. It hit the wolf square in the eyes, and its snarl turned into a whimper of pain as it landed on the ground in a heap, rubbing its eyes with its paw. Celestia backed away, spreading her wings in an attempt to make herself look larger. Kyle could have sworn that she was going easy on her foe, trying to force it to retreat rather than kill it.

Kyle’s attention was jerked back to his own opponents as the second wolf charged. Having been distracted, Kyle, had no time perform the same maneuver he had before. Instead, he ducked underneath the leap and caught the wolf with both hands. It was heavier than it looked, but with the momentum from the leap, Kyle was able to heave it upwards into the air. Its howl turned into a yelp as it was sent skyward. Kyle waited for just a couple of seconds before flipping backwards, bringing his feet upwards in a Rising Sun Kick. A great snapping sounded told him that his feet had hit their mark, and as he landed, the wolf’s decapitated body thudded to the ground, the head slamming into the cliff face and shattering.

Kyle felt a sudden shiver run through his spine as he looked the Alpha in the eyes. An unnatural chill seemed to grip him, filling him with dread. He hadn’t felt anything like this since his time running around the Townlong Steppes and Dread Wastes, dealing with the Mantid invasion. He tried to shake the feeling off, but it still lingered as he returned his full attention to the Alpha.

A howl from behind was all the warning he got. Kyle spun around just as a wolf slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Of course! He had been stupid enough to think that the wolf he had dazed earlier was out for the count! The wolf in question jumped on top of Kyle, claws punching into his chest. Kyle hissed in pain, and the Wolf bare its fangs, preparing to bite down on his throat.

It never got the chance.

Kyle had been in this situation before, pinned underneath a predator. He had seen several good men go down after getting leaped on like this. This was not going to be the end. Instead, Kyle reached up with both hands and grabbed the wolf’s head. The wolf’s eyes opened in shock, and Kyle smirked grimly as he violently twisted its head to his left. A sickening snap filled the air, and Kyle pushed the now-lifeless wolf off of him.

Kyle scrambled to his feet, eying the Alpha again. He could feel his shirt beginning to grow damp with blood from the wolf’s claws, but even though his wounds hurt, they were not life-threatening. Still, the close call left Kyle trembling slightly as he eyed his final foe. Behind the Wolf, Celestia and Luna were combating the reinforcements the Alpha had called for. If he didn’t do something soon, they could very well be overrun.

“Let’s finish with a light show, shall we?” He hissed, gathering his Chi in his hands. As the Alpha charged at him, Kyle smiled darkly. He thrust his right hand forward, and green lightning shot from his fingertips, lancing out at the Alpha. The wolf howled in agony as Kyle ramped up the energy flowing from him, leaving dark scorch marks along the wolf’s flank.

Finally, a particularly harsh blast had the intended effect. The wolf’s midsection caught fire, and the rest of the creature was soon engulfed in the blaze. Kyle could hear the other wolves fighting Celestia and Luna yelp in terror, and watched as they all fled from the creature who had turned the strongest among them into a living torch. The Alpha collapsed to the ground, and the eerie yellow light in its eyes faded as the inferno devoured it.

Kyle looked over at to the two Princesses. Celestia appeared uninjured, while Luna had a couple of scrapes but no blood. Kyle then examined his own injuries. The puncture wounds left by the wolf were not deep, but they were still oozing blood and stung something fierce.

A noise from behind drew Kyle’s attention once more. The bodies of three of the wolves he had killed were shuddering. Only the scorched husk of the Alpha remained still. Suddenly, the wolves’ bodies reconstructed themselves, and the wolves rose to their feet, growling menacingly. It appeared that they had had enough, however, as they looked at the remains of their Alpha and backed away into the brush before turning tail and fleeing.

Kyle then turned his attention back to the crevice, where the wolves’ original target had been. He knelt down beside the crevice and took a peek inside. “Hey, you can come out now.” He said gently. “The wolves are gone. You’re safe.”

“Go away!” A terrified voice yelled back. “Ah’m not comin’ out ‘til yer gone!”

Kyle looked back at Celestia. She smiled slightly and walked over to the crevice. “Come on out, little one.” she spoke into the crevice, allowing whoever was in there to see her face. “There’s nothing to be afraid of now.”

Slowly, a small head poked its way out of the crevice. The small pony had a light yellow coat with apple-red hair that was messed up and tossed around. On top of the pony’s head was a bright pink bow. Must be a female. Kyle thought to himself as he stood aside, trying not to scare the little filly.

When the filly saw Celestia and Luna, she bolted out of the cliff, rushing over to the princesses and cuddling up next to Luna. “Ah, Applebloom.” Luna said with a smile. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Last Nightmare Night, I believe.”

“Yep.” Applebloom replied, pulling back. She glance around, and her eyes landed on Kyle. Her pupils shrunk, and she dove behind Luna. She peeked her head out from behind her legs, shivering.

Celestia giggled. “Kyle, this is Applebloom. She’s Applejack’s sister.” she introduced. “Applebloom, this is Kyle Slater, a Human from another world called Azeroth. He helped us fight off the Timber Wolves to save you.”

Applebloom stepped out from behind Luna, staring at Kyle. “Are… are ya really from another world?” she asked in awe.

“Yeah, I am.” Kyle replied. “But that’s a story that can wait. What were you doing out here?” he asked. “The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place. Does your sister know you’re here?”

“Uh…” Applebloom began. “Well… Ah was off to go see Miss Zecora. Ah’ve been helpin’ her a lot with makin’ potions and stuff. So I was on the path, and then Ah saw some juniper berries, and Zecora had told me last time that she was runnin’ outta juniper, so Ah went to go get some, and then those wolves showed up and chased me here.”

Kyle close his eyes and sighed. He hadn’t heard of this Zecora before, but from what Applebloom had just said, she was an Alchemist who apparently lived in the Forest for some reason. He opened his eyes and saw Applebloom walking over to the Alpha. By now the wolf was just a corpse, a pile of ashes and wood that had been charred black and white. However, something seemed off. The char marks seemed a bit too… vibrant.

“Wow… ya sure did a number on this feller.” Applebloom said quietly. She reached out a hoof to touch the wood.

Kyle’s eyes shot wide open as he realized what was wrong. ‘NO!” he screamed, rolling forward and shoving Applebloom aside. She hit the ground with a thump as Kyle landed on his feet. She scrambled back to her hooves, shivering violently. Meanwhile, Luna had extended her wings, looking at Kyle warily, but he couldn’t care less about that right now. “Did you touch it?” he demanded as she cowered. “Did you?!”

“N-n-no…” Applebloom whimpered, clearly terrified.

Kyle sighed and stepped back from the terrified filly. “Sorry about that.” he said calmly. “But I had to make sure you didn’t touch it.”

“Why not?” Luna demanded, stepping forward. She looked angry, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. “We’ve handled Timber Wolf bodies before. There’s nothing dangerous about touching one that’s dead.”

“Maybe not normally.” Kyle agreed. “But tell me… is that normal?” he demanded, pointing at the body. By now, the signs had become much more visible. The ground beneath the corpse, which had not caught fire even while the wolf was burning, was now scorched and blackened, all life absolutely extinguished. Surrounding the dead zone was a ring of white energy. As Kyle watched, the ring expanded outwards slightly, burning even more ground.

Celestia took a sharp breath, while Luna and Applebloom both took several steps backwards. Kyle, meanwhile, stepped forward, “Please let me be wrong…” he murmured, stepping into the dead zone for a second. A surge of energy flew through him, and he quickly stumbled backwards as a whirlpool of black smoke appeared where he had been standing. From the whirlpool, a terrible sight appeared, one that shattered Kyle’s last hope that he was mistaken.

It was a small creature, not even reaching Kyle’s knees. It’s body was entirely black and white, with no other color or middle ground. It had two arms with three wickedly-sharp claws on the end of each, and a mass of tentacles composed its lower body. It appeared to have no face save for it’s enormous mouth, which was easily half the size of its body.

The creature let out a horrible screech and leaped at Kyle. Kyle stood there with unnatural calmness and extended one hand, grabbing the creature around its throat. It struggle violently, trying to bite Kyle, but its head was too large for it to maneuver its mouth into a biting position with its throat held like that.

As Kyle held the creature, a terribly familiar wave of cold swept over him. His mind was suddenly flooded with the desire to… Applebloom’s bow was quite interesting… Surely she had others. Maybe he could… NO! he yelled mentally, shaking the thoughts off as the creature thrashed around, trying to get free. Kyle practiced the techniques he had learned during his training, refusing to allow this creature to corrupt him.

Kyle’s other hand glowed green, and he jabbed forward, punching a hole through the creature. Instead of blood and guts, however, only a puff of smoke came from the wound. The creature stopped struggling and went limp as Kyle dropped it to the ground. He raised his right foot and slammed it into the creature’s head, causing the entire body to dissolve into the same smoke. As it dissolved, the ring of white energy stopped expanding, and in fact began to shrink. However, the areas that had already been touched by the energy remained burnt and lifeless.

“What… what was that thing?” Luna stammered. Applebloom was trembling in fear, and even Celestia seemed shaken, her eyes dilated and wide open. Kyle slowly turned to face the ponies, his expression grim. He only said one word, one word that would mean nothing to the Ponies at the moment, but to Kyle signified some of the worst horrors he had ever dealt with.

“Sha.”

Comments

[AdmiralPopeyesBeard]

Ohh nooooes!!

[Europa]

Sha of Greed? Interesting, that's not one of them. Closest thing I could link that one to is Pride.

And considering that on their world Emotion Magic is the strongest stuff - hatred freezes the planet, friendship overwhelms chaos gods, love overcomes a sun deity - the Sha are gonna have a field day.

Especially if the Sha of Happiness gets involved.

[Sir Appleslice]

Eeeh would not Luna and Celestia know what that is, consider they did read his mind.

[jwizard]

5154924

You would think that, except Celestia probably performed the memory spell like a surgeon. Only searching for specific memories. It's likely she did, but might have not caught the significance.

Plus, seeing something in memories isn't the same as seeing it in real life.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

I haven't played WoW: Mists of Pandara, so I have no idea what a Sha is...

[Georelic35]

6686217 embodiments of bad stuff, despair, pride, hate that sort of thing.

[develdragon13]

6686217 the soul of an Old God

[Silentwoodfire]

Cmon Blizz, I want my (Northrend) Undead Scourge vs Sha beatdown!

[TheArcticWolf]

7405767
Weeeell a piece of one at least.