Unreal
Be careful with words. Once said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten.
Water. It had always been her favorite element. The wind was fun, but too light and carefree for her tastes. Moving the earth beneath her was an interesting study in will and power, but not what anypony would consider ‘fun’. Fire was her sisters domain, far too flighty and showy. She loved water for revealing things, twisting them and reflecting them. It was the only element to truly appreciate her moon, like fire did the sun.
The moment of peace and reflection passed when she had gathered the strength to lift the river. She was a god, an alicorn descended of the heavenly bodies unto this land as the personification of forces that could not be understood. Even still, lifting the entire river as it flowed, directing it through the air to smash into the Beast was no easy task. It left her heaving for air, sweat dropping across her brow as she maintained the magic. Slitted eyes watched the Beast struggle not to drown, his hands clutching and swatting and fighting, his feet digging for purchase in the mud. Finally it could struggle no more and was blown back to follow the current. The Princess gritted her teeth, twisting the current high, high into the sky, as if reaching to her beloved moon...
She released the spell with a gasp that neither her sister nor her foe could hear. The battle was wearing them, slowly but assuredly towards defeat. They had begun ever more desperate attacks, their previously controlled blows now levelling the land around them. The Court had been torn asunder by the force of the Sun Princess’ blasts and the Beasts furious retorts. The forest around them still burned.
Through agonized breaths, she managed a small “Now, sister.”
The Beast could not scream for lack of air as it fell from the sky, hands flailing as the black fire streaked behind it. As the Beast fell, a white figure ascended on wings of golden flames past it, looping around in a tight arc to face the Beast.
The Princess of the Moon watched as a pillar of holy fire shot down from her sister, engulfing the Beast’s own dark flames as the pillar continued downward, cooking the muddy ground into hard lumps of dirt before the white-hot flame even touched them. It was like the skin of a star distilled through her sisters open mouth. The earth exploded as the Beast crashed against the ground.
For a minute, there was blessed silence, and for almost a second the Princess of the Moon convinced herself that the Beast was not getting up after such a titanic blow.
A moment later a flame-wreathed hand emerged from the ground beneath her, fingers outstretched for her neck.
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Chapter 3: Reality
Jonas Bailey, human extraordinaire, sat alone on the grass by the cafe table. He was having a... well, he wouldn’t call it coffee. Another sip. No, it certainly was nothing like coffee. It had a tang to it, as if there was fruit involved. For the life of him he couldn’t remember what he had ordered. The sun was high now, almost midday. He’d spent the morning wandering in a daze after the hospital. Nobody was brave enough to question him on the blood-stained shirt and pants. The ponies simply saw him and went the other way. That was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine.
Another sip.
He was the only one at the cafe. There had been two other ponies, but they’d lost their appetites as he sat down at one of the tables. He’d ordered... whatever this was. The drink had arrived with haste and he hadn’t seen the waiter since. His mind was buzzing. Literally buzzing with... with a headache. No caffeine for a week after living the college life was- no. That was an excuse. His head hurt because... because it did. He didn’t know. It hurt. Maybe it was the caffeine. Maybe it was the fact that he’d been mauled but not mauled. Maybe it was because he still stank of blood that wasn’t his. Whatever. His head was killing him.
Another sip.
So the lion mons- manticore, hadn’t hurt him. Alright. Fine. So... what. He was superman? He was the man of steel in a world of cardboard? Fine. A steel human in the land of magical talking ponies. Heh. Ponies. He’d been here a week, and... ponies. He was living in a land of magical... talking ponies.
“Heh.”
He laughed. It was a dry, choked little thing, but it was a laugh nonetheless. He’d just... he’d just gotten away with being tackled by a manticore and having his shoulder chewed on. He’d... He was...
Another sip. The ceramic cup was nearly empty, and what little of the mystery drink dribbled out of the hairline cracks spreading through the ceramic. Whatever. He dropped the ceramic, and it shattered on the grass. Instinctively, his bare feet (where had his shoes gone?) flinched away from the doubtlessly sharp edges. He could distinctly remember slicing his foot open on the fragments of a ceramic cup when he was nine.
He sat there, rocked back on his haunch as he stared warily at the pieces as if they would spring up and attack him. A strange, daring thought came to him. A realization of fact and truth based on the morning’s experience. For half a moment he considered the madness of what he was doing. The next moment his open palm slammed into the jagged edge of the largest piece. He stared, breath held in rapt fascination as he lifted his hand, ready to see an inch of ceramic wedged into his flesh. Ready to see the crimson flowing from his body and to feel the slicing and tearing of his skin as the shock of his stupidity wore off.
Instead, he was staring at flawless (well, unharmed) skin. The ceramic was... dust. It had shattered even further under his hand. He could pick out the shining remains amongst the grassy handprint in the ground. He wasn’t hurt. He was fine. He was more than fine... he couldn’t be hurt. He couldn’t be hurt. Why hadn’t this occurred to him? All those times... the ceiling of the Cakes, the metal cups, the tree branches and ground... he should at least have scrapes and bruises on his skin but he was fine. He was invulnerable.
It’s a strange thing, the moment a man realizes his own strength. For some it is the time they simply pull a door too hard. For others it is the first time they overpower their father in a test of strength. For Jonas it was that moment outside a pony cafe, staring at his hand and the dusty remains of a fragment of ceramic.
He stood, still staring at his hand as it shook. His eyes went to a far-off place and he began walking, the yells of the waiter falling on deaf ears as he simply started walking along the road, not looking back.
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It was another wonderful day on the edge of the Everfree. All of her little friends were gathered around their morning meals. Even Angel Bunny seemed to be in a good mood today, only throwing his salad at her once, and he’d settled down after that. Her friends had often complained about her little angels personality, but she knew he meant well. Angel just had some issues with letting ponies in. He could be the sweetest most kindest little darling when he was helping her care for all her other critters. As all of her friends ate and she nibbled at some oats herself, she went to all the expecting mothers. Her friends the hedgehog family were expecting another litter, meaning that Hedgemama got extra berries with her breakfast while her sweetheart fussed and worried and kept chirping at Fluttershy to make sure his beloved was healthy and ready.
“Oh, no Mr. Hedgehog, she’s doing just fine. Look! She’s due next week. Oh don’t worry, I’ll have everything all set up for her.”
Life was good for her little friends here on the edge of the forest. Breakfast was a morning ritual that all her critters enjoyed. The peacefully chaotic hubbub of so many little friends meeting and chirping and chattering and singing and eating. Oh it just filled her heart with joy! So much that she just wanted to sing! Her opened wide, sucking air deep into her lungs...
Oh, on a day so bright as thi-
She stopped like she’d hit a wall. All her friends stared at her quizzically. They liked it when she sang, so why had she stopped? Fluttershy however was frozen, eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at the trees of the forest. Her little critters saw it next, a lumbering beast stumbling into the front lawn. It was Manfred the Manticore, one of her more reclusive friends, and his face... oh his face...
She was flying towards him, reaching him in a heartbeat. Her hooves caught his faltering paw and she helped guide him towards the side of the house. It wasn’t often she helped the larger friends of the forest, but she’d set aside a nice empty room for such an occurrence. Manfred collapsed into the center of the room, his breath ragged and hot, Fluttershy could feel flecks of his blood against her face. There was so much blood, just gushing from the open gaping wound where half his cheek had been, teeth stained a bright red as the pink tongue shook and twitched behind them... No. She was a caretaker of animals, she would panic later. Right now though, she had to clean the injury.
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An hour later and she was finished. His snout was smashed in on the left side, and he’d lost thirteen teeth in total. Four had been knocked free entirely and nine had been too damaged for any dental work to repair. His left eye had been hit and was already swollen shut, but she was sure he would be fine. She had his muzzle gauzed up as thoroughly as she could, along with a healthy application of antibiotics. He regrettably would need a muzzle for the next three weeks to ensure he didn’t re-open his injuries. He wouldn’t be able to feel anything in his muzzle due to the local anaesthetic. But now it was important to find out who or what had done this to him. Manfred was the top predator within the nearest edge of the woods. If something scarier had moved in, she had to know so she could warn all her other little friends.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?”
The manticore weakly nodded his head, a pitiful groan coming from his throat.
“Shhh, there there, can you describe to me what did this to you?”
The visible eye widened as its pupil shrank. Manfred tried to open his jaw, but the gauze and tape held it shut. He whined again before holding up his paw. It bumped against her leg, before holding up two of his fingers.
“It had two legs?”
Manfred nodded slowly.
Fluttershy could only think of a few creatures that only used two legs: Cockatrices, Hydras, Dragons, and... Jonas. She’d just have to narrow it down.
“Did it have a tail?”
Manfred moved his head from side to side.
“Did it have claws?”
He shook his head.
Oh no.
“Was it pink? Taller than a pony?”
Manfred was nodding as vigorously as he could. There was no denying the truth, then. A cold shiver raced up her back at the realization. Her new friend Jonas had seriously hurt her old friend Manfred. If Jonas could hurt a manticore so badly, what could he do to a pony? Manfred’s injuries were fresh...
“Oh dear. Oh dear...”
Jonas had hurt Manfred so badly, and he was in the middle of a town full of ponies! Full of Fluttershy’s friends, Jonas hadn’t hurt anypony before but if he hurt Manfred he might have gone crazy! Why would he hurt her friend so badly? Was he scared? Was he angry? Why did he do this to Manfred?
“I have to warn them!”
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The sky was blue. That was fact. That was solid, and demonstrable. He could point at the sky and tell anyone that passed ‘That sky is blue’ and they would agree. They would ask why he was pointing out the obvious, but that only helps prove the point. The sky being blue was true for his entire life. When he was five years old on his back at the playground, looking up through tear-stained eyes he saw blue sky behind the head of his tormentor. Blue sky. It was always blue. That was constant.
Grass was green. It had always been green. He remembered walking down the stuffy art museums hallways for hours with Caroline. Seeing green grass in paintings hundreds of years old. He could see it on the field where he’d first been kicked in the balls for not paying up. Grass was green. That was constant.
Trees were tougher than him. That was a constant. When his father had died in the crash, he’d gone out back of the house and broken two knuckles on the wood. The tree hadn’t been dented. There had been no sign of his anger on that tree behind the house. Trees were tougher than him. That was constant. That was a constant. That never changed. Unmovable. Constant.
His fist was lodged wrist-deep in a tree at the side of the path. He hadn’t even put his full weight behind the blow. He’d just snapped out, and the tree had given way. The tree was weaker than him. The tree was no longer a constant. Logically speaking, there was only one situation in which constants became inconsistent. Dreams. Dreams or madness. To the dreamer (or madman) the difference is all semantics, right? So, this was all just a long dream. An impossible dream. With ponies.
His hand extricated itself from the tree. No pain. No blood. Just flecks of bark and wood stuck to his skin. His hand shook four times before coming up to his neck. A week without shaving. Itchy. Hopefully he’d wake up before he grew some hideous neckbeard. That would be just embarrassing.
“Hey buster!”
Oh great. Rainbow Dash. The jock who spent all her time flying around. Possibly the closest to a genuinely abrasive pony he’d met so far. She was speeding towards him at a breakneck pace, wings flaring wide a mere twenty feet from him bringing her to an impressive stop mere inches from his face. Her eyes were violet, he idly noticed. They were also surprisingly large.
“What.”
Normally he’d entertain her with niceties and politeness. Normally he wasn’t aware that the world around him was little more than a dream. Smoke and mirrors of a weird psyche. That’s all. He’d wake up and Caroline would be there, admonishing him for being silly enough to dream of horses. His eyes closed and he could almost see her golden hair.
“-to you, mister!”
Something was touching his shoulders. Trying to shake him, but only managing to budge him. Like being punched by a two year old. Small. His eyes were open and filled with something sad and broken. He spied a shockingly pink mane. Oh. Fluttersky was here. He’d seen her the least of all the ponies. She stayed way out of town, and was rarely on the farm like he and Applejack were.
“What were you saying?”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed even further, her hooves were no longer on his shoulders, instead she was jabbing one hoof into his chest in accusation, poking harder and harder with each word for emphasis. He barely felt a thing.
“You hurt Fluttershy’s friend! You beat his face in and you’re here in lala-land acting like you don’t even know what’s wrong!”
Oh. Her name was Fluttershy, not sky. In regards to the second half of her sentence... Well. That was odd. He hadn’t hit anybody in Ponyville. He’d broken that cup earlier, but he didn’t think he- wait. No.
“The manticore in the woods? Is this about that?”
Her hoof smacked into his head. He heard it more than he felt it. Like being hit with a bag of cotton balls. Soft. Delicate. Weak.
“Don’t act like you don’t know! You beat his face in! Fluttershy told me! Now you’re gonna apologize to Fluttershy, and to Manfred, and then... Then...”
Her words failed her, so she let out a cry of frustration. It was a mix between a ‘grr’ and a ‘aargh’. She wanted him to apologize to that monster? Manfred? Manfred the Manticore? Is that a goddamned joke?
It was like a spark in a box of gunpowder. There was a fire in his belly, scorching his insides as it twisted and coiled. His mouth opened, and he laughed. He laughed right in her face. He laughed so hard he doubled over and gasped for breath, the laugh tinged with a diseased need for release, a tinge of desperation and pain that boiled beneath the surface. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed as Rainbow backed away, her eyes wide with fear and indignation.
She watched him stand, working up the courage to interrupt this madness when the laughter ended. The absence of it was a void that seemed to fill the field, an unearthly chill that seeped to her bones.
“No.” His voice was calm. Unnaturally calm. Not the calm of a peaceful soul. Not the calm of harmony. His calm was that of a terminally ill patient. Of someone gone but not there yet.
“I’m not apologizing to some monster for fighting it off. That’s ludicrous. What’s his excuse? He was playing tag with his teeth? He just wanted a morning cuddle?”
He was advancing on them. Step by step. His calm melting like ice exposed to fire. Fire. Fire was right. That’s what it was inside of him. Twisting, snarling. It wanted out. He had no reason to deny it. Rainbow Dash was crouched beneath him as his madness-filled eyes looked down on her. Her wings were flared out, hiding the cowering Fluttershy from his view. Irrelevant. Weak. Pathetic. Illusions.
He heard her voice but the words were from so far away. Like hearing someone scream as you drowned. Drowning in this fire that had wormed from his heart to his mind to his eyes and ears and throat. His hands. They were reaching out. To what? The blue pegasus beneath him screamed. Hooves hit skin, her wings pushed down, lifting her. He had her. He was grabbing her hind leg and he knew just what to do. The fire whispered it to him and he knew he knew he knew he knew it like he knew how to breathe. The fire had taught his fingers long ago. He knew. Something slammed into his back, his fingers slipped from the pegasus and then-
Green. Light green that cut like ice. Those eyes... they were like blades of frosted steel and venom. Suddenly there was a liquid in his veins, flowing from his eyes to his heart and his arms and then freezing, numb fingers slipping free as the green eyes cut deep into his soul and his mind, bringing numbness. Order. He couldn’t blink. The fire was gone, no longer whispering its secrets into him nor giving him purpose. Instead his body was filled with a powerless pain. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move. He couldn’t. He felt his mind start to fade away. The eyes were still there. They would always be there and had always been there. There was no before and there would never be an after. Just those terrible. Horrific. Eyes.
He came back to life suddenly. His muscles spasmed and brought him crashing to the ground. He gasped and coughed and spluttered as he sucked in mouthfuls of air, trying to stand on numb legs and failing. He couldn’t feel his arms but he saw them weakly propping him up. Black spots swam across his vision as he looked around. There’d been two ponies, confronting him about... something. Manticore. The manticore! They’d wanted him to... apologize. He’d felt something, and then eyes. Teal eyes. Fluttershy’s eyes. She’d done something to him. Something that had done this to him...
He looked around again. He was alone on the side of the path between the farm and the town. They’d left. He’d scared them, they’d tazed him (with eyeballs?) and run, but that didn’t mean they weren’t coming back. He’d been about to hurt them, and they’d hurt him back. He stood on shaky legs, leaning against the tree for support. They’d be coming back. They’d get all their friends and they’d do some more of that eyemagic, and then he’d be up a famous creek.
For a moment he considered laying down and just letting them. It was all just a dream, what did it matter? The moment passed and he took off running for the woods. If he was dreaming, or having some nightmare, he’d at least be able to give a proper story about it. Because “I let a bunch of ponies experiment on me with magic” doesn’t sound as good as “I ran from a bunch of magical ponies who wanted to magic me.”
That last thought gave him pause. Both options sounded pretty terrible, but at least one didn’t involve being experimented on.
He stumbled off towards the forest, set on avoiding the retribution for hurting the ponies pet manticore and threatening them. He just needed to be alone. He just needed to wake up.
He just needed Caroline.
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Captain Sky Hammer was not tired from sprinting all the way to the library while carrying two mares. He was a bit out of breath, but he was far from tired. The blue one, Rainbow Dash, was complaining quietly about her leg. The other one, Fluttershy, was shivering where she lay on the ground in front of the tree. Sky Hammer called out to the librarian, and was met by silence. The human was probably already on its way towards the town now, meaning it was Sky Hammer’s duty to get word to the Princesses at any cost. The cost at this moment included the library’s front door. With a single buck, it flew from its hinges and he was inside.
“Twilight Sparkle!”
He heard the crackle of electricity downstairs. The basement door suffered the wrath of his hooves and bounced down the stairs. He leapt down, wings guiding him to land beneath the startled unicorn in a labcoat. The dragon she kept was wearing goggles and had dropped a clipboard.
“Who are y-”
His hoof was over her mouth. She hadn’t even seen him move.
“No time. Your friends are here. They are injured. Send a note to Celestia, inform her the human has become hostile. Protect Ponyville. I will delay the monster.”
His hoof was away from her face and he was halfway up the stairs before she could respond.
“But- Wait! Why is Jo-”
He was gone. She had her orders and would act on them. Time was more important than explaining himself. He had to buy them that time.
He passed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash on his way out. They opened their mouths to question him. He simply moved faster, leaping into the sky before they could ask anything of him. They would comply. They knew firsthand what they were facing.
His wings beat against the sky. Time to fight a monster.
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Jonas stood at the edge of the wood. He’d jogged a good mile at this point, but there was an issue he had failed to consider when he began running. The issue was plain as day before his eyes. Footprints. He’d left size ten footprints leading all the way through the grassy fields he’d been moving through to the point where he’d been hit with the eyemagic. He was leading them right for him, meaning... Meaning he’d have to find somewhere rocky. Somewhere his movements wouldn’t be easy to follow. Ok. Simple enough.
He’d caught his breath a minute later. Standing tall and casting one last look towards Ponyville, he began to turn away. Which is when the red pegasus landed heavily in front of him. This one was almost Big Mac’s size, a lighter shade of red than the farmpony. His eyes were (don’t look) irrelevant. Jonas locked his gaze on the wings. They were larger than the other pegasus’ he’d seen. Odd. His hooves had golden hoofboot-things on them, with what looked like a single spike on the external side. Fantastic.
“So are y-”
His eyes registered the pegasus’ movement, but his body was to slow to react.. The winged horse pounced at him as its wings beat downwards. Its metal covered hoof struck him right in the eye, sending him reeling in pain.
“OW! What the hell!?”
Jonas faced the pony again, pulling his hands away from his stinging eye to see the pegasus crouched low before him, facing away, just like Applejack with the trees...
“What ar-”
It’s hooves came up between his legs, and for a moment Jonas saw white. His legs gave out under him and he collapsed in pain. He wasn’t sure if he was moaning and screeching in pain, but at the moment he didn’t care. He’d just been kicked in the balls by a flying horse. He was well past the point of dignity.
“Surrender, Human. Come along quietly and I will not harm you further.”
Surrender. Harm. Quietly?
Jonas stood on unsteady legs. He was getting tired of this. He was getting tired of being tired. Of being in a world that made no sense. Of being in this nightmare. He just wanted to wake up. He felt that fire filling his belly again. The pain melted away, leaving his legs strong and steady.
He cracked his neck twice. His face slowly spreading into a smile. A sick, twisted smile. The pegasus watched him carefully, standing in perfect alertness, wings spread wide to intimidate and prepare. Meaningless. Weak.
Jonas moved first, hands outstretched for the pest. It rolled away before springing into the air and taking flight. It looped around and around, waiting for the opening that Jonas was not offering. After a tense and wordless minute, the pegasus dove at an incredible speed. It slammed hard into the ground, back turned to Jonas with hind legs raised and ready for bucking.
Jonas was having none of that. His hand grabbed one of the hooves. Unstoppable fingers wrapping around the red fur and golden boot. They tightened, and he could hear the metal giving way. Jonas’ feet planted firmly in the ground, his smile incredibly wide and vicious. He spun. The pony gave a startled cry as it was lifted up. Twice Jonas spun in a full circle before releasing the pony, sending it skidding along the ground. Three times it bounced against the ground, before coming to a rest. Jonas stared, breathing heavily not with exertion but excitement. He wanted it to get up. He wanted to do that again. He wanted to fight. He wanted to win and to break the world. He wanted to grab that pony and rip and tear and fight and kill. But he wouldn’t.
The pony didn’t move. Jonas didn’t know if it was dead or not. He didn’t rightly care. He had to go. He had to find somewhere the ponies wouldn’t find him. Somewhere rocky, or marshy enough they wouldn’t follow him.
He looked at the pony one more time before turning and jogging into the forest.
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It had been three hours since the red guard pony had rescued Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Since then, several events had taken place. First and foremost was the arrival of Princess Celestia, nearly sending Twilight into another fit of anxiety. Of somewhat less importance was the return of the red guard pony who had been the one to kick down her doors, looking decidedly the worse for wear. Twilight had seen Celestia looking disappointed before, when she’d learned her student had misused her Want-it Need-it spell. The Princess had had the same severity in her eyes as she did now.
Twilight couldn’t actually hear the conversation of course. She was inside with her friends, fussing over Rainbow Dash’s leg. They’d been going in circles ever since everypony had arrived. Was Jon evil now? Had he been the entire time? Was this normal for humans? Had he been genuinely trying to hurt Rainbow? They kept asking and answering with hypotheses and ideas but no proof. They needed more data. More information. Not that she would be going and getting it, of course. Fluttershy had barely left her curled up position since she’d arrived. No, Twilight was needed here with her friends. That was what mattered now. Plenty of time to unravel the mystery of the humans outburst later.
It frustrated her that Jon had done this. She’d thought he was nice, especially compared to Princess Celestia’s description of humans on the first day. Jon hadn’t been anything like the Princess had made his kind out to be. He’d been passive and a good worker on the farm. He’d answered questions and told stories to the foals.
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It had been six hours. Six hours of hiking since the incident. It had been four hours of hiking through marsh, under the cover of the trees before he reached the stony plateau. Twice his bare feet had gotten stuck in the mud, sending flashes of panic racing through his body. Both times he’d successfully gotten out and promised himself he’d stay to more solid ground. The beating of wings above had sent him huddling to the trees, hoping neither the rusty red of dried blood nor the dirty white of his shirt wouldn’t stand out amongst his surroundings.
Now, sitting in a cave a short ways above the canopy of the forest, he could see the pegasi swooping above the forest, scanning and re-scanning as best they could through the canopy. He huddled himself a little closer to the wall of the cave. He’d stripped down to his boxers, leaving the brightly colored and blood-stained reminders of his home lain out on the cold floor deeper into the cave. The last rays of twilight were shining over the horizon. When he wasn’t worrying about the roaming searchers he was admiring the colors as they filled the sky. The last trumpet call of a force benevolent and larger than him. A force that now was hunting him down for hurting one of its own. Great. Just great.
He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and rubbing them up and down. The sun wasn’t down yet, and he wasn’t willing to risk his clothes contrasting against the dull gray of the rocks around him. The thought of a nice fire crossed his mind, before he mentally shouted the idea down, citing a lack of fire-starting tools, dry branches, or even a knife. He’d been in boy scouts for long enough to know that on the list of ten essentials, the knife was #1.
Speaking of, what were the other nine? Maybe he had those. Map and compass were definitely on there... and he definitely didn’t have either. Socks? Were socks on there? He felt like it was either socks or boots, and he didn’t have those either. Maybe instead of listing what he didn’t have, he should list what he did.
He had a pair of blue and white-striped boxers, a pair of blue jeans that were lightly splattered with blood and his T-shirt which was heavily splattered with blood. He also had a cutting wit. Yes. Everything except for the wit part was true. Meaning he was completely on his own. No tools, no food, no water.
He watched the last rays of the sun disappear behind the mountains in the distance before turning and walking deeper into the cave. Somewhere further in a drop of water dripped into a pool, echoing all the way to his little flat sleeping area. He curled up, draping the dry but filthy shirt and pants over him. He closed his eyes, trying not to shiver. It was going to be a rough night.
He fell asleep.
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Far above, standing atop the cloud they had been waiting upon for the last four hours, two alicorns watched the mouth of the cave. Fifteen royal guards flanked them, golden armor gleaming as the last rays of day glanced from the polished metal.
A moment passed between the two princesses of the world as they met eachothers eyes. There was only one option that would not set their human guest into a frenzy if the madness of hatred had consumed him. It was a less than pleasant option.
The sun slipped down below the horizon, and the dark princess of the night stepped off the soft cloud, falling noiselessly through the sky. Wings angling her descent until she slipped into the cave, gracefully melding with the shadows and racing ever deeper into the cavern. The shadows whispered their secrets to her, guiding her and tugging her mercurial form until she found him, curled and shivering upon the stone floor. Her body emerged from the shadows upon the wall, strands of nighttime breaking as she stepped through the magic that binds the world. For a minute she stood over him, feeling the warping influence of his madness as it gnawed at his soul.
With a sigh, she began the magic. An old and forgotten magic that had once been wielded by the night-zebras of old in the aid of healing. Unlike they, the princess of the moon required no chants, no incantation. Simply a minute of concentration upon her mind and the mind of her human friend below her.
As the seconds passed her form glowed brighter and brighter with an ethereal energy, before her hoof reached out, tentatively pressing against the sleeping humans temple. As the magic grazed his skin, red sparks flew noiselessly against the wall, melting holes into the rock as an acrid smoke hissed into existence. Luna pressed on, her hoof pressing harder and harder until the resistance broke, and her body warped into a stream of silvery moonlight once again, pouring into the temple of Jonas.
The cavern was silent save for the tired snores of the sleeping human.
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Let's see. Description says a creature born of darkness and despair from a world where hope long lay dead. Intriguing....human tag? Fuck that. Heard this song before and it stinks of emo and misanthropy. Why can't humans ever come from a world where everything hasn't gone to shit and everyone on the planet has become Satan incarnate?
1310843 because there is no place on this world that is like that. look at our past 400 years and tell me if this place can be like that. watch the news for a week and tell me if anyone is a "nice person". because where i come from hell is the exact description for it
1310843
The story is not as emo as it sounds, at least not yet. Basicly the story is Equestria is so nice because some human a long time ago came and because he came from a universe where a species actually has to try to survive, negative energy is drawn to him. This lets ponies have an even easier time building a civilization. First guy goes crazy eventually and has to be sealed up and eventually dies, the lack of a human sucking up bad energy causes another to be pulled here. The same thing starts to happen so presumably there will be a quest or something so protagonist can stay sane and not be a world-level threat. It's actually being pulled off quite nicely.
Tl;dr: Protagonist has to find a way to not be a super emo who will become pony godzilla. Is written well without emo stuffs.
Also I agree with you on misanthropy things, anyone with half a brain and a history textbook can see things are getting better faster as general trend. Challenge is what drives humanity.
A picture of the Beast would be awesome.
Sooooooo... Luna's mind raping Jonas? Bitch please.cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-asmug.png
1311289 There's plenty of places and people in the world that aren't like that, though if you watch the news, they will have you believing it.
in return for more, i give you a huggle
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8yhevliFj1r20gnuo2_1280.png
O SHIT!!! It's been so long I almost forgot about this story.
Can't wait to read the chapter!
Ah yes, this story again. Forgot about it all this time. Rather excited to see some more.
No tools... But he CAN punch trees. It always starts with punching trees :D
epic update is epic
1311488 Fuck off with that shit emo he isn't cutting himself and the world is full of bastard
1314126
Huehuehue earth is shit and so is humanity huehuehue
People tend to forget that the human it self is not evil it is the powerfull ones that ruin the lives of millions and that has always been like that since for ever.
1315822 that is very true in fact very few humans are our and out evil even then one persons monster is anothers saint so the issue is far more complicated. Bastards on the other hand (and not the technical meaning meaning no father) are far more numerous. Though you do raise a good point humanity aren't evil beings. Most authors go wrong by trying to make out that ponies are better in every way which is wrong. Humans vs ponies is a long and worn out argument. In a fair fight or even a cheating fight humans would win via numbers technology and weapons of mass destruction plus we due to being omnivores as well as a war species find killing far easier than a herbivorous peaceful pony that has lived in a country that is in peace time and who's guards most important mission was guarding a tea party.
Magic would be there only saving factor and even then most unicorns are fairly average with magic considering that Twilight is one of the strongest and she struggles with things that would prove a slight challenge to a human.
1311971 Er mah Gerd, Dat huggle.
1315901
Ah exellent and here I thought I had another person that simply went down the path of hating humans,may you exuse me for my wrong image I had of you kind sir?
So now the shit hits the fan all because Fluttershy didn’t have it about her to ask the manticor if it might have done anything to warrant a slap.
1311777 Would these suffice? Personally this is what I had in mind while reading the story. I felt that they fit pretty damn well given the similarities between the two: the Beast and this (Angra Mainyu) are both sacrifices that came to represent "all the world's evils".
i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/AngraMainyu_Avenger/Fate%20Hollow%20Ataraxia/FateHollowAtaraxia339.jpg
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110620223522/typemoon/images/6/69/FateHollowAtaraxia344.jpg
i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee22/skullreken/FateHollowAtaraxia308.jpg
1317620 i aim for diabeetus
Great chapter!!!!
Glad to see you back after so long!!!
I really enjoy this story still, and it's nice to see Jon finnaly snap. I know I would have much quicker.
Also, was that an Ice Age reference?
Can't wait for more!!
1319662 Very cool. Personally, I pictured The Beast as a more Balrog-like creature.
you better not make me wait so long for the next update.
since you made me wait this time here have some trixies
So the premise is that since our world isn't a sugar-coated wonderland, we don't solve all our problems with 'friendship', and we actually have to fight to survive, any human that arrives in Equestria is forced to be the sink for all their negative emotions so they can have an even easier time of living.
Their easy life is made possible through human suffering, and they hate us.
News flash you pastel pansies, all this rage and anger that you see is yours.
HE TAKES IT SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE IN PEACE. HE DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS.
Huh.
He's Equestria's Jesus.
They already nailed the last human that came by to a cross, metaphorically speaking, what do you bet they'll try to go 2 for 2.
Or maybe I'm just hungry and it's making me snippy.