The Equestria Diaries

by Istaran

Chapter 2: Adrenaline rush

I tried to leap back away from the oncoming monster, but succeeded only in getting off the ground so that the swipe of its massive feline paw could send me flying through the air. All things considered, maybe that was for the best. It took several seconds for it to close the distance again, time enough to clamber hastily to my feet and see just what had assaulted me.

It was like a gigantic lion, large enough to take me bodily into his mouth if given the chance, but with large leathery wings like a bat or dragon, and a firey red mane.

[<Deus, what is my chances of fighting this thing?>]

[<You have no chance of defeating this creature in combat at this time. You have approximately 1% chance of successfully escaping, rounding up to the nearest 1%. However, with my aid there is a possibility you could recover from any injuries it inflicts upon you if you can manage to not die.>]

I furrowed my brow and braced myself as the manticore charged forward.

[<Deus, give me all of the adrenaline. ALL OF IT!>] I felt the machine's reluctance even if it didn't put it into words, but it seemed to obey my request. Time seemed to crawl to a near stop as I saw the beast barrel toward me. I lept higher than I had ever lept before.. about a foot in all, but barely enough to line up my attack. I punched the manticore dead in the nose with all of my adrenaline-fueled might. I sickening crunch rang out as I made contact. The beasts charge was brought short, and it actually backed away from me!

Before I could celebrate, the beast bowed low, a giant scropion-like stinger thrusting forward at me over its back! I caught the stinger in my left hand and squeezed hard, eliciting a yelp as the exoskeleton started to crack! This was incredible! Mwa ha ha ha! I.. can't remember if I actually laughed like that at the time.

The beast pulled its tail back, but only proceeded to raise a clawed paw once again. He stopped in his tracks, however, when a small, high but commanding voice rang out from the forest to my left.

"Hey! What have I told you!? Don't attack anypony ever again! Well? What do you have to say for yourself?!" A butter yellow pegasus with pink mane and wings strode onto the sing, making fearless demands of the massive predator. And it seemed to be cowed by her, somehow. It made a tummy rumbling sound and licked its lips, apparently by way of explanation. "Aww. You're hungry? I understand, but that's no excuse for eating somepony. Go! Go hunt a proper prey animal." The manticore turned and did as it was told, wandering off into the bushes.

While she was talking to him, I looked down at myself, taking stalk of my own situation. Three massive red stripes crossed my chest and belly. A large red circle formed just under my ribcage, and through the torn cloth I could see the flesh around it turning a sickly green. My right arm looked like a train that had hit a mountian headlong at full speed. I didn't think my arm was designed with crumple zones..

The pegasus turned to look toward me, obvious concern in her eyes. She said something, but I didn't really hear her. The adrenaline wore off much more swiftly than I had thought possible, and before I could even manage to scream as the pain suddenly hit me, I passed out.

---

I woke to the now-familiar sight of Zecora, the zebra mare who had taught me Equestrian. She was sitting in a chair across the room from the bed I was in. The bed itself and the room were unfamiliar. The house we were in was humble looking enough, but a big step up from the shack she called home. I could hear and smell a wide array of animals in another room in the structure. The smells and sounds were an incomprehensible mix, but Deus sated my idle curiousity with a full listing of the animals in question with mechanical efficiency.

"Consider your debt absolved, consider yourself now free,
You shall hunt no more for mushrooms, within the Everfree.
Your bravery is doubtless, your constitution seen,
But for your death I am most assuredly not keen." The zebra greeted me with her typical rhyming verse. I nodded weakly in response, injured enough for my pride to yield to her generosity.

Her words caught the attention of the yellow and pink pegasus, and she came into the room to check on me. She seemed to have trouble meeting my eyes, and strangely less trouble looking at my bloodsoaked bandages covering my torso. "H-hello.. my name is Fluttershy. You are a human, like Frank, right? I'm sorry this is the best I could do for you.. please be okay." It took me a moment to make out what she said, as I had to ask Deus to replay it in my mind at a higher volume in addition to translating.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. You saved my life, I can't ask for much more. Is this your home?"

"Yes, it is." She said, to the ground halfway between us. "I did my best to bandage you, if that's okay."

I was about to ask why it wouldn't be okay, when I realized my clothing was missing. While she was stark naked herself, I vaguely remembered Equestria being 'clothing optional' in the show. Still, she had apparently met another human and might be aware of our discomft with nudity, or perhaps just knew it was polite to ask before removing anyone's possessions in general.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. You did a great job.. so good I feel like I'm starting to recover already." It was sort of true. The bandages didn't do much more but keep my insides from spilling out, but that bought Deus plenty of time to rebuild my damaged flesh. "My name is Daniel, by the way. You said you knew a human named Frank? Is here nearby?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "He is staying in town with my friend Pinkie Pie. I'm sure they'd both like to meet you! Shall I arrange for them to stop by?"

I tensed for a bit, despite trying not to. "Yes, bring them both. I'd like to meet this Frank. Has he been here long?"

"No. He suddenly appeared in Twilight's library just a few days ago while she was trying to devise new spell. Why do you ask?"

I had a feeling I should be recognizing more of these names for some reason, but shrugged it off. "Just curious. I have only been in Equestria for a few days myself. I didn't know if anyone else had been here much longer."

"Oh, that makes sense. You should lay down now, and get some more rest. I'll bring you some food in a bit, and then go see if Frank wants to visit."

"Excellent. I look forward to your continued gracious hospitality." I was a bit nervous about what the food would consist of, but Deus was confident in its ability to process any form of organic matter for me, so I was only really worried about the taste.

---

Zecora kept me company for a while longer before taking her leave to return home, trusting that I was in good hooves and unlikely to perish. Fluttershy mostly kept her distance unless there was something to do like delivering her homemade barley vegetable stew or changing my bandages. So I had a lot of time by myself to introspect.

While I lie inconspicuously on the bed, I was learning to control my one Item. Some of the other players had managed to die with very potent but hard to use Items in their possession: a wristwatch that could transform the user into any of several powerful alien forms, and a musical instrament that could unwind time itself if I was not mistaken. The Fractal Spider was at least as powerful in its own right, and the ability to recover more quickly and thoroughly from devastating wounds was already coming in handy. But if I was going to survive the dangers of this world, to thrive in it even, I was going to need to learn how to use it more proactively.
With my eyes closed, I concentrated on Deus, and the connection between our minds grew. At my direction, nanospiders began to creep out of my pores and assemble into barely visible spider-like forms. These tiny fractal spiders jumped off and began exploring the room. I closed my eyes and let myself see through their senses instead. It was incredible. My mind couldn't handle all of the input at once, but somehow Deus was able to take care of some of the work and keep me from being overwhelmed. I settled back onto the bed with a smug smile, feeling proud of myself for the accomplishment.

I sat bolt upright a moment later as I had the experience of being accidently crushed to death by a gigantic yellow hoof! Fluttershy began apologizing profusely, if vaguely. It took me a moment to realize what had happened, and a few more to realize she hadn't. She was just apologizing for waking me, unaware of the mechanical debris that was even now digging out of view into the wood floor beneath her hoof.

"No, no, Fluttershy! It's alright. I'm just a light sleeper, and being in an unfamiliar environment just made it a bit worse."

"Oh.. okay. Sorry. I was just going to go see my friends and see if Frank wanted to visit, if that's okay."
"Yes, please! Send him over. I'd love to speak with him. And I'm feeling mostly better. I will be okay while you are out, I promise."

Fluttershy nodded timidly before taking her leave. I waited until her front door was shut before finally resuming my training.. this time being more careful to look up on occasion.

Comments

[Shadowflamepony]

Huh, wonder why no one commented on this chapter