The "Elder One"

by HonorableMention

Ransom of Red Chief

Chapter 2 – The Ransom of Red Chief

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I lifted up my hands only to find a large clawed paw. If this wasn’t disturbing enough my skin was now coated in short, curly fur. So let’s put two and two together here…

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Congratulations James, You’re officially an animal. Some sort of Feline at that as I could feel whiskers near my face and I have large, fanged canine teeth. If I ever see my ‘employer’ again I’m going to claw him into ribbons! Then I noticed something strange; my fur stopped growing in two places: The sides of my rib-cage and my Sacrum. Instead large leathery wings protruded from my sides and a scorpion tail extended from my Sacrum! I took a Greek history class as a High-School credit in my 10th grade year and in that class we heavily studied the Mythos, History, and Logic of the Greeks. In the Greek Mythos there was a creature called a Manticore that matched my exact physic at the moment.

“Great I’m a Manticore, now I just need Fluttershy to come remove a thorn from my paw…” I muttered to myself
So not only am I as far from a Human as Pluto is from the Sun, I’m also a pawn in some sadistic, trans-dimensional deity’s game. I glanced out of the corner of my eye. Over in the field several figures were struggling. I tried my best to make out the scene that was occurring: There were several large earth ponies, roughly the size of Big Macintosh I presume, struggling against a… Buffalo?

I thought ponies and Bison had overcome the racial barriers that divided them. Maybe this is a rogue buffalo? Looking over at the large Buffalo I noticed something distinguishing about it: It had a large feathered headdress. Normally Buffalo would wear nothing, well because they are mindless field-animals on Earth. Here they were majestic tribesmen, and only one Buffalo in a tribe would wear a headdress like that: A chief! I also noticed something else: Those work ponies weren’t exactly with Braeburn I presume. Why? They were wielding ropes and spears against the Buffalo Chief. After weighing the pros and cons I charge towards the scene.

“We got ya now ya Chief Redvale!” One of the oppressing ponies announced
He was my first target. I slammed against him, knocking the lasso he was holding out of his mouth. Two more swerved towards me. The first was met with a clawed paw.

“Buck! He sliced my face! I’m bleedin! I’m bleedin!” He screeched

“I’ll get em’ Goon! Then we can get ya patched up!” The second announced as he charged towards me
His charge knocked me back, but then I sent him barreling with another swipe. A third charged me, and was met with a strong head-butt. The shear power made him crumple before me. The Buffalo chief was now free and smiled before me.

“Thank you elder one, the earth mother fore told your return. The shamans will be happy to see you.” He declared
Then I was hit by a powerful blast, Magic. I knew there would be unicorns in Equestria, but with this new powerful body I didn’t expect them to pack much of a punch. This one did. I started to get up, although I was shaking. This attempt was met with three more barrages of arcane energy. I fell and submitted.

“Tie him up with the rest, and this time make sure the Chief stays in his cage!” A gruff voice enunciated it was the voice of the Unicorn that shot me, he had a book and a bull’s-eye for a cutie mark what an odd combination.

“Ernest Hoofingway! I denied you access to my hunting grounds! You won’t get away with this!” Chief Redvale protested

“My dear Redvale, Unbeknownst to you: I already have. You will be held ransom until your village succumbs to my poaching demands and then the prairie will be mine forever!” He retorted
I felt my body being logged onto a wagon. Then a panicky voice whispered in my ear.

“You stupid animal! Imma make sure Hoofingway puts you on a mount for what you did to my face.” It was the same pony who I had slashed across the face, apparently his name was Goon. Although I was weak I couldn’t help but smile at the pitiful ruffian.

Several hours later, I had recovered from the powerful assault of sorcery and found myself confined within a cage; I looked over to see Chief Redvale staring at me.

“Ah! Elder one, you are awake. I was wondering how long it would take you to recover from Hoofingway magic. You are quite resilient indeed.” He commented
I glanced over at the Buffalo and gestured to my tongue and then shook my head.

‘Oh, surely you know how to speak the ancient tongue. It was the earth mother’s blessing to all Manticores.” He mentioned
I shook my head

“You are a strange Manticore indeed… Well just start speaking what you desire and the ancient blessing will take care of the rest.” He remarked
I began to speak, but what came out sounded like the mixture of trumpets, lion roars, and the kid that sings ‘Chocolate Rain’.

“Yes! You are speaking the ancient tongue! Good start!” He uttered
I started to work on refining my ‘ancient tongue’ and the Chief and I worked on communication for the next hour or so.

“Now that we can communicate I must address our current predicament.” The Chief said

“Firstly, our captors: Ernest Hoofingway is a dangerous Unicorn. He apparently was Princess Celestia’s personal Bushman for her tour of the wild regions of Equestria. One day she discovered he was using her royal funds as a means of poaching, taking the rarest of creatures away from their homelands and to either his zoo or the taxidermist for the ones which misbehaved. He was cast into the Canterlot dungeons for fifteen years. After he escaped he harbored a bitter hate of well, most everything! So he has begun his twisted safari once more snatching up any legendary beast up in his grubby little hooves. He finally came here the plains of the Mild West to hunt for the fabled Plain-strider and Jackalope. I would not allow him to enter our sacred stampeding grounds especially not for his evil hunt. So he has acquired me as a means of trade with my tribe. The deal is: my safe return in exchange for his free reign of the Mild West.” The old Chief said

“What happens if your tribe says no?” I asked still not use to my startling new voice

“I fear that they will their compassion is too great. Though if their stubborn pride is also too great he will kill me and poach anyway, destroying Buffalo villages along the way.” He said with a grim tone that saddened me

‘Where is Princess Celestia in all of this? Even though you are not directly her subjects she still has compassion for you and Hoofingway’s madness is her responsibility!” I exclaimed

“I’m afraid, Elder One; she is pre-occupied with the one called Discord.” He replied

“This must be the beginning of season 2…” I said to my self

“Secondly, The prophecy: The earth mother planted the seeds of the Buffalo long ago. The earth mother was once part of the perfect race. Her people were cursed by Chaos. They were forced to break down and create the other great races we know today. Her Brothers and Sisters created the Alicorns who in turn created the great pony races: The Pegasi, The earth ponies, and The Unicorns. They also created the Zebras. The Buffalo worked alongside the Alicorns and Zebras to help raise young Equestria, but soon the great spirit of Chaos hardened the elder Bison’s hearts and made them turn from their equine brothers and seclude to the Mild West absorbed by their pride and greed. The Earth Mother told the very first Shamans that one day there would be an Elder one who would lead them into a new age of prosperity. This Elder one would change the world. It would defy gods, even the Great Spirit that sent it here. It would come from the stars, and it would become a legend. Then it would come to live in the stars when it died.” He said in an excited tone

“You are the Elder One; you are the fore told Manticore!” He announced

“Listen you got the wrong guy, I can’t be this ‘Elder One’. I can barely make honor-roll let alone become a living legend. I humbly replied

“You have to be you match the prophecy.” He said somewhat confused

“The exact reason that guy pulled me here from earth was because I was a no one.” I said defensively “I hate to let you down but I can’t be this hero.”

“Not now Elder One, but you will see your fate soon enough. Rest well Elder One.” He assured me. With that we went to bed.

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“James, I see you have already ‘rustled the jimmies’ as you Humans say. You have already begun your journey.” Said a soothing voice
This voice startled me from my sleep. I looked around, the wagon was dark. It was night time.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” I demanded

“I’m right here child. No need to worry.” Replied the voice still in a calm demeanor
It wasn’t the man from the café. It was a large yellow serpent. Its eyes pierced my soul they were like daggers.

“Expecting someone else, I can read your thoughts just so you know. No, I am not the man from the café. He was my employee, and you are my asset.” The serpent said
I examined him. What was he? He seemed so welcoming, yet I feel my animal instinct warning me away from trusting him. So if that suit guy was his employer, meaning someone under you, who was this guy? How powerful was he?

“I am a time serpent, firstly. We are quite legendary If I do say so myself. Secondly, you are right not to trust me. Though as my asset you are obliged to listen to my commands and carry them out. Thirdly, my name is Change. Lastly, I am quite powerful.” He said with a smile
Right, He can read my thoughts. So try not to think about anything… dang it!

“So why did you pick me?” I began

“Isn’t it obvious? You won’t be missed, you are quite valuable as a Manticore, and you have to carry out that silly prophecy established by that ‘do-gooder’ earth mother; which will only serve to increase your value to me. You will prove to be a most excellent pawn.” He bluntly stated

“Oh” I replied somewhat disillusioned with the aspect of me being so futile and small

“Rest easy child, you have more work ahead of you tomorrow. As for me, I must get back to my residence and think.” He said
With that last statement he vanished, and I fell asleep. What could it all mean?

Comments

[HonorableMention]

Decide to follow the 'loading' meme. Critique is still welcome. Thanks for reading!

[Hellvenom]

it seems intriguing but id just like to say there are a few spelling errors which lead towards grammar errors, so far i can only see a few but otherwise good work

[Gytrash]

So far
myfacewhen.net/uploads/2667-unrustled-jimmies.jpg
by this story. It's alright, my only real nitpick being the wielding of a facial expression.

[Forevermore]

Still a problem with pacing, it's moving pretty fast and he seems fairly well-adjusted despite everything.

However, I would like to congratulate you on the name Ernest Hoofingway. That's quite clever

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

So James, you think that you can't be the for-told hero of legend because you were a nobody on Earth? My friend, I think that you need to meet a certain former living-punching-bag-turned-griffin.

[HonorableMention]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It helps me out. I'll try to rustle yo' Jimmies :D

[Knighthawker]

Plain-strider? His employed already sounded like G-man, but this... jeeze.

776026 Personally I like to think that Griffin is the foretold one. I mean hes part cat. Close enough.