Equestria's Black Swordsman

by TheEveryDaySparkle

Chapter 3: The Darkness Arrives

Guts awakens to a strange feeling.

Warmth.

Not the comforting, loving embrace of death as it takes him gently to his demise kind of warmth he had always expected, but the gentle, soothing warmth of a bed. Or at least he believed it was a bed. It was rather small and he was sure that he should be well beyond the size limit for a bed such as this.

As his eyes, slowly open, adjusting to the world around him, he sits up and takes a look around. He can't see anything just yet, but he can smell just fine, and what he smells right now, smells delicious. For a guy who could force down just about anything in order to fill his belly, the smell of real food, or at least what he thought to be food, was foreign to him.

Yet at the same time, it was so wondrously familiar and nice that it made his mouth water, if only just for a moment.

"I'm afraid sitting up is something you must not do, for you are are hurt and I must finish tending to you."

Who was that? Who had said that? He placed his hand on his sword, which he was grateful he still had. He still could not see, so he had to rely on his hearing to lead him toward the sound. However, turning his head to look for the source of the voice made him dizzy, so he did as the currently disembodied voice said.

Then, as his vision began to clear, the voice came closer to him, and now he could see it's face. It was...a zebra? the voice had come from a talking zebra? Oh well, he's seen much worse than this.

"No need to fret my friend. I do not wish to cause pain. I, in the end, am the one who saved you from the rain."

Who was this zebra? And why did she rhyme when she spoke?

"This is nothing." Guts said as he got up from his bed, already walking towards the door. "Thank you for your help, but I'll be fine."

"Are you sure you want to go? If so, I will not hinder your hurry, but if you truly are okay, please let me ease my worry. I am sure you are tired, so why not stay the night? There are many things in this forest that can give you a fright."

So, he was in a forest, was he? Seemed logical, what with the talking zebra and all. But still, not matter how grateful he was, he wouldn't impose on someone who helped him, let alone put them in danger by staying with them.

Zecora could see that her current method wasn't working, and she really was worried for him. She took a look at her cauldron and got an idea.

"Stranger, if this is goodbye, then I hope to see you soon, but if not, then, I could share with you my food. I am quite the cook, taste and you will see. But I cannot give you any, if you should leave."

Guts stopped. She had offered him food. If he had to admit, he was very hungry Extremely hungry in fact. He hadn't eaten in what he had guessed (and would be right about) was three days. He hadn't eaten when he first arrived in the village that day, nor the day after in that fight with the beast. And by what he could gather, another day had passed since then.

He turned around and walked up to the zebra. "I guess I could stay for a meal, if you don't mind."

"I would not mind at all, stranger. I only wish to keep you safe and out of danger."

What followed after that was a conversation over one of the best tasting meals he had ever had. It was so good he started eating like a starving dog. Which was a fitting analogy considering how that was exactly what he felt like.

"I see you are enjoying the meal. I can already see how much better it has made you feel."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No thanks needed. I'm just glad my warnings were heeded."

With that, the two ate their fill, and finally, Guts got up to leave. Then she saw it.

"excuse me, stranger. I do not mean to pry, but something seems to have caught my eye. It is something that is quite out of the ballpark, but what exactly is that you have for a cutie mark?"

Guts had no idea what a "Cutie Mark" was, but as he looked around himself, he saw that he had his mark moved from his neck right near to his ass.

"I do not know what you had to do to get it, but I have never once seen a pony other than you with it."

Now he really didn't know what she was talking about. He was a pony now? He quickly looked around for a mirror and found one on the back wall to the right of Zecora's hut. He checked over himself and, sure enough, he was a pony, fur, tail and all.

His thoughts immediately turned dark, as they usually did when something bad happened. He thought about asking the zebra what she had don to him, but common sense told him that someone who had helped him wouldn't do something like this to him. So it had to be someone else he knew, and the only other person he knew since coming here was...

"Discord."

The zebra was about to ask a question as to why he knew that name but his expression stopped her cold.

Pure, untamed, rage, yet cold and unfeeling at the same time. Like he was trying to hold back an anger that could consume him at any time, and that this development had only served to further melt the thick wall that surrounded him.

She found herself shrinking back in slight, but very evident fear.

Guts began to take his leave, but there was one last thing Zecora had to do before she let him go.

"Excuse me, stranger, for I am to blame. I have not given you my, nor do I know your, name."

"My name is Blood Hoof." Was all Guts said.

"Nice to meet you Blood Hoof, I'll remember it well, My name is Zecora. Our time together has been swell."

With that he left the hut and made his way toward what he would find out, after getting over his rage at having his body transformed, was a town.

Comments

[TheShadower]

This chapter was mostly okay. Without being able to see though, Guts should be unable to tell anything about the size of the bed, and even then his relative size to the world should only be known to him after comparing to something of known length, like his sword. However, there would be instant recognition of being non-human the moment he started walking on all fours. Keep trying though. Kudos for rhyming Zecora's dialogue, that is never easy.