Earthbound

by Fallen Angel N

An Omen

Author's Note:

Don't forget to review, favorite and all that stuff. I can never have too much of those. On a side note, thinking up the rhymes of Zecora is pretty irritating. XD Hope you like this chapter, cause it was a bit of a pain.

"Sound off!" Yelled Granny Smith as the Apple family lined up. "You here?"
"Here Granny!"
"Ready to work!"
"Eeyup!"

Granny Smith eyed the list, polished her glasses and looked again.
"Says here we got another person workin' at the farm?"
"Yeah, just picked him up yesterday." Said Applejack
"Well where is he darn tootin?!"
"Er, sorry Granny. I'll go get em."

Applejack went off to get Ethan in the guest room and found him sleeping.
"Hey, rise and shine, it's time to wake up!"
"Ungh."

Ethan stirred, looking at the clock.
"It's 7:15."
"I know, why aren't you out of bed already?"
"What? Look, I'm more of a 9' am kinda person." he said pulling the covers over his face.
"No." said Applejack said grabbing the blanket. "You're more of a 'earn your keep' kinda person." She pulled the blanket the blanket off of him and Ethan groaned.
"Ugh. Crud, I did say something like that didn't I?"
He begrudgingly got up and yawned.
"Come on, we're out waitin' for ya."

He and Applejack got to the front and lined up with the others.
"So this is the new recruit." Granny Smith said eyeing him. "I hope he's worth his salt."
"Uh, sure. I'm very salty."
"That's what I like to hear youngun'! Now, I'm gonna be goin' over the list of who does what so listen good. Applejack, you start on buckin' the trees, you know the drill. Big Mac, you start on takin' care of them pesky bugs 'round the farm. Apple Bloom, yer job is to feed the animals here. And..." Granny Smith stopped and looked closely at the list. "Et-Han?"
"It's uh, Ethan."
"Hmm, well that's an odd name."
"So I keep hearing..."

Ethan knew that his name would stand out since he was in a completely different world, but it was still a little irritating when the only response was, 'Oh, that's a weird name.' after introducing himself.
"Anyway, you'll be plowin' the field. After ya get finished with that, go help Applejack."
"Alright."
"Now let's see here." She looked over the list and then frowned. "Ah, don't see my name on this list..."
"Oh uh, well, I guess we got it covered for now." Applejack said with a knowing smile.
"Well...if yer SURE ya got it covered..."
"We're sure."

Granny Smith walked back into the house convinced, and Applejack let out a sigh of relief.
"Glad that worked out well. Now, hop to it everyone."

The others ran off to do their tasks while Ethan walked to the field, looking at a dirty piece of wood and metal.
"Navi, what is that?"
"That's the plow."
"Okay...so I just gotta..."
Ethan got behind the plow, pushing it from behind with very little progress.

"Wait wait, hold on. You're supposed to strap yourself to it and pull it through the fields."
"What are you kidding? Look at this thing, never mind pulling it, but pulling it through dirt?"
"Just give it a try."
"Fine fine..."

He put the reins on his back and started pulling the plow. There was a bit of a hesitation as the plow started but that disappeared once he started getting it going. To Ethan's amazement, he found he was actually able to get it moving, something he thought would be impossible for him.
"This is incredible, look at me, I'm actually doing it!"
"Why are you so surprised?"
"Are you kidding me? There would've been absolutely no way that I could budge this thing in my human body, but here I am able to pull it!"
Ethan laughed and started running with the plow. It was tiring, but he didn't care, he was far more interested in testing out what he could do with this body of his. Running around, he finally collapsed in the dirt with a smile on his face after plowing all of the field.

"Apple Bloom wasn't *pant* kidding...earth ponies really ARE *pant* strong."
"I don't think Applejack's gonna be pleased with your work."
"Why not, I *pant* plowed it all?"
"See for yourself."

Ethan grunted and looked. Ah, so that was what Navi meant. The field lines weren't exactly straight and orderly like one would expect. No, they actually rather crooked and wider than they were supposed to be. Yeah...probably shouldn't have been running with the plow.
"Looks like you need to fix the fields THEN re-plow them."
"..."

---

It took a while to get the field to the way it was supposed to be. Afterwards, he decided to wait a little bit for Applejack, the apple trees covered an enormous area, so he didn't feel like looking for her. Eventually his patience was rewarded and Applejack came by pulling a cart with apples in.
"Hey, I'm done plowing the fields."
"Well you sure took your sweet time, I was wondering when you'd finish."
"Sorry, I ended going a little overboard."
"Well that's fine I s'pose, come on, let's get to bucking the trees."
"What's bucking?"

Applejack sighed and motioned for him to follow her to the barn.
"First, ya take a few baskets, load em up into the cart, then take the cart to the trees. Put a basket under the tree and buck it, I'll show ya when we get there. Afterwards take the basket, put it in the cart and repeat till ya got a few baskets in the cart, take em back to the barn and load up the apples here. Well, just keep repeatin' this till the orchards are empty, and don't worry. No one expects us to finish this any time soon. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good, now come on."

Applejack walked him over to one of the tree.
"Alright, now buckin' is easy, all ya gotta do is kick this tree here dead center and get the apples that fall, give it a try."
"Right..."

Ethan stepped up to the tree.
"All I gotta do is kick it right?"
He raised one of his legs and kicked the tree with a dull thud. The tree shook a little, but not a single apple fell.
"No no no." Applejack said pushing him out of the way. "Ya gotta do a lot better than that. Listen, plant your front hooves firmly, jump with your back legs to lift them in the air slightly above your head, and then ya gotta slam your legs into the tree while also using the gravity that's pulling your legs down." Applejack lifted her back legs, powerfully kicking the tree causing apples to fall. She casually caught one of the falling apples and gave it a bite. "Now that there's how it's done."

Ethan took deep breath and approached a different tree.
'Okay.' He thought 'Plant your feet, jump with hind legs, let gravity pull them down and...SLAM!'
The entirety of the tree rocked as he kicked it, causing all the apple to fall.
"Alright!" He pumped his hoof in victory. Applejack chuckled.
"That was pretty good, but next time ya gotta hold back your power a bit." she looked around the fallen apples. "Ah, lookee here, try eating this one ya bucked."
Ethan took a bite of the apple and puckered at the sour flavor.
"Ya see? Not all apples become ripe at the same time. Some are slower or faster than others, ya gotta kick it with just enough power so that only the ripe ones fall. Other than that ya did a pretty good job, now I gotta get back to my side of the field, I'm sure ya can handle the rest. Come back to the house after a couple of hours okay?"

Right after Applejack left, Navi spoke up.
"So Ethan, have you given any more thought about the calamity?"
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
"See what?"
"I just kicked a tree so hard all of it's fruit fell off! What human could possibly be able to do the same thing?"
"Focus, the calamity." said Navi.
"Come on, Navi. Look around you, there's no way that anything seriously bad could ever happen in a place like this. Let me take the time to quote Frieza: 'Trapped in a world of delicate little flowers, where bands of angels and fairies and enchanted stuffed animals lived. They played songs and danced asinine jigs as if their only care in life was when they'd get their next warm fuzzy hug.' That statement perfectly describes my situation here in Equestria.
"You're wrong, you have no idea what's coming."
"Then tell me."
"I..."
"Can't tell me because I'll get scared and run away? Suit yourself, I already plan on finding a way back home anyway. Now let's see, jump with my back end and...OW! Too soon!"

Navi watched Ethan kick the trees and gather the apples while thinking.
'This isn't good, I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I need to figure something out...'

---

A few hours passed, and Ethan pulled the cart to the barn after loading it up. While at first Ethan was excited about his newfound earth pony strength, it got a little old after the first two hours of bucking trees, and the novelty had worn off. The only reason he kept working was because if he didn't, then he'd go back to being homeless, and he far preferred the irritating work.

"So, what do ya think of yer first day on the farm Ethan?" Applejack said as she pulled up to the barn
"Well, it was exciting at first, but I've got a strong suspicion that's not gonna be the case anymore."
She chuckled.

"Well yeah, work is work. No matter how much ya like it or dislike it, it's still gotta get done."
"You sound like my sister." Ethan muttered.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it sooner or later. When I'm done with my side of the field I'll help you finish with your side."
"Wait...you don't think I can do it myself?"
"No offense, but of course not. I mean, I even had to teach ya to buck, you'd never even heard of it before."
"I bet I could clear my side just as fast as you, maybe faster."

"Ha ha ha ha ha." Applejack laughed at the very idea of losing. "I've been doin' this fer years. If a greenhorn like you could beat me, I'd eat mah hat."
"Fine, then why not make it a bet?"
"Alright, if you can manage to clear your side of the fields before me, I'll eat mah hat, well...not MAH hat I mean A hat." she said patting the one on top of her head.
"Deal!"
They both shook on it.
"Well then, you better pick up the pace if you plan on beatin' someone like me."
"Oh look, she's humble too." Ethan said smiling sarcastically.

Ethan walked back to the guestroom and got into bed, stretching and yawning. It was only about 4 in the afternoon but he'd been busy since 7, a quick nap couldn't hurt. While work really wasn't one of his favorite things, the other option was to be homeless, and that wasn't exactly appealing either. He lay on his back and started thinking about how nice it would be to be back home, to have hands again, or even to be able to play video games. It'd been three days since he touched a video game not even TV or internet and he was bored out of his mind.
"Ugh..."
"Hmm? Something wrong Ethan?" asked Navi

"Why is this world so boring? There's like nothing to do here."
"Well come now, there's plenty to do. There's an entirely new world out there. Aren't you curious about finding new things you've never seen before?"
"Not really..." he paused. "Hey Navi."
"Yeah?"
"Go check out the left side of the fields and tell me how much work Applejack finished."
"You want to use me...just to see how many tree's she cleared?"
"You're right, go count the number of tree's I cleared too so I can compare them."

Navi sighed and floated through the ceiling and heading for the fields.

"Well this certainly isn't what I expected." Navi said with disappointment.
Navi rose high in the air and looked down below on the fields
"1,2,3...Applejack's cleared 32 trees and Ethan...23. Hmm, he's not gonna be happy."
Navi stopped "Ugh...what am I doing? I'm supposed to have some important duty leading him to save the world, and here I am trying to help him win a bet, so he can watch someone eat a hat. No, I'm sorry Ethan, but whether I chose wrong or not, the world needs someone."
Navi floated back to the guest room where Ethan was, but found him fast asleep.
"I'm sorry, but you have to see this."
Hovering over his head, Navi started glowing with a faint light, Ethan's face winced as his dream became a nightmare.

---

"Ponyville?"
Ethan stood in the town which was filled with chaos. Ponies desperately ran around trying to get away. Buildings were cracked and ruined, the very air itself was unbearably hot causing sweat to pour off of him and making it painful to breathe. Ethan choked on the air as it burned his throat.
"What the heck...*pant*...is going on?!"
Ponies collapsed from the intense heat around him, the once lush and green forest was filled with dead shriveled trees. He watched in horror as the trees easily caught fire and raged out of control. Animals ran for cover attempting to escape the blaze. Everywhere he looked he saw destruction.
"Why is this happening?!" Ethan shouted. He heard a familiar voice inside his head.

"YOU must stop this from happening."
Sweat poured off of his body as his energetic running became a slow crawl, dragging himself on the burning ground.
"Why...is it...so hot...?"
He finally collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. As he did the, scene around him changed. Various towns and cities were flooded, some completely underwater without a single trace of anyone else. It was as if all of the citizens of Equestria had vanished.
"If you cannot act..."
The scene changed around Ethan again, this time becoming night. It was bitterly cold and snow fell. Ethan shivered and trudged through the snow looking for some place to warm himself, each step becoming more difficult then the last. After reaching the top of a small hill, his legs gave way and he tumbled through the icy ground crashing into something. As he weakly pulled himself up wit his vision fading his eyes made out the shape of a unicorn.
"Ah...sorry..." he managed to weakly say. "Do you know someplace...warm?"
The unicorn didn't say a word and stared blankly unmoving.
"What, are you some kind of sta...tue..." Ethan said as his vision cleared up. It wasn't a statue, standing in front of him was a frozen unicorn with an expression of fear on it's face.
"No..." he stumbled back, trying to make sense out of all of this and then bumped into something else. He quickly darted around and saw with horror it was another frozen citizen. Looking around, the tundra was filled with frozen ponies looking like they were trying to run.
"Then this is their future..."

Ethan woke up panting, and covered in sweat, his eyes immediately darted around the room. He was back in the guest house of Sweet Apple Acres, the snow was gone, the biting cold had left his body.
"Easy...easy..." Navi said soothingly. "It was just a dream."
"That was not just a dream!" He shouted. "I felt it, all of it! Everything was on fire! And people were screaming and...and!"
"I know, I had to show that to you to make you understand. Now that you know you can-"
"I-I don't want any part in this!"
"You have to do SOMETHING! You saw what became of Equestria, you saw what happened to everyone!"
"But why does it have to be ME?! I've only been here for three days! I'm barely starting to learn about this world! How can I possibly be expected to save it?!"
"Listen, I know you're worried but-"

"No! No you don't!" Ethan interrupted. "Being worried is something kids are when they're afraid something might be hiding under their bed. You're putting the lives of an entire world on my shoulders...I'm TERRIFIED!"
"I'm sorry...I know this is a tremendous thing to face, but someone has to do it. If not, then countless ponies will suffer."
"But...I..." Ethan struggled, trying to find the right words to say. "It's not like I WANT this to happen, but...I'm not the hero type...just look at me. Even if I wanted to do this, I wouldn't have the slightest clue where to even BEGIN. I'm just one guy." he said helplessly raising his hooves.
"I need you!"
"I CAN'T DO IT ALRIGHT?!" Ethan shouted suddenly. "I can't...I'm sorry. You've got the wrong guy..."

Navi didn't say anything else, none of them did. The room became heavy and silent as neither of them knew what to say next. After a long pause however Ethan finally broke the silence.
"I'm going to the club house now." he said looking away. "Though, at this point don't know why I should even bother..."
They both made the trip to the clubhouse without another word and he was greeted by Applebloom.
"Oh, there ya are, we were wondering if when you'd show up."

She turned to the other two.
"Okay so what should we do next?"
"I know! Let's try basketball!"
"I dunno...I'm not really good at that." said Sweetie Belle. "Besides, isn't that on the Cutie Mark list already?"
"What? No, that's a drawing of a potato."
"Potato? What would a potato even mean?"
"Who knows, anyway, it's not a basketball."
"Yes it is."
"Ethan, what do you think?"

The three of them turned to Ethan who was just sitting in the corner with a dull look on his face.
"Huh? I don't know. Sure...whatever."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah...you've been lookin' pretty down after we got done with the mornin' chores. Is there somethin' on your mind?"
"I'm fine." he said quietly.
"Well...if yer sure..." Apple Bloom said reluctantly. It was obvious there was something bothering him, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it. "Why don't we go to town?" she said trying to change the subject. "There's always something new to do there!"
"Great idea."

The crusaders left the tree house and made their way to town. As usual, the streets were busy with ponies moving back and forth. Ethan couldn't help but shudder as he looked around at the rushing ponies, remembering his dream. Hold on a moment...Ethan looked closer at one that was passing by. Was that a pony too? Ethan tapped Apple Bloom's back.
"What kind of pony is that?" he asked pointing at a black and white striped person.
"That ain't no pony."
She ran up to the person he pointed to.

"Zecora! It's nice to see you again."
"Ah the Crusaders, again we meet. Seeing good friends is always a treat."
"It's nice to see you too."
"Hey, what's that list you got there? Are you gathering ingredients again?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
Zecora smiled and nodded, taking notice of Ethan standing with them.
"Can we help? I don't think we've ever tried getting our cutie mark as magical assistants."
"I DO need to gather a great many things. Your help and company are welcome to bring."

"Great, why don't we split up? That way, we can get things on the list faster. Let's see...1, 2, 3, 4, 5...well it's a bit uneven but that's fine. Me, Sweetie Belle and Zecora will be in a group. Scootaloo, you and Ethan are together okay? We'll get our items and meet back here."
"Got it. Hey, betcha we'll get our items before you do!"
"Nuh-uh!"
Scootaloo grabbed Ethan.
"Come on, let's go!"

---

Luna paced back and forth in the castle hall.
"How can this be? This has never happened before. How can I call myself the guardian of the night if I am beaten by one mere nightmare?"
She continued her pacing and talking with herself until Celestia came.
"Luna is there something the matter?"
"Sister, well yes, I am rather troubled but this is nothing that requires your attention."
"Are you sure? Because, it looks like you're going to wear out the carpet at this rate."

Luna looked down, the carpet was starting to wear from her constant pacing.
"I might be able to help, at the very least someone who can listen."
Luna sighed "Very well. As usual, during the night I went out to safeguard the dreams of others to keep nightmares at bay."
Her sister nodded. "Go on."
"But...I found this nightmare..."
"What was different this time around?"
"I found that I could not vanquish it despite my best efforts. I could not even enter the nightmare to see what it was about. This has never happened before!"

Celestia looked mildly surprised.
"Exactly so! My expression was that of yours when I found out."
"Dear sister, are you alright? Perhaps you've overworked yourself. There are a lot of dreams that need protection each night."
"That is not the case, I'm afraid to say. After giving up on that nightmare, I found that all the others were still not a problem for me to enter and subdue."
"What do you think this means?"
"Of that I am not certain. However, I shall not sit idly by, I must investigate this matter."
"Will you need my help Luna?"

Luna smiled.
"Sister, you are indeed very kind. However, even if you came along, there is nothing you could do to help me on this matter."
"I know...very well. I wish you the best."
"Thank you." Luna said walking to the balcony. "I am off."

She spread her ebony colored wings and took off into the sky.

---

"Ha! Looks like we managed to get here first."
"No fair, you guys had more people on your team to help look."
"It matters not about who got here first or last. Thanks to you my problems are a thing of the past."
"She's right, come on, let's help her bring this stuff to her house."
While they were walking through town when Apple Bloom whispered to Ethan.
"Why don't you try talking to Zecora. You haven't said a single word to her since ya met. You don't want her to start to think you don't like her or something."
"Okay. Hey Zecora, do all Zebras have to rhyme when they talk?"
Apple Bloom groaned and smacked her forehead.

"That's a pretty good question." Said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom shot her a dirty look. "What? I'm never met any other zebras before."
"Come to think of it, neither have I." Sweetie Belle added.
"Zecora?"
"Ha ha ha ha. Rhyming is indeed something that I have shown, however it is something I do alone."
"So Zecora, how do you live in some place as dangerous as the Everfree Forest?" Apple Bloom asked shivering as the five of them stepped into the dark woods. The forest emitted an creepy atmosphere making the crusaders hesitate. But they felt a little safer walking with Zecora who dealt with this every day. While they were walking, Scootaloo stepped on a twig.
*Crack*
The pegasus yelped whirling around. Noticing nothing was there, turned back to her friends embarrassed.

"I-I wasn't scared, I was just...bird calling."
"Sure Scoot, that's what you were doing." Sweetie said with a smile.
"What? I WAS..."

"Okay, we're just gonna set it down on the floor here.
Every set down their items and Ethan took the chance to look around. Just like Twilight, Zecora lived in a house, this one however was filled with odd looking things. Weird masks adorned the walls of her hut. Bottles hung from the ceiling, most noticeably was the cauldron which was filled with an odd green liquid which seemed to glow. He thought back to the ingredients that they all gathered, was Zecora trying to make potions? If magic existed then, this wouldn't surprise him.
"You know, I've always wondered, what are those masks for?" Asked Sweetie Belle
"The masks you see here act as a charm, to deter evil spirits and harm."
"What about this potion?" said Apple Bloom holding it up.
"The potion is used to fix sore a throat, it also works well to keep a clean coat."

Scootaloo looked around noticing a box with interesting decorations on a shelf. She tried reaching up to grab the box, but it was too high for her. She jumped up, managing to grab the box but fell backwards dropping it and spilling the contents. A bunch of black cards spilled out.
"Sorry..." she started gathering them up. "Zecora, I didn't realize you played cards, how do you play with them if you're all alone out here?"
"These tarot cards that you see here are not made to play. They tell us about ourselves, shall we see what they say?"
"Wait, these cards can tell us about ourselves? Sweetie Bell, you give it a try."
"Nah that's okay, I'm think sure I know myself pretty well, what about you Scoot?"

"Forget about me, this is perfect for Ethan!"
"That's right! Ethan forgot all about himself when he hit his head, this'd be perfect for him."
"What?" Ethan said hearing his name mentioned.
"Well go on, do this tarot card thing, maybe you'll remember something."

Ethan sat down across from Zecora and she laid other the cards face down in front of him. He hadn't actually hit his head and forgotten anything, but he didn't feel like telling them that he lied, because then there'd be a lot he'd have to explain.
"So, how do I know which one of these cards are mine?"
"You need not worry, there is no fake. The right cards will be, the three you take."
"So I just choose any three."
He hesitated, grabbing the bottom three cards next to each other. The zebra took the first card and flipped it over. On the card was a picture of yellow unicorn in a clown costume juggling balls with magic.

"The first card you picked is the joker you see. The joker is makes jokes and is often carefree."
"So far so good." Ethan said. he didn't expect any of these card to actually be accurate
Zecora turned the next card over. This card was a picture of a dark colored lamb alone in the corner while the herd kept it's distance.
"The black sheep is different, a stranger of sorts, he rather stands out from the rest of his cohorts. Right now you may feel that you are far from your home, that you can't return no matter how far you roam."
"Well, was she right about this one?" asked Apple Bloom
Everyone waited, but Ethan didn't say anything this time. He just sat there looking at the black sheep.
"Ethan?"

The last card was flipped, revealing a stone maze.
"Ah the labyrinth, a difficult one to be sure. This one is a trying test that is hard to endure. You will face a great struggle, and then so much more. Things will never quite be, as the same as before."
"No." Ethan said standing up.
"No?"
"I'm not doing ANY of that, you hear me? That ain't gonna happen?"
"Wait." said Apple Bloom. "This is just a fun prediction, no need to get so upset about it. Besides, this is about the future. How do you KNOW that you're not gonna do whatever the card says?"
"I know because the one who decides this is ME! I didn't ask for this kind of responsibility, and I should be the one to decide!"

He stopped and looked around after speaking. Everyone had a look of confusion and surprise at his sudden outburst. To be honest, he surprised himself a quite a bit too. He knew he shouldn't have taken it out on them, but Ethan was still upset about the fact that he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. Turning around, he walked towards the door.
"I need some fresh air, enjoy your ingredients."
After he left, Apple Bloom nervously approached Zecora.
"I'm awful sorry, I don't know why he's so down today, he's usually a pretty nice guy."
"It is alright Apple Bloom, there is no grudge left behind, that pony quite clearly has something big upon his mind."
"Should we go talk to him?"
"I'll do it." said Scootaloo "It might be harder to open up if we all go ask him at once."
"Alright, but be REALLY careful, we don't know how far he's gone. Who knows what he could find out there."

She immediately ran outside and looked around.
"Ethan? Ethan? Hello?"
Scootaloo looked around the area looking for a clew as to where he might have gone off too. Her eyes spotted a small parting in some bushes. This wasn't good, if what if he ran into trouble. Scoot immediately ran through the parting shouting his name.
"Helloooo? Can you hear me? Don't go any farther!"
There was a rustling in the bushes as she called out to him.
"Ethan? Is...is that you?"

Scootaloo's eyes widened as she heard growling, and a Timberwolf crawled out of the bushes. It's green eyes casting an eerie light in the darkened forest. The timberwolf took a step forward and Scootaloo fearfully stepped back. The wolf didn't rush, it wanted to see how close it could get to Scootaloo without spooking her, slowly moving forward. The pegasus finally took control of herself and immediately started running, to which the timberwolf gave pursuit.
"Someone heeeeeelp!"
She ran through the forest with the wolf hot on her trail barking. Scootaloo panted as she darted to the right after entering a clearing, the wolf tried to make the turn and skidded a little to the side buying her another precious second.
'I've got to get back to Zecora's hutt.' she thought only Scootaloo looked around only to realize she had gotten lost in the huge forest. All she could do right now was run, and hope she got away.

---

Ethan carefully climbed over a log in the path and walked on it trying to balance. Wobbling a few times but managing to get to the end of it without falling off. He looked at a stream that was quietly moving along, and put on a brief smile.
"You went a little overboard back there you know."
Ethan brief smile fell back to it's former spot as Navi reminded him of what happened.
"I know okay." he sighed and leaned back against a tree. "I shouldn't have snapped at them, but with everything that I've had to take in, I'd STILL say I'm handling it pretty well."
"Why are we out here wandering around?"
"I'm just going for a walk."
"A walk?"
"Yeah. Sometimes when I get upset or flustered or lose a video game one too many times, I'd go for a walk to clear my head. Just me, alone with my thoughts, these walks are even better at night. Calm, quiet, and cool, the perfect time."

"I see. Well, it's a good idea to clear your head, but don't you think this is a pretty dangerous place to do it?"
"Not really, I mean you're here right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just fly up every so often and look around. You can tell me if there is anything dangerous nearby after you get an aerial view. This place might be dangerous, but there no problem if I can see the dangers before they find me right?"
"That's...actually a good idea."

Navi flew up into the air and looked around. So far so good, there was a manticore around, but it was pretty far. Navi came back down back to where he was after a moment.
"The way is clear at the moment."
"Great, now the only thing I have to worry about is the end of the world." he said with a humorless smile.
Navi winced.
"For what's it's worth, I'm sorry I got you sucked into all of this. I know it probably doesn't mean much at this point..."
Ethan sighed. "It's not entirely your fault I guess. You did try and warn me, though you were kinda vague about the details. Next time you need help though, don't ask them through a dream. Because then someone will think it's just a DREAM and not real."
"Noted."
"When's this calamity thing supposed to happen anyway?"
"Roughly fourteen months from now."

Ethan abruptly stopped walking, he had expected it to happen a lot sooner. Ethan certainly didn't expect to be called fourteen months in advance.
"That's surprising."
"Not as bad as your thought right? I mean you could do a lot with a year."
"Navi, even if I had a hundred years, I still couldn't stop something of that scale."
"Yeah, I was afraid of that..."
Navi rose into the air again and looked around the Everfree Forest from above. Again, there wasn't anything too...wait a minute, what was that? Navi looked closer as something moved quickly pretty close to where Ethan was.
"Isn't that...hey Ethan. There's something coming your way. It's that orange pegasus from before."
"Scootaloo? Are you sure?"
"Yeah and there's something following her, probably just the other Crusaders. Wait a minute, it's a timberwolf! Ethan! A timberwolf is coming your way!"

No sooner had Navi spoken when Scootaloo burst through the bushes out of breath. She looked at him and her eyes lit up.
"Wait wait wait! Scootaloo! Don't lead the wolf towards-"
He was interrupted as the wolf burst through the bushes as well.
"Me..."
The timberwolf locked eyes with Ethan and let out a menacing growl.
"Son of a..."

Ethan turned around and started running with the pegasus by his side.
"Scootaloo! What are you doing here?!"
"I...I was trying...to find you." she panted
"Well ya found me, and now this wolf has too!"
Scootaloo tried to apologize but she was too out of breath. The timberwolf had been chasing her for a while and she could couldn't go on much longer. One of her legs gave out and she stumbled forward. Ethan looked back at the crusader lying there helplessly. Ethan muttered out a complaint, he immediately stopped and scooped her up with his front hooves before running while carrying her. Scootaloo's eyes widened in disbelief as she saw him running on his hind legs.
"How are you doing that?"
"Is now really the best time to ask that?"

He cast a glance back at the timberwolf, seeing it start to close the distance. Turning back around, his heart sank as he found his back to a stone wall. Ethan put Scootaloo down and looked side to side, there wasn't much room. If they split up and moved to the side, at least the timberwolf wouldn't be able to catch both of them. Or at least...that's how it should have gone. The wolf ignored Ethan as he starting edging off to the side. It had been chasing Scootaloo long enough to know she was tired, and wanted to catch the easier prey. Scootaloo desperately looked at Ethan sneaking away with tears in her eyes.
"Don't leave me!" she cried.
Ethan paused as she started crying. If he left right now, then he'd be able to escape but...
"I can't just abandon her to be eaten while I run away..."

Scootaloo had her back to the stone wall as the wolf was only a few feet away. It lowered it's body and got ready to jump when a rock came and smacked it in the back of the head.
"Hey, ugly. Why don't you leave the appetizer alone?"
The timberwolf turned and growled, focusing it's attention on him.
"Ethan?" Scootaloo said sniffing and wiping her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Something stupid. Now get out of here before I realize that."

The timberwolf lunged at Ethan who tried to hold it off with a branch. The branch in his hands cracking as he desperately held it to keep the teeth at bay. With one final snapping sound the branch broke and the wolf swiped at him knocking him back. Ethan quickly picked himself up as the creature ran at him.
"Plant your feet, jump with your back legs, let gravity pull them down and..."
The wolf jumped at him headfirst.
"SLAM!" he yelled.
The explosive kick landed square on, as the wolf collided with his back hooves, breaking it into a pile of sticks and leaves. Ethan sighed in relief, feeling the energy disappear from his body as it was finally over.

"So much for my peaceful walk." he said tiredly.
"That was awesome!" Scootaloo squealed. "You saved me, fought the wolf and BAM! Kicked it into tiny little pieces!" the small wings on her back buzzing from excitement.
Ethan shakily stood, his legs feeling like jello after that whole experience.
"Come on...let's get back to Zecora's."

Comments

[Calcen]

This is awesome! Good job :D

[Boss_Hoss1]

The timberwolf lunged at Ethan who tried to hold it off with a branch. The branch in his hands cracking as he desperately held it to keep the teeth at bay. With one final snapping sound the branch broke and the wolf swiped at him knocking him back. Ethan quickly picked himself up as the creature ran at him.

Easy for someone new to life as a pony to forget what he has at the end of his limbs if he's running like a human. Should that be "His hand.. er, hooves" -Or is it foreshadowing for a realization later? "Hey, wait! How did I hold that stick like that? I was struggling back at "Sugarcube Corner! How are the others holding things with hooves anyway?"

[Texus]

I kind of hope this starts out as a romance between maybe him and Celestia, sorry but I always end up wanting an adoption or romance in stories, I just like the slice of life aspect, I mean I like the adventures too, but I kind of hate it if there is no break between big adventures. Not just one or two chapters.

Well do you know any stories wich includes the main char getting adopted, where the parents try to form a conection but it turns out with the new mother crying about not being able to form a connection with the not so interessted child? It is hard to describe, but I would like to see it not working out just right at the beginning. That and I would love to have the main char not getting forced to accept them, but I want it to be written in a way that looks like they make their own decision without manipulation from others, like when there are some selfrightous ponies which think he is an asshole for not just accepting their love or something else when it is actually legit for him to feel like that.

I have the bad feeling in a few chapters already he is forced to fight in some sort of army till the exact end of the story without carefree moments like this. I actually hope this turns out like some little missions here and there I think.

Nice chapter.

[Fallen Angel N]

8231790
I'm afraid I don't know of a matching story. But a good idea would be to ask some of the groups you're in perhaps in the Shameless Self-Promotion Bureau for example, someone's bound to know.

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/198512/the-shameless-self-promotion-bureau

Glad you're enjoying the story though.