The Wild Man

by Luckless

Chapter 6

Brian

I moaned, getting off my bed. It'd been a few nights since I'd visited the castle, and when Midnight had visited. I didn't know what happened to her, but she hadn't spent enough time alone in the forest to run into anything, so I figured she just got caught up in something and hadn't been able to come by. I mean, there was no way she'd forget about the food that worked like ecstasy on her.

I arched my back, listening to the orchestra of cracks and pops. Looking in my mirror, I was pleased to see that my bruises were healing nicely, and a brief feeling of my nose told me that it was healing quickly too, but still needed some time. I think I've been stuffed in here long enough, time for a walk.

I left the van, taking with me my shotgun, loaded to alternate between slugs and buckshot rounds. I was still a little terrified over that monster I'd met that first day, so I really didn't want to be unprepared. I even brought with me a few extra rounds just in case.

The forest wasn't exactly lively today. The birds were quiet, the animals were hiding, even the wind didn't seem to dare move. It installed a feeling of dread as I walked to the fork in the path. Maybe today was a bad time to stretch my legs? I thought to myself. I came out of the bushes, and looked around.

Ok, seriously! What is this place's problem with me? A giant snake, thicker in body than I was tall, was slithering along the path. RIGHT. AT. ME.

I drew my shotgun, and pointed at its' dragon-like head, "Give me a break will you! I've had enough monsters and mythical creatures for a week!" It didn't stop.

I growled in frustration, and pulled the trigger. My shotgun boomed. The monster hissed in pain from a fresh gushing wound in its' side. The blood that landed on the ground fizzled and hissed, turning the grass black. Oh shit, I think this thing's poisonous. I so brilliantly deducted. I reared up at me, hissing at me in anger.

I heard something I really didn't want to hear, especially at a time like this, "HALT!"

Of course, I didn't listen. I cocked my shotgun, and fired at the head of the demon snake once again. I wasn't entirely accurate, but a fine green mist still poofed into existence from the neck area. From the sight of the wound, I'd say I just hit it with some buckshot. I cocked my shotgun again, and fired a little higher at the still recoiling snake. This time, the head jerked backwards, and it fell over on itself.

With one threat down, I spun around to face what the forest had in store next. Three ponies, wearing what I assumed was guard armor, were holding their ears in pain. Spears, swords and a net were laying about in front of them. They weren't 20 feet away from me, with their weapons drawn.

Oh yeah, they were just going to have a nice, friendly chat! Weren't they? I sarcastically asked myself. The guards recovered, shaking their heads, and looked at me with a mix of fear and anguish.

"You're coming with us, beast!" One of them said.

"Hmmm, how about... no." I answered with a deadpan glare. I cocked my shotgun for emphasis.

"Then you leave us with no choice." Another one growled, picking up his sword in his mouth.

Oh, I'm leaving you with plenty of options. Before another guard could pick up his spear, I shot the spear, blowing the sharp tip off and leaving it as a poor excuse of a staff. "Looks like somebody doesn't like to play fair." I muttered.

The guards waste no further time, and charged me. I reversed my grip on the shotgun, and swung at the feet of the closest guard, who was trying to slash me with his sword. I barely managed to duck underneath the blade, and he leapt over the butt of the stock. I dodged out of the way of the massive thrown net, and twisted around a staff strike. I rammed my shoulder into the staff wielding one, and while he was recoiling, smashed my stock into the side of his head, crumpling the armor.

One down, two to go. I curved my body around a stab attempt from the sword wielder, and kicked at his knees. I heard a crack of bones being displaced, and the guard cry out in pain, dropping his sword to clutch his limb. I turned to the final guard, who'd just managed to reclaim the net.

We didn't move for a bit as he eyed his unconscious, and moaning friends. He looked conflicted on what to do, so I decided to give him a little push, "Leave. If you keep this up, I'll only break you, then no one can get these two out of here." That seemed to do it. He wrapped the net around his fallen companions quickly, and started pulling them away.

"This isn't over." He hissed.

"I know. You just bought yourself some misery when it does though." I'd had enough for the day.

When he was out of sight, I started to get rid of the body. If Midnight found the time to come back, I didn't want her accidentally getting hurt by this thing. I walked around the pools of blood carefully, and grabbed it by the tail. Pulling with all my might, I managed to pull the damn thing deep into the brush away from the path. Having finished, I went back home.

"I think it's time for some whiskey."

Midnight

The days had passed by SOOO slowly. With nothing to do, and being confined to my bedroom was not at all enjoyable. I could read a little, but we didn't have very many books, much less ones I enjoyed reading. So most of the time I was just tossing a ball at the wall and catching or whacking it back at the wall. Since I'd met Brian, I could swear I'd gained weight, although without a scale, it was impossible to really tell. I know I at least felt a lot better and had more energy than I could spend cooped up in this room.

Finally, Saturday arrived, and I could finally come out. Only when I did, I came across my mother, who was incredibly angry.

"You went out into the Everfree again? I thought I told you not to do that without someone being out there with you! And spending the night with some unknown creature? What were you thinking?"

I winced a little. Sure, I didn't really think I'd done anything wrong, but my mom's anger always kind of hit me a little harder than anypony else's, "I was hungry and hoping to get something in there, and nopony else dares go out there, so I'm not really left with many options."

Mom groaned, "Honey, I know you have my dietary needs, but you really need to be more careful! What if that thing ate ponies or something?"

"Then I could've fought back and ran. Besides, he was nice."

Mom sighed, then smiled, "Was he cute?"

I felt myself blush, "MOM!"

She laughed, which was always nice to hear, even though it was at my expense, "I'm sorry dear, you just make it too easy. So, your father tells me he fed you some of his meat?"

I nod sheepishly, "Generously."

Mom looked at me more studiously, "Did you gain weight?" There was a hint of jibing in her voice, so I just rolled my eyes, which got her to giggle.

"Ok, are we doing this? I'd like to get this irrational fear of my friend out of the way."

"Sure hon, let's just get your father first. Celestia knows he's going to want to see this friend of yours."

Turns out, dad was already prepared to leave, having already packed some lunch to eat later. I secretly hoped we'd eat it at Brian's camp, but that was probably a long shot. I really wanted it to go well so I could be with Brian again. I loved his cooking. And his company of course. We went on our way to the Everfree, where I had to take the lead since I was the one who knew where I was going.

When we got to the turn that would lead to his camp, the air had a really bad smell to it, and we all gagged at it.

"What is that smell?" Dad asked, trying to hold down his breakfast.

Through a pinched nose, mom answered, "Basilisk blood. Very poisonous." She pointed at the ground, where we could see large pools of green, which I assumed was the blood, "I've fought a few in my time in the guard, and I've seen what even the blood can do to a pony. Don't touch it."

We gave it a lot of space as we walked around it, and I led them into the hidden path. They raised their eyebrows questioningly, not seeing the path until we were in a little deeper. We walked for a few more minutes, and I could smell the cooking meat from here. My mouth watered at the thought of the juicy, tender meat he made.

I can't wait!

Brian

I took a third shot of whiskey before I decided I'd had enough, and started cooking breakfast. It was a small chunk of meat that could fit into the palm of my hand, but I wasn't really all that hungry anyhow, so I'd probably wouldn't eat much of it anyhow. Faint clopping of hooves entered my ear, and I looked up, hoping it was Midnight.

I wasn't exactly prepared to see her flanked by another two ponies which, unsurprisingly, I didn't recognize. Midnight's bright smile did little to sway my fears when her companions were stone faced. With all the stress in the past few days, I found my hand resting on the handle of my knife.

"Hey Midnight, who're your friends?" I tried to sound friendly, but I think I was doing a bad job at it.

She waved excitedly at me, "Hey Brian! These are my parents. When I didn't show up that night, dad got a little angry and... grilled me on where I'd been."

Inwardly, I scowled. I really didn't like people, or in this case ponies, knowing where I lived. But this was Midnight, surely she wouldn't bring ponies who were going to attack me.

One pony was standing a little in front of Midnight. She looked very much like her daughter, red cat-like eyes, dark mane colors, but certainly looked much healthier and stronger than Midnight did. Her fur was dark grey, her mane was a monotone dark turquoise. The other one gave me a sense of masculinity, slightly more buff around the chest and little muscle in the rear legs, and a more sloppy and shorter mane. His fur was a pale tan, his mane black with a blue streak, and had an odd mark on his ass. I vaguely remember my captors having marks, but I wondered why Midnight and her mom didn't have one. His mark was of a log of wood being cut in half. His eyes were a deep blue, and were more rounded.

I stood up slowly, my joints groaning over the recent labors, "Afternoon, nice to meet you." I stretched out a hand. I was starting to wonder if I'd done something that they didn't know what to do with, and was about to retract my hand, when the mare put her hoof in it.

"It's nice to meet you too Brian, my name's Ebony Moon, and my husbands' name is Wood Cutter." Well that's a very literal name.

I looked over at Midnight, who was glancing between us and the grill. I grinned knowingly at her, "Meat's pretty much done, help yourself Midnight."

Just as she was about to grab it and start eating (likely swallowing it whole if she was going to eat like she had last time), Wood put a hoof on her shoulder, holding her in place.

Heavily laden with hostile suspicion, he asked, "And what, exactly, is this meat?"

"Moose."

The parents' eyes went wide, "You killed... a moose? You?"

I nodded, "I can cook some up for you if you'd like. I've got plenty." I made the offer more out of trying to diffuse their aggression than to make friends with them. The Ebony nodded with a smile, while Wood looked a little green and shook his head. Didn't know that their fur could change colors. Interesting.

Wood finally let his daughter eat the meat which disappeared in less than a second, while I opened up a meat bucket, and tossed on some bloody steaks that had come off the shoulder of the moose. While I turned and flipped the meat, Wood took out a small picnic and both parents took the opportunity to ask me questions.

"So, where did you come from?" Ebony asked, sounding a lot more friendlier than her husband.

"Uh, I came from a country that you have no real chance of visiting. Even if you did, you'd scare the everloving crap out of everyone you met."

"And that is?"

"America."

"America? Never heard of it." Wood stated, sounding like he didn't believe me.

"You shouldn't have. It's on a completely different planet." I flipped over the steaks.

They were quiet for a bit, before Ebony started laughing, "I'm not joking. I literally come from a different world, and I have no idea how I got here."

She stopped laughing, and raised an eyebrow. Her husband asked the ensuing, and predictable, question, "And how do you know that?"

"Because on my world, the whole planet has been explored, and I've never heard of or seen talking ponies, or living, breathing mythological monsters. It's a dead giveaway."

They didn't say anything for a while, before Wood asked another question, "So do you eat just meat?"

I shook my head, "I can eat other things too like fruits, vegetables and bread, but meat is just easier to get a hold of when I'm out in the bush and less dangerous to experiment with."

"Bush?"

"Another word for forest."

Again, Wood asked another question, "Ever eaten a pony?"

"DAD!"

I stared at him for a second, "Would you mind repeating that? I don't think I heard you right." He couldn't've said what I thought he said. Cause it wasn't possible. No one would ask that, or even think that. Right?

Sounding irritated in me asking him to repeat himself, "I asked whether you've ever eaten a pony before."

My stomach churned angrily, and I felt sick, "Oh hell." I stumbled away from my spot next to the fire to scramble away into a bush and throw up violently. And dear Lord it hurt. My muscles screamed in agony at the sudden convulsions while my mind recoiled in horror at the thought of eating a pony, especially when ponies here were intelligent.

While I was hurling, a felt a hoof tapping my back, and heard Midnight saying, "There there, get it all out. You'll be alright." It was her voice that calmed me down and stopped the heaving.

I was breathing heavily, my head hanging, "I... hugh... think that should... *pant*... answer your question." I spit out some bile, and sat down. Midnight sat down next to me, a hoof still on my shoulder and patting me.

"Are you alright?" She asked concerned.

I put a hand over her back, and patted her, "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. Just... really disgusted at the thought of eating something that can talk back to me."

I shakily got to my feet, wiped my hands on my pants, and started working the meat again.

"Wood, please don't ask questions like that again. I've gotten the crap beaten out of me this week, and I really don't want to go through any more hurt from puking my guts out."

"I've got a question." Ebony said.

I gestured meaninglessly at here, "Go ahead."

"When's the meat going to be ready?" Both Midnight and Ebony asked in perfect synchronization.

I studied the meat carefully, trying to judge how well it was cooked, "I'd say it's about ready. Depends on whether you like it a little bloody."

"Yeah, I'll wait." Midnight sheepishly said.

We waited a little longer while Wood ate. Finally, after an uncomfortable wait, the meat was cooked, and I served it up to my guests. Midnight, like before, dug in like a starving animal, while her mother ate a little slower, and stopped after eating a football sized portion. Midnight proceeded to clean the table.

"Celestia, Midnight! If you eat like that, you're going to get fat!" Ebony joked.

Between bites, "Don't care! Too good!" Remembering last time, I brought out the bean-bag-bed. When she finished, Midnight crawled into bed with a content sigh. I smiled warmly at her, glad that she enjoyed my basic cooking so much. Although, Wood looked slightly disgusted or sick at this display.

"I must say Brian, you cooked the moose very well." Ebony complimented.

I nodded, "Thanks. Had a lot of practise."

Another pause proceeded, and Wood finally broke it, "Well, I guess it's alright for Midnight to visit, so long as she tells us first." From the bed, Midnight squeed. Wood continued, "Well, I think it's time for us to take our leave. You coming with us Midnight?"

She shook her head, "I'll be back later. I don't really want to move right now. WAAAaay to comfortable." We chuckled, and Midnight's parents packed up and left.

Clapping my hands together, and cheerfully, "Well! That went well."

Twilight

The guards that had arrived yesterday came out of the forest to report back on their patrol. They'd attracted a massive crowd, and once they arrived at the library, it was easy to see why. All but one of them were badly beaten. One had a severe concussion which would probably lead to permanent brain damage and bleeding, while another had a badly dislocated and broken knee. He'd have to go through extensive therapy and a long recovery. The only remaining guard had dragged them out of the Everfree, and seemed totally unharmed. I helped them to the hospital to drop off the wounded guards.

"What happened?"

He growled, "We came across that thing you captured. Before we tried to apprehend it, it killed a basilisk with a strange weapon. It sounded like a louder version of thunder, and blew holes into the basilisk. Then, it refused to be brought in, so we tried to force it. You can see the results."

I stared at the guard in disbelief. They'd tried to capture the creature? Even with such dangerous weapons? They were lucky to get away with their lives, and I told him as much.

He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, probably not the smartest thing we coulda done."

I shook my head, "At least he didn't want to kill you, or he would have."

The guard frowned, "Nevertheless, he resisted arrest, and assaulted three Royal Guards. It's getting an arrest warrant as soon as the paperwork can be filled out."

I gave a disapproving glare, "I don't think so. This was entirely your fault. I think a better solution would be a 'Dangerous Creature' and a 'Do not Approach' classification, and write a encounter policy for the guards."

He scowled at me, "After what it did to my friends? No bucking way! He's going down, one way or another!"

I groaned, "I understand that you're angry, but this is what you should have expected when with the way you went about this. Now I'm not saying you deserved or asked for it, I'm saying that's what you got with how you acted."

He growled again, "I'm going to wait for my friends to get out of surgery." It was clear that he was done talking, so with a sigh, I left him alone in the waiting room.

Outside, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were waiting. As per usual, Rainbow piped up first, "So what happened to those guards? I heard they were beat up pretty bad."

I sighed again, "They thought it was a good idea to try and capture the creature, and they got into a fight. They lost, badly. One has a bad concussion, and another has a badly broken and dislocated knee. The creature apparently let them go after he knew that they were beat. Ugh, the situation was bad enough before, and they just made it worse! Now I have to add this creature to a classification system and write an encounter policy for it."

They looked at each other, slightly confused. "Uh, Twilight? You mind telling those of us who aren't eggheads what your going to do?"

I facehoofed, "I'm going to make sure that ponies don't try to interact with him, and tell the guards how to not make him angry."

"Oooh, yeah you should probably get on that." RD said matter of factly. Thank you captain obvious.

Pinkie spoke up for the first time, which to be honest, was surprising that she'd been this quiet for so long, "I don't get it. Why would anypony be this mean to each other?"

I wrapped a hoof around her comfortingly, "It's not really mean, Pinkie. Just a lot of really big mistakes, misunderstandings and overreactions. If we're careful, we can still try to make peace with him. In the meantime, we should also see if anypony else has interacted with him. Can you girls go ask around?"

They quickly agreed, and ran off to opposite corners of the town, asking ponies along the way.

I groaned, thinking about the situation, "Celestia give me strength."

Author's Note:

Thank you everyone for the support and desire for more chapters! It feels great knowing people like this, and I can't help but feel proud with how many views I've gotten and in such little time. You're all great, and I'll try to keep up production!

Comments

[SunsetDragon]

Really great chapter, loved your story ever since I found it. Keep up the awesome work.

[PrototypeJ]

A another incredible chapter, I can't wait to read the next one.

[No0one]

Please continue

[Starlight Nova]

Friendly word of advice, link to Human Nature.

[Luckless]

8923588
Still new at this, but I'll work on it.

[Theresa]

Next time don't send the guard to fluttershy job. By simply being herself and kind in his environment she could have gotten to know him without possible violence.