Karma

by Chemtest

Power Grows

Kendrick wakes up suddenly, and calmly raises himself from the ground. He looks at his hand, only to see a thick gauntlet leading into a thick glove.

He looks down to observe his new armor.

It’s pitch black, almost absorbing the nearby light with it’s darkness. It seems to be the... Looking Glass Knight’s armor, recolored black. He opens his glove, and sees an odd blue crystal inside. It pulses with light, and he hesitantly presses the crystal.

He moves his head back in slight surprise as a miniature version of Karma appears in his hand. She smiles up at him, “I hope you don’t mind, Kendrick, but I made a few modifications to the armor. This is a communicator, allowing us to talk at any time. Or, I will be able to talk. Your ability to talk has been removed for now, one of Edis’s terms. Don’t worry, you should get it back sometime soon. Anyway, you can also probably see the paint job for the armor. Your armor has been modified to change colors depending on your Karmatic state. The more good actions, the closer it will get to my color. The more bad actions, the darker it will get. Take out your katana.”

Kendrick reaches to his waist with his other hand, grasping the handle of his Uchigatana. He draws it from it’s sheath, and sees the blade glowing a bright blue.

Karma looks over at the blade, “Yes, you can see that enchantment, right? Depending on the Karmatic state of the person being hit by the katana, it can deal more or less damage. If you hit someone with good Karma, then it will not be as strong. If you hit someone with bad Karma, it will be even more strong.” Karma nods, “Make sure to use it wisely, Kendrick. Good luck, I shall be here if you need me.” With that final sentence, Karma disappears back into the crystal.

Kendrick closes his fist, and turns his eyes to the trees surrounding him.

He flips the katana around, and returns it to it’s sheath, sliding it in with ease.

His mind fills with thoughts of what he can do. Yet, every time he thinks, it comes up with a singular answer.

Gain power.

———

A filly jumps into the air, hitting a ball with all the force in her little body. She sends the ball flying away, and another filly follows it up with a massive kick to the ball.

It flies away from the five fillies, going straight into the Everfree. The other four fillies all groan and look at the filly who kicked it. One of the fillies turns and sighs at the kicker, “Come on Coco, now we gotta go get it before anyone finds out!”

One of the other fillies jump up. Her purple fur catches the light, and her bright yellow eyes exude one of their own. She smiles, “Oh, I got it! I got it!”

The pony who kicked the ball, Coco, smiles, “Thanks, Dinky!”

Dinky nods, and rushes into the Everfree, in the general direction of where the ball was.

———

Kendrick shoves aside any plant in his way, forcing his way through the forest. His ears listen attentively to the songs of birds, the wind through the trees, and the rustles of small creatures below. But, as he listens, he picks up on a new sound.

A scream of fear, from what sounds to be a little girl. He turns in the direction of the scream, and continues to wade through the forest.

The screams grow more infrequent, but louder, as he continues. Eventually, they are so loud that he knows the screams are coming from right in front of him.

He bashes one more bush out of the way, and walks into a forest clearing. His eyes instantly lock onto the cause of the screams.

A little filly sits huddled around a tree, surrounded by at least five wooden wolves. They all growl and approach the filly.

Monsters and equines, exactly as was said,

Kendrick stomps his foot down, drawing the attention of the wolves. Green glowing eyes glare at him, only to have their glow be absorbed into the dark armor he wears. Within their eyes, Kendrick can see himself.

Standing five feet and ten inches, he was seen as slightly above average for Earth’s humans. Standing at one hundred and sixty pounds, he is seen as skinny and possibly weak. However, with the magic of Karma, he now has the strength of a bodybuilder in a not very powerful body. Yet, with the darkness of his armor, he seems to almost blend in with the forest.

All the wolves can see is a weak human in fancy clothes, one they can kill easily.

Kendrick draws his katana, feeling it’s sharp edge almost cut the air it goes through. The wolves all charge as he draws the blade.

The first wolf receives a cut on it’s chin, sending it back down, and teaching it the powers of drawing a sword.

The second is impaled through the head with the katana, a swift movement sending it all the way through it’s head.

The third wolf bowls into him, almost making him lose his grip on the sword. Yet, just barely, with his new strength, he manages to drag it out and keep it in his hands.

He tries to slash at the wolf, only to have his blade be caught in the wolf’s jaws. The wolf pulls with all it’s strength, and Kendrick pulls back. The blade stays stuck between the two of them, neither stronger than the other.

The stalemate ends as Kendrick is knocked beside by another wolf. He lets go of the sword, allowing the wolf to drop it far away.

The wolf jumps on his chest, clawing at the crest on his chest. Kendrick keeps it away with one arm, and uses the other to grasp wildly at his backside. His hand finally hits a hilt, and he draws the dagger from it’s sheath. He quickly moves it up, and stabs the wolf through it’s mouth.

The final two wolves look at him, growling and pawing at the ground. Kendrick wipes his dagger on his arm, cleaning it of the sap. He stares at them whist he does it, summoning all the malice possible into the gesture.

The wolves growl one final time, then they run into the forest. Kendrick nods, and picks his sword up from the ground. He flips it around, and returns it to it’s sheath.

The filly looks at Kendrick, a form of wonder on his face, “Woah. Are you one of the Guard Humans?!”

Kendrick raises an eyebrow within his armor, looking down at the filly. He tries to speak, only to feel a slight burning when he does, which quickly stops him.

The filly rushes up to him, “Oh wow, I’ve never seen one of you before! Do they teach you to do that in the Guard? Oh, you must be lost! Ponyville’s this way, you probably want to go over there!”

She rushes off, and points in a random direction.

Kendrick looks at himself as his armor fades to a slightly less pitch black, and now a lighter form. He looks up at the filly, and she smiles back at him.

Kendrick decides that it’s better to find civilization than to stay out here. He walks forward to the filly, and she nods.

She walks into the forest, “Oh, my friends are going to love seeing you! Especially when they see your cool sword, or your cool armor, or your cool fighting skills!” She stops for a second, “Oh, uh, I’m Dinky, by the way. Dinky Hooves! Uh, do you have a name?”

Kendrick simply looks at her, unaware of how to answer. He simply nods in response.

Dinky rushes over to him, “Oh, oh, I’ll name you Grey! No, no, Wolf! Eh, no, Wolf isn’t that good. Oh, Shiny! You must know Shining Armor in some way, right? Which one do you think is best?”

Kendrick looks ahead, and holds up a hand. He puts up only one finger, indicating his answer.

Dinky smiles, “Grey, alright! Come on, Grey, we gotta get to Ponyville!” She takes a few steps forward, until she suddenly stops, and begins heavily panting, “Oh, right, I ran from those wolves.” She looks up at Kendrick, “Hey, Grey, you wouldn’t mind carrying me, right?”

Kendrick looks down at her, narrowing his eyes so she can see.

She widens her own eyes, and begins to pout, “Please?”

Kendrick looks at her widened eyes, and slowly crumbles. He sighs, and holds out a hand.

Dinky latches onto it, and crawls up his body like a spider. She climbs all the way to his helmet, and curls up on top of it. She smiles, and points forward, “Onward, loyal steed, Grey!”

Kendrick slightly smiles, and begins walking forward. As he moves his hand up to walk, however, he sees a slight glow from his hand.

He presses the crystal, and sees a messages appear on it.

’Good Deed Completed! Here’s your reward!

You made a friend! Yay!’

Kendrick smiles even more upon sight of the over exited message in his hand. Dinky looks down, and takes notice of the message, “Oh, are you a spy?!”

She then reads the message with Kendrick.

She then smiles as well, “I made a friend! Yay!”

Kendrick laughs a tiny bit at the filly on his head. His mind sarcastically repeats the message internally, but his conscious mind instantly berates the sarcasm for being rude.

Kendrick smiles, and moves on through the forest. The filly on his head continues her talking.

Comments

[AnAverageGamer]

I don't remember adding this to my list of stories to read... Whatever it's good

[WordWeaver]

I think I'm starting to see where my concerns were founded last chapter. Here hoping this doesn't turn into some odd Gary Stue story, though I suppose it would be hard to argue with divinity.

I assume these “Human Guards” aren't too uncommon, but I suppose I just find it strange that he's identified as one right off the bat. I suppose we'll find out more about this later.

I was going to make a comment on how I didn't understand the purpose of removing his voice, but then I remembered that “actions speak louder than words,” so that's cool.

The choice of an Uchigatana is weird to me (I'd expect something with a bit more bulk to it), but I suppose that's more of a personal gripe.

[Chemtest]

9843975
Well, if your main concern is him being a Gary Stu, then I would say to just wait. Near the beginning, yeah, he’s gonna be a bit of one (in the physical sense, mainly) but later on, that will change heavily.

The whole human guard thing is actually quite rare. Most ponies will never see more than one for their entire life. Yet, for a random filly, this guy would match the description. He’s dressed in armor, carries weapons, and was able to fight off five timberwolves. So, in her mind, he is obviously the knight in shining armor all Guard Humans are supposed to be.

Lastly, the uchigatana was because of his first, and only, power. His Dark Souls 1 character used the uchigatana, because it is one of the best weapons in the game. He does have bulkier weapons, they just haven’t been seen yet.