[Perspective: Arrell]
I stared blankly at Risk. He stared back. False just looked back and forth between us.
"...well?" I asked impatiently.
"Huh?" Risk seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. "Oh, sorry. Had to make sure we were in the next chapter."
...what?
"Anyway, here's my theory," he continued. "You said that in order to cross the River Styx, you had to pay a toll, right?" I nodded. "That got me thinking about why you were chosen to come here. I think, maybe, you did something like that."
"I paid a toll?"
"Maybe not exactly like that, but you did something that pleased or helped Styx, so she brought you over to Equestria. I don't think you were randomly selected. Something you did made her think of you as being unique."
I chuckled. "Well, can't argue on the whole 'being unique' thing, but I doubt it's in a good way."
"Maybe we don't even need to be making theories like this," False broke in. "If Arrell just told us what happened in the three days before he came here, it'd give us a clue."
"I'd tell you if I remembered!" I yelled, irritated. This was, what, the tenth time I told them I forgot?
Fortunately, Risk intervened before False or I said anything we'd regret. He got us back on the path to Stalliongrad, and before long, we were silently walking along. Not a word passed between us for at least an hour.
"Boooooring..." I sighed, breaking the streak. C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
Later that night, we had stopped for camp and set up a couple of tents that Risk packed. Due to her orders, False was required to sleep in the same tent as me, which naturally made everything a lot more awkward for me.
Eventually, after lying awake for several hours, I crawled out of the tent, deciding to get a headstart on my practicing. The first thing I wanted to do was figure out the origin of my little 'FUS RO DAH' power from my first five minutes in Equestria. I hadn't used it since, nor had I even tried to figure it out. Now was the time to fix that.
I walked for about fifteen minutes away from the sleeping site and eventually came to a small forest. It didn't seem nearly as big or dangerous as the Everfree, so I crept inside. The lack of nearby dangerous creatures and plants calmed my nerves, and I prepared to unleash another voice attack on a nearby tree.
"Mind telling me what you're doing out here?"
Startled, I exhaled the breath I had taken in, falling into a small coughing fit before turning around. False stood a few feet behind me, looking annoyed as usual.
"Getting interrupted from my training," I replied. "How about you?"
"Interrupting you from your training, it seems." She shrugged. "Or rather, following orders. I'm not supposed to let you just slip away."
"Weren't you asleep when I left?"
"Royal guards are trained to be very light sleepers, so that even the quietest of sounds would wake them up."
"Fair enough." I looked away. "Considering I'm just trying to practice, which is half the reason we came on this trip, I doubt you can really hold this against me."
She glared. "Arrell...there's so much I can already hold against you."
...why did my mind suddenly fall into the gutter at that remark?
"But no, I'm not going to report you to the princess, if that's what you're thinking. Though I'd prefer it if next time you went to train, you let me know."
I looked down at the ground. "I didn't want to wake you up."
Before you think I'm all heart, keep in mind that part of the reason I didn't want to wake her was because I knew she'd be crabby, and another part was that I didn't want her to keep me from going. So I'm more one-third heart and two-thirds idiot.
"Well, you did anyway, so c'est la vie. What exactly are you doing anyway? I know you're training, but I followed you for almost twenty minutes and all you've done is stare at a tree."
I briefly explained my little manticore encounter and the voice attack I used. I avoided talking about Skyrim for fear of raising more questions and prolonging my training further.
"I was about to try it again on that tree, then you interrupted me," I finished. "I don't know if I can just pull it off whenever, but I kind of hope that I can. It'd be useful."
False nodded. "Agreed. It'd make any hostile encounters a lot less dangerous." She stepped a safe distance away. "Have at it." I saw a small smile on her face.
I turned back to the tree and focused, trying to draw energy from within my very being to channel into a force greater than man or pony could ever imagine. That didn't work, so I just inhaled deeply and aimed at the tree.
"FUS RO DAH!" I screamed, even louder than back with the manticore. Back then I was still groggy and not really serious, but this time, I was putting more energy into it. And it showed.
Instead of just cracking the tree with my voice or something, I ended up snapping all of its branches off, as well as those of several trees around us. I didn't see if anything else happened, because the force launched my unprepared body backwards, flying past False and straight into another tree. I heard a crack as I collided, but I couldn't tell if it was my bones or the tree. If it was the former, I was too numb to notice.
"Arrell!" False cried, rushing over to me. "Are you okay?"
I tried to breathe out an answer, but all I did was start another coughing fit. Every time I tried to inhale and say something, anything, all I got to do was lapse back into nearly suffocating on my own air.
Finally, after regaining sense in my body, I looked up. The tree I had been aiming at had toppled over, but the other trees in the crossfire, while damaged, remained upright.
"Didn't...expect that," I panted, slowly climbing to my hooves, False helping me up. Her sudden caring nature was not lost on me, but I didn't point it out. Too busy trying to keep my lungs working. Suddenly, I heard another crack like the one I heard when I crashed into the tree...oh no.
I turned around slowly, looking at the tree I had been thrown at. Apparently Equestrian physics were slacking off that day, because even though the tree should have fallen in the direction opposite where I hit it, it began to lean towards us. And leaned further.
And further.
Horseapples.
[Perspective: False Front]
I stared, jaw open, as the tree began to fall towards us. Naturally, my instinct was to get out of the way of the tree, but one glance at Arrell told me he wasn't having the same thought process. For some reason, that single thought kept me from moving myself to safety.
"Arrell, move!" I yelled, feeling as though everything went into slow motion. The tree seemed to take hours to fall, when in reality it likely didn't even take three seconds. I wanted to move out of the way, but seeing Arrell in a trance and ignoring my warnings kept me rooted to the ground, as though doing so would keep us safe. I shut my eyes and waited.
The tree didn't land on us.
I cracked open an eye to a surprising sight. Arrell was crouched low to the ground, his eyes shut as though concentrating. Around us was a strange, bubble-like dome, which the tree was resting on, having landed on it instead of us. Arrell opened his eyes to the same sight.
"Move!" he suddenly yelled, jumping to the side. I finally managed to do the same, just as the dome around us faded and the tree fell onto the ground. It landed right where we had been just seconds ago. If not for that dome, we – or Arrell, at least – wouldn't have had time to move out of the way.
I looked at Arrell, who seemed to be shocked, enthusiastic, and scared, all at once. He looked at me with wide eyes, which looked pretty weird given his lack of pupils. He then looked back at the tree, then down at the ground. As if trying something, he crouched low again and shut his eyes.
The dome suddenly reappeared around us, startling me. I looked around nervously for whatever was causing it, taking a moment to realize that Arrell was making it. I walked up to one of the walls and tried to tap it, but my hoof went right through it. A few steps showed me that I could walk through the walls of the dome without an issue.
Then how did it stop the tree?
The dome disappeared once more, and Arrell looked absolutely delighted. He looked at me with a giant grin.
"Drop Shield!" he proclaimed, as if I knew what the hay that meant. "I don't know how I got it, but I got it!"
"Drop Shield?" I asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Long story, but it's kind of like my voice attack in terms of origin. Something impossible from back home that I can do here, except this is the first time I've done it."
I cocked my head. "Considering I could walk through it, it doesn't seem like a very effective shield."
He shrugged. "From what I know, living beings and vehicles can pass through it, but nothing else. That must be why it stopped the tree. Though it only lasts a few seconds, so it's not as useful as an actual barrier or magic force field."
"It's not useful at all compared to those," I snapped. "If we got into a fight, that'd just keep them from throwing things at us. It wouldn't stop them from walking up and cutting us open."
"It's better than nothing. At least I have a theory as to why I have my voice attack – and now, the Drop Shield." He started walking back in the direction of our tents, me following.
"And what would that theory be?" I inquired.
He smirked. "Styx knew that I didn't know much about fighting, and that I wouldn't be able to master Windigo powers for a long time...so she gave me video game powers."
There was a silence.
"I hope you weren't expecting a dramatic gasp," I finally said.
"I wasn't. Though I was expecting some questioning about what a video game is."
"Honestly? I don't care. I just chalk that kind of thing up to 'human crap' and leave it that way."
He thought for a moment. "Probably better that way."
Author's Notes: Okay, we didn't get to the long chapter yet. Hopefully soon though. And yes, Arrell has video game powers. First Skyrim's FUS RO DAH - or as he calls it, the voice attack - and Halo's drop shield. I'll be giving him a few more as time goes on, but don't worry about him becoming a walking video game console; he'll be likely using Windigo abilities more.
FUS RO PONY!!!
. . . He needs the Biotic Charge from Vanguard Shepard next. A projectile attack, a rushing attack, and a shield. Pretty good versitility, and he already has natural Ice element abilities due to his Windigo body. If he got his hands (hooves?) on Grif's Latin Magic. . .
1446647 I'm only putting in powers from games I've played.
And if BlackWing and I were to ever collaborate, I'd love to see Arrell learn some Latin magic.
1446678 . . . You haven't played Mass Effect 2/3?! Ohh well. What have you played then?
1447070 Previously I only played Nintendo games, but I've recently begun playing computer and Xbox 360 stuff, though admittedly not much. Aside from Skyrim and Halo: Reach, I've played Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, both Portal games, and Worms Reloaded.
1447081 Hmmm. Interesting pool to choose from then. . . Ohh lord, Spy Arrell. Or Medic, with DAS UBERCHARGE! Should be interesting indeed. Will he have any of the more useful Thu'ulm? Like Ice Breath or Freeze Form, keeping with the whole "Windigo" theme.
1447170 He'll only get one ability per game, so no more Skyrim abilities.
And I have plans for TF2...it should be interesting, to say the least.
1447179 Ohh well, two down, x to go. Portal powers should be usefull, no idea about Minecraft, and I haven't played Worms Reloaded, so there still is a healthy surprise factor there.
1447081 You should give him something from Metroid. I really hope you've at least played one of those games, as there is a plethora of abilities you can take from them.
1447696 No, I never got into it that much.
1447710 Aw. It's a great series.
Now let me see if I can get this right...
RL, the reason Styx made her choice is...
ten minutes later
...completely indeterminate at this particular moment. Can I have a refund on the last ten minutes?
Theories:
1. []
2. The whole dream thing was a foreshadow at a choice he will need to make between his kind and the ponies.
FUS RO YAY!
Interesting chapter.
So he can shout like a natural badass but he ISN'T a dragonborn? WHAT!
1448216 Interesting theory, and actually pretty close to what I have planned.
Its obvious about the one on Minecraft, he can punch trees for wood. Hmmm, double jump?
And, Risk is a wall breaker, where'd he get lessons?
1450189 Wall-breaking was a one-off joke. None of the characters can truly break the fourth wall, or even have awareness of it.
...
...yet.
1450126 I breathe foreshadowing.
1450189 He didn't get them; he just guessed.
Oh video games! one thing he should try:
up up down down left right left right B A start
and if you dont know it, its the konami code
1451072 Oh, I know it, and I have a plan for it, trust me.
1451087 Piqued, my interest is by this revelation.
The part of Le Internet Medley with the lol lol lol lol lol started playing right towards the VERY end of the capter. IT was truely fitting
Okay, so a Fus Ro Dah and now a Drop Shield. Next he's going to do a Kamehameha!!!
CROWBAR!
IIZ-SLEN-NUS (ice-flesh-statue)
inkstand solid frost
FO-KRAH-DIIN (Frost-Cold-Freeze)
frost breath or cone of cold
more related to your character not?
Really? This video game powers thing is kind of tacky. Still, it is amusing. Never heard of this Styx before. I thought it was just a river, guess there's more to it.
2741533
Sounds cool. Seems weird though, because I could have sworn that the implication in Skyrim was that you had to be one the dragonborn for the words to be anything other than a strange language.
1447081 So, from that pool of games, the possible future abilities (at this point in the story) are: any of the unique abilities of the nine classes (i.e. the Scout's double jump or the Spy's cloaking), a portal gun, any of the various guns/powers from Worms:Reloaded, and possibly the ability to carry truly massive amounts of stuff on his person, like Steve.
I totally want Arrell to try Shouting "Yol Toor Shul"!
One problem with this chapter, a tree is a living being.
3118621 Living Being implies that it thinks and has instincts, a tree sits there and grows thats all it does
3119926 You are getting living mixed up with sapience.
3078442
the result? OH DEAR CELESTIA AND LUNA! I'M ON FIRE HELP!
Last I checked, trees are living creatures.