Troubled times.

by grandevil

First contact

I WAS LOST. That was definitely true as I trotted deeper into the forest.

It was midday; I could tell as the sun was shining brightly overhead. The rays of heat beat down upon me, causing my mane to stick to my body. The humidity of the area was not helping to alleviate the heat but making it that much more unbearable. If only I could use my powers freely then I could escape this dreadful heat. I thought to myself as I trotted on. I was no longer in a forested area but a swamp of some kind. The muddy water, dead trees and barren landscape adding a sense of hopelessness to my situation

I trotted on walking along the water's edge, hoping to find a settlement of some kind or one of the native pony folk to lead me out of this dreadful place. I was beginning to get thirsty and there was no clean water in sight. I will just have to wait till I get back to civilization I suppose. The thirst reminded me of my days in prison and I felt a barrier threatening to burst in my mind ,the barrier that kept me sane throughout my long imprisonment. Protecting my fragile mentality from crumbling due to the memories. I shook my head to disperse the traumatic thoughts and decided to rid myself of my thirst. I walked up to the water's edge and peered down; it looked dirty but drinkable I hoped...

I bent down and took a small sip of the water and regretted my decision instantly. I spit the water out and scraped my tongue with my fore hooves which only worsened the taste as the ground was muddy. The water was salty and tasted of something slimy and the mud left a bitter taste in my mouth that was wet and gravelly at the same time. The combination was interesting to say the least. As I sat there contemplating my lack of common sense for drinking swamp water, I heard some pony's talking. As they're voices became clearer I counted 3 distinct voices. I decided to hide in some bushes and observe them to see if they were friend or foe.

"Daring do is the most awesome pegasi ever!" I heard some pony say in a loud voice that conveyed confidence and self-assurance.

"Yes we know rainbow." This time the voice was intelligent albeit weary probably from the previous pony rants which I assumed was named rainbow.

"Thanks you guys for following me here ... um...you know since you guys are so busy..." This voice belonged to a kind soul definitely a pony who was shy and courteous.

"No problem Fluttershy! I'm always there for my friends!" The voice which i assumed to belong to a pony named rainbow said.

"Spike's taking care of the library today and this is an excellent opportunity to observe the survival mechanisms of frogs!" The intelligent voice said most definitely belonging to a bookish pony.

"You’re such an egghead Twilight" the voice that belonged to the pony named rainbow said.

As the voices got nearer I clearly saw them now 3 ponies were near the water’s edge one was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane that was messy and unkept with a long rainbow colored tail. This I assumed to be the one they called Rainbow.

Then there was a purple unicorn which I assumed to be Twilight as she had an air of intelligence about her with a purple mane which had a pink streak through it and a purple tail.

The last pony was a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail, her mane covered part of her face and she looked very kindly so I guessed that she was Fluttershy.

It was strange as they approached I could feel something within me slowly loosen; albeit only by a small amount, but this small release filled me with strength and I felt a small flow of magic around me. I decided to watch them from the safety of the bushes only 5 hooves away from them.

I watched as the Pegasus named Fluttershy opened a basket and released some frogs into the water saying “Here you go little froggies your new home." with a kind voice it was obvious that she loved animals.

"Why do we have to come into the Everfree to release frogs?" Rainbow said with a confused tone.
"The frogs just went through their mating season Dash so in order to prevent overcrowding in the pond Fluttershy has to relocate some of them." Twilight explained in a scientific voice obviously proud of her knowledge.

"I'm sorry if I caused you problems..." Fluttershy said in a small voice while hiding behind her mane.

It was clear to me that they meant no harm and just as the pony named Rainbow was about to answer a giant shadow rose from the swamp and blotted out the light.

"HYDRAAAAAA!!!" I heard rainbow and Twilight scream before they could turn and run however one of the Hydra's heads had blocked the way and the other 2 heads were beginning to descend down upon them.

Twilight immediately shot 2 blasts of magic at the Hydra's descending head and forced them to withdraw immediately after, she and Fluttershy bolted towards a small opening below the Hydra's legs. At the same time the Pegasus Rainbow flew at high speeds and started to whiz around the Hydra's head like a rainbow colored fly.

I was surprised that Hydra's still existed in this time i thought they would have all been killed off a long time ago. I decided that I should help them even though i was unsure whether i could. But you never know until you try!

I focused my magic around my hooves and though there was a flash of pain from my cutie mark i felt my hooves growing and changing into claws. Short pointed tip claws that resembled those of a dragon's. Just as I completed the transformation the Pegasus named Rainbow was knocked to the ground by the Hydra and the other 2 ponies were running back to help her. The unicorn named Twilight threw up a shield while Fluttershy was trying to help Rainbow to her hooves but it was clear that the Rainbow Pegasus had suffered serious damage and was unable to move. One of the hydra's head's descended down upon them but it was effectively blocked by the shield that Twilight had projected around them. I was surprised; not many unicorns had enough magical power to deflect a Hydra attack. But it was clear that the effort of keeping the shield was putting a strain on the unicorn.

-------Twilight's POV-------

As the Hydra's heads descended for another attack Twilight braced herself for another but it never came. Confused she opened her eyes to see the Hydra's heads reeling back and a strange pony with claws instead of hooves standing in front of her. She heard the mysterious Colt yell to her "Keep your shield up and don't falter!" Before he jumped impossibly high into the air to slice at the Hydra's heads again.

-------MY POV-------------

I could see she was clearly surprised to see me but who wouldn't be? After expecting impending death only to have it averted by a mysterious pony from nowhere. I slashed again as the Hydra's head came in for another attack. I needed to end this fast as I didn't know how much more magic i had in me. After dodging another set of lunges by the Hydra's heads by jumping high into the air i decided to gamble it all on one powerful attack. As the Hydra's heads tensed their muscles to lunge at me in the air I concentrated all my magic into my right forehoove.

As the magic started to flow towards my hoof I visualized a giant claw that could slash off the Hydra's heads in one fell swoop. As I imagined 4 claws made of pure steel sharpened to a fine point growing from my hoof and extending to be the same size as the Hydra's heads. The effort was sending waves of pain from my cutie mark to my whole body but I persisted and finally they grew from my hoof. 4 giant claws made of steel glinted in the sunlight, just as the Hydra lunged at me ready to devour me, I swung my claw downwards and watched as it sliced a deep wound into the Hydra's heads . But it went no further as the magic that sustained the claw dissipated and caused the claw to shatter into nothingness before the deed could be done.

But this was enough to severely wound the Hydra as it recoiled from the pain. Blood spraying everywhere from its wound. It was not enough to kill it but it was more than sufficient to cause severe injury and great pain. The Hydra released a cry of pain as it quickly retreated back into the swamp, its blood turning the water green to a dark greenish red.

My whole body was racked with pain as my cutie mark sent flashes of white hot searing pain throughout my body. I began falling towards the ground, my consciousness beginning to fade. I expected to feel the hard ground and all the bones in my body breaking from the fall.

After a few seconds I did feel something but it wasn't hard it felt a lot softer and bouncier than the ground should be and there was a strange magenta colored glow that surrounded my vision. I was glad that at least I wasn't splattered against the ground as I faded away into darkness.

Comments

[Zephyrus Scary]

Hmm... The only thing I really have to say about this is that that small section that switches to Twilight's POV is completely unnecessary--everything that you described in that paragraph could have been done just as well from the protagonist's POV. You shouldn't fall into the habit of switching POV on a whim, but only when necessary, such as in the last chapter when the protagonist fell asleep and you switched to Luna's POV.

[grandevil]

2441978 alright noted thanks for the critique!