My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Heart of Friendship

by ShadowDurza

Chapter 3: Heart of a Warrior, Spirit of a Beast

“Please, Mr. Monster! You’re not going to catch me, so leave me alone before I… do something nasty to get away!”

“HHHSSSS!”

“How rude! Does your mother know you talk like that?”

“HCCK! HSSS! HSSS! HSSS!”

“Oh! Well, I guess you had to learn from somewhere!”

Fluttershy tried everything her limited mastery of high-speed flight allowed her to get away, but the beast was relentless in its pursuit. She weaved around the canopy stools, but the beast either hopped out of their way or tore them out of the ground with a bat of its claws. She flew over and past outcrops of rock, only for the beast to smash them to rubble in its headlong charge. She tried to use its momentum against it by leading it to and dashing away from the walls of the cave, but its powerful limbs were more nimble that she expected as it merely hopped against and rebounded off of them to continue its chase.

Fluttershy’s stamina was running out, and it didn’t help that she had to exert even more strength to evade the pounces of this determined monster. Opening her eyes after dodging another sweeping claw, she saw what may be her salvation: a ravine up ahead. She’d hate to endanger even a monster, but she learned the hard way more than once that she couldn’t help others if she didn’t help herself.

She flew with all her might towards the ravine and past the edge. The beast leaped towards her with its front limbs flailing. Before it fell, it snagged her tail with a claw, sending her spinning. The beast barreled towards the ground while a dazed Fluttershy repeatedly bounced off of umbrella-sized shelf fungi on her way down.

Fluttershy hit the ground on her belly. She rubbed her head with her hoof until everything stopped spinning. When she recovered, she quietly thanked Celestia that nothing was hurt. She scanned her surroundings until she found the monster lying on its back, unmoving. She slowly got as close as she dared in order to inspect it, and was relieved to find it twitching slightly as a low trilling came from its open mouth.

Fluttershy flapped her wings in preparation to ascend out of the ravine, but yelped as her back was filled with a sharp cramp. “Oh dear! I must have strained something with that last dash! I’m just not used to flying like that…”

Fluttershy tried to roll her wings in their sockets, but winced each time she twisted them just so. She swayed her head side to side, taking stock of her situation. The walls were too sheer for her to climb out, and the mushroom clusters were too far apart to parkour her way out. Silently wishing she’d been born a mountain goat, she proceeded on hoof deeper into the ravine.

As she traversed the dark and rocky terrain, she reflected upon the doubts she’d been having ever since she and her friends started this journey. When she was more young and less wise, she’d received many scoldings from animal handlers and veterinarians for her attempts at trying to make predators less predatory. Over time, she’d learned to accept that she had to let animals be themselves, but insisted on nonaggression when she was tending to animals from different parts of the food chain at the same time. But her feelings about predation were quite different when creatures that could talk were involved. It was one thing to get violent in self-defense, but these humans seemed to look for trouble for the enjoyment of conflict.

She jerked to a stop as she heard a rock being displaced. She turned her head side to side before craning her head upward, swearing she could see something glimmering in the darkness. She nervously swallowed. “Um… whoever’s up there… I mean you no harm, so please come out…”

Fluttershy stared as the source of the glimmering descended. She momentarily forgot to breathe as it came into the light of the luminous lichen. It was a spider, but none like Fluttershy had ever seen. Its body alone was the size of a full-grown hippopotamus. Each leg was as long as one of Applejack’s trees was tall when fully extended. And its pedipalps ended in claws sharp and long like a farmer’s scythes. Each segment was covered in a glistening, bone-white enamel instead of the usual hairy chitin.

Fluttershy always liked spiders, and many ponies that knew her couldn’t fathom why, but now she was feeling more empathetic towards that opinion as she stood frozen before the monster. She shook herself out of her trance. “Mr. Spider… monster… thing… I’m not any trouble at all. I’d be very… happy… if you’d let me go in peace…”

Fluttershy heard a low rattling coming from the monster’s mandibles that chilled her to the bone. So… Hungry… So… Long… Fresh… Meat… Warm… Meat…

The monster steadily advanced while Fluttershy slowly backed away. “Well, Mr. Spider Monster… I really wish I could help… But my kind doesn’t really eat meat… I really hope you find something soon, so… Goodbye!” Fluttershy galloped away as the spider scuttled in pursuit.

As she galloped, Fluttershy repeatedly hopped and flapped her wings regardless of the pain, but she couldn’t muster the strength to take flight. Every time she heard the rhythmic pounding of the monster’s legs upon the hard ground grow closer, she galloped and flapped with greater intensity, fueled by terror and adreneline.

Fluttershy’s stomach sank as she reached the end of the ravine. She turned back to the ravine proper as the spider steadily approached her. As she spotted the glistening of its dark eyes, she disregarded all inhibitions and performed her stare once again. The spider slowed to what seemed to be a stop, but one-by-one, it still put one leg in front of the other. She broke out in a cold sweat as she listened to the rattling of its mandibles. Hungry… Hungry… HUNGRY…

“Oh dear. I thought the stare would be more effective against a creature that can’t shut its eyes, but it's just that ravenous!” Beyond the terror infesting the surface of her mind, she felt pity for the poor, starving creature before her.

As her eyes strained, the monster only grew closer to the point where she could smell the venom dripping from its mandibles. However, it froze its pursuit as the both of them heard a guttural howl that shook the ravine. The howl rapidly grew closer as Fluttershy noticed a figure diving in from above. As it hung over the creature, it extended a fist right into the monster’s front eyes. It leapt off, landing between the spider and Fluttershy as the creature squealed and staggered backwards.

Fluttershy took a good look at the figure that may have saved her life. It was clearly a human, taller and broader than any other human she’d met thus far, with bright mane-like hair growing past its shoulders. He wore a denim vest and a pair of shorts. His weapons were interesting, he gripped them with horizontal handles connected to a long plate which encircled his knuckles studded with big blunt spikes that in turn connected to a crossed mesh of thin plates guarding the top of his hand. Unlike the dull weapons of the gatekeepers, they gleamed in several shades with the color of indigo-grey.

The spider reared up on its back set of legs, holding its front pair aloft, and squealed. HUNGRY…! FEED…! NOW…!

The human made a low, nasally snarl. “Oh yeah? Well I’m hungry for battle! How ‘bout I feed you my cestus, RIGHT NOW!”

Fluttershy blinked a couple of times. “Did he… Did he understand it too?”

The spider charged, when it got close, it swung its pedipalps repeatedly with the human deflecting each strike with his weapons. As the monster recovered, the human got it in the eye with an overhand punch.

The monster was sent reeling, but once it regained its footing, it gnashed its mandibles and made a headlong rush with them extended. The human pulled back his arm and his hand began to glow. The human slashed with giant ethereal bear-like claws that glowed with a dark blue light, forcing the monster back again as it left deep gashes across its vital limbs.

This time, the human charged the monster. The spider stood up and extended its legs as its abdomen brandished a sting. The human lowered his shoulder as the aura surrounding it morphed into the shape of a giant boar’s head with big, curved tusks. The sting glanced off the aura’s forehead as the tusks pierced the abdomen.

The spider shuddered as it was forced back once again. The spider bent down low as the human took a prepared stance, clashing his weapons against one another. The monster jumped in the air, its legs extended outward as it sailed towards the human. The human’s arms glowed as two oversized longhorns extended from both shoulders before he jumped to meet the creature. The spider practically howled as the ethereal horns buried themselves in its abdomen, protruding out of its back as they both fell to the ground.

The monster’s legs began to twitch as the rattling from its mandibles grew fainter. Huuuuunnngrrryyyyy…

The human dropped his stance and approached the spider. He laid a hand on its curled leg. “You fought valiantly, mighty beast. But it was either you or me. Thank you for the great battle. I swear to you that no part of your remains will go to waste.” The human hung its head in silence for a few moments.

The human lifted its head, turned to and walked towards Fluttershy. She noticed that he had a goatee covering his chin and green eyes that seemed to change shade with his expression. His vest was unbuttoned to show his hairy chest. “What have we here? Would you like to come home with me? I’m sure you’d make an excellent-”

Fluttershy interrupted him by clearing her throat, trying not to think about his unusually large canine teeth. “Um… I’d prefer not to be called a beast of burden… Wilda, I presume?”

Wilda, after making his weapons disappear in a flash of indigo-grey light, tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms. “Now that’s a shocker for a lifetime. I take it you’re from the surface?”

Fluttershy blinked a couple of times. “H-How did you know that?”

“Oh, many of us have elemental powers involving things none of us have seen before. It’s safe to assume that there’s more to this world than this cavern, however big it is. You’ve met the Gatemaster, right? His element is iron, mine is beast, and I know a couple people with plant elements. All of them are variants of the earth element.”

Wilda abruptly left the conversation and went back to the spider. He fished around in one of his pockets and brought out a bundle of cordage that sparkled in the darkness. He zoomed around the monster’s body, wrapping it up in the cordage before tying the end of it around his waist. He walked back over to Fluttershy, shocking her with his strength as he dragged it behind him. “You’ve got wings. Can you fly out of here?”

“Um… I would, believe me. But I must have pulled something flying away from another monster…”

“Well! We can’t have that now, can we? Looks like it’s up to Wilda Urson to save the day again!”

Wilda started approaching Fluttershy with his arms extended. “Oh- Um- That’s really not necessary! I… -oof! -hey! -see here! -watch those fingers!” Wilda confidently placed his fists on his hips, despite the awkward arrangement of a pony slung over and tied to his shoulders with a monstrous spider dragging along.

He thrust an arm into the air. “No man left behind!”

“I’m a pony, if that helps…”

“Nopony left behind!” Wilda ran to the wall of the ravine, leapt to cling to it, and started climbing at an impressive pace.

Fluttershy was amazed as the cord supported the weight of the massive creature. “W-Wow! Um… this is some strong stuff…!”

Wilda scoffed, giving no visible signs of struggle. “Mythil rope! Spun from the purest minerals as they were bathed in the most intense magic during the smelting process! Once it cools, there’s not much that can make it give so much as an inch! Even the strongest monsters would be hard pressed to wreck anything made of mythril! Shame that only a little can be made at a time.”

Despite his almost squirrel-like climbing, the way to the top was far. Their pace was marked by counting the number of shelf-fungi they passed. “I noticed that you managed to down another monster back there. If you would’ve led this spider thing back to it, it couldn’t have resisted the easy meal.”

The statement took Fluttershy aghast. “Oh, Celestia no! I could never do that! I can hardly imagine doing such a thing!” Fluttershy expected to be chastised over what the ferocious warrior may consider as weakness, and already had several counterarguments.

But Wilda responded with a hearty chuckle. “In that case, good on you! No hesitation! If your heart speaks to you, mercy is never a mistake!” Fluttershy wasn’t expecting that response, so she remained quiet for the rest of the climb.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the ravine. Wilda practically leaped over it, startling Fluttershy. She was about to ask to be let down, but hesitated as Wilda went rigid. He waved his head around, sniffing rapidly and deeply. He tapped a knuckle against Flutteshy’s flank, getting a small peep out of her. “You smell that?”

“S-s-smell what?”

“Trouble. You didn’t come to this cave alone, did you?”

“How did you know? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know, but it’s bound to be intense!” Wilda’s legs began to glow in another Aura that elevated him off the ground, with a shape Fluttershy recognized as that of a cheetah’s legs.

“Thank you for your um… concern, but can you let me- ooh!” Fluttershy’s request was lost in the tailwind as Wilda took off like a rocket.

***

“Mmphh!”

“Hang in there Rarity!”

“I knew it! We should have just taken off when we still could!”

“Shut up, Gus! It's too late for that kind of thinking now!” Gustoff thumped Augustus right on his injury for good measure, willing to accept the extra burden of his friend’s recoil to make his point.

Gustoff professed that he was better at attacking than defending. The fire magic barrier made the beasts hesitate before striking it, as if its touch burned them. But they kept at it until it fell. Despite the more rapid onslaught, Rarity’s crystal barrier stood up for much longer, but cracks were beginning to criss-cross over it much like the lace she enjoys to make in her free time.

The ponies and humans alike could only watch in horror as the beasts relentlessly attacked them, eyes mad with hunger. Rainbow Dash simultaneously wished that Fluttershy were there to calm them down, but at the same time wanted her to stay away out of fear that even she wouldn't be able to do anything. As she scanned the fang-faced hordes, she spotted something glowing in the distance past them.

Rainbow Dash pointed with her hoof. “Look! It’s Fluttershy!”

Gustoff’s eyes widened after he craned his neck. “And Wilda!”

Augustus, who was forced to follow his friend’s gaze, grimaced in horror. “And there’s a huge skeleton stalker right behind them! RUN AWAY- ...oh. It’s dead. Never mind.”

Gustoff winced as he rubbed his ear with his free hand. “Now you tell me…”

Fluttershy trotted forward with a haunted look, somehow able to get her message across on the last stretch of their quick journey. “Oh… no… This is terrible! Why didn’t they run away when they had the chance?”

Wilda harrumphed at the sight of it all. “That’s the thing about great heroes and good friends, they never leave when they’re supposed to.”

While Fluttershy was starting to work up the nerve to do what she had to, Wilda was already running up to the horde attacking her friends. When he got within shouting distance, he stopped, went rigid, and took a breath deeper than what should be possible. Then, he roared. The ones within the barriers could only hold their ears to avoid the splitting pain. Mushrooms from miles around shook and their spores dislodged. Every once in a while, a small stalactite dislodged and shattered against the ground.

The monsters stopped their onslaught and moved to stand directly parallel to Wilda, but they didn’t charge. They hissed and barked at him, brandishing their claws and scratching against the ground.

Wilda just stomped his feet, furrowed his brow, straightened his back, and raised his hands with his fingers curled and teeth bared. “You want some of this? DO YA?” The monsters froze, staring at him transfixed.

Rainbow Dash also stared, mouth agape. “That’s just like Fluttershy’s stare!” Wilda lowered his arms and closed his lips over his teeth, but maintained his expression. As he approached, some of the monsters stepped back.

He extended his head right into their faces. “Get out of here, you mangy vermin!”

With that, the beasts scattered, retreating into the shadows of the cave. Fluttershy galloped up to her friends as they dropped their barriers. “Are all of you okay? Any injuries?”

Rainbow Dash flapped her bad wing. “Nothing I can’t walk off.”

Pinky Pie hopped up and down. “It was crazy! Like being at the zoo! Only there was one cage and we were in it!”

Rarity slouched, trying to catch her breath. “Oh… Darling…! It’s so nice… to see you… in one piece!”

Applejack trotted up to Fluttershy. “Honestly, as bad as we’ve had it, I’m sure you’ve had it ten times worse!”

Twilight smiled. “Thankfully, that’s all behind us now. I see you found the missing human.”

Fluttershy turned back to Wilda and smiled. “Actually, it’s more like he found me. But I think I’ve found a new friend. ...Probably…”

Meanwhile, Wilda gave a big grin, puffed out his chest, and trapsed right up to the Guses. “Well, looks like you guys got yourselves into a bit of a pickle! What would you do without me?”

Augustus groaned. “Sleep soundly without nightmares?”

Gustoff rolled his eyes. “Have a lower insurance premium?”

Wilda gave another deep hearty laugh. “Fair enough! Fair enough! Come on! Let’s get back to the gates! I’ve got a few more monsters to bring and you’ve got to get some well-deserved rest and relaxation! And I have a feeling we’ve all got something to tell the Directors!”