Holding Out for a Hero
Fluttershy's cottage was a scene of chaos as the pony children ran amok. You were still trying to absorb this turn of events and stood dumbly in the center of the room. This situation needed to be calmed and quickly, lest your nerves fray any further. Shaking you head slightly, you try and get the young filly's attention.
"Excuse me young children." Nothing. And they were still getting into everything. You try and be a bit more forceful this time.
"Children, please."
You might as well not even be there with the amount of impact you've had so far. That's it...
"Girls!" You shout as loudly as possible, your voice echoing in your helmet and ringing in your ears.
The trio of troublemakers immediately freeze in place and stare wide-eyed at you. Well, at least they stopped running around for now.
"Thank you," you then clear your throat. "Now, if you would please come front and center."
The three little girls do so and sit down in front of you without protest.
"Let's start with names, shall we? I am Anonymous. Now you."
You point to the one on your left, a pony with a large pinkish bow tied up neatly in her red mane.
"Me? Mah name's Applebloom. Applejack's mah sister. Nice ta meet'cha."
Applejack was her sibling? Made sense. They shared the same odd accent and naming-theme. You moved on and pointed to the pony seated next to Applebloom; an off-white unicorn with a light purple-tinted mane with a soft streak of pink running though it.
"Well, my name is Sweetie Belle. Rarity is my older sister. Pleased to meet you."
Rarity? Not familiar with that particular talking horse. You nod in acknowledgement and come to the last filly. An orange-colored pegasus, roughly the same shade of Applejack if you had to guess. Her mane was fuchsia and wildly unkempt. And you were sensing a pattern here with the way things have proceeded thus far. Rainbow Dash must be her elder sibling.
"Name's Scootaloo, dude. Hiya."
That's it?
"Wait, Lady Rainbow Dash isn't your sister?" you ask, honestly a little surprised there was no familial relation. Scootaloo gets a wistful look on her young face for a moment before it's quickly replaced by a bright smile.
"Nah, RD isn't my sister. It would be so awesome is she was! But, nah, I'm just her...number one fan."
You're glad that didn't spiral into an episode. But what now? You didn't particularly care for children. And you weren't much for entertaining. Add those two together and, indeed, you were at a lost fro what to do. You think back to any activities from your own childhood that might please the girls. It's hard to remember that far back... And not much is coming to mind. Except, well, you do recall liking stories of all sorts. Pony children should be no different and be able to enjoy a tale, right? But what to tell them? You couldn't clearly remember any of the fables from your past. Although... You had just lived through quite the story of your very own. Yes, that should suffice. A tale of your trials and tribulations in Lordran. A grand adventure. So, you begin the tale, being careful to...omit the more colorful aspects. Something's just weren't for young ears. The young fillies seemed to be enjoying the tale, paying close attention to every word.
And the story went on. Your escape from the Undead Asylum, your quest to ring the Bells of Awakening, the meeting with the Kingseeker and his reveal that you were the Chosen Undead, your perilous trek through the dreaded Blight Town, the epic fight between you and Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough, battling your way through the damned souls of New Londo, of the loyalty and vigilance of the Great Gray Wolf Sif, and finally to the final fated confrontation between yourself and Gwyn; Lord of Cinder himself. The girls were enthralled. Your story came to an end after a few hours with the girls looking exceedingly pleased with it.
"That story was the coolest I've ever heard!" Scootaloo excitedly gushed.
Applebloom vigorously shook her head in agreement. "Ah thought Ah'd die when he was tellin' that bit about that-there Blight Town!"
"I especially liked the part with him meeting the Great Gray Wolf, Sif." Sweetie Belle added to the heated conversation.
"Well, I am glad you all enjoyed the tale." you say humbly.
"Oh we definitely, Anon!" Scootaloo beamed up at you before looking over to her friends. "Right, girls?"
The young unicorn and...whatever type Applebloom was, nodded happily.
"Hey Anon, can we go an' play outside now?" Applebloom asked sweetly.
"I...suppose that would be fine. Just stay close to the cottage."
What harm could they possibly get in? Happy with your answer the girls scurried off outside to entertain themselves, while leaving you to find another chore or activity to occupy yourself with. Though, when they shut the doors behind them you could have sworn you heard the three cry out in unison:
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CHOSEN UNDEAD! YAY!"
--Scootaloo's Perspective--
You are Scootaloo and you just heard the greatest story of your young filly life. Anonymous was the collest thing since, well, ever! Well, maybe. He was as cool as Rainbow Dash, anyway. And thanks to his awesome story you were struck with inspur...insperay...an idea! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CHOSEN UNDEAD! Whatever an undead was, you weren't really sure. But no big deal. Didn't really know what it meant to be chosen either...
"How can we all be Chosen Undead? Ain't bein' chosen means yer the only one?" Applebloom spoke up and seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Details, details!" you wave off AB's questioning. You don't worry about those little matters, RD didn't worry about that stuff did she? Nope.
"But just how are we going to get our cutie marks being Chosen Undead?" Sweetie Belle was such a worrywart.
"You heard all those things Anonymous did in his story. We can definitely do some of those!" you're very impassioned over this particular cutie mark acquiring plan.
"Ah don't think ringin' a bell we git us a thang." Applebloom was right about that. Probably. The bells Anon talked about sounded important. There weren't any kinds of bells like that in Ponyville. But you start to get an idea. An awesome idea.
"Ooh... I know! We'll slay a dragon!"
Applebloom and Sweetie's jaws hit the ground.
"Ya wanna what a what?!" Bloom was looking at you like you were crazy.
"I just heard dragon. I don't even know what slay means." Sweetie Belle was trying to figure out your choice of words with a hoof to her chin.
"It means ta...kill, I think." Applebloom explained. You were glad for that. You didn't know what slay meant either so trying to explain it to Sweetie would have been a pain.
"Ooooh," the unicorn was quiet for a minute before sudden realization hit her. "Wait, what?! Kill a dragon?!"
You have the biggest grin on your face. "How hard can it be? We'll just...find a little dragon, that's all."
This plan is perfect! Cutie marks here you come! But...where to find a dragon? There was one up in the mountains, but Rainbow Dash and the others chased him off. That only left...the Everfree Forest.
"Where would we even find'a dragon anyhow?" Applebloom wasn't going to be too happy to hear the answer you've come up with.
"The Everfree, duh."
Your friends actually stop in their tracks when they hear the name.
"The forest? But...we always get inta trouble every time we set hoof in there."
"Applebloom is right! That place is just bad news for us!"
Well, they had a point. You guess. But, come on! Cutie marks!
"So you guys don't want your marks?"
Bloom and Belle were giving the ground a hard stare. They were obviously giving this some thought.
" Ya really think we can," Applebloom gulped. "Kill a dragon? Even a small one?"
She was onboard and asked a good question too.
"You bet we can! We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We'll get our cutie marks no matter what!" Rainbow Dash would be so proud to see this determination. You just knew it.
Sweetie Belle was still pondering. She was the more thoughtful one of you and Applebloom.
"Just how do we...do this? Ki--Slay a dragon?"
Score! Sweetie was down with the plan!
"How? Well, uh... Oh! I know! We'll make weapons! Just like Anon's thingy!"
Just what was that thing called...?
"You mean a sword?" Thank Celestia fro Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah, yeah, that's it! A swordy-thingy! We'll make swords just like Anon's! Outta wood or something. You can make stuff pretty well, Applebloom." She made your clubhouse after all! She could make swordy-things, no problem!
"Uh, yeah, Ah could make sum swords, Ah guess."
This was gonna be so awesome!
"Let's get back to the clubhouse than and get ready!"
Gotta keep up the momentum.
"But what about Anon? We said we'd stay close by." Gah, Sweetie! Stop being such a worrywart!
"He'll never know we're gone. We'll go into the forest, slay a dragon, get our cutie marks, and be back way before Applejack comes to pick us up." You're proud of yourself. You're really putting some effort into this plan. Go Scootaloo!
The unicorn and earth pony finally appear to be at ease with everything. So, TO THE CLUBHOUSE! Using your scooter, you zip back to the clubhouse like greased lightning and Applebloom gets to work making some swordy-things. You couldn't wait. A few minutes pass before Bloom is done with the weapons: simple wooden swords bound together with some twine. Applebloom passes out three of them. You eagerly grab yours in you mouth and cheer excitedly.
"Dragonslayers, yay!"
"Oh, wait a minute," Sweetie Belle puts her sword down and trots over to a chest in the corner. "If we're going to be Chosen Undead dragonslayers, we should look the part."
She fishes out the classic CMC capes. That dragon will never know what hit 'em! The three of you throw on your capes and do your best to mimic Anonymous by having the swords hang at your side. With a fantastic flourish you, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle burst forth from the clubhouse and hold you swords to the sunny sky.
"For our cutie marks!" you all yell in unison.
It was a tad muffled with the swords in your mouths and all, but hey, the point got across. The point being the Cutie Mark Crusaders where going to take the Everfree Forest by storm!
And so the fearless Cutie Mark Crusaders trekked towards their destination: the gloomy and gray woods known as Everfree. And once in the thick of the forest a thought comes to your young filly mind. You had forgotten the Everfree Forest was this...scary. Like, really scary. Knee-knocking, teeth-rattling scary. Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea...No! Anonymous and Rainbow Dash wouldn't be sacred of a buncha trees and shadows! You steele yourself as best you can. Not as easy as you thought. The trees looked like they were...smiling at you. Gulp. Just think brave thoughts, Scootaloo...
"Do ya have an idea where-a dragon might be, Scootaloo?"
You honestly didn't. But no reason to let Applebloom in on that piece of info. Just think fast.
"Uh...caves! Dragon's live in caves, right? We just need to find a cave and we'll find a dragon!"
Perfectly sound logic. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom agreed with your slapped-together idea with a nod and fell in behind you as the three of you got deeper and deeper into the forest. This was going well so fat. Asides from the smiling trees and...other noises. This would be the day all of you got your cutie marks! And Rainbow Dash and Anonymous would be so proud of you! You didn't know Anonymous that well, but you just knew he'd be happy for you and your idea to be dragonslayers! After all, his story is the whole reason you're doing this!
Finding a cave in a forest was harder than it sounded You, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle had wandered the Everfree Forest for what felt like hours now. Chances are it was only lie, a half-hour. BUT STILL! You were starting to get a little disheartened. If you couldn't find a dragon this whole plan was pointless!
"Hey! I think I see something! Over there!" you immediately perked up when Sweetie yelled and pointed to something off to the right.
It looked like... It was! A cave, just past the trees and undergrowth! You did your best not to squeal in joy. But this was it! Cutie marks and...and maybe recognition from Rainbow Dash and Anon. No time to waste!
"Come on girls! Let's go get us a dragon!" you exclaim giddily and race off towards the ultimate goal of this whole trip.
Once inside the cave an overpowering smell made you scrunch up your snout. It was a mix of mold, mildew, and...smoke. You gulped hard and pressed on with friends in tow. As your group got deeper into the cavern a dim goldish-orange glow started to become more apparent. And as you rounded a slimy, moss-covered corner you saw the cause of the glow. Bits. Mountains of bits and gemstones and other fancy treasures. And sleeping soundly in that pile of riches was the biggest dragon you've ever seen.
"That ain't no lil' dragon, Scootaloo!" Applebloom whispered. More a barely contained shout than a whisper...
You can feel sweat beading up on your forehead. The...plan had taken a serious turn. A turn towards a very bad direction.
"W-Well, we-we'll just leave and try and find a-another on-one. A much smaller one..." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom wordlessly agreed with shaky, frightened nods.
Good. Now, nice and easy, just walk backwards out of the dragon's lair and--Oh no. Oh no. The smoke was irritating your nose and...
"Ah-choo!"
The tiny sneeze echoed in the treasure-filled chamber and time seemed to come to a complete stop. Applebloom was slack-jawed. Sweetie was on the verge of tears. And you? You were wishing you were somewhere else. Somewhere far, far way...
Time rushed back into reality and the slumbering dragon cracked open one of its huge eyes open. It didn't look pleased to see the three of you standing there. It looked more like it was infuriated and getting ready to--
FIRE. SO MUCH FIRE.
Squealing and crying, you and follow Cutie Mark Crusaders ran as fast as possible out of the rapidly sweltering cave and away from the incredibly angry dragon. You hoped it wouldn't follow after you. The sound and feel of rumbling coming from behind you quickly dashed that slim hope.
Nearly tumbling out of the cave mouth you and your friends make a bee-line back to Fluttershy's place. But with that dragon right behind you, you get confused... The woods don't look as familiar as they used to. You take a wrong turn and find nothing but a sheer cliff face in front of you. And breaking through the treeline behind you...
The dragon. The gigantic, yellow-scaled, smoke-heaving, eyes filled with pure hatred, dragon. It stomped out of the woods and towered over the three of you, it's shadow washing over you like some terrible black ocean. This was it. This is how you were going to die. Eaten by a dragon. And nopony...nopony would ever know... Sweetie Belle was crying behind you. Applebloom was in a ball and shaking uncontrollably beside you. No...
No, it can't end like this. You...you had to be brave. You had to be a big filly. You had to be Rainbow Dash. You had to be Anonymous. You had to be the one to get your friends out of this disaster when you're the one who got them into it in the first place.
"G-Girls... I-I'll distract the d-dragon. Y-You go get help! Go get Anonymous!" Without waiting for a response you rush towards the dragon with a feeble cry.
Sweetie Belle sniffles and looks to Applebloom, who just stares back at the unicorn. She whimpers before she scampers off with Sweetie close behind. You quickly look back at you retreating friends. Good. They were safe. That's what matters most right now. You hoped they were quick in getting some help.
That's when you notice the monstrous shadow growing underneath you.
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you sir are awesome nothing teaches a child a lesson like a near death experience
*sarcasm* Hmmmm... cliffhanger ftw?
*end sarcasm* MOAR, PLZ!!
assets.diylol.com/hfs/d40/acc/c4e/resized/winter-is-coming-meme-generator-brace-yourselves-the-shitstorm-has-begun-3de13f.jpg
Also, I can't wait for more.
Keep up the good work, sir!
1837564 She will either a) learn her lesson, b) ignore it, like during stare master c) turn into a frale shy scared shell d) simply go, INSANE
1838151i vote for all of the above in a split personality disorder type deal if not then a mix of 1,3 and 4
you sir are aweome
but fuck you and your cliffhanger 
NAIN NAIN NAIN! Damn cliffhanger >_<
Awesome story, though :D
really a beautiful and well balanced Story *bows before you*
not sure what to think with anonamous wanting to fill up his time and suddenly not have enough to keep the kids in the yard.
Awesome chapter, best one yet. Although you do need an editor, I must say. Keep up the fantastic work, good sir.
I have never played Dark Souls before and i probably won't for the sake of my sanity (My brother snapped two controllers while playing that game) Aside from that this is actually really good. Keep up the good work.
Well, late Merry Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whichever festivity you celebrate) to all my readers, commentators, and those that have favorited. Now that the holiday is over, and the chores and errands that come with it, I'll begin work on ch. 6; "Smoke, Blood, Fire, Courage".
Also, the title of chapter 5 reminds me of the song with the same name by Bonnie Tyler. Listened to it while reading and I got to say, it fit pretty well.
1873729
That's what we in the business call a "happy accident". Seriously, I didn't notice that until you brought it up. And I suppose it does fit to a degree, yes. Also, new chapter? I'm editing it RIGHT NOW. </Mr. Plinkett> Yeah, but no, I am working on ch. 6 at the moment. If it's not up late tonight, it should be up sometime tomorrow.
Oh crap!
I'm calling it now: Scootaloo will get a cutie-mark related to fighting: and Anon will teach her to fight like Sif (Sword-in-mouth Acrobatics).
Ah, the wonders of imagining Spike being with them while they concoct a devious plan to 'slay a dragon, a small one!'.
Good times.
4996435
I was expecting to see Spike tied to a stake or beaten to a darker purple via sticks by the end of the chapter...