Aperture

by Godspeed

Chapter 3

1st Person

The first thing I feel is the ground receding beneath me as three demonic heads with razor sharp teeth snap at where I had been only moments ago.

What the..!?!.. I think, confused as my body tucked into a ball and started spinning backwards in mid air.

..crap is going on here?!...

The world goes sideways and I see the hydra retracting it's heads after the initial failed attack.

....And now I'm upside down.

My legs come out of the somersault moments before landing and then fully extend just in time to land a perfectly executed backflip 10 feet away from where I was previously standing.

"Now where did THAT come from!!" I say, my eyes widening in surprise.

The hydra looked equally surprised and after a moment of indecision, starts coming towards me once again.

"Okay so first I encounter a 70 foot hydra, run ten times faster than any man ever has in history and now my body is doing flips without me even telling it too! Well this is just fricken insane!!" I shout out in confusion, feeling both frustrated and a little freaked out at the same time, completely forgetting the colossus standing in front of me.

A roar echos through the canyon as the monstrous creature lashes out again with one of it's heads.

Smack!

I quickly uppercut the giant maw with the butt of my quarterstaff while dancing away from the deadly assault.

The hydra recoils from pain and as one, the three heads rear up and let loose a bloodcurdling scream. They immediately snap back to attention and balefully stare at me with their blood red eyes.

I stare back, my quarterstaff in a defensive position and my legs spread apart in readiness.

The beast looks me over, trying to understand how it couldn't simply crush the life from this pathetically small creature it wanted for lunch.

I can see the malice in the creatures eyes as it sizes me up and I take this opportunity to start looking for a weakness in the hydra's defense. My eyes wander to it's three mouths.

Can't let even one of those teeth nab me or it's game over.

I look down at it's heavily muscled neck, naturally strengthened for quick effective kills by darting forward and snatching up prey at impossible distances.

I need to make sure to either get out of range completely or get up close and personal where it's height won't be so much an advantage as a hindrance.

I see it's humongous talons on it's short but massive scaled legs.

...maybe being right in front of the massive hydra isn't such a good idea after all. I've got to take it out from behind then. That's the plan.

But as I say this, I remember the massive spikes capable of cutting a pony in half running down extending down it's back, going all the way down to the tip of it's tail.

I'm starting to get angry now.

....gaaaaaaAAAWWD DAMN IT!! Does this thing have any weaknesses!?

The hydra cautiously starts creeping forward, it's heads bobbing from side to side looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.

I quickly snap out of my musings and glance worriedly at the multiple heads that are getting into position above me.

"THAT'S IT!" I yell in frustration. "Either I'm going to beat you up so bad, you'll go running home to your ugly oversized mother or I'll die trying! But you're NOT going to have me or this pony for dinner!!" gesturing to the cream colored mare still cowering against the cliff face with my quarterstaff.

The hydra is looking directly down at me now from three different directions while it's main body is not more than 30 feet in front of me.

"What are you waiting for!? LET'S DO THIS!!" (Leroy Jenkins reference)

Then the head on the far right strikes downward, mouth wide open, ready for some meat.

Smack!

I quickly hit the hydra's head in the temple, sending it careening into a pile of rocks next to me but as I do this, the second head strikes, trying to catch me off guard.

Not today.

Wam!

I jump up and slam the butt of the staff into it's ugly face and while the the head smashes into the ground, sending a billow of sand up into the air, the third attacks from behind.

Expecting to come away from this attack with some well deserved meat, it's mouth is wide open while attacking, but as I hit the second head, I use the impact of the attack to send me into a front flip, landing behind the creature's main body with just a few inches to spare.

But the hydra couldn't stop.

The momentum of it's attack carries it through the air where it's lunch had been...

....and into its brethren.

The heads collide and the teeth of the third clamped down on it's own brother.

RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRR!

The second one, now bleeding, viciously retaliates against the third, bites the side of its face and then all hell breaks loose.

They start attacking each other in a frenzy and bite on the neck, face and nose, ripping off huge sections of scales and the red meat underneath.

Once I saw that the hydra was distracted, I sprint over to the crying pony and try to get her up.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" I shout, trying to make my voice heard over the din of the battle going on behind me.

"no, no I can't..." she weakly replies, tucked into a sobbing little cream, red and pink colored ball on the ground.

"Ugh, come on!! Do want to get eaten or not!?"

A bit harsh but I got the point across as she cringed and then tries to stand.

"I-I c-can't!" she sobs, falling down again into a ball as her legs shake from fear.

"Fine then! If you're not come with me, then I'm going to carry you!" (haha LOTR much?)

I pick up the ball o' weeping young mare and then start sprinting past the feuding hydra heads as fast as I can without dropping her.

I quickly increase my speed fifteen-fold, passing the devastated foliage in a blur, running even faster than I did before. Last time I was coming to the aid of another, but now I'm running for my life and hers.

Come on... we gotta get out of this canyon! It's a death trap. I think as I'm sprinting.

I run like no one ever has before, defying the laws of physics and after a few minutes of running at breakneck speeds, we come out of the barren chasm into the lush green forest I first ended up in.

"*gasp*..Thank....God!" I say panting heavily slowing down.

I stop for a few minutes to let my breath return to normal again and then I listen for the sound I'm dreading most: The roaring of the hydra.

After listening for a minute I'm relieved to hear nothing but the sounds of the local fauna around us.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Phew! That was crazy! I definitely don't want to do THAT again!" I say out loud.

I hear a small whimper and then remember about the young mare who I saved and held for the past 15 minutes or so.

I look down to see that she had passed out from exhaustion and was now sleeping in my arms.

Now I have questions, SO many questions like: "How the heck am I here?!" and "I thought My Little Pony was just a TV show! How is this possible!?" but I realize that it's probably not a good idea to wake her up right now after such a terrifying experience.

She probably just wants to block out the world for a little while after what she went through. And I can't say I blame her. I think sympathetically.

"And she looks so peaceful..." I whisper and smile at her when she let out a cute little noise, obviously dreaming about something far better than reality.

I look around and then sigh, "But I have no idea where to go! I'm completely lost in this forest and the only person..er, pony who knows the way is out like a light."

"Speaking of light, it's starting to get dark now too." I say noticing the sun slowly heading down towards the mountains that ring the land.

"Soon it will be night fall and then maybe even crazier monsters will come out." I say gulping.

Dang it, I have to get her up. I think glancing down at the mare.

But as I look down on her, I begin to notice her details for the first time out of a combat situation.

She is a cream colored pony and has a short red mane with a pink streak in it. She is a small and delicate girl and only recently entered marehood. I look down at her flank and see that she has the cutie mark of a vibrant red rose with rich green leaves on it.

I know she must have been on the show I watched years ago when I was just a boy. What was her name....

"R-Rose?" I ask gently.

She wakes up and stretched in my arms a bit, her hooves extending above her head. Then she slowly opens up her eyes and then blinks a few times to get adjusted to her surroundings. Then she glances around in confusion and then her deep green eyes lock onto me.

Then she screams.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"AH!! Who are you!? WHAT are you!?! What's going on?! Let go of me!"

She struggles violently, kicking and punching, and tries to get out of my arms.

I attempt to hold her as she freaks out.

"Hey it's okay!! My name is Godspeed! I'm a human!... Dang it, you don't know what that is. But I saved you from the hydra! Don't worry, you're safe with me!" I say frantically, trying to contain this ball of flying hooves.

She suddenly calms down as the days events dawn on her and stops pounding me on my chest.

Her eyes widen and the tears start to flow.

She grabs my shirt and starts sobbing into it, "I'm so sorry! I was so scared that I didn't even know what to do! That creature chased me for miles and you saved me! You saved me with out even thinking and I never even thanked you! Thank you SO much! I won't ever forget it!"

Rose wept into my chest for another 15 minutes until the tears finally started slowing down and all the while I hold her tight in my arms, comforting her by stroking her mane softly.

She was now crying fitfully but the fits stopped in a short time.

Rose let go of my shirt and laid back in my arms sighing, clearly tired from all of that crying and from all of the excitement of the day,

"Thank you.... what was your name again?"

"Godspeed" I say after a moment of indecision.

If I want to start a life here, I'd like it to be based off of friendship. Godspeed was a name given to me by my few friends in the military so I think it's fitting that I be called that.

Rose looks up, her eyes the color of emerald forest pools and her face still wet from all of the tears, kisses me on the cheek and then blushes a deep red. "Thank you again Godspeed. I just can't thank you enough. My name is Rose."

I'm transfixed on her deep green eyes. I can't pull away.

Those eyes... Wait? Oh thank goodness she didn't notice that I already knew her name! I guess it's her cutie mark anyways...

She continues, saying, "You saved my life back there and what you did... It was amazing! How did you move so fast?... What was it that you said you are again?"

I blush a little bit but can't bring myself to take my eyes away from hers. "I'm a human. Heh, I'm not exactly from around here."

Her eyes widen as she surveys my 5' 7' height from my arms. "Are ALL humans as tall and as fast as you?"

I look away abashedly and say, "No, I'm actually just average for my kind. And about what happened back there, I honestly don't what came over me. Where I come from, people aren't even one-twentieth as fast as I was. I was surprised as you were."

Hmmm, maybe she knows what's going on. I mean, this is her home and all.

"Do you know how this could happen to me?"

She looked as confused as I do and stares thoughtfully off into space but after a few seconds just shakes her head and says, "I don't know either...."

I look disappointedly off into the distance.

Man, I was hoping for some explanation for all of this...

"....but I know someone who might!"

I perk up at this and look down at her again as she continues. "Her name is Twilight Sparkle."

Oh, I know that name... I think. Best keep all that I know on the down low though. Just pretend like you don't know anything.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I say beaming down at her.

Rose blushes a little bit at this but then says laughing, "You tell me! You're supposed to be the gallant knight who saved the mare and whisks her off home to live happily ever after!"

I turn beet red at this and she laughs at my reaction.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That may have been a bit too much. Rose thinks. But he is such a charmer! What did he say he was? A human? What is that?

I recover quickly and say, "But I don't know the way! I only just got here an hour ago!"

Okay, so he's not from around here... well, obviously, I doubt anyone has heard of a human in Equestria before! I'll have to ask Twilight about his kind. She must know something about them with all of those books in the library...

Rose looks up at me questioningly. "Really? How?"

I was about to answer her but then I notice that the sun was now reaching reaching the horizon. "Uh, that might need to be saved for another time. It's suns already starting to set and we aren't anywhere near a town yet."

*sigh* If I couldn't see him, I could swear that he's a pony!

"There might be predators out there right now waiting to eat us!" My eyes go big as I jokingly look around as if they could burst out of the woods at any moment.

And he seems to have a great sense of humor!

Rose smiles and hits me playfully with her hoof, "Fine then, but I'll be expecting a full report by the morning! You sir, have a lot of explaining to do!"

I laugh at this and smile back saying, "You can count on it. Now: Direction?"

She looks around and then says, "Due North!" pointing to her left.

I position myself as she instructs and start the long trek in that direction, "Okay then, LET'S DO THIS!!" (Leroy Jenkins FTW!)

I really like this col...er, human? What is the word for a male human? And he is so much fun to foal around with!

She laughs at this and says, "You're funny, Godspeed."

I just smile down at her and say, "Now you just sit tight now and I'll have you home in no time."

*sigh* Who cares, he saved my life and is taking care of me now.

Rose looks up into my hazel eyes.

And for some reason, I've never felt so safe...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She nods her head and then sighs contentedly, closing her eyes and burying her muzzle in my shirt.

I grin stupidly, wondering how my life could change so drastically in one day.

For better or for worse, this is my life now..

I look down at the sleeping mare and then smile contentedly.

...and it seems to be better, that is for sure.

Comments

[Blossom]

Nice action pack, and Heart warming chapter all the way though.. Nicely paced and it doesnt look rushed.. I give this 4 3/4 / 5
The 1/4 bit is that the chapters are coming a twincy bit slow

[Godspeed]

Haha I know, sorry. It's hard to have to time to write while in college but I'm working on it!