> Not What I had Expected
>  by Frosthowl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 Day 325
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The chilling wind was finally gone after another night of trying to stave off the cold of winter that was making its way through the holes in the house.At least the snow hadn't settled in yet, which was the only good news that I could wake up to. As I put my feet on the ground, I immediately started to shudder from the ice cold floor.

"Fuck my life..." I said as I put my feet down on the ground despite my body feeling like it was tearing itself up from the inside from trying to resist the cold floor. I made my way towards the mirror and looked at my reflection.

A scar on my nose could be seen, a parting gift from a nice timber wolf that wanted to fight over my dinner. A thick layer of a beard covered up most of my face with a warm coating. Though I did not like how it looked, I never did..."Fucking Arab!" I said to myself, as I couldn't stand myself having a Jihad beard that looked completely ridiculous. I stared into my own hazel eyes and pondered on how everything went so wrong...I could still remember the innocent eyes of a child, still beaming with hope, but instead all that was staring back was the scarred stare of a boy who had barely reached adulthood.

I put my hands together and cupped them as I pulled up dirty and used water to wash offmy face and to wake me up a bit. There was no coffee, no eggs and bacon, no sandwich, but only clean rain water that had been gathered over the night on the table. Luckily it was cool and very refreshing. Now that “breakfast” was over, I immediately put on my worn out shoes and a blanket I found in the trash to make a poncho. 

Before I opened the door, I gave a long sigh and pulled off the sorry excuse of a door, leaning it on the wall, leaving an open square where it used to be. Unfortunately, I never learned how to install a door properly; it usually broke off since I didn't have any metal to attach it to. After a few months I gave up and just let it lean against the wall, letting a heavy amount of chilling wind blow through my house. Next to my “door” was the dull axe which I had...borrowed from a lumber mill outside of Canterlot walls.

"Let’s get it over with..." I spoke as I started making my way toward the wild part of the Everfree forest. I didn’t care if a pack of wolves wanted to make me company behind my back while I chopped down wood to both use, sell, and burn. In fact I wouldn't mind if they would offer themselves as easy wood for my fireplace. But nonetheless, I carried on.

After about an hour of chopping with a useless axe that would have been put to better use as a makeshift hammer, I started dragging the heavy trees back to my horrible excuse for a house. Sweat began to pour down my entire body. I had been doing this everyday, not only for an intention of profit, but as a way to keep my body from freezing up from lack of circulation. Eventually I arrived home after I had cut down three medium sized trees that. My body was aching and my stomach was growling like a ferocious tiger’s. I dropped the axe and let go of the tree. I took a quick pause and sat down on one of the cut down trees to regain some of my strength.

"Hard work never goes unnoticed." I said, trying to cheer myself up.


***


The halls echoed in the dark dungeon I couldn't see my hands in front of my eyes and I was starving. I hadn't eaten for weeks and I was slowly losing consciousness. Every time I woke up, I saw the bowl of water and hay in front of me. I tried to call out to the guards to change the diet, but I could barely breathe, let alone cry out for food.

"Is this how I die...?" I whispered to myself as I began to slip out of consciousness. I was not ready to accept death, and in fact, I could feel tears flowing down from my left eye to my right and dropping to the ground. However, before everything went dark, a powerful light broke its way through the dungeon, blinding me. I tried to look away, but was unable to move my head fast enough, and suffered from the agonizing sting of the light. However, thankfully, a big shadow was blocking off a good portion of the light that was burning my eyes.

"Guards!" A feminine voice called. The sound of hooves were heard rushing towards my cell and I could barely make out what was being pointed at me.

"He-lp...me..." I cried out as loud as I could, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Guard! Why has the creature not been eating?" The voice demanded.

"Your majesty, I suspect that it might be sick." The male voice answered.

I saw how the shadow was staring at me. I was hoping that it would give me something edible. When I tried to eat the hay last time I threw up a few minutes later and had serious stomach pains. Like I was being disemboweled. "I'm going in!" The feminine voice spoke as a blue glow opened up the gate and made its way towards me. I couldn't raise my hand to keep the feminine shadow away from me. "St-ay...away..." Once again, it couldn't hear me.


***

I woke up in shock and hastily grabbed the axe that was placed next to me. I quickly scanned my surroundings. With cold sweat upon my chest and a heart rate that accelerated from 70 beats to 180 in a flash, I went from asleep to fully alert, in case someone or something was watching me.

"Fucking hell..." I said to myself as I started to calm down. "Can't even get five minutes of shuteye before being tossed into the meat grinder!" I complained out loud. "Well...Better get started before Korvax arrives" And with that, I started to strip the trees of their branches. Thankfully, this was the easy part, before I had to chop it into several stumps and continue cutting it down to be made as acceptable firewood.

After half an hour of chopping and cutting, I was finally finished. I went behind the cottage to grab the horribly constructed wagon and started loading the wood. I let loose a deep sigh before putting the rope on my shoulder and began to drag the wagon with my entire body, struggling to keep balance and not slip on the ground. Another 30 minutes went by and I found myself going through the southern exit of the forest, far away from pony civilization and closer to the border of minotaur planes. Along the road, I could see a caravan of minotaurs and goats tented up in a circle. As I approached their encampment, I could see Korvax coming to greet me midway.

"Ahh, Aran, good to see you again friend!" He said with his malicious smile, as always.

"Spare me the bullshit and just give me what I want, there’s enough firewood for your caravan to use for two weeks and still be able to sell some of it to the gryphons."

Korvax gave a low chuckle. "What? Not in the mood to make fun of my broken horn today?" He said, trying to remind me that I still owed him for the drinks and for smashing his head in the tree the last time he tried to screw me over. 

"I've gotten at best twenty minutes of sleep this past week and I haven't eaten in four days, just spare me the chit-chat and give me my fucking dinner already…. Before I break the other horn as well."

Korvax snorted at my reply. "Very well." He snapped his fingers and one of the other minotaurs came with a bag that was leaking blood. He presented the bag to me and I quickly snatched it out of his hands. I opened the bag to check if the venison was still fresh and not a week old.

"I thought we agreed on two! This is one piece!" I said closing the bag and facing Korvax again.

"We did, but you forget you still owe me for ruining my trailer. It cost quite a lot to repair it and I have to be able to make a profit from these. You know how the system works. Trade, sell, buy! I take these to the gryphons, they either pay or trade. I had to buy this from a trader just at the border of Gryffindar, and since I had to repair my trailer, you lose out on the second piece of venison."

I clenched my hand into a rock-crushing fist. "You son of a bitch! You were the one that threw the first punch!" I stepped closer to Korvax as he stood defiantly against me with confidence brimming in his eyes.

"What are you gonna do? Kill me? You know that if I'm not around, nobody or rather, nopony will dare to trade with you, and then you'll eventually starve." He smirked, knowing that I wouldn't dare harm him.

"FINE! But if you try to hassle me again, I will break off the other horn and shove it up your ass!" I said, and turned my back on the backstabbing merchant. I rolled the bag onto the cleared wagon and quickly started making my way back into the forest. I didn't want to spend another second with the one horned asshole. Besides, I had other business to attend to.

I returned home after another half hour of dragging the wagon. I quickly put the bag in the kitchen, thanks to the cold winter air, the meat would stay relatively fresh. I had the rest of the day off, but I didn't have much to do anyways, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to try my luck and go fishing, as well as setting up some more rabbit traps. Everyday was hunting day due to edible food being rare, and with the Pony guards in Ponyville keeping me from buying or trading digestible food, I didn’t have much of a choice unless I was willing to murder them and catch the eye of the law. I am already lucky enough to be left alone. I made my way to my drawer, where I had put my well made recurve bow and a dagger I...liberated from a guard when I escaped from Canterlot.

I left my cabin and started making my way to the more populated part of the forest. After living there for almost a year now, the wildlife, including the prey, had abandoned my part of the forest. On one hand, I laughed at the fact that nature fears me, as it should, though it’s a pain in the ass to go further and further to find any game close to my house. Also, I had put up several warning signs, painted with blood, to keep the local pony population away from my cabin. If any of them come to my property, they'd been warned...and thus become a month's worth of food that I wouldn't pass up on. However, no such luck so far... Eventually I arrived at the river docks where I had a prepared net already waiting for me. Ironically, the same net that was used in a vain attempt to catch me, is now my best buddy in the world. I usually would get a fish or two every time I would pull it out. But when I pulled it up, it was mostly trash... No bonus meal today. I sighed, I was getting frustrated with how everything was working against me today. Working hard, hoping I would get two pieces of venison and maybe a chicken if I played my cards well, but Korvax really had me on thin ice. Personally I wouldn't mind killing the bastard and eating him; after all, he was still half cow. But just like he said, I would eventually starve without him during the winter when most of the animals were in hibernation.

I threw the net back into the water and made my way to the lively part of the forest, hoping to catch a rabbit or a beaver.


***

"Scootaloo, yer sure it’s a good idea to go and find the monster? Didn’t yah see the warning signs?" Applebloom asked her friend as they walked into the abandoned part of the forest.

"Come on you guys! Don't tell me that you’re a buncha scaredy-ponies? How else are we gonna get our Cutie marks in capturing big scary monsters?"

"I'm with Applebloom...I don't think this is such a good idea..." Sweetie Belle said as she kept glancing behind her shoulder.

Unbeknownst to the fillies, their scent had started to draw the outside timber wolves into Human territory. Ignoring his markings, they followed their path to easy prey.


> Chapter 2 Eat, Sleep, Kill, Repeat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Furious, I threw my knife towards the nearest tree. The point of the knife hit the bark and dug deep into it. "MOTHER FUCKER!" I roared out due to losing my patience. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I went over to the tree and quickly pulled out the knife. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down from letting a 150-160 pound deer get away. The arrow I had shot at it, had missed its mark, and hit its shoulder instead of its lungs. There was no point in trying to recover the arrow or find the buck. It had most likely run to either Ponyville by now or as far away from this part of the forest as possible. "Today's not my day..." I sheathed the knife and started making my way back to the cabin. I had wasted a lot of energy today with barely anything to show for it. If I don't stock up on food...I’ll be forced to undertake more drastic measures in order to survive winter. 





The small fillies slowly made their way deeper into the forest with their butterfly nets dangling from their necks. Thinking it would be enough to subdue the towering human.

"I heard rumors that it hunts and eats ponies during Nightmare Night! In fact it was responsible for the annual candy offering being cancelled." Scootaloo said as she lead the way for her friends. "Even the princesses are afraid of it. Imagine how much bits we’ll get when we capture the monster."

"No way! T'ain't true!" Applebloom protested. "The princesses are supposed to be the most magical ponies in all of Equestria. Of course they ain't afraid of some furless monster!"

"Rarity said that the monster knows Equestrian and has an awful sense of fashion."

Scootaloo stopped in her tracks and faced her friends. "Once we capture the monster. We'll get our cutie marks and THEN!" Scootaloo jumped on a root, making her stand above her friends in a proud pose towards the sky. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders will be famous all over Equestria. We'll be able to expand and recruit more ponies to our club!" Scootaloo jumped down and kept leading the ponies to their destination.

"Scootaloo do you even know where we are going?" Sweetie belle asked nervously as she kept her eye out for the Monster or any other animal.

Scootaloo bristled. "Of course I-." She was cut off as she collided with a wall made out of cut down trees. Her friends stared in amazement while Scootaloo recovered from her collision. "See, I told you I could find it." The three fillies slowly made their way inside the mysterious house with their nets ready. They pushed aside the rickety old door that was propped up against the entryway and knocked it down. However to their disappointment there was no Monster in the house. "Look around, It might be hiding somewhere!" They split up and started searching every corner of the house. But they still couldn't find hide nor hair of the supposed human. "Darnit, where could it have gone?" The fillies regrouped at the table and saw a strange brown bag that had a red stain coming out of it. "What do you suppose it is?"

Applebloom jumped up from the chair to the table and was about to open the bag. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" An angry male voice sounded behind the trio. The three fillies quickly turned their attention to the giant bipedal human standing behind them. It was wearing a black and muddy torn up shirt as well as black pants that were not torn up at all. But it was still stained by several different colors. 

The fillies stared in complete shock. None of them dared to move...until 






I had no idea what the fuck these pony kids were doing in my fucking house. But the real question is what I would do with them. "What are you doing in my house?!" I bellowed. But my question was interrupted as I was knocked off my feet. I flipped over and saw a Timber wolf. Larger than any I had ever encountered. The wolf lunged at me with its jaw of jagged splinters. I acted quickly and protected myself with my arm, as an alternative to having my throat ripped out. Its teeth sunk into the soft unprotected flesh of my arm and started gnawing on it like a rabid coyote. I let out a scream of agony as I desperately tried to get it to stop. 

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" I grabbed hold of the wolf and rolled it over to the ground, giving me the upper hand. I punched as hard as I could, dismembering its lower jaw, leaving it defenceless. While it was reeling in pain, I stood up as fast as I could, and curb-stomped its head, killing it instantly. The adrenaline was surging through my body and I quickly turned upon the ponies who had invaded my home and let loose a growl. The ponies gave a deafening shriek and ran away. Except the yellow one who was still in shock. I quickly looked over my wound and saw I had a pretty deep cut that would need stitching. I collected myself seconds later, and was just about to start screaming at the filly for trespassing, as well as leading the timber wolf to my property. But a loud howl soon caught my attention. I turned around and looked outside to see an entire pack of timber wolves, as big as the one I had just killed. "Oh crap!" I picked up the door from the ground and slammed it up against the wall. But I wasn’t fast enough. One of the wolves got their face through the door. It was desperately trying to grab hold of my arm and hand while I was pushing back against the, and blocking of the entrance. I quickly unsheathed my knife and slashed it in its eye, causing it to yipe and jerk away from the opening. I finally managed to seal off the opening making the pack unable to enter. 

"Hey kid! push that table over here!" I shouted at the pony, breaking it out of its initial shock. The pony did not respond but did do what I asked of it. She struggled to push the medium sized table over to me. When she managed to push it a bit closer to me I was able to drag it over the rest of the way and and use it as a blockade. With the danger finally over. I slid down the wall with the tension of the situation dying down. I looked down on my open wound and saw how it was continuing to bleed a large amount of my life’s fluids.







While the human was bleeding out in his cabin, the joyful and happy ponies of ponyville were living their carefree lives, as far away from struggle as possible. In the heart of Ponyville, a group of mares were having a blast, talking and laughing about their daily events. Some of them were talking about what they were looking forward to this Winter. Others mentioned how they were going to miss the warm embrace of Princess Celestia’s sun upon their fur.

"Its great to be back in Ponyville. I'm really going to miss Shining Armor though!" Twilight said as she took another sip of her chocolate milk.

"I'm going to miss my sparkling mane!" Rarity cried out. Wishing she could enjoy another moment as a crystal pony.

"Ah'm proud that we were able to help beat back Sombra. Ah'm also happy that Spike got his moment of fame." Applejack said and turned her gaze towards Spike who was swimming in a sea of gems.

He emerged from below and began slapping the side of his head, causing some gems to pour out the other side. "Say again?" He said comedically. All of the ponies burst into a fit of laughter. But their laughter was cut short as the door swung open, and with it, came two galloping fillies who were shrieking from the top of their tiny lungs.

Twilight stood up from her cushion and quickly used her magic to levitate the fillies into the air causing the pair to stop screaming and running in circles. "Girls! What's wrong!?" She asked them as her magical aura was dissipated around the two.

"Rarity!" - "Applejack!" They both cried out. 

"One at a time girls!" Twilight said, calming them down a bit. 

It took a second before they continued. "Applebloom’s in trouble!" They said out loud in unison.

"What!?" Applejack said afraid for whatever had befallen her sister. "What happened?!"

Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo to answer, after all it was her idea to put themselves in danger in the first place. "We were gonna try to get our Cutie marks in monster hunting. We...we went and tried to catch the big scary human living in the forest..." Scootaloo was at the point of crying. She was so ashamed of how she had gotten one of her best friends in real danger. "We...we found its house and we were just about to investigate a strange looking bag when he came back and started screaming at us...right before he got attacked by a timber wolf!"

Applejack was at the point of panicking. "TWILIGHT! You have to send a message to the princess and tell her to send help, my sister’s in danger!" 

Twilight nodded as she made an emergency parchment for human related trouble appear out of thin air along with a quill. She scribbled a few notes on it, detailing the situation. "Spike!" she cried, as she finished her frantic scribbling. The young drake quickly grabbed the parchment and took a deep breath before engulfing the whole thing in an emerald flame.







It had been almost an hour, and you could still hear the wolves outside the house, they were persistent, they could smell my blood. They knew that I was injured and weakened. My axe was outside and with a large piece of venison in the house and two easy kills along with it, they wouldn't let an opportunity like this slip by.  The pack would wait until I was too weak to hold the door or until we tried to make a run for it.

While all of the wolves were circling the house, I was enjoying the euphoric sensation of bandaging my wound that continued to bleed quite profusely. I poured some alcohol on the gash to keep it from getting infected. I took a couple of sips and took a stole a few glances glances towards the frightened filly. "You gonna tell me what you guys were doing in my house already or should I haul your ass outside to the wolves?" I asked, making sure the filly understood that I was pissed. I had no compassion for ponies, especially ponyville ponies who act like the whole world is a fucking water theme park.

She started to sniffle before responding. "We...we was trying to get our cutie marks in...monster catching..." She spoke, afraid of how I would react.

I looked at the dropped butterfly nets on the ground. I inspected it closer as I picked it up from the ground. "The princesses must be really desperate if they sent you guys to capture me. Especially with broke ass nets." I snapped the net in half with the hand I was holding it with. I took a sip from the drink that I had saved for Christmas as a celebration drink. "You want some kid? It'll grow some hair on your balls." I said offering an obvious minor a sip of the bottle containing 45% alcohol. She quickly shook her head as she was still afraid of me. "Suit yourself, but its gonna be a long day." I leaned my head against the door whilst looking towards the roof. "God, I would kill for a smoke right now..." That statement did not help the situation between me and the filly, but I couldn't care less, after all, if the wolves don't go any time soon, I'll gladly hand over the brat to the wolves with the venison strapped to her back. "What made you guys think it would be such a good idea to come after me? Didn’t you see the warning signs painted with animal blood? You know you done fucked up right? You trespassed into my part of the forest, which means anything is free game…. I could kill you, legally."

The yellow filly paled at this and started to shiver. "Please mister...don't hurt me." She said with tears starting to form around her eyes.

"You've left me no choice. If I have to throw your piss colored ass out to the wolves to make a break for it, I will. You've cost me an arm and a leg today, you should be glad that I don't kill you myself, at least with the wolves, you have a chance to outrun them if you're smart." Applebloom didn't say anything, instead she backed off to the other side of the house, keeping her distance from me as far as possible. I stood up from the floor, making my way towards the bed and went down on my stomach to grab something from under it. When I felt a light jabbing against one of my fingers , I knew I found what I was looking for. I retracted my arm and with it came a needle attached to a spool of thread. I saw how Applebloom leaned closer to see what I had taken from under the bed. 

"What’s that for?" She asked curiously.

"This is used to cause an unmeasurable amount of self inflicted pain, do you wanna try first?" I asked rhetorically as I presented the needle that was covered with smattering of old dried blood on it. She quickly went pale again and backed off to her corner of the house. "Suit yourself." I brought the needle and spool to the table and sat on the chair. I picked up the alcoholic drink from the floor and placed it on the table as well. I took a sip of the drink and put the needle in between my lips, sterilizing it with the alcohol in my mouth. I took out several inches of linen thread from the spool and started trying to thread the needle. I quickly succeeded and braced myself for what was coming next. "Hey kid, if you don't want to see some trippy shit, I suggest you look the other way." I turned my back on the filly and started pouring alcohol on the wound. "ARGH!!! MOTHER FUCKER!!!" The excruciating pain of the strong alcohol felt like it was tearing up the wound even more. I smashed my fist on the table to try and distract myself from the searing agony emanating from my wound. I was bottling up all my screams of pain as much as I could. My breathing rate quickened as blood and adrenaline started rushing through my veins. After a few seconds of letting the agonizing pain settle in, I placed the needle at the start of the wound. With a final deep breath, I dug the needle deep into my skin and pushed it to the other side of the wound. 

"ARGH!! FUUUUCK!!"






In Canterlot. the day was reaching its point of twilight. Celestia was lowering her sun with her sister by her side, who was raising the moon.

"There!" Luna said as she wiped sweat off of her forehead. Raising or lowering a Celestial body was not easy. "Now that we are done here, I will see to hunting down the monstrous human!"

"Patience Luna, we do not know if it has done any harm yet. It’s not like him to harm any of our ponies unless they robbed him somehow. I doubt that a filly would be capable of pushing him to that point."

Luna snorted. "I still say we should chain it to the dungeons like before. Just to be safe, we can't have a wild beast running amok in the forest, harming our precious ponies."

Celestia gave her sister a strict stare. "We did that already, and he broke free, killed several guards and raided our kitchen and almost killed you! Don't forget that he spared your life and wishes to be left alone in his forest. If we hadn't been so brash, we could have spared those lives that were lost. Besides, I doubt that our guards could subdue him."

"That's because our guards are undisciplined. Before my banishment, a hoof-full of my lunar guards could slay a Chimera or Manticore. Now, when the local wildlife stirs trouble, we need an entire battalion! I am telling you sister, this does not fare well in the safety of our nation."

A male stallion behind the princesses cleared his throat, to alert them that he was in their presence. "Your majesties?" He uttered while he saluted them.

Celestia hid her frown from the former Captain of the royal guard. "Aah Shining armour, I'm glad that you could make it." She spoke with her usual graceful voice.

"Thank you Ma'am, I came as fast as I could when I received your message!" He put his hoof down as he replied. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I recieved a message from your sister, Twilight, who is in desperate need of our help. I am assigning you to gather your best guards and make way towards Ponyville, I will be joining you as well. It seems that our human friend is suspected of foalnapping one of Ponyville's residents."
> Chapter 3 Wolfbait
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found myself in a white room with medical equipment everywhere. I could see a heart monitor set up, along with some sort of gas container set nearby, most likely containing anesthesia. "Hello?" I called out, confused. The heart rate monitor started to increase in its pace as I began to panic. “Can anyone hear me!?” I cried out. I started scanning the room again and at that point I realized why I couldn’t move. The bright light from the surgery table had initially blinded me, but now I saw that I was strapped to the table by some sort of glowing restraints.

“What is…” My eyes couldn’t comprehend how I was being held down by nothing. But hands down the most terrifying—the most horrific—thing I’ve ever seen or experienced in my life… As I leaned my head a bit upwards I saw...red...Everywhere! My entire body started to give off this excruciating shock which was my entire core being reacting to my opened stomach. You could see all of it. My ribs…my intestines…and my heart. “No...No...This can’t be real...What the...” Then everything started to fade to black. I could hear the heart monitor speeding up faster and faster. Everything quickly started to fade to black as my mind just couldn’t comprehend the horror that I had witnessed.


***


Applebloom had been in the company of the human for hours now. She watched as he passed out after stitching himself together. She slowly approached the passed out human and saw how...innocent he looked. The wound had been taken care of, the bleeding had stopped, and she felt an odd sensation towards the exhausted human. She felt sympathy for the poor creature. She looked around in the house and saw it was very depressing. The walls weren’t colored and the floor was poorly constructed. A sudden growling noise started to emanate from the small filly’s stomach. 

“I don’t suppose he has any hay?” She said to herself as she started to look around a bit more. The only thing in the house that she had not inspected was what was inside the red bag. However, it was giving off a nauseating stench, so she decided to keep her distance from it. She gave up on the search for food and went back to sitting next to the human. She turned around and saw how he was sleeping like a baby. He seemed so different from when he was awake and fighting the wolf that attacked him. She leaned closer and inspected his open mouth, she saw his sharp canines poking out from his gums. Suddenly, with a low pitched moan, he started to move again. Applebloom saw how his dilated pupils reacted to her. 

“Whatever you do...don’t. Kiss. Me.” Applebloom jumped back at this, afraid of what he was going to do to her now that he had woken up. She was still worried that he might use her as living bait. As he stood up again he started to rub his eyes and stretch out his arms and let out a loud cry of pain as he cracked his back. “I haven’t slept that well in ages…” He stopped as he saw that he was still trapped in the house. “Hey kid, do you have a name?”

Applebloom hesitated before answering. “Apple—Applebloom, Mister.” She replied, avoiding eye contact.

“Well Applebloom, it’s time for you to leave. Now!” He said bluntly with a commanding tone. Applebloom was shocked at how quickly he had decided to throw her to the pack of carnivorous canines. 

“But...but the...the wolves!” She protested, fearing the pack of timber wolves that were waiting outside.

“Too bad!” He shouted. “Nothing’s changed, you’re still responsible for bringing an entire pack of these things to my doorstep. They’ve learned to keep their distance from me, but you and your unreliable friends, who left you here to rot, led them here with the idea that they would get an easy meal. The only way for me to survive now is to throw you under the bus so I can grab the axe.

Applebloom stopped as he insulted her friends. “Hey! My friends didn’t abandon me!” She protested against the towering human.

“It’s been several hours now and nobody has tried to rescue you! Shit, when I landed in a hot spot, my friends were always ready to put down their lives for me, and vice versa. Those friends of yours turned their backs on you and ran for the hills the as soon as they could.” Applebloom was about to respond to the allegations, but she didn’t, as he was telling the truth. “Now get the fuck out of my house!” I pulled the table off the door and kept pressure on it in case the pacing wolves outside tried to kick it down again. 

She made eye contact with her oppressor. “And...and if I dont?”

“I’ll kill you myself!” He said with a colder tone to it, like he really wouldn’t hesitate to.

Applebloom gulped as she took the first few steps to the door. It was either the wolves or the human, and like he said: she had a chance to escape from the wolves, but locked in a house with a 6 foot tall human that was good at his trade, there was no chance to come out of that option alive. Her entire body started to shiver as she stared at the door. She was certain that she would never see her sister or brother again. Tears started to form in her eyes. Maybe the last time ever.

“When I say Go, you run as fast as you can. Remember, you are small and agile, they are fast and vicious...good luck.” Applebloom nodded and gazed back at the door. “3…”

Her heart started to race as she felt an unbearable anxietytwist her tiny little stomach into knots.

“2…”

Sweat started sprinkle from atop her head as she felt a horrible fear tingling in her spine.

“1…”

´´Applejack...´´  She thought, thinking of her big sister one last time, so as to steel her own nerves.



***


“Twilight! When’s the Princess gonna get here?!” Applejack asked for perhaps the umpteenth time. Several hours had already passed by of the mare trotting back and forth. It had taken all of her friends to restrain her from running into the Everfree forest, after Twilight had sent the scroll.

“Calm down Applejack! The Princess promised that she would be here soon.” She replied trying to ease her friend’s anxiety.

“CALM DOWN!? My sister is with that creepy monster lookin’ thing in the forest! How can ya tell me ta calm down!? Its not like you have a little brother or sister who is in danger!” Applejack barked back.

Twilight just stared in silence at her friend, shocked that she would lash out at her like that. “She’s here!” Rainbow cut in and pointed towards the ever-present backdrop of Canterlot castle. Off in the distance approached the growing silhouette of a large flying chariot, followed by another. They quickly descended from the sky to the ground with several golden armored guards along with the Princess and Captain as their passengers.

“Twily!” Shining Armor called out, overjoyed to see his sister again. Twilight quickly ran over to her brother and gave him a big hug. “I’m so glad to see that you’re alright. I came as fast as I could once I heard.”

Twilight’s eyes widened once she realized that she had completely ignored her mentor. She quickly broke the hug and went to approach her with a proper kneeling. Her friends also followed her lead. 

Celestia smiled, happy to see her student again. “Forgive me for not coming sooner; I had to call Shining Armor back to Canterlot before I was confident enough to...approach the human. But we must go now. Time is of the essence and we need to find Applebloom.” There were no arguments from any of the Elements. They all gave an understanding nod. “Captain, I want you to lead your battalion into the Everfree forest.”

“Yes, your majesty!” He saluted, he put on his helmet and quickly went over to the pegasai that were free from their respective chariots. “Move out!” The guards formed up into a 5x5 formation, with their Captain leading them at the front. The Elements however, stayed closer to their beloved Princess. 

“Now Twilight, could you tell me what the fillies witnessed?” Celestia asked politely as always.

Twilight nodded. “The fillies entered the forest apparently thinking it would be a clever idea to get their cutie marks in...Monster catching. They went in and found the cabin abandoned until he came back and was attacked by a wolf.”

Celestia’s Facial expression changed from calm and pleasant to worried. “I see...and you suspect that he might be holding Applebloom captive?”

Twilight nodded again. “Princess, this ...thing has taken several lives without remorse, it’s responsible for making the forest’s wildlife move away from their natural habitats… out of fear. I have no doubt that the creature is probably planning to eat Applebloom.”

“What about the wolf?” Celestia added.

“Huh?” Twilight stammered

“You said he was attacked by a wolf?” 

“Yes, I did.” She replied.

“Don’t you think something may have happened that could change your hypothesis…that this whole thing could be a big misunderstanding?”

Twilight shook her head. “The timberwolves’ population has increased due to him killing all the manticores and using a cockatrice to destroy the sleeping dragon in the forest. He is a ruthless being unlike anything Equestria has witnessed, and aren’t you forgetting he did the unthinkable...He killed 5 guards when he escaped from the Canterlot dungeon...what if that was my brother? Forgive me your highness but the chances of that thing being beaten by a mere timber wolf is quite improbable.”

“Improbable, but not impossible…” Celestia muttered to herself. 



***


“Go!” The door swung open and Applebloom sprinted out as fast as she could. She turned right and decided to use the open space that was available to her. The wolves were already on her tail, snapping at her tail which was flapping behind her as she galloped as fast her legs could carry. ´´Think, I have to find a way to escape them!´´ She thought desperately. Ahead of her, she could see the husk of a tree with its insides hollowed out due to the rot. Acting quickly, she ran towards it. She could hear the wolves howling behind her and trying to bite her tail. ´´Don’t look back!´´ She kept running with her eyes ahead and saw that she was almost at her target. She readied herself to drop her head low and gallop through the carcass of the fallen tree. She could feel the impact on the tree as two of the wolves collided straight ahead with it and breaking themselves into a pile of sticks. However she did not stop. Inside, she could see one wolf that was still on her tail and was barking furiously at the little filly. She only had a couple of seconds to think before the rest of the pack would catch up. The wolf was sticking its muzzle in the hollow tree trying to reach its prey, sap from its mouth spraying against Applebloom’s face.

Applebloom was about to leave and go out the other side, but to her misfortune, another wolf had blocked her only exit. Was this it for her? She looked around to see if there were any weak spots from the inside that she could target so she could force her way out, but no such luck. Instead she found something near the opening which she had came from. It looked like a spear that had been shrunken down and had feathers in the bottom. She slowly approached it and saw dried blood at the end of it. She remembered how she saw the human with two of these back in the cabin but was it used to harm other animals? She thought about it and she came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to die here...not like this. With a determined fire burning in her eyes, she picked up the bloodied arrow and carefully approached the timberwolf that had its head lodged within the the tree. Her heart raced as she was slowly crept closer and closer. The timber wolf began to thrash more and more, seeing his prey so close to it, yet out of reach of its maw of splinters was sending it into a frenzy. 

She closed her eyes and with a quick jab of her head, the arrow stabbed the wolf in its jaw. Making it jump back and run away in pain. Applebloom saw her chance and started running again, with more and more adrenaline pumping through her body. She was about to outrun the pack until a single wolf jumped out of a bush right in front of her, making her stop right in her tracks and slip on her back. She was done for. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to arrive.

The wolf jumped up, but was stopped before its back paws could leave the ground. A high pitched cry could be heard that howled out through the entire forest. Applebloom was still too terrified to open her eyes.

“It’s alright kid, it can’t hurt you anymore.” The familiar voice of the human came.

Applebloom slowly opened her eyes to see the wolf head still facing her, but without its glowing green eyes. She looked up to see that it was the human that was keeping its head in the air with its decapitated body lying on the ground. Applebloom quickly jumped up and hugged the human’s leg.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” She cried out. “It was so scary! I almost...I almost…” Still shocked and scared out of her wits, Applebloom clung even tighter to the leg.

“Get the fuck off me!” He started shaking his leg in hopes of jostling the filly off. He did finally manage to loosen her grip and she flew a few feet to the side. In confusion with tears in her eyes she looked up again. “I didn’t do this for you! I personally wouldn’t mind just killing you and using your hide for my collection of animal skins that I am turning into a blanket and your meat as enough food to last me a week!” He said coldly. “However if I did that, your precious Princess would come after me and I don’t feel like taking on the entire Canterlot Royal Guard...again. And if you did die here, they would automatically put the blame on me like always!” He quickly picked up the filly from the ground and started making his way to the most annoying place in the world, only second to Canterlot...Ponyville.



***


Eventually I came out of the forest. It had been several weeks since I last set my eyes on Ponyville. You see, my cabin is on the other side of the forest where the strongest predators lurk, and with me as the crown jewel predator, nopony would bother me...I was mistaken as anyone can clearly see. I went up the final hill and saw what was in the field with me. As expected, Princess Celestia had brought along her guards to subdue me. I approached the massive group and saw that my favorite buddy in the whole world, Shining Armor was also present.

“Applejack!” Applebloom called out. I saw how the orange one with blond hair was being restrained by her friends from running up to me.

“You tarnit pink skinned monster! If ya hurt a single hair on my little sister’s head I’m going to buck you ta-” She was interrupted by an even louder voice. 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” I shouted out with as much power that my throat could exhale out. the guards aimed their spears at me from a distance. The group of local ponies were as quiet mice and they dared not move. “Long time no see Celestia! How has your sister’s horn been treating your ass?”

Celestia didn't look amused at all, she was a lot more stable than her sister. “A pleasure to see you too Aran. I take it you’ve had a long day today?” She asked rhetorically.

“Actually its been one of the calmer ones.” I commented with a smug look on my face. “Pleasantries aside, today, this little rascal and her friends, broke into my house and invaded my part of the forest! And not only that, they were also responsible for drawing a pack of timberwolves to my house which is completely unacceptable.”

“Oh come on! How is that her fault!” The blue one protested, looking like she was about to barrel into me.

“If any pony comes to my part of the forest, they have to go through timber wolf territory, and with three fillies leading the way to my house. You can see why it’s taken me a couple of hours to get rid of this mess that they created.”

“What happened after you encountered the timber wolves?” Celestia asked taking a few steps closer. 

“I was caught off-guard and next thing I know, a whole pack of wolves had surrounded my house, so I had to barricade the door from keeping them from coming in, and since I was such a genius to leave my axe outside and with a bleeding wound just waiting to kill me I had to bide my time until they dropped their guard, then I used the filly as bait to lure the wolves away from my axe and kill them one by one...it was worth the wait.”

“That’s it!” the blue pegasus flew towards me, I dropped the axe and Applebloom on the ground as I braced myself for contact. She was going to fly kick right into me, but I used her own speed against her and threw her to the ground and returned the favor with a punch to the face, knocking her out.

“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!” I yelled out loud, as I lifted her from the ground and threw her back to her friends. Fortunately for her, the purple one caught her mid air with her magic. I picked up Applebloom who didn't leave my side, for reasons I do not know. “And now I have a few demands before handing over the filly. She cost me time, money and blood and I didn't keep her safe out of the goodness of my heart!”

“Very well, I guess it’s the least we can do for going through the trouble of saving one of my subjects. What is it that you want?”

“I want a magically tempered axe, a barrel of clean drinkable water and last but not least, a sleeping bag, fitting my size.”

“Sleeping bag?” She asked, confused to why I would want such a random item.

“Unlike some royalty, I sleep on a wooden bed with no sheets, pillows, or blankets. I’m freezing to death every night and I can say my temper would be slightly better if I could get some actual sleep...that’s it.”

“Very well, I will have my guards come and bring you your desired items, now hand over the child!”

I put my hand around Applebloom’s neck as I held her high for the princess to see. “Oh no! You know that I don’t trust anyone, and if you try to take her from me with magic, the question comes down to who is faster, me or your horn? Remember, I can snap her neck like a chicken.”

I saw how Celestia was thinking carefully what her next move should be. Even if she did manage to save the filly, who’s to say that I wouldn’t retaliate? I saw how she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in submission. “Very well, but you give me your word that the filly will remain unharmed!”

“What!? Princess, how can you allow—”

“Deal!” I responded, interrupting the unicorn captain. “You have 2 hours to gather the items and meet me at my cabin, I will negotiate with the timberwolves to make sure they won’t interfere with your escort.” And with those words, I made my way back to the dark forest, with the filly and my dull axe in my arms.



***



Somewhere in the shadows, two dark fur coated pegasi emerged out of the trees and quickly flew back to the very border off the eastern side of Ponyville. 

“Well? What did you find out!?” Luna demanded of her bat guards.

One of them, a light figured female guard stepped up to respond. “We found out that he is currently holding the filly hostage in exchange for a magically enchanted axe, a barrel of fresh water and a sleeping bag. Your sister has agreed to grant him his demands in hopes that he will keep the filly safe from harm until their arrival.”

The male one now stepped in to speak. “Your Highness, we can deal with this petty human ourselves, we could ambush him at his most vulnerable time...his sleep. We can just sneak in and slit his throat by the time he wakes from the shock, he’d already by choking on his own blood.”

A smile crept onto Luna’s face as she thought of a different way to finally get rid of the human once and for all with as little fuss as possible. “If you’d assassinate him, my sister would surely not take kindly to this, but I have a better idea.” She watched as the two solar guards made their way to the nearest water hose to fill up a barrel with water. “Shadow, Tempest, I have another assignment for the two of you!”
	
> Chapter 4 Manhunt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“With all due respect Princess, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?” Twilight shouted, loud enough to create a gust of wind inside her library.

Celestia raised her hoof and nodded. “I understand your concerns Twilight, but if I did not meet his demands with respect, this could have all ended in a bloodbath.”

“I don't understand, aren’t you supposed to be the most powerful magic user in the world? Why can’t you just restrain him?” Twilight asked.

“Magic has an interesting effect on him. At first when we captured him, our magic behaved oddly, like it was losing its potency on him, and now its like his body has adapted and built up a resistance that almost completely nullifies my magic.”

All of the ponies just stared in awe and shock. “What about the Elements? Could they work on him?” 

“I do not know, but that is the last thing we will consider if it comes down to it. If Aran suspects anything, he will kill you and the other elements without hesitation.” The last words Celestia uttered really hit the ponies hard. They gave each other worrying glances as gruesome scenarios of what the human would do to them if he caught them began to race through their minds.

“Why is he like this?” The timid voice of Fluttershy came from the back. “Why would anyone do such things?”

Celestia looked down in guilt over her misjudgment of the once noble human. “I want you all to take a look at this. It will clear things up and answer most of the questions you have.” Celestia called upon her magic, summoning a tattered book that floated in front of the six mares. On the cover of the book, the ponies leaned so as to make out the red tint of the title: Legacy.


***


Unknown entry:

“Several days have passed and I have nothing to ease my mind. I’ve tried to distract myself so as to stop worrying about my family. It’s easier said than done, of course. My mind always wanders back to her. I remember once when she started crying on a beach just because she couldn’t spot me.... How would she react if I never came home…”


Unknown entry:
“I don’t have any more of that green ooze from the prison walls to write with, I was forced to dip the feather in a pool of my own blood that have been dripping while my wounds are still healing… I can’t sleep without seeing… it. I can’t eat the hay that they keep offering me, I’ve tried to cry out for cabbage or anything that is digestible, but the guards just spit on my face and throw the water bowl on my head… when I get out of here-.”

Unknown entry:

“My stomach is gnawing on my flesh… My mind won’t leave me alone… I can’t sleep without seeing that blue monster in my dreams and I can’t stop thinking about my friends, my family… I will never see them again.” The last word had been slightly blurred by a drop of a some sort of dried out liquid.

Unknown entry:
ITS ALL BECAUSE OF THEM!!! I didn’t have the best life, but I had one! I wasn't imprisoned without reason, I had friends… family, and I’ll never see them again, because of them!

Final entry: 

“My time has come… I have barely enough strength to hold the feather and with my blood almost completely dried out, I am afraid this will be my final entry… I’ve lived a hollow life… A life I wasted because I did not treasure it when I had the chance… Now I will die in a cell, with my family not knowing where I am and what has happened to me… This is i-.” The final letter was dragged down, appearing to have slid down from the parchment, to the cover of the book.

The ponies looked horrified at what they had read, they had no idea what the human had been exposed to, and it answered many questions they had pertaining to his dark and brutal nature, but with the truth revealed, more questions surfaced. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner of the room, in shock, rainbow dash had stopped flapping her wings and was sitting on the ground, her eyes boring into the stone. Twilight’s mind was racing, she found herself in utter shock at the cruelty her mentor and mother figure had put this poor creature through. 

“Princess… please tell me you did not capture it-, I mean him without a good reason?” Twilight asked looking up to her mentor with wide and somewhat fearful eyes.

Celestia, despite her normal stoic appearance, flinched at the look she received from her beloved student, still, she pressed on, to answering Twilight’s question. “It was the night after you and your friends defeated Nightmare Moon, I had returned to Canterlot with my sister, when Shining Armor informed us of his existence. While in my absence, an unknown creature had somehow fell into the throne room, it was Aran. He had been mortally wounded from the fall and was bleeding severely. Shining Armor, having been taken by surprise, commandeered the guards, and struck Aran down with his magic. After 4 bolts, the creature gave up and fell to the ground, exhausted from its battle.” Everypony was intently listening to the princess’ story and Twilight nodded for her to continue. “In all my years I had never seen a creature such as him, when your brother confronted me about what had happened, I inspected the creature in the dungeon. It was chained up and protected with the strongest seals that your brother could conjure. I ordered Shining and several other guards to carry him to the castle medical wing, where we removed the large shards of glass embedded in its body, however, before we could begin, we had to see how its body works and what needed treating….. So, we were forced to perform a… vivisection.” Fluttershy and Rarity both gasped aloud, followed by their unconscious bodies thumping to the floor due to the shock. The rest took on a ghastly shade of green, mixed with an expression of horror and disgust. “I wish to tell you more, but in short, we made a big mistake and now he thinks without a doubt, that I want to harm him. Which is why he shows complete hostility towards all ponies, however, my scouts told me that he is neutral when it comes to minotaurs and gryphons.”

“..... What do we do now?” Applejack asked, her care for her sister overcoming the shock, as she stepped up to Celestia.

“I trust that Shining Armor will meet Aran’s demands, and once they are met, he will gladly hand over Applebloom, so that he can be left alone.” Applejack was still not entirely convinced, her brow furrowing, displaying her doubt. “Believe me, Applejack, Aran has no interest in keeping or harming her.”



***



Aran kicked open the faulty door that served as the makeshift entrance to his cabin, he threw his dull axe that was stained with yellow sap, the lifeblood of a timber wolf, into a wall, which by some miracle (or maybe due to rotten wood) found itself embedded there. Applebloom watched from afar, as her captor dragged his chair to the table. He pulled up the bottle which he had used before to clean his cut and proceeded to drop his head back to drain whatever was left in it. He reeled from the strong taste of it and glanced at Applebloom who was intently watching the whole thing. “Look at me, I’ve become an alcoholic father.” He said with a cheesy grin. “I’m guessing that orange pony is your mom?” Applebloom did not answer. “Stop with the I’m afraid bullshit and just answer my question already, the least you can do is humor me for the final moments we have left before Celestia comes and picks you up.”

“Shes not my mah...Shes my sister...I-. I don’t have any parents.” She said with a weak grieving voice.

Aran raised an eyebrow at the reveal. “How did they die?” He asked nonchalantly.

Applebloom did not answer right away, she knew that he wouldn’t hurt her, but was still not sure if she wanted him to know. “Why should I tell you?” She said with an obvious spiteful tone in her voice. She had expected the human to react negatively at her retort, but instead- he did something even more terrifying… he laughed.

The human continued to bellow out a laugh and proceeded to slam the table. “You’re feisty, I like that!” He saw how the young filly was completely confused by his unexpected reaction. “I’m just askin’ I don’t care if you tell me or not, I’m just bored. If you want to keep staring at me, I won’t stop you.” And so she did. “But could you answer me this.” Applebloom peaked her ears up in curiosity. “Did you enjoy it?” He asked with a slight amusing smile appearing on his bearded face.

Applebloom did not understand. “Enjoy what?” She asked.

“Did you enjoy shafting the wolf’s jaw to the tree?” Applebloom’s eyes widened in surprise. She was speechless, as to why he would be interested in that. 

“Why do you care?” She spat back.

The human kept his crazed gaze on the young filly. “Just curious.” He said, raising his hands up in the air. Applebloom didn’t answer again and kept quiet. “Buzzkill…” The rustling of armor and the grunting of guards could be heard outside. Aran stood up, ripped the axe out of the wall, grabbed Apple Bloom by the neck, and made for the door to collect his ransom.



***

I slowly opened the door with the young filly and her neck wrapped around my fingers. I saw dozens of armed guards, one of the them particularly stood out. It was a white unicorn stallion that wore purple and golden armor as well as a slightly bigger helmet than the other guards. “Shining Armor!” I said, with fake cheer in my voice, “Its been awhile. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings for what happened to your friends?” I said, smiling maliciously. I could see that the Captain wanted to skewer me with his sword. But even if I didn’t have a hostage, he wouldn’t dare attack… not after what I did to the guard that was personally guarding me. 

He cleared his throat before speaking. “We have brought you your ransom, now release the filly!” He waved his hoof and three guards stepped forward. One bearing something similar to an axe but not a wood-cutting one. The second guard was hovering a barrel of water and the third was a simple sleeping bag, made perfectly for my size. They must still have all the data on my body back in Canterlot. I slightly gritted my teeth in anger over the fact that they experimented on me. Something however was off with the situation… I saw that the one carrying the water was… unusually calm as to normal form of fear or loathing I could sense from the other guards. “There, you have them, now release the filly!”  Shining ordered, as the items were laid in front of me. 

I raised an eyebrow at the suspicious unicorn, its magical glow was blue when it had a golden and white cutie mark engraved upon its armour… something was off by a long shot. “I won’t ask again, release the filly. NOW!” Shining shouted. 

I turned my head back to Shining armor. “I will if you do one more thing for me.” I said with a smile.

Shining armor was taken aback by my comment. “No!” He replied sternly. “Release her now or we will attack!” He said, charging up his horn. 

“You’re bluff won’t work on me. This is my territory, I have the upper hand here, and don,t forget, even if you manage to kill me, what would your sister think of you if you let one of her best friend’s sister die? Not only that, you would become the disgrace of the Royal guard once again!”

Shining armor went pale from my knowledge of his sister. “How… how did you know…..?” He asked horrified.

I chuckled, I relished in the terror I had caused him. “That doesn’t matter right now. What does matter, is that you do what I tell you to do, and I won’t kill this filly, simple as that.”

Shining armor gave a long and drawn out sigh. “Very well… what do you want now?” He asked in submission.

“You!” I stared directly at the guard levitating the barrel. The stallion did not react nervously
which only caught my attention even more.

“Yes?” He asked grimly and stepped forward.

“What is your name, guard?” I asked pointing my axe just mere inches away from his face.

“Dawn Star!” He replied with no hint of loathing or fear in his voice. You would think that a six foot human pointing a weapon an inch away from your face would make you just a bit nervous.

I smile crept onto my face, as my suspicions seemed to be correct. “Well Dawn Star, before I hand over the filly, would you mind taking a sip of the water? You know, just in case it’s not poisoned or anything.” I said with a humorous tone, but I was very serious. 

“I don’t mind at all.” He responded with a friendly smile. That, however surprised me. 

He leaned down and open the cork on the barrel with his magic and was slightly turned to gulp the water that was flowing down. He put the barrel down and faced me again. “Will that be all?”

Another smile crept onto my face, but this one was sincere. “Yes, thank you.” I replied back to him with the same civil tone that he showed me. He stepped back to his position. “Well then, I guess you are free now Applebloom, I will miss our little talks.” I said lowering the filly down on the ground. She did not run to the guards however. She was staring at me the whole time. “Now you can all get the hell off of my property!” I said kicking over the barrel, making all the water run out. Shining armor was speechless as to why I had done that. 

“NO!!” A feminine voice called out. Before I could react, a batpony dived right at me with her clawed horse shoes. I was almost cut to ribbons, if it wasn’t thanks to my old axe, the blades would have pierced my throat. 

“Battle formation!” Shining Armor shouted out “Stand down guard! You are not authorized to engage the human!” 

The batpony was stronger than any other pony I had fought. She was slowly getting the upper hand and the wood of the axe couldn’t hold out much longer. “You will die now, Human! If my princess demands it, I shall kill you, even if you take me with you!”

At that moment… when I had lowered my guard and was ready to go back and continue to live out a meager existence. I was deceived and taken advantage of again by these same damn poniest. A swelling feeling began to rise inside of me “That. IS. ENOUGH!!!” My anger soon got the better of me and I lost myself completely to my fury.


***

Aran let loose loud war cry causing many of the trees in the forest to shake down to their very roots. In his rage, he grabbed the mysterious batpony by her throat and slammed her against the wall of his hut. He was pressing the axe handle up against the batpony’s throat, depriving her of air and turning her head red. 

“Attack!” Shining armor called out. Aran quickly turned his attention on the charging ponies, he let the batpony drop from his grip, which was now unconscious, and with his first strike of his new axe, cut of the first pony’s head in one fell swoop. The body fell limp immediately with spurts of crimson red blood shooting out of the corpse. Aran look at the one responsible for all of this. His blood-shot eyes settling on Shining Armor.

“ARMOR!!!” He charged with the axe like an animal. Two guards moved to intercept his path. One was knocked out by the backside of the axe, the other had it implanted in its skull.

“NO!” Armor called out in horror. He was losing good ponies by the hoofful. “Dawn Star, take the filly to safety!” He did not have time to take a better look at Dawn Star, for if he did, he would have noticed that he wasn’t looking so good…

The sickly guard nodded and levitated the young filly as he galloped back to Ponyville…

Shining armor turned his attention back towards the rampaging human who just managed to take out the axe impaled in another pony’s head. “Guards, shields up!” He ordered. The guards created a shielding bubble that Aran could not hack through.

He gave out a loud maniacal laugh. “You can’t hold that shield up forever, and once it falls, I will KILL. YOU. ALL!!!”

While Aran was furiously chipping away at the barrier, Dawn Star was drowsily running through the Everfree forest. He could feel his magic about to fade and felt that at any moment he would fall and hit the ground.. Applebloom as well, saw how the stallion could barely stand, and that  frightened her… Could the water have been poisoned like Aran had predicted? Would the Princess risk her life just to get rid of Aran?

The howling of wolves could be heard. Both Applebloom and Dawn Star stopped breathing. If the wolves were on the hunt tonight, along with a monstrous human on the loose, none would be able to escape with their lives. But for Dawn Star he knew it was the end for him. His magic broke and Applebloom was dropped to the ground. “Little filly...I won’t be able to make it… You have to keep following the path and get back to Ponyville!” He was quickly losing consciousness. 

“Is it true? Was the princess trying to poison Aran?” She asked the half dead pony. 

“Follow… the-” He fell to the ground. Applebloom was terrified. Once again she had seen something die in front of her. But the howling began to approach closer. She glanced back at the corpse and then the road. She couldn’t run back on her own… only Aran could keep her safe from the encroaching wolves and whatever else lurked in the shadows. A loud growling could be heard just 20 yards away from her. The green eyes that she had come to fear, were hunting her once again. Terror got the best of her and she ran back to the cabin. Unbeknownst to Applebloom, the body of the white unicorn stallion was shifting back to its original form, that of Tempest

The sounds of banging could be heard from a good distance away. The barrier could not take much more, from the unrelenting assault that Aran was beating into it. The axe had been shattered and the human was now slamming his bloodied knuckles against the magic made walls. He took a quick breather, As he was sweating something fierce from overexerting his body, the adrenaline from his rage, having worn off. Aran desperately looked around for another weapon to use against the barrier while he caught his breath. He saw the axe that was part of his ransom. But this was no woodcutting axe. Now that he got a better look at it he noticed that it was in fact a minotaur axe. It was perfectly made to fit someone of his size. 

He smiled maliciously, and hastily picked up the axe from the ground. It was oddly light, and from the look of it, was enchanted to resist damage to it. He wanted to test it out just to be completely sure, though. With one full sweep, the axe collided with the barrier, a screeching glass shattering sound echoed throughout the entire forest when the axe collided with the barrier. The crude cabin shuddered and leaned to a side. The human was sent flying into one of the cabin’s walls from the resulting blast wave. The ponies as well, were sent thrown every which way by the blast. 

Shadow was slowly waking up from her previous encounter with Aran. She carefully stood up again and tried to get back on her hooves. However, as she woke up, she saw that her claws were gone and she was left bare-hoofed with her own strength to fight the human. She saw that he was still down. A light glowed in her eyes as she realized this was her chance to kill the human. She flew towards the fallen human and was about to smash his skull in with her hooves. It was all for naught, however, as Shadow’s hooves were intercepted by the human’s hands. She jumped back at this and saw that he was still very much awake. She tried to get out of his hold, but despite her impressive strength as the Princess of the moon’s right hoof, she was still no match to the raw physical strength of the human. He quickly broke her hooves with a loud snapping sound that echoed throughout the clearing. Shadow screamed in pure agony, the pain surging throughout her whole body. Aran let go of her front hooves and let her fall off of his body. Shadow was paralyzed with pain and fear, her wings twitching feebly, in an attempt to escape...

Aran stood up at his full height again and he saw how she trembling with fright, her eyes now mere pinpricks. Aran saw the barrel was half-way cut open. He saw the poison that was meant for him….. an evil thought found its way into his mind. Poetic justice if you will. He grabbed Shadow by the neck and slowly made his way towards the barrel. 

“You… you will d-die, n-now or 100 y-years from now, it d-d-does not matter. My mistress will live forever!” She gave a coughing, stuttering, maniacal laugh.

He lifted her face, making her eyes meet his own. “Wrong! Once I’m done here, I’m going to track down your pretty, little, backstabbing princess, and I will give her a taste of her own ‘medicine’.”

“No! You can’t!” Those were Shadow’s final words before he dipped her head in the barrel. Her broken hooves flailed uselessly against the barrel and tainted water, but it was inevitable. The bubbling noise was music to his ears. Her death would mean that Luna would suffer their loss. 

He raised her up from the water to get the last word. “Yes I can, and it will be all thanks to you!” His chuckling couldn’t be held back anymore, he started to laugh out loud at his victory.

But neither were coming out of this victorious. A sharp stinging pain was felt in his other hand. He saw the small piece of the barrel stuck in his flesh. Aran was going to throw her back in the water, but her laughter caught him off guard. “I...Did it-” She coughed. “It takes only one drop to kill you… if introduced into your body it will kill you… eventually….. Looks like my mistress will live forever after all.” She smiled maddeningly, and threw her head back into the sky, laughing as loudly as he could. She was right. She had won.

Anger instinctively took over and her laughter was cut short after a mere second, as he impaled her throat on a jutting, sharp, wooden part of the barrel, ending her life with her eyes staring straight forward, uncomprehending forevermore. Crimson life fluid gurgling from her snout, and the new breathing holes in her windpipe..

Aran fell to his knees. He had no idea of the potency of the poison, but knowing Luna, she would have cooked up something special just for him. The cold feeling of despair started to wash over him. He had fought tooth and nail everyday to survive, and a simple splinter soaked in poison would be the thing that would kill him. Was he really ready to lie down on the cold ground and die? 

´´Yes...´´ He answered to himself coldly. He embraced death with open arms, at least he would gone from this lonely world. He dropped down to his hands and knees, facing the dirt and waiting for the poison to flow through his body.


“Aran!”


***

Applebloom ran as fast as her hooves could take her. She could sense that the timberwolves were closing up on her. With her heart pumping faster and adrenalin rushing through her veins again, she was fearing for her life. She could only trust Aran to keep her safe. She arrived to the place she had been before, but she was shocked to see that the house was knocked down. She also saw the dead guards with either decapitated heads or giant holes in their skulls. She couldn't believe it but she was starting to get used to seeing death. She didn't know what was worse. The wolves chasing her, the fact that she was easing up on the idea of death or the fact that she was asking to be protected by the human that had clearly stated that he did not like her.

After a few more seconds of scanning the area, she saw the human on his hands and knees. 

“Aran!” She called out, worrying that something may have happened to him.

Aran raised his head and saw the little filly. What was she doing here?! He thought. Why would she return to him and most of all, why would she risk her life like that?

“Applebloom?” He looked at her in confusion. She...She was smiling to see that he was still conscious. He was about to ask her what she was doing here, but his sharp eyes caught the green glowing eyes that were prowling behind her. “Applebloom watch out!!” He snapped.

Applebloom turned around and saw the pack of wolves that had gathered. She let out a high pitch scream. The wolves were enjoying the easy kill that were in front of them. The others of the pact made sure to surround Aran and Applebloom.

If Aran would not stand up and fight, she would die...He was already a goner. But why did she return? At that moment, a spark lit in his eyes. With new found strength, Aran stood up from the ground. “Applebloom! Get behind me!” He called out. The filly quickly agreed and ran to her protector. He raised his axe and gazed the wolves down.

He quickly lifted the little filly from the ground and put her on top of his shoulder. She was sticking out on top of his head, looking from a height she had rarely seen from. 

“Hold on tight, I’ll keep you safe.” And she did just that. She held his head with her hooves, almost depriving his head from blood rush.

The wolves gave a final howl before they went for the attack. Two were in the front assault and one coming from behind. A quick swing of his axe, and the ambushing one was dead, while the two kept jumping back and forward to try and get a quick snatch at him. Aran however, leaped forward and cleaved the two wolves easily. The pack leader howled and in an instance, two or three more groups of wolves were surrounding them. This was a no win situation. He could not keep his ground against so many...He made a assuming guess that there were about 15 to 20 wolves that were after him. This was no coincidence...They had planned this. They waited until the day where they could finally outnumber me. With me gone, they would be the dominant species of the forest.

“I...I have no choice…” He said with sorrow in his voice. He knew that the only way now for him to escape dying by their hand, was to escape and let the poison take its effect soon. The wolves charged and he turned his back and ran. The wolves that had guarded his back, were cleaved in half. He sprinted away from the fight and kept an eye on where he was running and were his feet were landing. After living in the forest for several months, he had become a master of the forest. He knew every tree like the back off his hand. Any slippery roots or hidden borrows were avoided, while the wolves were caught in them. The leading packt of the assault was far behind by now, giving him a bit more distance, but the others were still tailing him. They ran with a devilish speed, unmatched by the human. They would catch up to him soon. The only way for Applebloom to have a chance to live, is if he would accept death. The trees were gone now, instead of a lush and thick forest, it was at the edge of a waterfall that had a very steep drop. Would he jump, there would be a big chance that the rocks below would kill him. But he was already a dead man. “Applebloom, hold on tight, whatever you do, hold on to my head!”

“Wait, are you gonna-!?” She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as he leapt of the edge.
	
> Chapter 5 Not Evil, Just Misunderstood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran sat in his cell. His body, malnourished and weakened from months of imprisonment, despite this, he was very calm and collected. Sitting with his legs crossed and his back against the wall. Hiding his face in a dark corner of his cell, he saw the guards playing a card game while on duty. One of the guards laughed as he apparently won the round and leaned back, taking with him a big pot of bits.

“Today’s the big day huh?” One of the guards spoke.

“Yeah, looks like Shining is finally getting married. Its too bad we’re stuck guarding this freak when we could be at the reception, I heard there were some pretty fine mares attending the wedding.”

“Solar Wind, you couldn't even get a mare if you were royalty.” The guards shared a laugh at the expense of their colleague. “But at least this beats guard duty at the wall.” One of the guards got up from his chair and trotted closer to Aran’s cell. “I get to see the famous monster that everyone’s been talking about. Hard to believe this thing could stand a chance against one of us.”

The one called Solar Wind, also stood and made his way towards the cell. “Hey, check this out!” He said and levitated a bucket of water that was by the corner in case of a fire. “This always pisses him off.” He hauled the water into Aran’s cell and completely soaked him. Both of them had anticipated that he would get angry and smash the bars, but to their disappointment, he just sat there and didn't move an inch.

The nameless guard turned to his colleague in curiosity, “Is the rumour true that it can talk?”

Solar Wind didn't get the chance to respond as another spoke first. A dark and rough voice that hadn’t been used for days was now laughing. “Soon I’ll get out of here. And once I am free, I’ll pay your Captain a friendly visit.”

The recruit took a step back as he was creeped out by the talking human. Solar Wind however saw his chance to antagonize the human even further. “Oh really? So he can kick your flank again?” He said with a smug smile. “Heck, you probably couldn't handle me.” Aran did not respond and just sat completely still. “Thats what I thought!” He boasted.

From out of nowhere, the ground and walls started to shake, a terrible tremor erupted and the sound of shattering glass could be heard. “WHAT WAS THAT!?” One of the guards shouted out trying to protect his head from some stones that were peeling off the roof. The sounds of multiple impacts could be heard out in the streets. The guard took a look outside from one of the barred windows and saw black creatures hurtling towards the ground, a sickly green aura of magic wrapped around them. 

“WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!” Solar Wind called out. His cry was quickly met with one of the creatures flying directly against the dungeon. Like it was made out of cardboard, the thing flew through the wall and crashed directly against the human’s cell. The guards were recovering from the assault, the room now covered in a thick layer of dust. 

“Form up!” He called out whilst coughing. They all slowly stood up from the ground and regrouped into one solid unit. The nervous guards anxiously waited for whatever had flown in, to reveal itself. As the dust settled, they saw the creature with its green eyes emerging from the darkness inside of the cell. To their surprise, it was a black looking pony with chitin instead of fur and had both wings and horns, but most noticeable of all was its proportional size, it was the size of a short mare. The guards smiled as they didn’t doubt that they could fight this thing. 

But their confidence was quickly shattered as the hand of the human emerged and grabbed the thing by its neck, making it hiss out as it struggled to free itself from the biped’s iron grip. The prisoner slowly walked out of his shattered cell and revealed himself to be free. At that moment, the guards quickly lost all hope that they had before. With his bare hands, he snapped the creatures neck, killing it instantly and letting it drop to the ground with a thud. The guards, horrified by the display of ruthless murder, saw how Aran was cracking every bone in his upper body, from lack of movement in a long duration. “Never again…” He spoke with a grim and dark voice dripping with anger.


***

Applebloom slowly opened her eyes. She stretched out her hooves, and enjoyed the feeling of the soft blanket over her body. That  is, until she noticed that she wasn't in her bed, or even in her house. Scanning the room, she found it looked quite a lot like Zecora’s hut. 

“Little one, thank da spirits you're awake.” The voice coming did not rhyme, nor did it sound like a mare. She turned towards the other side of the room looking at the ajar pearl door that lead outside. There, standing in the doorway was a medium sized male Zebra. 

“Who-...Who..Hachu!” She sneezed as her nose began to run.

“Oh my, it appears that you have caught a cold. No wonder, ya two swimmed in waters most foul.” 

“Where am I?” She asked, whilst taking a few more quick glances around the room.

“Ya are in Zhevra village, Me and my clan found you driftin’ in da waters while we were preparing a cleansing ritual.” He replied with a cheerful tone. 

“Where’s Aran?” She asked curiously.

The smile on the Male zebra’s face quickly turned upside down. “Oh your friend be very sick, he done been poisoned by some bad juju toxin that I’ve nevah’ seen befo’. Ou’ shamans are trying to cleanse ‘is spirit, but we can only give him remedies and odda tings to ease da poison in ‘is body.”

Applebloom started slowly recalling the events that transpired before. She remembered how he saved her life, and how he was willing to sacrifice himself for her. “Can ah go an’ see him?”

The zebra thought about it, chewing on his lip a bit until he nodded. “I don’ see why not.” Applebloom, despite her cold, laboriously got out of her bed and struggled to the entrance, forcing her tired muscles to get back to work. She went through the open door that had several pearly strings attached to it. Passing by it, she saw an entire village of Zebra huts. Most of them had masks and pots outside, similar to Zecora’s house. The terrain was covered in jungle trees and bushes. The zebras in the village quickly caught sight of the young filly, who stood out like a sore thumb. It did not take them long before they stepped inside one of the neighbouring huts. There she saw the unconscious human laying upon a hastily made cot fit for his size. His forehead was soaked in sweat and he was wincing in his sleep. 

She went over to him and stared at his face. His thick lush beard made it hard to see what was behind it. “Will he be alright?” She asked.

The zebra shook his head. “I do not know, I’ve nevah’ seen a creature like him.” The zebra scanned his odd body structure, his skin and his closed eyes. “If ya don’ mind me askin’, how did ya end up in da rivah?”

Applebloom panicked at the question. Was she going to reveal the whole truth, or try and keep the big part secret? “Me an’ Aran were attacked by Timber wolves, he protected me from them til’ we were cornered by the waterfall.” 

The zebra just stared at Applebloom, unconvinced of her story. But before he spoke, another zebra came into the hut, this one a female. “Vodja, I need to speak with you!”

The male zebra stole a quick glance at Applebloom, who was still standing next to Aran’s cot, peering down at his face. “I will return shortly, little one.”


***

Celestia held her mouth agape at the bloody carnage that had transpired just hours ago. The cabin had been destroyed, the corpses of her guards torn to shreds like they were devoured by a mob of wolves, pieces of their bodies littered everywhere. The shattered axe of Aran was on the ground, and there was no sight of the young filly that he had taken hostage. She could already be long dead for all Celestia knew. 

Captain Shining Armor was in a coma, he had been found hanging on the branch of a tree with another one of his guards, he was currently being treated at the local ponyville hospital. With Luna looking over his recovery along with Cadence.

Tears were dripping down her face. She couldn't believe how she could have trusted Aran to keep his end of the bargain. She thought there was some decency in the human. “How could you…” Her breath quickened as a thick hatred made its way up her lungs. She stood up from the ground and narrowed her eyes towards the horizon. “I will never forgive you...I will never stop hunting you!” She spoke dripping with anger and loathing.

Meanwhile, Luna was sitting with her niece, waiting for the captain to wake up…

“Why did he do this… So much death and destruction…” Cadence wept into her aunt’s shoulder. Luna hadn't heard from her two agents in a long time now...She presumed from the destruction that they most likely didn’t survive the carnage. She had sent her most loyal guards to their deaths. All the loathing and anger towards Aran had been diminished, broken, and Luna felt the loss of her subjects and now realized that it was best to let the beast roam the outskirts of Equestria rather than spill any more innocent blood.

“I do not know why...but at least Shining armor made it out without any major wounds. Celestia and I could never forgive ourselves if he would come to harm.” She said, comforting her fellow princess. “You should get some rest, it's been a stressful day and it’s best if we just wait and see how things play out.” Cadence, teary eyed and exhausted nodded at her aunt’s suggestion.

Sniffling, Cadence bowed her head and slowly dragged her hooves from the room, reluctant to leave her dear husband’s side. 

The moment Cadence left the room, Luna started her mind alteration spell that would peek into the Captain’s mind and would alter anything that would leave her exposed to what she had done. “This way...There will be no more bloodshed.” Luna’s horn dimmed and she left the hospital to rejoin her sister.


***


Vodja came back to the hut that Aran was in. Applebloom slightly nervous from his return, anxiously waited for him to say something. “Me tribe be sensin’ a vast darkness in your friends body. We fear that it be dangerous to keep him here.”

Applebloom didn't know how to react. On one hand Aran did save her from certain death by the timber wolves, on the other hand, she had no idea why he saved her. Maybe to keep her as leverage against the princesses or maybe as a bargain chip for something else. “So, what'll happen to him?”

“We gonna purify his blood from da poison, and den we be sending him back to a safe part of the jungle, where he can wake up and without us having to worry about our lives.”

“What about me?” She asked.

“Ya’ be welcome to stay, but if you wish to go home, we be helpin’ ya’.” Applebloom glanced at Aran, she could be free of him without worrying about her safety. But a part of her was confused, she was technically free now, but she still pitied him. How could she turn her back on him after he had risked his life to keep her safe. He cared for her more then the princess who had disregarded her safety to use her as bait to kill Aran. 

“I ahm going to stay with him. He is not as bad as you say he is, he's not Evil, he's just misunderstood!”

The shaman nodded. “you sure mon? When we be done, we be leaving ya’ alone with him.”

Applejack rose her head and chest. “I ahm.”



***


Princess Celestia returned to the hospital after examining last night’s scene. She did not hesitate to walk in the Captain’s room without knocking. The matter at hand was much more important. Shining armor, seeing the princess in his presence, quickly snapped up at attention. “Your highness?” He saluted whilst laying on the bed.

“At ease, Captain. I heard that you had woken up and I came to ask you what happened last night.”

Shining Armor was still shaking from last nights events. He couldn’t stop thinking about the good men he lost in a blink of an eye. Their heads chopped off and the axe stuck in one of their skulls. “I-...I did as You ordered me too. I bought the items to, Aran. But when we gave the items over…-” Shining armor felt a slight headache that was blurring his memory own memories and the ones passed down from Luna took shape..

“Then what?”

“Then he came at me with his axe and tried to decapitate me…- I wouldn’t have survived if one of my men hadn’t stepped in to take the blow…-” Celestia thought about what the captain said. Aran did have a very strong contempt towards Shining armor. She had also read pages after pages from the abuse that Aran had suffered in his cell by the guards and sworn revenge on them. 

“What about the mangled bodies?” Celestia asked coldly.

Shining armor was taken back by the harsh description of his guards. “During Aran’s assault, we were ambushed by the timber wolves, at that moment, aran grabbed his items and made a run for it, knowing we wouldn’t survive. But I only had enough magical power left from keeping the barrier up to teleport only one guard and myself up to the tree, the rest decided to stay behind, despite my orders to tell them to retreat…”

“And what of the filly?”

“I do not known, Princess. I never saw her.”

Celestia took a deep breath. It had been a long day and she was still uncertain where Applebloom was. Though she could guess that either she had been taken hostage, or she could have escaped, yet she had a good feeling that she was alive, but she wasn't sure if she was well. “Thank you, Captain, I’ll tell Cadence that you’ve woken up. Get some rest and report to me tomorrow.”

“Yes, your highness!”

Whilst Celestia went back to her Castle, Luna was walking in the dream world, where all the spirits of living creature come to dream, and humans were no exception to that. Luna thoroughly looked for Aran’s spirit, if she could find him, she could erase the last of the evidence pointing towards her. However she had to be careful, if she would alter his memories to much, she could give her self off to him and in the dreamworld, Luna is the most vulnerable.

“Found you!” She utter relieved. Though Aran was in the dream world, his consciousness was blank, meaning he wasn't dreaming but he was asleep and unaware of her presence.


***

Applebloom followed the Zebras as they were carrying Aran to his destination, she was very twitchy of the every sudden sound or movement coming from the bushes and trees. Her previous scars from the wild life were now showing itself on the poor filly. There were two Zebra stallions that accompanied the filly and human to their destination, she was also given some food and supply, including some medicine to ease the poison in Aran’s body.

It felt like an hour had gone by before they finally made it to a secluded part of the forest, it was a large patch of grassy land that was a safe haven from the jungle. 

“We arrived to da place now. Spirits keep ya safe, child” The zebra lowered his head in a respectful bow before unloading the human of the cart and made their way back.

“Thanks for the help Mister!” Applebloom called, as she waved good bye to her friend. Applebloom, after seeing the zebra enter back into the forest in the horizon, went back to Aran and sat down next to him, waiting for him to wake up.
	
> Chapter 6 Motives
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applebloom was sleeping right next to Aran by a large tree in the middle of the field. She crept as close as she could to the warm human. She was afraid of the dark and hoped that the human would wake up soon. Knowing that he would not harm her and would protect her, made her feel a lot safer. But she was curious though, what could have happened to him? He had several scars on his body and a still healing wound on his arm that he had suffered a few days ago after killing a wolf with his bare hands. He had a long and drawn out beard that old earth ponies had, hanging from his face. She wondered how old he could be if he had a beard like that, but most of all, she was curious as to what he looked like underneath.

Applebloom looked up at the sky and wondered if Applejack was worried for her. Maybe coming with Aran wasn't the best idea after all. But there was no turning back now, she didn't know the way back home and even if she did, she wouldn't survive on her own. For the moment, the only thing she could do was to sleep and wait until tomorrow for Aran to wake up.


***

Aran ran through the streets of Canterlot, he had killed his captors with his bare hands and literally tore them apart, but he couldn't let his chance for food get away, he tore into the necks of his victims, his hunger letting him force down the raw tough meat, gagging as he forced it down his gullet.  He gulped down as much as he could, not wanting to deal with more guards, he was in no shape to fight a battalion of guards. However, fortunately for him, the streets were filled with captive civilian ponies who all screamed at the top of their lungs as they saw the hulking human approaching them. There were also a lot of Changelings that were performing some kind of spell on the unconscious guards. Even though there was an active invasion going on, only a few changelings dared to cross the human. But those that confronted him, experienced firsthand what he did to an entire unit of changelings. They were squashed, crushed, smashed or even ripped apart as they tried to shackle him to the ground, not realizing that their magic did not work against him.

Aran, seeing that the ponies were losing did whatever he could. Even though this was an escape, he saw restaurants and bake-shops abandoned and a once in a lifetime opportunity to eat sweets again. His hunger had already driven him to eat raw pony meat, he was desperate enough to eat whatever he got his hands on. Smashing several windows and taking what he could, he quickly started to realize that the ponies were losing badly. The thought of his vengeance going up in smoke could not be ignored. Besides, these changelings were nothing against him.

Fighting his way to the castle he eventually caught sight of a much bigger changeling laughing, talking and bragging about her victory. Aran was peeking through a key hole where he had seen something unexpected. Shining armor staring into the sky like the moron he was. Aran’s heart rejoiced to see the Stallion that had mistreated him for weeks on end, the thoughts of revenge bringing a much deserved smile to his face. The human had prepared to storm the door, but as he did, he could hear and see things unfurling. His eyes widened as he saw Cadence walking up to Shining Armor and hugging the inactive pony with tears sliding down her face. Aran had no idea that she was the bride's groom. Aran felt hesitant, he recognized the pink winged unicorn. She had brought him food in secret several times. Were it not for her, he would have starved to death. Though she was a pony, she was the most compassionate amongst them. However, the human’s internal conflict had to wait as suddenly a giant pink bubble sprung past Aran and impacted against the changelings sending them flying. He quickly ran to the closest window and saw that the ponies had been freed and a new protective ward had been set up. 

"Fuck!" He shouted out as he realised that any moment now, the castle would be swarming with guards. Revenge would have to wait for another day. He ran the same way he had came and as he left the castle premises several guards took notice, and began hunting him.


***


Aran woke up in shock. Cold sweat seeping down his forehead as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. Though his senses quickly kicked in as he realized where the hell he was. He looked down to see Applebloom still sleeping and with a saddlebag full of vials and other items. What confused the human even more was the blanket on him and the filly.

"What the fuck happened?" He asked in a hissing whisper to himself. Though one thing did receive his attention and that was the fact that he had bandages on his arm, Real bandages that he never could acquire. Aran scanned his surroundings and could place a guess that he was just by the border of the Minotaur planes and Equestria. But how did he end up here? Seeing that no one else was around, he reached over and peeked into the saddlebag close to the filly. Inside, were a few vials of colored liquids and some fruits and hay. Aran had no memory of ever seeing the filly with a saddlebag, or any vials for that matter.

"Did this bitch roofie me?" He asked himself under his breath.

But then he remembered what had happened just before he was knocked unconscious. "Oh yeah." Aran sprung up. He quickly took a closer look at the saddlebag and saw that it was of zebra origin. He had seen a few zebra's during his trades with Korvax, most that traveled were well-known as herbalists and hex-doctors. Aran stopped for a moment, knowing that the zebras had helped him out, though he was unable to pay back their kindness. He hated ponies with a strong conviction, though zebras were always very polite, generous and even helpful, especially the one in the Everfree forest.

But the biggest mystery of them all was why the hell Applebloom decided to stay with him, even though they had foolishly slept in the wild, where any predator could have killed them in their sleep. Though he couldn't complain. He had been unconscious for a while guessing from all the help that he had been given. Though what was he going to do now? Steal the supplies and leave while the filly was sleeping or just wait for her to wake up? He didn't have any obligations to stay, though he didn't have an obligation to save her in the first place, it was very stupid of him risk his life to save the filly. Aran did remember being poisoned, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how, he did have images in his mind of snake vines that could possibly be the source of the poison, but a bite from them should be lethal. However, he quickly assumed that the Zebras probably provided an antidote to counteract the poison’s toxin. Now that he thought about it, it would also explain the vials in Applebloom’s bag. He also remembered jumping into the river from a waterfall. If that was true, then it was most likely Applebloom who got the zebras’ attention in the first place. He continued to stare at the filly, contemplating her. But that still didn't answer his own question. Why did He save her?


***

"Princess, did ya find mah sister!?" Applejack asked with tears swelling in her eyes. She had been worried all night about Applebloom. After Shining armor had been brought from the forest, every second had felt like an eternity for her.

"Calm yourself, Applejack. I know for a fact that your sister is still alive and I promise you that we will return her safely, as soon as possible." Celestia said, one of her hooves pawing at the ground.

"Princess, what happened? We all heard an explosion coming from the forest. Is my brother alright?" Twilight was looking nervous and upset, some of her mane sticking up in places.

Celestia stiffened. "From what I was told by your brother, Aran demanded that one of them should drink the water that they had brought for him, because he was afraid that it was poisoned. Though one of my lieutenants took a sip, he was still not satisfied and went for the attack. As for your brother, Twilight, he is in the Canterlot hospital at the moment and will be fine. He is only suffering from a minor concussion and a few bruises, he should be out of bed in a day.” Celestia then scowled as she said, “Only he and another guard made it." 

"Princess Celestia, how come your guys can't take him down?” Rainbow Dash flew closer to the princess, an upset look on her face “I mean its like twenty against one. He doesn't look so tough!" She raised both her hooves in the air in exasperation.

Celestia gave Rainbow Dash a stern look. "You have no idea how wrong you are. His kind are the dominant species on his planet. Despite their lack of obvious advantages, no fangs, venom or magic, they tamed their savage world with an iron will and a constant desire to dominate. Aran is just one of the seven billion humans who live on their planet."

All the ponies were shocked to find out this new information about Aran's world. The thought that there were even more of his species, but rather, seven billion humans frightened the mares. The human’s population was several hundred thousand times greater than that of Equestria’s. It was terrifying to imagine what would happen they ever formed a gateway to Equestria, the ponies wouldn’t stand a chance against such ferocious creatures. "Princess, how do you know so much about him and his world?" Twilight asked, still reeling from the information.

There was a brief silence before Celestia decided to answer. "When we first arrested Aran, he refused to cooperate with us. My sister and I were very worried what this new species was capable of, and whether or not they came here with a purpose. Since I was left with no other choice, I searched for my answers in his mind.” Celestia looked a little guilty, admitting to probing Aran’s mind, but continued with her tale. “At first I used relatively harmless mind vision spells, but as his body started to build a tolerance against the simple spell, we were forced to use more drastic measures, that had a few side effects...like memory gaps. We learned everything about him and his complete knowledge of his own world. Every private thought, every opinion, and every dark secret that he clung on to. But the end result was that he barely even remembers himself, what he is, and who he used to be. All he remembers now, is his hatred to ponies in general.

"Princess..." Twilight was at a loss for words, shocked by Celestia’s secret and treatmen of the human.

"I did what I had to, I do whatever is necessary to protect Equestria, I bear the guilt for what has happened to him, and I am responsible for what he has done, So it is up to me to stop him." Celestia raised her head a little higher, gaining a determined look.

"How will you do that?" Applejack asked.

"I...I don't know. It is true that without magic, we are practically defenseless. My only course of action is to watch his movements, and wait for him to make a mistake. I will not send any more of my guards to face him head on, it would be too dangerous and I won't risk anymore lives."

"But...But what about my sister!?" Applejack asked anxiously.

"For the moment, we must only the hope that he will keep her safe, despite what Aran is, I doubt he would hurt a filly. He would have nothing to gain or benefit from that, the only problem is that if he chooses to protect her."


***


Aran traversed the jungle alone, in hopes of finding food, he didn't need to find fresh water luckily. The Zebra's were kind enough to send them away with a water pouch that could last a day’s worth of travel. Aran had to be careful though, without a weapon, he was at a great disadvantage. He stopped to mourn the loss of such a good axe. It had weighed almost nothing but had packed quite the punch. Despite his losses, though, he carried on to find any meat or fruit in the jungle.

Half an hour passed by and he had found nothing. Aran slapped himself across the face as he had wasted precious energy and time, with nothing to show for it. He turned around and made his way back to the grassy plains that he had come from. As he started walking back, he heard the rustling of foliage and sticks snapping, something was following him. Reacting naturally he turned around and started walking backwards, keeping track of where he was going whilst at the same time keeping an eye out for any possible predators. Aran stopped moving as he could hear steps of some kind very close to him, though it was hard to pinpoint where it was coming from with all the exotic birds squawking above him in the trees. Closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, Aran waited for the creature to take another step. 

Hearing the brushing of leaves and sticks being crushed to his left, Aran immediately pounced on whatever was following him without a second thought. He and his prey quickly fell on the ground together as he firmly grabbed the neck of what he quickly saw was none other than his 'favorite' princess, Cadence. Aran however, had enough experience to know that he should never let his guard down, no matter who it was. He did not say anything and just stared intently into her blue eyes with his bloodshot brown ones.

Several seconds passed and the killing silence became an awkward one. "Well, aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?" She asked bluntly.

"If I've learned something from my recent encounters is that every single one of you ponies are untrustworthy. But I guess you of all ponies wouldn't come alone to a place like this unless it was absolutely necessary." Aran loosened his grip on Cadence’s neck and stood up at his full height again. "I'm guessing you are here because of the spanking I gave your husband last night, and if you're wondering, yes he cries like a bitch." Aran smirked.

Ignoring the jab, Cadence stared at a small necklace with a small blue half heart symbol. "I remember when I gave this to you." She pointed towards the necklace. "It was after my third visit. You were lonely and upset over how you had nopony to talk to. I gave you this necklace so that we could talk, whenever you felt sad or lonely.” Cadence gained a sad look in her eyes, but then quickly glared at Aran, “But now I need to talk to you. About what you have done."

"You have a lot of nerve coming here and asking to talk to me. I waited for weeks for you to activate it for me so that we could talk. Every night I waited for you to ask me how I was doing or if I was holding out alright, I thought I could count on you to be a... an acquaintance."

"You killed twenty-two guards on my wedding day! And besides, I wanted to ask you about what happened during your escape. The guards reported that you came out of the castle when they started chasing you. I want to know what you did there."

"I have no obligation to answer that, I also have no obligation to keep you alive." He spoke coldly, glaring at her.

Cadence was not affected by his threat. "You have no obligation to not answer. And I’m well aware that you have no obligation to keep me alive. Yet here I stand."

"Then what the fuck is stopping me from tearing you apart!?" Aran shouted out in confusion.

"Maybe its because despite my absence, you still think of me as a friend?"

"You're funny, I have no friends, all I have is enemies like Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor and anyone that gets in my way. Even you are no exception from that rule."

"Then why didn't you when you had the chance!? I know that you could have killed Celestia and Shining armor during the invasion. There were several dead changelings everywhere outside of the ceremony hall that had your name written all over it."

"You're really pushing the limits of our relationship here,” Aran growled out. “I was out of time and I knew that any moment the castle would be swarmed with guards."

"Didn't you just say that you would kill anyone in your way?"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" Aran shouted out from the top of his lungs his face red with anger. "Do you want me to say some bullshit confession about how I couldn't kill Shining, because he was your fiance? Were you afraid that if you told me that you out of all ponies would marry that asshole? Maybe you were afraid that I would hate you if you told me. But you can only imagine how I felt when I found out that you were the one getting married.” He jabbed a finger at Cadence. ”And no, I didn't let that piece of shit live because he was your fiance, I let him live because I repaid my debt to you, meaning that, all the kindness you had shown me, all the times you had brought me food in secret, I weighed my hatred towards Shining armor with my appreciation of everything you had ever done for me!" 

"So where does that leave us?" Cadence asked, a little frightened at his outburst

"There is no 'us'. You and I are not friends and I showed no mercy when that dickhead showed up at my house the other day. I only let you live because a small part of me still cares for you. ” He trailed off a bit, realizing what he was saying, before once again glaring at Cadence and continuing,” But make no mistake, if I ever see you or Shining armor again, I won't hesitate for a single second." Aran turned his back on the alicorn and made his way out of the jungle without looking back.

Cadence tried her best to not cry over the loss of her friend, but even if she did not shed tears, it still hurt a lot. "Have it your way..." And like that, she disappeared in a flash.

Aran went back to the grassy plains, trying to repress the twisting feeling in his stomach. “What the hell am I going to do with Applebloom?” he contemplated aloud. “Do I steal her stuff and be on my way? Or do I kill her quickly so that she doesn't have to suffer.” He stopped walking and rubbed his eyes as he had no idea what he was going to do with her.
> Chapter 7 Horned Menace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran was lying at the side of a river, violently coughing up water that had seeped into his lungs. When he could finally breathe normally again, he took in his surroundings. The first thing that caught his notice was Canterlot’s Castle, far in the distance. Aran’s body flopped to the ground, a sense of relief overwhelming him. He lay there, reveling in his victory, allowing himself to do something he hadn't done in ages… smile. After being held prisoner for several months, stripped of his identity and most of his memories, he enjoyed the overwhelming feeling of freedom. He had killed his captors, he had been able to enjoy some sweets and even god graced meat. Though the big question was: What comes next? 

He knew he couldn't return to his old world, no magic in the world could affect him anymore, leaving him permanently displaced. Rising up from the ground, Aran scanned his environment. Carefully treading through the forest, he approached what looked like a rundown lumber mill. He saw it was completely empty, but not abandoned, there were several signs of tracks from just a few hours ago. Seeing that this was his only chance to get some good supplies, he followed the worn tracks into a nearby house and quickly started to rummage through the kitchen for food, which unfortunately, there was none to be found. Undeterred, he searched  the basement next, for any kind of weapon. He was lucky enough to find both a saw and an axe, deciding to go with the axe, being the more obvious choice, before, finally looking through the house for any medical equipment that might be useful in the future. To his luck, he found a used first aid kit in the living room. Taking what was only absolutely necessary, Aran made his way out of the house and stopped when the full realization of his situation hit him.

What was he going to do now? He had been imprisoned for such a long time that he had given up on the hope of ever escaping, with the only comfort for his anxiety was his thirst for vengeance. Clenching his fists into balls hard enough to crush rocks, Aran glanced at the gleaming city. "I will return,” Aran muttered, looking down, building up, turning to glare at Canterlot. “When I'm stronger, when I am at the peak of my strength and when I have a real weapon, I will return for blood.” He contorted his face with a shout of defiance, red as a tomato “DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!?" His shout causing many animals to scamper away to what shelters they had, as he glared for another full minute before turning away and disappearing into the thick forest.


***Six months later***


Aran towered above the still sleeping filly as he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do. "Sorry kid, but this will hurt less than being torn apart by an animal." He knelt down to the ground, getting closer to Applebloom’s prone form. His breath increased as he was finding it more and more difficult to get himself to kill the filly for every second that he hesitated. He slowly lowered his hands to the point that he could almost feel her fur on his palms. Aran quickly flexed his hands and arms for what was going to be a simple flick of his wrist, though he didn't want to cause the filly any unnecessary chance of survival… he didn’t need that on his conscience. He was fucked up enough.

Finally touching her upper back and slowly making his way to her throat and neck, his hand started to shake excessively, which wasn’t helping his situation. He tried to steel his resolve and began to count. "Three..."

The wind started to blow furiously as his shaking increased, the longer he waited. "Two..."

Applebloom gave a slight nudge as she smiled in her sleep. The poor filly wasn't even phased by the two hands on her neck. "One..."

....

Aran tried to summon the memories of the wrongdoings all of ponykind had committed against him to perhaps channel his rage rather than his sympathy. But the more he tapped into his few memories, the more he saw that she had nothing to do with him and his situation, which in turn actually worsened his current state. 

Aran’s body tensed, and, with all his might, Aran moved. Not just his hand and arm, but his entire body flew backwards. He landed on his back, his arms spread out from his side. With a loud roar of agony, he cried up to the heavens in guilt.

The birds from the nearby tree, left their spot as his cry scared away any animal in the area. His breathing had stopped and for every second, the world felt like it was going slower and slower until he could hear and feel an incessant ringing in his ears. After a few moment of trying regain his mind and strength, Aran slowly moved back onto his knees, to see a shocked, afraid and still alive Applebloom. Realizing quickly that he forgot to put pressure on his grip, ending up with just mildly scratching the lower area of her neck. Aran jumped back on his feet and faced the little filly.

"What' ya doing?" She asked, rubbing her throat from her sudden irritation and giving off a tired yawn.

"I was trying to kill you in your sleep." There was an abrupt silence as he spoke.

"What!" She snapped up. "Why would ya do that!?"

"I have no choice, its better than the alternative."

"But...But! I helped you! Why would ya hurt me when I've been so nice to you!?"

"Look, Applebloom, I can't take care of you, if you come with me, you could get hurt, killed or raped. I can barely feed myself let alone both of us. And I need to keep an eye on my enemies and myself when I'm in danger, I can't protect you if we get into any trouble."

Applebloom threw herself up from the ground and stood her ground against the towering human. "I don't need ya to protect me, I can protect mahself!"

Aran remained unimpressed. "Oh really,well Mr. Big Balls, when have you ever been in real danger and actually managed to defended yourself?"

"When you used me as bait, I poked a wolf in the head with a really really sharp stick that had a weird metal tip."

"So you stabbed a wolf with one of my arrows, do you think you're ready to take on a whole pack? I've killed almost a hundred wolves, I've killed Minotaur hunters that try and collect my skin as a trophy, I collected theirs, I've killed several ponies from the royal guard, most of them with my bare hands. And even if you don't die, You'll break down from the constant blood and pain…” Aran paused, looking at the filly.  ”Are you still sure that you want to come along?"

Applebloom tilted her head to the side, scrunching her snout, considering her options. "Can't you make me company til' the Everfree forest?"

"No doubt that the princesses have set up hundreds of heavily armed guards, if I go anywhere near that shit hole, I'm as good as dead. If you come with me, you'll die eventually, if I let you go on your own, you'll be torn apart the moment you leave my sight. Either way you. Will. Die. So what’s it going to be sunshine, you want me to snap your neck already or do you want to take you chances?"

"Ah'm coming with you!" She replied assertively of her choice. "I'm not afraid!" She shouted out. As she did, she realised that more and more, she was changing as a pony, just a few days ago she couldn't imagine to hurt anyone, but that changed the moment she was cornered by the wolf. She didn't hesitate to stab it in the jaw, the high pitch howling still ringing in her ears.

"Then let’s move." Aran spoke, walking over and picking up the saddlebag and other items.

"Where are we going?" Applebloom asked, anxiously shadowing her new human companion.

"We're going to one of the most pony lacking places in the world, The spiraling city of Magmar! Capital city of the minotaurs!"

***Some time later***

Hours had gone by, and the sun was scorching the young filly on their trip. She was never used to the warmer climates, than that of her more temperate and weather regulated homeland. Aran was very cheap on the water distribution, only one sip every hour, and she couldn't really sneak in one or two because he was carrying the water pouch. "Aran...how long exactly are we from Magmar?"

"We're not heading towards Magmar just yet, we're going to find an old friend of mine, he'll help us get into the city without any hassle… if he can't, we'll have one hell of a honeymoon trying to escape from their imperial army."

"What do you mean? Didn't ya say we'd be safe in Magmar?"

"Oh yeah, because they would let an abomination of nature walk past their door without any questions whatsoever, and you would most likely be sold as a sex slave for some sick fuck. We need Korvax to put in a word for us."

"Then how far are we from Korvax?" Applebloom asked, groaning midway.

"Just before I met you, I left off some supplies to the guy, he's traveling around the villages bordering the city, we are going to have to go to them hoping we won't be attacked on sight and try to find him. Otherwise, we're screwed. But the upside is that we’ll at least be able to grab some supplies and maybe even a weapon or two if they attack us. The closest village should be about three or four hours more away from our current location, guessing from the terrain, so stop your bitching and keep walking."

"Can I at least have another sip of water?"

"No!"

The duo kept walking until they eventually made their way deeper into minotaur territory, they had to dodge a few outpost patrols that were walking alongside the road, Aran did not need another fight to deal with, if he could go one day without killing anything, it would count as a good day. Aran, for the most part, was lost in his thoughts that were split between his encounter with Cadence and how he would manage taking care of Applebloom. He already made it clear that he wouldn't go out of his way to keep her safe, for all he cared he could only be referred to as an escort. But the encounter with Cadence had ironically left a figurative bleeding wound in his heart. Realizing that there was nothing he could do about it, he took a long deep breath and stopped thinking about the past, and started planning for the coming future. 

Twilight was starting to settle in and it made it much easier to spot any possible villages in the surrounding area. Any minute now, he would know if the day long journey was worth it, to find one village that had a one in four chance of finding Korvax. The pair stopped as they could see a bright village a steep walkway. "If things go south, I want you to either run and grab a weapon for me to use,  or run for your life until I say it’s safe to come out." The pair picked up their pace again and made their way to the semi-abandoned town. Approaching the village, they saw that most villagers were quickly throwing their looks towards the human and the filly. Aran, ignored them and began searching for the closest inn.

After looking over the town for awhile, Aran spotted a sign hanging above a door. Iron mug Inn. The inn was the biggest building in the small town, it could most likely house 20-30 mintours. But it wasn't a big surprise for Aran, the country side of Magmar was mostly abandoned meaning the most income a small town got was from travelers and caravans looking for a good night’s sleep. The door swung open and the duo made their way inside. Almost immediately, everyone sitting close to the door noticed the odd creature entering the tavern. Everything almost went quiet as a chain reaction of silence fell upon the inn. "What the fuck y'all lookin' at!?" Aran sneered back aggressively, with scars on most parts of his body that were exposed, and a covered arm, Aran quickly gave off a Don't mess with me vibe. Most minotaurs went back to their own business, but a few were peaking in secret, they were intrigued by the odd thing that just nonchalantly entered an inn with around 15 minotaurs sitting at separate tables. Ignoring the sneaky onlookers, Aran made his way to the innkeeper and quickly grabbed his attention by just being there.

"Excuse me, but do you know the location of Korvax's merchant caravan?"

"Whos askin'!?" He replied, not wanting to give out information for free to some stranger he had never met. Whilst Aran was trying to keep his rage from bursting out and killing the innkeeper, Applebloom nervously kept looking at every direction of the bar for a weapon of some sort, she saw most of the minotaurs were wearing weapons of their own, either sheathed or on their tables. A few were even staring at her directly for reasons unknown to her, being in a house as big as her town hall with most of its inhabitants being several times her size made her feel very paranoid. 

"If you know anything about the bastard, tell him that I'm looking for him and that I've decided to take his proposal!"

The bartender seemed to back off a bit after he mentioned the proposal. "You don't happen to be by any chance the big bad pig that lives in the Everfree forest!?" He asked leaning on his cashier table. Taking a long drawn deep breath, Aran nodded to the question. "Oh, well in that case, here is the key to room 21 and anything you want is on our new boss!" He reached out his furry hand and Aran quickly shook it.

"I appreciate it!" Aran took two stools from an empty table and put it up beside the cashier. He reached down and lifted Applebloom up from the ground and put her on one of the stools causing her to squeak a bit in surprise. Taking his seat, he rested his tired legs. "Oh,” he sighed. “It’s good to finally rest my feet." While The pair were making themselves comfortable, the innkeeper was preparing an easy vegetarian supper and pouring a strong drink for the two of them. Applebloom had no idea what the strong smelling liquid that looked like water, but nevertheless, took a sip of it, before her throat felt a burning stinging sensation. 

"YUCK!" She shouted out, spluttering out the rest of the drink, while wiping her tongue with a hoof. "What is that stuff?"

"Hey, is she even legal drinking age?" The innkeeper asked, not out of concern but general curiosity.

"Well technically I'm not, but you don't see me make a fuss about it. Drink up kid, it'll grow some hair on your balls."

"I want to drink water instead!" She moaned. A quick shot of fresh milk was tossed on the table and Applebloom was happy to finally quench her thirst.

"The names' Aran, what's yours?" He asked the minotaur, dropping the shot glass back on the table.

"My name is Volkar, I am the caretaker of this tavern that is owned by the Merchant’s guild. I was told if you were to ever come by, to offer you a room and food until Korvax came to pick you up."

"Great,” Aran smiled widely. “Then you better start cooking, because I haven't eaten in three days and if I don't eat something soon, I'll put one of your customers on the menu." Aran said, pouring another drink into his shot glass.

Volkar laughed at Aran's remark. "That would be a sight to behold. But you don't need to worry about it, though if you want to kill any of these scumbags, please do it outside, I just fixed the tables after last night's brawl."

"Are ponies always fighting in here?" Applebloom asked, peeking up as high as her body would allow her. 

"Well its on and off, some days it starts without warning, some days the tension builds up, and some days guys get stabbed in the back and left to bleed out on my floors. It gets very messy and I always end up cleaning up after them." Volkar leaned closer to inspect the little filly. "What is your name little one? And what are you doing in this part of the world? It’s very dangerous for a little filly such as yourself to be so far away from your warm comfortable home."

"I'm Applebloom, and I'm Aran's...-" She stopped, not knowing the answer to the other question.

"She is my Student/Hostage, I'm keeping her so that Celestia won't try and send another kill squad after me, and while she's with me, I'll teach her a thing or two about surviving." 

Volkar gave Aran a bewildered look. "Even in my old age, I still experience a few new things." Putting the finishing touches to the separate meals, He offered the plates to the pair and Aran picked them up for the both of them. We'll go and sit down by the corner, I need to talk to Applebloom in private if you don't mind?" He asked, waiting for permission.

"Go ahead!" He asked shrugging. "Just remember, if someone picks a fight, take it outside."


***

Cadence was lying in her bed, waiting for her husband to return from the hospital and comfort her, she could easily disguise her sadness with the worries she was feeling towards Shining Armor just a day ago. But her mind was still playing the ending of her meeting with Aran over and over again. She was very worried what might happen if she ever tried to talk to him again, would he actually hurt her? Or did he say those things to protect her? After All, there was more to the human then she had originally let on herself. Her husband and everyone else in Equestria thought he was but a horrid monster seeking the destruction of Equestria. But she still remembered the first time she ever met the human.

***1 year ago***

The dungeon was  heavily guarded by earth-pony guards only, from what Cadence had heard, this thing was very strong and resistant to magic. As Cadence approached the simple metal cell, the princess saw the guards stiffening as she approached. "Excuse me, guards, is the creature locked safely behind that cell?" She asked one of the seven sentinels.

"Yes, your highness, the creature can barely stand up after its vivisection, you should be fairly safe, as long as you remain out of reach." One of the guardsponies responded.

"Is it true that it can speak?"

"Yes, your highness, it can. It's been muttering cries of mercy for the past hour."

"Good, because I would like to speak to it in private." Cadence commanded authoritatively.

"Yes, your highness!" The guards repositioned themselves as they moved out from the dungeon. Leaving the two alone, the princess took a closer look as she was no longer cut off by the guards. She saw the creature lying on its back, with several rolls of bandages around its stomach and chest.

"Hello?" She asked, leaning closer to the cell, almost touching the bars. The creature's eyes slowly opened as it tried to sit up. 

"Please...I...Stop the pain...I beg you!" The creature gripped its torso as it  quivered in pain, its breathing heavy and strained. Cadence naturally reacted to an innocent creature’s plea for help, she conjured a powerful anesthetic spell that would greatly reduce any form of pain that was felt. Though she was a natural at magic, she had could feel how her magical connection with the creature was breaking apart the spell and was reducing its effect on it. "Thank...you!" It wheezed out, able to breath normally again.

"I have so many questions to ask you, though I'm sure my aunts have already asked a few?" Cadence had expected the human to reply with words, but instead he defiantly replied by spitting in her face. Appalled by the disgusting gesture, she was thrown back and quickly started wiping the spittle from her muzzle.

"You are going to have to give me a little bit more than morphine to get any answer from me you pink horned bitch!" Cadence's disgusted face quickly turned to one of anger, she turned her back on the human and left the room. Wanting nothing to do with the human for the moment.

***Present day***

The little filly and her human sat down at one corner of the inn, while Applebloom was already throwing herself at her plate, Aran barely touched his food and keeping one eye on his plate and the other on the patrons. Applebloom noticed Aran’s wariness after a while and was curious to why he wasn't so thrilled to  finally be warm and have a savory dinner. "Uhm… Aran ya alright?"

"I'm just dandy." He deadpanned, keeping his gaze focused.

"Yer' kinda freaking me out, how do you even do that?" She asked almost throwing up her supper.

"When you have to kill two princesses, you need to be able to keep one eye on each one of them, or else they stab you in the back and kick you in the face." He said bluntly, keeping his cold demeanor ever since she met him.

Applebloom didn't doubt that Aran hated Luna with a passion, after all, she had tried to assassinate him, but she didn't understand why he despised Celestia so much. "I don’ get why ya hate Princess Celestia. She’s the nicest pony there is and sweeter than my sister's pie."

Aran turned his gaze to the little filly, causing her to shiver, while he raised his other eyebrow at the colorful metaphor. "-Then your sister much have one hell of a sour pie,” Aran growled, his teeth clenching a bit. “Despite the fact that she robbed me of my identity and memory leaving me hollow with nothing to live for,” he raised one finger, “posted racist guards who tormented me night and day outside of my cell” raised a second finger at that, his glare hardening more so “I however can never forget the experiments they performed on me. Having one’s rib cage, lungs and heart exposed to oneself would tend to cause an argument or two, wouldn't you say?" He asked ironically, glaring even harder still at the filly, his third finger raised. Applebloom was silent for a moment before she looked down at her half-empty plate, shocked and horrified. She didn't know just how cruel the princesses could get. Aran saw how he had demoralized Applebloom and sighed almost reaching a hand over to comfort the child.

The door to the inn slammed open and a group off Minotaur 'badasses' armed to the teeth barged in, along with one carrying something familiar. "A drink for everyone under the roof!" The muscular leader of the group called out, followed by a cheer from everyone who was glad to get free booze. "Simmer down Drax, what's got you so cheery today?" One of the regulars asked, Aran and Applebloom were both keeping their ears open for the company of minotaurs who already started to hassle a few of the lonely drinkers. 

"I was hunting this bear in the forest a mile from here and I found this relic axe, I had one of my associates look over it and it is around 800 years old and worth a barrel of bits, I didn't get the bear's hide, but atleast I can go on early retirement!" The minotaur laughed it up as the barkeep went from person to person giving everyone a pint of ale. "First thing tomorrow I'm going to sell this to a collector in the capital, and you'll see me for longer then you can handle you old bull!" Aran already glanced at the axe and without a change in expression, knew that the axe was the ransom for Applebloom. 

Applebloom also couldn't forget the weapon he had picked up against the wolves. "Ain’t that-"

"I already know." He cut her off, stopping her from stating the obvious.

The minotaur leaned closer to the bartender and gave a few quick glances. Aran already knew that he was sticking out like a sore thumb and that he was most likely talking about him. Aran closed his eyes willingly, which was something he rarely did when surrounded by enemies, and listen very carefully to the conversation, hidden by dine of the inn.

Despite the fact that he was several feet away from them, he could hear the conversation crystal clear. Something that tends to happen when you live in a forest that is covered with a thick layer of darkness is that your other senses tend to get a lot better. The world was slowing down and everything around Aran was tuned out as he focused on the Minotaur, waiting for him to speak. "Aye Volkar, what is that thing sitting with that pony over there?" He said, hinting his horns to the corner where the duo were sitting.

"That's Korvax's new bodyguard, but you probably know him as the big bad pig of the Everfree forest." He said keeping his eyes on an empty mug that he was cleaning.

Drax slightly shot up from the reveal. "That’s the big bad pig? That puny thing killed 4 hunters?" He whispered. He mistakenly glanced at Aran who was listening in on the conversation but looking as if he was in deep train of thought. "I heard that the Hunter's Pack has put up a bounty on his head, worth 2000 bits."

"I wouldn't recommend it, he'd probably tear you apart before you could blink an eye, there is a reason the princesses and the pack have a bounty on him, and that Korvax wants Him as his bodyguard." Volkar added, not wanting to repair damages from another fight.

However, the moment the minotaur knew who the human was, his mind could only think of the extra money he could get from killing a meager opponent. "I've to yet see someone defeat me in a fight!" He laughed and walked away from the innkeeper. Aran opened his eyes as the conversation had ended. His guard was already up, though he did not show. He played along to being unaware of the lingering fight that was brewing.  

"What’s wrong?" Applebloom asked, somehow sensing from Aran that there was about to be trouble.

"What's wrong is that I can never enjoy myself, even though for the first time in a month, I'm in a warm and comfortable house, I still end up  in a bloody fight." Aran grumbled. He knew that the Minotaur gang wouldn't attack him in the middle of the inn, that would lead to a brawl of who got to keep his head if they knew about the bounty. However, Aran couldn't ignore this threat, as they would most likely kill him in his sleep or gang up on him in his room. "Applebloom, remember what I told you before we arrived here?"


***

The minotaur gang saw how the human stood up and abandoned the little filly. Leaving the inn, the minotaurs along with their leader followed the human outside, preparing their weapons, they left their seats and quickly rushed for the door. When they came outside, they found no trace of the human, the sun having completely set, leaving the village in a thick layer of darkness.

"Spread out, that human couldn't have gotten far!" Drax ordered, taking point and heading towards the abandoned shack-like homes in the Southeastern corner of the village.The group split up. Who for now and forever after shall be dubbed Leng, was carefully treading through the empty Bazar. There were stalls spread out, with a few items still remaining in the decrepit constructs. Sniffing the air and looking for any traces of the human, Leng swept his head about. He glimpsed a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. Convinced it was the human, Leng gripped his sword tighter as he made his way closer to where he saw the flicker, before jumping around the corner only to find an old shop that was blocking the exit. Thinking that the human was inside, he kicked open the door and saw a completely abandoned building, a dead end… his end. 

Aran, emerged from the tattered remains of the tents that was the bazaar and quietly approached the unsuspecting minotaur and used a small but sharp piece of an old war-horn to stab Leng in the backside of his head. The already dead Minotaur fell limp to the ground, impaling his brain, killing him instantaneously. "Surprise motha' fucka'!" Leaving the corpse on the ground, Aran made sure to collect the sword that the minotaur had dropped. Quickly looking over his shoulder, he made sure nobody was around before he continued with his plan. "One down, two more to go!"

***

Several moments passed and Drax had searched the entire living quarters of the village. Many of the shacks were just abandoned old homes that were long forgotten and torn up, with some homeless minotaurs still living inside the dark and murky houses. Returning back to the inn to regroup with his men, he was surprised and thrilled to see the human waiting for him at the door of the large building. He readied his axe for battle, but as he stepped closer, he saw a medium sized shape that he couldn't really make out from the distance, stepping closer, he saw the human leaning against building. However, the image of the shadow was now fully revealed as he saw just what it was. A stacked pile of his gangs’ heads, all impaled on the sword that was also leaning against the building. "How rude of you to make me wait so long in this cold weather, I almost thought that you wouldn't show up!" He said in a jovial tone.

Drax held his mouth open in disbelief as he saw the horrifying sight of his friends with looks of terror plastered permanently on their faces, with the sword going through the bottom of  their throats to the top of their skulls. Bits of furry flesh hung from their necks, the cuts not having been clean, but a little bit sawed through. Vertebrae with chunks of red wet meat clinging to it could be seen hanging from the bottom of some of the heads, protruding from the necks. "What...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" 

"Do you like it? I made sure to put a good amount of detail into their looks before I killed them, or else all of this would have been a waste of time." He spoke, devoid of emotion.  "One of them even cried like a bitch before I killed him, I even convinced him that I would let him go." A frightening smile appeared on his face as he pulled the heads off the sword, as if sliding off pieces of meat from a shish kebab. and brought the bloodied sword up for a fight. "Let’s end this!" He said, taking his battle stance.

Drax roared in an unimaginable fury and charged towards Aran with his axe, blindly and wildly throwing swings, missing Aran, or being deflected by him on his every strike. The movement of a bull consumed by fury was almost too easy to read. Directing his horns for a charge right towards him, Aran just barely managed to dodge it and cut off the arm wielding the axe. Drax fell to the ground, screaming in pain as he was gripped the bleeding stub where his arm used to be.

The axe was still stuck to the arm on the ground. Aran slowly walked over to it and dropped his sword, Picking up the axe along with the arm, pure white bone could be seen along with the red musculature that was dangling from the severed end of the arm. Aran unfurled the arm’s middle finger and started waving it to drax, holding the bone sticking out of the arm, waving it back and forth, like a sword, splattering loosened flesh and blood to the ground, with wet shlopping sounds.. Almost laughing from the unusual treatment of his prey, he kicked Drax in the stomach, causing him to let go of his stump spilling more blood and more furry tissue on the street, along with Drax landing on his back. Raising the axe above his head, Aran cut off the other arm as well with one nasty chop that spurt blood all over his lower body, the arm falling limply to the ground, spasming a bit, fingers clenching and unclenching, muscles contracting, before lying still.

Drax screamed in agony into the ground, in shock and just moments away from passing out from loss of blood, his bloodied meat stumps flailing uselessly, Aran made sure to keep him awake for one final message. going down on his knees and hovering above his face, Aran stared directly at the eyes of his victim. "WAS IT WORTH IT!?" He shouted. "To lose your friends and life because you wanted to make money!?" Drax didn't answer, he was still in shock and could barely even think of words to speak other than the gasps of pain and cries of agony. "No answer? Then you won't need THIS then!" Aran wrapped with both his hands as hard as he could Drax’s furry throat, and with all of his strength, dug into his hide, and ripped the flesh below his jaw, taking a good deal of his throat along with him.

Drax would have been clawing at his throat of he still had hands, not that it would have done any good. Instead his stumps flailed even more wildly loosening and splattering more flesh and blood upon the inn’s walls, and along the streets, the bright red, shimmering in the moonlight. Drax gurgled and bubbled at his throat drowning in his own vital fluid, gore spilling down his chest, strips of flesh dangling back and forth like a pendulum, as things proceeded to get more and more hazy, Aran just sat there and stared into his panicking eyes until the spasms and the curdles of blood stopped.

Inside, everyone was waiting too see how the little stand off was going to play out. Volkar was confident that Drax had already been killed, but Applebloom was still anxiously waiting to see if her protector had made it.The door swung open and Aran was standing there, Applebloom slightly turned off the by the several stains of blood and the dead eyes that was gazing. All the others heard the commotion outside, and waited for the 'Victor' to come back in. Covered in blood, they saw him holding the axe to his side with a fresh piece of meat cut out, a lot of them quickly went back to minding their own business as they had no interest in becoming another one of his victims. Walking over to his former spot, he took out the war horn from under his poncho and placed it on the table. "You did good kid." And with those words, he sat down, put the axe on the ground and started eating his meal. The rest of the night was very quiet, nobody started an argument, Applebloom, while turned off by witnessing him eating meat, did not complain, she was more happy to also be in a warm house where she could eat drink and rest, and for the first time in a year, Aran could finally sleep on a soft and comfortable bed.
> Chapter 8 Royal Duties
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a cloudy afternoon, as the weather ponies had scheduled a snow storm that was going to fly through Equestria and follow all the way to Gryffindar. Celestia had just finished delivering the bad news to the parents of the guards lost in the conflict a few days ago. Trying to maintain a calm demeanor, she waited until she was back in her own room, before she shut the door and fell back on it. Sliding down, she covered her face with her hoof as she desperately tried to forget their cries of grief, still ringing in her mind. It was affecting her deeply, despite having done this several times before. Each time she had to tell the loved ones of the deceased that they wouldn’t be coming back, made her heart clench in pain. What was even worse is that they couldn't have a proper funeral to bury the remains of the guards due to there being only traces of fur and bones left, making it impossible to know who was who. It hurt more when she had to tell a single mother that her son couldn’t join her for her birthday, out of all, this hit her at home the most, after all, in her life, she had never loved anyone more then her son, Sunbright, or as he is better known these days, Sombra. Both Celestia and Luna felt empty after their encounter a millennia ago, they both had a gaping hole in their hearts that could not be filled. And seeing the parents mourn the loss of their sons, woke up this long forgotten pain.

Tears freely slid down her face as she mourned for her loss and others.. A knock came from the door. She quickly wiped away any visible tears and took a quick second to insure that there were no traces of sorrow in her eyes. "Sister, are you alright?" As soon as she heard Luna's voice, she let down her guard again. Celestia Opened the door, allowing her sister to enter the room. Luna already sensed there was something wrong with her sister. "Did it go well?"

"They all took it very hard, sons, brothers and fathers that will never see their loved ones again. And it was all my fault, I shouldn't have trusted Aran to keep his end of the bargain!" She kicked the ground, cracking the marmor surface. 

Every moment Luna saw her sister suffering because of her arrogance and misjudgment felt like a hot iron rod going through her heart. Secretly losing one of the few who have been at her side for millennia, because she wanted to get rid of a thorn that wasn't even causing her any trouble. She wanted to smack herself across the face for even bothering with Aran, they hadn't had a single incident ever since the wedding. "What will we do regarding the filly, Applebloom?" Celestia stood silent for a moment, she didn't know if it was possible to save her anymore, Aran was now in possession of a powerful weapon, had a hostage he could kill or let die at any moment, and to top it off, she didn’t know how many ponies it would take to even engage and manage him properly. He was an avatar of ferocity and rage, was no stranger to pain, suffering, and combat.What was once an innocent child, was now a monster that seeked nothing but vengeance. A monster of vengeance that she had created because of her arrogance and misjudgment. "Tia?" Celestia snapped out of her thoughts. 

"I don't know… the only way we can kill or imprison him is if we bring an army, but our guards have already searched every inch of the Everfree for him. He has most likely left for the minotaur planes or gryffindar, and if we would send an army after him, that would be seen as a direct declaration of war, if we send a small squad of specialists, we are taking another big risk with their lives and also risk the life of a little filly. The most likely outcome from that option would result in heavy casualties before they could manage to bring him down, and that is the best case scenario, it could also go all wrong, and end up in a bloodbath that nopony walks away from. But, if we do nothing, we will forfeit the life of Applebloom. In conclusion, the answer comes down to whether the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But if we let Applebloom die, Applejack would never forgive us and she might lose her connection to her element as I did, leaving Equestria defenseless." Celestia took a deep breath as the stress of the situation was getting to her. Celestia looked to her sister for any sort of advice, but she also had no idea how to save Applebloom from Aran.


***

Aran slowly woke up from his dreamless sleep and cherished every second that he was under a warm blanket, on a soft bed and a real pillow. Aran was already fully awake, but decided that it was pointless to leave the bed anyways, after all, he had no business downstairs and Applebloom was still asleep next to him, he just lay there and thought about how much he had forgotten the good old comforts of society, though he remembered very little of it. He did remember one event in particular though; a particular winter’s morning when the cold crisp air was seeping into his room with a view right out his window with a perfect panorama of his neighbourhood, covered in a blanket of white fluffy snow. A small nostalgic smile crept onto his face, though it was quickly snuffed out, remembering how he had taken his life on Earth for granted. Just the task of getting water was an hour long process, compared to the simple turn of a knob. Or the weekly mission to get properly fed, compared to being able to order a pizza which he could now last at most a week, instead of a single evening.

But most of all, the long, long forgotten sense of security, knowing that there is an unimaginably small chance of harm when you lay down in your bed, compared to in Equestria, where every second your eyes were closed was a second that could cost you your life. Living in the everfree forest as long as he did, had made him paranoid for every second he had his back turned or his eyes closed. Lying down on the bed again, Aran twist and turned in the bed, looking over Applebloom's shoulder. Memories of his murder attempt were flashing back to him, even though she had done a great job locating something sharp and useful as a weapon in a very short notice, even the ability to sneak by everyone unnoticed. But that was to be expected of her, after all. In this part of the world, children are ignored by everyone, they are everywhere, see everything and hear everything, with no one taking notice of their presence. Maybe she could have her uses after all. In Magmar, most would just look at her as an orphan filly. She could be his eyes and ears, getting information where he could not.

Aran let out a relieved sigh, now that he had solved his problem with Applebloom, he eased up a bit on his thinking, however, now that he was done contemplating, he had nothing else to do but lay in bed. But after a few minutes it became really dull, his body being as rested as it could be. Putting on his torn up shoes, he made his way down the stairs to have some breakfast, something he didn't think he'd ever do again. A blissful smile crept on his face as he saw the inn mostly abandoned, with only Volkar and the barmaids cleaning up after last night’s rather gruesome event. He approached the minotaur and grabbed whatever was present on the table.

"Shit, what happened here?" He looked around. "Where did everyone go?"

"They all grabbed their stuff and left the second they woke up,” Volkar shrugged. “My bet is that you scared them away. Sucks for my business, but hey, at least there wasn't a single brawl last night, so that is an upside." Aran chuckled as he took a sip of water. "By the way, next time you kill someone, please don't leave their heads and a bloody corpse outside my Inn. It tends to freak out any newcomers."

"Sorry, mom. Next time I brutally slaughter a gang of minotaur, I'll clean up my mess." He said, trying to suppress his smirk. But as quick as he was to relax, he was just as quick to grow restless again. Thoughts about Cadence popped up as he had a lot of time and nothing to do but think. Though he had no physical worries at the moment, he was still uneasy about his encounter with the pink alicorn, if she ever would seek him out again, could he really bring himself to kill her?

***

Aran lay on the ground, his mouth half open the taste of dirt assaulting his tongue. He was drooling endlessly, he had barely enough strength to breath, his body was unable to warm itself due to his mistreatment. He was dying in his cell, but a day or two away from either freezing, or starving to death. Even if he didn’t die from malnourishment, the strain put on his body was far too much that he knew he would be dead soon enough. He knew that the still healing wound that took up most of his torso would tear and reopen the wound. His mind was also fading in and out of consciousness. He could still feel the remnants of the spell the ponies had cast on him, rippling in his head. To say that the spell felt like nails on a chalkboard was an understatement, this was more like a chainsaw cutting through glass. Aran was broken, physically and mentally. "This...This is it." He whispered to himself in comfort. He would die, but at least he would be put out of his misery. He was just about to black out...and never wake up again. With no hope of rescue, the light in his eyes slowly faded away as he slowly closed his eyes and he loosened his grip on life.

An azure light shone through the abandoned dungeon. Cadence approached the unconscious and malnourished human. Her horn gave a bright glow as its magic surged into the half-dead body, trying to revitalize the soon-to-be corpse. She had put significant effort into the spell, even with his magical resistance, it was quickly showing results. His fingers were twitching and small gasps and moans could be heard under his breath. Cadence, seeing that the human had been saved from the grasp of death, left a small basket, with, bread, treats, fruits, hay and vegetables along with a note and something special before teleporting out of the dungeon.

Aran's senses quickly returned to him as a feeling of rejuvenation spread throughout his body. His mental and physical pain had been greatly suppressed and his strength was steadily coming back to him, stronger than he'd had for a while now. "What just happened?" Straining his muscles, he once again was fully conscious and able to stand. The wound from his procedure had mostly been healed, though it was still there, it would one day leave a scar on his chest and life from his unforgettable experience. Aran was lucky that the moon was shining through his barred window, or else he most likely wouldn't be able to see the basket of food. Surprised, he didn't waste a second before grabbing whatever he could get his hands on, however, the first thing his hand touched was a note on top of the food.



Destroy the basket and throw it out of the window. I hope that you accept my token of friendship.



Aran didn't need much puzzling to know that it was most likely the pink alicorn that had healed him from earlier, still a little bit shocked that she would give him food after he had spat in her face, he sniffed it suspecting it to be poisoned. Contemplating the risk whether or not it was worth starving to death over edible food or to risk a quick, and perhaps, even more painful death from poison he eventually shrugged and gobbled down an apple. Chewing thoroughly, and swallowing, Aran waited  a second, which turned into thirty, and then a minute. When he didn’t start foaming at the mouth, he continued with his meal. If the pink pony was offering food to have her curiosity fed, then he wouldn't complain, as long as he got sustenance and medical attention, he could tolerate the alicorn.


***

The throne room was completely silent, the guards were ordered to leave Luna alone and in solitude. Scribbling away on the parchment, despite the heavy losses faced in the royal guard and her own personal task force, she had no choice but to move on. It wasn't going to make it any easier thinking about it all the time, and besides, the frustration from the work helped her forget just for a moment.

The doors to the room swung open, and with it came a slightly more cheery Celestia who had a relieved look on her face. "I finally know what to do Luna! I have an idea on how to rescue Applebloom."

Luna, despite her being done with the human, had to play intrested so as to not give away any suspicion. "What is it sister?" She said, standing up from the throne and walking down its steps.

"We can hire a skilled band of mercenaries that we could send after Applebloom, retrieve her and deal with Aran should he pose too much of a threat. And the best part of it I wouldn’t risk starting a war or risking the lives of my guards.” She jolted up waiting for her sister to give a response. Luna was frozen for the moment, she did think it was a good idea that would minimize damage, but mercenaries only care about the money and could abandon it should they deem it to hard. “Well? What do you think?” Celestia asked, hoping that her sister would reassure her that she was making the right choice.

Luna looked up at her sister again, finally knowing what to say. “I believe that is the best course of action, but a group like that will need someone to make sure that their priorities are clear. I recommend we let Captain Shining Armor come along for this mission. Afterall, twice now he has survived Aran’s assault.”

Celestia paused as the possibility of losing another guard came up again. But this time the cost wouldn't be so heavy, though Celestia appreciated her guards, and her captains over the millennia, Shining Armor was also Twilight’s brother which meant that if he would die, she could lose her connection with the elements. But if he would be assigned just as a witness, it would remove the risk out of the equation. “Its a plan, but I will only allow him to go if he volunteers too. Afterall, I don’t want order my guards to forfeit their life, or else I wouldn't be any better than Aran.”
> Chapter 9 Chilling Winds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days had passed since Aran and Applebloom arrived at the tavern. The little filly had spent most of her time outside, but always within earshot of the inn. Though she had finally received some form of recognition, Applebloom still felt largely ignored by Aran, but she had decided to just suck it up and not complain. It did however, make her feel very lonely since the minotaurs wouldn't even acknowledge her with the exception of Volkar, but she knew he was only doing it because she was with Aran. Though she at times regretted her choice to stay with the human, she still came to the conclusion that being with Aran had its perks as well. Back at the farm, she woke up very early to do her part for the Apple orchard and then go to school. Secretly, she hated it. Waking up before the sun had even crossed over the horizon to help her sister and brother, quickly followed by her dashing off to school without a moments rest, only to endure the harassment of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon upon her arrival. The only upside was that she could get a little support and cheering up from her friends. However, it was mostly just temporary. When she was with Aran, he mostly let her do whatever she wanted to do. Unfortunately, this did not help the filly with the predicament of whether she wanted to go back or not. While it wasn't as warm and friendly as Equestria, she did feel more alive and free than she had back home.

Applebloom was making her way back to the tavern where she saw that the caravan that Aran and Volkar had mentioned had finally arrived. Entering the tavern, the filly saw Aran talking to a minotaur who was holding an orange colored drink and had a confident smile plastered on his face. He sat down with the table against his back and resting his left arm on its surface as he faced the human.

"You’re enjoying this a little too much don't you think?" Aran spoke out against the smug posture.

"When I originally gave you the offer, you told me to shove it up my ass, but I knew you would come around. And now that you have, I'm going to make the most of out of it”. he said, ignoring Aran’s comment and taking a sip of his drink. “You need a roof over your head, and I need someone to protect my merchandise from bandits and roadside animals." He said, twirling the drink in the glass and taking another sip.

"Are you really asking me to do what I think you want me to do?" Aran stated covering his face like he was almost about to cry in shame.

Korvax laughed. "Just swallow your pride and do it."

After heaving a great sigh, Aran went down on his knees and lowered his head, gritting his teeth and showing off his canines. "Please, please 'pleease' Korvax, let me work for you." Aran felt how the last remaining ounce of dignity left him as he begged the minotaur.

Korvax took a moment to let it sink in before he laughed and raised his hand, letting Aran stand up again. "See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?" Aran quickly jumped back on his feet and with a very angry scowl stared at the two other minotaurs who were snickering behind him.

"Alright, lets get the fuck out of here, I'm done with this place." Korvax obliged and quickly left the tavern whilst Aran was left behind to grab his small collection of items. Applebloom ran upstairs and put on her saddlebag that weighed even more with the recent added supplies to it. Most of it being pouches of water. The medicine to treat the poison in Aran's body, had almost all been used up and now the question came down to if it had been enough to completely flush the poison out of his system. Running back down and meeting up with Aran, they gave Volkar one last wave before they made their way towards the caravan waiting outside. Applebloom stayed close by Aran's side as he helped her climb up onto the humungous caravan, perfectly sized for minotaurs and humans. Scooching up to a horse who was snoozing in the corner, Aran took his seat opposite from the horse, Applebloom jumped up on the seat, and laid on her stomach.

"Get some rest, it's going to be a long trek towards Magmar." He said, keeping his gaze straight forward. Applebloom did just that and closed her eyes to get some shut-eye, but just as she got comfortable, a chilling wind blew through the holes of the caravan. The little filly shuddered from the cold. This caught the attention of Aran. Taking a long deep breath, he lifted Applebloom with one arm and placed her closer to his lap. "Stay close to me, I'll keep you warm." He said, not trying to make a big deal out of it. Applebloom instantly felt a lot better from the care she was given by him, snuggling closer for warmth.


***

"You can't do this Shining! Have you already forgotten what happened just a week ago?" Cadence protested, with equal parts grief and frustration in her heart.

"Cadence, you know that I have a duty as captain of the guard to protect the citizens of Equestria.” Shining Armor replied as he continued to don his armor. His back was turned to Cadance, with a dark expression of determination on his face. “A little filly has been kidnapped by that thing that almost killed me, imagine what pain she must be going through as its captive!"

At that point Cadence wanted with all her heart to shout at her husband for talking about Aran as if he was some sort of monster, but she knew that she had to keep her knowledge of Aran a secret. "What about me? Are you going to risk making me a grieving widow after just three months of marriage?"

Shining Armor took big offense to Cadence's outburst. "You talk as if I stand no chance against him!" He snapped back at her, snorting a bit. 

Cadence sighed. "Thats why I’m worried, You're volunteering because you feel as if you need to prove something, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone, or yourself for that matter!"

The Captain turned his back to his wife."I have to do it Cadence, If you had seen what I saw, you would understand, it’s nothing but a beast, and it will never stop!"

"No, you're throwing away everything for revenge! Don't make the same mistake twice. You volunteered to lead the mission to the Everfree forest because you were hoping to get the opportunity to take him down and you almost lost your life. Do you ever think about how devastated Twilight and I would be if you-"

"If I what? Died!?” shining practically roared at his wife. “I lost 19 good stallions who I've known as long as I've known you, some even longer!" Shining at this point couldn't take it anymore, he had to get out of there before their argument just became a pointless shouting contest.

Cadence, left in their room, stood there in shock as her husband walked away from her. Tears started to hit the floor as she began to sob quietly. 


***


Aran was sitting in the lonely cell, feeling rejuvenated, sitting with his legs crossed, he awaited her arrival. It was close to midnight now and still there was no sign of anyone coming to visit him. After a while, doubts started to manifest in his mind, maybe she changed her mind about seeing him. But a few minutes later, his doubts were allayed as a bright blue light appeared from the pitch black darkness. Blinded by the light, he raised his arms to protect his eyes from the intense flash. When the light was gone, Aran removed his hands from his eyes and saw the pink alicorn holding a dim candle along with a basket of food that was even bigger than last time prepared for him. Instantly going into a frenzy state from hunger, Aran threw himself at the bars, trying to reach the basket. Cadence jumped back slightly in shock. She hadn’t expect such an aggressive greeting. After a few seconds, she realized that he was trying to grab the basket rather than trying to attack her. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, you startled me." She said, trying to laugh it off.

The human snapped out of the hunger induced state and stopped trying to grab the basket in favour of facing the alicorn. "I'm surprised that you showed up, I was almost beginning to think you wouldn't come." He stated with an attempt at nonchalance even though his eyes flickered towards the basket of much needed food.

Cadence grimaced apologetically. "I'm sorry I'm late, I had to be careful not to draw suspicion." An awkward silence fell over the two, as they contemplated each other. "Well, now that I am here, how about I ask you some questions?” Cadence asked. “I stay by my stance from our previous encounter, I'd love to get to know you a little better!" Cadence spoke, with a tone full of something that Aran had almost completly forgotten. Optimism.

"You hand over the food and I'll humor you." Aran spoke, opening the palm of his right hand as a demand. In an instant, the light blue flash returned on a smaller scale and the basket landed on his demanding hand. The moment he got the food, he followed his instincts and proceeded to eat as much as he could.

Cadence took a few steps closer and put the candle closer to the bars to give them both some better vision of each other. She took a seat close to the bars, but still out of arm's reach. "Now that I've fulfilled my part, could you tell me your name?"

Wiping the juices of the recently devoured fruits from his lips, Aran paused in realization. "My name...My name-" Cadence waited in anticipation for the answer. Slightly rubbing his temples, he tried to remember his name. It had been a long time since someone last used it, and with the constant use of magic forced on his mind, it was a challenge just to remember his name. "My name… is Aran." Cadence was slightly let down by the build-up, she had expected something more… well, more. But she wouldn't really complain about an alien's name, especially one she was trying to win over.

"Well then Aran, can you tell me where you live or if you have a family?" She said, starting with the basics of small talk. Aran tried to remember but as he did he felt as if a hot nail was ramming into the back of his skull. Cringing in pain and barely able to keep himself from roaring in agony, Aran grasped his head, squeezing it as hard as he could in an attempt to alleviate his suffering. Cadence quickly saw this and rushed over to heal him, like she had done before. Charging her horn with the same spell as then, but applying more power to it this time, Aran’s body faintly glowed light blue for a short moment until the spell’s effects quickly dissipated.

The human almost fell face first on the ground, barely catching himself while gasping for air as sweat started to pour down, he slowly lifted his head and looked gratefully at Cadence in the eye. "Thank you..." As he spoke. Cadence immediately stepped away from the bars again, Aran was confused by the sudden defensive posture.

Cadence stood in anticipation, waiting for the human to pounce at the bars again. After she stood there for about five seconds, Cadence blinked and took notice of the questioning stare Aran was giving her. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She smiled, taking a few steps forward again. "I thought you were going to do what you-...Never mind!" She said, hoping Aran wouldn't take offense. The tortured, scarred and starved human didn't really prioritize pride in his current situation. "Can you remember anything now?" Cadence asked, hoping to quickly forget her previous action.

Aran carefully tried to remember something from his own world to test out if her spell had done the trick. "Yes, It's much better now." Sitting back down and taking a few bites out of the food that was still lying in the basket, Aran took a long and drawn out breath before he continued. "I lived in a quiet neighbourhood, with my mom and older brother… or at least I did..."

Cadence was surprised at the simple answer, once again she had expected something more dramatic. she started to get a sinking feeling in her gut along with a slight feeling of guilt. The so-called human in front of her seemed completely harmless. she forced the feeling into the back of her mind, maybe she just needed to ask more questions. "Could you specify a bit more?" Cadence once again asked.

It took a few seconds before Aran responded. "I have two older brothers and a sister. I can’t remember much about them other than their occupation and lifestyle." Cadence leaned closer in curiosity, Aran noticed this and answered the question he knew she was going to ask. "My oldest brother has a family of his own to take care of, and my sister is a teacher and lives alone." 

Cadence's eyes widened and the sinking feeling returned. More and more she was starting to doubt her previous assumptions about the human and his kind. From what she had heard from her aunt, humans were cruel war mongerers whose conflicts would end in the casualties of millions of soldiers and civilians alike. They could create explosions the size of Equestria that would leave the earth forever poisoned, commit atrocities that even the windigoes would balk at. But now that she was actually talking to him, she realized that Celestia must either have either exaggerated the bad and overlooked the good or, perish the thought, had outright lied about the species. Still she pressed on, determined to find out the truth. "What about you and your other brother?"

"I was a bit too young to leave home, and my other brother...Before I came here, the last and biggest thing that happened was that he got his degree in medicine."

Cadence was just grabbing at straws at this point as she couldn't find out what and why Celestia would treat this seemingly innocent creature like a monster. And as the human began to look more and more like a victim of circumstance, Cadence started to believe more and more that her aunt might not have told her the truth. "And...Your mother?" Cadence asked, barely able to keep her original cheery smile.

"She...-" Aran felt the pain return again, but rather than the hot nails of last time it was more of a slight pinch. However, his mind already knew the answer. Though it still took a moment to respond, once again slightly rubbing his temples. "She works at the post-office." A few seconds passed, Cadence just stood there, staring at the sad creature, before, not being to take it any longer, she cast a teleportation spell. In a flash, Cadence disappeared from the dark cell only to reappear in her own bathroom in front of her toilet with a heavy nauseous feeling about to take over.


***


The caravan rolled on, Korvax leading it on their journey. While the minotaur was busy, Aran was grabbing some shut eye. His new job would take much from him, he would need to be at full strength at a blink of an eye. Applebloom however was barely staying warm, laying close to Aran had helped her a lot. But the cold winter winds felt as if they were cutting right through his arm and straight to her bones.

At this time, the white fur coated horse that was sharing the caravan with them, was starting to wake up. As she gasped for air and slowly returned to the real world, she was surprised to see the human in her caravan, she had seen him before, but not up close like this, what also caught her attention, was the little pony filly next to the big human. 

"Howdy?" Applebloom hesitantly greeted. 

"Hello there, little one!" The mare returned exuberantly, leaning forwards towards the filly. "I see you two are the new addition to our traveling family, Welcome, welcome!" She said with a very warm sense of joy to see her new traveling companions. The mare quickly moved towards her baggage and took out a box of treats for the little filly to snack on. "Here, take one!" She smiled politely.

"Whats that?" Applebloom asked, taking a small look and sniff at the weirdly shaped pastries. 

"Its called baklava, its a treat from my home country. Try one, the squared ones are my favorite." Applebloom took second look at the pastries presented in front of her, they looked like nothing she had ever seen, but she didn't want to be rude towards this very friendly and open mare who just by first glance, was already treating her like family. The filly decided to go with the direction that she was being hinted to and took the one that the mare had recommended. To her surprise, Applebloom was shocked to find out while the treat was very, very sweet, it was also very tasty. "Do you like it...- Oh forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself. I am Anzja, what is your name little one?" She asked, once again keeping her warm and kind smile plastered on her face.

"Ahm Applebloom!" She responded with the same vibe as the horse. 

"Well, Applebloom, I'm happy to see that you like my baklava." She took a glance at the sleeping human. "I would be happy to give one to your friend here, but I wish not to wake him and summon his wrath." She said, with a slight hint of humor. The dry blood stained axe was a big ‘Go away’ sign for anyone that wanted to bother the human. "I have to say, I'm surprised, one so innocent would travel with one so dangerous. Not that I disapprove of your companionship, I am merely curious to see you two together on your journey."

Applebloom smiled and glanced at Aran. "He might look scary, but ahm telling the honest truth when I say that he's a nice fella. Ah wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him." The white mare smiled at the poor filly, they were both already growing on each other. "Can ah have another?" Anzja nodded and Applebloom leaned forward to take another treat. However, the caravan came to a sudden stop, causing Applebloom to fall over and hit the floor. 

"Whats going on?" One of the others called out from a distance. 

Without saying a word, Aran's bloodshot eyes opened up as he quickly jumped out with his axe ready to cleave any who would dare cross him. Aran dashed towards the head of the caravan and saw Korvax and his lackeys carefully studying two huge black bears down the valley, about twice the size of the human and minotaur, the first one was obviously female due to its lacking size, the other a full-grown male. "Jesus, those are some big treefuckers." Aran commented. Korvax turned around with his trademark grin and looked at at the human, expecting him to do his job. "Alright, I'm on it." Taking a big drawn out breath, Aran was already contemplating a plan to take the bears out. Applebloom had also strolled up behind him as the minotaurs and human continued to watch the bears up ahead. "Applebloom, yer up." The filly kicked the ground in agitation, she didn't think she was going to be used as live bait so soon again. "Yeah, yeah, stop whining and let’s go."

It had taken about five minutes for Applebloom and Aran to trek down to the valley and by then, Aran had formed a semi-decent plan in his head. The both lowered themselves in the tall foliage and stared at their targets "By now, they've probably caught our scent. We need to separate the big one and take him out accordingly, if I'd go charge down blindly swinging, chances are they'd get in a clean swipe or bite which would cost me more than it’s worth in the long run." Applebloom nodded, she wasn't in the business of doubting someone who had more experience dealing with these kind of situations. Aran pondered for a second on how he was going to separate the two. "There are two ways this will go down, either the male will let the female do the hunting, or he'll take charge. I need you to position yourself, and if the bears run together, I want you to tire them out, you're a pony so you can run a longer distance than they can, so just tire them out, and when I see one of them fall behind, I'll finish ‘em off. Got it?" Applebloom gulped as she hesitantly nodded and went ahead, down to the bears. Aran's job was to stay out of sight until the hunt began.

Applebloom could already see the bears looking at her from a distance. Her hooves were shivering but she kept her mind focused. If she tripped, she'd become their dinner. Regaining control of her body, she boldly got closer and closer until they started approaching her. She could hear the bigger one roaring as its pace increased. For Applebloom, it was time to start running. She zigzagged but kept at a reasonable pace to keep the two animals interested in her. They weren't that fast, and in fact, they were much slower than the timberwolves that had hunted her a few days ago. But after she had let them get a bit closer, their pace started to drastically increase. Applebloom's previous confidence of outrunning the bears was beginning to fade away. The smaller one was gaining on her, leaving the filly with no choice but to pick up the pace, she was tempted to look back to see if Aran was on his way, but if she did that she could risk tripping over and letting the chase end right there, with a jaw of sharp teeth clenched around her neck. However, her time with the human had taught her to prioritize her objectives, right now, all she need to do was to have faith that he would come when she needed. The pair kept running at an ever faster pace now, the bigger one was looking like it was spriting with all that it had. It was obvious that it was going to catch up with her if she didn't also give it her all. Applebloom ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, sweat dripping from her brow. She kept running in a circle around the entire field, over and over again. But every time she glanced at her side, she saw that the smaller bear had reached its limit and had slowed down, Applebloom was grateful, for this meant that any second now Aran would take care of it. The bigger one however, was still catching up to the filly, even with her top speed. Her heart started to panic as she tried pushing herself harder. It wasn't a question of endurance, but if she could outmatch its sprinting capabilities with her relentless galloping.

“APPLEBLOOM!” Aran’s voice called out.


***

Aran saw how the filly was being chased by the two bears. His time was up, which meant that he had to make his way down the valley to the field. He had already planned his way through the valley, so as to avoid being spotted by the bears. Everytime Applebloom had gone a lap, keeping bears’ backs to him, he jumped from one point of cover to the next. From tall grass, to old rocks just sitting there and to even bushes, large enough to hide behind. Aran took a slight peek to see that while the bigger bear was catching up to the filly, the smaller one was starting to walk back, most likely it had caught his scent and wanted to look for different prey. He understood how the bears’ instincts worked and the patriarchal order of the males eating before the female. and with winter approaching, they were most likely grabbing their last meal before heading off to their long slumber. 

Aran looked up from cover and saw that the smaller bear was heading towards him, a grin that would have unnerved a cockatrice spread across his lips as he could practically taste the bear’s blood. Letting the beast’s curiosity bring it closer and closer to the tree, where he was hiding, he waited for the bear to come into range of a quick kill, it with as little risk on his part as possible. When the bear was but meters away, Aran made his move. He immediately threw himself forward from his cover and ran towards the bear with his axe raised slightly above his shoulder. The bear, registering the human as a threat, instinctively raised itself on it’s hind legs in an attempt at intimidating the attacking man. This was however it’s downfall as Aran had anticipated the move. While it was busy trying to measure the threat, the human covered the last of the distance between the two before making a powerful overhead swing with the axe aimed at the bear’s left shoulder. With a normal axe this would have caused a grievous wound but would also have left the axe stuck in it’s flesh, possibly leading to the human losing his weapon. Unfortunately for the bear, this was not a normal woodcutter-axe. The head of the axe traveled through the bear’s thick winter fat and muscle with ease and the bones had little more resistance to offer when the axe met the bone.

The shoulder shattered and the ribs broke with a quick series of wet cracks before the axe left it’s flesh but the damage was done. With a single swing the human had cleaved the bear’s shoulder, completely torn open the left side of it’s ribcage and even sliced apart the lung beneath. The bear leaped back in anguish, giving a weak swing with it’s remaining arm but Aran had already taken a step back, knowing that it was over. The bear tried to go down on all fours to try to get away from the human but as it couldn't support itself on it’s left side or even breathe properly as it’s left lung was cut open and filled with blood, it collapsed almost immediately. Aran wasted no time and walked up next to the bear as it weakly tried to crawl away from him. He raised the axe again and struck the bear’s neck, severing it’s head and killing it instantaneously.

Aran held down the corpse with his foot and pulled out the axe with a wet squelch that would make anyone who heard it think of the color red. Now that the first bear was down, Aran had to take down the other before it would catch up to the filly.

“APPLEBLOOM!” He called out as he saw that the huge bear was just seconds away from reaching her. The young filly quickly took a leap to the side, just narrowly avoiding the bears frighteningly big claws. With Aran in sight, Applebloom felt a newfound strength as she ran faster than before, Aran, also started to run straight towards her. The bear was roaring behind the little filly as it was once again gaining on her, the only edge she had was her stamina. But at last, salvation came as Aran reached her. Jumping over the filly and taking a wide left sided swing against its head, only for the axe to completely miss it’s face, instead nicking its thick shoulder that only wounded it. The bear’s initial reaction like the previous one was to quickly run away from the human to re-asses the new threat. 

Aran and Applebloom took a few seconds to catch their breath. As the bear finally stopped retreating, it stood up on its hind legs to measure itself compared to its prey. Seeing it overwhelmed the human in size, it went back on all fours. Aran carefully approached the bear with his axe ready as ever. The bear growled at the human in an effort to intimidate him. However, its threats landed on insane ears as Aran was not backing down. The human responded with a loud and deafening roar that dwarfed the bears growl. The huge beast lunged forward and tried to grab Aran with its massive fangs. But his quick and paranoid reflexes made him jump back and responded with a blind side-strike that missed its target once again. In the bear’s view this looked to it much like when one of the mountain lions tried to steal it’s prey, using it’s smaller and faster body to avoid its attacks while swiping at the bear’s face with it’s claws. But the bear was an experienced fighter, and knew what worked best against such tactics.

The moment his blind strike missed, the bear charged forward with its full body, aiming to pin the human under it’s overwhelming mass and maul him. While this would have worked against a mountain lion, it would prove flawed against the human’s ability to move and attack simultaneously. Aran once again leaped backwards and struck again the same way. This time however, striking the bears neck. Although no major damage was inflicted it caused the bear to falter, stopping the bear’s attack. Blood was rapidly pouring out of its wound, though it wouldn’t be lethal, it would give the human an edge and give the bear a taste of self-preserving fear. Aran went on the offensive, wildly swinging his axe in front of him, all while screaming at the top of his lungs to scare it away. The moment he had been waiting for showed up when the bear turned its massive body to walk away, having come to the conclusion that the prey wasn’t worth the trouble. Aran however wouldn’t let it leave, so he charged towards the bear’s blind spot. The human threw himself forward and swung the axe downwards over his head. With gravity adding to his already considerable strength, he struck it’s spine just below the shoulder blades, cutting through the spine and stopping only when the handle impacted flesh, leaving the blade halfway through its back. 

The bear lost control of its lower legs and gave out a disturbing high pitch roar of anguish as it could barely even utter the pain it was experiencing. The bear was defeated, effective lame below the point where he had severed it’s spine and would soon die from internal bleeding and having it’s main artery severed. Still, in a rare act of mercy, Aran took out his axe for another swing, this one aimed at it’s neck. Like the previous one it cut through its thick spine with ease, killing it without any more suffering. Aran stood there a while, legs trembling with excess adrenaline as he let go of the axe with his left hand, holding it only with his right hand. He then dropped down on his hands and knees with the axe still in a tight grip. As the adrenaline left him he started to feel the exhaustion the battle had caused and needed a few seconds to recover. The only thing he could do was stare at the axe in amazement. Any other weapon, like a hammer or sword would have merely scratched the bear if it had even been able to pierce the thick winter fat. But the enchanted axe had sliced through the female bear like butter and would have cut through the entire male bear had the handle not stopped it: the damage that the blow towards the male bear was two feet of fat, muscle and bone. And that was with the handle stopping it.


***

Applebloom had seen her companion do amazing feats, but this was both jaw-droppingly impressive and blood-chillingly terrifying. Even though she trusted Aran, she dared not approach him. “Go back to the Caravan and tell Korvax it’s done!” Aran said between heavy breaths. Applebloom didn’t argue with him or ask question, she just did what he told her to do. Applebloom trotted back up the valley, It took a few minutes until she was back with the others who were anticipating her arrival. Anzja was also there, waiting for her new pony friend.

“Its done.” Applebloom spoke with a slight tone of apathy behind it, like she had gotten used to being in mortal danger. Korvax waved off his companion to go back to their caravans and keep traveling down the zig zag dirt road down the valley. Applebloom went in her Caravan and saw how Anzja had a look of worry about her but right now, all that the the little filly could care about was resting. Being almost caught and eaten by bears had understandably tired her out. Anzja chose not to disturb the filly let her get some rest while the caravan kept moving. A few minutes later, Aran rejoined the caravan and jumped onto the cart after a short stop. The filly was half-way asleep as the human took his seat. He scooped the tired filly up on his lap and put his arm around her. 

“You did good Applebloom, you did good.” He murmured tiredly before falling asleep himself.
> Chapter 10 Mercenaries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The throne room was quite active, as several guards were stationed at full alert due to the newly arrived guests coming to the castle. Luna stood tall with her sister as they awaited the group that Celestia had personally requested. The small clatter and clanging of metal could be heard, making the guards tense up , Luna however knew that the only way to deal with mercenaries was to show confidence and no hint of weakness. Celestia's experience with these kind of shady ponies had faded over the centuries, but for Luna, she remembered dealing with a group like this just a year ago, due to her banishment. Shining Armor was also present at the bottom of the stairs, waiting with his peers.

The doors swung open and a group of diverse creatures walked along the red carpet leading to the the throne room, escorted by 12 guards, by their 3, 6 and 9 o clock. The group was composed of several different species. The first was a gray maned and navy blue pegasus that had wing clippers, which are armored blades at the end of one's wings. Other than the obvious weapons on his wings, he also wore a black bandana that covered his eyes. If one were to look close, they would see three distinct scars that could have only been made by a gryphon.

The second mercenary was a changeling with poison green eyes and mane, its horn had been cut short and its wings were hidden under its carapace, unlike their cousins in the badlands, they had butterfly like wings that could excrete a powerful venom. Luna remembered vaguely of reading of reclusive hives on the other side of the world. Just its involvement alone impressed Luna as she had never seen one. The guards were of course vary, watching the changeling's every move.

The third mercenary was a very tall and strong built minotaur that had pale white fur and red eyes. His horns however, were different from the rest of his kin, they branched off like a stag's, but thicker. This mercenary seemed to be a cousin of the minotaur race that were known as tundra walkers. They were giant minotaurs that could only be found past the crystal empire at the very top of the world. He walked using his polearm as a walking stick, seeming that he had difficulty walking. This was due to the fact of the biology of his race, the great girth of the tundra walkers would prevent them from moving in a steady, let alone speedy manner, but their strength was not something someone would question.

The fourth and final mercenary was a female gryphon who had black feathers along with orange spots across her body, as well as around her eyes that matched their amber color. The biggest difference from her kind along with the most terrifying feature were her metal talons that stick out like a sore horn. Because she couldn't properly move them, she ended up scratching up the carpet as she walked up towards the princesses, leaving a torn trail in her wake. 

The group finally stopped just in front of the steps, with even more guards standing between the mercs and the princesses."I thank you for coming, we, the royal sisters of Equestria are in dire need of your particular set of skills."

"Just drop the pleasantries and tell us what our objective is, I'm too old to wait for someone to make a five hour greeting card!" The pegasus spoke with a dark and gruff voice that was emotionally dead.

Luna was in her mind taken aback by the change of attitude mercenaries had these days. It was certainly different from her time. Shining was however gritting his teeth at how disrespectful the pony was towards the princess. "Watch your mouth! You're.-"

"Very well!" Luna cut off the brash Captain. "About a week ago, a filly was abducted by a ferocious creature that is not of this world, for the past year it has roamed the everfree forest. Do you know of whom I am referring to?" 

The navy pegasus nodded. "I'm guessing its the big bad pig of the Everfree Forest, I've only heard rumors Its a minotaur like creature with no fur, snout or horns." 

"Precisely, We want you and your company of companions to rescue the filly from the human!" Luna added.

The pegasus raised an eyebrow at the princess' ludacris mission. "How do you even know that this human hasn't killed the filly?"

"I've roamed the dream world and I can still see her in it, meaning she is alive."

"I'm sorry but we're not going to go on your mumbo-jumbo stomach feeling to rescue a filly who is obviously dead… unless you pay us extra for lack of intel." He said, smirking. Luna nodded, while the captain became more and more frustrated with the insolent pony.

´´Just who the heck does this pony think he is!?´´ Shining armor thought to himself.

"What can you tell us about the human? Any information is critical as I am not willing to attack something that hunts timber wolves and displays minotaur skeletons as a warning, without some sort of leverage." The pegasus spoke bluntly.

This time, Celestia stepped forward to speak. "He carries with him an enchanted axe that is as dangerous as his temper, he is very paranoid and constantly vigilant, you will have to be careful not to expose yourself at a bad time as he appears to have almost a sixth sense that somehow lets him know somepony is following him. And most of all, he has a very powerful magical immune-system. Any magic used on him will have almost no effect on him.

"I myself have never seen him, could you describe his appearance?" The merc asked, taking mental notes at every piece of new intel that was revealed.

Celestia nodded. "But of course. His height was measured at 179 centimeters when we last measured him and his physical appearance is that of a minotaur but without a snout and is completely lacking of fur other than his mane and facial hair. If you want, we have an entire medical analysis of his entire body along with several pictures that you are free to bring along with you."

"I'm sure Locust would appreciate it." He said tilting his head towards his changeling colleague. "And besides, I'm blind, so I would appreciate it if he could have it in my stead." He said, with a slight hint of humor.

Celestia smiled as she got a good hang of talking with the merc and let Luna continue on. "Your mission is to return the filly to us alive and well. The reward for completing your task is 10,000 bits for her safe return." 

A big frown appeared on the mercenaries’ faces. "Well then, good luck getting her back, we're not doing a high risk job for '10k'." The mercenaries turned their backs on the princesses and the guards moved slightly out of the way as they began to head out of the throne room.

"Wait! Where are you going!?" Luna called out in a slight state of panic.

"Get somepony else to do the job, we're not doing this for this low-pay!"

Luna was almost shattering her teeth by how hard she was gritting them due to how disrespectful they were acting. "Guards, Stop them!" The guards quickly surrounded the band of soldiers. They raised their spears and magical shields towards them while Shining armor also took the liberty to create a magical prism to contain them all. An angry frown appeared on all of their faces, but the gryphon appeared a lot more agitated by this new growing hostility. 

"Just what in the name of Tartarus do you think you're doing!?" The griffon called out as her talons began digging deep into the floor, causing screeching noises.

"I agree, we have not done anything illegal! If we decline your insane request, you have no right to keep us here!" The blind pegasus spoke without turning his face towards the princesses.

"You think you can speak to royalty in such a manner!? I should have you all thrown in the dungeons!" Luna called out.

"ENOUGH!" The booming sound of the royal canterlot voice rang in the throne room, from Celestia herself. All the guards and the mercs were taken by surprise by the solar diarch’s outburst and quickly grew silent. "If you think our original payment is low, I will raise it...Ten thousand bits for each and every one of your colleagues, including you!" Luna was stunned by the insane payment that Celestia had offered the mercenaries, but she had dared not to speak up against her sister, after all, the last time she had used the royal canterlot voice against her was during their battle a thousand years ago.

The band started to discuss it amongst themselves, huddling together whispering to each other. After a minute had gone by, the leader stepped forward. "We find your amount… acceptable."


***

The caravan had been traveling for 11 hours straight since Aran's encounter with the bears. During that time, Aran had gotten enough rest and was now quietly sitting, waiting for the gryphon in the other caravan to finish skinning, stitching and preparing the bears hide. Winter was coming and Aran's hairless body would need anything that could keep him warm, though magmar had weak winters, it could get cold enough that if he wouldn't have anything to protect his body, he would be unable to fight. It already felt cold enough for snow, now all that was missing was the snow itself. Applebloom was still snoozing and the horse had glanced once or twice at him during their journey. She obviously feared  the human, but knew good enough that he wouldn't hurt her without a good reason.

The caravan eventually came to a halt as it was time for the puller to get some well deserved rest, Aran stepped out to see that the caravan had stopped in a circle around itself. As the new bodyguard of Korvax, part of his job was to protect his property, in other words, Korvax’s staff and the caravan itself. So while everyone busied themselves getting a fire started, Aran climbed on top of biggest of the wagons and sat on top of it with his axe lying on his lap. Their location was roughly half an hour away from a large forest that would be too risky to travel through during the night. 

"You're already showing yourself to have a lot of dedication to your new job!" Korvax called with a smirk on his face. The human’s right eye looked towards the minotaur while his left kept continued to keep vigilance over the caravan. "Too bad you couldn't have joined sooner, I'd have probably saved me a lot of money." He spoke, whilst climbing up to the driver’s seat, sitting a few feet below the human. 

"Then I'm happy I joined so late." He said with a cocky smirk. "But in all honesty I didn't join you because I know that first chance you get, you'll sell me to a Warlord as a slave."

"You got me!" He said, appearing as if he was joking, but Aran couldn't read his expression. "speaking of betrayals, once we reach Magmar, I have an offer for you.”

Aran raised his eyebrow with a smirk at the scheming minotaur. “Oh really?”

Korvax chuckled. “Lets just say your skills will come in use. When our contract comes to an end, I’ll have a proposition for you that will have you settled for life.”



Aran laughed "I’m guessing you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Profit!” Korvax cut in. “And the fact that I’ll get half of the pay since I’m the one with the connection and you are the one that can make it happen. Its as simple as that.”

Aran kept his crazed smirk plastered on his face. “Very well, I’ll look forward to what this offer will turn out to be. And of course, when the point of inevitable betrayal comes, I'll make sure to kill you quickly."

Korvax started to climb down from the wagon. "Oh yes, that too.” He laughed. “I expect nothing less from you." He said, finally going back to join the other with their recently finished campfire. A slight feeling of loneliness slowly overcame Aran as he glanced at the people who had gathered around the warm fire. Seeing Applebloom also join them made him feel slightly worse and with the winds not letting up, the human shuddered in the cold. Alone, hungry and freezing, the human felt an emotional sadness that he hadn't in almost a year.


***

Few hours had gone by and most had already finished their meals, the human was supposed to be the last one to eat just before everyone went to sleep as most of them were herbivores and were quite uncomfortable with his more omnivorous diet, leaving the gryphon tailor to cook for him. The gryphon appreciated having another meat eater on the team, but just having the same diet wouldn't cut it for him to have the courage to approach him. Part of his job was to occasionally take to the sky and watch for trouble, alerting everyone should something or someone approach. Although he did have the human a bit yesterday, he was covered blood and had dragged the corpse of an enormous bear over to his wagon. Even a gryphon would be slightly off-put by something that kills bears without much effort. He just nodded at everything he asked for and hoped he wouldn't upset him. Taking one last gulp, he approached the wagon that the human was sitting on and held the stew in sight the whole time. "Y..-Your d-d-dinner!" He stuttered. 

Aran didn't respond, but he did lean down to pick up the large bowl, with chunks of cooked meat floating in the stew. A small sincere smile crept on his face as he hadn't eaten cooked meat in a long time. Though he didn't like it when it was in chunks, he did prefer it to be warm, so he took the bad with the good and started slurping it up. After a satisfying sigh, he hugged the warm bowl tightly. "When will the bear pelt be ready?" He spoke, trying to warm himself up.

The gryphon’s fear of the human slightly eased up as he saw the smile. "It should be ready by tomorrow, I've had a lot of issues trying to fix the damage that was done."

"Alright then." Aran's left eye spotted some shadows in the distance moving, heading towards the dimly lit caravan. Aran quickly narrowed his eyes towards the shadows and focused his sight as best he could. His previous smile grew and his eyes opened with a sick look of pleasure on his face. "Finally, something to do!" In the distance was a pack of wolves, not timberwolves, real flesh and bone wolves that were much bigger and tougher then easily smashed timber wolves. "-And a chance to test my axe again."

Aran gripped the handle tightly as he jumped off the roof and landed on the ground. A loud howl rang in the field, waking everyone causing most of the caravan to look outside to see what was going on. A loud and deafening roar echoed throughout the entire field. Aran charged the wolves in a bloodthirsty frenzy. He didn't wait a single second for them to surround him Aran charged straight at the largest wolf in the group. Twirling his axe so that the blade was pointed down, he lunged at the wolf slashing at it from its nose to the end its tail in one clean slice. The wolf slid apart, bisected, its entrails spilling out along with other cleanly sliced organs, glistening red in the setting sun. Pieces of brain matter had somehow managed to land atop Aran’s head along with a decent amount of blood splattering his face.

The wolves stepped back after the initial attack, taken by surprise at how quickly one of their pack members had been slaughtered in an instant. But just because they were backing away, did not mean that Aran would take time and pick his next opponent. To him, it was the sweet relief of taking out all his anger and hatred from everything that had happened to him, and the more he struck, chopped, eviscerated, and slaughtered, the better he felt. 

The second wolf that was trying to run away was immediately chopped in half in the middle of its back. Making the upper part yelp out in an unimaginable horror, still alive from its nightmare, turning back to see its half digested meal of a rabbit, old meat clinging to bone, dripping with a little of its stomach acid, surrounded by its own crimson blood.

The third wolf pounced Aran, but the human couldn't strike again, so he redirected the wolf with a slam to the face with the bottom of the handle knocking the wolf to the side, quickly followed up with a strike to another wolf, crushing its skull with the blunt side as hard as he could, shards of its cranium sticking out at angles, the eyes popped like grapes, the eye sockets now drooling chunks of brain and blood.

The previous one finally shook itself out of its daze only to be chopped into four pieces, the head flying into the air, given a prime view of its decimated body for the last few seconds it kept alive. It was clear to the rest of the pack that they wouldn't stand a chance, so the remaining wolves ran away, hoping to get away from the maniacal human… but Aran had no intentions of letting them escape.


***

Everyone saw how the blood drenched human chased after the fleeing wolves. Applebloom however ran to the scene and took a closer look at the aftermath. "Wait, Applebloom!" Anzja called, running after the little filly.

She stopped running as she saw the innocent pony looking over the carnage. With one still alive and barely breathing. Half of its body cut in half, exposing all its innards. Anzja covered Appleblooms eyes, hoping to spare her from the terrifying view. "Don't bother, ahm used to it." She simply stated. Anzja looked down, surprised by her words. She slowly removed her hoof away from the filly's eyes and took a deep breath. After a few moments of staring with other members of the caravan, they went back to their wagon some of them trying to hold down their dinners. Even Applebloom had never seen Aran like this, usually he fought with more anger than enjoyment, but this time, it was like he was addicted to the bloodshed.

"I dont understand why the wolves would hunt so far away from their territory, what could have driven them here?" Anzja asked out loud, not really expecting an answer from a filly.

"Didn't that gryphon cook Aran's supper? Maybe they could smell it?" Applebloom replied.

A few moments went by as Anzja wanted to ask a question that had been burning in her mind. "Applebloom, how did you two meet and why are you traveling together? I can't imagine its because you are his family or his friend."

Applebloom took a few seconds to think on what she would say. In the meanwhile she had tilted her head to tell Anzja to go back to their wagon so she could explain in privacy, she also needed a bit of time to think what she would reveal. If she ended up saying something wrong, it might frustrate her companion, and after witnessing the recent massacre, she wanted to definitely avoid that. "When I was still living in ponyville, me and mah friends thought it would be a smart idea if we went and captured him. Thinking back now, it was the stupidest idea ah've ever come up with."

"I agree, it was very foolish." Anzja said, with a motherly tone and a disapproving frown

"But one thing led to another and the princesses wanted to kill Aran, even if ah might’ve died because of that. The guards she sent to help me, were ordered by Aran to drink the water they brought him, he thought it might be poisoned or somethin’. Turned out he was right, just then some other pony attacked Aran head on and the one he asked to drink, used his magic to carry me. But that’s when the timber wolves came running after us and the poison killed the guard.

"How inconsiderate of your leaders!" Anzja raised her voice, not understanding how they could risk the life of a little filly like a pawn for their own gain.

"Ah barely managed to escape. Ah saw all the guards lying on the ground, most of ‘em weren’t alive. But just as ah was about tah’ catch up with Aran, a large pack of timber wolves came after us and we had tah’ run for our lives again, but despite everything, Aran protected me… ah don' know if he did it ‘cause he actually likes me or ‘cause he didn’t know what he was do’in, my guess its a bit o’ both."

A small smile appeared on Anzja's face as she began to see the human in a better light. "I do not know if he cares for you like a father for his daughter, but I can see that you do want his approval, and despite you being in danger when you are together, and I also see that he does care for you when he kept you warm with his fore-hooves."

Applebloom's depressing thoughts started to fade away as she also recalled how he had complimented her, a little filly like her had won the respect of arguably the most fearsome creature that had ever existed, in her mind that was something to be proud of. "Ah guess you're right." 

A few minutes went by and Applebloom continued to tell Anzja about how they ended up working for Korvax, but as her story came to its conclusion, the duo could hear others were calling out that Aran had returned. They both stepped out of the wagon to see the blood drenched human, shouldering his axe and holding the head of two wolves by their fur. "Despite him being a nice-pony, he still is a terrifying creature." Anzja leaned down, commenting on her bizarre companion.

"Aaaand now I'm bored." He said, dropping the heads on the ground and taking a seat at the fireplace, planting his axe in the ground in front of him.

"Ah’m going to bed now, Anzja." Applebloom yawned out as she stepped back into the wagon, knowing that nothing more was going to happen anyways.

"You do that." The horse said also a bit tired, but before she would call it a day, she decided to take a closer look at the human. She wanted to be completely certain that he did indeed care for Applebloom. As everything began to calm down and everyone went back to sleep in their wagons, Anzja saw how Korvax handed the human a smoke-stick. 

"Nice job, you certainly didn't go overboard." Korvax joked, as he lit the smoke-stick with a leaf that he had engulfed in fire. 

"Oh really? And here I thought I was holding back too much." Aran laughed. "Thanks for the smoke, now fuck off so I can enjoy it as well." Korvax patted the human’s shoulder, before leaving him alone for the rest of the night. Their encampment was now almost completely empty with the exception of Aran and Anzja. The horse approached the relaxed human. "If you're trying to sneak up on me, you're doing a horrible job at it." He commented, hearing her coming from a mile away.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you!" Anzja exclaimed, a forehoof raised to her chest, a little offended.

"Good, because you're horrible at it." He turned around with the smoke-stick in his mouth and a crazed grin. He took note of her expression, "I'm just kidding, so whats up?" He asked, gesturing her to sit down by the fire.

Anzja did just that and sat a few feet away from the enormous human. Taking a long and drawn out breath she started speaking what was on her mind. "I wanted to talk to you about Applebloom." Aran didn't respond and just blew out the smoke that was trapped in his lungs. "She told me your story about how you two were trapped together and what you did afterwards."

"Are you seriously sitting down next to me to have a discussion about moral ethics?" Aran asked, raising his right eyebrow, waiting for a very stupid answer.

"No, that is also not why I am here. I came to you because I wanted to know if you are a suitable guardian for that little filly."

"Guardian!?" Aran asked shocked.

"Yes, guardian. I refuse to let that filly continue her journey with you, if she cannot be kept safe. I need to know that you won't let her die, not matter what. If you cannot give me your word you will keep her safe, I will not let you see her again after we reach magmar."

A few moments passed as Aran stared at the horse in slight interest. Though she had shown great courage in standing up against the human, her jaw was shuddering and her eyes were looking irritated, as if producing tears. "How old is she?" Aran asked.

"What?" Anzja asked, not understanding the off-topic question.

"How old is your daughter." Aran repeated, more clearly this time.

Anzja was taken by surprise by the human’s question. "How… how do you know I have a daughter!?" She demanded.

"That look in your eyes...I've seen it only once, when a mother was shielding her daughter from harm. You had that same look when you mentioned Applebloom's security, but if you want an answer from me I will need an answer from you first."

Anzja sat quietly, not knowing if she should answer or not. "The last time I saw her, was two years ago… she was as big as Applebloom… before she was taken from me."

Aran took another blow from the smoke-stick and exhaled the smoke. "Where is she now?" He followed the answer with another question.

Anzja needed a second to be able to form the words, her throat felt closed off and she was holding back her tears as much as possible. "I was very poor in Al-charid, I lived in the slums with my daughter, until a slave collector came one day and captured her. I did everything I could to rescue her, but there is only so much a mother can do for her daughter, I was beaten nearly half to death and thrown out of the city. I would have died, hadn't Korvax found me." She went on unhindered, like she was reliving everything all over again. As she stopped, she removed the tears that had slithered down her face. It was finally Aran's turn to answer the question that had been given to him. Extinguishing the smoke-stick with his left hand palm that was made out of a large layer of dead and tough skin. Anzja saw this and was confused by the humans antics. "Doesn't that hurt?" She asked.

"It doesn't and that's exactly the reason I...tolerate Applebloom, over the past year I've been through unimaginable pain, hardship and suffering. Day in and day out I try to find a reason to fight… a reason to wake up… a reason to continue living. Since I met Applebloom, she rescued me from the one thing I fear above all else..." Anzja was waiting anxiously for what the human’s fear would turn out to be.

"When I was held prisoner in Canterlot, I had all the time in the world to think. Every regret I ever had and everything I was never going to do, see or feel again. I would've been driven insane if I didn't learn to… shut it off. But when I escaped, I could finally care again, only I had no reason to care for anything. No family, no friends, nothing." Aran laughed. "Its ironic, I'm physically unbreakable, but emotionally fragile… I never want to be alone again… it is undoubtedly the worst thing that has happened to me since my arrival." A few moments passed, the firewood started to let out some crackles as it was slowly about to burn out. "I will never be alone again, as long as I have Applebloom, I have a reason to look forward to the next day." Aran now stared directly at Anzja. She wasn't sure if she had angered him or if he was just being serious. He stood up was about to take a seat on top of the wagon again, but not before he glanced at the mare one last time. "You know, you got guts for talking to me the way you did." And with that, he left Anzja alone going back to the wagon to continue his watch.


***

Luna's eyes shot opened, having finally located Applebloom. Her sister and the others were anxiously waiting. "They are a day away from Magmar, If you leave tonight, you should be by the border of Equestria by morning and Magmar in four days time. I'm certain that they will stay there for at least a while, which will allow your team to catch up to them.”

“Why can’t you just drop us off at a specific point?” The blind pegasus asked.

“The minotaurs aren’t a very diplomatic race, unless we have an audience with their High Warlord, we won’t be able to fly there without starting an international incident.” Celestia replied. As everyone was preparing their equipment. Celestia took her captain to the side so she could talk to him in private before sending him away.

“Yes, your highness?” 

“I have a personal favor to ask of you and I hope that this request can stay between you and me.”

“Of course, your highness!”

Celestia lowered her muzzle closer to the captain’s ear. “If you are presented with the chance to kill him, I want you to take it!”
> Chapter 11 Magmar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The caravan found itself a few hours away from the great city of Minotaur. Earlier on the same day, they had ventured into the enormous forest that made up part of the border for the city. Once one had passed through it, they would officially become the property of the War-King. Of course, there are exceptions for some People. Any nobles, or high class citizens were seen as allies, rather than potential slaves. Korvax could be counted among some of the more privileged minotaur who were free to do as they please, as long as it didn't interfere with the King's business. Though Aran would never in his life trust the scheming merchant, he knew he'd be safe from the hunter's guild as long as he stuck close to his employer. The days traveling with the caravan became less miserable by the hour, but most of his colleagues were still terrified of him. Even though if he had food in his stomach, and his body kept warm by the bear poncho, he still found himself feeling agitated because the lack of things for him to do. He had gotten enough sleep for a week’s worth of travel and now, his mind was spinning off in a million directions. Thoughts of Cadence, Applebloom, Luna and Magmar had clouded his mind for hours. In situations like this he would have been having small-talk with Applebloom, but she felt much more secure talking to her new friend, Anzja.

Aran glanced at the two sitting inside the wagon, while he was obligated to sit with one of Korvax's lackies in the front. The only thing he could do was to keep sharpening his axe with a whetstone loaned to him by one of the travelers. Staring into his own reflection whilst sharpening the terrifying axe, Aran's mind drifted once again to shadows of his past.

***

The cold and lonely nights in his cell had made it nigh-impossible to sleep properly. He had no bed, no blanket, nor even a pillow for comfort, the closest simulacrum of comfort he had at night was the, now quite large, pile of hay they kept giving him, thinking he would eat it. The hay provided a thin blanket of warmth, which offered little protection against the cold ground. Aran was slightly on edge from his last encounter with the alicorn. It had been around a week since he had last spoke to her and the food he had been given had left his system. Aside for his hunger, a feeling of anxiousness was present. He wanted to see the pony again. There was no doubt that he now had an immense hatred for ponies, but his ravaged mind desperately craved social interaction. Even though he probably would never meet another human again, almost anything with the ability to speak would be preferred than this constant loneliness.

Suddenly, as if answered by divine providence, a light blue flash flickered in the corner of the dungeon. Aran jumped up from the ground to see if it was her. Sure enough it was. His eyes immediately travelled to the basket of food, but before he could grab it from her through the bars of the cell, the glowing filed that held it suspended in space, moved out of his reach. "That’s not funny." He said in a very unamused tone, glaring at the pony as if she was one of the guards. Though, humor was not on the alicorn’s mind. As she stepped closer to the cell, her face became visible to Aran, showing that something was greatly bothering her.

"Have you been lying to me?" Cadence spoke.

"Lying about what!?" He tried to shouted, only for it to come out as a somewhat raspy whisper, his anger still showing through. 

"About who you are and where you come from! I refuse to believe my aunt would do all this to you without having a very valid reason!" She said back to him, anger also showing in her voice. 

Aran didn't respond right away, he was confused for a few seconds by what she had said. But it didn't take long for him to assume that Luna or Celestia had most likely painted him as a monster. "Even if I said no, what would make you trust me over what you've already been told?"

Cadence also took a moment to think over her options before responding. "The only way I can be absolutely certain that you are telling me the truth is if I can peek into your mind." The second she mentioned using a mind-spell on him, Aran jumped back from the bars and took a defensive stance, even if he couldn't really stop her from mind-raping him, he wouldn't go down without a fight. 

"FUCK THAT!" He shouted out. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have someone tear through your mind!?" 

"If you want me to trust you, if you want me to help you, I need to have no doubts that you are who you say you are." Aran slowly lowered his stance. He needed a few minutes to make a decision, after all, this could be a trick of some sort, he already had very,very little trust for anyone in this miserable world. But the decision was made, long before Cadence had arrived. He needed that food, and in relation, her trust. Taking a very long and drawn out sigh, Aran lowered his arms and stepped forward again. He crossed his legs and waited for the alicorn to begin. Cadence had a few seconds of hesitation. "Just do it. Its going to hurt one way or the other." He said, accepting his fate. Cadence charged her horn with the empowered spell, the very same her aunt had been using on the human. The spell connected with Aran’s head. He sat there, trying to resist the excruciating agony of what could only be described as having someone vigorously grind sandpaper against brain. In the end, though, he could take it no longer and he began to roar through the pain, loud enough to wake up every single guard and royal in the castle.

***

The group of mercenaries finally arrived at the border of the Minotaur planes, past this point, any unauthorized pegasus that attempted to fly over would be stopped by the squad of gryphons who were generously donated by the gryphon emperor himself as a sign of cooperation between the two nations. "We've arrived, Sir!" One of the pegasi announced with a salute to his captain." Without wasting anytime, the group jumped off the chariots and gave their gear a quick check.

"Thank you, you are dismissed now!" Shining Armor replied with a salute back at his subordinate. While their transportation left, the mercenaries formed a circle.

It didn't take long after the pegasi left for the mercenary leader to begin taking charge. "Galia, I want you to check the road ahead and regroup with us in Ten." The crippled gryphon didn't wait a single second before shooting off into the air again. "Locust, did you learn anything valuable about the human, any weak spots?"

"I may, and I may not, this human has organs similar to any pony or minotaur, I am not sure if it can be brought down by my spikes," it spoke with a constant crackling in its throat. 

"Keep looking, you'll find something. Dagon, I want you to scout the surrounding area, make sure we don't get blindsided by anything big!" The enormous minotaur started to walk towards the jungle that was nearby. Every step it took, made the ground shake until he had gone out of their sight.

While all of this had been going on, Shining was watching how the merc leader and his comrades were in sync, to Shining, he could see how most of the group had military training. "Its a shame you're a mercenary, you'd make a great drill sergeant." He joked, trying to break the tension from a few hours ago.

The blind pegasus snorted at the captain. "You're right, but this job leaves me with more dignity and money." Shining's attempt was quickly followed by him becoming even more frustrated with the aged pony. He decided he wouldn’t try to get in the mercs’ good graces anymore and just focus on the mission so as to return home as quickly as possible. A few minutes of awkward silence passed by before Dagon returned with his poleaxe bloodied from a recent encounter and Galia's rock hard landing, followed by the resulting dust cloud that covered the area for a short moment.

"I found a village eight hours away by land, I don't doubt that someone in that place would have any information of this human." She spoke, eager to start their march. The merc leader could smell the stench of blood coming from Dagon's axe and knew that he did find something that would pose a problem. Locust's breathing was a dead giveaway that he still hadn't found anything that could prove useful.

"Alright, good job Galia. Dagon, could you please carry Locust while we make our way to the village?" The minotaur picked up the changeling with little effort. This allowed him to look through the pictures and notes of the doctors who had examined Aran while they marched. "Lets move out!"

***

"Thanks for the loan!" Aran said, giving back the razor to the minotaur holding the reins of the wagon. He didn't acknowledge the human keeping his eyes on the road after putting the razor back into his bag. Aran started to stroke his now somewhat smooth face having been unable to feel it through the scruff. Now that they were on their way to Magmar, his beard would be something anyone could grab on to give them an edge. Even though it warmed his face, he wouldn't need it so much now that he had his bear pelt. They were finally getting out of forest as the number of trees started to diminish, a light at the end of the road could be seen, the branches of the trees above them smothering what little leaked through. 

"Finally!" Applebloom shouted out, elated that she could finally see the exit. Anzja also peered out of the wagon to witness their arrival. They made it out of the forest to see a long road winding its way towards an enormous mountain. But it wasn't just any simple mountain, the city itself had been carved out of it. Only Aran and Applebloom’s jaws hung open at the large city at the end of the horizon, everyone else had already seen it a few times and weren't so impressed. Aran squinted to see further and began tracing his view from the bottom of the mountain up to the summit. Spread out a bit from the base of the mountain and closer towards it were ramshackle dwellings and slums where the poor lived. As his eyes traveled upward, the housing became more and more extravagant, until his eyes reached the top, where The War-King's castle lied. Aran guessed that it was bigger, if not twice the size of Canterlot. After several minutes spent admiring the city, they finally reached the front gate of the city. Several other caravans were camped outside with their stalls open for business. Weapons, armor, jewelry, spices, furs and more were up for sale. A strange feeling came over Aran, he had been in places very similar to the bazaars in Magmar, on earth a long time ago. He shook his head and pushed down the feeling of nostalgia that had came over him. They travelled through the bazaar, passing the many stands, the merchants in them going about their business, until they arrived at the gate itself, where the city guards were questioning anyone who wanted to pass through. It didn't take long until it was their turn, everything was running smoothly and Korvax's credentials seemed to be checking out, allowing them to pass, however, there was only one problem...

"WHAT IS THAT!?" One of the guards called out as he drew his sword that was shaped like a scimitar. Aran's instincts kicked in and he raised his axe, ready to defend himself with it if needed. Several guards quickly rushed over to the human, flanking him and slowly moving forward. In a few seconds, the city would be in high alert if not for the intervention of Korvax.

"Stand down!" He called out. "He is my personal bodyguard, any act of aggression towards him is an act aggression towards me!" The guards weren't convinced, but they didn't move. One of the officers approached the human.

"Pink skin, as tall as a minotaur, murderous eyes. I know who you are. The hunters guild has a heavy bounty on your head." A dead silence fell on the caravan. But he turned his back and made his way towards Korvax. "I will only let it pass if you agree to take responsibility for any mishaps."

"A merchant always pays his debts." He added with a malicious smirk. The guards quickly went back to their previous positions as everyone in the caravan let out a collectively held breath, glad that Aran hadn’t gone on a killing spree. The wagons started to move through the gate, as the guards kept a watchful eye on the human. 

"Whatever, you bastards!" Aran commented as he put his axe down, in between his legs. Applebloom saw how Aran's good mood was quickly ruined by the guards and decided not to bother him, even though she did want to talk to him.

After entering the city, it didn't take long until almost every citizen was staring at the human. It was getting on his nerves, and it was getting harder and harder to keep himself in check. Personally he wanted to gouge out the eyes of anyone who stared at him as if he was a circus attraction. "I already hate this fucking city!" He announced. A half an hour later, Korvax finished parking the caravan outside the merchant's headquarters, where the merchants’ guild would allow anyone to store their wares for a small fee. While everyone jumped off the wagons and began to stretch their hooves, Aran waited for Korvax to finish his business with some of his friends. He still wanted to know what his proposal was, and in all honesty, he was a bit curious. Usually, Korvax would just speak his mind if he had anything to say, but this was special. Applebloom had gone with Anzja to see the rest of the city, along with one of the caretakers of the caravan as an escort. She had taken a quick liking to the mare, almost completely forgetting about him. ´´Maybe...Maybe she would be safe with Anzja...´´ He thought to himself. ´´Maybe she is happier with Anzja...´´ Though Aran didn't like being alone, its not like he would force Applebloom to stay with him. Even if Aran could protect Applebloom, she would be miserable trying to conform to his lifestyle. A little filly, no matter how protected, was never meant to endure what humans could.

After a few minutes of glares from worried workers in the warehouse, Korvax finally stepped away from his associates and approached the impatient human. He didn't say a word and waved for him to come along. Aran did just that and followed the malicious minotour. They went to the company's wine and ale cellar. He was most likely trying to get the human in a good mood before relaying his proposal. Several drinks later, Aran found himself chuckling with a smile on his face. After his bad first impression of Magmar, he was ready to hear what the merchant had to say. "The tension is killing you, isn't it?" He joked.

"I would say it’s my impatience, but thats a good guess too." He took a sip and finished his drink before slamming the mug down on the table. "Alright then, what the fuck is this proposal that has you acting like a suck up bitch?"

"Do you like this lifestyle? Drinking, eating and sleeping however much you want? From what you told me, your world is ahead of ours in living qualities, however, what would you say if you never had to pick up your axe again to do someone else's dirty work or kill to eat?"

A dead silence fell in the room as Korvax was waiting for his words to settle in. "Go on..." He said, leaning slightly closer to the minotaur with his ear perked and curiosity piqued.

"My company has thought of expanding from the simple selling of wares to something much more profitable..."

"And that is...?"

"The Arena!"

***

The band of mercenaries and the captain had been marching since dawn. Though the captain was no stranger to long marches as he had gone through this in his years of service, more the issue was that they had to walk at a slightly slower pace due to Dagon falling behind. The white-furred minotaur wasn't used to walking fast, due to the amount of snow in his homeland. If you weren't running, there was no point in taking big and clumsy steps that could lead you to losing your balance and falling head first into the snow, but even without the snow, if he wasn't running, his size made it hard to keep up with his smaller comrades. It was very visible that the gryphon warrior was becoming frustrated with their lack of haste. Though, after years of working together with her comrades, she had gotten used to it. After a few minutes, the group could finally spot a town at the end of the path, which which seemed to function as a crossroad to other towns, villages, or even the road to Magmar. "Finally!" Galia sighed. From her comment, the veteran pegasus knew they had arrived at a safe haven to restfor the night. 

They walked along the path until they stood in front of the heart of the town, which was a fairly big inn where travelers could enter, rest their hooves or claws, and have a warm meal. "Lets see if we can get any leads on the human." The leader of the group spoke as he entered the building. From the sound of it and the smell, the tavern was mostly empty, only the smell of a Gryphon and a Minotaur wafted through his nostrils, who seemed to be seated in the back, the scent of the innkeeper himself seemed to be directly atop the counter, and judging by the snores, asleep. There was also traces of barmaids who had been here, but had left around an hour ago. The moment his group approached the counter, the snoring innkeeper shot up. He was also surprised to see this motley crew in front of him. Thankfully, in this part of the world, almost everyone looks suspicious or up to no good, so it was not something out of the ordinary, no matter how odd his clients were. "Welcome to the iron mug inn, what can I get for you?" Volkar asked, anxious to kill his boredom and make some coin for the day.

"We need three rooms for the night, and as much food as we can get for my big friend here." He tilted his head back at Dagon who towered over Volkar. "Of course..." He spoke, slightly nervous seeing an actual tundra walker. "Anything else?" He asked slightly calmer, trying to regain his cool.

"Yes, we are in need of information about a creature who has the shape of a Minotaur, but the skin of a pig, have you heard of anything like that in these parts?" He asked, leaning slightly forward with his ear perked. 

Volkar took a second to think before he could answer the question. He obviously knew where Aran was going and that by now had already arrived, however, this group practically screamed trouble. "Yes I have heard of something like that."

"Terrific, please proceed." He spoke charismatically. 

"I remember reading a wanted poster from the Hunters’ guild of a hideous creature living in the Everfree forest with that exact description. My best guess is that you can find it there. Other than that, I can't help."

"Thank you, you have been most helpful." He said with a confident smile. The group started to make their way towards the table to sit down and rest their limbs. While they got comfortable, Volkar walked into the kitchen, until the sound of a pan hitting the ground caught the attention of everyone. Nobody could see what was going on, until Volkar came out and pointed at one of the gryphons who had been sitting by himself. "Prom, can you help me out in the kitchen?" The gryphon didn't complain or whine, he quickly stood up and went inside, out of everyone's sight.

The moment, he was in the deepest part, Volkar waved for him to come closer. "We got a problem. I need you to report to Korvax immediately. Tell him that a group of nasty rats are after the human!" He whispered as quietly he could under his breath. 

"I'll fly immediately!" He replied, making his way through the back door, and taking to the sky. Seeing his messenger leave, eased Volkar. He went back to preparing the food for the tundra walker and his companions. After a few minutes, he came out of the kitchen bearing a huge tray of different kinds of cabbage, hay and fruit. However, instead of seeing hungry faces eagerly awaiting sustenance, he saw a wingless Gryphon, eyes wide with horror, frozen in his last moments his wings at opposite sides of the room, bloody furred stumps twitching spastically. Along with one of his clients lying dead on the table, his head snapped all the way to the back, bone protruding out from the side of his throat. The culprits (except the unicorn) stood waiting for him. The unicorn had its mouth held agape in terror.

"WHAT IS THIS!?" He called out in shock. Before he could answer he felt, a small, but noticeable sting his shoulder. However, he couldn't move his body to put pressure on the sore spot, it was at that moment he realized that he was completely paralyzed. "What...What's wrong with me!?" He spoke, trying to fighting against his paralysis.

"Sorry for the mess, Galia and Dagon always go overboard. Thankfully, Locust knows how to dispose of anyone without a single drop of blood." He spoke, slowly moving closer to the innkeeper. The needle that had pierced a nerve in Volkar's body flew back to its owner, quickly giving him back control of his body. "I'm betting you are wondering why we...Grounded your friend here.  Well you see, I am quite the listener, and I couldn't help but overhear your little panic attack in the kitchen."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" He cried out, not understanding what he exactly meant.

"Your heart, you moron. I could hear you lying to me through your own pulse. Quite the neat trick I picked up over the years. But in any case, now that we had to use pervasive methods to get you to tell the truth, I want you to tell me everything you know about the human. 

"What the point!? You're going to kill me anyways!" He spat back as a final act of defiance.

"True, but the difference is that in one hoof I'll have Dagon snap your neck so you won't feel a thing, and on the other, if you choose to be a pain in mine, I'll let locust study your nervous system while you're completely awake to feel every moment of it until you give us the information." There was a long silence. Volkar knew he was beaten. A malicious smile crept on the Merc leader's face. "Now then, shall we proceed?" 
> Chapter 12 Mortal Combat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winter wind was whistling in the corner of the stone cell that Aran had been put in the night before. His bear pelt had been taken from him, but his axe was still clutched tightly in his hand, he could hear the cheering of a bloodthirsty crowd waiting for its contenders to entertain them. The human brute was awaiting for his first match, the words of the merchant still gnawing at his mind.

***

"And why in the unholy fuck would I even consider becoming a gladiator? My job description was to become your personal body guard."

Korvax raised his hand to calm down the tipsy human. "Indeed, that was the original idea, but I can't help but think your talents for murder and mayhem would be wasted as my guard in a city where nobody would dare to lay a hand on me, when instead you could be making bags on top of bags of bits. On your own you could make a good living fighting in the ring, but with me as your...sponsor, You'd be able to make a fortune! Think about it, you could retire in gryffindar or saddle arabia, you could court a different mare or...gryphon every night, live like a fat king and never have to worry about having a roof over your head ever again." Though the human liked the idea of returning to civilization, he was especially inclined to the warmth of saddle arabia, he couldn't resist the chance of tending to his hormonal needs. Living in the forest and a dungeon hadn't really given him a chance to meet any desirable humans or non-humans. The idea of retirement sounded too good to be true, but Aran knew that there had to be a catch.

"Now before I say 'yes' and start killing people for money, I need to know, does your plan to make 'you' rich involve me getting killed?"

"Quite the contrary, I need you to stay alive, healthy in fact. I need you to be stronger and fiercer than you've ever been before." He answered with a very calm and confident tone, as if he already knew how it would all end.

Aran took a long pause to think over the risk he was taking by agreeing to the scheming merchant’s plan. Though Korvax was not one to be trusted, he was smart enough to know that if he betrayed him, a quite bloody vengeance would be waiting for him right around the corner, but still, he couldn't help but wonder if the minotaur had something particularly nasty planned for him. "Alright i'm in!" Aran said, smashing the wooden mug so that it split in half and let its contents run out. "Now what's the downside to me being a gladiator, other than the fact that I will have to fight for my life?"

"First, you will lose your freedom, secondly, you'll be living in the arena stockades, and thirdly...-"

***

The crowd cheered as the announcer beckoned the fighters to come forward. The metal spikes barring entrance to the arena now sunk down into the ground, allowing the human to step foot in the arena. "We have something special for you all tonight. A creature unlike anything in the world, wolves and bears alike tremble at its deafening roar, its fury rages and roars like a great inferno consuming all in its path, it has cowed mortals and gods alike! I present to you THE HUMAN!" The crowd was going wild and three inexperienced minotaur slaves who were drafted to fight for their freedom, dreaded what would come out of the dark hole. But to the crowd’s surprise, what came out was not a bulking monstrosity that towered over the fighters, rather, a creature with no fur, nor a snout. It did not stand any taller than its opponents, rather it was more equal height, and the creature itself looked more like a sickly minotaur then a ferocious fighter. The crowd started laughing and jeering at the appearance of this lesser creature. The slaves were renewed with a sense of hope, thinking it would be an easy fight. Never had anyone been so wrong.

"COMBATANTS, BEGIN!"

The fight began and the most confident slave charged the human with his mace, expecting to deal a simple blow to its head and gain his freedom. The mace was swung, only to be deflected without much effort. The slave had been too confident and had not been holding tightly to his weapon, thus causing it to slip out of his hands. Surprised by this, he was given a mere second to realize his mistake before he was chopped in half from his shoulder down to his waist. The slave stood stock-still for a moment, until his upper torso slid off along the neatly cut diagonal line. The crowd was stunned into silence, until they let out a cheer at seeing first blood, clearly, there was more than met the eye when it came to this creature. Taking the life of that arrogant slave had given Aran a slight adrenaline rush, enough to wake up his more ferocious side. A hunger for more blood thirsted in his mind and he clung to the axe with a grip that only death could separate.  He strained the muscles of his neck and face as he roared for more. The crowd cheered loudly and started to condemn the slaves to death, they had taken a quick liking to this creature. The slaves stared at each other, nodding in understanding, they also charged towards the human. A small one handed axe and a sword were headed directly towards Aran on either side, but with just one clean swing of his axe the human sliced through the slaves, as well as their weapons. The slaves were dead before they hit the ground and the entire arena roared in admiration towards the latest newcomer to the ring. Minotaur culture respected and admired strength above all else. Seeing this human killing lowly slaves as if they were nothing was a spectacle for them to behold. 

"Well done, Monster, you do your reputation justice!" Aran glared at the announcer with a burning malice in his eyes. "Easy there, I would save my energy, because your next fight will be against more experienced opponents. Your next challenge will be two veterans of the arena, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, OR DIE, BEGGING ON THE GROUND! BRING THEM OUT!"

From the dark hole in the wall, came out two well armed gladiators, both carrying their own weapons. One with a claymore, the other a battle axe just like Aran’s. Both were more muscular and more intimidating than the lowly slaves. 

"COMBATANTS, BEGIN!"

The two fighters parted from one another, standing apart from each other, their plan was so obvious he could smell it. In the Everfree forest, wolves always flanked their prey, cut off any escape routes and would relentlessly follow their prey so as to tire them out.  The gladiators approached with their weapons ready to strike the human down. Aran started to backpedal, trying to force them in front of him, but no matter what direction he would go, the arena walls would prevent him from moving any further. The crowd started to chant for the fight to begin, though with the corpses of the slaves still in the ring, the two veterans were slightly more cautious. However, the point of gladiator fights is to give the audience a show worth coming back to. The chanting however, wasn't encouraging the gladiators to attack, but the calls for blood were affecting Aran and he felt his ire rise as the crowd demanded to see more of the monster that they thought him to be. Aran gave his opponents one final glare before letting out a growl of warm breath into the cold air. As his inner rage built up more and more, he felt an all too familiar strength growing within him. "YOU WANT TO SEE ME FIGHT, IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT!!?? THEN SHUT UP AND WATCH!!" He roared out as loud as he could, catching the fighters off guard, and going on the offensive, swinging his axe to clash against the claymore wielder.

The claymore surprisingly held together, leaving Aran a bit shocked as the axe wielder behind him sprung up to cleave him in half. Aran quickly took note and was able to narrowly dodge the swing of the second minotaur leaving both minotaurs facing him, he swung his axe again and this time, it managed to scrape the claymore wielder, causing him to roar out in pain, while taking a few steps back to recover from the blow. The axe wielder once again moved forward to attack Aran, but the tricky part about carrying an axe is that they can't be used to block with, the big advantage Aran had was his feet and cat-like reflexes. He Dodged one swing after another, until Aran finally spotted an opening, after a particularly hard swing Aran used the metallic like grip of his axe to ram the snout of the minotaur, making him stagger backwards and stumble to the ground. Aran capitalized immediately on his enemy’s immobility, he swung his axe forward and with one strike to the minotaur's head, the axe split his skull in half right down to the meaty neck of the minotaur. Aran withdrew his axe as the two halves of the minotaur’s face peeled apart to the delight of the audience. Aran was empowered with a sensation for even more blood. The claymore wielder had finally recovered, with a bloody trail running across his forehead, leaking blood into his eyes. "That’s a nasty scratch, guess I have to do better!" A malicious smirk spread across the insane human's lips. The two clashed as the claymore swung t Aran. Once again, the human only narrowly dodged a blow that would have left him headless. Swinging a massive sword like that, while dangerous to any foe, was impractical for long extended fights, especially since it required a lot of momentum. An opening wasn’t all that hard to find, every swing had a second and a half delay. After a few desperate swings, Aran took advantage of the delay in-between and severed the minotaur's right arm.

The audience once again roared at the spectacle. The continuous flow of blood and screams of anguish from the beaten gladiator was music to Aran's ears. He had won. The minotaur fell on his knees, gripping the gushing stump that used to be his arm, futilely trying to stem the flow of blood as he began to shake from shock. He stared into the mad human’s eyes only to see that they held no pity for him, as if the monster was hollow inside.  The crowd started to chant for a killing blow, their hard earned money spent to see a spectacle such as this would in time bring even more curious eyes to see this vicious creature. Aran saw how they were all crying out for blood. Taking one last glance at the gladiator, he swung his axe from the blunt side, knocking the beaten fighter down onto the ground. However, he did not stop bashing the prone minotaur with his axe, with the first blow a crackle resounded throughout the arena, with the second, the bull's cranium caved in, his eyes bursting into pulp from their sockets blood dribbling out onto the ground, and after the third strike, what was left of the head exploded outwards, brain matter spewing like shrapnel along with fragments of skull, leaving only a tattered meaty stump of what was left of the neck. Aran went into an uncontrollable frenzy as he kept smashing the long-dead minotaur's carcass over and over again until there was nothing but a pile of glistening wet giblets left on the ground. Exhausted from the act, he looked up to see that the crowd had stopped their cheering, they had expected a simple chop to put the bull out of its misery, but this was an act more brutal that they had never expected. Aran was furious. He ran and picked up the axe of his opponent and flung it into the audience, almost hitting one of the attendees. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?" He roared, angry over the fact that they paid money to see blood, and changed their mind once they'd seen so much. "-ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED...Is this not why you are here?" The human saw how a few of the guards of the arena started to amass, incase their pets wouldn't behave. The gate was opened again and Aran threw his axe over his shoulder and went back inside to the dungeon below where his cell was waiting for him. Arriving back at his cell, Aran threw his back against the wall as he glided down to the ground,  tending to some minor cut he had gotten from a blow he had just barely dodged in the fight. 

"Well done, I imagine that tomorrow you will have a bigger audience to tend too." Korvax's voice rang across the dungeon as he approached Aran's cell.

Aran chuckled with a mad grin on his face. "You sure about that? They seemed more disgusted than entertained."

Korvax’s snout peeked through the bars, not at all fearful of the human sitting inside. "Precisely. They will spread word of your brutality in the ring. The citizens of this city will come here, curious to see this mysterious and ferocious creature." A plate filled with meat and fruit was presented by one of Korvax's servants and slid across the floor via the gap below the bars. "The profit was decent, but I know that tomorrow, the gold will really flow in, and of course you will be expected to fight even stronger opponents. Just make sure not to die, after all, this is a new beginning for you." He laughed as he snapped for his servant to follow him out of the dungeon.


*** 

Elsewhere in the land, the group of mercenaries had taken shelter at the inn. A rough blizzard had crept on the travelers during the night, which had forced them to stay a bit longer than anticipated. Locust was not dressed for the cold and they couldn't find much to put on him, a changeling could only be exposed to below zero temperatures for a few minutes before they would die from hypothermia. Galia had flown out and analyzed when the storm would settle. Luckily it had appeared that it would most likely disappear just at dawn, letting everyone search through the house for any supplies, money, or other interesting secrets that the now deceased owner kept in his house. Of course the first thing they would raid was the bag of bits in the owner’s room, he really wouldn’t wouldn't need it anymore. They had piled up the corpses and burned them outside. Everyone except the leader of the band was awake, mostly spending their time, drinking, taking watch, or studying human physiology. The Captain was still horrified by what had happened the night before. These mercenaries were as cold and ruthless as Aran, but they were much more subtle about it.

"Jeez… are you still moping about those three dead guys? I  thought you would be used to seeing remains, being a guard an' all." Galia commented, taking another gulp of warming ale. She had been chugging them for hours yet she still was not the least bit drunk. It didn't seem like the best idea, but none of her comrades were stopping her from drinking while on a mission, so Shining assumed that it was just par for the course. Locust had been sitting next to the hearth continuously reading through the examinations that had been performed by several specialists that had been sworn to secrecy. Despite the Captain’s mistrust of changelings, Locust was not from Equestria or the badlands, nor this side of the world, so there was no reason for him to believe that he was a spy for Chrysalis.  He stood up from the ground and started moving over to speak with the changeling.

"Have you found anything yet?" He asked, hoping they would have a way to bring down Aran when the time came.

Locust sighed before responding. "This specimen is… intriguing. I have only found a few weak points, some that are hard to reach and others that will require an opening to get through successfully, meaning that he will most likely need to be restrained in order for me to sedate him." He brought up a few pictures of the human’s spine, feet, and head, most of them with open incisions. "Look at its structure." He said turning the full body picture on its side, showing the appearance of him standing. "Its spine, lower limbs and head are perfectly fitted to give this human a very balanced posture whilst standing up." He looked at the Captain who was just staring with confusion at what he had said. He sighed before he started giving a more dumbed down explanation. "In other words, you'll have a hard time trying to make him fall over."

"What do you mean?"

"You see- Minotaurs and Diamond dogs, both are bipedal creatures. However, with just a simple shove or pull, you could knock them on their back or stomachs easily. The center of gravity of a minotaur is at its lower thighs. Its knees and snout help it to stay up without falling backwards because of its hooves. However, if you would push its upper body, its hooves would need to adjust and would keep staggering backwards until it collapsed on the ground, only if you're lucky could you prevent the fall. A diamond dog has the opposite effect, its balance comes from its forward hulking posture. if you would pull on their necks or torso, they would fall face first on the ground if they have their paws busy. But this human...Its balance is at its lower part of its spine. It could in theory make loops and vaults and still keep balance with a little practice. Its feet has five finger tendons that can adjust for any change in terrain, acceleration, or balance. If you would give him a buck to the chest, he'd most likely just rebalance himself with his feet, they are  much more efficient at keeping a bipedal stance than paws or hooves. Its body is also flat which keeps the point of pressure always downwards to the ground instead of having to fight gravity. Oh what I would give to examine this human firsthand!" The changeling’s eyes were glued at the pictures with crazed and obsessed eyes. The captain decided to take a few steps backwards, not wanting to disturb Locust anymore.

"He's always been like this, everytime we get a mission, all he does is read, think of strategies or complain about how cold it is, I swear, if he tries to recommend me another book to read, I'll claw my eyes out!"

"You could stand to learn a few things Galia, Using your wings and claws will only get you so far, true power comes from knowledge." 

Just as Locust finished his sentence, he felt three spiky claws bearing down on his neck. "Want to put that theory to the test?" She whispered into his ear.

"Depends, what's the score from last time?" He chuckled carefully so that he wouldn't cut himself. Just as Locust's broken horn gave a very weak glow, another voice came from the back of the house.

"If you two start a fight while I'm trying to get some shut-eye, you'll both end up sleeping outside tonight!" The leader of the band said out loud, with a annoyed and tired voice.

"Sorry sir!" Both of them snapped like statues towards their boss and saluted with genuine fear in their eyes. While the gryphon and changeling went back to minding their own business, Shining Armor couldn't help but to stare at the duo. He found himself speechless at how they were so unalike each other, yet as close as siblings. They were civilians, but still ruthless killers with an efficiency out matching anything in the royal guard, and yet despite all that they seemed like a very close and very-very-very dysfunctional family. The biggest question that was going through his mind was how they had all met and how on Equestria they had ended up as professional mercenaries.

"Would you stop staring, its making me paranoid." Locust added with his gaze still towards his notes. "If you have something to say, just say it."

The captain tried to play it off like he was just caught in the moment, but he really wanted some answers, if not for his curiosity's sake, then just in case they ever became a threat, it would be wise to have any knowledge of them. "Well… I wanted to ask where you all received your training?" Both Galia and Locust turned their heads, surprised by the question."

"Thats an odd question." Locust answered. "We haven't trained at a specific location."

"But how did you all end up as swords for hire when you have had no previous on-field experience?" 

Galia laughed, almost losing control of her mug with her metal talons. "You guards are all the same, thinking you're badasses because you had what- two weeks of training? No matter what training you get, there is nothing that can prepare you for the harsh reality of the world. If you're born and raised in a rough environment, only the strongest will survive and grow up to see adulthood."

Locust nodded. "I have to agree, you are shaped by your surroundings. Back when I was still part of my hive, we had to outthink our environment. In the jungle, everything was bigger, faster and stronger. Our minds were our greatest tool for survival, and what we changelings’ have that you ponies don't is that our hive-mind is always connected to our mind. Every thought, every idea and every memory we have is shared within the hive. My contribution to the hive has not only assured our dominance in the jungle, but also made our lives more practical. My work often revolves around gathering information, which is sometimes put to good use or just ends up useless altogether, however, after a few years its hard to find anything that’s truly useful, but this time, I may be fortunate enough to gain something truly revolutionary."

"You ponies are too sheltered for your own good." Galia cut in. "Me, Dagon and the boss were all raised in the same part of the world, up north where only the toughest survive… the Howling Tundra." She said with a nostalgic smile. "Where the tallest mountains could only be reached by the most resilient flyers and where your prey can be predator. No Equestrian or Gryffodarian would survive a single day there!" She finished, lifting the bottom of the mug upwards and gulping the rest of her ale. "Tell me, what is the hardest thing you had to do during your Training"

The captain was offended by the question, he raised his head a stern look upon his muzzle, trying to intimidate the seasoned hunter. "When I was in boot camp, we had to spend three days in the everfree forest. We learned how to build a shelter, make a fire, and learn to work as a team. The everfree forest has many dangerous creatures that inhabit it, and only by working together, we were able to make it out of that death-trap." He finished, giving a smug smile to the gryphon. However, his moment was short lived as Locust decided to cut in.

"Well done, you survived for three days, I guess we oughta make you our leader since you clearly have done the impossible." He said, trying his best not to burst out into laughter. "I know a lot about your Everfree forest, it has two monstrous sized creatures that very rarely leave their habitats and only one fairly dangerous predator that would give Galia and me trouble.  But I also can't help but to mention that the human, according to these reports, has been living in that forest for around nine months. Fascinating read, really. Petrified dragons, petrified ursa minor and major, decapitated manticores, and countless timber wolf bones scattered across the forest. If you take pride in surviving in that forest for three days, what would you say of the human that managed to not only live in that very same forest for nine months, but also thrived in it."

The captain scoffed. "An animal is better at home in the woods than a pony!" He spat back

"I rest my case, hence why it did not end so well after your brave confrontation." A momentary pause followed until Galia broke it up.

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

Locust turned towards the Captain with a sinister smile. "Two weeks ago, he led a raid of guards into the Everfree forest to recover the filly that we are pursuing, according to the report, the human got violent and attacked the guards. He killed 19 guards, only two survived. the captain and one of his subordinates!" That was the last straw, Shining armor, gritting his teeth quickly stood up and charged towards the changeling. Just as he was about to ram him, he felt a sharp sting surging throughout his whole body. He fell face first into the floor and tumbled until he landed with his face upwards and body immobile. The first thing he saw after he  had opened his eyes were two needles hovering just an inch away from permanently blinding him. "Amature. Next time, don't be so obvious with your attack. Had you used your magic instead, I might have had to recalculate a defensive strategy, but you are more brawn than brains, which is normal for someone in your position."

"Knock it off Locust, he'll shit himself if you keep this up. Besides, the boss won't like it if you kill our contact." Galia said, leaning back on the chair and putting her lower paws on the table. Locust’s broken horn gave off a soft green glow, and the needle lodged in Shining's nerves hovered back to its owner, giving the captain control back to his body.

"If there is something I despise, it is arrogance. But what I take the most enjoyment out of, is seeing someone realizing just how wrong they are." He whispered one last time before he went back to his notes. "Unlike you, we don't parade around in golden armor, marry princesses and live in crystal castles. Most of us have to struggle a lot just to see another day."


***

The arena had a big turn out for another fight that Aran participated in. He had been on a 12 match win-streak. Ruthless, efficient and unstoppable. And of course, he would play to the crowd’s desires. They would shout out the cause of death, be it decapitation, cleaving, or even burning the dead corpse if he had killed the combatant to quickly with torches placed around the arena. The constant battles however had taken their toll on the exhausted human, he would at most get only thirty minutes rest before he had another challenger. A few had gotten lucky blows with their blades that cut up his skin and some had managed to hit him with their hammer, badly bruising him at best, or at worst, sending him off balance, almost losing his life in the process. His current fight was against another claymore wielder. 

Aran's adrenaline was the only thing keeping him standing and awake, his arms and hands were tired of gripping the axe and swinging it for hours. His heart raced as his exhaustion had caused him to be on the losing side of the fight. Almost losing his life several times from close calls that would have sliced him in two, he found that he could not react as fast as yesterday, nor could he use his axe to get close enough for a swing. The crowd wasn’t pleased with the dwindling of Aran's strength and were shouting and hollering at him to keep fighting and stop hiding. He caught a quick glance of Korvax up with the Arena Master who was the owner of the ring. Korvax appeared worried, but he would never admit it to Aran even if he called him out on it. He was a merchant, they were masters at hiding their real emotions. For every fight that Aran would win, the arena master would double the prize pot. But the more he won, the better fighters he would encounter. Aran’s opponent this time was the undefeated "Lord Of The Arena". He was up against a champion. His skills with the claymore did not amount to just simply swinging the weapon as if it were a large stick, but rather a guided strike that had a specific purpose. His strength was superior to that of any mere human and he stood quite taller than Aran. The exhaustion wasn’t really making it any better. All he could do was buy as much time as he could to recover his breath and deflect or dodge every strike.

"You're lucky!" Aran spoke, out of breath. The champion didn't respond but he did narrow his eyes at the human. "Had you fought me this morning, I'd've kill you with just one swing!" He said, switching from defence to offense and trying to strike the champion, lashing out with his axe, only for him to deflect the blow along with almost hitting Aran with a slash that would've ripped open his back. But he still had enough stamina to block the slash with the grip of the axe, he dug his feet into the ground so it would better absorb the shock of the blow and to gain a better hold so as to not to lose his balance. He grit his teeth and pushed forward with a swing trying to open the minotaur up for another strike, but the swing was easily deflected, causing Aran to hastily go back to defense. It seemed that no matter what he did, he could not get close enough to strike. The human was starting to get desperate, scratch that, he was already desperate. The audience was chanting for the Champion, he obviously had the advantage and being a long time fighter, he had developed a large amount of admirers who had come just to see him fight. Frustrated, Aran, lashed out again, aiming for the legs of the minotaur, but a quick hop left the champion unscathed. Aran, eyes wide whirled out of control, his swing too strong, the momentum of the axe carrying him. He angled downward and embedded the blade into the dirt, huffing, catching his breath. Until he rolled out of the way, just in time as the champion’s blade stabbed down at his former position. As soon as he rose from the roll, he raised his axe up to block another blow. The crowd could feel that the fight was soon nearing its conclusion and that the victor was soon to be named. The large crowd was chanting: "FIGHT, FIGHT FIGHT!"

"No more!" Aran said behind his gritted teeth. He gripped his axe with enough force to fracture his fingers. The only thing that had given him strength throughout all his battles was his endless rage and love for carnage. The more desperate the situation became, the more his lungs burned with rage, and all was vented through his heavy breaths that were released from his mouth as steam into the cold crisp air. "COME ON!!! He let loose a roar of fury that many in the city recognized. The human charged to clash with the Minotaur. All or nothing this time. He swung his axe from the side, if not directly parried, the strike would kill the minotaur. And of course, he met the head of the axe with his claymore.

The sword shattered from the impact. A loud crackling noise echoed across the arena as the crowd fell silent with astonishment. The minotaur was now disarmed. Aran did not let his momentary advantage slip away, so he let go of his axe and grabbed the Minotaur by his upper thighs and lifted him from the ground with all of his remaining strength, giving out a cry of anguish at the weight of the armored minotaur pressing down on him. But his goal wasn't to carry him, but to use his own weight against him to bring him down to the ground. The minotaur landed on his back with a large clanging thud and his helmet fell off. Aran jumped on top of him and starting pummeling his face. Each devastating blow was quickly followed by another, relentlessly bashing the defeated minotaur, over and over and over and over and over again. Aran had gone into a white flash of blind rage, despite the face of the former lord of the arena being a red mush by this point. He could feel the red dripping down and through his clenched fists, painting them. But still, that did not convince the blood crazed human.

He stopped punching the champion and started tearing into the neck with his nails and his teeth. Like a piranha he burrowed his way into the neck, biting and spitting over again until he started to choke on the pieces of flesh that he had not spit out in his bloodlust. This however, snapped him back to reality. Aran was out of breath as he regained his senses. He looked over at the fallen champion to see a large chasm in his neck. The entirety of his throat was gone and only his neck remained. The musculature ripped into and gnawed at, crimson still seeping from a slowly dying heart as red bubbles popped here and there on the pooled surface. The human was victorious and the crowd exploded in cheers and praise. 

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS! THE LORD OF THE ARENA HAS BEEN DEFEATED, THIRTEEN WINS IN A ROW, THIS IS A NEW RECORD IN MAGMAR HISTORY!!!" The announcer proclaimed with as much enthusiasm as the crowd. "And now a word from the arena master!" He said, pointing towards where Korvax was sitting along with the owner of the arena. 

He stood up from his stone throne and applauded. "Well done monster, you have more than earned your freedom, and of course, your master will be from this day on, an even richer bull! However, should you ever wish to be a part of my coliseum again, I would be more than honored to welcome you as my champion!" The crowd cheered in admiration of the human, they of course were more than thrilled at the idea of seeing the human in action again. The main gates of the arena opened up for him to be set free in a symbolic fashion, for him to walk out. But as a final act of pandering, Aran walked over to the bloodied corpse and gripped the horns of the fallen champion. Mustering a significant amount of strength, he pulled at the horns hearing a tearing noise coming from what was left of the neck. He lifted the newly dismembered head up for everyone to see and threw it as far up the wall as he could to the delight of the spectators who then proceeded to fight over the head. And so, he made his way out. Back to the warehouse, where Anzja and Applebloom were waiting for him.


***

"Argh!" Aran groaned. Having his wounds cleaned and stitched up with the aid of both Anzja and Applebloom. "There are two layers of flesh, one is skin, the other is muscle, make sure to not penetrate my muscles or else you'll have a real reason to be afraid." Aran said, trying to teach the filly how to stitch up a wound.

"Aran, why should ah do this? Anzja knows this stuff better than me!" She protested.

"It’s a life saving skill that everyone should fucking know, that’s why!" He dismissed her with a slightly raised voice, causing Applebloom to flinch a bit and her ears to lower.

Anzja quickly snapped at the human’s aggressive attitude. "Don't raise your voice at the child, you know she means no harm!" She cut in as she drove the needle through Aran's skin, a little too sharply, causing Aran to also flinch and glare at the mare. 

"I've spent the majority of yesterday in a cage and the entirety of today fighting for hours on end and I haven't eaten anything since this morning, so forgive me if I'm on edge, speaking of which-" Aran turned his attention to Korvax who was there to discuss the revenue of his fights. "I hope you have good news."

"I do." Korvax said, standing up from his chair.  "Today's payment was equal to a week's earnings from all my stalls. But that was just a stepping stone for a larger prize. You will be fighting for the amusement of higher class spectators." The merchant said with a gleam in his eyes.

Aran chuckled. "So what, do I need to put on a dress for my fights in the ring now?" He joked.

"You are more then welcome to if that is your sort of thing." The merchant and human shared a laugh at the reply. "No, but in all sincerity. I've managed to land you a spot in the Dragon's Horn Coliseum, where you'll be fighting all kinds of vicious animals from all across the world." He said, spreading his arms a bit as if to indicate the scope.

Aran sighed. "I hate fighting animals, they are fast as fuck and harder to kill than Minotaurs. Is the payment worth the trouble though?" He asked, perking his ear so as to not mishear the merchant. "You'll be earning around 500 to 1500 bits per fight compared to today’s 900 bits for fifteen fights in a row.” Korvax continued, his tone excited. “But,” Korvax raised a meaty finger, “there is a catch."

"What, do I lose my freedom again?" Aran narrowed his eyes at the bull.

Korvax took a few more moments before he responded. "You will be the property of The War-King, he has requested a personal audience. It seems your little performance has caught his eye and he is more than anxious to meet you."

Aran sighed. "I guess it was just a matter of time before I catch the attention of another cunt with a crown."

Korvax’s confident smile faded. "Careful, Aran. Not even I can save you from the wrath of the city, the king’s guard, or the king."

While the two were discussing, Applebloom’s tenuous grip with her teeth missed its mark as she was stitching the human’s skin, instead of piercing through the skin, she went too far and stitched his muscle. "AOW!" He bellowed in agony. Aran took the needle from the filly's mouth and gave her a stern stare before he started sewing up the wound in his shoulder himself. "Fuck the city." He said, removing the poorly sewn thread. "Fuck the king’s guard!" He grunted, starting the process all over again. "Fuck the king!" He said, piercing his skin again. "We'll talk later, I need to fix this first and get something to eat before I break something or someone." He said frustrated, Applebloom suitably cowed and staring at the floorf. Korvax nodded and made his way out of the guest room, where Aran, Anzja and Applebloom were intended to sleep. As the merchant left, Aran noticed that Anzja was still working on his right leg, which had received a bad cut from an axe during his fourth fight. He was surprised by how perfectly it was sewn. He barely even felt the pain. "Wow, I'm impressed, how did you learn to stitch this well?” Aran said, paying the mare a genuine compliment.

She just smiled at his words. “When you have children, you’ll learn useful skills twice as fast for their sake. My daughter occasionally needed stitching as well. You’d be surprised how reckless they are when playing.” She said, with a slight glimmer in her eyes. She was hiding something. He could see love and loss in her eyes, a pain that he felt that despite all he had gone through, could not compare.

Aran turned his attention to Applebloom. “I have something else you can do.” He said calmly. “Go to the kitchen, find an orange and make a deep cut, then I want you to practice on it instead of me.” Applebloom didn’t protest. She did not like the taste of blood from the needle and was more than happy to practice on a fruit rather than her friend, whom she was hurting with her mistakes. She left the two adults alone in the room. The last thing she heard before she left the room: “So where is your daughter now?”

***

Korvax was sitting in his office, his hooves scuffing at the rich paneling that made up the floors. His walls were decorated with fine filigree and other beautiful designs, most in a dark green color. A lavishly structured fireplace stood to the side of the room, crackling as it burned  A portrait of himself in a fine silk suit stood in the back behind his chair, staring away off into the distance, a wine cup grasped in one hand, the other at his coat. His desk was a rich mahogany, dark and brown, with a hint of red. Figures were carved into its borders depicting scenes of battle to those of peaceful trade. His chair was of the same make of his desk, but thickly padded, with a dark green and gold-yellow design to the cushions, accenting the room. He was waiting for some reports of recent events to fly into his inbox that was slowly filling up. Suddenly, the sound of knocking came from his door. “Yes, come in!” He called out.

“Master, I have a report from the Liberation Front!” A young minotaur answered as he entered and, handed over the scroll to Korvax.

The scheming merchant smiled as he read the report. “Wonderful, it appears the next phase of my plan can continue. Just in time as well.” He rolled the scroll back up and threw it into the fireplace, watching as it caught aflame and danced and twisted as it burned to a black crisp. “Tell me, how is it going with the order I laid out for the company?”

“We’ve used every bit we had to buy as much. Food, medicine, lumber, stone, metal, weapons and armor as per your request. All of our warehouses are full and we are as of this moment bankrupt.”

“Wonderful.” He exclaimed with an evil sneer. “Now, I want you to send a messenger to the Princesses of Equestria. Tell them, that The War-king has their Human.”
> Chapter 12.5 (Bonus) Final Visit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran huddled in the dark corner of his gloomy cell. His eyes reflecting the light of the torches that did little to illuminate the room. Luna stood a safe distance away with her shadow-guards at her side, holding the remains of the basket that Aran had thrown out a few days earlier. "You will tell me who has aided you in your time here,” Luna glowered at him. “Was it one of the maids or guards who gave you this!?" She shouted angrily with a commanding tone. 

"It’s been months and I still don't understand why you even ask, you know I won't give you shit you dried up old cunt!" He retorted back, spitting towards the princess, but her magic stopped the spittle from hitting her, impacting against a magical shield before it disappeared along with the spell.

"You're right." She said as a sinister smirk spread across her lips. "You can hold your tongue, but your mind is but an open book for me to read at my leisure." Her horn glowed as she charged it up to forcefully sift through his mind as she had done countless times. "Let’s take another look, shall we?" 

The human braced himself for another session of unspeakable pain. The spell made contact with Aran's mind and he felt like a searing hot nail was being shoved directly through his brain, searing his gray matter, but despite this, the human remained conscious, struggling against the agony. He clawed and pulled at his hair as the spell pushed through him, but this time, he was able to push back. He could even see how Luna was struggling to maintain the spell, beads of sweat forming along her brow, glistening in the torchlight on her fur. Seeing this, Aran forced himself against the spell even more, spurred on by the horse’s strain. More and more she tried to peer into his mind as some sort of magical buildup was pushing her back. Aran was doing his best not to give into the pain, he grit his teeth and balled his hands, his nails drawing blood from his palms as he resisted. As long as he could stay conscious, it meant that she wouldn’t be able to read his mind. Eventually, the internal struggle shifted in Aran's favor and he let out a shout as he pushed harder against the mare. The spell that Luna had worked so hard to maintain, broke away, knocking everyone in the room away from the blast, except the human. He instead fell down to the ground and started puking excessively. 

"Highness, are you well!?" One of her guards leant her a wing to lean on and regain her footing.

"I am unharmed." She spoke, trying to maintain her dignity. She saw how the human was reeling on the ground with a pool of vomit beneath him. "I'll be back, and when I return I'll use an even more powerful spell to pry open that simple mind of yours." She hissed with as much venom as she could. Infuriated and humiliated in front of her guards, she stormed out of the dungeon, leaving the human to recuperate from his experience. He raised his head to see that there were two guards stationed, guarding him at all times. Inside his shirt, he had hid the crystal heart. he carefully grabbed it and clutched it closer to his chest, hoping that Cadence would respond. "Your secret is safe with me." He whispered softly, hoping she could hear him.

***

Months had gone by and that time, Aran had received several tokens, given to him in secret by Cadence. Though as the days had gone by, she had started to speak with him less and less. Because of this, the human's body had begun to deteriorate once again. Food was all he could think of, he would kill for a juicy steak. He’d constantly pray to some sort of deity or another that the guards would be stupid enough to come closer to the bars, so he could devour them whole. His condition had started to cost him his sanity. He had been scratching the stone walls for weeks and banging his head on the metal bars for days. The guards were mostly quiet, sometimes there were guards who kept their distance and didn't speak a single word, other times they would constantly try to provoke him. The princesses had tried countless different spells against him. While they could never pry open his brain and look into his memories again, he was often left in excruciating pain, sometimes for weeks. The only time he was granted any form of relief was when he was able to speak with Cadence late at night. Sometimes she would sing him a lullaby to lull him to sleep. It was the only hint of kindness he had received in this place, but now… weeks had gone by and the last thing she had told him was that she was getting married. She cut the magic to the crystal heart and hadn’t spoken a word since.

"Just end it already..." He let out a hoarse whisper. For him, time had lost its meaning. He had no idea how long he had been in the cell. Weeks? Months? Maybe years. He had never seen the city and the single barred window provided a view dominates by a large spire that blotted out the rest of the world. "If there is a God, put me out of my mistery." He whispered to himself under his breath.

The doors of the dungeon suddenly swung open, clanging against the walls as they impacted against them, and from it, a regal looking alicorn walked into the dark prison. The guards quickly snapped to attention as they saw the princess of love. However, one of the wardens of the dungeon quickly approached the princess and saluted her, but also stood in her way.

"Your Highness, what brings you to my cells?" He asked with a respectful tone, but still with a hint of authority.

"I wish to speak with the human." She responded uncaringly to the peon before her.

The warden stood in place, glancing at his guards for a few seconds then returning his gaze towards the princess with a hesitant look. "Forgive me your Highness, but I haven’t received notification that you would be visiting us. I am terribly sorry but without permission from Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, I cannot let you-" Cadence did not let him finish however, as her strong presence cut through the warden's sense of duty.

"I am well within my rights as a princess to go where I wish, and I still have the authority to undermine any order you have been given. Now will you let me through, or should I pick out one of these cells as your new office?"

The warden gave the princess a submissive nod. "As you wish." He said, stepping aside, letting Cadence come through.

"Oh and I also intend to speak in private with the prisoner." The warden was silent for another moment before he nodded again. All of the guards in the dungeon filed into formation and left the princess alone with the human.

The moment Aran saw Cadence, he felt a renewed strength flow through him by some mysterious force. He quickly got back up on his feet and gripped the bars, happy to see his friend again. But his happiness swiftly faded as he felt a cold chill in the room. Cadence wasn't smiling and she didn't speak a single word. She just stared at the towering human. Like he was a stranger.  Aran's paranoid instincts kicked in and he began to realize that something was very wrong. The human also noticed something else. Whenever Cadence did visit Aran in the cellar which was a long time ago since she last did, she always smelled of roses. A very noticeable smell, when compared to a foul smelling dungeon. But this time, there was no lovely odor, or perfume. Even after taking several sniffs in the direction of the princess, there was simply nothing. It was gnawing at the human's instincts. Something was terribly wrong and just by looking into the princess's eyes, he could see that whatever that creature was, it most definitely wasn't the Cadence he knew.

"Who are you!?" He asked in with a low growl, making his suspicions obvious.

"Interesting, you are not as easily deceived by my illusion as the others." A green flame enveloped the pseudo-Cadence’s form, spreading over her body and revealing the creature’s true form, a black monstrosity that looked more like an insect mixed with a pony. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Queen Chrysalis, what is your name?" She asked with a wicked smile, revealing her fangs. 

"If you managed to infiltrate the crown, I am more then certain you are well aware of who I am and what my name is." He spat back disrespectfully.

She gave a low chuckle. "I do indeed, but there is no need for this…. hatred, I was merely just trying to be polite… which I admit is difficult." She spoke with a piercing gaze towards the human. She was intrigued by the creature, though it was obvious that it had seen better times.

Aran was not amused by this insect pony, although it was good that she had at least kept her distance from him. "Drop the bullshit and tell me, what have you done to Cadence and what do you want from me? If you're here to kill me, do it quickly, if not, spit it out already!"

The Changeling smiled, she found that she rather enjoyed the human's cold and direct approach. "Princess Cadence is being held in a safe place, where she won't be able to ruin my plans." The human started baring his teeth towards the ‘Queen’. Despite his hatred for every single pony, he held Cadence in high regard. "Let’s remain calm now, we are not animals, are we?" She teased behind the safety of the prison bars. Aran did calm down a little bit, because he was still very curious as to what the insect pony had in store for him. "Good." She said, seeing the human back off. "In a few weeks, I will lay siege to this city, I will have all the guards disposed of and the city's defences should crumble in mere minutes."

"But?" He cut in.

The Changeling sighed. "But, as brilliant as I am, I cannot challenge the princesses in terms of magical power… But you..." She spoke, taking a few steps closer, almost within grasping reach. "From what I've read, you are almost completely impervious to any form of magic."

"Making me an invaluable living weapon..." He cut in again. "Why should I help you?" He asked, knowing where this was going.

The changeling queen smiled. "Firstly, I will of course set you free for you to exact your revenge, secondly I'll make you my right hoof, you'll be seen as a king amongst my kind." She took a few extra steps forward, now within reaching distance. "And thirdly, you'll have everything your heart has ever desired." She finished, with her worm like tongue slithering along her fangs, her muzzle was now mere inches away from Aran's. Though her confident cheshire grin quickly formed into a visage of fear and regret as the human reached through the bars and had her pressed in between them.

"Even though I'm barely strong enough to stand, I am still strong enough to break your neck with a simple pull of my arm."

Chrysalis smiled, attempting to hide her fear, yet confident in her silver tongue. "I am certain you can, but you won't. After all, you honestly don't wish to be imprisoned here any longer, do you?" She asked with a sinister smirk, she knew that her words had already convinced the human to fight for her. Aran loosened his grip of the Changeling queen's neck and let her go back to her gloating.

"If I help you, I want you to do something for me." 

Chrysalis slithered closer to the cell once more as she was more than thrilled to please her new toy. "And that is?" She asked.

"I want you to spare, Cadence!”
> Chapter 13 The Red Eclipse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran found himself in a battlefield, his vision was slightly blurred by a crimson fog, the ground was soaked with shades of gray and pools of red. The sky appeared to be bleeding, as a beam from the horizon enveloped the sun and moon, forcefully creating an eclipse that shun as red as the pools on the ground. Everywhere he looked, he found burnt corpses hacked into pieces. the one responsible for the hacking was no being made of flesh, but shadow. A humongous horned figure similar to that of minotaur, only twice the size of even the biggest minotaur that Aran had seen. The few things he could make out from the shape was the ram shaped horns, its overly bulky body and its fiercely glowing eyes. The shadow appeared to be hacking into the ground in some sort of mad frenzy, the signed corpse was already in two pieces, flung by the force of the striked, only for the shadow to continuingly strike that precis spot. It was truly something of a nightmare, despite this, Aran couldn't move, speak or even think, almost as if he was experiencing fear paralysis.

The shadow gave away a deafening roar that shook the very world that they were inhabiting. A roar that in comparison made Aran's most fiercest warcry sound like a butterfly's wing flapping. Thats when he turned around, the minotaur shaped being turned around, revealing clearly the axe that was its weapon. In an instant, the being flung towards the human and with a fully charged overhead strike that split the world apart.

"ARAN, STOP!!!" The voice of Anzja rang. Aran's eyes opened to see the head of his axe completely submerged under the floor made of solid stone, impaled a fraction of an inch away from Applebloom's skull, which was covered by her own hooves and shaking uncontrollably whilst on the ground.

"Wha...Wha...What the fuck?" He exhaled, almost passing out from lack of oxygen. Loosening his grip on the hilt, he collapsed from exhaustion, unable to feel his right arm. After a few moments, Aran was finally able to make out his environment more clearly. Referring the room as the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust would be a understatement. Every single piece of furniture in the room was chopped into a hundred pieces, with holes that swallowed the remains of the room. Cuts and slashes on the marble room from an axe could be found everywhere.

As everything settled down, Anzja threw herself at the petrified filly. "Applebloom, habibi, are you alright!?" She cried as she embraced the filly in her hooves. Despite the mares warm intentions, it only made the little filly crawl into a smaller ball. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" She shouted, furious towards the dazed human. Despite her fears towards the human, her compassion made forced her to stand up towards the human. 

Aran, however, did not reply. His face was that of horror, agape and shocked from his experience. After a few seconds, he closed his mouth and raised his gaze. Taking his time to rise up from the ground, he calmly walked out of the room, leaving the axe behind and the mare speechless.


***


Luna awoke from trance in the dream world out of breath in a panic, drenched in a cold sweat. She felt as if all the misery and anger during her time as Nightmare Moon washed over her in an instant. 

Just before she was roused, she saw Aran standing under a red eclipsed sun, a monstrous axe and the shadow of horns that looped, similar to that of a male ram. "Was that his doing? But how? He can't use magic...Somehow I doubt that could have been him..." She said to herself, trying to make sense out of all of this. "Was this a vision of things to come? If so, what does a red eclipse have to do with Aran? More importantly, what does a red eclipse imply?" Luna quickly left her bed to do some research in the royal canterlot, after spending several hours in the Starswirl the bearded section, she found some references to Saddle Arabia were one day a sultan would be crowned with the power to make the royal family of Equestria submit to his will. 

The very little they know about dragon folklore tells of the end of the age of fire, where the dark will consume the world and the dragons that shall rule in the grey twilight. Another one tells of a hawk that sacrifices its wings and claws to become a god or hand of god, she had a hard time trying to interpret the ancient text. "Fortune does not smile on me this night...What if I cannot find what I am searching for?" She asked doubtingly. Luna rarely made such a fuss about something that takes place while she walks the dream, as most of it is just troubles of the soul made real in the plane of dreams. But the magnitude of that vision was still reeling in her mind and body, never before has she felt such a force of pure hatred and fury, dwarfing the display of violence portrayed by Aran, but if this was not his doing, it was still her duty to investigate what could be a possible glimpse into the future. What if I cannot find it? She asked herself again. "Of Course, The Everfree castle!"

(several hours later)

The large doors to the throne room slammed open as a high ranked guard galloped to reach his mistress as fast as possible. "YOUR HIGHNESS!" He called out as he approached the throne, abandoning his former stoic facial expression. Celestia lowered her gaze in anticipation of her guard. "Reports from several sources have confirmed the where-about of the wanted Human and filly in question!"

Celestia's eyes widened from the sound of the news. "Tell me, what does the reports say?" She said, betraying her former calm expression.

"Ma'am, the human has been spotted in Magmar, alongside the filly. The reports go further in detail of the human becoming a gladiator and being claimed by The War-King as his personal fighter and champion in the Dragon's Horn Arena. The foal napped filly is alive and seemingly unharmed, several of the reports confirm the filly to have been seen with the human several times."

While Celestia was still slightly sceptical, a sense of hope embraced her being, this could be opportunity to rescue the filly and possible dispose of the human threat once and for all. "Send word to War-King, Dranox, tell him that I am willing to negotiate for the safe return of a certain filly and also, tell him that I am willing to pay for the life of his champion for 50.000 bits!" Celestia proclaimed.

"Yes, your majesty!" The guard replied with a salute just before he galloped out of the throne room as fast as he had arrived.


***

The sky was phasing a very dim light through the darkened cloud, it seems a large storm was on its way, yet there was no thunder to be heard, it may possibly be the start of winter weather, The winds of winter were whistling with the ferocious echo of rivaling that of a windigo's. The hornless changeling was wrapped in a thick blanket next to the fire that Shining Armor had quickly put together, trying as best as it could too not give in to its physiological weakness. The mercenaries had for the moment decided to lay low as the main road towards Magmar had a incoming patrol, to large for them to handle without creating a personal vendetta with the War-king. Dagon was a few yards from the campfire and facing away from it, sitting with his hooves crossed, barely moving an inch as he was in a deep state of meditation, holding a beads bracelet that had unique runes inscribed on each bead. Not a word was uttered, as Galia was tearing into her pray, a rabbit she had caught and was in the processes of consuming. Shining Armor took in the sights of his "traveling companions". Each one of them seemed to be a alien species in how they were coexisting during the quiet moments. Even their leader seemed secluded from the rest up on a tree, dessins of yards above his squad, he was always volunteering to be on night duty, keeping an eye, or more accurately an ear open for any threat that might sneak up on them. Now that he thought about it, he had never during their travels seen the blind pegasus sleep. "Does he even sleep?" He whispered to himself. 

"A foolish question, his body and immune system would suffer catastrophic side-effects if he never recovered his strength." Locust replied with a raspy voice. The Prince didn't respond, as he was still veary of the changeling that had almost blinded him a few nights ago. Instead, he awkwardly shifted his gaze to meet that of Galia's as she tore off the head of the rabbit from its body and devoured it whole.

"Are you still pissy about what happened a few nights ago? jeesh, you need to learn how to let things go!" She said jokingly with blood still dripping from her beak. 

It took a few seconds before Shining armor responded, hesitantly opening and closing his mouth without letting words escape, not knowing if he should bother. He decided he would take the gryphons advice. "I've wanted to ask this for quite some time now, but I'm wondering how a diverse and...Unique group such as yours ever came to be? I mean, a Tundra walker, a changeling, a pony and a Gryphon? Most ponies never meet someone from another species let alone ones that's in an arctic wasteland." 

Galia perked up at the opportunity to share her origin, a proud gryphon such as her always loved to reminisce about her abilities and accomplishments. Tough before she spoke, a powerful low-pitched voice overshadowed the attention of everyone by the fire. "This one sees the justice of your curiosity." Dagon, slowly turned his face towards his party. "This one, not worthy of tribe, this one, the spirits reject." Dagon uttered with the most calm and delicate tone imaginable for someone with such power behinds their voice. "This one, Elders deemed weak, this one, cursed by tranquility." Dagon the menacing tower and aspect of size and brute strength gave off the gentle nature of a nurturing mother. 

Shining armor was confused by the tundra walker's words, though Galia cut between before he could continue. "Hey, stop stealing the show, I'll be the one to tell him!" She spat at the giant minotaur. He merely lowered his head in a slow nod and let her continue. "Staghead over here comes from a clan of ancient shamans, who were ones the servant of some red-skinned devil by the name of...Tarbek or something, who fused their clan's warrior into channeling the rage of Tartarus, which lets them fight like crazed beast until the last drop of blood in your body is spilt. But, you can see from his adorable mug, that he hasn't got a single mean bone in his body." She spoke as her metal claws scratched the top surface of Dagon's skin, yet he didn't move a single muscle nor did his face give away any sign of frustration. 

"That seems...Odd, doesn't sound like the kind of pony to be found in a mercenary band." Shining asked as he was trying to decide whether they were making fun of him or telling the truth.

Galia waved off his assumption with her iron talon. "Nah, it's not that he can't fight, he just will never be able to fight to his ultimate potential. Even without the effects of the blood rage, he is still one of the toughest things I've ever seen." Galia paused a moment before she leaned closer to the unicorn. "Truth be told, even I sometimes get scared at the thought of Dagon going Berserk, Lightbringer help us all should that day ever come." She whispered with a maddening look in her eyes as she was hoping to see such a unstoppable force in battle. The green prince leaned back as he felt a sense of relief that for whatever reason, this living weapon was a somewhat predictable character rather than a hostile maniac. Though it made him curious, who or what could stand up against him? Surely this Tundra walker could slay Aran.


***

A terrible agony befall Aran's body, the muscles in his arms, chest and back felt like they had been completely torn. Though this did not seem the case as he still retained some functionality, the sensation is that of muscle soreness though to an unimaginably aggressive degree, the pain alone discouraged the human from even clenching his hands. "-The fuck is happening to me." He whispered exhaustingly under his breath. A cold breeze befell him as Aran was still trying to make sense of what had transpired earlier. "I've had nightmares before, but nothing like this...Could it be Luna messing with my mind again?" The thought alone made him clench his fist and grit his teeth, frustration building up in his lungs, dulling the pain that would've made any man cry out. "No...I don't think even she could come up with something like this, even if she did, she shouldn't have been able to keep me in such a trance, let alone turn my room into the freaking holocaust." 

The human tried his best to make sense of the situation, images of the nightmare flashing in his mind. His mind kept coming back to the image of the red sun and the demonic minotaur. Those two gave the human an unnerving feeling, it felt so real and yet it was not. Something so unnatural should not even take shape in his mind. At no point in the human's life could he recall the occurrence of a red sun or such a monstrous creature that was beyond that of anything his mind could conjure up in a stress induced nightmare. Unbeknownst to the human, the Axe that he had placed at his side gave of a weak red glow. This enhancement was fairly sheltered under the light of the dawn, hiding its glow under its pink-red rays.

In a balcony far above the human. Korvax let out a low-chuckle as he was overjoyed by what he was witnessing. "It appears your experiment was successful." A small hooded figure spoke as it approached its master from behind "I'm surprised such a small dose had such a volatile effect on him."

Korvax broke his gaze to take out something from a pouch around his neck. "That was just a fraction of what he is truly capable off." He spoke carefully stroking a vial with a green liquid swirling inside. "All the pieces in the board are soon in place." The merchant paused for a brief moment "He will be the catalyst to my plans." Korvax said, as he turned his attention to his prized possession.