When the universe seemed bent on screwing around with you, the only thing you can do is show the universe the middle finger and push on! Even if that means pushing on in a whole new body.
You ever had those days when you think the universe is out to get you? Well I'm one of those days right now and it seems that the universe decided to screw me over in a whole new way by sending me to a different world. Oh but that's not the worst part. The worst part is that I was wearing a costume before I gotten whisked away and well... Lets just say that it ain't a costume anymore. Inspired by "Rise of Darth Vulcan" by RealityCheck, and credit goes to Uberdeathninja and his story "Malideus" for starting all this craziness. Editor: NightmareKnight Rated T for creative use of swears and gore. On Hiatus due to horrible math grade and grounding. Expect update near the end of the month.
"Bastard son of a monkey and a bitch!" I screa- er I mean yelled as I shook my now thumbing thumb. Without a moment of hesitation, I stuck it into my mouth and sucked on it to lessen the pain.
"Hey Nick are you done with the costume yet? We need it for to..." My head slowly turned to the door as my long time friend, Alex, stood their looking at me with a 'what the fuck' look.
I took my thumb out of my mouth with a audible 'pop!'. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Okay? Now is the costume finished man?" He asked as he walked up to me and I gave him a grin, patting the blanket concealing my six months of hard work.
"Alex my friend, this thing isn't just finished. It's perfectly done to win us that cash prize!" I tore off the blanket and we both basked in awe at the masterpiece I've created.
It was 10 feet tall and bulging with very lifelike muscles with blood red skin. Clad in black obsidian armor with a brass trim, every plate of armor was filled in with brass skulls. It had an elongated head with skulls engraved on it that gave it an alien look. Four horns grew from head, two of them extending over it's head and curling around two human skulls while the second pair extended downwards, just barely pass it's jaw. It wore a long flowing cape with hundreds of skulls, some human and some not, on it. All of them had wiring in their eye sockets to keep them in place. Hands big enough to close around a man's head with arms that gave it a terrifying reach and long legs that ended with sharp claws. A face with an expression that only showed anger and bloodlust and yellow eyes that unnerved all those who it looked at . A black sword that was bigger than a man leaned against it, across it's side branched out dozens of jagged edges. Unholy runes was painted across it's length, meaning unknown to those who didn't know how this legendary creature was.
Standing before the two of us was a perfect costume of U'Zuhl the Skulltaker from Warhammer. The Sacred Executioner of Khrone.
"It's horrifying," Alex breathed out with a hand inches away from touch it, as if it would come to life and rip off his skull.
"It's amazing," I patted one of the legs with pride in my voice.
"It's," He looked at the clock and his brown eyes widen. "time for My Little Pony!" He ran out, missing my groan of annoyance.
I followed him to the living room where he laid on the couch with a bag of chips and that damn show playing on our HD plasma screen TV. "You know Alex, most guys our age would be watching a show about wrestling or sports or hell even the animal channel. You on the other hand," I pointed at the TV where two colorful ponies were talking. "Are watching a show about talking ponies of all things."
"Come on Nick, its not that bad," He munched on some potato chips and patted the empty seat next to him. "Just sit down and give the show a chance for once." I grumbled and sat down next to him and decided to give the show a chance.
Ten seconds later I was reading a book, ignoring the sounds from the TV, and remembering how Alex gotten into this show. It was an average Monday night and it was time for our usual 'Bad Show Bang!' to kick off the month. We would pick random shows or movies on Netflix and challenge each other to see who could stay watching the longest. Our wheel of torture landed on a show called 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'.
I caved after the first episode but Alex just continued to watch, making me wonder if the show melted his brain. It didn't but it did something much worse.
It turned him into a brony.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against bronies except that I find them weird. I mean the show was originally targeted for young girls but it's fanbase is mostly teens and adults that was mostly males. Finding out that little fact convinced me that the show was actually an alien broadcast that was slowly turning our population into weird pony loving fans. Of course, hypnotized pony loving brony or not, Alex is still my best friend since we met in elementary when we fought over a four leaf clover and bonded in the nurse. So even with his weird liking for the show, I was still going to stand by him thick and thin. Us teens that just graduated from high school have to stick together no matter what in a world that is against us.
Doesn't mean I can't complain about it every now and then though.
I was the second chapter of the math book I picked up when I heard a loud crashing sound followed by frizzing and looked at the TV... The TV that now had something embedded into it's screen, cracking and ruining it completely.
"NO!" I ran and kneed in sorrow right before it. "The TV! The four thousand TV that I lost the warranty on! Why!?" I cried, hitting the floor with my fists for a bit before jumping to my feet. "Alright who do I kill and what should I kill him/her/them with?" I ran into my workroom and pulled out my toolbox, where I began to chose my murder weapon.
"Hammer? No it'll leave dents on it."
"Uh Nick?"
"Crowbar? Nah too Half Life."
"Nick?"
"Hacksaw? Nope too messy and why is it called a hacksaw? You hack with a knife, not with a saw."
"NICK!"
"What!" I spun around, nearly braining Alex with a wrench. "Can't you see I'm looking for a murder weapon to commit murder with? By the way which do you think is better and less likely to leave evidence? A wrench or a screwdriver?"
"Dude just calm down and look at this!" He held up something in his hand. It had dull grey metal with a red jewel in the center and a unicorn's head with wings spread out. "Do you know what this is?"
"...If I say yes then will you still explain?"
Alex rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Nick this is the Alicorn Amulet from the show! I don't mean that it's a two bit fake but the real thing!" He flicked the jewel once to make a point. "This means that Equestria could actually be real!"
I held up a hand, expression as serious as a heart attack. "So what your saying is that amulet is from that girly show you watch and you think that it could be the real deal making everything else in the show real by extension."
"Yes!" Alex cheered, a big smile on his face and hope in his eyes.
"... Please excuse me as I die painfully of laughter. HAHAHAH!" I fell down in tears and laughing my ass off. I laughed so hard and so long that my sides were hurting and I was positive that my lungs had collapsed. "OH GOD! THAT IS PRICELESS!"
"Nick this is serious!" I looked up to see Alex actually looked serious about this.
I slowly stood back up and my expression went serious once more. "Okay okay. Serious time is now. I saw we should go to the government and- HAHAHAHA!" I met the floor once more, laughing even harder than before. "Come on Alex! It's just a show so please just drop this whole 'serious' thing before I have to go to the hospital."
Alex looked dejected for a minute before sighing in acceptance. "I guess your right and maybe I should lay off My Little Pony for a while."
"That's the spirit!" I patted his leg, too tired from my second bout laughter to get up this time. "Now help me up so I can check if walking in the costume is balanced."
A few minutes later and I was in the costume thanks to the hatch in it's chest. A normal guy wouldn't even be able to fit in the costume so I improvised with my crafting skills. My arms only reached past the costume's bicep so I made a metal skeleton of the arms with strong metal strings tied to my fingers and wrist. The forearm was immobile but the hand copied my hand's movement perfectly. The legs gave me a problem with the way they bend at the knee. I got around this by adding straps at the end of the metal skeleton of the legs to attached to my feet where they met just past the knee. The problem with this was that it made balancing while walking difficult but I hoped the weight of the cape would act as a counterbalance for it. The head was mostly metal with cushions in it to lessen the strain of looking around and the eyes were yellow glass that glowed if light is shined onto it. The blade was real metal spray painted black and the edges were dull to prevent injuries. The torso was metal and cushions as well but a unique brace was clamped on my back with the arms of the brace extending all over the back and allowed me to move it around almost naturally. There was voice modifier that I rigged so that it made my voice echo like how a Bloodletter's voice would do so.
It took me five months to build it and one month to get the hang of using it but this baby was our ticket to that 20k cash prize for the costume contest here in good old Los Angeles.
I walked around my workroom, growling and snarling like how a bloodletter would. "Alright, the cape is working as a counterbalance and I can walk around without falling down. That cash prize is ours!"
"Hmm," I turned to see Alex looking at the amulet then me a few times before going over to my workbench and pulling out some metal wires. "Hey Nick keep still for a second."
"Oh hell no. You ain't ruining this costume with that thing."
"I'm just going to tie it between your upper horns and take a picture. Come on, I promise I'll take it right off once I'm done." I grumbled some swears and lowered myself so he could tie the thing and get it over with. He backed away a minute later, took a picture of me with his Iphone and showed me it. "Admit it, even that has to look cool to you."
I'll admit it. It kinda did with how that amulet was tied between my horns. Alex made the wires go into the skulls and tie it tight so that the amulet hung in midair between the two. Still I wanted it off before the contest because I was a sucker for details.
"Alright, it does look cool. Now," I lowered my head, nearly hitting Alex doing so. "Get it off."
"Whoa Nick I say that I should take a few more pictures and a video for my brony friends."
"What? No way! You will take it off or so help me I'll-"
"Dinner at Hooters is on me." He offered.
"Pose as menacing as I can for you." I finished, not one to turn down free food.
The new few minutes were filled with me posing and flexing my muscles like how those guys on TV would. I swung my sword a bit and imitated a few punches.. "Okay Nick, just say it and I'm done."
I sighed and tapped the voice modifier with my chin. I stood up to my costume's full 10 foot height and yelled, adding as much anger as I could to it. I wanted to get this thing off of the costume as soon as possible.
"That! Is! AWESOME!" Alex finally turned off his phone, putting it away, motioned for me to bend down. "Okay Nick come here and I'll-" He cut off in mid sentence and his jaw dropped and his eyes widen.
"Alex? What's wrong man?" I asked and he only pointed behind me. Naturally I turned to see what was behind me...
And saw an honest to goodness tear in the wall that had a focused tornado coming right out of it. And coming right at me!
"HOLY COW ON MOTORCYCLES!" The tornado caught me in a second and began to drag me into the tear, making me plant my feet to prevent me from flying. With the hand that wasn't holding the sword, I reached out and grabbed my workbench that was bolted to the wall. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS DELICIOUS IS GOING ON!?"
"Nick! Nick grab my hand!" I looked to see Alex holding onto the door as if his life depended on it and reaching out a hand toward me. "Come on! The costume's arm will reach me!"
I looked at the sword in my hand and muttered 'Oh well' before letting it go flying into the tear which gobbled it up faster than a hungry fat guy at an all you can eat buffet. I reached out to Alex's hand and was inches away from grabbing him when suddenly.
CRACK!
My eyes widen when the workbench was torn from the wall and sent me sprawling onto the ground as it flew into the tear. I grabbed the floor with all my might but I still felt the tornado dragging me in.
'It's hopeless. I'm going whether I want to or not.' My eyes met Alex's own who was crying now and I knew I just had to say one last thing.
"Later man, thanks for making life awesome. Tell my family that I loved them 'k," I smiled underneath the helmet and felt the ground I was holding get ripped away, sending me flying into the tear.
"FUCK YOU UNIVERSEEEEEEE!" I entered the tear and watched it close, the last sight of my world was my best friend letting go to follow me as it closed.
Ponyville, Equestria
"Gah! Pinkie what the hay is this!?" Twilight asked, her wings flaring out in surprise at her sandwich. Her sandwich that tasted rubbery. "Is this rubber?"
"Yup! Gotcha Twilight!" The pink party pony giggled as she and Rainbow Dash laughed at her pout. Applejack and Rarity looked at the sight with smiles on their faces.
Dash patted her on the back. "Don't be like that Twilight. Here take this," Dash held up a sandwich in her hoof and Twilight took it, inspecting every inch of it to make sure that it wasn't fake or rigged to blow. Satisfied, she took a bite it and a second later, flames shot out of her mouth.
"HOT!"
As Twilight ran to the nearby lake to cool her mouth, Pinkie and Dash laughed hard, rolling on the grass.
Rarity rolled her eyes at the duo. "Really darlings are all these pranks necessary? We haven't seen Twilight in weeks since her trip into that mirror and you two just have to prank her?"
Wiping some tears from her eyes, Dash replied. "Of course! How many ponies can say that they prank a princess! Besides Twilight doesn't mind do you?" She turned to the purple alicorn to say something but was helpless as her spicy sandwich was stuffed into her mouth. She bit down on instinct and regretted it a second later as she ran to the lake.
"Nope I don't mind at all," Twilight said with a smug smile as she sat back down. "And I've been wondering, where's Fluttershy? Its isn't like her to miss one of our get together."
"She's busy taking care of a family of rabbits that gotten sick and went to Zecora to ask for some of her herbal medicine," Applejack answered her, taking a bite out of an apple. "Said we could just eat without her but I'll stop by her house and drop some food."
Twilight sighed, wishing that all of her friends could be here but she'll say hello to Fluttershy before she leaves. Being a princess wasn't as easy as she thought as Celestia and Luna began teaching her politics. It turns out that it was much harder than the books she read about the subject as one has to have a sharp mind but an ability to make sure their words won't work against them in the long run. Fortunately Celestia told her that even she had grasping politics at first but with time, she'll learn the game of words too.
"Hu-bu-bu-bu!" Everypony, including Dash finished drinking from the lake, looked at Pinkie who shivered and hugged herself. "Whoa..." Her mane and tail suddenly went deflated and her coat went from bright to dark in less than a second.
"Pinkie dear, are you okay?" Rarity asked, concern about her friend's sudden change in appearance. "Did your Pinkie Sense tell you something?" Like all those who lived in Ponyville, Rarity knew about Pinkie's ability to tell the immediate future and learn to listen to her about it.
Pinkie shivered despite the warm weather around her. "G-girls I think something really scary is going to happen because I just had a doozy AND my knee felt really pinchy!"
CRACK!
The group jumped at the sudden crack that sounded like glass breaking and turned their attention to the sky where they saw something that shocked them. A meteorite fell from the sky, appearing out of nowhere, and tore it's way through the sky, leaving behind black smoke in it's path. The smoke seemed to arrange itself into blades, faces of pure malice, and other gruesome images on it's own accord. It flew over everypony's heads and impacted into Everfree so hard that it made the earth shake beneath their hooves.
It was completely silence for a minute until Applejack exclaimed. "What in tarnation was that!"
Twilight looked at the smoke in the distance and said, "I don't know Applejack but I say that we find out."
You've ever watched that one episode of 'Avatar the Last Airbender' where Zuko and Aang was in the middle of the fire vortex from those two dragons? That is the closest comparison I could think of to describe what I was experiencing.
All around me was nothing but swirls of colors and I was helpless as my body changed while I watched the pretty colors. I felt my muscles grow in seconds, my teeth sharpen, and limbs extended. I heard the snapping of bones as they were broken down and then changed. I felt my feet change into something else and my hands grew bigger than they ever could. I felt four things burst out of my head and my skull lengthen.
Oddly enough throughout all this, I didn't feel a thing. What I did feel was my body heating up like I was in a sauna.
I felt myself hit something hard and wondered why I didn't feel any pain. Shaking off bits of things, I slowly stood up...and up I went!
"What the fuck?" I looked down to see the ground much further than it should be and noticed that my voice was still echoing. I moved my chin to turn it off... then realized that my chin wasn't the same anymore. "What the double fuck!?" I brought my hands to my face and flexed them, watching them move much more naturally than they should, not to mention I could feel them move. I walked around and unlike before, I moved as if I was walking with these legs since I was a kid. I felt a weight on my head and moved a hand to feel four horns growing there.
I took a look at my surroundings and found myself in a forest which was too...colorful. Everything, even the shadows, had a bright look to it as if someone decided to brighten everything up. My head turned toward the sky and found that even more colorful with it's clear skies.
"Okay okay, calm down man. Deep breathes and take note of the situation," I said to myself to calm myself down from going into a rage. "I was just dragged through a tear in my workroom, tumbled through what I can't even begin to name, somehow went from human to something else and now I'm in bright ass colorful land," I looked at the sky with a glare. "What else Universe? Did you forget to show me something? Is there anything you wish to throw at me?"
I heard a squeak and turned around to see that hiding underneath her hooves was an absolutely tiny and yellow... pony.
"Oh fuck me sideways with a rusted sword," I whispered in disbelief and pointed at the pony. "You there, where the hell am I?" I prayed to every divine being I knew of that I was somehow wrong in assuming where I was at. I heard her whisper so low that any lower that silence would be louder but somehow I still heard her say.
"E-e-e-equestria."
"..."
I took one deep breathe, looked at the sky and roared with all the anger, frustration, and annoyance I could muster.
Fluttershy was scared. First a meteor nearly turns her into a daisy pancake and now a massive bipedal alien was throwing a fit right before her. Of course, her eyes was closed shut and her hooves were over her ears when she heard the rather colorful use of words the alien was using. The very small part of her mind that wasn't gripped with terror wondered how did the alien know Equestrian.
She moved her hooves from her ears to hear if it was done.
She moved her hooves back to cover her ears. Nope, not done yet.
The animal loving pony felt the ground shake beneath her as the alien continued it's fit before it suddenly stop. Before she could wonder what happened, she felt a massive claw-like appendage wrap around her entire body and lift her into the air. Fluttershy opened her eyes and was greeted with a pair of glowing retina-less eyes that struck fear into her heart. She remembered a saying that the eyes were a window into a pony's soul but in these eyes, she saw nothing but anger and hatred. A being that knew no mercy and no remorse. A monster unlike anything she ever seen.
"Yo-Yourco-comingwi-withme-me."
Fluttershy did what came naturally to her. She let out a goat like sound and fainted.
I grumbled to myself as I tore through the forest with insulting ease. The trees were little more than annoyances as I'm now strong enough to rip them from the ground and toss them like toys. Something that I did multiple times when I was raging. I kept a firm grip on the pony in my hand who was now unconscious.
I scowled in anger and irritation and said to myself, "Of course the Universe would send me to a place I hate. I'm just lucky I know a bit about this world."
I rattled my head trying to remember what Alex told me about this show. If I remembered correctly then the main characters was six ponies that wielded something called 'Elements of whatever' and used the magic of friendship to defeat their foes. So this means that I'm trapped in a world that probably solved all their problems through hugs and kisses and all that crap.
"Out of all the places I fall into, it had to be the place where ponies rule. Why the hell I couldn't have fallen into Warhammer?" An image of me facing down dozens of Space Marines filled my head...only to be quickly replaced with me meeting the real Skulltaker. I gave a mental shudder at what the herald would do to me. "On second thought, I'm mostly okay on this world."
I looked at the pony in my grip and sighed. "As much as I hate this place, I'm going to need information." I had no idea how well this pony will answer my questions but as long as she did, I didn't care. Knowledge is power and all that shit but first I needed to find someplace nice and secluded. That way if this pony woke up and screamed, no one would be around to hear her.
"Whoa." Was the first word that left Rainbow Dash's when she and her friends arrived at the site of the meteor's landing. The crater was blacken from the impact and a good number of trees were torn from their roots. Twilight got closer to the crater and noticed something was off.
"I don't see anything in the crater," That alone made her worried. Did another gotten their hooves on it or did something come out? 'No that's impossible,' Twilight thought. 'Life on other planets is theoretically possible but for an alien to arrive like a meteor is completely-'
"Hey girls look, tracks!" Pinkie yelled, getting their attention and found themselves staring in awe at what they saw. The pink party pony was standing in a massive claw print that went deep in the ground.
Twilight and the others looked around the area and saw that the claw prints were all over the place, as if whatever came out of the meteor decided to stomp around. The alicorn gulped in fear.
'Okay maybe it isn't completely impossible.'
Applejack looked at the claw prints and saw that they were heading in one direction. "Well everypony, looks like we're going in that direction."
"This is awesome! We're going to meet a real alien!" Rainbow Dash cheered, flying above her friends and punching the air in front of her. "Do you think they have giant green heads or do they hover off the ground with their mind powers."
"I hope they know what parties are so that way I could throw them a welcome-to-our-planet party!" Pinkie said, holding a banner with said words she pulled from nowhere. Her fear long forgotten at the possibility of meeting a new being. The duo ran ahead, following the tracks like how bloodhounds would follow a trail in their eagerness to meet the alien.
Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight followed behind them at a slower pace. "Honestly those two have such active imaginations. Those tracks are obviously from one of Everfree's animals." The white mare said as they kept the duo in sight.
"Well actually Rarity, those tracks are too big and too deep to be any animal from Everfree except maybe a hydra," Twilight remembered all the books she read about Everfree and the countless animals that lived in it. "And even if it was, we should be able to see it."
Rarity rolled her eyes. Princess or not, Twilight would always be the same. "But still darling, don't you think that it's a bit unlikely for an alien of all things to just come crashing down to our planet. What next, a manticore will come crashing from the sky?"
She waved her hoof at the sky to prove her point... and out of nowhere a manticore came crashing down in front of the group, nearly hitting Pinkie and Dash. The five mares looked in shock and surprise as the manticore looked around in what appeared to be fear for a second before running right past them, ignoring the group completely.
'Stupid cat-bat thing!' I thought after my encounter with some odd crossbreed of a bat, lion, and a scorpion that tried to attack me. Of course, my first reaction was fear but that quickly died down due to how small it was compare to me. It barely came up to my knees and even then it didn't look that scary with that cartoony look it had. It attempted to pounce me but I caught it by the throat with my free hand and just tossed it over my shoulder like it was a piece of trash. Still I was amazed at how strong I am now as the thing flew off like Team Rocket from Pokemon
"Note to say, know my new strength," I said to myself as I lighten my grip on the pony. I fully intend to let her go after I got what I needed but first I had to find some place to stay. My wandering led me to a small clearing with a nice big cave nearby and I quickly moved to it.
Suddenly something jumped out, making me stop in my tracks.
It's head was one of a goat with three short horns pointing forward with a downright demonic look to it(I wasn't one to talk though), and a long powerful snake for a tail hissing at me from it's behind. I could see that it's front legs ended in long fingers and talons while it's back legs were hooves. It's height reached my chest and it's body rippled with muscles. Unlike the bat-cat, this thing looked like something out of God of War. The look in it's eyes showed that it was a ruthless predator and willing to kill any who enter it's territory.
I felt fear overcome my mind for a second before something else washed it away. I felt an urge to battle it, to prove who was the better fighter, to show that I wasn't going to back down.
But above all, I felt an absolute need to take it's skull.
I smiled the best I could without lips and lightly toss the pony into a bush. I flexed my hands and snarled at the thing. I was no stranger to fighting and I was eager to test out my new body in a battle. It responded with something between a goat's bleat and a lion's growl. The forest was silence for a moment as we stared each other down.
Then we lunged at each other with intent to slaughter.
"Come on girls, the tracks are getting fresher," Twilight said as she led the group, this time to make sure nothing surprises them. The tracks they been following were getting fresher the longer they followed it meaning that the alien was nearby. After a while, they began to hear sounds of fighting.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack said as she pushed through a bush and entered the edge of a clearing... and the five mares' jaws dropped at what greeted them.
One was obviously a Chimera, a dangerous predator from Discord's reign when he decided to open the gates of Tartarus just to see what was inside. Fortunately even he wasn't crazy enough to leave them open and quickly closed them but not before several creatures, such as Chimeras, Dragon-Bats, and others, escaped. A Chimera had the best abilities of a lion, goat, and snake along with a dangerous intelligence and a strong resistance to magic, making them very difficult to defeat. They're known to destroy entire towns by themselves but haven't been seen in a while due to their reclining numbers. The other creature, however, was completely unknown to even Twilight.
It stood 10 feet tall, dwarfing everypony in the clearing with red skin and rippling muscles underneath. Long powerful looking limbs that either ended with huge sharp claws or big claw-like appendages. It wore black armor on parts of it's body along with a long flowing cape that put fear into their hearts. Across the cape, hundreds of skulls were kept in place with thick wires going in and out of their eye sockets. Not a single one looked even remotely like anything they seen. It had an elongated skull with a face that displayed only hatred and anger. But what kept their attention was it's eyes.
Yellow, retina-less, glowing eyes that made them think that this creature had no soul. That it's only purpose in life was to kill anything that dare stand against it.
The Chimera pounced as the creature ran forward and the two met in between. Just before the Chimera impacted it's chest, the creature quickly grabbed it by the front legs, spun around and threw it into a nearby tree, cracking the truck. The Chimera shook off the impact and charged at the creature, horns that were sharp enough and strong enough to pierce dragon scales lowered to impale it. The red creature made a surprising move by not moving out of the way but rather kicking it with one of it's claws when the Chimera got close enough. The move made it flip over and land on it's back, revealing a lion's face on it's chest. The red creature quickly pressed it's advantage and stomped down on it but the Chimera managed to roll out of the way. The group of five watched in shock as the ground where the claw hit utterly shattered from the force behind it, feeling the earth that flew from it even from the edge of the clearing. The Chimera's tail wrapped around the creature's body before biting down on it's neck, only for it to recoil in pain, fangs failing to piercing the skin and instead broke upon contact.
Somehow, among the roars of the two battling behemoths, a light groan was heard by Twilight. She followed the source and let out a quiet gasp. Slightly hidden in a bush, Fluttershy laid unconscious not 10 feet away from the battle.
"Girls look," Twilight whispered, pointing a hoof at Fluttershy making them look and gasp as well. "What's Fluttershy doing here?"
"She must have ran into one of those two brutes," Rarity said, voice filled with worry and concern. "We have to help her before she gets hurt!"
Twilight nodded her head and used her magic to gently lift the pegasus. She couldn't risk a teleport because the flash might attract the attention of the two so she had to settled to bringing Fluttershy here with her telekinesis. Slowly but surely, she brought Fluttershy closer to them, doing her best to keep her out of the two battling monsters line of sight.
The five mares felt their hearts go into their throats when the red creature stomped backward, stepping over Fluttershy as the Chimera followed. It was now on it's hind legs and swinging at it's opponent, the lion's face roaring in anger. Somehow she remained unconscious unaware that she was nearly stepped on. Dash held herself back from saving her friend herself. A Chimera is something that even she knew that you shouldn't mess with, not to mention the even bigger red creature it was battling. Still she whispered for her friend to hurry up before Fluttershy gets hurt.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the unconscious mare was brought to the safety of her friends and Applejack quickly checked her for injuries.
"She's fine but we need to get out of here before-" Another roar cut her off and their attention was drawn back to the battle. The Chimera and the creature was in a test of strength, claws gripping each other as they pushed into a stalemate. The snake wrapped around one of the creature's legs, trying to throw it off balance. The creature's face had anger, rage and frustration on it but there was one emotion that stood above all those. Determination.
Suddenly it's free leg snapped up and the knee slammed into the Chimera's chest, right below the lion's head. Said head's eyes widen and a waterfall of blood came from it's maw as it's ribs were shattered beyond healing. The creature then brought it's head forward and rammed it into the goat's head. The head collapsed in on itself from the sheer power behind the headbutt while it's horns broke the Chimera's own like glass against metal. The body of the Chimera fell backwards, the snake still hissing in anger. At least until the creature grabbed and torn it right off it's body.
Blood dripping from it's body, the creature reared it's head back and-
"ROOO-ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!"
The ground shook from it's roar of victory and the five ponies shivered in fear at the monster, not one of them making a sound.
"Uh w-what happened? W-where am I?" A soft voice broke the silence and Fluttershy slowly regained consciousness, shaking her head in confusion. She looked at her friends surrounding her. "Girls? What are you doing here? What happen..." She trailed off as she gazed at the massive monster that grabbed her from before and the mangled corpse that laid near it. Fluttershy looked at the creature, blood rolling off of it's skin and a snake hanging limp in it's grasp.
She immediately returned back to unconsciousness.
The creature move toward them, faster than it's size should allow, and Twilight quickly cast a spell, a bright flash enveloping them right as the creature lunge at them.
Ponyville. Spike
"And done!" Spike said to himself as he put back the last book into it's rightful place on the shelf. Twilight asked him to organize the books when she saw how many was out of place and Spike agreed to do so, on the condition that she gets him some gems from the Royal Vault. He didn't like to take advantage of her royal status but when he tried one of those gems last week, he knew he just had to have more.
Suddenly a bright flash blinded him for a second and a very familiar group of ponies appeared in the middle of the library. He saw that they were all shaking in fear and their eyes were wide with the exception of Fluttershy who was unconscious.
"Twilight? Are you all okay? What happened?"
His voice snapped Twilight out of her trance and she looked at the baby dragon. "Spike get ready to take a letter, I have to tell Celestia and Luna about some...thing in Everfree,"
Then everypony, and dragon, heard a loud roar echo through the library and throughout Ponyville. The mares shivered, Fluttershy included, while Spike was cowed by the sound. As a dragon, he knew when a superior creature was venting their anger but never before had the young dragon heard a roar sounding so...bloodthirsty.
"Fuck me with spiked bat," I grumbled after roaring my frustration and anger, staring at the spot where those six ponies were. I wasn't too worried about one pony knowing about me since others would probably write her off as crazy but six? My plans about staying hidden just shot itself in the head and fell backwards out the window.
I turned my attention to the mangled corpse and shook my head. During the entire fight, my mind was plagued with bloody thoughts making it difficult to focus. Only now that the thing was dead that my head was clear. I gazed down at the body and winced. I was no stranger to death but I can honestly say that this was the first time I've seen something so bloody.
Dropping the snake, I began to move deeper into the forest. Those ponies already knew where I am and like hell I was going to sit here like some stereotype villain from TV and wait for them. Despite the fight, I didn't feel even remotely tired but instead I felt...stronger, more powerful.
I shook my head and trek forward into the darkness. At the very back of my mind I heard something so faint that I could barely make it out. It sounded familiar, as if I knew it my whole life. At best, I could make out three words.
You know I've always liked the woods. Nice, quiet, and beautiful in an unknown, dangerous way. You could always count on a forest to be peaceful.
"Fucking wolves!" I yelled, throwing the last one into the distance. A group of wooden wolves just burst from the undergrowth and attacked me...and failed horribly at that. Their teeth did jack shit against my skin and when they jumped on me, I barely felt them. They were also very weak; so weak that they can't even take a glancing blow. Seriously, even when they reformed into one big wolf, I just gave it a pimp slap and BAM! No more big wolf. After that, the rest just ran back into the forest while one had the smart idea to try one last attack and go for my groin.
'I should try to find a way to change me back to normal and get back home, but where the hell am I suppose to start?' I kicked a small rock hard enough to embed it into a tree. 'I remember there being princesses that have incredible magical powers, so maybe I could convince them to change me back and send me home.'
A roar pulled me out of my thoughts, followed by a dog's yelping. A second later something small, white and fast shot out from the undergrowth and hid itself behind one of my legs as a very familiar cat bat jumped out. It roared, looking around for it's prey with narrow eyes, and then it saw me. It went from a big fierce predator to a terrified kitten facing down a Rottweiler in half a second, shaking under my glare. Deciding that I could have a bit of fun, I just said one word.
"Boo."
It let out fearful cry and ran in the opposite direction, a trail of piss following behind it. I laughed, making the leaves shake as I did before looking down at the thing near my legs. It was tiny, even smaller than those ponies, and standing on it's hind legs. It had a black coat and, oddly enough, had goggles just above it's small beady eyes; a contrast to the ponies' huge as fuck eyes. It bared a resemblance to pugs, if pugs could walk on their hind legs and wear goggles.
It let out a sigh and then seemed to realize that the thing it was hiding behind was a leg, and slowly looked up. I saw a whole storm of expressions appear on it's face, and I just couldn’t help but say,
"How's the weather down there?"
"Just fine really," it, or rather he, said, sounding like he was in his late...teens years I guess? Then he just tipped over and fainted.
'Is everything I encounter going to faint or run way?' Deciding that if this bipedal pug could talk, then there was a good chance that it could have some information on this world. I picked up it’s tiny body in one massive hand and went to find someplace to stay.
After a few minutes of walking, a thought just came to me. "How the fuck can I hear when I don't have ears?"
Canterlot Castle. Celestia
Celestia stared at the letter Twilight had sent her minutes before, and its contents deeply scared her. If what she read was right, then Equestria wasn't playing host to an alien, but rather a demon. She and Luna knew of such creatures, as they were often horribly twisted parodies of any sapient race. While very strong physically, most demons lacked magic and were often crazy berserkers incapable of any tactics besides charging head on at an enemy, only truly presenting a threat in large numbers. The small number of demons that could use magic were often very cowardly and would avoid direct battles. Still, one shouldn't underestimate a demon as they were capable of taking large amounts of damage before finally going down.
The one that Twilight had described troubled her though. First, the demon arrived as a flaming meteor from the sky instead of going through the gates of Tartarus, meaning that it had somehow not only bypassed Cerberus, but the countless spells she and Luna had set up. This alone made her worry, as it meant that demons could leave Tartarus undetected. Second was the demon's appearance, as it didn't sound like any demon she fought before. Third was how it fought, as Twilight described in detailed that it fought like an experienced fighter and beaten a Chimera, an animal once native to Tartarus, without gaining a scratch.
A demon that was both physically strong and skilled in battle; Celestia shivered at the thought. Not even Discord would fight a demon directly, as they were one of the few beings that could inflict permanent harm on him and alicorns. The spirit of Chaos found that out the hard way when he lost one of his fangs.
"Captain Saber," the white alicorn called for the new royal guard captain, who took over after Shining Armor became prince of the Crystal Empire. She.was a unicorn that had a blond tail and mane with a light blue coat to match her eyes that shined with determination and courage. Her cutie mark was a star made up of swords crossing over each other which reflected her talent perfectly. A master at any sword of any kind; she even impressed Luna with her skills. Strong willed, outspoken, and sharp as any of her blades, Saber fulfilled the duties of the Royal Captain perfectly.
"Yes Princess," she said in a military tone, standing at attention.
"Prepare yourself for a mission to the Everfree to assist the Bearers of Harmony." Normally she would sent a five pony team, but Saber's skills in combat should be enough for this mission, not to mention the effects that the Elements of Harmony had on demons. Celestia was certain that once the demon saw the Elements, it would beg to be sent back to Tartarus.
After all, the Elements of Harmony were toxin to demons of all kinds, and not even the most insane demons would test their might against them.
Everfree Forest. Nick
'Well, I'm completely bored,' I thought as I sharpened a branch out of boredom. It turns out that my claws are sharp enough to cut through a thick branch like it was nothing. Currently, I was in another cave, just waiting for the pug to wake up so I could start asking questions. I also took a closer look at the little guy and saw that he was as skinny as a twig. I could see his rib cage, and his limbs were like toothpicks. I mentally promised myself that once I get my answers, I was giving this pug something to eat.
"Oh, my head," he said, slowly waking up and shaking his head. "Uh where am I?" He sat up, looked around, and froze like a deer in the headlights of a car when he saw me. I saw him begin to shake and held up a hand.
"If you're going to faint, then at least let me ask some questions before you do," I stated in a clear tone, and watched him nod. "Okay. First off, what's your name?" I wanted to make him more comfortable in my presence so that way he could answer my questions more clearly.
He gulped and said, "G-Gizmo. Uh, I don't mean to sound disrespectful but..." He looked over my body with a fearful gaze. "What are you?"
I mentally debated with myself for that question. Should I tell him that I was a human? Would he even know what a human is? Or should I play the part of the Skulltaker?
Ah fuck it. I'm playing the part, and besides, no way it could come back and bite me in the ass later.
"I am U'Zuhl the Skulltaker, and you are going to answer my questions,"
A few hours later, I was pleased with the information I had acquired. I started asking about Gizmo himself so he would be more comfortable, and it worked to a degree. I learned that he was a Diamond Dog, basically bipedal dogs with an obsession for gems, and was kicked out of his pack.
"I always hated digging in the dirt. It made my paws dirty and messed up my books," he said. "Unlike other Diamond Dogs, I loved to learn, to read, and even tried my best to be polite!"
Apparently Diamond Dogs weren't in the best light of other races, due to their practice of slavery. There were several reasons why he was kicked out of his pack; he hated digging, thought gems were just colorful rocks (technically they are), enjoyed tinkering with things and preferred an herbivorous diet. However, the last straw was when he set a couple of pony slaves free and he was forced to either be exiled from his pack or become dog meat.
Honestly, I could feel where he came from. My group of friends were made up of the weirdos of society, those that didn't fit in anywhere else. We had bronies, otaku, cartoon lovers, gamers, goths, and so much more. All of us were different from each other, but that bond, the fact that we stood out, made us closer. Man, I'm missing them already.
Among other things, I learned that the ponies were ruled by two princesses who could control the sun and moon (I still have trouble believing that), ponies were split into three types: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, with the first able to use magic, the second able to control the weather, and the last mostly dealing with the land. There were other races like dragons, minotaurs, zebras, and others.
As I mentally promised, I went and hunted some deer, then skinned and cooked them over a fire I made during my questioning. Gizmo wasn't too keen on eating meat, but his empty stomach soon convinced him otherwise.
"By the way, what's with that amulet hanging between your horns?" Gizmo asked, making me pause in taking a bite out of a leg.
"Just something called the Alicorn Amulet, no big deal," I replied, and took a huge chunk out of the leg, bone and all. My teeth were just as sharp and as strong as my claws.
I saw Gizmo narrow his eyes, doing his best to avoid mine. Turns out that my eyes made him feel like I was going to kill him. "I've seen the Alicorn Amulet in books before, and I don't think that's it." Wondering what he meant by that, I asked him to find me a gem so I could use it as a reflection. He protested a bit before doing so, finding large diamond that he needed two paws to carry, but was like a pebble in my grip. Still, it served it's purpose and I used it to look at the amulet.
"What the fuck?" I stared at the amulet, or rather, the symbol that now hung between my horns. It was an eight pointed star with a golden skull that had large sharp teeth, four horns growing from it, and blood red eyes. On the forehead of the skull was a boxy 8. It was a symbol that I knew by heart, the chaos star of Khorne.
'...So this amulet just went from pony princess to chaos star of Khorne,' I thought as I stared at the star. 'Sure universe, why not? What next, I'm going to fight Jacob Black from Twilight? Or maybe I'm going to meet Solaire from Dark Souls?'
I shook my head and heard a yawn from Gizmo. "Alright, you go to sleep, and tomorrow you're taking me to that home of yours. I'm going to need a lot of books to learn more about this place. Got it?" He gave me a nod and laid on his stomach, paws under his head as a pillow, and just went to sleep.
I went outside and stared at the night sky with a displeased gaze. It wasn't the moon or night sky that I knew by heart. All of the constellations that I knew weren't there. "I will find a way home, no matter the price."
Unnoticed by Nick, the eyes of the star flashed a blood red for a second before returning back to normal.
"...You know, for a demon that supposedly killed some of the greatest warriors across the universe, you sure are clumsy," Gizmo said, sitting on the elongated part of my head like it was a bench. I grunted in annoyance, pushing away another tree in my way.
"Not my fault someone had to put all these trees in my way." It wasn't the best comeback, but hell, it was a nice reference. Too bad I was the only one who got it.
We were currently on the way to Gizmo's home so I could read up more on this place. I hated going in blind so I wanted to learn as much as I could about this world. Fortunately, the walk wasn't too long and with tireless pace and long stride, we were making great time. It turns out that I no longer got tired, or at the very least, got tired easily since I just spent the whole night awake without feeling even a bit exhausted. I honestly had no clue if that was good or bad considering that if I don't get my sleep, well... lets just say it'll be equal to not giving a lion meat to eat.
Soon I saw the ruins of a castle in the distance and ran to it, grateful that there was no longer trees in my way. Gizmo yelped and held onto my helmet tighter.
'Yes! Soon I'll have a book in my hands and maybe even find a way to get back ho-' My brain stopped, all movement in my body ceased, and Gizmo almost fell off from the sudden stop.
"Hey, what gives?" he asked before tapping a horn. "Hello? U'Zuhl, are you there?"
I took a step back and a deep breathe to calm myself. "Gizmo, why didn't you mention that there's a ravine around your home?"
Gizmo just shrugged, or I assumed he did. "I figured the big bad demon wouldn't need to know something like that. Why?"
It was a little embarrassing but I was absolutely terrified of heights. It all started when...ah fuck it, I ain't going flashback mode so let just say that it involved ten year old me, a dare, the highest water tower in town, and the fire department. It wasn't just the height that scared me, but the fact that if you fell, you were at the complete mercy of gravity; and gravity is far from merciful.
'So walk away and miss out on books or suck it up and just run it?' I went over my choices and I let out a small sob of despair at what I had to do. Even worse, considering how I had to get to that castle, since no way in hell that wooden bridge was going to hold me.
I stretched a bit before lowering myself like a professional runner. "Gizmo, I recommend that you hang on tight and don't let go." The serious tone in my voice was enough to convince him and he hugged one of my horns with both arms. I waited for a second...
And then I ran straight for the ravine.
Outskirts of Ponyville. Saber
Saber was currently on her way to Ponyville when she heard a voice echo through the air.
"LEEEEEEEROOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEENKINNNNNNNSSSSS!"
Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Nick
I was on my knees from the jump, panting more out of fear than exhaustion while Gizmo shakily fell to the ground.
"W-w-why did you do that?" he asked, still shaking from the massive jump I took. I severely underestimated at how strong my legs were now as I jumped high enough to nearly smack some birds, which did not help my fear of heights in the slightest. I stood back up, glad to see that my legs weren't shaking like how they normally would whenever I went up somewhere high.
"I wanted to get it over with as quick as possible," I said as I picked him up. "Now to the library so I could forget that horrible experience." With Gizmo leading the way, we entered the castle.
Ponyville. Saber
Saber stood in the middle of Ponyville, her stance one that screamed military despite her armor not being on. She was told that Princess Celestia had sent a letter ahead to Princess Twilight to tell her about her coming along to assist them. Saber mentally went over her armory.
'Swords, shields, armor, healing and mana potions,' she thought, eyes closed to see all of her items in Hammerspace. 'Everything is here so now I just have to wait for Princess Twilight.' Saber opened her eyes-
And was greeted with blue eyes and a smiling face.
Saber yelped in surprise and fear, summoning a sword by reflex before realizing that they belong to Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter.
"Hi! You must be the captain that Twilight said that will be helping us find the mean old demon in the Everfree. So she told me to go and meet you here but I wanted to buy you a cupcake first to welcome you to Ponyville since I can't throw you a party right now but I Pinkie Promise to throw you one once this is all over! Anyways I brought you a cupcake but then I thought 'Pinkie you don't know what her favorite flavor is' and so I thought back 'What the hay, let's just buy her a dozen and let her pick' so here you go!"
Somehow she managed to say all that in one breath and pulled a box out of her mane while Saber just stared at her with wide eyes. A pony walked by her and said,
"Don't worry, you'll get used to her... hopefully."
Twilight. Golden Oaks Library
"Twi' are you sure it was a good idea to ask Pinkie to get the captain?" Applejack asked as she looked up from her book about zebra demons. She wasn't the only one, as each pony had a book regarding demons somehow. Fluttershy and Rarity got the tamest ones, like how a demon would turn ponies into animals or gold, while she, Dash and Twilight had the more...darker ones. "And do we really have to read these books?"
Twilight nodded her head, three books surrounding her. "Yes Applejack, we need to figure out what kind of demon we're dealing with. Each race has it's own demons and each one have their own weakness so its important that we know what we're dealing with. And I sent out Pinkie because well..." The purple alicorn looked at the book fort that Pinkie made, complete with the party cannon right at the entrance. "I think the party fort is evidence enough."
The door opened and in came Pinkie and the royal guard captain that Twilight knew as Saber who had a box balanced on her back.
Saber immediately bowed to her. "Princess Twilight, by order of Princess Celestia I am here to assist you with the demon. I hope that you have been doing your best to find out more about it?"
Twilight's expression fell at that. "Unfortunately there isn't much to find. The demon that we saw isn't listed in the demonology books I have, and the closest comparison I can think of is Cannibal Minotaur of the Maze but it was recorded that it was slain by Prince Theseus centuries ago."
The blue coated pony thought about this for a second. "Well, I believe that we can handle it as long as we proceed carefully. Demons aren't very smart but once it sees the Elements, then I believe it'll cooperate."
Dash decided to speak up, flying up into the air. "And if it doesn't, we'll give it a good old fashion beating." She punched the air to drive her point, making some of her friends roll their eyes at their behavior.
"I think that's unlikely Dash, since demons seem to be downright terrified of the Elements. Look at this," Twilight said and began to read out of a book. "I watched The Impaler, the most horrible demon that Griffons have ever fought, tremble in fear as Princesses Celestia and Luna showed him the Elements of Harmony. Who could imagine that the demon that slaughtered countless Griffons without a shred of mercy would be scared of jewelry? The Impaler was one of the most dangerous demons in Equestria and even he was scared of the Elements of Harmony."
Rarity stood up, brushing away a very nonexistent speck of dust off her coat. "So what you’re saying is that we may not even have to fight the horrible demon after all." Twilight nodded her head and Rarity smiled. "Perfect. Then maybe we won't take too long on this trip. I'm working on a new design I have in mind."
"And I need to get back to bucking," Applejack said as Pinkie jumped into her fort.
"I have to help the Cakes with the contest next week!" Pinkie's head peaked over a book wall, a pot on her head as she looked around the room. "I'm sure that mean old demon won't stand a chance against us."
Twilight smiled at her. "Of course Pinkie. When all of us work together, nothing is impossible. And besides, this demon may be scary, but it can't be worse or more powerful than Nightmare Moon, Discord, or King Sombra."
Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Nick
I sneezed, the entire library shaking as I did. Gizmo held a stack of books to keep them from falling over.
"Whoa. Bless you."
"Thanks." We were currently in a large library and I was greedily devouring books left and right to learn. It was a stroke of pure luck that the language was English and with my skills as a fast reader, I was already done with their history. And let me just say, that it was a complete bore to read.
Apparently Equestria hasn't seen widespread conflict for a very, very, very long time, not since the Purging of Demons which was nearly four thousand years ago. That was interesting as it turns out that demons did exist here but they were either killed or ran back into Tartarus in fear of the Elements of Harmony. I wasn't too keen on learning that considering I have no idea on what effects these 'Elements' could have on me. Reading about this world's demons made them sound more like wild, dangerous animals than the Chaos Daemons of Warhammer 40k, so I guess I should be happy about that.
With the lack of constant conflict, that meant that the military had to be incredibly weak from centuries of peace and money funneling into other things. It was an advantage I was going to use to the fullest as I try to complete my goal, finding a way home.
'A goal that is getting farther and farther away with each book,' I thought unhappily as I placed down another book. In every book about magic I've read, most had nothing on cross world teleportation and the few that did merely said that it was theory. I still kept hope though, as this library looked fairly old, meaning that these books had to be outdated. So this meant that other libraries had to have more up to date information on magical advancements.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Gizmo asked from his chair, a book in paw.
I grunted in annoyance as I opened another book. "Something important but every book I've read has nothing on what I need."
"Maybe I could go to another library and look for what you need? There's a town not too far from here but..." Gizmo trailed off and I motioned for him to continued. "It's called Ponyville, and I think the name speaks for itself."
Ponies, ugh. I can deal with Gizmo since I liked dogs but I don't trust myself around ponies and I'm pretty sure that their screams of terror will give me a headache.
"Anywhere else?"
"Well there's Canterlot, the capital that's on the side of a mountain."
"Hell no." Getting that close to the capital AND near a mountain, no way man.
"Manehattan? Its far but I heard that it's libraries are always up to date."
"Maybe." I flicked away a spider that got a little too close, watching it go splat against a wall.
"Seaddle?" Okay, are all the names of these places here puns?
"How about we stay for a bit longer. I haven't read everything here yet so there's a chance I might find something." Well, that and I wanted explore the castle. Places like this always had some hidden goodies if you knew where to look.
Gizmo shrugged and leaned back into his chair. "Fine with me. If you want to walk around, just watch out for the traps this place has. On second thought," he said as he shook his head. "Try not to break the traps too badly." With that, he went back into his book as I stood up and began to explore the castle.
Luckily, the size was big enough for me to easily walk through the halls without any trouble, but the doors often had me crawling through them on my hands and knees. So far I haven't found anything of interest besides a private reading room, a container filled with white liquid, and some strange writing in the dungeons that I wasn't too keen on checking out. For all I knew, it could summon some insane creature from another realm.
In a another Equestria, a knight that praised the sun sneezed.
I walked through the halls, each step making the walls shake and dust fall from their places. 'Well this sucks! I thought this place would have something cool like, I don't know, a magically animated suit of armor or something.'
In a another Equestria, a suit of magically animated armor somehow sneezed and almost burnt one of his ponies.
'Just dust and ruins everywhere I go in this place.'
CRACK!
I froze and slowly looked down at my feet. `Webs of cracks were on the ground where my feet were, spreading out very quickly. I could only assume that I stepped on an unstable part of the floor and uttered a single word.
"Fuck."
And with that, the ground gave away and I fell into the darkness below.
Everfree. Mane Six and Saber
Saber stared at the rotting corpse that was a Chimera with a keen and focused gaze, while Twilight, Applejack, and Dash stood behind her. Fluttershy took one look at the corpse and would have fainted if Rarity didn't quickly pull her away and have her sit on her couch. She and Pinkie were currently making sure that Fluttershy stayed awake while the rest inspected the Chimera for any clues on the demon's abilities.
The Royal Guard Captain got closer to the Chimera, ignoring the smell of decay it gave off. "It appears that the demon struck where it would deal the most damage." She poked where the ribs should be but only felt soft tissue instead of hard bone. "And it seems to be incredibly strong. I'm not even feeling any ribs on this thing."
The three ponies behind her turned green as Saber magically opened the lion's jaws and put her head almost inside it. "I'm even seeing bits of bone in here."
Dash had to hold back her lunch as Saber began using her hooves to open the mouth wider. "Twilight, is she sane?"
"She is, Dash. My brother told me that Saber is just really dedicated to her job." Her coat took a deeper color of green as Saber actually put a hoof in the blood and examined it up close. "...Although, I have to ask him exactly how dedicated."
Saber summoned a rag and wiped her hoof clean of blood. "Alright, we can safely assume that the demon's strength lies with it's physical power, so we must make sure we don't get too close to it. Those tracks indicate that it probably left after the battle." She pointed at the large tracks that led away from the clearing. "We will follow it until nightfall, then continue where we left off in the morning. Rainbow Dash." Said pony stiffened into attention as Saber's eyes bore into her, making her break into a light sweat. "Go into the air and see if you can spot the demon. If we're lucky, then maybe it didn't go too far, so I want to make sure we don't run into it."
Dash nodded and took off into the air. After gathering Fluttershy and agreeing to go around the corpse, the group set off, following the tracks of the demon deeper into Everfree.
Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Nick
'Ow... If I ever find someone named gravity, I will beat the living shit out of them just to vent out my anger,'I thought, getting back to my feet after the fall. Looking around, I saw that I was in a cave of sorts with, luckily, the exit nearby. In the other direction though was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful things I ever laid eyes on.
It was a tree that appeared to be made of crystal, with large gems that had smaller gems inside them growing on it's branches. The center looked like a star, while on it's trunk was a picture of the sun and moon. The hole that was made when I fell allowed sunlight to touch it, giving it that divine look, but I had a feeling that even without the light, it would still give off it's own glow.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed and, don't ask me how, I felt hostility in the air. My eyes flashed around, looking for some sort of eternal guardian, because something like this always had some sort of crazy powerful guardian protecting it. Considering how my luck was going, I wouldn't be surprised if whatever this world considered an angel came out of nowhere and began to beat the living shit out of me.
Then the star on the tree began to glow and I finally realized where the hostility was coming from.
"Whoa whoa whoa! I'm not here to cause any trouble!" I put my hands up in a gesture of peace but it didn't do much as the star glowed brighter with each passing second. I really didn't want to even touch the tree since, thanks to years of playing MMORPG, it was obviously something very important.
As in, 'we need it to live' important.
The star was even brighter now, truly looking like one, and I decided on the best course of action. I booked it.
A very small but loud piece of my mind called me a coward for running, but the rest of my mind told it to shut the fuck up as I ran for the exit. I risked a glance back and I saw the tree suddenly release this wave of energy that was quickly catching up with me.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" I repeated like a parrot on crack, getting out and running toward a wall. I saw that the ledge wasn't too high and decided to simply give my fear of heights the middle finger and jump for it. Unfortunately, in mid air, the energy wave caught up to me. It felt like the time I was skateboarding once and accidentally slammed into an eighteen wheeler, that feeling of your body meeting something it can't move at high speeds.
"FFFFUUUUUCCCKKK!" I roared as I flew through the air and over the forest. "I HATE THIS WORLD!"
Everfree Forest. Saber and Mane Six
"Well I'm not seeing anything from up there," Rainbow Dash said as she landed near the group. "The forest is too thick for me to see anything now."
Saber nodded her head. "Then we shall proceed with caution from here on out. Everypony make sure to be as quiet as possible."
Fortunately they were already doing that. The creepiness of the Everfree had an effect on ponies, with the exception of Pinkie, who was bouncing around. They may have been in the forest before, but they had never hunted a demon before. The trail it left behind was easy enough to follow and thanks to Fluttershy asking the animals if they had seen anything, they were going in the right direction.
Suddenly Saber stopped, ears upright, and summoned two swords. "I heard something. Be ready." Twilight nodded her head and brought out the Elements of Harmony, giving each element to her friends. Then a Manticore jumped out of the foliage, roaring and displaying it's superiorit-
It froze in place when a sword stabbed inches away from a very important organ for males.
Saber glared at it and uttered one sentence in a tone so cold it could freeze a pool. "Leave, or you will become a lioness."
The Manticore ran off, leaving behind a trail of piss, wondering why does he kept encountering the wrong kind of prey.
The captain returned her blades back to Hammerspace and looked at the six behind her. "Alright, we'll continue for a few more hours then stop and make camp. Understood?" They all nodded their heads, too scared by Saber's action to protest. Unfortunately they never noticed the fact the Manticore's roar managed to hide another roar from another creature.
A creature that flew over their heads and was cursing the world.
??? Nick
"I hate this world, I hate this world, I hate this world," I repeated to myself, getting back to my feet and wiping off something from my face. I was lucky, as my body took the impact pretty well and only left me feeling very sore all over. On the downside, I had no idea where I was at. Taking a quick look around, I saw that I was in a swamp of sorts, standing in water that barely reached my knees.
Fun fact about me, I'm also kind of scared of water but to a far lesser degree compared to my fear of heights. I simply couldn't swim for my life, but it seemed that I didn't need to worry about that here.
I shuddered, and began to walk in the direction I flew from. 'Okay, just keep walking in one direction and I'm bound to reach the castle again.' With this in mind, I stomped through the swamp, walking over any obstacle that stood in my way.
At least until I stepped on what I thought was a bound of rocks.
It thrashed when my foot made contact with it and I stumbled back, off guard. It turned toward me and I saw legs appear from underneath it before it raised to it's full height.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I said as I laid eyes on what could only be describe as a crocodile on steroids. It was big; at least seven feet high and twenty feet long, with it's body covered in what had to be rocks. It's eyes were narrowed in anger and hate, and I saw it's legs tense, like how a predator would do before it struck. "I HATE THIS WORLD!"
It lunged at me and, like with that crazy hybrid from before, my body ran forward to meet it as my thoughts become bloody.
There's a unique thing about crocodiles; they can't chew their food, so they have to swallow chunks of it. Doesn't sound that scary, but when a group of my friends and I watched a zookeeper feed one once, it was horrifying just to see it thrash around and tear that meat apart.
To be on the receiving end, however, is utterly terrifying. Or it would be if I felt less anger and more fear, or if I wasn't wrestling with it with my bare hands.
"JUST STAY STILL YOU FUCKING LIZARD!" I roared as I kept a firm grip on the damn thing, holding the jaw shut so it wouldn't bite me. Damn thing was as smart as it was big, since it kept rolling to throw me off balance or to smack me against things. It didn't hurt at first, but after getting slammed into the ground at least a dozen times, it was starting to seriously piss me off.
I was on it's jaw, struggling to keep my balance on it since I had no idea if my skin could withstand it's bite, and doing my best to not lose my grip. It kept thrashing from side to side, trying to shake me off, but I kept my arms around it's jaw and made sure that my claws were deep in so I wouldn't be thrown off so easily. I knew that the moment I lost my grip on it, it would have the advantage in this fight, so I was hoping to wear it down and kill it once it stopped.
That was about an hour ago, and we were still in this damn position; it didn't help that my thoughts were messing with my actions. More than once, I almost let go so I could fight this thing face to face, but I managed to prevent myself from doing so.
Suddenly it stopped and, honest to god, threw itself up front first and fell backwards. No easy feat since it had a ten foot daemon on it's jaw ,and before I could realize it's plan, my head slammed into the ground and into the swamp water. My grip slackened for a second, but it was all that it needed as it shot back out of my grip, feeling my claws leave bloody marks on it as it did. I felt something very strong bite my left forearm and watched as my world spun.
The good news: it bit my armor, which could hopefully withstand it's assault. The bad news: it got a grip on me.
My world spun to one side before it violently stopped when my head met the ground, then it spun to the other side and smashed me again against the ground.
'I'm too big for it to rip apart like normal prey, so it's going to wear me down and go for the kill,' I thought, using the brief seconds I had when it spun to the side again. 'Like fucking hell I'm going to allow that! But how do I get out of this thing's grip?'
The moment I finished that thought, my body reacted on it's own, twisting itself as the crocodile spun once more so that my feet landed in a way that gave me some leverage. Then I pushed myself up, the damn thing still hanging onto my arm, and just swung my arm hard and fast enough for the thing to let go, losing a few teeth as it did. It crashed through a couple trees but got right back up, blood dripping from his mouth and the claw marks I left on it.
The crocodile's eyes told me that it was far from over, and a part of my mind roared with approval.
"BRING IT ON YOU OUTDATED DINOSAUR!" I roared, punching my fist into my open palm. "I ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW WHAT CROCODILE TASTED LIKE!"
Like a train, it charged forward, turning it's body into a powerful ram. The moment it got to me, it jumped with it's jaws wide open. Then I did something unexpected
I lowered my head and impaled my horns right below it's jaws.
I pulled myself back to my full height with the crocodile struggling to get free of my horns, it's body hanging right in front of me. But before it did, my arms wrapped around it's thrashing midsection and I squeezed as hard as I could.
The spine broke, ribs gave away, and organs were crushed as I gave it a hug of death, and soon, after fighting for a minute, it stilled. I pushed it away, blood dripping down from my horns, and watched as blood flowed out of it's mouth and mixed itself with the water.
I looked toward the sky and roared.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"
Saber and Mane Six. Everfree Forest
"Did you hear that?" Saber asked, pausing in following the tracks. The group paused as well, then Dash just shrugged.
"Meh, its probably just some animals fighting."
Fluttershy gulped at that. "Oh, I hope not. I know that this is the Everfree Forest, but I hope that at least the animals can settle their arguments without getting violent."
Saber merely returned her attention to the tracks, noting that the daemon might have kept at a contest pace, judging from the lack of breaks from the trail. This gave her information that the demon possessed high amounts of stamina, meaning that wearing the demon down wouldn't work. Of course, this only applied if they needed to fight it.
"Alright, let's make camp here and continue in the morning." She turned to the ponies behind her, eyes looking at the surroundings for anything dangerous. "It'll be better if we set up the camp now instead of doing it at the last minute and risk getting attacked. Rainbow Dash and Applejack. We're going to need a constant source of light and warmth, so find some firewood. But don't stray too far from us." Both ponies gave a mock salute and ran off into the trees. "Fluttershy, can you ask some of the animals if any predators usually come this way? If so, ask what kind so we'll know what we're dealing with." The shy pegasus gave a meek nod and flew up to a nest of birds. "Princess Twilight, Rarity, we're going to set up the camp along with some sensors around it. That way we have an early warning system." They quickly began to do so, each one doing their duties to the best of their abilities.
Nick. Swamp
"Stupid crocodile completely fucked up my sense of direction," I muttered, standing on a large rock to see if I could spot the castle. After that nasty incident with the tree, I'm going to avoid going downstairs as much as I possibly could, because I did not want to fly airline Magical Fucking Tree again. The wisest course of action would be to find another hideout nearest to the castle so I wouldn't run that risk again.
Of course, I have to FIND the castle first.
I jumped off my rock and landed near the corpse of my latest kill, glancing at it with weary eyes. Like the first time I fought something on this world, I felt completely energized and ready to fight once more, but I had to find Gizmo and the castle first. It would be a waste to leave a corpse with enough meat to last us several days, but it'd only slow me down. Still wish that I hadn't killed the thing via bear hug because a) thats kind of an embarrassing way to go and b) it was a very painful way to go.
"Too bad big guy, but it's survival of the fittest." I gave the thing a pat on the stomach as a sign of respect and moved to head in the direction I hoped was right. I had to wonder why I yelled out those words after the fight. Was this Chaos Star influencing me somehow? Or was I truly becoming the Skulltaker in both mind and body? Either way, I had to keep a firm grip on my humanity, because it was the only thing I had left from my home world.
I glared at anything that moved, making countless animals run in fear of me. Good for them, because I was not in the mood to deal with any more surprises.
Gizmo. Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters
Gizmo was confused. First there was a huge wave of something that swept through the castle and did absolutely nothing. Second was that U'Zuhl was missing, which just had to be impossible. Big castle or not, there weren't many places a ten foot tall daemon could hide in. Finally, third was this odd dumbbell that crashed into his table from out of nowhere. It made him nearly jump out of his skin and utterly ruin all the organized stacks he made.
It glowed with a dark blue energy and something told Gizmo that he wasn't suppose to touch it unless he wanted something very bad to happen to him. So he did the most logical thing possible.
Gizmo fixed all the books and returned to his search for his demonic friend. Maybe he was downstairs and found that beautiful tree that made Gizmo feel all safe and warm?
"Just great. One of the skulls is broken," I said, looking at the mislined skull hanging by just eye socket on his cape. Night had fallen and I decided that it would be a good time to see if the crocodile left any lasting marks on me. The only thing it did leave was a skull out of place at the end of the cape, barely hanging on with the bronze wiring through the left eye socket while the right side had a chuck missing. Most likely from the battle with the crocodile.
I gave a sigh and reached for it, slicing through the wiring with ease and taking the skull into my massive hand. It either had to be a human or eldar skull since Space Marines' skulls are nigh invurable, Tau skulls have that slit between their eyes, Tyranid and Ork skulls are easy to tell apart from the others for obvious reasons, and Necron skulls are black.
"Hehe to be or not to be! That is the question!" I gave a morbid laugh as I held up the skull. Deciding to keep going, I made my voice go serious and spoke to the skull.
"I am U'Zuhl the Skulltaker, Sacred Executioner of the Blood God and greatest of all Bloodletters. Those who hold this skull may summon me as an ally. Simply let it taste blood once more and I shall Kill, Maim, and Burn in your name. Your enemies shall become my enemies."
I then threw it behind me without giving a fuck. I'm assuming that the general craziness of getting sent to a world that should be fictional, turned into a Chaos Daemon and fighting two beasts is finally getting to me and my brain needs at least some of the stress gone somehow.
I've always loved acting so I supposed it fell back to that to get rid of that stress. There's no better way to get rid of stress than doing something you love after all.
I continued my way back to what I hoped was the right way to the castle and not into another monster's den. Seriously what else is in this world? Hydras? Cocktrices? Minotaurs? Shapeshifting bugs?
Switch to Third POV.
As Nick walked off into Everfree, he never noticed the skull healing itself via blood red energy that made the air itself scream as it forcbly entered the Material Plane.
Within the eye sockets glowed an eerie yellow light as black smoke came from it's nasal cavity and between it's teeth. The smoke shaped itself into skulls, daemon faces glaring at unseen foes, or weapons of war. On it's forehead, blood red fire appeared from nowhere, marking it as it did it's task. Once it finished, it left behind a boxy '8', the Mark of Khorne, on it's forehead.
An eight pointed star then appeared from under it, taking it away and making copies of it to be sent all across the multiverse.
Then a voice rumbled throughout the entire multiverse, sparking countless wars among mortal and gods alike. A voice that made those who were capable of traveling between universes tremble in fear of a deity they knew that they couldn't defeat. A voice that belonged to a god that have existed for as long as war has in the multiverse.
