> Silent Strength > by Myth_Fiction > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Entry Zero, The Void > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness, that’s all I could see around me. Well, not “see” per say, since I have no face. Actually, I don’t have a head, well I do but it’s not in one place. The same could go for the rest of my body. I couldn’t feel my hands, my feet, my chest, legs, anything! I couldn’t breathe, but... I didn’t have lungs or heart at the moment. It’s as if my entire being was scattered, the particles everywhere, yet nowhere. It’s a scary thing, the fact that this, this is what it may feel like not to exist. I then “saw” a face, looked to be skeleton, with a crack going up from the right eye, and a crack going down from the left eye. It seemed to be, smiling? It then spoke, but I couldn’t make out what, almost as if he was speaking in a different font itself. “How strange... It seems another presence has been given to this desolate place, but he won’t stay for long. He has a duty, a... destiny, to fulfill. Things have become much, much more interesting,” it garbled out. If you can see what it said, good for you. After it’s little speech, it just seemed to merge with the endless void around me. I don’t know how long I was there. A couple minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, generations, or most of eternity. Heh... That gave me plenty of time to think. The silence. The utter, and void silence. It was enough to make one... well, heh. You know how it is. I waited, and waited, and waited. For something, anything. I was bored. I felt, tired. I wondered if I would stay, and grow mad, forever. But, I heard, a sound. It was a beep? It was something. Then... there was a light. The light grew, it spread around me, as I started feeling again. I felt my face form, then my entire head, then my top and lower section of my center, then my arms and legs, then my hands and feet. It was as if they were materializing, the particles slowly coming together. And then... > Entry One, Castle of the Two Sisters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “!!” I awoke to my usual attire. Wait, was it usual? Where am I? Who am I? Ugh... My head. I wasn’t on any usual bed. It was, a... platform. A platform that fit my body. I might as well explain my look. I was around five foot ten, the average size, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, rectangular glasses on my face. I had a red shirt on my chest, with blue jeans on my torso, with black slip on shoes, with a black jacket covering my arms, shoulders, and back, unzipped down the middle, showing the red shirt. I would say this is my usual attire, but I wasn’t entirely sure. Every fiber of my being said it was, so what the heck? I tried to gain of sense where I was. The platform, it seemed to be different from the blue surrounding ruins, the platform being black itself. Above, seemed to be a slowly deteriorating hole from where I just came from. Now, where was I? Well, I was clearly in some ruins, with the color blue. I didn’t want my suspicion to be correct, but we all know where I am in the end. The room I was in was a small room, with a door-less entry way. Weary, I carefully exited the room, and decided the best course of action would be to wander. Sun and Moon Temple I then entered a part of the ruins that seemed to be an actual main part of whatever building I was in. In the center, was a pedestal. On it, were five stones, that were of obvious need. I knew what was to come soon, with it being night. So, looking around, I picked up what appeared to be a sword, but to my stand point it could be used as a dagger. I stepped closer to the rocks, picked one up and held it in my hand. It appeared to have a diamond shape on it’s front. “Hey! What are you doing with the element!” a feminine voice shouted, one I knew somehow. “!” By the startled jump, I accidentally crushed the stone in my hand? “NO!” the same feminine voice shouted in agony. This caused me to look towards the angered, multicolored, small mares. With weariness, I kept my guard up as the mare in front yelled in rage. “How! How could you just destroy that key to defeating Nightmare Moon?” “...” I didn’t talk, I only looked down and shook my head. “Answer me!” “Maybe it’s one o’ them monsters Nightmare cooked up!” the orange mare suggested. Knowing what would come next if I stuck around, I quickly scanned for an exit, there was one to my left, but that only took my back to the dead end. There’s the way behind the ponies, but it was a set of stairs so even if I could surprise them, I would be at risk. There was the unknown right, and hopefully luck was on my side tonight. Knowing ponies were gullible, I quickly pointed left, and they looked, and I gave a surprising burst of speed to the right, and went down a path unknown to me. At some point, they figured it out, and sent the rainbow one behind me, with a DASH of speed, hearing the rapid flaps of wings. I seem to have stepped on a hidden switch and fell through the floor, in time to as I heard the mare fly right over my spot, and continue down. I remember this hidden part. I tried to look for the hole and found it, as I reached in and felt my hand grasp an arm. With a pull, the wall turned, and I quickly pulled again and jumped away as the wall went back to it’s original position. I found myself in a hall, the walls lined with amputated hooves... they were fake. I wandered the halls once again, seeming to go deeper into the ruins. I heard the sound of aplenty hooves above, seems like they were chasing the fake me. I found a staircase that dove deeper into the ruins, and so I decided it was a good idea to keep going. When I went deeper, I found myself in a hall of mirrors. Mirrors upon mirrors lined the walls, and passing in front of them I saw me, myself, and a sadistic looking... I. I looked deeper into it, only for a shadow beast to leap at me from the mirror. I quickly leapt to the side as it went into another mirror, and saw the shadow crawl from one to the next. So I did the smartest thing, smash the mirrors. I smashed the one that thing came out of, and smashed every single one it crawled to. And when it seemed to try to go to previous mirrors, it appeared as if it couldn’t. Smirking, I continued, before the thought of the ponies being able to hear quickly appeared. Apparently that quick thought was enough for the monster to leap on my back, as I felt like teeth sunk into my back. This was when I found out my vocal cords didn’t work, as I tried to scream but couldn’t. I grabbed the beast, presumably by the neck, and holding it in front of me, I took the small sword and stabbed it in the neck, and watched as black ooze fell and the being turned to dust. “Very good,” I heard an ominous voice purr. “We knew the minute we saw thou, he would be the proper fit.” “!” I quickly looked around, my small sword at the ready. “Weary, well why shouldn’t he, in the presence of one as magnificent as me? This one will prove useful,” that voice complimented, “It is natural for thou to be alert, though there is no need.” That was when a dark mare appeared before me, seeming to be at eye level with me. “Your heart holds much darkness. And your style,” she looked me up and down, “yes you will do quite nicely.” I held the knife in front of me before being thrown to the side by magic. “That is unnecessary. We do not wish to harm thou, we merely hold a proposition. A... bargain per say.” I only stood on guard still. “You see, when we rule again, we will need an army, you see? But we just can’t easily find a captain, so, one that is strong and loyal.” I only raised a brow and tilted of my head in confusion. (CLICHE ALERT!!!) “You will gain all the power your heart desires, the ability to kill... I mean defeat your enemies with ease. You could do what you want, as long as you obey me.” I gave a thoughtful gesture. “Here’s a sample, follow.” Then she placed her horn in the wall, (the mirrors fell to the ground) and the wall split and an entryway was opened. “Quick.” I followed her through as the wall fell back into place, putting us in darkness, that was until she lit her horn and gave view to a little pedestal, that had a handle looking thing, with a skull at the end. It seemed like a key of some kind, it seemed... familiar. I then heard the hoovesteps of the mares behind the wall. “OH COME ON! There’s no way we lost it, it had to have gone further!” “Rainbow, we ‘ave to go back, Twi’ might almost be done with whatever spell she needed. Come on,” said AJ, as I heard the hoovesteps go the opposite direction, then disappear entirely. That’s when Nightmare Moon decided to talk again. She gestured to the weird handle on the pedestal as she said, “This is the Crucible, a weapon that is only able to be weld by few. It is one of two in this world. If you wish to gain this power, you need only to grasp the blade.” I hesitated, what if she was lying. It could be a trap knowing her. “Don’t believe me? Watch,” she said as she grasp the object in question with her hoof, and a shock went through her, red electricity. “If it accepts you, you will gain power aplenty.” Staring with awe, I grasp the weapon, waiting for the shock... but it never came. I held the supposed great weapon in my hand, wondering now how to use it. Looking towards Ex-Luna, with a confused expression. “It is unknown how to activate it, but it is told you only need to will it.” Looking back towards it, with renewed vigor, I placed it in a belt loop, not knowing where else to put it, and nodded towards the alicorn. “Great.” She then teleported us both outside, and back in the same room I accidentally crushed the element of harmony. Right as the five mares came back. “Sorry Twi’ we just couldn’t find him...” she slowed as we made eye contact. Twilight looked up, and saw Nightmare Moon, with me in front of her. With fear etched into the features, I only shook my head. “You foolish mares! You really think you can defeat ME! Nightmare Moon!” the mare gloated behind me. Upon which I quickly turned and threw a punch towards the mare, causing her head to jerk to the side, in which she slowly looked back towards me with a sinister smile. “You, dare defy me? You signed the deal upon touch-” she was rudely interrupted by a knee to the chin, upon which she had enough and blasted me across the room. I rolled and flipped and landed on my back, which was painful. I looked up with wide eyes as she was about to blast the main characters of this story. “I’m glad I learned from my mistakes,” she said gleefully, as the blast went off, the unicorn of magic not having enough time to react, but I did. This was there story but it was obvious something changed, so now, with the Crucible in hand, I went in between the beam and the mares, and with a red blade made of pure energy, blocked the beam, while absorbing the energy. The TRUE battle begins. As the mysterious being absorbed the energy to Twilight’s awe, he then released by sending an arcing beam straight back at Nightmare Moon. “So, you decided to play the big dog hm? It will be your undoing!” she shouted in anger. With silence, he only stood in defense in front of Twilight, sword in front of him. He his stance low as Moon charged him, only for Moon to become a dark tornado, sucking in Twilight and the mysterious creature. As they appeared again, in the tower right next to the main castle, Twilight only watched as the two mysteries of Equestria fought it out. The creature on the defensive, as he gave a look to Twilight, twitching his head to the elements minus one. She finally figured it out, as she ran over. Nightmare about to get in Twilight’s way, if not for the new fighter grabbing the alicorn’s tail, and throwing her to the window. Clearing herself of dizziness, she then charged a beam and threw it his way, but it went past him, as it bounced off the wall behind him, and would’ve went to his back, not for him blocking quick enough. Then he felt a beam attack his back as the Princess got his back while distracted. He then couldn’t move his body and felt a hoof pin him down, and start to crush his back, and spine. He only hoped they would... defeat her in time. He felt something move out of place, and then darkness. He was getting quite sick of darkness anymore. Chapter 1 Silence > Entry Two, Everfree Forest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...I regained consciousness, with ruble upon me. Vision blurry, nerves shot, and pain all over. Surprisingly, that pain and everything went away as quickly as it came. Lifting myself up, the ruble slid off, and I saw sunlight appearing through the windows and roof. Shaking my head, trying to rid myself of the headache, I looked around and saw that I was alone. They must’ve went back to their home. Heh, of course they’d forget the monster. Wait... Nightmare Moon seemed more, violent than her original, or was she always that way? Looking downward, I spotted the weapon, no, key to the end and beginning of a demon invasion. How was this demonic weapon in the world of blissful innocence? Was I not the only additional variable to this world? Picking up the powerful item, I looked at it from any angle I could. It was the exact same one from Hell. Holding it, to where the skull was upside down and the point was pointing up, I flicked my hand downward, and nothing happened. I then thrust my entire arm down, and the point split open and the familiar red energy blade appeared. If memory served right, this blade was made out of Argent Energy, the same energy to power a portal to hell. But that would require a gore nest, and hopefully none of those came with this. With another thrust, I retracted the blade, and was about to put it in my back pocket, when I felt something that wasn’t originally there. It was on the belt loop, or whatever it’s called that you put the belt through. It had an imprint of the Crucible, able to fit perfectly. I held the weapon close, and it automatically attracted towards the... um, scabbard, yeah. Doing this a few times, I decided to take a look out the window. I was still in the same tower in which I fought Moon, so I had a good view of the land around. I saw the village nearby, and it seemed they were having a celebration. Should I try to explore this castle, or should I go meet the ponies? Tossing the two questions in my mind, I also took note of how I might have to go through some monsters on my way. With a smile, I made up my mind. (Time Skip) As I stood in front of the entrance to the forest, I took the Crucible in hand, and started to walk the path away from this castle, and towards the village of ponies. Wise Owl Forest The path held nearly no danger, considering I felt I already went halfway, until I stumbled upon one of the monster’s inhabiting this forest. It appeared to be some rocks that were convenient stepping stones for a small lake. It was a trap for the prey of the alligator that slept in this lake. I swung my sword at the first rock, and that really pissed off the reptile like monster. The beast stood as big as me, and it tried to crush me underneath it’s head, and at surprisingly quick speed. But that didn’t really matter as the blades end stuck out the top of the alligators head, stuck through the brain. I sliced down the middle of the jaw, causing the head to split in half showing the insides. Interestingly, the area where I struck seemed to be slowly wisping away as black dust it looked like. Walking across the makeshift deceased bridge across the lake, I went back on the path, and continued on my way. I then heard howling, the howling of wolves it sounded like, and started to run, so that I didn’t have to encounter any more ridiculous battles with this worlds monsters. That was, until I finally found myself in a familiar apple orchard. I then felt teeth sinking into my left shoulder, as another type of monster latched onto me. I quickly grabbed the head of whatever it was, felt like wood, and threw it off of me, and watched as the Timber Wolf tumbled across the ground. With a growl, it quickly leapt towards me, forcing me to dodge, but then I felt the claws of another one slash my side of my midsection. Feeling blood pour from the wound, I decided I needed to end this quickly, as I saw a third wolf try to catch me off guard, only for it to be sliced horizontally, causing the light in it’s eyes to fade and to then appear as normal wood. The other wolves, deciding to attack at once received the same fate, the light fading from their eyes as well. I thought that “wood” be it, but I was wrong. The three “corpses” then started to float, and then being the sons of bitches they were, merged to make one big motherfucker. Can you blame me for cussing, I had enough of this shit! They, it, whatever I should call it, seemed to smile as it looked down on me. I then, without thinking, charged up energy in my sword somehow, and swung it at the monster. The arc of energy seemed to be absorbed by the wooden wolf, and was added to whatever powered it, causing the eyes to turn red. With a slacked jawed, I turned serious as I lifted the sword high, and it grew in size, as I sliced the wolf right down the middle. Watching as both sides fell, I also saw as I had cut one of the trees down the middle, causing it to fall with the apples scattering. I didn’t care about it as I tried to look to where my wound was on my shoulder, only to find there was no wound. As well as no wound on the spot the wolf slashed. There was blood yes, but all that was left was a scar. With wonder, I decided to test this on my thumb, to find the sword I wielded can’t hurt me. So, I now figured out that, but as I tried to pick up one of the “claws” of the deceased wolf, I heard the voice I just didn’t want to hear. “What in Celestia’s name did you just do!?” With my blood running cold and a 😐 face, I slowly turned to the one pony that appeared at the wrong time. > Entry Three, Sweet Apple Acres > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “What in tarnation did ya do?!” the orange and slightly peeved mare yelled. I put my hands up with a surprised look on my face, not expecting (in reality I should’ve) to face this mare so soon. With silence, I shrugged. “Ya don’t know? You don’t know!? What do ya mean, you don’t know!? You just destroyed one of our precious trees!” “Hey Applejack, what’s going on-oh...” said the purple mare, pausing when she laid her eyes on me. “Why ah oughta buck you to next Tuesday!” yelled Applejack in righteous fury, pawing her hoof on the ground, about to charge. This caused me to be defensive. “Applejack wait!” Twilight yelled, as she looked at the pile of wood around me, then spotted the blood on the ground. “It’s hurt, so I don’t think it did this on purpose. Did you, or can you even understand me?” she asked me expectantly. I shook my head. “Okay, you can understand us. That’s a relief, so what happened?” I was about to tell her, but realized I couldn’t speak. Scratching the back of my head nervously, I then had an idea. I pointed to my throat, and then made a zipped lip gesture. “You... can’t talk?” I nodded. “Oh, then how can we...” I made a writing gesture, as if I had a notebook and a pen. “Writing?” I nodded. “Twi, are you sure we can even trust that thing? It destroyed one a’ the elements, and it sided with Nightmare Moon!” Applejack mentioned, to which I shook my head. “I don’t think it did that on purpose either, or even knew what was happening then. We did scare it,” the other side of the argument pointed out. “It also tried to defend us, so it at least could’ve been on our side the entire time. Right?” she asked my way, to which I nodded. “If ya say so...” Applejack relented, with a suspicious glare. “But I got mah eye on you.” I simply nodded again, accepting it. “Well... do you think you can tell us what happened to the best of your abilities?” Twilight asked. I thought then nodded. I walked over to the wood pieces, picked up what I assumed were the lower and bottom parts of the jaw, and snapped the two together. “Wood?” I shook my head, as I then made what I thought looked like a monster pose. “Monster. Wood and monster, did it look like a wolf made out of wood?” she deduced quickly. I nodded, which caused her and the mare of apples to gasp. “Ya mean you took down a timber wolf?” I shook my head, then held up three fingers, hoping they would get it. “Three?” I nodded, and then made my hands to gesture small to large. “Then they grew?” I nodded, which incited wider eyes. “And I’m gonna guess you used that weird lookin’ sword of yours to fight them off,” to which I nodded. “Well, I don’t think yer lying, so thank yer kindly fer that.” “Wait, that sword, I swear I saw that before... That’s the Crucible! One of the most powerful weapons! How’d you get your hooves, er, claws on that!?” Twilight blurted out. I put my finger up on my head, imitating a horn, and flapped my arms like wings. “Horn, flying, Nightmare Moon gave it to you?” I nodded, and shrugged with a shake of my head. “I’m guessing she didn’t give you room to talk.” I gave a shrug of indifference. “Alright, why don’t we get your gash checked out before-” I held up a finger as I pulled up my shirt, to show the gash had already healed, causing the two mares to go wide eyed again. “Ah don’t believe it. Th-the scar’s there, but the... How?” Applejack gasped. I shrugged. “Well, why don’t we introduce ourselves, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced. “And I’m Applejack, nice making your acquaintance partner,” Applejack greeted, holding her hoof out, to which I shook. Make it known, ponies are really trusting, with just one good deed. “Now, we’ll need a name for yah, do you even have one?” I shook my head no. “Well-” “Why not Hawk!” suggested an excited pink pony that anyone would know a mile away. Pinkamena Diane Pie, or otherwise known as, Pinkie Pie. The party pony. Agent Pink Pony 3.14-wait I’m not even writing this! “Pinkie? Why Hawk?” Twilight asked. “Well, it makes sense since he seems to be as observant as a hawk, and the hawk on the back of his jacket,” Pinkie explained. I went wide eyed as I tried to check the back of my jacket, spinning around a bit, before just taking it off and and seeing that indeed, there was the image of a hawk on the back. It was designed as a white, wing spread hawk in front of a shield. After looking, I placed the jacket back on, ignoring the rip in fabric. “Hawk... I guess it fits. Great idea Pinkie,” Twilight implored. I then heard flapping of wings, as I quickly turned and held my arms in front of me as hooves impacted said arms, before the UFO then was batted into the pile of lumber. “Oh no...” Twilight said as the two mares, excluding the shaking, bouncing, smiling, pink epitome of energy. Both mares face-palmed, (face-hooved?) with a sigh. The pile exploded as the angry pegasus flew out and was about to go for round two, until she was engulfed in an aura of purple magic. “Twilight! What are you doing!?” Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus within Equestria, and future Wonderbolt. “I’m stopping you, because you might get yourself hurt!” “What do ya mean? I can take this guy, no problem!” “He just saved us from a pack of hungry Timberwolves,” Applejack replied, to which Rainbow gave a surprised look my way, before crossing her hooves and mumbling something under her breath. I just gave a “It’s okay” gesture, to which that seemed to be the key to calming everything down. “Wait a minute, where’d you even go after we beat Nightmare Moon? You just vanished,” Rainbow asked. I thought a minute, before pointing to my neck, and making a gesture of circling my neck. “The elements.” Twilight guessed. I then made a explosion gesture with my hands. “Explosion.” I then made a covering gesture with my arms. “Covered... You were... covered by rubble!” I nodded. Leave it to Twilight to guess correctly. “But, for that long... How’re you still alive?” she asked concerned, to which I shrugged. This just left everyone flabbergasted. “Well, why don’t we head back to the library?” “Ah’d love to, but I gotta stay an’ clean up a mess somepony made,” Applejack said with a glare sent my way. “And I have a new, “Welcome to Ponyville” party to make,” Pinkie exclaimed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, at least until he’s used to his surroundings, and the rest of the citizens are used to him,” Twilight objected. “Come on Hawk, let’s go.” I obliged, and walked behind her into the town. > Entry Four, Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I walked through Ponyville, following behind Twilight, I could hear the questions and worried whispers with the surrounding topic, me. "Look at that thing!" "Who brought the hairless ape?" "What kind of monster is that?" "Probably just a giant diamond dog." "Do you think it wants to eat us?" "Maybe Twilight captured it." "Is it going to rain today?" I don't know what that last one was about, but I knew that all of the residents outright FEARED me. That didn't bring that great of a feeling within me, as my shoulders sagged more and more, and my head bowing, more and more, as we arrived upon our destination. Obviously Twilight took notice of my discomfort, as she gave a "It'll be alright," to try to reassure me of the fact that I wasn't an anomaly that really shouldn't be here in this world of multicolored ponies, so bright and cheerful they'd give... someone, a run for their money. There it went again, something's there, it's just locked up deep in my mind. Noticing the size of the door, I had to bend down to enter the large tree turned library. Let me say, that's a lot a books. "So! Since you don't have anywhere to stay, you can stay here," the purple unicorn said with a bright big smile. I shook my head, not as in "No thank you," but as in "NO!" "Why not? It's the least I can do after what you did," she said. With a questioning look, she informed me, "When you tried to defend me from Nightmare Moon? And yes, I do remember that." Realizing I was arguing with Twilight Sparkle and that she wouldn't relent, I gave up. "Don't worry, we have a spare guest room just in case of situations like these." When the young mare trotted off, leading me to a door upon which she opened, showed a room that was fairly furnished. I immediately saw the window that let the sunlight peek in, shining in warmly as if saying, “Hello,” and to the right was a medium sized drawer, by human standards. And to the wall left of the drawer, a couple feet away was a fairly large bed, by pony standards. Somehow, it looked like it could fit my figure. This made me draw a conclusion that this was specially furnished for an incredibly special pony. Oh, and the left wall was bare save for a lone mirror. I walked over and took a sit on the bed, noticing it was quite comfy. “I’m gonna guess you like it?” the purple mare asked confidently. I nodded with a warm smile. “Hey Twilight, you’re back a little early, did you- whoa...” went the small dragon. He stood, jaw agape with wide eyes. I waved, my warm smile a nervous smile. Closing the runway, he slowly waved back. “Spike, meet our new guest, Hawk. Hawk, meet Spike,” Twilight introduced. “So, this was the “strange creature” that you were talking about- wait new guest!?” Spike asked, shocked. “Yes, he’s going to be staying awhile since he doesn’t have anywhere to live,” Twilight confirmed, “And now, I should head back to Applejack’s to see if I can help her.” “Can I come?” Spike asked. “Of course, but why? I thought you said you were too tired to help,” Twilight replied, narrowing her eyes toward her surrogate brother. “Uh, uh, s-so I can help you spot ones you might miss?” “Hmm... Alright,” Twilight accepted, “Are you going to be alright staying here? I know it’s sudden but-” I stopped her, by putting my hand up, and giving a “Shoo” motion, along with a thumbs up. “Alright. But I’ll only be gone for a few hours, and when I get back, we’re going to figure out a way of better communication.” As Twilight left, I listened closely for the sound of a closing door, and when I heard that, dadunk, sound, I rested my back against the wall as I went deep into thought. So, I didn’t have any memories of my time of before I was in that... no THE Void. I have a powerful weapon that is supposedly to be of different universal origin, wait no, different plane of existential origin. And not even that, originally in the series, if this episode was The Ticket Master, Spike went with Twilight without her having to come back to get him. That was how she even got the tickets in the first place. So if my presence was enough for that big of change, what else changed? That was when my head started to ache. Shutting my eyes tight as I held my head, I began to hear voices, whispering with such a ferocity at such speed I couldn’t understand. I then saw a vision, that looked to be happening in a red haze. It was of ponies screaming, running amok in panic, and of the roar of three beasts as one. And then as fast as it began, it ended. Opening my eyes, I saw I was sitting upon the floor, and I saw that the sunlight coming through the window changed from a welcoming yellow, to a vicious orange. Quickly standing, I looked out the large window as I saw a fireball pierce the sky, as I heard the roar of what sounded to be a dragon. I ran out the library into panic as I saw the clouds spiral towards a point that seemed to be on the other side of town. With great haste, I sped onward past the town hall, and through what I deduced was the market place, and I arrived upon chaos. I heard the chimes of the bell tower nearby as I saw the burning fires of one of the nearby houses in this neighborhood. The ponies running away from the creature in the midst, and most likely, the cause of all this. With dragon like wings, the body of a lion, and the tail of a serpent. And by a serpent, I literally mean the tail was a serpent. Three heads rested upon the body, goat, lion, and dragon, in that order from left to right. It was a chimera. I watched in terror, as it seemed to be trying to knock down a house to catch the prey that was trapped inside. I watched in slow motion, as the serpent of the body wrapped around the pony inside as it was slowly being dragged out. Demon. The monster seemed to draw amusement from watching the pony’s futile attempts of escape. Demon. It wasn’t doing this to survive, it merely wanted to sate it’s twisted pleasure. Demon! This wasn’t an innocent animal, it was... DEMON! As I felt every fiber of my being shake, it felt as if in the depth of my soul, I could feel energy, ready to be released. I picked up a large rock and chucked it at the serpent, grazing it’s skin leaving a small indent, successfully stunning it and allowing the innocent pony to escape. With that out of the way, I equipped the Crucible, as the chimera turned it’s attention on me. “HAWK!” I turned my head to see Rainbow Dash soaring towards me. “What are you doing!? Run!” I quickly looked back towards the chimera which quickly got close enough to bat me into the brick wall of the clock tower. Looking through the dust, I saw it try to set it’s sight on Rainbow, who was looking on, paralyzed in fear. The three heads released a large fireball (despite the fact lions and goats don’t breathe fire) trying to make Rainbow its next cooked meal. Not today. As time seemed to slow once again, I jumped in-between the flames and the pegasus as I heard the familiar sound of Argent Energy being released into blade form, feeling the rush of battle come onto me. “NOOOOO!” Aw. She’s slowly concerned? With little to no concern for myself, I held the Crucible Blade in front of me, allowing it to absorb the flames as I swung the sword back around and released a beam back at the beast. The beam cut a gash into the back of the chimera. As time sped back up, I grabbed the pony and landed on the ground, leaving a crater. Putting the pony down, I threw a beam that cut the roaring beast between the lion and goat head, causing the dragon head to roar in pain, as the other two were dazed in shock it seemed. Running up to the goat head, which was as large as me, I grabbed the horns that lied upon the top of its head, and pulled with all my might. I heard the tearing of tendons, as a sign I was succeeding in what I wanted. Noticing that the lion head was about to try to take a bite out of me, after shaking off the shock, I jumped upon the back and kept pulling. Hearing the goat head screaming as I pulled its head off, the pain bringing it back to reality, the pitch rising until I pulled it off entirely, throwing it forward. Not having time to praise myself, as if time slowed a third time that day, I had to turn quickly in order to catch the serpent head that lunged at me, while time returned to normal. To my right, the dragon head was ready to blast fire in my direction. Leaping off the back onto the ground, the serpent head in my grasp, I landed near the rubble of a house, and took a piece of wood that acted as a spike, and jammed it into the lower jaw. I had to jump again as the dragon took another shot at me, which ended up in allowing me to separate the upper and lower jaw of the snake. After landing, I took off running, and grabbed another spare piece of wood for the next part of my “plan.” I ran up to the dragon head, which was preparing another blast, and rammed it through the mouth, which caused the head’s mouth to be unable to open, therefore, unable to release the pent up fire. As its regretful eyes stared into my hateful ones, I jumped back as it’s head exploded, leaving a bleeding stump. This left the lion’s head, as I was batted away into the clock tower again. The lion head decided to be desperate as it kept it’s distance. Dammit, think! Aha! Turning around into the already punctured tower, as it rang it’s final hour, I began pulling. The tower began leaning, moaning in resistance, and once I knew I did enough, I began to run. Hearing the sound of the bricks and metal meeting earth, I took a dive to the side and watched as the chimera gave its last roar, before being crushed. Standing up, I held my sword up to the Sun in glory, and a beam shot from the Crucible Blade all the way to the Sun, causing the orb of plasma to turn blood red, with the clouds moving to spiral around the beam. Canterlot Castle Celestia hurriedly galloped towards her balcony, panic in her mind, she looked upon her kingdom. A red beam found it’s way to the large celestial body, turning it from it’s usual yellow to a blood red, changing the light given off, with the source being from Ponyville. When the light changed, it seemed as if everywhere the light touched felt fear, anger, sorrow, and guilt, as screams rose up from every corner of Equestria. And as the beam made contact, Celestia, Ruler of Equestria, the one to raise and lower the Sun, felt the stronger, rage filled power interrupt her’s for a brief moment, before the beam vanished. This left Celestia overjoyed, for his spirit has returned to help provide protection, but also afraid, for he used methods that haven’t been seen for over a thousand years ago. Ponyville Well, that sucked. I mean seriously, in one day, one day, I fought a stonergator, wooden dogs, and now I fought an amalgamate of a goat, a giant cat, and two versions of serpents, except one was larger and could breathe fire. Well, all three out of four heads could breathe fire, but still. Oh, and I maybe caused thousands of dollars of property damage, but remember it was for the greater good. 👍 Pushing my glasses up, because they were out of place a little out of place, I put away the Crucible, and I walked towards the direction of the library. At least, I would have if it weren’t for the fact I heard cheering. “That. Was. AWESOME! It was like, “Roar!” and you were like, “Not today,” and the way you crushed it with that tower, and that sword! It’s like you use it all the time! And-humfumvin,” in order to stop her speech of how cool I looked, I had to cover her mouth. “What happened?!” I heard the voice of reason ponified, wrapped in purple fur, shout as she and her group of friends ran up. That was when Rainbow took my hand off her muzzle. “He just beat a chimera by himself!” Rainbow shouted. “He indeed did,” said the voice of an elderly pony. We all looked to see an old mare come up to us. Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville. “And we are in thanks to your act of bravery and courage. (Even if you aren’t a pony.)” As I shook my head and arms, trying to deny any thanks, Double M continued. “I believe any rumors that placed you as an evil monster are now quelled.” At that, I shrugged, as I kneeled down and extended my hand, which the old bastard gladly shook. “Welcome to Ponyville... what’s your name?” “His name is Hawk,” Twilight said for me. Let me tell you, that’s gonna happen a lot in this story. “He’s not able to talk.” “Oh! Well, anywho, I believe we all have somewhere to be,” M.M. announced. Me feeling guilty, motioned towards the fallen clock tower. Seeing this, the mayor freaked out, with tears streaming down her face. “THE CLOCK TOWER! What!? Why!? No...” “He kinda needed to use it in order to finish off the monster,” RD explained. I scratched the back of my head nervously, grinning sheepishly. “Ah’d say we better hurry if we don’t want anymore trouble,” AJ advised. Golden Oaks Library “So, mind tellin’ us what happened?” AJ asked. That was when the rainbow maned pegasus retold how I quote unquote, “destroyed the monster in the most epic way,” while maybe exaggerating some moments, such as how I, “Ripped off the head of the goat.” I mean, I just remember slashing at it with the Crucible energy sword. “You really did all that?” I gave a shrug. I then made my way to the guest-I mean my room, just entirely exhausted. “Where’re you going? We still have to-” WHAM! Slamming the door, I flop onto my new bed in this newly familiar world, and embrace sleep. Of my own volition this time, instead of being knocked out, or waking up after gaining my body from the Void.