i will fix my hires base textures plugin

[cael]

Chapter two: Allow me to introduce…

The stallion trotted at a slow and laid back pace, uncaring and un-phased by the dangers that could be lurking in the Everfree forest. Un-countable amounts of beasts and wild creatures watched his every move, as small growls of the timber wolves could be heard alongside the distant roar of manticors. The assassin could care less. He stopped to get his bearings, looking up to watch the stars; he gave a frustrated frown at the lack of light penetrating the thick canopy of trees. After a second he relaxed his body and reached out with his senses, the lack of light made his sight useless but in turn caused him to turn his focus to his hearing, though little could be heard over the sound of the creatures trying and failing to intimidate the assassin. He flared his nostrils taking in a deep breath and taking in the scents of the vicinity; though he didn't pick up any individual smells, the forest leaves and vegetation mixed with the animals unwashed furs and skins merged in the air creating a musk that would cause any not acquainted with the forest to lose their last meal, he did pick up the strong breeze coming his way by recognising the sudden change in the wind. The traveller leapt to the top of a boulder and turned his gaze to the night sky. The wind blew through the trees and parted them, revealing Luna's night and the constellations and moon alike. Part of him hated the night sky, though never the night itself as it would always be his hour, as assassins were almost exclusively nocturnal, but because he had gotten a lot of grief from the princess of the night. If any wondered why her appearances in dreams where a rarity it was because she was busy in his head tormenting him and conducting, as far as he was concerned, some off the books torture via his dreams. Though at the same time he would always appreciate the night a little better than anypony else, after years of gazing up to the sky he had remembered most every single constellation, if only because he had nothing better to do. Also, the occupation of 'murderous outlaw' was not one that was smiled upon by general society so staying incognito was high on his list of priorities and moving around at night was the best way to do this.

The wind brought with it cold air but the assassin was not so foalish as to not come to the infamous forest unprepared, he was never unprepared. The assassin wore four pieces of clothing; this could be considered strange in a land in which ponies went around letting their fur protect them from the elements, with the citizens of Canterlot being the only ponies to regularly where clothes. The assassin's interest in clothing was far from fashion related however; the hood he wore, a deep black with crimson lining and stiches, did marvels to protect his face from prying eyes while the material and colour scheme hid him in the shadows. The vest he wore, a simple black colour with its design being a simple looking shirt with the collar covering the back of the neck, was beaten and torn in places and a large; scar looking stich ran up the left side. The vest was more than a piece of clothing however, as it was made from a rare weave that even the most generous of ponies would squander to themselves, the thread was known as Robus-weave, as strong as dragon hide and light as a cloud. The cape he had on his back followed suit in terms of colour and design as the hood, and kept the motley attitude of the vest with the torn and ragged patches across it, that could only come from years of wear and tear. He wore the cloak simply to protect him from the elements and occasionally use as a cover when he found himself sleeping against a tree. The final thing the stallion wore was a simple brown leather belt, which he always kept hidden as using or even wearing leather was considered taboo. What the belt supported however was much more questionable. On the left side a small red silk sash was tied to the belt, tied to the sash was a black scabbard and inside the scabbard was the blade the assassin wielded. The blade was a Japony styled katana, shortened to a short sword by the one whom forged it, so it would be as effective slashing throats as it was in a dual. The guard depicted a dragon eating its tail, an ouroboros. The hilt of the sword was laced in red and black leather. On the other side of the pony's belt were three pouches, the one in the centre contained fifteen throwing knives, packed close together so they didn't make a sound when the pony trotted. The upper pouch kept navigational items including; a rusty iron compass he wold use when the clouds covered the sun or the stars were not out (though this was a rather rare occurrence), a small and heavily folded map of Equestria and a small but powerful telescope. The third pouch, situated below the knife pouch, contained medical supplies; a pair of syringes containing a powerful pain killer, bandages and short book on medicinal herbs. A second, stronger gust of wind hit the assassin knocking off his hood though he did nothing to fix it.

He had a menacingly sharp unicorn horn atop his head that ebbed with magic, dark magic that only somepony of his profession would know that when used it created an intimidating and eerie grey glow .The mane on his head was of a somewhat strange colour, it's deep and endless black did not shimmer nor reflect any type of light, but instead it drank in the darkness around him matching its colour to the night. The assassin would always describe his mane as having the 'colour of midnight'. The mane was not particularly well kept either, simply doing as it pleased normally matching the flow of the wind, stretching down his neck and the fringe going slightly over his eyes, in its unkempt and windswept appearance. His tail followed suit, matching the mane colour and fashion. The face and features of the pony were not altogether outstanding or different, not a handsome stallion by any means seeing as a life time of fighting and espionage took its toll on one's complexion. A face with small wrinkles on the brow and a scar running from above the left eye down to the chin would meet anypony that looked at his face. The eyes however were something completely different, however. They never seemed to open completely, always slightly closed as if analysing something or trying to take in everything the world had to offer in terms of visual aid. The blood red irises soaked in every detail, and seemed to bore into any one he looked at, not to mention the pony had a strange habit of looking hard at the pony he was about to speak to making the feel uncomfortable under his gaze, as though they were being interrogated rather than spoken to. Then there was the eyes other feature, something much stranger and much less believable. Something more mysterious and much more dangerous, if it were not used correctly. It was the kind of ability that Celestia herself could not pull off, or at least not as accurately as the dark coloured pony.

A new gust of wind, slightly stronger than the last blew through the forest dancing amongst the trees causing their branches to sway as if waving at its passing. Said wind flowed past the assassin and the cape he wore blew up around him. The rising of the cape revealed the build of an athlete, the kind of physic that other unicorns would never bother with as they tended to spend more time with magic rather that their bodies. The killer's frame held the muscles of somepony who clearly valued movement speed over brute force and strength. He left that to the earth ponies. Instead he had the muscle mass of a lean but strong pony, a champion galloper, perhaps the ground equivalent to the wonderbolts body style. His height made him noticeable, the average pony size being maybe four feet on average, a taller bulkier pony like a farmpony would be around four and a half to five foot and the fully grown alicorn would be coming up to six foot and maybe taller. The assassins stood at four foot, nine at full height, though with the race of unicorn and lack of body mass he looked strangely proportioned for one whose race where genially smaller and less physically powerful, asides of course the royal unicorn guards. The breezy also revealed the stallion's cutie mark, but like the rest of the assassin it was strange and the kind of thing one could not put their hoof on. An ouroboros, much like the one on his blade, adorned his flank with a blade stabbing through the loop it made. Such a design would be considered inexplicable as most cutie marks had to do with the wearer's personality or special talent. It was to do with, you see, his eye's ability. Ask yourself; 'what about a pony is immortal, as an ouroboros represents'. The two princess's Celestia and Luna are the two only real immortal that everypony knows of and asides from them nopony else is known to have eternal life. So the question remains 'what is immortal about everypony, without exception.' The soul. The everlasting force behind the eyes of everything in equestria and beyond, the thing that reflected your true self better than your cutie mark or even words could express. This pony had the ability to see the soul through the eyes of the subject, or victim depending on the circumstances and see exactly who they were… for better or worse. Admittedly this may not be the most useful of powers for an assassin but this was no normal assassin. This assassin was anything but normal, this was an assassin with morals with a code. Something he created on a contract that would change his life.

His first rule of conduct was that he would never kill an innocent, be them a witness and guard or a target that did not deserve to die he would never take the life of an innocent pony. The second rule of conduct was that he never left a job half done, as when he deemed a target worthy of death it was on his reputation and personal pride that the target would die. He knew in his heart that if he had to chase a target to the end of the world, he would. The third rule of conduct was to always ask questions, having been brought up in an environment of lies (a story for another day) he began to doubt and wonder about everything around him. Be it the information of a contact or the tracking down of a mark he would never stop his pondering.

The stallion looked up past the stars to the moon and grinned. 'Can't be a coincidence, surely' was the only thing to cross his mind as he looked up to the moon with the red hue, the moon that he was so masterfully named after. The moon that heralded the harvest with its most accepted name of Harvest moon, which was otherwise known as the hunter's moon. That had been appropriately nicknamed Blood moon. The name of the stallion that stood below it, the name of the assassin that would not kill unless he judged it necessary. The name of the assassin that was now, once again, trotting through the Everfree forest like he was taking a slow relaxing stroll around a park and was on his way to his next contract.

 

[cael]

Chapter three: Not the best welcome

The assassin continued his trot through the Everfree forest with the same indifferent attitude, the experienced fighter well in the knowledge that he had faced larger threats over his time. He found his thoughts drifting towards what he was planning to do when this contract was completed, it was a well-established fact that 'the Hunter' (a name he had picked up from his first contract that took place on a night with a moon such as this) had been plying his trade, for what was getting onto around a decade now, and had been considering retirement for some time now. He was still in conflict about it now.

"It's been a lucrative few years now" the stallion muttered to himself "but I can't escape the feeling of being slightly jaded now" his thoughts causing him to frown to himself below his hood. It was another well-established fact that most assassins did not live to see the age of thirty, while the assassin in question had been doing his job since he was eighteen and had been working dutifully to his current age of twenty-seven, it was not that he was losing faith in his skills (they would be the last thing he lost faith in) but that he was noticing a decline in challenging contracts. Challenge being his sole motivation, as he knew he had enough bits stashed away to live a life of luxury in Canterlot, he felt that if he were not enjoying his work, why continue it? There were of course those who to argued this way of thinking, claiming 'once in this business, you're in it to the end' but the assassin couldn't make sense of that.

"I'm an infamous and feared assassin" he had told an old associate of similar occupation "why would anypony what to disturb me?" A fair argument in his mind, but it seemed he was the only one to think that way. That was more or less what fuelled him now, his irrational need to prove his peers wrong, show them he could settle down and have a peaceful life.

Snapped from his thoughts by the sudden light up ahead he remembered why he was here. The break in the darkness was down to a clearing up ahead, the beams of light cutting through the darkness like a blade through the damned. This is my destination; this is the beginning of the end. The last contact to be faced was in there, the assassin knew this, but as he approached he felt no regret towards his decision to sever all ties to former contacts, nor to his decision to burn down the small hut in the wilderness that had served as his base of operations for around eight years. He felt no twinge of remorse for those he had killed and did not second guess himself at their passing, felling no hint of regret. He did not look back at the contracts he had spent months finishing, because of his second rule, nor at those he had let live because of the first. He had, had a prosperous and long career and did not seek redemption for one of his actions, or want to exchange one minuet for another. He had enjoyed his life but it was time for that chapter to come to a close. After one last kill he thought with a small grin forming across he features.

Never one to jump into a situation, however, he took a second to regard the situation now that he had a closer vantage point. He got what he was expecting. Lone ponies, a Pegasus mare, stood in the clearing shivering from cold or fear perhaps both. She wore a saddle-bag and looked anxious to leave, so the assassin approached. He kept to the shadows for a second to get a better look at the mare, that was most likely chosen for three things; her race as a Pegasus, so she could get in and out of the forest quickly; her gender as a mare, so that she would pose as some rich stallions assistant, a power play that the assassin never got, nor was effected by; finally her looks so she would A) seem less hostile to the killer and make the exchange go smoothly (yet another idea of the rich that he never understood, if you're doing business with a killer what would not make them want to kill a pretty mare, also why bother doing business with a murder you didn't trust) and B) to offer some kind of sex appeal that Blood moon could only decide was to try and get some kind of discount for his services.

He stepped from the shadows in front of the mare as to not scare her, little good it did as she squealed like a filly. They stood there for a few moments, the assassin with an air of calm and passiveness, and the mare an air of shock that she was trying to quell. As few moments passed by the assassin got a decent look at the mare, she had a golden coat, a silver fashionably kept mane and tail and a cutie mark depicting a clip-board with a quill making scratches over it. Secretary, the assassin thought with hint of hatred towards the mare, as he remembered a contract involving the hit, his body-guard and a secretary, the latter of which turned out to be the body-guard hidden beneath a nice smile and air-head persona, but in fact was a well-trained fighter that gave him a good run for his bits. The assassin was brought from his memories when the mare gave an uncomfortable shuffle of her hooves, which made the assassin want to break the silence.

"I trust you know who I am" the assassin asked. Like many of his ilk the assassin had a very dark and intimidating voice, although it was more or less expected now. Blood moon however was a different story. His voice carried with it a deep sense of foreboding and a certain malice that was matched by few others, coupled by his deep stare that always made the target feel uneasy he made an impression that, unlike other assassins, did not just want to go unremembered, but made them fear the assassins lingering presence in their mind.

"I-I-I do," the now terrified mare responded "I've been instructed to give you this" she continued as she trotted carefully over, as though the stallion before her would strike her down at the slightest move out of place, and placed down a brown envelope and pouch half way between them like she was afraid to come closer.

"The file contains all the information you need, and the pouch has five-hundred bits in it for expenses" the mare explained after backing up and regaining her composure. As she spoke the assassin lifted the file towards him and tested the weight of the bits in his hoof. Four-hundred more like he concluded from the weight, but otherwise made no reaction to the things he had been given besides slipping the file between his belt and body and tying the pouch to the same piece of leather. Without another word he turned and left, hearing the mare giving a small insulted 'humph' before giving flight away from the clearing. 'All the luck damned Pegasus' the disgruntled unicorn thought as he began the trot away. He had been glad that the meeting had not gone on long, he had the ability to be patient of course but he had never been able to stand talking to a contact like that for long before getting what could be amounted as being stir-crazy, paranoid or simply bored. He knew the journey back to civilisation would be long, maybe too long at a trot the problem was that he didn't know this forest well at all so a gallop, annoyingly, was out of the question, which would have cut the four hour journey in half. In the end he went for the longer yet more cautious pace of the trot deciding to increase pace to a canter once the path cleared. An uneventful trip through the Everfree forest was not regular, however and not forty-five minutes into the forest he found something to hold his progress.

Manticors, Celestia damned manticors. Said creature was on the path he had taken into the forest most likely trying to follow the scent of the assassin, an easy lunch of a pony in the monsters mind. The assassin dropped down, lowering his body to a smaller target and difficult to spot blob of darkness amidst a generally dark area, effectively making him invisible to the lion bodied, scorpion tailed and dragon winged beast. The assassin moved slowly, taking his time, like he had been taught so long ago keeping to the deep shadows, letting them add to the layers that shielded him from the hunting predator. Luck, it seems, is a vicious and unfriendly element as the manticor looked up, straight at Blood moon. One angry, hate filled and extremely hungry roar later, the assassin had a one and a half tonne mountain of a creature charging him at speeds that would impress a Pegasus and was snapping those jaws like it hadn't eaten in weeks. Probably hasn't the assassin concluded at the fact that it seemed thin for its size, was acting clumsily in its advance and its maw was dripping droll like a waterfall. The manticor did not meet its target, however, as it found itself chomping on nothing but air and the prey it had been hoping to devour had disappeared, all the while it was processing this the assassin looked down at it from the tree he had leaded up to, standing on the branch he had chosen to observe his attacker from. The manticor had large muscles over its body, dirt on its yellow fur, a blood stained muzzle and claws that looked like they had a lot of experience rending ponies, critters and other manticors alike, limb from limb. The thing that stood out however was its sheer size, a good twelve feet tall, and five foot wide the manticor was most defiantly something that was used to killing. A killer then, well that's something we have in common the assassin thought as he drew his sword with a near silent scraping of metal on leather. The manticor, it seems, heard this.

The manticor looked up, gave a deafening and leapt up to the killer, Blood moon dropped going against the normal 'evade' instinct that the manticor was likely used to. As he dropped and got close to his opponent he performed a mid-air buck slamming his rear hooves into the manticor's face adding to the force as he landed on its face. The manticor wailed as it dropped to the ground with an audible thud, it raised itself as it growled through its bloody mouth.

"Come on, let's see what you've got the" the killer taunted at the still growling manticor. The Lion/dragon/scorpion lunged at the darkly glad pony. Darting forwards, the killer followed suit and jumped, throwing himself up and over the manticor before landing on the manticor's back as it flailed and roared, trying to dislodge the assassin with a sword, held in a magical grip, aimed at its neck attempted to end this fight with blood. The assassin heard the deep swoosh as its tail slashed at Blood moon, twisting his sword in defence he got a push on his guard in return that quickly gave way as the creature he was riding screamed. The killer looked to his left as the end of a scorpion tail landed on the ground and the manticor continued to scream its displeasure, another powerful flail and the assassin jumped from the manticor landing in front of the great beast raising his sword in an offensive manner. The manticor snarled, spat and roared trying to intimidate the assassin to no avail, Blood moon on the other hoof simply stood there reading the manticors instinctive reactions to him and knew it was scared of him. Fed up of this fight he flashed his horn in an illumination spell that was bright and fast, blinding the manticor, leaving Blood moon an opening. Charging forwards he slammed his blade into the manticor's eye; the jelly of the orb gave way, with a sickly squelch, pushing through he felt the resistance of the bone of the eye socket but continued through as the bone was crushed and splintered before giving way to the weapon. Blood spat out of the manticor's eye and it reared in pain, the short sword still lodged in its skull but the magical connection between the blade and the unicorn's horn was severed. A massive and panicked paw swiped at the un-expecting Blood moon that was thrown at a tree and slammed savagely off the bark that cracked and fell down around him. With new valour and anger he leapt up against the same tree, jumping off and ramming his hooves into the hilt of the weapon. There was no scream, no roar and no type of reaction to the blow. The blade slips into the creature's brain with the same sickening and blood curdling resistance as the eye. Just a sickening squelch. The manticor flopped to the ground, as dead as it was getting, the assassin trotted up to it using his right fore-hoof to yank the weapon out of the new orifice and whipping it to the side, removing the blood that stained it, not for the first time.

"Yet another meets his end" the assassin grinned un-phased by the battle he had just won. To him it was just another on the list, no challenge and yet another reason he wished to retire. If one can defeat a manticor and take no pride in the kill because he felt it was unchallenging, what else can you do to give yourself some kind of actual demanding confrontation? In other words boredom was his greatest enemy, and his current profession was boring him. He didn't allow his thoughts to linger on that though, he had a job to do and to start that he had to get out of this forest.

The rest of his journey went unhindered, much to the killer's surprise, and a few hours of trotting later he found himself in a filed in the middle of nowhere. Having no idea where in Equestria he was, he looked for some kind of land mark but instead came across something much more promising. A pony lying in the grass; a stallion by gender and unicorn by race, the pony had a peacock green coat, and an autumn orange and red mane and tail. As the assassin approached he noticed the cutie mark on his flank; a juvenile looking pig face with speech marks and red exclamation marks around it. The whole image was surrounded by autumn leaves. The assassin looked over to the, what appeared to be a pet, next to the pony and recognized it as a pig. The pig was somewhat small, cute in its own little way and had a- the assassin did a double take, looking closer and hoping he was wrong but it seemed he was right. The small, pig had a leg of ham in its mouth. Not one to lose face, the assassin simply said one word in his dark and sinister voice.

"Civilisation." The peacock pony seemed to shudder slightly at the sound of his voice and the sleeping pig stirred uncomfortably, but the pony on the grass raised his left hoof and pointed to words the horizon behind his head. The assassin followed his gesture and noticed the dim glow, before heading to the source of light he recognized as a settlement of some kind. He knew what he had to do, get there, rest and then start this contract in earnest.Ponyville is a quiet place, the kind of place that makes you see what's good in the world. Honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, kindness the kind of things that make you feel at peace in the world. The assassin could not help but feel out of place though; the bright colours and happy atmosphere were a direct contrast to the dark and somewhat socially inept pony that trotted in at nine in the morning. Blood moon had taken his time getting here, having found the peacock pony at midnight after his almost day long trek through the Everfree forest. The large abundance of friendly ponies here gave the killer a strange opinion about this place. His first thought was that this place was the future location of his home when he retired, hot on its hooves, however, was doubt and paranoia. This place is too good to be true, either I've been thrown a bone here or I'm under some kind of hypnotist's spell. The assassin threw these doubts aside for the time being, and decided to explore the town, more make a mental map while he could.Getting lost in the town and making note of the land marks in town didn't take too long, as Ponyville was a small town. The town consisted of very few notable buildings; the town hall was the first thing he found, situated at the south of the town; a library inside in a tree, situated towards the middle of the town; a café/cake shop at the east; an apple farm at the southeast; a small cottage at the southeast that was right next to the Everfree forest, that Blood moon swore would be resident of the bravest pony in Ponyville being not fifty yards from the damned place; and a small school house to the west a little way out of the main part of town. It was one in the afternoon by the time the assassin was satisfied with his mental representation of the small town and found himself meandering around a market place, where numerous stalls were set up; a florist, pots and pans, books, vegetables, pies and apples, amongst other things, were sold here. The marketplace was outlined by more permanent stores; a hardware store, a fan store, a jewellers, a café and what appeared to be a shop selling quills and sofas where dotted around the edges of the bazar of sorts. The assassin was drawn towards a shady spot against the hardware store, passing his eyes over the crowds he tried to take in the pony's faces, but instead heard an ear piercing scream that stooped his heart and halted his thinking.A/N: If you recognise the guy who gives Blood moon directions, then you've read 'A flash of autumn' written by a friend of mine. If you don't then check it out, it's not bad. Anyways yea new chapter.Productive faffer out.

 

[cael]

Chapter four: Unconventional introductions

Ditzy doo was not, and she knew, the smartest pony in Equestria. In fact many picked on her, ridiculing her for clumsiness that was caused by her eye sight. Yes, her infamous eyes that had pretty much ruined her life…not that it was all that good to begin with. As she flew over Ponyville on her way to deliver more letters and packages to the small town's residents, she started to remember her foalhood and got completely lost in her own little world (as she did rather regularly) she started to fly pretty much blind. Ditzy doo reminisced her parents and early life, her mother White wing and her dad Iron hooves had wanted a perfect little filly in their perfect little lives but were not happy with what they got; the smooth grey fur had been fine to them, following suit of her dad who had a deep black and her mother that had pure white, so having a grey body had been more or less expected; Pegasus was expected to, both had been the same race, pure Cloudsdale Pegasi that were hard headed and proud; blond mane and tail, once again, had been expected as Whit wing had had a light blond mane and tail. The eyes, however, had been less than unwelcome on young Ditzy doo, a strange and almost unheard of condition known as 'fractum oculus nervus' or the eye's broken nerve. Put simply, it put her eyes out of focus in such a way that she could make out the things around her but she couldn't concentrate on anything at all. At first her parents had done all they could to help her, make me normal she thought narrowing her eyes in hate. After maybe nine years of surgery, all of it to no avail, her parents finally gave up on her and started on their second foal, like Ditzy doo was just something to replace. Ditzy's little sister, a foal she would come to care for as her own, Dinky hooves was born. With a pale purple coat, a blond mane similar to Ditzy's and a unicorn horn (thanks to White wing's great, second-cousin, once removed…that makes sense right?) She was born with normal eyes and her parents loved her for it but at the same time she loved her big sister and that drew nothing but resentment from her mother and father who had unofficially disowned the unfortunate mare. When Ditzy was eighteen their parents left them, in the middle of the night with no warning or reason, they just up and left leaving the elder of the siblings to care for the younger on her own. The equivalent of an eighteen year old having a seven year old daughter, their only source of income was Ditzy's newly acquired job at Cloudsdale's post office, this however had its own problems as she had never been all that good in school thus she got just as much abuse in her job as she had done in school. In school she had been picked on by most of the Pegasi that had attended the same place, as well as the young flyers school which had undoubtedly the worst of the two. Large stallions would bully and aggravate her and others for no reason but their own amusement. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash had the same problems but Fluttershy had Rainbowdash to stand up for her and Rainbowdash was Rainbowdash, she didn't need somepony to look out for her. Ditzy was by herself though because pretty much everypony felt the same way. All because of my eyes she thought with tear welling up at the memory.

That had been the place she had almost spiralled into depression, the mares would point and snigger, the stallions would shout abuse and humiliate her and the foals would follow suit, not talking to her laughing at her and worst of all it rubbed of onto Dinky hooves. The foals were incredibly cruel to her, making fun of the young filly continually, playing pranks and what made Ditzy hurt worse was when she was told by Dinky that they were making fun of their parents abandoning them. It cut them both deep. Ditzy was brought from her thoughts when she slammed into the wall of a building that she could have sworn came from nowhere, as she fell to the floor in a glide that made her look like a leaf that had dropped from a tree. Her head, somewhat used to these hard knocks now, was not very clouded, nor was she panicked at the fact that she had just hit a wall for the second time in forty-eight hours. She was, however, panicked by the two stallions that stood either side of her now; a Pegasus that with a dark brown coat and a white mane, his cutie mark depicting an American football; this was the Pegasus bully, now more or less a thug, named Touchdown. The other stallion; an earth pony, slate grey fur and a steel grey mane and his cutie mark showing a bent metal girder; this one was called Iron arc. The pair's faces turned from confusion to a sinister smile quickly as they registered Ditzy doo's arrival.

"Well, well, well would you look what we got here?" Touchdown said in a dark, creepy and strained voice.

"Huh, what a pleasant surprise" Iron arc added in his deep, slow and dopey voice that was well suited to his uneducated manner. The stallion, who was bested in size only by Big Macintosh, had been hanging around the Pegasus ever since he'd moved to Ponyville (on account of him being bucked out of the young flier's school) and was simple dumb muscle that would follow every order given to him by Touchdown.

"Uh-uh…h-hey guys w-w-what's up?" the scared mare asked as casualty as she could when surrounded by the two ponies that tormented her most.

"Oh, nothing much" the Pegasus replied with a devilish grin "just hangin' around"

"Just hangin' around" the earth pony repeated.

"Oh, OK I'm just g-gonna go then" the mailmare responded, still scared, spreading her wings to fly away from the two stallion bully's. At an unseen command the earth pony grabbed her tail and yanked her down.

"What, you don't wana hang with us?" the stallion spat, full of sudden disgust, at the mare at his hooves. Ditzy looked up at him, something was wrong with him, he seemed to be shaking a little and his eyes were a bit blood shot around the edges.

"No, I-it's not that, just that I've got stuff to deliver" she told him trying and failing to get up on her hooves.

"No you don't" Iron arc laughed ripping off the saddle bag from her side and threw it aside.

"Hey" Ditzy shouted at the removal of her bag, struggling to get free from the grip of Iron arc. Her efforts were rewarded by Touchdown slapping his right fore-hoof across her face.

"Shadup, you little whorse" Touchdown hissed as he grabbed her mane and hauled her up. Then she noticed something, the stallion was shaky yes but that wasn't what got her petrified attention. It was in fact the large erect member between his rear legs. She looked up, tears around her eyes, waiting to break free from their reluctant master.

"Consider yourself lucky you little lazy eyed freak. This is the only action somepony like you would-no should ever get" the evil thug taunted the mare. She tensed slightly as she felt the push against her back that could only be Iron's stallionhood pressing against her.

"W-what are you doing" she squeaked.

"I thought I said to be quiet, looks like I'll just have to take things into my own HOOVES" he laughed as he forced Ditzy's mouth around his member. The Iron shoved his own into Ditzy's sex. The stallions laughed as they raped and Ditzy screamed into Touchdown's stallionhood as tears flowed shamelessly down her face. This isn't how it's supposed to be, not for my first time Ditzy thought as she was trusted into from both ends; I didn't want my first time to be like this she mentally cried. Iron arc began to thrust more wildly, picking her flank up and holding it aloof as he slammed his stallionhood into his victim's dry vagina.

They both continued to defile her; Iron arc slapped her flank harshly, as Touchdown held both sides of her head as he pumped into her maw harder and faster, all the while coming out with harsh comments. Iron arc thrust deeper into her as he held her up. All the while, she wept, and cried and cursed; all muffled by Touchdown's cock as he continued to abuse her as he did so long ago.

"Damn, Derpy hooves, you aren't as bad as I thought you'd be" the stallion laughed, between groans. Derpy hooves; I hate that name she silently cursed. Touchdown had been the first to give her that name, when she had first arrived at the Cloudsdale post office and it seemed to stick, stick so well in fact that some ponies mistake it for her actual name. Her thoughts were interrupted by yet another insult from Touchdown.

"Not bad at all, you could make a living outa this" Touchdown taunted, his insults causing more tears to escape Ditzy's unfocused eyes. Suddenly she felt a bulge, an increase of size in her rear end as Iron arc reached his climax. No, not in me, please Celestia, not inside me she wailed in her mind, with the blind hope they could hear her desperate thoughts. Apparently not, however, as she was thrust into one final time as Iron's seed shot into her, coating her reluctant walls with his vile seamen.

"Open wide" Touchdown strained as he followed suit and ejaculated into her mouth, leaving her gasping for breath. Kill me; kill me now she thought as she lay there panting and wishing she was never born. She did nothing as she lay there, but as Touchdown picked up a price of sharp glass with his hoof she knew what was about to happen, and part of her welcomed it, another part didn't, another part was not about to let these buckers get away with this or her death, so she screamed; at the top of her lungs she screamed, the kind of scream she hoped everypony would hear and arrive at the scene and see what they had done to her. She hopes they would at least.

Blood moon was at a loss, Ponyville was a fairly peaceful place, as far as he could tell. On the surface everything seemed fine, but apparently not everything was as it first appeared as he ponded what to do. Nopony else seemed to hear the scream; understandable there was still a lot of noise coming from the market and the scream had been high pitched so it wouldn't carry far. Throwing caution to the wind he decided to investigate, following the sound to an alleyway, what he believed to be its point of origin; and he wasn't all too glad he did.The alleyway itself was relatively dark, not so much it was hard to see but it put a small shroud over anypony in there making them hard to see from a distance. What was in the alleyway, however, was what truly enraged him."What is this" he demanded in a voice that would give Celestia herself nightmares. Two stallions turned to face him, shocked and panicked as though caught in the act; one was a Pegasus the other an earth pony, but the red mist had defended over the assassin's eyes and he was willing to make no more of the pair out. What did get his attention however was the mare on the ground, shaking, scared and…the assassin knew what they had done and what they were about to do; he wasn't about to let them get away with it."And just, who are you" the Pegasus barked at him trying to be threating. The assassin wasn't hearing it though, as his horn flashed and he was suddenly besides the rapist. A simple teleportation spell has these fools confused he thought as he slammed his right fore-hoof into the Pegasus's neck, disorientating him. The assassin proceeded to lung at the earth pony, knocking him of his hooves as the assassin struck him in the face with his left hoof, likely causing a few fireworks to go off in his eyes. Turning to the other one, he blocked a clumsy buck from the brown winged pony before his right hoof found it's mark between his rear legs, causing a pathetic sequel to erupt from his mouth. The killer then looked at the victim of this act and found a grey Pegasus mare shivering in a ball of to the side of the ally, he tried to talk to her but heavy pain on the assassin's back and the sudden ability to fly told him that he had just been bucked in the back by the earth pony. The assassin landed in the street, causing a few mares and stallions to gasp at his sudden appearance as the two attackers followed him out. The assassin wasted no time getting the show back on the road as he darted forwards, spun on his left fore-hoof and bucked the earth pony in the face, breaking more than a few teeth in the proses, not allowing them time to respond he hit the Pegasus in the face with his left hoof, following it up with a right uppercut to his chest and then grabbing his froe-hooves and throwing him over head.There was now a small circle of ponies surrounding the fight some confused, others enraged at the lone unicorn fighting of the two other ponies, for better or for worse the killer did not know. Standing up again on shaky legs, the Pegasus called into the crowd and not a second later did three other stallions join the fray; all were earth ponies and all looked like they did nothing but go to the gym a lot. The assassin was unimpressed. The first one made his move, a red coated moron that through a strike at the assassin, who dodged under it and slapped his supporting for-hoof out from under him. A second thug, a metallic bronze pony, attacked next, with the big earth pony from before; the bronze pony lunged for him as the big stallion tried for another buck, the assassin slammed his fore-hooves up in perfect timing and the big stallion was thrown up and off balance, just before the bronze pony's face was slammed into the ground by Blood moon's left hoof, which shot down to meet him faster that anypony's eyes could register. The assassin had had enough of this, the third pony to have joined charged him and Blood moon was ready; he grabbed the dark orange pony's chin and mane then twisted savagely, an audible crack signified the pony's death as the vertebrae severed the spinal cord and the pony fell limp to the ground as dead as a doornail. Maybe coffin nail would be more accurate the dark stallion wondered as he dropped the corpse to the ground."One down" he muttered as he eyed the rest of his opponents, some of which were obviously regretting their decision to fight him, now they knew he would kill them without a second thought. The red and bronze pony moved together; the bronze from the front and the red from the back, as Blood moon whipped his sword out and took the advancing bronze pony's head off and a satisfying spurt of blood followed the decapitation, tinting the bronze coat a rustic copper red. Turning to face the other he was met with a truly horrified face, one that wanted to get away but knew that it wouldn't, the assassin hit the red pony in the throat with the hilt of his weapon and watched the stallion choke for a while before stabbing him through the chest, stabbing the left lung and heart in one fatal stab. Ripping the blade out a second fountain of blood erupted like a volcano of gore from the deceased pony. Snapping his gaze over to the big stallion, he let his eyes bore into him before he galloped over to him, cracking his jaw with the pommel of his sword, a strike that lifted the stallion off his fore-hooves, before leaping up and ramming the blade down into the slate grey pony's chest. Holding it there for a second, the killer tore the blade left and right doing as much damage as possible but he knew he had likely punctured both lungs and stabbed down into the intestines, before he yanked the blade of, leaping of the dying stallion, somersaulting backwards and landing gracefully in the centre of the small arena. The assassin slowly, creepily and downright angrily turned his attention to the Pegasus."I'll ask you again, what was that?" the assassin demanded, his eyes locked onto the trembling stallion before him blocking out the crowd of equally terrified ponies that surrounded them. Blood moon didn't wait long for an answer, instead he trotted up to him his sword held by his side as he moved towards a stallion who liked to think he was in control, think he was tough, think he was above everypony else. The kind of pony Blood moon hated. Grabbing the stallion from behind, his right leg going under the stallions own and his left yanking his mane back and exposing his jugular to the weapon now pushed against his neck, he was about to finish this and fade into the gathering shadows behind him, before a lone voice in the crowd called out:"STOP!" The assassin looked over the crowd, looking for the one that had the guts to stop an obviously trained killer in the middle of the act. His eyes settled on a group of six mares; the one who appeared to have called out to him was the one in the centre of the group, a magenta mare with a deep purple mane and tail with a lighter shade of the same colour and hot pink stripes running through. Her eyes were also purple and practically burst with intelligence; that much was apparent at this range, though tears also streamed down her face, which expressed confusion and fear, as she looked at him."Why" the assassin asked simply."Because-because nopony deserves to be killed" she yelled in response, like it was the most obvious thing on equestria. The assassin cocked his head to the right slightly."Really, then would you care to ask him what he was doing in that alleyway over there" Blood moon responded nodding his head in the direction of the place he found the grey mare. The stallion in his grip swallowed."I-it doesn't matter what he was doing, y-y-y-you can't kill him" the mare argued."I think it does matter" the assassin responded calmly "ask her" he nodded at the grey mare he had found in the alley, how was now in the crowd trying to go unnoticed but the assassin had spotted the…stains on her "ask her what they did, what caused me to slaughter them like the dogs they are." The purple mare turned her gaze to the grey Pegasus."What's Derpy got to do with this" a voice in the crowd asked. The assassin took no notice as he looked at the other ponies around the purple unicorn.To her immediate right was an orange earth pony, her mane blond and put in a simple knot at the end, her tail following suit, her eye, showing honesty and hard labour with small tears escaping, were a light shade of green. This mare also wore a Stetson cowpony hat that she held to her chest. To the unicorns far right a Pegasus, with cyan blue fur and a rainbow coloured mane and tail, flew a meter of the ground held up by her powerful looking wings her light purple eyes holding back tears. The earth pony and Pegasus had the same expressions; confusion, fear and hate. These two were more protective than most of the other ponies in the group. To the immediate left of the purple unicorn, a second unicorn stood this one was pure white and had a highly styled purple mane and tail, her eyes, a sparkling blue, housed generosity and an appreciation for detail. Next to the white unicorn two mares sat; one a pink furred and pink mane and tailed, both of which were completely striate, her eyes a pleasant shade of sky blue had tear's shooting out and arcing down in a spectacular rainbow shaped curve. The pony she comforted was not looking at him instead weeping into the chest of the pink one but from what the assassin could tell she had a light pink mane and butter yellow fur."Well Derpy, did they do anything to you" the mare that Blood moon now recognised as 'Derpy' looked at him in panic, it was obvious that she didn't want to say anything about what happened in the alleyway but the assassin had just killed four ponies in broad daylight and this was the only way he could defend himself."Tell them mare, this is on nopony's head but theirs" the assassin called over trying to sooth her. Not an easy task when you're holding a struggling stallion as a hostage."Th-they did…things to me" she responded in little more than a whisper."What 'things' did they do" the unicorn replied, not as shaky as before but still with tears rolling down her face. The assassin could tell by her tone of voice, body language and the way she was glancing at his hostage that she was begging to doubt what she had thought before but was still unwilling to be swayed."Things I'd rather not repeat" Derpy replied, she was clearly traumatised by what had happened and Blood moon felt for her."Now jus' wait a minute, sugarcube are ya'll sayin' that ya" she clears her throat nervously "did the 'hoedown' in that there alleyway" she asks, a little unbelieving. The assassin noticed the orange pony's heavy southern drawl."YES, THEY RAPED AND ABUSED ME LIKE SOME PIECE OF MEAT, THEN TRIED TO KILL ME!" The mare was, clearly getting emotional as she gulped and chocked back the tears threating to spill down her face. Everypony in the crowd gasped, almost perfectly in unison while the purple mare looked back at the assassin and his hostage."So you killed them defending her that was-no, no you should have let the guards deal with it." At the mention of guards Blood moon got a little irate at the mention of guards."And what would happen, they would be detained and put on trial, yes. There they would be charged with the rape and murder of a certain grey Pegasus, in which they would have plenty of evidence and a witness report supplied by myself. Now it's very likely that they would be found guilty of this crime, tell me miss, what is the punishment for rape and murder" the assassin asked with a knowing smile on his face that was mostly covered by his hood."They would be executed" the mare replied hanging her head in defeat "but what gives you the right to take justice into your own hooves" she shot at him. The assassin gave a deep slow laugh in return."You want justice mare?" She stood a little straighter."Everypony deserves justice" she told him, somewhat nobly. The assassin shrugged."Very well then" he said releasing the stallion, letting him drop to the floor "justice for all" he told her before he stabbed his blade through the stallion's head, cracking through the cranium, piecing the brain, stabbing into the lower jaw and out the other end. A monumental rush of blood shot out of both freshly made wounds as the assassin ripped the sword out in a brutal fashion, the arc of the weapon making a curve of blood to fly into the air and splatted the ground in front of him, while the fountain of vital fluids continued to erupt skywards. Several ponies gasped once more and judging by the thuds hearda bunch more fainting. The magenta mare had fresh tears streaming down her face and in much greater abundance."How-how could you" she sniffled. Staring her down the assassin started fade into darkness as his horn began to glow as he became part of the shadows around him, cast by Celestia's sun."Simple, by doing what's right" he replied as he vanished from sight.A/N: So this chapters a doozy, and I want ya'll to know it was hard trying to put down Ditzy being raped, though she's not my favourite pony(one dose not simply have a 'favourite' pony) I still like her and IT IS NESSERCARY TO THE PLOTLINE, not just me getting weird... again. And that my AJ accent sucks so if anypony/body has any pointers it would be much appreciated.Productive faffer out.

 

[cael]

Chapter five: Darkened harmony

Twilight sparkle was at a loss. This stallion, who was likely relatively new as she knew pretty much everypony in Ponyville, had just trotted in and-and. She didn't want to come to terms with it, didn't want to have to accept what she had just witnessed but she knew it was real, that there was no denying that five stallions had just been murdered in front of her and they were still lying there. Unmoving, not breathing, there blood on the ground and just dead.

"He-he slaughtered them" Rainbowdash said, tears flowing down her face which was a rare sight indeed. Twilight just nodded, not able to take her eyes off the scene in front of her, right when she thought she was getting through to him he-he. The last few moments of his presence played through her mind, he dropped stallion down like he was going to spare him, then he did-what he did. The thing she couldn't understand was why he did it. She looked over at Derpy hooves and watched her intently, trying to read her expression but couldn't get anything from it, she just seemed blank (except for those wacked out eyes). She trotted over to her.

"Derpy ar-"

"Ditzy."

"What?"

"My name is Ditzy doo not Derpy hooves" the grey Pegasus told the purple unicorn, she had none of her cute clumsiness in her voice nor any of her youthful and joyful sprit.

"Oh ok, I'm sorry but that's not why I'm here" Twilight responded genuinely surprised; she had always thought her name had been Derpy hooves considering that was what pretty much everypony in Ponyville called her.

"I know" she responded in a deadpan tone, her mane casting a shadow over her eyes "and before you ask, yes what I said happened, happened" she told the unicorn. Twilight cast her gaze down, not finding the strength to look at the grey Pegasus.

"I'm-I'm sorry but I have to ask" she took a steadying breath "do you know that stallion" Twilight had to know who that pony was, had to find out what such a murderous stallion was doing out in Ponyville. Better yet what he was doing outside the Canterlot prisons.

"I don't but I'm going to find him and thank him."

"Thank-thank him, what do you mean by that."

"I mean what I say Twilight, that stallion you probably call murderer I call saviour, I know you don't what to admit it but he helped me when I was in trouble."

"I don't have a problem with him helping you. What I do have a problem with is how he did it, killing those stallions was not the way to go about it" Twilight argued, not wanting to admit that the stallion was in the right at all.

"What would you have done" Ditzy snapped looking Twilight directly in the eye, so she could see the tears threatening to spill, though they weren't there because of pity or remorse to the now dead but the fact that she was stood in the middle of a group of ponies that knew she had just been…used "love and tolerate them for what they did to me" the grey Pegasus spat before she flew off.

"Ditzy please, wait" too late, the Pegasus flew had already left.

"The poor dear, I-I take it that it's true, what she said" Rarity asked from besides Twilight, who sighed and hung her head in defeat.

"She had no reason to lie, besides didn't you see her…flank" the unicorn replied, giving a small shudder as she remembered the stains on her rear end and tail.

"So, um, what are ya'll gonna do, y' know with the bodies" Applejack asked a little scared of the corpses and blood on the ground.

"I don't know, we'll let the guards deal with it but we have to find out what happened to that stallion" Twilight announced.

"WHAT" Rarity exclaimed, losing her lady like mannerism for a second.

"Hold up there sugarcube, why are we goin' after 'im. Didn't ya'll just say to let the guards handle it" Applejack asked with as much panic in her voice as Rarity.

"I really hope I heard wrong, 'cause I think I just heard you talkin' about trying to find that-that assassin" Rainbowdash butted into the convocation.

"Yes, Rainbowdash you did, because that's what we're going to do" Twilight told her, new vigour in her voice.

"Well Twilight, Applejack's question still stands. Why not let the guards deal with this" Rarity pressed.

"I-I don't know why I just, just don't feel right letting them deal with this" Twilight wasn't lying, she felt a strange presence about the stallion, something she couldn't put her hoof on but one thing was for sure it definitely troubled her "besides; together we defeated Nightmare moon, Discord, King sombra and Queen Chrysalis, what's one stallion with a sword and some training."

"I'm sorry darling but I just don't think the elements of harmony would work against…that kind of pony, if you can call him that" Rarity told her solemnly.

"She's got a point there, sugarcube; ah don't like that feller one bit, we should leave this to the professionals" Applejack admitted.

"I'm with Rarity on this one Twilight that guy looks like he's out of even MY league" Rainbowdash agreed, though not sparing them the boast. Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing; Applejack the pony everypony could always count on and Rainbowdash, whose loyalty to Ponyville is what literally made her who she is.

"So your just gonna trot away from this" she asked unbelieving, her mouth agape "after everything we've all been through your letting a stallion with a creepy voice get to you."

"No, nothing like that we just…uhhh" Rainbowdash couldn't finish her sentence and Twilight knew she'd hit a soft spot, Rainbowdash portrayed herself as brave and heroic, she was also the kind to rush headlong into trouble without second thought be it through stubbornness, pride or the need to protect her friends. Twilight didn't want any of her friends to do anything foolish or dangerous but she knew that she couldn't do this without them.

"Ah think what Rainbow's trying to say here, is that ya'll shouldn't be takin' all a' Ponyville's problems on yourself, its jus' not necessary to be dealin' with this yourself Twilight" Applejack told her in a caring fashion. It was no secret that Applejack was more protective of the group of friends, and that she wasn't about to let Twilight rush off into anything stupid, not without telling her some wise words first anyway. Twilight suddenly noticed something, sat behind three of her best friends, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sat still weeping. Rarity, Rainbowdash and Applejack followed their friend's gaze and saw the depressing site.

"We've got to give them some kind of closure with this, we can't just let this be their only memories of this" Twilight told them, her voice sad as she looked over at the two ponies. Her friends seemed to agree. Pinkie Pie sat, holding Fluttershy in her fore-hooves cradling the sensitive pony that was crying uncontrollable into her chest; Pinkie's hair had its unnaturally straight look to it that only happened when she was sad or not thinking straight, her eyes had a steady flow of tear flowing from them as they continued to stare at the battlefield in a horrified manner. Fluttershy seemed worst for it; she had seen the bronze stallion's head being take off and would most likely be most affected by this as she had never been involved in anything violent in her life, nor had she ever been overly fond of blood.

"Y-your right Twi, we can't be letting him get away with this, not afta' what it's done to ah friends" Applejack conceded "but ah gotta know, why won't you let the guards deal with this."

"Well, think about it, he's obviously got combat experience and he's killed before. I get the feeling that guardponys just won't be able to deal with this" Twilight admitted. She always had faith in her big brother's guards but no matter how good they were they didn't stand a chance against what she had just witnessed.

"Alright fair 'nuff" Applejack submitted, relaxing her neck in a defeated fashion "but what a' we gonna do in the mean time?"

"We have to get Fluttershy away from here, get her away from all of this" Pinkie Pie spoke up for the first time in a while, her voice deadpan and as void as emotion as her mane "can we please just go" the pink party pony pleaded in an out of character fashion.

"Yeah, come on girls let's get out of here" Twilight agreed. If she were honest she would say she was feeling about the same as Fluttershy right now but felt she had to stay strong for all their sakes. The purple unicorn looked around, many of the ponies had left either to cry to themselves or fetch one of the few guards that patrolled Ponyville. Some stallions and mares went to the bodies and started to wail louder they must be their parents or something Twilight concluded; as she watched the stallions try to pry away the mares that were hugging the corpses, before three golden armour clad guard ponies arrived at the scene. One of them, a light grey earth pony, immediately threw up when he saw the dead stallions. Twilight pitied him, he looked young and new to the guard profession but she had to look after her friends first, so with Applejack carrying a still crying Fluttershy on her back and Rainbowdash with a wing over Pinkie Pie, whispering something that seemed to be cheering her up, indicated by her small giggles (Twilight had no idea how the rainbow coloured mare managed to do it but it probably had something to do with pranks or cupcakes). The six elements of harmony made their way to Twilights home. Inwardly Twilight was dreading her return to the golden oaks library, as she knew she would have to explain today's events to Spike and she knew there was no getting out of it, all's he would have to do is look at the tear streaks going down all their faces.

The library seemed eerily quiet as the six mares returned, Twilight leading the way. Pinkie Pie's mane seemed to have regained its 'poof' and she seemed to be able to smile again, albeit a little weakly. Fluttershy, impossibly, also seemed to be doing ok again once they got to the library within the tree. Spike was busy cleaning and Twilight was glad for it, she didn't want to tell him about today until necessary."So, we want to track this guy down right" Rainbowdash said as they all sat in a circle in the middle of the library."An' jus' how do we go about doin' that, ya'll saw the way he left, that stallion is as sneaky as a snake in tall grass" Applejack remarked as Twilight Sparkle was looking through a small portion of the library. The segment Twilight was searching was home to dark, thick and heavily bound books, which were obviously about something dark and ominous that gave the purple pony the same sensation as when she had seen and used King Sombra's black magic; an eerie presence at the back of her mind, like there was a shadowy figure just in the shadows and just out of sight. Just like the sensation the memory of the hooded stallion gave her."What are you looking for Twilight" Rarity asked from the circle mares, as she watched the bookish unicorn levitate books from here and there in the library."I'm looking for a book" she replies bluntly."Well duh, which one" Rainbowdash sighs as she flies over to were Twilight is stood, levitating books in front of her, reading the title and throwing them away impatiently."It's a book about really old magic, magic that was supposedly banned outside of academic study since just after the banishment of Nightmare moon" Twilight explains as she continues to go through her books feeling she is getting closer."What type of magic are we talkin' about here Twi, I still don't get what that stallion did when he got away" Rainbow asks, having now flown up to the higher shelves to find something, not having an idea what it was."I think it was called…" Twilight paused hitting her head with her hoof a few times trying to recall something she had glanced over once in her studies "shadow magic, yeah that was it, shadow magic" she tells them looking over books with greater speed, now that she had a better idea what she was looking for."Found it" Pinkie Pie cries out from under a small pile of books. Twilight turns her head so quickly she nearly pulls something."What" she yells astounded at the party pony's ability to find things "let me see" she says already lifting the book over to her with her magic."Lostnocturnalmagicvolumethreechapterthirteenpageo ne-thousandandthirty-threetoone-thousandandforty-n ine" she told Twilight who was now flicking through the book, astounded once again at the pink pony's ability to speak so fast, to said page."Pinkie Pie, I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret this but, how did you do that" Twilight asks bracing for a massively long-winded answer."Oh that, I saw the page as it flew past me when you threw it in to the pile when you were done with it" she told Twilight while wearing an overly large grin. Twilight simply blinked at her before shaking her head a few times to rid herself of the thought just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie she thought to herself looking back over the book she held, now at the correct page."Here it is" she paused as she read a few passages, before her eyes bulged slightly as she got to grips with some of the finer points of the very advanced magic. Her friends noticed the look on her face and looked between each other in worry, they all saw Twilight as the resident expert of magic in Ponyville and to see her apparently impressed, worried or confused was always cause for concern when it came to magic."W-what is it Twilight" Rarity asked somewhat timidly, sensing the panic emitting from Twilight."I-it's nothing just, this is some pretty advanced stuff" she read a little more of the page before looking up and addressing all of her concerned looking friends, she took a deep breath before continuing."It's called 'Umbra Linguam' or shadow language. It involves 'the control of shadows to ones will, in a fashion that uses at set of four simple words such as; walk, attack, hide, defend, see, hear or learn'" she told the quoting the book directly "I-I've never heard of magic like this" she told them her eyes narrowed in thought."Shadow magic, like King Sombra" Applejack asked rubbing her chin in thought."Yes...no…kind of, King Sombra was an exceptionally powerful uhhh" she consults the book, her eyes moving back and forth over the page before looking back up "shadow speaker" the words seem to hang in the air in an eerie fashion as a cold wind blows through the library before she continued "but I don't think he was using the same magic as the stallion we're dealing with.""So this guy can use shadow magic then" Rainbowdash summarized "so how does this help us again?""Well did you see the way he escaped, like the shadows latched onto him and he…became them. So now that we know what he can do, we also know what he can't do" she tells them triumphantly."Which is" Rainbowdash urges as she leans in."Well, the book says that although the magic is powerful and advanced, it does have its disadvantages; the first being that only four types of magic can be used because only four words can be learned, the power of the spell depends on the ability of the caster like most other magic and it has to be directly related to the word. For example; if the pony had the word walk in their…uhhh, the book calls it an 'umbra vocabulary' then they would be able to move as a shadow" Twilight explained as she trotted back and forth "the second weakness is that for the spell to be at full power then there needs to be shadows around the caster, the book says that this can be countered by having 'shadow' in the pony's vocabulary but, obviously, this uses up one of the words available. Normally all of these speaker would have a simple spell that would help them learn that consists of their shadow reaching out a few meters, this helps them practice without using up a word as well as allowing them to make their spells stronger when there not right next to shad-" Twilight's head suddenly snapped up and her gaze met the book for a moment before she lunged at it and tears it open, causing her friends to gasp in a startled fashion, as she read the book, gripping the book violently in her fore-hooves as she looked over the page. When she was done she raised her head, her eyes lingering on the book and her face a strange mix of relief and confusion."Wh-what is it Twilight" Fluttershy squeaked from beneath her mane."I-it's this thing about the absence of shadow; it also says that the casters shadow must be distinguishable from the shadow their drawing power from.""Sooo, what does that mean" Rainbowdash inquired."Well the book doesn't go into much detail about it but from what I can tell it works something like this; if the unicorn casting the spell is covered in shadow, say by the shade of a large building, the spell wouldn't work. The only reason it gives is that the shadows powering it causes it to 'short circuit' due to the amount of power being pumped into it directly the spell.""So…what, that means we have to over load this guy with shadows by fighting him in the shade of sugarcube corner" Rainbowdash put together with a slight 'are you kidding me' look on her face."No" Twilight said to herself more than to the ponies in audience "but what it does mean is that" she paused as if figuring something out, looking over the results, figuring it out again and checking again to be sure, before looking up at the five mares in realisation "all's we have to do is find him at night, that way he won't be able to use his most powerful available magic" she smiled, now more confident about the inevitable confrontation."Now wait ah minute sugarcube, how does that work, when its night time shadows are everywhere at night, ya'll should know bein' up all ah the time" Applejack counters."Exactly, if the shadows are everywhere then the stallions shadows can't be told apart from the other shadows, so he won't be able to cast his spells" Twilight tells Applejack, who shakes her head as though the unicorn is not understanding her."No, what ah mean is that I've seen many a night when I can my shadow when its cast by the moonlight, don't that mean he can use his magic still" Applejack clarifies. The earth pony knew she was no expert in the art of magic but she knew day and night well enough that she knew how shadows worked at different times of day. Twilight had opened her mouth and raised her hoof in argument but nothing came out, she looked back at the book in vain to try and get some more answers from it but all's she got was a few users of this type of magic. Twilight frowned in confusion; most spells known to unicorns were created by Starswirl the bearded or either of the princesses and were all supposed to capable of being learned by anypony. Having a list, a short list at that, told the unicorn that this was more complicated than she first thought. She noticed that the names had small sketches next to them, when she got to one in particular her eyes widened."Uhhh girls, come look at this" she tells her friends as she turns the book to the advancing mares. Twilight sees the recognition in her friend's faces, as well as their reactions; Rainbowdash and Applejack look at each other in confusion; Rarity's face is drawn back from the page in fear, Pinkie Pie's face loses its immense grin as she recognises the face looking back and Fluttershy nearly faints. The page held an image of a stallion, his hood casting a shadow over most of his features, even in the sketch, but the eyes that peered from beneath the shroud were unmistakeable. Twilight recognised the 'flash sketch' spell; a spell that produced an image of the target in a similar fashion of the camera, the main difference being that the spell came out looking like an actual drawing when the device looked like an exact replica of the desired scene. Spell or technology aside, the image was quickly recognised by the six mares. From the menacing eyes to the scar on his face it was clear who this pony was without the name besides it, written in sharp and jagged letters that somehow had the ability to be intimidating and scary. Blood moon.As he was about eleven-thousand years ago.

 

[cael]

Chapter six: The friends we make

Blood moon galloped. Getting away from the battle had been simple, with the easy use of the Umbra Linguam spell 'hide' he knew what the ponies in the crowd would have seen: the shadows creeping up his person, like a drop of water moving up the leg, becoming a shade of unnaturally dark black; the colour of midnight or the shade of shadow, a colour that was not supposed to be worn by the ponies of equestria. The spell was similar to the spell 'walk' but where walk was a spell that caused the caster to be able to traverse the environment as their silhouette; one of the few spells that did not need shadows to work effectively as in this particular spell would be cancelled should the caster move into deep shade were their own could not be seen, the hide spell, on the other hoof, was quite the opposite; it allowed the unicorn that used the spell to be able to literally become 'one with the shadows' as they hide and obscured the pony from the view of others and allowed them to move within the gloom. The assassin had used his spell to get away from the mass of ponies and then taken to the side streets and back alleys, trying to find a place to rest.

For two hours the stallion had moved, not risking a pause, all the while looking over his shoulder. The assassin had been foolish; he did not regret helping the mare but wished he knew more about this small town, Ponyville not being a place that assassins roamed to any great degree, he wished he had a better idea of these back streets, wished he had an idea how many guards patrolled the roads and protected the buildings. The darkly clad pony narrowed his eyes in frustration as he continued to move, now at a canter rather than a gallop, as he knew the streets of a larger town such as Manehatten much more effectively; the assassin knew he would be able to traverse the streets, roofs and even the insides of some of the buildings with his eyes closed. But this blasted town; he didn't know where to find a simple dark corner or-. The assassin halted his pace and looked slowly to his left with a slightly disgruntled look on his face Luna be damned, I hate it when fate dose this to me the killer thought to himself as he looked at the quiet and removed bar that looked at him. Blood moon knew that if buildings were ponies then this one would be leaning back with a smug look on its face. The small looking tavern was honest and quaint, the walls made up of light brown planks, the windows had brick around them and the roof was made of thatching. The pub was called 'the hoof and anvil' the bars sign being an iron hoof suspended in a 'U' shape with the stereotypical anvil shape held inside it.

Trotting through the door of iron, the assassin looked around and found that the inside was much the same as the outside; the same wooden planks that made up the walls made up the floors, the bar was a deep brown oak, dulled silver nozzle scattered along the length of it and bar stools up against it. The place did have a strange feel to it however; for the most part it was your average, friendly boozer, with pleasant looking ponies (who seemed oblivious to the events of the market place) sat around drinking cider and wine. These ponies held the middle of the bar, wooden tables with one to four wooden chairs or piles of hay around them, the walls, red cushion sofas that were slightly battered and un-kept that had long tables between them in a booth like style, and the bar, simple iron stools that leaned against the place drinks were distributed. The corners, however, belonged to the shadier of the patrons and this is where Blood moon sat, a strong, spicy and hard cider in a metal tankard in his hoof as he looked around the pub, getting to know the patrons. The corners were infinitely more interesting, the place that Blood moon himself sat was a dark and slightly damp spot where little light would reach, blending into the background seamlessly but then, if he could not remain unnoticed in a dark corner, he had been in the wrong job throughout most of his life. The other three corners belonged to ponies of similar dubious qualities; in the corner across the room, an orange fur and black mane and tailed stallion sat, eyeing the crowd. Some kind of thug the assassin concluded from the broken snout and mean look on his face. The corner to his left held a group of ponies; a pair of stallions, one of dirty cream fur and sky blue mane and tail, the other of brown and slightly dirty fur and an equally dirty bronze mane and tail. The others around that table were mares; around four of them, all seemed to be the marefriends of these 'gangsters' but looked a little uncomfortable. The assassin grew less interested with this group; they seemed to be discussing how to move bootleg cider out of Baltimare, instead he looked over the rest of the bar until his eyes fount something that caught his attention. At the corner to his left, the corner closest to the bar, a stallion with dark yellow, mustard if you will, fur sat, a black beanie on his head and a black mane peeking out the back in a short ponytail. This stallion had an eye patch on his left eye and three scars going along his features, going from his left ear, across his left eye (no doubt that was what caused him to lose it) and slashing over his mouth. His remaining eye had the colour of smoke about it, a very deep grey that was capable of matching Blood moon's eye for intimidation and its deep stare. The stallion had a pair of powerful wings on his back, the same colour as his body; they seem to be damaged slightly and seemed to be missing feathers here and there but remained looking strong. The stallion's cutie mark was a scimitar's silhouette against a setting sun. The same weapon was strapped to his back. The whole image; weapon, scars, muscled physic, hard eyes and cutie mark said one thing to the assassin. Mercenary. The soldier of fortune looked over the bar, much the same way the assassin had done, and saw the killer looking at him. The merc spotted a fellow fighter and nodded, in doing so giving the assassin a brief look into his eye; bloodshed, loss, a desire for vengeance and loyalty spoke to the assassin and he put the picture together; his family was killed when he was on duty in the equestrian army, when he got back he was at a loss in the world and went back to the forces, there his anger took over and he was dishonourably discharged before he became a mercenary the assassin figured as he continued to gaze at the merc. He knew this stallion had blood on his hooves but he seemed descent, didn't kill anypony he wasn't ordered to kill and no mares or foals so he didn't want to kill him despite him not having a very well-looked upon form of work. The ex-soldier stood and trotted for the exit as the thug in the corner, who had been apparently watching him, intercepted him.

"Problem colt" the older stallion asked the thug.

"Just one, you see a few friends of mine have just been cut down by some new stallion, so I figure; well I ain't seen this guy before and he's got a sword, maybe he know something about it, well how 'bout it, got something to tell me" the thug asks the old mercenary, obviously accusing the stallion for the death of the ponies that Blood moon most likely killed. He doesn't get an answer just one of Blood moon's throwing knifes in his left fore-hoof. The assassin wasn't about to let something he did come off on another pony, experienced fighter or not, it just wouldn't sit right in his stomach. Everypony in the bar looks over at the new assailant with mixed expressions, none of which are taken in by the stallion stood in a hood and cloak with a blade in his magical grip.

"I believe you're looking for me" Blood moon calls over, his voice sending shivers down the spine of everypony but himself and the mustard merc. The stallion shifts a little.

"What do you mean, I'm looking for you" the thug replies as he pulls the blade out of his leg with his right fore-hoof.

"I think, son, he means he is the one that killed your little friends" the merc explains in his strained voice "not myself." The stallion looked between the older and younger killers before realising he was out matched, dropping the knife to the ground he gallops out of the bar. Both armed stallions look at each other in understanding and quickly follow suit.

"You sure that was a good idea, colt" the merc asks the assassin as they trot quickly away from the bar.

"Not really, but I wasn't about to let you take credit for five rather spectacular kills that I caused" the assassin replies glancing over his shoulder. They both laugh at the remark briefly.

"Kid, do I know you" the merc asks as they stop in a secluded alleyway, to talk more freely.

"Depends, do I know you" Blood moon replies, lowering his head so the hood obscures more of his face. The merc grunts.

"I'm called Sand Stalker, blade for hire extraordinaire; I deal in open combat, espionage and aerial combat, native to Saddle Arabia." He tells the assassin readily, like he can trust Blood moon.

"You gave that up easily" the assassin comments.

"I'd recognise somepony on the wrong side of the law any day, colt, I know your about as honest as a con-stallion when it comes to your work" Sand Stalker retorts in a flat manner. The assassin shrugs before he speaks.

"Well you've got me there, I'm Blood moon assassin for hire these last ten years. I'm sure you've heard of me" the killer tells an impressed looking mercenary.

"I'll be. You're the hunter aren't you" Sand Stalker says a little shocked he is now stood face to face with what amounts to a living legend.

"I am, now listen, is there anything an old-hoof such as you can tell me about Ponyville" the assassin asks the elderly fighter, always looking for information. Blood moon wasn't looking for contacts here but he felt that knowing the more important points of this place that had never really held much of his interest would be useful. The mercenary looks down in thought for a second before looking back at Blood moon.

"Only this: look out for these six mares; Twilight sparkle, Applejack, Rainbowdash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity. They sort of protect this place between them, also, you should know-"

"Excuse me" a small voice interrupts, it sounds innocent and, somehow, a little cute and clumsy, like its owner is accident prone. The two stallions turn to find a grey Pegasus mare that only one of them recognises. Blood moon looked at the Pegasus; his well-trained eyes picking out that she didn't seem to be looking at them directly, for whatever reason, her eyes not fully open, she seemed to be having trouble breathing like she was out of breath, her body seemed loose as if she was feeling defeated or relived; his well-trained ears hearing the deep breaths that were laced with sorrow and, much the way she held herself, relief; but it was his fine nose that picked up her smell, the scent of unwashed sex. The assassin gritted his teeth slightly as he remembered the way he found the mare.

"We'll continue this later Sand Stalker, I'll find you back at the bar" the assassin told the mercenary, that he now considered being trust worthy and perhaps a friend in a town that now hated his guts.

"Alright friend, I'll see you" the old stallion replied, obviously noting the shift in the wind between the two. It was likely he noticed the smell clinging to her stubbornly. The Pegasus and unicorn watched the mercenary trot away from them, in the direction of the town market, before they turned to each other. The assassin breathed deeply through his snout before he spoke up.

"Follow me" he told the mare. Ditzy doo complied as she trotted behind him. Unbeknownst to the mailmare the pair were moving through the streets not passing anypony due to the efforts of the stallion leading the way, not wishing to meet into anypony that may have witnessed or heard of the events in the market and hoof the stallion and mare that was with him over to the guards. Blood moon lead the mare towards a stream to the south, when they arrived, after what should have been fifteen minutes of trotting made half an hour longer by the assassin's detours, the assassin looked over to the mare with a concerned look on his face.

"Let's get you cleaned up" he told the mare nodding at the stains that still adorned her flank. Ditzy doo looked back at herself before looking back to the stallion and nodding. She didn't say but she was confused and grateful, this stallion had just met her and he was already looking out for her and with no reason either; it made her feel nice, like she was finally being accepted by somepony. The mare put her hoof in the flowing water timidly, to test the water, before doing a small leap into the shallow and gentle stream. Blood moon looked over her as she cleansed herself, watching her with a 'big brother' like quality; protecting, concerned and reassuring. Ditzy doo felt comforted by his presence.

"I-I wanted to thank you for what you did" she told him, not looking striate at him she didn't want him to see her eyes yet, she wanted to have a friend for a little while before he left; like everypony else did.

"It's alright, just doing what's right" he replied, still watching the mare he knew would likely never be the same again. To Ditzy his voice was strange sounding, the natural fear that it invoked was not so much gone, more diluted, toned down but still present. He also had a noteworthy hint of care in the way he spoke.

"What's your name" Ditzy asked quietly. The assassin considered not answering, or giving a fake name. In the end he decided against it, having no reason to distrust the mare.

"Blood moon."

"Blood moon" Ditzy repeated quietly, rolling the name around her mouth, getting a feel for it. She looked back over at the stallion that had saved her from the two of the ponies that had made her youth a misery; he was sat on his hind quarters and she could get a good look at him, she attempted to take in his looks but the hood covered most of his face in shadow and all she could make out was a scar on his chin and his eyes. As she looked at blood red eyes she felt him staring her down, his gaze reaching into her soul, before she broke the lock of eyes. "Fitting" she told him and his head rolled back and thunderous laughter erupted from his maw like a volatile eruption of humour exploding from a volcano "what's so funny" Ditzy asked the stallion, her own lips curling up in laughter at as she watched him wind down from minuet long his laughing fit.

"I don't know" he admitted and he didn't, it was just the way she said it; like she was being completely honest in her observation or maybe it was because she was the only pony that had ever been so blunt with him about the way he looked or what he was called. The assassin opened his eyes to a very welcome sight; the mare was giggling to herself, most likely at his outburst, and it was the most reliving sight he had ever seen. After they had both finished with their little amused noises, consisting of little huffs and small grunt, they looked at each other again for a second before Blood moon noticed something about the mare's eyes. For once it was not the window to the soul that he noticed but the eyes themselves. He recognised the unfocused gaze as 'fractum oculus nervus' and suddenly a lot of things made sense she's picked on for this, isn't she the assassin thought as he leaned in, his mouth opened a little in disbelief. Ditzy noticed this and she turned her head away, obstructing his view, the air became tense between the two as the mailmare busied herself with cleaning the bulk of the stains from her flank. Minuets passed as she did this but she found herself unable to reach a spot on her back, not a second later did she hear the loosening of Blood moon's clothing. She looked over just as he placed himself in the cool water and edged over to her giving her a lopsided smile. Ditzy doo could properly see his face now and she wasn't all together what she got; he had wrinkles on his brow worry lines I think their called she thought as she looked at the rest of his features, he could be considered average but she was captured by his eyes and she felt as if he was anything but average.

"Need a hoof" he asked, bringing Ditzy from her thoughts.

"Uhhh y-yeah" she replied as she realised that they were both washing together now, within a few hours of knowing each other.

"You know, I don't think I got your name" Blood moon told her as he searched his memories for said information and coming up with nothing.

"Ditzy, I'm called Ditzy doo" she replies.

"Ditzy doo" the assassin repeats smiling as he says it "I like it" he says with sincerity, he didn't say it aloud but he found it cute.

Ditzy tensed slightly at his touch, it completely betrayed his persona of darkness, shadows and the ability to kill, coming out in a soft and caring caress rather than the rough and violent feel she had expected. Ditzy suddenly fount lewd thoughts and ideas going through her mind as the stallion cleaned her back. She wished that she hadn't gotten everything off her flank for one. Suddenly she felt herself being spun and her eyes opened in shock, before she could close her eyes again she was face to face with him, not two inches away from each other, as Blood moon looked straight into her eyes.

"I knew it" he said looking at her eyes before pulling back a little "the stallions…they bullied you because of this, didn't they" the mare didn't answer "didn't they" he repeats, this time with more force. Ditzy nods her head rapidly; her eyes now squeezed shut against the new tears that threated to spill, they didn't fall through and her eyes opened, once again in shock, as she felt the soft embrace around her, she was facing his strong chest and could feel him stroking the back of her mane in a soothing fashion. She melted into his hug and found herself liking the sensation of being held by a stallion, it made her feel liked, it gave her the sensation of having a friend, it made her feel good about herself. Made her feel loved "I'm sorry" he said simply, his deep voice rumbling from her vantage point against him.

"For what" she asks the stallion's chest "you didn't do anything."

"Maybe but…" he ended the hug and sat again on his flank before continuing "It just doesn't seem right or fair, somepony being picked on because of one thing about them that's out of their control" as he spoke Ditzy could feel something welling in her chest, this was only the second pony, Dinky hooves being the first, that had actually understood what was wrong with her and then going so far as to accept her despite it. "Perhaps the only good thing about this was that it wasn't your first..." Blood moon noticed the look on Ditzy's face and he realised something that horrified him "sweet Celestia, it was your first time wasn't it" he said slowly, unbelieving of the fact, not wanting to believe the fact that one of the most important things in any mares life had been so cruelly taken away from her. The mailmare simply nodded at him. Blood moon hung his head feeling defeated, before he had the strength to look up again. It was his own shame that weighed down on his shoulders, knowing that if he'd only acted faster then maybe this wouldn't have to be how Ditzy was introduced to intimacy. Ditzy felt no worse for it, however, she had all her hopes now clinging on the quality of her first kiss and who she shared it with and it was all she could do to hope it was perfect, as to make up for what had happened today. They both sat there for a while, Blood moon seemed to be checking Ditzy over, looking for anymore spots she hadn't reached, and all the while he was oblivious to the way grey mare, that was trying to figure out how she felt about the stallion before her, was looking at him and what was going through her mind as she lunged at him. The grab took the assassin of his flank and put him on his back, his horn glowing with its dark aura in an offensive manner but fortunately the mare that was hugging him once again, lying on top of him with her nether regions uncomfortably close to his, didn't seem to notice before he could dispel the magical attack that could K.O. an Ursa-major, given the correct spot and distance.

"You really have a way with words don't you" the mare said between giggles as she rested her chin back on his chest. And you sure know where to put yourself to make a stallion blush the assassin thought as he felt their groins pushed together slightly. He wasn't sure if it was unintentional either. The mare seemed to notice the red on the deep grey cheeks and she giggled once again; the assassin had never been too fond of giggles, chuckles or any kind of laugh that wasn't a laugh, save bemused grunts, but he had to admit it: the grey mailmare's cute little giggles were starting to grow on him. The mare didn't quite know where that had come from, it felt like impulse, her gut had commanded and she had obeyed, again, she didn't know why but it just felt right. Maybe it was because her emotions were everywhere now, maybe because the stallion in front of her was showing her care and acceptance when nopony else had or maybe it was because she enjoyed being in a stallion's embrace so much. After a few seconds in the blush invoking position, the duo parted and left the water, Ditzy's flank now much less degrading, and proceeded to watch the water flow by.

Blood moon had given his cloak to Ditzy and had put his vest back on but the belt was hidden in the hood that rested next to him. Together they spoke for hours; Ditzy spoke about her hard times throughout life, her parents, school, the young flier's academy and her life as a mailmare. Blood moon happily listened to it all; he was not so emotionally inept that he did not know why he was doing this. He knew that there are too many ponies out there, all with occupations similar to his be it assassin, mercenary or soldier there were too many that did not understand simple emotions or had distanced themselves from their own. To Blood moon it was what made him equine and not some feral beast. Blood moon listened to the mares tails, some were better than others; the abandonment of Ditzy parents made him grit his teeth but that was not the thing that took his attention in that particular story.

"A little sister" he repeated to himself, Ditzy doo had just told him about her younger sibling, Dinky hooves, and he wasn't sure how to respond to it. He had no problem with foals, in actual fact he rather liked them and their innocent look of life; he knew the darker parts of life, death, betrayal, corruption and what some ponies would do for a bit. A filly or colt however had not been exposed to it, not yet anyway, and he enjoyed watching somepony capable of enjoying life. He smiled before responding "I look forward to meeting her" he told her, earning a relived sigh and a certain grey mare's head leaning on his shoulder. He could tell she'd been nervous about telling him.

When Ditzy was done with her story Blood moon decided to return the favour, he did not make the decision lightly however but Ditzy had convinced him to tell her about his life before Ponyville. He looked headlong at the setting sun as he spoke to her about his work as an assassin; she seemed surprisingly uncaring about his chosen profession, like it was something she expected. Kind of unsurprising really after what she saw him do in the market. He told her about his code; explained what had driven him to create it.

"It was supposed to be the contract that made me my name, a contract that was truly challenging and the assassination I would be able to retire after. I was given the contract four years into my career; I always thought it was strange being given such a difficult contract so soon, I mean at the time there were other more experienced killers but I guess they wanted somepony that wouldn't be thought of strait away and, ultimately, get caught by the guard."

"W-who was it for" the mare asked, still a little uncomfortable around the subject.

"Princess Celestia" he told her. A moment passed as a cold breeze flowed past the pair "I did it the right way, any veteran would be proud; scouting the palace, learning their routine, picking the most opportune moment to strike out at them, having a route of escape planned out down to the finest detail and then… the time came to do the deed" the assassin told Ditzy his eyes wide and his lungs empty as he told her the last part, as though he regretted something he hadn't done.

"What happened" she asked as she moved a bit closer.

"Six years, nine months and" he paused as he took an accurate reading of the days past "eleven days ago, was the day my career took a change, for better or for worst I still don't know. It was the summer sun celebration; Celestia was addressing the crowd in Canterlot, as I stood above her, blade ready to taste blood, I found myself doubting my intentions, I mean what would killing Celestia achieve; disharmony for one, Discord would likely come back to power and everypony's lives would be generally ruined. So as I sat there ready to make about half a year's worth of planning come to fruition I just didn't. I let her live."

"Just like that" she asked.

"Well not exactly, I got curios" the assassin grunted, knowing that once he was curious about something he would move the whole of Equestria to get his answers "I started to wonder who would want Celestia dead, after a while I followed the trail to a group of fanatics based inside of the Everfree forest that wanted Discord back. Let's just they didn't live to see their next birthday" the assassin wrapped up, keeping it as blood free as possible. He went on to tell Ditzy about his early life

"When I was born, I was nothing special just a foal with some dark colours really. I was the first to notice something different when I preformed my first spell, it was no levitation spell or illumination charm, instead it was something called Umbra Linguam" the assassin told the mare, this being something he had never told anypony before "I first discovered my…gift, if you will, when I was trying to use basic magic. Nopony really knows why it happened but it did; instead of turning the book page in front of me it caused the shadows to creep onto me."

"Like in the market" Ditzy remembered. Blood moon looked down at the mare resting on him impressed.

"Well remembered, that was a word of my umbra vocabulary or put simply, one of four spells I can perform. That one in specific was hide" he went onto explain what he had done after killing the stallions in the market.

"So, you can become invisible in shadows" Ditzy concluded after a rather lengthy explanation.

"Put simply yes but as you can imagine, it's much more effective than just hiding in shadow" he told her.

"So…what else can you do" the mare asked casually, though in her head she was overflowing with curiosity, much to her surprise however the assassin tensed. Blood moon did not think it was a good thing that a large portion of the town knew about one of his spells but having one pony knowing all of them was definitely a large hole in his security. He looked down at her wide eyes and decided to humour her.

"Alright, so it's a tutorial you want huh" he said, more a statement than a question and his voice dripping with mischief. He stood and led the way to a cluster of trees "as you've already seen, I have the ability to hide within shadows and as you also already know this spell is one of four different types of Umbra Linguam" the assassin clarifies for the mare who proceeds to nod her head.

"Show me again" she asks with as much enthusiasm as a filly. The assassin grunts in amusement before his horn glows with its dark aura and the shadows cast by his hind legs start to move up them, turning his deep grey body into the colour of the gloom around him. The shadows continue to spread up him; they cover both his hind legs completely giving him the look of only half a pony stood normally on his two remaining legs, the shadows spread over his body and the end of his mane, though the mane changes little considering its colour's properties, The darkness goes over the fore-hooves in the same fashion as the hind-legs but this time it's as if liquid shade is dripping down his legs and all the while the darkness creeps down his legs it moves up and across his face turning his features into a simple black slate, melting across his muzzle and maw before they stretch over his eyes and render him completely invisible.

"Wow" is all a stunned Ditzy doo can think to say. For a moment his outline can just be made out but not a second after she notices it, it vanishes.

"Not bad, huh" Blood moon says from beside Ditzy, earning him a small sequel to which he responds to by crackling like an invisible mad stallion. The mare giggles a little before waving her hoof were she assumes him to be, though she finds nothing but air.

"Blood moon, where'd you go" she asks the darkness and trees around her.

"Boo."

Ditzy squeals once again as she hears the disembodied voice from right next to her head, snapping her gaze to her left she makes out a stallion; Blood moon, his face barley an inch from her own. They stand there for a second, as if they've been caught with their hoof in the cookie jar, paralyzed, silent, unblinking and above all monstrous blush's raging on both of their faces. Blood moon hadn't noticed how close he had been to the mailmare and certainly hadn't expected to come this close to her. Not yet anyway. They both back off at once, a mutual reluctance between them, before Blood moon continues.

"Hide, my first spell. Now stand back a little" Blood moon, still with a little heat behind his face, tells Ditzy doo, also with a little red on her features. The glow around his horn picks up again, starting calm and tight around it, it suddenly becomes more aggressive, more violent as it sharpens and grows around the horn. Ditzy feels something move around her hooves, looking down she sees nothing but can still feel it, like a snake withering past her though as light as the grass flowing past her on a lazy breeze. Suddenly the contact becomes more solid, more real and just as soon as the change happens four black tendrils shoot out of the ground, they take the form of tentacles before they seem to harden, become stronger and more powerful after a while the take the form of demonic looking serpents. They all snapped, snarled and spat menacingly as they continued to grow; their bodies muscled and grew sharp scales, while their heads, all identical, produced black slits on their dark gold eyes and a crimson forked tong tasted the air like a snake would but unlike a snake they gave out deep roars from their powerful jaws, ready to rip apart the first thing their master considered a threat. Now finished growing they were a sight to behold; the bodies were three feet in muscly and powerful diameter; they stretched two meters long, their bodies still slightly coiled; the scales that armoured their bodies were the same black that had covered Blood moon when he had hid in the shadows; and the heads, distinguished from the bodies by black spikes angled down from the face, were dark, menacing and downright evil looking but it went further than that, the looks on their faces were cold and calculating giving them a look of vicious intelligence rather than just angry instinct. The shadow serpents (as Ditzy nicknamed them) looked down at Ditzy from their vantage points atop their extensive bodies.

"These are the product of the 'battle' spell, all four of them are great fighters when I have control of them but… they have trouble telling friend from foe when I lose my influence over them" the assassin explained as the serpents continued to regard Ditzy doo.

"Cool" she said with an astounding amount of resolve, so much so that she seemed unimpressed. Well we can't have that now, can we the assassin thought with a devious grin spreading across his face. Quick as a flash, the serpents darted for Ditzy doo and wrapped around her legs. The mare screamed as the shadowy creatures carried her over to Blood moon who was on his back laughing like a mad stallion, Ditzy saw the assassin howling and wasn't amused by his antics putting on an annoyed version of her trademark 'derp' face. The assassin saw the mix of narrowed eyes and innocently scrunched nose and bottom lip and he felt his heart melt at the unarguably adorable sight.

"Aww, did Ditzy get upset" he joked as he brought the mailmare closer to him. He held the mare up close to him so he could grin straight into her face. Something shifted between them. He saw the innocents in her soul and the foalish cuteness of her face, she saw the only caring stallion she had met in her life and the rugged looks his features held. They continued to look at each other as they processed the emotions going through themselves; Blood moon felt an unfamiliar warmth in his chest at the sight of Ditzy doo this close to him, the feeling, though alien, was welcomed and felt and felt nice, the sensation reminding him of one of the few hugs he'd shared with his mother. Ditzy doo meanwhile was coming to terms with the spread of warmth in her in a much more knowledgeable fashion; recognising the emotion she felt as love, she felt no reason to not embrace it. In that moment she felt her lose herself to the unspoken part of her subconscious mind as she leaned into the assassin.

Blood moon didn't see it coming; no amount of training or magical prowess could, as all he saw was Ditzy's sudden advance as she moved her maw over to his was an increase in size of those ever pleasant, yellow and unfocused eyes. The thing that surprised him most perhaps was that he made no effort to withdraw; he didn't lean back as she leaned forward but simply let it happen.

They kissed.

The act was neither fleeting nor fast, Blood moon lost focus on the serpents holding up Ditzy and she dropped on top of him, their lips still connected, as he rested on his back he felt the heat of Ditzy's body push against his chest as they continued their embrace. He let his mind escape him for a moment, his instinct taking over as he felt his eyes close half way, leaving them open a crack so he could still gaze upon his partner. Ditzy was in a bliss she had never felt before, her instincts had taken over and she had closed her eyes as they meet each other's lips, she remained relaxed as she held her partner and felt a feeling of immense heat and electricity pulse through her body and saw no reason to reject it, instead letting herself meet Blood moon's embrace with one of her own. Her left fore-hoof rested on the ground beside the stallion head and her right rapped itself under his neck, pulling him further into the kiss they shared. Blood moon replied with his own caress, gently stroking her mane with his right fore-hoof and his left holding her waist. The kiss went on for a long while, each getting well acquainted with each other's mouths, before they reluctantly broke apart.

"Well, that was something" the assassin commented, a grin on his face, after a while of the pair lying there. He didn't say it but he hoped to Celestia that she had enjoyed that, her virginity had been stolen from her and he knew full well that there was no getting it back but he knew that he could still salvage this day by letting her have a nice first kiss.

"Sure was" Ditzy replied a little breathless. Perfect she thought, a smile gracing her lips as the thought crossed her mind. The moment passed, the two of them looked at each other while trying not to shift their lower bodies, as they had both noticed that, once again, their crotches were connected as they lay there. The comments they were making did not reflect what they were thinking; others would presume they were feeling awkward but it was the simple fact that they could have lay there together for hours smiling at each other and would have if the wind had not picked up. Ditzy looked up to the sky's with a look on her face that told Blood moon that she had just realised something.

"I think the Pegasi scheduled rain tonight" the Pegasus told the unicorn. Blood moon grimaced slightly and I have nowhere to stay tonight he thought as he looked past the canopy of trees past Ditzy doo's head.

"Well you'd better get home before you get soaked" he told the mailmare.

"What about you."

"I'll be fine, you don't need to worry about me" he told the mare.

"Blood moon, do you have somewhere to sleep tonight." Busted the assassin thought as he lay there.

"Well, there was a nice looking tree a little ways out of town" he admitted, telling her his sleeping plans. She looked down at him with a worried expression before it turned to a small blush as she looked away.

"Well, you could always stay at my place" she offered timidly. The assassin had hoped she'd say that, one; so he could meet Dinky and two; so he could finally get a look at the dossier he'd been keeping with him all day. He'd actually planned to give it a once over at the bar but his meeting with Sand Stalker had prevented that. The assassin nodded to the mare, who smiled widely at him in response before getting up off of him. The assassin quickly missed the warmth.

The trip back to Ditzy's place was pleasant, but a little tense due to Blood moon's need to stay incognito around Ponyville. Once again what should have been a simple twenty minuet journey was extended because of the stallions constant avoiding of other ponies. It didn't seem to bother Ditzy however; she actually seemed amused by it all. After an hour's worth of cautious trotting they arrived at Ditzy's home; not a very outstanding place, your average Ponyville thatched roof-two story job, it was unassuming and subtle. Just what Blood moon needed. As the pair approached a small pale purple filly ran out to them."Sis" the filly shouted to them. Ditzy's face immediately lit up as she saw the foal, even as the young one leaped up and crashed into her elder sibling and embraced her in a heart-warming fashion; the filly blood moon identified as Dinky hooves had her short fore-hooves reaching as far as they could over the older mare's chest as Ditzy held the filly tightly against her, so that nopony in equestria could separate them, with her wings wrapped around her, protecting her from the elements. Blood moon looked on in admiration; this was what a true, loving family looked like. His hood cast a shadow further over his features as he remembered his foalhood relationship with his parents. It was not a welcome memory. Was brought out of his dark past a the sound of his name,"-is Blood moon, he's a friend of mine" Ditzy told Dinky. Said filly trotted up to him and looked up at the stallion from beneath him, the tall stallion having to look straight down at the young mare."Hey" the stallion said a little dumbly, his voice visibly shaking the filly "I believe you are Dinky hooves" he says his voice becoming quieter and softer, more suited to a filly, as he speaks he lowers himself to her level, bringing them to equal standing."Yeah, that's me" the filly replies, her voice a younger and higher version of her sisters."It's a pleasure to meet you little one" he says as he takes his hood off and allows the filly a better look at him."My sister say's your real nice and that you're her friend" the filly tells the stallion who looks over to said sister for a second to gauge her reaction; happy, most likely that Blood moon is getting along with her. The assassin looks back to the filly."I'd like to be your friend to" he tells her, utilizing foal handling skills he hasn't had to use in a while. The filly smiles at him before saying 'sure'. The assassin picks up the filly with a levitation spell and puts her on his back before following Ditzy into the house.A modest place, directly inside the door the living room lies; a fire place surrounded by a light green chair and sofa, off to the left a doorway leads to the kitchen and a stair-way at the back left-hoof corner leads up to the second floor. The two sisters sit on the couch while Blood moon takes the chair. The assassin looks over the filly and mare and notices the tiredness in their eyes."You two should get some sleep" Blood moon advises the two worn out looking sister."But I ain't tired" the filly exclaims before falling strait to sleep falling into her sisters awaiting fore-hooves. Blood moon had to admit he liked the filly, if only because she was the living, breathing definition of the 'happy little filly'. He magically lifted her onto Ditzy's back."Thanks, you know you're great with foals" the mailmare told the assassin wearily. Blood moon shrugged at the complement."Just treat them the way that feels right but for now, you should rest" he told her, suppressing a yawn himself."Yeah, you to Blood moon" Ditzy told him with a small smile, which might as well have been a small kiss goodnight between them. The mailmare ascended the stairs and Blood moon sits on the sofa, before taking out the dossier with his magic. Laying the contents on the table between him and the fireplace he looks over the file with growing curiosity. He recognised the target; from the magenta fur, to the styling of the mane he knew this mare. The other thing that caught his attention was the name; one of the names that Sand Stalker had given him was the apparent title of this Canterlot born, unicorn mare as well as the student of princess Celestia herself. This troubled the assassin; if this Twilight Sparkle was the personal protégée of the ruler of Equestria then he could have his work cut out for him. At that moment something struck him; this mare had been on the streets of Ponyville unguarded, with only her friends as company, this could mean one of two things: either Celestia didn't think Ponyville was the place to attract killers or Twilight knew how to defend herself. As he continued to read the information he continued to become more and more troubled about this contract. Element of harmony? One of the mares that defeated Nightmare moon, Discord, Sombra and the Changeling army. Damn it Blood moon, what have you gotten yourself into here was all the assassin could think as he closed the file and threw it onto the fire. As he watched the embers burn the papers he felt sleep take him, he was good at staying awake with very little rest but two days trotting almost nonstop, a fight in the middle of Ponyville and his antics with Ditzy were taking their toll on him and he could feel fatigue setting in, he knew he had to rest as he lay down on the couch and let sleep take him, though he knew it would not be a peaceful night. Luna would never grant him a peaceful night.A/N: So, big chapter people this one goes out to all the readers that didn't like what happened to Ditzy in Ch.4. Anywho, leave a comment on your way out and I'll see you next chapter.Productive faffer out.P.S. if you think the romance was too sudden or too cheesy do tell, that being what I was trying my best to avoid and it would be nice to know if I failed miserably or not.

 

[cael]

Chapter seven: Internal conflicts

Blood moon opened his eyes, though he was not awake; far from it. He knew where he was and to say the least, was not happy about it. He was inside his own head. His dreams to be exact, around he saw what he normally saw; a deep forest at night time, the assassin sat on the outskirts of the thick woodland, rolling hills carried off into the distance covered in small shrubbery and nocturnal critters. The sky above him was overcast, the clouds covering the sky and stars, with the moon peeking over the top. The assassin trotted around the edge of the forest keeping to the shadows in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable wonder if I can evade her for the night, be alone with my thoughts. I have to think about what happened with Ditzy… Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind the Princess of the night made her inevitable appearance. Princess Luna; midnight blue fur, mane and tail that shimmered in the moonlight before turning to a translucent pale purple, her eyes sparkling blue. The deep black crest upon her chest, that Blood moon had always assumed was armour, depicted the crescent moon which doubled as her cutie mark upon her black flank seemed to glow in the darkness, the shoes on her hooves and small tiara on her head went well with the rest of her look. Though no matter how good she looked the alicorn stood before the assassin would draw nothing but mocking comments and a deep sense of distaste but his history with her would always prevent any feelings of hatred. That said he still was not overly fond of her as she took delight in torturing him in his dreams; be it bringing up past mistakes and failures, tormenting him with some classic mind probing that would send a lesser pony's mind insane or basic physical attacks, preformed so masterfully that he could only wonder where she learnt to preform acts of pain so well.

"Blood moon" she stated, mock formalities in her tone.

"Luna" the assassin replied, no respect in his voice. The assassin had never had a great degree of respect, if any at all, for nobles or royalty. To them respect was something they automatically had, not something to be earned or gained over time just given to them by ponies they saw as below them "to what do I owe the pleasure this night" he asked, already knowing the answer; she was hear for some sick pleasure.

"You know why I'm here" she told him, confirming that she wasn't here for chatting "so tell me, how goes the life of the lowest scum Equestria has to offer" she asks in mock casualness "from what I hear, a certain somepony has fond their special other" she taunts.

"How did you know about that" the assassin demanded.

"Oh please, you really think I spend all my time in your little old head" she sneers, a facial expression Blood moon had never liked "Ditzy, it seems, is dreaming of you" Luna tells him, teasing this infamous and deadly assassin like a colt that has found a fillyfriend.

"Touching" he murmured "would it be too much to ask to leave her out of this" the killer asks quietly.

"What's this, Blood moon the infamous assassin, the hunter, the stallion who cannot be caught, seen or killed, begging me to leave his marefriend alone" she laughs out.

"Y' know you really have a darker side to you" Blood moon tells her.

"Well, one-thousand years one the moon will take its toll on ones temper, especially when the pony that outrage is aimed at almost killed her sister" she shouting the latter part at him, her fuse definitely shortening.

"Oh, hey there Nightmare where'd you come from it thought I was talk-"

"THOU SHALL NOT COMPARE US TO NIGHMARE MOON WELP" the Princess of the moon roars in her Canterlot voice. Luna's horn glows a shade similar to her mane as the vines of the nearby trees lash out at the assassin, who offered no resistance to the attack; he had learned the hard way that this was Luna's domain and that trying to defend yourself was nigh impossible. He relaxed and waited for what was to come.

"Tell me Luna; where would you be if we were to be facing each other face to face rather than your cowardly ways of confrontation, hiding inside the dreams of your victim" the assassin taunts. The assassin's taunts were all he had, combat was out of the question, trying not to break to her punishment was also pretty low when it came to chances and it was likely that she would be too busy inflicting pain to listen to any of his own mind tricks so simple insults were all's he had. The vines pulled, tightened, taunted and ripped against his limbs; Blood moon knew it was an illusion, simulated pain, but it didn't change the fact that it hurt like actual torture.

As the pain that Luna saw he deserved continued, the assassin thought about this side of her, trying to get his mind off of the pain that was likely causing him to stir in his sleep, this side that took pleasure in putting a pony through a nightmare huh, fitting choice of words the assassin thought as he felt his legs dislocate under the strain supplied by the ever tightening vines. The Princesses were good at not showing the side of themselves that overthrew Discord, Sombra and had wielded the Elements of harmony; the side that won wars and fought. The sides of themselves that could be unnecessarily brutal at times.

"Huh, this isn't as bad as normal. Am I growing on you Lu-" the assassin couldn't finish his taunt as he was thrown across the small dream clearing and smacked into a dream tree, wishing the pain that followed was just as unreal.

"Would you like me to tell you what that mare was dreaming about? It was when you kissed her. She replayed that point over and over, tell me this assassin" she spat out the last word "do you think yourself a knight in shining armour, her savour. A good stallion, well my little pony let me tell you; you may not realise it yet but all you have done is preyed on the weak, using her to your own end no doubt."

"What makes you say 'prey on the weak' Luna" the assassin questions as he stands unsteadily.

"Ha, don't try and fool me assassin" she spat "I know your ways; put fear into an innocent mares heart before putting on a ruse of comfort and friendship. You use ponies for your own gain vile deceiver" Luna hisses at him.

"Oh please. 'Vile deceiver' thought that purple mare dressed as Starswirl got the Canterlot vocab out of your system last nightmare night" the assassin laughs at her choice of words. His taunt seems to hit a soft spot, though not what he was expecting. The Princess of the night leans in, letting her gaze bore into his (to no avail) before stating in a deadly whisper.

"You shall not talk about Twilight sparkle, you filthy rat." Oh yes, he'd hit a sweet spot.

"You know this one do you" the assassin smirked "seemed terrified last I saw he-" the assassin was slammed into a tree viciously, causing him to cough up fake blood created by Luna's illusion. He laughed painfully as he was held against the tree by an enraged Princess.

"WHAT DID THOU DO TO HER WHELP" the Princess, once again, roared in her Canterlot voice. The assassin changed, no longer mocking or smirking, becoming deadly serious.

"You really want to know" he asked in a challenging manner, his sudden shift making Luna regret asking "I'll tell you. When I saved Ditzy, do you know what I saved her from or was your muzzle so far up your sister's royal flank to notice" he laughed unwilling to take a mature higher ground, seeing as it would do him no good. His insult got him a lash from the vines that felt like a bull-whip being raked across his body. "I'll take that as a yes" he groaned in pain but managed to keep the defying laugh in his voice. Struggling to stand up, he faced the Princess on all fours as he told her "I saved her from death and comforted her after defilement" when he told her Luna must have be taken aback as the simulated forest around them seemed to sand still. Perhaps it was the atmosphere that his words brought with them but the dream's wind faulted, the small sounds of life ceased and the sway of the grassed halted.

"Y-you what" she asked, paralysed.

"You heard me Luna" he told her, his challenging voice flowed away and was replaced by the familiar mocking tone he so often addressed her with as he noticed her discomfort "oh what's the matter my fearless princess" he asked putting sarcastic emphasis on 'fearless' "what's wrong Lu-Lu, don't like the darker side of life" he continued. Luna seemed to snap out at this remark.

"You don't know the things I've seen so don't you dare, for one minuet think that-"

"That what? You've had it easy, you're a Princess. You've seen the darker side of life, no excuse for somepony that should be ruling and protecting the night. That you've seen the greater burdens of life, well don't you forget that I have to. Were no strangers to immortality Luna and" she went to interrupt but Blood moon cut her off before she got a word out "BE SILENT YOU SAD EXCUSE FOR ROYALTY" he roared, his age old attitude resurfacing "I was there the day you were born, I was there the whole of that damned war, I was there as you turned bitter and watched you turn to Nightmare moon, I was living a lot longer before you Luna or even longer than Celestia and you know I was there throughout Discord's rule so don't think that I don't know the pains you've seen and felt Luna" he paused and calmed himself from his rage fuelled rant "and don't think I haven't seen worse. You think I don't know what you've see Luna; well don't forget I was there your whole life. We learned together, fought together" the assassin smiled at millennia past days "I watched you grow up, Celestia to. Just because I took a different path through life doesn't take away the days we spent together in your youth" he finished. He had tried his damnedest to keep these memories suppressed but every time he was confronted by Luna they would come rushing back and it had got harder to keep his mouth shut in her presence. It was obvious by Luna's reaction that she was troubled by this outburst; in all the times she had approached him like this he had been remarkably impassive, asides from the first time in which he had fought aggressively and failed, tonight however he had fought once again but in no way she could defend herself from. There was no escaping the truth. The Princess of the night watched the assassin she had once called friend breath heavily, his sudden anger leaving him. She now regretted her intrusion into his dreams this last year.

"Blood moon, I-I-" she could not think of anything to say, what could you say to such a speech, he had never referred to their time together before now and it was clear he felt better for it, like he had got something off of his chest.

"Save it Luna" he interrupted, sparring her "just leave me to my mistakes and regrets" he requested.

"Regrets" she repeats in a confused manner "you always say that you don't regret your choices or actions" she told him.

"I didn't" he admitted with a sigh as he looked over the hills rolling into the distance "but what happened with Ditzy…it troubles me" he explained, surprisingly comfortable with confiding in Luna.

"Really" she said setting down next to him "how so" her wise and sage like side coming through. The assassin sighed deep and long.

"Through my life I have made mistakes but none linger on my mind as this one dose, if only because I'm not altogether sure if it was a mistake at all" Blood moon told her in a strange form of confession.

"Tell me what you mean by that; start from the top." Blood moon proceeded to tell the story of yesterday's events; from when he arrived in Ponyville to when he arrived at Ditzy doo's house. Once finished he took a deep breath as he awaited Luna's answer.

"I see what troubles you then. You wonder if it was too sudden" she concluded as she looked over the peaceful planes she had created in Blood moon's mind.

"Yes, I wonder, would it be too much to ask for your advice on the situation" he requested, not without a hit to the pride. Luna's quick outburst explained the hit he took to the pride.

"Hahaha, oh old uncle Blood moon asking for little Luna's help after all those time I came galloping to you with my problems and you so readily listened. Now the shoe, it seems, is on the other hoof." Blood moon smiled at one of his old memories, as well as the pet name he'd given her in her youth.

"Remember that time you came galloping into the training yard, a bundle of tears and worries, and all of a sudden I had a crying filly in front of me as I was addressing troops that were about to start their training. I still remember their faces as they watched me pick you up and carry you into your chambers getting you to shush and tell me all about it" he recalled as he laughed heartily as he remembered the faces of confusion, turn to irritation before they turned to the expressions of stallions how'd hearts had just melted. Luna giggled a little to.

"You were always willing to drop everything for me and Celestia."

"I was wasn't I. But can you do the same" he asked, bringing the convocation back to its point. Luna gave a long sigh.

"Well, I always thought you, of all ponies, would take greater care when treating a pony in that kind of distress. I get the feeling that she was going on frayed emotions and was indeed a vulnerable pony at the time" she explained in a guru like manner that impressed Blood moon greatly. The assassin sighed as he admitted his mistake in a defeated fashion.

"Maybe…but it didn't feel all that wrong. If it was a mistake, and I believed it in my heart, surly I would feel badly about it" he pondered aloud.

"Well I leave this for you to figure out, assassin" she said with no venom on the final word for once "I'm sure you'll come to the best answer. Ditzy as well." The assassin hummed in reply. "I must leave you for now Blood moon but I look forwards to our next meeting" she told him. There was something in her tone that caused him to raise an eyebrow "It will be in person, at Ponyville." The assassin growled, she knew where he was and was likely to inform her sister, who had a much deeper hatred for him. Despite this he smiled.

"I look forwards to it, little Luna" he grinned. Luna smiled in response.

"Sleep well, Hunter" she left him with as her form turned to smoke and blew into the distance.

Blood moon awoke from his slumber. Sweat drenched him and the couch he lay on but he was not very distressed or panicked, as he normally was when he awoke from dreams involving Luna. He slid off of the couch and stood, he could hear the shower running up-stairs and assumed Ditzy was showering up there. He did not wish to see her right now; he needed to have some time to himself, to think about what Luna had said and to decide on the best course of action. Trotting to the door he dressed himself in his vest and picked up his blade, carrying it out with him. Once outside he looked around him once or twice before finding what he was looking for. A tree; a good, sturdy tree that was old and strong, the bark a deep brown and the leaves light green following the arrival of spring. Blood moon trotted towards the tree and stopped around twenty paces away.Thunk.His blade hit the tree perfectly horizontal, having been thrown by the assassin via his right fore-hoof. The weapon vibrated in place slightly as it came to a rest; Blood moon stared at it for a second before he approached it and ripped it back out. Luna was right; it was too sudden, she likely wasn't thinking strait after what happened and she barely knows me…maybe that's for the better. I wonder how she would take finding out that I'm an eleven-thousand year old pony.Thunk.Blood moon had no problem with the age difference; he was likely the oldest pony in Equestria and had come to terms with it; he was older than Celestia by about nine-thousand years and Luna about nine and a half-thousand. It was impossible for him to find a mare his age, so it was simply practical for him to find somepony much younger than him, not that it bothered him, if his supposedly special somepony was bothered about his age than they were fools as far as he was concerned. He looked as he did when he was twenty-seven and always would look that way for as long as he lived, so that would be no problem and he could act very immaturely at times, so complaining about an 'old stallion attitude' was not altogether possible.Thunk.His thoughts drifted back to Ditzy; he liked her, that much was for sure and he got the idea that either she liked him or she was as Luna had suspected vulnerable at the time. His hoof flashed faster and the sword imbedded itself deeper into the tree, a sudden flash of anger fuelling his throw. The assassin didn't like the idea of 'preying on the weak' not in that respect anyway; it seemed un-gentlecolt like and he had always strived to act his best around mares and to always treat them with respect. He let out a sigh, feeling defeated, he knew he would have to come to terms with the idea that he had let Ditzy kiss him because he had been too preoccupied impressing her and had missed the signs. Looking back they were obvious to him; slightly blushed cheeks, lingering stares, how playful she was acting when he'd been demonstrating his magic and above all the look she had given him just before the kiss. He'd lied to himself that day; he could have seen it coming but had been blinded by her cute facial expressions and attitude. He wondered what that could mean.Thunk.The other side of the argument spoke-up; she needed it, the way that day had been going for her she needed to feel better about herself, needed to feel loved his instinct argued with his logic and don't you dare say you didn't like it Hunter. "Maybe they're both right" he murmured to himself."Who's both right" a voice asked."Eh, the voices in my head" he explained absently."You listen to the voices in your head" the voice said, perplexed."Well, you'd be surprised how much sense they make when you pay attention" he admitted."I'll keep that in mind" the voice told him."Yeah…Ditzy doo, how long have you been there" he asked the voice without looking at her, somewhat worried that he hadn't heard her approach."The third throw" she revealed "were you thinking about…" she trailed off and Blood moon knew what she was asking."Yeah" he said at length "listen Ditzy, I gotta know; what was going through your head when…""When I kissed you" she finished for him "I'm not sure, to be honest" she told him. She took a deep breath "I-I wasn't thinking strait, I was just feeling desperate and I needed something to take my mind off of…what happened" she hung her head, ashamed and defeated "I'm sorry if-""Don't be" Blood moon cut in, he had turned to face the grey mare properly "whatever you do, don't regret. Nothing good comes from regretting what you do throughout your life. Especially if you don't need to regret what you've done." Ditzy detected the change in his tone and looked up at him "I understand why you kissed me, you were…distressed and not thinking strait, your thoughts clouded and from what I can guess your subconscious thoughts became your outward actions" he told her, explaining his theory. Ditzy looked up, her unfocused gaze settling on Blood moon."I guess that's true" she paused as she gathered her thoughts "but it's not the whole truth" She watched Blood moon's expression turn from all-knowing and sage like to one of confusion and curiosity "I needed to feel better about myself and the fact that I had…lost…my virginity" she said, still coming to terms with it "I needed to have some kind of reassurance about how my love life could go…""So you shared your first kiss with somepony you saw cared about you" he put together for himself. So he had been right at the time, she needed to feel better about the day and apparently her sharing her first kiss was her way of dealing with it. Well someponies dealt with things differently from others. He couldn't blame her, she had just been raped and he knew she was lucky or very strong willed, that she had come away with no mental scars. None he could make out anyway."I-I hope you don't mind" she said a little timid of his reaction. Blood moon responded with a kind smile on his face."Ditzy, don't worry about it. I never saw it as wrong…or unpleasant" he told her with sincerity in his voice. His last comment caused Ditzy to blush. The pair sat there for a few minutes in companionable silence."So, um… sorry to seem blunt but" she faltered, apparently unable to word her next sentence "where…should we take this." Blood moon knew what she was trying to ask and gave a small, lopsided grin."I'd like to see where it goes" he told her, more or less asking her out in code. The reaction was immediate; she beamed at him a second before lunging at him, though this time Blood moon expected it, he rolled onto his back as the mare landed on him and wrapped his for-hooves around her neck in tight embrace, which Ditzy returned in earnest. Blood moon noticed it again and he could only wonder, how in Equestria, their groins kept pressing against each other. Ditzy seemed to notice as well, as she looked down with a deep red blush on her face."I thought you were just friends." Blood moon froze, as did Ditzy, both their eyes wide and both their pupils retracted. The assassin slowly turned his head to the left, were the voice had come from, as the mailmare did the same. I'm slipping, getting old, must be the assassin thought as he looked at the pale purple filly that had a small smile on her face as she looked at the hugging stallion and mare. Ditzy's wings spread as she took flight and got off of Blood moon."Uhhh, well-you see" Ditzy stammered. Blood moon grunted in amusement at her loss for words."We were just showing how we felt for each other" he explained as he looked up at the mare that was staring at him in disbelief. He saw no point in hiding a rather obvious relationship between the two; he also knew that Dinky would likely figure it out for herself. The filly squealed and leaped up to her hovering sister, pulling her into as big a hug as she could manage, before she dropped down onto the on looking unicorn assassin and pulled him into a another hug. The assassin grunted as the filly landed on top of him, right on his chest, as she wrapped her hooves around him. He couldn't help himself, he returned the hug but he tried to be gentle with her, knowing he sometimes he did not know his own strength. Ditzy looked down at the stallion hugging the filly and felt her heart melt; Blood moon seemed to be a different stallion around Dinky and it easily showed, he was gentle, calm, kind and he treated her with the same respect the would show a mare her own age. He'd make a great father someday.Blood moon broke the hug first and stood up. No matter how much he liked the company of Ditzy and Dinky, he had to do something to keep active and he knew what that something was."Ditzy, I have to do something around the Everfree forest" he lied, surprisingly uneasy with it."Ok, I have to take Dinky to school anyway" she told him in response. Well that's convenient the assassin thought. The assassin got his things and parted ways with them not a minute later, making his way to Ponyville, finding the bar in which he found Sand Stalker. The extended journeys were beginning to annoy him, having to keep to the side streets and back alleys was starting to become tedious and the close calls were getting to him making him too paranoid for his own good.Arriving at the bar he was welcomed by Sand Stalker head-butting an earth pony that seemed to be bugging the mare tending the bar charming fellow he thought as he passed the stallion holding a broken snout and muttering something about a 'damn bucker' that was standing at the bar and chatting to its tender (who seemed much more comfortable with the company)."Sand" the assassin said from besides the mercenary. Said soldier of fortune turned to him, un-shocked and un-phased, and smiled slightly at his presence."Blood moon, good to see you" he said quietly, so the barmare would not hear him "need to talk" he asked, hinting over to the door. Blood moon nodded. Back in the alleyway they had spoken in before, they picked up the convocation about the important aspects of Ponyville almost like no time had passed."Now, the mares you mentioned" he said starting things back up without any pleasantries or formalities."Twilight sparkle" Blood moon remembered the job he had been given "Rainbow dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie pie; they look after Ponyville and are all pretty well known. There's something else to, they all represent the elements of harmony" he explained. Blood moon simply sighed; he had suspected as much but hoped he was wrong. He needed to learn more about this Twilight herself in order to decide whether or not to go through with this job. He had to admit it though; the more he learned about this job the more difficult it appeared, more challenging. He smiled at the prospect of a half decent job after so long, Celestia's student, element of harmony, well known and a powerful unicorn. He wouldn't just jump into this job though, his code came first."Thank you Sand Stalker but I need to be going" he told the mercenary. The merc grunted."What, not even gonna let me by you a drink" the assassin raised an eyebrow at the gesture "I ain't got any friends left" he explained. The assassin saw no reason not to oblige."Alright but one drink, I have a job to do" he told the merc who grinned at the idea of having some company as he drank away his sorrows.An hour later, filled with one drink, a few exchanged stories and a goodbye between the two fast friend, and Blood moon was stood in the shadows watching the home of Twilight sparkle. Over the years he had come to see buildings as having their own personalities and it was easy to regard a structure as a pony. Fortresses were soldiers, organised and armed, a science facility was a scientist, filled with knowledge, was potentially paranoid and had the distinct possibility of being slightly insane, and civilian building, such as a house or public service, was your basic pony, they had patterns that were easy to follow. This would be the weakness of any mark held up in a house or library in this case but sod's law had it that absolutely nothing happened all day and he couldn't shake the feeling that this was an unusual occurrence for Twilight sparkle, if her large group of friends were anything to go by. Still he needed information about this mare and it was starting to look like he would have to go for a good old fashioned break-in to try and find any kind of information about his target, without raising eyebrows of course, that being the reason he was not simply asking about this unicorn because having to ask somepony else would make him stand out too much. There was also the fact that he preferred to have his own information about his marks, a personal trait that spawned from his third rule of conduct.The assassin looked to the sky, a full day had passed and he'd done practically nothing but watch the golden oaks library, meaning he'd wasted the day. He sighed in defeat and stood, making his way back to Ditzy's house. Half way there he stopped and looked around himself; he was still in the shadows and nopony could see him, the streets were sparsely populated and the assassin saw no guards nearby so he felt there was no better time to conduct a small experiment. He moved out of the shade and began to trot the streets of Ponyville like anypony else; he didn't expect it but nopony seemed to pay him mind, the odd scared look sure but nopony screamed or galloped for the guards, as far as he knew, this made the journey back to Ditzy's place faster and for that Blood moon was grateful, he was beginning to get impatient with all the cloak and dagger skulking around Ponyville. Not fifteen minutes later he was at the small house, situated on the outskirts of the town, and was watching Ditzy and Dinky play together; it appeared to be a form of hide and seek in which Ditzy never won as she was always trying to hide behind small shrubs and became genuinely surprised when her little sister found her. The assassin watched from a distance, amused to no end, before he approached the pair."I'd like to see you find me that easily" he called over in his way of announcing himself. Dinky looked over and smiled while Ditzy gave one of her own and waved."Hey there Mr Blood moon, how've you been" Dinky asked, galloping her small filly gallop over to him. Oh, well I've been watching the home of somepony I mean to kill. The entire day was a frustrating waste and now I have to resort to breaking in at night time just to learn about her because I'm the stallion that killed the rapists and attempted murderers of your sister/mother, an act I performed in broad daylight in front of my mark and her friends, so I can't just go asking about her. I'm enraged at the amount of timber-wolf droppings I have to trek through to get this job done, frustrated at myself for allowing myself to kiss your big sister after she'd been sexually assaulted and I'm been driven insane by a certain Princess of the night who has been tormenting my dreams ever since she returned only to find she is either an ally or could bring the cavalry into Ponyville and have me ripped limb from limb, so foal I guess you could say I have the full brunt of the Equestrian army breathing down my neck for external problems and my own mental arguments about how I feel about Ditzy doo for internal problems. How am I doing filly…"I'm fair" the assassin told the Dinky hooves. The filly smiled in response and went inside, most likely to avoid the dark clouds overhead. "Another storm" the assassin commented on the repeat of yesterday's weather, the rain from which had only just dried out."Yeah, I think we should get inside before" the rain began, pelting down on the stallion and mare "we get wet" Ditzy finished a little hopelessly.Once inside the three of them sat down at the fire which warmed them as they spoke about their days. Blood moon made little attempt to speak, instead listening to the pair's tails about how boring school was and how the ponies at work were suddenly giving her a wider birth than usual, after yesterday's events. The assassin listened but his mind was elsewhere, thinking up a plan for tonight. Infiltrating a library would be no challenge, nor would gathering info on Twilight. A simple in-out job by all standards but he wouldn't be caught off guard and decided to go in there as if he were storming a fortress that was protecting the princess herself. With that in place he allowed himself to sleep briefly, it was nine now and sleeping five hours would put him to two in the morning, nopony would be awake that late, that at least he knew and could be sure of, seeing as most towns practically fell asleep as a hole at around one in the morning and Ponyville would be no exception. He took comfort in the fact that after this, he could really get things moving. After this either he would deem twilight sparkle as innocent or he would have her blood on his hooves. He grinned at the prospect of killing somepony close to Luna and Celestia and he would be sure to treat it as the great princess of the sun's punishment for what she did to him so long ago.

 

[cael]

Chapter eight: The soldier, the shadow and the sorceress.

Blood moon awoke. He was not distressed or panicked, he wasn't sweating nor did he seem to have been shifting much in his sleep, so Luna hadn't paid him a visit. The assassin recalled the events of last night; he, Ditzy and Dinky had gone to bed at nine, he had planned on waking up at two in the morning, Blood moon looked at the clock and found it to be one in the morning. He frowned, normally his body clock was rather accurate but he knew he'd woken up for a reason; he couldn't explain it, it was just in his gut and he always trusted his gut, it hadn't been wrong before. He looked around him, everything seemed normal but something wasn't right and he couldn't put his hoof on it; upstairs he could hear the soft sounds of Dinky and Ditzy sleeping soundly, outside he could see the dim glow of Ponyville's nightlife and in the air… smoke, there was smoke hanging in the room and the atmosphere was thick, there was no heat around him so it wasn't Ditzy's house that was on fire so there was that much at least. Wait, that glow… the assassin trotted slowly up to the window and gazed out. What he saw made a stone drop in his chest. That glow wasn't the Ponyville nightlife it was Ponyville itself. He wasted no time; he galloped up the stairs and crashed through the door awaking Ditzy in a somewhat panicked fashion.

"Blood moon" she said, sounding scared at his sudden appearance.

"Ditzy, get up Ponyvilles on fire and I have to get you and Dinky out of here" he explained quickly, watching Ditzy's face grow more and more fearful.

"What's going on" a drowsy Dinky hooves asks from behind Blood moon, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and a stuffed…muffin in her grip. The assassin didn't respond, instead he used his magic to put her on her big sister's back before going over to the window and throwing it open.

"Ditzy, you need to get somewhere safe. Don't stop, don't dawdle and don't look back, return at noon" he ordered, much the same way a commander would tell his soldiers.

"Blood moon" Ditzy began, before pulling him into a soft kiss for a few seconds "be careful" she told him softly. The assassin smiled.

"I'm an assassin that has the blood on many on my hooves, whatever's going on in the town I can handle it" he reassured the mare. Ditzy nodded and took flight heading north. The assassin watched them go for a while before he turned back into the room and went down into the lounge, there he picked up and put on his vest, cloak, hood and belt and trotted outside then towards the town. Ditzy lived a short way outside the town and he arrived in ten minutes. He wasn't sure if he was glad he did.

The small and normally quiet town was in turmoil; most of the buildings on the edge of the town were ablaze, the flames cutting a path through the town as the occupants galloped for cover. It was apparent that none knew how to fend off the flames themselves properly, judging by the pained bodies of ponies that lay on the ground, not dead but defiantly wounded. The assassin raised an eyebrow they aren't burnt at all; there are cuts and stab wounds but no burns, not many anyway. What's going on here the assassin wondered as he looked over the ponies lying on the ground and judged their wounds; some were worse than others and those that were unable to move he pulled into alleyways and those that could move followed him to safety.

"Stay here and keep quiet" he ordered the ponies that were conscious. He got a few terrified nods in return, apparently they recognized him from the market "is this is some kind of attack" the ponies in front of him nodded in conformation "is there a spot where everypony is rallying" the assassin asked a mare with light mint fur and light cyan and white streaked mane and tail, she had yellow eyes and a lyre for her cutie mark. She was scared out of her mind, partly from the events around her and partly from the stallion before her. She didn't answer at once.

"Y-yeah… Tw-twilight's library" she stuttered. Blood moon nearly flinched, if that was where all the ponies were going then that was where the attacking forces where going, so that was where Blood moon was going but at the same time that was where Twilight and, most likely, where all her friends were. It was between the contract and the safety of Ponyville; not helping these ponies was the equivalent of killing them, considering that none of them could fight and whoever or whatever was attacking was willing to burn the place to the ground to get to their target so collateral damage was not high on their list of cares. He couldn't leave these ponies to die.

"What's the fastest way there" he asked simply.

"Strait up that street" the mare told him, pointing with her hoof up a street leading into the centre of Ponyville. This allowed the assassin to see what he was up against; changelings and lots of them. This confused Blood moon; why were they here, what was the reason for their erratic behaviour, these were the questions spiralling through his mind as he watched them tear the town apart, these question would be answered later for now he would have to fight and fight he would.

He galloped into the street, metal on leather echoing across the fight before him, drawing the attention of the changelings that were galloping riot throughout the streets of the quaint, little town. Three changelings advanced on him; the three of them were grunts, no bigger than the average pony but they were by no means ponies. Deep black bodies, a blue chitin back, bug like wings, blue pupil-less eyes, a curved black horn, a pair of fangs jutting out of the side of their mouths and the infamous holes in their legs. The three changelings were unarmed but they seemed confident in their numbers. Blood moon grunted.

The middle changeling darted forwards and went to hit the assassin in the face; the strike was dodged as Blood moon swerved to the left, out of the way of the changeling's right hoof, before he chopped his left hoof across his opponents neck and disorientated the changeling. Blood moon moved onto the left hoof changeling and wasted no time dispatching him, running him through the chest with his short sword, the well-tempered blade easily cutting through the chitin armour and drawing the dark green blood of the shapeshifter out across the ground and staining the killer's blade, the third changeling lunged for the assassin as he whipped the blade out catching him in the side, the blue chitin cracked and gave way as the weapon passed through and lodged itself in his ribs. The assassin left it there and turned to the first attacker, pushing himself up slightly on his fore-hooves before slapping his hooves on the changeling's ears stunning him and detonating some white bombs in his opponent's eyes. Resting on his fore-hooves again his left hoof shot into the changeling's throat; he staggered and fell, his windpipe bruising and swelling until no air could get through and suffocated. Turning his attention back to the last changeling he gripped the handle of his blade with his hoof and wrenched it free, green blood spurting out and the grating of bone on blade screamed from the wound. Weapon free, he looked up from the corpses and started forwards. Not forty-five seconds of cantering later more changelings appeared that the assassin engaged; two of them, more grunts, advanced on the assassin, who reached into his cape and grabbed three knives from their leather pouch, holding them in his hoof, and moved his leg in an arc letting them fly at the shapeshifters. Two found their mark, embedded deep in the left changeling's chest causing blood to ooze out of the injuries and onto the changeling's hoof which he held in front of his new orifices in shock before slumping down. The second went just as fast, as the assassin's blade sung across the distance and slashed the neck, causing him to fall to the ground chocking on his own blood. The assassin continued his trek to the library. Half-way there he came across a battle that was not his own; Sand Stalker was facing off four changelings, they had him surrounded and were grinning menacingly at the older merc who was glaring at the four of them with equal menace. The mercenary had his scimitar clutched in his right hoof and was spinning it gracefully, his body weight resting on his bent left fore-hoof, as two of the shapeshifters charged at the merc, what happened next greatly impressed the assassin; one second the elderly mercenary was there, the next he was beside one of the advancing changelings with his weapon buried in his enemy's neck, the merc proceeded to rotate his body and slam his right fore-hoof up against the other changeling's jaw, flipping him over and snaking his grip over the muzzle and wrapping it over the mane in a tight grip all the while wrapping his left over the throat and pulling, sharply snapping the neck. The Arabian merc then whipped his sword out and flung it at one of the other changelings watching his display of skill, impaling him through the fore-head. The last one was too taken aback to react to the mercenary that was galloping at him, Sand Stalker went onto extend his wings and with one powerful burst of power from them he was above the changeling and was dropping down onto him and slamming his rear-hooves onto his back, snapping the spine.

"Not bad" the assassin commented as he viewed the mercenary's hoof-work.

"What you get from forty years' experience" the merc shrugged. The pair took a moment to look around them. The pitch black night was illuminated by the fire working through the town, casting flickering shadows of the chaos around them, mares and stallions alike galloped and screamed some alone, some in pairs and others with foals on their backs, all around them changelings were wreaking havoc on the buildings, and attacking some of the fleeing ponies.

"Do we have a plan" the merc asked the assassin as he pulled his blade from the skull of the changeling that held it, a splatter of blood and grey matter following it out.

"Yeah, head to Twilight's library" Blood moon responded. If Sand Stalker had been drinking something he would have spat it out in shock.

"What, you wanna go to the place everypony in Ponyville, all of whom I might add hate your guts right now, will be" Sand Stalker demanded in a 'say what' manner.

"Yeah, if we're gonna help out these ponies the best we can do is help protect them and the best way to protect them is to help hold down the fort" he explained to a merc waving for him to stop.

"Yes, yes I know that. What I mean is that do you really want to go to the place your targets held up" the merc asked. Blood moon made his best effort not to lung at the merc and put a blade through his throat.

"How did you know that" he demanded his eyes narrowed in a fashion that made even the hardened mercenary pause for thought.

"Wasn't hard to figure out" he told Blood moon as they began making their way towards the library, blade in magical grip and the right hoof of the flying Pegasus merc. Between them they cut down changelings that attacked from all directions "first" the merc deflected a blow and cut off the fore-hooves of a changeling before continuing "you're an assassin in Ponyville. Not the kind of place our kind frequents without reason" he stopped talking as Blood moon dodged an attack and stuck his sword through his attacker's eye and ripped it down through the eye socket. "Second, asking about the elements of harmony lead me to believe" he deflected a concussive magical blast from a unicorn changeling while Blood moon gave him one of his own and knocked his target off his hooves, throwing him into another "that your hit had something to do with them" he darted to the side as a tendril of shadow shot up and snatched a Pegasus changeling out of the air before it crushed his ribs, lungs and heart under the pressure of it. The merc looked at the tendril that had just dropped a crushed changeling with a 'not bad' look on his face "so I got to thinking 'who out of the mane six, would be worthy of an Equestria class assassin to be hired to kill' so what are my options" three Pegasus changelings charged the mid-air merc; one was taken down by Blood moon throwing his sword into him, cutting strait through the spinal cord, while the other two were killed by Sand Stalker, one with his head flying in the opposite direction of his body, the other seeing his entrails on the ground below him. They continued after Blood moon ripped his sword out of the changeling before stabbing him through the heart to finish him "well there's Rainbowdash, the weathermare. Not the type that was well liked for her ego but she is an, admittedly, impressive mare so she's pretty well liked and well known ever since the young fliers competition" the merc finished with a grand flourish of his blade severing the wings off of three Pegasus changelings into the jaws of two shadow serpents and the lethal flash of blood moon's blade. Blood moon looked back at the two serpents; the shadows cast by the flames were doing a good job of keeping the darkness of the night away while casting their own shade on the ground allowing the assassin to latch his own shadow onto them, using a simple trick he'd learned when being trained in Umbra Linguam called 'shadow stretching' the simple act of moving the shadow of the caster over to other shadows to make use of the power they could provide the spell without having to be right next to them. The first serpent had eaten one of the changelings whole, it having fallen strait into its gullet. The second changeling was being ripped apart alive, his green blood and grey intestines being thrown about the place by the gorging black serpents as his gurgling screams echoed throughout the night.

"Boys please, have some manners" he told the great beasts that had erupted from the shadows. He got a snarl in return that caused him to laugh. Above him Sand Stalker was having trouble holding his lunch down.

"So, um…the other five" the merc said glancing back at the mutilated corpse "well there's Fluttershy the animal caretaker, she's got a darker side but she's pretty nice most of the time, again not a good assassin target. Applejack is the resident food supplier, main one at least, she's honest, hardworking and decent, kind of pony that looks out for her family and doesn't wrong others, again not the type to have a price put on her head" the merc dodged an attempted lung at him, grabbed the attacker by the tail and pulled him back onto his blade stabbing him through the heart, cleaving it in half "Rarity is one of the best fashion designer in town, maybe Equestria, she has some competition but not to that extent" he told Blood moon as he watched him stab a changeling in the eye with a throwing knife. The assassin had two changelings rushing him from either side, Blood moon proceeded to leap up and grab the mane of one and guide him into the other stabbing his horn into the changeling's comrade's eye, all while doing a fore-hoof stand, before dropping down to the side and keeping his grip on the changeling's mane and reaching over, grabbing his chin and snapping the neck, the added momentum given by the drop allowing him to spin the neck right around one-eighty degrees, leaving the head rotated at an unnatural angle.

"What about Pinkie Pie" Blood moon called up.

"Pinkie pie? Who'd want to, she's pretty much known throughout Equestria as the 'great party pony' everypony in Ponyville knows her and she's pretty well liked" the merc caught a knife out of the air and threw it back at the changeling that had thrown it meeting it's mark between the changeling's eyes "so that leaves" he dodged a swipe from a Pegasus changeling and struck him in the throat in return "Twilight sparkle. Leader of the elements of harmony" Blood moon rolled onto his back as a changeling grunt charged at him, using his rear-hooves to propel his enemy into the sky and the awaiting blade of Sand Stalker's scimitar which cleaved him cleanly in half "making her the target of focus for anypony" he moved his head to the side vacantly, avoiding a conceive blast from a changeling who was ripped apart by blood moon's serpents "or changelings or anything they've saved Equestria from" he told the assassin as he watched him grab the hoof of a changeling that had thrown a strike, twist it at an unnatural angle and then snap it so the bone popped out of the joint. He then went onto move into the changeling and snaps the leg at the joint that met the body, leaving the entire left leg mangled and busted in an ugly fashion before Blood moon clobbered him on the side of the head with the pommel of his sword, most likely causing brain damage in the process "she's got plenty of enemies, most of which have failed to defeat her face-to-face so hiring you to take her out from the shadows makes sense, then there's the fact that she's Celestia's student so anypony wanting to get to her could do so through Twilight" the mercenary explained as he impaled a changeling as casually as he would getting the mail. Blood moon looked up at Sand Stalker, now was busy wiping the blood from his blade and saw the mind of the pony that had lived through numerous things some good, most bad and saw that, despite his rather brutish exterior, he had the commendable mind of a detective.

"It's a long list then" Blood moon commented as they covered the final leg of their journey "of potential clients." He could see the tall tree before him in the distance and it appeared to be surrounded by changelings. The pair picked up their pace and galloped towards the line of changelings, Sand Stalker flew at a speed that seemed impossible for his age while Blood moon looked like a dark blur rather than a pony. The merc had sheathed his weapon and lowered his fore-hooves for Blood moon who leapt up and grabbed them in response, using Sand Stalker as a swing to get over the three changeling wide wall between them and the library. The assassin landed with his normal grace, while Sand Stalker simply pulled in his wings and dropped to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Around him three other ponies stood, facing off the changelings; Twilight, how was looking at him like she had expected his appearance but didn't want him there, the rainbow coloured mare how he suspected to be Rainbowdash and the orange earth pony that could only be Applejack, going off her cutie mark. The two of them looked at him in disgust.

"Great, just what we need; a fifty-five year old swordspony and a blood thirsty assassin" the Pegasus mare said sarcastically at the two blood stained fighters arrival.

"Yer darn lucky that we got ta' take care 'o these vermin" the earth pony told the assassin as she bucked a changeling in the face, sending him flying.

"Now's not the time for bickering girls" she ducked as a changeling lunged for her, how was quickly dispatched by a knife from Blood moon "we need their help."

"Help, how could that ancient Pegasus" she kicked two changelings that had jumped for her out of the air "help us, I mean look at him, and I'll bet he could probably barely lift that sword off his back" she commented, earning a glare from the stallion in question. She returned the look he gave her "you heard me" she yelled over to him. The elderly mercenary went onto unsheathe his blade and cut down two changelings that had dived for him, hoping to dig their teeth into him, by spinning gracefully and removing both their heads faster than anypony could register. Not done with proving the mare wrong he dived at two more changeling, smashed the face of one into the ground and used the dazed shapeshifter to beat the other senseless. Rainbowdash simply hovered there, her mouth agape.

"Do we have some kind of plan here" Blood moon asked Twilight sparkle as they stood side by side firing spells into the crowd.

"Not really" she replied "we were just trying to fight off as many as we could and hope they gave up" she admitted. She watched as Blood moon dodged a concussive blast, made bigger from the conjoined efforts of the three unicorn changelings that fired it, and levitate them into the air for easy targets for her, she picked them off as he held them there for her.

"Some plan" he shouted as his horn glowed it's dark aura and four shadowy tentacles erupted from the ground, throwing a bunch of shapeshifters into the air while the four of them ripped apart the remaining changelings. Twilight looked on in awe and horror; awe because of the spell she was witnessing, at its raw power and the complexity it surly had and horror at what it was doing to the changelings. She and her friends had been knocking out and disabling their attackers but this 'Blood moon' and the Pegasus he had brought with him were killing the changelings indiscriminately. She pushed the thoughts form her mind as best she could and focused on protecting her friends and town from the ever attacking changelings. Around her she could hear Rainbowdash and Applejack fighting off the changelings but she could tell by the slowing strikes from AJ and Rainbow's longer pauses they were becoming tired, not that she was any different; she had been on her last reserves for a while now. Reluctantly she approached the assassin, who was cutting down, throwing knives, casting spell and…was he humming to himself, Twilight frowned as she thought she recognised the tune (A/N: To you and me, it's the MLP theme tune) as she approached him.

"Do you have a way to get rid of them" she asked Blood moon, who in her opinion was having way too much fun with this.

"Maybe, but it will take a sec" he replied.

"Oh how cliché" the Pegasus in the beanie called over "we have to survive long enough for the massive, world ending attack to be ready. How long will it take, five minutes" he said sarcastically, all the while defending himself from the changelings.

"No" the assassin responded, teeth gritted and sweat pouring down his face, the glow about his horn reminding Twilight of the time she had 'vanquished' the Ersa-minor from Ponyville. As she was watching she heard screams coming from the crowd of changelings, she looked over and her eyes widened in horror. Flames, black flames as dark as the pony that created them were eating through the crowd of shapeshifters, burning them alive. The huge wall of dark fire was unlike anything twilight had felt before; it casted no light, instead making the area darker, it expelled no heat but gave off a strange sensation as Twilight's body prepared for warmth and got none just the cold air of the night, the torrent of fire reached high into the night sky easily standing taller than her library and it seemed about as wide as the crowd of changelings. She looked over at Blood moon, he had the look of ultimate concentration on his face and sweat was really running down his face now, like a mini Neighagra falls had spawned on his head.

After thirty seconds of the powerful spell Blood moon felt weak, an unfamiliar sensation that he often tried to avoid but the last spell he had performed; a very powerful shadow spell, even by Umbra Linguam standards had taken it out of him. His vision was blurred and he could feel his legs giving way but he held himself up, his pride being his only motivation. Before him was a wasteland, the dead and charred corpses of changelings littered the ground and the grass upon they had stood was black and dead, killed by the dark fire he had created. He was getting looks from the ponies around him; Sand Stalker was looking at him with a menacing grin, when he saw Blood moon notice him he gave a small nod and looked over the battle field; Twilight looked troubled, she wanted to thank him but couldn't bring herself to do so, not after seeing his methods foolish mare really needs to open her eyes he thought as he looked over at her and her debating eyes; the orange earth pony was much the same as Twilight but seemed to be leaning towards 'forgive and forget'. Blood moon knew why to, he had protected her friends and, if his theory about her family being in the library behind him, her kin; The rainbow coloured mare, however, was nowhere to be seen, the assassin looked around himself, suddenly paranoid, and spotted the looks of confusion the two mares were giving the space to the upper left hoof side of head, turn to alarm as he felt a blinding pain in his temple and the world dimmed, though not before he heard somepony, most likely the missing Pegasus shout:

"That's what you get for spilling blood in Ponyville!"

A/N: New chapter woo! More fighting more woo! *ahem* So leave a review, follow, favourite or whatever. The feedback is appreciated and I always take into account any constructive criticism but for now..

Productive faffer out.

 

[cael]

Chapter nine: The unexpected friendships

Blood moon's eyes fluttered open, a pain running through his head, as he tried to remember what had just happened; his thoughts were foggy and disorganised but he was putting them back together. He remembered the attack on Ponyville, how the changelings seemed to be putting a siege on the town for whatever reason, he could remember joining the defence of the citizens of Ponyville just outside the library and…the Pegasus, the one who had knocked him out when his back was turned the spineless…the assassin looked around, took in his surroundings; he seemed to be in a room, a guest or spare room judging by the cramped space and lack of décor, he was lying on a warm, soft and welcoming bed that had relaxed his muscles in his sleep, which he now realised to have been dreamless yet again. The walls of the room looked as if they had been carved directly from wood, the light brown confines illuminated by the sun seeping in through the window that was uncovered by the light green curtains. The colour gave him a sudden jolt to the memory as he recalled the opening of so many changelings' hides and the blood that spilled from them. He grinned at the memory. As he continued to look around the room he frowned as he figured out where he was; simple room, carved strait from wood, in a spot where plenty of sun can get to it. He was in Twilight's library. He didn't laugh at the irony; instead he wondered what had caused the mare's sudden change of heart, though he didn't get to complete this train of thought as he herd hoof-steps outside the door and he watched it gain a purple glow before his target trotted in.

"Oh, you're awake" she said upon realising he was conscious. The assassin looked her over; she had taken in an obviously dangerous stallion, going off the bandages he now noticed on his head and the few around his body she had even tended to his wounds to. "How are you? Rainbow gave you a pretty bad head wound" she explained. 'How are you?' So few ponies had asked him that over the course of his life and the simple gesture that said 'I could give two bucks about you' meant a lot to him.

"I'd be better if a certain Pegasus hadn't hit me while my back was turned" he told her, his eyes narrowed. The unicorn seemed uncomfortable under his gaze, as most were, he could practically see her squirming under his stare. The purple mare gave a small, awkward laugh as he remained silent.

"Y-yeah…sorry about that, I guess she was still a bit freaked out by what happened" she said to the assassin, not meeting his eyes.

"Over what happened earlier or what happened the other day" he replied his head cocked to one side. The mare replied by closing the door and moving further into the room.

"I wondered how long it would take for that be brought up" she sighed, sitting on the other end of the bed. Blood moon could see that she was immensely terrified by being so close to him, the mere distance of about half a meter was not enough to hide that she disliked the fact that his presence was close to her own, although he had to admire her courage at getting this close without galloping away screaming "I talked to Ditzy about that, she's here by the way, and I've decided that after what you did outside the library and the reason for you actions against the stallions… you can't be all bad" she told him with a small, weak smile. Blood moon didn't know what to say to that, here was a mare, obviously scared of him, who was trying to create a bridge between them despite all he had done. The mare had looked up; finding the courage to look upon the stallion she knew could kill her without breaking a sweat and looked him in the eyes, they gave nothing about him away but they seemed so full of emotion and thought an interesting paradox she thought to herself. Blood moon was doing the same; his gaze meeting Twilight's as he read into her and there was so much to read; her life as Celestia's student, her time before Ponyville, her time here, what she had done for Equestria with the elements of harmony and her devotion to her friends. Though six things stood out the most in those purple orbs of hers: Loyalty, honour, kindness, generosity, laughter and above all magic. It was strange to him; he had seen magic in ponies before, mainly powerful unicorns and alicorns, but here it was as if rather than having magic she was magic, like she was a pony embodiment of it. The elements of harmony he conclude mentally, she was, of course, the element of magic strange the assassin thought I know that if, say, Fluttershy were to die there'd be no kindness in the world but if Twilight were to die…would there be no magic in the world. He knew then and there how this contract would pan out; with no blood being spilt, Twilight was just too good, decent and, above all, innocent to kill…but that begged the question who did want her killed.

"So, 'I'm not all bad' huh. Well on that note would you like to know why I'm here in the first place" he asked the mare, whose face reflected caution and curiosity. She nodded her head slowly; like she wasn't sure she wanted him to continue "I was sent here, by pony or ponies unknown, to kill you Twilight sparkle." Time and space seemed to hold its breath as he said this, his words cutting their path between them as they struggled to make it to Twilight's ears through the thick layer of air between the two of them. Twilight's face, which had moments ago been an image of reluctant courage, now resembled that of horror and disbelief at the assassin's words; her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, no exaggeration, while her pupils retracted while remained locked on Blood moon, who was as calm as ever despite just revelling his intentions towards her. Twilight's mouth opened and closed as she tried to make words but nothing would come, all's she could do was wonder why she was not dead yet. The mare latched onto this single, rational thought as her mind spun like a whirlwind questions on everything in her head that could not be answered by herself, only by her friends, Celestia and the stallion sat before her, the stallion she had taken into her home, tended the wounds of and treated hospitably and who was now telling he had to kill her. She cleared her throat nervously and fearfully, knowing full well that whatever she said now could dictate the path her life took; either to her friends again or down to the morgue.

"B-blood moon" she started each word she uttered in a small 'squeak' that Fluttershy would be more accustomed to "i-if you're supposed to kill me, t-then why am I still alive" she asked him, her voice trembling at how this convocation could go.

"Tell me, Twilight sparkle; what do you see when you look at me" the stallion asked, as calm and as quiet as before. Twilight was taken off-guard by the question but knew that this was the only thing between herself and the blade she knew he wielded so professionally. She took a good look at him in the new light; his face was nothing special, he had the look of a pony in his mid-twenties, maybe a little older than herself, he had faint crow feet at his eyes and three deep lines on his fore-head. The scar going down his face was deep, old and ugly and did nothing to help his looks but his eyes. She'd heard stories from Rarity about all the 'eligible stallions' throughout Equestria and how, as she would put it, dreamy their eyes could be. She had even seen it for herself a few times when she had been living in the Canterlot castle with Princess Celestia during her studies, when a noble would bring their son along in an attempt to pair them off and gain a hoof-hold in the Equestrian royalty, their deep and sometimes thoughtful look would mostly complement a handsome face but here, it was different; he had no handsome face to complement deep, passionate eyes but the eyes themselves held mystery, deep and old knowledge, a dark sense of foreboding and experience. The unicorn already knew what she considered to be a secret concerning the assassin in her home, the fact he had to be over eleven-thousand years old, making him the oldest pony in existence, even older than Celestia even. She decided that if she was getting out of this she needed to catch him off guard and she had the perfect idea about how to do so.

"I see an eleven-thousand year old assassin" she answered. Blood moon froze, his whole body tensed and his muscles numbed, his thoughts clouded and his thinking halted, the breath he had taken and was about to release was caught in his lungs while his heart seemed to stop. He held his position for maybe thirty seconds, not breathing, thinking, moving and, if the lack of beats was anything to go by, his heart seemed to have stopped. To all intents and purposes he was dead.

Then he let it all loose; his muscles relaxed in perfect unison as his head fell back onto the pillow, his heart started up again at a rate way too fast for him to be relaxed at, his mind unscrambled itself as he processed the information that had just entered his brain for a second time, third time, fourth time and fifth time, all the while his breathing started again, deep and slow as he collected himself. The original plan had been for her to answer 'an assassin' and he would have answered back 'true, but I am no normal assassin' the convocation would then have lead into his reason for not killing her then an explanation about his code then answering of any questions. He had not expected this pony to be privy to knowledge only two others were supposed to know.

"H-how, do you know that" he asked at length, erg to kill rising steadily. Twilight seemed to catch on and she answered quickly.

"Well I did some research" she told him bluntly. The assassin, however, was unsatisfied with the answer and made a rotational movement with his hoof to signal her to keep going "after your 'first appearance' I was curious about the magic you used to get away from us. I recognised it as a form of shadow magic and, with help from a certain unexplainable pink pony, I managed to figure out the magic you had used was called…"

"Umbra Linguam" he finished "not many would be in their right enough mind to be able to identify types of magic just by looking at it" he said under his breath but loud enough that Twilight could 'overhear' him "let me guess, you found a list of all known magicians capable of performing that particular branch." He got a nod in response.

"When I saw the list I was a little confused, I mean who makes a list of the ponies that can use magic…but then I noticed how short it was" she explained "I noticed Celestia, Luna and Starswirl strait away but then I saw King Sombra and the name Blood moon" Twilight told the assassin, who's interest she'd perked at the mention at the great Starswirl the bearded "I went on to try and find out more about you but there was nothing but a few scraps which, I have to admit, is kind of impressive for an eleven-thousand year old." The young spell-caster appeared to be getting comfortable in the assassin's presence. A few scraps are still floating around out there? I must be slipping the assassin thought.

He sat back up and looked over at the purple mare, taking her in; she was definitely Celestia's protégé and by no stretch of the imagination would he ever doubt that fact, if only because she'd been able to gather information on him, a pony who'd always strived to stay invisible and unremembered. He chewed the inside of his cheek for a second in thought, the question he had asked himself 'who would want Twilight dead' was demanding an answer more and more, the more he learned about her. This mare had the ability to accurately name different breeds of magic before going on to find out his own preferred magic type, an impressive feet to achieve, alongside her impressive mind and natural magical ability she was becoming more and more... well perhaps 'impressive' was the only word for it, despite it being a bit of an understatement. Eventually he turned his attention back to her

"I can only guess a pony of your nature would have some questions for me" he told her.

"Yes, a few." Translation: don't expect to leave here any time soon.

"Understood. But first one for you; just what happened last night?"

Twilight sparkle couldn't believe what she had just seen. The amount of raw power she could feel from the spell was astronomical and she'd never seen it's like before; such destructive magic, she wasn't surprised it had been banned. She gazed over the chaos that Discord himself would be proud of; the scent of burned chitin and bug wings drifted over to her nose and she tried her best not to gag at the twisted smell; the burnt and dead grass was home to numerous equally burnt and dead changelings. The unicorn had no good thoughts towards the changelings, especially after her brother's wedding, but she felt that not even Queen Chrysalis deserved that kind of fate. She turned her attention away from the scene and looked at the stallion that had caused it; as she turned her eyes lingered on the stallion she had brought with him that was now hovering in the air sword in hoof, he was looking over at the assassin. She wondered who he was, she had not seen him around Ponyville much, one or two times in the market sure but never actually met him, she'd have to ask Pinkie Pie about him. Now looking over at the dark stallion she saw he was fatigued, out of breath, that last spell must have taken a lot out of him, though it was expected, the book she had been studying for the most of yesterday had told her that the longer the duration, the larger ground it covered or how much more generally powerful the more magic it took; the assassin's magic it seemed used a lot more magical energy than the normal spell it seemed. He was panting badly and looked to be having trouble staying on his hooves. She took a second to look over to her friends, Applejack was watching the weary stallion with the same indifference as she was but Twilight had a feeling that after protecting her family and friends, all of which were inside the library, she would be more forgiving. She wondered if she could do the same, he had killed the stallions in the market…but he had done it defending Derp-Ditzy doo hadn't he and the stand he put up to the changelings had been in defence of her friends, their family's and Ponyville as a whole. Maybe he isn't all that ba- wait…Rainbow what are you doing the sorceress thought as she watched the rainbow coloured mane Pegasus tip-hoof mid-air towards the exhausted stallion, hovering she reared her right fore-hoof. Twilight made a confused frown and was sure that if the older stallion inspecting the damage done could see her, he'd be right on her, she was also sure that Applejack was making the same confusion, turn alarm face as she was as she realised what the cyan blue Pegasus was intending; with a dull thwack she hit the stallion right in the temple with a strength that would have made Big Macintosh proud."That's what you get for spilling blood in Ponyville" she shouted in triumph as the assassin fell. Twilight just stared as he slumped on the ground, flank in the air, and face in the ground as he snored quietly. Twilight turned her head to the old eye patch clad stallion as she heard hooves thundering across the ground as he galloped over to her furiously, as he approached Rainbowdash straightened up in an attempt to hold her ground…despite being air-born."WHAT WAS THAT" he roared in a fashion that made event the headstrong Rainbowdash flinch "HE…he helped you and your friends and you just hit him in the back like some coward" he told her, right in her face. Twilight couldn't help but agree with him."H-he's right Rainbow…he did help us." The mare in question looked at her, mouth agape."Whoa whoa, what happened to loyalty to your friends" Rainbowdash argued to her unicorn companion."And what happened to honour in battle and standing by your comrades" the stallion argued back."He's not my comrade" the mare seethed at length "and I ain't any soldier gramps.""It doesn't change the fact he stood by you Dash" the stallion all but whispered in a voice that reminded the watching unicorn of the assassin lying asleep at the scimitar wielding stallion's hooves. The flying Pegasus seemed shocked that this mystery fighter knew her name."Say, who in Equestria are you anyhow" she demanded "and how do you know my name.""My name is Sand Stalker; professional blade for hire and I know you, Rainbowdash, because I knew your farther" he explained. The moment he said 'farther' Twilight's, Applejack and Rainbowdash's eyes widened; Twilight and Applejack because they knew how sensitive an issue that was for the vibrant coloured mare and Rainbow herself, well…"DON'T YOU DARE EVEN MENTION HIM YOU BUCKER" she roared in what can only be described as the Canterlot voice turned to eleven. The use of vulgar language at that volume inevitably drew attention from the occupants of the library and Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie belle immerged from the library. The three fillies ran to their respective big sisters."Rainbowdash, please refrain from using such language in front of the foals" Rarity implored. The she spotted the assassin knocked out/asleep next to Sand Stalker "oh my" she said at a terrified length "it's him" she looked around herself and took note of the wasteland "did he do all of this" she whispered, just loud enough for everypony to hear. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbowdash were all holding their little sisters (adoptive in RD's case) in vice grips but none of them seemed to care, considering how scared they must have been."Jus' what in tarnation is goin' on here anyhow" Applejack demanded, filly in fore-hooves "Jus' who's side is he on" she asked everypony but not expecting an answer."Ha, this is Blood moon you're talkin' about here, the hunter. You don't know who's side he's on till the last second" the Saddle Arabian merc told them."Uhhh…um""And how does that help us? For all we know he's tryin' to kill one of us, tryin' to get on our good side so he can get close" Rainbowdash argued. Kid you have no idea how close you are to the truth the mercenary thought with a sideways glance to Twilight."Uhhh, we should really get him-""Please, this is no time for arguing; we've got most of Ponyville cooped up in there and we've got a whole bunch of…dead changelings out here. We've gotta figure out what to do with them" Twilight interjected."While that's true, there's the stallion who-""Twi's got ah point there; we can't be jus' leavin' all ah these changelin's here. What ah we gonna do" Applejack agreed."B-but what about the stallion-""We get these civilians out of here and have any remaining guards take care of the corpses" Sand Stalker told her with a shrug."But Blood moon-""And just who in the hay made you the boss around here, GRAMPS" Rainbow demanded."I-""And who didn't make me the boss, FILLY" the merc countered."QUIET" Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs, bringing herself a little off the ground in the process, before floating back down like a bubble "Fluttershy's been trying to say something" she told them in the most polite manner known to pony, with a huge, unexplainable grin on her face. They all turned towards the Pegasus in question, who was stood close to the unconscious assassin. She shrank back a little at the large amount of attention."W-well it's just that I-I've been looking over his wounds and h-he seems to be losing a lot of blood, so-so I was just wondering if we should take him inside and try and heal him...I mean if that's ok with you" the yellow Pegasus asked, finishing her sentence with an adorably small 'squeak'."No way, why should we help HIM out" the blue flyer argued. The animal tender shrank back a little more."W-well he did help you protect us" she whispered from behind her mane."Finally, somepony who speaks sense" Sand Stalker told them, matter-of-factly."Ah'm with Fluttershy on this one Rainbow. He did help protect everypony" Applejack told the Pegasus."So am I" Twilight agreed."Oh come on, not you to Twilight" Rainbowdash groaned."I'm sorry Rainbow but this argument isn't in your favour; Sand Stalker, Applejack and Fluttershy are all making good points. Besides, without him these changelings would likely have gotten to Scootaloo and the rest of the cutie mark crusaders" Twilight argued. This statement caused the Rainbowdash to look down at the orange filly in her fore-legs. Nopony noticed but she had a somewhat loving look on her face."Low blow, Twilight" she muttered. Said unicorn trotted up to Pegasus and put a hoof on her shoulder."I'm sorry but we can't just leave him here." The unicorn trotted over to the assassin she identified as 'Blood moon' and levitated him onto the awaiting back of Sand Stalker, before she lead the way inside."Take him over to the spare bedroom, it's up the stares, second door" she told the mercenary wearily, the events of the day catching up to her. The old stallion simply nodded and trotted up to the room she had directed him to, she couldn't help but notice that he was unnaturally quiet in his hoof steps but she was glad for it, she didn't want Spike waking up."Hey Twilight, what's going on." Rats she thought, as she recognised the voice."Oh, nothing Spike" she told the drowsy looking dragon, as he rubbed his eyes."Don't look like nothing" he replied, looking around the library filled with a large bunch of ponies."Just-just do me a favour and go see if everypony is alright, ok." Spike gave a small salute in return as he went around to all the ponies hanging around the library. In the end only Twilight's friends, Sand Stalker (who had reappeared from upstairs) and the unconscious Blood moon remained. While Twilight's friends gathered in a corner, Twilight herself trotted over to the mercenary who was stood by himself in the edge of the library; he was looking through the books on Equestrian history or he looked to be, as Twilight noticed he kept looking over to Rainbowdash."So, how do you know them? Rainbow and Blood moon I mean" she asked him as his back was turned to her, he turned his head to before answering her."I met Blood in a bar; we met, exchanged words, had a few drinks" he grunted to himself "we we're pretty fast friends" he said, a smile in his voice but not on his face. Twilight smiled at his words."Friendship is magic" she said, a little merriness in her voice as she quoted her leanings over the past few years. The merc looked over an eye brow raised and a lopsided grin on his face."And wouldn't you know about that, Twilight sparkle" he told her, putting heavy emphasis in her name "and, for the record, I met Rainbowdash through her dad, who I also met in a bar. She, apparently, doesn't recognise me despite my being around her most of her foalhood. That said, I did stay out of the limelight so it's no wonder" he looked over at the mare who was glancing their way now and then "Rainbowshine, her mom, and her father, Blazing trails, would always make small mentions of 'ol' uncle Sand'" he told her, a laugh in his voice "always sayin' that she would never be alone as long as there was sand or shade near by.""That reminds me of the assassin's song" Twilight commented. The stallion shook his head."Nah, that's Blood moon" the stallion argued. Twilight had a confused expression on her face, the Pegasus sighed " cold windy nights, look outside" he told her. The unicorn did as asked and looked out the window, seeing the branches and leaves waving at her from outside the library "pray the assassin will watch over your plight, now be honest with yourself; were you hoping he would show up?" Twilight took a second to think before she nodded her head, admitting it to herself as much as she was to the mercenary. He smiled and nodded "either way, Rainbow's parents asked me to look after her but..." Twilight could sense the dark cloud looming in his mind."What happened" she pressed, trying to be gentle with somepony that had some obviously painful memories. Sand Stalker just shook his head, an act that cut off the convocation without dispute."Anyway, enough of this; I'm an old, tired and cranky stallion and you have an assassin to look after" he told her as he trotted away, not giving her a chance to say anything. Twilight just sighed and headed towards the stairs that lead to the spare room but as she got half-way up an ever timid and hovering Fluttershy stopped her."Uh, um Twilight a-are you going to see to that s-stallion" she asked, her hooves held behind her back as if she were explaining to her mother where the last cookie had gone."Yeah, why do you ask?""Oh-oh I was just wondering if you needed any h-help with him" she asked her from behind her mane."Uhh, sure but, if you don't mind my asking, why?" Fluttershy clopped her hooves together nervously before answering."W-well it's just that Pegasus" she told the unicorn, glancing over at the mustard stallion who was still gazing over the books and taking periodic glances over at Rainbowdash "he-he scares me." Twilight sighed sadly, Fluttershy, I swear to Celestia, your scared of your own shadow."Don't worry about it Fluttershy" the sorceress told the animal lover, putting a hoof on her shoulder "but are you trying to say that Blood moon doesn't make you scared" she asked, doubting her friends logic a little."Well he'll be asleep...won't he" she said, a worried tone in the latter part of her sentence. Twilight giggled slightly as she led the way up the rest of the stairs. In the spare room Twilight found the assassin laying on the bed and for all intents and purposes, seemed to be sleeping soundly, a bubble expanding and contracting as he breathed. Twilight couldn't help but think of a napping colt. The two proceeded to remove his garments, the unicorn making sure Fluttershy didn't see the leather belt. Once he was fully undressed the pair came across a nasty sight; Twilight and Fluttershy's eyes widened, the unicorns jaw hung low while the Pegasus put a hoof to her mouth in shock. Blood moon's body was covered in scars; some small nicks, others large, brutal and undoubtedly deep wounds, most of his back had ridges and bumps from being sewed up by an unpractised hoof, his stomach also had the same type of hastily repaired damage, Twilight noticed the older looking scars were not as well mended as the newer ones and she could only draw one conclusion; he must have stitched them up himself. Twilight could now properly see the scar on his face, now that his hood was gone, and saw...just how bad it looked; she had to admit, she hadn't thought much of his face before but now she could see his face with the scar... it was deep, badly stitched, she could still make out where the needle and thread had gone in and out before being, from what she could tell, brutally ripped out and it did nothing for his looks"B-by Celestia" Twilight whispered. Fluttershy simply gave a terrified nod in response. Twilight looked over his body and spotted a blank spot on his scar ridged body "say Fluttershy, notice he's got no scars on his chest?" Fluttershy looked closer at his chest and noticed he had, indeed, no scars on the front of his body."H-how do y-y-you think that happened" Fluttershy asked her bookish friend, who looked over at the vest she had removed form him and noticed something odd about it, though clothing was not her strong suit so she decided to leave that to Rarity. A second look across the assassin revealed around five open cuts, relatively new, and that his wound, courtesy of Rainbowdash, was leaking blood about as badly as Fluttershy had said it was."Well...lets get to it" Twilight shrugged as her horn glowed and Fluttershy picked up some bandages Twilight kept in here for just such an occasion. Between them they patched him up rather well within around twenty minuets, before deciding they were too tired to anything more and went to sleep. Though for all of the mares in the Golden oaks library had dreams plagued by black fire, a flashing blade and a hooded stallion."...and that's pretty much what happened" Twilight finished. Blood moon, who had, had his head hung as he listened intently, looked up and nodded once."So it's because of you and the yellow mare that I woke up to find myself here" he looked the mare in the eye "why show me such kindness?""Well you protected me and my friends... and you haven't killed me have you, besides that kind of behaviour should be expected from the element of kindness" she explained with a smile on her face "you know, you still haven't explained why you haven't killed me.""First rule of conduct; never kill an innocent" he told her bluntly "but whatever the case, you have my thanks..." Blood moon looked into the void for a second before he grinned "it occurs to me I owe you my life" he told her, an amused grunt in his tone."Well not really, your more robust than most other ponies I've met before.""Well, my general comfort then" he said with a smirk."Well if you insist on owing me something, let it be a comfy bed" she said with a giggle. Blood moon grunted again."I suppose I should make amends with your friends then and get it over with" he said after a long pause. Twilight nodded as the assassin stood up on his hooves, wobbling slightly, and made his way to the door. The two made their way down to the main part of the library, where Twilight's friends were gathered, before stopping at the foot of the stairs and looking at the mares and stallion gathered down there."Hi..." Blood moon said casually.

 

[cael]

Chapter ten: Second impressions

The library was filled with a strange sense of stillness; not the same as when the assassin revealed his original intentions to Twilight, there it had been a sensation of total personal awareness like you could feel the electrical impulses running through your body, here it was like everything had gone numb; outside faded from existence, the room became incredibly stuffy and the unavoidable feeling of being watched hit everypony in the room. Blood moon eyed the mares and stallion situated around the largest portion of the library; Sand Stalker was in a corner of the room, keeping an eye on everypony but he seemed to be in a position that gave him the best view of the rainbow coloured mare, who had been lounging mid-air before the killed had arrived, now she sat beside the orange mare, Applejack. Both mares had a foal with them; Applejack had a small filly yellow fur, red mane with a light red bow in it and big, orange, innocent and young eyes; Rainbowdash had an orange fur, purple mane; styled somewhat similar to Rainbowdash, she was also a Pegasus and had eyes similar to the young in the orchard workers hooves, except she had light purple eyes. The Pegasus noticed the unicorn watching the filly and reached over to her and pulled her close to her in a protective manner; the younger of the Pegasi feigned reluctance but allowed herself to be pulled into the elders embrace. Trust, it seems, is lacking the assassin thought as he turned his attention away from the mares and fillies.

Across the room, a little ways, sat three other mares and another filly, all of which he remembered from the market, save the filly, who sat with the white mare. The white furred mare held the filly tightly and said filly did nothing to object; the young had a two tone mane and matching tail, pale pink and light purple, while her fur matched her, presumably, big sister's white. Her eyes, light green, following suit of the other fillies in the room. Accompanying the white furred mare and filly were a pink mane and tailed mare, she reminded the assassin of the pink mare from the market but her mane and tail had too much…'poof' was really the only way to describe the bubbly style of her mane and matching tail. Her eyes made the decision, however, that this was the same mare as before; she had the same sky blue shade as the thoroughly depressed mare as the one from the market who had been holding the other pink mane mare… who was cowering behind her.

"Blood moon" a familiar voice asked, he scanned around the room, more hope in him than he ever would have had before he met the mare he thought it belonged to, and he couldn't help but crack a relived smile as he saw them; pale purple and grey fur, two yellow manes and a pair of unfocused eyes, the face that held them concentrated on the stallion that was at the bottom of the stairs that was looking at her with a kind of care she had never seen in somepony's face before. Blood moon trotted over to them, thanking whoever was listening that they were alright, he stopped in front of the pair, a weight in his chest he hadn't noticed before lifted, as he looked them both over.

"Ditzy, Dinky" he said, voice full of relief and happiness at their wellbeing. Not many knew how the assassin felt about those he cared about when it came to protecting them. Old habits die hard I guess the assassin thought as he concluded the two were ok.

"Are you alright" the mare asked looking over his bandages "we saw the flames miles away…are you hurt."

"Miles, how far did you go?"

"We went to north, like you said, a little ways to Cloudsdale" she took another look over her new found special somepony "are you sure you're ok?" The assassin gave a small smirk before answering.

"I've had worse than this, trust me on that." Ditzy pouted a little.

"How come you get to worry about me but I don't get to worry about you" she asked, reminding the assassin of a filly slightly. He couldn't help but laugh at the absurd question.

"Because, I have experience with this kind of thing, when I start having trouble with delivering mail, then you can start worrying" he told her, getting a small giggle from her. The stallion turned his attention to the filly beside the mare and lowered his head to her "and how are you…" he asked, finding it impossible to mask the concern in his voice. Dinky didn't answer at first, instead grabbing the assassin and hugging tightly.

"I-I was really scared when the fire started" she told him. Blood moon admired her courage in admitting her fear, he knew from experience that most fillies and colts acted brave and found it hard to swallow their pride when it came to this sort of thing. The dark stallion returned the hug before straitening up and looking at the pair who had so readily taken him in to their lives, the pair he now found himself caring for so greatly. He wondered how he would have reacted if he had found them injured…or worse, it surprised him went he felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach when his mind went there.

"Well, I'm glad you're both-" he was cut off by Ditzy planting her lips on his, startling the stallion but by no means upsetting him. The short lived embrace was witnessed by everypony in the library, all with mixed expressions; Sand Stalker smirked, Twilight gave a small smile, Applejack, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had large grins on their faces, Rainbowdash and Scootaloo gagged and Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy gave an 'awww' in unison. Done with the public display of affection, Blood moon turned to the five other mares in the library, they had all gone to off to do their own thing, he was glad for this as it allowed him to talk to them individually; Fluttershy was loitering around with Rarity and her little sister nearby, Pinkie Pie was talking with Rainbowdash about something, the assassin had caught the words 'cute', 'party' and 'cupcakes', while the filly with the rainbow coloured mare was watching him intently, Twilight had gone over to Sand Stalker and Applejack was busy reading to her seemingly tired sister. Figuring it was time to get this under way he approached them steadily; Fluttershy was first on his list, wanting to thank her for her help last night. It was the fact that he was a very dark assassin and she was a bright coloured animal caretaker that almost made him grunt in amusement as he trotted up to her and watched her shrink back the closer he got.

"Fluttershy isn't it" he asked, using a voice he normally kept for scared fillies "I believe it was you who insisted that my wellbeing was seen to." He got a squeak in response. "You have my thanks" he told her simply. He knew from experience that ponies, especially timid one's like Fluttershy, had a hard time getting comfortable around him so he decided not to press the subject further, though as he turned away he heard the tiniest, most quiet and low voice he had ever heard.

"Y-you're welcome" the butter furred mare spoke up, though perhaps 'spoke' was the wrong word, considering that she spoke at an octave that was barely audible to the keen hearing of the assassin. Blood moon turned back to the mare and leaned down to her, she was hiding behind her mane and was curled up on the floor, and spoke in a quiet, near silent voice that only himself and Fluttershy could hear.

"Why show me this kindness" he asked. The assassin had already asked this of Twilight sparkle but he was unsatisfied with the answer he had gotten from her.

"W-well you would have been all cold out there, all alone" she offered. I would have bled to death, more like the assassin thought. It was clear that this mare was uncomfortable around the idea of serious wounds and was reluctant to mention it. Ironic considering she had the only real knowledge of treating such injuries of all these mares save Twilight "and I couldn't just leave you out there after what you did."

"Well either way, you took notice of me when everypony else was busy squabbling and because of that I didn't have to deal with bleeding out, and that wouldn't have been any fun, believe me" he told her. The mare smiled slightly at the bad joke. Turing to his left, the assassin found the white furred mare watching him, a fearful and unsure look on her face, while the filly hid her face in her sister's body and held her all the more tightly.

"I-I don't believe we've been properly introduced" the unicorn mare stammered "I am Rarity a-and this is my sister Sweetie belle."

"Rarity…I believe I saw some of your works on one occasion in Canterlot" the assassin told her, remembering a fashion designer he had once put a scare into for stealing the designs of another fashion designer. Not the most common of contracts but a contract all the same. The assassin was plying a different tactic in winning her over, in hopes that appealing to her passion would make this easier on him "most impressive" he finished. His efforts pay off as the mare straightens up and gives him an appreciative smile.

"I didn't take you for a stallion with an eye for fashion" she admitted to him. The assassin notice a glow return to the mare as she became more comfortable around him and couldn't help but be taken aback slightly by the beauty she now radiated, now that she was in her comfort zone. The stallion's mind set off at a galloping pace, figuring out how best to deal with this mare, and before long he knew exactly how to act before her. He shot her a roguish smirk that he had perfected at a young age and leaned in dangerously close.

"All good assassins have an eye for detail mi 'lady." The mare practically swooned at his words.

"M-my, quite the mare killer aren't we" Rarity said with a flirtatious bat of her eyelashes.

"Wait, how did you know about-never mind." Blood moon turned his attention to the filly, who had been watching the whole exchange with curios eyes, and noticed how she shrank back once his attention was focused on her and he leaned down to her level "and you young one, Sweetie belle" he rolled the name around his mouth before he turned his full attention back to her and gave her the same smile he had given her big sister "pretty name for a pretty filly." The foal blushed slightly at the complement, turning her head away in an attempt to hide it. The assassin stood up straight and turned before trotting away grinning a satisfied grin as he went, pleased with his progress with winning over the mares. On his way towards Applejack he caught Sand Stalker clamping his mouth down and his cheeks inflated as he attempted to hold down a laugh that was trying its damnedest to escape it's master, Blood moon trotted over to him for a second to mutter;

"And that, mares and gentelcolts, is how we do it." The elderly mercenary had to clamp down harder and take a shuddering breath to steady himself. After the short fiasco the assassin made his way over to the apple bucker and stood in front of her and her sister, both of which looked up at him as he approached.

"Howdy" the elder greeted him simply.

"Mornin' pardner" the assassin responded straight faced. The two continued to stare each other down, Blood moon with a lopsided grin on his face and a smile steadily growing on the face of the orchid worker who found it impossible to stay straight faced after watching the conversation between the assassin and Rarity.

"Ah suppose a thankin' is in order" the mare sighed as she ran a hoof through her younger sibling's mane. Blood moon shrugged.

"Think nothing of it" he told her. The mare chuckled.

"Not many folk out there how would go sayin' 'think nothin' of it' to fightin' off a bunch ah changelings" Applejack drawled.

"Yes well, I wouldn't be right nor proper to have left your kin helpless, besides" he took a moment to look down at the filly who was gazing up at him with wide eyes before running his own hoof through her mane with a gentleness he reserved for foals and foals only, the filly seemed against the idea at first but she noticed how soothing his touch seemed to be and let him continue "I know what it's like to lose a filly close to you." The whole room seemed to go quiet at this comment and all eyes were locked on the assassin who had gone misty eyed as old memories came creeping back to him as he continued to tussle the filly's mane. After a few seconds Blood moon abruptly turned away and trotted slowly over to where his most challenging target was sat; Rainbowdash. Though, as he trotted, nopony knew that the assassin was beating down the memories with a big mental stick and he was fighting back tears valiantly.

"What do you want" was the rainbow coloured mare's greeting. The stallion felt a very sudden frustration rise in his chest as he sat on his flank in front of her with a heavy sigh.

"To make peace" he was blunt, frank and in no mood to be prancing around the point here. There was something about this mare that put him at the end of his fuse.

"Yeah right, you don't fool me" she told him, eyes narrowed as she said it. She also seemed to subconsciously pull in the filly. Blood moon noticed this and his plan of attack was obvious, simple really; exploit the weakness. He turned his head down to the foal and looked her over for a few seconds, the assassin was smart enough to know when two should be sisters but aren't and that was just going off of the pain they shared.

"You care for her greatly, don't you." A statement not a question. The mare looked down at the filly in her fore-hooves and Blood moon saw her facial expression turn from suspicion and, put simply, hatred to one of care and affection.

"You keep her out of this" Rainbowdash hissed as she looked up at the killer.

"I should know" he continued like she hadn't said anything "I practically raised two foals myself, fillies to boot, before we grew apart" he paused and took in the once again silent atmosphere before he approached a very sensitive topic "orphaned?" He watched as both the filly and mare's eyes welled up at the mention of the subject of being parentless. It was all the answer he needed.

"Me and Scootaloo lost our parents pretty young, we both had nopony for a while and it was some time before I found Twi and everypony and Scoots found Applebloom and Sweetie belle" she trailed off as the filly in her grip tightened her hold on her would-be big sister. Around the library the rather heart wrenching exchange was watched with an air of strange unease; the elements of harmony had always known that Rainbowdash had been on her own since a young age but nopony had ever approached her about it and the same went for Scootaloo. There was also the way she was acting right now, Twilight couldn't help but wonder how this stallion had managed to get through to Rainbowdash in such a way that he had her clutching her adoptive little sister so tightly with tears threatening to spill, however, she couldn't help but find it somewhat adorable.

"But friends weren't enough, would never be enough for somepony in your position…you needed family and that's where you both came into it" he finished for her. Rainbowdash simply nodded. The assassin watched as the mare and filly continued to hold one-another as they compensated for the other's loss. "You were wrong you know" the mare looked up at the stallion in confusion "if you ever need to talk to somepony or just want somepony to give you the kind of care that only a parent or maybe an uncle can give" he leaned further in and a devious grin spread across his features "look no further than the sand and shade." The Pegasus was confused at the last remark but said nothing, the assassin looked to the mercenary as he straightened and saw that the merc had his eyes narrowed in a fashion that thanked the assassin in a grudging way, as though he didn't want anything getting out about his connection but wasn't unhappy about the hint either.

Blood moon then proceed to turn to his next target…or a least where he thought she had been. The assassin looked left and right in a confused fashion as he tried to find the mare that eluded him before he caught Rainbowdash giggling slightly beside him, looking over to her he saw that she was looking at a spot above his head. As Blood moon turned his head up he saw the beginnings of a bubbly, pink mane and as he continued to turn his gaze upwards he found a pair of sky blue eyes peering down at him.

"Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie" 'Pinkie Pie' told the assassin on which she stood. Blood moon just blinked, standing there somewhat confused.

"You're…standing on my back…aren't you." The assassin had a strange sensation of expecting to feel her weight on him but could simply feel her hooves on him with no pressure behind them. The pink, bubbly mare looked back on herself in confusion before looking back at the dark, confused assassin.

"Am I? I am aren't I, sorry I hadn't noticed." The assassin had the sudden erg to find a dark corner, sit down in it and cry and for a little while "y'know, you remind me of my daddy" Pinkie told Blood moon suddenly, who, like most of the other ponies in the library, frowned.

"I…what?"

"You remind me of my daddy; you're dark coloured, he's dark coloured, you're pretty old, he's pretty old and both of you are pretty grumpy" Pinkie Pie explained in a voice and with a smile that was way too cheery for what she was talking about. As she spoke Blood moon watched as she got less… perhaps the only way to describe it was 'Pinkie-ish'. He realised that he had to pull her out of this thought track before she became a mass a blubbering equine.

"You're still on my back y'know" he told her, in an effort to change the subject.

"I know I am, It's just that you're reeeeeeeeeally comfy" she said as she moved her hooves around in an effort to increase said comfort.

"So…you're saying my back…is comfy" Blood moon asked a doubtful look on his face. Pinkie nodded her head rapidly, the assassin sighed and let the magic flow to his horn, pictured himself a meter or two to the left and let the rush of magic flow as the teleportation spell flashed as he disappeared and reappeared. He looked to his right and watched the mare realise she was no longer standing on anypony; she flailed around mid-air for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. She gave a small huff and looked over at him with a pout on her face.

"Party-poopin' stick in the mud" she muttered. Blood moon got a sudden stroke of genius and trotted over to the mare, a smile on his face, before leaning in and whispering into her ear. Pinkie Pie's face turned from a puzzled frown, a confused gape of her mouth, her head looking down in thought and as the assassin got to the last words of whatever he was telling to the party pony she exploded into laughter as Blood moon leaned back pleased with himself.

"What did you tell her" Rainbowdash asked in confusion.

"Well since there are young ears present I'll spare you the details but what I will tell you is that it consisted of; a bucket, a pickaxe, five goats, a bandit and five gallons of cider, none of which was consumed via the gullet." Everypony in the room gave a synchronised 'huh' as they watched the stallion sit there smirking to himself and Pinkie Pie roll around on the floor howling to herself as she held her sides. Looking over the pink pony the realisation hit him like a dragon had just sat on him (not a nice experience); he'd just made friends with five mares. Not even in a manipulative manner ether but in an actual pleasant and perfectly honest way. The assassin looked over at the elements of harmony once again all of them, save Pinkie Pie who was still laughing, looked back at him with a much warmer expression upon their face, even the fillies seemed to have taken a liking to him. He smiled at his work; he'd gotten everypony in the room on his side and he couldn't help but smile at it; never had he really had many friends, no true friends anyway but here he was in the company of the elements of harmony, the mares who represent the aspects of friendship and despite how he had first met them, he had won them over

Though in light of his happy and light hearted thoughts and emotions he knew that all good things came to a close and this particular close was heralded by Blood moon's realisation that somepony had wanted to rip these mares apart. His eyes narrowed at the thought of the six ponies turning their backs on each other. He gritted his teeth at the idea of six real friends being pulled apart for someponyelse's twisted gain. His blood boiled when he thought of them lying cold and alone. His hatred roared when he thought of them getting away with it. His question held; who would want Twilight dead? The answer was in the form of a pony and the grin he formed when he thought of what he would do to them, would have made Celestia, Luna and Discord quake in fear at the simple memory of it.

As he trotted back to Ditzy's home, Dinky ridding on his back, he thought about what had happened during his relatively short time here. He had arrived with the intent to kill somepony, then he had met his target and decided against it. Now he had a new quest. He had a new contract.

Find whoever had wanted Twilight sparkle dead and return the favour.

A/N: Yay new chapter. so this one took a little longer than the others...or maybe it didn't and I'm stuck in a time/space singularity lapse...again. Anyway enough of my blabbering I'm just here to say that the reason it took so long is because as I'm sure you've noticed it contains a lot of interaction between blood moon and the mane six and I wanted to get it just right. So drop a comment on you're way out (pleeeeeeeeease) and I'll see you next chapter.

Productive faffer-no wait!

The other day I had an idea for a new fic, a crossover for MLP and Skyrim(said in a Nordic voice lol) and I was wondering if anyone/pony out there had an opinion on it. No seriously I'm gonna be THAT vague, anything you can think of; weather or not to do it, any ideas you may have(preferably a PM in that respect) and weather or not to start before I finish assassin's song. So, for reals this time,

Productive faffer out.

 

[~dickschnitzel~]

gtfo from tt with that shit

 

[cael]

I can be social. Probably. Maybe.

My name is Ned Delostrinos.I am socially awkward.A great impression to who I am. Allow me to elaborate. To those who have recently gotten to know me, I'm quite the outgoing guy. I talk and make jokes(more on that in a little bit). To those who have grown up with me know that I'm socially retarded.This would require more elaboration, wouldn't it?Let's start with recent things. My newer friends(or would it be acquaintances) would identify me as a cheerful individual who goes out of his way to greet everyone. That should be a sign to the inner personality, someone who is actively seeking to interact with people. It either leads to that person is a socialite or making up for something. For me, I can only assume the latter(I may go into detail about that.).Older friends know that I am an isolationist. I prefer the comforts of virtual anonymity to the outside. It's not like I fear the outside world, it's just my preference to play videogames rather than sports. I go out with friends, I play videogames with friends, and I like hanging out with friends. I just like being in a comfortable place and just do what entertains me best.Yea, I am on the lazy side.Now if I were to critically analyze myself, it would go like this.Growing up in a spoiled childhood has incredibly increased my difficulties in my adolescence years. Self-imposed isolation in adolescence as drastically reduced social skills and obstacles for late adolescence. Preference to virtual satisfaction leads to indoor activities.Now I can understand this to some degree. I am socially awkward.My newer friends can probably tell this from the fact that whilst following through a witty one-liner, my thoughts stop dead, and I mess up on the punchline to a sad degree. They also know that I'm not that knowledgable on popular social topics like sports, celebrities, or tv shows. But I can talk a mean storm about halo and starcraft. Terrans need a super soldier to handle all them zerglings.I should probably stop delving into my own mental stability and probably focus on what had just occured.Let's rewind abit.Ah.I had just gotten into college. Big accomplishment in my book, not so much in my family's eyes. I got my dorm and moved in. I believe I refurbished it. Finally loaded Starcraft and Guild Wars 2.Oh looky, is that a tear into the fabric of reality?Oh dear, why am I flying towards it?Oh shenanigans, Am I in the void that is the space time continuum?Oh nice, thats the ground. Wait. I'm moving pretty fast.Oh good. Darkness.Yep. That sums it up pretty nicely.Hold on to that. I forgot the part where I wake up to, of all things, a purple pony.Scratch that. Purple Unicorn."Purple...?""Hey, It's coming to, everypony..." Did it just talk?"Hrk.." looks like my mouth isn't working quite yet."Hey! Are you alright?" the purple pon- unicorn says. Yea, it's a unicorn. It has a horn on its forehead... along with a dark purple mane with a red and pink streak. That's totally acceptable."Nrg..." Good lord, did I break my jaw? Nope, still moving."Twilight, I don't think it's alright. Whatever it is." Looks like this purple unicorn wasn't alone."...uh...What happened...?" Finally. Damned lips took their sweet time."Well, you fell from the sky." It came from somewhere out of my vision. I didn't feel up to looking just yet. Could be something weirder than a purple pon- unicorn. Dammit.If I had a unicorn, I wouldn't make it purple. Make it white or something. At least that would correspond to what I had in mind already.Wait. Fell from the sky? I need context."...The.. sky?... how?" hmm, I get a feeling -"Yea, dropped outta the big blue above. Fell lika' rock. A realleh big rock" This was different from that other voice, had an accent. Southern? Anyway, kinda obvious I dropped from the sky."...Why?" Yea, I expect the answer to be-"Well... I was kinda working on a spell and it... sorta worked." Well, I would say I did expect that, but no one goes anywhere good lying in to themselves. In their head....Spell!?"...Argh!..." Probably shouldn't have gotten up so quickly. The world was spinning. Colors were blurring.Stop. Spinning. World.Need. Context."Hey! Be careful!" Oh, nice. Another voice to the mystery.I don't think exclaimation points are necessary for that last one. I could barely hear that soft voice.With a shake of the head(whoa, terrible idea), my vision spun for a bit before finally clearing up and slowing down. Let's take role call!Right leg. Check.Left leg. Check. Slightly scuffled.Right arm. Check. Sleeve is bunched up.Left arm. Check. Dirt.Body. Yup still there. Bruised? MaybeHead. Slightly spinning. Check.All of Ned Delostrinos has made it through whatever the hell just happened."Ugh... um... you said spell, right?" Oh nice, my voice is wavering."Yes... You see I was trying to practice a teleporting spell..." Spell? Well, it is a unicorn. Perfectly acceptable."- and I may have messed up somewhere on the casting." Well, I would say sorta."...I would say sort of... You did take me from my room to here." Ah, my voice is normal...sorta. "Wherever here is..."I decided that sitting down is no longer something I should be doing. I got my feet under me and rose up to the sky. I would admit, I may have struggled in doing so.The sky was blue, that's normal. The hill was green with grass that stretched to a meadow, that's normal. A cool breeze brushed against my body, that's normal.A purple unicorn. That isn't normal. Stop being repetitive.Oh, it's pretty short. I guess roughly three feet, maybe three and a half?Right, we're not alone.A look to my left.Orange pony, yea it's a pony, with a blonde mane. That's pretty normal. Oh, it has a tan cowboy hat. Of all things. BUT I'll take it. Beats what I saw afterwards. Also, it had green eyes.Pink. An actual pink pony, Yes I checked! With a poof pink mane. Perhaps I should slap on a pink hat?A look to my right.YES! A white unicorn. THE WORLD MAKES SENSE! Ah, it has a dark purple mane(quite flowing and stylish too). Purple eyes, alluring.Ah, I've been too quiet."Ah...sorry. Allow me to introduce my messed-up self. My name is Ned Delostrinos." I bowed my head abit. People love head bowing. Wonder if that applies to those of the equine variety?I tipped my head back up."Are those pegasus's?" Pegasus's? Well, there's my brain fart. Pegasi. Remember it.First of the two pegasi was yellow. I can handle that. It had a pink mane, almost as flowing as the white unicorn, though not as alluring."Is that a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane?" Yup. A blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane. Reality, exit stage right."Yes. You seem quite knowledgeable." The purple unicorn says."Cute. Well, tha- Urk!" I would have said thank you, but Miss Blue had other plans. It tackled me to the ground pretty fast. Damn that hurts. Oh. It's trotting on my chest. Neats. I lift my head only for it to press into the blue meanie's ...snout?"Who are you calling cute?!" Hey, this matched the second voice. Ow. Why is she taking insult to cute? Ow. Oh looky, darkness is edging my periphreals. Ow."Rainbow! Stop that! You're hurting it!" Someon- THING pushed the blue curbstomper off of me and a worried purple face...snout...whatever replaced it."Are you alright?" It asks. You know what. I'm genderizing these ponies. Purple unicorn is now a she."Yea," I croak to her, "I've felt better, but I can manage this."I felt something clamp on my left shoulder. A quick glance shows that the orange pony has bit my shoulder, surprisingly just the cloth. She hefted me up a bit, before I lifted myself to my feet."Thanks...?""Applejack, and no problem fella." Southern accent, blonde, and a cowboy hat. What a combo. I smile. I felt movement on my back. I turn my head to look over my shoulder, only to press into another snout. Pink?"You can call me Pinkie Pie! So what are you, buddy-ru?" Huh. Could have sworn she was alittle infront of me. Wait. She's sticking out from within my shirt collar!"How-w-w...? You know what? I'll accept that for now. Nice to meet you." When I looked back at the purple unicorn, I could have sworn I saw her nod her head."Well, my name is Rarity. You look absolutly terrible in those threads. We should change that up soon." So, a white unicorn named Rarity. Seems fitting. Did she make a dig at my clothes?"Sure... Can I safely assume that there are no other... well, creatures like me around?" I was gonna say humans, but something tells me they don't know that term."Nope. Nothing even remotely similar to you. You can call me Twilight Sparkle and this is Fluttershy." She pointed her hoof towards the flying yellow pegasus, who seemed to have 'eeped' and shot behind Twilight, barely peeking out beside her. Wait.If there are no humans, that means that the primary indigenous species around would be.TALKING PONIESFcuk"And you have already met Rainbow Dash." Twilight gestures to the last equine of blue and wings. Rainbow Dash? How very fitting."I'm gonna go on a limb here and say, I'm not in Maryland am I?" Ask the obvious."Maryland?" Oh boy. "Not familiar with that. No, you are in Equestria." Twilight says....FCUK!"I gotta say. You guys seem to be taking this whole thing in stride." Well, except one of you. Smarter not to voice that."We could say the same about you, pardner" ...Applejack... I think."Well, let's just say that I'm letting my usual conceptions go out the window for now. Otherwise, It would be me getting frisky with the floor." Always wanted to say that."Ooooh. I'm not quite sure how the floor would feel about that. You should probably get to know it first, Neddy!" Pinkie wants me to wine and dine it first? Damn. How do I follow that one up?"Help me break the ice first, Pinkie." Hah! I'm so smooth."Alright, here we are." The purple unicorn had taken me to this place called Ponyville(Oh I wonder what could possibly be here?) and was taking me to her home. The rest of the ponies(Is it alright to call not-ponies, ponies?) followed along. Twilight (Or was it Rarity?) approached a giant tree. Wait. This tree had windows. A balcony. A door. More windows. This was like the ultimate treehouse. AWESOME!"Awesome place," my voice may have quivered."Thanks, come on in." Twilight says with a smile before opening up the front door and strolling in. I followed.*Thud*Riiiiight. Ponies that barely make up to half my size. It would be logical that their doors would be catered to their height. Smooth Delostrinos.I duck down and enter the treehouse of awesomeness."Oh hey! What's that, Twilight? Whoa, wait, why is it stumbling backwards?""What in tar'nation?!" "Ah? What's going on?" "Eep!" "Hey! What's the hold up?" "Silly Neddy, we can't come in if you back out!"Is that a dragon?"Is that a dragon?" I will admit. My voice did quiver."Why yes, he is." Twilight seemed to be all too happy with my reaction."That's so COOL!" Then again, I'm sure I'm entertainning right now. I guess I'm funny when I'm suspending my belief.I dove to my knees before the purple scaled dragon. It had a green fin on its head, like a mohawk, with a corresponding green fin going down its back. It had a short snout. I should probably mention that it was shorter than the ponies.DOESN'T MATTER, IT IS A DRAGON!"...For the king, for the king, for the king of Skyrim..." Yea. I was having a nerdgasm."Um, sorry, what are you saying?" It asked. I guess I wasn't whispering low enough."Ignore that. You are a dragon. You are friggin' awesome!" It seemed quite content that I was praising it. Who wouldn't praise a dragon.Stupid people. Thats who.Though, why is he so short?"I'm curious though, how come you aren't big and terrifying?""Well, Spike here is just a baby dragon." Twilight's words seem to blow the wind out of Spike's sails."Yes, Spikey Wikey here is just the cutest, most adorable little thing around here." I turn to see Rarity trot by, briefly brushing the dragon's head, then trotting on by. That was disturbing.Wait. Why was spike floating. How come he is following the unicorn. Why does his eyes seem glazed ov- oh. Ooooh. Sunnova.Welp, he just lost some points in my books. Still gets points for being a dragon. Doesn't matter if baby dragon."Ah here it is!" My attention was brought back to Twlight as her horn glowed and a book flew from a shelf.Oh I should probably mention that the inside of her home seems to be a library. A treehouse library. That's pretty cool.Ánywho, Twilight levitates a book(hey it's glowing) into my hands. I probably should be going crazy at the sign of magic, but hey, Suspending belief.The book read, "The history of Equestria."Oh there's this extra tibit. "For Colts and Fillies!"Good lord, I've stumbled on the Equestrian version of "Our world. FOR DUMMIES!""Thanks" I hope I was convincing. I didn't sound like it. I open the book.Well, this is going to be interesting.'The sun and the moon is raised and lowered by Princess Celestia.' I read.Oh, this is going to be fun."I'm gonna say that this land's religion is the worship of a goddess?""Ah no, just Princess Celestia. Which reminds me. SPIKE!" Twilight shouts.The dragon seemed to snap out of his trance from floating around with Rarity and dropped to the floor."I need you to write a letter to the Princess to inform her of this incident." The dragon salutes and dashes off out of the room."Well, this is a nice place Twilight." I was nervous. I realize that there is a chance that this isn't all a hallucination or a dream. How the hell am I gonna live in a land full of talking ponies?Well, At least it has a dragon. Everything is better with dragons.It has been a week since I came to Equestria.A week of dealing with talking ponies.And I honestly can't say that I hate it.Let's break it down.The first few days have gone along the fashion of me getting aquainted with the ponies. Vice versa with them to me. The town took it quite well. I took it well enough. After fainting once.It's not like it was all shocking. It was just a good portion to absorb.I sleep at Twilight's treehouse in my own handcrafted bed. Handcrafted because nothing here is my size. Well, thankfully Twilight had a book on Equestrian carpentry, so learning was fun. Had to get some tools from another pony in town, named Smokestack. He seems really cool. He taught me all I really need to know about carpentry. Might be working for him sometime soon.So built my first bed. Alittle squeaky at times, but it is really comfortable. Spike and Rainbow Dash laughed at me the first time I tried to lay down on it. The cheeky bastards.I spent most of the week with Twilight and Spike. Learned that Twilight was suppose to write to her mentor and ruler of the land, Princess Celestia, everyday on what lessons she learns. Usually about friendship. Yea, so she is a teacher's pet. Poor Spike though, having to write everything for her. Oh well.The little time I didn't spend with Twilight was spent either getting to know the ponies in town(everyone is pretty nice) and helping out at the Sweet Apple Acres. Gotta say, Big McIntosh is pretty chill. Less said about Applebloom the better. Granny Smith seems to take a liking to me, but that's probably because of the rate I eat apples.Which brings me to one of my biggest dilemas. THERE'S NO MEAT!Well, there is meat, but I gotta hunt it. And I won't go into how my first trip into the Everfree forest went.Fcuking Manticore.Anyway, Where am I currently?In the treehouse."- yea, anyway my knowledge about unicorns and pegasi come from mythology.""Mythology?" Twilight asks as she levitates a book into a growing pile. We are rearranging her books into a new system. Not sure if it beats her old one, but she was willing to try it out. It's a rather simplistic one really. Organize books by their genre and type then by alphabeticals. I'm not quite knowledgable on the actual system(Huey? or was it Dewey?), but my way seems simple enough."Well, Mythology is basically... Well long before my time, people couldn't really explain how the world works. So they made up stories and people took them as facts." I pull out a book and glance at the title, "A guide to treasure hunting." That would probably go in information: recreation."Like back then, people didn't know about the sun. So they said that a god named Apollo pulled the sun across the skies. They had a god for about everything. Thunder, Sea, Forest, War. Hell, even had a god of wine." Dionysus, did he even count as a god?"Wow! You're people are pretty interesting. Are you getting all of this down, Spike?" I look over to see the dragon sitting on the table in the center of the room, jotting down everything I'm saying. I gotta hand it to the reptile, he has good handwriting at high speeds."Yea, despite all of it being disproven later on, it was still pretty cool. Anyway, Unicorns were a unique creature in legend. A rare creature- ", "How so?", "Well, special circumstances had to be met. First it responded only to women.""Women?""Yea, the female gender of my species. Also known as the fairer sex of our kind.""Ah, you said that before. Right Spike?""Ah yea, just gotta find it." Spike squeaks and begins to flip through the pages."Page three Spike. About mid-way through.""Ah, there it is. Thanks!""Yea, anyway, responds only to women. The women had to be pure, meaning never having been bedded. Unicorns tend to like full moons and large ponds untouched by man. So yea they were pretty circumstantial creatures. Even then, they had a large reward.""What kind of reward?""Well, they were the fastest of runners. Some say they had magic-"I notice Twilight grinned at that, I smirked back. "but the biggest prize came with their flesh.""Their flesh?""Yea it's pretty grim. They say that the blood of a unicorn can grant immortality. Not the same immortality of a god, but another kind called a half-life." I never quite knew what a half life is. "Yea, I think it's a life of constant suffering or something. Anyway, the horn of the unicorn, if grounded, can cure any illness. Lastly, they say that the flesh of a unicorn will sate one's hunger. Forever." That would be nice, but Twilight seems a little ill at this. "Sorry""It's alright. You at least know that isn't true. Right?""Yea, don't worry. I won't start nibbling on you anytime soon."All three of us share a small laugh at that.It seems nice to have this kind of interaction."And what about pegasus, Ned?" Spike asks."Yea, pegasi are alittle more famous than unicorns. They tie directly to mythology because they are part of two legendary heroes. Hercules and Perseus." Oh, what's in this book?I promptly closed it and threw it behind me."What was that book?""'The anatomy of a pony.' Not something I'm interested in at the moment." I took a breath before pulling out more books."With Hercules, who was the strongest and most famous of greek heroes, he was given the pegasus by his father, Zeus the god of thunder. Hercules was made famous by performing twelve labours deemed impossible by man." Yea, Herc was the coolest hero of that time. "With Perseus, another son of Zeus, he aquired the same pegasus from the body of creature called Medusa. A gorgon, or snake beast that could petrify with her stare.", "Like a cockatrice?", "Cockatrice? You're gonna have to bring me up to speed on that one Twilight. Later. Now, anyway, you see that Perseus was stuck on the island that housed Medusa's temple. Pegasus changed that and took Perseus to the city he was going to save. This story gave more details on Pegasus. It said that these creatures were the fastest of flyers and were quite durable.""Wow, so you're people have great imaginations" Right you are Spike."Well, yea. They created a whole religion on this stuff. Everything they attempted to learn back then pushed us of the modern age forward. Great storytellers they had back then. I'm quite sure that the pegasi from my world could probably out fly anyone here.""I wouldn't tell Rainbow Dash that." Twilight jokes as she begins to reshelve the books."I might, just to see how she reacts." To say that me and Dash didn't get along is like saying cats don't like getting wet. Since our first meeting, we just haven't gotten along."Heck, my ribs still ache from the last time she tackled me." I prodded my sides to make my point. Dash has a mean, well, dash and her tackles feel like a heavyweight boxer punching me in the chest. I remember when she was doing tricks and managed to get herself crashed into a pond. When I made the comment, "Ha, kitty got wet." She came out of the pond like a rocket and tackled me into the ground.Nurse Redheart at the Ponyville Hospital had a field day learning how to reset my ribs. Rephrase, how to reset human ribs. That was fun.We ended up finishing the reshelving pretty quickly. I was gonna continue telling Twilight and Spike more stories, but then the monster that is our stomachs made their demands known.Ah yea, my second dilema.All they had for food was fruits, vegetables, and colorful flowers.That last one wasn't so bad, it was just that I get nothing from it.Thank god for Sweet Apple Acres' apples. Without them, I would go mad. Granny Smith makes a mean pie.Friggin' love pie.Gotta say though. This is one way to make me eat alot healthier. Remove all meat and junk food from the world. Still kinda mean.I'm socially awkward.A/NAlright, I've finally got a hand on how my mind fluctuates. It goes in cycles. Hopefully, I can get back on track on Incarnation, Operation Caretaker, and No Small Feat.If you are hoping for long chapters. You will be disappointed. I'm just writing what I got and hoping they transfer well onto paper. I guess one could say that I'm trying for a 'realistic' feel in this story, but I think I'm getting the 'Surreal' experience.Hopefully my writing fluxes calm down.And for all my mistakes, I encourage you to point them out.Until next time (Bear with me)DEFIANCE!

 

[cael]

I can be Social. Probably. Maybe.

Run.

Run.

Fcuking Run.

"For all that is human! STOP CHASING ME!" I am a little irritated.

I'm sprinting between trees, leaping over bushes, and sliding below branches. My plan? Put as much trees, bushes, leagues, and countries between me and this blasted furry monster combo of a lion, scorpion, and dragon.

A loud guttural roar causes the whole forest to vibrate around me.

Damn

Damn

DAMN

Back then, the only thing I had to my name in physical efforts is that I can throw a mean right hook and that I can run afterwards. Cowardly? Yes it is. Smart? If I punched a guy that was slower. Most of the time they were slower. All of the time, they were the ones that threw the first punch. I'm truly milking my ability to run to its very limits.

How to get exercise? Get a manticore to hunt you down.

Works wonders.

Duck

Dive

Dodge

Dip

And...

Dodge

Trees, glorious trees. Save me from the furry beast that wishes to cleave me.

Juke to the left and the terrible sound of wood splintering greets my ears. Followed by a loud guttural roar.

It was like metal grinding on rock. A sound so dark that my spine trembles. Like angels screaming against an onslaught of sins. A demon's fate.

I'm getting sidetracked.

More wood splintering. Good lord, it's getting closer!

"Would you kindly PLEASE STOP!" Perhaps a little kind suggestion may change things around?

*ROAR!* Nope

Run. Run. Run. Now how would I get myself into this situation?

Simple really. I am simply returning from a visit to Ponyville's resident shaman, Zecora. A fine individual to be friends with, even with her eccentric quirks and personality. She and I seem to get along well and she indulges my questions on her potions and medicinal concoctions.

Anyway, along the way from the shaman's hut, the golden-furred beast that is the manticore dashes from the forest and cuts me off. I am rather scrawny so direct confrontation isn't recommended if I want to live. So I ran.

And here I am.

Still running. *Crash*

Crap, I ran into a tree. A quick spin reveals the golden manticore thrusting out his red scorpion tail stinger. A reactionary drop to my bum saved me from impalement and a subsequent roll to the side kept me out of the beast's sharp claws.

However, I was out of options. Nearly flat on my back with the manticore already in prime position to pounce. Checkmate.

Goodbye cruel world. I knew thee well.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" Apparently, the world had other plans for me.

Out of the void came the yellow-skinned pegasus with the divine pink mane known only as Fluttershy, the goddess of all that is purely saintly. Well, that last part was just my addition.

It appeared that the beast froze under the pegasus' glare and began to retreat his steps.

"Mr. Manticore, you should be ashamed of yourself. Attempting to hurt poor Neddy. You big meanie." Despite her voice being soft, it still held an edge. It was truly a dreadful weapon to be on the business end of. I would know.

With just a whimper, the manticore fled deeper into the Everfree forest. It was best to cut your losses than deal with an angry Fluttershy. My divine savior turns to me.

"Are you alright, Neddy? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Her cyan eyes skim over my form, trying to see if she could spot any injuries. She would find none, unless she could see damaged pride. But I will gladly throw pride out the window for now.

"Eep!" she gasps as I immediately shot at her and wrapped my arms around her. This pegasus is my damn heroine. To add more feeling, I decided that a twirl was needed to express my happiness. "Aaah!" She squeaks.

"You are the most awesome pony of all, Flutters. I have I ever told you that?"

"On a few occasions." She didn't seem to mind the hugs or twirls.

God I adore her.

I did eventually put the pegasus back down. She wasn't light, despite my conceptions that she was as light as a marshmallow. Maybe Rarity is.We came back onto the path in the forest and we're walking towards Ponyville."You know Ned, you wouldn't be in danger if you would stop going into the Everfree forest." It appears it was time to chide me."Well, then I won't be able to see Zecora anymore.""That might not be a bad thing..." Well, that was mean."Zecora isn't a bad pers-pony. Sure, she's a little off, but then again so is Pinkie.""I'm not saying that she's a bad pony.""Well, I'll make sure to stay safe, Flutters.""Staying on the path would be a good start." Whoa, was that a jibe?"The darn cat came out on the path, Flutters!""Perhaps that is a sign for you to stop going into the forest?""If I started listening to those signs, I would never leave Twilight's house."The pegasus giggles and we finally come out of the forest. Fluttershy's tree-house cottage comes into sight. One could say that it is a little similar to Twilight's tree-house A stark difference would be that Flutters' has a fence that surrounds her property, containing a multitude of pens and little homes. Fluttershy is the town's resident veterinarian and also her home seems to draw all kinds of cute creatures. It is literally a hub of cuteness here. The inside of Flutters' home, well it's quite hard to explain, it has that homely feel. Like if one were at their grandmother's home. It was just that relaxing.Which reminds me, "Hey Flutters? Is there anything here that needs to be patched up? A broken fence or pen?""Ah, no. Everything seems to be holding up just fine. Thank you for those repairs.""Ah, no problem. Well then, I'll be off. Thank you for saving me yet again Flutters.""It is of no problem. Try not to get yourself hurt" Yep that was another jibe.We wave(Well I waved) our farewells and parted ways.It has been roughly a month since I first came to Equestria. Quite a lot has happened since then. There was the funny incident with Twilight and her friends involving some tickets. I swear if Twilight had actually thought about the situation, she would have solved it without all the drama. Still funny.There was also the meeting of Rainbow's old flight school buddy, Gilda. Unlike Rainbow, Gilda took some interest in me and we both got along pretty well. It was probably because of the fact I was gushing about that fact she was a griffon.Thank god she didn't know what tsundere meant though.Let's not forget about Applejack's dilemma during apple-bucking season. I swear the lass wasn't giving me any leeway when I tried to help out. Nearly bucked me across the field when I started without her knowing.That last one is more my fault, I guess.A few minutes walk from Fluttershy's cottage and I'm back in Ponyville. I gotta say, ponies sure do know how to make homes like humans. If one were to approach this place, he would expect to see humans walking about. Probably short humans, seeing how small these ponies are.I pass by a few ponies who greet me with a nod of their head. They seem to be pretty accepting of such a tall bipedal creature, but then again, Twilight walks around with a dragon. Apparently, judging by the first few weeks I've been here, I'm more bizarre than a dragon.The fools."Ah Delostrinos!" I turn my head to see a tan stallion with a necktie(and no collar?) with a slight brown fauxhawk mane approach me."Ah Doc, What's up?" This stallion is named Doctor Whooves, he made himself a nice impression on me by bugging me with questions about what I am. Really hard to ignore a gu- pony like him."I would like to make a caricature of your physiology. So please come with me""Yea, how about some other time?" Never gonna happen buddy"Oh, but I must! You see, you are a very rare specimen. We must know all there is about you and your kind!" Damn, don't I get enough of this from Twilight?"Ah, when you put it that way... HEY! isn't that the pegasus you've been eyeing for sometime?" I pointed towards a muffin bakery. The stallion turned his head so fast that I was concerned that he would break it. Only for a moment though, before I dashed away."Ah! Is she really- hold on! You think I would fall for such a tric- Where did you go?!"Ninja Delostrinos has made another glorious escape. Now if only I could do that with that blasted manticore.Eventually I made my way to small workshop, it was an average-sized building made primarily out of brick and wood with two smokestacks on top. It bore a banner displaying, "Smokestack Smithy and Workshop". It was also one of my primary sources of work.Upon entering the shop, I am greeted by the plethora of tools, forge, and workstations. A healthy smell of wood, fire, and metal whisks into my nostrils. That is a great smell. I hear metal upon wood, so Smokestack is probably hammering some tables together. Maybe."I'm back! Had a bit of a problem getting out of the forest." I say as I round about the place until I see my fellow smith and boss. Smokestack is a gray stallion with darker gray hooves, he also sports a dark gray mane covered by a white and gray striped hat. Additionally, he has a red handkerchief around his neck. His gray eyes glance over at me before resuming his task of hammering a leg into a table. He holding a hammer in his mouth. It was pretty funny to watch."The manticore, I would presume?""Yea, I swear it has it out for me.""Perhaps it wants to be friends?" He smirks as he takes another swing at the leg"If by friends, you mean chew toy, then yea, he wants to be friends." I quip dryly"Glad to see you made it back in good shape, I'm gonna need you to start up on those chairs.""Alright, this is the Bon Bon order right?" She had placed a huge order of chairs for some event."Yea, about fifty or so chairs. Think you can get them done by today?" Sounds like a challenge."Did she ask for a specific design?""No. Free reign Ned." Sweet"Well then, I'm good to go."The truly hard part about making furniture around this town is that some peo-ponies like to have some design on their chairs. That usually makes the production go slow, but if they just want chairs, I could make them fast and quite durable. Most of the time for production is spent on cutting out the necessary shapes and parts for the chair. Making the cushion and the backrest the same shape and size cuts down on production time.Roughly saying, I can make fifty in a day easy."I need them by sundown."Okay, that was a challenge."I'll see what I can do, Smokes."Let's get down to work.Now, in the human world, I try to avoid doing extra work. Be it school or actual job work, extra work just cut into my entertainment time. Here in Equestria, I don't have a laptop or a game console, so entertainment time is pointless. Rather than just laze about all day, I decided to take up working in Ponyville. I would try reading all day, but Twilight didn't like me sitting at home, reading all the time. That hypocrite. I think she was just mad that I knew a few things she didn't.I took up work in Sweet Apple Acres, helping out McIntosh and Applejack bucking and collecting apples. I did learn how to make an apple pie, but I can't quite seem to catch onto how Granny Smith makes them so good.I work at the smithy just so I can get materials from Smokestack and to get more work hours. I learn little by little something new from the old stallion. Sooner or later, I'll get carpentry down and will be able to patch up the damages that usually come from my other jobs.Case in point, helping out at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. This is where most of the damage-dealers of Ponyville come from. Not going to give names, but they rhyme with Got a loo, Tweetie Cell, and Snapple Tomb. Yea, lets just say that one incident involving me defending Applejack's little sister from harmless(I guess) bullying about her having no cutie-mark. Needless to say, when the other two fillies learned of this and the fact that I, myself, have no cutie-mark(Thank you Pinkie) they stuck to me like peanut butter and the roofs of mouths.I do some carpentry on the side, but its just to put to test what I learn from Smokestack.I'm not doing it for the money(Bits in Equestria). I'm doing it so I don't get bored. I'm so accustomed to just lazing about the day, so I need to break myself out of that habit. The best way?Have no time to laze about!Now, I am well aware I'm not attractive. Not to say I'm friggin disgusting, but I don't have women stop to take stock on me.I'm pretty sure since I've started working for Smokestack, I'm earning a little more to my physique. In other words: I HAVE MUSCLES! WOOOOO!Yea. I usually earn these muscles by doing what I'm doing now.Tugging up a cart of about quarter of a hundred chairs up a hill.Super fun time."Gah! Why did she have to have this event... UP HILL!" I say to no one in particular. It was grueling work to lug a cart containing roughly seventy pounds worth of furniture. Especially up hill. Did I mention that it was uphill?Put one foot~ in front of the other~!Sweat. At least the sun's past noon so it isn't as blazing as before.Dig your feet into the dirt and find purchase. It is a struggle. Don't relent.I swear that pony did this just to mess with me."How high is this damn HILL!"Oh, look we're here."Hey! Are those the orders?" a cyan pony trots over to meet me at the top of the hill. I see other ponies setting up tables and decorations."Yea, this is about half of the order. I'll be heading back to collect and bring back the rest. I'm sorry, but I don't think you are Bon Bon." She looks familiar, but I've met Bon Bon. In fact, I'm the one that took her order."Ah yea, I'm Lyra, Bon Bon's friend. She's busy with a few things." Her smile seems friendly enough."Ah, nice to meet you. Name's Ned. Let me just pack out these chairs and I'll be on my way"She responded with a "Yea, sure." and I unstrapped myself from the cart. I quickly took the chairs off the carrriage and some of the ponies took them over to the tables.After quickly saying my farewells, I took an apparatus from the carriage and attached it to the front of the cart, between the two handholds. The device had a wheel on the bottom, about the same size as the cart wheels, and had gears along the beam. These gears were hooked to two pedals which I then hooked to the cart's wheels which also have gears. Another apparatus I took from the cart attached itself to the front wheel and made into bicycle handles.Yup, I made a cart convert into a three-wheeled bike.Now for the only thing that would make this trip worthwhile. Downhill.Let's see how it goes."You look like you had alotta fun." Smokestack quips. It's probably because my hair is all blownback."Well, come with me on this last trip and you could enjoy it yourself!""Sure, why not. Now help me load up." Oh the wonders of a having fingers."Sure."We quickly loaded up the cart(after I disassembled the bike apparatus) and we pulled the heavy cart back to the event site. It was heavier because we had added a table to the load. Stupid Smokestack for making heavy gauge tables.Both Lyra and Bon Bon greeted us upon arrival and paid Smokestack the bits.Then( after assembling the bike apparatus) we went downhill on the cart.It is fun!"Good Celestia! How did you take that turn without breaking the wheels!" Smokes yells"The wheels and the axle are the strongest parts of this cart! I made sure they could handle the stress!" I was full of glee at the moment."Nice, perhaps I shou- Watch that stand!" I swerve around a flower merchant stand with ease."Yea yea, I got this Smokes!" A hard right makes the cart tilt on the left wheel for a few moments. I think I might give the old pony a heart attack."By Celestia! This is completely insane!" Yup"Oh yeah it is!" Someone once said the closer you are to death, the more one feels alive. I totally agree.We eventually make it to the smithy(all in one piece!) and I had to help the pony out of the cart. His poor legs were trembling. He did, however, sport the biggest scat-eating grin I've ever seen him wear."That was bloody brilliant! Probably won't do it again, but, hell, that was a ride!""Told you so boss." I detached the cart and bike part, rolled the cart into the smithy, took another wheel with gears off the cart, and closed up the shop. I attached the wheel to the back of the apparatus, making the whole thing look like two-wheeled scooter with pedals."Gotta say, how did you make that thing?""Took me quite a bit to get the gears and pedals right. I might borrow some more wood to make a better version." Smokestack tends to let me use the shop materials for my own projects. I still gotta work them off though."Sure, let me know. Maybe I could be part of this process.""Can do. I'll see you tomorrow Smokes."We part ways. I am covered in sweat, but I felt relief on a job well done today.Time to cool off.8It started raining on my way home. At first, I took it in stride, but then it got worst to the point of stormy winds and drenching falls.I was effectively soaked when I got to Twilight's tree-house.Right into a unique fight between Rarity and Applejack.Also, Twilight was having a sleepover. Apparently, the girls(Applejack and Rarity) were caught out in the open when the storm rolled in."Slumber 101: All you ever wanted to know about slumber parties but were afraid to ask." Rarity and I read aloud. Huh, I wonder if sexy pillow fights are in this. Oh right."Yes! My own personal copy!" Twilight seems all too happy about that, "It's a fantastic reference guide. I've been waiting for a chance to use it! Today's the day! Though slumber parties are primarily for mares, I guess Ned can join us too!"I would be happy, if it weren't for the fact that instead of cute girls my age, I had ponies. It's times like these that I just can't help, but be extremely sad. My first slumber party too."Wooo" Perhaps my gloominess affects my voice too."This is going to be the best slumber party EVER!" Twilight is extremely excited. It's kinda contagious."Yay" Well, I guess not enough for Rarity and Applejack."First off, makeovers." I froze. Twilight brought her face up from her book and as if sensing my thoughts, slowly turned her head my way. I swore I heard a loud creaking noise as she turned.nononononoonnonnonnnoononono"Heeey Neddy!" the purple unicorn's voice was so sweet, I might just get diabetes."NO! not on your life!" I made to scramble away, but something bit into my sleeve."Why you in such a hurry, Pardner?" Damn you Jack!"Yes, why leave when the fun is just start?" Now even Rarity is getting into it.Curse you, who ever controls fate!"This is so not funny." I quip dryly."Why...(snort) of...c-c-course n-not" Jack starts."It's hilarious, darling!" Rarity finishes.The three ponies lose themselves to laughter, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's pretty contagious laughter. I had to bite back a smile."Alright! Makeovers. Check." Twilight had dashed to her book to see what was next on her list. She, Rarity, and Applejack had towels wrapped around their heads and that facial mud stuff. They had cucumbers(Rarity still does), but Applejack and Twilight ate theirs. Jack also ate mine while I was fussing."Alright! It says here to share ghost stories! Who wants to go first?""Me! I'd like to tell y'all the terrifying tale of the prissy ghost who drove everypony crazy with her unnecessary neatness. Oo-oo! I'm sure y'all are familiar with that one?" Well, if I would guess, this was less a ghost story and more an insult."Never heard of it, but I have a much better one. It's the horrifying story of the messy, inconsiderate ghost who irritated every pony within a hundred miles! Oo-oo!" Yep, looks like Applejack and Rarity are at odds at each other."That's not a real story! You made it up" Uh, Jack. Ghost stories are all made up."It is a ghost story, they're all made up." My point exactly."I got one! This is called the 'The Legend of the Headless Horse. It was a dark and stormy night, just like this one. And three ponies and a human were having a slumber party, just like this one..." I love how smooth she placed human into the story."...and just when the last pony thought she was safe, there, standing right behind her, inches away was -(pause for effect)- the Headless Horse!""AAAAAAHHHHH!" Both Applejack and Rarity screamed and clung to my sides, quite painfully. I added onto the pain by laughing."Ghost story, check!""Wait, I don't get a turn?" I was actually hoping to give it a shot."Nope! Who wants s'mores?" Why you cheeky little... oooooh s'mores.Rarity went through the steps on making perfect s'mores for Twilight, but Jack and I just lit up the marshmallows and smashed them against some chocolate and crackers. S'mores are suppose to be messy anyway.*Belch* "Mmm-mm! That was good." Jack is like a girl after my own heart."You could at least say excuse me.." True to your prim and proper character, aren't ya Rarity.I burped shortly after, but under a glare from Rarity I made my excuses."Aw, I was just about to, but you and Ned interrupted me... Pardon" Interrupted my arse.Twilight once again zoomed to her book."S'mores, check and delicious. Now our next activity is Truth or Dare."This led to Rarity and Applejack butting heads once again."You think we'll get a turn?" I ask"I'm not quite sure..." Was Twilight's response."Well then, I dare you to loudly declare an insult to Princess Celestia" She gasped. It was like one of those long exaggerated gasps."I...I-I can't.""You have to, it's the rule." I managed to snatch her book and show her the page."errrr...(gulp)...uh..Princess Celestia...has a large flank!" That...Tha-...That-"Pbbttttt-hahahahhahhahHAhhahahah" I couldn't hold it anymore. I fell over, busting my gut. That was the first thing she could come up with? I would so egg on her about that, but I'm too into laughing to do so. She was blushing too."Stop laughing Ned. Stop! It's not that funny!" She was now tomato-faced and was contemplating hitting me. I'm quite sure of it."O-f-f-of c-course n-not! It's bloody brilliant!" I'm too into losing my shit. I'm literally rolling on the floor, laughing my arse off."Fine! I dare you... I dare you to- STOP LAUGHING!" Oh wrong move there Twilight."S-su-sure...(snorts) Ah...Oh my god. That was (Ah) hilarious!""No it wasn't, anyway my turn-""Nope, you used your's daring me to stop laughing.""But..b-but That's not fair! I didn't mean to!" There she goes, all red faced."So sad, too bad. I choose truth. Why was the first thing that came to your mind Princess Celestia's flank?" I might start losing my scat again.The unicorn started to blush again, stuttering all over."Well...well...It's just...it's just that they're so big and p-prominent...They just draw too much attention!" She was looking away from me when she said that. Slowly, but surely enough, she made eye contact."What? (I burst) Hey! Stop it! STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" This time, she did hit me.Apparently, I just now realize that Rarity was drenched and Jack was in a really frilly dress. That needs some context."Stop laughing! Next on our list! PILLOW FIGHT!" She cried out that last part because she was already in mid-descent with the feathery weapon of softness and smashed down on me.Good lord. Why did that hurt?Twilight's slumber party was actually quite entertaining It had a few surprises though. Like a tree busting into Twilight's window and knocking me unconscious. When I came to, apparently Rarity and Applejack had settled whatever the hell was their problem and fixed up Twilight's window.The rest of the slumber party went off without a hitch. Applejack and Rarity absolutely suck at Twenty Questions."Well, Twilight's First Slumber Party is officially a Success!" Applejack, Rarity, and myself cheered."Now that all the fun and games are done, I'm actually pretty tired." Applejack yawned"Now that you mentioned it, I'm a little drowsy myself." So did Rarity"Yea, we've been up most of the night!" Twilight as well"I say now is a great time to hit the sack" Ned did also... I mean, I did also.Applejack perked up. "Pony Pile!" and without further warning tackled both Rarity and Twilight into a pile of cushions. They started laughing and giggling as I made my way towards my room."Where do you think you're going mister!" I turn to see Rarity giving me the look again, but not just her. Applejack and Twilight also contributed."Well..." I didn't really have an excuse."Pony Pile means you too" Twilight explained"I'm not a pony.""Details, Schmetails. Get in the pile." Applejack waved off my defenseOh well, what the hay."Body Slam!" I yell as I leap at them"Oof!" "That's barbaric" "Not exactly what I was expecting, NED!""That's why you start the pile with the bigger person first."I'm socially awkwardA/NWow, that was a lot.I plan to follow the main episodic story, but I'll have my own additions or twists. Again, these are going to be written and posted as they are. So high chances of mistakes. If they bother you, let me know and I'll go combing through it. I don't have microsoft word. Using primarily wordpad.I probably won't attempt to write this much in a chapter.Oh well. Time to make Ned into the person I want him to be.Until I post once more.Hopefully I get back into my other stories.

 

[cael]

I can be Social. Probably. Maybe.

My left arm is locked. My right arm is tense. My breaths labor. My body is ready.The string is taut.The goal is done.The string is released.The arrow that was notched, speeds through the air, splitting the cold frost space, before finally breaching bark.I relieve my lungs and allow a long breath loose from my lips, creating white transparent wisps before me. It was a nice day and I made a good shot, once again. The arrow proudly stands erect, dead center of the wooden target. Maybe not dead center, but pretty close to it.A sole object of brown amongst a field of white.God I love winter.I would have been freezing if I've been wearing the clothes I had on me since I came to this land. A long-sleeve shirt over a t-shirt and jeans aren't the best combo for winter. I caved into Rarity's offer and had her make me a few additions(rephrase, a lot) to my wardrobe.I'm currently sporting a purple(Rarity said I MUST wear purple some time) linen tunic that fits me quite well. A thick, white cotton shirt beneath to keep me all warm and toasty. I also sport white linen slacks that reach down to my ankles. I still wear my sneakers, but I may get Rarity to try her han-hoof at shoes.She told me that she would be making some coats for me, but was indecisive on what style she wanted them to be. I had told her to make something like a parka or hoodie, but she ignored me. When I pressed the issue, she set her cat, Opalescence, at me.Didn't do much, since her cat absolutely adores me. Now if only Angel could do the same.I trudge through the snow, the soft crunch drifting into my ears, and approach the round wooden target. Closer inspection reveals many other perforations, most on the outer rings that slowly transition towards the center. I pluck the arrow from the center, taking extra care not to break the arrowhead. It's funny how many arrows I lost thanks to moronic retrieval."Whatchu doing out here, pardner?" Damn, that scared me."Just practicing some archery, Jack." I put the arrow in my off hand so it will be holding both the bow and arrow. I turn to see Applejack trotting towards me, a chorus of crunched snow following."Arch a whatna?" I swear she does that just to get a rise out of me."Archery. The practice of bow and arrow." I lift my left hand to emphasize the bow and arrow."Ah-okay. Why are you doing that, if you don't mind me askin~?""Because I like to. It is something that pleases me."That was an understatement.Archery. That practice didn't quite draw me in when I was younger. As I grew, I heard stories of heroes and legends that utilize the bow. It created the sliver of awe and aspiration. The more stories I delve into, the more the concept of archery grew on me.I love swords, yes that is true.I just think the concept and morals of archery is cooler.When I learned about kyudo, that is when archery became...ARCHERY. It became something different, I can't quite think of a word for it. The closest thing would be imprinting. I didn't know it back then, but that was when I started my philosophical side.So yea, Archery is something that really sticks with me."Now that's just dodgin' the question. Why do you like playing around with that doohickey?" Doohickey? Really, Jack?"Alright, you caught me. I'm practicing so that next time that blasted manticore shows up, I got a present for his eyes!" Jack gasped, turns out I may have made a scary face when I said that."You know Flutteyshy is going to be mad at you.""...That's very true." Perhaps my vengeance is petty..."NO! That blasted beast keeps stalking me every time I go into the Everfree Forest!" I wave my hands erratically. "Even when Flutters catches him doing so, he goes right back to doing it! I'm just bringing up a more permanent solution to this!" I can bear Flutter's scolding for this, it would probably be the only time I would need to. I'd be bending over backwards to stay on her good side afterwards."...He's bothering you that much, isn't he?" You have no idea Jack."You should try being soft and squishy and being attacked by furry monster with claws." I retort dryly."No thank you partner, Ah am just fine as Ah am.""Shame, I would like to see my troubles from a third party""So, getting accustomed to Equestria?" asks Applejack"Yea, things are getting better. I still can't believe pegasi control the weather. I should've known Dash would keep a cloud over me every moment she gets." Damn blue pegasus."I still don't get why the two of you keep hasslin' each other?""I just never got along with her, I guess. She seems to be always on my arse on something.""You have a donkey?" Oh right forgot."No, arse is another name for human butt or flank if you will.""Ah. That explains why Twilight doesn't like you saying that.""Well, I believe it is because I told her that is how we curse in my world." Worse decision ever. She keeps smacking me every time I curse. However, I do understand the concept of keeping bad words away from Spike and fillies."Now I'm concerned. Why would you tell Twilight that? You could've saved yourself a few smacks to the noggin""Well, sometimes I think I'm too helpful when one asks." I would think I am."Thats fer'sure."The two of us continue walking the snowy forest path to Ponyville. Along the way we meet up with Twilight who is carrying a dress of red with orange shoulders. Upon inquiries, it is revealed that she is taking it to Rarity to get it fixed up. The three of us make our way to Carousel Boutique."Why are you getting it fixed again?" I ask"I want to wear it to the Grand Galloping Gala," Twilight says excitedly, "It's also the only dress I have, which I got from Rarity.""I remember that, it was the first day you came to Ponyville. You were quite the finicky pony then." Applejack states."Grand Galloping Gala, huh? By the way-" I start."Oh that reminds me, we should probably get Rarity to make you a dress." Interrupts Twilight"Suit, Twi. Suit, men wear suits. Tuxedos work best, but everyone loves suits." I hastily retort."Alright, alright. Don't need to be such a sourpuss about it." You were about to put me in a dress Twilight, I have the right to overreact. We eventually came upon Rarity's home and shop.There we find our resident tailor deep in thought.Doing something fairly obvious to all, but Twilight and Applejack."Can't you see Rarity is trying to concentrate?" Twilight chides Applejack silently. Or she believes so."Now that you mention it, it's kinda obvious Twilight." You're not quiet either Jack."Shhhh..." Still kinda loud Twi."What do you think she's makin'?" Use your eyes Jack."Looks like a dress." No duh. Looks like Rarity's getting irritated."Well, that makes sense. Since this is a dressmaker's shop n'all." Rarity's already stopped sewing, Jack."Is there something I can help you with?" Yup, Rarity's agitated."So sorry to bother you Rarity, but I need a quick favor. Could you please fix this button for me? Also, is there a chance you can make a suit for Ned?""For the Grand Galloping Gala? I was already going to make him a fabulous tux," Rarity prances around me, fluttering her mane about. "However," she pauses mid-prance to levitate Twilight's dress. "I refuse to allow you to wear this old thing." She throws it across the room. And manages to nail Opalescence.Good bye Twilight's dress."You need a glamorous new outfit for the Gala and I'll make it for you!" There was this look in her eyes that screamed, "Brilliance!""Oh that's really sweet of you to offer," Really Twilight? Don't you see that blazing smile on her face? Refusing is going to hurt rather than please her. Rarity insisted and made no allowance for Twilight to argue. She did the same to Applejack when the earth pony was put on the spot. It felt like the scenario was coming to an end, so I made to leave.I managed two steps before... well...*CRASH*"LOOK OUT BELOW!" It must be a karma thing, I'm sure of it.The flying blunder that is the blue pegasus of rainbow trails crashed through one of Rarity's windows, snow-covered and all, and slammed into me. We bounced off the ground and smashed into the wall. To top off this delightful event, we slid down the wall, in classic slow fashion.I swear, I'm part of someone's weekend cartoon."Ugh, sorry. New trick. Didn't work." the blue pegasus sheepishly delivers."I'll say, unless the trick involves breaking windows and crashing, in-which case, Nice!" I can be snippy too."Why thank you. I've been working on the angle to try an- You're being sarcastic, aren't you?" Rainbow deadpans at the last bit when she caught on. Funny.Perhaps I should lay off for a bit."Idea! I'll make you an outfit for the Gala. While on that thought, I'll add Pinkie Pie and Flutteryshy too!" Rarity began to gather paper and pens with her magic. Both Rainbow and I were slapped in the face by a few pages. "I'll even make a fashion show of it!""What a great idea Rarity! If you're sure you can handle it." Twilight encourages."Then it's settled. We'll have a fashion show starring us." Rarity levitated a few pony mannequins. I had to duck to avoid another collision to the head. I swear, nobody here keeps in mind how tall I am."So all you have to do is make different, stunning, original, amazing outfit for each of us? And lickety split?" Applejack does bring up a valid point."Oh Applejack. You make it sound as if it's going to be hard." Rarity seems to brush off Applejack's concerns.Only time will tell I suppose.Oh looky, she's breaking into song."You finished mine pretty fast, Rarity. Any reason why?" I was curious."Well, I was already in progress with yours when I started with my dress. Besides, you've been telling me stories of your people, and I noticed a particular type you like to soliloquize about." She walks me towards her showroom, "And I decided that perhaps you have a preference of fashion that relates to that. You already like the clothes I made that resemble, what was it... oh medieval fashion.""Yea, you got it right there." I have to say, she did a great job on the tunics and slacks. We stop before her stage with her red curtains still down."Well, allow me to present you my next beauty." She levitates the curtains to reveal..."Holy shite!"Is that a gakuran? How the hell did she make something like this?"How did you make it?" I was pacing around it, it truly looked authentic.Black high-collar long-sleeved blazer with golden dollar buttons. Dark blue slacks that looked well-folded and ironed. On another mannequin, a white dress shirt with a violet unicorn embroidery on the left side over the heart.I might be gushing right now."Well, it took some examinations and breaking down what you told me. You did go into elegant details about these 'Japanese' people you seem so fond of." Well, I guess I do gush on subjects I have preference to. "There wasn't much customization I could go into, but I managed a few signatures. The embroidery on the shirt was my own touch to the ensemble, to let people know Rarity did this. There are patches on both shoulders, here I took the liberty of leaving it dark and empty. This is so that when YOU get a cutie mark, you can attach a copy design to this blazer. So, your thoughts?" She stares at me. It should be obvious though."I absolutely love it Rarity. I'm quite surprised you managed this. The embroidery fits just swell. I'm slightly concerned that you believe I can get a cutie-mark(I don't want one), but I can probably make my own badges for the shoulders. This is phenomenal work." She beams with my praise."You should put it on, darling. I must see how it fits on you." I'm already dying to try it on."Alright, alright. Hold your hors- err cat." I took both mannequins and dragged them over to a curtain."What are you doing, darling? I want to see you put on the suit!" Huh?"I'm going go change.""Then change!"I resume walking, "I'm about to.""No you're walking away!" She now began to follow me."Hey! I need to change. In private!" Geez, don't you have common sense. It's not like I watch you change.Oh.I just realized. I see naked ponies everyday. Ponies don't usually wear clothes. Only on special occasions. It's not like there's no nudity taboo. It's just that there is nothing wrong with nudity.I'm the strange one. I'm the one with nudity taboos.Crap."Err... Rarity, just give me a second. I'll be right back to show you how the suit fits." I dash behind the curtains with suit in hands."Argh! Stop being so difficult!" She joins me."HEY! I said In Private!""Stop being so fussy!""Oi! You're not suppose to help!""You look like you're having trouble!""It's because you're in here!""How is that suppose to be a problem!""J-just get out!""Aahh!" A swift punt(soft punt) launches the marshmallow unicorn out of my impromptu curtain dressing room.Say what you will about my reaction. I'm just not comfortable with someone watching. It's down right weird."The nerve!" I hear Rarity huff. I'm sorry Rarity, but I'm just not comfortable with being seen in the nude. I'll make it up to you soon enough."So..." I was curious and embarrassed."Hmm..." Really, Rarity? Say something! You've made me stand here for about twenty minutes already."Well?""I may have overestimated your size. It's a little loose in some areas..." She continues to circle me with her scrutinizing eyes. "Despite some gaps and over estimations You look absolutely dashing. You may not fill it out, but that barely does anything to dissuade the fact you are quite handsome.""Really?" I'm...speechless. Handsome? Not the first I've heard it directed at me, but it is a rare occurrence."Yes Darling! You would be quite the spectacle at the Gala. Refined, Dark, Mysterious, New, each a part of what you would present to the Canterlot elite." Rarity levitates a couple of pins and a pincushion. "Now hold still. I must fix this up so it will match your form better." Oh, this could be worrying."Shouldn't I take this off?""I'm afraid no, I need you so I can tighten up where the suit is loose."Well, I guess I should just accept it and brace for some pricks. Gakurans normally aren't formal clothes, but I guess since it is something new to Equestria, it would work. Ow."Breaking into song again, Rarity?" I ask the exasperated unicorn. She looks like a mess. Her mane is frizzy and pale. Her eyes are half-lidded and bears redness. "Before you answer that, are you alright?"It is a few days after Rarity showed me my suit. I worked for Smokestack and Cheerilee during the free time. I was informed by Spike that Rarity hasn't been doing well. Could explain why I haven't seen her in a while. Twilight kept bringing her astrology books over to the Carousel Boutique and the few times I've seen Applejack and Fluttershy, they had boots and fabrics respectively. I had gotten the feeling that something was off.So today, I came to Rarity's to see if she is alright.I would bet my fingers that she wasn't."Ah, Why yes I am! Why do you ask?" Your eye is twitching marshmallow."Well, you look a little overworked. Anything I can do to ease the workload?" I don't know anything about dressmaking, but I had a lesson on sewing once."I'm quite alright dear. I thank you for the offer.""Err... Rarity," She turns to me once again, "Yes, Ned?""You just sewed that cloth to Opal." It seems that both Rarity and Opal had just realized what I said was true. In classic Murphy's law, Opal screeched and thrashed about, causing Rarity's threader to hop up and crash into Rarity's snout. She fell over, but along the way down, she got caught on some fabric rolls. This caused an avalanche of rolls, pins, and twine to descend upon the unicorn.I would have laughed...Had I not decided to worry for my friend's safety."Ow" I say simply. I think there is a few needles in my neck. I push that thought back and raise Rarity to her hooves."Thank you, darling." Her horn glows and I feel the steel pins leave my neck. I immediately brush my hand at the back of my neck before scratching it. No real harm done."I think I'll take you up on that offer..." Rarity continues."Sure, what would you have of me?""Rarity...""Yes Ned?" Rarity's voice was strained. I already know why."I know that everyone likes their dress and all..." However, I still need to hear it. And to confirm it for both of us."What is it Ned?""These dresses... they're... kinda...""Oh just spit it out!""Ugly. Ugly as all hell." That was putting it mildly. I may not have Rarity's fashion vision, but I sure as hell know when a bad dress comes up."I know..." She sounded defeated. "And I'm about to present them to Hoity Toity.""umm...Man... This would be a great time to prepare a drink." I have a feeling that Rarity is going to need one. Perhaps I should start looking into grapes or perhaps apples? Trial and error is how people learn new booze, I'm just gonna relearn one."This is going to be horrible..." Yea it's going to be horrible alright."Since the beginning of time, the elite of Equestria have longed for pony fashion truly expressed the essence of their very souls." I'll give Spike credit. He knows how to prepare peo-ponies for something epic. Sad. Should have gotten someone else for this one. "Patiently waiting decades...no, centuries! ...for the perfect pony gown. Today, at long last, Equestria, your wait is over! Let's hear it for the breathtaking designs of Ponyville's own Rarity!"Damn. He is REALLY good. I want him at my funeral. Just with a deeper voice. And constantly spewing fire. Might as well make it a cremation.Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight step down the catwalk(which was built by Smokestack and myself). There was a collective gasp and even the DJ let the record scratch(Classic!). When the ponies finally reached the end of the cat walk, which was a spinning platform(Spike's idea. Really hard to accomplish), there was a long bit of silence.Then that pompous bastard from Canterlot decided to bash on Rarity's work.Yes, we know it's bad! We have eyes good sir! Stop making it more worse than it has to be."Oh! Hide me." Rarity... is attempting to hide under Opal."Come on out and take a bow, Rarity. You wor- guh!" I swiped Spike off the catwalk before he made a terrible situation even more awkward."Well, this could have gone better." To no one in particular. Spike muffled something in my hand."Yea, yea. Maybe next time, catch on to the mood, Dragonborn. Might preve- Ewww stop slobbering against my hand!""Wawity." I state her name. I was currently pinching my nose."I'm never coming out!" is my response."Are you okay in there?" Pinkie Pie says from right beside me. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and myself are just outside Rarity's room. Her door was closed. It was open earlier when she believed it was just me coming in, but the moment she saw the rest of us, she slammed the door. Into my nose. It hurt."I can't show my face in Ponyville ever again! I used to be somepony! Now I'm the laughing stock of the town! I used to be RESPECTED!" Her wailing pierced the heavens that is the door and into our ears. Geez."You're not a laughing stock, Rarity..." Twilight tries her hoof at calming the fashionista."She kinda is." Thank you Rainbow. I swipe at her without looking. "Hey!" Direct hit."Shh! Come on out and talk to us." Twilight glares at both Rainbow and myself."Leave me alone! I vant to be alone! I vant to vallow in... vhatever it is that ponies are supposed to vallow in!" Really? Going Dracula talk on us now? "Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me, I don't even know what I'm suppose to wallow in!" That's pretty sad and funny at the same time."Now what do we do?" Twilight turns to the rest of us."Uh...panic?" offers Fluttershy."That's your answer for everything!" rages Rainbow."I'm inclined to agree with Rainbow on this Flutters, but then again..." I start. Rainbow glares at me now."Well, we can't just leave Rarity like this." Applejack does have a point."She'll become a crazy cat lady!" Pinkie shouts."She only has one cat." Twilight expresses."Give her time." Surprisingly, I finished for Pinkie. This threw Twilight for a loop, before she shook her head and turned back to the door.Curious.I join her as the rest of the girls...err mares left."What do you see?" I ask."A way to make it up to Rarity." Twilight smiles, before motioning me to look as well. I pop back up with a matching smile.And so the day was saved. With Rainbow stealing away Opal to get Rarity to come out of her room so that Twilight and the rest of us could show her that we had(correction, Fluttershy.) completed Rarity's dress to her specifications.The unicorn was overjoyed and became even more so when all the ponies apologized. Rainbow expected me to apologize along with them, but I told her that I accepted Rarity's gift and even helped her out when she was stressing about THEIR dresses.Of course Twilight had me downplay the ribbing.I believed we were done for the day, only for Twilight to bring up the fact that she did convince that elitist to have a second go at Rarity's designs.Needless to say, the second fashion show was beyond brilliant(with Spike once again making a fantastic announcer) and Hoity Toity was overwhelmed.It was a good day."So you told Celestia, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" I ask."Yes, why?" Ah right, She wouldn't know how odd it is to hear a human idiom from a pony.Wait."How do you know the saying, anyway?" I was curious.I was currently sitting on a cushion in the main room of Twilight's tree-house. I was sitting cross-legged and had one of many tomes in my hand. This one was titled, "A Complete History of Equestria". I also had Spike lying down in my lap, snuggling well into my stomach. Twilight was on my right, resting under my arm as I scratch at her scalp(Do ponies have scalps?)."It's something I picked up at Canterlot school. Why? Is it a human saying as well?" Nice instincts."Yea, it basically has the same meaning. I would assume it would have a more literal meaning here, but I guess not." I turn a page and continue to read through the lines. Spike shifts a bit and I close the book(with a finger to save my place) and scratched the baby dragons head with a corner."It does have a literal meaning here. So..." She trails off."What?""I was wondering if you have anymore stories from your world?" Oh, if thats the case."I have quite the repertoire. Give me a second to think of which one to tell."I'm not one to remember perfectly, but I do have a good idea how each one goes. Let's start with a legend. An epic."Well, get yourself settled. Spike, you okay there? Need anything to snack on before I start?""I'm alright. I just had a few apples earlier.""Was this from my stash?""...N-n-no..." Dammit"Forget it. Get comfy."There was a bit of a pause as both Twilight and Spike got settled. Mostly Twilight, as she had to get another pillow and a blanket that covered the three of us."Okay, where to start. I know. (Cough).Long ago, in a land known to most as Greece, there is a strong and respectful kingdom called Sparta. This kingdom is legendary across all of Greece as a gathering of great warriors. It was their primary profession. It is on this day of days, Sparta has welcomed a group of envoys. Not just any envoys, for these individuals were the royal children of their long-time enemies and rivals, Troy. Like Sparta, Troy was legendary. Not for their warriors, but for their city. The city of Troy, was known back then as the impregnable fortress.Of that day of days, a peace treaty was declared and accepted. Bitter rivals became friends and allies. It would be the start of a great alliance, one that could last through the ages.Had it not been for a prince of Troy and the queen of Sparta."I am socially awkwardA/NWell, another lengthy chapter of shenanigans. I was hoping to add a little(scratch that a lot) more. However, I realized that certain scenes I had in my head would be downplayed largely. SO I decided to cut this chapter short.Archery. Gotta love it. Can't wait to mold my hero into, well, the hero he is meant to be.Anyway, please review and keep an eye out for mistakes.I may or may not allow relations to build.Without further ado,SPARTA!

 

[cael]

I can be social. Probably. Maybe.

It was a peaceful winter night. Twilight had Spike and I write up a letter to Celestia last night. She wanted a lot put on the letter, so much that it took us three scrolls. Not the usual scrolls either, but the really long ones."...and I believe we are done!" I cheered."Finally! Sweet sleep! GLORIOUS SLEEP!" Spike might be taking after me abit."I'll set this aside here and you and I shall give glorious love to our beds.""Aye, Aye."My room was under renovation thanks to a recent incident involving my ever adorable followers, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Twilight set up some room up on the loft with her and Spike. After that night I told the story of the Odyssey(No where even close to finishing), Spike has been taking advantage of the fact that I apparently make a good pillow. There was an enlarged version of Spike's old bed, this was for the both of us. I dropped down into the cushion and propped up one of the super large pillows against the wall. Spike then plopped down into my lap and made the best cat impression I've ever seen. He was out like a light in seconds.It took mere moments for me to follow shortly.*Gasp*"Ned, Spike, Wake up! Wake up!"Or so I thought."It's Winter Wrap Up day!" Twilight continues to call to us."Huh? Mommy?" Spike was roused a bit."Go back to sleep, Spike." The dragon seemed inclined to agree with me."Winter Wrap Up!""Don't worry Spike. It's just a banshee. Let her holler to herself" I was tired too."Come on you guys! The first day of spring is tomorrow!" Twilight's voice now hit a new high note. "Everypony in Ponyville needs to clean up winter. Now help me get ready""Everypony? Well then, that excludes Me and Spike." Spike nods his agreement. I didn't see it, but I felt his head move against my stomach."Come on. And Ned, its Spike and I." Ah you grammar Nazi."Sure, you and Spike can go ahead." I retort. Spike groans."Clean up winter? Who cleans up winter? Don't they use magic to change the weather like in Canterlot?" Well, thats something I didn't know."No Spike, Ponyville was started by Earth ponies, so hundreds of years, they've never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional." Twilight sighs as she trots off."No magic? That's ridiculous" Spike comments"Well, for what it's worth. This is the first time I heard it both ways." I add my two cents."Okay, let's see: scarf, check; saddle, check; boots, check; Spike and Ned refusing to get up, check; Spike going back to sleep, check; Ned getting up to learn something new," She pauses to look at me. Now I have my eyes open."You expect me to get up just to learn something? After you made Spike and I work on that theory of yours all night?" The look on Twilight's face said it all. "Make it worth my while""I'll get Applejack to make you that apple cinnamon pie""Guh. Hey! Whats the big idea? Jumping out of bed!" Sorry Spike. Twilight just said the magic words."I'm up, I'm up. Let me get covered and We'll go learn something." Perhaps I'm a little to easy to control."Ned getting up to learn something new, check; Ned getting Spike to get up, check. It's a good thing I'm so organized, I'm ready. Bright and early." I had already donned my shirt, pants, shoes, and hoodie(Thank you Rarity). I also grabbed Spike and his blanket. I walked with Twilight out of the library."Oh...Perhaps a little too early?""Nevermind Spike. We're going back to bed. Catch what sleep you can. I feel like prissy here will wake us in an hour." Once again, Spike agreed. Twilight made a face.Still a good night."I gotta say, Rarity really outdone herself making all of these vests" I glance about seeing various ponies wearing blue, green, or tan vests. We were all gathered at town hall, Twilight and myself were just walking in. Spike was riding on Twilight, he is still bundled in his blanket."She truly did. I wonder which vest I'm going to be wearing?" Twilight asks"I'm already wearing my vest of softy sleepiness. It's too early." Spike still grumbles."Well, I ha-" I started, but..."Thank you everypony, for being here bright and early. We need every single pony's help to clean up winter, and bring in spring" Mayor Mare broadcasts over the crowd from her podium. The ponies cheer, the mood was overwhelming here. "Now, all of you have your vests, and have been assigned to your teams. So let's do even better than last year, and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever!"Once again a wave of applause greets her ears."Oh, this is exciting! I wonder which team I should go for?" Twilight then beams at me. "What team do you want to try out for?"I scratch my head nervously. "Well, Twi. I already promised Applejack I'd help her with the plows." Twilight's face fell when I brought out my green vest(Gotta say Rarity is extraordinary at this), but perked right back up. "You think I can go with you?""Perhaps, you should check out what everyone does first, before making your choice."Hey, looks like they're breaking into song."Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up. Let's finish our holiday cheer~""Ned, the song ended like twenty minutes ago~ You can stop now" Spike seemed a little put off seeing me sing. Who could blame him."What, it's catchy." Twilight nods in agreement as she took in the fact that, yes, I did join in on the festivities half-way through. It was pretty scary."So, Twilight. Have you decided which team to go for?" I look at the purple unicorn."Well, not exactly. I'm going to check and see if Rainbow Dash could use some help." She says as she catches sight of Dash and her team."Hold it! You're forgetting something very important." Twilight stops and gives me a look. I point my finger back at her. She looks puzzled. I point my finger again. Now she realizes what was the problem."I guess I can't actually help with no wings, huh?" Right you are Twilight."Go see Rarity. I'm sure she'll get you something. She's tan team. I'm off to the fields." I turn on my heels and wave over my shoulder.It took several moments before I made it to the fields. There were plenty of plows scattered across the fields clearing the snow. I spotted Applejack and walked towards her."Ello, Jack.""Ned! Just the human I was looking for.""The only human you could be looking for, Jack."We both laugh and then got down to business. Jack showed me the plow she had for me and went over the plan. There was no plan. Just told me to clear the fields of snow.This is going to be fun."Hey Smokestack! You look like you're about to give up!" Well, it should with Smokestack here."Oh shut it. I'm doing just fine. You're the stamina freak here."It was an odd thing to hear. I may have had pride in my ability to run before, but I never had the stamina to run long. The manticore chases have been the longest of my life. I would be lying if I said I didn't take notice of some change since I've gotten here. The lack of meat and junk food was hard to deal with, but I've become accustomed to it. Mostly.What I'm trying to get to is that I'm slimming down. To a point, that I might actually guess that I'm fit.I'm quite proud of that."You're the pony my friend. You have four legs, I got two. You should be out doing me here."The grey stallion flushed in anger before pushing on ahead. Would have been effective had I not caught up to him in a second. Only got him to flush even more.The plow wasn't made for humans in mind(Duh) and it was showing. It was incredibly awkward to push, but I've managed worst in the past. Smokestack and McIntosh had to show me how to work with it and from there it only got easier. I was easily out doing my workshop boss and a few other stallions, but McIntosh is on a whole other level.I would say that in the past four or five hours, we cleared out two fields. We were on good time."Hey Ned!""Yea, Smokes?""McIntosh, Caramel, Harvest, Berry, and I were going to get some pie from the farm, wanna come with?" It's pie, Smokestack. What do you think I'm going to answer?"F- Yes!""I friggin' love pie.""I believe we noticed." Caramel pointed out."Eyup" Stay classy McIntosh."Hard to notice, mate." Smokestack adds as he takes another bite of his pie.The lot of us were sitting on a red picnic table a little off from the field we are currently working on. Applejack joined us shortly after we got our pies. She chided us for slacking, but with McIntosh siding with us, she relented and said we could have our break.We eventually got back to work, Applejack constantly glancing at the sun and the field got on our nerves.It was going to be a typical work day."Hey Ned, isn't that Twilight over there?" Smokes pushed his plow over to my own and gestured his head towards something. I turn to check it out."Why, yes, it is. I wonder if she is taking up being part of the plant team.""That would probably make planting go faster. Wait, she's getting on a plower" Why is she doing that? Heck, Applejack can barely push it."I got a bad feeling about this.""What makes you say that Ned?""Call it a gut feeling, let's just get back to work." Hopefully, I'm wrong.The two of us continue our workload for short while, I could hear Twilight struggling with the plow. I was going to stop and help her out, but then I could no longer hear her struggling."Well, what do you know. She got the big thing moving!" I hear Smokestack call out. He was right. I saw Twilight pushing the plow with great vigor. And a tad too much speed. That wa odd."She's pushing it pretty fast." Way too fast.Not even McIntosh could push it that fast. How is she doing so, it's like ma- oh."Twilight..."I muttered under my breath. She was zooming past the other plowers.Then she switched direction..."Oh no. Incoming!" I hear Smoke and Caramel shout out. They weren't looking and somehow go their plows to crash into my own."Ah crap." I said before the frightened sound of all three of us got drowned out by a third collision from Twilight."WHOA!" "This is bad" "Wheeee!"Needless to say, we had our reactions in the air. We landed in a pile in the snow. Our plows were all busted up and I had difficulty getting my bearing back.I shook my head and heard a low rumbling. I turned my head. Color drained from my face."AVALANCHE!""Is everyone alright?" I ask. A few heads pop out of the snow."I'm all here." Smokestack"Eyup" McIntosh"Okay over here" Berry Punch"Yea!" Caramel"...P-present" Twilight"Well, then. I'm glad no one's hurt." I say as loud snow crunching is heard."Nuts, Twilight! You Used Magic!" I hear Applejack shout. Twilight was already looking apologetic and Jack wasn't making things better."The nerve. Can you believe her?" I glared at Spike. He caught my look and could only scratch at his head embarrassed."...Jack. Don't you thi-" I started."That's not how we do it 'round here, Twilight, and especially not on MAH farm!" Jack interrupted me."Well, see," Twilight was on the verge of tears. "I just wanted to..." She dashed away breaking into tears."Dammit Jack. She was just trying to help!" I snapped at Applejack as I made to chase after Twilight. I motioned Spike to hold still and that I was disappointed in him.It took me a short bit to find Twilight. I first tried the tree-house, but she wasn't there. She wasn't at Sugarcube corner either. Tried the Mayor's office, but no luck there. Or was there?"Twilight..." I say hesitantly. There was a bush not too far from Town Hall with a violet mane with a pink streak popping out of it. It twitched."I'm a winter mess up." She moaned."Causing an avalanche isn't something to doom yourself to that title.""It wasn't just the avalanche, it was the nest-making, ice-skating, and animal-waking too." Oh wow, maybe she do- No."Twilight, perhaps they just weren't to your strengths. You would have been great at seed planting I'm sure. There's also the fact that you don't need to use the plow to get rid of snow, you have magic remember.""I can't use magic. It's not part of tradition.""To heck with tradition. Tradition didn't mention a human helping out, now look at me." I spread my arms to make my point. Twilight stuck her head out of the bush. She almost looked like a furry pony, but with leaves... yea."That's true. Thanks Ned. For making me feel better." She smiles."That's what a good guy does. Put smiles on girls faces" I quip. Twilight laughs."Rainbow Dash, y'all on the weather team need to melt the rest of the snow on the ground and the trees, pronto!" Both of us turn to see Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Spike was there too."Go it" Dash answers and makes to fly."Wait. My poor little animal's homes will get flooded if the snow melts too fast." Fluttershy stops Dash."Got it" Dash answers."I'm tellin' you Rainbow, you gotta melt that snow now." Applejack states."No, you simply must wait" Fluttershy counters."Okay" Rainbow Dash"Go!" Jack"Stop" Flutters"Go!" Jack"Stop" Flutters"GO!" Jack"STOP!" Wow Fluttershy was shouting."UGH! Make up your minds!" Dash finally brings an end to the argument."Oh! What in Equestria are all you arguing about?" Mayor Mare(I swear that name is weird), "This sort of silliness is why we were late for spring last year, and the year before that, and the year before that." Huh... That's less than ideal news. Twilight's brow raises."Did she say late?" The purple unicorn asks. I nod my head."I was hoping my amazingly inspirational(I snort) speech would urge everyone to do better than last year, but now it looks like we're going to be later than ever. I mean just look at this catastrophe. The ice scorers made the ice chunks too big to melt; the nest designer is horrendously behind, we need several hundred, and she's only made ONE!" The mayor lists off the things going wrong. I swore I could here Rarity crying in the distance."And, don't get me started on all the clouds in the sky, the icicles on the trees... This isn't good, not at all!" The mayor finishes. This eventually led to the ponies delving into bickering among themselves. Until the mayor said a keyword. A keyword that Twilight picked up."...organized? Oh! Ned!", "Yea?", "Get my checklist and clipboard!", "On it." I begin to sprint back to the tree-house, this time with Spike in hand. Need him to help me find Twilight's stuff. As we approach the library, we both heard Twilight cry, "STOP!", but we figured it wasn't directed at us.We came back shortly with a pen, paper, and clipboard for Twilight. She immediately began to give out orders for every pony to follow. A set plan that actually seemed logical.It was slightly complicated for us snow-clearers though. Because Twilight broke four plows, we needed something to help us clear the snow. I then got the brilliant idea to take the parts of the four plows and make it into one. Smokestack and I got to work and with the power of duct tape(They have it?), we managed to make one monster of a plow.It required more than McIntosh to push it. So we decided that since it was so large, McIntosh, Myself, Smokestack, and Caramel would push the darn thing. We had several ponies, Berry Punch, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Applejack sit at the back of the plow to plant seeds as we cleared up the snow. It worked out pretty well.Within a few short hours, all of the ponies in Ponyville were back in front of Town Hall."I can't believe it. Spring is here! ON TIME! And we have you to thank for it. If it weren't for your organization skills we would still be arguing." Mayor Mare was congratulating Twilight."It was a team effort." Trying to be humble now aren't we Twi."And since you helped every team, we have an official vest for you. WE give you the title, 'All-Team Organizer'." Mayor wouldn't have none of Twilight's humbleness. Hmm. All-Team Organizer?"Gosh, I don't even know what to say. Thank you everypony" Twilight crossed her hooves in embarrassment."And hereby I declare that winter is... wrapped up on time!" The mayor announces. The whole town goes up in cheers."All-Team Organizer?" I quip at Twilight."Yea, my own team.""Not really a team if you're the only one in it. Also, makes you out to be a dictator. Your bossiness." I added a bow to the flushed face of Twilight."I'm not bossy...""Says the All-Team Organizer. Most Organized pony." I retort and retreat. It would be smart to back away from a frustrated unicorn capable of telekinesis."I regret nothing!" I shout as I run."GET BACK HERE!"I gotta say. I'm really missing the white snow.I've always loved winter. The cold brisk air mixed with the frosty snow makes for some nice walks outside. Accompany this with hot nice cocoa, a book, and a pillow and it is all heaven for me. Twilight would agree for the most part.Dash, not so much.Oh well.It has been a few days since the Winter Wrap Up and there was still some coolness to the air.I was currently walking through the Everfree forest(again), this time with both Applebloom and Twilight."Ned, I haven't seen any crazy gold furred monsters of absolute destruction. You sure its here?" Twilight was giving me that look. The look of contempt. Dammit"It's just backing off. It can feel you two here so it won't attack. The smart bugger. It's waiting for me to be alone." I grumbled."Don't worry Neddy! The Cutie Mark Crusaders will save you from the manticore!" Applebloom tried to cheer me up. "Don't you need Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell?" I ask."Right, probably should wait until I have them around..."We parted ways once we passed Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight and I eventually made it back to the library in time to see Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack hard at work."And that should be the last one! Got my section all done Twilight." Spike wipes his forehead free of sweat. Mostly."Thank you so much for helping me clean up all these books guys. It was a crazy week of studying." I swear, only Twilight could make studying crazy. And adrenaline pumping. Odd.Then I heard something, along with seeing Pinkie's tail twitching."Oh come on!" I shout. Everyone looks toward me, only for me to brace myself.Cue glass breaking and something slamming into my body. I so called it.Whatever collided with me, came with me on my short flight to the bookcase.Needless to say, books were a fallin'."Rainbow Dash, you rock! Woohoo!" I heard a soft voice then gasp. "Did my cheering do that?""Yes Flutters. Your super charged cheering was pretty powerful..." I remarked."Hehe. Sorry about that ladies. And guy. That was truly feeble performance." I hear Rainbow say as she rises off of me. I also sit up and spit out a bit of Rainbow's mane."Actually, it wasn't all bad. I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin." Flutters comments."Ugh." Rainbow face-hoofs, "I'm not talking about my performance, I'm talking about yours. That feeble cheering!" Rainbow shouts."What are you two arguing about?" Twilight asks as she levitates some books. I realize that Rainbow was still sitting on me."Hey Das-", "Were we arguing? I'm sorry." There is no evil bone in Fluttershy."Hmm. I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." Dash crosses her hooves and plops down further into my lap.Ow.Twilight asked what the competition was and Pinkie began explaining all about it in her funny way. Dash made it clear she wanted us to join her, who could blame her. Fluttershy isn't someo-pony to choose for loudness. Then Pinkie said something about a sonic rainboom.Sonic Rainboom?"What's a Sonic Rainboom?"I ask."Neddy Teddy. You really need to get out more( I grimaced). The sonic rainboom is legendary! When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going soooo fast... BOOM! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!" Wow, when put from Pinkie's view. It sounds like friggin' awesomeness."And Rainbow's the only one who can pull it off!" Applejack tosses in her two cents."It was a long time ago... I was just a filly." Rainbow... acting sheepish? That's a first.Pinkie and Applejack were all for encouraging Rainbow for her filly accomplishment. She also told us that she really wanted the grand prize of hanging out with the Wonderbolts, her idols. She made her exit shortly after under the premise of resting up. Something wasn't right.And Rarity was the one to confirm it for me."Go on, go on." Rarity motions for Twilight."Go on what?" Twilight asks."Find a spell that will get us wingless ponies... and human into Cloudsdale. Didn't you see how nervous she was?" So Rarity noticed it as well.Applejack called Rarity out on that, but then again, Rarity is familiar with personal appearances. Twilight had a hard time finding the book in the mess, but Pinkie found it pretty easy. Turns out during the crash earlier, the book had landed on Pinkie's face. Talk about coincidences.Anyway, to test the spell for it was something Twilight wasn't strong enough for, Rarity volunteered to be the guinea pig.Needless to say, It worked."Whoa..." I was speechless."You can say that again partner." Applejack and the rest could only join me in dropping our jaws."There's a place in my mind~" I start to sing."No one knows where it hides~" Pinkie continues."And my fantasy is flying~" I follow up."It's a city in the sky~" Pinkie finishes.I could only stare at Pinkie Pie for a few moments."How-?""The writer told me." She says with a straight face. I continue to stare at that unwavering smile. Suspend belief. Save sanity."Right..." it was all I could say. I turn my head again only to realize that everypony and Spike was looking at the two of us."Let's just get to Cloudsdale before your spell wears off Twilight." I say as I made every effort to keep looking forward.We docked onto Cloudsdale shortly to find that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have already seen Rarity's butterfly wings. Yea, they were speechless too."How are guys up here?" Rainbow asks us."Well, I found a spell that makes temporary wings, but it was too difficult to do more than once. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds." Twilight answers with no hesitation."And we came to cheer you to victory!" Applejack states proudly.Dashie smiles, "To be honest, I was starting to get just a teeniest, tiniest bit nervous. But I feel a LOT better now that you guys are here." She says."Even me?" I had to add."Even you, Nedster." Nedster? Well that brought some feeling of nostalgia. I smile back."Since there's some time before the competition, why don't Fluttershy and I show you guys around our town?" Rainbow asks. We all agreed. I was already mesmerized by a city of clouds. A few passersby took notice of Rarity's wings and made compliments. Applejack suggested that we all find out how weather was made. Ah, I've always been curious."You guys make snowflakes?" That was something I didn't expect. There was a whole factory floor dedicated to pegasi making snowflakes. I guess thats why each one is unique. However, Rarity's wings began to cause a ruckus and mess. Rainbow quickly moved us towards something else. That something else being RAINBOWS!Pinkie dipped by a river of liquid rainbows and took a sip. Her face began to change colors and steam shot out of her ears."Spicyyyyy!" She cries. Well, with a reaction like that, one would avoid rainbows..."HOT Damn! She's right!" However, I've been known to be a slow learner at times."Yeah. Rainbows aren't known for their flavor." I now know why Dashie.It also seemed like Rarity was getting another gathering of admirers. This lead to Twilight trying to get Rarity to play the humble card, but Rarity was basking in envy. Rainbow's spirit were visibly being drowned. Before we knew it, Rarity had agreed to be part of the competition. Well, crap.The start of the competition went without failures and there are a lot of decent fliers. Each having a bit of quirk to them. Take for instance, there was this really buff and muscular pegasus with the smallest wings(Even smaller than Scootaloo's) and he was doing loop de loops like nothing. I check back on the pamphlet(Which no pony seems to be reading) and realized that Rainbow Dash was suppose to be number 2. We just finished with number 9. I excused myself from our viewing booth under the reasoning of bathroom. Curious, do pegasi have bathrooms?Nevermind.It took a little bit to find where all the contestants were being held, but when I did find it, only Dashie remained. I haven't heard Rarity being called, so I was curious where she was."Hey Rainbow." The pegasus looked catatonic lying against the wall, twitching. That wasn't a good sign."Dashie." I said a little louder. This time I caught her attention and I made my way beside her. "Stage fright?" I ask."...No, I'm just...uh... just-", "Scared witless?", "Yea! I'm just scared- hey!" Her anger flashed over her face."There we go. Come on Dashie. You're better than this.""I'm... It's just that what if I mess up?""It's alright to be afraid of that. It means that you're ready. Heck, I was once afraid of my own shadow. Do I look like a fraidy cat like Flutters?" Dash laughs as I quirk my face. "I mean, sure enough I got over my fear of shadows only for it to jump to the boogieman under my bed. You shouldn't really be so worried what you look like. You are who you make yourself to be." I place my hand on her head. She gives me a look, but makes no move to shake it off."Really?""Really, really Dashie. I was once told that the greatest of individuals are not the ones that never mess up, but the ones that keep trying when they do. Flutters says you've been practicing the rainboom thousands of times, but never got it down." Rainbow's expression fell, "But that never stopped you from practicing. You kept getting back up. You will do the sonic rainboom, Dashie, and you will win this competition." I gave her head a quick scratch and rub before standing.A representative came into the room with a clipboard, at the same time Rarity popped out of another room, wearing an elaborate dress that went fairly well with her wings."Rarity... Is Ready!""Look ladies... Sir are you also a competitor?(I shake my head) Good, there's only time for one more performance. If both want to compete, you'll have to go out together." The representative said before leaving the room."Well, I'll get back to my seat. Good luck you two. And Dashie?" Said pegasus looks at me. "You'll be great. I just know it.""Took a long time in the bathroom Ned." Twilight says as I take my seat next to her and Spike. Pinkie and Applejack were munching down on some popcorn. Spike kept stealing handfuls."Everything is white Twilight. I couldn't tell what was a toilet and what was someone's piece of art." I quip. Twilight snorts before we both turn our attention to our two friends coming out for the performance."This is it" Spike says. "GO RAINBOW DASH! GO RARITY!" Shouts Pinkie.And then they were off. Rarity seemed to have picked the music(Classic Orchestra doesn't sound like Rainbow's schtick anyway) and was prancing and dancing in the air. Dash was swerving in-between cloud pillars, but clipped the last one which sent her into a wall."Way to go, Rainbow Crash!" I heard from the side. I stood up as Rainbow flew up to some rounder clouds. I scooped up a chunk of cloud(Geez it was wet and cold), rounded it into a ball, and threw it at a trio of pegasi.Clouds maybe soft, but from what I learned from Twilight, softness can hurt like a lego under a foot. The cloudball exploded into smoke as it made contact. When it cleared, the three pegasi were soaked and shivering. I turn back to watch the show, but Twilight was glaring at me. I could only shrug my shoulders.Oh, looks like the two were going for their finales.Ah, Rarity is going with the transparent light alteration with her wings. Didn't Twilight say something about the wings bein- oh dear.Rarity's wings dried up into thin air, which Twilight shouted. The marshmallow began to fall, there wasn't anything I could do. Wait."Twilight, think you can give me wings?" I ask in a hurry. "I don't know, it's a hard spell remember!" She looked crossed, but then made up her mind. Her horn began to glow and was about to point it at me."Wait! Look!" Spike shouts.Both Twilight and I stop and look only to see that three blue uniformed pegasi were knocked out by Rarity. Spike! Twilight needs all of her attention to cast the spell! We need to sav-Is that Rainbow?It was.There was a streak of a rainbow trail zooming towards the four falling ponies. I could hear Fluttershy gasping and jaws hitting clouds.Is that what I think is going to be?"A SONIC RAINBOOM! SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT! WOOOOO!" That would probably be the loudest I've ever heard Fluttershy. And I can't blame her. That was bloody awesome.Rainbow Dash was going so fast that a cone began to form around her with rainbow edges. The cone started out round before finally condensing to a point which led to a sonic boom, a sound barrier explosion of rainbows. It was bright as heaven and there was an audible pop to all of our ears. Pop does it no justice, it was a rock solo to pure awesome. Better than a double friggin' rainbow.Dashie managed to save everyone, carrying Rarity by her hooves and the Wonderbolts on her back. That was pretty epic."Best day EVER!"Rarity apologized to Rainbow for getting caught up in her vanity. She also apologized to the rest of us for some reason, but we took it in stride. When Rainbow Dash brought up the topic that she wanted to meet her idols when they were conscious, she would find out that they were just behind her. Princess Celestia made her appearance(Turns out she was one of the judges for the competition) and placed upon Rainbow's head her victory crown. Rarity also apologized to Celestia and essentially made a lesson on friendship letter on the spot.Adding more to that was the three pegasi(The ones I caught with a cloudball) came and apologized to Dashie. Dashie was going to spend the whole day with the Wonderbolts, but before she left, she gave me a legitimate hug for the first time since, well, ever."Thanks Ned." She says, I smile, "No problem Dash." I hug back.After such a eventful day, it was good to be back in Ponyville.Twilight and Spike were already asleep, but I couldn't follow.Had too much on my mind. So I decided to take a midnight stroll. I was rounding the outskirts of Ponyville when I heard something cut through the air."Good evening, Princess." I say in my most English voice. Gotta love them English."Good evening, Ned. We have noticed thou be'th not in slumber." Her voice was a tad loud, but it was definitely better than the previous meetings."I seem to have a bit on my mind, Princess Luna." I recall the first time I met this princess. It would be a couple weeks ago. Scared the living crap out of me, but we eventually got along. She was curious on me before and I was the same. It is usually how our talks went. Just purely learning more about one another."Be'th about the competition today? We wished we could spectate, but we were unable." I nod my understanding and the two of us began to walk."No, it's something else. I'm just a little homesick." It was true. As much as I enjoy Equestria, I still have a longing for home. My friends, my family..."Ah, We apologize that we could not help thee." I felt something on my shoulder, I look over to see dark blue feathers. Seems like Luna was comforting me."It's alright. I've gotten used to the fact. Still, I miss Abby.""Abby... would this be your significant other that you have been telling us?""Yea. You can definitely say that." God, I still remember her face, her smell, her laugh. I guess I would do anything to have that again."Is there something that you wish to speak to us about?" Luna was trying to steer me off the subject. Bless her."Yea, I've been noticing different creatures in the Everfree Forest. None of them are on current bestiaries." It has been bothering me and I've been concerned for a while."Ah, what kind of creatures. Perhaps I can identify them for you.""Well, that's the thing. I already know what they are.""Then, what be'th the conflict?""The problem is that even though I know them, they aren't part of your bestiaries. I know them because they are common creatures in human folk stories." I pause, "And worst, your books say nothing about dark age creatures." That put a shock expression on the princess's face."Dark age creatures... such as?" She was being cautious. I wouldn't blame her."Werewolves, faeries, dire wolves, and so much more.""I see, that is troubling. Thou seeth, my sister and I sealed away such creatures many a millenia ago. It is hard to deal with something that should have been solved.""I understand. Is there ways to protect Ponyville?" Perhaps Luna knows the way."We are afraid, that we do no know" Damn."For now, We shall inform my sister. You, Ned Delostrinos, must defend Ponyville." I nod my head. "But, Princess. I'm not skilled in combat. I only have my skill in the bow.""I have faith in your abilities. You will be a grand guard for Ponyville." Great, now how can I pass up if the princess is so trusting."Very well, very well. I shall do what I can princess." I bow towards the dark blue alicorn. Didn't really know a while back that there was a name for a unicorn with wings. Oh well.The two of us made small talk before fatigue finally clung to me. She decided to be convient and teleported me back to Twilight's tree-house.Took to my room and finally got some shut eye.I'm socially awkward.A/NGot it done.Only, I would guess, two more chapters before I start doing something different. One would probably notice that I'm going in a different order with the episodic stories. If anyone seems to be put off by that, I apologize.Anyway, should probably get to molding my hero.Until next time,Review please.alsoNARNIA!

 

[cael]

I can be social. Probably. Maybe.

8

"This seems like a terrible idea." I said as I was dangling from a tree branch several dozen feet above the ground.

"Don't worry about it Neddy! We'll save you!" The squeaky voice of Scootaloo echos through the woods.

"I would like that very much." I quip as I look back at the rope holding me up by my feet. The rope was slightly cut and was tearing(In classic movie style) thread by thread. It was getting dangerously close to - Oh nice.

"Falling... If anyone cares" My voice may have peaked a bit at the end.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! TO THE RESCUE!" I heard my three adorable followers cry as they made their way to me. Sweetie Bell and Applebloom were carrying a net and Scootaloo was dragging a pillow behind her scooter.

The ground was becoming dangerously closer. Like a fat man wanting to chow down on a hershey bar. I might actually be scared.

Yea, they were nowhere close enough.

"Well, damn." Death by broken neck. What a way to go.

That is until I stopped short of hitting the ground and there was a purple glow about me.

"Care to explain this Ned?" Twilight asks as she levitates me towards her, still upside down.

"Helping them get their Cutie-Marks... involuntarily..." I say. The three fillies finally get to me only to find that they were not the ones to save me.

"Aww, now we have to tie him back up there." Applebloom whines.

"Yea, like I'll let you guys get another chance to give me brain damage." I scold them, Twilight even turned me to face them. It would have been nice, had it not been for the fact I was still upside down.

"Girls, it isn't safe doing things like this," Twilight shakes me for emphasis, "Ned could have serious been hurt." The three fillies could only bow their heads in embarrassment. "We're sorry." All three of them apologize.

"Now go run along, I'm sure there are safer ways to get your Cutie-Marks." Twilight suggests and the three crusaders brighten up before taking off.

"Will you be putting me down anytime soon? The blood is making my head woozy." I remark as, yes, my vision is slightly blurred.

"Sorry" She says and promptly drops me. At least, I was prepared and landed on my back. Still hurt though. "Sorry, again"

"Ugh. I'm good, Twi. Thanks for saving me." I get right back up to dust myself off.

"No problem. I was wondering where you disappeared off to."

"Welp, mystery solved. Lets get back to Ponyville. I feel like something is stalking me." I say as I give the Everfree forest a once over. Never liked being in here for too long. Especially when I don't have Fluttershy around.

The two of us made our way out of the forest only to run into Applejack and Rainbow, both whom have been searching for Twilight to be the judge of a "Iron Pony" competition. This was going to be fun.

8

The competition was simple enough in rules. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are to best each other in a series of sports contests to decide who was the best athlete. Twilight was the judge, Spike was the announcer, Fluttershy was the scorekeeper, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and myself were the spectators.

The first event was barrel weaving. The two are to get through the track by weaving in between barrels and reach the other side without touching a barrel. Simple enough, both ponies were fast, but Applejack was faster. However, she clipped a barrel costing her the point which went to Rainbow Dash.

The next contest was the strength test. Hands down, I knew Jack would win this. The pony has been apple-bucking for years now so she would outclass the pegasus. I was proven right when after Rainbow hit the trigger for the bell tower and rung the bell, Jack smashed the trigger and launched both the trigger and bell off in the distance. One point for Jack.

The next test, I could live without. The Bronco Buck. The goal was that both ponies are to buck off the rider, me, in the shortest amount of time. It was decided under the age-old decision maker, "Rock, Paper, Scissors." I lost. Applejack had some difficulty trying to launch me off, but eventually got to it. I had a firm grip by the way. Rainbow, well, she did a quick spin and bucked me off when I was extremely nauseated. Point to Dashie. Ugh.

There was the Calf Roping bout, where both contestants were to lasso me. Applejack had some difficulty as I had some dexterity to my name. She did get me in the end when she distracted me with the promise of pie. Cheater. Rainbow? Well, if lasso'ing yourself counted she would have won. Point to Jack.

The following contests of ball bouncing(I started laughing and only Pinkie, in her weird way, understood), Bale shot-putting, Hoof-wrestling, Football kicking, and Dizzy running. They tied up at 5 points each and neither were showing any signs of slowing down.

Rainbow Dash decided to step up her game. With her wings.

Wings flapped during push-ups, propelled in long jumps, chick pick-ups(I laughed again), and finally a Tug-o-War game where she used her wings to hang Applejack above the pit of mud.

To say it was a little unfair is like saying paint drying is boring.

Applejack made her displeasure known and called Rainbow Dash a cheater. Dashie's argument that she wasn't told that she couldn't use her wings had some merit, but Jack put out that she was hoping Dashie would follow an honor system. Nonetheless, the fight was disputed that they would decide once and for all at the Running of the Leaves festival. Jack's challenge for Dashie? No using wings.

This ought to be fun.

8

"So you're actually going to be part of this?" I ask.

"Why yes, I've always read about it and this time I want to experience it." Twilight answers with that knowing smile. The two of us were walking among the other competitors toward the starting line. Both of us were going to be participating in the race, Twilight mainly for the experience and myself, for the heck of it. I may also want to know how I fare against other ponies. Maybe.

"Twilight? Ned? What in tarnation are you two doin' up here?" Twilight and I found both Applejack and Rainbow settling up at the line. Rainbow seems to have her wings tied to her body. Guess Jack had to make sure.

"We're racing." That set the two ponies laughing.

"Good one Twilight, I mean Ned I can understand, but you?"

"I'm not joking..."

"What? You're not an athlete, you're a... well... an egghead."

"And what's wrong with eggheads?" I ask. Hey, I spend just as much time as Twilight reading. Okay, maybe not as much... nevermind not even close. "Yea. And for the record, I'm just well read." That's putting it mildly Twilight.

"Egghead," Rainbow comments, "But have you ever run a race?" Applejack asks.

"Well, no, but I do know a lot about running" This set the two ponies laughing again.

"Twilight..." I said, "You're not helping your case much."

"I'm guessing from books, right?" Dashie asks, "What'd you read, 'The Egghead's Guide to Running'? Did you stretch out your eye muscles to warm up?" She begins to laugh at her own joke. I could only shake my head.

"Joke as you want, but the running of the leaves is a Ponyville tradition and I wish to experience it. At least Ned understands that." I nod at Twilight's look.

"Well, I think that's just dandy, Twilight. Good luck." Jack couldn't resist a snicker.

"Yea, see you at the finish line... Tomorrow." Dashie burst out laughing again.

I look up to see Twilight's balloon with Spike and Pinkie Pie in it.

"All Right! Ponies! Are you READY!" Pinkie is quite loud, even louder with a loudspeaker.

"Get set!" Spike continues. Every pony got themselves set up and I followed suite. This was gonna be fun.

The moment a bell rung, we all shot off the line.

8

"Looks like everyone is really in the spirit huh?" I ask.

"It's so inspiring. Everypony is excited to see the race and the leaves fall." I wasn't expecting an answer, but I took it. I glance over to Twilight.

"I take it that book told you to set a good pace first, huh?"

"Yup. It is important that you don't tire yourself, sprinting early in a race."

"Correct you are. Though this isn't going to appeal to both Jack and Dashie for a while."

"Well, we will see how they look when we get to the end. Shall we?"

I nod my head and we both jogged our way through the trees.

I have to say, Twilight was right to say it was going to be an experience. The red, orange, and yellow leaves were drifting in the wind.

"I am a leaf on the wind... Watch how I soar..."

"That was nice, Ned." Twilight's voice brings me out of my thoughts. I guess I said it out loud.

"Thanks."

"You should do that more often. It's nice to hear you sing."

"Yea, I don't sing Twi." She smirks.

"Oh, but during the Winter Wr-"

"Not going to happen again." I cut her off.

"Aww."

We stopped running when we came upon the tripped form of Applejack.

"Whoa! I don't believe!" Jack shouts.

"I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?" I nod at Twilight, but...

"That's not what she meant Twi. You alright Jack?" I help the pony to her hooves.

"Yea I'm right as day, but Rainbow Dash just tripped me."

"She did not" Twilight defended.

"She did too!" Jack counters

"She didn't, and if you slowed down and looked where you're going, like me, you wouldn't have tripped over a rock." Twilight points back at a rock jutting out of the ground.

"What?! Oh, hayseed! How I got a lot of ground to make up to catch Rainbow." The apple-bucker dashes off.

"Just be careful!" Twilight shouts as the two of us resume our run.

It wasn't long until we ran into the tripped form of Rainbow. Again, it was another case of not looking where she was going, but I had gotten a different vibe off of Dashie before she took off after Jack.

"You don't think she's going to..." I ask Twilight.

"I hope not."

8

Once again we found Rainbow, but this time she was by a sign, laughing to herself.

"Oh my, Whitetail Wood is just lovely." Twilight comments.

"It sure is. Hey, Dashie, shouldn't you be up ahead?" I ask the snickering pegasus.

"I'm sure to win now." She says.

"Except that the other racers just passed you." Twilight points out towards the rest of the racers.

"Oh horse apples... See ya!" Dashie shouts before running off.

This is a bad trend. I take one last look at the sign before I sigh.

"Looks like Dashie just misdirected Jack."

"Really? Oh that just isn't good. Should we do something about it?" I notice the broadcaster balloon was hovering near the mountaintop that the sign was now pointing to.

"I think it'll be alright. Let's get going." The two of us are back on the path.

The path started to change. There was a steady increase of ponies. Looks like Twilight and I just caught up to the rest of the ponies.

"Looks like we are about to hit the home stretch." Twilight notes.

"Yuppers. Ready for the finishing dash?" I ask. We started passing the other racers.

"That is what the book says I should do around now."

"Bet I can beat you and your book!" I goaded the unicorn.

"You're on Delostrinos."

"What's the stakes?"

"Hmm..." She pauses and we pass a few other racers.

"Well?" , "How about if I win, I get another massage?" Oh no.

"I knew doing that the first time was a bad idea." I had given Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack a massage one time. They all enjoyed it. Far too much. Pinkie Pie was the worst of them, she became overly amorous towards me. Ever SINCE.

"...I'll accept it... only if you lift my no meat ban." Twilight glared at me.

"Not going to hap-", "Only for a week Twilight. I'll only resort to fishing." When I finally got around to actually hunting, I managed to get some game out in the Everfree forest. Problem was that Fluttershy and Twilight found out and started scolding me for killing a bear. That was the main reason why I had a no meat ban.

"...Fine..." Yes! I pumped my fist.

"But you still gotta beat me first!" With that Twilight dashed off.

"Oh it is on!" I kicked my muscles into the next gear. Legs, don't fail me now.

The two of us stayed neck and neck as we passed several other racers. The only thing we were focused on was the finish line ahead.

My lungs labored.

My vision narrowed.

My legs burned.

My body sweat.

I was no longer aware if Twilight was ahead or behind. All I knew was that I was approaching the end.

One more step!

I kicked off with my back leg and lunged forward.

Finish!

It took me a few stumbling steps for me to regain my balance. Geez. My lungs were wheezing from that dead sprint. My legs were like jelly. I glanced over to see that Twilight was also sweating and taking deep breaths.

"So..ha..Who..Ha..won?" I ask.

"I'm...Not...ha...sure.."

"Well, you both tied for fifth place." We both turned our heads to see Princess Celestia beaming at us.

"Tied..ha..huh?" Well, that's nice...

"Looks like I'll be getting that massage" Twilight smiles as she finally regains her breath.

"If thats the case, I'm going fishing later." I also regain my breath.

"What is this about massages and fishing?" Celestia asks.

"Oh Twilight and I made a wager and, with a draw, we both get our deals. I get lift from my ban of meat and she gets a massage from me." I couldn't suppress a shudder. If they weren't sure if hands were a good thing, they knew better now.

"Oh? You wouldn't happen to be doing anything, inappropriate now would you, Delostrinos?" Celestia seems to have that gleam in her eyes that scared me.

"O-oh, I wouldn't worry about that." I quickly answer.

"Good!" She was back to being the sweet Princess I was used to. That was scary.

There was a bit of a scuffle coming from the finish line. The lot of us(everypony at the area) gathered around the crumpled pile that is Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"I won!" Dashie shouts. "No, I won!" Jack counters. "I won!" The two were now snout to snout.

"You tied!" Spike calls out as he disembarks the balloon.

"Tied?!" both Dashie and Jack shout.

"For first?"asks Jack. Pinkie Pie pops up and shakes her head.

"For last."

"Last?" Both Dashie and Jack screech. They both turn to Twilight and I, for we were being given our medals by Celestia.

"You guys beat us?" both last placers ask.

"Well yes, but we only tied for fifth place. Which is rather good considering that I've never ran a race before." Twilight then looks toward me. "Well, I'm glad I placed at all. I'm racing ponies here. I got only two legs." I wiggle one of my legs for emphasis. "Man, I need something to drink." I mutter.

"Oh? Here. Have some of this." I turn to see Celestia hovering a cup of milk towards me. I take it in gusto.

"Thanks, Princess." I take a big swig. Hmm. This brought up a question I had for a while.

"Hey. The only farm here is Sweet Apple Acres, right?" Everypony nods. "Where are we getting milk from?" I was curious. The only cows I've seen are the ones that pass by during the spring.

"Oh, why don't I show you?" There was that strange gleam in Celestia's eyes when she offered. She turns and motions for me to follow. It was only a few steps before I stood before a yellow pony with a blue fuzzy mane.

"Milkmare?" Celestia asks. The blue mane pony turns to us. "Oh Princess! Is there anything I do for you?", "Why yes, You see. Ned(She points a hoof at me) here is curious on where we get our milk. Would you care to enlighten him?" Milkmare blushes slightly before nodding her head.

She turns around.

And lifts her flank.

Now why would she do...

Oh god.

"Are those...?" That's... That's... that's just...

I stumbled back and lurched over. I'm quite sure my face was green. I felt bile rise up my throat.

"I'm going to be sick." I said before I dashed over to a bush. Once there, I removed the contents of my stomach.

"That's just wrong... ugh." I wheezed.

"...Was that really necessary, Princess?" I hear Twilight ask.

"Necessary? No." I hear that witch's answer.

"Then..."

"Fun? Yes." That evil witch.

"Ned... There is a cow farm near Ponyville. We get most of our milk from there as well."

Bless you Twilight. Bless you.

8

"No plotting to take revenge!" Twilight shouts.

I was currently back in the tree-house library. I was in the main room with truckloads of papers all over the place. Spike was with me. He and I were planning out stages of ideas and plots for me to get back at the ruling witch.

"...So if I use the compost here as a weapon..." I was bouncing my ideas off of Spike.

"Well, it all depends on the Princess. If she smells it, she'll avoid it." Spike counters.

"Damn... Then I have to use something that covers the smell..."

"How about pie?" Spike offers. I gave him a look. "Right, no mistreatment of pie... How about using pie as the bait?"

"Well, that does have merit. I'll have to recruit Gran-"

"I said no plotting against the Princess!" Twilight slams her hooves on the table. It causes some papers and diagrams to scatter.

"Twilight... What she did... I must retaliate."

"No you will not. I realize that what she did was mean, but she already apologized."

"That was the most half-hearted apology I've ever heard!"

"Still she did!"

"Fine! I'm going fishing! You coming Spike?" I look to the dragon as I piled up all the papers neatly. I'll have to gather the ones on the ground later.

"Fish? Heck yes, I'm coming!" Spike hops off the table and runs off to my room. It was where I kept all my fishing gear. Thankfully, Twilight had a book on fishing.

"Now? What about my massage?" Twilight gave me that look. Do all females know that look?

"If you want it, you'll have to come with." I offered the unicorn.

"Fine. Let me get a few books." Twilight trots up to her loft.

I sneak a glance to my plans... I believe I have most of them memorized.

Soon, Princess. Soon.

I shall have my revengeance.

8

"Spike, try not to fall into the water this time." I had a firm grip on the dragon's shoulder as he had, once again, leaned too far over the edge of the bridge. We had chosen a bridge that was a little a ways away from Ponyville. We were going to go to the lake, but Twilight said that there would be flying tuna in the rivers this season. Now, I've only caught a bear and a few river basses, I barely even know what those are, but a flying tuna sounds like an experience to be had.

"Geez, make one mistake and you'll never let me live it down." Spike groans. "Yea one mistake, several times." I reminded the poor dragon. The three of us were sitting on the bridge's wide railings and there were two fishing rods at use. Twilight was to my right, reading a book while my right hand moved through her mane. Spike was on my left and he was trying to keep a hold on the rod I gave him.

We sat in silence for a good long while.

"Ned. You're not trying to forget are you?" Damn you Twilight.

"I wasn't going to forget." I muttered before shifting from sitting cross-legged to kneeling to the side of Twilight. She stretched herself and resumed reading.

God I wish I never attempted this in the first place.

I placed my hands at the back of(What I would assume) her neck and began to knead the surface.

"Ooooh." Dammit Twilight.

I began to work down the back, pressing my fingers into her muscles and applying pressure in areas. The fact that I know how to do this well is quite disturbing. I rolled my knuckles against her back. Each action creates a moan out of the unicorn.

This was really awkward.

"Whoa! I think I got a bite!" Thank you Spike. Bless you SPIKE!

"Keep a firm grip Spike. When it relents, start reeling in." Spike did so.

"However when it starts to fight again, ease off and hold firm." I inform Spike. He appeared to be struggling immensely.

"Spike you got it. Keep that hold!"

"It's too strong!"

"You can do it Spike!"

"It's slipping!"

"Come on, Spike! We believe in you!" Getting a little emotional now are we Twilight?

With a mighty pull, Spike ripped something out of the water...

"Buhahahahaaha!" I'm gonna need some context for my laugh.

Well, the thing that Spike ripped out of the water. It was the smallest fish I've ever seen. It barely made a third of Spike's size. And it smashed into Spike, sending both tumbling onto the bridge.

"That's not funny." Spike mutters.

"You're right." I said.

"It's hilarious" Twilight finishes.

We both snickered. Then my line started reeling.

"Welp. Let's find out what I got?"

8

"Well, that was expected." I say as I turn the fishes on the fire. By the end of the day, Spike and I caught several dozen fishes and now I was roasting them over a fire. Spike was cleaning the few fish that I didn't have roasting. Twilight was reading beside me, giving me a look of... well, I don't really know(Or care at the moment). I was going to cook these at the treehouse, but...

"Neddy! There's lots of ponies here curious on how you cook." Classic Pinkie, make a simple outing into a party. There was a group of various ponies from Ponyville, each wondering why I was cooking fish. Well, its something I rather not deal with.

"Thank you Pinkie. However, this is going to take a few more minutes." I inform the excitable pony.

"Oky Doky Loki!" She chimes.

It would only be moments afterwards that everypony was chowing down on fried fish. I will have to see Zecora again to thank her for the spices. Turns out Zecora knows a bit more than just potions and remedies, but also spices. While Twilight may have been against my need for meat, she may now have some lenience if I just stick with fish. I mean, I'm all for eating fruits and vegetables, but I'm only human. I need some meat in my stomach.

"Seems like everyone's enjoying the food." I say.

"Surprisingly enough."Twilight comments.

"See, there's no harm in meat." I comment

"Unless you killed a bear for it." Twilight retorts

"Well, now I know better. I didn't think I would have survived Flutter's lecture."

"It was your own fault there Ned."

"True."

I turn to see that Spike is well into his fifth portion. I think introducing him to meat wasn't the best of choices, but ,then again, it was nice to see him satisfied. Better maintain his diet now.

"Spike, ease off the fish. Let other ponies get their share." The dragon could only sulk at that.

"Thank you, I'm afraid Spike might be getting too much meat." Twilight says.

"Yea. I noticed it myself."

The two of us continue munching on our delectables.

Damn, really gotta make it up to Zecora.

8

"An' that's when the yellow birdie thought to himself, "Hmm. My favorite little tree isn't such a little tree anymore." So she sang her song, big an' strong, an' they all lived in that great, big tree happily ever after. The... End."

"Applejack... It is times like this, you scare me."

I just walked into the caboose of the train to witness Applejack, of all the sane ponies I know, reading a bedtime story. That in itself isn't strange.

"Ah shucks, I'm just telling Bloomberg a bedtime story." Jack answers.

"Jack... You do realize that Bloomberg's a tree, right?" Yup, a bedtime story told to a tree.

"An Apple tree." She corrects.

"Oh, sorry. You do know that's an APPLE tree, right?"

"Heh, well... you know that replanting and transferring can be an unsettling experience. So I'm just trying to make him feel better." The orange pony sheepishly crosses her hooves.

Yea. This is my life.

"Right... I'll just be back with the others. Try not to be a shut in now." I say as I turn on my heels and exit the caboose.

"It's not fair! Why does that tree get its own room, while I have to share?!" Rarity shouts at me.

"Well, Bloomberg is the reason we are going on this trip Rarity." Twilight answers.

"Yea, and besides, aren't we just fine company for such a beautiful mare?" I sang sweetly.

"Well... I guess you all do make a good entourage. However! I am still cramped in here." Rarity stomps her hoof.

"Relax Rarity, it's only one more day of travelling." Jack says as she comes back from the caboose.

"Ugh. You treat that tree like it's a baby or something." Rarity whines.

"Who you calling a baby?! Bloomberg's no baby! He's a strong and mighty tree. Don't wet widdle Wawity make you all saddy-waddy. Bloomberg's a tall and strong apple tree. Yes he is. Coochie coo coo!" That's just disturbing, Jack.

"Its widdle Wawity that's all saddy-waddy." Don't join in Wa-er- Rarity.

"You two need professional help." I state.

"I doubt they'll listen though." Rainbow comments.

"Do you guys mind?" I turn to see Spike rubbing at his eyes. "I had to wake up early to fire-roast those snacks. I'm pooped." He continues.

"Speaking about snack," Rainbow shakes her bag of popcorn, "I think I have a few unpopped kernels." Spike groans.

"Fine..." Spike shoots out a flaming loogy. It incinerates Dashie's bag.

"Guh..." She drops it on reflex and I quickly catch to redirect it outside. It'll burn away so it's not littering.

"I guess we should turn in for tonight. We have a big day tomorrow." I say.

"Besides, that way we are up early for tomorrow." Twilight adds.

"Awwwww" goes everypony.

The lights turn out and I lay onto my bed. It was a little cramped. Obviously made for a pony.

Damn this world and not making things slightly bigger.

"Psst. Hey Pinkie. Are you asleep yet?" I hear Dashie whisper.

"Yea. Are you asleep yet?" Really Pinkie?

"No... How would I ask you if I were asleep?" Dashie whispers irritated.

"Oh...yea..(she giggles)Neddy. You asleep yet?"

"Not anymore" I whisper back and I roll out of bed into a crouch. I notice that Dashie is holding a lit candle. Both ponies were in the middle of the cab.

"Anyway. You guys don't think, that when we get to Appleloosa tomorrow that we will have to carry that heavy tree?" Dashie asks.

"Hmm? What tree? You mean Bloomberg?" There's only one tree on board Pinkie.

"Noo, guh... I was talking about Fluttershy." Dash answers sarcastically.

"Fluttershy is not a tree, silly." Pinkie giggles.

"Hey what's going on?" Don't you have a silent voice, Twilight?

"Dashie thinks Fluttershy's a tree." Pinkie answers.

"I do not think Fluttershy's a tree," Dashie corrects.

"Did you say she was a tree?" Twilight asks.

"No. Well, yes...not exactly-"

"You know she's not a tree, Dash." Twilight says clinically.

"She's not a tree, Dashie"

"I would like to be a tree." Really Flutters?

"OH for Pete's sake!" Spike shouts before grabbing his pillow, leaping off his bed, and walking towards the last cabin. Now I feel bad.

"A bit huffy don't ya think?" Twilight says.

"Huffy the magic dragon." Wow, Flutters got jokes... Wait a minute.

"How do you know about Puff the magic dragon?" I ask.

"Well, he is this dragon that takes care of the Canterlot library-" Twilight starts.

"Nevermind. Stupid question."

"Will you all please. BE. QUIET!"

We all jump to see Rarity in a horrifying facial masque. Twilight quickly blows out the candle and we are all covered in darkness.

Nice night. Had Pinkie learned personal space.

8

The lot of us are on our way to a place out in the west called Appleloosa, where Jack is delivering an apple tree to her relatives. It was to be a four day trip in total. Perhaps there were a few things we didn't consider in the equation.

Like a herd of buffalo ambushing the train.

Said buffalo also stole the caboose containing Bloomberg. And Spike.

So we arrive into Appleloosa to meet with Braeburn, one of Applejack's cousins. Jack tried to inform the excitable pony that the tree was stolen, but the darn farmhand wouldn't stop hearing himself talk and showing us around Appleloosa.

Good lord. There's so many pies.

Anyway, Jack finally told Braeburn that the tree(along with Spike) was stolen. Turns out that the Appleloosans have known and have been harassed by the buffalo for some time now. Puts things into perspective, it does.

Rainbow and Pinkie(They went after the stolen train) came into town with one of the buffalo(Little Strongheart) and they want to talk on the behalf of the buffalo. Jack tries to get both Braeburn and Strongheart to negotiate, but they couldn't. Instead, Dashie and Jack argue in their place.

"These negotiations could go much better." I comment.

"Yea, both ponies and buffalo have good reasons to keep the land." Twilight remarks.

"Hmm, which brings to my attention. Why can't they jus-"

"Oh! I know how to help both sides!" Pinkie interrupts. She then dashes off, telling us that she will have her answer in a few minutes.

I'm curious on what she plans to do.

8

"...share and care..." I give voice to the silence that followed Chief Thunderhooves ultimatum.

Pinkie Pie gathered both the buffalo and the Appleloosans in front of a stage and began singing a song about sharing and caring. It was long version to my solution to the situation. Despite the semi-awkward show, it did present some kind of entertainment. Just not the one we need as neither the chief or sheriff liked it. It was the one thing they could agree on.

Where in the world did Pinkie get that dress...

Anyway, the Appleloosans will not be giving up the land and have been baking up pies. To use as weapons...

That is just evil.

That's pie cruelty.

Despite my audible(read: loud) objections, the Appleloosans plan to use the pies as projectiles.

I may have cried.

"This is too cruel, Twilight. This is pie cruelty!" I cried. Spike was patting me on the back as I was on my knees.

"Ned... Aren't you overreacting?" the unicorn asks. The nerve.

"It's PIE! TWILIGHT!"

"You know how Ned gets about pie, Twilight." Spike states.

"I can sympathize with him." Rarity supports me.

"Well, by noon tomorrow. All them pie is going to be wasted." Applejack grimly predicts.

Damn.

8

The sun was high in the sky. It had no clouds to obscure it and it was beaming down heat relentlessly. I am currently at the frontlines of the fortification of Appleloosa. Trying to talk some sense into the Appleloosan beside me.

"It's pie, mate. You don't waste good pie."

"I'm sorry, but we don't have an abundance of anything else."

"Why not throw apples?"

"Because someone could get hurt."

What.

"Someone could still get hurt with pie in their face."

"Yes, but with pie they would be disorientated."

Oh, I guess that makes sense. In a retarded world.

"Still, pie is not the way!"

It was all that was on my mind for the past forty-eight hours. The main reason why I came along for this bloody trip was to experience Appleloosan pie. Jack had told me that the pie here was very good and different than Granny Smith's. Now I have to deal with these ponies using them as rocks.

I look to the horizon, there was a shadow over a hill just outside of Appleloosa. Looks like our buffalo friends were here.

It was intense. For moments after the clocks struck noon, everyone was expecting the herd to stampede. For moments, we expected violence.

There was none.

"Well, looks like the pie will be sa-"

"~–whaddaya say?

You got to share

You got to care

It's the right thing to do"

Ah. Fudgenuggets. Damn you Pinkie

"CHHAAAAAAARGE!" I could feel the chief's roar from down here. The whole herd of buffalo came stomping down the hill and across the field. That bloody pink pony was still singing, trying to convince the herd to reason.

"Ah, Pinkamena!" I shout as I vault the barricades and bales of hay towards the dancer. Buffalo are twenty yards out. Ten feet to Pinkie

"You gotta SHARE~!" She lulls.

Ten yards, five feet.

"You gotta CA-hugh!" I grab the pinkette and spin on my heels.

I wonder if I can outrun a buffalo? About to find out.

"RUN!" I heard someon- pony call. Then I saw pies descend from the skies like angry birds. heh.

I carried Pinkie past several Appleloosans, "Stop the Violence!" Pinkie shouts, and had to dodge several collisions. I finally decided to throw Pinkie into one of the buildings, a saloon, and did so. "Wheee!" She cheers as she soared into the saloon. I turn only to roll to the side to avoid a buffalo from spearing me. I danced my way across the pie-riddled battlefield, each pie wearing down on my morale. Eventually I hit a clear spot and took inventory of the situation. There was debris of hay and wood about, buffalo sprawled about dizzy, Appleloosans lie crumpled about, and loads of pies wasted. It was horrifying.

Then I spotted both the sheriff and the chief having a standoff. The chief stomped his hoof and the sheriff managed to gather one pie to his fight. The two could only stare each other down. The chief charges. The sheriff cocks his hoof back.

"Hold it!" The two stop dead in their actions as I stand between both with hands raised at both of them. I immediately snatch the pie out of the sheriff's han-hoof. I bring it before the chief.

"First, before you start crushing things again, eat this pie." I ask of the chief.

Thunderhooves gives me an incredulous look before reluctantly obliging.

His eyes display his awe. Pie, you've claim another believer.

"Yum! I have a better idea!" He exclaims. I wonder how slow these ponies(and buffalo) are sometimes.

8

"That was great Ned! You got both the buffalo and the Appleloosans to compromise." Twilight was ecstatic at the results.

"I would have done it sooner had it not been for someone and their musical number." I glared at Pinkie, who could only smile like she always does.

"There is never a bad time to be singing!" She counters.

"Your singing caused the stampede..." Jack says. It didn't look like Pinkie was listening.

"Well, I'll be telling Princess Celestia...Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing. Even the worst of enemies can become friends. You need understanding and compromise. You've got to share. You've got to care–"Twilight says.

"HEY! THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Pinke shouts.

8

After a long and trying week, it was finally good to take a rest. Between helping the Appleloosans, catching the parasprites, dealing with Flutters' papparazzi, and the running of the leaves, things can get pretty tiring.

I was in Twilight's treehouse, reading another tome(This one called "Legends of Equestria, a Star Swirl Chronicle). Spike was munching on some pie(My own baking) nearby and Twilight was reading her own books at my side. She still has my free hand scratching at the back of her head. Once Spike finished his pie, he let out a big yawn that caught both Twilight and myself joining.

"Well, looks like we should get some sleep. Tomorrow's the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight says and Spike and I nod our agreement. Preparing for that gala has been a trip.

"Well, before we sleep, why don't you tell us another story, Ned?" Spike asks as he rubs his eyes drearly.

"Sure. Why not?" I answer and motion for him to come over. The baby dragon trots over and plops down into my lap. Twilight levitates her books towards the shelves and scooches in closer.

I turn a page in the tome and cough.

"Alright, where did I leave off... oh right...

After leaving the land of Ismaros, terrible and destructive storms tore at Odysseus' ships. Eventually, after many forthdays and fortnights, they came upon land. Desperate to find solace from the storms, Odysseus and his men found shelter in a large cave, big enough to house the trojan horse and more. Once inside, they discover several herds of sheep. Twas an oddity for the cave did indeed appear to be inhabited, but the utilities were far larger than any. In fact, they were bigger than the whole body of any in Odysseus' crew.

Twas then that they encounter a grand cyclops~...

I am socially awkward. Somewhat.

A/N

Well, finally finished this chapter off. Needed to get through the first season so I can get started on the rest of this story. I played a tribute to another mlp fic(Hands) and probably everyone can find it.

Anyway, I've now moved up from word pad to Google Doc. So hopefully no spelling errors.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the read.

Please review. I would love to hear opinions on these.

Until next time,

LIVE FOR THE SWARM!

 

[cael]

I can be social. Probably. Maybe.

Sleep is bliss. It is the natural way to get rest for the body. It is a time that one usually leaves all that is the world and embraces that of their subconscious. It is amusing that as a child, I hated to sleep. It was something that cut into the time of enjoyment. What a fool I was. I can now truly appreciate the gift that is sleep."Ned! Wake Up!"Welp. Appreciation's over."What... I'm sleepy" I groggily say, "Spike needs his sleep too." the dragon on my stomach chimes."Come on! Today's the day!" Twilight shouts."Today is a day like any other day. I still like sleeping." I retort."Fine! I'll make you get up!"Before I knew it, Spike and I were lifted into the air and then dropped unceremoniously in a heap. Effective way to get someone up. Reduces actual physical effort to rouse the victim. I'll have to return the favor someday, Twilight."Thank you, Twi. I needed to be dropped like a sack of apples."I muttered. Spike groaned alongside me."You're welcome, now let's get going, we a lot to do before the Grand Galloping Gala." She says as she trots down to the main room. Spike and I give one last lingering glance at our bed, (And I realize that as I write this, it sounds completely wrong) before following the strict unicorn. We find Twilight levitating a saddle sack onto herself. Spike climbs on to Twilight and I grab my black hoodie (Rarity has made several of them for me) and join them."Alright, lets get our tasks done and learn something!" Twilight cheers."Woooo..." Spike and I chorus. Wearily.First few things on Twilight's list involved helping Cheerilee set up a stage for their talent show. Smokestack and I did most of the work with some help from various ponies (I think Caramel, Berry Punch, and Lucky Clover were among them). Afterwards, Smokestack had told me that there was a big order that he needed me to help him with. After slight arguing with Twilight, I managed to get out of her plans and help Smokes.The order was primarily support braces which I learned are for the Apple Family's new barn. So lots of quality and work. Not like I didn't do good work, mind you. Big McIntosh came in to check up on our progress and Smokes persuaded the hick pony to help out. Not like we needed it though, for I managed to finish up the necessary braces fairly quickly. I then extended my services into installation. This led me to help out construct the barn. Smokestack didn't come along as he got another order to deal with. This led to a development I didn't learn until now. Smokestack has a daughter, Chimney Sweep. She was about near Applejack's size, dark gray skin, black mane, and a..well..chimney sweep cutie mark. The two of us helped out McIntosh and Applejack build up the new barn. It took slightly longer than I had planned mainly because my ever adorable follower, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, came to help.It was disastrous to say the least. Well, at least it was all fixable.Eventually the barn was finished (And in dire need of a paint job), and Chimney and I had to leave. We went separate ways as I needed to do something to cool off from such a busy day.My breath is deep and slow.My arms are strong and locked.My feet are spread and dug-in.The arrow is notched.The string is taut.Breathe inBreathe outReleaseZanshinVisualize the target in the mind. Manifest the image of the mind into reality. Put forth your spirit into arrow release.Make your dream into reality.*Thud*The arrow hits center. Like many times before, I have successfully managed to flow through the steps of kyudo. A hard process, but once I got the mentality down, it became natural. I wonder how that person would feel about this.Probably tell me that I was lacking somewhere.Once more I took stance and drew my arrow. There are several stages or steps to kyudo. Each one important.Ashibumi - FootingDozukuri - PostureYugamae - Readying the bowUchiokoshi - Raising of the bowHikiwake - Drawing of the bowKa-"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" I immediately ease the tension of the of the string. I was surprised, but at least I got the swiftness to unnotch my bow. I turn to see Twilight and Spike coming out from the forest (Which reminds me, that manticore has yet to come after me...). Twilight has this expression on her face that displays her disappointment. Looks like I might get a scolding."Ned! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?""No, but I can assume that it was longer than you wanted it to be.""Yes! After building the stage for the talent show, we had to help Fluttershy and her animals, the Cakes at Sugarcube corner make cakes, and Rainbow get some frogs out of some ponies' yards. We could have used your help then.""Well, I helped Smokes build braces for Applejacks new barn, then I helped her build up the new barn.""Well, that could explain why Applejack didn't need our help earlier... But still, I still needed you for the others.""You seem like you had it well in control. Making the braces was a rush job, so I sorta needed to cool down.""This is how you cool down?""Yes, like I told Jack. This is something I like to do.""Come on Ned. We got to get ready for the gala." I see a shimmer about myself and I knew that arguing would do nothing now. So I allow myself to be levitated, not like I could do anything about it anyway.I probably never mentioned it, but the bow I made is primarily similar to one that anyone would find used by Native Americans. I would consider making a yumi, but I wasn't familiar in making bows... Books. Read them."Pinkie! Ned! Get off the trampoline!" Rarity shouts. I'm currently wondering where Pinkie got a trampoline, but decided to accept the walking oddity that is Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was doing flips while I attempted to only to curve into a faceplant.Good time fun.Faceplant.I hate trampolines now.Faceplant.Really do.Faceplant.FLIP DAMN YOU.Belly Flop. Thats slightly better."Pinkie, how are you doing flips...?" I ask"Well, silly Neddy. You tuck and roll in the air! Silly." She says as she does exactly that. Dammit."You two must cease that jumping. I don't want you to sweat in your clothes." Rarity says. Oh right, there was something I was curious."Why did you have a trampoline, Pinkie?" I ask as I bounce once again. Pinkie flips over me."To...show...how...EXCITED...I...am!" She answers."Dears please!" Rarity chides us. She grabs us mid-bounce with her magic and settles us on the ground. There was Twilight settling before a book, trying to learn a new spell. Spike was munching down on some apples (probably from my stash, again), and Rarity is trying to get Pinkie and I to stop doing strenuous things (More like Pinkie though). Soon enough, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy joined us."Spike, place those apples here." Twilight says as she points Spike towards an open space. Spike does so and quickly dashes away. Twilight's horn begins to glow and before we knew it, she blasted the apple into an actual apple-themed carriage. Four greatly exaggerated wheels of white, a drivers seat in the front, and elaborated white windowed doors to the inside."...I get a feeling this is similar to a princess' story..." I whisper to myself."Okay! Fluttershy, did you bring them?" Twilight asks."Ah, yes. Now will they be safe?" Flutters asks. Fluttershy then reveals two mice that skitter over near the apple carriage."You have my word, Fluttershy." Twilight says as she prepares her spell.Once more, the purple unicorn's horn glows before a beam shot out and enveloped the mice. Their forms obscured by magic, only their silhouettes remained. Slowly, but surely, they grew larger and formed into something equine in nature."Large white mouse horses with whiskers... That's just odd." My opinion was echoed by the others. Well, it turns out that Rarity brought along her cat.Thinking about it, I should have expected what happened next.Despite being giants and much more menacing than before, these horses were still mice.Opalescence is a cat.Cue giant mice horses running like the wind.It was pretty funny."Oh dear." Flutters says."Wait! Come Back! Those horses are suppose to pull our carriage to the gala..." Twilight bemoans."Oh whatever shall we do?" Rarity moans out.I take a gander about and notice a few stallions. More importantly, stallions that owe me big."Hey Caramel! Clover! (He shouts back, "CALL ME LUCKY!") Come over here." I call out to the two stallions. They trot over with curiosity (Agitation on Clover's behalf)."What's up Neddit?" Caramel asks. Neddit? How many times are these ponies going to use nicknames I've already gathered... Nevermind."You guys wouldn't mind helping our lovely mares by pulling their carriage would you?" I offer as I present Twilight and the rest. Rarity seemed to catch on and proceeded to play her part. She was doing what I assumed was charming the two stallions. Crossing her front hooves and bowing her head seemed to do the work, though the hair flip and eye flutters were a bit overkill."Won't you boys~ help us out~?" She purrs. Rarity, that's just unnecessary.The two stallions' heads nodded so fast, I had honestly feared for their necks."Well, that settles that. I'm going to go change." I say."Same here." Spike chimes as he follows."Ah, We shall be right back." Rarity adds. Wait..."Rarity, you're not going to help. That's final." I scold the marshmallow."Nonsense, there are some attachments I would like to see on your suit." She counters."You can hand them to me and I'll see if they work with the suit." I offer. Please take it Rarity."Oh, but darling, you wouldn't know where they're suppose to go." She rebukes. Dammit."Hey Rarity, what are you and Ned arguing about?" No. Pinkie stay out of it."Ned is being stubborn, he just doesn't want me to help him with his suit" Rarity explains."I'm perfectly fine with the suit, I can put it on just fine. Rarity""Oh, but my accessories can make it even better!""Oh silly Neddy! You should just let Rarity do it! I'll help you Rarity!" No no no no. Not fair."Thank you Pinkie. Now let's have at it!" Rarity says"Yes! Hey Neddy...Wait!... Why are you running!?" Pinkie calls out."I think you may have traumatized him." I hear Spike say as I continue my retreat."Come on! Let me in!" Spike begs beside me. The two of us are on the driver's seat of the carriage. Caramel and Clover (Call me LUCKY!) are in front of us pulling the carriage."Sure thing Spike." I hear Dashie answer. Well, looks like the dragon might get a peek of what I would assume is adolescent heaven in this world. Wow, that sounds so wrong in concept."Oh heavens no. We are changing." I hear Rarity snap... Hold the phone."Oh now you're playing the changing card!" I shout back."Well, of course, we, ponies, have standards." She cuts back."And what about earlier? To you and Pinkie violating that rule against me?" I ask. I may be slightly agitated."Oh, I believe it is because you are not a pony." Ow. Double standards."Beg pardon, but...uh... Rarity..but we don't usually wear clothes." Thank you Jack. Finally, somepony with some sense."Ugh. Pardon, but some of us have standards." Rarity falls back to that 'standards' policy of hers."Trouble in paradise city..." I mutter."I still can't believe we are coming back to Canterlot! It's our hometown, Twilight. And the best part is that we are going to we are all going to hang out all night long!" Spike is very excited. I pat the dragon's head. He beams up to me."Uh...I-I don't know, Spike." Rainbow says. Uh oh."We'll have to see." Rarity adds. Double Uh oh."We're going to be a mite busy." Jack chimes in. Triple Uh oh."Busy having fun!" Pinkie as well. Spaghetti oh."Uh... okay." Damn, the dragon deflates with each of their answers. I rub his head once more, and he looks back at me."I'll be with you, don't you worry about that Spike." I answer his silent question. He smiles brightly."Don't worry, Spike. We'll spend some time together tonight." Twilight attempts to make Spike feel better, and it works. The dragon is radiating joy once more."Great! Cause I planned out my insider's tour of Canterlot. I've gotta show Rarity the crown jewels. And Applejack the Princess's golden apple tree. And Pinkie, we gotta go to my favorite donut shop. Then let's get moving! Hyah!" Spike snaps the reigns from my hands and cracks the straps. This causes both stallions to neigh surprised."Hey! What's the big idea?" Caramel snaps."Oh...sorry." Spike whimpers."You're lucky you are friends with both Miss Rarity and Neddit," Clover (Call me Lucky Dammit!) warns.We are all on our way to Canterlot for the gala. I can see grand lights in the distance. I can safely assume that they were from the gala. I can guess that we are only minutes away.The mares are in the carriage getting changed (More like dressed in most of their cases) for the occasion. Spike is wearing a baby tuxedo and it suits him perfectly. I am sporting my dark blue gakuran. Rarity and Pinkie force upon me, earlier, a small dark blue cloak that attaches to my left shoulder and covers my left side. Alongside the cloak, I am given a white braided cord that loops around my right shoulder. I'm not quite sure what it was suppose to signify, but it did look good. Reminds me of my time in that ROTC class back in high school..."I'm so excited!" Spike mutters."I can tell Spike." I state."Can't we get there faster?" He asks."Grow some wings or offer Caramel and Clover (You are just mean!) incentive to go faster." I offer. The dragon deflates."Uh... I'll get you guys doughnuts!" The dragon attempts weakly."Yea, no." Immediately shot down."Might want to distract yourself, it passes the time faster." I told the dragon."With what? Not much to do from here." Very true."Alright. I'll do this just once. For you, Spike." I bring on my hands to clear my throat. I may have been slightly inspired by prievious attempts. I begin to snap the reigns against the wood of our seat. Building a rhythm."Okay...~I was walking down the street,when out the corner of my eye,I see a pretty lil thing approaching me~She said, 'I've never seen a man,who looks so alone. Oh could you use a little company~And if you pay the right priceyour evening will be niceor you can go and send me on my way~I said ' you're such a sweet young thing,why do you do this to yourself? She looked at me and said~'There ain't no rest of the wicked~money don't grow on treesI got bills to payMouths to feedAin't nothing in this world for free~No I can't slow downI can't hold backYou know I wish I could~No there ain't no rest for the wicked~Until we close our eyes for good~I tap my foot and increase the tempo to the snaps. I made sure that the snaps wouldn't bother the two stallions. My head was bobbing to the rhythm.I noticed that Spike was bobbing as well with this look in his eyes. Eyes focused on me by the way. I would hazard a guess, but I'd say it was admiration. Hopefully. Turns out that both Caramel and Lucky (Thank you!) were looking back at me. I turn my head to see that the mares were sticking their heads out the windows of the carriage, giving me that rare look. Surprise all around."Whut..." I ask everyone."Didn't expect you to actually sing" Caramel says."I didn't think you can sing." Clover (NO!) quips"I don't usually sing because I can't sing." I say."Well, that was pretty good." Twilight says. Really now?"Quite the voice. A little more work on high notes and you'll be just dandy." Rarity comments."Well...thanks I guess. By the way. We're here."No seemed to notice, but myself. We came over a hill and we were now before a grand castle. There were dozens of other ponies flooding towards it. Some by wings, some by carriages, and some just by foot. It was a sight to behold. There were even spotlights all around."Whoa. That is a lot of ponies." I comment as we pull into a drop-off before the castle. Spike and I disembark the carriage, I tell Caramel and Clover (For the love of Equestria!) to park the carriage with the rest, and that their suits were in the driver seat. Before they proceeded to follow my suggestions. The mares finally reveal themselves."Wow, you all look amazing!" Spike states."I'm inclined to agree. You all look beautiful." I was being serious. I even bowed before them."Why thank you boys,"Twilight struts before the rest, "I can't believe we are finally here. With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this... the best night ever!" She finishes.Oh looky, we're about to break into song... Not going to join on this one... nope. nope. nope."Stop being so catchy..." I muttered to myself."Yeah! This is going to be the best night ever! You know why? Cause we're all going to spend the night to...gether? Or not." Spike deflates at the end as the gir-mares split up to their own devices. I pat the dragon's head once more."This is suppose to be the night we spend together..." he whispers."Don't worry about it Spike. They'll come around to it. For now, you got me. Let's go see what their serving." I urge the dragon to move along. Spike took me on a tour of the castle. We came across the kitchens, which we both terrorized for pies and sweets. Afterwards, we came into the gardens where we found Applejack and her stand."Hows the sales Jack?" I ask the orange pony. She gives me a defeated look."Well I made one sale in the first minute, but haven't made a sale in the second minute, or the third, fourth...fortieth..." She trails off."I understand Jack. Spike you hungry?" The dragon nods. I smile and dig into my pockets. I produce several golden coins, these are bits of Equestria."We'll take a pie and a few fritters." I tell Jack and drop the coins into her box."Aww shucks. You guys didn't have to pay. I would have covered ya'll." She says as she gives us the pie and apple fritters."It's all for the family and the farm, right?" Jack nods. "Then I'll happily pay, Jack." I tell her.We left shortly after, I told Jack that she could probably do better indoors. But then again, there was a free buffet...Oh well.Spike and I went to the library. Why? Mainly because what Twilight said. I was majorly curious."So... Puff the magic dragon?" I ask."Right in one." Puff answers. He was about four or five feet tall, gray scales with really small wings. He had silver eyes and short snout like Spike. Along with the scales, he has a puke yellow underbelly. All in all, nothing like I expected."Wow..." I really had no idea what else to say. I was just speechless. It wasn't that "so awesome I can't talk" speechless, but that "this is just plain weird and stupid" kind of speechless."Yes, now is there something I can help you with?" Puff asks. And I swear he does puff out a bit of smoke as he talks."No, just looking around. Getting a feel of the castle." I say."Yea, I'm giving him a grand tour of my hometown." Spike answers."Ah, then enjoy your visit." The gray dragon spouts out another cloud. Spike and I leave the library, I wasn't quite in the mood to grab a book and read somewhere.The two of us spend our time wandering the castle, we met a couple of other party guests, but they were all pretty snobby. Some took interest in myself, mainly because of my odd appearance, but once the initial effect of being different wore off, consider these ponies done and gone."Spike, come on. You've been moping since the start of the gala." I egg on the little dragon. He had been a bit on the downside of things. I've been the one keeping up our conversations when we met up with the other ponies."I just thought that we would be spending tonight with everyone." Spike says. I frown, mainly because I am irritated. However, I can't just scold Spike about this."It'll get better mate. Let's go grab a bite back at the kitchen." I offer the dragon."Alright, hopefully they found some gems by now.""I highly doubt it."The two of us came through the ballroom for it was the shorter path to the kitchen. We happen to be right in time for the the Pony Pokey apparently. All of the Canterlot elite could only stare at the eccentric creature that is Pinkie Pie, and Spike and I couldn't blame them. Wait, yes we can. These ponies are all snobbish and no idea how to have fun. We continued well on our way to the kitchen. There were no gems. Spike got sad.Time to do something incredibly stupid."Ned, that isn't smart." Spike is eyeing me carefully. The two of us just left the kitchen and I happen to procure (read: stolen) a large silver tray from the counters."The world is built upon unintelligent decisions, this is just me following tradition." I offer the dragon some sense. It wasn't good sense, but it gave some context. Spike already informed me that he wanted to leave the gala and go to an old place he goes to. I decided that leaving without doing something worthwhile at such a grand party is just nonsense. So I took the liberty of doing said worthwhile thing.Which involves a tray, a railing, and slight case of the stupid.Oh looky, I found the perfect one."Ned, I got a ba-""You worry too much for a dragon. Besides, its just going to be me getting hurt. You'll get a kick out of it." I tell the dragon before I transition from walking to running. I increase my pace and hold out the tray, my cloak is billowing in the draft.Ten steps remaining.Alright, if I truly attempt this I have to get the angle right and the tray placed properly.Eight steps remaining.If I don't do it right, I'll fudge it up and probably break something.Six steps remaining.Oh dear. If I mess up, this will be a grand flop. Maybe I shouldn't go through.Four steps remaining.Ah crap, don't think about it. You can't chicken out now. Do it. Do it for Spike.Two steps remaining.Don't do for Spike! Do it for... NARNIA!No steps remaining.JUMP!And I did so. Leading with my left foot, I bend both knees to bring my feet closer to my body in order to clear the rise of the railing. I bring the tray down once I cleared the railing, bringing it down under my feet. I notice that this staircase is actually the entrance hall staircase. How do I know? Because Twilight and the princess were at the bottom of the steps.Oh this is going to be swell.I vaguely make out that Spike is shouting after me. Too late dragon-born. The tray makes contact with the railing and my feet force the connection further. I recall a memory of only riding a skateboard once. I never could do anything on it. I felt my face drain of warmth and color. This was such a bad idea.However, I have already slid down several feet. Nothing has gone south yet. Elation begins to seep into my mood. I could feel a smile spreading across my lips. I see that there is a line before the princess. Looks like guests are lining up to meet with the princess. Oh, theres another set of steps before the princess. These stairs are like those steps that rise, meet a platform, and then split off to different wings. Nice. Oh, looks like Twilight and the princess have just noticed something odd. That oddity being me. I would wave, but I'm busy not breaking something.Twilight's eyes widen in fear with a slight hint of a scolding edge. Princess Celestia's widen in surprise and there was that strange gleam to her eyes once more. The other guests look in my direction and could only choose between gasping or screaming. A good portion chose the latter.In a feat of dexterity and strength I know that I don't possess, I manage to grab a post by the end of the railing, grip the tray, and swing around the post onto another railing of the final steps.It was exhilarating and scary as hell.It made me question the reality of this world once again.I kick off the railing as I near the end of it. I hit the main floor running and look back to see Spike dashing down the steps. Everyone else? They are standing still, some still screaming, and all of them are looking at me."I can't believe I sur-""That was sooooooooo AWESOME!" Spike shouts out as he reaches me. He had his hands balled up under his chin and his eyes bore adoration."Glad that cheered you up mate." I smile as I turn towards the door. "So... doughnuts?"The dragon nods his head erratically and the two of us leave the gala.I may have been strutting like I owned the place... May have.Spike and I may have binged a tad on doughnuts. What can I say, I like powdered doughnuts."Another doughnut! With extra sprinkles!" Spike calls out, dear lord, is he getting drunk on doughnuts?"I'll take a glass of cow milk please." I still haven't gotten over the whole Milkmare incident."Coming right up. You should ease up abit Spike." Pony Joe says. Pony Joe is a light yellow stallion with a tan curly mane hidden under a small white with red stripes bakers cap. He sports a matching shirt."More sprinkles." Is all the stallion gets."Alright. Oh hey! Twilight Sparkle, good to see you again!" I hear the stallion call out. Spike and I turn to see that Twilight and the rest of the girls have showed up in. Some of them (primarily Fluttershy) look disheveled."Hey, how was the ga-""Oh this looks like a story that has to be told." I interrupt Spike as I offer the girls some space by the table.Twilight begins to scratch her front leg nervously. "Hehehehe, well... let's start it off with..."Some moments later."Wow, that sounds like the worst night ever." Spike comments."Well... can't say I expected it." I add on."Well, I just hope that the princess isn't upset that we ruined the gala." Twilight noticed I raised my hand to catch her attention. I then point behind her. She turns and yelps."That was the most entertaining Grand Galloping Gala ever!" Celestia says as she approaches the table. The expressions on everyone's face deems that this was unexpected."Pardon me princess, but tonight was just awful." Twilight counters, "The gala has always been awful, Twilight." Celestia points out. "It has?" Twilight asks, "Oh yes, that is why I was thrilled to have you and your friends come. I was hoping you all would make it a little more exciting. I'm sure you'll agree that tonight isn't so bad for this group of friends." The princess states."You know shes right. Spending time with friends tend to make nights like this one a whole lot better." I add. Twilight gives me a look. "And what about that stunt you pulled back there?" She asks in a scolding tone. "What stunt?" Rainbow chimes in. I've been noticing some strange stares from that pegasus since the Young Flyers competition. "Oh, just the most awesomest of stunts of all of Equestria!" Spike says proudly as he strikes a pose. I could only smile at the praise. "One of which, Neddy didn't actually believe he could do. It was quite the sight." That was from Pinkie... wait. "How in the world did you know that I didn't believe I could do it?" I ask the pink anomaly. "Oh I read the story, silly." How can she deliver that so straight-faced!Ignoring the anomaly, Twilight continues. "You're right, princess. Friends do have a way of making the worst of things better.""Yeah! Like hanging out." Dashie"Laughing" Pinkie"Talking" Flutters"You just like what I wanted to do the entire time?" Spike chides."Yes, Spike. You were right." Twilight concedes to Spike."As horrible as our night was.." Jack starts."...being together with our friends has made it better." Rarity finishes."Infact, its made this - the best night ever!" Twilight and Pinkie add on.The lot of us laughed. Then Spike yawns."That may have been one doughnut too many buddy." I tell the dragon, who yawns again."Well, it has gotten late. Oh dear, do Clover(I can hear "CALL ME LUCKY" in the distance) and Caramel haven't gotten to distressed." Rarity says worried."Well, chances are they are probably at an inn for tonight. We should probably find one ourselves." I offer."Oh that won't be necessary. You all can stay at the castle." Celestia brushes away our worries. Oh sweet. I'm gonna sleep in a castle!We were all back in the castle of Canterlot. Twilight and Rarity are both talking to Celestia and the rest of us were following in good silence. Well, most of us."So Nedster, what was this about a stunt that was the stunt of all stunts?" Dashie asks. "Well, it involves a tray, a railing, and a lack of self preservation." I answer. "And a whole load of awesome." Spike adds. Dashie gave me a look. "Show me.", "Well, we need a railing and-", "Alright, then let's go back to the main hall.", "Hey, hold on Dashie. I didn't agree to thi-", "Move it Nedster!" The two of us continue to throw back and forth until we arrived at the staging ground.Yea, we separated from the rest of the group."Dash, I'm not quite sure I can replicate the trick." I object weakly."None sense, any trick can be performed twice." She counters."Yea this one is one of those rare exceptions." I counter her counter."Horse apples, Nedster.""This isn't like your sonic rainboom, Dashie.""Hey, I only performed that one twice.""Yea, I know.""And if I could do that, you can do this.""Not going to happen.""Yes, yes it is." She says before shoving a silver tray in my hands. The hall was empty, but still lit up. For my earlier misconceptions of this world, it seems that they do have electricity. Odd. I've always wondered how they would change their light bulbs. And for that matter, who runs the power companies?"Dashie... you know what, fine." I give up against her stubborn nature. Better comply before she does something more idiotic. With a whoop from Dash, I run towards the railing banister once more.Ten steps.Alright, let's do this just like before.Eight steps.It looked easy the first time.Six steps.No it didn't, it was hard as hell.Four steps.Shtako, this isn't going to go well.Two steps.Fierfeck, don't jump!No steps.Ah, crap.The moment I cleared the railing, I knew something was wrong. Despite the fact that I already knew that, I still tried to make the best of it. The tray was under my feet already, and about to make contact with the railing surface. Perhaps I went to far in the jump, maybe I got the tray placed incorrectly, or maybe I landed on the tray wrong, but things went sour pretty fast."Ah, damn." was all I could let out before a series of crashes, groans, and grunts followed. First, the tray went lop-sided. Second, my groin met the railing. Third, despite already falling, the tray assisted the railing in my groin assault. Fourth, I hit the post at the end of the steps, which clipped me quite well to knock me off the railing. Fifth and finally, there was the awkward landing at the mid-platform of the steps.To summarize it all. Ow. Long version? Oooooowwwwwwwwwwwww."Ned! Are you alright?!" It should probably look obvious Dashie."Yea, just peachy down here. Might have dislocated something." I say as I cup my family jewels. Gods that hurt. I felt something press against me before flipping me over. I see Dash with a slightly worried expression."You look alright to me..." Dashie seemed to trail off. She was giving me that weird look again. Her eyes locked with my own. Her front hooves pressed into my chest. I was getting a weird vibe here. We were silent, only the sounds of our breathing could be heard."Dash," I wasn't comfortable with this, "You mind getting off?"The pegasus didn't seem to notice I said something."Ned..." After a short while, she finally said something. "Do you have a special somepony?"Special somepony? As in a good friend or..."No..." I chance my answer. Flags were raising in my head. I extremely worried why."Then consider this an open invitation." Oh no.Before I could do anything, the blue pegasus lowered and claimed my lips.My limbs didn't moveThey couldn't moveThe world stood stillMy mind couldn't comprehend what had just happened. For what I believe were minutes, all I could do was lay there and receive a lip-lock from a pony. Correction, a pegasus. How does this even work. Two completely separate species. How does one see the other in any sense attractive. It just doesn't work. I don't suddenly see rabbit in the yard and get urges to go to town on it. A pony shouldn't even see a human as anything, but a fellow inhabitant of it's world. Yet here I am, currently mid-smooch with that of the flying equine race. This world needs more context and a set of rules, laws, or whatever people or ponies or dragons or whatever would follow more.Eventually, the pegasus ceased her actions. She lifted off my person, blushed (Again, how), and quickly sped off."What. The. Hell." Not a question. Merely a statement."I was wondering where you went off to." I turn my head to see the white mare that is Princess Celestia. I'm suddenly curious on how long has she been standing there. There was that strange gleam in her eyes, though."If you do not mind, I have a matter I wish to discuss with you, Ned Delostrinos." She says. I assume that we would not be talking about what had just occurred. I lift myself to my feet and turn to follow the alicorn. She steps down a hall and I walk up by her side.I am so confused."What is it you would like to discuss?" I ask the ruler of Equestria. We eventually came to a stop in, what I could assume, an observatory. There was a large glass dome in the ceiling, stained glass on the walls, and elaborate equine-related designs on the floor. Various banners lined the wall."There is something that has come to my attention and I require a service of you." Celestia says cooly. Now this is getting weirder."Services?""Yes, you have spoken to my sister about various creatures that you have seen in the Everfree Forest.""Yes, I did. Creatures not currently seen in any of your bestiaries.""Well, under those suspicions, I have sent a small team of my trusted subjects to investigate." There was more to this story. I nod to allow the princess to continue."I sent them five days ago. I have yet to receive word from them. I fear things may have become complicated.""You wish for me to learn the fate of your subjects?" I could see where this was going."Yes. To my belief, they may have gone past the Everfree. There is another forest just beyond. I would suggest starting a search there.""Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I have yet to agree." The princess's eyes narrow."Oh?""Now while it is terrible that your team has yet to return, it is of none of my concern to risk my own life to learn of their fates." I'm not going to chance my life on this princess."That is unfortunate." Her eyes never lost that gleam."I thank you for considering me, but I just don't see the po-""Ponyville would be in danger." I stopped. Why would she say that?"I'm sorry?""Whatever is in that forest will eventually come to Ponyville." She begins to pace about. "A threat that none of my soldiers are familiar with." She begins to circle me. "Creatures that haven't been seen for nearly over a millennia have appeared. Only you, myself, and my sister are familiar with these beasts." She stands before me, her eyes locking with my own. "My sister and I have our duties here. We cannot drop our responsibilities on what we do not know. I can only ask of you."Dammit. Dammit. Dammit."Ponyville needs you, Ned. Your friends need you. Will you not help them?" She asks. I'll give Celestia one thing, she definitely knows how to be regal and authoritative.Dammit. Dammit. Dammit."I have only a bow, princess." I have conceded to her cause."I have a sword for you." Celestia's horn glows and there is a flash. Out of the ether, floating before me is a gleaming white blade. It is a short sword of probably four to five feet length. It is roughly seven to eight inches wide, and there is purple runes along the flat of the blade. The hilt is wrapped in red leather and bears a tassel of red. At the end of the blade and just above the hilt guard, there is an insignia of a sun decal. Turns out the other side of the blade bears another insignia, this time of the moon.Celestia levitates the blade into my hands. It isn't too heavy, I would guess around fifteen or twenty pounds. She tend produces a scabbard. The sheath is gray and bears violet runes down its surface. I am also given the scabbard."I'm honored, princess, but I don't know how to use a sword." I say as I sheath the blade. This is mostly true because all of my knowledge on sword fighting comes from, well, tv shows and cartoons."I'm sure that when the time is dire, you will gain the necessary skills." Now what the hell does that mean?"I'm not sure I follow, princess?""You will know when the time comes." Really?"This is a lot of faith you're putting in me, princess.""I am sure that you will succeed at the task. All of Equestria depends on it." Oh, no pressure then."This is a lot to take in.""Do not worry, the blade is enchanted. It shall purge any evil and will always guide you in darkness." Ok, so effective against monsters and has a bright light attachment. This is getting better and better. What's next? A bag of holding?"Now young Ned, retire for the night. You have a quest to embark on and I wouldn't want you to be tired at the first step." From there, Celestia points me in the direction of the wing that everyone else is staying at.Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. I just agreed to risk my life at something out of a role-playing game. Where is a wise-cracking archer when I need one... oh wait. I guess I fall under that category...This is going to be weird.The ceiling is dark. The room is dark. The sky is dark. It is bloody night, of course everything is dark. I look out the window of the bedroom I'm sleeping in. The moon is high in the sky and there are stars a plenty.I've been tossing and turning in my bed (A bed that fits me!) for about a few hours. The whole investigation thing is wrecking my mind. I'm wondering what I would find. I'm hoping I just find a team of ponies that were just lost. Thing is, I highly doubt Celestia would ask for my assistance if was just that. Something must have happened. She probably didn't tell me all the details. Dammit. Why did she have to emphasize the threat on Ponyville?I sit up in the bed. This isn't going to work. I know something is going to happen on this thing. I can just feel it. I should probably tell Celestia that I-"Hey Ned, are you awake?" I look towards the door of the room. That sounded like Twilight."Uh... yea.""Can we come in?" We?"Sure." The door opens to reveal Twilight and Spike. The two walk in (Well Twilight walks, Spike was currently riding her) and close the door."How can I help you guys?" I ask."Well, Spike here is having trouble sleeping..." Ah, I see."Sure, you two wanna come up then?" Both pony and dragon nod. Spike yawns once more and it is contagious as I join him. The two of them climb onto the bed and snuggle in. Spike takes his usual spot on my stomach and Twilight lays herself in the crook of my right arm. I place my right hand on Twilight's back and rest my head once more on the pillows."Comfy?" I ask."Yep." They answer."Goodnight Spike. Sleep well, Twilight.""Goodnight Ned. Goodnight, Twilight.""Sleep well, Ned. Sleep tight, Spike."And like that, I no longer question why I should do this.I am socially awkward. Definitely.A/NWelp. This chapter took some time. I rushed the gala part and I apologize for that. I wasn't quite sure how I was suppose to play that one out, but I guess it is what it is. Anyway, things are a changing. No this isn't a clopfic. I will do what I can to avoid that. I chose my genre for a reason. Anyway, let me know what you guys liked and didn't like. Tell me where I can improve and what went well.Diaries of a Madman. I may be using you for inspiration. Now if only you would stop being so damn evil...Until next time.THIS IS SPARTA!

 

[cael]

I can be social

"Now, Zecora, what exactly do each of these do?" I ask the zebra Mohawk as I raise various vials. There was a multitude of colors to each one and I wasn't quite sure if I was even safe carrying these."Each concoction carries different effects, so listen well to each subjects." I swear she does that just to mess with others."To cure your wounds, choose red. That way, you will not end up dead." Yea, she really loves doing that."For when something has poisoned you, green will be that which cures you." That's cheating, Zecora."Yellow is a particular fellow, caution for it bears an explosion." Now that's just fuc- wait. what?"Explosions?""Yes, would you like to test?" HOW! DOES! SHE! DO! THAT!Rather than let this rhyme master that could give both Mr. Rogers and Doctor Suess a run for their money continue, we both exit the zebra's hut to see what these yellow vials really are. Despite the fact that Zecora lives deep in the Everfree forest, there are some parts here that are clear of trees. An odd thing for such a haphazard forest. Not too far from her abode, Zecora and I enter one of these clearings.There was a hay mannequin near the center, oddly shaped human. I leveled a look at the zebra, who apparently takes it in stride as she leads me closer to the center of the clearing, there were some bales of hay strung about."Someone planned this test out..." I say as the zebra places several vials of various colors upon a bale of hay."A test for your tools, so you would not be caught a fool." She slips through her lips so easily. She carefully arranges the vials so that they are organized. I still have yet to learn how these ponies grasp things with their hooves, but then again that is but a nitpick against more important things. Like how Zecora knows how to make these potions."You wouldn't happen to have magic skills now, would you?""A unicorn, I am not. But in all of us, magic trots." Ah... I have no idea what she meant there."Right. So, what kind of explosion does this make anyway?" I turn the test tube with a cork on top containing the yellow liquid about. It swishes silently within. So far, it seems pretty stable."Against flesh and plant alike, it shall deliver a powerful strike."After a moment of Zecora and I moving bales of hay to make an impromptu bomb shelter, I stood several feet away from the hay dummy. I gave the zebra a glance, maybe she'll stop me and say this is a bad idea, and then I throw the vial.Perhaps there was something quite hard underneath all that hay because that vial shattered quite easily. Oh, it also vaporized the dummy.Yea.I was surprised.And salivating.Mostly surprised.The moment the vial broke against the target, there was this distortion. I believe it would be a shockwave that bent light. It rippled out and along with the waves, the dummy convulsed apart into pulverized strands. The ground bore evidence of the shockwave as there were dust clouds of dirt kicked up. Along with all this visual distortion came the audible boom to the ears. My ears popped and there was an annoying ringing in my sound-holes. The little dust in the air settled and I turned towards the zebra, digging into my ear with my pinky."What in bloody hell was that?" My voice sounds distorted."A concoction that causes concussion, an ability to distort used as a last resort." That actually makes some sense. Some."How did you accomplish this?""A concoction that can be known as Triton, when mixed well can take down even a titan." For sure."Alright. I assume that these vials are somewhat hard to break?" If they are too fragile, I am not carrying those with me."I I have a case for the vials. You would not need to worry.""Hey, you didn't rhyme there. I knew you could speak normally.""Speaking in iambic pentameter, not always a parameter.""Now you're just fcukin' with me."Zecora resumed her list of vials that she has given me. She apparently has been making plenty of these concoctions and just storing them. They were never something she planned on using, but created as so to satisfy the mystery behind each mixture. She was genuinely happy that I was going to field test the lot of them. I got a satchel from her that had a hard case inside for the vials. It was designed that it would be easy for me to reach in and grab a vial (If i practice, I could get what I need without looking) without worrying about any of the vials falling out."Hey, Zecora." I interrupt the zebra's monologue about the process of making her potions."Would you happen to know anything about a group of royal soldiers passing by?""What purpose would soldiers have in these parts, is there something brewing before Nightmare's eve's starts?" I shake my head and spread a map across one of her tables."Well, the princess has sent a group of her most trusted followers here to investigate a strange occurrence here." I point towards a section of the map, an edge of the Everfree forest. "Surprisingly, this area hasn't been properly documented or even searched. So the princess wants me to see what happened to her subjects.""Ah, a place even some of the more ferocious of beast never wander, for it is beyond what this forest holds secret and ill wonders." Zecora gives me a contemplative look before glancing back to the map."Would you happen to know how to get to the edge faster? I would like to avoid complications along the way." I really don't want to be attacked by the manticore, He has yet to make a move since that last time. I'm getting a little paranoid."There is a dirt path that winds from the back, it shall lead you to the edge if you stay on track.""Thank you, hopefully I don't get mauled to death later. Take care until next time"I waved my farewells and left the zebra's hut. It was roughly late morning as the forest was still on the dim side. Spring air breezes by and I tug my coat closer to my body. I really have to hand it to Rarity for making this.Rough leather formed from the bear I killed a couple weeks back made my coat. It was dark brown and did pretty well in fending off cold and water. It is a bit on the thick side, but it did nothing to hamper my mobility. Underneath the bear coat, I wore a thick white tunic of nothing significant, but it was warm. I would have gone with slacks today, but I decided against it. Instead, I went with brown breeches. I wore dark brown leather boots that are a true masterpiece by Rarity, they were sealed tight, waterproof, and fit snug. My bow was tight against my back with the bow string gripping me across my front, the sword that Celestia gifted me is secure in its scabbard attached to my belt, and the satchel of my necessities was strapped to my shoulder and secured against my belt. Can't be too careful when one is carrying several vials of explosives and combustibles.Especially that last one.How did Zecora get wildfire?I've never really liked the Everfree forest. I'm sure I've gotten this message across a few ponies several times. Nearly everything in this place wants to kill me. Though, so far only the manticore wants to do so, but I'll safely assume that everything else wants to follow suite.With what wants to kill me aside, the forest isn't too bad actually. There were a plethora of fauna that were appealing to the eyes. Some cater some extravagant smells, but then again some of them are deadly to inhale in some amounts. Its fairly quiet with the occasional white noise of animal noises and wind. There are some hillside clearings within the forest that offer a nice view of the land. So yea, the Everfree forest isn't a screaming, slithering, slimy, death zone.It has its benefits.Hey, it's starting to rain. I've always liked rain. Not to be melodrama-Why does the rain taste like chocolate milk?Once again, this world does wonders to my preconceptions.Oh well.~Chocolate Rain!Some stay dry and others feel the painChocolate Rain!A baby born will die before the sin~A loud howl drags me from my fit of song. My eyes quickly dart across the sides of the path. That sounded pretty close. Damn, I knew my singing would be the end of me. I increase my pace down the path, best to get out of this forest sooner. With each step taken, the beating of my heart quickens. Every so often, the howls would return, each one closer than the last. Eventually, there was going to be a climax to this tension.That would be the the source of the howling leaping onto the path.It was big. Much bigger than I imagined. White fur, maybe silver fur. Large paws and long legs. It easily matched my height. A long snout that carried a large mouth of sharp teeth. Yellow eyes locked onto my own. By all that was holy.It's a dire wolf. A big one at that."Ah, fudgenuggets." I was truly drawing a blank on to what to actually say in this situation. I mean, yea I've seen dire wolves before, but they were in movies. To the best of my ability to tell, this was a legitimate dire wolf in front of me. It howled once more and to my worsening morale, a few more distant howls responded.I need to go.Now.I immediately dash off the path and into the fauna-filled forest. I could hear the footfalls of the wolf giving chase. Leaping over roots, hopping through bushes, winding through vines, and sliding under overhangs seem to do the trick of putting some distance between me and the wolf, but not much.Its ragged breath steams against my neck. It exhales vibrate within my ears. It's honed eyes burn into the back of my head. I really could do without that on my mind.I could see a bright light beyond the trees. There was the edge. I directed myself towards the light. I felt the beast follow suite easily. My breath laboured and sweat dotted my body.Just as I was about to clear the forest, I felt something snag into the back of my coat. A force lifted me off my feet and launched me forward. To my horror, I realized that the wolf had just taken a bite at me and caught my coat. He had me in his maw, but we were moving too fast coming out of the forest. Chocolate rain was still falling and the ground was muddy, the wolf and I were sliding. Just out of the forest was a ledge, we flew over said ledge.The jaw of death released me as we tumbled down the hillside. We rolled and rumbled in the muddy slope. I had a huge fear that the vials on my person would burst in all of this rolling. As the sky with pink clouds and the dirty muddy ground constantly switched positions, the wolf and I eventually came to a halt. This cease to our rolling came to be as we apparently sloshed into a swamp. Or perhaps it was a marsh.Finally free from the beast's fangs, I swim to the surface to catch some much needed air. It was then I realized that the water wasn't that deep. I stand up to take stock of the situation: the water level was about my chest height, it was brown and murky, and that wolf just broke the surface just a few feet away from me. It roars at me before howling to the skies. Unfortunately for me, it was answered and when I looked to the top of the steep hillside, there was a pack of the dire wolves.Luckily, they had the common sense not to leap down the steep slope and promptly ran off to probably find a safer route. Nice, but that still leaves me with one wolf that is more than eager to take a bite out of me.Its eyes met my own. Yellow met brown. It roaredAnd something just brushed past my leg.My body went still. What creature could be in these waters. Marshlands, or is this a swamp? A snake monster or perhaps a river kraken? Hopefully, it only responds to movement or sounds.The wolf lowered itself in preparation to lunge. I really didn't know what to do.Do I stay still to avoid being taken by whatever's in the water?Or do I move out of the way of a predator lunge?My answer came when the beast took to the air. It only clears a few feet ascension before a small figure also leaps out of the water and collides with the wolf. Their trajectory changes and more figures pop out of the water and cling to the wolf. I felt more things brush past me.We definitely disturbed a pod of whatever lives in these marshes.The wolf continues to thrash about, trying to rid itself of these creatures. There was no better time to make my exit. Swiping away my fears of being dragged down, I began to trudge through the murky depths. Each step was emphasized by the wolf's continued plight. Eventually, I made it to the water's edge. I grip the grass and dirt and pull myself out of the water.Oh, something just grabbed my leg.I was plunged into the bile water and a humanoid figure came upon me. My fist shot out and hammered the side of the creature's head, I would presume. It drove that away to my side, I looked down towards my leg only to see beady black eyes staring right back. I brought up my free leg and slammed it down on those eyes. Whatever clung to my leg was now no longer doing so.With desperation clinging to my muscles, I took to the surface. I broke the water medium and quickly scrambled over the grassy mound out of the marsh. I made sure I was a good distance away from the water before finally slumping down on my back. I took breathes that were very much needed. I took a curious glance towards the sounds of the wolf.IT was green, almost a dark teal. IT had black beady eyes that bore no pupils. IT had a pale yellow beak that was fairly short. IT had bowl-like shell on its head that was white in color. IT was all wrong and wet.IT could only stare at me.My mind supplied the potential name of this creature. Kappa. A river spirit or creature.This creature continued to stare at me. ITs eyes bore into my own. I broke the eye contact and made to my knees. One glance told me it was still staring at me.Perhaps this might work.I bowed my head until my body was parallel to the ground. I held this position for a moment or so and lifted back up. It appears that the creature had return said bow. It gave me one last glance before turning towards the commotion behind it and dove into the murky depths towards it.I just realized. It stopped raining chocolate.It is a testament to my mental capabilities that I can suspend my beliefs for extreme durations. Talking ponies, I can handle that. Magic, I can handle that. Manual weather, yup I can deal with that. Hell, I can deal with Pinkie Pie. Most of this probably would break a lesser man (Pinkie Pie probably would break anyone that was left), but I persevered because I apparently had a large tolerance for the insane.Now, perhaps on its own, this abomination would probably not phase me much. However, when placed upon an ever growing pile of stuff that just doesn't make sense, even I could lose my cool."Rodents of unusual size. Fcuk. I'm in an rpg for sure."Right before me is what I believe is a rat with black fur and tiny brown eyes. It was about the size of a dog. It was roughly small starting from its snout, but it grew more rotund as I get towards its rear. Its rear would probably be best described as a giant boil covered in fur and has a tail sticking out. The giant rat snarled at me and I was a little agitated for the moment. I drew Celestia's sword and made to swipe at the blasted rat. Before I could commit to the swipe, the furry little bugger ran off deeper into the forest.The forest isn't too bad. Sure the trees largely tower over the trees of the ones in the Everfree and are pretty thick. One could easily fit the girls inside one of thes- What the hell just leaped at the giant rat?I didn't want to identify it, but I can't necessarily ignore it either. A giant black spider with gray legs had leaped out from behind a tree and snagged the rat. Its fangs bit into the rodent and the arachnid dragged the rodent up a trunk. This prompted my eyes to follow it up towards the tree tops. I truly wish I didn't.Spiders. So many spiders. I thought the reason this forest was just as dim as the Everfree was due to the tree tops. It was actually due to the fact that there was only webs above. Webs full of spiders."Spiders, why did it have to be spiders?" My voice was shaky. I couldn't help it. Where was a rolled-up newspaper when I need one? Bloody spiders.The daylight could barely make it through the webs and skittering bugs. This was not something I wanted to go through. I hate spiders. Hate 'em. If I had a flamethrower and no sense of planetary protection, I would torch this forest right now. Sadly, I had neither.I needed to leave this place."Join us~"I froze. My eyes darted to my surroundings. There were creatures skittering in the treeline, but none seem to be the likely source of the-"Join us ~"Something was calling me. Its voice cold and soft with a raspy edge. Its very sound chilled my lungs and spine. I felt something frosty grasp my body."Join us in the Hollow~"The icy grip steeled and I felt my body compress. Then came the compulsion to come deeper into the Hollow. The Hollow. That's the name of this forest. I don't know how I know it, but it was on my mind. I struggled against the compulsion and the grip on my body tightened and the temperature dove several degrees. I could brush these minor aches easily, I'm used to the cold and I can ignore body compressions somewhat.It would seem that whatever is in this forest did not like the fact I was resilient. There was a flash over my eyes. What I saw would haunt my dreams for nights long after this task.Death.So much death."Join us"Images of ponies.Dead ponies.Skeletal ponies."We shall make you"Decaying ponies.Rotten eyes.Shattered bones."We shall make you whole"A purple unicorn stares at me."GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"Perhaps thrashing around when I can't see anything of my surrounding was a terrible idea, but at least it stopped the images. My head smashed into a tree trunk and left me dazed out upon the ground. Not the best method to getting something out of one's head, but it works. I managed to get to my feet and I felt slightly dizzy, but also relieved. The icy grip on my body was gone and my mind was silent. I still felt a compulsion to go deeper into the Hollow, but at least it was more of a suggestion rather than a directive. A suggestion to get myself killed, but nonetheless a suggestion I could choose to go along with.Which I did.Dammit.Yea, as I walk through the valley in the shadow of spiders.Wherever this blasted compulsion is taking me, it is giving me some sights I would rather live without. Apparently, there are bigger predators deeper in the Hollow. Could explain why the spiders closer towards the outside world were far more laid-back, no big spooky monsters out to eat them there.Proactive usage of my bow seemed to be my giant spider deterrent. Also carrying a torch helps too.I also noticed that the deeper into the Hollow I go, the darker it becomes. The tree tops got more cluttered with layers and layers of webs and web sacks.However, I knew the torch wouldn't be a spider-keep-away for too long. I knew this the moment I lit the blasted thing.I had just reached the point where the webs were no longer above head level to just about everywhere I look, there is webbing. The dog-sized spiders that were at the edge of the Hollow were nothing compared to these beasties. These spiders were a range of varying colors, but black was one that they all shared. These arachnids were about the size of cows now, which reminds me, I believe I did hear cows from within some web sacks. A variety of them kept a wide circle around me when I came into their territory. Now that I'm in full on web territory, they were becoming more bold.It was no longer safe within the light of the fire.One spider of black and yellow lunged from my unprotected back, it met a swipe from my blade. It retreated, but only a step before it contemplated another action. I pressed my attack and drove my blade into one of its eyes near center. It shrieked and leap back, gushing out yellow-green pus. Despite my show of aggression, this only incited the bugs to swarm.Wild slashes and swings. Fangs lunge and hairy legs strike. Webbings are shot and stingers are thrusted. A euphoria of desperation. A clusterfcuk of hunger.Well, good thing I have just the thing for this situation.Among the fury of ravenous arachnids, I got sight of my target. I slipped my hand into my satchel and prayed that I grasped the right vial. The next chance I got, I slipped past kick and a bite, then I threw the vial at the tree. I swung my sword in a wide path, catching a few of the spiders in the legs and eyes. I felt hard jabs from legs kicking from behind me. I'm sure a few of these blasted bugs sank their fangs into my legs and arms a couple of times. A green flash followed by terrifying shrieks informed me what I had tossed.Wildfire.Bless you Zecora. If I had no sense of self and pride, I would become your human servant for life.The green fire began to spread, quickly consuming the combustible webbing all around. Spiders were igniting about and fleeing to the trees only to bring fire to the trees themselves. I stepped away from the chaos, Wildfire was pretty quick. One should practice caution when dealing with it. I managed to avoid most of the scrambling eight-leggers, but the fire was spreading pretty quickly. So while focusing on the fire during my escape, I missed the drop in terrain.I was able to adjust my descent so I wasn't tumbling down the slope, but sliding.How in the world is there so much webbing?Eventually, I came to a stop. The terrain of the hollow has changed, severely. Gone was the webbing from before, instead there is dark earth that has not seen water for a long time. The trees are withered and barren, a harsh cold draft of wind whirls through the gaps, and even though the trees are paler and more worn than the ones prior, the sun still doesn't pierce through to the ground well. The sky is blocked by branches interlocked like braids, not a single leaf to be seen.Why was this so much more scarier than the webbed part of the Hollow?Before I could comment on the thought, a sweet voice interrupts."The itsy bitsy pony went up the Hollow's path~Down came the spiders, to web the pony up~Out came Arachne and dragged the pony out~The itsy bitsy pony went up Arachne's mouth~"What a beautifully butchered mess of a nursery rhyme.At least I now know where the ponies are.I follow the voice as it continues its dreadful variation of a rhyme. It winds around trees and swirls in my ears, but it held an underlying frost to it. Like a witch's voice if one were so inclined to give it a name."You tread into my domain and make no announcement? How very-"That voice was far too close now for comfort. I whirled around, but nothing came to view that would inform me the source of it. Nothing ground level. Perhaps then, above me?I look up."-RUDE!"I fell to my buttocks as I came face to face to very, very, VERY, human-like creature.It had four eyes, two 'normal' sized yellow eyes with black pupils, and two smaller eyes of the same color slightly outside of the first two eyes. It has a pale yellow-green face that was bright in the center, but dimmed out towards the edges. No nose and its mouth bore a chesire-like grin with white teeth and elongated canine fangs. It bore no eyebrows or hair. Its hair was replaced by what I would assume is carapace that appeared like a hawk's crown that curved into horns. Black carapace covered her (I'm going to genderize this as female) back and good portion of her front, though oddly enough it gave her what appears to be a brasserie. She had pale skin(?) from her face, down her neck, around her collar, and some portion of her chest. Her arms were covered in that dark green carapace and her fingers were pointed. Her top half would be the only thing even remotely resembling human.After the chitin that could vaguely be called a brasserie or corset, it was all parts of a terrible arachnid.Six terrifying black furry legs.A large black with white hairs thorax.An even larger black abdomen with white furry circles at the rear.A large stinger at the end of the abdomen.My mind dictates that this creature would be called an Arachne.Something else wants to called it a Spider-girl.If I were anything, but a reasonable young man, I would have the strangest boner.Thankfully, I'm mostly reasonable and normal.~Then again, look how human it appears.~No! That "Thing" is nowhere near human.~Look at its face, its lips, its breas-~Shut up! I have standards! What I want, is something COMPLETELY HUMAN!Well, that shut up that annoying little thought."So you are the reason my fellow arachnids are crying out for their lives and homes. You are the source of that fire." She says as she descends upon me. Fear grips my body and stills my hands. The arachne slithers along my form, her carapace dragging across my clothes. She had her legs drape around me."I should thank you. They have always been such annoying little minions that always need incentives to recall that this is my territory." Her front four legs slide under my body and the creature lifts me off the ground, my body refuses to obey my need to panic and squirm.Twas only a moment though as the arachnid drops me unceremoniously upon rough dirt. The trees are slightly different here as they seem to be covered in some kind of ichor. I also notice some web sacks high in the trees, more importantly, they have something living within them. They contort and bulge at erratic intervals."Hmm" The creature's eyes trail over me, "It is a good thing that I have already eaten. It has been awhile since I've had an ape enter my domain."Oh, nice. She was doing this thing with her tongue (Good lord, that morsel is glowing) over her lipless mouth. I got that feeling she wasn't talking about food or fighting."Now let's remove these pesky layers.""Hell no."My sword takes a swipe at the monster. It seems I have my steel again. The monster backs off slightly with a smile on her face. I slide my legs under me and rise to my feet."Ah, I've always love a little fight in my meals." She rasps out."You'll get that and more with me.""I shall enjoy this."First things first. I don't know how to fight.I swing the blade while stepping forward. The arachnid merely steps back, out of the reach of Celestia's blade."Before I enjoy you, allow me the knowledge of your name, hairless ape." She asksI know the concepts of a fight, but actually fighting? With a sword no less?"Ned... Just letting you know, I don't plan on dying here."Planning and execution are two very different things."Delightful, I am called Anansi."A black leg slams into my side, launching me across the ground. I roll onto my feet to see that the arachne is already upon me. She slashes at me with her claws, but I save my face with my off-hand. Her claws sink into my wrist, but I kick off along the force.I fly off to the side once more, but I am able to maintain my footing.Anansi still has her body stretched out, but looks towards me with a smile upon her visage.She is merely playing with me.How do I fight this?Is there even a chance of winning?I'm no hero.I'm just a college kid.In a situation way out of my element.~Is it really?~Anansi grew impatient (I would presume) and leaps out at me. Her front legs act like poles and stab down towards me. I juke to my side, not enough to be clear as one of her legs clips my shoulder. I spin and I couldn't keep my footing. I drop to the coarse earth and felt a brush of air pass my head. I land belly down and quickly flip over to see that one of Anansi's legs are over-stretched.~Are you truly out of your element? ~Yea, fighting abominations of both man and spider isn't something I do everyday.~Really? ~Yes. I live an absolute normal life of awkward teenage to young adult transition.~Awkward because of the sheer amount of videogames.~Well, yes. Is this really something I should be focusing on? You know, with my life at stake here.~Skyrim~Skyrim? What about Skyrim?~Dragon's Dogma~What?!~Dark Souls~Why are you listing games?~What are they?~ Games, I just said that.~What do they have in common?~ Uh, heroes, monsters...magic...quests.~There we go~That's not skill or experience, or really anything!~It is what you can envision~That is when it hit me.Well, Anansi almost did anyway.I roll over quickly to avoid the arachne's foot stomping upon my face. I make sure to add a few more twirls on the floor to distance myself from the walking nightmare. I rise to my knees, stab the sword into the earth, and relinquish my bow from my back.KyuudoNot a manticore, but hell, I guess it will do.I ready the bow with my left and retrieve an arrow from my quiver with my right.Practised ease. The arrow is notched. The string is taut.The arrow is shot.Or rather, I wish all of that happened. It would have been so nice.Like clockwork.The moment I had my bow ready and I was going through the motions of drawing my arrow, Anansi had recovered from her missed attack and pounced on me. Her legs smashed my bow out of my hand and sent me flying. Again.I hit the dirt hard. The air is knocked from my lungs. I catch a glimpse of Anansi leaping at me again."Now let's have a taste of that flesh!" She shrieks delightfully.She lands over me with her legs digging into the earth around me. Her maw opens wide and descends towards me. Her eyes gleaming with vicious ferocity.~You are not defenseless~~She merely has you on the submissive position~My eyes widen and I brought my right hand low to my body. As her head closed in, my right hand rises quickly. My fist meets her chin and forces her head up. My left hand is stretched to my side and it curls into a hook that meets Anansi's cheek. Her head violently whips to the right, but I grab the back of her head (the ridges of her carapace make great grips) and pull her into short elbow.My elbow would not have much force, but adding my pull and its slight swing, it gets the job done. My elbow digs into the arachne's eye. She shrieks out.My fingers on my right hand brush against something.~You aren't completely disarmed~My Quiver!I bring my right arm back and grab an arrow. I quickly extend the arm and twirl the arrow till its point was directed at Anansi. I drove the arrow head into the arachnid.My aim was slightly off as I drove the tip into her collar (I would presume, again.). Anansi screams out and her form skitters off of me. I quickly roll to my knees and rise to my feet.Where is my sword?There it is.I dash to it and rip it out of the ground. I raise the blade towards Anansi.Her right eye was leaking a dark green liquid, probably blood. The arrow wound in her right-side collar was leaking the same substance. At first she bore an expression of absolute fury, but her features soften and a very inappropriate smile graced her lipless mouth."Oh... you definitely are a bit of a fight. I shall return this ten-fold."She grabs the arrow and rips it out. The green blood flows more vibrantly and the arahne throws the arrow away.I realise something.Skyrim doesn't really show much on sword style. Just swinging haphazardly.~Is that truly a problem?~Yea, if I want to live. Swinging like crazy doesn't help.~Then don't use Skyrim.~Dragon's Dogma and Dark Souls don't really help. It's not like I can copy Dante either.~Then don't take from games. You didn't just play games remember~Then what?~Then perhaps someone you believe is the best sword master?~I have short sword, I need a katana for the best-~Then think of a short-sword master.~Well, I could then - No, he isn't the best I know of.Wait. There is that one.I bring my off-hand to the bottom of my sword's grip. I hold the blade slightly away from my body, angled off along my shoulder. My feet are spread slightly wider than my shoulders.Anansi charges forth. So do I.~Übel~As we close in, I lead in with my left shoulder and begin to raise my blade. Anansi kicks out with her front right leg and whips out with her right claws. I take another step out left with my left foot and bypass her attack.My blade is above my head.I curve my body towards the spidergirl.I bring my sword down in a crescent swing.My blade cleaves off Anansi's attacking leg on the backswing (What I would assume is the backswing anyway).~Blatt~I immediately step away and assume a stance towards the monster.The moment my blade sank its edge into her leg, she screamed out once more.This time, a hell of alot more vindictively."I AM TIRED OF PLAYING!" She screeches out.I hear loud cracking and snapping. Suddenly, two talons burst from Anansi's back. They protrude from her back, over her shoulders, and hang in front of her for a good few feet. They are dark grey, nearly black, in color like the rest of her carapace. They are also covered in some kind of transparent substance."I told you, 'you'll get a fight and more from me'." I shouldn't be giving banter to this madness.Her sick smile from before was long gone. Now she bears an expression of total fury. Good, now we both feel miserable. I didn't want her to be enjoying this either.Anansi speeds forth, this time her speed is double that of what she was prior. I was caught off guard and I barely managed to deflect a talon to the side. I had taken a sudden deep breath in response to her quicker haste.Only one though as the other rips past my left cheek. It takes a strip of flesh off my face. The side of my face was like it was on fire. The nerves screamed out in agony as cold air scratched against layers below the skin. It was hard to keep my left eye open as the pain stung into my retina for some reason.I don't even know if I was now showing muscle fibers of my cheek or just bloodied scratches. I just barely bit back my cry.I step away as fast as I could and create some measure of space between me and the enraged arachne. She kicks off a tree and charges upon me once more. Rather than give into her rage, I match her charge. She makes the same mistake as before and strikes dead center. I perform the same steps as before and go off towards her side.Her other right-side leg raises up to strike me. I immediately drop down to my knees and the leg goes over me. My blade was suppose to cut across her chest, but I was forced to lower against her chitin-covered base. The blade simply glides across her natural armor.However, only part of her bore her natural chitin. When my blade passed the thorax, it dug into her abdomen. About half a foot of the blade dug into the soft, hair-covered sack of the arachne, before I continued to cut across the length.Her shrieks of anguish, surprisingly made me smile.I rise to my feet and leap away once again. I turn to see the status of that wretched bug. The abdomen of the arachne seems to be in a semi-deflated state as it spilled out fleshy tubes and sacks. My ears continue to ring and vibrate as the arachne continues to screech out in agony. A large white fleshy sack catches my attention as it bulges and contorts.There is something alive in there."I WILL KILL YOU!" Anansi screams.I raise my blade once more. Odd. My fingers can barely flex. My joints are stiff. I was feeling a constant ache in my limbs. My cheek is still on fire and there was an addition ache around the wound.What the hell?~It is not shock. Poison?~A venom. She is a spider, but she didn't sting me or bite...My eyes lock on the two talons. They are covered in transparent substance. I thought that was something similar to saliva or something. Those talons are the only things covered in that substance. That's the poison. Feels like a paralysis agent or something.My brows furrowed as the arachne finally stops screaming."I will rip you limb from limb. I will ensure that you will endure the pain of having arachne offspring bursting from your body. You will know pain, that no other living being has ever experienced!"I match her glare."Come on." I motion her with my sword. "Bring it."In a moment she is upon me.My arms are stiff. There is no point in attempting to run.My fingers are numb. I will not be able to dodge.My legs are heavy. I can only strike back.Anansi's talons descend upon me. I drive forth Celestia's blade.Two forces meet. Points penetrate flesh.I give agonized breathes.It is over.Celestia's blade splits Anansi's visage upon the space between her eyes. The steel sunk a foot and a half into her cranium, dark green ichor ooze around the blade.I did not go unharmed as well. My off-hand may have pushed down a talon, but, instead of my chest, the talon dug into my left abdomen. Her other talon sunk into my right shoulder. She may have broken bones. My wounds burn as the poison cycles through my vessels.Anansi's body goes limp. Her legs are wobbly and she teeters side to side. I extract myself from her form, but the talons give resistance. A moment of force causes the poisonous tips to pop out along with a blossom of pain erupting from my increasingly damaged body.I stumble back and my rear meets a tree. I lean back and my knees go soft. I begin to slide down the lifeless bark.So tired.Limbs far too heavy.I'll just close my eyes.I could use a little rest.It'll only be a moment.~Don't you have something important to do?~It can wait.~Are you sure?~I can barely move.~Didn't stop you from killing that spider.~My life isn't in danger right now.~But someone else's is.~My eyes widen before they shut.That's right. There is a reason I'm here.My eyes scan the barren earth and fall upon the white fleshy sack. It continues to contort and bulge.My legs aren't responding easily, but my arms were. I use the tree as support and rise to my feet. I forcibly command my legs to move, but at a deliberate pace. Moments later than it should be, I am next to the sack."Well... Let's hope you're alright."I dip the sword into the meat until just the tip of the blade sinks in. I drag the blade across the surface (Albeit, unsteadily.). Soon, the cut is too much for the sack and whatever's inside spills out.Yellow-ish pus spills out across the dark earth. A white skinned pony also slides out of the meat-bag, which I assume now was a stomach. Furthermore, this pony was male. He is also a unicorn. He appears disorientated, but given that he was just in something's stomach, that is expected. He has medium length blue mane and appears to have a navy blue shield with a pink star on it as a cutie mark.His eyes open to reveal light blue eyes that lock onto my own.Then his horn glowed purple.All I see is white and a sense of weightlessness.Followed by a violent force throwing me back. I am given only a brief moment of air before slamming into what I assume is a tree as I hear loud snapping. The air is effective knocked from my lungs and my sword flies from my grasp. A large lance of pain slashes up my spine.My eyes are blurred as my head smacks the bark. I distinctly hear something drop near me."Alright! Bring your worst! I will avenge my- huh? You're not that spider monster." I hear the unicorn say."Ugh. Last time I checked, no I'm not." I can be flippant, right?"Wha-what are yo- wait. You must be that 'human' that Celestia spoke of." He seemed to put emphasis upon human."Yea. The one that you probably just broke the spine of." Really, my back is adding onto my already agonizing pain.I noticed I wasn't bleeding all over the place. I chance a look down towards my abdomen. Odd. There is this transparent gel substance covering the wound. The area was numb, but it also burned. Despite this, the gel seemed to be acting like a gauze of sorts."S-sorry. I just reacted." The unicorn bows his head sincerely. He raises his head abruptly. "H-have you seen the rest of my team?"So far, you're the only pony I've seen. Anything else has been spiders and rats. No other signs of life.Hold that thought.I look to my side. There was a web sack that was contorting. I look back to the tree tops and see a few more sacks."I think your fellow ponies are in those sacks," I weakly point towards the branches high above the unicorn, "Though, I'm sure that is only part of your group, no?"Said unicorn looks up, gasps, and says, "I'll get these pods down. Can you open up the one next to you?"I groggily nod and rise to my feet. I approach the sack and glide my sword across its surface. Just as I cleared the edge, the sack explodes outward, and causes me to stagger back. What remained is another white unicorn, but with pink eyes and brown flowing mane. Her cutie mark of a blue shield with a cyan star."By Celestia, it was extremely uncomfortable in there. Thank you for setting me free." The unicorn stretches out her limbs. "Now, if you would inform me the whereabouts of that insidious spider, I would like to bestow great Celestia fury upon her.""Kind of late for that, I already killed her." The unicorn's eyes fall upon me."That is impressive, I can see why Celes- YOU'RE HURT!" Her pink eyes widen as they take notice of my gaping wound in my abdomen. Which brought to mind that it still stings."I'll be alright, tis just a flesh wound." Ow, no I'm not alright, but I've always wanted to say that."I can take care of this, give me a moment." The unicorn's horn then glows blue and she presses it into the wound. I release a hiss of pain as the wound burns like needles now instead of a skillet.The burning quickly changed to soothing. My gut felt cool and the feeling was washing over me. Like someone was rubbing aloe over my abdomen. She removes her horn from my body and I take a chance to inspect the damage.Except there wasn't any. There was the damage to my bear coat and shirt, but the patch of skin underneath was unblemished."There, good as new. Is there any other injuries?""Well, I have similar wound in my shoulder," I tilt my body to give the unicorn a better look. "Kinda stings when I move this arm."The healer does her work and my shoulder feels great once more."Thanks, uh. Name's Ned.""I already know, the Princess has been talking about you. You may call me Bedivere."….How odd a name...The two of us glance over towards the other unicorn. The blue-haired unicorn seems to have brought down the other web sacks and has already bust them open.There is now two unicorns (Bedivere included), two pegasi, and one earth pony in total. Also something to note, that is the biggest earth pony I've ever seen. Even larger than Big McIntosh.We got introductions out of the way pretty quickly.Blue-haired unicorn = Shining ArmorBrown-haired unicorn = BedivereRed-haired Pegasus = PercyYellow-haired Pegasus = GawainAnd finally the black-haired giant pony = LancerAnd to make things better, Armor said that they were Canterlot's Knights.Hmm... Oh dear. I just humored a thought of seeing a ponified Saber..."I still can't believe we've lost more than half of the men." Armor growls."Tegyr was the first to go wasn't he? Told that colt to focus on his training and not on his mares" Lancer barks."Lancer! Tegyr died with honor. Respect our fallen." Gawain retorts against the larger pony."Be that as it may, his skills were lacking. At least it was better than how Kay died. I did not think that the Arachne would mate with him and be quite violent." Lancer says.Wait, that spider monster did what now?I will not register that in my mind.…..Odd. The voice is gone. For that matter, so are the compulsions."Sir Ned? Are you alright?"I snap out of my thoughts to see Percy hover over to my side. She (yes, Percy is a she) seems to have no sense of personal space."Yea, just fine. Stop being so close." I made shooing motions with my hands.We are making our way through the Hollow. My objective was only to find out what had happen to Celestia's knights and then bring them back. They were suppose to find out the cause of this forest.They did.Turns out the Hollow isn't a natural forest. Well, that was obvious. Anyway, the Hollow was created by the opening of a vault. This vault, explained by Bedivere, is the sealed location of the dark age creatures that both Luna and Celestia informed me. According to Armor, Anansi's nest is nowhere even near the center of the Hollow. To the best of my knowledge, an Arachne is nowhere even close to being one of the most dangerous of monsters.The seal that holds this vault closed is broken. Beings from over a millenia ago are spilling into Equestria.Great.I am socially awkward...but I can kick your ass.A/NWow, That took a lot longer than I thought to finish up.I hope I did well in the fight scene.Ending is rushed once again. I apologize.Some references within.Alrighty, Read and review. Would love to know my readers' thoughts.Until next time,WHO DO YOU THINK I AM!

 

[~dickschnitzel~]

y u do dis

 

[Xml V2.0]

y?

 

[lemon]

yea time to put cael on pignore