Hunter In Equestria: Chapter 16

No. No no no. NO! This couldn't be happening, not here! There wasn't a place you could run far or fast enough to escape the physical GOD trying its damnedest to get itself through the rest of the portal and tear you to shreds. It shot off a blood-red bolt of lightning at you every now and again, which missed by either poor aim or sheer dumb luck.

 

Looking out of the porthole, you saw Lyra running as fast as her hooves could take her, far away from the tower. You focused your full attention on the Fatalis.

 

Time for Round 2.

 

You lunged forward, slashing at the dragon's face before it could actually get a foothold in Equestria. Your blade missed as it thrashed around, the dragon getting closer and closer to getting through and wreaking absolute havoc. You wouldn't let that happen, you COULDN'T let that happen. This place...this was your home now, and you'd be fucked if you let this THING destroy it.

 

The Fatalis was halfway through, you were running out of time. You slashed again as the dragon flicked its neck, catching you in the side and slamming you against what remained of the wall. Shaking it off, you stood and charged back in recklessly. Your blade made contact this time, a blossom of flame igniting the very air around you. It shrieked in pain, pulling itself the rest of the way through. Black storm clouds quickly gathered above as it screamed to the very heavens themselves, the weather itself bending to its will.

 

Lightning struck for miles around, absolutely indiscriminately. The bolts ignited the forest again, the rain doing little to put out this new blaze. You came in for another assault, when it suddenly just dropped its body down, trying to crush you. You abandoned your attack and rolled to the side, the ground quaking as the heavy dragon slammed down. The tower lost yet another floor, the old stone collapsing again and throwing you to the floor.

 

You stood and sprinted down what remained of the stairs, the dragon following you closely. It crashed through the walls at several points, jaws flashing to end you. It reversed direction when your weapon came after it, threatening to torch its face again.

 

You ran outside, and the Fatalis dropped out of the sky after you. You dove instinctively, the action saving you as the dragon pressed its full weight onto where you were standing less than a second before. It growled in frustration, eyes burning with hatred unimaginable. Lightning continued to rain down, this time more focused. Instead of the forest taking the brunt of the assault, the bolts were directed onto the comparatively small plateau the ruins were on.

 

You dodged and weaved, attempting to get closer while at the same time trying to avoid being struck. You closed the distance quickly, and the lightning stopped as the dragon attempted to kill you with it's claws and fangs instead. It lunged forward at you, giving you no time to react as it grabbed you in its talons.

 

You struggled for a bit, before Fatalis discharged lightning into its claws. You screamed and writhed in pain, everything except sheer unceasing AGONY driven from your mind. It then threw you into the ground, which you struck HARD, bouncing once before coming to a stop.

 

---

Pain.

 

Pain.

 

Pain.

 

So much pain...just want it to go away...please don't make me hurt anymore...

---

 

You slowly came to, the dragon's triumphant screech sounding so distant despite it not being far from you at all. Your vision was colorless, and the only other thing you heard was this constant, incessant ringing. You clutched your head, trying to will it away without success.

 

Your body was unresponsive. You could feel it, so you weren't paralyzed...you just felt defeated. You failed...so tired...

 

 

"Get up, please...Get UP!"

 

...what?

 

Your head stopped spinning, and you sat up slowly. The Fatalis eyed you, growling in irritation that you weren't dead. A quick check around showed just you and the monster were the only beings around, but...you could have sworn you heard Twilight. You stood up and your entire being started screaming in protest, begging you to stay down.

 

You couldn't. You had a home to protect...and a special somepony to go home to.

 

"COME ON, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" You roared, a fire lighting in your heart. The god screeched back at you, and with a beat of its mighty wings, it lifted into the air. It rained red electric death from safety, which you sidestepped and dodged. It dove down out of the sky to crush you again, and you stood perfectly still...then extended your sword arm straight up, blade pointing to the sky.

 

The Ancestral being saw this and beat its wings again, reversing direction quickly to avoid impaling itself. You chuckled darkly to yourself as the COWARD flew through the air again. You spat on the ground in contempt.

 

"Get down here, you motherfucker!" You raged, picking up a rock and hurling it with all your strength. A precision lightning bolt intercepted it before impact, vaporizing it on the spot. The dragon was taunting you now.

 

You ran to a tree and quickly slashed off a thick branch, quickly stripping the wood into a point. Cocking your arm back, you hurled it into the air. The lightning struck it, which only served to set your impromptu spear on fire right before it penetrated the bastard's wing. It yelped in shock and pain, falling out of the air and onto another tree, worsening the damage to itself. It quickly recovered before you could press your assault, beating a hasty retreat to gather its wits.

 

The hunter in you told you not to let this happen. The vengeful human in you told the hunter it WOULDN'T.

 

You charged in, the Fatalis throwing plasma bolts at you in a panicked fashion. Several missed you outright, while the others were easily evaded. You jumped up, using the dragon's right thigh as a platform to leap up further before you viciously planted your sword into its neck. It thrashed in pain, bellowing in your ear and tossing you off. You hit the ground and rolled, reversing your momentum and never relenting.

 

Fatalis lashed out with its tail as you closed, which struck your helmet and tore it off. Your helmet bounced on the ground and rolled off the edge, but you didn't particularly care at the moment. Your rage would only be sated when the White Fatalis was broken beneath your heel.

 

You stabbed it in the stomach, which got a groan of pain. It grabbed you with its claws again, which you were waiting for. Reaching for your knife, you pulled it out and threw it directly into the Ancestor's blinded eye. Gore sprayed from the wound, and it howled in agony. The drake dropped you abruptly and reeled back, trying to pull your knife out with talons much too big to do the job safely.

 

It batted at you with its tail, forcing you to keep your distance. It hit you once across the chest, cracking the steel and leaving a dully aching bruise.

 

"Like that tail, huh?!" You shouted. As it came back to strike you, you swung. Blade met flesh, and the tip of the dragon's tail came off with the momentum. A spray of blood covered your armor and face, which you didn't bother to wipe off. The dragon knew it was losing ground, and quick.

 

It panicked and started the lightning strikes again. They were tightly bound and came in groups, forcing you to actually move to evade them. It took off into the air as you evaded...only to be forced back down by a bright pillar of flame coming from the sun itself. The dragon's agonized shriek was only barely audible over the explosion that sounded off as the beam shattered the sound barrier.

 

You looked back to see the one pony you never expected on a battlefield.

 

Princess Celestia.

 

The matriarch landed next to you, the very intensity of the sun backing her glare. She was decked out in full golden battle armor, armored from head to hoof. Her wings were unarmored, but had miniature golden caps on each wing-tip. Her mane, instead of the multi-color you were used to, was a bright, fiery blue.

 

"YOU WILL NOT HARM MY KINGDOM!" Celestia bellowed at the dragon, the very trees and stone quaking under her might. Her Canterlot Voice put Luna's to absolute shame. "Anonymous! Are you alright?"

 

You merely nodded in response, slightly dumbfounded.

 

"Good. We have a threat to remove. PERMANENTLY."

 

"Right!"

 

You charged in, Celestia providing assistance from afar with both a magical shield and ranged attacks. Another beam tore into the dragon's hide, earning a scream of fear and rage from it. The dragon KNEW it was going to lose at this point, it was only a matter of how much damage it could cause before going down that mattered to it now. It struck with claws, only for them to slam into the magical barrier between you and it. The golden light may have well been solid rock for all the progress its slash made.

 

You noticed there was a light golden aura around your sword when you swung it, and when it made contact an impossibly huge blossom of fire lit the area. The shield kept you safe, but the Fatalis took the full brunt of the magically imbued flames. Scale and shell simply ceased to be under the inferno of a star.

 

The dragon reeled back once more, falling over and writhing in pain, much like you had been just minutes before. Felt damn good to be on this side of the fence for once.

 

"Time to finish this." You muttered, walking over to the wounded dragon. Celestia's glare softened when she realized it was almost over. You pulled your sword arm back and plunged it into the dragon's neck, and the over-charged weapon delivered with a blast that incinerated the Fatalis' throat and a good chunk of its head in an instant.

 

"Good fucking riddance." You spat, before all the anger and fury left you. You were simply spent, and your body let you know this by immediately failing on you.

 

The last thing you remember hearing was "Anonymous!" before everything went black.

---

 

Warm. That's the first thing you remember. You were...warm. Not uncomfortably so, but just the right amount of warm. It made you want to go back to sleep, but you felt compelled to wake up. Something about the gentle warmth was trying to wake you up...

 

You cracked your eyes open to see Celestia cradling you in her golden aura. She smiled when she saw your eyes open, sighing in relief.

 

"Thank the Heavens, I thought I lost you." She chuckled. "Looks like I don't have to tell Twilight her special somepony died."

 

You grinned back with some difficulty.

 

"I'm hard to kill. You should know that by now..." You were so damn tired, and the comforting warmth wasn't doing anything to keep you awake.

 

"That I do, Anonymous. That I do." You heard her wings spread as your eyes closed again. "I'm going to take you back to the Ponyville Library. You need rest."

 

"Okay lady..." Was your sleepy reply. Her melodic laugh met your ears, and you settled further into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

---

 

You spent the next three days in bed, with Celestia or Luna checking on you at least once each day, whenever one of them could escape their duties at the castle. The Fatalis' corpse had been cleaned up, and Celestia was certain that lacking a way up to the rift wouldn't be an issue with actually closing it.

 

You had simply shrugged to that. Made sense if it was magic that was closing it.

 

Luna was currently telling you a story of a prank she pulled on Blueblood a few nights ago. It seemed Rainbow Dash had rubbed off on the princess, and in the most hilarious way. She had made him dream about losing his hair, and every time he 'woke up', she'd just do it again.

 

"Dream loops are some of my favorite things now, it's funny to watch ponies panic about frivolous things!"

 

The Library door was pushed open, and Twilight's voice called out throughout the room.

 

"I'm home! Anon, are you here? You weren't at your workshop."

 

"Yeah Twi, in the bedroom!" You called downstairs.

 

"What are you doing up there? It's past noon." She came up the stairs, before stopping and slowly taking in the scene before her.

 

You were heavily battered and bruised, lying in bed, talking to the Princess of the Night during the afternoon. Not strange at all, right?

 

"P-Princess Luna?" Twilight asked sheepishly, before focusing on you. "What the...Anon, what did you do to yourself!?"

 

You told her the story of you fighting the Fatalis, and she was all over you at the end. She was checking your every injury, and Luna quietly excused herself with a knowing grin.

 

"Twi, chill. I'm fine."

 

"Fine? FINE!? You nearly DIED, and you tell me you're FINE?!" She shouted, tearing up. "I could have lost you and not even known!"

 

You pulled her down to you and stroked her mane, and she hiccuped as a fresh wave of tears came through. "Please...stop scaring me like this. I don't want to lose you again, I hate thinking ab-"

 

You cut her off when your lips met hers. She was stunned for just a moment, before melting into it. She pushed into you gently, obviously inexperienced. The mare was clumsy about it too, her lips sometimes not even touching yours. You suppressed a chuckle to keep her confidence up.

 

You pulled her down on top of you, and she snuggled into your chest. She kissed you again, quickly growing used to this 'new' development. A healthy pink glow was coming from under her coat.

 

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time..." She murmured with a smile, a hoof tracing a circle around her lips. You were feeling drowsy, your injuries still somewhat fresh. You pulled the mare in closer, earning a giggle this time as she wrapped her hooves around your waist. "Don't ever leave me, Anon."

 

"Don't plan on it, Twi." You kissed her nose, before closing your eyes for some more much-needed rest. You felt Twilight settle in with you for an afternoon nap. Spike wisely stayed downstairs, his exaggerated gagging noises telling you he wouldn't be bothering you two for a while.

 

Fluttershy had been over later that day, intent on giving you every bit of medical care she could. The pegasus changed your bandages twice in the two hour period she was there, which was overkill for someone who wasn't even bleeding anymore.

 

"Now I don't want you doing anything strenuous for a week, got it mister?" Fluttershy was giving you The Stare, and all you could do was hold your hands up defensively and chuckle.

 

"No heavy lifting, I swear!"

 

"Good!" She smiled cheerfully. "Well Twilight, I think I'm done here for now. If he gets worse, just let me know! Good night, you two!"

 

"Good night, Fluttershy." Twilight watched her leave, before shutting the door and locking it. She trotted up the stairs and gave your battered form a look over. "She did a fine job, don't you think?"

 

"Coulda used fewer bandages, but yeah, she did."

 

"Don't think I'm going to let you move, Anon. Fluttershy said rest, and *I* say rest."

 

Your stomach chose that moment to growl.

 

"Can I get somethi-"

 

"I'll get it for you, Anon."

 

"Jeez Twilight. I'm bruised, not crippled." You grumbled, which earned a cheeky giggle.

 

"I know, I know. You really shouldn't be moving much though, it's not good for the healing process."

 

"Fine, fine." You threw your arms into the air in mock frustration, a smirk letting Twilight know you were kidding.

 

"Now hold on my little colt, I'll be right back." Twilight teased, going downstairs and into the kitchen. You stuck your tongue out at her retreating backside, which Spike saw. He retched, which got a chuckle from both you and the unicorn.

 

Twilight came back up the stairs a few minutes later with a small salad and a bowl of vegetable soup. She picked up the spoon with magic and tried to feed you the soup herself. You arched an eyebrow.

 

"Seriously?"

 

"Indulge me, Anon." She grinned.

 

"No way, I'm not a ch-" Twilight seized that moment to shove the spoon into your mouth, silencing your protests. You swallowed the soup, then grabbed the spoon before she could pull it back. She flinched, which caused her to lose her grip on the soup bowl and drop it right in your lap.

 

The howl of pain was heard all across Ponyville.

---

 

The next few mornings followed the same pattern: Get up, listen to Twilight insist you stay in bed, ignore her, get forced back into bed, whine a bit in protest, nap, rinse and repeat.

 

Today however, you got up before the Twilight did, eager to stretch before you were forced back into bed. You walked downstairs to fix yourself some breakfast too.

 

You were stiff and achy, and the first-degree burns you were sporting on your thighs and crotch weren't helping. A series of pops came from your back as you twisted it, a feeling of relief flooding across you.

 

"Anon...?" You heard Twilight ask from upstairs. "Oh Celestia, please don't let that have been a really good dream..."

 

"I'm down here Twi!" You called, and you heard a gasp from the mare.

 

She came flying down the stairs, leaping into your arms and holding you tightly. You winced when your wounds were aggravated, but you held her in return.

 

"Last night wasn't a dream, right Anon? Please tell me it wasn't a dream...or that I'm not STILL dreaming..."

 

You replied with a soft kiss, and joyful tears trickled from Twilight's eyes. Chuckling lightly, you finally replied.

 

"No Twi, you're not dreaming." You then gave her side a small pinch.

 

"Ow! What was that for?!"

 

"See? Not dreaming!" You laughed.

 

She lightly punched your shoulder, nuzzling your chest.

 

"Good, now that I know I'm not dreaming..." She took a deep breath. "What are you doing out of bed?!"

 

"Getting breakfast Twi, what else?" You cheekily replied. You turned back to the pan and cracked open another egg. "Want anything?"

 

She eyed you for a minute, then sat down at the table. "A scrambled egg and some toast, please."

 

"Of course, madame." You said, causing her to blush again.

 

"Anon..." She groaned. You merely smiled in reply.

 

Breakfast was eaten in comfortable silence, and you stood to collect the plates.

 

"Any plans today?" You asked.

 

"Well, I was going Fluttershy's. Princess Celestia wants me to work on a magic show for some delegates from Saddle Arabia arriving a day or two from now." She stood and walked into the bathroom to straighten her mane and clean her coat. "YOU, on the other hand, need to relax. Read a book or ten, we have plenty." She called through the door.

 

You grumbled at the mare, grabbing a handful of books without even looking and going upstairs.

---

 

The last book you had read...embarrassed you slightly. You cursed your lack of attention when grabbing, but it was still holding your attention. Knowledge was knowledge, after all. The book carefully detailed the...sensitive zones of a unicorn, both mare and stallion.

 

You briefly wondered why the hell she had this book...and then instantly answered your own question. Library. Libraries have anatomy books, which this certainly qualified as. Either she had at some point been experimenting with herself, or had her eyes on a certain stallion.

 

Those plans seem to have been long forgotten, you thought to yourself with some mirth. The mare had you now.

 

The stack had pretty much taken you all day to read, and you sighed. Another day wasted in bed. You had to tell Twilight about that rift when she got home, it couldn't wait.

 

The door swung open, and the familiar sound of hooves on wood echoed downstairs. Right on cue.

 

"Hey Twilight, I'm up here." You called down.

 

"Twilight? As in, Twilight Sparkle?" A voice asked.

 

Wait.

 

"Who the hell are you?" You asked, getting out of the bed and walking down the stairs. A blue unicorn with a blue-white mane was looking through the library for you, not sure where your voice was echoing from. "Library's closed. I suggest you get out."

 

She had a jet black cape on, and her eyes were a deep red color. You hadn't yet seen a pony with red eyes, you wondered if that was natural.

 

Hanging around her neck was a strange medallion. It was too far to get a good look at it, but it had a vivid red gem inset in the center of the metal. In fact, the shade of red looked the same as her eyes...

 

"How DARE you! Do you know who you're speaking to?!" The mare demanded, outraged.

 

"No, I don't. In fact, I just asked you."

 

You came down the rest of the stairs, and her eyes locked on to you.

 

"W-what are you?" It was more of a demand than a question. You held up a finger.

 

"Ah ah ah, answer me first."

 

"Fine, you irritating THING." She cleared her throat, then flipped a lock of hair out of her face. "I, am the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!"

 

"...who?"

 

She glared at you.

 

"Such INSOLENCE. Trixie will have to teach you a lesson. Maybe half an hour as an orange will show you your place!"

 

A red light charged up her horn, and she fired it at you. You rolled your eyes, not even bothering to move.

 

Predictably, it struck you and had little effect. The only thing you felt was a light shove, and a small burning sensation. Perhaps you weren't outright immune after all, you mused. Just highly, highly resistant.

 

"That it?" You asked, yawning just to piss her off. She growled in response and fired the spell off again, with the same results as before. "Seriously, knock it off."

 

"Just...what ARE you?!" Trixie asked, frustration with you at a peak.

 

"I'm Anonymous, Ponyville's local human." You replied with a light shrug.

 

"'Local human'? What's a "local human"?"

 

These ponies. They drive you to drink.

 

"No, it's just "human". Never mind, what the hell are you doing in here? Can't you read?" You pointed to the sign on the open door reading 'closed'.

 

"Trixie will do what she wishes in her town, monkey."

 

That was uncalled for, you're not a monkey. Well, technically you are, but that's beside the point.

 

Wait, did she say *her* town?

 

"Your town? Since when?"

 

"Since Trixie beat Twilight Sparkle in a magical duel! Ponyville is now Trixie's to rule, and she is simply taking inventory of what she owns."

 

You snorted. "Yeah, well you don't own this library. Get out, before I toss you out."

 

"You haven't seen the last of Trixie, Trixie will be back to evict you later!"

 

The pony trotted out, an arrogant smirk on her face. You glared at her until she was out of sight, then shut the door and locked it.

 

What did Trixie mean by magic duel? Obviously, it was a duel between two unicorns, but...Twilight wasn't the sort of mare to agree to that. Rainbow Dash or Applejack certainly, but not Twilight.

 

You sighed and rubbed your temples, then looked out of the nearby window. A dome of some sort was covering the entire town, but it wasn't a magical dome. It looked almost... like a giant fishbowl. You looked flatly at the obstruction. This 'Trixie' character wasn't as intelligent as she thought.

 

The door to the library opened again, and you spun on your heel.

 

"Dammit, I thought I locked that! Trixie, I told you to g-" You leaned over the rail to find you had been shouting at the girls. Fluttershy was looking for a place to hide, and the others were giving you a strange look. "Sorry ladies. Trixie was in here earlier, I thought she had come back."

 

"No prob Anon." Rainbow replied. "You know what's going on, right?"

 

"Sorta. All I know is that Twilight lost some duel and now Trixie owns the town? Where is Twilight, anyway?"

 

Nervous looks were passed around.

 

"Well sugarcube...she's not here anymore." AJ replied, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

 

"Define 'not here'."

 

"She's been banished from the town, dear." Rarity answered for the Earth Pony, and your eye twitched.

 

"Sorry, I thought you just said 'banished from the town.'" You started. "Please tell me that's NOT what I just heard."

 

"I'm sorry Anon, but that's what happened. Twilight lost the duel, and one of the conditions was that if Trixie won...Twi had to get lost." Rainbow filled in.

 

You were silent for a long time, fuming under a calm visage. You looked at each mare in turn, which is when you noticed Pinkie's mouth was missing.

 

"Let me guess." You said, looking right at the angry pink pony. "Trixie?" Pinkie nodded vigorously, making various muffled noises and pointing angrily in Trixie's general direction. Pinkie then made a slicing motion across her own throat, and you got the message. "Calm down, okay? I'm angry too, but we need to be clear headed for this."

 

The earth pony rolled her eyes, but stopped grunting.

 

"Any plans?" You asked.

 

"We came in here looking for a book." Spike said. You gave him a look that screamed 'no shit Sherlock', and he sheepishly continued. "A specific book. Trixie's magic is different than it used to be, it's way stronger than before."

 

"Than before? She's been here once before I take it?" You asked, trying to get some background information.

 

"Yeah. She came in, trying to be a hotshot. Turns out she was just a wannabe when she nearly got the town destroyed by an Ursa Minor." Rainbow answered. "She's different now though, she's way too strong."

 

"I noticed some sort of amulet around her neck, didn't get a good look at it though. Red gem, vague pony-head shape to it. That sound right?"

 

"Yep, that's it alright." The pegasus replied. She then moved over to the bookshelves and started clearing them off, handing a stack to each pony...but not to you.

 

"Relax, Anon. We've got this." Rainbow said, answering your questioning gaze.

 

You grumbled at being sidelined, sitting in a chair and crossing your arms.

 

"So what am I supposed to do?" You asked.

 

"Nothing!" The group shouted at the same time, nearly causing you to fall out of your chair in shock.

 

"Understand dear, we're trying to keep you from pushing yourself too far. You're not healthy yet." Rarity let you down easy, trying to avoid hurting your feelings. You rolled your eyes.

 

"I've had worse."

 

"As you keep tellin' us." AJ said, nose buried in the pile. "Doesn't mean we're gonna let ya hurt yerself tryin' t' help."

 

"I'm just saying, an extra set of eyes would make this quicker."

 

"And A'HM just sayin': Zip it. We c'n handle ourselves."

 

"Fine, fine. I'm going upstairs. Let me know if you find anything." You stood and stretched, going up to your shared room.

 

"Will do Anon." Rainbow replied, busy searching through her pile at record speeds.

 

Certain the mares were busy with their task, you silently opened the observatory doors and climbed down the tree carefully. Time for some recon work.

---

 

You crept through the darkened town, on the look out for anything resembling a sentry. Nothing was in place, this mare was an amateur. You felt confident enough to walk upright through the main street, noting the street lights that were off. Some sort of new curfew?

 

There was only one light on, and that was coming from the house Lyra and Bon Bon shared. In fact, there was a figure in the window, staring out into the street. You saw the figure heave a heavy sigh, before looking at you.

 

It instantly straightened up, before vanishing from sight. The door opened and the pony galloped out, tackling you and sobbing into your shirt.

 

"ANON! I thought you were dead! I-I felt so horrible leaving you with that dragon, I just didn't know what to do!"

 

Lyra cried into your shoulder, and you chuckled softly. You reached down and gently stroked the emotional mare's mane, which only made her cry harder.

 

"Easy Lyra. Shhh..."

 

It took Lyra a few minutes to calm down, a slight hiccup breaking the silence once in a while. She looked at you again.

 

"Yo-you're not a ghost, right...?"

 

A chuckle left your throat again, and you smiled softly.

 

"No Lyra, I'm not."

 

You picked her up and carried her back into her home, and she didn't protest. Lyra instead relaxed, yawning a bit when you placed her on the couch.

 

"Okay, fill me in. What's going on?"

 

"Some stuck-up 'princess' who's daddy didn't love her enough is terrorizing the town." Lyra replied, rolling her eyes. "She's been here once before, Twilight drove her out after that sad excuse for a unicorn nearly wrecked the town."

 

"Yeah, Dash told me." You looked outside. "What happened after Twilight got driven out? What's with the dome?"

 

"Trixie runs Ponyville now. Snips and Snails, the poor saps, are her personal lapdogs. She put a glass dome over the town to keep Canterlot from assisting, there's some sort of Anti-Teleportation field around." Lyra shook her head. "Princess Celestia found that out herself when she slammed right into it."

 

You suppressed a chuckle, then winced when a sharp pain shot across your mind, almost like a slap to the back of the head.

 

'I heard that, Anonymous.'

 

Damn spy.

 

'I heard that too. I'll have you know it really hurt.' Celestia pouted in your mind.

 

You shook your head, and Lyra arched an eyebrow at you.

 

"Are you okay, Anon?"

 

"Yeah, just a slight headache." You muttered, sending a mental glare at Celestia. Her musical chuckle echoed throughout your head, and you felt a weight leave your mind. She was gone for now, and you rolled your eyes. "Blasted all seeing goddesses."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Nothing Lyra. I'm gonna go out and look around a bit more, you stay here."

 

"B-but!"

 

"But nothing. I'm immune to magic, you aren't. She's already tried to attack me without success, I'll be alright." You patted the mint green unicorn's head, and she huffed. "Just go to sleep, you look exhausted."

 

"Fine, but when you end up turned into a toad or something, I don't want to hear you crying to me. Good night, Anon. Stay safe." She trotted up the stairs, and you left the house.

 

You took to the alleyways, evading a strange light that was patrolling the streets. You didn't know where it was coming from, but you imagined it would be bad to be caught out here right now. You were on a scouting mission, after all.

 

"Anon? What are you doing out here?"

 

You froze, turning slowly to find Scootaloo looking at you.

 

"Wha-Scootaloo, where did you come from?"

 

"Uh, nowhere important." The orange filly kicked the ground nervously, avoiding eye contact. "I just forgot my helmet over here." She pointed to a wall, where her helmet was indeed leaning. "I didn't want Trixie seeing me though, so I cut through somepony's house." The filly grimaced when she said "Trixie", but went to grab her helmet.

 

You went to respond, when a horrible shattering sound echoed across the entire town. You looked up just in time to see a jet-black beam of magic end...and shards of glass start raining from the sky.

 

"Oh fuck, Scootaloo! Get that helmet on, now!"

 

The filly wasted no time in doing so, scared out of her mind. You grabbed the tiny pegasus and hunched over, keeping her covered from the sharp projectiles. Pain lanced across your back as it was sliced open repeatedly, and you grunted in discomfort once or twice.

 

"You're goin-ack! Going to be okay, Scoots." You said loudly, trying to get her to hear you over the sound of crashing glass. She nodded fearfully, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.

 

A large shard of glass planted itself in your back, and you roared in response. The glass stopped soon afterwards, but you didn't move.

 

"Scoots, I'm going...to let you go. Okay?" You ground out, trying and failing to keep the edge out of your voice. "Go get help."

 

"O-okay Anon..." The pegasus said quietly, carefully climbing out of your grasp and getting onto her scooter. Her hooves protected her from the shards of glass on the ground, and she tore off down the street, towards the Library.

 

You tried to straighten out, but a sharp burn from your injuries made you stop doing that in a real hurry. You remained hunched over for almost twenty minutes before hoofbeats could be heard coming after you.

 

"He's over here!" You heard the filly cry out.

 

'Good job, Scoots.' You thought to yourself.

 

"Anon!" You heard Fluttershy call. "What did you do to yourself?!"

 

"I'd rather...you help me instead of berate me." You muttered. Fluttershy made some sort of 'tsk'ing noise as she inspected your wounds.

 

"That's rather deep...hold on Anon, this is probably going to hurt..."

 

She pulled a shard out, and it felt like someone had applied a hot metal bar to your back. You cried out and flinched instinctively, only making the damage that much worse. Something cloth-like and soft was placed on your back, and the yellow pegasus applied a great deal more pressure than you thought she could.

 

"I'm sorry, Anon, I really am! That was the only way to get it out, I swear!" The lemon-colored pony squeaked, still applying pressure to stem the bleeding. "Oh dear, this is bad. Scootaloo, be a dear and fetch me more bandages!"

 

"Yes ma'am!" Scootaloo buzzed off to the Library, probably looking for your medical pouch. You suddenly remembered you used up your last potion a while ago. Damn, that would have helped right now.

 

Scootaloo returned quickly, the other girls and Spike following close behind. Rainbow had your medical pouch in her mouth, and she dropped it for Fluttershy to rummage through.

 

"Anon, any painkillers in here?" She asked, all business.

 

"Yeah. First pouch, left pocket. White powder." You replied quickly, before a groan escaped your lips.

 

"Good." She held the small packet of powder in her mouth, which you carefully took from her.

 

"I need some water, I can't take this dry."

 

"On it!" Dash said, taking off in a multi-colored blur. She was back less than a minute later, a glass of water delicately balanced in her mouth. You took it from her, downing both the powder and water at the same time.

 

You grimaced at the taste, but nodded to the gathered ponies.

 

"I'll be alright. F-" You stopped your curse when you remembered Scootaloo was there. "-rankly, I've been better, but I'll live." Good save.

 

You heard a loud explosion come from the center of town, and stood shakily.

 

"Anon, you shouldn't get up! You might make your injuries worse!" Fluttershy cried. "B-but, I mean, if you want to move, I c-can't stop you..."

 

You patted her on the head, before heading towards the continuing commotion. You were glad most of these cuts were shallow and superficial, you might have been in real trouble otherwise. You and Scootaloo also appeared to have been the only ones outside at the time, as other ponies were exiting their homes to see what had been going on.

 

Another black beam cut across the sky, slicing off the flagpole and bringing the red flag down with it. As the Town Hall came into view, you saw the familiar coat and cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle standing there, towering over a cowering Trixie. Trixie's amulet was on the ground, shattered.

 

"I-I'm sorry! I'll leave Ponyville! Forever! Please don't hurt me!" The blue unicorn cried, absolutely terrified.

 

"Twilight!" You called, and the mare slowly turned towards you. You stopped your walk in shock when you noticed something WRONG about her. Her eyes had a green tint to them, with black smoke rolling off the edges of them. Her irises, instead of the brilliant amethyst you were used to, were a dark red. There was a chain around her neck, along with what looked to be a red...talon? Horn? Claw? You honestly couldn't tell.

 

"Oh, hello Anon." Twilight said coolly, before re-affixing her gaze onto the cowering unicorn. "Well, Trixie, I've already told you several times to leave. Instead, you chose to challenge me." Twilight's horn charged up with a black aura, small green orbs hanging around it. She fired the beam at Trixie, deliberately missing to scare her. "That was a mistake."

 

"I know! Please Twilight, stop! I'm sorry! It won't happen again, I swear! Spare me, please!"  It was uncomfortable hearing somepony beg like this, especially to Twilight.

 

"Twilight, what are you doing?" You asked, getting closer. In response, Twilight put up a black barrier between you and her, preventing you from getting within reach.

 

"I'm teaching EVERYPONY why they shouldn't think I'm a pony they even have a snowball's chance in Tartarus of winning against." The unicorn growled, baring her teeth in anger. They were sharp and fang-like, which you knew for a fact wasn't right.

 

Twilight unleashed the dark power she had been storing, which sliced directly into Trixie's horn. The grounded mare screamed as her horn was severed, putting her hooves to where it once was. She was crying now, loudly.

 

"Twilight, enough! That's too far!" You shouted, only to be ignored as Twilight readied another spell. This one hit Trixie right in the stomach, and she shrieked in fear as she was slowly turned to stone.

 

"No, please, NO! Please, don't do this to m-!"

 

Her pleading ended as suddenly as it started.

 

You were stunned into silence, and everything was eerily quiet. Twilight lowered the barrier, before turning and walking past you. A dark aura surrounded her very hoofsteps before dissipating moments later.

 

All you could do was stare at Trixie's permanently terrified visage.