“With all due respect Princess, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?” Twilight shouted, loud enough to create a gust of wind inside her library.
Celestia raised her hoof and nodded. “I understand your concerns Twilight, but if I did not meet his demands with respect, this could have all ended in a bloodbath.”
“I don't understand, aren’t you supposed to be the most powerful magic user in the world? Why can’t you just restrain him?” Twilight asked.
“Magic has an interesting effect on him. At first when we captured him, our magic behaved oddly, like it was losing its potency on him, and now its like his body has adapted and built up a resistance that almost completely nullifies my magic.”
All of the ponies just stared in awe and shock. “What about the Elements? Could they work on him?”
“I do not know, but that is the last thing we will consider if it comes down to it. If Aran suspects anything, he will kill you and the other elements without hesitation.” The last words Celestia uttered really hit the ponies hard. They gave each other worrying glances as gruesome scenarios of what the human would do to them if he caught them began to race through their minds.
“Why is he like this?” The timid voice of Fluttershy came from the back. “Why would anyone do such things?”
Celestia looked down in guilt over her misjudgment of the once noble human. “I want you all to take a look at this. It will clear things up and answer most of the questions you have.” Celestia called upon her magic, summoning a tattered book that floated in front of the six mares. On the cover of the book, the ponies leaned so as to make out the red tint of the title: Legacy.
***
Unknown entry:
“Several days have passed and I have nothing to ease my mind. I’ve tried to distract myself so as to stop worrying about my family. It’s easier said than done, of course. My mind always wanders back to her. I remember once when she started crying on a beach just because she couldn’t spot me.... How would she react if I never came home…”
Unknown entry:
“I don’t have any more of that green ooze from the prison walls to write with, I was forced to dip the feather in a pool of my own blood that have been dripping while my wounds are still healing… I can’t sleep without seeing… it. I can’t eat the hay that they keep offering me, I’ve tried to cry out for cabbage or anything that is digestible, but the guards just spit on my face and throw the water bowl on my head… when I get out of here-.”
Unknown entry:
“My stomach is gnawing on my flesh… My mind won’t leave me alone… I can’t sleep without seeing that blue monster in my dreams and I can’t stop thinking about my friends, my family… I will never see them again.” The last word had been slightly blurred by a drop of a some sort of dried out liquid.
Unknown entry:
ITS ALL BECAUSE OF THEM!!! I didn’t have the best life, but I had one! I wasn't imprisoned without reason, I had friends… family, and I’ll never see them again, because of them!
Final entry:
“My time has come… I have barely enough strength to hold the feather and with my blood almost completely dried out, I am afraid this will be my final entry… I’ve lived a hollow life… A life I wasted because I did not treasure it when I had the chance… Now I will die in a cell, with my family not knowing where I am and what has happened to me… This is i-.” The final letter was dragged down, appearing to have slid down from the parchment, to the cover of the book.
The ponies looked horrified at what they had read, they had no idea what the human had been exposed to, and it answered many questions they had pertaining to his dark and brutal nature, but with the truth revealed, more questions surfaced. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner of the room, in shock, rainbow dash had stopped flapping her wings and was sitting on the ground, her eyes boring into the stone. Twilight’s mind was racing, she found herself in utter shock at the cruelty her mentor and mother figure had put this poor creature through.
“Princess… please tell me you did not capture it-, I mean him without a good reason?” Twilight asked looking up to her mentor with wide and somewhat fearful eyes.
Celestia, despite her normal stoic appearance, flinched at the look she received from her beloved student, still, she pressed on, to answering Twilight’s question. “It was the night after you and your friends defeated Nightmare Moon, I had returned to Canterlot with my sister, when Shining Armor informed us of his existence. While in my absence, an unknown creature had somehow fell into the throne room, it was Aran. He had been mortally wounded from the fall and was bleeding severely. Shining Armor, having been taken by surprise, commandeered the guards, and struck Aran down with his magic. After 4 bolts, the creature gave up and fell to the ground, exhausted from its battle.” Everypony was intently listening to the princess’ story and Twilight nodded for her to continue. “In all my years I had never seen a creature such as him, when your brother confronted me about what had happened, I inspected the creature in the dungeon. It was chained up and protected with the strongest seals that your brother could conjure. I ordered Shining and several other guards to carry him to the castle medical wing, where we removed the large shards of glass embedded in its body, however, before we could begin, we had to see how its body works and what needed treating….. So, we were forced to perform a… vivisection.” Fluttershy and Rarity both gasped aloud, followed by their unconscious bodies thumping to the floor due to the shock. The rest took on a ghastly shade of green, mixed with an expression of horror and disgust. “I wish to tell you more, but in short, we made a big mistake and now he thinks without a doubt, that I want to harm him. Which is why he shows complete hostility towards all ponies, however, my scouts told me that he is neutral when it comes to minotaurs and gryphons.”
“..... What do we do now?” Applejack asked, her care for her sister overcoming the shock, as she stepped up to Celestia.
“I trust that Shining Armor will meet Aran’s demands, and once they are met, he will gladly hand over Applebloom, so that he can be left alone.” Applejack was still not entirely convinced, her brow furrowing, displaying her doubt. “Believe me, Applejack, Aran has no interest in keeping or harming her.”
***
Aran kicked open the faulty door that served as the makeshift entrance to his cabin, he threw his dull axe that was stained with yellow sap, the lifeblood of a timber wolf, into a wall, which by some miracle (or maybe due to rotten wood) found itself embedded there. Applebloom watched from afar, as her captor dragged his chair to the table. He pulled up the bottle which he had used before to clean his cut and proceeded to drop his head back to drain whatever was left in it. He reeled from the strong taste of it and glanced at Applebloom who was intently watching the whole thing. “Look at me, I’ve become an alcoholic father.” He said with a cheesy grin. “I’m guessing that orange pony is your mom?” Applebloom did not answer. “Stop with the I’m afraid bullshit and just answer my question already, the least you can do is humor me for the final moments we have left before Celestia comes and picks you up.”
“Shes not my mah...Shes my sister...I-. I don’t have any parents.” She said with a weak grieving voice.
Aran raised an eyebrow at the reveal. “How did they die?” He asked nonchalantly.
Applebloom did not answer right away, she knew that he wouldn’t hurt her, but was still not sure if she wanted him to know. “Why should I tell you?” She said with an obvious spiteful tone in her voice. She had expected the human to react negatively at her retort, but instead- he did something even more terrifying… he laughed.
The human continued to bellow out a laugh and proceeded to slam the table. “You’re feisty, I like that!” He saw how the young filly was completely confused by his unexpected reaction. “I’m just askin’ I don’t care if you tell me or not, I’m just bored. If you want to keep staring at me, I won’t stop you.” And so she did. “But could you answer me this.” Applebloom peaked her ears up in curiosity. “Did you enjoy it?” He asked with a slight amusing smile appearing on his bearded face.
Applebloom did not understand. “Enjoy what?” She asked.
“Did you enjoy shafting the wolf’s jaw to the tree?” Applebloom’s eyes widened in surprise. She was speechless, as to why he would be interested in that.
“Why do you care?” She spat back.
The human kept his crazed gaze on the young filly. “Just curious.” He said, raising his hands up in the air. Applebloom didn’t answer again and kept quiet. “Buzzkill…” The rustling of armor and the grunting of guards could be heard outside. Aran stood up, ripped the axe out of the wall, grabbed Apple Bloom by the neck, and made for the door to collect his ransom.
***
I slowly opened the door with the young filly and her neck wrapped around my fingers. I saw dozens of armed guards, one of the them particularly stood out. It was a white unicorn stallion that wore purple and golden armor as well as a slightly bigger helmet than the other guards. “Shining Armor!” I said, with fake cheer in my voice, “Its been awhile. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings for what happened to your friends?” I said, smiling maliciously. I could see that the Captain wanted to skewer me with his sword. But even if I didn’t have a hostage, he wouldn’t dare attack… not after what I did to the guard that was personally guarding me.
He cleared his throat before speaking. “We have brought you your ransom, now release the filly!” He waved his hoof and three guards stepped forward. One bearing something similar to an axe but not a wood-cutting one. The second guard was hovering a barrel of water and the third was a simple sleeping bag, made perfectly for my size. They must still have all the data on my body back in Canterlot. I slightly gritted my teeth in anger over the fact that they experimented on me. Something however was off with the situation… I saw that the one carrying the water was… unusually calm as to normal form of fear or loathing I could sense from the other guards. “There, you have them, now release the filly!” Shining ordered, as the items were laid in front of me.
I raised an eyebrow at the suspicious unicorn, its magical glow was blue when it had a golden and white cutie mark engraved upon its armour… something was off by a long shot. “I won’t ask again, release the filly. NOW!” Shining shouted.
I turned my head back to Shining armor. “I will if you do one more thing for me.” I said with a smile.
Shining armor was taken aback by my comment. “No!” He replied sternly. “Release her now or we will attack!” He said, charging up his horn.
“You’re bluff won’t work on me. This is my territory, I have the upper hand here, and don,t forget, even if you manage to kill me, what would your sister think of you if you let one of her best friend’s sister die? Not only that, you would become the disgrace of the Royal guard once again!”
Shining armor went pale from my knowledge of his sister. “How… how did you know…..?” He asked horrified.
I chuckled, I relished in the terror I had caused him. “That doesn’t matter right now. What does matter, is that you do what I tell you to do, and I won’t kill this filly, simple as that.”
Shining armor gave a long and drawn out sigh. “Very well… what do you want now?” He asked in submission.
“You!” I stared directly at the guard levitating the barrel. The stallion did not react nervously
which only caught my attention even more.
“Yes?” He asked grimly and stepped forward.
“What is your name, guard?” I asked pointing my axe just mere inches away from his face.
“Dawn Star!” He replied with no hint of loathing or fear in his voice. You would think that a six foot human pointing a weapon an inch away from your face would make you just a bit nervous.
I smile crept onto my face, as my suspicions seemed to be correct. “Well Dawn Star, before I hand over the filly, would you mind taking a sip of the water? You know, just in case it’s not poisoned or anything.” I said with a humorous tone, but I was very serious.
“I don’t mind at all.” He responded with a friendly smile. That, however surprised me.
He leaned down and open the cork on the barrel with his magic and was slightly turned to gulp the water that was flowing down. He put the barrel down and faced me again. “Will that be all?”
Another smile crept onto my face, but this one was sincere. “Yes, thank you.” I replied back to him with the same civil tone that he showed me. He stepped back to his position. “Well then, I guess you are free now Applebloom, I will miss our little talks.” I said lowering the filly down on the ground. She did not run to the guards however. She was staring at me the whole time. “Now you can all get the hell off of my property!” I said kicking over the barrel, making all the water run out. Shining armor was speechless as to why I had done that.
“NO!!” A feminine voice called out. Before I could react, a batpony dived right at me with her clawed horse shoes. I was almost cut to ribbons, if it wasn’t thanks to my old axe, the blades would have pierced my throat.
“Battle formation!” Shining Armor shouted out “Stand down guard! You are not authorized to engage the human!”
The batpony was stronger than any other pony I had fought. She was slowly getting the upper hand and the wood of the axe couldn’t hold out much longer. “You will die now, Human! If my princess demands it, I shall kill you, even if you take me with you!”
At that moment… when I had lowered my guard and was ready to go back and continue to live out a meager existence. I was deceived and taken advantage of again by these same damn poniest. A swelling feeling began to rise inside of me “That. IS. ENOUGH!!!” My anger soon got the better of me and I lost myself completely to my fury.
***
Aran let loose loud war cry causing many of the trees in the forest to shake down to their very roots. In his rage, he grabbed the mysterious batpony by her throat and slammed her against the wall of his hut. He was pressing the axe handle up against the batpony’s throat, depriving her of air and turning her head red.
“Attack!” Shining armor called out. Aran quickly turned his attention on the charging ponies, he let the batpony drop from his grip, which was now unconscious, and with his first strike of his new axe, cut of the first pony’s head in one fell swoop. The body fell limp immediately with spurts of crimson red blood shooting out of the corpse. Aran look at the one responsible for all of this. His blood-shot eyes settling on Shining Armor.
“ARMOR!!!” He charged with the axe like an animal. Two guards moved to intercept his path. One was knocked out by the backside of the axe, the other had it implanted in its skull.
“NO!” Armor called out in horror. He was losing good ponies by the hoofful. “Dawn Star, take the filly to safety!” He did not have time to take a better look at Dawn Star, for if he did, he would have noticed that he wasn’t looking so good…
The sickly guard nodded and levitated the young filly as he galloped back to Ponyville…
Shining armor turned his attention back towards the rampaging human who just managed to take out the axe impaled in another pony’s head. “Guards, shields up!” He ordered. The guards created a shielding bubble that Aran could not hack through.
He gave out a loud maniacal laugh. “You can’t hold that shield up forever, and once it falls, I will KILL. YOU. ALL!!!”
While Aran was furiously chipping away at the barrier, Dawn Star was drowsily running through the Everfree forest. He could feel his magic about to fade and felt that at any moment he would fall and hit the ground.. Applebloom as well, saw how the stallion could barely stand, and that frightened her… Could the water have been poisoned like Aran had predicted? Would the Princess risk her life just to get rid of Aran?
The howling of wolves could be heard. Both Applebloom and Dawn Star stopped breathing. If the wolves were on the hunt tonight, along with a monstrous human on the loose, none would be able to escape with their lives. But for Dawn Star he knew it was the end for him. His magic broke and Applebloom was dropped to the ground. “Little filly...I won’t be able to make it… You have to keep following the path and get back to Ponyville!” He was quickly losing consciousness.
“Is it true? Was the princess trying to poison Aran?” She asked the half dead pony.
“Follow… the-” He fell to the ground. Applebloom was terrified. Once again she had seen something die in front of her. But the howling began to approach closer. She glanced back at the corpse and then the road. She couldn’t run back on her own… only Aran could keep her safe from the encroaching wolves and whatever else lurked in the shadows. A loud growling could be heard just 20 yards away from her. The green eyes that she had come to fear, were hunting her once again. Terror got the best of her and she ran back to the cabin. Unbeknownst to Applebloom, the body of the white unicorn stallion was shifting back to its original form, that of Tempest
The sounds of banging could be heard from a good distance away. The barrier could not take much more, from the unrelenting assault that Aran was beating into it. The axe had been shattered and the human was now slamming his bloodied knuckles against the magic made walls. He took a quick breather, As he was sweating something fierce from overexerting his body, the adrenaline from his rage, having worn off. Aran desperately looked around for another weapon to use against the barrier while he caught his breath. He saw the axe that was part of his ransom. But this was no woodcutting axe. Now that he got a better look at it he noticed that it was in fact a minotaur axe. It was perfectly made to fit someone of his size.
He smiled maliciously, and hastily picked up the axe from the ground. It was oddly light, and from the look of it, was enchanted to resist damage to it. He wanted to test it out just to be completely sure, though. With one full sweep, the axe collided with the barrier, a screeching glass shattering sound echoed throughout the entire forest when the axe collided with the barrier. The crude cabin shuddered and leaned to a side. The human was sent flying into one of the cabin’s walls from the resulting blast wave. The ponies as well, were sent thrown every which way by the blast.
Shadow was slowly waking up from her previous encounter with Aran. She carefully stood up again and tried to get back on her hooves. However, as she woke up, she saw that her claws were gone and she was left bare-hoofed with her own strength to fight the human. She saw that he was still down. A light glowed in her eyes as she realized this was her chance to kill the human. She flew towards the fallen human and was about to smash his skull in with her hooves. It was all for naught, however, as Shadow’s hooves were intercepted by the human’s hands. She jumped back at this and saw that he was still very much awake. She tried to get out of his hold, but despite her impressive strength as the Princess of the moon’s right hoof, she was still no match to the raw physical strength of the human. He quickly broke her hooves with a loud snapping sound that echoed throughout the clearing. Shadow screamed in pure agony, the pain surging throughout her whole body. Aran let go of her front hooves and let her fall off of his body. Shadow was paralyzed with pain and fear, her wings twitching feebly, in an attempt to escape...
Aran stood up at his full height again and he saw how she trembling with fright, her eyes now mere pinpricks. Aran saw the barrel was half-way cut open. He saw the poison that was meant for him….. an evil thought found its way into his mind. Poetic justice if you will. He grabbed Shadow by the neck and slowly made his way towards the barrel.
“You… you will d-die, n-now or 100 y-years from now, it d-d-does not matter. My mistress will live forever!” She gave a coughing, stuttering, maniacal laugh.
He lifted her face, making her eyes meet his own. “Wrong! Once I’m done here, I’m going to track down your pretty, little, backstabbing princess, and I will give her a taste of her own ‘medicine’.”
“No! You can’t!” Those were Shadow’s final words before he dipped her head in the barrel. Her broken hooves flailed uselessly against the barrel and tainted water, but it was inevitable. The bubbling noise was music to his ears. Her death would mean that Luna would suffer their loss.
He raised her up from the water to get the last word. “Yes I can, and it will be all thanks to you!” His chuckling couldn’t be held back anymore, he started to laugh out loud at his victory.
But neither were coming out of this victorious. A sharp stinging pain was felt in his other hand. He saw the small piece of the barrel stuck in his flesh. Aran was going to throw her back in the water, but her laughter caught him off guard. “I...Did it-” She coughed. “It takes only one drop to kill you… if introduced into your body it will kill you… eventually….. Looks like my mistress will live forever after all.” She smiled maddeningly, and threw her head back into the sky, laughing as loudly as he could. She was right. She had won.
Anger instinctively took over and her laughter was cut short after a mere second, as he impaled her throat on a jutting, sharp, wooden part of the barrel, ending her life with her eyes staring straight forward, uncomprehending forevermore. Crimson life fluid gurgling from her snout, and the new breathing holes in her windpipe..
Aran fell to his knees. He had no idea of the potency of the poison, but knowing Luna, she would have cooked up something special just for him. The cold feeling of despair started to wash over him. He had fought tooth and nail everyday to survive, and a simple splinter soaked in poison would be the thing that would kill him. Was he really ready to lie down on the cold ground and die?
´´Yes...´´ He answered to himself coldly. He embraced death with open arms, at least he would gone from this lonely world. He dropped down to his hands and knees, facing the dirt and waiting for the poison to flow through his body.
“Aran!”
***
Applebloom ran as fast as her hooves could take her. She could sense that the timberwolves were closing up on her. With her heart pumping faster and adrenalin rushing through her veins again, she was fearing for her life. She could only trust Aran to keep her safe. She arrived to the place she had been before, but she was shocked to see that the house was knocked down. She also saw the dead guards with either decapitated heads or giant holes in their skulls. She couldn't believe it but she was starting to get used to seeing death. She didn't know what was worse. The wolves chasing her, the fact that she was easing up on the idea of death or the fact that she was asking to be protected by the human that had clearly stated that he did not like her.
After a few more seconds of scanning the area, she saw the human on his hands and knees.
“Aran!” She called out, worrying that something may have happened to him.
Aran raised his head and saw the little filly. What was she doing here?! He thought. Why would she return to him and most of all, why would she risk her life like that?
“Applebloom?” He looked at her in confusion. She...She was smiling to see that he was still conscious. He was about to ask her what she was doing here, but his sharp eyes caught the green glowing eyes that were prowling behind her. “Applebloom watch out!!” He snapped.
Applebloom turned around and saw the pack of wolves that had gathered. She let out a high pitch scream. The wolves were enjoying the easy kill that were in front of them. The others of the pact made sure to surround Aran and Applebloom.
If Aran would not stand up and fight, she would die...He was already a goner. But why did she return? At that moment, a spark lit in his eyes. With new found strength, Aran stood up from the ground. “Applebloom! Get behind me!” He called out. The filly quickly agreed and ran to her protector. He raised his axe and gazed the wolves down.
He quickly lifted the little filly from the ground and put her on top of his shoulder. She was sticking out on top of his head, looking from a height she had rarely seen from.
“Hold on tight, I’ll keep you safe.” And she did just that. She held his head with her hooves, almost depriving his head from blood rush.
The wolves gave a final howl before they went for the attack. Two were in the front assault and one coming from behind. A quick swing of his axe, and the ambushing one was dead, while the two kept jumping back and forward to try and get a quick snatch at him. Aran however, leaped forward and cleaved the two wolves easily. The pack leader howled and in an instance, two or three more groups of wolves were surrounding them. This was a no win situation. He could not keep his ground against so many...He made a assuming guess that there were about 15 to 20 wolves that were after him. This was no coincidence...They had planned this. They waited until the day where they could finally outnumber me. With me gone, they would be the dominant species of the forest.
“I...I have no choice…” He said with sorrow in his voice. He knew that the only way now for him to escape dying by their hand, was to escape and let the poison take its effect soon. The wolves charged and he turned his back and ran. The wolves that had guarded his back, were cleaved in half. He sprinted away from the fight and kept an eye on where he was running and were his feet were landing. After living in the forest for several months, he had become a master of the forest. He knew every tree like the back off his hand. Any slippery roots or hidden borrows were avoided, while the wolves were caught in them. The leading packt of the assault was far behind by now, giving him a bit more distance, but the others were still tailing him. They ran with a devilish speed, unmatched by the human. They would catch up to him soon. The only way for Applebloom to have a chance to live, is if he would accept death. The trees were gone now, instead of a lush and thick forest, it was at the edge of a waterfall that had a very steep drop. Would he jump, there would be a big chance that the rocks below would kill him. But he was already a dead man. “Applebloom, hold on tight, whatever you do, hold on to my head!”
“Wait, are you gonna-!?” She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as he leapt of the edge.
uuuuuugh, not another 'human be immune to magic' thing............. these stories grind my gears. they just make no DAMN sense. and they always, always, are used as a poor attempt to give the humans an advantage osmehow...................
considering celestia could jsut crush him with a tree instead of directluy using it, the immunity is null in void. it can harm him indirectly.
Damn that no-good back-stabbing blood-drinking Princess of the NIght!
Wow... I REALLY hate your portrayal of Luna. I don't care how fucking well-intentioned she is. Her big sister is the most experience of the two and should be listened to. The last time she stirred up trouble, she got sent to the moon for 1000 years. I am starting to hope it is FUCKING PERMANENT!
I'm sorry, I know it's not constructive, but it infuriates me.
3922207 Actully it could be a funny irony that humans can't ever use magic, but magic can't be used on us, explaining why we haven't discovered it xD
3922207 And if you really want to play fair, how about I write a story about humans invade Equestria, and turn it into a wasteland in less then a afternoon. Tech > Magic. A moron can use a gun that could kill an elephant. A unicorn would have to dedicate several years of his or her life to even use magic in a decent level to restrain a wild animal such as a manticore.
3922261 Well I have also written a story, where Luna is a lovable mother to a half-breed human. Check it out.
3922284 That doesn't reassure me at all, because that's a different story, not this one. You'll have to drag Luna through proverbial -and literal- Hell at the rate she's portrayed here for me to even consider her 'well-intentioned' or in-character.
And understand, Luna is one of my favorite characters in the series...
Dang it people give the author more likes now!!! I am quite fascinated by this story and I wish to see more of it.
3922284 And by the by new chapter was awesome love the whole blood rage bit and how he basically tore into them and especially the idea of how surprised the mane 6 were when they learned the truth about how they were being completely biased toward a being that has done no wrong since he appeared except survive the obstacles they put in his way while they remained blissfully ignorant and happy.
3922207
Oh, joy another Celestia is a God person. Ugggh.
3922262
thats right! use science to explain things! you got a like for that good sir. i find it comical how celestia shows remorse infront of the main six for what she does but does nothing to curb the hatred aran feels for the ponies.
3922326 ............. on the contrary i do not think that. mlp is itneresting because even its most powerful beings like discord and the regal sistesr, are not of some divine descent, but beings with limitations.
it is less celestia and more humans becoming immune to magic in general........ that somehow them not being from a world of magic makes them immune TO magic. magic is kinda hard to compare ot anything real world, i will not lie, but when it comes to being exposed to an unknown substance, energy, or organism, those who have never encountered it before are almost always fatally vulnerable. and even if one adapts, it does not allow complete immunity.
3922297 Her hatred towards Aran will be explained. It will be a touching and dramatic read that you won't forgett anytime soon, but thats long ahead of where we are right now. And for the record, Luna is my favorite MLP character period. I will flesh out both characters as the story progresses.
3922309 Thank you valeyard, Always love hearing your feedback.
3922326 Wait for it...
Man, you are making this rather interesting. You are evening out the Pony side of things. At first, it sounded like Ponies are just completely heart-less when it comes to other species (or atleast this human), but its starting to be shown that they where only given some of the info. Celestia is starting to be more reasonable sounding, but you need to give more back-story before I can rule there. Keep up the good work.
3922207 It can make sense. It largely depends on how the heck Magic works. And since that is left perfectly open, anythings possible. Suppose magic is a sorta anti-energy thing, and when it comes into contact with its opposite, fades away.
And you have to give humans some advantage. Ponies are faster, stronger, and more durable. Can't say we have intelligence on them, that's just biased. They have resources, they have numbers, and they have magic. The only thing we CAN have on them is ruthless-ness, and that isn't a constant, there can be some terrible ponies out there, who won't mind matching us.
And the having to do stuff indirectly is exactly what helps him out. She has to use a tree or something to crush him, thus letting him avoid the tree, instead of her just grabbing him and crushing him like a water-balloon.
3922369 yeah, when you say it will be touching and dramatic, that sets up for disappointment, especially since as of now I DON'T CARE about Luna's feelings here. At all. No, I want to make this bitch suffer.
3922384 Thank you. I will reveal more of what happened during Aran's time in the dungeons and the several interrogations that took place. Also, Most of the characters will change as the story progresses.
3922395 xD I never said that I wouldn't make her suffer.
You need an editor. Get one as soon as possible. It's for the best.
3922404 Bit that's just it. You're butchering a character for the sake of having a villain, and it makes the fic hard to sit through in a bad way. I hate Tyrantlestia meme, so of course I'll despise any portrayal of Luna in a similar light.
3922401 With how violent everything is, there better be some character development. And I feel that Applebloom is growing attached to Aran, yet I have no clue what could possibly come of it.
3922419 The world isn't black and white, its full of greys. In other words. This philosophy will be discussed in the next chapter. Nobody is the villain in this story.
3922425 Patience:)
i can't add another like mine is already thier please more
3922384 shrugs. like i said, hard ot compare it with anything real world....... antienergy thing would be making it scifi rather than fantasy though. less technicolor equine nad more like star trek. shrugs.
.......you might be the only person i have discussed this with that agrees that humans have the disadvantage. still i have a hard time giving humans a sensible, at least, advantage, and found barely anything. our technology is the cosntant yet it only is helpful so long as the magical creatures do not replicate it.......... considering it is a species that has built a civlization without the need of a full set of digits, i would say they would be able to rather quickly.
and magic immunity just sounds like something that requires access to magic to begin with........... know in Dragon Age the dwarves are resistant to magic, but they are otherwise able to be affected by more powerful spells.
3922433 Yeah, not black and white, eh? Hence why Luna is defying her sister to commit murder. Because it's not like she's been presented as a black-and-white, him-or-us bitch or anything. Oh wait? Yes she has! You want to justify her bullshit?! Do it in the same chapter she makes these damn plans! Avoid making her appear transparently fucking evil! Guess what?! You've made her transparently evil because you have action without motivation beyond him being different from ponies! Yes, he killed, but only after he was TORN OPEN ALIVE!
Also, need we forget she nearly gets a filly killed for it!!
You want me to like this? Edit to explain motivations.
3922462 Magic is just unexplained science. Well, unexplained to us. In universe they understand it a fair bit, and magic is just the term they use for it. I like to have generally understandable magic going on, and not have stupid spells like a Translator Spell around, for I can think of no way for that to work.
Ponies aren't too disadvantaged from a lack of Fingers. Unicorns have Telekinesis (and other magics), Pegasi have very flexible wings, and it seems like all ponies have some sorta telekinetic field around their hooves, allowing for gripping and manipulation of objects.
I personally see ponies as the same level of intelligence as us, and the reason why they aren't as advanced as us scientifically is 1) they have less drive. They don't seek to tame their surroundings, but live in peaceful coexistence. They also don't fight each other nearly as much (to the point where pies to the face are considered a viable form of combat in "Over the Barrel"), so there are no arms races. 2) What progress they have made has been in magic, and the related, where we have been working on everything else, since we have no magic to make things easier.
And Tech would only help us for so long if we don't have a easy method for resupply. You are limited to what you have on you at the time you are whisked over. If you have a gun, better make those bullets count, for after their gone, its only good as a bludgeoning tool.
And we might have access to magic, just don't know it. Head-cannon is that every thing in Equestria CAN use magic, its just Unicorns who are predispositioned to it (They have a Magic Wand on their head). Zecora has shown she is capable of Magic, and she certainly isn't a Unicorn.
3922551 magic has become just unexplained science as we discovered how the world works. yet that term does not apply when a world works solely by thsi unexplained force, so much so that their very residence, while aware fo concepts such as gravity and physics, classify magic as an actual force.
3922576 Not so much, no. The Scientific Method works anywhere the laws of the world are consistent. They study magic, and too them, it is a science. Just the introduction of another force does not discredit the world as we know it, just takes some new application and thinking.
3922541 Jesus Christ, man! Let the boy work! I would agree with you but we have no fucking idea what her motivations are, hell, she's barely been in the story. So, leave him alone until Luna has been fleshed out, then you may intact judgement of the character.
3922711 ............ i am the guy questioning him even being immune to magic. never mentioend lun.a
3922732 Sorry...
.............. i will ahve to completely restate my problem by saying, there is no god damn way he has survived.............
even with his contrived magic immunity, he only has an axe, a bow, and a knife. not only would those be useless against manticores, considering how massive and powerful they are, but there is no way he could kill a dragon even if it was petrified. let alone be able to use a cockatrice on a dragon without being affected him. the cokcatrice has to be alive after all.
and to him killing ponies..... even if he had immunity, he would still have to get over the fact they are physical his better and mentally his equal, more like superior though. their bones are harder and are likely physically a lot heavier than him as well, and they have an unusual bone structure too that would allow them to grapple to a limited degree and quite lierally punch him. he would not even be able to snap their necks; he would have to overpower their neck muscles to begin with, unlikely. even strangling them has the issue of them kicking and hitting with bone hard hooves, likely to break bones as well, along with somehow grasping their thick necks. .
and with the minotaur............... there is no way he could intimidate a minotaur. the minotaur would doubtlessly be his superior physically. likely able to mangle him to death without question.
ultimately i cannot buy he has the aiblity to survive in equistria. even if he cannot be turned into an orange, all the likes of twiligth would need to do is levitate and rock and send it flying at him with sufficiant force, and it would be over. hell rarity could beat him into submission with half the surrounding refuse if she needed to.
he simply has no real advantage. even without magic, he is helpless.
3922541 Dude. Calm down. It is common practice to hold off key pieces of information till much later in the plot. Luna is among my Favorite three characters (Favorite is Discord. She's tied for second with Fluttershy), and yes, she appears to be a heartless bitch here, but it doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see things from her view.
One, after her time as NMM, she's a 1000 years out of touch. Things can change incredibly in 1000 years. Consider the state of woman's rights in 1014. Oh yeah, there were none, and that was the way it was. Now, you can get in a whole lot of trouble for just being sorta sexist. Imagine that applied. Arranged Marriages where the Status Quo among the Elite. Apply the same degree of social change there, and her response would be perfectly reasonable from her perspective.
Two, the Vivisection was hardly tearing him open, and they had no other way to find out how to care for him beyond the cover up the leaking holes. He was probably under some magical Sedation, which they didn't know wouldn't work, so he shouldn't have even woken up.
Three, he has killed several of her subjects, some might have been friends of hers, and has shown no sign of remorse in killing. That could appear monstrous, a being incapable of emotions, and thus his life not given the same value (The same way Humans slaughter Imps, Orks, Elves and all sorts of Non-humans in Fiction. They are "Evil", and deserve to be put down)
Four, it was never said she wanted them to risk their lives in killing Aran. She had poisoned water, and expected him to drink it. She might not have ever thought he would have realized it was poisoned. And when he did, the soldiers attacking him could have easily been their fanaticism. They knew Luna wanted him dead, and even if they had to die, they were going to fulfill her wish, even if she never told them too.
I want to know why this guy didn't have Shining Armor drink from the barrel? I mean if he knew it was poison, then who better to eliminate?
3922711 see below.
3922774
1. He's given no reason to WANT to see things from her view. None. He's only shown her as this heartless, unyielding bitch.
2. The whole 'out-dated values' argument falls flat when you consider part of those values involving trusting those more experienced, your elders. She did not do that. She snuck about and defied her big sister, 1000 years far more experienced, on this matter. Those same values used to justify her bullshit don't do a thing because she hasn't followed them!
3. And why would they be so fanatic, Hm? Why? No explanation. Just supposed to accept it. This was the mare whom, until recently, was an attempt tyrant. They have no motivation for loyalty or fanaticism, because until recently she was looked to as an incarnation of evil, Equestria's bogeyman!
4. There's still the fact that she jeopardiZed both her sister's plan and Applebloom's life for this idiotic gambit!
3922864 ... That's a good point!
3922864 i am owndering why shining did not skewr the fuck in nine seconds. he is a god damn unicorn. there is no way the guy could ahve killed applebloom before the sword ended his life........... there is no way he would stand nine seconds against a group of armed ponies either.
rubs eyes. think about it. could he have resisted spears through into his body? magically or not? and how the fuck would trained warriors be incapable of defendign themselves against a fellow armed combatant?
........... this now infuriates me. all it would take is one dagger, a dart, a fucking spoon even, and the humans would have been killed. he would have no defense agaisnt a blade flung at him..... and clearly wheover wrote this seems to think that shining armor would be incapable of holding back a weak human swing when he can create shields that can keep out armies.
3922207 You know what really grinds my gears? Your constant need to post these useless comments. How about you, idk, find a story that doesn't have magic immune humans? Then again most trolls just want to try and start something.
3922899 i am wondering why shining did not kill him immediately. i mean he has motivation and the human would stand no chance, be dead before he could hurt applebloom. a sword levitated by his magic could probably move through the bastard's face before he could react, and end it once and for all.
or even better, him using a dagger. the human istracted, it goes through his head, killing him immediately and even more quickly.
just saying, this human should ahve been completely helpless and easily disposed of here. they do not need to ability to turn him into an orange; all they need to do is send a knife through his face and it is over.
3922741 Oh, people in a pinch are capable of wonders. There are people who can and do wrestle bears, and live among wolves. Plus, a Axe in the Head will kill just about anything. Just have to avoid the Pointy Bits long enough to get it there. And he isn't reckless, he obviously takes a lot of precautions.
Neck Muscles aren't as strong as you think, the standard method to a horse who's freaking out that your riding is to pull the reigns tightly in one direction. Making it incapable of going in anything more than circles. All the Neck Muscles need to do is Support the head, and tear out grass or leaves. Not a lot of muscle.
A Blood Choke can have you out in Seconds, suppressing the Arteries in the Neck, and cutting off blood flow to the Brain. Whats more, Blood Chokes are dangerous because its too easy to over do it, and break those arteries.
Oh yeah, a Minotaur is physically superior to him. Doesn't mean he's a better fighter. Dirty Fighting can help out a lot, and again, ruthlessness. Aran wouldn't hesitate to go for the eyes, while most people wince at the very thought.
3922893 Of course Aran has no reason to see from her perspective. I was talking about use.
She is the Princess, and possibly a Goddess. Her word is Law, she's use to people falling flat on her face if she wanted them too. That's how it was, and she sees no problem with that thinking. And how much older is her Sister really? It probably isn't more than a few years, that compared to thousands, they are equals. She saw her sister as Naive, and saw the continued existence of Aran as a threat to her and her subjects, and deserved to be put down.
They are effectively Goddesses. They raise the Sun and Moon. Those who join the Royal Guard pledge on their life to serve them and protect all of Pony Kind. People have marched to death on far less.
Sure, she's a Idiot for going through with this. She obviously expected it too succeed, because otherwise she wouldn't have bothered. The intelligence behind the decision is not in question, but the Morality. And as I said, she expected it go off without a Hitch, and get rid of the potential threat of Aran once and for all.
3922923 ........... for one thing, a troll would not bother to actually have an argument. and i do ahve one.
and another, even if this human was immune he has no real advantages here. the author seems confused on which is stronger, a humand or a being with bestial features............ its the other way around. minotaurs oculd easily overpower a human, ponies have more muscle strength, even at the size of the ponies............
and there is no wway he could react to a levitating sword fast enough, let alone a levitating dagger.
this situation was far too easily set up that it would allow him to be easily dispatched by numerous simple means.................. and i have no confidence in his ability to have survived at all, let alone killed ponies. he is more violent but greater violence is useless if you still lack efficient tools. no matter how hard you hit, you will never fell a tree with your bare hands. and no matter how hard you train, you will never overpower a bear.
3922964
No, the intelligence has everything to do with it just as much as morality, because, I will repeat for the third time, she risked the life of a little filly!! No, more than a filly, the lives of all those guards as well!! Whether or not she thought she was doing what's right or not, she might as well have gone Nightmare Moon all over again!!
3922971
Alright, how about I give you a reason as to why a human CAN be immune to magic. Now it is a well known fact that the matter that we deal with day to day is actually made out of atoms and an atom is a nucleus surrounded by an orbiting shell of electrons. If an atom comes in contact with another atom that isn't going to bond or chemically react to, they actually repel each other. Now the reason for that is because electrons with the same charge repel each other. So when you touch something, you're never really touching it.
Now your entire argument is based on the thought that Shining Armor could use his sword to stab or cut the human. Though this is not correct. You see what you fail to realise is that shining armors sword is not made out of the same atoms or electrons that are composed from matter in our world. So the Electron-electron repulsion force that is used to ‘cut’ or move atoms is no longer a factor here. So if shining where to attempt to thrust his sword at the human, then it would simply stop. There wouldn't even be an external force to push the human back. The human is practically a standing negative electron.
Lastly, you are a troll. I see your comments on a lot of these types of stories. Even have many people comment on how you're wrong with better arguments than you own. What you comments boil down to is this.
'its magic, so I dont have to explain shit.'
Leave and never return.
3922964 ...... still would not help agaisnt a minotaur. it would take a human a lot more force to hurt one than it would take a minotaur to hur the human...... considerably greater force.
ponies in this use their heads, mouths, and thus necks as manpulation tools, probably meaning more developed muscles in there too. and still a horse sdoes not understand that it can resist someone screwing with its head. the ponies are sapient, and would thus understand this factor. not to mention he would have to do so while the pony is resisting him, and probably resist him easily. the ponies would be a lot heavier than him.
also i gotta cry bullshit the entire hostage scene. there are several dozens of ways they could easily dispose of him that it was almsot hilarious. a sword through the head, a dagger levitated out of sight and sent through the spine. hell there is no way he would be able to not only overpower the ponies, they had superior numbers and would know to avoid weapons blows, and him being able to make shining armor even sweat slightly no matter how hard he hit the barrier. the guy can manifest a sheild able to protect an entire castle city. a humans, one of the weakest animals on earth in terms of physical prowess, wouldn't make a dent.
i tried giving the story a chance, but so far i am disapointed. i find not real advantages here and he could have been disposed of long ago. magic immunity does not mean knife throug face thrown by magic immunity.
3923033 .............
if your logic worked then the timberwolves could not have wounded him......... and he would suffocate because his lungs would not be getting the oxygeon from where 'he' came from.
WHAT?!! A cliffhanger!! NOOOO! I now have a reason to live, this chapter was so awesome.
Seriously, I'm fine with how Luna was portrayed.
3923037 Stranger things have happened. Alvin York single handedly took 133 men prisoner There are men who have killed Grizzly Bears with their bare hands. Hitler Survived 42 assassination attempts, some for very odd coincidences that have never been explained (one time he was driving his car instead of his driver, so his driver was shot instead of him)
Ponies are heaver than him, but that also works against them. Leverage is everything, if they have none, there's not at thing in the world they can do. They hold stuff with their mouths, yes, but that wouldn't help their necks much.
Most of those methods would work on anyone, yet they don't rule the world, and there are still monsters out there that kill them. You know why? Its a lot easier said than done. A sword to the Head would kill anything, but getting it in is next to impossible without being up-close and personal. Our Heads house our brains, and our instincts protect it at every cost.
A dagger to the Spine requires for them to have a Unicorn out of sight, for he can see their horns glow. It also counts on the fact he doesn't notice the Unicorn, because again, they have a Glowing Rod affixed to their head, with another glowing field around the knife. Glowing things stand out.
People can survive a lot of stabbing. A Chick survived being stabbed 40 times.. He only needs to be alive long enough to kill a Pony.
And how fast do you think they can move objects? I would say only about as fast as we can throw things, and they would still have to get them oriented correctly first.
Yes, they know to avoid the weapons, but you know what, so does everyone. Actually doing it is another matter. He has been learning with Life or Death, and that is one hell a teacher. They have been learning in controlled environments, where they don't have to worry about accidentally dying if someone Fs up.
This is a Spell he has all day to create and pool his power on. It doesn't require his constant vigilance, meaning it obviously stores its own power, and doesn't take much to hold passively. In the Battle, he only has so much power at the drop of a hat. And under Adrenaline, old women are strong enough to lift cars, A Man who has been living in the wild is capable of so much more, and had a Axe which focused it all into a thin line. A Axe that was made magically sharp infact, cuts all the better.
3923033 Like the spirit, but its unsound. Even if the Sword isn't made of the Same matter as us, it is obviously tangible, so cutting wise, works just the same. When two objects meet, the Electrons push away from each other, yes, but they are pushed with the same amount of Force. With each action, there is a equal and opposite reaction. The Sharp edge of the Sword focuses all the force onto a small plane, greatly enhancing the pressure exurted on that one point. Since all things take the path of least resistance, the flesh has a easier time going to either side of the sword than just resisting it, hence the cut. Even if it couldn't cut him for some reason, all the force has to go somewhere, and it would go to him, probably leaving a nasty bruise.
3923027 If the Plan worked (and it nearly did), he would be dead, and they all fine. She put their lives at risk, true, but she expected it go off just fine. How many people has Aran killed so far? Lets say a couple Dozen. And he clearly has no qualms about killing more. She put the lives of about 6 people at risk, to kill a person who would probably go on killing. And comparing her to NMM isn't anywhere accurate. NMM was going to end all life on earth. Luna here is risking the lives of a few, to save a potential greater number.
3923295 and I hate this Luna for risking any lives instead of trusting the words of one whom CLEARLY knew better about what was being done.
As of now, this is an ill-conceived fic with too many plot holes to stomach.
3923295 someoen surviving being stabed multiple times in non fatal areas and guys getting lucky in killing a bear does not count in this situation.
and a pony could easily be out of sight. or simply levitating two objects are once. shining would be levitating a sword, and thus his horn already glowing, and sitll have a dagger leveling out and aiming for the neck.......
that and an earth pony would only have to kick him............ if we take into account the feats of strength earth ponies are capable of, then it seems even more unlikely he could match an earth pony. i would dare guess that an earth pony need only take his leg between its forelimbs for only a few moments to snap it like a twig, as they clearly have strength in their upper body that can manage it. and either their back legs would either have equal or even greater strength depending on how much equine rules their bodies follow, which is not that many to begin with.
big mac has shown himself to be able to pull hundreds of pounds easily, even if we just think him dragging a house as just a joke and focus on him pulling a wagon, can lift a buffee with one forlimb, and in the case of Cheerilee if they get determined they can really, really wreck some shit. with this human he would struggle to pull hundreds of pounds and would have to put a lot of effort into breaking a door down.
more and more i think about it the less and less i can see him actually surviving against ponies.