Shining Armor lead Isaiah out of the large extravagant dining room where the three princesses of Equestria and The Elements of Harmony continued their breakfast. The stallion and the man walked down the hallway with the stained glass windows bathing the area in a multitude of colors.

Isaiah wasn’t absolutely sure where Shining Armor was taking him, all the stallion said was that he had a proposal for him. The human wasn’t given any clue to what Shining wanted with him, he crossed his fingers for nothing bad or unwanted.

“Aw fuck, did he find out about the princesses and I?” Isaiah asked in his head with a little bit of panic. He realized the face he was making was rather odd and quickly repressed it back to normal.

Through some hallways, down some stairs, and past some heavy doors, Shining Armor lead Isaiah back to the sparring grounds where the fight was yesterday.

“Shining Armor,” Isaiah started, capturing the stallion’s attention. “am I in trouble for the fight yesterday? It wasn’t exactly my fault that both of the mares got the shit beaten out of them.”

The prince chuckled a little as he shook his head gently. “Don’t worry Isaiah, nothing bad is going to happen to you. And yes, everypony knows that it wasn’t your entire fault to what happen to Major Block and Rainbow Dash.”

Isaiah silently let out a sigh of relief.

“But I have to say, why were you so rough with them, especially Rainbow Dash?”

The man gave Shining a confused look. “Rough? Shining, that was far from what I’m capable of. Hell, in fact I don’t even consider myself a good hand-to-hand combat fighter. I’m not going to lie, I kinda just threw myself at them.”

“Hand-to-hand? That must be hoof-to-hoof right?” The white unicorn asked Isaiah.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess so.”

In the distance near some buildings and tents, Isaiah could see with his eagle-like eyes a small group of ponies in guard outfits. As the human and the unicorn stallion closed their distance, the group of guards ceased their chatter and locked their eyes on the human who stared back.

“Well well well, look at who we have here…” One of the mares of the group of guards started as she eyed Isaiah up and down. “So you must be Isaiah, the hoovman that gave Major Block and the Element of Loyalty the beating yesterday day.”

“Human.” Isaiah corrected. “And yes that was me.”

A small mare in lightly plated gold armor strutted around the human. “A tough little colt, hmm?” She glanced at his exposed chest. “Strutting your stuff, now are you?”

“Shining Armor, did you take me here to talk or get harassed by some guards?” Isaiah questioned.

“No he didn’t.” A voice said from behind the group, ringing Isaiah’s bell.

The group of mares turned around to see Sergeant Small Cloud shaking her head in disappointment at how her fellow guards were treating the lone human. Isaiah’s face slightly lit up when he recognized the familiar face of the batpony.

“Ah, Small Cloud, nice to see you again.”

The batpony grinned to the human, flashing him with her unusual teeth. “Likewise Isaiah. Sorry that these mares are so inconsiderate, especially for high ranking guards…”

The group of four mare had to resist from rolling their eyes. In a turn of recent events, they had to be promoted to higher ranks in a short span of time, both of the four mares still had some learning to do.

Shining Armor cleared his throat to grab the attention of the five mares and human. “Now, if you’d excuse them Isaiah, I believe that we have something that you would like to hear. Right Strong Shield?”

The largest mare of the quad who was a light grey pegasus snapped her focus from Isaiah to Shining Armor. “Yes, that is right Captain Shining Armor. Please inform Isaiah of our thoughts.”

“Wait,” The human interrupted before the stallion before he could start. “so you brought me here so I could simply hear what y’all have to say?”

“Come on Isaiah, please hear us out on this.” Pleaded Small Cloud.

He huffed. “Alright. What do y’all want?”

Shining Armor motion for Isaiah and the mares to follow him as he walked. “Yesterday at the fight between you, Major Block, and Rainbow Dash, many of the guards were bewildered at how well you performed against an unfamiliar opponent. They way you managed to execute your moves captivated the many of us, Isaiah.”

Before Shining could continue Small Cloud added in. “As of last night, we came to the conclusion that you would make an excellent guard for Equestria while you’re here. We also believe that you could be a great instructor for our guards too.”

Isaiah stopped in his tracks and tilted his head before he started laughing.

“What’s so funny hoovman?” One of the other unknown mares asked.

“It’s just…” He struggled to calm himself. “I don’t want waste my time with y’all.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Another mare growled, clearly aggravated at him.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want to. I know that I sound like a douche when I say this but I think that y’all aren’t worth the time and effort to help. I’m going to be blunt and honest; your guards aren’t good and they lack the capability that I would deem fit if I decided to help instruct and train.”

“Please Isaiah?” Shining edged on.

The human stuck to his answer. “No. And do y’all realize that ponies aren’t built for fighting? It’s probably best sticking to magic.”

“Aren’t built for fighting?” A mare repeated. “Are you saying that we’re incapable of fighting?”

He slowly nodded his head. “I clearly said that, didn’t I?” He stepped forward to Sergeant Small Cloud and used her body for his example. “Listen, horses or should I say ponies in the matter, aren’t built for fighting. Look at y’alls bodies; long muscular legs, massive lungs, big eyes, large ears that can swivel around. As I say again, built for fleeing, not fighting.”

Another mare stomped her hoof. “So when did you become an expert in equiline anatomy and locomotion?”

“Well, back home I lived on a farm. And on said farm we had a bunch of horses, and as-”

“Sorry for interrupting Isaiah, but what’s this ‘horse’ that you keep on talking about?” Shining Armor asked.

Isaiah had to stop and think for a second to conjure up a good answer. “A horse is an animal that ponies pretty much almost resemble. Remember, I said animal; horses aren’t intelligent like y’all. They’re bigger, stronger, and faster than a pony. Horses lack horns and wings and aren’t capable to use magic because my world doesn’t have magic.”

The human saw the frozen looks on the ponies faces. “Er- let me give you an example. Imagine a chimp that’s dumber than usual, now compare the dumb chimp to me. Do you see the difference between the dumb chimp and me?”

“I don’t see a difference…” Strong Shield mumbled.

“Shut up dickhead.” Isaiah countered, earning a giggle from Small Cloud. “Alright, now match the chimp to the horse and match me to y’all. Now do y’all have a better understanding of a horse, right.”

Shining Armor widen his eyes a little. “I actually think I do. But how come you picked a less intelligent chimp rather than a regular one?”

“Assuming that chimpanzee’s are the same from where I’m from, chimps are considered really intelligent when compared to other animals. Hell, humans and chimps are very closely related. Anyway, we’re getting off topic…”

“I don’t think you need to tell us about the horses and how we’re not creatures for fighting.” Said Small Cloud.

“I agree, can we please get back to why you won’t help us?” Shining questioned.

Isaiah rolled his eyes in irritation. “Why can’t y’all see why I don’t want to? I have no desire to help. It’s just… how could y’all be struggling with a pack of fucking chupacabras? All I hear from some of the guards is them getting overwhelmed by a measly group of bloodsucking reptile dog things. How!? How do y’all get your ass’s kicked, y’all have magic for fucksake! Isn’t that enough?!”

The group of ponies glanced at each other, not in anger at the human, but in disappointment towards their progress against the chupacabras. They didn’t want to admit it, but he was right.

“How many guards have been killed or injured?” The man asked the group.

None of the mares wanted to say, leaving Shining Armor to answer the human. “Nine dead and fifty-two wounded…”

Isaiah kept a straight composure, having to hold back a expression that would’ve aggravated or annoyed the guards. “Is he kidding me?”

“So far, we’ve started more safety procedures and protocols concerns to help combat against them; little progress has been made.” Small Cloud informed.

“How many guards are there?”

Once again Shining answered. “It started at around two-hundred and fifteen, now it’s around one-hundred and forty three. Over time ponies, passed, got injured, or simply stopped their service to evade the conflicts that have been transpiring in the Everfree Forest.”

“Hold on a sec, ‘simply stopped their service to evade the conflicts’, are you saying that they resigned just so they wouldn’t have to fight?” The heads of the ponies nodded at Isaiah’s words. “Here’s a little hint for y’all, don’t let them leave because they’re afraid; that’s pathetic!”

“We can’t make them fight if they don’t want to!” Strong Shield yelled.

Isaiah’s jaw dropped as he clenched his fists. He closed his eyes and slowly started to fill his lungs to calm himself. “No comment. I’m going to ignore what you just said…”

“It’s obvious that we have different views on the subject.” Small Cloud commented.

One of the mares next to the lone batpony nudged her with a hoof while the others continued. “Sergeant Small Cloud, can’t you just try to put on the charm?” She whispered.

The sergeant batpony flicked her eyes to the mare. “Do you really think that’s appropriate for this situation.”

The mare simply gave her a grin.

Small Cloud let a sigh escape her lips. “Alright. Allow me to put on the charm for the human. After all, it could be a win-win result…”

The amber eyes of the batpony mare locked onto the man’s blue eyes. She charismatically flicked her dark blue mane out of her eyes before she addressed him. “Isaiah, can I please talk to you in private?”

“Sure, lead the way Small Cloud.”

The group of ponies watched in slight amusement as the Sergeant brushed Isaiah’s waist with her flanks as she put an extra sway into her hips. Once the batpony and the human turned a corner of a building, the guards let some laughter erupt.

When Sergeant Small Cloud and Isaiah were far enough away from the others. The batpony reared onto her hind hooves and pushed Isaiah against the brickwall of the female barrack. The eyes of the man widen at her action and looked at her with a questioning gaze.

“Alright big colt,” Sergeant Small Cloud began, dropping her voice to low and sultry. “how about we make a deal, hmm? If you join the guard and train them for one season, I’ll let you rut me all through my estrus cycle any way you see fit-”

Isaiah closed his eyes in irritation. “Really? Are you really going to stoop that low just to get me into y’all’s ranks? That’s really shameful Small Cloud, and I thought you were better than the others.” The man pushed the mare off of him. “That’s desperation at it’s finest.”

Small Cloud didn’t let his words stop her. She brought a hoof to his groin and pressed firmly onto it. “Actually, I’d let you buck me for free…”

“Ha, yeah right missy.”

“Ohh Isaiah, I’m an exotic mare with exotic tastes. And I can tell you,” She eyed him up and down. “I like what I see.”

“Small Cloud, you have some problems. No way, no how.”

The batpony retracted her hoof from his groin. “Fine.”

“ ‘Bout time…” He said as he started making his way to the others.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted you to rut me for this heat wave. It’s bound to come tomorrow, or maybe the next day, and I can tell you that I want the company of a male this year~” She purred.

The human turned around. “Well, good luck finding a stallion.”

Small Cloud laughed. “Why have a stallion when I could have you?”

“Small Cloud, I don’t even know your motives now. What was it first, using your body as a bargaining chip?” The human asked.

The sergeant huffed in disappointment. “All right Isaiah, you win. You don’t have to join, but remember my offer. If you ever want a good time, come find me at the night guard barracks during sunrise or sunset. And if you’re feeling a little adventurous, I’m sure that the other batpony mares are willing to entertain you~”

“Sergeant Small Cloud, you need counseling.”

The mare giggled. “No, I need some fun of the naughty kind.”

Isaiah crossed his arms at how the mare was going about. “I’m sure that pranks could fill that quota.”

“Wow, you’re no fun Isaiah.” She frowned.

The human gasped over exaggeratedly as he place his hands onto his bare chest. “Me? Not fun? How could you say such a thing?”

The sergeant had to refrain from face-hoofing.

Isaiah left the mare and set off to join the other guards and Shining Armor. When he turned the corner they instantly trotted up to him to hear what he had to say.

“Soooo, are you going to join?” A mare asked with hopeful eyes.

“I have a feeling that they knew about Small Cloud’s idea…” Isaiah thought in his head. “No, I’m not. Can you please leave me alone?” He asked aloud.

Shining Armor stepped forward with a small burlap bag in his magic. “I think we can come to a deal Isaiah. I will admit, this isn’t something that guards aren’t comfortable doing because we are bartering money for service.”

The unicorn stallion opened up the brown bag to reveal a plethora of bits of a varied amount of bills. The human could see both gold, copper, and silver inside the bag; all summing up to a decent chunk of money.

“Wait, so let me get this straight. Y’all are willing to pay for my services just so I could be with the Royal Guard?”

“That’s right.” Shining answered Isaiah. “There is currently two-hundred bits inside this bag; it’s a rather generous offer if I do say so myself because this will be your month’s pay if you join us. Over time, this will make you wealthy. Two-hundred is almost twice of a normal guard’s pay.”

Isaiah shook his head, but with a slightly impressed grin. “That’s a pretty good offer Shining, but I’m gonna have to once again decline. If I did accept, I’ll still have to be with guards; I’d would prefer to be alone.”

“I think we can some how conduct single operations for you.” Strong Shield suggested.

The human didn’t buy it. “Nah, I’d still be affiliated to the Royal Guard; I don’t want that. But…” A plan formed in his head.

“But what?”

“If I did provide my services for y’all, what would I be doing?”

“The regular duties of a guard.” Shining Armor started. “But for you, you will be serving deep inside the Everfree Forest… after basic training of course.”

Isaiah started chuckling. “Basic training, really man? I have all the know how and I have the physical capabilities. Seeing as how your guards are, basic training would be playtime at the jungle gym for me.”

“I have to agree with him Captain Shining Armor.” Small Cloud backed him up. “You remember the Diamond Dog incident?”

Th stallion gulped at the memories. “I guess you’re right Sergeant. All right Isaiah, you’ll be exempt from training if you join.”

“Let me finish my proposal.” The human’s devilish grin returned. “Obviously the chupacabras are the main problem right? They’re animals, and what do humans do to problematic animals? We hunt them; they become our prey, they become a game. I’ve had my fair share of hunting dangerous wild game such as cougars, wild boar, infected, other humans, and recently of course, chupacabras. Hunting was something that I enjoy, and I’m damn good at it too.”

“Can you please cut to the chase?” A mare pleaded.

“Fine. To make a long story short, how about you pay me for every chupa I kill. Whenever I eliminate a chupacabra, I will give you it’s left ear to confirm the kill to fill my quarry. This way, I’ll be able to help y’all, get paid, stay out of the guard, kill chupacabras. Sound good?”

Shining Armor looked hesitant, the others turned around and started whispering with each other. It was clear that the guards weren’t sure to agree with Isaiah’s terms. To them, it sounded good yet unprofessional.

“You do realize that if I do this, I’ll have an easier time getting the job done. Having a bunch of guards with me will me very problematic.” Isaiah added. “It’ll be much faster if I did my thing my way; I’ll be more efficient.”

The only stallion in the group gave in and floated the burlap bag to the human.

“Go ahead and take the money Isaiah. It could be used to help you gather supplies to get your job done, or whatever you want to do with it; think of this early pay as a sign of confirmation of our deal.” Shining mumbled, not totally confident with the transaction.

The burlap bag full of money fell into his hands, weighing his hand down a little due to the amount of bits inside it. Isaiah juggled to bag around in his hands, feeling the weight and hearing the bills clink in the air.

“When do I start?”

“I believe that today would be a great. It’s early in the morning and by the time you get back to ponyville, you should have enough daylight to start.” Small Cloud informed.

Isaiah once again looked down at the bag of bits in his hand. “Give me a couple of minutes to gather my things and say my good-byes. Once that’s finished, I’ll board the next train to ponyville.”

(Several hours later)

Isaiah stepped off the train and onto the wooden platform. The boards creaked under his feet, sounding like they were ready to give way underneath the human. Each step the man took, the wooden platform sounded in protest as the sun shined high above in the partially cloudy sky.

The human with a bag of newly acquired bits didn’t come alone. Behind him, The Elements of Harmony were unloading their baggage while talking. Isaiah ignored them, they were taking too long and he had plans, plans that he knew that he’d enjoy.

The mares that were with him on the train ride watched Isaiah walk away into the distance, leaving them behind on the train platform, unaware of his plans.

After a few minutes of walking, Isaiah found his dirt-bike still in the patch of trees and bushes; free of any signs of tampering. As he dug into one of his pockets to search for the key, he felt something cold, round, and metallic. When he pulled it out, he instantly recognized it; it was the medal that the princesses awarded him with. He simply shoved it back into his pocket as it shined with it’s unusual glow.

“If I ever go home, I have quite the story to tell…” Isaiah thought, instantly remembering his whole ordeal.

Isaiah’s once feel-good mood vanished in a blink of an eye; he regretted the thought. The lonely human sighed sadly as images of family, friends, and home flashed before his eyes.

He cursed to himself when he realized what he was doing. “Just ignore it, just ignore it, just ignore it.” He repeated in his head.

The key slid into the black suzuki’s ignition, making it rev to life. Isaiah filled his lungs with the exhaust that floated out of the muffler. His eyes watered as the poisonous gas filled the air around him, eventually having to cough. He shook his head at what he was doing and speed out of the cluster of vegetation and towards his shelter in the Everfree.

Isaiah’s hair whipped widely around him as he increased his speed. Knuckles turned white, gripping the handlebars tightly while the engine roared throughout the forest. His body hovered over the seat, letting his legs take all of the shock; the path was rough and bumpy and would’ve been a pain if he let his body rest on the bike.

His eyes glanced at the speed gauge; he was on the brink of reaching forty-mph. Part of him was telling him to slow down while the other side was edging him to speed up.

Isaiah listened to the latter.

In a matter of minutes of riding, the speeding human saw the glint of metal catch his eye. He braked slowly while turning towards the shelter, decreasing the consumption of the precious fuel.

When he finally steered himself close to the locked doors of the shelter, he dismounted his dirt-bike and propped it against the metallic walls, and fished out the required keys for the shelter’s doors.

The human unlocked the doors of his shelter and opened them, letting in fresh air into his only remnants of his old home. Thankfully, nothing had been messed with while he was gone in Canterlot.

He remembered his original intentions and set his destination to the armory in the back. The familiar sight of the blue tarp covering all of his armaments graced his eyes, he gripped the covering with his hands and pulled it away.

Isaiah whistled himself a tune as he started gathering his equipment; his Mosin Nagant with it’s bayonet tightly secured, three full stripper clips, razor sharp machete, and handgun.

As he gather the appropriate items for the hunt, he started forming a game plan in his head. Isaiah wanted to be as prepared as possible when he went out, even though he maybe the predator while he’s out there, there maybe be something bigger and badder that could easily finish him.

“What were those things? Manticores? Yeah, yeah, I need to keep an eye open for them.” He thought to himself. “I’m probably going to need some bait for the chupas, rabbit and squirrel should do well enough to bring them in. Should I stay in one spot or should I move around? Moving around would make us both an easier target for each other but staying in one spot wouldn’t as effective…”

“Eh, fuck it. Either way they’re getting killed one way or another.” Isaiah said aloud.

The now fully armored man walked out of his shelter with the intent of filling his quarry. He bothered not to travel to his destination on the dirt-bike; afraid that it would spook the chupacabras away from him.

With his rifle on his back, his bandolier full, a small bag on his side, and his machete and handgun on his hip, he set off towards the woods known as the Everfree Forest.

(Three hours later)

Isaiah was high in a tree, overlooking the landscape ahead of him. Below him was a open area full of lush, green, grass surrounded by large unidentifiable trees. Celestia’s sun was coming down from it’s peak, shining it’s rays onto the grass field that was being surveyed by the human in the tree.

There had been little activity for the hunter; there had been signs of them all over the area, that’s why he chose the field but they just weren’t moving about. Footprints, scat, remains of prey were scattered about in the open, any hunter knew that it was prime signs of activity. During his stay, he had only seen one, a strange site considering that the beasts were pack animals. Sadly, Isaiah wasn’t fast enough, before he could aim his sites onto it’s lungs, the animal darted back into the forest.

The human wanted to groan, but decided not to, it would scare anything away that was close by. Isaiah rapped his fingers on his rifle’s butt stock, he was bored and impatient; it had been several hours with almost no activity from his prey. He shifted uncomfortably, the tree limb he sat on was literally a pain in the ass.

“You know what? Fuck it, I’m out of here.” Isaiah growled to no one in particular.

Limb by limb, Isaiah climbed down with care. The tree that he nested in was much taller than the other ones around him, a single misplaced foot or hand would send him falling to the ground below; fifteen-feet down. It was certainly easier getting up than down.

*RRRHHHOOOWWWEEELLL!*

Isaiah almost lost his footing when the bone-chilling howl reached his ears. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he sped down faster; eager to find the owner and kill it. He knew what the cry belonged to, and it was going to be his first kill to his quarry.

*BOOOM!*

The human look towards the source, same direction as the howl. “Sounds like something’s going down over there, better hurry up and find out what it is…” He checked his rifle to see if it was loaded. “I didn’t come out here and sit around in tree for several hours with no action; I’ll be damned if I don’t get to kill anything today.”

Isaiah estimated that the source of all of the commotion was at least a mile away; give or take a couple hundred feet. Once his boots hit the earth, he took of running into the forest with his mosin strapped tightly to his back.

His legs were a blur as his sprinted towards his estimated destination; small branches of bushes and trees whipped his face as he ran, leaving small red welts on his slightly freckled skin. He didn’t mind them, he was too engrossed with his task at hand.

The human passed through the vegetation and obstacles like ghost, nothing prevented him from stopping or slowing down. Every time a large downed tree or a boulder would get him his was, he would vault over it like an olympic athlete.

*RRRHHHOOOWWWEEELLL!*

*CRRRAAACCKKK*

He was getting closer to the cause of all of the noise, it’s volume louder than before. Isaiah’s well conditioned body was far from tired; a bonus due to his like-style, shaped by the environment of his home. He was the text-book definition of the perfect human body.

His mile was short lived, Isaiah could see an opening to what he could barely see as a field, a meadow to be more precise. Another series thunderous noises erupted in front of him, as soon as he breaks away from the tree line, he’d find out what has been causing all of the disturbances. Each step he took, the more light began to grow around him.

*RRRAAAAAA*

There was another noise, but this time it was a yell from an unknown female owner. Isaiah put more power into his legs when he realized that someone was in trouble, the last thing he wanted to report was a half-eaten pony to the authorities.

“There, finally a clear opening!”

Isaiah broke out of the tree line that surrounded the meadow and the carnage that was in front of him.

Barely thirty-feet ahead of him was something that the man wasn’t expecting; a fight between several chupacabras and a tall, dark-grey insectoid creature in a field of flowers.

It would’ve been a beautiful sight if it wasn’t for the carnage that was going on.

The creature was around five-feet tall, about the same height as Princess Celestia. The dark-grey creature sported a large, jagged horn that surpassed Celestia’s by a few inches that sprouted from her head; much sharper than any other ponies. Isaiah made an educated guess that the creature was in fact a female, due to some of the similarities with the princesses physique. Her mane and tail seemed like it was a mix between dark-blue and green, giving it a dark-teal appearance that shone in the sunlight. The man gasped when he noticed that there were small holes dotting the base of her long slender legs. She also had a pair of dragonfly-like wings that were almost transparent with a gentle shade of blue, and had small holes covering them too.

The human watched in awe as the creature picked up one of the chupacabras in her magic and proceed to rip it’s head off it’s shoulders. The green aurora that surrounded both her horn and the beast's dead body dissipated as the blood spurted out like a broken fountain from her victim.

The dark-grey creature stumbled a bit when her magic ceased; like she just performed a stressful feat that labored both her mind and body. The man from afar could see that she was rather thin for something to large, it was like she was suffering from starvation.

A hiss escaped from Isaiah when he noticed that he wasn’t helping the creature who was fighting all alone against a pack of six chupacabras. From what he could guess, the tall, skinny creature was on his side at the moment. And the little tidbit of information that he gathered from her, she was intelligent.

Isaiah brought his fully-loaded Mosin Nagant from his back and brought it into firing position as he crouched down on a knee. Through his scope, he watched as his new-found ally fought with only her body, not using her magic.

“Something isn’t right with her…” He thought.

The crosshairs of his low-powered scope set it’s sights onto one of the beast’s lungs. He filled his lungs before pulling the trigger. The deafening bang of his rifle caught not only the chupacabra's attention, but the mysterious creature’s too. Isaiah smiled as he watched the bullet collide with the chupa’s lungs; making it run in fear and pain before it finally collapsed in a gasping mess before it finally died.

Isaiah’s unofficial ally looked around in confusion, unable to see the shooter hidden behind a wilting bush. A roar from one of the chupa’s caught her attention, making her refocus on the original task at hand.

Right as Isaiah loaded another round into the chamber, he sent another 7.62x54R down range. The shooter cussed aloud in anger when the beast was grazed at the belly; a couple inches down from his mark. His target whelped in pain but ignored it almost instantly and looked at the direction of the noise and made the connection.

Isaiah’s sloppyness paid it’s price, the chupacabra started to sprint towards him, the wound not even slowing it down as snarled viciously to him.

The human reached a hand out to see if the bayonet was secured; thankfully it was. He stuck the blade over the bush and waited for the chupa to close in it’s distance. Isaiah could see the fierceness in it’s black beady eyes and the strength of it’s legs as it powered it’s hulking form to him.

The creature busied herself with the other beasts that were surrounding her. She was growing weaker and weaker as each ounce of magic she used drained her of energy. Her balance was less than satisfactory as she fought the beasts around her.

Isaiah braced himself as the wounded chupacabra pounced at him. The beast exposed it’s bloodied belly to the human, in which he thrusted the bayonet into it, ceasing it in mid-air. One-hundred and ten-pounds of beast fell to the ground, still alive and kicking as it tried to remove the blade for it’s stomach. Isaiah twisted the rifle, churning the flesh of the animal in a bath of blood and chorus of pained howls. It wouldn’t give up despite the wounds inflicted on it; the hunter promptly pulled out his sidearm and finished it off with a .45 ACP round to the head.

He pulled the now bloodied bayonet from the chupa and reset his sites of the others that surrounded the tall, skinny creature. He noticed one of the beasts breaking away from the main group to attack from the creature’s rear.

“Oh no you don’t.”

Another thunderous bang erupted from the mosin nagant; the chupacabra he aimed at falling in sync with a spray of grey-matter.

A yelp came from the dark-grey insectoid creature, making Isaiah focus again on her. A large black chupacabra managed to pounce onto her and knock her down to the ground; her hole filled legs holding the savage animal away as it snapped at the neck, inches away from it’s mark.

A wave of protective instincts snapped with Isaiah. With rifle forward and a bullet in the chamber, he sprinted into a full change while yelling a rebel yell. The battle cry for the human caught the other beast’s attention and made them divert their plans from the downed creature.

The human paid no heed to the others that were coming towards him in full sprint. All he focused on was the large, black chupacabra trying to get it’s jaws onto the creature’s throat. In a matter of seconds, the chupas were close enough to attack.

Isaiah ignored the multiple sets of jaws, teeth, claws thrashing at his body. He could hear some of his clothing tear away as the sharp claws of the animals torn at it. The human had to brace himself as he tramped over a chupa that got in his way; the boots that he wore took the brunt of the damage as he plowed through the savage animal.

Like a flash of lightning, the bayonet slammed in the side of the black chupacabra that was on top of the dark-grey creature. It howled in excruciating pain as Isaiah suspened it into the air like a impaled body. The hunter gripped his rifle tightly as he pulled the trigger; bathing the area around them in a shower of blood and bits and pieces of bone. The now-dead beast began to slowly slide down the barrel of the rifle, bathing the bearers hand’s in blood.

“Behind you!” The downed creatures yelled, surprising the human as he stood over her.

He shook his head and instantly did as he was warned. He turned both his body and rifle around and slammed one of the other chupa’s down with the impaled beast. Isaiah recognized the piked dog as a way to shield himself and his ally from the others.

Isaiah struggled to chamber another round in, holding his impromptu shield with one hand was difficult. The remaining two chupacabras started to look more skittish and unsure of what was happening to them. Everytime Isaiah jolted towards them, they would jump back; clearly nervous. The human saw this and smiled in triumph.

Dropping his mosin nagant with the impaled beast, he gripped his sidearm, drew it and eliminated the remaining two in a blink of an eye. The pair whimpered is distress as their life was slowly leaking away.

The human grinned as he slid the handgun back into his holster while saying, “I’m no Doc Holiday, but that was a good fast draw…”

When he turned around, he cringed when he saw the wounds that the creature had accumulated during the fight; a small one-inch cut ran down her left cheek, bit marks dotted her thin hole covered legs, and very few claw marks covered her body.

While he eyed her wounds, the creature got up to her full height and allowed the human to inspect her body some more.

The creature had a odd carapace that covered majority of her back and had a thin section that covered half of her belly. The carapace had a dark-blueish color at the base of her neck that almost matched her main and tail, and the other end of the carapace was green.

Isaiah noticed that she was having a difficult time standing up and rushed to her aid when she stumbled.

“Hey, hey, easy now… you’re going to fall if you don’t take it easy. ” Isaiah cooed to her as he held onto her. The human expected his fingers to touch hard chitin, but instead he felt fur that was much like a pony’s. “Do you understand me? I know that you gave me a warning when the chupacabra was getting close so that tells me that you can at least talk; thanks for that warning by the way.”

The pony-like creature turned her head to look at the human that was holding onto her. Isaiah became mesmerized when he made eye contact with her elongated oval eyes, her irises matched her carapace; dark blueish-green near her eyelids and green on the other half. Her pupils were jet-black like tar, and instead of having solid white scleras, they had a hint of green to them with streaks of red.

Her mystic eyes captivated the man.

She broke the eye contact with her dark-green eyelids that had long black eyelashes at the ends; giving off another feminine characteristic. Isaiah realized the he was staring at her and glanced over at her wounds. The human let out a frustrated sigh when he saw all of the wounds that she received, they weren’t source but there was enough to cause some concern.

Isaiah didn’t want to admit it but he was slightly nervous, he was sailing in uncharted waters with the creature that he loosely held onto.

“Come on darlin’, I ain’t gonna to bite. My names Isaiah, what’s yours?” He asked as if he was addressing a child.

She reopened her eyes to glance at him quickly before looking away. “My name doesn't matter…”

A shiver ran up the human’s spine when her voice reached his ears. Her voice had a distorted echo-like quality, almost as if two voices were speaking slightly out of sync with each other.

Isaiah gave her a comforting smile. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s a shame that we met each other this way though…”

She nodded her head slowly. “I agree.”

The human caught a glimpse of her teeth when she talked; they were much like batpony’s but her canines were slightly longer.

The whole situation was uncomfortable and awkward for the pair as they sat in the middle of a meadow with the fresh corpses of chupacabras surrounding them. Isaiah remembered that she was hurt and proceeded to pull off his bag.

“Alright darlin’, you have couple of injuries that need tending to. Is it alright if I wash and bandage them until you get proper treatment? I don’t want them to get infected.”

She turned her head towards the rest of her body and cringed at the sight of her. “I doubt that I will be getting any professional medical treatment soon, but I see no reason why you shouldn’t care for me; go ahead and please be gentle…”

Isaiah dug into his bag and pulled out a fresh new roll of gauze bandages, a gauze pad still in it’s package, a bottle of alcohol to clean the wound, a roll of medical tape, and removed his canteen off his hip.

“Besides your wounds, does anything else hurt; head, bones, stuff along the lines of that?” He asked as he started to pour some water onto one of the major bites on her holed led.

“Thankfully, nothing else is bothering me. The wounds from the filthy mutts are the only concern.” She quietly answered the human that was helping her.

He started to pad at the bit with a gauze pad soaked in alcohol, earning a hiss from the wounded creature. “Sorry about that, it’s better to have this stuff rather than leaving the bit uncleaned. I would give you some painkillers but I don’t have any on me at the moment.”

In a matter of minutes, the man had cleaned and cared for her wounds; preventing from any further worries from them. All that he had left was a cut on her left fore-hoof and another cut on her left cheek that had a small trail of blood emitting from it.

As he started caring for the injury on her hoof, he asked. “So… mind telling me what you are? You’re something that I’ve never seen or heard about during my stay here.”

“I’m a changeling. What about you-ahh!” She gasped at the feeling of the alcohol.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized. “To answer your question, I’m a human; Homo sapiens if you’re into all of that technical stuff. What exactly is a changeling?”

“We’re just a simple race of insect-like beings that live across this planet. Nothing more, nothing less.”

He chuckled. “Well, that’s rather blunt. But whatever, I can’t force you to answer.”

After a minute passed of silence passed, the man finished with her hoof and gently let it fall to the ground. He looked up and focused onto the small cut on her face. As he did, he notice a protrusion coming from her head; a small crown blanketed by her mane. The headpiece was black, sold at the base until the ends splitted off into blue orbs that almost matched her mane and tail.

The hunter hovered his hands close to her face. “Is it alright?” He asked to continue in such close proximity.

“You may proceed.” She confirmed.

With care, Isaiah began to gently tend to the cut with the swab. Her eyes watched as his hand and fingers made precise movements around her face. She watched was the soothing touched of the pad was placed onto her cheek.

“You have some really beautiful eyes ma’am.” Her caretaker complemented from out of the blue.

Her cheeks threaten to blush, never before had she heard something like that said to her while in her true form. “Thank you Isaiah.”

A little idea formed in his head. “No prob, a princess like you deserves a compliment like that, especially when it’ true. Now that you’ve said my name, can you tell me your please?”

“Princess?”

Isaiah finished with the treatment and surveyed his work. “I noticed that you have crown up on your head; is it not?”

Inside she wanted to lie, but something else was telling her not to. “It is infact a crown, but I am not a princess.”

“Wait,” He interrupted. “you’re not a prince or a king right. If so, then shame on you for looking so good.”

“What the fuck did I just say?!” Isaiah screamed in his head at his mistake. “Might as well say ‘thanks for making me question my sexuallity’, smooth words dipshit, nice work for making yourself look like a idiot to her.”

This time, she actually blushed a small bit, but almost immediately ceased it. She rolled her eyes when she realized that she would need to tell him. “I can assure you that I am not a prince or a king, I actually am a queen of a changeling colony.”

He flashed her a friendly smile. “Great I’m getting closer to you name, Queen--?” He hinted.

She quickly stood up to her full height, Isaiah did so too.

“Can you make me a promise Isaiah, a promise for such a troubled soul?” She cautioned.

Isaiah slowly nodded his head when he noticed her mood. “You can trust me ma’am, I can assure you that a I won’t tell a single living soul.” He affirmed while putting a hand on his heart.

“How can I?” She tested.

He let out a chuckle. “Ma’am, I have my own share of things that I keep to myself; both good, bad, ugly, and just plain sick. Keeping secrets and holding promises is something that requires tact from where I’m from.” Isaiah didn’t show it, but he began to worry that she was some type of criminal or psychopath.

The queen began to fill her lungs with confidence. “My name is Queen Chrysalis, I am the ruler of the Changeling race of the Equestrian chapter.”

Isaiah chuckled despite being slightly conscience about the Queen. “Wow, so do you say that every time you meet someone new, or was it just for me?”

The changeling ignored his ignorance. “It depends on who I’m speaking to.”

Both Queen Chrysalis and Isaiah stood in silence once again, looking around the area for a way to end the tension.

“Uh… quite the beautiful meadow isn’t it?” Isaiah praised. “Spring’s handiwork eh?”

“I suppose, but the dead beasts are making the positive element hard to reach.” Chrysalis pointed out while poking one of her holed-hoofs towards the dead pack.

Isaiah walked over to the decapitated head of the chupa and kicked it, sending it rolling towards the treeline. “I guess you’re right, it does ruin the scenery. But hey, look on the bright side, their bodies will fertilize the soil and make the flowers even prettier.”

The queen nudged the body of the beast that was still impaled on Isaiah’s mosin nagant. “That’s one way of seeing it…”

The human had forgot about his rifle. He walked over to it and grabbed it’s butt stock and used his foot to push the body of it; leaving a trail of crimson on the barrel. “My dad always told me ‘sometimes, you just need to be optimistic about some of the more grittier things in live’.”

“That’s a unique way of seeing things, but whatever gets you through helps the spirit.” She eyes the rifle. “What is that Isaiah? It’s such a loud and destructive device, yet beautifully crafted.”

Isaiah used a rag from his bag to wipe away the blood. As he did, he propped in on his leg to show it off like a prize. “This here is called a rifle; a Mosin Nagant 91/30 bolt action-rifle with a bayonet, to be more precise.”

Chrysalis wanted to grasp it in her magic to inspect it closer, but remembered that everything that he owned (including him) has a high resistance to magic; she currently had enough magic to barely float a apple.

“If you’re wondering how it works, I’m sorry because I would prefer that something like this isn’t replicated; Equestria is a little too peaceful to have such a tool.”

She nodded to his words. “I can understand why that is. A incrediable and destructive piece of equipment would be troublesome.”

“Only to the ignorant and foolish, Queen Chrysalis. It depends on the shooter, not the gun.”

Isaiah slung the bloodied rifle onto his back and removed his machete out of it’s sheath as he started to walk towards one of the chupacabras. The man grabbed it’s bloodied head in his hands and proceeded to slice away at it’s left ear.

“What are you doing?” The changeling asked.

“I am being payed for every chupacabra I kill. To show proof that I killed one, I have to cut off it’s left ear and present it my contractor to get paid.” He answered as he slid the ear into a burlap bag.

“How bizarre…” She mumbled to herself.

The changeling queen watched as the human went about and filled the bag on his hip with the ears of the beasts that he killed. Ear by ear, the bag started to slightly sag down to his right thigh.

“Hey Queen Chrysalis,” Isaiah started, capturing her attention. “can I ask you something?”

“I suppose so, as long as we get to know each other a little bit more.”

Isaiah picked up the rag that he cleaned his rifle with and started to wipe away the blood on his hands. “They’re nothing really thought provoking but…” He eyed her unusual skinny form; seeing her ribcage through her fur. “Are you sure that you’re alright? I’m not an expert on changelings but you don’t look so good, I can see your ribcage pretty well despite the distance between you and I.”

The queen turned her neck so she could see the rest of her body, and could see that he was telling the truth.

“I didn’t bring any food besides an apple, I’m more than willing to give you it to help you out.”

Chrysalis shot her head to the man when she heard the offer. It may not be much for a changeling considering their special diet, but it was something that would help her in the long run. “Please.” She mumbled to him.

Isaiah bent back down to dig into his bag for the lone apple that he brought with him. He retrieved the red fruit and presented it to the starving changeling. He waited for her long, crooked to surround the apple but nothing happened. The man noticed that she was struggling with her magic and told her to stop. The queen looked at him with a worried expression that turned into confusion when he held the apple to her mouth.

“Go ahead and take a bite; something is wrong with your magic and I can see it. No use in straining yourself just to float an apple.”

Queen Chrysalis didn’t say a word. She quickly pierced the red apple with her canines and started to devour it in the most humiliating way possible for her. But at the moment, she didn’t care at all; she needed it desperately. For a second, Isaiah worried for the safety of his fingers as the teeth of the changeling mashed the apple that was disappearing in his hand.

“All right sweetie eat the apple, don’t inhale it.” He joked.

Queen Chrysalis glared at him as she chewed on the last bits of the fruit. She knew that he was just joking but she wasn’t in the mood for it.

When the apple was fully eaten, Isaiah wiped his hand on his pants to rid it of the juiceses. When he looked down at her, he noticed that her cheeks were red; somehow managing to glow despite her dark-grey fur.

Isaiah had some more questions to ask the changeling about the state of her health, but before he could open his mouth to have a say, the queen beat him to it.

“I-I would just like to thank-you Isaiah for all of your help. Not only did you save me from those beast, but you treated my wounds, and fed me, despite who I am. Never before have I been treated to kindly and cared for by another creature that wasn’t a changeling. It may not seem much to you Isaiah, but it means so much for me; I once again thank-you for your hospitality to such an alienated individual such as me.”

The human was at a lost for words; he was speechless. He rubbed the back of his head as he tried to conjure up something in his head to say but couldn’t think of anything.

“I’m sorry if that seemed odd to you.” She turned around from the opposite direction of the human. “I hope that one day we’ll meet once again in friendlier circumstances so that we may become friends. Sadly, I am unwanted by those who inhabit these lands and even some of the other changeling colonies; being friends with you would get us unwanted attention.”

Isaiah stood in silence as Queen Chrysalis began to walk towards the treeline.

“Good-bye Isaiah, and remember to not tell a single soul about me.” With those final words, the changeling disappeared into the Everfree Forest.

The man was shocked at what had transpired. What she had told him sounded like she hit rock bottom pretty hard. Isaiah thought about to follow her but decided against it. He let out a long sigh and started his way back to the shelter with the new secret he acquired.

As he walked away, he was forgetting something; the bag with all of his other supplies

Author's Notes:

Well, I hope y'all liked the action in this chapter. Things will start picking up in the next few chapters with the main story line.

Anyway, I have something pretty interesting. A writer by the name of MrPip42 has written a story who's source of inspiration is from Lonesome. I've already read the first two chapters of it and I can say that it's pretty good. If you're interested in reading it, here's the link...
World of Chaos, World of Peace

That's all I have have to say, but now I must work on the next chapter of Far From Cydonia!