Everfree Forest

4:05 PM

Isaiah POV

WARNING: VIOLENCE

The metal doors shut as I closed them, leaving me all alone inside my metal shelter. It was nice to finally alone with my thoughts in my humble abode, the silence made my home even more relaxing. I began to make a 'to do list' in my head, every thing that I could think of that wasn't much labor intensive; except reinstalling the solar panels. I grabbed a random piece of paper from a shelf and a pen from another and started the list. I had a reasonable amount of time before I would need to sleep. Chore after chore began to pop into my head one after another. Soon, the once empty paper was now half filled with things that needed to be done around the house.

I lifted my head up to my first simple task; cleaning my Mosin-Nagant. I walked over to the area that had my collection of weapons, ammo, and other gun related needs. I rummaged around in a box that had some cleaning supplies for my favorite rifle. I walked over to the rifles location and plucked it off the wall-mount. I began the disassembling process, each piece of the rifle was laid down on a old towel. I carefully started to clean each individual part with respectful care. I inspected each part closely; checking for any damage to the piece I was holding in my now oiled hands.

After a couple of minutes of cleaning, I reassembled the 91/30. I removed the bayonet and started to clean the long blade. I didn't really use anything special for it, just a rag with WD-40 that sufficed. Each stroke of the oiled rag removed the little blood that gathered from the chupacabras. The light from the lightbulbs reflected off the now shiny bayonet; I waved it around in appreciation of my cleaning.

My little special moment was ruined when a set of loud slams sounded from the shelters metal doors. I leisurely walked over to the door expecting Luna or Shining Armor behind. I twirled the bayonet around in one hand and opened the door with the other while whistling. I stopped with eyes wide open when I saw the most disgusting thing with a wooden club clinched in it's paw like claws.

The thing was at least half a foot taller than me. It had an odd resemblance to a dog but with sharper teeth. The humanoid canine owned a light-gray coat that had clumps of dirt attached to it. Before I could make out any more details, the hybrid raised it's wooden war club into a swinging stance.

The way he looked at me made it all too clear that he wanted to kill me; but why? The mutt swung the club, I ducked with it passing over my head by inches. It's weapon hit the steel shelter, making the club sound with a crack.

What ever this thing it, it's not too smart.

His shoulder (assuming it's a male) was presented to me, giving me a chance for my first strike. I got out of my crouching stance and dashed onto him. My right hand gripped the knife tightly, ready to thrust into his armpit when the opportunity presented itself. His club was in his left hand, and sung the deadly melee weapon at me. I side stepped to the right, giving me the chance to strike at his right leg that was currently slightly bent. I leaned down and grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at his eyes, only to be surprised that it didn't bother him at all.

The canine/humanoid grabbed me by my left arm and threw me into the muddy ground. The fall reminded me of my injured leg, only adding to the complication. I spat out some dirt and got back up onto my legs; knife ready in hand. The attacker swung the club at me and coincidentally made him unbalanced. His back was slightly turned to me with his right leg extended behind him. I had the knife in a icepick grip and thrusted downward onto his calf. My attack made him scream when I started twisting the bayonet.

The attacker used his other leg to kick me off; knocking the air out of me and made me start gasping like a fish out of water. He limped over to me, obviously in agonizing pain. He bent over and picked me up by my right leg. The bastard raised me high enough so we came face to face; a un-smart move on his end. I spit in his eye and punched him hard as I possibly could. The mutt dropped me; making me land on my back and once again knocking the air out of me. I stumbled over to the knife and limped over to him. When I was behind the dog, he spun his legs around and fell me to the ground. He reeled a fist back ready to punch my stomach. Before he could make his move, I stabbed his right eye with the steel bayonet. He cried in pain as I twisted the blade as fast as my battered arm would allow me to. The dog gripped my attacking arm and pulled it, forcing the knife out of his eye socket. With his odd arms, he managed to toss me at a truck of a dead tree.

My wrecked body slammed into the wood and fell. The now one-eyed freak limped over half blinded with his war club lightly held in his claws. My body screamed at me when I stood up. I glided my eyes over to him, he wasn't fairing well either. A sudden burst of adrenaline coursed through my body, with much effort I started limping over to the attacker. When I got closer to him, he struggled to move, but he ultimately collapsed onto the muddy ground.

Looks like he's giving up... to bad I'm not. I'm going to make him pay.

I used the opportunity to stagger my way into the shelter and search the boxes. After a couple of seconds passed, I found half a dozen molotov cocktails, and grabbed one. The wick was a kerosene soaked rag, the liquid inside the old scotch bottle was a mixture of gasoline and motor oil. I gripped a nickel plated zippo in my shaking fingers on my way out.

The attacker could be seen dragging himself away from the fight scene with a trail of blood behind him. I reeled the lit molotov back, ready to throw when I realized the bottle wouldn't break on the soft muddy ground. I waited until he crawled close to a small boulder, once the dog was close enough, I threw the petrol bomb at the rock.

The molotov flew through the air and smashed onto the boulder. The contents of the bomb fell onto the dog and ignited when the flame of the wick lit the mixture. The attacker screamed bloody murder as he was roasted alive, his fur and skin began to burn and melt away. The air filled with a lung burning stench of burning flesh, it's screams started to die down as the black smoke from the motor oil filled his lungs; suffocating him.

The flames began to die away as the fuel depleted. I located my bayonet and picked it up in my shaking hands, and walked over to the body. The thing had both second and third degree burns covering his charred body. Black smoke floated to the sky as I kicked the crispy remains. It's blacked rib cage was visible, the organs were also somewhat visible.

"How am I going to explain this..." I mumbled to myself.

I started to worry, I didn't know how the Princesses would react when I tell them about this incident. He attacked me first, I was merely defending my self. As scenarios played in my mind, I started to black out. I checked my body; blood, cuts, and bruises covered me. I once again forced myself over to the shelter, and sat down in front of the medical crate.

I pulled out some bandages, gauze, antibacterial, and some water. The most serious wound that I had was a gash on my chest. I removed the clothing that was currently on my chest and threw in somewhere in a corner. After a few minutes of taking the appropriate procedures with the wounds, I washed my hands and sat down on the hammock. I found myself worrying about how the Princesses and the other ponies would react. I need to inform them, but when I stepped out of the shelter, the sun was heading for the western horizon.

"Going out there in this condition is suicide..."

I slowly walked into the shelter with the intention of finding the flare gun that was tucked into the olive green box labeled 'EMERGENCY' on it. My left leg was throbbing, the stitches most likely ripped or something. I really need to get back to the hospital, I shouldn't be walking around with these injuries. I had some morphine; but that would cause more problems that it would fix.

"Wait, should I? Riding that thing there could get me killed..." I thought to myself while looking at the direction of the disassembled dirt bike in the back.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the tool section and grabbed the needed equipment to assemble the bike. Time crawled by as I attached the wheels to the black Suzuki. I didn't know the specific model, but I didn't care, the bike was in pretty good condition, thats all I cared about. When I first found the thing, it was in pretty rough shape. The engine was in serious need of repair and the wheels were bent in funny looking angles. As time went on, I took the time to repair it.

I filled the gas tank half way and dug though my box of personal things and found the keys. I acquired M1911 from the weapon cache; thinking ahead just in case something happens along the way. I sat down on the seat in pain, getting there is going to be a painful ride. I had to be extra careful not to fall of or run into anything; I lacked the safety gear. I placed the key in the ignition and left for the encampment.

<><><><><><>

Military encampment outside the Everfree Forest

5:34 PM

The white tents of the camp appeared past the trees of the Everfree. The trip here was thankfully uneventful, nothing bothered me on the way here. There was a couple times when I had to slow down when I was afraid that I was about to blackout form the pain. Some of the guards recognized me and my current condition and made there way as I slowed down.

A Pegasus mare landed down to me. "Sir, are you alright?"

"What do you think?" I hissed in pain.

I heard a Unicorn from behind the mare. "I'll get a medic. Private, go inform Princess Luna of his arrival, now!"

I dismounted the dirt bike, removed the key and placed it leaning against a oak tree. A trio of guards rushed up to me with a medical saddle bag on their sides.

"Do you have any painkillers? I already patched myself up good enough to lower the risk of infection, all I ask is for some painkillers." I said.

The guards insisted that they check my wounds as I laid agains the tree. I spotted Luna gliding down with a all too familiar look of concern on her face.

"What happened?" She yelled.

"After you and Shining Armor left, I got a knock on the door. When I opened up, there was some type of dog standing on it's two legs with a war club in his hands; the bastard attacked me. I didn't know why."

"What happened to him, where is he?"

"He's dead. I killed him out of a act of self defense, like I said before; he intended to kill me." Once I summarized what happened, both the Princess and the medics looked at me.

"Well, from what you told us, a Diamond Dog attacked you." A mare said while checking my left leg.

"Diamond dogs aren't to friendly with other species." Another mare informed me.

Luna sighed. "We'll send a investigation team there to try and uncover who the attacker is."

"He's dead, that's what he is." I stated in anger towards the mutt.

"Can you walk?" A earth pony stallion asked me.

I stammered up onto my legs. "Yeah, are we going to the hospital?"

"We'll leave immediately." He informed.

"You coming Luna?" I questioned her.

She turned to look at me. "Sorry, I have to stay behind and inform Celestia of the incident in the forest."

"Can you do me a favor and watch over this." I asked her while pointing at the Suzuki.

"Um, one of the guards can."

"Sure, as long as he doesn't mess around with it." I advised.

The guards started to escort me towards the hospital in Ponyville. The medics carefully watched me as I limped along. Each step shot a wave of pain into my ragged legs. Houses began to show up after a couple of minutes, as time slowly passed by, we found ourselves in front of the medical building.

Redheart saw us through the window and opened the door for us; shaking her head when she saw me.

"Hey, how's my favorite mare?" I said jokingly to her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get back in the same bed you were before." She plainly stated.

I directed the guards to my old room in the hospital. I laid myself onto the familiar bed in the familiar room with the familiar pain in my left leg. I dismissed the guards as Nurse Redheart walked in.

"What now?" She asked me with worry when I presented my left leg and chest.

"Some Diamond Dog attacked me for some reason." I grunted when she started removing the bandages and gauze.

The white mare looked at me. "Aw, you poor thing!"

Odd reaction.

I let the nurse tend to my wounds. She attended to me with gentle care as I occasionally grunted in pain. I decided to try to ask her some random things to pass the time.

"So...how's it going?" I causally asked.

"Same old, same old. Nothing special." She said while retrieving the needed tools for the stitches.

I wasn't really settled with her answer. "Come on Redheart, you must be doing something fun?"

"No, not really." She sighed a sad sounding sigh.

For some odd reason, I felt bad for the mare. Judging by her soft voice, she's in her twenties. I kinda assumed that she would be having fun with some friends and whatnot. Must suck being stuck here with minimal work and no one to pass the time with. Well, I really didn't know much about her enough to make assumptions about her.

"That sucks." I quietly remarked.

I let her stitched me up as if I was a little girls doll. She gave me some medication that I took to dull the pain. The odd memory of the hospital building normally floated into my brain. The staff usually looked bored from the lack of patients. I also remembered how bored I was when I was last in here. Then, a little idea presented itself.

"Hey Readheart, I couldn't but help notice the lack of things to do here and how bored some of the staff are. So, I was wondering if you want to talk sometime later?" I asked the mare with the light blue eyes.

She looked certainly and pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

"Sure, why not? Both of us look like were bored to tears, so why not pass the time by talking to each other?" I insisted.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

Some ideas floated into my brain, but one struck my fancy. "How did you get your cutie mark?"

My question was a rather simple, but it was something she enjoyed talking about. The story was short, sweet, and to the point. She got her mark by helping some filly who bummed her knee when she fell. After assisting the child, her mark appeared. Turns out her talent is compassion and kindness for ponies who are feeling under the weather. It was a nice touching story she told me.

"Do humans have cutie marks?" Nurse Redheart asked me with curiosity in her soothing voice.

"No, but we do have tattoos. Their close enough."

"Tattoos, what are those?"

"A tattoo is a something like a cutie make but aren't natural, and they don't have to relate to a special talent." I gave here a simple explanation.

"Aren't natural, how do you get them?"

"It's pretty simple really. Theres a special machine that injects ink into a certain layer of the skin." I said. That's all I know really. I never really got in depth.

I was about to ask the mare another question before she spoke up. "Hey it's dinner time, let me go fetch you something to eat dear." She insisted while walking towards the door.

"Don't hurt your self!" I joked.

She stopped in her tracks and turned her head at me. "That's a lot coming from you Isaiah."

Her response gave me a good chuckle. She left me alone in the room with the setting sun's light shine through. I couple of minutes passed by before the door opened with Redheart pushing a food cart. I picket up the trey in my hands and set it down on my lap. I removed the chrome lid to uncover a bowl of some type of vegetable soup with steam rising out of it. Both me and Redheart talked to each other while I ate the soup of mixed vegetables. She seemed like a interesting for one who deems herself as 'boring'. The nurse would tell of interesting stories of her time working here as I ate my food with open ears. One of the stories that caught my attention, was when some pegasus mare tried to steal a book while all of the patients were asleep.

The mare must of been some freak to try and steal a book from a hospital. Bitches be crazy.

Time passed by as we enjoyed each others compony until some light knocks interrupted us. The door was encompassed in a golden glow; must be Celestia I thought. The door creaked open with the Princess of the day behind it.

"Nurse, may you please give us a minute?" Princess Celestia asked the earth mare.

"Of course your majesty." Redheart said while bowing.

The mare removed the trey off my lap and onto the cart, and left. I then focused my attention on Celestia. The expression on her face was blank. Without a doubt, she was here about the fight.

"So, are you here to discus the fight?" I quipped up.

She nodded her head to confirm my question. "Yes, Luna informed me about the incident. Do you know what you have done?"

Oh god, she's pissed.

"Yeah, I did know what I've done. He attacked me without reason, so in return, I killed him out of selfdefense."

"I understand why you did that. But did you know who he was?"

I shook my head. "No, I had no clue. Care to enlighten me?"

"When we identified the remains form... what was left. He matched a description of a criminal in the Griffon territories. When we checked... well turns out he was the said criminal."

Well, that caught me off guard. "What now?"

"We have yet to inform the leaders of the Griffon Kingdom of your deed, I'm just informing you."

"If he's wanted, does that mean he has a bounty of some sort?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Yes he does have a bounty, it's five-hundred bits. I'm assuming you want it?" Celestia asked.

I was thinking of accepting the reward, but I wanted to make myself look better by declining. "No."

My answer caught her off guard, she then smiled after. "Thats very noble of you Isaiah."

I couldn't see what was noble of me, I burned the fucker alive.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Looks like I'm stuck here for a little while longer." I muttered.

"Isaiah, you should get some rest, you've had a long day." Celestia advised.

She was right, I'm pretty tired. I located the same clock on the wall, 7:44 PM. It's a little early to sleep but my body needs the rest. I agreed, the princess turned off the light and left me alone to sleep in the small bed.

<><><><><><>

Ponyville Hospital

8:22 AM

I slowly woke up from my slumber. My body ached from the yesterdays scuffle, and my left leg throbbed a dull pain. I looked at the time on the clock; 8:23. It would be sometime before Redheart would bring me some breakfast. I laid on the bed in silence waiting for something to happen, only getting the need to use the crapper.

I slid out of the miniature bed and stepped out into the hallway. After some blind twists and turns I found the restrooms.

As anyone would do, I locked the door and turned around in surprise. The toilet was extremely small. It was the size of the toilets that you would find in nurseries or in daycare centers for small children. I had to awkwardly lower myself to prevent any splash damage because of my stream. I slightly worried about if I had to take a shit when I'm here; I would definitely clog the damn toilet. If I ever needed to, I would have to do my business in the forest or something like that.

After I finished and washed my hands in a equally small sink, I limped back to my assigned room. As causal could be, I opened the door to see that Redheart and Twilight were conversing with three other mares.

"Geez Twilight, more friends?"

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone!

Sorry that this one took so long to produce, I've been busy lately.

I'm not sure if the warning in the beginning of the chapter would be needed, but hey. Sorry if the fight scene was mediocre, I'm not the best at writing stories that have hand-to-hand combat, but son of a bitch I tried.

As always, constructive criticism would be much appreciated.