- >The three little fillies cowered as they saw the mighty warrior stand before them
- >His sword was out, but not for them
- >He thought his house had been broken into by something far more sinister.
- "Get out, but don't run home. I will deal with you in a minute."
- >The three fillies nodded and then ran out of the cellar around him, climbing the ladder with great speed
- >As they ran out, Apple Bloom looked back and saw Anon grab the engraved bone pendant and place it in his pocket
- >She then saw him take a gold ring with ivory on the side and look around, before settling on a small opening in the wall
- >He carefully placed it there, tilting it so it could easily be seen
- >He then turned his head and saw her watching him
- "GET OUT!"
- >She gasped and jumped out of the chamber, and Anon followed quickly
- >He climbed out quickly, huffing and cursing under his breath
- >He slammed the trap-door shut and then covered it back up with the rug
- >The three fillies looked at each other before they heard a whoosh and a sharp blade was pointed at them, causing them to fall back in alarm
- "Now you listen to me, and you listen well." Anon began, deathly serious
- >Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all nodded furiously
- "You will tell no one what you saw here today. No one will know about the location of my cellar, or even know it exists. Understand?"
- >They all nodded, but Apple Bloom seemed to have a thought on her mind
- "But why Anon? It's not like anyp0ny is going to steal it..."
- >The other two look at her, concerned
- >Anon sighs
- "Fine then... I'll show you."
- >Anon guided the three out, and closed the door with a lock
- >After a quick question of how they got in, he mumbled to himself how he will need a grate
- >He sheathed his weapon, and guided the three to follow him behind the cabin
- >They did, and they saw furs and bones being worked
- >Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and started to cry at the scene
- "I cannot have people lusting for my treasure, girls. You cannot reveal my secrets."
- >They nodded and quickly ran off
- >Anon sighed and returned into his cabin
- >He went back into the hold
- >He returned the necklace to where it was
- "Another time." He mumbled to himself
- >The next day, Anon remembered his obligation to Fluttershy
- >He put on his simple clothing, armed himself with just his sword and started walking
- >It would probably be faster to walk through the woods to Fluttershy's cottage, but he decided against it.
- >Better to brave the Ponies then the woods
- >He soon arrived in town, and accidentally made eye contact with Pinkie Pie
- >She began to bounce towards him
- "Damn the gods..." he said under his breath
- >Pinkie approaches
- "Howdy Anon!" She says happily
- >Anon can't help but smile a little bit
- "Do you have my knife?"
- >Anon remembers
- "Oh yes... It's at my cottage."
- >Pinkie nods
- "Ok, I'll come visit you later to get it."
- >Anon nods
- "Okie dokie lokie, see you later Anon!"
- >Pinkie hops away
- >Back to the task at hand
- >Anon got through town quickly, and began up the path to Fluttershy's
- >He arrives there
- >He knocks on the door
- >Nothing happens
- "Fluttershy.. It's Anon. I've come to return to the bandages."
- >After a few seconds, the door opens a crack, and then fully
- >Fluttershy sits there
- >Anon hands over the bandages
- "Thank you - really. These are worth alot to me..."
- >Anon nods
- "If you ever need them again-" Fluttershy begins but is interrupted by Anon raising his hand
- "No, that won't be necessary, I think I have a different solution."
- >Fluttershy smiles
- "Alright. Goodbye, Anon."
- >Anon leaves, his sword clattering as he descending the hill and beginning back to town
- >As he started off, he stopped and thought of something
- "This time.. I'll go through the forest."
- >He began his track through from Fluttershy's to his place, but without paths or roads
- >He was sure nothing would go wrong.
- >Anon walks through the woods
- >As he walked, he felt an uncanny feeling
- >Like he was being watched
- >He couldn't quite put his finger on it
- >He gripped his sword, ready for anything
- >As he continued, he soon saw his home
- >He smiled and took a step forward
- >He heard a twig crack
- >He whirled around, but saw nothing
- >He looked down
- >He didn't step on a twig
- >He backed away onto his property quickly, but saw nothing else
- >Anon was careful and just waited for a while, but he had some blacksmithing to do
- >So finally he just said forget it and went down to his forge and workshop
- >He began a fire, and got to work
- >Soon, metal began to glow orange with heat
- >He hammered it, holding one end with tongs
- >He soon had the shape of a horseshoe
- >He wiped the sweat from his brow, this was real labor
- >As Anon worked, he soon had a glowing hot horseshoe
- >He hammered it and got it ready to be put in the water
- >As he turned, he saw the tiniest amount of red flick out his vision to his left
- >Instantly, without thinking, he jumped up and turned more, getting onto the table
- >He saw a snarling manticore inches away from his feet, and he swung downwards with hammer in hand, and it was repealed
- >But that wasn't it
- >There were two more of them
- >The three of them regrouped and prepared for an attack
- >The center of them had darker hair and was bigger
- >He was their alpha
- >Anon prepared to bolt back to his cottage, but new he couldn't outrun them all the way
- >Soon, the Alpha charged
- >Anon stuck forward the red-hot horseshoe
- >It struck the manticore in the eye
- >It roared as its flesh was roasted and skin baked
- >Anon jumps away, dropping the tongs but keeping the hammer and sprinted towards his cottage
- >The manticores are very, very fast
- >He doesn't look back, knows it will slow him down
- >He slams open his door and gets inside, closing and bolting it
- >The manticores scratch and attack, but they do not get inside.
- >He waits
- Thus began a siege
- >Anon waited for them to leave
- >They didn't
- >He would put on his armor, and leave, have a short battle, and then come back inside and wait
- >They were very stealthy, ferocious creatures
- >The worst of course was the one he burned
- >Anon began to call him "Black Eye", the manticore seemed to become enraged at the name
- >He had fun with that at least
- >He soon ate a short dinner from inside his cottage
- >He knew he couldn't last out here forever
- >He would run out of food within a few days
- >The manticores were clever, 2 would watch the door while the other went to go get food
- >He cursed, his isolation from the rest of ponyville suddenly became a problem
- >However that same day, he saw something bound up the path towards his cottage
- >It was a pink pony
- "Oh no, pinkie!" He cursed to himself
- >He came up to the door and unlocked it, before finally opening it and screaming
- "PINKIE RUN!"
- >Pinkie seemed confused but turned around and saw the manticore behind her
- >She ran away screaming, the manticore giving chase
- >Another manticore seemed to join him
- >Now was Anon's chance
- >Anon ran out armed with his sword, a mace on his belt, and a shield
- >He was also wearing his leather armor
- >Suddenly, he heard something from behind him and turned around
- >The alpha manticore had jumped from his roof onto him, slamming Anon down on his porch
- >He used his shield to separate them, the creature clawing and stabbing with his tail
- "We meet again, Black-Eye."
- >The creature roared and jumped off him before whipping around and hoping to get in a hit
- >Anon was too fast and jumped up
- >The creature batted its paw forward, and Anon attacked with his sword
- >The sword cut the paw
- >The manticore roared and knocked the sword out of Anon's hands and to the side
- >Anon drew his mace, ready for just such an occasion
- >Anon stepped forwards and jumped, slamming forward with his shield
- >The creatures tried to avoid it by jumping to the right
- >Anon spun and the creature's paw swiped at the air
- >Anon brought down his club and smashed the side of the creature's head
- >It cried out in pain and jumped away
- >He watched it go off into the woods
- >Anon readied himself and saw Pinkie running back towards the cabin with two of the manticores in tow
- "AHHHH!!!" Pinkie screamed as they stabbed at her with their poison tails
- >Anon, thinking quickly, unhooked his shield and thew it, smacking one in the jaw
- >He than grabbed his sword and leaped forward, now holding two weapons
- >He gave a flurry of blows to both of the creatures, blocking a few tail swipes with the whirling steel
- >The creatures, realizing how strong Anon was and how their alpha had been run off, ran off themselves to go lick their wounds
- >Anon breathed heavily after the battle
- >He returned to his porch to find Pinkie cowering under his bed inside, and then said "They're gone."
- >Pinkie slowly came out from under the bed, and Anon noticed she had the knife in her hand
- >He saw this but didn't bring it up to her
- "...Thank you Anon." She said
- >He helped her up
- "No problem. Glad you're alright."
- >Pinkie Pie looked outside and then back at Anon
- "Will you be safe here, Mr.Anon?"
- >Anon nodded and assured her.
- >She accepted it, though she was dubious
- >She looked over the damage done to the door and poked her head out to scan the area
- >She found it clear
- >She walked out slowly, and was vigilant as she walked down the path to Ponyville
- >Anon smiled.
- "Clever girl."
- -----------------------------------------------
- >Anon entered town, bought some fresh bandages, and ran down to the Ponyville water reserve pool
- >The other ponies were waiting
- >He asked Twilight to blast the bandages with magic
- "Why?"
- "I was hoping you all would help me make magic bandages. Like from the book."
- "Anon, I am not skilled in healing magic."
- "You could try."
- >Twilight looked dubious but began
- >Blasting the bandages for a few minutes with purple energy
- >Anon then picked them up and put them in the water
- "Now, Applejack needs to shed a tear in the water." he said
- >Applejack nodded and sat, slowly forcing out a tear
- >Once that happened, the water seemed to glow for a second
- "Ok, now Pinkie."
- >Pinkie stepped forward, batted a tear into the water, and jumped back with a smile.
- >Well, she was fast...
- >Finally, Twilight put the last tear in the water after the others had gone
- >Anon's hands had become pruned from holding the bandages there for so long
- >The whole pool began to glow for a second, but then stopped
- >Anon took out the bandages
- >They seemed brighter and better then before
- >He could feel the magic coming off of them
- "Wow, those feel powerful." Twilight said aloud
- >Anon nodded. He knew little of magic, but the book said that the more each pony represented their element the more powerful the bandages would be
- >Considering these ponies were living incarnations of their elements, the bandages would be pretty strong
- >Anon thanked them all and offered to pay, but they refused and they all went home.
- >Anon went to sleep that night happy he had gotten something important done today.
- END PART 4