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Crystal Vision frowned at the horrified ponies standing around her. So much for a good first impression, she thought to herself as she sheepishly brushed away the remains of the apple cart that she had smashed in her landing.
"Um… sorry about that." She muttered. "I guess I don't know my own strength." She gave a sheepish grin, but as the ponies saw her glistening white fangs, they screamed and ran for their lives. Crystal's broad grin deflated in an instant; no matter where she went, everypony was afraid of her. And who could blame them? She wasn't a pony, or even a dragon, but a longma, a subspecies with both equine and draconic ancestry who was unwelcome in both societies.
The ponies were terrified of her sharp talons, and glistening fangs, and the dragons laughed at her long blue mane and silken white fur covering her scales. She wasn't even welcome among her own people, who felt intimidated by her above-average stature, but Crystal had hoped that Ponyville would be different. She had heard tales of how kind and welcoming the ponies were in this town, but it was clear that she had travelled all this way for nothing. The ponies would never accept her, and it would be best if she just cut her losses and returned to her lonely cave.
With a snort of frustration, Crystal extended her long, leathery wings and took to the skies, but before she could get very far, the air was rent by a scream of terror. Crystal lost her balance momentarily, and swept around to stare down at the crowd, where she beheld the most unusual sight she'd ever seen. A hulking bear with black and white fur, four arms and large, buzzing wings was roaring at the crowd with two screaming ponies clamped beneath his muscular arms. For a moment, she was paralyzed with confusion at the chaos unfolding beneath her, but as the creature's barbed tail narrowly missed a crying foal, Crystal regained her focus and barreled down upon the bugbear, who was forced to drop the ponies in his arms as a set of razor-sharp claws raked his back.
"Leave them alone, ugly!" Crystal growled as the bugbear, who turned and bared his fangs in a furious leer. "You want a fight? Let's see what you've got!" The bugbear roared and flew at Crystal, who dodged the beast's claws, sank her fangs into its neck… and immediately pulled away, rubbing her jaw in pain. Miraculously, the beast's thick hide had resisted her attack, and before Crystal could react, the bugbear swung its two left fists around and sent Crystal flying into a cart of stuffed animals. Ponies screamed and ran in all directions, and Crystal emerged from the cart, looking terrifying in spite of having a teddy bear speared on her horn. The bugbear flew at her, but Crystal swept her long, muscular tail around and knocked the monstrosity into a tree.
Before the bugbear could regain its focus, Crystal leapt upon it and raked her talons across the beast's chest, which once again resisted her attack. Crystal gave a yelp of surprise as the bear wrapped all four arms around her and squeezed her with a vice-like grip. The more Crystal thrashed and roared and bit at the beast, the tighter he squeezed, and and the faster Crystal's energy dwindled. Her vision slowly faded, but when she saw the bugbear's muzzle break into a triumphant grin, she summoned all of her strength into her throat, which became very frosty, as if she had just consumed a tall glass of liquid nitrogen. Crystal opened her mouth, and a frigid fog poured from her throat and flowed over the bugbear's face; ice crystals clung to its fur, frozen wind tickled its nose, and it sneezed.
That tiny lapse of focus was all Crystal needed, and she headbutted the beast with all her might. The bugbear yelped and loosened its grip around Crystal, who slipped free of the monster's crushing arms and retreated to a safe distance. This isn't good, Crystal thought. My claws and fangs are pretty much useless against this freak. I need help. Right on cue, a trio of armor-clad stallions brandishing spears flew onto the scene and began jabbing at the beast, who was annoyed, but not injured by the soldiers' attacks.
Crystal smiled and took a step forward, but then hesitated; would these soldiers accept her help, or would they attack her, too? The citizens standing around Crystal still cowered in fear, even after she had gone out of her way to protect them from the bugbear. She wanted to leave while the ponies were distracted, but Crystal knew deep down that if she left now, and the bugbear destroyed the town, she would never forgive herself. Just because the ponies were rude to her, it didn't mean she should be rude to them.
She exhaled through her nostrils and soared into the air to join the soldiers and the bugbear.
"Hey, you!" Crystal shouted and pointed at one of the soldiers, who turned a furious eye on her.
"Another monster!" He cried, and pointed his spear at Crystal.
"No no, I'm not a monster!" Crystal sighed. "I'm trying to help you!"
"Yeah? Why should I believe you?" The soldier scoffed, and jabbed his spear at Crystal, warning her to keep her distance. "Give me one reason I shouldn't run you through!" Crystal glared at him, and in the corner of her eye, she saw the bugbear swat one of the soldiers out of the sky; they didn't have much time.
"Look, if I wanted to kill you, I could have just bitten you instead of shouting and warning you of my presence." Crystal sighed. "And your spears won't work against that thing! His hide is too strong, even for me!" The soldier glanced over his shoulder, and as one of his fellows' spears glinted harmlessly off the bugbear's hide, he was forced to admit that Crystal was right.
"Okay, fine, I'll give you a chance." The soldier sighed. "But Princess Twilight and her friends are out of town on a diplomatic mission! If we can't stab the bugbear, how can we stop him?" Crystal pondered the situation for a few seconds, and then recalled how her ice breath had stunned the bugbear.
"I have an idea." She said to the soldier. "Keep him distracted, and I'll do the rest!" She flew up to the bugbear, who was too distracted by the second soldier that he couldn't see Crystal barreling down on him from behind. Crystal took a deep breath and felt her throat freeze up as before, but much more powerfully this time, as if she had summoned the arctic into her body. Crystal exhaled as hard as she could onto the bugbear, whose wings and back were immediately encased in a thick sheet of ice. The beast turned and glared at Crystal, while shielding his face with his upper arms, but before he could attack, he fell out of the sky like a stone, as his frozen wings made it impossible for him to fly.
The bugbear landed with an earthshaking 'crash' on a cart of baked goods, splattering the stunned populace with frosting and bits of cake. The bugbear growled and crawled toward the ponies, but before he could get too far, a blast of icy wind encased his extended paw in ice. He attempted to break free of the ice, but a third blast trapped his second and third paws, then his fourth paw, legs and stinger. Crystal landed in front of him with a triumphant grin, and the bugbear could do little more than roar in outrage before Crystal's final breath of ice wrapped around his head.
There was a moment of silence, and then the town erupted in applause; the ponies praised Crystal as a hero, and apologized profusely for ever thinking that she was a freak. A few ponies even presented her with gifts. Crystal was speechless; for the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged. But as Crystal looked over the crowd, she saw the soldiers prying the frozen bugbear off the ground. As quickly and carefully as possible, she flew over the crowd and joined the soldiers.
"What's going on?" She inquired.
"We're taking this creep back to Tartarus, where he belongs." One of the soldiers explained. "Thanks for your help, by the way. We couldn't have done it without you."
"Hey, it's the least I can do." Crystal said with a shrug. "Maybe I'll stick around for a little while."
"Well, as long as you're here," The second soldier chimed in. "You should look into joining the military. Taking down a bugbear is no small feat, you know. You should be proud of yourself."
"I am." Crystal beamed. "So do I just go to your base, ask for a job?" "Well no, not exactly." The soldier replied. "Our ranks are all full up. But maybe check out The Knights of Harmony. They're always hiring."
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Crystal Vision is owned by cayfie.
Link: https://www.deviantart.com/cayfie

Upvotes at import: 11 | Stars at import: 9
Posted previously at: 2018-07-21T20:16:59 | Posted previously by: jamestkelley