Fluttershy was down.
Instinct and training took over. I liked to think that I had a nice little chat with myself in which I assessed the situation and came to a logical conclusion. I like to think that, but it is a lie.
No, that train of thought went something like this:
Oh gods, the small one is dead! What killed it? I looked around. I can’t see any crossbowmen or Choraturgists! Is this a defense mechanism to ward off predators? Is there a wolf nearby? I took a step, situating the fallen Pegasus Pony between my legs, and hunkered down. Shields are still on my shoulders. Not good, I can’t keep wolves off of me with these oversized pauldrons! I frantically surveyed my surroundings and my gaze fell upon the druid’s hut. Of course! In the house, shut the door and barricade us in! Perfect!
I scooped Fluttershy up into my arms and bolted for the door to the abode. I heard some kind of inquisitive shout from above as I reached the door and flung it open. The shout was closer this time, but I couldn’t spare a moment to look back at the approaching noise. Perhaps the Pony had seen an aerial predator, like a massive hawk, and feigned death. Either way, inside was the safest haven right now, and I wasted no time in slamming the door behind me.
I leaned my left shoulder against the door, and was finally able to catch my breath. I was panting, not from exertion, but from the surprise and panic that had taken over. I couldn’t feel any texture through the leather and bone covering my body, but I did feel the fine fur covering the fragile creature in my arms part and bend underneath my fingers. Her fur was surprisingly thick and smooth.
After taking a few moments to ensure that nothing was going to try and burst through the door, I turned to really look inside the hovel I had entered. The first thing that came to mind that the druid that lived there must have been a Halfling of some race. Everything was short enough to be a severe hazard to my head, especially while I was in my armour.
Then the colours came to me, earthy greens and browns. Even more small houses and holes for various animals decorated the interior of the hut, and the more I inspected the room from my position at the door, I could tell that this was more than a druid’s house. This was a druid’s home, and all of these extra bird houses, mouse holes and straw pads were guest rooms.
I suddenly felt very self-conscious. Not only had I burst into this home unannounced and uninvited, I’d burst in with a Pegasus Pony in some state of coma, trailing a predator or two.
A lot of penance was due here.
Nevertheless, the druid had not come running at the slamming of the door, so I had to assume that they were out. I warily took my shoulder from the door and half-crawled over to a green couch and gently lay the unconscious Fluttershy on her side on the cushions. Her mane retained its shape from being on my chest, and the rest of her fur was sticky and ruffled from being rubbed against the sap on my armour. Hopefully the druid wouldn’t mind giving Fluttershy a bath.
Speaking of the druid, I had to go find her or him. I needed some answers, and none were going to come from the Pegasus Pony in front of me. I stood up and promptly banged my helmet on one of the ceiling beams. I cursed and crouched down only to be met by a face full of white fuzz.
Something had latched itself onto my face, and I reacted almost as badly as I had to Fluttershy’s faint.
Agh, what the- get it off get it off getitoffgetitoff!” I ducked and rolled backwards, almost smashing my head against the door. I tried tugging the furious ball of fury off of my face, but it latched on with tiny claws. I flailed a bit more and managed to knock the door open and rolled out, struggling with whatever was impeding my vision. Finally, I yanked the thing off of my face and saw that I had been attacked by a little white rabbit.
It made another lunge for my face. I yelped and chucked the thing through the door into the cottage and slammed the door on it.
I sighed. Five minutes out of the forest, and I’ve already ruined my reputation. I can hear the town criers now. ‘Raasinav Exile fought bunny rabbit and lost! Shame for his whole order, get the scoop here!’
With that thought, I decided that since I was already outside, I should just get it over with and walk into town. Any information would come in handy at the moment, and I didn’t care if it came from a druid or not.
Then I heard the shout from earlier. I’d almost forgotten about the airborne predator that had made Fluttershy go comatose. I’d have to return later and ask the druid about that later.
Wait, was the predator closing in? I’d have thought that without its prey here it wouldn’t bother with something roughly twice its size. It was also approaching at some ridiculously fast velocity if the echoes were something to judge by. Well, if it wanted to test its claws against Steelbone Antler armour, who was I to impede on its learning opp-
Face, meet dirt.
There was a pain in my back, like someone had decided to practice a massage technique with a maul. In fact, I believe that they were still there, trying to determine why I wasn’t groaning in satisfaction.
There was this weird buzzing coming from just above the pressure on my back. Maybe a swarm of bees was there to save me.
Wait, no, the buzzing began resolving itself into speaking. Then shouting.
Was the maul masseur interrogating me? Asking why I was groaning in pain instead of pleasure?
I heard something about Fluttershy and eating. Also various mentions of plot, hay, and hooves. Was it swearing at me?
Oh, was this the predator I’d been looking for? That made sense. By the sound of it, though, it was more of a hunter or poacher, not a predator. Animals don’t talk, silly Alan.
Wait just a second here. This thing wanted to hurt Fluttershy? No way was I going to let that happen. With the druid gone, the poor thing had no one to protect her.
Face, say goodbye to dirt.
Bye-bye dirt. I’ll see you again later, mmkay?
No you won’t face. Dirt is bad people. I came to the abrupt decision to stop talking to myself and bolted myself up from the ground. Whatever was on my back jumped off at my sudden movement, and I took the chance to get my legs underneath me in order to spring away.
I could hear the flapping of approaching wings and decided to roll underneath the hunter. I pushed back and hit the ground.
I looked up to catch a glimpse of my assailant, but all I could see was sky blue. Oh, and a rainbow, how nice. Where was the hunter? Was it invisible?
I braced myself and stood in a crouch at the end of my roll and looked around the sky for any sign of invisibility. Oh, hey there’s that rainbow I saw earlier. When did rainbows get eyes?
I blinked and looked a bit harder at the swiftly approaching rainbow. It just so happened that this rainbow was attached to another Pegasus Pony with purplish-red eyes that probably had some technical name and sky blue fur.
Wait, so did that mean that Pegasus Ponies are not only carnivorous, but cannibalistic? I’d have to ask the druid about that, along with the Pegasus Pony’s defense mechanisms.
In the meantime, the hunting Pony impacted hooves first with my left shield-turned-shoulder-guard. The force of the tackle drove my right knee down, and shoved me back a few feet. I ducked and brought my shoulder up, driving the blue creature up and over me. It landed on the ground behind me.
I twirled to face it. It was lying on its side, eyes wide, staring at me in shock. Perhaps it was an ambush predator and was unused to prey fighting back? I took the chance to slip the shields off of my shoulders and onto my arms proper.
I suddenly got the feeling that killing this Pegasus Pony would be extremely bad for my health. The presence that had been watching me seemed quite attached to these creatures. Maybe Pegasus itself was watching me.
That meant that if I wanted to avoid the ire of this god and keep it from erasing me from existence, I was going to have to flee this fight.
“qur’Saa.” I swore to myself under my breath, invoking the name of one who had found himself at odds with the gods, and was made an example for future generations. If I wanted to keep my mind intact and my body whole, I was going to have to find a way around this.
The druid’s cottage seemed like a good choice, but the Pegasus Pony was between me and the door, and was coming to its senses.
It stood up on shaky legs, spread its wings and growled at me, a noise very out of place on an equine. Though if this species was, in fact, carnivorous, it would make sense.
What was it with Pegasus Ponies and borrowing noises from other creatures? Another question for the druid.
The Pony suddenly launched itself at me in a blur of colours. I couldn’t dodge in time, so I did the next best thing and parried it. Parrying a tackle is a lot harder than it looks, normally, but due to this Pony’s lack of support, I simply stepped to one side and angled my shield to catch the hooves and let them slide past.
I caught a glimpse of surprise once more as the eyes of the Pony passed by, but it was tempered by something else. Fear. This Pegasus Pony was afraid of me, afraid that I was going to kill it just like it wanted to kill Fluttershy.
It was tempting to follow up on this fear, but I rather liked to keep my mind inside my body.
Instead of attacking the flying menace as it whizzed by, I turned and made a mad dash for the druid’s cottage. The Pegasus Pony shouted at me, but I ignored it. I heard the telltale sound of wings pumping hard and launched myself into a long roll that would take me under the attack.
This thing learned, though, and had brought its hooves down to my level as I rolled and caught me in the leg as it passed. A glancing blow at best, but it made a resounding ‘thunk’ that was not out of place on a training field, wood against wood. Or, I suppose in this case, antler on hoof.
This noise must have convinced my assailant that my leg was now crippled, because it stopped her attacks to turn and look at me a smirk on its face. The smirk dropped like a stone when the Pony saw me barreling right towards it, unhindered.
I pulled my right shield to the side and swung to push the flying menace from my path, but it darted upwards as I pushed past. I recognized the receding wing beats as the Pegasus Pony preparing to dive at me. I didn’t give her the chance.
I pulled the door to the hut open and slammed it shut. Barely a second later, the blue Pony slammed into it with a woody crunching noise. She began beating on the door, but I held it shut with my back.
Unfortunately I was otherwise distracted from further supporting the door by the ball of fury and claws that had once again latched onto my face.
After wrestling with the rabbit for a moment, I tugged it off of my face and held it tightly with one hand around its thin midriff, waiting and watching. When it seemed that the blue Pegasus Pony had given up trying to batter the door down, I swung it open and tossed the rabbit outside and slammed the door shut. The moment it was open gave me the chance to see a streak of rainbow careening towards the door.
I set my shoulder to the door once more and braced for impact.
I was not disappointed.
Unless my eyes were mistaken, the force of the dive had caused the door to balloon inward, and the wood bent and cracked under the strain before snapping back into the doorframe. Luckily the full weight my armour and I, combined with a solid grip on the ground, had kept the door from simply flying off of its hinges.
The Pegasus Pony resumed its abuse of the door, with the addition of a scrabbling sound from the rabbit. The rabbit I could understand, it probably thought that I was there to do something awful.
The blue one, however, I didn’t understand. Was one Pegasus Pony so delectable and valuable that it would expend this much energy just to secure its meat? Were they so rare that cannibalism was seen as a delicacy?
More questions than I had answers for, and no druid to ask for help.
And this day had started out so well, too.
I eventually became aware of the pounding on the door slowing down, and eventually stopping. The rabbit’s scrabbling continued, however.
Why didn’t the rabbit attack the other Pegasus Pony? Surely it would want to protect the other one from this cannibal. Perhaps it didn’t know of its intentions and just assumed that it was as friendly as the yellow one on the couch.
There was one final pound on the door, and a voice carried through the wall right next to my shoulder. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I heard something about ‘friends’ and ‘coming back.’ That could either mean that I was going to have to deal with a flock of Pegasus Ponies (or would it be a swarm?), or the druid was coming back, and the hungry Pony was leaving, for now.
I hoped it was the latter.
To be safe, though, I kept my position at the door. After a few minutes, with nothing to interrupt the furious rabbit’s assault on the door, I sighed.
“Well, Fluttershy, looks like we’re in for a long day.”
I got no reply.
Ψ Ψ Ψ
That rabbit must have some form of hyper-energy storage, because it kept on scratching at the door for the next fifteen minutes. I would not risk hurting this rabbit for two reasons. One, it was in the house, or near it in this case, and fell under the druid’s protection. Two, I hadn’t seen any other bunnies around, and so I assumed that this was the friend Fluttershy had mentioned, Angel Bunny.
Maybe I should have let him in. I decided to haggle for a cease fire first. As much as I wanted to keep Fluttershy safe and happy, if only for the druid, I was not willing to sacrifice my face to placate this semi-rabid bunny.
“Hey, Angel Bunny, right?”
There was a pause from the other side of the door. I was suddenly hit by how much I’d taken to talking to weird things that couldn’t reply. First there was the castle wall, then Fluttershy, though it had turned out that she could talk, and now this rabbit. I knew of a simple way around the language barrier, but it relied on the rabbit being able to understand me, first.
“You’re Fluttershy’s friend? Knock once for no, twice for yes.”
Two knocks. So this was a reasonably intelligent rabbit. I wondered which god he belonged to.
“You know I’m not going to hurt her, right?”
One knock. Really, I knew the answer to that one, but it never hurt to ask.
“Well, I’m not going to hurt her. Or you, for that matter, because you’re her friend and under the druid’s care anyway. Oh, do you know when the druid’s getting back?”
Angel took a minute to answer, and somehow made his knock sound hesitant and questioning. Talented bunny.
“Mmh. Tell you what, let’s make a deal.”
No reply.
“If I let you in, I promise not to hurt you, sound good?”
Knock knock.
“And, if I let you in, do you promise not to attack me?”
Knock.
“Well, then I’m not letting you in.”
Angel started clawing at the door again, chittering angrily.
“Hey, I’m trying to be reasonable, here.”
Knock.
“Yes I am. I want Fluttershy to be able to be with her friend, but I also don’t want that friend to attack me. I’m trying to keep her alive here, you know.”
Knock.
“Well, I am. Look, if I let you in, how about you go and help me protect Fluttershy?”
Knock knock.
“Now, I’m going to open the door. Are you going to go straight to Fluttershy on the couch?”
Knock.
“Are you going to attack me?”
Knock knock.
“That’s… surprisingly honest of you. How about a compromise?”
Knock.
“Oh, come on, you stubborn little fuzz ball! I’m trying to help, here!” I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. I wondered when that other Pegasus Pony would come back with its flock. “Hey, Angel. Do you know that other Pegasus Pony from before?
Knock knock.
“Really? Has it ever tried to hurt Fluttershy before?”
Knock.
“That’s… Oh. I may have over-reacted, then.”
Knock knock.
“Was that one of Fluttershy’s friends?”
Knock knock.
“What was its name?”
Silence.
“Oh, right. Yes and no questions only.” I sighed. “Want to try to make a deal again?”
Knock knock.
“Oh, what? Willing to listen to peace talks now?”
Knock knock.
“Okay then.” I took a deep breath. “I let you in, you go to Fluttershy, and keep her safe while I keep the door shut. Does that sound good? And- right- and no attacking me on the way past, either.”
Knock knock.
“Thank you, Angel. Alright, I’m opening the door.”
And then I opened the door a hair. A little line of white blazed a trail from the crack in the door to Fluttershy’s couch, where it resolved into a little white rabbit giving me the stink eye as it crossed its arms.
“There, see? I’m not such a bad guy.”
Angel heaved a deep sigh and thumped his foot against the floor once. He then clambered up onto the couch and snuggled up to Fluttershy. It was actually quite adorable.
Just then I heard voices in the distance. They must have been shouting if I was able to hear them through the door. The blue Pegasus Pony was back, and it had brought friends, just like it had promised.
Now that I knew that it was Fluttershy’s friend, I was willing to meet it out in the open. I needed to apologize for the misunderstanding, after all. Hopefully the blue Pony was smart enough to realize that I hadn’t been meaning to hurt it when I made my rush for the cottage.
Something about the way it hovered and darted above a group of four other vaguely equine shapes on the path to the town told me that it had not.
The four new shapes all seemed to be land animals, as opposed to the Pegasus Pony’s aerial preference. Perhaps they were a sub-species of Pegasus’s creation or the children of different gods all together. I couldn’t make out any details, but I could make out their colours: Orange, purple, white and pink.
I could hear the blue Pegasus Pony yelling and shouting, probably planning some form of attack pattern, or re-telling our scuffle earlier. I strapped my shields to my arms, just in case. There was an old saying among my people, the Corukh. Better to have a military and not need it, than need warriors and not have them.
As soon as the group came within easy hailing distance, I yelled a hearty “Ho there!” and waved at them.
The blue Pegasus saw me first, and with a cry of rage, it sped directly toward me, followed by the ground-bound others it had brought. I lifted my hands, palms up in a gesture of peace, but it did nothing to slow the oncoming herd.
Remember. Don’t hurt them. At least the blue one is Fluttershy’s friend, and something tells me that the other four are as well. I told myself as I readied my stance to subdue the aggressive animals.
Inhale. Heartbeat.
Screaming whistle. Incoming Pegasus Pony.
Yelling, hoof beats. Incoming group of others.
Pause.
Exhale.
Sidestep, left shield swing.
Thwap. Pegasus Pony neutralized.
Distant thud. Pegasus Pony thrown from melee range.
Heartbeat.
Cries, galloping. Four sets of hooves approaching, one faster than the others.
Orange, no special features, bull-rush tactic.
Brace for impact.
Inhale. Heartbeat.
Skid. Swivel. Power-buck attack. Not bull-rush.
Shift shoulder to shield.
Thunk. Skid.
Brace for charge.
Charge.
Exhale. Heartbeat.
Gasp. Orange fur, green eyes.
Fwumph. Contact.
Two steps.
Right shield thrust.
Thwump. Orange thrown.
Inhale. Heartbeat.
Chimes. Blue glow.
Purple mane. White fur. Single horn with glow.
Glow around right shield.
Yank. Magic?
Jabber from left. Purple, single horn. Hump on back.
No, not hump. Small lizard.
Fire breath, wisp of smoke. Wyrm?
Skid turn. Orange.
Didn’t I take that one down?
Thunk. Pain in side.
Exhale. Heartbeat.
Skid, knee down.
Flapping. Blue is back.
Tenacious things.
Twist and duck.
Thwak. Hooves on back. Pain.
Exhale. No air.
Inhale. Pain. Heartbeat.
Not good.
Chimes. Purple glow.
Beam shot. Definitely some form of Choraturgy.
Right shield braced.
Zorch. Impact with beam.
Airborne. Powerful magic.
Hit ground. Roll.
Loud whistle. Blue dive-bomb.
No base contact. Can’t dodge.
Left shield forward.
Thunk. Impact.
Exhale. Heartbeat. Pain.
Right shield up and over.
Thwak. Impact with blue.
Roll. Stand.
Thud. Blue down.
Chimes. Purple glow.
Beam shot.
Duck and roll.
Purple within reach.
Roll into kick.
Thwud. Heel hit chin.
Outrage.
Inhale. Heartbeat. Pain.
Thoom. Large impact with ground.
Twist. Shields ready.
Chime. Burst of light. Pain.
Radiance. Pain.
Can’t move. Pain.
Burning. Pain. Radiance.
The sun had descended and bathed me in its glow.
“Even Somae turns against me.” I whispered hoarsely to myself.
My face embraced the dirt once more. Were these animals truly so violent as to completely ignore a surrender?
All I knew was that I had failed to protect Fluttershy, even if I had to protect her from myself.
I had failed again.
And now I was to die.
I lay on the scorched earth, awaiting judgment from Somae and her followers. Six sets of hooves approached my prone form. Six? Since when did Somae take the form of an equine?
Ah well. The minds and forms of gods are beyond my understanding.
Murmuring. My killers were comforting each other. Probably making sure the ones that I’d struck were alive and well.
One set of hooves approached. Was it approaching to finish the job, or gloat over its victory? No, this set was bigger, heavier. Perhaps it was Somae, coming to erase me from existence for whatever reason. Silence fell as she approached. At least my killers knew to listen to the words of a god.
“Good afternoon, Somae,” I coughed as she approached. Just because she was here to kill me didn’t mean that I couldn’t respect a god as was her due. “I suppose you’re here… to punish me for a… misunderstanding?”
Somae paused. “You are… intelligent?” Her voice was astonished, but had the well-worn, caring inflection of a mother of thousands.
“As intelligent as any other Corukh,” I chuckled. The noise became a hoarse coughing fit.
“Corukh? I’ve never heard of those. Where are you from and why are you here?”
“Raal Forest… exiled… as you well know.”
“Who do you think I am, to believe that I would know of you?”
“Don’t be… coy, Somae. Just… finish me. Like you finished… qur’Saa.” I wheezed a sigh. Erasure from existence didn’t seem like such a bad idea at this point. At least there probably wouldn’t be pain.
“I’m no done with you, yet. Where is Fluttershy?” She demanded.
“House, on the couch. Druid needs to… give her a bath.” A thought occurred to me. “Why… why do you care about… Pegasus’s creature? Your domain… is the sun…” I took a deep, shivering breath. “Not us mortal creatures.”
Somae huffed and, to my dismay, retreated to the group a few steps away. A flurry of cries and questions erupted as she approached; most prevalent among them was ‘why is he here?’
I groaned and tried to lift a hand to grab at her as she began to leave, but my arm would not cooperate. “Get back here and… kill me! What happened... to being a merciful god?” I cried as she turned.
There was a whoosh. “Hey! You can’t talk to the Princess like that!” Pain exploded in the right side of my face and my head jerked to the side. Darkness began seeping into my vision, but I caught a glimpse of a field of blue, and five dots of colour: Two white ones, a purple one, a pink one and an orange one. One of the white ones was quite a bit larger than the rest.
The big white dot approached the blue field with a short cry as I fell into darkness.
The blue Pegasus Pony had decided to resolve Somae’s duty without her permission.
How arrogant.