Ten minutes had passed, and the ensemble had gathered at a table, save for Skylark and Lyra, who were preparing breakfast, or at least what counted for breakfast. Once they got to the table, the human placed the plates in front of each pony and each of their familiars.
“I’m sorry it isn’t much...But you know, gotta make do, right?” Lyra looked to Emerald and Iridescent, who looked indifferent and understanding respectively. Caressa and Erubetie looked at the grass sandwiches, the latter with a bright smile on her face.
”Thank you, Miss Lyra!” Erubetie sounded like a little filly as she tried to bite down on the sandwich, only to give up and just slide the hole thing into her mouth. The sandwich sank down to Erubetie’s stomach, where it slowly began to dissolve in plain sight. Lyra, Emerald, Caressa, Iridescent, and Skylark all watched in awe as the slime pony blushed a little, realizing the group was staring.
“Well, that answered part of my question. I was wondering if these creatures even ate grass sandwiches. At least the blob can.” Emerald bit down on her sandwich, ignoring the mixed looks from the rest of the group. Caressa bit down on the sandwich, her fangs making it much easier to take smaller pieces than Erubetie did. She smiled, enjoying the taste before going for another bite, and Lyra looked to Skylark expectantly.
The human wasn’t sure whether or not he should even eat it. Sure, he was able to eat the unknown fruit from the Everfree and the apples from Applejack’s farm, but at least he knew those were fruit, and the displacer beast was at least cooked over a fire after Taurus finished it off. Were humans even able to stomach grass?
“Is something wrong?” Lyra asked, and the human at least tried to smile for her. ”Nothing is wrong...This is just-” he tried to confess, the mare’s ears flicking.
”Oh! I’m sorry...I didn’t know that you didn’t like grass.” she tried to apologize, assuming the worst, but Skylark laughed a little. It was a fake laugh, but convincing enough to relieve the mare.
”Now how can I say whether I like it or not if I never tried it?” he asked her, and the unicorn giggled. “It can’t be that different from eating lettuce, right?” he posed a rhetorical question to cheer his master up. He couldn’t just reject it...he knew her predicament, and he was still guest in her world. It would be so rude to turn down the grass sandwich!
It was then he decided to take a bite out of the sandwich. The bread was very soft, but it just made the grass feel even tougher. After a bit of chewing, the flavor hit him. It was bitter, he could almost compare it to when he put the soap in his mouth. It was also really, really dry- the bread didn’t help matters. Nevertheless, he kept a straight face, only pausing every now and then to drink some much needed water. As a result of this process, he was the last one to finish his breakfast. His stomach felt a little weird, but he ignored it for Lyra’s sake.
“Lyra...That was fantastic.” he offered a warm smile, the unicorn’s eyes shining in return. He then stood up and collected the empty plates, bringing them to the sink as he began to wash them. Observing this behavior, Iridescent looked to Lyra and gestured to him behind his back.
“So hey, what kind of creature is that?” her voice saturated with curiosity.
“Oh, he’s a human! I’ve been trying to study them for years, what are the odds I’d finally summon one?” Lyra replied with a bit of pride in her voice before looking over to Skylark. “Hey Sky, you’ll let me study you for a while after this, right?” she asked, and he looked back.
“Huh? Oh, sure; I don’t see the harm in that.” he smiled before continuing on with dish-washing.
“Are you really proud to have summoned that monkey-thing? From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t have such a good track record.” Emerald leaned back against her chair.
“Oh come on, he can’t be that bad.” Iridescent tried to reason with Emerald, who scoffed at her words..
“Weren’t you paying attention to the last round? He didn’t win any fight single-handed. If it weren’t for Erubetie sneaking into his body, he’d have lost against Rajah.” The green unicorn’s words made the human tense up a bit, but he kept silent as he continued to wash the dishes, drying each of them up with a rag before putting them away. “Heck, out of the three of us, you drew the short straw, Lyra. I feel bad, really.”
I really wish I could shut her up right now. Skylark tensed up a little, Lyra's left ear twitching slightly.
“Seriously; what does he have going for him that will benefit the other two?” Emerald asked, and Skylark placed a hand down on the table, having just finished the easy chore. Lyra, as if sensing his dissent, put a hoof down ontop of the hand, taking a moment to glide across it a bit before looking into her human's eyes. There were no words spoken between them, but the human could understand her request. He took a breath and let out a sigh, his body relaxing.
“OK Emerald, I gotta ask you something." Lyra's voice was laced with her own annoyance. “If these ‘monsters’ are as beneath you as you like to act; why did you even sign up to summon Erubetie in the first place?” her question, surprisingly, did not offend Emerald as she simply scoffed.
”Because somepony has to get Trixie off her high horse! I hoped that if I could summon a creature capable of killing Balrog, she’d finally shut up. But seeing this group, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” Emerald’s words prompted Lyra and Skylark to look at one another. For a few moments, they stared in disbelief, before a smirk spread on the human’s face, Skylark giving Lyra a thumbs up. Taking it as a positive gesture, Lyra smiled and nodded, looking back to Emerald.
“Funny you should mention that, Emerald. You see, Balrog and Skylark are from the same realm. I can only imagine how many times they fought against each other.” Lyra embellished things a little. “If anything, he’s the best one to for the job.” the stunned look on Emerald’s face was the most satisfying thing the group would ever see that morning. Sure, it was a bluff, neither of them knew for certain that he could win.
“Then you should know Balrog’s weaknesses, right?” Charmer asked, and Sklyark sat back down.
"There are two, one of which is easy enough to exploit just by knowing him The more practical one, however, is a tougher one to contend with." the human chuckled a little, the thought of taking down Balrog was something he enjoyed. "His powers are fueled by death. If he kills anyone; human, pony, or otherwise, he is able to maintain his strength."
"Hold on! He hardly killed anything for the last three years!" Emerald cut Skylark off, much to his initial annoyance, but then he sighed. He thought back to his conversation with Princess Luna.
"Then I was right..." he thought out loud before nodding. "Because he doesn't have to. Whatever magic he used to create this competition, it makes every participant have a sort of link." he began to explain, but was once more interrupted.
"Get to the bucking point!" Emerald shouted, and the human tensed up a little. He was getting sick of Emerald already, maybe even more so than he was tired of Trixie.
"Simply; if we kill anyone, we make him stronger." he rubbed his hands together. "Therefore, if we can 'starve' Balrog, his power will fade."
"So that's why you spared Rajah." Iridescent Charmer mused, and Skylark nodded.
"It'll be interesting to watch you three go off and work together." Charmer admitted, though Lyra was the only one who caught the meaning of this comment.
"You mean you won't be coming with us?" Lyra stared in disbelief, only to earn an equally disbelieving look from Charmer.
"Are you serious? You heard what they said; they won't be responsible for us if we get hurt out there. We'd be safer in the stadium while watching them."
"At least you're smart, Charmer. I was thinking the same thing." Emerald snarked, Lyra doing her best to keep her annoyance hidden. The human found a way to enjoy this fact, on the other hand. If Emerald wasn't coming along, they wouldn't have to put up with her, after all. And Charmer being safe and sound was one less issue to worry about...but he had to figure out how to convince Lyra to take the safer route. A fur-covered leg draped itself over the the back of his neck, and Skylark was pulled closer to Lyra, who looked to the two unicorns.
"Whatever, I'll be going along with them! You can't stop me." She smiled brightly, but the human's face spelled it out; he wasn't thrilled about her decision whatsoever.
"L-Lyra...I'm sorry, but please reconsider.." he worked up his nerves, turning to face her. "There's no guarantee that the other contenders won't attack you...The last thing I want is for you to be put in harm's-" a hoof pressed itself against the human's mouth, silencing him.
"I'll be fine. After all, I will have you right by my side." Lyra justified herself , and the human's heart sank even more. He just had to convince her! As Balrog, Rajah, and Taurus had proven, he could barely protect himself, let alone protect Lyra.
"But I-" he leaned back a little so his mouth wasn't up against Lyra's hoof, but he felt the weight shift itself onto his shoulder.
"I've waited so long to be able to see a human...I don't know if I'll be able to keep you when this is all over...so I want to see everything you can do with my own eyes." Lyra patted Skylark's shoulder with a smile. "I'll be fine." she tried to assure him, but he found it to be a really tough pill to swallow. After a few moments, he sighed.
"Alright...I believe you." he lied, but Lyra's ears were crowded by her own words and the conversation she would strike with the other mares. This gave the familiars the cue to move out of earshot. Caressa gave the human a somewhat disappointed look.
"I don't know what was worse, the tremors in your heart, or the fact Lyra accepted a lie so easily." the snake-pony could not mask her hissing, but neither Erubetie nor Skylark were threatened.
"What else could I say?" he asked, but rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I'm just glad my chest didn't start twisting in itself again." he mused, only to note the expression on the naga's face.
"You noticed that too?" Caressa asked, then looked to Erubetie, who nodded aswell. "I thought I was the only one." she added, much to the human's interest.
"You too? That is strange...any idea what could be causing it?" he questioned.
"No...when has it been happening?" Erubetie readjusted her form, which got more sloppy as she relaxed, pulling the slime around her closer.
"When Charmer asked me to grab something for her, I was a little distracted. It began to bother me even more while I was doing it, but once I gave her the object, the sensation ended." Caressa described the pattern, which made Skylark think. The only times he felt it were when Lyra had asked him to look at her and to talk to her.
"Same here...when Lyra asked me to look at her, the feeling came and didn't leave until I turned my attention to..." he trailed off, his eyes widening as he, Caressa, and Erubetie all came to a mutual realization. "Oh sweet Solstia..." he murmurred as he rubbed his forehead again.
"Whatever magic was used to bring us here...it also binds us to anything that can be considered a command...That seems to be it." Caressa hissed in disbelief. Even though they only knew of eachother for a few days, the trio could understand the feeling between one another. Erubetie nearly melted off her own seat, while Caressa and Skylark both reached to pat her on the back, or in this case what they guessed was her back. He didn't recoil when he felt his hand sink in, something that didn't seem to happen with Caressa's hoof.
"This is just great, I hoped that things would be better here than in my world, but not only does Emerald prove to be no better, but now we all have a pain debuff?" the slime whined, her compatriots both dumbfounded at such a word.
"A de-what now?" Caressa and Skylark asked in unison, but then the slime slowly began to reform herself, trapping the human's hand inside of her up to his wrist. He tried to pull himself free, but the slime's body held fast. Strangest of all, Erubetie didn't even seem to notice the fact his hand was stuck in her, much less the tugging. It was oddly warm, and he felt a pulling sensation.
"You've never heard of a debuff? You two need to get out more." the ease in which she switched from her depression to a joking mood disturbed the human at the very least."So anyway, Caressa; what can you do? I mean, if we're gonna be a team, we should know eachother more!" she switched the subject quickly, and the naga hesitated.
"I never liked fighting...but I am really strong with my tail, I could crush a solid bar of tempered steel by squeezing it." her words put a rather disturbing image in his mind, and he turned pale just from the thought of being crushed by her full force. "But I prefer my fangs...I can inject all sorts of things into prey with them."
"Ooh! That's cool! You're like a swiss-army fang! What kind of things? I bet you got alot of fun tricks in them!" her eyes glimmered as she leaned closer, the sudden motion yanking the human off balance, his face hitting the table with a thud, halfway up his forearm was now submerged, and its presence was met with a slight tingling sensation, then a bit of burning. This made him worry, he knew he was a fast healer, but he didn't know of his healing could outpast the slime's digestion. "Hey, what happened, are you ok?" the slime asked, still oblivious to the predicament. Caressa noticed, not that it helped Skylark much, as she began to laugh at the sight.
"Erubetie, I think he's stuck." she barely got the words out as Erubetie glance at his outstretched arm, which was now elbow-deep in her. Rather than laugh, she took a breath to focus on loosening her body, allowing his arm to slip free.
"Sorry about that, if you wanted to get closer; all you had to do was ask." she joked as Skylark began to blow on the raw skin.
"W-What?! That isn't- I mean-!" the human wasn't in a humorous mood.
"I don't think having his arm digested has put him in a joking mood." Caressa opted to rein Erubetie in a bit, the slime blushing as if she had to look at an embarassing photo.
"If it makes you feel any better, Miles, you taste fantastic." she threw the odd compliment to the human while Caressa reached for the arm, the human too stunned by just how casual Erubetie was about all of it.
"I...don't know how I should take that..." his face turned a light shade of red before he felt a sudden pinch on his hand, a squeak leaving his throat as a result. His eyes wandered to show that Caressa had bitten down on his palm, his eyes widening at the site.
"Yikes! Caressa, what in Celena's name did you do that for?!" he asked as her fangs pulled out.
"I wanted to help with the healing process." she hissed with a smile.
"There wasn't too much damage, it would have regenerated on its own." he tried to dismiss it.
"But now it won't hurt, will it?" she asked with an arched brow and a slight smirk on her face as the human noticed that the burning was gone, a wave of relief flowed down his arm. "I said 'all kinds of stuff', that includes painkillers." she felt proud of herself, while the human had nothing to retort with.
"Oh...well, Goddess' Grace." he was humbled, offering an embarrassed smile. "So, what were your homes like?" he asked, and Caressa's mind began to wander.
"It was always warm where I'm from; I got to relax all day after a meal, nothing would bother me. The jungles of my home were always fun; there was always something new, be it a rain storm causing the other fauna to run around, or a human being unfortunate enough to wander to my tree. They were always easy prey...no offense." she trailed off sheepishly, the human chuckling nervously.
"None taken...And, uh, thanks for not being hungry in that maze." he smiled lightly, and Erubetie tapped the table.
"My world was alot like that. Living in a field and just enjoying the simple things."
"But I thought you didn't like your home...you said you hoped things would be better here." Caressa interjected, and the slime felt odd, before she dipped her head a little.
"I never said I hated my home; its just that slimes were never really the most liked of creatures in my world...I could never see why." Erubetie lamented, the naga and the human shared a quick glance to one another, the human then looking back at the slime.
"I can't see it either." Skylark agreed, his arm feeling numb from the painkillers Caressa injected. "I mean, you're definitely a smart girl...mare?" he corrected himself to Erubetie and Caressa's amusement. "You're really fun to be around, and you're adorable; what's not to like?" he asked her. He didn't know her well enough to say or sure, but from the look on her face, he seemed to succeed in making her feel better. The gleam in her eyes and the smile brought on by the compliment...it just seemed right to him.
"Alright! It was nice talking to you, Lyra. And thanks for the sandwiches!" Iridescent chimed in as she tapped Caressa on the shoulder, signaling her familiar that it was time to leave.
"Come on, Erubetie, time to go home." Emerald told the slime, who like Caressa, would join her summoner as the four took their leave. She wasn't too enthusiastic about it, glancing back at Lyra and Skylark before the door closed.
"So? What did you think of your new friends?" Lyra asked, eyes shimmering as she was blinded with her own excitement. The human winced a little, his stomach feeling strange before he smiled.
"I think we got along rather well...I can't see us losing eachother anytime soon." Skylark responded, a new found confidence in his voice. He would not lose them to this blood sport...he wouldn't lose anyone else to Balrog.
(To be continued)