//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - The Sphinx. // Story: Kindness and Cruelty Book 1 // by VGI //------------------------------// Chapter 3 – The Sphinx. Later that evening, just after midnight, Fluttershy started to dream... She was back in the market, with Angel trotting beside her. She looked up at him – a handsome Earth stallion with a coat of silky, short white fur, golden blonde mane and piercing blue eyes...strong legs...firm, tight body. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. They were always so happy in each other's company. As they trotted happily up to the cherry stand, a rude, dark–coated Earth stallion suddenly barged in front of them right before they reached the counter. The dark stallion took all the cherries, tossed a satchel of bits as payment, and trotted away. Angel ran after the dark stallion to confront him, to tell him to apologize to the lady for being so rude. The dark coated Earth stallion just sent him tumbling to the ground with a vicious shove. Angel shook his head and glared defiantly up at the dark stallion, who stared right back at him, his white, pupil-less eyes radiating a cold menace. “Angel!” Fluttershy called. She ran to help him up. "No, forget him," she whispered, looking into his eyes. "He isn't worth our time." For a moment, Angel looked as though he wanted to protest this, but before he could, she wrapped her front hooves around his neck, pulling him into a close embrace as she scowled at the dark Earth stallion looming over them both. “Leave us alone! GO!” The dark stallion snorted at them once, then turned away and left as quickly as he’d come. The dream continued... Angel Bunny had decided to sleep in Fluttershy's room that night, just in case the events of the day kept her up worrying. He woke up with his mistress calling out his name. “Oh Angel, you confronted him...for me?” Fluttershy said as she rolled to her other side, towards where Angel was. “Oh, I don't think I want you to do that again. I...I...I wouldn't know what I'd do if you got hurt.” Angel sat up, looking at her. “But, you were so brave, my Angel. Oh...! Come. Come here...” she said, giggling. Angel obeyed and hopped up on her bed, tilting his head quizzically. Here, he was so close to her mistress' face that he can actually feel her breath stroking his fur. Unconsciously, Fluttershy placed a front hoof behind Angel, and dragged him closer to her muzzle. “Mmhmm...Oh Angel...” She snuggled him while giggling. Then she nuzzled him on the face, then started kissing him all over while dragging her blanket to cover them both. The night breeze blew through her window, while crickets chirped outside... Morning came as usual. Angel Bunny woke up first. He found himself pressed against her soft chest, her tight coat on his soft fur. It felt nice here, wrapped all snug nice and warm in his mistress' embrace. But despite that, he calmly slipped away and did his chores. Fluttershy flew down her stairs to look for him a few minutes later. “Oh, there you are, Angel Bunny. Good morning! And I see you've done your chores early today! Good boy!” Angel just sighed, his back turned to her. She thought that her Angel was just being moody again. “I had the most wonderful dream, Angel!” Fluttershy was about to tell him what it was about when it dawned on her, “Huh, that's funny...I...I can't seem to remember what it was about.” Angel didn't move, his back still toward her. He just crossed his arms across his chest. “Oh, but it was a nice dream! You were there, you know?” Fluttershy smiled. An awkward moment passed. “Well, I guess it's time I made breakfast. Let's have pancakes today, whaddya say?” Angel, still keeping his back to her, just shrugged his shoulders. This time, the concern in Fluttershy's voice was unmistakable. “Angel, what's wrong?” Not wanting to ruin the morning for his mistress, he quickly put a cheerful smile on his blank face, then turned his head to look at her and nodded. “Great! Pancakes, coming right up!” replied Fluttershy. As she made her way to the kitchen, she could not help but sense that something’s really bothering Angel. She fired up her stove and got the pancake mix out of the cupboard. As she did, she stole a glance towards Angel, her face hidden by her mane and asked herself, “What could it be?” After breakfast, Fluttershy went to her backyard, which faced the Everfree forest. She checked her chicken coop for freshly laid eggs. Her hens had not been laying many eggs for awhile now. Since she used the eggs to feed some of the egg-swallowing snakes under her care, she’d had to buy eggs yesterday at market. Of course, she was careful about not taking fertilized chicken eggs. So, she had separated her hens from the roosters and only placed a rooster and a hen in another enclosure during breeding. Then, after the hen had been fertilized, she would take her to another enclosure – one that is only for hens hatching fertilized eggs. When she was done, she noticed a cat-like creature with wings, lying on its tummy on top of a rock, right at the mouth to the entrance of the Everfree. It was facing away from her, looking into the Everfree. Her eyes widened with wonder. “What is that? Could it be a griffon? Oh gosh...I hope not!” she thought, remembering Gilda. But, something was off – this creature's head didn't seem to be shaped at all like a bird’s head, as she'd expect from a griffon. It was a little too far for her to be sure. She was afraid to go near it, but at the same time her curiosity was piqued. She—the Element of Kindness—was particularly fond of animals, after all, and nothing appealed to her Element quite like meeting a new one for the first time. So, for a while, she just stood there by her fence, hoping that the creature won't turn around and notice her. But it did! She "eep!"ed in alarm and darted, quick as a bee, behind her chicken coop. After a moment, she peeked back around the corner. It was definitely looking at her. Its face was all white. It flicked its tail and turned back towards the Everfree. “Oh, it doesn't seem to be very interested in me. Perhaps it is a good creature...Hmmm.” Slowly, she stuck her head even further out from behind the coop. Her heart started to beat faster with excitement as she gazed at this new being. A smile crept onto her face. She felt like she was a filly all over again, when she fell to the Earth from Cloudsdale and met all kinds of animals for the first time...only this creature was so... “Majestic!” she thought, as she kept gazing at it from afar. She found herself breathing deeply. Swallowing with a gulp, she girded her loins to go to this creature and say hi. “Okay Fluttershy, you can do this.” She trotted out from behind the chicken coop and through the opening of her fence, going straight to the rock where the creature lay. When there was but a few meters between her and 'it' – she still could not tell its gender – she paused, and cleared her throat. “Ahem. H...Hi there,” she greeted, meekly. She waited for an answer, and as she did, she found herself giving this creature a look from head to tail. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be...a sphinx? Judging from what she knew about sphinxes, they were like griffons – wings and all – but with a different head. And their body, from neck to tail, was that of a lion and not half-bird. And this particular sphinx looked like it had a male lion's body. “A male sphinx? Oh, could it be?!” Fluttershy was almost beside herself with excitement. “M-My name is Fluttershy.” The sphinx did not stir, a silent moment passed as a breeze blew by, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees. She waited, blinking twice. “...Hello, Fluttershy.” It spoke! It spoke with such a gentle yet powerful male voice. Fluttershy never heard such a majestic voice in all her life. She was nearly swooning. Then it turned slightly towards her and nodded once in acknowledgment of her presence, then turned again towards the Everfree. That's when she saw his face, and it filled her with a bit of dread, making her take a step or two backwards as she lifted a front hoof, her ears pinned down. What she saw was a mask. She only saw it a bit from the side, but it was definitely a mask – a white Venetian mask. Now, she was both at awe of the creature, and afraid. The creature noticed the change in her countenance. “Is something wrong, Fluttershy?” he asked, this time completely turning his face towards her. She was overpowered by the sight of it, and her plot fell to the ground. It was a graceful face, even though it showed no emotion. It was startlingly majestic. She didn't know what to do with this mixture of fear and awe swirling in her head and chest. From the rock as his vantage point, the sphinx kept looking at her. Or at least, that is what it seemed, for there were no eyes visible behind the eye holes of the mask. They were just...black. It was all she could do, just to stare back into those deep black abysses, when from a distance inside the Everfree forest, a great howl was heard. Both the sphinx and the pegasus looked into the entrance to the Everfree. This time, the awe she felt for the creature faded, and she was near frozen with her flanks to the ground at the sound of a great timberwolf howling. The sphinx got up. “Fluttershy, fly from here, now. Back to your cottage. Go.” Fluttershy eeeped. She was nearly overcome by the terror of the sound and sensation of giant wooden paws thudding on the ground coming towards them. She got her plot off the ground and flew up and swooped down to her chicken coop. She gathered the chickens and told them to go inside the cottage. She was the last one to go through her door, but before going through the threshold, she looked back and saw the sphinx standing up on his hind legs. She watched long enough to see one of those timberwolves emerge from the entrance to the Everfree. It wasn’t one of those small ones that came in packs. This one was a giant! Fear gripped her—not just for her and her critter's sake, but for that new exotic creature she just met as well. It lunged at the sphinx, but the timberwolf just went through the sphinx as if he were an illusion. She gasped. “He's a magical creature!” The sphinx turned, grabbed the timberwolf's tail with his front paws, and pulled the whole timberwolf back deep into the Everfree. The timberwolf struggled to get free...