“You know Red, I like living dangerously,” Maeve said as she wiggled her toes into the cool, moist grass. She could feel the blades of grass tickling the bottoms of her feet. Reaching up, she pulled her sun hat down over her eyes to keep the sun off of her face.
“Huh?” Red, who was following a large blue beetle, lifted his head up to look at Maeve.
“Going barefooted in a world of little ponies, exposing my toes to untold dangers, hardships, and sorrows. Little pony hooves… the most dangerous of all foes, capable of squishing my toesies like grapes.” Maeve’s face broke into a dopey grin.
With no warning, Red’s tongue went dry and he felt queasy. The very idea of toes popping like grapes left him feeling uncomfortable. He looked down at his hooves, felt faint, and then looked over at Maeve’s bare feet. She had five weird little toes on each one of her strange, flapping feet. It was a horrible thought. She had strange little hoof thingies growing on her toes, hoof thingies called toenails, and she had them on her fingers too. They were excellent back and ear scratchers. Maeve was a weird creature. Shaking his head, he went back to following his beetle.
“I think it’s wonderful that you got your cutie mark.” Maeve lifted her arms out to shoulder height and tried a pirouette. The clumsy girl stumbled, almost fell, recovered most of her balance for one glorious moment, let out a cry of triumph, slipped on the damp grass, and then she fell over, landing hard on her backside. Now sitting in the grass, her lower lip protruded into a pout and her fingers clenched into fists. “Fudge.”
“You know, sometimes I wonder if that calming tea of yours also makes you a clutz.”
Gasping, Maeve’s eyes went wide and she placed both of her hands upon her cheeks as her brain processed the horrible words spoken by Red Russet. “Do you think that’s true? I’ve always been a little clumsy, is the tea really making it worse? I can’t live without my tea… oh Red, this is just terrible!”
Looking up from his beetle, Red glanced at Maeve. He had trouble telling if she was being silly, dramatic, or serious.
“I feel like I’m freaking out… and if I freak out, I’ll need more tea to calm down… Red, this is a horrible state of affairs for a Sorceress to find herself in.” Maeve pulled off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair. “Do you really think the tea is making me worse?”
Red shrugged. “Maybe.”
“That’s just not fair.” Maeve shook her head. “I’m growing up, turning into a woman, something I don’t want to do, I have problems, I’m a jumpy nervous wreck, and to make everything worse, the one thing that helps me turns me into a clutz.”
The curious colt took one last look at his beetle, watching as it did whatever it was that beetles did. He then went over and sat down beside Maeve. “Life isn’t fair for either one of us.”
“You know, sometimes, I wish I was a pony. What’s the point of growing up and becoming a woman if I am here in this wonderful place, free of men? There’s just no point. I don’t see why I can’t stay a little girl forever,” Maeve said to her companion.
“I want to grow up. I want to be an adult. I don’t want to be a colt forever.” Red shook his head.
“I’m sorry Red… I don’t want to grow up and you… you’ll be stuck forever being the same size you are now.” Maeve pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and then rested her chin on them. She wiggled her toes and glanced over at Red. “If I could, I’d stay a little girl and I’d be your friend forever. I mean, I’ll always be your friend, but we could stay little together and we could spend our days sitting in the grass together, just like we’re doing now.”
“Maeve… I want to grow up. I don’t want to be a colt forever. I want what everypony else wants. I want to grow up. I want to get married. I want to be a father. I’m never going to have those things.” Red slumped over, heaved a sigh, and then eased himself down into the grass. He curled up into a fetal ball of misery.
“Red, I don’t know what to say… I wish I knew what to do to make you feel better.”
Limping, Luna followed after Maeve. The girl was almost unrecognizable. She was covered from head to toe in blood, some of it fresh, some of it dried. The blood on her face had been rubbed away a number of times, leaving behind streaks that had formed a strange sort of war paint. Her hair was stiff, spiky, and crusted over with blood. Her left hand was bloody, missing a finger, and held a strange sword.
The distant sounds of boots on stone made Luna’s ears perk. She stopped and bit down upon Maeve's smock, giving it a gentle tug. The girl grunted, startled, and then stood there with her sword raised.
“Trouble coming,” Luna whispered. She saw the girl nod her head and then drop into a crouch. Luna backed into a doorway as the blood soaked fae slaying terror crept forward. Luna’s heart pounded in her throat. She had no magic here, just her strength.
Two figures walked into view. One was tall, one of the fae lords, the other was short and squat, a goblin. The taller figure, almost human but with long fingers and pointed ears, held a sword in his hand, a bronze sword lacking any trace of iron. The goblin held an axe with a head made of copper and a long wooden handle.
Letting out a vicious shriek, Maeve lunged at them, her sword raised over her head. The goblin staggered backwards, let out a gurgling cry, and almost tripped over his own feet. The taller figure raised his sword and rushed forward to engage Maeve.
Maeve’s overhead chop cut the bronze sword in half. The tall figure shouted, lept backwards, and then stared at the remains of his weapon. Maeve shrieked again and then ran forwards, her blade held out in front of her.
The goblin let out a terrified cry, dropped his axe, and then took off running just as Maeve tried to stab the tall male figure. The tall male sidestepped Maeve and then tried to grab her.
Luna winced, unable to look.
“NEVER AGAIN!” Maeve cried as she lept away from the grasping hands. “NEVER AGAIN! NO MORE SHINING YOUR BOOTS! NO MORE PEELING YOUR POTATOES!” Maeve swung her sword in a clumsy arc and hacked off an arm. Hot, salty red liquid spurted out, spraying all over both the wall and Maeve. She raised the sword up over her head, the handle held by both hands, and then she brought it down, cleaving into the shoulder of the tall male figure.
The blade sliced through flesh and ribs; a moment later, an arm lay upon the floor, twitching. Maeve hacked again, this time removing a leg. The tall male fell over, screaming as he went down. Crimson jets of blood spurted from his wounds.
Maeve wailed like a blood soaked banshee as she lept up into the air and then came down upon the male’s chest, the impact causing even more blood to come spraying out of various severed stumps. She sliced downwards, aiming for the neck, but she missed. The blade connected in the middle of the ear. The top half of the male’s skull was lopped off and a long gash was sliced down deep into the stone floor.
Bloodied, dripping, Maeve let out another banshee scream and took off running after the goblin, waving her sword over her head. Luna came out of the doorway, took one look at the carnage, and then threw up for the third time that day.
The male was still somehow alive, his dismembered torso was thrashing about. One arm had been hacked off below the elbow, the other at the shoulder, and one leg was gone gone, lopped off just above the knee. Luna, horrified, realised that cutting off the top of the skull had left behind enough of the brain stem for basic body functions.
The dying male continued to flop about as death took its time to finish him off.
Gagging, Luna took off at a limping run to follow after Maeve, not know what they would do next now that Maeve had gone upon a bloody rampage of death and dismemberment. It was unlikely that the fae would be forgiving of this trespass, and Luna figured it would mean Maeve’s death.
Being an immortal, Luna knew a far worse fate awaited her.
Maeve emerged from the room, her sword held in her left hand. She was limping now and there was a ragged gash upon her forehead. Her red hair was so caked with blood that it now formed a crude helmet around her head. Luna gave Maeve an expectant look but said nothing.
“Both Lord and Lady Nraig will not be coming for tea,” Maeve said in a weary voice. The whites of her eyes stood out in sharp contrast to the bright crimson, dark brown, and black gore that caked her face. She shook her her sword and slung away some blood. It spattered over Luna’s legs and neck. “I’m getting tired Luna… I don’t know what to do.”
Faced with grim reality, Luna did not reply, her teeth gritting together.
“Before she died, Lady Nraig told me that Queen Oonagh knows that I’m coming. She’s waiting for me.” Maeve stood there with a dull expression on her face and her eyes were glazed over from shock. “I’m sorry Luna… I couldn’t be a good girl anymore. I know they’re going to kill me for this, and you’re going to be all alone… I’m so sorry… I just can’t keep living like this… they’re going to kill me and I’m going to be happy.”
Almost strangling, Luna watched as tears fell down Maeve’s cheeks, soaking into crusted over blood and vanishing. “It’s okay Maeve. We’ll face this together. It would have come to this anyway at some point… you would have grown old… it is better to have faced death upon your own terms.”
“I’m so sorry Luna… you’re going to be all alone.”
Shivering, Luna awoke, covered in a cold sweat. Her whole body trembled. I’m so sorry Luna… you’re going to be all alone. Luna could hear those words in her head even now in the waking world. She had always feared being alone, but being alone as a prisoner of the fae… the thought was almost unbearable.
Shaking, almost as though her body was afflicted with a violent palsy, Luna got up out of bed. Her night blue pelt was soaked with sweat. Her mouth fell open and Luna sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs with much needed air.
Alone.
It took every bit of will that Luna had not to scream. Real panic was overtaking her now, she felt as though her heart was going to explode at any second. Her stomach lurched, and she tasted bile in the back of her throat. Her legs wobbled and she felt her anus clenching and flexing from fear.
Almost falling, Luna staggered forwards towards the door, lost her balance, smashed into the door, her wings flapping as she tried to keep her balance. She saw stars after her head had slammed into the heavy wood.
She had trouble getting the door to open. Her magic failed her with every attempt. She gagged and feared that she would be sick upon the floor. Much to Luna’s surprise, the door opened. She saw Rose Gold, and the earth pony looked terrified.
The wise mare also stepped out of the way, allowing Luna to lurch forwards. Stumbling, Luna took off for the bathroom, her teeth and lips pressed together, hoping that she would not humiliate herself by being sick upon the floor.