the coyote falters · 10:47am Apr 5th, 2020
the pony, grizzled as he was, had grown concerned. his normal furry guest who forever hopped on his things, using her teeth to fetch and retrieve hadn't come by his simple abode. she was there every dawn and every dusk, lingering with her trusting amber eyes on his. there hadn't been a lovingly annoying lick at his ears to wake him, and at dusk there was no sound of paws thumping on the wood. another day, the same thing. his friend wasn't there. and that wasn't like her at all.
so the pony gathered some things, pulled his blanket onto his spine and began to walk. the winds were lighter, winter having lost its grip on the land. petals drifted past his muzzle, tangling in his mane while birdsong filled his ears. it was not a hard journey, the landscape full of life and rich, lush grasses for the eating. a veritable feast compared to the hardness of the frost a few months before.
it seemed like no time at all before he reached the den hidden in the hillside, the activity around it quieter than usual. pulling the basket and bags of supplies off of him, the pony let them fall beside the entrance before slowly getting to his knees to lay down. he was too big to crawl into the den itself, so he settled for peering into the tunnel. it took several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness within, a stark contrast to the brilliance of the day.
there, inside the den, the coyote lay. she was not curled in her usual ball of sleep, but rather splayed out on her side. from this distance he could not see if she was breathing, and alarm coursed through the pony. was she alright? what had happened? opening his mouth to call out to her, he realized the coyote wasn't alone.
a hyena was there, rolling a bit of meat to the coyote with his nose. there was no movement on the coyote's part. a soft whine from the hyena's muzzle, lifting to look at the pony with pleading eyes. from there the hyena used his teeth to drag over a bowl of water, and while the coyote did not lift her head, there was the sound of brief laps before the drinking stopped.
the pony whickered with inquiry. the hyena came to the entrance of the den, then stepped into the sunshine. it was startling to see his ribs protruding through his fur, and the way he stumbled before lying down near the pony suggested he was very weak.
"what happened?" the pony asked finally, ears pinned back while blowing hard a few times to calm himself.
"the darkness is winning," the hyena replied simply, speaking slowly. "it has captured us both, and our strength is failing."
processing this, the pony swung his head around and pulled the baskets over. "i brought food, drink, supplies. tell me what you need."
looking up, the hyena looked both amused and sad. "forgiveness," he said cryptically. "for both of us."
Among the Elements of Harmony are Generosity, Kindness and Loyalty. What you ask for is freely given, as it always should be.