• Published 23rd Aug 2014
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The Wayfarers - TheFictionAddiction



Motley outcasts, dejected mages, and sordid warriors find themselves on a collision course with destiny in this budding epic. Set in an Equestria wounded by Tirek's bout for power, monsters of all shapes and sizes work to destroy a paper thin peace.

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Act 2, Chapter 34: Temper Your Temper

Grimes hit the ground, head ringing and eyes rolling. He quickly tried for his hooves, but only rose halfway before collapsing. He tasted copper as his chin bumped the floor. Consciousness faded quickly, saving him the pain of biting his tongue. Grimes’s attacker loomed over him. Beneath the rim of a hardhat, a twitching mass of muscles pulled the face there into a snarl.

The throne room was abuzz with chatter. Nervous faces were peeking in from the doorways, trying their best to peer around the large, decorative table at the center of the room. Their eyes flickered between the stallion laid out on his back and the limp changeling. And here they were just starting to believe that the danger had been locked outside.

Macintosh started forward, fur bristling at the base of his neck. He would have rushed to his cousin’s defense if not for Apple Bloom. The filly jumped in Macintosh’s way, unthreatened by her mountainous brother. Apple Bloom's pleading eyes peered through a curtain of disheveled mane. Sometime during their dash into town, Apple Bloom had lost her bow.

Apple Bloom didn’t need to say anything. She pointed to the changeling on Macintosh's back. It took Macintosh a second to remember Little Whisper. The changeling was so light, it was easy for him to forget she was even there.

Macintosh’s flaring temper felt strange and ill fitted in his soft disposition. He would wrangle it in for the time being, but only for Little Whisper’s sake. Bowing his head, Macintosh took a reluctant step back.

Granny Smith lowered herself to Grimes’s side. Cradling his head, she patted his cheek lightly. Grimes muttered something unintelligent and fell back into unconsciousness. The old mare glared up at the hulk towering over them.

“Dagnabit, Sandalwood, I outta tan your hide! You better back off before I find somethin’ to beat ya with!”

Sandalwood’s broad, cinder block brow furrowed. “You’re the one who needs beaten! How crazy do ya have to be to let one of those things in here? Of anypony, I’d figure an Apple wouldn’t be so stupid.”

Macintosh gritted his teeth. A strained vein popped along his neck. Sandalwood saw this and sneered.

“You ready to try something, big boy? Got my hoof warmed up, and I’m itching to leave another welp or three.”

Glowering, Macintosh nodded. “Yup.”

Granny Smith turned and jabbed a hoof into his chest. The old gal was boney, but certainly not brittle. Macintosh flinched at her touch.

“Don’t you dare! You and that filly are stayin’ right there!”

“Filly,” Sandalwood snorted. His derision quickly mettled. In its place, disgust and anger bubbled.

“There’s monsters outside, killin’ ponies, and you all of the gale to stand up for-”

As Sandalwood spoke, an ivory pegasus pushed his way into the throne room. One look at the stallion was enough to pacify any pony shoved too harshly. Riddled with cuts and smelling like a campfire, he held the visage of a winged warlord. And his eyes… they were the eyes of some prehistoric predator. Ponies shrunk back from the doorway, some even running away.

Temperatures in the room spike as the pegasus walked around the table. With his voice raised, Sandalwood couldn’t hear the approaching hoofsteps.

“-I’m not waitin’ around for that thing to wake up and-”

Sandalwood paused, eyes going wide as teeth clamped tightly to his tail. Like a chew toy, Alabaster yanked Sandalwood up and flung him over one shoulder. The large stallion's screams were cut off by a *thud* as he fell on the table, the wind having been knocked out of him. A pony at the opposite side of the room ducked as a hardhat came flying by.

Sandalwood gasped as he found his breath. He looked glanced around, dumbfounded.

“W-what just happened?”

Sandalwood had just rolled over onto his stomach when he spotted Alabaster. Murder was written in bold lines across the pegasus’s face.

Sandalwood balked. “N-no... You?”

Wings extended, Alabaster crouched low. “Me.”

Alabaster vanished in a puff of wind, only to drop back into sight with a cosmic elbow to Sandalwood’s back. The stone table shattered as the stallions drove through it. The deafening sounds of demolition were matched by the screams of those still watching. Now everyone fled, sprinting as if the timberwolves were after them.

Only the Apple family remained. They stared, mouths agape, at the wreckage before them. Once the rubble had settled, the silence of the throne room seemed almost as loud as the table destruction. It was then that Grimes stirred.

Moaning, he lifted himself up to a sitting position. Grimes touched the side of his face gingerly. His left eye was beginning to swell shut.

“That sucker punching jerk wad." Grimes's voice was thick and slurred. "Where is he, I'll-” Grimes tapered off when he noticed the pile of ruble. “Celestia’s sunny backside, what happened?”

From the rubble rose a shape. It lurched forward and caught itself on one of the nearby chairs. It took the Apples a moment to recognize the pegasus. Alabaster hawking up a glob of brown phlegm and spat.

"Swell," he sighed. "Gonna take a week to get this junk outta my sinuses."

Alabaster pushed off the chair and limped over to the Apples. They shifted uneasily, looking as if they might bolt at any second. It was only the calm, pacified look on Alabaster's face that stilled them.

Joining them, Alabaster shook himself like a dog. Pebbles pattered about his hooves. Grimes blinked blearily up at Alabaster. Still reeling from Sandalwood’s haymaker, Grimes didn't have the sense to stop himself from speaking.

“Jeez... you look freaking awful.”

Alabaster stopped and studied Grimes. Those sharp, reptilian eyes twinkled like a pyre.

“I went head first through a pack of wolves and a pane of glass. The hell is your excuse, bub?”

Grimes stared at Alabaster for a moment before finally finding rationality. Sweating, Grimes quietly laid himself back down.

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