//------------------------------// // A bitch can fly // Story: Dogged Determination // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// The paw came close—too close—and the diamond dog reached for Shēdo, claws out. Limey was thrust forwards in a half-chop, half-cleave, and his edge slipped between two claws, past the paw-fingers, and passed with effortless ease into the soft fleshy webbing connecting the paw fingers to the paw. Limey sliced through flesh, through bone, through the paw, slipped through the hard bones of the wrist like butter, and then one paw-finger and one paw-thumb, now freed of the paw, fell down to the ground and flopped around. The diamond dog howled while trying to retreat, he turned to run, but Shēdo wasn’t having that. With a short, quick stroke, the tip of Limey’s blade grazed the back of the dog’s skull, and opened it right up. Another was right on top of her and Shēdo didn’t get to finish off the fleeing dog. Raising her blade, she brought it up into a defensive position and she settled into a crouch atop the barricade. The dog that had been gashed just below the elbow fell over with a groan, succumbing to a loss of blood. Spear held out as far as it could reach, the diamond dog now attacking Shēdo was aggressive, but cautious. She moved to block the spear, and so, she chopped off the dangerous end, but not before a long, deep, bloody scrape had been carved into her belly. The lesson would have a cost in pain, a measure of suffering, and Shēdo would learn to protect her stomach more, to let nothing ever get so close. The diamond dog followed up his spear charge and was right on top of her now. Limey’s length was now a liability, but not one that couldn’t be overcome. Instead of trying to use her blade, Shēdo smashed the pommel of her sword down into the diamond dog’s face as he climbed up her barricade. There was a sickening crunch of bone as his muzzle shattered, one eye fell free from its socket, and when the impact was over, the diamond dog’s lower jaw hung open at an odd angle. With a grunt, she kicked him away, and he went tumbling down the barricade. Blood oozed from the torn flesh of her stomach, and she had a painful stitch in her side. It was a struggle to remain standing upon the uneven surface of the crude fortifications. The dog with the cloven paw and the sliced open skull tumbled over face first and his wounds continued to hemorrhage, geysering a ridiculous amount of blood. Still three dogs left. The big dog was moving closer now, hefting his enormous spear, and two smaller dogs flanked him. One had a sword, the other had an enormous mallet. Shēdo knew that these three would come at her together, and she also knew that she was in some trouble. The gash on her stomach was bleeding more than she liked and any movement would be excruciating. “Hey! Hey, you! Big dog! For being such a big dog, you have such a tiny loincloth!” Limey’s cruel taunt made the big dog snarl with rage, but the big dog would not be goaded. “Is that big spear of yours to compensate for something? I think it is!” The big dog’s hackles were certainly up now. “I bet I know why you like little bitches… I bet that baby dick of yours looks positively huge when held in a tiny little paw!” “RARGH!” The big dog slobbered and barked with bellicose fury while he charged. “Don’t go for the dick, Shēdo! It’ll be an impossibly small target!” Limey shouted while Shēdo raised him to counter the incoming attack. “What we need are some tweezers and a magnifying glass to do this job properly!” The dog holding the enormous maul joined the big dog, but the other dog, what Shēdo considered the second dog, he turned tail in the other direction and ran, wanting no part of the hot dog roast going on. The big dog’s intelligence was gone now, and there was only berserk fury while he made a running charge with his spear. When he lept, Shēdo lept as well. The big dog flew with surprising grace, even with his current state of berserker fury, and he brought his spear tip up, ready to impale. Shēdo did not leap at her foe, but away, going sideways, fleeing the spot where the big dog was sure to land. Both soared like birds, big, hairy, shaggy birds; the big dog was heavier, bulkier, and Shēdo was smaller, lighter. But both had jaw-dropping grace. While still airborne, the big dog re-angled his spear, and with a thrust, he tried to skewer Shēdo while she flew away from him. It missed, but only just, and when Shēdo kicked out with her hind legs, she connected with the rough-hewn shaft, forcing it into a downward angle. The big dog landed where Shēdo had once stood on top of the barricade, in the middle, and his impact kicked up a cloud of dust. Shēdo meanwhile landed where the barricade met the ravine wall, and she wobbled while trying to recover her balance. The dog with the maul stood down on the ravine floor, eyes wide, stupefied by what he had just witnessed. The pony with the hat, he too stood transfixed, frozen in place, and his pelt had spatters of fresh, bright red blood on it. Shēdo and the big dog eyed one another, each wary, but this did not last long as the big dog once more threw himself at Shēdo. “It’s like some kinda messed up hoof-fu movie,” the pony wearing the hat said. The big dog closed the distance in an eyeblink, but Shēdo wasn’t there. She ducked down and ran, running beneath the big dog while he was airborne. He stabbed down at her with his spear, but missed. The big dog landed, but did not stay. Turning about, his tail whipping around him, he reoriented himself towards Shēdo. The big spear twirled about in his paws with ease, moving far too fast for a weapon so big and so ungainly. “Well, Shēdo, at least your virginity isn’t in any real danger—” “RAAAAAAAWR!” the big dog rawred, and then he charged. Huffing and puffing like a frustrated locomotive, the big dog sprinted across the top of the barricade, spear forward, charging toward Shēdo. She stood with sword held out front, in a crouch, ready to react. With surprising nimbleness, she sidestepped the tip of the spear and then chopped down with her blade. It was a move with great cost; she cleaved off the cruel, barbed tip of the spear, but while doing so, the big dog plowed into her with a terrific impact. The shaft of the spear was whirled around, and it struck Shēdo in the base of her jaw. Her mouth snapped shut with a great clattering of her teeth, and starbursts exploded in her vision. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she still had Limey in her grasp. There was nothing beneath her hind paws, and when she had somewhat regained her senses a fraction of a second later, she had the sensation of being airborne. “Shēdo! Snap out of it, this is no time to be punch drunk!” Hearing his voice, Shēdo did, in fact, snap out of it, but it was too late. She found herself airborne, flying, and the big dog was swinging his spear shaft like a club in her direction. Gritting her teeth, there was nothing she could do but take it like a bitch. An eyeblink later, the shaft connected with her left elbow and the spear shaft splintered on impact. The entirety of her left arm ignited with burning pain, and for a time, she was certain that she would pass out. She struck the earth with enough force to make her teeth clatter together again. Landing flat on her back, she had the wind knocked out of her, but there was no time to catch her breath, as she had to move. Just as she rolled out of the way, the big dog landed right where she had impacted. Choking, her whole body screaming for oxygen, she somehow managed to get up on her hind paws and raise Limey. The two mortal enemies squared off once more… The big dog, pressing his advantage, charged. Shēdo played the part of the wounded gazelle, and cowered in place, which wasn’t much of an act. When the big spear shaft came sweeping in for another blow, she ducked, dropping down, sitting down in the dirt. She landed bottom first rather hard, but still managed to stab upwards with Limey while the big dog’s momentum carried him forwards. The tip pierced the greasy loincloth, then beyond, and momentum kept the big dog going. Limey’s blade entered deep into the groin, then slid upwards into the dog’s abdomen, into his guts, and then, finally, into his girth, puncturing many vital organs. A surprised, startled look could be seen on the dog’s face, and glowing green witchfire could be seen inside of his open mouth. He fell over, pulling Limey from Shēdo’s grasp. The dog holding the maul took off running, wanting no part of the ferocious pup. Bleeding, her jaw aching, and her left arm limp against her side, Shēdo stood up and began to shake the dust off. It was difficult to breathe, but breathe she did. She sucked in great, painful gulps of air while fiery agony bloomed in her left arm. Staggering a bit, she bent over, reached down, and with her right paw, she yanked Limey free of the big dog, her fallen foe. When she stood up straight, she almost pitched over. The gash in her stomach was deeper than it looked; all of the bending and stretching she had done had no doubt made it worse. Now, post-battle, the pain of fighting would settle in, and Shēdo knew that she was in some real trouble, because the fight wasn’t over. Several dogs had run off, and they were dogs that had to be put down. “Limey…” “Shēdo?” “Shēdo don’t feel good.” “...” Limey’s lack of response was almost audible. “Is Shēdo a good dog?” “Yes,” Limey replied, without even a second’s hesitation. “Certainly a better dog than I am a friend.” “I see two of everything… maybe three. Maybe definitely three.” “I ain’t never seen anything like that,” the pony with the hat said as he came strolling over. “Are you okay, Miss? My name is Longhaul. Thank you for your—” Shēdo toppled over face first into the dirt, and she knew no more. When she awoke again, Shēdo found a worried zebra’s face staring down at her. Conifer looked older somehow, maybe because of all of the worry-wrinkles on his face. She blinked a few times, only to discover that even her eyelids ached. Her face didn’t feel like her own, her jowls were swollen and her jaw muscles felt all wrong. Her left arm felt like it had been set on fire and there was a dreadful, pulsating throb in her elbow. Even her wig-wag hurt, and she could not recall being hit on the tail. “I’ve seen quite a lot in my travels, but nothing like that,” the hat-wearing stranger said. “Nopony is going to believe me when I tell them what I saw.” Shēdo saw Conifer raise a hoof and then she heard him ask, “Hey, Shēdo! Shēdo! How many hooves am I holding up?” After blinking a few times, she replied, “Three?” “I think she’s okay,” Conifer announced. Groaning, she pulled herself into a sitting position, and found that her brand new canteen was sitting beside her, along with Limey, who was sheathed. With her right paw, she picked up the canteen, fumbled with it, but was having some trouble getting it open. Even her teeth were sore and sensitive. She yelped once while pulling out the stopper, but then was rewarded with water, which she guzzled. Gulping more air after drinking, she sat there, almost panting, and after a few moments she said, “Even Shēdo’s bitch parts hurt. Why my bitch-hole hurt so?” “You got hit pretty hard, Miss. I’d say you flew for a good five yards or so.” Setting her canteen down on the ground, Shēdo reached up with her right paw, rubbed her aching jaw, and let out a whimper. She only had a vague recollection of the spear shaft impacting her jaw, and all of her thoughts seemed… fuzzy. The memory of what had happened wasn’t all there, and it felt as though she was missing pieces of her mind. “I think that if anypony else had been hit like that, their head would have come off.” Glancing over at the pony she had rescued, Shēdo agreed, but said nothing in reply. Lifting up her canteen, she took another drink, and then just sat there with a vacant, glassy-eyed stare, focusing on nothing. Her work wasn’t finished, some of her prey had escaped, and there were bad dogs to punish. Once she recovered a bit, she would track them down to wherever it was they were hiding, and then… Then there would be a reckoning…