//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Reining Butterflies // by Aeluna //------------------------------// It should have been fragile, but the monstrosity was strong. It bellowed and roared as the villagers clung onto it; it only took a few incredibly heavy strikes from its fore hooves and tail to bat them off like pesky flies. Ailurus and Panthera snarled in synchrony as they, too, were sent flying. They tumbled across the ground uncontrollably, dust choking them up as they went. When they finally came to a halt, they had but milliseconds to roll out of the way and leap up before the beast’s hoof pummelled the ground where they had just rested. It withdrew with another roar and took a few steps back, head lowered. The monster snorted and pawed at the ground a few times before throwing its massive body forwards in a gallop, plowing directly into Ailurus’ side. He screamed. Panting, he then shook his head and began to shift himself about, stabbing his trident into the ground and making it extend so as to help him stand. He whimpered quietly, his wounded leg elevated. He knew better than to take out the massive dagger of glass. “Ailurus!” Panthera cried, leaping aside to avoid the beast’s lunge. Its teeth scraped along her back, drawing a hiss from her. But she galloped to her partner’s side all the same, eyes wide in horror when she saw the damage that was done. “I’m fine,” Ailurus hissed, his eyes almost shut. His breathing was short and sharp and his tail was clamped. His attempt at a smile ended up being more of a grimace of pain. “Don’t stop. We’ve gotta beat this thing!” “How?” Panthera yelled, eyes then shooting wide as she heard the beast’s heavy hooves thundering closer. She grabbed her boomerang in one hoof and wrapped the other around Ailurus, shooting to the side with a powerful spin just before the beast could strike. But, as it skidded past, she noticed something. For the briefest of instances, just before it completely vanished from sight again, its chest glowed the brightest of orange. “Its heart!” she hissed, spinning on the spot. Her ears flicked rapidly, listening for any misplaced scuffle or breath that might give away the beast’s position. But there was nothing. “When it reappears, we need to strike its chest.” Ailurus nodded. “We’ve got nothing else to go on,” he grunted, pushing away from Panthera slowly. When his wounded hoof landed on the ground, though, the leg buckled under his weight and he fell to the ground with a small groan. He stumbled back up, ears fallen momentarily. Before his partner could question it, however, a newfound glee shone in his eyes and he smirked. “I’m deadweight like this,” he said, nodding to his hoof. He gagged slightly but pushed the thought aside. It was a fight in itself to simply ignore the pain. “So let me be the bait. When the beast comes for me, hopefully it’ll show itself. And then you use your boomerang to go for its chest.” Panthera took a step backwards and raised her hoof quickly. “What? No way!” she snapped, stomping it loudly. A breath of air brushed over her ears as she did so; she shuddered and spun around, boomerang at the ready, but nothing made to strike her. Ailurus snorted. “Look, we haven’t got a choice. If you can think of a better plan then great, but we’re fighting an invisible monster here.” A warm breeze tickled his shoulders and he cringed, flinging his head around. But again there was nothing. “Look at us. Are we being jittery? Or is this thing right behind us? We don’t know!” Panthera frowned. “I…” she began, looking about wildly. But there was nothing to be seen. “You’ll keep your trident at the ready, right?” Ailurus’ ears pricked forwards and he smiled. “Of course,” he said, grinning. ”I’m not giving up these superpowers just yet!” Panthera nodded and smiled as well, though it was forced and wobbly. “Okay,” she breathed, then turning away from him so that he was facing her flank. Her eyes darted all around, desperately searching for anything that might betray the beast’s whereabouts. There was nothing but the quiet moaning of the wind. Panthera gulped deeply. She stepped forwards slowly, tentatively. Her nostrils flared and her ears flicked in all directions. Every little rustle or snap made her hiss and shoot around, boomerang held at the ready. Whenever her hoof touched down against the sharp point of a stray rock she leapt to the side and reared up. Her hooves sliced through the air dangerously, but there was nothing there. Panthera stomped a hoof heavily and snorted. “Oh, come on,” she hissed, flicking her side with her tail. “Get a grip!” And then she froze. Her ears twitched and she turned slowly, eyes rapidly widening as she watched the beast gradually appear behind a chuckling Ailurus. Everything went into slow motion; her head acted of its own accord and she flung the boomerang without even thinking where she wanted it to go. It zipped through the air like a dolphin in water, spinning so quickly that it was just one big, circular disk of death. It smashed into the glass chest of the beast as it dove towards Ailurus, mouth opened in readiness to clamp around the stallion’s body. The glass shattered into dust the instant that it met with the boomerang and the beast faltered mid-jump. It roared loudly just before its body smashed into the dirt below, mouth engulfing Ailurus in one bite. Its body shattered against the rock solid dirt beneath it. Daggers of glass rained down upon Ailurus and he screamed in agony, even as he shot away from that spot by extending his trident. He landed in a bloodied heap a few metres away, thrashing and crying. Panthera froze almost immediately and, as she grabbed the boomerang back in between her teeth, she began to turn towards him. He knew. Somehow, he knew. Through his pain he squinted his eyes open to meet hers. He still writhed and spasmed on the ground, but he was just about able to stay still long enough to jerk his gaze towards the reforming mass of glass. When Panthera didn’t immediately move, he moved his head so as to nod at it again, screaming as he did so. She stole a glance towards the beast. Its legs had reformed by now, the remaining shards sticking themselves together to make fragmented stumps. Its muzzle, too, was slowly materialising again, the teeth in its mouth sharper now; they were almost canine in nature. Panthera stole a quick glance at Ailurus, bile starting to rise in her throat as she watched him gasp and cry out in agony. “It’s fixing itself again!” came a cry from the huddled together onlookers. It had been a stallion at the front of the group that had spoken. He held two trembling fillies under his forelegs, both of whom were visibly pale. “Can you stop it?” Panthera gulped. The head had fully formed now and the body was well underway; there would only be a few more moments to strike before it presumably struck again. “I think so!” she shakily called back, but her eyes were stuck on Ailurus. “I think I know what to do! But somepony, please help him?” She rose a shaking hoof and pointed to the spasming stallion on the ground. The onlookers were quiet, each glancing from him to the beast and back again. And then a colt stepped forwards. He was tall and gangly; a young tee; the healer’s son. “I’ve got it,” he cried, zipping out from the pack and galloping in a wide circle to Ailurus’ side. He knelt down next to him and then cried, “I’ll do what I can! But you’ve gotta stop that beast!” A surge of confidence flooded Panthera at the colt’s unwavering gaze. She nodded quickly, then spun around so as to face the beast. It was still. She let out a breath. Then the massive eye twitched. The nostrils snorted. Its ears flicked while its lips parted slowly, drawing in a rush of air. And then its eyes flew open, staring straight at her unblinkingly. It didn’t move. It just lay there, breathing slowly and staring. And still it stared, the mare and monster locked in a challenge to see who dared to move first. Panthera charged straight into its chest. The beast gave a yell and leapt to its hooves, roaring as the glass of its chest cracked. It then reared up and made to slam its hooves down atop Panthera’s body. She hissed and fell to her belly, rolling to the side at the last millisecond. The hoof slammed into the ground with such force beside her head that the glass there fractured too; a few shards were shot outwards from the impact, nicking her ears so that warm blood trickled freely down her cheek. Panthera ground her teeth and leapt back up to her hooves, flinging her boomerang towards the monster’s chest before she skidded underneath its belly. Its head chased her, shooting around at such a speed that its weight was thrown to one side. Its left hooves were pulled from the floor. With a shriek it collapsed to the ground heavily, toppled off-balance. A massive cloud of dust was thrown up when ground met glass. Coughing, Panthera waved a hoof in front of herself quickly. She ground her teeth, every muscle in her body burning. But she was so close. She couldn’t muck up now. There! Through the slowly-settling haze, she saw the tell-tale glow of the beast’s chest again. Without even thinking she charged directly towards it, hurling her boomerang with as much force as she could muster. But the beast, whose body was cracked and battered but mending rapidly, didn’t suffer as much damage as she had hoped. It rolled clumsily back onto its stomach and snapped viciously at her as she skidded past. Panthera shrieked but carried on, leaping into the air so as to snag her boomerang before hurling it again. This time the glass of the monster’s chest splintered a little more, but with each hit that it took it seemed to grow tougher. Panthera let out a cry of frustration, grabbing the boomerang with a hoof this time and throwing it heavily once again. The beast was stood again now, though, and raised its heavy foreleg unbelievably quickly. It slammed its hoof directly into her body, sending her flying backwards until she smashed into the ground with such a force that her legs really should have been broken. As it was, she screamed but at least managed to stand incredibly unsteadily. She rose her head definitely and threw her hoof into the air so as to throw her boomerang—but there was no need this time. As the beast lumbered forwards, Panthera watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as a massive bamboo pole smashed straight into its chest and then shot through the other side of its back, just behind the shoulders. The beast collapsed in mid leap, rolling dangerously quickly towards her. And then it skidded to a stop across the dusty floor, laying still as the shards that now strewed the common began to creep ominously back towards their owner. “Oh, no you don’t,” Panthera hissed, shaking as she stepped forwards. She stumbled and tripped, yelping as she went. But still she carried on, because somehow, she knew exactly what she had to do. Almost as if somepony was whispering commands in her ear. The beast snarled at her as she wobbled closer, her head held high. She only hissed in response, her body searing with pain. But adrenaline kept her going, trudging onwards. And then, after avoiding a well aimed snap from the monster’s teeth, she spun unsteadily on the spot and sloppily slammed her rear hooves into its faintly glowing chest. The glass fractured with an audible crack at last and Panthera’s hooves struck the glowing rune, piercing it. A massive screech sounded, the noise so high-pitched that every gathered pony fell to their chests so that they could cover their ears with their hooves. And then, in a blinding flash of white light, a surge of power flew out in all directions. The beast’s body disintegrated on the spot. A few nearby ponies screamed in pain as their bodies were racked with a current so great that fur crackled visibly. Manes and tails gained an ethereal effect, like flames enshrouding the cowering, spasming ponies involved. And then, with a gentle fizzing sound, everything went calm once again. Everypony gasped and slumped where they lay, drawing in deep, slow breaths of the hot summer air. A soft breeze meandered through the trees, whistling quietly as it went. Panthera rose to her hooves slowly, her legs trembling slightly. She stepped towards the now minuscule pile of ash, her gaze fixed upon the warm orange glow of what must have been relic fragments. With bated breath she then reached out and scooped them up slowly, collecting them in her hoof before holding them up to eye level. The fragments crumbled into dust, just like the beast had moments before. And then the breeze swooped in, snagging the powder from her and dispersing it around the common. What a sight for sore eyes it was. The gathered ponies, tired though they were, gasped in awe as they watched the events unfolding before them. Tendrils of faintly glowing air brushed over the damage, and everything that the wind touched began to glow the same warm hue that the relic had. And then, once every bit of damage had been marked, there was a flash of warm light. Panthera threw her hooves over her eyes quickly to shield them, the light so bright that it was painful. When she opened them again, however, she found herself feeling suddenly uneasy. Everything was perfect again, just the way it had been. The trees didn’t have a single missing branch and the dirt of the commons looked as if it had never been trodden on. And, standing just in front of her, a massive statue of a pony—made entirely of glass, but with two small blue gems for eyes—stood silently. It smiled, and when the sun bounced off of it just right it almost looked alive. It was definitely the beast from before. Now, though, it looked positively angelic. If you were to ask Panthera, though, none of that could compare to what happened next. Just behind her, Ailurus stood up slowly. His battered body was perfectly clean and uninjured once again. Nopony would ever have guessed that there had been a massive hole in his hoof mere moments before. “Woah,” Panthera whispered, glancing about herself quickly. “This has gotta be a dream.” She turned away from Ailurus, feeling ever so slightly dizzy now. The group of ponies, too, looked utterly lost and baffled. Ailurus laughed. He trod up to her side slowly, gingerly, but he didn’t limp at all. “The rest of the islanders are never going to believe us, are they?” Panthera snorted and shook her head. “Nope!” she cried, beaming. And then she turned to him, holding out her hoof. “But we’ll show them, right?” Ailurus laughed and rose his own hoof. He then said, looking thoroughly thrilled, “Pound it!” And Panthera laughed again, clapping his hoof with hers. “Pound it!” she agreed. She then went quiet for a moment before she stood taller and added, with a wink, “Partner.” And nopony could miss the beam of sheer joy that graced Ailurus’ face then.