Jackie’s mind raced, trying to keep up with everything she was seeing. She tried bending time around her, tried every kind of simple transformation to remove the effects of Voeskender’s spell, tried summoning objects or figments that might help them.
They were all equally effective. This god of dreams had taken away her powers, trapped them in forms without natural defenses, and had blood in his eyes.
Voeskender’s realm was a little like the enchanted wood, seen through the eyes of both predator and prey. The trees here grew taller, the dangerous twilight of half-seen light was broken only by bioluminescent flora and insects, bathing the entire space in perpetual pastel light. There were many great predators in this realm, spirits with appetites that went on forever.
Voeskender might be worshiped by the deer, but he also symbolized some of the more violent aspects of their world. The deer lived brief lives, and when they grew old and weak, they would end in hungry jaws.
But Voeskender didn’t seem to want to leave them to that fate, at least not judging by the way he crossed the edge of the ridge, looming over them as he drew a long, wickedly pointed spear. Not Voeskender, it’s still the fusion with Ankaa. If it was the god alone his powers would be too abstract to hurt me.
But this deer could kill them. “Can you do anything,” she whispered, desperately. “Get us out, maybe? We can lift the deer curse somewhere else.”
“Nope,” Misty whispered. “I’m not an Alicorn anymore. This feels permanent.”
“Because you’re a dream-spirit,” Jackie whispered back. “You don’t ‘have’ a permanent. Every change is as real as the real thing with you.”
Ankaa began walking towards them, his massive strides confident and unafraid. Jackie didn’t run, didn’t move from where her gear had piled up at her hooves. These were the last tools she had, even if they’d been made for someone else. Could she still use them?
“I have one final offer for you, Dreamknife. I would not give it, but he requires… requires that I do. He says it is not… correct for me to kill you. That rulers do not kill rulers. If you want to live, you will live like this. You both can join my harem. I have no doubt the one who once ruled over dreams will bear many strong sons.”
Jackie coughed and spluttered, not trying to keep the disgust from her voice. “You’ll have to kill me first!” She bent down, fumbling uselessly at the bow. But it was made for humans, and wouldn’t stick to her legs. The buckler was better, she could slide her leg through the smart-grip fabric and let it cling there. Kinda pathetic, such a little shield on so much leg. She didn’t even bother with the sword—it would cling to her too, but she had the wrong body to wield it.
For almost her whole life, Jackie had fought only with a dagger. She picked up that instead, holding it flat against her leg and letting the fabric grip there. It felt almost like her old one, though it lacked any of the magical properties.
It wouldn’t matter in this fight. Voeskender was a god—it was her intentions against him. Except that this is physical. So either of us could really die. I’m not asleep.
“I was hoping you would say that,” Sultan Ankaa said. He was close now, perhaps twenty feet away. His legs were thicker around than her neck. His spear was tipped with wickedly sharpened obsidian, the wood armor on his body thick enough to stop most crossbows.
But Jackie was older. Voeskender could give Ankaa his power, but he could not give his wisdom. Jackie had watched him struggle even to speak the will of the spirit, with a mind so alien to his. Good thing you’re not the Keeper, or I’d be fucked.
But that spirit only spoke to earth ponies. Jackie had never heard her, and so she’d never said anything to get herself into trouble. The fewer gods she knew, the better.
“You aren’t going to run?” Ankaa asked, flabbergasted. “Look at you! Your magic is gone! Your powers are useless in his realm. I am older and mightier than you.”
Jackie met his eyes. “You aren’t older, kid. Even Voeskender can’t be older than the Event, that’s when magical creatures started popping up. I’m from a universe older than you both. Before there was magic, there was iron and blood.” She spun the short blade over one leg, trying to master its weight. She didn’t have long to practice. “I don’t know what ‘mightier’ is, but if it’s ‘who’s about to be more fucked’, why don’t we wait and see. I’ve got my suspicions.” She lowered her voice. “Get behind me, Misty. Stay out of his reach with that spear. He might try to kill you just to distract me.”
“Y-yeah.” But far from giving up, the spirit was holding Jackie’s sword. A little awkwardly, but the smart-grip worked for her just as well. “But I told you I was going to be here until the end. We’re not done.”
They would be soon. Ankaa advanced again, this time with his spear drawn. He didn’t seem to be using any metamaterials to hold it, rather there was a single loop of cloth wrapped around one leg, and another that held the shaft’s extreme end against his armor. That limited his range of motion, but it would also probably mean he could exert more force than Jackie could. I should probably just assume he has earth pony strength. Not pegasus speed, or he wouldn’t be using something so clumsy.
Without a word of strategy between them, Jackie and Misty began to split apart, maximizing the distance between them without ever turning away from Ankaa. If he focused on killing one of them, the other could attack his unprotected flank.
As she expected, Ankaa targeted her. His spear lifted, and he crossed the last few feet in a sudden dash. Jackie had only been a deer a handful of times, but that didn’t matter. Voeskender could transform her all he wanted, but he couldn’t erase her past.
This was the Dreamlands, her domain. She lifted into a high, bounding stance, bouncing slightly from one side of her hooves to the another, with both forelegs ready when she needed them.
Ankaa struck out with his obsidian spear, and she lifted her buckler in response. She jumped away from the strike, but even so the force of it sent her flying backwards through the air. She tumbled, legs scrambling desperately before she smacked into a tree and slumped down.
She rose desperately, legs kicking wildly out at the dirt before she could finally get them under her again and struggle into a standing position.
Ankaa advanced on her, apparently ignoring Misty completely. Can you even see her? Does being made of dreams mean you don’t care that she’s here? If that was true, then all Jackie had to do was distract this spirit long enough for Misty to get in a decisive blow.
“Pathetic. This is the one who has been striking fear for longer than I’ve lived? Were the children of the past that weak?”
Was he trying to goad her? Jackie adjusted her sore legs, flipping the knife over in her hoof again. It was barely even long enough to pierce the armor, even if her intention was. She’d have to get it into a joint.
Too bad I can’t cheat like you did, eh Alex? No spirits of noble swordsman to help me. “The children of the past knew better,” Jackie said, pacing up high on the slope, forcing Ankaa to follow. She would have a slight advantage, fighting from above him. But not much. Deer legs might be thin and feeble, but they proved excellent at pacing backwards up a slope. She could hardly feel it.
Unfortunately that meant that her enemy would be doing it just as easily.
“Take a mageblood’s power away, and you’re all the same. Hollow, weak, empty. You depend on your magic too much.” He swung again, this time not in a single charge but a rapid series of quick strikes. Jackie had to move just as quickly, parrying with shield or with the flat of her blade. Even so, Ankaa’s massive weight and size advantage meant she never got within reach of the dagger, and that she was driven backward up the hill with every strike. She was running out of ground it seemed—there was a cliff up there, and only empty air. She had no more wings to fly.
Then Misty stabbed him in the underbelly. The sword cut straight through his armor, driven as it was by the will of something like an Alicorn. It sunk all the way down to the hilt, and glowing red blood emerged from inside. Ankaa roared and stamped, swinging back around to strike at Misty. So fast that the sword was ripped right out of her hoof, and stayed stuck into his body.
She had no weapon anymore, nothing at all she could do but try to tumble backwards off the hill and out of reach. Misty went down under furious blows from his hooves. “You are wasting your time enslaved to them, spirit! We would have honored you!”
But Jackie didn’t just let it happen. She followed at a sprint, keeping her legs from tearing out from under her only barely, before crouching low and springing up onto his back. Her weight was nothing compared to such an unearthly creature, but she wasn’t just trying to hit him. She carved at his armor, clinging on with the blade as he bucked up and tried to fling her. All the while blood sprayed out from beneath him. Poor broken Misty went rolling out from under those huge hooves, though she looked in bad shape.
Jackie didn’t get much of a look as she slashed and stabbed with the dagger, at least before one last buck sent her tumbling away. She landed with a squelch in thick mud, sliding several feet away before she finally came to a stop.
“You’ve barely even wounded me!” Ankaa roared. “I’ve felt worse wounds from hunting boars.” Maybe he had, but he probably hadn’t felt so many. Blood leaked out from all over his armor now, thickest from underneath it where Misty had stabbed into his guts. It was probably only Voeskender’s magic that was keeping him moving even now. He just needs to exert himself a little more… That was the problem with relying too much on magic. Unlike the deer, Jackie knew full well how it worked. Voeskender’s magic could only keep his body working for so long. If there was no limit, then earth ponies would be immortal.
Jackie rose, brandishing her shield. “Hey, I’ve got an offer for you,” she called, readying the buckler. She’d lost her dagger somewhere stuck into his armor. “How about I let you live if you join my harem. I’m not actually into guys or anything, but I know a few spells. We’ll fix that right up, then you’ll fit in.”
Did he actually think she had one? Apparently it didn’t matter, because once again Misty was forgotten. He charged straight for her, swinging the spear madly. “I’ll leave you in a dozen pieces, Dreamknife! I’ll feed you to my dogs!”
She didn’t try to hold him back this time, just waited until he was close and lunged past him. She only had to block the one blow, and she was running off in the other direction. Deer hooves tore up the ground beneath her, stable despite how flimsy her legs looked.
A roar of frustration followed her, and Ankaa turned, trailing more blood behind him. He still hadn’t removed the sword, and it was probably digging deeper every time he moved.
You’re like an earth pony foal who doesn’t know how to use your powers. You think because you can’t feel the pain that it isn’t hurting you.
Jackie couldn’t outrun such a massive creature, not when he could bound further than her whole body in a single stride. But as he got close, she blocked with the shield again, rolling a different way. He was faster to react this time, swiping after her with the spear—but his strike was just a little slower than any before. He was running out of magic.
“Fight me!” he roared, turning the mud a deep red. “You called me a coward, and you’re running!”
“I am a coward,” Jackie answered, not even having to jump this time. Ankaa wasn’t even running after her, just stumbling forward with empty strike after empty strike. “You think you live this long by fighting fair? Fuck that noise.”
Another few moments later, and she felt confident enough to dart past him pulling the sword free.
This did not help with his bleeding problem. When he swung at her again, this time she severed the obsidian blade right from the shaft.
He dropped into the mud in front of her a second later. “I… surrender,” he panted, blood dribbling down his lips. The world began to fog again—Voeskender’s spell trapping her here was coming undone. The unearthly glowing forest was starting to mix and overlap with the real, burned one. He wants his doctors.
“I won’t hurt your daughter,” Jackie said, ignoring him completely. “When this is over, she can rule over these deer. Maybe she’ll do a better job.”
“I… yield… to you…” he croaked, and in that instant the spell around them faded. Jackie was instantly human again, naked and crouched in the mud, on all fours. She rose to her full height, gripping the sword in both hands.
“I don’t care,” she said. “Who do you think I am, the Archive? I’m not an Alicorn. I don’t have any honor to lose.”
Thousands of deer surrounded them, watching as she stood over their leader, dripping with his blood. She swung, and severed his head in a single stroke.