//------------------------------// // Chapter ten: a new plan // Story: Brothers 'N Antlers // by Elkia Deerling //------------------------------// Another day in paradise… Alces wasn’t sure which of the two was better: being in the hot, tropical heat of the magical bubble, or inside in the cool, climate-controlled basement of the guardhouse. He rubbed his face with his hoof, felt the odd shapes of bruises that shouldn’t be there, and winced. The guards had been hardy and ruthless. As soon as Elkia had disappeared through the hole in the magical barrier, the guards’ attention shifted towards the other elk, him. That bearded guard had been the worst. As soon as Elkia had disappeared, the guard platoon had gone after him. But once they came back, the madhouse slowly calming down, the bearded guard kept pointing and pointing at him, as if it had been all his fault. Sure, he had knocked over the bearded guard and threw off his aim, but that was all he had done. Alces hoped it had been enough. He hoped that his brother had escaped this horrible place and was somewhere in the woods, far, far away from this slave-pen. But apparently, just that one little shove had been enough to almost condemn him to death. It had been enough to allow the guards to interrogate him. The interrogation had consisted of fifty percent shouting, and fifty percent bucks in the face. Every time the guards asked him a question, even if he answered truthfully and without swearing, the answer was always followed by a beating. Especially that bearded guard seemed to have enjoyed that a lot. He had been the lucky one leading the interrogation, and directed the punches and kicks to the parts of Alces’s body where they hurt most. Alces had no idea what the best thing to say was. It had just been one silly, tiny, hastily crafted and improvised escape attempt. He had knocked over the guard, and Elkia had run—that was all there was to tell about it. Yet, the guards kept beating him and slapping him in the face, forcing him to think up strange answers that weren’t even his own. Even now, with most of the bruises already fairly healed, he couldn’t exactly recall what he had said. After every “refreshment” of his memory, his head felt less like a body part and more like a punching bag. Yet, he had done the best he could, crafting such an unbelievable story the guards simply had to be satisfied with. Apparently, Elkia’s escape had been a large operation, skillfully crafted by a secret society which had its headquarters in the basements of some houses. Everyone was involved. Some citizens, a large section of the guard patrol, and even some ponies who had renounced the regime. Now that he thought of it, Alces was actually happy at blurting out all of this nonsense. Let them hunt each other for a change, he thought. He had no idea how long he had been inside that basement. There had been no sun or moon to be seen, and even if there had been a window, Alces was sure he wouldn’t even have been able to see anything with all the bruises and blood covering up his vision. He had tried to count the number of beatings, but lost track after the twelfth one or so. He hadn’t even been given a chance to sleep. As soon as he lost consciousness every single time, some nasty pegasus would chuck an awfully-tasting potion in his throat, and he would feel clearer and stronger—but not too strong to be able to resist and bite. No, the alchemist made sure to balance his potion out, unfortunately for Alces. They hadn’t even given him one of the potions before he was put back to work. No, he went straight from the basement to the farm. But at least he had been able to sleep during the nights, so if anything, he had some time to heal and recharge, however short the nights were. And now, a few days later, he was in the fields again, working his ass off for the citizens of Scribblers’ City. Or at least for the guards, so they wouldn’t take their frustration out on him once more. Despite the few nights sleep he had got, he felt terrible. He had to do the hardest work today: plowing. Normally this wasn’t too hard, but beside the lack of food and water and sleep, he had his injuries to deal with. ‘Come on, elk! Pull it!’ The stallion behind the plow said. ‘Pull it or we’ll both get in trouble.’ Alces raised his head. A patrol of guards was slowly but steadily heading his way. The pony was right. If he didn’t do anything now, they would surely notice. ‘Come on!’ the pony shouted. ‘Just let me gather my damn breath,’ Alces shouted back. He had to concentrate now. ‘Alright! Push!’ The guards were there, and they were definitely looking at them. Alces felt the harness cut into his shoulders, but he had to push on. He gritted his teeth, focusing all the strength that was somewhere in his body to pull the plow, while the pony at the back pushed it forwards. Slowly, the heavy iron instrument moved. It grinded over the soil, plowing the earth so that it was ready for new crops to be sown later on. It went terribly slow, but somehow it went. ‘Come on! Put your back into it, humpback!’ a voice shouted. Alces immediately recognized the bearded guard’s heavy voice, and knew that this was not going to be good. And things got worse. Alces’s bruised and battered knees couldn’t handle the extreme stress anymore, and buckled. Alces bent through his forehooves. He went down. ‘What are you doing?!’ the pony behind the plow shouted. His voice sounded high and terrified. ‘Get up, elk! Get up and pull! Come on! Move!’ But Alces couldn’t. He tasted bile in his mouth when he tried to get up. The effort was too big, and he fell down again. ‘Hey, what’s that now?’ shouted the guard. ‘Is humpback getting lazy on the job?’ ‘Oh no, oh no, oh no!’ Wh-wh-what are you doing!’ The pony hissed. ‘They’re c-c-coming towards us!’ Indeed, the guard with the beard had jumped over the fence and was moving towards the plow. ‘Don’t worry, wimp, you can go,’ he said to the pony. ‘I have a little score to settle with this here elk.’ ‘Th-th-thank you, chief,’ the pony said. As fast as his legs allowed him, he jumped off the plow and galloped away. The guard reached the spot where Alces lay. He bent down, so that Alces could see his face. ‘Do you see this face, elk?’ Alces said nothing. ‘This face here is not happy with your productivity,’ the guard said. He talked slowly, every word a threat in its own way. ‘And, to be honest, this face is also not happy with your face.’ Alces used the muscles in his neck to lift his head a bit. He gurgled, and then a gobbet of spittle landed almost on the guardpony’s face. ‘That’s what I think of you,’ Alces said. A few other voices said, ‘Oh!’ Those were the rest of the group of guards. ‘Not your smartest move, elk,’ the guard said. Then he stood up. ‘Everypony, I think it’s time to utilize this pathetic creature’s full potential.’ ‘What do you mean, Brawn?’ some other guard replied. ‘I think there must be a more efficient way to let this humpback pony do its job,’ the bearded guard said. He walked towards the plow. ‘And I think… yes, I think I have an idea how.’ Alces felt how the ropes that made up the harness got yanked off his shoulders. A burning pain spread through them. At last, with the harness gone, some feeling returned in Alces’s legs. He stood up slowly. ‘No, no, no, you’re missing the point, humpback,’ said Brawn, the bearded guardpony. ‘You should remain exactly where you are. That means, head DOWN!’ Alces felt a strange force jerk his head down upon the earth. He heard the tingling sound that was a trademark of unicorn magic. Alces almost swallowed some dirt, as he attempted to lift his head again. He couldn’t get it done. ‘What are you gonna do, Brawn?’ one of the other guards called. ‘Oh, nothing special,’ said Brawn. ‘I’m just gonna do the job this humped, pathetic excuse for a deer is too lazy to do. I’m gonna plow the fields.’ Suddenly, the magic shifted. Alces felt himself being pulled up, while his head remained close to the ground. Then, after a loud burst of laughter from Brawn, he got shoved forwards, while his antlers remained on the ground. He was a living plow. The other guards saw what was happening, and couldn’t contain their laughter. They reached for their stomachs as Brawn shoved Alces over the ground, his antlers doing the plow work. It had been a long time since they had seen something hilariously creative as this. Alces felt as if his head was going to fall off. His antlers grinded over the earth, sending dirt spraying all over the place. He had to close his eyes to prevent the earth from blinding him. The rest of his body was stiffened by the unicorn magic, and pushed forwards with savage energy. He couldn’t prevent himself from swallowing some earth, as he had to breathe too. However much he wanted to breathe, there was always earth in the way. Black spots danced in front of his eyes, as the lack of oxygen slowly began to shut it down. Finally, Brawn stopped his handiwork. Alces’s body went limp and he coughed loudly, taking this opportunity to breathe in and out properly. He had just enough time to take two or three breaths, when the whole façade continued once more. ‘Come on, humpback. Plow, plow, plow!’ Brawn yelled, as he shoved Alces forwards with his unicorn magic. He had trouble concentrating on the animal, as bursts of laughter occasionally sent him gasping for breath. ‘Hahaha! Oh my… This is so hilarious. You should… hahaha! You should see your face, humpback!’ Poor little humpback plowing through the earth We get to laugh, and you get what you deserve For laziness and tardiness will not be tolerated We’ll continue our game until our humor is sated A clever little pun Will make you wanna run But there’s nowhere you can go So take another blow Don’t fall down; we’ll get you up Pain is served in a cup Right into your face That’s the best place Where pain belongs We’ll punish you for your wrongs You pathetic little pony fake We’ll plow with you for humor’s sake Not because we must, but because we can Nopony will help you, nopony gives a damn So Brawn sung a little song he made up. He sung falsely, and some of the stanzas barely rhymed, but that did nothing to diminish the joy he got from shoving Alces through the earth. At last, when he felt that the elk would once more go limp with lack of air, he let his body drop to the ground and allowed him a breather. Alces panted hard. But once his rapid breaths calmed down, and he had still some time left, he tried to look up at Brawn, the bearded guard. ‘You’re a coward, unicorn,’ he said through gritted teeth and earth. ‘You wouldn’t dare face me when I’d have my full strengths back.’ Brawn jumped back from Alces, as if he had transformed into a deadly, venomous snake. ‘Haha! I guess we’ll never find that out, elk. I am strong and you are weak, and it is up to the strong to show how weak the weak can be.’ ‘That doesn’t even make sense,’ Alces said. He put his front legs back in front of him. He wanted to stand up and look his enemy in the eyes, so he could insult him properly. Unfortunately, that’s not what Brawn had in mind. ‘Nope,’ he said with a smile on his face. ‘There we go again. YEEHAW!’ And once more Brawn mopped the earth with Alces Roameling. Alces’s whole body trembled as the force dragged him over the soil. He had almost reached the edge of the field. Alces thought that Brawn would be done with him then, but that was not the case. The force of the magic shifted, and they made a turn. The pain in his neck was intense, and Alces had the feeling it was wrung like a washcloth. ‘YEEHAW! We’re going for another round, humpback,’ Brawn shouted. There were many rocks in the earth, which bounced off Alces’s scalp. His antlers truly trembled now, and for a moment, Alces actually felt afraid. He was not going to bear this longer. He knew his neck might just break. He knew Brawn was going to kill him. CRACK! ‘What’s that now?’ Brawn said. ‘You did it brawn, you killed him,’ shouted one of the guards from the bystanders. ‘You cracked his neck like a twig.’ ‘Really?’ Brawn said. ‘That would be a shame. We were just having fun.’ The guardpony let Alces flop down, and walked over to his “plow,” who lay limply on the ground. Alces hadn’t yet lost consciousness. He saw the big hooves of Brawn next to him. Brawn ducked to grab something. ‘It seems our instrument is broken,’ yelled Brawn, holding one of Alces’s antlers in the air. ‘I thought his teeth would be the first things to break, but apparently it is his fork that yielded to the strain.’ With the weight of one antler gone, Alces was able to lift his head. Despite the pain in his head and the wooziness that came with it, he felt how the weight was asymmetrical. It felt strange, but it wasn’t the only thing that was on his mind. Alces always took great care of his antlers, always making sure they were in fighting condition, as one could never know when a pretty hind would show herself. He had always sharpened them, and trained them by slamming into trees and pretending those trees were contesters. But now, he had only one left, thanks to Brawn. Anger drove the pain away. The anger was so big and strong, it dominated Alces’s mind completely, sending pain, wooziness, and other emotions and feelings fleeing to some dark corner of his subconsciousness. The fire in his eyes flared up. Alces’s vision became smeared with red, yet it wasn’t blood. It was rage, pure rage. The anger flowed through his body, delivering an adrenaline payload to his muscles. Slowly but steadily, Alces stood up, turned around, and faced his enemy. Brawn still stood with the one antler in his hooves. But only when Alces, taller than he was, was back on his hooves again, did his attention shift to the elk. ‘You shit-witted bastard!’ Alces yelled. ‘There’s just one single thing you cannot do, and that’s stealing another elk’s antlers. Are you really such a savage nut-head that you don’t even respect the unwritten laws of nature? Is there really not a single code of honor you live by? You really disgust me!’ And as Alces shouted those last words, he spit on the ground, accidentally taking a tooth or two with the gobbet of spit. But Alces didn’t care. This was a matter of honor now. Brawn’s horn glowed. If he was scared by the rage-filled beast who was even taller than he was, he didn’t show it. ‘Aw! Did I hurt your feelings now, little elk?’ ‘I’m a head taller than you, half-wit!’ ‘Hush now,’ Brawn said. ‘I didn’t know you’d be so upset by a piece of bone breaking off.’ ‘Those antlers are a symbol of honor and pride,’ Alces said, ‘and unfit to be held in filthy pony hooves.’ Brawn toyed with the antler in his hooves, looking at it in the light of the magical bubble. ‘Oh, really,’ he said, mocking interest. ‘Who would have known I’d learn something new today…’ Then, in one swift motion, he kept a tight grip on the antler, zipped towards Alces, and swept his hooves out from underneath him using the antler as a club. No matter how strong Alces’s mind was, his body was still weak. Alces lost his footing, and once more fell to the ground. ‘I don’t like your tone of voice, humpback,’ said Brawn. He kept his hoof on Alces’s head, pinning him to the ground. ‘I didn’t realize I hurt your pride, but you should learn not to vent your anger on your superiors.’ Alces wanted to say something mean back, but his voice was lost in a grunt. ‘But you know what? I guess I’ll do you a favor.’ Brawn nodded to his comrades. ‘Saw. Now. We’re going to help our little humpback here. Having just one antler must be very uncomfortable, and as we don’t have a magical glue that could restore this “symbol of honor” on your head, I say we take your other one instead.’ ‘You wouldn’t…’ Alces growled. ‘I will, because I can,’ said Brawn. ‘Everyone, help me to keep him down. We don’t want to accidentally cut off his head, now do we?’ A minute or two later, Alces was surrounded by guardponies. Brawn kept his hoof on his neck, and three or four others held Alces down. They rested his head upon a log, as if they were really going to cut through his neck. But Alces knew they wouldn’t do that. He knew they were too cowardly to actually take a life. ‘One, two, three! Go!’ Alces’s neck got stretched from the left to the right, as the massive saw did its work. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look into the dirty eyes of his torturers. To them, this was only funny, but to Alces, this was pure humiliation. Alces swore that if he’d live through today, and he had the opportunity, he’d take down Brawn the bearded guardpony. And when his fantasies went even further, he imagined cutting off the tail of that stupid pony, and see how he would like that. ‘Hehe! There we go!’ A collective cheer erupted from the guards, as Brawn now held the other antler in his hooves. He pranced around and held them on his head, as if he had transformed into an elk himself. ‘Look at me, everyone! I’m a humpback pony. I like to prance around in the grass and eat the bark of the trees!’ Alces’s head got thrown off the block, but he managed to crane his neck and watch the guardpony’s ridiculous behavior. ‘You will never be fit to wear those antlers,’ he said, his voice growling. ‘You’ll never have the honor of calling yourself an elk.’ Suddenly, Brawn stopped his silly prancing, and walked over to Alces. ‘What did you say there, elk?’ ‘You will never be proud to be an elk,’ Alces said. ‘You don’t have the spirit to be one of us.’ The two antlers fell to the ground. ‘Now would you look at that, everyone.’ Brawn motioned for every other guard to listen. ‘We have done this elk a favor, removing the excess weight off its clumsy head, and now it is insulting us? Such an ungrateful bark-eating beast.’ ‘I’d rather eat bark than listen to your awful voice, you cutie-mark less scum!’ Alces retorted. Brawn feigned surprise, acting as if Alces had hit him or so. ‘Ouch, that is below the belt. Hahaha! No, literally. Our cutie marks are below our belts.’ He looked at his comrades, waiting for them to laugh. When they finally did, he continued. ‘I’m right, am I not?’ ‘You gave up your cutie marks,’ Alces said, ‘for no reason whatsoever. You’d rather all hide behind that equal sign thing than show your true colors, your true passion. That, to me, is the pinnacle of spinelessness. But you know what I think?’ ‘Spit it out, elk.’ ‘I think I don’t even want to know what your special talent is. I wonder what a cutie mark for torturing looks like…’ One step brought Brawn next to Alces. He turned around, and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending Alces curling up in pain. ‘That was not very nice…’ Then he turned around and focused his attention on Alces’s flank. ‘And what do we have here, then? What does your cutie mark even mean? I see here two antlers with a flame in the middle. That’s not very accurate, is it? You don’t have your antlers anymore, now do you?’ Alces coughed a few times. When he finally caught his breath, he said, ‘That’s a symbol of pride and independence, something you will never understand.’ ‘So our little elk is not only proud of his antlers, but also of his cutie mark, hmm…? There was a strange tone in Brawn’s voice, as if he were thinking of something. ‘I wonder what remains of that pride if we take that from you too.’ ‘Haha!’ Alces said, although he didn’t sound very happy at all. ‘You can’t, scum. Even if you’re the head guard of the sickening head guards, even you can’t do something like that, powerless as you are.’ Brawn moved back towards Alces’s head. He bent down, jerked at the elk’s ear, and said, ‘Humpback, you have no idea what we can and can’t do.’ Then, after a quick pull, he let go of Alces’s ear, and directed his attention to his companions. ‘Everyone, to the smithy! We’re gonna teach this elk a lesson.’ Together, the guards lifted Alces off the ground, and carried him away. They walked over a few gangways, and through a few farmlands, until they reached the smithy. Smoke from the fire hung in the air, and almost made Alces choke. ‘Hello there, Brawn,’ somepony said. It was a new voice, one almost as deep as Brawn’s, but with a calm and stout undertone. ‘What can I do for you? Does this elk need horseshoes?’ ‘Not exactly,’ said Brawn. ‘We need a plank over the furnace.’ ‘Huh, but why would you want that?’ ‘Because I say so. Sparks, bring the plank.’ ‘Well, okay then.’ Alces heard the sound of wood. Then, the ponies slowly carried him to the furnace. The glowing coals were red hot, and Alces sweated and panted in the smoke and heat-filled smithy. The heat burnt his belly, as they turned him around on the plank. ‘Hold him steady, boys. Don’t let him wriggle loose.’ But even if Alces would wriggle himself loose, the only thing he could do was roll aside, right into the fire of the furnace. He was as pinned to the board as a tree in the ground. He wasn’t afraid, but he still had no idea what they were about to do. Were they going to put the coals on his fur? Were they going to let him suffocate in this hellish place? The smith, a big earth pony, as red as the glowing coals in his workshop, looked at Brawn and his bully boys in puzzlement. ‘Are you going to shod this elk yourself? You don’t know how to do that.’ Brawn was searching for something. At last, he pulled out two iron bars, and put them between the glowing coals. ‘Heat this up, Sparks. We’re going to show this elk that we are powerful enough to take his cutie mark.’ Sparks the smith looked at the two iron rods, noticed how they ended, and then shook his head. ‘You can’t seriously be thinking about…’ ‘Exactly,’ said Brawn. ‘We’re going to do this humpback pony the honor of making him one of us.’ ‘What?! But that’s insane, even for you, Brawn,’ Sparks said. But Brawn paid no heed. He reached the bellows and pushed them down. With every push, the infernal heat of the fireplace crept closer to Alces. He thought his fur would catch fire there and then. He realized perfectly well what was going to happen. He tried to wriggle a bit, but the other ponies held him fast. There was nothing he could do. ‘Brawn, I can’t allow such behavior here in my workplace,’ said Sparks. ‘How in Equestria am I going to tell the chief guard about this?’ ‘Shut up, softy,’ said Brawn. He was still working the bellows without hesitating or slowing down. ‘If questions will be asked, I will answer for them.’ He grinned. ‘And I won’t have any problem taking full responsibility.’ ‘Jeez, Brawn, you really hate this elk, don’t you?’ ‘I have my reasons,’ said Brawn. ‘He’s my favorite toy, and it is time to introduce a new game.’ Sparks thought for a moment, but then shook his head. ‘I won’t let this act of violence or this strange sentence be carried out in my workplace. If anything, the whole place will smell like burnt fur for at least a week.’ He stepped towards Brawn. ‘I won’t let you do this.’ ‘Oh, really,’ said Brawn. ‘Really,’ said Sparks. Brawn sighed. ‘I always figured you were a clever one, but now I see you have completely forgotten about the pecking order. You answer to us, Sparky, and if your answer doesn’t satisfy us, we have means to turn you from a smith into a slave, no matter how skilled you are.’ Sparks stepped back and took a deep breath, as if the smoke and cinders in the air helped him to clear his mind. He said nothing anymore, but he didn’t even need to. ‘Are they hot enough?’ Brawn said. Sparks nodded. ‘Flash, come over here. You’ll have the honor of taking his left side.’ One of the guardponies marched towards his leader, took one of the bars, and placed himself into position. Brawn grabbed one as well, and held it towards Alces’s face too, so he could see it. The iron bar ended in a white hot, glowing equal sign, smoking a bit. Alces tried to show no fear, but mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen. Brawn disappeared from view, and then they began counting. ‘Everyone ready?’ Everyone but Alces and maybe Sparks weren’t ready. ‘Steady?’ They were sure to keep a steady hold on the elk, as the pain could send him splaying his limbs around. ‘Go!’ The guard and Brawn thrusted the ends of the bars onto Alces’s sides. A hissing sound and smoke emanated from the wounds, and the stench of burned hairs filled the smithy instantly. Alces had promised himself not to scream, but broke it. It felt as if two elks with razor-sharp antlers thrusted their weapons into his sides, severing skin and muscle and bone. The pain was so terrible, so intense, that his muscles spasmed and his eyes watered. He couldn’t think about anything anymore, not even rage filled his mind. There was only pain, pain in every part of his body, centered around his behind. ‘That’s enough, Brawn!’ Sparks said. Through the cloud of pain, Alces barely heard it. ‘No, just a little while longer,’ said Brawn. He was laughing and still holding the hot metal upon the elk’s tortured skin. ‘We wanna make him bleed.’ ‘RAAAAAAAGH!’ Alces shouted again. It just didn’t end. It felt as if a thousand needles streamed through his veins, delivering pain to every organ they reached. He wished he was still being interrogated, or lashed to a plow, or whatever else. Anything was better than this inhuman torture. The sizzling sound grew softer in volume, yet Brawn kept his branding iron on Alces. ‘No! enough!’ Sparks yelled. He grabbed the iron and yanked it away from Brawn. Then he sidestepped towards the other pony, punched him in the face, and tossed his iron away as well. But with the irons gone, the pain didn’t disappear. Alces couldn’t feel his own behind anymore. He closed his eyes, cloudy with tears of shame. ‘What are you doing, Sparky?’ said Brawn, ‘I thought I told you about—’ ‘OUT! EVERYPONY OUT!’ Sparks yelled. ‘Get out of my workshop, NOW! This is a smithy, not a torture room. You can blabber away with your superiors about me, I don’t care. You all disappear, NOW!’ Sparks had such an intimidating, booming voice that the guards found themselves complying. The last one to exit the smithy was Brawn, who shot a nasty glare at the blacksmith before he too, retreated. Playtime was over. * * Only when he regained consciousness did Alces realize that he had fainted. He wished he could have stayed out a little longer. He was inside somewhere, lying on his belly on a straw mattress. Strangely enough, the pain was gone. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that he had lost the lower half of his body. He wanted to turn around and look, but a heavy hoof turned his gaze away. ‘Don’t look at it, elk. First you have to recover from the shock.’ At first Alces thought it was Brawn speaking, but then realized how silly that was. Brawn would probably give him a kick or a punch, and not talk in such a soothing, low voice. Instead of looking at his behind, he focused his gaze on the pony next to him. ‘Who are you?’ ‘I’m the smith. My name is Sparks,’ Sparks said. ‘I’m really sorry you had to go through all of that. I didn’t even know I still had those two branding irons.’ He cursed. ‘I should have stopped Brawn from his preposterous behavior. I know how angry and wild his temper tantrums are.’ Alces squinted his eyes. Opposite of him was a huge pony with a hide that seemed to glow red hot in the firelight. Instead of a beard, he had a goatee, which gave him a wise appearance, even if he was just a simple craftspony. ‘Yes, you should have done something,’ Alces said with a frown. ‘That hurt like… like… I don’t even know how to put this into words, but my brother might.’ ‘But he’s gone,’ said Sparks. ‘My friends told me Starlight Glimmer took him away on the zeppelin. I don’t know what has become of him, but I know he isn’t here anymore. I’d say that escape of yours was a success, more or less.’ Alces shook his head. The pain left a fog of dizziness and confusion in his head, a steaming, hot fog. ‘Wait, how do you know all of that?’ ‘I saw your escape,’ Sparks said. ‘I saw how that other elk managed to escape from Brawn. Your brother, right? It was… it was a sight to see. Never before have I seen such a strange and daring thing.’ ‘It was foolish,’ Alces said through gritted teeth. ‘It didn’t make any sense.’ ‘But it struck a chord in me,’ Sparks said. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘That day, I saw the vulnerability of the guards, the bubble, and everything else. Imagine if two, maybe three forced laborers would escape, and show the rest of Scribblers’ City how cruel we really are… That would change things for sure.’ ‘You have good dreams, pony, but they’re useless,’ Alces said. ‘This place is strong, fortified, and cruel, as you have witnessed today.’ Sparks nodded. ‘And after I witnessed this horrifying spectacle, I know for sure that I made the right decision.’ Once again, Alces said, ‘What do you mean?’ A grin appeared on Sparks’s face. ‘It may seem that you were treated cruelly, but fate smiled upon you today, friend.’ Alces tried once more to turn around. ‘How so?’ he said. But then he saw his flank, and the sight of it knocked all the words out of his voice. Both cutie marks were completely gone, replaced by two grisly wounds. On both flanks was now a hideous, distorted image of the equal sign cutie mark, covered in blisters and bald, red skin. Filled up with furious feelings, the anger returning a thousand fold, Alces grabbed the face of the smith. Snorting, spitting while he spoke, he shouted, ‘You call THAT fortunate? My cutie mark, my proud sign of who I am and where I belong is gone. GONE!’ Sparks slowly grabbed Alces’s hooves in his own, moving them aside. ‘Listen to what I have to say, and your rage might calm down.’ ‘Is there any way I could get it back?’ Slowly, Sparks shook his big head. ‘I can make sure that the wounds will be less painful and that they will heal, but I’m afraid you will never see your cutie mark again. I’m sorry, elk.’ Once more Alces looked at his deformed flank, but couldn’t bear to watch it for three seconds. His antlers would grow back, but his cutie mark wouldn’t. He grinded his teeth, anger flowing from the tempered wound through his body. ‘GRAAAAAAH!’ ‘Shush! Quiet, elk. We don’t want to—’ But Alces screamed again. He roared at the top of his lungs, as if he could scream away the pain and the rage he felt. ‘GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’ He spasmed and jerked around. He wanted to punch something, anything. He felt as if a part of him had died, and that the only solution was to ruin a life himself, preferably the life of that horrible guard pony with the beard. ‘GRAAAAAH!’ Sparks looked behind himself, yet nopony came through the door of his hut. When he saw that Alces was going to scream and thrash about again, he laid a big hoof on his mouth. ‘Be silent, elk! I have something important to say to you.’ Alces didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was a way to grab that filthy guardpony Brawn and wring his neck like a towel. Only revenge was on Alces’s mind. He snorted wildly, yet he didn’t utter howls or screams anymore. When Sparks saw the elk calmed down a bit, he removed his hoof. After a quick glance at the door, he came very close to Alces’s ear. ‘I told you that you were fortunate, because I am with your friend.’ Biting his lip, Alces drove back the rage, barely containing it with fetters as thin as hairs. ‘What the hay are you mumbling about? I don’t have any friends. All my friends are dead. I only have Elkia, my brother, who might be dead too.’ ‘Let’s just hope he’s not,’ said Sparks. He paused for a second or two to ready his speech. ‘No, I don’t know what became of your brother, yet I do know a friend of his—who used to be a friend of mine too—whom has been tasked with getting you out of here.’ ‘Wait, what?! Did Elkia tell him or her to get me out?’ ‘Hush…!’ Sparks said. ‘Keep your voice down. The walls can be very thin around these parts. You never know who might be listening. The fact that I sent Brawn and his goons away doesn’t mean he won’t be back with reinforcements.’ Alces swallowed. He forced his voice to be soft, yet he couldn’t chase the grunts away from it. ‘Alright, alright, I get that. So Elkia told his friend to get me out of here?’ Sparks nodded. Alces furrowed his brows. ‘Is that true? Can I trust you?’ ‘Eh…’ Sparks made a strange face. ‘I hoped treating your wounds and telling you that I too, desire freedom would bring you around. I’m afraid there is nothing you can do but trust me.’ Without even noticing it himself, a switch flipped in Alces’s mind. Still Brawn and the “cutie-unmarking” were on his mind, but now they had to share the space with battle tactics. ‘Alright, let’s just pretend you’re not double-crossing. What’s the plan?’ Sparks placed his hoof on his heart. ‘Please, just believe me. I wanted to get in contact with you sooner, but there were always guards around you, and you were always busy working—and so was I—so I never got the opportunity.’ ‘I wasn’t asking for excuses,’ Alces said, ‘I was asking for the plan.’ Sparks cleared his throat. ‘Alright then.’ He swallowed, as if some distant memory tortured his heart for a second. ‘Somepony whom I used to love very much explained the plan in detail to me. I know she can be trusted, although she is a bit of a… lovermare, so to speak. She gave me this.’ Sparks rummaged through a box next to him, and pulled out a shiny object. Alces recognized it. It looked like one of the vials of regeneration potion the unicorns gave him when he was being interrogated. ‘I know that stuff.’ ‘I hope you do, because I don’t,’ said Sparks. ‘This is supposed to make you feel better, but I wanted to wait to give it to you until you woke up.’ Alces frowned. ‘Wait, that’s the plan? Just mending me?’ ‘No, there’s more.’ Sparks placed the vial on a table. ‘She gave me a schedule which lists the times the guards are changed. According to her, you should be able to figure out a gap and see if you can slip away unnoticed.’ ‘Stealth was never my strong suit,’ Alces said, biting away a curse. ‘And how did she even get to such a schedule if she’s not a guard herself?’ ‘I’m not sure. I asked her the same thing, and she said she got it from another pony.’ Sparks swallowed something away. Was there a tear in the corner of his eye? ‘I don’t know who it is, but I guess he must be her newest plaything, so to speak.’ Alces used to fight for love. He could easily guess what Sparks insinuated. Yet, that wasn’t important right now, so he just said, ‘Continue.’ ‘Once you’re out on the streets, under the cover of night, you should head on over to the residential district, all the while keeping clear of the walls. She told me that was the only weak spot of the plan. As soon as you’re discovered, you’re toast.’ Alces glanced at his burned behind and back. ‘Love the metaphor,’ he said mockingly. ‘Is there more?’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Sparks said. ‘And yes, there is more. You should go to a house with green curtains, and knock on it like this.’ Sparks rapped his hoof on the edge of the wooden bed. ‘Three short knocks, three long ones, and then three short ones again.’ ‘But how do I know it is the right house? Surely there must be more houses with green curtains than just the one. And if I’d knock on the wrong door and somepony sees me, an elk, standing on his doorstep, I’ll be exposed anyway.’ Alces snorted. ‘I don’t like this plan at all. It’s overly complicated. Only my brother and his friends would be able to concoct up something like that.’ Sparks raised his hooves in the air. ‘Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the messenger.’ ‘Yeah, right.’ Alces shifted his weight. He placed his forehooves on the ground, and moved his hind hooves as well. Sparks wanted to help him stand up, but Alces shrugged his hoof away. ‘If I can’t even stand up, what’s the use of a plan?’ It took him some effort, but he finally managed to stand on his own hooves. ‘Great! We’re making progress,’ Sparks said. ‘But I still don’t know about this plan,’ Alces said. He was entirely focused on staying upright, and didn’t look at the smith. ‘In fact, the only part I like about it is the vial.’ He nudged with his head towards the potion. ‘Give it to me.’ Sparks grabbed the vial and wanted to hand it to Alces. ‘Does it look as if I have a free hoof?’ Alces snapped. ‘Uncork it and put it in my mouth.’ ‘But that is not according to the instructions.’ ‘What?!’ Alces’s fiery eyes met the smith’s gentle eyes. ‘Strawberry Bl—eh… I mean the pony who gave it to me said that it is very powerful. I should give you a few drops every day, so you can recover steadily and—’ ‘Just give me the damn vial,’ Alces said, his voice vicious and dangerous. ‘I’ll decide what’s good for me.’ ‘But, are you sure you—’ With remarkable speed, Alces snatched the vial out of the blacksmith’s hooves. He swayed a bit, but managed to stay upright. Then, he took the cork off the bottle, spit it out, and drank the contents of the vial with one big swig. Sparks said nothing, but took the empty vial once Alces was done with it. He had no idea how to react. For all he knew, Alces might have spoiled the whole operation. At first Alces felt nothing, just a nasty taste in his mouth. But then the potion started to work. A soft glow, not the painful heat of the smoldering coals, but more of a gentle sunrise, emanated from his stomach. It began to spread through his whole body. His head felt clearer, the colors and smells more vivid. Alces swore he could hear his very own heartbeats. The stumps where the dull sawblade had violently cut off the antlers got overgrown with a sensitive skin layer—a healthy sight for an elk. Then, the mysterious potion reached his forelegs. It felt as if his tired and worn-out muscles got replaced by a pair of new ones. He didn’t have much trouble staying upright now, and his hooves felt stronger and more powerful. His stomach was next. Where before he had suffered continuous hunger and there was always a knot in it, the potion acted like a good dinner—multiple good and nutritious dinners. The hunger dissipated, and he discovered that he wasn’t even thirsty at all. When the potion reached his hind hooves, replenishing the muscles and hardening the hooves, Alces looked at his cutie mark. Yes, the red skin turned into a more natural color. Yes, the blisters disappeared one by one. Yes, the pain and numbness vanished. Yet, his cutie mark didn’t reappear. However good the workings of the potion felt, the double equal sign scars held their place onto Alces’s flanks. Alces snorted. Some things were just too good to be true. He grinded his teeth. Alces wanted to test himself. Feeling renewed energy coursing through his veins, Alces jumped up and down, ran a few circles around the fireplace in the hut, knocked over one or two things with his bucks, and ignored the calls of Sparks. He felt good. He felt as if he had aged a couple of years in that single moment, and grown into a stronger and more mature bull. At last he stood still, shook his head on his powerful neck, and said to Sparks, ‘At least the potion isn’t some poison. I guess you can be trusted after all.’ Sparks stood open-mouthed and regarded the beast that stood in front of him now. From the sickly, tortured soul was nothing left. Now there was a tall, powerful elk in front of him, looking down upon him with an almost regal stature. ‘In all my years of treating burns, I have never seen anything heal somepony quite like that… And in all my years of strengthening metal, I have never seen a thing grow that strong that fast.’ He glanced back at the bottle on the table. ‘I wish you’d left something for me.’ ‘Too bad,’ said Alces. ‘But I will remember you, and find a way to get you out of here as well.’ Soothing as his words were, something very familiar suddenly reappeared inside of him. Alces felt the rage. It was easy turning his newfound energy into anger. He just had to think of the right things… or ponies. ‘I will do more than that,’ he said, growling as he spoke. ‘I will make sure this place will be taken down permanently. I will personally trample any guard unlucky enough to find himself in front of me, and I know very well where to start.’ The image of Brawn floated back into his mind. That one second where he had shown the branding iron to Alces and smiled that sickly, smooth smile resurfaced and dominated his mind completely. Sparks cleared his throat. He felt quite uncomfortable with Alces’s dark words. In fact, he felt so small now that he found himself stuttering. ‘W-w-well I don’t know about that, but I do know that you are in tiptop condition for an escape mission. Let’s take a look at the guards’ timetables my friend—eh, acquaintance gave me.’ He turned around and opened a few dressers. ‘I’m sure I hid it here somewhere…’ But Alces had other ideas. ‘You’re a blacksmith, right? Do you also have swords or spears?’ Sparks stopped searching and gazed at Alces. ‘Swords or spears? I’m a blacksmith, not a weapon smith.’ But then he realized what Alces was thinking. ‘Oh no. Oh no, no, no.’ ‘Yes,’ Alces said. ‘my antlers are gone, and I need a weapon. Give me anything with a tip and I will make it work for me.’ ‘But… But what about the plan?’ ‘To the Dark Elk with the plan!’ Alces said through clenched teeth. The rage had completely filled every limb he had, and he could feel how his eyes were ablaze. ‘I make my own plan, and it involves a sweet little revenge.’ ‘But that’s insane,’ Sparks said. ‘The very reason I gave you that potion was for you to run, not to shed more blood. Don’t you think you’ve had your fill of violence for the night?’ Alces shrugged his new, powerful shoulders. ‘Okay, forget it then. You’ve shown your usefulness, but now it’s time to take the matter between my own antlers.’ He looked up at his disarmed head. ‘I’ll find my own weapons. I’ll just take… this!’ He reached out and grabbed a brand new hoe between his teeth. ‘No, that was a rush order!’ said Sparks. ‘I helped you, and now you’re gonna steal from me too?’ For a second, just a tiny second, Alces tempered his rage. He let the hoe fall. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful for what you did. I will find a way to repay you, but this is hardly the time. Revenge first, repaying later. For now, I can only say, thank you.’ ‘You’re… welcome?’ Sparks said. Alces grabbed the hoe between his teeth and opened the door. ‘Farewell, smith,’ he said, and then disappeared outside. It was still night, but the sizzling light of the magical bubble did nothing to reveal that. Alces took two seconds too orient himself, and then galloped towards the hill. If Brawn would be anywhere, it would be in the guardhouse. It felt strange galloping with speed to the place where he barely escaped from with his life many days ago, but Alces knew it had to be done. There was a raging beast inside himself, and the only way to calm it down was by the defeat of that guardpony. And taking down his friends would be a nice bonus too. Alces zigzagged through the fields, galloping with strong jumps over the boardwalks. In every field he passed, pony slaves quit their work for a second to watch the enormous speeding animal. They said nothing, but silently rooted for Alces, even though they knew it would make no difference for them. Apparently, there weren’t many guards around. Alces reckoned there must be fewer guards on patrol at night. Good riddance. He was almost on the top of the hill, and could already see the wooden building that was the guardhouse. Just a few more bounds and he was there. Just a few more jumps and he could smack his hoe against a guard or two. He was already looking forward to it. He reached the top of the hill, and then he came to a halt. Before him, there were only ponies in blue uniforms. There were so many of them, Alces didn’t even have enough time to estimate how many. Maybe a hundred. They all stood together in orderly ranks. Their gazes were aimed at one guard standing on a stage, apparently giving a speech. Alces had three seconds to guess what they were doing before they spotted him. Were they listening to a leader? Were they training? Were they celebrating something? ‘What the hay is THAT?!’ the pony on the stage said, pointing in front of him. In one motion, all the guards turned around, and gazed at the lonely elk with the hoe in his mouth. But he saw him! Alces could see how a big unicorn with a beard stood in the middle of them all, pointing ahead and calling out to his compadres. The rage in his heart came to a boiling point. But then the ranks of guards closed, and his enemy was visible no more. One hundred ponies stood between him and his enemy. No matter how much rage he felt, no matter how strong and powerful he felt and whatever energy coursed through his veins, he was not going to win this battle. Alces would never forget how he felt at that moment. He felt like the dumbest elk in all of Equestria. He realized his tactical mistake, and it was a big one. The horns of the front ranks of guards glowed. They did a step forward, and took aim. With a shake of his head, Alces recovered his wits. He turned around and flew down the hill. The ground flashed away underneath his hooves, as he ran for his life. They were not going to capture him again. No way. He’d rather die. Luckily, even Alces, who was short for his kind, had longer and more agile legs than ponies. He managed to keep in front of the others as he raced along. Once again he jumped over fences and through fields with flabbergasted workers looking after him. Further down below, there was something going on. A whole throng of forced laborers was being guided into the sleeping barracks. There were a few guards too, who oversaw them. They heard frantic, galloping hooves coming their way, looked up, and spotted Alces Roameling. The first two guards took aim, focused, and fired their magic. One of the bolts missed, but the other hit Alces in the shoulder. For a second, Alces lost his footing, and he fell down. Yet he quickly scrambled up again, shrugging off the pain. It felt as if a whole swarm of flyders had stung him with paralyzing poison, but Alces just ignored it. He shook his legs, and moved on. That was something the guards hadn’t expected. Normally, whenever they shot something, it went down. They were too stunned to do anything, and both of them paid for that moment of distraction with a hoe in the face. Alces grinned as he heard their teeth break against the wood. Before him was still a ribbon of workers with some guards behind it, but Alces didn’t care. He took a few steps back, made a circle, and jumped over all of their heads. Both the guards as well as the workponies looked in awe at the enormous jump. But as soon as Alces landed again, rays of magic flashed and came down left and right of him. Behind him, the guards were shooting. Alces got an idea. He breathed in deep, and then shouted, ‘If you have any value for bravery and freedom, then help me!’ It worked. The workponies and slaves gathered themselves together. In large groups, they stood in front of the guards, blocking their field of view. A group of stallions even went as far as attacking the guards, who were outnumbered. Shouts and yells and punches and the sound of hoofsteps and magical spells resounded. Alces was tempted to look back, but decided to move on and spend his time in a more useful way. He knew there should be an entrance or exit close by. Alces saw no way of breaching a hole in the magical bubble like his brother had done, so escape should come in the form of one of the guarded entrances. He only hoped there wouldn’t be that many guards actually guarding the entrances. It was late, so maybe he was in luck…? He had reached the bottom of the hill. It wasn’t far now. Many stone pillars flanked him on either side, and on every pillar stood a unicorn, busy upholding the bubble with his or her magic. Alces was glad they were so concentrated and focused on their task. If they looked down, they would have an ideal spot on high ground to launch magical spells and stun rays towards him. But they didn’t. One long jump brought him in a field, and another out of it, over the fence. He was galloping on a stone walkway now, one of the big roads—a big road hopefully ending at one of the guarded entrances. Apple trees left and right obscured Alces’s vision for a moment, and only when he reached the end of the orchard did he see what lay in front of him: the way out. A platoon of guards, easily thirty of them, stood in front of the entrance, heels braced, horns towards him. With a screech, Alces came to a halt. He froze. That was not going to work. He quickly glanced left and right, but there were only more stone pillars and apple trees. He wondered for a second why the guards weren’t shooting at him yet, but then he got his answer when he looked back. Ponies in blue uniforms raced through the apple orchard, came to a halt behind Alces, and took the same waiting position. Alces snorted and bowed his head down, as if he were fighting another bull. How in Equestria did they gather up so quickly? Suddenly, a very familiar voice answered him. ‘Minor telepathy, humpback.’ When Alces looked closely, he saw how Brawn with his beard elbowed himself a way to the front of the platoon. ‘We learned from your pathetic rescue attempt, but I can’t say the same from you.’ ‘I came to teach you a lesson!’ Alces shouted, ‘and I am still planning to fulfill that promise.’ ‘Good luck with that, humpback,’ Brawn said. As they spoke, more ponies arrived and joined the platoons on either side. Alces was trapped between the jaws of a blue-uniformed beast. ‘Sir, shall we fire?’ one of the other guards asked Brawn. ‘No,’ Brawn said. ‘First I want to see to it that he surrenders. I love the sound of a good surrender in the evening air. It would make my day.’ ‘I’m not going back. You know that!’ said Alces. ‘We’ll see about that,’ said Brawn. ‘As soon as we have you, you’re mine again. As soon as we have you, you’ll be back where you belong, living a life of shame and torture. I’ll come visit you every day and who knows? We might become friends?’ As he talked, Alces scanned the surroundings. Trees. Stone pillars. Guards. A blocked entry. It didn’t seem he had many options left. He had no time left either, as Brawn started speaking again. ‘Fire at will on my command!’ he called. The front rank of ponies bent down, so that the rank behind it could fire over the shoulders of the front. Both the platoon in the orchard as the platoon at the entrance performed this maneuver. Alces almost had to shield his eyes from all the lightened horns. ‘Three!’ But there must be somewhere to go. ‘Two!’ Only his flanks were exposed. ‘One!’ What to do? ‘Fire!’ Alces made a decision. He braced himself, and jumped. Magical missiles sailed past him and over him, and he could hear some shouts from the guard platoons. The idiots had accidentally aimed at each other. Alces wanted to laugh about that, but one of the bolts hit him in the side. He had to shake the pain away, but then he moved on. He was now in the apple orchard. He reckoned now that there were some obstacles between himself and the guards, he might have a chance to come up with some clever idea. ‘No, you idiots!’ Brawn shouted. ‘Stay together and move in a line. He has nowhere to go!’ Alces zigzagged between the apple trees. Occasionally a bolt of magic whizzed past his ear and buried itself in the tree or the ground. Left and right, left and right. Alces tried to make himself as hard a target as he could, and it worked, because he didn’t get hit again. He looked over his shoulder. There was blue between the green of the trees. That was a mistake. Alces slammed at full speed against a wall. But he didn’t have time, shook himself, and got up. He had reached the end of the apple orchard. Before him was only a wall of pink, sizzling energy, upheld by the unicorns on the stone pillars. ‘A dead end, humpback! Now you come with me!’ Brawn and about a dozen other guards had reached Alces too. This time they didn’t wait, but shot immediately. Alces jumped, avoiding the bolts. As soon as he landed, he looked back at the shimmering membrane. Alas, no holes. ‘We upgraded our spells so we won’t fall for the same trick again, as you can see,’ said Brawn. He and his guards were not in a hurry, now that their prey was cornered. They leisurely walked closer, step by step, horns glowing. ‘We’re not as dumb as deer.’ Alces didn’t want to be dumb. He wanted to be clever. He wanted to have a creative solution now. He wanted his brother to be here, and whisper some plan in his ear that hadn’t even crossed his mind. Alces winced, as he realized that was exactly what had happened in the hut of the blacksmith. Only he had been so dumb as to ignore it completely. He blinked. Was there still a way to save the plan? Was there still a way to save himself? ‘Gotcha!’ Brawn fired a sizzling bolt of magic at Alces. Like a limbo dancer he ducked, so the bolt hit the membrane. It ricocheted off the magical sphere, and hit an apple tree right in front of Alces, leaving a stain on the brown wood. Alces followed the bolt, the tree, and his gaze went up. Then he realized what to do. ‘He’s moving! Fire!’ But Alces ignored the magic flying around him. He tossed the hoe in his mouth, and made for the apple tree. With one jump, he was in it. ‘Whoa!’ He’d always loved climbing hills and mountains, but trees were a whole different thing. The branches bent under his weight, and the tree swayed a bit. But it held. ‘What the hay is he doing?’ Brawn said. He and his guards galloped towards the tree as well. ‘Fire!’ Looking up, Alces picked out the next branch. He jumped, grabbed it, and pulled himself up. This branch was even thinner than the first, but Alces knew he had someway to go still. He tried to concentrate with the sizzling magic all around him. One more branch. He focused, bent through his knees, and jumped. ‘This is insane! Elks don’t climb trees!’ Brawn yelled. ‘Go on, after him!’ Some of the guards broke formation and tried to get up the tree as well, but their legs and their backs were too short to reach the first branches. They soon gave up, and instead fired straight upwards into the tree. ‘Ouch!’ Alces couldn’t help but yell and curse. One of the bastards hit him in the flank, right on the spot where he now bore the equal sign scars. His hooves slipped. Alces screamed. ‘GRAAAH!’ He forced his body to cooperate. Just one more jump and he’d be up. On top of the pillar. Brawn realized that too now. ‘He’s going for the pillar!’ The apple tree and the stone pillar were almost at the same height. Alces reckoned he could make it with one final jump, if he did it correctly. There was a pink unicorn on top of the pillar. Her eyes were closed, and her horn glowed. She was busy as a bee, and hadn’t even noticed the fight going on down below. ‘Shoot him! Shoot him!’ Brawn yelled. But he sounded more scared than amused now. Was he going to lose his favorite toy? Alces looked at the unicorn. He shifted the hoe in his mouth, until it was comfortable. Then he concentrated on the edge of the stone. One more jump. He stretched his legs, shaking the rest of the paralyzing magic out of them. This has to go right. His muscles tensed, he braced himself, and jumped. Almost. His forehooves managed to grab the stone platform that made up the top of the pillar. His body slammed into the side, almost making him drop the hoe. Alces gritted his teeth. His hind hooves swung in the air, but he had to make them work. He scrambled against the side of the pillar, and, focusing all his strength and rage and energy into his revitalized forelegs, pulled himself up. Magical bolts slammed into the stone of the pillar. ‘He’s there! He’s on top of the pillar!’ Brawn yelled in disbelief. ‘Bring down the pillar. Everyone, focus on the pillar!’ ‘But what about the unicorn on top?’ said one guard. ‘I don’t care about him—or her. I want that elk. NOW!’ ‘You can’t be serious?!’ the guard said. ‘There is a living pony on top of that, and you want us to let her tumble down?’ ‘Yes!’ While the guards were bickering amongst themselves, Alces took his chance. ‘Catch!’ he shouted down, as he took the hoe, curled it around the unicorn’s hooves, and jerked her off the platform. She screamed and yelled as her concentration was broken and she tumbled down. There was a thud, but whether the guards had been able to catch her or not, Alces couldn’t care less. With the unicorn gone, the shield started dissolving right in front of the pillar. Break one link, and the chain is useless, Alces thought by himself. But the hole wasn’t big. It didn’t reach all the way down. Also, Alces had no idea if there would be leaves or something else to break his fall on the other side, the side of freedom. This was the dicey part of his panic-woven plan. He had to take the leap of faith. ‘He’s not gonna jump,’ Brawn said, although he uttered the words with the intonation of a question, and not a confirmation. ‘He’s not gonna jump. No way. He can’t be that crazy. He’s not gonna jump. Oh no.’ Alces jumped. It all went in slow motion. He could see the guards beneath, bathed in light from the magical bubble. Then he saw the edge of the bubble. Then he saw nothing, as he entered the nightly darkness and his eyes needed time to adjust. WHAM! Alces hit something. Something soft and stringy tickled his fur like fresh summer grass, and then he sacked through the stuff. He slammed belly-first onto the floor of the house. The room was dimly lit by a fire, and three ponies sat at a table, being rudely interrupted from their supper. They gasped as they looked upon the intruder. ‘What is that creature?’ ‘I think it’s a… stallion?’ ‘What the hay are you doing here?’ Alces saw stars, but he didn’t have time. He snorted, grunted, and shook his head to chase the stars away. His belly hurt, and he knew he had strained his legs, but even for pain he had no time. He only used two seconds to look up and spot the hole in the straw roof. Then he looked for his weapon, grabbed it in his mouth, and headed towards the door. Leaving the flabbergasted family to judge for themselves, he entered the streets of Scribbler’s City.