“I’m still not so sure about this,” Hector said. He walked aside Florina, axe clutched firmly in hand.
“I know, I’m nervous about it too,” Florina whispered, her javelin similarly secured in her grip. “But… I have faith in her.”
Hector glanced up at the butter yellow pegasus walking ahead of them on the trail, the fox, ‘Rusty’ perched on her back. Behind them, the rest of the ponies along with Serra, Oswin, and Huey kept pace. Everyone was quiet save for their footsteps, just as he’d ordered.
To the group’s left was a swamp filled with murky water, twisting trees, and probably more dangerous creatures than they could count. To their right was a tall, near vertical cliffside. They were boxed in, essentially. Any bandits waiting for travelers would have plenty of places to hide in the swamp, or they could easily drop a few boulders upon them from atop the cliff. The limited space to fight on the trail was bad enough on its own, but having one of his charges out in front of him — where he couldn’t protect her as easily — made things worse.
“Keep your eyes up in case we get attacked from above,” he ordered. “I’ll keep watch over the swamp.”
“Okay,” Florina whispered.
Hector’s eyes scanned the swampland with fervor, checking behind each and every tree that they passed for hiding bandits. He did a double take every time he thought he saw the telltale glint of sunlight off of an archer’s arrowhead, but closer inspections revealed nothing unusual; more likely his mind playing tricks on him.
He was starting to regret agreeing to the plan. If anything happened to Fluttershy, it would fall on his head, regardless of the fact that she was willingly putting herself in possible harm’s way. All it would take is for a well-hidden sniper behind a tree to line up a good shot and, while he would hear the twang of the bow and know how to react, with how Fluttershy was positioned he wasn’t sure he’d be able to push her out of the way in time. All the more reason to keep his eyes peeled among the treeline.
The group eventually came to a fork in the trail. The left path led straight into the swamp while the right path curved around the cliff, leading over a series of rocky mountains. Beyond those mountains lay the vast plains of Sacae and, eventually, Ilia.
“We go right,” he announced to the group.
“Oh, are ya now?”
Hector froze. At his side, he heard Florina let out a small terrified gasp as did the ponies behind him. In front, Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks, but he couldn’t see her facial reaction to the voice.
A man stepped from behind a tree right at the fork and it only took one glance at him for Hector to immediately tell he was a bandit: ragged clothes, mussed hair, unshaven beard, scars across his face, and especially the low-quality iron axe held in his right hand. He rolled his head around before doing the same with his shoulder blades, apparently needing to work out some kinks from sitting in one place for so long. He then began inspecting the group, his mouth splitting into a sinister grin.
“So, you lot wanna pass through here, eh?” he asked in a gravelly tone. He held out his free hand. “Gonna have to pay the toll then.”
Hector gripped his axe even tighter. Where there was one bandit, even more were sure to follow. They were probably hiding just out of sight within the trees to their left. Hector spared a very brief glance behind him— Oswin was scanning the treeline behind the supply wagon, watching for a rear ambush. He also saw that the ponies were tense; Rainbow Dash and Applejack, especially, were glaring fiercely at the bandit. Twilight’s expression was more subdued, but she looked no less prepared for a skirmish to break out.
“We just want to pass through here,” Fluttershy said, drawing the bandit’s attention to her. “So please, would you kindly move out of the way?” She kept her tone sweet and polite.
The bandit looked at her curiously, frowning. He glanced up to meet Hector’s gaze. “Is this some idea of a jape?” he asked. “Putting a little lass out front thinking she’s gonna make me stand down?”
Hector grit his teeth. He ventured to take a step forward, his second thoughts starting to win the war in his mind.
The bandit looked back to Fluttershy. “Listen here, lass, you’d best get back and let the adults handle this.” His smile returned and he lifted his axe up to his shoulder. “You wouldn’t want that sweet little smile to be severed in two, now would you?”
Hector took another step forward, raising his own axe.
“We won’t be paying you anything,” Fluttershy said with firm conviction.
The bandit sneered. “Should’ve watched your mouth, lass.”
He stepped forward and, to Hector’s bewilderment and panic, Fluttershy actually stepped forward in turn, approaching the bandit seemingly with no hesitation or force of will. He rushed to put himself between the two.
“You’re a brave lass, you are,” the bandit said, readying his axe as they neared each other. “But mostly stupid.”
Hector decided he had to use his axe as a projectile. Rearing back, he took aim for the bandit’s head.
“Stop. Right. Where. You are.”
Suddenly, the bandit froze in place, his axe still raised over his head. An expression of raw terror overcame his features as his gaze locked squarely onto Fluttershy and his body began to quake as if his legs were on the verge of buckling under his own weight. The axe fell from his hand, hitting the ground with a dull thud and kicking up some dirt.
Hector blinked. He lowered his own axe, but still kept it firmly clutched in his hand. His attention was suddenly pulled to the treeline by a flicker of movement. Darting his eyes to the spot, he saw an elbow sticking out from behind a tree. Looking between several more trees revealed several more human shapes; six in total, but there could have easily been more in hiding. He didn’t see any evidence of them carrying bows, which at least made things less precarious.
The bandit in front of Fluttershy — that Hector assumed was their leader — took a few steps back, arms raised in a feebly placating manner. “Wh-what is this?” he stuttered. “What the blasted hell are you doing?”
“Now listen to me, Buster.” Fluttershy’s voice, before sweet and polite, was now commanding and stern. “We don’t owe you any money; you don’t own this land.”
Hector heard surprised gasps come from the group behind him. He glanced back and forth between the hiding bandits and Fluttershy, debating whether he could venture forward without provoking action from the bandits. Curiosity won out and he walked around so he could see Fluttershy’s face.
It was as if he was looking at a completely different person. He froze stiff in his tracks as soon as he met Fluttershy’s eyes as if he’d suddenly been turned into a statue. Her gaze had turned stern and hardened, glaring at the bandit with an intensity that seemed impossible for the shy pegasus.
What shook him to the core was something he couldn’t pin down. Something intangible. It was as if Fluttershy’s stare was manifesting as a physical power, putting a weight on his willpower that he couldn’t hope to shake off. He wanted to move forward, to get between the two of them, but his body simply wouldn’t respond. All he could do was stand still and watch as Fluttershy edged closer to the bandit, keeping up her stare the entire time.
“Now listen to me,” she ordered. A frightened gasp came from the bandit. “You’re going to stand aside and let me and my friends pass unharmed. We mean none of you any harm, so we expect the same from all of you. Do I make myself clear, mister?”
The bandit stepped back. Visible beads of sweat trickled down his face and his lips trembled. His visage had been reduced to that of a cowering child.
“I...I…” he trailed off.
“That girl is a she-demon!” called a voice from the trees. “Boss! Snap out of it!”
The rest of the bandits burst from the trees, their faces masks of fear mixed with disgust. Hector broke free of his paralysis and rushed to Fluttershy’s side, quickly being joined by Florina. The two of them formed a protective wall in front of the pegasus, watching as the bandits rushed to their leader’s side and tried to coax him out of his paralysis.
One of the bandits turned to face the group, glaring daggers between Hector and Florina at Fluttershy. “That girl should be burned at the stake.”
Hector opened his mouth to respond, but Fluttershy stuck her head between them to face the bandit. “You’re going to let us go free,” she stated.
The bandit’s eyes widened and his body froze in place, a fearful grimace crossing his face. Hector didn’t look back at Fluttershy, knowing he would just get caught up in her stare again. He did glance over to her friends, Oswin, and Serra. The ponies had expressions ranging from excited to concerned, Oswin looked pensive, and Serra appeared to be warring with herself between horrified and intrigued.
The bandit leader was finally brought back to his senses, his visage calm and composed, though now he refused to look at Fluttershy. He instead locked eyes with Hector.
“We don’t need to fight,” Hector said loud enough for everyone to hear. “But make no mistake, if you insist on pushing us than we will return the favor. And mark my words, we will win.”
The bandit leader growled. He picked up his axe and started to raise it again only to let out a choked, frightened gasp. Hector assumed Fluttershy had drawn his attention to her powerful stare again.
“You…” he trailed off again.
A thick silence descended among everyone. The only audible sound was the rustling of leaves as a light wind blew through the swamp. In his eye’s corner, Hector saw Florina’s arms trembling. He looked over to see that, while her face bore ironclad determination, everything else about her posture was unsteady. It made sense; she’d never fought legitimate ground-based combat before. He wanted to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, to provide some encouragement to his wife that she could do this, but doing so would be a sign of weakness. Begrudgingly, he let her quake in her boots, deciding he would talk it over with her once the situation was resolved and they were all safe.
Finally, the bandit leader gave an irritated sigh before turning to his henchmen. “Pull back, boys,” he ordered, lowering his axe to his side. “A couple of coins ain’t worth the trouble of dealing with a she-demon.”
The rest of the bandits turned to their leader in shock. “B-b-but boss, she’s just a girl!”
“She’s something else entirely, boys,” the leader replied. He turned to give Hector and Florina a sour look. “And an even greater problem with the rest of them here.” He propped the axe over his shoulder and turned around. “Back to the hideout, men. We’re done here.”
He turned and began making his way back into the swamp. The rest of the bandits watched him go with incredulous looks. “But boss—”
“Have you no ears!?” the leader called. “I said we’re falling back!”
“He’s right,” the second bandit who Fluttershy had used her power on said. He began following their leader, giving Fluttershy a wary look as he turned around. “That girl really is something else entirely.”
A few surprised mutters passed between the rest of the bandits, but eventually, they began to fall in step behind the first two, giving the group frustrated glares as they passed. Soon enough they disappeared into the swamp, out of sight from the group. With their departure, the trail once again felt comfortably deserted.
The group was silent for a minute as they waited to see if the bandits would come back in a surprise ambush. Then another minute passed. Nothing happened.
“So, did we win?” Rainbow ventured to ask.
“Looks that way, Dash,” Applejack said.
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow shouted with glee. Hector turned to see her rush over to Fluttershy, wrapping her hooves around the other pegasus. Both he and Florina stepped back to grant them some space. “Fluttershy, that was awesome!”
“That was amazing!” Twilight said as she and Applejack came forward to join their friends. “And moreover, now we know The Stare won’t break the illusion spell, so it could be very useful to us on the rest of our journey.”
“Sure gave those varmints quite a scare,” Applejack said. A sly grin crossed her muzzle. “Makes me think you came along just for that reason.”
Fluttershy’s cheeks flushed. “Well, not really, b-but I’m glad I could help.”
Serra, Oswin, and Huey joined the rest of the group. “That was some strange magic you used, Fluttershy,” Serra remarked. “And wow, I had no idea you could be so assertive.”
“Heh, you haven’t seen the half of what Fluttershy can do.” Rainbow rubbed her hoof against Fluttershy’s head, messing up her mane— Hector assumed the action was meant to be playful. “She may not be the strongest flier in Equestria, nor really good at weather-working, but Fluttershy’s strong in her own way.”
Fluttershy’s blush grew at the comment.
Florina turned to Hector. “What do you think, Hector? Might we allow Fluttershy to lead the way on the rest of our journey?”
Everyone turned to Hector with expectant stares. Fluttershy’s, in particular, was brimming with hope.
Hector considered the risks. He was impressed by Fluttershy’s power and resolve on display just now. No doubt, any bandits they came across could easily be pushed aside by her ‘Stare’ without resorting to violence. But not all bandits were as cordial as the ones they’d just met. The danger was still too high for his liking.
Uther had once said that compromise was a critical aspect of leading a country. A good ruler would seek out a solution that could at least partially satisfy all parties involved in a dispute. Thinking it over, Fluttershy didn’t seem the sort to mind extra protection.
“Very well, I’ll allow her to continue using her power.” Before anyone could reply, he held up a hand for silence. “But Florina and I will be providing her with extra protection. We can’t trust every bandit horde we come across to speak before attacking.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I understand, Hector.”
“Hey, maybe we should see if we can find some armor for Fluttershy?” Rainbow suggested, nudging Fluttershy’s chest in another gesture Hector assumed to be playful in nature. “Who knows? Maybe it’d make you look attractive.” She gave another sly grin.
Fluttershy’s eyes shrank to pinpricks while her blush expanded to her entire face. “I-well-I’m not…”
Rainbow laughed and patted her on the back. “Just kidding around with you, girl.”
“I doubt we’ll be able to find any armor that fits you,” Oswin spoke up. “All the armor plates forged to fit onto equines are oversized for your smaller frames and we wouldn’t be able to commission one without your identities being uncovered.”
“Florina and I will suffice for protection,” Hector stated. He lowered his axe to his side, turning around to face the fork in the path. “Let’s get moving; we should reach Sacae within a day or two. After that, we’ll be a little over halfway to Remi in Ilia.”
“Wait, you mean we aren’t even halfway there yet right now!?” Rainbow wailed.
“No, we’re not,” Hector affirmed. Rainbow Dash was starting to get on his nerves a little with her complaining. Funny, then, how Serra, easily the most spoiled and narcissistic person he’d ever known, was being surprisingly mature about the journey at the same time. “But we’ll get there faster as long as nothing else comes to slow us down. Now let’s move.”
The group fell into step behind him, Florina, and Fluttershy as they turned right at the fork. Hector kept to Fluttershy’s right while Florina kept to her left.
Every time Fluttershy came into his peripheral vision, he felt a spike of anxiety rise within him. He could still feel the lingering effect of The Stare in him, clutching at his willpower like the ice-cold hand of death itself, strangling it. As bad as it was for him, he couldn’t begin to imagine how bad the bandit leader had gotten it. He almost felt sorry for the poor bastard.
What other surprises might the ponies have in store for them, he wondered.