The deeper into the forest you went, the darker it got. And as the shade of the surrounding timber changed, so did the timbre of the sounds that pervaded the unseen woods. On the edge of the forest, familiar sparrows and squirrels chittered amongst the treetops while the deeper woods gave way to toadish growls and the hoots of owls and exotic birds, calling sharply to each other. Ravens cawed above the canopy and occasionally, something hidden would crash through the thick undergrowth; all these sounds muffled by the dense foliage, like the forest itself was trying to drown out its occupants.
The tiger walked on completely silent. Each of his paws reached out and caressed the ground before slowly drawing the body behind. The big cat made it look easy, but the over abundance of ligature and muscle movement gave each step the impression of a deliberate and laboured approach.
Remedy and Sunny walked behind quietly, occasionally cantering to keep up with the long stride of the tiger. Sunny had been uncharacteristically quiet. Her ears and head swivelled like lighthouse beacons but never managed to pinpoint the unseen stalkers she was sure were out there.
“How far is it to the next stop?” Sunny whispered into Remedy’s ear.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been there before,” Remedy whispered back.
The tiger stopped suddenly, his body frozen mid step. Both of the ponies stumbled to a slightly less sudden stop. His body fell into a low crouch behind a fallen log, and his shoulders wiggled back and forth.
Remedy and Sunny shared a fearful glance, then crouched and peered into the darkness ahead.
A twig snapped in the undergrowth followed by the quiet rustling of leaves. The tiger’s head bobbed ever so slightly, his ears scanning back and forth in a narrow sweep, honing in on a particular patch of forest.
There was another crunch of brush and a series of shrill grunting noises. A piglet pushed out onto the path, grunting miserably to itself. It rooted about at the base of a tree.
“Ohhh, a cute baby piggy!” Sunny coo’ed.
The piglet’s head snapped up and it spun around. It saw the colourful ponies peering over a log and sniffed the air. Then it gave a frightened squeal and bolted into the bushes.
The tiger tensed, and its fur bristled. After a moment he sighed and the tension left his shoulders, but his tail twitched.
“Did you do that deliberately?” he growled. He glared back over his shoulder at Sunny.
Sunny blinked at the tiger’s angry expression. “What? What did I do?”
“I think you, uh… interrupted him,” said Remedy, quietly.
“Interrupted? What – you mean? But it’s just a baby!” Sunny protested.
The tiger gave a dismissive snort and ambled away.
“Hey, HEY!” Sunny snapped.
Remedy grabbed Sunny to stop the angry mare from charging.
“That’s evil! You can’t just kill little kids!” she spat.
The tiger chuckled morbidly. “It was too young to be without its mother, it is either lost or orphaned. It is only a matter of time. Fear not, it won’t starve to death.”
“What did you say? What did he say, Remedy?” Sunny demanded, her blood fairly up.
“Calm down, Sunny. It got away. That’s all that matters. Drop it, you’re not going to change his mind by being angry at him.”
Sunny pouted and grumbled some things very unbecoming of a civil pony. They rejoined the slow march behind the tiger. Sunny stomped along behind Remedy and glared at the tiger ahead, willing him to feel her fiery gaze; but if he did, he didn’t show it.
The path meandered through the forest. The path itself was only barely visible and often disappeared beneath curling ferns or broad leathery leaves. Along the trail, at fairly regular intervals, small patches of Wild Dark Bell grew in the dim shadows and Remedy wondered what poor creature had met its end here to leave a gravestone of bitter black flowers.
“Must you be so noisy?” the tiger hissed suddenly.
“Pardon?” Remedy blinked.
“You too, but your companion is practically deafening.”
“Oh. Uh, Sunny? He said we have to be quieter,” Remedy repeated.
“Oh, too loud am I? I hope I’m not frightening away any more potential meals,” Sunny drawled with a frankly toxic quantity of sarcasm.
The tiger turned and sat on his haunches. His tail twitched. “Undoubtedly, but that is the least of my concerns.”
“I sure hope no helpless critter can hear me talking to this hungry predator,” she continued with comic volume, slapping a hoof against a stone sending loud ringing clops that echoed off the surrounding trees.
The tiger’s eye twitched, and one lip curled, briefly flashing a large fang. He quickly forced composure, but his tail continued to twitch dangerously.
“It would behove you to listen well my little prey. There are things in this forest besides piglets and possums, and your frankly astonishing lack of sense and alarming proclivity for careless noise are the dinner bell for more than wolf or feline,” he growled.
Sunny glared defiantly at the tiger and continued to slowly, deliberately, slap her hoof against the stone.
Remedy glanced nervously between the two. She grabbed Sunny’s hoof before it could strike the stone again. “S-Sunny, we should really be quiet – just in case.”
“Pfft, in case of what? Another hapless piglet, or a bunny?” She levelled an accusing frown at Remedy.
“Perhaps if she listened instead of filling her head with her own noise,” the tiger quipped.
“She can’t understand you. Only I can,” Remedy retorted.
“Oh? Well that’s just vexing. I can hear her every mewling diatribe.”
“Sunny, he said to be quiet because there might be something more dangerous out there.”
“And you believe him!? Here we are with a cat the size of a cow and he says we should be quiet because he’s scared?”
The tiger’s tail stopped and his lip curled.
“Sunny, don’t...”
“Don’t what? Call him out for just wanting to eat every poor critter smaller than him. He’s a monster and a coward.” Sunny pulled her hoof away from Remedy.
A low growl bubbled from the tiger.
“No. He knows the woods. We should listen...” Remedy protested.
“To him!? Don’t be fooled, Remedy. He only has one thing on his mind. Either that or he’s a puss…”
The tiger roared and his limbs unfolded like an accordion, leaping the distance between them in a single pounce. Sunny shrieked and Remedy grabbed her protectively. The tiger pulled up short, his lips were pulled back into a vicious snarl, revealing long fangs and sharp teeth. Hot meaty breath poured out over them and his piercing eyes glared through narrow slitted pupils. One paw held to the side of their heads; claws extended.
Sunny shook under her hood, her hooves held over her head. Remedy held her tightly, her face buried into Sunny’s mane and her back shielding against the tiger.
The tiger cut off his trailing growl with a snort. “And I’m a coward? Fine, have it your way.” He bounced away from them and disappeared into the darkness.
Sunny whimpered and Remedy sighed. Remedy pulled away and fell onto her back, her hooves covering her face. Sunny continued to shiver in her robes.
“Sunny – why?” Remedy groaned.
Sunny sniffed back frightened tears beneath the privacy of her hood.
“Why did you antagonise him like that?” Remedy continued, climbing to her hooves. She stood and turned in a slow circle, utterly lost.
“I-I couldn’t help it,” Sunny mumbled.
“That was really dumb.”
Sunny flashed an angry glare. Tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes. “Why are you mad at me? You should be furious with him. Did you know what he was going to do before?”
Remedy hesitated then looked away.
“You did? Then why didn’t you do something. Were you just going to stand there?”
“Look, I just– It’s their way, Sunny. What am I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know, how about anything!?” Sunny snapped angrily.
Remedy paced and tossed her mane, muttering. “You don’t understand. This is just how it is here. Did you forget; we’re not in Ponyville anymore. I don’t get it. An hour ago you were so busy shaking in your shoes you could barely walk. Now you’re throwing shade on the biggest cat you’ve ever seen. Aren’t you scared any more?”
Sunny gave Remedy a very serious stare. “That was a piglet, Remedy. A baby. And I’ve seen what happens to bunnies. Don’t you get it? They don’t care. It’s all just meat to them. I am still scared, Remedy. Really scared. But I’m more afraid of what I’d become if I didn’t stand up for helpless critters.”
Remedy hesitated then bowed her head. “I-I’m sorry, Sunny. It’s just… Look, I don’t want you to become heartless, but we also have to be mindful too. He’s probably right about there being bigger and nastier things out here, and that scares me. If it’s not one of the carnivore tribes, my seal won’t matter.”
Sunny marched up to Remedy and grabbed her in a sudden hug that almost pulled Remedy of her hooves. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said those things to the tiger. I was just so angry, and when you didn’t seem concerned about it – it made me angrier.” Sunny pulled back from the hug and held Remedy at length. “I worry about you. I worry that you’re getting used to this. Nopony should get used to this.”
Remedy gave a small defeated smile and looked away. Sunny frowned.
“C’mon, let’s just get moving, I think we’ve made enough noise here,” said Remedy.
The forest responded to her careless taunt by eliciting an alarming cracking of branches from the darkness behind them. They both yelped and hurried away along the path.
Remedy tried to avoid the stones but the crawling foliage obscured her steps. She winced each time the hard nail of her hooves found stone and rang, deafening, in her ears. Sunny whimpered quietly behind. Her wings twitched, eager to take flight, but the low branches and curling vines banished her fancies and kept her well grounded. Behind them the alarming creaking and occasional splinter of wood or crash of brush persisted.
Remedy tried to keep up her pace while maintaining a modicum of discretion. They were being tracked, but not pursued – yet – and she was worried a full gallop might give whatever was following them the final notice they needed.
They wound their way down into a small ravine and splashed through a shallow brook before scrambling up the other side. Remedy paused at the top to look back. The trees grew a little taller, and the ravine gave her enough vantage to spy on the opposite bank. She cringed when she saw a ripple of movement through the undergrowth. A series of shuddering shrubs telegraphed the movement of several unseen creatures, loosely tracking their freshly trodden path.
Sunny gave a startled shriek as her wet hooves slipped on the clay bank. Remedy reached out and grabbed her hoof before she could slide away. The shifting undergrowth paused, and several sets of alarmingly luminescent yellow eyes peered out. Remedy gasped and pulled Sunny quickly over the edge of the embankment.
There was a sound somewhere between a howl and a bandsaw. The forest floor shuddered as multiple creatures crashed through the brush.
“RUN!” yelled Remedy. She yanked Sunny to her hooves and tore down the path.
They both bolted down the trail. Leaves and vines whipped past, clawing at their coats and tripping their hooves. Behind them the unnatural roaring, growling, and crackling foliage rolled after them like an avalanche.
Remedy burst into a small muddy clearing and slid to a halt. Sunny burst through and smacked into her back.
“WHY’D YOU STOP?” she yelled, frantically trotting on the spot. Behind her the roaring and crashing closed in.
“I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO GO!” Remedy cried back, frantically spinning around, looking for any other path out of the clearing.
“Perhaps your piglet can save you?” a cruel voice crooned from above.
The girls shrieked and looked up. In the heavy branches above, the tiger lounged with an irritating degree of self-satisfaction. He smirked at the panic stricken ponies with a wicked grin.
Behind them a low branch in the dim near-distance snapped free and tumbled into the writhing forest brush.
“I hope you can climb,” crooned the tiger, casually flicking his tail.
“Sunny, into the tree!” Remedy yelped and reared up, scrabbling uselessly against the bark.
Sunny grabbed Remedy around the barrel and yelped, spinning away. The box on Remedy’s back buzzed angrily.
“Remedy!” Sunny pleaded, hovering in the air and glancing at the forest.
The undergrowth at the edge of the clearing exploded. Sticks and freshly torn plant matter burst into the clearing obscuring angry yellow eyes.
Remedy yanked the belly strap holding her bags and let them tumble to the ground. Sunny snatched her up and with a powerful thrust of her wings launched them into the thick low branches, snarling hunger snapping at their heels. Remedy landed heavily on the branch, almost knocking the wind from her lungs. She hugged the branch for dear life and slowly pulled herself up. Sunny scrambled up behind her, shaking, her wings trembling from adrenaline and fear.
Below them, twin yellow-green beacons of chaotic magic glared up, and sinuous green arcane ligatures flapped the splintered, toothy maws of a pair of timberwolves.
“Well done,” the tiger mocked, clapping together the soft pads of his paws slowly.
Remedy gasped, catching her breath. Below the timberwolves barked and circled slowly. One tried to climb the trunk but gave up, the other tried a leap, but found it wanting. So they settled for circling the ground like hungry sharks.
“What now?” said Remedy through haggard breaths.
“Now, we wait,“ said the tiger coolly and somehow managed to lounge even more intensely on the twisted bough.
“Are you ok, Sunny?” asked Remedy, craning her head back over her shoulder, not game enough to release her grip on the branch.
“I think so,” Sunny wheezed. “That was too close for comfort. I think I might actually be having a heart-attack,” she chuckled.
Remedy gave a slightly manic laugh, “Well if you fall back down, can you get my bags?”
Sunny giggle-snorted. Remedy chuckled. They both burst into laughter. The tiger watched them with amused curiosity.
The timberwolves circled for a while, occasionally checking to see if the trunk was now climbable. It was not. After a while, one of them grew bored and started to sniff at Remedy’s bags.
Remedy watched it curiously. ‘No meat in there, but it doesn’t really matter if they take the bags. As long as the box is sealed…’ she thought to herself.
The timberwolf nipped at the box, then chewed it. There was a scraping sound and a shallow scratch was carved into the top of the ornate box.
“What! The magic. It’s not affecting them,” said Remedy, alarmed.
“Perhaps because they are wood, and so is the box,” the cat mused, idly.
“No no no no. We have to stop them. They can’t take the box. Please, you have to help.”
The tiger raised an eyebrow. “Why, what’s in it?”
“I-I don’t know. It’s a gift for the council. A peace offering. Please – Don Zemar; he’s your king right? This is also a gift for him. Surely that’s worth something to you?”
“Hrm,” the cat pondered laboriously.
Below, the second timberwolf grew curious and now challenged the first for a turn at chewing the box. The first growled and greedily protected the box between its paws.
“It could be,” the tiger finally conceded, “but it would be too dangerous for me alone.”
“Oh c’mon. You’re twice their size, and surely they’re not as dangerous as real wolves!”
“Ah, but there are not two of them.” He pointed an extended claw to a bush on the outskirts. A pair of yellow glints twinkled in the dark. “And timber wolf mouths are full of disease and rot. Can’t you smell it? A single bite could end your life from infection alone.”
Remedy looked down anxiously at the growling timber wolves and bit her lip.
A wicked grin crawled onto the tiger’s face. “But, I suppose I could take on two if I got the drop on them. You both would have to take on the third.”
“Take on a timberwolf!?” Remedy squawked.
“Wait, take THEM on?” Sunny parroted from behind. “Are you crazy!? We can’t fight timberwolves. Look at them!”
“W-we can’t. We don’t have teeth or claws,” Remedy protested
“And they don’t have flesh or bone. I’d argue your teeth are more suited than mine. Besides, blunt trauma works best for timberwolves. But, if your box isn’t worth the risk…” the tiger trailed off, a blissful smile playing on his face.
The second timberwolf made his play, snatching at the box. The first grabbed it and they began a growling tug-of-war.
“H-How would we do it?” Remedy asked, her anxiety rising as the box bucked back and forth between the snarling timberwolves.
The tiger grinned like a cheshire cat. He stretched, stood up and, gathering his paws tightly under him, turned around on the narrow branch. He sauntered over to Remedy like a supermodel, each step causing the bough to bounce and creak. The timberwolves noticed and dropped the box, swarming under the branch and barking again.
Remedy gave a squeak and clutched the branch more tightly. Bobbing with the massive tiger’s jaunt.
The tiger lowered itself in front of Remedy. “It’s easy,” he crooned. “They are just plants. Kill the root, and you kill the tree.”
He dragged the back of a claw across Remedy’s foreleg. “The timber on the outside is just dressing; a dead skin. Inside there is a living seed. The root.”
The tiger poked Remedy in the chest with a pointed claw. “At the base of the throat, just above the breast. Inside there is a berry wreathed in magic. Shatter the bone of its armour, tear out its heartwood, pluck out it’s living core and crush it,” – he mimed tearing out Remedy’s throat with an extended claw and finished by clenching it into a fist – “simple.”
Remedy gulped. “You forgot the part about don’t get yourself killed.”
“Preferably – don’t even get bit. But you should be fine. There will be two against one and they are easily distracted. Plus you are wrapped in Aleena’s favour. I cannot say the same for myself.”
The growling below subsided, and the timberwolves, losing interest, wandered back to the box.
“Now or never, little prey.”
Remedy looked at the box and gulped. She gave a nervous nod to the tiger.
He smiled. “Well then. Appraise your friend, your target is the one waiting in the bushes. Hurry now, follow my lead.”
“Sunny!” Remedy whispered over her shoulder. “We’re going to attack the timberwolves.”
“Are you serious!” she hissed back. “We barely escaped them in the first place.”
“I know, but we need to rescue the gift. The tiger will take out these two, but there’s one more hiding in the bushes on the far side.”
“There’s more!?”
“Now or never little filly,” the tiger crooned. He draped his body low over the branch and rolled his shoulders with a grin.
“Sunny, just try and distract it.”
“Wait, no! What are you…”
The tiger fell as silent as the first drop of rain in a spring shower and the timberwolf didn’t have a chance. It gave a startled yelp as its spine was crushed into the ground under five hundred pounds of feline muscle with a sickening crunch.
The other timberwolf dropped the box and circled the tiger, snarling. The hidden one burst from the shrubbery and raced to flank.
“Any day now,” the tiger called out.
“Oh Celestia save me!” Remedy whimpered, then threw herself at the oncoming timberwolf.
Her aim was sloppy, and she fell with all the grace of a plate of spilled pancakes. But the timberwolf was focused on the big cat and didn’t notice the pink earth pony falling out of the tree. Remedy collided with it heavily. Not a direct hit, but enough momentum to send it sprawling. She rolled along the ground and gathered herself up. Her leg complained sharply, but she was otherwise alive. The timberwolf recovered quickly. A dull green glow around its body adjusted some of the heavy bark shingles back into place. Its eyes flared with new fervour. It snarled and charged.
“Sunny, help!” Remedy shrieked, back pedalling quickly.
Sunny screamed as she dove down onto the charging shrub’s back. She wrapped one hoof around its neck, and the other covering its eyes.
The timberwolf yelped in surprise and veered off course, slamming into the tree trunk. Sunny screamed like a banshee – a thousand terrified shrieks and curses – adding to the poor timberwolf’s confusion and discontent. It bounced away, bucking and spinning around the clearing.
“Just hold on!” Remedy shouted.
The timberwolf jerked it’s head free of Sunny’s blinding hoof. It snarled and twisted it’s neck, snapping at her. Sunny shrieked. Trying to hold onto the beast’s neck while holding her head as far away as she could.
Remedy blindsided the timberwolf with a buck, shattering its front leg. It yelped and toppled over onto the ground, squashing Sunny underneath. It squirmed and kicked, trying to right itself. Sunny squealed and flattened her wings against the ground holding the beast flat on its back, her legs wrapped around its neck and belly.
“That’s it, hold it there,” Remedy shouted. She pounced on the timberwolf pinning its remaining foreleg with a hoof.
It snapped and snarled at her, but Sunny strained and tightened her grip on its neck, holding its head back.
Remedy smashed a hoof onto the timberwolf’s chest, cracking the wooden plates. Sunny gasped as the wind was driven from her lungs. The wolf yelped and whimpered, scratching feverishly at Remedy with its hind legs.
Remedy winced as thorny paws raked along her belly and flank, finding patches of bare hide the robes did not cover.
“Just hold on, Sunny. Don’t let go,” she yelled, ignoring the pain. She drove her hoof into the creature’s breast again, widening the crack. A sickly greenish glow leaked from its hidden heart.
The timberwolf bucked and kicked. It thrashed its head, smacking hard into Sunny’s muzzle. Sunny yelped and her grip loosened. The timberwolf lunged forward and sank its jaws into Remedy’s shoulder.
Remedy shrieked. She could feel the sharpened wooden stakes it called teeth punch down on her neck and shoulder. But the pressure subsided immediately. The timberwolf yelped and reeled back; thoroughly confused as to where its lower jaw and half its remaining teeth had just gone. The scraps of timber fell away from around her shoulder. Aleena’s cloak shimmered brightly, wicking away some of the sinuous magic that held the timberwolf together.
Remedy took the opportunity to smash her hoof onto its chest a third time. Sunny wrenched the beast’s neck back again, screaming through clenched teeth, her hind legs wrapped around its barrel, and her wings straining to keep it firmly centered on top of her. Remedy clawed at the corners of the shattered breastplate and tore it away revealing a squirming mass of green translucent arcane tendrils licking from a bright red berry the size of a cherry in a bed of moss.
A sound like falling dominoes drew her attention just in time to see the freshly reassembled second foreleg swipe at her. Remedy yelped and slapped it away, pinning it with her free hoof.
“HELP!” she yelled. “We’ve got it pinned but I can’t grab the core.”
“You’d better hurry, I can’t hold this one for long,” the tiger called back in a suspiciously sing-song voice.
The shattered pieces of breastplate glowed with an edge of green and lifted off the ground.
“HURRY, REMEDY. I CAN’T HOLD IT MUCH LONGER!” Sunny screamed, blood dripping from her muzzle.
Remedy hesitated; the reforming armour drifted closer. She looked at the pained tears streaming from Sunny’s clenched eyes and the thrashing monster pinned between them. Remedy clenched her eyes and screamed. She buried her muzzle deep into the timberwolf’s chest cavity and clamped her mouth around the berry and wrenched it free.
The timberwolf arched its back and then broke apart, but the berry squirmed like a mouth full of worms. Gelatinous tendrils of arcane sinue writhed and curled around her tongue. One of them slithered too deep into her throat, and she gagged. She squealed through clenched teeth, pushed the slippery berry between her molars and bit down hard. The berry burst, filling her mouth with a rich sweet juice. The tendrils evaporated and only the sweet succulent fruit remained.
Sunny whimpered, a slow oozing of blood trickled from her muzzle. Remedy pushed aside the mound of kindling covering her and helped her to her hooves. A sharp snarl and bark from the remaining timberwolf turned their attention to the remaining battle. The tiger sat on its haunches and casually swatted at the aggressive timberwolf which jumped back to avoid the blow and snarled again.
“All done?” the tiger said with the countenance of a parent asking its child if their meal was finished. He peered over his shoulder to survey the battle worn pair. “Well done,” he grinned with an infuriatingly smug expression.
The timberwolf lunged forward, seizing the distraction. The tiger, however, was in fact – not. He stepped into the timberwolf’s charge and slapped it hard in the head as if it were a pinata, sending it sprawling ash-over-tea-tree.
He quickly pursued and pressed his paw down on the timberwolf’s throat before it could right itself. The angry snarling dissolved into panicked whimpering as the wooden patchwork of its throat cracked under the weight of the feline.
The tiger placed a hind leg on the beasts abdomen, pinning it to the ground. His face crawled with a delighted grin and he loomed over the timberwolf’s head to look into its fearful glowing eyes. He clamped his heavy paw onto the timberwolf’s breastplate, flexing his claws and anchoring them to the bark shingle. With a casual wrench, he ripped open the beast’s chest.
The timberwolf yelped and whimpered pitifully. The tiger, slowly, gradually, pushed his oversized paw into the cavity; cracking and pushing the heartwood cage of its chest apart. The timberwolf yelped and howled, clawing futilely at the thick fur and hide of the tiger’s leg.
The tiger grinned and locked eyes with the ponies who stared in mute horror.
The timberwolf convulsed violently as the paw pushed deeper and made contact with its delicate living berry.
The tiger shivered and sighed. A broad smile swarmed his face and his eyes shut in what Remedy could only surmise was an expression of macabre ecstasy. She winced as the timberwolf’s body wracked with spasms.
The tiger withdrew his paw in an achingly slow final act; relishing the timberwolf’s every traumatic convulsion.
Its mewling whimpers dissolved into a harsh clacking of wood and a horrible wheezing like a broken flute.
He pulled his paw free. The timberwolf’s body arched off the ground like a haunted marionette, then fell to pieces.
He mused over the bright red berry held between his claws; the same luminescent tendrils of arcane magic writhed and curled around his digits. A small twig was still wrapped in one of the desperate pseudopods and poked pitifully at the tigers paw. He squeezed the berry, watching it bulge and strain. The magic whipped around like an angry fire. He squeezed harder; the flesh split and bright red juice burst out, running down the tigers paw.
The tiger chuckled with carnal satisfaction. They cringed.
He flicked away the bruised fruity remains, licked his paw and sighed with a contented purr.
“So... how was it for you?” he said, settling back into his resting imperious pose.
“H-How was what? It was terrifying, and just look at – oh, Sunny.” Remedy grimaced. Sunny stood trembling. A slow trickle of blood dribbled from her nose. She sniffed and winced – surprised at the taste of blood.
“Sunny, let me help. Hang on.” Remedy raced over to her bags and rummaged through them. She pulled out a canteen, roll of cotton wadding and a tin of ointment but fumbled the tin. It clattered noisily onto a tree root. She looked at her hoof, it was shaking. She clasped it tightly with her other hoof, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I remember my first time,” the tiger reminisced.
Remedy clenched her jaw, scooped up the tin and cantered back to Sunny.
“I was barely more than a cub when my mother took me on my first hunt. Ah – I remember it like it was yesterday. The stifling heat, the damp earth under my paws. The stench of fear and sweat; my own. I was so nervous,” he chuckled fondly.
“Here, for your nose,” said Remedy, ignoring the tiger’s soliloquy. She tore off a chunk of the cotton wadding and placed it in Sunny’s hoof. Sunny stared at it blankly. Remedy gently guided it to her muzzle. “Hold it here. Are you ok?”
Sunny blinked as if waking from her own dream. “Huh? Oh – yeah. I’m ok,” she mumbled, forcing a weak smile.
“You’ve got some scratches, let me just put some ointment on them.” Remedy pried off the tin’s lid and dabbed a piece of cotton into a thick greenish salve.
“My mother guided me to a well grazed clearing and we picked out a young boar; barely more than a piglet. His own mother, of course, was rooting nearby as well.”
Remedy pinned her ears back in a vain effort to stop his nattering. She dabbed the ointment on a set of small scratches under Sunny’s chin.
“I’m ok, Remedy, really,” said Sunny, but winced when the cold salve touched the tender abrasions.
“It’ll protect against infection. Just hold still.”
“My mother would drive off the sow, but it would be up to me to bring down the young boar. My heart was pounding so hard, I could taste the adrenaline.”
“Have you got any more scratches? Here, sit down let me check— oh Celestia, I’m so sorry Sunny,” Remedy whimpered. A series of small scratches criss-crossed Sunny’s belly. Faint red lines darkened her yellow coat and a patch of fur was missing from just under her sternum.
“It’s ok, Remedy. It’s nothing. Really.” Sunny gently patted Remedy on the head with her free hoof.
Remedy dabbed more of the salve onto her cotton swab and gently painted the red lines staining Sunny’s fur. “Ow,” Sunny winced and giggled. “That tickles.”
“I pounced. I had the advantage, but I was clumsy and impulsive. It should have been a quick victory, but the boar, though young, was no slouch.”
“What’s he going on about?” said Sunny, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the pantomiming tiger.
“Oh I don’t know. Some heroic tale from his younger days. I swear, if he breaks into song…” Remedy grumbled. She shifted her position to reach more of Sunny’s scratches but winced, sucking in a sharp hiss of breath. The dull pain she had ignored in her leg now burned with a sudden sharp spike, like a hot iron brand.
She lifted the hem of her robe. A deep gash ran just under her cutie mark and her leg was dark red with blood. “Ow!”
“Remedy! Why are you worrying about me. That looks really bad.” Sunny panicked, prancing on the spot.
“It’s ok, just a little deep. I think I got it from when I jumped down.” Remedy laid down on her good side and poured some water from her canteen over the wound. She grimaced from the fiery sting. “Sunny, there’s a bandage in my bags.”
Sunny flew over to the discarded saddlebags and rummaged through them, pulling out bottles and rations and tossing them aside. She found the bandage and zoomed back over. Remedy handed Sunny the salve.
“Just lay it on thick – like icing a cake. Then wrap it tightly,” Remedy instructed.
Sunny whimpered and scooped out a generous portion of the salve. She gingerly wiped it on the bloody wound and cringed when Remedy’s leg muscles twitched. Remedy looked away, sucking air through her clenched teeth.
The tiger had stopped his monologue and watched contentedly. Remedy narrowed her eyes at him.
“I got a scar my first time too. Congratulations on your first kill by the way, predator.” He grinned smugly.
“What? N-no, I’m not a predator. I don’t kill others for my food.”
The tiger raised an eyebrow and scratched the corner of his mouth with a claw. “Oh, you have a little something…”
Remedy wiped her mouth, pulling her hoof away to reveal a streak of sweet red juice.
“That was different. Besides you said they were plants. Plants don’t feel... Right?” Her voice trailed off with a measure of pleading.
“They don’t? Have you ever asked one? Did you even think carnivores felt before your visit to the forest?” The tiger chuckled and held up a placative paw at Remedy’s furrowed brow. “I jest, why so serious. Of course they can’t feel.”
The tiger paused and a small smirk crawled onto his face. “I mean, it’s not like plants cry out in pain when they’re hurt. Do they?” He stood up and sauntered over with a big smug grin on his face. “They don’t yelp or howl. They don’t whimper when they’re scared or bark when they’re angry. They don’t tremble, or struggle desperately. They don’t claw, bite and fight for their lives when they sense the end. They’re just plants. Weeds even.”
Remedy’s eyes flicked between the tiger’s cold slitted pupils. “N-no. They’re just plants. You said they were just plants.”
“Scram! Go on, git. Stop bullying her,” Sunny snarled at the tiger and shooed him away with an angry hoof. “You could have taken all three like it was nothing. She did her best. Leave her alone. Can’t you see she’s hurt.”
The tiger yielded and stepped away. “If you’re ready we should get going, unless of course, you’ve developed a taste for timberwolf.” He stepped around the remains of the timberwolf and pushed into the jungle, humming a happy little tune.
The tiger stepped out into a clearing, holding back the curtain of leafy vines that covered the entrance. “Welcome to Le Château de Félins. Our home away from home.”
The cat camp was a small clearing of dappled sunlight surrounded by thick-trunked trees and leafy vines. A rocky protrusion in the center provided an area where numerous cats, of all sizes and stripes, bathed in the sun and lounged with graceless decadence. Yet more cats lounged in the low boughs of the trees surrounding the clearing, their position given away by the greenish glow of their eyes. The most opulent perches were reserved for the biggest and bravest cats. They all turned their lazy curious eyes towards the ponies when they entered.
“Wait here, I’ll get Don Zemar.” The tiger quickly padded across the clearing and passed around behind the large outcropping. A number of the cats sneered and laughed at the tiger as he passed. He pinned his ears flat to his head.
A long silent minute stretched out. Sunny and Remedy shuffled awkwardly under the unwavering gazes of the ring of predators. Remedy wondered if it was only the effort required to catch them that was preventing the cats from attacking rather than the council seal or special silk robes.
The deep voice of Don Zemar boomed from behind the stoney hill, breaking the spell of silent stares.
“What curious timing, that two ponies should show up in my camp at this most portentous hour.”
Remedy stepped forward and bowed. Sunny gasped at the enormous feline, himself too large to take any perch on stone or tree. His gait carried regal countenance, and his mane and features were immaculate. Two polished black horns, curved like a bull’s, sprouted from above his ears and rose to needle points above his head.
Don Zemar paused, and silently inspected the two ponies for a moment. “Valerio was telling the truth; Aleena has cloaked you in her own silk,” he said in an almost breathless whisper. “A most rare and precious gift, worth more than a dragon's horde. Know that you have both been given priceless artifacts that will one day be shrouded in myth and legend. For only Aleena can create such beautiful strong silk, and only a few have ever received such a likeness over the millennia.”
“I didn’t realise it was so special,” said Remedy, taking stock of her robes with new profundity.
Don Zemar gave a snort and bolstered his tone. “Well now you know. So, what makes you seek out the King of Cats?”
“I come with a gift, a peace offering, to reopen negotiations with Celestia for a solution that hopefully will satisfy everyone’s wishes.”
“A peace offering!? If it is peace the ponies want, why does an army gather at the forest borders. With siege weapons no less. It looks like you’re getting ready to invade a country, not start peace talks.”
“I don’t think you have to be afraid of them. They’re just…”
Don Zemar snapped his head towards the duo with a savage growl. His hackles bristled and he loomed over them with eyes that burned gold like fire. A sneer on his lips bared a set of ferocious fangs, “Afraid!? Do I Look afraid to you!”
Remedy winced and stepped back, one foreleg instinctively covering her chest. Sunny threw her forelegs around Remedy’s neck and glanced nervously between her friend and the giant lion, whimpering quietly and her hind legs shaking uncontrollably.
He snorted and the powerful gust blew back their manes. “It is you who reek of fear and all your kind too! You are afraid we’ll come out of the forest. Afraid to take part in the balance of which we are all a part. I have travelled from afar to render aid in the plight of this forest, and no army you can muster will give me cause to fear.”
Remedy swallowed.
“Ah, but fear is the protector of the weak and courage granted recklessly only invites folly.” A smooth tenor intoned calmly from behind the hill.
Don Zemar relaxed and straightened up, casting a careful glance to the back of the camp. A giant serpent slithered from the forest greenery. The dim scattered light sparked a rainbow spectrum off his shining scales.
“S-Sunny, you’re choking me,” Remedy coughed.
Nyoka slowly, purposefully, slid around the stony outcropping. The weight of his body ever present yet, like the passage of time itself, the gentle undulations of his belly scales carried the massive serpent forward with an unstoppable momentum and grace; silent and without hesitation. The cats who once lorded so mighty and proud now scattered from the closest perches, unnerved by the massive ancient predator.
“Welcome, Remedy of the Ponies. Please forgive Don Zemar, he is still only young and prone to emotional impulse.” Don Zemar frowned, but remained silent.
Remedy bowed before the serpent, taking the still clinging Sunny with her.
“And I see you have brought a friend with you.” His giant forked tongue whipped through the air like a willow switch.
Remedy cleared her throat. “Uh, yes this is Sunny, she’s my friend and is helping escort me through the forest. I-I have come bearing a gift. Celestia wishes to reopen negotiations.”
“And yet you bring an army to our doorstep.” Don Zemar grumbled, much in the way a petulant foal might, if they were nine feet tall at the shoulder and full of fang and claw and menace.
“Patience, Zemar. They have good reason to fear us. It is no strange wonder why they are preparing to defend themselves. And, despite your agitation, we likewise do not seek outright conflict either.”
“Hrmph, on one claw you offer peace and the other war. Your intentions seem mixed. I’m sure your intentions will be laid bare in time, let’s see this gift then; offered by ponies to carnivores.”
Remedy looked down sheepishly. “Well you see, it’s for all the Council members. So I want to organise another meeting. I was hoping you could help. Aleena has already agreed. But I need to contact the other members.
“So you bring a gift you will not reveal. I don’t much like surprises, Remedy.” Don Zemar glared suspiciously.
A glow around Nyoka’s curling horns faded and a faint blue shine fell from his eyes. “I believe you speak earnestly, and honestly. But why is the box magically sealed?”
Remedy scratched the back of her head, somewhat hampered by the still clinging Sunny. “Hehe, well, you wouldn’t believe how curious ponies can be. And the gift isn’t really fit for normal pony society. Please, we are just trying to protect our animals. We care for them very much. It would mean so much to us if you could attend.”
“Well what about it then, Don Zemar? Are you willing to entertain the idea of peace from our little friend here?”
Don Zemar held his head indignantly. “Hrmph. I suppose I have no choice. You are under Aleena’s personal protection now. Fine, have your meeting. I suspected another would be inevitable with the forces on our border anyway. I’ll tell Abidah. Nyoka, you can take these ponies to the wolf queen.”
Without a further word, the great lion turned his back and waltzed back into the hidden parts of the cat camp.
Remedy let out a sigh of relief.
“Is everything alright now?” Sunny asked, finally feeling confident enough to let her go, as if she were a balloon about to float away.
Remedy shrugged and gave a shallow smile. “Three out of five. It looks like we might get a meeting after all.”
“Come now little ponies, I’ll show you the way,” said Nyoka, now only within spitting distance at their side.
Sunny jumped and stifled a squeak. “Horse feathers! That’s creepy.”
“Sunny!” Remedy chided. “Sorry, she’s new here.”
A curtain of thick leafy vines closed behind them as cats coalesced once more on the dappled, sunlit stones, in Nyoka’s wake.
Following the great serpent was strange. His head had long since passed into the jungle, but the thick woodlands offered no opportunity to walk alongside. So instead, the girls were forced to wait, then scramble as best they could; chasing after the vanishing taper of his tail.