The Golden Meadow

by Emperorxeno


A Grinning beginning

“Interesting.”, a plant-green pony with golden colored mane that reached just below the ears. The horn on their head would suggest that they are a unicorn, but something was off about it. If one were to really look at it, they would find that it looks too plant-like to be any but natural. Another oddity is just how large they were for a pony of unicorn heritage. If some could see them, they might even be bold enough to say that they rival Macintosh in height. With dark green eyes that seemed to glow, and unnaturally pearly-white teeth in a grin that never faltered; it would not be a stretch to say that they are something not naturally born from nature. The forest they are in is mostly made up of pine trees, with oak trees here and there. The warm, but not hot, temperature tells that this area is a good temperate bio.

What really caught their interest at the moment, though, was what appears to be a trio of siblings cornered in a small clearing of a forest by a group of unicorns in strange armor and cloaks. The oldest of the sibling trio was a unicorn himself; who looked to be on the cusp of turning 20. A Dark brown coat with a lighter brown mane, his neon blue eyes glared at the other group equal measures of anger and exhaustion. The two younger ones look no older than 6 years old. Both appear to be twins as they both have chromatic grey coats and dark brown manes. Both of them appear to be also of unicorn decent. One of the unicorns from the opposite group stepped forward with particularly gleaming white and gold armor; surrounded by an aura of arrogance only an idiot would have. “Lead us on a mighty fine chase for somepony your age. But every good thing must come to an end eventually, however. Normally, for the crime of aiding slaves is death. But we are are fair and just ponies; all you have to do is repent your crime, have you and your siblings swear fealty to the inquisition order, and tell us where those slaves went. We know they didn’t scatter in random directions, otherwise we would’ve recaptured them by now.”, the surprisingly feminine voice said, as the mare trailed around the oldest sibling like a predator stalking their prey before pouncing.

With a look of disgust, the eldest sibling responded. “Never! Besides, I have heard stories of what you do to colts and fillies that catch your interest, Star Eyes. It’s almost ironic, a foal molester working for the group that’s supposed to be keeping the order and bring those like you to justice.”, the eldest sibling vehemently said; spitting in the one known as Star Eyes’s general direction. Raising herself on her back two hooves with a face and whiny of disgust and rage, she backpedals a few steps before coming back down on all four hooves inside the loose formation formed by the rest of the group. With a snort of indignation, she responded: “Fine! Have it your way! We’ll just mop you up and hunt down the dregs the old-fashioned way!”, Star Eyes angrily spat out, followed by her horn glowing a light blue with a crackling sound as the magic within it began to grow and build up. Almost in tandem with Star Eyes, the rest of the inquisitors followed suit; a sea of colors and hues with more than enough power to kill at least a dozen of the sibling trio.

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind the inquisitors.“HOWDY!”. With an unprofessional yelp from some of the inquisitors- including Star Eyes-, the sea of colors and hues disappeared as they all turned to see who somehow managed to go unnoticed by the inquisitors. Behind them was the largest unicorn pony that any of them. The body build and structure easily gave away that the pony was a stallion. A plant-green coat and golden yellow mane with dark green eyes, they ware a light green suit with a white undershirt and equally light green tucked in tie. A very wide smile- almost a grin- is plastered on his face, complete with pearly white teeth that seemed to almost unnaturally shine in the midday sun. After an awkward and uncomfortable moment of silence, one of the Inquisitors asked the universal question for all. “Who by the sun are you?!”, one of the male inquisitors demanded, the only one apparently noticing just how unusually still the stranger is. In response, the strangers large smile turned into an ear-to-ear grin. “GOLLY, how unkind of me! To you, my fine friends, you may call me Smiling Flower.” the mysterious stallion greeted with high cheer, with a surprisingly high voice for somepony his size.

The stallion walked towards his left in a curved ark, slowly getting closer to the sibling trio. “I just happened to be in the area exploring and traveling to my heart’s content, when I couldn’t happen just notice a commotion in this general direction.”, the stallion casually commented as he reached the trio by the time he finished speaking. Clearing her voice to regain what composure she had, Star Eyes tried to put her metaphorical ‘diplomat mask’ on in an attempt to keep the situation from getting worse. She has a bad feeling about the strange stallion. “I assure you sir, we have the....”, Star Eyes began, before being interrupted by the stallion with a colder, yet chipper tone that sent chills down their hardened spines. “And do you know what I found?”, the stallion said; voice changing to a deeper, echoey tone. Suddenly his face changed from a very handsome- if somewhat childish- face into that of a demon from Tarturus. Gone was the healthy lips with pearly-white teeth and pure eyes. In their place was a jagged, sharp, up and down line that was now literally ear to ear and a gaping black abyss beyond it. The eyes are now open to their fullest, unblinking and never wavering in their intensity. They are entirely pitch black with the exception of a single white dot that focused with an empty despair found in golems.

Before they could even respond or react, the ground beneath them suddenly burst upwards into green, root-like vines with red thorns that quickly enveloped around 15 of them in an almost crushing vice that they could not escape from. They could even feel their magic being constantly drained by the piercing thorns digging into them.the remaining 13 rapidly began to back away and gain enough distance to safely discharge their attack spells. “I found three Determination being hounded by those drenched in E.X.P. And L.O.V.E.!”, the thing in front of them said in mock anger. Out of nowhere, dozens of ovalish, glowing white things surround the ‘stallion’. “I’m afraid that I cannot let that happen. Don’t worry though, whatever remains of you will go to a good cause I guarantee! HEHEHAHAHAHAHA!!!”, the ‘stallion’ said before bursting out in a demonic laughter that would haunt the survivors for the rest of their remaining days. “Cult of Laughter!!”, one of the still free inquisitors yelled out before releasing their spell onto the ‘stallion’.

Quickly following suit, four others released their own spells as well. Five others pulled out their short swords and - with a battle cry- charged towards the ‘stallion in a frontal attack. Five of the strange floating things quickly moved to intercept the magical attacks; being destroyed in their success. Another five moved to directly attack the upcoming inquisitors. Two of the inquisitors were collided with head on, killing them instantly. The other three, smarter than the two before, managed to doge the objects and then begin charging towards the ‘stallion’ again. The three objects came from behind, catching the outer-two by surprise with a swift death. The middle one suddenly spins clockwise, their out held short sword glowing blue as it cut through the objects like parchment. Undeterred, the ‘stallion’ began to gradually send more And more of the objects against the inquisitor. The inquisitor was largely able to deflect or destroy the objects, but was inevitably beginning to be pushed back more and more as the number of objects increased. When the number finally reached 144, one of them managed graze their shoulder; knocking them back into the spell casters. While not dead, they are surely out the fight.

“Now that those pesky little nuisances, let the main course begin!”, the stallion cheerfully said, as about four dozen of the floating objects made a loose, spherical formation around the 15 immobilized inquisitors. In the span of ten seconds, the objects launched themselves forward to barrage the inquisitors, killing and ‘cooking’ them from the inside-out. By the final of the fourth dozen objects collided with the dead inquisitors, the remainder of the inquisitors fled in the northwest direction like fleeing gazelle from a predator or hunter. The last thing they heard before moving out of hearing range, was the ‘stallion’s Demonic laughter echoing throughout the forest.

Seeing that the inquisitors are either fleeing, or dead, his face changed back to normal with a closed-lip smile of satisfaction. Turning around and calmly walking towards the sibling trio, he could see details that he ignored earlier. The eldest of the siblings has heavy black bags under his eyes, filthy coat, ragged mane and tail, and shaking limbs point to him being on his last ropes with a mind likely attempting- and failing- to take in what’s happening, and plan an escape route in the chaos. The twins are in much better condition, but show signs of not getting a good night sleep recently. Both wear scarfs of a light material that periodically glowed blueish color in an unusual pattern. Deciding to through his usual greeting routine, he winked his right eye and said; “Howdy! I’m Flowey!”.