-Ancient Anugypt thousands of years ago, outside the Prison Pyramid, Jade-
“Oh she is so dead!” One of my ears twitched, this would be the first time I heard Baast’s name and I immediately recognized the significance of it. “There’s no way we can take on all those jackals, not with Baast’s people dealing with our injuries. They can’t protect us and save her at the same time.”
A goddess of protection, fertility, felines in general and a minor capability in war with nowhere near the same stopping power that Sekhet had as a War Goddess.
Okay I’m in danger, no way I’m taking these guys in a physical fight and they are about to run me through. I stowed my weapons.
Refuge in audacity time!
I turn to one of the few female jackals, among the many males there, who was glaring at me.
“You remind me of my babes~.” Yep, I was definitely going there.
“What babes?” The jackal asked while threatening me with a spear.
“The babes with the power~.” I answered.
“What power?” The jackals were now alert to the music and rhythm flowing into the air and I was about to pull off a classic.
“The power who do~.” Hey I couldn’t copy the lyrics word for word, but I knew the song I was doing.
“Who do?” The jackal said in confusion.
“You do~!” I grinned.
“Do what?” The confusion was apparent on many of the surrounding jackal’s faces as they said that.
“Remind me of my babes~.” I chuckle as I thought about how Fizzle and Maries, my heart ached and I was a mess. The jackals were angry now.
In my imagination a pony, a chimera and a cat walk into a bar, they walk out a few hundred bits richer and left behind a bunch of battered, baffled and beaten buffoons.
“I know my babes… are crying hard as babes can cry~. What can I do~?” I quickly stepped back from a thrust of a spear and started to stamp out a rhythm and clapped my hands to the beat. “My babes love is gone, and left them all quite blue~. Nobody knew… what kind of magic spell to use~.”
I started swinging my hips to the tune while planting my fist on them. I needed the jackals to get caught in the music to do one of two things. Either I could use the song I’m getting into to escape or I can break their possession through ridiculous over the top theatrics, because fighting them directly or leading them to the guys I just set free was right out.
“What lie are you trying to sell~?” The female jackal sang seeming surprised to hear her own voice enter into song, a grin stretched across my face as her hips started to move too.
“Getting home without fail~!” I sang.
“You’ll quickly be sundered from fighting~.” A male jackal said looking equally surprised, but he took a swing at me and I narrowly avoid losing an eye as the blade of a spear took some fur and scratched my cheek.
“So maybe I’ll say… do my kind of fighting~!” I ducked under a flail and then twirled while tapping into the griffon feather for double jumps. If they stuck with the rhythm like I am going to, then I should be okay. “Dance magic, dance~. Dance magic, dance~! Put that music’s spell on me~!”
I ducked around two flails that got tangled together, leapt up over a low swung spear and leaned back to avoid one going for my scarred neck while rolling my hands over each other. I was still shifting my hips, then I started hopping a bit.
“Jump, magic jump~.” I leapt up twirling into the air and skipped off the air to continue twirling in a different direction while a bunch of jackals slammed into each other where I was going to land. “Jump, magic jump~! Pull this magic junk with me, slap my butt and set me free~!”
I wiggled my butt at the female jackal while eyeing her and she reeled back as if I had slapped her in the face, she ran towards me and took a swing with her flail. Instead of trying to step away, I darted forward grabbed her right wrist. I spun her around and then dipped her while looking her in the eyes longingly.
The other jackals were going to jab their spears at me until I grabbed one of their own, but then I pulled the blue furred female jackal back into a standing positon and let her go. She looked visibly shaken by what I just did.
I backed off in tune with the beat and ducked around a crook aimed to bash me in the head.
“What is she doing out there?” Don’t care, rescued male anugyptian feline number one’s voice. “This no time for her to be singing and dancing!”
I would beg to differ in this situation as I knew what I was doing.
When I inhaled to start singing again the jackals backed off again, a few of them started to shiver. The power of a heart song in progress, I just needed to keep pressing them.
“I know my babes… are trying hard as babes can try~. It’s what I’d do~.” Crooning as I moved airily around the wary jackals that had encircled me, they were aiming their weapons at me even now. I leaned on a spear and smiled a friendly smile at one of the male jackals that suddenly seemed nervous. “My babes didn’t want me gone, this has left us all quite blue~. Nobody knew… what kind of magic spell to use~.”
I swung my hips and stepped away from the spear wielding jackal with a bounce in my step. He didn’t move to run me through, which was a good thing.
“Whatever you’re trying, it’ll fail~!” The female jackal growled.
“Then why are you shaking your tail~?” The cheeky tone I spoke in made them all look to her, her tail was indeed wagging and she grabbed it looking embarrassed.
“No surrender or fighting~?” One of the jackals said shakily.
“Because maybe I said… my kind of fighting~.” Watching the Jackals, I noted that they were completely losing the will to fight me.
“Dance magic, dance~?” The group of jackals around me sang and started to shift their hips unsurely.
“Dance magic, dance~!” I waved my arms around to everyone in a gesture for them all to gather around, I was already taking up a positon as the leader of this musical number.
I took a step forward and clapped my hands twice and the jackals mimicked my moves.
“Dance magic, dance~.” The jackals sang as they followed my hula movements into a twirl that ended with me pointing a finger to the sky. Almost all of them were disarmed now and we all shuffled and shimmied to the left and right.
“Dance magic, dance~!” I turned to the group and hugged the female jackal, this surprised her and her fur felt nice. Too bad that I can’t have a jackal in my herd, dogs and cats don’t mix very well for too long. “Put that musical spell on me~!”
I released the jackal and she looked unsure of herself as the green glow in her eyes flickered.
“Jump magic, jump~.” I heard the echoes of the jackals singing that behind me as I leapt up and then leapt again while spreading out my arms and legs towards the sun. I landed and sang my part again after all the jackals were finished jumping in unison. “Jump magic, jump~! Put that magic junk on me, so that I can slap this lady and make her free~!”
I slapped the female jackal, much to the surprise of the other jackals, she blinked and I could vibrant pink eyes staring back at me in shock.
“Dance magic, dance~.” The jackals sang as all their eyes were starting to flicker like the jackal I just freed from possession by using musical harmony resonance as a weapon.
“Dance magic, dance!” I nodded to them, I could see a few smiles as they all continued to dance in their own way.
“Dance magic, dance~.” One could actually feel the magic in the air actually dancing around the jackals as it surged and they were breaking the chains of what bound them.
“Dance magic, dance~!” I twirled into a crouch and spread my arms out. “Put that musical spell on me~. It’s something frightening to see~.”
“Wait, what are all of you doing! You’re too hurt to go out there with those jackals, get back here this instant!” That voice would become the one I would learn to be acquainted with Baast over the next few years.
That’s when the flail-tails I set free came running and they all started to dance with us, the jackals didn’t attack them as they were too enthralled by the musical number going on.
I had formed an Ancient Anugyptian dance party with jackals and the flail-tails. I didn’t know it until after this, when I talked with Baast, that I was in the distant past.
I grabbed the female jackal and started skipping in a circle with her while holding hands, she started smiling at me in a friendly manner. After looking around at the jackals losing the green glow in their eyes, the jackal turned to me with a smile and hugged me back while shedding a few tears.
She let me go and took a step back when motioned for her to do so.
“You remind me of my babes.” I stated again, twirled and pointed at the female jackal.
“What babes?” She said with a hint of humor in her voice while gesturing back to me in kind.
“The babes with the power~.” I shimmied while holding my hands out.
“What power?” A flail-tail asked in a curious tone.
“The power of who do~.” I said with a silky smooth tone.
“Who do~?” The happy crowd asked.
“You do~.” I pointed at them all with both hands and wink.
“Do what~?” The jackals and flail-tails looked at each other.
“Remind me of the babes~.” There was a soft chuckling going around and our dance party continued.
“Dance magic, dance, ooh oh ooh, dance magic~.” The music became more solemn as I wilted a bit and I had everyone’s attention back on me.
“What kind of magic spell to use…~” I sang faintly. “If flying away fails… or I can’t get home with sails… through many blunders or fighting, I’ll do something frightening~!”
“Dance magic, dance~! Dance magic, dance~!” While shifting and taking several step forward with a waggle in my hips, the entire crowd of jackals and fail-tails followed my movements in a choreographed manner that ponies are usually known for and were also singing in unison with me. “Put that music’s spell on me~!”
“Jump magic, jump~! Jump magic, jump~!” As they sang this I leapt high in the air and shot up even higher before with my second leap and came down twirling, I stopped myself by grabbing on to the familiar female jackal and started to dance with her. The fail-tails were bouncing on their hind legs waving their paws in the air, the jackals all twirled and leapt upwards. “Put that musical junk on me, slap our butts and set us free~!”
Every Jackal slapped themselves in the rear in time with me smacking my own rump, the signs of possession were weakening and just one more should do it.
“Wait, what are you doing, where are all of you… no don’t join them, this is ridiculous!” Baast shouted as more flail-tails came over the dunes and joined our dance party.
“Dance magic, dance~! Dance magic, dance~! Dance magic, dance~! Dance magic, dance~!” They all echoed my singing and we started to form a conga line that started to move in a large circle while hopping to the rhythm. “Jump magic, jump~! …Put that magic junk on me, slap those butts~. Slap those, slap those butts, make us/them free~!”
Every Jackal slapped both their hands to their rears in time with me and they freed themselves of any signs of possession with that last round of meaty thwacks.
“Dance magic, dance…” The power of the song slowly started to fade away as I put my left hand on my hip and waved my right hand over my head leading a crowd of jackals and flail-tails in a strutting circle.
-Five minutes later, under the shade of the prisoner pyramid-
“Can I get your name? I’m Jaded La Perm.” I asked politely of the female Jackal. “I have a few questions for you about what’s going on around here.”
“I am Sand Shroud.” The jackal said while nervously gripping at her skirt, she eventually decided on something and bowed to me. “We haven’t exactly been ourselves in quite a while, I thank you for freeing us from the spell we’ve been under. What little good it will do us since the source is our King Anubis.”
“What happened here Sandy, can I call you sandy?” I sat down on the stone flooring as various flail-tails talked with some the jackals and tried to work out their issues without violence. “I’m kind of lost if you haven’t noticed and I’m nowhere near my loved ones, so please assume that I have no idea what’s going on around this whole general region of the world and start from there.”
I thanked the harmony inducing magical song for the less than angry moods, and my ability to speak normally again.
-Break-
“Did you fall in love with her?” Fizzle had her eyes narrowed on Jade and Jade held up her hands in a warding gesture.
“I liked her sure, she had nice eyes… but they don’t beat yours Fizzy.” Keeping her eyes locked with the slightly angry pony, Jade told her the truth and then angled to tell her other girlfriends the same thing. “Nothing happened and I can say we were good friends. Nothing happened Maries, so please don’t maul me. I think I’d know better than anyone than to play with a chimera’s hearts!”
“Go on.” Maria said with flicker of flames ejecting from her mouth.
-End Break-
“I don’t mind you calling me Sandy… I actually think I like the sound of it.” Sandy would go into a detailed story about Anubis going crazy and no one having any idea what was causing it.
While Anubis was starting to slowly go nuts and harm his subjects, including ancient pony thralls and the flail-tails, his magical bone was quickly and thankfully stolen before he completely lost control of himself to whatever evil bug had crawled far up his backside. Said bug was apparently quite virulent around here.
Sandy told me that if the bone hadn’t been stolen, then all of Anugypt would have been swarming with undead monsters from the underworld that King Anubis was in charge of.
That’s when Baast introduced herself to me eloquently.
“How in the world did you cure these jackals?! Nothing about what you did made any sense to end in… such an amazing victory for our side…” Staring at Baast, who suddenly went wide eyed and started to speak blankly, I raised a delicate brow. “My name is Baast, I believe you’ll be quite helpful in our war efforts. What will it take for you to aid us in these trying times stranger?”