//------------------------------// // Thank Celestia for monster girls // Story: House of the Rising Sunflower // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// "Is it over?" asked Sundance as Megara shoved an enormous, jagged rock into the ogre's cave. He felt the earth tremble slightly beneath his hooves, and for a brief moment, he wondered if it were a physical or metaphysical sensation. Everything that had happened here upset the very ground itself, and he'd experienced that briefly. He hoped it was over and that everything was at peace.  The enormous stone tumbled down into the ashen darkness to join the others already tossed in. Megara grunted, heaved a sigh, and then gingerly wiped her swollen, misshapen muzzle. Hardly any smoke rose from the hole and the air didn't seem particularly hot. When Sundance sniffed—an act done with hesitation because he didn't want to smell char-broiled ogre—he didn't smell live fire, only a fire that once was but was no more. A past-tense fire.  "The ponies that died here"—a mere whisper, River Raider's voice was gritty with pain—"mostly the earth ponies, they didn't like being left uncovered. Like foals at bedtime… they just wanted to be covered up. You sensed that, Sundance… you sensed that and then I kinda sorta sensed that through you. I think. Not sure what happened. Still trying to sort it out. It's like a dream that I don't remember. You're right to ask if it's over."  "This is why we pay our respects to the dead," Megara said as she once more tenderly touched her muzzle. "Sumac is peculiar about that. It's rubbed off on me. Once… he did something to me… he did something to my eyes. It allowed me to see beyond the veil. The things I saw." The huge manticoress shuddered, shivered, and then faintly meowed.  "They've gone home, so we can go home," Sundance said to his companions. "I think it's over…"   River Raider had hesitated to return to Halfhill Hub, having said that her brain was far too messy after all that had transpired. While Hornet was a big help in blocking things out, it was a learning process, something that would only improve with time and exposure. Which Sundance took to be promising, and he had high hopes that River Raider might be able to do normal pony things, and take part in normal pony activities, even though she was not a normal pony.  So the three of them waited on the edge of town while Megara went to report their success. This gave Sundance some time to do some thinking while his companions chatted with one another, and he was happy that his friends were getting along with each other. Perhaps a bit too well, because River Raider was an absolute chatterbox and had Hornet's ear—whatever passed for an ear on the changeling.  "A male changeling is a stag, a female is called a doe, and our eggs are called doe roe. That's clever!"  With an absentminded sigh, Sundance sat down in the grass and for the first time, he noticed just how sore he was, a sure sign that the adrenaline had worn off completely. It was time for a crash. No doubt, he was still sore from getting bodily bam-bam-boomed by Megara. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it. Thankfully, he had other things to think about. Such as the settlement of Halfhill, half of which was his.  Sumac had done a marvellous job here, and were the truth to be told, Sundance wanted to return the favour. Which is exactly what he planned to do. Already, something of a half-baked idea had lodged itself in his mind, and that was that this place would be ideal for a hospital complex—with half of it belonging to Lulamoon Hollow. As far as good ideas went, Sundance thought this was a good one, but what did he know? His gut told him that it was at least average, as far as ideas went, but he really longed for it to be an excellent idea, so he could take credit for it and perhaps appear to be clever.  "We have grubs, and larvae, and some of us sprouted from seeds, so what might happen in the future is anybuggies' guess. That's what broke us free from our former queen's diabolical machinations and allowed us to breed again, which is great and we—"  River Raider, in a stunning show of politeness, asked, "Can we talk about something other than breeding?"  "Oh! Oh… oh yeah, right. Right. Whoops. Yeah, that. Sorry about that."  "Eh, just shut up about it."  Apparently, River Raider's politeness could only exist for so long before it spoilt, like milk left in the searing summer sun. Sundance only half-listened, because he was busy imagining what this place might look like with a massive sprawling hospital complex. It wasn't near the hot springs, which was highly desirable, but it had other amenities. At least Sundance thought it had amenities. He wasn't exactly certain what those were, and he wanted to check a dictionary or two before he started his proposal, something he was confident would cement his legacy as a wise, just, and fair ruler.  If not, then he would have to try again.  And again, if necessary.  "So how did you learn to fight, River?"  A slight turn of his head later, Sundance found himself looking at the big mare and anticipating her answer. She might be big and brutish, and perhaps not fully educated, but she wasn't dumb. Well, certainly no stupider than he was. The chatty batty mare had a lot to say and was an excellent conversationalist. While she might appear quiet and withdrawn, when properly engaged she was a total motormouth—which suited him just fine.  "Well, there was some training, but I didn't do so well with that," she replied, her words slow, drawn out, and thoughtful. "I stayed in a constant state of distraction because of my condition. I was already cut from the colony program, and assigned to the cauldron. So I—"  "What's a cauldron?" Hornet asked.  "A very embarrassing term," River Raider said in a low rumbling growl.  "How so?" the irrepressible and fearless changeling doe demanded.  "A group of bats is called a colony, but also a cloud and a cauldron. And so—"  "And you're a bat—"  "If you finish that sentence, I will unscrew your head."  "Right. Noted. That sentence will now hang in a perpetual state of unfinishedness."  "Enough heads have been unscrewed today," Sundance remarked.  "We don't take kindly to being called 'bat ponies', which is a slur. I mean, you don't go around calling pegasus ponies bird ponies… well, some might, but I would expect a righteous whoopening of the deserving ass. You don't call earth ponies 'mud ponies', because that's just rude. And we're not bats. We might have echolocation and bat wings, but we actually descend from dragons. We were created to be nocturnal counterparts to the diurnal pegasus ponies." Sitting at rapt attention, Hornet nodded.  "Colonies are for, well, breeding. With specific goals in mind. Achieving a stable species that won't revert back to being wholly dragons or diurnal pegasus ponies. Colonies are very orderly and scientific and are the programs that control our lives. Clouds are sub-groups that are observed, and maybe even have some experimentation to see if they develop useful traits, but in general those in a cloud aren't fit to be in the colony program."  The big mare sighed and ribbons of dense smoke rose from her nostrils.  "Those of us unfit for either end up in cauldrons. I have nothing to offer. There is nothing good about me. But it's not all bad… I get to live how I wish, so I get to hunt and fish—"  "And make rhymes," Hornet interjected.  For a second, River Raider almost smiled, but then her expression turned supremely sour.  "I don't think that you're worthless," Sundance said to his distraught friend—who just so happened to be female—who sat smoking and sulking. "You're my friend, and that means something to me, something very—"  "Shuddap," she said, her lone word trailing smoke as it was spat out.  "—important to me. You've helped me to be a better pony and I—"  "Shaddap," she said again, and this time there was a lot more smoke.  "—truly do value your feminine perspective on issues that I would otherwise be oblivious about. You've made me a better stallion that is more aware of the feminine condition and I—"  "Shuddap!" she shouted, and this time the stream of sparks that accompanied her protest was enough to set the grass on fire.    Summertime… the flying was easy. Sundance was able to power-glide during the long flight home, while his companions were stuck with steady bouts of required flapping. With River Raider and Megara both injured, the flight was obviously taxing, and Sundance rather worried about them just a bit during the long moments of quiet when no one said a thing. As for Hornet, she didn't seem any worse for wear, wasn't tired, and zooming about willy-nilly seemed effortless.  Which made Sundance just a teensy-weensy bit envious of her.  She flew in her black and yellow pegasus form, and while her wings did not move—she maintained the effect of effortless gliding beside Sundance—he knew that her dragonfly wings moved faster than the eye could see. He couldn't hear them, which was impressive, but still, somehow he knew. Hornet showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever as she flitted about, breaking formation, and occasionally acting like a prankish pest. She dared to tug upon the tail of the manticore and also flew beside River Raider whilst making the most terrible, most awful of gooky-faces.  If River Raider's deadpan expression was anything to go by, she was not impressed.  Bravery. The little 'ling had a surplus of bravery. Fearless. She placed herself into the very maw of danger itself, and distracted the ogre. As Sundance watched her continued, unceasing efforts to pester River Raider, he discovered that he had strong feelings—but what those feelings were exactly, he could not say. He admired her bravery, her fearlessness. She was a total package as far as friends went; brave, fearless, kind, and insufferably good if River Raider was to be believed.  If Megara the Lioness and River Raider were the physicality of their group, she was the heart of this body. But what did that make him? He didn't know. Today, he froze up. It was all too much at once and he'd faltered. He wasn't particularly bright and he lacked experience. Megara seemed far smarter about combat—but not infallible. She admitted to making a mistake—which Sundance felt was a smart and experienced thing to do. Megara didn't let her feelings and pride get in the way of the goal in the way that some ponies might.  There came a moment of awkwardness when Sundance wasn't sure how he fit in.  What brought him here was a desire to do good and to fight. As it turned out, violence was kind of awful. This would be much harder than he realised. While he was capable of violence—he knew this from experience—he didn't much care for it. But it was something that had to be done, something unpleasant, like scrubbing toilets. It was a job, nothing more, and jobs had to be done to completion, for such was the nature of jobs.  "You can make all the faces you want, but I know you're scared to go home."  Pulled from his thoughts, Sundance listened.  "I was doing all I could to block you out," Hornet said in response.  "That's the thing," River Raider replied. "I can't be blocked out. I can't block others out. It doesn't matter what sort of defenses you prepare, my mind works like… like… like a skeleton key for a lock. It might be considered powerful, if it wasn't also a horrible curse that's wrecked my existence."  Hornet's lip protruded in a pout as she flew beside River Raider.  "I'm not allowed to come near Princess Luna, the Night Lady for fear of what I might discover. The chosen Goddess of my kind. The sacred Mistress of the Night. She comes to me in dreams though… but I hate that. I hate everything—"  "I am scared to go home," Hornet confessed.  "You want me to come with you?"  "That's kind of you to say, but no. This is something I have to face on my own. Sundance went down into the ogre's cave and I… I have to face Simulacra and Simulation and all of the others." She sighed, inhaled, turned around to face River Raider, and casually flew backwards with no real effort.  "Maybe just don't go home. Stay with Sundance. Stay with us."  "I can't. The voices reach me. Even now. I am but a cell in a much larger body."  "That's terrible and I—"  "You think I have something to be afraid of, but that's not true. It's true, we're not the most harmonious Collective. The Sims have it hard. So hard. We all do, but they have it rough. We are hated because of what Crysalis did. We're not trusted. Not wanted. And the Sims… are stuck trying to find some type of acceptance from a world that doesn't want them. We have a terrible shadow that looms over all of us. I have nothing to fear from my own kind. What I fear is making our shared burden even worse, and I fear that I have. I've had my Awakening. It has to be sorted out. For everybuggy else, an Awakening is a joyous time. Mine has caused no small amount of dread."  "I was wrong about you," River Raider said to the backwards flying changeling in pegasus form. "Maybe I'm wrong about your Collective. You and I… let us be honest. We were born to be enemies. My kind was born and bred to sniff your kind out and destroy them. Hating you… hating you is instinct."  "I know," Hornet replied in a small voice that was almost lost to the rushing wind.  "You blocked a lot of interference from my mind today. It's made… a difference. You've made a difference. I wasn't immediately overcome with rage… it wasn't a bad day. And I wasn't alone. It hurts to be alone."  "I know," Hornet said with a nod.  "Best of luck, Hornet."  "Thank you."  "The worst thing that happened to me today was finding out that I want to spend time with others and do stuff—"  "You mean it wasn't getting clobbered by the ogre?"  "Shuddap, Meg!"  "Sorry, couldn't help it."  "Today confirmed just how lonely I was… and it was terrible. It hurts."  "Do you need a hug?"  "Shut yer pie hole, Meg!"  "It's funny that you mention that," the flapping manticore said. "I am Nutmeg Pie, officially of the Pie Family, with all rights and privileges granted—"  "Shut up! Don't you ever shut up?"  "No."  "Having friends means being annoyed by them," said Hornet.  To which Megara replied with the following: "She's got a point, you know. You and I are also natural enemies."  "Bah, to be enemies would mean acknowledging you as a threat."  "Ow! Hey, that's almost as good as Sundance going for the jugular. Your riposte needs work though. So when are we going to talk about a better way to train Sunshine?"  "Tonight?"  "Over some troll tincture, perhaps."  "Meg, that gives me dreadful wind and I live in a cellar."  "Will I be a part of that conversation?" asked Sundance.  "No," both Megara and River Raider said together.  "Ah, so girl time—"  "It's not girl time." Sneering, River Raider aimed an impressive snarl in Sundance's general direction. "Boys just aren't welcome."  "Fine, fine." Still effortlessly power-gliding, Sundance smiled. "I have other girls waiting at home for me."  With a flap of his wings, and a tremendous burst of speed, Sundance left his companions behind.