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// Bullfighting Lesson 
// Story: Half-Blooded Harmony: The Lightning Thief 
// by SonicSpeedster97 
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The old country roads were getting hammered hard by the rain as the cramped car thundered down the road, Sally Jackson apparently disregarding the complete and total lack of visibility as she kept her foot on the floor. Every time the lightning flashed, Percy and the girls glanced over at Grover and wondered if they had gone insane; his legs were hooves and smelled like wet barnyard animals. “So you and my mom… know each other?” Percy asked in confusion.
Grover glanced up to the rearview mirror and caught Percy’s eyes. “Not exactly.” he shrugged. “I mean, we’ve never met in person. But she knew I was watching you.”
“‘Watching’?” asked Rainbow, her creep alert going off in her head.
“Keeping tabs on him.” Grover shrugged. “Making sure he was okay. But I wasn’t faking being your friend; I am your friend.”
“Um… what are you, exactly?” Percy asked seriously.
“That doesn’t matter right now.”
“I most certainly beg to differ.” Rarity countered. “Honestly, I thought this world would be normal, but instead we’re greeted with a boy whose waist and legs are replaced with that of a donkey-”
“Blaa-ha-ha!” Grover uttered, surprising the group. “Goat!”
“What?”
“I’m a goat from the waist down.”
“You just said it didn’t matter.” Percy reminded.
“Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you guys underhoof for such an insult!” Grover scowled.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, back up; satyrs?” Rainbow asked seriously. “I thought those were myths.”
“Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth?” Grover asked seriously. “Was Mrs. Dodds?”
“Aha! So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!” Percy remarked.
“Of course.”
“Then why-”
“The less you knew, the fewer monsters you’d attract,” Grover explained quickly, as if that answered everything. “We put Mist over the humans’ eyes. We hoped you’d think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good; you started to realize who you are.”
“Who I- Wait a second, what are you talking about?” Percy asked seriously.
“And why are you dragging us along?” asked Rainbow.
“You saw the same things Percy saw,” Grover explained. “At this point, we can’t afford to take any chances, so we’re taking you all.”
“Taking us where?” asked Twilight… before a massive bellow resounded from behind them. Whatever was following them was still on their tail. “Uh, y’know what? Hold that thought; we’ve got trouble.”
“Percy, there’s too much to explain and not enough time,” Sally explained quickly. “We have to get you and the girls to safety.”
“Safety from what? Who’s after us?”
“Oh, nobody much,” Grover remarked, apparently still miffed at Rarity’s donkey comment. “Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.”
“WHAT?!” asked Twilight.
“Grover!” Sally barked.
“Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster please?”
Percy and the girls were still trying to wrap their heads around all this as Sally swerved left hard, nearly toppling the car with all the weight in the cabin as they raced past farms, hills, and strawberry fields. “Where are we going?” asked Percy.
“The summer camp I told you about,” Sally answered, as if trying not to act scared. “The place your father wanted to send you.”
“The place you didn’t want me to go.”
“Please dear, this is hard enough as it is,” Sally begged. “Try to understand; you’re all in danger.”
“What; because some old ladies cut some yarn?” asked Rainbow.
“Those weren’t old ladies, Rainbow.” Grover countered. “Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means – the fact that they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you’re about to… when someone’s about to die.”
“Whoa, hold on there; you said ‘you’.” Applejack remarked.
“No I didn’t. I said ‘someone’.” Grover countered quickly.
“You meant ‘you’. As in us.” Percy argued.
“I meant you, like ‘someone’. Not you, you.”
“Kids!” Sally yelled as she swerved to the right, nearly rolling the car again as Fluttershy got a glimpse of a figure she’d just barely avoided hitting; a dark fluttering shape now lost behind them in the storm.
“Wh- What was that?” she asked in fear.
Sally ignored her as she kept driving. “We’re almost there. Another mile; please, please, please.” None of the gang knew where there was, but Pinkie was leaning forward in anticipation with Percy, trying her best to stare through the rain and empty countryside of Long Island.
It was just then that she started reacting to something. “Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee!” she yelled in fear. And sure enough, in true immediate correspondence to the Pinkie Sense, there was a blinding flash of light, a jaw-rattling boom, and the car seemed to explode, sending the passengers bouncing around inside like peas in a frying pan.
Twilight was the first to regain consciousness and peel her face from the back of the seat in front of her. “Ow.” she groaned.
“Twilight. You okay?” asked Spike, who had climbed out onto her legs.
“Yeah; yeah, I’m fine,” Twilight assured as she shook her head and looked at Percy and Sally, who were also struggling to get out… but were also in awe of Spike.
“Okay great, so first Grover’s a satyr, and now your dog talks?” Percy asked in confusion. “What is happening here anymore?”
“Well, I dunno about Grover, but believe me; it would take too long to explain Spike.” Rainbow groaned as she saw the injured Grover quietly moan for food – yeah, he’d be fine – and looked out into the storm… where a massive lumbering figure with what looked like a shaggy torso and horns was approaching the wreck, illuminated by the thunder. “What in Celestia’s name…?”
“Who is-”
Sally swiftly interrupted Percy in sheer terror. “Percy, get out of the car.” Everyone threw themselves against the doors in fear, trying to escape but the doors were wedged shut in the mud.
Rainbow noticed the broken hole in the car’s roof. She was tempted to try and pull herself out through there, but she saw the edges were sizzling hot. “Climb out the passenger’s side!” Sally ordered. “Percy, girls; you have to run. Do you see that big tree?”
“What?” Percy’s question was answered when another lightning bolt illuminated a truly massive pine tree at the crest of a nearby hill.
“That’s the property line,” Sally explained. “Get over that hill and you’ll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run there and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door.”
“We’re not leaving you here, Mrs. Jackson!” Twilight assured, but Sally’s face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked out at the ocean at the cabin.
“No! You are coming with us! Help me carry Grover.” Percy ordered.
“Food!” Grover moaned a bit louder.
The large lumbering bestial man was approaching ever closer, grunting and snarling like a beast. “Uh, we’d better come to a decision fast, guys; that guy looks hangry,” Rainbow remarked.
“He doesn’t want us; he wants you.” Sally countered. “Besides, I can’t cross the property line.”
“Why not?” asked Twilight.
“We don’t have time; go. Please.” Sally begged.
Applejack could see the rage in Percy’s eyes building; at his mother, at Grover, at her and the girls, and finally at the beast lumbering slowly and deliberately toward them… almost like a bull. Finally, she rolled her eyes and made sure her boots were on securely before she stabilized herself against the armrest and shot them out at the door, bucking it clear off its hinges into the road. “No one left behind. Cmon now; let’s move.”
“Whoa! You still have your strength?” Rainbow remarked in surprise.
“Cmon now; you can’t dull these muscles.” Applejack assured as she climbed out onto the strength. “Now what’re ya waitin for; a written invitation? Let’s get a move-on.”
“I’m not arguin’ with her. Cmon Mom.” Percy remarked as he climbed to the back with the girls and grabbed Grover, dragging him out by his shoulders. He was surprisingly light, but Percy still couldn’t have carried him far if Sally hadn’t gotten the memo and helped her son, each draping one of Grover’s arms over their shoulders as the group stumbled up the hill through waist-high wet grass.
Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle as she felt the grass tickling her legs, but the enjoyment disappeared when she and the others looked back and saw exactly what was chasing them. Massive bulging muscles, coarse brown fur all the way up his body – only slightly made humorous by the giant white underpants he was wearing – and a bull’s face and horns. “That’s-” Percy began.
“Pasiphae’s son,” Sally said breathlessly. “I wish I’d known how badly they want to kill you.”
“But he’s the Min-”
“Don’t! Say his name. Names have power.” Sally warned.
“What does that even mean?” Rainbow asked seriously as the group kept running – it was still about a hundred yards to the pine tree. They were never going to make it.
The girls all knew what Percy was going to say because they all knew exactly what this beast was; a Minotaur. The beast snuffled around at the wrecked car, almost like he was relying completely on scent. That was the only explanation as to why he didn’t charge them when they were only fifty feet away.
“Food?” Grover moaned.
“Shh!” Rarity hissed.
“Mom, what’s he doing? Can’t he see us?” Percy asked.
“His sight and hearing are terrible; he only goes by smell,” Sally answered. “But he’ll figure out where we are soon enough.”
As if on cue, the Minotaur bellowed like a hundred angry bulls all at once. He picked up the car with one hand and tossed it down the road, where it skidded on the broken roof for a good half-mile before it exploded. “So much for ‘not a scratch’.” Rainbow shrugged, remembering what Gabe had said.
Percy was surprised how Rainbow knew about that, but he couldn’t ask as Sally spoke. “Kids, when he sees us, he’ll charge,” she instructed. “Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way – directly sideways. He can’t change directions very well once he’s charging. Do you understand?”
“How do you know all this?” Percy asked seriously.
“I’ve been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this.” Sally explained with a scowl. “I was selfish, keeping you near me.”
“Keeping me near you? But-” The Minotaur bellowed again and started tromping up the slope; he’d smelled them. The tree was only a few more yards away, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover didn’t look like he was getting any lighter.
“He’s right on top of us!” Rainbow yelled.
“Now; separate! Just like I told you.” Sally ordered. Percy didn’t like the idea, but he and the girls knew it was their best shot at surviving, so they leaped to the left as Sally jumped to the right.
The beast barreled straight at Percy and the girls, his razor-sharp horns glistening in the rain. The girls held their ground and at the very last second, they all jumped away from him with Rainbow performing an awesome front-flip right over his head. “Ole!” she yelled tauntingly.
The Minotaur stopped and turned on its hooves, this time barreling toward Sally as she set Grover down in the grass. They had reached the crest of the hill, and down the other side, Spike could make out a large yellow farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain in the valley. But it was at least half a mile away; they’d never make it.
The Minotaur pawed the ground as he eyed Sally, who was now slowly retreating down the hill back toward the road, trying to lead it away from Grover. “Go, kids! I can’t go any further! Run!” They wanted to listen, but they were frozen in fear as the Minotaur charged Sally. She tried to sidestep the beast, but appeared to have learned as it grabbed her by the neck as he charged onward, Sally kicking and pummeling the air to try and escape.
“Mom!” Percy yelled in fear.
Sally caught his eyes and managed to choke out one more word; “Go!” Then with a mighty roar, the Minotaur crushed his hand and Sally disintegrated before the group’s eyes, melting into shimmering gold like a hologram before it disappeared.
“No!” Percy yelled and moved toward the Minotaur as he was about to crush Grover as well, only for Percy to pull off his red rain jacket and start waving it like a flag. “Hey! Hey, stupid! Ground beef!” The Minotaur roared and charged toward Percy as he put his back to the large tree, still waving his jacket.
“Percy, no!” Twilight yelled before something insane happened; Percy leaped straight up, used the beast’s snout as a springboard, and landed right on the back of its neck. “What?” Percy looked just as surprised before the Minotaur slammed its head into the tree, staggering from the impact and trying to shake Percy off. He locked his arms around the beast’s horns and held on for dear life as Grover groaned in the grass.
Then it happened; the Minotaur charged toward the satyr and nearly reached him until Percy grabbed one of its horns with all his might and pulled, breaking it away with a loud snap as the Minotaur screamed and flung Percy into a rock, which he hit with his head.
“Percy!” Rainbow yelled and somehow raced over to him like a bullet, which surprised her to no end. Though she was happy she still had at least some of her speed as the girls all huddled around Percy, who was shaking off the daze and ringing in his ears from the impact. When they looked, they saw Percy had a ragged bony weapon about the size of a knife in his hand, in the form of the Minotaur’s horn.
The beast charged in anger and without even thinking about it, everyone rolled to either side as Percy drove the horn straight up under the Minotaur’s ribcage. The monster roared and reared back, clawing at its wound before it started to disintegrate. But not like Sally in a flash of golden light; more as a mass of crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind… not too dissimilar from Mrs. Dodds.
The rain had stopped once the beast disappeared in its entirety. The storm still rumbled but a fair distance away. The group smelled like livestock and were shaking like leaves. The girls knew Percy wanted to lay down and cry at losing his mother but they all knew Grover needed help, so they moved to help him, dragging him past the tree and down toward the farmhouse. It was hard for the girls to watch as Percy sobbed, calling out for his mom.
Finally, after a long hard hike, they all passed out on the farmhouse’s wooden porch, with Twilight and Percy looking up at moths circling a ceiling fan, and the stern faces of a familiar bearded man, and a girl around their age with blonde hair. “He’s the one. He must be.” the girl said, her voice distorted by the pain in Twilight’s mind. “But what about the rest of them?”
“Silence, Annabeth.” the man hissed. “They’re still conscious. Bring them inside.”