//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: World of Matchsticks // Story: Creatures and Magic // by EpicGamer10075 //------------------------------// It was far too dark and quiet for Twilight’s liking here. This Everfree Forest was certainly cursed in some manner or another, as she could hardly see more than a dozen steps before her, even with Tianhuo’s bright flames, and as for the silence... “Have you heard of the creatures that live here?” Twilight quietly asked of the Longma leading a few steps ahead of her. “I feel as though, any noise we make, they will be able to hear...” “Fluttershy has spoken about them before,” Tianhuo replied, toning down her voice as well, “They have been a threat to her pets in the past, and she wanted to make sure I was aware of them.” The pair then went right back into silence, with only their steps and quiet breathing--as well as Spike’s own much more ragged and pained breaths--breaking it. It was hardly all that peaceful, though, as Twilight remained disquiet about it all, fearfully looking around at the near-pitch-blackness all around them, knowing that at any moment, some horrific creature she had never heard of would pounce out from the darkness and tear her apart. However, Tianhuo was much more confident, and while she was looking around a lot, it seemed to be a more controlled vigilance where she constantly scanned the area around them with her well-trained eyes in preparation for any potential threat. It was a bit odd, though, that she seemed to have no trouble finding the way forward, despite only having heard of Zecora before, but Twilight wasn’t going to question it. Despite the clear power the other creature held, however, the Zebra’s breaths were still shaky with fear, and so she sought to try and fill the deafening silence by asking, “Before today... I hadn’t heard of your kind. Can you tell me more, if you wouldn’t mind?” The Longma took a moment to look over her shoulder, but Spike spoke up before her, saying tiredly, “I h-have actually...” Twilight’s head sharply jerked back to look at him in surprise and concern, but he tried to wave her worry off with a hoof, adding, “It was, like.. o-once, and i-in passing...” “It’s not surprising, I suppose,” Tianhuo responded at a more normal volume, turning her head to look ahead again, “Our kind has decent relations with the Changelings, as their versatility and loyalty to their Queen is something we respect.” Twilight looked over to her with a tilted head and thought for a moment before asking, “Well, I still haven’t seen your kind before, in this nation. I assume that... between you and Equestria, you have some other complication?” Tianhuo nodded slowly in response, and spoke with a level of underlying vitriol, “While we do hold respect for some of the creatures within Equestria, its Queen Celestia is rather foolish and far too optimistic, which has led to many problems in the past.” Twilight squinted in confusion at the comment, figuring she was missing something with how the Queen--or ‘Princess’ as the Alicorn Pony personally preferred--was often described as wise and benevolent, even by Zecora, who was typically rather superstitious and untrusting towards those in power. She looked back towards Spike, who was resting his head on the back of her neck and looked back at her, and seeing the questioning in her eyes, just shrugged in response. Keeping that reaction in the back of her mind for the time being, the Zebra did have another question, “If you do dislike Equestria, to that order, why exactly, are you within its borders?” Tianhuo’s steps stiffened just a tad at the question, and Twilight felt like she may have accidently struck a nerve, and swiftly tried to apologize, “Um, I--” “I’m on forced leave,” The Longma cut her off in a blank, yet tense tone, and seemed to focus a bit more on observing the darkness around them. Almost certainly feeling Twilight’s surprised and baffled gaze on the back of her head, she elaborated, “I have been ordered by the Empress herself to keep from overworking myself.” Hesitating before slowly nodding in comprehension, but not fully understanding, Twilight tried to ask, “Well, I supp--” “I respect her decision,” Tianhuo stated firmly, cutting off the Zebra again, but now with an unwavering loyalty in her voice, “I know that she has done this only to help me, but I still do not... like this feeling. Of...” She paused, leaning her neck slightly forward to look down towards the ground, “Of being away from the Empire and being unable to help them.” Twilight looked at her with sympathy, despite not really being able to empathize with her plight. She knew she wouldn’t be able to say anything to try and add to or amend the Longma’s worries, so she instead tried to pivot the conversation, saying tentatively, “That makes sense, at least for why you’re not there, but... why exactly are you here... in this nation’s air?” Raising her neck and head to look in front of her, Tianhuo took a deep breath before responding, “I am staying with Fluttershy for the time being. Our Empire is on good terms with the Kirin community, but...” She paused, her eyes wandering a bit as she seemed to try and figure out how to continue, “Their kind is mostly very.. isolated. Their inherent aggression that I have previously explained made them mute themselves in an attempt to keep them from transforming into their Nirik forms and destroying or hurting everything and every creature around them, but not all of them completely took to that silence. “To my knowledge, only two Kirins of their current generation have left the community,” The Longma continued, sounding somewhat dispassionate, “One of them, named Autumn Blaze, left because she found the mute-ness stifling, but Fluttershy did so because she wanted to take care of more animals than were in the small forest valley that is their Peaks of Peril.” “I suppose that would do it...” Twilight replied, with Fluttershy’s reactions making more sense with the knowledge of her kind’s physiology. “Had you not been here, I would’ve been burned to bits.” Tianhuo nodded at the implied thanks, then looked back at her for a moment, and said, “I am curious, though. Zebras are generally rather territorial, so why are you here, in Equestria?” Inhaling through her nose, Twilight looked away tensely for a moment to think about an answer. She had moved to this town to get away from that very past that led her here, but... it was still only fair. “My friend, Zecora, told us of this place...” She started, looking back over to Tianhuo, who kept some attention on her while still scanning the environment, “And from my original tribe I wanted some space. The pressure I was under, right below the Chief... I didn’t see another way out but to simply.. leave.” Tianhuo nodded and looked at her with sympathy, replying with, “Being a high-ranking soldier, I can certainly understand that pressure, even if I prefer it much more.” Twilight gaped slightly in surprise at the causal mention of her rank, and the Longma could easily read it, smiling slightly and adding, “Yes, I know. It wasn’t that relevant before, but with this empathy, it now makes sense to tell you.” “Oh...” The Zebra mumbled in response, and nodded in understanding, and spared a glance back to Spike, who looked somewhat impressed, but was still in great pain. “However, I would still like to know what made you so important to your tribe,” Tianhuo said, turning her head back to look forward, but her attention was still clearly on Twilight. Nodding again, Twilight looked back to the Longma and replied, “Of course; I happened to be their Shamaness, but for only a short while before I.. decided to... evanesce. It was my duty to know our magic, but I was only given that position by.. a means that were rather.. tragic.” Getting a short glance from Tianhuo’s eyes looking back at her, she tried to swallow her somberness and continued, “I trained under our previous Shaman, and for several years I was under his command. I loved and respected him like, a parent, but our Chief.. was always so uncaring. It was him that brought us to battle, tearing apart another tribe like they were nothing but cattle...” Noticing the Zebra was shaking slightly in anger and sadness, Tianhuo slowed her pace and turned her head to look at her again, and Twilight could also feel Spike stroking her mane with his shaking hooves. Taking a deep breath, she kept going, “In that fight, our Shaman was killed, bested by the other tribe’s Shamaness’s.. superior skill. Perhaps I would hate her more, if she actually wanted to be in that war... “I can recall the emotions on her face, when we got back to her tribe’s place...” Twilight said, sounding mostly somber now, “We were separated from the battle for a while, but getting back to them... made us both want to throw bile. I went back to my own home, but despite being bedridden, I fought... with all my heart to keep that Shamaness hidden. I claimed she was gone, not wanting to hurt our bond, and.. once I was healed, I went to her, and kept our friendship sealed. “However, she needed to leave and find a new home, one untouched by her own family’s flesh and bone,” Twilight continued, some eagerness picking back up in spite of her words, “Some months later, and after I found Spike--rather to my tribe’s dislike--she came back and met with me again, and offered me a place to get away from my pain. And, well, at the first chance I could find... I was gone like the wind.” Tianhuo, having keenly listened to the Zebra’s words, slowly nodded in understanding and thought, and then asked, “I presume this... Shamaness, was Zecora, then?” Getting a quick nod from Twilight in response, she looked back with empathy, stating, “War is always quite complicated and unclear, and it’s good that both of you have put that pain behind you.” Smiling again, Twilight laughed slightly and added, “I wouldn’t say that we have yet, fully, but... there is something interesting to note, actually...” The Longma raised an eyebrow in intrigue, letting her explain, “I didn’t rhyme back then, and the same for all of my kin. Zecora and her tribe did, though, and I... eventually decided to take it on my own.” “That’s an interesting mark of honour, I see,” Tianhuo replied with a smile, some humour in her voice. Rolling her eyes, Twilight retorted, “A lot more creatures than I’d like have questioned it, but.. I’m much more concerned with my and Spike’s wellbeing than to fit.” A short laugh and nod came from the Longma, and while Twilight was happier after having relived some of her past, it still was a bit more than she originally wanted to divulge, so... “Now, that’s enough about my past; what about your own has made you want to last?” Eyeing the Zebra for a second, Tianhuo seemed to consider the idea, and eventually nodded as she faced forward once more, “Well, perhaps I should.. start... with....” She trailed off as her focus seemed to be drawn elsewhere, and she stopped walking while swivelling her ears around. Twilight, taken aback momentarily by the sudden action, stopped as well and listened in the direction of the Longma’s ears, eventually starting to pick up on some very faint noises. Looking in the direction she thought they were coming from, she also manage to notice the dim green lights peeking out amidst the dark tree trunks and bushes, and they looked to be in pairs... Soon enough, the creatures that owned those pairs of eyes seemed to noticed they were caught, and slowly came out of the darkness, with dim, broken silhouettes on four legs with otherwise sharp features. “Wolves,” Twilight whispered to herself. “Timberwolves,” Tianhuo corrected, getting a glance from the Zebra. “Get behind me.” Twilight nodded and noticed the smooth and cold forelegs of her Changeling brother wrapping around her neck in fear, and she moved back most of the way to the edge of the lit area around the flaming Longma to let her take on these ‘Timberwolves’. It soon became clear to her exactly why they were given that name, as the half-dozen wolves seemed to be made entirely of wood and magic, their thin, almost spindly forms made of cobbled together tree xylem and bark with the faintest hints of pulsing green magic between the crevices that made up their joints. Twilight had managed to take on wolves made of flesh and blood before, but these magical manifestations were beyond her understanding, and so she was thusly thankful of the skilled warrior that guarded her from them. Tianhuo didn’t budge as the Timberwolves stepped amidst the Longma’s firelight to arrange themselves in about a semicircle around her, and it was just as they all found themselves at a stalemate that she pushed herself up to stand on her hind legs, then shoved herself into a fast twirl on a single leg, the rest closed up her body as her flames swirled all around her. It was only for a moment before she did a short hop into the air to spin faster with yet more flames, and then finally dug her free hind hoof into the dirt to stop herself with her body turn sideways to her aggressors, one foreleg stretched out towards them while the other went upward, and her second hindleg went back up to hold itself partially outward towards the wolves as well, leaving herself on a single leg in a graceful, yet intimidating pose that showcased her incredible balance, as well as the some extra flames that now poured out of her back in the shape of wings. The Timberwolves seemed rather wary of the fiery display, but still seemed eager to fight despite it, and so when the Longma waved her stretched-out forehoof to say ‘come at me’, the wolves did just that. All six Timberwolves jumped at the Longma, but that was about the last clear thing Twilight could clearly make out of it, as Tianhuo immediately launched into battle against them, ducking and diving away and slamming her hooves into others, sending them sprawling away from the battle for only a moment before they eagerly rejoined it. She found herself instinctively backing away from it all, even as the flaming creature clearly held the upper ground, with any attack that Twilight could make out against the Longma dodged with ease. The scorching orange flames bursting out of the creature were often hidden behind the scrawny branches that made up the wolves, keeping the area rather dark, but it still seemed to be no issue for the Longma as she struck at the wolves with unbridled power and precision, with several large chunks of wood being cracked off by sheer force of her blows. It was hardly all that long before one of the whole wolves was sent barrelling off into a tree, exploding into a mass of pulp and splinters as the green magic that held it together faded into the ether. While the removal of one of the creatures made the battle slightly more comprehensible, Twilight still had trouble tracking all of their movements, but she could still see Tianhuo at the center of it with all the Timberwolves clawing with feral rage and desperation to strike her even once, yet not a single one succeeded. Soon enough, more wolves were sent flying out of the battle, with one getting thrown up into the treetops, but barely fell back down any before the next wolf was hurled up into it even harder, breaking them both in half and letting the light fade behind their eyes. With a distinct ‘thump’, the Longma landed back on the ground, the remaining three wolves around her, all with large pieces of their bodies--even some limbs or sections of their barrels--taken off, and all of them looking back at the flaming creature with fear--no, terror in their eyes. The Timberwolves, which begun as a fearsome pack of magical beasts that could kill other creatures with ease, were now looking like kicked puppies that wanted nothing more that to flee for their lives... but Tianhuo wouldn’t let them get the chance. All too swiftly, she propelled herself forward with a gust of those flames coming out of her back (which now seemed to actually be wings?) and shoulder-slammed hard into one of them, then sweep-kicked its legs to throw it into the air, and next sharply kicked it even higher, flew up to it and around it, and finally shot it at one of the other wolves, sending them both sprawling as their rough bodies got tangled up with each other. The last Timberwolf barely had time to react before the Longma flew at it, picking it up by the legs and flinging it into the air, then flew above it, and then kicked it hard down into the ground, and finished it off by diving down and slamming her hind hooves into its neck, smashing into into pulp and ending it as well. Turning back to the other two she left, Tianhuo flapped up just a bit into the air and rammed her forehooves down into their heads, and when that didn’t finish them, picked their heads up, and then slammed them down once more, turning them into splinters as well. And just like that, all of the wolves were defeated, with not a scratch on the Longma that bested them, who now turned casually back to look at Twilight and tilted her head slightly at her. It was only at that point that Twilight actually realized just how low her jaw was hanging from the flaming creature’s display, but she hardly had it within herself to pick it pack up, only letting it flail as she uselessly sputtered, “Wh--I don’t--how d--” Tianhuo calmly placed a hoof to her lips to silence her, which Twilight finally managed to do as the Longma smiled back at her, and stated, “Wild animals, despite their brute strength, are quite easy to fight. They always attack very predictably and hardly change their strategies over the course of a battle, especially one that quick.” That hardly answered any of the myriad questions whizzing about Twilight’s mind, such as how she could stay so casual about it all, to how she was able to pull off those moves, to how her wings of fire actually worked in all their aspects, but there was a question that wasn’t in her mind, and got put into the open air nevertheless. “W-why no fire?” Spike asked hoarsely from his position on Twilight’s back, stiffly holding onto her neck and staring in awe and confusion at the fiery creature before him. Tianhuo just smirked lightly and looked around at the dark pillars of wood around them, and the impenetrable canopy of leaves far above, and then she spoke, “We are in a forest, Spike. I would prefer not to set it ablaze.” “Oh...” Twilight muttered in response, having finally regained some hold over her words as she felt Spike start to understand as well, calming his grip on her neck. The Longma nodded, closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them and added, “Many of my subordinates have failed to make that realization in the past, and that control is one of the reasons I hold my current rank.” “...Your rank?” Twilight asked of her, mostly confused about what that rank was rather than what the word meant. “Captain of the Houshan Royal army,” Tianhuo stated proudly in response, “And Champion of all the Longma Empire under the glorious Empress herself.” Blinking in incomplete understanding, Twilight could at least acknowledge how important that title sounded, despite how little she knew of what it meant, and carefully replied, “Right.” The look she got from Tianhuo clearly told her the Longma knew the full gravity of the title was lost on her, but she didn’t say anything more about it, and instead turned a half-circle in place and seemed to look around for something. Hesitating for several seconds in an awkward silence, Twilight eventually tried to break it by asking of her, “Not that I particularly mind.. but, what are you trying to find?” The other creature didn’t immediately respond, but her gaze did soon enough seem to latch onto something before she turned her head back to the creatures behind her and spoke, “There are some notches in these trees.” She started walking forward towards one of them, and Twilight soon followed, approaching one of the trees that was subtly lit by the flaming creature before her. The light only grew as they approached the tree, and Tianhuo placed a hoof on it just below chest level, and Twilight could suddenly see that there was a decent-sized gash in the tree bark right above her hoof. “I have heard from Fluttershy about these,” She continued, then looked slightly pensive for a moment before adding, “They were clearly placed here to find Zecora’s home, but I believe they were made subtle so no random creature, sentient or otherwise, could find it as well.” “That makes sense,” The Zebra replied with some level of relief, the subtle nagging question she had before finally quashed, “I wouldn’t want to give the monsters here any hints.” Tianhuo nodded, the gestured with her head for them to continue going forward, and she said somewhat suddenly, “I suppose I will tell you my own backstory when we get to your friend.” Taking a moment to recall where out that topic came from as she followed the Longma, Twilight nodded in understanding and replied, “Yes, I think that will work. Repeating the story would likely be... irked.” Taking another glance around her to see the remains of the Timberwolves barely visible in the blackness, she knew just how lucky she got to have the warrior before her on her side, as she may not have survived those wolves otherwise. Hopefully, though, she wouldn’t need to rely on the other creature for too long before she reunited with her old friend.