True Black

by Leonofsweden

Chapter 14 Why Can't They Just Leave us Alone

10 of April.

The last rays of the day's sun broke through the canopy as Lobo tore through his juicy meal of a buck for his evening meal. Since he was quite absorbed in the pleasure of eating his meal, he was quite surprised when something suddenly tackled Lobo in the middle of his back. He couldn't help but lash out at the intruder. Fortunately he was able to stop himself in the nick of time, and Zig Zag ended up staring into Lobo´s wide open, blood-dripping muzzle. Slowly, Lobo pulled back, and stared angrily down at him.

“By the Alpha! Are you trying to get yourself killed!” He growled at Zig Zag, who was getting up on all four hooves again, grinning with immense satisfaction.

“Haaa! Don't try to sneak out of this! I caught you completely off gaurd! You owe me that surprise you promised me!” Zig Zag proclaimed loudly while skipping around Lobo in an extremely happy manner. Lobo couldn't help but smile proudly. Zig Zag had improved dramatically over the last two days. He actually had to concentrate now to keep track of where Zig Zag was, or else he would lose him in the undergrowth of the forest. Although Zig Zag still had not been able to sneak up on Lobo himself, at least not until now. Ever since the first lesson, Zig Zag had not improved very much beyond a certain point, not until Lobo realized what the problem was almost three days ago. Each time Zig Zag stepped on a rock or gravel or any hard surface, it was impossible for him not to make a noise—his hooves simply could not be stealthy on anything solid. He would give away his position immediately. Between the two of them, Lobo and Zig Zag had come up with a simple solution; Lobo had, after some horrible failures, crafted crude and poorly made leather moccasins, or at least they were supposed to resemble that. In the end, they had at least managed to patch together something that was now muffling most of sound the pup would otherwise make, even if they were only flaps of leather securely tied around Zig Zag´s hooves. There were also enough material left on that particular prey to make Zig Zag a very rudimentary cape that now hung rather stiffly over his back, since they didn't have any tools to work the leather properly with to make it soft and tangible. But it was still better than nothing, giving Zig Zag some much-needed protection from the weather, which was slowly but surely getting colder the further north they travelled. The would-be moccasins were the important bits though and had an unexpected benefit of giving Zig Zag better traction on all surfaces, making it easier for him to run up tree trunks, boulders or any vertical surface you could think of. Some of the balancing acts the young pup was pulling off left Lobo more than a little impressed. It was almost as if he had a special talent for it and, as a result Zig Zag´s ability to sneak up on someone undetected, was now one par with many of this world’s best hunters. Lobo looked upon Zig Zag and his crude workmanship quite proudly. When the bouncing pup came to a halt in front of him, he looked expectantly at Lobo who nodded a “yes” to Zig Zag.

“Right you are. Even though I believe this originally belonged to you, I still think you will be happy to have it back,” Lobo said as he began to untie something secured in between the scales of his metal collar. After fiddling for a little while, he was holding a thin, silver chain in his paw. As Lobo let it dangle in front of Zig Zag, the little pup could finally see a small, silver pendant, resembling a cherry blossom, hanging from the chain. Zig Zag´s eyes went round as he stared in disbelief at the necklace he thought he had lost, once belonging to Cherry Blossom.

“How… How did you get that?” Zig Zag asked hoarsely.

“Actually you got it yourself when we escaped from North Bay, although you did drop it along the way. I saw it and picked it up, since I figured it must have some sort of value to you,” Lobo answered a bit apprehensive when he saw how strongly Zig Zag had reacted to the pendant.

This might not have been such a good idea after all, Lobo thought. With lightning speed, Zig Zag snatched the necklace away from Lobo, and held it clutched to his chest as tears started to run down his cheeks.

“Are you okay, Zig Zag?” Lobo asked with concern as he watched the pup once again breaking down in front of him. After a few sobs, Zig Zag managed to gather himself again. He looked up at Lobo with a sad but grateful smile and nodded.

“You… have no idea how much this means to me… thank you...” Zig Zag said with barely a whisper. Clumsily he tried to secure the pendant around his own neck, Lobo carefully moved closer and helped him.

“Did it belong to your… mother?” Lobo asked softly when the necklace was finally hanging securely on Zig Zag who shook his head and looked up at Lobo.

“No… It was Cherry Blossom´s… She was my best friend back in North Bay. At least until they killed her…” Zig Zag spat, with fury now burning in his eyes in place of the sadness that was their moments ago. He looked back in the direction of his former home. He would become faster, stronger and more fearsome than even Lobo, and then he would return to North Bay. And hunt down every last pony responsible for what happened to his mother, Cherry Blossom and Cherry Tree. He wouldn't let any of them escape with their lives. Zig Zag turned back to Lobo expectantly.

“Are we going to start training more than just sneaking soon?” he asked.

“If you like… I'll just finish eating, and then we will see what we can do,” Lobo answered. He moved over to his kill, sat down, and waited for Zig Zag to start moving away. Lobo soon realized that Zig Zag wasn't going anywhere; he looked back at the pup a bit uneasily. He was just sitting there, eagerly waiting for him.

“Ehhhh… I need to finish eating,” Lobo stated. Zig Zag just tilted his head a bit, a habit he seemed to have picked up from Lobo.

“Well I'm not stopping you…” Zig Zag answered. Lobo felt a little taken aback, while he looked from Zig Zag to his kill, which did look a little bit like a pony.

“Well yeah… you see the blood and…” He didn't really know how to expresses his concerns about Zig Zag seeing him eat, but Zig Zag cut him off.

“I know you eat meat, and since you take care of me now, I'll end up seeing it sooner or later. Besides, I have already seen worse…” he said sadly, Lobo felt a lump form in his chest.

“Yes that's true… But still, this must make you feel a bit uneasy,” Lobo asked hesitantly.

“I've actually watched you eating the last two times. That's how I knew I could sneak up on you this time,” Zig Zag said with a proud smile. Now Lobo was quite surprised to learn this.

“Ha! You've come along better than I give you credit for,” he said with a mischievous smile. Zig Zag gave a little sigh of relief; he thought he might get into trouble for having spied on Lobo, but he was actually looking proudly on Zig Zag´s achievement.

“Very well pup, suit yourself,” Lobo said as he began tearing into his food. Zig Zag in the meantime started to graze on whatever there was to eat for him in the clearing.

On a cloud not too far away from the glade, a grey pegasus soldier waited patiently for her Scout partner to come back with news about the duo they had spotted from above. She was growing restless; the hunt for the two fugitives had gone on for much longer than anticipated. They were almost at the border to Feliniss, and each of the different search parties was now running on empty. A soft rustle of feathers behind her announced her partner’s arrival. She looked back at him expectantly as he landed.

“It's definitely them,” the beige stallion announced happily. The mare gave a sigh of relief.

“Finally! By the moon´s grace... Alright then, get your sorry flank over to our last stop and inform Decurion Lightning Strike that we found the target. And then get somepony out here to relieve me…” the mare said and failed to suppress a jan. The stallion gave a playful hoof to the back of the mare’s head.

“Don't you dare fall asleep! I'll personally stuff you down the wolf’s gullet if he's gone when I get back!” he said sternly, yet with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“How are you going to stuff me down his gullet if he's gone when you get back?” the mare asked, looking at the beige stallion as if he was the biggest idiot ever. From the back edge of the cloud, he slowly glanced back at the mare when he heard her retort.

“Smart flank…” he said with a smile, as he jumped off the edge of the cloud. The grey mare turned her attention back on to the wolf who was currently stuffing his face.

Nowhere for you to run now, wolf… she thought with a satisfied grin. She had nothing personally against him. But orders were orders, so this wolf was coming back with them, willing or not. Now all the pegasus squadron would have to do was keep an eye on the two fugitives until those unbearably slow ground huggers that were the unicorns and earth ponies could catch up.

13 of April.

Zig Zag was breathing hard while he jumped over a fallen tree. Between his teeth a stick was tightly secured; it was supposed to represent a dagger. Risking a quick peek behind him, Zig Zag could see that Lobo was closing in fast. Just as the wolf's jaws were about to clamp down on the colt, Zig Zag bounced off another tree in his path, making a ninety degree turn that his pursuer could not match. Lobo dug his claws into the ground, leaving wide furrows as he came to a grinding halt. Grinning, he looked up as the pup disappeared through a thicket, where Lobo would not be able to follow.

“Good! You’re getting faster, and your evermore erratic movements are making you extremely difficult to catch now! Also the way you are constantly using your small size as an advantage is quite clever!” Lobo called after his pupil, circling the thick undergrowth Zig Zag was now hiding in.

“But you still have to learn that you cannot hide, at least not for long! You need to keep moving if you want to survive!” Lobo barked out. The two of them have been play fighting for almost three days straight. Zig Zag was insatiable, only stopping when he had to eat or sleep. And to Lobo´s delight, Zig Zag was quite good. Having been bullied for most of his life, he had learned how to take care of himself, and with a few suggestions from Lobo, Zig Zag was quickly turning into quite a capable fighter, in spite of his young age. A soft rustle from above him made Lobo look up, only to see Zig Zag trying to sneak from the branch of one tree to the branch of another.

How did you get up there?! Lobo thought while he coiled his legs beneath him and then launched himself straight up. Zig Zag let out a yelp when a set of jaws clamped onto the branch beneath him. Lobo pulled it down towards the ground. Zig Zag stared slack-jawed at him while grasping on for dear life as Lobo touched down on the ground, the branch still in his jaws.

“You… you wouldn't…” Zig Zag said nervously. Lobo smiled at him and then let go. The branch immediately catapulted a screaming Zig Zag into the air. As he reached the highest point of his trajectory, he took a deep breath and then once again started screaming as he was now plummeting towards the ground. Mere moments before impact, Zig Zag was caught by Lobo, who jumped up to catch him against his chest. When they were both safely on terra firma again, Zig Zag opened his tightly shut eyes, blinking a couple of times while he looked around. A huge grin suddenly split his face.

“Again!!! I want to do that again! That was awesome!” he squealed in delight. Lobo chuckled while shaking his head.

“You’ve got guts pup, that's for certain. One of the hardest things for you will probably be learning to control that,” he said and gave Zig Zag a playful nudge.

“Ahhhh! No! Stop! You're messing up my mane!!!” Zig Zag squealed even though he didn't really mind.

“I think this will be enough for today, or else I will end up running you into the ground... Let's go back to that clearing we ran through earlier, and rest for a while,” Lobo suggested. Zig Zag nodded in approval since he was quite tired, even though it was only noon and the sun was still standing high in the sky. The two of them had reached the border between the Empire and Feliniss the day before. Unfortunately they had not been able to cross, because it turned out that the border was a river, and the bridge down at the coast had failed catastrophically quite recently, by the looks of it, making it impossible for them to continue. Lobo and Zig Zag were now following the river inland, hoping to find some other way into Feliniss.

As they reached the clearing, Lobo curled up into a ball in the middle of the small meadow, leaving just enough room for Zig Zag to squeeze in between his front paws, thereby keeping him warm and comfortable while they rested. In the beginning Zig Zag had been a bit uneasy with sleeping so close to Lobo's quite frightening set of teeth. But now there was no place in the world where he felt as safe as when he curled up to rest next to Lobo´s massive jaws. It didn't take long for the two of them to doze off in the pleasantly warming sunshine.

Lightning Strike and Black Star were slowly moving in on their quarry. The pegasus squadron found them almost three days ago, but it had taken them this long to catch up then more or less half this day to get into position. Finally everything was in place, and they could confront Lobo.

“Our greatest weapon against him is magic, so I will challenge him first with the support from the eight unicorns. You and the eight pegasi in the squadron help keep him contained while the two remaining earth ponies capture the colt, once we have the colt, Lobo will most likely give up to keep him safe I think,” Black Star said, repeating the plan for what must have been the fiftieth time.

“What if he calls our bluff, that we are willing to hurt the colt?” Lightning wondered.

“We'll just have to do this the old fashion way, and beat him into submission,” Black Star said with a grin. Lightning shook her head; Black Star almost looked like she wanted Lobo to call their bluff.

“Okay… But remember, first will try to talk to him, we might be able to end this without bloodshed,” Lightning said trotting forward. Black Star immediately and eagerly, following behind.

Lobo´s eyes shot open. He raised his head to take in his surroundings. Something had disturbed his sleep, but he didn't know what. Then he realized what it was, there was no sound at all coming from the forest around them. His nose started working frantically as he sniffed the air. And then he smelled it, her stench! His tormentor, she was here! Lobo quickly rose up on all four and frantically shook Zig Zag with one paw while looking around them.

Zig Zag wake up… You have to wake up now! Zig Zag!” Lobo said fearfully, shaking the pup more firmly. Zig Zag came to, blinking up at Lobo in confusion. He and never seen the big wolf act like this before.

“What's going on?” Zig Zag asked while still lying on his side.

“We have to run! We have to…” Lobo didn't get any further, because a golden yellow, female pegasus wearing all black and exquisitely made leather armor, landed not too far in front of them, her ice blue eyes watching them with something akin to pity. There was a bright flash next to her, and when Lobo and Zig Zag could see again, a pearl white unicorn with similar black chainmail armor was standing next to the pegasus, her white eyes looking upon Lobo with hardly concealed anticipation and aggression. The growl that now filled the once calm glade was literally shaking the air with its ferocity. Zig Zag had gotten up and now stood, looking worriedly out from between Lobo´s front paws at the two soldiers standing in front of them. Lobo frantically looked around, only to realize they were already surrounded. At the edge of the glade, unicorns were standing guard while above them pegasi were circling around, keeping a wary eye on the two of them.

“Give it up, Lobo! We've got you completely surrounded!” Black Star said with a smirk. Lobo growled even more fiercely while he lowered himself protectively over Zig Zag. Seeing this, Lightning crouched down and tried to look under Lobo at the little colt.

“Hi there, little one…” Lightning said soothingly. Zig Zag’s ears perked up at hearing the pegasus’ calm voice, and peaked out a bit further from his hiding place beneath Lobo. Lightning gave him a comforting smile.

“Hi… I know this must be scary for you… You see the two nice ponies behind me?” Lightning gestured to two earth ponies in full war plate, standing a few meters behind her. Zig Zag looked at the black-armored ponies, and thought they looked anything but nice.

“They will take you someplace safe while we talk to Lobo for a while, and then we can all leave here together. Doesn't that sound nice?” Lightning said enthusiastically, with a little too much honey in her voice, thinking the colt would be eager to come with them given the choice. But when Zig Zag´s face contorted into anger and disgust, Lightning understood that the colt would not be easily convinced. Zig Zag jumped out and took on a fierce stance in front of Lobo.

“Leave together? Ha! You’ll kill me the first chance you get! Just like you did with mom, Cherry Blossom and Cherry Tree!!!” the little colt screamed angrily at them, and then gasped for breath, the torment in his eyes almost unbearable to watch.

“Look we're not from—” Lightning tried to make the colt understand that they were not from North Bay, but was cut off.

“I hate all you guard ponies! Lobo´s been kinder to me than anyone! Except mom and Cherry Blossom! And you killed them! Like you were going to kill me! But he saved me! And Lobo´s been nicer and more of a dad to me than any pony ever has! And I won't let you hurt him!!!” Zig Zag screamed in his shrill little voice, while taking on a fighting stance more or less mirroring Lobo behind him. Lobo however quickly scooped up Zig Zag, and once again stood vigil over him, growling at the two mares. Many of the soldiers surrounding the two fugitives were shuffling about, not really sure how to handle the situation. The story about the little colt, who had been sentenced to death because he tried to protect his mother, had spread like wildfire amongst the soldiers, and even if the law said he was a criminal, not a single one of them could fault him for what he had done. And all had agreed they would not return the colt to North Bay, but keeping him with them, until it could become a part of The Grand Army one-day. The only one not looking at the colt right then was Black Star; she was still completely focused on Lobo and her research.

“Look Lobo! We really don't want to hurt the kid! But if he stays with you, there is no getting around that! So be a smart wolf and give up! It's time to go home!” Black Star called to him. At hearing her last word, Lobo´s face contorted in anger.

“I can never go home because of you!” he roared at her. Black Star was about to step forward and put an end to this charade, but a hoof slammed quite hard into her chest, making her stumble backwards. She caught herself, and looked up at Lightning, shocked, who was glaring at her.

“What by the bloody moon do you think you're doing!?” Lightning Strike yelled angrily.

“I was just going to…” Black Star tried to say, but was interrupted.

“My orders were primarily to try and talk to him calmly! There is still a chance this can end before everything escalates any further! Now sit down, and wait for orders.” Lightning Strike said with an unnerving calm, despite the harshness of her tone. Black Star just stared with wide eyes at Lightning, never having seen this side of her before. Well actually she had, but it had never been directed at her before. Lobo took this opportunity to whisper to Zig Zag.

“Listen carefully… You have to run, as far and fast as possible,” Lobo said quietly. Zig Zag looked up at him, horror stricken.

“No I'm not leaving you.” Zig Zag answered with determination, and desperation. Lobo growled down at him.

“I will have to fight them, and I cannot do that with you here. If they catch you, it will all be over. So you have to run, I will find you… no matter where you go, I promise!” Lobo said while looking Zig Zag in the eyes, making sure he understood there was no discussing this. And without another word, Lobo picked up Zig Zag and set off towards the edge of the clearing. The soldiers around the meadow were taken completely off-guard; they had only seen the wolf slowly gliding through their camp, so when Lobo now showed the full ability of his physical prowess, he was almost two thirds of the way out of the clearing before anypony knew what was happening. Black Star gave as shrill yell when she realized Lobo had mysteriously vanished, and Lightning Strike looked back and cursed.

“Stop them!” she ordered sharply, and immediately every pony in the clearing was rushing in towards Lobo and Zig Zag. Several magical bolts came flying at them. Taking a page from Zig Zag´s book, Lobo began jumping erratically back and forth between them. Just as they reached the edge of the clearing, Lobo's left back paw was caught in the telekinetic grip of the closest unicorn. He growled angrily as he was being pulled in by the unicorn. Then many of the ponies got a déjà vu feeling, as Lobo swung his head, tossing the colt just out of the clearing, once again saving a youngster from a perceived deathtrap, like back at the original summoning of him, by sacrificing himself instead of the pup. Zig Zag rolled a couple of times when he hit the ground, then quickly came up on all fours and skidded to a stop, looking pleadingly back at Lobo in the clearing.

“Run!!!” Lobo roared and to his satisfaction saw the little pup takeoff between the trees. Lobo came to a halt, so he turned around only to see the unicorn that had thoughtlessly dragged him up close, grinning down at the wolf, immensely pleased with his accomplishment.

Big mistake! thought Lobo as he kicked the unicorn with his free hind leg, straight across his face. The magic holding Lobo fizzled out immediately as the unicorn yelped loudly, while clamping his hooves to his now ruined features. Not wasting a moment to pity the pony, Lobo was off again. This time he was just past the tree line when something grabbed him roughly around his tail. He gave a loud yelp, then dug his claws into the soil and pulled himself free. He was, however, rewarded with a searing pain in his tail when he looked back, half fearing that it had been ripped clean off. But it was still there, only now more or less naked, most of its fur still suspended in the telekinetic grip of a unicorn.

A rustle from above made Lobo flinch to the side, just as the pegasus slammed down on the ground where he would have been. He dodged round the next tree, only to see a bright flash behind him, followed by a searing sound, when the magical bolt slammed into said tree. Two more pegasi came crashing through the canopy in front of him, so he immediately bolted off to the left again, and then realized that he slowly but surely was being herded back towards the clearing where Lightning and Black Star would be waiting for him. Taking another page out of Zig Zag's book of tricks, Lobo ran up the trunk of a tree, letting his speed and momentum carry him as high as possible before kicking off back in the direction he had come from. Beneath him he could see the stunned looks of two pegasi, now running in the wrong direction.

Just as Lobo was about to land, a surprised-looking unicorn emerged from the undergrowth right beneath him—most likely the very same unicorn who had just stripped most of the fur from his tail. The unicorn's eyes went round when he saw the flying wolf coming at him. He didn't even have time to make a sound, much less erect any type of magical shield, before Lobo slammed down on top of him. The black chainmail armor the unicorn had on would protect very well from cuts and stab wounds, but against blunt trauma, or in this case being crushed by Lobo´s weight and momentum of a gigantic wolf, it offered little defense. Several loud cracks announced that the unicorn's rib cage was now completely shattered, as he was unceremoniously stomped into the ground sideways. He started coughing up blood while he looked back at the wolf that immediately disappeared amongst the trees, closely followed by the two pegasi who didn't even spare him a glance. When he tried to take another wheezing breath, pain surged through his body. It was becoming more or less impossible to breathe now, as both his lungs were punctured by the bones of his shattered rib cage.

Lobo spared himself the sight through his escape. Shouts and calls for support were heard all around the dieing stallion. The edge of his vision was starting to close in on itself. Tears were flowing down his face as the cold realization that he was dying finally hit. The grief-stricken soldier thought of his wife and little filly back home. They would soon have their foremost bread bringer and provider taken from them, when some unknown Grand Army official comes to inform his wife that she is now a widow. Because of this, she would no longer receive her husband's pay; he was, after all, no longer a part of The Grand Army. At least he had died in combat, so his family would receive what was considered a reasonable last pay for his sacrifice, and that would be that, they'd be on their own. The stallion gritted his teeth at the unfairness of it all, then he coughed again and grew still.

Zig Zag ran like he had never run before. Behind him, two earth pony stallions were chasing him. But he was clearly losing them. Their initial sprint had recovered some ground with Zig Zag, but now their heavy plate armor was quickly wearing on their stamina, and the fact that they tended to crash through obstacles instead of dodging them was slowing them down even more. After only a few hundred meters, Zig Zag had left his pursuers in the dust. He wasn't really aware of what direction he had been running, so when he jumped over a particularly thick patch of shrubbery, he ended up hitting the brakes as hard as he could when he saw what was waiting on the other side. His hooves dug into the ground as he came to a screeching halt. Slowly he looked straight down over the edge he was now teetering on, down into the whitewater rapids below him. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and then heard a loud thud behind him. Zig Zag spun around, only to face a smiling pegasus mare. She was wearing black leather armor that covered most of her dark grey coat, but what captivated Zig Zag were her startlingly blue eyes. She gave a shrill whistle, which was immediately answered by two similar sounding whistles from somewhere in the woods. She took a step towards Zig Zag, causing him to flinch after recalling that she was the enemy. Because she was a pegasus mare, Zig Zag had inadvertently thought of his mother and had momentarily dropped his guard. Now he frantically looked around himself for a possible escape route.

“Hey kid! Why don't you just make it easy on yourself? That was a good run, especially for an earth pony. You're quite fast, and that's high praise coming from a pegasus. So just take it easy and relax, no one is going to hurt you, kid,” the mare said, trying to sound reassuring. Zig Zag just snorted.

“Like I haven't heard that lie before!” he said defiantly, taking the fighting stance Lobo had taught him. Seeing this, the mare also took on a more aggressive posture.

“Look kid! I don't want to hurt you! But… I've got my orders, and I'll break your damn legs one by one if that's what it takes to drag you back,” she said angrily when the colt didn't do what she told him to do. Just then, the two earth ponies came crashing through the thicket behind them, startling the pegasus mare. Zig Zag seized the opportunity and bolted.

“Damn it you two! I had him cornered!!!” she roared back angrily at the two guilty-looking stallions who had inadvertently let the colt to escape. Furiously she took wing after the fleeing kid. Even though Zig Zag was a very fast runner, he was still no match for a pegasus on-the-fly. Even though she missed her first attempt to grab him, she succeeded on the second try, as she was now able to anticipate his movement. She was finely flapping lazily a few meters off the ground, holding Zig Zag straight out in front of her, grinning at him.

“There… Are you going to be a nice lit” AHHHHHHHHHHH! “HE'S BITING ME!” the pegasus mare screamed while frantically trying to shake Zig Zag loose from the little gap he had found in her armor. She pinned him under one hoof against her body, while tearing the other one free from his mouth. The mare looked with wide eyes at the little bite mark she now had on her lower front leg. Her features darkened, and she slammed her hoof across Zig Zag´s snout, causing a slight trickle of blood to fall.

"That's it! No more missus nice pegasus!!!” she roared at him, clapping him firmly to her chest before taking off into the sky. The pegasus mare proceeded to do barrel rolls, corkscrews, loops and sharp turns that never seemed the end. Even though he had always loved flying with his mother, especially when she had let loose, it had never been anything close to this. Zig Zag had nonetheless learned a few tricks from his mother, about how to squeeze and contract muscles in the body in certain ways so that the blood stays where it’s supposed to be. When they finally came to a halt above the river, Zig Zag´s head was tittering from side to side as he gasped for breath; he couldn't even get his eyes to focus on anything. The pegasus mare once again held him out in front of her, snickering at him.

“My my… You are a tough one aren't you, kid! I've had earth ponies who passed out for half what I just did to you. But no worries, I can still kick it up a notch or two for your next ride,” she said with a laugh, grinning widely at him.

“Lay off the kid, Thunderhead! Or I'll buck your teeth in when you get back down here! You hear me!!!” one of the earth pony soldiers roared up at her. The pegasus mare looked down with a pouty face.

“But I want to play with him… He's my new favorite toy! And I am going to see how much he can take before he passes out!” she said with a giggle and looked back at Zig Zag expectantly. In the meanwhile, Zig Zag had been able to regain his bearings while the mare prattled on about what she was going to do with him. When their eyes met, he was glaring at her, and showing his new canines in what he hoped would be a threatening display. Whether it was that the mare was actually frightened or just surprised didn't matter. She held him out a little bit further from herself, giving Zig Zag just enough space between them to execute his plan. His back hoof came straight up, connecting cleanly with a pegasus mare jaw. Her head snapped up viciously from the power of the blow, and the next thing Zig Zag knew, they were both plummeting towards the fast-flowing and frothing water below.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea… Zig Zag thought surprisingly detached from the situation, while he heard the panicked shouts from the two stallions on the shore line, helplessly watching the two of them plummet towards their watery graves.

Thanks to Meeester for the Pre-read/Edit