//------------------------------// // Battle Without feelings // Story: Being of Two Minds // by cosmofur //------------------------------// Red Wood stood in half morning lit, and half midnight dark dreamscape. The two Princesses, the rulers of his nation had just ordered him to wake up, to flee for his life, and he had not the slightest idea on how to do so. He snorted, whinnied and stamped the dream grass in frustration, while the two Alicorns stared blankly at him. “I don’t know how!” he eventually cried. “This dream is too real!” Luna looked sympathetic, “Forgive me, you are in the deepest stage of sleep where your spirit is most detached from your body. Even I know of no easy way to draw you out from within this dream, someone or something in the outside world could wake you with a touch or loud noise, but we have no power to do so trapped within here.” Celestia looked stricken, “We can not wait for that, the only movement our spell detected in Coltsdale is the cultists. If you wait for them to wake you, then it be would better not to wake at all!” Luna turned to Celestia and with a worried look, “My sister, I know of a spell that may work but you have banned it as dark magic.” Celestia looked confused for a moment, “The sleeping servant?” Luna nodded. “Do it.” Celestia ordered. Luna turned back to Red Wood, “Listen now, the spell I’m going to cast is based on a banned mind control spell. Normally it would allow the caster to take control of another Ponies body, suppressing the host’s mind in a dreamless sleep. Your body would be like a puppet in the casters control.” Red Wood nodded, “Understood your highness.” He stood up, his legs shaking, fear growing in his belly. “Please, do it, otherwise my son will be helpless.” Luna started to concentrate, her horn glowing blue, after a moment, she gasped “Aid me sister! This spell was not designed to be cast from within the dreamrealm! I feel it slipping out of my control!” Celesta lit up her own horn and it’s gold yellow light merged with her fellow alicorn’s magic. The glow from their mixed spells started to pulse. Red Wood had to turn his head away as the light grew too bright to look at. In moments he no longer could see the dreamscape, it was all blank white noise, he couldn't even see or feel his own body. Even when he tried to touch himself with his hoofs, he felt nothing. Red Wood started to scream in panic, but even that was just in his mind, he had no mouth, no lungs, no voice. For a long time he felt suspended like this, when slowly a dot of darkness resolved itself into his vision. It wasn’t even clear to Red Wood if the dot was in front of him of to the side, it was just the only thing in the sea of white and trying to turn his head or roll his eyes didn't have any effect on how he saw it. Slowly the dot grew into a sphere, taking up more and more of his vision. After some seconds? Minutes? Hours? Red Wood seem to pass through the surface of the sphere, and he could for the first time really see its contents. It was his bedroom, Red Wood seemed to be floating about two lengths over his bed, looking down at his own body. Along with clear vision, sound reappeared and he could hear himself snoring. He for a disoriented moment was surprised, he never heard his own snoring before and was it was so loud. “Banyan right, it is like an express train.” He thought to himself. Luna’s voice echoed faintly in Red Woods mind, “My spell is at it’s limit, you need to take control of your body now, use your will to make it move. It will remain in this state for at least an hour, so be caref…” Luna’s voice suddenly faded, lost as the sounds of the waking world became louder and more real than the memories of the dreamscape. Unfortunately the sound which masked the Princesses last words, terrified Red Wood, because it was the sound of breaking glass. Someone was breaking into his house. The same instance he heard a cry of alarm, a cry came from Banyan’s room. Red Wood didn't spend even an instant trying to feel out how the control spell worked, by gut instinct he wrenched his body out of bed. It hung below his vision like a puppet on strings. Left foreleg, right rear, right foreleg, left rear, in jerky by speedy motions he made his sleeping form move. Nothing was easy, yet somehow he was keeping his balance and moved. He banged his shins against every object in his way, but didn't feel anything, nor did his body show any signs of waking. He tried to open his bedroom door with his horn, but what ever body-less state he was in, he couldn't channel his magic. Not wanting to waste even a moment, he threw his body against the door and smashed it open. Splinters flew as the door broke into pieces. Someone yelled, it wasn't his son, there had been someone behind the door and now that someone was flattened on the floor as the door fell outward. For extra measure Red Wood made his body hop hard on the flattened door, hearing a satisfactory “Ufff!” from the intruder. He then slammed his fore hoof on the handle nob of his sons bedroom door. From his airy perch he could see Banyan huddled in the corner of his room, scared but so far unharmed and alone. Red Wood wasn’t sure of his puppetry skills to try to make his body talk, but he did have some control of the mouth and neck, so he grabbed Banyan by his pajamas and tossed the screaming child onto his back. Two kicks of his fore-hoofs and Banyan’s window was smashed out, one jump and both of them were out of the house. Red Wood looked side to side. His vision though wouldn't extend more than a small lit bubble centered around his body, beyond ten body lengths and everything was gray. He was turned around and not sure which way to go. He used what few landmarks he could make out to direct his body towards the center of town, but had gone only a few strides when a bunch of torch welding ponies resolved at the edge of his vision. He didn't recognize any of these strange ponies, and he knew everypony in Coltsdale. It had to be the cultists, there was no way he could run around them. Cries of alarm told him that he had been spotted. He spun around and galloped in earnest into the woods. Twigs branches cut and tore at him, but Red Wood didn't feel the blows, he just knew he had to get space between his son and these cult ponies. He broke through a hedge row of bushes and into a clearing he knew about, about a quarter mile into the woods. There he let Banyan down and pantomimed for the small pony to hide in the nearby bushes. Banyan was crying and Red Wood couldn't even offer him words of comfort. He nuzzled the little colt and then when he was sure the youngster was hidden, he turned back the way he came. He had come up with a half formed plan to allow the pursuing ponies to see him and then lead them away, away from Banyan and perhaps back to town where there were other ponies to help. So stood pawing the ground, ready to charge, when new movement caught his attention. Coming from off the side of the clearing, something slowly stepped into his vision. It was not the pursuing ponies, no it was a monster. The thing was twice the size of pony, covered in barbed scales like a horny lizard with a neck that stretched snake like from its squared shoulders, more wolf shaped than lizard, but most noticeable blood like sweat poured off the creature in rivulets that pooled on the ground as it slowed to approach towards Red Wood. It was an Inkanyamba, Red Wood recognized the monster from storybooks. It must have come from southern jungles, where they would use the death smell of their bloody red sweat to drive prey forward, into dead falls or the jaws of waiting pack-mates. It didn't belong here, the cult must be using it as some sort of attack dog. It amazed Red Wood how cold his emotions where, he expected to be terrified, but all he felt was hate. This was the monster that had killed his love. He didn't have his magic, but the Princesses spell meant he couldn't feel any pain, there was nothing that was going to hold him back, keep him from destroying this thing, this abomination. He reared up then pointed his horn straight at the creature and then snorting in anger, he charged.