Felled Demons
Second Arc: Delay of Game
I stormed into the reception area, confusion and anger guidin me to where my friends were curled up asleep on the various chairs scattered around the room. They were all asleep, save for Quick.
He looked up from his game of solitaire, and gave me a smile. He dropped the act as he noticed the look I was givin him.
“Bad news?” He asked, unaware of the information I carried in my hand.
I threw the folder at him, its contents spillin on the floor.
He cautiously got up and examined the papers inside. After a couple of minutes realization dawned on him, and the color faded from his face.
“Listen, Bronze, I can explain this.” He began stutterin and gatherin the papers into the folder.
“Not here, I don’t want the others to hear it though. Could we talk outside?” He motioned towards the door, and I silently complied.
The damp night air filled my lungs as Quick closed the door behind him. The stars were out, but I didn’t take any satisfaction in their beauty, not right now anyway.
“Listen, there’s a reason I killed that pony. It wasn’t an accident, but it was necessary.” He sighed and continued, “ten years ago my mother was still alive, and we didn’t have a lot of money to go around…
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“Now let’s get you to bed mister, we have a long day tomorrow.” A friendly voice said as she tucked her little fledgling in for the night.
“But Moooom, I don’t want to go to bed.” The little bundle whined as his mother finished fluffing his pillow.
“Well, how about I read you a bedtime story?” The mother began to rummage through a small bookcase that sat next to the little bed. She pulled out his favorite story, the one about the griffin who saves the princess from the evil dragon. Once the little bundle saw the title, he began nodding his head furiously.
“Blazing Talons and the Blue Dragon! Will you read it? Huh, mom, will you?” She shushed him lightly, and opened the book.
After a few pages the little one was snoring gently, the thin blankets raising steadily. The mother bent down, and kissed him on the head.
“Rest my little Quick, in the morning we will leave this awful town, and make our way somewhere safer.” She silently stood, and exited the room.
What she didn’t know was that just outside the little one’s second story window, a shadowed figure hovered noiselessly in the still night air.
“Somewhere safe huh? No where’s gonna be safe for you Pearl.” The shadowed figure said to the window, “No where’s”
The next morning Pearl had gotten everything the two would need for the trip. She and Quick were just stepping out of the house when Quick stopped.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” He ran back into the run down two story home in the slums of Manehatton. Pearl waited patiently, and was rewarded with the sight of her little Quick flying out of the door with a book in his beak. The picture of the heroic griffin flying towards a large blue dragon bounced unsteadily in Quick’s mouth as he flew towards his mother.
He spit the book into his backpack, and placed it back on his shoulders between his wings.
“Don’t want to forget Blazing Talons, he would be lonely without us.” He said.
Pearl just laughed, and they started towards the gates to the city where they would meet the caravan.
Quick wondered why every now and then his mother would shoot a glance behind them, only to have Quick walk faster. He assumed it was because they were running late, but he was too young to have seen the figures dart into alleyways.
When the two reached the caravan, Pearl had stopped sending backwards glances. Quick didn’t question why, he was just happy to be sitting after all that walking at such a fast pace.
“Almost there Quick, almost there.” Pearl said, pulling Quick into a tight hug with her wing.
Quick loved the attention from his mother. When she was working at the school with those snot-nosed ponies she was almost never around. But now they were going on an adventure, and could spend all day together.
Days passed, and the landscape changed. The hills turned into plains, and soon trees. Quick didn’t much like the trees, they hid the sky. Although he was just old enough to fly, he still wasn’t very good at it. His mother said it would come with time, but not with these stupid trees blocking him!
Eventually they reached the settlement. It was a fairly small town, maybe a hundred buildings. There were several that he was able to recognize right away. There was the town hall, which was made almost completely of wood. The courthouse was a tall, rocky structure that dwarfed the surrounding buildings. There was a small army building that must have housed the guards. There was a well, a forge, and what looked like a bakery. A bunch of small wooden houses sat in rows and communities.
What impressed Quick the most were the dozens of tents and huts that were scattered around the small clearing where the town sat. There must have been tons of ponies here who just wanted a new life. He even saw a couple griffins and minotaurs walking around and helping with the construction. A friendly looking stallion called out orders to the others working on building a house.
Before Quick could ask his mother who it was, the wagon they were in stopped. She told him it was time to get out, and he complied.
When he got out of the wagon he stretched his wings, relishing in the crack that they responded with.
“Pearl Beak?” A stallion called, signaling their turn in the roll call.
“Here. Quick Beak is here as well.” She called to the unicorn with a paper and quill caught in his magic. He scribbled something on the paper, and told Quick’s mother to join the rest of the new arrivals in the town hall.
Once they got inside, they were greeted by the buzz of dozens of voices talking excitedly at once.
“What’s going on Mom?” Quick asked, getting shushed again by his mother.
Before he could ask again, a voice broke over the crowd.
“Hello! Hello my new friends!” The stallion from before was talking over the crowd. He was pure white, coat and mane alike, making it difficult to differentiate between the two.
“My name is Frost Snap. I’m the mayor of this town, and may I say welcome to Wethoof.” He gestured with his hoof, making the crowd cheer and applaud.
“We are undergoing extreme renovations to accompany all the new residents. You will all be given a complimentary tent for housing. All will be expected to help work on the new homes. Outside you will find members of the council that will assign jobs based on your special talents, or where they think you will be most helpful. Again, welcome to Wethoof!”
As he exited the stage, the applause started up again, only to die down once the back doors were opened, and everyfeather started milling out.
Eventually the two got outside, and made their way down the lines and to a white unicorn with a stack of papers in front of her.
“Name?”
“Pearl Beak, and this is my son, Quick Beak.”
The unicorn eyed us.
“Special talent and or previous job experience.”
“Well I used to be a linguistics professor, and my son hasn’t had a job yet.” Pearl said, scratching the back of her neck.
“That’s great” She seemed to perk up, “We needed a teacher for the younglings. Your son will probably be helping with construction.” At the sight of Pearl sighing she continued, “Don’t worry, he’ll be doing easy things.”
Eventually they got our papers filled out, and their jobs assigned. For almost a year everything went swell. Quick began to grow bigger, and Pearl was happy teaching the little ones. She even had more time to spend with her little one. Eventually they moved into one of the new houses, a quaint little thing with two rooms, a kitchen, and living room.
For a while, they were happy.
One night, during “winter” everything changed.
Quick came home from a long day working on building the residential sections of the town. There were almost enough to house all the people coming in. Almost.
Usually Pearl would have their dinner ready, and would welcome Quick with a hug and kiss, but today was different.
Once Quick entered the door to their home a scream echoed in his head. The high-pitched sound tour through his ears, turning his blood to ice.
Quick rushed into the kitchen, only to find a site that will haunt him for the rest of his days.
On the kitchen floor, Pearl sat against the wooden wall. She coughed, and took notice of little Quick. She looked down at her chest, a hoof pressed against the wound that was gushing blood. A knife was sitting next to her, coated in her essence. She let out another cough, shocking Quick out of his shock.
“MOM!” He yelled, rushing to her side. She gave him a weak smile, and ran her hoof through his feathered head.
“I’m sorry son. I promised you that we would be safe. But it seems that destiny had other plans for me.” She said weakly.
Quick began sobbing uncontrollably, trying in vain to stop the blood from coming.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go get help.” He said as he started to get up.
“No. There is nothing you can do now. I need you to run Quick.” Her voice had began to grow more frantic as the darkness closed in around her eyes. “I need you to run. Somewhere safe. Off the grid. Where they can’t find you.”
Tears were running freely down her face, as another coughing fit wracked her body.
“Who would do this? Why you? You’re just a teacher!” Quick asked, his voice seething with rage.
“It’s about your father Quick. He owed money to some stallions back in Manehattan. They decided his life wasn’t enough, and eventually came for us. The gangsters all wear the serpents mark. I need you to run though Quick, run and stay away from the snake’s eye.” The light was almost gone from her eyes, only a small spark was left in her body, keeping her from leaving her son.
“NO! Mom don’t leave me…Don’t leave me.” Quick started crying in his mother’s barrel, constantly begging her to come back.
“I love you, my little hatchling.” Her breath escaped her, Floating through the air as her soul carried on.
Quick sat there for some time, just crying into his mother’s coat. The yellow markings on his chest began to be coated in his mother’s blood, but he didn’t care. He just wanted his mother back.
When the sobs stopped, the tear ducts were empty, and the sadness subsided, it was only replaced with rage.
He shot out of the house faster than he had ever flown. He barreled down the streets, looking for the one who had done this to him.
He entered the bar that had just recently been erected. The workers usually went there after the days hard labor, but Quick wasn’t looking for a drink.
He scanned the place, eyes darting to every dark corner. Soon he found his target.
A Pegasus stallion sat alone at one of the back booths, quietly sipping on his mug. Over his cutie mark, which used to be a chisel and stone, was the eye of a serpent. It’s slit pupil mocking Quick with every breath he took. The stallion looked to be well built, strong for a Pegasus. His oak coat and black main hid the specks of dried blood well.
Quick’s vision went red. All he could see was his mother’s lifeless body sitting on the kitchen floor.
He flew directly into the stallion, knocking the air out of the bastard. Quick curled his talons into a fist, and began hammering into the assassin.
The pony was too dazed from the original blow, and too drunk to comprehend what was going on. There was no fighting back, barely any resistance, only the next punch.
Quick began to grow more relentless in his attack, opening his fist and raking the pony’s barrel with his razor sharp talons. Blood began flying through the air, much to the other occupant’s surprise. Until then, it had only been another bar-brawl.
Quick let out an animalistic screech, his predator instincts kicking in as he ripped the pony’s throat out.
The bar was silent, save for the gurgling sound that came from the dying stallion.
When Quick’s vision cleared he was already back at his house. He didn’t look back, didn’t care that he had killed. All that was left was his mother.
He gently walked into the kitchen, halfway expecting his mother to call him to dinner. All he found of her was her corpse.
He gently lifted his mother, the months of construction work had made him strong physically, but proved to do nothing against the tears that began flowing once more.
He walked out of the house, and flew away into the jungle. His wings strained with the weight, but he pushed on.
He didn’t know how long he flew for, minutes, hours, days? He just flew.
Eventually he came to a great lake that dominated the forest. He landed next to the shore, wings too tired to fly any farther.
He went to one of the trees that surrounded the lake, and began digging. The hole was deep enough so no scavenger would find her, and large enough for her to lay down comfortably.
He sheered the trees of their leaves, the largest on bottom, and the smallest saved.
Quick gently placed his mother into the grave, and coated her with the small leaves from the trees.
He filled the hole, and said a prayer to the gods.
Two days passed with Quick sleeping next to his mother’s grave, surviving off the water from the lake, and the fish within.
Eventually he left, flying north. The only thing left was the freshly dug ground, and the marking on the tree.
“Here lies Pearl Beak, Wife, Teacher, and Mother.”
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“Eventually I found myself in New Findings. There was hardly anyfeather there at the time, and my presence was never
questioned. Just another pilgrim looking for a future.” Quick finished.
I sat there for a moment, takin in what he had just told me.
“I’m sorry for your loss Quick, and I completely understand why you killed that scum. But we need to help this town if you are to be let back into any Equestrian city or town.” I said.
“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t they just take me into custody?” Quick asked.
I sighed and told him what Flower Founder had told me. When I was finished Quick gave me a nod.
“Alright, alright. We’ll help this town out, but if you don’t mind, could we keep my story a secret until later. I don’t think the group is ready to hear about my past, especially Toni.”
I gave him a nod, and we headed back inside. The night was almost over, and it seemed we had a lot of work to do tomorrow. I woke the others, and we headed back to the inn for some rest.
When we got back, I informed the others of what was to happen. I didn’t tell them that we were doing it because of Quick, but that the town needed our help. Nar-Kuth took the most convincing, and considerin we were down here just to help him I didn’t blame him.
Eventually he succumbed to both my relentless approach, and fatigue.
With every on the ball, I laid down in my bed. The tough mattress below me strainin from my weight. I sighed at the day’s events,
Why does everythin have to be so damned difficult?