//------------------------------// // V - A Savior, Songs, And A Sacrifice // Story: Horns, Hooves, and Fur // by Deyeaz //------------------------------// V - A Savior, Songs, And A Sacrifice "Oof! Hey, will you watch whe- Rainbow? What are you doing here?" Lyra, who was being chased by C-Top, Derpy, and Bon-Bon, had trudged through the Everfree Forest to search for Praxis, who she had not seen in a day and had wondered what he's up to. She also needed his comfort: the mares and stallions that bullied her during the fiasco had wielded words and taunts about her and her friends that hurt more than broken bones. Because she hadn't seen where she was going, she had charged head-on into Rainbow Dash. "Oh. Hey, Lyra," said Rainbow, scratching the back of her head and looking away. "I was just looking for your... friend. Fleshy, kinda skinny, and furless torso, goat legs and horns, beard. Y'know who I'm talkin' about, right?" "Oh, Praxis?" Lyra asked. Rainbow nodded twice, eyes closed. "Why, whaddaya need to talk to him about?" "Well... I need to apologize to him, because I did something... unthinkable to him." "What?!" the lyre-player bursted, her shock soon evolving into anger. "What did you do?!" "N-nothing!" the athlete answered nervously as she backed away from Lyra. "I swear! I just... wanna say sorry to him. I tackled him and got in a... REALLY awkward position with him, I threw stuff at him, I yelled names at him, and I wanted him gone. But I never saw what he was going through, never saw life through his eyes." She rubbed the spot where Fluttershy had struck her and sighed. "It took somepony else to get me to stop acting like... like... like such a feather brain!" "Oh... alright, then." Lyra sighed, getting rid of all that unexplainable fury that had gotten the best of her. "Sheesh, you might want to relax a bit, Lyra. The way you reacted, you must seem to like the guy," Dash teased. "W-what? Nuh-uh!" It was no good: her cheeks were red as beets as she shook her head violently. Rainbow, despite not being one for reading a girl's emotions, took notice to Lyra's response and gasped in surprise. "You DO like him! Oh, this is just pure GO-" Dash's words were brought to an abrupt end by Lyra's hoof in her mouth to silence her. "SHHHH!" Lyra glanced left and right, biting her lip in anxiety before speaking in a hushed tone. "You better not tell ANYPONY this, because not only will I deny it, but I will hunt you down and rip out all your wing feathers!" Dash winced and glanced at her wings. "*Sigh*... But I guess I do like him." She removed her hoof from Dash's muzzle and wiped the saliva on a nearby fern. Dash wiped her mouth and spat in the dirt; Lyra's hoof wasn't exactly flavorful. "Well, what is it about that guy that makes you like him?" Dash wanted to know why the lyre player was crushing on this unusual creature. "You only knew him for one day!" "I know, but..." Lyra rubbed her chin as she pondered on what attributes Praxis had. "There're some things about him... he's kind, he's smart... strong... funny... fast... magical…." She dreamily sighed at the last word, making Rainbow raise her eyebrows. "Wait, what? MAGICAL? FAST!? Pfft! NOpony's faster than me!" The athlete raised a hoof to her chest with pride. "Suuuuuure... noPONY is faster than you," bantered Lyra, giggling at Rainbow gritting her teeth at the joke. Carrot Top, Derpy, and Bon-Bon had finally caught up to Lyra, panting heavier than dogs in heat. "Jeez Louise, Lyra *puff*, did you *cough* used to run *pant* track or something?!" Carrot Top wheezed, wiping the sweat accumulating on her forehead. "Yeah! *pant* My chest *wheeze* burns like *pant* crazy!" huffed Bon-Bon, clutching her chest and sitting down. "No more! *puff* PLEASE!" wailed Derpy as she stopped flying and landed on her belly, legs spread out across the dirt. Just then, a bone-chilling sound reverberated across the Everfree Forest. It was laughter. Loud, maniacal, and painful-sounding laughter, shortly followed by the sound of a body hitting wood multiple times and ending with a splash. "What was that?" Lyra said, looking hither and thither for the noise's source. "It came from over there!" Rainbow answered, pointing towards the east. "Well, c'mon!" Bon-Bon said, charging to where Dash had pointed. The others followed suit, venturing deeper into the foliage. After almost three minutes of reluctant galloping (everypony was tired from all the running, and Dash and Derpy couldn't use their wings in the thick underbrush of the forest), they had reached a clearing, sunlight pouring through a gap of leaves above. They looked around for the source of the sound and witnessed a sight that all made them gasp in shock: Praxis was laying spread-eagle in a shallow river, his fleeced livestock legs and hair flowing with the current. He had fallen out of his massive oak tree and crashed through some of the lower branches on the way down, rendering him unconscious. No bubbles of air rose from his nose nor his mouth as he laid there in the drink, a huge tree branch lay atop him. Even if he was conscious, he would have been too battered and beaten to remove it. "Oh, no. PRAXIS!!!" cried Lyra, running to the satyr and removed the tree branch before levitating him out of the water and onto his back on the land with her magic. She placed a hoof in front of his mouth and her fears were confirmed: he wasn't breathing. "NonononoNO! PRAXIIIIS!!! PLEASE BREATHE!!! PLEEEEAAASE!!!" She got onto her knees and pushed his flute away from his chest before pushing on it rhythmically, fresh tears freely streaming down her face and falling onto his torso with soft *plink*s as she bit her lip in apprehension. She had no choice: this form of CPR wasn't effective enough. She put her mouth on his and breathed heavily into it, her tears dripping off of her eyelashes and onto his temple and right cheek. She cherished the feel of his lips on hers, the sweet smell and taste of wild berries that his tongue wielded inebriating her slightly. She separated herself from him and resumed pressing his chest again. "BREATHE, DAMN YOU!!!!!!! BREEEEEEEAAAAAATHE!" Rainbow, C-Top, Derpy, and Bon-Bon had lost it: the first two were trying to stifle the tears with almost no success, but the others were already letting the waterworks loose proudly, crying onto one another's shoulders. Lyra gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation again, removing herself from him again and applying more pressure to his chest. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" she screamed loudly, her eyes shut tight as she pushed harder and harder. "WAKE UUUUUUP!" All was lost... he wouldn't exhale, not once. Her pushing got weaker and slower in pace. She finally gave up and let Praxis resign to his fate. She rested her cheek on his left tattooed one and hugged him by the neck, weeping. "You're not dead!... you're not dead... Praxis... please wake up...." she whispered, her voice cracking as she kissed his cheek and nuzzled up to it again. "Please don't go...." "Come on, Lyra, *sniffle*... let's go get Zecora," suggested Carrot Top sorrowfully as she walked over and placed a hoof on the heartbroken unicorn's shoulder. "She'll know what to do with the bod- er... him." The gardener closed her eyes and shed another tear. Rainbow sniffled as well, wiping away tears from her magenta hued eyes. Bon-Bon and Derpy were still crying, their new friend being greedily claimed by Death drastically plaguing them. "NOOOOOO!" Lyra suddenly bellowed in remorse and rage, bringing herself up back up onto her knees. "LIVE, DAMN IT! LIVE!" She swung her forehooves high up into the air before bringing them down onto the satyr's chest with enough force to snap wood. She did it again, and again, and again, until.... *COUGH!* Lyra looked down at where the sound had come from and her amber eyes lit up. Water expelled itself from Praxis's mouth and had dribbled down his chin. He coughed and sputtered painfully as his eyes feebly fluttered ajar. He turned his head to see the teary-eyed, yet smiling Lyra. All the other ponies were blocked from view as he stared at his savior through hazy vision. "L...Lyra?" he said weakly before slowly turning his head and coughing out another torrent of water. He rotated towards her again and squinted a little. "Is... is that really you?" "Yes, Praxis," the lyre player responded before scooping him up into her forelegs and hugging him. He slowly, yet surely returned the embrace. Her coat and mane smelled precisely like the mint color they took, the scent intoxicating to him. "Wow... talk about déjà vu, eh?" he murmured. She chuckled a bit at his joke, holding him even tighter. Just then the four other mares had charged at the two of them into an affectionate pony-pile, hugging them with the strength of pythons. "I like the look," complemented Lyra quietly under the burial of equines, blushing ever so slightly. "I think it makes you look fierce... but on the inside, you're still just a big softy like always." He chuckled as a sign of saying "You're welcome". She looked down at his stomach and her eyebrows raised. "Uh, Prax? There's something here," she breathed into his ear as she pointed a hoof in the direction of his navel. Once the crowd removed themselves from the unicorn and the satyr, he glanced at the spot she indicated and his pupils constricted: laying there, almost emblazoned onto his skin, were three objects: a black star inside a pentagon inside a circle, the shapes turned upside-down onto their heads. "Lyra... how did I get here on the ground?" "I don't know... I heard laughter while we were looking for you. When we traced it back, we found you in the pond." "I must depart... but not with giving you a parting gift.... " Insanity's words still rung in his ears. 'It wasn't a dream... it was real. It was so horrifyingly real...' "I'm so sorry, Praxis... will you ever forgive me?" whispered a scratchy sounding voice in his ear. The satyr removed himself from his deep thought to look up at who had spoken. He felt his heart swell and ache simultaneously at the sight of Rainbow Dash, hooves crossed over the other as she glanced away. Before he could think of a logical answer, he scooped her up into a massive bear hug, despite his being in pain. "Of course I will, Dashie," he replied happily. "But the question is, will YOU ever forgive ME?" "Huh? Why?" Praxis sighed, letting her go and looking her in the eyes. "Well, I should've held my tongue yesterday. All those things I shouted to you were really horrible and unnecessary, and Fluttershy-" he stopped, guilt racking him at the mention of the name. "Oh, Lord, not Fluttershy! She must see me an even worse light than before! Hoh, man...." He hung his head in shame. "Don't worry about it, Praxie-" Dash was reassuring. 'PRAXIE? Oh, hell no,' thought he, cringing at the over-milked nickname. "Fluttershy doesn't see you as an even bigger monster. She told me about the hell you've been through, and the one Ponyville gave you, something about how 'your eyes tell it all'." She said the five words in a Gypsy's accent, making her and everypony chuckle. "And don't worry: I accept your apology as well. Besides, I think I had that coming." "Yyyyyeah, ya kinda did," he stated blandly, arms crossed. A little more laughter from the small audience. "Hey, um, Dash, can you please bring me my messenger bag from up in that tree?" he asked, looking at the oak tree with spite. "I don't think I trust that evil column of wood anymore." "Hehe, sure thing, Prax," Rainbow giggled before flying up to the top of the tree and grabbing the bag by the strap in her mouth. 'THAT'S more like it... Wait a minute....' He commenced the temporary brain fart. *Loading...* *Loading...* *Still loading...* *Done.* 'Rainbow Dash GIGGLED? She? Rainbow Dash? Giggled?... Seriously? What. The. HELL.' This slowly-processed thought made him cringe once more. "Thanks," he said when she flew back down and placed the bag in his lap. He unflipped the bag's flap and looked through the contents. Inside were two spare shirts, two pairs of jeans, his laptop, his water bottle, a turquoise towel, an ace bandage he idiotically colored black with a Sharpie when he was 8, and a black hooded cloak decorated with red trimming, leather shoulder padding, and The Hunger Games' flaming-mockingjay-pin insignia expertly welded onto the back of the cloth. He withdrew the towel, the ace bandage, a solid green shirt, and the cloak, placing all but the former item upon the messenger bag he had set down when he got up. He thoroughly shook his left leg of all the water it had trapped, and did likewise with the other, unintentionally sprinkling the ponies that were nearby. He wiped up the rest of his body with the towel before hanging the damp cloth on a low-hanging branch of a different tree. After he dried himself, he put on the shirt and the cloak, the latter billowing behind him in the soft breeze. He wrapped the extensive ace bandage around the lower half of his face and his neck, letting some of it trail behind him like a scarf and flutter alongside the cloak in the gentle wind. He pulled out his flute-necklace from under his shirt and let it rest upon the green clothing. Afterwords, he picked up a ridiculously sharp rock and carefully cut holes in the hood for his horns and ears, then slipped the hood over his head. The uniform in general was quite a nice effect. It would've been nicer if the five mares hadn't been watching him in his process of changing like it was all an intriguing TV program. "Is that what humans wear?" Lyra asked, fascinated by the idea of clothes. "Somewhat. Since humans don't have fur, scales, or feathers, they gotta cover up their... reproductive organs." He paused for a second, trying to find the right words. The five mares got the message immediately. "But I'm a goat from the waist down, and they obviously don't wear pants, so it's all good." "Hmm... not bad. Rarity would go nuts at it, thinking it's some horror to fashion. But I think it's cool. Not as cool as me though, but still pretty cool," Rainbow Dash said, giving her wings a flap now that they were not swarmed with low-hanging tree limbs. "Oh, your modesty is so charming," he deadpanned sarcastically, eyebrows raised, eyes half-shut, and arms crossed again, a little smirk on his face. Dash blushed in embarrassment as the other ponies laughed. "Say, what's this?" said Derpy, pulling out his laptop and showing it to Praxis and the others. "Is this a glass book or something?" "Er.. kinda," answered Praxis, immediately grabbing the laptop from the Pegasus' clumsy hooves and slowly sitting down with legs crossed. "It's called a laptop. It runs on electricity and is capable of storing thousands and thousands of these little digital libraries and databases. You can watch films, listen to music, make art, and even chat with friends on these bad boys." He put more emphasis to this fact by flipping it open and pressing the "ON" button. Despite him popping out of the pond last morning, the laptop wasn't damaged in the slightest. The screen lit up and emitted its "Welcome" theme song. "Ooh"s and "Ahh"s were emitted from the five equines as he clicked on his account's picture and signed in, bringing him to the desktop. He clicked on the bass note and blue circle combination known as iTunes and played the newly downloaded album of Bone Thug-n-Harmony's "E. 1999 Eternal". Before long, the forest was filled with chill hip-hop beats and absurdly fast lyrics being unleashed. "Whoa!" Carrot Top exclaimed, beaming at the laptop. "This is AWESOME!" "Glad you like it. I also have more than just hip-hop. I have rock," said the satyr, changing the song and putting on EarlyRise. a combination of orchestral and hard rock replaced the hip-hop. Rainbow and Lyra couldn't help but grin at the laptop as well. Derpy seemed to like it also. "Techno, house, trance, etc.," He clicked on Kaskade, letting the electronic music flood their surroundings. Bon-Bon, Rainbow, and Derpy nodded their heads along with the beat. "Even Japanese." The theme song to "Clannad" soon filled the air. Everyone thought the beat, the Japanese lyrics, and the ambiance it held was extremely soothing, and they couldn't help but fall in love with Japanese music. 'I don't blame them. I think it's pretty badass, in all honesty,' he mused. His eyes got wide 'Wait another minute, if I'm listening to Clannad's theme song and there are six of us - 1 male and 5 females- like in the anime....' *Loading again...* *Loading...* *Ding!* '*GASP* Aha! Oh, Fate, how spectacular, yet asshole-ish, you are. So... if I take the place of Tomoya, then Lyra's Nagisa without a doubt, Dash should be Tomoyo, Derpy's probably Fuko, C-Top might be Kotomi, and Bon-Bon's Kyou! BRILLIANT! A-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaw, dear GOD, I have no life.' He was nearly tempted into pulling the "Forever Alone" meme face before he realized that he would appear VERY awkward to the others. *SNAP!* Praxis gasped, his ears twitching for the sound to repeat itself again. "Shh!" He shut off the laptop and stowed it into his bag before standing up quickly. "Did you hear that?" he whispered. He scanned the borders of the clearing. A flash of gold and a streak of white caught his eye and made him breathe a swear. "Aw, shit!" A long metal spear had shot out from one side of the clearing, the tip dulled to a round stub to prevent impalement. Praxis barely sidestepped it, the rod passing by his arm and sending a tingling feeling that raised the hair on his arms. 'Those bastards charged their spears with electricity to paralyze the enemy. In this case, me.' The others were freaking out at the sudden ambush. He glanced at them, fury overwhelming him. 'No! I won't let them get hurt because of me!' "AMBUUUUSH! RUN! NOW!" the satyr shouted to the five mares. Derpy and Rainbow Dash crouched low, ready to carry the others and fly over the Forest away from the attackers. "LYRA, TAKE MY BAG AND HIDE IT!" The mint-green unicorn nodded solemnly as he tossed the messenger bag and the strap was caught around her neck. She dashed over to Derpy and jumped on her back. The two Pegasi took off through the clearing's small opening of leaves and flew away as fast as they could from the scene. "Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy," Praxis hissed, picking up a fallen branch one and a half times his height and breaking it in two across his knee. "Come on out, you cowards!" Another blunt spear whizzed out from the thick foliage, this time to the right of him. He heard the *whoosh* of it and instinctively shoulder-rolled away from it. He got into a defense position, holding the broken branches like swords. A white Pegasus in gold guard armor emerged from the left of the clearing and flew at Praxis at vicious speeds. He turned and swung his left branch in a diagonal uppercut, hitting the Pegasus and veering him off-course into a boulder. Another shot out, holding a stun spear like a lance. Praxis crossed the branches in an "X" formation. Like a pair of scissors, he closed the branches right when the stun spear was inches from his face. He could feel the electricity sizzling his nose and beard. He leaned back and brought the ensnared spear out of the Pegasus' hooves and hitting another guard who was trying to sneak up behind him. He kicked the perplexed guard in front of him, his hoof catching him in his armored chest and knocking him twelve feet away from him onto the forest floor. *BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT* With the satyr's heart pounding in his ears, he wasn't able to hear or see the next spear hit him in the back and shocked him. He fell to his knees at the blow, twitching at the electrical jolts. He slumped to the floor and tried crawling away, only to have a weight pressed onto his back. He turned his head and saw out of the corner of his eyes an ash-gray stallion guard standing on him with one hoof. A wicked grin was etched onto his face as he raised his free foreleg. "Nighty-night, freak." He brought his hoof down on Praxis's face hard. All was black and quiet. Author's Note: Oh, not another dislike. *Facewall* Oh, and why? Because a mere facepalm cannot explain my frustration. Oh, and look, I left a hole in the wall where my face had been. Damn it.... Anyways, for those anime junkies who've watched the show Clannad and understood my rather idiotic and possibly non-corresponding similarities, good for you. For those of you who haven't seen it, go search for it. It's a really good anime series, and I have a suspicion you'll like it. P.S.: here's the link for the show's theme song.Enjoy. Well, I believe it's time for me to leave... for now. Fret not, everypony. Like always, I shall return. But no more writing for tonight, maybe tomorrow.... In the meantime... I'm going to watch more anime... like the dork I am. :P ShadowWeaver... signing out.