“Well, my friends, this is it! My home town, Grandine!” Slim said proudly, walking off the train with his four legged friends following behind him. Toro was flat country. They had vast plains, prairies, and steppes throughout, with only a few patches of desert down south near the Golden Sand Desert and rolling hills in the North. As such, the countryside has spread out before them and they’d seen the city long before the train had even gotten close. And what a city it was!
Grandine was situated atop numerous hills, some steep, others just a bump, but it sprawled out while simultaneously building atop itself. Because of the seemingly haphazard architecture of Minotaur settlements, the houses all seemed to be built on their neighbors, each resting on the others foundations while their walls were busy propping up even larger buildings. To add to the general air of confusion the bovine biped’s city had, clouds of smoke billowed from dozens of smoke stacks and chimneys, and the scent of burning metal and stone suffused the air, lending a grimy feel to some of the buildings. Furthermore, it was late afternoon with dusk closing in close behind, and the sun cast long, twisted shadows that were only exaggerated thanks to the hodge-podge of shapes in the various buildings.
“It’s certainly very, um, unique,” Azure said cautiously, looking around.
“How do you get your buildings to stand up like that? It looks like there’s nothing supporting them but the other houses!” Creepy commented, unsure if he wanted to risk walking into a rickety looking collection of constructs.
“Minotaur ingenuity and engineering, of course! No being is better with construction than a Minotaur! When we build, it stays built! For example, it was Minotaurs who built Roam, and it’s still standing!”
“I’ll admitted, Bitaly’s sewers are rather durable,” Creepy said, looking a bit surer about the prospect.
“Wasn’t Roam technically built by the slaves of the old Minotaur empire?” Azure Flame asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Eh, details! We made the blueprints and the point still stands that this city is completely safe and structurally sound!”
His statement of pride made, Slim started to walk down the streets, causing Azure and Creepy to hurry after him. Getting lost in a city is one thing, but getting lost in a Minotaur city is magnitudes worse.
After what seemed like a dozen or so random twists and turns through crooked streets and jagged alleyways, the black coated entertainer stopped in front of a large house, its roof three sizes bigger than the rest of it while the entire left side seemed to be a several hoofs higher off the ground than the right side, giving it a slanted, lopsided appearance. Made from a combination of brick and wood, the whole building looked like it should have fallen apart ages ago, but stayed erect through sheer stubbornness.
“Welcome to my home!” Slim said with a wide grin. He practically skipped up the porch steps and proceeded to swing the front door open. Azure and Creepy followed more sedately, stepping through the doorframe and being given a view of a staircase connecting the ground floor to the second, and alternated between broad and slim steps. A line of coat hooks were attached to the wall near the staircase and door, and were covered in bags and raincoats of various sizes. A scratchy rug was at the entrance, and from how Slim was scuffing his hooves back and forth on it, was apparently meant for cleaning off the feet before going inside. Not wanting to be rude, the pair of quadrupeds dutifully shuffled about on the rug before stepping in after Slim.
The sound of hooves on the wooden stairs made the trio look up, and they saw a young female Minotaur staring at Slim, wide eyed.
“Horny!” the calf cried, jumping off the stairs at the taller, ground level Minotaur. She had black colored horns and hooves which were vivid against the pale grey of her body’s fur color.
“Hey, Rapid Dance! What have I told you about calling me that?” Slim scolded, an embarrassed look on his face as he caught his younger sibling in mid-leap.
“Sis, is that Shadow Horn? Wasn’t he kidnapped by pirates?” Another voice, this one a young males, called down from somewhere on the second floor.
“It is him, big bro Stomp! He’s back!” the young cow shouted up the stairs. “And I thought dad said he was an apprentice?”
“That’s just an excuse the adults use to cover up the fact that he was kidnapped and forced to become a salty sea dog!” The voice shouted back down, and a young Minotaur bull appeared at the top of the stairs. Like his sister, his horns and hooves were jet black, though his fur was a dusty brown color. His eyes widened when he looked down and saw the older Minotaur before him at the foot of the steps.
“I wasn’t captured by pirates, Stone Stomp. But I did get attacked by some Oozes in Bitaly,” Slim said with a chuckle, his grin growing even bigger as his brother rushed down the stairs and tackled Slim’s waist, giving him a massive hug.
“It’s good to see the two you,” Slim said, a sad smile on his face as he realized how much he’d missed his family.
“Anyways, where are mom and pop? I need to discuss some things with them,” Slim said as put down his sister onto the floor.
“Work. They’ll be back soon-ish,” Stomp said, before realizing there were two others watching the family reunion with small grins. “Um, who are they?”
“Oh, those are Azure Flame and Creepy Crawly, I met them on my trip,” Slim explained vaguely, not wanting to go into much detail about everything that had happened with his younger siblings. “They’ll be staying here with me for the next day or so until we’re ready to leave.”
That was the wrong thing to say, and soon his brother and sister were peering up at him with big, watery puppy eyes.
“You just got here! You can’t leave so soon!” Dance whimpered, her lower lip trembling.
“Hnng!” Azure grunted, rubbing a hoof over his chest while Creepy looked away quickly. Slim just rolled his eyes in response, used to their antics and tactics.
“Nice try there bucko’s, but that doesn’t work on me. Now, how about you two help me make some of my special No Touchy Curry for dinner to make up for it all?”
“Yay!” the two little Minotaurs cheered, their expressions going back to normal. They rushed off into the kitchen, leaving Slim smiling at their tracks.
“You have very adorable siblings,” Azure commented.
“Yeah…” Slim’s smile turned sad for a moment, before he shook his head and cleared about the thoughts in them. “Come on, I’ll set up the couch.”
“Will it fit us?”
“Creepy, this is a special fold-out couch for Minotaurs, of course it’ll fit the both of you,” Slim said, leading them into a spacious living room. A pair of large reclining chairs sat at opposite corners while the far wall was dominated by a large, worn red couch that looked like it had seen better days. Across from the couch was a brick fireplace, empty and unlit, but given it was early autumn was soon to change. Several wooden shelves of books stood at various points in the room, while a thread-bare carpet lay in the middle, lying there in a way that seemed to dare someone to walk over it and trip on the edges. A wide doorframe to the north of the couch led off into what the guests assumed was the kitchen area, based on the clang of metal coming from it.
“I’ll unfold the couch after dinner. For now, just take a seat and relax. Browse the books if you like. I’ve got dinner to make.” Slim slipped out of the room through the doorway, and muffled instructions were soon being shouted out.
“Nice place, nice siblings,” Creepy commented, hopping up onto the couch. It was a bit higher off the ground than he was used to, but not by much. Minotaur legs were only half as long as a ponies, so the size difference was mostly in the back of their furniture.
“Indeed,” Azure agreed, looking through the various titles on the shelves.
“I think we should leave ASAP,” the Donkey muttered under his breath once Azure joined him on the couch. “I don’t want Slim’s family to get caught up in our mess.”
“I agree completely,” Azure said softly, also in a whisper. “We need to find a way to Ti-bit, or at the very least out of Grandine, by tomorrow evening. I won’t let anything happen to them because of me.”
The Unicorn’s face seemed calm, but a determined frown broke its way across his muzzle after a while. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Slim or his family. He couldn’t allow himself to fail. Not again, not this time.
Far away in the distance, a shadowy form lumbered through the pine trees at the edge of the Crook Back Mountains. The scent was getting stronger. Or rather, the magical tethers between him and his prey were pulling at him harder now, dragging him towards his destination.
“Run, run, run, as fast as you can,” Bane hissed, a malevolent grin on his twisted face. “But you can’t hide from me, or my master’s plan!”
A haunting laugh echoed through the creeping dusk, and the wildlife wisely stayed hidden that evening.