"Who is she, Twilight?"
Twilight awkwardly broke the kiss, saliva hanging from her lips. She wiped it away quickly, seeing the hurt on Starlight's face. Oh, no, Twilight thought, not again. I can't hurt her again. Not like this. She stood as straight as she could, and looked from Starlight to Trixie, took a breath, and said, "so, you can see her. I am not crazy, then. Somehow, I don't quite feel relieved."
Starlight took a step forward, alarmed, hurt, shocked, but determined to get an answer. "What are you talking about, Twilight? Who is this?"
Twilight sighed. "Starlight........ this, is Trixie." Trixie waved, and Twilight continued: "Trixie.... is dead."
"She's standing right here, Twilight."
"Yes, Twilight, I'm standing right here."
"I know! I know," Twilight sighed, looked at her ground, unable to look Starlight in the eye. "She.... came back when Karellen chose me. She's been at every meeting."
"She's what?"
"I don't know how this is possible, but it is and it's happening."
"All of those meetings were lies?!" Starlight yelled.
"No, Starlight, they weren't."
"You've been going behind my back with this.... this...... this ghost of a whore?!"
"Hey! That's not fair!" Trixie shouted.
"Shut up!" Starlight snarled at her. "So every time you talked to Karellen, you saw Trixie too?"
Twilight spoke quietly. She closed her eyes against the blur of angry tears. "Yes."
"What?!"
"Yes, Starlight. Yes, I did."
Starlight couldn't help but feel hurt, and angry, and betrayed, but it was worse than that - this wasn't Twilight. Twilight wouldn't do this, she couldn't. She couldn't, Starlight insisted to herself silently. It had to be something else, something going on. Karellen! Yes! It had to be him - he messed with Twilight, did something to take her away from Starlight, to take away the best happiness she'd had in a very long time. He didn't come to help, he came to interfere. She clenched her fists tightly. Her horn itched violently. "No," she said. "No, you didn't. Karellen did something to you. He tricked you. He bribed you. You stole you from me! He's to blame."
Twilight couldn't help it; she walked over to Starlight, who looked at her as though she might either flee or fall to viscous pieces. "Starlight," Twilight reached out to pull Starlight into a much needed hug.
"No!" Starlight pulled back violently, and Twilight brought her hand back, her lip trembling. "No, don't touch me, Twilight. Whatever Karellen gave you, I don't want it, too."
"Karellen didn't do anything to me, Starlight?"
Starlight pointed angrily at Trixie. "So is she a Changeling, then?"
"Again," Trixie said. "Not fair! The Great and Poweful Trixie is neither a ghost nor a Changeling!"
"You're something, alright," Starlight growled. "And I'm going to figure out what it is."
Riddick raised another half-full glass of cider to his lips and took a drink. It wasn't bad, he thought, but it wasn't really strong enough to deal with whatever the hell he had been thrown into now. He swallowed, the alcohol barely stinging on its way down. "Tastes like piss," he muttered.
"Yeah," Kevin said. "Ponies don't really share any of the good stuff. They won't give us any either, and they're supposed to treat us as equals." The Royal Guards stared at him. "What?" Kevin said. "You don't!"
Riddick shook his head, smirked, and looked across the street. There, in the crowd, he saw something familiar - a large red figure. Big Mac. Didn't look like Big Mac had seen him, so Riddick just sat there. "Hey," he said. "Isn't that Big Mac?"
"Oh, shit," Kevin said. "Don't make eye contact. Lower your head." When Riddick kept looking across the street, raising the glass again, he said: "Come on, Riddick! He's still super pissed about everything, and he's concerned about his sister. He blames you for that."
"The fucker hit me."
"Well, yeah, no shit. He was kind of upset. His sister might die, you know. Now, dammit, just lower your head!" He pushed down on Riddick's head with his palm, only to have Riddick grab it and wrench it painfully away. "Ah, fuck!"
"Don't ever touch me!" Riddick let go of Kevin's hand. Kevin, for his part, slunk away into his chair, nursing his aching wrist.
"Fine." He pouted. "Whatever."
The altercation was loud enough that Big Mac looked across the street, and spotted Riddick. He huffed, and he stood as still as he could with his side injury. Doctor Stable had told him he shouldn't be out and about, should lay low and rest and heal, but Big Mac had been through worse, although he currently couldn't remember when, and besides, you can't keep a good stallion down, Mac had always said. At his side, Applebloom looked up at him, then across the street.
"Is that him?" Applebloom asked.
"Eeyup," Big Mac said. His fists balled up. Six guards surrounded Riddick, all but one of them standing. Guards or no guards, he was going to give the muzzleless coward a piece of his mind. He took a step forward into the street. Applebloom stepped in front of him and spoke loudly.
"Hey! Big Mac! We ain't seen Granny Smith in a while, now! We should probably go back to Sweet Apple Acres and make sure she's alright, shouldn't we? I mean, it's kind of a surprise we haven't done that sooner, isn't it? Seeing as the farm as attacked by an alien and all that. Whatdya think about it? Huh, Big Mac?" Big Mac brushed her aside with one arm and kept walking across the street. "Big Mac?"
"Oh, shit," Kevin stood up. "Don't do anything, Riddick. We'll handle this, alright?"
"We ain't doing shit," one of the Royal Guards said. "We're here to make sure he doesn't do anything, not to protect him."
"Aren't those kind of the same thing?" Kevin asked.
"Nope. Far as I'm concerned, Big Mac can do whatever he wants. Ain't my problem."
Kevin fidgeted. "Oh, come on, guys, he's almost here. We gotta do something!" He pulled at Riddick. "Come on, let's go somewhere else!"
Riddick pulled his arm from Kevin's grip, never taking his eyes off of Big Mac, and said, "what did I tell you?"
"Right. Sorry. Can we, uh, just go, now. I mean, you know, Big Mac is pretty big for a pony."
But it was too late. Kevin cringed as Big Mac finally made it across the street and called out Riddick. "You!" Big Mac yelled. "Hey, you!" Riddick simply looked at him. Big Mac stopped, pointing a finger. "'Ey! Y'all better answer when ah speak to you, yellow belly! Ya got some answerin' ta do!"
"Funny," Riddick said. "I thought I already did that."
"Not ta me ya ain't!" Big Mac took a step closer. "So get ta talkin'! Why did ya bring tha' monster to our farm?"
"I didn't bring anything."
"Ya did too!" Big Mac reached out and took Riddick by the shirt, holding him up in the air. The ponies on the street stood and stared, as did all the guards but Kevin, who fidgeted nervously. "Why'd ya do it! Mah sister might die!" Riddick simply stared at him.
"There's nothing wrong with me, Starlight."
"Then how do you explain this? Karellen's up to something, don't you see it?"
"No, Starlight, he's not. He.... he's saved me by bringing Trixie back."
"He...." Starlight's voice was caught in her throat, and she couldn't speak. Was Twilight happy that Trixie was back? Yes, there'd be a change in Twilight, but that was Starlight, not this ghost. "No, he didn't save you. He's tricking you, Twilight."
"Neither Trixie nor Karellen wishes to trick Twilight Sparkle," Trixie walked up beside Twilight, her arms crossed in front of her body, and stared spunkily at Starlight. "It is not our fault that Twilight is finally happy again."
"You have nothing to do with it!" Starlight spit the words at Trixie like they were bitter bile, as though she couldn't get the wretched words out fast enough. "I make Twilight happy. You're in the past, Trixie."
"Trixie is in the present, with Twilight Sparkle."
"No! Trixie is in the past! Where she belongs! Twilight loves me now, don't you see? She saved me, and I saved her. Let her move on!"
Twilight stood there, looking at the ground, eyes still closed, unmoving. She swallowed hard, sniffed snot back into her nose.
"Tell her, Twilight. Tell her you're with me now, that I'm your only one!"
Twilight opened her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Starlight."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Starlight, but I can't... I want to, but I can't." She looked at Starlight, her eyes shimmering with liquidized emotional trauma. "I can't, Starlight. I can't let go."
"Twilight! We can work through this, we can solve this. I don't know what, what --" here she pointed at Trixie "-- this is, but we can beat it. It's not normal, Twilight. Whatever she is, she shouldn't exist!"
"But Trixie does," Trixie said, and she stepped closer to Twilight, their bodies touching now. Starlight flinched at the sight.
It was quick - Riddick took Big Mac's thumbs in his hands and wrenched them away from his body, the stallion's hands automatically letting to. When he was free, he dropped and took a step back, letting go of Big Mac's thumbs while the guards assigned to him put their hands on their weapons.
"Don't ever touch me," Riddick said. He looked unflinchingly at Big Mac. "Ever."
Big Mac growled. Applebloom finally made it from the other side of the street. "Come on, big brother," she pleaded. "We don't need another fight already. What if it was all a big misunderstanding?" Big Mac refused to back down, so Applebloom said to the guards: "Ain't y'all gonna do something?"
"Nope." One of the Royal Guards said. "We're here to keep Riddick from causing trouble. Not protect him."
Applebloom blinked. "Ah, come on, Big Mac," she again pleaded. "Don't disturb the peace. We need to get along." She took a hold of Big Mac's left arm. He brushed it away and reached towards Riddick's neck quickly, so quickly that Applebloom didn't believe it. Her brother could be amazingly fast when he needed to be. The strange man is a goner for sure, Applebloom thought. But before Big Mac could make contact, he was brought down, doubled over as Riddick grabbed his hand and twisted, and with a swift motion of a hand Big Mac was on the ground. "Hmmpf!"
Starlight hurt. She wanted to break down, fall into the fetal position and cry blatantly. What she wanted more than anything was for Twilight to leave Trixie's side, grab her and run far, far away. She knew something was wrong, that was clear - dead ponies just didn't come back, Overlords or not. She had to do it, she decided - she couldn't cry, she couldn't break down, she had to save Twilight. She had to save her from this monstrosity that looked, she admitted to herself, perfectly normal, a perfectly healthy pony. Maybe she's lying, Starlight thought, and it's not Trixie, it's some other pony she's been seeing, and I caught her with her. Starlight shook the very words from her thoughts. No, no that wasn't true, either. Twilight wouldn't do that. Karellen, it all came back to Karellen. It had to. Whatever this was, he did it. He was the bad guy here, no Starlight, not Twilight, and maybe - just maybe - not Trixie. She had to get Twilight away from that ghost of a harlot. Twilight spoke, and brought Starlight from her thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Starlight, I didn't want this to happen. Never wanted this to happen." Twilight sniffed, breathed deeply, yet labored to do so against her emotions. "You made me happy, but Trixie makes me happier."
In that moment, those words crystallized what was a simple plan, but a plan nonetheless. "I'm sorry, too, Twilight," Starlight said before she leaped forward and took Twilight forcefully by the arm and dragged her away from Trixie.
"Hey!" Trixie shouted. But Starlight pulled a surprised Twilight behind her, opening the door and running through. Not as carefully as she should have, as Twilight slammed into the wall, but Starlight managed to pull her free and close the door as Trixie ran towards them. "Hey!" Trixie screamed. "Twilight! No!"
Big Mac righted himself, and looked at Riddick. He huffed at him, "that was a mistake. Y'all are gonna get it, now." Big Mac sunk and spun a leg, tripping Riddick (along with poor Applebloom) and then leaped upon him, slamming his fists down as hard as he could. While one or two blows landed against Riddick, who recoiled and bled, most were dodged and Big Mac could feel his bones breaking against the cobblestone, but he didn't care. Riddick was going to pay, he would make sure of that. But then he was thrown on his back as Riddick managed to kick him off, and was himself about to get up when a Royal Guard kicked him. "Hey!" The guard shouted. "No causing trouble, asshole!"
Well, that tears it, Riddick thought. He pulled at the Guards leg and brought him to the ground. Big Mac was on his hooves, and had picked up a chair - yes, a chair should do just fine, he thought - and was raising it to slam down on Riddick when his intended took notice. He pulled the guard over himself just as the chair came down, both the Guard's wings and the chair breaking with the force of impact. The Guard screamed as his companions pulled their swords. Riddick rolled to the side and stood up quickly. The Changelings just stared, as did the ponies on the street, as the Royal Guards stood beside Big Mac, who spoke: "Well, would y'all look at that. Three against one. Ya can't possibly beat us, give up and take ya lumps."
Big Mac charged Riddick, who ducked to the left and used the large stallions weight to throw him effortlessly to the ground. He reached down and in one smooth motion brought up one of his legs and stepped on the knee and yanked. Big Mac howled in pain. One of the Guards jumped up, and, with a brush of his wings and a forward lunged, drop kicked Riddick to the cobblestone.
"I'm so sorry about that, Twilight," Starlight said. She looked at Twilight, took her face in her hand, looked into her eyes. Twilight was slowly coming to.
"Starlight.... what? What did I hit?"
"A wall. That may have been a little bit my fault."
From inside the room Trixie's voice rang out. "Twilight! Twilight, come back! Twilight!" Not rage, not anger, but a frightful desperation, something Starlight had once heard when a young colt had been abandoned in the city by a neglectful mare. The voice of somepony - no, something - that could not handle being alone. "Twilight! Open the door! Please! Please! Open, please, open the door! Twilight! Come back!" Trixie began pounding against the door, which was odd as the door opened inward. Why doesn't she just open it, Starlight thought.
"Twilight! Come back! Twilight! Don't leave me! Please! Never leave me!"
Twilight looked at the door, then at Starlight.
"Maybe we should go," Starlight said.
"Maybe...." Twilight rubbed her face. "Maybe you're right, Starlight. I'm sorry."
"We'll make up later, Twilight. Come on!" They started to run when they heard a loud slam behind them. They stopped, spinning as they did so, to see the a large dent outward in the door. There was a loud slam again as another large dent appeared. Then another, and another, the slams coming one after the other, the door being slammed into the wall with each consecutive impact, the sound of Trixie's yelling growing in pitch until it was almost unEquestrian. "Twilight!" came the screams. "DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Big Mac was on top of Riddick then, his arms around his neck, forcefully choking. Kevin moved forward to help, but the other Changelings held him back. "No," they said, "this is not our fight." Kevin watched as Riddick clawed at the stallion's hands, but couldn't find enough of a purpose. So he instead began searching for something, anything, which could be used to ward off the stallion who at this point looked like a raging demon. Riddick's hand fell on a broken leg of a chair, and it was brought up to to meet with Big Mac's neck, the splintered wood shredding into the stallion's neck. Big Mac gasped and released his grip, but the damage was done - the chair leg was pulled from his neck as he rolled over, holding his throat as he tried to stop the gushing blood. Riddick stood up, and as the Royal Guard with broken wings lunged at him, upercutted the chair of the leg through the jaw of the guard, whose body went limp as he tumbled onto the cobblestone. The next Guard came at Riddick, who ducked, the sword missing him, and yanked hard on the wing of the Guard, who tumbled down. Before the Guard could react, Riddick was on his back, his hands on the Guard's chin and head, and yanked to the side. The Guard's neck cracked as the crowd around them gasped. He took the sword from the twitching hand of the Guard and stood up.
The final Guard stood before him. "So," Riddick sneered, "wanna try your luck?"
"Listen, you little shit, I'm going to flay you. I'm going to enjoy it, and you are going to deserve every bit of it."
Riddick looked at the bodies around him, then to Big Mac, who clutched his neck as Applebloom tried to tie her bow around his bleeding neck. "What?" Riddick asked. "This was clearly self defense."
"I'll show you defense." The Guard unsheathed his sword and pointed it at him. "I'll show you glorious justice."
Again, Riddick looked to the ground, then to the Guard. "If I did that with a chair leg," he held up the sword, "what do you think I can do with this?"
"Not what I can do!" The Guard leaped forward, and sliced through the air as Riddick dodged, but inhaled sharply as the blade made contact with his back. His shirt and skin tore, leaking red, and he turned around sharply as the Guard landed and smiled. "So," the Guard said, "still feeling like you'll win?"
Riddick turned around.
The door was slammed again, the this time it began to crack, as two castle guards made their way to the hallway. "Princess Twilight, what's going on?"
"I don't know," Twilight said. Starlight looked at her, concerned for Twilight's safety. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew one thing - Twilight was not on an emotional strong point. So she spoke up.
"Trixie."
"What?" The guard replied. The door was slammed again, the crack growing bigger.
"Trixie! One of Twilight's old lovers!" Starlight had to scream over Trixie's screaming, which grew louder through the crack in the door. "She died, so I'm not exactly sure what's going on! But whatever's in there claims to be her!"
The Guard shuddered as the door was slammed again. "Dead ponies just don't come back to life, dammit!"
"I know!"
"What?!"
Starlight tried to yell louder. "I know! It's Karellen!"
"What?!"
"Karellen! Karellen did this! Whatever is in there has been with Twilight every time she's met with Karellen!"
"What?! Why?! Why would he do that?!"
"A bribe! The only person who made Twilight happier than me was Trixie!" The door splintered more with yet another slam, and Starlight wasn't sure how Twilight could remain so calm in these circumstances. She's probably in shock, Starlight thought. She continued: "He did it to bribe her into doing what he wanted!"
"Holy shit, Starlight! Are you sure?!"
"It has to be!"
"Do you have evidence?!"
"What?!"
"Nevermind! What do we do with the thing in there?!"
"I don't know! I took Twilight out of the room and she started to go crazy!"
Another slam, and the door burst open, the two heavily damaged halves careening across the hallway and becoming lodged in the wall.
"Hey! You piece of shit! You look at me when I kill you!"
Riddick turned, and hurled the sword in the Guard's direction. The Guard stared, unable to recognize what was happening, and the back of his neck rained down crimson blood as the sword pierced completely through. The guard dropped the sword as his wings went limp and his hands went to his throat. He fell to his knees, his eyes on Riddick, who walked toward the guard. The Guard gasped, a thick, wet sound that made Applebloom shudder. Riddick looked at Kevin. "I want you to remember this moment." He then kicked the hilt of the sword upwards, so that the super-sharp blade went downwards, cleaving the Guard in half. When it was finished, the Guard's halves tumbled to the ground, the sword clattering in blood.
Riddick looked at the crowd, who recoiled from his sight. He spat on the ground.
"He clearly did not know who he was fucking with."
"Two hours," Kevin said. "You made it two hours."
The Hish used the laser targeting system to heat the sheared ends of the cutting blade to a malleable degree, and then processed to push the two together. After a while, it put the blade into a large tub of water, and it hissed violently. When it was pulled from the water, it wasn't a pretty blade, but it was functional, and strong; that was the beauty of the Hish's hunting weaponry, strong yet easily fixable. It put the blade back into the wrist device, and put the wrist device back on, and recoiled the blade. It wasn't a perfect job, it knew, and the tip of the blade stuck out two inches, the makeshift repairs preventing a total recoil. Still, not bad. The Hish growled to itself proudly.
It found itself standing at the door, looking towards Ponyville. It could see the thermal signatures of the remaining ponies wandering through town, aimlessly; they must not be a very smart species, it reasoned, if they would stay so close to an area of a known attack. Still, it was a nice surprise to have a day of killing so close to its chosen base. It took a step toward the town, where the school bell rang and the remaining children were ushered in by Miss Cherilee.
"Come on, class," she said. "Time for school. No, no, you're perfectly safe. Nothing will happen to you, I promise."
"But Miss Cherilee," one of the students said, "there aren't any soldiers here."
"Oh, that doesn't matter," the teacher said, "whatever was here is probably long gone."
"But didn't it kill people?" The student asked.
"Nonsense," Cherilee said. "Those are only silly rumors. Now go sit down." She wished they were only rumors - she and Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to bury the headless carcasses of Lyra and Bon Bon in the Everfree Forest to prevent predators from picking up the scent, and had felt very eerie doing so, especially with Big Mac injured, and Applejack in such bad shape. They ponies didn't even want to begin to imagine what could have done that to such a strong and healthy pony with such spirit, but whatever it was, it was dangerous. Yes, yes whatever it was had left, they told themselves. It had to. At least, that's what they had told themselves. Now, with the last of the students crowding into the schoolhouse, Cherilee looked out around the town, hoping she was right. Unseen to her, the Hish watched as she closed the door to the school.
Mr. Cake heard the screams of Cherilee first, then the children, and finally the sound of splintering wood and explosions. He ran from Sugarcube Corner. "Watch the foals!" he yelled to his wife as he lunged out of the door.
The Hish was something of a terror, even on his own planet. He had brutally and mercilessly gone after those who had stepped in his way, to such a degree that he was given virtually everything he desired by virtue of his wrath. All of the Hish were ruthless hunters, but this one was ruthless and sadistic as well, enjoying the torture of his prey, taking down those around them before he took them out slowly and painfully. It was an almost unstoppable force at the height of its bloodlust, where it now stood. The last remaining colt crawled away from it, screaming, babbling uncontrollably, openly weeping for Cherilee, who stood stock still in sheer terror, to save her. "Help me, Cherilee!" the colt cried. "Please! Don't let me die!" The Hish walked to the side of the colt, who looked up at him, whimpered, and then turned to crawl away before the Hish gave a mighty kick. It connected, and the colt was sent flying headlong into the wall, where it crumpled into a heap after the sharp crack of his head slamming into the material. The Hish turned to look at Cherilee, who trembled. It faced her squarely, and removed its mask, which it let fall to the ground with a dull thud. It clicked its mandibles and grimaced at the mare, who merely trembled more. The Hish screamed, and Cherilee wet herself. It took a step forward and was raising its cutting blade into the air when the door burst open. The Hish turned around and Mr. Cake skidded to a halt, his focus memorized by the awful brutality of the Hish's face. Mr. Cake recovered his senses and threw a chair toward the alien, which blocked it with its blade.
"Cherilee! Run!" Mr. Cake yelled. "Go!" This was enough to shock Cherilee back into reality, who turned and jumped awkwardly out the window after slipping in her own urine. She cut her hands and her face and her arms, but she fell to the ground and got up and ran towards Sugarcube Corner. Back in the schoolhouse, Cake yelled at the Hish: "Come on! Come and get it! I'm right here!" The Hish took a step forward and swung its blade, but Cake ducked and rolled to get up on the other side. "Ha! Missed me!" The Hish swung again, and again Cake ducked and rolled. The Hish roared.
"Come on, man! You can't hit nothing!" Cake wasn't quick enough that time - the Hish kicked the carcass of a young filly at Mr. Cake, who failed to see the motion until he was knocked backwards and onto his back, the bloody, headless body smothering his face. He struggled to push it off, gasping for air and scooting backwards as fast as he could. The Hish retracted his cutting blade, and looked down at the ground. He picked up one of the filly carcasses, which which he had shot a laser blast through the chest. He held it high, inspecting it as Mr. Cake watched in horror, then it turned its piercing gaze towards Mr. Cake. Then the Hish pressed a button on its wrist, and a voice echoed throughout the schoolhouse - a memory, a snapshot, a snippet of another life, cut short, on another planet, another hunting trip.
"Beat a motherfucker with another motherfucker."
It took a step forward and began to swing the carcass as Mr. Cake raised his hands. He could feel the pain as the body and the hair smashed into his arms, the shocking pop and surprising little pain of his ulna snapping at the force. The Hish swung the body again, connecting with Cake's side. He screamed in pain as he attempted to roll with it, but became caught on the arms of one of the fallen colts. The Hish swung again, and head of the carcass smashing into Cake's spinal column, where he felt exploding pain. He grabbed at his back with his good arm, but the Hish swung again, and broke that arms tibia. Cake screamed, eyes wide, as he looked at the Hish. It leaned down towards him, and used a hand to pick him up by the neck. Mr. Cake choked against the pressure. The Hish went to a wall, and leaned Cake in a sitting position, where it then crouched, its face in the face of the distressed pony. It roared into its face from a foot away, its voice harsh and its eyes wide, overwhelming Cake's own screams. The Hish then stood up, and swung the carcass one last time. With all of the force the Hish could muster, the dead head connected with Mr. Cakes own.
Mrs. Cake sat Cherilee down in a chair as she made her a pot of tea to calm her nerves. "It's going to be alright, Cherilee."
"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. " Cherilee said. "No. No. No. No. No it won't. It killed them all. It killed all the children."
Mrs. Cake kneeled down to speak to her when her head suddenly exploded all over Cherilee; skull fragments littered her hair, and brain material flew into her open mouth. She screamed and fell over backwards, glancing out the window just long enough to see the Hish moving towards Sugarcube Corner, its mask back on and three red dots attempting to place themselves on her. She ran out of the house, into the late afternoon sky, blue streaks flying past her. She ran towards the general store, yes, she could hide there! She fell to all fours, desperation taking over her; her back ached, she hadn't run like this for years, but it came back to her easily enough. She smashed through the door and slammed into the caretaker. "What's going on, Cherilee?" But she didn't stop. She kept running, had to keep running, a scared rabbit running from a relentless perentie. A very large bolt of blew then connected with her leg, and she fell, gasping, grabbing herself above the wound, trying to stop the pain. The shopkeeper looked around. "Hey, what the --" before another very charged shot made contact, and exploded him completely. Then the Hish was in the door, and Cherilee managed to get herself up, ignoring the searing pain in her leg, ignoring anything if it meant she would live. She began to hobble towards the back of the shop, throwing anything she could at the Hish, who shot each item out of the air before it could reach him. She threw a pack of cards, and it exploded before her eyes, a flaming ace of spades flittering to the ground.
The turned and ran, on all fours, as best she could, but she felt a shot sear her back and she fell to the ground. It was a weak shot, nothing like that which had hit the storekeep, and she grimaced as her muzzle hit the dirt just outside the back door. Her ears pressed back against her head, she couldn't believe it, couldn't believe this is how she was going to die, killed by a foal-killer, a butcher of fillies and colts, a monster. She gasped in pain as the Hish grabbed her bad leg, felt dizzy as the last moments approached her. The Hish swung Cherilee in a circle as though he were attempting to throw her as far as possible, but on the fifth turn took a step closer to the general store, and Cherilee cried out as her head made contact with the open door frame, and shattered into a dozen pieces.
Her body went limp, and the Hish cheered.