A mare and her dog

by cammera

Day 29: As old ladies talk about cute little things.

Nanda's joyfulness had lasted about fifteen minutes, until Applejack had made a question without thinking properly of its weight.

"Now that the forest is fixed, will you stay here?". It had seemed like an innocent thing to ask. A way to start conversation.

"...cian! Do you have an idea of what happens to necromancers who enter bureaucracy?" she paced on without waiting for an answer "Some rich idiot wants to be a lich, and if he isn't made one suddenly the necromancer has been robbing tombs!"

"You've been-"

"Fine, I know, but I had something to grab them by the de-ra-lej, now that spirits aren't a problem anymore they'll come talking about money, the nu-dre's!" she stomped the ground angrily, white light flashing with the impact "Tredelas, building a city around me and then demanding taxes! Burn them all, I will! I won't bear that again! I won't bear those kids, with all their money, thinking I'll use my knowledge for their good...!" she ranted on, the grass around her withering and dying.

Applejack backpedaled, dreading the touch of the expanding ring of decay.

"Nanda"

She kept ranting, the flame of the fire losing its light when the ring reached it.

"Nanda!" she shouted.

"What!?" she shouted back, her eyes alight in green flame.

"Cut it off, you idiot!"

"Cut off w-" she looked around "Oh" she said in a far more subdued tone, her eyes losing their shine and the fire returning to a more, for lack of a better term, healthy color.

That had been the night before.

Today, Nanda had a pair of saddlebags that seemed far too heavy for someone so old to carry.

"Surane is nice this time of the year, I heard" she said in a tone that was at odds with the earlier rant "But they say that the way is too dangerous for a defenseless mare"

"Defenseless?" Applejack tried not to laugh "You could-"

"What?" Nanda lifted an eyebrow in a very precise way "I wasn't talking about me"

"Am not-"

"Can you wield the very forces of life and death against your foes?" asked Nanda, as if talking with a kid who insists in eating too much candy.

"No, but I can carve their faces inward," Applejack glared at her "That good enough for you?"

Nanda paused for a moment, seemingly taking it into consideration.

"Yes," she said "Yes, I think you can cover my back, in case something sneaks while I tear their skin off"

Comments

[Aatxe360]

What happened to the wisp after Applejack offered the stone?