You're Here!

by Arn

Steeple Chase

She caught up to him, once, as the sun rose. Apprehending him she forced him to look back.
"Take a break!" she said to the flailing stallion she embraced. "You have to see! Look as the pen comes down."

He stopped bucking and struggling, all his huffing and puffing stopped. He watched, awestruck as at last the gentle rumbling hit his ears and soft as a heartbeat and the massive columns and stonework's of the pens went back into the earth at the earth ponies' command, crumbling almost melting into crumbs.

One tall pillar remained.

The stallion felt something at his foot, under his right front leg. Something in the ground, Marigold was distracted by the great structures crumbing away, but he look down at his foot, the ground was tingling hardly glowing, just barely noticeable.

The pillar began to take a shape as it crumbed as if being shaped by a master confectioner; it started getting thinner at the base, wider near the top with an uneven globe beginning to form and what looked like eyes scowling.

The master earth movers were fluster at this turn of events, all the earth and stone was supposed to go back into the ground, except for this stubborn lump, the fact that it was taking a form, some kind of fanciful biped, twelve stories tall, was just to the imagination. They leaned in, trying to get the stubborn, shall we say "willful" thing, to fall back to the ground, some pushing the youngster huffing as if caring heavy loads, all staring at the thing, but for the oldest of the grand earth shaping ponies.

He slowly turned his head to two tiny figures standing some distance away on a gently sloping hill. He narrowed his eyes and scowled. He focused on the male, what a stupid look on his face. He was acting like a spoiled child, holding tight, refusing to accept the changes happening in front of him, excited at what was happening yet stubbornly clinging to a toy now being dragged along by that toy as his parent told him to clean up.

He had had children. He was not going to let the situation get any more out of hoof. As he stared at him, the stallion wasn't even aware he was being stared at; the elder raised his hoof high above his head and slammed to the ground.

"Ah!" the stallion cried at the little slap on the hoof, looking at the bottom of his hoof at his frog like an idiot.

The pillar disarticulated, like chocolate crumbling or a Figgie Pubbing not having had enough time in the mold, returning to its natural states, a mound terracing and shaping as if the pens were never there.

....except for the sundry of different and unalike items in the middle, honestly it did look for all the world like an auction.

"We have no idols here," said the old pony under his breath still sighting the two dots so far away, "not here in Equestria."

"Did you say something grandfather?" said another pony.

"It’s just earth youngin,"he said through his teeth, "you only need to grunt when yer plowing it!"

"That was something to see, wasn't it?" Marigold said with a pleasant smile as he nodded his head starring at her wide eyed. Through his eyes she could see awe of it, the wonder of youth and again how awesome indeed it was, the thoughtful contemplative flash that just the night before he had been walled up in a crack in one of those wall, so no mare could touch him, and now the place was no more.

The countryside was pleasant, cloud and mountain made for a lovely panorama.

"What a lovely day for a run! The sun is shining, birds singing!"

She didn't notice......he was turning blue,

"Maybe he will stop running? We can at least know each other's names...."she finally noticed. "Breathe!"

Gasping and coughing.

"You have perfect timing stranger!" She thought through half lidded eyes. She could've hit him.

Catching his breath, "Huff, Huff! Snort. This race hasn't ended. Bacon hair!"

...and the meanness again.

"What's becanhier?"She smiled presently, he was stubborn...and thick! "Very well." She waved her hoof before her. "The field is open; I'll give you a head start..."

Fascinated, he imitated the gesture, fixated on his own hoof to Marigold's dumbfounded look, shaking his head snapping out of it darting off, clumsily stumbling, and crashing through the brush ignoring all the switchbacks as he made his away.

"That's not...I don't believe that!" She trotted after with a sigh after picking up his saddlebags." Is this how marriage is supposed to be huh? Married to a big colt or strange puppy? Tsk, too late now." Strangely after that display of stupidity she still wanted him. Guffawing she shook her head." A huntress me, like the stories those wandering griffins tell in downtown Filly!"

She knew he would be totally spent by noon, but she had a plan envisioned, and he was doing exactly as she wanted, along the path.

Well not exactly!

It is a beautiful thing to see, a pony run. All the muscles working together in harmony of motion to perform this action called runn...

"Good gracious!"

She ran of his right side, then on his left and again on the right, to be certain she was not seeing things.

The muscles were completely uncoordinated.

It was as if he had never run, or trotted, or cantered? Even the mustang knew how to run!

He strained, tried to get ahead, kicking up clods of earth and lose stones nearly falling over at times, the rotation of the ankles was wrong but it was no use. He was using shear power and simply could not figure out how to pace his body.

There was no spring in his gate that was purposely held down. Every step shot straight through his joints right up into shoulders hips and back!

He was going to be in a lot of pain later, a lot of pain.

She had seen this type of style/gate only once, an actor clowning around to the laughter of colts.

However, Marigold knew tricks, massages and remedies, time practiced you had use on her elderly parents.

She caught up to him, pulled gradually ahead, a gentle restful canter for her, and she herded him where she wanted, teasing sometimes, falling back and pushing him back up sometimes circling to the other side moments later, shoring up the other side, pushing, preventing him from tripping over at such tremendous speed.

She would fall behind at times giving the illusion that somehow he could pass, blocking only once to prevent him from running up and over a cliff he never knew about.

At last, at noon she pulled away, leaving him in the dust, galloping at full speed ahead, while she turned her head back at him back at him with a smile and a wink, letting him get a good look at her flowing tail and curvy backside, crushing his every idea of outrunning her.

She sat down waited for him.

And waited for him. She could hear him.

Straight ahead , tunnel vision, he had no other place to go.

How to emphasis the point.

She pulled a book out of his saddle bags, a heavy tome; she was just going to use it as a prop but became fascinated in the strange language and scribbles in the margins and all over the pages.

Out of the brush he came, stumbling haggard wheezing.....even if she didn't mean to, now, it was her turn to ignore him!

Part of her really, really wanted pay back!

"You're here!"she said at last with the air of somepony looking over the morning post, a mischievous smile . "I've been here half an hour." she lied.

Too tired to evade capture, eyes crossed the whole world a blinding blur, his messy mane drooped with his head to the ground. "You win..."he said petulantly between gasps admitting defeat. "I've lost my soul...."

" Okay......"she said hesitantly putting the book back inside his bag. "Um, where did you lose it?" she asked confused, strange name for a saddle bag.

"Stories, bet with devils..."he said parched licking his lips. "Big devil angel of light raising the sun..."he said with some heaves, sobs shivering. "You have my soul!" he said balefully.

"What??!"she said, leaping to her hooves.

"Soul! "Oh no! Not like this! Not superstitions! Not broken down, no. I must snip this bud to the root!" Crying was the worst thing; it would amplify all his muscles hurt.

She came beside him, "No...No, stop." she said raising his head. "Don't be crushed, wadded and give up. I am like you,, nothing more or less." She smiled looking into his tiered gray eyes. "No." she said brushing his check. "We are yokefellows , you and I.You are new to the field. Soon you will lead." she smiled gently, it didn't seem to help.

Nuzzling him softly speaking likewise" I don't have your soul…but." She said a deep breath "if I did, any remote ridiculous possibility..."she put her hoof on his chest. "I give it back, I let it go. I give it back to you. You, take it back, ok?"

"Forgive so I can be forgiven...I promised I'd forgive..."he gasped glumly.

She pressed up to him and gently embraced him. "From my heart, to yours, please. Don't be sad. You are not a little sparrow in a cage, ok." she pulled away and looked into his eyes smiling.

"I'm sure you have nothing to be forgiven for."

"You should wait till after tomorrow’s reading, Moses father in law."

"What..?"

"Did I say something?" he said breathing hard, blinking confused.

She stared at him.

In that look was communication.

"Look. That is enough of that. The same rules that apply there apply here, no spoilers. I know your still having trouble here, but you must pull yourself together. The rider will return and you must be ready."

He looked at her.

Communication:

"Understood. No advanced previews."

Communication Marigold: ”I was hoping for a little more.”

Marigold saw a glint in the corner of her eye a reminder vying for attention. Today’s goal!

She cried out, "Nike’!" a tradition from her city Filly Delphi.

Its closest translation, he didn't shudder being so tiered.

"Look." showing him what sparkled under the sun, leaning into him being motherly, leading him to water." Most welcome." He didn't even notice he was now leaning on her as they walked. "Not too much. Slowly." She said as she brought his head toward the water, he drank. She knew he would pay later for overworking, cold water to aggravate it. Thankfully the water was clean and warm in a stone pool. Pegius sign assured the water was fresh. She drank beside him.

Marigold saw him wince as he began to straighten up with her, the pains were beginning.

Now to the distraction, "My husband." she guided his eyes to a lovely green grassy hill, a high meadow, like a dark emerald. "…your reward."

He bolted toward it alarming Marigold at how fast he moved. His body must already feel the cramps.

As soon as he got there, he collapsed among the soft green grass and welcoming flowers. He then cried out in a loud voice in words in an order she had never heard before.

As marigold got closer she heard these magnificent words:

"The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want...."he began to droop and fade as he spoke but he pressed the words out of his lungs at the same volume. "He makes me lie down in green pastures," he began to slump. "He leadeth me beside the still waters." He was against the ground heavy breathing. "He restores my soul." He jumped back up again. "He leads me in the paths of righteousness...for his name sake." He slowly slumped to the ground collapsing again like a crumbling mountain. He began to fade. "Though a walk in shadow....mumble...valley... death...no evil fear I...you.. with..me...staff..rod, comfort." he was done. He slept.

Marigold was over, checking him out. "Not dead. Not dead! Thank you" she said breathlessly.

He had scared her with this run. She curled her hoof around his. "Still fighting… not broken, good. Good!

Have to keep him, shade him now from the sun, warm compresses later on all the joints....hot mud and grass wrapping" she patiently waited on the sun as it moved across the sky. "Need to build a fire later."
After the sun had turned she took away her shadow for shade and laid her head on his side. "I will never take advantage of you." she said. She gently touched his side. "I have heard Him speak; he called you his brother and son. You must tell me who this/our Lord is, my husband, and why He called you Imago Dei.

I promised him, I would help you, take care of you, me, owner, a little flower shop, a mare of Filly Delphi."

Author's Note:

As the stallion plunged his whole head into the pool, a thought occurred.
"This is a magical land." his thoughts a panic."What if I turn into a dragon?"

Strands of pink flitted into his vision under the water as the mare's head came in and she began to drink, closest to a kiss he had yet come, he heard a voice that tinkled with laughter in his mind.
"Oh, Grampus!"she said "Don't be silly. He, all by his lonesome. You're not! What a large gathering of witnesses!How can you not do good?" He jerked his head out of the water with a gasp. The mare followed pulling wet mane out of her face smiling.
"As much as you need."she said slowly and calmly."Not to much. Not so fast."
He put his mouth back into the water eyeing her warily as she joined him for another "close to a kiss."

Passing out in the meadow, he found himself in a bedroom with a young filly jumping up and down on the bed.
"Pllleeeease...Grampus!"she pouted."Tell me the story of Eustace the Dragon!Please...."
"Yes, go on. Justicus Gumpicus."said an amused dark mare in a cloack sitting nearby who smiled reassuringly.

Despite the strange suroundings, he wasn't afraid at all.
After he quieted the excitable pink filly,"You look just the way my Gran said her Great Gran said you'd look!"

"Um...okay."he began to tell the story.
"Once upon a time, in a land of stone roads and iron trees, there was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrub....and he almost deserved it!"
paraphrased, added to, from the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis