Like lovers often do
Megara was a creature made of muscle. On display in the glorious sunlight, Sundance couldn't help but watch her every movement. What appeared to be steel cables writhed beneath her fuzzy hide and at any given moment dozens of muscles revealed themselves with a myriad of mesmerising means. For Sundance, this was a sort of newfound awakening: the cock crowed to celebrate this new dawn.
Anticipation was killing him—but Sundance knew that soon enough, Megara would be killing him. She was no mere creature, but a monster. One that reveled in her monsterhood. If a pony could celebrate their status as an equine and take delight in it, then surely it was fine for a monster to bask in the horrifying glory of their monsterhood. Just as it was with Corduroy, a fine creature that he'd grown to love, he chose to accept Megara—he chose to embrace the monster—and in doing so, he was certain that he'd grown in some unknown-yet-meaningful way.
"Is there any part of you that you are particularly attached to and might miss?" the manticore spawn asked while her supple steel cable muscles flexed.
"I am attached to all of me," was Sundance's slow, fearful response. "All that I have is what makes me who and what I am."
In return, Megara threw back her head and laughed. It echoed through the box canyon, a near-deafening roar of rolicking laughter. Sundance too, attempted to laugh, but what came out of him might be better described as a nervous wheeze. Now was not a time to think about trust issues, yet he was remarkably aware of them. She was going to hurt him—there was no escaping this—and he was going to let her. Even worse, there was nothing he could do to stop her. His pride as a pegasus and his sense of duty demanded that he stay the course.
And so… he would suffer.
Others might take some pleasure in his suffering and his humiliation.
That was fine; he was a grown up and he could take it.
"Alright," she began. "Here's what is going to happen. You… you are going to punch me in the face and—"
"Punch you in the face?"
"Yes. Punch me in the face."
"Punch you in the face?" Incredulous, Sundance could not help but repeat himself. "What if I hurt you?"
"Hah, as if."
"That condescension kind of stings."
"Oh, that's nothing. If that sting bothers you, you're in deep trouble."
"So you want me to punch you in the face?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Stand up. Take a bipedal stance. Take a swing. And box me right in the booger holes." She smiled, revealing multiple rows of serrated teeth. "You get one free shot to start this little adventure we're about to have together."
"So… you want me to hit you with everything I have, I suppose?"
"All that you've got. Hold nothing back. I can't measure your effectiveness as a warrior if you pull your punches." Whiskers quivering, her tail swishing from side to side, Megara assumed a defenseless position—and waited.
From some distance away, Hollyhock could be heard saying, "It's wrong to hit each other, and is very wrong for colts to hit fillies… but this is different. Just don't do this to each other, or there will be trouble."
"Will you hit us?" asked Pluck.
"No, you little goof! But I'll stand you in the corner for hours!"
"That's not very nice," Pluck said to Hollyhock.
"It's completely avoidable," she retorted.
Pluck asked, "When Sundance gets mauled, who will replace him?"
"Not you," Sundance said to the colt.
"Bother."
A bad set of nerves caused Sundance to jitter and every muscle spasmed from a flood of adrenaline. As Megara suggested, he rose up on his hind legs, spent a moment to find his balance, and then raised his forelegs into something that was almost a boxer's stance. He'd only ever seen this in movies, and the occasional fight in the school hallway. Since he didn't spend a lot of time on two legs, his balance wasn't quite as good as he hoped it might be, and he suspected that he was going to embarrass himself soon.
This was a delicate situation, with everypony watching. Sundance, still some distance away, tried a test swipe. It went well, he felt, so he tried it again, and then once more. When he found his balance, he bounced around a bit on his hind hooves, whilst he punched at the air in front of him. Something had changed; school-age Sundance couldn't have done this. Not without looking like a total dork. He thought of the scars that ran the length of his body, going from neck to rump. Had hard living changed him?
Maybe this would be easy.
He might just be ready.
It was easy and pleasant to marvel at his newfound physicality. Why, he even managed to balance himself on one hoof; his left rear hoof, and he did so for several long seconds. Which, given the circumstances, he felt was impressive. His confidence, like a pegasus in flight, soared. He was about to box Megara right in her booger holes and maybe, just maybe, luck would favour him and he'd give her a good surprise. Oh, he doubted he could hurt her; optimistic as he was, he was still a realist. But perhaps she'd compliment his good effort and that'd be fantastic.
Feeling lighter than air, Sundance began to bounce around on two legs.
It was as if joy gave him buoyancy.
"You have belly speckles," Megara said to Sundance while he bounced about.
"Do you like them?" he asked.
"They're kinda cute," she replied.
This brief exchange left Sundance overwhelmed with irrational exuberance, as evidenced by the way his lips parted to reveal his teeth. Which was entirely different than how Megara revealed her teeth. A lot less nightmarish and a lot more friendly. Sundance had the sort of smile that begged to be shown off, while Megara's smile belonged in a damp, dank, dark cave. Yet, it said much for Sundance's character that he liked Megara's smile, and that seeing it made him happy.
It was a sad, sad fact of life that the universe made such fools suffer.
"I was always sort of embarrassed about them," Sundance said whilst he bounced from one leg to another. "Got teased about them in school. Now, they're just there and I do my best to not think about them."
"You really are a lippy pegasus," Megara said in response. "You were so quiet when we first met. Now this. Alright… down to business. Let's be like lovers and hurt each other."
"I don't want to hurt you—"
"That's hilarious, because I want to hurt you!"
Upon hearing these words, Sundance swallowed so hard that he was certain the sound could be heard echoing to and fro. Still, his sunny optimism endured, as did his smile, his exuberant buoyancy, and his compulsion to boink and bounce about. Well then… he was about to intentionally cause harm to another thinking, feeling creature. How was he supposed to feel about that? He had no time to pause, to sort this out, no precious seconds to spend to seek out understanding.
Front hooves at the ready, he surged forwards. First he boinked to the left, then bounced to the right, and immediately after what he was certain was a dazzling display of speed and grace, he launched what he believed was a haymaker at Megara's nose, just as instructed. His hoof never landed though, no. One of her massive paws shot out, wrapped around his foreleg, gripped him, and then a great many awful things happened all at once.
Sundance found himself up in the air.
Round and round he went, whooshing about in circles, all while the horizon tilted like a jilted lover. The force was such that he felt his cheeks sliding down his jaw, and his eyelids too. Things were blue, then green, then blue, then green again, and this continued until everything was a blue-green-blue smear burned into the backs of his eyeballs. Mid-whirl, he was whipped like a wet towel, and this was done with enough force that his tail cracked like a whip. While his senses tried to inform him of his imminent demise, and made a valiant effort to sort out what exactly was going on, he was slammed into the ground before they could reach any sort of meaningful conclusion.
How long he lay there upon the indifferent ground was unknown. A long very long time though. Sundance existed in a different universe now, a cruel universe where all of his bones had been stolen and replaced with white-hot metal. Yes, he was utterly boneless—a boneless pegasus—and his internal framework was now made out of solid pain. Breathing was out of the question, so he did his best to exist without oxygen.
Nothing in his life prepared him for this moment. This revelation. The metaphorical clouds parted and the light of truth burned down upon Sundance. He was not a tough pony, nor would he ever be. A hero of myth and legend he was not, for they were made of sterner stuff. A part of him wanted to puke, but that required breathing, and movement, and rather a lot of effort that Sundance feared that he was ill-prepared to put forth at the moment.
Perhaps if he didn't move, and didn't breathe, he would die and this would be over.
But such a merciful end was denied to him, and his body callously betrayed him with a traitorous attempt to inflate his lungs. This botched rebellion went poorly; his lungs did not fill with lovely air, but cruel fire and wicked heat. Something bumped him and several seconds later he realised that his legs were flailing about.
"OooOoo-OooOoo!" he OooOoo-OooOooed, emphasising the emphasis of the OooOoo-OooOooiness of the situation with a fair bit of generous extra Ooo. As it turned out, he had Ooo to spare, and a lifetime's worth of pent-up OooOoo-OooOoo escaped from him in a prolonged groan. At the end, he punctuated his outburst with: "Oooooo-oo-oo!"
A succinct end if ever there was one.
"Sundance… Sundance, say something!"
Corduroy's voice was harsh with worry and Sundance struggled to regain his senses.
"Sundance?"
He saw the blurred, indistinct form of Corduroy's face just above him.
"Can you talk?"
Much to Sundance's immense relief, he found that he could, in fact, draw in air and form a basic sentence. To Corduroy, he said, "OW! My giblets! My giblets, my giblets, my precious precious giblets!"
Then, he heard Megara ask, "Which giblets?"
To which he replied, "All of them, I think!"
Above him, he heard Corduroy say, "Please point to the giblet you believe was injured."
"All my pegasus giblets." A wheeze. "All of them." Another wheeze. "All of me. All my bones are gone."
"Mmm." The sound that Corduroy made was one of distinct worry.
"She told me to hit her… why'd she do that to me, Corduroy?"
"That's your first lesson," Megara said to Sundance, cutting in before Corduroy could respond. "Sometimes, your enemy will give you an easy opening. It will appear as though their guard is down. This is an invitation to disaster. My father taught me this… he told me it was the hardest lesson to learn. I thought we'd get the hardest part out of the way first."
"So very kind of you," Sundance groaned as his limbs continued to flail. "Ow, my giblets. Ow, my everything. Ooo-ooo-ooo-wee-ooo." Teeth clenched, he hissed and winced as the different regions of his body continued to send in damage reports.
"He's not cut out for this."
The sound of River Raider's voice cut deep and Sundance felt a new pain, though he could not discern its location. Somehow, he managed to roll over onto his side, and then he had no choice but to go still because his vision was now full of stars. Gasping, he lay there on his side, trying to manage his pain, and wanting to tell River Raider that she was wrong. But that was impossible. Even worse, a part of him suggested that she was right—he wasn't cut out for this.
"River?"
"Meg, he's a pencil pusher. A desk jockey. Look at him. He can't get up. His brain is completely scrambled. We've barely even started, and he's already finished. He can't take another lesson. Not today, and probably not tomorrow."
Defeated, he lay in the dirt, pondering these awful words. Worse, he couldn't stand up to dispute them. Even if he made a heroic effort to stand, he knew that he would fail. Somehow, this hurt worse than everything that had just happened. He rather felt like crying—yes, this hurt him that much—but he held back the tears and his angry outburst. There was no point in bellyaching. He would have to recover, however long that took, and then try again.
Knowing that River Raider could hear his thoughts, he broadcasted his determination, all of it, as much as he could muster. Nothing happened. There was no response. Not even an itch in his brain. While he knew for certain that she had to sense his thoughts, he could not sense a response from her. No words were said. He would have to show her, it seemed—but a part of him doubted that he could. The effort would be made though, because he owed the world the best possible version of himself. Even if he failed, he would give it his all.
What else could he do?
Then, he heard River Raider say, "Get him up, Corduroy. He's miserable and spiraling into bleakness."
"Sundance, I'm going to pick you up. It's probably going to hurt. Let me lift you. Try not to squirm."
"Go for it," he wheezed.
"Meg…"
"Yes, River?"
"I kinda want to rip your face off right now."
"I hurt your friend and you're angry. This I understand. If you want a go at me, feel free. Won't hold it against you."
"I don't have friends," River Raider retorted.
"I think you're wrong," Megara replied.
"I'm going to go and cool off before I do something rash."
Worried, frightened even, Sundance felt Corduroy's paw slip beneath him as she stooped over to pick him up.
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Still healthy here
Pony’s keep me sane for a given value of sane any way
"Let's remember what's important. Ponies. That's what brought us together, right?"
I see you have been reading some more heated blogs in this site.
I died 5 years ago, but I don’t think the reaper noticed.
Maybe
Ouch. Poor Sundance. Poor giblets :-)
Still healthy, unlike Sundance.
If he’s going to spend all his time fighting things that are bigger than him then this is the lesson that Sundance needs to learn:
Still breathing, a bit easier than Sundance, I think.
It’s okay River Raider Sundance is definitely no frontliner but a party of nothing but is doomed to failure. Based on his shown aptitudes he’ll be a fine mobile skirmisher.
I mean, no coronavirus. But there is still persistent plant coitus, so my sinuses drip anyway.
Also back to grinding the Arkham Horror lcg with the spouse, so that is nice. Nothing like getting molested by tentacled horrors to pass the time.
Confound these ponies! And their assorted giblets!
10340500
I think he's better suited to 'noble steed'.
Not the giblets!!!
I have to agree with River Raider that Sundance is not physically cut out to be a true fighter, and truly I don't think that's the route he should go. However, I do think he stands to gain useful wisdom from experiences like this, assuming they don't cripple him in the process. I think the best bet is for him to acquire a set of trusted local adventurers and guards, and I think gaining some understanding of combat and of what it takes to do this job will help him find the right creatures for it. Rulers/administrators need to have a good knowledge base so that they can bring on and work with competent help for the tasks they are not cut out to do themselves.
Rona's dead, here
Nothing new but the fear mongers "Squirrels, The new plague" menu.
Government backed "Science" still floundering.
More River Rider "True love is ripping some creatures face off"
Oh the flames of love 
You rang?
10340655
He is, clearly, the Sniper of the group. Not the Brawler.
all good here just me my 1 pony and 1 donkey are all good at this time.
i feel for Sundance as he has it really bade fro some cretcher and does not know how to show it.
That and tree sap... or super glue (if there's a difference). Not dealing with the 'rona, just been lucky out here on the road I guess.
Some important truths were learned here it seems. Poor Pluck, won’t even be in charge if the current Baron gets mauled
He saw a chance and he went for it.
I just feel so negative right now... yup, just got the test results and it seems that despite being exposed, I’ve managed to not get infected with the ‘rona.
It’s just 99 other things that are driving me up the wall... without benefit of wings.
Eh, well... eventually things will settle down; regression to the mean and all that.
I wonder how this little display will effect Sunny boy's shot at enshrinement.
Holding myself together. Corona world for me has been an endless low level depression, a little from fear, a little from stir crazy, and a fair chunk of mourning for a completely different world that will never be again, but was only 6 months ago. I take the time to celebrate small victories and try to look towards building a new world together once we all get through the interstice.
Still alive, still working, nothing has changed for me with this crap going on.
Still kicking, had a bit of a scare last week but everything is fine.
I’m pretty sure I’m ok at the moment but to be fair, everyday I get to ask myself if some new sensation/symptom is just my Fibromyalgia or is It COVID? After finding out a close coworker tested positive, I’m a little anxious. But it’s been three weeks since and I don’t have any definitive symptoms. I always have flu like pain and a kaleidoscope of other conditions so...
How I do in Covid comes and goes...but the WORST is when I settle down for sleep and the distractions start to drift away. When my anxiety hits for I am all alone, with no one to comfort me.
Fortunately during the day I am distracted and I have fun! <3
I have a FWB visiting, so I am VERY hopeful that all that Physical Affection will just...be really GOOD for me!
ALSO: I am REALLY enjoying this story still! Particularly with Sundance's lewd thoughts.
Methodically, it is not correct to check Sundance, his talent for insanity manifests itself in real danger. Now it is played and can not be otherwise due to the sunny nature.
Awww. He tried.
I am covid safe. And I hope you are too!
Still here, hadta go dark for a bit as distance learning at a level is hard going. But back now.