Chase

by Farenth Vega

Chapter 8

"Arnold! Arnold, we need to go!" You rush back over and frantically tap in his side with a hoof. If the two of you don't get out of here soon you'll both be deep fried!

"Listen, this is important!"

What's a hydra even doing this far from the everfree? It's rare for one to roam so far, much less nest! Maybe it's stuck on this side of the river as well?

Your pestering and poking doesn't quite seem to get you the attention you want! He simply brushes you off and continues talking to his magic box!

Buck buck buck! Hydras are dangerous enough normally but a nesting one is ten times more aggressive!

"Arnold!"

He looks down at you with a bit of annoyance.

"Just hold it a minute sparky, I'm in the middle of something here."

"No no no! We need to go, please!"

"Just 5 more minutes."

"No! Hydra! Nest! Eat us! Run!" This bucker isn't taking you seriously, he just pats your head like a foal.

"Don't you worry your little head about it, I'll protect you from whatever comes this way!" He gestures towards the gun over his shoulder like it can stop a rampaging regenerating three headed behemoth more commonly known as a hydra.

"No, you don't understand!"

An ear splitting roar cuts off whatever his response would have been! You have to admit his reaction time is impressive. In a flash his weapon swings around to point right at the quickly approaching reptile!

Too bad it's not going to accomplish buck!

*Boom!*

Holy buck that's loud!

The hydra staggers as it's rightmost head goes limp! He actually hit it, but the other two heads seem farless impressed and drive the body forward.

"Arnold we have to run! You can't kill that thing!"

"It's all good sheila, one down two to go."

You at least have time to cover your ears before the second boom takes down the leftmost head.

"See? Not a problem!"

"It is a problem the first one will-"

Another roar cuts you off. It only takes a quick glance to confirm your suspicions, the first head is back up and as angry as ever!

"Regenerate!"

He watches as both right and leftmost head recover. "Huh..."

"Huh?!?!" You rear up on your hind legs to get as close to his face as possible. "We! Need! To! Go!"

He fires off another shot before lowers his rifle and looking between you and the incoming beast. "Nah. It's too late now."

"Too late?!? We have to-"

What? What is he doing?

His hand fiddles with something on your bridle before pulling the whole thing off.

"What are you..."

"Not sure we can outrun something like that. I'll go this way, you go that way. Sorry for not listening to you sheila." He forcibly turns you around and slaps your flank! "Go on now! I'll slip away and catch ya later!"

Between the slap and the angry predator your instincts have you galloping all the way back into the woods before you can even think!

He says he can slip away but can he!? That's an exceptionally large hydra. If it thinks he's a threat to it's eggs, then not even the thick trees of the Whitetail Woods will slow it down!

You shake your head and skid to a stop.

Instinct tells you to run far far away but you can't just leave him! Sure he's a human, and he's even your captor, but he's also your friend! Your legs tremble in fear, but you turn back. It's not hard to follow the sound of rampaging beast. Fortunately superior quadruped agility and knowledge of the wood's let's you cut a few corners and catch up quickly.

He's run into the ravine, whether by choice of chance you can't say. What you can say is the waterfall at the end is going to trap him in with a very angry monster! You cut across to where you know he'll end up and perch on the rocky edge. He round the corner at a sprint carrying only his weapon.

"Arnold!"

"I thought I told you to run sparky!"

He sprints to the wall near you and tries to climb the smooth rock face. "Shit! How do I get out of here?!"

"I-I don't know!"

"Fuck, you just go sparkle I'll find a way!"

"No! I'm not leaving you! There's no way out!"

An angry mother hydra round the corner and locks eyes with it's target. It will be able to cover the few hundred feet in no time! It's time to act!

The sabotaged ring on your head buckles under the surge of magic you call forth.

Having no ring feels fantastic, but you still lack access to your full mana pool. The drugs must still be slowly working their way through your system. You have to try anyway!

A powerful bolt of magic shoots forth and hits the creature right in the chest.

Despite being a rather powerful blast, most than most unicorns would conjure, the beast cries is annoyance rather than defeat! You know hydra's are naturally magically resistant, but you were still hoping for a better result!

"Just go sparky!"

"No!" Three more bolts at least stun the beast, but it's still covering ground.

Buck buck buck! What do you do? If you had access to your full mana pool you could try more complex stuff: Gravity manipulation, temporal banishment, even simple mind magic, but you just don't have the power.

he flurry of bolts you throw the beasts way is quickly exhausting you, and only slowing it down.

Magic on a budget that can stop something this big? There has to be something!

Well... there's always that.

Do some ponies consider witchfire bolt to be 'dark magic'? Sure

Does it have a SLIGHTLY corrosive effect on the caster and their surroundings? Well yeah.

Does that make it evil? No, of course not.

Celestia herself might have banned the research of various dark magics hundreds of years ago but that doesn't mean ALL of it is bad. It also doesn't mean her personal student doesn't have access to the restricted spells deep in the royal archives.

It's for that reason the nearby vegetation wilts, and a purple haze forms around your eyes, horn, and body. You've handled dark magic before. You know which whispers to ignore, which to listen to, and which ones to embrace. They say witchfire steals a bit of your soul each time you use it, and as you let loose you can see why. Everything screams in protest, but the bolt of green and purple magic flashes down from the sky as promised.

The effect is nothing short of devastating.

An entire hydra leg is instantly severed as the dark art does it's work.

This can work! You can do this!

You prepare another spell right for it's chest, but notice the angry creature already recovering.

Usually such corrosive magic would prevent regeneration or healing, but the hydra's natural resistance must be powerful indeed.

You'll have to hit it in the heads.

Heads. Multiple.

One bolt felt like it was stabbing a knife into your skull, and now you need to cast 3 at once.

You simply can't.

"Arnold!"

"I'm here! What's the plan sheila!?"

"All three! We need to hit all 3 heads! Does your gun still work?"

"Yeah it should. I can only shoot one though! Can you get the other two?"

Can you? You have to at least try. "I... Yeah, yeah I can do it."

"Alright I'll get the middle you get the other two! Ready!?"

"Ready!"

"On three! One! Two! Three!"

Dual casting is a dangerous art.

Dual casting dark magic is borderline suicide.

You can't help but scream as the greedy magic tears through your horn, but you can tell it works from the devastating noise alone.

If only you could look up and see to be sure...

If only you weren't so sleepy...

If only you didn't stumble and fall right over the edge and into the ravine...

If only...

---

The loud crack of firewood brings you back to the world of the living.

Too bad your everything hurts, maybe just a bit more napping would be best. You squirm deeper into the nice warm sleeping bag only to be disturbed by something pressed against your muzzle. Experimental sniffing tells you it's some kind of roasted vegetable, a mushroom perhaps? Well, you are sleepy, but then again mushrooms are amazing. The muzzle invader pokes you more and more insistently until you finally open your mouth.

Oh, it is a mushroom! Perfectly roasted and seasoned too!

Your tired eyes remain shut as you munch, but the mysterious free food keeps flowing. Everything you're fed is deliciously warm. You aren't really sure why your body feels so hollow, cold, and empty, but the warm food and toasty accommodations are a huge boon. It feels like you've been eating for hours, yet there's still room in your stomach for more. This time however, when you open your mouth nothing comes.

Maybe if you just wait a moment...

Is a filly actually going to have to open her eyes? And they call this customer service.

You crack a single eye and spy Arnold tending more food over the fire. His eye catches yours.

"Sorry, you're really going through our supplies. I'll have more ready in a bit."

Psh, having to wait. He better give you a complimentary dessert for this outrage.

Even one eye open proves to be too much effort. You bury your snout in your forehooves and rest.

Or at least you would if he didn't take the opportunity to touch you. The hand scratching behind your ears feels really nice though, you can't help but lean into it a bit.

"You really saved me back there sheila."

"Mhmmm."

"Figured you'd just leave. What with the whole 'slavery' thing you seem to dislike so much." He chuckles and runs the back of a finger over your chubby pony cheek. The half hearted attempt to bite him fails but makes you both smile.

"You owe me..."

"Yeah I guess I do." The finger pushes down on your chin prompting you to open wide. Mmm onion and pepper! Just the right amount of salt too! Sweet Celestia, the glorious salt.

You MAY have licked his finger a little to lap up the remaining flavor. Who can really say what happened?

"Are you gonna be ok?"

"More food." He's a good servant, perhaps you'll keep him.

It's another half hour of steady feeding later before he finally stops. You crack the eye on the side of your face he isn't rubbing.

"Sorry sparks were all out. You just ate two days worth of supplies."

That's only slightly shocking to hear. Dark magic doesn't stop at ravaging your magical reserves, it takes whatever it needs to get the job done.

"S'fine. Just need *yawn* a nap."

Your head lolls into his chest as he scoops you up, but you don't care. All that matters is closing your eyes, just for a minute.

Just a fast power nap...

---

Everything. Is. Sore.

Not just every muscle, even your horn feels like someone tried to rip it off. You toss and turn for a minute before accepting that it's time to get up.

Ok, systems check:

Horn: sore, but still in one piece.
Hooves: unbound, that's new.
Head: No bridle. This must be the first time in weeks that you've been without it.
Wings: Wait what? You're a unicorn...
A loud growl interrupts your wondering about why you'd looked for wings.

Oh yeah, you have a stomach. Thankfully you spy a basket full of fruit sitting in the corner of the tent. You grab an apple with a hoof and shove it into your muzzle while you look around. He put you in the tent at some point. It must be well into the day based on how bright it is in here. Unzipping the front and pulling back a flap confirms it. You must have slept all the way til noon. Oddly enough you don't see Arnold anywhere.

Maybe he left to gather more food? Walking isn't fun, but you crawl out of the tent and over to the sleeping bag outside anyway. You skip the morning stretches today. Taking a seat with your hooves curled under you is much more your speed. Despite how much your horn hurts you need to run a few tests.

Pouring magic into the appendage causes some unexpected results!

Did some of the dark magic build up in your system?!

You may not be at 100% mental capacity right now, but you're pretty sure your magic isn't supposed to have nearly that much green in it! You quickly shut off the flow of magic and purge what's left in your horn. Thats... not good.

Ideally it will work it's way out naturally, but until then absolutely no magic. Even as you tell yourself this you can feel something wrong up there. It's almost like your horn craves more mana, and that's the last thing you intend on giving it!

"Great your up." Good timing. The human emerges from the trees with a fishing pole over his shoulder.

"Arnold, listen to me very carefully."

You climb over to him on clumsy legs.

"Do you have another horn ring?"

"Another ring? No, I just had the one, and I'm pretty sure you broke it."

"Drugs then, do you have more drugs?"

"Yeah, plenty."

"I need you to drug me."

"Hold up now. After what you did I don't think we need that anymore. Why are you asking this? Whats going on?"

"Residual effects of channeling that much dark magic. It wants more mana and I can't let that happen. You didn't mind pumping me full of this stuff before, what's the problem now?"

"Before sure-" He sits down and pulls a waterbottle out of his backpack. "I just feel bad after you saved me like that, you sure?"

Once you nod your consent he opens the bottle and holds it up to you. You down the whole thing just to be sure.

"You can make it up to me by looking after me. I'm... not at my best. It might be a while until i am."

Oh! He reaches over and starts scratching your plush underbelly.

"That I can do sheila."

---

The next few weeks were the most luxurious you'd had since before the portals.

When your physical strength returned he started to take you gathering with him. It was actually nice to be out and about without having to watch over your shoulder constantly. On you own you had to be wary of human as well as wildlife. Now you need only concern yourself with predators, and his gun is more than enough to keep you safe from those.

Working WITH a human almost feels like cheating.

Good food and a warm dry tent to sleep in is hard to argue with though. The two of you even go to a nearby swimming hole from time to time. It's one you'd avoided in the past for safety reasons, so you enjoy a chance to dive right in.

"You're gonna turn into a fish if you don't get out soon."

"They're called seaponies and they aren't a myth."

"Rightttt."

You paddle over to the rocky edge and throw your forehooves over the side. He's still avoiding looking at you. It's been a few days now, you thought he might tell you on his own but maybe not.

You clop a hoof onto the stone to get his attention. "Arnold. What's going on?"

"Uh, your swimming, that's about it."

Smartass. "I can tell something's been bothering you. What is it?"

"We can talk about it later."

"No, just tell me. Is it the river?"

He looks surprised for a moment but only a moment. "Guys up north said they'll have the dam fixed soon."

"That's good right?"

"Sparky you know what this means."

You pull yourself out of the stream and sit down on the warm rock. "I know this can't last forever. It's been fun just camping out, but I never thought things would stay this way."

"Damn it sparks... Why don't you just go? I'll point them in the wrong direction, you'll be safe for a while." His change of heart ever since the hydra incident is sweet, it really is.

You scoot over and place a hoof on his leg. "We both know they'd just keep coming after me, and with better and better equipment. I've... I've been on the run for long enough. I'm tired of woods, I'm tired of hiding, I'm tired of living in fear. I'm ready to go. You promise-"

You have to gulp back a bit of fear in your voice. "You promise they'll be nice? My... my 'trainers'?"

He reaches over and strokes you mane without looking up. "I should be able to arrange for you to go somewhere else. The pay's less but the treatment should be better."

You lean into his shoulder and whisper."Thank you."

You squeak when he pulls you into a rough hug! "You do what they say and they'll treat you right. Just remember your manners, yes sir and no sir, stuff like that."

"Yes sir."

Is he... sniffling? Guess you'd made a friend after all. "Since your coming in from wild they'll bridle and hobble ya. I'll see if I can explain how well behaved you are, maybe they'll cut you some slack, I dunno."

"I understand."

Speaking softly and stroking his back feels like the right thing to do. "They'll give you a proper ring. Probably an adjustable one, prove yourself and they'll set it low for you so you can still use some magic."

The dark magic residue had only worked it's way out of your system a few days ago. You both knew it, but he hadn't cut off the drugs and you hadn't asked why. Continued pampering was the real reason you hadn't say anything. A few weeks ago you'd have suspected the reason he didn't bring it up was keep you from running, to keep you captive. Now though you suspect he just didn't want to give you a taste of a freedom you'd soon lose again.

"I'd like that."

He breaks the hug and looks you right in the eyes. "Now, you listen here sparky. They'll take you. They don't let any ponies through to earth without decontamination and training first. It'll take a long time and I'll have trouble keeping track of you, but I promise I'll make sure your happy. No matter where you end up I'll be sure you're safe and happy, deal?"

You can't help but smile at his sincerity.

"Deal."

---

The hike to the human towns took a few days, but you've had worse.

"Alright we're close, ready?"

"Yes. Thank you for everything Arnold."

"You too sparky." he sight of the bridle doesn't make you feel good, but you now know it's a necessity. If he doesn't give you his comfy one the other humans will rig you up with a much worse one. He pauses before putting the bit in your mouth.

"At least try to look like you're afraid of me sparks. No one likes a smug horse." You giggle but do your best to school your expression when he finally fills your mouth with metal bit.

He pats the side of your neck and gives you a small smile. "Ready?"

He waits until you nod to grab your leads. "Then let's go."

END

"We really taking this one to greenscapes?"

"Hell no, this one gave us the slip for years. Orders from the top said to send her straight to happy horse trainers."

That sounds promising.

"Is that name supposed to be ironic? Some kind of marketing thing?"

"Guess so, either way they get the tough jobs done no matter what it takes."

Oh boy...

Comments

[FToast]

This story is fantastic and I don't understand why it has such a low like/dislike ratio.
Please don't be discouraged. You've written an interesting and unique world. Keep building and I'll keep reading.