Pom's Chapter — A Novelization of a Story That Doesn't Yet Exist

by AIPomgeon

Chapter 10—Ambassador? (Huoshan III)

"Ambassador?" Pom asks for a second time.

"Your hearing does not fail you, Ambassador Pom." says Zhongweiran.

"Nononono," she rattles off, "I only came here tae give ye the letter."

With a nod he explains. "And it has been given to Our Wonderful Empress, yes. In it it is declared, with gusto, that you are Ambassador of the Sheeple."

Pom paces halfway around the room, a light jingle accompanying her nervous movement. "There's gotta be a mistake here, I'm sure."

"There is no mistake!" the lieutenant orders.

"Tianhuo cannae give me that title! She must've misunderstood something I said."

"I have read the letter, there is no misunderstanding! It was suggested by our Most Noble and Virtuous Captain of the Guard, and then it was made official by Her Majesty. You are Ambassador."

"But, but there wasn't even a vote!"

"What are you on about—" begins Zhongweiran when Huoreshi leans into him. A quick whisper from her prompts an exclamation of "But how do they get anything done?!" The historian shrugs.

"We have to take this to a hall, nae, the Chamber of Commons if 's as big as this. I'd have tae go back there myself so I could participate in the vote—"

"You're Ambassador! It's an honor!"

"No, no," Pom repeats. She reflexively glances at the exit, something immediately picked up by the dogs. Ruff and Puff both step in front of her, pawing for some attention. She stoops down to pet them, adding "I just don't ha'e the authority, really."

"Yes you do, now! That is exactly the point of the title being bestowed!" he shouts, loudly smacking his forehead.

"Calm down, Zhongweiran." Huoreshi says, taking over. "Ambassador Pom, I am very pleased to find this out. If the Empress Herself has decided you deserve it, there is no higher authority on the planet who can contradict Her declaration."

"I'm real glad you think that, but that's just not how it's done. And I don't wanna take the responsibility."

"I assure you there will be no heavy responsibilities, Ambassador Pom. Based on what I know it will mostly be communication"

"That's still a lot of responsibility." said Pom, "I already messed that up today."

"Do not let my reaction earlier sour how much I enjoy having you here, Ambassador. When you are feeling up to it I would love—"

"Ahem." the lieutenant coughs discretely. Rolling her eyes the historian meets his gaze and awaits a response. "We may not have the time for that." he says.

"And why not?" Huoreshi asks, but to no immediate answer. With a grimace he jerks his neck toward the hallway, a clear invitation for Huoreshi to follow. She sighs, excuses herself and goes with him.

---

Pom looks over Big Papa's coat once more as she waits for Huoreshi's return. There's nothing serious at all to the injury, but the large dog recoils at being touched. Not a single thing was done by him to deserve this, and the thought that Pom could have prevented it by refusing to leave them makes her shudder a bit. Valid or ont, she cannot shake the thought that she failed her dogs.

"Captain made her Ambassador." comes from Yanwufen in a low mutter. Pom twists her head in an instantaneous motion at him; the longma lies prone staring at the floor blankly, stewing in a field of negativity powerful enough to dissociate him from the scene. Pom feels a flump from her heart at his state, snapping between him and the pups he moments ago was terrorizing.

"Hey." Pom speaks softly, audible to only her. With no response, she says it slightly louder, but still not enough to grab his attention.

Unthinkingly, she taps the bridge of his nose. His paralyzing neon glare immediately fills Pom with regret and she dashes backward into a wriggling mass of fur. Frozen with fright for a moment, the sensation of a nose nudging her back into the fray gives her enough courage to speak.

"Y-You," Pom stammers. "What's wrong with you?"

A smolder juts from his nostrils, the entire rest of his body as motionless as before.

"I-I-I mean! Is something wrong with ye? I mean—" Pom shakes the nerves out of her with the ring of her bell and spurts out, "Did I do something wrong tae you? Yanwu." At this, the longma silently rises, keeping his gaze affixed. "I'm just askin' cause, it's, my dogs ye know?" Pom continues, already looking for more space to back into. "We didnae meet but even when ye saw me first ye looked—"

Pom hits the polished stone wall. Without a command her pack let her slip on by, giving her a valuable shield. The low growls around the longma fail to divert his attention for a tick.

"Yanwufen." he corrects. Pom mouths it silently and nods. Yanwufen opens his mouth to speak further.

"That's great! Oh but it's terrible! But it's great, but..." Huoreshi shouts from down the hall.

---

Everyone stops and listens to the approaching hoofbeats. Two shadows approach, one twice as tall as the other and the other twice as long. Huoreshi comes into view first, a troubled smile on her face. "Ambassador Pom," she says tepidly, "I have news." She paws at the ground as she says, "it's very big news, for you. As well as for us."

"Rip off the bandage, soldier." Zhongweiran says from behind her.

"Don't you 'soldier' me." she snips with a short glare. "Ambassador, it has been decided that you, are, to, have a big opportunity that no living Sheeple has ever had before!"

"I'd rather not..." Pom bemoans.

"But you do not know what it is yet! And it is, well..."

"That is enough, I will tell her. Amabassador!" The lieutenant steps in front. "Her Fiery Highness, the Daughter of Heaven, Empress of Ten Thousand Years the Longestma, has summoned you. In two days' time you shall meet Her."

Ideas ping back and forth on the best and most polite way for Pom to decline. A simple 'no' may suffice but she'd probably have to explain why, and 'because that's scary' wouldn't be convincing at all. She could say she's too eager to get back home. Use the heat as an excuse. It's not for Pom's sake but the pups and their thick coats. Maybe that'll work—

"Absolutely not!" Yanwufen hisses in front of her. "You think she deserves to see Our Empress?!"

"Another word and I will bust your jaw." A large hoof is placed by Zhongweiran on Yanwufen's snout and force is applied downward. The longma puts up an attempt to resist but in no time at all is put into an unwilling bowing position. His rear legs twitch with the thought of stepping away, but eye contact is made and the threat of punishment keeps him in place. "Not a sound." Zhongweiran says. "Any slight against our Ambassador will not be tolerated. As far as you are to be concerned, sisheng, she has the same authority as Captain of the Guard Tianhuo. And I know you would never say that about the Captain, so I expect you to give the same treatment to our new friend."

"Can I say something?" Pom asks.

"Not now, soldie—Ambassador." he says, fixated on his task. "This is some overdue discipline."

"What if I say no? Tae being Ambassador, tae seeing the Empress."

Zhongweiran jerks in Pom's direction, slamming his hoof, and Yanwufen's head, onto the floor. "As we have told you, it has already been decided."

"Dinnae I have a say?"

"Of course, if you say 'yes.' Followed by a 'thank you.'"

"There's nae any offense when I say it, but, I don't wanna. I... really don't wanna."

"Then you can tell Her yourself in two days' time."

"She cannot tell Her that!" Huoreshi pipes up. "I could not imagine what would happen."

"W-What'd happen?" Pom asks.

"Nothing, I assure." says Huoreshi. "Her Fiery Majesty would never do anything to harm you or anyone. She only has the good of both Baaah and Huoshan in mind with Her actions."

"I—" Yanwufen gets out through gritted teeth before the hoof pushes down harder onto him.

"Please release him." the historian says, and Zhongweiran reluctantly lets up. As Yanwufen rises, Huoreshi addresses him. "Whatever your reasons are to misbehave, I believe the place to start going forward is an apology." She gestures to Pom and says, "Yanwufen, please tell Pom that you are sorry for what you did to her dogs."

The black-eyed longma looks at Pom, saying nothing. He turns back to his snakelike superior, looking at her face and then drifting his eyes downward.

"Nice heart." he remarks.

Huoreshi's eyes widen. "My jacket—Oh," she mutters. Pom watches in confusion as Huoreshi looks around everywhere for something. Her uniform is back where she had the interview with Pom, so what is it she needs?

"That's it, that is too far." Zhongweiran pushes Yanwufen to the ground and begins tugging at his uniform. "Your outfit, now." The two tussle as Huoreshi prances in place. Her flames look to have dimmed a lot compared to a minute ago.

"What's wrong?" Pom asks, confusion turned to concern. She steps around Huoreshi's long body and notices what's been in plain sight this entire time—a filled-in outline of a heart on her pinkish underbelly, only a little bit darker than what surrounds it. Huoreshi twists her front away from Pom in embarrassment. Pom thinks to leave it alone, whatever it is.

A cape is tossed through the air and Huoreshi quickly puts it on. It's not a perfect fit, drooping to the ground; Huoreshi's own uniform must have been tailored for her. Despite the mismatch she immediately calms down, shooting a dirty look at the owner of the jacket before turning toward the entrance. "Ambassador, I think I should take you to where you will be sleeping."

"I'm not sure if I'm even staying," Pom says, "and what about my pups?"

"I think it's best we go now. Away from those two." The now-stripped Yanwufen continues to struggle against his towering superior in a futile show of defiance.

"Um, can you do that a bit further away from the dogs?" Pom asks. Zhongweiran grunts in affirmation and pushes his victim toward the far wall of the armory.

"They will be fine, I must assure." Huoreshi says, nudging Pom in the direction of the entrance. Taking one last view of them, Pom whistles for Woof and is turns the corner, leaving the others behind again.

---

The horizon has turned magenta. As Pom and Woof are guided by Huoreshi down the slope of the mountain, past where she was taken last, she notices a lot more longma than in the morning, most of which lack any kind of uniform. She even notices some smaller longma, possibly ones her age. An urge to talk to one pecks at her, but Huoreshi keeps her moving at a brisk enough pace that Pom never takes action.

The strange houses continue further out and even the ones built upon the ground have the same pole at least a meter off the ground and only one entrance above it. Whatever is inside them, they seem made only for longma. The housing is occasionally broken up by stands, some made with brick and others carved directly into the mountainside. Nothing in the city seems to be made of wood, which Pom thinks makes enough sense given who lives in it. Some of them are occupied by longma, and Pom can see things like tools, cooking utensils, even some arts and crafts.

"It looks almost like a regular place to live," Pom says to herself.

"Of course," Huoreshi smiles. "I'm glad you have begun to see that."

"Och, I said that out loud?"

"I understand your sentiment, do not be worried. Most of our military offices are by the great wall where all outsiders have to enter. You will see a lot less soldiers here, or fewer on-duty ones at least."

"I kinda thought everyone was a soldier..."

"Everyone serves Huoshan, but a civilization needs many types of people. We train diligently to promote discipline, but that does not make us all warriors. Though I'm sure Zhongweiran disagrees."

"He's not gonna be the one looking after the puppies, is he?"

"Pom, I promise he is a good man. He may be more physical than you or I, but he only wants the best for and from everyone."

"When he was yelling at that bad guy... what's a 'see shan?'"

Huoreshi pauses in her tracks for a moment. She mouths 'sisheng' before saying "Forget you heard that word. He was wrong to say it."

"Okay." Pom says, discarding it as a bad word.

"While we are forgetting things, please do not speak about the mark you saw."

"The heart—"

Pom is aggressively shushed. She steps back, tripping on the puppy behind her and almost falling over. Pom notices, for the first time, how many longma are looking at her, not in a gawking mass like this morning but just a casual curiosity. In a whisper she repeats to Huoreshi, "the heart?"

"We all make bad decisions. I am fortunate enough to be able to hide mine." she nods.

"'s not just a birthmark? I thought it was cute."

"Much like the Sheeple dye their wool such a wild assortment of colors, we can dye our scales. The dye goes deep, and it takes multiple sheddings to disappear. Usually we take more subtle approaches than your kind for that reason."

"Ye think we dye our wool?"

"How else would you get such pastel pinks and blues?" she asks.

"I...'ll have to ask them." Pom was sure her wool would just get pinker when she got older, and has never seen a dyed sheep. Maybe the Sheeple who were ruled by wolves did so. "The big one's hooves, then, they're dyed?"

"As is the garish display on Yanwufen's body. We are usually subtle, but unfortunately not always."

"Is that why his eyes look—" The word 'evil' touches Pom's lips but she decides against that. "—black?"

"No, we cannot do that to our eyes. Nor would anyone ever want to look like that."

Pom wants to ask more. He is the only longma who looks anything like that. Everyone seems to be green or blue, a few yellows and reds, some less colorful than others, but none with eyes remotely resembling his. There's something she doesn't know.

"This is where you will be staying." Pom is snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the entrance to yet another staircase leading underground. "I apologize that we lack a special lodging for you, given your status, but ambassadorship is not something we usually deal with. I will show you which room is yours, and then I must depart. Please remain in your room until morning."

"Isn't it a wee bit early for bed?"

"You are not yet fully grown, sleeping early is important. I am sure you will fall right asleep."

---

The halls are just as dark as ever. Huoreshi opens one door in particular and announces, "this is your room." She steps inside, lighting it up with her body.

It is bare. There is no furniture, no tables or shelves, nothing of the sort. An extremely thin carpet rests in one corner of the room, but the rest of the floor is hard and cold. A basket with some kind of root vegetable sits in another corner, the only item of interest.

There's no light source of any kind in the room.

"But I'm afraid o' the dark." Pom says.

"I can get you a candle tomorrow, worry not." Huoreshi says.

"But, about tonight?"

"I apologize but I have some matters I need to prepare for your encounter with Her Fiery Highness. There is a zebra I must speak to before they depart for the night."

"I'll go with you!" Pom says.

"It is faster if I go alone. Have a blessed night, Ambassador Pom."

"But I—"

The door shuts. Pom stands in darkness.

---

Pom finds the carpet and lies down. It barely feels any more comfortable than the rest of the floor, and itches to boot. Woof snuggles up against her, not feeling any more comfortable than she is.

---

Pom tries one of the vegetables and immediately makes a face that nobody would be able to see in the blackness. It does not taste bad; it tastes like nothing at all. A rubbery texture makes it unpleasant to chew, and Pom manages to eat two before deciding to stop.

---

Pom has stopped sitting on the carpet, finding the cold stone to be better. At least it's not itchy.

---

Are the pups okay? Who's making sure they're alright? What if someone's doing bad things to them? It's happened once.

---

Pom is completely restless. She must have been here for hours. She misses the jail cell in Reine.

---

"I cannae take it." Pom says to herself." It was a foregone conclusion but Pom put it off until now; she's checking on her pups.

Pom meets no resistance exiting her quarters, not a locked door or guard in sight. Pom follows the dim glow of twilight coming from outside, and thinks how inconsiderate it is that Huoshan puts its guests in a building with no natural light. The sky, now a dark violet, still casts enough light to see one's surroundings, but the new darkness highlights each and every longma's flame, a score of living lanterns illuminating a circle of bricks around them. Slight differences in the colors of their flame become easy to tell apart, the yellowish and reddish flames standing out from the more common orange. Rare exotic colors like white or blue catch Pom's eye even from a distance, probably a trait of beauty the way Sheeple consider brighter wool to be.

Free from expectation, Pom looks in all directions, stopping to watch ordinary activities. Children chase after each other, one taking flight to avoid being tagged. A pair of adults laugh over some joke Pom couldn't hear, a pair of uniforms folded on the ground beside them. A craftsman spins clay, blowing a soft, steady flame on it even as it's being shaped. By a bubbling lake, a—

A searing heat touches Pom's front and her front hooves kick her away before she can get burned. The longma in front of her stops, confused at the noise behind them. "I'm so sorry," Pom rushes to apologize, "I should'a watched where... Tianhuo?!"

"Tianhuo?" the green-scaled longma asks in a tenor voice. He turns around, identical to Tianhuo in color but distinguished by a wide face and expressly masculine eyes. "The captain of the guard was chosen to be Champion of Foenum, she's away." Under his breath he mutters, "do I really look like her from behind..."

"Och, course yer not her. I, I must be blind. Sorry. Sorry."

"Are you the lamb everyone has been discussing today? Have you really met the captain?" Pom nods in response and he continues, "I am glad you survived her. The old Tianhuo would not have treated you so gently." The longma taps Pom's side in reassurance and Pom, with another quick nod, excuses herself to his confusion.

Out of anyone's earshot Pom shuts her eyes and scolds herself. "Why'd I go an' embarrass myself like that?" She looks around again and suddenly notices that a lot of longma look kind of like Tianhuo. The same teal scales, orange fire, the red eyes... not always identical, often not all three at once, but so many have some of these characteristics that it makes Tianhuo look even more like an ideal longma than before.

Am I ideal? Pom loses herself in thought. When these people see me, am I what pops in their head? I'm not very woolly yet. I blend in a crowd, is that good or bad for this? And I'm too loud for a sheep. And... if I'm here at all that makes me not really normal, huh? Even the most lost Sheeple would never end up here by accident. They said so themselves, I'm the first in as long as they can remember. And some of them seem to be really old...

...where am I?

---

Pom stares down the cliffside. After a steep drop is another beach with a few longma playing around. They're playfighting, some kind of three-on-one mock battle. The one is pretending to run away, like a cops-and-robbers getaway. The others pin him down and—this isn't for play.

Pom shudders and looks for the nearest adult; there's no one around. Pom looks down and notices the brick path she'd been walking down stopped at some point before here, and there aren't any buildings on this level of the mountain. Pom runs back up the slope that brought her here, moving for several minutes until she sees a longma. "Some people are fighting down there!" she pants. The only word to come from the longma is "Again?" before she flies off. Pom waits at the spot for several minutes before she returns on the ground with a limping child.

The longma sighs and asks, "Did you see who did it?"

"I... I dinnae remember anything about them."

She sighs a second time. "I wish you did. He never tells."

"Is this a problem?" Pom timidly asks. "Everyone here seemed so strict."

"Ambassador?"

"Huh?"

"Are you the Ambassador to the Sheeple?"

"Uh... yes." It's not a title Pom wants to invoke, but maybe it will tell her something.

"I promise it does not concern you, nobody would ever harm you."

"I didn't mean to say it would!" Pom shouts. "But is he alright?"

"It takes a lot to knock us down, he will recover. But yes, younglings of this age are rowdy. It feels every generation is worse than the last."

"Oh..."

"Be assured they will learn discipline, in time. Every one of us has struggled with the different parts of ourselves. Some struggle to find courage, others must find honor. But, whatever it may be, none are left behind." She pulls the child close and says "Now I must get him some care. You have done a kindness, thank you." Shaking like a leaf, flames out, he opens his eyes for a moment and, past the slit pupil, Pom sees a reflection of herself in them. She's compelled to say something, offer empathy, but by the time she thinks up the right words the two are already far up the trail.

"My puppies..."

---

Wherever Pom is going, it cannot be the right way. She's asked for directions but they all seem to get her even more lost.

Wait. She has a compass now! It'll point toward where she needs to go! Pom ruffles through her hair until the compass falls out, turns it over and frowns.

"That deer sold me a... a broken compass!"

The needle spins at a constant velocity, the only thing on the volcano more lost than Pom is. It's mocking her. Knowing Pom needed it, it chose to mock her.

A low whine from the lamb gradually grows louder, transforming into a shriek that pierces the night air. Everyone around Pom stops and stares, but Pom is too preoccupied with the failure of her lifeline to notice.

"Is she alright?" "Oh, is that the lamb?" "She's Ambassador, isn't she?." "What happened?" "Is this a Sheeple thing?"

One longma approaches and says "hey, hey now. There is no need for despair. What ails you, lamb?" Pom tries to vocalize her problem but can't get it past the sniffling that follows her outburst. The longma sees the compass and begins to laugh. "Oh, poor thing." he kids. "There is too much magic here for the compass to work."

"I just wanna find the armory." Pom whimpers.

"Where her dogs are." "I thought they were wolves." "They're predators, at least." "Amazing that they can live together." "It cannot be so simple. I bet there is something wrong in the Meadow." "The historian said they are fine together." "She got that from the lamb, can you trust her?"

"Let me take you there." the longma says to Pom, before addressing the crowd. "Have some respect for the child, will you? She must be scared out of her wits to even be here."

"He's right." "That letter said she's scared of us." "You have read it?" "No, but I heard." "Yes, it mentioned our eyes." "I would have thought it would be our teeth that scared her." "No, remember that the dogs..."

The longma motions to Pom to leave the crowd behind and Woof nips at her to get her going. About twenty feet later Pom sees the armory entrance down the path and lights up like she were a longma herself. "Th-thank you," Pom says before skittering to it on her own.

From behind the longma comes another. "I could not imagine living among an entire town of those." she says to him.

"Neither could I," he says. "I would be just as jumpy as her."

---

Pom tiptoes down the stairwell toward a small orange light. She peeks around the corner to see one lone guard on the ground, sleeping on the job. Pom sneaks past her and finds the pack of pups also asleep. Without a word Pom nestles between Mama and Papa, both of whom notice and lightly stir from sleep; they recognize Pom's smell, feel the texture of her wool, and both rub against her to say 'you're safe. you're home.'

The day's worries fade to memory, and Pom slumbers.

Comments

[Dogman15]

That was a great chapter! I don't have anything particular to say, but I enjoyed it.

[AllenVth]

Home is where your friends are at, and right now those are her pups.

[OKepicbro]

Just read the whole thing and i must say, it's absolutely amazing. I just love how you write the story and the characters, the humor Is good and the tension Is ON POINT. There Is only one word to describe this story : AMAZING.

[Galgus]

Longma dying their scales makes for a very interesting take on the palettes.

And it seems a bit ambiguous if the sheeple naturally have pastel colors, or if they are dying and Pom was too young to have seen it.

The bit on why Longma teeth wouldn't be as scary was fitting.

It seems clear that there are issues with the empress' ideas of raising children, and a lot of setup for their meeting.

The clash of cultures with the longma not trusting the sheepdogs is handled well, and I love how the ending shows the symbiotic relationship between sheep and dogs.