A Dubious Welcome

by Maonyman

CH16: Arno

Celestia let out a low groan.

The fact that she was even still alive came as a bit of a surprise. She struggled to open an eye and saw only darkness, but seconds later a bag was yanked from her head and she had to squint against a painfully bright light. Her vision slowly came into focus, but beyond her circle of light was pitch black and impenetrable.

She startled as a sharp voice barked out of the darkness, "Uyangiqonda?"

"Wh--"

Even if her muzzle hadn't been so stiff, the word would have died in her parched throat, and she broke off when a weak cough. A plume of water abruptly flew at her from the darkness and slammed into her face, making her gasp in surprise and immediately choke on some of the water which inevitably made it down her throat.

Almost before she got her sputtering under control, the sharp voice spoke again, "Uyangiqonda? Ingaba uyadiqonda? ...Verstaan jy my?"

"I-I don't... what? Who are you?"

"Ag, of course it would be English, the garbage. Well at least Jabu was not lying."

An ape-like face leaned into the light, similar to the ones who had attacked her but with apricot colored skin.

"I am called Arno. What are you called?"

"My n-name..." It was still terribly difficult to speak, but she swallowed hard and tried again, "I am P... Um, Celestia, from Equestri--"

She broke off in another fit of coughing that burned horribly in her throat. Without thinking, she instinctively tried a small healing spell. Fresh waves of pain stabbed into her forehead as sparks shot from the hole in the base of her horn.

Arno jerked back with an angry shout and something slammed into the side of her head. Through her dazed confusion she could hear distant shouting and was vaguely aware of something firmly gripping her head. Just as the fog began to lift from her senses, one of the creatures placed a primitive saw against the base of her horn.

"Nnn... No!"

The first cut rattled her skull and filled her with icy dread.

"W-Wait, please--"

The second cut penetrated the outer shell and filled her with burning agony.

"You d-don't... don't underssss..."

The third cut bit deep into the flesh of her horn and she could barely even gasp.

Celestia knew what would happen next and no longer had the will to stop it. So instead, she embraced it. Clenching her muzzle against the blinding pain, she pressed as much magical energy as she could muster into her mutilated horn. Then the saw cut a fourth time and all chaos broke loose.

An unfathomable amount of raw arcane power burst from the core of her horn, flowed into the metal saw, shot up the creature's limb like lightning, and coalesced about its head with an ominous golden aura. There was a brief look of terror in his face and Celestia felt a pang of regret for its suffering. Then its eyes filled with white, growing brighter and brighter until they outshone the lamp. He tried to scream, but all that came out of his mouth was more light.

The body--for by this point it was already dead--slowly rose a short distance into the air as its very skin began to glow from within. Celestia turned away and saw about half a dozen other creatures all staring at the unfortunate scene in shock and horror.

All except Arno.

He stared right at her.

A pulse of wild magic exploded outward in a wave of distorted iridescence, flowing over everyone and everything in the room as the lifeless body crumpled to the ground. Each of the creatures stumbled back with various cries as they felt a tiny echo of the psychological horror the creature had experienced before its death. Celestia merely relaxed and allowed her aching horn to reabsorb any magic that reached her.

There were a few seconds of stunned silence and Arno met her gaze again.

A woman screamed, "Jou bliksem!"

Arno raised his hand in alarm and Celestia tried to turn toward the shout. Then a club smashed into her skull and everything went black. Again.

* * *

Next time she woke, she found herself lying on a simple bed with a wide bowl of oats and carrots nearby, which was nice. She was also bound with so much rope that she could barely wiggle a hoof, which was less nice. They were kind enough to leave her head free but her horn had been bound with a crude metal shackle. By crossing her eyes she was just able to see it had a crudely welded on stub of metal that stuck straight into the wound at the base of her horn. That would prevent her horn from healing properly no matter how long her regeneration spell worked at it.

For the first time in centuries, Celestia felt a twinge of real fear in her chest.

She tried to twist around to look at her body, but something tugged uncomfortably at her neck.

"I would not do that if I were you."

The quiet voice startled her and she whipped her head around toward the source, but the tugging quickly became painful and she froze in fear. Arno slowly walked into view and knelt a short distance away, watching her.

"My people... they think you are a demon. They say you are here to punish us and I am wrong to keep you."

"I... I'm just looking for my... well, my student."

"Student? Another like you?" Celestia nodded and he looked down thoughtfully. "What will you do when you find this student?"

"Take us both home."

"No punishing?"

"No... I never meant any harm. What happened earlier was... I tried to stop it."

"Kaya would wish you tried harder. I think maybe she loved Mandla. Certainly they were fucking at least." Arno paused as if expecting her to comment, but she simply waited for him to continue. "Well, where is home, then? Where has your kind been all this time?"

"That's... complicated."

"Eish, probably no time then."

Something about his smirk made her uneasy but she tried to ignore it as she said, "May I ask you something?"

He rolled his eyes and gestured at her, which she assumed meant to continue.

"I was... attacked in the air before I had even met one of your species... why such hostility without even an attempt at negotiation?"

Arno burst out in derisive laughter and her ears flattened in annoyance. He muttered something under his breath before finally responding, "Jabu was out hunting for rhinos and brought me you instead. There is no negotiation in a hunt, domkop. But then he arrives and swears up and down that you spoke before he shot you in the face. I sigh, thinking you dead and now we'll never know."

He raised his forelimbs and feigned shock, "Then a miracle, you make a noise! I yank the bag from your head, and the wound on your head closes before my very eyes. Then I remember Jabu said you spoke, so I ask if you understand, and you respond in this ukubhebhana language, so I ask your name... and what do you do? You spit fire or light or something! So we cut off your horn." He shrugged with terrifying indifference, "Mandla paid for that and you did not, but then I think of how you healed..."

Celestia was starting to feel oddly tired deep in her bones and was surprised to find herself panting.

"So I do a little experiment. Kaya angered me in striking you without orders, so I have her restrained and give her a little cut. Nothing serious but ek sê, she screams like hell. Then I give you a little cut, gather some blood, pour it on Kaya's cut... then she is well! So boer maak 'n plan."

It was rapidly becoming difficult to keep her eyes open. Celestia thought that was probably a bad thing and she should probably be worried, but she was just so very tired. Seeing her eyelids flicker, Arno grinned and reached around her head as he continued.

"I think maybe I need some more experiments first, but if I am right, then you will make me far more rich than any rhino."

A large jug slid into sight and a tube clamped to the edge was dribbling a pulsating stream of thick red syrup. The flow grew stronger as Celestia realized it was her own blood.

"Of course," Arno continued in a too-casual tone, "Twenty liters is a bit much for some little experiments, but I must draw that much so you become too weak to kill any more of my men."

The edges of her vision begin to fade but her gaze remained fixated on that little tube as her life flowed out of her.

"But do not worry, my little poplap. I am a forgiving man and will not kill you for that."

Celestia's head slowly sank onto the bed and Arno patted her cheek.

"No... you are much more valuable to me alive."

Comments

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

Well, I called it!
Celestia is a hostage now.
Was kinda expecting her to be captured by the American military though, so this is a nice surprise to be sure :p

I just hope she'll get help soon, though, I don't want to see poor Celly dead ;-;

[Poparakelis]

"No... you are much more valuable to me alive."

Meh, pointless drama, if a 1000 year old alicorn can't escape that she deserves to die honestly

[TheVirtuousOne]

I'm waiting for Anon to get a phone call from Nigeria now about a miracle drug scam, only it is actually legit!

[Twilight_the_spy]

...

This guy needs to be dropped under 30kg of tnt.

[rikithemonk]

"I think maybe I need some more experiments first, but if I am right, then you will make me far more rich than any rhino."

A large jug slid into sight and a tube clamped to the edge was dribbling a pulsating stream of thick red syrup. The flow grew stronger as Celestia realized it was her own blood.

After reading so much copy pasta, its nice to see stories by Authors who think outside the box.

Well done my friend and you earned the capital A when I refer to you as an Author. Make no mistake, what I gave you is an rare honor.

You are an Author.

Monk
“She was very good at assuming the worst, he always did that but she made him look like an amateur at it." -Arelak

[rikithemonk]

11646473

Meh, pointless drama, if a 1000 year old alicorn can't escape that she deserves to die honestly

No. Celestia is not Luna. Luna is the war mage. Celestia is the backstabbing politician that poisons and uses underhanded tactics. She never struck me as being anything other than a mediocre fighter. She routinely uses other people to fight her battles and does almost nothing on her own. Make no mistake, Luna would have slaughtered all of those motherfuckers.

In the lord Of the Rings, there is a character known as Worm Tongue. That really is Celestia. A slimy manipulator, using others to get things done while she hides in the safety of her throne.

Monk
“There are many ways to create a monster, and the one the girl knows best is rather basic: you tell someone they're a monster over and over again, then wait to see how long it takes before they agree with you.” -Estee