Ch 01: From the Everfree
Wind. Something Lyra hated even in large amounts, was wind. Now however, there was a lot of wind. It whipped her mane around and into her eyes. Oh sure, she could have her mane cut and trimmed, but that would defeat the purpose of it looking cute. She knew she was a cute mare, she even flaunted it from time to time, but right now her vanity was irritating her to no end.
"This sucks!" Lyra yelled at her friend, trying to speak over the torrent around them. She shifted her head to let her mane flip away from her eyes in the throws of the wind, "Why couldn't we wait till, oh, I don't know, next week?"
"I'm sorry!" Bonbon called back at her friend, "I needed these ingediants or I won't be able to make any of my Surprise Candy for Pinkie Pie! She needs them 'day after tomorrow and I can't put it off any longer!"
Bonbon's over filled saddlebags covered her three-candy cutiemark and almost half her creme-colored coat. Lyra watched as the winds whipped her friend's blue and pink curly mane and tail around, turning it into so many dreadful knots. Now, normally, Lyra didn't bother worrying about a few knots in her own mane and tail, it added to her cuteness factor. But in other ponies whose manes and tails were much more difficult to maintain... it bothered her. Knots suck, in the most painful way. Especially when she lived with a pony who cared about both their manes and how well it was kept A pony who also had no problems ripping knots out like filly with a badly wrapped present.
"I'm not helping you brush yourself when we get home if you don't hurry!" she yelled over the word-snatching winds.
"There. All done!" Bonbon said loudly, smiling back at Lyra.
"You sure? You don't want to spend the night out here, get horribly sick, and come back with a wagon's-load of weeds?" Lyra drawled sarcastically, shooting her friend a decidedly smug look.
Bonbon smiled and half rolled her eyes, "Why? Do you have a cart with you?"
Lyra's eyes widened and her rump hitting the ground weakly at the sarcastic --but quite possible-- remark. Lyra quickly shook her head and waved her hooves in front of her as if to dispel any inclination of spending the night this close to the Everfree.
"I didn't think so." Bonbon chuckled and began trotting homeward. Lyra following her warily, but glad to be heading home.
A powerful gust of wind nearly knocked Lyra over, she stepped aside to balance herself and looked up in time to see a thick stick being carried be the wind. It smacked her upside her muzzle and sent that oh so uncomfortably painful tingling sensation throughout her nose. She yelped, now her anger turned from annoyed at the wind to angry that she got hurt. She stomped her hoof in the dirt and then gently rubber her bruised snout.
"Couldn't you just give her bags of mixed candies and call it good?" Lyra said, still trying to yell over the howling winds. Her throat felt dried out from the winds like dust on a road. Bonbon turned to face her, her own annoyance started to show.
"Lyra," Bonbon scoffed at her, "You'd steal candy from a foal if it meant you didn't have to pay for it! Sometimes I wonder why I let you move in with me,"
"Because you're my friend?" Lyra offered, giving her friend a hopeful smile.
"Or because I need the rent!" Bonbon said coldly.
Lyra's hopeful smile faded and she looked down away from Bonbon, that had hurt more than she thought it should. Lyra suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up to see Bonbon smiling apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Lyra. I didn't mean it like that," Bonbon tried nuzzling her, but Lyra shoved her away, "Lyra?"
"If you hate me so much, go give your apologies to somepony else!" Lyra yelled, more from anger that burned her throat and the hurt that little comment had stung her chest, than the winds that had been trying to topple her since she'd gone out to help her friend. Lyra dashed away and into the forest behind the treeline where she and Bonbon had been gathering herbs. She didn't look back. She kept running and running until she couldn't catch her breath. She flopped down next to a tree and heaved to fill her lungs.
Bonbon... You're suck a jerk! I mean, sure, it might be true that she only let me move in for the rent, and yeah, I know I'm a pain sometimes, but she doesn't have to remind me of it all the time. I don't want to be a bother. I like hanging out with her and living with her is great. But days like these, I wonder if I'm just a nuisance and she doesn't like me. Just put's up with me for cheaper rent. Would she kick me out if somepony else offered?
Lyra pulled away from her thoughts when she felt the first tear from from her nose. She'd been so close to crying several times today but had kept herself in check because she didn't want to bother Bonbon. If this kept up, Lyra was sure she'd just move out to save Bonbon the trouble of kicking her out.
Suddenly, she heard a faint yell carried through the trees around her. She perked her ears up to listen, trying to gauge where the shout had come from. "Maybe somepony's in trouble?" she thought, and slowly made her way further into the trees of the Everfree.
Lyra was known for her impulsiveness, which got her into more than a several screaming matches with various ponies, but even entering this particular forest was a stretch for her. In here though, the winds didn't batter her hide or howl around her ears. Her mane, thankfully, wasn't as knotted as she feared. Looking up, she saw the treetops swaying and heard the sound of loose branches cracking every few seconds. She kept a weary eye, and ear, out for any signs of a falling branch, which was difficult in the near darkness brought on my the clouds above and the overall thickness of the foliage.
Occasionally a gust of wind rushed through the natural pathways between the trees. The forest was remarkably calm apart from the raging wind storm overhead. Lyra markedly noticed how fast the clouds were moving now that she could look around without too much hassle. She silently sent a prayer to the princesses, she really didn't want to be crushed and alone in this place. Though if she had a choice, in this moment being crushed and alone in a dark forest was preferable to going back to Bonbon and feeling like she was a burden. It wasn't like she believed that the princesses were gods or anything so ridiculous, but at the moment she wasn't going to test that.
Another shout rang through the forest, much clearer without the winds to carry it away. Lyra picked out the shout's general direction and cautiously trotted towards it. She hoped it was all just her imagination playing tricks on her. A loose branch falling making that noise, or, maybe a manticore with a thorn in its paw. Anything that wouldn't eat her because her curiosity wouldn't let her turn and run was fine with her. Normally she would just turn back, but the desire to go home and face her roommate... yeah, not gonna happen.
"Please let it just be poison joke, please let it be poison joke, please..." she pleaded to nopony in particular.
Her pleas falling on deaf ears as she saw a hydra rise high over the trees. Her pupils shrank to pin pricks and she backed away as fast as her hooves would carry her. She tripped over a large root protruding from the ground, hitting her flank against the trunk of the tree, and flipped onto her back with a yelp. She pulled her head back up quickly to keep her gaze on the hydra, her ribs and hooves shuddering and her adrenaline spiked.
Oh, this was such a bad idea. Probably one of her worst. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she listened to every little impulse. Well, maybe not every impulse. She didn't fire out and clock every pony who'd ticked her off. But, like the time she was a filly and sniffed a crab, that left a lasting impression in her as she refused to go swimming at the beach from then on. Or the time she wanted to try Japonese cooking with a five-hundred degree stir-fry pan. Bonbon hadn't let her near the stove for months after that one --the fire department was very helpful though, they even gave her a direct line to the station in the form of an enchanted "Fire Emergency" gem.
Then she heard the shout again and saw a red flash between the heads of the enormous creature. One of the heads cried out in pain and a very visible line of blood trailed down its neck. Curiosity was getting the better of her, beating down her fear like so many spikes in a railroad. She stood up and crept nearer, using the trees as she did so. Another red flash and another head cried out in pain. It was being attacked by something, but whatever it was, Lyra couldn't see it from this far away.
"Maybe some ferocious dragon hunting pony is testing herself against it!" she whispered excitedly before realizing she was now very close to the hydra.
A crash, and a gray and black --something-- stood before Lyra, facing the hydra. He, for it most obviously was a he, was covered in blood and had an axe in his right claw. The five appendages wrapped around the handle as though he were afraid to loose it. She was fixated on that limb far longer than she realized because then he spoke.
"What the ever loving hell are you?" He said confused. He was looking over his shoulder at her and she, seeing his face and ice-blue eyes, froze. She felt that cold sweat crawling down her neck again. Would he hurt her? Would he eat her? She hoped for neither.
To say she was afraid of this creature wouldn't be accurate. At the moment, she was terrified. Under all the blood and gore, she saw dark gray skin accented by spots and a few stripes. He had a tail as thick as his thighs that tapered to a fine, rounded point. His wings were transparent almost as if they didn't exist, but she could still see them very clearly. She couldn't see what color his hair was through all the blood he was covered in but she could make out the black horns on either side of his head that reached from his forehead, along his skull, nearly back to where his neck started.
Her fear of the blood-covered being before her was also mixed with equal amounts of curiosity. That same Celestia-damned curiosity keeping her from running away screaming like a little filly and wetting herself.
His attention snapped back to the hydra as one of the four heads lunged at him. Before he could react, it closed its mouth around his entire body, dirt he'd been standing on and all, and swallowed him whole.
Lyra screamed. In fact, she'd screamed so loud she hurt her own ears. Her brain screaming at her to run away, that she'd be the next one to be chomped. She expected the hydra to turn on her next, but it didn't. She looked at it, each head was grimacing as though it were in immense pain. Only two heads roared and the hydra's claws began to try digging through its own hide. Two heads fell to either side of Lyra, blood a froth dripping and oozing from their mouths.
After a hoof full of seconds the entire creature collapsed to the ground in a colossal, thunderous heap. Lyra barely had time to move before she was nearly crushed beneath one of the massive necks crashing to the ground. Dust and debris flew into the air around her only to be carried away on the stormy winds. Her heart pounded in her chest and her legs trembling almost violently.
Lyra looked around herself. The body of the hydra twisting this way and that around where she stood. A ripping, cutting sound came from the hydra's warm corpse and Lyra looked back just in time to see a red glob of bloody flesh walk out from the folds of the eviscerated hydra. Blood poured from the opening like a popped water balloon. The creature that'd been swallowed stepped tiredly towards her, a giddy grin plastered on his face. Strips of meat and intestine slipped off his shoulders in sickly, slopping splashes around his feet.
Lyra's mind was so overloaded by the gore surrounding her that it seemed as though she was in a dream and that what she was looking at couldn't be real. He stared down at her. She stared back at him. Their tails flicking every so often. She noticed for the second time how much taller he was than her on his hind legs. He looked to be about half again, almost double, her size. He looked tired, yet happy like he'd just scored the winning goal in hoofball. The tall creature's eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground at her hooves.
Now the rain began to poor. It started lightly enough and soon the rain came down by the bucketful. Lyra's mind began to process everything she'd witnessed and her mouth hung open in a silent scream until the air was gone from her lungs.
* * *
The walk home wasn't pleasant by anypony's standards. The winds had softened only slightly and the chill rain soaked her through. She struggled to keep from slipping in the mud and dropping the creature she struggled to carry. Spilling her and her passenger wasn't an inconvenience she really needed or desired at the moment. His sheer size and weight pressed down on her, forcing her legs to work much harder just to walk home. Though she was soaked from the rain, Lyra was sure a good amount of the fluids matting her fur was her own sweat. The only upside to all the poring rain was that it was washing most of the blood and perspiration off her fur.
Lyra's golden magic twisted the doorknob to her and Bonbon's house, she pushed the door open with her horn and walked in. She closed the door behind herself and was now fully aware of how badly the rain had soaked her coat, mane, and tail. She felt the icy droplets rolling out of her coat and onto the doormat, her tail hanging heavily onto the floor. She glanced back beneath her and saw the thick layers of mud that covered the end of her tail and the creature's limp legs.
Oh great. Bonny's going to pitch a fit when I drag that across the floor. Lyra thought, huffing softly at her impending doom.
Turning her gaze up toward her passenger, she noticed something else . . . she smelled blood. The rain hadn't been enough to wash away the blood caked between her back and his chest. It formed a sticky layer between her and the strange thing she carried. The smell made her stomach turn and she reeled inwardly. Worse, she noticed how strong the smell was and realized that it must be drifting into the rest of the house.
"Lyra? Is that you?" Bonbon called from the kitchen just beyond the living room. Lyra heard the shuffling and banging sounds of Bonbon with a baking sheet and pot, "What's that smell? It reeks and... it smells wrong. Lyra, what is that?"
"Stay there! Stay back!" Lyra said loudly, she heard Bonbon take a few steps but stopped abruptly at her insistence. She stepped into the hallway and stairs on her right that lead to the second-floor rooms and washroom. Her tail drug the floor behind her and she could feel the mud pulling her passenger off her back. She quickly hefted him back over herself.
"Lyra? Is everything okay?"
"No. Probably not," Lyra said, her voice soft and tired, "Just... wait til I'm upstairs to come out. Please?"
After a short pause, Bonbon spoke, "Okay. Are you alright?"
"Yes. I promise. Just, let me get showered off," Lyra began her heavy climb up the stairs, step by step by step. The creature on her back becoming much more difficult to keep from slipping off on steep angle the stairs. Her magic could do very little to help her, every time her magic touched the creature it would waver and become less effective the longer it touched him.
Nearly at the top. "You'd better not be bringing home a new pet!" she heard her room mate call after her, Lyra cringed, her head drooped low, and her ears flattened against her head. The impending argument about what Lyra had brought home formed a bottomless pit in her stomach, her guts felt squashed inside her, and a pressure built in her mind. She was tired of fighting with Bonbon. The idea that Bonbon was going to yell at her again was enough to make Lyra's eyes misty.
I can't take much more of this.
Once in the bath room, Lyra carefully stepped into the tub and slid the bloody, naked creature off her back and onto the tub floor. The matted, sticky fur of her back clung to his skin, peeling apart like pieces of fly-paper. She made sure to keep his head from hitting anything, because let's face it, that hurt and above all she didn't want to wake him. Even more carefully, she turned on the water to a slight trickle and placed her hoof under the stream to make sure the temperature wasn't too hot before opening it up fully. She rinsed the blood off of herself, standing slightly over her "new pet" --she rolled eyes again-- and scrubbed herself vigorously.
Standing over the creature, Lyra found herself wishing the tub had been built bigger. This wasn't the first time she'd wished for a bigger tub, but standing over the large creature now, the cramped space seemed even more uncomfortable. To top it off, he could wake at any moment and get the wrong idea about what she was doing. It made sense that washing together would make the whole process quicker and possibly easier. They were both cold, grungy, and smelled terrible. So why not take a short-cut.
Seriously, Bonbon. I'm not THAT bad. So she brought home a pet once in a while. It's not like she collected them or anything. If anything, they all died soon after she brought them home. It's not like I killed them all on purpose, or at all. They just... die. she sighed sadly. Steeling herself from her own depressing thoughts, Lyra continued to wash herself.
The creature under her stirred but didn't wake, much to Lyra's relief, but now her muscles were tense and waiting for whatever he would do. In hind-sight, she realized just how stupid the idea to bathe with this unknown creature was. She'd seen how dangerous he could be, but bathing together was a normal thing for ponies.
Maybe all the lonely showers I'm taking lately are affecting me. she thought. A soft, long sigh escaped her. The cold sensation of absence clung to her shoulders. She missed the companionship Bonbon and she had shared for so long. When she thought about it, Lyra couldn't figure out when she'd started feeling this way. She missed bathing with her roommate, but she just couldn't stand the thought of being that close to Bonbon anymore. After all, Lyra felt like an inconvenient convenience, a rent discount, when she was around Bonbon for too long.
Lyra pulled herself from her thoughts again and, slowly, relaxed. "Well, time to see what happens . . ." she said to herself and pulled the shower-head loose with her golden magic.
She levitated the hosed shower-head between herself and the semi-bloody creature, backing away to the far end of the tub. She started off rinsing the caked dirt and blood from his feet. She stared, waiting for him to stir or --she swallowed the lump in her throat-- attack. She felt foalish for remaining in the tub with such a dangerous creature she knew nothing about. She wanted to kick herself and would have if not for fear of waking him.
With my luck he'll wake up just from me moving around or trying to get out.
He let out a soft moan as Lyra continued to rinse all the filth off it's legs. Having worked her way further up, Lyra felt, if only bit by bit, more comfortable and unafraid of this creature suddenly waking. She tested running the water over his head and face, but still he didn't wake. She lathered up her loufa again and used it on his skin, still, he didn't wake. She worked her hooves and magic under his arms to turn him over and around to wash his back. He didn't once do more than moan slightly, which made Lyra halt each time. But, she continued to clean him, despite her fear, despite every piece of logic and warning her brain threw at her to stop and leave him, she continued washing.
Lyra waited for the water to drain after shutting the shower off, then took a towel in her magic to dry herself. After she finished, she turned a fresh towel on the no-longer-bloody, sleeping creature. He began stirring more than before. Lyra knew that he would wake now. She could stop drying him, but she didn't want him to catch a cold so she continued to dry him. She magically pushed the towel over his back and over his thick tail. She moved the towel back up to his rear and lifted his tail, pulling the towel under it as she did so, to dry the under side.
* * *
Bonbon sat at the kitchen table, resting her head on her hooves and staring at the empty tea cup she'd just finished drinking from. Worry etched on her face, with a hint of annoyance, at whatever it was Lyra didn't want her to see just yet. The smell that had come though the house just moments earlier had nauseated her. It disappeared as soon as Lyra had closed the bathroom door, where she was taking an unusually long shower and probably bathing the thing she brought in with her.
Maybe something happened to her? But what would she not want me to see so badly? Bonbon though as her gaze drifted toward the entrance to the living room. Maybe it really was just another pet and she doesn't want me to know what it is. A baby Manticor, or a Luna-damned hydra...
Bonbon looked across the table where a steaming, fresh cup of hot cocoa sat for Lyra. Bonbon had set it out for Lyra after she'd gone up stairs. The mud trail leading to the hall stairs had made her scowl, but, she was happy to have her friend back safe at home. Several times she'd wanted to --and very nearly did-- go back out and search for Lyra. However, past experiences had told Bonbon that looking for Lyra in these situations usually got whoever was looking for her more lost than Lyra herself might be.
Bonbon glanced down at the floor next to her, leading into the living room, and focused on a worn spot in the hardwood floor between the kitchen and living room. To most, she thought, it might look like there'd been a lot of traffic between the two rooms, truthfully though, Bonbon had been the one to make that trail. She always worried about her friend and it was during these times she worried so much for the green unicorn that the floor got to suffer along with her. Bonbon had managed to stop her pacing long enough to prepare a little something nice for Lyra, a few sugar cookies and hot cocoa for when she cam back. Now though, the drink had cooled and the lonely pile of cookies sat huddled on a plate between Bonbon and Lyra's usual seats at the table.
Bonbon sighed and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of hooves in the tub upstairs and running water through the pipes in the walls. Could this day get any worse? She wondered. Things between Lyra and her had gotten so tense. Bonbon tried to fix things by letting Lyra help with the store, wrapping candies and running the register, she even asked Lyra if she would like to help collect and buy ingredients, but nothing worked. Everything Bonbon tried seemed to drive her friend away.
She looked back at her worry lines in the floor under the doorway. I'm going to have to have that fixed soon, aren't I?
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
Bonbon was ripped from her thoughts, she jumped and nearly kicked the tea cup off the table. She bolted up and ran to the bathroom. Through the doorway, around the corner and up the hall-stairs, and through the bathroom door she charged. Her mind raced along with her hooves to find a reason for why she heard a distinctly male voice yelling at Lyra, in their house, in the upstairs bathroom. She skid to a stop upon seeing Lyra backed against the far side of the bath tub, an angry looking creature with grey skin, black spots and stripes, white and black hair, black swept-back horns, and ice blue cat-like eyes baring its bloody fangs at her friend. If looks could destroy, Bonbon imagined, Lyra would shatter any second.
Bonbon took a step forward and he snapped his head to look at her. His icy, furious gaze froze her mid-step. He turned back to Lyra, "What do you think you're doing to me?" he said much more quietly than before, never looking away from the scared unicorn before him.
Lyra shook her head slowly left to right. Her breathing was slow and ragged, she was shivering.
"What are you?" Bonbon asked the creature, opting to draw attention away from her friend. The creature didn't even blink. He kept his eyes on Lyra. She slowly tried to climb out of the tub, but his claw shot out beside her and sunk into the wall to block her. "Don't hurt her!" Bonbon yelped.
Now, he looked over to her. "She should be so lucky," then back to Lyra, "Now answer me! What is wrong with you!? Do you like taking advantage of people while they sleep!?" he glanced at Bonbon then back to Lyra.
The question caught both mares by surprise. Bonbon nearly tripped on nothing, catching herself by stepping her left hoof out to the side. Lyra, her fear some-what abated, smiled nervously, "No. You were dirty? And covered in hydra?" she offered, gesturing to the tub they were in. Bonbon didn't catch on at first but her mind soon caught up and how anypony could physically be "covered in hydra" made her stomach churn.
"I like sitting in blood," he growled sarcastically.
"Ew. . ." Bonbon and Lyra said in unison, each scrunching their nose in disgust.
"Why?" Bonbon said.
He looked over to Bonbon, "It makes me stronger." he looked back at Lyra, "And SHE washed it off too soon!" she shrank under his gaze, her ears flat against her head as she slid a short way down the tub on her back
"Oh," Lyra cheered up some, a nervous smile played at her lips, "It's been over an hour since I carried you from the forest. Is that long enough? The rain washed most of the blood off except what was stuck between you and my back."
He sighed and moved back to sit against the wall of the tub opposite Lyra, his claw withdrawing from the now punctured wall, "Great. I get saved from the cold by not one, but two animals with no sense of humor."
Bonbon stood there blinking, looking back forth between Lyra and her new pet. If not for the strange creature just being there, she was sure she should be offended by that comment. When Lyra looked at her, Bonbon rolled her hoof in the air signalling Lyra for some explanation. "Oh, yeah. I heard him yelling in the Everfree and went check it out. He killed a hydra and then stepped out of it..." Lyra turned a little greener than usual and leaned over to the toilet, half hanging between the two porcelain-covered bathroom fixtures. She gagged but held it in, trying not to retch at the thought.
""Out of it"? You mean "away from" don't you?" Bonbon asked, feeling a little queezy herself.
Lyra shook her head slowly, eyes growing wider at the memory, she threw her head into the toilet bowl and hurled til nothing but dry heaves and little choking coughs resounded from the bowl. Bonbon turned a little pale as she felt the blood drain from her face.
"Wimp." the creature said softly, mocking Lyra. Bonbon shot him a disapproving glare. He only shrugged. Lyra balanced herself on her hips and jaw, letting her hooves droop to the floor as she tried to catch her breath, draped between the tub and toilet.
"Do you have a name?" Bonbon asked, irritation laced her words. She stepped forward and reached over, flushing Lyra's disgust.
"Yes."
Bonbon didn't like this thing's attitude. He was rude and seemingly uncaring, "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Ugh. What is your name? And, what are you?"
"Raje"
Bonbon waited for him to continue, but when he didn't she pressed the tip of her hoof to her forehead, "You can't expect me to believe that you are 'Rage' incarnate or something."
"That is my name. I'm not 'Rage'," he said exaggeratedly, "I am Raje."
"That still doesn't tell me what you are." Bonbon said, looking over to check on her friend, who had decided to lay her head on the cool floor while limply draping her body from the tub.
"I don't have to explain myself to you. I am a little surprised we speak the same language though," he lulled his head over to look at Bonbon more directly, "I guess you could say I'm a monster," he gestured to Lyra, indicating her reaction to what she'd seen. Now Bonbon got a good look at his claws. The black nails that stuck out of each appendage were short and thick.
"Why shouldn't I just turn you in?" Bonbon asked.
"'Cause your friend here thinks I'm sexy enough to feel me up while I'm asleep?" Raje laughed, a joyous, twisted laugh that allowed Bonbon to see his fangs. She took note of the shear number of sharper teeth he had.
Where most animals with similar forms a design had canines and then slightly sharper premolars, Raje's first set of premolars were longer and sharper than his canines, and behind that, the second set of premolars only slightly as long as his canines and nearly as sharp, giving him four rows of pointed, saw-like teeth. Bonbon could only imagine how much a bite from him would hurt.
"You really think there's anyone here that could actually stop me? You? You soft, candy-coated things?" he erupted into another short bought of laughter.
"Ponies" Bonbon corrected him, "And yes. There are worse things than a hydra in the Everfree and only a few ponies who can handle those creatures. You don't even rank up to them."
Raje now looked at her, not speaking, his eyes brightened and almost sparkled as though she'd just told him he could open presents early at Heath's Warming Eve. His lips curled into a dark grin that spread across his face like ripping fabric.
Lyra righted herself off the floor, she looked at Raje and flinched.
"Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you?" Bonbon cut his thoughts off. "You passed out after fighting a little hydra." she smiled a cocky, teasing little smile at him.
"Little?" Lyra looked at her friend in disbelief. She sat up slowly.
"Details, details." Raje waved her off, seemingly unperturbed.
"So. . . how will you get back home? I mean, when you go back home?" Lyra asked.
"No idea," he looked away and towards the ceiling, "Especially since I wanted to come here." his nonchalant smile turning a bit menacing.
"You-- what?" Bonbon said, a look of shock that turned to protective fear crossing her features. She stiffened, and she was sure that if ponies had hackles, hers would be up.
"Oh mare..." Lyra backed away from their exchange, slipping past Bonbon and keeping a wary eye on her. Bonbon felt Lyra brush by her, she could feel the tension in her friend, making her that much more aware of her own tension.
"I wanted to come here. Well... to be fair, not here exactly. I wanted to leave my world. Too much bullshit and politics and idiots taking over. I never imagined I'd be sent to such a soft world." he said, then looked away and then back to the two mares, "Do you think others like me might come here to?"
"You're not scaring me, if that's what you're trying to do." Bonbon shot back, it was obvious to her that he was trying to scare her.
"Aren't I?" Raje pointed at her, more specifically, her legs.
Bonbon looked down at her knees, which she now saw were shaking. She was afraid, not just on edge and ready to fight like watch dog staring down an intruder, but genuinely frightened too.
Huh. That's new, she though. She looked back at him, his half lidded smile smugly plastered to his dark features. He might even be mildly attractive if he wasn't threatening. And that smile, does he like making ponies uncomfortable? He had now become her top priority. She could only guess at how dangerous he truly was, but she had a hunch he might go so far as to attack the princesses if he thought killing them would be fun.
"Um, Bonbon?" Lyra called behind her.
Bonbon ignored her friend and focused on the proverbial bugbear in the bathtub.
"I'm not going to fight you." he said suddenly, standing in the tub.
This took Bonbon by surprise, both his statement and the fact that he stood on only his hind legs, "You don't need to rear up to tell me that." she took a more defensive stance, shifting onto her rear hooves while only lightly touching the tile floor with her front hooves.
"I'm not. This is how I stand. I don't 'rear up'. I don't need to."
Bonbon thought he might have been compensating for something by standing above her, but she could see clearly that his endowment needed no such compensation. He must be telling her at least some truth. He stood nearly twice her height, but since she was used to measuring a pony's height --front hooves to the top of the head-- she re-evalutaed that assumption. If she were to stand like he was, her head would reach his collarbone.
"Huh. . . that's kinda cool!" Lyra piped up.
"Lyra!" Bonbon chided.
"Oh come on, Bonnie! That is so freakin' cool! I wish I could stand on my hind legs for everything!" she reared up only shortly, emphasizing her point before prattling on, "I could get stuff out of the cupboards without using my magic! Or, climb a tree! -gasp- I could easily climb a mountain! No, no! A cliff!" she gasped and -squee-d, "If I had claws like those I could play my harp without using my magic at all! Then I could use my magic to play another instrument and sing. . ."
Bonbon rolled her eyes at the seemingly clueless, ranting, mare before turning back to Raje. "So what do we do?"
"Whatever you want. Personally, I'd like to meet these, oh so powerful, beings you seem to think so highly of." he shrugged.
"That. . . might just be in order." Bonbon said, a grin of her own crossing her lips, "But you have to be bound and secured before you can meet them."
Raje raised a brow at her, giving her the look of 'you're kidding, right?', "You actually think I'm going to let you do that?"
"No. But I didn't say it was optional either."