Saving The Young

“What happened, Diamond!?” I asked as Sunset and Diamond came up to my sides.

“They’re fighting and I don’t know why!” Diamond yelled as the hill was quickly cleared, leaving nothing but multiple holes where the ex-slaves were digging. You could hear the racket they made from a mile away! But now, it was quiet. I lept over a hole easily, hearing a couple of grunts when the two tailing me landed.

We banked around an outcropping of trees and immediately saw the large mob of ex-slaves cheering on what sounded like a fight. I heard squawks and yipes, automatically marking the two combatants as diamond dog and griffin. Now all that’s left is to see if it’s Ace and Wergal.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!!” I yelled out as I ran through griffin, pony and minotaur alike. For some odd reason, the minotaurs were just blown away even when I lightly shoved them to the side. I must be really strong, because each minotaur looked like he/she could crush me between their biceps! Nevertheless, I eventually made my way to the center, only to be punched in the face by an ill-timed fist.

I staggered back, a grunt of pain leaving my mouth as I did so. The fighting stopped and all was quiet as I sat there, contemplating on whether I should approach peacefully or kick some ass.

=Ace=

I stopped a punch that was aimed towards the mutt in front of me, holding him by his chest fur in the air with my fist cocked back. Wergal was the one who struck Silas and I’m pretty sure he’s pissed about it. The dog and I shared a worried look as Silas began laughing but kept his head down while he did so. I tried to fight it off, but my knees began knocking together.

I slowly placed Wergal down and backed up, but the wall of ex-slaves behind us made it impossible to really get far. Wergal had taken a liking to my idea of a tactical withdraw, because he copied my movements but ended up in the same predicament.

“You guys~!” I felt my heart plummet into my stomach as Silas began singing his words out. He was pissed alright!

“That wasn’t very nice~~~!” An ash-gray claw went up to his silhouetted face and a crack came from the vicinity of his nose. Some blue drops came out from the nose he just cracked back into place and the way he was slowly raising his head to look at Wergal and I was unnerving.

“Now who wants to PLAY~~~!!!” Wergal and I let out the manliest scream you’ll ever read as Silas lept at us.

2 hours later...

“I can’t believe you guys started a fight mob! You basically turned a coalition of peaceful workers into a late-night bar! Real mature!” Sunset scolded Ace, Wergal and I as we sat underneath that tree from earlier, getting our wounds looked at. I told Sunset that I could’ve just used my magic, but she insisted that she’d use her own. When I asked why, I was rewarded with a red zap of lightning. I was quiet after that.

Wergal had gotten it the worst. Diamond was practically gnawing his neck off every time she went to clean a cut on it, not counting the angry gnawing on his leg. That shit looked painful!

“I want to know why you guys were fighting in the first place,” Sunset yelled at Wergal and Ace, who visibly flinched at the ferocity of her reprimanding, “And it better be a good reason or so help me Celestia, I’m going to break his beak off and shove it up your ass!”

Ace held both claws up to his precious beak and tried to make himself look small, whilst Wergal was still being treated as a chew toy by his mate. I snickered.

And a death glare from Sunset shut me up.

“It’s a guy thing.” Ace began from his cowering position, making Sunset reel back in disbelief. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me!” Sunset hissed dangerously as her horn lit up in non-healing magic. Ace gulped loudly, tugging at his dirt-covered collar feathers with a panicked look on his face. Did this dickhead really think Sunset wasn’t going to question him about it!?

“Well...Wergal was marking his territory and I happened to walk by with a friend at the wrong time. Needless to say, when the goods were out and swinging I couldn’t stop myself from making a remark or two.” Ace explained as he scratched his beak nervously, throwing a sheepish smile at Sunset whose glare only intensified. He gulped again and started sweating bullets, making me chuckle.

“Tell her what happened next, bird!” Wergal shouted suddenly. His shout was then rewarded with a nip to his genitals that made me wince and him howl in pain. Diamond sent him a strong glare as he whined and tried licking himself of the pain.

Ace, however, was silently thanking the higher powers for something. He even had his claws folded together like a christian family would before eating dinner. After his silent prayer was over, he looked up only to have his eyes widen in fear. We were probably looking at him with glares.

I struck first.

“What were you praying about, Ace?” I asked with as much venom as I could.

“N-Nothing! Just grateful that my wife isn’t here to ch- I mean that I don’t have a view...uh...of...space?” He corrected hopefully.

“Not buying it,” We all said simultaneously, making him drop his head in defeat.

“Now out with it.” I commanded.

“Fine! I was smashing a mare in his newly marked territory! He wanted to be a dick, so I uppercutted him and the rest is history! Happy!?” Ace crossed his arms and slammed his back against the tree, wincing as he did so. The idiot forgot that I cracked his rib.

“You killed a mare by dropping something on her!?” Sunset exclaimed, making me facepalm and slowly drag the hand down the length of my face.

“No, Sunset. It means he rutted the hell out of the mare while inside the territory of our favorite diamond dog here.” I pointed at Wergal, watching him nod but whine when Diamond nipped him again. She just wasn’t letting up was she!?

“Oh...oh! Yeah, you’re totally in the wrong for that.” Sunset waved a hoof dismissively, making Ace’s eye twitch.

“The hell!? Whaddya mean I’m wrong!? She came on to me!” Ace defended angrily as I snickered at the childish argument Sunset and him were about to engage in.

“What’s your relationship with this mare, hmmm!?” Sunset asked as she flared up her horn. Ace puffed out his feathers, showing that he wasn’t going to back down.

“She’s a friend of a friend of mine!” Ace started angrily before an evil smile broke out over his face. I shivered, knowing what was about to go down.

“On the subject of relationships, Shimmer, what’s yours with our favorite alien here!? You want to judge me, then I get to judge you!” Ace exclaimed triumphantly, his words taking an immediate effect on the sunset-colored mare. Some kindling was added to the small fire in her cheeks, making them burst out as the bonfire of awkwardness. Sunset sat there with her mouth open, babbling this and that for a while before she closed it and took a deep breath.

“He’s a really good and really close friend of mine. I wouldn’t trade him for all the money and fame in the world; and that’s spoken from the heart!” Sunset emphasized that last word victoriously, a smile plastering her face as she turned her nose up. I put a hand behind her ears and scratched. Her body shook from what I can only guess was pleasure, but she instantly melted underneath my touch.

If she was angry before, then you couldn’t tell now. Sunset was on the ground with her eyes lidded, leaning her head into my claw as I gave her scratches behind the ear. Personally, I couldn’t care less about relationships. Nothing good ever comes from one except new life in the form of a child. Spend a couple years in my shoes and you begin thinking like that.

Actually, you begin thinking about a lot of things, but you get my point.

“Now that one of the angry She-Bitches is contained, how about we all go out for some boo-”

“MR.SILAS!? MR.SILAS, WHERE ARE YOU!!?? HELP US PLEASE!!!” I sprung up, completely forsaking the idea of going out for drinks. The sun had just begun its decline into the west, casting the view in front of us into a pit of relaxing orange, green and brown; in addition to the three colors coming towards us right now.

It looked like a family of ponies, but my hunch was correct when they crested the hill in about ten minutes. An earth pony stallion, with a green mane and tan body came up first, his face wrecked with streak marks from crying perhaps. The unicorn mare with pink mane, done up in a cute little bun with green-fur looked the same as her ‘husband’ face-wise; as in they both looked like they’ve been crying hard.

The unicorn was carrying something in her pink aura, a small green blanket wrapped around what looked like a-

“Tell me what happened and what I need to do.” I stated sternly, stepping towards the family strongly. They shrunk back, probably because they thought I was going to hurt them or something. I don’t have time for this shit! “Wel!?” I whispered harshly, making the unicorn flinch and the stallion wince.

“It’s our daughter, she’s one of the sick ones! Emerald Breeze and I were raised in the mines since we were foals and we eventually grew up and well...had a child. But as you may know, working while pregnant can be very dangerous to ba-”

“While you’re sitting there rambling a precious life may be dwindling! Now what’s wrong!?” I cut him off. He shrunk back a little bit more, but he made sure not to take a step back for some reason.

“Our baby has black lung! We thought bringing her to the surface would clean her lungs out, but the dust managed to coalesce and stick! I only know this because of the simple scan spell I know! It’s the only advanced unicorn magic I can do, but it was enough to identify the problem! I fear time is growing short for my baby girl, please help us!” Emerald Breeze magicked her baby over to me, to which I took from the air.

The moment the mother had mentioned black lung, I had already formulated a couple of spells that would do the trick. The fastest and shortest one would also be the flashiest one; so flashy, in fact, that the parents and my friends would try to stop me from doing it.

I placed the bundle on the ground, unwrapping the top layer delicately and came face to face with a baby pegasus with pink eyes, green mane and tan body. She was wearing nothing but a green diaper made from the same material she’s been wrapped in. I felt my heart melt when she let out five consecutive and loud coughs, some blood coming up in her saliva. She began crying instantly.

You’ll suffer no longer!

“Emerald, highlight her lungs. You,” I pointed at the stallion who jumped in shock at the suddenness of my call, “I need her name and for you to hold her perfectly still. Should I miss, I fear that the last spell I can do today will be wasted. I’ve lost count on how many I’ve used but it’s not important! Now come on, your child needs you!” The stallions face became stony as he marched over and held the flailing filly’s legs down as it continued to cough more blood up.

Emerald Breeze had activated the spell, highlighting the filly’s lungs. Goddamn it you fucking stallion!

“I asked for her name, damnit!” I yelled at him.

“Spinel Gust! It’s Spinel Gust!” He yelled back with fear on his face. I noticed how he was doing a terrible job at restraining the filly, so I looked back to Sunset and told her to do it with her magic. She agreed in a heartbeat, holding the filly down in her red aura. The stallion looked a little beside himself from being ejected from his spot, but he’ll be over it once his filly’s back to normal.

I took a deep breath and slowly unsheathed Hope. The moment the sound of my sword being drawn was heard, Sunset dropped her magical encasement of the filly and glared at me harshly.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, Silas!? You’re not actually trying to kill this filly, are you!?” Sunset looked at me like I had grown two heads. I really don’t have time for this right now!

“Don’t question how I heal the fucking filly Sunset, just hold her still!” I placed both my hands on the grip like a samurai would, channeling my magic into the blade. I was half-expecting the wings to come forth again, but when only one wing came out I sighed.

“My magic isn’t on par with that of fifty unicorns...yet. This is to be expected, but it also looks cooler like this!” Shaking my head to get myself back in the game, I spoke the incantation as Sunset Shimmer went back to holding Spinel Gust’s limbs down.

The way this was set up went something like this. Sunset was to my south-west, standing far enough away to not get hit from the swing. Emerald was directly in front of her filly, shining the lime-green scan spell onto her daughter’s ribcage and, more accurately, her lungs. I could see the coal-dust sticking to her lungs, coalescing into huge pockets and making it hard for her to breathe.

“Secabis deprauationem defécimus in Spinel!” I yelled as I swung my sword, hitting the filly in the side. No wait, Hope actually phased through the filly’s body in a vibrant seafoam color! When the whole blade left the body, you could see what looked like black marks on the glowing sword fizzle out into nothingness. I smiled in knowing that I just probably saved this kid from a painful death.

“Scan her lungs for any trace of the dust. I’m keeping the spell active in case I need to give her another swing.” I let out a breath I failed to realize I was holding, keeping my sword at the ready just as promised. Emerald did as she was told and scanned the filly. When her eyes widened I moved to make another swing, but she stopped me by smothering her child in a motherly embrace. I smiled and sheathed my sword as Emerald broke down and began crying.

Her husband walked up to her and cuddled with her, housing the filly between their bosoms. Spinel made a couple of happy baby noises at her parents, making me chuckle. When the filly turned her head to face me, she held out her front hooves with a goofy smile on her face. Emerald and her husband noticed this and had a smile of their own plastered on their faces.

“Looks like Spin-Spin wants to hug her savior! You don’t mind, do you?” Emerald asked me as she outstretched her own front hooves and held Spinel out to me.

Let’s get one thing straight here...I hate kids. They’re loud, obnoxious, messy and-

“Shwylace!” Spinel squealed happily, flailing her hooves at me faster. Emerald and her husband gasped and I’m pretty sure Sunset did too! I could hear snickering from behind me, letting me know how Ace and Wergal felt about this whole situation. Assholes.

“That’s her first word! Oh my Celestia above! Can you believe this Gale Force!? Spinel just talked!!!” Emerald pulled off what I was secretly waiting for the entire time I was on Equis. The coveted ‘squee’ left her maw as she smiled so wide that I thought her mouth was going to tear the fabric of space and time.

Gale Force nodded happily as he too indicated for me to take Spinel into my arms. I was hesitant at first, but ultimately gave in as I took the filly by her hoove-pits. She was giggling now, repeating the horribly butchered version of my name every time I held her above my head.

“Shwylace! Shwylace!” I hugged her against my chest softly, nearly suffering from a heart attack as she nuzzled me and stretched out her hooves in an adorable hug. Why are baby ponies so fucking cute!!!???

Emerald and Gale were giving that stereotypical familial laugh shared between husband and wife as I introduced Spinel to my friends.

“This is Susnet Shimmer, Spinel. Can you say Sunset Shimmer?” I held the filly out to Sunset, who was all smiles for the little girl.

“O..o..owd!” Spinel exclaimed, almost making me bust out in laughter. Sunset’s eye was twitching as she closed them, trying to prevent herself from throwing a death glare at the innocent filly.

“No, Spinel, I’m not old! I’m twenty!”

“Twenty,” Emerald exclaimed while her face was filled with shock, “Oh my Celestia Ms.Sunset, you don’t look a day over twelve! What’s your secret!?” Emerald had surprisingly closed the difference between herself and Sunset rather quickly.

“...Make-up.” I muttered with a roll of my eyes.

“What was that!?” Sunset yelled at me, making me hold up the baby as a shield. “You cower behind a baby!? Some hero you are!” Sunset mocked as she was interrupted by a green face. Taking that as my cue, I hastily backpedaled to the tree where my other friends were waiting.

“Who's a cutie-wootie-shmoopy-baby~!? Yes you are~! Yes you are~!” To say that Diamond and Spinel hit if off would be the understatement of the century. This chick is too damn good with kids! It’s scary!

Wergal had taken his mate’s distraction as an opportunity to escape her wrath. He scurried, literally scurried, towards Ace and I; who were some ways away from the tree where Sunset and the pony family remained. Ace and I were standing on the center of the hill at weird angles, trying to keep ourselves from tumbling down the slope.

“Never thought I’d get out of there,” Wergal exclaimed as he stopped beside Ace, who was on my right side. We both threw a sideways glance at the recent addition to our hillside entourage, letting him know that we were in the middle of something important.

“That song you sung earlier,” Ace began as he turned his eyes back to me, “I haven't heard it at any party of event I went to. Who’s it by?”

“It’s a band named, Breaking Benjamin. You wouldn’t know of them because-”

“I’m not an alien.” Ace finished with a smirk on his face for some reason.

“Yeah. Why are you interested in them?” I inquired, making Ace bring a claw up to his chin and scratch it like an ancient chinese master.

“Do I need a reason to like awesome music?” Ace asked as he looked at me while still scratching his imaginary beard.

“No, I suppose not. They have other songs I’m sure you’ll enjoy, but right now I need a shower.” I pointed to my blood and dirt-stained coat, pants and scales. Ace put on a face of bemusement as he unfurled his wings and the smell of one-hundred-ninety-four skunk anuses greeted my nostrils in force. I gagged as the visible tendrils of B.O writhed through the air and into Wergal’s nose, who promptly passed out.

“A-*Gag*-ce! Cheezus Rice and all of Koshereth, man! Fold em’! FOLD EM’!!!” I yelled out anxiously, praying to the higher powers that Ace would comply to this one wish. He shrugged and did so, but not before flapping them once or twice.

“As you can see, Silas, I have a bit of a problem.” Ace smugly added.

“What, that you were born with asses instead of wing-pits!? How do you even gather dirt and shit in there!? Do griffins even have wing-pits!?” I asked as I hastily jammed two fingers to my closed left eye. I have officially decided that Ace would be the first one to take a shower out of all of us.

No questions asked.