Ponies of Deltora: Monsters and Magic

Day one, Time, 8:20 AM

The morning choir of birds brought Twilight Sparkle back into the world of the awake. Her head was pounding where she had been struck, making it seem as if she possessed two hearts. As her mind became less groggy, she noticed she was deep inside one of the forests. Her golden pack was resting next to her. Slowly she tried to move her legs, but found that she was tied to a tree using long vines. She tried to free herself, but they were wound tightly and the vines themselves were very thick. Her head was throbbing too much to use magic. Eventually she let out a sigh of defeat.

“It’s awake!”

Suddenly the forest was filled with the sounds of wing beats as the birds took off. Then Twilight got to see the faces of her attackers. They looked an awful lot like Diamond Dogs, with wet black noses and bipedal bodies covered in mattered grey fur. They stood only slightly taller than Twilight, but were at least twice as bulky. Looking around, Twilight was able to count at least eight of the creatures. Their small black eyes were all fixed on her and they rubbed their long bony “fingers” together with glee. The largest of them, who she assumed was the leader, stepped forth and looked Twilight straight in the eyes.

“Hello, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong hoof. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am a unicorn from the land of Equestria.” She said trying to sound as friendly as possible.

“Ah, a well spoken creature are we?” The leader chuckled. “Very well then, ‘Twilight Sparkle’, we are Granous, and you are trespassing in our hills.” The other members of the pack giggled with delight. “I must say, it’s been so long since a horse came into our territory, and we’ve never had the honor of meeting one who could use magic.” Is made a mock bow as it said this, causing the other Granous to laugh even louder.

“Look, I didn’t mean to trespass, I just woke up here.” Twilight pleaded. She didn’t like the attitude of these creatures one bit. If it weren’t for this wicked pounding in her brain, she would have encased them all in magic and been on her way.

“Oh, did you now?” The leader said. “Well we can hardly fault someone so ‘innocent’ now can we?”

The other Granous howled and clapped their hands. “Nooooo.”

The leader gave his pack a sly look before turning back to Twilight. “Since you seem a harmless traveler, we’ve decided to let you go.”

“Thank you, sir.” Twilight said happily.

“Provided you play a little game with us. I’m sure such a smart creature such as yourself can complete it in no time at all.” He grinned at the lavender unicorn, revealing massive yellow fangs. The rest of the pack let loose howls of wicked laughs.

Twilight was now getting annoyed by these creatures. “Look, I don’t have time for any games. I need to find my friends.”

“Oh, I’m sure they can wait.” The leader said. “Besides, from where I’m standing, it doesn't look like you have a choice.”

Twilight sighed in annoyance. “Fine, what’s this game?”

The lead Granous’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you’ll love it. It’s called Twenty Questions. We ask you a question and you have twenty seconds to answer it. Fair?”

Twilight could see the Granous were beginning to chatter among themselves. All of them had devilish looks in their eyes. “What happens if I get a question wrong?” She asked.

The leader smiled and slowly opened his mouth. He leaned so close to Twilight that she could feel his foul breath pouring down on her. Just then he snapped his yellow teeth together like a trap. Twilight would have leapt from her skin if she wasn’t bound. The other Granous howled with laughter as he retreated from the unicorns face.

Twilight recovered herself before asking her next question. “And if I get it right?”

“Then we proceed to the next one until all questions are asked. After which you are free to go,” It smiled evilly. “if you can.” The others giggled wickedly. “Shall we begin?”

Twilight didn’t like anything about these creatures or their game, but what could she do? They had her in their possession, and her head still hurt too much to use magic properly. She looked at the lead Granous with as intimidating a face she could produce and nodded. All eight Granous howled with delight and the leader brought out five sticks and laid them in front of Twilight. Another Granous came around and undid the binds on her left hoof.

“For your first task, you must make three from these five sticks without removing any.” The leader smiled. “Begin.”

The other Granous began clapping their hands together as they chanted. “Twenty... Nineteen... Eighteen...”

Twilight looked down at the sticks and pondered the answer. Make five into three. Five into three. Oh, go away pain in head!

“Sixteen... Fifteen... Fourteen... Thirteen...

Suddenly the answer showed itself to the young mare. Quickly she brought her hoof down and rearranged the sticks.

“Twelve... Eleven... Oh!”

The lead Granous pushed past his pack mates and looked down at Twilights answer.

Grunting in annoyance, he kicked the sticks away as the others tied Twilight back up. “Well played, unicorn. Now we go to round two, ready? What is something to everybody and nothing to everyone else?”

The Granous moved away from her and once again clapped their bony fingers together. “Twenty... Nineteen... Eighteen... Seventeen...”

Twilight closed her eyes and thought long and hard on the question. Curse this pounding; it was like a hammer on her mind. Mind? “Mind!”

The Granous let out whimpers of defeat, and their leader snarled with frustration. “You are a clever one aren’t you? Well it doesn’t matter; even the smartest always slip up at least once before it’s over. Next question,
I lack much reason, but often rhyme,
And require logic to pass the time,
To get the words to tell your kin,
Look for clues that lie within,
Though all are different, they act the same,
The answer is practically in the name.
What am I?

Before they even had the option to begin their chant, Twilight looked up defiantly at the leader. A cold smile crossed her face as she spoke. “A riddle.”

The others all cursed, howled and whimpered in anger and frustration at the speed of her answer. They didn’t dismay however, the game still had long to go.