Into That Wild Blue Yonder

Chapters

Every Journey of a Thousand Miles...
A Matter of Perspective
A New Hope
Dark Clouds
Start of the Storm
Weathered Gear
Battering Gusts
Skies Uncleared
Twister
Gale Force Winds
The Mission
The Charge
The Brief
Belligerants
PsyOps
Intel
Chow
First Contact
After Action
Actionable Intel
Ambush
Bad News
Bugging Out
Merc
A-Walking Through the Woods
Luck be a Lady Tonight
Out in the Field
Familiar Faces
Finale
Winds of Change
Red Sky at Morning

Every Journey of a Thousand Miles...

Water. Everywhere.

When the car slammed into the river, water flooded into the vehicle and everything went totally dark. The young man just stayed in his seat, held by his seatbelt, waiting to die.

He slipped in and out of consciousness. One moment, he was staring at a blurry, dark car interior. The next, seemingly from one long, slow blink of his eyelids, he was outside the car, watching as it sank and hit the bottom, which was oddly not as deep as it should have been.

The next moment, he could feel himself exiting the water and sputtering his lungs out. His shirt was being dragged behind him, practically choking him in the front, and he could hear exerted grunting from behind. As he felt his head fall to the ground, he shut his eyes, unsure of what was to come and barely registering what was happening any more.

He felt something touch to his mouth, and his lungs seemingly filled up on their own. A moment later, something started pumping on his chest, pushing down with almost enough force to crack his ribs. His lungs started coughing up a storm, expelling saliva from his mouth and making him wretch with pain.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you!” someone shouted from above. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he did stay conscious long enough after he heard it to think of how thankful he was that someone came to save him.

The next moment, he was slowly trying to crack his eyelids back open, only to find a painfully bright candle lit above his face only a couple of feet away. He looked away, off to his side, through squinted eyes, trying to take in his surroundings.

When he looked forward, what he saw gave him pause. On the floor, not so far away, sat a tiny horse, staring at him like he was some bizarre new creature. It didn’t quite look normal, though; its coloring was unnatural, a green coat and blue mane, and the hues didn’t seem like the kind that occur anywhere in nature.

“Whaa,” the young man said. The tiny horse suddenly put on a massive, excited smile and started jumping up and down.

“Daddy, daddy! It’s awake!” it shouted, running out of the room.

“What?” the young man repeated.

Not too long after, a much larger, but still small, horse walked into the room. This one had a blue coat, dark like ocean water, and a mane of twisting orange and yellow streaks. Its eyes were huge, green like emeralds, and shined with as much brilliance as the little-little horse’s smile.

“Thank you, Gibby,” the bigger-little horse said. It sounded Irish.

“What?” the young man said. The bigger-little horse blinked with surprise.

“Oh. You can talk,” he said.

The young man blinked as well. “What?”

“Is that all you can say?” the bigger-little horse asked.

“You’re a horse,” the young man said.

“Pony, thank you,” the, apparently, pony said. “Horses are from Saddle Arabia.”

“What?” the young man asked. The pony rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”

“Are you okay?” the pony asked.

“I… I think so?” the young man replied. “I’m… I can’t believe this. This can’t be real.”

“What?” the pony asked, earning a look from the human before him. “Uhh, you’re the one who can’t be real. Well, no, actually, you’re definitely real.”

“I… I…” the young man couldn’t say anything. He refused to say what again. You couldn’t even double dare him to do it.

“Why don’t you just relax for now, heal up?” the pony suggested. “We can deal with this later.”

“I… yeah, maybe that’s a good idea,” the young man conceded. He really wanted to know what the heck was happening here. He tried to adjust, but when he did, he felt a sharp pain in his side. “Agh!!”

“Don’t move!” the pony yelled out. “You had a serious wound on your side when I found you. It needs to heal up.”

“How bad is it?” the young man asked.

“It looked like a near impalement,” the pony said. “Thankfully it was mostly a surface wound, but it did cut into your muscle tissue. No organs were hit, thank Celestia, but it’ll need time.”

The young man felt his side. Sure enough, there was a bloody-feeling bandage on his side. The rest of his was dry now, so if it was wet, that could be the only cause.

“Umm,” the young man said. “Thanks for patching me up, uhhh…”

“Don’t mention it,” the pony replied. “If you need me, just call for Gibbs.”

“Right,” the young man said. With that, Gibbs made his way out.

The young man lay there and thought about what was going on. Why were there talking ponies around him? Hadn’t he fallen off the GW earlier? He remembered a car slamming into him, throwing him to the side. He was definitely cut up, and he could feel lots of little scratches on his face from shrapnel from the car. The windshields were probably fine, since that glass was well designed. He pulled his hand from his side to rub his face.

When his hand came up, he stopped. Something was extremely off. The shape was fine; all his fingers were there. But the color, it wasn’t right. Before, it was a normal, everyday color. Now, though, he couldn’t help but notice a very flat tone to it, one that seemed to continue up his arm to the rest of him.

He shut his eyes and refused to open them again until he could comprehend what the heck was happening here. It wasn’t worth the insanity that would come if he didn’t think it through first, but for now, thinking it through would bring insanity on its own. Instead, he opted to simply close his eye sand go to sleep, hoping that when he got back up, this whole thing would turn out to be a bizarre dream.

When he opened his eyes again, it was exactly what he didn’t want to see; this was no dream.

He looked to the left and saw no ponies this time, which was a start at least. Though the way everything was colored, he knew it wasn’t much of a hope. Maybe he did die when he fell off that bridge. But would that make this Heaven or Hell?

The question would have to wait. The door slowly started to creak open, and little Gibby, if the young man recalled, came trotting in. When Gibby saw the human’s eyes were open, he stopped on a dime and just stared, wide-eyed and in absolute wonder.

“Um, hi?” the young man said.

“Are you a human!?” Gibby asked. The young man flinched at how loud the little guy was.

“Uhh, yes,” he answered. “How did you know?”

“Oh, you humans show up in this world every now and again,” Gibby answered.

“Really?” the young man asked. “How many others are here?”

“Well, none here, I mean,” Gibby answered shyly. “Like, around the world, there are a few here and there. Some of them are really nice! And some… well, some aren’t.”

“Oh,” the young man said. “Well, uhh, I’m pretty nice.” Gibby’s eyes became positively enormous.

“Awesome!” he shouted. “So you can totally help us out!”

“Help?” the young man asked curiously. “What do you need help wit-“

“Gibby!” a woman’s very Irish voice shouted. “Don’t bother the man! We don’t even know him!”

Gibby pouted. “But mooooooooom! He’s nice!” he whined.

Gibby’s mother waltzed into the room with a look of great annoyance plastered across her face. She looked as ridiculous as Gibby’s dad. Her coat was a dark auburn color, and her mane was primped up like the nineteen fifties styles you see in magazines, an ashy gray color.

“Out!” she ordered. Gibby, head hung low, exited the room. “I’m sorry about him. He tends to get very excited when something new happens.” She sighed.

“I… I understand,” the young man answered. “Though he said that my arrival is nothing new?”

“Ah, he told you aren’t the only one?” Gibby’s mother asked. The young man nodded. “Well, he’s probably excited to see you because you’re the first one this far east.”

“I don’t understand,” the young man replied.

“Well, most humans started off in Equestria, and no one particularly understands why,” Gibby’s mother said. “Convenient to the lands, or maybe Equestria just likes that the stories work out that way, I don’t know.”

“Interesting,” the young man said.

“The humans always do something big when they come,” Gibby’s mother went on. “Some do incredible things for the world, especially Equestria. Others did terrible things. And sometimes, they clashed.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” the young man said. “Of course, few things can really surprise me now.”

“Haha, true,” Gibby’s mom said. “Once you accept that you’re here, nothing really bothers you any more.”

“Oh, I’m still not even sure I’m here,” the young man said. “I’m either dead or just insane.”

“Dead?” Gibby’s mother asked. “Why would you think that?”

“Is that even a question?” The young man deadpanned. Gibby’s mother rolled her eyes. “My vehicle was destroyed with me in it and fell hundreds of feet off a bridge. I’m probably not alive.”

“Well, then, where are you?” Gibby’s mother asked.

“No clue,” the young man said.

“So why don’t you just accept that you’re here?” Gibby’s mother asked. “Either way, you’re not home. If you’re right, you’re either insane, dead, or you found yourself here by some sort of magic like the other humans. It’s not a big deal.”

“Other than the fact that it clearly is,” the young man responded.

“Well, I suppose it is for you,” Gibby’s mother conceded. “I don’t know how you feel or where you are in your head right now. But I’ll tell you this; it isn’t unheard of.”

“Well, it is where I’m from,” the young man said.

“And are you there right now?” Gibby’s mother replied. The young man opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

“Fair enough,” he said.

“Good,” Gibby’s mother said. “Now, let me help you up so we can get some food in you. You must be hungry.” He hadn’t even noticed that he hadn’t eaten in what must have been at least a solid day.

“I guess that sounds like a good idea,” he said. Might as well eat something and live on, right?

Gibby’s mother helped the young man up and out of bed and practically carried him on her back out of the room to where he could smell there was food. It smelled decidedly scrumptious, and when they arrived in the room, he could see why. There was a plethora of great foods on the table, from steamed potatoes to seasoned rice. What a way to treat a wounded guest.

Some of the food on the table was just straight steamed grass from outside, but that wasn’t for humans to eat and wasn’t meant for this human. Little Gibby was excitedly munching away at the grass, not even noticing the human entering the room. When he sat at the table on a nice little cushion on the ground, Gibby finally looked up.

“Hey!” the little guy greeted enthusiastically.

“Hey,” the young man responded, more interested in the confections before him.

“Hello,” Gibbs said, walking into the room. His wife gave the young man a napkin and set some food in front of him, which he ravenously consumed. “How are you feeling?”

“Way better now,” the young man said in between mouthfuls of food.

“Side still hurt?” Gibbs asked. His wife sat down next to him.

“I imagine it’ll keep hurting for a while,” the young man said.

“Probably,” Gibbs said. “But if you’re healing is anything like ours, it should only take a few days for you to be u and at it again. Not fully, but you’ll be able to move easily on your own.” The young man kept on eating.

“So where are you from?” little Gibby asked. The young man had to take a moment to swallow before answering.

“I come from the United States,” he answered nearly incoherently.

“Ooh!” Gibby said. “There have been a few humans from there!”

“Really?” the young man asked.

“Indeed, there have been,” Gibbs said, sounding cautious. “They were hit or miss as far as being helpful to whoever they encountered. Though most came quite a long time ago, so they’re no longer alive. Some are probably still out there, though I think the youngest of them is in her thirties by now.”

“Huh,” the young man said.

“How old are you?” Gibby asked.

“It isn’t polite to ask for someone’s age,” Gibby’s mother reprimanded.

“I’m twenty,” the young man answered.

“Well, I guess that answers that,” Gibbs said with some finality. “Anyway, our questions aren’t really that important. Is there anything you would like to know?”

The young man blinked twice and thought about what he was asked. Apparently, he was in some alien world where other humans somehow found themselves numerous times in history. From the way Gibbs talked about it, it didn’t sound much like anyone knew where most of the humans were, and if they did, they probably had lives here already.

But there was one question he could ask now.

“How can I get home?” the young man asked. Gibbs bit his lip, looked to his wife, and then looked back.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t heard of any human returning home after coming here.”

“I mean, I got here somehow, so there has to be a way back,” the young man said. “It makes sense, right?”

“If there’s one thing you’ll learn quickly in this world, it’s that things don’t have to make sense to be true,” Gibbs said. “But, uhhh… I don’t know. I always just figured it was a one way ride.”

“If there can be a portal that brought me here, there can certainly be a portal that can bring me back,” the young man said.

“While that makes sense, it’s like what I just told you,” Gibbs said, sensing that the young man was growing panicked. “That just isn’t how this world-“

“No, it can’t work that way!” the young man yelled, giving everyone pause. “That’s not… I… I can’t accept that.”

“You don’t have to like it, but that’s how it is,” Gibbs said. “I mean, there certainly could be, but I’ve never heard of anything like that. While we are separated from Equestria quite a bit, we do still hear about the big happenings of the world from mail and couriers.”

“How far behind are you, newswise?” the young man asked, growing hopeful.

“Well, we get pegasus couriers, and unicorns deliver our mail through teleportation, so we aren’t that far behind,” Gibbs said. The young man’s face sank like a ton of bricks.

“Oh,” he said. His head hung low.

“I mean, I don’t know, I’m no expert,” Gibbs said. “You would have to find out, probably from Princess Celestia.”

“What?” the young man asked. That was a ridiculous name.

“She controls the sun and is princess of Equestria, the ruling body,” Gibbs explained. “She’s nice, so we generally follow the rules she sets forth. Helps us function as a community.”

“You do what she says just for that?” the young man asked.

“Well, her borders don’t extend this far, so she really doesn’t have a say in how we live our lives,” Gibbs said. “No one is willing to move all the way out there to the west, something like fifteen hundred to two thousand miles away.”

“She’s that far out?” the young man asked. Gibbs nodded. “How the heck am I supposed to get there, then?”

“Walk?” Gibby replied.

“For two thousand miles?” the young man replied sarcastically.

“And swim,” Gibbs responded with a grin. “There’s an ocean between us and them as well.”

“Greeeat,” the young man said, slumping in his seat. It pained his side to do so, though, so he sat upright again.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to make it once you’re all healed up,” Gibbs said. “We’ll be able to help you get on your way as well.”

“Thanks,” the young man said, though it was a hollow statement. His hopes were rapidly fading away.

“Any other questions for now?” Gibbs asked.

“No, I think I’m about as hopeless as I care to be for the moment,” the young man answered.

Gibbs frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to feel this way.”

“I know,” the young man responded dejectedly.

“If it helps get your mind off of it, I have a few questions for you to think about,” Gibby said.

The young man shrugged. “Alright. Shoot.”

“What was that thing my daddy pulled you out of yesterday?” Gibby asked.

“My car?” the young man asked in kind.

“So that’s a car!” Gibby shouted animatedly.

“Yeah,” the young man said. Then he remembered something. “My stuff is still in there!”

Gibbs looked at him curiously. “What stuff might that be?” he asked.

“My gi, obi, and sparring pads,” the young man replied hurriedly. “I need to get that back.”

“I would say so,” Gibbs replied. “Your clothes were torn up, and you’re wearing my curtains right now. Our town seamstress isn’t around right now, doing a job a couple of villages over, so you have nothing else to wear.” The young man tried to get up, but couldn’t from the pain in his side. “We can do that later, of course.”

“I’d rather get it now,” the young man replied somewhat aggressively.

“I don’t think you can swim twenty-five feet down like that,” Gibbs replied. “I don’t know what your swimming is like, but I guarantee it isn’t that good right now.”

“Can anyone get it?” the young man asked.

“We’re EARTH ponies,” Gibbs said with emphasis. “We like the land. Not big fans of water.”

“You should be able to swim at least,” the young man said. "And how did you get me out, then?

“We don't swim underwater,” Gibbs said. “Some of you humans can, but we certainly can’t. I only managed to get you because the car hadn't sunk almost at all by the time I got there after hearing the crash of water.”

Ugh,” the young man said. “Fine, I’ll wait. In the meantime, if you could get me some swim fins, or something I can attach to my feet like that, that’d be helpful.”

“I can get you a pair,” Gibbs said.

“Thank you,” the young man replied.

The conversation continued for a little while until the young man was totally full and on the brink of a food coma. Belly full and feeling warm, wrapped up in his window curtains, he felt about ready to go back to sleep. He needed to rest and recover if he was to get his only clothes back. It’s a good thing those were his only clothes; KI gis are expertly made, and they’re quite comfortable.

Gibbs’s wife helped the young man up and back to the bed where he was to rest and left him there. The young man could hear the family chattering away in the next room, but didn’t care enough to stay awake and listen. For now, he just wanted to rest so he could get on the move to this Princess Celestia as quickly as possible and find his way home.

And rest, he would need, for the adventure that lay before him was two thousand miles long, and who knew what awaited him along the way?

A Matter of Perspective

In the earliest hours of the morning, one expected it to be peaceful. A time when pestering kids jumped on their parents to wake them, when coffee was needed just to move, and the sun slowly and pleasantly warmed the landscape. This was not that kind of morning.

A loud shriek pierced the air of the town, waking all in close vicinity, including the resident human. He jolted upright, his body forgetting about the excruciatingly painful injury in his side, and he quickly fell back down. It wasn’t as bad as the day before, but it still kept him restricted in movement.

Slowly, the human rose up again and tried to climb up the wall to a window above the bed. When he finally scaled the wall, he hung off the ledge and looked outside.

It was a scene of chaos and panic; ponies running everywhere, shouting at each other, hectic looks on their faces. The amount of emotion was overwhelming. Their massive eyes betrayed it all to the world, their large mouths showing every single inch of the terror coming from their throats.

The young man felt his heart start to race and had to look away. It was an entire village of these ponies, these talking, four-legged, hooved creatures of equal intelligence to humans. It couldn’t be real, yet it was. Nothing made sense.

After taking in a few deep breaths, the young man bravely rose his head again to look outside. By the time he was up, most of the ponies were gone, with only a few still outside. Those who remained wore aggressive expressions and carried various farm tools, from rakes to scythes to pitchforks.

“What the heck is going on?” the young man asked himself.

Suddenly, the door behind him burst open and Gibbs rushed in, shutting it behind him. Before the young man could turn around, Gibbs was on him, dragging him back down onto the bed.

“Stay down!” he whispered through his teeth.

“Why?” the young man groaned.

“We can’t let them see you,” Gibbs said.

“Who are they? Why can’t they see me?” the young man asked.

“They’re the Blooded Tong,” Gibbs uttered dreadfully.

“What?” the young man replied, his question unanswered.

“The Blooded Tong,” Gibbs went on. “They’re a bunch of thugs who terrorize the villages into giving them ‘protection money’.”

“Extortionists,” the young man summarized.

“Exactly,” Gibbs said. “They’re too strong for us to win against. We know they’ll fight if we don’t pay the money; they’ve done it to another village. They lost a couple of guys in the fight, but the entire village and everyone in it burned to the ground.”

“Sounds worse than local toughs, then,” the young man said. “Sounds like terrorists.”

“Terrorist?” Gibbs replied with intrigue.

“One who uses terror to control a populace,” the young man explained. “Various tactics, including, but not limited to, use of threats, targeted violence, random violence, and particularly targeting people who aren’t combatants.”

“Sounds like something out of a dictionary,” Gibbs commented.

“I do my best,” the young man said. “But why do I have to hide?”

“They want whatever will get them the most money,” Gibbs said.

“Aaaaand..?” the young man replied.

“Humans are valued for their rarity and abilities,” Gibbs said. “Pretty much every human who has come to this world has been exceptional at something. Some were great at fighting, others were brilliant inventors, others were great negotiators and writers. They’ll want to figure out what you’re good at and then sell you to the highest bidder. And there are a lot of beings out there who would do whatever they can to make a quick bit.”

“That’s not good for me,” the young man said dispiritedly.

“What can you do?” Gibbs inquired.

“I can fight,” the young man said plainly.

“Then they definitely can’t be allowed to find you,” Gibbs said. He got off of the young man.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

Gibbs sighed. “I’m the one who gives them the money,” he said. “If someone else does it, they view it as resistance.” Without another word, Gibbs walked on out of the room to take care of business.

With Gibbs gone, the young man could once again climb up to the window and glance outside. He was much more careful about it this time, as he had to avoid being seen, and slowed his ascent to be quieter. When he was up at the window again, he could see Gibbs already outside, handing over a massive bag of coins.

Words were exchanged between he and the toughs, and only moments later, the one Gibbs was addressing ran up and slammed his hoof across Gibbs’s face, sending him tumbling to the ground. The young man clenched his jaw from anger at seeing the abuse of the pony who saved his life.

Now, the tough guy started to speak up.

“That is what we thought,” he shouted. “Now, we have an extra special announcement to make!” Gibbs tried to get up, but the tough put his hoof on his side and pinned Gibbs to the ground. “We know there’s been a major magical disturbance in the area. As in, the kind that means there’s a special something not too far from here. If anyone is found to be withholding information about this event, they will be dealt with.” He kicked Gibbs in the side, drawing a sickening crack from Gibbs’s rib cage. “Severely.”

The tough kept on talking, but the young man was more concerned with seeing how Gibbs was recovering. He was sputtering his breath on the ground, trying to drag himself away. The young man could just tell that his wife and child were watching this whole ordeal unfold.

Before long, the toughs packed up the money and left. Townsponies rushed out of their homes to assist Gibbs, from helping him stand and bringing him water to his wife kissing him and bawling about him getting hurt.

The young man didn’t want to sit on the sidelines and watch this all unfold; that wasn’t how he lived his life before, it wasn’t how he would live it here. With pained grunting, some blood and sweat, but no tears, he got up off the bed and walked out of his room and the house.

When he went outside, none of the ponies noticed him on his approach until he was right there. When they all realized he was there, the chattering and discussion came to a screeching halt and everyone just stared. The young man looked over the group, but rather than let himself lose it like before, he focused on getting to Gibbs in the middle of the group.

“Gibbs!” the young man said through the crowd.

“What are you *cough* doing outside?” Gibbs asked as the young man approached. “I told you it was *cough* too dangerous. And I thought you couldn’t walk?”

“Nothing I can’t grit my teeth through,” the young man said casually.

“I had heard that humans had a faster healing ability than most other species,” Gibbs recalled like it was some fascinating fact.

“Probably,” the young man said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just gotta get inside and rest a bit,” Gibbs said with a wave of his hoof.

“Sounded like a busted rib,” the young man said with a cautionary tone. “Don’t want it to become something worse by mishandling it.”

Gibbs sighed. “Probably right,” he admitted.

“That’s worse than what I have,” the young man said. “Let’s get you inside.”

The young man helped Gibbs stand up and along with a couple of other ponies and they all helped get Gibbs back into his house. Once there, the young man made sure to get Gibbs to the bed he had been sleeping in before, as he suspected he wouldn’t need it now. When they lay Gibbs down, he released a sigh of sweet relief as he could simply relax and reduce the pressure on his cracked bone.

The other ponies all left the house, leaving the young man alone with Gibbs and his family. Gibby looked like he was on the verge of tears, held back only by his mother’s urging that Gibbs was alright. She wasn’t looking too good either, with whatever eye makeup she had been wearing already running. She composed herself very quickly, though.

“Sorry you had to come here right before they came for their weekly payment,” Gibbs said. He sounded sincerely apologetic, which bothered the young man. “It’s more trouble than you need right now.”

“It’s more trouble than you guys need,” the young man said. “How long has this been happening?”

“It’s been this way for over a century,” Gibbs explained. “Different gangs take over, one after another, and terrorize the region. It’s always been this way.

“Why don’t you leave?” the young man asked incredulously.

“This is our home,” Gibbs replied with some offense. “We won’t be pushed out. And we can’t even go anywhere. We’d be caught before we got to the last village before any bordering kingdoms, and the journey is too long to make. We just have to push through.”

“That just isn’t right,” the young man said.

“What can we do? They’re too strong for us, a simple farming town, to handle,” Gibbs said hopelessly.

“I don’t know what to do,” the young man said. “But I know that this isn’t something you deserve to go through.”

“Doesn’t matter what we deserve,” Gibbs said. His wife pulled the child out of the room, sensing that the conversation wasn’t going anywhere the child needed to hear. “This is what we’ve got.”

The young man stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said. With nothing left to say, he walked out of the room and back to the table he had eaten at the previous night.

He sat down at the table on his cushion and waited for Gibbs’s wife to return. She was presumably setting things straight with Gibby, making sure he understood what was happening and that it was simply a necessity. It shouldn’t have been, but it was. When she returned from wherever she left Gibby, the young man looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

She sighed. “I can’t believe this had to happen this way,” she said.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the young man said. “I wish humans weren’t such a source of trouble.”

“It isn’t your fault,” she replied. “And my name is Sherry, by the way.”

“Right,” the young man said. “Well, Sherry, I wish I hadn’t caused so much trouble.”

“It’s fine,” Sherry said. “As long as they don’t know you’re here in the town, they won’t bother us for anything more than the usual payment. We just have to keep your existence a secret, for your safety and ours.”

“They shouldn’t even be able to extort you like that,” the young man said, growing frustrated with the willingness with which these ponies went along with the situation. “Can’t you reach out to someone who can help?”

“We’ve tried,” Sherry began with a sad tone. “We reached out to Celestia, but she can’t get her guards out here this far to do something. They aren’t able to get through the griffin lands or other regions necessary to help us, and any way they could go isn’t worth the risk. The griffins won’t help because they’re greedy, selfish chickens.” Sherry added a spiteful spit with that last comment. “And the villages and towns are too scared to face them.”

“How many are there, total?” the young man asked. “There must be a lot to-“

“There are about thirty of them,” Sherry said.

“Thirty,” the young man deadpanned. “I thought I saw what, fifty ponies here? Other villages are similar, I imagine? If you have that many ponies, you could definitely overpower these terrorist thugs.”

“Maybe,” Sherry said. “But they have actual weapons and armor and some are even trained extensively to fight. We can’t handle that; each of them could take ten of us, easily.”

The young man sighed. “Everything is a weapon, and it’s all about how you use it. Every person can take a dozen people if they think about it right. That’s all it takes.”

Sherry frowned at the young man. “Well, most of us don’t have what it takes, I guess.”

The young man sighed. “I guess not.”

“Well, it’s fine. We’ve dealt with this all our lives. Once you’re off to find your way home, everything will return to normal.” Sherry turned to walk away when she finished.

“Is that really what you want, though?” the young man asked. Sherry paused for a moment, then continued and left the room. The young man sighed. “These poor ponies…”

With nothing else to do, the young man went off to find Gibby and check on how the little guy was coping. He just watched his father being beaten, though there was a pretty solid chance it wasn’t the first time. It would still affect the kid a lot, though, so the young man thought it would be good for Gibby to get some positive human perspective.

He checked throughout the house, but neither Gibby nor his mother was still home. They had both gone out, it seemed. With nothing to do in the house, since talking was, without a doubt, bad for Gibbs, he decided to go outside again and see the goings-ons of the village.

He walked outside into the bright sunlight and moderately chilly air to see most of the townsponies just going about their daily lives and chores. It was as if nothing had happened. Rolling barrels, stacking hay, assorting tools, everything was the perfect picture of normalcy. If not for the events of that morning, that is.

When the young man walked out into the town, most of the ponies slowed what they were doing to watch him. He only wore Gibbs’s curtains, though he did still have his underwear on underneath, so he wasn’t going freebird. It looked more like a Roman toga than anything.

After the initial shock of seeing the human again, the ponies all went back to work. They seemed to be rushing it a bit, like the assault that morning had disrupted them and they had to get back on schedule. It was weird to see a people, or ponies, oppressed to the point it was normal.

He looked around at the town. Most of the buildings were visible, and almost all were homes. Behind them were little farms, where the probably mostly just grew their own food. If they were supposed to make money off crops, they must have been valuable, and likely questionable, crops. He wasn’t in a position to judge, though, especially not when that was what kept all these ponies alive.

These ponies went about everything so normally that it looked like there was really no helping them. The situation was so hopeless; they had come to accept these thugs lording over them. They couldn’t and wouldn’t fight back, and were evidently more than willing to take a beating just to survive. If they even did survive.

The young man sighed and decided not to think about it for now, instead choosing to continue going through the town and see what it had. It was all the same as what he had just seen as he walked out of the house, though, so he opted to talk to a resident instead. There was a pony just minding her own business off to the side, rolling barrels, who seemed like a perfectly good conversational partner.

“Hey there,” he said as he approached. The mare didn’t look up. “I’m the human who just-“

“Please, I really need to catch up to my work,” the mare said. So she was on a schedule.

“Alright,” the young man replied. “Mind if I ask you something while you work?”

“I guess,” the mare replied.

“I was told that I was pulled out of the water,” he asked. “Do you have any idea where that water might be?”

“It’s right on the other side of those trees,” the mare replied, briefly pointing to a tree line behind the house she was nearby. The area was a moderately thick forest. “It’s a little reservoir that was dug here a long time ago. Your metal thing is still down there, leaking stuff into our water.” The mare added a quick look of annoyance at the young man as she said.

“Not my fault,” the young man replied angrily. “I didn’t choose to come to this freakish world.” The mare shrunk back. “Sorry.”

“No, I get it,” she said. “We’re just all on edge right now. It happens every time the Blooded Tong come after us.”

“I can imagine, miss..?” the young man asked.

“Kimmy,” the mare replied.

“Kimmy,” the young man said. “How far is it to the water?”

“About twenty feet past the trees and you’re there,” Kimmy said. “You can go check it out any time you want. It’s just a reservoir, no river or anything leading into it, so there isn’t any flow, and the temperature is pretty constant right now.”

“I might have to check on it later,” the young man said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kimmy replied. She refocused on her work, and the young man left her where she was.

Well, now he at least knew where all of his stuff was. He couldn’t go get it now, not in his current condition, but soon, he would at least try to get down to the car. He knew he would need fins, but those would come soon enough. Normal goggles also wouldn’t work; he would need a diving mask. He would mention it to Gibbs later to make sure he could get to everything and wear actual clothes.

He had always liked that gi and how comfortable it was. Though, he certainly never expected he would end up wearing it as his only outfit. But when life throws you a curve ball, you gotta adjust your swing, or you’ll end up striking out real fast.

A New Hope

When the young man mentioned to Gibbs that he needed a diving mask, Gibbs scoffed at him and explained, in excruciating detail, how he already knew the young man would need one, and as such, would have one here at the same time. He had sent a runner out just before the young man came in to take care of it all. Said the stuff could even be here in a couple of days, if the store in the next town over was stocked.

After that, the young man helped Gibbs back to his own bed so he could lay next to hi wife instead of a human for the coming night. Before the young man called it in for the day, though, he decided to go check out the reservoir. He had nothing else to do, after all.

He walked out of the house and through town again, and a couple of curious young ponies followed him to the tree line. When he made to pass through, though, none of them were to eager to go along, and hung back, watching from afar until he disappeared behind the leaves.

After a very short bout of walking through some very dense brush and branches; denser than the young man thought the area had any right to be; he stumbled his way to the edge of a fairly small reservoir. It was only about thirty-to-forty feet wide, so the idea that it was twenty-five feet deep seemed off. Maybe Gibbs was just exaggerating.

The young man looked out over the reservoir then realized he was rather thirsty. He was about to go for a drink of water when a male voice called out from behind him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” he said.

The young man looked back to see a pony walking through the brush and getting smacked in the face by branches the whole way. He wasn’t a very big pony, smaller than Gibbs by a significant margin. From the voice, the young man guessed he couldn’t be that old. He had thick fetlocks at his hooves, a dark, Navy blue coat, lightning yellow mane, and two differently colored eyes, one emerald green and the other poop-stain brown. His voice carried a thick Irish accent.

“And why is that, Mr…?”

“Colm Winds,” the pony replied.

“Colm Winds,” the young man replied. “Well, Colm, why wouldn’t I drink the water?”

“Ever since that car a yers crashed into the reservoir, it’s been leakin’ fluids that we shouldn’t exactly be drinkin,” Colm explained. “Gasoline ain’t good for the soul.”

“I would say not,” the young man replied. “Of course, I’ll be swimming in it later, so that can’t be good for me.”

“Quite right,” Colm said. “But ya ain’t got a choice there. Were it up to me, I’d just leave it, but since it’s yer only clothes, and I hear they’re real sentimental, I can’t say not to.”

“Gibbs said that this reservoir is twenty-five feet deep,” the young man said.

“Ah, that’s a load of baloney,” Colm said with a toss of his hoof. He walked up to the water’s edge. “It’s a max of fifteen. He likes to say that since it makes other ponies jealous of our water.”

“With those thugs who give you so much trouble, I figure not having a reputation for having water would be better,” the young man offered up.

“Hardly,” Colm said with disgust. He kicked up the dirt behind him. “Those ankle-biters would come and force us to dig a deeper reservoir, even if it didn’t get us any more crops.”

“They sound pretty bad,” the young man said, reaching for a response.

“They’re right terrible!” Colm shouted angrily. “If there weren’t so many that I know I’d lose, I’d kick ‘em out myself! Right maggots, every last one of ‘em.”

“Glad to know someone doesn’t accept what’s going on around here,” the young man observed happily.

“Yeah, if only it was some two or three,” Colm said dishearteningly. “I’m honestly thinkin’ of leaving this town soon. I just need some money to travel, meaning I gotta hide it whenever the maggots come to eat it up.”

“That sucks,” the young man said succinctly.

“Ha!” Colm laughed. “I haven’t heard that term used like that.”

“Well, I’m glad I could contribute to your vernacular,” the young man said.

“I imagine you’re going to leave, too, if you want to get home,” Colm said. “When do ya expect to leave?”

“ASAP,” the young man responded with frustration. “I just need to heal up, get my stuff from this car, and I can be on my way.”

“Won’t ya need money?” Colm asked.

“I’m banking on the kindness of ponies to help a human in need,” the young man said.

“Well, I hope yer ready for a whole lotta walking and hiding,” Colm warned. “There are villages that’ll give you up right quick to the maggots, so ya gotta move fast. And ya need to hide from them when ya see them on the road.”

“I’m sure I can manage,” the young man said.

“I hope yer right,” Colm said. The young man turned to walk back to the village, and Colm quickly followed suit. “Ya know, the way yer healin’ up, I’d say you could go diving for that stuff of yers the moment ya get the gear.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” the young man said, poking his side. It was tender, but not too cripplingly painful. “If I can get that stuff by the end of tomorrow, I can be out of here in a couple of days, tops.”

“Just be careful with that mask,” Colm said cautiously. “It’s built for ponies, not humans. Ya may need to adjust it a bit when ya get it.”

“Drat, I hadn’t thought of that,” the young man said. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing,” Colm replied. “I wouldn’t want ya to get gasoline in yer eyes.” That sounded like a truly horrific time.

The pair made its way back to the village and parted ways for the time being. Colm was a respectable fellow in the young man’s book. He certainly had the right attitude toward the situation here. If he just had a way of fighting them off one by one as opposed to thirty-to-one, he might be able to fix the situation here. Sadly, those were the odds he faced, and so he wouldn’t be able to fight. Instead, he just had to do what he said he would, and leave, just like every one of them should have done long ago.

But for now, he would need to sleep on what he knew and what he would have to do later. At the very least, though, he now knew that he had some kind of ally in this hopeless pony settlement.

Dark Clouds

The next morning, the young man awoke with nothing more than a dull ache in his side. Before going to sleep, he removed the bandage that had been wrapped around his torso to see a large, mostly healed up region of scabs and scar tissue. It was strange that it was healing so fast, but the young man had never been injured like that before, so he let it go.

When he returned to the Gibbs’s family home, he inquired a bit about Colm Winds. Turns out, the guy had a fiery temper, and preferred to draw first and ask questions later. He was the kind of pony this place needed to defend itself. The majority of residents were too satisfied taking this abuse sitting down. Guys like Colm Winds were the only ones capable of preventing that sort of thing from happening.

Gibbs went in to explain how Colm Winds came to hate the Tong so much. It broke the young man’s heart to hear how they took Colm’s parents from him when he was just a young colt, as Gibbs said. Growing up, he basically moved from house to house in the village every now and again, and while he stayed in the same town, he didn’t grow up normally like the other children. He didn’t have a family that put him first or accepted him as truly being one of their own.

That kind of thing was what made people, and ponies, like the Tong so despicable. All of this hate and pain, not even for some twisted ideology or sense of self-defense. Not for the greater good, not to save the world. All for their own personal gain. The disgust genuinely wanted to make the young man vomit.

Gibbs told him not to worry about it, though, so worry, the young man did not. Gibbs liked to word it as them being able to at least survive, and that was the priority. While that may be a valid point for avoiding death, it’s not a point to support total inaction that could easily meet at the same destination.

The young man had his own troubles to worry about right now. Namely, how he would get to the bottom of the reservoir to get his gi and obi. Gibbs said that the items he would need would be there later in the day, but it still left the issue of the young man’s injury. If it restricted his ability to swim at all, that would make it much harder. And if the ponies really couldn’t swim almost at all, he would be on his own under all that water.

It would be best to wait until another day to go and do that, he concluded. For now, he would wait until he healed up and check out the gear when it came. He might be forced to adjust some of it, though the worse of the two items would be the fins. They weren’t designed for feet, but hooves, and it was possible he would have to cut into them to make room. He also had no idea what they would be made of, but that was less of an issue. Until he had to cut them, that was.

But that could wait, as they hadn’t even arrived yet. For now, the young man had to just find something to occupy himself for the day. After how his arrival disrupted the townsponies’ lives, he was certain they wouldn’t mind him helping out a little bit around the town. It would at least give him something to do.

So, the young man left Gibbs’s home and set about finding somepony who could use his help. Physically, he couldn’t do much if he wanted to avoid reopening his wound, but he could at least manage a little bit. If he was lucky, somepony would need him to balance an account book or something. There were no stores, but he could still hope.

When he left the house, the townsponies were naturally doing exactly what they had been doing the previous day. Rushing about, speeding up their work schedules, trying to catch up to what they missed. They would certainly appreciate a bit of assistance.

The young man went up to a young mare who looked like she was at the end of her wit, sitting next to the front door of her house next to the Gibbs family home. She didn’t look up at all as he approached, didn’t seem to notice at all. It was almost as if she was asleep.

“Hello?” the young man greeted. Turns out, she was asleep, and jolted upright.

“Haa! Whaa-“ She looked up at the young man. “Oh, ummm, hello. C-Can I help you?”

“I was actually about to ask you that,” the young man replied. The mare looked confused. “Is there anything I can help with around here? You look like you’re at the end of your rope there, little lady.”

“You… you want to help?” the mare asked incredulously. The young man nodded slowly. “Sweet Celestia, thank you!” She leapt up and gave the young man a big hug.

“You’re welcome,” the young man replied, pulling her off of himself. “What can I do?”

“I… I normally look after the little ones in town, make sure they don’t cause too much trouble,” the mare said. “It’s fun at times, but it’s so exhausting, and their parents are all so busy right now…”

“I can take over for a bit,” the young man said.

“Thank you so much,” the mare said.

“So where are they?” the young man asked.

“They’re behind this house, playing tag,” the mare said.

“Got it,” the young man said. “You go take a nap. I’ll watch over them.”

The mare wordlessly stood up and went into the house, shutting the door gently behind her. The young man walked around the house to go and see just how much of a handful this was going to be. When he saw what he was dealing with, he felt instantaneous regret for picking this particular job.

There were five little fillies and colts running about, and although the young man couldn’t tell their ages, he could tell that they were definitely not older than ten, or the pony equivalent. Their unbridled joy and bubbling laughter, while certainly adorable, only masked the horrors that these kids could unleash upon the unprepared. The young man liked to think he was prepared, but truthfully, he was very much not.

One of the little ones spotted him and froze in place. When the others started to notice the lack of movement from one of their own, they followed her gaze and became equally as motionless. For a solid minute, they just stared at the young man, in utter awe, making him visibly uncomfortable. Of course, they couldn’t have noticed or cared if he was uncomfortable.

Then, the whole thing went totally nuts.

“Oh my gosh a human!” one shouted.

“Where are you from, mister?” another asked.

“What do you do?”

“How did you get here?”

“What’s that thing you left in the reservoir?”

“Why are you-“

“Please, kiddos, one at a time!” the young man said with his hands up. The little ones were gathered at his feet, one of them already trying to climb up his curtain.

“Line up!” one little colt shouted, jumping right to the front. “I’m first!”

“No fair!” a little filly whined.

“You’ll all get a question,” the young man said. “But just one.”

The first colt walked up. “Where are you from?” he asked.

“I grew up down in Jersey,” the young man said.

“Where’s that?” the colt asked.

“Now, that’s a second question,” the young man said. The colt pouted, but obediently left the line.

The next one came up. “What do you do?” she asked.

“Nothing right now,” the young man said. “I’m recovering. Before I was a student.”

“Like at Celestia’s Academy!?” she asked. The colt in the back pouted harder.

The young man laughed. “Sorry, that’s a second question,” he said, relieving the young colt of his pout. Now, the filly had one, though, but the colt made her feel better when she went to him.

“How did you get here?” the next colt asked.

“I have no idea,” the young man answered. “Some kind of magic, I guess. Any of you know that stuff better than I do.” The colt and others beamed at his comment, and he left the line satisfied.

“What did you leave in the reservoir?” the next colt asked.

“I left some usable clothes in my vehicle, which is regrettably totaled,” the young man said sadly. He had really liked that car.

“It’s okay, mister, I broke one of my favorite toys once. You can get another one eventually!” the colt said enthusiastically.

“Haha, I guess so,” the young man said with a smile. “I don’t think they sell Subarus in this world.” he thought privately.

The last one , a little filly, came up to him. “Why are you so tall?” she asked.

The young man blinked. “What?”

“You’re really tall,” she said. “Like, taller than most humans we’ve heard of. Why are some of you so big?”

“Uhhh…” the young man said. “I just got lucky? I also ate healthy and got my sleep growing up.”

“Aha! I told you guys!” the filly said. “Nap time is good!”

“I wanna be big too,” a colt said.

“Well, if you sleep and eat right, you’ll get big and strong,” the young man said. Truth be told, he wasn’t the physically strongest guy around. He was wicked strong for his size, but he had always wished that the actual amount of force he could exert was greater. He had to make up for it with speed and agility.

“What are you doing now?” one of the fillies asked him.

“Well, you’re guardian over there looked real tired, so I offered to help for a bit,” the young an explained. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, make sure you don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Can we go to the reservoir!?” a colt asked. “Our parents said to stay away from it while the car is in it, but we want to see!”

“You can’t see it from the surface, and the gasoline is concentrated at the bottom,” the young man partially lied. “There’s not really anything to see…”

“Pleeeeeease?” the colt asked. He gave the young man the saddest puppy eyes he had ever seen, and it only made it worse that it was something that could talk making the eyes.

He couldn’t resist. “Okay, but just for a bit,” the young man said. The little ones hurrahed and jumped and laughed in their victory.

After falling to the cuteness of the little ponies, the young man led them to the reservoir, where, as he expected, nothing new had happened. It was still pristine, still totally uninterrupted on the surface. Nothing was out of the ordinary from a first look.

“I told you,” the young man said. When one of the colts tried to go near the water, he grabbed him up and didn’t let him go. “There are still traces of gasoline all over. Not good to even touch, let alone drink.”

“I just wanted to see,” the colt complained.

“I don’t know that I believe that,” the young man said. “Promise me you won’t touch it.”

“I promise,” the colt said. The young man put him back to the ground and the colt sat there.

“So that’s what it looks like,” a filly said.

“You haven’t seen it?” the young man asked.

“We aren’t supposed to go beyond the trees without our parents,” a colt explained. “They say it’s too dangerous, but why should they be allowed to go and not us?”

“Wait, what!?” the young man nearly shouted. The little ones flinched back. “We’re going back. Now.”

“Whaaaat?!” they all asked in unison.

“You did not tell me you aren’t allowed back here,” the young man said. “That’s not cool, not cool at all. We’re going back now.”

Four of the little ones marched right back through the brush that the young man cleared to get there and back to the village. One, though, didn’t move. It was the one that was going for the water, the one who seemed most inclined to cause trouble. The young man went to him impatiently to send him on his way.

“You’re going back now-“ he tried to say.

“Somepony is over there,” the colt said, petrified.

The young man slowly looked up and saw a large, black-clad stallion staring at him and the colt. He carried a significant blade at his side, and wore an armored chest plate and face scarf. On his forehead, on the cloth, was some kind of white symbol that the young man couldn’t make out.

“Kid, get back there, now,” the young man said.

The colt was frozen in place. While the young man tried to urge him back to the village, the figure started to move forward, out of the shadows. It was a very large stallion, and upon closer inspection, the young man saw that he had ropes and nets attached to his sides. The young man didn’t know what he wanted, but that didn’t matter. He picked up the colt to carry him back to the village.

Before he could get back to the trees, though, the figure was already a mere ten feet away. While the young man tried to urge the colt to go back, the figure had run around the reservoir to get closer. When the young man turned to carry the colt back, he spotted the figure and stopped.

“Who might you be?” he asked suspiciously.

“Doesn’t matter,” the figure said in a deep voice. “At least, not to you, human.”

The colt suddenly shook his head and came back. “Bounty hunter,” he said in a terrified whisper.

“You’re a bounty hunter?” the young man asked.

“Yes, and humans are worth money,” the hunter said. “Especially ones that came with such a high level of energy. The energy of several humans.”

“I assure you, I have the energy of one human,” the young man said. The colt started to squirm, and the young man put him down. “But I can make it feel like several if that’s how it has to be.”

“What kind of human are you?” the hunter asked.

“Doesn’t matter to you,” the young man replied. He got into a lower stance. “Not for long, at least.”

“A fighter?” the hunter asked, surprised. “I thought there would only be one. Guess I was wrong.”

“What?” the young man asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” the hunter said, no doubt with a grin on his face.

“Kid, go back now,” the young man ordered the colt. The colt ran off with his tail tucked behind him.

The hunter pulled a knife. “Even if I can’t capture you, information will sell,” he said.

“There’s one problem with trying to sell information,” the young man responded coldly.

“What’s that?” the hunter asked, getting low to pounce. The young man’s face went completely neutral and emotionless.

“You need to be able to communicate it.”

The bounty hunter grinned an evil little grin and lunged forward, drawing his blade. The young man leapt to his right to avoid the coming blade. He knew the hunter wouldn’t kill him unless it was a truly hopeless fight, but the young man didn’t need any extra cuts on him. And the more he bled, the weaker he would grow, making it easier to take him.

The hunter spun around as the young man rolled away and got back him, his curtain unraveling around him. It would only get in the way at this point, so he just tore it off of himself and decided to fight in the nude. While it meant being exposed, it meant he was less likely to get hit in the long run.

The hunter blinked in surprise at the unexpected tactic, giving the young man time to adjust himself. His healing wound was blatantly clear and exploitable, but as long as he avoided being struck, he was fine.

Recovering himself, the hunter leapt forward at the young man, bringing the flat of his blade down in a strike meant to knock the top of the young man’s head. The young man raised his arm up and blocked it after assuring himself the blade wasn’t going to chop his arm off, stopping the weapon in its tracks. He followed it up with an immediate straightforward kick to the hunter’s armored chest, but bounced off the steel plate.

When his foot landed on the ground, slightly past the hunter’s forelegs, the young man rapped his right arm around the hunter’s long neck and brought his knee forward into the back of the hunter’s left foreleg, collapsing it at the knee and bringing both of them to the ground. The hunter rolled on top of the young man, prompting him to release the hunter, then rolled away, recovering himself and standing up.

The young man wouldn’t give him more than a moment’s rest, though, as that meant a sure loss. He quickly rolled on his side in a barrel roll into a spinning roundhouse kick from the ground, connecting with the hunter’s snout. The pain of shoving his wound into the ground made him grit his teeth and hiss, but he had to push through it.

While the hunter reeled back from the clean strike to his nose, the young man stood up and advanced on him, going for the blade. He was able to get his hand on the hilt, right next to the hunter’s hoof, and took it from being “his weapon” to “our weapon”.

In any fight or situation where one party has a weapon, the first trick to successfully defending against it is to make “his weapon” into “our weapon”. By taking control of the enemy weapon, it evens the playing field, granting both sides a weapon to fight with, like two atoms sharing an electron. However the covalent bond between two warriors breaks; whoever ends up with more electrons, per se; can determine the fight in less than an instant.

While the young man had made the blade into both their weapon, that didn’t make the next part, turning it into “my weapon”, much easier. He still had to combat the hunter and beat him off the blade. The hunter grew frantic, trying to swing the blade around to regain control, but the young man was having none of it. Both fighters had their hands and forelegs on the blade, and wrestled over it with all their might.

The young man, however, had something the hunter didn’t; his legs, immediately available. The hunter’s hind legs were too far away to be useful to him.

In one swift movement, the young man pushed forward with his legs and brought his knees to his chest, then blasted them forward with all his might into the base of the hunter’s neck, just above his armor plating. The strike hit home, and the hunter lost his grip on the blade. The force of the hunter’s pushing legs and the young man’s kick evened out, leaving him stationary in his spot, and sending the young man backwards to the ground.

The young man lost his grip on the blade in the process, and it went flying backwards, spinning through the air and, with an unceremonious plunk, landed in the reservoir, away from where the ponies could retrieve it. As the young man hit the ground, he rolled backwards and stood back up, getting into a deep Seiunchin stance.

The hunter coughed furiously after the kick to his neck, but recovered quick enough. When he looked at the human before him, he realized he couldn’t win this fight, especially not without his only weapon. He silently regretted not carrying more like other hunters did, but he prided himself too much on being quick in the chase. It wasn’t doing him any good now.

“You’re good, human,” the hunter said.

“And you suck,” the human replied coldly.

“I can’t beat you,” the hunter admitted, stepping back.

“I know,” the human said.

“How about you let me go?” the hunter suggested. “You’ve won this fight.”

“As much as I would love to, you said yourself how much information sells for,” the young man said.

“What, you’ll kill me?” the hunter asked, partly sarcastic and partly fearful.

“No,” the young man said.

“Good for me!” the hunter shouted. He turned tail and bolted.

The young man gave chase. He knew that the hunter would sell his information to the Tong thugs, and that would mean the death of the town. This was why he always hated mercenaries; anything for a dollar. Or whatever money they had here.

When the hunter rapidly disappeared into the foliage, the young man gave instant chase after him, naked and determined. The brush was too dense to move through quickly, giving the young man a distinct advantage. Horses and the like were built for linear speed, not rapid agility. It took only moments before the young man could see the hunter up ahead.

But the hunter could hear the young man coming up behind him and upped his pace as much as he could. He nearly tripped on roots every few steps, giving the young man a solid chance to catch him. Twice, he practically felt the creepy, finger-laden hand grabbing his tail behind him.

After only a short time, the hunter had to stop; he came upon a steep ledge at the final edge of the trees, a ledge he had known was there. He didn’t keep track of where he was running to, though, and successfully cornered himself. He turned around on his tiny ledge and spotted the human right on him.

“Now hang on,” the hunter said nervously. He felt the breeze just past his behind. “We can talk about this.”

“No, I’m afraid we can’t,” the human said. “Specifically because I know you WILL talk about this.”

The hunter stepped back a little and felt the rock behind him give, and he could hear it rolling down the mountain. The slope behind him was easily seventy degrees. Hardly a good surface to fall down. He didn’t think sliding was appropriate for this particular situation because he would probably disconnect from the mountainside several times on the way down.

“What would you do?” the hunter asked.

“Stop you from talking,” the young man said. “Bust up that jaw a little, that’s all.”

“How would I eat?’ the hunter asked, trying to appeal to the young man’s good will.

“You ever heard of a liquid diet?” the young man asked. The hunter shook his head. “Basically, blending your food together and drinking it through a straw.”

“Not my idea of a good time,” the hunter said desperately.

“Yeah, well, being sold like a truck doesn’t particularly appeal to me,” the young man retorted.

“Then I guess we’re at an impasse,” the hunter said. He was formulating a plan.

“Not really,” the young man replied. “This was set to happen either way.”

The hunter figured that when the human lunged, he would just have to step out of the way and let him fall to his death. It would be easy; he just had to time it right. The human had no idea what the area was like, and probably figured it was all the same.

But the young man wasn’t that stupid, nor was he blind. He could see the drop-off behind the hunter and knew he shouldn’t lunge. What he opted for, instead, was to grab a hanging branch next to his head, get a good vice grip on it, and swing his leg out in a sweeping roundhouse kick.

The hunter hadn’t seen it coming and dodged right into the kick, creating a resounding crack from the strike against his head. It failed to hit his jaw, but the young man did see the hunter’s eyes roll back as he instantly lost consciousness from the concussive force of the kick.

The hunter fell backwards, and the young man tried to jump forward to grab him, but made sure to hold onto the branch. Holding onto that branch sealed the hunter’s fate, it seemed, as the young man couldn’t go forward enough to grab him. The hunter fell backwards onto the slope and slid for a few feet before going into a wild, uncontrollable roll down the side of a mountain. The young man moved forward and watched him as he went tumbling down to his likely demise.

He just stared down the side of that mountain for a while. He could barely register what had just happened. His experience told him that it was a horse that just fell down the canyon, and that was pretty sad. At the same time, his heart tried to tell him that he just killed what was basically a human being. The conflict raged inside him, with neither side initially gaining any ground.

Ultimately, his experience won out, and he just blinked and turned away. Silently, he walked back to the town, where he would no doubt be forced to explain what had happened to all the townsponies, and probably get in some serious trouble for being responsible for the whole thing. Though he would probably leave out the fact that he just sent the bounty hunter rolling down a hundred-something foot canyon wall.

It didn’t matter much anyway. There’s always another horse around.

Start of the Storm

The young man returned to the reservoir to reclaim his curtain clothing, then went back to the village. His side was smarting from landing on it and then exerting himself like he did, but it was more of a heavy soreness than real pain. It had hurt more when he got road rash from crashing his bicycle.

As he walked back to the main area of the village from behind the houses by the trees, he found quite a few of the townsponies awaiting him. They all just stared at him, some in horror, others in curiosity, and some in shock that he came back. The young man shifted his feet nervously, uncertain of what to do. His fight-or-flight instincts were still clicked on, and he felt ready to run.

“What did you do?” a stallion finally asked.

“I dealt with it,” the young man said. He didn’t elaborate further, but the townsponies were unsatisfied with the answer.

“Why did you bring them to the reservoir?!” an angry mother called, stepping forward. “They aren’t allowed out there-“

“How the heck was I supposed to know that?!” the young man asked through his teeth, prompting the mother to step back. “Don’t blame me for YOUR kid telling a lie.”

“Jamie would never lie!” the mother shouted back.

The young man scoffed. “Please, they didn’t even tell me they weren’t allowed outside the village until we were already at the water’s edge.” He looked at her. “Maybe you should encourage a little more honesty in your kids…”

The mother looked positively furious, and her anger only fueled that of the young man. It almost looked like the mother was going to come to blows over the issue, which the young man would be more than happy to return. Before anything else could happen, though, none other than Gibbs came limping out of his home.

“Enough of this!” he shouted.

Everyone looked his way, and the ponies seemed to shrink back at seeing him unhappy. The young man stood plainly as if nothing happened, still steaming over the mother’s anger at him. Gibbs slowly made his way to the young man and pushed his shoulder.

“Don’t be yelling at my village,” he warned.

“Or what?” the young man retorted aggressively. “I was misled by your damn kids. Don’t be getting mad at me, and don’t you DARE insist I don’t get to be mad when you try to blame me.”

“I don’t care what’s going on,” Gibbs said with clear frustration. “You don’t get to abuse my ponies.” The young man rolled his eyes and Gibbs turned to the village. “And don’t be attacking our guest! Before you go jumping to conclusions, get every side of the story. And even if you don’t like the human, he shouldn’t be here too much longer.”

“Oh?” the young man asked, not angrily, but curiously.

“Your stuff is here,” Gibbs said. “Showed up while you were off running around with your tube flopping about.”

“Good for me,” the young man said. He visibly calmed down at the sound of the good news. “I can get out of here and make my way home.”

“Yes, and life will go back to normal,” Gibbs said with relief. “Tomorrow, you can go and get your things, and we’ll help you to be on your way.”

“Good,” the young man said. He didn’t notice, but Colm Winds was approaching the crowd.

“Before we do anything else, I need to know what happened out there,” Gibbs said. “Linny wasn’t able to tell us anything, he was so terrified after you sent him back.”

“Alright,” the young man said. He just noticed Colm Winds as he walked up to him. “What’s up, Colm?”

“Just came ta find out what the commotion was,” Colm said. “Should’ve guessed it’d be you.”

“Well, if you’d like to hear my tale, come along,” the young man said. Gibbs led the way to his house, followed by the young man and Colm.

When they entered Gibbs’s house, the trio sat around the table. Gibby tried to come in and find out what happened, but his mother grabbed him and carried him out by the fluff of his neck. It made the young man chuckle to see him out as he was carried off.

“So, what happened out there?” Gibbs asked straight. “Give me the details.”

“Well, I decided to help somebody out earlier today since I messed up the routine here,” the young man explained. “I saw a tired little lady sitting down and asked her what I could do. She asked me to watch after the kids, which I did, but the kids told me to go to the reservoir, where they eventually informed me that they aren’t allowed out there.”

“That’s why Ah don’t babysit them kids,” Colm commented. Gibbs shot him a glare, to which Colm just shrugged.

“I sent them back, but the one, I guess he was Linny, wasn’t moving. He saw some kind of bounty hunter on the other side of the water.”

“I’m not too surprised,” Gibbs said with a sigh. “I was wondering how long it would take for them to start coming here.”

“After I sent the kid back,” the young man continued. “I had to stay to fight the guy. He told me how information sells, and I didn’t want your village to be singled out by those Tong thugs for harboring me.”

“How did that go?” Colm asked.

“No issues,” the young man replied. “After I disarmed him and knocked him good a few times, he ran off. I chased him down.”

“And what did you do?” Gibbs asked darkly.

“He was on a ledge, somewhere in the distance in the trees,” the young man said. “He tried to talk to me, get me to let him go.” Gibbs looked displeased with where it was going. “I told him I had to at least bust his jaw to make sure he wouldn’t talk. He said he wasn’t going to let me do that. I didn’t give him a choice.”

Gibbs blinked, his dark expression gone. Colm, too, was somewhat surprised by the conclusion to the story. He had expected the young man to have gone and killed the bounty hunter.

“Oh,” Gibbs replied.

“Unfortunately, when I went for the kick, he dodged right INTO it,” the young man said. “Rather than just bust his jaw as planned, I knocked him out and he fell.”

“Off the ledge,” Colm finished for the young man. The young man nodded. “Oh, geeze…”

“So he’s dead,” Gibbs said.

“I have no idea,” the young man replied. “But most likely.”

“I see,” Gibbs replied. “I mean… I guess you didn’t mean to, nor even really had a choice.”

“No choice,” the young man agreed. “That information would have gotten everyone here killed.”

Colm swallowed. “That’s… true,” he admitted.

“Okay,” Gibbs said. “Just… just don’t mention it to anyone else here. Just say he jumped off the ledge and flew away.”

“Flew?” the young man asked.

“Say he was a Pegasus,” Gibbs explained. The young man blinked, then nodded.

“This is getting out of hoof already,” Colm said.

“Well, it’s out of your hooves and into my hand, so it’s not all bad,” the young man said.

“I don’t know if I’d say that’s a good thing,” Gibbs thought.

The young man stood to leave. “Well, if that’s all, I think I should go and retrieve my dive gear now.”

“Wait,” Gibbs said before the young man left. He stopped. “If you could have saved him, would you?”

“Probably,” the young man said casually. “I mean, he was going to make life hard for me to make an extra buck, so I don’t see much reason to care for his either way. I just would have preferred not to.” With that final comment, the young man made his way out.

Colm Winds stood. “Well, I suppose Ah shouldn’t overstay mah welcome,” he said, excusing himself. Gibbs was left alone in his house a moment later.

Gibbs sighed and rested his head on the table. It wasn’t every day a pony met a human, generally. It wasn’t every day that human brought massive trouble to town. And it certainly wasn’t every day that a human killed a pony within days of arriving.

“I just want life to make sense,” Gibbs whined to himself.

The young man walked through the small town in his curtain, eager to get his dive equipment so he could be ready ASAP the next day to retrieve his gi and obi. He would also try to grab his sparring gear, if for no reason other than the soft helmet. It would never protect him against great force or cutting objects, but it was something he could sleep on the ground with.

It took only moment after leaving the house for Colm Winds to catch up to him. When he did, the young man initially didn’t say anything, waiting for Colm to greet him. Colm just walked next to him, though, forcing the young man to initiate social contact.

“Word,” he greeted.

“Uhh, what?” Colm replied.

“Hello? Evening? Aloha?” the young man said repeated differently.

“Oh, hey,” Colm said. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to find out who has my gear,” the young man said. “I hope to get myself out of here first thing tomorrow, or at least in the evening after my clothes dry off.”

“Very nice,” Colm said. “Ah’ve finally raised enough money to get mahself out of here, too.”

“Really?” the young man asked. “How long did that take you?”

“Years,” Com said with dreadful memory. “But it finally worked. Got mah last pay earlier. Ah just need to say some goodbyes.”

“When do you plan to leave?” the young man asked.

“Morning two days from now,” Colm said. “Some friends want to have me for dinner, and Ah’m olbigin’ both.”

“Very nice,” the young man said. They had stopped walking so they could chat. “Any plans on where you’re going?”

“Not sure,” Colm said. “Ah’ve heard that Fillydelphia is right nice. Course, Ah might want to make mah way to Vanhoover. It’s more like the climate Ah grew up with.”

“Nice,” the young man said. “I’m going to make my way to the nearest travel station after I figure out where that is. I’ll ask around for it. When I get there, I’ll make my way to that Princess Celestia character Gibbs told me about to find out if she can help me.”

“Good plan,” Colm said. “If anyone can help you, it would be her.”

“Yeah,” the young man said. “But for now, I need to get to her country first. Preferably without finding myself in yet another world.”

“Ha!” Colm laughed. “Too right.”

“So, any idea who might have my stuff?” the young man asked.

“Probably Alicia,” Colm responded immediately. “She handles that kinda stuff most of the time.”

“And where might we find her?” the young man asked.

“Right in that house, over yonder,” Colm said with a point of his hoof.

“Yonder?” the young man deadpanned.

“Yes, yonder,” Colm said with a frown. “Ya got a problem with how Ah talk?”

“Only in that I can barely understand you,” the young man joked. Colm chuckled.

“Silly human,” Colm said. “Anyway, Ah got to go take care of some thing before Ah make mah way out of here. Good luck if Ah don’t run into you again.”

“Same,” the young man said. He put his hand out to shake, but Colm used his hoof to make the young man’s hand curl into a fist and bump it.

“Brohoof,” Colm explained.

“I guess handshakes wouldn’t be very big here,” the young man realized.

Colm laughed. “No, Ah’d say not.”

With that, the young man and stallion parted ways, one heading to who knew where and the other going to the nearby house of Alicia. When the young man walked up and knocked on the door, he heard some scrambling from the other side. A few moments later, a disheveled mare opened the door.

“Can I help y-“ She looked up at the young man, ran inside, and grabbed a bag that she tossed at him. “Here. Have fun.” She then slammed the door in his face.

“Uhh, thanks?” the young man said, more than a little late. He put his ear to the door and heard the mare saying something to what ha assumed to be a stallion, then quickly moved away and tried not to imagine what he overheard.

When the young man opened the bag, he saw everything he needed in there, plus some extra goodies. There were his fins, though they were made of some kind of wood instead of polyester. The mask, made of glass, wood, and a small amount of plastic. Besides that, there was what almost looked like a boy scout knife, a fire starter consisting of a magnesium rod and metal flint, and a small sum of coins. It was awfully decent of them to hand him any amount of cash.

Now that he had what he immediately needed and a few things he would later need, he felt confident in his ability to get home. As far as money, he was sure he could do favors in exchange for it, some odd jobs here and there. Being a rather unique human, he expected that he could support himself quite well off his exotic stature.

Now that he had the tools he would require, it was about time for him to rest up and get ready for the journey. A journey that would really begin underwater in the wreckage of his old car, and hopefully end with him talking to royalty. It was bizarre and hadn’t really hit him yet that this was happening. Maybe, if he was lucky, it wouldn’t, and he would get home and convince himself it was all just a crazy dream.

Of course, that was if he got there.

Weathered Gear

The young man took the remainder of the day to relax from the insanity he slogged through, then slept like a baby that night. He still wasn’t registering any of what had happened. It was sad, sure, like when he lost his cat, but he could get through it just fine.

When he awoke the next day, his side felt perfectly fine as long as no one punched it or he didn’t land on it so hard again. He knew it would be uncomfortable for a while, but he figured he could just deal with it. He didn’t have any trouble dealing with it before.

The young man grabbed his curtain and his swim gear so he could go and retrieve his gi this morning. He so badly wanted to go and get it right now, he could practically feel the brushed canvas rubbing against his skin. A lot of people found gis to be uncomfortable, but the young man loved his, especially the pants. If it wasn’t weird, he would have worn them all the time.

He had already left the house when he realized he woke up early in anticipation of going to get his only personal items from the car. It was weird to think, how right now, he actually only had a curtain to his name. When he finished up this morning, the only things he would own would be his gi, his obi, and his sparring gear if he could recover it. He was technically in poverty.

The young man held the dive gear in his right hand and held the curtain in place with his left. He hadn’t put much effort into keeping it in place this morning, figuring that it would have to come off for him to go swimming. At first he considered not wearing it at all, but leaving and returning would bring trouble if he was running around bare as the day he was born.

As he walked toward the trees, villagers started coming out of their homes to start their days. They noticed him heading out with the dive equipment, and a few cared enough to nod to him as he passed and wish him luck. Most of them just wanted him gone, though, which was probably why they wanted him to have good luck.

The young man just nodded back and went into the trees. Once he was on the other side and nearly impossible to see, he let the curtain fall to the ground and stood naked before the lake. Before jumping in, he would have to do several things. He needed to check the dive gear to ensure it was good, have the curtain nearby so he could quickly dry off, as it was rather chilly without it and being wet would be worse, and he had to make sure no more mercenaries showed up to come after him.

The area was pretty obviously clear, so the young man started checking the dive gear. The fins were the first item to check, and they were pretty easy. They didn’t fit very well, but it was easy to adjust. The young man tore a little bit of the curtain away to tie them more securely to his feet, and they felt pretty secure. He would just have to untie them afterwards.

Before he could check the mask, he heard a rustle in the trees behind him. The young man spun around, paranoid that a mercenary or bounty hunter would come after him, but breathed a sigh of relief when it was just Colm Winds. Colm struggled through the brush, getting his legs caught every which way, but the young man couldn’t help him with the fins on his feet. They were wood and uncomfortable, and the less he did in them, the better.

“What brings you out here?” the young man asked.

“Checking on you, making sure ya ain’t hurtin’ yerself,” Colm replied.

“Well, thank you,” the young man replied. “I appreciate that.”

“Is it all good?” Colm asked as he walked up to the young man. He realized the curtain was off to the side and looked away. “And, uhh, why don’t ya have yer curtain?”

“That’s a death sentence, keeping that thing on in the water,” the young man explained. “Too much drag and weight.”

“Ah. Well, Ah guess you’d know more about it than me,” Colm replied.

The young man grunted in agreement as he tried out the dive mask. It was surprisingly well-fitted to his head, and only needed a slight bend to it in order to make it work perfectly. The mask was made of wood, glass, and rubber, and was nothing like the silicon masks the young man was used to.

“Ya plan on keeping that swim stuff?” Colm asked.

“Nope,” the young man replied. “After this, I’m gonna sell it as quick as I can, get a quick buck.”

“Hey!” Colm shouted suddenly, causing the young man to flinch. “We don’t like that kinda language here.”

“What?” the young man replied.

Colm blinked. “Oh, right, ya don’t talk like ponies do,” he said. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine,” the young man said with a sideways glance at the pony. He could guess what buck was supposed to represent. “Cultural barriers, right?”

“Right obnoxious,” Colm said. “But Ah gotta get used to ‘em if Ah’m going to live in Equestria.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” the young man said. He had gotten the mask and fins on and fitted well, so it was time. “Alright, Colm, you’re my lifeline if this goes horrifically wrong.”

“Ya got a rope?” Colm replied.

“Nope,” the young man said. “Just come in after me.” Before Colm could offer a counter suggestion, the young man rolled to the water’s edge and hopped right in.

He instantly regretted this decision. The water was incredibly cold, and when some of it got into his mouth, he could sense the faint taste of gasoline. It only mildly stung on his side, though, so that wouldn’t be a hindrance. But he knew he couldn’t be in the water too long, not without some consequence.

The water was extremely clear, minus the rainbow hue from the gasoline, so locating the car was easy. It wasn’t smack in the middle of the reservoir, like he had come to believe, but it was about fifteen feet down. The young man swam about ten yards into the reservoir before looking down and going for the dive.

Shoving his head under that water was the hardest thing he had yet done in this world. His body screamed at him to vacate the wet, frozen world it found itself in, but he fought it and fought it hard. As he dove down, various spots across his body whined about the cold more than others, particularly those that weren’t usually exposed to the elements.

It only took a few strokes of his legs and arms to get himself down to the sunken Subaru Forester, and he didn’t even feel winded yet. The cold would accelerate the feeling, though, and he quickly looked through the window for his uniform. The stark white stood out in an instant inside the car; it had gone from sitting on the front passenger seat to sitting on the window, as the car was on its side under the water. He tended to wrap the gi in the obi to keep it together, and he never liked that decision more than he did now.

With the windows shattered and all over the place, he was able to simply maneuver himself into the car and reach down to grab the gi and obi from the right side of the car. It was easy enough, even if he felt himself being poked by the torn glass and metal of the car, and when he got his hands on it, he shoved his hand in between the obi and gi, effectively tying the gi to himself.

With a moment to spare, he looked around the car for his sparring gear. He spotted the gloves quickly, floating against the not-quite-shattered back window, and the boots weren’t far. The helmet was nowhere to be seen, and that was the only piece he cared about, so he abandoned the gear and went back topside with his spoils. The gi and obi were the important parts, anyway.

Blowing bubbles in his ascent, the young man shot to the surface like an arrow. He actually propelled himself out of the water a bit on the way, and was able to get up to his belly button out of the water. Off on the side, by the water’s edge, Colm Winds looked on with interested but caution, as he had no interest in seeing any lower on the young man.

The cold was starting to really sap at the young man’s strength, so he made a beeline for Colm on the edge of the reservoir. His swim form was positively horrendous with the gi tied to his arm, and it looked like he was just flailing about in the water and miraculously moving forward toward his end goal.

When he made it, Colm Winds ignored his avoidance of seeing the naked human and grabbed him by the armpits to drag him out of the water. The young man started to cough from the cold and exertion on his lungs, but it was a good, dry cough with no signs of real trouble. In a moment, Colm dropped him to the ground and rushed to cover him with the curtain the young man left on the ground.

“That was a right impressive feat,” Colm complimented.

“Somewhat,” the young man said. “Scuba certification makes us do harder than that, and it’s nothing compared to divemaster work.”

“Well, ain’t you just a real tough guy,” Colm said with a poke of the young man’s head. “Maybe you should just go fight a war.”

“That was the original plan,” the young man said, wrapping himself further in the curtain. “But all plans are on hold for now.”

“True that,” Colm replied. “Now, let’s get you back to the house, where you can warm up properly and get that outfit dried up right.”

“Sounds like a plan, man,” the young man said.

Colm Winds helped the young man to stand up and half carried him back to the village. The small trek through the trees took substantially longer than it should have, but the young man didn’t care now. He got what he wanted, and in just a short time, he would be on his way home.

When Colm helped him through the village, the residents all halted what they were doing to observe the shivering young man with a death grip on an outfit like they had never quite seen. Stark white with a single black cloth length, the kind one might wrap around the waist. On the gi top, there was a patch traced off of a human fist, with impressive embroidery of a woman in a stormy sea, a dragon overhead, three stars on the side, and a serpent coiling through the water. No one there except the young man knew what it meant.

As the young man came hobbling up to the house with the aid of Colm Winds, little Gibby came out of the front door with a look of wonder in his eyes. The wonder was gone after a moment, though, when he saw the apparent suffering of the young man.

“Did you already get your stuff?” he asked.

The young man held it up. “Dang right,” he replied.

“Awww,” Gibby whined. “I wanted to watch.”

‘It’s better ya didn’t,” Colm said. “There was nothing very impressive, honestly.”

The young man turned his head to look at Colm. “Oh, so you have the experience to judge?” he asked. Colm chuckled. “Nah, it was nothing to watch.”

“Yeah, sure,” Gibby said.

Sherry came out soon after. “Gibby, don’t go out-“ she was saying until she spotted the young man. “Ah, I see it already happened. Well, that means you can just go do your chores.” Gibby tried to whine his way out of the work, but to no avail, and soon went off to work.

“And the true intentions are revealed,” the young man said.

“Anything to avoid a bit of work,” Colm said in agreement.

“Kids,” Sherry said with a sigh. “You must be freezing. Come in, let’s get you and that outfit of yours dried off.”

“I’d love that,” the young man said.

“Well, you can go in on your own power,” Colm said, releasing the young man. “Ah want to go do something right now.”

“Sure, dude. Thanks,” the young man said.

“No problem,” Colm said.

The young man carried himself into the Gibbs household and Sherry led him to a fireplace with a nice little fire going. She took the gi and obi and undid the little package, then set them on a drying rack that went over the fire. She then went and got an actual towel for the young man to use to dry off a little before warming up by the fire.

“Thank you,” the young man said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sherry said. She observed the patch on the gi top with raging curiosity. “What’s this image?”

“The Megami?” the young man asked. “It’s a symbol of my martial art. There’s a lot of stuff going on in there.”

“I’d say so,” Sherry said. “And this embroidery is something. I’ve never seen something so intricate on a patch. Where did you get it?”

“My teacher gave them to us,” the young man said. “I don’t know where he got them.”

“Very impressive,” Sherry said.

“I guess, if you think so,” the young man said. “People can be good at about anything.”

“Anything?” Sherry asked. “You don’t have predestined talents?”

“What?” the young man asked. “I mean, some people are particularly good at one thing or another, but there usually aren’t super restrictive limits on what we do.”

“Oh, okay,” Sherry said. “What are you good at?”

“Well, I’ve always been quick to learn thing involving my hands,” the young man said. “My martial arts, finger work, dance, anything that needs me to be agile, really.”

“Are you dumb as a rock?” Sherry asked bluntly.

“Uh, no?” the young man replied indignantly. “I’m an engineering major, thanks.”

“Oh, a big student?” Sherry asked.

“Yeah,” the young man said. “But like I said to Colm all plans are on hold for now.”

“Makes sense,” Sherry replied. “Well, I’ll leave you to your recovery for now. Try to relax.”

“Well, that’ll be way easier now,” the young man replied. Sherry smiled, then left him alone in the room to recover from his brief morning trip to the reservoir.

It hadn’t taken long, which was nice. By the end of the day, he would be able to wear his gi, and he could stop wearing a curtain dress everywhere. It was intensely uncomfortable, and he had no idea how the Romans did it back in the day. The outfit felt ridiculous, too.

He was so close now. He had everything he could want out of the car, so he was done collecting possessions for his travels. He figured he would use his position as a human to scavenge food and supplies from towns he passed, so money was no object. If push came to shove, he could do favors for ponies, too, since he wasn’t willing to steal from or strong-arm any ponies. He would be desperate, but he wasn’t a jerk, and there were places he wouldn’t go just yet.

He sat there for half an hour before checking his gi to see the progress. It wasn’t exactly dry yet, but it was only damp to the point where it could be felt in the fabric, at least on the torso. The sleeves were still dripping, but the torso was nearly dry, so it was almost done. It would be good by the next day. But just as he was about to sit down, and chill out until he was good to go, he heard a series of screams from outside. He spun around to look out the window and see what was going on.

There was a real sight to see out there. Two ponies like the first bounty hunter, and what appeared to be a bird’s head on a lion’s body with wings. The ancient, legendary griffon. Now he was really starting to see it all.

The young man could see them abusing villagers, grabbing them and throwing them about. He could just stay in here, let it happen, be safe. It would be the best route for him to take, and would give him the least trouble.

Until he heard the griffon speak up.

“Our buddy came here the other day and didn’t come back,” the clearly male griffon cawed. “What’s happened to him?!”

“He just stopped by!” Gibbs’s voice shouted.

“Total crap!” one of the ponies shouted. “We want our stallion back. Where is he?”

“Maybe we need to show them what it’s like to lose a community member,” the other pony said.

“I agree,” the griffon said. “Let’s see… Let’s start with… you!”

The young man knew that they were with the bounty hunter, and no doubt had come to find him and the young man. They were clearly an aggressive and nasty lot, and it was only a matter of time before the villagers gave the young man up.

If he was going to be found out, then it was going to be on his own terms. The young man looked to his gi above the fire, then grabbed it and threw it on. When he tied up the gi top and tied on the pants, he took an extra moment to wrap the obi around his waist as he tied it as well. With a deep breath, he relaxed himself and mentally prepared for the intense battle to come.

“Either this whole thing is crazy or I am,” he said.

The young man turned it face the door and walked onward, unsure of what he was about to face but confident that whatever happened, he would be able to come out on top. He had to if he was to see his family again.

Battering Gusts

“Your friend is dead,” the young man announced when he stepped out of the door.

Everypony in the village froze as if time had come to a screeching halt. They all stared at him in shock that he would come out, with a hint of awe at the human now in his obviously traditional human outfit. Gibbs, off to the side by a house, wore a look of horror that the young man had come out to expose himself to the aggressive bounty hunters.

They, on the other hand, just stared blankly. They had known a human was in the area, they had known that unsavory characters controlled this area. But for the human to tell them that, it must have meant that he was the one who killed their guy. The very one they sent their guy to find had killed him.

“Who are you?” the griffon asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” the young man said. “You won’t be needing that information.”

“Boss, that’s the human,” one of the ponies, pony #1 as the young man now chose to call him, said.

“I know, dumb butt,” the griffon replied.

“You killed him?” pony #2 asked incredulously. “How? How could YOU kill-“

“Because I’m not a pathetic pile of waste matter?” the young man responded, frustrated. What was so unthreatening about the young man? He had always had to deal with this.

“Our friend was quite a fighter,” the gryphon replied.

“Your friend sucked donkey balls at fighting,” the young man deadpanned.

“My mother was a donkey, you little piece of-“ pony #1 started angrily.

“Now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” the griffon said with his talons, extended fully, up in the air. A show of force, but a hope not to use it. “We don’t need to be fighting right now.”

“You sure about that?” the young man replied.

“Yes, I am,” the griffon replied.

"He’ll smack yer sorry, money-grubbing keasters back to Griffonia!” the voice of Colm Winds echoed from an unknown place.

“And how is that?” pony #2 asked.

“I guess you’ll have to find out,” the young man said. He was trying to goad them into a fight. If they were allowed to leave, they would sell the information of the young man’s whereabouts to the Tong thugs, and that couldn’t be allowed.

“I’d rather not,” the griffon said.

“So what’s happening now?” the young man asked. “Your friend tried to force me to go back with him.”

“I have no intention of doing that,” the griffon said. “I know a tough fight when I see one. You already killed one of us, we don’t need to lose another while taking you down. Three on one is still in our favor, after all.”

“I suppose that’s true,” the young man admitted. Fighting three of them was likely a foolish endeavor. Truth be told, the young man wasn’t even at full strength.

“So, I’ll give you an option,” the griffon said. “You can come with us, and there will be no fuss. We won’t harm you on the way out unless you make us. Or, you can stay here, and we simply sell the information of your location to the Tong.”

The young man looked around. If that were to happen, this village would burn to the ground. Everyone here would die, indiscriminately. Maybe they were just ponies, but the young man didn’t want that kind of blood on his hands. At the same time, he wouldn’t go with them, and that was a give.

He only had one choice.

“I suppose I’ll go,” the young man said, earning more than a few gasps from the villagers.

“I knew you’d make the right decision,” the griffon said. “We won’t even cuff you, you’re so reasonable.”

“You’re too kind,” the young man said as he walked up to them. When he was amongst them, he looked each of them over. “So, were you originally a gang of four?”

“Yes, we were,” pony #1 seethed.

“What’s the matter?” the young man said. “Miss your butt buddy?”

Pony #1 ran up to him and uppercutted him in the gut. It hurt a lot, what with the ivory hoof and all, but the amount of force behind it was minimal. Pony legs weren’t designed to do that, it seemed.

“Maybe you’ll be my new one,” pony #1 said.

The young man put his hand on the pony’s back. “I think not,” he said darkly.

Without warning, he shot his hand up to grab the back of the pony’s head and placed his left hand under his jaw, then twisted with all his might to end pony #1. It all happened too fast for the others to respond, and by the time their weapons were drawn, the young man had drawn a small sword from pony #1’s sheath on his side and hopped backwards into a ready stance.

“I have things to do, sorry,” the young man said.

“This could have been so much easier,” the griffon said with a snarl. At least, that’s how the young man would describe it. The griffon had a beak, so it was hardly a human expression.

“Really? It was three on one before,” the young man said. “Now it’s only two.”

“Still enough for you!” pony #2 shouted.

The griffon and pony split up and tried to attack the young man from opposite sides. The young man knew this tactic, though, and responded by running forward to where they had just been, then spun around to go after the pony one on one very quickly.

The pony could barely respond as the young man swung the small sword toward him faster than any being he had ever seen yet in his life. He just managed to get his own blade in the way and prevent the sword from being buried in his rump, but the young man was on him again when he ran forward and wrapped his arms around the pony’s torso. With a massive surge of power, the young man threw the pony over himself and onto the ground between himself and the griffon.

The pony felt his ribs scream at him with the impact, but managed to ignore it and roll away to recover while his boss hopped over him with his talons bared and attacked the young man.

The griffon tried to stab his talons at the young man, but he stuff the attempted stab by shoving the blade vertically into the space between two of the griffon’s talons. The griffon squawked in pain and jumped to the side to look at the wound. It wasn’t too deep, really only minor, but it hurt like a monster where it was between his talons.

While he was busy looking at the wound, the young man was on the assault of his pony friend once again. The pony had just gotten up and was already walking backwards on his hind legs to avoid being cut to ribbons by the young man with the blade.

The pony tried to jump up and give him a good aerial buck to crack the young man’s ribs and incapacitate him, but he poorly judged how long it would take, and the young man was already between his hind legs when he went for the buck. The young man reached up and grabbed him by the throat, then threw him straight to the ground. The pony felt the strike against his larynx and coughed furiously, but the young man put pressure on his neck and he couldn’t breath.

His saving grace was his boss tackling the young man off of him, and the two of them rolled away. The young man dropped the blade and rolled back to his feet to face the griffon without a weapon. Although, from how he moved, pony #2 could tell he didn’t really need a weapon.

The griffon went for a slash with his talons, but the young man rushed him and stuff the attack with his left hand and struck him with his right fist in the belly. He then put his right arm down to block an attempted counter from the griffon’s other set of talons and jumped up, sending his knee straight into the griffon’s head and knocking him back.

The griffon fell back hard and slumped to the ground in a daze. The young man turned his attention back to pony #2, who had just gotten back up and had his sword ready.

“All I ask is that you let me bust your jaw,” the young man said. “You can’t tell anyone where I am that way.”

“What if we promise not to tell?” pony #2 asked.

“Not good enough,” the young man replied. “I need assurance that you won’t talk, at least not before I leave.”

“I need my jaw to eat,” pony #2 said.

“Liquid diet,” the young man explained briefly. “Drink your food.”

“Screw that!” pony #2 said. He roared as he sprinted forward and went for a slash.

The young man stuck his hand out and caught the pony’s hoof before it could come down, then held it tightly in place as he stared the pony in the eyes. Pony #2 stared back, first with unbridled rage, but it turned quickly to unbridled fear as he knew what was to come.

“I don’t want to die,” he said.

“It’s just a jaw,” the young man said. “It won’t-“

Behind the young man, the griffon had gotten up and, with blurred vision and primal rage, bellowed his fury and rushed the young man. The young man heard him coming from a mile away, though, and spun around to place pony #2 in between himself and the griffon.

The griffon was rushing forward with his talons out for blood. He stabbed them forward blindly, expecting to find a human target, but instead found his own teammate, and dug them deep into his body, eliciting a horrified gasp from pony #2. The young man blinked in shock and opened his mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. Second slater, the pony in his grip was dead, and the unsupported weight fell to the ground, dragging the griffon with it.

The crowd of villagers gasped and cried out from the horrific sight as the griffon pulled his talons out of his friend. For a moment, he just looked at them, catatonic form the blood he was looking at. None of it belonged to the human, and the human had not drawn a single drop of it.

“Oh, no,” the griffon said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I didn’t want this to happen,” the young man said, still in shock. “I just wanted to break your jaws, keep you from talking…”

“Let me guess; liquid diet?” the griffon said, tears fully streaming down his face and looking resentfully at the clearly stronger human. “That’s it, huh? Make us suffer?”

The young man frowned. “You were going to do the same for me, and don’t bother arguing,” the young man said. “You can still walk away. With a busted jaw.”

“No,” the griffon said. He stood up and stepped backwards. “I’m leaving right now, and you and this little village are gonna burn in Tartarus!”

The young man couldn’t catch the griffon before he leapt at the nearest house to get a good point to take off from, so he did the next best thing; he went for pony #2’s weapons on his person. The young man grabbed two small swords, then turned his attention back to the griffon. He was just landing on the rooftop, recovering by rubbing his head for a moment, before he was to take off.

The young man knew he really only had one shot at this, so he took every moment he could. Judging how far the griffon was and how high he was, the young man felt for the wind and found nothing. The griffon looked down at him and grimaced, but then smiled spitefully, knowing that this information could kill him and the ponies who saved him.

As the griffon turned away to take flight, he stood up and flared his wings only to be forced forward as something struck him in the back. Whatever it was, it felt like it had cut him a little, too, and he totally lost his balance and went tumbling off of the roof toward the ground.

The griffon struck the ground with a cringe-inducing thud, and several inaudible cracks as he landed on his open wings. A horrible, sharp pain surged through his body from his wings, drawing a long, pained scream from the griffon. When he tried to move, he found out his left leg was also busted, and he wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Moments later, the young man came running from the other side of the house. When he saw the griffon in a crumpled heap on the ground, he stopped and simply looked at it, pity in his eyes, yet, with a sense of satisfaction. Slowly, h made his way over to the griffon and knelt by his side.

“This could have been less painful,” the young man said.

“Right,” the griffon replied, dripping with sarcasm. “A broken beak for me, drinking my food until I get a prosthetic? Way less painful.”

“Than a broken body and bloody back, and two more dead teammates? One from your own talons? I’d say so,” the young man said.

“Just kill me,” the griffon said. “End my misery now.”

“I won’t do that,” the young man said.

“It’s that, or starve from lack of work and lack of an ability to go home,” the griffon said. “End my suffering.”

The young man stood. “Alright. You wanna die so bad?” he asked with frustration and pity. He dropped a sword next to the griffon. “Your arms still work. Do it yourself.”

The griffon looked at the sword that the young man dropped before him. It disgusted him; it had been his teammate’s sword before the griffon killed him by accident in a blind fury. He couldn’t even touch it.

“I can’t,” the griffon said.

“Then you don’t want to die,” the young man said. “Gibbs!”

“Yes?” Gibbs replied, coming around the corner of the house.

“Where’s a town that you can bring this guy to a doctor?” the young man asked.

“To the east of here, about a day and a half of travel,” Gibbs replied.

“When someone has time, take him there to get him fixed up,” the young man said, stepping away from the griffon.

“No!” the griffon shouted. “Kill me! Do it!”

The young man ignored him. “He can’t give two or three ponies much trouble. And I’ll be long gone by the time he encounters anyone to talk to. Also, break that beak on the way just in case. He’ll get a prosthetic someday.”

“Um, a-alright,” Gibbs said, unsure of the merciful brutality.

“NO!” the griffon shouted. “GET BACK HERE AND KILL ME, YOU COWARD! I AM YAFID! I WILL COME FOR YOU!”

“Bust that beak now, and his screaming will stop,” the young man suggested as he disappeared from view.

Yafid couldn’t resist what the villagers dished out to him, silencing his screams for the time being and knocking him out. They carried him back to one of the houses where they would hold him until the next day, when they would begin the long journey of the start of his recovery. The young man spared his life, but the villagers universally agreed, this Yafid character was probably going to be back someday. And for the young man, that day would be quite the reckoning.

The young man was making some questionable decisions, the kind that would certainly come back down the road. But once he was gone, the villagers would lose mind of him, and life would be normal again. That was all they really wanted.

Skies Uncleared

The young man walked back into the house, shaking and trying his best to calm down. That was only the second time he had been in a fight like that, but this time, he had seen it coming and needed to prepare himself. It wasn’t a react-as-trained scenario, he was fully aware of what was coming the whole time. At least it was just some couple of mercenary ponies, nothing more.

The young man walked back to the fire and drying rack and went about removing his gi and obi once again to finish drying. He would also have to sit next to the roaring flame so he would dry fully again himself. His arms were wet from the sleeves, and he really just wanted to be dry and clothed now. It felt like it had been weeks, even if it was just days.

As the young man sat down with the towel around himself again, Gibbs came trotting up to the door and froze when he saw the young man sitting there, staring at the fire. He wasn’t sure what to say. He had never known anypony who had killed somepony, let alone three ponies. The young man’s face, though, betrayed no trauma. He just looked casually at the flame, as if he merely needed a nap or respite.

He didn’t seem to register anything that had happened as important.

“A-hem,” Gibbs coughed, getting the young man’s attention.

The young man looked over. “Hey, Gibbs,” he greeted, and then sighed. “Sorry all this trouble had to come from my appearance here.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Gibbs asked bluntly. He hadn’t even meant to ask at all, it just sputtered out.

“What?” the young man asked, confused.

“You killed three ponies,” Gibbs said. “How can you… I don’t get…”

The young man frowned. “What, Gibbs?”

“How are you able to just sit there like that?” Gibbs asked. “You took three lives. Three ponies are dead by your hand now, and you act like it's nothing!”

“What, you want me to be traumatized? Incapacitated, from killing a few ponies?” the young man asked rhetorically. He turned aggressively to face Gibbs. “That’s what you want?”

“What, you view us as lesser?” Gibbs asked, growing frustrated. “Our lives aren’t as big, is that it? You humans are so much greater, ponies don't matter?”

“What the Hell is your problem?” the young man retorted. “Your village is safe, I’m safe, I even spared the griffon’s life. What do you want?”

“I want life to go back to the way it was!” Gibbs shouted.

“Your life was pathetic!” the young man shouted back.

Gibbs felt his words catch in his throat. The young man had stopped him in his tracks, given him pause where none had ever done so before. Pathetic? For trying to survive?

“Pathetic,” Gibbs repeated. “So. That’s what we are. I see.” He turned and walked out out.

“Gibbs-“ the young man started. He started too late, though, as Gibbs slammed the door shut as he left. The young man sighed and looked back to the fire. He hadn’t meant to offend, even if what he said was very true. That was probably why Gibbs left; he didn’t want to face it. Either that, or he simply followed a different logic and didn’t appreciate the young man’s line of it.

The young man thought about where Gibbs was coming from. He had always tried to see thing from another point of view, it was something his teachers and parents had drilled into his mind. It didn’t always work; in fact, it usually just made him less inclined to agree; but he had to try.

Gibbs was trying to ensure the safety of his family and friends, obviously. That’s what the young man would do any day. But his way of doing it… It was flawed. Living like this put them in perpetual danger. Even if they were in good favor with the Tong, which they clearly weren’t, they could lose that favor in a moment.

If he did fight back, and lost, everyone would be gone. It was a huge risk in that line. But either way, that risk was extremely real and close. Since both ways had to deal with that, it wasn’t valid as an argument. If he fought back, they could at least weaken them. By weakening them, someone else could come in and put an end to the Tong. Or, the village would stand successfully after sustaining some losses, and they could be free and recover over time. It would ensure their well-being and freedom in the future.

So, if they chose to fight, it created the real possibility that they would all be killed. But what was worse? To live in forced servitude, slavery, or to die in the fight for liberty? To end the suffering now, or to continue suffering and living?

One of the young man’s favorite authors, one Christopher Paolini, had an impressive counter argument that the young man had to consider. One of his characters once said how it is more courageous and strong to live and suffer for what you want than to go and die for it. In the context of war or fighting, it wasn’t quite as right, because that was suffering that came with a risk of death.

So, these ponies were living and suffering. But what were they hoping for? Were they hoping the Tong would be taken out by an intervention force? There was no chance of that kind of military action coming their way, not with so few resources out here. At least, the young man assumed that, since no intervention had come in the decades of slavery they had gone through.

Were they hoping to be freed, or that their numbers could be great enough to fight back? If their numbers became greater, so would the Tong’s. If they could acquire weapons in secret, that would help. Then they might stand a real chance, minimize losses. Of course, for those who lost, they would never view the battle as a victory. Maybe Gibbs was scared he would lose someone.

Or maybe he couldn’t stand taking someone away from their loved ones. The young man killed three ponies. They were jerks, so it was likely they had no one except the griffon, Yafid, and he was awfully distraught over the loss. Especially since one was his own guy that he himself killed.

But that guy, like the families of those in the Tong if there were any, knew about the atrocities being committed and did nothing, even profited off of them. Did their well-being matter, or was it null and void for their complacent or approving role in the suffering? Seeing as they contributed to it, the young man thought they didn’t deserve happiness themselves. So if somepony lost his or her spouse to it, too bad.

That, naturally, left the children. They never deserve it, no matter who they are or where they’re from. So what to do about them? They need support either way. Of course, if taking out their parents means preventing the crimes from being committed, that helps more of the people, or ponies. But that leaves an innocent child in the darkness, all alone, to potentially evolve into a worse version of the parents. There needs to be a contingency.

Which, naturally, is the villages. They have to take in the kids and raise them right to prevent more of the evil from spawning. The villages would have to accept the burden, but it would prevent the existing, much more severe burdens from continuing and getting worse. And if they could take these burdens, they could easily handle raising a few extras. Colm Winds seemed to come out fine, and he was born of tragedy, just like these kids would be.

So, with the kids taken care of, and a plan for taking on the Tong, what was left to consider? There would naturally be recovery, a change in the routine of life, but it was a good change. There was just one thing left.

Fear of uncertainty.

The ponies in this village were too scared of not knowing what was coming. They were so dug into this routine that they were terrified of what may come without it. Just with the young man’s arrival, the ponies were always looking over their shoulders for the Boogey Man. Sure, some bounty hunter mercs came around, but it was nothing more than what they had already dealt with. They were fine.

But that fear of the unknown, a fear of not knowing what may come the next day, it paralyzed these ponies. They were too scared of change to act on the problem. Hundreds of ponies from different villages terrorized and held hostage, by nothing more than a gang of thirty-something basic thugs. They could easily overpower them and kick them out.

And it was pathetic.

The young man sighed, discontented with his conclusion but finding no other way to look at it. No one could possibly help these ponies here, not if they kept up this crippling fear of independence. It was sad to think about, plain and simple, so the young man opted not to.

At least he would be gone soon, and he wouldn’t have to deal with it. The ponies could live on their own like this if they wanted, for all he cared. It wasn’t as if they were real people.

Twister

Instead of waiting for the next day to transport the griffon Yafid, the ponies had done so immediately, figuring that sooner was better than later for medical aid. If it didn’t get fixed right away, it could mean permanent disability. The young man wouldn’t mind that, since he was going to sell him into slavery or some such fate, but the ponies were too afraid of any consequences to go with that.

The young man was about ready to get going now. He had his gi and it was nice and dry, he had a few coins, and he could grab some food before he left. If he took enough, it would keep him stocked until he hit up the next village, where he would quickly get food and anything else he could use and then dip. He didn’t want to stick around, not with those Tong thugs who seemed to have nasty plans for him.

The young man had thrown his gi on the previous night before sleeping, figuring he might as well just sleep in it since it was his only set of clothes. It would get smelly and gross over time regardless, so one night wouldn’t make much of a difference. He actually sweated a bit in his sleep due to how well the gi actually kept heat retained under the blanket. The open chest generally let one cool down fast, but when that was blocked up, the heat retention was excellent.

The young man decided he would have to start each day with stretches, like any time he went to the dojo back home. He was probably going to be exerting himself quite a bit in the coming days or weeks, or even months, and any injury would slow his progress. He wasn’t willing to deal with that, not when he was surrounded by terror-stricken, miniature horses.

He just so badly wanted out now. After the confrontation with Gibbs the previous day, he hated being here. These ponies were so complacent about their situation, so driven by fear. The young man couldn’t understand how that would drive them to do nothing. And this was especially true when they could band together the villages to end this tyranny once and for all.

But it was no matter for the young man to handle. It wasn’t his business. He didn’t choose to end up here.

It wasn’t so early in the day this time when he woke up. Outside, he could hear the ponies milling about, doing whatever nonsense they typically did. The little ones played, the older ones worked, and life was almost normal for them.

Until the young man heard that familiar voice boom from a long distance away.

“We don’t like being lied to!!” the Tong leader called out.

The young man felt a chill go down his spine. He was literally, just about to head out, and then this jerk showed up. The timing couldn’t have been worse. And judging from his words, he knew the jig was up.

“Where is it?!” the Tong leader demanded. “Where is the human!?”

“What are you talking about?” Gibbs shouted from a distance. “We don’t have it here!”

“So you know there is one!” the leader said. His voice was getting closer, and sounded like it was roughly where Gibbs’s voice was.

“No, I wasn’t saying-“ Gibbs was cut off by what sounded like a severe buck to his side. The young man could hear the crack from the house.

“Mother of God,” the young man said to himself.

He listened through the window to what was happening. The sounds of primal brutality reigned supreme through the village. Children were crying, ponies gasping and shrieking out. The leader of the Tong was breaking Gibbs physically to try to break him mentally.

The Tong leader finally stopped, panting.

“You really hold out strong, huh?” he said. “Well, I’m sick of this village anyway. I’ll be back this evening with my guys, and we’re going to burn this place to the ground.”

“We ne ver h ad a hu m an…” Gibbs sputtered out.

“A little birdie’s injuries speak otherwise,” the Tong leader said, revealing his source. The villagers transporting Yafid sold the village out.

“Da mn it a ll,” Gibbs whispered.

“Better live life like it’s gonna be over tomorrow!” the Tong leader declared. “Cuz yours are gonna end tonight!”

The young man listened as the sudden interruption of his plans faded away in the distance, laughing like a truly evil individual. When he felt like the pony was gone, the young man rushed to the door and looked outside.

What he saw horrified and disgusted him. Gibbs lying in a broken heap of brutalized pony on the ground in the middle of the village, bleeding and crying. And nopony went to help him.

“Jesus, people, help him!” the young man shouted from the door, startling everypony there.

The young man jogged forward to go to Gibbs’s aid, but Sherry and Gibby got there first. They had already been running to his aid when the young man cried out, and even now, they were still the only ponies going to help. The others were stuck in place, like they were glued to the ground.

“Gibbs!” Sherry cried. “It’s okay, I’m here! Gibby is here, we’re alright!”

“Da-ha-ha-ha-aaaddyyy!!” Gibby bawled. He grabbed his father’s foreleg, one of the few unbroken parts of him. “Daddy, daddy…”

“Oh, man,” the young man said as he got close.

Gibbs looked up at him. In the young man’s eyes, he saw pity. Pity for what had just happened to him. Pity for the entire life he was leading. There he was, the strong human, still on his feet, and Gibbs, the supposedly reasonable one, lying on the ground, broken and half dead. Soon, he would be all dead.

“I guess you were right,” Gibbs coughed out to the young man.

“Gibbs…” the young man said.

“No… you were *cough* you were right… this is a pathetic life,” Gibbs said. “You aren’t like us. You’re strong, you can control your own fate. We’re just destined to be this way, I guess.”

“Gibbs, I never meant-“

“This is what you meant,” Gibbs interrupted. “You were right. At least when you leave now, you’ll know you were right. That’s what’s important, I guess.”

“Gibbs, don’t talk like that!” Sherry said. Gibby still just cried.

“Human,” Gibbs said. “There’s a bag of bits and a backpack in my home. Take them; they’ll help you as you go home. Not like we’ll have any use for them…”

“Gibbs, you can’t give up,” the young man said. “You have an entire village here. If you all just stand up-“ The young man stopped. He could see that his words were falling on deaf ears. Frustrated, he turned to the crowd of ponies around them. “If you all stand together, you can kick these guys out! You have the ability to fight, you can do it!”

The crowd’s responses were less than positive.

“I’m getting out of here.”

“We’re just going to be hunted or given up.”

“It was a good run, I guess…”

The young man was angry. He was angry at the Tong for being terrorist thugs. He was angry at the villagers for so easily accepting their doom. He was angry at himself for thinking they could be talked into action. He was angry that he thought there was any hope for these ponies.

The young man sighed. “You can still escape,” the young man said. “Might as well take the chance. No reason not to now, huh?”

“Hardly a chance,” Gibbs said. “They’ll catch us, especially me.”

The young man shook his head. “I guess it’s over, then,” he said. “Thanks for everything.”

“Try to use it smartly,” Gibbs said.

The young man turned away from Gibbs and walked back to the house, where he quickly went in, grabbed the contents Gibbs told him about, and came back outside. The villagers were all just hanging around doing nothing now, waiting for the end to come. Why? Why couldn’t they fight back? They were so resigned to their fate; it was disgusting.

The young man went into the house, grabbed the money Gibbs talked about, and left without another word. The villagers all stared at him as he walked toward the road, some resentfully, some despairingly. Some just wore the most perturbingly blank expressions the young man had ever seen. Totally empty.

All except one. As the young man came close to exiting the village proper, Colm Winds ran up behind him.

“Hey!” he shouted. The young man turned around.

“Yeah?” he asked, patience for this world gone.

“Yer really just gonna leave us here to die?” Colm asked rhetorically. He knew the answer. “After all this village did fer you?”

“I tried to get them to act,” the young man fired back spitefully. “This village is too deep into its fear to do anything. I can’t help.”

“You can fight,” Colm said.

“Ha!” the young man said. “I can fight a few guys. Let’s say that thug comes back with just a small number of his guys. What’s that, like, ten? You think one man can effectively fight that?”

“Maybe yer world is different,” Colm said. “But here, a special talent is called that fer a reason.”

“And what’s yours?” the young man asked.

“Ah don’t ever get to use it anyway,” Colm said. “But I am the best at it, and no group could ever do it better.”

“Whoop-dee-freaking-doo,” the young man said. “I don’t intend to give my life for a bunch of miniature horses that can’t stand up for themselves, only to have it fail anyway when they refuse to fight.” The young man turned back around. “I would advise that you get yourself out of here, too. There’s nothing here for you now. Not that there ever was.”

“Well, good luck out there, then,” Colm spat. “I don’t abandon my friends.”

“Have fun dying with them, then,” the young man said icily.

Colm Winds and the young man faced away from each other and went in opposite directions, one toward a hopeless goal and the other to his old friends and life.

Gale Force Winds

When the Tong thugs arrived at the village, they were more than a little surprised that none of the villagers chose to run. The last village they came to burn tot eh ground was nearly empty when its time was up, and they had a riveting time hunting them down. They didn’t catch all the villagers, but it was a good time for the Tong.

The villagers were lined up in the middle of the village, standing silent. Maybe it was that rainbow shockwave in the sky earlier that inspired them to beg for mercy or something? It was a beautiful, inspiring sight; no one could deny that. Even those as brutal as the Tong could appreciate the beauty of nature’s magic.

But that was then, and this was now, and right now, they had to deal with the villagers who had hidden from them the most profitable venture ever to come into their territory. The human was gone, quite possibly for good now, and there had to be a harsh example made to the other villages under Tong control.

“What to do, what to do…” the Tong leader wondered. “We can’t just let you off the hook, obviously. This is a pretty serious offense you’ve committed.”

“I say kill ‘em all,” one of his thugs suggested casually.

“Or string ‘em up,” another suggested.

“No,” the leader said. “I want to make sure the message is sent out right. This is unacceptable, and the meaning of what we do needs to be clear; you don’t obey, you suffer.”

“Prolonging it, then?” the first thug asked. “I’m sure we an make do with what we can find.”

“Do what you will,” Gibbs said suddenly, leaning on his wife in front of the group. “We were only trying to do what was right.”

“Really?” the Tong leader said, voice seething with anger at the interruption. He bolted forward, grabbed Gibbs, and threw him to the ground, then kicked Sherry away. “The right thing?”

Gibbs coughed violently on the ground. “Yeah,” he said. “We aren’t like you. We try to live good lives.”

“And where did that bring you?” the Tong leader asked. “What have you got to show for it, huh? Where is the human to pay back your kindness?”

From the crowd, Colm Winds exploded forth and body slammed the Tong leader, sending him flying back into his group of thugs. They caught him collectively and set him right back on his feet, and now, he was in an absolute rage.

“Who are you to touch me?!” he demanded.

“Colm Winds,” Colm replied.

The thugs mobilized and surrounded him, forcing him to separate himself from the group with Gibbs. The villagers stepped back to avoid the violence, hopeless to stop the brutal assault that was about to take place.

“You think you’re so tough, so noble,” the Tong leader said. “Now you are going to die; painfully, I will add; and have nothing to show for it but your bloodied corpse.”

Colm looked around; he was definitely about to die. There was no way he could fight these guys, his special talent would do nothing for him. The entire village was about to watch the only fighter among them go down in a heap of pain and agony.

But then, Colm looked to the sun as it was setting over the houses and saw the most beautiful sight he had ever laid his eyes on.

“Got nothing to show for it, eh?” Colm asked.

“Yeah,” the Tong leader said.

“Then who is that?” Colm asked, nudging his head toward the house.

Before the Tong leader or his thugs could look, the young man ran forward and leapt off of the house he had perched on and landed elbow-first onto one of the thug’s necks, smashing his spine within and crumpling him instantly. When he landed, he took a knee and stopped for a moment to catch himself.

The group of hapless thugs stumbled away from where the young man landed, drawing their swords and cursing for their fallen comrade. The young man responded by pulling two blades from the body of his fallen foe and stood up.

“You came back,” Colm said.

“I did,” the young man replied.

“Change of heart?” Colm asked.

“I saw things in black and white before,” the young man said. “Now I can see all the shades of the rainbow.”

“Well, I guess you saved us a whole lot of trouble!” the Tong leader shouted. “I’ll tell you what; you come with us now, and we’ll spare the village.”

“No you won’t,” the young man said. “You’ll kill them once I’m in custody.”

“Heh, yeah, you’re right,” the Tong leader said.

“Which is why I’m here to kill you,” the young man said darkly.

“Oh, yeah?” the Tong leader said. “And what makes you think that’s gonna happen?”

“Tell me; what’s your special talent?” the young man asked.

“I’m a math expert,” the Tong leader said.

“Well,” the young man said, taking a Seunchin dachi stance. “I’m not.”

The Tong leader growled and ordered, “Get him!”

Three of the thugs rushed the young man off the bat, swords up and already slashing away. It wasn’t hard for the young man to parry the first two stallions away, leaving only the third. When the third stallion rushed up to him, the young man blocked the sword and spun off to the side, following with a hack to the back of the stallion’s head.

The blade connected, but only enough to just make it far enough to connect with the spine and cut into it just about half an inch, severing most of the spinal cord within and cutting off the central nervous system. The stallion fell to the ground, mostly dead, and dropped his swords.

Two more Tong thugs rushed at the young man from the initial group, this time each one taking a side and flanking the young man. The young man responded by charging one, taking him by surprise, and stuffing his sword, then followed with an elbow strike to the throat, crushing the stallion’s wind pipe and cutting off his breathing.

The instant that the stallion started to choke, the young man turned his attention to the other. He was nearly upon him already, but the young man simply had to pull the asphyxiating stallion and throw him in between, preventing the assaulting stallion from being able to advance any further. When the stallion tried to catch his falling friend, the young man snaked his arm around the dying one and stabbed the other in the neck, killing him.

The original two were just returning from their failed charge for another go, and the young man dropped his blade in the stallion’s neck to make a quick evasion. The first of the two stallions tried to take a swing at him and missed as the young man ducked underneath and followed with a punch to the neck and an elbow to the side.

The young man could feel several ribs crack from the force of his elbow and followed it up with a spinning elbow strike to the back of the stallion’s head, at least knocking him out with a severe concussion. His buddy had just watched it all happen and hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, and the young man took advantage of that moment’s hesitation.

While the stallion contemplated how to proceed, the young man rushed forward and grabbed his sword arm, then spun it around and stabbed the stallion’s sword into his own back, all while keeping the hoof connected. The shocked stallion fell to the side and writhed in pain on the ground.

Before the young man could take the first move, the Tong leader charged at him, forcing him to roll out of the way. On the way, he passed by the swords of the first stallion he took down and picked them up as he rolled to his feet.

The Tong leader turned to face him. “You think you can just kill my guys and walk away?” he asked furiously.

“Yeah,” the young man said smugly.

“I own this region!” the Tong leader said. “You can’t take this from me!”

The Tong leader charged and the young man took a low zenkutsu stance. As the Tong brought his blade down vertically at the young man’s shoulder, the young man blocked it with an angled high block, sending the sword crashing into the hand guard of his sword. He then pulled both swords to the side, opening the Tong’s face, and elbowed him in the nose.

The Tong fell back and dropped his sword, prompting the young man to throw his away as well. He was going to make a message out of this guy like the Tong was about to make a message out of this village. He wanted all the thugs around to know that crime wouldn’t pay; not any more.

And the young man was the one who was going to collect the bill.

The young man got low to the ground and lunged forward. The Tong reared up as if to try stepping on the young man as he came down, but the young man was too fast for him, and grabbed him by each side. With a powerful thrust from his left leg, the young man rose up in a knee strike into the Tong’s chest.

The Tong fell back again, but as he fell, he grabbed at the young man and pulled away his Gi top, pulling it out from under the black obi and off the young man. The traditional article of clothing fell to the ground in a heap, leaving the young man bare-chested for the fight.

The villagers gasped at what they saw; a new marking, one that hadn’t been there previously when he was walking around naked, on his left shoulder. On the right side appeared to be some kind of wavy lettering, probably some other language, but on the right, there was an intricately drawn image of a human (insert link to Megami) in a stormy sea, with a dragon in the sky and a serpent in the water. None of them knew what it meant, though the open hand and closed fist of the human in the image seemed to indicate something about fighting.

The young man ran forward after the Tong and leapt into the sky, delivering a sideways knee strike to the Tong’s head and sending him to the ground in a dazed mess. When he landed, he rolled away and took a knee away from the Tong. He was growing exhausted from the exertion and needed a breather.

That breather was a fatal error, though; the Tong pulled out a small crossbow from his side and pointed it at the young man, training it straight at the young man’s center of mass.

“Crap,” the young man muttered.

“Nah so easy now, uh?” the Tong slurred. “Heheh, now yoo’re mine-“

Before he could pull the trigger, Colm Winds came from the sidelines with a death-delivering buck to the Tong’s head. There was a loud crack, and the Tong fell to the ground, the dent in his head painfully obvious.

The young man looked to Colm. “Well, I admit I hadn’t seen that coming,” he said.

“Don’t know why yah wouldn’t,” Colm said. “Not like Ah was out of the fight.”

The young man laughed. “Haha, true enough. I suppose I should have known you would want to get a word in.”

“Words can lick mah rump,” Colm said. He looked at the dead Tong. “What now?”

The young man looked at the villagers. They were all in shock at what happened; they thought they had been left for dead. There were still Tong thugs, sure, but this was a defeat they would have a hard time recovering from, and if the villages stood together, the Tong would be no more. The young man could see in their eyes that they knew that; his job was done.

“Now, I take my leave,” the young man said, standing up. “This place doesn’t need me any more, and I have things to do, places to go, people to see.”

“Amen to that,” Colm said, walking up to the young man with a grin. “Of course, it would be foolish to go it alone.”

The young man grinned right back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. He went to his Gi top and picked it up and put it back on. “Shall we go?”

Colm looked back to the village and waved goodbye, getting every villager to wave right back at him. The young man chuckled.

“Let’s,” Colm said. “But before we go, shouldn’t you at least tell these ponies yer name?”

“Nah,” the young man said. “My name isn’t important.”

“Alright, man,” Colm said.

The duo walked out of the village with applause following them, a fighting Irish stallion and a nameless young man heading off into that wild blue yonder, ready for any adventure that awaited them.

The Mission

Part Two: The Guard

The young man and Colm had been travelling together for some weeks now, bumming at several ponies’ homes along the way thanks to the young man’s status as a human. They even managed to eat for free most of the time, and still had their money saved up. It fed the young man’s stingy attitude and only encouraged him to try to avoid paying for things.

They had gotten to know each other much better over the time of their journey. There wasn’t a massive amount to Colm’s story; he grew up in the village, parents killed by the Tong, and he moved from house to house because no single family was able to take him in fully. He knew everyone as close friends, but they weren’t really family to him.

The young man shared his personal history, to an extent, with his new friend; His martial arts, his various hobbies and athleticism, his life with his friends. He had yet to tell him about University and his future plans, though. None of that relevant at the moment, and Cold had yet to ask, so the young man wasn’t telling just yet.

Colm was more than a little impressed. Admittedly, a pony in a more modern setting might not be so impressed, but it’s like taking a villager from a second-world nation and bringing them to New York City; they’re astounded at what humans managed to build. While ponies to the west might not be as impressed; the young man had no idea what they had done; ponies like Colm were fascinated.

“So tell me,” Colm said. “When ya want to take a poop and yer in the city, you can just go to designated rooms?”

“Yeah,” the young man said with a chuckle. Colm grew up with way less than he ever had. “They’re called Restrooms.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Colm said.

“There’s no way most of your world is this way,” the young man said. “I have to believe there’s something modern out there, based on how highly you speak of Equestria.”

“Well, Man, there is some stuff like that, but the culture ain’t the same,” Colm said. “We use our dooky as fertilizer in most societies, I hear, so we can’t just flush it away like you. We still have ta deal with the smell a bit.”

“Oh boy,” the young man said sarcastically. “I can’t wait to see your magnificent cities.”

“They ain’t mine,” Colm said. “Thank Celestia for that. I want to see a city, but dealing with actually living there? No way!”

“You keep saying Celestia like she’s God,” the young man commented.

“God?” Colm said. “You say that like there’s only one.”

“Generally speaking, my culture and many larger cultures in my world are monotheistic,” the young man explained. “People often only worship one god.”

“Ah, I see,” Colm said. “Well, I’ve never been certain on any of it myself. I just know Celestia is one of the most powerful beings here and she’s one of just a few with that kind of power.”

“A few?” the young man asked.

“There’s been a bunch, some of them not so nice,” Colm began. “I suppose I should start at the beginning?”

“Just take them one by one,” the young man said.

“I’ll start with the royal sisters, then,” Colm said. “You know the name of one, Celestia, the Princess of the Sun. She’s the ruler of Equestria currently. She’s benevolent and kind, and does an excellent job.”

“Given how you say ‘Thank Celestia’, I could have guessed that,” the young man said.

Colm went on. “Her sister was a different story. Luna. She was nice at first, controlled the moon and helped ponies with nightmares in the night. Rumor is, she also guides the dead to the afterlife. Then, one day, she was so jealous of the love her sister got, she went crazy and became Nightmare Moon. Real shame, that.”

“What happened? The young man asked.

“She tried to take full control, make the night last forever. She failed, thankfully; eternal night would have killed crops. She was then banished to the moon and is still there today.” Colm sighed. “She was a looker, based on the paintings. They both are, but Luna seemed less… matronly.”

“Understandable,” the young man said.

“Someday she’ll be back, hopefully better, but we have no way of knowing when,” Colm said. “Pray for the best.

“So who are these others?” the young man asked.

“Well, there’s Discord, Spirit of Chaos,” Colm said. “Causes mayhem wherever he went for laughs. Tried to control the world, succeeded for a bit, too, but the royal sisters defeated him and set him in stone.”

“Pulled a Han Solo on him,” the young man commented. Colm looked curiously at him, then continued.

“He’s still locked in his statue today, sitting in the royal gardens. The only thing that can wake him up is ‘structured disorder is replaced with simple chaos’,” Colm said. “Not sure what that means, but I’m sure it’s a bad omen.”

“Hope I’m not around for it,” the young man said.

“You and me both, Man,” Colm said.

“Any others?’ the young man asked.

“Well, there was Tirek, a right bastard in his own way. Wanted to take over the pony world and gain power for power’s sake. He was pure evil. There was also King Sombra of the Crystal Empire, but the entire Crystal Empire is gone, so no one knows where he really is,” Colm said.

“That sounds really, really bad,” the young man said.

“No kidding,” Colm said. “But yeah, these are our most powerful figures, so we usually bow to them. You’ll understand if you meet one.”

“I don’t bow to anyone,” the young man said.

“Your funeral,” Colm said.

“Better to die on your feet than live on your knees,” the young man said. “That ruins your joints.”

“What about your world?” Colm asked.

“There’s too many religions and gods in my world to know them all,” the young man said. “I couldn’t tell you much. Just that when people disagree on it, they tend to get violent pretty easily.”

“That’s no good,” Colm said. “Of course, we have that problem as well.”

“I could tell you about a few things, but man, there’s way too much,” the young man said. “I could write a dozen volumes of general knowledge and still have a hundred to go.”

“Man, you have a lot of crazy stuff in your world,” Colm said.

“You don’t know the half of it,” the young man said.

“So, how long until the next village?” Colm asked.

“If I remember right from those ponies, it won’t be a village,” the young man said, recollecting. “It should be a mountainside city. We have at least another day and a half of travel.”

“Aghuhgughagh,” Colm whined.

“Don’t be a little girl,” the young man said with a laugh. “It’s not THAT far. We’ll camp out in a couple of hours for the night, then double time it tomorrow to get there sooner.”

“Sounds good to me,” Colm said. “Any idea how many ponies live in the city?”

“Not a clue,” the young man said. “Forgot to ask. I’m sure we’ll be able to bum around again.”

“I know we’re leaving the pony territories soon, right on the edge,” Colm said. “We might start finding griffons. They like living in the mountains.”

“Oh boy,” the young man said. “More Yafids.”

“Hey now, no speciesism,” Com said. “That’s a quick way to get clawed by these goons.” The young man gave Colm an incredulous look.

“Yeah. Right,” the young man said.

The duo kept onward and came to a good spot to camp out for the night. The nights tended to get pretty cold, but the young man’s gi was decent enough for keeping the cold out and Colm was used to living in the environment. It also helped that they had gotten bags from the previous village for carrying the few things they had between them, so they each used one bag as a sleeping bag. The young man’s bag was too small, so he punched his feet through so it would be usable.

When morning came, they picked up and left. Colm wasn’t terribly happy about the torn bag, but the young man argued that it didn’t matter since they only needed one bag to carry all their stuff. Colm reluctantly accepted the argument and they were on their way, he young man now with a new vest.

“Still say you shouldn’t’a done that,” Colm said.

“Ah, put a sock in it,” the young man said. “I’m way better off with this, and you’re not carrying that much.”

“I’m carrying a bag of bits. That gets pretty dang heavy,” Colm complained.

“Do you need the big, strong human to take care of it?” the young man asked.

“Oh, woe to me, who art too weak ta carry the cash,” Colm said. The young man gave him a look and then took the bag.

“You’re a character,” the young man said.

“I’d rather be a character than a sideshow,” Colm said. The young man couldn’t argue against that.

“I guess,” the young man said.

“Though I suppose the look works for you,” Colm teased. “Now ya look like a real bum.”

“Minus the white pants,” the young man said. “And the white sleeves. Too bad you can’t see the belt underneath.”

“Why do ya wear that?” Colm asked. “I don’t see any real use fer it.”

“Well…” the young man started. It took him a moment to think of something. “It holds the outfit together. And it symbolizes my rank. Plus I could use it as a weapon.”

“But those aren’t the reasons why ya do wear it,” Colm said.

The young man shrugged. “Honestly, it feels like it’s a part of me. I’m not about to let it go when I could just wear it.”

“Ah, I suppose I can accept that,” Colm said. “It’s got its uses. Just make sure ya utilize them if you can.”

“If I want,” the young man said.

“How much farther until we get to the city?” Colm asked.

The young man looked fruitlessly ahead. “Well, I can’t say for certain, but we could make it by the end of the day. The landscape is already starting to change; fewer trees around; so we can’t be far.”

“Approaching Griffon territory,” Colm said.

“I’m not exactly hunky-dory about it myself, but we don’t seem to have a choice. Let’s just get moving,” the young man said.

The duo continued forward along the road. It was becoming less of a dirt road and more of a gravel path, much to the young man’s chagrin. He had no shoes, s stepping on the rocks wasn’t the most pleasant experience he was having. He had some callouses on hi feet from being a runner, but not exactly the kind that help with walking barefoot anywhere.

The young man was becoming more and more aware of his surroundings as they changed before him. The ground was becoming less flat, with actual hills up ahead, and the landscape definitely favored creatures that could fly. No wonder the griffons liked it; no one could bother them.

They stopped at the foot of a large hill. Colm looked up with mild despair, while the young man just sighed and hated everything about his current situation. There was simply no reason for this all to be happening.

“Now’s a time to push forward, Colm,” the young man said.

“Man, you better help me if I can’t make it,” Colm said.

The funny thing was, the travelling wasn’t even that hard. It was just that neither of the two were used to traveling on foot for so long.

They started their climb up the hill. The hill wasn’t really that bad, but after days of travelling by foot and hoof, it was a real task. As they approached the top of the hill, Colm heard voices from up top.

“Wait!” Colm said in a hushed voice.

“What?” the young man replied, not in a hushed voice.

“Shhh!” Colm hissed.

“Who goes there?!” a voice boomed form over the hill.

“Oh,” the young man said. “That.”

“Yes, that,” Colm said. “Ya hard of hearing?”

“I’m only ever hard of one thing,” the young man said.

“I said, who goes there?!” the voice boomed again.

“Travellers!” Colm shouted.

“Ponies?” the voice replied.

“One pony,” the young man said.

“And what are you?” the voice asked.

The young man and Colm continued up the hill and hit the top, where they found a crew of a dozen griffons armed with spears around a cart.

“A human,” the young man said.

The griffons all stared at him intently, as if trying to blink him into being a pony. When the human before them remained in place, they pointed their spear tips at him and held their ground.

“What brings you here?” the same voice, from the apparent captain of the group, asked.

“We’re trying to get to Princess Celestia,” the young man said.

“She might be able ta get him home,” Colm explained. The guards lowered their spears.

“Alright,” the captain said. He went and knocked on the door to the cart. “Sire, there’s a human out here!”

Before the young man could explain that he was going to be on his way, the door burst open and a very fat griffon exploded out of the cart in an excited frenzy. When he laid eyes on the young man and Colm, he froze.

“So, the rumors are true,” he said.

“I guess?” the young man said.

“What is your name?” the griffon asked.

“Don’t see as it matters much,” the young man replied.

“The rumors are quite true, then,” the griffon said.

“Ah’m Colm Winds,” Colm said.

“Did I ask?” the griffon said.

“No, but he did the courtesy of telling you,” the young man said.

“How dare you talk to the king that way!” the griffon captain said.

“King?” the young man said. The king nodded. “I don’t do kings.”

“Well, you will when we-“

“Captain, please,” the king said. “Let’s not create a scene that needs a crew to clean later.”

“Yes, sir,” the captain said, seething.

“I am King Yakesh,” the king said. “I rule these lands from the Mountain City.”

“Ah,” the young man said. “We were actually going there to get directions to Equestria.”

“Well, I am going back home now,” King Yakesh said. “Come with me. I’d like to make you an offer.”

“Free ride?” the young man asked. The king nodded. “We’ll come right along.”

The King looked distastefully at Colm, a glance lost neither on Colm nor the young man, but they figured they might as well use this. It’s not often you get a king to offer you a ride.

Colm, the young man, and King Yakesh got into his chariot, which was just big enough for the three of them, and soon after, they went off.

Initially, everyone was silent as they rode along, every bump painfully present on their behinds. It was still better than further use of their feet and/or hooves, though. And from the look of it, this king wouldn’t be able to walk very far himself. Could he even fly with all that weight?

“So, human,” King Yakesh began. “You stumbled into my lands on this day; I rule this area from the city you were travelling to.”

“They’re very nice lands,” the young man said uncertainly. What do you say to a king, anyway?

“Much prime farmland across my small; but powerful; kingdom,” King Yakesh said. “You’re friend… Colm? Seems like he would know.”

“I would,” Colm said. “I was hesitant to step on some of it because I figured someone would want to use it.”

The king beamed. “Indeed! Very fertile, perfect for growing the few crops we eat and the others we use in hunting.”

“Mah village once had soil like that, decades ago,” Colm said.

“Yes, I believe I know what you are referencing,” King Yakesh said.

“Really?” the young man said.

“Word travels fast in these parts,” King Yakesh explained. “We already know of the downfall of a portion of the Blooded Tong gang. Your combat skills have already become something of a local legend.”

“He is pretty good,” Colm chimed in.

“Good enough to suit my purposes,” the young man said.

“And possibly mine,” King Yakesh said.

“Yours?” the young man said.

“You see, when I was telling you about our fertile and prosperous lands, I was getting at how jealous some of our neighbors are,” King Yakesh said. “They would do what they can to take these lands.”

“I don’t know much about royal rivalries and relations,” the young man said.

“Just a villager,” Colm said.

“Well, let me explain the situation, then,” King Yakesh said. “My daughter is going to marry a prince of a kingdom on the opposite of one of our greatest enemies. Should we do this, they will be incapable of defeating our combined forces in a two-front war.”

“I’m guessing that the marriage is about the only thing that’ll seal the deal?” the young man said.

“Precisely,” King Yakesh said. “I’ve offered other things, but the prince there only wants my daughter. She is quite beautiful.” King Yakesh smirked, but neither the young man nor Colm moved. “Very enviable.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t know,” the young man said. “I like human women.”

“Ain’t seen a girl griffon,” Colm said.

“My, you led a boring life,” King Yakesh said.

“It just started recently,” Colm said.

“Back to my point,” King Yakesh said. “These are powers in the works attempting to prevent the marriage of my daughter to the prince, leaving my kingdom vulnerable to an attack or sanctions. I need the marriage to happen.”

“What exactly do you think we can do about it?” Colm asked. “We’re a man and a stallion.”

“You are a great warrior,” King Yakesh said, looking at the young man. “I need you to work with me and my army.”

“Uhhh…” the young man said, sucking through his teeth. “I don’t think that’ll really work.”

“Why is that?” King Yakesh said, sounding suspiciously more serious.

“I mean, well… I’m a fighter, not a teacher, I can’t do that,” the young man started. “I’ve also got some bad blood on my tail, so I’m on the run, and I’m trying to get home, which I don’t have a lot of time to do-“

“I don’t need you to wage war,” King Yakesh broke in. The young man sighed with relief. “My daughter has a guard unit, the best of my army, but I fear they may not be enough. I want you to guard her.”

“Oh,” the young man said. Colm silently watched the dealings proceed. “Well, how long would this be?”

“Only until she is married and out of my talons,” King Yakesh said. “About two weeks time, maybe three if there are delays.”

“I think we could do that,” the young man said.

“We?” King Yakesh asked, looking at Colm.

“What, you think I took out the Tong completely on my own?” the young man said. “Had this clown decided to help earlier, it would’ve been a couple of minutes and then done.”

“He’s good?” King Yakesh asked in apparent disbelief.

“Hard to believe?” Colm asked, irritated. The young man elbowed him in the side.

“Hmmm… Very well,” King Yakesh said. “The two of you will be my daughter’s personal guards.”

“Hang on, though,” Colm said, earning a curious look from King Yakesh and a highly agitated look from his companion. “Say this is too dangerous, even for us. We have to escape. What then?”

“Trespassers and fugitives are not given leniency in my kingdom,” King Yakesh said darkly.

The young man put his hand over Colm’s mouth. “Well, I guess we know how to deal with any attackers! Ahahaha, haha, ha…” He smiled nervously at the King, who smiled and clapped his claws together.

“Excellent!” he said. “I will inform my captain of the plan now.” The king opened a hatch in the roof and stuck his head out to tell the captain of his guard troop what was going on.

The young man gripped Colm’s muzzle to keep it shut. “What the HELL was that?!” he whispered loudly. “Why did you ask that?!” He released Colm’s muzzle, and Colm went for a bite on his hand, but missed.

“I needed to know! What if something goes totally wrong?” Colm said angrily.

“This new thing called improvising?” the young man said. “It’s not that hard.”

“You suck at it!” Colm said. “How about that guy you KICKED OFF A MOUNTAIN?”

“Hey, it worked!” the young man said.

“Hardly!” Colm replied.

“Ugh! Look, stop asking idiotic questions, and let’s just do what we told him we would,” the young man said. “If things get too heated, we can-“

“There, all is set!” King Yakesh said, driving the young man to shut up immediately and give a big, fake smile. Just to be safe, he grabbed Colm’s muzzle again, much to the stallion’s displeasure.

“Great!” the young man said. “I suppose we’ll work out any other details when we get there?”

“Yes, we’ll give you your living quarters when we arrive,” King Yakesh said. “I’ll likely stick you in my daughter’s room, since I know neither of you would even be interested in trying something. She won’t like it, but that is of little consequence with the situation.”

“I get the feeling that it’s never been of consequence,” the young man thought.

“Long as she doesn’t claw us out of spite,” Colm joked.

“Haha!” King Yakesh laughed. “I hope not!”

For the lives of them, the duo certainly hoped not as well. They had just jumped from fighting a bunch of small-time thugs to possibly becoming security forces in a war; the last thing they needed was their charge fighting them too.

The Charge

The remained of the ride to the city was easy and relatively quiet, mostly just the king droning on and on about how great his lands were and how strong his people were. The young man and Colm just nodded along, throwing in occasional compliments here and there. They weren’t foolish enough to risk angering him after their previous conversation, so every chance they had to make a good impression, they took.

“Approaching the city!” the guard captain shouted from outside.

“Ah, nearly there,” King Yakesh said. “Let me open the hatch all the way so you can both see our glorious city.”

When the king opened the hatch, Colm and the young man stood up to look. Yakesh wasn’t kidding when he said it was a magnificent city. Seemingly carved out of a mountain, or several, it consisted of numerous, incredibly tall stone towers with hundreds of caves and holes for griffons to fly in and out of. There were spirals and lifts for griffons and visitors who liked or had to walk to and from various places.

The only problem for Colm and the young man was that the towers were hundreds of feet tall; going up and down would be nearly impossible. The good news was that, as they got closer, Colm and the young man could see slides for going down the mountain built next to the stairs. There was no single slide; it was broken into parts; but it meant a quick way down. It was a good idea to take a note of that for later.

“You like it?” King Yakesh asked from inside.

“It’s incredible!” Colm shouted. The king laughed

“I knew you’d be impressed!” he said. “My people carved down two mountains over hundreds of years to make it. It’s still under work on the other side of the city.”

“Holy moly,” the young man said. “Sure don’t see those back home.”

“No, but I do imagine you humans have thing far more impressive than what we can conceive of here,” King Yakesh admitted. “It was the intelligence of one of you whom we met that inspired this.”

“Wait, for real?” the young man asked. “Who would be that smart?”

“He went by the name Isaac,” King Yakesh said. “First introduced the world to the physical sciences that enabled us to engineer such feats.”

“Isaac?!” the young man said. “Like, Isaac Newton?!”

“Yes, that was him!” King Yakesh said.

“He died of mercury poisoning!” the young man said incredulously.

“Mercury?” King Yakesh asked. “I don’t know how that could happen. He said it was medicinal. And he was alive when he got here, anyway.”

“Okay, quick note; NEVER consume mercury, it’s seriously toxic,” the young man said. “Alchemy isn’t real. That’s one thing he was NOT right about.”

“We can’t figure out where to find it anyway,” King Yakesh said. “It certainly doesn’t exist within our borders. Naturally liquid metal? Such a thing sounds magical.”

“Second thing,” the young man said. “How long ago was this?”

“Hundreds of years ago, effectively at the beginning of civilization,” King Yakesh said.

“What?” the young man asked too quietly to be heard. It didn’t make any sense at all.

“We’re very grateful for what he did for the world,” the king said reverently. “The father of modern civilization, he is.”

“Wow,” the young man said. He and Colm dropped back into the cart.

“Now you see why this must be defended,” King Yakesh said. “The magnificence of this city must not be lost to those who would ransack it for resources and power. My daughter’s marriage must happen to preserve our way of life.”

“Well, I think I can sympathize with you when THAT’s what’s at stake,” Colm said. The young man remained silent.

“What of you?” King Yakesh said. “Do you sympathize?”

“For preserving your way of life? Of course,” the young man said. “Freedom to live as you will is important.”

“Second only to loyalty,” King Yakesh added. The young man would disagree, but he was in brown-nosing mode at the moment and didn’t want to slip up. He was never that talented at discourse; his arguments usually consisted of some variation of “Fight me, bro.”

“So, uhh, how high is the princess’s room in whichever place you live?” Colm asked, failing to hide his discomfort. “Really high up, or..?”

“Two levels below mine in the palace tower,” King Yakesh said. “About forty meters down from me, a quick drop.”

“For those who can fly,” the young man added.

“Of course, you two will be outfitted with safety harnesses if you desire,” King Yakesh said. “We also have parachutes from Equestria in case you must make a quick getaway with my daughter.”

“How likely do you think an attack is?” Colm asked. “If you’re outfitting us with parachutes…”

“An attack is imminent,” King Yakesh said. “My spies tell me there are plans in the work to derail my kingdom from within, targeting the royal family. Your job is extremely vital.”

“Oh, joy,” the young man said. He was beginning to regret this decision. Not that it was much of a decision to start with.

“No worries; when we arrive, I will have you both outfitted with armor and weapons suited for your combat styles,” King Yakesh said. “In fact, why don’t you tell me now so I can order them made by tonight.”

“Oh, sweet,” the young man said. “Let me think for a moment. Colm, you’re up first.”

“Alright then,” Colm said. He thought for a moment. “For my weapon, if you could give me a couple of spiked bracelets for my hooves, that’d be good.”

“You should include retractable blades,” the young man piped in. King Yakesh looked at him with surprise.

“That’s genius,” he said simply. “Easy to make, too.”

“Alright, give me those on the bracelets too,” Colm said. “For armor… I guess standard pony-style plate will do.”

“It shall be done by tonight,” King Yakesh said. “And you, human?”

“I have what I want in mind, but it’s hard to explain to someone without a human body,” the young man said. “Do you have a piece of paper and a writing utensil?”

“Certainly,” King Yakesh said. He pulled a piece of parchment and a quill and ink from somewhere behind him.

The young man took the items and started drawing the armor he wanted. It consisted of a three-piece chest plate, where there was a centerpiece underneath two side pieces that moved left and right to give him more mobility in the shoulders and chest. The abdominal section was a series of small, rectangular sheets strung together underneath to let him move freely and prevent restriction of his torso.

The shoulder pauldrons were fairly standard, as were the greaves and boots. The back of the armor was similar to the front in design to allow maximum mobility. On his arms, there was a small metal plate that would go over part of his triceps. Nothing went over his biceps.

The gauntlets were the most important part, though. They worked by having a sleeve underneath that the metal was attached to, like all gauntlets, but the fingers had layered sheets of metal, similar to the abdominals section of the cuirass. The knuckles were thicker than the rest and had small spikes on them for more precise application of force.

King Yakesh looked over the drawings as the young man explained them. When he finished, the King shook his head and handed back the drawings.

“I think you’d better just explain it to the armorer,” he said. “You need to go there to get fitted anyway.”

“Alright,” the young man said. He then thought of something else. “Should I just take my knife design to him, too?”

“Might as well,” King Yakesh said. “I understand the concepts, but applying it to your body is confusing me.”

“I’m also going to ask for thinner plates than standard,” the young man said. “I need mobility.”

“Of course,” King Yakesh said. The carriage stopped abruptly. “Ah, we are here.”

The side door of the carriage opened up, and outside, there were numerous griffons waiting for the king. The king exited the carriage first to a cheering crowd, followed quickly by Colm and then the young man, whose presence hushed the crowd.

“Featherkin!” King Yakesh boomed. “I present to you, the duo that defeated the Blooded Tong! They shall serve as the guards of my beloved daughter in this time of reckless hazard!”

The young man gave a big, toothy smile, and Colm did the same. The crowd cheered for them.

“I was hoping this would be kept under the rug,” Colm said.

“No kidding,” the young man said. “How much do you wanna bet our job just got a whole lot harder?”

“Like it wasn’t hard enough to begin with,” Colm said.

“Now!” King Yakesh continued. “Good news! The marriage of my lovely daughter Nikita to the Prince Valdmer is on its way, and we shall have the prosperity we deserve!” The crowd continued to cheer. He turned to the duo. “How about I take you up to meet my daughter? You can see the armory later.”

“Sounds good to me,” Colm said.

“Ditto,” the young man agreed.

The king led them through the crowd and to the tower, where there was what looked like a basket ready to carry them up to the top of the tower. There were no safeties on the basket, no rails or anything. Colm and the young man both swallowed hard and stepped up onto it with the king.

They both opted to sit down as it rose into the sky. The motion was erratic and inconsistent, leading the duo to believe it was being pulled by workers and not something steady. The two of them said a silent prayer that they would come out of this alive. Who wanted to be killed on the job before even meeting the objective?

When they made it to the top, Colm and the young man leapt off the basket and onto the rocky piece of heaven. The king laughed behind them and made some remark about how first-timers always had trouble.

“Come, this way,” the king said. “Nikita will be in her room.”

“Lead the way,” the young man said.

King Yakesh led the pair through the palace tower, through all sorts of winding corridors and strange tunnels. The tunnels were typically only six to seven feet tall, giving the young man trouble every now and again. He would have to remember not to fight in any of these halls, which were also only illuminated by the occasional lamp.

When they rose to the next level, though, the tunnels suddenly became hallways, well cut and refined. The king explained how the exterior of the city was done, and they were trying to make the interior more like modern castles with real hallways and staircases as opposed to sloping and snaking tunnel ways.

“Come, this way,” King Yakesh said. His talons clicked and clacked on the floor.

A mere ten meters later, they were upon a set of double doors made of metal and wood, looking completely out of place. The first thing this king needed to do was hire a real interior decorator.

He knocked on the door. “Nikita, I have something for you!” he said.

“Does she not know?” Colm asked.

“This literally happened today, Colm,” the young man said. “I don’t think they had time to tell her.”

“Yes, sire?” Nikita answered. The door opened.

On the other side was a very clean-looking, well-kept griffon with porcelain-white feathers at the ends of her wings and amber feathers elsewhere. Her head was white and tipped off with a red patch. Upon closer inspection, the white on her feathers appeared to be dye, and they actually looked red where the dye was fading.

She wore a lot of gold jewelry, from bracelets and a crest to little chains hanging from her ears in front of her face. She wore a small dress with gold threading. The griffon princess stood shorter than her father and the guards, but looked like she could probably handle herself almost as well.

“You have two new guards,” King Yakesh said, pointing at the duo. They gave her big, goofy smiles and waved at her. “They defeated the Blooded Tong in the village to the east, and will be assigned to keeping you safe until all is settled.”

Nikita looked past her father at the goofballs behind him. They were giving off the most ridiculous presence. How could these smiling ninnies have defeated the Tong gang? The human wore what appeared to be a traditional battle garb, but the pony was naked.

“That’s them?” she asked. Yakesh nodded. “They don’t look like much.”

“I guarantee you, we’re more than-“ Colm couldn’t finish before the young man grabbed his muzzle.

“Ignore him, he’s a dunce,” the young man said with a nervous laugh and a shooting glare at Colm. “Watch what you say,” he muttered.

“They can protect me?” Nikita asked.

“More than capable,” King Yakesh said. “I must be going. They will stay with you for now, and after dinner is served, you will accompany them to the armory. Whenever you go somewhere, take them with you.”

“Yes, sire,” Nikita said. King Yakesh encouraged the duo into the princess’s quarters, shut the door, and made his way elsewhere.

The room was deathly quiet. No one knew what to say. If a pin were dropped, it would sound like a bomb went off.

“Soo…” Colm said.

“Don’t talk,” Nikita said.

“Alright then,” Colm said. He turned to the young man. “Simply lovely,” he muttered.

“Ma’am, we’re here to protect you,” the young man said. “If we’re going to do our job, we need to be on good terms.”

“Oh, yes?” Nikita said. “And how much is my sire paying you to be on good terms with me?”

The young man raised his hand to object, but stopped. He had to think about that. Yakesh never did say he would pay them or compensate them. He was giving them the armor, but that was job-related. There was no compensation.

“We… never did go over that,” the young man said.

“What?” Nikita said, surprised.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re getting paid,” the young man said.

“Took ya that long to figure out?” Colm said from afar.

“So… why are you here?” Nikita asked.

“We were travelling. Ran into your dad. He asked us to protect you, we said yes. After it's done, we’ll continue on our way west,” the young man summarized.

“That’s… very strange,” Nikita said. “No one does anything without getting something in return around here.”

“So we’re the first?” the young man said.

“Yeah, since we ain’t getting JACK for this,” Colm said.

“Oh,” Nikita said. “Umm… okay.”

“So, can we be on good terms?” the young man asked.

“…I suppose so,” Nikita conceded.

The young man clapped his hands. “Lovely! So, tell me about your quarters, and once I’ve done a check, we can talk like old pals.”

“Okay,” Nikita said.

Nikita led the young man and Colm through her quarters, showing them all the windows and furniture. It was an incredibly nice setup, considering she could fly. Anyone else might get sick from the height, as the young man and Colm were feeling. But the freedom of flight must have been wonderful.

“It must be nice, bein’ able ta fly whenever ya want,” Colm commented.

“I don’t get to fly out there,” Nikita said.

“What?” the young man asked.

“It’s too dangerous, my father says,” Nikita said. “Too many bad griffons are out there who might do me harm.”

“What?” the young man said. “Isn’t that what griffon guards are for?”

“Most hens don’t go out flying, as they must take care of the nest,” Nikita said. “It’s our duty.”

“Sounds heinous,” the young man said.

“What?” Nikita replied.

“Come on, you’re telling me you don’t wanna fly?” the young man said. “You’re semi-casual but hiding tone tells me you don’t like this.”

“This is simply how we live,” Nikita said with irritation. “If you don’t like that-“

“Just an observation,” the young man said. “Don’t get your feathers in a bunch.”

Nikita huffed. “Well, what’s your assessment of my quarters, guard?” she asked.

“Pretty good I guess, but the windows will need to be watched when we’re with you,” the young man said. “CLEARLY designed for griffons to get IN and OUT-“ The young man pointed his hand at the princess as he spoke- “So one of us will be on you and the other nearby.”

“When did you become a security expert?” Colm asked.

“Since I found this thing called shut up,” the young man said. “I learned from the TV, I think I know what I’m doing.”

“Whatever, man,” Colm said.

“Well, if you two are quite done, I’d like to get back to my personal activities,” Nikita said.

“By all means,” Colm said. “We’ll just be watching.”

The princess sighed, but said nothing and took a seat in a chair toward the corner where she started knitting. The young man watched with curiosity. She seemed like she was hiding something about herself. She seemed so discontented with knitting in her little corner. There had to be something in here that would reveal more about her.

“Care to tell me why you’re knitting?” the young man asked, winging it.

“I like to,” Nikita replied aggressively.

“I don’t think you do,” the young man said. Nikita didn’t answer. “Fine, then.”

“Where are we going ta sleep, exactly?” Colm asked.

“There is a couch over there,” Nikita answered curtly. “At night, you will take turns.”

“Turns?” Colm asked.

“If we both sleep, she is vulnerable,” the young man said slowly, as if Colm were slow himself. “Guarding 101.”

“Ah, stuff it,” Colm said. “I hadn’t anticipated this.”

“Well, feel free to leave,” Nikita said.

“We’re no freer to leave than you,” the young man commented. Nikita pouted for a brief moment, then brought her face to stone cold stoicism.

Colm and the young man decided to simply take a seat for the time being while they waited for their turns to head to the armory. The princess wasn’t about to warm up to them then and there and spill her secrets, that would take time. If this was going to go even remotely safely, they had to do things right, and they only had one chance to do it.

The Brief

It wasn’t long before a guard came and summoned the trio to go to the armory to get Colm and the young man fitted and outfitted. Nikita followed unhappily, but knew her father would ream her for not going along with her new guards.

The hallways were nice up until they made their way to the servants and workers’ section. That was when the care for the hallways dropped dramatically. The walls were uneven and cave-like again, the ground was gravelly and shifted underneath any weight, and everything was coated with grime. Not surprising though, given how the king seemed to conduct his affairs.

When the guard had them at the armory, he bowed and left off. The young man opened the door and walked through first, followed by Colm and then slowly by Nikita. She decided to take a seat on the floor by the wall as she was forced to watch the proceeding dialogues.

“Hello?” Colm asked.

“Hello?” a voice returned. From behind a forge on the other side of the room, a griffon poked his head out and looked over. “Ah, I was told to expect you!”

The griffon hopped sideways and started jogging over the guard duo. He was a scrawny guy, not like the other griffons they had seen. He had paint markings all over his body that looked like those popular tribal style tattoos, probably indicating his job. His talons were dulled and frayed, but it was hard to tell if it was age or accident. His face was old, but his body was spry, so odds were good that the job was just brutal and he was actually quite young. The strangest part, though, was his one wing.

“Glad to see you,” the young man replied.

“No no, I’M glad to see YOU,” the griffon said. “Call me Ishmael.”

“Okay, Ishmael,” Colm said.

“That name doesn’t add up with the other names around here,” the young man thought.

“I’m the armorer here,” Ishmael said. “I received the designs. Colm Winds, I believe yours is over there.” Ishmael pointed at a pile of steel armor on a table to the side of the room.

“Sweet,” Colm said, and then ran over.

“Yours, however, is a different story,” Ishmael said to the young man.

“What? Why?” the young man asked.

“I appreciate that design idea of yours, but it simply isn’t reasonable with how your human body works,” Ishmael said. “I can’t make enough links that are also strong enough to support your movement while providing adequate protection.”

“It didn’t look that hard,” the young man said.

“Clearly you don’t design armor,” Ishmael said with irritation. “Anyway, what I do have are those gauntlets you asked for. I recognize that you won’t be wanting much other armor with the cuirass, so I opted to just create metal gauntlets and the rest of your armor would be studded leather.”

“Is that good?” the young man asked.

“Well, it had some steel reinforcement,” Ishmael said. “It will give you the agility that you obviously wanted, and it’s lighter so you’ll be faster. If you really want to, you can also attach things to it like extra pockets and sheaths for knives and the like.”

“That sounds better than my design, then,” the young man said. He only half-believed it, though.

Ishmael believed it wholeheartedly. “I am an armorer, after all,” he said.

“So, where is it?” the young man asked.

“Shaping it isn’t exactly easy,” Ishmael said. “I made your gauntlets, but the rest will come. The armor is fitted to be pressed to your body, so it will have to go under that bizarre outfit.”

“You don’t like my gi?” the young man asked.

“It’s a tactical nightmare,” Ishmael said. “I could see you from a mile away.”

“I’m not about to hide from a fight,” the young man said. “And I’m here for deterrence first.”

“Don’t think like that, or you’ll get killed AND fail your job,” Ishmael said. “Though I suppose you humans aren’t exactly low profile.”

“That’s the whole reason father took him,” Nikita said.

“Huh?” the young man said, missing part of what she said. She went on.

“Father only wanted a human warrior because the king of Griffonia has a human now,” Nikita explained. “Showed up a month or so ago, and he’s the scariest being this side of the world, working for a powerful king. That’s why father is marrying me off.”

The young man swallowed hard. “Do you think that guy would be sent here, whoever he is?” he asked.

“No, the king of Griffonia uses him as a last resort because he is so efficient,” Nikita said. “He’s the end-all, apparently.”

“What did he do before he came here a month ago?” Colm asked as he put his armor on.

“He was a mercenary,” Nikita said. “Worked for some group called Aegis Defense, claims to have originally been with Academi. No one knows what either of those are, but apparently they’re quite powerful in your world.”

“Aegis Defense. And Academi,” the young man said. It sounded familiar, but he didn’t know why. But he did know one thing; this guy was a Private Military Contractor.

“He won’t give his name, citing OPSEC. Whatever that is,” Nikita said. “Just tells griffons to call him MARSOC.”

The young man froze. Everyone in the room saw him stop dead in his tracks and just stared at him. The reality of who this guy was had set in immediately. Former US Marine Special Operations Command, one of the toughest guys in the US Marine Corps. Not the kind of person you want as your enemy, especially when he doesn’t have rules of engagement any more.

“You know what that is?” Nikita asked nervously.

“Let’s just say I’m extremely happy that he isn’t coming after us,” the young man said. “IF you are right.”

“Well, hopefully this armor of yours will keep you safe,” Ishmael said.

“Hopefully, yes,” the young man said. “It won’t save me from jack if he has a gun, though.”

Ishmael clapped his claws together. “Well! Why don’t you let me take your measurements, and you can be on your way for now?” he suggested.

The young man agreed and let Ishmael take his measurements. Colm had put his armor on and decided to try talking to Nikita to see if he could get more information about this MARSOC fellow. She didn’t know much, she said, and neither did his employers, but he had allegedly proven his capabilities and how dangerous he could be several times. He also performed castle defense tests for Griffonia, not unsimilar to Red Cell in the US Navy, where he tried to penetrate the defenses of the castle and get to a compromising position where he could potentially harm the king. He had yet to fail, too.

When Ishmael was done with the measurements, the young man and Colm went with the princess back to her quarters. The walk was silent, the sounds of feet and hooves and talons echoing through the stone corridors. Colm was trying to gauge the defiantly silent princess while the young man thought about this other human.

“If he’s an American, he may be willing to help a fellow American out,” he thought. “I mean, PMCs do their job for money instead of service usually, but he’s still an American guy. Plus I was gonna do military, so maybe we have something in common. If I run into this guy, maybe he’ll even help me out.”

When they arrived at the princess’s quarters, the young man went in first, but was quickly followed by the princess and Colm. He didn’t spot any potential trouble, so he let it slide this time, but he would have to mention it later.

Princess Nikita took the same seat as before, while Colm and the young man went over to her bed and sat on it. Nikita glared at them for a moment, but after realizing there were no other places to sit where they could see her, let it go. She wouldn’t have to deal with it much longer anyway.

“Hey, man, I just thought of something,” Colm said.

“Shoot,” the young man replied.

“I remember those merc thugs with Yafid back in the village saying that what brought them out there searching fer humans was a massive energy spike, like multiple humans bein brought to our world,” Colm said. Nikita’s head shot up. “If that other guy got here about a month ago, around the same time as you…”

“That means there’s other humans not far from us,” the young man said. “Or there were.”

“Yeah,” Colm said. “And so far, I’m two for two on hearing about humans who fight. He’s a dangerous mercenary, you studied the martial arts…”

“… So you think that a bunch of combatant or combative humans were all brought here at once,” the young man finished for his friend.

“I’m just sayin, it’s awful convenient that a bunch of fighters all come in at once,” Colm said.

“That’s IF we’re all fighters, and that there’s more than just him and me,” the young man said. “It could require an exponential or multiplicative increase in energy to bring more humans in one go. Or the two of us could be the only fighters in a group of ten people. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“What I mean is that we ought to be careful if we see other humans,” Colm said. “Who knows what they could be up to?”

“Alright, dude, alright,” the young man said.

Nikita stood from her chair and walked over to the duo. As they turned their attention to her, they noticed that she had a look of concern on her face.

“What’s up, princess?” Colm asked.

“Did you say you met a merc named Yafid?” she asked. Colm and the young man nodded. “Did you… did you kill him?”

“’Fraid not,” Colm said. “Right bastard deserved it, though.”

“I think we gave him plenty to think about,” the young man said. He looked at the princess. “Why do you ask? He your ex lover or something?”

“Courtier,” Nikita said with disgust. The young man made a vomiting motion, and Colm shuddered. “And I see you agree with my sentiments. He was a lowlife thug.”

“Didn’t get far in the court, eh?” the young man asked.

“He did,” Nikita said with disdain. “That’s the horrific part. My father needed his services, so when Yafid asked for my talon, my father ACTUALLY CONSIDERED. I brought him to his senses, and we sent him off.”

“No offense,” Colm began. The young man looked at him with an expression that encouraged great caution moving forward. “But yer dad sounds like a loony.”

“I know,” Nikita said. The young man sighed with relief. “He’s a fool. His advisors really run things.”

“Fairly standard monarchy,” the young man said.

“When we sent Yafid away, he said he’d come back when he had money and power and I wouldn’t be able to say no. Or rather, my father wouldn’t be able to,” Nikita said with a hint of despair.

“If you really don’t like him, just stab him when you get the chance,” the young man said casually. Colm’s head flung around to give him an incredulous look. “What? She could probably get away with it.”

“Hardly,” Nikita said. “Not that easy to get away with murder if you’re a hen.”

“It is otherwise?” Colm asked. Nikita ignored the question.

“But we know Yafid is dangerous. He defeated some of my father’s best guards in one on one combat,” she said. “If he’s looking for you…”

“Oh, he found me,” the young man said. Nikita blinked.

“What?” she said.

“Yeah,” the young man said. “He found me after his forward recon guy or whatever found me. I killed the first guy; sent him down a cliff; and then, Yafid came by with a few guys. Took them down, although HE actually killed at least two by accident if memory serves, and I beat him down pretty good.”

“He was practically broken everywhere when this man was done with him,” Colm added.

“Yeah. So when we were done, I felt bad, and had some villagers take him elsewhere for medical treatment,” the young man said.

“That was a mistake,” Nikita said.

“What?” Colm asked.

“Yeah, what? Why?” the young man also asked.

“He’s known around here and elsewhere for seeking revenge,” Nikita said. “If he isn’t permanently injured… No, not that. If he isn’t DEAD, he will come for you.”

“I’ll just kick him around again,” the young man said.

“You really aren’t afraid of him?” Nikita asked.

‘Not terribly, no,” the young man said. “I beat him once. I’ll do it again.”

Nikita blinked. “Oh. Umm, I’m glad that you aren’t afraid of him, then.”

“I’m sure he’ll learn, as any true fighter does when he survives losing a fight, so I’ll just change it up next time,” the young man said.

Nikita looked the young man up and down. He stood with confidence, tall and with his chest out and shoulders back. He was in his element here, talking about fighting and preparing for an unexpected fight, and it was certainly impressive. His friend Colm was similar, though seemed less sure. But this human was an ideal guard; no wonder they were prized so much for their abilities.

“I’m glad you two are my guards, then,” Nikita said.

“Glad ta hear ya say that,” Colm said. The young man nodded in agreement.

The trio would have kept on talking, but a guard came by to let them know that dinner was being served. Colm and the young man would be invited to the table, despite being guards, but would sit at either side of the princess and their chairs would be a little further from the table to enable them to do their job if necessary. Apparently, there would be dignitaries from Nikita’s soon-to-be home there, so they had to behave.

All three of them groaned as they got up to leave, sharing in the dreadful sentiments of an official dinner. But hey, free food for Colm and the young man, so it wasn’t all that bad. At least, not until they got there.

Belligerants

Colm and the young man sat stiff-backed and silent as the griffons all around them rowdily chattered and joked about whatever griffons joke about. There was so much noise that neither Colm nor the young man could make anything out.

Nikita sat between them, stone-faced. She stared toward her food with only the occasional glance toward the rest of the room. There appeared to be several hot-blooded griffon males in the room, all staring at her, and it made the trio uncomfortable. It was clear what their intentions were.

“Princess, I don’t think this room is safe,” Colm said. “I vote we get out.”

“Seconded,” the young man said. He could just hear Colm as the stallion leaned to the princess.

“Can’t,” Nikita said. “My father will have our tails.”

“I don’t have a tail,” the young man said.

“Not in the back,” Nikita said. The young man swallowed his words immediately and sat quietly.

“What is this dinner even for?” Colm asked.

“It’s where dignitaries from kingdoms seeking ties make bonds,” Nikita explained. “They all brought their sons to court me. Griffon kingdoms have agreements that royal marriages are to be competed for and not solely handed out exclusively.”

“So that prince guy is here?” the young man asked.

“That one,” Nikita said, casting her eyes toward a griffon prince to the left on the other side of the table.

He was staring intently at her. The prince had paint markings all over his body, and on what little, strange clothing he wore, there were a dozen medals and decorations. He held himself with confidence, chest puffed out, but Nikita was less than impressed.

“Looks like a dou-“

“He’s a jerk,” Nikita interrupted the young man.

“Yeah,” the young man said.

“What do ya think the odds are that we’ll see a fight tonight?” Colm asked jokingly.

“It isn’t a complete courtier dinner until at least two fights break out,” Nikita said.

“Ugh,” Colm said. Nikita gave him a look. “I was jokin.”

“Well, don’t joke tonight,” Nikita said. “I doubt they’ll appreciate it.”

“When does the food come?” the young man asked.

“Now,” Nikita said.

The young man looked to each entrance to the room until he saw the servers coming in. The smell was divine; it smelled like… roast beef, probably seasoned, and a dozen other fabulous cuts of meat that would make any non-vegetarian’s mouth water.

Meanwhile, Colm had to hold back his gag reflex while he waited for pony food to come out. No one paid him any mind, sadly, so he had to suffer in silence.

When the food was put down, the young man instantly dug in. He hadn’t had meat in a while, travelling with a pony and all. It was such a refreshing change of pace. A she jumped into the food, griffons around the table slowly started to look at him with curiosity.

The young man finished his first piece of beef, belched, and sat back. He hadn’t realized he was the only one eating and everyone around was watching him. When he looked up from his belly, he blinked twice before realizing what was happening.

“Hi,” he said simply.

“So, you have a human now,” some random dignitary said.

“I do,” King Yakesh said. “Quite a warrior, too. Defeated the Blooded Tong on his own.”

“Impressive,” another said. “But that was just another pony gang. I doubt he could take any griffon in combat.”

The young man took offense to that and was about to stand up, but Nikita put her claw out to stop him. He reluctantly obliged and sat back into his chair.

“You think you’re fighters are better than mine?” Nikita said. The other griffon nodded. “Who is your greatest warrior?” she asked. The young man jerked his head to look at her, surprised.

“My son, of course,” the griffon said, looking to his son. “If he is to be leader someday, he must be the greatest warrior.”

“Princess, I see where this is going…” the young man said.

“Do you?” Nikita replied. “Well, I propose the idea that your son is NOT the greatest warrior in this room. In fact, I propose that he isn’t even the best Griffon warrior in this room.”

“Wanna bet?” the son said, clearly agitated and looking at the young man.

“Calm down,” the father said. “This will be decided in the future. For now, discussions must be had amongst the leadership.”

“Yes, father,” the son said. He looked at the young man with fiery hatred, which angered the young man in return, as they didn’t even know each other.

“Princess, are you trying to start a fight?” the young man asked quietly.

“When a griffon loses a fight, the shame is too much to bear, and he must leave the room, lest he be abused by the strong,” Nikita explained.

“That’s a little messed up,” the young man said.

“This is my culture,” Nikita retorted.

“Your culture is a little messed up,” the young man said.

“So you shall be if you cannot handle it,” Nikita replied.

The dinner went on as it was meant to, with ruling parties talking strategy and trade and all the like. The princes and non-essentials were staring at the young man and Colm, though, making them uneasy. Some of them seemed to be itching for a fight, though not all with the princess’s guards. There was a lot of open tension in the room.

The young man had his guard up and mentally prepared himself for a fight. On the other side of Nikita, Colm was about ready to tackle the princess out of harm’s way in case a fight did break out. Good thing, too; a fight was just about to start up.

“I cannot remain quiet any longer!” one griffon prince said. “Why is there a PONY here?!” Before anyone could answer, the young man stood up.

“Because he and I work together,” the young man said. “If you have a problem with that-“

“Human!” Yakesh shouted. “Enough!”

The young man glared at the king for a moment, then sat back down, maintaining his gaze. The king readily returned it, noting that he would have to talk to this human later.

“There is a pony because he worked with the human and was with him while travelling,” Yakesh said. “He is my invited guest.”

“It’s a disgrace!” the griffon said. “To be in the presence of one so weak.”

“Ya wanna eat those words, boy?” Colm said. “I’ll smack ya right up.”

“I’d like to see you try,” the griffon said.

“How about,” the young man began, standing up. “Instead of being savage brutes and trying to establish pointless individual physical prowess; since armies win wars; we calm the Hell down, and leave our egos at the door?” the young man said. “Or is that concept to complicated for your small mind?”

“That’s it!” the griffon prince said. “Come face me!”

“Colm, you or me?” the young man asked.

“I want him,” Colm said.

“So then I’ll take him,” the young man said.

“What?” Colm said, confused. “No, I’ll take him.”

“Nope,” the young man said. “You can have the leftovers.”

“I don’t do sloppy seconds,” Colm said.

“By the time I’m done, he’ll be sloppy thirds,” the young man said.

“ENOUGH!” the griffon said.

“Alright,” the young man said.

The griffon leapt over the table and flew at the young man. In response, the young man flipped his plate up at the griffon and sent hot food into his face, discombobulating him and throwing his flight pattern off. The young man dodged to the side and let the griffon crash into the floor and then wall behind, then, after taking a bite of some bread, turned to face him.

He flipped the piece of bread in his hand. “Not very smart,” he said.

The griffon stood up, dazed from smacking his head into a wall, then shook himself out of it and lunged. The young man saw a high talon slash coming and performed a simple high block, stopping the attack. He followed it with a knee strike to the gut, then flipped the griffon around and put him in a sleeper hold until he stopped squirming too much. He then dropped him to the floor.

The entire room was silent, staring at the young man. He put his arms out to the side as if to hug someone and smiled.

“Who’s next?” he asked. When no one volunteered, he took his seat. “I’ll be waiting.”

Just as Nikita predicted, the griffon prince was picked up by his father and carried off back home. The other griffons in the room were not shy in displaying their displeasure with being in the same room as them after such a humiliating defeat, “encouraging” them to leave the entire time.

“That was something,” Nikita said.

“Please, don’t pick more fights,” the young man said.

“I didn’t get mah turn with the racist arses,” Colm said. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Yeah, well, they’ll be gunnin’ for me now, so please, for my sake, don’t,” the young man pleaded.

“Very well,” Nikita said. “At least I know you were telling the truth now.”

“About?” the young man asked.

“I wasn’t sure you could truly have beaten the griffon Yafid,” Nikita said. “I believe I can now say I was wrong.”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” the young man said.

“You are welcome,” Nikita said, not catching the sarcasm.

The rest of the dinner was much quieter, with the rulership talking politics but always keeping an eye on the young man. He didn’t like how they were staring his way, but until Nikita left the dinner, he would have to deal with it. She seemed intent now on displaying her personal security force, as if to challenge the young griffons in the room to even try courting her. She could just tell them they had to defeat her guards and she was fine.

Suddenly, as the main course was done and desserts were coming out, Nikita stood up and brushed herself off.

“I’m retiring,” she said.

“What?” Colm said.

“Yeah, hold up, I at least want dessert,” the young man said. Nikita didn’t listen and started walking out.

“Ugh,” he young man said. He looked to a server. “You. Deliver three of those-“ he looked to the dessert trays coming in- “cakes, to the princess’s room.”

“Umm, okay,” the server said. The young man and Colm followed the princess out of the room.

“What the hay was that whole thing about?” Colm asked.

“Making it clear who decides whom I shall marry,” Nikita said.

“Your father?” the young man asked. Nikita didn’t answer. “Well, whatever. I told the server to deliver three cakes to us.”

“Sweet!” Colm said, his mood lightened ever so slightly.

The young man looked at Nikita. There was something off about her. She didn’t enjoy any of the attention she was getting. She even seemed to hate the griffons she was potentially going with. The young man couldn’t blame her, but if she was a part of this culture, why was she so against it?

There was more to that dinner than Nikita was letting on, and the young man was determined to figure it out. Odds were good that Colm saw it too, so together, they might be able to read this princess. Otherwise, they could end up in more trouble than they wanted by the end of this whole endeavor.

PsyOps

That night, when they returned to the room, Nikita didn’t feel like talking or doing anything any more, so she went to sleep and the young man and Colm split her cake. She decided how things would go for the time being, so Colm and the young man had to oblige and figure out their shifts. The young man opted to take the earlier shift in the hopes that he could put off waking up later and get more sleep. Colm would be awake longer, but he wasn’t the better fighter, so the young man justified it with that.

In the morning, at around what could be guessed as seven-thirty, the sun came shining through the window and cast a blinding light all over the mostly stone room. The princess groaned and mumbled, then frustratedly got herself up and moving. The young man had taken a spot next to the bed where the sun wasn’t shining just yet, so he was still asleep.

Nikita fluttered out of bed and onto the floor with a few clicks from her talons. Colm was sitting in the chair, occupying himself by reading a book from the princess’s shelf.

“What are you doing?” Nikita asked with a yawn.

“Readin’,” Colm replied simply.

“You can read?” Nikita asked. She genuinely didn’t think he could.

“Yeah, I can read,” Colm replied with offense. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“With the accent and knowing you came from a farming village or some such, I didn’t think you would have ever learned,” Nikita explained. Colm still didn’t like it.

“Well, yeah, Ah can read,” Colm said. “And I read enough to know that yer city wasn’t actually made all by you griffons.”

“Yes, my father just tells that to outsides to get them to visit,” Nikita said. “They’re natural caves. Been used as homes for many a creature for millennia.”

“Ugh,” Colm said. Nikita raised a brow, and Colm muttered to himself, “Ah don’t like it here one bit.” Nikita overheard him, though.

“Well, at least you don’t have to stay,” she said.

“What, the princess doesn’t like her castle?” Colm asked.

“NO!” Nikita said. Her outburst caused the young man to stir to life in the background. “And when my father marries me off, it’s just going to be more of the same thing.”

“Not a fan of dad?” the young man asked in a daze.

“What’s it to you?” Nikita asked defensively.

“Same thing it is to Colm,” the young man said. Nikita waited for him to sit up so she could yell at him, but he was just lying on the ground.

“Are ya gonna get up?” Colm asked.

“Do I haaaaaave tooooo?” the young man asked. Colm chuckled.

Nikita sighed. “Your life of leisure is sad yet enviable,” she said.

“Leisure?” the young man said, shooting up. Nikita startled at the sudden motion. “I got here by being crashed into in my car, half crushed, partially impaled by torn steel, falling hundreds of feet in a steel box into a river, then being dragged out of the water and into a world I could never have comprehended as real. Now I’m trying to figure out a way home, something that’s never been done before, it seems. Tell me more about my incredible leisure.” Nikita tried to say something, but couldn’t find any words.

“It’s a soft spot for him,” Colm said. “Trauma does that.”

“I’m not traumatized,” the young man clarified. “I’m frustrated to be separated from my world with no visible way back.”

“Yer traumatized,” Colm said.

“You’re annoying,” the young man said.

“I’m right,” Colm replied. The young man sighed, shook his head, and stood up.

“Is there anywhere I can wash myself and my clothes? I haven’t cleaned in literally weeks,” the young man said.

“What?!” Nikita said, reeling back.

“Neither have I,” Colm mentioned.

“My word!” Nikita said. “You two are DISGUSTING!”

Com and the young man looked at each other, then at Nikita, and then at each other again. Thinking the same thoughts, they both made mischievous grins and then looked back to the princess.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“I think you need a hug!” the young man said.

Nikita’s eyes exploded in size. “NOO!”

Colm stayed back while the young man lunged forward and grabbed the princess in a bear hug before she could get away. She hadn’t noticed before how badly he and the pony smelled. She practically gagged when the young man’s armpits got too close to her face.

“AHHHH!” she shouted. The young man had to think quickly, as he knew there would be a reaction by any guards outside, if there were any. It was also possible her scream would carry through the caves.

The young man threw himself and the princess to the ground, then ordered Colm to stand defensively between them and the window. Just as expected, two guards blasted through the doors, weapons drawn. Just as they came through, the young man started barking orders at Colm to check the other room while he watched over the princess.

“What’s going on here?!” one of the guards asked.

“We were standing around when the princess screamed,” the young man said. “I jumped on top of her in case any arrows came in and Colm is checking the rooms.”

“Princess, why did you scream?” the other guard asked.

“Yes, princess,” the young man said. “Why did you scream?” Nikita looked at the young man with disdain and then answered.

“I thought I saw someone outside the window,” she said.

“You two, check outside, since Colm and I can’t fly,” the young man told the guards. They agreed and went outside to see if there were any invaders. When they left, Nikita looked up at the young man and snarled.

“You’re a jerk,” she said.

“You’ll get used to it eventually,” the young man replied and patted her on the cheek.

“Alright, looks…” Colm trailed off as he walked back in, seeing the young man on the princess. Both parties looked over at him with raised eyebrows.

“Uhhh, do I need to go to another room or you two?” he asked with a snicker.

Nikita’s feathers turned red; a confusing phenomenon; and she shoved the young man away. He, meanwhile, was laughing at Colm’s comment, and rolled away to recover and avoid any wrath from the princess.

“He wishes,” Nikita said. The young man stood up and controlled his laughter.

“Alright, now that that’s over-“ Before he could continue, the guards from before returned, and everyone went stone-faced.

“Report?” the young man asked.

“Nothing, must have escaped,” the guard said.

“Alright, be extra vigilant, then,” the young man said. “Never know if he’ll return.”

“We will have griffons looking for him,” the first guard said. “YOU two need to be especially vigilant.”

“Will do,” Colm said. The guards left to go file some report or something, and the trio was left alone once more.

“Are you two really such troublemakers?” Nikita asked.

“Well, according to history, we use our trouble to solve other troubles,” the young man said.

“Think of us as trouble displacers,” Colm said. “It’s still there, just… changed in nature.”

“How did I get stuck with you,” Nikita asked. She hadn’t minded until now.

“We have been asking the same thing,” Colm said. “Don’t worry, we’ll only engage in our rampant hooliganism in private. Your public image is safe.”

“Great,” Nikita said sarcastically.

“Lighten up, eh?” Colm said. “Ah’d’ve thought a princess would appreciate a break from the drudgery of royalty.”

“…” Nikita didn’t want to respond.

“We can both see you know it’s true,” the young man said.

“Come on,” Colm said. “We aren’t gonna talk to anyone about what goes on. As far as we care, ya don’t have to be a princess with us.”

“I AM a princess,” Nikita said. “I AM royalty. I will behave and be treated as such.”

“Not much of a way to make friends,” the young man said.

“Power is more than friends,” Nikita said robotically.

Neither Colm nor the young man said anything for a moment. Nikita wasn’t looking at them, and they knew something was up. Colm stepped forward and sat next to her.

“Do ya really think that?” he asked her. She didn’t respond. “Ya think the Tong had power without being friends with each other? Ya think mah village had power ta survive recent events without our friend the human?”

“Friends are power,” the young man said. “Power can be taken by a group, but rarely an individual. For us mortal beings, power can only come from collective cooperation and understanding. Without each other, we cannot have power or authority over anything.”

“You mean to tell me my father had no power? Despite his lack of friends?” Nikita said.

“Your father has respect and friendship with the griffons he works with, as well as respect from the populace,” Colm said. “Without their respect and admiration, they wouldn’t follow him. He derives his power from them.”

“Listen to Colm,” the young man said. “This is one of the few times he will ever say something so truly intelligent.”

“See?” Colm said. “He has the power to say that because I respect and like him. If I didn’t, I could make an outlandish claim that he is causing trouble and the guards would take him away.”

“While I don’t like that particular example, that’s exactly it,” the young man said.

“So what, I should just, make friends?” Nikita asked. “Griffons don’t just do that. How can I just walk outside and make friends?”

“You don’t have to walk outside,” Colm said. “And they don’t have to be griffons.”

Nikita slowly turned her head to look at the pony and human assigned to protect her. When she looked at them, she saw flashy, toothy smiles that betrayed the inner goofiness of these strange beings in her presence. They were nothing like the griffons she lorded over; they were friendly, open to relating to her. They didn’t look at her as a higher being than them, just as another griffon.

She realized; if they really didn’t want to stay, they could probably leave. It might be hard, but it would be doable. There were ways down that they could take one night, and the young man was a good enough fighter that he could take any guards they ran into and incapacitate them long enough to escape. They weren’t actually being forced by her father to stay, at least not in the sense that they were being oppressed.

Colm put out his hoof to the princess and held it there. The young man then walked over and put his hand next to it. Neither of these beings sought power or glory or fame, or advantage over others. They just wanted to live their lives and have a good time along the way. And they could see Nikita as something other than an object of power.

Slowly, the princess took up her claw and shook the hoof and hand of the pony and man before her. Their smiles increased in magnitude and intensity at their success of getting her to open up a bit. She knew that it started as a job for them, but they didn’t seem like the types to take everything so seriously.

“Okay,” she said.

“Wonderful!” the young man said. “So, what does Nikita do for fun?”

“I’m usually in here all day, so I read a lot,” Nikita said.

“Sounds boring,” the young man said. Nikita nodded. “Why don’t we go outside, get some sun?”

“Outside?” Nikita said, eyes bulging. “I cannot go outside.”

“Why not?” Colm asked.

“It is dangerous,” Nikita reasoned.

“With us there?” the young man chided. “Please, it’s more dangerous sin here without than out there with us.”

“Enemies of the state and enemies of YOU may be hiding in wait,” Nikita said.

“I can handle both of those,” the young man said. “YOU need to learn to have some fun.”

“He’ll pull security and Ah’ll be by yer side,” Colm said.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” Nikita said.

“When was the last time a good idea was fun?” the young man asked. Nikita couldn’t answer. “I thought so. Let’s go!”

Without the ability to counter-argue, Nikita agreed to the plan and the trio left her room to make their way outside. They would have to descend the tower as secretly as possible to avoid the guards, but if they could make it just outside, they were golden.

But Nikita had been right about one thing; enemies lurked everywhere, some with more personal grudges.

Intel

The sun was shining, the griffons were flying, and the smell of freshly cooked meat hung in the air. It was a good day for a sit-down with an old acquaintance that would pay for your lunch.

“So, what brings you back here, my old business partner?” the griffon, Enad, asked. “It’s been some time since we worked together. And what’s happened to your outfit? Where are they?”

“They were all killed,” Yafid answered coldly. Enad didn’t respond. “By the very creature we were out to capture.”

“Ah, terrible news,” Enad said. “I always liked the guys you picked up. Even if they were ponies.”

“They were ruthless fighters,” Yafid said. “But they were no match for what we faced.”

“What did you face, exactly?” Enad asked.

“I hesitate to say in public, as I imagine anyone listening would take interest in pursuing my prize,” Yafid said. “Not to mention my personal grudge against it. I must be the one to defeat this creature.”

“I see,” Enad said. “I will respect your wishes and not pursue this creature’s identity, then. But I would expect you to at least tell me something of what happened.”

“Very well,” Yafid said. “As you know, I sought courtship with the princess some weeks ago.”

“Yes, I remember,” Enad said, laughing. “You threw those guards about as if they were prey fish!”

Yafid grinned. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “But after, the princess and her father both demanded that I have some kind of wealth and fame, something that would make me worthy of the princess’s marriage. So, I took my crew and we started working much bigger jobs, trying to amass wealth and respect.”

“I had heard about some of these jobs,” Enad said. “With how those went, I expect that the creature that killed your crew must have been quite powerful.”

“Indeed,” Yafid said. “The last job we took wasn’t really a job, more of a hunt. There was a massive magical burst in the world not long ago, and we sought to find the source of that burst.”

“You were looking for a human,” Enad concluded. Yafid hesitated, and then nodded. “From the power of that burst, I’d say there were at least three humans who came this time, maybe more, scattered about. Did you find this human?”

“Yes, but we did not take it,” Yafid said. “It was in with a village and turned out to be not worth the trouble.”

“That’s too bad,” Enad said. “The king would certainly have given you his daughter, had you come here with a human in tow.”

“What makes you say that?” Yafid asked.

“When the king found a human just days ago on the road, he was ecstatic,” Enad said. Yafid froze. “The human turned out to be a fighter, and so he gave the human a place as the princess’s guard.” Yafid blinked.

“What was this human wearing?” Yafid asked.

“A white outfit with black cloth around his waist,” Enad said, eying Yafid suspiciously. “Is that the human?”

Yafid didn’t answer. The human was here, in the city, GUARDING THE PRINCESS. This might have been the worst development possible. He wasn’t going to be able to get near the human with the princess nearby and guards everywhere, at least not without a considerable strategy. He also couldn’t get any help in this venture, as it would involve directly going against the king, which also meant he would have zero chance of courting the princess.

“Yafid?” Enad said.

“Yes?” Yafid responded.

“If that human is the one that killed your crew; and beat you to a pulp, as I understand; you are in the wrong city,” Enad said. “If he hears you are here, he could simply say that you are a threat to the princess, and you’ll be the most wanted griffon in the kingdom.”

“I know that,” Yafid said. “But he still killed my crew and humiliated me.”

“Well, if you wish to pursue this, I’m afraid you are on your own,” Enad said. “I am not looking o earn the king’s wrath.”

“I understand,” Yafid said. He stood up. “Thank you for meeting me.”

“Do you not wish to eat?” Enad said.

“If the human is indeed here, I must act quickly, before he learns of my presence,” Yafid said. “I think I can come out on top of him here and win back what I’ve lost.”

“Well, good luck,” Enad said. “You will need much of it.”

“I’ll see you around, Enad,” Yafid said.

Yafid moved away from the table and decided to go for a walk to think. When the gears started turning in his mind, he began to see a way he could get around the whole “guarding the princess” business. He would have to stay hidden, though, lest the guards start talking about the return of Yafid, the one who defeated their very finest. Sometimes, having a reputation really did work against you.

Chow

The trio walked down the street as if it were nothing. Griffons all around stopped to look at the princess and her unusual guards as they passed, some bowing and others simply moving out of the way. Nikita was obviously uncomfortable with the amount of attention she was getting.

“Relax, princess, it’ll be just fine,” Colm said reassuringly. “We’ll get further from the city and no one will bother us.”

“Further?” Nikita said. Colm nodded. “Is that safe?”

“It’s fine,” the young man said. “It’s not like there’s any assassins out to get you now, right?” the young man asked. “Right?”

“Given how many were at my table last night, I would assume no,” Nikita replied. “But what about bandits?”

“Miss Princess, don’t you worry your pretty little head,” Colm said. “With us around, everything will be just hunky dory.”

“I bring in the hunky part,” the young man said. Colm chuckled.

“Hunky Dory?” Nikita said. “Who even says that any more?”

“Colm, evidently,” the young man said.

“Right I do,” Colm said proudly. “I worked hard ta build my vocabulary growing up.”

“It’s called reading,” Nikita said. “It isn’t hard.”

“When ya have ta teach yerself, it can be pretty hard,” Colm said.

“Hold up,” the young man said. “You taught yourself to read? How?”

“I memorized the stories mah foster families would tell me, then get the book that they said matched,” Colm explained. “I asked them if the words matched, and they said yes. By matching the words to what Ah saw, I matched the letters with the sounds. Took time, with all the weird rules n’ stuff, but Ah got it.”

“That explains your bizarre way of speaking,” Nikita said.

“I work wonders with mah tongue,” Colm said. “So I’m told.”

“Colm, we both know there’s not a being on the planet that can honestly tell you that,” the young man said.

“What makes ya say that?” Colm asked.

“The very fact that you said it,” the young man said. Nikita giggled at the whole exchange.

With a sigh of defeat, Colm conceded the battle to the young man and the trio went onward to the edge of the city. On the way, Nikita had them stop at a few stores to get food. No sense in going out if you wouldn’t have a picnic, right? She grabbed fresh cod for her and the young man, and a pan to cook it in, and the fixings for a proper pony salad for Colm. Assuming he knew how to make his own.

She had also grabbed several fire starters and gave one to each Colm and the young man. Colm was confused by the gift, while the young man was immediately fascinated with his newfound ability to create fire.

“I have one for the picnic, but save yours in case we need a signal fire or anything,” Nikita said.

“Sure thing,” the young man said, flipping the flint in his hands.

Given how it wasn’t princessly to carry her own stuff, Nikita had her guards carry everything. The young man took the meat on his right side and stuck to the right of the princess to spare Colm from the smell. Colm took Nikita’s left side for proper security.

When the trio reached the edge of the city, Nikita stepped forward to decide on a direction to go. She knew there was a river not far from the city going perpendicularly outward, so she simply had them continue forward. The river would be a nice place to cool off where they could likely eat in peace.

They had to travel through some dense brush, through which the young man took the lead and pulled the brush aside so the others could travel through. It took way too long without a machete; the young man wished he had his knife, but the armorer hadn’t made it yet. It was a wicked blade, so he was happy to wait.

Finally, they made it all the way through the brush and found the river. It wasn’t that wide, maybe about twenty feet, and the only point where the bottom wasn’t visible was in the very center. Possibly the best relaxation river ever to grace the land.

“Now this is what I call a picnic spot,” the young man said.

“Let’s set up next to the water,” Colm said. “If we’re gonna cook things, it’s better to be close to a source of water.”

“Sounds good,” the young man said.

He and Colm walked over to a spot next to the water and dropped all their things there, and then the young man went off to wood for a small fire. Nikita set up some of the cooking utensils and put river stones in a circle to keep the flame in a small space.

She stumbled with one of the stones, drawing Colm’s attention. Her talon seemed to be just slightly shaky, like she was nervous, and when he leaned down to look up at her eyes, he saw them darting to and fro. Gently, he set his hoof on her talon, a gesture which startled her, and she looked indignantly at him.

“You can calm down, little lady,” Colm said. “You’re perfectly safe with us.”

“You mean you,” Nikita said. “The man isn’t with us.”

“Sure, whatever,” Colm said. “But he’s just a short call away. And I can protect you myself; remember, he didn’t take all those thugs on his own.”

“I suppose,” Nikita said. She looked down at the hoof on her arm. “I just feel like I don’t have any guards around me right now.”

“What?” Colm said incredulously. “We’re your guards, nothing to fear!”

“No, I mean, my guards have always been stoic and not very talkative,” Nikita said. “You’re not exactly the kinds of guards I was expecting.”

Colm blinked. “Oh,” he said. “I suppose not. That would just make us really, really protective friends, then.” Colm laughed when he finished talking and took his hoof back. He didn’t catch it, but Nikita’s arm followed for a split moment before retracting back quickly.

“So, I know your story is simple,” Nikita said, hoping not to offend. “You came out of a small village you lived in your whole life. What about him?” Nikita said, pointing generically where she thought the young man went.

“Him?” Colm asked. “He’s got quite a story, even if it’s short.”

“Care to share?” Nikita asked.

“I think it’d be better to wait until he gets back,” Colm said. “If I get something wrong, he’ll be able to correct it.”

Nikita harrumphed. “Fine.”

“In the meantime, why not tell more of your story?” Colm said. “I’m sure it’s fascinating.”

“Ha!” Nikita said. “Not exactly. I was raised to not affiliate with anyone of lower class, the griffons of my class are always just trying to advance their own place.”

“How did you come out so different, if I may ask?” Colm said. “You don’t seem like them.”

“I was born into the top, and let me tell you, it’s not that great,” Nikita said. “If griffons actually cared, maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible…”

“What about your mother?” Colm asked. Nikita looked away sadly. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Nikita said. “I feel like you understand.” Colm smiled gently at her, and Nikita returned a similar smile to him.

“So…” Colm said.

“HEY!” the young man said, running back with all manner of sticks. “What sorts of lovey-dovey talks am I missing out on?”

Both Nikita and Colm blushed furiously, leaning away from each other instantly. The young man hopped up and dropped the sticks on the ground in the rock circle, then plopped himself down like the third wheel he was trying to hard to be.

“If you MUST know, we were having a pleasant conversation until you screeched in and threw us off,” Nikita said.

“Yeah, man,” Colm said.

“Well, I do apologize for such an inconvenient return,” the young man said. “But I’m hungry, and I bet you two are too, so let’s get to it!”

Nikita rolled her eyes and started the fire, then used the pan to start cooking the cod. Colm leaned away to avoid the smell. The young man switched places with him so he would be upwind of the pot and wouldn’t have to deal with it.

“So, I asked Colm while you were gone, but he didn’t want to say yet. What is your story?” Nikita asked of the young man.

“My story?” the young man said. “It’s not long. I was driving my car across a bridge back to the city I attended school in when some jerkhat broadsided me and slammed my car into the railing. The railing tore through my door and injured me, but the worst part came when the car came free.”

“Came free?” Nikita asked.

“Fell, over a hundred feet to the water,” the young man said. Nikita gasped. “When I woke up; I went out just as I hit; I was being dragged out of the water onto grass. When I went out again and woke up later, I was in a bed surrounded by small equines, and then my story goes on from there.”

“I have a few questions,” Nikita asked.

“Seemed simple enough, but I suppose not,” the young man said. “What’s on your mind?”

“What’s a car?” Nikita asked. “And this bridge, and city? Your schooling, these things you didn’t explain.”

“Oh,” the young man said. “Okay. A car is a metal box with lots of mechanisms that lets you travel faster and farther on land. My city was New York, and I was attending University, studying engineering with a minor in Religious Studies. When I said broadsided, I mean another car slammed into mine from the side. Picture a T-bone.”

“Yikes,” Nikita said. “How fast was he?”

“I don’t know, but that didn’t matter,” the young man said. “What mattered was how I slammed into the railing of the bridge at something like forty-five miles an hour.”

“Whoa!” Colm said. “You never mentioned going that fast! How did you survive?”

“That’s the question whose answer, despite being nice to find, I do not care for,” the young man said. “I want to know how I got here so I can find out how to get home.”

“No other human has returned to your world from here,” Nikita said.

“So I’m told,” the young man said. “How many have tried?”

“I know of three, two of whom failed and the third was killed in his journey,” Nikita said.

“I guess they looked in the wrong places, then,” the young man said.

“Optimism at its finest,” Colm said.

“I have people to return to, people who are about me,” the young man said. “I have friends, studies, a career to strive for. I have a life back there, and a good one, and I’m not about to just let it die on me.”

“Despite the fact that you already died on it,” Colm muttered. The young man didn’t catch it.

“Noble enough, I suppose,” Nikita said.

“I’ll travel as far as I have to for this,” the young man said. “Hence why I’m going to this Princess Celestia character for help.”

“Even if she isn’t able to help, she’ll point you in the right direction,” Nikita said. “She’s a very kind and just ruler.”

“Here’s hoping that it goes over well,” Colm said.

Nikita finished cooking up the cod and gave the pan to Colm to clean in the river so he could cook his veggies for his own food. When he returned, he made up his food and the trio went on with random topics of conversation, from the young man’s home world to the fascinating magics of this new one.

What they didn’t talk about were their respective worlds’ troubles, and this new one had a few that would be coming in hard in the near future.

First Contact

When their picnic was finished up and everyone was happy with a full belly, the trio decided it was about time to head back. Pretty soon, everyone would know about how the princess went out of the city with her new guards, so it would be best to get back soon and mitigate the damages.

Getting back to the city was easy; the brush from before was already pushed aside, and then it was just a matter of retracing their steps. The princess was taking the lead this time, with both guards just behind and to either side of her. As soon as they were approaching the city, they were already getting stares. As they walked in, they could all hear the whispers around them.

“Did the princess leave the city with those two?”

“Isn’t it dangerous out there? Bandits, creatures, foreign agents..?”

“Man, those guards must be something.”

That last comment had Colm and the young man puffing their chests full of confidence.

But there was a crowd gathering quickly, and it made the entire trio uncomfortable. The young man took up a position right next to the princess and cast a glare out at the crowd while Colm curved himself around Nikita to protect her. The griffons around them backed up significantly at the overtly aggressive notions, and the trio hurried on through.

They had a ways to go before they made it to the castle, but they were confident they could get there with little enough trouble. After the crowd dispersed, they weren’t inclined to form up again, and the way forward was generally unhindered.

“That there is why yer dad didn’t want ya out here, I reckon,” Colm said.

“Royals out here in public is a rare occurrence, so it always garners attention,” Nikita said. “Foreigners usually have it easier since no one wants to anger them and cause trouble for the whole kingdom.”

“Makes sense,” the young man said. He was still scanning the area around them every few seconds for anyone getting too close.

The young man paused once and put out his hand, stopping Nikita and Colm. His eyes were firmly glued to their collective left, but when Colm and Nikita looked over, nothing of consequence was there. Nikita looked up at the young man with a worried expression.

“Umm, uhh,” she said. She didn’t know what to call him. “I’m sorry, human, what’s your name?”

“Hang on,” the young man said. “I gotta check on something. Colm, keep her close.”

“Got it,” Colm said. Before the princess could recommend another course of action, the young man walked off to check out whatever it was he saw.

On the other side of the street they had been walking down, there were tables and umbrellas for outside seating at a restaurant. The smell of delicious, cooked meat hung in the air and dazed the young man for just a brief moment, it was so good. Shaking his head, he snapped out of it and resumed his search.

The griffons around him all stared at him as he checked the whole seating area. He told them to simply go about their business, but when someone as significant as the human guard to the princess was checking out the area around you, it wasn’t easy to pretend nothing was going on. After several minutes of checking, nothing came up, so the young man stepped out.

“Weird,” the young man said. “Must have imagined it.” When he made his way back to Colm and Nikita, Nikita huffed at him.

“What was so important over there that you had to run off like that?” Nikita asked. “We were rather exposed.”

“First off, I didn’t run,” the young man said. “Second off, I’d make a comment about you two being exposed together, but I like my jaw not being broken. Third-“ the young man had to dodge a quick swipe from the princess- “I thought I saw a very unfriendly guy over there. Couldn’t find him, so we can just keep going.”

“Alright,” Nikita said.

“Also please don’t hit me with those talons,” the young man said.

“Maybe if you didn’t deserve it…” Nikita muttered.

“I thought it was funny,” Colm said. Nikita backhanded him in the jaw, eliciting a hail of laughter from the young man. The trio continued walking, unaware of what lay behind them.

Yafid leaned against the side of a building to catch his breath. He couldn’t fly because it would have been way too obvious, so he was forced to sprint away from his lunch table to avoid being spotted when the young man came walking over.

He had seen Yafid for a brief moment, very brief, but just enough to recognize him. Yafid immediately bolted, operating on the hope that the young man would just chalk it all up to not being able to tell griffons apart very well. It seemed to work pretty well, as the young man had simply left when he couldn’t find Yafid in the crowd.

He was still formulating his plan, but if the young man had found him there, it would have fallen apart completely. No doubt there would have been a fight or confrontation, ending in either Yafid being forced out of the city or into a cell. He would have to hope for exile, as at least he could go elsewhere for that.

He thought about what he might be able to do to hide himself better. He could always buy feather paint, put patterns on himself to hide his identity. If he covered parts of his head and wings, the young man would be none the wiser until they exchanged words. If he wanted, he could assassinate him easily that way.

But that was the coward’s way of fighting. Yafid had to prove he was better. Anyone with a little talent can kill from the shadows; it takes skill to kill your enemy when they know you’re coming. That was why Yafid was spending his extra time hunting foreign agents trying to prevent the coming royal matrimony. They would certainly try to kill the young man from the shadows, possibly succeed, even, and Yafid couldn’t have that.

Up until the young man had seen him, he was actually pursuing an agent he knew was trying to kill the princess and anyone protecting her. With that quick escape, though, it looked like the agent had escaped, meaning that he was probably pursuing the trio right now. And Yafid couldn’t risk going near them now, not while he was obviously Yafid.

It was quite the predicament; hopefully, the young man was more attentive than his casual demeanor as he left the city earlier let on.

The trio continued walking. They were almost at Nikita’s home, where she would be safe and sound. Now was when the young man was finally starting to feel some level of regret for taking her outside where they weren’t supposed to go. It was something of a problem with him, not heeding conventional wisdom until he personally understood why he should.

When they arrived at the ground-level doors, the guards saluted and opened them up for the trio to walk in. At first, they thought they had made it back scot free, like they could just walk to Nikita’s quarters as if nothing happened. Then, King Yakesh appeared on the other side of the doors, and the trio’s hearts sank.

He walked out and the young man and Colm stood with the straightest backs they could. Nikita looked away and slumped down as her father came up to her.

“Why were you outside the city?” he asked. Before Nikita could answer, the young man had what he thought was a brilliant idea.

“We believe the castle may have been infiltrated,” the young man blurted out.

Nikita and her father spun their heads toward the young man in surprise. Colm kept calm, but couldn’t help but wonder how the young man thought this was going to work out.

“My castle?” King Yakesh said. “Compromised? What gave you this notion?”

“Last night, I believed that I heard some strange scurrying outside the princess’s door,” the young man began. “I woke up Colm to keep watch in my absence, and went to check. The scurrying was quick, but I was able to run after it fairly quietly and keep up.”

“I don’t see why this matters,” the king said, growing frustrated.

“When I got very close, the scurrying went into the servant’s quarters,” the young man said. “I was quite lost by this time, but simply followed the noise. When I entered the quarters, I found several servants disturbed and awake, plus one missing.”

“A servant, missing?” the king asked in shock.

“Yes. And their uniform, plus any tools that had been in their box,” the young man lied, praying he was right.

“Sweet Ra, this could be bad,” King Yakesh said. The young man had no idea he had been holding hi breath, but taking air into his lungs had never felt so good. “I’m glad you saw fit to investigate. But why did you leave the city?”

“We weren’t sure if the infiltrator might make a move in the castle, or if another might be outside,” Colm jumped in. “We felt it would be safest to take her to an area where the only other beings would be definitively hostile and we could attack indiscriminately, should someone arrive.”

“Hmmm…” King Yakesh said.

“We went to the river with food so we would be able to stay out there for as long as necessary,” the young man said. “No one came out there, and we formulated a plan on how to proceed while there.”

“That is good,” King Yakesh said. He looked to his daughter. “You must have been terrified.”

“They never told me what was going on,” Nikita said. Her guardian duo began to sweat. “They simply said we would be going for a picnic.” The King looked to the young man.

“We wanted to avoid scaring her and having her give away our knowledge that there are enemies in our midst,” the young man said. “So yes, we lied to her.”

“Smart moves,” King Yakesh said with a smile. “I’m quite glad I chose the two of you to guard my daughter.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Colm said with a bow of his head.

“Come inside, let us get you to your quarters,” Yakesh said to his daughter.

The trio followed the king inside, silently giving thanks to everything there was that their lie had stood its ground. Now, it was only a matter of time before some investigation came along and caused some trouble, but the young man and Colm would think of something in the meantime. Plus, their word was stronger than those of servants, so they had that advantage.

There were several lifts that they had to take so that Colm and the young man could come along as they went to Nikita’s quarters. The lifts were huge and transported the royalty plus guards, servants, and other castle workers. There was a specific space for the royalty and relevant parties, but they were still surrounded by unknowns. The king was noticeably uncomfortable with it.

The trio, however, was not. This fact was not lost on the king, who was staring at them the entire time. Their calmness in this situation amazed him; they must have been quite the seasoned warriors.

“How can you remain so calm?” the king finally asked of the young man.

“It’s all about keeping your cool,” the young man replied. “Guy show lose their heads in battle tend to lose their heads for good.”

“Ha!” the king laughed. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

The same group was on the same series of lifts up to where the princess’s quarters were located. It acted as a sort of shield, Colm was thinking, against anyone who might try to bust through and attack Nikita. He wasn’t about to let that happen; this was the last lift, and they were so close.

But while they were so close to their target, so was someone else.

Several griffons fell sideways, shoved away, as one griffon wearing a management uniform drew a knife and lunged at the king and princess, screaming something in some foreign language.

While the attack was entirely unexpected, the young man and Colm were more than capable of responding appropriately.

Colm jumped to a position between the attacker and the royalty while the young man went directly for the attacker. The griffon saw the young man coming and tried to swing the knife around for a slash at his throat, but the young man caught the griffon’s wrist with his hand and twisted it into an arm bar. From there, he yanked the griffon closer and kneed him in the gut while wrenching the knife from his talon. The griffon fell back and the young man handed the knife to Colm.

“Not very good, are you?” the young man asked.

Before the griffon could respond, the other guards on the lift swarmed him and threw him on the ground to start beating the living daylights out of him. The young man let them do their thing and went back to the king.

“There’s our intruder,” he said as if he had known all along.

“Well, that was most impressive,” King Yakesh said. “And you, pony. Very fast action, putting yourself between us and him.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Colm said.

The young man watched the guards still beating the attacker and let his mind go to work. While he would love to think it was his natural intuition that led to the apprehension, it was nothing more than blind luck in reality. He had guessed someone infiltrated the castle, and he was right; that meant that there were probably more around, since he hadn’t though of that. And that there were probably agents throughout the city. How many enemies could something that was effectively a city-state have?

“This won’t be the end of it,” the young man said. “And the sudden nature of this leads me to believe we need a new strategy.”

“Well, your strategy has worked so far,” King Yakesh said. “Whatever you deem necessary, you are free to pursue.”

“Thank you,” the young man said.

That was both a good thing and a bad thing; he was now allowed to do whatever he needed to do to keep Nikita and him and Colm safe. The problem was, he never actually knew anything about that. Hopefully he would learn quickly, or this entire situation could fall apart a lot faster than he could pt it back together.

After Action

The trio sat around in the room that night fidgeting and wondering what they should do. It was getting late, but none of them could sleep; the attack had rattled them more than they let on to the king. The young man had responded well enough to the attack, but he didn’t want to have to be on alert all the time, and if they stayed in one place, like this room, someone would try to find another way to get them.

Someone might poison the food sent to them, so they would need a taster. Someone could try to get in the window, but they’d need a force to get past the guards outside and then a force to fight Colm and the young man. Someone could also send in a bomb, if they had the materials and know-how. All they needed was fertilizer and chicken poop, or something like that. Maybe griffon poop worked, too?

Nikita just sat on her bed silently. Colm was standing by the door, leaning on the wall. When he looked over at her, he could see how stressed out she was and walked over. Nikita looked up at him when he was right next to her.

“That…” That was all she could say. She was pretty shaken by the ordeal. “I’ve never had to… No one has…”

“Yer alright now, princess,” Colm said, sitting next to the bed. “It’ll subside soon. It isn’t that hard to get used to, trust me.”

“Colm would know,” the young man said. “You can always trust his word.”

“Thank you,” Nikita said. “I’m glad you two are here with me.”

“We’re just as glad that you turned out to be cool,” the young man said.

“Yeah, Ah like ya,” Colm said. “Tougher than mah old villagers, but nicer than most of these griffons.”

“I like you guys,” Nikita replied. “You don’t match the stereotypes, Colm. And you, human…” Nikita looked him up and down. “You don’t disappoint.”

“Yer probably the first lady ever to tell him that,” Colm said. Nikita snorted.

“Yeah, but I have ladies who can give me feedback,” the young man replied. Nikita laughed, and her guardian duo grinned and went to battle.

“I’m all about quality over quantity,” Colm said.

“Keep telling yourself that,” the young man said. “You’ll never be as smooth as me.”

“That’s cuz Ah actually started growing hair when Ah hit puberty,” Colm said. Nikita was almost falling over by now. “Course, Ah understand all mammals do that.”

“We humans evolved from apes, we started off hairy,” the young man said. “Sometimes, our more primal attributes will grow on us when the need arises.” Nikita could barely breathe.

“Kinda like us,” Colm said. “Earth Ponies are said to have Earth-shaking strength and ability thanks to our ancestors.”

“Yet, not as refined and precise, it’s just kind of energy in its raw form,” the young man said. “We humans have mattered precision strikes; just look at me.”

“I would, but I don’t think I’d see much,” Colm said. “The phrase ‘Hung like a horse’ doesn’t apply to YOU.” The young man let out a laugh. Meanwhile, Nikita was howling on the bed, barely able to breathe.

“S-S-Stop, stop, it’s- it’s too much!” she shouted, laughing nonstop. Colm and the young man laughed as well, proud of a job well done. She certainly wasn’t thinking about the earlier ordeal any more.

“Oh, we could go on,” the young man said.

“I could easily go all night,” Colm said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Nikita did her best to stop laughing, but the eyebrows made it impossible, and Colm joined her in her laughter.

“All this laughing has made me need to pee,” the young man said. “Be right back.”

The young man exited the room to relieve himself, leaving Colm and the princess sitting next to each other. Nikita caught her breath finally and lay back on the bed to look up at the ceiling.

“I didn’t think people like you existed,” she confessed. “I figured the whole world was terrible.”

“Honestly, I though the whole world was really just bigger people taking advantage of littler people,” Colm said. “Mah buddy showed me otherwise. There’s a lot out there, and in our adventures, Ah hope Ah get to see a whole lot of it.”

“I’m sure you will,” Nikita said. Her smile quickly fell. “I won’t get to, though. I have to marry.”

“Umm…” Colm wasn’t sure what to say. So, he opted for honesty. “Why?”

“That’s what’s best for the griffons of my father’s kingdom,” Nikita said robotically.

“Didn’t ya say ya don’t like them?” Colm said. Nikita nodded reluctantly. “So why serve them?”

“I’m the princess,” Nikita replied. “I have to.”

“Ya don’t HAVE to do anything,” Colm said. “You’re yer own griffon; you can make yer own decisions.”

“I…” Nikita couldn’t think of an argument for Colm’s point. “I mean…”

“PHEW!” the young man announced as he left the other room. Colm put a hoof to his forehead. “Feels good, mate.”

“Ya got terrible timing,” Colm said.

“I can leave the room if things are about to get steamy,” the young man said.

“SOMEONE might just get STEAMING if ya don’t learn better timing,” Colm said. Nikita chuckled.

“Well, since you’re a vegetable, I hope it’s you so it at least tastes good,” the young man said. “Since all is well, what say we try to get to sleep? I’ll take first shift.”

“Nah, Ah got first shift,” Colm said. “You can take a nap.”

“Alrighty then,” the young man said with a shrug. He moved to the side where he had slept before. “Try not to be too loud while I’m here, though.” Colm grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the laughing young man.

In no time, the young man was fast asleep and Colm and the princess were sitting quietly in the room. Colm cleared his throat and sighed.

“What say we start back up where we left off?” he said.

“Where was that?” Nikita asked. Colm had to think about it for a moment.

“You and making your own decisions,” Colm said.

“I make my own decisions,” Nikita said indignantly. “I could have said we weren’t going to the river, but I decided I liked the idea-“

“That ain’t what I mean, if ya recall,” Colm said. Nikita sighed, and Colm hopped onto the bed to sit next to her. “You know yourself better than anyone. So what do YOU want?”

“I don’t know,” Nikita conceded. “I never wanted for anything in my life. Food, shelter, respect, I grew up with it all.”

“No one grows up with it all,” Colm said. “We all want something we didn’t have; it’s in our nature.”

“That seems pretty selfish,” Nikita said.

“Is it?” Colm said. “Where would we be if our ancestors didn’t want to live in houses, instead of caves? If they hadn’t wanted to see the world when they already knew everything about their own little areas? Where would the adventure be, the advancement?”

“Maybe it used to be that way, but times change,” Nikita said. “What things could I possibly want?”

“Who said ya had to want things?” Colm asked. Nikita didn’t understand. “Think about this. Ah grew up without parents, no real single home, just my town. I had some friends, but nopony was super intent on being particularly close to me. What do ya think AH want?”

“Companionship,” Nikita said.

“And Ah have that now,” Colm said. “But Ah grew up with food, shelter, relative safety as long as Ah behaved. Now look at me; guarding a beautiful princess and traveling the world.” Nikita blushed.

“I… thank you,” she said. “I suppose I can see your point.”

“There’s a rare person that finds fulfillment in stuff, in easy living,” Colm said. “What Ah want, what mah friends wants, what Ah think we all want, is to find meaning in our lives. To decide our own fates and live freely to pursue life as we value it.”

“You are right,” Nikita said. She hung her head down. “I… I don’t know what to do now…”

“What do you want to do?” Colm asked. Nikita was about to answer, but Colm stopped her. “Don’t bother telling me; YOU’RE the only one you need to tell. Nikita lunged forward and pulled Colm into a big hug.

“Thank you,” she said. Colm returned the hug.

“Ya never know where yer gonna hear that one thing ya need ta hear,” Colm said quietly.

“I have a lot of think about,” Nikita said. “I think it will be a great deal easier after a good night’s rest.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Colm said. “Get yer rest. I’ll stand guard.”

“You can just sit right there, if it isn’t too uncomfortable,” Nikita said as she rolled onto her side. Colm smiled gently. “Good night, Colm.”

“Good night, Nikita,” Colm said. Colm watched silently as the princess fell asleep and her chest rhythmically rose and fell like the trees swaying in the wind.

Actionable Intel

The young man felt a poking on his shoulder and roused awake. Colm stood over him, prodding at his face and telling him to get his lazy hind to work.

“I’m tired, it’s yer turn to take guard position,” Colm said. The young man sat up. Sleeping on the floor; even with a thick carpet; was hardly a pleasant experience.

“Just a sec,” he said. The young man threw his torso forward and received a dozen fabulous cracks from his back in response. “Therrrrrre we go.”

“Ha, nice,” Colm said. “Wish Ah could get one that nice.”

“I’d say years of practice, but I might just be physically better than you,” the young man said.

“Bah, ya got nothin’ on me,” Colm said.

“Yeah, yeah, hung, whatever,” the young man said, earning another chuckle from his friend. “I trust you guys weren’t too loud for guards outside?”

“No, we were-“ Colm caught himself just too late. When he saw the young man’s smirk, he rolled his eyes. “No, it was totally silent and uneventful ya perv.”

“I’M the perv? This from the guy who sat next to her as she slept?” the young man said. Colm opened his mouth to respond but the young man went first. “Don’t even try. I wasn’t quite asleep yet then you finished.”

“Eavesdropper!” Colm said accusingly.

“Maybe if you two learned to talk a little quieter,” the young man said. Colm blushed. “Relax, Romeo, your secret is safe with me.”

“Yer ridiculous,” Colm said.

“What’s ridiculous is sleeping on the floor,” the young man said. “I’ll take watch now. YOU, I suppose, can sleep with your princess.”

“Hardy har,” Colm said. “I’ll take yer spot, thank you.”

“Suit yourself,” the young man said. Colm took the young man’s spot and legitimately fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

The young man waited for just a little while, maybe half an hour, then picked up Colm and moved him to the bed. It would be funny to see what happened when they woke up later; or heinously awkward; and the young man didn’t want Colm to get stiff and pained from sleeping on the floor anyhow. He’d take the rap for it when the time came, so Colm would be fine. Probably.

With that settled, the young man took to his watch and did little exercises to stay awake and ready, prepared for but unaware of any threats that may be lurking within the city.

Yafid sharpened his new blade and his talons. His plan was ready for action; he just had to get everything perfect for when he struck.

The plan was simple, but it had to go perfectly, or it would end in certain imprisonment and possible death for Yafid. He was going to have to make sure there were no witnesses, but if any saw, he just had to make sure that they could be intimidated or easily removed. He would ambush the young man and his pony friend at dawn, kill them both quickly, and promptly accuse them of attempting to kidnap the princess.

For the plan to work, he would have to make sure he could eliminate the guards just outside the princess’s chambers; an easy feat; but without them falling to the ground. That part would be harder. He had been watching their patrol pattern, and he knew exactly when to strike now. If he killed them and dropped the bodies in the princess’s chambers, it would be easy to say the human and pony did it and ran off.

He would have to get in, kill them both, and then drug the princess and move the bodies as quickly as possible. He would take the bodies away; he was strong enough to carry both; and dump them somewhere nearby. Following that, he would take the drugged princess and carry her to the spot, then claim when the guards came that he stopped the human and pony from kidnapping the princess. It would be a cinch.

So long as the young man was asleep or just barely awake, that was. Yafid believed he could take the human now, even if it would be difficult, while he was ready to battle, but only a fool entered a battle with minimal chances of success. It didn’t matter how much blood got everywhere, he would just claim it belonged to the murdered guards. The human’s blood was red, too, as if it even could be another color.

The sun would be coming up in a couple of hours, so now was the time to leave. There were some enemies of the state in town, but they were of secondary importance to the main goal. Yafid would dispose of them later when the king asked him to and rewarded him.

Into the black night sky, Yafid flew with a burning in his heart and revenge in sight. It was time to end the young man’s life.

Ambush

The young man decided to do a few core exercises, push-ups, and air squats to keep himself warmed up. That combination of exercises hit most of the muscles he primarily used for his strikes; triceps and chest for punches and core for extra power while turning, squats for his glutes and quadriceps, and a few other core exercises to keep himself stable and balanced.

There was no noise anywhere in the room except for him and the nearly synchronized breathing of Colm and Nikita on the bed. The young man looked over with a hint of jealousy; he thought that they had potential. Maybe. Dort of. He was terrible at guessing these things. His own dating life had been less than pleasant for the most part, so he had sort of given up on finding love. He knew he was young, but between his desired career and the reasons given for his rejections, he felt like his chances had been grinded to dust.

He looked away to avoid going down that path in his mind and focused on what he was doing. He had finished his last set, so now he was looking to figure out what in the room could be used as a weapon. The books weren’t bad, and they could certainly act as shields. It isn’t exactly easy to stab through a thick book.

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon and the intense rays of light were shining through the windows and bathing the room in orange light. The windows had patterns, so the young man couldn’t see through them, but light travelled through easily enough.

He decided to try to look at the windows, but it was so bright he had trouble. The guards patrolling outside occasionally provided some shadow, giving the young man just enough of a chance to see the pattern. While he was looking toward the window, though, one of the guards seemed to very rapidly move to the right, and the young man heard a clang of armor against stone in the other room. He was probably just landing for a break, as that metal armor was seriously heavy.

The other guard was doing his usual patrol, but at one point, he stopped and floated for a moment. He was probably criticizing the other guard for taking a moment. At least, that’s what the young man thought. In a rapid series of movements, the remaining guard in the air started moving and flailing frantically, then slammed into the window.

The young man felt his heart jump as alarm bells rang in his head. On the other side of the window, the young man could just see the shadow of another griffon acting on the guard. The guard jerked and stopped moving, then the shadow pulled the guard away.

The young man rushed to the other room and had his worst fear acknowledged; the first guard was in a heap on the floor, blood coming from his beak and a knife in his back. A moment later, the other guard flew through the open wall and on top of the other guard.

The young man immediately fell back into the main room and waited next to the wall to take out the intruder. Colm and the princess were stirring from the noise, but they hadn’t yet woken up. The young man couldn’t call out to them because it ran the risk of him being found by the intruder and losing the element of surprise.

The young man waited until he saw the enemy griffon just start to walk through the door and struck. The griffon took a knee to the chest and fell back several steps, catching his breath, but the young man paused when he stepped out to face his opponent in the open.

“Yafid?” the young man said.

Yafid wore an alarmed expression. “You’re awake,” he said.

“Yeah, we have different shifts,” the young man said. He let his stance soften; he felt pretty confident that he could take the grizzled griffon again. “How’d you heal up so fast?”

“Unicorn magic,” Yafid said through a hiss.

“You seem angry,” the young man said.

Yafid charged the young man, but instead of taking the fight immediately, the young man fell back and used the edge of the wall to spin himself around and evade the attack. Yafid rushed past him and spun around quickly, expecting a counter, but nothing came. He looked at the young man with a confused expression.

“Why so serious?” the young man said in a mocking voice. Yafid appeared to grow angrier.

“You killed my team,” he said, seething with rage. “They were my friends.”

“What?” the young man said. “Well, I did you a favor; those weren’t the right kinds of friends.”

Yafid rushed forward again and went for a slash with his talons, which the young man blocked by shoving his hand between the toes and moving sideways. Yafid tried to counter with a spinning kick, but he wasn’t fast enough, as his body wasn’t built for such an attack. The young man blocked it and pushed Yafid back.

“Your arrogance will be your downfall,” Yafid said.

“On the contrary,” the young man said. Behind Yafid, the clang of metal on stone echoed, and Colm stood next to the bed. “It gave me the time to have a partner in this fight.”

“You somehow managed to stall me,” Yafid said. “I’ll just have to kill you both at once now before the princess wakes up.”

“Colm, wake her up,” the young man said. Colm nodded and moved to the princess’s side.

“Oh no you don’t!” Yafid said as the princess began to stir into the world of the living.

The young man rushed forward to grab Yafid and throw him to the side. Yafid had planned this out, though, and when the young man was close enough and had too much momentum to stop, Yafid spun around and went for a swinging stab with his talons to the young man’s side. The young man tried to react quickly, but his block was only barely fast enough to prevent the talons from burying into his side completely.

The talons punched through the side of the gi and cut into the young man’s flesh, earning a pained grunt from the young man and drawing blood onto his clean white gi. The young man responded by hopping up and kicking Yafid with both legs into the wall behind him, knocking over a bookshelf in the process.

By the time he slammed into the wall, the princess was awake, and his plan had failed spectacularly. Thankfully, he had accounted for this possibility; he just had to kill the princess too. He had pined for her at one time, but that time was not today, and he had more important things going on.

Namely, killing the young man and his friend.

Yafid rushed forward, but then turned off and lunged at the princess. Colm jumped in between and tackled Yafid, sending him to the side and toward the young man, where Yafid recovered quickly and went for a spin attack at the young man, slashing incessantly until he connected. The young man had to fall and roll back to avoid getting his throat slashed.

When the young man stood back up, Yafid was on top of him and had grabbed him by the shoulders, then picked him up and used his powerful back legs to kick him back into the other room. Colm rushed in for another tackle, which Yafid easily dodged, and his momentum carried him into the same room.

Yafid turned around to go after the princess, but she was gone, and the door to the room was open. From the hall, an alarm bell started to ring, and mobilizing heavy guards could be heard from a mile away going toward the princess’s room.

With both Colm and the young man in the escape route, he would be forced to go through the halls until he found a new way out. He froze in thought for a minute, trying to figure out a way out of this. He hadn’t accounted for everything he needed to, and he was paying for it now.

“Colm, stay here and guard the exit!” Yafid heard the young man shout. The young man came back into the room. “I’ll fry this chicken for good, this time.”

“I’d love to stay and have dinner, but I gotta fly,” Yafid said. “I’ll see you again!”

“Hey!” the young man shouted as Yafid took off. He bolted after him into the hallway and began his pursuit.

Yafid wasn’t a great runner, but he was good enough to give the young man a hard time. He was evading every castle worker he came across, usually by flying over them, while the young man had to shove them aside. As the young man rounded a corner, he nearly tripped on the body of a guard whose throat had just been cut. He didn’t have the time or skills to save the guard, and so kept on running.

They ran up an angled passageway, a very tight one, forcing the young man to partially crawl his way up and slowing him down immensely. When they made it to the top, they were in another hallway, and Yafid was shoving more servants out of the way to make his escape.

The young man ran, but as he passed, he ordered the servants to make sure all exits in the castle were closed off so the intruder couldn’t escape. He hoped Nikita was okay and that she had made it to her father, so he would already have it done. The windows, at the very least, were all closed, so all they needed were more guards at each exit.

Yafid bounded another corner and ran up another angled passageway, and the young man pushed everything he had into the pursuit. He was growing exhausted from the constant uphill climbs, but he had to pursue, or Yafid would get away. He had to admit to himself that he hadn’t expected Yafid to be this fit, but their last encounter wasn’t really a great indicator of his personal prowess.

More crashes up ahead in the hallway, forcing the young man to dodge broken glass and ceramic scattered across the floor as he sped by. The floor was hard and unforgiving, and he was going to have to sit and lay down for a while after taking Yafid down.

The young man spotted Yafid just as he rounded another corner and seemed to go up. When he caught up to the corner, he saw that it was a stairway that led to the very top of the mountain, outside, where Yafid could fly away. Yafid was catching his breath on the stairs, looking down ward toward the young man.

They locked eyes for a moment. Yafid saw the urgent, primal instinct to fight in the young man’s eyes, and he leapt forward up the stairs to follow his natural directive. Yafid moved to escape, but the young man was just fast enough to catch him.

“Get off!” Yafid shouted, kicking the young man into the wall and propelling himself upward with his opposite momentum. The young man quickly recovered and chased after the griffon, and they nearly exited through the opening at the top of the stairs together.

Thankfully, it led to a flat top and not to a straight drop to the ground. Yafid tried to take off, but the young man grabbed him as he tried to jump and threw him to the ground. He went down with the griffon in a heap of feathers and skin, scraping himself on the rough stone as they landed.

The young man rolled away and stood up while Yafid hopped to his feet. The young man braced himself to move quickly if the mercenary tried to escape, but Yafid made no move to leave. He just stood there and smiled at the young man.

“What’re you so happy about?” the young man asked.

“I have you all to myself now,” Yafid said.

“Hardly sounds like something to smile about,” the young man said.

“Oh, certainly not for YOU,” Yafid said. He flexed his talons out. “No one to save you, now.”

“I don’t think that was how it worked last time,” the young man said. “Nor will it work that way this time.”

“We’ll see,” Yafid said. No more words were to be exchanged.

Yafid charged at the young man ferociously, talons out and closing in, and the young man took a light Chinto stance, as if he were about to dance. When Yafid closed in on him, the young man put his arms out to block the incoming talons from the sides, then followed up with a straight kick up toward Yafid’s chest. Yafid applied more pressure inward with his arms and stopped himself enough so the kick wouldn’t transfer much force, and the kick just pushed him back enough to end their physical contact.

The young man chased after Yafid with a spinning hook kick, which Yafid blocked easily, but then followed again with a jumping roundhouse kick, tagging Yafid in the neck. As the young man landed, Yafid rolled forward and let the swing of his leg strike the young man in the gut as he passed, knocking the young man back and to the ground, where he rolled backwards and returned to his feet.

Yafid tried to recover quickly from his roll and charged the young man in a low stance, ready to attack his legs. The young man responded with a low backwards sweep kick, which Yafid leapt over in order to dodge, and landed on the young man’s other side. He tried to spin around and slash at the young man with his talons, but the young man had simply continued his motion and swung his sweep kick into a spinning hook kick, catching Yafid in the side.

Yafid caught the kick, though, even if it hurt, and spun around, dragging the young man along, throwing him toward the door, where he hit his upper back into the wall with a loud thud. Yafid pursued, going for a stab with his talons, which the young man stopped by stuffing his hand in between Yafid’s toes. He then moved his hand in a circle, twisting Yafid’s arm, and rolled sideways with it, getting Yafid on the ground with him.

The young man moved on top of Yafid and went for a powerful roundhouse punch across the griffon’s face, but Yafid thrust himself up with his legs, throwing the young man off balance, and then brought his arm around for a clothesline attack on the young man’s side, knocking him to the side. The young man fell off and rolled away.

Both fighters stood up at the same time, angry expressions on their faces and a steaming desire for blood. The young man leapt forward, a move that Yafid mimicked instantly, and went for a spinning back kick. The kick was fast, just fast enough that it caught Yafid in the side when he tried to dodge, but Yafid used the torque to spin himself and throw a slash at the young man, catching him across his side and tearing into the gi, drawing a pained grunt from the human fighter.

Yafid staggered, though, when he tried to avoid falling, and the young man took advantage of this. He rolled forward with his existing momentum and spun as he stood for a spinning backfist to the side of Yafid’s head. The assault hit home, catching him right in what would be considered a jaw if not for his beak, and the griffon mercenary fell back in a daze, giving the young man a moment to recover.

But Yafid had another trick up his sleeve. Realizing that the guards were probably almost there, he pulled two throwing knives from a bag on his side. He focused hard to clear his vision and targeted the young man’s neck as he stood in recovery.

He went to throw, but the young man just saw as he went for it, and moved. Yafid tried to correct, but overdid it and threw a knife past him and into the stairwell. Someone inside screamed, but that didn’t stop the fight.

Yafid threw the second knife as the young man closed, and this time, the young man couldn’t dodge it completely. The knife pierced into his chest, not enough to get to the lung, but about an inch in, stopping the young man in his tracks. With the young man stopped, Yafid went for the kill.

Yafid ran up and kicked the young man in the gut, sending him to the ground, and followed him there and sat on him. Yafid quickly grabbed the knife from the young man’s chest and pulled it out, drawing the young man’s eyes up. The young man could see Yafid’s intention to stab the knife down into his chest and put his hands up to brace.

Yafid brought his arms down and sent the knife right towards the young man’s heart, but the young man managed to stop it just before it hit the skin. He grunted and panted as Yafid continued to press his body weight into the knife, slowly lowering it more and more toward his chest. He could feel it as it poked into the skin and started to draw blood as it buried deeper and deeper toward his heart.

“I guess this time, you’re mine,” Yafid said.

“Go to Hell,” the young man replied spitefully.

Just as Yafid was about to throw his full weight onto the knife, the young man heard the loud clangs of metal on stone from the stairwell, and in a heartbeat, a silver flash or two had tackled Yafid off him and into the ground a few feet away. Another pair of steel-clad griffons joined the first two guards who had tackled him, and they held the mercenary in place as others came to the young man’s aid.

“Human!” one, an officer, said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” the young man said. “Thanks for the save.”

“You’re welcome,” the officer said. “If I had to guess, I’d say he had a trick or two up his sleeve to get you into that position. You are quite the fighter, after all.”

“Yeah,” the young man said, looking at Yafid as the guards smacked him around. “What’s the plan for him?”

“He murdered two guards, a servant, and tried to go after the princess,” the officer said. “He’ll go to prison, then likely death.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me,” the young man said. “Send him my way, I’ve had a hankering for some fried chicken.” The officer swallowed a lump in the back of his throat as he saluted the young man, who simply walked back down the stairs and into the castle.

Bad News

The young man descended into the castle tower and immediately started making his way back to the princess. He would go to the King in a bit, but making sure she was okay was the priority. She was a nice girl; there was no reason for her life to be so hectic. Except that she was a princess.

The guards and castle staff the young man passed stepped aside for him when they saw him coming. The guards stood at attention, some saluting him and staring straight ahead. The staff members kept their heads down, as if they expected the young man to strike them or something. Weird.

After a brisk walk, the young man was once again at the door to the princess’s quarters. When he pushed on the door, it only opened a couple of inches before jerking to a halt and sending the young man walking face-first into it.

“Agh,” he said. “What’s in there?” the young man asked.

“Oh, sorry, human,” a voice said from the other side. The door opened all the way, revealing a guard on the other side. “We were keeping the room secure until the situation resolved itself.”

The young man walked in. The princess was sitting on the edge of her bed with Colm, holding his left foreleg like it was her lifeline. There were several guards in the room securing every possible entrance, buzzing about and looking through everything. The princess looked notable uncomfortable

“The situation is resolved now,” the young man said. “Yafid has been apprehended and it’s safe again. You can leave.”

“Sir, we feel we should stay until-“

“Get out.” The young man added a hint of finality to the statement, shutting the guard up and sending him out with a series of nods.

Once the guards were gone, Nikita let out a breath she had been holding for what felt like forever. She visibly relaxed without the guards in the room, practically melting in front of her personal guardsman and guardspony.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Nikita said. The young man nodded. “What did he want with me?”

The young man looked to Colm with conflicted eyes. He should probably tell her that Yafid was after him, not her, and that this didn’t mean she was safe, just that the young man was a little bit safer. Colm shrugged, leaving the decision to him.

“He was after me, not you,” the young man said. Nikita looked at him with confusion. “I killed his ‘friends’; his merc crew; so he came after me.”

“Oh,” Nikita said.

“No worries, the biggest threat to anyone’s safety is gone now,” the young man said. “A dozen or so guards had him when I left the roof. He’s probably in a cell now.”

“That’s good,” Nikita said.

“I’ll have to pay him a visit,” the young man said.

“Be careful,” Colm warned. “Ya never know what tricks he’s got up his sleeve.”

“I can take him,” the young man said dismissively. “I’ve done it twice now.”

“True enough,” Colm said. “We should go see the king soon.”

“I agree,” the young man said. “Nikita, when do you feel like you’ll be ready to move?”

“I can move now,” Nikita said.

“Great, let’s go,” the young man said.

The trio got up and left to go see Nikita’s father. The castle was still on high alert, so guards were running all over the place, but they always made way for the princess when they spotted her. They typically took up sentry positions along the walls, scanning everywhere for possible threats. The young man wasn’t worried; not like Yafid had any friends any more; so he made sure everyone saw his confidence in his walk.

Colm just stayed right beside the princess the whole way, making it clear that he was the final obstacle for anyone to try and bust through to get at her. He knew just as well that she was perfectly safe now, but it was more about keeping up appearances for the duo at this point than anything else. The young man never expected to be doing HVI protection, and even though the threat was gone, it was proving to be an interesting experience.

When the trio made it to the king’s quarters, Nikita threw the doors open and was greeted by a hail of spears pointed her way. Colm and the young man jumped to her sides, but the spears were down by order of the king already.

“Nikita!” the king exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace his daughter. She met him half-heartedly. “Are you alright, my daughter?”

“I’m fine, father,” Nikita said. She was still somewhat shaken up.

“You!” King Yakesh said, pointing at the young man. “You apprehended that scoundrel, Yafid. I can never repay you for what you did.”

“No need to,” the young man said. “Didn’t have a choice, you sort of pressed us into service…” The young man forced a smile. “All in a day’s work for us.”

“So humble,” Yakesh said. “The ideal warriors, you two are.”

“Simply trying to be better each day,” Colm added. Yakesh laughed.

“I don’t know how anyone COULD be better than you two are!” Yakesh said. Colm grinned. “This capture is proving to be more bountiful by the second, too.”

“Oh?” the young man said.

“Indeed,” Yakesh said. “Yafid has made claims, backed up by evidence, that he already took out several spies and assassins in his attempt to kill YOU. Something about a personal vendetta. Not only did you save my daughter from HIM, but we’ve obtained information that is, as we speak, leading to the capture or killing of several more enemy agents.”

“Wow,” the young man said. “That’s, uh, a really solid victory for us. Double win.”

“Indeed,” Yakesh said. “Unfortunately, though, some of the information is less than positive.”

“Why’s that?” Colm asked.

“In two days time, one of my rivals, Vladimir, is going to invade and lay a surprise siege to the city,” Yakesh explained. The young man gulped down his next sentence and listened further. “Not so much a surprise now, but nonetheless, a serious problem.”

“I’ll say,” Colm said.

“Indeed,” Yakesh said. “You two will have the key job of protecting my daughter from the invading army. They will likely send platoons of griffons after her and myself, but I’m confident in your abilities.”

Platoons. That’s what he said. Platoons. Groups of up to thirty guys. They wouldn’t be able to take half a platoon, let along a single full one or multiple. This would be a death sentence.

The young man looked to Colm, who looked back. They both knew they weren’t looking to die in someone else’s war this week. But if they tried to tell him no, they’d be killed.

“How big is this army?” Colm asked.

“Twice the size of ours, I’m afraid,” Yakesh said. “But we have the advantage of information and intimate knowledge of the city. It’s harder to take a city than to defend one.”

“Is that really true for griffons?” the young man asked, earning a curious look from all parties. “I know it’s true for ground forces, but with flying adversaries, it seems like it would just become a battle inside the city.”

“It does,” Yakesh said. “But knowledge of the city makes all the difference.”

“Sounds like a load…” Colm thought.

“Alright,” the young man said. “We’ll keep Nikita nearby at all times and establish defense protocols. You and your guys focus on what you’re good at.”

“Defending the city,” Yakesh said with a smile. “Alright, let’s get to it!”

Colm and the young man took Nikita back to her room in silence. Nikita looked at both of them with worry; they both had concerned looks. Was she safe? Would this battle be the end?

When they entered her room and shut the door she ran up to the young man and grabbed his wrist.

“What is going to happen to me?” she asked, tearing up. “Is it going to be okay? Tell me it is!”

The young man sighed. “I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know.”

“Nikita, this is serious,” Colm said. “This battle is gonna be heavy if the enemy force is as big as your father said.”

“So?” she said. “You guys are able to protect me, right?”

“Not against platoons,” the young man said. “Our best bet is to leave.”

“Leave?” Nikita said. “We can’t just leave!”

“And why the hell not?” the young man said. “If all goes well, we come back. It’s that simple.”

“If royalty runs away, its legitimacy is gone,” Nikita said.

“Baloney,” Colm said. “It ain’t worth dyin’ fer.”

“I… I… UGH!”

Nikita ran to her bathroom in distress, terrified of the future that awaited. Colm and the young man let her run in and shut the door so they could talk privately without her. They would need to discuss how to get the hell out of this whole ordeal if they wanted to survive to the end of the week, and the sooner, the better.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t find themselves in a worse position than they were already in.

Bugging Out

Nikita had come out of her bathroom sometime later, wet-faced and tired. She declared she was going to sleep and neither of her guards stopped her; she would need the rest for the coming days. Only she could decide how it would play out.

When she awoke, it wasn’t to the usual glare of morning sun through her window; it was to the sound of howling wind entering her chambers, and the feel of cold mountain air rushing over her. She shot upright, afraid that another assassin was after her, only to see no one around.

That was unsettling as well. Not a single being in the room with her.

“Human?” Nikita called. “Colm?”

She heard a noise from her bathroom and walked over to investigate. The door was slightly ajar, so she peeked in before opening the door. On the other side was the young man with a large amount of rope, but no Colm. She pushed the door open with a mild creak, and the young man froze.

“What are you doing in the middle of the night?” Nikita asked.

“Setting up the way out,” the young man said.

“This is hardly safe for battle,” Nikita said.

“It isn’t for battle,” the young man said. “It’s for tonight.”

“What?” Nikita said, now fully awake.

“Nikita, Colm and I are bugging out. I was planning to wake you up before leaving, but I guess the noise took care of that,” the young man said.

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Nikita asked. “You’re my protectors!”

“Nikita, we don’t have the ability to protect you from platoons worth of baddies,” the young man said. “And we aren’t looking to die here. I have a family I’m trying to return to.”

“I- I see,” Nikita said. “This is how it ends.”

“Not necessarily,” the young man said.

“And why is that?” Nikita asked.

“Come with us,” the young man said. “So what if we don’t or can’t return? What’s here for you?”

“Being royalty,” Nikita said emptily.

“Being sold to another family for property rights,” the young man un-euphemized. “Why would you stay for that?”

“I have to help my people,” Nikita said.

“Why?”

Nikita blinked. “What?” she asked.

“Why?” the young man asked again. “Why do you have to help them?”

“Because- Because they’re my people,” Nikita said simply.

“They’re the ones selling you,” the young man said. “If they loved you, they’d keep you. If your father loved you, he’d keep you. These griffons aren’t interested in your well-being, why should you be interested in theirs?”

“They gave me this life,” Nikita said.

“And have you been happy?” the young man said. He didn’t get a response, so he walked forward and put a hand on Nikita’s shoulder. “They gave you that, you know.”

“I owe them,” she said.

“You don’t owe them shit,” the young man said bluntly. Nikita reeled from the language. “THAT is the truth. They didn’t give you anything. Your status gave you a restricted life and took your freedom from you. People where I’m from died to give freedom; you had it taken away from you. What does that say?”

“I… I…” Nikita couldn’t respond.

“Nikita, I’m sorry,” the young man said. “But Colm and I, we can’t stay for this battle. It isn’t ours to fight and die in. And frankly, it isn’t yours either.”

“I can’t just go with you,” Nikita said.

The young man sighed and shrugged. “That’s your choice, and I will respect it,” he said. “I’m just asking you to think about it really hard. What do you owe these people who would sell you out for farmland? What is your life worth here versus anywhere else?” Nikita turned away.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“You need to figure it out soon,” the young man said. He picked up the rope. “But I know where I stand, and so does Colm. Whatever choice you make, we’ll be receptive of you, wherever we may be.”

“Before you go,” Nikita said. “I must ask your name.”

“Call me whatever you’d like,” the young man said. “Just keep it PG for everyone.”

“Hahaha,” Nikita laughed. “Alright… G.” G; for Guard. How creative.

Nikita took in a deep breath as she heard the young man pick up his rope and toss it out the window, then grab it and hop out. He was going to rappel his way all the way down. Brave, for a wingless creature.

Nikita went back to her bed and tried to sleep, but couldn’t. Ironic that such a brave being would run from battle. But Nikita had to admit his points were all valid. She lay in bed for hours, pondering his points. Everything made sense, and nothing she had thought to be true before worked for her any more. Why should she stay? To be murdered for land? To be sold for land? To give up the sanctity of her body, her heart, her soul, for a people that would give her away for material gain?

Nikita knew what to do. The young man and Colm were gone, long gone by now. But it would be better to avoid being with them for now; it would be too high profile for such a group to exist.

Nikita went to her window and looked to the moon; the Nightmare Moon, ever since the old days, some nine hundred eighty-five years ago. It represented what her lands were, would always be. She had to get out.

Nikita spread her wings, as stiff as they were, and flapped a few times to get a good feel. It would be hard, and likely hurt a ton, but she made her choice. Nikita took a running start and leapt out her window and into the night sky, escaping her old life forever.

It was the biggest chance she ever took, and it was already the best decision she had ever made.

Merc

The siege hadn’t lasted very long. Like Yakesh said, it was easy to defend the city. None of those platoons even made it to the castle.

Which was precisely why he was angrier than words could describe. The fire in his belly had erupted into a volcano of fury, an unstoppable force of madness.

Not only did the human and pony abandon their position right before the battle, they had taken his daughter with them.

By all accounts, she was seen leaving the city without them, and the duo had been seen leaving on foot in a different direction from his daughter. Who knew why they left the way they did, but it didn’t matter. If she linked up with them, there would be hell to pay for this kidnapping. If they weren’t, he would have them flensed for abandoning their posts and his daughter would receive no ceremony for her marriage; she would simply be sent off.

How could she just leave like that? Why? What did she stand to gain from this? She had everything she could want. A griffon lady needed nothing more than a good husband with lands and wealth who could give her strong hatchlings. It puzzled and infuriated the king beyond measure.

He tried to assign soldiers to go out and search for them, but none of them were willing to go. He threatened them with punishment, but still, none went. When given the choice between death and pursuit, they chose death, because they all figured the human and pony would simply kill them with ease. They were good, but they couldn’t fight off an entire army that was looking for them.

But by now, they had most certainly escaped and were out of reach of his armies. It had been several days, and if they were on the run, they would be moving fast. There was no way his griffons could effectively catch this pair of scoundrels.

Which left only one option. The king hated this option almost as much as the situation, but it was his last one. There was only one being in the lands who would be willing to pursue the human as well as have an actual chance at taking him and his friend down.

The king entered the dungeon and had the torch lit, revealing a cell door with a gruff-looking griffon on the other side. The griffon didn’t open his eyes, but smiled when the king entered.

“I was wondering when you’d come ask me for help,” he said.

The king frowned. “How do you-“

“I hear things,” Yafid said. “These doors are pretty thin. Without these shackles, I’d already be out of here.”

“So you know why I’m here,” the king said.

“Yeah,” Yafid said. “You’re here because the only guy better than me for hunting your nemesis is way out of your league to pay. Not to mention the lord of Griffonstone has him under his command anyway.”

“I could pay him if I wanted,” Yakesh said.

“You couldn’t afford a single job from that human, let alone have him on payroll,” Yafid said. “You’re here because you can’t afford him-“

“Enough about the human Marsoc,” Yakesh said. “I’m concerned about the human who took my daughter.”

“Ah, yes, the human and pony,” Yafid said. “How they must BOTH be enjoying her company…”

“I could kill you, you know,” Yakesh said.

“And who would you go to?” Yafid asked with a cackle. The king sighed.

“Are you going to hear my offer?” Yakesh asked.

“Mmmm… I suppose,” Yafid said, putting his claws together as he listened up.

“I will free you,” Yakesh said. “You will pursue the human and his companion. Kill them if necessary, but I’d like at least one alive. An dbring my daughter home to me, UNHARMED.”

“And what do I get?” Yafid asked.

“Your freedom, nimrod,” Yakesh said.

“Without my freedom, I can’t do this at all,” Yafid said. “How will you reward me for my loyal and CONTINUED service?”

“Fine,” Yakesh said. “On my honor, I will grant you lordship over the Riverland and its inhabitants, with a suitable wife that isn’t my daughter.”

“Good enough for me,” Yafid said, standing up. He shook the shackles and they clanged to the floor, earning a shocked look from the king. “You thought these shackles could ACTUALLY hold me? Please. But I will need you to unlock the door.”

The king nodded to the jailer who had been standing by the door. The jailer came over and opened the door, releasing Yafid, who walked out and stretched out his body.

“Any word o the direction they went?” Yafid asked.

“They went west,” Yakesh said.

“Alright,” Yafid said. He patted the king on the shoulder. “I’ll stock up and head on out as soon as I’m ready.”

The king watched as Yafid walked away, having secured his freedom and a very good contract. He wasn’t really sure that this was the smartest idea he could have followed, but right now, it was his only option. This griffon had been pursuing the human for some time, so with any luck, his journey could come to a close and he would accomplish everything that they both wanted him to.

The chase was on, and it would no tend until either Yafid or the young man lay dead at the other’s feet.

A-Walking Through the Woods

Colm and the young man kicked branches out of their way as they tried to find the path again. They had been forced; several times, now; to leap into the brush whenever they saw or heard anyone ahead of or behind them. The king had patrols out everywhere, probably in anticipation of the siege.

If there had been orders sent out to grab them, it took some time for those orders to reach the soldiers. The first few patrols just laughed at them and made jokes about the pair being racist when they were seen jumping behind cover at the sight of griffons. Colm and the young man just laughed it off with them, mostly out of relief.

Those days were short-lived, though. This morning, a patrol actually tried to detain them, and they had to fight their way out and into the woods. The griffons didn’t pursue them in, as the room for flight was totally inadequate for their fighting style.

They ran quite a distance, shoving their way through dense brush and roots, but now they had to find their way back. Both stallion and man grumbled their various misgivings about the situation, typically cursing that selfish King Yakesh. He was a real piece of work.

At least they got his daughter to run away from that ridiculous marriage. They both deserved that much.

“Hey man,” Colm said. “You think we’ll ever get out of this gods-forsaken country?”

“Heck if I know,” the young man said. “Lot higher than my odds of going home at this rate.”

After what must have been two hours, they emerged from the woods and back onto the path. Or, a path, at least. The patrol was nowhere to be seen. They would have to move quickly, in case they returned with a reaction force.

Nikita hadn’t seen it, but the young man took several items from her quarters before dipping. Colm had taken the bag with most of the stuff first while the young man checked everything topside before leaving through the window. They jacked a map, a compass, and some sheets. They had to leave all the gear the king had made for them, but that wasn’t a big deal.

On their way out of the city, they stole two additional bags and whatever non-perishable food items they could get from storefronts. On the one hand, they were thieves. On the other hand, who really cared at this point that actually mattered? Only the king, but their opinions of him were quite clear by now.

They had been travelling for close to seven days now. They had no idea what became of the city, but one of the initial friendly patrols gave them the news of the princess running of. They just assumed that her personal guard shad been sent to chase her down and bring her home. That was laughable.

And with all these edges held against them, they pressed forward, hoping that they wouldn’t get cut on the way.

“Well, looks pretty safe now,” Colm said.

“Let’s speed it up a bit anyway,” the young man said. “I’d rather not get spotted by a flying patrol and go back into those dang woods.”

“Amen to that,” Colm said.

For the next hour, they moved at a light jogging pace. In truth, they couldn’t go much faster with how much food and water they were carrying. They stole a ton before leaving. They made sure to spread it out to avoid screwing any single storeowner, but in total, they grabbed what would be close to a thousand dollars of food if it were in the United States.

They probably used about a third of it so far, leaving them a solid fourteen more food. Plus, the young man could try his hand at hunting, which could give them an extra day if he was lucky.

When they were too tired to keep jogging, they slowed to a regular walking pace to recuperate and looked to the sky. No patrols. The sun was beginning to set, so when night came, they would have to set up camp and sleep. They couldn’t make a fire, as any night patrols would be looking for that, so they’d have to do it in the light.

“We probably have another decent hour of light,” the young man said.

“We’ll go half an hour, then camp out,” Colm said. The young man nodded in agreement.

After another half hour of walking, the duo stepped off to the side and looked for a decent place to set up camp. They only had a few sheets and then the bags of canned foods for pillows, so it wouldn’t be comfortable. All they wanted was a relatively safe place to sleep.

They stepped into the brush and found nothing, so they made a spot. Colm started clearing away useless brush and the young man used any decent branches to set up the corners of a tent and noise traps in case anything approached. They had three sheets, soon went to each of them and one went over them. The overhead one was the darkest one, a deep navy blue sheet, but it was better than nothing. It would at least be hard to see.

With an area clear and corners set up, the young man made the makeshift tent and he and Colm climbed underneath with their food bags and personal sheets. It was pitch black inside the tent, but it wasn’t much brighter outside anymore. As long as they had response time from the noise traps, they’d be fine.

“Aight, looks good,” the young man said, making one last check on the sides. “To another day of survival.”

“Hoorah,” Colm said.

The young man laughed. “That’s close to a saying my uncle used to say,” he said.

“Huh?” Colm said. “Whatchoo mean?”

“My uncle was a member of my nation’s military, spent nineteen years as a Marine,” the young man explained. “Their battle-cry is Oorah.”

“Huh,” Colm said. “Didn’t you once say you were joining the military?”

“Was,” the young man said, sadness creeping into his voice. “Not likely now.”

“What would you have done?” Colm asked.

“I was planning on joining the Navy for Special Warfare,” the young man said. “Small teams of highly trained, hard dudes who can go anywhere at any time.”

“Sounds tough,” Colm said. The young man shrugged.

“What’s why it appeals to me,” he said. “If it isn’t difficult, it isn’t worth doing. Hard things make hard men.”

“Ah like that one,” Colm said with a chuckle. “Ah’mma quote ya on it.”

“Please do,” the young man said.

“What were you planning on doing?” the young man asked.

“Ah dunno, honestly,” Colm said. “Ah always had these dreams of taking down the Tong gang. Fight it out, one versus all, and come out on top or die trying. Ah wanted to bring some level of justice to everyone hurt by them.”

“Noble, but not exactly long term,” the young man said.

“Ah know,” Colm said. “Ah just never thought beyond that. Not sure why.”

“You sure about that?” the young man asked. Colm laughed.

“Ah guess yer right,” he said. “Ah guess… Ah guess Ah figured that Ah wouldn’t win, ya know?”

“I hear that,” the young man said.

“Ya ever felt that way? Like ya just won’t win, however hard ya try?” Colm asked.

“No,” the young man answered. “But I’d be lying if I said my future looks bright.”

“Well, maybe not fer what ya want, but it ain’t exactly dark or bleak,” Colm said. He couldn’t see, but the young man turned to face him. “However hard it might be ta accept ya ain’t going home, ya have a bright future here.”

“Here?” the young man laughed.

“You know what Ah mean,” Colm said. “Ya get to Equestria. They won’t extradite ya; you’ll have a good job there. Maybe start a special warfare thing of yer own with her guard.”

“I’m not an operator, so I’m not exactly qualified for that,” the young man said.

“Yer more qualified than any of them, and you’ll have to develop new stuff for ponies anyway,” Colm said. “Or you could start yer own Karate place. You did say that was a retirement thing you would consider back home.”

“I guess,” the young man said. “But… I…” He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t feel right here.”

“Why would that be?” Colm asked.

“I’m a simple human with some skills, like most other humans,” the young man explained. “This is a magical world where my rules of life don’t always apply. Where the universal laws of physics don’t apply. It feels… off.”

“I suppose Ah can understand that,” Colm said. “But that’s what life is, ya know. You should know better than anyone; life is full of change. Nothing stays the same. No matter how you try to slow it, times keeps slipping by, and we wonder why it always seems to be time to say goodbye. But with any closing door, another opens. You’ll see.”

“That was quite the little speech,” the young man said. “That could be a part of a song.”

“Well, I do dabble,” Colm joked.

“I bet you wanted to dabble in that princess,” the young man said. Colm punched him on the shoulder, earning a laugh from the young man.

“Yer such a jerk, ya know?” Colm chuckled.

“I’m that sarcastic ass of a friend everyone wants, but that nobody wants to admits to wanting,” the young man said.

“Ponies, griffons, we’re all weird that way,” Colm said with a sigh. “We hate conflict, yet we invite it into our lives all the same.”

“What, you WANT to live a life of dragging steel blades across a field all day, every day, doing nothing else?” the young man asked rhetorically. “I don’t know about most ponies, but that kind of life makes me wanna just die, since that’s what my soul would do.”

“Too true,” Colm said.

The duo had a moment of silence between them as they both became lost in their thoughts. The young man stared up at the sheet as if it were the night sky, trying to imagine the stars beyond. He hadn’t actually gotten a really detailed look at the night sky yet, since his only travels in low-light areas were in less than ideal circumstances.

“Do you think they’re out there?” the young man asked.

“Who?” Colm replied.

“Earth,” the young man said. “My people, humans, my family and friends. Do you think that, somewhere, out there in deep space, maybe it’s all there, and I can look at it right now?” Colm was silent for a moment.

“Ya lost me,” he said.

“There’s billions of galaxies out there, inconceivable numbers of planets and solar systems. What if this one is just another? What if I just need a powerful teleportation spell to go home?” the young man asked. “Maybe if I grabbed a telescope, I’d find out home isn’t as impossibly far as it seems? What if this world is just another world among the many I accept to be real?”

“What?” Colm said.

“Maybe they’re just out there, out of reach for now,” the young man said.

“Ah have no idea what yer going on about, but it makes mah head spin,” Colm said. “Ah’m gonna get some sleep now. Goodnight, man.”

“Goodnight.”

Colm went off to sleep instantly, happy for the respite from the day’s travel and near miss. It was probably going to be the story of their lives for a little while, so it was better to get rest whenever the opportunity came up.

The young man didn’t sleep much that night, though. He simply lay there, imagining how things might be at home and wondering if he would ever get to see his old life again.

Many obstacles lay ahead, the least of which was Yakesh’s fury, and however strong the young man was, he couldn’t stop the demons in his mind from taking him this night. It was just one of many restless nights to come.

Luck be a Lady Tonight

Several more days of travelling came to be, but the hunting prospect had about died off. They were in what most have been the most desolate area this half of the world; scorched stone, mountains of ash, and only the occasional tumbleweed for company.

The weird thing was that there were no volcanoes or flame sources anywhere.

“Where in the world are we?” the young man asked.

“Beats me,” Colm said. “Ah ain’t ever heard of a place this dead.”

“Why would it even be like this?” the young man asked. “What caused so much… death?”

“Ah don’t know and Ah don’t care ta find out,” Colm said. “Let’s get through here right quick.”

“Agreed,” the young man said.

The duo still had enough food supplies to last three more days. If they stretched it, they could make it four days. They probably wouldn’t need four days, but if this wasteland was here, who knew if any towns existed beyond this?

All they both knew was that Equestria was somewhere beyond the wastes, so they had to press on.

The change in ground quality wasn’t very gradual; the dirt became packed more and more until it was just stone, melted down and reshaped into various columns. It was too well-shaped to have been by accident, though.

The duo pressed forward through the wastes. The sky was growing grayer as the day went, as if it was about to rain, which would be a welcome change to such a desolate area. It would ensure that they could refill their canteens and avoid using them for a time. Anything at this point that extended the life of their supplies was welcome.

It was a straight up hike to get through the first zone of the wastes, and it didn’t look like it was about to change. They had to climb up some steep, stony hills, shredding their knees and elbows from landing and grabbing ledges. It was a good thing their supplies were low, or they may have been too weighed down to effectively climb.

When they reached the top of the last hill, they were greeted with a wondrous sight; water, like a coastline, just down the way. The young man pulled out the compass, and sure enough, that direction was east. Great stuff; now they just had to pick a direction and find a coastal village with boats or something.

“Well, ain’t this just handy,” Colm said.

“Yeah,” the young man replied. “All we gotta do now is-“

Before the young man could finish, a massive shadow cast over them from above and advanced forward. Just seeing it sent chills down both man and stallion’s spines and made them freeze in place. It was a flying creature, with bat-like wings and talons. And from the sound of its wings flapping, it was absolutely enormous.

“I’m looking at the ground,” Colm began. “But I’m too scared to look up.”

The young man slowly looked up to see what sort of monstrosity was near them. Had the griffons sent some sort of beast to get them, a super-griffon? Or was it just a natural, large bird?

When the young man looked forward, his jaw dropped practically to the ground and he couldn’t speak.

A massive dragon, larger than any living creature from home, crashed to the ground on its feet and folded its humongous wings. It turned to the side and revealed teeth as big as cars, with eyes the size of trailers. It snorted and sent an explosive plume of flames forward, incinerating the very air it travelled through.

“D-d-d-d-d-d-d-“ the young man tried to say.

Colm looked up. “Dragon,” he said, the color fading from his face. He grabbed the young man and dragged him to the ground. “Get down, idiot!”

In silence and terror, the duo looked on at the dragon below the hill. It landed next to some sort of tower, and it appeared to be holding something in its hand. Then, it began to speak.

“EMBER,” it said. “I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU.”

“Ember?” Colm said.

“Shh,” the young man said.

The massive dragon opened his claw to reveal a tiny blue speak, at least something that appeared that way from so far away. Whatever it was, it moved around and seemed to respond to the massive mythical beast.

“I’M SORRY, WHAT WAS THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER HOW SMALL AND HELPLESS YOU ARE.”

“Savage, bruh,” the young man muttered.

“YOU DON’T GET TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS, YOUNG LADY,” the dragon said.

The young man looked to Colm. “Is he scolding his daughter?” he mouthed.

“I didn’t know dragons parented,” Colm mouthed back.

“NO!!” the dragon bellowed. The young man and Colm covered their ears from the loudness. “YOU CANNOT GO OUT PICKING FIGHTS WITH CREATURES TWICE YOUR SIZE. YOU WILL NOT WIN. THE DRAGONLORD WILL NOT LOSE HIS DAUGHTER TO SOME ANTELOPE.”

“Dragonlord?” the young man wondered aloud.

“Our lord,” a voice responded form behind.

Colm and the young man jumped from the scare and scrambled forward with their sacks, falling down a wall and crashing to the ground. They rolled up and grabbed their supplies only to see three slightly-more-than-man-sized dragons above.

“Oh, no,” the young man said.

“Oh no is right,” one dragon said with a sneer. “This can go two ways-“

“I prefer the way that lets us live,” Colm said.

The dragon smiled again. “Alright. We’re going to escort you down the hill to the Dragonlord. He doesn’t like trespassers.”

“I’ll go ahead and let him know we bagged a couple today,” a female dragon from the trio said.

“Good,” the first one replied. She flew down toward the massive dragon to let him know what was going on.

“Alright, now you two- start your way down,” the dragon said with a cruel grin.

“Oh, man,” Colm said, looking down at all the drops.

“Well… we’re gonna die, aren’t we?” the young man asked. “Never thought I’d go out with dragons. I hope they tell good stories about me.”

“It was a good run, man,” Colm said.

The duo started making its way down the hill under the terrifying gaze of two dragons. Moments after starting, it became five, as the third dragon, the Dragonlord, and the small dragon the lord was holding all stared at the pair making its progress toward the tower.

They were being constantly rushed, tumbling all over the place, so it only took about twenty minutes to get to where the Dragonlord could roast them without effort. At that point, he ordered them to stop. They froze in place, the color gone from their faces.

“I don’t appreciate trespassers in my territory,” the Dragonlord said. “But you two… you’re not my usual trespassers. Who are you?”

“I-I am Colm,” Colm introduced himself.

“I’m just another human,” the young man said.

“COLM, JUST ANOTHER HUMAN,” the Dragonlord said. “YOU’RE NOT A TYPICAL PAIRING. WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“We-we’re on the run,” Colm said. The Dragonlord snorted flames. “W-we pissed off the griffon king Yakesh, and so we’re trying to get as far from him as possible-“

“YOU TWO MADE HIM ANGRZY?!” the Dragonlord shouted.

“Time to die,” the young man thought with dread.

“HIS GZRIFFONS HAVE BEEN ENCROACHING ON MY TERRITORY FOR DAYS IN PURSUIT OF YOU,” the Dragonlord said. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

“We convinced his daughter to run the heck away,” the young man explained. “Her life would’ve been really bad, s-so we convinced her to dip like we did.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the Dragonlord laughed. Colm and the young man covered their ears, but the dragons all just looked confused. “JUST AS HE DESERVES, KNOWINGLY ENCROACHING IN MY LANDS!”

“Y-yeah, screw that guy,” Colm said.

“Lord, what should we do with them?” the female dragon asked.

The Dragonlord leaned down and put his face right in front of the duo, scrutinizing them. They both stood up slowly as his massive eye twitched up and down, taking them in completely. When he was satisfied, he pulled his head back.

“I LISTENED TO THE GRIFFONS BEFORE ROASTING THEM,” he said. “THEY SAY YOU TWO HAVE QUITE THE TALENT, AS WOULD BE EXPECTED OF A HUMAN AND HIS TRAVELLING COMPANION. WHAT DO YOU DO?”

“I fight,” the young man said quickly. Colm nodded.

“WELL, THIS IS A PLEASANT SURPRISE,” the Dragonlord said.

“What?” all parties present said in unison.

“MY DAUGHTER, EMBER, IS A SCRAPPER,” the Dragonlord said. “TEACH HER A THING OR TWO, AND I WILL ALLOW YOU TWO TO TRAVEL NORTH TO THE FISHING VILLAGE. I’LL EVEN GIVE YOU FOOD.”

“T-thank you,” the young man said more in shock than fear. “W-where is she?”

“I’m right here, turd,” a tiny voice said.

Colm and the young man looked up and saw a little, sapphire-blue dragon sitting atop the Dragonlord’s head. She looked scrappy, just as the Dragonlord said, and she was thin and incredibly small. She let herself slide off her father’s head and landed before the pair, where she stood shorter than Colm. Both members of the duo could only blink.

“What? Never seen a dragon princess before?” she asked.

“No,” both answered simultaneously.

“Well, now you have,” Ember said.

“Okay then,” the young man said. “So, uhhh… what do we do?”

“YOU WILL ALL THREE GO TO THE BASE OF THE TOWER, WHERE THE HUMAN WILL TEACH EMBER AND THE PONY WILL BE HER TEST DUMMY,” the Dragonlord said. “HOPEFULLY SHE DOESN’T KIL YOU.” Colm swallowed his spit.

“O-okay,” he said.

“So, uhh, let’s go, then, princess,” the young man said.

He picked up his sack of food and threw it over his shoulder and Colm did the same. Before either could see her, Ember jumped on Colm’s back to ride him down. Colm wanted to tell her to get off, but he also valued his life, so that was a no-no. Colm had to just deal with it.

It took another half hour to get to the base of the tower, but once they were there, the young man looked at Ember and saw that this shouldn’t be too hard. She stood like a person, moved like a person, and had a fighting personality. Having claws actually made it easier.

“Okay then, let’s, uhh, get started, then,” the young man said.

“What are you going to teach me?” Ember said. “Dad says you’re supposed to be good?”

“He’s one of the best,” Colm said. “Beat the living daylights out of the griffon Yafid twice.”

“Wow,” Ember said nonchalantly. “I have actually heard of him. Supposed to be good.”

“Well, I’m better,” the young man said. “so, let me get an idea of your fighting style.”

“How?” Ember said.

“Come at me,” the young man said.

“Are you sure?” Ember said. Her father was facing some other direction, dealing with political matters.

“Just go for it,” the young man said.

Ember took a wide stance and then lunged forward, claws out. She tried to swipe at the young man’s legs, but he picked them up or dodged every time and parried her claws away. She started to grow frustrated and upped the intensity, but to no avail.

“Okay, that’s good,” the young man said, grabbing her by the wrist.

“You really are good,” Ember said.

“Told ya,” Colm said.

“Don’t piss her off, Colm, you’re the test dummy,” the young man said. Colm laughed nervously.

“Alright, let’s start. So, when you attack, you have a tendency to…”

While Colm and the young man were teaching princess Ember; the second princess they were “hired” to help; the Dragonlord dealt with whatever matters were on his plate. Unfortunately, those matters involved the very pair helping his daughter.

“My lord, why can’t we kill them? They invaded our territory,” the first dragon from before whined.

“Because I don’t want you to,” the Dragonlord said. “These two are on the run from our most annoying enemy. If we let them leave, it does more damage to him and lets him know we can do whatever we want, whenever we want. He will become less annoying from now on.”

“This wasn’t what anyone expected,” the small dragon said.

“Nor is it what I expected,” the Dragonlord said. He glanced back to see his daughter knocking the pony over and pulling his mane while the human laughed. “But it looks to have been better than if it hadn’t happened.”

“My lord…” the small dragon said.

“No harm will come to them,” the Dragonlord said with finality. “There is something about this duo… I cannot explain it. But they should be kept alive.”

“Do you think it’s..?” the small dragon asked.

“Who knows,” the Dragonlord said dismissively. “It could be. But that isn’t my concern once they leave. We’re better off not taking any chances.”

“The crystals will show us when they come,” the small dragon said. “You’re right. We shall give them some gems and send them on their way, then.”

“Good,” the Dragonlord said. He looked back again to see the duo and his daughter seemingly having fun with the teaching. “But later. I suppose I can let her have this day.”

“Very well, my lord,” the small dragon said.

There was something different about this pair that drove the Dragonlord to show them mercy. Hopefully, it would turn out to be right. If not, which was frankly more likely, they would hopefully at least just leave.

One way or another, the Dragonlord wanted to watch this training session. Humans are talented creatures, and seeing them in their moments was a rare occurrence.

Out in the Field

The following days of travel were easy for Colm and the young man. They had gotten unbelievably lucky with the dragons, not getting roasted like pigs, and they were in high spirits. It was a good day to be alive.

They finally found what they had been hoping to come across, too; a major coastal city, with ports, trade, and all manner of inhabitants. They needed to cross the ocean in order to get to Equestria so they could meet Celestia and the young man could go home, and it was either this or find a way to walk on water. With no options, they took it in stride and waltzed into the city.

The instant they hit the streets, they knew they weren’t the kinds of guys who typically hung out here. The people on the street were varied, but only to an extent. You had the rich guys, riding in chariots through the filthy streets to do their business, and the vagrants wandering about looking for handouts. There were sailors and pirates all over, too, either drunkenly trying to duke it out with a lamp post or trying to pickpocket every drunken sailor who walks by.

“I’m not so sure about this,” Colm said.

“Well, neither am I,” the young man said. “But we have to work with what we’ve got.”

They had no idea where to even start. They didn’t want to start just asking questions on the street: that was a great way to get robbed. They had to go somewhere where people actually did legitimate business. They needed to find a shipping company or cruise line.

“Do ya think a cruise line would EVER come here?” Colm asked rhetorically.

“Shipping line it is,” the young man said.

The best place to start looking would probably be by the docks. The duo kept on walking through the streets, holding their bags close to avoid getting robbed. They could tell that the local thieves were eying them, but they made sure to look like they wouldn’t be victims to discourage them from trying.

After maybe twenty minutes of walking, they made it to the ports where cargo was being loaded onto and off of the ships. They were all old style ships, the most advanced looking kind of like the Titanic, just not as big. A lot were old-style, wooden sailing ships, and there were cutlasses everywhere. The young man felt uneasy about being around so many blades.

“How do we do this?” Colm asked.

“Well, I can’t read half of these signs,” the young man said. They were some of the most poorly scrawled signs he’d ever seen. “Most of these are probably warehouses, and they won’t exactly welcome us inside with the cargo.”

“Why not?” Colm asked.

“You’re transporting massive amounts of food in a city where half of the residents are in poverty,” the young man said. “Or maybe you’re transporting goods of value or contraband, and two random dudes from the street ask ‘Can I come inside?’ Why do you think?”

“Ah, alright, alright, Ah get it,” Colm said. “Let’s just ask, then.”

“Might as well,” the young man said. He looked around. Half of these characters around him were griffons, some were ponies, and there were even some cat-people or something. They definitely seemed the sketchiest.

“I’ll take the lead,” Colm said. He had read the young man’s mind on that one.

Colm took the front as they forayed into the ports to find a pony to talk to. There was a good chance that their actions with the griffons were known by now, so they weren’t too intent on talking to any griffons who may hand them over for a coin or two. Of course, they would probably get more than that for turning in deserters.

Colm picked a random stallion and hailed him. The stallion looked over curiously, then set down what he was carrying and walked over.

“Hello there,” Colm said.

“Aye, greetin’s,” the stallion said. “What brings ya here? Most ponies don’t come by here lest they be working.”

“We’re looking for transport across the ocean,” Colm said. The stallion nodded slowly. “We need to find the owner of a ship so we can negotiate passage.”

“Well, this ship ain’t takin’ passengers,” the stallion said. “But the offices are down that way if ya need some help.” The stallion pointed them to a building three docks up. “Someone there may help ya out.”

“Thank you,” Colm said. He and the young man walked in that direction.

“That was easier than expected,” the young man said.

“We were dealing with griffons for a while,” Colm said. “They’re famous for being greedy little turds. It’s nice to talk to a pony again.”

The pair walked to the office building and entered slowly. The building was surprisingly lean inside for where it was, with white tile floors and walls painted an easy shade of gray. Several desks with secretaries lined each side of the room, and there were two elevators and a staircase at the end of the room to go to the offices.

“Pick one and give it a go,” the young man said. Almost all the secretaries were ponies. Colm picked one at random and started talking.

“Hello,” Colm said as he walked up to the desk. The mare behind it looked up and smiled.

“Hello,” she said. How was it that basic courtesy seemed to great after spending time with griffons? “How can I help you?”

“My friend and I are looking for transport across the ocean to Equestria,” Colm said, leaning onto the desk. “We were wondering if any of the fine business owners here would talk to us about getting passage.”

The secretary smiled and leaned forward. “Well, there are a couple of stallions you may want to talk to about that,” she said. “Mr. Goodhooves and Mr. Cringle, both on the third floor. They own the ironclads you probably saw out there.”

“Well, that sounds perfect,” Colm said. “Ah don’t suppose you might be able to get us to see them?”

“I certainly can,” the secretary said with a wink and a grin. The young man rolled his eyes. “They’ll only see one of you at a time, though.”

“Buddy, why don’t you take the lead now,” Colm said. “Thanks for letting us see them, miss...?”

“Daisy,” the secretary said.

“Daisy,” Colm said. “Now, Ah don’t suppose you could arrange for me ta see you again later?”

The young man shook his head and walked over to the elevator. He didn’t particularly care to hear Colm trying to get personal with a secretary right now. Thankfully, the elevator was already at the first floor, so the young man just hopped on when the door opened. As the door closed, he saw Colm laughing with the secretary mare.

The young man rode the elevator to the third floor. When he got off, it was more of the same white tile and gray walls, well kept and clean. A stark contrast with outside. There were multiple doors in a small hallway when he got off the elevator, the first two in front of him being for Cringle and Goodhooves.

The young man decided on Goodhooves for his first try because he had a nice name. Of course, it was probably ironic. You don’t get high in business by being a nice guy. The young man knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in,” a voice said.

The young man opened the door and walked into an office space totally different from what was outside. The room had a very Japanese feel, with paper room dividers, bonsai trees, and other culturally Japanese decorations. Goodhooves himself wore a Kimono at his desk.

“Hello,” the young man said.

Goodhooves look up and startled. “Daisy didn’t say a human was coming up,” he said with a chuckle. “What can I do for you?”

“My friend Colm and I are looking for passage to Equestria,” the young man explained. “We don’t see any cruise ships around, so we figured a cargo ship would be the next best bet.”

“Ha, I understand,” Goodhooves said. “Please, sit.”

The young man sat. “We are prepared to pay, of course,” he said.

“I’m afraid that I can’t take that money, actually,” Goodhooves said. The young man made a face. “Now, now, no worries. I can’t take the money because I am not certified for that business in Equestria. It’s unavoidable in legitimate business.”

“I see,” the young man said.

“However, if I were to simply hire you for a single voyage, I could take you across,” Goodhooves said. The young man perked up. “Based on that gi, I’d say you know how to fight.”

“I do,” the young man said.

“See, my ships are constantly besieged by pirates. Price of business here, sorry to say,” Goodhooves explained. “I need good fighters on my ships to protect my cargo. I also need them to protect my cargo while it is still on land.”

“Still on land?’ the young man asked.

“Pirates attack my ships and they sneak through ports and shipyards to steal,” Goodhooves lamented. “If you and your friend are fighters, I could hire you to keep an eye on my cargo here and on the voyage to Manehattan.”

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” the young man said. “Food and transport to Equestria in exchange for cargo protection?”

“Sums it up nice,” Goodhooves said.

“Alright,” the young man said. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

They shook on it and the young man made his way downstairs to tell Colm the good news. He hadn’t even had to really negotiate or go see the other guy for a better deal. With how well that went, and with Colm getting his groove on downstairs, things seemed to be going pretty well. Almost too well.

The young man took the elevator down and, when he stepped off, was greeted with the sight of Colm tickling the secretary Daisy down her neck. As he walked up, he cleared his throat rather loudly, distracting the two of them and attracting all kinds of attention to what they were doing.

“Colm, we got what we came for, but it’ll be some days before we depart,” he said. “Let’s go find a place to stay, preferably nearby. Miss, would you happen to know of any place?”

“Just down the street, the Foc’s’le is a nice building. Just across from mine,” the secretary added with a wink at Colm. The young man sighed internally. “Tell them you work for Goodhooves. You’ll get a killer rate.”

“Sweet, thank you, honey cakes,” Colm said.

“Oh, stop,” Daisy said.

“Please, do,” the young man added.

“Here’s my building and apartment number,” Daisy said, handing Colm a little note. “I get off at seven.”

“Sounds like you’ll get off every hour after seven to me,” Colm said.

“Okay!” the young man said, grabbing Colm by his mane. “Let’s go rent a place! Thank you for the help.”

“I’ll see you later,” Colm said with a wink.

The young man yanked Colm out of the building and they started walking. As they walked, he couldn’t contain his laughter as it started seeping through the cracks of his previously serious demeanor. Colm just had this stupid grin on his face like he had found his princess.

“Seriously, dude?” the young man asked. “You said that?”

“I’m clever when Ah want to be,” Colm said.

“That wasn’t even remotely clever,” the young man said. “Being clever in such pursuits involves subtlety, being smooth. That was like throwing an innuendous grenade into a room full of bored mares.”

“Hey, she wanted me,” Colm said. “She wasn’t just bored.”

“Hey, you do you,” the young man said.

“Or her,” Colm replied. The young man chuckled.

“You really think so?” the young man said.

“Dang right,” Colm said. “She said she has an itch. She scratches it on her own, but she said it’s nothing like when a stallion like mahself scratches it for her.”

“An itch?” the young man said.

“Takes over the whole area, she said,” Colm said. The young man held in his laughter.

“Did she also say it’s a burning need?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Colm replied.

The young man couldn’t hold it and exploded into laughter in the middle of the street. Ponies and griffons around them looked in their direction to see what was so funny. Colm just stared at his friend, confused.

“Colm,” the young man tried to say, practically dying of laughter. “That- that isn’t an itch you wanna scratch, buddy!”

“What?” Colm asked. “Why?”

“Let’s just say this,” the young man said, recovering. “If you scratch that particular itch, you may start to feel it yourself. And there is no getting rid of it.”

“What do you mean? I don’t think-“ Then, it hit Colm. “Oh. Ooohhh.”

The young man patted him on the back. “Better luck next time,” he said. “Maybe try again when we aren’t in a sailor’s town.”

“Well… I kinda promised you might come along…” Colm said.

“Colm, what the f-“

The conversation about ended there, mostly just continuing with the young man berating Colm for trying to include him in his coastal sexcapades without telling him. When they arrived at the Foc’s’le, they rented a room with what money they still had to get ready for work the next day. They had it easy up to now, but all that was about to change; they should have looked more into the job they were taking.

Familiar Faces

After settling in for the night, Colm and the young man stretched out and chatted about what they might be watching over. Given that there didn’t seem to be a lot of normal security at the docks, it couldn’t be much more than food or commodities. Stealing any of that in large enough quantities would appeal to any thief of course, but the local populace would be inclined to steal small amounts of it. And they could probably take just about anyone in the local populace.

After a bit of that, they slept on their low-quality mattresses until dawn. It wasn’t easy to sleep on them anyway, so they just got up and went out for breakfast. The local cafés served pancakes that tasted and felt like cardboard, but it was better than nothing. They were used to nasty food at this point, since they had been preparing their own meals for a while.

After eating, they made their way to the docks. It was an easy matter of asking which warehouse belonged to their new boss, since a lot of the guys there worked for him. They had to explain who they were, though, as the workers hadn’t been notified of the human and pony who would be acting as security.

When they reached their warehouse, all they had to do was walk inside and keep watch over a bunch of crates. They could have stayed on the ground and navigated the maze of boxes, but they opted for the catwalk instead. It wasn’t so high that they couldn’t jump down onto boxes and then the ground in case a thief came, and they could actually see most of the warehouse from up high. Colm took on side of the warehouse and the young man took the other.

“So, what do ya think is in these boxes?” Colm shouted from the other side of the warehouse.

“Toiletries, toilets, furniture, basic stuff,” the young man said. “What do you think?”

“Ah bet it’s a whole lotta gold and jewels,” Colm said.

“Gold and jewels. In massive crates. You’re something,” the young man said. “They would transport that kind of stuff in smaller boxes, ya clutz.”

“Aye! Don’t make me come over there!” Colm said.

“But for real, what do you think is in these?” the young man asked.

“I stand by what Ah said,” Colm replied. “Gold and jewels.”

“Aight,” the young man said with a shrug. “If you really believe that.”

The young man looked out over all the crates. They’d already been in the room for quite some time, and no one came. He didn’t really expect anyone to, of course, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if someone tried something. Standing around watching wooden crates was hardly exciting.

As the young man thought about this, the entry door opened up and in walked none other than Goodhooves. He looked up to see his new workers diligently watching the crates as they did things like pick at their nails and hooves, pick noses, and try to fart louder than the other one across the room.

“Good morning, gentlecolt and gentleman,” Goodhooves said.

“Morning,” Colm said.

“What’s up, Mr. G?” the young man asked. Goodhooves chuckled.

“Just thought I’d let you know, you also finish at five,” he said. “You’ll have to let my personal guards take over for the night. When they come, ask them for ‘the phrase’ and they’ll reply ‘Eat bilge, milk-drinker’.”

“That’s not very nice,” Colm said.

“It angers anyone who doesn’t know it’s the code phrase,” Goodhooves explained. “If you were anything but a human, and you were imposters trying to stall actual security, it would let us know something was up.”

“That’s pretty tight security,” the young man said suspiciously.

“In this town, anything not nailed down is up for grabs, and these crates kind of need to be picked up,” Goodhooves said.

“I guess,” the young man replied. It still felt weird.

“So! That’s that,” Goodhooves said. “You’ve got about six hours until the end of your shift. Try not to break anything.”

Goodhooves left, and Colm and the young man were alone again. The young man looked over at Colm who had a strange look resembling discontent on his face. The young man raised an eyebrow at it, but left it. Colm was a strange character.

“Ah don’t know that Ah trust him,” Colm said once he was sure Goodhooves was one.

“Trust him or not, he’s a businessman,” the young man said. “If he values his reputation and business, he’ll keep his end of the bargain.”

“Ah’m not worried about him not keepin’ his end of the bargain,” Colm said. “Ah’m worried you didn’t get the full details on the job.”

The young man frowned. He wished Colm hadn’t been questioning him like this, but he had a point. Looking back, the young man should have asked more about his cargo. This little visit felt more like a check-up than a notification, as if he didn’t quite trust these two. There was something else here.

But hindsight is 20/20, so there was no use lamenting it now. They might as well just do the job.

The rest of the day went uneventfully. No one tried to break in and there were no scuffles they could hear outside the walls of the warehouse. The young man did a small workout through the remaining time to avoid dying of boredom, and when Colm saw him going, he did his own little routine. By the end, they had worked up a mild sweat, and when the guards came to relieve them, they left a nasty smell behind in the humid warehouse.

“Oi, Ah’m glad that’s over,” Colm said. “What say we grab some grub?”

“Yeah, I wish I’d known to bring a lunch,” the young man said. “I’m starving. Let’s get dinner and then grab food to make lunch after that.”

“Ah’m down,” Colm said. They didn’t have much money left, so they would have to spend wisely.

The duo walked away from the warehouse and down the street, past their temporary residence. They figured the same café here they ate earlier would suffice for dinner, however awful the breakfast was. When they arrived, though, they found that it served as a bar at night for rowdy sailors.

“Hey, maybe we should find someplace else,” Colm suggested.

“Agreed,” the young man said. He could hear all the shouting inside; it was quite a party, it seemed. “Maybe we’ll be able to find a place that doesn’t even serve alcohol-“

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, the window of their café exploded outward and a very beaten-down griffon in came flying out with all the shards of glass. He had blood all over his face from a few punches, but mainly several deep cuts close to his eyes.

“What the-“ Colm started.

Before he could continue, another griffon came flying out of the window after the bloody bird and grabbed him by the neck, ready to wring him out. When the young man and Colm looked at the griffin, though, there was something off. They couldn’t quite place it, but…

“Grab MY ass, will you?!” the griffin yelled. It was a lady. She raised her claw to slash his face again, but saw something out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around to look at her spectators for a bit of berating.

She froze in place. She just stared at Colm and the young man for several seconds, like they would somehow, or for some reason they didn’t know, stop her. Neither of them appreciated a harasser, and she could do as she pleased. Slowly, she let go of her aggressor and stood up.

Then the realization hit.

“Holy shit, it’s the princess!” the young man shouted. Colm’s eyes practically exploded out of his head.

“Oi! You’re right!” he shouted.

“Guards!” Nikita shouted. She jumped off the now-unconscious griffon and rushed over to the pair.

“We have names,” Colm said. Nikita ignored him.

“I’ve been looking for you!” Nikita said excitedly.

“You have?” the young man said, confused.

“Yes!” she said. “After you left, I took of and hid in an old grotto close to the city for a couple of days. Once I knew the battle was done, I flew out to find you. I assumed you would have come here.”

“Well, eventually,” the young man said. “We got caught up in the dragon lands-“

“WHAT!?” Nikita said. “How did you survive?”

“They’re not as bad as you would think, pretty chill,” the young man said.

“Really.” Nikita didn’t sound convinced.

“Ya had ta be there,” Colm said.

“Why do you talk differently sometimes?” Nikita asked Colm. “Guard, you pronounce your words differently at the most random times.”

“Well, princess,” Colm said with attitude. “Ah do try ta sound educated sometimes. But Ah always pronounce mah name COLM the same.”

“Fine, COLM, I guess I’ll give you that,” Nikita said. “You did grow up as a peasant.”

“Why, you little-“

“Okay! How about enough of that?” the young man said, stepping between them. While he didn’t want Colm to make their fugitive status worse, he was also worried that Nikita would annihilate him like that dude still on the ground. Was he gonna be okay?

“Fine,” Nikita said.

“Colm?” the young man said.

“She started it,” Colm mumbled.

“Good, glad to see we’re all getting along,” the young man said.

Just as he finished, several griffons came rushing out of the café–turned-bar and looked at the trio, then to their friend, and back to them. They growled at the group, clearly displeased at the current state of the grounded bird.

“But maybe we should deal with this first,” the young man said.

The griffons charged at the trio. Colm, Nikita, and the young man separated a few feet apart to take them on. There were four of them, but the way Nikita took the one down, it may as well have been four on ten at this point.

The first one swiped at Colm, who ducked low and turned to give a serious buck straight to his ribs, breaking several and grounding him. The young man faced off against two. The first one tried to go for a sideswipe to his ribs, but the young man advanced and stuffed it, then kicked out the griffon’s left rear foot, picked him up while he tried to regain balance, and threw him over his shoulder into the ground, following it with an armbar and breaking the arm. As he broke the arm, he threw a back kick at the other, just catching him in the shoulder, and turned into a spinning jump-roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

Nikita’s opponent was just as easy. He went for a grab on her shoulders, which she counted by shoving the tips of her talons into his arms. Once inside, she ripped them forward toward him, cutting up the whole length of his arm, then took a page out of the young man’s book and spun around for a spinning back kick to the griffon’s neck. The griffon spun a little to take it sideways, but that only saved him from a crushed larynx by taking a likely busted neck.

Once all four griffons were down, the trio regrouped.

“Maybe we should leave,” Colm suggested.

“Agreed,” the young man said. “But I’m still hungry.”

“There’s a nice little restaurant just down the street, not a bar,” Nikita said. Colm and the young man looked at her. “I’ve been here a little while. I know the area.”

“Alright, you take the lead,” the young man said.

Princess Nikita took the front and led the trio to a small restaurant on the other side of the street. It was a nice little place, pretty calm and easygoing. Looking at the menu, it catered to both ponies and griffons, and by extension, any human. Nikita ordered beef, Colm ordered a hay salad, and the young man ordered a chicken salad.

“So you said you’ve been looking for us,” the young man said.

“Yes,” the princess said. “You two inspired me to take my freedom for myself. But I don’t really know how this world usually works…”

“So you tried to find us,” Colm said.

“You’re the only two people I’ve ever really been able to trust,” Nikita said. “I thought if I found you, I could stay with you guys and figure out the ways of the normal world and find my way.” The young man nodded slowly

“Princess-“

“Don’t call me that,” Nikita cut off.

“Okay,” the young man said defensively. “But, listen. We aren’t great travel companions. I can barely handle this clown half the time.”

“Love you, too,” Colm said sarcastically.

“But I’m trying to get home. We plan to go to Equestria, and we only secured passage for two.”

“I can pay my own way,” Nikita said. “In case you forgot, I had all my jewelry, plus considerable funds of my own.”

“Well, that should work, right?” Colm said.

“Maybe,” the young man said. “We’ll have to speak with Goodhooves-“

“GOODHOOVES?” Nikita said. The young man reeled back. “You made a deal with HIM?”

“We protect his stuff, he lets us take passage to Equestria on his shipping vessel,” the young man said . Nikita rubbed her face.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “He deals in all kinds of valuable and questionable cargo. You know how often pirates attack his ships?”

“Often?” Colm asked rhetorically.

“Every times, sometimes several per trip,” Nikita said. “You’ll have your hands full, human. And Colm.” Colm smiled a little.

“Well, that’s tough, but we can handle it,” the young man said. “We dealt with Yafid twice. We can deal with a few pirates.”

Nikita sighed. “I hope so. If not, all three of us will go down with the ship.”

“Who said yer comin’?” Colm said.

“I did,” Nikita said with a glare. “I’ll come with you to work tomorrow, and we’ll see Goodhooves before you start. We’ll work something out; I have plenty of money to work with.”

“I say we try it,” the young man said. Colm looked at him questioningly. “Look, we already have a target on our backs. Maybe if she comes along, nobody will try to take us dead.”

“Agh, maybe,” Colm said. “Fine, I’ll stop whinin’ about it.”

“Good!” Nikita said with a big smile. “Where are you two staying?”

“The Foc’s’le,” the young man said. Nikita’s face deflated like a balloon.

“Well, I suppose it’ll do,” she said.

“Where were YOU staying?” Colm asked.

“Well, I was staying with the owner of the café in an extra room in exchange for being waitress,” she said. “Last night, he said if I fought another customer, I was out. So I’m out, and I’m with you now.”

“Well, why don’t ya just-“

“You’ll take my bed,” the young man said. “I can take the couch in the corner.”

“Well, at least ONE of you is a gentleman,” Nikita said with a glare at Colm. He stuck his tongue out at her.

“One of us has to be,” the young man said. “Of course, that secretary certainly thought highly of you…”

“Hush!” Colm said.

“What secretary?” Nikita asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Colm said.

“it’s the reason you’re taking MY bed without argument,” the young man said with a grin.

“What, cuz you were too yellow to join in?” Colm said. The young man chuckled.

Nikita shook her head. “You know what? I don’t want to know,” she said. She tossed a few coins onto the table, and the trio left to go sleep the night off. They would have to negotiate with a ruthless, sketchy businessman in the morning, so they would need their rest.

Off in the darkness, though, other forces were rising and coming in to make their lives much harder, and they would need more than sleep to fight them off.

Finale

Into That Wild Blue Yonder

Part One: The Young Man

The winter winds were howling around the car as it sped along the highway toward the big city, returning from yet another great night back home. The driver was in a good mood, as he was every time he came out here, but was eager to get some sleep before classes the next day.

He had made his way back to the dojo again. Since he went off to college, he found that he couldn’t make class twice each week any more, but he could still come back once each month. In his freshman year, he used the trains to get back, but now, his parents let him have the car at school, so he was able to drive, and the commute took substantially less time.

In the seat next to him sat his Gi, his black Obi, and his sparring gear. That was all he took; he couldn’t take his weapons with him to school, so those were still at home. His teacher let him practice with the spares in the dojo, though, so it wasn’t a big deal. The young man considered sneaking his Bo staff and escrima sticks in, but in a city that was really strict on weapons, it didn’t exactly come across as the wisest idea. He certainly couldn’t get sai, kama, nunchaku, or knives in.

Not that it mattered either way. He was a student of Karate, Empty Hand, for over fifteen years now, so weapons weren’t his priority. They were just a little extra fun.

He had his driving playlist playing in the car, positively blasting the music at the highest volume. Normally he would keep it quieter while driving, but late at night, the highways were almost always vacant, save for a car or two here and there. As long as he intently watched the road, there was no real hazard to keeping his music on. His favorite song, Southern Comfort Zone by brad Paisley, came on, and he felt a burning need to join in the joyous music.

“Oh, I love this one,” he said to himself.

He started merrily singing along to the tune as he approached the bridge back into the section of the city where his school was located. He had to slow down to pay with the EZ Pass, but as soon as he was through the gate, he jumped right back to the speed he had been moving along at before. Though as he approached the bridge, he had to slow down a little bit.

The bridge looked stark up top, but it was no surprise this late at night. Few enough people ever went into the city at night, and by now, most people had already come out who were normally would. He always felt bad for commuters; taking so long just to get to work basically added an unpaid hour onto the day.

As he drove down into the lower section of the bridge, normal for his route, he thought about the work he had to do for the following week. He had two essays to write, Calculus problems to complete, and a physics assignment. It wasn’t so much though, especially since it was just a Mechanics class, as opposed to Quantum Theory like the previous semester. He still couldn’t comprehend how that insanity worked, and certainly never would. He was just happy to pass.

Southern Comfort Zone concluded, and a new song played. It was a happy little tune; All Star, by Smash Mouth. These guys were just too classic not to play on a car ride to and from a place that had been so important to him for so long. He started singing along, as he always did, even when his throat pleaded with him not to. As he sang, he approached the joining point for getting into the under section of the bridge.

Before he could get very far into the song, though, another car sped along and didn’t see him coming into the lane. It tried to switch lanes where it wasn’t allowed to and smashed into the side of the car, denting it a good five inches. The young man was thrown sideways and lost control of his vehicle as it was thrown sideways.

Seconds later, the car smashed into a support beam for the bridge and destroyed the protective barrier keeping cars on the bridge. Torn metal shredded and impaled the car it as it hung off the side of the bridge, held in place only by the barrier sticking into it.

The young man inside was no better off; dazed and concussed, he sat in the driver’s seat, unmoving. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally opened his eyes and looked around. The car was totaled, and as he looked left, he was looking up at the ceiling of the bridge. To his right, he could see the river, hundreds of feet below.

In the distance, someone was screaming something, but he couldn’t make out what. He tried to move to get out of the car before it plummeted to the river below, but some very painfully kept him locked in place. When he looked down at his own body, he saw a shard of metal just sticking into his side. The right door had been ripped clean off the car, and the torn barrier went straight into the car and into his body. He felt wet all over, and now, he could see red liquid steadily and quickly following the path created by the intruding metal barrier.

The car lurched toward the river; the young man knew that this wasn’t going to work out for him in the end. Unless some hero besides the person who smashed him into this situation in the first place came to save him, he was done for.

Who would have thought it would end this way? After so much scuba diving, so many years of martial arts, plans on joining the military, it was a damn car crash from some jerk that wasn’t paying attention that would kill him. The car lurched again.

“Well, I guess I had a good life,” the young man said weakly to himself. At least, he thought he did. Maybe he imagined saying that.

Twenty years old, and he had had some awesome adventures around the world. He grew up very fortunate, and his parents provided him with a lot. He hated that they were about to lose their son; they didn’t deserve this. As the car lurched one last time, he thought about what they would have wanted for him.

The car slipped off the bridge and began its final journey, making a final advance on the murky depths of the brine. As it fell down, it slowly rotated so the young man could watch the water rapidly advancing on him. It wasn’t so bad, though; at least he didn’t have a metal shard sticking into his side any more.

The car slammed into the water and threw the young man forward. He hadn’t noticed that the airbag already deployed, so when the car struck the surface of the river, his head was thrown forward and slammed into the now deflated bag, bringing on the blackness of unconsciousness. Right as he slipped out of the world, the young man thought about what was to come.

“Finally get to know the mystery.”

As the pain faded away, the young man departed this world, and was left to freely wander into that vast, wild blue yonder known only as the unknown.

Winds of Change

The young man walked down the road, dirt crunching beneath his feet and chilled gusts of wind pressing against him. He had to pull his gi top closed with his hands to keep the wind from stealing his body heat. As cold as his hands felt against the biting winds, it was more important to keep his core warm.

The young man trudged onward with heavy footsteps and bare feet. He was constantly stepping on rocks and pebbles that made him retract his foot instantly from the sharp pain. If this was what the journey home would be like, then there would be some long hard times to come.

The young man tried not to think about the past few days. The ponies had been good to him, sure. Gibbs pulled him out of the water and gave him a place to rest and heal up. They gave him food, protected him from the bad guys who wanted to take him away.

In return, the young man gave them some good things back. He put an end to that mercenary group that showed up, killing three and crippling the last one. Of course, they only showed up because of him. But the young man didn’t choose this life, so he was really doing them a favor, and not just giving them something owed. So the net giving was neutral, and all parties were even.

And then there was this Tong group. Terrorist thugs, holding villages in perpetual positions of extortion and fear. The young man tried to get them to fight back; he even would have helped if they had decided to try. But they were too scared. What did they have to be afraid of? They already had no freedom, that couldn’t be stripped from them. They had their lives, but when life is so terrible, why value it so much?

The young man started thinking about life. Why did it hold value? The question made him stop. He assigned value to life based on the liberty you have to do what you want. For these ponies, that simply wasn’t true; it couldn’t be.

The ponies had their “special talents” that they didn’t get to choose, and that defined most of their life. Sure, they could be autonomous within a field, but they didn’t have the all-encompassing freedom of any human being. Clearly, they didn’t value life for freedom.

What did they value life for? Their families, for one. Every life can find value on that principle. Friends, too. Maybe the only thing that gave the ponies value in life was having friends? Whatever you are forced to do in life, you do still get to choose your friends. You still have personality traits that aren’t dependent on your talent.

But then, with the threat of friends being taken from you, should you not fight that threat? If it is always lording over you, you have to retake control for the safety of your friends, right? And if you stand by your friends, you have the ultimate power that anyone could have.

It was an interesting thought, friends over freedom. To the young man, it still didn’t make sense not to fight for freedom, when all you had to do was fight by your friends’ sides for it. It was just… inconceivable. He shook his head and kept on walking.

The ponies were clearly very narrow-minded, unlike people, who could press on through almost any struggle. Why were they so different? What was it that made the ponies so weak?

The young man sighed. “I don’t understand…” he said.

He paused in his tracks and stared at the ground before him. Something felt off. The winds that were pushing against him had disappeared suddenly, and not a sound echoed from anywhere around him. The trees had ceased to rustle, the dirt no longer crunched under his feet, the sounds of the wilderness were gone. An uncanny silence ruled over the land.

Just as he was about to say something to himself, the world started to rumble. It started off as a small rumble, hardly noticeable, unless you saw the rocks shaking on the roadside. Then, it gradually became larger, until it became a full-on earthquake. The earth growled beneath him as if it was growing angrier and angrier at the world above, trying to knock it off its feet.

The young man looked up and toward the sky. Off in the distance, something was coming toward him, high in the sky. He couldn’t quite make it out, as it was too far away, but as it came closer, he recognized some sort of arc shape that was getting larger, expanding as the rim of a circle.

Just as he was about to forget it and move on, the arc accelerated and picked up massive speed, and it exploded outward as an enormous rainbow shockwave, somehow blasting a sonic boom ahead of itself. The young man stared in awe, mouth agape and eyes wide, as gale force winds rushed against him from the same direction and slammed into him, knocking him down and landing him facing the opposite direction.

The young man stared in disbelief as the shockwave continued on its journey, casting itself over the world for just a moment before disappearing off over the horizon. It was the most extraordinary thing the young man had ever seen, the most stunning display he had ever laid his eyes upon. Was it natural? Something like that could not exist back home, it could only exist in a world of magic and wonder.

The young man looked backward in the direction of the village, a spark showing in his eyes for just a moment. Those ponies were in trouble. With new determination unlike any he had ever had before, he got back up and started walking.

Those ponies needed help. And he was the only one who could provide it.

Red Sky at Morning

Red Sky At Morning

Yafid cleaned off his talons with one of the cloths sitting around the room. He always hated being dirty, which was ironic, given his career field.

He had been out of commission for three weeks. It would have been longer, had he not gotten lucky and found himself under the care of unicorn doctors from far to the west. They were out there for some service mission or some such nonsense.

Yafid simply had to buy his time until he was well enough to leave today. When he went to leave, they tried to take records of who he was and what he did, but he refused to give them the information. They tried to tell him they couldn’t let him leave until he told them what they were asking; if only they had an inkling of knowledge of who he was.

He didn’t feel like taking their nonsense, and so dealt with them as he pleased. He knew they had medical supplies and money that he could use, and so he took them without too much effort. They didn’t have guards, so when the doctors tried to fight back, it was easy for Yafid to take them down.

The town he was residing in never even heard the short struggle; Yafid was just too good at what he did to let them make a fuss. The town would find out eventually, but he would be long gone by the time that happened.

It was sad, really; had the young man not done what he did to Yafid and his stallions, these doctors might still be alive. The young man took his team, his friends, from him, when all he had to do was just surrender and prevent the unnecessary violence. The more he thought about it, the angrier Yafid became.

He was intent on taking that young man. Maybe he wouldn’t sell him; maybe he wouldn’t even keep him. But he was going to take that young man’s life from him, and he was going to enjoy it when he did.

Of course, given how long it had been, it would take time to find the young man. It wouldn’t be hard, of course; how easily could a travelling human hide from the public eye? It was just a matter of actually getting to him after his three week head start.

But that was what Yafid loved about this job; the chase, the pursuit of his prey was just too exciting not to get him going. And he knew the Tong wouldn’t have succeeded; it was just meant to delay him for a day or two. He knew the chase was still very much on.

With a heart of black and eyes of ice, Yafid left the building and the dead inside and flew off to pursue his revenge against the young man who had done so much damage to him.