-------------------------Chapter Four: Departure and Journey-------------------------

"Eulogy, are you sure about this?" One Corn asked for what felt like the "million'th" time, knowing full-well that the answer would be the same as every time before and getting tired of it. As he readjusted his pack carefully with his teeth(he didn't want to risk something as small and delicate as a pack strap with his moving), he mouthed part of her response silently and rolled his eyes.

"This is the absolute best option for you to learn how to make the best of this, hun," Eulogy answered as expected, being just as tired of saying it. "else you risk possibly killing someone with an errant thought. Never forget that, understand?" She looked him in his eyes sternly, now.

He gulped and nodded, fidgetting under her gaze. He adjusted the other side of the pack to get away from it, and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she finally moved away, opening the door at the back of the basement where he had made his home for the last couple of days. He looked forlornly at the bed for the last time before Eulogy gently shoved him towards the opening.

"I know, I know. Thanks for putting up with me, by the way. And for setting this whole thing up. I'm immensely grateful, you know." One Corn said as he bowed to Eulogy. She just giggled and gave him a playful kick of her front hoof. "Get going now, hun. No time to waste. Who knows what dangers may be out there, waiting to swallow you up and digest you for days at a time? But enough of these goodbyes. Farewell, and best of luck."

They waved at each other one last time before Eulogy closed the door behind him with a somewhat ominous thump. One Corn took and let out a deep breath, and set off across the cemetery in the direction of the nearby forest, hoping he had enough supplies for the journey.

As the forest's entrance loomed in front of him, he picked out a path and continued onwards. Within a few hours, he had made quite a bit of headway, and could no longer see the entrance behind him. Seeing that it was fairly dark, he decided to make camp, and set up a simple shelter to sleep for the night. In the morning, he cleaned up, ate a meager breakfast to preserve his supplies, and continued in the direction Eulogy had set him on.

And so it was for three more nights, making very good headway into the deep forest. On the fourth such morning however, he awoke to very different surroundings. Tied down, staring at a leather-looking ceiling, he smelled something foul next to him. He scrunched his nose at it, but a striped hoof quieted his expression of disapproval before it took place. One Corn looked up the long leg of his silencer to see that which he had been searching for: a zebra, albeit somewhat displeased.

-------------------------Chapter Five: Arrival-------------------------

The zebra eyed One Corn warningly, and asked “Can you be quiet while I help? Or will sleep better quiet your yelp?” One Corn furrowed his brow at the zebra’s strange manner of speech and decidedly female middle-aged voice, but nodded slowly. The zebra took her hoof off of his muzzle and returned to gently stirring whatever mixture she had on the end table. As One Corn watched in astonishment, it gradually changed from a deep purple to light green. The zebra shook something into the mix from her hoof, and the color changed to a vibrant blue.

“Ah, this will nicely do! Now, be silent, and drink this brew.” The zebra held the “brew” in front of One Corn’s muzzle, which cautiously opened and was filled. It felt sticky, yet smooth, as he swallowed every drop. Upon finishing, his back arched as he writhed in excruciating pain, but only for a moment. As quickly as it had come, it passed, and One Corn found himself sitting up and inspecting his body for any new additions.

“Becalm yourself, foal, for you are fine. I have not given you a new outline. Your body is not the altered place, but rather, your interesting face.” One Corn glanced up in horror and felt around his forehead for the nub, only to wince as he brushed against it. He moved his pack’s small mirror over to inspect, only to find that it had grown larger than before. It now looked like a tiny rounded pole sticking out of his face, no more than half a hoof long, but very sensitive.

“Wonderful, just as we expected you! But now for a challenge of more than brew.” One Corn looked back to the zebra before being hit in the face by a pillow. As he ripped it off of his face to protest, he got hit by another. He ripped it off again, but pulled it back quickly before the next expected impact, though it never came. He cautiously looked around the edge of the pillow, and saw that his moving had caught the next pillow mid-flight.

“Again, you pass, but alas. Is that the best that you can do, or can you strike my visage, too?” The zebra got into a fighting position and readied another pillow. One Corn shook his head in confusion and astonishment. This wasn’t really the time for a pillow fight, but then again, he had been captured and drugged against his will. So he figured, why not get some "revenge" in the bargain?

He hefted the pillow with the moving, and flung it as hard as he could towards the “foe”, who rolled away onto her hooves with a laugh before kicking another at One Corn. One Corn grabbed hold of it and swung it around him, without stopping it, to return towards its kicker. The zebra jumped over it and laughed once more. “Impressive, young one. But you’ve not yet won.” She then kicked two pillows at One Corn in rapid succession, who caught the first and used it to deflect the second. He then lifted them both at once, and sent them twirling at her once again, who dodged each with a laugh once again.

And so it went for roughly an hour or so, with One Corn able to catch, counter, and wield more and more of the projectiles as time went on. His foe still never revealed anything about herself, only throwing more pillows at him. One Corn eventually collapsed from both mental and physical exhaustion due to catching some pillows and dodging others. However, the zebra looked as if she were disappointed that the fun was over, yet pleased that he had managed to last so long and improve so much.

“Rest for the night to heal yourself best. You shall move towards your goal after the moon’s rest.” She then walked into another room and vanished from One Corn’s senses as he crawled back into the bed and laid down to sleep deeply.

Author's Note

Yeah, I'm sorry, you know the deal. Enjoy.