Shifted

The three panted and looked over a ledge as the rock monster tumbled and rolled after them. Without a word Luna dropped the shield and leapt with the others toward what was hopefully river water below.

Two minutes later they were dragging themselves from the river and panting.

“I swear to the moon and back that if anything else attacks us, chases us, or otherwise disturbs my mane in the slightest way, I shall destroy it without hesitation!”

The men laughed as they stood up and took a few paces from the river and readied their weapons. “We did say this was an unknown area,” Raul said with a chuckle, “and that means no one, not even your gods, know what’s coming next.”

Luna stood and shook herself dry, her armor rattling slightly as she frowned and walked past them and glared into the seemingly peaceful forest ahead. “I am a goddess on my world,” she growled as she cast a spell that covered the group in darkness, “and as the steward of the night, moon, and realm of dreams, We will be as the nightmares these creatures fear the most!”

A wave of dizziness washed over the men as Luna lowered her aura and looked back to the men with a wry smile. “We shall be left alone from all but the most horrendous creatures, which will feel the wrath of my magic.”

“...What did Phil bring us,” Dave asked Raul who shrugged and followed her lead.

The next two hours were the most unnerving the men had ever experienced as there was no natural sound except for their feet crunching on leaves and twigs. Even the wind seemed to have stopped, casting the area into unnatural silence.

“This’ too creepy, dude.”

“I know, man. What the heck did she do to us?”

“I dunno, bro. But I feel okay. Are we dead and don’t know it?”

“Nah, bruh, I gotta pee, ghosts don’t do that. Do they?”

“I don’t know, chief. All I know is I haven’t heard a worm so much as fart since the river…”

“Mine ears are not affected by the silence you have broken, gentlemen. We are the terrors nature fears in their primitive minds. The wind is just happenstance,” she looked back with a smile, “should I show you what I look like to them?”

They looked to one another and shook their heads slowly. With a wry smile Luna turned ahead again, but her tail seemed to drip with green slime that burnt a markless trail behind her for a few seconds.

“Jesus, man… We’re monsters to the monsters,” Dave whispered hoarsely.

“I know, it’s so cool!”

“I wanna find a beast and scare it!”

“Nay, stay thy course,” Luna scolded. “Leave me and the spell is null.”

“Oh,” they said in unison.

“...Are we there yet?”

Luna lowered her head and sighed as she led the two.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

“Verily,” Luna announced as Dave cleared his throat at her, “I mean, look ahead, gentlecolts, er, men.”

“Whatever,” Raul clarified, “go on.”

“The edge nears. I can tell from the sparsity between the foliage. Another, ahem, what do you and Celestia call it… half an o’clock?”

“Hour?”

“Yes!” she looked back to the helmeted men with a smile, “that. Then we shall see what the land has to offer us.”

“Princess, we don’t need to wait that long,” Dave muttered as he motioned with his hand. Raul dropped to his belly and crawled quickly ahead. Luna lowered her body, her armor making nary a noise as she did so. “Contact, eleven o’clock.”

Luna looked to him. “Thy said it was two o’clock a mile away ago,” she hissed.

“Shut it,” Dave replied sharply, his eyes narrow at a point past Luna. Luna squinted at him curiously and followed his gaze, then halted her breath.

A skull-walker stood still in the trees near the edge of a clearing with several soldiers in nearly full armor lingering around. Many had their helmets off and were conversing, and Luna took note of them all. All were humans, nearly all male, and armed with enough weaponry to leave her a smoking wisp in the air, should she be found.

“What do we do?” Luna whispered as Dave sided her.

“Move slow and pray to whoever will listen that they don’t see us.”

“Let us return whence we came.”

“No, if we go back we may run into a patrol. We go around,” he said moving slowly past her.

“Wait!” she hissed as her horn lit to life and she closed her eyes. A dull hum escaped her throat as she laid her head on her gilded shoes and sighed. Dave looked at her and lay flat, a slight yawn escaping him and Raul.

They turned their attention to the armored humans in the clearing and watched as they began to yawn, sit down with their weapons ready to fire and their backs to each other, then fell asleep. The skull-walker hissed and remained still, a quiet thud followed by several others in the distance.

Luna opened her eyes and smiled. “There, problem solved. Now, shall we-”

“What’d you do?!” Raul shouted his question.

Luna stood tall and shook slightly in her form fitting armor. “They are asleep only, not dead. As guardian of the night it is-”

“They’ll scour the whole forest for us now! Damnit,” he stood and kicked a rock with the side of his boot while Dave growled lowly.

“We have to leave, now.” Dave said as he stood and took a fast trek around the clearing with the others following.

Luna remained quiet as she followed Dave, with Raul behind her keeping guard. “I, would like to apologize for my strategical error in judgement, I believe I was helping-”

“We don’t wanna hear it, chica. No magic, no talking. Just be a pony and make that noise when you have to.”

Luna was about to retort but stopped herself. “I realize you are upset with me, but being specist is not going to help our situation.”

“I’m not specist,” Raul replied, “I’m just not in the mood to talk to the chica that might have killed me in a few hours.”

Luna remained quiet for several minutes as they made their way ahead in the forest, now with the sounds of nature and animals around them. Luna was sullen but enjoyed the natural noise until they reached the sudden edge of the forest.

“Crap, get down!”

“What the funky cold Medina is that?”

“The forest… it lays in waste,” Luna intoned, “and the humans we saw before are the cause?”

“Yeah, they are. They must’ve found a magic bug.”

“That is not humorous,” Luna said looking at Dave.

“He’s serious,” Raul mumbled, “they’re extremists. Ya know what those are, right?”

“Verily. The war with the Minotaurs was one fought between all races and their males whilst the females attempted to lean their mates to peace. It was a confusing war, but all the creatures of my world learnt much. Several hundred years later, in fact, during the war with the gryphons-”

“Look,” Raul pointed ahead at several skull-walkers in the distance walking away, “they’re leaving. All we have to do is w-” he fell silent as a blast from behind vaporized a hole through his chest. The other two looked over to him in surprise as his biological body vaporized even after the blast has dissipated.

“SHIT!” Raul shouted as he grabbed Luna by her barding and tugged her, more out of instinct than practical thought. A blast narrowly missed where she was as she gasped at the fading image of Dave’s armor falling empty with dust escaping any way it could. She moved and nosed under Raul’s legs, slipping him onto her back.

“Hold on if you value your life,” she shouted. Her shoes began to glow a light blue and as Raul’s grip tightened she began to gallop faster than he could have imagined. The world blurred by him and he felt slightly dizzy. “Do not sleep or it will be your last,” he heard her speak clearly as though they weren’t blurring through reality as a flash of light passed around them.

A shuddering sound began to send trembles through his body before Luna slowed suddenly. “We art clear of the dangers that be, for the moment,” she panted and let her legs fall beneath her and she impacted the ground with a metal clunk and an exhale.

He blinked and gulped in fresh air then stood, looked around the town square he found themselves in, then grunted and fell to his knees. He pounded the ground several times with his fists and reached for his rifle, grasping at empty air he growled and stood to look down a Luna.

“You left him to die!” he shouted as he took a lunging step and kicked her in her barding. Then again, and again. He screamed at her, ignoring the crowd of creatures and humans that were encircling them. “He might have-”

“Do you feel better?” Luna asked as her horn flared to life and she stood, wings open and taller than she was, nearly the height of Raul now. “Thy friend was dead from the blast that ended his life before you. He turned to dust in the wind!” she bellowed then looked to him with glowing eyes. She saw him tremble and his eyes began to water.

She dispelled the illusion and stumbled forward into his arms, her wings hanging limply beside her. “Raul, you are a noble warrior, as was Dave. If you must blame me for his loss, then so be it, but do not hide the sorrow within. It will destroy you.”

He chuckled dryly. “I just kicked a royal princess from ponyland, that’s about as expressive as I can be… chica.” She hummed again as she fell asleep. “Luna? Shit, Luna?! Hey, is there a doctor here?”