My little Short Stories: Chronicles of Ponyland

The two ponies pressed on, following the winding path away from the village, and towards the direction of the oni's cave. the path started to grow dark and ominous once more, as the samurai and shugenja approached the Maisō-chi burial grounds of the kirin. While Rocky, who had gone through extensive training on matters of the supernatural, was unaffected by the dead leaves and grass that surrounded them, he noticed Starglow was greatly unnerved by the dark and foreboding look of the surrounding countryside.

"Do not fear, noble samurai. The spirits in this place cannot harm you." The shugenja reassured her. "The deceased ancestors of the Kirin in the graveyard ahead, are well attended by their descendants in the village. They will not attack us as èguǐ, the terrible spirits with a ravenous hunger."

"I do not fear the dead, who sleep in the cemetery ahead." Starglow replied, trying to suppress her fear. "It is the demon minions the oni will send after us- the yokai. they are the reason I am afraid of this last leg of our journey."

"True, we may not be able to overcome such powerful foes, if they were to try and attack us." Rocky agreed. "We must be careful, as we trot through this sacred cemetery."

Starglow and Rocky trotted forward, passing through a large torii gate, and entered a large area, filled with small stones clustered closely together, the names of each family and clan etched onto their respective stones in kanji characters, along with each clan's mon crest. As the passed by the gravestones, both ponies turned, bowed to the graves, and clapped their front hooves together in a sign of respect to the dead. But as they continued on their way through the dark and fog cloud that covered the Maisō-chi cemetery, several small blue flames began to appear above the grave, and danced all around the graveyard. Then, the two ponies began to hear the whispers of the dead krin;

"Turn back, there is great danger ahead!"

"Yes, turn back, warriors of Hoofkaido! The yoaki are very near!"

"Beware, Samurai! Beware, shugenja! Only death awaits you ahead!"

"Rocky-san, what's going on?" The Pegasus asked. "Where are all of those voices coming from?"

"It's the hitodama, the fiery spirits of the kirin ancestors!" The shugenja exclaimed. "They are trying to warn us of danger nearby!"

As the two ponies reached the edge of the cemetery, they were attacked by two of the most bizarre creatures ponykind had ever seen; what appeared to be two living umbrellas, hopping around on one human leg, each with a single eye and a tmouth with a tongue dangling out.

"Ahhh, Kasa-obakes!" Starglow cried out, as she drew her Katana, slashing as one of the umbrella demons leaped out of the way. "Why in the name of B'zekre do such weird yokai even exist?"

"Hard to say, Starglow-chan." Rocky replied, as one of the Kasa-obakes tried to lick him with it's acidic tongue, burning his yukata. "Perhaps the kami were drunk when they fashioned these umbrella demons."

The two yokai kicked both of the ponies backwards, sending them slamming back into the stones, and causing Starglow to drop her katana. The mare barely avoided the attacking yokai's tongue, flying out of the way of it's acid attack. Spinning around, the samurai drew her wakizashi, and stabbed the umbrella demon straight in it's singular eye. The yokai screamed in agony, hopping around as black blood squirted out of it's wounded eye. As the one Kasa-obake fell over dead at the Samurai's hooves, the other umbrella demon lunged at Rocky with it's sharpened top.

"Foul yokai of the underworld!" Rocky declared, lunging at his opponent.. "For the crime of attacking us, I condemn you to the fires of jigoku for all eternity!"

Reaching into his saddlebag with his hoof, the shugenja pulled out an ofuda scroll; a small sheet of paper, with the name of a particular kami inscribed upon it's surface. infused with magic by Hoofkaido's miko priestesses. Leaping towards the attacking yokai, the stallion slapped the small scroll on the Kasa-obake, freezing the yokai in place. Pulling out his Chokutō sword (the weapon of a choice for a shugenja, who were forbidden to wield a katana or wakazashi), and struck down the umbrella demon.

"Starglow-chan, are you all right?" Rocky asked, running up to help the samurai up. "Those umbrella demons were waiting for us, just like the tengu."

"Which means the oni knows we are on our way, and is trying to stop us from reaching his cave." Starglow stood up, and motioned for the shugenja to follow her. "Come on, we'd best keep going, if we are going to reach the cave before sunset."

The pair of ponies left the cemetery far behind them, and soon came to a raging river, at the base of a mountain range.

"Hm, looks like there is a means of crossing here." Starglow motioned, pointing a hoof towards a rickety old bridge. "We should be able to cross here."

But as the two ponies approached the bridge, several green and scaly figures popped out of the water, leaping onto the bridge in front of the samurai and shugenja.

"Halt, ponies!" One of the turtle-like yokai hissed, his fangs and claws bared at the equines. "Return the way you came, for the yokai of the kappa clan shall not let you pass!"

Starglow began to draw her sword, but Rocky raised a hoof to stop her. "Don't worry, my lady. I know how to handle a kappa."

Trotting up to the small army kappa, and did a deep bow. "Noble kappa, we are honored that you are the one to attack us. Will you not all return my respect, and bow back to me in kind?"

Seeing the pony bowing and being so polite, the kappa were compelled by their sense of honor to bend over, and return the bow. Just as soon as the kappa had bent over, the water in the small bowls on top of their heads immediately spilled out, killing all of the kappas instantly.

"Some yokai are so easy to trick and overcome." Rocky chuckled, as he and Starglow crossed the bridge. "Now, we'd better hurry, the oni's cave is just a few kilometers ahead!"