Trigger Happy Equines

“You had us so worried!” Serenity cried, embracing her only son as he came in through the door. “We were just about to search for you!”

Patience relayed his sorrowful story, his face full of tears. He wanted to know why those colts would treat him in such ways, why they would forsake him for no reason he could see.

“There are some who turn to darkness,” Persistence said, trying to assure his son. “But they will eventually turn to the light.”

“Yes,” Serenity added. “You must forgive them and move on with your head up high. Sol will do the rest and see to it that we all achieve our destiny.”

Patience wasn’t pleased by his parents’ answers. He wanted them to grow infuriated, to sound off and strive to slay his attackers, to become imbued with the fires of rage and strike them down with infinite malice. His parents could see he was still distressed, and tried to reason with him.

“You will understand in time,” Persistence said. “Sol has a plan for us all, and nothing happens by accident. What one day may seem a curse may soon reveal itself as a blessing. Sometimes we cannot learn the easy way, and sometimes our experiences – both good and bad – allow us to grow.”

“Think of it like the sugarcanes,” Serenity added. “If all was left up to you, surely you would eat your fill, neglecting the vast array of fruits and plants that offer essential nutrition, and gorge on sugarcanes. In the end you would become sick. Only through knowledge beyond your own and a sense of discipline have you learned the truth, that all must be taken in moderation. Through those trials you have become better. And when we do finally feast upon the sugar canes, it is a celebration. Each bite tasting all the better because those moments are scarce.”

Patience nodded, saying that he understood. He had heard this all before, and supposed that he could wait for Sol’s plan to come to fruition. But still, the words of the colts plagued him, and he set out to prove them wrong, that he could learn how to use magic. And so, he focused and strained while in his room, trying to move a pencil with his mind. He would go on until the early hours of the morning, waking in a sweat as his parents called him down for school. The pencil hadn’t moved.

Over the next few weeks, Patience would suffer a life of fear and disappointment. He would come face to face with the colts again and again, their words mocking, their smiles cutting into his soul. How they laughed, such joy they felt at his failures, and how others began to join in, smiling beside them, whispering and giggling.

“Sol has a plan for you,” Patience proudly said one day. “One day you will learn the error of your ways.”

To this the colts grew vicious. They would steal his belongings, scribble hurtful words on his desk, douse him in water and, worst of all, throw him into brambles and bushes.

“Is this part of Sol’s plan?” they would tease. “She must really want you to suffer.”

Then Patience would get home and try and try to lift the pencil, for a single spark of magic. As he understood, this was his challenge. This was his trial. It was as clear as day to him that once he succeeded, they would admit their wrongs and he would be free from the torment. This was why he stopped telling his mother and father, why he didn’t alert the teachers. This was his battle, and once it was over, they would suffer such wrath that they would bear a torture beyond what he had lived through. That, Patience felt, was the obvious conclusion. And so he waited. He was very good at that.

One fateful night, Patience lifted the pencil. It shot up to the ceiling and thundered like a firework as a divine white light erupted from his horn. He lifted it again, flew it like a bird, and trampled to his parents’ room, bouncing with glee. “Mother! Father! I have done it!”

There was much jubilation. The family feasted on sugarcanes as Patience played with his new ability, feeling as if he were on top of the world.

“A pure white light like that of Sol,” Serenity said.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Patience could hardly wait to face the new day. Sol’s plan had come to pass, and he could finally prove the colts wrong. Their laughter would turn to groans and screams, and he would rise triumphant.

But that was not to be. Patience strode up to them after class, chest puffed out with pride. He picked at a tulip from a nearby flowerbed and floated it in front of them. “There, you see? I have achieved my goal. You can all stop bullying me now.”

The three colts exchanged a glance. One was about to laugh when the other kicked at his heel, shaking his head. “You’re right,” he said. “We don’t have to bully you ever again.”

Patience beamed from ear to ear.

“Now we get to be your friends,” the colt continued, winking at the others. “Come on, let’s go have fun together.”

Patience was confused. Was this his reward? It didn’t make sense. He didn’t want to be their friends.

“What’s wrong?” one of them asked. “We’ve learned our lesson and wish to appease you. May you spend time with us so we can get to know each other?”

“It’s part of Sol’s plan,” another said.

When Patience heard this, his ears pricked up. He wanted to know of Sol’s plan. The colts’ torture wasn’t to be, but something else surely was. Curiosity got the better of him and he gladly accepted their offer. They led him to a stream.

“There are fish in there,” one said. “Try and grab them with your magic.”

“I don’t see any,” Patience said, peering into the murky green water.

“You need to get closer. It’s for your training, so you can become stronger.”

“Stronger?” Patience pondered on this. It reflected everything his parents had taught him. Weakness was just a precursor to greatness. This was how the trials worked, how the basis of Sol’s plan directed the flow of life and the world. For even these three colts to understand these concepts meant they were surely disciples. Patience shuffled down the bank, slipping his hooves into pits along the soil.

“Closer,” one of the colts said.

Patience did so but struggled to see a single fish. “Are you sure there are even fish that swim in here?”

“Of course. It’s a stream, isn’t it? This is where fish live. A keen eye will be able to spot them.”

The task seemed to grow odder as Patience descended step by step, almost reaching the algae-laden brook. “I’m worried I’ll fall in.”

“Don’t worry about that,” one of the colts said, stepping down towards him. “If you go to fall, I’ll pull you back.”

“Oh, thank you,” Patience replied gratefully, and turned back to the stream. He thought he could see the flicker of a minnow when all of a sudden he was sent tumbling into the turbid water. In a panic, he tried taking in a gulp of air, accidentally swallowing water as he did so. He fell onto coarse, jagged rocks that pierced and gnawed at his skin. His eyes stung and his lungs ached. He scrambled to his hooves, dragging himself onto land and retching violently. But all he could hear was the shrill laughter of the three colts behind him.

“I can’t believe he fell for it!” one said, clutching at his chest.

“He’s such a fool!” another cried. “The way he totally trusted you!”

“Why?” Patience croaked. Nothing made sense. He had passed his test. He had lifted the pencil, just as they had mocked him for not being capable! He was due his reward!

“Why?” the leader parroted, putting on a high-pitched voice. “Why don’t you ask Sol?”

“Yeah, maybe your reward is under the water!”

Patience flew into a rage, charging at one of them as fast as he could, trying to impale him with his horn. But the colt foresaw this and stepped aside, grabbing Patience by the neck and hurling him back towards the stream, Patience landing hard on his back and rolling down the bank until he hit the water.

“Did you see that?” the one colt called out. “He tried to stab me.”

“You listen here, you little weakling,” another said, stepping towards Patience and stomping a hoof on the side of his head, pinning him to the dirt. “You need to know your place. Maybe that’s what Sol’s lesson is.” He pressed harder as Patience squirmed underneath, tears in his eyes. “Her plan makes sense to me. You’re supposed to learn that you’re nothing, that you’re a nobody. Don’t ever think you can take us on.”

Patience wailed, soil in his teeth, aches and pains stretching across his body. “What am I supposed to do?” he cried.

“I’ve got one,” the colt whispered into his ear. He stood back up and gestured to the other two. “You see, the three of us, we get hungry at school. We’re all so big and strong, we need our vitamins and minerals. But our poor, poor parents can’t buy enough food for us. Isn’t that a tragedy? If you can feed us, every day, all this can stop.”

“Yes!” Patience cried. “Anything for it to stop!”

“Excellent!” the colt exclaimed. “Looks like we’ll be having our fill from now on!” The other two cheered. “Now, starting tomorrow, you need to follow through. Do you promise? Do you swear with all your heart? Do you swear in the name of Sol?”

“Yes! Yes! I promise!” Patience screamed, sobbing through bloodshot eyes. After this, he was left alone to wallow in despair. Patience was supposed to be home soon, but he lay in the dirt just as the rain began to fall. He was beyond devastation, looking up to the clouds, wanting and waiting for Sol to guide him. Through his blurred vision he thought he saw a sign. Patience got up and began walking.

There was a forest nearby that Patience knew of. He’d been told by his mother that there were wild animals that lived inside. Some of them were dangerous. Some of them could even kill. Patience wondered if there were wolves. He knew wolves had gnashing teeth that could rip and tear. He knew they traveled in packs. A pack of wolves could definitely kill a young colt, but that was what Patience wanted.

He had been told of a wonderful place that everybody would go to when they died. Luscious fields teeming with life and orchard upon orchard of the sweetest fruits as far as the eye could see. The leaves would shimmer and swirl in every color of the rainbow, and each sunset would be more beautiful than the last. There was no pain, no sorrow, only happiness. And Sol was there, great Sol, wonderful Sol, and they would all bask in her magnificence. Trudging through the dense undergrowth of the forest as light began to fade, Patience felt as if that paradise was right around the corner, hidden in the maw of a wild beast.

However, it was not wolves that would come to greet him. Nor was it any kind of wild beast. It was a chance encounter that would change Patience’s life forever, one that would set in motion a series of events that nobody could have predicted. Patience saw a figure amongst the trees, one that stood above him, rattling and scratching and pawing at the earth. It was a bear, Patience supposed, and approached it without caution. Whatever was to happen would be up to Sol. But as Patience grew near, the beast turned on its heel with tremendous speed, staring Patience dead in the eyes.

“What are you doing here, little one?” the beast asked.

Patience was startled. As his vision focused, he realized that the shambling creature that wore the colors of the forest, all draped in leaves and twigs, was a unicorn stallion. “I came to meet my end,” Patience replied. “Do you know where the wolves lie?”

“That I do, but such knowledge is not meant for you.”

“Please, you must!”

“I forbid it, my child. I too once sought to meet my end, but life did not permit it. And now

That’s how it was for me, I thought as I listened to the gentle voice, wandering through my dreamscape.

I permit myself to stop you from taking that path. Come, my child. You are hurt. Blessed you must be to find me here. Perhaps it is fate that brought us together.”

“Fate?” Patience remarked. “Should it not be my fate to see to my eternal rest?”

The stallion appeared to weep. “Such a cruel world. I refuse to grant you that wish. I have lived long, and I have seen more than you can imagine. Through time grows wisdom, and I have seen the ways of this world. I will not let you die today. Come, I will cleanse your wounds.” In years to come, the stallion would regret this decision more than any that had come to pass. He would wish with all his heart that he had led Patience to the wolves and seen to it that the colt had been slaughtered like a lamb, his flesh feasted upon and lost to the world, his bones ground to dust.

Patience ached and bled, and soon obliged this kind stranger his wish. The stallion led him to a thatched hut that lay shrouded by foliage. He introduced himself as Meddik and claimed to be a sage from a time long passed. He inspected Patience’s ailments with great deliberation. With a flash of his horn he began his somber chant, and Patience felt a warm glow pass over his body, as if he were submerged in bubbling tar that refused to burn. The gushing of blood ground to a halt and his skin began to weave itself like seamless patchwork. His bruises subsided, their color draining like a painting dipped in acetone. The pain in his joints dulled and he flexed each leg in amazement. Meddik instructed him to drink from a soup made of mottled leaves and herbs, and within seconds Patience doubled over and relieved his stomach of the algae-infested water that he had swallowed earlier.

Meddik began to sway and clutched at his head. “That is as much as I can do for you, my child. You should be careful from now on.”

Patience felt as if he had been born anew. “I am so grateful, but tell me, why do you dwell in the forest if you are capable of such things?”

“I am not welcome in society. It is a long story, and I do not wish to tell it. You must go now. Do not speak of me to anyone, and do not come back here.”

Patience was confused. “But why? You have done so much for me. I do not feel the need to reach paradise as I did before.”

“I saved you as you were headed down the path of ultimate ruin. You must strive to live a good life and not squander what you have. Now go.”

Patience saw an opportunity. “I wish for you to teach me, so that I can learn to heal as you do.”

“Such an innocent child. Do you truly crave such power? The road to it is not an easy one.”

Patience pleaded. “I will try and try! I will do my best!”

Meddik wept once more. “Perhaps you can do good where I have failed. Such brightness I see in you, but also much fear. I cannot teach one who is afflicted as such.”

“Then I shall banish my fear! This must be Sol’s plan. I have suffered such that I gain fear, and now I must overcome it. This is my test – I can feel it!”

“I do not know. I cannot promise you anything, but please, you must leave now, before the sun sets.”

Patience left that place and followed the glowing orbs that Meddik lit to guide his way, a spring in his step. It was the start of Patience’s journey towards his destiny.

“What are those, mother?” Patience asked a while later, after returning home. His mother was knitting a scarf for Mercy.

“These?” Serenity said, holding the items aloft. “They’re knitting needles. You’ve seen them before, Patience.”

“I would like to learn,” Patience announced. “After all, I can do magic now.”

“It is very difficult,” Serenity warned. “It requires a lot of practice.”

“But I want to!”

“Can you lift the needles and make a cross? I can help with the yarn.”

Patience shook his head. “But those are your knitting needles, mother. I can learn with my own, and you can show me. We can do it together!”

Serenity was taken aback. It was unlike Patience to ask for gifts or to show interest in such things. “First, you must show me that you are willing. Here, take my needles and wrap the wool in the pattern as I tell you.”

Patience did as he was asked. As easy as it had looked, his mother was right, and Patience failed with each attempt. Serenity assumed his resignation and brought the needles back to herself, but Patience protested.

“Please, mother! It will just take time! Do you remember how I struggled to even lift a single pencil, yet now my magic flows with ease?”

“You surprise me, Patience. Do you feel as if you have something to prove? You know your father and I will love you all the same, forever and always.”

“I simply wish to do as you do, mother.”

Persistence had been listening quietly. “We can indulge him this once,” he said. “There are worse things for him to grow enamored with, are there not?”

And so, the very next day Patience joined his mother in the marketplace at the purveyors of linen and twine. Oh, how the mares remarked at the young colt’s passion as he danced about with gleeful anticipation. “Wait a moment, mother. What about Mercy? I want her to receive the same gift as I do. It would be unfair otherwise.”

“You care a lot for your sister,” Serenity said as the others smiled and crooned. “But this would give our house six

“Which six?”

“I can’t possibly tell you that.”

knitting needles. Do we truly need so many? Mercy is not a unicorn, may I remind you. She won’t be able to do as we do.”

Patience looked sad. “She would feel left out. I don’t want that to happen. I do so love her dearly.”

Serenity was convinced. She hugged her son and granted his wish. Now the house held six knitting needles.

---Why would it---

---So that means---

---Ha ha ha---

Six. It was the exact amount that was required. Patience felt his spirits leap.

The next day, Patience was confronted by

I slowly opened my eyes, the walls of my room coming into focus and the tiny aches from my joints and tendons becoming real once again.

the same three colts from before. This was expected, and Patience was prepared. He had taken some floury rolls of peppered bread from the pantry and wrapped them

I stretched out my limbs and flipped over my pillow, feeling the comforting sheet of ice against my cheek. The remnants of my dream hadn’t quite subsided, which I thought both funny and strange.

in thick reed leaves. They were presented as gifts, Patience drifting them delicately into each of their open hooves. “My mother baked these,” he said proudly.

“Wipe that smile from your face,” the leader said. “It’s creepy.”

Patience did as he was told. “I’m sorry. I thought that’s what you’d want.”

“We just want the food,” one of the others said. “Don’t act all friendly. Do you want to take another trip down to the stream?”

Patience shook his head, terrified. He wasn’t ready to face another punishment, and Sol agreed, sending the colts away with their prize. Patience had survived

My eyes drew open and surveyed the room. I sat up and reflexively rubbed at my temple.

for one more day and needed to get to work as quickly as possible. On top of his current dilemma, he also had to focus on his studying, which was the first major lesson he had learned. It was a lot of pressure, but Patience felt as if

The voices weren’t subsiding. I shook my head and clapped my fore-hooves together. The resounding plok was crystal clear.

he had no choice. There was a definite path before him, and even if every stride was a struggle, he would gladly welcome

“Hello?” I said aloud. There was no answer, just the gentle, velvety voice that continued on.

every step.

Serenity was enamored with her son’s newfound passion for life. His sister, Mercy, was seemingly caught up in the fervor as well, and trailed her brother,

I pinched at my skin. As expected, I was completely and absolutely wide awake. I emitted a faint yelp, as if that would interrupt the voice. I had no such luck.

whatever he did. The family was miraculously pulled together even more, with Persistence and Serenity neglecting their timid suspicions and reveling in their foals’ joy.

When it

I suddenly became incredibly afraid. I sprang from my bed and held my hooves to my ears. Nothing. No such luck. “The earpieces!” I cried.

came to Patience’s knitting skills, he was progressing slowly. Basic manipulation of a single object was now easy for him, but knitting was a complex affair, requiring

The hairs on my back stood on end. The walls were closing in. I felt as if a ghost were lurking at my side, ready to snatch me away to the underworld, and that my life in this room was just an illusion. “Why are you doing this!?” I cried to no-one, to everyone.

precise movements and tremendous care. “Once you pull the yarn through you can pull back the needle and transfer the stitch over.”

“Yes, mother,” Patience would say, each stitch forming another

I filled the bathroom sink with water and submerged my head. Still, the voice continued, unfettered by every attempt I made to subdue it. No distortion, no change in pitch or volume. It was maddening beyond belief.

grain of sand that would eventually fill his soul and fulfil his façade. For he soon became allowed, and with little resistance, to practice his skills alone, or in Mercy’s company. His junior, the filly wouldn’t question the unorthodox techniques he would practice

I had to go. I couldn’t stand it a second longer. I burst from my room, half-expecting the dome to be deserted and for me to be trapped with a gentle and demonic voice at my side for the rest of my days. I turned a corner to find others gathered, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

away from their parents.

“It’s going to be a surprise,” Patience said as he twirled the needles like batons above their heads, losing his grip, then trying again and again, in what Mercy could only perceive as a game. He would, of course, deign

“Grey? What’s wrong?” Copper asked. She, Mesmer, Dish Panner and Reph were stood in the hallway, fiddling about with Reph’s door, a set of tools at their hooves.

“Can’t you hear that!?” I exclaimed.

“Hear what?” Mesmer asked, peering to one side.

“That voice!” I screamed.

They said nothing, merely exchanging puzzled expressions and staring on at me worriedly.

to improve his knitting to an acceptable degree so as to avoid suspicion. For Patience had witnessed his mother fashion all manner of garments without a single shred of interest in the craft, and that had not changed. It was merely a means to an end.

Patience continued to provide

“No.” I shook my head in disbelief. “No! You can’t tell me none of you hear that!”

“Greyscale, calm down,” Dish Panner hushed, approaching me with slight apprehension. “Just take a deep breath and explain it to us.”

“The earpieces!” I cried. “I… I can hear something!”

“Monobunny?” Copper remarked. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I could hear them, or if I was lip-reading.

“No, someone else,” I replied, desperately taking a deep breath, as if I’d forgotten to breathe all morning. “I don’t recognize the voice.”

food for the three colts. He altered his tact, approaching them in secluded groves and acting with dutiful reverence. They did not appreciate his smiles. He took care of that. They did not appreciate a lack of terror. He took care of that.

I darted downstairs, almost tripping and falling in a heap, the others calling out to me from above. I had to find an answer. I couldn’t go on like this. If the voice never stopped then…

I was trembling all over as I rushed towards the lobby.

He saw them, at one point, disposing of the treats he had offered them, chuckling to themselves as they buried his gifts among sawdust and grass clippings. Patience had figured as much, that they might think he would attempt

I burst through the door, scrabbling for the service bell as if my life depended on it. I hammered on it furiously, pleading for it to drown out the tale I was being subjected to.

“Monobunny! I know you’re here somewhere!”

to poison them with vile mixtures or rotten fruit. Patience did nothing of the sort. It would’ve interfered with his plans – with Sol’s plans.

Weeks flew by. Although Serenity and Persistence had shown some minor concern

“Monobunny! I mean it!” I yelled. The right-side hallway door opened and I darted forward expectantly, only for Mesmer to step through, almost bumping into me.

“Greyscale, tell me what’s happening!” he ordered. “What voices? What are they saying to you?” Copper, Dish Panner and Reph followed.

“Get me Monobunny!” I cried, on the verge of tears.

about the whereabouts of missing food supplies, Patience had been able to avoid further investigation, claiming he’d developed a terrific hunger.

“I suppose you are a growing colt,” Persistence had commented, ruffling Patience’s mane, and nothing else was said.

Finally,

“I’m right here, you dolt!” Monobunny said as he entered from the door opposite. “Sheesh, do you need to make such a racket?”

“You!” I blared, charging towards him, only to be held back by Copper and Mesmer.

“Grey, don’t do it!” Copper cried. “You know what’ll happen if you attack him!”

“W-what’s gotten into him!?” Reph exclaimed.

the day came when Patience knew he was ready. He had practiced and planned, observed and deduced, waited with bated breath. His school satchel was just large enough to conceal six wooden knitting needles, neatly wrapped together inside a bundle of dock leaves. After providing the three colts with their food for the day – a shiny red apple each – he followed them,

I tried to wrestle free, but to no avail. I stared, seething at the maniacal rabbit’s face, wanting to see it demolished and smeared across the walls.

“Wow, just look at his eyes! He’s furious!” Monobunny put a paw to his chest and screeched with laughter. “Getting mad about the killing game isn’t going to bring anyone back, you know.”

“I know you’re doing this!” I spat. “Now make it stop!”

keeping to the shadows and making delicate hoof-steps, trailing them along the riverbank as they joked and cheered and bragged, their eyes to the dirt and their minds in the clouds. Other foals avoided them, and they rejected the rule of adults, so it was soon that they walked on alone, unaware of their stalker’s presence.

“Make what stop? The killing game? Shout and holler all you like but–”

“No, stop that voice!” I commanded. “I know you’re making it come through the earpieces!”

Monobunny tilted his head. “Voice? Earpieces?”

“Don’t play dumb!”

They descended a slope and crowded around a pond, hurling rocks and twigs at the creatures below. Patience was cautious. He would only get one chance. He procured the six knitting needles

Monobunny scratched his chin for a moment, appearing genuinely perplexed. “Greyscale, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not sending any messages to anyone’s earpieces right now.” His tone was calm and sincere.

“Then how do you explain it!?”

“Eh, maybe you’re going loco! This place will do that sort of thing, you know!”

Mesmer pulled my face closer to his. “Greyscale, tell me if you’re just making this up. I want you to be one hundred percent honest with me.”

“I’m not making it up!”

from his satchel and took position behind an oak tree, the needles floating far above them. Then he lowered them down in pairs, taking a deep breath. The magic was about to happen.

“Well there’s nothing being said through the earpieces, capiche?”

With grace and care, his heart abuzz,

The spokes of fate were thus aligned,

“You’re lying!”

So Patience did as Patience does,

“Grey, you’re scaring me!”

Plunged through their eyes and made them blind.

“And who the hell is Patience!?”

The voice stopped. I gasped for air. I was finally free. I slumped against the wall with a sigh of relief, cradling my head. All else was silent. Monobunny stood stock still, his usual lithe form turned to stone. “So?” I asked. “Tell me.”

Nothing.

My care for the answer behind my torture was rapidly diminishing. I was just glad it was over. I propped myself up, ready to walk back to my dorm.

“How do you know that name?”

“Hmm?” I shook my head drearily. “Like I said, the voice.”

“You shouldn’t know that name!” Monobunny staggered backwards. His voice was filled with absolute terror. “This makes no sense. How could you…?” Without another word, Monobunny turned and fled.

“Wait,” I muttered, my heart suddenly bursting into action. My instincts took over and I chased after him, slamming open the door and launching a confetti of splinters and paint. The fear was back. “Monobunny! What are you talking about!?”

The rabbit was just up ahead, moving quickly, but erratically. He pinballed off the skirting boards like he was running blind. “Just shut it… Shut it all down!”

*DING DONG DONG DING*

“Attention all killing game participants! As of right now, the killing game has been put on hold. All murder is now off limits until further notice.”

I sped along as fast as I could manage. Up ahead, a wooden panel shifted along mechanically, revealing a hidden passage. Monobunny leapt inside, the panel falling back into place just as I met its surface and came crashing down. I beat at the wood with a whirlwind of hooves, my head spinning, my joints aching, and my heart quivering. It took several minutes for the others to curb my assault, after which I burst into tears against Mesmer’s shoulder.