Cloven Hooves

Eyes laid on the mare, primarily her hooves, as they walked on a dirt path leading to the mess hall. There are no ponies. No pegasi. And, among a whole village of cloven hooves, there are no unicorns either. There are hushed chatters left and right. Foals, colts and calves are few. The older looking members have their horns, what seems to be, sawed off or hacked off. A rite of some sort that the mare wishes to never think of.

The one eyed doe leads the mare, along with the doctor and Adler, up the stairs and in front of the doors. Adler holds the mare back, walking past her toward the door, where he places both of his hooves on the sturdy wooden frames and pushes them open.

From inside, various race of cloven hooves, from the Zebra's of the southern lands, to the stoutly Goats from the west. Buffalos from the mountainside of the capital. To the Elks of the far north, sat around a giant rectangle table. They converse with one another, each bickering to each other. Angry expressions are drawn on their faces, some with a more uneasy notion on them. The chatter dies down as one by one they address their gaze to the entrance of the hall. Silence filled the hall, with the occasional pop from the giant fireplace, placed on the north side of the hall, it's orange glow illuminating the back side of every being in this very hall.

"Excuse us," The doctor begins. "You have called for us?"

"Aaah, yes," A deep voice can be heard from a giant elk, whose antlers are tall, stretching out as if trying to touch the ceiling, sits from across the table. "Come in." He beckons with a wave of his hoof.

The doctor urges the mare to follow him to a set of empty seats from the left side of the Elk.

"I do believe we have ourselves a, guest from the capital."

"Not actually a guest," a zebra says, with a leaf ornament around it's head. "More of an intruder."

"Oh not this again," a stoic buffalo, with one horn sawed off, says as he huffs. "Only those with cloven hooves are sent here to the island. She's a mule."

"Mules do not have cloven hooves!" A goat bleats over the table. "If any mule were to have cloven hooves, they'd be an, abomination."

"Then the mare would have surely sicken the deer now wouldn't they?" The buffalo huffs. "It has been nearly 3 days and no signs of sickness has arisen now has there?"

"I would like to keep it so." The zebra says, as he tilts his head toward the ceiling.

The room is then filled with arguments once again. The mare stares in confusion. What has been happening here on the island? What has been happening in the past? The elk raise his hoof in silence. The room falls quiet again.

"Guest. Mule. Intruder. Abomination. In any form, or ill given name," He shoots a gaze to each of the races. "this, mare, is a fellow cloven hoof, is she not?" The mare sees the other, cloven hooves avert their eyes and stare down on the table. The elk stands himself up from his seat and begins to walk toward the mare. "I have heard such anger and mistrust from the so called, ponies, of the world, that I had hoped not hear, or bare witness, to any of it since the day we were sent here." He stops briefly by the mare's side, she gives the elk a quick gaze before looking away.

The elk continues. "But it seems the days on the capitol is also changing, and with it, I assumed, the ponies' actions." The elk walks past the buffalo, the goat and the zebra as he slowly continues toward the giant fireplace. "But it seems the, ponies, are adamant, of sending any, who bare cloven hooves, out from their lands." Silence fills the room. "We should all, at the very least, understand what has happened in our perspectives, rather than let the body of a familiar, and hated race, guide our thoughts." The elk reaches the fireplace. His antlers glow an orange hue and out from the fireplace, a lone ember rises from the ashes. "At least give her the opportunity to prove her innocence before snuffing out her will to live." The ember from the elk's levitating spell begin to crumble and fall to the ground leaving no trace of fire burning within.

The elk turns from the fireplace to face the party. "Should any given threat rises, from the moment our mare friend arrived here on the island, I will give up my position as, leader, and have you all banish me." The other races lift their heads to look at the elk. "That is what I give up for," He extends his hoof to the deers beside the mare. "it is they who give up their life for," The mare catches Adler, the doctor, and the one eyed doe nod their heads. "to find the truth." The elk then shifts his eyes to the other races. "In the unexpected three years of silence, I expect you all do the same."

A moment of silence passes. Soft murmurs begin to arise from the silence as the other races chat amongst each other. The goat shuffles out of their seat and is escorted out of the mess hall by their subordinates. As the others chat amongst themselves the elk walks over to the mare.

The doctor stands up from their seat as the elk approaches. "I take it the meeting has, adjourned?"

"I don't think it will be likely to resume." The elk states. He then gazes on pass the doctor toward the mare. "I take it you are in need of answers?" The mare stares on, not sure whether or not to nod or give any sign of understanding.

The doctor leans into the elk. "She has no recollection of her name whatsoever." The doctor whispers. "I've given the liberty to call her, Aberrant, if that is okay with you?"

"Call her what ever you may," The elk says. "she is a cloven hoof no less." The mare furrows her brow at the elk, not wanting to be given a name she doesn't like without her consent. "Give her the dignity of finding herself before placing such a name on her." The elk continues.

The doctor lowers his head. "Yes, Four Bane." He quickly says. "I should have thought of that sooner."

Four Bane continues pass the doctor, and toward the mare. He stands firmly by her side before speaking. "Here, we call ourselves, cloven hoof." He states. "You may take the name, and do with it as you please."

The mare steps down from the chair and stands herself before Four Bane. "Then you may call me, Cloven Hoof."

~ ~ ~

The hooves clop their way down the windy dirt road up the hill as Cloven Hoof, Four Bane and the three deer make their way to a wooden hut, with thatch roof and a single window facing the same direction as the door.

"This is where you will be for tonight." Four Bane, says.

The party bring themselves closer to the hut before stopping under it's awning. "It may seem shanty," The doctor says. "but at least you will have company."

"Company from what?" The mare asks. She turns to face the open cliff side from where the door is facing. Below the hill is the rest of the village. Suitable houses, some with clay exteriors, others with only straw, stand in bundles of each other. The only secluded hut, her own. "I'm, literally, far from the only civilization here on the island."

"I'll be here with you." Cloven Hoof spins herself around to see the doe walk herself up to her. "I don't think you've known who I am yet." The doe places her hoof at her chest and bows. "I am, Eleanor. A, scribe, of the same sort." She places her hoof down. She then levitates the grimoire out from her bag. "Only, I know magic as well."

The doctor rises to the thought as well. "Ah yes, then there is I." He bows as well. "Marrien Ahke, at your service."

Cloven Hoof passes her gaze to each of the deer, and Four Bane, before continuing. "So, you are all the, officials of the island?" She asks.

"I wouldn't say officials, lass." A gruff voice can be heard coming up from the path toward them. A buffalo, with the broken horn, makes the clearing. "More of the first, cloven hooves, to arrive on the island."

"The, first?" The mare questions.

The buffalo makes his way over to the company by the hut. "For, twenty-three years, young lass, have these four been here. The first being, Four Bane." Cloven Hoof looks over to the elk. "The longest any of the cloven hooves have been here. Three months before a new face showed up."

"That would be me." Marrien says. "I helped cultivate the crops you see here today.

"A gardener and a doctor. Who says deer can't do multiple things at once?" Adler says.

The mare looks over to him. "I guess you were the third?"

"Oh no," Adler says. "Wasn't here before, Eleanor." He states.

"You weren't?" The mare says. She looks to, Eleanor, who turns away, staring into the forest. "What, happened?" She says.

Four Bane, steps in. "It wasn't until we saw, Eleanor, arrived, that we knew something wasn't right."

"What wasn't, right?" The mare asks. "What was, wrong to begin with?"

"We thought it was just the way the, ponies, herded Marrien and I." Four Bane says. "We both had antlers, at least we thought the, ponies, were sending those that can conjure magic through horns."

"Our suspicions were correct," Marrien continues. "when the, ponies, were sending zebras here to the island. Year two, I believe?"

"I had only thought they wanted me for my parents." Eleanor says. Cloven Hoof looks toward the doe. "I had thought they just needed a simple answer. They took me in and begin to beat me." The mare's eyes widen. "I gave them the answer they were looking for. Only, the beatings, they didn't stop." The doe continues to quiver. "They- they..."

"They wouldn't leave her alone." Adler continues. "They did to her what the, ponies, did to my sister before." Adler begins to clench his teeth. "When I saw Eleanor with the eye patch, the moment I arrived, I knew what they had done to her."

"The, ponies, believed those with different colored eyes had a source of power." The buffalo continues. "They would remove the eye that is the brightest of the two." The mare turns her gaze slowly to the doe.

"That didn't work, apparently." The doe says. She peers into the trees, a glow warps around a single tree. The leaves begin shaking and the ground rumbles. The tree is then uprooted and thrown across the forest, spearing and splitting any tree in its path, before lodging itself in between two boulders. "I may not have the largest horns, but my magic became stronger because of that trauma." She sat herself down on a fallen log. "My only regret, is to not be able to use this, new found power, against the ponies."

"They'll have what's coming to them." Four Bane says, "A shame we won't be delivering said karma."

The silence set in as a moment passes. Cloven Hoof turns her attention to the buffalo, her eyes wondering on his horns. "What about you?" She asks.

The buffalo looks up from the view to meet the mare's eyes. He hesitates.

"Year three," Eleanor continues, reading from her book. "The ponies begin removing the horns of those, who they believe, could conjure magic."