Shame

Ruiz began to worry when Maria hadn't returned by the end of breakfast. It had been his hope that she would have come back during the night and just slept late as a result, but she wasn't in her room. While Sadie had told him not to worry, that she could handle herself just fine, he could see that she was a bit shaky on those claims. While Maria was no pushover, even the best would need a lot of help to take on a force that outnumbered you five to one, especially if they could fly.

Still, there was work to be done. As much as he worried about Maria's safety, he couldn't leave Sadie and Mint to do all of it. It was almost time to harvest the corn, so now would be a very bad time to leave them alone. There were enough of them gone already.

It was Sunday, meaning there was a promise to break for lunch. Sadie was adamant about making enough to carry over to dinner, to avoid needing to rely on Mint again. As he couldn't work the heavy equipment on his own, Ruiz opted to spend the time she was spending preparing lunch to sit out front and sharpen the scythes. The combine harvester in the barn was still in good condition, but only Jed knew how to operate it safely. Ruiz was more comfortable employing methods he had been using for years, rather than operating equipment he was unfamiliar with.

It was while he was checking one of the blades that he spotted the sheriff walking up again. He called Sadie over as backup, and she arrived just as the sheriff turned up the path from the road. He had four gryphons with him, three of which were holding crate panels as if they were shields. It was never a good sign when somepony approached with their armaments on full display.

"What are y'all doin' here, sheriff?" growled Sadie. "You know good an' well that you're not welcome 'round here."

The sheriff spat on the ground in front of him. "I'm here ta see Jed. Go fetch 'im for me, would ya?"

"Anything you have ta say ta my husband, you can say ta me."

The sheriff scoffed. "This is not a conversation for mares. Let the stallions talk."

"Then talk, señor," spat Ruiz, reassembling the scythe. "If you don't want her telling you to shove a hot coal up your arse, then allow me."

"Well, looks like ya grew a pair, pendejo," chuckled the sheriff. "Well, if'n ya want to be the big stallion what stands up fer 'is mare, then let me tell ya: Yer gal Maria came inta the office last night, just beggin' us to come out and work her farm."

Ruiz narrowed his eyes. He knew Maria wasn't that stupid.

"She even paid a partial sum, offerin' to do work that a mare is more suited for than the hard, grueling work she'd have ta do out here."

"We're takin' very good care of her," chuckled the only gryphon with no shield, placing his claw under his belly and gyrating his hips.

"So here's what's goin' ta' happen," continued the sheriff. "My boys here are gonna take care a' y'all, do the work for a fair cut of the profit, and then reunite ya with your daughter. How's that sound?"

Sadie looked like she was about to be sick to her stomach. Mint, who had heard the whole thing, was horrified. Ruiz, on the other hoof, was absolutely livid. He was mere moments from leaping on top of them and stabbing recklessly, but with some effort, he kept his hooves to himself. "And if we refuse, señor?"

"Oh," laughed the sheriff, shaking his head. "You don't have a choice. Payment has already been extracted, at least in part." He turned and waved his hoof as he walked away. "All yours, boys! You can bring the remainder of the payment to my office."

As the gryphon without a shield approached, his eyes showed an intense hunger for Mint. "You're first," he proclaimed, reaching out his claw to her. Sadie made a grab for his wrist, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Ruiz still had the scythe, and with a simple kick, the freshly-sharpened blade came up, severing his claw just behind the wrist.

As the injured gryphon stumbled back, clinging tightly to his stump and shouting in agony, the other two drew their weapons. "Close and lock the doors, señora," growled Ruiz, swapping out the scythe for his slingshot. "Don't open them for any reason."

Sadie didn't need to be told twice. The gryphons all took flight, including the injured one, ducking behind their shields. This was very much a countermeasure against Ruiz, as it would take several shots just to poke holes in the shields, being made of decent wood. It also made them very heavy, meaning that they couldn't go very high off the ground.

They closed in on Ruiz. Being so significantly weighed down, they'd lost their speed, but if they all stayed together, they could remain safe. As small as he was, they really only needed to pin him down. After that, just one could hold him under their barricade, even just sitting on him.

This thought was interrupted as spears began to poke their heads out through the miniscule gap. They didn't mean to pin him. He was not allowed to survive this encounter, anymore.

As he was backing away, trying to buy time, he saw it. The shields were slightly turned to allow the spears to be more forward. He was banking on that, literally.

He fired a shot right down the middle. In bounced off the shield, slamming directly into the eye of the gryphon next to him. The creature shrieked out in pain, dropping his shield. Ruiz immediately fired another shot into his other eye. This one dropped him to the ground. He may have been blinded, in extreme pain, passed out, or dead. Ruiz didn't know or care which; he wasn't his problem anymore.

With their first fallen, the two remaining hoplites charged forward as fast as they could muster. Ruiz waited until the last moment, dove to the side, and, from his back, fired at one of the gryphons' balls.

The injured one was standing over him with a very large knife, and, in a scramble to his hooves, Ruiz threw up a hoofful of sand into the gryphon's eyes, narrowly avoiding the knife coming down in top of him.

The dust cloud gave him partial cover, and knowing that his life was on the line, he ripped out his own knife and stabbed the injured gryphon in the back of his chest twice. He didn't know if he'd killed him, but he could guess that something vital had at least been hit.

The dust cloud cleared up with only just enough time for Ruiz to see one of the shields charging back at him. This one was flying blind, so to speak, and pinned down the injured gryphon by mistake, stabbing him over and over with his spear, thinking it was Ruiz. In the confusion, it was little trouble for Ruiz to jump on him and slit his throat.

As he turned to face the last one, he found he had done so just a few seconds too late. The gryphon he had shot in the balls had now wrapped his claws around Ruiz' throat, and was now holding him aloft as he squeezed down on the goat's trachea. He smiled and licked his beak, clearly enjoying it as Ruiz struggled to free himself, or at least breathe. He was fucked.

Then, just like that, the gryphon dropped him. As Ruiz struggled for breath, coughing and rubbing his inflamed neck, he saw the face of the gryphon, an arrow piercing through the entirety of his skull. Sadie approached, a bow over her shoulder. "Come on," she said, grabbing Ruiz by the wrist. "You need healing."