The General and his Steed

Chapters

Chapter 2~ The General and his Steed: Rebirth
Chapter 3~ The General and his Steed: Arrival
Chapter 4~ Awakening: Radahn
Chapter 5~ Awakening: Leonard
Chapter 6~ Mysterious Avian
Chapter 7~ Prayer
Chapter 8~ Leonard's Reception
Chapter 9~ Sorrowful, Regretful
Chapter 10~ Hangaku
Chapter 11~ Ninja'd
Chapter 13~ Crimson Archer
Chapter 14~ Starcaller Cry
Chapter 15~ Selene Sol Invictus
Chapter 16~ Angus and Udrako
Chapter 17~ "I am..."
Chapter 18~ Tree of Buddha
Chapter 20~ Leonard vs Flare Pt: 2
Chapter 21~ Qinese Aspects
Chapter 22~ Spiritspring Thrust
Chapter 23~ Grover Eagleswort
Chapter 24 ~ Voice of Fate
Chapter 25 ~ The Dream Realm
Chapter 26 ~ The Package
Chapter 1~ Resolve of The Demigods
Chapter 12~ The Scourge
Chapter 19~ Leonard vs Flare Pt: 1

Chapter 2~ The General and his Steed: Rebirth

A small collective of redmane knights look down from their appropriately named castle on the distant forms of General Radahn and Malenia. The vast beach was the battleground for numerous conflicts, the Wailing Dunes, which now hosted what was undoubtedly the greatest battle Caelid would ever know.

Those shifting sands were precious to every member of the Redmanes, from the lowest to the absolute highest members of their ranks. And pure fury was focused on the valkyrie who dared to trespass on treasured grounds. For some…it was literally their birthplace, mothers having brought in the next generation of Redmanes with Radahn presiding over the birthing process.

Loud booms sound off from the direction of the battle, a trademark of one of the general’s powerful attacks.

“Dammit, Radahn!” An elderly masked man roars out, sitting at the helm of the collection of knights as his gray beard dances in the wind. “We were ready to fight alongside you to the end, but you just had to hog all the fun for yourself, eh, old chum?”

“Sir Jerren.” A female redmane knight called from the rear. “Herald of Radahn, you spoke of possessing something that could help our lord?”

Jerren chuckles as he looks back to the female, who rests a closed hand over her heart in presentation. She was of the higher ranks, evident by the red plume dangling from the top of her helmet. But her red and purple surcoat depicts a red-maned lion raising a sword in the image of Radahn, a trait that all ranks shared equally on their apparel.

“It’s…complicated.” Jerren knew that was a terrible answer, but it was the best he could do…for now. “I’m sorry, Tabi - all of you. But this is something that only I can know about for the time being. Although…” he sighed. “I pray that I won’t have to use it.”

The redmanes share a look with one another, murmuring their thoughts on the subject.

“Forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn, sir,” Tabi began. “But we are Redmanes. We have sworn our allegiance to General Radahn, and we should be down there fighting alongside him.”

“Yeah!”

“Damn right!”

“We didn’t come back here just to watch.”

“Let’s get the lift back up here. Pull the lever!”

“Belay that order!” Jerren barks before rolling back from his sitting position, lifting himself in a hand-stand, and pushing his form up into the air while spinning in an acrobatic fashion. He lands masterfully on a nearby wall, catches a particular satchel that fell off of him, drapes it over his shoulder, turns around, and looks over the sea of redmanes from his elevation.

“Listen up, all of you.” The knights step in unison as they adjust their stance and come to attention. “I understand how you all feel. Believe me; it’s taking all my willpower not to jump off this castle for a quick dip in the sea before swimming over to that beach.”

“Then why, Sir Jerren?!” Tabi asked. “Why aren’t we-”

“Tabitha Ohga Greatbow,” Jerren interjects, causing Tabitha to gasp. “The blood of Ohga, the first redmane to ever serve our lord, courses through your veins. He and Radahn set the foundation for what the Redmanes would eventually become.”

“And I’m proud of it, sir.” Tabitha takes off her helmet and cradles it in the crook of her arm as beautiful black hair falls onto the shoulders of their stunning owner, who looks up to Jerren with emerald eyes. “But what does that have to do with-”

“Out of everyone here, myself included, you should know better than anyone of the Redmane Code. So I ask you: who possesses even more authority than General Radahn?”

Various sounds of realization escape from the redmanes, and Tabitha’s eyes widen as she is momentarily at a loss for words.

“Her majesty… Queen Rennala…”

Jerren nods. “I have been sworn to secrecy by the Queen of the Full Moon.” He turns around and leans against the castle wall, gazing at the distant clash of demigods.

“I need you all to trust me on this one, chums.”

The redmanes take comfort from the revelation as sighs of relief can be heard. However, they were still curious about what exactly Jerren had in his possession that was so secretive yet could assist their lord.

“Of course, sir.” Tabitha bows respectfully before placing her helmet back on.

As for Jerren, he became lost in thoughts and recalled his past conversation with Queen Rennala… And it prompts him to slowly reach down toward the large satchel resting against his waist.

Flashback...

The Herald of Radahn takes a breath as he stands in front of a duo of large closed doors within the Acadamy of Raya Lucaria. Normally, one would visit the academy to hone their skills and gain an understanding of Glintstone Sorceries, powers that were birthed from the ambers that fell from the stars.

But Jerren was here for a completely different reason. He places a hand on either door and pushes them inward with a grunt, unveiling an enormous room filled with darkness, save for an orange and golden light that dwelled within.

“Jerren…” a feminine voice, filled with sorrow, echoes out from within the blackness. “I thank thee for coming… Here…allow me…”

A series of candles and chandeliers suddenly flares to life by an invisible force, allowing Jerren to gaze upon an enormous library with an unfathomable amount of knowledge just waiting to be deciphered.

And there, within the library’s epicenter, was a mournful and depressive presence that garners sympathy within Jerren’s heart.

“How it pains me to see you like this…milady…” he mutters somberly.

The masked elder proceeds down the elongated carpet, which offers a direct path to Queen Rennala. His steps echo throughout the library, but even as he approaches, the Carian Royal’s eyes remain downcast as she cradles a piece of amber in the shape of an egg.

Jerren finally reaches the end and stands before Queen Rennala. Goodness, he had forgotten how large and incredibly attractive she was... He then takes a knee and pays her the respect she rightfully deserves.

“I, Jerren, old warrior and Herald of Radahn, have answered the call of the Carian Royal family. What would you ask of me, Queen Rennala?”

Rennala slowly raises her head, fixing her blue eyes, which had long since lost any semblance of the fearsome sorceress she once was, on Jerren

“The moon…the stars…they have given me…visions.”

“Visions?” Jerren rose to his full stature. “Of what, your majesty?”

“As thou know…the fate of the Carion Royal family is tied to the stars. Oh, my sweet Radahn…”

“Radahn?!” Jerren cries out in concerned realization. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“Jerren…I failed my little Ranni…and I have not seen nor heard of my Rykard since the Shattering.” Rennala’s lower lip quivers, “It's possible that Radahn is my last remaining child…”

“Nothing shall happen to him so long as I draw breath!” Jerren declares, slamming a fist over his heart. “And the Redmanes would fight at Radahn’s side to the end.”

“They won’t be enough…”

Rennala’s words caused an utter shock to explode within Radahn’s Herald. “N-no… That can’t be…”

“The signs are clear… The Shattering… The war between the demigods… And now, Malenia, Blade of Miquella, marches toward Caelid with her forces as we speak. It is exactly as the stars hath foretold.”

A dead silence takes hold as Jerren begins to plot and strategize. Malenia’s forces were coming, and he needed to get everyone at Castle Redmane ready. He needed to warn Radahn!

“But I hath been preparing…”

Jerren jolts to attention.

“The Amber Egg…” Rennala closes her eyes and hums comfortably at the egg like a newborn babe. “Within it lies a Great Rune…capable of…rebirth.”

“R-rebirth…?” Jerren was stunned by the revelation. “H-how did you…?”

“It was a…parting gift…” Rennala hesitates. “From…Radagon…” She opens her tearful gaze as a sense of urgency dwells beneath her sorrow. “Hear me, Jerren: I hath summoned thee here through subterfuge to bestow upon thee my Amber Egg.”

Jerren was about to speak, but a raised hand from Rennala ceased his actions. “We must be swift. Jerren, take mine egg and keep it hidden until the appropriate time presents itself. None but thou may look upon it. I pray that its use will not be needed, but I can not take any chances… I’ve already made that mistake with Ranni…”

Adhering to her request, Jerren steps forth and extends his arms, “Can it even work within my grasp?”

“I hath ensured that it will.” Rennala bequeaths the Amber Egg to Jerren. It chills his hands at first before it seems to warm up at his touch.

“I… I am honored, my lady. But…” Jerren was unsure of himself. “Why me…? Why entrust me with such a tremendous task?”

“Thou hath proven thineself with thine actions. I hath been watching, mine faithful, and Iji speaks highly of thee, as does mine son, Radahn.” Rennala allows the gravity of the situation to be absorbed by Jerren as she remains silent.

“Thou art the only one, at this time, that I can trust.”

Jerren stares at the Carian royal for a time. He then looks down at the Amber Egg within his grasp, “To think that I’ve earned such renown…” Were it not for his mask, Rennala might’ve seen the vibrant smile that grew on his face.

“Then it looks like I’d better not let you all down!” Jerren shouts proudly as he shoots up his head. “Ahahaha!”

His laughter echoes throughout the library as the edges of Rennala’s lips curl upward. “I thank thee, Jerren…with all my heart…”

Jerren performs a salute gesture. “It’s no problem at all, Queen Rennala. This old geezer’s still got a lot of fight left in him, and I think I’m well prepared for another bout of war.”

Rennala hummed in content. “Very good. Now, allow me to explain the nature of the prowess I hath unlocked under the guidance of the Full Moon. This is a one-time use, and I hath been funneling strength into this project of mine ever since my little Ranni took her own life.” She sighs, "Although I suppose that's not entirely accurate, given Ranni's current...form."

The masked herald awaited with growing anticipation.

“This Great Rune possesses a secret: with enough power, it can enable one to ride the primeval current. Yes, like any current…it, too, can be sailed. This world is cruel, and I will see that one of my offspring is free of its choking coils…”

Present...

Another booming phenomenon roars out from the battle as Jerren runs a hand along the satchel, the Amber Egg held safely within. Due to his moment of recollection, he only now comprehends the nearby Redmanes cheering and praising Radahn’s name.

He, too, could only hope for Radahn’s victory. He wanted to warn Radahn of what was currently transpiring, but before he departed from Raya Lucaria, Rennala had expressed the importance of not allowing her son to know of this plan.

There were many variables, some of which Jerren couldn’t argue against when considering Radahn’s nature. The general even bested the stars in a crushing defeat, halting them in place, but, in doing so…he also affected the fates of the entire Carion Royal family.

No. Jerren was certain that if he had told Radahn of Rennala’s plans, the red-haired demigod would’ve undoubtedly intervened. After all…Radahn had a habit of fighting fate.

There was something else that had always piqued Jerren’s interest, but when he confronted Radahn about it, the general simply dismissed it, ‘I’ve taken care of it, old friend. No need to trouble yourself,’ he’d always say. There were even times when the titan would outright ignore the inquiries altogether. And yet, despite this, the masked elder could see something deep within the demigod’s eyes.

Fear.

Chapter 3~ The General and his Steed: Arrival

Malenia moves gracefully and swiftly across the sand as a large presence gives chase at her rear. She looks back over her shoulder and sees Radahn’s arms spread apart, blades ready to tear her asunder.

Leonard lets loose hot air from his nostrils as the horse’s legs, despite his scrawny frame, propel him and his rider forth with great finesse.

Radahn prepares to swipe his right armament as the duo closes in on their quarry. But at the very moment he attempted to strike and cleave the valkyrie in two with his massive blade, Malenia acrobatically backflipped over the blade in motion, spun in the air, and adjusted her angle as she prepared to drive her prosthetic arm’s blade attachment into her titanic foe.

Radahn tilts his head to the right and dodges the blade but lets out a pained grunt as the valkyrie manages to plunge her blade into his right shoulder instead. However, the general’s momentary pained expression morphs into a vibrant smile.

“Not bad, Malenia.” He swiftly grabs onto her while floating that hand’s former blade alongside him via his gravity magic. “But you’ll have to do much better than that!”

The titan turns in place, Leonard following suit, before tearing Malenia and her blade away from him. He then slams her down into the earth with frightening force, causing her to cry out in pain as frickles of blood are spat out from her parted lips and grains of sand fly high into the air.

Radahn lifts the valkyrie again and swings his arm sideways, loosening his grasp and throwing her away. The valkyrie manages to recover while soaring through the air with gritted teeth. She adjusted her angle, planted her blade and feet into the sand, and skied across the beach before slowly coming to a stop.

A trail of parted sands is laid bare before her as Radahn’s titanic form slowly approaches, Leonard trotting comfortably as he shakes his head with an aggressive snort.

Malenia takes a breath to recollect herself. “The time has come…” she mutters. “Know this, Radahn. I take no pleasure in doing what I must to defeat you.”

Radahn crosses his blades as Leonard brings them closer and closer to Malenia.

“You are far stronger than I had anticipated, and I have a hunch that, even now, you’re still holding back a large portion of your prowess.”

“Hey, Malenia!” Radahn calls out as he and Leonard pause at a generous distance. “Gotta say, you’re quite the nimble one. Hah! You’ll never see me doing acrobatics like that in my life.”

Leonard snorts in amusement.

“Hey!” Radahn roars down at his horse. “Was that a fat joke?!”

The horse nods in confirmation.

“I’ll have you know, Leonard, that I am what the ladies call,” the general flexes his arms and strikes a pose while floating his blades in the air with gravity magic, “T H I C C!”

Suddenly, Leonard lets loose a thunderous neigh as he spots Malenia kicking off and charging again. Radahn quickly heeds his steed’s warning but grins as he plucks his blades out of their gravitational resting place and slams them together, causing the runes etched onto them to give off a golden glow.

And upon doing so, a black and purple void manifests above him, which startles Malenia as she continues to run. The lavender energy that gave the gap its ring-like shape burned like a flame as the blackness within gave the encroaching valkyrie a glimpse into the abyss.

But even as she stared into the abyss, Malenia would not blink. I must end this quickly. I cannot allow him to use the powers he exercised against my forces.

Then, a trio of small meteors, but still large enough to plow through Malenia’s frame, is let loose from the abyss vortex. The projectiles careen towards the valkyrie as the black void from whence they came dissipates. At the same time, Radahn beckons for his steed to go forth and carry them to honor and glory.

Malenia swiftly dodges the first meteor, jumps off of the second, and slices right through the third before landing on the sandy terrain. But her test of agility wasn’t over yet as Radahn, taking advantage of the opportunity granted by the meteors, gets into range and brings his right blade down with a battle cry.

But the valkyrie shifts her torso and seemingly allows Radahn’s blade to cleave her prosthetic arm right off.

Malenia then fluently grabs her prosthetic limb’s blade attachment as it falls in the air, uses Radahn’s right shoulder as a jumping platform, goes skyward, freefalls, and impales herself with one end while doing so.

Radahn looks up in shock as the business end of Malenia’s former arm’s attachment pierces into the titan’s flesh. But the general ignores the pain as he questions what she is doing. Even Leonard, who looked up at the strange scenario from below, tilted his head while flickering his ears.

The valkyrie and the general were connected via impalement on either side of the same weapon. And as Malenia’s blood flows down the shattered blade, she lowers her head and whispers.

“For Miquella.”

“Malenia! What are you-!” Radahn’s words die in his throat as a series of orange and red leaves of a flower made of energy enters his peripheral vision.

“You will witness true horror.”

“No! Malenia, wait, you don’t-!”

“Now, rot!”

A loud sound akin to an explosion mixed with the rustling of leaves echoes across the beach face, and a blooming flower spurts out of Malenia’s form, to which Radahn bares the full weight as the mystical floret grows in size.

Energy-made petals fell all around Radahn and Leonard’s general vicinity as a sickly red and orange miasma traveled out in either direction, originating from the flower’s epicenter.

The miasma swept across the beach with admirable speed, and although the waters of the sea halted its spread, the traveling scourge scaled the nearby cliffs and reached their precipice before sieging the vast forests of Caelid.

……….

“Redmanes!” Jerren roars out in alarm. “Take shelter in the castle, now!”

The collective of knights obey Jerren’s orders, and they flee into the castle just in the nick of time as the miasma splashes against Castle Redmane. Unfortunately…there were those throughout the fortress who weren’t so lucky and fell prey to the traveling sickness.

……….

Throughout the lush forests of Caelid, wild animals fled, and unaware denizens of the woods looked around in curiosity about what that strange booming sound was. But their answer would swiftly present itself as the sickly miasma consumed everything in its path.

Trees withered and died immediately, and if any forms of life didn’t die from the initial wave of sickness, they became debilitated with the same damned curse that Malenia was known to have harbored.

Scarlet Rot.

Herbivorous entities like deer were driven so mad from the blight that they began to bite and kill their herd mates and just about anything they could sink their teeth into. However, the infection also caused horrifying mutations in other forms of life.

There were instances of wolves and other canines becoming bipedal yet grotesque, and their heads and jaws grew to unimaginable proportions, which gave their bite frightening levels of force.

There was even a dragon, one who had dwelled in these parts for an unfathomable amount of time, who fell to the sickness. Its once vibrant-colored scales became pale as the draconian’s tongue dangled from its maw as if it were fatigued.

Many other changes would occur, but all would pale compared to the land they once inhabited. Caelid, for all intents and purposes, was now forever lost.

Tarnished…by the Scarlet Rot.

Two hours… Two agonizing hours have passed since the ominous explosion transpired.

Within Castle Redmane, Jerren and the Redmanes took shelter in the largest room of the entire structure. They were gathered before a series of hardened, double wooden doors, one of many that were closed shut, as were the windows. But those transparent windows to the outside world depict the horrifying change that’s taken hold of Caelid.

By Radahn’s crimson locks…they could see everything. Caelid was now a wasteland filled with decay and monstrous abominations - if those strange-looking dog-like things were of any indication.

Jerren breathes deeply, standing at the forefront of the collective as he rests his hands on the doors.

“Here we go, friends…let’s just hope that our lord managed to escape…”

No words were said, only breaths of ominous anticipation. Jerren pushes the doors open and stumbles forth in the doorway, consumed by shocked grief from what he and the Redmanes now saw.

It was even worse than what they could see through the window…

Some of the knights fell onto their knees in sorrow, men comforting women as brothers in arms depended on others for support, as did sisters in arms. And one female member, in particular, takes off her helmet, revealing a tearful gaze.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” Tabitha roars out, a greatbow resting on her back as her home, the home of many Redmanes, was defiled beyond recognition.

“Damn you, valkyrie!!!” She fell onto her knees, “Damn yoooooouuuuu!!!”

As the descendant of Ogha’s voice echoes out, the other Redmanes begin to cry out their own words of scorn.

“That honorless wench!”

“She couldn’t just take the loss?!”

“Damn her!”

“Is this how those of Miquella’s order display their honor?!”

Many others would voice their hatred and demand penance for this insult.

“Enough!” Jerren’s voice boomed, silencing all others as he turned to face the Redmanes.

“Our hearts have been broken, but our resolve stands firm.” He points at a Redmane positioned close to the nearby lift, “You! Give me an inspection on the lift.”

“S-sir!” The individual’s male voice responds as he walks over to the lever and lowers himself to inspect it. He soon nods before walking over to the lift itself for another inspection.

“We’re in luck. That honorless filth’s defilement hasn’t ruined the gears.” He then grabs onto the lever, “But there’s only one way to find out.”

The Redmane pulls the lever with a grunt, and the grinding of gears sounds off as a wooden rectangular lift with metallic reinforcements slowly but surely rises.

The elevator platform soon rests before the collective, gears locking it in place as a square-shaped pressure plate rests in the middle of the forum. Every Redmane steps onto the platform one by one, and Jerren is the last to do so.

Once everyone was onboard, and with confirmation from Jerren, Tabitha stepped onto the pressure plate, causing the gears to loosen their locking mechanism. The elevator slowly descends, and its occupants look onward toward those precious sands in the distance with only one thing in mind.

The well-being of their beloved lord and general.

After walking across a stone bridge connecting Castle Redmane to the beach of precious worth, the Redmanes step onto the sand and tread forward. However, a series of gasps escape from helmets that hide glaring eyes, and Jerren, always leading at the helm proudly, as is his devotion as Radahn’s Herald, growls upon spotting two particular individuals heading toward them.

“You!” Tabitha roars out, instinctively taking hold of her greatbow.

A surviving member of the Cleanrot Knights, with whom Jerren had crossed blades with at the beginning of Malenia and Radahn’s war, was carrying that very same valkyrie on their back.

The Cleanrot Knight stops before the collection of hatred, all of which is targeted at the unconscious woman upon the knight’s back.

“Jerren,” the Cleanrot Knight said, her voice filled with regret.

“Finlay…” Jerren crosses his arms. “So…how’s it feel to carry the very embodiment of dishonor upon your back?” he quipped. “Must be a heavy burden, eh?”

“Jerren…believe me when I say that I had no idea-”

“Silence!” The masked elder exclaimed as he pointed an accusative index finger. “How dare she! That she-devil on your back, LOOK AT WHAT SHE’S DONE!” Jerren motions to their surroundings.

“ALL BECAUSE SHE COULDN’T TAKE ONE. FUCKING. LOSS!!!”

“You don’t understand her as I do!” Finlay screamed in desperate defense. “She’s a good woman! But she was desperate!”

“So all of Caelid deserved to die?!” Tabitha challenged as the other Redmanes roared out and damned Finlay and Malenia both. All the while, Jerren stood there in thought, although no one else could see that through his mask.

“Of course not!” Finlay answered. “My lady never would’ve bloomed as she did had she known of this outcome! I swear on our honor!”

“Your honor means shit to us now!”

“Look at what your honor has wrought!”

“To think that we ever respected your lot!”

“Sir Jerren,” Tabitha says as she stands alongside Jerren, sets an arrow on the arrow rest of her greatbow, and takes aim. “Give me the order, sir, and I’ll put them down right here and now!”

Gravity-defying prowess gathered around the arrow and greatbow in a fantastic display.

“Yeah!”

“Do it, Tabitha!”

“For General Radahn!”

“For Caelid!”

Finlay’s breaths become panicked as she and Malenia’s doom takes the form of the angered Redmanes—especially Tabitha’s current display of power.

Jerren, after moments of thought, finally raises a closed fist. “Finlay…you know that I can’t just let you and that thing on your back leave after all you’ve done.”

The Cleanrot Knight looks down. “I know…”

“However,” Jerren’s words garner Finlay’s attention, “I’ll offer you and only you a deal: set down that honorless wench so that she may face our justice. Do so, and by Redmane Code and honor, we shall allow you to leave.”

“I can’t- no,” Finlay takes a step forth, “I won’t do that. You’re not the only ones who swore an oath to a demigod you love with all your heart and soul.”

“...I see.” Jerren stares at Finlay in a moment of silence. “I respect that. Truly, I do.” He nods. “Very well, then. By the power vested in me, I, Jerren, Herald of Radahn, sentence you both to death.”

“Yes!” Tabitha celebrated, grinning. “Just say the word, sir. Ohoho~ I’m going to enjoy this!”

Jerren’s closed fist tightens as it remains airborne. “Ready.”

Finlay takes Malenia off her back and hugs them with all her love. “Forgive me, my lady…”

“Nock.”

“Mark.”

“Way ahead of you, sir,” Tabitha said with a toothy grin.

As this goes on, the other Redmanes form a half-circle around Jerren and Tabitha, ceremonially holding their weapons.

“Draw.”

Silence takes hold, save for the magical hum of Tabitha’s greatbow and Finlay’s anticipating resignation.

“Loo-!”

“Wait…!”

A familiar voice echoes out from a distance, carried by the wind and ceasing all actions. Everyone in attendance turns toward the source and is greeted by Radahn’s hulking form, although he was leaned over as he seemingly couldn’t lift his upper body.

His blades, which the general has wielded against his past foes, were noticeably absent.

Poor Leonard seemed to have trouble supporting his vast rider for the first time in many years. Seeing this, Radahn had doubled his efforts in making the load more bearable for his horse. After all…it’s why he learned gravity magic, although there were also…other reasons.

The Scarlet Rot had claimed them both, and it took all of Radahn’s efforts just to shout as he did. His lungs burned with every breath he took, and fumes of blight escaped from his mouth as he exhaled. His wits were also deteriorating as he could feel the Scarlot Rot eat away at his mind.

Even so, something within him fought against the sickness, allowing him at least some semblance of sanity: his Great Rune. It burned away the blight, but not enough to completely be rid of it, thus keeping the general’s body in a stalemate.

Radahn shielded Leonard during Malenia’s bloom, and although the horse still became afflicted, the general’s actions did offer some relief. But the harsh reality remained that the general and his steed suffered from a fate worse than death.

The Redmanes’ hearts stirred with sorrow and pity for the sad state of their lord, who finally managed to reach them through Leonard’s dedicated efforts. But the horse, and by extension, his rider, fell over as their bodies crashed onto the sand.

The Redmanes cry out as they run over to their lord, although Tabitha remains, keeping her bow locked onto Finlay and the comatose Malenia. But the greatbow wielder wept as tears went down her face.

“Why…?” She asked of the Cleanrot Knight. “Just…why…?”

Finlay couldn’t give her an answer. Instead, she once again carries Malenia over a single shoulder.

“I… I could say many things,” Finlay answered regretfully. “That it was for my lady…for Miquella…for our dreams. All of that would be true, but I just need you to know one thing…”

Tabitha growls, tightening her grip on her greatbow. “Yeah? What?!”

“...I’m sorry. And if my lady were awake, she, too, would be sorry…”

Tabitha blinked. “...‘Sorry’…?” she breaks out into laughter. “Y-you say that you’re sorry? And what? Does that magically turn back the hands of time?” the black-haired archer growled. “Does it undo all of the damage your so-called demi-god has wrought?! Huh?!”

“No…” Finlay’s lower lip trembled behind her helmet. “But I’m asking you for forgiveness. Please, allow me to take her away…”

“So she gets to go home while our lord suffers from the plague she inflected upon him and all of Caelid?” Tabitha scoffed at the very thought. “Sorry,” her mind was made up, “but I’m NOT in a forgiving mood right now!”

“Tabitha!” Jerren roars out from nearby, causing the archer and Finlay to turn toward the masked elder, the Redmanes, and the suffering Radahn.

“Let her go, chum.”

“What?!” Tabitha roars out. “We’re just going to let them go?!”

“General Radahn has spoken,” Jerren crosses his arms, “and you will not disobey our lord’s direct orders.”

Tabitha growls - not at Jerren or Radahn; she loved them far too much, but at just how unfair things were. She shifts her sight back onto the Cleanrot Knight and the devil Tabitha scorned with all her being.

Tabitha’s gravity-defying arrow stayed on target until…it was lowered, and the prowess surrounding it vanished. With clear signs of pained hesitation, the archer lowered her weapon, but the glare she kept aimed at Finlay, more so Malenia, spoke volumes.

“Go.” She said after a time of silence. “Get out of our sight…”

Finlay nods before turning her head toward the direction of Radahn. “Thank you,” she muttered.

“Damn right, you’d better thank him!” Tabitha shouts, having heard the murmur as Finlay is in the process of carrying Malenia across the stone bridge. “You’d better tell her, Finlay! Tell her that it was Radahn who spared her miserable life! Tell her!”

Finlay stops in place but doesn’t look back. “Fire.”

“What?!” Tabitha asked.

“Fire can halt and even defeat the Scarlet Rot. Although the results might vary.” With that said, Finlay continues to cross the bridge, entrusting Tabitha to spread the word amongst the Redmanes.

The Cleanrot Knight reached the other end of the bridge, and as she ventured up a hill to board the lift, she heard one final scream from Tabitha.

“TELL HER!!!”

Finlay couldn’t respond; the shame she felt simply wouldn’t allow it. But…she would honor that request. The road to the Haligtree would be long and filled with opposition. The knight knew this.

Regardless, she will get her mistress home…and tell her…everything…

Some time passes after Finlay’s departure with Malenia, and the Redmanes, now joined by Tabitha, gather around Radahn and Leonard in sorrow.

“R…ed…man…es…”

The knights flinched. They could see how difficult it was for Radahn just to speak. Leonard laid on his side, his stomach rising and lowering to signal that he still drew breath.

“Shhhh,” Jerren comforts. Of everyone, he stood closest to Radahn and Leonard. “It’s ok, ol’ chum…we understand…”

The others nod and utter words of gratitude and hopefulness. For many of them, Radahn was a father figure. He was so much more to them than ‘just their lord and general.’

Then, Radahn, in a display of pure willpower, manages to lift his torso from the sand. “L…i…ve… On…” he grits his teeth with great effort. “I will…stay…here. Be…safe. All of…you. Stay…away…from…m-me…”

Despite their renown as hardened warriors, many Redmanes began to cry and sob, their helmets being the only thing to hide their sorrowful expressions. But it was all on full display for those like Tabitha, who had removed their helmet.

Even Jerren, masked as he was, cried. “W-we will, my lord… However…” In one fluent motion, and with shaky hands, Jerren reaches into the satchel and pulls out a particular gift from Queen Rennala.

“You shall live on, too!” The Amber Egg within the herald’s grasp began to glow with a golden aura. “You shall not suffer here on this beach! No! We refuse to allow it!”

Radahn’s eyes shot wide open in horrific realization. No! He couldn’t allow them to do this; there was something he needed to warn them about. He tried to speak but found that his earlier efforts had effectively made him mute, only allowing him to grunt and groan.

Damn it! How could he be so foolish?!

“Go on, my lord!” Jerren declared. “Be free from these accursed lands! We’ll hold down the fort until the day you return to us with bountiful stories of glory!” The masked elder laughed as he set his sights on Leonard.

“Ah! But don’t think that Queen Rennala and I forgot about you, Leonard. You have carried the big guy through many conflicts. I know not where our general will go, but it comforts me to know that you’ll be there to aid him.”

Radahn raised an arm in an effort to halt Jerren’s actions, but its’ intended effect was lost on the old warrior and the Redmanes. No! If he were to disappear, the stars would resume their cycle!

“And now, General Radahn! Leonard!”

No…

“Behold! A powerful sorcery the likes of which these lands have never before seen!”

No!

“Powered by two Great Runes! Yours and that which lies within this egg!”

NO!

“Properly named by Queen Rennala herself, I cast…Primevaaaal Voyaaaage!”

The golden energy surrounding the Amber Egg reaches out and dances all around Radahn and Leonard’s forms. At that moment, Radahn’s Great Rune reacts as its fiery insignia presents itself and scorches away the sickness that plagued the general and his steed.

“Wait, everyone!” Radahn, finally cleansed of his debilitation, cries out with an outstretched arm. “You musn’t-!”

The general and his steed suddenly become encased in a vast blue and green crystalline substance known to all as glintstone, abruptly silencing Radahn’s words. His rune could be seen burning brightly within the crystal casing as the silhouettes of Radahn and Leonard were barely visible.

And as for the duo themselves, their consciousness surrendered to the bliss of slumber.

The golden strands of energy let loose from the Amber Egg turns to the same color as the large glintstone. A vortex is then torn open just above the enormous crystal, which begins to suck in grains of sand and the crystal itself.

“Redmanes!” Jerren barks but sports a smile beneath his mask. He had done it! “We’ve done what we could - fall back!”

“Yes, Sir Jerren!” They all roared in unison, obeying his orders.

As they fled, the breach finally consumed the glintstone mass that contained the general and his steed. And once that was accomplished, the anomaly closed itself and vanished without a trace, which, in tandem, caused the glowing Amber Egg in Jerren’s grasp to lose its hue.

They…they couldn’t believe it…

After a moment of disbelief, the Redmanes began to cheer, whistling and rattling their weaponry against their shields in celebration. Jerren was especially proud of what had transpired, but a part of him wondered: why did Radahn look so distr-

Suddenly, the stars littering the heavens began to shoot across the sky as the Redmanes looked on in awe. Truly, their general was mighty! It was he-

One shooting star was too close for comfort. Luckily, that one seemed to pass over with no issues.

But then the next one came…

[KTHOOM]

It crashed into an unknown location beyond the Caelid cliffs but toward the direction of Limgrave, one of the nearby regions to the west. Again, it was nothing too dangerous for the Redmanes, although it provided quite the light show. And they could always investigate later.

Then…another one fell. However, it was noticeably smaller compared to the others. And if Jerren didn’t know any better…

“Oh, dear…”

[KTHOOM]

The small meteorite crashes into the beach face’s epicenter, undoubtedly glassing the sands where it impacted, causing the Redmanes to shield their eyes. A large cloud of dust and remnants of Malenia’s actions blocks out the area, hindering anyone from looking upon the crash site from afar.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, save for the latest addition to the Redmane’s-

REEEAAAARGH!!!

Fear and an ominous feeling unlike anything they’d ever felt before were injected into the knights as they heard the screeching roar of…something. Something was hidden within the cloud of dust.

A large sum of sand was then thrown into the air by whatever had fallen from the stars. Jerren, and the Redmanes, tried to peer through the cloud of dust. They needed to know what they were up against.

And it was then that they saw it…

“By all that is good and holy…” Jerren comments in a fear-filled tone.

An elongated abomination made entirely of the same meteorite that seemingly birthed it raises its head like a serpent. Four black mandibles folded and protectively encased its head, and when they unfold, the star-fallen entity roars again as if staking its claim.

REEEAAAARGH!!!

It would seem that Malenia’s curse…wasn’t the only thing the Redmanes, and all of Caelid, would have to deal with…

Meanwhile, in another world…

An equine figure with a gray coat and dark-gray protective scales adorning its back and going down the center of its face walks through a small village in the dead of night, a full moon reflecting off nearby water sources and claiming mastery of the sky.

A sudden breeze flutters the individual’s green mane, which covers their neck and the edge of their tail like a lion’s, as their cloven hooves carry them to one of several houses built into the base of a large tree.

They sighed as they looked up at the stars in the night sky. “Hey there, Buddha.” Their female voice was harmonious and sweet in the night. “It’s me again, Mulan. I’m still trying to fulfill our dreams…but it’s only me and Rain Shine, you know? We’re just…two kirin.”

The individual approaches a tree stump that rests between the home’s closed door and a stream that practically surrounds the residence. She then rested her forelimbs on the stump and clasped them together in prayer.

“I beg of you, Buddha, deliver onto us an ally. The kirin of Qina deserve to be free, but Oolong…” Mulan growls, narrowing her gray eyes, “Her power is too great, and she enforces her rule over the land.

That is not what an empress should be like. And anykirin who dare to defy her, assuming they can get past her armies, are turned to ash and thrown out into the winds.” Mulan sighs. “Look…I’m sorry if this might sound rude, but…are you even listening?

I…I pray to you every night, but all Rain Shine and I get in return are more failed attempts to inspire others to rise against Oolong. Please, just - give me a sign…”

Her gaze fell to the tree stump as a tear fell onto the grass she sat upon. “Show us that you even care…”

A sudden beam of green and blue light shoots down from the night sky, causing Mulan to look up at it, flee in a panic, and take shelter behind the home. The beam sets itself besides the tree stump, illuminating the entire village.

And had Mulan kept watching, she might’ve spotted the figure descending within the beam yet was encased in protective crystals.

The lights cast by the strange phenomenon soon fade away, prompting Mulan to sneak a peek around the corner. She gasps with a hoof covering her muzzle upon spotting a slumbering stallion surrounded by crystalline fragments.

The fragments then sizzle and fade away, leaving a particular equine behind.

Leonard.

“Oh, my goodness…” Mulan said, absolutely stunned. “Is that a…saddle arabian…?”

There…Leonard has been sent to the eastern lands, a place I’ve deemed proper. Now, it’s your turn…

Radahn.

Renna has assured me that you both can be trusted. And so, I, Maker, welcome you to this world with open arms. During your time here, I dare not interfere with your lives, as the paths you walk will be your own from this point forward.

I will never be like the ‘Greater Will.’

Never.

But I do hope that you’ll help lead this world to a brighter future. Of course…there’s the chance you’ll also lead it to ruin.

Fate is such a funny thing, and no matter how hard you try to control it, it reminds those who are arrogant enough to try why it can’t be contained.

Ah. Look at me rambling on. Hehehe.

Now then, where to place you, my overgrown stallion… Hmmm…

Oh! Yes, that’ll do nicely. Selene’s in that nation, too.

You’ll have to forgive me, though… The sands of Saddle Arabiah can be quite unforgiving. But, from what I’ve heard…you’re used to that, huh?

Okay then. It’s decided.

Oh, and, Radahn?

About that ‘Great Rune’ of yours…

Another beam of energy touches down on the desert sands as the night continues on. And like Leonard, General Radahn, now taking on a whole new shape and form, is set down nice and easy.

The fragmented crystals that were around him began to fade away, and it seemed the large earth pony would sleep through the remainder of the night.

His coat was thick enough to keep him warm against the chilling nights of Saddle Arabia’s desert. And when he eventually awakes…

Who knows what this new world has in store for the general and his steed…

Chapter 4~ Awakening: Radahn

The morning sun peeks over the horizon of the Saddle Arabian desert, casting a shade of red that melds with the orange and white of the expansive sands.

A shadow crept over Radahn’s large equine form as he rested his back against a dry tree with yellow stringed leaves, which offered some respite against the slowly rising temperature.

His face depicts a struggle as he seems to be deep in a dream, hindlegs plowing through the sand and burying themselves beneath the resulting mounds.

“N-no…”

“And now, General Radahn! Leonard!”

No…

“Behold! A powerful sorcery the likes of which these lands have never before seen!”

No!

“Powered by two Great Runes! Yours and that which lies within this egg!”

NO!

“Properly named by Queen Rennala herself, I cast…Primevaaaal Voyaaaage!”

“NO!!” Radahn shouts, sand thrown into the air, breaths rapid, and his voice echoes throughout the general area as he lunges out of unconsciousness with an extended…hoof?

“W-what…?” he observed the outstretched limb with shock plastered on his face. “By the might of the Redmanes, what is this?”

Radahn lifts his other hoof, looks them both over, and lowers his eyes to his pale-purple-coated lower body portions before trailing off to the red tail that brushed and rested on the sand, which matched the long crimson mane that drapes over his shoulders and runs down his back.

There were…other things he’d noticed along the way, but that wasn’t important. Not now, anyway. Then again, he’d need to look into that later. Those are what made any man a man, he reasoned.

No. That wasn’t right. He wasn’t a man, not exactly. He wasn’t even human anymore. He was…

“I’m a…horse?” he then felt something twitch at the top of his head before it folded against his skull, causing him to blink, “Huh?” he said as he raised a forehoof to touch…

Touch. How could hooves touch things? The notion was absurd, yet it felt no different from the sensation of his fingers. In fact, this has a vast range of possibilities, like he could stretch his grasp beyond the simple act of extending his arms out to grab onto something with his hands. Back when he had hands, that is.

But there was something else present there. It was as if this new body had already possessed some level of gravitational mastery, but one that only focused on his hooves, which paired well with its strange sense of touch.

He couldn’t say for sure, but that’s how it felt.

He had to wonder…was this how it always was for Leonard? However, the thought of his loyal companion, his brother-in-arms, washed away his shock of being a horse in favor of worrying about his steed.

“Leonard,” the man-turned-horse mutters somberly.

Wait.

The realization then dawns on him, causing his eyes to open wide. “Leonard?!” he calls out, instinctively trying to stand bipedally while turning his head. “Where ar-?! Ope, there goes gravity…”

Attempting to stand upright made him immediately lose his balance, forcing him to fall to the sand upon his four limbs with a soft clump sound and a deadpan expression.

“Right,” he mused to himself, spitting out grains of sand that managed to enter his mouth on impact. “I’m a quadruped now.”

He lifts himself onto his haunches with a grunt, sitting like a dog and staring at the ground in deep thought. “Ok… So Jerren cast that strange sorcery; I’m now a horse in some desert with no knowledge of exactly where I am; Leonard is nowhere to be found, and-” he spots a particular mark present on his flank as he looks himself over, “...someone branded my ass.”

Based on what he saw, the brand depicts three black boulders - the third being slightly obstructed, shooting through the air like a trio of meteors via gravity magic, evidenced by the unmistakable purple aura of the prowess he was all too familiar with.

“Is that my…Rock Sling technique?” he curiously leaned to his side to look at his other flank, which sports a perfect copy of the insignia.

The dark-purple stallion sat there in silence, trying to make sense of everything as a black stinkbug landed on his right ear, which twitched in response, scaring off the desert-dwelling critter.

The marks on his flanks sparked realization and prompted the equine’s desire to test his abilities. But first, he needed to master his new-found anatomy. Caring for horses and breeding mighty war steeds was another renowned trait for the Redmanes, but being a horse was quite different.

Regardless…a challenge presented itself. And he welcomes it!

Radahn grinned as he slowly, determinedly, and strugglingly lifted himself onto his hooves, admiring the muscles that flexed as they brought him up along the way. Nice.

Now standing at his full stature of a little over 10ft, by his estimate, a far cry from the titan of a man he once was, the stallion takes a deep breath as he begins to ooze confidence and lifts his head up high.

“Ahahahah!” he boisterously laughed at the sky with closed eyes. “Jerren, you son of a bitch! I don’t know what you’re playing at, but once I get back to Castle Redmane, I’m smacking you right on the head with-” his forelegs step forth fluently, but his hindlegs get caught on one another, causing his back section to collapse as he dragged it through the sand.

“Hmmm,” he hummed, looking back. “I’ll need to get used to that.” the stallion then adjusts his hind legs and raises his rear, a fine quadruped once more.

“Should I use gravity magic to assist me?” the idea was tempting, but there was a risk. “No. I shouldn’t be so hasty. It might be best to refer to Master Slab’s teachings.” he closes his eyes, taking a deep and comforting breath as if preparing to meditate.

“This requires a calm mind…meditation is key. And since I’m a horse now…” he exhales slowly. “I should be able to do this…while standing…”

Moments of silence passed by as Radahn tested his theory. Wild horses often slept while standing, an evolutionary trait that worked to ensure their survival, which remained engraved even in their domesticated counterparts. He figured that, given his current condition, he should be able to create an equine variant of the typical position for meditation.

Granted, he could try to assume the position as if he were still human, but… No. He refused to tear a muscle or sprain something due to ignorance, not to mention the fact that he’d need to search for food and water soon; such injuries would only be a detriment to his survival.

The shade provided by the tree at Radahn’s rear began to stretch as the sun’s rays slowly shifted while bombarding the obstacle. There he stood, silent as the desert all around him. A sudden breeze presented itself, fluttering his crimson mane and tail, but one that only appeared as the stallion remained in his state of clarity.

And as the wind slowly picked up in strength, a purple aura began to surround his form, all while his master’s recollected words played in his psyche.

‘Remember, my faithful student. There is a crucial difference between using a staff and using one’s own essence to manipulate that which we Alabaster Lords hold in high esteem.’

Radahn remembered just how deep and powerful Master Slab’s voice was - like two large stone slabs slamming into one another. It was quite fitting, especially since his master’s kin, Alabaster Lords, are a race of ancients with skin of stone who were said to have risen to life when a meteor struck the Lands Between long before the man-turned-stallion’s birth.

‘The glintstone etched onto most staves protects the user, thus allowing them to use sorceries safely so long as they provide the necessary focus pool and other such costs. The fallen amber from the stars essentially does everything else for the caster.

However…doing so with your own body is dangerous. To do so takes discipline beyond measure and requires a dynamic price to be paid due to a truth pertaining to many forms of sorceries.

Their source can be traced back to the Primeval Current.’

Sand is lifted from the ground and starts to swirl around Radahn, orbiting the ever-present lavender aura surrounding the equine.

‘The Primeval Current is a current of energy that flows throughout creation and can be harnessed and accessed by glintstones. And the current itself connects to the primordial birthplace of the stars—the void.

That is where the threat lies in using your own body and mind.’

The wind generated from the phenomenon rustled the leaves of the nearby tree, some even being pulled towards Radahn while others were blown away. But the shade provided by the tree became noticeably thinner as only the remaining bark now acted as a barrier.

‘Of course, you have already come to understand this. I never would’ve taken you on as my student if I hadn’t seen promise in you. Your mastery over gravity without any further need for a glintstoned staff is a testament to your accomplishment.

The beauty of mastering this prowess with your very essence, Radahn, is that no matter where you go, and should the Primeval Current have a presence there, it will always be at your beck and call.

As for the price you paid, well, I think we can both agree that it’s been more beneficial for you rather than costly. You did grow to an even greater size than you already were because of it, after all.’

A smile grew on the stallion’s face. Regardless of how many throughout the Lands Between felt about the Alabaster Lords, which fluctuated between positive and negative, even sparking several conflicts, the student-teacher relation between Slab and Radahn stood firm and was just as genuine as those often formed in the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

Maybe even more so as, unlike those forged by scholarly and magical pursuits, theirs was born from the most faithful bond of friendship.

‘One final thing before you head off to face your destiny, Radahn. To bear witness to the Primeval Current is almost no different from staring into the abyss. Should you ever be careless, I trust I won’t need to remind you of what could happen.

Fortunately, I have taught you the necessary precautions, so always exercise them.’

‘I will. Thank you for your tutelage, master. Now I have what I need to challenge the stars…and those that lurk among them.’

‘And to ride Leonard, hmm?’

‘…I thought we promised not to talk about that?’

‘Openly, yes. But when it’s just us? I made no such promise.’

“Hah! You bastard!” Radahn laughed outwardly, eyes opening. “I thank you, old friend!” he then raises a forelimb, brings it back, and roars out while thrusting it forth with all his might, creating a purple gravity wave that travels out just shy of 20ft in a cone shape, parting the desert sands.

He nearly fell over in doing so but quickly caught himself via his hind legs.

But when the dust and grains of sand began to settle after the attack, mounds on either side of the parting that shift and collapse in on one another, the stallion was admittedly disappointed as he observed the results.

“I see,” he said while looking at his hoof that struck the blow. “It would seem that this smaller body has also limited my powers. That makes sense, but I have to wonder, is this some sort of race amongst the beast folk of Farum Azula? Hmm. I suppose I won’t know until I return to the Lands Between.”

Radahn looked in every direction as if searching for something, glancing over several types of cacti and other desert-dwelling plant life that formed small patches in the sandy terrain.

“I don’t see any signs of the Erdtree, so this is definitely a far-off land. I could try to float myself to a certain altitude to get my bearings, but I should master the art of walking in this form first. Sounds ridiculous, but It’ll help me to conserve FP.”

A thought occurred. “Speaking of the Erdtree.” the stallion places a hoof on his chest, closing his eyes as his face contorts in concentration. “Heh. There you are- wait…” he opened his eyes in concern, “What is this? My Great Rune feels like it’s…slumbering.”

He slowly removed his hoof from his chest and began pulling out the Great Rune. As he did so, the rune burned vibrantly as it simply phased out of his flesh, causing absolutely no harm to him, although there was a feeling of losing a part of himself.

The rune floated above the palm of his hoof as he held and looked upon it with horrid realization.

“By the Elden Ring…”

His Great Rune wasn’t just inactive…

It was broken in half.

Chapter 5~ Awakening: Leonard

Awaken, Leonard.

You have been changed, albeit slightly, in ways I’m sure you will come to appreciate. Although I must warn you, you might find your newfound capabilities to be quite…enlightening.

There was that strange voice again, both male and female in tone. And every word echoed as if many voices spoke in unison. This caused Leonard to shift in his slumber, ears folded against his head.

He had to wonder…who is that?

Wonder…

This…this experience, these thoughts. Wh-what is this?

“Jiù wǒmen suǒ zhī, tā kěnéng shì Wūlóng shǒuxià de jiāndié”

Leonard’s ears shot up and twitched in response to a feminine voice, sweet yet strong like that of several female members of the Redmanes, although he couldn’t understand the language.

Wait, how… What is- how is he doing this?

“Nǐ zài zuò jiǎshè, Yǔliàng.”

Another voice spoke up, also female and noticeably higher-pitched compared to the last. But Leonard was too preoccupied with his new-found grasp of the world to notice if anything more was said as he slowly opened his eyes.

He lifted a forehoof and stared at it while innumerable thoughts flooded his mind. This… This is…

Amazing. He could now think on a scale far more extensive than ever. Granted, he wasn’t stupid, not at all. But this…

This was… He just couldn’t find the right words.

Words. Words. He could now understand them far better than ever before. Well, aside from whatever strange language those two females spoke. Or would the correct term be mares? Question for later, he humored.

It was time to meet the source of these two voices. However, his instincts abruptly flared caution, and Leonard only now noticed the- What kind of wood is that? He’d never seen it before, but whatever it was, it surrounded him as if he were trapped in a cage.

Oh.

“Wǒmen bùnéng zài zhèlǐ cūxīn dàyì, Mùlán. Zhǐ xūyào yī gè shīwù, wǒmen zài zhèlǐ jiànzào de yīqiè dū jiàng bèi chèxiāo.”

“Nǐ yǐwéi wǒ bù zhīdào mǎ, Yǔliàng?”

Leonard urgently lifts himself onto his hooves but bangs his head against the roof of the ‘strange wood’—which he now knows was as hard as a brick wall—made cage. But in doing so, and while he tends to the resulting bump with pained features and gritted teeth, he had gained the full attention of the now-shocked duo standing just outside his containment.

His eyes shot wide open, stunned by what he saw beyond the gaps of his cage. By the glory of Radahn, he’d never seen anything like them. The shape of their admittedly alluring forms was similar to his own—so mares must be the proper term then—yet they also had traits of a lion and a dragon. They even have horns protruding backward on their head and cloven hooves.

Those scales going down the middle of their face and across their back are remarkable. Sadly, the taller one seems angry…and she wields a spear-like weapon. How is she even holding it like that? Leonard pondered. But, most concerning of all, she’s now pointing it at him. And she most definitely must know how to use it, given the armor she wore, all unmistakable signs of a warrior.

Alright then.

“Dào wǒ hòumiàn qù, Mùlán!” The taller one steps defensively in front of her smaller companion, Leonard shifting his gaze to focus on that amber gray-coated wielder of his imminent death.

He did have to admire her moderate opal and grayish turquoise lion’s mane, which looked like the traveling and swirling waves he’d often see crashing against Castle Redmane. Unfortunately, he then met her narrowed amaranth eyes and regretted it.

Those eyes made him feel like he was mere prey for this lion-dragon-mare. And the dark-red horn with two red upside-down V-shaped stripes didn’t help at all.

“Yǔ ā! Bié zhème cūlǔ!” The smaller lion-dragon-mare peeked out from behind the larger one’s left hindleg and slapped it repeatedly with a forehoof. Did…did she just scold the larger one? Leonard wasn’t sure, but it did resemble what Queen Rennala would do to Radahn in their younger days.

An explosion of realization suddenly overtakes him, and the horse’s head lowers somberly. Where is his demigod brother and caretaker, who mastered powerful sorceries so that they could continue to ride him into battle? Where was the honorable Starscourge who defended the Lands Between with those same powers from forces beyond comprehension?

[CLUNK CLUNK]

Something taps against Leonard’s cell, pulling him out of his thoughts as his eyes travel to the small lion-dragon-mare, whose forelimb is still raised. Now that she was this close, Leonard could make out a dark-green mane and tail, a dark-gray coat, black scales, and a cherry red horn with two purple upside-down V-shaped stripes.

“Wǒ cāi nǐ bùhuì shuō qínhuà bā?”

He couldn’t understand what she was saying, much to his disappointment. If only they could speak English.

Hang on…could he speak? He nodded in determination, breathed deeply, parted his muzzle, and…whinnied.

By the might of the Redmanes…he felt so embarrassed, his cheeks taking on a shade of red. As for the lion-dragon-mares, they were utterly taken aback by the action, eyes wide open as the smaller one’s muzzle dropped.

“Nǐ shì pǐ mǎ?!” She cried out as the larger one recollected herself, hardening her features.

The smaller one seemed lost in thought, and Leonard grew increasingly nervous as the larger one stood there menacingly. Then, after several awkward moments passed by, the smaller one—he hated to label them both like that, but what other choice was there—suddenly smiled vibrantly.

“Wǒ yǒu gè zhǔyì!” She roared before saying something else to the taller one in a quieter tone. She then turns around and runs away, disappearing beyond a circular doorframe.

Please, for the love of Queen Rennala, don’t leave him here with the tall one who radiates murder!

And so, here Leonard remains, trapped in a cage and fidgeting as he’s alone with a murderous lion-dragon-mare. All that’s missing is the ability for her to breathe fire, and she’d officially be considered something that was birthed from the volcano of the Lands Between.

To hopefully alleviate his nervousness and keep his mind off of the fact that the murder mare over there was watching him, Leonard turns his head to take in his surroundings. Everything was made out of wood, the furniture, the support beams, everything.

Decorative plants, including large mushrooms, grow out from the walls while others hang from the ceiling in pottery. Unlit torches are also mounted onto the walls, but an alighted candle on a nearby table fills the air with a sweet aroma, Leonard flaring his nostrils before turning his gaze toward it.

He saw sunlight creeping through a window just above the table with the candle, so he at least had some means of telling the time of day. Not accurately, of course, but it was better than nothing.

His ears perked up as a strange sound was coming from the direction of the murderous one. He hesitantly turns to look at her and… Forget breathing fire; she could levitate things?! Is this a type of gravity magic?!

Leonard stared in awe as the stripes on her horn glowed blue, which, in turn, had conjured an energy field of the same color all around her weapon. She stepped closer to the cage, her weapon floating at her side, similar to what Radahn would do with his prowess.

She stood inches away from the cage silently, eyes examining every bit of his form. Maybe…maybe he could communicate using what he already knows?

He snorts while nodding his head and tapping a foreleg.

She raises an eyebrow.

Alright. Not what he wanted, but it’s something. Snorting was a positive thing for horses, so he could only hope she’d understand his intentions.

He lowered himself onto his stomach, waved his tail, and neighed.

She tilts her head, “Nǐ shì gè qíguài de rén…” she said.

Yeah… The Steed of the great General Radahn was starting to get the impression that he was weird in her eyes. He had to admit, though…up close like this, beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe her.

Scary…but beautiful.

Leonard’s ears suddenly picked up the sounds of approaching hooves. Then, the smaller lion-dragon-mare trots into the room with two different flasks, one blue and the other purple, with strange labels, floating within a magical green field.

He didn’t precisely study at Raya Lucaria, but thanks to his time spent with Radahn, he’d recognize something as simple as a flask anywhere. Granted, everyone had a different name for it, like ‘potion,’ but flask became the general term used in the Lands Between.

The lion-dragon-mares exchanged more foreign words, going back and forth before finally nodding and turning toward his direction in unison. The smaller one lifts the blue flask, pops off the cork with her prowess, and floats it through the bars and closer to him.

“Qǐng hē zhè gè.”

He didn’t need to know what she said to understand the gesture. Still, his ears folded against his head as he eyed the flask with suspicion, which didn’t go unnoticed by the small one and caused the beautifully dangerous one to roll her eyes.

The small one pulls the flask away from Leonard and out of the cage before floating it close to her muzzle. She gestures at it and shakes her head before sticking out her tongue playfully, tilting it and allowing a drop of the contained substance within to fall onto her tongue. Her tongue retreats back into her mouth, and she licks her lips in satisfaction.

She smiled at him, floating the flask through the cage and offering it to him once more. Seemingly convinced, Leonard curiously observed the flask before biting onto the top/lip, lifting his head, and chugging down its contents. All while the magical field of the smaller lion-dragon-mare never left the flask.

The now-empty flask floats before him. Blueberry flavored. Delicious.

“Can you understand us now?” Leonard’s ears twitched as he immediately shot his gaze toward the small one and blinked twice. “I hope I was able to brew it correctly.”

Leonard’s muzzle dropped. He- he could understand her! Yes!

“Mulan,” the tall, dangerous, and beautiful one began, “are you sure this is wise?”

“It’ll be fine, Rain Shine,” Mulan assured. “Now then,” she starts as her eyes meet Leonard’s, “please allow us to introduce ourselves properly. My name is Hua Mulan, but just Mulan will suffice. And this lovely yet overprotective kirin to my right is Rain Shine.”

Leonard tilts his head. Kirin? He’d never heard of a kirin before, but at least he had something much more appropriate than ‘little one’ or ‘taller one.’ Though, to be fair, those names are accurate.

Rain Shine narrowed her eyes, “Greetings,” she said monotonously.

Mulan sighed, “Please forgive her. She means well, but if you’ll forgive me for saying this, she isn’t completely wrong, either. Tell me, does the name Oolong have any effect on you?”

Leonard shook his head.

“I see. I must say, you’re quite a distance away from Saddle Arabia, my good stallion.”

“He could be lying to us,” Rain Shine asserts with a growl. “Who’s to say that Oolong didn’t send him here as a spy? He could put everykirin else in the village in great danger. We need to take appropriate measures here, Mulan.”

“I know, Rainy. I’m getting to that.” Mulan clears her throat. “First thing’s first; we noticed that you, uhm, neigh and whiny a lot. I know that saddle arabians resemble the ancient horse more than anycreature else, even more than ponies, but surely you are capable of at least some speech, right?”

Leonard shakes his head again. This was…strange. He could think and speak in his mind, odd as that sounds, but couldn’t outwardly voice them.

But what got his attention was how Mulan said ‘Ponies’ and ‘Saddle Arabians.’ Weren’t they basically the same if what she said was to be believed? And this is coming from an actual horse.

Wait…she said ‘Ancient Horse.’ What…what does that even-

“Are you possibly speech disabled?”

The stallion shakes his head. He never could speak. The very idea of doing that was just...impossible! Well, until recently, that is.

Just what in the world happened after he and Radahn got caught up in that strange crystal when the old masked one cast that strange sorcery? Did that peculiar voice he heard earlier have anything to do with it? He couldn’t sa-

[KPLUNGK]

Leonard jolts in shock, breathing shakily.

“Don’t you dare ignore her, saddle arabian!” Rain Shine roars out, having slammed her weapon against the cage. “I do not trust you, and blatantly ignoring our leader doesn’t help you, either. So pay attention.”

“Rain Shine!” Mulan scolds. “I. Will. Handle. This. Or did you forget what I have right here?” Mulan lifts the purple flask in her magical grasp and quickly shakes it. “I know you mean well, but please try to calm down.”

Rain Shine held her fearsome stare on Leonard. Radahn’s grace, he’d like nothing more than to get out of her sight. But the scary one then takes a calming breath, which he was eternally grateful for.

“Forgive me, Mulan. I…” she sighs sadly, looking at the smaller kirin. “I lost my composure there… It’s just…we’ve lost so many loved ones already. It’s been…difficult.”

“I know, Rainy,” Mulan responds as she comfortably pats the larger kirin. “I know.”

Rain Shine turns back to Leonard, stares at him, and lets out a low growl. “Prove yourself to us, stranger.” She points a hoof at the purple flask held by Mulan, “If you would like a chance to show your innocence, then drink this concoction, too.”

Leonard lifts himself off the floor and steps closer to the bars. He sets himself down, although he is starting to get hungry. Well, at least the flask, or potion, quenched his thirst. So there’s that.

He meets Rain Shine’s eyes and nods, earning a pleasant smile from Mulan.

“Very well,” Rain Shine began. “As you probably know by now, the potion you drank before allows you to understand Qinese as we do—a Translation Potion, if you will. No, I’m not going to explain to you how it’s made.

The one Mulan has there is called Wukong Divulgence, one of the most potent Truth Potions in the world.”

Mulan grinned. “I might have connections to the Monkey King, who I managed to get a lock of hair from. And I might've learned alchemy from a zebra friend when I visited Savanna long ago, a vast and great nation to the far west.” She was coy about it, looking over a forehoof.

Meanwhile, Leonard just wanted to know one thing, which may or may not also cover some of what was just said: what?

Rain Shine chuckles, “Indeed. So then, saddle arabian, I could go on and on, but I trust you get the gist of it?”

He understood that much. He drinks the potion, no doubt followed by answering some questions, and they might let him go, maybe even give him some food. Well, that’s an easy one.

He snorts while nodding, prompting Mulan to float the potion into the cell and set it down as Rain Shine watches stoically. It was impressive how she could change her expression in such a way. One second, she’s an angered menace. The next, that.

“The potion’s effects only last for a minute, so we must make haste once you drink it.”

Leonard unhesitantly drinks the potion, but unlike the last one, this one has a strange and undescribable taste that nearly makes him want to gag. Even so, he forced it down his throat. And once he did that, he felt…strange. Almost like he ate some bad hay.

Satisfied, Rain Shine looks over to Mulan and nods with a serious expression. Mulan breathes to steel her nerves, turning her gaze to Leonard.

“Please don’t let me be wrong about you.” She muttered with a sad face, but it was still loud enough for Rain Shine and Leonard to overhear. She looked directly into the caged stallion’s eyes as silence took hold.

Then, she breaks it.

“I have several questions to ask you, like how you arrived in that beam of light last night or who you are. But before any of that, there’s one of the utmost importance.” Mulan’s features harden, “Are you here to bring about danger to us in any way, shape, or form?”

Leonard’s body began to glow with a golden aura. It felt…warm, yet there was a haunting chill that gave him a hint of what would happen if he lied. But he had nothing to hide, and he answered with pride.

He shakes his head with a pleasant smile. A confident NO, in gesture. The golden aura surrounding his body became more vibrant until it suddenly vanished.

He was admittedly confused. Did-did it work?

However, Leonard would soon have his answer as both kirin sighed happily, and Rain Shine smiled at him for the first time since he’s met her.

“I’m glad to know that I was wrong about you, saddle arabian.”

“And I’m glad that I was right,” Mulan said. “As usual.” She smirked.

“Oh really?” Rain Shine retorts playfully and with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t give me that. You had your doubts, and you know it.”

“Details, details,” Mulan dismissed before firing up the stripes on her horn. “Now, my saddle arabian friend, let’s get you out of that cage, shall we?”

Leonard practically glows at this, nodding rapidly while wiggling his ears. But to his absolute shock, the cage didn’t open as he initially thought it would. The strange wood that made it retracts into the floor and ceiling; whatever happened to the good old key that unlocks the door shtick?

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Mulan asked. "Manipulating bamboo isn't easy, let me tell you. Very stubborn stuff."

Huh. So that was bamboo. Nice. Regardless, he was free now, stretching all of his legs and cracking several joints before standing at full stature. And when he did that, he heard Mulan let out a gasp.

“Wow…” she said, looking up at him wide-eyed. “Buddha, help me; you’re just as tall as Rain Shine! And…if I’m being honest?” She lifts a hoof, fans herself, and half-lids her eyes, “Nice.”

“Buddha, preserve me,” Rain Shine said while fighting the urge to facehoof.

Leonard neigh-chuckled. He might be scrawny, but he was always blessed in the height department. But as he takes a moment to look himself over, Mulan staring at him dreamily without his knowledge, which earns her a nudge from a deadpanning Rain Shine, his being scrawny was no longer an accurate statement.

In fact, he was a lean-built stallion now. What’s more? He could feel something burning deep inside of him, and it made him feel...amazing. Confident. At least when Rain Shine, the murder kirin, wasn't glaring at him, that is.

Chapter 6~ Mysterious Avian

“Haha!” Radahn boisterously exploded from some recent triumph; head held up high as he trekked through the desert sands, the sun's rays bathing him with all its scorching glory. Fortunately, when you’re a master of gravity like him, all it takes is some creativity to alleviate that issue.

“This isn’t so bad. Bit of a learning curve at first, but I’m starting to get the hang of this ‘horse walking.’”

Horse walking… The name was still a work in progress. Then again, it’s something he never thought he’d ever have to deal with, let alone entertain the thought of actually practicing. And yet, here he was. Still, as the saying goes, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’

The stallion grinned. Hah! He had his own version of that saying. ‘When life gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Challenge it like he challenged the stars and best life’s obstacles in a crushing defeat!’

It makes the saying far better this way. Ahahaha-! Oh, he’s falling again.

“Oomph.” The stallion groans in annoyance as the demigod-turned-horse, with a noticeably smaller muzzle compared to what he was familiar with, fell to the warm sands as his hindlegs got caught on one another.

“Right then…”

He gets back up again and, using gravity magic, releases a small pulse of purple energy from his body, throwing off all traces of sand stuck in his fur. “Minor setback.” He lowers his neck and lifts his right foreleg, glaring back at his hind legs. “You two are breaking formation. Get it together!”

The stallion raises his head and puffs out his chest. “Alright. Forward!” He steps forth, “One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.”

As Radahn continued his march through the desert, he thought about several things along the way, but he wouldn’t let them plague his mind. At least he didn’t allow them to distract him from the here and now.

His current objective was to find food and water, get out of this desert, and search for civilization. Then again, that last one could solve everything. Of course, this is also assuming said civilization was, well, civil. Knowing his luck, he’d likely find bandits or something else of the sort.

Heh. Bring it on, then.

Unfortunately, he then allowed a grim thought to rise from the depths of his mind, and worry began to consume his form and grow on his face. Dammit.

He was no longer holding the stars in place… By his mother’s grace, that could only mean that the horrors he kept at bay were now free to run rampant across the Lands Between. And, if left unchecked…the whole world.

On that note, was it just dumb luck that he hasn’t seen any of those abominations falling from the stars yet? Is it possible that someone else has taken over the responsibility? The Golden Order, perhaps?

In any case, this… He needs to get back as soon as possible. And Leonard! Where in the world is Leonard?!

Radahn then inhales deeply to regain his composure, but in doing so, his eyes shoot wide open as he catches a whiff of… Yes, there’s no mistaking it. Despite the initial shock of his sense of smell having been honed, likely due to his now equine nature, the possibility of discovering an oasis overcame that curiosity.

Among the many scents the stallion picked up, he made out a peach aroma mixed with moss. Moss was something he definitely recognized due to Castle Redmane’s coastal location, and peaches were often present in the castle’s dining room. But both indicate one thing: a water source.

If those weren’t clear signs of a desert oasis, then he doesn’t know what is.

He grins contentedly before slowly hovering into the air via gravity manipulation, his mane and tail whipping in the forming winds. Once he reached a favorable height, he began to search his surroundings, looking over the desert with seemingly no end or limit until…

His eyes widened, “Aha!” He licks his lips, “There you are.” The equine jolts forward with an outstretched forelimb and soars through the air like the meteors he’d summon in battle.

After just shy of two minutes of flight time, Radahn sets himself down at the edge of the oasis. He immediately approached, trampling over the sizable desert paradise's blades of grass that practically outlined its borders with numerous cacti spaced out like guards at their posts.

He takes in the lush greenery while progressing through them and under the spires of peach trees that reach for the sky. There were even some nut trees, too. Some of which he recognized as almonds and pistachios. But it was what dwelled within the epicenter of this oasis that was its lifeblood.

Radahn nods in satisfaction as he now stands before clear waters reflecting the sun's glory, causing twinkles and shines on the water’s surface. His tail reflexively whipped away some flies that seemed to have been attracted to his presence as he observed a single dragonfly hovering over the water source.

This place would do nicely. Food, water, shelter, it was all available to-

[FWOOM]

The stallion jumped in surprise as something swooped down from one of the nearby peach trees with incredible speed, carrying off the dragonfly in the process. His eyes followed the strange assailant as they set themself down on a branch of another tree of the nut-bearing variety.

He tilts his head inquisitively. It was a…bird. But this one was unlike any other he had ever seen before. If he were to use one word to describe it, it would be majestic. Shining red feathers were clearly its dominant coloration, with a golden yellow at the edges of its wings, neck, crown, and an alluring long twin tail that danced and waved like two serpents.

The bird throws its head back to swallow its latest catch before shuffling its feathers and concealing its head beneath its right wing, seemingly pecking at its base. The avian then rests its golden eyes on Radahn, both looking at one another with equal interest.

He chuckled. “Such a majestic creature,” he compliments before looking away and going for a…drink.

Ah, yes… He’d have to drink like a horse.

Meh. Whatever, he disregards with a shrug. However, he wasn’t going to do that ‘tongue thing’ Leonard, other horses, and all manner of quadrupeds would do while drinking. Instead, the stallion plunged his entire muzzle into the water, taking greedy gulps as the cool liquid traveled down his throat.

“Ahhhhh!” He exclaimed in satisfaction as he lifted his head up high. “That hit the spot.” He then surveyed his surroundings, looking up at the nut and fruit-bearing trees in his vicinity before lowering his gaze to bushels and ferns.

“Hmmm. Maybe I could weave together a basket to take some food with me and a bucket to store some water.” He began to look himself over, “Given my new anatomy, I doubt I'll be consuming meat anytime soon. That’s unfortunate. Still, that will be the first thing on the menu once I return home and get my glorious body back! Hahah!”

The strange yet majestic bird suddenly chirped, causing Radahn to cut his laughter short and turn his eyes toward it.

“Fear not, strange yet majestic bird!” He called out to it as if expecting it to respond. “I, General Radahn, would never eat nor harm one such as you.”

The bird cocked its head, blinking its golden eyes before, and much to Radahn’s shock, closing them as a pleasant ‘smile’ is formed with its beak.

Radahn simply stared at the avian with a look of awe and curiosity. “Did you just… C-can you understand me?”

The bird nods, prompting the stallion’s eyes to shoot even wider than they already were. His mind began to race. For goodness sake, he was talking to a bird! Interacting with Leonard was one thing; horses can be pretty intelligent, but a bird? There’s a considerable difference between them and a leap in logic he clearly had missed.

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. “I don’t suppose you could help me? Avian who is majestic and mysterious. You’re clearly a type of bird, but I’ve never seen one such as yourself. Do you…have a name? Furthermore, what kind of bird are you?”

The bird rests a wing feather beneath its beak in thought. By the might of the Redmanes, this bird was even more impressive than he initially thought. It then squawked as if it had just gotten an idea. At least, it seemed that way, judging by its gestures, actions, and emotional range.

The avian hops off the branch, glides down to him with marvelously outstretched wings, and lands beside him. It then does something that takes him aback as it stretches out one of its wings, causing words made entirely of orange flames to form in the air.

Radahn watched with fascination as he allowed the bird to finish. After a short time, the bird seemed to complete its work as it folded its wing and lets the equine look upon the fiery message.

My name is Philomena. I’m a phoenix. I also saw you flying and wish to know how you did that

Chapter 7~ Prayer

“Hmm…” Rain Shine began in thought, looking over Leonard’s shoulder and down upon a sheet of paper that looked like someone had been going to war against it as the stallion sat at a rectangular-shaped, beech-wood table in the living room.

The table itself wasn’t particularly tall. Quite the opposite, in fact. Its 3-foot height, if he recalled Radahn’s unit of measurement correctly, allowed one to sit on the soft carpet comfortably, thus making the need for any accompanying chairs unnecessary.

“I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a mistake or…” She tilts her head, squinting, “Art.”

Leonard whinnied a hearty grumble, ears twitching as a pencil—he learned it to be called—was ‘held’ in his forehoof. Seriously, does she expect him to be a master at this? He’d only just learned how to hold onto something with his hooves. Hooves. Specifically, his forehooves.

Take it from a horse, that shouldn’t even be possible. He was used to the good old-fashioned biting onto something, maneuvering it with his lips, or simply nudging it with his head. But this? It was an entirely new experience for him.

It was difficult to describe, but it felt like an invisible force existed around his forehooves, yet that force was absent from their hind counterparts. And although he could now understand the kirin’s language, Qinese, that potion he drank seemed to have one major flaw: It didn’t extend to written language.

That was where their problem for communication now lies, save for his ability to answer questions with head movements. The original plan was for him to write down any of his thoughts, but that only led to the current state of affairs. A slight oversight, Mulan had jest.

Speaking of which… An intoxicating aroma suddenly meets Leonard’s nostrils, causing him to flare them and greedily intaking what was undoubtedly coming from the kitchen.

“Breakfast is almost ready!” Mulan’s voice declared from beyond the circular-shaped doorframe, of which Rain Shine’s weapon, a Qinese Kwan Dao or naginata, was leaned up against. “How’s he holding up, Rainy?!”

“His hoofwriting is that of a newborn pup’s, but we may very well have an artist in our midst.” She chuckled, looking back to the stallion.

Leonard shook his head joyously at her before returning to his writing practice. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but if she considers this art, he’ll take that compliment! At least, he thinks it’s one.

“Something to note, saddle arabian,” Rain Shine began as she rested a cloven hoof onto the paper, Leonard raising his head to meet her eyes. “Written Qinese is not based on an alphabet or a compact syllabary.Instead, Qinese characters are glyphs whose components may depict objects or represent abstract notions…”

Her words slowly faded into existence as Leonard began to block out anything else that was said at that point with reddened cheeks due to being entranced by those eyes…

“Saddle arabian?”

Those beautiful, amaranth windows to her soul…

“Hello…?”

By Radahn’s might, he could get lost in them for hours…

“Are you even listening to me?”

He’d never seen any other mare, kirin or not, nearly as beautiful as-

[KTHUMPT]

Rain Shine abruptly slams her hoof on the table and roars in Leonard’s face with narrowed eyes, jolting him out of his trance and making him drop his pencil onto the table as she gives him a fine view of her omnivorous features.

They had revealed their dietary nature earlier when they offered him food, but to actually see it for himself…yikes.

“Do I have your attention now?” She growled.

The stallion nods his head rapidly with wide eyes.

Rain Shine smirks but maintains her bared display. “Good.”

“I heard that! What’s going on in there?!” Mulan shouts, poking her head into view from the kitchen, Leonard and Rain Shine looking at her. “You’d better not be bullying him while I’m not looking, Rainy.” The dark-gray kirin accused, wearing white chef attire with a strange green ‘serpent dragon’ design coiling itself around its wearer.

Come to think of it, that same serpent dragon was depicted in many arts, pictures, and banners that littered the home. If Leonard were to hazard a guess, it was perhaps a symbol that held special meaning to them, similar to the red-maned lion insignia of the Redmanes.

“I was simply performing my task as instructed until he ignored me out of nowhere,” Rain Shine answered, glaringly glancing at Leonard, whose ears folded against his head.

He hadn’t meant to ignore her… It’s just…

Mulan sighs as she fully presents herself in the doorway. “He’s clearly been through a lot, Rainy. Let’s just try to be a bit more understanding here. He probably didn’t mean it like that. You do recall how I found him, right?”

“Yes, yes, a beam of light that conveniently set him down on your lawn in the dead of night.” Rain Shine turned to face Leonard. “But that is exactly why we must teach you how to write Qinese until we can make you talk. We know that you mean us no harm—for now, anyway, but it would be most beneficial if we could converse more clearly.”

Leonard’s ears flickered at one particular part of all that as he began to look between them. Di-did he hear that right? Make him talk…?

Mulan giggled with a cloven hoof covering her muzzle. “Somekir- ahem. I mean, someone seems curious. We’ll talk more once-” Her ears suddenly shoot skyward, “Oh! Food’s ready! I’ll be right back.” She turns around and runs into the kitchen, disappearing from sight.

“I think we can dispense with the writing for now,” Rain Shine said while taking her place at the table to Leonard’s right. “Our food will arrive any moment, so please remove your art piece.” She teased.

The displaced horse nods and picks up his pencil and paper, setting them down on the carpet alongside him.

Rain Shine adjusts her sitting posture and puffs out her mane with closed eyes before quickly shaking it. The action’s effect immediately ensnared Leonard’s curiosity, which Rain Shine notices as she opens her eyes and spots him staring at her.

“It helps us to keep up our mane’s appearance and not let it look like a frantic mess.” Her answer seemed to satisfy his curiosity as he nodded in understanding. “We’re similar to the lions of Savanna in that aspect.”

Lions of Savanna… Was that another nation of beast folk? Do they have ties to Farum Azula? Hang on…would he be considered one of the beast folk now, too? And does the same apply to these kirin?

Radahn’s grace, he had so many questions…

Rain Shine lifts her forelimbs, sets them on the table, and clasps her cloven hooves together, pulling Leonard out of his thoughts and garnering his attention.

“So,” she began, “I’m curious about a few things. I’d like to ask you some questions under these more pleasant circumstances if that’s alright.”

Leonard nods and whinnies softly, resigning to push aside his earlier inner inquiries for now.

“Does the name Saddle Arabia sound familiar to you at all?”

He shakes his head and shrugs.

“Truly?” She questioned, surprise plastered on her face. “That is indeed quite shocking.
Do you mean to say you know nothing about your desert homeland?”

He denies it again with head movement. That’s just it; this Saddle Arabia never was his homeland. He hadn’t even known of the kirin’s existence until now, let alone a whole apparent nation or even that Savanna place she and Mulan mentioned.

He had only ever known the Lands Between. That was it.

The two sat in silence as Leonard looked down at the table while Rain Shine seemed lost in deep thought. “I must say…there’s something quite different about you.”

Leonard shot up at that.

“Nothing bad, I assure you,” she assured with a gesture. “It’s just…your spirit. It’s so unique, almost like it’s burning with life and power. Yet there’s a certain enigma to it, as well. It’s…hard to explain.”

She had his curiosity, but now she has his attention, and he eagerly awaits more.

Rain Shine’s ears fell flat, “N-never mind.” She yieldingly shook her head and closed her eyes. “Forget I said anything.”

Leonard shakes his head with a low neigh as if to inspire her to continue. But the kirin wouldn’t budge as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s none of your concern. Drop it now, please.” Her hardened face said it all. “The fault is mine. I never should’ve mentioned it.”

He nods, eyes slowly falling to the table as an awkward silence takes hold.

“I’m sorry.” The kirin’s words gained his attention again as he noticed her face softening. “It’s just a personal matter for me. I hope you can understand that.”

He smiles and consents.

“Thank you.” She performs a bowing gesture and raises her head. “I’m sure that you have many questions for me, too. We can cross that bridge once we handle our means of communication. It’ll certainly be nice to know your name rather than just calling you by your race.

There is, however, another matter.”

Another matter? His current look practically asked.

Rain Shine immediately deciphered his look. “We mentioned it loosely before, but I’ll be completely transparent: we intend to introduce you to our village after breakfast.” She spoke proudly, raising her head and looking down at him with a regal-like aura.

As for Leonard, his posture and features with a dropped muzzle radiated one thing: say what now?

That is until realization dawns on him. Ah, that’s right. They did mention that this was a village—a whole village filled with kirin and who knows what else this strange place had in store for him. This will undoubtedly be a challenge in and of itself.

'Bring it on, then.'

“Breakfast is served!” Mulan declared as she merrily entered the living room while floating several bowls and platters with steaming hot food set on top, some of which catered to Leonard’s herbivorous needs, cups and pots filled with thirst-quenching liquids, eating utensils, and a basket filled with bread.

'Change of plans, bring on the food first. Then they can get to the meet and greets.'

“I’ve got wontons and dumplings, some of which are filled with vegetables that I’m sure you’ll love, my good stallion,” Mulan said while heading over to the table where the stallion’s face displayed the awe now filling his form.

Rain Shine sniffed at the air and moaned, “Are those shrimp-filled dumplings I smell?”

“Girl, I made you a whole plate of ‘em.”

Rain Shine clapped her forehooves and held them together as if in prayer. “I love you.”

The chef-attired kirin beamed proudly. “There’s also some pork, egg, and beef variants of the wontons and dumplings. I have water, tea, and some freshly-baked bread, too. Oh! And a whole bowl of tossed salad for you, saddle arabian.”

Leonard’s stomach growled furiously at this point, his prayers having been answered as all of Mulan’s work was set down on the table in an organized fashion.

He was going to dig right in as Mulan had the courtesy of setting down the dumplings filled with veggies and his salad in front of him. But he stopped midway as Rain Shine cleared her throat to get his attention, his eyes trailing off to her direction as his opened mouth was mere inches away from his food.

Mulan takes her place across from Rain Shine while giggling at Leonard’s display while the larger kirin gives him a deadpan expression.

“It’s proper for us to give thanks to the great Buddha before eating,” Rain Shine comments with disappointment drenched in her voice.

He realized his mistake and immediately withdrew from his meal with apologetic gestures and expressions. The concept wasn’t alien to him as he recalled members of the Redmanes doing something similar for Radahn.

“It’s ok, saddle arabian,” Mulan comforts. “Everyone has their own beliefs and traditions, and I thank you for respecting ours.”

Leonard neighed a sincere ‘You’re welcome’ interpretation.

Mulan nods and turns to Rain Shine. “Why don’t you take over from here, Rainy.”

“Very well. Please, let us bow our heads.”

The room comes to a dead silence as heads are lowered in prayer.

“O Blessed One, Shakyamuni Buddha, precious treasury of compassion,
bestower of supreme inner peace, you, who love all beings without exception,
are the source of happiness and goodness, and you guide us to the liberating path.

Your body is a wish-fulfilling jewel, your speech is supreme, purifying nectar, and your mind is a refuge for all living beings.

With folded arms, we turn to you, supreme unchanging friend. We make this humble request from the depths of our hearts:

Please give us the light of your wisdom to dispel the darkness of our minds and to heal our mental continuum.

Please nourish us with your goodness, that we, in turn, may nourish all beings with an unceasing banquet of delight.

Through your compassionate intention, your blessings and virtuous deeds, and our strong wish to rely upon you, may all suffering quickly cease and all happiness and joy be fulfilled.

And may holy Dharma flourish forevermore.”

“And may we also have your blessing to kick Oolong’s sorry, scaly ass all the way down to the depths of Diyu,” Mulan chimed in nonchalantly. “Thank you.”

Leonard and Rain Shine are drawn out of their prayer at that moment.

“M-Mulan!” Rain Shine scolded while Leonard tried his best to fight back laughter. “Seriously?”

“What?” Mulan shrugged. “You were thinking it, too.”

Rain Shine double takes. “Y-yes, well.” She cleared her throat, “While I won’t deny that, it’s simply not proper to say such a thing during prayer.”

Mulan simply deadpans at the larger kirin, followed by a drawn-out sigh. “See, that’s why you’re still a virgin, Rainy. You’ve always got a stick up your plot. How about putting a nice long shaft in you for once?”

‘Rainy’s’ mouth drops in response, absolutely flabbergasted by that retort.

“Anyway, let’s dig in!” Mulan declared with outstretched forelimbs.

Leonard certainly didn’t need any motivation and dived in with ravenous hunger. As for Rain Shine, she maintained her floored stare on Mulan before finally snorting in annoyance.

“Little mogwai,” she muttered as she fired up her horn and floated a shrimp-filled dumpling into her mouth, chewing bitterly.

As they enjoyed their meal, Leonard couldn’t help but think back to that prayer. He had to wonder, if this Buddha indeed was a deity of these distant lands, could…could they, it, whatever the case may be, help him to reunite with his brother, Radahn? He’d be forever grateful if the Buddha would do that for him.

“By the way, saddle arabian,” Mulan starts, Leonard looking over to her with stuffed cheeks. “Earlier, we said that we'd make you talk. Remember that?”

Leonard nods his head while chewing.

“Then that'll make an excellent subject for our meal. I'll start by telling you about the vital component of that plan: the Stream of Silence.”

Chapter 8~ Leonard's Reception

“Now then, saddle arabian,” Mulan began, holding herself up with an opened umbrella and donned in exquisite white and pink silks with a yellow ribbon tied in a bow around her stomach as she, Leonard, and Rain Shine stood before her home’s wooden circular entrance.

“You ready to meet everyki- er, one?”

She laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. I’m still getting used to, well, you. We, uh, don’t get outsiders often. Let alone those from the other races… Or one that descended from the heavens.”

‘Everykirin? Why does she say it like that? Why not stick with ‘everyone’?’ It puzzled the stallion, but he subscribed to it as a kirin thing and didn’t want to appear insensitive.

Then there was her question… Oh, dear.

‘Radahn give me strenght…’

Leonard glanced at the door, ears folding against his head as he slowly looked back to Mulan and shook his head.

“Oh, there’s no need to worry,” she assured enthusiastically. “Everyone is going to love you!”

“Or they’ll be wary of him like I was,” Rain Shine chimed in as the business end of her weapon reached for the ceiling, its elongated hilt resting in the crevice of her right foreleg’s knee. “I’m warning you, Mulan, we shouldn’t rush this so carelessly.”

“Rain Shine,” the dark-gray kirin scolds. “Could you at least try to have a little more faith in our sisters?”

“I’m being realistic,” Rain Shine challenged with a hardened gaze as Leonard set his sights on her. “Oolong and her forces have caused us all great pain and suffering. You know this.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we should abandon any sense of morality,” Mulan reasoned as Leonard looked her way. “We should treat others with respect and kindness, not absurd levels of suspicion.”

“That suspicion is what keeps Oolong from discovering us here.”

‘Huh… These two remind me of the heartful bickerings back at Castle Redmane.’

Mulan wanted to retort but sighed in resignation as she looked away with folded ears, pressing a tongue against her inner cheek in disappointed frustration.

Rain Shine’s features softened, “Mulan…” Her voice was sweet and now laced with kindness. “You know that I respect and love you—we all do. You’re the heart of this very resistance—our leader. I only want you to exercise caution, that’s all. I’m not asking you to change your beautiful heart.”

Mulan sighed as she turned back to face her larger counterpart, a smile forming at the edge of her muzzle. “I know, Rainy.”

Rainy smirked as she noticed something missing in Mulan’s attire. “Speaking of leadership, you’re forgetting something.”

The dark-gray kirin’s ears twitched. “Oh? What are you-” Rain Shine gestures at her head. “Buddha, help me!” Mulan cried out in realization. “My crown!” She turned away and ran off with urgency. “I’ll be right back!”

Rain Shine and Leonard watched as Mulan disappeared beyond a circular doorway.

“Now that we have a moment for ourselves,” Rain Shine said while turning to Leonard, garnering his attention. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear, saddle arabian.”

An ominous feeling grew on the stallion, causing his ears to fold against his head.

“If you bring any harm to our leader or betray the trust she seemed to have placed in you, I will kill you.” She leaned in and brought her muzzle up to Leonard’s left ear, his eyes widening in horror.

There was something about her. He couldn’t explain it, but his instincts screamed at him, sending him danger signals. The last time he ever felt like this was with…Malenia. Only, this time, there wasn’t a Radahn nearby to keep him at ease.

“But that’s just the beginning of how I will make you suffer,” she whispered into his ear. “Even in death, you won’t escape me. You see, I’m no ordinary kirin, and even your soul would be at my mercy. I possess a particular set of skills—skills that make me a nightmare for those who’d bring harm to my loved ones.”

Leonard’s body quivered as Rain Shine pulled away. And it was only then that his form regained its composure. By Radahn’s crimson glory, what…what was that?

“Sun Wukong’s concoction may have spared you, and maybe you are sincere in your interests. However…”

The red-maned horse steps back in fear, seeing something he’d never before witnessed. A spectral light-blue and white pair of antlers emerged from Rain Shine’s horn and grew to great proportions. Her eyes became engulfed in the same energy, which waved outward from the edge of her eye sockets.

Spiritual apparitions of animals formed moments after, such as rabbits, birds, wolves, bears, and all manner of wildlife, some of which were unfamiliar to him. A spectral snake suddenly slithered over each of Leonard’s hind legs, causing him to breathe and neigh in a panic as he looked back, only for the serpent to crawl away and toward Rain Shine.

As Leonard’s eyes followed the snake and set on Rain Shine again, she was abruptly flanked by spectral…horse-deers. Their bodies are primarily equine, with their cloven hooves and antlers being the notable traits of a deer. And all of them looked upon him as if he were being judged.

“Know that you will always be watched by me and the spirit of my ancestors.”

Her voice echoed as spectral trees began to grow all around him. The forestation became so dense that it blocked out what once was the innards of Mulan’s home, and all of the animals and creatures that had manifested began to take their places on the trees and disappear into the forest.

All while Rain Shine and the horse-deers stared at him with those ghostly eyes.

“Saddle arabian?”

This was…

“Saddle arabian? Can you hear me?”

What was all of this? Who… What are you, Rain Shi-

“Hello!” Mulan roared out as she waved a cloven forehoof in front of Leonard’s face. “Magius to Weirdo from Saddle Arabia! Can you hear me?!”

Leonard blinked. ‘W-what…?’

“Oh, thank goodness—I thought we lost you there,” she said before pointing at a W-shaped golden crown that he only now realized she was wearing. “As I said ten minutes ago. I got my crown, so now we can head out. Once you recover from your daydreaming, that is.” She pouts, “You can be so rude, you know that?”

“Hey, you. You’re finally awake,” Rain Shine said, acting as if what just happened didn’t happen, and that simply floored Leonard. “Daydreaming is putting it lightly, Mulan. Seriously, what’s gotten into you, saddle arabian?”

‘Why, you… Don’t you dare try to pull that on me!’

Leonard whinnied as he stepped toward Rain Shine with narrowed, accusing eyes. He then looked at Mulan while repeatedly poking a hoof toward the taller kirin.

Mulan suspiciously and slowly glanced over to Rain Shine. “What did you do?”

“Oh, come now, Mu-”

“What did you do?”

Rain Shine sighed. “I only told him to respect your kindness while you were gone. I did nothing else to him.”

‘Bullshit!’ He whinnied and stomped a foreleg in protest. ‘I don’t know what she did to me, but she did something to me!’

Mulan stared at the distressed equine with wide eyes while slowly leaning into Rain Shine, “Was it something in his food…?” She whispered as the larger kirin lowered their head and raised an ear.

“I…can’t say for certain.” Rain Shine lifts her head up high. “Would you like some water, my good stallion? You look like you’ve,” that energy from before flashed in her eyes, “seen a ghost.”

Leonard grinds his teeth together, eyes twitching in frustration. ‘This mare.’

A moment of silence as Leonard glared at the smirking Rain Shine, which was soon interrupted by the clearing of Mulan’s throat.

“If we’re quite done here, I’d like for us to proceed outside, please.” She moved over to the door and rested a hoof on it. “Follow me, saddle arabian. Rainy, you’ll fall in at the rear. Seeing as you still have suspicions about our friend here, you’ll have eyes on him the whole time. Will that suffice?”

“That sounds lovely, Mulan.”

‘I’m so whipping you with my tail while you’re back there. Yes, get a nice long look at dem flanks, missy. Then WHAP!’

He grinned with a mischievous look on his face, which went away as Mulan pushed the door open, and he took in the wonders that lay beyond.

The sun’s rays immediately greet him with a warm welcome as distant mountains and lush forestation, many of which resembled that bamboo wood, surround what he’d been curious to explore, his ears picking up the activity of those that inhabited it: the village.

Spotting his growing interest, Mulan spins on the handle of her umbrella and turns back to him.

“Welcome, saddle arabian, to Peak Village!” She presents with outstretched forelimbs. “Properly named after our mountainous domain, the Peaks of Peril. Come on, let’s get going.”

As Mulan led him out of the home, her raised umbrella slightly eclipsing the sun, and along a stone-paved path that cut through her yard, Rain Shine falling in at the rear, kirins of various colors and shapes, especially their horns, went about their lives on this beautiful morning. It certainly beats staying in that house; a horse has got to roam free, you know?

“Morning, Mulan. Morning, Rain Shine.”

“Good morning, girls.”

“Greetings.”

Leonard was too entranced to comprehend the greetings and the confused stares sent his way as he spotted young foals, or pups, as Rain Shine had once called him, playing along the river that danced throughout the village but was a mere extension of the vast circular water source.

“Woah… Is that a saddle arabian?”

“Hey, isn’t the village blacksmith part saddle arabian?”

“Is he going to be a breeder for us or…?”

He was still lost in how breathtaking everything looked. These kirin are practically one with nature, which was especially evident by the structures that were built into the base of large trees while others rested higher up amongst the branches.

Hang on…did someone say something about breeding? Eh. He must’ve imagined it.

However, something immediately stuck out to him concerning these kirin as he continued his sight-seeing: they’re all…mares. At least, he didn’t see any that looked like a stallion.

Wait…do their stallions also look like mares? If so, that’s, uh…unique? He guessed it was one way to put it.

Speaking of appearance, most of them were similar in height to Mulan, which meant that he and Rain Shine were the trolls among them. Wait, scratch that—that one with the incredibly long neck just stood up and…wow. Those are some very long legs.

‘Radahn’s grace, she must be the tallest equine I’ve ever seen! And that’s including those horses that the Tree Sentinals ride into battle.’

“Attention, everykirin!” Mulan declared, garnering the immediate attention of the villagers and halting their actions as she, Leonard, and Rain Shine stood on a stone bridge that stretched over to a wooden platform in the village’s heart. The stallion was admittedly far too lost in his surroundings that he hadn’t even realized they were on said bridge.

“There’s someone I’d like for you all to meet, although I’m sure you can all see that for yourself.” She finished with a giggle, turning sideways as to present Leonard to them all with a raised forelimb.

“Please give a very warm welcome to—! Uh… Hehe,” she laughed awkwardly, “Well, we don’t know his actual name just yet, but we’ll be taking care of that very soon. We’ve been referring to him by his race for the time being.”

She smiled and waited… And waited… And waited.

Her smile slowly fell to a frown as, although some of the kirin murmured curiosity amongst themselves at first, others growled and narrowed their eyes, which unfortunately seemed to have infected those who were curious.

Mulan’s eyes darted nervously, searching through the ocean of villagers. “N-now, let’s not be too hasty here, girls. This stallion-”

“Doesn’t belong here!” A helmed and armored kirin with a sheathed sword and holstered shield responded on approach from the opposite side of the bridge, her voice deep and powerful. A small gathering followed behind her as they all wore armor similar to Rain Shine’s.

‘Ah, shit… Here we go again…’ Leonard knew they were having some hard times, but this was pretty brutal. He was getting Rain Shine’s reaction times a whole village of kirin.

‘Wonderful.’ He snorts with a deadpan expression.

The armored force bowed respectfully to Mulan and Rain Shine as the green thread hanging from the top of their helmets reached down to the bridge itself. “Empress Mulan. First Class Master Sergeant Rain Shine.”

‘Rain Shine’s a what?!’

A blush forms on Mulan’s cheeks. “O-oh, you, uhm, don’t need to call me empress.”

‘Wait, you’re an empress?!’

“Second Class Master Sargeant Flare Burst,” Rain Shine responds. “Rise, my warriors.”

They obey, rising up to their full stature. But Leonard could see and feel the anger that was targeted his way. Despite their helmets, he could see their eyes.

‘Yeah… They really love me, Mulan…’

“Empress Mulan,” Flare Burst begins as her brown eyes travel toward Leonard. “I highly advise against allowing this…stranger to remain here any longer.”

“I understand your concerns, everykirin. Trust me when I say that Rain Shine has expressed her own concerns on the matter. However, I’m happy to inform you that this stallion has consumed Wukong Divulgance and passed its judgment unscathed.”

Those words caused onlooking kirin to whisper, some expressing curiosity again, even relief, while others maintained suspicion.

“Be that as it may-”

“That’s as is, Flare Burst,” Mulan gently interjects, yet a trace of authority slipped in. “Wukong Divulgance is one of this world’s most powerful truth potions. There can be no doubt of its results.”

Flare Burst looked over to Rain Shine, who nodded in agreement. “Forgive me, my empress,” Flare said as she bowed.

“There’s no need, Flare,” Mulan responds gleefully with a raised cloven hoof. “You’re simply performing your duties and keeping us all safe.”

“HRUAH!!” Flare and the armed force behind her roared in unison as they stomped a forehoof on the ground in unison.

“Thank you, my empress.”

‘The empress thing is never gonna go, is it? Then again...they did make me this crown,’ Mulan thought, chuckling. “You are very welcome.”

Another armed member steps forth. “Permission to inquire about the stallion, empress?” She requests, having a much higher pitched voice.

“Permission granted, Third Class Master Sergeant Blaza Qin.”

Blaza nods. “Empress, I think I speak for everykirin here when I say that if he’s staying here, what will he be contributing to our cause?”

“Indeed,” Flare Burst chimed in. “Will he be a breeder? A farmer? Warrior, perhaps? Though I have my doubts on that front.”

As they continued to converse, Leonard had his own thoughts on the matter.

‘Okay, first: breeder… Yeah, that’s going to be a hard no from me. And second: she doubts my capability as a warrior?’ He smirked, ‘Well then…’

A plan was in mind as Leonard stepped forth with a neutral expression, passed Mulan, and approached Flare Burst as he clopped across the bridge. Rain Shine would’ve followed him but allowed him to go ahead. After all, she doubted he could do anything to Flare, a kirin that she had personally trained for years.

The armed force behind Flare and Blaza narrowed their eyes even harder as Leonard approached, all while the second and third class master sergeants looked on with unreadable orbs.

Leonard paused just shy of five feet before them, and the masses of onlooking kirin dared not interrupt the suspenseful silence. The stallion slowly raised a forelimb and pointed at Flare Burst.

Flare released a low growl. “And what is that supposed to-” She was taken aback, words dying in her throat as the stallion then gestured at himself, snorting aggressively.

Did… Did he just…

“Are you issuing me a challenge?!”

The stallion grinned and nodded his head. ‘You bet I am.’

A barrage of gasps is let loose from the audience, and even Rain Shine and Mulan seem surprised by his actions.

“Heh. Well, well,” Mulan began with a smirk. “This is certainly going to be interesting. What do you think, Rainy?” She asked as she looked up to the first class master sergeant.

But Rain Shine simply observed Leonard in silence, her face unreadable. And yet, Mulan knew…

‘You’re seeing what he’s made of, eh?’ She jested internally, looking back to Leonard. ‘Then again…you did appear before me in that strange beam of light. Maybe… Just maybe…’

Meanwhile, towards the bridge’s other end, Flare Burst cackled loudly and mockingly.

“You’re not seriously challenging me, are you?”

Leonard neighed, repeatedly tapping his forehoof against the bridge. ‘Oh, yeah. I’m calling you out.’

The other members of the armed force, and even some onlookers, let loose laughter of their own as Flare and Blaza seemed…tempted. Very tempted.

Steps can be heard approaching from Leonard’s rear. “Mulan has no issue with this challenge, and neither do I.”

“R-Rain Shine,” Flare began, shock present in her voice. And her surprise was shared by many in attendance. “You’ll…allow this challenge to go through?”

“Of course,” Rain Shine answered determinedly, stopping alongside Leonard.

Leonard quickly looked back over his shoulder, noticing a smirking Mulan, who winked at him. “You’ve brought up a valid point, Flare.” Rain Shine’s voice perked up the red-maned stallion’s ears, and he set his sights forward again.

“We can’t have him lounging about and providing no services for us in exchange. Therefore, if he chooses to contribute to our rebellion as a warrior, then what better way to test his mettle than a spar with you, Flare?”

Rain Shine’s words had an immediate effect. Murmurs, gasps, and even a cheer or two, although those were overshadowed by the masses, yet still picked up by Leonard’s ears.

A thoughtful ‘hum’ accompanied the smirking grin that formed beneath Flare’s helmet. “Alright, then. However, I do have one condition. You up for it, saddle arabian?”

Leonard nods with a snort.

Rain Shine nods. “Your condition shall be included should it be agreed upon.”

“Then terms are as follows: If you pass this test, you’ll be accepted as a newbie amongst our ranks. But if you fail… You’ll become my servant, catering to my every need. And I do mean…every need.”

Rain Shine deadpans her student. ‘I guess some things don’t change…’

Mulan’s cheeks became crimson red. “O-oh my…”

Blaza turned to her superior in shock, as did many others. “F-Flare?! What are you-?!”

“It can be quite stressful, you know?” Flare interjects, never taking her eyes off of the stallion. “Dealing with Oolong’s forces and other such troubles.” She looked Leonard’s form up and down, nodding. “It’ll be nice to have some…help in relieving all this pent-up stress.”

Anticipating silence takes hold.

Leonard cocked his head. ‘I…definitely wasn’t expecting that…’ After a moment’s pause, a resigned chuckle escaped him, and he unhesitantly drew closer to Flare, stopping in place and extending a forelimb.

The stallion’s expression was all that Flare needed. “So be it,” she said with some excitement laced in as she raised a cloven hoof and connected it with Leonard’s. There they stood, staring each other down.

“When I win, I expect you to perform well on our first night together, breeder.”

‘We’ll see about that.’ Leonard neighed with determination on his face.

Both lower their hooves. “Rain Shine,” Flare called out as she looked away from Leonard and focused on her superior. “What shall be the time and place for our match?”

Rain Shine closed her eyes in thought. “Tomorrow at noon. He still needs to settle in, and we must deal with a communication issue. So a full day’s time should be more than sufficient.”

Flare nods. “Understood, ma’am.” She raised her head and stomped a forelimb. “Blades of Peril!” Each armored member stomped to attention. “Move out!”

They roared together like a pack of lionesses with a draconian touch to their exclamation. And as they began to depart, Leonard and Flare never broke eye contact.

“See you then… Breeder.”

Flare finally brakes contact as she turns forward, leading the Blades of Peril off to a structure in the distance, the crowd parting for them. As for Leonard, he never took his eyes off her, but he had to admit…

All things considered…he liked her spirit.

“Okay, everykirin! That’ll be it for now!” Mulan starts as she has since made her way onto the wooden platform during Leonard and Flare’s ‘staredown.’ “We all have places to be and things to do. So let’s get to it!”

The crowds began to disperse in an orderly fashion as they shuffled back to their original activities.

Leonard and Rain Shine approached the platform, maneuvering around curious bystanders. “Well, you certainly made an impression on the girls, that’s for sure,” Mulan said while looking down at the stallion. “Not exactly the reception I had hoped for, but it all worked out fairly well in the end.”

“I do hope you’re ready, saddle arabian,” Rain Shine warned, Leonard looking her way. “Flare has been under my tutelage for over four-hundred years. Regardless of how skilled you may or may not be, she still has vast amounts of experience over you.”

Leonard’s eyes shot wide open. ‘...F-four-hundred… H-how is that even… Shit…’

“Ah, right.” Rain Shine realized, seeing his shock. “We never told you this, but kirin are organically immortal. We can die by other means, of course, but old age isn’t one of them.”

‘That would’ve been nice to know, oh, I don’t know, from the very start?! Radahn, damn it all! This is-’

“You’ve got this, my friend!” Mulan motivates as she joins them on ground level. “Yeah, sure, she has several years of experience over you, has beaten one of Oolong’s generals before, and is the second-strongest member of the Blades of Peril-”

‘You are not helping!’

“-but I know that you’ll pull it off…somehow.” She laughed nervously as Rain Shine raised an eyebrow. “I’m, uh, not helping at all, am I?”

‘No.’

“No.”

“Yeah, I figured. Sorry…” Mulan’s eyes darted back and forth between them. “Well, hey. Even if you lose, you’ll still win…technically. F-Flare seems like a nice mare to have as a…mistress. Heh.”

“Yo! Mulan, Rain Shine!” A new voice called out, gruff and treading on the line between deep and high-pitched.

They divert their attention to an encroaching dark-orange kirin, but one whose appearance was favored toward a normal equine’s, which immediately piqued Leonard’s interest.

She looked just like a horse, save for patches of black scales present on her shoulders and along the sides of her stomach and a pair of yellow horns. The markings on her horn were dotted and white, quite unique compared to the upside-down V-shape of Rain Shine’s.

“Oh!” Mulan said in gleeful greeting. “High there, Sandy Scorch!”

“Good morning, Sandy,” Rain Shine greets. “How is the forge as of late?”

“Hotter than my father’s homeland,” Scorch answered. “Hay, maybe even the Dragonlands.” She maneuvered her black eyes over to Leonard, flipping her black mane and swaying her black tail, “So this is the cause for that crowd, huh? Hmm, I see. It’s truly an honor to meet another of my father’s kin, saddle arabian. And yes, in case it wasn’t obvious, I’m half saddle arabian.”

Leonard whinnies a greeting, causing Sandy to chuckle. “Well, looks like someone’s more in touch with their ancient horse, huh?”

‘That’s because I am a horse.’

Mulan’s eyes widen in sudden realization. “Wait a second, that’s it! Oh, Buddha, why didn’t I see it before?!”

All eyes shift to her. “What is it?” Rain Shine questioned.

“I’m glad you’re here, Sandy, because we may need your help.”

“Watchya need, boss?”

“Sandy, did your father ever teach you to write in other languages? Due to our conflict with Oolong, many of us never got to, well, ‘branch out,’ if you will. Not to mention Oolong’s efforts to snuff out any trace of the other cultures that did exist in Qina.”

“Pfft! You kidd’n? Of course, he did. Dad’s been all over the place before splurting his nutsack into my mother. Once I came of age, he taught me everything he knew.” She sighed happily in recollection, “Rest easy, Father.”

Mulan fires up her horn and conjures forth a scroll with an accompanying quill and ink bottle.

“Could I trouble you for a bit?”

Catching onto Mulan’s intentions, Sandy gestures with her head over to a blacksmith’s work area in the short distance, positioned alongside another home built into a large tree with golden yellow leaves.

“It’s no trouble at all. Come, let’s go back to my workshop. Mom just finished tidying up the place, so this is perfect timing.”

Later that morning…

The forge of the workshop blazed with great vigor, a hammer set down on a nearby anvil as weapons, armor, and all manner of equipment were safely placed onto racks and displayed in casings as Leonard, Rain Shine, Mulan, and Sandy claimed a seat around a rectangular beech wood table.

“Alright, time for a small history lesson, so please hold onto any and all questions until after I’m done,” Sandy said, earning an agreeing nod from all around the table as a scroll laid unfurled before her, an ink bottle and quill resting nearby.

“Here goes. The ponies of Equus and the saddle arabians of Saddle Arabia share a common ancestor: the horse.”

‘I like this tale already.’ Leonard’s ears wriggled. He had some knowledge of this thanks to Mulan and Rain Shine, but having more context was perfect.

“Despite both going down their own evolutionary paths, what with magic affecting the ponies and saddle arabians being slightly altered, they still had a shared language. And that language is none other than Equish.

While it’s true that some ponies and saddle arabians developed their own language like Eqspanol, Prench, and so forth, every last one of them has Equish engraved deep inside of them.

Which brings me to you, saddle arabian.”

Sandy picks up the quill, dips it in the ink, and jots something down onto the scroll. “And…there we go.” The half-saddle arabian pushes the scroll over to Leonard, who looks down at its contents, his eyes widening.

He… He couldn’t believe it…

Hello. What’s your name?

“C-can you understand what’s there?” Mulan asked in growing anticipation.

Leonard nods, shock still present on his face.

“Sweet Buddha, yes!” Mulan celebrated. Rain Shine, chuckling. “Oh, this is wonderful! We’ll have you talking soon enough, but at least we have the means to communicate now.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Sandy asked while pushing the ink and quill over to him. “Hop to it.”

Leonard immediately snatched up the quill and, imitating Sandy’s actions, dipped it into the ink, letting droplets of the black liquid fall back into the bottle before gliding it over to the scroll.

Writing in Equish came so naturally to him, just as it did when he spoke it internally. But now… Now, at long last, he could actually express his thoughts outwardly. He finished his response, placed the quill in the ink bottle, and pushed the scroll further out onto the table for all to see.

My name is Leonard, loyal steed and brother of Radahn Carian. General of the Redmanes and the greatest demigod in the Lands Between.

Chapter 9~ Sorrowful, Regretful

“Leonard is a lovely name!” Mulan gleed, staring at the stallion in wonder. “Oh, wow! This is amazing. Ever since you appeared in that beam of light, I knew there was something special about you. But is it true? You’re the brother of a demigod? Like an actual demigod?”

‘Well, not by blood, but we-’

“So this supposed demigod brother of yours, Radahn, is the General of a military force called the Redmanes, correct?” Rain Shine inquires with a raised eyebrow, stopping the stallion’s inner thoughts and gaining his attention.

The crimson-haired stallion nods, having no need to write anything down on the scroll so far. The scroll also possessed properties to translate Equish into Qinese, so although he could see it in Equish, Rain Shine and Mulan saw what was written in their own language. A feat Sandy was sure to praise the Peak Village leader for.

“And this force currently resides in the Lands Between?” Rain Shine continued her questioning, and Leonard nodded. “I...see.”

She would initially call him a liar were it not for the still-active effects of a particular potion. Still, he has ties to a demigod. A demigod, like Sun Wukong and Oolong. Of course, she would have her reservations on that claim.

Even so, Wukong Divulgance is absolute, but she’ll surely dig for more information later.

“So tell me, Leonard,” she changed the subject, “how are things with the ponies progressing as of late? Considering their…history, I’m surprised that a saddle arabian like yourself could make it that far on Equus.”

Leonard became puzzled by the term Equus as he looked over to Mulan and Sandy for further clarification.

“You seem confused by that name,” Sandy said, realizing the look on his face. “You know, Equus? The central continent in-between, therefore its namesake, the Lands Between?”

The stallion shook his head again. He then plucks the quill from the ink bottle and jots down his thoughts on the scroll before pushing it out for everyone else to see, setting the quill down again.

Is that someplace in Farum Azula, home of the beast folk?

Sandy, Mulan, and Rain share a look before collectively looking back to the stallion.

“Farum Azula?” Mulan asked, puzzled as she brought a cloven hoof to her chin in thought. “Huh. I never heard of that when I last visited those lands countless years ago during my travels to Savanna.”

“Hold up, hold up, beast folk?” Sandy asked with some humor. “I strongly doubt that the ponies would allow beast races to live there. Hay, they’re too busy hating each other, let alone allowing non-ponies among them. And if there are non-ponies, well, let’s just say that they’re not exactly there by choice.”

Mulan sighed in sadness. “I’m afraid that slavery is something many nations exercise, not just the ponies of Equus.” A sense of shame made itself known on her face. “Even we kirin were—are no better.”

The trio of kirin’s ears folds flat against their heads in unison.

“Y-yeah…” Sandy began with a hoof resting on the back of her neck awkwardly. “Look, Leonard, just know that the kirin here in Peak Village aren’t like that anymore. I am the walking sperm of a saddle arabian, after all. But…well…” She clicked her tongue.

“The fact remains that we’ve done so in the past,” Rain Shine continued from where Sandy left off. “Almost everykirin here, save for those like Sandy, who was born after Mulan changed us, have partak-”

Mulan suddenly interjects with bitter laughter, “Oh, yeah, I’m such a grand pillar of righteousness, aren’t I?”

“Mulan-”

“No, Rainy,” the leader of Peak Village asserts aggressively, slamming a hoof on the table. “I’m just a walking pile of hypocrisy. I… Oh, Buddha…” She buries her face remorsefully in her hooves.

“How could I’ve been so stupid…”

Silence takes hold as Leonard looks between each kirin.

‘Well… This is, uh, awkward.’ He did not expect their conversation to go in this direction.

An idea forms as he tries to change the obviously touchy subject. It wasn’t exactly an alien concept to him. After all, slavery was indeed present in the Lands Between, many of which were quite barbaric.

The stallion picks up the quill and goes to work.

I have so many questions, but I should start by asking if you have some place for me to stay for now. I’m sorry if this is a lot of trouble.

“I understand,” Rain Shine answered after reading. “Mulan and I had planned to show you to your residence after we give you the cure for the Stream of Silence. That is, we’re hoping It’ll-”

“Actually, Rainy,” Mulan gloomily interjects, gaining everyone’s attention. “Would you mind taking care of all that for me? I…I need to return home for now…”

Rain Shine looked upon their leader somberly, nodding after a moment’s pause. “Of course, Mulan. Please, take as much time as you need.”

“Thank you.” Mulan slips out of her seat, cloven hooves clopping against the stone foundation of Sandy’s workshop. “I’m glad to have you here, Leonard,” she said as she turned to him. “We’ll discuss this demigod brother of yours at full length later. I’m sorry, but I-I really need to go for now.”

The dark-gray kirin turned away without another word, sorrow radiating from her form as even other bypassing kirin were unsure whether to ask for her well-being or simply allow this to pass over.

Leonard, Rain Shine, and Sandy observed the complete departure in silence, which was then broken by a long, somber sigh from Rain Shine.

“It still haunts her to this day.”

Leonard turns his attention to her with an expression that asks, ‘What?’

“The thing about Qina is that it’s not just inhabited by kirin,” Sandy takes the initiative, gaining Leonard’s attention as Rain Shine’s hesitation got the better of her. “There’s a lot of other races here, too. Tigers, leopards, rhinos, pigs, monkeys—like Sun Wukong, and many more. But there’s one that Mulan has…history with.”

Given the conversation and Mulan’s reaction, and from what he’s seen in the Lands Between, Leonard was starting to draw upon a conclusion.

‘No way… D-did she…’ That couldn’t be. He could see Rain Shine doing that—sorry, Rain—but Mulan?

“The pandas,” Sandy pointed out as if she were reading his mind. “No one’s ever seen a panda in Buddha knows how long. Though...I suppose that's to be expected when you earn a title like ‘Vanquisher of Yin and Yang.’”

Mulan bursts into her home with explosive sobs, slamming the door shut behind her with her magical grasp as she runs through several circular doorways. She casts aside a thin layered red curtain held up on a ten-ringed metal track, enters the unveiled room, and closes the curtain behind her.

She barely reached her brown/white canopy bed as she dug her face into the green sheets while her hindquarters hung to the floor. The kirin’s mournful screams were muffled, but the recollection of those events plagued her—memories she was foolish to think she could ever bury.

‘Why are you doing this to us…?’ An elderly panda asked as he tearfully looked up and reached out to her.

“I’m sorry,” she said while slightly lifting her head, tears strolling down her face. “I’m so sorry…”

‘Silence, panda. You and your wretched kind shall pay for what you’ve done.’

“No…”

‘But we…haven’t done anything to-’ She recalled how her blade cut through his throat like a hot knife through tofu. But worse of all…she relished watching the life drain from his eyes.

“No, no, no…”

‘Blood for blood, panda.’ She spat on his corpse. Sweet Buddha, she desecrated an innocent’s corpse…

But what came next in the memory as she finally shifted her gaze to the rest of the panda village’s burning structures and fleeing residents, many of whom’s lifeless corpses littered the ground and bathed it in their blood, would be her greatest regret.

On that day, she gave her troops of old a terrible order, which led to an unimaginable sin she’d carry for the rest of her life.

Genocide.

‘Get them all! Wipe this panda scourge clean off the map! The children of Yin and Yang shall pay in blood for what they’ve taken from me!’

“NO! I DIDN’T KNOW!” She cried out as she lifted herself up from the bedsheets. She breathed heavily, regret and shame present in every breath as she brought her forelimbs to her head.

“I’m sorry…” It was all she could say as she slowly curled up into a ball of shame and continued to do so until she fell unconscious.

“I’m sorry… I’m s-sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

-Saddle Arabia: Oasis-

Radahn hovers in place and meditates at the water’s edge now that he has shelter, food, water, and direction—the last being thanks to his phoenix friend, Philomena.

Despite it being the early transition into noon, he saw fit to head out first thing tomorrow morning to a place called Istanbull, due west of his current location, which was one of the few oases in this desert he now knew to be called Saddle Arabia.

As a horse caretaker, he found great humor in that. But that had him thinking…when he returns to Castle Redmane and reclaims his old form, maybe he should rename the historical and precious beach of the Redmanes in Leonard’s honor? It would also serve as a comical reminder of him being turned into a horse as well.

Then again, given what was revealed by the phoenix, ‘horse’ wasn’t entirely accurate for his current circumstances.

He saw no issue in telling the pheonix about his past during their talks together, not to mention the truth of how he could fly, similar to what Philomena called pegasi, which are equines with wings. Apparently, there were others, too. Some with horns, called unicorns; those who lacked both, designated earth ponies, and one unique individual that the phoenix spoke highly of who was essentially a fusion of all three.

Selene Sol Invictus. An alicorn. A Goddess of the Sun and Moon. And she, along with the others, are all of a race called ponies. However, it is where they originated from and supposedly still inhabit that got his utmost attention: the Lands Between.

Maybe his hunch from before was correct… These ponies must be from Farum Azula; there can be no other explanation.

He was one of these ponies, too, now. Earth pony, to be precise, but one that’s much larger than average for all three types, even surpassing the alicorn, Selene. In fact, the phoenix called him a freak of nature in that regard, although he’s certain she meant it playfully.

Speaking of larger equines, he also learned that the horses that inhabit these parts are called saddle arabians, hence the desert continent’s name. So there was that, too.

Alas, his companion had to take her leave as she was in the process of migration. By his estimate, he’d say that was roughly two hours ago, give or take.

And so here he was, reflectively meditating in peaceful silence, save for the frequent buzzing of insects, the hot winds causing the greenery around him to dance, and the shifting of distant sands.

His ears suddenly twitched as he began to pick up something, breaking him out of his meditation as he lowered himself to the ground. Yes, judging by these sounds, there was no mistaking it.

He was going to have some company very soon.

Chapter 10~ Hangaku

Radahn allowed what he judged to be a small caravan to approach him as he maintained his position at the water’s edge, and while the stallion could’ve taken the initiative, he figured it would keep them at ease.

He looked upon the caravan with a smile as they drew closer and closer. At this range, he could now properly make out equines much like himself donned in desert-dwelling attire, primarily silks that obscured most of their body and features, save for their eyes, with metal plates located at the shoulders and chest region. And thanks to Philomena’s information, he could easily decipher that these were saddle arabians.

‘Height, roughly six to seven feet between every individual. Too tall to be ponies.’ He notes internally as his eyes survey each encroaching saddle arabian.

‘There’s six of them by my count… All stallions… And with the tallest member in the lead. Hmmm. Can’t help but notice those sheathed scimitars, too.’

Deep-rooted suspicion is hidden behind his mask of pleasantry.

‘Better not let my guard down.’

The over-sized earth pony then spots four light-brown camels a small distance behind the saddle arabians, each with one to two humps and pulling a sizable wooden wagon with a white tarp going overhead.

‘Camels, huh? Interesting. Well, I suppose that’s to be expected, but I wonder if they can talk, too. Such an interesting nation of beast folk.’

The wagon’s tarp is abruptly lifted from the front as a seventh saddle arabian stallion exits the vehicle and sits at the coach. At that moment, Radahn immediately noticed a familiar and curled-up length of cord fastened to a handle resting on the equine’s right side.

‘A whip, hmm?’ He then glanced over each camel. ‘Judging by those scars going along their humps and backs… It seems someone enjoys their toy a little too much.’

“Atsur!” The lead saddle arabian barks in a language unknown to Radahn, causing the camels pulling the wagon to stop in a panic. The lead stallion continued his approach, his fellow saddle arabians, excluding the one sitting on the wagon and glaring at the camels, falling into formation behind him.

“Hello there, gentlemen,” Radahn greets with a waving forehoof. “It’s high noon. Quite the scorcher today, wouldn’t you say? Come,” he gestures back to his makeshift shelter, a series of leaves and logs conjoined together, “Why don’t we talk in the shade? The water’s fine, too. Let us-”

“What do we have here?” The lead saddle arabian, tallest of the bunch, interjects with a somewhat higher pitched and raspy voice, grinning. “Gentlemen… Well, I don’t know what a ‘men’ is, but I can only assume you mean ‘colts’ or, better yet, ‘sirs.’” His orange eyes began to survey the area, looking over to Radahn’s shelter.

“My. Creative thing, aren’t we?”

“Bahahaha!” Radahn laughed joyously but internally made out the arabian’s appearance—a dark-red coat with the faintest presence of a black mane hidden beneath red cloth to go with the fully-exposed ebony tail. “I appreciate that. But even a child could put my skills to shame. Ah, but where are my manners? I am General Radahn Carian. And who might I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

“General, you say?” The saddle arabian and his companions step closer, blatantly ignoring the large earth pony’s last inquiry, “And where is your army, general?”

Radahn awkwardly brings a hoof to the back of his neck, rubbing it with sheepish laughter. “Y-yes… I, uh, seem to have been…displaced recently. I sadly do not have an army to command at the moment. But I assure you, gentle- uh, colts, my forces can be found in the Lands Between.”

“Mmyes, quite. I figured you’d have come from Equus. You are a pony, after all. Or ‘it,’ as we like to call you.” The saddle arabian shared a look with his allies, which didn’t go unnoticed by Radahn.

‘Not very good at hiding their intentions, hmm?’ The general mocked inwardly while the equines before him chuckled darkly together. ‘Seriously, the bandits and raiders back in my homeland would have a field day with these poor fools.’

The lead arabian sets his sights on Radahn. “And you’re a very large pony, at that.”

“Hah! Well, my mother always did tell me never to be a picky eater.”

The group of arabians simply stare at him, unamused. “Tsayyr kharvot,” the lead stallion dropped monotonously, and a series of drawn blades sounded off following the order as the stallion drew his own, pointing it at Radahn.

‘And here we go...’

“Did your mother also tell you what we do to ponies who venture too far from their lands?”

“Hmm… I don’t suppose trotting through open pastures with sunshine and rainbows would be an option?”

“Heh. A comedian, I see. Take him, boys. He’ll sell for quite a lot at the slave market, no doubt.”

With a raised brow, Radahn stares at the blade, looks over to each saddle arabian present, and back to the one in the lead. He then lets out a long sigh after a moment’s pause.

“You could’ve just done this from the start instead of wasting both of our time.”

“True,” the dark-red arabian in the lead retorts, taking a cautious step closer with his cohorts as a unit. “But where’s the fun in that?”

“Is this really the best you have?” Radahn asked, garnering condescending looks from them all, despite their clothed features. “Your best response to finding a lone stranger at an oasis—a welcoming stranger, at that. Calling him ‘it’ and drawing up plans to sell him.”

The lead antagonist chuckled. “You don’t matter. You don’t deserve my best. You’re just some oversized clump of shit I discovered in the middle of nowhere, and I’ll do with you as I wish.”

The other arabians began maneuvering around their tallest member as he spoke, planting themselves all around Radahn and surrounding him in every direction. But the large earth pony never takes his eyes off of the saddle arabian before him.

“Only I and my friends here matter. You are simply meat.”

Radahn narrows his eyes. “I’m not a sapient being?” He asked while tilting his head playfully.

“Oh, I’m sure you’re sapient, Sir. Philosopher of the Watering Hole,” the stallion abruptly breathed sharp and deeply. “I simply don’t care.”

“In that case…” Sir. Philosopher of the Watering Hole grinned as a familiar rune flashed in his eyes. “I don’t, either.”

Some time before and during Radahn’s interaction with the saddle arabians…

Within the carriage and hidden beneath the tarp, a caged white pegasus mare with red-tipped ears and feathers scans her surroundings with light-blue eyes peering through the gray steel bars. She throws her elongated mane over her shoulder, tied in a high ponytail, which glides over her cutie mark depicting three crystals with flowing water in the back as she looks toward the front of the wagon.

“E-excuse me, sir!” She cried out, high-pitched. “W-why did we stop?!”

“Shut up, back there!” A deep voice roars back, followed by a dark-yellow hoof that pulls back the tarp as the saddle arabian coachcolt looks in with a snarl. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, cum bucket. You'll soon have some company back there once the boss and the others get that sorry feller up ahead. Quite a big guy, too.”

He looks over her form, licking his lips as she backs away and falls over in her cage fearfully. “Hohoho~ I’m going to have so much fun with that body of yours later. Might have to break those wings, though. Can’t have you flying off on us.”

“P-please…!” She pleads on the wooden floor, fresh tears going down her face. “Let me go! I-I won’t tell anyone!”

The stallion cackled. “Since when has that line ever worked?” He continued to laugh as he pulled away, letting the tarp fall back into place. And once he did so…

A sinister look forms on the pegasus mare’s face as she wipes away her tears. “Thank goodness for the acting classes back in Neighpon.” She lifts herself up from the floor, collected, serious, and ominously calculative.

“A ninja has to sell the part, after all.” She unfurls a wing and plucks off one of its feathers closer to the base, only for it to be revealed as a multipurpose tool while turning it in place.

She makes her way over to the cell door and sticks both forelimbs through the bars, “Idiots,” she mutters, maneuvering the tool over the lock. “Who even makes a cell with gaps large enough to slip a hoof through it? Hmmph. Rookies~.”

The pegasus continues to fiddle with the locking mechanism until her ears twitch in response to a click. She pulls her limbs back and gently pushes the cell door open, reattaching the ‘tool feather’ onto her wing as she casually strolls out of the cell.

She moans as she stretches her limbs one by one, joints cracking as she then does the same to her neck. With a shift of her head, she focuses her attention on a series of weapons and equipment lining the walls, letting out a whispered and delighted ‘Ah’ as she spots her own gear.

She plucks off a chest piece from the wall and holds it in her hooves, sighing lovingly.

“Time to get dressed. It’s showtime.”

……….

Outside the wagon, the coach stallion observed his allies in the distance with a satisfied grin as they began to surround the large earth pony. “There ya go, boys. Surround that dumb fuckah.”

Strapped to the wagon’s forefront, two of the four camels, both with two humps, whisper frightfully amongst themselves.

“D-do you think our son managed to escape, husband?” The female camel muttered.

“I’m sure he did, dear,” her husband responds. “Maker knows that he-”

[WHPASHCK]

“AHHHH!” The male camel suddenly twitches and cries out in pain as the coach stallion cracks the whip, forming a bleeding lash alongside the camel’s back hump, the furthest back of the two.

“Herbert!” His wife screamed as the other two single-humped camels behind them cowered, bodies shaking, eyes downcasted to the sands.

“Got something to say, huh?!” The saddle arabian bellows, drawing his hoof back to strike again with the whip if necessary.

Herbert grits his teeth in pain while his wife tends to him. “Why?!” She suddenly roared in frustration, looking back over her shoulder as tears fell freely.

"Sh-Shirley, d-don't-"

“Why does the Maker allow us to be treated this way?!" Shirley continued, despite her husband's protective protest. "Why do monsters like you always go unpunished?!”

A sinful grin forms beneath the cloth of the whip-wielding stallion’s covered face. “It’s simple, you filthy camel,” he raises the whip, preparing to strike, “You were placed on this world to serve-!”

A white presence emerges from the wagon with incredible speed, grabbing onto the whip and wrapping it around the arabian’s neck tightly in one smooth motion, choking him in the process as the camels all shot their gaze back in shock.

“GA-HAUCK!”

“What’s that?” The unveiled pegasus asked, leaning in as the arabian looked back at her with widened eyes. “I couldn’t quite catch it; you sound a little,” she pulls and tightens the whip, “choked up.”

“Aaack,” the choking stallion managed, eyes starting to roll up into his skull.

“You see, plothole, I like to believe that the Maker works in mysterious ways,” the pegasus said, making sure to speak loud enough for the camels to hear. “For example, smiting specist bastards like you. I mean, with me just so happening to be here, just before you were about to whip these poor souls as one cried out for mercy, one can’t help but wonder if I’m performing the Maker’s miracles with my timing.”

She pulls the stallion back into the wagon, the tarp falling into place and concealing what transpires within from the outside world as she continues to choke the saddle arabian against the floor, whose hind legs kick against it in a struggle.

The pegasus leaned her muzzle closer to his ears, her words being the last he’d hear as the world closed around him, red eyes going up to the ceiling.

“Well, If I'm the Maker’s agent, then I’d best introduce myself to you. Hi. I’m Hangaku. I'm your angel of death.” She channels all of her strength into another pull of the whip. “Now sleep.”

The stallion’s struggles slowly die down until, at last, his whole body goes limp. She was about to whisper something else until a loud commotion erupted from outside, causing a surge of wind to blow and flutter the tarp.

“Nani?” Hangaku questioned in her native tongue, turning her head as she tossed the deceased stallion off of her and sprung up to investigate.

Present…

The pegasus pulls the tarp aside and lunges out of the wagon’s inner portion, standing over the coach's bench.

“What’s going on out here?” Hangaku asked the camels, but their complete and utter attention was long since drawn to the skies above. And as she followed, her eyes widened in shock; pupils reduced to pinpricks from what she saw.

A large purple-coated earth pony stallion was floating in the sky, his crimson mane and tail dancing in the wind as his body was surrounded by strange lavender energy that seemed to hold him up.

The strange stallion glared at the group of saddle arabians’ leader while floating the rest of them around him in a circle, the mysterious prowess locking them all in place as they looked at him in pure shock and horror.

The scenario brought only one word to Hangaku's mind.

“N-nani?!”

Chapter 11~ Ninja'd

Hangaku was absolutely baffled by what she saw in the sky above the oasis. She’d witnessed her fair share of absurdities before, especially in her line of work, but this one was certainly going into the ‘What The Actual Fuck’ archives of her psyche.

Still, duty demanded that the white pegasus act, which pulls her out of her stupefaction. Before she could question the stranger above, she needed to fulfill a particular request involving the four camels in front of her, still fastened into the carriage’s reigns and harnesses but never diverting their attention away from the floating stallion.

Hangaku leaped off the vehicle’s forefront with a flap of her wings and landed flawlessly on the sandy terrain. She immediately proceeds to tamper with the breeching mechanism connecting the four camels to the carriage.

The pegasus finally pulls out a metallic pin, causing the entire mechanism to break apart and fall to the ground.

“There we go.” The equine’s sweet words and the sudden weight loss garner the camels’ attention.

“Wh-who…” Herbert managed as he, his wife Shirley, and the other camels looked back to the equine. “Who are you…?”

“My name is Hangaku Gozen. I’m with the Magius Syndicate,” the pegasus answered as she helped to unstrap the two single-humped camels closest to her.

“The mercenary guild?” One of the single-humped camels inquired, their voice femininely exhausted yet hopeful.

“B-but who would hire you to help us…?” The other single-humped camel asked, also female but much younger than the last. All the while, Herbert and Shirley observed with bountiful questions of their own.

Hangaku smiles as she undoes one final strap, allowing the leathery bindings to slip off the camel and fall to the ground, “I can answer that question,” she looks over to Herbert and Shirley, “with another one. If my information is accurate, you two are Herbert and Shirley, correct?”

“Y-yes,” Shirley answers while Hangaku is in the process of unstrapping the last of the single-humped duo. “How did you…”

“Long story short: your son, Caleb, managed to reach Istanbul, and I’m here on his behalf. And yes, he’s safe. The others are nurturing him back to full health as we speak.

I’m also here for those members of the brigand collective known as Zawaqil, but it looks like they’re a little preoccupied at the moment.”

The camels collectively gasped and wiggled their ears in relief upon hearing Caleb’s name as Hangaku removed the last strappings from the single-humped camel.

“Atta boy!”

“I knew he could do it!”

“Oh, my sweet little Caleb…” Shirley leans into Herbert and sheds tears of relief as their single-humped brethren celebrate, Hangaku approaching the two-humped couple.

“Thank you for honoring our son, Hangaku.” Herbert expressed his gratitude while comforting his lover. “Maker bless you.”

Stopping in front of the camel duo while being trailed by their recently relieved brethren, the pegasus shrugs in amusement while flickering her white red-tipped ears, “Eh. Part of the job description and whatnot. Now then,” she ventures forth, “Let’s get those bands off you.”

……….

Meanwhile, in the skies above…

……….

“How in the hell is he doing this?!”

“This is madness!”

“D-damn! I can’t break free!”

“You want to break free?! He’s floating us almost a hundred hooves in the air, you moron!”

“Fuck’n!”

As the other five brigands voice their complaints, Radahn stares down the dark-red leader of this gathering. “Apologies, friend,” the large stallion abruptly floats the struggling saddle arabian closer with a simple twitch of his forehoof, “but I didn’t quite catch your name.”

“Ngh! What-how are you-?!”

“That’s not what I asked,” Radahn interjects, his voice reflecting the purple-energy-prowess he was exercising. “And, frankly, it’s none of your business. Now… Who are you?”

“You’re not getting anything out of me, you filthy pony! Rrrgh! I should’ve killed you when I had the chance!”

The titan of a stallion raises a brow as the saddle arabian’s cohorts curse in the background. He then throws his head back to let out boisterous laughter, which echoes across the sunny and dry sky.

“Haha! Well, If that’s how it’s going to be, then I’d like for you to meet a good friend of mine. Bwahahaha!” Radahn sets his sights on the saddle arabian, who narrows their eyes, their expression demanding to know what the red-maned stallion is talking about.

“They tend to reacquaint people with the ground in situations like this. You and your friends… Hovering way up here…” Radahn spins in place to look them all over until he looks upon the leader again.

“My friend has several names, but I prefer good old,” a toothy grin forms on Radahn’s muzzle, “Gravity.”

The brigand’s eyes shot wide open in horrific realization, “W-wait! Don- you can’t do this!”

“Actually, I can. After all, like someone once told me,” the earth pony chuckled, leaning in. “‘You don’t matter. You don’t deserve my best.’”

With a dismissive wave of the large equine’s forehoof, the purple aura surrounding the saddle arabian dissipates, and he plummets to his impending doom, screaming profoundly along the way.

The action certainly got the falling brigand’s allies to go quiet as they looked at Radahn in fear while he observed the falling spectacle…muttering a count.

“One… Two… Three… Four…”

He aims a forelimb directly at the freefalling saddle arabian.

“Five… Six… Seven… Eight…”

The lavender aura surrounding his body flares, “Nine… Ten.”

On reaching ten, a black and purple circular vortex is shot forth from his outstretched forelimb, its’ velocity of an admirable speed.

The projectile catches up to the falling and screaming equine and collides with his very being, closing in on itself, which results in a push of force that shoots the saddle arabian back up to Radahn, who waits patiently with a knowing smirk.

Radahn catches the now-frantic brigand via his gravity magic, floating them in place again as they tremble with quivering lips, their former attire now a complete and frantic mess.

“Feel like answering some questions now?” Radahn asked, grinning.

The saddle arabian nods in a panic.

“Great!” Radahn shouts gleefully. “So, what do you think of my Gravity Well spell? Impressive, wouldn’t you say?”

They nod again.

“Yes, I’m quite proud of it myself. You should consider yourself lucky, by the way. Usually, that spell does some severe damage when reaching its target, and that’s before they get pulled toward the caster. But I am a master of my craft—basically, you’re welcome.”

A series of muttered inquiries escapes from the other prisoners held in gravity-defying prowess.

“Anyway, what’s your name, my exceedingly rude friend?”

“His name is Galib Zawaqil.” A feminine voice injects itself, causing the vast earth pony and his captives, save for Galib, to turn toward its source.

There, before Radahn’s eyes, was one of the three common pony types he had heard of from Philomena.

“You’re…a pegasus,” he comments in curiosity and interest as the mare in front of him flaps her wings rhythmically.

“And you’re an earth pony defying gravity, literally,” she responds jestingly. “Which, uh, is kind of impossible, big guy. Gonna need an explanation.”

“Bwahahaha! Well, what can I say? I like to make the impossible—possible.” He finished with a wink.

“I can see that. I’m Hangaku, by the way.” The pegasus flies forth, hovers in place, and extends a forelimb in greeting. “Hangaku Gozen.”

“Ah! I figured you’d be Japanese! You have that accent, not to mention your armor. I’ve met several samurai and ronins who’ve traveled across the Lands Between over the years. Excellent sparring partners, I must say.”

‘...Japanese…?’ Hangaku questioned internally, confused.

“You see that, gentlecolts?” Radahn happily asked of his captives. “Now, that is a proper greeting.” He hovers forth and returns the gesture, their hooves locked, followed by a gentle shake on either side, although Hangaku was still slightly taken aback.

The earth pony then puffs out his well-built chest and poses his masculine form confidently. “I am Radahn Carian!” He declared, raising a forelimb in emphasis. “General of the Redmanes and Conquerer of the Stars! Ahaha!”

“Bullshit!” The brigands, aside from Galib, shout in impulsive denial of that last title.

Radahn glares back over his shoulder. “Who wants to fall first? And, spoiler alert, I’m not catching any of you this time.”

Silence takes hold.

“I thought so.”

“Redmanes…?” Hangaku finally managed. However, her eyes shot wide open in realization. “Wait. Conquerer of the Stars…?” She narrows her gaze with a low growl. “If this is some kind of sick joke, you’d best deliver the punchline, pal.” She emphasized angrily.

“It’s no joke, ma’am! That’s easily my grandest title of all! Ahahaha!”

However, as Radahn set his sights on her following his boisterous laughter, the stallion’s eyes slowly widened, his joy fading alongside it… She was absolutely livid.

“How dare you…” The pegasus whispered a curse.

“Ok, I…can’t help but feel like there’s a misunderstanding here…” Radahn tried to reason.

“Misunderstanding…? That’s what you’re calling it?!”

“Truly, I-”

Hangaku lunges forward, bringing her angered gaze mere inches away from Radahn’s utterly shocked face. “Selene Sol Invictus is among those spanning several pantheons who can manipulate night and day! She is one of the most kind and generous beings I’ve ever met—I work for her! Yet, here you are, proudly bearing a title that’s a blatant insult to her honor and every other sun and moon caretaker across the planet!”

“Can I interject for a secon-”

“‘Conquerer of the Stars?!’ Give me a break! How dare you mock them with your empty title!” Hangaku intervenes, flying higher and pushing Radahn’s head back a little with her own during her tantrum, although he doesn’t resist the more petite equine.

“Tsukuyomi, Chang Xi, Selene, Metztli, Khonsu, Hati, and every lunar demigod who governs over the stars! You arrogant jerk! Your title means nothing, you hear me?! Baka! Baka, baka, baka!” Her native tongue managed to slip in toward the end.

Following her outburst and waves of anger, Hangaku simmers and breathes heavily through bared teeth, staring directly into Radahn’s eyes as admittedly awkward silence takes hold in the passing moments.

“Will you allow me to defend myself now?” Radahn breaks the ice, but the pegasus continues to growl at him. Thus, he sought to de-escalate the situation, choosing his next words carefully.

“I like to think that I’m a fairly good judge of character, Hangaku. I meant no disrespect. I swear upon my honor.” He carefully floats away from the smaller, enraged pony, absorbing their appearance in judgment. “You seem like a calm and reasonable person. Are you a calm and reasonable person?”

Hangaku exhales sharply, flaring her nostrils. She maintains her glare until finally letting up and taking on a neutral expression.

Seeing the slight change in her demeanor, Radahn claims the opportunity to talk things out and potentially gain even more information. “Thank you,” he said most graciously. “Now, I was going to interrogate these sad excuses for bandits, but seeing as you’re already familiar with their leader’s name, why don’t you decide what happens to them as a show of good faith?”

The pegasus looks over the large stallion’s frame while considering his request. All the while, the brigands, or bandits, as Radahn called them, were quiet. Too quiet. She didn’t like that one Selene-damned bit.

“Thanks to your outburst, I have several questions I’d like to ask you, as well. What say we go down to my camp and talk? Once we take care of our friends here, of course,” he finished while gazing over his prisoners with a grin.

Hangaku sighs. “That works for me. Oh, and one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m Neighponese. I honestly have no idea what Japanese is. Also, more importantly...” The pegasus suddenly winks at the large earth pony before playfully concealing her face behind her right wing. “You just got ninja’d.”

Radahn blinked in confusion, “What do you mean by that?”

“Kawarimi no Jutsu.”

“...Huh?”

“The-camels-and-I-will-meet-you-at-your-camp, K? Sayonara~” Hangaku quickly said before her form burst into white mist, leaving behind a brown log with a single green leaf, which fell to the earth below.

The crimson-maned stallion was stunned by this, eyes wide and muzzle hanging agape. “Wh-how-I-but, she…” He managed to catch himself amid his confusion, looking down at his campsite, where he noticed the former pegasus waving at him, accompanied by four camels.

“Was she down there the whole time?! I was speaking to a clone all along…?” He blinked several times. “Marika’s tits… I am so confused right now, and yet…” An infectious smile explodes on his face as he throws his head back in amusement.

“Ahahahah! I like her!”

Throughout the vast and scorching sands of Saddle Arabia, an entity watched Radahn with great interest through a strange red and orange portal from deep within one of the desert realm’s many caverns.

A black robe concealed the individual’s humanoid torso, but a pair of eyes similar to that of Radahn’s were visible from within the darkness of the hoodie shrouding their features. And although the robe also hid their lower, equine portion, their gray tail was fully exposed, often whipping side to side.

“Interesting,” an elderly yet intelligent male voice comments, witnessing Radahn lower himself to the oasis below with his prisoners in tow. “Very interesting. This prowess and those eyes of his… Hmmm…”

‘When can we expect some help, Sendak, you old coot of a centaur?!’ The voice of Galib Zawaqil responds from the viewing vortex. ‘This freak has us all trapped! How the hell does an earth pony even use magic, anyway?!’

The centaur growls in annoyance. “Quit your whining, fool; I’m trying to figure that out. Or do you want them to discover this magic channel?”

Galib’s voice remains silent.

“I didn’t think so. Don’t worry; I’ve already forwarded your predicament to your boss, and the Scourge is on its way,” Sendak finished with a dark chuckle. “You and the boys just keep playing your part. Selene thinks she’s so clever with her little pet pegasus, but little does she know; this is all part of our plan.”

‘Rrrgh. Just hurry it up, will you? I can’t stand this humiliation!’

“And whose fault is that, hmm? Bah! I don’t have time for this; I’m leaving this channel.”

With a snap of his fingers, the centaur seemingly breaks the link, silencing the saddle arabian brigand’s voice. He then clasped his hands together and slowly parted them, forming a similar portal to the one depicting Radahn, who was now on ground level and chatting with Hangaku near his camp.

A dark void lies beyond the newly-formed anomaly. “Can you hear me, my master?” Sendak asked of the abyss, staring into it.

The sound of a bell’s eerie melody plays, and as the ominous instrument stops, two crimson eyes open and stares back.

“Have you found her, my apprentice?” A demonic voice answered and echoed from within.

“We are so close, my lord. I have found one of Selene’s faithful thanks to that pathetic band of brigands, Zawaqil. Soon, I will be able to feast on the power of an alicorn. My mouth waters just thinking about it.”

“So long as you kill her, you may do with Selene as you wish, my apprentice. Only an alicorn of pure blood can stop me, and now, only one…remains.”

“It shall be done,” Sendak bows while spinning his right wrist in a flourish. “Lord Grogar.”

Chapter 13~ Crimson Archer

The sight of Shirley’s decapitated remains prompts Hangaku to jump into action as she picks up the largest fabric amongst the brigands’ coverings from the ground and proceeds over to the camel’s head.

With gentle and tender care, the pegasus lifts the head and wraps it almost ceremoniously within the fabric.

“Hey!” A brigand roars out from nearby. “That’s mine, you bitch! Get that fucking camel’s hea-”

[KBLOOMTH]

The brigand’s words are abruptly silenced as Radahn slams his left hindleg down upon their head with frightening force and the unmistakable signature of his gravity prowess. And when he lifts his hind hoof, only a hole remains where the sand-bound saddle arabian once was, which began to fill with grains of sand in the seconds that passed afterward.

“Does anyone else wish to be disrespectful?” The titanic stallion asked, earning immediate silence as the five remaining Zawaqil members turned their heads away—Galib muttering a curse.

“That’s what I thought.” Radahn looks over to Hangaku, “Please, continue. Oh, and you dropped this, ma’am.” He floats the artificial vial-feather over to the flyer, having caught it with his powers.

“Arigatou gozaimasu,” she voiced her gratitude while looking back at him over her shoulder, taking the feather and reattaching it to her wing.

Despite the presence of giant insects lurking below the desert around them, the purple stallion saw great honor in the flyer’s actions.

The pegasus sets her sights on the wrapped remains. She closes her eyes and bows her head.

“Ten ha towa no heiwa no naka dea na tano tsukareta tou o yasumaseru basho o teikyou su ru koto ga de ki masu.”

Hangaku mutters a solemn prayer in her native tongue, honoring the camels’ departure from this world and those who accompanied her. But Shirley and Herbert’s passing brought with it a disturbing reality: she would have to be the one to break the unfortunate news to their now-orphaned son, Caleb.

The pain that the poor young camel will come to endure…is one Hangaku understood all too well.

Suddenly, the earthly-grained landscape began to shake and shift as the insectoid members of the Scourge moved beneath the surface, drawing the neighponese pegasus out of her post-prayer trance.

“Hangaku!” Radahn called out to her, standing near the remaining brigands. “You have far more experience dealing with these bugs than I do. What’s the plan?”

She nods in urgency and picks up the cloth-covered head as the quaking sands around them grow in intensity. “Listen to me, Radahn: I need you to pinpoint their location with your connection to the earth. It’ll give us fair warning should the Scourge try any more surprise attacks.”

The large stallion blinked. “...I can do that?” He asked in genuine confusion.

“Seriously?!” Hangaku shouts with flared wings, absolutely baffled as even some of the brigands shared her stupor. “What do you- what kind of earth pony are you?!”

“Come now, give me a break, will you?” Radahn boisterously yet awkwardly laughs. “I wasn’t always an earth pony, you see! Hahah!”

His laughter dies down, allowing silence to take hold, even amongst the raging sounds of shaking sands.

“WHAT?!” Hangaku and the members of Zawaqil shout in unison.

‘The fuck does that mean…?!’ Galib roars inwardly, shock present on his features. But that is soon done away with as he feels another commotion rising up from below, smirking contentedly at his formulated plan. ‘Fuck it.’

“Not that this hasn’t been fun and all.” Galib’s outward words draw Radahn and Hangaku’s attention. “But I’ve had just about enough of this shit!”

The duo were about to voice their demands, but the vibrations in the earth steadily grew as if being directed up from below. Or, in this instance…

Thinking quickly, Radahn rushes toward Hangaku, grabs onto the pegasus—who tightens her hold on the wrapped-up remains in her grasp—and leaps backward, at which point an explosive pillar of sand erupts from where they once stood and encompassed the brigands as a whole.

Another antlion behemoth had emerged, but Radahn and Hangaku noticed something notably different about this emergence than the last as they recovered at a safe distance.

The Zawaqil leader is protectively held within four of the large insect’s forefront legs, its’ flesh-rendering mandibles reaching for the sky. The other members of the brigand band are harshly littered about the general vicinity of the antlion, having been uprooted due to the being’s surfacing.

“H-hey, boss!” One of the brigands began after recovering from the sudden eruption. “How about a little warn-!”

The stallion’s eyes shot wide open as another Scourge member emerged to his left, where another band member was. But rather than save his fellow brigand like that which held up their leader, the insect had devoured them.

“Wha…” He was at a loss for words as the insectoid retracted into the sand, leaving a fresh pool of blood behind from its’ victim that streams and drips into the resulting hole.

Another member cries out to his right, causing him to look toward them as they’re pulled under by fearsome mandibles, a fountain of blood shooting up from the hole and raining down to bathe the desert sands.

He was simply at a complete loss for words… Their leader, now former leader, had-

“Unfortunately for you, my good stallion.”

Galib’s voice presented itself, and the last remaining member of Zawaqil, barring the dark-red saddle arabian, looked up to them.

“You’re just a liability. So sorry.”

Panic began to grow within the betrayed. “W-wait, b-boss, I-I-!”

Another burst of sand erupts into the air before Galib’s eyes, claiming another victim.

“Hmm. Pity.” He began after watching his former ally disappear, sighing in annoyance. “Looks like I’ll have to ask the boss for some new meat once I get-”

A thunderous [BOOM] suddenly presents itself, causing Galib and the insect holding him to turn toward the source.

“Fuck me!” He screamed as the stallion spots Radahn rushing toward them through the air like the unrelenting force of nature the earth pony controlled. “Dive, you idiot!” He ordered the antlion in a panic. “Dive!”

The large insect simply clicks its mandibles, unheeding the saddle arabian’s orders and choosing to meet the delectable morsel head-on. And all Galib could do was scream out in frustration as the two combatants lunged toward one another.

Another [BOOM] signals Radahn’s impact, and he effortlessly plows through the insect’s exposed portion that rose above the sand as green gore and twitchy chitinous body parts rain down all around Galib, who’s dropped onto the now insect-drenched terrain.

“Fuuuuck!” The traitorous stallion roars as he slams a forehoof onto the sand, “Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!” The dark-red stallion hurriedly rises up with a growl. “The rest of you, kill him!” He declares another order, calling out to the five remaining Scourge entities beneath the sand.

“KILL HIIIIM!”

He breathed in fatigue after giving the order as he watched Radahn hover over the antlion’s corpse in the sky.

An abrupt and sharp pinch caused Galib to slap the back of his neck reflexively, plucking a needle from his flesh. “What the…?” He inquired, but an answer presented itself as the stallion began to feel…drowsy.

His orange eyes threaten to roll back into his skull as he struggles to keep himself upright as if he’d just had a long night of fun back in their hideout.

“Wh…at…wah…” He slurred.

“Diluted hydra venom,” Hangaku answered on approach, dutifully holding onto Shirley’s covered head. But for Galib, the pegasus broke apart into several copies like a mirage as her voice began to echo and ring in his head.

“Typically, hydra venom can put down several elephants from Savanna. Lucky for you, I need you alive, but this variant will keep you under for nearly two days. Trust me. My mare Tzana and I tested it quite thoroughly.”

“Y…you…bi-huh…” He tries to take a swing at one of her mirages, only to fail, and tumbles to the sand before being immediately rendered unconscious.

Hangaku watched him go down joyfully. “Sleep tight, plothole.”

With that out of the way, the pegasus reassesses the situation as she observes Radahn engage with another Scourge entity, using only his gravity-bending hooves to strike at his opponent.

“Kurutta…” Hangaku comments in awe, her neighponese leaking out again.

The need to pry the red-maned stallion for more information only enhanced after his ‘wasn’t always an earth pony’ statement. But here and now, she needed to act, for there was a specific variable regarding the Scourge.

“Sorry about this, Shirley,” the pegasus apologized as she sets the head down gently alongside Galib’s comatose form. “I’d rather not leave you here with him, but it’s ironically the best place to set you down for now.”

Satisfied, the pegasus rises and distances herself from them. She unfurls her white and red-tipped wings, looking back to Radahn, who’s locked in combat with two Scourge members simultaneously, the other three undoubtedly lurking beneath the sands.

“Hold them off for just a little bit longer, big guy.”

With those parting words, the pegasus takes flight and rises up to the clouds above with every flap of her wings, being sure to thank the Maker for providing a somewhat cloudy afternoon over Saddle Arabia.

Three members of the Scourge lunge at their equine-shaped prey in unison and from three separate angles after two of their ilk had retreated underground. But a sudden gravitational force of black lavender repels their assault after the stallion spreads his forelimbs apart and howls.

The insectoid trio crash and ski across the sea of sand, only for the two Scourge members from before to launch out of the ‘ocean’ from either side, trying to cleave the purple equine with their pincers.

Seeing their approach, Radahn judges which one of the duo would reach him first. His target chosen, notably the antlion coming at him from the right, the stallion waits for the opportune moment as the insect’s pincers get closer, until...

“Now!”

Radahn quickly ducks and grabs onto one of the pincer’s digits. The black and purple aura surrounding his body becomes more vibrant as he roars out and starts to spin, pulling his foe along and slamming them into their fellow Scourge, both letting out a screech on impact.

As the antlions fall to the desert’s face on top of one another, the crimson-haired equine gathers his strength and zooms down after them with a force comparable to what had claimed the first of their initial Scourge number.

A resounding [KBLOOMTH] ensues as a large wave of sand, dust, and insect gore is thrown into the air, the phenomenon being far grander than anything the antlions could ever manage when they had first emerged.

The dust soon clears, and within the resulting epicenter of green gore and sand is Radahn, standing tall and proud, the wind in his mane, along with some antlion, as he takes in a greedy surge of air through his nostrils...despite the odor.

“Ahhhh!” He breathed out, eyes closed in pure bliss, “That’s two down and three more to go!” The stallion was about to raise a forelimb triumphantly, that is, until his eyes opened while his head was facing skyward.

Due to his battle, Radahn hadn’t taken notice of gray clouds forming in the skies not too far away from his current location but still distanced enough for not a single shadow to be cast upon him.

“What the…?” He questioned. “That can’t be right… There’s no way a-”

The sands around him shook violently, indicating the approach of the last remaining Scourge insects. All the while, the clouds above had expanded rapidly while also taking on a shade of…

Red?

Radahn noticed the change, and the red coloration overtook the vicinity. In fact…it almost resembled the late afternoon scarlet skies over Caelid.

The recollection caused the stallion’s focus to waver for a moment, and it was then that the first of the three remaining antlions emerged from his rear with a ravenous screech.

He pulls himself together, rears up, and prepares to strike while looking back. But a swift and familiar pegasus lands between them, her back facing the antlion and creating a pause in Radahn’s actions.

“I’ve got your back,” Hangaku winked, “big guy.”

In one fluid motion, the pegasus claps her forehooves together, resulting in red sparks, while turning to face the behemoth and conjuring a spectral crimson bow along the way, and pulls back to form an arrow along an invisible bowstring.

“Omae wa mou shindeiru.”

The ‘arrow’ is let loose…and a red beam pierces through the antlion and enters the hole it emerged from, resulting in a grand explosion of magic and the painful cries of the other two Scourge entities being cooked below.

Meanwhile, the large stallion at Hangaku’s rear stares at her in shock as she approaches the body to ensure that the antlion at the surface is dead.

“Marika’s tits…” Radahn managed. “Did…you study under Royal Knight Loretta?”

Hangaku’s ears twitched upon hearing this, and she looked back at him inquisitively; the nearby insect’s remains churned and scorched.

“Lor… Who?” Yet another question for the neighponese mare to add to the already tall list of questions for the earth pony.

“You don’t…know her?” Radahn tried to make sense of this. “How could you not know her? You just used Loretta’s signature move, and I highly doubt that she’s the kind of warrior who’d steal someone else’s sorcery and call it her own.”

Now it was Hangaku’s turn to try and make sense of things as she cocks her head with a raised eyebrow.

“Then she apparently stole that technique from my village since ninjas are the ones who created it back in Neighpone. I didn’t earn the title Crimson Archer for nothing, big guy.”

Several inquiries arose on either side. However, before they could voice those questions, a buzzing sound was starting to be picked up by their ears.

“Wait…” Radahn said while turning his head. “Do you hear that?”

An annoyed sigh escaped from Hangaku, “I sure do…”

The stallion spots something within the tone of her delivery. “Care to elaborate?”

Hangaku points a wing at the sky above, “You see those clouds I gathered and embued with my village’s magic up there?”

“Oh? You did that?”

“Stay on topic, please? I know we both have a lot of questions, but we don’t have much time until they get here.”

“Until who gets here?”

“The Scourge, you big goof.”

“But…we just killed them all.”

“We killed some of them,” the pegasus corrects, “not all of them. And these were just scouts… Larval scouts.”

Radahn’s eyes shot wide open. “Did you just say…larval? As in…”

“Yup. Just like regular antlions, these guys are still in their larval state.” She spins a forehoof while flickering her ears, “That buzzing sound that’s been getting louder and louder? That’s the beating wings of the adults coming to tear us apart in one big swarm.”

On cue, the distant sun was being blocked out in Radahn’s peripheral vision, prompting the large stallion and his pegasus ally to slowly turn their eyes toward a massive swarm filled with titanic dragonfly-esque lifeforms, approaching them rapidly.

“Ah,” Radahn deadpans, “I see.”

“Naturally, I’ve got a plan,” Hangaku puffs her chest out confidently...only to falter and laugh sheepishly seconds after. “Of course, that depends on just how good you are with that gravity power of yours.”

Radahn throws his head back for a boisterous laugh. “I assure you, Crimson Archer, that I haven’t earned the title Starscourge for nothing.” He finished while flashing her a wink.

“Perfect. Then here’s your chance to prove it.”

They nod in agreement and turn to face the encroaching swarm in unison.

“Tell me, Radahn… Ever heard of a bug zapper?”

Chapter 14~ Starcaller Cry

A loud buzzing orchestra signals the Scourge’s approach as it grows in volume with every passing moment, the large insectoids, numbering in the hundreds, casting their shadows upon the desert sands and nearly blocking out the afternoon sun’s rays.

With a plan in mind, both Hangaku and Radahn brace themselves for combat, a scarlet shade starting to wash over the area via the pegasus’ magically instilled clouds above as if foretelling the coming conflict.

“On my command,” Radahn ordered with a raised forehoof, seemingly waiting for the opportune moment as he and Hangaku allowed the swarm to continue their advance.

The ravenous clicking of mandibles joined the approaching buzzing wave. At a closer range, Radahn confirmed that these entities were a perfect blend of an antlion and a dragonfly.

It reminded him of the giant dragonflies that inhabit the swamps throughout the Lands Between, and that wasn’t even getting into any other types of giant insects. Suffice it to say, he wasn’t a total stranger to dealing with pests of such proportions.

“Hold.”

Hangaku narrows her eyes, shifts her form sideways, and lowers herself to the ground with outstretched wings.

Radahn maintains his raised gesture and steeled gaze, waiting to give the order as the seconds that felt like eons ticked on by like those mechanical clocks his brother Rykard had invented.

His steeled face turns into a joyful grin, and the titan of a stallion shoots their raised limb forward, “GO!” He ordered, hovering in place and folding his forehooves across his chest.

Grains of sand within Radahn’s vicinity are lifted via the gravitational effect he gives off and swirls around his now lavender-aura form like a cyclone. At the same time, his pegasus ally takes off into the sky, rising higher and higher before disappearing into her red and gray storm clouds above.

Radahn’s mane and tail whipped in the winds as he drew upon more of his power. In hindsight, he knew this was a great risk, one that he was sure to bring up while he and Hangaku formulated their current plan.

‘It’s time to test my new body,’ the red-maned earth pony states internally.

Radahn howled out the sky while spreading his forelimbs apart, letting out a pulse of gravity that forced an indent into the sands below him. He then tries to bring his forehooves together as if he were struggling to catch something between either hoof, but when it comes to the swarm, something awe-inspiring has occurred in tandem.

……….

“Subarashī…” Hangaku muttered in amazement as she looked down upon the events unfolding below from her cloudy overwatch, wings folded to either side.

Following Radahn’s movements and warcry, the pegasus bore witness as the swarm of massive insects were all trapped together in a sphere of gravity magic. It happened so fast as the gravity globe itself had manifested at a much smaller size at first before growing and expanding alongside the strength of its gravity pull.

The neighponese mare even recollected the large stallion’s words as she observed the spectacle:

‘I’ll use Starcaller Cry, a far more advanced version of the Gravitas skill, to gather them all. Once I do that, you provide the ‘zap’ for our bugzapper. I must admit, I’m excited to see your abilities for myself! Ahahaha!’

She wasn’t exactly sure what it was then, though she was certain it pertained to his powers. But to see it unfold before her very eyes…

“R-Radahn…” Hangaku mused. “Just… What in Selene’s name are you…?”

Of course, her question coincided with something else the large stallion had revealed, which was still being processed in the back of her mind. Radahn wasn’t always an earth pony? What does that even-

She abruptly shakes her head in an attempt to clear her mind. “Focus, Hangaku.” The mare chastised. “Remember your training.”

Gritting her teeth as urgency consumes her features, the pegasus flaps her wings and goes up a short way before roaring out and shooting downward for a fearsome kick with her right hind leg.

The pegasus strikes the cloud with ample force, causing a red and yellow electrical charge to travel all across the condensed mass of water vapor, followed by the crackle of a powerful bolt of lightning.

……….

Radahn grunts in strenuous effort due to the grand scale of his task and current display of power. On one hand- er, hoof, he knew that this smaller equine state would limit the overall output he normally could exercise in his manly man form. But on the other hoof, this wasn’t his manly man form…

Still, he had to commend his current capability, and in a body he hasn’t entirely mastered, no less. But when it came to the Great Rune within him, he felt it to be quite…odd.

It was difficult for him to explain in words, but it felt like the rune was active in some instances while inactive in others. He could feel its’ fiery vigor while dealing with the brigand band, which persisted until just before his bout with the larval-staged antlions, yet here? Nothing.

He was running purely on what power did remain in this earth pony body from his Great Rune. And that power was being used up fairly quickly as the grips of fatigue tried to take hold.

Radahn’s tired yet enduring eyes became locked on the bolt that had descended from the heavens, its loud declaration twitching his ears as the lightning struck the Scourge swarm gathered in the equine titan’s magical grasp.

The Scourge let out pained screeches as every member felt the sting of the lightning bolt’s touch and the surge of electricity coursing through and searing their bodies, a particularly pungent aroma filling the air.

Once the last vestiges of their gathered cries had gone silent after moments of suffering, the gravitational containment released its’ hold on them, allowing charred, chitinous remains to rain down and litter the desert battlefield.

Radahn panted in utter exhaustion as he lowered his gaze and stared at his hoof. Victory had been achieved for the time being, which brought a strained smirk on his muzzle. But the purple stallion realized that using such high levels of skills and sorceries—at least by the measure of his homeland—so casually would be a detriment to this body.

With that in mind, and despite his exhausted frame, Radahn managed to raise his head up high for one crucial thing.

“Ahahahaha!”

His boisterous laughter continued to travel across the earthly grains until it slowly died down as the stallion surrendered to sleep’s embrace.

“Radahn!”

And the last thing he could see and hear…

“Radahn!”

…was the presence and echoing voice of a rapidly encroaching pegasus.

“Radahn!”

The large stallion falls over and crashes upon the desert sand on his side in unconscious bliss. Hangaku sets herself down after the stallion’s fall and makes her way over to his head.

“Hang in there, big guy,” she said in worry along the way, whereupon she spotted pure satisfaction plastered on the stallion’s face.

She was initially taken aback until she realized he was like any other warrior after a well-fought battle. Such a way of life was present worldwide and engraved into many cultures—like her homeland, Neighpon, especially among the samurai and ronin.

“You’re a strange warrior...but a warrior nonetheless.” Hangaku giggled while draping a wing nurturingly across the earth pony’s head. “You big dummy.”

She pulls her attention away from her companion and proceeds to survey the area, shuffling through the Scourge’s chitinous remains in the short distance and along the chaotically disturbed sands before resting her sights on what remained of the oasis.

A look of sympathy forms as the pegasus hates seeing the once-peaceful oasis in such a sorry state, its pristine waters tarnished and most of its vegetation torn asunder. It also didn’t help that it was one of the few oases left in all of Saddle Arabia. Still, what remained was salvageable for what they’d need for the coming night, and she was confident that she could retrieve some of Radahn’s collected resources and supplies.

A glance over her shoulder showed Galib’s comatose body and, by extension, Shirley’s wrapped head a ways away, but nothing a quick flight couldn’t handle.

Hangaku nods as she completes her assessment of the situation. She would need to make preparations, the most prominent being starting a fire to combat the coming chilly Saddle Arabian night, properly storing Shirley’s head, and securing Galib to prevent any possible escape attempts. The diluted hydra venom was still in effect, but the pegasus wasn’t taking any chances.

“I’ll be right back, big guy.”

The pegasus takes off and flies over to the oasis, landing at its tattered outskirts after a short flight and searching for anything useful amongst the sandy terrain. There was undoubtedly no wood shortage or lack of anything capable of stoking and maintaining a fire. She could even use another lightning strike to start a flame after erecting a pyre with all of this material.

Given Radahn’s fairly thick coat and Hangaku’s feathers, the pegasus was more so building the fireplace for Galib rather than entirely for herself or her slumbering ally. She couldn’t allow that plothole to freeze to death in his sleep. The information he possessed was invaluable to the guild.

Slumbering… Sleep…

“Wait…”

An epiphany dawns on Hangaku, stopping her in place as realization presents itself on her face.

“Of course!” She exclaimed with outstretched wings, “We’ll be able to extract all of the information we need from Galib in no time, but,” she looked back to Radahn, “the big guy, on the other hoof…”

……….

Meanwhile, among the charred remains of the Scourge, a single dragonfly-esque member manages to stir and rise up on quivering legs while suffering from significant damage.

The insect’s wings had been singed off, so any chance of flight was obsolete. But flying wasn’t required for what it had in mind. Its elongated annulus began to enlarge as the Scourge entity dug out a hole in the sand with its back legs, lowered its annulus into the hole, and entered a struggle.

With clicking mandibles, the antlion and dragonfly hybrid performs one final push as green juices spill and drip from its rear end, along with a single white, ovoid-shaped egg.

Upon finishing the birthing process, the insectoid buries the egg before finally keeling over, having spent the last remnants of its life to ensure its lineage…and for this offspring to inform the Matriarch about what had transpired.

Long live the Scourge of Saddle Arabia.

Radahn sharply opens his eyes, raising his torso in a panic and stretching his right gauntlet out-

“W-what…?” He looks his hand over in genuine confusion, followed by his left. It was his hands. Not hooves, hands. His eyes travel down his lion-motif golden armor-clodded 38ft frame, noticeably sitting on a hard surface.

He brings up his hands to touch his helmet. “I’m…a man again?”

The titan then found himself at a loss for words as he was drawn to his surroundings comprised of all too familiar territory.

Redmane Castle Plaza.

Radahn hurriedly rises to his full stature, taking off his helmet and placing it under an armpit while looking around in disbelief.

“I’m…home…?” He questioned but was completely unsure of how to go about this.

The open plaza was just as he remembered it, with tables filled with food for the hungry and drinks for the thirsty, walls and pillars decorated with swords, shields, and armor, along with those that hung above via long ropes.

It was undoubtedly the most lively part of the castle, so where was everyone? He didn’t spot a single member of his elite force. No maid, smith, or farmer was in sight; not even Jerren could be found.

“Greetings, Radahn.” A feminine and authoritative voice presents itself, echoing as if approaching his sense of hearing from every direction.

“Who’s there?” Radahn asked while turning in place to find the source.

“Yes… I trusteth thee wilt has’t innum’rable amounts of questions.”

“Your speech pattern… Are you, by chance, affiliated with any member of the Carian Royal Family?”

A thoughtful pause takes hold.

“Nay, mine own dram pony.” An amused chuckle emanates from all around Radahn. “Though...’little’ might not beest so accurate, eh?”

Radahn crosses his powerful arms with growing suspicion. “Before we go any further, I must ask: are you friend or foe?”

“I cullionly thee nay harmeth.”

“Then you won’t have any problem revealing yourself? You have me at a disadvantage, miss. Come on out so that we may converse in a civilized manner.” Radahn narrows his eyes. “You see, I’ve already been disappointed by those brigands out in the desert. Will you disappoint me, too?”

“Hmm. Thou art precisely as Hangaku toldeth me thee’d beest—kind, disc’rnable, and stout.”

“Hangaku? If you know of her, then…” His eyes solemnly fell to the floor, “It wasn’t a dream…”

“Aye. F’rgive me f’r mine own subt’rfuge approach, but I did want to seeth thy charact’r f’r myself, albeit tis alien to aught I’ve ev’r seen before.”

Radahn’s eyes are drawn toward the wooden platform stretching out at a higher elevation, often used to proclaim all manner of events and festivities, as a series of white particles gather and form the unmistakable shape of an equine.

A dark-blue-coated mare is brought into being with closed eyes as the particles disperse, yet some of them retreat into the equine and form luminous lines along her body.

A single horn and a pair of transparent, folded rainbow wings were traits that Radahn used to draw up his conclusion, accompanied by a flowing pink tail and mane. But what truly sealed the deal was the sun and moon insignia present on her flank.

He knew of her thanks to Hangaku and Philomena, but now he had the fortune of meeting the alicorn he’d heard so much about.

The mare’s eyes slowly opened as sapphire pupils inhabited a light-blue socket.

“Alloweth us speaketh, Radahn Carian. I am Selene Sol Invictus, Equus Demigod of Night and Day. And this lodging, although familiar to thee, is a fabrication of the Dream Realm.”

Chapter 15~ Selene Sol Invictus

Selene managed to keep her utter shock and awe hidden behind a mask she’d been honing for an innumerable amount of time. A metaphorical mask, of course, but perhaps she should’ve worn such a garment had she anticipated this happening.

It took all her willpower not to become lost in…Maker knows what this place was.

The skies were red, and the castle’s aesthetics looked as if a battle-hardened clan of minotaurs had occupied it. Then again, Radahn’s alien and titanic presence looked like the perfect blend of Sun Wukong’s fellow primates and the largest of bulls from Minos, but far more naked in comparison despite the Savanna lion-motif golden armor he wore.

But what stole Selene’s interest as she looked skyward again—Radahn staring at her and seemingly pondering on his own observations, she reasoned—was the golden tree to the alicorn’s right, peering over the castle walls and reaching for the sky.

The celestial equine had only been here for just shy of a minute and had already submitted to the fact that this was by far the most unique conception she’d ever witnessed within the Dream Realm.

Radahn’s approaching steps halt Selene’s thoughts and demand her gaze. Due to his height, the titanic alien casually sets down his helmet alongside her and rests his folded arms atop the platform, shaking it in the process, with clear signs of curiosity on his face.

By the sun and moon…she could literally inhabit his helmet…

“Fabrication of the Dream Realm, you say?” The titan asked, which, up close like this, was a fitting comparison Selene had long since made from the very moment she saw him rise to his full stature.

Radahn hummed in thought before flashing a pleasant smile, “Now you’ve piqued my interest, Selene. And you’re a fellow demigod, to boot. Splendid!” He offers a motivational gesture, despite Selene’s stunted reaction to the implications, “But about this Dream Realm business, please, do go on. Obviously, we both have questions for one another, so let’s get right to it. However…”

‘A fellow demigod? Surely he couldn’t be implying…’

Saving that inquiry for later, Selene waited patiently in the following silence as the titan was lost in thoughts, fingers resting beneath his chin.

“Hmmm… I’m getting a distinct impression that you’re being the invasive one here. So, to me goes the courtesy of the first question!” Radahn finishes and throws his head back for boisterous laughter.

The edges of the alicorn’s muzzle curl upward, “Truly. Thou art ev’ry bit liketh what Hangaku did describe thee to beest. Although…” She trails off, prompting a raised crimson brow from the titan.

“All pleasant, I trust?”

“Oh, verily. Though Hangaku might’ve added the word ‘moron’ to her disclosure.”

Radahn playfully rests a hand over his heart and chest plate, “She wounds me.”

Selene suppresses a hearty chuckle behind a transparent rainbow wing. She then takes a few steps closer to the platform-propped behemoth and lowers herself onto her stomach, shuffling in place for comfort despite the hardwood surface.

“Very well, Radahn,” she began after raising her eyes to meet his own. “Thou art right. Given our current circumstances, I can very well be considered the ‘invasive one.’ Thee seeth, there art those in the world, demigods all, who maintaineth the harmonious balance of the celestial bodies—the sun and the moon.

I am among the moon-bearers. With yond station cometh certain perks and abilities. Case in point: Dream Walking.”

“Dream Walking…” Radahn immediately deciphers the alias’s forwardness. “You mean to say that you can enter my dreams? Truly?”

“To putteth ‘t simply, aye, thus the invasive nature of mine own pow’rs, though tis a processeth yond w’rds high-lone couldst nev’r giveth due justice.” She lowers her head, “I am sorry for-”

“Bwahahaha!” The titan explodes in joy, gaining the alicorn’s wide-eyed attention. “I admit that this is my first time experiencing this power, but it’s not something that’s entirely alien to me.” He raises a glove-clodded index finger, “There are several beings throughout the Lands Between who share this prowess: the Tarnished, Deathbed Companions, and even members of the Carian Family,” he shrugs, “myself excluded, of course. And that’s only those who come to mind for me. I’m fairly certain there are others, too.”

Selene could only stare at the giant for what felt like a millennium. However, a severe expression formed as an authoritative aura radiates off her.

“Heed mine own warning well, Radahn: those daws thee mention’d who is’t dareth to meddleth with pow’rs beyond their und’rstanding shalt visage dire consequences shouldst they persist. ”

Displeasure immediately presents itself on the titan, causing Radahn to lift his torso off the platform and take decisive steps backward, growling while crossing his firm arms.

“One of those daws—fools, you mentioned—happens to be my family.” Yellow-orange pupils within a black sclera narrow in anger. “Don’t ever insinuate to cause any of them harm in my presence again.”

They stared at one another unyieldingly in tense-filled silence, like two combatants on this mentally-forged battlefield.

‘Nay, Selene…’ The alicorn internally chastised herself, though she maintained her outward defiance. ‘Calm thyself… This is not the way…’ She takes a recuperative breath, followed by a submissive sigh escaping from soft lips as the alicorn rises up from the platform and performs a respectful bow with outstretched wings.

“F’rgive me f’r mine own rudeness. I… I wenteth too far.”

Radahn continued to glare at the mare, but as she lifted her neck to look up at him, the titan’s face softened as he spotted the faintest trace of watery eyes present on a facial canvas of regret, ears folded against their owner’s head.

He prided himself on being able to read his opponent based on their movements, where even the slightest gesture could speak volumes. And this was clearly a touchy subject for her, one he wouldn’t try to pry into.

The biped raises a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it while laughing sheepishly. “We seem to have ventured too far off and got rather heated there. Shall we start over again? Oh! And, uh, apology accepted, ma’am.”

Selene giggles at his antics. “I thanketh thee, kind sir.”

Radahn’s lion-motif armor rattles as he approaches the platform again and rests his crossed arms on the elevation, his helmet still resting nearby as it reflects the duo’s exchange.

“Sooo… I believe it’s your turn to ask a question.”

“Yes… If I may beest blunt, what is the species of thine current form? Our mutual pegasus friend didst mention thee declaring something about not always being an earth pony?”

“That is correct. Hmm. Thinking back, I only ever told Philomena about me being human.”

“H-hoo-man? Wait… Thee spake with mine own Philomena?”

“That’s two questions, by the way,” he jests, earning a raised eyebrow from the mare. “Haha! Also, It’s pronounced ‘hew-man,’ but… Eh, close enough. As for your second question, yes, I sure did. Philomena is actually why I’m familiar with the three pony types, and you, Miss. Alicorn.”

“I see…”

“My turn—and I get two.” Radahn rubs his hands together and thinks of an appropriate inquiry—Selene internally compares it to an overexcited colt. “I’ve got it.” He emphasizes with a loud snap of his fingers. “First, you mentioned being a Demigod of Night and Day when you first appeared before me. Yet mere moments ago, you only considered yourself to be a moon-bearer. Shouldn’t that be sun and moon-bearer?”

Selene looks away somberly, “I’d…greatly appreciate it if thou’d ask something else. Please…”

“Ah… I understand. My condolences for your loss.”

Those words immediately draw the alicorn’s stunned attention. “H-how…did thee…?”

“After what you’ve told me, I figured there’d be a sun-bearer counterpart to your moon. Considering you’ve taken the role of both, well… Let’s just say I’m quite discerning. One has to be to survive within the Lands Between.

Even demigods like ourselves should be wary lest we have another ‘Night of Black Knives’ event. Can I assume this sun-bearer had passed during that fateful night, too?”

“I-I’m sorry, but… Night of Black Knives? Mineth broth’r, Solaris, didn’t perish on such a night. He died during the Shattering. Twas then yond he bestowed upon me his mantle.”

“Your broth- wait, what…? How can you not know of the Night of Black Knives but know full well of the Shattering? The Night of Black Knives served as the catalyst.”

“That simply can’t beest right!” Selene angrily protests, stomping a hoof. “It wast the war between the draconequi and the alicorns of Olympone yond triggered the Shatt’ring! Twas a literal conflict between chaos and order! What thee speaketh are poison’d lies!”

“Selene, I’m telling you the truth! How can we both be talking about the Shattering yet seem to have two different events of what led up to it?!”

“Except yours is about as fabricat’d as this constructeth of the Dream Realm and thine claimeth of being a demigod!”

“I don’t claim to be a demigod; I am one! Also, construct?! You’re standing in Castle Redmane within the province of Caelid—which is in the Lands Between!”

“I was BORN on Equus, the Lands Between, thee ign’rant colt! And I can bid thee for a Mak’r-damned fact yond there isn’t a single province called Caelid nor yond giant golden tree over there! Hay, I don’t even recognizeth this coastline!”

“That’s literally the Erdtree! If you don’t know that, then clearly someone’s been spending far too much time in Farum Azu-!”

Radahn’s words are abruptly cut off, the duo’s debate coming to a stop as the realm around them shakes violently. “What’s going on?” He asked, looking around in every direction.

“Someone is forcing thee to stir from thine slumber,” Selene answered. “It must be Hangaku. Curses. I lost far too much time initially trying to breach thine mind.”

The realm begins to magically sizzle away slowly like an alighted piece of parchment, closing in on the duo as the magical particles consume even the visage of the Erdtree.

“Radahn!” Selene beckoned in urgency, gaining his immediate attention. “We must speak in Istanbul! Followeth Hangaku; she shall bringeth thou to me! It is imperative that we…”

The alicorn’s words abruptly fade despite Radahn seeing her muzzle’s continued movements. “Selene? Selene?! I-I can’t can’t hear you!” He reasoned while turning his head and pointing at his right ear.

Despite her best efforts, it was easy to tell that the celestial equine was trying to convey more, but to no avail, as the realm claimed her moments after.

Radahn backed away and found himself within the plaza’s epicenter, its last remnants of brick, dirt, and grass being his only remaining foundation, like a small island dotting the vast canvas of the open sea.

The giant humanoid’s spec of land is removed from beneath him, resulting in him crying out as he falls into a seemingly endless void of purple, blue, and black.

The crimson-maned stallion’s eyes shoot wide open, and he lets out a loud gasp while lying on his back, witnessing the starry skies and the full moon above.

Despite the night canvas being completely different from what Radahn was familiar with, he sharply bolts up while remaining seated on the desert sand, breathing deeply and drawing the attention of a particular neighponese pegasus, who sat comfortably alongside a fire within a campsite erected amongst the ruins of the oasis.

“Welcome back to reality, big guy,” Hangaku greets, prompting the stallion to turn her way. “Feeling better now? That was a lot of power you used the other day.”

Radahn groans as he raises a hoof to his temple and attempts to nurture a migraine. “Hangaku…” His eyes go skyward again, “What…time is it…? And, the other day…?” He trails his eyes over to her, “How long was I out?”

“Woah, woah, not so fast there, B.G. The stimulant I injected you with-”

“You drugged me?!”

“Well, yes, technically. But it’s a natural stimulant. ”

“Oh, how thoughtful…”

“It’s nothing to worry about; you’ll be fine,” she assured while waving a dismissive forelimb. “Now get your titanic flank over here because I am not dragging you through the sand ever again. No way in Jigoku.”

Adhering to her request with a shake of his head, Radahn lifts himself up to his full stature and groggily makes his way over to the campsite. He noticed Galib’s heavily restrained and unconscious form along the way, Shirley’s head still wrapped in cloths but now with what looks like a vibrant and active red enchantment.

The human-turned-earth pony sets himself down on the adjacent side of the campfire, at which point Hangaku points a wing toward a flask and one of Radahn’s crafted baskets.

“Water’s right over there if you need it. As for breakfast, I salvaged some of the nuts and berries you harvested before, so knock yourself out.”

“Thanks for that,” he said with a nod, reaching over to grab the basket and dragging it closer.

“So, here's the thing,” the pegasus starts after allowing the stallion to gather himself—Radahn stuffing a hooffull of nuts and berries into his muzzle, “Sun Wukong should be raising the sun at any moment now. Or was it Ra's turn this week? Sköll's, maybe? Questions for later. The question I should be asking is what did you think about Selene? I hope you didn’t make me look like a fool; I put in a really good word for you.”

He shrugs while chewing his food, humming an ‘Mmm-mmm’ while tilting his hoof side to side for what Hangaku deciphered as a ‘so and so’ gesture.

“Huh… That’s…not exactly what I was expecting, but good enough. You know, Selene’s number one on me and Tzana’s ‘Mares We’d Love To Have A Threesome With’ list.”

The pegasus’ eyes roll up pleasantly as she bites her lower lip, earning a chuckle from Radahn before he swallows his food.

“Hah!” He mused. “Good luck with that one. She reminds me of several Carian Family members. Marika’s tits, she’s even got my brother’s temperament. Come to think of it, maybe even my mother’s…”

“...Who’s Marika?”

“Seriously? First, Selene has no knowledge of the Erdtree and Caelid, and now you with Queen Marika the Eternal.”

“Queen Marika? Wait, is she some kind of changeling?”

“What’s a changeling?”

“Ok—wait, wait, wait, wait,” Hangaku asserts, shaking her head and gesturing with her wings and hooves. “What exactly did you two talk about in the Dream Realm?” The pegasus inquired while the earth pony claimed the flask filled with water, popped open the cap and took a greedy drink.

“Well, it all started off rather pleasantly, I’d say. But then I…”

……….

The sun begins to rise over the desert horizon during the course of Radahn’s revelation of what had transpired within the Dream Realm—which he still admittedly had no idea how it worked.

What breaks the desert’s peaceful silence soon after is a neighponese feminine voice that explodes and practically travels all across the sea of sand.

“YOU OVERGROWN PLOTHOLE!! BAKA!! BAKA, BAKA, BAKA!!”

Author's Note

Thus ends Radahn's first arc on Magius. :pinkiehappy: Now, let's head on over to kickstart Leonard's. :moustache:

Chapter 16~ Angus and Udrako

The morning sun’s rays crept through a bronze wood circular-shaped window, which was more like a carving into the structure, and slowly slithered over to Leonard as he slumbers sideways on a brown rectangular futon mattress.

Leonard’s features scrunch as the sun’s warm touch caresses the right side of the stallion’s face, prompting a low whinny accompanied by flaring nostrils. His ebony eye opens slowly seconds later, but he abruptly closes it shut due to the sudden sunlight intake.

The stallion stirs and lifts himself up from the futon, performing a stretch by arching his back with a resulting crack along the way before rising to his full stature. He then proceeds to loosen the joint and ligaments in his neck, followed by his eyes scanning the inner portions of a brown hallowed out tree that acts as his current and possibly permanent residence.

He doubly made sure to thank Mulan last night for her kindness when she and Rain Shine offered and thoroughly delivered on these accommodations. The red-maned, brown-coated stallion would’ve been satisfied with a simplistic horse stable, yet here he was, occupying something far more than he’d ever expected.

It even puzzled him that Mulan offered a genuine apology for, in her own words, ‘Not being able to offer him something a bit more spacious and luxurious.’ By Radahn’s grace, THIS was already overkill as is…

His cozy little abode consists of a soft futon bed and a nearby closet built into the ‘tree home,’ complete with a red sliding door for storing items and clothing, both of which he currently lacked. Apparently, what stirred regret within Mulan most was the absence of a kitchen and bathroom.

Granted, he had no need for a kitchen. Seriously, they’re in a forest. There’s food everywhere. And a bathroom? Again…forest. He could literally just relieve himself anywhere he pleased. And yet, despite that, why did it feel so…wrong to do so?

Why did it feel so…indecent? Rude, even.

It was all so strange and alien to him…

Ever since Malenia’s blooming and waking up in Peak Village, he’d been able to think and feel on a spectrum far more vast than ever before. Heck, a part of him felt like he shouldn’t even know what a kitchen or a bathroom is, yet it felt like he was familiar with the concept all his life.

This was impossible, yet his current situation, feelings, and thoughts screamed otherwise. This truly was reality. This was Leonard.

Three abrupt knocks on the home’s circular, red closed door startle the stallion and tear him out of his thoughts as his ears shoot upward, and his head fires toward the entrance.

“Leonard?” Mulan’s slightly muffled voice beckoned from the other side. “Are you awake?”

Leonard neighed loudly in response as he hurriedly stepped off the futon to answer the door, his hooves clopping against the light-brown wooden floorboards in the process. He sets a forehoof into the horseshoe-shaped doorknob and turns it clockwise, the locking mechanism clicking upon reaching a 90-degree angle.

The wind of the outside world immediately breached his home as Leonard pulled the door inward with a slight creak. His ears immediately pick up the sounds of nature surrounding Peak Village and the distant voices of its inhabitants going about their daily lives. Still, his eyes focused on the gray orbs of the kirin smiling up at him on his doorstep, her umbrella folded and strapped onto her back.

“Good morning~!” Mulan greets merrily, her gray and ebony beauty reflecting and practically becoming enhanced by the sunlight behind her like radiant obsidian, her jade-colored mane complimenting the white and pink silks she currently wore.

It was enough to cause a crimson patch to form on the stallion’s cheeks. There was something particular about these kirin that remained consistent between every individual: they were all paragons of beauty.

“Sleep well, I hope?” She inquired as the stallion was now lost in those eyes of hers. “Was the futon to your liking? And, again, I’m so sorry for not having a bathroom or kitchen in there. Before we repurposed it to your living space, it was, uh…a storage place.”

The following silence was Mulan’s only answer as she waited for a proper response.

Leonard, seemingly realizing the awkwardness passing by, shakes his head with a snort to snap out of his folly, earning a joyful giggle from Peak Village’s leader. He folds his ears against his head, offering a sorrowful expression and whinny.

“Hmhmm. It’s ok,” she assured with a dismissive cloven forehoof. “Trust me, you being one of the few stallions surrounded by multitudes of mares and lionesses in our village is sure to have some effect.”

The stallion’s head cocked inquisitively. ‘Lionesses?’

“Oh! Right, right.” Mulan nods in realization, having deciphered the gesture. “You’re still quite new to our ways, but we kirin are considered a chimeric race. Calling us mares, lionesses, and even dragonesses are all accurate. While we’re at it, I’ll be assigning Udrako as your tutor following your assessment match with Flare Burst. For now, though.” She turns away and waves a cloven hoof for him to follow.

“Follow me. Sandy’s mother offered to prepare some breakfast for us, so we’d best be off. I’ll explain more along the way.”

Leonard nods and nickers in understanding, closing the door behind him and prancing forth before pulling up alongside Mulan as the duo sets off together along a dirt pathway stretching and bending into the village up north from his residence.

Glancing back over his shoulder as they walked in silence, save for Mulan humming a rather catchy tune, and now that he got a good look at it in broad daylight, the displaced horse realized that his tree-based occupancy, its’ healthy green leaves fluttering in the wind and rooted on brown barked arms, was on the opposite side of Mulan’s own home.

Before turning his head forward, he also notes that his tree-rooted house was set on the village’s southern edge, a wall of dense forestation seeming to act as a natural barrier or indication of territory.

As they continue onward and nearly reach the village’s epicenter, the presence of armed members of the Blades of Peril, farmers tending small to medium fields of crops, and young kirin—pups, cubs, foals…Leonard was just going to stick with foals for now—playing while being overwatched by several lionesses…dragonesses…mares…

Okay, this chimeric terminology stuff was starting to throw him off.

‘Yeah, no. Sorry, but I’ll just stick to equine terminology. Huh… Terminology. How do I even know that word…?’

“Don’t look now,” Mulan’s words steal the stallion away from his sight-seeing as his eyes now set on her, “but you’re turning heads.” She finished with a chuckle.

Leonard proceeds to absorb his surroundings as, sure enough, several bystanders are drawn to his presence. While guards maintain their stations with stoic expressions, giving Mulan a respectful bow as the duo passes by, some of the farmers halt the tendings of their fields to look upon the stallion with great curiosity, others even whispering amongst themselves.

But as Mulan and Leonard approached two farmers seemingly taking a break against a fence located to the right of the path—both being identical with light-green coats, white manes with black spots, purple eyes, and a pair of forward-facing white horns with black edges—they immediately garner their attention.

One of the farmers, noticeably taller than their identical twin, whistles while displaying a particular look and locking eyes with Leonard.

“Howdy!” The shorter kirin boomed with a waving cloven hoof. “Mighty fine pleasure to see ya ‘round these parts, Empress Mulan!”

“Good morning, girls,” Mulan greets, stopping alongside the twins and turning sideways to present them to Leonard. Up close like this, the stallion could make out the pink marks or glyphs dotting their horns.

“Leonard, it’s my great honor to introduce you to the Guan sisters of the Prairie Family. The taller and older sibling is Guanfeng, and the younger one is Guanlin. The resources their family produces are one of our greatest food sources here in Peak Village.” Mulan performs a respectful bow. “Be sure to forward my eternal gratitude to your matriarch and your father.”

“Will do, empress!” Guanlin beamed with a salute gesture.

Mulan sighs in resignation while shaking her head. “There’s the empress thing again.”

The younger Guan sibling giggles, “And you’d best get used to it!”

Meanwhile, Guanfeng remains silent during the exchange as she stares with half-lidded eyes at Leonard.

“Speak’n of pleasure…” She finally comments, gaining Mulan and Guanlin’s attention as she walks forth gracefully. The elder Guan sibling rubs herself along Leonard’s chest with a low purr, being mindful of her horns as she slips around and proceeds to his rear, flirtatiously rubbing beneath his chin with her tail.

Leonard’s crimson-cheeked and wide-eyed features follow after her as he turns his neck. ‘By the Elden Ring…’

“Leonard’s a mighty fine name~.” Guanfeng eyes the stallion’s lean-built frame and, momentarily, the entirety of his hindsection. “Mighty fine indeed~.”

A loud sigh sounds off from the direction of Mulan and Guanlin, the younger Guan sister facehooving—Mulan, wearing a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Fer the love of Buddha, big sis…”

“S-sorry about this, Leonard.”

Guanfeng rubs herself alongside Leonard’s left section as she ventures toward his front, gently nuzzling the left side of his face.

“You a new breeder ‘round these parts, honey?”

The stallion’s eyes darted side to side as the only thing he could manage was a low whinny.

Guanfeng chuckles in amusement, shifting her sights to Mulan. “How about it, empress? This fine feller available?”

“Guanfeng! Guanlin!” A powerful and deep male voice suddenly appears from nearby, causing all heads to turn to its source as the Guan sisters jolt in fear of who they see approaching on a path stretching from a large tree home and along one of the surrounding fields.

“What in tarnation are you two doin’?!”

“D-daddy!” They cried out in unison.

“Don’chya ‘daddy’ me, little ladies!”

Leonard observes curiously yet cautiously, a feeling that was slowly growing as a large, hardy black bull with horns identical in color to their daughters’, only without the pink glyphs and far longer in comparison,

The bull’s powerful steps signaled his approach, and the seven-foot mass of muscle stopped and stood before his youngest daughter, the eldest hurriedly running over to join them.

“Your mothers and ah are working the fields while you two are mess’n with some stallion?!”

“N-n-n-n-o, s-sir,” Guanfeng answered.

“Y-yeah,” Guanlin hesitantly agreed before pointing a hoof at her elder sibling. “It w-was only big sis f-flirt’n with ‘em.”

The elder sibling responds with a deathly side glare.

A powerful snort accompanied by hot air is let loose from their father. “Enough! You two join yer mothers out back! Now!”

“Y-yes, sir!” The Guan siblings cried out as they panicked around their father and stampeded away.

The bull watches his daughters’ departure until they reach a certain distance from the house before setting his sights on Mulan, his features softening.

“Sorry y’all had to see that, empress.”

The empress giggles while shaking her head. “There’s no need to apologize, Angus Prairie. I understand the need to discipline one’s young. And just Mulan is fine, please. No need for the title.”

Angus hummed in understanding and nodded, followed by his muscular neck carrying his black eyes over to Leonard. “And you…” His orbs narrowed furiously, causing Leonard to swallow a lump. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t trample over ya right here and now? Ah saw you gett’n little too close with mah baby girl.”

‘Radahn’s balls!’ Leonard roared internally, horror plastered on his face. ‘Fuck me!’

“It’s a misunderstanding, Angus,” Mulan lept to Leonard’s defense. “Leonard here only recently arrived in our village and is new to our way of life. You see, uh, your daughter made the first move on him, but he didn’t take advantage of her in any way, shape, or form.”

Angus snorts as he shifts his sights back to Leonard. “That true, boy?”

The stallion quickly and repeatedly nods his head with folded ears.

“Hmmm.” The bull stares into Leonard’s eyes as if he were picking him apart. After moments of silence that felt like eons had passed, Angus sighs, takes a step back, and morphs his features into neutrality.

“Apologies fer that, boy. Although, if ah’m being honest, you’d already be splayed on the dirt were it not for Empress Mulan here.”

Leonard offers a low whinny, causing confusion within the bull as he turns to Mulan for clarification.

“He’s a saddle arabian who’s more in touch with his horse ancestry,” Mulan states.

The horse in question nods pridefully.

“I see…” Angus trailed, satisfied with the answer. “Alright then. Now ah best be return’n to the fields with mah darlin’ wives and youngins and have a few words with a certain daughter of mine.” He tilts his head, “Ah bid you good day, both o’ yas.”

“You too, Angus!” Mulan responds, waving as the bull turns around and starts to venture off. Leonard raises a nervously waving gesture of his own. “And give your pride’s matriarch my best!”

“Hah!” Angus laughed in the short distance. “That dragoness practically runs the place! Ah jus’ give her and the others mah love and seed!”

Mulan blushes as the bull’s laughter fades while he distances himself with every step. She then looks to Leonard, who still watches the bull.

“W-well, my friend,” she began, gaining his attention with perked-up ears, “that’s what a breeder is.”

Leonard looks to Angus in the distance and back to the dark-gray kirin, shaking his head.

‘Nope. I’m good.’

“Then you’d better win that match with Flare once the clock strikes noon,” Mulan emphasized with an appointed cloven hoof and a wink. “It was you who agreed to those terms, after all. The original plan was to see if you were fit to be counted as a warrior amongst the Blades, but you just had to accept Flare’s wager, huh?” She playfully ends with a raised brow.

Although his face was filled with determination, Leonard’s ears slightly falter. In truth, his agreeing to that wager was something he thought deeply about last night. His warrior’s spirit welcomed the challenge, yet the more logical side scolded him for jumping in blindly.

A cloven hoof tenderly rests on his chest, prompting him to look down at Mulan.

“You’ll do great, Leonard. I know you will.”

A grateful neigh escapes from his lips as the kirin lowers her appendage to the ground. The duo continues their venture once again, and as they near the epicenter of the village, Leonard finds himself side-glancing down at Mulan, whereupon a smile forms on his muzzle at an interesting thought.

‘If I do lose to Flare, and if a pride has the same concept as a herd… I definitely wouldn’t mind having you in it.’

Now, within the heart of Peak Village, Leonard spots a familiar stone bridge that reaches over pristine waters—stretching and originating from a vast and circular water source—and grants one access to the wooden platform used for general announcements and assemblies.

He turns his head to the right while Mulan greets Peak Village’s residents, some of whom have set up booths and concession stands circling the outskirts of the wooden platform, as the stallion spots a familiar blacksmith’s forge set alongside a tree with golden leaves.

Snorting in affirmation, Leonard proceeds toward the forge, giving a gentle nod to those who said their greetings along the way. He then spots Sandy Scorch turning around the bend of the golden-leaved tree home, but the stallion stops dead in his tracks as something much larger and taller follows seconds after.

The being’s legs were exceptionally long, like four bamboo stalks covered in orange fur carrying their owner across the land. Their elongated neck possessed dark-brown stripes underneath, matching the coloration of the mohawk-like streams of hair going down the top of their neck, across their back, and to the edge of their tail.

But the key features of the tall entity are its jade-colored scales that start from the center of its face, go over its head, down the top of its neck, and along its back, stopping at the base of a long tail with stripes similar to those that lined the under portions of the elongated being’s neck.

All while a pair of back-facing, peach-colored antlers with orange bulbs on the edges rests on the towering individual’s head.

“Hey!” Sandy’s voice called out, but Leonard was simply too fixated and admittedly amazed by what he saw. “Leonard! You made it!”

Sandy approached the stunned and amazed stallion, bringing along the long-necked individual responsible for his trance.

The dark-orange saddle arabian and kirin hybrid laughs boisterously. “Looks like you’ve blown his mind, Udrako. Don’t worry, Leonard, she has that effect on most studs she meets.”

“Oh, forgive me, dearie!” Udrako exclaims apologeticly in a high-pitched voice, lowering her neck to meet Leonard’s gaze with her green-slitted eyes. “It’s an absolute treat to finally meet you, though. I recognize you from when Mulan introduced you to the village.”

Leonard’s muzzle imitates a goldfish as his widened gaze turns to Sandy as if begging for answers, earning a hearty chuckle from her. Udrako giggles as she lifts her neck up high, wiggling a pair of long ears.

Sandy rests a hoof on Udrako’s right foreleg, “This towering beauty’s name is Udrako Wendlulamithi.”

Udrako raises her head skyward with pleasantly closed eyes.

“And if it wasn’t already obvious from her appearance, she’s half giraffe.”

Chapter 17~ "I am..."

Leonard’s initial stupor was then replaced by pure, unrestrained curiosity as he studied the kir-affe’s towering frame, his eyes going up and down her long legs.

“My,” Udrako began in a ladylike fashion, a quality several female members of the Redmanes possessed, as she looked down and fluttered her eyelashes at the stallion. “Am I that alluring to you down there, dearie?”

“It’s those legs of yours, girl!” Sandy comments with a cackle. “Seriously, look at those things. And that’s not even getting into how you like to strut your stuff.”

“Well, my father did use to say that giraffes are symbols of grace, nature, and beauty,” Udrako cooed. She then sideglances at the dark-orange kirin-saddle arabian, “Unlike some mares.”

“...Right.” Sandy deadpanned. “So we’re not going talk about how you use that ridiculously long tongue of yours to ‘gracefully’ pig out on the golden leaves of my house? Thanks for that, by the way…”

“But they’re so delicious!” Udrako protests—Leonard, still awed by her appearance, moves around to get a better view while envisioning himself having her height. Although…he’d have to forego the incredibly long neck. Legs, too.

“I mean, what other house do you see in this village that has golden edible leaves? Truly, dear, you’re being unreasonable.”

Sandy sighs while bringing a forehoof—one of the few individuals that lacked the cloven-hooved trait of the common kirin—up to her face. “My point, Udrako, is that it doesn’t permit you to tongue my frigg’n house.”

Udrako stomps a foreleg in frustration while Leonard just barely manages to leap out of the way with a panicked neigh before tumbling to the ground.

“Hmph!” The kir-raffe lifts her head in displeasure. “Fine. Be that way, then.”

Sandy rolls her ebony eyes, “Drama queen…”

“Excuse me?” Udrako sharply lowers her neck and places her elongated muzzle and angered gaze mere inches from the kiri-rabian’s face.

“I am not a drama queen!”

“It’s a hard truth, babe, live with it.” Sandy finished with a joyful chuckle, only for Udrako to bonk her on the head with their lower jaw.

“Hey!”

“That’s what you get, dearie.”

“Good morning, Udrako, Sandy!” Mulan’s hurriedly encroaching voice suddenly presents itself, gaining the immediate attention of Leonard, Udrako, and Sandy.

Leonard’s eyes are immediately drawn to the vials attached to a vest thrown over Mulan’s original attire and shoulders, her folded umbrella now strapped to her side as she floats a familiar scroll and a unique jade crystalline writing utensil within her green magical grasp via purple alighted insignias on her horn.

He recognized several of those potions, strikingly resembling what was offered to him in his first awakening.

“Sorry I’m late,” Mulan began after stopping and positioning herself alongside Leonard. “It’s been fairly busy, but one of the girls back there reminded me of something.” She turns to the red-maned stallion, “By my calculations, the potion we gave you—wéi liǎo bāngzhù lǐjiě wǒmen de yǔyán yìnggāi suíshí xiāoshī.”

Leonard tilted his head in confusion as, halfway through, he could no longer understand anything she was saying as she now spoke in Qinese, a language still outlandishly alien to him.

“Tā méi shì bā?”

He couldn’t decipher what Udrako just said, but it certainly looked like a question if her tone, current expression, and shared look with Sandy were of any indication. All the while, Mulan stares at him with wide eyes, her mouth forming a perfect O.

The dark-gray kirin abruptly gasps, realization staking its claim on her features as she shuffles through the vials resting on her vest before plucking one off of a blue coloration.

Leonard nods and snorts positively as the concoction was none other than, as he recalled them naming it, a Translation Potion. He quickly approaches Mulan, who’d taken the initiative to pop off the cork during his approach, and offers it to the stallion, who gently bites down on the vial’s neck before lifting his head up to spill its contents down his throat.

He relished the blueberry flavor with a joyful whinny escaping out of flaring nostrils, licking his lips upon emptying the potion to its last drop and offering the now-empty vial to Mulan.

A moment of silence takes hold, save for the activities of nearby residents of Peak Village, Sandy’s flaring forge, and the magical properties of Mulan’s horn as she continues to hold the scroll and writing utensil.

“Can you understand us now, Leonard?”

Leonard nods, tapping the ground with a forehoof and waving his tail.

“Ah, I see,” Sandy chimed in. “So you’ve been giving him a Translation Potion.”

“That’s correct,” Mulan responds.

“We should consider giving that name some more thought,” Udrako comments.

“Meh,” Sandy shrugged, “Sounds good enough to me. Fewer words, greater impact, you know? Besides, we weren’t the ones who came up with that name, so feel free to go out there and file a complaint with whoever formed the recipe.”

“And get caught by one of Oolong’s barbaric search parties? I think not. It’s an absolute nightmare out there, so I’ll be staying here where it’s nice and peaceful, thank you very much.”

“...I wasn’t being serious, Udrako. Sheesh. Maybe I should stop by your classroom and teach the pups an essential subject called Reading Between the Lines. That, and Sense of Humor.”

“Ack! How dare you insinuate that I am not a paragon of such things.”

While the duo continued to converse, Mulan giggled at their antics, followed by turning her attention to Leonard, who was equally amused by the scenario.

“As I was saying before the language barrier interrupted us.”

The stallion turns his head to her with flickering ears.

“The Translation Potion’s effect lasts twenty-four hours before requiring its user to take another shot. And as you saw for yourself, this is around the same time Rainy and I gave you your first concoction.”

Leonard nods in understanding and starts to eye the scroll and crystalline writing tool within the kirin’s jade-colored magical grasp.

“You’re going to love what I have for you here,” Mulan said upon noticing the stallion’s interest. “Although, depending on how things turn out with the waters from the Stream of Silence, you might not even need these.”

She floats the items and maneuvers them into the most extensive pocket set at the rear of her vest before looking over to Sandy and Udrako, still argumentatively locked in whatever subject they’re now chewing into each other for.

“Girls… If I could interrupt your lover’s quarrel for a moment.”

Their ears shot up at that as their formerly furious gazes morphed into beet-red embarrassment.

“We aren’t lovers!” They shout in unison, looking her way.

Mulan covers her muzzle to muffle her laughter. “If you say so. Now, Sandy, is your mother still inside preparing our meal?”

Sandy clears her throat as she and Udrako take a step away from each other. “Y-yeah. Breakfast should be almost ready by now.”

“Excellent. We shall head inside and prepare ourselves. Udrako?”

“Present and ready, dearie. How might I be of service?”

“Leonard here will be needing a teacher, and who better than the daughter of Peak Village’s greatest molder of minds.”

“It would be my absolute pleasure.” The kir-affe spreads her forelegs apart and lowers her neck to perform a respectful bow. She then rises back up and wiggles her ears pleasantly.

“Speaking of which, I’d best be off, dears. Class will be starting soon, and the pups are likely gathering at their appropriate schoolhouse by now. I’d hate to ask this of you, empress, but could you bring Leonard to the school grounds when he’s ready? Our faculty can take care of it from there.”

“I most certainly can do that. Thank you, Udrako. May the great Buddha watch over you.”

“We need the Buddha now more than ever in these troubling times, dearie. Tian knows we do.” Udrako finishes with a nod and hums a melody as her long legs carry her along. She casually yet carefully steps over Leonard and Mulan and continues on toward the western portion of Peak Village.

“See you later, home-muncher!” Sandy exclaimed while waving a forehoof.

“Sorry, Sandy, can’t hear you from up here~!” The kir-affe responds at a generous distance, passing by the last vestiges of booths positioned within the heart of Peak Village. “Ohohoho~!”

The kiri-rabian chuckles while lowering her hoof. “That long-necked pain in my flank. You gotta love her.”

Her ears twitch in response to Leonard and Mulan’s approach, and she shifts her sights toward them.

“Now then… Who’s hungry?”

“Absolutely,” Mulan answered—Leonard, whinnying enthusiastically.

“Well, I appreciate the enthusiasm for my mother’s cooking. With that in mind,” Sandy gestures with her head toward the closed brown circular entrance to the house, “Follow me.”

The home’s circular door is willed open via Sandy’s white magic, the dots on her pair of yellow horns glowing with the same coloration as the prowess they displayed and manipulated.

“Mother!” Sandy called out as she, Leonard, and Mulan entered the home, her voice echoing down the hall, splashing against the hollowed-out tree ceiling alongside the group’s steps, clopping against the wooden planked floor. “The empress and Leonard are here!”

“I’m just finishing up the rice, Scorchy!” A voice similar to Sandy’s yet deeper in comparison responds.

From what Leonard could tell, it was coming from the second doorway down the hall to the left. As if the interior at the entrance wasn’t evidence enough, the visible layout already spoke volumes to the stallion of just how small his residency was in comparison.

“Take them into the living room for me, will you?! I’ll be there in just a second!”

“You got it!” Sandy responds, looking back to her guests, “It’s just over here,” she indicates from the forefront and proceeds to guide them down the hallway before standing alongside the doorway adjacent to where her mother’s voice originated from.

Mulan is the first to disappear around the corner, followed by Leonard as Sandy falls in at his rear. The red-maned stallion immediately admired the living room’s aesthetic, which aligned nicely with the qinese motif that dominates the village.

A pair of three-cushioned light-brown sofas sat on either side of a rectangular dark-brown mahogany table’s length, with a duo of single chairs sharing identical colors to the sofas resting at its widths.

While Mulan sets herself down on one of the three-cushioned furnishings, Sandy resting on the other, Leonard continues his sightseeing. His eyes soon laid upon the first of several pictures lined neatly alongside one another, which depicts-

“The stallion you see in there is my father, Joseph,” Sandy comments. “And that balance of badassery and beauty alongside him is my mother. You can certainly see who I took after. Shit, were it not for the patches of scales and these horns on my head, I’d be my father with a vagina.”

“The product of a beautiful couple,” Mulan added, having stripped herself of the vest and set it on the cushion beside her. At the same time, a familiar scroll and crystalline writing utensil were placed on the table. “It was an absolute honor to officiate your parents’ wedding. I can’t believe it’s already been shy of two hundred years since then…”

“I can’t believe mother managed to fit into her ceremonial kimono while still pregnant for yours truly.”

“You’d better not let your mother hear you say that.”

Leonard snorts in amusement as the kirin share joined laughter, and he returns his attention to the pictures. However, he noticed something particular about them. It was the way they were aligned; it wasn’t random. It all came together to form a sort of timeline.

Within every picture, the stallion amongst the family of three continues to grow older and older, along with the young Sandy. That is until, in the very last frame…he was absent.

The encroaching rattling of dishes and silverware suddenly made itself known, followed by the presence of Sandy’s mother, who stepped through the doorframe and paused to survey their guests with an unreadable expression while floating a bountiful feast within her golden magical aura.

Her appearance struck Leonard as the pictures pale in comparison to the real deal. Her right ear was noticeably missing a large portion from the top, clearly having been sliced off. Several battle scars were present all across her body, along with missing scales that failed to grow back.

And yet, despite her form that screams of past battles, her brown coat, golden scales, green mane, duo of white horns with golden dots, and red eyes were part of the beauty that still persisted.

Leonard took a decisive step forward, drawing Sandy and Mulan’s attention while he locked eyes with the scarred one.

No… She was so much more than that, and he had to give her what any Redmane worth their salt would if they saw what he saw.

“L-Leonard…?” Mulan questioned in confusion as the stallion stopped by the table, but he maintained eye contact with the brown-coated individual. “What are you doing?”

Sandy raises an eyebrow, “You’d better not try anything funny with my mother, pal,” she threatened.

The stallion seemingly ignores them both as he fluently picks up the scroll and writing utensil off the table. With the items in his grasp, Leonard resumes his approach and stands a respectable distance away from the battle-hardened kirin, who uses her magic to float the platted food, teapots, cups, and a basket full of bread over to the table.

Yet neither of them ever broke eye contact.

Leonard closes his eyes and exhales, seemingly having lost the ‘staring contest.’ He then lowers himself to bow respectfully, the action garnering a pair of gasps from Sandy and Mulan. At that moment, the kirin he honored seemed to be taken aback by the action, her eyes widening as her muzzle fell slightly agape.

He rises and proceeds to unfurl the scroll, sitting on his flank and jotting something down with the jade writing tool. Both the tool and scroll react after the stallion finishes writing down his thoughts, and what he had etched onto the scroll’s face is now present for all to see via magically inscribed green texts.

We barely know each other, but I can tell that you are a mighty warrior. Redmane code of honor demands that I pay you my utmost respect. Knowing your name would also be a pleasure so that I may remember it for the rest of my life.

And should I ever find my way home again, I will sing its praise to my brothers and sisters in arms.

Both Sandy and Mulan were simply awed by those words and the bowing gesture. As for the warrior standing before Leonard’s eyes, she stares at the floating words silently and stoically.

And after moments passed by, a joyful chuckle escaped from the kirin’s throat.

“You must be Leonard, then. My heart beats at your praise, young warrior, and I’d be proud to exchange with you properly.”

Her gaze hardens as she shifts her form in a militaristic fashion, standing at a height just below two meters, enough to rival that of Rain Shine and Leonard.

“I am she who once served as the Jade Emperor’s tactician.

I am she who was trained by Sun Wukong—my master and father, though not by blood, whose name I have gladly taken as my own.

I am a survivor of an age long since passed. I witnessed the unfortunate demise of Bailong and the rise of the tyrannical Oolong.

I am… Sun Tzu.”

Chapter 18~ Tree of Buddha

The sound of pouring water breaks the moment of silence following the conjoined prayer led by Mulan as bowed heads are raised in tandem around the dark-brown rectangular-shaped mahogany table, closed eyes opening, and hooves—cloven and not—grasped at food items present on the table’s surface.

“Very well done, Jade Princess,” Sun Tzu commended while using her golden prowess to float a teapot and fill her tea cup before servicing everyone else’s, sitting on the light-brown single chair closest to the hallway.

Across from the battle-scarred kirin is Leonard, who’s set down on the adjacent single chair with Sandy and Mulan present on either of the three cushioned sofas going along the table’s lengths on opposite sides.

“It reminds me of the olden days when your father would host all manner of events in Ho Chi Mane.”

Mulan stifles a giggle with a forehoof while holding a stick of bread in the other. “You flatter me, Su-Zu. And thank you for calling me that. It’s…far more appropriate.”

Leonard was becoming most curious about the Jade Princess alias, swallowing the vegetable variety of dumplings he’d been chewing on before claiming the nearby scroll and jade writing tool.

With the stallion’s thoughts jotted down, the appropriate reaction transpires as green texts form above him.

Jade Princess? I thought you were an empress?

“That’s a question with a yes and no answer, Leonard,” Sandy answered. “Granted, yes, Jade Princess is correct, especially since she’s the Jade Emperor’s daughter. As for the empress bit, well—we all fucking love her!”

“Language, daughter,” Su-Zu scolds with a chilling sideglance, sighing after a moment’s pause. “That colorful tongue of yours proves that you’ve spent way too much time with your father.”

Sandy throws her head back, “Hah!” She joyously cackled, “It was apparently enough for him to bed you, Miss. Art of War,” the dark-orange kir-rabian rests a hoof on her chest, “Evident by yours truly.”

Miss. Art of War deadpans her offspring, raising an eyebrow. “...Shall I bring out a certain bamboo stick to teach you the Art of Child-Rearing? Emphasis on the rear part.”

Sandy’s eyes shot wide open, and she hurriedly sits upright with a forward gaze. “Shutting up.”

“Wise choice, daughter.” Sun sips at her tea. “Very wise.” She sets the teacup down gently and looks over to Leonard.

“My Sandy is correct, however. When one treats other beings with benevolence, justice, and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the nation will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leader.” Tzu’s red eyes set on the dark-gray kirin to her left, “And that leader is none other than this mare beside me. A pup who I’ve had the pleasure to watch grow into a fine lioness. Your father would’ve been proud, Mulan.”

“Y-you honor me greatly, Su-Zu,” Mulan expressed with reddened cheeks, but a thought causes her vigor to falter, her head lowering in shame.

“But I…don’t deserve it…”

Su-Zu and Sandy share a look with one another, their eyes going back to the now-disturbed Jade Princess.

“Mulan…” Sandy comments somberly.

Leonard knew exactly what was bothering the dark-gray kirin and sympathized with her. Vanquisher of Yin and Yang… He could only imagine how heavy that title must be.

Having absorbed what was said so far, Leonard’s hoof guides his crystalline writing tool against the scroll’s face to, admittedly, try to change the atmosphere. It wasn’t his place to pry on such a thing, and he felt she’d open up about it if and when she was ready.

I like those words, Sun Tzu. They remind me of my brother, Radahn.

“Ah, yes. These two have informed me that your brother is the General of a force called the Redmanes and is a…Equus demigod?”

Leonard neighed proudly, nodding his head repeatedly as words formed over him moments after.

Yup! He’s the strongest demigod in the Lands Between!

Sun chuckles in amusement. “A bold claim. Now, I personally can’t say for sure, but I have a credible source who claims that Selene Sol Invictus is the most powerful pony of our age.”

Leonard cocks his head in confusion.

Selene? Who’s that?

“Are you kidding me?” Sandy injects as Mulan and even Tzu are taken aback by those words. “We might not know much about the ponies’ history and culture, but everyone on the whole planet should know who Selene is.”

I’m sorry, but…I really don’t know who that is.

The trio of kirin simply stared at the stallion with looks that ranged from shock to dumbfoundment. Or, in Su-Zu’s case, unreadable.

“L-Leonard,” Mulan managed. “A-are you not aware of the…Sun and Moon Bearers?”

The crimson-maned equine shakes his head.

This is the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing. Then again, Queen Rennala does have a strong connection to the moon. Oh, and Princess Ranni.

Stunted silence takes hold.

“Buddha’s balls.”

“Sandy.”

“I’m sorry, mother! I-it’s just, this- this is insane! Seriously, Leonard, have you been living under a mound of sand or something? And who in the f—”

Tzu shoots her daughter a glare.

“—Freaking world is Rennala and Ranni?”

Mulan shakes her head to recover from everything she’d just read. “Leonard, those who shoulder the balance of the celestial bodies are essential for the very survival of our world. If even one of them broke that harmony, or, Buddha forbid, tries to claim the heavens for their own, the planet could freeze and burn.”

Sun Tzu nods in agreement. “Sun Wukong is the Sun-Bearer of Qina. And Chang’e, the White Tigress, is our land’s Moon-Bearer.

Now, let me be clear, Leonard. I fear nocreature, but those Bearers…” She leans forward and over the table, “They scare me.”

A shudder goes down Leonard’s spine. He was profoundly blown away by what these Bearers were capable of. In fact, now that he thought about it… The stallion feared what a mindless, raging Radahn would be like…

That would never happen, of course! But…what if he and Radahn never left that beach? What would they have become? Leonard remembered what it felt like—the Scarlet Rot, prodding at his sanity and mind.

“I love my father, Wukong,” the scarred Kirin comments, drawing Leonard out of his thoughts as Mulan and Sandy ate silently. “But if he were ever to be corrupted in any capacity, none of us could stop him. I’d wager even Oolong would fall to his wrath.”

Sun’s words lingered heavily in the air as every passing second felt like years.

Clanking glassware sounds off from Mulan’s direction as she chugged down the remnants of her teacup and set it down, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Sweet, Buddha. Wow. I think all this doom-and-gloom talk deserves a much-needed change of subject. With that in mind,” the Jade Princess envelops a particular vial resting on her side of the table in her green magical grasp and floats it over to the dark-brown stallion, “I want you to drink this.”

Leonard studies the vial set down in front of him, its cork being popped off, courtesy of Mulan.

“It’s water from the Stream of Silence, although I made some adjustments,” she informed. “We originally meant for you to drink it yesterday, but I was short a few ingredients. Have no fear; it’s perfectly safe.”

The stallion quickly jots down a concern on the nearby scroll.

Adjusted? What exactly am I drinking here?

“I’m sure Rain Shine and the Jade Princess have already told you, but the Stream of Silence numbs one’s emotions and renders them speechless,” Sun Tzu answered. “It was made to appease our Nirik transformations, but it has other uses, too.”

“So Mulan figured that maybe, just maybe, and with the right tweaks, it will enable you to speak,” Sandy chimed in. “Come to think of it, what is the main ingredient for this potion, Mulan?”

“Aside from the Stream’s water, it’s a little blue flower called Poison Joke.”

“I’ve…never heard of that.” Sandy shifts her gaze over to her mother, “You ever heard of such a flower, mom?”

Sun’s eyes wander over to the row of pictures depicting her late husband, the kirin’s cheeks going red as she chuckles with closed eyes.

“Your father and I have…experimented with it on occasion.”

Sandy’s eyes shoot wide open, realizing the implications as her features morph into disgust, “Ew. Way too much info.”

“Ignorance is often bliss, my dear.”

“Clearly.”

Mulan giggles at their exchange and looks to Leonard, who hesitates to drink the concoction.

“I swear upon the great Buddha that everything will be fine, Leonard.” She leans sideways and reaches out to set a comforting cloven hoof on the stallion’s shoulder. “Trust me.”

In retrospect, Leonard had no reason to doubt the kirin’s skills as a potion-brewer. He was able to understand their language because of her, after all. And yet…maybe he was better off not knowing what the potion was made of.

Knowing that he’s about to chug down a magic stream and some strange flower would be enough to deter anyone, he reasoned. Still, he had no reason to doubt Mulan, especially after all she’s done for him.

‘Radahn…give me strength,’ he states inwardly, nodding to Mulan and biting down on the potion vial’s neck before consuming its contents.

Mulan and Sandy look on in growing anticipation, Tzu taking on a neutral visage as nothing happens for a time.

Until…

Leonard’s body suddenly glows a bright blue, originating from his stomach and spreading outward, startling the stallion and causing a wide grin to form on Mulan’s muzzle.

“It’s working!” She cried out in excitement, clasping her cloven hooves together as if to say a prayer.

“And that was my first time making it, too.”

“Did you just…?” Sandy asked in suspicion, narrowed black eyes and with raised ears bent towards the dark-gray kirin’s direction. Naturally, Tzu had also heard those whispered words—sighing like a disappointed mother.

The red-maned stallion shoots his head over to Mulan for any and all forms of clarification while the glow emanating from his body grows brighter and brighter.

“Let it do its thing, my friend! This isn’t the first time I’ve used it, you know?”

“Bullshit…” Sandy mutters her doubts.

“For once…I must agree with your choice of words, daughter,” Su-Zu voiced, allowing her daughter’s language to slide just this once.

The food on the table had begun to go cold due to the phenomenon having stolen everyone’s attention and doing away with their appetite for the time being. Finally, the blue light shining off of Leonard starts to dim and recede into the stallion, and the last flickers of light snuff out from within his throat like a blown-out candle.

Leonard rests a forehoof against his chest, raising it up to his neck while patting himself along the way.

“Di-did it-” He paused, a dark-brown hoof coming up to cover his muzzle. “By the Elden Ring…”

Mulan, Sandy, and Tzu’s ears twitch and reach skyward as, at long last, they’d finally heard his voice. It was a rather joyful voice, not exactly on the deeper side of the spectrum but still proper for the stallion sitting in front of them.

And before any of the kirin could speak, Leonard’s face practically explodes with happiness.

“Wow!” He abruptly shouts, causing two of the kirins’ eyes to widen, save for Tzu. “That- this- I mean- just wow! So this is how it feels to talk. The air swirls along the walls of my throat as the words come out and that rumbling sensation. I love it!”

Mulan and Sandy’s mouths dropped halfway through the stallion’s rambling.

“Hoho boy, let me tell you, everything that’s happened to me lately is a lot to proceed, uh, prosess…pro-prokesh, wait, where did the K come from? Uh- DEAL WITH!” He finished with a beaming smile.

Sandy’s head practically fell off her shoulders. “…The fuc- OW!”

“Don’t think this excuses you to use such language, daughter,” Sun lectured, having bonked the top of her daughter’s head with a cloven forehoof.

“W-well,” Mulan began with uncertainty. “Hehe, It’s, uhm…safe to say that it worked. Ehehe…”

“Huh, it’s funny, the words flow so fluently in my head, but when I try to let them out, it’s so hard, you know?” Leonard continued. “I mean, you wouldn’t know because you mares could always talk, unlike me, and- oh! I apologoose, uh, apologeese- no, no, that’s not right, uhm… SORRY! Yeah, yeah, sorry. Look at me going on and on and on and- I’ll just- I’ll just be quiet now.”

The stallion rubs the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly. Mulan tries her best to fight back laughter while Sandy deadpans and becomes admittedly annoyed by his mouth’s newfound prowess, which seems to lack limits and reminds her of a particular kirin and giraffe hybrid.

“Oh, great… Now the trick is getting him to shut up again…”

“Sandy,” Mulan voices her displeasure. “Don’t be rude.”

“Again, I’m sorry,” Leonard entered. “It’s just, words can’t express- I mean, I can express words now, but-”

“We get it,” Sandy monotonously interjects.

“My point!” The stallion happily takes control of the conversation with a raised forelimb. “Is that I’ve spent most of my life without a voice, and now I have-” He suddenly gasps loudly with wide eyes in realization, “I just realized… I can… I can…”

Leonard abruptly raises his head and throws a dark-brown hoof into the air.

“SIIIIIIIIING~”

“NO!” Sandy roars out with a flaring horn, causing a white magical aura to seal his mouth shut. “No, no, no, no!” She emphasized with an appointed hoof. “None of that. No singing, no talking. Got it?”

“Mm-mmm,” he hummed while nodding his head.

“Good.” The kir-rabian hybrid banishes her magical grasp, “Now that we-”

“Quaking announces his arrival~!”

“Ugh!”

“The Earth quaaaakes~!”

“How is it possible to hate and like someone at the same time?!”

“Followed by… A violent explosion~!”

“Oh, come on, Sandy,” Mulan comments with pleasantly closed eyes during the stallion’s lullaby, swaying left to right. “He actually has an amazing singing voice.”

“Shattered Earth and defeated enemies~! Lion, I swear allegiance to you; sacred blood courses in you~!”

“That’s it! I’m done; I’m taking my breakfast to my forge!” Brought to her limit, Sandy seizes her plate, chopsticks, and teacup in her magic and hurriedly makes her way out of the living room.

“Protector of the planet, known as Starscourge~!”

……….

Leonard’s voice becomes somewhat distant as Sandy stands in the hallway just before the home’s circular entrance. She finally lets out a sigh of relief, being mindful of the items floating around in a white aura.

Then, the edges of her muzzle curl upward, followed by a hearty chuckle.

“He’s going to be a pain in my ass.”

……….

In the living room, Sun Tzu studies the stallion across from her, who’d finished his song and basked in the applause of Mulan’s cloven forehooves.

Her ears picked up the sound of the home’s doors opening and being closed shut, signaling her daughter’s departure.

“What a wonderful song, Leonard!” Mulan gleed. “Is it in honor of your brother?”

“It sure is!” Leonard confirmed proudly. “Jerren and the other Redmanes surprised him with it after we returned from our siege of the Royal Capital, Leyndell. Wow, I think I’ve got the hang of talking after that song. Hopefully, anyway.”

“Leyndell? A capital? Hmm… Even with our minimal knowledge of the ponies, I’m fairly certain we’d know of a capital with that name.”

“It’s hard to miss, really. What with the Erdtree and all that.”

“...E-Erd…tree?”

“You haven’t heard of the Erdtree?”

“No… But I do know of the Tree of Buddha.”

“Tree of Buddha?”

“Mhmm. It’s a crystalline tree located in the depths of Ho Chi Mane. Which, sadly…is the domain of Oolong. Legends say that there’s a crystal tree just like it in every nation and that each one has a direct connection to the great Buddha, the creator of all that exists.”

“Amazing… Well, the Erdtree isn’t made of crystals; think of a giant golden tree with branches that almost block out the sky. That said, it does serve a similar purpose. Could they be the same thing?”

“It’s certainly a possibility. As I said, every nation supposedly has one, so ‘Erdtree’ might just be yours, although it does present the possibility of the ponies having two trees instead of one. Fascinating. Simply fascinating! You’ve been nothing but a wonder since your arrival, Leonard.”

“And I finally have the chance to thank you properly for helping me. Seriously, thanks. You’ve all been really nice to me; well, Rain Shine had her moments, but she’s okay. Although…there are the constant looks I get in the village, that includes the ‘Hey, wanna rut me?’ kind. Like those Guan mares. And Flare, especially Flare.”

“Y-yeah, sorry about all of that…”

“Nah, it’s cool. I mean, you’re all at war with this Oolong person, and you’ve already warned me about the whole mare-dominant-populace thing. Really, I’m not holding it against any of you.”

“Thank you, Leonard,” Mulan expressed with a warm and intoxicating smile. “You’re a very understanding person… I… I wasn’t expecting that.”

He shrugged, “Eh, the Lands Between is a pretty harsh place, so one learns to ‘filter things out,’ in a sense.”

As the duo continued to converse, the topic now shifting toward Mulan informing the stallion of any further inquiries of the kirins’ culture being answered at the school grounds, Sun Tzu had been present in the background throughout the entire exchange, motionless and silent.

What Leonard and Mulan failed to realize, however, was that she had enacted powers she’d inherited from Sun Wukong. It was the ability to decipher a being’s truest intentions, to see through any and all lies.

During their earlier conversation regarding the Tree of Buddha and the other trees present within the other nations, Mulan was missing one small yet crucial detail pertaining to them. Each possessed six artifacts…and the virtues one must have to wield them.

And now... Sun Tzu had measured Leonard's worth as a pleased expression crept onto her face.

'A warrior who possesses a pure heart. Hmm... He has that match with Flare Burst later. There's still a few more hours left until then, so maybe I should...'

Author's Note

Flare vs Leonard shall finally take place in the next chapter. :pinkiehappy:

Okay, I feel like some context is needed, as I know some eyebrows must've been raised.

The idea of there being multiple trees actually exists in the IDW comics. The problem, however, is that it was excused by many, myself included, because we were always led to believe that there was only ever one tree. I've taken that concept and added my own spin to it.

You may also be wondering about how the ponies even have a tree, especially since it was the Pillars of Equestria who planted the seed to grow it. But that's just it! A seed. To which I say: guess what tree that seed came from? :raritywink:

And here's Leonard's voice incase the link I added in the chapter doesn't work well:

I'll also be providing voices that I think fit well with some of the other characters, too. I'll post them in future chapters, perhaps in blogs, as well.

Ah, I almost forgot one more thing. That song Leonard sang? It's the English-translated lyrics to Radahn's boss theme:

Chapter 20~ Leonard vs Flare Pt: 2

With the gong having been struck, Leonard starts to side-step clockwise on his hindlegs while his opponent, Flare, goes counterclockwise, both combatants holding their staves outward firmly in their forelimbs. All while the crowding masses beyond the arena cheered and voiced their anticipations.

Leonard could never imagine the day would come when he’d be fighting in a bipedal stance. Such a notion would be seen as virtually impossible prior to the strange spell Jerren had cast. Absurd, even. And yet, here he was, although it wasn’t nearly as upright as Radahn and the other humans of the Lands Between as it possessed a slight hunch comparatively.

It was one of several things he’d been sure to thank Tzu for during her tutelage. The last thing he needed was to be falling over frequently during the match. There was also a particular matter concerning his outfit, which formed a smirk on his muzzle as the roar of the audience slowly died down.

“I can’t wait to wipe that smirk off your face,” challenged Flare, the duos’ hoof steps clopping against the wooden surface of the arena as they circle one another. “It’s flattering to know that you had to seek Sun Tzu’s aid just to stand a chance against me. So much for all that bravado whe-”

The stallion’s abrupt action interjects her words as he lunges forward and swings his stave overhead with an arm resting at his side, causing Flare to dodge the attack in the form of an aerial backflip.

Flare spins her stave while twisting in the air, and as she steadies herself and freefalls to the arena, intending to land gracefully on a single hindleg, Leonard seizes the opportunity and charges at her again just as the crimson-maned kirin’s cloven foot touched down on the arena’s surface.

However, those seconds of contact were enough for Flare to kick off toward the heavens again, evading another one of Leonard’s strikes as he looked back and skyward at her over his left shoulder.

Seizing the opening, Flare spins her staff and roars while descending upon her brown-coated opponent, who just barely manages to raise his stave to defend himself.

[KLOMP]

The collision of their wooden weaponry echoes across the forestation, followed by the ever-watchful crowd’s explosive reactions. Leonard can be seen skiing backward a short distance across the arena with gritted teeth of resistance as, despite defending himself, Flare’s attack still contained enough force to push him back, paired with the stallion only narrowingly managing to set up a defense.

Leonard’s skiing comes to a halt. He then regains his bearings, spins his stave overhead while tilting his head to avoid hitting himself, and tucks it under his arm in a sideward stance before pushing his other arm out as if challenging his opponent with an appointed forehoof.

Over a ten-foot distance before the stallion’s ebony eyes, Flare flawlessly balances herself on a single hind leg like a qinese crane, the upper length of her staff gently pressed across her back.

“Striking at me while my guard’s down, huh? For that, you’re doing all the work during our first night together, breeder.”

“Sorry, Flare, but I’m here to win,” Leonard responds with a wink, spinning his staff around and thrusting it forward. “Tell you what, though. If victory is yours, I’ll gladly ‘do all the work’ on our first night and every other night after that. I am what Redmane horse breeders would call a Chef-De-Race, after all.”

Flare raises a curious eyebrow, “Meaning?”

A hearty chuckle vibrates the walls of Leonard’s throat. “Beat me, and maybe I’ll consider telling you.” He finished with a toothy grin, prompting Flare to narrow her eyes in determination while sporting a grin of her own.

“I like you.”

The kirin rushes forward from her crane-like stance and fires up her horn along the way to levitate her weapon in a light opal aura, closing in on the stallion like a true predator on all fours. Leonard takes on a defensive fighting stance as it now looks as if he were fighting two opponents.

Flare wills her staff to engage while leaping to the side and out of view as the wooden weapon strikes Leonard’s stave repeatedly, the stallion parrying and retaliating against the inanimate object. The Redmane’s attention was now divided between the staff he’s currently engaged with and the kirin puppeteer pulling at its strings stalking at his right.

As Leonard sideglances at Flare while simultaneously contending with her weapon, the kirin suddenly vanishes with a burst of magic.

‘Shit!’ He inwardly exclaims in caution. ‘Radahn’s balls, this is-’

A burst of magic abruptly graces his sense of hearing, followed by Flare manifesting in front of him yet below her staff as she’s lowered to the arena’s surface like a feline ready to pounce onto unsuspecting prey. Flare lunges forward and lets out a sawing roar, tackling Leonard onto his back and standing over him. The sound of the stallion’s staff clanking against the arena due to having been dropped in the process and the watchful crowd’s wild reactions follow seconds after.

Flare swiftly rests her cloven forehooves on Leonard’s forearms to pin him down despite the stallion’s struggle and effort. She also uses her hind legs to wrestle and entrap Leonard’s own, just as he is about to use them to get her off of him.

The pinned stallion continues to resist with gritted teeth, his defiant and determined eyes aimed directly up at the kirin’s own, who looks down at him with a pleasantly toothy grin.

“Just so you know, stud,” Flare says as she leans down and brings her muzzle inches away from Leonard’s face, whispering sultry into his right ear, ‘I’m literally just toying with you, and here you are, already being mounted by yours truly~.’

The crimson-maned kirin maneuvers her head and glides her tongue from the bottom to the top of Leonard’s right cheek, causing him to close his right eye as he compared her tongue’s touch to being slightly rough like sandpaper before planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Heh. Not bad, Flare,” Leonard commended as Flare inched her muzzle away. “I guess you earned that lick. But that’s all you’re getting for now.”

“Oh?” She chuckles. “And what, pray tell, is preventing me from going for more than just a silly little lick on the cheek or pec on your head? Really. Do tell.”

“Yeah, well. Thing is… I can teleport!”

Flare blinks.

“...Say what now…?”

……….

“Get up, Leonard!” Sandy bellows from among the audience, standing alongside her mother while Udrako, Angus, and the black bull’s family root for the saddle arabian combatant.

However, as the dark-orange kir-rabian turns to her mother for guidance, realization and a hint of relief build within Sandy as the expression on Tzu’s face says it all. It was neutral. Unbothered. But for Sandy, that spoke volumes in of itself.

“The battle has only just begun, daughter,” Tzu states without ever taking her red eyes off the events within the ring. “Fear not. You’ll find that Leonard isn’t as helpless as it might seem. It’s like I often tell you, ‘Pretend to be weak, so your enemy may grow arrogant. Arrogance causes the enemy to leave the door open…allowing you to rush in.’”

At that moment, something transpires within the arena, causing another joyous uproar amongst the audience and stealing Sandy’s immediate attention.

“Holy shi-OW!”

“No swearing in my presence, daughter.”

“For the love of—come on—I’m over two hundred years old!”

……….

The golden borders of Leonard’s clothing glow with enough intensity to cause Flare to shield and close her eyes. “What in the diyu did he just do?!” She cried out.

Leonard vanishes from beneath the kirin via a burst of golden magic energy and reappears with another burst next to his staff.

“Did he just teleport?!” One of many nearby voices comments.

“I thought he didn’t have magic?!”

“It’s got something to do with his clothes!”

“Yeah! I saw them glow!”

“Thank you, Tzu,” Leonard mutters as he quickly picks up his staff and focuses on Flare, charging forth to capitalize on her vulnerable state. He utilizes his stave to pole jump into the air, spins, and channels all of his strength into a decisive strike aimed at a particular area of Flare’s body.

Her flank.

[WOPACK]

“AAAAHHHH~!” Flare cries out to the heavens in great pain and a sprinkle of embarrassment, dropping her staff on the wooden surface as a fine red outline of Leonard’s stave is left behind and engraved into her cream-coated flesh that wasn’t protected by her draconian-like scales.

Several members of the audience wince, ‘Ooh,’ and whistle in response to what had happened, but as Leonard continues his assault and attempts to make another strike, Flare throws her hindquarters into the air and stands on her forehooves before somersaulting away.

Leonard gives chase and strikes at her during her acrobatic movement. But her timing was practically flawless as her forehooves launched her backward evasively just as the stallion went for another swing—despite the pulsating pain still present on the kirin’s rear.

The cycle continues several more times until Flare launches herself even higher into the air than ever before and uses her magic to stay afloat, stopping Leonard in his tracks as he takes a combative stance while looking up at her.

“Hah! Hey, Flare?!” His call garners the kirin’s shocked-at-what-just-happened attention. “I hope you’re not feeling butthurt after that. Eh?” He questioned while looking around and allowing the joke to sink in. “Eh?”

A moment of silence takes hold.

“Booo!” The crowd responds.

“Aw, come on!” Leonard retorts to the masses. “That one was a good one!”

“How?!” Flare’s voice suddenly boomed from above after the audience died down. “How did you do that?!” She demanded while landing in the arena. “Saddle arabians don’t have magic!”

“That may be true, Flare.”

Sun Tzu answered, causing Leonard and Flare to shift their gaze toward the southern portion of the arena, whereupon the crowd splits for the scarred kirin as she makes her way toward the ring.

“But there’s something saddle arabians excel at that magically gifted entities like kirin often overlook.” Tzu’s brown-coated and golden-scaled form positions itself at the arena’s fence.

“Enchantments.”

“E-enchantments?!” Flare questioned, practically voicing the same curiosity that flowed throughout the crowd. “You mean to say that Leonard’s clothes are enchanted with spells?!”

“A few, yes. But they’re mostly for utility rather than pure combat, and there are limits.” Tzu closes her eyes as if to draw upon a pleasant memory. “As some of you may know, my late husband wore that same attire with dignity and pride. What you don’t know, however, is that I added a few…adjustments to it and presented those changes to my dearly beloved on our wedding day.”

Murmurs of curiosity and interest fluctuate as all in attendance—save for Mulan and Rain Shine, who already possessed knowledge of what was being revealed, and Leonard, via his training with the battle-hardened kirin—were entranced by the wonder of her tale.

“The golden fabric you all see forming the borders is laced with several strands of hair from my father, Sun Wukong.”

Flare’s eyes shot open even wider than they already were, followed by inquiries being thrown out by others in attendance.

“What?!”

“THE Sun Wukong?!”

“What else can those clothes do?!”

“I-isn’t that cheating?!”

Overhearing that latest inquiry, Tzu lets out a rumbling chuckle. “Neither Leonard nor Flare have made any official rules for this match. From what I understand, the agreement is simply to see if he’s capable enough to join the Blades and, per his wager with Flare, become her breeder should he lose this battle—that’s it.”

Voiced agreements are let loose from the crowd as, true enough, there weren’t any strict rules of engagement.

“Besides,” Tzu began, “couldn’t Flare also be considered ‘cheating’ for using her, let’s say, natural magic against a race that relies on artificial magic? That’s one of the reasons why I lent that outfit to him in the first place.”

Nearby agreements are released again, causing Flare to puff out her cheeks with an annoyed sideward look.

“Hmph!” She said through closed lips in dissatisfaction—Leonard, grinning at her in mockery.

“She got you there, Flare. Hahaha!”

Flare shoots her angered gaze to her opponent. “Oh, don’t you even start, you- y-you- cheater!”

“Says the magically gifted kirin, picking on little old magicless me.” He emphasized with a pout and pitiful eyes.

“Why you…!”

“Regardless of any and all perspectives, the fact remains that neither adversary has breached any rules, for there really aren’t any. Well, except for killing your opponent, of course.” Tzu sighed while shaking her head with closed eyes in disappointment, “Honestly. Whoever set this up is an absolute amateur.”

Incidentally, and across the way towards the northern side of the ring, Mulan lowers herself with folded ears behind the fence, earning a hearty head shake from Rain Shine.

“Now that I’ve hopefully covered any confusions present here, let us reconvene with the match.” Tzu raises and sets her sights on the purple-coated, blue-maned, mallet-wielding referee up on the tree platform.

“I leave the rest to you, Grapevine.”

Grapevine salutes with her mallet in response. “You got it, Sun!” She spreads her forelimbs apart to address the crowd, “Well! I think I speak for all of us when I say that that was certainly entertaining! Let’s call it our first round for now!”

The audience roars out in a celebratory fashion. All the while, within the arena, Flare takes a recuperative breath, followed by a joyful chuckle.

“Not bad, Leonard.” Her compliment draws the stallion’s attention from the referee. “Not bad at all. I’ll concede and give you this ‘round.’ I’m a grown lioness, and I can admit that I underestimated you.”

Leonard beams gratefully. “Haha! Well, gee. Thanks, Fla-!”

“Unfortunately for you, however,” she intervened in an icy tone, causing his words to be trapped within his throat. “Now that I know that you’ve got some Monkey King-approved and Sun Tzu-taught tricks up your sleeve…”

A sudden surge of light opal energy starts to form, grow, and surround the kirin’s form, following the alighted runes on her horn. Her mane and the manes of all in attendance are fluttered by the winds her build-up of power created, which has long since silenced the crowd.

“I’m going to take this seriously now.” Flare slowly hovers in the air. “I’m not holding back… ANY LONGER!”

Thrusting her forehooves apart, Flare creates a rectangularly transparent, magic-comprised, light opal casing over the arena, effectively shielding those outside and encasing herself and Leonard within.

“Woah-hoho!” Grapevine voiced, her words unhindered by the barrier as both combatants could still hear them. By Flare’s design, of course. “Looks like Flare’s getting fired up, everyone! In the countless battles I’ve seen her use that technique, only she’s ever walked out of it as the victor! Could our red-maned challenger be biting off more than he can chew?! Or does his attire truly hold some jaw-dropping surprises for us?! Let’s find out!”

……….

Amongst the crowd’s booming reaction to the referee’s announcement, Mulan, Rain Shine, Tzu, the Blades of Peril, and anyone else who knew the truest depths of Flare’s power all voiced their thoughts on the scenario from their respective sides of the arena.

Northern side of the arena:

“Good luck, my friend,” says Mulan.

“He’s going to need it,” Rain Shine adds. “That stallion’s about to discover why she’s called Flare Burst.”

Western side of the arena:

“This seems unnecessarily overkill,” a kirin comments.

“Not at all,” Blaza Qin voiced, standing nearby and overhearing the kirin’s words. “Flare’s opponent is donned in attire graced by the Monkey King and was trained by Sun Tzu herself. Flare’s already underestimated him once, and he arguably made her pay for it without using any of those powers. She won’t be underestimating him again.”

Eastern side of the arena:

“She’s actually going to use that technique,” a high-ranking member of the Blades of Peril comments.

“W-what technique…?” A new recruit inquired curiously.

“You’ll see for yourself, newbie. You’ll understand how Flare defeated Shuilong—the Water Bearer. One of the five Dragon Elements of Oolong’s elite force: the Black Lotus.”

“And that’s not even taking into account her nirik form,” another member of the Blade’s mid-rank adds. “She put that barrier up for a Buddha-damned good reason.”

Southern side of the arena:

“Was that wise, mother?” Sandy asked.

“I simply must agree, dearie,” Udrako chimed in, using her magic to secure the pups sitting on her back. “Why would you reveal all of that admittedly useful information? Doesn’t that just make things harder for poor Leonard?”

“That don’ sound like somethin’ you’d do without giving it much thought,” Angus Prairie adds to the conversation, nodding knowingly at the scarred kirin. “Which is why ah know there’s more to it than that. Ain’t that right, ol’ Tzu of the White Lotus?”

Tzu remains silent for a moment, her eyes never ceasing to study the stallion within the arena. Then, after what felt like years had passed, she broke her silence.

“During his training, Leonard drew upon a strange power source. One that’s left me perplexed since then.”

“Power source?” Sandy inquired.

“Perplexed?” Udrako questioned. “You?”

“You’ve got’ah be pull’n mah horn, Tzu,” Angus responds. “That there feller’s got soemth’n that even yawl can’t wrap yer head around? Sho-hoot. Well, ah’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”

“What was this power source, mother?” Sandy asked.

“It was only brief, daughter. But at that moment, when I pushed him to his very edge, I saw what looked like a fiery rune pattern in his eyes. And with it…a strange well of power he has yet to tap into. If he’s truly going to join the Blades of Peril, then this fight is more important than he realizes.”

……….

Satisfied with her work, Flare uses her magic to pull her staff off the floor and into her grasp in one swift motion, followed by her aiming the weapon down at her opponent, who readies himself for the next phase of their battle.

“Now then, Leonard.”

Five spheres of blood-red flames manifest all around the floating kirin, each one taking on the shape of the staff she wields within her magic. The fire-stave imitations move to form an arch above their creator, who looks down at her battle-stance opponent.

“Let’s turn up the heat. Hope you can handle it, stud.”

In the skies over and near the north-western border of Qina, where it blends into the Dragonlands, a brownish-grey male griffon nearing his late twenties with steeled brilliant orange eyes breaths in fatigue as he soared through the clouds with utmost haste.

Powerful wing flaps could be heard at his rear, but the flyer dared not to look back—not that he’d need to. He knew what was coming.

‘Bugger me!’ He cursed internally. ‘Just my luck! The one cave I choose to rest in belongs to a bloody nesting wyvern! Focus, Grover, you can-’

‘REEEEAAAAWWWRRR!’

The wyvern roars out as its full girth rises from below the clouds, its wings dispersing them in the process as the red-scaled behemoth with slitted orange eyes gives chase to its prey.

Grover’s pursuer opens its maw, lined with rows of sharp teeth, and intakes a large surge of air. Realizing what is happening behind him, Grover dives down just in the nick of time as the wyvern spews out a torrent of flames.

“Argh! Come on!” The griffon bellows in frustration. “Have you got nothing better to do than to chase me, you scaled, bird-brained wanker?!”

The wyvern roaring out in primal fury was his response.

“I’m not even on your turf anymore, ya git!” He scoffs while looking forward, trying to escape from his fire-spewing pursuer. But as he does so, a prime opportunity presents itself as he spots an enormous mountain with perilous peaks.

“Aha! There we go.” Grover celebrates before looking back to the wyvern, “With any luck, maybe I can trick this overgrown bastard into skewing himself on those mountaintops!”

With a plan in mind, Grover focuses all his efforts on reaching the mountain, dodging the wyvern’s attacks along the way. Unbeknownst to the griffin, however, is that the mountain’s peaks have earned it a particular title known to those who inhabited it in secrecy and isolation.

The Peaks of Peril.

Chapter 21~ Qinese Aspects

Flare’s magic holds her aloft by means of a light opal aura surrounding her body—Leonard spinning his Bo staff around in determined anticipation and on his hind legs—as the five fiery stave imitations floating around the scarlet-maned kirin zip towards her opponent, the original wooden Bo pressed against her back.

As the fiery weaponry descends upon Leonard, the first to reach him attempts a side-arched swing, prompting the stallion to swing his staff and step into a butterfly kick, acrobatically jumping over the flaming weapon. While in the air, he takes notice of a second scorched adversary closing in after the first and maneuvers his staff to block the oncoming attack.

Leonard then calls upon the enchantments of his clothing and vanishes in a burst of gold, reappearing behind Flare seconds later as her fiery weaponry floats in the distance where Leonard once stood.

However, the kirin’s ears alert their owner of the horse’s presence, having picked up a magical [PLINKSH] sound behind her, prompting her to immediately raise her wooden bo staff above her head just as Leonard performs a downward strike with his own.

[CLAMPK]

The collision of their hardwood weaponry cries out alongside the roars of the onlooking crowds beyond the arena’s confines. With admirable speed, Flare throws her hind legs upward with a growl and manages to strike Leonard’s stomach, sending him skyward before the stallion’s back crashes against the light opal barrier.

“Graugh!” Leonard gasped painfully from the collision, dropping his bo staff in the process. Gravity takes over from there as the stallion falls to the arena’s surface, letting out a grunt on impact.

“I told you, stud.” Flare’s voice teased from above, Leonard’s head going up to see her eloquently descend to the arena, her mane fluttering as she landed and stood on a single hind leg.

“I’m not holding back on you any longer.” Flare twirls her staff in a single cloven forehoof repeatedly while trekking across the arena, closing in on her downed foe at a steady pace. “Here’s a tip: you might want to use something else. You caught me unawares that first time, but I’m not an amateur,” she stops within bo’s reach of the stallion. “Never use the same technique against me twice.”

Leonard grins up at his opponent, “Thanks for the advice,” the golden borders of his clothing glow, “Flare.”

The actions of the red-maned stallion’s clothing jolt the kirin to utter caution, and he clasps his forehooves together with a resounding clop.

“Wukong’s Dispersal!”

Flare growls while leaping back, landing a generous distance away as four imitations of Leonard had formed and manifested after four pillars of golden energy evenly distributed on either side of the original stallion, who rises up from the arena’s surface.

All five Leonards strike a combative stance in perfect sync on hind legs, taking on a more ape-like posture as a golden spectral monkey flashes behind the collective of Leonards, prompting Flare to let out an annoyed scoff.

“Hmph… Monkey Style.” She snorts, letting out hot air from her nostrils. “Of course.”

The stallions collectively chuckle in unison.

“Tai Monkey Style, Flare,” the group corrects. “Tai.”

……….

“Monkey Style?!” Sandy exclaimed in shock from amongst the southern audience before looking at her mother. “You taught him Monkey Style?! Tai Monkey Style?!”

Angus Prairie raises an eyebrow, “There som’ kind’ah difference here?”

“There is, Angus,” Tzu answered. “Each of the innumerable Qinese martial arts, or kung fu, possesses its own levels of mastery—three of them in total.”

Tzu fires up her horn and creates a golden floating rune, the unmistakable pattern of the Qinese written language.

泰

“The first level is Tai, the novice of the three.”

The rune breaks apart and molds itself into another.

吴淑

“Then there’s Wu Shu, the trio's second and adept level of mastery.”

Tzu repeats the process once more, resulting in a new runic member of her homeland’s alphabet.

少林

“Finally, there’s Shaolin, the highest level of mastery.”

“Indeed, deary,” Udrako chimed in, lowering and bending her neck down to their level. “Dragon Style, Snake Style, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit—there's many of them.”

“And each represents the majority of Qina’s inhabitants,” Sandy adds. “Allowing one to essentially take on an aspect that grants them characteristics of the appropriate being the style is named after.”

Angus hums and nods in understanding. “Ah see. But then, why didn’t ya just teach that feller Horse Style? Makin’ ‘em ahll monkey-like seems mighty unnecessary.”

“It is necessary, Angus,” Tzu emphasized with a hardened look aimed toward the barrier arena’s innards. “Yes, I could’ve taught Leonard Horse Style. He is one, after all. The process would’ve been much smoother, to be sure.

However… If a fighter uses one of the Fearsome Three, the best hope for their opponent is to also use one of the Three. But even then, another problem presents itself, and it's all too apparent with these two.”

……….

Flare lets out a joyous chuckle while swiping her bo staff sideways, causing her fiery stave imitations to reform above her.

“Impressive, stud,” she commended. “I initially expected you to use horse-style martial arts when our match began. But seeing you wield one of the Fearsome Three makes you an admirable opponent. Had this been just a test of your capabilities, I daresay you’ve already passed and are more than able to join the Blades of Peril.”

“I’m a Redmane, Flare,” the central Leonard responds. “‘Admirable opponent’ doesn’t even begin to describe us, and we love learning new ways to fight.” The quartet shifts their stance in unison, swiping their staves to the right and resting them against their backs.

“Good thing I got myself a great teacher, eh?” He teasingly asked, earning a content ‘hmm’ from Flare.

“Indeed…” A toothy grin forms on the kirin’s face as she casually tosses her bo staff aside. “But so have I! And I’m not just talking about Rain Shine!”

With that, Leonard’s interest had been garnered, and a sudden surge in Flare’s light-opal magic aura jolts the five red-maned stallions to further attention. The kirin then lowers herself to the arena in a feline-like fashion, whereupon a spectral, transparent, hulking light-opal tiger with blue eyes forms over her, her fiery weaponry still floating above.

“Shaolin Tiger Style!” Flare boomed, her voice slightly deepened as the ‘tiger’s’ mouth moved in tandem with her own, followed by the duo raising their heads to roar in unison.

“Shaolin Tiger... Radahn’s balls,” The central Leonard couldn’t help but admire the spectacle with a hint of nervousness. Flare was essentially wearing the ‘tiger’ like a suit of armor, despite it being much larger than her, and its movements were in perfect sync with the kirin’s own as she took a step forward, causing the quartet of Leonards to step back.

“Hehe.” The five stallions laughed anxiously in unison.

“You know, Flare,” the original began, “I half expected you to use Dragon Style. I was NOT expecting… that. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume you learned it from someone who's a pretty big deal?”

Flare shrugs her shoulders, causing the ‘tiger’ to do the same, “Eh, just the literal demigoddess who raises and lowers the moon. Lady Chang’e, the White Tigress.”

The five Leonards share a look, turning their heads to one another before setting their sights on their opponent again.

“Well... Shit,” they sang together with deadpan expressions.

Both the ‘tiger’ and Flare chuckle in response. “If you all think that’s unsettling…you’re going to love this.”

Flare and her tiger imitation stomp a forehoof and paw together, causing the world all around the combatants to shift in a sudden show of flames and light-opal energy that presents itself on the barrier covering the arena.

Leonard and his clones are forced to shield their eyes from the growing intensity of heat and light. Suddenly, their ears start to pick up the unmistakable sound of wood set ablaze, and when they finally open their windows to their collective soul, they find themselves standing in the middle of a forest set on fire.

Leonard attempts to speak, but the sudden intake of smoke and charcoal burns his throat and fills his lungs, causing him to cough uncontrollably, although his clones remain unaffected.

“H-how did—” Waves of coughing interrupt the flow of his words, “—How did,” another cough, “How is she- AUHUGH! D-doing this?!”

“You were doomed from the moment I put up my barrier, stud. Though I can imagine just how confused you must be right now.”

Flare’s voice echoes around the five Leonards, despite the roars of the forest inferno, as their ears twitch and aim toward every direction. With a gesture of the original—coughing while doing so—the four clones urgently shift and form a circle formation.

“I’m not going to bore you with all the juicy details. That comes later. But I can assure you that you have no fear of dying here. Trust me.”

“Y-yeah?” Leonard managed to get out before coughing again. “Well, it kind of feels like you’re trying to—AUHUGH! K-kill me.”

“I’m not trying to kill you. But I am going to make this very unpleasant. You’re someone who’s been trained by Sun Tzu, for Buddha’s sake.”

Silence takes hold for what feels like eons as Leonard and his clones scan the ablaze forest perimeter around them.

“I’d be an idiot to let my guard down around you.”

Flare’s voice again spoke with enough intensity to put that of the roaring flames to shame. Leonard’s ears then flickered in response to something coming from the west, and as he turned to face it, there was nothing to be seen.

No… He was wrong. With narrowed eyes, Leonard managed to decipher a tree’s scorched bark having an indented surface, almost as if something had-

[GRRR-ZOOMPH]

An abrupt and swift presence, accompanied by a tiger’s growl, zips by at Leonard’s rear, cutting off the stallion’s focus as he looks back, whereupon he notices that he is now one clone short.

“What just happened?!” One of the three remaining clones questioned, practically voicing the original’s shock. “He was right there a second ago!”

“I don’t kno-!” A certain ‘tiger’s’ maw suddenly clamps shut over the clone’s head, jolting the remaining trio of Leonards to attention as the spectral beast retreats back into a wall of flames.

“Damn it!” The original stallion managed to curse without coughing, his mind racing for any and all possible routes for retaliation.

Of course…he had to keep up that appearance. Although inhaling smoke, not to mention getting dropped in the middle of a burning forest, wasn’t exactly part of the original plan. Luckily, said plan would help to alleviate that problem, too.

“Up there!” One of his two remaining clones called out with an appointed forelimb, followed by the original Leonard and the other clone shifting their heads towards the north, where Flare could be seen looking down at them from within her spectral tiger, its claws digging into the tree’s charred surface as her five fiery staffs float just overhead.

“Hello~,” Flare and her spectral tiger overhaul began. “You know, you’re making this way too easy for me. In less than five minutes, I’ve already dispatched two of those handsome clones of yours.”

With exceptional finesse, the ‘tiger’ and its creator within scale around the giant tree, disappearing behind its towering frame.

“And If I were a betting mare…”

Admittedly, Leonard and his remaining clones were getting tired of this game. To think that a simple contest of hitting each other with sticks would progress into…this. Even so, the stallion wasn’t entirely unprepared, thanks to Sun Tzu's intel.

“I’d wager that five clones are your max, am I right?”

“Haha! Yeah,” Leonard agreed while rubbing the back of his neck. “Got me there.”

‘She fell for it, boys,’ the stallion said internally via a mind link he shared with his creations. ‘It’s just like Tzu said: ‘Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. Let’s just keep Flare guessing for now.’’

‘‘If you know yourself but not the enemy,’’ the voice of a clone quotes, ‘‘for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. Heh. We’ve certainly been receiving the latter in this chaos around us.’’

‘Ah, but that leads back to our plan!’ The other clone chimed in enthusiastically. ‘‘In the midst of chaos, there is also…”

The trio nods together, and the two clones grab onto the original.

“Opportunity!” They shout outwardly in unison before Leonard is thrown with admirable force through and across the treeline, the stallion dodging obstacles, his eyes steeling and fixating on a particular target, muttering:

“It took a little longer than expected, but you can’t get away now, Flare.”

All while also following a golden, guiding stream of magic.

……….

Flare wills her ‘tiger’ to leap from tree to tree before finally landing on the ground, the spectral beast’s tail lazily swaying side to side in correspondence with her own. The five flaming staff imitations continued to follow her like loyal companions, and she intended to make good use of them for what came next.

“Only two more clones remaining,” the kirin said. “Leonard will be completely helpless once they’ve been dealt with.” A thought causes her to suppress a giggle. “More than he already is-”

“Hey, Flare!” Leonard’s voice suddenly presents itself, causing Flare to shoot her and, by extension, the ‘tiger’s’ head toward the rapidly encroaching stallion, who, like Flare, was now within a spectral, beastly aspect: a golden monkey.

“What?!” The kirin roared in shock as the stallion approached her through fire, smoke, and charcoal. “He found me?!”

While continuing his aerial approach, Leonard conjures forth a golden staff within his ‘monkey’s’ right hand. He then spins it around, controlling his primate aspect in a similar fashion to Flare and her ‘tiger.’

“You owe this Redmane another dance!” The stallion within challenged.

Flare’s ‘tiger’ unleashes a fearsome roar as the kirin within sends forth her fiery staff imitations to combat her adversary. But Leonard simply spins his staff imitation within his ‘monkey’s’ hands around before him, effectively blocking, ricocheting, and diverting the fiery staves away.

Within a more favorable distance, Leonard roars out and puppeteers his ‘monkey’ to swipe down upon their opponent, the kirin and her ‘tiger’ evasively leaping out of the way and onto a nearby tree face as the golden stave imitation crashes down on the earth, creating a sizable crater after a booming rumble.

The red-maned stallion sharply turns his and his aspect’s attention to the kirin, who scales up the large tree via the limbs of her ‘tiger.’ Acting quickly, Leonard twirls his staff around while turning in place before thrusting it forward and aiming it directly at the ‘tiger.’

“Extend!” He exclaims.

As Flare continues up the tree, she picks up the stallion’s words from below and dares to look over her shoulder, only to spot a golden staff elongating itself infinitely and coming at her like a loosened arrow.

“Shit!” She shouts, leaping off the tree and onto another one nearby just as the stave pieces through the last. “Heh. Not bad, stud.” The krin shifts her ‘tiger’ into a stance, preparing for a pounce. “Not bad at- AUGH!”

A second golden staff strikes Flare’s ‘tiger’s’ side section, prompting the kirin to maneuver her aspect and urgently jump away after recovering from the blow, only for another stave to strike downward on the ‘tiger’s’ back with great force.

Flare and her aspect are sent meteoring down to the flaming forest’s floor, shaking the general area on impact and creating a crater, its depth concealed within a cloud of ash and dust.

Leonard and his two clones, those responsible for the duo of sudden strikes on Flare and possessed monkey aspects of their own, come together to form a wall a short distance away from Flare’s crash site.

“We have just enough magic fuel left in our clothes’ enchantments for one final strike,” the clone to Leonard’s left voiced. “After that…bye-bye, magic.”

“We’ll need to make it count,” the other clone to the original’s right chimed in. “Once these aspects of ours are vanquished, you’ll once again be vulnerable to the elements, creator.”

“Right,” the original stallion states in agreement, followed by the trio sharing a look with one another, nodding afterward.

“We’ll take this time to prepare while she’s still down.”

……….

Following the impact, Flare lies splayed out on her back, beaten and battered, but with a satisfied grin. She looks up at the visible treeline beyond the crater’s mouth as her ‘tiger’ aspect has been shed from her former collision.

“Amazing~,” she mused with the red-maned stallion in mind. “He’s perfect. A breeder who can defend himself is always a treat.” Chuckling amusingly, Flare eloquently rolls over and pushes herself off the ground and onto her hooves in one swift motion, kicking up a gust of wind in the process.

“He’s up there plotting something at this very moment, no doubt,” the kirin began with closed eyes. “It really is a pity, then,” her eyes shoot open with ferocity, “that I’ll have to show him just how pointless any of his attempts are in this place.”

With a plan in mind, Flare proceeds to scale up the nearest incline of the crater, her cloven hooves grabbing onto dirt, ash, and rocks to pull herself up along the way. Upon reaching the mouth and pulling herself out of the earthly indentation, the scarlet-maned kirin surveys her surroundings, scanning the ablaze forestation for any signs of Leonard.

“Come on out, Leonard!” She called out while turning in place. “I’m not finished yet!”

“I kind of figured.” Her ears dart toward the direction of the stallion’s voice, and she turns her head accordingly. She then spots Leonard stepping around a tree to reveal himself, leaning against it afterward with the aid of his ‘monkey’ aspect.

However, she takes note of one glaring detail pertaining to his clothing. The golden fabrics of his attire’s borders were losing their hue, being nowhere near as lively as they once were at the start of their battle.

“You’re strong, Flare,” the stallion compliments genuinely. “Really strong. I’m learning a lot from this fight.”

“Good to hear it. By the way, I’m curious: How did you manage to find me before?”

“Those clones you destroyed? They marked that tiger of yours with Wukong’s Trace,” the stallion illustrates his point by resting his ‘monkey’s’ right hand on the tree, leaving behind a golden handprint. “Once a connection was established, I followed a golden stream of magic that’s only visible to my eyes, and it led me straight to you.”

The revelation causes Flare to stare wide-eyed at her opponent for a time in silence, which is then abruptly broken as she throws her head back for boisterous laughter.

“Why, you sneaky little equine-shaped monkey!” She managed during her laughter, regaining her composure a moment later. “But I guess that’s to be expected from a Monkey Style user, of course.” Her eyes drift off towards the borders of the stallion’s clothes.

“Hmm. Can’t help but notice your golden glow seems to be losing its’ vigor.”

“I’m not even going to lie to you, Flare; I’m running low on power here. If we don’t take you down with this final attack,” Leonard’s ‘monkey’ points up at the treeline, Flare following the gesture, after which she spots innumerable amounts of Leonards positioned on branches and latched onto trees all around the vicinity, each with its own golden primate aspect, “we’re done for.”

The kirin was at a loss for words in sight of the sheer number of clones her adversary had managed to conjure and position subtly. Every Leonard in attendance began to charge up some form of attack in their ‘monkey’s’ palm before aiming it at Flare in unison. And just as they all let loose a warcry while firing off golden comet-shaped energy projectiles, Flare raises a cloven forehoof high into the air in defiance during the barrage’s approach.

“That will be all, Leonard! BEHOLD THE TRUTH!”

Reality itself begins to bend and warp in response to her proclamation, the phenomenon startling every stallion, clones and the original alike, as the world was consumed in a burst of white light.

“W-what just…?” Leonard questioned in shock, his mind trying to make sense of things. He was now on the ground again within the…forest.

A forest that wasn’t on fire anymore, as if it were restored to its original self before the flames tarnished its beauty. Moreover, not a single member of his legion of clones could be seen. And as he looks himself over, he realizes that he has been stripped of his former attire.

“Where are my clothes?!” The stallion questioned in shock. “What did she do to me?!”

“Everything you’ve just experienced was both a dream and reality.” Flare’s voice answered from above, prompting Leonard’s gaze to scale up a tree, spotting the kirin and her aspect lying sideways on a branch, their tails hanging lazily off of it.

Seconds ticked by as the duo simply stared at one another. Flare, smirking, and Leonard, utterly confused.

“Don’t worry about your clothes, by the way,” Flare states as she fires up her horn and levitates his neatly folded apparel in a light-opal magical grasp, setting it down alongside her ‘tiger’s’ frame. “I’ve got it right here. You’ll need to recharge them later.”

“You…undressed me?” He questioned, followed by a suspicious glare. “...You didn’t do anything funny to me, did you?”

“No, no. I assure you.”

“You stripped me…”

“Gently and non-invasively, that is. Although I’d be lying if the thought didn’t cross my mind.”

“Ok, ok, forget about that for a second!” The stallion bursts while shaking his head with closed eyes, opening them to question the kirin further. “What, in Radahn’s name, just happened?”

Flare chuckles as she and her aspect lift themselves up from the branch before jumping down and joining Leonard on ground level.

“I’ll try to keep this brief,” she starts while stepping around to circle the stallion in a fashion similar to the predatory aspect she controlled, “but you’ve been, let’s say, daydreaming.”

“D-daydreaming…?” He inquired while bending his neck back to look at her as she passed his rear. “Like, actual daydreaming?”

“It’s what we like to call it,” she answered, coming up alongside his right and positioning herself in front of him again. “It occurs when I ensnare someone, that being you, within a spacial fragment of the Dream Realm. The thing is, you’re not actually asleep, but I can infiltrate your psyche all the same.”

The stallion’s eyes shoot wide open in realization. “That barrier you put up… That’s when you…”

Flare nods. “I wanted to see what you were capable of and how you would adapt in the heat of battle, pun very much intended. So, I allowed you to feel like everything you were doing and were experiencing was real. I even changed the scenery for you, which I can do on a whim.

In ‘reality’ though? This space? You were just standing right there, creating your clones, summoning your aspects, everything. When you and your clones started to fire off those blasts of yours, I got a good grasp of your capabilities, and now…here we are.”

Leonard’s muzzle parted slightly, the stallion at a loss for words as the true gravity of the situation came down on him.

“I wasn’t lying when I said that you were doomed from the moment I put up that barrier, stud.”

She practically voiced the conclusion he was coming to, garnering a chuckle from him. “I, uh, don’t suppose there’s a way for me to get out of this?”

“There is, actually,” that caused his ears to rise, “but I’m not telling you,” she emphasized with a wink. “Nice try, though.”

“Damn,” he jests while shaking his head. “And you learned how to do this from a moon-bearing demigoddess?”

“Lady Chang’e, yes.”

“Ok…” Leonard stares at her. “...That’s fucking awesome.”

“Right?!” She expressed in glee. That is until she abruptly shifts her features into a more serious expression, which causes caution to rise in Leonard, the stallion gritting his teeth in anticipation.

“But that’s enough talking for now.” She steps forward while licking her lips; he steps back.

“N-now, Flare, hear me out,” he stutters while backing away, “m-maybe we can just go back t-to using Bo staffs?”

“No,” the kirin declined instantly, continuing her approach. “But if it’s of any consolation, Leonard, I promise to treat you well-”

[CRACHINK]

In an instant, the barrier Flare had erected and the spacial anomaly within, by extension, was penetrated, a deafening sound almost akin to shattered glass gracing both of their ears and causing them to flinch unbearably with closed eyes.

Opening their eyes once more, Leonard and Flare found themselves within the hardwood arena again, the remains of her barrier sizzling away in light opal particles. Additionally, the crowd was gone, with not a single onlooker in sight.

“Leonard! Flare! This match is over!” Mulan calls out from above, the duo looking up to see her hovering in place within a jade-colored magic aura.

“Seriously, Empress?!” Flare roared up at Peak Village’s leader with a hint of frustration. “I was just about to-”

“There’s an emergency!” Mulan interjects sternly and with urgency, garnering Flare and Leonard’s attention as she tosses a potion down to the crimson-maned kirin, who catches it within her magic.

“ALL members of the Blades of Peril are to head to the village NOW!”

Mulan’s tone causes Flare to shift her stance in a militarized fashion. “What’s the situation, Empress?” She inquired while popping the cork off the potion and downing its’ substance.

“A wyvern is attacking and has claimed several of our sisters’ lives. That creature...has a blood debt to pay.”

Chapter 22~ Spiritspring Thrust

Having departed from the Training Grounds, Leonard’s legs propel him forward with urgency along the dirt pathway piercing through the forest and lined with rocks bearing runic symbols on either side, guiding him back to the wyvern-sieged village.

The stallion’s mane and tail dance in the wind as his nostrils flare in rhythm to the heart beating in his chest—a haunting scent of smoke bombarding his sense of smell and growing stronger with every passing second.

A shadow passes over the bushels of branches and leaves above, accompanied by a rumbling growl, prompting the stallion to lift his head in motion as he noticed the visage of the red-scaled behemoth gliding through the air with outstretched leathery wings through the cracks and windows of the treetops.

Even from this angle, Leonard quickly deduced that the large flyer was turning around for another pass over Peak Village. After all, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen a village being razed by such draconian entities, as such raids were frequent in the Lands Between. This was, however, the first time he’d have to apply himself without his brother's aid and protection.

But things were different now, and he wasn’t that same comically scrawny horse anymore.

Leonard’s ears twitched during his thoughts as he picked up the sounds of nearby conflicts—just before the stallion leaped forward unhesitantly and burst out into the open expanse of Peak Village.

The stallion paused at the forest edge he’d emerged from as numerous members of the Blades of Peril, along with able-bodied villagers, fired off spells from their alighted antler(s) aimed at the wyvern that passed overhead with a deafening, thunderous roar. But the magical blasts practically bounced off the draconian’s scales, the resulting magic particles sprinkling off afterward.

Much like the magical projectiles, arrows let loose from bows and crossbows hadn’t fared any better.

“Get those villagers to safety!”

Leonard had heard Blaza Qin's familiar voice cry out from somewhere nearby. The stallion’s head turned toward the source as the third-class master sergeant continued to bark orders, those under her obeying her every command.

“Sweet Buddha!” A Blades member exclaimed while escorting a common kirin to safety. “What does it take to kill that thing?!”

“Just focus on evacuations, recruit,” another member of a higher rank responds while tending to a kirin’s injuries. “Our big hitters will deal with Scaly soon enough.”

“Put those fires out!” Blaza ordered as Leonard urgently approached her.

“Wu Shu Koi Fish Style!” One of the Blades enacting Blaza’s order shouts, their singular antler alighted in an orange aura as a spectral fish of similar coloration and of a species Leonard had never seen nor heard of before appears around the kirin’s helmet, followed by a surge of water being spewed forth from the whiskered fish’s mouth.

“Blaza!” Leonard called out while coming to a stop and standing at the ready in a commendable militarized fashion, garnering the kirin’s attention as she turned to face him. “Where do you want me?”

Blaza was admittedly impressed by how smoothly the stallion had managed the transition. But if what she witnessed in that arena was anything to go by… Yeah. Her mind was officially made up.

“Good to see you up and about after that match with Flare, Leonard.”

Leonard shrugs, “Eh, it’s nothing a potion from Mulan couldn’t handle.”

Blaza nods. “Alright, let’s cut the crap. Here’s the situation: the strongest of our members are out there trying to divert that thing’s attention away from the village while we focus on evacuating the populace and limiting the damage. Any questions?”

“No, ma’am!”

“Good, 'cause I’d call you a Buddha-damned dumbass for not understanding anything I just said. Now fuck off to the center of Peak Village and do whatever you can. We’ve got things covered here.”

Leonard nods in affirmation and turns away with urgency.

“Hold up!” Blaza calls out from the rear, prompting the stallion to halt a short distance away and look back at her over his shoulder.

“Don’t you go dying on us, you hear? I want to see how you handle yourself during our missions beyond the Peaks of Peril, which can’t happen if you’re burnt to a crisp. Understood?”

A smile takes its place on the displaced stallion’s face. “Sounds like a Radahn-blessed plan to me!” He roared enthusiastically, rearing up and letting out a whinny before running off toward the heart of Peak Village.

Within Peak Village’s epicenter, which served as the marketplace and is often used for gatherings and assemblies, a large number of kirin scurry about as evacuation efforts and retaliatory actions against the wyvern continue.

Rain Shine and Mulan seemed locked in conversation among the masses, an aura of disagreement practically radiating off them.

“This isn’t up for debate, Mulan,” Rain Shine asserts with an icy tone, standing before and towering over the dark-gray-coated leader of Peak Village, whose body was filled with inner conflict. “You and I both know how dangerous it is for you to use the full extent of your powers.”

Despite the validity of Rain Shine’s argument, Mulan’s heart insisted that she act; she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing while the wyvern burned their home and slaughtered her people.

“But, I-!”

“I said no!” The larger kirin interjects sharply, bearing her canines and teeth in a growl. “Things will only get worse if you go up there. If Genghis Kahn were to sense your chi, even for a second, it would be more than enough to bring him here. And if that were to happen...” Fear begins to seep into Rain’s words, to which the kirin quickly takes a recuperative breath to steel her nerves.

“It would mean the end of Peak Village.”

Mulan parts her lips to speak, only for the sky above them to suddenly illuminate with blinding ferocity, followed by a ferocious roar being loosened from the wyvern’s maw, the scenario garnering everyone’s immediate attention as ears perked up and heads are raised towards the heavens.

“Flare, myself, and the best of the Blades will handle the wyvern,” Rain Shine states, fixing her gaze back onto Mulan. “You will remain here and help in the evacuation efforts.” Her features begin to soften as she spots Mulan’s state of helplessness, sorrow, and frustration.

The larger kirin takes a step closer and lowers her head to gently nuzzle at the base of Mulan’s singular antler. “I know it frustrates you, my friend. But you mustn't join the fray,” Rain pleads before tenderly seizing Mulan’s right cloven forehoof with her own and raising it. “Promise me that you won’t, despite how hard I know it must be for you. Please…”

The duo locked eyes, and seconds passed for what felt like many cycles of Sun Wukong and Lady Chang’e’s celestial bodies. But Mulan soon relents as her ears fold against her head, and she hesitantly agrees to Rain Shine’s ‘terms.’

“I…” Mulan croaked. “I-I promise, Rainy.”

Seemingly pleased with the Peak Village leader’s response, ‘Rainy’ steps back, turns around, and looks skyward with determination. She raises a cloven forehoof as light-blue magical particles flow around her like an ocean current, generating winds in her vicinity that flutter her mane, including the manes of those nearby and any objects and fabrics subject to the manifested breeze’s might.

The magic particles then gather within the palm of ‘Rainy’s’ cloven digits before stretching out in either direction to form a particular type of weapon—a formidable polearm—her trusty naginata. All the while, some of those particles had also begun to surround her hind legs.

Rain swipes her weapon sideways and twirls it around before rearing up and grasping it with both of her forelimbs. “Spirits, aid me!” She decrees. “Kelpies of my blood, guide me!”

On cue, and as if her request was answered by forces invisible to nearby onlooking eyes, she abruptly jumps and is launched skyward with admirable force and a noticeable sparkling sound while aiming her weapon directly at the wyvern locked in aerial combat with Flare, Sun Tzu, and other notable members of their community.

“Hrrraaaawww!!”

Like an arrow loosened from its’ rest, Rain Shine careens past several treehouses and rises above the tallest of those natural spires, courtesy of a prowess granted to her by her kelpie-ancestral ties.

“Spiritspring-” She began while passing by several of her aerial allies—many doing so by means of levitation spells and sporting aspects of avian-like entities—and preparing to impale their large, scaled adversary. “-Thrust!”

‘REEEEAAAWWWR!!!’

The wyvern lets out a loud, painful screech as Rain manages to breach one of the beast’s hardened scales on its underbelly and pierce into the soft flesh beneath, causing blood to spray out and rain down on her mane and coat while also traveling along the pole of her weapon.

The wyvern thrashes and barrel rolls with a beat of its wings, sending out winds powerful enough to blow away foes who were too close. Because of this, Rain is blown away from the action but quickly manifests a puddled platform made of the same particles she’d created before that ripples as she lands and steps onto it, effectively allowing her to ‘walk on water in the air.’ However, she’d lost her weapon in the exchange as it remained lodged into the wyvern’s stomach region.

Flare, using her magically enhanced flames to keep her aloft, maneuvers over to her superior like a fiery comet.

“Rain Shine,” the scarlet-haired kirin began on approach. “Are you alright?” She questioned while hovering in place.

“I’m fine, Flare,” Rain answered, standing firmly on her platform and never taking her eyes off the wyvern. She lets out a small pulse of magic from her body, the wyvern’s blood on her mane and coat being blown off effortlessly. “Thank you, though I seem to have lost my weapon.” Her moderate amaranth eyes watched as the wyvern spun around to reach under it and bite onto the embedded naginata to pull it out, but to no avail.

Flare chuckles in amusement of Rain’s words. “Says the kirin, who probably has a whole armory tucked away in the Spirit Realm.”

Rain raises a brow over a deadpanned expression, “You know that’s not how it works.”

Flare shrugged. “Could have fooled me. Still, that attack of yours just made us an opening.” The duo’s eyes instantly darted towards the armored form of Sun Tzu taking the lead in the distance, Flare forming a knowing grin seconds after as they recognized the calculative look on the seasoned warrior’s face.

“And, judging by her expression, it looks like Tzu is just about to wrap things up for us.”

……….

Seizing the opportunity brought about by Rain Shine, Sun Tzu had already formed a plethora of battle stratagems to deal with the invasive draconian and quickly announced the first among them.

“Strike before it pulls out the Spiritual Maiden’s weapon!” Tzu’s voice boomed and radiated enough authority to jerk everyone to attention. “It’s been lodged just above the creature’s heart! Incorporate guerilla warfare tactics, and in the confusion, I shall deliver the final blow!”

The kirin all around Tzu roar out in unison and affirmation, their vocals akin to a legion of lions. They then soar through the air to enact Tzu’s strategy while she backs away and waits for the chance to strike—Rain Shine and Flare joining the fray in the form of a large ball of fire crashing against the wyvern and a kirin skipping from ‘puddle platform’ to ‘puddle platform’ while firing off magical blasts in doing so.

The wyvern growls in primal fury as its orange-slitted eyes try to lock onto one of its foes, hoping to snatch them up in its jaws and swallow them whole. But just as it would attempt to lunge forward, another member of this bothersome swarm of prey would strike it elsewhere.

Its large frame was both its greatest advantage and disadvantage. It didn’t have to worry about sizing up any of these sacks of meat; the difference was almost like comparing a boulder to a mountain. But even it knew that great mass comes at the cost of speed. However, it did possess one unique trait, something that’s often overlooked when it comes to its- his kind.

Many make them out to be mindless beasts, and although that was certainly true for most…

He wasn’t one of them.

Having reached the center of Peak Village during the ever-raging conflict above, Leonard quickly applied himself to escorting any and all members of the village he could find to safety, which was anywhere BUT the marketplace, as suggested by Mulan, whom he’d managed to get in contact with just moments ago.

Despite her best efforts, he could tell that there was something bothering her. Maybe it was something Rain Shine said before she made that incredible jump of hers—which was amazing to see! Although, if he were to be honest, it’s nothing compared to what Radahn is capable of, but it’s still pretty damn impressive.

The stallion was currently running to and fro, his eyes scanning every house caught aflame for anyone signaling for aid and his ears on full alert for any cries for help.

“Leonard!” A familiar voice called out from the east, prompting the Redmane to halt in place.

“Sandy?!” Leonard exclaimed in recognition as the kirin and saddle arabian hybrid approached him hurriedly, her breaths fatigued as if she’d been running around for quite some time.

“What are you doing here?! Aw, Radahn’s balls, Tzu is going to lose her mind! I thought you evacuated with Angus and his family?”

Sandy manages to catch her breath. “I haven’t seen Udrako since she entrusted me with the pups in her care and ran off to check the School Grounds.”

“The School Grounds, got it! I’ll go there now and-”

“I know a shortcut!” Sandy interjects. “The Blades are stretched thin as is, and I’m afraid none of them have been able to make their way over there yet. If any of them did make it, we haven't received any reports as of yet. We need to get there now before it’s too late. Please, come with me; I may need your help!”

Leonard nods in affirmation. “Of course. Lead the way!”

No further words were needed, only action, as they went off with Sandy in the lead toward the northern provinces of Peak Village. As they ran together in urgency, there was a thought that lingered within Leonard's mind, which, admittedly, only served to bolster the severity of the situation.

'If I let anything happen to Sandy... Tzu is going to kill me.'

Chapter 23~ Grover Eagleswort

Author's Note

Grover's voice (Constantine):

Chapter 23~ Grover Eagleswort

Urgency propels Sandy and Leonard along an unkept trail piercing through untouched-by-flame bamboo forestation. The Kirin-Arabian leads on with exerted breaths while the accompanying stallion keeps pace with her; displaying no signs of fatigue.

Leaves shuffle as the duo plow through bushes and maneuver around towering bamboo stalks; the wingbeats and roars of the wyvern engaged in the ever-raging battle in the distance rhythmically meeting their ears.

Before long, the pair burst out into the open, a worry-filled gasp escaping Sandy’s parted lips from the scene laid out before them.

“Buddha, help us…” Sandy muttered in horror as the duo witnessed the devastating aftermath of the School Grounds.

The wyvern’s rampage had torn apart the Grounds’ once peaceful visage, a formerly fine blend of the kirins’ eastern civilization, which Leonard often compared to the Land of Reeds, and nature’s beauty. Several treehouses specializing in all branches of academics are toppled over, the land scarred and charred as now-snuffed-out flames left their mark.

No… It looked as if someone had doused the flames themself.

Sandy’s heart pounded as she continued to survey the area while thoughts of students possibly being hurt, or worse, raced through her mind.

“Over there!” Leonard abruptly shouts alongside her, lunging forward into a gallop and garnering Sandy’s attention.

Her eyes widen as she, too, takes notice of a figure donned in the armor of the Blades of Peril, their back leaning up against the ruined remains of a playground. A figure that, for Sandy, caused a sense of familiarity to grow with every passing second and increased tensing in her muscles.

Leonard is the first to approach the downed member of The Blades. Slowing himself to a steady gait, he notices a fatal wound the Kirin lioness tried to cover with a blood-drenched cloth torn from her attire before coming to a stop in front of her.

The Kirin’s chest plate slowly rises and falls in tune with her pained breaths while her discarded helmet rests a short distance away, her pink mane concealing her eyes.

“Hang in there, warrior,” Leonard comforts while lowering his head, the new angle allowing him to meet the Kirin’s orange gaze beyond the pink curtains of her mane, “We’ll get you out of here and-”

“F…f-forget…m-me…” She interjected through pained effort. “Pups… Gri…ffin…”

‘Griffon…?’ Leonard questioned internally, taken aback. He’d never heard of such a creature before but could only assume it was of another sapient species.

The injured Kirin slowly turned her head. Leonard follows her gaze as their eyes rest on a distant treehouse that was undoubtedly the grandest of them all despite the visible claw marks and broken branches sullying its mighty frame.

“Got it,” Leonard said in affirmation, turning his neck to face the downed Kirin again. “I’ll check for any-” his eyes widened, and his words died instantly as the Kirin lay there motionless, her eyes open, but lifeless.

Leonard’s ears twitched as Sandy’s hurried steps stopped a short distance away.

“Oh, no…” she began somberly, stomping the ground with a foreleg in frustration. “Damn it… Damn it!”

“Did you know her?”

“I’m Sun Tzu’s daughter. I know everyone here.” Sandy answered while joining the stallion and lowering her neck to nuzzle the deceased Kirin’s right cheek. “Her name is Yīnghuā Shǎonǚ. Sakura Maiden, in Equish. I…used to babysit her daughter.”

Sandy sorrowfully pulls away, lifting her neck and standing at her full height, just shy of Leonard’s shoulders. “Did she say anything to you?”

“She wanted me to check out that building over there,” Leonard responds, looking off toward the same grand treehouse appointed by ‘Sakura.’

“She also mentioned a…griffin…?”

“Griffin? Why would…” Sandy shakes her head, “Never mind. Look, I’ll check the other schoolhouses. You go on and check Building A. Let’s round up any pups we can find and get them the diyu out of here before that monster comes back.”

They share a look of understanding, and no further words are exchanged as action dictates their next move; the two breaking off in separate directions.

With a resounding neigh, Leonard rears up and slams his forelegs into one of the two circular-shaped double doors of the treehouse, nearly knocking the left-side obstacle off its hinges.

A red and orange light, magical in nature and hovering near the ceiling, flickers on and off in a chaotic fashion as if the light itself were at war with ever-reaching shadows that melded with knocked-over furnishings and numerous items that had been littered by panicked masses.

As he proceeds into the schoolhouse, eyes scanning over the hollowed-out tree chamber he now finds himself in, he is in awe of what seems to be illusionary magic at play, or something a bit more complicated, like that dirty trick Flare had used against him.

The tree’s innards are much larger than what the actual tree itself could contain; that there were two entrances to two separate hallways positioned on either side of a front desk looked to be impossible from an outside perspective, and yet, there it was.

He wondered…did those vibrant runes etched onto the tree’s bark have something to do with it? Upon pondering on it further as he attentively made his way down the right-side hallway and passed the first circular door of a closed-off classroom, his steps echoing off the wooden walls of the half-cylinder-shaped hall, he recalled the Carians possessing similar runic-based magics back home. Illusion, teleportation, and-

A sudden scratching sound along with the broadcast of a bird of prey echoing from down the hall stopped Leonard dead in his tracks, movements and thoughts alike, ears flicking upward. It was distant, but it seemed to come from around a corner of a split that went in two opposite directions further down.

As he drew near, the scratching grew louder, but the stallion could tell that it was coming from the right, and… Was that a voice?

Yes… It followed a grunt, one of strenuous effort. Male, but with an accent akin to that of Castellan Jerren’s.

“Bloody door! Rrrgh! Come out, you little buggers. I’m just trying to ‘elp yas!”

Leonard leaned his right side against the wall as he crept down what remained of the hallway, taking calculative steps to avoid his hooves clopping against the wooden floor. He peeks around the right corner, shock and awe consuming him immediately as his widened eyes lay upon the creature responsible for the commotion. It was truly unlike anything he’d ever seen before, though there were physical traits he certainly recognized.

The creature, much like the kirin, is chimeric, having the forefront of an eagle with the hind portions of a lion. Its reddish, brownish gray fur transitions smoothly into feathers of equal coloration as its tail bearing a black patch of fur at its end rests lazily on the floor.

“What in the…?” Leonard questioned outwardly, dumbfounded—startling the chimeric entity, who whirls around with outstretched dark grayish vermillion wings to face him, its avian talons almost digging into the wooden surface they stood upon.

“Y-you startled me- wait, you just spoke in Equish!” The being asked through its shock. “Thank my father’s feathery arse. I…ain’t exactly familiar with that Qinese gibberish. No offense to ‘em.”

The two stared at one another in dead silence for seconds that felt far too long. For the chimera, he had to admit…this didn’t look good. One look at this situation would easily arouse suspicion, what with somegriffin like him trying to break into a room full of young chicks behind a locked door with talon marks on its’ surface…

There was, however, a question forming in the chimera’s mind as his yellow eyes took in the stranger’s appearance, their blue and gold attire of a familiar motif originating from western lands sealing the deal: what was a saddle arabian doing this far east?

Stowing that question away for the time being, the chimera lowered himself onto his hindquarters, folding his wings to his sides and raising his yellow-scaled talons in surrender. “This ain’t what it looks like. I’m not here to cause anymore trouble. I…didn’t even know any of these kirin folk were up here.”

Leonard’s eyes narrowed, “Anymore trouble?” He emphasized in great suspicion.

The chimera lets out a sigh, not missing the dark brown equine’s implication. “I can explain later.” His lion’s end lifts him to his full height, his yellow beak tilting upward because of the red-maned stallion’s height advantage. “First time being up close to a saddle arabian like this. A far way from home, ain’t ya?”

“So I’ve been told. You got a name?”

“Grover. Grover Eagleswort, of the Griffish Isles. You?”

“Leonard.”

“Leonard, huh? Latin for lion-hearted, if I'm not mistaken. One of ‘em fancy-schmancy pony languages. Which is odd…given what you are.”

“I know fairly little about the ponies, but it’s the common tongue used in the Lands Between.”

“You daft, mate? The ponies are the Lands Between.”

“R-right…” Leonard answered in uncertainty. “Griffish Isles… Going out on a limb here, but are you something called a griffin?”

“You say that like you only just learned of my kind.”

“I kind of…did. Yīnghuā mentioned it to me.”

“She that Kirin with the pink mane?” Grover asked, earning a nod. “Then I'm your griffin. Where is she, anyway? Las saved my arse big time from that scaly bastard and deserves proper thanks.”

“She…didn’t make it.”

The stallion’s words caused Grover’s eyes to widen, followed by a sympathetic click of his tongue. “Dammit…”

“But that’s why I’m here. Did you find any pups around here? We need to get them out now.”

“As it so happens,” Grover answered while turning to face the door, “the little buggers fled from me and locked themselves in there. Well, guess it didn’t help that neither of us could understand the other.”

Leonard takes a few steps closer to the door, eyes specifically focused on the marks littering its’ surface. “...And you thought scratching at the door was a good idea? Seriously, look at that! You are aware that there’s a wyvern attacking the village, right?”

“Oi!” Grover expressed with an appointed talon. “Instead of questioning my methods, why don’t you make yourself useful and talk them out of there, you wanker. I assume you speak Qinese?”

Leonard snorts while rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” The stallion taps at the door twice with a forehoof.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Wèi? Yǒu rén zài mǎ?”

As those words left Leonard’s lips, Grover looked on in ignorance as, from his perspective, the equine spoke in the kirins' foreign language.

“H-hello?!” A muffled, timid, young female voice responds from the other side, prompting Leonard to press his right ear against the hardwood door’s surface. “W-who are you? C-can you help us?! That eagle-lion thing is trying to eat us!”

“I think it’s called a griffon.” A noticeably intelligible voice adds. “But I’m confused if that’s spelled with ‘fon’ or ‘fin’ at the end.”

“You're choosing now to be a nerd? It's trying to eat us?!”

“Told ya,” Leonard whispered to the Griffin alongside him while keeping his ear pressed against the door. “You scared them half to death.”

“Wh- bollocks! I don’t even know what any of you are saying! I told you, I don’t speak kung pao chicken!”

“It said; kung pao!” Another youthful and feminine voice cried out from beyond the door, their words alien to Grover, but clear to Leonard. “I knew it! It wants to eat us!”

Several other voices murmured amongst themselves in a panic, Leonard pulling himself away from the door and giving Grover a deadpan stare. “Aaaand you just made this more difficult than it needs to be.”

“You’re the Qinese expert here. What the bloody hell’d they say about me this time?”

“Trust me, I’m no expert. It’s all thanks to a potion, and… Well, they think you’re trying to eat them. To be honest? I don’t blame them.”

A moment of silence takes hold as Grover is taken aback by this. “Have they gone absolutely bonkers?! I’m not that kind o’ griffin! Why do you think there are two ways to spell my race? I prefer fish in my diet, hence the ‘fin’ in griffin.”

“Even so, they’re just pups, dude. They’re scared. And there’s literally-” The treehouse abruptly shakes violently for a moment, halting the stallion’s flow of words, his eyes having sharply been cast up to the ceiling, along with Grover’s.

“That…”

“Blimey… It’s on the bloody roof.”

“Yeah… Radahn’s balls, this isn’t good.”

“You think, Sherlock?”

“What…?”

“Griffish expression…”

Incidentally, and as the duo conversed, the sudden disturbance had caused the young kirin beyond the door to open it hurriedly in a panic, once the rumbling had passed, now gaining Leonard and Grover’s attention. The duo’s eyes now lay upon a collective of horrified and tearful faces, 13 of them, by Leonard’s count. But what is most interesting is the youthful group’s whimpering.

It sounded just like… Huh…

‘So that’s why they’re called pups.’ Leonard compared the whimperings internally. “It’s ok,” he assured them outwardly in their tongue, “we’re here to help, but let’s try to keep our voices down, alright?”

The group nods, although their whimpering persists, but lower.

“Good. Now, our mutual friend, Sandy, sent me.”

The kirins’ ears all perk up collectively. “R-really?” a voice filled with hope said from the group’s rear as several other students felt their fears slowly start to fade away.

“Excuse me, mister? What’s your name?”

“It’s Leonard.”

“Leonard…”

“Weird name.”

“Weird name for a weird horse.” Leonard finished with a wink.

“Horse?”

“Hey,” a ‘pup’ amongst those at the front began, pointing a hoof at Leonard’s clothing, “I know that outfit.”

“Oh, yeah,” another chimed in. “I remember Sandy’s mom bringing it for show-and-tell.”

“Where’s Miss Udrako?”

“Is Mr Griffon n-nice…?”

Leonard lets out a hearty chuckle and raises a forehoof, “Easy now, kids. I know you have a lot of questions, but we need to move. I can at least say that ‘Mr Griffin’ here—trust me, the ‘fin’ part is important—seems like a good person. Although…”

There was one question brought forth that stood out above the rest, prompting Leonard to shift his gaze over to Grover, said Griffin meeting his gaze.

“Did you see a kirin who resembles a giraffe?”

As Leonard spoke, the young kirin looked on in awe as his words were alien to them. Though they are aware of the Equish language, this was the first time any of them had witnessed it.

“Aye. Long legs, long neck. Bit of a long tale, mate, but that pink-maned las Ying and I stuffed ‘em away in another build’n for safekeep’n. Before Ying…you know. Poor las.”

Leonard sighs in relief, “Good thinking. Thanks for that.” he shifts his attention towards the youthful masses.

“Alright,” he began in Qinese, “Let’s get you pups out of here.”

“B-but, what about that monster outside?”

“Yeah…” another pup said. “A-aren’t you…s-scared?”

The young one’s inquiry sparks whispered fears amongst the students before said whispers die down. As Grover watches on, entrusting Leonard to comfort the kirin, the red-maned stallion looks over the sea of youths, cracking a vibrant smile.

“Haha! Scared? Pfft, nah. The only thing I’m worried about at this moment is keeping you all safe. Trust me, kids, it takes a lot to scare a proper Redmane.”

At that moment, something rises from the depths of Leonard’s memories. It is one of the most essential reasons as to how and why Radahn earned the title; Starscourge.

It was why, aside from solidifying their brotherly bond, the titanic demigod mastered gravity magic. To wield incredible cosmic power to combat unfathomable cosmic nightmares.

An infinite legion of Invasive beings that would forever haunt the General and his Steed.

“I’ve seen even worse things. Far worse.”

Chapter 24 ~ Voice of Fate

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Chapter 25 ~ The Dream Realm

Saddle Arabia

Istanbul

Radahn’s girthy steps tread loudly against the clay-stone composed floor of his rectangular-shaped abode, said living space accommodating his larger-than-anypony-who’s-ever-lived stature. Hangaku’s words, not his, although he certainly wasn’t ashamed of it!

Bwahahaha!

The large earth pony had made his way over to and stopped at a window to gaze out at the innards of Istanbul, the towering walls out in the distance shielding those residing within. His eyes wander over neighboring buildings similar to his own, each rooftop lined with tiles made of material that complements the desert-dwelling lifestyle; each tile practically shimmering in the light of the full moon.

His yellow-orange pupils eventually venture upward as the lunar celestial body stood at the forefront of a glorious black and blue canvas littered with stars and an aurora that took on a shape akin to a large curtain that threatened to close off all of space.

Suffice it to say, the astrologist within him was enamored by the sight. Giddy, even.

A hearty chuckle emanated from his throat as he recalled the stunned faces of those who never took him as an astrologer. Well, of course, he was! He’s a Carian, for Rennala’s sake! Astrology was as essential to his House as breathing is to all living beings.

However, it was because of his Carian lineage that, as he continued to soak it all in, and despite the eternal beauty of this very night, something felt…wrong. Now that he had the time to truly analyze the night sky, there was no question: he didn’t recognize any of it.

Even the moon itself, a prominent staple of his ilk, was alien to him. It didn’t feel like the moon he’d known for all of his life. Yes, of all his siblings, it was Ranni who had the deepest connection to the moon; there’s no denying that, but it doesn’t mean he or Rykard were to be found lacking.

Radahn exhales sharply to banish those thoughts away for the time being. He then removes himself from the window and proceeds towards the opposite side of the abode, whereupon a large, circular-shaped red bed rests on a—to quote the fine saddle arabian stallion that’d brought him to this residency on Hangaku’s behalf—‘Vintage Hamadan area rug,’ with a wardrobe and nightstand present on either side.

A pale-purple forehoof grabs onto the limestone that lines the bed’s outer ring, pulling Radahn’s form onto the furnishing as he allows himself to crash down upon red fabrics and well-placed pillows.

Allowing himself a chance to finally and truly unwind, and reminisce, a singular worry; one that’s been latched onto his mind ever since he’d awakened in this strange, distant land, crawls up to the surface.

“Leonard…” Determination remained despite fatigue sullying the cadence of his words, “My brother. Once I return home and regain my true form, I shall scour all of the Lands Between and those beyond to find you…”

Unconsciousness’ blissful embrace slowly tightens its grasp on the equine-Carian with every passing moment until, at long last, he surrenders to the realm of slumber.

Radahn’s eyes abruptly shoot wide open and he lets out a low-pitched gasp as he finds himself standing in the epicenter of a pathway made of stars that shimmered and shot across the star-way in every direction. The star-paved path stretches out and winds in two directions as clouds of white, pink, and blue border on either side, threatening to consume the star-way but never finding the courage to do so.

There was only one thing he could do in a situation like this, although all of it felt somewhat…familiar.

“Bwahahahah!” He boisterously laughed in joy, head thrown up to the realm’s night sky with closed eyes as his laughter echoed all across this serene realm.

“What a wonderful place I’ve seemed to stumble into. However…” He raises a forehoof and rests it beneath his chin in thought. “Hmmm. You know, this feels like that time when Selene and I spoke in the Dream Realm. And if I were to hazard a guess,” he scans over the realm, turning in place to look out in every direction, “this must be it.”

Nodding and humming in satisfaction, and giving into his adventurous side, Radahn picks the direction in front of him and continues onward without hesitation. His every step disrupts the collective of stars he has trodden upon along the star-way before said stars reform again after he lifts and pulls his leg away.

His eyes wandered to scan every nook and cranny of the scenery, but it was when they eventually went skyward that something suddenly presented itself in the realm’s night canvas, causing a sudden pause in the equine’s steps: a constellation.

The collective of stars flawlessly depicts the figure of a bipedal bull-like entity whose arms are raised in triumph, its head letting out a warcry as its horns reach upward as if ready to pierce the heavens.

But therein lies the source of Radahn’s stunned amazement, and it wasn’t entirely due to the depiction of the bipedal entity: the constellation is glintstone clear in what it was presenting. That was the complete opposite of how every constellation known to the Carian household worked, each being exceptionally vague with imaginary lines drawn between stars to create recognizable shapes that also relied on human interpretation and imagination.

This place…the Dream Realm…is truly a marvel. Radahn could only imagine the number of Carians and scholars of Raya Lucaria who’d get lost in studying that constellation above him.

Then again, such a wonder could only be found in the Dream-

“I assure thee, Radahn,” a familiar, authoritative, and feminine tone gently shook the Dream Realm in its entirety with every word, “that the constellations’ wonders are not a mere fabrication of this realm. Yes, for it is as grand in the waking world as thou seest here.”

Radahn chuckles in amusement, “I figured you had something to do with this, Selene.” His eyes are drawn towards the constellation as a series of white particles manifests in front of it, “I doubt very strongly that just anyone could enter this place, even me.”

“Astutely put, my fair stallion,” Selene’s voice responds from within the gathering of particles before said gathering flies down to the star-way like a swarm of energy-composed insects, landing several feet away in front of Radahn.

The particles began to shift and take shape into that of an equine. They disperse, unveiling Selene’s alicorn visage with outstretched, transparent rainbow wings as, while some particles sizzle away, others have formed lines and swirls along her body as if someone had used moonlight itself as ‘ink’ to create such fine art.

Selene’s closed eyelids with brows and lashes of white energy slowly unveil sapphire pupils that inhabit sockets of light-blue energy. With a flick of her head, the alicorn throws her waving pink mane to the right so that it flows in the same direction as her pink tail.

The alicorn folds her wings to either side and lowers her head in a respectful bow. “Greetings, Radahn.” She rises to her full stature, although it still pales in comparison to the large earth pony in front of her.

“It pleaseth me to hear of thine arrival to Istanbul, though I must apologize for not having welcomed thee personally in the waking world. Thine accommodations have been to thine liking, I trust?”

“Haha!” Radahn beamed. “Most certainly. And I have you and Hangaku to thank for it.”

“And Prince Forte,” Selene gently corrects. “Thine current abode has been graciously provided for by the crown. Hangaku is a dear friend to Forte. As am I. And-”

“‘Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,’ I take it?” Radahn interjects and ends with a knowing wink.

A transparent wing stifles Selene’s laughter. “Indeed. Come, Radahn.” She turns away and beckons him to follow with a head gesture. “There’s something I wish to show thee.”

Radahn adheres to the alicorn’s request and ventures forth—Selene waiting until he passes alongside her as the duo walks together along the star-way, disrupting more stars along the path, only for them to reform, in the process.

Moments go by as they walk in silence, and Radahn’s wonder of this realm only increases with every second. But the constellation above soon became his interest in conversation.

“I’m curious, Selene,” Radahn began as the ears of the alicorn next to him twitched in response, “what can you tell me about that constellation above us?”

“It is the constellation Taurus, one of the nine Zodiacs that reside in the night sky. Taurus, Gemini, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricornus, Scorpius, Libra, and Virgo. Each one is ever-watchful of our world.” An eyebrow of white energy rises, “Doth thou mean to say that thou art unfamiliar with the Zodiacs?”

Radahn’s best response is closed eyes with a toothy grin and a forehoof scratching at the back of his neck. “Haha! Guilty as charged.”

Selene comes to a pause at that, Radahn stopping in tandem. “...Truly?” She asked in shock. “This must be a jest. Thou simply cannot be ignorant of the Zodiacs. It’s…unfathomable.”

“But…I am ignorant,” Radahn offered half humorously. “I don’t know what these Zodiacs are. Or who they are, for that matter. Marika’s tits, Taurus’s constellation,” he emphasized with an appointed forelimb aimed at the constellation, “doesn’t even function the same as a proper constellation. Wait…” He paused in thought, “Does this land possess the ability to completely rewrite the night sky?!”

“Proper constellation?” Selene inquired incredulously. “Forgive me for being brash, Radahn, but thou art mad. And of course, the night sky has been ‘rewritten,’” she sets a forehoof on her chest, “I’m the one that shapes it in these parts.”

“Ah, that’s right!” Radahn roars in recollection before playfully smacking Selene on the back while laughing boisterously, the alicorn gritting her teeth with a strained expression as she catches herself.

—“Th-thou art s-strong. W-wait…”—

“You told me that you are a demigoddess who rules over night and day when last we spoke. Of course! Haha! Now it all makes sense.”

“It…does…?”

“Of course! I’m a demigod, you’re a demigod; demigods do amazing things. It’s quite simple, really!”

“U-uh…”

“Actually, come to think of it, why am I still an equine?” He asked while looking himself over, “Shouldn’t I be in my human form like last time?”

During Radahn’s questioning, Selene had blanked out and stared at him as, due to the stallion’s strike, it made one thing all too clear:

‘He…actually hurt me…? In the Dream Realm…?’

“Uh, Selene?” Radahn’s inquiry draws the alicorn out of her stupor. “Are you ok?” He waves a forehoof in front of her, “Helloooo.”

“I-I’m fine,” she managed with a croak. “Thine playful strike had…taken me by surprise.”

“Ah, right.” In one fluid motion, he lifts her right forehoof with his left and plants a kiss on her upper pastern. “Forgive me for causing you any bodily harm, ma’am. It’s, uh… Well, let’s just say that the women of the Redmanes are a hardy bunch, like Freyja. That woman can punch a man’s head clean off, let me tell ya.”

Selene managed to conquer her inner shock of what she’d just heard, although she was sure to explore that strange phenomenon of him actually managing to hurt her in the Dream Realm for later, and offered a pleasant smile, instead.

“It’s, uhm, quite alright, my good stallion.”

Her words set Radahn at ease as he gently releases her forehoof. She then clears her throat in urgency, and regains her composure, “Right then. With what we’ve discussed so far, I think it prudent that thou learn more about the Zodiacs.”

“Can you teach me?” He asked with a hint of excitement. “What better teacher than the Demigoddess of Night and Day?! Hahaha!”

The edges of Selene’s muzzle curl upwards. “Nothing would please me more, Radahn. Sadly, my duties wouldn’t permit me enough time to be a teacher, so I shall arrange for Hangaku or Tzana to tutor thee. To that end, I shall also be working behind the scenes to clear up any further confusion.”

“Hmm. And this is referring to when we last spoke?”

“Verily. Even our current meeting has made it all too clear that something is amiss. Pray, let us proceed further, Radahn. We’ve almost reached that which I wish to show thee.”

Radahn nods in understanding as the duo resumes their march. However, as they began, a smirk formed on Radahn’s muzzle.

“Couldn’t help but notice that you’re not speaking as archaic as you were last time.”

Selenes’s face goes beet red as she looks away with a snort, eyes closed and chin faced upward.

“Yes, well, Tzana insists that I, and I quote; ‘Get with the times, old timer.’ Hmph! The boldness of that mare.” A hearty chuckle escapes her as her features soften, “Then again…I did raise her.”

Radahn nods and lets out joyous laughter as the duo of equines continues along the star-way.

……….

After what felt like an hour to Radahn, Selene slows her steps as the earth pony accompanying her does the same in tune upon noticing.

“Here we are, Radahn,” says the alicorn while turning to the right side of the star-way.

The equine-Carian looks around their general vicinity. “I…don’t see anything. It all looks the same as ever to me.”

“Ah, but alas, my dram pony,” Selene spreads out her right wing with a smirk present on her features, “there’s more to the Dream Realm than what meets the eye.”

With a simple wave of her wing aimed towards the direction they’d just arrived from, a nearly infinite number of doors began to rise from the clouds on either side of the star-way. Each door bore a unique insignia on its face, a cutie mark, as Hangaku had called the same mark that rests on his flank, which resembles his Rock Throw sorcery, and every door is composed of different building materials and styles.

With her left wing, Selene causes the same to happen in the opposite direction—Radahn looking on incredulously throughout the entire affair. And when all was said and done, there remained one vacant spot in front of them.

“And this, Radahn,” both of Selene’s wings stretch upwards, “is thy door.”

Radahn’s eyes bear witness to something that is both familiar and alien. A Carian, gothic motif, silver metal door frame with his cutie mark resting up top rises from the clouds. However, his features turn from amazement to utter shock as, rather than a proper door with a doorknob, or something else of the like, that was present on virtually every other door frame he could see, his ‘door’ possessed something entirely different…

A Golden Fog.

Noticing the stallion’s shock, Selene steps closer as they gaze upon the fog-filled doorway.

“Of all the doors I’ve seen in over a millennia of service, thine door is most unique.”

Whether or not Radahn could hear her words was unclear as, in his psyche—seemingly unaware that Selene could also hear his thoughts—he thinks back to the words his father had passed onto him at a much younger age.

It was just after he’d received Leonard as a frail, young colt, and sparred with his father later that day…

Radahn, my son, are you familiar with the Golden Fog that divides all things and transcends time and space?

Yup! Mom told me about it.

Splendid. I trust she told thee that only a select few, such as the Tarnish and Numen, art capable of properly interacting with it and leaving unscathed.

Yes, but, why are you telling me this, father? I’m not a Tarnish or a Numen—I’m a red-maned lion! Raaaaawr!

Hahaha! So you are, son. So you are. Heed me well then, young lion: you and your siblings possess a gift.

A gift?!

Mhmm. But here’s the thing: it’s a secret gift. We cannot allow either of your siblings or your mother to learn of it. For now, of course. You are the eldest and, as such, I shall entrust this secret only to you. Can I trust you to keep it safe until the proper time comes?

Of course, father! What is it?

Come here, little lion…

The blood of the Numen flows through thee.

“Father…” Radahn finally managed after moments of recollective silence.

Selene, dumbfounded by what she’d just heard, wanted to inquire further, only for a feeling to occur that threw her gaze toward the night sky of the Dream Realm.

She gasps. “Wukong will be raising the sun soon.”

Urgency dictates her actions as she lunges forth and gently grabs onto Radahn’s cheeks with her forehooves, while sitting on her haunches, to force his gaze upon her—no more time to waste.

“Listen to me, Radahn: thou must grant me access to thine memories.”

“Wh- but, how-”

“I can find answers for us both,” she interjects, “but only with thine consent. Words are a powerful thing here in the Dream Realm, so I ask thee: doth thou, Radahn, grant I, Selene Sol Invictus, unhindered access to thine memories beyond thine door? It is imperative that thou beest sincere with thine answer.”

Radahn, seeing the desperation in Selene’s features and finally being pulled out of his stupor, grabs onto her forehoof that rests on his left cheek.

“I do,” he answered with a grin.

“Huzzah!” Selene’s wings reach back in celebration, her features one of joy. “Then I shall take care of the rest. Our time is limited, but still enough to explain the procedure.” She retracts her hooves, rises, and backs away. The alicorn then ignites her horn in a pale-blue aura and rests its tip on Radahn’s chest.

Radahn couldn’t entirely make sense of what was going on. From his perspective, the alicorn simply kept her horn gently pressed against his chest as she concentrated with closed eyes.

No, wait… He was starting to feel something, as if his magical reserves, and something else he couldn’t quite identify, were being siphoned towards the point of Selene’s horn, although it wasn’t in an alarming fashion.

Selene finally pulls away after less than a minute and presents her right forehoof, eyes narrowed. “Behold, Radahn.” An object manifests and floats above her hoof: a key, the coloring of which reminded Radahn of his own Great Rune.

Radahn’s cutie mark is present on the key’s head while the rest of it consists of a long shaft ending with crown-shaped key wards.

“So long as this key remains in my possession, and should thee continue to will it so, I can enter thine Mindscape Door even during thine waking hours.”

Selene turns around to face the Mindscape Door in question. “It serves two purposes: one that allows us Dream Walkers to locate and enter an active dreamer’s psyche, and, with this key in hoof, I can sift through the vast sea of thine memories safely.”

“W-wait a second,” Radahn began. “How did you enter that fog last time?”

“Something, or someone, aided me when last we spoke. I’ve been trying to track them down since then but to no avail.” Selene looks back to Radahn over her shoulder, “Thou hath been an enigma ever since Philomena and Hangaku informed me of thine existence. And now… There are more questions than answers. Fortunately, thou hast given me the means to find those answers. I promise not to betray that trust, Radahn.”

Radahn nods in affirmation. “Understood. When can you start?”

“I must first escort thee to the mercenary guild, Magius Syndicate, in the waking world. I’ll wait for thee outside of thine abode. After that; once my business with Queen Fatima and Prince Forte is concluded, I shall make good on my promise to thee.”

“Could I make a request of you, Selene?”

Selene blinks and tilts her head curiously to Radahn’s inquiry. “If it is within reason, aye.”

“...These doors, could you see if one of them belongs to my brother, Leonard?”

Selene nods. “I shall see what I can do. No need for details, I’m sure that I’ll get what I need from thine memories.”

“Thank you. This act of service means the world to me. So then, what happens now?”

Selene doesn’t respond immediately as she closes her eyes. A sudden pressure builds up all around them, causing Radahn to shield himself with a raised forelimb. As his eyes look around the now-crumbling realm before eventually falling on Selene again, the alicorn’s own orbs suddenly shoot wide open, windows to her soul filled with white energy.

“AWAKEN!!!”

Radahn gasps and lifts himself from the bed in one swift motion. A glance around the room, now illuminated by sunlight, its rays creeping through the windows and patio, confirms Selene’s actions: she’d ejected him from his slumber.

Such incredible power.

However, urgent matters needed to be attended to as Radahn quickly dismounted from the bed and, rather than walking out the front door, he ran over to the patio, slid the curtain along its track, and ventured out to the outside world.

The sounds of voices from those littering the morning streets below graced his ears, the sweet aroma of food being readied filling his nostrils. Radahn closes the curtain behind him and makes his way over to the balcony.

“Good morning, Radahn!” Came Selene’s voice from down below as Radahn spots the alicorn, now donned in silk-like attire, standing before a food stall in what looked to be a marketplace. “Come, my friend! The mercenary guild awaits us!”

Radahn smiles as he throws himself over the railing, much to Selene’s chagrin, and just before he makes contact with the earth below, the large earth pony calls upon his gravity-defying prowess and sets himself down gently.

He then marches over to Selene, but as he approaches, he takes notice of the alicorn…face-winging, with an alighted horn.

“What?” He questioned, stopping in front of her. “It was a fine landing! Bwahahaha!”

Selene sighs gently while folding her wing firmly to her side. “Thou art not to draw attention to thyself with thine prowess. The time shall come for such a display, but we must ease the local pony populous into it.”

Radahn’s eyes drift left to right and set on Selene again. “Oh, come now, look around you,” he gestures to nearby and passing equines, both saddle arabian and pony alike, “it didn’t seem to bother anypony.”

“That’s because I cast a spell to veil over their perceptions. As far as they’re concerned, I teleported thee in my presence.”

“...You can do that?”

“I can do many things, Radahn,” she finishes with a wink.

“Ahahaha!” He laughs boisterously and sets a forehoof on his chest. “So can I!”

A mischievous smirk forms on Selene’s muzzle. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that thou art issuing me a challenge.”

“Maaaybe,” he teased. He then raises a forelimb in a declaration. “Before any of that, let us conquer the aches in our bellies with a fine breakfast!” He spins in place, closes in on Selene, and gently bumps a forehoof on her chest.

“Your treat, of course. I have no idea how this land’s currency works. Ahahahah!”

Selene chuckles merrily at the stallion’s antics. “Of course. Further provisions shall be provided for thee at Magius Syndicate. Now let’s be off, I wouldn’t want thee to be late for thine enlistment.”

“Enlistment?! Well, why didn’t you say so?! That’s a fine way for me to earn some… What is this land’s currency?”

“Bits.”

“Bits! Lead the way, my friend!”

Selene takes the lead as she proceeds to guide Radahn through a nearby archway and towards the eastern side of Istanbul.

All the while, on a nearby rooftop, a hooded figure looks down at them...

Chapter 26 ~ The Package

The forms of Radahn and Selene navigate through a roaring sea of life that flows along Istanbul’s main road. This road is often a favorable traveling route beyond the city’s walls, stretching into the practically infinite expanse of the Saddle Arabian desert. Most notable, perhaps, are the sturdy tiles that form the road. They also depict the familiar visage of Taurus’s head, and the artistic likeness repeats itself, by Radahn’s count, every 100 tiles.

Tents and booths have been arranged on either side of the roadway as merchants advertise their wares and showrunners present their street performances and displays. The residents of nearby homes watch in awe and enjoy the activities from their balconies.

As Selene flags down a saddle arabian guardsmare and engages with them in hushed conversation, Radahn’s ears flicker as he’s drawn to a nearby spectacle.

“Gather around! Gather around!”

Thanks to his over 10 ft. height, which drew quite a bit of attention upon his initial arrival in Istanbul, his morning walk with Selene, and now with those who stood alongside him in the crowd, Radahn’s eyes flawlessly rose above the gathering, and hones in on the source of the enthusiastically confident male voice.

“Come one; come all! There’s no need to shove! That’s it!”

A sense of awe pulsates from within Radahn’s core as he gazes upon a creature standing on a wooden stage that, while familiar, was still unique in its own right: a brown-furred, purple top-hatted and suited…baboon.

Unlike the baboons he was familiar with from the books that lined the Carian Study Hall, this one stood upright rather than being hunched over and lacked any of the chaotic features associated with the Crucible—such as horns on an animal that shouldn’t have them, out of place wings that’s also on an animal that shouldn’t have them, and other chaotically-primal traits of the like.

The baboon continues to invite the masses with hand gestures and outstretched arms, all while a white cloth conceals a large, rectangular-shaped object nearby. As the occasional gust of warm winds finally reappears and disturbs the white fabric, although not enough to completely unravel what the cloth was draped over, Radahn can make out the iron bars of a cage. As the wind dies down, the cloth conceals the cage from the outside world, practically teasing those who look on with ever-growing interest.

“Yes, yes! I see some new faces are gathered here,” the baboon says, taking off his top hat and bowing. “My name is Imfene Chacma!” He spins his hat around on his finger and sets it back on with a flourish. “And I have something extraordinary to show you all today!”

……….

Meanwhile, on ground level…

“I’ve only ever heard rumors of him…” Radahn picks up on one of the many nearby conversations, although some spoke in Arabic, which, at this time, was sadly alien to him. And those that did share his tongue had a noticeable accent, “But this is the first time I’ve ever seen THE Imfene Chacma in the flesh!”

“I hear he travels far and wide across the western continent and procures items and goods of great interest. Even live specimens!”

“I wonder what he’ll have today…”

“My cousin, who works in the royal guard, once bought himself a flying carpet from Imfene.”

“Ah! So that’s who I often see patrolling the skies of our fine city in the morning.”

A chuckle rumbles in Radahn’s chest as he flashes a vibrant grin. ‘Ah, the things one can learn from being in the right place at the right time. And you said I could never be an information gatherer, Jerren. Ahahahahah!’

……….

Back on stage…

As the audience on ground level continues to voice their wonder and curiosity, Imfene grabs his top hat, acrobatically backflips high into the air, and lands onto the veiled cage, rattling its iron physique.

“Beneath me is a wonder from the various environments of Savannah, where the primal rules of nature stand firm, unabated, and uncaring for the passage of time nor the prying eyes of civilization!”

The sales-pitching baboon stays silent, allowing his words to splash onto and be absorbed by the audience.

“Ah, but what is civilization?” He began with a raised finger. “Oh, I’m sure the brightest among us will use all manner of fancy words that boil down to: progress. Evolution, if you will. I mean—look around you!” A single arm waves across everything before his eyes, “Istanbul is a fine example of such progress.

Indeed. The uniforms of society, education in its highest form, lavish indulgences, and the convenience magic brings add a fine slice to our everyday lives. Truly, we have evolved beyond creation’s expectations.”

Whether or not this was a lecture or a cleverly-weaved sales pitch—both, even—was unclear to some. But the effect was immediate for others as they became enamored by the baboon’s words.

“But you know all those perks that such a fine civilization as Istanbul affords you? The beings of Savannah see it for what it is: layers that mask your true inner selves. And under the right circumstances, facing a primeval threat, I assure you, my friends, that you will devolve back to your primal, savage form: fighting for survival at the very cost of your ‘progress.’”

He again allows the gathering, which noticeably has become larger—as expected when one potentially deals with the great proprietor Imfene Chacma, to ponder deeply on his words. After all, nothing sells a product better than context stitched into a story.

Speaking of product…

“The ‘masks’ fall off, and the morals society demands of you are cast aside in the ultimate game of survival. Hunter and prey. That is the heart and soul of Savannah, the dancing grounds of life and death!” His dark-orange eyes venture downward, “Which brings me to today’s special,” in one fluid motion, Imfene grabs onto the cloth draped over the cage beneath him.

He then jumps off and onto the stage, removing the cloth entirely in the process and allowing the white fabric to fall gently onto the stage’s surface. What’s unveiled causes surprised gasps and words of wonder to erupt from the crowd.

Amongst the gathering, Radahn flashes a toothy grin as, there, chained, muzzled, and bound within the cage on stage, is a creature he’s all too familiar with. It is, after all, of the same beasts his old armor’s motif and the banner of the Redmanes depicted, not to mention the mighty symbol of Godfrey himself...

“Behold!” Imfene presents. “A lion cub fresh from the open plains of Savanna!”

……….

As Imfene continued, and despite the crowd going into an uproar following the baboon’s ‘starting price of 300 bits’ remark, Radahn’s sights are solely fixated on the caged feline in wonder and respect. Sure, it was just a cub, but it was still a mighty lion—the sun practically bombarding the cub’s golden fur with kisses of sunlight through the gaps of the cage bars.

His eyes are then drawn to what appears to be the lion cub’s name in faded black paint etched onto a wooden board hanging from the roof of the iron cage:

Nemean

‘Nemean, hmm?’ Radahn states internally. ‘A fine name! Still, those restraints…”

As he genuinely absorbed the entirety of the cub’s condition, his grin soon formed into a flat, unreadable expression. To Imfene’s credit, the cub looked exceptionally healthy, and no signs of physical abuse could be seen. But the cub’s fearful expression and quivering form, which continued to rattle its restraining chains as it looked out to those beyond its cage, admittedly began to tick off the Redmane General.

‘It’s absurd. Why go to such lengths for a mere cub? Poor thing is shivering in fear awfully…’

During his inner thoughts, Radahn failed to notice Imfene hurriedly running towards the back of the stage, jumping to ground level, and rummaging through a nearby wagon.

But it was when the top-hatted simian pulled away from the wagon and stepped back onto the stage that the large earth pony’s eyes widened in shocked response to what the baboon held in his arms.

“A crossbow…?” Radahn muttered, his mind piecing together a horrid implication. “N-no… He couldn’t possibly…”

……….

Imfene positions himself next to the cage, engages the crossbow’s safety mechanism, and steps on the crossbow’s cocking stirrup just before the barrel to pull back on the string. With the string pulled back and secured, he plucks off one of the two arrows held in a duo of holsters built onto the weapon for convenience and sets the arrow into and along the channel of the flight deck.

With the ranged weapon set and prepared, the purple-attired monkey looks down at a saddle arabian standing amongst those closest to the stage. “Allow me to shatter any doubts, my good sir. Nemean’s hide is, in fact,” he takes aim through the bars, Nemean’s eyes closing shut as his fearful frame braced itself for impact, “impenetrable.”

He pulls the trigger, and the arrow is loose with a resounding [KSHLINK].

“STOP!!” A deep voice roared over the crowd’s sea of voices, but the arrow flew faster than the word itself…

……….

The world practically slows down for Radahn as he can only watch the arrow fly through the bars and onward toward Nemean’s stomach region. However, he and the crowd go dead silent as, true to Imfene’s words, the arrow ricochets off the golden-furred lion cub and bounces off a few bars of the cage before eventually settling down on the cage’s hard floor.

The silence continues, save for the ongoings of the rest of Istanbul. Finally, the crowd, save for Radahn, breaks the silence in an explosion as the voices of stallions and mares cry out offers for purchase akin to an auction.

“500 bits!”

“700!”

“No! 1000!”

As the offers grew higher and higher, Radahn could only look on in wide-eyed disbelief…

That was why Nemean had no signs of physical abuse. If what had just transpired was of any indication, such abuse did happen, but it was impossible for any physical evidence to be left on Nemean’s small frame. Radahn’s heart ached for the little cub, and when the young lion dared to open his eyes and look out to the crowd again after his ‘display,’ Radahn’s heart skipped a beat as their eyes soon met.

‘Fret not, young lion… I, Radahn, will not stand for such disgrace.’

……….

‘Who…is that…?’ Nemean observed and questioned internally, his young voice raspy and pitiful—as the other lions were sure to remind him. Constantly.

‘He’s…bigger than the other equines. Wait…his eyes…’

The hands of fear suddenly gripped the young lion as the large equine’s eyes reminded him of that…monster. The one responsible for all of this.

The one who’d taken his mother away…

The one who captured him and gave him to that baboon…

That old centaur…

Sendak.

Atop one of the buildings a respectable distance away from the stage and the caged lion-cub presented upon that, a hooded figure’s green cloak is caught in the wind as they remained out of sight yet observed the event with great interest.

“Hmmm…” A dangerously sultry, feminine voice escapes from the cloaked individual. “Good job, baboon. Looks like all that talk about you wasn’t hot air after all.”

An arm rises, revealing a clawed, feline-like, four-digit hand-paw covered in orange fur that reaches into the hoodie. The thumb and index finger are pressed together, stopping just before a pointy ear canal.

“Sendak?” She asked, emitting green energy from her fingertips. “Can you hear me?”

-“Ah, Catrina. I could use some good news after that fool, Galib, decided to get himself captured.”-

“Don’t you worry about him, honey,” Catrina assured, checking over her other hand-paw’s claws, “I’ll take care of him before he sings like a delicious canary. I just thought you’d like to know that our mutual baboon friend has delivered the package.”

-“Excellent. Holding one’s child for ransom is a bit cliché but effective, nonetheless. With that, the plan is now set in motion.”-

“Yeah, gonna need the details on that one, Sendak. Why all this fuss over some stupid lion cub with,” she forms air quotes while rolling her slitted, light-green eyes, “impenetrable skin? Ooh~. So unique.”

-“That’s none of your concern. You’re an assassin—act like one, and stop asking questions. Get. The job. Done. Should you fail, my lord will find himself with a new abyssinian throw rug.”-

“Yeah, yeah.” Catrina kills the magic at her fingertips, thus ending the magical means of communication.

“Fucking asshole,” she whispered venomously.

Catrina’s ears suddenly flicker beneath her hood as a commotion presents itself from the direction of the stage, and her interest grows evermore as she spots a large earth pony floating in the air by means of magic she’d never before seen.

“Well, now,” she mused. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

Having concluded his conversation with Catrina, Sendak’s steps echo across the cavernous walls of an undisclosed cave system within Saddle Arabia, the orange and red hue of his torch chasing away the shadows.

Allying himself with the Scourge proved to be quite beneficial, especially since the antlion-like insects forged him his own network of hideaways, each interconnected by tunnels deep beneath the Saddle Arabian desert. He could be in Istanbul one day, and Aashtethos the next, and none would be any the wiser.

“Your days are numbered, Selene.”

The elderly centaur grinned, and as he turned around a bend, his eyes, similar to Radahn’s own, rests on a doorframe made of clay and a wooden door.

“Soon, Lord Grogar will be more than happy to reunite you with your old friend, Typhon.”

Chapter 1~ Resolve of The Demigods

Within the mysterious and ominous Lands Between, a blanket of scarlet encompassed the skies over Caelid, one of the many great regions that comprised the land and housed great legends, wonders, and dangers.

Waves crashed against Caelid’s south-eastern coast and reached inland before retreating to their oceanic origins, which seemed to stretch on infinitely.

A constant breeze staked its claim on this day as it fluttered the crimson hairs of two combatants, both warriors reaching a pause in their duel that had ensued within the epicenter of the beach-face battlefield.

Various weaponry, erected banners, and the fallen corpses of historical bouts littered their surroundings. The largest of the combatants, a titan of a man clodded in golden armor with the motif of the courageous lion, drives his dual blades into the sand as his prosthetically limbed valkyrie opponent has fallen to the sandy terrain in exhaustion, said prosthetic having been severed from the rest of her body as it lies nearby with a flesh-rendering blade attachment.

“That was but a taste of my strength, Malenia.” The titanic warrior’s deep and powerful voice escapes from his helmed yet uncovered features as he crosses his powerful arms.

With bated breaths, the valkyrie, Malenia, managed to rise, picking up her prosthetic right arm along the way before reattaching it, checking the blade, and looking up to meet the behemoth’s gaze.

“Surrender now, and upon my honor, I, General Radahn, Conqueror of the Stars, shall allow you and your forces to leave Caelid peacefully. I’ll even throw in a bonus: you can keep your piece of the Elden Ring.”

Malenia scoffed, her mind working overtime. She couldn’t afford to lose here; she needed his Great Rune. It was easily the most sought-after fragment of the once whole Elden Ring for the valkyrie and her…condition. With it, she could help to establish Miquella’s order more efficiently.

How cruel fate was to her. She was born with the Scarlet Rot, a curse that has done away with various portions of her body, having been replaced by prosthetics. Still, with great discipline and tutelage from a particular blind swordsman and the efforts of her dearest brother, Miquella, she had risen above the influence of the eternally-damned rot.

For Malenia, no one else within the Lands Between, with some exceptions like her teacher and brother, could ever know what it was like to hold back an indescribable monster.

None could ever know what the rot, her curse, truly was.

Alas, hope for the cursed valkyrie presented itself when an event called the Shattering transpired. Demigods throughout the land scrambled to claim their own fragments, Great Runes, of the once-whole Elden Ring. And through thorough investigations with the help of Miquella, she had found the perfect Great Rune, one that could even fight off her infectious curse or, if luck was on her side, be rid of it completely. Not to mention the added benefit of wielding three Great Runes, hers and Miquella’s included.

Unfortunately, that same sought-after fragment was wielded by a man she saw as one of the most fearsome opponents she’d ever had to cross blades with: General Radahn. And so…here she is.

Now that she has finally traded blows with him and is currently suffering the results, fearsome doesn’t even begin to describe his might. And she could definitely see some truth to his renown as the mightiest demigod.

The unmistakable whinny of a horse suddenly made itself known, prompting Radahn to tear away his yellow-orange pupils within a black sclera from Malenia, lowering them and resting them upon a scrawny dark-brown steed, chuckling while doing so.

If Malenia were to be honest, it looked more like Radahn was standing over his horse rather than actually mounting it, given the ridiculous size difference between them. She had heard of how comically the duo looked together, but to see it for herself…

“Easy, Leonard,” the general said, laughing boisterously as he ran a gargantuan hand through Leonard’s crimson mane. “Easy.”

Malenia couldn’t believe it… This comedic duo would be the ones to beat her if things didn’t turn in her favor soon. By Miquella’s grace, she was so close!

Her forces had managed to push back and defeat the Redmanes - General Radahn’s elite force comprised of masterful warriors who knew no weakness. And yet her precious Cleanrot Knights, those who swore allegiance to her, knowing that they could also succumb to her accursed rot, persevered and soon overtook Castle Redmane even with lesser numbers. It brought a smile to Malenia’s face at the time, and she proceeded onward.

But her victory would be short-lived. As she and her remaining faithful charged into battle on this very beach against the general himself, who motionlessly observed their approach, he barked an order to the remaining Redmanes stationed all around him, despite their protests as they were ready to die for their beloved lord.

She should’ve seen it coming right then and there. Radahn wielded his gravity-defying prowess with such mastery that he floated his remaining forces away and safely planted them upon an overlooking cliff face, free from Malenia and her Cleanrot Knights’ grasp.

But the real battle began once those Redmanes were out of the picture…

Malenia had learned firsthand why Radahn was, indeed, the Conquerer of the Stars. His power was immense, fitting for a man of his girth, and he swept through her Cleanrot Knights like the very force of nature he bent to his will. It was such a shocking sight that it froze the valkyrie right where she stood.

Even Finlay, her closest confidant and greatest of her knights, was cast aside as easily as a flower does to a hurricane.

The giant before Malenia suddenly shifted his gaze away from his horse and back to her, tearing the valkyrie out of her thoughts as she clenched her muscles in anticipation.

“You are a mighty foe, Malenia. My heart beats with joy at having competed with such a renowned warrior like yourself. You honor me with this battle, but I think we can both agree that the outcome of this bout is clear,” he grinned, “I win.”

Malenia takes several recuperative breaths. There was no other choice. Radahn had overcome any and all efforts she had made, and even her revered Waterfowl Dance sword technique had failed to bring down the titan.

Thus, she resigned herself to a decision, one that she could only pray for forgiveness… Her absolute last resort.

“Miquella…forgive me.” Her muttered voice was sweet like honey yet laced with sadness and regret.

“Pardon?” the general asked with a raised crimson brow.

“Let me ask you this, Radahn: what is it that drives you? What is it that you fight for?” The general was taken aback by the inquiry, but due to just how absurd it was. “Do you fight for the ones you love? Or are you just like some of the other demigods, a power-hungry fool who bends to a false order? Surrender your Great Rune immediately, and I shall show you mercy.”

“...If this is supposed to be some kind of trick, woman,” Radahn spat, insulted by the numerous implications, “you’d best try it on Godrick. It might actually work on him.”

A snort is let loose from Leonard as the horse shakes his head, his mane dancing in tandem.

“See?” Radahn gestures towards his faithful steed, “Even the horse sees past your tricks. I must say, Malenia, I never pegged you for a jester. But by my father’s crimson locks and Godfrey the mighty jock, you surprised me.”

Malenia was about to retort but was abruptly cut off by the giant.

“And for the record, my loyalty has been and always will be to the Redmanes. We fight for our homes, these lands, and everyone who breathes in the gift of life. We shall unify the Lands Between through blood, sweat, tears, and our fiery warrior’s resolve.”

Radahn raises a closed fist high into the air.

“We shall repair these shattered lands through our might and turn the Lands Between into a beacon of prosperity, harmony, and hope. This, I, General Radahn, vow by oath and honor!”

Leonard repeatedly nods as he whinnies loud and proudly.

“Yes, Leonard! Let us ride forth together and meet our destinies! Ahahahahah!”

“And what of the Golden Order?” Malenia asks of the giant during his joyous laughter. “Are you not in line with them?”

Radahn’s laughter slowly died down, followed by a shake of his head. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Granted, the order has my respect, Malenia, but it doesn’t have my allegiance. We cooperated once before, but that’s the full extent of our past partnership. I even tried to lay claim to the capital, Leyndell, and I’m certain that would end any future relations with the Golden Order, but that’s a story for another time. Just know that I lost that fight, and leave it at that.”

“I see.” The valkyrie stared at the duo momentarily, followed by a chuckle. “So be it, then. Since you brought up Godrick, I visited him before coming here. He was quite the jester himself.”

A surge of wind suddenly kicks up during her sudden moment of silence.

“But I wasn’t in the mood for his jokes.” Death accompanied the cadence of Malenia’s voice. “And I am not in the mood for any of yours.”

“Hahah!” Radahn cackled with his head held up high, crossing his arms again and setting his sights on the valkyrie. “Ominous, aren’t we?”

“I tire of this foolishness,” Malenia retorts with some bite and traces of desperation. “Give me your Great Rune, Radahn. Now. I must have it to bring my brother’s dreams to fruition. I insist that you let me have it!”

“You forgot to say ‘please.’” Radahn cracks his neck as Leonard rears up and stomps in place, letting out a fearsome whinny. “If you want it, then you’ll have to take it.” The general smirked, “But you already knew that.”

“Very well. Then you have forced my hand.” Malenia breathes in deeply and sharply. “Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella.” She adjusts her stance and swipes her prosthetic-bladed arm to the right, holding her new combative posture, ready to charge forth.

“And I have never known defeat.”

Radahn grins as he steps forward, grasps his blades’ hilts with ever-crossing arms, and pries them out of the ground, adding some dramatic effects via his gravity magic. Dust and debris blew away from him and Leonard as the duo rested at the epicenter.

“Never known defeat, huh? That’s funny because last I checked…”

His blades scrape against one another as he raises them in unison, creating sparks as the weaponry slowly blocks out his grinning features. Another shockwave pulse is let loose as Radahn suddenly spreads his arms and weaponry apart with a mighty battle cry echoing across the beach-centered battlefield.

“Was it not you who fell before me just moments ago?! Ahahaha!”

A growl escapes from Malenia’s delicate lips as she charges without hesitation. Radahn smiles as he greets Malenia’s challenge equally, taking titanic steps forward with his faithful companion, Leonard.

“For Miquella!”

“For the Redmanes!”

The combatants swiftly closed the distance between them, although Malenia was clearly the faster and more agile adversary. They swung their blades in unison with undeterred measure, Radahn swinging downward and Malenia slashing upward, resulting in a ringing clash that signaled the next phase of their showdown.

These two were the mightiest to remain, and locked horns in combat.

In another world… Beyond the fog… And through the barriers that divides all...

Hear me, sweet moon. Shine thine light upon me and hear my prayer.

My alicorn brethren’s foalish ways hath ended their reign.

My dearest brother, Solaris, the sun to our moon, is…gone.

And unity has been forever lost to our precious little ponies, now eternally against one another.

This world tears itself asunder through wars fueled by petty indifferences, although that’s only one of many reasons. The strong prey upon the weak, and those who rise to defend the helpless are struck down or lose themselves before turning against those they swore to protect.

I…I don’t know who else I can turn to. Thou hath been my guide for as long as I can remember, along with so many others.

Pray…deliver onto me an ally - a champion, one who can aid me and those I love through these troubling times. I do this for them, you see—my loved ones. I would pay any price to see them inherit a world where they can live their lives to their fullest.

One might see this as a foalish notion, but my faith in thee is unwavering, and thou hath never led me astray under thine guidance.

So I beg of thee, help me in my time of need.

Thine ever-grateful friend, Selene Sol Invictus. Last of the alicorns, Equus demigod of Night and Day. Inheritor of my brother’s fiery will.

Shine bright amongst the night sky, mine confidant.

__________

A prayer had been made, but its recipient was more than just listening, and their plan has long been set into motion.

After all, the Lands Between was already filled with the influence of many of its otherworldly brethren, so what's the harm in having one more player in this cosmic game?

The pieces were moving, and the time drew near to make good on a promise made to a unique yet lonely equine of one world and the mournful Carian mother of another.

Author's Note

My personal headcanon for Radahn's voice:

Due to his wits having been long lost to the Scarlet Rot, we never got to hear his official voice in-game. He just roars at us. Of course, the beauty of this is that you're all free to apply your own choice of voice for the big guy.

That being said, thank you all so very much!

Chapter 12~ The Scourge

The Zawaqil brigands cry out as, with a simple flick of his forehoof, Radahn forces all six of them into the ground up to their necks like quicksand via his gravity magic—their scimitars and head coverings having been stripped and planted into the desert terrain nearby.

“There we are,” the red-maned titan of a stallion states. “Now stay put and enjoy the lovely grains of the desert, gentlecolts. I’ll be right back.”

“Bastard!”

“Freak!”

“Just wait until we get out of this!”

“Ahahahaha!” Radahn boisterously threw his head back. “I must say, I commend your fighting spirit—impressive! That said, I do not doubt that you lot have done unspeakable acts of violence against the innocent. So you will likely be dying today.”

“Fuck you!!”

“Charming.” The large purple stallion chuckles and turns to face his campsite, where Hangaku sits comfortably on a log set down near the rescued quartet of camels, who look upon him in awe as he treads across the warm sands to meet them.

“Good afternoon, camels,” he greets while coming to a stop, “Forgive me if that sounds offensive in any way. Truth be told, I've never actually met a camel before, let alone those of such incredible sapience. I know that I sound like a broken record, but the beast folk of these lands are truly a marvel.”

The camels share a mildly confused look with one another. “Uhm…what…?” Shirley questioned.

“He’s, uh, new around here,” Hangaku answered, causing the camels to nod and ‘Oh’ in understanding.

“Th-those powers you possess…” Herbert began in wonder. “How and where did you learn them? How can you even use them?”

“Yeah,” the older, female, single-humped camel said—their younger, fellow single-humped member standing alongside them. “I thought earth ponies couldn’t use magic? At least, not to the same degree as unicorns.”

The large earth pony grinned, “Hah! Let’s just say that during one of my astronomical observations, I thought, ‘If the starry canvas of the universe is so big, why won’t it fight me?’” He abruptly strikes a pose and raises a triumphant forehoof, “And so I challenged the stars and won! Ahahahahah!”

Of course, that wasn’t entirely the truth. But it wasn’t a total lie, either.

“Th-that’s, um, great. Ehehe…” The younger single-humped camel said and laughed nervously as they all began to think that the stallion might’ve spent too much time in the desert heat.

“That…doesn’t actually answer my question,” Herbert whispered to his wife.

‘Is this guy for real…?’ Hangaku internally said in disbelief. ‘I thought the whole Conquerer of the Stars alias was just him being a jerk, but now I think he’s just a moron… Hmm. Gonna have to get more info out of him later. For now, though…’

With a flap of her wings, the pegasus springs off the log and flips through the air and over Radahn before landing behind him in a flawless show of acrobatics.

“Quite the dexterous one, aren’t we?” Radahn commended after a joyful chuckle, turning back to face her. “I’m curious; what was that trick you pulled earlier?”

“It’s called ninjutsu,” the pegasus answered with a wink. “Kawarimi no Jutsu, to be precise. Pretty neat, huh? By the way, I hope there are no hard feelings for the whole screaming at you sitch. That was my ‘emotional clone,’ so to speak, although she wasn’t entirely wrong, either.”

The large stallion’s confused expression spoke volumes, garnering a giggle from Hangaku. “There’s a lot to explain about ninjutsu, but I’d like to get down to business first. Then again, depending on what I’d tell you, I’d probably have to kill you. So there’s that, too.”

Radahn slowly raises a forehoof, “...Uh-”

“Right then!” The pegasus giddily interjects, turning away and skipping off pleasantly toward the sand-bound brigands.

“Huh. Interesting,” Radahn mused as he observed her departure. “Well, it’s official. I said it once, and I’ll say it again… I like her!”

……….

“Konnichiwa!” Hangaku greets the brigands in her native tongue warmly and with closed eyes. “It’s nice to meet you all! Well, again, that is.”

“I can’t believe any of this is happening!” Galib roars out while he and the other members of Zawaqil struggle to get out of the ground, to no avail. “How did you even escape in the first place?! And where the fuck is Aamil?!”

“My, such language,” Hangaku responds. “Wait, was Aamil the one cracking the whip on the carriage?” The pegasus questions while playfully tapping a red-tipped feather on her chin. She then jolted in joy, “Oh! He’s dead! Isn’t that exciting?!”

“Impossible!”

“How?!”

“Eh. What can I say?” Hangaku shrugged playfully. “He got a little choked up.”

‘Nnng! Once our backup arrives, I swear upon every deity in this world that I will personally gut you!’ Galib threatened internally.

“Anyway,” Hangaku began, Radahn pulling up alongside her as his larger frame cast a shadow over the pegasus, offering some respite from the sun. “So, here’s the thing: I’m from the mercenary guild Magius Syndicate, and I’m gonna need you all to answer some questions for me-”

“Screw that!”

“Why don’t you go get rutted by that freak of a pony!”

“Go back to Neighpon, nip!”

“We ain’ say’n nothin’!”

As the brigands continued to voice their defiance and insults, their leader, Galib, chuckled in amusement. “Hear that? You’re not getting anything out of us, so you might as well kill us all, you little cum bucket.” He finished with a condescending grin. “Oh, that’s right. You won’t get your preciousinformation if you do, eh? Life’s just full of hard choices, ain’t it?”

The other brigands laughed in agreement with their leader, who joined them moments after grinningly staring at Hangaku. All while the pegasus scanned them all with an unreadable expression.

“How do you wish to handle this?” Radahn asked. She doesn’t respond and continues to shuffle her gaze between each member of Zawaqil—analyzing them thoroughly.

Hangaku finally breaks her silence and hums satisfyingly, “Right—time for a pop quiz!” She lifts her left wing and plucks off an artificial white feather from the appendage’s humerus section before raising it up high in presentation.

“Anyone know what this is?” She asked, earning dismissive grunts and vocals from the brigands but an interested and studying look from Radahn.

From what the large stallion could see, it looked as if the pegasus had hidden compartments attached along her wing’s humerus, allowing her to store away small items. He could only assume that her other wing possessed a similar utility.

The feather she currently held up high was similar in concept to a writing quill, but rather than it being such a tool, a small purple vial was present where the calamus—typically the portion that’s dipped into an inkwell—would’ve been.

“Fascinating,” Radahn compliments, chuckling. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Says the gravity-defying earth pony,” Hangaku shoots back playfully.

“Hah! Point taken!”

Meanwhile, Galib’s eyes are narrowed as he tries to determine what is inside the vial. There was undoubtedly something familiar about it…but he just couldn’t put a hoof on it.

“Care to take a guess?” Hangaku injects as she notices the leader becoming distraught, shaking the vial in her grasp and disturbing the lavender liquid within.

“What does it matter?!” Galib barked. “It won’t change anything!”

“Actually, it will.” She steps closer and taps the feathered vial against his forehead. “So, tell me something… Have you ever heard of Wukong Divulgance?”

The effect of those words was immediate as Galib’s eyes shot wide open in horrific realization. “N-no…”

“B-boss?!” One of the nearby brigands closest to him cried out. “What is that…?!”

“Wukong… H-how did you… That’s not…”

“I’m from Neighpon, remember?” Hangaku teasingly questioned as she sat down alongside the sand-bound, stunned saddle arabian.

“Neighpon neighbors Qina,” she continued, slapping the back of his head, “you nōtarin. That means ‘dumbass’ in Neighponese, by the way.” The pegasus rises up and takes a few steps away toward Radahn before spinning to face the captive brigands.

“It’s inevitable that various goods and wares would be traded between the two nations, both legally and illegally. You guys should know all about that second one! After all, we’ve been tracking your organization for quite some time. We know that Zawaqil is just a branch of a much larger collective that thrives in the black market.”

“What?!” Another member of the brigand band bellows from the pegasus’ right. “How did you get this information?!”

“Classified,” Hangaku answered, locking eyes with him. “Just think about it, though. Did you guys really think you just happened to come by me in such a weakened state? Did you think it was that easy to capture me?”

“You… You wanted us to bring you in!” One of the brigands voiced as all of them, save for Galib, were simply floored by the trap they had been ensnared into. It dawned on them that, even without the large earth pony’s involvement, the neighponese pegasus in front of them would have escaped.

They planned to take her back to their main base of operations… And considering how she escaped from her former confinement, she would’ve done so there and exposed the location of the hideout they’ve tried tirelessly to keep under wraps.

“You bitch!”

“Fuck!”

“Damn it all!”

Hangaku winked as she took their frustrated insults. “Love you too, boys. Mwah~!” She blows them a kiss.

As this goes on, Radahn couldn’t help but grin joyously throughout the entire affair. Hangaku was proving to be an invaluable ally with every passing moment, and if there was any chance of him finding a way out of Saddle Arabia and back to the Lands Between, she would be his best lead.

“Of course, this giant fellow,” Hangaku said after looking back to Radahn, “Is kind of an interesting variable to my plan. Still, all things considered,” she tears her eyes away from the large equine and rests her sights on the brigands with a prominent smile.

“As they say in Equus: you guys are bucked.”

……….

Galib tried to hide it, but deep concern and urgency began to take hold of him as he realized the gravity of the situation.

‘Fuuuuck. Why did this freak of a pony have to show up?’ He internally scorned while glaring at the towering equine. ‘Damn it… DAMN IT!’

In truth, the brigand band leader wasn’t at all surprised by the pegasus’s loyalty to the mercenary guild and, furthermore, to Selene. Naturally, his merry band was clueless of this fact—one has to play it close to the vest, after all.

Thanks to his connections with Sendak, Galib originally planned to turn the tables on the pegasus once they returned to their hideout. He would mold her into the perfect bargaining chip should Selene and Magius Syndicate ever come knocking.

He wasn’t entirely sure why Sendak was so obsessed with the alicorn, but that was the centaur’s problem. So long as she was removed from the equation, he couldn’t give two shits.

But all semblance of careful planning came crashing down as he didn't expect that freak to have the power to defy gravity—fucking gravity! Nor did he ever think that pegasus would have such a potent potion.

If he were to drink that concoction… Their entire operation would…

His thoughts are abruptly disrupted as the pegasus approaches him with that damned vial and the large pain in the ass in tow.

‘Where are they?!’ He internally shouts, desperation plastered on his face as the neighponese and her giant companion draw closer and closer, their sand-treading steps stirring his sweat glands with a resounding [Clompf] on approach.

‘Help me, damn it!’

[Clompf, clompf…]

‘Where the fuck are the Scourge?!’

[Clompf, clompf, clompf…]

The duo’s shadows loomed over him as he looked up to meet their eyes with his own panicked orbs, his fellow brigands looking on in nervous silence. The pegasus rests on her haunches and, with her free forelimb, twists the feathered cap off the vial.

‘Sendak! You’d better not be trying to screw me, you bastard!’

“You’ve been buried in the sand for nearly fifteen minutes.” Hangaku grabs onto his mane and harshly yanks his head back. “You must be thirsty.”

Galib tries to resist, thrashing his head around and keeping his mouth sealed via tightly closed lips, doing everything he could to prevent even a single drop of that potion from entering his mouth.

“Hey, Radahn?”

“Yes?”

“Could you use that magic of yours to-”

“My pleasure,” the earth pony gently interjects, flicking a forehoof covered in his purple prowess upward, which grasps onto Galib’s head completely.

Only the brigand’s eyes could move as they darted about in their sockets, showing their owner’s futile efforts to resist Radahn’s grasp. His mouth is easily pried open, “Thanks, big guy,” the pegasus looming over him said, earning a nod from the freak-pone as she prepared to-

The sandy terrain suddenly began to shake violently, growing stronger with every passing second and causing Hangaku to fall onto her side. It happened so fast that the pegasus didn’t even have time to right herself with her wings.

Hangaku drops the vial in the process, but it’s fortunately caught in the air and held upright by the nearby large pony’s quick thinking and magic.

“Is this an earthquake?” The red-maned titan questioned. He shoots his gaze back to his campsite, the trees and watering hole of the oasis dancing from the earthly commotion, to check on the camels, who were all safe despite trying to stop themselves from falling over.

As Hangaku lifts herself up from the sand, she locks eyes with Galib along the way, who is now grinning triumphantly.

“Yes, finally!” The brigand leader celebrated, and even his cohorts seemed to share his relief. “They’re finally here!”

“Who?!” Hangaku roars back. “Who did you-?!”

A haunting screech accompanied by a clicking sound made itself known from beneath the sands around the oasis, followed by another…and another...and another…

The neighponese pegasus’s eyes shot wide open in ominous realization. “Sweet, Selene…”

Radahn notices a commotion out in the desert sea. “Be careful!” He warned, taking on a combative stance. “Something’s out there!”

Following his declaration, and by his count, seven mounds had emerged as he looked out to the sea of sand. "Scratch that!" He corrected himself. "Multiple 'somethings' are out there!"

Each mound started to move just beyond the oasis’ territory at admirable speeds, heading straight towards them. As the mounds reached a certain yet closer distance, they suddenly went flat as if the creatures that made them dived deeper into the hot sands.

Radahn turns his gaze in every direction to try and locate the burrowing entities. “Radahn!” Hangaku cries out from nearby, garnering his attention. “It's the Scourge! Get the camels to safet-!”

The camels scream out as suddenly as the sand that’s thrown up around them, followed by the emergence of a large insectoid resembling an antlion, whose mandibles and jaws close just as swiftly on the unfortunate mammalian desert-dwellers with a sickening crunch.

A wide-eyed Radahn and Hangaku practically watched the ravenous scenario unfold in slow motion. As the antlion-like entity lowered itself back into the ground, something had been thrown into the air, landing in front of them.

Shirley’s dismembered head.

Chapter 19~ Leonard vs Flare Pt: 1

“Here we are, Radahn!”

Hangaku had declared in the lead, the sun above resting on its high noon throne and baking the land as the pegasus and her earth pony companion stepped around a mound of dirt, rock, and sand before being presented with towering buildings with bulbous rooftops and a great wall stretching infinitely in either direction.

The neighponese pegasus stops in place and turns to face the stallion. “Welcome to Istanbul, big guy.”

Radahn’s eyes take in the sights, admiring the admittedly alien-like building motif. “Of all the desert nations I’ve visited before, I’ve never seen one with such unique architecture.”

Hangaku raises an eyebrow, “Unique architecture?” She glances back to Istanbul and sets her eyes on the titan again. “It’s pretty average if you ask me.” The pegasus said with a shrug. “If you want to see some really impressive stuff, you should visit Abyssinia and Ng’amia sometime, both being desert nations inhabited by bipedal felines to the east. My homeland, Neighpon, isn’t too far from there as it’s near the Prancific Ocean. Then there’s Qina, but we’re getting a little sidetracked.”

“Sounds like an interesting affair, my friend.”

Radahn lifts his head for boisterous laughter while Hangaku walks past him, the stallion turning with her as they tread side-by-side and go around the same mound they’d previously come from, after which the salvaged yet still usable remains of the Zawaqil’s cart and the unconscious Galib on top and bound in ropes can be seen.

As for Shirley’s head wrapped in magically preservative cloth imbued with crimson runes, Hangaku had stashed it away and out of sight for the time being.

“I still say that we could’ve arrived here sooner had we flown, and the cart was just unnecessary baggage.”

“That’s exactly the problem, big guy. You’re an earth pony who can fly without wings. Besides, the cart makes things a bit more convenient, and we might be able to repurpose it for future use.”

“You know I’m using gravity magic to perform such a feat. I certainly couldn’t fly in my human form without it, either.”

“I’ll grant you the human bit, but earth ponies can’t use magic like you do.” During Hangaku’s response, Radahn picks up the rope strapped to the forefront of the wagon and throws it over his right shoulder.

“You’re an anomaly,” Hangaku states while flapping her wings and hovering over the cart before setting herself down on it. “If the ponies of Equus ever saw you, you’d cause panic amongst the pegasi and the unicorns. And you’d practically be a god to the earth ponies.”

“Demigod, but the god thing works, too! Ahaha!”

The wheels of the cart creak as Radahn takes his first step, pulling it and Hangaku along as they set off toward Istanbul. He had to commend whoever was responsible for the craftsmanship of the wagon wheels, being more than capable of trekking through the sandy terrain without much or any complications.

“Seriously, though. I am but a demigod who’s been turned into an equine, likely a joke due to my brotherly bond with Leonard, and was set down in a distant land through means of powerful sorcery cast by those who were just trying to help me, Hangaku.”

“Exactly!” Hangaku exclaimed with outstretched wings, which folded afterward. “How can you just casually say that and expect the three pony tribes in the Lands Between to accept any of it? They don’t even know what a human is- I barely know what a human is.”

“Come now, Hankagu, I’m not that much of an anomaly by the standards of my homeland. Why, it was the Alabaster Lords who invented the magic I wield; I’m simply a well-versed student of the arts. Ahahahaha!”

‘A-Alabaster- what is- what?!’ Hangaku cried out internally with an agape muzzle, absolutely dumbfounded. She then shakes her head to recover her composure, lifts it with closed eyes, and takes a deep and recuperative breath.

The sounds of the world around her slowly faded away to the point that the pegasus couldn’t even comprehend any further words loosened from Radahn’s muzzle. She crosses her hind legs, spreads out her forelimbs, and surrenders to the bliss of meditation, maintaining calculatively paced breaths.

An elderly mare’s voice rises from the recesses of Hangaku’s memories, which echoes in her psyche during her trance.

Remember, Hangaku. The kunoichi of this village are a special breed of ninja. We must never forget to master spirit, mind, and body. Only then can we use the greatest power we’ve salvaged from the stars above as if Lord Tsukuyomi had blessed us with this wondrous gift.

I understand, Lady Chiyome.

Strive to do away with any and all distractions. That is the key to mastering my technique, the art of the Crimson Archer.

Yes, sensei!

Very good. You have made me proud, my pupil. Your training is nearly complete, and I have faith that you will bring honor to our village.

The pegasus’ sensei would’ve reprimanded her for showing such emotions as a ninja; such things can cost them dearly in their way of life. Thus, with those teachings in mind, she manages to tame her emotions.

As Hangaku emerges from her meditative state, Radahn’s humming, the cart’s mobility, and the sound of the world around them finally grace her hearing senses.

“Hey, you,” Radahn began, looking back at her. “You’re finally awake.”

Hangaku chuckles while shaking her head, “I wasn’t sleeping, big guy. I was meditating. Let’s just get your titanic flank to Selene so we can finally make sense of your conundrum.”

Radahn smirked, looking forward again as they approached an active road of hardened sand with several other wagons traveling to and fro Istanbul, some being pulled by camels, others saddle arabians, and, in some cases, both. He even saw what looked to be bipedal dog-like entities, which garnered his interest.

Of course, the oversized earth pony’s presence earned passing stunted stares and agape jaws.

“Those are diamond dogs,” Hangaku states upon noticing the stallion’s curiosity, sighing somberly afterward. “I sympathize with them, you know?”

“Diamond dogs, hmm… Interesting creatures. I’ve seen beast folk similar to them in appearance back home. They seem to be enjoying themselves.”

“Yes… The ones who live here in Istanbul, that is.”

Radahn looks back at her inquisitively, prompting the pegasus to continue.

“The diamond dogs have it rough, big guy. They’re…a race often forced into slavery—one of several, in fact. But the creations of Hephaestus have it worse.”

“Creations of Hephaestus?”

“It’s a long story, big guy. Just know that Istanbul is one of the only places in this world where they can be free and are treated with decency and respect, provided they don’t wander too far from its territory.

“But if you were to go to places like Equus, Savanna, the Frozen North, the Griffonian Empire, Qina, Neighpon… No matter where you go, you’ll always find an enslaved diamond dog there. Always.”

“O-oh…” The stallion looks down the road that leads away from Istanbul, eyes focusing on the last wagon that had passed by moments before with diamond dog occupants. “I see… That is most unfortunate.”

“This world is cruel, Radahn. What we experienced yesterday at the oasis was just a peek into a sin that plagues all lands. And when you’re a race like the diamond dogs, who aren’t too proficient in magical or physical might…

“The strong will always prey on the weak.”

Silence takes hold, save for the passing of other carts on the road and the ramblings of their drivers and passengers.

“But that’s why several others and I have joined Selene in her efforts. We believe in her and what we’re all fighting for. And when—not if—when we succeed…”

Hangaku looks up to the celestial orb above.

“The sun will rise over a world where all creatures can accept one another and live together in harmony.” The pegasus’ crystal blue eyes are lowered and set on the titan of a stallion. “And even if such a world never comes to pass, we’ll at least form a nation that embodies the tenets necessary to bring about such a change.”

Radahn’s head remains forward, and he closes his eyes in thought while waiting for a chance to step onto the road and meld into traffic once the opportunity presents itself. A hearty chuckle escapes from his throat, followed by a content hum.

“What would this supposed nation be called?” He inquires, causing a closed smile to form on the edges of Hangaku’s muzzle.

“It’s a name that Selene’s brother, Solaris, peace be upon him, was said to have muttered with his dying breath…

“Equestria.”

Radahn turns his head to give the pegasus an approving sideward gaze.

“In that case, when I return home, regain my original form, become Elden Lord, and establish order across the land, my Redmanes and I shall gladly aid this Equestria in pursuing those ambitions.”

“Y-you’d…do that?”

“Of course! Ahahaha! We all share the same world, after all. Don’t think for a second that you’re the only ones seeking to liberate the oppressed and to repair what’s broken. Remind me to tell you about my friends amongst the Great Caravan and how such a bond was forged in the first place.”

The pegasus speechlessly stares at the stallion with wide eyes, followed seconds after by a suppressed giggle. She wasn’t entirely sure what this Great Caravan was, but she could only assume Radahn and his ilk must hail from some remote part of the Equus continent.

“We’d appreciate it, big guy.”

The cart starts to move again as, when the stallion looks forward, an opening in the flow of wagons presents itself, causing the large equine to seize the opportunity, meld and blend right in, followed by the duo proceeding onward to Istanbul’s entrance.

“Hey, uh, Radahn?”

“Yes?”

“...The fuck’s an Elden Lord?”

-Peaks of Peril-

Finish up your breakfast, Leonard, and meet me out back.

Wait, what? What do you mean, Tzu?

If you wish to have a chance against Flare, you must be properly…prepared.

…Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Those words that had served as a prelude to the following rigorous training earlier in the day play in the stallion’s mind, now donned in saddle arabian attire gifted to him by the scarred kirin, while following Mulan along a dirt trail cutting through a dense line of bamboo stalks.

“I pray to the great Buddha that your time with Tzu bears great results, my friend,” Mulan comments. “Then again, the fact that she entrusted you with her late husband’s attire speaks volumes in of itself.”

“I won’t disappoint either of you, Empress Mulan,” Leonard responds enthusiastically, earning a sigh from the empress.

“Please don’t make that a habit.”

The red-maned equine laughs lightly. “By the way, thanks for giving me that healing potion after Tzu’s training. Radahn’s balls, she’s a powerhouse.”

Peak Village’s leader giggles, “That’s to be expected. Tzu was the one who trained Rain Shine, after all. Who, in turn, trained Flare. So, at least you have that going for you.”

“Thank Buddha, am I right?”

“Thank the great Buddha, indeed. Or Radahn’s balls, as you say.”

“Haha! Now you’re speaking my language.”

The duo share a chuckle as they come upon a thick wall of greenery adorned with blossoming pink flowers blocking their path. But from what Leonard could judge by the trail itself, it was clear that the road continued beyond the obstacle.

Mulan steps forward and moves to the side of the wall, turning to face her brown-coated companion.

“Are you ready?”

Leonard adjusts his stance, raises his head, and puffs out his chest.

“I am the brother of General Radahn. I am a Redmane. I was born ready!”

Mulan nods in affirmation, the runes on her horn igniting as a jade-colored magical grasp wills the wall of ferns to spread apart in either direction, after which an explosion of cheering voices that the obstacle had muffled and silenced presents itself, causing the stallion’s ears to twitch in response.

“There he is!”

“Woohoo!”

“Wow! He really is handsome!”

“If Flare wins this, I’ll be one extremely jealous kirin!”

Mulan takes the lead and proceeds with Leonard in tow as the legion of feminine-dominated voices continues, the displaced stallion looking around with great interest, waving a forehoof at the audience.

“I’ve been waiting all morning for this!”

“Place your bets!”

“I’ll take a piece of that action!”

“Ooh! Ooh! My votes on the new guy!”

“No way! Flare Burst’s got this in the bag!”

Tearing his sights away from the crowd and forward again, Leonard could see a sizeable rectangular-shaped arena made out of sturdy wood with a golden pattern etched onto it, consistent with what he’d often seen decorating several houses throughout the village.

Within this arena, he spots his opponent, staring at him with a neutral expression, while two wooden staves are seemingly held upward via the arena itself. The stallion also notices Rain Shine, Blaza Qin, and several other members of the Blades of Peril exiting the platform and dispersing to join the crowd and take up positions around it.

“We’re rooting for you, Leonard!”

“Put on a good show for the children, dearie!”

Familiar voices manage to greet his ears, causing his eyes to travel over to Udrako’s towering frame, Sandy waving a forehoof, Sun Tzu, who nods at him knowingly, and a gathering of young kirins or pups gathered around the kir-raffe’s long legs.

Judging by their barking and yipping, Leonard now understood why they were called pups. But before he could properly greet them all, not to mention Angus, the bull’s hybrid daughters, and the rest of his family, who stood just behind Udrako, Flare Burst’s voice bellows over the crowd, causing the audience’s array of voices to die down slowly.

“Welcome, Leonard!” The red-haired kirin emphasized with a raised cloven forehoof before pointing it at him. “To our Training Grounds, where many of us had been molded from cubs to fearsome lionesses! We shall see if you have what it takes to join our ranks. Of course, there’s also a certain,” she narrows her eyes, licking her lips, “arrangement between you and I. Or will you display dishonor and go back on your word?”

The stallion smiles while shaking his head. “A Redmane never goes back on his word, Flare. We’re still on, and I’m gonna beat you.”

Flare’s eyes, along with that of the audience, are shot wide open as this is the first time any of them had heard it, save for Tzu, Sandy, and Mulan.

“Oh, my sweet Buddha!”

“His voice is so dreamy!”

“I love it!”

“A fine voice to go with a fine stallion!”

More praise for the stallion’s voice is let loose from the crowd as Mulan guides Leonard to one of the arena’s four entrances, specifically to the north, where Rain Shine stands, and observes their approach.

“Those clothes you’re wearing…” Rain Shine began in recognition. “T-that’s…” Her eyes shift towards Sun Tzu across the way, who nods at her.

“Wish me luck, Rainy!” Leonard said before proceeding into the ring, while Mulan position herself alongside Rain Shine.

With a simple exchange of looks with her mentor, Rain immediately realized what had transpired.

‘You trained him…’ The amberish gray-coated kirin said internally, her moderate amaranth eyes studying Leonard’s frame as he and Flare picked up their staves and distanced themselves from one another.

The combatants begin to converse, but their words are lost to Rain as she remains in deep thought.

‘For my sensei to entrust you with her most prized possession… Her husband’s apparel… Leonard… Who are you?’

“He’s so mysterious, isn’t he?” Mulan’s voice draws the taller kirin out of her inner thoughts. “Every time I talk to him, I learn something new and extraordinary.”

“Yes… He’s…an interesting one, to be sure.”

“I know that look, Rainy,” the kirin look to one another, “You want to soul search him, don’t you?”

“Back when he’d initially awoken, I...brought him into the Spirit Realm.”

“You what?!”

“He wasn’t harmed, I assure you.”

Mulan narrows her eyes in displeasure. “Oh, I see, so that’s what you did while I was gone. Bad, Rainy. Bad.”

Rain Shine exhales while looking back to the arena’s innards. “His spirit has been giving me strange vibes since then, Mulan. And yet…”

“And yet…what?”

“There’s something…familiar about it.”

Mulan’s eyes widen as she looks into the arena. “You don’t mean…”

“I can’t explain it, but somehow, someway… Leonard and my father share similar spiritual energy. It’s strange, but I know it to be true.”

“...We’ll have to confront him about this.”

“What will you have me do, empress?”

“I don’t want to invade Leonard’s privacy, so we’ll discuss this matter with him tonight. If Leonard has any connection to the kelpies, he may be the key to revealing where they came from…”

“Where my father came from.”

The duo looks at one another and nods together in agreement. “We’ll do it tonight, then,” Mulan stated.

Several moments of silence passed between them, the nearby crowds getting excited as Leonard and Flare exchanged retorts and mockeries.

“Empress Mulan!” Flare beckoned from within the arena, taking a combative stance, and Leonard followed suit. “We’re ready to begin!”

Mulan looked up to a purple kirin with a blue mane and tail tuft on a tree platform overlooking the arena, a large circular golden gong with the insignia of a white serpentine dragon hanging beside them.

The Kirin salutes Mulan while holding a mallet before facing the audience with outstretched forelimbs.

“OK, everyone! Let’s get this Buddha-blessed party started!” The kirin, playing the role of a referee, shouts, prompting the audience to celebrate while Leonard and Flare steel themselves for combat.

The referee points their mallet at Flare. “Flare! Are you ready?!”

Flare growls through a toothy grin. “Your ass is mine!”

“Phewhoo! Well, there you have it, folks!” The mallet is pointed sharply towards Leonard. “And you, Leonard! Are you ready?!”

“I’m ready to make her kiss my ass! And you’re not going to enjoy it, sweetheart!”

……….

Meanwhile, among the audience…

“Such foul language!” Udrako chastised while using her magic to prevent the pups from hearing anything. “Have some consideration for the pups, all of you!”

“Why’d you even bring them, Madam-Long-Legs?” Sandy questioned with a deadpan expression.

“And miss what’s easily the grandest event we’ve had here in Peak Village for several months? I think not.”

“Then stop whining and just treat this as the pups learning about the birds and the bees sooner rather than later.”

“Ugh!”

“Shoohoot, ah’m itch’n to see what that feller is made of!” Angus Prairie beckoned nearby. “Go get ‘em, boy!”

……….

“The match shall begin at the sound of the gong!” The referee declares, turning sideways and practicing a few shadow swings while the entire audience screams out in celebratory fashion, Leonard and Flare staring each other down.

The referee shadow swings several more times, practically teasing everyone and delaying the main event further…

Until…

[BWOOOOOONG]