The Broken Compass

Fluttershy leapt into an apple tree before Jude could react to that strange word she had just said. “Shifter? What is a shifter?” He asked. Pinkie at least stood still, but that was about the extent of her bravado. She was frozen in a thousand yard stare at the farmhouse, a worried expression on her face. Jude waved a hand in front of her, but no reaction came from her. “What the heck is wrong with you two?”

Suddenly, another shout rang out, but this one was distinctively lower in pitch and was less one of fear than one of surprise. Both girls instantly came back to life, Fluttershy’s head popping through the leaves. “Applejack!” they shouted in unison.

They dashed down the road to the farm house terrified as Jude was left in the dust, utterly confused. Umm, Jase. Do you have any clue what just happened?

None whatsoever, his other half responded. Jude, something doesn’t feel right. Maybe you could let me stretch my legs a little while? Jude thought about it. Whatever a shifter was, it seemed like it was something to fear and Jase had a good bit more bravado than Jude, especially in the presence of danger.

Sure, Jude responded. Please be careful, Jase. This is obviously a very fragile situation, whatever it is. Jase nodded internally as he again regained control of their shared body. He took a second to take in the surroundings before running off in the same direction the two girls had just bolted off.

Jase sprinted, passing rows of apple trees along the way. The road finally crested into a hill, and as he crested it, a strange scene lay out before him. The two girls stood petrified, staring just in front of him. Many crates of apples and pieces of farm equipment were torn asunder and scattered around the ground. Jase saw a young woman with green eyes and blonde hair and a smaller, younger girl with red hair. Both had the look of farmhands and the older girl was wearing a familiar looking Stetson cowboy hat. Admittedly, in different circumstances, Jase might have considered the older one rather attractive, but his mind was in overdrive when he noticed the last and most frightening detail of this scene.

The girls were being seized by several beastly monsters, five in all. There was one holding each arm of each girl and one just pacing in front of the girls.  They were very muscular seeming, humanoid figures. Long, matted fur covered their bodies and long sharp claws protruded from their fingers where fingernails should have been. The beasts wore a patch work of clothing, some of which seemed to resemble armor. They were bearing their teeth, showing hideous fangs.

So, this is a shifter, Jase thought to himself. No wonder the girls were so scared. Just as the thought had crossed his mind, a large, burly farm hand ran up to the scene, a concerned but angry look across his face.

The shifter that was pacing, and presumably the leader, twisted his lips into a vile grin at the sight of the young man. “Ah… Big Macintosh. You’ve arrived perfectly on time.”

The young man seemed annoyed, especially with the chummy tone the shifter was taking with him. “What do you want, Fang?”

The shifter, obviously named Fang, feigned a more official demeanor. “Always so serious… Well, if you must be so damnably solemn, then the problem is that you were late paying your defense tax.”

“You mean extortion,” Big Mac said. The faux frown on the shifter’s face turned more authentic.

“Watch your tongue, Big Mac. You’re already in a great deal of trouble,” Fang hissed under his breath. “At any rate, you’re very late, and we’ve grown… impatient. And when we grow impatient…” He flexed his claws out. “… We shifters can get so pestered and frustrated, so we have been sent to compel tribute.”

“We don’t have the money, yet.” Big Mac stated. “It has been a hard growing season and your taxes have been too heavy. We won’t have any money left until the growing season.”

The shifter cackled. “Oh, we know you have no more money…” he walked over to the two young women. “… But you do have them.” He ran a claw along the older one’s jaw.

“You’re not taking them.” Big Mac barely got the statement out through gritted teeth. His fists clenched unwittingly.

Jase was watching all of this unfold in sheer horror. Whatever these things were, he was already starting to see the reasons they were feared. He wished there was something to do other than stare dumbly before a sudden, crazy idea flew into his mind.

Fang smiled wider and took a sniff of the older girl’s blonde hair. “Take another sniff, and I’ll knock every one of those sharp pearly whites out and make you eat them,” she responded.

The shifter growled before giving way to an amused smile. “This one has some fight. I’d love to teach her how she can actually use that mouth of hers.” The other shifters snickered briefly. Fang turned his attention to the younger ginger girl.

“Still, I prefer them young.”

The little girl tried in vain to hide her terror. Fang extended his grasp to the point he was almost touching her.

“Get back.”

Suddenly, every eye turned in shock to see Jase, now moving closer to the scene with newfound bravado. Jase, what the hell are you doing? Jude asked within his head.

Just trust me[/i], Jase responded. The lead shifter seemed irritated by the newcomer interrupting this important business transaction. “This is not of your affair, mage. Leave,” he barked.

“Oh, I will- Fang, was it? - but you first.” Fluttershy and Pinkie seemed astonished, as though Jase had just told God himself to piss off. Big Mac and the girls looked at the stranger curiously, trying to figure out what to make of him. Even the other shifters were caught off guard by the boldness this mage had shown by talking out of turn.

The only one who called the bluff Jase was putting out was Fang, who laughed another one of his screeching cackles.

“Oh and what if I don’t?” For a moment, Jase second guessed his actions. Maybe his timing and actions weren’t the best planned, but it was too late to back out, and he had one last card to resort to.

“Then I’ll use this,” Jase responded, raising the pistol that he had left in his pack.

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While the attention was focused on the two girls, Jase had retrieved it from the side pocket. Dude, what the hell? Jude shouted surprised.

Jude, if there were ever a time you should be quiet and trust me, it’s now, Jase responded. Meanwhile, the shifter looked very curiously at Jase and the shiny metal device in his hand. “How will that make me leave? It isn’t even a sharp blade.”

“Do you have any idea how this works? I’ll give you one last warning: get the hell out of here!” Jase shouted. Suddenly, Jase felt… strange. An unfamiliar rage clouded his mind. The swelling sensations in his chest, the semi blurriness of his vision, even the way his tone was raised were all odd. He felt his control slipping.

Fang turned, grinning with his teeth. This stranger was no threat, just empty words. He turned to the older girl and smiled wider, blowing rancid breath at her. He just stared a moment at her, letting the fear of anticipation rise within her mind. Suddenly, a hairy fist flew into her stomach. She yelped loudly as tears out of reflex escaped her eyes. The two shifter holding her were the only things keeping her from doubling over on the ground.

“You see mage? You people are weak, pathetic. We are gods among you. We are-” Fang was suddenly cut off by a huge boom that resounded like a peal of thunder. Again, everyone’s eyes went wide. Fang looked down, shocked as a hole had appeared in his abdomen, gushing out blood. He fell to his knees, gripping his stomach and grunting in pain. He met Jase’s unwavering eyes for one moment before finally falling face first to the ground.

The most shocked of those who watched the events unfold were the shifters, who had now let go of the girls and were staring in fear at Jase. “Black magic…” One of them whispered. “Alchemy,” another said, as if complementing the phrase of the other dog. Jase, a cold gaze frozen on the dogs, raised the pistol again, but it was unnecessary. As soon as he did, they yipped and ran off.

A few moments passed before the two captives rose again to their feet. Big Mac quickly walked over and helped them up. “Are you alright, Applejack?” he asked the older one. She smiled weakly. “Yeah. I am.”

Big Mac returned the smile as he helped the younger girl onto her feet. He then turned to the stranger. Jase was still standing there, petrified in his angry stare and still holding the pistol level.

“That was super awesomazing!” Pinkie shouted, starting to bounce happily once more. Fluttershy was just breathing to calm down a bit. This level of excitement was a bit too much for her.

“You do know that’s not a word, right Pinkie?” Applejack asked sarcastically grinning. Big Mac helped her walk up to the stranger, still aching from the blow she took moments ago. “Whoever you are, thank you for your help. You saved my sisters from those jackals,” Big Mac said gratefully. He extended his hand towards Jase, but Jase didn’t take it. He didn’t even move, still glaring with the gun pointed forward. “Umm… Hello?” Big Mac asked, baffled by the state the stranger was in.

Jase snapped back to reality, shaking his head clear and dropping the gun. Had he just blacked out? What had just happened? He looked around and took in what he had just done. He then realized Big Mac, who was a whole head and a half taller than Jase, still had his hand extended. Jase shook off the strange situation that had just happened and shook Big Mac’s hand with a smile. “Oh, um. No problem. I don’t think we were introduced. I’m Jase, Jase Foster.”

Big Mac’s grin returned. For a second, Jase had him worried. “I’m Big Macintosh, and these are my sisters, Applejack and-”

Big Mac gestured to an empty spot. Applebloom ran up and hugged Jase’s leg. “That sure was brave of you, mister Jase.” Jase was taken a bit aback by the sudden growth on his leg. He tried not to have a heart attack out of the sheer cuteness of the little girl attached to his leg.

Jase shrugged, feigning a cocky attitude. “Again, you’re welcome, miss…”

“Applebloom,” she responded.

He smiled again before looking up at Big Mac with a slightly more serious expression. “Well, at least those shifters are gone.”

Big Mac’s face darkened as the thought occurred to him. “Oh, darn. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Jase looked at him, trying to understand. “Thought of what? I killed him.”

“Exactly. Now Longtooth will be angry with you.” Jase shrugged as if the name didn’t mean anything to him.

Big Mac was surprised. “You really don’t know? He’s the leader of the whole shifter clan, the alpha male, and considering you killed his own brother, I reckon he isn’t too happy with you.”

“And? I mean, how many of those things are there? Ten? Fifteen?” Big Mac shook his head ominously.

“There are at least a few thousand, probably more.”

Jase’s jaw hung open at the prospect. A few thousand of those things would be impossible to run from, and suicidal to fight. “But why would he be that angry with me? I only killed that one there!” Jase motioned towards the dead shifter.

“Precisely,” Big Mac responded, “You killed him. That was Fang, Longtooth’s brother.”

...

In a distant place, an old enemy floated in a void of black nothingness. The empty space had grown infinitely real, and yet unreal. The uncertainty of what existence, nonexistance, death, life: these were the things that constantly tormented the phantom.

Suddenly, for a brief moment, the void was filled with something. An image of what was happening, worlds away on the apple farm. It watched inquisitively as to what was happening. As he watched, his curiosity turned to glee. This was a golden opportunity, and a chance for the phantom to finally break free of its prison. Then the phantom did something most unpredictable, something it hadn't done since as far back as it remembered.

It smiled.