You're a demon (Apparently)

by Turtwig-Tales

First published 11th of May, 2020

A bunch of ponies summon a demon. They get a human.

A group of pony radicals try to summon a demon to overthrow the princesses. Instead they got a human. They don't know what a human is.

((Pre Princess Twilight))

((Edit: Featured 5/11/2020. Didn't expect this to go over so well!))
((Edit2: Ch.8 featured 10/1/2020))

Chapter 1

You were a normal guy. If you were being honest, you were a bit below average. You lived alone in a boring town in a crummy apartment. Didn’t even have a proper bed, just an old mattress on the floor. Regular meals were a luxury, and even then they rarely approached ‘healthy.’

As much as you wanted to improve things, your boss was a cheap bastard who took the minimum wage as more of a suggestion. The job sucked, but it was the only one you could get. Four years of college well spent.

Today, however, was a special day. Some generous soul had given you a large tip, a whopping five dollars! You’d even managed to sneak it past the living money-radar that was your boss, who would’ve claimed it as his own by divine right. Fuck that.

Being a grown, reasonable adult, you decided to spend your bounty on a cheap coffee from a gas station. For once you enjoyed your usual walk home, the caffeine making feel like something resembling a human being. You felt tingle of excitement as you take another sip. Life was looking up.

Wait. The tingle was getting stronger. What was in that coffee?

Suddenly, your vision goes blurry and the ground falls out from under you. Nausea overwhelms you as your brain hosts a house party with all your organs invited, and your lower intestines just showed up drunk. Colors and shapes danced in your vision, twisting and twirling inside of each other. You think you threw up at some point. Your precious coffee had most certainly been lost.

Eventually, you landed on the ground. Hard.

You stumbled to your feet, trying and failing to blink your eyes back to normal. As the spinning and shapes eventually faded, you noticed you were in a dimly lit room. Maybe you fell through the sidewalk into the sewer? The town’s infrastructure was old and terrible, so something like that wouldn’t have been surprising. Except when you looked up, there was no hole in the ceiling.

The main sources of light were a few torches on the wall, which probably wasn’t a standard feature in even the worst sewers. A slight glow drew your attention to your feet. You found yourself standing in the center of an intricately drawn circle, which pulsed with a faint white light. Okay then.

Then you heard the voices. Fervent whispers, coming from somewhere in the darkness. As your eyes adjusted to the dim light, you saw a group of short, hooded figures. You guessed the tallest of only came up to your waist.

Eaten by molemen. Not the way I thought I’d go, thought for sure it’d be a shootout after I shanked the boss. Oh well, still kinda cool.

“Um…Hi…?” you asked hesitantly. “Do uh…do any of you know where I am?”

After few more moments of nervous whispering, one figure slowly stepped forward. It lowered its hood…and it was a small horse. A GODDAMN horse. You stared. You blinked. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Was there a jailbreak at a farm somewhere?

“Here me! We have summoned you to our realm to enact our will! Soon all of Equestria shall praise our names!” it proclaimed. It went on, not even really talking to you anymore, more the crowd behind it. You weren’t paying much attention anyway, so it didn’t matter.

A horse. A TALKING. HORSE. What the hell was in that coffee? It was cheap-ass coffee, so you know you didn’t pay for something that make you trip THIS hard. Maybe someone slipped it in? It was possible, there were sickos out there that would do this to a stranger just to get a laugh.

Well you were already on this trip, so might as well go along with it. You just hoped you weren’t doing anything stupid in real life.

“Hey, ‘scuse me? Tiny horse thing?”

The horse stopped mid-sentence and turned. It looked like it forgot you were there.

Now that you got a better look at it, you noticed a few details. Firstly, it had a horn. Great, it wasn’t just a horse, but a damn unicorn. A drug-spawned unicorn. So cliché. Second, its sickly-looking grey coat was further marred by a gnarly scar that definitely hadn’t healed properly. It started under its chin and twisted to just under the horn, passing through its right eye. The milky-white iris was a stark contrast to the left’s pale green, which gleamed with a wicked intent.

“My apologies, great one. I was captivated by our success in summoning you, I forgot my manners.” It spoke in a whiney, weasel-like voice. “I will answer to ‘Father’ during our interaction.”

“…‘Father?’ Strange name.” you commented. Though on the other hand, questioning the name of your drug-trip-spawned-scarred-talking-unicorn may not be the most pressing matter.

“Ah, yes, well. I unfortunately cannot reveal my true moniker. A necessary precaution. In this business names have power, as you know.” ‘Father’ replied a snaggle-toothed grin.

“…Okay then. Whatever floats your boat. Can you at least tell me where I am? This doesn’t look any sewer I’ve ever been in. Which is a few more than I’d care to admit.”

Father blinked.

“Um, I don’t know what this ‘Sew-yer’ place is, but you are in Equestria. My followers and I-“ he motioned to the hooded figures behind him. “-summoned you here to bring about the Great Upheaval!”

‘Great Upheaval.’ That didn’t sound ominous at all. You crossed arms and sighed. This was going be a long trip. Or dream. The fact you had enough for coffee was enough to warrant suspicion on whether you’d woken up that morning at all. Either way, all you could do was ride it out.

“Uh-huh. And what might this ‘Great Upheaval’ entail, exactly?” you inquired, genuinely wanting to see where this dream/drug trip was headed.

Father grinned, which thanks to his assumedly lazy dentist, came across as rather…wicked.

“The total restructure of Equestian society! Perhaps the entire world! The princesses have had their time, but that time is done! They have lost their right to rule, now that they promote the so-called Elements of Harmony, especially Twilight Sparkle.” He spat on the floor, an action mirror by the other figures in the room. “With your aid, I shall take the reins of Equestria’s fate!”

“Um, YOU take the reins? I thought we were going to install a democratic republic?” one of the figures piped up.

Father dismissively waved a hoof.

“Fine, WE will. A slip of the tongue.”

“Just us? That sounds like an oligarchy to me.” Another figure chimed in.

“Didn’t we agree on an autocracy?”

“No no, a confederation is the way to go.”

“Personally, I voted for anarchy.”

This went on for several minutes, with the group arguing amongst themselves. Again, it seemed like they forgot you were there. Rather rude, considering they had been spawned from your unconscious/drug-addled mind.

“HEY!” you roared, and eyes (even the ones you couldn’t see) snapped to you.

“I don’t fucking care what your political views are! I just want to know WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE!?”

Father cautiously stepped forward, his voice trembling.

“W-well, we don’t have a prayer of overthrowing the princesses and the Elements ourselves.”

“They would wreck our shit.” A voice added.

Father nodded. “As I said, not a prayer. But with you, we are a force to be reckoned with!”

“And…why is that?” you asked, dumbfounded. After all if a unicorn would quote, ‘have their shit wrecked,’ by these ‘princesses’ how in the hell could you help?

Father flashed another horrific smile.

“I’m certain you could come of with something. After all a demon’s power is legendary!”

“Oh, of course, that makes…”

“Wait,

WHAT!?”

Chapter 2

There was a long moment of silence as you processed what Father just said.

“…Demon…?” you finally asked.

“Yes.” Father relied with a (relatively) innocent look.

“You’re serious?”

“Of course.”

This just kept getting weirder. Not only were you in some dank apparently-not-a-sewer, surrounded by talking horses, but now they also think you are a demon. Swell.

“I’m not a demon. I’m a human.”

Father ‘tsked’ indignantly.

“Do not attempt to trick me in some effort to escape our deal. I created this summoning circle myself. I DO NOT make mistakes. Therefore, the circle worked as intended. And since it brought you here, that means you are a demon. What is a ‘Hoo-mane,’ anyway? Ha! I see through you lies!” He proclaimed proudly.

You just…stared at him. There really wasn’t anything you could think to say. Even if you did, he sounded so full of himself that he wouldn’t believe anything you said anyway. Kinda like your boss, now that you thought of it.

“And speaking of the circle,” Father continued, “it is likely my best work yet!” Stroking his ego. Yeah, definitely like your boss.

He waved a hoof across the room, with a faint glow covered the floor. It looked like the circle took up the whole thing.

“Hundreds of arcane runes powering a single spell, the purpose of which is to summon an infernal being with as much power as possible! In other words, you.” He said, pointing at you.

Again, you stayed silent because of the sheer insanity of the situation. This was just so insane. Then again none of this was real, so it was probably best to not take it too seriously.

Father gestured to the inner circle you were stood in.

“And don’t think you can escape. Those same runes power the seal keeping you within that space. Attempting to cross the boundary would be…ill-advised. I will only release you back to plane of origin once the Upheaval is completed.”

You looked around the circle again. Glowing shapes could be seen in even the furthest, gloomiest reaches of the room. The inner circle you were was devoid of markings, and seemed to be just large enough for you to lie down in. There weren’t any gaps you could see, so you decided the play devil’s advocate.

Heh.

“Okay, so let’s say I agree to this and it works. You all overthrow these ‘princesses,’ and replace them with…something. What’s in it for me?”

“Oh-oh yes, a sacrifice! I-I almost forgot in the excitement!” Father stammered. His horn started…glowing? It was blood-red, but still kind of sparkly.

“Wha…?” you started, when suddenly one the cloaked figures toward the back of the crowd was thrown into the air, enveloped in the same glow as Father’s horn. The figure was carried over into your inner circle, and unceremonious dumped in a heap.

As the figure collected themselves, you noticed something odd. All the figures wore brown robes and were generally in good condition. Father’s own robes were immaculate, with bright red trim. It looked like it was even tailor-made. The one in front of you was clad in robes that were old and tattered, with randomly colored patches sewn on. Why was that?

“I hope this will be sufficient.” Father stated, and his horn glowed again. The raggedy figure’s cloak flew off, revealing another unicorn. Now you were no vet, but this one looked…unhealthy. Thin. Like, really thin. Visible bone-shapes thin. Looked like a pale blue rag was thrown over a pile of sticks.

“I apologize for the…quality of the sacrifice, but she is the only one we can spare.” He sighed, despondently. “We will need all the capable ponies we can get, but this one?”

He glared at the ‘sacrifice.’

“Expendable.” He sneered.

You just…stood there for a moment. Tried to process what was happening. Failed miserably.

“And…what exactly do you expect me to…do with her?” you finally managed to ask.

Father waved a hoof.

“Whatever you want. Eat her, torture her, use her to sate your infernal, abhorrent lust. I don’t care.” You noticed the skinny unicorn flinch with each tick off the list, but ‘I don’t care’ seemed to hurt her the most. You suddenly felt uncomfortable.

At least, more than you already did.

There was a long, painfully awkward silence. No one really seemed to know what to do.

“Well, um, we’ll just…give you some privacy to accept your offering…?” Father finally squeezed out. “We’ll discuss the details of our contract once you’re done. Come along.”

The crowd slowed out a doorway behind them, and you caught snippets of casual conversation. It was like they all forgot they were a demon-summoning cult hell-bent on overthrowing super-powered royalty. Weirdos.

Soon, it was just you and Skinny.

More awkward silence.

The entire time her orange eyes never moved off of you, like molten copper peaking through her unkempt sea-green mane.

”…So…what’s your name…?” you ask, trying to break the tension.

Skinny squeaked, but said nothing. Not that you blamed her, being a demonic sacrifice and all. To her credit, she stood her ground. Despite the constant shaking. Kinda impressive, actually.

You sat down, putting yourself at roughly eye-level with the unicorn. You hoped that would at least put her a little bit at ease. You were kind of grasping here, as you had no idea how to calm down a panicked, sapient magic horse.

When you made eye contact, she froze. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breathes. Then, she puffed out her chest(?) and met your gaze with a look of quiet resolve. She even managed to stop shaking. Mostly.

“M-my name…” she stammered “My name is Amber Gaze. With my name I-I bind my soul to your service I am yours todowithasyoupleasewhateveryoudesireIshallacceptMYLIFEISONLYWHATYOU-“ She just kept talking faster, louder and higher, all without stopping to breathe. It was kind of impressive, really.

“Woah, woah, time out.” You stopped her before she passed out. She froze, staring at you in terror. Made you feel like a parent that found a kid breaking something. You hoped she at least stopped to take a breath.

“H-have I offended you Master? I-I meant only to-“ she sniffled, and started crying. Now you just felt like a dick. And you hadn’t even done anything.

“Nono, don’t do that! I just didn’t want you croak on me.”

“O-oh…Yes, it makes sense. If I am to die, then it should be at your will alone.” She whimpered, wiping her eyes.

“What? No, I don’t want you to…Ugh, whatever.” You were getting frustrated and weirded out. Freirded out? Seemed right.

You felt pressing the matter wouldn’t get you anywhere, so it was better to just try and figure out what was going on.

“What was with all that? The whole ‘binding your soul to my service’ and whatever?”

“I am your sacrifice. I am only good for what you ask of me. My life is meaningless.” She immediately replied, almost robotically.

“Uh-huh. And is there any way I can convince you too…not do that?” You ask, rubbing your temples. Freirded again.

“I have given you my name. The pact is made, and cannot be undone. I admit, I thought it would hurt but,” she stopped, prostrating herself on the floor. “I’m sorry! I spoke out of turn! Please forgive me, I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit!”

“Um, it’s fine just…don’t be so hard on yourself…?” you were REALLY freirded out now. Amber looked at you in surprise.

“R-really? No horrific punishment?”

“Nope.”

“Huh. I didn’t think a demon would be so nice.”

You sighed.

“Maybe it’s because I’m not a demon, and ‘Father’ fucked up.”

Amber flinched.

“W-well, Father doesn’t fu-…mess up. Besides, what else could you be?”

“I’m a human.” You replied wearily.

“Is that type of demon?”

“No, it’s a…a kind of ape, I guess?”

“A demonic ape?”

You could only groan. This was going nowhere. She had it in her head that you were a demon, and it seemed nothing was going to change her mind. Besides, you were getting too tired to try anymore.

You studied her, not knowing what else to do. God she was thin. And it looked like there some scars on her back. Some had faded to the point of vanishing, but some looked more recent.

“Do…” you began “Do they treat you badly? The other cloaked guys?”

The mare blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected that kind of question.

“I…I am treated how I deserve to be.” She said, looking away.

“That’s not what I asked, and you know it.”

Her breathing quickened.

“I-I…I’m treated as well I can expect to…”

Bullshit.

“Tell me the truth.” You sighed. “Your…’master’ commands it.” Saying that made you feel dirty. You didn’t want to be anyone’s master, but that’s where you were now. Gotta play through. “Are. You. Treated. Well?”

“…No…I’m not…” Amber finally admitted. “I am only allowed enough to survive…And I am punished for my failures.”

She glanced at her back.

“…I fail a lot…”

Tears began to flow again. Dammit, you were getting emotionally attached to dream horse. This was going to be in your mind all day.

You were going to comfort her, when suddenly to door flew open. Father and the rest of the hooded figure strode back into your chamber.

“Great One! Have you finished with- Oh, she’s still alive?” Father said, surprised. He waved away a few ponies with mops and buckets. “Were you pleased with your sacrifice, or…?” He trailed off, glaring at Amber.

You looked between the two unicorns. The tension was palpable.

“…No…No I was not.” You said.

Amber shrunk away as Father’s glare darkened.

“I see. I should have known she wasn’t even good enough for this. I’m certain we can-“

“Silence.”

You voice was quiet, but it boomed with an authority you didn’t know you had. For moment you wondered if this was some kind special kind of power, but really?

You were just fucking pissed.

“How dare you? You dare offer the dregs of you order, and expect it to be suitable? She has already treated so poorly, what would be the point in torture? Hell, death would be sweet release for her at this point!” You roared.

Honestly you were making this up as you went. You weren’t even sure why you were doing this, but it just kind of spilled out. All you could do now was keep going and hope it sounded intimidating. It seemed to work, as the crowd looked like they’d need those mops anytime now.

“You show me how treat the least amongst you, and you expect me to just give you the power to decide the fate of a nation? I may be a demon,” you put on your best sneer, “but even I have standards.”

Father looked like he wanted to say something, maybe to try and weasel his way out, but he was just too scared to make a sound. Amber was terrified, huddled as far away from you as she could while staying in your circle. A few in the crowd fainted.

“I will not deal with you until you have proven yourselves worthy.” You gesture to Amber. “Until then, the one you have mistreated most shall act in my stead. She will speak with my voice, and command from her is as a command from me. Is that understood?”

Father stared at you in shock, then nodded with a scowl. He backed out of the door with the others close behind. Amber couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

“Why…why would you do that for me? I-I don’t…” she trailed off.

You didn’t know the answer yourself. It would have been better for you if you had just demanded to be sent back, but if you did…Amber would have been blamed. It all just…happened.

You couldn’t help but notice she looked oddly adorable. Maybe it was the sudden exhaustion washing over you. Your hand started reaching for her head without your input. Amber flinched at your touch, but immediately relaxed when you scratched behind her ears. She closed her eyes like she was in a trance.

“Does it matter?” you ask.

“Mmm…nuuu…” she mumbled, as she began drifting off to sleep. Probably the best sleep she’s had in a while. Your own eyes began to feel heavy. As sleep began to fall over you, you just kept scratching her ears.

Huh, you thought, guess this isn’t a dream at least.

That was your last though before drifting off to sleep on Amber’s boney side.

At least she was warm.

Chapter 3

Your life had become…weird. At this point you couldn’t deny it was real, it had been too long for a dream or a hallucination. There was still the chance you were in some sort of coma, but it didn’t really matter much at this point.

It was hard to tell how long you had been in this…’other world’ was probably the best way to put it. There wasn’t a clock down here, but you guessed it had been at least a week since you’d been snatched across space and time. Maybe two.

You had definitely been fired. Eh, the job sucked anyway.

The cultist treated you like a king, but whether that was respect or fear was hard to tell. They brought you anything you asked for, including a luxurious gift: a stool. However, you either let Amber use it, or sat on the floor with her in your lap for scritches. Still, it was nice of them.

Speaking of Amber, she had been improving since your little ‘speech.’ She had gained some weight, and a sheen had appeared on her mane and coat. You couldn’t see as many bones as before, which you guessed was a good thing. Again, not a vet. Overall, she seemed healthy. Her mood had improved too, but…

She was still a bit on the skittish side, and rarely used the authority you’d bestowed on her. She mostly stuck by your side, and only left to get food. Fruits and veggies mostly, which made sense given the horses. At least they had something you could eat, aside from the hay and literal flowers. You missed bacon.

In the time you were alone together, you managed to get Amber to open up a bit about her world. ‘Equestria’ she called it. Apparently there were three main groups to the populace: Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies. The princesses were called Celestia and Luna, and were ‘Alicorns’ with traits of all three groups. Amber also claimed they were thousands of years old, and capable of moving the sun and moon. She mentioned another named Cadence, but she ruled another country so the cult didn’t seem to mind her much. It all seemed a bit out there, but it seemed in line with everything else you’ve dealt with so far. Near all-powerful beings in charge of Horseyland? Why not? The prospect of facing them didn’t fill you with joy, however.

Not that you would have been the first. Apparently, someone had tried to take over every other month or so in recent times. The list included, but was not limited to: A rock-obsessed unicorn, and anorexic shape-shifting bug thing, one of the princesses going through an emo phase, and a pumpkin that had resembled a frowny face. You, a bald-ish ape with anxiety, was at least not THAT out of the norm.

You had had the chance to talk to a few members of the cult as well. It took while to get them to open up, but once they did they wouldn’t shut up. Especially the one you called Anarchy. Because of the whole ‘demon thing’ they skittish about using their real names, so you had to come up with nicknames for them. Anarchy got his from his favorite style of government, (or lack thereof). He was nice enough, and you were making progress in talking him down from his namesake to something a bit less…drastic. You had also learned quite a bit about his herb garden. Apparently his basil was doing quite well.

The cult was made of well…morons. It felt mean to put it that way, but it was accurate. They would constantly ask you for favors or advice on the stupidest things. One of them had asked you with a straight face to open a pickle jar. (Apparently they were fascinated by your hands.) They also had no common sense and followed anyone/pony that seemed to know what they were talking about.

Which explains why they followed Father. He wasn’t a total moron, but still acted smarter than he was. His grand plan was to summon a demon, and then let that demon come up with a plan to take down the princesses. Not only did he have no idea what a demon looked like, he honestly expected any demon summoned to play it straight and not stab him in the back. (Metaphorically or literally) You could think of at least ten loopholes to ‘Help me destroy the Princesses,’ and any demon worth the title could do worse with that kind of leeway.

That said he knew something was up. You’d been stalling for time, trying to think of way to get home. Father was getting more and more impatient, and was hiding it less and less. You didn’t know what he would do when they found out you couldn’t do jack shit to help him, but you didn’t want to find out. If they were crazy enough to go up against what were essentially gods, and summon a demon to do so, what were they going to do to you for messing it up? Better not to risk it.

Not that you could do much currently. You were spending the day the same way you had been since you got here: doing something between fuck and all. The cultists only hung around for a few hours a day, usually when Father would get frustrated trying to get you to make a deal. Maybe they had day jobs or something? Amber was sleeping comfortably in your lap like a big cat, as had become usual. The urge to scratch her ears was strong, but you didn’t want to risk waking her. ‘Bored’ was the only word you could think of at the moment.

Your attention was drawn to the circle on the floor. Father had warned against trying to cross it, but was a bit vague on what exactly would happen if you tried. It was doubtful it would do anything permanent, but the thought was still unnerving. You carefully slid Amber’s head off your lap and moved closer, trying to decide whether or not to risk it.

…Well it wasn’t like you had anything else to do. After checking to make sure Amber was still asleep, you stood at the edge of your 2D prison. You take a deep breath, brace yourself for the worst, and stepped over the line.

And nothing happened.

You stepped back over the line, and still nothing. Hopping back and forth over the line, you feel nothing more than a slight tingle in your gut that felt similar to how you got here. Only without the whole ‘falling into a cultist world-domination plot’ thing.

Satisfied that Father had thoroughly fucked up, you made a break for the door. About halfway through the room, though, you slowed to a stop as questions plagued your mind. Where would you go? Which way was home? Were you even in the same dimension as home? You didn’t know the answer to any of those. Trotting back to Amber and the circle, you felt a bit downtrodden. It may not be an ideal situation, or even necessarily an ideal one, but it was the best you had. Here you got food and water on demand, and almost anything else you asked for. How long that would last was concerning, but it was something you’d figure out when the time came.

No sooner had you made it to the circle, you heard a deep THUD close by. The room shook, startling Amber awake, and plumes of dust fell from the ceiling. After a moment, another THUD. Then another. And another.

To quote a famous nerf herder: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

The door flew open with a crash, and Father bolted into the room, with a small group of followers close behind. They slammed the door behind them, and a flick of Father’s horn caused it to glow a light blue.

“W-what’s going on?” Amber stammered, a tremble running down her spine.

“The Elements have found us!” Father snapped back.

“The…Elements?” you echoed, completely lost.

“The Elements of ‘Harmony!’ The new attack dogs of Celestia, led by thrice-damned Twilight Sparkle!” Father replied as he paced in front of you. He stopped and looked you dead in the eyes. “There is no more time, we must form our pact NOW!”

…Well fuck…

“Um…I…That is-“ you start, before the door explodes into smoke and splinters, and ponies too close sailing across the room. With how effective Father’s spell was, he may as well have tried to keep it closed by asking nicely.

As the dust settled, six figures appeared. Two Unicorns, two Pegasi, and two Borings. One boring wore a Stetson and twirled a lasso, the other was pink and was constantly bouncing. Hovering in the back was a wispy-maned mare that looked like she was about to faint just being there, and the another Pegasus that looked like a pissed-off Pride flag. One of the unicorns reminded you of those overly-dramatic prep girls from a bad sitcom designed by out of touch executives. The other, the purple one leading the pack, wore a gold tiara, while the others wore necklaces. You guessed she was the one in charge.

The room fell silent, save for your heart pounding in your ears. Everyone just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Prissy was the first to speak.

“That’s the demon? It’s hideous!”

Okay, rude.

“Is that it? It doesn’t seem so tough.” Pride Pony boasted.

“Betcha Ah can hogtie ‘em.” Yeehaw remarked with a grin.

“We should still be careful…” Wimpy whispered, barely audible.

“CAREFUL IS FOR THE WEAK!” roared Bouncy, who had somehow produced a Viking helm and spear.

“Keep it together, girls. We need to take care of this before that demon can do whatever it’s planning!” Purple commanded as she glared directly at you so intently you felt like you’d burst into flames.

“Let’s go!” all six cried as they charged.

What happened next could only be described as…chaos. Like something out of a cartoon. The air was filled with dust, and the sound of fighting was deafening. You’d catch a glimpse of one of the cult or the Elements, but you couldn’t keep track of what was happening. Every so often, a bolt of magic or cultist would go flying past.

“Master, what do we do!?” Amber cried tugging on you pant leg.

You just stood there, weighing your options.

As you saw it you had two options: enjoy the brawl and hope the winner didn’t kill you, or make a break for what remained of the door and head into the unknown. Honestly neither was an attractive option.

“Great One!” a voice called out, snapping you back to reality. It was Father, crawling out of the fight. He was bruised and battered, as in he was covered in cake mix. You decided not to question it.

“Great One, now is our chance! Grant me power and whatever you wish shall be yours! Land, wealth, the souls of the citizens, even my own followers, whatever! PRICE BE DAMNED!” he begged.

“Not so fast!” declared another voice. The dust cloud faded revealing the Elements standing triumphant, the cultists scattered about them groaning.

Father let out a shriek that made you ears ring.

“Now that your followers are beaten, we’ll banish your demon friend back to wherever it came from!” Purple proclaimed proudly.

The six ponies’ jewelry began to glow, and each one floated into the air, even the wingless ones. As they rose, Father swapped between begging you to do something and begging the Elements to stop.

Amber just looked you, with a mournful expression.

You didn’t really know what to do, a feeling you were getting frustratingly familiar with. On the one hand they were about to send you home, Purple said had said as much. On the other, they also thought you were a demon. Would whatever they were doing send you home, or to some God-forsaken hellscape? Would it do nothing? For all you knew, it could just render you a red smear on the floor.

Before you could decide on what to do, the Elements erupted with a rainbow light (because of course they would) which arced into the air and down directly at you.

Ah fuck it. You thought and raised your arms to meet whatever fate decided.

The torrent of color slammed into you, blinding your vision with color and light as it felt as though someone dumped a lake on your head.

After a moment the color faded, and you raised your head.

And an awkward silence filled the air as you realized that not a goddam thing had happened.

“Huh.” was all you could say.

“WHAT THE HECK!? WHY DIDN’T IT WORK!?” Pride Pony shrieked furiously.

“I-I…I don’t know! Celestia herself made that spell, it should have worked!” Purple stammered, looking significantly less smug than before. Wimpy looked she was about to faint.

“Cheater…” Bouncy’s voice hissed in your ear.

“What now?” Prissy whispered.

“Should we try again?” asked Yeehaw.

The group did their magic rainbow floating routine again. Again, you were nearly flattened by the nauseating pastel colors. And again, you found yourself standing exactly where you were before.

This repeated several times. If you were honest, you lost track about the fifth or sixth time. Whether that was the repetitiveness, or the possible head trauma was debatable.

Eventually the magic-girl wannabes got tired of slinging prisms at you and settled back on the floor panting. Apparently, whatever they were doing was wiping them out.

Father (who had busied himself cowering under his cloak) noticed as well.

“Ha…HA! Y-you have fallen for my…clever ruse! I foresaw your…predictable attack on us. S-So I…inscribed...uh…anti-harmony runes into the summoning circle! The Great One is immune to your pathetic assaults thanks to my brilliance!” he stammered, attempting to make himself sound as cocky as possible.

He’s totally bullshiting. You thought, What kind of IDIOT would fall for-

“It doesn’t matter what you do!” proclaimed Purple “With the power of friendship, we can overcome anything!”

God dammit.

“FOOLS!” Father roared “This day belongs to ME!” He reached into his cloak and produced a silvery ball about the size of an orange. A flash of his crimson magic flicked the ball towards the mares’ hooves, whereupon it shattered on the brick floor. A pinkish-purple smoke filled the air around them, causing Prissy to shriek in panic. The six’s eyes began to droop, and they began to sway. One by one, they fell to they floor, unconscious.

Father blinked. He seemed legitimately surprised that had worked. Then, he grinned his hideous grin.

“Yes…YES! I win!” he exclaimed with devilish glee and turned to you. “Here! A worthy sacrifice for you, Great One! It is time for you to grant me the power I deserve! The souls of the Elements of Harmony are a far greater than that pathetic Am-“

-CRASH-

Father went down like a sack of bricks. Standing behind him was Amber holding the remains of your stool in her magic grip.

As you stand agape Amber darted a hoof across your circle, breaking the pristine white line. The light from it faded away, the darkness spreading across the chamber. She then stares at you, her eyes blazing with an intensity you hadn’t seen before.

“You’re free. What happens now?” she asked flatly.

You didn’t answer immediately. Everything had happened so quickly you hadn’t had time to process it. Stepping out of the former circle, you paused a moment to think.

Honestly, there was only one answer left.

“We run.”

Chapter 4

Your lungs burned as you ran. It had been a while since you had exercised, even before you had ended up here. Amber’s hooves on the floor echoes through the dimly-lit tunnel. She probably could have easily outran you, but instead she stayed close behind.

How long is this goddam tunnel!?

It felt like hours since the two of you had fled. Amber, unfortunately, had not been allowed much access to wherever you were, and as such didn’t know the layout very well. So the only choice had been to pick a tunnel blindly.

You had chosen poorly.

The tunnel you found yourself in was…well, shit. Loose stones were everywhere. Only the occasional torch was still burning on the walls, and they were dying to boot. Whatever magic batteries that kept them running for so long was probably wearing out, assuming that was a thing here. This tunnel was probably not used so much, and so had been allowed to rot.

After what felt like an eternity, you finally see an end to the tunnel. It was an old, wooden door that had an old-timey medieval feel. At first, it refused to budge. With a great heave, you manage to force the rusted door with a sickening screech. You hope no one heard that.

You blink against the contrasting light outside.

More running.

Eventually you could run no more, and collapsed. Trying to catch your breath, you sit up and try to get your bearings. You were in a lightly forested area, with a rocky hill behind you. That’s probably where the cult’s hideout was.

Amber trotted up next to you and sat down with a concerned look. Out of habit you began stroking her head, to which she didn’t object. As you managed to calm down and think, you couldn’t help but reflect on what had just happened. Or rather, what you could have done instead.

Should you have stayed, and tried to explain the situation? Just say “Yeah I don’t care what you do to this wacko, just leave me out,” and hope they don’t just blast you do ash? It could have worked. Then again, they seemed more the ‘blast first, blast again, then once more for good measure’ type. If there was a chance to negotiate, you’d probably missed it.

Maybe you could have taken one (if not all) their magic bling? You couldn't use pony magic. You’d tried, a little more than you’d like to admit. But that didn’t seem to be a problem with this. The non-unicorns used them just fine, so maybe you could to? They seemed to believe they had the power to send you home, so if you could figure out how to work them you could do it yourself? Although, without any clue how magic worked, you could easily just break them or yourself. Pawn them off for some cash? Local currency would be nice, and they looked valuable with all the gold and jewels and stuff. But wouldn’t any town or shop that saw you just freak out? Even without the whole ‘demon’ thing, you still looked weird to them.

Could have brought one of the friendlier cultists with you. Some of them were genuinely nice, if a little misguided. Like Anarchy. You didn’t think he deserved to rot in some jail cell somewhere. Although, given how winded you were carrying yourself here, carrying an unconscious horse probably would only slow you down. That and the cult was ultimately loyal to Father, so they’d likely stab you in the back. Maybe literally.

What if you brought one of those ‘Elements’ with you? Try on convince them you’re not a threat? Wimpy or Prissy would’ve been the best choices, they seemed like they wouldn’t put much of a…fight…

Okay, thinking it over, that just seemed creepy.

You let out a sigh, bemoaning your lack of action. You’d panicked, and just wanted to get out. So here you were, in the middle of nowhere, with no clue what to do next or where to go. Moving on was probably for the best, but you were tired. Besides the Elements would probably be out for a while, then they’d be busy with Father for a while, and then they’d have to figure out which way you’d gone. By then you could be miles away. There was time to rest for a moment.

So here you sat with your back to a tree, with your only friend in this world: A scared unicorn that was currently enjoying an ear-scratch induced trance.

Now that you thought about it, could you actually trust her? After all, she was apart of the cult that had forced you here. Granted the relationship was downright horrific to her, but still. A traitor is still a traitor. And this particular traitor had willingly freed a creature she thought to be some terrible being with devastating power. Would she sell you out? Try to get power of her own? Or would she just…leave you all alone in this strange world that had only ever tried to use or destroy you? Which was the worst she could do to you? What was going on behind that admittedly adorable face?

You stop scratching, eliciting a tiny whine of protest.

“Amber, we need to talk.” You state firmly. The mare stares at you, with fear and unease forming behind her gaze.

“W-what is it, Master?” she stammered.

“Why…why did you do that?” you ask, crossing your arms.

Amber didn’t answer immediately, shifting her weight as she found the dirt very interesting.

“…You…You’re the only one who’s every been nice to me in a long time. I…I didn’t want you to g-go away…” she choked, her eyes getting wet, “I know it’s selfish, and I know you probably just want to go back to your home but…” She couldn’t go on as she broke down in ugly sobs.

…Okay, so she probably wasn’t planning to turn against you. Or maybe she was an amazing actress and you were an incredible sucker. Either way, you couldn’t just sit there like a jackass. (Was that a slur here? Question for later.)

Wrapping your arm around her neck, you draw her in for a hug.

“…Thanks.”

Amber looked up at you with a sad smile.

“I had to do something. You’re my Master after all.”

“Quit calling me that. I’m not anyone’s Master.”

She cocked her head.

“’Anyone?’ You mean ‘anypony,’ Master?” she asked.

You wave your hand.

“Whatever, same thing. And quit calling me that.”

Amber giggled.

“You’re a strange one, Master. Even for a demon.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m not a demon and Father’s dumb ass.” You groan.

Silence filled the area. You found yourself studying Amber. In your time here you hadn’t much else to do but study these ponies, yet there were still things that couldn’t quite figure out. While you had barely made it this far without passing out, Amber wasn’t even winded. This was still the same mare that looked like she was on death’s door less than a month ago, and she was still out pacing you. Must be a horse thing. Or you were just out of shape. Maybe both.

The strangest thing, however, was on her back legs. There was a picture of a stylized eye with an orange rock for a pupil. It was on each of her sides. You’d seen it before, but now was the first time you really thought about it. Amber didn’t strike you as a tattoo kind of girl. Maybe it was a cult thing? Maybe all the cultists had the same one? A show of loyalty or something? No harm in asking, right?

“Didn’t take you for the ‘tramp-stamp’ type.”

“What?” she replied, her cocking to the side in confusion.

“That picture on your leg. Was it a cult entry tattoo kinda thing?” you say as your point to her leg.

“You mean my cutie mark? Everypony has one, but each one is different. You probably didn’t notice the others before because none of them took of their robes around you. I guess demons don’t get marks, right?” she explained.

“I’m not-“you sigh. Not worth the effort. “No, these are kind of a new thing for me. Do they do anything?”

“It appears when a foal discovers their special talent. Mostly it happens just before puberty.”

“Huh. So, what’s yours?”

“Wuh..?” she blinked.

“Y’know, your ‘special talent.’ What’s yours?” you asked, giving her a playful nudge on her shoulder.

Amber didn’t’ reply as the ground became fascinating to her again.

“Um, Amber, if it’s something really personal for you ponies, you don’t have to-“ you start.

“No, no! It’s just…” she started, but trailed off. She pawed in dirt, deep in thought. Taking a deep breath, she started again.

“I found my talent rather late. I was beginning to think I’d never find out what is was. But then, during a visit to a rock farm, I found it.”

You sat in silence, deciding now wasn’t the time to ask what the hell a ‘rock farm’ was for.

“I found a piece of amber. You know, fossilized tree sap? This one wasn’t all that special, it didn’t have a bug or a leaf in it but…Something happened.” She stopped her voice catching in her throat.

“…And…?” you gently prompted.

“…I had a vision. I saw an explosion of color, like a prismatic fire spreading across the sky. When I told Father about it, he didn’t believe me. Not at first, at least. Not until it happened, just like I saw it. Clairvoyance. That’s what my cutie mark is for. Father couldn’t have been happier. Until…” Amber looked away, but you could see the tears beginning to form.

“What happened? Seeing the future like that is something he’d want on his side.”

“…Because I don’t see the future. Not exactly. My visions aren’t all that…precise.” She whispered.

“So…what you see doesn’t necessarily always happen?”

Amber shook her head.

“No. I see what might happen, but that’s not what will happen. When he found out Father was…” a hoof drifted to her scarred back. “…displeased…”

“Oh…” It was a stupid thing to say, but it was all you could think of. You reminded her of all the terrible things Father did to her even when she was a filly…Wait…

“Father was around even when you were a filly? How’d that work?”

Her copper eyes met yours.

“Well, he did raise me.”

“Oh, okay then WAITWHAT!?” you shout. “He’s like, your actual father!?”

Amber flinched.

“Yes, he actually started calling himself that after I accidentally said it in front of a few members. It was after he found out my talent wasn’t as useful as he thought it would. He didn’t want to acknowledge we were related.”

You had no words. You felt numb. The one thing you could feel was hate. No, that wasn’t strong enough. Fury. Still not exact, but it was better. Your relationship with your own father wasn’t exactly stellar, but this was on a different level entirely.

“That bastard! What kind of father- I can’t- He doesn’t have the right to call himself that!” you managed to sputter out through your unbridled rage.

“W-well I des-“

“NO! Don’t you even go there!” you cut her off, and swept her up in a hug. You were pretty sure you heard her spine pop a few times, but you didn’t care. She needed a hug, and much more. There wasn’t a doubt left in your mind, you were going to protect this precious child. “You didn’t deserve that, any of it! And if you keep thinking you do, I will stop scratching your ears I swear to GOD!”

Ambers looked like a frightened rabbit in your arms, with her ears flattened on her head and her eye little more than a pinprick. Her light blue face suddenly turned very red with a blush.

“O-okay, Master…” she squeaked.

The two of you stared for an awkward moment. You were still pissed, but after your outburst you’d lost a lot of steam.

“W-we should keep moving…” you finally say.

“Y-yes, Master. Um, could you please…?” she trailed off, glancing from you to the ground.

“Oh, right, sorry…” you realize, and set her gently on the ground.

You decide not to go on at a full sprint, but still with some semblance of speed. Distance and speed were important, but exhausting yourself wasn’t going to help much. As the two of you continued through the trees, you noticed Amber was staying a bit further away than before with a far-off expression. Great, you fucked up. Again. You felt pressing the matter wouldn’t help, so you continued forward.

As you went on your way at a jog, you had your own thoughts.

Specifically, what was the most satisfying way to get revenge on a horse?

Chapter 5

Author's Notes:

((Two things here:

1) This chapter is mostly here for a transition. I might smush it together with the next one, depending on how that one turns out.

2) I did not expect all your...creative suggestions for what to do to Father. I honestly don't know whether to be impressed or concerned.

The wind whipped through your hair as you and Amber stood in the middle of the field. Given the situation, being in the open like this probably wasn’t the best idea. Every so often, you look nervously to the sky, almost waiting to see one of those Pegasus diving towards you at high speed.

Okay, not Wimpy. She looked like the type to be afraid of heights.

The Elements were undoubtedly hunting you down now. It had been a few days since your escape from the compound, so they were likely awake and after you. Whatever Father had done probably wasn’t lethal, because releasing a toxic gas or whatever when you were close to it would have just been moronic.

Then again…this was Father.

Currently, your progress was impeded by a decision. In this field was a set of train tracks of all things. A part of you wanted to be surprised, but at this point you felt sort of numb to this place’s brand of crazy.

You had three options: forward, left, or right. Doubling back was probably not the best idea for your continued survival. Ahead of you was more open field, which as previously mentioned, may not be the best idea. Train tracks meant civilization. If nothing else, it was a better option to get supplies than foraging in the wilderness.

To your left seemed to be a mountain range. Based on the vague recollection of your brief stint in Scouting, you guessed it was to the North of you. It was a way off, but still reachable. While the idea of climbing those didn’t exactly excite you, it would be a good place to hide.

The tracks to the South appeared to head to a bridge over a deep, rocky gorge. So either way it was rock climbing, it was just a matter of whether you wanted to go up first then down, or vice versa.

“What do you think, left or right?” you ask, turning to Amber.

She thought for a moment tapping her chin with a hoof.

“If I remember right, Canterlot’s to the North in the mountains. That’s where the Princesses are.”

“The Princesses. The stupidly over-powered, possibly immortal, quasi celestial deities I’ve been forcefully summoned to overthrow despite my overall lack powers, skills, or basic knowledge of the world I’ve found myself in?”

There was a long moment of silence as the two of you weighed your options.

“Right.” You both say in unison.

The air was cool in the chasm as your helped Amber clamber down the rocky slope. She was able to use her magic to clear a path down, but still needed your help past the steeper parts. Apparently hooves weren’t the best on rocky slopes.

The bridge towered above you. You wished you could have crossed it, but it was too narrow for you be comfortable. Besides, you seen too many movies to trust train tracks on a bridge. It would be just your luck to meet a locomotive halfway across.

To your dismay, the cliffside opposite was nearly straight up. No way you could climb it, much less while helping Amber.

“What do you think, should we head back up?” you ask the unicorn.

"I’d rather not. If we need to climb again, I think we should be making progress. We need to keep ahead of the Elements.” She warned.

You nod, and look down the chasm to you right.

“Maybe it flattens up down that way. Might as well keep going.”

Hours passed you walked, your feet screaming in protest. The sky above turned orange as you assumed the sun was setting, you couldn’t see above the walls of the chasm. You noticed Amber was looking nervous. Well, even more nervous than normal.

“You okay? You don’t look so good.” You ask.

“It’s not good to be out in the open in a place like this…especially at night.” She whispered.

"Why? It’s not like there are monsters out here, right?” you joke.

Amber didn’t laugh, and instead kept looking over her shoulder.

“…Right…?” you ask again, far less confidant.

She didn’t answer, but the look she gave you was clear enough.

Suddenly finding a place to hole up for the night became your top priority.

Ironically, the best place you found was, in fact, a hole. A decent-sized cave in the cliff, only a foot or so taller than yourself. You didn’t want to take the risk in trying find anywhere better, so it would have to do.

Grateful for the rest, you sit against the cavern wall. Closing your eyes, you wondered if Amber was going to take her usual place in your lap. It had become her favorite place to sleep while you were with the cult, but ever since you’d left she’d felt a bit…distant.

Sure enough you heard her hoofsteps stop nearby, followed by the shuffling sounds as she settled down.

You crack your eyes open and steal a glance at her. She was laying on her side against the opposite wall, and staring intently at the cave’s entrance. Her ears were upright, and twitched at the slightest sound. She reminded of you of a nervous cat, alert for any potential danger.

“Are there really monsters out there?” you ask after a moment.

“Father always said that the world was filled with monsters that would gobble up any pony they came across. I never knew if was telling the truth but…” she shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe anymore…”

“…You want to talk about it..?”

“Is that an order, Master?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then I think I’d rather get some sleep.” She laid down, clearly done with the conversation.

You sigh to yourself, and close your eyes again. If she didn’t want to talk, you weren’t going to force her. Settling into the most comfortable position you could manage against the rocks, you let exhaustion take over.

It didn’t take long for you to drift off to sleep.

Chapter 6

You dreamt of starlight.

Were they the stars from here? Or were they the ones you knew back home? Were they the same stars?

Did it matter? Probably not.

It was a dream you’d had before. It mostly appeared when you felt lonely or helpless. When you just wanted to get away from everything, even for only a little bit. Usually you didn’t even have a physical body here, you simply…were. It felt comforting, floating amongst the silvery pinpricks of light. Nothing could hurt you here, nothing would bother you.

Here, at least, you were in complete control.

You notice a slight shift in the ‘air,’ or whatever dreams/space had that could shift. A multitude of stars coalesced ahead of you, forming a path of starlight that was solid under the feet you just noticed you had.

Something was different. Off. Wrong. It felt like…someone else was here…? But that was impossible, even in Ponyland…

Right…?

The path ahead seemed to stretch on forever, and behind you was no different.

“Well, nothing better to do.” You sigh to no one in particular, and set off down the trail. Eventually you’d wake up and probably forget you even had this dream to start with. So why not do something new with it?

It was hard to tell how long you’d been walking. Dreams were rarely good at conveying the passage of time. A minute awake could be minute in-dream, or maybe hours. It felt like hours. You weren’t getting tired, just bored. That was new feeling, being bored in your own dream.

There was also the profound feeling that you were more ‘awake’ than you’d ever been while dreaming. What was the term, ‘lucid?’ Is that what you were doing?

Unnervingly, with increasing frequency, you had the feeling you were being watched. No matter how hard you looked, you couldn’t find the source. It was as if every mote of light was another eye, watching you. Judging you.

Why?

WHY??

WHY WON’T THEY JUST LEAVE YOU ALONE??? YOU DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!

The full weight of your situation came crashing down on you all at once. Dragged across time and space into a completely alien world against your will, all because some complete dumbass fucked up. Since then you’d been forces to stall for time, possibly for your very life, while desperately trying to figure out a way home. Then Pony Seal Team Six tried to zap you to literal Hell before you barely escaped. All this with your only ally being a unicorn with PTSD who now refused to talk to you, because fuck your life.

You didn’t ask to be here, you didn’t WANT to be here! And yet just about everyone you’d come into contact with had tried to enslave you or outright KILL YOU! THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH PLACE!

Collapsing to the floor, you were wracked with heaves and shakes. Whether it was from the sobbing or the pent-up rage now released, you didn’t know. Not like it mattered.

You just…you just wanted to be left alone.

For what felt like a long time, you laid there, probably not looking the most attractive you’ve ever been. You didn’t care, not like anyone was there. If you wanted to have a breakdown in your dreams, then who the hell was going to stop you?

Eventually you noticed a silvery light shining ahead of you. You look up to see the Moon. Or at least an approximation of it. It wasn’t painful to look at, but still bright enough to obscure the features of the silhouette of the figure within it.

Wait, what?

There was a face in the moon. Staring at you.

Not knowing what else to do, you stared back.

At first you felt like you should be alarmed, but you weren’t. Something about that face seemed…kind? Sympathetic? You couldn’t quite place the feeling, but it rather pleasant.

The moon started to drift towards you. Gently, like a cloud. As opposed to hurtling towards you like Majora’s Mask.

As the moon got closer, you felt like something, or someone, was trying to…talk to you…? You reach out towards the moon, hoping to make contact.

Your fingers almost reach the silvery orb…

Only for it to be snatched away by multicolored blur.

The creature that stood before you…Well, it was almost too crazy even for a dream. It looked like God gave a four-year old a box of animal parts and said ‘Go nuts.’

“Okay, I’m definitely losing it. Otherwise my head’s not nearly fucked up enough to come up with this.” You stated flatly.

The creature shot you a sour look as it dribbled the moon like a basketball, the silhouette inside bouncing like a bobblehead.

“Firstly, rude. Second, you're more creative than you give yourself credit for. You just haven’t tried to use for more than sarcasm and cynicism. Quite the waste.” It retorted.

You blinked. It sounded a lot more pleasant than you’d first thought. Also vaguely familiar…The connection was almost made when the thing popped up right behind you, wearing a red robe and an odd black hat.

“Oh, don’t go there. The last thing we need is to start with that obvious joke. It’s been done to death.” And right on queue, it’s flesh disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only bones behind. Its jaw opened and hung slack for emphasis.

You jumped in surprise, and tried to put as much distance between you and that thing as possible. If you could just stall long enough to wake up, this would all be over.

As you glanced over your shoulder, you saw the creature gaining on you. Only it wasn’t running. It was floating mid-air, sitting a position not dissimilar to being in a car. The robe was replaced by a police uniform, one of those brown ones you’d see in the Southern US complete with wide brimmed hat. The now-flattened moon now appeared to serve as a steering wheel. There were even red-and-blue lights and a siren.

It raised it’s lion paw to its mouth.

“Pull over!” it commanded, its voice sounding exactly like it was coming from a bullhorn.

You stopped, less out of obedience and more out of sheer astonishment.

The thing screeched to stop behind you. Like, a literal tire screetched. It pantomimed getting out of a car and swaggered up to you, the moon under one ‘arm.’

“License n’ registration?” it said in an awfully fake Southern accent as it looked you over from behind its aviator sunglasses.

“I…I don’t…?’ you stammered in response, at a loss for what else to do.

“An illegal, then?” it accused, then continued in it’s normal voice, “Not surprising, considering how a human like you got here in the first place.”

“I’m not-how do you-…Wait human?” you sputtered out.

“Well yes, human. I have eyes.” It proceeded to take them out of its head and show you them.

“So, you know what a human is? And you don’t think I’m a demon?”

The thing blinked, its eyes reappearing in their sockets.

“A demon? It that…Hold on, one moment.” It said before punting the moon out of sight like a kickball. “Is that what they think you are, a demon?”

“Well…yeah. That’s what I keep hearing.” You reply.

The creature exploded with laughter. A literal explosion of miniature versions of itself giggling and guffawing. After a minute or two the minis collected themselves back into a singular being, who was still chuckling a bit as the stragglers made it back.

“Haha! You! A demon! Oh, that the funniest thing I’ve heard of since the time that I convinced a major corporation that making live-action versions of beloved classic movies was a good idea!”

You were about to ask what the hell it was talking about, but it cut you off before you could by pushing you into a surprisingly comfortable armchair that hadn’t been there before. The area around the two of you darkened, and a projector light appeared on a screen the creature pulled from thin air.

“Although to be fair, you humans don’t exactly have the cleanest hands.” It remarked gesturing to the screen. On it was a montage of humanities lowest points. War. Slavery. Greed. The ET video game.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ve had some good points too.” The screen changed to the high points. Peace. Freedom. Cooperation. Cat videos.

“So that begs the question-” Suddenly you were whisked from the chair and onto a comically large microscope. You felt a bit self-conscious as the creatures yellow-and-red eye studied you. “How did you end up here of all places?”

You began to answer but got cut off again.

“That’s rhetorical. I know how you got here. Radical cult, flubbed summoning, yadda yadda.” In a blink, you appeared on a comfy couch, in a neat office. The creature was nearby in a chair, with a grey beard, and wearing a tweed sweater vest. “What I want to know is: What’s up with this dream of yours? This isn’t somewhere folks with a healthy outlook on life end up. So what’s up?”

You just stared at this thing. Honestly, what else was there to do?

“Oh, right, manners. Sorry, I’m still getting used to this whole ‘polite’ thing.” It took the top of it’s head off like a hat and tipped it. “I am Discord, Draconequus, Spirit of Disharmony, Crown Prince of Chaos, Lord of Lunacy, and Pawtucet County High School Prom Queen.”

At your incredulous look, he sighed.

“A lot of liquor was involved. Turns out even I have an upper tolerance. And who might you be?”

You began to respond but are, once again, cut off.

“You know what, doesn’t matter. What does is what’s going on in this little noggin of yours.” He taps you sharply on the top of your head.

“…Am I allowed to talk this time or you gonna change the subject again?” you ask.

‘Discord’ waved his eagle hand.

“I’ve had my fun. And I am genuinely curious.”

“…Why? Just about everyone else I’ve met hardly had my best intentions at heart. Ever since I got here, it feels like everyone expects me to be evil and are just…waiting for a reason to confirm it!”

The draconequus nodded sadly.

“Yes, if feels like they’re just waiting for you to mess up. So they can get rid of you.”

“Exactly! I’m stuck in some basement for a month with a bunch of maniacs, then suddenly a hexa-hit squad started throwing rainbow nukes at me! Nearly got a concussion…”

Discord laughed.

“I suppose you have a point. Some of the Elements can be pretty hotheaded.”

“You know those crazy bitches? They tried to kill me!”

Light faded from the area as Discord’s face darkened.

“In the spirit of recent changes I’m going to let that comment slide. Just, remember those are my friends. While some of those friendships are stronger than others, I promise you: I can do much worse than kill you. Remember that.”

To say your spirit fell would be an understatement. It was low to start with, and now it went subterranean. The ominous threat aside, you were now aware of the company you now kept.

“You're friends with them? Great. Now your gonna tell them where I am and I’m dead.”

“Pssh, I’m not turning you in. This is the most fun I’ve had in months! And I didn’t even have to do anything!”

“Okay, weird friendship you got there, but at least I get to live another day. Hey, what CAN you do, anyway? All I’ve seen you do is mess with my dreams.”

The starry motif returned as Discord’s face blanked.

“Have I? Didn’t notice. I guess compared to telling the laws of reality to sit in the corner on a regular basis altering the dreamscape is more or less passive. And before you ask: Yes, I can technically send you home. No, I will not.”

“What? WHY NOT!?” you roar.

“Because,” Discord says, zipping your mouth shut, “sending a creature through the multiverse without knowing exactly where to send it could result you ending up somewhere far worse than where you are, assuming of course you survive, and all that precision makes me feel ill. Also, the longer you’re here is all the more fun for me!”

Discord put his face close to yours with a smug look.

“So, feel better now?”

You try to reply but fail, what with your mouth still being sealed. A glare was the best response you could muster.

Mister Mis-match sighed dramatically and snaped his claws, and you feel your mouth freed from its binding.

“You’ve literally done nothing helpful since you got here.” You note, thoroughly irritated.

“Well excuuuse me, Princess. I’m still new to this whole ‘caring about other creature’s feelings’ thing.” Discord snapped, drawing back and striking a dramatic pose.

“…Was that a Zelda reference…?” you ask.

Suddenly, Discord wrapped you up in a slightly-too-tight hug.

“Someone finally understands…This is truly a blessing…” he sniffled with a shining tear running down his cheek.

You choked out squeak, indicating you are running out of air. How you could suffocate in a dream, you didn’t know. Nor did you want to find out.

Positively beaming, Discord releases you.

“Oh, watching you is going to be so much fun! But I guess if I keep you here, it won’t happen…besides, I think you have some pressing matters to attend to. Doubt Amber can handle it on her own.” He says with a chuckle.

“What…what does that mean…?”

Discord laughs and snaps a claw.

“Don’t worry you’ll find out in a moment.” You vision began to swim and blur. Falling to your knees as Discord and the world around you fade into darkness. You were waking up.

The voice of the mad god echoes around you in the darkness.

“This should be fun. I promise you it’ll be quite the hands-on experience.”

The morning’s light shone through the cave entrance as you jumped awake.

Was that real? You asked yourself as you rubbed the remainders of sleep from eyes.

Amber.

You remembered the creature’s cryptic words, and you looked to where Amber had been sleeping the night before.

She was gone.

Chapter 7

Numbness spread over your entire body. Your stomach fell to the soles of your feet as you processed the empty space before you.

Questions flooded your mind. Where did Amber go? Maybe she left to get food or something? Would she be back soon?

Would she come back at all?

You shook yourself out of your fugue state. Sitting there like a lump wasn’t going to help.

As you got up, your hand painfully scraped against the wall. Taking a closer look, you noticed the sides of the cave didn’t look…natural. Being so tired the night before, you hadn’t noticed the rough walls. You weren’t a geologist, but you guessed a natural cave would be smoother. This cave looked like it was carved out artificially. Did Horseyland have a mining operation here?

As you investigated the spot where Amber had slept, you noticed something. It about half as long as your index finger, and a yellowish white. As you picked it up you noticed was hard and smooth. One end looked like it had been broken off, and the other tapered down to a razor point. Your blood ran cold as you realized what it was.

A fang. And a big one.

Something had taken Amber. Something big, and with teeth.

You felt panic start to set in, but you managed to force it back. Loosing your cool wouldn’t help her. There wasn’t any blood, so you were sure Amber was alive when she was taken. Whatever had taken her had probably ambushed her while she was asleep, which had likely earned it a startled hoof to the jaw. You pocket the tooth, and moved on.

You weren’t sure if Amber had escaped her assailant or not, so that left you with the problem of deciding where to look for her. Out in the canyon, or deeper in the cave. Stepping outside, you blink against the mid-day sun. There was no sight of Amber or what ever had attacked her in sight. All you found was a hefty branch that had fallen from the bluffs above. Better than nothing.

Looking back to the cave, you noticed a faint glimmer. As you moved closer you saw shining arrow reflecting the sunlight. You hadn’t seen it earlier because it looked glass or something, and only reflected a certain way.

The arrow pointed deeper into the cave, so that’s where you decided to go.

Light from the entrance quickly faded, leaving you in the darkness, alone with your thoughts. Whatever had taken Amber was likely a predator of some kind. Teeth like that weren’t for munching carrots. So why wasn’t there any other sign of a fight? No blood, no fur, only a single broken tooth and a weird arrow. And why hadn’t it come after you? You hadn’t woken up when she was attacked right next to you, so you would have been an easy target. So why had it seemly dragged a magic horse that had already kicked one of its teeth out? Like most things in this world, it didn’t make sense.

Ahead of you, you saw light around a corner. Erring on the side of caution, you took your time and peaked around the corner.

You saw Amber. Alive and well.

Kind of.

She seemed to alright physically, but her situation was for from preferable. A large metal yoke was hooked around her neck, which in turn connected to mining cart of some kind. A crudely-made muzzle blocked most of her face, but from her eyes you could tell she was frightened.

You were about to go to help her, but the sound of approaching voices coaxed to reconsider.

“You sure Pony can’t speak?” one voice squeaked.

“Yes. No chance of ear-hurt this time!” a second replied.

“Good. Kick hurt mouth enough…” a third growled.

From the far end of the cavern three large figures led a crowd towards Amber. It took you a minute to make them out but when you did, well…

Up to this point you had seen quite a few things, most of which you would have previously deemed ‘impossible.’ Magic, talking horses, rainbow lasers, and amalgamate chaos deities to be specific. Taking all that into account, what you saw shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Perhaps it was just the sheer weight of all you had witnessed up until this point, and what little patience you had left was broken by this comparatively simple thing.

Standing in a large chamber ahead of you were dogs. Not normal dogs, no. That would be too simple for this god-forsaken place. No, they were huge. Most of them were seven feet tall, some of them bigger. The tallest was at least eight. They all had big teeth, big claws, and were outrageously muscular. Some even had plate armor, while the leaders wore leather vests, because why the fuck not.

You stood there for a moment. Your eye twitched. At first, you thought it was out of shock. Slowly, you realized that you were just done. Out of everything you had endured up to this point, this was the last straw.

Before you realized, you found yourself striding into the chamber. One of the dogs, noticed you and howled an alarm. In seconds you were surrounded by spears. A bit cliché, but the fact they were being held by snarling anthro dogs bucked the trend a bit. You managed to meet the gaze of a concerned Amber before the three leaders shoved their way to the front of the pack.

“Who are you!?” the embodiment of the ‘Napoleon Complex,’ barked.

“What are you!?” snarled the one that looked like Smeagle in a fursuit.

“Why’re you here!?” furry boulder with arms roared.

“Wow, okay, way to spray.” You said flatly as you wiped spittle off your face. “Well I’m a human, I’m here for my friend you got chained up over there, and my name is-“

“LITTLE PONY IS OURS!” all three howled.

“You really yelling, don’cha?” you replied as your ears ring.

“Last pony very useful! Found gems, pulled cart!” Tiny yapped.

“But it always whined! Made ears hurt!” Smeagle whined, ironically.

“This one can’t find gems, but still can pull.” Bruno grumbled.

The three of them crowded around Amber, staring you down smugly. Amber looked uncomfortable.

“And Little Pony can’t talk!” The three Muttkateers laughed.

As they laughed, you too stock of the situation. Things looked…well, shit. You were surrounded by giant dogs, each of which could easily tear you to shreds in seconds. Honestly, the spears seemed superfluous all things considered. The odds of you fighting your way through them, saving Amber, and escaping, all while armed a dumb branch were basically zero.

Good going genius.

Bruno was suddenly in your face, glaring.

“Wait…you were with Little Pony…Why didn’t we see you?” he snarled.

Smeagle smacked Tiny.

“You found Pony, why didn’t you see Thing?!” he accused.

“It was dark! It looked like rocks!” Tiny growled, and the two began rolling in the dirt, snapping and snarling.

“Not important now.” Bruno said.

The two cantankerous canines froze mid-brawl.

“He’s right! Now we have Little Pony-“ Tiny began.

“And New Thing!” Smeagle finished.

The three howled, and three of the dogs disappeared into a tunnel. A moment later they returned, carrying another set of a yoke, cart, and muzzle.

The Lupine Leaders began dancing around laughing and singing: “More work! More work! More work!”

Yeah fuck that.

Maybe they’d smack you around before slapping you in chains, or maybe they’d just kill you. If the former happened, you’d be able to wait for a better chance to make a move. And if it was the latter, at least your problems would be over. The more rational part of your brain was screaming to just let things play out and wait, but another side won out.

The side that was just tired.

Tired of running, tired from a horrible and just plain weird night’s sleep, tired of just waiting for thing to get better, and most of all sick and tired of the non-stop train off bullshit that you’d been forced to endure since you got to this stupid place.

So as the dogs approached you with their tools of oppression you raised your branch high with a mighty roar, ready to do your best to smash the closest dogs’ teeth out…

And the branch slipped from your grasp.

All eyes watched in silence as it sailed across the room and clattered to the floor.

Silence fell.

Of course. Of fucking course.

The one time you grew a spine and finally stood up for yourself, you fucked it up. And now the only thing you could do was wait to be mauled. You just hoped Amber didn’t have a good view.

The dark shadow of one of the dogs approached. You closed your eyes and waited for the inevitable.

And waited.

And waited some more.

You cracked open one eye to see what was taking so long. A dog was sitting in front of you, it’s tail wagging furiously. It dropped the branch to the floor and looked at you expectantly. Cautiously, slowly, you reach down and pick up the branch. All eye are fixed on you as you stand up and wind it back. The instant you toss the stick a horde of hounds pile after it, barking and slobbering everywhere.

Huh, you thought to yourself, I guess a giant armored dog is still a dog.

A plan forms in your head. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was more than you had a minute ago.

Just like before, the branch was dropped at your feet.

You raised the branch above your head, and addressed your enraptured audience.

“You want this?” you asked.

“Yes! Please!” Tiny barked.

“This? You want this?” you waved the branch around.

“Give it to us!” Bruno roared.

“Are you sure?” you mocked.

“I don’t know why but YES!” Gremlin begged.

Not wanting to disappoint, you heaved the stick with all of your might. You paused only long enough to make sure your distraction was going to last, then make a dash over to Amber. The yoke around her neck was fixed in place with a rusty latch. It took a few moments of struggle, but you managed to wrench it off. A glance over your shoulder told you that you were running out of time. Most of the armored dogs were unconscious on the ground, and the three leaders were fighting over the stick. Fortunately, they were facing away from the two of you.

Amber motioned to her muzzle.

“Sorry, no time.” You said, shaking your head. Amber shot you a glare, but seemed to understand.

It was a mad dash out of the caverns. You couldn’t help looking over your shoulder from time to time to see if you were being followed. Luckily you weren’t, but the paranoia was driving you crazy. After was seemed like ages, you made it out into the sunlight. Neither of wanted to slow down at that particular moment, so you tore your way down the canyon. Eventually you found a easy slope, which the two of you scrambled up. The hope was that you’d lose them in the forest above, if they were in fact added to your growing list of pursuers.

You collapsed in a heap. If nothing else, you were getting great cardio in your short time here. Amber shuffled up next to you, pointing to the muzzle on her face.

“Oh, right, lemme get that.” You mumble, and you spend a few minutes fumbling with the latch. Finally you get it off, and Amber gives you a weak smile.

“Thanks.” She says, almost a whisper.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence. You rub the back of your neck.

“Look, I…I’m sorry. I should’ve been able to help you sooner, but something…” you stop. How would you describe Discord to her? Would she even believe you? Before you think of a response, Amber speaks up.

“No, it’s fine. It was late, you tired, so I get why you didn’t wake up. Besides, I don’t think you could’ve done much against Diamond Dogs. You may be a demon, but it doesn’t seem like you’re a very strong one.” She paused. “I mean no offense, Master.”

“I…yeah sure…” you sigh “So, Diamond Dogs, huh? That’s what those are?”

Amber nodded.

“I’ve only heard about them before, but they seem like what I was told. Most ponies regard them as a nuisance, since they’re not all that smart. Probably how that stick trick worked. They don’t often mess with us, since they’re really only interested in gems. Like these.” She remarked as she produced a sizeable sack that jingled as it moved.

“…Gems…?” Oh right, you remembered them saying something about that…

In response Amber dumped the bag out on the ground. You’d never seen so many different gemstones in such quantities before. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and probably gems you didn’t even know the name of were laid out in front of you. To think just about a month ago, you were a nearly broke college grad scraping by on a ‘minimum’ wage job. Now…well, you were fucking rich.

“I…I don’t even know what to say…We’re rich!” you stammered.

Amber cocked her head.

“Well it’s not that much, but it’s enough to live on for a while.”

You stared at her.

“But…all these…”

“Honestly it’d be better it these were bits, but gems will have to do.”

“Are these…not valuable…?”

“Kind of. The values vary from each stone. I was never good with the conversion rates.” She replied, rubbing her chin.

“So gems here are basically a different currency? Damn, back home this would set you up for years, if not your whole life.”

“Really? A shame we’re stuck here then.” Amber giggled softly as she scooped the haul back into the bag with her magic.

Wait.

“Amber…” you say slowly.

“What is it, Master?” she said with a slight edge of fear to her voce, likely fearing she did something to offend you.

“Why didn’t you use your magic to free yourself? Like, levitate the latch of the cart or something?”

There was a long moment of silence. Amber’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks. She facepalmed (er, hoofed?).

“I…forgot…” she squeaked as she tried to cover her embarrassment. “I managed to steal a gem and make an arrow for you, but…I did that with my hooves…I completely forgot about my magic…”

You couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, you were terrified, so I don’t blame you. Honestly, I’d probably do the same.”

Amber smiled weakly, still blushing.

“I was…And my magic isn’t the best…so I don’t know what I could have done…”

“Oh really? Darn.”

Another long silence.

“Y’know…” you start “It think this may be the longest we’ve talked since we left. Why is that?”

Amber shuffled uncomfortably.

“I guess…it’s because…I’m trying to figure things out.” She replied slowly after a moment. “Father…how much did he lie to me? All he ever told me was that ponies would want to use me because of my talent, then he goes and does the same thing! Then when I got something wrong, he said I was useless! He didn’t see me as a pony, just a…a tool, I get that now, but…”

She choked on her words, tears forming in her eyes.

“Did…did he ever care? Even a little…?”

Her shoulders shook as she broke down in sobs. You…didn’t know what to do. Dealing with other peoples’/ponies’ feelings was never really your strong suits.

Still, you couldn’t sit there like a douchebag while Amber was having a breakdown. So, the best you could think to do was put your arm around her.

It seemed to help.

“I…I may not have the answer but…” you grip her tighter, “I’ll be with you, and I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.”

Amber smiled.

“Thank you…” she whispered. Reflex kicked in, and you began scratching her ears. She leaned into it, and her hind leg even kicked slightly.

Soon, you noticed she had fallen asleep. You couldn’t blame her, she probably didn’t get too much sleep last night. There was still the concern the Diamond Dogs could track you down. They were DOGS after all, and you weren’t that far away from the canyon.

Aw, to hell with it, I’ll just throw another stick. You thought, and settled against Amber for a nap.

Chapter 8

The mid-afternoon breeze tickled your face as you dozed against the tree line. It was boring, but there wasn’t much you could do while you waited for Amber to return from the nearby town. You had considered going with her, but knowing your luck you would have run smack into the Princess’ teahouse or some bullshit like that.

It had been a stroke of luck that you had found this town to start with, and you weren’t going to jeopardize a much-needed supply run. So Amber had gone in alone. There was that nagging question as to whether or not she’d come back, or send some strike force after you, but you had gotten better at ignoring it.

Things had calmed down considerably in the week after what you’d heroically faced down an entire army of ravenous, bloodthirsty, possible rabid Diamond Dogs. They hadn’t pursued you, and Pony Team Six were nowhere to be found. You weren’t sure if they had given up on you, or were just morons. Given your (admittedly limited) experience with the locals, you were leaning to the latter.

Not Amber, of course. She was brilliant. It had taken a bit of gently prying, but she had opened up impressively. Turns out buried beneath the fear and abuse she was adaptable, brave, and becoming more joyous by the day. She was smiling more, laughing, and didn’t seem to care she was essentially a wanted mare on the run with an interdimensional interloper. In fact, she seemed to relish in it. You couldn’t help but admire it, the way she could take all this in stride.
In the interest of keeping the smile on that adorable face, you did your best to avoid mentioning ‘Dear Ol’ Dad.’ Even though it was mostly for Amber’s sake, it was also to keep you from losing your cool. You considered yourself a mostly level-headed person, but that bastard…Suffice to say he got you heated rather quickly. To see the amazing mare that Amber truly was, and remembering the withered shell of a pony you had first met when you got here…It infuriated you. If you could just get your hand on that slimy…

No. No, you wouldn’t go down that path.

It was bad enough most ponies thought you were a demon and confirming that would only make things worse. Though it may be worth it…

No, no, focus on the positives. Like Amber. You reminded yourself.

Amber…She was the only good thing you’ve had this entire time. You felt at ease with her around, happier even. Hell, you were sleeping better with her in the woods than you had in years in your own world. Then again, rocks and dirt versus a half-moldy mattress on the floor weren’t that different. That aside, being here with Amber…felt right.

Wait.

Where you…?

“Master!” Amber announced, snapping your attention away from your thoughts. She galloped up the hill, a pair of saddlebags flopping at her sides.

“You get everything?” you asked.

Amber nodded.

“Yes. Food, water, just about everything we need for now.”

“Good, good. Oh, you get that string I asked for?”

“Um, yes I did. What did you need it for?” she replied, floating the requested string over to you
with her magic.

You didn’t answer immediately, instead, you turned your back to Amber and dug around in your pocket for something. The past few nights you had found yourself digging through the bag of gems. Sure it was equivalent to digging through a bag of change, but it felt nice. Kind of like shoving your hands in those tubs of colored rocks at cheap gift shops. During one of those digging exercises, you found something you felt deserved to be saved.

After a moment filled with fiddling, you managed to complete your project. With a grin, you presented it to Amber. Her eyes widened.

“Is that…?” she whispered.

“Yeah, it is.”

In your hand was a smooth chunk of amber. (The old tree sap, not the pony). It was about half the size of your palm, and inside was a small leaf vaguely in the shape of a heart. You had tied the string around it to make a makeshift necklace. Carefully you hung it around your companion’s neck.

“I…I don’t know what to say…” Amber said, mystified. She tore her gaze away from her namesake to look at you. She had tears in her eyes. “Thank you…”

“It…it was nothing…Just thought you’d like it.” You reply, rubbing the back of your neck.

Amber snuggled up to her usual position at your side, and you obliged her obvious request for ear scritches. For once, life was good.

“Hey…I haven’t done this for a while, but…Would like for me to use it? My talent, I mean.” She asked after a moment.

“Really? Sure, I mean, if you don’t mind. Don’t want to pressure you or anything.”

“I offered, didn’t I?” she giggled and gave you a playful tap with her hoof. The unicorn got up and stretched. “Now, I should tell you, what I get is mostly random information. I can direct it to a certain topic, but there’s no telling how much I’ll get, or even if it’ll actually happen.”

“Okay. Honestly, I’m just curious about how this works.”

Amber smiled.

“Well, you're about to find out. Any requests?”

You thought for a moment. What should you ask for? If you were being honest, there was really one thing you wanted to know.

“Will I ever go home? Or will I stay here forever waiting to axed by a horsey hit squad?”

Amber paused and looked at you with sad eyes. She didn’t say a word, but slowly nodded.

Closing her eyes, she focused her magic on the amber, raising it to her face. The orange light dancing off the stone like fire. Amber’s eyes snapped open, her orange eyes blazing like two pools of molten copper. She stood there motionless, her magic dancing around her nose and cheeks.

You felt…odd sitting there, waiting. Where you supposed to do something here? Or just wait? How long would this-

“GAH!” Amber yelled as she stumbled back, and almost fell over. You scrambled to help her keep her balance.

“Are you okay?” you question.

“Y-Yes, I think so…” She answered, massaging her temple. “That was…more intense than I thought it would…”

“Intense? How so?”

Amber looked away.

“I-it…it’s nothing. Probably wrong, anyway.” She whispered.

“What did you see?” you asked.

“Nothing!” Amber yelled.

“Amber.”

“NO! Forget it!”

“Amber.”

“NO!”

“…Amber…”

She met your gaze. Fear and worry-filled those copper eyes, obscured by her shimmering tears.

“Please don’t make me say it. It might come true…”

You sweep her up in a tight hug.

“Amber, I told you, we’re in this together. Whatever you saw, we’ll face it head-on. Do you believe that?”

“…yes…” she mumbled as she dried her tears on your shirt.

“Besides, you said it yourself: Whatever you saw may not even happen, right?”

She managed a weak smile.

“I did say that, didn’t I?” she frowned. “But what I saw…what if it does…?”

“We’ll get to that when, and if, it comes. So why don’t you tell me what you saw, and we’ll go from there. Deal?”

“…Okay…”

She pulled away and cleared her throat.

“It was…fragmented, but what made out was not good. I saw you…surrounded by the Elements of Harmony. I saw the Princesses too. They fired, you didn’t have time to move…You were…gone…I don’t what happened to you after that.”

You took a moment to process that.

“Okay, that’s not good. Although, they could have just sent me home.”

Amber nodded.

“There’s more. There were flashes, in between. Lightning, teeth flashing, rain, and…

“…Blood.”

You didn’t know what to say. But you had to say some-

“I wasn’t there! When you were surrounded, I didn’t see myself there! Something happened to me!”

“I-…I’m sure you’re fine…” you try to reassure her as you reached out to her.

“That’s not the point! I WASN’T THERE WHEN YOU NEEDED ME!”

Silence.

“Amber…”

“We…we’re supposed to be together in this but…where was I? What happened to me? Why couldn’t I help you…?” she sobbed.

“Amber. I’m more concerned about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. And I don't want you to think that you don't matter.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her foreleg.

“But…I still want to be able to help you…”

You ruffled up her mane.

“Well, how about why look out for each other, then? After everything we’ve faced together, what’s stopping us from defying fate itself?” you joke with a grin.

Amber chirped a short laugh.

“Nothing, I guess.”

Chapter 9

Nothing may have stopped you, but the rain and the damn mud would certainly slow you down. The two of you trudged through the muck, soaked to the bone. No words were spoken, at least none that you could hear over the downpour.

It had been a few hours after Amber’s supply run. Things had been looking up, and you had headed further into the woods for safety. The hope had been those supplies would last you two until you found another town. But the forest here seemed…off. The weather had been calm and clear when suddenly a storm had rolled in out of nowhere out of the blue.

Lightning coiled across the sky, and thunder shook you to your core.

We can’t keep going in this…you thought, we’ll either get fried or drown. Don’t wanna risk us getting separated, either.

Although she couldn’t hear you, it seemed Amber had the same idea. She was frequently looking over her shoulder to make sure you still there.

Apparently whatever god ruled this place decided you’d had enough punishment for once, and you came across a large cave. Once inside, the first thing you did was take a closer look at the back end of the cave. Had to make sure there weren’t any Crystal Corgis, or Slate Shiba’s, or whatever cave-dwelling bullshit could be thrown at you. Thankfully the cave didn’t go back all that far. You guessed it was about twenty feet high, and about fifty to the back. No smaller tunnels, no cavern critters, nothing.

Finally, you sighed to yourself I catch a break.

……

Huh, I half expected that to blow up in my fa-

A mighty roar shook the surrounding area, somehow drowning out the rain and the thunder. Whatever it was, it was BIG and it was CLOSE.

…There go…

The ground began to shake as a fucking MASSIVE BEAR appeared out of the tree line. And not like a large bear, no, this thing was taller than some of the trees, blue for some reason, and it looked like it was made of starlight. It also looked soaked, tired, and pissed off.

Amber took a few steps back, her eyes wide and her ears flat against her head.

“What…is that?” you hissed to her. “Is this a bad thing?”

“An Ursa Minor…” she whispered back. “Very, very bad.”

You look around frantically for a place to hide.

No such luck. The cave was practically empty, with no place to hide and only a few rocks laying around. Maybe there was enough time for the two of you to dart out of the cave and-

A deep growl told you your time was up.

You’d thought the Diamond Dogs had big teeth, but the fangs in front of you made those look like tiny thorns. It was like looking at a cage made of ivory, only pointy and more likely to end in horrific dismemberment. An unholy growl reverberated through the cave shaking you to your core.

Amber said…something. Either you couldn’t hear her over the growl, or your ears had shut down out of fear. You were vaguely aware of her magic weakly trying to tug you away from the beast. If you had to guess, she was probably trying to urge you to run. Or something like that. Whatever she was trying to do wasn’t likely to happen. Everything had just…shut down.

Air rushed past your face as the bear snarled once more. It opened its maw, preparing to snap you up into whatever heaven or hell awaited you. Kinda ironic when you thought about it.

-THWACK-

A rock hit the monster in the snout. Another followed seconds later, this one hitting it directly in the eye. It snarled in fury and snapped its head to the right. Amber stood defiant, several rock floating in her grasp, and only slightly trembling.

The mighty bear raised it immense paw and swung at your equine companion. She stood her ground and faced her destiny.

Time slowed.

Thoughts emptied.

Your body began to move. Why were you moving now, when you could have moved to save yourself mere moments before?

Something more important.

Just before she was crushed, your shoulder connected with Amber’s. You managed to propel her out destruction’s path. Unfortunately, that meant the paw was coming straight at your face.

Huh, your last thought echoed throughout your mind, at least I did something worthwhile.

You didn’t even feel it when you got hit. Shock’s a hell of a drug, apparently. Unfortunately, it didn’t help as much as you flew though the air. Serious airtime, at least forty feet straight into solid, unyielding stone, and you were not exactly going slow. You definitely felt a rib snap, maybe three, along with several other bones. Not like you were too interested in counting at the moment. At least it wasn’t your neck. The pain was…incredible, to say the least.

Your vision managed to focus after a moment, and you saw Amber running towards you. She screamed… something, but your ears wouldn’t stop ringing. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to get to you, but the bear cut her off. The bear barreled towards her, fangs and claws flashing as the lightning crashed outside.

The pain spiked as you tried to move. As much as you wanted to, your body had tapped out. You were forced to watch as Amber fought for her life. To her credit, she managed to last a good while. Unfortunately, she ran out of room to run as she hit the wall of the cave. The beast brought up a massive paw that sent her sailing straight up into the air.

Time slowed again.

Your eyes met. She looked…sad.

She hit the floor. Hard.

And didn’t move again.

You began tremble, less from pain, but from rage. At the monster, yourself, this whole fucking world. If only you could just DO SOMETHING.

The monster leaned over, its massive jaw opened to snap up your friend as you lay helpless.

Suddenly a sack flew out from the darkness, connecting with the beast’s snout, which exploded into a yellowish-green powdery cloud. The bear reared up, pawing at its face furiously. Then, it started sneezing. Over and over, sneeze after sneeze. After a few minutes of this, it ran off into the rain whining in between sneezes.

The world began to blur and fade again as the adrenaline wore off. A cloaked figure approached the cave. Given your history with cloaked figures, you were skeptical about this one’s intentions.

Not that you could do anything, what with the losing consciousness and all that.

Author's Notes:

Man, these two just can't catch a break, can they?