Let me tell you a story · 10:34am Sep 23rd, 2017

So, I've been dealing with the emotional and physical aftermaths of how close I came to doing the big stupid. As part of that, I decided I wanted to write out a story based on what happened. The following is based solely on my impressions of what happened and of those that helped me. It is a stylized novelization of the emotions and situations I went though heavily couched in allegory and imagery based on MLP and Second Life. I've missed a great many of you in this and I'm sorry for that, but know that your efforts will always be remembered. So...without further preamble.

The following is a highly stylized account of actual events.

Penny Dreadful made his way down the forest path. It was a brilliant fall day and the leaves were just beginning to turn and fall to the floor of the sparsely treed area, the lack of undergrowth made travel smooth and easy for the pony. The brown furred unicorn walked briskly along, letting his hooves follow the path on their own, his mind dwelling on the words upon the manuscript in his saddlebags.

What Penny did not realize due to his inattention, was that he was being stalked as surely as any rabbit in the eyes of a wolf. He noticed nothing at all, while a thing of dark nightmares and deepest shadow subtly altered the path upon which he trod, bringing him closer to its slavering maw. Penny’s first realization that something was wrong was when the sound of air, being pushed aside by an ebon fist, reached his ears a split second before that fist hit his side, knocking him cleanly off his hooves and bouncing him off a small nearby tree.

Bruised and badly shaken, Penny looked up in time to see another strike coming at him. Horn glowing, he manifested a shield just in time to intercept the blow and he began to stagger to his hooves. The attacking creature however, had more than one way to attack prey and as the brown unicorn kept up his shield, his wavering concentration did not allow him to see the barbed tendrils coming in from his flanks.

Once again, the pony was struck from surprise as a dozen strikes hit him from either side and he cried out in pain as the barbs sunk deep, pumping their dark venom into the pony. Unable to maintain the concentration needed for the shield, Penny was smashed down to the forest floor again by another blow from the creature’s fist. The venom of the barbed lines began to whisper their lies of pain and despair, urging the pony to give in and surrender to death.

“weak...useless...you cannot stop this,” Penny heard in his mind, eyes wide as terror began to grip his heart. “foalish to have even tried...you cannot win...feeble...laughable.” The voices continued to mock him, even as the barbed lines began to tug him toward his doom, like a fish on a hook.

“N-No...I’m strong,” Penny gasped out, trying to get his hooves under him, despite the pain. “I’ll stop you, my friends will stop you. The Divines will stop you.”

“Such a loser,” the voices said, actively bringing down the mind and will of the pony now. “Your friends have abandoned you...your Divines could not be bothered to save you.” The voices did not know who the “Divines,”, or the friends of the pony they were slowly killing were. They neither cared, nor were capable of caring about anything other than their task of making their prey succumb.

A great distance away, a pair of beings, female scions of the Gods, were engaged in an idyllic afternoon by a lake shore. They and their kind were known as “Divines,” and years ago Penny Dreadful had pledged himself to their service in exchange for their favor. In truth, he was little more than chattel to the Divines, but he was favoured and above all, theirs.

The pair by the lake were friends, as well as sisters. One was the daughter of Zeus, and was known as Io, the other was an offspring of several trickster spirits and was called Coyote.

“Sister,” Coyote said, stirring in her chair and cocking her head, “did you hear that?”

“Yes, I did,” Io replied, setting down her drink with a sudden expression of distaste. “Someone or something is daring to mock us. Are we missing anyone who could be responsible for it?”

“Those that worship us are already here,” Coyote said, after a moment's thought. “Kulero is doing a photo-shoot and Penny is supposedly on his way here.”

“So, Penny is the only one we have no direct accounting for?” Io asked, and then stood at Coyote’s nod. “Let’s see if we can find him.” The pair took to the air, leaving the comfortable lakeshore villa behind and flying over the forest in search of their wayward pony. Within minutes they spotted their quarry, as the drag marks made by a body being pulled along through the detritus of the forest were plain to see from the air.

Their pony was lying on his side, and barely moving. Several small harpoon-like lines had sunk into the side of the equine and the wounds oozed scarlet trails of blood that had stained the forest floor with carmine streaks. Penny was only feet away from the dark horror that had already begun to feed on his spirit, and even as the Divines set foot upon the forest floor they could hear the eldritch horror whispering its litany of hopelessness and despair.

“Your foals go hungry...your mate despises you,” the nightmare whispered to Penny, whose only response was a pitiful whimper of despair. “Their stable crashes down upon them...your weakness has doomed them. End it, let go, and the pain will ease. Your failure will end, and the last chapter of your life will be written with that final futility.”

“Only thing I can do,” Penny gasped out, unseeing and unknowing that succor was near. “End it all, only thing left I can control.” Penny went completely limp, totally surrendering to the death enfolding him. Others, however, had different ideas.

“Stop Creature!” Io commanded in a loud voice. “That is our pony and he is not yours to feed on.”

“Wait your turn,” the horror said, in a sibilant hiss as it made it’s disdain evident. “I will finish this meal shortly and then you can join him.”

“I think NOT!” Io stated loudly, and with a wave of power she manifested a pair of leads that were attached to the harness Penny perpetually wore. Pulling on the leads she stopped the pony from sliding back those last few fatal feet through brute force.

“You should not have interrupted my meal,” the creature growled as, without releasing its grip on the pony, it launched a veritable blizzard of strikes at the divine being whose power was occupied with saving her pony. Io braced herself for untold agony as she saw the incoming spikes, momentarily forgetting that she was not alone.

“Don’t worry, Sister,” Coyote said, as slashing grey motes of power began to intercept and stop each and every one of the incoming attacks. “You get Penny out of there, and I’ll cover you from this...excrement.” For the next several minutes attack and counterattack blazed back and forth across the intervening space, while Io heaved on the leads connecting her to Penny. The creature was both devious and creative in its attacks, but Coyote was not the scion of trickster spirits for nothing, and she met and matched each attack with one of her own.

“The creature has fed too much already on Penny’s life force,” Io called out to her sister in frustration. “Without his help I can’t pull him free, all I can do is keep him from slipping further and not even that for much longer. We need a game changer.” Coyote thought furiously, and the moment’s inattention to her fight cost her a cut across one smooth thigh bringing a sulfurous curse.

“Order curse it,” Coyote snarled out, then she brightened as a thought came to her. “Penny is a pony, ponies are herd animals. Summon Penny’s herd for help, Io.”

“Good thinking,” Io said, brightening at the idea. Throwing her head back, she chanted out in a clarion voice infused with her power:

The strength of twice one hundred horse
That comes at my command
My hand directs your headlong force
You that rate and heed my demand
Bind yourselves to the lead
Heave in line, you pony train
Be his brake, obey my need --
For Penny shall Remain!

For several long moments nothing could be heard beyond the creak of leather and the hissing sound of attacks darting back and forth between the two sides. Then, an almost subsonic rumble came to the ears of the two demi-goddesses. A sound felt, rather than heard and as the duo exchanged a quick look, the woods became alive with equine forms closing in from all directions.

The variety in their bodies was incredible, in all manner of shapes, sizes and colours. Some had wings, some had horns, some had neither, a few even had both. One pony seemed made of shadows, another of storm coloured sand, a third looked to be formed of nothing but wind. At last, a commanding pony, his body damaged and healed by battles untold, slid to a stop beside Io and flashed her a grin.

“Hello Divine One,” he said, both respect and playfulness large in his voice. “We heard your call, what would you have of us?”

“You and your fellows, bridled and at my feet,” Io said, smiling to show she was only half-serious. “But barring that, I ask for your help Damaged One, to save my Penny from that creature.” She nodded in the direction of the nightmare beast.

“That’s a Midnight Nightmare,” Damaged said, with some surprise. “An ancient enemy of ponykind, and Penny is part of the herd and a friend. Friendship never comes with a price tag, Divine Io. Our help is yours for the asking.”

“Thank you,” Io said, briefly placing a manicured hand on the pony’s withers before issuing her command. “All of you, grab one of the leads and pull!” All along the two leads connecting Io to Penny, dozens of harnesses, secondary leads and bridles came into being and the assembled herd leapt towards them. Each of them found a spot good for them, grabbed on and pulled for all they were worth as they leant their strength to the effort of pulling their friend clear. A foot, two, three feet, the assembled might of ponies and Divines pulled their friend from danger, but then the monster dug in its heels and fought back, unwilling to release its prey.

“It’s not enough,” Coyote said, in realization, even as she strained to protect all of her new allies in the struggle. “Penny has to want to live. Someone needs to remind him of all the ones that care for him, that call him friend, that love him. Ponies, can any of you get close enough to help?”

“We can try,” said a white and green pegasus, with a perpetually sad face. “Mix-up, with me.” With that the pegasus darted forward, keeping to the ground, either unwilling or unable to fly. Mirroring her motions was another pony, his coat a riot of colours, and the two charged in until they stood shoulder to shoulder with Penny.

“Nothing...no hope, no chance,” Penny said, just loudly enough for the pair to hear him. “Was a fool to even try.” Penny showed no sign of pain from the dozen wounds in his sides, despite the barbs twisting in them as they drew fresh blood.

“Penny, we care,” Mix-up said. “You are our friend, we love you. I made a painting for you, I just need you to come with me and look at it. Please.” Penny’s ears twitched toward the voice of the artistic pony.

“We need you, Penny,” the white pegasus said from the other side, and Penny turned his head toward the second voice. “You talk to us, you inspire us and I need somepony to sit with me when the nights are dark and scary.” The brown pony’s eyes actually opened at that and he looked into the face of the brave pony beside him.

“I..I’m needed?” Penny gasped out, eyes beginning to focus.

“Yes, dear idiot,” the pegasus said, smiling. “You’re needed.”

“C’mon,” Mix-up said, from the other side and trying to get a shoulder under his friend. “You’re fight isn’t over yet. C’mon, let’s go.”

“The...fight isn’t over,” Penny said, and the others could see power rushing back into him like a torrent. “My fight isn’t over. I’m not done yet.” Penny put one hoof down onto the forest floor, then a second, then all four as he got to his hooves. It was the tipping point, and one by one the hooked barbs in Penny’s flesh pulled free as the pony began to pull away from the being that had been preying on it. Each barb left an open crimson mouth in the side of the pony as it tore free, but he ignored them with a mask of determination.

Angered at seeing its hard fought for meal escaping, the Midnight Nightmare launched a fusillade of attacks at prey, and allies of the prey alike. It was a fatal mistake, as the Divine Coyote had been waiting for just such an opportunity. Summoning up her power in a vast bolt of energy, she slammed untold force into the creature from above, instantly slamming it into oblivion and the sudden release of tension sent everyone, biped and pony alike, tumbling head over heels. Only Divine Io remained standing, and she bent to check on Penny who now lay only a few feet away, having been knocked out by the force of his landing.”

The rest of the multitude gathered around, looking concerned, but all were also showing obvious pleasure at their success once they realized Penny was alive. Hoof bumps and wing slaps abounded among the two hundred plus equines.

“Thank you,” Io said to the assembled herd, as she magically closed Penny’s wounds. “We could not have done it without your help.”

“He is of the herd,” the damaged pony said, rubbing against Io’s thigh, “and now, so are you.”

“Oh really?” Io asked, mirth in her voice as she ruffled the pony’s mane. “Perhaps you are now mine.”

“Perhaps,” the damaged pony said, an answering smile on his face. “One day we should discuss it.”

“We should,” Io said, beginning to walk toward where the creature had been. “But I have something to take care of first.”

“Where are you going?” Coyote asked her sister as she came up. Ponies were moving past her, nearly all of them rubbing against her legs as they passed her or pausing for a quick nuzzle.

“I want to make sure that...thing,” Io said,with evident distaste, “is most thoroughly, messily and completely dead. Let me know when Penny wakes up.”

“Why?” Coyote asked, nearly being tripped off her feet by the last few ponies rubbing affectionately against her.

“Because when he comes to, I’m going to kill him,” Io said, grumbling. “How dare he try to waste all that work the two of us have put into him.”

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