Maroonfall (8)

“To the ancient Greeks the word dikaiosini, Justice, was often synonymous with ekdikisis, Vengeance.”
- Sidney Sheldon, Memories of Midnight, 1990

“Foreshadowed man of destiny
Soon you will be forced to see
Nations aligning against you
Marking your time- your reign is through.
…And you will see your Hundred Days come to an end.
Foreshadowed man of destiny
Soon you will be forced to see
Nations aligning against you
Marking your time- your reign is through.
…It lies before you: fate shall befall you.”
- Iced Earth, “Waterloo”, from The Glorious Burden, 2004




> You are Cookie, the light brown unicorn stallion. Forever the friend of poor Poppy.
> And you’ve been waiting for this day.
> You are outside of Dark Forest, near Little River, with the Many Friends.
> Precious has arrived with many, many fluffies. The most fluffies, you think.
> The most friends.
> Then came the Aesir. All were big, and all had strange shapes drawn on them in mud and berry juice.
> Scruffy spoke to Dark Forest herd as you all waited.
> “We nu bad fwuffies. We guud fwuffies. We guud fwends and speciaw fwends. Guud stawwions, mawes, fowts, fiwwies and babbehs. Nu mattew wat dummy say to yoo, ‘memba dat! We gun giv owwies, big ow biggest owwies. But if we dun giv dese owwies, den bad fwuffies giv us aww biggest owwies! Mawoon is da biggest meanie of dem aww! If he do wat he wan, den aww us guud fwends sweep fowevew! WE NU WET HIM HUWT GUUD FWENDS!”
> You stomped your hoofs, and the others did the same. Cheeks puffed, and fluffies yelled.
> Now two friends from Dark Forest are putting The Board, all brown and black, over Little River.
> They push it until it reaches the other side.
> Then, one by one, you begin to cross.
> As you watch most of Dark Forest herd go across, you see that The Board begins to get owwies: large booboos start to form in it.
> You hesitate as you watch Kali go over.
> As soon as she gets a little over half way, The Board gets biggest owwies.
> *CRACK*
> Kali scrambles to the other side, while The Board falls into Little River and floats away.
> Scruffy, Kazoo, Kali, Sparks and Cuddles all stare back at you along with many friends from Dark Forest herd, while you, Fluffytown friends and Aesir friends all look at one another.
> “Now wat?!” Precious screams, stomping her hoofs in anger.
> Scruffy looks towards The Home, then looks back at Precious and Balder.
> “Go to Pipe! Find Metaw Munsta path! Meet Scwuffy and fwends at Big Fiewd! Pwease nu weave!”
> Precious snorts.
> “Otay! Wiww meet at Big Fiewd!” Balder yells. “Aesiw! Fowwow!”
> Immediately Balder starts off. Precious, after a moment, follows.
> And so do you.
> You’re afraid.
> But you’re more angry than afraid.
> You will find Maroon. And you will make him sleep forever.

----------

> You are Scruffy.
> And you didn’t expect this to happen.
> You didn’t expect The Board to break and sleep forever in Little River.
> You wanted to wait for the rest of the Many Friends, but when you looked towards The Home, you saw Atlas.
> And he saw you.
> He waved, and began heading off towards The Rink.
> You knew that there was no time to wait.
> Beside you, Sparks and Cuddles look at The Home.
> Sparks looks…
>…You don’t know. You don’t know how he feels.
> You begin to walk towards The Home.
> As you get closer, you remember what Balder said to you once. About there being an All-Daddy who watches over all fluffies, and who loves all good and brave fluffies the most.
> You hope if there is such a thing as the All-Daddy, he will help you and all your friends to be brave.
> Because there is a monster that lives in The Home now. A monster who used to be a fluffy.
> You stop.
> “Kazoo, Spawks…”
> They both look at you.
> You puff your cheeks.
> “Wets see if dey wan pway”.

----------

> *Bzzzzzbbtt!*
> You are Stompy, and you look up from playing with your teeth.
> What was that sound? Sounded like someone made a no smell pretty…
> “STOMPY EATS POOPIES AND DWINKS PEEPEES!!!!”
> Who said that!?
> You get up, and run outside of The Home.
> You look to one side, and then the other, snorting. Some dummy’s going to get stomped!
> You see a big group of fluffies a little ways away from Little River.
> “Hah! Dummies fow stompin’!” you yell.
> Many of your herdmates rush out.
> “Dose fwuffies wan Da Home!” You say. “And Stompy wan dey teeth! Stompy awways gets da teeth!”
> You rush off towards this group of dummies, not caring if any of your herd follows.
> The dummy herd, whoever they are, run to meet you.
> Just before you crash into them, you turn to your side, hop, then roll towards them. This makes two of the stupid fluffies fall over you, and crash to the ground.
> As you get back up, you hear lots of yelling and crying. And owwie pile has been made. Seems your fluffies followed you. Not that you care too much about that.
> But you do care about the big, blue mare with a black mane infront of you.

----------

> You are Kali. And infront of you is the Stompy Monster.
> It looks up at you, its smile bigger than it should be. Its one peeper twinkling, like a foal about to play its favorite game.
> You saw it make Scruffy and Kazoo fall down.
> Instead of being scared, you are mad. How dare it give your friends hurties!?
> And it’s so…small.
> “big mawe gun get stomped!” it says.
> “Nu stomp Kawi! Kawi stomp yoo!”
> You jump at the Stompy Monster, who hops to its left.
> You’re no dummy however, and you turn and buck it as soon as you land.
> You hit it right in the sniffer with your back leggies. It tumbles back before getting up.
> It doesn’t cry out at the owwies it took, but it does laugh, a sound that reminds you of a mix of a baby’s chirp and the sound of a fluffy making sickies.
> You puff your cheeks and rush at him again, this time trying to push the little meanie down.
> It doesn’t hop aside this time. It rushes towards you, the smile even bigger on its horrible half-face.
> It rolls like it did before.
> You stop and bring your hoofs down, hoping to squish it.
> You miss, and seconds later feel hurties in your left back leggie
> “Owwies!” you yell and begin stomping all your leggies.
> Then you feel something hit your belly hard from underneath you, and you spit and cough.
> It rolls out from underneath you, its mouth filled with booboo juice and blue fluff.
> You catch your breath and turn to glare at the Stompy Monster.
> “Kawi hav a fat bewwy, and a nummy weggie! Heeeeehhh!” it says, licking its upper lip.
> “Kawi hate yoo…!” you seethe.
> “Wat kind of wingie awe yoo? Sooo swow!”
> The Stompy Monster closes in.
> “Been fun, Kawi. But now Stompy wan he teeth!”
> You flap your wingies and lunge forward, attempting to bite it like it bit you.
> It hops to the right and brings both of its front leggies down on your left leggie.
> There is a loud crack, and the owwies are terrible.
> You scream and cry.
> “STOMP!” says the Stompy Monster.
> You step back, but lean on your left back leggie and stumble.
> You use your right leggie to hold yourself up, before it too has bad hurties, followed by a crack.
> “STOMP!”
> You slump forward, your chin hitting the ground.
> You know what’s coming next.
> You close your peepers, and think of Atlas.
> You wanted to see him again. Give him big huggies and tell him how much you love him.
> He knows this already.
> But you just wanted to say it to him one last time.
> The top of your head hurts for a moment, and only a moment, before you sleep forever.

----------

> You are Peppermint.
> You lay shivering under your blankie.
> You’re not cold.
> You’re afraid, and you’re sad.
> You know that you’ve sent many of your herd away to stop Maroon.
> And you know that, even with many friends from different herds, many of them won’t be coming back.
> You close your peepers, trying to stop the sad waters from spilling out.
> It doesn’t work.
> You haven’t cried in a very long time.
> But today, it seems, is a day for crying.
> You keep wondering if letting all those fluffies, all those friends, go off to try and stop Maroon was a good thing.
> You open your peepers, unwilling to watch each and every biggest owwie and forever sleep you’ve ever seen as their memories play in your head.
> There is no stopping it now.
> Whatever happens out there this brighttime will determine the happiness or hurties of many herds, and many, many fluffies.
> And you won’t know until it is over if you made the right choice.
> So many mares like Silky.
> So many stallions like Cookie…
> It was late last night when you, Kali, Scruffy and Silky talked.
> Silky said she wanted to talk to the three of you after all of Dark Forest herd went sleepies.
> What she had to say was shocking.
> “make dem aww- evewy stawwion, cowt, mawe, fiwwy an babbeh, sweep fowevew!”
> “Why do dat?” you asked. “Onwy bad fwuffies do dat.”
> “cuz dey smawty is Mawoon. An Mawoon is bad. Evewy fwuffy dat in his hewd bad, even da babbehs. He teach dem aww bad things, and makes dadas and mummas teach dem bad things. Dey come out of mawes bad.”
> She only had to tell you what Maroon did to her, and what she saw him do to other fluffies before all three of you agreed.
> You wish you could take that back…
> “sowwy, fwuffies…” you whisper to no one. “nu wan be bad smawty. Just nu wan nu mowe huwties fow guud fwends.”
> You raise your hoofs to your peepers and sob.
> “pwease…pwease…sowwy. Peppewmint wuv yoo aww…”

----------

> You are Sparks.
> And you just made a fluffy sleep forever.
> You haven’t done that since…
>…since Jelly.
> You stepped on this one’s throat until he stopped moving.
> You don’t like it. But you do it.
> You don’t feel sad, just very, very mad.
> Everywhere, fluffies give owwies to other fluffies.
> You would be scared. But after seeing what happened when Maroon took The Rink…
> “STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!”
> You know who that is.
> A shiver goes through you as you hear it. Memories of Flappy accompany the shiver.
> You lift your hoof off the dummy’s neck and make your way towards the sound, ignoring the owwie pile entirely.
> When you see it, not just him, you swallow the bad taste in your mouth.
> It takes you a few moments to realize that the fluffy whose head he’s stomping on is Kali’s. The same big mare that gave you hugs and called you a good fluffy when she found out who you were.
> Her head isn’t round anymore- it’s partly flat, with head ickies and booboo juice all over the grassies.
> And Stompy’s hoofs.
> He looks up and sees you, immediately his smile grows bigger, his horrible teeth shining with spit and booboo juice.
> He leaves poor Kali and makes his way towards you. You stomp your hoofs and puff your cheeks, feeling angrier than you’ve ever felt before.
> “bad fwuffy…” you murmur.
> “So…” Stompy begins, licking his teeth like he’s about to eat a whole bunch of sketties. “Weak Spawks hav come back to sweep fowevew with stinky, dummy fwends.”
> “Nu.” You growl. “Hav come back to stop Mawoon.”
> Stompy doesn’t say anything else. He just jumps at you.
> You hop to the left, avoiding his front leggies- knowing well how bad they can hurt you.
> You spark your horn and try to bury it in his side, hoping that his fluff gets burnies, like his face.
> Instead he twists and bucks you hard in the face with his back leggies, laughing his horrible laugh.
> “Yoo nu Wintew!” he titters.
> Your horn stops sparking for a moment, and you taste booboo juice.
> “Stompy nu faww fow dat twice!”
> He rounds on you, and tries to bite your right front leggie.
> You spring back, and canter toward him, horn leading the way.
> This makes him back up a little.
> His smile fades away as his lifts himself up on his back leggies.
> You know he hopes to stomp you.
> So at the last moment you scramble forward and knock him off balance. He falls onto his back.
> This is your chance.
> You leap on top of him and start stomping his stupid, ugly face with your hoofs.
> Your horn goes out, but you hardly realize this.
> All you can think about is Flappy. And Kali. And Thor. And Silky.
> You stomp and stomp and stomp.
> “HOW YOO WIKE IT!”
> Booboo juice begins to come off of Stompy’s face in great, sopping splats.
> Instead of continuing to stomp, you stop and begin forcing both your front hoofs onto his neck.
> It takes you a moment to realize this was a mistake- Stompy forces back with his own hoofs, directly on your chest.
> He growls as he does so.
> “wwwaaaaauuughhhhhhhHAH!”
> You fly off of him and roll.
> When you get up and look at him, you see that he too, has gotten back up.
> He doesn’t look so happy anymore.
> He looks really, really mad.
> He cocks his head. “How dawe yoo? How dawe *yoo* stomp STOMPY!?”
> He spits this last word- booboo juice flecking from between his teeth where his lower lip used to be.
> You barely have enough time to react before he closes the distance.
> You didn’t expect him to hit you with his head- his dull horn hit right under your right peeper.
> It hurts. A lot.
> “owwie!”
> You turn your head away and hold your face with both of your front leggies, trying not to cry.
> There’s an intense hurty in your left leggie soon after.
> You open your peepers. Stompy is biting your leggie.
> “WET GO, UGWY MEANIE!” you yell, trying to sound angry.
> It doesn’t sound angry- you sob the words.
> He yanks you leggie away from your face and hits you with his head again.
> This time it is hard, and everything starts to spin.
> You feel like you might make sickies as you stumble back.
> You slip on sometime slick and fall on your back.
> You shake your head back and forth, then looks up.
> There stands Stompy, his right hoof raised above your chest.
> “Nu Wintew.” He says, smiling again, as he brings his hoof down.
> You never had hurties like this before. You try to cry out, but instead only make sickies mixed with some booboo juice.
> He shifts his weight onto his leggie. You can’t breathe.
> It hurts so much.
> “YOO WEAVE SPAWKS AWONE!”
> And then you can breathe again. The weight is gone.
> You cough, spit, and roll on your side.
> You take a few deep breaths and get up.
> It’s Cuddles. She’s pushed Stompy off of you.
> “Dummy mawe…” Stompy snaps.
> His back is towards you now.
> You look around, and see Little River off a little ways.
> A plan forms.
> You turn your poopie place to Stompy, and strain.
> “Stompy!” you yell, looking back at him.
> When he turns to face you…
> *pppbbbbbbbttttt*
> A small gout of your Sorry Poopies hit him in the face.
> He gags, splutters and spits, and you take off towards Little River.
> “GUN STOMP YOO FWAT, WEAK SPAWKS!” you hear him bellow.
> You continue running, looking back only once.
> He’s following you, his face once again full of anger.
> And Cuddles follows him.
> It’s working!
> “GUN TAKE YOO TEETH! YOO WIWW SWEEP FOWEVEW! NU FWUFFY MAKES SOWWY POOPIES ON STOMPY!”
> For a moment, you think of brave Thor, and how he floated away when he stepped into Little River, so Maroon would never know that Silky wasn’t sleeping forever.
> When you reach the edge of Little River, you turn to your side and look at Stompy, who is still chasing you.
> You lay on your belly and put your hoofs over your head.
> Stompy runs right up to you.
> “STOMP!” he yells as he rears up to bring both of his hoofs down on your back.
> He never gets a chance.
> Cuddles pushes him over you.
> *Splash*
> Into Little River Stompy falls.
> “Gwwaaugh! Pfftyack! SpAwkS!?” he screams as he is swept away. “Stom-pfft…Find yoo an-…an den yoo in Twou-glubpfft…gun find yoo! Stompy swawe idsch! Stom-…”
> You don’t hear anymore.
> He goes under and is swept away.
> You pant, trying to catch your breath.
> Cuddles hugs you, and you hug her back.
> “Spawks otay?” she asks, sobbing.
> “Spawks otay. Cuddwes huggies make evewything bettew…”
> You love Cuddles.
> And Thor. And Flappy.
> You thank them- you know somehow, even though they both sleep forever, that today they helped you.
> They made you and Cuddles brave, when you both are usually so scared.
> “Thank yoo…”

----------

> You are Atlas.
> And you’ve arrived at The Rink, through the Shiny Entrance.
> “Smawty!” you call. “Smawty! Stompy am coming!”
> You ran all the way here, so you are very, very tired.
> Which is alright.
> After this, you only have one more thing to do.
> You make your way to the Smarty Room, but Maroon comes out before you get there.
> “wat!? Wat yoo say!?”
> He looks…horrible.
> He drools, one of his peeper-lids droops and he holds his left leggie close to him when he isn’t moving.
> When he talks, he spits drool.
> You swallow despite being bigger that him and lie: “Stompy coming. He say he gun giv yoo biggest owwies.”
> There is a gasp from almost every herd member that hears you say that.
> “Stompy is come with aww da stawwions!”
> There is a icky growling sound that comes from Maroon before he starts yelling
> “AWW YOO ASH HOWNS WIT MAWOON! WE GUN MAKE STOMPY SOWWY!”
> Every Ash Horn around gathers to Maroon, who leaves, staggering slightly, through the Shiny Entrance.
> There are a lot of them.
> You bite your lip, unsure if Scruffy’s idea was a smart one.
> They Aesir are with them, though, so maybe they’ll be okay.
> You immediately make your way to the Water Room for a drink and to wash the ash off of your horn.
> As you enter it, however, you hear sobbing.
> In the corner are three fluffies, one big one and two smaller ones. You didn’t really pay any attention to them until you were done having a drink.
> “shhhh, Pwince, is otay. Meanie Mawoon nu huwt yoo nu mowe.” Queenie says, hugging Prince.
> Prince hugs his mumma back, while Princess tries her best to hug them both. All three cry.
> “Why dada huwt Pwince?”
> Maroon hurt his baby?
> What kind of fluffy does that?
> You feel angry. Not even Maroon’s babies should be hurt like that.
> You dip your horn in the water and move your head to the left and right, washing the ash from it.
> You pull your head up and let it drip down your face.
> You have one more job to do.
> You have to free all those poor slave fluffies.
> “nu mowe huwt babbehs…” you whisper as you trot out of the Water Room.


----------

> You are Scruffy.
> You are sad, but you keep moving.
> Poor Kali. She was a good fluffy.
> It didn’t feel right to leave her there, but you had to keep going, had to keep leading your friends towards The Rink.
> That monster called the Stompy monster drowned in Little River, Sparks and Cuddles said.
> They led him there and pushed him in.
> Sparks seemed different when they told you about it. He always looked so sad before, but not so much after that. You don’t know why.
> When the owwie giving stopped, you gathered up your friends who weren’t sleeping forever and pushed on.
> You’re halfway across Big Field when you see them.
> Many fluffies. All unicorns. All mean looking and with blackish gray stuff on their horns.
> “Ash Howns!” Sparks says.
> You stop, and your friends stop with you.
> You watch as they move towards you.
> Many of them are big. Not as big as Kali or Atlas, but big.
> They snort and puff their cheeks as they get closer.
> And there are so many of them.
> You gulp as they suddenly stop.
> A unicorn, dark red, walks out from among them.
> Maroon.
> “DIS IS MAWOON’S WAND!” he yells, spit flying from his mouth as the words echo around you. “AWW DUMB EAWTHIES AND WEAK WINGIES WEAVE OW GET BIGGEST OWWIES! AWW UNICOWNS COME WIT…”
> He stops and looks at your side.
> He sees Sparks.
> Sparks freezes, then puffs his cheeks. Cuddles comes closer to him and stomps her hoofs.
> You don’t feel as afraid as before.
> “EAT POOPIES MAWOON! NU MOWE HUWTIES, YOO MEANIE!” Sparks cries back at Maroon
>You look from Maroon to Sparks, and then back to Maroon.
> And you brace yourself.

----------

> You are Maroon.
> And how dare he.
> “GIV DEM AWW BIGGEST OWWIES! FOW DA HEWD!” you yell and start running towards this group of dummies.
> The dummies, in turn, run towards you and your Ash Horns.
> You are Maroon, the best smarty of Best Herd.
> And you will not be beaten.



“Here it comes, the mighty storm
Every man attacks
Now is when heroes are born
There is no turning back.”
Amon Amarth, ‘An ancient sign of coming storm’.