The fat purple fluffy herded Nike towards the nestie under the fallen log. He was so smug. So assured in his victory. He had wandered until he was captured by a patrolling herd of toughies and their smarty. He had been dragged before the biggest fluffy he’d ever seen, all yellow metah colored munstah fluff and with a voice that made purples speshaw wumps shake. But he was a smart smarty smartsmart. He told his story to yellow metah colored Xerxes. When purple finished describing Leo and his prodigious strength and Xerxes had been very interested. So purple had tricked him! Tricked him so good! Purple had agreed to lead Xerxes’ fluffies back to the creekside nestie. He would take advantage of the situation by being the first to give sowwiest poopies to Leonidas once the buu-buu juice colored fluffy was defeated. Then he would have enfies with all the mares and whatever foals he wanted eat as much as he wanted and come back to take over Xerxes herd and enf HIS mares and foals and eat even more! It was foolproof.
The only problem was that apparently everything had gone wrong. So wrong. First Nike had decided to grow up without telling purple. Then all the stallions and fillies had decided to learn how to fight. Then Leo wasn’t even at the nest! And then the worst happened.
“Hewwo Fwen!” Purple said, grinning and thinking of all the enfies he was gonna-
WHAM
Nike, foals on her back, chirping baby clenched in her teeth, didnt waste any timr. She reared and slammed her front hooves into his face. His snout cracked and he slumped to the ground.
This would habe been the end of the issue, but the two black fluffed silver maned fluffies flanking him first traded a glance with each other, then spared on down at him, before turning their attention back to Nike and rising from hmtheir haunches to advance on her. She skittered backward with a small “Eep” and hightailed it into the nest. As she ran she saw the battle begin around her, fluffies from her herd fighting valiantly, her attack of the apurple former-smarty triggering their aggression after thier uneasy suspicion was confirmed. Colts and stallions performed feats of strength and martial cunning that would habe made Leo proud. Against any other herd it would have been a massacre as one groups formed a tight, textbook chevron against charging masses. A few of the older seasoned stallions or fought alone or in small clusters. Horns slashed and stabbed, hooves swung, connecting with sickening thuds, cries of the drab earth invading fluffies mixed with fierce calls. The phalanx of fluffies was slammed bu another charge, hooves digging in, and with a mighty “Ha-OOH!” gave a collective shove that broke the charging herd instantly.
Nike reached the nest and diving with her hooves outstretched and little wings beating, slipped gracefully through the entrance. She ran around, and up a ramp made of roots to the tree hollow where she and Leonidas slept. She sent her 3 foals tumbling into their bed, pulling an old microfiber towel the herd had scavenged over them, and then ran and hopped back down until she stood, fluff bristled, in the center of the nest’s main room. The black fluffies began to slip through the nest entrance, one after another, until there were more than four hooves and four hooves and four hooves. The formed a ring around Nike. Her heart pounced and she whimpered Leo’s name. The circle closed within biting distance…
And with a loud “YEEEP” in a quavery voice a sky blue mass table led through the nest door and collided with the black fluffies. Eepor laid into them, his fighting style wasn’t the clean explosive movements of Leo’s trainees. Instead he fought with a berserker rage, kicking speshaw wumps, snatching manes and making plenty of noise. He made a wondrous mess of things. Nike joined in, having trained with Leo just as much as any stallion and soon the brawl had filled the little main room of the nest.
But Eepor was old, and huge body screamed at him with the strain. And Nike was a filly, and her little body was built for speed, not brute strength. And the silent black eyed, silver maned fluffies kept coming. When one would fall, another would take its place. Almost so quick it seemed like Eepor and Nike could do no harm. Nike was overwhelmed and fell under a mass of black hooves, until Eepor leapt to shield her with is body. There was the sound of dozens of hooves raining on soft meat and fluff, many small cracks, and when the pair moved no more the black fluffies paused, looked at one another and silently filed from the room. Outside the noises of battle faded, and cheers went up from the courageous fluffies who had fought to protect the their hear and home.
But inside the nest was silence, only broken by the frightened peeping of 3 foals, calling desperately for their momma.
Leo crashed through underbrush, scaling logs and boulders. Twigs tore at the fluff on his side as he ran. He skirted the creek, his hooves sending up splashes of water as he ran. Finally, blessedly he blasted into the clearing, looking around wild eyed. Most of his fluffies had survived unharmed. A couple had gone forever sleepies, surrounded and almost buried by the bodies of the fluffies they took with them when the Reaper finally called them to step into the halls of Valhalla.
Leo cast aside fallen fluffies, head snapping this way and that, calling, screaming for Nike, for Duke, for Artemis, for Max. He followed a trail of hoofprints up to the nest and peered inside. “NIKE!” He screamed and forced his way through the door. Eepors old battle scarred body lay on its side, arm cradled around Nike’s small form. The mischievous, half mad glint had gone out in his eye, but Leo could see the smallest grin on his face. He had walked to the clearing at the end of his long and winding path, and his last breathe had been given bravely. Leo knew he walked in the halls of Valhalla now, head high, a bowl of sketti waiting and a many ears to bend to his tales.
Leo picked up Nike, who breathed shallower and shallower. She raised a hoof, smiling as she saw him. “Nike…kafkaff wub Weo…Wiww wait for joo…Weo s-sabe…babbehs” and with a sigh she closed her eyes and grew still and cold.
As mummahs from the herd gathered Nike’s peeping foals and shushed them, feeding them and rocking them, Leo stared to the sky and screamed madly in his grief.
