Phil continued in silence for a time, tugging the cart alongside his strange new companion. Volunteering for the hard job might have put him at risk out in the open, but that also meant he had his head up to see where he was going. They expected him to save this world somehow, and he would have to get to know it first.
That would've been easier if they had arrived during the day, maybe in the center of town instead of just outside it. But he could still perceive some things—vaguely familiar trees and grasses, a single moon overhead, and recognizable smells of damp earth and sagebrush.
It still felt like a dream. One minute he'd been about to score one of the most important victories of his career, and the next—he wasn't even human anymore. Maybe the horses would change him back and let him go home, but maybe they wouldn't. Maybe their forced recruits wouldn't be enough to free them, and they would die here instead.
At least there was no one else on the road with them, for now. He had a little time to catch his breath and figure out how his new body worked. The adrenaline of his traumatic transformation was fading, leaving a much harder task in its wake.
"Why did you change us, anyway?" he asked, finally breaking the silence. "You could've opened up your portal and brought us in without that. We wouldn’t have been so hesitant about helping you."
Starlight slowed her steps until she was walking along beside him, enough that he could see her face, with one eyebrow sharply raised. "You wouldn't even be strong enough to pull that cart," she said. "The Storm King's troops would make you look like foals. And everywhere you went, you would be easy to track. Plus—I didn't see any magic. I don't know how you'll win, but I'm pretty sure you will need some magic to make it happen."
A few hours ago, he would've laughed at something like that—of course magic wasn't real, and her attitude made no sense. But now he was talking to a unicorn, he had wings, and he was in another world. His understanding of what was real obviously needed adjustment.
"I guess that... makes sense," Phil admitted. "So, when do you give us clothes?"
She tossed back the hood of her cloak, shaking her mane free. Her smile seemed genuine this time. "I'm playing your guard—a Storm loyalist. Most ponies don't wear much, unless there's a special occasion, or especially in bad weather. Which... comes around quite a bit these days. He's the Storm King, after all. He takes it literally."
But she couldn’t say more, because a pair of dark shapes appeared on the road ahead of them. He couldn't see them yet, but they'd clearly noticed the group, and they were making their way over.
They weren't horses—both silhouettes stood upright on two legs. He might've mistaken those shapes for humans, if they hadn’t been so large. No human was so thick around, or had such long arms.
"You're slaves," Starlight whispered. She glanced over her shoulder, where two other carts rolled along in a line behind them. "Heads down, stay quiet. I'll get us through this."
Sky Beak hurried to the front of the group, trotting alongside Starlight. His transformation into a pony might’ve been complete, but he also moved unevenly, without much coordination. "You sure about this?"
Starlight nodded once, raising her hood higher over her head. "We knew it might happen. I've talked my way out of worse before."
They would not have very long to react. As they closed in, Phil got his first good look at the guards. His first impression had been right—they weren't human. He might've guessed them for some previously unknown species of great ape with a rich mane of white fur covered by a mask.
They were also massive, towering well over twice the height of any of the ponies. They wore heavy metal breastplates, and carried a spear in one hand and shield in the other.
"Halt!" one of them grunted, with a voice so deep it shook Phil's whole body. He slowed—not too quickly, or else he’d get crushed by the weight of the cart behind him. It rolled to a stop without much difficulty. He heard the others come to halt with more or less the same ease that he did.
The others wouldn't be so close to these oversized monsters. He couldn't see their faces, just a faint blue glow emerging from openings in their masks.
"Why are you leaving?" one demanded.
Starlight levitated something out of her robe—a piece of black paper marked with something blue. One of the creatures took it and unfolded it with hands that were too large to be doing such delicate work. Then it squinted down towards it.
"These slaves are transporting supplies to a new mine. We're quarrying stone to erect more monuments in our mighty ruler's honor."
She wasn't the best actress Phil had ever heard.
The creature took the sheet of paper, and instead of handing it back, tucked it away into its armor. "Not at night. You must go back with us. We wait. Officer can decide to let you."
"I don't think you understand how important this monument is," Sky Beak said, bolder than Starlight had been. "Our king won't tolerate delays. He insists these slaves work through the night to open a quarry. Do you want him to discover your name was the one who stopped us from doing our work?"
Phil shifted his weight in the harness, lifting it subtly from his shoulders. No animal from his world would ever move a load with something it could easily remove, but in a world of horses, there was nothing physically restraining him.
The guards closed in, standing to full height. "Loyal ponies should not argue," one said. It was the only one who had said anything he could understand, in fact. The other creature only grunted to the first, gesturing with one meaty fist. "Your place is obedience. Do as told. Come back with us, wait to leave until morning."
That was exactly the sort of response Phil was afraid of. Starlight Glimmer and Sky Beak might’ve been very brave, but their plans were less than stellar. Couldn't they see what was going to happen?
Phil glanced up and down the trail they were on, scanning for any possible help—either for their side, or the enemy. But there was no one out this way, only the forest ahead of them.
"We go back. Tomorrow, you can build the mine." The beast gestured with its spear, pointing vaguely back towards the town. He shoved both ponies ahead of him, back the way they'd come. Then he started walking.
Dressing like a loyalist to this monster didn't seem to matter much. The Storm King's troops still manhandled them.
The other soldier stopped on the trail, blocking off the path, and pointing with his spear.
It was probably a very bad idea to get violent with creatures twice as tall as he was. But as Starlight passed him, Phil saw the desperation on her face, and recognized what it meant. Their impersonation would not survive a trip back to town.
Phil didn't just have his own safety to worry about—he'd been the loudest voice encouraging the other kidnapped players to come here, instead of taking their chances on Earth. It would be rather difficult for the magical aliens to keep their promises if their journey ended in one of the Storm King's prisons.
Phil shifted in his harness, as though he were about to obey instructions and hike back to town. He waited until the first guard was directly behind him, in the most vulnerable position possible.
Then he exploded into motion, as sudden and dramatic as the snap of an opening play. He twisted to the side, smashing his shoulder into the back of the monster's knees. It was a dirty kind of fighting, but dirty was how you won against someone bigger than you were.
The other monster roared with surprise, lumbering into motion, but he was too slow to stop his friend from going down. He slid along the dirt, dropping his spear and shield in surprise. Phil kicked the weapon away, then brought his weight into the monster's head this time.
The monster had a helmet, making the blow sting far more than his first strike. But even without his usual protective gear, this new form was strong. The creature spasmed, then collapsed into unconsciousness.
The second guard came lunging for him. Not with the spear, strangely—instead, he tried to batter Phil with the shield.
He might've succeeded, if Phil was fighting alone. But his attack roused the other players to action. It was the little horse who reached the other creature, smashing into the shield the same way he might've clashed with another team's offensive line.
Incredibly, it was the shield that dented, seconds before the creature holding it tumbled backward to the ground.
The pony didn't stop there, ripping the spear from his hand and battering the shaft against the monster's head. After a few seconds of struggling, the fight was over.
Phil whistled. "Damn. Didn't see you change! Who are you?"
"Aaron, Phil."
"Should've known." He grinned, patting the stallion's shoulder with one hoof. Of course, it would be his team’s star linebacker. And if the bat wasn't from the Cowboys, that would mean Carlos was the only member of his team who had made it into the horse world—bad luck for being so close to him while he carried the Pearl.
One by one, the other hiding players emerged. Carlos had a little more trouble getting out of his harness, but he made it. But they weren't the only ones to notice—their shouting had reached the town.
More monsters shaped like the ones they had already fought appeared on the road, running in their direction.
"I told you I was confident," Starlight said, glancing down at the beaten soldiers, then back up at him. "Battle sport."
"Impressive," a disguised Sky Beak said. "But I don't think we can fight the whole detachment. We've lost whatever stealth we had."
Phil nodded. "Do we need the carts? We could just run."
"We didn't need three carts to hide six ponies... five. They're also packed with stolen supplies for the rebellion."
Phil brushed the dirt off his coat, then darted back for his harness. They still had some distance on the reinforcements coming in from town, but that would change if they stood around doing nothing.
"Seems a little odd," Carlos said, shoving the unconscious soldier off the path. "They could have tried harder to kill you. I've seen some pathetic fighting in my time, but that was bad."
"Murdering someone for fighting back?" Sky Beak said, once they were moving again. "That would be barbaric, even for the Storm King. He only ever imprisons his royal enemies, rather than resorting to something so—final. A laborer isn't worth much if they're dead."
Yet as he said it, so much of the pony misunderstanding came into focus. They thought Phil was a warrior, because their version of war didn't involve lethal violence! From that perspective, the sport was real combat.
But there was no chance to share that impression with his kidnapped teammates. There were soldiers behind them, closing in with every moment. Phil pulled his cart along the trail, leaving the unconscious guards behind.
Soon the forest closed in around them, the path narrowing so that it was just barely wide enough for one cart. He trailed behind Starlight, who levitated the lantern high overhead to light the way.
"I hope you're sure about them not following us into the woods. They're just trees. Is the monster mash afraid of a few leaves?"
"We call them Ogres," Starlight said. "And yes. The Storm King's army are stronger than most creatures, and bigger. But the Everfree Forest is a realm of wild magic, one that Equestria's diarchs could never subdue. Neither can the Storm King."
"Wild magic?" Carlos called, from just behind them. "As in, dangerous?"
"Extremely," Sky Beak said. He fluttered down into the front of the group, now restored to his true hippogriff form. "But Starlight helped establish the rebellion here. She understands its dangers better than any creature."
Fantastic. At this point Phil had no choice but to follow. If they survived this, he would need to have a word with the locals about sharing the details of a plan before they jumped into danger.
tf-sential
