Hunting Hope 12

>Fluttershy stared at the magnificent beast, enraptured.

>It - no. she... seemed so keen and emotive as she looked around the campsite, eyes passing straight through the ponies as she looked for a method of escape.

>Much more astute than the foolish creatures that Fluttershy most commonly cared for, and with faster reflexes than even some ponies she knew.

>Fluttershy wondered to herself about the accuracy of Twilight's reports.

>Certainly it was true that the humans had been considered too uncivilized to be allowed to live side-by-side among ponykind, even taking into account the fact that only one human was even known to exist.

>But the oft-told stories equating the human and his half-pony spawn to the monsters of Tartaros now seemed childish and false, in view of the proud, intelligent being that now stood before her.

>Fluttershy watched in awe as the tall creature folded her ponylike thighs and dropped to the ground, now eye-to-eye with the tall pegasus, although Twilight's magic continued to render Fluttershy invisible.

>A whistle of wind blew through the clearing, along with an odd note that Fluttershy immediately recongnized as emanating from a set of beautiful musical pipes which dangled from the satyr's chest.

>The monster leaped backwards as if stung by a bee, staring unsettlingly through the winged pony, but Fluttershy was too engrossed in her thoughts to pay much heed.

If these satyrs played musical instruments as well, they must have similar creative and artistic abilities of ponies in addition to their intelligence.

This was troubling. If Celestia had known that... and she must've known something as basic as the intelligence of an entity before banishing it... why had Twilight been given erroneous information?

>Deeply unsettled by the latest turn of events, Fluttershy gazed thoughtfully into the deep blue-green eyes of her enigmatic prisoner.

Another gust of wind puffed across the clearing.

>Again the faint whistling note emanated from Hope's pipes, dragging Fluttershy from her reverie and bringing her focus inexorably to the sudden change of expression on the satyr's face.

>Hope's eyes faded in and out of focus, before they suddenly and decisively locked onto their cousins on the yellow pony.

>Fluttershy shivered suddenly as she saw a glint of recognition in the creature's eyes as it clenched its muscles and stared back.

>"Uhh, girls?" The shy pony uttered quietly but desperately, praying that her friends were alert and close enough to hear.

>She continued to stare, transfixed by the satyr's inscrutable aqua eyes, hearing a faint rustling behind her that signified that at least one of her friends was alert and had heard her.

>"Twilight? She's awake... and I think she's noticed us"

 

>Twilight, engrossed in her books, barely twitched an ear.

>"Nonsense, Fluttershy" She replied absentmindedly, not even looking up from 'The Analysis and Origins of Pre-Equestrian Pony Folktales', continuing, "Not even ponies can see through my illusion spell, and satyrs are even less-"

>"Twilight! Look!" Fluttershy squealed as Hope looked in confusion between the two ponies and their somewhat absurd conversation.

>"Hush, Shy! There is absolutely no... possible..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she finally turned to look at Fluttershy, only to come eye to eye with Hope instead, who was now sitting cross-hooved between the two and watching Twilight's shock with a wry grin.

>"Hello, Twilight."

 

>Hope's voice was calm, and deeper than any pony's; a little rough as if she were unaccustomed to speaking, yet also unmistakably female.

>And frightened, as her apparently calm speech was betrayed by a faint tremors and dilated pupils of a creature who knows they're cornered.

Brave girl, Twilight thought admiringly, before shaking herself mentally.

No, this was an enemy. A prisoner. A daft, dumb, wild, beast!

>The satyr opened her muzzle-less mouth again, feral teeth glinting in the odd light as she spoke again.

>"Every instinct in my body wants me to fight you, scream, wail, and kick at you and your force field until I am free again."

>Twilight gulped, mind flashing through a million spells for the magic necessary to defend against such an attack.

>"But I also know who you are. I know that my strength and wildness is but a drop in the ocean to your magic. Also, as noble heroes and saviours of this land, I cannot attack you in good conscience."

>Hope blinked suddenly, her stoic visage broken momentarily as her eyes dampened and shimmered with the faintest expression of sorrow.

>"Heh, sorry. My father taught me that the noble humans of old would accept defeat gracefully, and here I can't even hold a still face! How did he manage a smile?"

>Hope buried her face, sniffing deeply as she was overcome with emotions, finally raising her head to look up at the six dumbfounded ponies, piercing Twilight's heart with her gaze.

>Eventually she spoke again, her melodious voice now even more ragged with emotion.

>"But before you... drag me away... *sniff*" she finally choked out, "I'd like to play one last song. It was my father's, before..."

>"But anyways, it's my song now, and I've been working to complete it for him."

>Twilight stared unbelieving at the sniffling, pitiful creature that had only moments before seemed terrifying.

This was no wild animal.

>She glanced at her friends arrayed behind her, all of whom echoed her emotions, a range of confusion and compassion displayed on their faces as Rarity silently cried.

>She looked past Hope back towards Fluttershy, who looked her in the eye with an inscrutable expression before nodding once.

>Finally, Twilight looked back up at Hope's mismatched tan-and-mint form, meeting her eyes.

>"Please play your song, Hope," Twilight said clearly, with a hint of a respect for her adversary, "We would be honoured to hear it."

>Hope smiled weakly, deep breaths calming her shuddering muscles as she wiped her pipes and eyes.

>Slowly she calmed, again the rigid, stoic form.

>With a deep breath and closed eyes, Hope raised the pipes to her mouth and blew.