Subject: FARPG: end of innocence
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 18:50:37 -0800 (PST)
From: Stana Hierspiel <darkannex@yahoo.com>

    Once upon a time there was a girl named Stacey. She was rather a
plain and nondescript type, kept to herself and a few select friends.
Quiet-introspective and nominally stable person.
    Then she went to visit some friends at her old college and got
blasted into another world. A fantasy one, where magic was feasible
and Unicorns were real. Where moutains realy could be purple and the
society was medeival. She found out there that she had some part to
play in a "prophecy" and went to her destiny, kicking and dragging her
feet all the way.

Stacey wasnt much of the heroic type. She was just a very young adult,
too old to assimilate such alternate Universes easily, too young to
deal with it in a mature fashion. Too old to beg for someone to hold
her hand, too young to know how to be alone.
      On her way, she met a Unicorn with an attitude problem, and they
formed a team. She thought they were pretty good together. He thought
mortals were scum.  She had hooked up with one of her college friends,
also miracuously transformed to this place. But the reunion was cut
short as Stana left her to go and rescue the Unicorn Princess with the
de-horned and now mortal Clip. They took with them Sullam, a Warrior
and scholar.  The three made it to the wizard and saved the day.
During that grim journey, Stana lost what was left of her naivete.
       She took another step down the prophetic path when the Princess
titled Stana her Gaurdian. She gave her a Pendant of Emerald shadowed
with Bloodstone. Rimmed in gold; similar in form to the Yin and Yang
symbol, except the bloodstone was more invasive than the emerald. The
world in balance-out of control.  It was slowly taking over her mind.
But she didn't realize that yet.
       The Unicorn, Clip should have. But he was too busy being
superior. Besides, he didn't believe in the fairy tale of the big bad
mortal that destroyed the Unicorn valley under the Pendant's
influence. Tales were for fillies and mares.
       Their flight was interrupted twice. Once when they ran into the
Army of steel. The Commander took them into custody, ordered to bring
her to S'Kae. The second disruption was when another Army staged a
sneak assault and tried to kill or capture her. Clip rescued them
both. And they again had dead bodies left in their wake.

         Clip slowed to a walk, his cloven hooves dancing on sunlight
as he moved like a ghost through the mists.  The fog curled away,
wafting out of their path as though ordered to do so. The Alicorn
glimmered mutedly, half raised and cocked to defensive.
          He hadn't felt the human stir for quite a while. She had
stopped crying some time ago, and now merely held lightly to his mane.
The grip was indifferent, and Clip had to be twice as cautious not to
accidentally unseat her.
          THe Unicorn finally halted and without needing to be urged
she slid for his back and stood waiting for instructions. Clip
shimmered into human and looked at her critically.  There was blood
splashed on her clothes, and face. A gash angled a half inch under her
eye. There were numerous bruises and scraped all over. She didnt
notice them. Her eyes were looking though everything, even him. They
didnt see anything he was sure.
           "Bath" he ordered simply. He repeated it twice more before
he got a response.
           She shook her head and looked at him with a dazed expression.
           "Bath." he repeated for the last time. "There is a stream
beyond these trees. Wash up and rinse your clothes." He shimmered back
into his natural form and began grazing.
           She looked at him for a moment, the golden legs sparkling
in the gloom. His horn shimmered like a beacon and his eyes were
concentrated on the task before him. She didn't care to notice that
his ears followed her every move, or that his head tracked her after
she was no longer looking at him. He moved a little close to the
stream. Just in case, and convinced himself the grass was sweeter in
the shade.
            Stana stepped into the stream, shivering at the cold. She
drenched her shirt, slapping it against the rocks visciously. The
release felt good. She hadn't been able to do anything but be still
for so long that she forgot how great it was to be able to move. She
washed the shirt again, and twisted the water free, not looking at the
red tinge that dripped from the fabric.  She took some sand from the
ditch beside the river and used it to scour her arms and torso. Then
she rinsed. Her hair was washed with the infusion of chamomille,
marigold and mint that she had made and stored earlier. She noticed
her hair was getting alot reddershe thought there was an almost mauve
tinge. She attributed it to the Marigold.
              During the whole mad dash here she had tried very very
hard not to think about what had just happened. She tried not to think
at all. Stana had succeeded in drawing even further into herself and
barricading the outside world away from her. And if she was leaving
herself open for something else to take over, she did not know better.
Sullam had shown her how much it hurt to be human, she needed to curl
in and around her pain, and block out humanity. If that made her weak
then she didn't care. She was tired of hurting.
              Stana heard an impatient whinny from beyond the trees
and noted that the sun had gotten alot further in it's journey.  The
shirt was dry, but had been thoroughly battered. She put it on anyway.
 Her other change of clothes she was trying to keep as virgin as
possible.  Looking at her reflection in the pool she decided that if
she had to be some sort of "prophet" then she looked like she was a
prophet that had found out the meaning of life and was thoroughy
pissed off about it.  She was losing alot of weight though. Her shirt
was hanging off her like a billowing sail. She knotted it in one
corner a'la 80's.
               Slowly Stana walked out to where Clip was waiting for
her. She would not meet his sharp gaze. Without a word she mounted and
he took off again. This time she had to hold on tight because he had
gotten his second wind and was racing the sun going down. The time for
avoidance and secrecy was over. The Unicorns were stepping out of the
myth and into reality again.
               Starting at S'Kae.
               The two pounded down the city streets. Word of their
arrival must have been sent from the commander of the army, for there
were banners and flyers streaming over the city and ppl lined the way
and cheered them on. Clip kept running, Stana clinging like a burr to
his back.  They headed to the castle, the hill not slowing the surging
Unicorn an iota. Finally they galloped across the wind and Clip
reared, slamming the door with his hooves. They bent inward and slamed
wide. Into the hush he strode arrogantly.