{"sf1_id":605779,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Resetting the Perspective","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2140,"posted_at":"2013-10-23T17:49:00.000Z","tags":["Dragon","Horse","Human","Story Progression","Transformation","gopher"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/605779-resetting-the-perspective","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/605779","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=605779\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#15 of Robbin Red\n\nWhen it rains it pours. Poor Huntchy would settle for a drizzle right now. Jon-Tom would settle for a little normality. Good luck to both!","content":"\nHuntchy was wishing for a downpour, or a tidal wave, or just\nabout anything that would have cooled his scorched hide. He felt like a hunk of\nmeat suspended over the fire. He was certain he looked awful. He felt awful. He\nwas beginning to see where being friends with the new mayor wasn't going to be\nnearly as fun as being friends with a new mare! Life wasn't going to be boring,\nbut that would do him little good if he never survived long enough to enjoy it.\n Sybeele,\nhalf way across town, heard the vent of pure rage and knew instinctively where\nit was coming from. It was as she and the goddess had feared. The young girl\nhad taken the direction of the powerful entity, never questioning her decisions\nexcept this one. The girl knew she should have told him right away. But doing\nso would have ruined her chances to be with her savior; to be with the only\nperson she wanted to be with. She was a child when he found her, and she was a\nwoman when he left. The fact that she carried a babe in her womb attested to\nthat. True, it was his and not hers, but she was promised there would be time\nfor that.\n Jon-Tom's\nrage petered out until even his newly recharged healing ability couldn't keep\nhis internal fires stoked any longer. He\nwas dimly aware of the horse's presence. He was a heap on the stones, little\ncurls of smoke rising from his mane and tail. Even in his present anger,\nJon-Tom felt sorry. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone. The nearby trees were\nburning merrily, crowned with flames that danced and sputtered. Even his mouth\nfelt like a match head; shriveled and expended. Despite all this his anger\nremained. He never wanted to shirk in his duties as father, a noble emotion\nconsidering the number he had. He had the time and he had the willingness, if\nonly someone would leave him alone long enough to perform them. \n There\nwas a whole pride of cubs still waiting in the Highlands, as well as a few\nequine species he had yet to reunite with. There were lynx, and a particularly\nlarge and wonderful bear named Greta who was carrying twins. Yet, as he thought\nabout it, none of them were even born, nor were their mothers or grandmothers\nborn. He was centuries before their existence. So all he had right now was the\npresent, which was his past. He had Sybeele; wonderful little Sybeele who he had\nbedded against his better judgment. She was from his own world, dragged here by\nEve.\n Eve! He\nhad gone to extraordinary lengths to save her from her confinement. He was now\nthinking that perhaps he should have left matters as they were. True, her pregnancy\nwas accidental; a sexual connection between them before she grew used to\ndealing with a truly living form. For a mother to give up her child showed that\nshe only had concern for herself. She was, when it came right down to it,\nselfish and immature. He had thought better of her. Power did not mean\ncompassion, though she seemed to have that trait. He gave thinking about it. It\nwas only making him angrier by the minute.\n All at\nonce the world shifted again. He was standing on the cobbles stark naked.\nHuntchy was slowly getting to his feet, his hide miraculously repaired. Sybeele\nwas standing silently in front of both of them. The trees were still burning.\nShe snapped her fingers and the flames went out. Huntchy shivered, and then\ndropped to one knee. \"Thank you wife of my friend. But if it is all the same to\nyou, I'll be going inside and writing my last will and testament. If I am to be\ncaught in the middle of your relationship, I fear my end will come sooner than\nexpected. It is only proper to have my affairs in order.\" He trotted into his\nhouse and closed the door. His heavy sigh of relief was audible outside.\n Sybeele\nhad tears in her eyes. \"I wanted to tell you. I knew in my heart that you'd be\nupset. But it was what Eve wanted from me in exchange for being with you here.\nDon't you see? I had no choice other than to die back home of loneliness. Even\ngrandmother said I should do it. I miss her greatly, but still I am here. I\nwant a child, and I have a child, even if I'm not the mother. But you are the\nfather. Can't you accept that?\"\n Even as\na human, he felt he could spit fire. His guts were still boiling. \"I am not\nangry with you, my lovely little frau. I am angry with the one who put you into\nsuch a damnable situation. She had no right to demand such a thing from you.\nHow does she even know that such a child will not kill you?\"\n The\ngirl dropped to the pavement. \"She didn't. That's why she arranged a spell to\ntransfer your power to me. She figured I'd need all the help I could get. I do\nmy best to conserve it, even as great as it is. But so many things keep popping\nup; like those rotten pirates. I would have destroyed them in a blink you know.\nLucky for them the girls they took were as of yet unharmed or so help me...\"\n Jon-Tom\nplopped down beside her. He was still angry, but he was becoming more\nreasonable. \"Ok. I guess I can understand some of this, but what in the name of\nthe Pillars of Fruschion do your constant changes have to do with this?\"\n She\npaused. \"What are the Pillars of; oh never mind. Eve said that the changes\nwould give her baby the taste of being that creature for twenty four hours. It\nis her hope that when the baby is born and matures, it will be able to become\nanything it desires.\"\n He was\nmulling that over. It made a bit of sense. It was a concern of Roseroar's when\nshe was carrying his cubs. The cubs changed as the mother did, as they were\npart of her body. Each change had to imbue that speck of life in her womb with\nsome magical ability. But the big question was; why wasn't Eve seeing to this herself?\nShe was nearly all powerful. Was she really that scared of motherhood? He knew\nshe wasn't happy with her unexpected conception. But to pawn it off on someone\nelse? He was about ready to be done with her.\n \"I\nguess I get it. But don't expect me to be happy with it. I've taken on a lot of\nresponsibility during my years, and I've done my best to live up to them. You\nshould be carrying your own child, not someone else's. And when I see Eve\nagain, she'll know full well what I think of her actions.\" He leaned over and\nkissed his wife on the head. She latched onto him and cried into his shoulder.\n Huntchy\nwaited until things had gone quiet for a half an hour before he ventured to\nstick his head out the door. The human couple was still out on the cobblestones.\nJon-Tom was still naked, and now so was his wife. He sighed. They could have\ncome inside instead of making a scene in the street. But he looked up and down\nthe way and saw no one. That girl had incredible power if she could keep the\ntownsfolk from coming to investigate the recent conflagration. It also kept\ntheir tender moment private. Except for him. He closed his door and let out his\npent up breath. This town would never be boring indeed!\n It was\nabout an hour later that they were done. She got dressed, and made his old\nfavorite clothes reappear. He did enjoy his leather pants and his lizard skin\ncape. There was of course his old instrument. They were now like new. She even\nput the hidden pouch back in, the one Mihandra had made all those years ago.\nWell, sort of. Time travel! He put his hand in hers, and they walked back to\ntheir house. The town slowly came alive, like it had been in a stupor. By the\ntime they reached home, it was as if nothing untoward had happened.\n There\nwas one catch however. There was a group gathered at the house, or more\ntechnically true, at the Mayor's office. It was lead by a fat, officious little\ngopher in a pompous suit, topped with an enormous hat. Sybeele groaned. \"It's\nthat little ass who owns the biggest bank in town. I wonder what he's all up in\narms about?\"\n That\nlittle ass had a name; Pomfray. And by the time he was breathlessly done\nharping at Jon-Tom, it was clear just how much of an ass he was. And it was the\nequine kind either. \"Look here! You're the mayor, and since you've arrived\nthere has been all kinds of trouble. Do you have any idea how much money I\nstand to lose if this town gets overrun with pirates, or burns to the ground\nbecause of rogue magic turning people into dragons?\"\n Jon-Tom\nstood to his full height. He stood like a monolith over the smaller rodent. \"Oh\ndear. Your money. That would be a terrible thing to lose, wouldn't it? It's\nnice to know you value your life less than gold, just as you apparently value\neveryone else's life equally as low. Your pirates have been dealt with, and as\nfor rogue magic, I'd suggest you get used to it. If this town is getting to hot\nfor you, than I would suggest you leave. NOW! I am here to look after the\nentire town, not some selfish little prick who needs a tailor with good\neyesight. As for money, this is what I think of it!\"\n He\npulled out his duar. His fingers flew across the strings. He knew just what he\nwanted. A cloud appeared; a small black cloud that hung over their heads. A\nflash of lightning caused the vapor to split. Rain poured out. Gold rain. Coins\nfell on the assembled crowd's heads. They fell and fell and fell. The noise\nfrom the clinking and clanging grew deafening. Promfray was torn between\npulling off his hat to catch them and keeping it in place to preserve his\nscalp. The coins grew into a pile, and kept growing. All at once, Sybeele\nsnapped her fingers. The rain stopped. Another snap and they vanished.\n \"What\nmy husband is trying to tell you is that you need better priorities. Life is\nprecious. Remember that.\" The little banker grunted. \"Life is worth nothing\nwithout gold. I intend to never be poor!\" Sybeele grunted. \"Too late.\" The\ngopher vanished.\n The\ncrowd gasped. \"What have you done with Pomfray? He is one of the most respected\ncitizens of this town. Whatever you have done, you have no right to treat him\nlike you have!\" Sybeele, of course, was responsible for his disappearance. Through\na quick mental connection Jon-Tom knew what had become of him. The questions however,\nwere directed at him, so he chose to answer. \"He is with the rest of the\npirates. Their only concern was wealth and down-trodding those who cannot\ndefend or support themselves.\" His stomach growled. A few of the weaker hearted\nfolks in the crowd blanched and fainted. They knew he had just been a dragon,\nso the idea of Pomfray presently being digested wasn't as preposterous as it\nsounded.\n He\nturned and stepped into the house. His wife followed, a wicked look on her\nface. She turned, and slowly shut the door. She dropped the latch into place\nand began giggling. \"Oh lord, they think you ate that stringy, stingy old\nmiser! That would have been too good for him!\" Jon-Tom's stomach growled again.\nHe was most definitely hungry! \n \"I\nwish! I haven't eaten for well over twenty four hours! Where did you really send\nhim?\" Sybeele looked devilish. \"The same place you sent the pirates, as I told\nyou. He'll soon enough learn to value his life, or he'll die as he lived. Either\nway, the outcome will be positive. As for food,\" she snapped her fingers, \"I\nsay you deserve a feast!' The smells rolling down the stairs about made him\ncollapse. She put a supporting arm under his. \"And afterwards, I think a bit of\ndessert would go nicely, don't you?\" She winked suggestively. He agreed.\n \"Yes,\nthat sound's delicious; maybe something with whipped cream and a cherry on\ntop?\" She giggled again. \"Cherry? That will have to wait until morning when I\nassume my next form!\" "}