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// Embers in the Dark 
// Story: Emperor Despair 
// by Comrade Bagel Muffin 
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Rumble desperately tried to regain some semblance of order. His calls for calm, and quite however were lost in the panicked and frantic screams and cries of the younger colts and fillies. Their screams and cries magnifying off of the cave walls. Increasing the intensity of the noise until it became unbearable, unintelligible, and unending. He groped along the cavern wall as he flew just barely above the uneven floor of the cave. Trying to find and calm the younger ones and hopefully come across a unicorn whose horn could add some light to the all consuming darkness that had fallen on the cave.
"Calm down," Rumble said to the first pony he bumped into. "Are you a unicorn!" Even when he screamed his voice was nearly drowned out by the continuing panic.
"No. I'm an earth pony? Who are you?"
"Rumble now calm down and keep hold of me we need to find a unicorn." Rumble hoped the younger colt could hear him. The unending panic seemed to drowned out everything that was not itself.
"Silence!" Storm's voice roared from the cavern's tunnels. It was deafening. Rumble covered his ears and jerked as the younger colt slammed into him, pushing him into the wall. Storms command echoed off of all the walls amplifying it, as it swallowed the chaotic panic whole, not leaving a trace of it. It echoed back up and down the cave system for four to five minutes, with each echo it got softer and more bearable before it to was succumbed to the silence that it demanded, and faded away into nothingness.
"Listen." Sweetie Belle's voice filled the cave, unlike Storm's voice earlier it didn't bounce off of the walls. "Every unicorn use your magic. If you know the stationary lighting spell then cast it if not just let your horns glow, and stay where you are. Older members of the CMC are coming to help and restore order. A faint green light appeared from around the corner from Rumble as a light spell was cast. Many younger unicorns' horns started glowing every shade of the spectrum.
"Is everypony okay please gather around me." Rumble looked from pony to pony as slowly the every pony in the corridor came to him. The light from every unicorn eventually fusing into pure white light allowing him to see all the injuries. Many were mercifully unharmed, scared out of their wit, but otherwise okay. A few had bumped into the walls or other ponies and had some bumps and bruises. Unfortunately a white Pegasus filly had blood coming down the side of her face, her eyes were completely dilated, fear, adrenaline, and shock kept the pain, but Rumble knew they'd eventually were off, and even if she wasn't screaming, she still needed medical attention, as did an older green unicorn colt. His foreleg was bleeding badly and half his face was bruised and swollen. Rumble propped him up. "Alright everypony come with me to sickbay let's go make sure nopony get's left behind."
They slowly made their way to the sick bay picking up more as they went along. Fortunately nopony they picked up along the way was as severe as the filly and colt already with them. Five halls away from the sick bay Rumble started shifting through them, and leaving less severe cases further from the sick bay.
Morphine and Anesthesia were working as hard as they could, to get the new arrivals dealt with. Morphine led each one to an empty cot while applying minor healing spells while his sister Anesthesia dealt with the more difficult and time consuming patients.
"This way, that's right almost there I promise." Rumble turned around, as Pound lead in a group of younger colts and fillies. One which he was carrying on his back. All of whom were unicorns.
"Pound who are these?"
"These were the ones on shield duty. Something shattered the shield, and they all blacked out. This one still hasn't woken up. Snails is the only one down there now." Anesthesia grabbed the filly off of his back and placed her on one of the few remaining cots while her brother began sorting through the new arrivals most of whom could barely stand. "Still I don't know why Comet Dust would drop his light spell."
"He didn't." Sweetie Belle stepped into the sick bay. The halls behind her glowing a light blue, lit by her own magic. "Morphine I need your expertise at the planning room. Pumpkin take over what he was doing." Both nodded. Pumpkin gave her brother a nervous look as she passed him to start sorting through the seemingly endless flood of ponies that were coming into the sick bay.
"Sweetie Belle what happened?"
"I don't know." She tilted her head to the far end of the sick bay, where all of the cots were still empty. "When the shields went down something, something attacked Comet." Her voice was hushed and laced with anxiousness.
"What?" Rumble looked around before continuing. "What attacked him?"
"I don't know, none of us do, but it went inside of him." Her voice dropped down to a hushed whisper. "As far as I can tell he's fighting it, but we have no idea what it is, how to deal with it, or how long Comet can hold on."
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know yet, if Morphine can't help Comet then we need to find someone else to work on the books. We're currently debating how long to wait, and since Scootaloo is out you're taking her place. Amethyst was suppose to be next after Comet, but after what happened with him. Those books do something to your mind. It was just like with Screwball." Again Sweetie Belle looked around to make sure that nopony was listening. "I can't do that to Dinky she's already lost everypony else."
"You can't be serious? You're not going to?" Sweetie Belle nodded. "We need to get Scootaloo back." Again Sweetie Belle nodded. "Pound." His wing mate flew over immediately.
"What is it Rumble?"
"Find Monsoon. Get a bag tell her, I said the two of you are flying to griffon territory. Do a broad sweep if you don't find anything in a week come straight back." The younger pegasus nodded and bolted down the corridors. "Before I vote on anything I want to see how Comet is doing."


***


The two of them walked past a shimmering blue shield of energy, which separated the planning room from the rest of the cavernous rooms.
"How many spells are you maintaining right now?" Rumble asked with a concerned glance to Sweetie Belle.
"More than half the lights in the cave are mine right now," Sweetie answered. "Button doesn't need to know about that, or that I'm planning on skipping over Amethyst. I don't want him worrying do you understand." Rumble nodded. "Good." She opened the door. Everypony and zebra were gathered around the table. Both Zecora and Morphine were using their expertise to attempt to wake the Blue unicorn who was tossed and turned on the table.
"It looks like he's having a dozy of a nightmare."