//------------------------------//
// CMC Rubberneckers 
// Story: The Stars Will Aid Their Escape 
// by Drhoz 
//------------------------------//

"Did you see that? That was a triple somersault and spin! Dash is awesome!" Scootaloo was so excited her wings were buzzing.

The view wasn't perfect - the night was too dark to see very well - but the windows of the surviving buildings cast enough light to get glimpses here and there. The brilliant flash as Rainbow bucked a lightning bolt out of her cloud and into the creature was especially satisfying, as it illuminated the battle for one perfect instant.

"Sure is, Scootaloo! You see my sister rope that thing up to the fountain?" she turned to the stallion, and proudly continued "Applejack's the best rodeo mare this side of Hoofington."

Herald nodded, although his attention was fixed with curious intensity on the scene below.

"Can you see Rarity anywhere?" asked Sweetie Belle. She was as proud of her sister as Apple Bloom was of hers, but it looked as though she was in for a disappointment.

"Sorry, Sweetie Belle, I ain't seen your sister anywhere. Maybe she's helping everypony else?"

Sweetie looked crestfallen. She turned her own attention to Herald. His coat made him next to invisible against the midnight sky, and his cutie mark was even harder to make out. She couldn't even tell what it was. Everytime she looked at it seemed to be something different, and trying to nail it down was given her a headache.

Pink and purple light flared across the rooftops. A luminous bubble had formed around the monster, and a few seconds later, the entire thing was hovering awkwardly at about eye-level for the fillies, from their vantage point in the mill. "That musta been Twilight! She's the smartest pony I know."

"Aw, I was hoping Dash would zap it another lightning bolt."

Sweetie Belle watched the display for another minute, and then turned back to Herald.

"Excuse me, Mister Herald? If you don't mind me asking? How did you get your cutie mark? Shouldn't it be a banner or scroll or something if making proclamations is your special talent?"

That got the other fillies’ attention, as well. Scootaloo peered at the masked stallion's coat. "Yeah, what's a... squiggle... got to do with announcing stuff?" She rubbed her eyes. "Ow."

"You shouldn't try to read in the dark, child, you'll strain your eyes." Herald shifted his position, and turned his gaze on the Crusaders. He was still wearing the mask, but his posture seemed oddly satisfied. "Under any other circumstances, I would be delighted to tell you exactly how to get a mark like this one, but I fear I must disappoint you." Their faces fell. "But I'm sure you'll find Act Two of the little performance below adequately entertaining. I know I will." He pointed towards the nearest bridge, which was visibly bending under the weight of more of the monsters.

The three fillies craned over the balcony. Suddenly, they weren't so confident about their heroines' chances. 

"I... I dunno. Can Rainbow Dash zap twelve of them at once?"

There was a distant crash. 

"I think Twilight Sparkle just dropped the first one on a house, girls..."

Apple Bloom bit her lip. "Maybe we shoulda gone got my brother and stayed at the house like mah sister said." she turned to Herald. "Sorry, mister. We gotta go."

"Oh, don't apologise. But I fear you won't be going anywhere. After all, I wouldn't have got you up here if I intended that you wander off again."

The three stared at him, and his now increasingly creepy smiling white mask.

"What... what do you mean, mister?" quavered the red-headed filly as they backed against the rail.

"What I mean, little ponies, is that you three will assist me in the destruction of everything you know."

Light blazed in the holes of his face.