//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Woe To The Vanquished // Story: Demonic Dues // by Seamserb //------------------------------// "Okay, ready?" Pinkie asks. "Ready." Scootaloo replies. Still within the Pocket of Jocus Jocundus, Pinkie prepares to shift the two back to base-line reality. Scootaloo takes a stable position, ready for it this time. Just like before, the world vibrates, and goes out of focus. "Three... two... one!" Pinkie counts. The two appear back where they left from. Scootaloo proceeds to scream as she falls straight on her tail, entire body facing upwards towards the sky. She then falls backwards, now up-side down on the dirt, groaning. Pinkie gracefully orients herself right-side up, and lands without trouble. “Forgot to mention that shifting will sometimes change your rotation, too. At least you didn't land on your head!” Pinkie says. Scootaloo sits up, dirt on her face giving her some impromptu bangs. “Lucky me.” She says, sarcastically.  Pinkie giggles as the filly wipes her forehead. “Why did we even come back here? If you wanted to show me more Demon stuff, wouldn’t it have made sense to do it over at the Demon place thing?”  The Fiend clicks her tongue. “It would, but this seems more fun. Where better to get knowledge than first-hoof experience!” She says, shooting a wide smile. “I’m not sure what ‘first-hoof experience’ is supposed to be in this context, but okay.”  “We’ll just be doing a few errands, is all.”  Scootaloo looks confused. “Errands? You do errands?” she asks, in disbelief. “Duh! Barely anypony in cults just gets to just sit around and be lazy bums! We’re always up and about.” Scootaloo frowns. There goes her ideas of relaxation. “Having to go somewhere else will also give us a great excuse to partake in some walkin’ and talkin’! You can simply tell me what you do or don’t know about Demons and Cults already, and I’ll help fill in your gaps!” Pinkie responds. “Uh. If we need to go somewhere else, why don’t we just… teleport there? Are you making us walk solely just to have more time to talk?” Scootaloo inquires. “Oh you silly billy! What we just did is called shifting, not teleporting.”  “That just sounds like the same thing.” Scootaloo responds. “Well it isn’t. See, teleporting is magically deconstructing your very being and reconstructing it at an intended location. Very difficult. Shifting, meanwhile, is more like sliding yourself to your intended location.” “That still sounds like the same thing.” “They’re completely different.” Pinkie reiterates. Scootaloo can see they’re going in circles already. “Okay… why can’t we shift to where we need to go, then?”  The Fiend clears her throat. “Shifting within the same Pocket of reality is MUCH harder than shifting between Pockets. It’s like the difference between opening the door to a house and walking outside, as opposed to trying to ram through a solid wall of the house itself into another one of the house's rooms. Possible, but very difficult.”  “How do you have so many analogies…” Scootaloo asks, with genuine wonder. “You’re not the first pony I’ve had to explain this stuff to before, and likely not the last. It makes things much easier! The Fiend leans in. “Unless you can understand Quantum Physics." Pinkie quickly leans in. "Do you understand quantum physics?” “No..?” Scootaloo asks, backing away a little. “Do you?”  “Nope!” Pinkie responds, turning away to continue walking. Scootaloo rolls her eyes. “Couldn’t you shift to somewhere in a different Pocket, and then shift to where you want to go in the original Pocket to avoid that problem?” The filly asks, trying to game the system. “Good question! Technically, yes. But doing stuff like that is frowned upon for both superstitious and literal reasons. Not to mention it’s unreliable as heck! You’d be surprised how many walls have the corpse of some overly ambitious or courageous Fiend or cultist lodged inside them after a botched shift." Pinkie says with nonchalance. She continues to walk alongside the filly. “Besides. Nothing wrong with a bit of walkin’ and talkin’!” As the two chat, Scootaloo feels a bit weird at the back of her mind. She’s had to fight to survive for weeks out here, barely getting any meaningful sense of security, only to now suddenly feel safe because of a Demon.  It’s almost surreal. Scootaloo explains to the best of her ability everything she does and doesn’t know. Myths, rumors, beliefs, etc. Mainly things she’s attempted to extrapolate from living in the Badlands.  “Hm. Well, once we get to Thornwood I’ll try to explain whatever we see on the spot.” Scootaloo blinks a few times. “Come again?” “Oh. Did I forget to tell you? We’re going over to Thornwood Junction.” She says, plainly. The filly begins to freak out a little.  “Isn’t that an outlaw town?! Aren’t those places like super dangerous?!” She exclaims.  “Nah, not really. They always exaggerate the danger those places have to try and prevent ponies from venturing there. They’re not that bad once you which ones to avoid and how to act." Pinkie explains. “Thornwood also allows Fiends and Demons, so we won’t need to worry about all that noise!”  “Isn’t that bad..?” Scootaloo asks. “If you were a Fiend, would you rather go somewhere that Fiends are allowed, or somewhere that Fiends are attacked on sight?”  “Point taken.” Scootaloo says. “But I’m not a Fiend. Something bad can still happen!”  The Fiend rolls her eyes. “At any moment a meteor could hit you or me and that would be it. Does that mean we should all hide underground forever? No!” Pinkie exclaims. “You can’t live your whole life in fear.” “Easy for you to say. You’re the super strong Demon and I’m the helpless filly.” Scootaloo retorts, looking away a little. Pinkie frowns.  “You know, I can’t remember anything about myself before I became a Fiend. My fears, my desires... however weak I was, so you got me there. But still, I promise I’ll protect you no matter what happens.” The Fiend says with a smile. Scootaloo seems a bit re-assured by the promise.  “No need to worry right now, though. First, I need to visit a friend.” The Fiend exclaims. The filly raises an eyebrow. “Do you mean like a friend-friend or a ‘friend’ as in how you seem to just call everypony a friend?” She asks, somewhat skeptical. “She’s a friend.” Pinkie reiterates with a smile, proceeding to prance away, Scootaloo hastily trying to catch up with her. The two come across some kind of small cottage in a nice prairie. There appears to be a small colorful patterned wagon parked nearby. Scootaloo spots a blue unicorn with a light blue mane sitting in front of the door, staring out into the field, somewhat disinterested. She wears purple robes and a small hat. “Heyyyy!!!” Pinkie calls out, waving a hoof, as the two approach close enough to speak. The unicorn looks at the two with no enthusiasm, contrasting Pinkie’s reaction. “Pinkie Pie.” The unicorn says, dryly. “Been a while, huh?” Pinkie asks, a bit gleeful. “Hardly. Are you finally here to kill me?” The unicorn asks. Scootaloo’s eyes widen. She quickly gets in between the two, trying to push them away before anything else happens. “Woah woah! Hey! What’s going on here?” She asks. The unicorn slightly glances at her.  “Oh great. You brought a kid to watch you do the deed?” She asks, sardonically. “I’m not here to kill you, Trixie!" Pinkie looks away briefly. "And I never will be, by the way. I need your help.” Trixie looks unamused. “Is that all you ever show up for anymore? ‘Help’?” She asks. “Well, in my defense you did explicitly say ‘dont ever come back here again unless you need something from me’.” Pinkie recites. Scootaloo looks at the Fiend with pure confusion. “What exactly are your guys’ relation to each other?” The filly asks. Pinkie perks up. “This here is Trixie Lulamoon! She’s an associate—” “Slave.” Trixie corrects. “Not a 'slave'! You willingly agreed to work with us!” Pinkie says back. “Under duress. And I didn’t know the deal involved selling my fucking soul.” Trixie says, looking at the Fiend with a serious glare. “Woah! Language!” Pinkie says, covering the fillies’ ears. Scootaloo pops her head through the Fiend’s impromptu ear covers. “Do you guys really own her soul?” She asks, looking up at the Fiend. Pinkie waves a hoof. “Pfft… No! She still has her soul. We just… erm… own… her?” Pinkie says, nervously. “That sounds like slavery to me.” Scootaloo says. "See, she gets it!" Trixie says, throwing her hooves up. “It’s not!" Pinkie says, stomping her hooves, before clearing her throat. " ‘Own’ was the wrong word… she’s more like an employee. And besides, we gave her awesome powers!” The Fiend exclaims. Scootaloo looks at Trixie with some intrigue. Trixie looks back at the filly, rolling her eyes. As Trixie’s horn glows, the entire world around Scootaloo suddenly becomes dark. The filly can barely see anything. “What?! Pinkie?! T-Trixie?!” Scootaloo stammers.  Out of nowhere, a giant, incomprehensible monster appears, roaring straight at her. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Scootaloo screams in fear.  But within an instant, it’s all gone.  The filly looks around, seeing everything is normal once more. She looks around still in a panic. “Wh… what…”  “Trixie is an illusionist! She can make ponies see stuff that isn’t real, or alter how they see things that are real. Very useful power for support purposes!” Pinkie exclaims. Scootaloo looks at the Fiend with wide eyes. “D-did you see that too?”  Pinkie shakes her head. “Nope! It’s a by-pony basis. She can make you see somepony is red and others see the same pony as blue. Either way, whatever you saw was likely much more impactful than her usual output, as illusions work much better on ponies with weaker will-power.”  The filly frowns. She thought the one thing she had going for her was her will-power. Guess not. “So, what exactly do you want?” Trixie asks, still unamused. “We’re going to be heading into Thornwood Junction to pick up some things.” “And?” Trixie replies. “What’s wrong with wanting another friend to keep us company?” Pinkie asks, batting her eyelashes. Trixie stares at her with squinted eyes. “Okay, okay. I need a façade.” Pinkie says, giving up the ploy. “A what?” Scootaloo asks. “A façade is an illusory disguise layered over a pony or object to make them look like something or somepony else." Trixie explains. Scootaloo looks at Pinkie with confusion. “Why do you need a disguise? I thought Thornwood was okay with Fiends?” She inquires. “Oh, they are. It’s just that I might as well try my best to not draw any attention when we have you in tow!” Pinkie elaborates. Trixie loudly clears her throat, glaring at the Fiend. Pinkie gulps. “...and it’s also because I’m somewhat of a wanted mare..?” She says, chuckling awkwardly. “How wanted—” “Basically every major cult and faction wants a ‘word’ with her.” Trixie says, bluntly.  To punctuate her point, she whips out a crudely made ‘WANTED’ poster of Pinkie. She’s smiling and posing in the picture like it's a schoolbook photo. Scootaloo can’t see the specific number of bits attached, but it’s clearly in the six digits. “Okay, yes! That’s also a big reason. But still! If push comes to shove, I’d rather flight than fight when we have to take care of Scootaloo here, if you catch my drift.” Pinkie says, poking the filly. Trixie shrugs.  “Fine.” Pinkie looks elated, but Trixie raises a hoof. “But. I demand my soul back. Full ownership.” She says. Pinkie throws her head back in a sudden laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAA!" “No.” The Fiend sternly says, immediately stopping the laugh. “Half?” Trixie asks, raising an eyebrow. “Nope.”  “Quarter?” The unicorn asks again, now looking a bit desperate. “Nada.” “Eigth!” Trixie pleads. Pinkie thinks for a moment. “Fine. But Yacci will have to agree too.” She relents. “Good enough for me.” Trixie’s horn glows as a blue aura suddenly covers Pinkies' face. After a second or two, the Fiends' eyes, ears, and mouth look just like those of a normal pony. “How do I look?” Pinkie says, striking a smile for Scootaloo.  Scootaloo looks with some unease. The Fiend looks indistinguishable from an actual pony. “H-how common is this type of technique?” Scootaloo asks. “Somewhat common, but few can do it as good as Trixie here. She was a natural even before we souped her up!” Pinkie exclaims, talking about Trixie like a prize. Hopefully, Scootaloo won’t be needing to worry about Demons walking around in broad daylight looking just like regular ponies or something. The filly turns to Trixie, who doesn't seem any different “Don’t you need a disguise, too?” She asks to the unicorn. “No. Because I don’t go around punching Demons in the face while smiling for a squadron of Order Knights taking my picture.” The unicorn loudly exclaims, making sure Pinkie hears her. Trixie leans next to Scootaloo’s face. “You know, in Order Demon Bestiaries, her face is one of the official illustrations for what a Fiend looks like.”  The two look over at Pinkie, who sweats and taps her hooves nervously. “I thought those guys were from Actio Audax! Leave me alone!” She cries. “Are those bad guys too?” Scootaloo asks. She doesn’t recognize the name from Yacci’s listing. “They’re dreamers.” Pinkie responds “Dreamers? Is that like some Demon or magical term?” Scootaloo inquires. “No, I mean they’re literally dreamers. They have some pretty radical but well-meaning goals.”  She pats the filly on the head. “I’ll tell you about them when you understand the complicated societal and political landscape of Demon and pony-inter relations better.”  Scootaloo’s eyes drift apart, trying to process what the Fiend just said, before shaking it off. “Okay. Besides all… that. Do I need a disguise?”  Trixie rolls her eyes. “Yes. Because the first thing Bounty or Demon Hunters will be looking for is some random filly.”  “Mmmm… Her worries might be valid. She’s a part of Jocus Jocundus, you know.” Pinkie responds. The unicorn looks at the Fiend with shock.  “You inducted a child?!” She yells. “Uh… yes? Is there a problem?” Scootaloo asks. Obviously, being a child in a cult sounds bad, but Jocus Jocundus hasn’t seemed all that problematic so far. “That depends. If your definition of a problem is being drafted into an unholy war of subterfuge, chaos, betrayal, massacres, and cults tearing apart the very fabric of the world apart, then yes there is a problem.” Scootaloo blinks a few times.  Pinkie quickly covers the filly's ears once again. “Don’t listen to her! She’s just a hater.” The Fiend hisses. “A hater of filly abuse, maybe.” Trixie retorts. Her and the Pinkie share a glare. “Didn’t you literally scare the crap out of me with that giant monster for no reason?” Scootaloo retorts. Trixie yawns. “It wasn’t for no reason. It was for conditioning. If I scare you a lot right now then you’ll be less scared once you see what the world has to actually offer.” Scootaloo grumbles a little, seeing a bit of merit in that logic. The filly suddenly perks up. “Oh, speaking of cults. What does Thornwood think about cults? Should we keep ourselves a secret, or..?”  Pinkie puts a hoof to her chin. “Wellll… officially the BIG cults aren’t supposed to be there en masse, but if the town tried to enforce a total no cult rule then they’d probably be crushed. So, practically, they just encourage you to keep to yourselves and make nothing obvious.” She shrugs. “But, yeah. If we make ourselves clearly known, we might get trouble. So just don’t do that!”  She claps her hooves. “Either way, we need to get going! You know what they say, 'Time is Anima'!”  “Nopony says that.” Trixie jabs. “Shush! Let’s gooo!” Pinkie exclaims, dragging Scootaloo behind her. As the three continue their travel, the landscape around them slowly but surely begins to change. The semi-barren wastes being replaced with a lush and surprisingly pleasant forest.  Scootaloo honestly prefers this type of biome. Much easier on the eyes, usually is more peaceful, and also has way more good hiding spots.  Eventually they come across a crest and a large clearing. Scootaloo sees only what she can assume to be Thornwood Junction. It looks like a large shanty town built over the ruins of an actual town. Natural rock formations and overgrown trees and vines intertwine with pony-built wooden and stone structures, and large hills and mountains around give a natural and clean shade to the whole area. It doesn’t look that bad, all things considered. Scootaloo was expecting some cartoonishly and obviously evil criminal town or something of the like, although she just hopes that her fears aren’t realized once they get down there. As they approach closer, the filly can see tents and what appears to be various carts and draped wagons without any wheels. “Ponies actually live here?” Scootaloo asks, a bit surprised. “Of course they do! It’s called a town for a reason.” Pinke responds. The filly looks around, still unsure. “That seems risky. What if something happened to the town as a whole, like an attack?”  “Well those ponies decided the benefits of having a permanent residence outweighs the downsides of the chance of an incident. That’s what we call ‘investment risk’ in basic economics.” Pinkie explains. “Why do you know all of these complicated and complex things?” Scootaloo asks, dryly. “Oh. I’m like, fifty years older than I actually look. Being a Fiend does wonders for your skin!” Pinkie responds, somewhat gleefully. Trixie rolls her eyes. “Oh sure. I may be a literal Demon and freak of nature, but at least I look perty!” The unicorn says, batting her eyelashes. Pinkie sticks her tongue out. “Hey, I didn’t choose to become a Fiend. That’s like me making fun of you for being a unicorn.” She responds. “I wasn’t making fun of you. Just saying it how it is.” Trixie replies with a yawn. Pinkie shrugs. “And I accept how it is. That includes the benefits!”  “‘Benefits’ uh-huh. Tell me, if you were given the choice, knowing what you know now, would you have chosen to become a Fiend?” Trixie inquires. “Abs-ou-loutely.” Pinkie enunciates. “You know, you could be one too if you want.” “Over my dead body.” Trixie scowls. “That could be arranged…” Pinkie says with a joking smirk. “Guys? Maybe we should stop talking about Fiends and Dead bodies and stuff.” Scootaloo says, noticing how they’re within ear-shot of other ponies. Trixie shrugs. “Not like we won't be seeing any of those here.” Just like Jocus Jucundus’ grounds, all sorts of different unicorns, pegasi, and earthen mill about. There’s plenty of unscrupulous figures, but only a few of them look clearly demonic to a level like Pinkie, and there’s even fewer obvious Demons, mainly a few low-key ones like Imps. Scootaloo spots a few ponies that look somewhat demonic, but in irregular ways, such as their bodies or faces being asymmetrical, or having strange growths and leisures. “Is that a Fiend?” she asks, nudging Pinkie and subtly hoofing to one specific earthen.  One of the ponys' eyes appears to be swollen shut with some dark flesh. On the same side of their head, a large curved demonic horn sprouts outwards. Pinkie glances over. “Ah, no. That's just a regular pony. They've just underwent 'Shaping'." “Shaping?” Scootaloo asks. “Yeah! You know, blessed, cursed, gifted, whatever. The main idea of Shaping is that some Demons can change something about a mortal pony, either as a punishment or reward."  “Do you think that guys’ ones were a punishment?” The filly asks, making Pinkie look again.  The Fiend shrugs. “Maybe they like having a single big horn or something? Ponies are weird!”  Scootaloo puts a hoof to her chin. “Does Jocus Joco— Jocund— does our cult do anything like that?” She asks, struggling to pronounce the name. “Oh, of course!” The Fiend subtly gestures towards Trixie, the unicorn not appearing to notice. “You mean like her illusion stuff?” Scootaloo asks. “Nah. Something else.” The Fiend responds with a smile, before turning forward and continuing to walk. Scootaloo isn’t really sure what she’s supposed to extrapolate from that, but keeps walking as well. Trixie begins to look around, somewhat annoyed. “What are we here for, anyways? I don’t wanna hang around here all day.” She mutters. “I’m looking for some medication for a friend, is all.” Pinkie answers. Scootaloo looks a bit surprised. “Do they really have that here?” She asks. “Outlaw Towns like this are entire societies in-of-themselves. They have everything from toys to bombs here. You can find anything if you look hard enough.” The Fiend explains. She glances around, suddenly noticing some vendor in the distance who looks like he has what she’s looking for. Unfortunately, he looks to be in the process of leaving. “Crap! Trixie, watch over Scootaloo, would ya? I’ll be right back!” She says, quickly sprinting off. “What?! Pinkie!” Trixie yells, but Pinkie is already gone. The unicorn slowly glances at the filly next to her, looking back at her with big beady eyes.  Trixie sighs, leading her to a nearby shack wall and taking a seat. “Don’t do anything stupid. We’ll just wait until she comes back.” The unicorn instructs. Scootaloo nods. The two sit for ten, maybe twenty minutes.  Scootaloo begins to get a bit worried, but Trixie doesn’t bat an eye, knowing exactly how Pinkie is.  The filly tries to pass the time by watching all the various ponies and things around her, while Trixie slowly dozes off, dropping her hat in front of her eyes. Something catches Scootaloos’ eyes, however. In the short distance she sees two ponies bump into each other, both being repulsed by a small amount. One quickly shoves the other to the ground, before beginning to menace him. Some ponies and even Fiends nearby the scene simply just move away, walking past the two like nothing is happening. The standing pony even begins to even strike at the fallen one while yelling. Scootaloo nervously bites her lip. Is anypony going to stop this??? She’s seen much worse before, scenes of death and destruction. But those were just the aftermaths, things that already happened and nopony could do anything about. This is something that could be prevented.  Scootaloo tries to muster her courage, taking a deep breath. She gets to her hooves, and proceeds to approach the two. “Hey!” the filly yells. Her voice is too quiet to be heard from the distance by the ponies, but she keeps getting closer. Trixie, however, is immediately awoken by the nearby high-pitched yell. Her body perks up and eyes widen when she sees what Scootaloo is trying to do. “Shit!” she says, quickly getting to her hooves as well.  She should go over there as well, but she does not want to fight somepony right now. She’s not the best direct combatant, and it would go even worse if she manages to attract the ire of bystanders. Her mind begins to race, but she thinks of something that just might work. The unicorn covers her horn with her hat to the best of her ability, concealing its glow. Scootaloo continues walking towards the two ponies. “Hey!” She yells again. This time, the aggressor actually looks her way with some immediate distaste at who would interrupt him. However, his emotion quickly turns to one of shock and fear. The pony quickly begins to step away. Other nearby ponies look at Scootaloo with some shock and surprise as well, some also moving away from the scene. Even the victim pony looks the same. The aggressor looks towards Scootaloo’s direction, but not directly at her. He looks like he’s staring at something above her head by a wide amount. “U-uh… I was just leaving!” The aggressor says, quickly running off. The victim gets to his feet as well, also making a run for it. Scootaloo blinks a few times, incredibly confused at what just happened. Suddenly, Trixie comes from behind and grabs one of her hooves, hastily leading her away to somewhere concealed. “Ow! Hey! What’s your problem?” Scootaloo says, pulling her hoof away from the rough grasp. Trixie’s horn glows a little, her face a scowl. “My problem? You could've gotten yourself hurt!” The unicorn says, in an angry whisper. “But I didn’t get hurt! Those guys were acting strange, anyways…” the filly says, trying to defend herself. “Both of those were because of me. I casted a façade on you to make you look super intimidating. Thankfully neither of them were foolhardy to try and hit you, otherwise that would've been the end of this.” Trixie states, bluntly. The unicorn leans in until her nose is nearly touching the fillies. “I get you’re new to this, but the most important rule of this life is don’t fuck with other peoples businesses. Because if you do, then you could be attacked, killed, or worse. Do you understand?" Trixie hisses.   Scootaloo slinks down a little. “...oh.” Trixie softens her glare, feeling a bit sorry from the fillies' reaction. But she doesn’t take back any of her words. “Come on. Let’s just go find Pinkie.” Trixie states, now leading Scootaloo by the hoof. After coming back to the more populated area, they see Pinkie coming back towards them with a smile and a small bag in tow. “Well, the guy didn’t have exactly what I was looking for, but this should be a good enough substitute!” She frowns a little when she sees Trixies’ and Scootaloos’ less than pleasant faces. “What’s wrong?” She asks. “Scootaloo here tried to play hero when she saw some pony being beaten up.” “How’d it go?” Pinkie asks, immediately curious. “As good as it could've. I casted a façade on her in the knick of time, and it scared the attacker off. Thankfully she didn’t get stabbed or something.” Pinkie snickers a little. “Oh the make-something-unintimidating-look-super-intimidating trick. What a classic.” She says. She clears her throat while tilting her head. “But uh… For future reference, maybe don’t—” “Yeah. I get it.” The filly says, a bit dryly.  There’s an awkward pause between the three. Pinkie clears her throat. “Alright! We should probably get going before we get into something else—” BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! In some other part of the town, a massive explosion happens, a clearly visible fireball erupting into the air. Scootaloo immediately hits the ground out of instinct and fear, while Trixie and Pinkie quickly turn towards the blast. They can see multiple large and small silhouettes appear in the red sky above, which quickly begin to descend upon the town. Gargoyles and pegasi. One Gargoyle lands on a shack a mere few meters away, immediately beginning to tear it apart with its talons, even scooping up some hapless victim and ripping them apart in seconds. Scootaloo watches on with horror. Pinkie instantly notices and identifies various marks and insignia on the attackers' bodies and clothes. They're from a cult. “Trixie! Make us some cover, now!” she yells at the unicorn. The Fiend quickly pulls Trixie and Scootaloo closer to herself, nearly wrapping them in a hug. Trixies' horn begins to glow, and the three suddenly disappear. Scootaloo looks around. Or at least, tries to. She can’t see anything. It’s complete pitch darkness. “What—” She feels something cover her mouth, and she begins to panic. “You can’t see anything when you’re invisible. Don’t move or talk.” It's Pinkies' voice. Scootaloo stops struggling, simply staying quiet and still as ordered. The hoof is lifted off of her mouth, but then a pair cover her ears, presumably Pinkie's as well. She can’t hear nor see the Fiend anymore, but can feel their bodies in close proximity of each other. The ear-cover isn’t entirely perfect. Scootaloo can still hear muffled cries, screams, and the sounds of chaos around her. There’s an especially loud noise every now and then, or vibrations which physically shake her body from the inside out. She just closes her eyes and waits. Trixie unveils a small portion of her own eye, allowing her to peek out at the scene around her.  Thankfully, she overestimated the amount of time they needed to stay hidden, the danger having long passed. But the aftermath is fully present. The unicorn collapses, exhausted from the effort. Pinkie and Scootaloo, now visible and able to see, quickly look around. From their angle they can’t surmise the full damage of whatever occurred, but they can clearly see there was some kind of large assault upon the town.  Bodies and corpses in various states of damage lie everywhere and anywhere. Not even the structures were spared, with various buildings and trees being torn apart as well. Some bodies of the victims lie next to those of the attacking Gargoyles and pegasi, showing that not everypony went down without a fight. Some surviving ponies slowly emerge from around the area, unsure if it's safe to come out too, while others still huddle and hide like the attack is still going. A few even begin to massacre and butcher the corpses of the attackers, either out of practical reasons such as looting, or out of a misbegotten feeling of anger or sadness. “W-what… w-was that…” Scootaloo says, quivering. Pinkie holds the filly close, consoling her. “Vae... Victis." Trixie coughs, dryly. "They’re psychos who want... nothing except power." The exhausted unicorn explains. Scootaloo still stammers for words. “I-I don’t understand… w-why couldn’t we have… just shifted away…”  Pinkie shakes her head, solemnly. “I can only shift if our surroundings are calm. All of that happening earlier wouldn't have allowed it." The Fiend looks down at the collapsed unicorn, with a bit of worry. "Thankfully, we had Trixie with us." Trixie looks back with a weak glance, eyes barely open. “C-can we just leave…” Scootaloo whimpers, beginning to tear up a little. Pinkie quickly nods, beginning to shift the three of them out of there. As the world warps around them, Scootaloo stares straight ahead. There's a mangled corpse of a fallen orange pegasus. She feels like it's staring straight back at her.  The three ponies vanish.