Chapter 10
“Take it down!” Valiance yelled. The night exploded in brilliant light as the ponies fired their weapons, the red strobes from Wanderlust’s plasma weapons joining the blinding white streams of the others. Their target was gone before the onrushing wave of death reached it, though, vanishing in a muted flash of wan yellow light to reappear fifteen feet above them, clinging effortlessly to the side of the mammoth structure beside them. It let out another otherworldly cry and vanished once more, narrowly avoiding a torrent of energy that charred a black smear across the wall where it had been.
An instant later, it reappeared, barreling into Wanderlust’s chest and knocking the pony to the ground. The protective layer of the unicorn’s barding flickered madly as the creature pinned him down, its hooves planted on his chest. He stared in horror as it growled at him, revealing jagged, crooked, crystalline teeth that jutted at bizarre angles from torn, bloody gums. He fired into its face, splashing plasma across its chitinous armor again and again to no effect. Its jaws snapped shut an inch from his snout and the beast vanished again, replaced by a blinding flash of white light, sizzling past Wanderlust’s face, so near that it singed his fur.
“Get up, it’ll be b-“ Valiance’s order turned to a grunt as their assailant blinked back into existence, driving its horn violently into the soldier’s chest. There was a screech like a horseshoe across a chalkboard as it skidded across the lieutenant’s chestplate. The red pony brought a forehoof up into the creature’s face, knocking it back a step. It screeched again, lunging forward with its fangs bared before it was lost in light. When Wanderlust’s vision cleared their attacker was lying on the ground, its neck ending abruptly in a smoldering ruin where its head should have been.
“We need to get inside,” Valiance said, his heavy breathing obvious even over the radio. “We’re too exposed out here.”
“Are you insane? Val,” Autumn pleaded, “there’s no telling how many of them are in there. Thousands, tens of thousands? It’s suicide.”
“This isn’t a debate, corporal. We’re going in,” The other unicorn growled as Wanderlust looked on. For a moment, it looked like Autumn would protest again, but he withered under his commander’s stare. Valiance turned away as the corporal’s head drooped. “Sergeant, I need a report.”
“Like a nest of angry hornets, Val. We need to get inside now or we won’t make it at all.” North’s tone suggested that she was holding on to her professionalism with all four hooves; More than a tinge of panic was apparent behind her calm tone.
“You heard her,” The lieutenant barked at the other unicorns. “Move!” He didn’t have to say it twice. In an instant, Wanderlust and Autumn were running as if the hordes of Hell were on their heels. “North, move on ahead. I need a report on our entry point.”
“On it.” There were a few seconds of tense silence that seemed to drag into an eternity, broken only by the desperate heaves of Wanderlust’s breath as he pushed himself to run faster and the pounding of blood in his ears. “Maintenance access door, about a hundred yards ahead of you. It’s open, looks clear for the moment, but they’re coming. I can see at least a dozen creeping up on us.” Wanderlust gulped.
“Can you hold it long enough for us to get there?”
“I-I…”
“Sergeant!” Valiance’s voice had steel in it this time, cutting through the air despite the growing static on the radio.
“Yes, we can hold it if you’re quick,” North replied with a slight crack in her voice.
“We’re going to lose comms any second now,” Valiance said, his voice losing most of its edge. “Just hold on. We’re coming.” Any reply North made was lost in static. “I’m not losing her, too,” Valiance whispered, either forgetting or not caring that his radio was still transmitting. Wanderlust just barely caught it through the flood of ear-splitting static pouring through his earpieces.
An instant later, his radio went dead and the protective field from his barding fell away with it, leaving him exposed to the world, assaulted by the cold night air and the sound of armor-clad hooves pounding against the hard ground. His sense of time was lost in the darkness, the seconds melting into an indistinct blur set to the metronome of his beating heart. Ahead of them, light rent the night: Brilliant white and staccato red played over the dull grey of the titanic structure that towered above them, giving brief, surreal glimpses of the landscape. Screams echoed off the metal mountains like Hell’s very own chorus: A million banshees singing infernal hymns to death and despair. Flashes of sickly yellow joined the symphony of light ahead of them, signaling that their foes had truly joined the battle.
Celestia, Dawn’s up there. What have I gotten her into?
Nothing she didn’t volunteer for, Silver Star’s voice responded in his head, harsh and determined. She knew the risks. Keep running.
The clash of arms continued ahead of them, hidden from view by a low hill, leaving them to guess at what was happening, watching the ghastly lightshow reflected off the arcology’s walls. Some small part if Wanderlust’s mind noted that the flashes of red had come to an abrupt end, but he didn’t realize the significance until he crested the hill, inches behind the other unicorns. North was standing with her back to the wall of city, feet away from the narrow access door, holding a dozen corrupted at bay with shots from a small, shoulder-mounted cannon as the the bodies of three others smoldered at her hooves. Wanderlust’s eyes went wide as he realized that the armored Pegasus was standing above Dawn, who was lying on the ground, unmoving.
No, no, no, not her, too. Please, Celestia, not her, too.
Stop praying to your false god and get down there, the admiral growled in his head. Wanderlust only hesitated a heartbeat before charging down the hill, hot on the heels of Valiance and Autumn, both of whom were volleying their weapons into the beasts below, taking them from behind. The pair dropped three more before the beasts vanished in a cascade of light to reappear instants later a hundred yards away, dark spectres prowling the shadows, waiting and watching. By the time the unicorns reached their companions, others had started arriving. Dozens. Hundreds. Appearing in droves from thin air.
“What now, Val?” Autumn asked, shouting to make himself heard over the rising crescendo of blood-chilling screams filling the air as Wanderlust rushed to Dawn’s side.
The lieutenant didn’t hesitate an instant, his voice calm and steady. “Autumn, you and I will provide cover for the others. Wanderlust, get your friend inside, do what you can for her wounds.” Wanderlust was already doing so, orders or no. He pressed a hoof to Dawn’s neck. Oh, thank Celestia. A pulse. “North, keep an eye on them.”
One of their assailants had stabbed Dawnfire with its horn, leaving a gaping hole in her chest that matted her dark fur with blood. Wanderlust tore open the medical kit at his side and retrieved a bandage, slapping it over the wound, only dimly aware of the battle raging around him. The unicorn focused his magic to lift his friend but couldn’t muster enough strength. Silently cursing himself, his mind raced to find a solution. Her weapons. Wanderlust flicked open his knife and set to work slicing the straps that held Dawn’s plasma weapons to her barding. In seconds, she was free and Wanderlust began to drag her towards the door, weapons at the ready as he gently attached the leads from the automated medical kit, sliding the tiny needles beneath Dawn’s skin so it could do its job.
“It’s clear!” Wanderlust heard North scream from somewhere behind him as he approached the door. Never taking his eyes off the pitched battle raging ahead of him, Wanderlust dragged the injured Pegasus through the narrow access door into the darkness beyond. Setting her next to the wall, he checked the readouts on the kit and cursed; The machine was dim and lifeless. A wave of panic shot through Wanderlust as he looked back at his friend, easing only slightly as he saw her chest still rising and falling.
An instant later, Autumn came darting through the door in a clatter of hooves, followed by Valiance who was slowly giving ground before their attackers, volleying his weapons in short bursts. “Autumn,” The soldier barked as he entered the room with the others, “seal the door!” A dull, blue glow enveloped Autumn’s horn and the wall surrounding the access door as the metal of the wall seemed to take on a life of its own: It distorted and flowed like water, filling in the door before settling, leaving only another wall, distinguishable from the others only by the slight ripples in its surface. When his magic faded, the room descended into featureless, unbroken darkness.
For a few seconds that seemed to drag into an eternity, the world was nothing but the cold, hard floor beneath Wanderlust’s hooves and the heavy breathing of winded ponies. In an instant, the room was illuminated in a ghostly red glow as the emergency lighting clicked on. Valiance sighed in relief. “They’re leaving.” The soldier nearly collapsed to the ground, completely spent. The others joined him seconds later, leaving only Wanderlust still on his hooves, standing above Dawn’s almost motionless form.
The unicorn returned his attention to the medical device hooked to his friend, still showing no signs of activity. “The medkit’s not working.”
“Give it a minute,” Valiance replied breathlessly. “There are still some prowling around.”
“Why should that matter?” Before the soldier could reply, Wanderlust heard a quiet beep and the display sputtered to life. What he saw was mixed: She wasn’t doing well, but she’d live. Probably. A few more minutes…
“They disrupt nearby enchantments. Some of our equipment is shielded against it, some of it isn’t. I don’t know enough about magic theory to explain why.”
“Are we safe in here?” Wanderlust asked, settling lightly to the ground next to Dawn so he could keep one eye on the blinking medical display.
North laughed tiredly. “Safe’s a relative term, kid.”
“They’ll have to take the long way around. If they try to teleport in, they risk coming out halfway through a wall.” Valiance paused for a moment. “They’ll keep coming, though. Once they have the scent of their prey, they won’t give up while they’re alive.”
“What are those things?”
“In the morning,” Val responded.
“They’re the least of our problems, Val,” Autumn said quietly. “You know he’s tied to them. You know what that means.”
“Yeah,” The lieutenant said, his tone growing bleak, “I know. He knows we’re here. Rafaldin’s coming, with all the force he can muster.”
*
“They’re terror weapons, would be the simplest way to put it.” Valiance was speaking quietly over the radio as the ponies crept through the dark, narrow corridors in the depths of the arcology, guided only by the dim red glow of emergency lighting. “As our resistance grew early in the war, the draconequui were forced to switch tactics: They had to conquer planets rather than just destroying them. It left them with trillions of captives. Some were parceled out as slaves, some were left on the planets to work the fields and factories in support of the war effort, others were turned: Brainwashed and pressed into military service. The rest were,” Valiance sighed deeply, “used as test subjects.”
“What do you mean?”
“Genetic experimentation, mostly,” Autumn replied from his position in the middle of the group, Dawnfire slung across his back. “Their scientists wanted to find out how we ticked, how to fight us, how to turn our nature against us. They tested plagues, they altered genes to see what they did, they would test things at a whim, just to see what would happen.”
“From what we can tell,” Val said, taking over again, “one of those experiments involved testing powerful enchantments on ponies before birth. We don’t know what they intended to do, but the result was the corrupted. The earth ponies and pegasi became wretched creatures, little better than vermin: Almost mindless carnivores, driven by base instinct. The unicorns, though, the theory is that hitting them with that much magic while their own was developing altered the spells somehow, that it caused wild, unpredictable changes to their biology. They became monsters, their origin barely recognizable, but unlike the others, they’re sentient, at least on some level.”
Valiance ducked to avoid a cobweb before he continued, “They’re also tied to the one who cast the original spell. Not true telepathy but any sort of strong feelings or images are passed along to the caster. Rafaldin had the ones that were created by others culled, then he started seeding the ones descended from his own batch into contested areas.
“Draconequui forces would drop millions of them into combat zones, population centers, anywhere that would cause panic or deny an area to us and at the same time, they’d be gathering information. They died in droves, but since when has that stopped him?”
“You’re sure he’s coming?” Wanderlust asked nervously.
“He wants you dead. Partially out of some mad need for revenge, but mostly because you were sent to kill him. The bastard’s beyond paranoid when it comes to his own safety: He will hunt even the slightest threat to his safety to the ends of this ring.” Valiance snorted quietly. “At least because of that we only have to worry about tw-“ He stopped speaking mid-sentence and halted so quickly that Wanderlust nearly walked into him. “Whoa…”
The unicorn was standing halfway through a door, blocking the way of the others and preventing Wanderlust from seeing what lay on the other side. “What’s wrong, Val?” North asked with a note of concern in her voice.
The lieutenant shook his head. “Nothing, sorry. Just stay close.” He started moving again and as soon as Wanderlust crossed into the room, he could see exactly why the lieutenant had stopped. The far end of the room was lost in the haze of distance, the ceiling was so high that the unicorn felt almost as if he were outside, and filling almost every available inch of space, barely leaving room for narrow catwalks, were odd, half-cylindrical troughs surrounded by machinery, each one overgrown by strange plants that fluoresced weakly, filling the dark room with a faint, blue glow.
“We must be in food production,” Autumn said, his voice soft and airy. “Hydroponic facilities designed to feed millions of ponies and process waste at the same time. The engineering that went into this place is incredible.”
“I don’t recognize the plants,” North interrupted. “They’re not native to Equestria, are they?”
“I don’t think so. Of course, with all the different species that came here, some spores probably hitched a ride. I’d guess these are Draconic; I suppose they just like the dark.”
“I wish she were here to see this.” The non-sequitor took a moment to register in Wanderlust’s mind. While the other ponies had been talking and the younger unicorn had been gawking, Valiance had slowly wandered over to one of the nearby troughs. He had picked one of the blue flowers and was holding it in front of his helmet, enraptured. “She always loved her flowers.”
The others went deathly silent and Autumn shot a glance at North. The Pegasus crept forward slowly and spoke, her voice soft and even, “Val, this isn’t the time. You know that. We need to keep moving.” The red unicorn just stared at the flower, twirling it slowly in the air as its soft, blue light played across his helmet. “Come on, Val, snap out of it. We need you.”
Valiance stared for a moment longer, then let the flower fall to the floor. “Sorry, it’s just-“ His voice cracked and he fell silent.
“I get it too, Val,” The Pegasus replied softly. “We can’t let it stop us, though.”
“Right.” When the unicorn spoke again, his voice had regained most of its normal stoicism. “We’re moving out. Wanderlust, stay behind me. North, take the rear. Autumn, you’re in the middle. Keep your eyes up and out; I don’t like this, too many places for an ambush.”
Wanderlust opened a private channel to Autumn as the ponies resumed their advance. “What in the world was that?”
“It’s a long story. Probably better just not to ask,” The soldier replied.
He hesitated a moment before asking another question. “How’s she doing?”
“Better, no thanks to our fearless leader.” Wanderlust sighed in relief, ignoring the other pony’s bitter tone. “Crazy bastard’s going to get us all killed.”
*
The ponies spent the night in the kitchen of what seemed to be a small cafeteria. Autumn sealed the exits, leaving them relatively safe, but the unbroken metal walls and the dim emergency lighting left Wanderlust feeling claustrophobic.
“Power’s been out for a while by the smell,” North called, pulling her head out of a cooler, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Nothing in here we can eat.”
“We should’ve grabbed food when we passed through hydroponics,” Autumn grumbled, lying on top of a metal table.
“You’d really eat glowing blue flowers?” The pegasus asked skeptically as she crossed the room and settled against a tiled wall. “I mean, we don’t even know what planet they were from.”
“Better than going hungry,” The unicorn mumbled.
“Get used to it.” Valiance was sitting apart from the others, staring pensively at a blank wall. “The first thing they would have done when they attacked was cut the power; They’re smart enough for that, at least. As soon as the power went out, the emergency procedures would have opened the ground-level doors. This was designed as a city, not a fortress; Fire was always considered a greater threat than invasion. After that, it was all but over” Wanderlust’s heart sank a little as the old soldier continued, his melancholy words sinking into the others. “You can bar the doors, throw up barricades, but you saw how many there were. There’s no way to hold those numbers for long. They would have broken through and the gaps would have widened. Soon they would have worked their way up the towers, stripping them bare.” Wanderlust looked away to check on Dawn, laying on the floor next to him, still attached to the medical equipment, looking almost peaceful. “Any food we find will likely be what they couldn’t or wouldn’t eat. We’ll just have to push through.”
Valiance’s words left a cloud hanging over the others, filling the room with a silence that none of them seemed willing to break.
“I wanted to be an engineer,” Autumn said suddenly in an oddly reminiscent tone. “When I was growing up on Aspara I always had a talent for making things, tinkering with whatever I could find. When I found out what direction my magical talents leaned, everything seemed to click together.” Wanderlust watched as the unicorn effortlessly pulled a ball of metal away from the table beneath him and molded it into a set of intricate gears, staring as they twirled and spun in midair, the teeth meshing perfectly. “I mean, I can manipulate metal. What else would I be doing than working with machines? Then Sapphire got hit. Only three lightyears away, practically next door. I ended up enlisting instead, assigned to combat engineers, then loaned out to this little den of psychopaths. Guess I kind of ended up where I wanted to be.”
“I worked weather patrol on Prospect,” North said, her voice taking on the same reminiscent tone as Autumn’s. “My family had been there since the colony was founded. We’d been working weather patrol for the capital city for generations. It’s all I ever wanted to do, for as long as I can remember, doing what my parents did before me, and my grandparents before them: Working the skies above Homestead, helping our friends and neighbors lead a better life. I took a lot of pride in that.” The pegasus closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. “The bastards burned it to the ground. Three fleet groups responding in orbit, millions of Sentinels on the ground, and they still couldn’t do anything to hold the planet. Less than a quarter of us were evacuated before they were forced out and the bombs fell.” Her voice cracked. “I was the only one of my family who made it out. I got to watch from a million miles away as they died. The largest funeral pyre I’d ever seen. It took days for the spots to fade.” The pegasus suppressed a sob and took a deep breath. “I signed up before we’d even made it to the refugee center.”
“I had just assumed that all of you wanted to be soldiers, that you’d seen it as your calling,” Wanderlust said awkwardly.
“There weren’t many of us whose special talents led us to war,” Valiance added in from his place in the corner. “Those of us born into that life were the exceptions, even after the war took hold. Most joined because they were afraid, because they wanted to protect their families, because they wanted revenge. Mist and I were the only ones in our unit who had actually wanted to be soldiers. I remember knowing from when I was a foal what I wanted to do. I always liked the thought of protecting other ponies.” His voice trailed away, returning the room to a heavy silence.
“I wanted to be a farmer. They’re so in touch with the land, they bring life out of the soil and give its gifts to others. It seems like such a peaceful, satisfying life, but I was always afraid to admit it to everyone else. It never seemed like the kind of thing a pegasus was supposed to do with her life.” It took Wanderlust a moment to register the new voice, but an instant later he flung his forelegs around Dawn and buried his face against her neck.
“I thought I’d lost you,” He whispered.
“Wands, please let go,” The pegasus begged, her body rigid and her cheeks burning. The unicorn reluctantly released the pegasus from his hug and glanced at the others. Valiance was still staring at his wall, Autumn was playing with the gears he’d crafted and North was looking pointedly away, a small smile on her face.
“How are you feeling?”
The pegasus gingerly stretched her wings. “Like I fell down a mountain, rolled into a ravine and then a herd of elephants ran over me. What the hell happened?”
“One of those things stabbed you with its horn.”
“That would explain why my chest feels like somebody stuck a horn through it,” Dawn said dryly, moving a hoof towards the bandage.
Wanderlust batted it away gently. “Leave it. You still need more time before you’re back to your old self.”
The pegasus glared at him for a moment before relenting. “Fine. Where are you hiding my weapons?”
“We had to leave them behind, sorry.”
Dawnfire sighed and rested her head on the floor. “Next time you get your dumb ass hurt I’ll be sure to throw away all your stuff, too.”
Wanderlust draped a hoof over her and pulled her close, ignoring a squirm of protest. “I’ll try to remember that. Just don’t scare me like this again.”
“You know I can’t promise that, Wands. It’s sort of an occupational hazard.”
“I know. Just try to be careful?”
“We’re in a city full of monsters with only a general idea of where we’re going and you’re asking me to be careful?”
“Well when you say it like that...”
Dawn smiled. “I’ll try, Wands. I’ll try.”
*
By the end of their first week in the city, Wanderlust had begun to acclimate. As the five of them climbed higher into the labyrinth of steel, the unicorn learned to feel the pulse of the titanic structure, the way it groaned almost silently as night set in, the sound of wind whistling through the pipes that cluttered the back alleys and cramped maintenance corridors they traversed, the way the floor seemed to vibrate just slightly with the steps of their hooves, they all combined to give the city the feeling of a living thing, as if they were inside the body of some long-forgotten giant, slumbering peacefully for eons.
The ponies were living off scraps, ransacking every nook and cranny as they slowly advanced into the residential districts of the city, seeking out any bits of food, no matter how unappetizing, that may have been missed by the scavengers that had passed before them. The strain was starting to wear on them. Too many nights falling asleep to the sound of distant weapons fire, too many days straining for the sound of approaching hooves, too much time spent choking down moldy bread to quell the rumbling in their stomachs, even for a few moments. Their company had become sullen and silent, trudging through the corridors, day after day.
It was mid-way through the second week when their hunters finally found them again. The five ponies were making their way down a maintenance corridor; A narrow, cramped space so cluttered with pipes and cables that they were forced to stoop and move single-file. Walking for hours, Wanderlust tried to keep himself occupied by letting his mind wander, almost hypnotized by the now-familiar rhythms of the city around him. That was probably why he noticed it first. A quiet tapping from behind them, so quiet that he had to strain to hear it, and even then he couldn’t be sure, but it was a break in the pattern.
The unicorn stopped abruptly and twitched an ear as Autumn walked into him. “Come on. The faster we move the sooner we get out of this hellhole,” The soldier growled, giving the younger unicorn a light shove.
“Shh,” Wanderlust hissed in response, stubbornly holding his ground and cocking his head. “Do you hear that?”
By this time, the ponies near the front of the group had stopped as well. Valiance looked back, and asked, “Hear what?” The emergency light behind them in the corridor flickered. The world seemed to go silent as the ponies froze and stared at the light. It flickered again and a quiet hiss of static crept into Wanderlust’s earpieces. “Run,” Valiance hissed.
The ponies sprinted down the hallway, bounding over cables and debris that littered the floor, the lights behind them flickering to darkness one after the other, slowly gaining ground. A moment later, the cries started, echoing down the halls, seemingly coming from every direction at once. They tore at Wanderlust’s mind, blocking out his thoughts, clawing at his ears and filling his head with nightmares from which he knew he could not wake.
No matter how fast they ran, the wave of darkness closed in, the emergency lights dying closer and closer on their heels until they were plunged into darkness. For an instant, Wanderlust was running through an empty void before the orange glow of Valiance’s magic parted the curtain. The dim light cast long shadows across the corridor that seemed to writhe and move of their own accord. Ghastly figures splayed upon the walls cackled in perverse glee and closed upon the fleeing ponies, closing off all escape, sealing them in, preparing for the kill.
No, no, they’re just shadows. They’re just shadows. They’re just shadows. Wanderlust chanted the words in his head, trying to hold onto his mind as blind panic threatened to tear it from his grasp. As the screeching that echoed through the corridors reached a hellish crescendo, a white spectre hurtled from a side passage and barreled into Valiance, knocking the pony into the far wall and plunging them into darkness once more as he lost his concentration.
The struggle played out in flashes of magic, advancing frame by frame in the darkness. As he tumbled to the floor, Valiance fired by reflex, sending a beam of blinding light wildly into the air, nearly hitting North before piercing the ceiling. His assailant’s horn flashed, sending a sizzling bolt of magic that charred Valiance’s chestplate and illuminated Autumn fighting his way forward, trying to get a clear shot. The next flash was orange as the older unicorn tried to throw the monster away. The bolt broke upon a yellow shield in a blaze of golden light that sprayed sparks across the corridor.
The creature screeched in the darkness as Autumn shoved Wanderlust to the side, stumbling forward to try and help. In a sudden flash, a half dozen spectral swords blinked into existence and in an instant, they impaled the monster. It screamed in agony, clawing at the air with its hooves before the glowing swords flung it into the wall. The creature slid to the floor, gurgling weakly as Valiance rose, covered in blood and lit by the aura of the ghostly swords.
“Autumn, clear a path. Kill everything in front of you until you find the next room along this corridor, then seal the exits. North, cover the rear. I’ll hold them here for a few minutes, then fall back. If you see corrupted before you see me, seal the corridor, too.” Wanderlust stood and gaped until Dawn shoved him forward and he took off down the corridor, following Autumn. The unicorn tore down the hall, the echoing screams and flashing lights from the battle behind him nipping at his heels.
Wanderlust couldn’t have guessed if he’d been running for seconds or hours before Autumn ducked into a side passage. He followed and found himself in a small storage room. Autumn was sealing the other exit, melding the metal of the wall into a solid sheet.
“How far behind us is he?” The yellow pony grunted, not taking his eyes off his work.
“No idea,” North replied, her head sticking out into the corridor. “I can’t see him.”
Autumn crossed the room and stared at the door for a moment. “We can’t wait any longer. He’s gone.”
The pegasus cast a glare back at him. “Give him a minute longer.”
“I think we’ve risked our lives enough. I’m sealing it.”
“He’ll be here,” North insisted.
“She’s right,” Wanderlust interjected, “we can’t risk leaving him behind.”
“I don’t remember asking you,” Autumn snarled. “North, do you remember how many times we’ve stuck our necks out for him? He’s finally gotten his dumb ass killed. We need to get out of here.”
“We’re waiting. That’s an order, corporal,” North replied, an edge to her voice.
The yellow unicorn laughed. “Really? You’re pulling rank on me? It’s been millenia, North. We don’t even know if anypony back home is even still alive. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Back off, Autumn, or I will personally kick your flank from here to Ba-” She was cut off as Valiance, gasping for breath, barreled around the corner.
“Close it!” He barked. Autumn immediately complied, closing them into the room as Valiance slumped to the floor, peeling his helmet off and closing his eyes. When the yellow unicorn finished his spell, the room was plunged into darkness.
Wanderlust shivered as, moments later, the beasts started scratching on the wall, trying to claw their way in. There was a primal terror threatening to overwhelm him; He was trapped, in the dark, being hunted by creatures that he couldn’t fight.
“You okay, boss?” North’s voice in the darkness.
“No new scars if that’s what you’re asking.” Valiance’s breathing was still labored, forcing his words out in ragged gasps. “Just not quite as spry as I used to be.”
Autumn snorted. “Just as good at getting us killed, though.” He conjured a blue orb that floated in the center of the room, illuminating it with a soft, magical glow. “I wouldn’t complain if it was just your personal deathwish, but I’m tired of you dragging the rest of us into it with you.”
“What the hell are you-” Valiance started before Autumn cut him off.
“This is exactly like the Ascendent. There must be other ships on the ring. We were briefed: There were still close to a hundred unaccounted for. We could have looked for those, gotten home. Instead, you decided to assault a three-mile long warship guarded by dragons. Sixteen of us walked into that deathtrap. How many of us walked out?”
North bristled and stepped forward. “Autumn, back the hell off or-”
“Or you’ll what? Are you really going to shoot me, North? Because there’s not much else you can do. I’ve been quiet for too long on this and I’m sick and tired of it. He’s going to get us killed!” The yellow unicorn turned back to Valiance, who was struggling shakily to his hooves. “How many of us walked out of there that day? After Issus caught the Ascendent lifting off without orders and slagged half a continent to stop us.”
“Autumn-” Again, the yellow unicorn cut him off.
“Five, Val. Five of us walked away from that. I’m not going to let you get us all killed.” Autumn was edging closer and closer to his commander, his shoulders squared and his voice low.
Wanderlust made a move to assist but Dawnfire stopped him with an outstretched hoof. “Not our fight,” She whispered. The unicorn reluctantly drew back as Valiance spoke again.
The words hung in the air for a long moment as Valiance seemed to tremble, then the unicorn lunged at the other pony with an almost primal roar of anger. He feinted towards Autumn’s legs, then wrapped a foreleg around the other pony’s neck as the yellow unicorn moved to counter. Autumn’s spell fizzled out, plunging the room into darkness.
Wanderlust could only guess at what was happening as the sounds of struggle dragged on. After half a minute, he heard the sound of one of the other ponies’ weapons priming, followed instantly by a sound like flame bursting to life as a half dozen glowing swords blinked into view, bathing the room in a harsh, orange glow.
Autumn was on top of his commander, pinning the other pony to the ground and pointing a weapon into his un-armored face. Valiance had his magical blades hovering millimeters above the other unicorn’s neck his eyes narrowed in rage and his face covered in blood, apparently from a hit to his nose during the struggle.
“One thought, and I can end all of this,” Autumn hissed. “One flash of light and I can forget all about you.”
“You do that and it’ll be the last thought you ever have. I can drive these swords through your spine in the time it takes me to die,” Valiance grunted back, the fight obviously having taken a toll on him. “They’ll cut straight through barding; You should know that, you’ve seen it yourself.”
“I remember,” Autumn admitted cautiously.
“If he doesn’t kill you, I will,” North growled from a few feet away. She had her weapon trained on the other pony.
“Well, it seems we have a problem, then,” Autumn replied, never pulling his gaze off Valiance.
“No, you have a problem. I’m not afraid to die, coward,” Valiance spat back.
“No, you’re not. In fact, you’ve been wanting it, waiting for it, begging for it since Juggernaut, haven’t you?” The magical blades twitched almost imperceptibly as the red unicorn’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“Don’t you dare bring that up.”
“You’re going to kill me just for mentioning it? Go ahead. I’m never making it home, anyway. What do I have to live for?”
Morons. We’re running out of time; You need to stop this. Tell them that if they help me, I’ll get them a way home. The voice in Wanderlust’s head was more impatient than angry.
Do you actually have one?
Would I tell them so if I didn’t? For the sake of civility, Wanderlust didn’t answer.
“The admiral says that he has a way home for you.” Wanderlust’s words plunged the room back into tense silence. “Contingent, of course, upon you helping him.”
“Can we trust him?” Autumn asked suspiciously, hazarding a quick glance at Wanderlust.
Of course. Silver Star’s voice answered inside Wanderlust’s head.
“Not at all,” Wanderlust replied. “But you said it yourself: There are ships on the ring that are still unaccounted for. If anyone knows where they are, it’ll be him.” Autumn kept staring down at Valiance. “Isn’t even the slightest chance of making it home better than dying on this ring?” Wanderlust asked, silently praying that the other pony would lower his weapons.
Autumn seemed to weigh things for a moment, then his guns snapped back to their rest position on his back. “Anything’s better than dying on this ring,” The unicorn growled. Valiance let the swords fade as Autumn straightened and stepped away. “But if he’s lying, I will hunt him across hell and earth and I won’t rest until he’s dead.”
Get in line, kid. The admiral’s voice growled in response.
Autumn turned around and examined the room. “So how are we getting out of he-” He choked on his last word as Valiance grabbed him from behind and pressed a magical blade to his throat.
“I know that the years have worn on all of us, and I want to see my home again as much as you.” Valiance’s voice had a sort of terrible calm to it, like the still air before a storm. “Because of that, I’m willing to forget that this ever happened. From now on, though, I expect you to behave like a soldier, not some spoiled foal. You will show some measure of respect, you will follow orders, and you will always remember that if this ever happens again, I will not hesitate to gut you like a pig. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Autumn said reluctantly.
The blade came closer to his throat. “Yes, sir,” Valiance ordered.
Autumn gulped. “Yes, sir.”
“Better.” The swords disappeared and Valiance retrieved his helmet. “Autumn, I need you to make us some stairs, we’re going through the ceiling.”
“Any idea where we’ll come out?” Wanderlust asked, moving into the center of the room as Autumn started on his spell, Dawnfire following half a step behind.
“Not really, which is why I didn’t want to do this before. At this point, though,” Valiance glanced over his shoulder at the wall where the door used to be very conscious of the scratching noises still forcing their way into the room, “we’re out of options.”
As soon as the hole in the ceiling grew large enough, North fluttered through and poked around for a moment while Autumn continued his work. “Looks clear to me, boss,” She called down. “More residential areas.”
“No point in waiting around,” Val said as soon as the makeshift stairs were finished. Without another word, the unicorn started to climb upwards, moving noticeably more slowly than usual. Wanderlust watched for a moment, cast a sidelong glance at Autumn, then followed.