//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Blood for Blood // Story: Everfree // by Dusk Quill //------------------------------// The entrance to the caverns was little more than a wrought iron gate tucked neatly away behind the grand staircase. An archway ran around back of the stairs and led to the gated off passageway. Through the bars, the three ponies could see a stone stairwell descending into the earth. Torches lit the narrow passage, but beyond the first few steps they could see nothing. It just went down into the endless chasms of the earth.         The gate had been easy enough to open. Starlight found an indentation in the gate where the bizarre hexagonal key fit perfectly. The moment it slipped into its home, a snap and a click was heard, and the gate pushed right open. The hinges squealed noisily in the quiet foyer. Fleethoof didn’t see it as an omen anymore. This entire night had been an omen.         Starlight took the plunge first and stepped slowly down each stair. Midnight followed next, and Fleethoof brought up the rear. He prayed that Echo had found her own way out. He perished the thought of leaving the mare somewhere out there.         The descent into the caverns was a slow process. The stairs just seemed to go on into the darkness without end to the ponies. Finally, their hooves touched down on wood instead of hard stone. Midnight looked around as Fleethoof shone his light about. They were on wooden scaffolds in a large underground chamber. The sound of running water was heard somewhere very close by. At the base of the scaffolding was a line of torches running down a spiraling path into what looked like an endless dark abyss.         Nothing ever goes halfway here, does it? Starlight thought with a touch of satire as he studied the expanse of cave. He stepped slowly along the rickety old scaffold, listening to the wood creak and groan under his weight. Perhaps they should just fly down.         “Starlight, look!”         Midnight’s cry caught the stallion’s attention. He followed Midnight’s pointing hoof and saw what had caught her interest. Trudging slowly up through another tunnel towards their cavern was another bat pony. Her armor was smudged with dirt and mud, and she looked absolutely exhausted. He recognized that coat and mane.         “Echo! Echo, up here!”         Down below, Echo nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard something shouting her name. Darting around, she saw a flash of motion out of the corner of her vision. There, up on some unstable looking platforms, was about half of her team, frantically waving to her.         Echo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled before waving back to them. That was when a rumbling growl was heard echoing throughout the cavern. Everypony froze in mid-motion. Fleethoof searched frantically for the source of the noise.         Behind her, Echo heard the sound of rock shifting and sliding over itself. She turned around quickly—and felt something sharp cut straight across her face. In an instant, her world went dark, and fiery pain shot through her brain like burning needles. She screamed as she felt herself lose balance, and then her back was on the ground.         From above, Midnight Dasher and Starlight watched the scene as it happened. Echo turned around, and from what looked like a pile of rocks from excavation came a swipe from something that caught the mare across the face. She screamed and hit the ground. That was all it took.         “Echo! Don’t move!” Starlight shouted and took to the air in a heartbeat with Midnight close behind him.         Echo screeched in pain as she clutched at her face, feeling the blood wetting her fur. She heard two sets of hooves land nearby, and felt something pulling her up into a sitting position. The mare was hyperventilating and trembling, still looking around in a daze and wondering where her sight had gone.         “It’s me, Echo. It’s me.” Starlight’s voice calmed her down a little. “I’ve got you. You’re all right.”         “S-Star! I… I can’t see!” she cried out.         “Shh, here. Let me take a look.”         Echo whimpered and dropped her hooves from her face. Starlight grimaced at the sight of his teammate’s face. A deep slash tore across the orbits of her eyes from side to side, spilling blood in shallow trickles down her cheeks. But where the most damage had been were her eyes themselves. They had all but been ripped apart and destroyed. Medical magic only went so far. He knew Echo would probably never see again.         “It’s okay, Echo. You’re gonna be all right,” he said, trying to reassure her as he held the shaking pony close. “We’re gonna get you outta here, okay?”         Midnight stood beside her teammates, gun lifted as she scanned the area for whatever had attacked Echo. Whatever it had been, it was gone now. She looked up at the scaffolds, spotting Fleethoof still up there as he searched the area from above with his light.         Fleethoof tried to focus his breathing into steady, controlled breaths. Whatever had attacked Echo seemed to have disappeared. But it was here. He knew it was. Tightening his grip on his pistol, he shone the light around the cavern, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.         The scaffolding suddenly shook violently, nearly throwing the pony from his hooves. Fleethoof grabbed tight to the side as it rocked to and fro. He clenched his teeth, eyes darting around for what was causing the tremors. Before he knew what was happening, the sound of snapping wood filled the cavern, and the scaffolding came crashing down.         Fleethoof cried out and kicked off the platform he had been on, extending his wings and taking to the air. He narrowly dodged a few pieces of flying debris as he came to a glide near the bat ponies. Midnight stared in shock as the entire platform system crumbled into dust.         “What the hell was that?” Midnight asked.         Gritting his teeth, Fleethoof slowly moved towards the broken wood and beams. It had been over here, and it had tried to kill him. He was going to get it first. Beside him, Midnight followed close. She didn’t want to leave her friends, but if Fleethoof was walking off to fight this thing, she sure as hell was going to help him.         Fleethoof stepped over beside the splintered wood, looking it over briefly. His eyes turned upward, and he spotted deep claw marks in the rock walls of the cavern. His eyes dilated in horror.         It can climb the walls…         He turned sharply, eyes moving in frenzy as he scanned the walls and domed ceiling of the cave. Midnight mimicked his action, not entirely sure what she was even looking for. She stepped over towards the path downward, peering over the side. The path seemed to just spiral down the massive hole forever.         Swallowing back his fear, Fleethoof looked over at Starlight and Echo. They were both still fine, and Starlight was lifting Echo up on his back. He wanted to get out of the open as quickly as possible.         And then he heard the laughter of a foal again, echoing quietly around the cave. He turned to face the source of the sound—back to Midnight—and terror stole his voice away.         Midnight had moved over toward the rubble again, and from the cavern wall, a massive insect-like stinger hovered threateningly in the air.         Fleethoof moved on instinctive reaction. He kicked off the ground, his wings propelling him the rest of the distance between him and the bat pony. He made contact with Midnight just as the stinger tore through the air towards her. He simultaneously heard Midnight cry out and felt something sharp tear through his side, just below his ribs. Fleethoof gave a gasping grunt as the air was knocked from his lungs and sharp pain ripped through his body and he collapsed to the ground.         “Fleet!” Midnight shouted and dove to his aid. She immediately pressed her hooves against the wound, hoping to compress and subside the flow of blood.         “You dense filly…” he muttered between groans of pain. “Behind you…!”         Fleethoof winced as he lifted his pistol up. Midnight looked over her shoulder, and saw the creature that had attacked them latched onto the cave wall. Fleethoof’s light illuminated the whole thing. It looked like it might have been a zebra once, but it had sprouted an additional pair of legs, and had a wicked-looking stinger similar to a scorpion's protruding from its backside. A long claw grew along its right hoof like a sword, both of the creature’s weapons dripping with fresh blood from its attacks.         “Isingoma…” Fleethoof said darkly, keeping his sights trained on the deformed monster.         The thing that had once been Isingoma gave a hiss that Midnight imagined a vampire might make and then leaped over the ponies. It landed square between them and Starlight and Echo, cutting them off. With two injured ponies to tend to, Starlight and Midnight felt caught between a rock and a hard place.         “Fucking monsters! I've had enough of this!” Starlight said with a snarl and unloaded every bullet he had in his rifle into the creature’s backside. Isingoma gave a shriek and jumped away, landing on a nearby wall.         “This way! Hurry!” Midnight called to Starlight as she lifted Fleethoof, letting the stallion lean on her shoulder as they began trudging down the ramp into the pit.         Starlight ran as fast as he could with Echo on his back. The process was slow and arduous, but they had no choice. They couldn’t fight that abomination with their wounded friends lying about. Behind him, he could hear Isingoma crawling along the walls, chasing after them. Fleethoof groaned as his legs gave out from under him, a fire burning in his muscles. Midnight skidded to a halt and ran back to help her fallen partner back up again, adrenaline pushing them on.         The four ponies darted beneath a stone archway as they ran down the sloping path. The rock exploded into a cloud of dust and debris as Isingoma smashed it to pieces, still in full pursuit. Starlight managed to turn mid-stride and pop a few shots at it with his pistol. Fleethoof mimicked the action, letting Midnight guide him as he fired at the mutated pony.         A couple bullets struck Isingoma in the face, and with a whistle of air, it jumped across the gap. It landed in front of the ponies, blocking their path. Midnight skidded to a halt with Fleethoof, wincing as its stinger slammed into the rock just in front of them. Midnight and Fleethoof opened fire on the creature while Starlight tried to catch up.         “S-Star…”         Starlight glanced back at Echo. She was leaning up to him, clutching something in her hoof. He slowed down to take the cool, metal object from her. It was a hoof grenade.         “I took your advice… Always bring spares…” she said with a weak smile. “You always said everypony forgets the essentials.”         For once in his life, Starlight was glad somepony had actually listened to him. “Midnight, get back!”         He pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed it across the ground as Midnight backpedaled as fast as she could. The grenade rolled beneath the creature and detonated, the resulting explosion flinging Isingoma into the air and knocking it into the pit with a screech of primal fury. Midnight carefully peered over the edge into the darkness.         “Is it dead?” Midnight dared to ask.         Fleethoof shook his head weakly, breathing hard as he spoke. “I doubt it…”         With a heavy breath, Fleethoof’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. Midnight Dasher gasped and immediately set to tending to the pony as he groaned and tensed up. His breathing was labored and he looked to be in an excruciating amount of pain.  The wound in his side was still bleeding freely and needed to be tending to.         “Midnight, over here!” She turned and saw Starlight waving from a crevice in the cave wall. “Set him down in here.”         Midnight led Fleethoof over through the fissure in the rock wall and into the small chamber it led to. Starlight had already set Echo down and was working on bandaging up her eyes. Fleethoof collapsed against the wall with a groan of agony, clutching at his side. The pain had become extraordinarily worse than when it had started. Stabbing pains ignited in his skull behind his eyes, making his world spin. It felt like somepony had set fire to his blood.         “Hold still, Fleet. I’ve gotta get you patched up,” said Midnight, reaching for the first aid kit Starlight had. A sudden hoof on her shoulder caught Midnight by surprise.         “Midnight… It won’t do any good.”         Fleethoof’s words worried Midnight. He didn’t look like he’d been hit in any vital organs, and he hadn’t been severely injured to a point beyond aid.         “But I can help you! Just let me—”         “Midnight, it’s more than that…” Fleethoof screamed out in pain as it felt like every drop of blood in his body had turned to a lake of lava.         It took her a moment to catch on, but when she did, her eyes darkened in grim realization. “Poison…?”         Fleethoof’s mournful eyes gave all the answer she needed. His breathing had become shallow and uneven, and he kept writhing about in discomfort and pain. Nausea and dizziness sent his world spinning into a vague kaleidoscope of colors—all save for Midnight. It was working much faster than he had feared. Of course Isingoma’s mutation would make use of his knowledge of powerful and potent poisons. The sight tore Midnight’s heart to pieces—far worse than Blackjack had.         “Fleet, please hold on. We can get you out of this,” she said, trying to urge the stallion on with her characteristically cocky grin. There was no persuasion behind it though. “Come on, you promised to take me to the Gala, remember? I know you’re not gonna give up now.”         Fleethoof gave a weak chuckle amidst heavy breaths. Even that sounded riddled with agony. His blue eyes met Midnight’s golden ones, seeing the confliction and suffering in them. In his, she saw nothing but searing agony. It was taking all of his strength to keep from screaming out loud again. He managed a half smile back to her.         “I guess we have our answer now…” Midnight looked confused. “If I’d die for you… I guess it's a yes…”         He began to laugh, a sort of slow, pained moan that made Midnight tear up even as she giggled along with him. His chuckle cut off in a loud cry as his body arched and writhed against the stone wall, seeking any sort of respite from the fire burning through him. Starlight stood off to the side, watching the two as he urgently searched the first aid kit for some kind of antivenom that would help. Much to his dismay, there was none. The Royal Guard didn’t have protocols for giant poisonous monsters.         “Well, you’re wrong, because you’re not dying today,” Midnight said with absolute certainty, even as her voice cracked a bit under the strain of convincing herself. She tried to lift the pony up again. “Come on, you’re Captain Fleethoof! You’re the strongest pony I know. One little sting isn’t gonna do you in.”         As if to prove her wrong, a sharp bolt of pain struck every muscle in Fleethoof’s body. He cried out sharply and doubled over, his body tensing up as the fire burned through him. A loud, gut-wrenching scream of pure anguish left the pegasus as his body twitched violently, followed by a weak cough as every breath of air was forced out of his lungs. Midnight grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him upright again. Despite her bravado, she couldn’t keep the tough façade up any longer. Worry painted her face and her heart was racing.         “Oh, shit... Star, the medkit! Now!”         “I always knew you’d be there when I died, Midnight… But to be honest, I really expected you to be the cause of it…” Fleethoof laughed softly again.         “Hey,” she remarked, flashing her teeth in a rueful grin as she took the medkit from Starlight, pressing the patches of dense cotton against his injury. “Be nice. I’m trying to save you here.”         Fleethoof clenched his jaw as he fought another wave of pain. His nerves were beginning to dull from the constant attack and he could feel his senses slipping away. His vision had begun to blur. Each breath felt like a battle. He had never known what to expect out of death. Now he knew. He tried his hardest to focus on Midnight, only barely able to keep her in his darkening eyesight.         “You know how to get home, Mid… Get them back safe, and keep the Guard the hell away from this place… Don’t let anypony ever return…” he said, pausing to take a few light breaths. “And find Sharp Shot. Tell him”—he stared blankly into space for a moment—“he was right about the Everfree.”         Midnight shook her head as she applied fresh padding to his wound. She refused to believe that this could be happening again. Not to him—not to Fleethoof of all ponies.         “You tell him yourself when we get you home, Fleet. Okay?”         Fleethoof retched a couple of times, gasping for air like he was being strangled. His face contorted into a grim expression of the pain his body was racked with. He was afraid, but he couldn’t bring himself to dwell on it as the beating of his heart pounded much too fast and strong against his ribs, fighting to keep him alive even as his body weakened with each rhythmic pulse.         “Midnight… I wanted to tell you...” he growled out through gritted teeth. He looked back down into the filly’s tear-filled eyes. She was the last thing he saw in the world before his vision went black, and then Fleethoof was gone.         “Fleet…?” Midnight asked, forcing a smile as she looked at the pegasus. She saw him look up at her, and then he moved no more.         Her eyes stayed locked with his for a moment, seeing the light of life fade away into glassy darkness. Worry gripped her heart like a vise. His chest wasn’t rising any more. In a panic, she checked his pulse, desperately searching for it before realizing she couldn’t find what wasn’t there.         “Oh, no… No, no, no! No! Fleethoof, no!” she cried out, swiftly laying him on the ground and beginning the chest compressions associated with CPR. “No, no, don’t you give up on me! Fleethoof, stay with me! Please!”         She counted the motions exactly, and gave her breath to the lifeless pony. He remained still. She repeated the actions again, each time getting more and more despairing.         “Midnight…” Starlight said from beside her.         “Wake up, Fleet! Wake up, dammit!” Another exhale into his lungs, and the compressions began again as her tears flowed freely and her motions became more frantic. “Come on, you tough pegasus bastard—wake up!”         “Midnight—”         “Shut up, Star!” she snapped, attempting another bout of CPR before simply collapsing on his chest and breaking down. “No… No, Fleet… Please come back… Come back…”         Midnight’s shoulders rose and fell as the floodgates opened and she openly wept over the body of her friend. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was supposed to be me. He wasn’t even supposed to be here, she thought as a terrifying mix of anguish, guilt, and rage overtook her soul. She clenched her teeth together so hard it began to hurt her jaw, but she didn’t care. Her friends were gone. Fleethoof was gone. Survival was the only thing left, and even now as she clung to Fleethoof’s jacket that didn’t feel like much of a consolation prize.         Starlight cleared his throat and said, “Midnight. We have to get moving, before that thing comes back.”         Midnight Dasher didn’t reply. She didn’t even move. She just lay across Fleethoof protectively, clinging to the slowly fading warmth of his body.         “Midnight, we can’t stay here.”         He was right. “I know, Star… I know, just… Please…”         Drawing a shuddering breath past her lips, Midnight stroked Fleethoof’s mane gently, looking through blurry, tear-drenched eyes at the pained expression frozen on his face. She gently closed his eyes, unable to look into the frozen blue pools any longer. After a few long moments, she gradually heaved Fleethoof’s body across her back. Starlight lifted Echo up—and shook his head in disbelief when he saw what Midnight was up to.         “Midnight, he’s gone.”         “I’m not leaving him,” said Midnight tersely. Her words were so sharp and her tone so adamant and iron that it took Starlight by surprise. “He didn't leave us. I’m taking him back, even if it kills me.”         Starlight started to object again, but the vicious glare from Midnight cut him off immediately. Her violent gaze told him everything: it was not up for debate. He shut his mouth and followed her as she squeezed back out into the cavern. Together, the three bat ponies began to descend into the chasm again.         Other than Echo’s soft whimpers every now and then, the cavern had become utterly silent. Down and down they trotted. Then Echo lifted her head suddenly, looking towards the pit.         “Wait,” she spoke softly, surprising both of her teammates. “I hear something… Scuffling, getting louder—one o’ clock and low.”         Starlight exchanged a look with Midnight Dasher, who merely shrugged and followed Echo’s directions. One o’ clock put her right at the edge of the abyss. She peered down—and saw the creature that had killed Fleethoof clinging to the side of the pit. It glared up at her with glowing orange eyes and hissed. It was still alive.         “Oh, hell no, you’re not getting up here,” Midnight said. She pointed her pistol down at it and popped off round after round. The bullets smacked into the creature’s torso, and it uttered a shrill, guttural noise and began climbing up the sides of the pit after them again.         “It’s still alive?!” asked Starlight in shock as they took off down the path again. “How?!”         Midnight glanced back at the monster now crawling onto the slope behind them. “You didn’t think it would really be that easy, did you?”         Weighted down with the ponies on their backs, the two fleeing ponies were unable to take to the air without risking falling to a gruesome demise. They ran as fast as their hooves could carry them, pausing only whenever the monster would get within striking range to unload a few bullets into it and bolting off again.         “Midnight, look out!”         Midnight looked behind her at Starlight’s yell just in time to see Isingoma scuttling along the wall close to them, its stinger poised to strike. Midnight yelped as she dove forward, hearing the rock shatter behind her. It had taken a massive chunk out of the ramp, cutting off any route back up.         Starlight could see the bottom of the chasm coming up at them now. They were running out of places to go. Dashing down to the bottom, Midnight and Starlight took a second to observe their new surroundings. The bottom of the pit was entirely flat and circular with high walls reaching as high as the eye could see. A small passageway carved into the cave wall was the only way forward.         “Hurry! This way!” Midnight called to her teammate and made a break for the exit.         No sooner had the ponies made a sprint for the exit, the monster Isingoma leapt from the wall, landing right between them and salvation. Midnight skidded to a halt, her hooves kicking wildly as she tried to brake as fast as possible. Isingoma’s claw sliced through the air mere inches in front of her face, sending Midnight tumbling to her back.         Starlight skidded to a stop as well, firing every bullet left in his pistol into the abomination. He snagged a magazine from Echo and loaded it into his rifle, laying down enough fire to suppress the creature while Midnight dragged Fleethoof’s body back to a safe distance.         Isingoma screeched and crawled through the gunfire towards the ponies. Midnight began shooting at it as well, running her pistol dry before switching to Fleethoof’s. A round clipped the mutated pony’s eye and turned it into a screaming mass. It flailed and recoiled back, slamming into the wall.         “We can’t fight it here! It’ll kill us in a second!” Starlight shouted above the gunfire. Midnight was inclined to agree.         “Well what’s your plan then?”         Starlight looked about hurriedly while the monster thrashed against the wall in pain. The only option they had was to get through that passage somehow. Unfortunately, only one grim idea came to mind.         “Midnight, take Echo and break for the door,” said Starlight as he set Echo down on her hooves and gently pushed her into Midnight’s side. Midnight scrunched her forehead in confusion.         “What? Why? What’re you—”         “Just do it, please. No matter what, don’t stop running.” Midnight could see the loyalty smoldering in the stallion’s eyes. Her mind quickly put the pieces together.         “Star, no. There’s gotta be another way. Enough ponies have died!”         Starlight cocked a grin and reloaded his rifle. “Then I’ll just have to outfly death. Now go!”         He was in the air before he had even finished speaking, hurdling towards the monster in their way. Midnight urged Echo along, still lugging Fleethoof on her back as they made their way slowly but surely toward the door. Isingoma had just recovered when Starlight’s hooves made contact with its face, snapping its head back with a snap.         “Hey! Over here, you ugly motherfucker!” he shouted in taunt, popping a couple bullets at it.         Isingoma hissed violently and scurried after the airborne bat pony. Starlight strafed about in the air while dodging the swipes of his enemy’s claw and stinger. He had seen the lethality of the monster’s venom and had no intention of getting hit. He would fire a few bullets and then fly off to another side of the cave, dancing around it to give his teammates enough time to escape.         Midnight and Echo rushed as fast as they could to the hole in the wall. No matter how hard they ran, the distance never seemed to get any shorter. Midnight’s ears drummed with each pulse of blood her heart pumped. Adrenaline surged her forward through the fog of fear. The sounds of combat behind her reminded her of the risk they ran by being too slow.         Please, dear Luna, let us make it, she prayed in her head. Step by step, they got closer to the door. A chunk of rock exploded behind them as Starlight narrowly avoided another fatal strike. The next thing Midnight knew, she was leading Echo through the archway and into the tight tunnel.         “Star! We’re clear!” she shouted from the entrance, and fired a few shots off to ward the monster away.         Starlight breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ponies breach the entrance. They were in the clear. He flapped his wings and took off for the tunnel—only to feel something break the skin on his flank and send him spiraling into the earth. He grunted when he crash-landed, feeling a searing pain being to burn into his leg.         He muttered a profanity as he took to the air again, flying as fast as he could for the tunnel. Midnight was still shooting off rounds, and Starlight could hear the bullets snap past him as they flew into the monster he knew was indubitably chasing him.         Midnight watched in horror was Starlight flew past her into the tunnel, blood dripping from a cut across his left flank. Isingoma was charging at the tunnel. Though it was much too small for the creature, it didn’t slow down in the least. Midnight turned and ran while Starlight pushed Echo forward. Isingoma collided with the tunnel, and Midnight felt the world shake around her. Tremors ran through the ground and walls, shaking rock loose as the passageway came down on top of the creature—and on them.         The ponies ran as fast as they could, hearing and feeling the debris coming down right behind them. The tunnel was not very long, and the moment Midnight saw the exit, she leapt through the air, tackling Starlight and Echo and pushing them out just as the collapsing tunnel gave in.