//------------------------------//
// Cornered 
// Story: Hollow Shades 
// by Dilos1 
//------------------------------//

	Quartz was about ready to fall off of her hooves and just sleep on the floor at this point. Staying up all night worrying for the safety of her citizens had taken a severe toll on her. She was honestly quite surprised that she was even able to stay awake for the duration of the conversation she had with Princess Luna. All she wanted to do right now was go to her bed and pass out on the custom cloud mattress, and promptly forget about all of her troubles and worries for the next few hours as she slowly sank into the fluffy white substance. 

This luxury was denied to her however, as she was still expecting Roughshod and Rose Flare to arrive any minute now for her carriage. It was all she could do to keep herself from falling out of her office chair as she waited for them to finally show up. They seemed to be taking their time however for some reason, as they still had not yet shown, and Quartz was left to wonder what was taking them so long to get here. 

To pass the time Quartz occasionally gave a passing glance at the sea of tents in front of the town gates, with one of the two airships she had seen earlier hovering overhead, presumably to keep a look out for the Princess and her army of Royal Guards to return and to spot the creature should it choose to attack the town directly. It looked so empty now compared to the flurry of activity that had taken place earlier before the majority of them left. The idea of all those ponies showing up, and then just disappearing into the trees like that was somewhat unnerving, and Quartz could not help but feel an involuntary shiver run up her spine from the thought of them never returning. The rapidly fading light of day did not do much to help the mood.

She really hoped what Harp said about the monster was true, however unlikely it sounded, if only for the sake of the ponies going out to face it. 

The sound of somepony knocking at her door was a welcome distraction for Quartz, although it did cause her to jump slightly in her seat from surprise as the din echoed throughout her household before eventually fading into silence. Rubbing her tired eyes with an outstretched wing, Quartz quickly left her office and began to make her way downstairs. 

The knock came again, causing the mare to grumble loudly, "I'm coming, just hold on!" Finally arriving at her door Quartz undid the lock keeping it shut and opened it, where she found both Roughshod and Rose Flare waiting patiently on her front porch."There you are," she said. "I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to show up."

"Sorry we're late," Roughshod apologized. "Is the carriage ready for us?"

Still feeling slightly put off by the fact that they took so long to get here, Quartz nodded her head. "Of course. If you'll just follow me," she said as she exited her house, shutting the door behind her. From there she led the two around the perimeter of her home to a shed located behind it. Already there waiting for them was Nightshade, who Roughshod had requested be the one to transport his wife. The dark grey pegasus looked somewhat peeved at being forced to wait for so long for them to finally arrive.

"Well it's about time you bothered to show up" she exclaimed, not even bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. "Took you guys long enough to get here. I was starting to get worried."

Sitting next to the mare was a rather ornate looking wooden roofed carriage held up by two large wheels. It looked somewhat worn from disuse, as most of the green and gold paint that once decorated it had long since peeled off, but aside from that it at least appeared to be serviceable. Nonetheless Quartz could see Roughshod appraising the craft with a critical eye, no doubt looking for any sort of flaw he could find that might indicate it as being a danger to its passenger.

"Sorry for the delay," Quartz apologized. "In any case is the carriage ready?"

"It was ready a while ago," Nightshade answered as she moved to strap the front end of the carriage around herself tightening it around her barrel while still allowing her feathered wings to be able to move freely. "It may look a little rusty, but as far as I can tell it should still be able to get off the ground at least." Looking at Quartz she asked, "Did you ever use this thing?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Quartz replied, "Once or twice. I'm always here, so I just never had that much use for it."

"Well if that's the case then the flight enchantment should still be working," Nightshade said. Quartz nodded in agreement, but Roughshod still did not appear to be entirely convinced however. Trotting over, he gave one of the wheels a light tap with his hoof.

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "Because I don't want Rose getting on that thing if it's not one hundred percent safe for her."

Quartz wanted to roll her eyes and tell the stallion that he was getting worked up over nothing, but decided against the action. Roughshod was only concerned for the well being of his wife and foal after all, and she was absolutely not going to fault him for that. Still, she at least wanted to put some of his concerns at ease. Before she could say anything however, Rose Flare chose that moment to speak up.

"It's okay sweetie," she said to Roughshod, walking over to stand beside him. Extending a hoof, she wrapped it around his foreleg, and the stallion seemed to relax slightly from the contact. "Everything will be fine. I'll only be gone for a little while, at least until the Princess and the Royal Guard finish up their business here. And then I'll be right back, okay?" Roughshod looked like he wanted to say something else, but an affectionate nuzzle from Rose cut him off. "It'll be okay," she added, and Quartz could not help but overhear the slight hitch in the mares voice. 

For a little while the two ponies remained like that, neither one wanting to leave the other, and Quartz felt a sense of longing as she watched them. Eventually they released each other, and Roughshod opened the carriage door before helping Rose up the step. As soon as she was inside and comfortably situated, Roughshod closed the door, making sure it was securely latched. With a wave of her hoof Rose beckoned for him to come a little closer. She looked like she wanted to say something to him, but could not find the appropriate words. Instead she settled for leaning out the carriage and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, which he returned. 

"Are you ready to go?" Nightshade asked gently, sounding hesitant to interrupt their moment. "I mean, it takes a little while to get to Canterlot, and we only got so much time before the Royal Guard changes their mind about letting us go." With eyes glistening and ears folded against the back of her head, Rose gave a short reply of "Yes" before pulling her head back inside. Nightshade waited until her passenger was comfortable before she gradually began to trot forwards, pulling the carriage behind her. With a few flaps of her wings the mare gradually started to climb into the air along with the carriage as the spell cast on it took hold, being sure not to make too steep of an incline as she rose higher and higher into the evening sky. All Roughshod could do was just stand there and watch while they receded into the distance in the direction of Canterlot. 

Barely making a sound, Quartz sidled up along beside him. She wanted to say something to him, something to ease his mind, which she knew was undoubtedly plagued with worry over his pregnant wife. But there was little she could say to help. Feeling that words would have been meaningless anyway, Quartz chose instead to sidle up alongside him, offering the comfort of her presence as she silently prayed for them.



 

"How much longer are we gonna be at this captain?" Willow questioned as he continued to follow his superior through the dense forest, his armor which felt at least one size too big for him making a little clanking noise with every step the young stallion took. 

Captain Stalwart, already tired from trekking through the woods without finding anything of note, replied in a tone that barely qualified as a whisper, "Button up Willow, and keep quiet or I'll tie it shut. We still don't know what we're dealin' with aside from what the Princess told us, so kindly shut your trap and keep moving. Please."

"Yes sir," Willow answered, falling back a few paces behind the captain to rejoin the rest of his fellow guards. There were around twenty of them total in their group, with similar numbers making up the others as each one scoured the forest. Luna had made it extremely clear to them in their briefing that they were not to venture away from their group or confront the creature, whatever in Tartarus it was, without assistance. Aside from the rather brief description the Princess had given them to identify it, Willow had next to no idea what exactly they were even trying to find. 

Spotting a pony he recognized under the armor, Willow came up along beside her and said to her in a hushed tone, "So Hammer, what do you think is gonna happen if we find this thing?"

"You really should follow the captains orders and stop talking," Hammer Hoof replied through clenched teeth. A moment later the earth pony mare added, "But if I had to hazard a guess, we'll probably just end up having to kill it. We wouldn't have brought such heavy equipment otherwise. If I'm being completely honest, I think it's just a wyvern that got a little too comfortable around ponies. I heard that their much more aggressive when their not in the cold up North. The ponies that saw it must have gotten the description mixed up, confused for something else."

"That's what I was thinking too," Willow responded as he stepped over a fallen log in his path while Hammer just went around it. "I mean, what else do you think could give all those ponies back there that big of a scare?"

Hammer Hoof snorted. "If you ask me, they've been hiding behind that wall of theirs a little too long. We're the Royal Guard, not foalsitters."

"I hear ya," Willow said, nodding his head in agreement. "So what do you think-"

"Did I not just say to stow it Willow?!" Stalwart said sharply, looking directly at the young stallion. Willow froze, like a deer caught in a light. "If I hear another word outta you, you're carrying me back to Canterlot on your back when we get done here! Do I make myself clear?"

Too afraid to respond with a "Yes sir" for fear of it going against the captain's order, Willow opted to give a fervent nod in reply. Stalwart growled deep in his throat as he resumed walking. Willow could hear the sound of some of the other members of the Royal Guard snickering at his misfortune, and he felt his face flush from embarrassment. This kind of behavior was nothing new among them, and Willow had become somewhat used to it despite the short amount of time since he was accepted into their ranks.

That did not mean that he had to like it however, and the sooner they were done with their job the better. Willow was just glad that the sky was as clear as it was, with only one little stray cloud to be seen, allowing the full moon to shine clearly down upon them through the tree branches in shafts of pearlescent white light, courtesy of Princess Luna. It might as well have been daytime, which was something Willow and the others were very grateful for as they continued to search the forest at a steady pace.

Every once in a little while Willow would glance upward to see if he could catch even so much as a fleeting glimpse of the Lunar Princess, hoping to witness her beautiful midnight blue form against the backdrop of the night sky, with the moons white light reflecting off of her regalia. So far however he had yet to catch sight of her, and each time his gaze would drift back downward in disappointment. No sooner had he done this however than did he feel somepony next to him nudge him in the side with a hoof, and he looked over to see Hammer giving a sly grin.

"Hoping to see something you like?" she questioned cheekily, her tone suggesting that she knew all too well the answer to the question already. Willow did not bother to dignify her with any sort of response, choosing instead to look away as he tried to not let her see the blush that was rapidly spreading across his muzzle. He could faintly hear the sound of Hammer chuckling quietly beside him.





The next hour was spent in relative silence as the group continued to march forward, each mare and stallion doing their absolute best to make as little noise as possible to preserve the element of surprise. Willow himself believed that whatever they were trying to find would have to be completely deaf to not hear them coming. The night air was filled with the snap of twigs beneath metal clad hooves and the rattle of armor. 

The spellcasters within their group were doing their best to mitigate the din with noise canceling spells, but there was only so much they could do to keep up. Most of their efforts were being put into making sure that the arbalests were completely silent as they were pulled along behind them over the rough and uneven terrain. They kept what would otherwise have been little more than giant noisemakers in their situation as quiet as a field mouse, which was something that Willow supposed he was grateful for. 

The only downside to this strategy was that the task of keeping the spell active was especially taxing on the unicorns maintaining it, which meant that they had to stop more often than they normally would have to allow them to recover their strength, leaving many of the Royal Guard with nothing better to do than sit on their haunches and twiddle their hooves until they were ready to move again.

Willow let out a heavy sigh as he sat down, awaiting the moment when Captain Stalwart would give the order. This stop seemed to be taking a bit longer than usual however, and Willow was beginning to feel the onset of boredom. Glancing around, he saw that many of the other members of the Royal Guard appeared to be just as anxious as he was. Not for the first time, Willow found himself wondering why they were all required to be here if all they were doing was hunting down some stray beast, or why they even needed arbalests for it. He imagined that they probably would have been done by now if they did not have to lug them around. 

Shaking his head at it all, Willow retrieved his water canteen from his saddlebags and held it up to his mouth to drink. He was slightly confused however when he found that it was practically empty, having only a few drops left to offer. Willow silently cursed his misfortune, as he was sure that he had remembered to refill it earlier. As luck would have it however, Willow's ears picked up what appeared to be the sound of running water not too far off. Since it looked like they would be here for a little while yet, the young stallion decided he had time enough to quickly go and refill his canteen. All he needed was somepony else to go with him. Thankfully it did not him long to locate Hammer Hoof a short distance away. As quietly as he could, Willow made his way towards her, where he found the mare with her front legs propped up on top of a rotten tree stump as she readjusted the straps holding her armor in place with her teeth.

Noticing his approach, she paused in her task to look at him curiously and ask, "Need something?"

"Ran out of water," Willow explained, showing her his empty container. "I think I hear a stream or something close by though."

Raising an eyebrow at him Hammer asked, "And you felt the need to tell me this. . . why?"

"You know the rule," Willow responded while trying not to roll his eyes. "Nopony goes anywhere by themselves. Buddy system and all. It should just be common sense."

Hammer Hoof just gave him a blank look for a few seconds before sighing and getting off of the stump. "Fine," she said. "Bu we'd better make it quick."

Feeling a little pleased with himself for getting her to agree to his request, Willow went about following his ears to where the sound of water seemed to be coming from, a disgruntled Hammer Hoof in tow behind. After letting one of the sentries know where they were going, Willow and Hammer stepped away from the main group and into the depths of the woods. After a few minutes of trotting through dense underbrush, stepping over fallen logs and the occasional rock in their path, the two ponies emerged out into the open, finding themselves standing before the shore of a large pool at the foot of a sheer cliff. A waterfall could be seen in the distance, the moons light reflect off of the liquid, making it appear like a curtain of falling silver within a cloud of stardust. Willow would have liked to have just sat there for moments just to take it all in. 

"Will you hurry it up?" Hammer said forcefully, causing Willow to glance behind him to see the mare looking around, appearing visibly nervous out in the open. "I don't want to be out here any longer than I have to."

"What's the matter?" Willow questioned in a teasing tone, unable to stop a smirk from spreading across his muzzle. "You're not scared of the monster are you? You think it's gonna come out and get you?"

Scowling at him, Hammer replied, "Oh don't you worry about me one bit. I'll make sure it's too busy chewing on your ass while I make my getaway. Of course, that'll only happen if you don't hurry it up."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Willow chuckled in mild amusement at Hammer's skiddish behavior. She always had been a little nervous at night for some reason. Even so, Hammer still made a valid point, as Willow also wanted to get this done as quickly as possible. Hurrying over to the edge of the pool, he uncapped his canteen and dipped the open end beneath the surface, allowing it to gradually fill itself.





Angela was stirred from her rest by the distinct sound of something moving around at the water's edge, not too far off from where she was located at the bottom of the pool. Every little disturbance sent little vibrations through the water, causing her spines to twitch slightly in response. 

There was definitely something up there, some sort of animal coming to get a drink, that was completely unaware of her presence. Feeling her hunting instincts take over slightly from the thought of finally getting a meal, the wraith kept her profile as low as possible as she slowly glided forward along the bottom, barely disturbing the sand beneath her. Her spines laid flat against her back, further reducing her profile as she prepared herself to strike.





Hammer tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground as she waited for Willow to finish filling his canteen. He was already taking long enough as it was, and she did not want stick around this place, especially when the creature they were looking for could be potentially anywhere. Every few seconds she glance backward to make sure that nothing was sneaking up on her while she was not looking.

"Are you almost done?" she whispered loud enough for Willow to hear her.

"Yeah," he replied, sparing her quick glance over his shoulder. "It'll just be another second."

Hammer sighed, resuming tappig her hoof to keep herself distracted. Suddenly a faint splash, along with an exclamation of "Dammit!" drew her attention back to Willow, and she saw that he was now rooting through the water for something.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" she demanded, struggling not to yell.

"Slipped out of my hooves, just give me a sec'," he explained as he glanced at different places in the water, trying to locate his canteen by using his hooves to sift through the water. 

Hammer was absolutely livid at this point, as was about ready to buck the stallions sorry behind all the way back to Canterlot for wasting her time. With as much splashing as he was doing in trying to find his canteen, something was bound to hear him, which worried Hammer greatly. Before she could close the distance between them however, something in the corner of her vision caught her attention. A few yards away, on one of trees, she could see a miscolored spot on the bark. When she looked closer she saw that it was not actually miscolored, but the bark appeared to have been stripped off, creating a gaping wound in the tree that allowed her to see its pale flesh beneath as sap leaked out, listening in the moonlight. At first, she thought that it was a mark left by a bear establishing territory or something like that. However, the fact that the mark was more than a dozen feet off of the ground and covered almost the entire length of the tree told her otherwise.

From what she could make out, this was not the only tree. A few yards away, she could see other trees had been similarly marked. Some were even missing branches, and they were all leading into the forests depths like a trail. A trail created by something very big.

"Willow," she whispered, urgently, trying to gain the stallions attention. She could still hear him looking for his canteen, but she received no answer. "Willow!" she said more forcefully, trying not to shout as she kept a close eye on the trees, looking out for any sign of movement. 

"What?" he replied, finally looking at her.

"I really think we should-" Hammer began to say as she glanced over towards him, only to stop short when she noticed something behind him. It was so subtle that she had almost missed it, but Hammer could just barely make out what appeared to be a faint reddish glow just beneath the waters surface. And it was heading straight towards them. 

Hammer Hoof instantly went pale, and alarm shot through her body as she attempted to warn Willow, whose attention was turned away from it. 

"Loo-"

But that was as much as she was able to say before the water erupted before them, and a massive nightmarish creature as big as a dragon rocketed out of the depths, leaving bright red streaks in its wake as it headed towards them at speeds Hammer would not have thought possible for something so big, appearing as little more than a blur in her vision. Poor Willow did even have enough time to scream as he was scooped up in the creatures massive claws that could rend through a dragons scales, and Hammer could nothing more than watch as the monster, a huge sleek eyeless thing, pulled him back into the water as though it were being yanked by strings. 

And just like that it was over. The entire scene had only taken a second to play out, yet it left Hammer frozen to the spot in terror, looking at the spot Willow had once just been with her mouth agape. Eventually she was able to regain control of her legs and hooves, and she took off as quickly as her hooves could carry her.





Almost immediately after she had snatched up what she had assumed to be prey off the shore of the pool and pulled it back into the murky depths, all at the speed of a bullet, Angela felt that something was not quite right. In her hands, she felt not the soft flesh of a deer or some other forest animal. Instead she felt something more akin to the aluminum of a soda can. Angela was fairly certain that the last time she had checked, deer did not typically have anything hard on their bodies. 

As she held the creature in her claws, Angela prevented herself from just crushing it in her hands and devouring it as a nagging suspicion began to form at the back of her mind. It overrode her instincts for the moment, and Angela was beginning to feel a small amount of dread. Moving closer to the pools surface, Angela was able to more clearly see what she had caught.

'Oh shit.'

There, grasped in her clawed hand, was a pony. A stallion she thought by the look of his build, clad in golden armor. Angela just about had a heart attack the moment she saw him, fearing that she had killed him. Shocked by what she had just done, Angela released him as a wave of panic settled over her. 

However, her fears proved to be unfounded when she saw him move around a little bit, and she felt a huge amount of relief. He at least appeared to be conscious, although he had sustained multiple injuries. A cloud of red began to form around him, and when Angela looked closer she saw that his armor had been bent in various places, the edges cutting into his fur and skin, and his left foreleg was bent at an awkward angle. He was understandably more than a little dazed as he groped around with his good limb, his eyes fluttering open as he attempted to regain his focus and identify his surroundings. The moment his sight landed on her, his eyes flew open, becoming the size of dinner plates. He opened his mouth to scream, only to have his voice muffled when water flooded into his mouth, coming out as a plume of bubbles. He flailed around as he tried desperately to get away from her, making a break for the surface. 

Angela had no idea what to do. She wanted to help him, but she feared that she would only injure him even further. She also wanted to run away, thinking that she had effectively destroyed any chance she had of making peace with the ponies. She was caught in a moment of indecision as she watched the pony swim. Unfortunately it did not appear that he was making much headway. If anything it appeared that he was actually sinking lower, and she realized with a jolt that his armor was dragging him downward.

'I have to help him,' she thought, knowing he would die otherwise. However as she moved forward, the coppery scent of his blood in the water stopped her in her tracks, and the wraith was suddenly reminded of her hunger. She had forgotten it in her panic, but now it had returned with a vengeance. 

She knew it would have been wrong, but it would be so easy to end it right here and now. The little pony was all but powerless against her right now. She would not even have to do anything to him at all, not when she could just wait for him to sink to the bottom and perish there. It would be the water that had killed him, not her. 

It would not be her fault then. 

Would it?

Even now she could plainly see that the pony's efforts were weakening, and less bubbles were coming from him as he continued to struggle, desperately trying to reach the surface of the pool, only to watch it slip further and further away. Still he fought, and all Angela could do was watch, caught between her desire to help and her need to satisfy her hunger. She knew she should find the thought of eating him repulsive, but he was already so close to death anyway. He probably only had a minute left, if that, before he eventually succumbed, and then she could feast with a free conscience. 

Right?

At this point the pony's fight for survival had all but ceased entirely as he sank deeper and deeper, while Angela moved to follow him, finding herself waiting in eager anticipation for the moment when she could finally sate her hunger.

And then she saw his face, as it went from panicked desperation for life to complete hopelessness, and his desperate struggle ceased entirely. He stopped moving, and his eyes slid shut as he drifted downward. 

The sight of the pony seeming to accept his fate was enough to finally snap Angela out of her state of mind, forcing aside her instincts and allowing her to realize that allowing him to perish was no different than if she killed him herself. She quickly gathered him up, holding him close to her chest before rocketing towards the surface, erupting out of the water. As soon as she was above the water she made a beeline for the shore, where she set him down as gently as possible on ground, hoping desperately that it was not too late, not just for him but for her as well. To her alarm however she found that he was not moving at all anymore. He was not even breathing, and Angela realized that his lungs were probably full of water. 

Almost afraid to touch him for fear of making things worse, Angela hoped she was doing the right thing as she gently lifted him off the ground and tilted him forward slightly, allowing a stream of water to flow out of his mouth. When she was fairly confident that his lungs were clear, Angela set him down again.

He still was not breathing.

Angela's heart was pounding in her chest, and she was starting to hyperventilate as she frantically tried to think of a what to do. Acting on instinct, she carefully used her claws to snip away at the straps holding his armor in place before tossing it aside. She then began to press down a gently as she could on his side trying not to crush his ribs in the process. It felt very much like trying resuscitate a mouse, one wrong move and she end up killing him instead of saving him.

'Please,' she pleaded desperately, begging that she could be heard. 'Please wake up.'

But even after whole minutes with no results, Angela was beginning to feel that this was a fruitless endeavor, and was about to give up. But still kept trying, knowing she could not handle being responsible for another death. 

Her persistence was rewarded, and Angela felt a huge amount of relief descend upon her when the pony finally stirred, uttering a series of hacking coughs as he came to. Feeling ready to collapse at this point, Angela backed away a little to give him a little breathing room as he lifted his head, wincing a little from the motion. His eyes were clenched from the discomfort he was no doubt experiencing until he opened them a little, glancing around at his surroundings. 

"Wha. . . ?" he groaned uncertainly, apparently confused as to how he ended up here. "What happened?"

Then he noticed the huge shadow that Angela was casting over him, and he went completely stiff. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pony turned his head around, then gradually looked up at the wraith looming above him. 

Feeling more than a little sheepish, Angela gave him a hesitant little wave of her clawed hand, trying to replicate a grin with her jaws.

'H-hi.'

The pony proceeded to faint.