//------------------------------// // ... To the Depths of Tartarus // Story: The Monster Below: Nightfall // by Greenback //------------------------------// Darkness gives way to light. Stone and brick yields to white walls and marble. I’m in the castle; I don’t know how I got here, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except getting to the hospital. I run, hooves cracking the floor as I burst into the open air. The sky is clogged with smoke rising from the fields and lower levels of the city, and screams of pain and fear assault my ears. Hundreds of ponies rush about, many wounded or carrying the wounded. I run from the palace and fight my way through the streets, shoving others aside as I race towards the lower levels, trying to keep my parents steady upon my back. I’d fly, but I can’t risk them falling off. My legs stumble, fidgeting and twitching so much that I almost collapse, but I keep going. I can’t stop, not now! I finally reach the plaza where the city’s hospital is, and... Oh buck!  It’s overflowing with the hurt and the wounded; hundreds, no, thousands of ponies fight to get inside, the screams of agony overwhelming. Nurses are running to and fro to do what they can, but there’s no way I can get to them, not with all these ponies! Oh buck, what do I do!? What do I do?! Someone yanks on my legs. I spin, ready to throw–wait, it’s Beakbreaker! “Silverspeak, we can’t stay here!” she shouts. “The police station! They should have medical supplies there!” The police station is further down; by the time I’d fight my way through the crowds it would be too late. The castle! It has to have a medical station, oh buck, why didn’t I look when I ran out?! No, no, we can’t go back. It’s too far, and the building was too crowded; it will be, too. But what do I do?! I can’t just stand here! I have to do something, but what?! Celestia help me, what do I–wait! My apartment complex! It’s bound to have a small medical station, a first aid kit, anything to treat the most valuable castle employees! I spread my wings. “Beakbreaker, get on and hold my parents!” “What?!” “I said, get on!” Beakbreaker does so and I take off, flying through the storm of pegasi ponies rushing about. I ignore them all, focused on the apartment tower near the castle. There’s no time for subtly; when we reach my apartment I blast the window apart with a spell and land hard in the bedroom, turning so my parents slide onto the bed. “I’ll go find a first aid kit!” Beakbreaker’s barely off my back as I fly back outside and down to the lobby, blasting through the doors and tearing through the offices. There has to be something here! Management would have something here for emerge–there! A first aid kit! Grabbing it, I rush out and fly back to my apartment, but my landing is too hard, and my legs crumple, gears and pistons falling to the floor. “Silverspeak?!” I toss the kit to Beakbreaker. She rips it open and injects my parents with painkillers before trying to stop the flow of blood. Forcing myself up, I grab every sheet I can find and press them against my mother’s side. White turns to red and I press another sheet down, but it instantly turns red. “Stay with me, Mom! You hear me?! Stay with me!” Mom struggling to breathe, her body shaking as the blood continues to come out. Oh Celestia there’s so much blood, how can she have so much blood?! And it’s not just her, but Dad, too. Beakbreaker’s trying her best, but his arteries are gushing blood, soaking her, the bed, everything! I fight to hold back the tears. Why didn’t I kill Mangus when I had the chance?! I should have! None of this would be happening. We’d all be fine and together and safe! I’m an idiot, a bucking idiot! Beakbreaker shouts a curse as she fights to stop my father from bleeding out. She yells something at me, but I can’t hear her. I can’t hear anything. I can only stare. What do I do?! I don’t know what to do! Celestia, help me, what do I do?! Wait... wait, my magic! I can use my magic to stop the bleeding! Closing my eyes, I focus, willing my magic to plug my parent’s wounds. Letting go, I watch as green magic flies to my mother and father, pressing down against the holes in their bodies. It’s working! The blood’s stopped!  I did it! Yes, yes, yes, I did it! I... Wait. Why are they still struggling?! I spin to Beakbreaker. “What’s wrong with them?!” Beakbreaker’s a heartbeat away from falling apart. “They’ve suffered massive internal trauma. T... they...” “No! They’re not going to die! They’re going to live!” My magic will keep them safe; it’ll stabilize them until the hospital quiets down. The doctors can treat them, and they’ll be okay! I just have to keep the spell in place. I don’t care how long it’s going to take, I’ll keep them going no matter how- Sparks fly as machinery give out, blue fluid trickling onto the carpet. I collapse, and see blood trickling off the bed and onto the floor before me. “NO!” I force myself up, ignoring the crunching noises in my torso. I have to focus! FOCUS! I do, and the magic stabilizes. The flow of blood stops. Mom and Dad slow their breathing. “Mom, Dad, stay with me. I need you to stay with me, okay?! We need to hang on until the hospital can take you.” My parents don’t seem to hear me. They don’t seem to be in pain. In fact, they don’t seem to be aware of their injures; they’re looking off into the distance, as if distracted by something. “Mom? Dad?” They look to me, and for a moment I feel a surge of hope. They’re not in pain at all, not when they suddenly look so peaceful. But... their smiles. I’ve never seen smiles so hopeful, yet so resigned. Something’s wrong. “Don’t leave me,” I say. “Please, hang in there!” Mom reaches out to me. I take her hoof in mine, clutching it, trying to ignore the pain that’s building in my head. “Please, Mom, don’t give up! I can save you!” Mom’s eyes meet mine. Her lips quiver as she shakes her head. “No!  No, no, no!  I can save you!” Oh Celestia, I'm crying. I can't cry, not now! “I'll get you to the hospital, I'll... I'll find Princess Luna! She can heal you! Or Celestia! I know she can! But you have to hang on, you hear me?! You both have to hang on!" But even with my words, there's no denying what's before me: I can see the bleeding and the mangled flesh beneath my magic. There’s no way someone with those wounds could- NO! No, I can’t think like that! They’ll make it! Celestia help me, I’ll get them through this! I’ll- Dad struggles to move. “Dad, stay still!” Dad slowly reaches for me. “Dad, you’re going to be okay!” Dad trembles, the effort of holding up his hoof taking everything he has. “Dad, please!” Mom reaches her hoof out as well, both holding their hooves together, side by side. No... no, no, no, oh Celestia, I can’t do it! They’re trying to help me, but if I return the gesture, they might... Mom and Dad wince, trying to keep their legs up. Biting my lip, I touch my hoof to theirs. “This isn’t the end,” I say. “You’re going to get better, you hear me? I’m going to make you better.” Mom and Dad sigh as they lower their legs, their bright, beautiful eyes still focused on mine, free of pain and fear. Something within those eyes goes dark. “No...” My parent’s chests rise with a deep breath. They fall. I wait for them to go back up. They don’t. “No! No, no, no!” My parents don't move. “Mom! Dad! No!” I grab them, but my parents don’t respond. They’re not dead, they’re not! They’re... they’re in a coma! If I can just shake them hard enough they’ll wake up and everything will be okay! Beakbreaker says something. I can't hear her. I keep shaking my mom and dad, pleading with them to wake up. The spell breaks. Blood flows onto the bed. I try to cast it again, but I can’t focus! Why can’t I focus?! I’ve got to save them, got to get them to the hospital, got to get them to doctors who can make them wake up, why won’t they wake up?! “Silverspeak...” Spell... I’ve got to cast the spell, got to save them, got to- “Silverspeak.” “Help me, Beakbreaker! We’ve got to stop the bleeding!  We’ve got to-” Beakbreaker’s hoof comes down on my shoulder. “Silverspeak, I’m sorry, but they... they...” “They’re not dead!” I scream. “They’re not, you hear me?! They’re not dead! They wouldn’t leave me! They wouldn’t! They... they...They wouldn’t... they... they...” The flow of blood has stopped. My parents have gone pale. Their chests still don’t rise. “They’ll wake up, won’t they, Beakbreaker? Please tell me they’ll wake up.” The first tear comes. I try to stop it. “They’ve got to...” Another tear drips down my cheek, and then another. I can’t stop them. I’m shaking. I can’t stop shaking. My throat tightens as a sob escapes. “They’ve got..." I collapse to the floor. “They’ve...” I feel Beakbreaker’s legs go around me. Tears pour down my cheeks. Beakbreaker holds me as I cry.