Adventures of Diamond Dancer (Mission Logs)

by RarityEQM

Mission #08: City of Blood

Teleporting. Teleporting isn't exactly the most fun means of travel, especially when you can't control it. Ok, so, imagine you're walking into your room. That's easy, right? That's just walking through a doorway, and then, bam, you're there! Teleporting is like that, only instead of walking into another room, you're suddenly just in that room, without the walking part. Now imagine if you're not expecting to go into that other room. You're just sorta hanging out, reading a book, and suddenly you're in the middle of the city.

Detrot city, as a matter of fact. This is my account of the mission.

Drakul the Blood Pony is wreaking havoc on the City of Detrot. I don't know who this guy is, but he seems to have some sort of history with Princess Luna. Doesn't matter to me one way or another. Princess Luna wants him stopped. That's all I need to hear. Princess Luna asks if we're ready to go, once the crew is gathered. We're down. Poof. Teleported right into the heart of the city. I will NEVER get used to that. Me, Princess Luna, Firefly, and Virga. And for some reason; Dinky Hooves. Dinky is apparently the Princess's personal student. Learning the dark arts of Necromancy, or something. Magic is a bit over my head, but I do hope Dinky will end up joining the Night Crew at some point. It would be nice to have someone my own age to talk to.

But I push thoughts of Dinky out of my head. The princess brought us here for a reason, and that's to find Drakul. That's where I come in. I'm the scout. I like this job. Makes me feel important. Like I'm really doing something. Like I'm a real member of the team and not just some tag-along. I'm not just some kid! I'm a grown up! A real mare! A pony to be reckoned with!!

Firefly pats me on the head and smiles down at me. Illusion shattered.

"Fly swiftly, Errant." She intones. Still, I flash her a smile. I like Firefly. I'm up in the air in a moment, pumping my wings and giving the group a little salute.

"Be careful, Dia." Virga says. Virga. Always acting looking out for me. He cares about me kind of like the way I think a dad might. If I had a dad. I like Virga. I toss him a smile as well, then I'm off like a shot, flying as fast as I can through the concrete jungle of the city.

Geez, Detrot is a big place. Huge, really. Like really really huge. Much bigger than Manehatten, and only after a few turns and streets, I'm utterly lost. Not a big deal, really. The night crew will come to me- all I've got to do is find Drakul.

That's the problem, though. This city is freakin' empty! I mean the place is quiet. Too quiet. No ponies to be seen anywhere! The entire city is empty! Freakin' creepy!

I zip along for a while, looking left and right, scanning abandoned streets and empty alleys. For losing most of my senses to Icarus Syndrome, I've got pretty darned good eyesight. Probably my pegasus heritage. I can even see the cracks in the concrete ground if I focus enough, but what I'm looking for is- there! A pony! Standing all by himself, in the middle of the street. Now, if I were anypony else, I'd think twice about walking into what is so obviously a trap, but I'm Diamond Dancer! Miracle Mare! I zip right down and land on my face a few feet away from it. CRUNCH.

See, my wings don't work quite right, and with Icarus Syndrome siphoning away my ability to feel touch, trying to land is not often an option- so I just crash. Only thing it hurts is my pride, and I ran out of that stuff a long time ago.

So, anyway, I'm up on my hooves, approaching this pony, hoping it's a survivor or something and it can tell me whats going on. He turns around. He's missing half of his neck, and one of his eyes. His face is covered in blood. Zombie. Great.

Not really a big deal. Not what I was looking for, but not something I'm afraid of. I mean, it's just one zombie, right? And I'm the Fantastic Filly. Even though he's bigger than me, Zombies are stupid. I can totally take this guy. Piece of cake.

Wrong.

Why can't it ever just be one zombie? It's never just one zombie. Is there like, a zombie union or something I don't know about? Rules say there can't just be one? Cause just one zombie would be nice. But of course, this dude is not alone. I guess my crash must have made more noise than I thought, because suddenly these things are all over me. From where I am on the ground, I can roughly count sixteen opponents approaching me. All crawling out of the woodwork. All of them decaying. Dying. Dead.

Hungry.

The pony closest to me gets my attention first. I bounce forward. A fierce headbutt to send it stumbling back. Now I have room to take off, and I immediately pitch myself into the air. Icarus Syndrome kicks in. Can't feel my wings. See, normally I fly via muscle memory. It's natural for a pegasus to just take to the air, but when I'm stressed, or frustrated, or scared, and I'm thinking to much, I try to fly by thinking about it. You know, as opposed to um...not thinking about it.

So my left wing flaps too hard, and my right wing not enough, and I end up in a half-step-chicken-walk. Embarrassing. Not that the zombies care. No, they're all over me like white on rice. (I actually don't know what that means. I just heard Firefly say it once)

Ok, so this is bad. I'm surrounded and pinned down on my back. They're biting me. Chomping at my neck, my arms, my legs, my sides, greedily reaching for me with disgusting, decaying hooves. No, it doesn't hurt. But it's terrifying. I can see it in their eyes- nothing. There is nothing there. Mindless drones. Killing machines. No heart. No consciousness. No pity. No mercy. And I'm surrounded by them. There is nothing more here than the desire to kill me and there's nothing in the world that can sate that desire.

This is gonna be nightmares for a few months to come.

I struggle. I kick, and I wiggle, and I buck. Get off! Get off, get off GET OFF!! My left hind leg manages to catch one of them in the jaw. Sends him stumbling back. Good. Enough freedom for me to work with. I still need more room if I'm going to escape, though. My right foreleg swings around to clock another zombie in the head. Stunned. Just long enough for me to right myself. On my hooves now. Oh, they're still trying to hold me down, but now I've got a fighting chance. Flying isn't an option, so I try to scramble away. I head butt the closest zombie and I twist, and flick my feathers and kick my hooves, and try to tug myself free from these terrible things atop me. Zombies. Ick. Finally, I manage to make a little headway. I wriggle, and twist and- YES! I'm free! Being small has it's advantages!

So here's what this looks like now: There are maybe sixteen or so zombies lurching for me. I'm only a few steps out of their grasp, and I'm not looking forward to fighting these guys. I'm not afraid I'll get turned, no, that's not it. I'm invulnerable, so all those bites and chomps have no effect, but they could hold me down forever trying to pierce my skin. And they'll try. Cause zombies are pretty stupid. They won't realize I'm not dying, they'll just keep biting and biting and biting. I may be invincible but I'm not very strong, and these are full grown ponies I'm dealing with. So my options boil down to one simple phrase: RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!

I race down the street. Turn left. Zombies. No good. Turn right. Empty street. Try the alley. Yes! It's empty. Open. Safe.

Wrong.

The alley is closed off- ending with a brick wall, and these things are approaching fast. I just put myself into a corner. Smooth moves, Diamond. One option. Come on wings, don't fail me now!! Please!! I scramble up into the sky in jerky little broken movements, but I get airborne none the less. Now I can see a LOT of zombies from where I am in the air. Tons of them. All crawling out of the abandoned buildings with the noise I've been making. Swell. Hopefully, the rest of the Night Crew is safe. No time to check on them, though. Gotta find Drakul. I'm off again, trying not to think about my wings, and flying full steam ahead.

Ok, lots of zombies, but no sign of Drakul. If I were controlling an army of the dead, where would I lead it from? Military strategy. Also not one of my strong points. I mean, point me at something and say "Crush that, Diamond." And hey, we're good. But ask me about making plans and attacks and retreats and, ugh. Just ugh. But if I had to guess, I'd pick some focal point, like City hall, or someplace in the center of town. But then, Maybe Drakul wants to be protected and hidden away, so why not someplace secure, like a sewer or something? Then again, maybe he wants a place he can hide, so maybe near the park, where he can use trees for cover or something? ARRGGHH. I have no idea where I'm supposed to be looking!!

But I've got to find him, so I figure I'll search everywhere. First, I'll start with City Hall. Is City Hall usually in the middle of town? Check that, I'll start with the middle of town. I shoot off in that direction- or at least the direction I think it's in. Scanning over rooftops and city streets. There. I spot something. A pony that seems a bit larger than the rest. Also covered in blood. And he's wearing a cape. Kind of a clue.

So I'm guessin this guy is who I'm lookin' for. Time to signal the team. I rocket into the air, pumping my wings at full speed and glance behind me. There's a sparkly trail. My contrail. Like Rainbow Dash or Firefly, when 'Elite' class pegasi go fast enough, we leave a contrail behind us. My contrail is a bright white light. Princess Luna says it's akin to a shooting star. Makes me smile every time I think of that. Anyway, with my contrail glowing behind me, I shoot up,down, left, right, down and glance behind me.

In the air, glowing bright is a large white star. It's slowly starting to fade away. It only lasts for maybe a second, but it's bright enough to serve it's purpose. My signal for the team to come and find me. Now to stall Drakul until they get here. I head back down towards the ground, crashing into the street behind him. Drakul is not what I expect him to be. First of all, he's almost got all of his flesh attached. Almost. I won't describe whats missing, cause it's totally gross, but I can tell this dude is a zombie. Next he's surprisingly young looking. Like, mid way between me and Twilight. Like he's a teenager. He flashes me a jagged smile, and points a hoof at me. Already zombies are closing in, converging on my position.

"Ahhhh, another eager recruit for my army! Welcome, welcome!" He cackles. I switch to battle mode. Single thoughts. Fragmented ideas. I glare. Hold my position. He glares back.

"DRAKUL!" Big booming voice. I know that voice. Luna. The Night Crew. A blast of ice takes care of the zombies closest to me. Virga's on the scene. He lands next to me, and offers me a nod of approval. I did a good job. Found the target. Focus on Drakul. Him and Luna are yelling at each other. Dinky is on Luna's back. New goal: Keep an eye on Dinky. Just in case.

Virga goes to work. Blast of ice. More zombies frozen. He's efficient. Powerful. Ruthless. I admire him. I want to be strong like that, one day. Fearless. Behind me , Firefly zooms in and grabs me in her forelegs. I already know where this is going. We've practiced this before. "Ice to meetcha" maneuver. Wish I had some warning prior. Doesn't matter. I'm ready.

Firefly takes me into the sky and whips me down at the iced over zombies. I crash into them, shattering them into shards. Effective. The next part of the plan is trickery. I lay still. Virga freezes in mid air. Alarmed.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! DIAMOND?! DIAMOND!!!!!" He screams. Firefly looks alarmed too. Drakul laughs. Hook line and sinker. He's monologing about great plan he has. I keep quiet. Remain still. I'm dead. Around me, Zombies shuffle by. I expect them to stop and attack, but they don't. Instead they start casting a spell. Whats going on? Some sort of ritual? They're controlled by Drakul. He's cackling madly. Suddenly there's something else on the battle field with us. From where I am, it's a giant glowing skeletal horse. Massive in size, and charging towards the team.

Virga fires a blast of ice at it. No effect. Firefly strikes with lightning. Nothing. Drakul shouts something about the unicorns casting the spell. While they're casting that thing is invincible. Is that a fact? Spring to my hooves. Surprise! Shoot forward like a missile. Full contact. I catch one of the zombie spell casters in the side. Bounce off his body like a pinball. Aim for the next one, pumping my wings to keep my momentum going. Crash into him nice and hard. I take his head off with the impact. Yuck. The third spell caster is a piece of cake. I leap up from the ground and wrap my arms around his head. I cling with all 75 pounds of filly I have. I throw all my weight to one side. Twist. Crack. He goes down. The skeletal horse stops glowing. No more spell casters. It's vulnerable.

I'm still eager to prove myself. I want to help take this guy down. I shoot forward, throwing my energy into tackling this giant demon horse from behind. I go for the legs. Maybe I can cripple him.

This was a bad decision.

I can't exactly tell you what happened next. I was out of the fight by this point. See, this giant demon horse trampled me. Big time. Crushed me completely under one of his hooves. As far as the world is concerned, I'm invincible. Complete and totally. This is what I tell ponies and they believe me. The secret is, not so much, even if it takes a lot to put me down. This giant demon beast doesn't even break stride, kicking me forward with one of those giant hooves of his. When it finally stops for whatever reason, I'm trapped underneath it. Buried under this massive hoof. Can't move. Can't breathe. No air. No hope. I start to suffocate. I can feel my mind going. Getting sleepy. Try to raise up. Fight back. Force my way out. It's to strong. Getting sleepy. Kick. Bite. Wiggle. Squirm. Getting sleepy. Call for help! SCREAM for help! Where is the crew?! Get it off of me!! Getting sleepy. The last thing I can think of is my brother. The pony who adopted me. Bardigan. And how sorry I am I'll never get to see him again. Then everything goes black.

Anyway. Since I can't tell this story anymore, I'm gonna ask my buddy Virga to fill in for me. He was there when I was under a hoof. But this is the end of my account of this story.

Comments

[Azure Ravenscroft]

Good chapter, 10/10.
Is there going to be more? I liked the last chapter so I hope you're not stopping like this

EDIT: Okay, now that it's been updated, this is very nice to read. The style's different to what I normally read but I'm liking it, a positive change

[Lady Lorelei]

A few errors nothing major, the pacing was nice- I enjoyed the zombies attacking Dia lol- that scene was done well and comedic.

The ending part's started to get a little wordy- lol just alot going on in such a short amount of time.

In all it was really good- never fell flat, and kept my attention.

Love this character and story-great job!

[TheTownCrier]

A nice change of pace from your more risque stories.