Beyond Imagination

by Argent

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“How in the world can you even walk in all of that?” Dawn’s voice broke the silence that had hung over their little procession all evening. It was their third night in the forest with the soldier ponies and while Dawnfire seemed to fit right in, Wanderlust was having trouble adapting and it didn’t help that Valiance seemed determined to walk the younger unicorn into the ground. Each morning, Wanderlust had collapsed onto the nearest flat surface and slept until one of the other ponies woke him, always before nightfall. He had no idea how far they’d come, or how far they had left to travel, and there was a not-insignificant part of him that didn’t really care.

“Well, I normally just put one hoof in front of the other and repeat until I’m finished,” Autumn replied, the note of levity in his voice apparent even through the harsh, metallic filtering of his helmet. The unicorn was stationed about half a step behind them at the rear of the group and seemed much more talkative than his commander.

“Pretty sure she’s wondering about the weight, Autumn,” Northwind chided. The pegasus alternated between flying patrols ahead of them and walking next to Dawn, enjoying the company of a fellow pegasus: Apparently she’d been the only one left in the squad for over two thousand years.

“Gee, really, North? I never would’ve guessed,” The other pony replied before turning back to Dawnfire. “Yeah, this kit weighs quite a bit: I wouldn’t be able to move without help. Luckily, there’s a system of gravity generators built in. Completely cancels out the weight.” The unicorn hopped deftly on one hoof for several steps to demonstrate before returning to his previous gait. “Like it’s not even there.”

“Plus,” Northwind added, a tinny giggle slipping through her helmet, “you can do all sorts of crazy things if you turn the safeties off. Like that time over Pride. I’m sure you remember that one, right, Autumn?”

The unicorn chuckled. “How could I forget that?” He turned his head to face Dawnfire and his voice took on the tone of one relating an oft-told, favorite story. “So here we are, dropping into contested territory on Pride colony. We’re in the first wave, plummeting gods-know how fast through the upper atmosphere, and we take a hit from some ground-based AA gun. Pilots are gone, engines are out, and we’re dropping like a brick from a couple miles up.

“Obviously, this isn’t a problem for the scouts, the feathered bastards don’t even need the dropship once we’re inside the atmosphere.” Autumn cast a quick glare at Northwind, and the others could almost sense her sticking her tongue out in response, hidden somewhere behind the macabre helmet. “Anyway, my point is that it’s a bit of an issue for the fifteen unicorns inside.

“So here I am making peace with my maker, the others are in various states of panic, I’m pretty sure Val pissed himself, and you know what the captain does?” He waited for Dawn to give a weak shrug before continuing. “She just yells,” The pony did what was presumably an imitation of his commanding officer as he continued, “‘If they think they can keep us out of the fight that easy, they don’t know who they’re fucking messing with!’” Autumn and North both started laughing wildly as Dawnfire turned to Wanderlust and cocked an eyebrow, clearly lost. “I mean, who even talks like that? It’s like something out of a bad movie,” Autumn gasped between laughs.

After a few seconds he finally regained most of his composure. “So anyway, she just starts grabbing ponies and shoving them out the side door! I didn’t even really realize what was going on until she shoved me out, too. Now, I thought I’d known just how crazy the captain wa-”

“Autumn!” Valiance barked from his station several strides ahead. “Keep the talk to a minimum. I’d prefer not to announce to the whole ring that we were coming. North, fly ahead and try to find us a place to set up for the night.”

“He doesn’t like when we talk about her,” North explained in a whisper. “They were close.”

“Especially after-” Autumn started before the pegasus cut him off.

“That’s definitely not something that’s ours to talk about,” She hissed, giving the unicorn a glare. “If he wants them to know, he’ll tell them.”

“I meant now, sergeant!” Valiance barked.

“On it, boss,” North responded quickly. The pegasus tensed and threw herself into the air, leaving a scattering of grey feathers in her wake.

“And I don’t think my personal history is a good topic of discussion, corporal.” The red pony continued, still not breaking stride.

“Right. Sorry, sir,” Autumn replied sheepishly. “Ears like a freaking bat,” He added under his breath.

“It helps that you never shut your radio off.”

“Right. That would help.” The yellow pony backed off a few steps, leaving Wanderlust and Dawnfire relatively alone in the center of the sparse procession.

“How are you doing, Wands?” Dawnfire asked him quietly.

“I’m fine,” The unicorn said curtly.

“Somehow I’m not sure I believe that.”

“Really, I’m fine,” Wanderlust shot back, a trace of heat in his voice.

“Which is why you’ve been so talkative lately,” She replied dryly, giving her companion a glare.

“I haven’t had anything to talk about.”

“We both know that’s not true, Wands. I’ve lost friends before,” The pegasus said softly. “I know that your first reflex is just to sit on it, hold it inside, but that’s not going to work, and I think you know it.” She looked at him hopefully and just sighed when the unicorn stared blankly back at her. “Listen, if you change your mind and you want to talk, I’m here.” Wanderlust grunted an acknowledgement and their journey continued in silence, Dawnfire casting a concerned glance towards him every few minutes.

It was nearing daybreak when Valiance abruptly turned to his left, leading them deep into the underbrush of the forest. “North’s found us a campsite,” He explained over his shoulder as the others followed, picking their way between the trees. “Autumn, think you can patch them into our radios?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem, Val,” The other pony responded. “Hardware’s about the same, it’s just a matter of making the encryptions play nice. If we’re lucky, it’ll be done by morning.”

Valiance nodded and led them deeper into the trees. It only took them a few minutes to reach a dense patch of the forest where the branches of the trees intertwined above their heads so tightly that they couldn’t see the sky.

“Took you long enough.” Wanderlust started at the unseen voice above him. Valiance seemed unshaken as, with a soft rustle, Northwind dropped from her perch among the treetops.

“Water?” The unicorn asked.

“There’s a creek a few minutes’ walk that way,” North replied, gesturing with her head.

“Good.” Valiance retrieved a canteen from one of his pouches and transferred it to one of North’s. “Top us off. Take the new girl with you.”

“On it,” The pegasus acknowledged, collecting canteens from the others as Dawn stripped off her barding.

Autumn settled down to fiddle with her radio as the two pegasi moved into the forest. “Thank the gods there’s another pegasus around,” The unicorn muttered to himself. “If I’d had to have one more conversation about feathers I would’ve thrown myself off a cliff.”

Valiance gave their surroundings a slow, careful look before removing the top half of his helmet. The stallion’s ears twitched as he sighed. “Wish they could’ve found a better way to cover our ears. Having them flattened against my head like that still drives me nuts.”

“Beats having one shot off,” Autumn pointed out, not looking up from his work.

Valiance titled his head to one side, considering. “Yeah, I suppose there’s that. Wanderlust,” The unicorn continued, looking at the younger pony, “give your barding to Autumn. I’d like to be able to talk to you if we get separated.”

As Wanderlust removed his barding and set it down next to the other unicorn, Valiance began to do the same. He watched in curiosity as the older unicorn used some sort of tool to loosen each plate and carefully set it aside with his magic. In the three days since their meeting, none of the soldiers had removed more than the helmet of their barding: North had explained that it simply took too long to take off and put back on to be practical while they were in danger. It took close to ten minutes before Valiance had nothing left to remove but the tight suit of thickly-woven, black fibers that lay beneath his armor. The unicorn undid the zipper down the back and slowly stepped out as Wanderlust’s eyes went wide.

Underneath the trappings of death, underneath the layers of metal and who knew what else, underneath the frightening visage painted atop his armor, the pony was a wreck. Too many missed meals had sapped him of every spare ounce, leaving only dry, matted fur and wiry muscle; Wanderlust swore he could even see one or two of the other pony’s ribs. The old soldier’s chest was pockmarked with patches of puckered skin, cleared of fur, that marked ages-old wounds. On his left shoulder there was a ghastly crater where an entire chunk of flesh had been ripped away. All of that paled in comparison to what Wanderlust saw as the red unicorn pulled his forelegs out of the black suit.

Valiance’s legs were a delicate latticework of silver metal and taut, black artificial muscle. The younger unicorn gasped, staring at the exposed workings of the mechanical limbs as they silently ticked along, moving in response to the unicorn’s effortless commands as he stretched. The older pony caught Wanderlust’s gaze and frowned.

“Land mine. On Dusk.” The brown unicorn stared back blankly. “Nevermind. Hopefully you never have to learn. Anyway, I’ve been dealing with a conundrum. You see, I’m stuck with you and your friend for the foreseeable future. Now, she’s useful: Pegasi make good scouts, and she definitely has a skillset I can make use of. You, however, have no applicable talents that I’ve seen yet, other than serving as the mouthpiece for one of the greatest military minds ever born to ponykind.” Autumn snorted behind him, but the red pony silenced him with a glare before turning back to Wanderlust. “There’s no room for dead weight here: Everypony needs to be able to hold their own in a fight.”

“I’m a quick learner,” Wanderlust replied tersely. I’m not useless.

“We’ll see. First lesson: Unarmed combat. I need to see what you already know. Try to take me down; No magic, no breaking bones.” Wanderlust gulped and stared at the dour soldier for a moment before charging. He flung himself through the air, trying to tackle his opponent. It was over so quickly that the unicorn wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he found himself on his back, seeing stars, out of breath, with Valiance’s back hoof planted on his chest.

The older unicorn used his magic to place Wanderlust shakily back on his hooves. “Okay. I’m going to show you what you did wrong, how to counter it, and then you’re going to try again,” Valiance commanded. Oh Celestia, it’s going to be a long day.

*

Whispers in the damp morning air woke him. It was dark beneath the trees and otherwise almost silent save the quiet sighs of the wind passing through the leaves. There was a barely-audible tapping every second or so; the sound of something softly striking metal. With every tap came a few whispered words.

“Cerul Skies: KIA, assault on Leviathan Ascendant.” Tap. “Stargazer: KIA, assault on Leviathan Ascendant.” Tap. “Obsidian: Missing during initial assault on ring. Presumed dead.” Tap.

Wanderlust cracked an eyelid and took in his surroundings. Dawn was curled up on the ground beside him, still asleep judging by her breathing. Northwind was sprawled across the ground a few feet away on her back, her wings twitching gently every few breaths. Autumn was propped against a tree, his forelegs crossed and his head leaning on his chest.

“Rosewater: KIA, initial assault on ring.” Tap. Wanderlust turned his head. Valiance was lying a few feet away, illuminated by the orange glow of his horn. The unicorn was tapping a knife against the marks on the front left leg of his barding, whispering a few words every time. “Mist: KIA...” His voice stopped mid-sentence. “Go back to sleep, Wanderlust. It’s going to be a long walk tonight.”

The young unicorn dutifully lowered his head to his hooves.

“Mist: KIA, initial assault on ring.” Tap.

*

“Magic is arguably the most powerful force available to a soldier on the battlefield.” Valiance’s voice rang loudly through the earpieces of Wanderlust’s radio as they entered the second hour of the night’s trek. Every muscle in his body ached as he struggled through the dense brush, just barely keeping pace with the older unicorn. Their training session the previous morning had dragged on for several hours, leaving Wanderlust bruised, battered and sore, a condition which had not improved after several hours spent asleep on the hard ground. He groaned and turned down the volume as the other pony continued to speak, apparently determined to turn today’s march into a lesson.

“It can function as a tool, a weapon, healing magic can save lives, teleportation and invisibility allow for soldiers to bypass enemy defenses and strike from within. It’s a force multiplier that cannot be matched except by units fielded by the draconequui and it gives Sentinel ground forces a crucial advantage in combat.”

“So how do earth ponies and pegasi fit into this?” Wanderlust inquired, glancing to check if Autumn was still in his trailing position. Dawn and North were off somewhere ahead of them, leaving the three unicorns alone.

“They don’t,” Valiance responded. “Sentinel Corps combat units are entirely unicorns, with units of pegasus scouts attached.”

“And earth ponies?”

“There are quite a few in Fleet and Logistics, but they aren’t allowed into the Sentinels.”

“Why not? They seem like they’d fit in well: They’re certainly strong and tough enough to be soldiers.”

“You’ve seen our equipment. Without all this armor, a pony in combat won’t last more than a few seconds, and it’s all powered by magic. Do you see the problem now?”

“Earth ponies couldn’t recharge their own equipment.”

“Exactly.” Valiance was silent for a moment as he reached a narrow ravine, stopping to pick the safest route across. After a moment, he deftly hopped across, resuming his swift pace on the far side. Wanderlust took a deep breath and followed.

“It takes a long time to travel between stars. It would take over a year to travel from one end of the Kingdom to another, traveling faster than light itself. Our equipment needs to last potentially years without resupply; There have actually been units cut off behind enemy lines for over a decade before they could be rescued. Do you know what happens to an earth pony when they’re cut off from resupply, from any unicorns in their unit?” He waited for a moment until he was certain that Wanderlust wouldn’t answer. “There were occasional field tests using earth ponies in heavy weapons units. When one was cut off, their weapons would fail, followed by their barding. They’d be stuck in one spot, unable to move, unable to see, unable to hear, just barely able to breathe.

“We saw it ourselves once, I can’t remember what the planet was called. We were pinned down in what was left of a city, only about a hundred yards from a trapped earth pony, but we couldn’t get to him. We had to listen as the griffons found him that night, dragged him back to their lines. I heard every scream as they pulled him out of his armor and ate him alive.” There were several long seconds of silence as Wanderlust fought to keep his breakfast down, his body cold as his mind was filled with visions of such a ghastly fate. “How did we get here?” Val asked in confusion.

“Magic,” Autumn prompted.

“Right, magic. How much do you know?”

“Not much. Mostly just telekinesis.”

“Mostly telekinesis as in ‘other things besides telekinesis’, or mostly telekinesis as in ‘only telekinesis’.”

Wanderlust glared at the other pony for a moment. “Only telekinesis.”

“Okay. Not ideal, but I can work with that. Telekinesis is the most valuable skill, anyway. It can serve as an offensive weapon, a defense against attack, and a general-purpose tool. As such, it’s a skill you need to master, and that will require constant practice.”

“How will I do that?”

Before Wanderlust could react, Valiance snatched a pinecone from the forest floor with his magic and flung it over his shoulder without looking. The younger unicorn yelped as it hit him square between the eyes.

“Catch,” The soldier ordered. “Next one’s a rock, by the way.”

*

“Val, we might have a problem.” It had taken them three weeks of walking to get this close to their destination, though it had seemed like much longer to Wanderlust. The young unicorn had spent every day and some nights training with the dour lieutenant leading the group. The training sessions had made the journey seem to drag on forever as he dealt with the aches and pains caused by Valiance’s choice of teaching methods and struggled to remember the wealth of strange information being thrown at him. When North’s voice came in through his earpieces, he had to stifle a groan. Oh, Celestia. Please don’t let this last any longer.

Valiance cocked his head to one side before replying. “We’re still about an hour away from a visual. What’s the issue?”

“City’s surrounded. Looks almost like siege lines.”

“Siege lines? Tinx was evacuated during the assault; None of ours should be inside. Who are they fighting?”

“Beats me, boss, but they’re fighting somepony. Looks like intermittent plasma fire in the mid-levels of the complex, scattered plasma and kinetics along the lines. I’m not sure what’s going on, but we’re going to have to fight our way through it.”

“Understood. I’ll take a look myself soon.” There was a brief pause in the conversation. “You said plasma fire?”

“Yes, sir.”

Valiance sighed. “Well, enough of it was stockpiled here; We were bound to come up against it sooner or later. Brief in the pegasus, I’ll tell Wanderlust what he needs to know.” The line clicked dead and Wanderlust waited for the other unicorn to continue for a few seconds before losing patience.

“She has a name, you know,” Wanderlust growled. “Is there a reason that you don’t seem to like Dawn much?”

Valiance ignored him and kept walking. There was a soft click in the younger unicorn’s left ear, marking someone else opening a private channel. “She reminds him of his wife,” Autumn explained quietly. “They could almost be sisters.”
“I take it they weren’t on good terms?”

Valiance interrupted before the other pony could respond. “You heard the sergeant: There’s a strong chance that we’re going to have to fight our way through to the city, and whoever we’re up against has access to plasma weaponry. Your barding won’t stop more than a few shots before it starts to collapse, and magical barriers won’t hold long, either. Just stay behind Autumn and I and make sure they don’t get around us. Understood?”

Wanderlust nodded and took a deep breath. Valiance didn’t seem like he was in much of a talking mood, and Autumn had gone silent again. Nothing to do but wait.

Close to an hour later, the trio of unicorns crested a hill and the sight before them took Wanderlust’s breath away. They were at the very edge of the forest, the trees growing sparse and fading away as they flowed onto the plain that stretched out in front of the ponies. Across the miles of open plains stood a cluster of monoliths, standing like tired gods, towering above their domain. There were five rounded, flowing buildings visible in the ghostly half-light of the ring’s night, each as large as any city Wanderlust had ever seen; They had to be miles across at the base. The towers were connected by bridges to a titanic spire that lay between them, a slender, delicate structure that soared into the sky, stretching above the clouds.

“What is that?” Wanderlust asked in awe. It was a feeling that had become almost familiar to him since he’d started his journey, but somehow it kept taking him off-guard.

“Tinx, the largest settlement on the ring. It was an experiment into arcology construction,” Valiance explained. The soldier seemed to be surveying the path ahead of them critically, trying to assess the situation.

“An experiment into what construction?” Wanderlust asked, his eyes still glued to the massive buildings in the distance.

Valiance sighed. “Autumn, do you want to take this one? I need a few minutes to think.”

“Arcologies are massive, self-contained settlements. They’re designed to be nearly self-sufficient and house massive populations of ponies in as small an area as possible.”

“But why? You have more space on the ring than you could ever need.” Wanderlust still couldn’t pull his eyes away from the city. How many ponies could live in there?

Several million, theoretically. We never reached peak capacity, though. Wanderlust started and his blood ran cold. There was a voice in his head that wasn’t his own. His gaze darted to Autumn, who was still talking, acting as if nothing had happened.

“Did we ever tell you why the ring was built?” Autumn waited for a moment, then took Wanderlust’s confused silence as a response. “Triumph was a joint project between the Equestrian Military, the Equestrian Ministry of Science and the Royal Academy for Magic. The ring was used as a test site for dozens of different projects. The idea behind Tinx was that if you could condense a population down to a relatively small physical area, it would allow for more efficient use of defensive forces. It was an idea that gained quite a following in some circles.” The yellow unicorn’s voice trailed off awkwardly, as if he were lost in memories.

It finally clicked in Wanderlust’s mind exactly what was going on. Get out of my head, Admiral.

Come now, Wanderlust. You invited me in: It’s not nice to force a guest to leave.
Did you come here for a reason?
Fine, we’ll skip the pleasantries. I told you I’d let you know what came next when you reached Tinx.

There was a long pause as Wanderlust ground his teeth. And?

Sorry, there are so many things that require my attention; I occasionally get distracted. There’s a connection to the ring’s transit system in the lower levels of the central spire. There will be a tram waiting for you.

And where will it take us?

One step at a time, Wanderlust. One step at a time.

Why not just tell me?

If you’re captured, you can’t reveal what you don’t know.

Wanderlust’s face went red. Am I really that expendable to you? There was no answer. The admiral had come to say what he had to say, and then he’d left. Typical. Slimy bastard.

I’m still listening, you know. Rather impolite.

“Wands!” The voice shook Wanderlust back to reality. He found that he was looking into a pair of concerned green eyes. Dawn was standing in front of him while the other three ponies conferred in whispers a few feet away. “Are you okay? You were just standing there, staring into space.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The unicorn shook his head, trying to clear the disconcerting feeling of not being alone inside his own skull. “Sorry, just thinking about something. What did I miss?”

“North is going over what we’ve seen from the air. It’s not going to be fun getting in there.”

“Speaking of which,” Valiance added, leading the other two ponies towards them, “Is that what we’ll actually be doing? You’re our pipeline to the admiral. Can you contact him?”

“The transit system. There’s a connection underneath the central tower.”

“Okay, that’s our target. North, what’s the easiest way in?”

The pegasus lay down on the grass and started sketching a diagram, carving it into the sod with an armored hoof. “Siege lines completely encircle the city. Still no idea who’s sieging whom, by the way.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Valiance interrupted. “We just get through and keep moving.”

“Right, Val. I’d forgotten that they surgically removed your curiosity when you enlisted.” The unicorn gave her a glare and she quickly continued. “In any case, they have Fleet tech: Type A Barding and some light plasma weapons. Mostly kinetics, though. Shouldn’t be a problem for our weapons. No idea how the ones inside the city are equipped. Easiest way through the lines would probably be here.” The pegasus pointed towards a section of the diagram on the right side of the city. “I can’t be entirely sure, but it looks like there’s a weakness in their patrol patterns.

“We should be able to approach unseen by following this ridgeline here. Set up for the day, make the crossing tomorrow night, then get into this tower here. Access to the central spire is near the top.”

“How did you get all that while we were flying around?” Dawn asked, astonished.

“Filly, I was doing this before your great, great, great grandfather was a gleam in his daddy’s eye,” North replied lightly. “I’ve had some practice.”

“How long will it take to get to the staging area?” Val asked, still studying the crude diagram.

“We should leave now if we want to make it tonight.”

“No point in wasting time. Let’s go.”

*

The sentries were looking the wrong way. It wasn’t much of a mistake, but it was the last either of them ever made. North took one, Dawn took the other. The sound of their wings was swallowed by the night as they cut through the darkness, the soft gurgles from the sentries as their throats were slit was the loudest sign of their passage.

“Clear right,” North whispered through her microphone.

“Clear left,” Dawnfire added.

“Move,” Valiance barked through his radio. The three unicorns galloped towards the low wall that encircled the city, their hooves padding softly across the damp grass. A swift kick to the chained gate and they were inside, the pegasi silently drifting above them, black on black, scouring the terrain ahead.

It was about a mile from the siege lines to the nearest section of the city and the run seemed to drag on for hours. Scattered windows in the tower ahead of them sparked with flashes of ghoulish red light every few seconds, entrancing Wanderlust as he struggled to keep up with the other unicorns.

“Val, there’s movement ahead of you.” The unicorns skidded to a stop in the shadow of the monolith. Wanderlust gasped for breath as the others tensed, preparing for a fight.

“What is it?”

“Not sure. Light amp is on the fritz and I can’t seem to clear it up.”

“And why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Just started. I’m getting all sorts of static in just the last couple minutes.”

Valiance swore under his breath. “Keep working on it: I don’t like stumbling around blind out here. In the meantime, you have the better view. What do you think?”

“Whatever it is, there’s only one for the moment. I’d recommend a cautious advance.”

“Understood. Keep me updated.” He turned to the others. “We’re taking it slow from here on out. Be ready for a fight, and stick together. Wanderlust, you have the rear.” The younger unicorn gulped and nodded, his heart racing as he eased his weapons out of their holsters and flicked the safeties off.

The unicorns began to slink forward, edging closer and closer to the nearest of the massive towers. The first few hundred feet were dull, grey metal before windows started to break the monotony of its appearance. They were close enough now that Wanderlust might’ve fallen over had he tried to look at anything farther up in the structure.

“Oh dear gods. Val!” The note of panic in North’s shout nearly stopped Wanderlust’s heart. What in Celestia’s name could scare her like that? The unicorn slammed up against the metal of the tower alongside the others, making themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible. “Corrupted, Val. I can see corrupted. Those weren’t siege lines, they’re a quarantine; Whole place is infested.”

Valiance’s head jumped upwards. “Earth, pegasus or-”

“Unicorns.”

“Shit,” The unicorn snarled.

Autumn’s hoof nervously pawed at the ground. “Val, we need to turn back. This is a deathtrap.”

“No.” Valiance barked the word almost in unison with the voice in Wanderlust’s head. “We have a mission. We’re not leaving until it’s finished. We’ve survived worse than corrupted”

“What are corrupted?” Wanderlust asked with a hitch in his voice.

“Later. Just stay close and don’t shoot unless we do. We’re going to try to get past the ones outside without them noticing us, and fight our way up the tower. Understood?” He didn’t wait for the murmurs of assent before cautiously starting forward.

Wanderlust followed along behind the two soldiers, casting frequent glances over his shoulder, warily searching for anything following them. His pulse quickened as they drew ever closer to their goal.

“There should be an entrance just a few hundred yards ahead. We’re almost there.” Valiance froze. “Don’t move a muscle,” The red pony hissed.

It was only a few dozen feet in front of them, illuminated by the reflected light of the ring. It looked like some mad artist’s vision of a unicorn: Long, statuesque legs and a wickedly-pointed horn that jutted like a lance from its forehead. Its entire body was covered in a thick, jagged-edged carapace that bore the same sickly off-white tint as sun-bleached bone.

The creature moved with an almost otherworldly grace, silently gliding through the night with a thin, bony tail that swayed gently behind it. Beneath the curved, chitinous plate covering its face, its eyes were visible more by their absence than their presence: Two pits of darkness, almost seeming to drain the light out of their surroundings.

It stopped suddenly and cocked its head, sniffing the air. Without warning, the creature turned towards the three unicorns and its horn began to glow a wan yellow as it opened its mouth and let forth an unholy, earsplitting screech.

Note from the author:

Sorry this one took so long. Just a perfect storm of technical difficulties, schedule conflicts and me being driven slightly insane by end-of-semester exams. Thanks for your patience.

Comments

[Sunka]

This one slowly grew on me. I think it started getting good around Flamerage. You took an odd mix of FiM, Road Warrior, Halo and Fallout and really made it your own. I'm very interested about how the various city-states interact.