The Equestria Games: First Blood

by 8_Bit

Chapter XXXIII: Cataclysmic

There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation among the clique ponies. By the time Twilight had even registered what she was seeing, they had all resorted to the most basic of survival instincts. When Twilight turned back to face the land, the last of them had disappeared into the trees.

“Quick!” Thunderlane yelled, tossing Twilight her saddle pack. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Twilight nodded, and went about pulling the strap of her bag tightly into place. Several of the clique ponies had left their stuff behind in a blind panic when they left. Pyro’s saddle bag was still resting up against the tree, whilst Nighteye’s sheath was laid out in the sand, full of javelins. At least they’d be ill equipped, if they survived.

The clasp holding Twilight’s bag closed finally clicked into place, and she nodded to Thunderlane. Cube Twister was still with them, evidently placing enough trust in his partner to know that he should stick with him.

“Wait a sec,” Twilight said as Thunderlane turned to run into the trees.

“We don’t have time!” Cube Twister shouted, starting to panic as the roar of rushing water started to become disturbingly loud.

Twilight didn’t answer as she gently lifted Fluttershy’s head out of her lap, where it had remained since she’d passed on. Her sweet and innocent eyes were still staring up at the sky, dull and lifeless. Just as carefully, Twilight lay her head back down on the sand, before she reached up and closed her eyes with her hoof. Were it not for the blood stained fur on her muzzle, she almost looked peaceful enough to appear to be sleeping.

Thunderlane shot Cube Twister an angry look as he looked sheepishly at the ground, whilst Twilight gave Fluttershy a final goodbye with a gentle kiss on the forehead. She shed one last tear before she double-checked that her sheath of throwing knives was tightly strapped to her good leg, and then proceeded to lead the charge into the woods, Thunderlane and Cube Twister close behind.

Several miles behind them, the wave continued to bear down as it raced towards the shore. It didn’t appear to be too big at an initial glance, but it didn’t need to be. Even the smaller rogue waves carry with them a colossal amount of water, and this one was still too far out to shore to get a good estimate on height. Twilight had only looked at it for a few seconds, but that was enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

“It’s still a few miles out,” she shouted back to her companions as she ran. “But it’s a big one, and we do not want to be anywhere nearby when it makes land.”

“How long have we got?” Thunderlane shouted in reply.

“Four, maybe five minutes. That’s at the most.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Head for the town,” Cube Twister suggested, already appearing to be running out of breath. “Some of the buildings have upper floors we can take cover.”

Twilight thought for a few seconds. She hadn’t been to the town herself, but she had seen the distant outlines of the buildings when they’d first arrived in the arena.

“Have you guys been there?”

“Yeah,” Thunderlane replied. “We spent the second night hiding out there. The buildings are pretty bare, but I think I remember one that we can take cover in.”

It was barely even a stone's throw from the cornucopia, which Twilight could easily find her way to. But that didn’t account for the dim light conditions. The sun had already set and twilight wouldn’t last very long. Soon the arena would only be lit by the moon, which would still be difficult to navigate. The trek she’d made earlier in the day was a blurred memory from the delirious state she had been in, and thus she wouldn’t be able to find her way back anywhere near as easily.

Twilight shook her head hard to regain her focus. Her mind was drifting away from what she needed to concentrate on. She didn’t have the time to consider what light conditions she needed to find her way through the forest, or whether or not she’d be able to retrace her steps. She had to get them to the town before the wave caught up to them, but she literally had no time to stop and work out where to go.

All of a sudden, Twilight felt a horrendous pain erupt from her flank. Such was the intensity and suddenness that her leg shakily gave out as she took a step, collapsing from underneath her. She gasped as she found herself falling face-first into a heap on the floor. Thunderlane immediately was there at her side, lifting her back onto her hooves as she spat out the mouthful of dirt she’d received as she fell. The gritty metallic taste of blood soon took over as she examined the walls of her mouth with her tongue, confirming she’d bitten down hard and taken a large bite of her own flesh during the fall.

“Come on!” Thunderlane yelled. “We’ve got to keep moving!”

It only took one step for Twilight to realize she was going nowhere fast. The pain shot out again with equal intensity, and when she reached back with her hoof, she was immediately met with blood seeping out of the gash on her cutie mark. She cursed silently to herself. She hadn’t given it enough time to heal while she was waiting at the cornucopia earlier, and the wound had re-opened with the massive physical exertion caused by her few minutes of running.

“What in the hay?” Thunderlane gasped as he looked back and saw the wound. “What happened?”

Twilight went to answer, but was interrupted by a loud boom erupting over the sound of the rushing water. A boom louder than the cannons, which almost sounded like it had come from all around them. Two simultaneous booms. Ones that could only have been caused by a massive body of water, as the wave struck the cliffs at either side of the arena at the same time. As the wave made land.

Thunderlane gasped as the booms erupted, coming to the conclusion at the same time as Twilight, who had reached into her saddle pack and pulled out a small needle. She took a sharp breath and rammed the needle hard into her chest.

“Run!” she yelled, barely audible over the nearly deafening roar of the wave that was currently tearing up the trees right behind them, but still far away enough to remain unseen.

There was no time to question or argue as Twilight tossed the needle aside and charged away again at an impressive speed. Thunderlane and Cube Twister once again followed, but now there was no opportunity to plan where to go. All they could do was run. Run, and pray that they could outrun the millions of tonnes of water crashing through the foliage behind them. Though Twilight had her burst of energy to help her, both of her companions were naturally more athletic than her, and she soon lost her head start at they caught up, one running either side of her as their charge turned three-abreast through the trees.

Thunderlane was certain that Twilight was running at full pelt, so he was surprised when she pulled ahead of both of him and Cube Twister, before she took a slight turn to her left. Both stallions understood immediately that she knew where to go from there, and so they let her lead. After a few moments they were at the river, which Twilight leapt over without any hesitation. Luckily, there was a few seconds between her and her followers, so Thunderlane had time to react. He too leapt effortlessly over the river, landing neatly next to Twilight, who had stopped to make sure they all made it over. Cube Twister, however, had been looking back in panic. He stumbled forwards where he should have pushed off from the ground, and found himself crashing gracelessly into the water.

He didn’t even have time to consider the embarrassment as he surfaced, finding Thunderlane offering him a helping hoof out of the water. As Cube Twister was pulled out, each of the ponies took a momentary glance downstream. They were on a perfectly straight section of the river, and even in the poor light, they could see it. Crashing and writhing towards them, angrily foaming and spitting out the remains of the trees it had already engulfed. The wave was racing along the land like some horrifying predator, with no intention of slowing or faltering, only the intent to destroy and to kill. It was too late to run. It would be on them in a matter of seconds.

Cube Twister hauled himself onto the riverbank by Thunderlane’s hoof, who received a grateful nod for his help. But all three of them knew there was nothing they could do now. Twilight found herself being pulled in tight by Thunderlane, who gave her one last kiss on the forehead as a final goodbye. She pulled him tight, burying her face in his coat as she waited a few more seconds for their inevitable demise. Thunderlane and Cube Twister each clenched their eyes tightly shut in preparation.

And they waited.

“Guys…” Cube Twister said distantly, having dared to open his eyes.

Confused, both Thunderlane and Twilight let go of each other, somehow finding the courage to face what they knew would certainly kill them.

Only, it had stopped.

It hadn’t retreated, nor had it hit any kind of force field like the ones Twilight had been told surrounded the arena. It had literally stopped in place, but it still held its form. It still writhed and sloshed like water should do; only it was somehow holding itself up as a wall, barely inches from their faces. It was too good to be true.

“What’s going on?” Thunderlane asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “But I don’t like it.”

Cube Twister gave a nervous laugh. “What do you mean “I don’t like it”? It’s over. The wave's stopped.”

“Trust me, something’s wrong with this. Why even send the wave in the first place if they’re just going to stop it like this? It’s not over.”

As if on cue, the water began to ripple. At first, it just began happening in a few select spots, but soon the entire surface was shaking violently. Twilight began to step backwards as the water started rising. Slowly but surely, the water was building up, higher and higher, still shaking and foaming.

“I’ll ask again,” Thunderlane said. “I didn’t get an answer last time. What’s going on?”

All of a sudden, a single stream of water shot out of the wall. It was a short spurt, like turning a tap on and off quickly. But the stream went flying, striking a tree barely a few feet to Thunderlane’s side. The water hit with such intensity that several layers of bark came off, crumbling under the water pressure.

“There’s your answer,” Twilight said. “Run!”

All hell broke loose as the three ponies resumed their fleeing through the woods. The wall, still rippling and building in height, began to shoot out more similar streams. Each was the same, short in burst, but they had to be high-pressure. This was certain as Twilight noted the amount of crumbled bark that came raining down as well as the water whenever a tree was hit. One stream hit the forest floor barely a few feet in front of Cube Twister, punching a deep hole that looked about knee depth. He immediately decided he did not want to be hit by one.

A quick glance through a gap in the leaves confirmed that the wall of water had stopped rising when it was level with the surrounding cliffs, but the rate of fire of the high-pressure streams was now climbing instead. From every height up the wall, and it looked like they were being fired down the full length of it too. The soundtrack had changed dramatically in the last minute, having gone from the deafening roar as the water crashed through the forest in a brutal wave, to the curious whistling noise that came as each stream traveled through the air. The forest was now engulfed in the constant sound of the whistles as each stream flew, and Twilight was having a hard time deciding if the wave was better or worse than the ducking and weaving from the streams, praying that she didn’t get hit.

Several minutes passed, and the streams were constantly flying through the air. The noise was now just as loud as the roar of the wave had been, and Twilight couldn’t help but notice whenever they passed a tree that had clearly taken multiple hits. Some of them looked like they’d taken hits from grenades instead, going by the damage done. It wasn’t hard to imagine the damage that streams could do to flesh.

It was almost a relief when they emerged at the cornucopia. The wall of water hadn’t moved since they left it, but it had climbed high enough to still be getting shots around them. The booby trapped pile of equipment was still there, completely untouched as Twilight had left it.

She had a quick realization. Soon enough, the pile would take a hit, which would set off whatever trap had been left. If she acted quickly, she could get her hooves on some more wipes, as the adrenaline from the EpiPen would soon wear off.

“Keep to the edge of the clearing,” she instructed Thunderlane and Cube Twister. “It’s been rigged.”

Thunderlane nodded, and began to make his way towards the now-visible town. He paused when he noticed Twilight heading straight for the mound in the middle of the clearing.

“What are you doing?”

“No time to explain,” she answered firmly.

It took all of Thunderlane’s willpower to hold back and let Twilight continue towards the middle of the clearing. Deep holes littered the clearing as streams had come down multiple times in the same spots, making Twilight’s task of navigating to the middle a lot tougher. It was especially hard to ignore the large dents made in the solid gold skin of the cornucopia.

Twilight did her best to remain unfazed. All she had to do was find a first aid kit, and regroup with her friends. She paused when she finally reached the pile, bending down to try and locate the tripwire. When she finally found a glint from the moonlight, she slowly stood up and carefully stepped over, her heart racing slightly as a stream struck the cornucopia, causing it to clang loudly.

“Look out!” she barely managed to hear Thunderlane yell.

“For wh-“ she half-responded as something crashed into her back, sending her tumbling forward into the pile of equipment.

Yelping in panic, Twilight rolled over, pulling out one of her throwing knives and lashing out randomly. She was shocked to see Pyro tumbling backwards, clutching her ear. Or rather, clutching where her ear used to be, as Twilight was repulsed to see it land at her hooves, oozing blood rapidly.

“You’ll pay for that, you bitch!” Pyro screamed, grabbing a sword from the pile as blood gushed down the side of her head.

There was barely time to react as Pyro charged. Twilight grabbed for the nearest thing in the pile, which unfortunately was another saddle pack. She cursed to herself as Pyro jumped in the air, swinging the sword down towards Twilight’s head. She lifted up the saddle pack just in time to take the majority of the energy from the swing, but found herself taking the whole weight of Pyro herself. Twilight went down, Pyro on top of her, but Twilight’s reactions were quicker. She rolled herself backwards, using Pyro’s momentum to overbalance her and kick her off.

“Don’t!” Twilight yelled as she looked to her left to see Thunderlane charging towards them. “It’s booby trapped! Stay back!”

Thunderlane stamped the ground, cursing loudly as he was forced to stand back and watch.

As Pyro clambered to all fours, Twilight was already up, and she threw two of her knives in quick succession. The first harmlessly skimmed Pyro’s mane, but the second found its mark near the stomach, sinking deep into the flesh. Pyro screamed loudly, but was also quick to respond. As Twilight threw a third knife, Pyro adopted the same technique of self defense by pulling a saddle pack from the pile and using it as a shield. True to her intent, the knife sunk harmlessly into the bag, giving her precious moments in which she could pull out the first knife stuck in her torso.

Twilight charged forward, another knife in hoof. She threw it hard as Pyro began to step backwards, deflecting the knife again by blocking it with the saddle bag. Twilight, unwilling to let Pyro gain the upper hoof, grabbed a large spear from the pile, swinging it hard towards her opponent. The spear knocked the bag out of Pyro’s grasp, after which Twilight went in for another swing. Pyro jumped backwards, losing balance as she tripped over her own hooves, and falling on her left side. Twilight heard a metallic chink come from the pile of equipment as she noticed that Pyro was desperately scrambling to her hooves in a panicked state as a stream hit a few feet to her side.

From the top of the pile flew another stream, only this one came as a thick orange liquid. It splattered Pyro, who screamed out as a spark came from the tripwire at her hooves. In a split second, she was ablaze.

Twilight recoiled backwards as Pyro convulsed in the flames, screaming gutturally. She continued to burn for a few moments before, much to Twilight's surprise, one of the streams from the wall of water hit her square in the side of the head. It turned Twilight's stomach when Pyro fell to the ground, her body limp, as her head rolled to the side to reveal the damage the stream had caused. When it had hit, it took a large chunk of flesh with it, leaving half of her skull exposed. Much of the bone beneath had shattered, and Twilight couldn't bear to look any longer when she caught a glance of what looked like brain.

The cannon boomed as Twilight finally found the first aid kit she had come for. Even though the tripwire had been set off already, there was no way of telling whether or not it had been rigged to go off multiple times. So, Twilight carefully stepped over where she knew the tripwire was, and trotted over to meet Thunderlane, who received her with a tight hug.

"You alright?" he asked.

"A bit queasy, but otherwise I'm just about alive," she answered, hugging him back. "Let's just get to the town already."

Almost on cue, the wall of water ceased firing the streams of water, and began to collapse. Twilight almost breathed a sigh of relief, before she realized that the wall was collapsing and reforming the tidal wave, back towards them.

Author's Note:

Dun dun dun, another one bites the dust!

I know it's been a long time coming, but job-hunting is a slow process. That, and this was a tricky scene to write. You want the action to be fast paced, but you don't want it all to happen too quickly. But then if you draw it out too long, it seems less intense. It's a fine line to walk.

No promises about how long the next chapter will take.

Thanks for reading. We hit 1K views during the break.

Love you all!

8_Bit
<3

Comments

[PandOracle]

dun dun duuoooh shit that sounded painful

[HJSDGCE]

So much water...
go gets a drink

[Neonz]

Whoa. If I'd remembered what cliffhanger this was picking up from, I'm sure I'd be totally satisfied. Ah well, I was too lazy to go back so it just took me a couple of lines to realize they were freaking out over a wave.

WHY WOULD YOU STAB AN EPIPEN INTO YOUR HEART THOUGH LOL WTF that's a good way to kill yourself, I'd imagine.

Anyways, one more down, and a big one at that! And Twilight Thunderlane love! ...and more tidal waves for next time! Tidal waves are exciting; I approve.

Thanks for the appropriate chapter update, seeing as Catching Fire comes out tomorrow! I know I read that book, but I can't for the life of me remember anything that happened in it besides the quarter quell. I guess we shall see.

[MemoryLane]

Oooh update! About friggen time, yo!

Aaaand now I'm sad. But hey, at least Pyro died in a way that lived up to her name? .-.

[Heart Strong82]

FIIIIIIIIINAAAAAAALLLLLYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

I have been waiting for an update for YEARS! (Not really! But it feels like it)

Cant wait to read this tonight!

[Pyromaniac]

...............

I...

*Cries in a corner*

[Namara]

3542333 It's okay, dude. *pats back* You were cool while it lasted. Maybe you and Cy could be friends now! :D

[Pyromaniac]

3553442

Hehehehe.

[MemoryLane]

3553442

Firework is not dead.

He will live forever.

SHUT YOUR DIRTY WHORE MOUTH.

[Namara]

3750346 Yes. He is every male Supernatural character. But I have a feeling Blue Streak is gonna go the way of Marco Bott.