Angela felt as though she were floating freely through an infinite cloud of white mist, with little to bearing of where she was located. It was such a strange feeling for her to experience, like she was lost but at the same time knew exactly where she needed to go as she seemed to move steadily forward through the cloud. To her, it was in many ways like a dream, but at the same time it was every bit as lucid as reality.
"Hello?" she called out, wondering if she would receive an answer. She was met with silence however, as the blank scenery around her suddenly shifted, and she felt her bare feet touch what she assumed was solid ground. Gradually images and shapes began to take form around her, and Angela watched the transition with interest. At first they were hardly recognizable as anything she would find familiar, but after waiting a short while Angela began to see them as ordinary everyday objects from her home, ranging from a slightly worn telephone booth to a car parked on the side of a road to a newspaper box. Angela could only watch as she witnessed the world she was born and grew up in took shape around her.
When it was finished, Angela found herself standing in the middle of a dilapidated street. On either side were tall buildings, most them with their windows shattered or their doors caved in. Flickering street lamps provided a wan yellow light to illuminate her surroundings.
With a jolt, Angela realized that she knew this place, despite not having seen it in years. It was her old neighborhood where she grew up in, although it was admittedly far emptier than she recalled ever being, not to mention a bit more run down. Angela was confused by it all. She remembered Luna casting the spell on her, but why was she in her old neighborhood? It did not really hold any special memories for her. Most of the highlights regarding it were of her constant attempts to get away from it. Shrugging it off as some weird quirk in the spell, Angela glanced for any sign of life, finding none.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Angela called out again. This time she did receive an answer.
"Who are you?"
Angela felt herself stiffen the moment she heard that voice, already knowing who it belonged to. It was difficult not to recognize the sound of her own voice after all. Turning around slowly, she beheld a creature that stood almost as tall as the buildings around them, as it peered down at her with it's eyeless gaze, towering above her like a monolith. Then slowly, the creature reached down and lifted Angela's chin with the tip of its claw. She felt the sharp point of the bone on her skin, threatening to draw blood with the slightest movement.
"You are what you make me."
Feeling her breath catch in her throat, Angela wanted to run away as fast as possible, but was unable to do so. She was frozen in place from the sheer terror she felt of the creature that loomed over her like a cloud of dread. Then suddenly, the monster retracted its claw and began to move away, vanishing down one of the many dark alleyways as though it had never been. The moment it was out of sight, Angela released a breath that she did not know that she had been holding within her, and she fell to her knees as her legs gave out from beneath her. For a long while she just sat there, trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed. In the end she chose to dismiss as a product of her imagination. It was merely an apparition, nothing more.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the distinct sound of metal clicking on stone behind her, causing her to turn around just in time to see a midnight blue alicorn gazing at her with obvious surprise and curiosity, and for a long moment neither one of them seemed sure what to say as they looked in each others eyes.
Finally, Princess Luna broke the silence and said, "I feel that I must admit that you are not quite what I was expecting to see."
The moment Luna said those words, Angela felt the terror she had experienced just moments before vanish instantly, washed away by the knowledge that it had worked. Luna's spell had worked. Still looking at Luna, Angela began to chuckle, prompting the Princess to give her a confused look.
"Excuse me for saying so, but I fail to see what is humorous about this," she stated.
Angela continued to chuckle however, and eventually her quiet laughter grew into a full blown cackle. She could not really explain why she was laughing, nor did she think she even knew the reason behind it. She just continued to laugh as tears began streaming out of her eyes, while all Luna could do was watch as she awkwardly shuffled her wings.
Eventually Angela came down from euphoric state and stood up, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "It's just. . . I almost can't believe it. . . can you really understand me now?"
Letting her expression soften into a delicate smile, Luna dipped her head in a short nod and replied, "Indeed I can. It would seem that the spell had the desired effect. Normally it works better if the one having the spell cast on them is asleep, but for the moment I believe we are free to discuss whatever we wish."
Upon hearing that Angela was unable to stop a wide smile from spreading across her face. She then surprised Luna by lunging at the pony, wrapping her arms around her neck. Not counting Luna's horn, Angela was slightly taller than the alicorn, so she had to bend down a little. She did not mind in the least however however as she said, "Thank you," repeatedly.
Luna, caught off guard by the sudden contact and unsure how to respond to it, resorted to simply patting Angela on the back with her right hoof. Nearly half a minute passed before Luna cleared her throat, signalling that it was time for her to let go. Angela took heed of the request and allowed the Princess to move away.
"Sorry," Angela said. "I'm. . . you just have now idea how great it feels to finally be able to actually talk with someone."
"Oh, I believe I can imagine the feeling," Luna replied as she straightened her peytral with a casual flick of her magic. When she was done with that she began to examine Angela closely with a curious eye. "Forgive for saying so a second time, but you are not was I was expecting I would find here at all. You are indeed the creature that I cast the spell on, correct?"
"That's right," Angela replied. Understanding why Luna was more than likely confused by her appearance she added, "I know it's kind of hard to believe, but trust me. It's a pretty long story."
"I would think so. However, I believe that should wait for the time being. For now we have other matters to discuss." Luna paused before also saying, "I believe it is also only proper that I learn your actual name so that I know what I should call you."
"Oh right!" Angela exclaimed, berating herself for forgetting to introduce herself. "Well, if it's all the same to you, you can just call me Angela."
"Angela," Luna repeated, rolling the unfamiliar word around on her tongue. Luna had slightly mispronounced her name a little, but Angela did not care too much about it to correct her. She was just happy that Luna knew who she was now. "I see. Quite an unusual name I must admit, and one I have never heard before. Still," she added, "all the same it is quite lovely."
Angela shrugged off the compliment, although the praise did feel nice to her. Sighing, she let her shoulders droop, knowing that it was probably time to move on to the the reason why Luna was here in the first place, wherever exactly here was. Glancing around, she saw the environment from her world gradually become interspersed with Luna's, constantly shifting between city blocks and old pavement to vast green fields beneath a curtain of stars.
"So. . . what now?" she said, although she already knew the answer to the question.
Raising her head a little, Luna replied, "I believe now is the time where you explain yourself, and your reason for being here. I am under the impression that you had no intention to do so, but you have been causing quite a commotion as of late. I am sure that I do not have to tell you that other ponies are inclined to believe that you are here to cause harm." Looking at Angela expectantly, Luna then asked, "So tell me Angela, why are you here?"
Rubbing the back of her neck, Angela sighed heavily as the gravity of the situation, caused by her own actions no less, fell upon her shoulders, and she responded somewhat timidly, "It's. . . kind of a long story. One that I'm not particularly proud of." Angela paused, unsure how exactly she was going to go about explaining to Princess Luna, currently the only pony who would even listen to her, who she really was, what she used to do with her life. "I'm. . ." she began to say hesitantly before pausing again, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow as she waited for a full answer. "I'm not exactly what you would call a saint, and it's. . . well it's really hard for me to control myself sometimes, considering what I am. But please believe me when I say that the last thing I want is to hurt anyone again."
"Again?" Luna questioned as she narrowed her eyes just a little. "What do you mean by that? Is there something that you are not telling me?" she asked in a serious tone. Immediately Angela regretted saying that, and she felt a shiver of fear crawl up her spine at the thought that she had just given herself away.
"I don't want to talk about it," Angela said, a little too quickly as she turned away, hoping Luna would heed her wish and leave the matter to rest. Unfortunately however Luna did not seem to be willing to ignore it as she walked over to Angela until she was close enough that she could gently place a hoof on her arm.
"Angela, listen to me," she commanded, though not harshly. "If there is something that you are hiding that could potentially be of harm, either to yourself or to my ponies for whom I am responsible, then you must tell me. Until then I cannot be allowed to trust that what you say is true, no matter how much I may wish to. And I do wish to trust you Angela. All I ask is that you trust me in turn."
Angela glanced at Luna, then down at the hoof on her arm. She then moved away from Luna, as the Princess placed her hoof back on the ground.
"I'm dangerous," Angela stated simply. "I'm. . . I'm not safe for anyone to be around, not like this."
For a few long moments a tense silence ensued. Angela hugged herself, seemingly for warmth, as she looked away from Luna, unable to meet the Princess' eye. "I've done something. . . something terrible, a long time ago, and it just. . . eats away at me, all the time. It's like I'm dying on the inside, and no matter what I do I just can't forget it." Angela's voice had become shaky at this point, though she hardly noticed it as she desperately tried not to think about it.
The sound of hoofsteps echoed from behind her, and once more she felt a hoof be placed on her arm.
"Angela, I. . ." Luna began to say, before stopping to take a steadying breath. She then continued, her tone laced with sympathy "I know what it is like. I know better than anypony the feeling of regret for past actions. I too have committed deeds that I am not proud of. And even today, when everypony around me has forgiven me for those terrible acts, I still feel that pain at knowing that at least one point in my life, I failed." As Luna spoke, the ground beneath them turned into a chalky white dust that was bitter cold to the touch. Luna would pay it no heed however as she placing herself in front of Angela so that she was only thing the girl look at she added, "And that is why you must allow me to help you. You have to-"
"No!" Angela yelled suddenly, startling Luna from the sheer volume of her voice. "Don't you get it?! If I go off the deep end, everything around me dies! If I lose control for even a second it comes back, and it kills everything it sees! It's too much of a risk for anyone to be around me!"
"Angela-"
"The last thing I want is to hurt you, but the longer you stay around me the more likely that someone is going to get hurt! So why won't you just do what I want, and leave me the hell alone?!"
"Angela, stop!" The suddenness of Luna's shout snapped Angela out of her frantic state, making her realize that she was letting her emotions get the best of her yet again. She looked down at herself, and was horrified by what she saw. Her fingers had been transformed into sickle like claws, and her skin had been replaced by leathery grey flesh.
"I. . . I didn't want. . ." Angela stuttered as she stared at her now monstrous form, before covering her face with her hands and curling into a fetal position, blocking out the world around her. "Please," she whimpered pitifully, "I don't want it to happen again. I can't let it happen again."
Angela remained silent afterward, clutching her head between her hands as she struggled to not think about that moment anymore. However the more she fought it the more it fought back until it was all that occupied her thoughts. Luna could do nothing more than stand by her and gently caress her with a hoof, offering what comfort she could.
As the Princess was doing this, she noticed that the scenery around them had changed, shifted suddenly from tall buildings interspersed with grassy fields to the interior of a small, dimly lit structure. Angela noticed it as well, causing her to stagger to her feet.
"Angela, what is this place?" Luna questioned as inspected their surroundings that were unfamiliar to her. She saw large boxes that appeared to be made of glass, each of them containing small objects that sparkled when she looked at them. Realizing that Angela had yet to answer her question, Luna asked again, "What is thi-"
"I didn't want to," Angela whispered quietly, cutting Luna off. Glancing at the concern in concern, Luna started to say something, but stopped when she noticed the odd look in Angela's eyes. They were vacant and glazed over, as though she were not really looking at anything in particular. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."
Luna just stared at Angela, at first in confusion, then in panic when she realized exactly what was going on. She immediately rushed over to her and reared up, placing both of her hooves on her shoulders as she attempted to shake her out of her trance. "Angela! Listen to me!" she commanded desperately, hoping that she could be heard. "Whatever happened to you, or whatever it is that you did in the past, it does not matter now, do you hear me? What you are seeing right now is not real, they are just memories. They have no hold over you unless you let them, do you understand?!"
But to Luna's ever increasing fear, Angela did not seem to even hear her, and paid no attention to the Princess whatsoever as she continued to stare straight ahead at seemingly nothing. Luna noticed out of the corner of her eye that she was holding something in her right hand that was not there before. It was a strange black object that was completely foreign to Luna but seemed designed to accommodate Angela's hand. In any other situation she could not guess what its functions was, but the blood the coated both of Angela's hands as she tightly gripped it gave her at least some idea of it purpose.
Behind Angela, Luna was able to discern a trail of crimson that led to single body laid face down in a pool of red. For a brief moment all Luna could do was stare blankly at it. She was startled out of her trance when she noticed that Angela begun to breathe heavily to the point where she was hyperventilating.
"Angela!" Luna pleaded. "You must stop! Don't let it consume you!" Her words were of little use, as a pitch black darkness began to swirl around them. Igniting her horn, Luna attempted to dispel it in a flash of blinding white light. It did nothing to stop the inky black void from consuming them both however, enveloping them completely. And before Luna could say or do anything else, it appeared, and Luna staggered backward away from it as terror unlike any other consumed her.
Its claws were like razors.
Its teeth glittered like diamonds in the depths.
Its eyeless face was full of savage malice and hunger, staring intently into Luna's very being as it loomed over Angela possessively.
"I'm sorry. . . please forgive me," Angela whispered softly. Suddenly the crack of the weapon going off echoed in Luna's ears, and she felt herself being ripped away as the link was torn asunder and her vision faded to black. The last thing she heard was the creatures mournful keen echoing in her skull.
Luna reeled back and clutched her head in agony between her hooves as she was sent flying backwards by a massive shock wave. She felt her body tumble through the air before impacting on the hard ground, skipping like a stone on water until she finally came to a stop. Blinking rapidly, Luna's eyes stung severely as the scent of smoke filled her mouth and nostrils, accompanied by the horrible aroma of burnt hair and flesh. She tried to breathe, finding it difficult to do so from the now polluted air, and she coughed loudly as she attempted to get herself back on her hooves.
When her vision finally cleared up enough, Luna was able to take in what had happened.
Fire. It was all around her, clinging to the bark of scorched trees as what leaves they had left continued to burn, threatening to spread to others if left unchecked. The smoke they produced rose upward in great clouds of black, and through them her moon appeared as a bloody red disc in the nightsky. What little grass remained in the vicinity crunched beneath her hooves as she took an unsteady step forward, and a short distance away she could see that a large part of the sandy shore that bordered the pool had been melted into brittle glass. Somepony was yelling. A lot of ponies were yelling actually, their voices overlapping to form a harsh mixture of panic and fright.
"Princess!" somepony shouted, calling for her just loud enough to be heard through the surrounding din, although for some reason it sounded very far away. It was then that she realized that one of her ears, the left one, was bleeding for some reason, as a trail of warm liquid slid down the side of her face, staining her fur a deep black.
Trying to ignore the discomfort, Luna glanced around in an effort to locate who had called for her. She soon found it in the form of none other than Stalwart as he and a small group of other ponies rushed towards her. She noticed that they were extremely haggard in appearance, as much of the armor covering them had somehow become burnt, and the plumes that normally decorated their helms was completely gone.
Still disoriented by whatever had just happened, Luna took a step towards them as they continued to approach. The moment her hoof met the ground it slipped out from under her, causing her to stumble to her knees, grimacing from the jarring thud that followed. Almost immediately after she felt herself being hoisted up by a pair of hooves, helping her t stand again.
"Princess! Are you alright?! Are you hurt at all!?" Stalwart asked rapidly. All Luna could do was offer a weak nod in reply as she coughed into her fetlock.
"What. . . what happened here captain?" she asked as her faculties slowly returned to her, until she was able to stand on her own again.
"To be honest Princess, I'm not really sure," Stalwart responded. "We were just sitting there, making sure nothing happened while you cast your spell on the animal when all of sudden this huge lightning bolt came out of nowhere and nearly killed everypony, including you. Right now we're trying to assess who's the most injured."
"Lightning?" Luna repeated as her brow furrowed in confusion. That did not make any sense to Luna, as there were hardly enough clouds in the sky to produce even a light drizzle. Even if an adequate amount of clouds could be gathered, it would have taken a whole army of pegasi to produce a bolt of the magnitude that Stalwart spoke of.
Unless. . .
Looking up towards, Luna peered through the smoke as she scanned the night sky for anything that looked out of place. She soon found what she was looking for in the form of a void in the distance where stars should be, clearly outlining the silhouette of a large airship. Luna felt her heart sink at the implications of it's presence, and she mentally kicked herself for forgetting about it, especially after she had signaled for it to return.
And in that moment, she felt anger. Luna felt ruthless hatred towards the airship and the ponies that directed it. Hr brow furrowed deeply and she grimaced in barely contained rage. What in Equestria were they thinking? Not only had they almost killed everypony here with their harebrained stunt, they had also cut off Luna's spell midway, which could have disastrous consequences on. . .
"Oh no," Luna whispered quietly as her pupils shrank, all but forgetting about the airship. "Angela."
"What?" Stalwart asked in a confused tone. "Princess Luna, what are you talking about? What's an Angela?"
Luna payed him no heed however as she surged forward, leaving them behind as she frantically looked around for any sign of Angela, trying to see past the waves of smoke as grass and trees continued to smolder around her. Her throat burned horribly and her eyes stung, but she did not care about that. Occasionally she would pass by a Royal Guard pony in need of assistance and, obligated by her own morals, stopped to help them, whether it be to get those that had been injured to a safer place or to issue an order. She was loathe to leave them afterwards to resume her search, but Stalwart appeared to have things well in hoof.
Eventually she found who she was looking for amid the devastation, and despite the heat surrounding them, Luna felt her blood freeze in her veins the moment she laid eyes upon Angela's still, unbreathing form.
"Angela!" Luna shouted as she galloped with all haste towards the body. The closer she came, the more damage she could see that had been inflicted by the bolt, which surely had been meant for Angela to begin with. Her entire back, as well as the left side of her body was covered in a single, massive burn so severe looking one would think it had been caused by prolonged exposure to dragon fire. She was even charred in some places. The row of quills on the left side of her spine appeared to be shriveled and worn, and one of them had been snapped completely in half. The worst part of it all however was the way Angela's skin seemed to bubble and broil from the heat, and Luna wanted nothing more than to turn away in disgust as the smell of burning flesh became overwhelming.
Luna continued to look on however, at the one whom she had come save from her nightmares, who had been so afraid of herself that she would rather spend her life in isolation than to risk harming others, now broken and battered almost beyond recognition. As she inspected he body, Luna happened to notice something sticking out on the side of her neck due to the skin being burned off. Using her magic, Luna carefully removed the foreign objects, revealing them to be a pair of gems with little hooks attached to their facets. Luna recognized them for what they were instantly, and she scowled before crushing them into dust with a flick of her magic.
Turning a sympathetic eye to Angela, Luna tried to speak, finding it difficult to so. "Angela. . . I'm so sorry," she whispered as her voice caught in her throat. "You. . . you're. . ."
Luna shook her head. She would not accept it. She could not accept it. Lighting up her horn she began to craft a intricate healing spell, and soon everything within ten feet of her was bathed in a serene bluish green aura. Once the spell was sufficiently strong enough, at least Luna hoped it was considering how large the recipient was, she released it, and the spell washed over Angela's body like a wave. Not stopping there, Luna continued to cast the spell over and over again. She was vaguely aware of a gathering of ponies forming behind her to watch the spectacle, but ignored them in favor of trying to keep Angela alive.
"Cadet, can you confirm that the target was destroyed?" Crisp questioned, trying himself to see if he could spot anything through the clouds of smoke that continued to billow upward towards the heavens, coloring the moon a bloody red. Almost everypony on the bridge, himself included, had their snouts practically pressed up against the glass to the result of the Storm Bottles handiwork.
If Crisp were to be honest, even though he already knew the sheer power the airship contained within its hull, he could not help but be in absolute awe at the mere sight of a gargantuan blue bolt of electricity shooting from the nose of the airship, impacting on the monsters back with enough force to obliterate a castle. It was more than enough to make him believe that the creature had been all but blown apart by it. He was of slightly worried for Luna's safety of course, but given the circumstances he felt it was a necessary risk to take, and since the monster took the brunt of the attack, she should be fine. A little singed perhaps, but otherwise unhurt.
After entire minutes of waiting in anxious anticipation for the smoke to eventually clear up, the verdict finally came.
"Getting a visual now sir, I think I can see it," the cadet stated. few more seconds passed before he exclaimed loudly, "Confirmed! Target destroyed, it's not moving."
Upon hearing that the entire bridge erupted into a fit of ecstatic cheering. All around Crisp ponies congratulating and patting each other on the withers. He was fairly certain he even saw two of them kiss out of the corner of his eye. Crisp did not partake in the celebration however, though far be it from him to deny that he did not at least feel a great amount of satisfaction that not only had they neutralized a threat, but also prevented Luna's death in the process.
Their revelry was interrupted when the the sound of the door being kicked inward, producing a harsh clang that reverberated throughout the interior, causing everypony's ears to flatten their ears against their skulls to protect their eardrums.
"What the buck did you do?!" an extremely irritated sounding voice demanded loudly, somehow matching the door in volume. As one everypony turned their heads to see a mare with a cream colored coat and a pink and blue mane and tail. With nostrils flared and eyes brimming with absolute fury, Bon-Bon was the very picture of rage as she stared them down, though most of her attention was reserved for Crisp. Slowly, with her head dipped low and her shoulders hunched in a threatening posture, she began to stalk towards him.
Narrowing his eyes at the intimidating mare, Crisp tried not let his nervousness show as he said, "Miss Bon-Bon, do not believe that I gave you permission to-"
"Can it flank face!" Bon-Bon shouted at him. Coming to a stop a mere three feet away from him, she demanded yet again in a low, dangerous tone, "What. Did. You. Do?"
"What do you think we did? Crisp retorted indignantly, unfurling his wings a little as an instinctual response to feeling threatened. "We just prevented the death of one of the Princesses at the claws of the beast that you spoke so highly of, eliminating a clear and present threat to Equestria. You may not realize it yet, Miss Bon-Bon, but we may have just saved countless lives." Gesturing towards the telescope he added, "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Scowling at him venomously, Bon-Bon obliged him as she shoved her way past, making no apparent effort avoid bumping into him along the way. Other than a harsh glare, Crisp let her continue her way as went over to the telescope. The cadet, knowing better than be in her way, quickly acquiesced his position to her and stood off to the side, allowing Bon-Bon to put her eye against the lens. After letting her have a moment to see what was down there, Crisp spoke up and stated, "As you can plainly see, Princess Luna was down there while that thing you claimed was not a monster was feeding on her. I'm sure even you can agree that we did what was only right in killing it before it could kill her."
For a long while Bon-Bon was completely silent as she swiveled the telescope a little bit, taking in more of the situation on the ground. When she finally spoke, it was in a level and emotionless tone that somehow sounded even more dangerous than when she was shouting.
"There are other ponies down there," she said simply.
Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Crisp was unsure what she was meaning to imply. "Excuse me?"
Stepping away from the telescope, Bon-Bon was visibly shaking. Her body language was belied by her all too calm voice as she repeated herself. "There are other ponies down there. A whole bunch of Royal Guard. A few of Luna's personal guard too."
"Excuse me if fail to see what that has to do with the current situation," Crisp responded. "Of course the Royal Guard would be down there. They must have come rushing to rescue their Princess when they heard the blast. A little late on the uptake perhaps, but otherwise an admirable effort on their part."
Shaking her head slowly, Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I don't think so. If they did come rushing to help as you say, that would imply that they were not near her to begin with. And I think you I both know that under no circumstances would the Royal Guard ever allow anypony, one of the Princesses no less, to be left alone in a potentially dangerous situation." Crisp opened his mouth to object, but found he could not come up with a good retort. Stepping towards him, Bon-Bon continued to add, "Given that, the only reason any of the Royal Guard would be so close at hoof, and yet allow the creature to be close enough to Luna to supposedly feed on her long enough for you to open fire on it would be if they were under orders not to."
"That's enough!" Crisp shouted angrily, refusing to believe that he was in the wrong here. Lowering his voice he said, "Now listen here. I don't care what you say, or what you think you believe about your pet out there, but let me tell you here and now that I will not stand to be subverted by a former member of an organization that doesn't even exist anymore," he stated, no longer caring about keeping her identity a secret. "No matter what you say or what excuse you come up with, that thing is a monster, and I will not let some sub-equine animal get the better of me because you think it has a heart!"
Crisp did not even see the hoof coming until it met the underside of his chin. Reeling backwards from the hit, he rubbed the rapidly growing bruise and looked at Bon-Bon with absolute fury, just as the majority of the crew rushed over and tackled her to the floor, pining her down. Still rubbing his chin, Crisp angrily ordered, "Take her back to the barracks, and keep her there." Speaking directly to Bon-Bon he added, "You can be sure that we'll let the Princess know about you. You'll wish then that you had-"
"Uh sir?"
"What is it cadet?!" Crisp snapped, whirling around to find the pony in question once more looking into the lens of the telescope.
"I, uh. . . I think you may want to take another look at this."
Sighed loudly through gritted teeth Crisp stormed over. The moment he saw what was going on down there his furrowed in confusion. There, standing next to the massive corpse of the creature, was Luna. Gathered behind her were many members of the Royal Guard, all of them looking like they had just been through Tartarus judging by the state of their armor. While largely unharmed, it appeared that they had suffered some of the effects from Storm Bottle as well. What really caught him off guard however was the sight of Luna repeatedly casting some sort of spell on the creature. Even from the safety of the airship, he could plainly see that she was putting quite a bit of effort into it.
"What does she think she's doing?" Crisp questioned aloud, wondering if he was seeing things correctly, although he already had a sneaking suspicion, one that refused to go away no matter how much he wanted to deny it. Crisp shook his head, looked, shook his head again, and looked again. But no matter what he did to convince himself that what he was seeing was not true, he could not refute it. Princess Luna was casting healing spells on the creature. She was trying to revive it.
Bon-Bon was right.
Before he could say or do anything else however, he noticed that the beast began to move slightly.
Luna continued to pour as much energy as she could into spell after spell without rendering herself unconscious, as doing so would mean letting Angela potentially slip further away into the cold embrace of death, which Luna would not let happen as long as she drew breath.
Luna could not necessarily explain why she was risking her own safety, with fires that, while having died down a little bit, continued to smolder around her, all for an alien being that she just met a short while ago. Perhaps it was the fact that, in a way, she felt a certain amount of kinship with Angela. Luna knew what it was like to have to fight to be accepted after committing acts that she felt were unforgivable. Or maybe it was because she could not bear the thought of Letting Angela perish simply for being misunderstood.
Whatever the case, Luna was wholly convinced that Angela was innocent in this situation, and harbored no ill intentions towards her ponies, if the vision that Luna had witnessed while their minds were connected was anything to judge by. This knowledge spurred Luna onward to keep the spell going, desperately trying to revive Angela.
For minutes on end she remained like this, refusing to give up the fight. Yet even her great power was beginning to falter, and she was not sure how much longer she would be able to keep it up. Even alicorns had their limits after all, and Luna felt herself reaching hers. She was short of breath and her limbs felt like wet rags beneath her body as her legs wobbled and her wings hung limp at her sides.
"Wake up," she pleaded quietly. "Please Angela. . . you must. . . wake up."
Just when Luna thought that her body was about to give up the battle, she felt something echoing across the spell. And it was coming from Angela. Cutting off the spell, Luna allowed herself a moment to recover a little bit as she breathed deeply, struggling to keep her limbs steady. When she thought that she might fall over Luna felt a hoof touch her side, keeping her upright. Glancing to her right, she saw Stalwart gazing at her with an odd look in his eye that she could not quite identify initially due to her fatigued state. Was it worry, perhaps?
"Princess," he said, sounding conflicted. "Just so you know, I still have my reservations about what you're doing here." Luna narrowed her eyes, and was about to tell the captain what she thought of his reservations. He cut her off by adding, "But for what it's worth, I hope you are right. I really do."
Luna sighed heavily, letting her irritation fade away a bit as she turned to address the captain, about to tell him that she would not be doing this if she did not believe wholeheartedly that it was indeed worth it, but was interrupted yet again. This time however, the interruption did not come from Stalwart or any of the other ponies gathered behind them. It came from Angela, as she inhaled a mighty breath. She then exhaled slowly, scattering a few remaining embers.
Every pony immediately became as tense as a bowstring as they watched Angela's chest rise and fall with each shaky breath, Luna included, and almost in unison they took a precautionary step backward, giving her a wide berth. One of Angela clawed hands, the one that had suffered the least amount of damage, flexed, her talons carving deep grooves into the soil as consciousness slowly returned to her.
"Angela?" Luna said, raising her voice a little, though she was hesitant to disturb the girl. Behind her, a few of the Royal Guard glanced at each other in confusion upon hearing Luna address to the creature by the unfamiliar name. Luna hardly noticed as she watched Angela struggle to orient herself, using all four of her upper limbs to prop herself upright.
"Angela, are you well?" Luna questioned in a concerned tone. She felt slightly foolish for asking however, as any pony could plainly see that Angela was anything but fine. One does not simply get up after taking such a hit without suffering some sort of damage. The mere fact that Angela was still alive, let alone conscious, after enduring so much misguided abuse was nothing less than astounding to Luna, and Luna felt hopeful at knowing that Angela would at least survive.
However, the severity of the damage that Angela had endured became all too apparent when she suddenly fell to her side, and screamed. It was such a horrible sound to Luna's ears, so alien and full of grief and pain that it caused the Princess to fall to her knees as she covered her ears with her wings to block the sound. Even then, Angela's shrill cry of agony penetrated deeply, cutting into Luna's eardrums like a blade. All around her, ponies were suffering similar effects from the cry.
In front them, Angela began to thrash wildly as she clutched her left side with her right, knocking over trees and anything else that happened to be in her path. Fighting through the cacophony, Luna raised her voice, hoping that Angela could hear her.
"Angela!" Luna yelled loudly, though Angela hardly seemed to notice as she continued to thrash about, scratching and clawing at her wounds in a futile effort to dispel what Luna knew what must be an incredible amount of pain. Her call went unnoticed as Angela moved forward blindly. Luna had to leap to the side as a massive hand impacted on the space she had just occupied. Angela made no move to pursue her however, making Luna realize that the girl probably did not even remember they were even there. The pain was just too much for her to concentrate on anything.
"Everypony get out of the way! Take cover now!" Luna ordered as she hovered in the air. Thankfully they heard her over the din, and quickly moved to obey her command as they ran for the cover of the trees as Angela continued to scream, swiping at anything that came too close.
She was losing herself to the beast, Luna realized. Angela had warned her about it, and now she was witnessing it happen before her very eyes. The animal side of her was in control now, and would likely lash out at anything it perceived to be a threat in its wounded state. Luna frantically tried to think of a way to get Angela to calm down enough for her to cast a sleeping spell on her, something that would diminish the pain. In her frenzied state, such a spell would do absolutely nothing to Angela.
Suddenly Luna was startled out of her thoughts when Angela's pained cries morphed into an enraged growl. Still clutching her side, Angela's head whipped back and forth, until she spotted the Royal Guard as they were hiding behind the trees. She then hissed loudly as the uninjured row of spines on her back stood straight up. Luna felt the blood drain from her face when she saw Angela crouch down in preparation to attack, no doubt perceiving them as a threat.
Seeing that they were still in danger, the Royal Guard attempted to flee from her before she could attack, but were too late as she launched forward, knocking over multiple trees and sending the embers that even now continued to burn flying into the air before they stuck on other trees, igniting their branches. One pony that was trying to get away stumbled over a fallen branch, and Luna watched in horror as Angela spotted him while he struggled to get up. He was too late however, as Angela was on him in an instant, her large right saber claw raised high above her head, intending to skewer him.
Before it could strike its target however, a band of blue suddenly appeared around the blade, and it seemed to be yanked backward just enough for it to narrowly miss the pony by mere inches.
"Run! Flee now!" Luna shouted as she struggled to keep Angela from pursuing her quarry, the tip of her horn connected to the band by a thin light of magic. Angela screeched in rage as she pulled on it, dragging Luna a good distance. Heeding her command, the stallion quickly got back on his hooves and galloped away as fast as his hooves could carry him.
"Angela!" Luna screamed while she fought a battle for control. A battle that she was rapidly losing. "You must listen! This is not you! You must stop this at once!" Luna grimaced as Angela suddenly grabbed hold of the line in her fanged maw and used it to swing her around like a rag doll attached to a piece of string. It was all the Princess could do to keep herself from being swung into a tree as she flapped her wings to avoid them. Knowing that she had next to no foothold in the air, Luna landed on the ground and used every ounce of strength she had left to pull Angela backward, clenching her eyes from the strain it was putting on her horn.
Suddenly the line went slack, giving Luna a quick moment of relief. The feeling soon vanished when she opened her eyes just long enough to see the back of a large clawed hand swat her away.
She heard something crunch as she sailed backward, before she was suddenly enveloped in something cold and suffocating, and she lost consciousness. Just before she blacked out completely, Luna thought she could hear somepony calling for her name.
Stalwart could do nothing except look on in utter horror a the monster that Luna had tried to make peace with strike her with a mighty backhand swipe that would have cracked a dragons skull. He did not even see the beast cover the distance between them. It was as though one moment the two were separated by fifty feet of a line that had been conjured up by Luna to contain it, and the next it was just there. Luna had virtually no time to react before she was sent tumbling into the pool, her limp body creating a large splash before it sank beneath the surface.
"Luna!" Stalwart screamed as he rushed forward, heedless of the monster still being nearby as it still thrashing around, blindly attacking anything it saw. He wasted no time in ripping off his armor with his teeth, snapping the straps holding it together before throwing them aside.
Diving headfirst into the water, he frantically kicked and paddled his way to Luna, whom he could just barely see at the edge of his vision as she continued to sink, her ethereal mane billowing in the water. Refusing to let her drown, Stalwart surged towards her until he finally reached her. Wrapping a foreleg around her barrel, he then rapidly ascended to the surface. Once there he began to use his free limbs to make his way towards the shore, doing his best to keep Luna's head above water.
At last he reached his destination. Dragging the unconscious alicorn onto the shore, he pressed his ear against her chest, dreading the prospect of hearing nothing but silence.
"Oh thank Celestia!" he exclaimed when the familiar thudding of a heartbeat could be heard. It was faint, but Stalwart was mollified by the fact that she was alive at least. Quickly inspecting her for other injuries, he found that one of her wings and both of her back legs were bent at an awkward angle, and a massive bruise had formed on her chest. Stalwart would not be the least bit surprised if any of of her ribs were broken. Stalwart may not know that much about alicorns, but he did know that she needed medical attention right away. Unfortunately there was currently nopony else around to provide assistance. He was the only one who had disobeyed her order to flee, not wanting to leave her behind. Lucky how that turned out, all things considered.
A harsh screech not too far off in the distance drew his attention to the forest, where he saw a trail of destruction left in the monsters wake. Amid the monsters calls, he could also hear the frantic shouts and screams of ponies.
Hammer Hoof galloped with all due haste . She and the rest of the Royal Guard had fallen back per Luna's order. Hammer would have liked to stay and help, but in the end she could not disobey a direct order from the Princess.
They had positioned themselves behind the arbelists, hoping that if Luna could not contain the beast and it did come for them that they would at least be able to deter it. After all, Hammer remembered that they seemed to affect it before, so there was no reason why it should not work now. Despite this, Hammer still felt incredibly nervous as a bead of sweat ran down her brow as she waited anxiously, listening to the screams of the monster that was accompanied by the sound of trees being snapped in half, seeming to get closer with every moment that passed.
"Get ready!" somepony shouted. Immediately every unicorn lowered their head in preparation to fire combat spells at the beast. The clank of the arbelists being loaded with heavy iron spears could be heard just behind them. Unsure what else she could do in this situation, Hammer Hoof had a spear clutched in her fetlocks, ready to throw it at a moments notice.
Her heart beat loudly in her chest, pounding in her ears. It skipped a beat when she spotted it, giving her fuel for nightmares to last her the rest of her life. Not too far off in the distance, Hammer could just barely see the warped and twisted black silhouette of the monster, standing out against the glowing orange backdrop of fire behind it. It was moving rapidly as it closed in on them, knocking over trees or ripping them out of the ground by their roots as it cleared a path directly to them.
"Aim!"
Trying desperately to steady her nerves, Hammer breathed deeply through her nose, filling her lungs with oxygen, then exhaled slowly. It did help as much as she hoped it would.
Just when the creature seemed to be in range, the pony that seemed to be in charge at the moment raised his hoof, preparing to give the order to fire. Then suddenly, the creature stopped, seemingly frozen in place less than a dozen yards away from them. Hammer tilted her head in confusion. Surely it could see them by now, so why was it was it just floating there?
And why did it look like it was glowing?
Hammer Hoof soon had her answer to both questions when the creature suddenly shot towards them faster than she could blink, engulfed in a fiery orange aura. With little to no time to react she frantically shouted at the top of her lungs, "Take cover!"
Her warning came just as the creature appeared right above their heads, catching them completely off guard before they they felt the air being sucked out of their lungs before they were suddenly thrown as a massive shock wave erupted from the creature. Ponies went flying in all directions before impacting on the hard ground or finding their flights cut short by a tree.
Hammer was unfortunately among the latter of the two, and she felt the wind being knocked out of her completely before falling ten feet to the unforgiving ground below. Trying to stand, she gasped in pain before falling to her knees. Looking over, she saw that the armor covering her torso had a massive dent on the right side, and she realized that her ribs were broken. It could have been worse she supposed. She could have been impaled on a tree branch.
"Take it down!"
The screech of the beast was enough of a distraction from the pain for her to glance upward just in time to see it be hit by three iron spears. Immediately a group of unicorns, what were standing after the shock wave that is, began to channel streams of lightning into the spears from their horns. To their horrified surprise however the beast seemed to not be affected in the least as it swatted them away with a swipe of its tails, after which it proceeded to track down the arbelists and destroy them, either by ripping them apart or shattering them with downward strikes from its saber claws.
Hammer did not understand what she was seeing. The tactic had seemed worked earlier, so why was it not having as much of an effect now? A question to ponder later she decided. Right now she needed to get moving. Fighting through the pain, Hammer struggled to stand, though it was at least another minute before she was on her hooves again. Taking a step forward, she hissed through clenched teeth. All around her ponies were shouting frantically as they tried to regroup.
Of to the side she could still see the Royal Guard trying desperately to fight it off, to little success. Somepony even had to the bright idea to rush at it armed with nothing but a spear. "For Equestri-" That was as far as he was able to get before he was casually slammed to the side by the monsters tails. Having taken care of the nuisance the monster returned its attention to the others as they scrambled to get away. It pursued them them, and before long Hammer could hear them screaming.
"Kill it! Somepony kill it!"
"I can't even see it! It keeps moving!"
"Where the buck did it go?!"
Hammer staggered forward as the shouts and screams continued, occasionally drowned out by the monsters' own roaring as it tore into their ranks, practically unchallenged. Hammer was at a loss as to what to do. At this rate, they were going to need a miracle. That was when she noticed a shadow looming over her, and she turned her head to see that the monster was heading straight for her. Hammer screamed, knowing that there was nothing she could do to fight it in her injured state. Even if she were still able to fight, she could not imagine doing much. Falling on her back, Hammer could do little more than wave her hooves futilely at the creature as its massive hand came down. . . and missed her completely.
Thrusting its head down at her, Hammer felt its hot breath ruffle her mane a little as it hissed. The poor mare could do little more than whimper at being brought so close to so many needle sharp teeth. Letting out a short grunt, the monster proceeded to shriek loudly at her, causing Hammer to cover her ears with her hooves in a futile attempt to block the horrific sound, before it suddenly vanished in a flash of white light, reappearing a short distance away, where it ferociously tore away at an arbelist.
Hammer was shaking like a leaf, barely able to keep from involuntarily relieving herself from being so close to death. She babbled incoherently for a few moments before she eventually passed out. The last thing she saw while conscious was the underside of a large airship.
"Is the weapon ready to fire?!" Crisp shouted, almost panicking as he watched the beast carve a path of destruction through the forest, close enough that he did not even need the telescope to watch it relentlessly pursue the Royal Guard.
"It's still charging up sir!"
"Well hurry it up! Ponies could be dying down there!" Crisp ordered, unable to keep the fear he felt out of his voice, slightly warped by the static hum of the storm bottles signature weapon. It had been a long time since he had felt actual fear, especially from an animal. He was so used to things going exactly as he planned them to, with little deviation that the feeling was practically alien to him. And now he could not help but be consumed by it to know that not only had the monster survived being hit by a weapon that would have demolished a countryside, but had also shrugged it off as little more than an annoyance before it proceeded to dispatch Luna and began attacking the Royal Guard. And judging by the way the monster tore through the forest like a living buzz saw, the situation was grim for those on the ground. Crisp just hoped that they could hold out long enough for them to open fire and finally put an end to it once and for all.
Glancing to the side, Crisp caught sight of Bon-Bon looking down at the carnage below with a horrified expression. Despite Crisp's opinion of her at the moment, he could not help but feel a small amount of pity for her. She truly did believe that the creature meant no harm. And maybe she was right, Crisp thought. Maybe they had just pushed the beast far enough to the point where it just did not care what got in its way anymore.
Crisp looked away. He could not allow such thoughts to distract him right now. Right now they needed to focus on helping the ponies on the ground, still struggling to fight the monster off without success.
It was at that moment that Crisp heard the call of, "Ready sir. Awaiting your order."
Off to the side, Crisp noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bon-Bon had turned away, not willing to watch. Crisp hesitated for just a moment before he said, "Zero in on it."
"Yes sir."
A few moments passed as the hulking airship altered its position slightly, until it was pointed directly at the monster. It did not seem to notice them yet thankfully, as it was too preoccupied with tearing apart everything in front of it.
"Target acquired sir."
Crisp sighed heavily, wondering if he was going to regret this later on, then gave the order.
"Fire."
Seconds after Crisp gave the order, the static hum began to increase in intensity and volume as arcs of white hot electricity could be seen gathering around the nose of the airship as the reached its peak. Everypony braced themselves for what they knew was coming. Then a brief period of silence followed before a lightning bolt as big around as a train car shot forth from the airships conductive surface, emitting a thunderous roar that shook the entire ship.
The creature had no time to react as the bolt hit its target square in the back, and a cloud of dust and smoke was thrown up where it once stood, obscuring it from view. Despite Crisp thinking that even it could not survive two direct hits like that, he still lingered, wanting to make sure that it stayed down for good this time. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared up enough for him to see, Crisp narrowed his eyes, noticing that something was missing that should not be.
"Um. . . where did it go?" a pony questioned in a concerned tone, voicing his thoughts.
"I don't know," Crisp replied, equally concerned. "I don't understand, we hit it dead center. Its body should still be there at least."
For a few moments, everypony was on the verge of panic as they frantically searched the ground for any sign of the monster. Crisp noticed that Bon-Bon had joined, looking just as surprised and confused as they were to see that the creature had somehow gone missing. As she looked around, he saw her focus on something that was apparently directly beneath them. Gasping, she then pointed with a hoof and said, "There!"
Following her direction, Crisp peered down at whatever had caught her attention, but could not see anything that stood out to him. No matter how much he strained his eyes, he just could not see what she was pointing at. Sighing he began to say, "Miss Bon-Bon, this is no time for you to. . .to. . ."
Crisp faltered when he finally noticed what she was talking about. Almost directly below them, he could just barely make out slight distortions in the air that were moving very rapidly. Directly towards them. They were incredibly difficult to track, and Crisp found himself wondering if he was not just imagining things. That would not make sense however, as Bon-Bon had seen it as well. Then suddenly the distortions cleared up, and in their place was their missing monster. Crisp's eyes went wide with shock.
Shrieking at them loud enough they could hear even inside the airship, the monsters skin suddenly began to emit a bright orange glow, right before it shot up towards them like a vengeful meteor.
"Back, back, back! Everypony get back now!"
Crisp was not quite sure what happened after that. One moment he was ushering ponies off of the bridge as fast as possible as the monster rapidly approach the airship wrapped in a halo of angry orange energy, the next he found himself being thrown like a rag doll towards the back of the bridge, leaving him dazed and rid of any sense of direction. The floor beneath him shook violently as he struggled to stand, yet for some reason his hooves were unwilling to cooperate. Managing to open his eyes, Crisp shook off the disorientaion and looked around trying to make sense of what was going on.
The first thing he noticed was that the entire front half of the bridge seemed to be missing, the edges of which glowed a vibrant red from the metal being melted into slag. The second thing he noticed was that the monster was now occupying the hole as it gripped onto the airship with its claws, easily penetrating the metal as though it were tissue paper. Roaring in rage and anger, it tore away at the edges, heedless of the burning metal as it ripped off large chunks of metal with ease. It then reached in inside and attempted to grab Crisp. Crisp had no time to do much of anything except cover his himself with his hooves, until something yanked him backwards by the hem of his uniform. The monsters claws just barely missed him as they raked against the floor, causing sparks to fly and leaving large gashes.
Turning his head, Crisp was surprised for multiple reasons to see somepony he was not expecting to.
"Bon-Bon?!" he exclaimed as the mare pulled him backwards, the hem of his uniform gripped between her teeth. "Not that I'm not grateful or anything but what are you still doing here?! you should've left with the others!"
Letting go of his uniform she responded with, "I also should've let you die for being so stupid, but I didn't did I?"
To that, Crisp had no rebuttal to offer.
Their attention was drawn back to the creature as it shrieked in rage. Apparently decided that they were not worth the effort, the monster began to scale upwards, impaling its saber claws into the ship as it hauled its itself upwards, until the tips of its tails disappeared from view. They were only allowed a brief moment to recover from the encounter before they noticed that the ship was now shaking violently, and was being steadily tilted downward towards the ground below.
"That's our cue to leave," Bon-Bon stated as she galloped for the door. It was then that she noticed that Crisp was not following her, and she turned around to look back at him as he looked around for something among the wreckage.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "In case you haven't realized it, the whole ship is going down!"
"I know that," Crisp replied as he rooted through the debris until he found what he was looked for, namely a panel on the floor about four feet across. Heaving it open, Crisp motioned for Bon-Bon to come over, he said to her, "Listen to me Bon-Bon, I need you to do me a favor. Do you see that big lever there?" The lever that he was indicating was painted bright red with a bunch of warning labels around it. Next to it was a small switch. Bon-Bon nodded, unsure what he was getting at. "In exactly two minutes, I want you to turn it. Twice clockwise, and once counter clockwise. That should be enough time for everypony on board to brace themselves."
"Brace themselves?! Brace themselves for what?!" Bon-Bon questioned. Rather than answering right away Crisp flicked at the switch, and almost immediately a siren began to blare through unseen speakers.
"For when you release the gondola from the main part of the airship," Crisp finally explained. "It would be better if we over water, but the emergency balloons should be enough to slow the fall and minimize damage."
"What?! Are you insane?!" Bon-Bon exclaimed in his ear, looking at Crisp like he had grown a second head. "What idiot put that in the design?!"
"Bon-Bon! Listen to me!" Crisp shouted back. "There is an entire thunderstorm contained in the main hull above us. If that that thing breaches the containment spells while the gondola is still attached, everypony on board will die. That's why I need you to stay here and turn this lever in two minutes. Do you understand?"
Bon-Bon stuttered, not liking his plan at all, which Crisp supposed he could not blame her for. "B-but why me?! Can't you do it?! It's your ship after all!"
Spreading his feathery wings, Crisp trotted over to the hole, he shouted back at her over his shoulder, "Your right! And Celestia as my witness I'm gonna go down with it!"
Deciding to end their impromptu conversation there, Crisp leaped out into open air. Wind rushed past his face as he pulled up, directing his path to the top of the ship. He soon spotted the creature, busy tearing away at the hull like a shark would tear on a whale. Flames poured out of the great hole it had gouged out, producing a column of smoke that trailed behind. Taken aback by the sight, Crisp hesitated for just a moment before he dove headfirst at the monstrosity, aiming for its for its back. He needed to buy time for Everypony inside to get to safety, and the only way he was going to do that was to distract the beast for as long as possible.
He did not particularly have much faith in his chances of surviving, but he was willing to live with it, so to speak. Who knows, maybe he would even get a statue or stained glass window made in honor of his heroic sacrifice.
Unfortunately the creature spotted him long before Crisp made contact though, and took a swipe at him with one of its saber claws. Crisp quickly flapped his wings and halted his advance, narrowly avoiding getting sliced in two by the razor sharp bone. Hissing, the monster crouched low against the hull. Leaping towards him, it attempted to grab him and crush him in its grip. Tucking in his wings, Crisp dove under the attack as the beast sailed over his head. It landed with a heavy thud, keeping itself anchored to the hull with its claws.
Hoping he sounded at least half as confident as he felt, which was was admittedly not much, Crisp began to taunt the beast. "Yeah that's right!" he jeered. "Just try and get me! You couldn't catch a snail if you wanted!" His taunting proved to be a wholly unwise decision the monster hissed at him angrily, and in a flash of white it was suddenly right in front of him, upon which it casually swatted him out of the air. Crisp felt a flash of agonizing pain and heard something snap as he slammed against the hull, skidding along the surface. He tried to flap his wings to keep himself from falling. He yelled the moment he moved them however. Glancing over he, saw that they were both snapped practically in half. Left with no other option, Crisp tried to grip the hull with his hooves, to absolutely no affect however as he slid down the side.
"No no no no no no!" he shouted frantically as his back hooves met open air, and he fell.
Crisp screamed as he flailed about, only to find his fall cut short when he impacted on something. It constricted around him tightly for brief moment, threatening to crack his ribs, before he felt himself being flung to the side. He felt the wind be knocked out of his lungs, and when he opened his eyes he found that he was once more on top of the ship. Dazed and confused, his attention was drawn to the monster sitting close by as it. . .
What was it doing?
The monster was thrashing wildly about now, clutching its head between its many arms as it let out a high pitched keen that was interrupted by growls of aggression. It seemed to be in pain as it shook its head back and forth, scratching and clawing at itself. Slamming its palms on the hull, the monster shrieked loudly as it convulsed, its jaws spread wide.
Crisp had no idea what was going on with it, nor did he want to know as he cautiously scooted away, hoping to put as much distance between it and himself as would be allowed.
Suddenly the whole ship seemed to lurch upward, almost causing Crisp to lose what little footing he had. Peering over the side, he saw the gondola falling away, as four large balloons inflated on the top, slowing its descent. He let out a sigh of relief, glad that Bon-Bon had at least enough sense in her to follow the instructions he gave her.
A moment of gladness was cut short by a savage hiss, and when he looked he saw the monster had seemingly recovered from its bout of insanity, and was now creeping towards him. Realizing his fate, Crisp sighed heavily as he accepted it.
"Well?" he said. "What are you waiting for?"
Reaching towards him, Crisp closed his eyes, fully expecting to feel the life be crushed out of him. Instead, the creature picked him and rapidly moved towards the hole it had created in the ship. Clutching him tightly, it slipped inside the interior, just as the last remnants of the containment spells gave way, and the ship ruptured violently as the storm broke loose.
A thunderous boom strong enough to shake a mountain echoed across town, shaking the buildings to their foundations. Stalwart was startled so much by it that he leaped up from his spot on the floor just outside of the room Luna was staying in, unintentionally knocking over a flower stand. The whole building seemed to be shaking by its very foundation. Somewhere inside the hospital, somepony screamed, "It's the apocalypse! Grogar has come!"
Stalwart ignored the screaming mare as he rushed for the nearest door leading outside, dodging past other members of the Royal Guard, some of them sporting grievous injuries. He even saw that Hammer Hoof, a mare that he knew to be tough as nails on occasion, had been laid up, groaning in discomfort from her broken ribs. Nurses and doctors rushed back and forth as they did their best to keep up with the sudden influx of patients that had arrived less than an hour ago, even as more continued to pour in.
It was honestly a miracle that none of them had died, making Stalwart wonder what sort of providence had been watching over them.
Eventually Stalwart found a balcony. Leaning over the railing, he was just in time to witness a huge thundercloud cover the landscape. Lightning flashed as it continued to spread, growing larger and larger. Even Hollow Shades could not escape it, as the town suddenly found itself the victim of a torrential downpour. Ponies on the street ran for cover to escape the sudden deluge. Off in the distance, Stalwart could just see the glow of the fires that had been raging unchecked where their entire ordeal had started begin to fade as they were snuffed out by the heavy rain.
Stalwart was soaked within seconds, his damp mane sticking to his forehead. He did not care about that as he looked on into the distance. He had no idea what it was that had happened. Until the rain settled and everypony's injuries had been tended to, they would find out. Until then Stalwart would wait until Luna was healed, or at least conscious.
He could do that at least.