//------------------------------// // Chapter 46 // Story: Friendly Fire // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Something exploded. The ceiling shook above them, raining down small pebbles. Something heavy and metallic clanked and rattled down the opening, landing only a foot away from the cage. It was some kind of winch assembly, half-melted and warped by the force of something massive. Jacob didn’t stare up into the opening with shock as the guards did, but took Elise and Katie by their shoulders and concentrated. The teleport came far easier than when he was screwing around jumping onto buildings. A flash, and they were behind a pillar again, out of the line of fire. Mere seconds later and the space they had been was filled with crackling energy, from the point of a soldier’s weapon. It struck the mosaic floor without damaging it, though the little layer of dust caught fire briefly. “Oh, was that your helicopter?” Harley’s voice called from somewhere above them, obscured in darkness. “I think that C4 might’ve gone off a little too close to the fuel tank. My bad.” Jacob might’ve screamed in frustration that Harley should’ve waited until the senator got into the helicopter, but it was a little late for that now. Someone opened fire, the reports of low-caliber-rounds echoing through the chamber and momentarily deafening him. Hunter’s soldiers retreated, forming up around her and sheltering her with their bodies. Sparks from missed shots showered down around them, apparently without effect. “You will pay for that, parasite!” she bellowed, her voice far louder than any earth pony’s. The darkness there was so horrific, so terrifying, Jacob very nearly collapsed. “Death will seem a kindness after I tear your wings from your back thread by thread!” The battle began. Jacob cowered, along with the other non-combatants, keeping his head down and his body as small as possible. It was all he could do to stay alive long enough to treat the survivors. * * * Danielle embraced the stone. Ever since she had abandoned Lily's advice about forcing a pony shape, it came very easily to her. The sound of screams, of gunfire and terrified ponies, all these were enough to speed up her transformation. Whatever Harley said about magic protecting this place, the stone around it did not resist her. The fire spread, consuming black rock and shaping it into the body of an Earthbreaker. Danni shattered the surface of the rock like a giant breaching the ocean. One of the nearby pillars got in her way, but a single shove sent it toppling across the cavern, crashing down with terrible force. The earth shook, but miraculously, the pillar did not shatter. One of Hunter’s soldiers was not so lucky. His armor might stop bullets, but it didn’t stop a hundred tons of white marble. The other two opened fire on her with their strange lightning weapons, carving deep gashes into the surface of the stone. They stood without faltering as she advanced on them, legs spread and weapons screaming with the force of their assault. It might be a great weapon for killing ponies, but it was a very poor one for killing ponies wrapped in rock. There was metal in the stone, metal that made for a far better conductor than her body. Before they had made more than a few gashes in the rock, she had crushed both of them with a few quick strikes. That only left the senator. Where had she… Something took Danielle in the chest with the force of an angry Falcon 9 rocket. She screamed, limbs flailing and cracking against pillar after pillar as she was rocketed back into the far wall. She hit, and her whole world went white. Only the incredible magic of the earth kept her alive. Even so, she could barely move within the armor. Limbs twitched at her commands, but before she could lift one, something would tear it from the socket. She screamed more pitifully each time, blinking away imagined pain to see what was assaulting her. A nightmare. Senator Hunter barely resembled her original form, ghostly wings filled the air behind her with darkness, and a horn on her forehead stretched several feet away, crackling with magic. Someone shot at her, but their flashes of small-arms sent bullets that stopped before they reached her. “You see your mistake?!” she shouted, and the whole cave shook. A few larger chunks of rock cracked and tumbled down, sending her friends scattering. She whimpered as, for the second time, her limbs were severed by deadly assault. Her concentration was a little better this time, and she was able to maintain the spell in the face of the illusionary pain, protecting her true self inside the stone torso. It wasn’t much, but at least she would be harder to kill that way. The sound of gunfire had stopped, and the sound of ricocheting bullets no longer filled the air. “You think I need soldiers? You think I would allow any of you to live after raising hoof against me?” Another pillar cracked and tumbled down, slamming against her stone body. It hurt, but Danielle was already tuning out the illusory sensations by then. The stone cracked, but didn’t yield as the guard’s body had done. Danielle was still intact. Something took the senator in the chest, something that took her crashing back down to the ground. Danielle couldn’t get a good look, but she could hear Elise’s voice, full of rage. “You can’t have my country!” Something like a small grenade exploded, and the cave was abruptly flung into darkness. It was the lantern. At least one pony and one human screamed in pain, and dark flames roared. “Kill the host!” Harley’s voice, panicked. “You can’t kill the thing inside! Just don’t let it take you when it doesn’t have a body!” Danielle could no longer see anything, and with a sigh she released the spell holding her Earthbreaker together. It exploded outward in a shower of rock, and cool air rushed into the cavity it made. She still couldn’t see anything; her bulk had crushed their own electric lantern, the flames were gone, and the temple was in ruins. Preservation magic was no match for an Alicorn. Danni struggled out of her armor, searching the darkness for where the Senator had landed. A faint green light—Harley’s horn—pointed her in the direction she needed to go. Harley and Jackie stood beside one another over the body of a fallen pony—Elise, with a dozen chunks of stone stuck into a coat charred by fire. Harley had her wand, and Jackie… was that a sword? The senator’s clothes had been charred by something, and one of her ghostly wings was now missing. Whatever injuries she had, though, she still stood straight. “The pretender sent a legion of her finest. Equestria’s fallen on hard times if all it can muster is a parasite, one of my own misguided progeny, and an incompetent Earthbreaker.” “I think the math works out,” Elise croaked, struggling to shaking legs. “A legion of ponies, seven humans. Sounds right.” Hunter only laughed. “You really believe the nonsensical patriotism your nation instilled? Do you remember what it made you do, Agent Avery? Your civilization is a myth. You don’t even know what you are!” Danni crept closer, keeping low to the ground, stepping only when she spoke. Keep her going, she thought, praying Harley would somehow notice. Her and Jackie both could see in the dark. Would they see her? “We know.” Jackie raised her sword, swiping it sidelong through the air. “Your soldiers carry iron weapons because they cut spells. Can we cut the spell you’re using to possess that woman?” More dark flames, devouring light instead of creating it. The woman shouted with rage, and for a moment Harley and the others were engulfed. The flames only lasted a moment. The mosaic beneath them crumbled to chalky white dust, along with the stone behind them. Her friends still stood. Jackie had shoved the sword into the stone, wrapping one arm around Harley’s. The changeling, meanwhile, had her wand extended, somehow channeling the flames through the sword into the ground. The iron glowed bright red everywhere but the handle, and a cloud of metallic steam rose from it. Danni had no idea what they had done, and it didn’t really matter. It was almost long enough. She was behind the senator now, preparing for a strike. She would only get one—it would have to be deadly. If the Nightmare’s flames could melt stone, then it could kill an earth pony too. “I created you!” she bellowed, glaring at Jackie. “The strength in your blood is my gift! So many of my children fled when I was defeated because the others rejected you! Your friends loathe and fear you, nightborn! You owe them no loyalty!” “Fuck what ponies did,” Jackie said. “My friends aren’t like that. The world hates us because of you, but ponies took me in! It’s not the ponies I hate!” Maria screamed again, raising her hands for another blast of flame. Jackie and Harley tensed, preparing for whatever channeling they were doing. It was the perfect opportunity. Danni leapt. She struck the woman in the back, kicking with all the bone-shattering force her little body could muster. Could a human spine withstand the force of an earth-pony kick? No. Hunter went down under her assault, dropping to the ground. Only, her magic wasn’t stopped. Instead of a wave aimed at her friends, it rebounded against her, boiling around Maria. Danni lurched out of the way, but she was too slow. The fire was everywhere. It burned so fast, there wasn’t even any pain. * * * “Jacob!” Eric’s voice sounded terrified, more panicked than Jacob had ever heard him. “Jacob, Danielle needs you!” Jacob clambered out from behind a broken pillar, shedding his shredded coat as he did. “Where is she? I can’t see anything in this mess!” “With me!” Eric screamed, furious. “Get over here, dammit!” Jacob stepped. His horn flashed, and he cut his way through the intervening space, teleporting to the sound of Eric’s scream. His horn lit up, giving Jacob the first clear view of the aftermath. Eric was on his knees beside the cracked rear wall. Harley stood over a ruined, charred heap. Two bodies wrapped together—a charred earth pony, and a human with part of her lower body missing. Only the bones remained. Clothes, flesh, even the nearby rock had crumbled to ash. Jacob reached out with his magic, searching for a spark he could fan back to life. He sensed nothing. Eric screamed up at him. “What are you waiting for? Do something!” Tears already streaked the dirt on his face. Jacob felt his own eyes start to water. “E-Eric…” he croaked. “There’s nothing to heal.” “You’ve healed dying ponies before!” He lurched forward, gripping Jacob by both shoulders. Eric was twice his size, and his grip was powerful. He shook Jacob violently, screaming at him. “It’s the one thing you know! It’s your damn Cutie Mark! You’re the only pony who can!” “He can’t!” Something yanked Eric away from him. Jacob retreated, heart racing and eyes wide. His arms were still sore where Eric shook him. Harley held Eric back as he struggled. “Magic can’t bring ponies back to life! It doesn’t matter how good he is, not even Celestia can do that!” Eric melted in her grip. “Danielle!” There was no lack of blood. Jacob hadn’t been hurt much in the fight, but he’d taken a few scrapes avoiding tumbling pillars. He rubbed some of the blood on his fingers, and focused on his subject as he always did. It was easy to picture Danni healthy and alive, though it was harder to see her as anything other than a pony. His magic stretched and strained, but there was nothing there. Whatever Sunset Shimmer had said about necromancy, Jacob could not bring back the dead. Jacob slumped against the rubble of one of Danni’s severed stone limbs, breathing heavily. Everything felt numb. He cried. I’m sorry Danni. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. There was very little to bury, and no way to dig a grave through the stone. Danni alone had strength like that. It was all they could do to find a corner of the temple, and cover what was left beneath the rubble of shattered mosaics and broken pillars. No reinforcements came—Harley had evidently killed all of them when she detonated the helicopter. The Nightmare’s host had been an important senator, and she would certainly be missed, but no one had the strength to go on. They rested together near the shattered doorway, near the corpse of Danni’s last Earthbreaker. * * * When Jacob woke, there was sunlight streaming in through the opening on the far end of the cave. He had been wrapped in a blanket, and apparently needed it, because the air fogged from his breath. Something warm was beside him on the ground—Katie. She didn’t wake as he rolled out and got to his hooves. Two of them still, though it was hard to say how much longer that would last. His fingers were still numb after the healing, and they hadn’t improved. Harley alone was awake, staring at the locked door. Or rather, where it had been. The force of Danni’s collision with it had shattered the rock, and huge chunks near the bottom had opened. It was wide enough for a human to crawl through, and easily big enough for a pony. “You aren’t asleep?” “Changelings don’t sleep,” Harley answered, her voice flat. “We rest, and we feed when we’re weak, but it isn’t the same. Dreams come from her.” She gestured behind her at the mosaic. “She can’t lie to us.” “Why’d you always have a bed?” He stopped beside her, though he still felt dwarfed. “Convenient place to rest a few hours each night. I normally listen to music, but…” She lifted a piece of twisted plastic and glass from her pocket. A ruined cell phone. “Got destroyed in the fight. Guess I won’t be bringing my tunes back to Equestria.” Silence. Someone was stirring from among his sleeping friends, though he didn’t turn around to see who. “Thanks for… taking care of the others back there. I didn’t have the energy left when it was time.” “Yeah.” She shrugged. “No problem, kid. I might be a bloodsucking parasite, but I can set a broken wing with the best of ‘em. Besides…” She gestured into the cavern ahead of them, leading deeper into the depths. “It’s through there to the portal, already checked it out. We can get everyone to a proper hospital.” “You think Nightmare Moon was being honest with us? You think it goes to Equestria?” Harley nodded. “The Temple is clear about it. If we’re unlucky, it lets out in the middle of nowhere. Castle of the Two Sisters, maybe. But I’m intact enough that I can fly for help. Katie might be able to come with me.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “What about Michelle? My sister… she’s still human. What will happen when she comes with us?” Harley shrugged. “I’ve never seen a human in Equestria before, but it shouldn’t be impossible. The big problem… besides how big she’ll be… is how much magic is everywhere. The rest of you ponies will be ponies within a few minutes or hours of arrival, even Jackie and Eric. She might last a few days, maybe. But we don’t have a choice. If we don’t get out of here…” “I know. It’s either freezing to death or getting caught by the military. We still have a message to get to Equestria… even if Twilight Sparkle wasn’t waiting here for us.” She shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but if I had to camp out in a snowy cave or use a portal to get back to civilization with warm beds and hot food, I know which I’d choose.” “You usually bring your hot food along with you.” He smiled weakly up at her. “Best part about my job.” Harley returned the grin. “Now, help me get everypony up. I blew up her first batch of reinforcements, but eventually we’ll have more. I want to be in Equestria before they get here.”