They ran. They ran so fast, that Rumble stumbled and fell to his rump. But he got up and continued.
They all had that feeling now. Relief.
It was so strong that they didn't care about anything else.
Rumble was so close... They were all so close to going someplace safe. Someplace where nopony would hurt them. But he was so scared.
Terrified that something would stop him before he got to his destination. It was an itching sensation that crawled in the back of his neck, giving him the chills.
He half expected hooves to grab him and pull him back into darkness.
They were getting really close to the village now. It's twinkling lights were getting bigger as the sun went down.
"Wait!"
They all came to a stumbling halt, taken by surprise.
"What gives?!" grumbled Diamond once Sweetie had bumped into her.
"We should be careful about this. These villagers have probably only ever seen things that wanted to kill them. Why don't we take it slow? Not that they'd be able to hurt us anyways."
As usual, Button's wise words calmed everyone down and they proceeded to the village with a little less speed.
Everyone's breaths grew quiet as they reached the tip of the village and they finally came to a halt in front of a small house.
They hesitantly stood there, unsure what to do. An awkward silence stood between them, as they nervously shifted around, giving each other uneasy looks.
Suddenly, a small purple bat filly came skipping towards them, singing a tune and balancing a small ball on her muzzle. "There's music in the treetops, and there's music in the air... And all that music makes you want to soar...!"
She bumped into Rumble and fell to her rump. Her surprised gaze shifted upwards and she met Rumble's unsure-what-to-do face.
Tears started to form in her eyes and he panicked, and leaned in closer : "It's okay young filly... We won't hurt you! Tee hee hee!" he said, his voice deformed by nervousness. He tried smiling real big and happy but ended up doing too much and looking extremely creepy.
The tears immediately stopped under the effect of terror and she got up, screamed and ran away.
Rumble stood there and tried to ignore the annoyed looks of the others.
"Telling somepony you won't hurt them basically proves the opposite..." muttered Button.
Rumble was about to answer when he realized Diamond Tiara wasn't with them anymore. He spotted her at the same time the rest of the group did, running after the filly : "Its okay sweetie! We really won't hurt you!"
But the small filly was absolutely terrified now and sobbing like crazy.
"So much for our nice approach..." muttered Button as they took off behind the two mares.
The filly led them to the center of the village, still screaming, running as fast as her little hooves managed to take her.
Ponies of all sorts came out of the huts and houses in a panic, alerted by the shouts.
"Nice to meet you!" smiled Sweetie Belle at a white Pegasus that jumped when they whizzed pass him.
They finally arrived in front of a large cobblestone house with a few furnaces in it. The filly jumped in the hooves of a stallion with a green mane and white fur color that stood in front.
Diamond Tiara stopped a few steps away and shrank down under the stallion's glare.
"May I know what you are doing here?" he asked, before then widening his eyes as he saw the rest of the group.
"Greetings ponies!" Button smiled, taking a small step forward. "We come in absolute peace!"
Other ponies were gathering around them, some curious, others weary. No apparent signs of hostility were visible for now.
"T... that big, giant, scary and menacing stallion with huge muscles and a menacing look threatened me!" squeaked the filly, cowering in fear in the stallion's hooves.
Rumble's eye twitched. "Hey now little filly..." he said, trying to control his anger. "I never said I'd hurt you!"
His menacing look made the whole village take a step back.
Oh. There was the hostility.
The stallion holding the small filly stood up and put her down. His gaze hardened and he took a step forward.
"Do not," he calmly said, "threaten my ponies..."
Rumble shrunk down under his gaze, but Button didn't falter : "I apologize for my friend's tone and anything he did that might've disturbed you. We are just travelers that seek refuge for a little bit..."
"Uh actually, we did disturb the whole village..." muttered Sweetie Belle.
"And since when are you talking like that? You sound like that really old and wise guy from a movie I saw..." groaned Diamond Tiara.
"Shut up you two!" Button then realized he had been a little violent and facehoofed.
"I don't trust them..." murmured a pony behind them, getting closer. "Panda Brush, we should get rid of them! What if they were with the zombies?"
The mention of zombies threw a wave of panic in the crowd.
A mare with yellow fur shrank down to the floor and started whining. The bat filly grasped onto the stallion's - apparently named Panda Brush - leg. The white Pegasus from earlier disappeared in his house and slammed the door behind him.
"Don't mention that again, Game Controller... Even though I must admit I agree with you... But the night is near. "
The stallion nodded and took a step back. "You're proposing that we keep them safe here tonight?"
"Yes." Panda Brush glanced at them and a hint of worry appeared on his face. "But I hope you lot won't cause me or my village any trouble..."
"Thank you very much sir, I assure you we won't cause a single problem." Button smiled to his group and relief spread over them. They were safe.
"Lullaby Bliss!" Panda Brush ordered. "Please set the barriers up."
A Pegasus with abnormally large wings nodded and shouted a few orders around. Ponies shuffled around, whispering about the newcomers.
Sweetie Belle's ears fell flat, annoyed with all the sudden commotion.
"Are they all going back to their homes? Should we jump inside one as well?"
Diamond Tiara shrugged. "I still don't understand what's so appealing to this game, and don't plan on learning how to properly play it."
Button was about to ask Panda Brush what they should do, when the floor started rumbling. The tiny square pebbles on the ground were bouncing up and down and the houses were shaking.
The foals immediately grabbed their weapons and got in an instinctive defensive position, their backs to each other.
Huge iron blocks sprang out of the ground and surrounded the village, closing it in with a height of approximately 10 blocks. Little blocks of red stone were on the very top.
The group just stared at it all, mouths agape and wide eyes.
"You seem surprised." Panda Brush was approaching them, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Well..." Sweetie Belle started, then blushed. They were used to seeing stupid villagers that didn't know how to defend themselves and were only good at trading or running away. It was always fun to find a village to kill everyone inside and get the loot.
"We just haven't ever seen anything like this! You guys have defended yourselves well," Diamond Tiara smiled warmly.
"Yeah, great job!" approved Rumble, taking a look around.
The sky was now completely black and archers were standing guard on the towers.
"Unfortunately we can only defend ourselves against creatures that don't climb or fly."
"Or dig!" the small filly cheered, proud to participate in the adult conversation. But she immediately shrank back down when her gaze met Rumble's.
"You'll have to clear up that misunderstanding..." murmured Button.
Rumble was about to reply when a loud squeal was heard from behind.
They all turned in unison as Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara got tackled with a hug.
"Applebloom!" laughed Sweetie Belle, hugging her back.
"Scootaloo..." Diamond Tiara breathed out in relief.
"We're back!" grinned the two fillies.