The Genesis of Equestria
Book I: The Children of Armageddon
Chapter Three
Angel Rose moved to the window silently as soon as she saw the lights. The Unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, joined her and gasped.
“What are those?” she asked softly.
“Not good for us,” Angel replied. “The demon's getting creative.”
Beyond the window, there was lights blinking from the street below that were attached to the carts of police ponies. From what Angel Rose could see, there were a lot of them. Angel cursed under her breath.
“We need to get out of here, silently,” she said. “If I know the demon, he's hoping we'll get caught so he can extract you while the police have us in custody.”
“That is creative,” Twilight replied. “I... I might be able to help with our escape. I've never tried this before, but the glamour spell might work on you as well.”
Angel Rose grimaced. “We'll have to give it a try, but first we need to locate Rose Petal. Come on, follow me.”
Twilight nodded, falling into line behind the Knight of the Word.
* * *
“And you're sure that this mare is in there with the foal?” the police officer said in what sounded like a dull drone.
“Yessir, officer,” Hayseed replied dutifully. “I saw her leave the park with the filly and come here. Poor thing was strugglin' for her life.”
“I see... and you're certain she kidnapped her? Why didn't you call us before?” the police pony asked.
“I wasn't quite sure what I was seein' to be honest, officer,” Hayseed said. “I didn't want to cry no timberwolf.”
The demon watched the exchange between the police pony and his pawn from the side. Flexing his knuckles, he reached into the recesses of the police officer's mind. Even those in power are weak-willed, he thought as he insinuated his commands into the other pony's thoughts. The police pony suddenly nodded and smiled.
“Alright, well that's no worries, Mr. Hayseed. We'll get this foalnapper, don't you worry,” he replied. He made his way across to the crude barricade he had ordered set up. A loose crowd of ponies had gathered nearby to watch. He flicked up the megaphone and yelled into it.
“We know you're in there with the foal! Come out with your hooves up and nopony has to be hurt!”
* * *
Angel Rose scowled hard as she heard the voice shouting. Twilight was right behind her as she pulled her behind one of the large sculptures out of sight.
“I don't think this is going to work,” she muttered. “We're like the only ponies in the whole museum. It's going to look really suspicious when we exit, glamour or no glamour.”
“I believe I may have found an exit,” a wispy voice said from between them.
Angel and Twilight both looked down to see the translucent foal creature below them. Rose Petal floated on her hooves, not quite touching the ground. Her soulless eyes pierced both of them.
“So... are you... are you Rose Petal?” Twilight hesitantly said.
“That is correct, and you are the one the Lady instructed to keep safe,” Rose Petal replied, her tone airy and light.
“You said you had a way out?” Angel asked impatiently. “We don't have much time.”
“Yes,” Rose Petal said with a sigh. “There is a stairwell on the back side of the building. It will take us to the roof, where we can make our way to a nearby building and escape.”
Angel grimaced, but nodded. “Take us there. Quickly.”
Rose Petal motioned for the two ponies to follow behind her as they made their way carefully through the museum halls. The museum itself felt dark and cold, as they were the only living things inside of it it seemed. Angel felt nervous, expecting something to jump out at her at any moment.
They made it to the back end of the museum in no time at all, where Rose Petal pointed out a service entrance that took them to the back stairwell. They ascended quickly and quietly. As they walked, Angel glanced at Twilight. The strange Unicorn seemed to be unaware of the true danger she was in. Was she really as important as the Lady said? Angel shrugged off the thoughts. Later, she decided. She would have to ponder this question later. At that moment, what was important was getting away from the demon's clutches.
They emerged from the door at the top of the stairwell onto the roof of the museum. The wind whipped about, chilling Angel Rose to the bone. She could hear the sirens and the shouting of the police ponies from beyond the edge of the roof. She looked down at Rose Petal.
“Where to from here?” she said.
Rose Petal hovered in the middle of the air and pointed towards the rear of the building. The museum was close enough to a nearby office building that the two ponies could get across without any issue. Angel Rose stepped up to the ledge and motioned for Twilight to join her.
“What other spells do you know?” she said.
“Well, I'm versed in many fields of applicable study, including equilibrium displacement, levitation, telekinesis, advanced matter displacement, teleportation...” Twilight said, lifting a hoof to her chin.
“Wait, go back. You can do all that? Levitation? Can you get us across without dying?” Angel said, trying to wrap her head around what the Unicorn just said.
“Certainly,” Twilight said. Her horn began to glow softly and the two ponies suddenly disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the gap.
* * *
The demon sniffed the air and scowled. He could sense the use of magic like it was a fragrance on the wind. The smell was very unique, and unmistakable. Not only was that incessant Knight of the Word here, but so was the prey he'd been searching for. The demon grinned. The Knight had led him right to the Unicorn.
“Stupid pony,” he muttered. “You've given me all I wanted. You will be the architect of your own demise.”
He glanced around at the police ponies running back and forth. They were getting ready to enter the museum. Hayseed sat in a haze on the ground next to him. The demon sniffed again. The magic was coming from the roof of the museum. He snarled.
“Looks like I will have to do things the hard way.”
* * *
Angel Rose steadied herself from the haze of the magic. Her legs felt wobbly as if she might fall at any moment. She looked up at Twilight standing across from her.
“What in the... what just...” she started to say.
“Oh, right. Sorry. First time teleportation can do that to a pony,” Twilight said with a smile.
Angel groaned and managed to get her bearings. The two ponies were standing on the other building's rooftop. Angel breathed a sigh of relief. They were one step closer away from danger. Away from...
Her eyes drifted back across the museum. There he was. The demon. His yellow eyes sparkled in the darkness.
“Twilight... Twilight, get down,” Angel hissed.
Twilight gulped loudly, but complied. Angel stood to reveal herself fully, her staff at the ready.
“Ah, Knight of the Word! How wonderful it is to run into you this fine evening,” the demon called out from across the roof. “You have something that belongs to me!”
“Stand down, foul beast. I am warning you,” Angel called back. “You cannot stand against the magic of the Word.”
“You and your pathetic little stick with all of its little hat tricks do not scare me, Knight,” the demon crowed. “I am more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”
“Run...” whispered Rose Petal inside Angel's mind. “Run, and I will hold him off. He is too strong, even for you, Angel. You must run. You mustn’t use magic. That's how he'll find you.”
Angel grimaced. Deep down, she knew that the tattermadalion was right. She could feel the pressure, the dark magic and the demon's stink all the way from where she was standing. This demon was the strongest she'd ever faced in her life as a Knight of the Word.
“Twilight... when I give the word... run,” Angel whispered.
“But...” Twilight tried to say.
“Don't worry,” Angel said. “I'll be right on your hooves, but we need to escape. We can't face him.”
Twilight bit her lip, but nodded. Angel waited patiently for Rose Petal. The tattermadalion appeared suddenly in front of the demon, blocking his view of the two ponies.
“Now!”
Angel and Twilight turned and ran, stomping across the roof as hard as they could. Angel stayed true to her word, never turning from Twilight's side. They quickly dove into a door that led into the building beneath them. Angel slammed the door as hard as she could and breathed out.
“Running away? You are pathetic if you think this Faerie creature can stop me, Knight,” the demon shouted. With a snarl, he lunged forward and slashed.
Rose Petal cried out as the demon's claws ripped right through her frail Faerie body. She disappeared into the cold dark air, her eyes fixed on the demon that had killed her.
“Lady, I did my best...”
The demon stepped through the mist of Rose Petal's death and with a powerful leap, jumped across onto the other rooftop. He grinned widely.
“Come out, come out, little Knight. Come see what is in store for you,” he crowed. “You have seen what happens when you fail, haven't you? In those little dreams she sends you?”
* * *
The two ponies took a moment to catch their breath as they heard Rose Petal's cries and the demon's taunt. Angel grabbed a hold of Twilight, yanking her down the stairwell next to her and into the building below. It appeared to be an old factory near the museum grounds. Angel could no longer hear the police sirens. All they had to do now was get away from the demon.
“Twilight, you need to hold your magic,” she whispered. “The demon... he can sense when you use it. Rose Petal told me so before...”
Twilight grimaced, holding out a hoof to Angel's shoulder blade. “I... I'm sorry about your friend.”
“Rose was a tattermadalion. She was... she was a Faerie creature, and a servant to the Lady,” Angel said. “She gave her life for us to escape. Let's not squander the opportunity she made for us.”
Twilight nodded, following behind Angel as they made their way through the labyrinthian factory maze. She didn't know what to make of the earth mare, or the company she kept. She was very curt, but genuinely seemed to care that Twilight survived. She recalled the demon's taunt, something about dreams.
“Angel?”
“Yes? What is it? I'm trying to find a way out of this place.”
“What did.... what did he mean by the dreams?”
“I... I don't have time to explain, Twilight. I will, but not right now,” Angel said as she made her way to one of the factory exits and tugged on the door. It didn't budge. “Locked. Great. Let's keep looking. We don't have much time before...”
A loud crash echoed from above them somewhere. They could hear the stomping of the demon. His voice echoed across the whole of the factory, calling for them.
“Come on, let's go over here,” Angel whispered, motioning for Twilight to follow her towards several large shipping pallets. They each held large metal shipping containers. Angel slipped inside one of the open ones and pulled Twilight in after her. She carefully closed the container.
“We're... hiding?” Twilight said softly.
“We can't get out of this place at the moment, and magic is off the table. He'll hunt across this entire city if he has to, and that's just ringing the dinner bell for him,” Angel replied. “If we can stay quiet, maybe he will be convinced that we've already moved on.”
“Do you think that will work?”
Angel Rose sighed. “No, not really. But even so, it gives us an opportunity to escape.”
“And then what?”
“Then, we get the heck out of this city and on our way to Canterlot. That's the only thing I've been able to glean from the Lady's instructions. Beyond that, I don't know,” Angel said.
“Canterlot? There's nothing there. I know, the Unicorns live in those mountains. Canterlot is a ghost town,” Twilight said.
Angel scowled, waving her hoof to cut off any conversation. The scraping sound of the demon had been getting closer and closer to the ground level. Finally she heard the demon take its first steps onto the cold floor.
“Come out, Knight. Come out and face me,” the demon said. “I know you're still here. I can smell the stink of magic in the air.”
Angel's eyes widened. If he knew that they hadn't left yet, what recourse did she have? She knew how strong the demon likely was. He had been a servant of the Void for a long time. The Lady's visions had shown his strength. She looked over at Twilight. She couldn't let that future come to pass. If it meant her life, she would stop it.
“Twilight... I want you to do something for me...”
“What is it?”
“I want you to run. Use whatever magic you have to get out of here, and make your way to Canterlot. I... I don't know that I'm joining you. You'll be safe in Canterlot, trust me. The Lady will make sure of it,” Angel said.
“What are you...? You just found me, you can't... you can't give yourself up for me,” Twilight said. “I won't allow it.”
“We don't have much of a choice,” Angel hissed. “Just... just be ready to go when I attack him, alright? If he's preoccupied with me, you'll have a much stronger chance of getting away.”
Twilight looked conflicted, but she nodded to indicate she would do what she had been asked.
Angel lifted her staff and carefully crept out of the shipping container. She peered through the darkness, scanning for the demon's form. She found him in the center of the factory, glancing side to side as he searched for her as well.
“You wanted me?” Angel shouted, her staff starting to glow blue with magical runes. Blue flame burst from it, searing everything in its path. “Come and get me!”
The demon's lip curled into a devilish grin. He stood tall and stroked his beard with curiosity. His yellow eyes pierced into Angel's soul, and she knew at once that there was no way she was leaving his fight.
“With pleasure...”