Rainbow yawned. She hated ‘Flight Theory’, the class was such a snooze-fest. She stared out of the window and saw a bunch of pegasi gliding about. She was looking forward to the race at lunchtime. She would show them. Show them all. She had what it took to be the best. She had to because she was going to be a Wonderbolt. She told herself, in her mind, that if she lost that she would never again talk about joining them.
“Rainbow!”
She snapped out of reverie and stood up. “Yessir!”
“What’s the answers to my question?” the stallion asked, his face a picture of annoyance.
“Um…” she looked at the board, “that updrafts are hot air that push up and… um… you can use it to glide if you’re tired… and um… that it’s used for long flights because… er… it lets you go on for longer?”
The stallion’s eyebrow raised itself. “Not bad. I thought you were spacing off again.”
Rainbow blushed. “What? I got it right?” she blurted.
“No. Not even close,” the teacher laughed and shook his head. “Detention. After school. Again.”
Rainbow moaned, and the rest of the class laughed.
“Knock it off. Rainbow, while your answer was correct, I was asking about acceleration. Now, please try again and tell me about acceleration.”
Rainbow blinked. “You mean about going faster?”
“Yes, that is what acceleration means.” There was twinkle in his eyes as the mare began to talk.
As she talked, her words started to go faster and faster. Without a doubt, this was Rainbow’s passion. Flying. Speed. And he did enjoy listening to just how amazingly intuitive she was. There were some who just got it. She was ready for the next step. He knew that the others would not get it, but Rainbow was smart when it came to flying. She would get it. She would understand and he knew, along with most of the other instructors, that she was racing against a couple older colts today. While the age gap might seem small, that difference in wing power and muscular development was massive for kids their age. So, he would give her a little edge. No, he would give her a huge edge. He would have cackled, but he thought that may be overdoing it.
“But there’s one other thing,” the teacher said and wiped the board of contents in the middle. He wrote in big bold letters. He smacked the board for effect and slammed the chalk down on his desk. “Gravity!”
At once Rainbow’s eyes grew wide. As obvious as it was, anything to help her go faster instantly grabbed her attention. He couldn’t help but smile at that. It was always refreshing to teach a young one who was genuinely interested, and Rainbow wanted to be the best of them all. He had wondered what drove her on; what made her try to always grow and better herself.
“Now, gravity can be a powerful ally to going fast, but just as powerful an enemy if you don’t understand it. While we pegasi have our wings, every time any of us want to go faster, we use our good friend, gravity. However, just diving straight down, while gives us immense speed, also is difficult to control. Many pegasi have met their unfortunate end trying to nosedive in excessive speeds. Strong wings, quick eyes, and understanding the winds will help you, but thrusting yourself into something that risky is both incredibly dangerous and completely unnecessary. Not to mention that it’s not even very effective.”
As predicted, that brought some confused sounds and looks from the class. They all knew falling down made them go fast, but here was their teacher saying that it wasn’t the best way to go faster. He turned to the board and drew a downward slope across the board that went down sharply then he angled it upwards so that it slowly met the same level as the original height, then drew a gradual line until the end of the board. “Tell me what this is?”
“A line?” a brave soul guessed.
“Thank you for that obvious observation, but I’m asking what kind of line.”
Silence.
“Any more guesses?”
More silence.
“This is what we call the Comet Trajectory, created by Comet Tail, one of the oldest and most famous fliers. I’m sure you don’t need to know who I am referring to,” he chuckled when the cadets all suddenly started whispering to each other. “Yes, yes. It’s none other than Commander Comet, the Wonderbolt.”
He had them. Every time he talked about a Wonderbolt, the cadets could not get enough. After all, many of these tots would one day try their hooves at becoming part of said elite team, but unbeknownst to them all, he was almost a Wonderbolt himself. He didn’t qualify in the end, but that was primarily due to a serious injury he had sustained. While it was sad, he got over it and now he was helping shape the next generation of the elite team.
“Now, what makes this trail so famous, and the next time you go to a Wonderbolt show, keep an eye out for this maneuver, is that it helps the flyer gain a huge amount of speed by utilizing his wing power and gravity while maintaining complete control of their flight.”
A number of hooves shot up.
He answered the questions, mostly ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when most of them asked about Commander Comet rather than the move itself. But he kept an eye on the filly sitting in the back of the class. She was rubbing her chin, her brow furrowed in deep thought. He waited for it. Waited for what he knew would come.
Rainbow raised her hoof.
“Yes, Rainbow?”
“So, this comet thingy—”
“Trajectory.”
“Yeah, that. Um… like, how do you know what angle is best?”
The teacher rolled his eyes just enough to not be overly dramatic about it, he needed to look serious for this, but deep down he was screaming with delight. He wanted her to ask that question, but he also knew how dangerous this move could be and did not want to look excited about it. He knew that the other cadets would try it as well, but he had to explain the dangerous nature of this and therefore he needed to hide his huge grin.
Rainbow would try it, no matter what. He would be hanging near the racetrack, perhaps along with the majority of other instructors, to observe the young filly. She was by far the most talented flyer there. Everything she did was always something worth discussing, but they had all agreed to give her space considering her ego had already started growing as quickly as her amazing skills. It was double-edged sword. She needed that ego to get better, but having too much would lead her to being overconfident and do rash and stupid things.
“The angle that the Wonderbolts use is around forty degrees downwards with a decreasing slope of around two degrees for every ten feet, depending on height, of course. At that rate, you can expect gravity to give you the boost you need with enough leeway to recover and control the flight afterwards. If a pony were to travel in a relative straight line, to maintain their incredible speed, they would repeat this move multiple times allowing them to continuously move at their incredible pace. There have even been occurrences, as have happened in the past, of pegasi exceeding the Wave Barrier.”
At once the class burst into excited conversation with each other.
He wanted to kick himself. He wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. Now all the cadets were going to try their hoof at this move, which could be dangerous if not done properly. It was something that much older classes were given to attempt, but this group was far too young, but he knew that if any of them could do it, the rainbow-maned filly at the back was perhaps the best chance of them all.
“Now, now, settle down. While this move does enable the flyer to sustain rapid flight movements, it is essentially a much longer version of the Swallow Hop that you’re all learning at your physical training class.” He drew a wavy line similar to the Comet Trajectory on the board and smacked it for emphasis. “Getting to the point, if you can’t master this little move, you’re not ready for the Comet.”
The Swallow Hop was one of the most tiring training drills in their lesson plan. By imitating the birds, the flyers were expected to push their wings once hard to propel themselves upwards. As soon as that was done, to hold the wings tightly by the sides as you ‘hopped’ and headed downwards for a moment before meeting the perfect height. At that point, another huge push was expected to restart the process. Too soon or too late, you lose momentum. While not as quick as an all-out sprint, this form of flying taught how to use gravity to help increase speed and control. Classes at the moment used hurdles tied across clouds for the cadets to fly over and under to get a better idea of their optimal height for the push upwards.
And so far, only one filly in this class had actually managed to master the Swallow Hop. Not that it took much time. Rainbow had already mastered it even before she started flying lessons, much to the surprise of the other instructors. It was then that they had let slip just how impressive she was and that she was a skilled flyer. Their praise instantly went straight to her head.
Again, he had to remind himself that there was nothing wrong with that, but perhaps a little humility would have gone a long way in making friends with ponies her age. Rainbow’s one-track mind had always been both her strongest and her weakest trait.
“What’s a Wave Barrier?” A question was asked.
The small yellow pegasi sitting next to Rainbow could barely be heard over the din.
“What was that, Fluttershy?”
She ‘eeped’ and hid behind her desk.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “What’s a Wave Barrier?”
The class all turned to the instructor.
“Really? You… you don’t know?” The instructor blinked and shook his head. Teaching the younger classes sometimes was harder because they didn’t always have all the information. “It’s a… wall, if you want to call it that, that stops ponies from going too fast.”
“A wall of what?” Rainbow asked.
“What’s the matter, afraid of hitting another wall, Rainbow Crash!” a voice said followed by much of the class laughing at the poor attempt of a joke.
The instructor wanted to throw the desk at the offender. However, he knew he couldn’t molly-coddle Rainbow. That would just make things harder for her.
“Knock it off.” He looked at Rainbow. “The wall is a combination of magic and air.”
“But why is it there?” Rainbow asked.
“That’s a complicated answer. You have to understand leylines, the magical constructs, pegasi inherent powers and a number of other factors and details you will learn later on.”
“But why? Why does it exist?”
“Again, that’s a complicated answer. Okay, let me put it this way. When you move around, think of everything as a curtain. When you move through a curtain, it’s easy. That faster you go, more curtains get in the way. If you go very fast, even more curtains get in the way. These curtains are a combination of things, primarily magic and air.”
That only confused the students.
“Look, the magic around lets us be here, on this cloud, with you sitting there. Without it, you’d fall through it like the other ponies. If affects each of us differently, and it exists because that’s how our world works. You’ll get it when you’re older.”
“Sounds like a nuisance,” Another student muttered.
“Well, if it were easy to go fast, then anypony could do it and we wouldn’t have the Wonderbolts. Only the fastest and strongest of fliers can push through the Wave Barrier.”
“But you said gravity could help?” another voice asked.
“Now before you go and try to tackle the Wave Barrier, think about this. Have you ever pushed yourself up against a wall?” A few nodded. “Well, this is like that. You’re going so fast that when you push against the wall, the wall and your speed push back against you. If you’re not ready, it could be very, very dangerous. You could hit it in a way that would hurt you. Your momentum from your flight would be going one way, the Wave Barrier will push back against you. The combination of the two could squeeze you, and if you’re not ready, could knock you out.”
“How dangerous?” a colt with large braces asked.
He leaned across his desk and looked him dead in the eyes. “Very. Many pegasi have been badly hurt trying this without proper preparation. A few have gotten injuries that prevented them from flying ever again. And, in a very small number of cases, the ponies did not survive.”
That brought gasps from many of the cadets.
“Without proper control, you might as well dive straight off of this cloud and into the ground below us. And even then, even with that speed, you probably wouldn’t be able to break the barrier.”
All the cadets were looking at each other or down at their hooves. Except one. She sat there, her eyes practically begging to be let out at that minute so she could try her own attempt at besting this barrier. And she would do it. One day. When her wings were strong enough to help produce the speeds she needed.
“Control is the most important aspect about any move you do. Mastery of movement will let you do amazing things,” his voice continued, but he smiled as he watched Rainbow sitting there stock-still. Her eyes narrowed with pure determination.
She might not be able to breach the Wave Barrier yet, but, if he was right, she would be pressing right up against it in the race today. She would feel it. She would get to know it. She would see it as another challenge, and one day she would break through it. And he would be there to witness it. He would help her grow and train her mind for it. He was shaping perhaps the next Commander Comet in his very own classroom.
Even from their distance, they could see the battle. The Cultists were being pushed away from the peninsula as a group of Elites were hidden in the cliff-face using their bolts to keep the invaders at bay. It was pointless. The Cultists far outnumbered the Elites, that was for sure, and already the ballistas and wallarmbrusts were being moved closer and in range.
“I thought we couldn’t fly!” Sonic shouted in anger as he watched the ensuing chaos. “Why are they not becoming wyrm food?”
“It could be from the tower’s collapse. Maybe it scared the wyrms,” Static replied and jumped out of the skimmer and patted the downed tower. “Pani did say only the younger ones were found here. Maybe they think that a bigger one of them is nearby and they are hiding? Or they just don’t like the dust storm.”
After ditching their pursuers, they had managed to get reach the end of the downed tower and had pushed their skimmer into the opening at the hollow base. Sonic was keeping an eye over the horizon in case the pursuers had spotted them, but not a single one was visible on the horizon. Logically, there wasn’t anywhere they could really hide. Any pony with half a brain would be able to puzzle out where they were, but this was the best place to conceal themselves and, more importantly, their skimmer.
Maybe they would believe they had escaped away into the deep desert. That would throw them off.
“What now?”
“I think we have to try and delay them for as long as possible from overcoming the defenders on that peninsula.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Sonic asked.
“I’ll head back towards their main camp,” Static replied as he started to take off his armor. “Most of the Cultists aren’t wearing any armor, so I think I might be able to pass myself off as one of them. I just need to get closer and try to sabotage them from within.”
“Okay, then what do we do?”
“No. Two of us would look too suspicious. I’ll go alone.”
“Are you crazy?”
“You want to give away any chance we have? Besides, don’t you have something else you want to do?”
Sonic didn’t know what to say to that. “But then what if you get in trouble?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll manage. You go and help them. You’re good at being annoying. Go and annoy the Cultists attacking the peninsula. We’ll meet back here in two hours, about noon. If you’re not able to reach, you go ahead and try to meet with the others inside the Caldera.”
Sonic looked at Static. “Okay. You sure…?”
“I’ll be fine.” The unicorn looked at the expression on Sonic’s face. He was happy not to go along with Static, but apprehensive, and the unicorn knew precisely why. “Look, I’m sure she’s okay. She’s a tough girl.”
“Yeah. I… I know.”
At the sound of the pegasus’ voice, Static shrugged. “Go. Find her. I think she could use your help. You’ve been distracted this entire time and this part requires a lot of subtlety. Go to her.”
“Okay,” Sonic replied but it was clear he hadn’t heard Static. He stuck out his lower jaw. “If I don’t make it home, please tell my folks that I died the same way I lived.”
The unicorn looked up at him expectantly. “And how’s that?”
“I don’t know. Make something up. It’d probably sound better your way.”
That made the unicorn chuckle dryly. “Don’t put me on the spot like that. You better get back here so I don’t have to. Alright? And take care of yourself out there. Watch the skies.”
“Same to you.” He held out his hoof. “For Equestria.”
“For Equestria,” Static replied and bumped the extended limb. “Be safe.”
And, with that, Static teleported towards the encampment with a small ‘pop’. Sonic turned and looked at the fighting and removed his helm and placed it into the skimmer. He then trotted down the underside of the tower and, keeping as close to it as possible to stay out of sight.
Where was he?
He promised.
He promised.
He promised.
He wouldn’t, couldn’t break the special promise.
He promised.
He promised.
He promised. I… I… I… I hate—
No. He said he was coming. Birthday still isn’t over. He promised. He said. He promised. He just wants to surprise me. He is going to surprise me. I just know it.
Right?
Sonic stood looking at her. Torment was pulling a sorry excuse for a bandage on the hoof.
The earth pony had noticed Sonic trotting from a long way off. He had seen everything from his hiding spot within the tower. He had investigated and discovered the hollow nature of the downed tower and was going to tell the others, but they had already left without him. He gave chase keeping hidden and ended up at the far end, near the tip, which was beyond the end of the peninsula. He had gone too far.
On the way back came across a crack in the side and poked his head out. He saw the Cultists. He saw Raze. He heard her screams. He watched and waited as the minutes went by, each previous agonizing wound inflicted made the mare scream again and again, but she refused to beg for mercy. At least she didn’t give them that satisfaction.
He saw them leave, pursuing the others and waited until they were well enough away before coming out of his hiding place. He was stunned to see that she had actually survived and paused only for a moment before deciding that, instead of leaving her, as would be the most sensible thing to do, he was going to help her.
Putting pressure on the wound, Raze looked up in agony and habitually reached for a weapon that wasn’t there. When she saw who it was, she relaxed slightly and nodded in thanks.
That was when Sonic came into view. The pegasus saw the two of them and grew careless and flew as fast as his wings could carry him, along the shade of the tower.
The horror and despair on Sonic’s face took Torment aback. It would take a blind pony not to see the chemistry the two had, but to form such feelings so quickly and with such circumstance was beyond him. Or was it? He heard a scream and turned his head. Nothing. A ghost from his past, most likely. Torment turned back to the task at hoof and tied another cloth strip across her forehoof, the blood had already coagulated, but the damage done was significant. She would be lucky to walk on that leg ever again.
The earth pony turned towards Sonic and gestured with his head. Come.
The Guard approached and knelt next to her.
“H-hey there,” he whispered.
She opened her left eye slightly and a smile cracked on her lips. She was too weak to talk.
Questions flittered across the face of the Guard. Torment could almost hear them through the expressions he wore on his face. Where were the others? Did they just leave her out there to die? How could they do that? She was not dead. Not yet.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” Sonic said, fighting the tears in his eyes. “Everything will be alright. You just… you just need to rest. I’ll go get help. I’ll go and find a doctor… or Tessa and she’ll help!”
Raze closed her eyes and, almost imperceptibly, she shook her head, no.
She reached for his face and stroked it once before pushing him. The gesture meant only one thing. Go. Leave her.
Sonic shook his head. “Don’t be silly! You’re fine. It’s just a little wound. You’ll get over it. I know you will. You’ve had worse, right?”
That made the mare smile again. She coughed slightly. “Thank… you…” she whispered. “Leave… me…”
“To Tartarus with that!” Sonic growled. “I’m not leaving you here to die. That’s not what I do. I don’t care if everypony thinks that you’re not going to make it. I know better. I know better!”
A look of pity found its way onto Raze’s face.
“I’m not leaving you!” He looked at Torment. “If I get you to the peninsula, will you get her help.”
The silent Elite stared at the pegasus for a long moment. Then the Elite did something that surprised both himself and Raze. Torment nodded.
Torment was stunned by the way Sonic was refusing to accept the inevitable. But, in the same strange way, wasn’t that what he was doing as well? Why else would he tie bandages on her?
“I’ll get you and her up there. You promise me, promise me that you’ll get her help if I do,” Sonic pressed on, gripping the stallion by his shoulder. “Promise.”
Again, Torment nodded.
Sonic didn’t trust the Elite any further than he could throw him, but he had no choice. If they got closer to the fighting, then he had to protect them for as long as possible. He was counting on the confusion of the battle to distract the Cultists from himself. He had never lost a friend on a mission, and he wasn’t about to start with this one.
“Fine. Then let’s get closer. When we get near enough, I’ll fly her up first and leave her in a safe place, then come back for you. After that, you’ll get her to Tessa or whoever can help. You promise me this!” He harshly whispered the last part, seizing Torment by his shoulder in a vice grip.
Torment again nodded.
“If you don’t, so help me Celestia, I’ll find you, no matter where you go, and I will kill you,” Sonic whispered. The threat was not empty. He would do it. He would keep his word. Or at least die trying.
The Elite nodded again.
“Good, let’s go.”
Sonic lowered himself to the ground as Torment placed the wounded mare onto his back. Raze tried to protest, but she was too weak to give any more than her vocal concern for the pegasus and what she believed was a death sentence. The Cultists would see them coming. They would cut them all down.
But Sonic, in his stubbornness refused to listen and trotted after Torment who headed straight towards the battle in the distance.
Ghost ducked down and screamed both in fear and in anger, he instincts kicking in. Slasher was already on top of the two pegasi who had landed on the small path in an attempt to break the defensive line that the Elites had formed. He slit the throat of one before stabbing another with the broken point of a spear that he had pulled out of a fallen corpse of a fellow Elite.
To her right, Semper and three other Elites were firing bolts upwards at the Cultists who were raining down quarrels and bolts onto them. They were fighting a losing battle, and it was clear that they would be pushed further away from where they were. That would give the Cultists access to the top of the peninsula.
As Ghost stood up, the explosive shockwave from a quarrel knocked her forwards and she found herself landing face first in the bloodied corpse of Crusher whose eyes were wide open staring emptily into a void. The look was something that Ghost could never get used to. No matter how many times she saw it. The stare of a dead pony always shook her to the core.
“Behind you!” Slasher roared.
Ghost turned and saw the trident aimed for her neck. She held up her sword and caught it between the two left prongs, but her small size was no match in raw strength and the Cultist lifted her up and slammed her into a rock next to her knocking the wind from her lungs.
Her body reacted automatically and she threw a dagger out of reflex only to see the Cultist nonchalantly move his head out of the way, the dagger harmlessly bouncing off the rock behind him and landing blade-first into sandy mound at the base of another larger boulder.
Then Cultist twisted the trident and swung Ghost downwards. She let out a grunt as she was pushed against the ground. Her neck was nicked, the sharp spade-like points were sharp and the edges had cut her badly. The base of the trident was also filed as a blade. That would sever her throat, and she tried to keep it from reaching her neck. Her light body perhaps saved her life as there was little to no resistance in her being swung around like a ragdoll. The sword she used helping keep the danger away.
As the Cultists tried to push the trident downwards, Ghost angled her sword and kicked up. At once her head slipped out of the prongs and, using the Cultist’s momentum and weight, pushed the trident into the sandy ground behind her. She barely managed to hold it down with her hoof. The Cultist gave one jerk back and found it stuck, she instantly abandoned the long weapon and drew a large sword almost as tall as her.
This was an experienced warrior.
“Kid! Get away!” she heard Slasher shout.
Her left hoof felt numb. It was probably broken, but she knew she could not stop and check. If she took her eyes off the Cultist, she would be as good as dead.
The Cultist swung. Ghost, in desperation, put her sword in the way to block the blow. The power behind that stroke sent her airborne, slamming her yet into another boulder. She was already winded from the previous attack, now she felt as if her lungs had stopped working and gasped for breath, blackness forming in the peripheries of her vision.
Her mind going black, she watched as the Cultist took two steps towards her and she tried in vain to stand.
“Kid! Get out of there!”
She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry for help. Panic set it. She was going to die.
She opened her mouth, fear engulfing every fiber in her body, a raw emotion that awoke something deep within her. Something primal. Something familiar.
“Porridge? Again?” the filly bemoaned.
“Eat your dinner, darling,” the mare said from the kitchen counter, the sounds of the dishes tinkling as they were washed.
“But it’s cold!”
“If you’d come when I called half an hour ago then it wouldn’t be,” the mare said without missing a beat.
“But mom,” the filly whined.
“No buts. Finish your dinner.”
The filly grumbled and put the spoon into her meal and took a bite. Despite its cold temperature, and despite its bland appearance, the sweetness always made her smile. Her mother always made it just the way she liked it. Sweetened perfectly with just the right amount of honey. She savored the bites secretly, making sure that her mother wouldn’t see just how much she was enjoying it.
The door flung open at that moment and in rushed a stallion, sweat beading off his forehead. “We have to leave. Now.”
Her mother turned. “Why? What happened?”
“Traitors. Somepony blabbed, we’re not safe here anymore. We have to leave. Now. They’re coming,” the stallion turned and paused. “No, no, no.”
The mother rushed over to the filly, “Darling, listen to mama. You have to come with me, okay?”
“Okay. What’s going on?” she asked, innocently enough.
“Nothing. Just come with me. We’re going on a little trip.”
It was not to be.
The door burst open in a flurry of sparks and fire as ten ponies in full armor pushed through. The stallion reached and grabbed a sword. The mother turned and pulled the daughter away, but as she headed for the rear she gasped as a unicorn walked in. Alone, spikes hovering around his body.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked.
Despite being alone, the unicorn felt far more threatening than the group that barged through the front. The filly turned to see her father pinned down on the floor, a sword inches from his neck. She wanted to scream, but could not find her voice.
“Keep quiet, dear,” her mother whispered.
“I must say, the Guard are certainly growing bolder. What with the Cults and all distracting you, I didn’t think that our little… enterprise was going to bring in ponies from the Royal Guard. I actually find it fascinating. Strange as well. And to have the audacity to bring a filly? You must have quite the confidence in your skills, do you not?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about? We’re just merchants! We’re here to…”
“Don’t give me that. I know what you are and I know what you’re here for. The Guard is full of holes and secrets leak out. Truth be told, we’ve known for some time but you were keeping out of our way, so we ignored you. That was until yesterday when you actually tried to interfere in our boss’ business. And for that, you have to be punished.”
The mare gulped.
“Again, are you confident in your skills? Because if you are, I’ll give you a chance. Fight me. Kill me. And you can go. That’s your only option. If you don’t, I’ll kill you and your family. If you lose, I’ll kill just you.”
The stallion was about to say something to protest, but the back of a spear slammed into his face knocking out a few teeth.
“Fine.”
“Mommy?”
“Just wait here, darling, mommy will be right back.” The mare used her magic, and out of a hidden alcove on the far corner of the kitchen, two blades zipped out of their hiding place and into her hooves. Not waiting an instant, she charged forwards, the first blade swinging wildly at the throat of the pony in front of her. The stallion blocked it with one of his spikes, but had to side-step the second swipe as the mare brought it down in a vertical slash. He slapped her hard in the snout causing her to step back.
“That it?”
Again, she threw herself at the stallion. Each attack was parried easily, but she was pushing him back. She was forcing the stallion to take one step back until he was against the far wall of the small kitchen.
Then he attacked.
She parried the first strike, but she barely saw and dodged the second attack. She never saw the third one as the spike pierced through her entire body and slammed into the fridge at the far end with a dull thud. It took a moment for her to process the sudden flare of pain that engulfed her torso.
The mare slumped down to the floor, propping herself up with her sword. The filly rushed over to her mother’s side.
“Mommy?” she asked.
The mare looked at her and pushed her aside and hoisted herself up. She stood on rocky hooves as the stallion closed the distance between them.
“I’m quite saddened. I had expected more. Still, a promise is a promise. I won’t kill your family.” He took out a syringe and grinned maliciously. “Although, there are things certainly worse than death.”
The filly watched in silence as her mother’s blood splattered across her face. She watched in horror as the stallion in front of her sliced her mother open and, using the other two spikes, impaled her with such brutality that her body stuck itself onto the wall. Next to the pictures. The pictures of her family smiling together.
The filly didn’t know what to do, but she had to do something. In desperation, she grabbed her spoon and charged the stallion. The stallion that had just killed her mother.
He slammed her head down into the floor, breaking it and her jaw in the process.
“Now, now. None of that. The fun’s just getting started. Bring him. Sit him on the table.”
The Watu did as they were told. He had tried to fight, to struggle, but he was still unsteady from the blow to his head and the shock at seeing his wife slain.
“Considering you know of this,” he said waving the syringe with the red liquid inside, “we can’t let you go. If it were something else, maybe. Perhaps. Likely not, but the fact that you know about this little concoction is troubling. You see, it’s a trade secret. A very big trade secret. But I am fair, am I not? I gave your family a chance.”
“She was pregnant!”
“Again? My, my, weren’t you just the busy one. Siring offspring with such a dangerous profession? Shame. You should’ve known better. You should’ve looked the other way. You should’ve ignored us. But you didn’t, and look where it’s gotten you. You’ve got none to blame but yourself.”
“You’re foalnapping ponies! You’re going to–”
“What? Pay? I don’t think so. See, I’ve been doing this for a long time and there’s a reason why no one knows what this is… What, you think you’re the first? You are certainly the one that has gotten the furthest, that’s for sure. To think that you could have gotten away with it too!” he laughed and made a gesture to one of the Watu. The Watu placed the forehoof on the table. A red hue formed along the shoulder of the armor and a spike floated out from a scabbard. “It really is quite amazing. You have gained my respect.”
The spike slammed through the hoof and into the table pinning it there.
A gasp and a muffled groan was all that was heard from the stallion, but the fire and hate in those eyes did not falter.
His other hoof was stretched across the table.
“I mean, if you had just managed to escape this little hovel, you could have gotten away. Not very likely, but it would have been interesting to say the least. A race to the border! Perhaps the Guards there would have come to you. Perhaps. Not likely though. They don’t protect anyone or anything. They just don’t care.”
The second spike slammed home. Another muffled grunt.
“But I grow bored of this,” the unicorn stated and hefted the filly by the mane.
“Please… she’s just a child…”
“True. But that doesn’t change anything,” the unicorn stated and inspected the syringe. “Witness for yourself exactly what this is capable of.”
The syringe plunged into the filly’s neck and in a moment, it was empty. The unicorn expertly slipped it back into his saddlebag and let her go.
“You. Stand up.”
The filly struggled at first, but in a few, she did as she was told.
“You. Take this nail.”
The filly, tears falling from her eyes, did as she was told.
“You. Take this hammer.”
Without a pause, she did as she was ordered.
“Stick out your tongue,” the unicorn ordered looking at the stallion at the table.
The stallion refused.
“You. Push that nail into your eye.”
The filly took the nail, turned it and started to place it in front of her eye. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. She resisted, but she could not stop herself. She just couldn’t. She had to obey. She had to.
“Stop! Stop. Okay. Just stop,” the stallion said, whispering the last part to the filly.
“You. Stop.”
The filly stopped and stared at her father.
“Now, stick out your tongue. I’m not going to ask again.”
This time the stallion complied.
“You. Nail his tongue to the table.”
The filly walked over and looked into her father’s eyes. He nodded silently. “It’s okay, honey. Just do as he says.”
And she did.
The stallion made no noise, but shut his eyes from the pain.
“Now, you are going to use that hammer and you are going to slam it into his face. Each time you do, you’re going to call to him. Understand?”
“Y-yes,” she whimpered through the pain of her broken jaw. And she raised the hammer and swung it as weakly as she dared into his snout. “Papa.”
“You think he learnt his lesson from that? Again! Harder!”
She complied, swinging the hammer higher and faster. “Papa!”
“Harder!”
“Papa!”
“I said, HARDER!”
“PAPA!”
It was her voice. Her voice. She knew the words she understood, but the feeling behind them awoke something. A memory. Something she had once lost. A fragment of her past.
Slasher roared, and shoved the pegasi that was on him aside. He threw himself at the Cultist almost on top of Ghost and slammed himself into the body, a dagger flashing out of his hoof and repeatedly stabbing the pegasus in the chest and throat as they both went down in a medley of limbs and blood.
“Stay away from my daughter, you filthy Cultist scum!”
At once her entire world froze.
“W-what?”
Slasher kept stabbing the already dead pegasus over and over again.
“W-what did you say?”
Slasher did not stop.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up to see Semper with a loaded crossbow. He aimed it at Slasher, and before she could do anything, a bolt sang out. It flew straight at the unicorn, but it missed him by inches as the bolt struck a Cultist in the eye. He spun halfway around and fell facing back the way he came. She turned to look at the Guard, but he was hoofing the unloaded crossbow to somepony behind him and took a loaded on in its place and aimed, fired.
It had all happened so fast, but another Cultist jerked back, her scream ceasing in a choking gulp as a bolt struck her in the throat.
“Ice!” Semper shouted.
At once a loaded bolt smoking with the hint of severe cold was given to him and he fired it at the cliff’s side. The spikes erupted automatically and pierced two more Cultists rushing up the path to meet them. A bolt sang over her head and exploded somewhere in the sky.
But Ghost’s focus was now on the stallion in front of her. She gulped and opened her mouth. “Papa.”
The tone of her voice made Slasher freeze in his rampage and turn towards her. She had removed her mask and was looking straight at him. When he looked into the filly’s eyes, something in him seemed to change. Those cold hard eyes softened and, as he removed his mask, despite the disfiguration and missing parts of his face, there was something familiar about him that warmed her heart.
He abandoned his weapon and rushed straight at the filly and knelt in front of her checking every inch of her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His voice broke as he touched her face. “Do you remember me?”
“I… a little…” she replied truthfully.
“I… I remembered… I don’t know how, but I remember,” Slasher said, his eyes wet with tears. “I remember it all. You were so young… that day. They made you do it. To punish me. I remember it. You… you were a surprise. A happy mistake. We had a filly. An act. To pretend to be married. Fell in love. She got pregnant. You arrived. She… she died trying to save us.” The stallion looked away in shock as he heard the words from his own mouth. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry we were so weak.”
“Papa,” Ghost reached and hugged the stallion where he knelt. “You’re not weak. Please, let me just hold and remember you as my father while I still can.”
Slasher sobbed into the filly’s mane. “I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t protect your mother. I let this happen to you. I let all this happen to you. I’m so sorry… I’m sorry I was a useless father. I’m sorry I was a useless Guard. I’m sorry.”
Ghost couldn’t remember, but the feeling inside her she could not deny. All she wanted was this stallion to say it one more time. “Who… who am I?”
“You’re my daughter. You’re my little girl!”
She smiled at that, because of the way he said it. She knew it was true. “And my name? My real name?”
“I…” he looked down, then in almost a dazed whisper spoke, “I don’t know… I’m sorry, I just don’t know…”
Silence.
“Get her out of here,” Semper said in the lull. “This is not the place for those who aren’t ready to die.”
“But how is it that I remember?” Slasher asked. “I can’t remember anything else, just that night—”
“Impossible,” another Elite intoned. “You can remember?”
Another began to express doubt and disbelief.
“Slasher!” a unicorn mare by the name of Poison screamed in a high-pitched voice. “This isn’t the time! You’re compromising our positions. Get over yourself, or get out of here.”
“Right!” Slasher placed the filly in front of him and pushed away her mane from her eyes. “We’re getting you out of here. Right now. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Mayhem, Malice,” Semper shouted. Two almost identical looking ponies stepped out and hooved their loaded crossbows to others. They both spread their navy-blue wings. “Fly them to the others.”
“Yes, sir!”
Slasher put Ghost on the back of Mayhem. “I’ll be right behind.”
Ghost watched and turned her head back to see Slasher waving to her with tears in his eyes. “W-wait! Papa! Papa! Wait! Papa!”
But Mayhem wasn’t listening and they flew over the edge and towards the safety of the caverns ahead.
“Why didn’t you go?” Poison asked when the filly had vanished from view.
“You’ll need all the hooves you can get,” Slasher said then turned to Semper. “If they break through here, then they’ll be fighting in those caves. I’m staying behind. She’ll be fine without me. She’ll forget again. Already that memory is starting to fade. It is better she forgets. Much better… what happened to her, it’s better.”
“And you?”
“It will fade,” Slasher replied. He left no room for argument.
Semper nodded, and grabbed another crossbow and walked away and peered over the edge into the desert’s expanse and the group of Cultists gathering in the middle.
“Was it a lie?” Poison asked. “Did you really remember her?”
The stallion looked at her and smiled. “Yes. I did. When I saw her in danger, my body reacted on its own.”
“Instinct,” Mayhem muttered. “A memory more than just recollection.”
“But you said you remembered the torture,” Poison said, pointing at his maw. “That is more than an emotional memory.”
“I… I don’t know…” Slasher gripped his forehead. “Perhaps severe trauma remains with us. Perhaps our origins. At some level, we must retain some memories, otherwise how would we speak or use weapons? Maybe it’s expressed through near-death experiences?”
Poison nodded slowly as she understood those implications. Then she shrugged and walked away to gather reusable bolts. “Wouldn’t that be nice. Our origins revealed to us at death’s door. One last moment to remember ourselves before we die.” She laughed mirthlessly.
“We need to regroup. The Cultists have backed off for now, but they are bringing some heavier weapons. I think their obsession with the night has warped their waking hours. They were sluggish in this skirmish. Maybe they’re sleepy and tired because they stay up all night,” Malice replied, his voice monotone and emotionless, but it was clear it was an attempt at humor.
“They will not wait. They know now that time isn’t on their side. Some of the pegasi have flown high enough to see over the wall. They’ll know that the camp has been abandoned. The next attack they will throw everything they’ve got.” Semper looked at them all. “The next battle will break our line. We have to delay for as long as possible. Many of us will die.”
They all understood, and not one of them flinched or cowed with the knowledge.
Semper then turned and lead the way, away from the bodies of Cultists and Elites, and further up the side of the cliff. They would prepare for their last stand.