//------------------------------// // Just a Scratch // Story: The Veins Run Deeper // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// The bright gold eyes of the weakened captain shot wide open, heart racing with sudden adrenaline as a cold fluid entered his bloodstream through a needle on the end of a small pouch of said transparent-white liquid. His hooves threw up, grasping the brown draft stallion's chest plate and pulling him down in a panic. "Easy, easy!" bellowed Rescue, prying Night's hooves off. Steadily, the fluid did its part, relaxing Night's body and restraining his breath just enough to calm him physically, but not mentally. He plucked the needle pouch from Night's arm, swiping an alcohol wipe across the injection site a second time, before shifting his focus to the frightened pony, stripped of the suit of armor he wore up until he blacked out. "I-is it over?" Night panted out, head slightly bobbing to his heaving chest while it held inches above the floor. "It ain't over 'til it's over, Cap," Lodestar responded, gently dabbing a wet kerchief over his soot-and-blood covered face, cleaning small cuts received during the fight. "What d-do... what do you mean?" Night rested his head flat on the floor, narrowly turning to glance in the cyan stallion's direction. The draft pony tending to Night's wounds tossed an ice-cold look at Lodestar. "Ignore him, Captain." Lodestar rather chuckled at that, later followed by more chuckling, and eventually, full-blown laughter. The type any would recognize as that of relief. In his state of confusion, the realization took longer than normal to reach Night. "I don't know how you did it, Cap, but you did it. Most would call it impossible, against all odds. We beat him." His gaze faced straight upward, setting on nothing in particular, blinking tiredly. A weak smile gradually cracked on his muzzle. "It's over." Rather, Rescue frowned, closing the medical kit he removed from his saddle pouch. He moved just out of the way, revealing Thunderblast and Zipline standing above him with concern plastered all over. Soon, Night's smile faded as well. "W-why do I feel numb...?" *** By the time Night awoke, days passed. Bright rays of sun sliced by half-open shutter blinds flooded into the hospital room, resting upon Night's lower half beneath the blanket. One of the rays fell across his face, wincing to the sudden blast to his left eye and jerking his head to the side. Merely moving his head so rapidly caused pain, not only in the form of a throbbing migraine, but in his right wing. Night found it to be extremely stiff and achy, as well as completely unable to move about. "N-nnh," he groaned, one eye shut as he writhed, clenching his teeth. Raising his shaky, bandaged hoof, his gaze set on his wing, entirely wrapped in a cast. His ears drooped slightly. Relaxing into the pillow further, he exhaled deeply, staring upwards to where the wall in front of him met the ceiling, doing so for what could very well have been twenty or so minutes without as much as flinching an eyeball to anywhere else in the small room. He flicked an ear, then swiveled it, glancing off to the left. On a small bedside table sat two bouquets of flowers, get-well cards, some balloons, and a radio that quietly played. A smile crept across his muzzle, individually examining the healing gifts, all of which from the group of ponies he knew well. Night's focus then shifted back to the radio, perking his ear to a faint voice originating from its speaker. He lifted his hoof, attached with two IV needles and monitors all the way up to his shoulder, and shakily reached to the radio's volume knob. Outstretched as far as he could go without moving his body all too much, Night twisted the knob just enough, raising the volume and nestling back into his warm spot, closing his eyes as he tuned to the voice. What it said forced the smile he wore to vanish completely and bring back a sense of dismay and sorrow. Cleanup and recovery continues in downtown Chicoltgo after what many eyewitnesses are describing as a 'scene straight out of a movie', where two unidentified figures battled on the streets and high above the city, causing catastrophic destruction to numerous city blocks. Miraculously, amidst the chaos, there were no fatalities. However, in the wake of this unprecedented event, millions of bits in losses have been totaled city-wide for the damage left behind. The most notable of this visible from all angles, as reconstruction on the top of Pears Tower is set to commence as soon as building inspectors can assess the integrity of the upper floors, and what remains of the well-known twin antennas. Reports also come from the Bay Area, where no damage was sustained after an ensuing fight in an intersection, before the assailants reportedly disappeared into thin air. These reports are currently being investigated, and we shall know more within the hour— The radio silenced as a hoof switched it off with a click, startling Night just slightly. He did not immediately reopen his eyes. "It's bad, isn't it?" A silence followed, but did not last long. "It could have been far worse, Night." the regal alicorn softly responded, lifting the blinds with her magic giving a yank on the string, further brightening the room. Night winced initially, glancing toward the window with one eye open. Adjusting to the sunlight of dawn, the first thing he caught on to were numerous high-rise buildings surrounding the hospital, his room being high up in the building and overlooking a harbor-feeding river with many bridges crossing it, leading to less-developed communities that stretched along the coast as far as the horizon went. Just off to the right, only a portion of Trotterdam Tower and half of lower Manehattan came into view with short steam plumes rising from tower rooftops. He took a good minute to take in the view, before turning to Princess Luna as she took a seat in one of the empty chairs against the window. "Why here?" Night grunted, shakily shifting more upright, only to wince in pain. Luna let out a low breath, gawking towards the reflecting tiled floor. "Time meant everything. It would have taken far too long to reach Canterlot from Hollow Shades. Infected cuts and bruised spots to your hooves, nose, and your ears, minor dislocated shoulder, but worst of all, a severed wing bone. The doctors have stressed that you may not be able to fly again for an unspecified amount of months, or longer, depending on how well your rehabilitation falls through." The words struck Night hard in the heart, as if somepony took the sharpest knife and stabbed him with the ice cold steel rubbing against his beating heart. Yet, his only reaction was a small sigh. "You were out for three days, Night. The moment we heard that you were admitted to Manehattan General Hospital, and when all was safe, we came. It was not long before my sister had to leave to tend to the terrified ponies in Chicoltgo," Luna blinked slowly, lifting her gaze to Night with a worried frown. "Celestia has done everything in her power to cover up your identity to prevent prosecution and ponies suing for damages, and that what happened in Hollow Shades is completely unrelated, not that ponies on the outside would hear much news from that area to begin with," she mumbled the end. "But, on a more positive note," she leaned forward, shifting in her seat. "The Council pitched in money to cover the cost of your recovery, the one downside of Sharpblade and Rescue bringing you to Manehattan, admittedly." Night slowly glanced in her direction, blinking with bewilderment. "Sharp?" "Between the two when I spoke to them, it was Sharp who managed to teleport the three of you here. Without his hasty thinking—as well as Rescue's experience in the emergency medical field, you would not have fared as well as you did." His eyes kept focused on the lunar diarch, easing out a deep, nasal sigh. "It's my fault." "Far from, Night. To everypony aware of what happened, you have been called a hero by a few. The threat of a future terrorizing reign by Topaz has been eliminated. Because of you, he shall no longer be of any danger to the citizens of Equestria." The doorknob twisted, a soft click followed by a gentle creak as the door pushed inward, attracting the alicorn and the pegasus' attention. Through the now-opened corridor entered a dark grey-coated unicorn, bandaged on the cheek and wearing a light zip-up jacket. For all Night knew, it covered up other wounds he might have experienced on the battle field, minus some visible bruises on his flanks and hooves with a bandage looped carefully around one of them, yet the smile on his face did not show of any physical pain. That, and Night had a solid idea of how well Sharp could hide emotions beneath his typically-stoic outward appearance. "Night, Princess," he bowed his head to her respectfully, striding up to the right of the bed and halting at Night's side. Half-drowsily, Night smiled. "How are you doing?" "Ask yourself that first," Sharp replied with a light grin. "I could not be better. You're awake, and you're alive." "Heheh. Why wouldn't I be?" Night chuckled. "You took on the Silver Mage all by yourself." "With your help, Sharp. You, Valiant, and Harmonic," Night's smile shifted into a puzzled look. "How did you three find me, anyways?" "Quite possibly the best kept secret of the Mark 3 you wore was the tracking beacon in your helmet. Led us down to the very spot you last were. It bounced all over the place, 'til I took matters into my own hooves and brought them to your last-known nearby location, the logging mill." Night smiled and chuckled, eyes darting off to his wired-up hoof, then back to Sharp. "You sneaky little son of a—" "Hey, now, no need for the foul mouth," Sharp smiled, patting Night's shoulder gently to avoid causing him any pain on his wing. "Besides, neither of us knew until after you'd flown off." "But, how did you know where to teleport?" Night cocked his head just slightly. "Part of the process of teleportation means the magic user must know the exact location of which they wish to teleport to," Princess Luna answered. She turned to the grey unicorn with a warm smile. "For months, we have been aware of thine's potential, Sharpblade. It pleases myself as well as my dear sister to have observed thou bring thine self to a new level of spells in Starswirl's book." Sharp once more dipped his head. "Thank you, your highness. Although, mind you, I have not practiced teleportation, not once." "If thou has ever remotely considered the concept, it is entirely possible to one day accidentally experience that spell. In the world of magic, nothing is impossible," she then stood up, heading for the door. "I shall leave you two alone." Night nodded, shifting back to Sharp after she closed the door. "Where is everypony else?" he then shot up on his elbows with crazy wide-eyes in a semi-panic. "Where's Duskbloom?!" The poor stallion eased himself back into the bed with Sharp's careful help, groaning and wincing. "He is doing just fine, Night. For as long as he was held onto, they didn't beat him much, which is a relief. Didn't feed him very often, so he scarfed down a whole buffet the moment we stepped in the door," Sharp replied, taking his hooves off of Night after laying him down. "But he's doing fine?" Night winced again, shifting slightly. "Better than any of us would have expected under those circumstances. He's gained perhaps twenty pounds since last night. You should have seen him, Night. He was all skin and bones." The thought alone made Night's skin crawl, and his one good wing to rustle uncomfortably. "As long as he is healthy, that is all that matters to me." Sharp nodded once, sliding a chair from the wall to sit closer to the bed. "As for the others, they seem to be coping just as well. Zipline and Stormfire sustained a couple of scratches, then Lodestar is bruised all over from taking as many hits as he did. Thunder took the tip of a knife in his shoulder, and the rest just have minor cuts and bruises to my knowledge." Another low sigh emanated from Night through his nostrils, nodding gently twice, eyes moving up to the ceiling and blinking slowly. "All right." *** In a momentarily-bright flash, Sharpblade reappeared in a patch of thick brush, alongside Rescue Sunstreak—whom stumbled in dizziness—and Valiant Charge, with Harmonic Percussion later materializing in a bright magical flash on his left. They stood along the rim of a small clearing surrounding a four story-tall abandoned wood mill, the last known position of Night as according to the tracking device connected to the suit of armor he wore. Strangely enough, the place seemed eerily quiet. The four of them, as soon as the brown draft stallion regained his bearings, cautiously strode with their weapons drawn toward the opened doors of the darkened building, their hoofsteps silenced by the soft snow they trudged through. "Check your six, don't let your guard down. They could be here anywhere," Sharp whispered just audibly for the three to hear, peeking into the room and scanning about. Determining all to be clear, he entered the mill slowly, tailed by the others accompanying him. Only few bulbs encased by steel bars hanging from the ceiling provided light—one of which flickering intermittently with a low electrical buzzing noise emanating, on the verge of burning out. Suddenly, the ground shook, followed by a bright blue flash from the upper level and a pair of grunts and numerous thumps against the cold floor. They rushed to a nearby doorway at the end of a staircase, leading to the source of the flash as it faded away. Sharp's adrenaline kicked into high gear the moment he saw Night pinning Topaz into the floor, who snapped his gaze up only a second later. Having stopped at the top of the stairs, Valiant and Harmonic rushed up beside him, in shock at the sight before them. The three unicorns revisited the plan in their heads, awaiting the final word. "Now!" Night shouted, standing up quickly and jumping off of Topaz. Sharp lowered his head, horn directly aimed in the weakened mage's direction, Harmonic and Valiant following suit as they each charged their horns within a moment's notice, simultaneously blasting a constant stream of powerful magic that crossed into a single form of energy. The beam struck Topaz before he could fully stand back up, forcing him backwards with his hooves digging into the floor, leaving streaks in their wake. The blast itself lifted Night, tossing him into the side of a rusting silo and incapacitating him, his body falling limp to the floor. Topaz screamed out in pain, too weak to properly defend himself, not even with the simplest of shield spells to deflect their combined magic. It even managed to disable any sort of magical output on his end, as well. "Put everything you've got into it!" Harmonic grunted out, focusing the whole of his energy into his horn, as did Sharp and Valiant. The screams of Topaz grew louder, echoing for miles around the mill, freezing the distant fighting between his army and the clusters of guards and soldiers fending them off. Even in broad daylight, the area around grew brighter, the ponies of both sides observing the flickering columns stretch skyward. Small, yet visible cracks formed in the mage's horn, gradually growing as the magic continued to pelt into him. His hooves threatened to give out, only narrowly able to remain standing against the three unicorns' combined power. Eventually, the cracks met one another, and within seconds, his horn shattered, its remains dissolving into dust the instant they separated and touched the energetic beam, and dealing the final blow that knocked Topaz unconscious. With little strength left in either of them, the magical beam collapsed, and the unicorns collapsed to the floor, trembling and breathing heavily. Immediately, Rescue—having stood behind for his own safety—rushed to their sides, checking for any physical wounds, then digging into his saddle pouch for supplies to revive them. *** As if it were an instant result of his defeat, one by one, Topaz's army began to self-destruct, exploding into puffs of smoke as their forms disappeared into thin air, leaving the Zodiacs, Legion troops, and Norealis' guards bewildered, but joyful for the fight to be over at long last. Guards and soldiers threw up their swords, a collective, booming cheer erupting as the last of the bat ponies vanished into thin air. Beside Zipline and Scarlet Iris, Thirty Seven collapsed, grabbing his forehead painfully. "Argh!" The two's attention snapped to the fallen colt, Lodestar and Thunderblast rushing to his aid as well. They simply stood back, observing him writhe in pain, before the realization hit them as well. Sorrow fell upon them almost as quickly as it took for the enemies to destroy themselves. The four of them knew instantly that nothing could be done to prevent Thirty Seven from disappearing. To them, the pieces all came together. His name, the plastic nature of Topaz's soldiers, and everything in between. It only made more sense that he created them, less so that he used a sort of hypnotizing spell to collect these many ponies to fight for him. The four could only watch, shielding their eyes as Thirty Seven transformed into a plume of smoke, leaving nothing of him but a knife that was hidden in his pocket. Hesitantly, Lodestar picked up the knife by the blade, holding it in his hoof, examining it with a frown, one that only grew at the sight of the small words engraved into it. He glanced up to the other three, exchanging looks with them individually. "This will need to be mentioned the second we are off the train. For now..." Lodestar tucked the knife away in a pouch. "Let's find the captain." *** Sharpblade blinked awake, having temporarily blacked out due to prolonged use of such magic and the amount of energy he put into his part of the beam. Rescue Sunstreak held the rim of a vial to his lips, only for Sharp to jerk away and glare up at him. "I am not falling for that again." Moving his attention to Valiant, still passed out, Rescue brought out a syringe of a clear fluid. Sharp only avoided the sight, having looked in Night's direction and spotting a strange masked figure standing over Night, injecting his hoof with a strange liquid that startled him. "Hey, hey!" Sharp lurched up, startling Rescue and Harmonic, their gazes snapping toward him and the masked pony. The figure lifted up a hoof, his cool and collected gaze turning to meet Sharp's, making him freeze in place. He spoke calmly, a perked, tufted ear twitching unnoticeably. "He will be just fine. But, no time is to be wasted," he cryptically said behind the black mask, plucking the needle from Night's hoof and tucking it away. "Who are you?" Sharp huffed out, eyes narrowed on the strange pony, lowering into more of a defensive posture. "In time, you shall find out," the pony responded in a half-whisper. He reached back a hoof, uncovering his charcoal-grey wings to be those of a pegasus. In what could be made out as a millisecond, the figure swooped along the wall and out the window, disappearing instantly, leaving Sharp and the others staring with wide-eyes and confusion toward the broken pane. Sharp straightened his neck, raising an eyebrow, glancing over his shoulder to Rescue, who stood and then rushed to an unconscious, injured Night. His ear swiveled, catching on to the rustling clink of armor as more guards rushed into the building, with Skywatcher barking orders to check the building top to bottom. *** "Dusk was in the basement, as any of us would have expected, chained in a makeshift cell made out of uneven bars. We didn't see any pony remains, so, it can be assumed the other ponies they took had long been left for a wild animal, or burned, or something," Sharp sighed out, looking down to his hooves. "The... pony in the mask," Night began, fixed on the words his dear friend used to describe him. "You said he had... tufts on his ears?" "Like your father's, yes, or close. Maybe a bit shorter, who knows." "And he was a pegasus?" Sharp's head cocked. "...More or less. Why?" Night went silent, eyes locked with Sharp's. It took no more than a minute before the grey unicorn caught on to his concerns, the two exchanging surprised knowing looks with one another.