//------------------------------// // Coming To // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// Mechanical rumbling. "Ugh... ow. Bananas... Feels like my head's been sat on... Urrgh..." The clattering of heavy gears against rails. "Oh, come on! I'm hogtied!? Lame! Stupid..." Thud! "Ow! Where'd everyone go? You jerks! Are you... ugh... waiting for round two, or something? Bring it on! I can take you! I can... I can... aaaargh! I can't even roll over! Stupid glowing rope! This stinks!" Something thrashed against the ground, thumping and writhing ineffectively. "Where are you, you cowards!? I know you're behind me! I can hear you breathing! Now stop taunting me and keep fighting! I haven't lost yet! I don't lose! I can't lose! Really!" A sniffle. "I'm serious..." Mechanical silence. "What do you even want? To kill me? You're doing a lousy job of it... To laugh? Then come on and laugh! Just... do something, all right? Please?" A cold draft of air, sliding steadily downwards. "Fine! You win! And I... I lost, okay!? Is that what you were waiting for? What you wanted me to say!? To hear for yourselves? Well, there it is, jerks! Now just... do something... so I don't have to think about it. Hurry up!" Nothing. "The longer you wait to do what you're gonna do, the bigger the chance of me escaping. I'm warning you! I don't want to be a monster. I tried. I didn't kill a single one of you, remember? But now I've got something I want even more, and if I can only have one, I'll... I'll... do something you'll regret..." More sniffing. Sobbing, then. "I hate you! Why do I get to be unbeatable for seven worthless years, and then the moment I make some friends who are actually worth fighting for, I can't even beat up a squad of dumb mooks? Why!? Please just get this over with..." Hiccuping. "I'm not a monster... I'm not... but... if I get out of here, and if my friends aren't all right, you won't agree. I'll destroy you. I'll find out whose fault this is, and I'll... I'll..." Deeper nothing. "This is my fault, isn't it?" No reply. "I get it. Neither Herman nor Selma put you up to this, did they? I did. I've probably messed with you all over the years... I tried to make my mischief and pranks not that bad, honest. I really tried... but I probably got you all hurt anyway. Or maybe your friends. Or friends of friends, and all you wanted to do was give me what I deserve... Well, hurry up and give it to me. I'm here. I'm waiting. I'll take it." But nothing happened. "I can smell Starlight behind me, you know. I know my friends are there. I bet you've got them awake and listening, tied up too so they can't let me know they're there? Is that what this is? You're... you're trying to pay me back by getting me to say all this in front of them. Did I mention that I hate you?" More silence. "Well, I've said my piece. This is your last warning: I have a way out of here. I'm gonna use it. I've got nothing left to lose... and you won't like what happens next. If you wanna kill me, gloat, or even just roll me over so I can see who's behind me... this is your last chance." Held breath... and then a sigh. "Sorry, Sis. I know I promised I'd never use you like this, but..." Flash! Three hooves scrabbled, clacking against the ground. "Wait, what? Just Starlight, Ironflanks and Birdo? Where's everyone else? Where are those stupid pegasi? Are they hiding under the platform?" Running hooves. "No... Hey, idiots! Where are you!?" Only wind and the sound of machinery responded. "Okay, this is creepy. I lost. I hate it, but I did! And all you guys are unconscious! What happened? Did they just want to beat us up and... that was that? How are we okay?" A nearby rustle of fur. "Hey, Starlight! Starlight! Are you... Okay, wow, you don't look so good. Is your horn supposed to be... Ow! Ooh, that's hot! Bananas, why am I not a medic? What, uhh... Okay, what do I do? Maybe... cold water, or something? Don't think I have any, unless... Hey, Ironflanks! Did you have an accident with your cutie mark, or something? All your stuff is just sitting in a pile around you! Oh well, this looks like a flask. Uhh... Starlight, do I just dump this on you, or pour it on your horn, or what?" More hoof clattering. "Hey, Birdo, wakey wakey! You're an adventure bird, you know about injuries and stuff, right? What do I do with Starlight? Just let her sleep this off? She's really hot! And I mean that in the bad way!" "Ooog... Your ranting is giving me a splitting headache, Valey. I'm... afraid I may have been compromised in battle..." "Yo, you're up! Look, you're busted up, I'm busted up, we'll get over it. Starlight doesn't look too good. Like... I don't know unicorns, but maybe she used her horn too much, or something? Tell me what to do with her, and then see to your headache." With a shuffle, another body made its way upright. "It... seems we've vanquished the attacking mercenaries? I know I fell in battle, but... however did we win? Did you somehow defeat all those pegasi on your lonesome?" "Err... Mercenaries, huh? Not saying I didn't, but maybe? Emphasis on somehow..." "Hmm. I notice our friends Howe and Neon Nova have disappeared without a trace as well. Good riddance, frankly. Howe and I got off to a bad start, but I was beginning to think he really meant to amend ties with me. Unfortunately, two less-than-impressive moments of truth in a row..." "Yeah, well, we'll pancake him again if we find him. Shades, too. Now seriously, do you know what to do with fevered, fainted fillies? Like, look at her! Her horn's practically still sparking." "Well, I am aware Starlight has issues involving her horn degrading and becoming painful over prolonged or strenuous periods of use. From what Maple has told me, there are machines in Riverfall and aboard a certain airship that can restore her, though she sounded very unenthusiastic about their use. I believe we should consult with her first, and in the meantime merely hope that Starlight wakes up and is not in undue pain." "The far north side of the Earth District? Rrrgh. That's not what I wanted to hear, Birdo... Okay, plan. I carry Starlight, here. You take Ironflanks and as much of her dropped stuff as you can carry, assuming those trinkets weren't just left there as a joke. The moment this lift reaches the top, we run through the Water District, exit to the Sky District, cross the snowfields to the skyport, do some late-night ship stealing, swoop over until we're far enough north of Ironridge that there's no wind barrier and land in the badlands, then you can fly Starlight back and get her fixed up. Once you get back we bail to some seedy port in Varsidel, ditch the ship and live adventurously ever after. What do you say?" "Crossing the snowfields by hoof and talon at night? I'm afraid I nearly perished attempting it on wing and during the day. That sounds unfeasible bordering on suicidal." "Yeah, but at least we'd have snow to cool Starlight down with. I wonder what Ironflanks thinks. You think she's awake yet? Hey, Ironflanks! Iron-" Dead silence. "...Woah. Okay, I'm pretty sure cutie marks aren't supposed to look like that. I mean, I've seen some messed-up stuff done with cutie marks before, but this is... You... think this is why all her stuff fell out and is just sitting around her?" "It... It's like a shattered mirror. How could an image have so many cracks? It's merely a colored portion of fur; this shouldn't be possible!" "Colored fur? Nah, they're magic. You can't get this much detail otherwise. Seriously, though, look at this..." A flash of pain stabbed from Maple's flank and through her entire body as it was poked by a hooftip, dull enough not to burn but hot enough to jolt her mind out of the haze it had been in for who-knew-how-long. She gasped, flopping, flinging open her eyes and wincing again as she rolled onto her other flank, earning another stab. "Hey, Ironflanks?" Valey's face was inches from her own. "Do you know anything about why...?" She trailed off, blinking. "Huh. Were your eyes always pink?" "My what?" Maple frowned, lifting a hoof to get herself some space. She felt as if her insides had been scrubbed with a wire brush, leaving a combination of cleanliness, lingering pain, hunger, and enough exhaustion to hibernate, her muscles barely responding to her command. "I dunno how, but we won. Don't move, by the way," Valey said, pointing to the floor around her. "Looks like your cutie mark went kaput. One wrong step, and you'll smash some of this lovely fruit you were carrying around." "We... we..." Maple swallowed, her throat tasting like strawberries, a haze of pink fire clouding her recollection. There had been pegasi... fighting... explosions... Starlight... "Starlight!" She forced herself to move, staggering toward Valey on unsteady limbs. The batpony sat back, one forehoof dangling uselessly as the other held Starlight's shivering form to her chest. "I think she messed herself up bad," Valey said, loosening her grip and offering the filly to Maple. "Seriously, though, you look like that too. Know how we got out of this after I went down? Because I... nngh." She looked away. "I wasn't good enough. Sorry. Any chance you were listening earlier, when...?" "I don't remember," Maple admitted, moving forward and taking Starlight in a hug... and catching Valey, too, who struggled slightly less than she could have. Starlight was a hot lump against her chest, but somehow, the contact brought a cooling mist across her throbbing flanks. Thinking, she dug, parsed... and something slid together in her mind. "The windigo heart," Maple whispered. "The charged one. I remembered how I had reflected a magic attack in Sosa, so I thought I could do the same here, and pocketed it. They were... They were about to take you, and I had to stop them. There was so much pink, and I couldn't get rid of it, and it felt like it was tearing me apart, but..." She shuddered, still hugging. "I'm still alive..." "It seems we all are," Gerardo remarked with a smile, standing to the side. "If in rather bad condition. Since I don't see the heart anywhere, and you've dropped everything else you were carrying, I take it it has been reclaimed by our cowardly friends Howe and Neon Nova?" Maple closed her pink eyes and sighed. "They're gone, aren't they...?" "Yeah. And good riddance." Valey sat limply in her embrace, still holding Starlight. "So... we're basically all half-dead, right?" "I don't know," Maple murmured. "I have no idea what that flame did to me, though I doubt I'd survive doing that again. Do I look bad?" Gerardo scooped up the sound stone Maple had been carrying, turning it over and over in his talon. "Well, you lack obvious combat damage. As for your cutie mark and your eyes... unless a magical remedy produces itself or they return to normal on their own time, I highly recommend obtaining a trench coat and a pair of shades. Though the latter could be skipped, if you're willing to come to terms with the new look. All told, different does not necessarily mean bad." He smiled feebly. Maple sighed. "I'll have to see them. I doubt this will feel real to me until I see for myself they aren't red any more. Maybe it won't be a big deal, or maybe it will turn out to be one of those things you always took for granted..." Idly, she reached towards a fallen water flask, picking it up and taking a drink, then inspecting it carefully. "My flanks hurt," she murmured. "It sounds like whatever I did broke my cutie mark... Huh. It's funny. It's stuck with me all these years, even after I failed to reach and then gave up on my dream... and now it's using it that actually takes it away." She glanced down at the spider web on her flanks, then quickly looked away. "...Maybe I should wear a coat. I don't want to think about that. I don't want to... I don't..." She rolled the flask over again, then tried to pocket it. It disappeared, but the burning in her flanks grew, and she instantly felt full, like she was storing her usual maximum capacity. She held it for several seconds, and the moment she stopped consciously keeping the flask in, it tumbled back out onto the ground. "Well, that's that, I guess." Gerardo nodded appreciatively. "So your mark does still work. I assume merely sub-optimally?" "Yes." Maple closed her pink eyes, feeling a sniffle build up in her scoured chest. "And... maybe I should just not use it at all right now. For all I know, there's a way to fix it, but this will just damage it even more..." She sighed bitterly, the faintest of inaudible whines in her throat. "I used it every day, for everything. It'll be like losing my mouth, if I could still eat. I'll miss it..." Valey shuddered, then groaned, pulling away, her golden pendant bouncing gently against her neck. "Well, I might have an idea or two about how to get fixing it. Just ideas, though. But either way, that's gonna have to wait a looong time..." "Hmm?" Maple looked curiously at her. "Why is that?" "Because we've gotta deal with them first." Valey pointed a hoof up the lift tunnel. The top was gradually drawing into focus... and a phalanx of pegasi stood at attention at the rim, spearheaded by Selma.