//------------------------------//
// Chapter 37: Hunted 
// Story: Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

I woke with a start in the dead of night. It was one of those moments when you feel like you have woken from a nightmare, but are still in it, a night terror I think they were called. It could also have just been a panic attack in my sleep. I hadn't had one in years, but I was certainly under a great deal of stress so it was possible.

It was strange trying to reason how I felt even as I was panicking. It didn't seem like it should work out like that, but that was indeed what I was doing. It was like part of my mind had separated off and decided to try to function rationally while the rest quakes in fear. I would have to ask a psychologist how exactly that worked out.

There wasn't any immediate signs for concern around me. The room was empty of any other pony. It was dark, but as a Thestral that was more a comfort normally than something to incite fear. There wasn't any sound of anything either. Nothing to be afraid of seemed to be here. 

I slowed my breathing and counted slowly under my breath, trying to vcalm myself. It was likely just a bad dream, a side effect of knowing Mera was going into a dangerous situation without me, easily explainable. I was able to get my breathing under control, but my heart was still pumping hard, my wings were still errect, and my fur was still fluffed defensively. No matter how much I tried to reason that everything was fine my instincts still said the complete opposite.

I looked around and listened for anything that might be causing my instincts to warn me something was wrong again. After listening hard for a moment I realized I couldn't hear the guards outside the door. With any typical guards this wouldn't be an issue, but this was the Birthday Party Brigade, and the Birthday Party Brigade had more a tendency to be animated and talkative. Most of the time they could be heard out in the hallway talking together if you listened hard enough. No such talking was happening right now. That was not to say something was definitely wrong, but it was enough to make me wonder.

I got out of bed and walked over to the door. The obvious thing to do was just check with them to see if everything was alright. Maybe they had just gotten drowsy, or just being silent for a change. They could be trying to keep the noise down out of respect to me sleeping, even though through the door it only came off as low background noise typically. There were perfectly reasonable explanations for them being quiet.

I opened the door and a great deal of other sound that the room had been insulated from greeted me. There was something going on outside the spire that was making a lot of noise, I just hadn't been able to hear it within the bedroom. The room was so well insulated from sound that I was apparently only able to hear sounds directly on the the other side of the door.

The next thing I noticed was there were no guards standing outside the door, there was no sign of any pony besides myself in the hallway. My fur fluffed more as I realized that the guards had abandoned their posts. They must be either elsewhere in the spire our outside dealing with whatever was making that noise. If they had been vmcalled away shouldn't they have at least woken me up to let me know? If there was something urgent going on why had I been left to just sleep unguarded? Something was definitely up outside by the noise, but something was seriously wrong in here as well.

I went back into the bedroom and pulled my hoofblade from my life pack. I wasn't sure if it made any difference as I was not really trained in its use, but being armed made me feel a little better. I looked at the pile of stones Mera had left and decided to stash several of them away in my pack just in case. I didn't like leaving them unattended, but also didn't want them all gone if something happened to me. Grabbing a dozen of them into my pack seemed a fair compromise. After getting them stored away, and myself equipped, I slung the pack over my back.

First thing first was to try to find another pony in the Spire. It might not endear me to others to be walking around with a weapon, but something was definitely up and I needed to be concerned with my safety. If it was bad enough for the guards to abandon post it was bad enough for me to walk around with a weapon ready.

I went out of the room and looked around the immediate hallway again. Still noise coming from the outside, and still no sign of another pony. I wished there were windows along the halls here so I could at least look outside, but there were only the other doors of the hallway. 

There didn't seem to be signs of any struggle along the hallway, not that I would know what to look for if there had been. There wasn't anything that seemed out of place other the absence of the guards and the noise. Maybe some other pony could have picked up on something else, but I wasn't a tracker or a guard; I had no such training.

I debated with myself whether it would be better to go check the other sections of the Spire first, or check the immediate rooms around me. I didn't know anything about what was supposed to be in the other rooms. I guessed they were other guest rooms as well, but couldn't be sure. I didn't even know if they were supposed to be occupied or not. If they were occupied then I probably owed their occupants to tell them something wasn't right. Also, some of those rooms might have windows so I could at least look outside to find out what was making that noise. It was a noise so different than anything I ever heard before and I couldn't even take a wild guess to what it was other than not normal.

Checking each of the other rooms turned out to be a complete waste of time though. Every single last one was locked. I tried knocking on a few and calling out, but no pony answered any of them, nor did I hear any sound of movement inside them. It had been the right thing to check, but it was frustrating that it didn't get me any closer to an answer.

I decided the next thing to do was head towards the Heart's chamber. It had to be guarded at all times and even if the guards abandoned their post near me I couldn't imagine anything making them abandon their posts near the Heart. It was the most important single object in all of Ocid, and was probably the second most powerful magical object outside of The Great Tree. There would be some pony near it to give me answers.

The doors that connected the hallways were thankfully unlocked as usual. I wondered why you even needed doors separating sections of a hallway, it seemed pointless. Maybe it was just for subdividing the large structure into smaller parts. She supposed it would be easier to say the fifth section of a hallway third door on the left, than having people wandering aimlessly down the hallway trying to count out the many many doors a pony might have to pass normally, hoping they kept their count correct. It might make sense in that aspect. Or perhaps it was meant to give extra privacy to areas. Who knew? All I knew was it was annoying to open a hallway door only to find only more hallway.

I went quickly through the hallways, still not encountering any pony along the way. After a short time walking I got to the entrance of the Heart's chamber, and found no guard outside it.

Was the entire Spire deserted? Where was the staff? Where were the guards? Why were they all gone and I was still here? If they had evacuated the Spire for some reason shouldn't some pony have gotten me too?

I walked into the chamber and it was the same as it ever was. The Heart was still in place, but there was still no sign of any other pony. If the Spire had been attacked shouldn't the Heart be gone one way or another? If every pony had fled they would have taken the Heart with them. If something had taken every pony away it would surely have taken the Heart too. None of this made any sense.

The next logical step was to head outside and find out what was going on out there. There was all that noise so something was going on outside. I turned to leave the chamber and when I did I stopped in my tracks.

Standing down the hallway that I had just walked were two tall no-pedal creatures. They were both completely encased in armor of some sort, and they were silently walking my way. They had arms like younger dragons did and in those claws were what were definitely smaller, portable versions of guns. 

Panic that I had been trying to hold in check finally took hold, though a small part of me also wanted to go on the attack. Reason tipped the scales towards panic as I realized that if those were guns I wasn't going to even get a chance to get close enough to attack. I had to run and find another way out of the Spire.

There was another door in the Heart's chamber, but it led deeper into the Spire rather than towards the way out. I had little choice in direction though. There was no where to safely take cover in the chamber, and there was no way of moving back towards the entrance of the Spire. So I went the only direction I had a choice of going.

I turned and ran, making quick leaps through the air with my wings. Behind me shots rang out, thankfully missing, but also making me panic further. I quickly made it to the other side of the chamber and through the opposite door, straight into another hallway.

I could find somewhere to hide and try to let them pass me by and then make a break for the entrance. My hunting and limited fighting abilities wouldn't do anything for fighting these foes. They were armored on every section of their body, there was no where for me to bite or stab. I could possibly knock them down with a dive bomb from the air, but I was indoors, and had likely just left the only room that I could have gotten airborne in high enough for such a strike. I should have stayed in the chamber and tried such a strike as the entered in, but it was too late for that now. Finding a hiding place was now the top priority.

Maybe there was another way out. The Spire had a balcony that overlooked the outside plaza. If I could make it to that I could escape. I just had to find that balcony, which meant getting to the correct floor. I had never been in that room so it was going to take a lot of searching, and if the room was locked like the others I was in even more trouble.

I could hear them coming still behind me, so I bolted through the hallways, only pausing to open, and then reclose behind me, the doors of the hallways. I wished the things had some sort of locks on them, but doubted that mattered in the long run. The closed doors at least put up some small obstacles to slow my hunters down.

I kept a close eye out for any signs of a staircase, or any door that might lead somewhere other than the next hallway. There had to be something soon, as this could only continue, even with a curve, for so long. There were still no windows, and I silently cursed the architect of this place for his or her insistence of smooth crystal walls.

My pursuers were not being very silent as they followed. I could hear them simply blasting the doors away rather than stopping to open them. They had to be moving at a full run, and I hoped that they couldn't run on two legs each as fast as I could run one four with leaps assisted by my wings. I gave off a silent thanks that I had to learn how to run like this back in Harmony, or I might have been caught already.

My heart and lungs felt like they were going to explode when I went through the next door and found myself in a chamber instead of another hallway. I took a quick glance around at my surroundings. There was a massive staircase that led up which looked like it might put me where I needed to be to find that balcony. There was another door at the end of this chamber in this floor that might lead to yet another hallway. The chamber was also large enough that I could attempt to do that Dove bombing maneuver, and head back the way I came.

All three options I considered quickly. Going up and finding that balcony seemed the most appealing. Hopefully climbing those stairs would slow my attackers down. The drawback was if the correct room was locked I was just trapping myself more. The next option was the next hallway. They might not expect me to keep going on and bypassing the stairs, which would give me a chance to double back behind them. There were two of them though and they might decide to just split and go in both directions, and I knew there couldn't be much farther to run on this floor. I couldn't even be sure that wasn't just the door to another locked room and would only lose more valuable time pursuing that path. The final option was to try to take them by suprise with a dive bomb and run past them. I didn't know enough about them to know if that would even work, and if they weren't caught off guard I was making myself an easy target.

I decided quickly on an option. All my options were risky, but this felt like the one with the best chances of success. If I got out of this alive Mera was going to give me an earful about the risk I was taking. 

I quickly flew up the stairs into the upper hallway, and not a moment too soon. The sound of the door I had just passed could be heard being blasted off its hinges. I gave the next door that I could try to make may way to a quick glance and took a deep breath. It was time to take my gamble.

The door opened easily revealing yet another hallway. I gave the hallway a quick glance of disappointment, wishing it had simply led out to that balcony. Instead I shut the door with a loud creak that my pursuers could almost certainly hear. Then I crept to the edge of the where the staircase was, trying my best to stay out of sight.

Their heavily armored steps could be heard coming up the stairs, I listened carefully making sure I could judge their position perfectly. I would either get this right or I would get shot, there was no room for error. They weren't moving as quickly up the steps as they had through the halls, which was a mild relief.

As they reached the proper position, just a few steps short of the top, I sprang into action. I took to the air and shot through it. In the tightest dive I had ever attempted I went down the stairs. The sudden assault did catch them off guard and I clipped both of their helmets as I zipped by them, causing them to tumble backwards down the stairs. They hadn't managed to get a shot off at me. 

Unfortunately the attack had caused me to lose control of my dive and I went down hard against the wall of the lower floor. Everything hurt, and I was pretty sure my head was bleeding from the impact. My vision was blurred, and I felt nauseous. It was hard to focus as I pulled myself to my hooves again. There was a very real chance I might have a concussion, at the very least a contusion. Hopefully my healing powers would help me carry through getting away.

It took me a moment to figure out which direction I needed to go now. A quick glance showed that the two attackers were still recovering from the attack and hadn't gotten back up yet. Hopefully they were knocked senseless, but I couldn't wait around to find out. This was my opportunity to get back to the main entranance and out of the Spire. 

My balance was off as I made my way back down the halls. It was hard to keep from tripping, and I feebly flapped my wings to try to keep balance as I ran. Luckily I didn't have to open any doors as the two had destroyed them in their wake. It was also helpful for keeping me on track on where to go, as right now simple things like recognizing which door was directly down the hall didn't feel simple at all. I was hurt,l. I was hurt bad enough that if anything else came upon me then I was pretty much dead on the spot. If there were more of those things somewhere in front of me they would have no problem taking me out quickly. 

It felt like an eternity to get back through the halls, back through the Heart chamber, and back into the next set of halls. I heard no pursuit, but that meant nothing, because my ears were ringing so much I couldn't hear anything. I had to keep moving. I was a fool not to try to escape out of the Spire to start and instead deciding to go deep into it. 

It briefly entered into my mind that Mera was going to be upset that I had been hurt this badly. Where was Mera anyway? It seemed like she should be here, but it also seemed like I should know where she was. I was having so much trouble thinking. I just had to focus on getting out. Everything would be alright if I just got out of here. For some reason I started thinking that my head would be better if I just washed it. Something else told me that was nonsense. I really didn't know which was right. I had to get outside to wash my head, that felt like it made more sense.

Eventually I made it to the next staircase, which headed downstairs. I tried walking down the stairs, but after a few steps I just tumbled down them. More pain shot through my body as I hit stair after stair, and landed hard on the floor below. My right wing was burning with pain, and wasn't responding right. I think I may have broken it in the fall. 

I forced myself back to my hooves and fought through the pain. I tried running again, but couldn't manage it. Everything just hurt so much right now. I had never felt so much pain in my life. Why did I have to be so damn clumsy? If I got out of here and recovered I swore I would focus years of my life to becoming the most graceful damn Thestral there ever was.

There was no pony or any other creature down here, and the entrance was in sight. I hobbled along towards it, taking forever to clear the distance towards the opening. I was almost there. I was almost out.

I got to the entrance and finally got to look outside. What I saw made me just lay down and cry rather than try to go out.

There was some sort of shield spell all around the Spire and it was the source of that noise. Standing not far from the entrance to the Spire was at least a dozen more of those creatures. I had never had any chance of escape, I was sealed in.

Something struck me, causing my entire body to convulse with pain, and then the world went black.