//------------------------------// // The Third Sister Ch. 10 Overrun // Story: The Shadows Saga // by Tagshadow //------------------------------// “I still don’t believe it, that what they told us back when we were just colts and fillies was just a lie.” Pilot sighed. All five of them sat in a tiny boat heading for Heaven’s End. The rocky mountain in the middle loomed over them. Tag and Lop sat rowing while Pilot kept a look out. “Well it’s not like we have much of a choice. I doubt that the Princesses would just make this up.” Brook pointed out. “Yeah but… it’s just too hard to swallow if you ask me.” Pilot muttered. “Believe it or not you’re going to find out the truth on Heaven’s End.” McCutchen said darkly. On that note, Lop started singing quietly to himself as he rowed and soon Tag joined in. “Alter of dawn, bury me in light Crimson eclipse, blood and body ignite Lysergic communion, thy cup runneth over Ascend through the threes as the landscape fades Disciple of the sun, the red horizon cascades Burning away the masks meant to hide Writhing becoming the demon inside The battle rages for the church of the sun Victorious, I dethrone the chosen one Defeated cast the weak to the sea Perched upon my throne, immortal deity My kingdom of flames, my servants the stars A prophecy revealed through all of my scars.” “Lysergic Communion, a familiar one.” Brook said. “It’s a shame neither of you can sing.” Tag blushed slightly. “Just to help us row together.” He mumbled idly. “I remember we used to sing that song back when I rowed below deck.” McCutchen said. “And I remember we used to sing it every time one of our own was killed. We don’t do that anymore, but I hope they sing it for me.” “I’ll sing it for you.” Brook whispered to him. “And then we’ll send you off like a true pirate captain.” Pilot agreed. “How’s that work?” Tag wondered. “We’ll get together with the other big captains who’d want to pay their respects… like Captain Jack Pegasus or Captain Blackmane and have a huge celebration with all kinds of good food and drinks. Then we put the body in a wooden coffin and put it out on sea, that way he’ll always be with the one true love of all pirates.” Pilot explained. McCutchen smiled sheepishly. “I doubt that Captain Blackmane would attend but… I’m sure it will be nice.” “Will?” Lop asked. “Would, I mean to say would… sorry.” McCutchen corrected himself. Something seems off about McCutchen, he’s acted differently ever since you told him the truth about the mission. Book observed. Tag watched McCutchen while he rowed. I have a feeling he knows something, but I have know idea what it could be. Tag thought in agreement. If it had anything to do with the mission I’m sure he would have told us but… let’s not call him out on it. Book warned. I wouldn’t dream of it. Tag thought. “Come on put your back into it, we’re almost there.” Pilot ordered. ---- Tor watched as the ponies of Ponyville got ready for their ‘blitzkrieg’. Some hid behind closed down stalls in the streets, some hid in the windows of houses near the square. Applejack hid in a planter on the far side of the square with Twilight, who apparently knew battle magic, Rainbow Dash was on the rooftops with Quick Thrust and the other pegasi. The rest of their friends along with several others were hiding with the young colts and fillies. Tor sighed at the hopelessness of it all. I wish there was something I could say… Silver trailed off. Tor shook his head and took up his own spot, behind the Apple Family cart on the far side of the square. There is nothing to say. This is probably the end of Ponyville. Tor thought sullenly. I wish I could’ve said goodbye to Tag at least. I suppose the only thing that sounds promising is that Tac said Discord wanted the entire town alive. Maybe this isn’t the end. Silver suggested. Tor drew Torais and held it close to his body. Maybe you recall what Tac said he would do to me if he caught me. Tor deadpanned. Maybe, if you’re lucky, Discord will kill you before the second half of it happens. Maybe you should stop trying to cheer me up. The clock chimed out twelve times, it was noon. Not a sound was heard anywhere in all of Ponyville. Tor took a quick peek over the stand; there was nopony in the square. Making a ‘stay down’ motion with his hoof as he got up and trotted into the middle of the square. Looking around he saw what appeared to be a cloud rising out of the ground just outside Ponyville, he ducked back into cover and waited until he could hear the sounds of thousands of hoofsteps. The ground started shaking slightly but stopped as the enemy party came to a halt in the middle of the square. There was silence for a moment before Tor could hear Tac’s monotone voice. “An ambush won’t work.” Tor cursed himself. “Perhaps you should come out now and surrender while you still can.” Tor was about to stand up when he heard a loud screaming war cry from the rooftops. He looked up at the sky quickly and saw black dots in the sky. Don’t tell me she… Tor thought frustratedly. Turning out of cover he pointed Torais directly at Tac, who was sitting on his chariot in the courtyard and fired an arrow. Quick reflexes saved Tac’s life as he dodged to the side and drew Dumo in a quick movement slashing the arrow in mid-air. Dumo absorbed the arrow and Tac grinned maliciously, looking down at his sword. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to get me, but feel free to shoot more arrows!” Tac said. Another piercing cry came from the sky. All ponies looked toward the sky; Tor could see a fully armoured Quick Thrust hurtling towards Tac at a frightening pace. Tac jumped off of the chariot just in time for Quick Thrust to smash it to pieces. All the other ponies that had been hiding charged out of their hiding places and clashed with the shadows in the clearing. Tor jumped out and smashed one shadow over the head with Torais. Looking around quickly he could see that a couple of ponies lay on the ground already. This isn’t good. Tor thought as he charged at another shadow. I thought we knew this was going wrong anyway. Silver replied. Between writhing bodies Tor could half see Applejack fending off several shadows beside Rainbow Dash. A shadow jumped on his back and started pounding him with rock hard hooves. Gasping in pain Tor threw him off and spun around, there was only a pool of darkness on the ground. He spun around and smashed another shadow; he repeated this process several times before he ran into Quick Thrust who was still fighting Tac. Quick Thrust certainly was holding his own but Tac had the advantage of youth and Tor could see that Quick Thrust was getting tired. Tor jumped in and clubbed Tac over the head with Torais, Tac seemed to barely feel it and slashed at Tor with Dumo, he just managed to dodge it. Quick Thrust jumped in with his spear and thrust it at Tac’s exposed flank Tac spun around nimbly, smashing Quick Thrust’s head with the flat of the blade, Quick Thrust staggered backward and fell over. Tor jumped in between him and Tac. “Out of my way, traitor!” Tac’s monotone voice sounded. Tor shook his head. “Not likely, traitor!” He snapped back. He lunged at Tac flinging his weapon wildly, but he wasn’t exactly skilled in close combat, Tac easily sidestepped Tor and tripped him. Tor fell flat on his face and when he opened his eyes he could see Tac towering over him. “It’s a shame lord Discord wants you alive.” Tor scrambled up but Tac bucked his right in the face causing him to fall backward onto the ground again. He tried to get his bearings but the world was spinning too much, he could just barley make out Tac standing over Quick Thrust’s crumpled form. “Are you still alive there?” Tac asked. Quick Thrust shifted slightly and said something that Tor couldn’t hear over the sounds of screaming ponies. Tac laughed hoarsely. “You should listen to yourself, it’s quite entertaining.” Tac kneeled down and undid Quick Thrust’s chest plate tossing it aside. Tor screamed at his legs to move but no part of his body was responding, he could only watch as Tac stood back up, held Dumo up high, and let it drop. “NOOOOO!!!!!” Tor yelled. Tac causally trotted over to Tor. “Now that that little bit of unpleasantness has been dealt with, I do believe we have some unfinished business…” Tor watched Tac lift up a hoof and stomp right on his face, then there was nothing. ---- Tag and the others had moored the boat and sat on the beach, discussing plans. “The castle is that way.” Pilot explained pointing his hoof up the beach, there was a dark forest standing in the way but Tag could see the top of one of the towers peeking over the top of the trees. “Is there anything else that you guys know about Heaven’s End?” Tag asked looking around the deserted beach. “Only that the forest,” Brook said motioning to the dark forest. “is supposed to be home to some really powerful monster. That’s why we don’t come here often.” McCutchen snorted. “Don’t tell me you really believe that!” He said. “Last time we were here there was no sign of anything, and we spent five whole days here.” “Just a rumour, thought he’d just want to know.” Brook defended herself. Pilot and Lop stood up. “Let’s get going then.” Lop said; and with that, they all trotted up the beach. ---- As they had previously mentioned, the forest was pitch-black and Tag could barely see his hoof in front of his face. He thick blanket of foliage at the tops of the trees choked any light that tried to squeeze through. On the floor thick leaves stuck out in all directions making it impossible to find a concrete path. Tag felt something hard under his hoof as he took another step. “Hey! That’s my hoof!” Pilot hissed. Tag picked his hoof up. “Sorry.” Tag said quietly. “Can’t you light up your horn or something?” Brook asked. “Oh yeah!” Tag said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his horn began to emit a bright green glow giving the forest a new level of creepy. Every shadow looked like it could contain some horrifying monster that could cut somepony in half! Leaving the others grasping to get away as it- Stop that. Book ordered. Tag shook his head causing the shadows to dances on the trees. Sorry. Tag thought sheepishly. “If you’re done standing around, maybe we should continue?” Pilot asked. Tag nodded and all the ponies in the landing party started through the forest again. The shadows parted as they drew near and followed close behind making the other ponies stay close to Tag. “You said that there was a monster here… right?” Tag asked nervously. Brook nodded. “I’ve heard that it’s this horrible thing with long, curved claws… and a long, flat tail strong enough to crush a pony flat. And the face… the face has slitted eyes and a hole with teeth sharp enough to tear flesh from bone!” She explained looking around nervously. Tag could feel Lop shaking violently beside him. “Where’d you hear all this?” He asked. “I remember it was the last time we were here a few months ago, before Lop joined. We found a strange pony that looked like he had been half-chewed. He had clearly gone off the deep end and kept describing this horrifying monster that had killed something like another six of his friends. We were stuck here for a few days because we needed some timber for repairs but nopony saw anything the entire time. Unfortunately the injured pony died the first night.” Pilot recalled. “That was a strange stop, and another reason most pirates try to avoid Heaven’s End.” "That’s enough gossiping.” McCutchen said turning back as they kept walking. “The last thing we need is a couple of nervous p-“ He collided with something and fell flat on his plot. Lop quickly drew his small axe and Tag drew Tagia, Lop started swinging his axe around wildly, “Where is it?! Where?!” He screamed as he whirled around. McCutchen stood up slowly and put a hoof on Lop’s shoulder. “It’s okay, just walked into a tree.” He said and laughed slightly. “Lop, you’re just letting your imagination get away with you.” Brook scolded. “You should be more careful with that axe, you could have hurt somepony with it too.” Lop fixed said axe back to his side and looked at the ground shamefaced. “Sorry.” He mumbled. “No harm done, let’s just get going before the forest gets the better of all of us.” McCutchen sighed and started walking again. The landing party trotted in silence, the only noise coming from their rushing hooves and the occasional unidentifiable animal that hid in the shadows that Tag’s horn couldn’t light up. Then they heard a slow, heavy drip off to the left. Everypony looked in the direction the sound had come from. “It’s just water.” Pilot reasoned. “That didn’t sound like water.” Lop whispered. “Either way, let’s keep moving I doubt any animal in this forest would even try to attack a party of five.” McCutchen ordered and trotted. Once again the party resumed its progress but the dripping sound persisted each time getting louder until it was the sound everypony dreaded. Then they heard heavy breathing. Lop stopped in his hoofprints. “I don’t think it’s just going to leave us alone.” He whispered. Pilot shrugged. “I don’t know captain, should we just kill it?” He asked looking at McCutchen. “I suppose. Tag do you think you could end it with that blade of yours?” McCutchen asked looking at the blade on Tag’s hoof. “If I could see it, sure… but I have no idea where it is.” Tag sighed. Brook inhaled sharply, the other ponies turned toward her; her eyes were bulging out of her head and she shook wildly. “What?!” Pilot demanded. She shakily put up a hoof and pointed into the foliage. All the ponies turned and stared. There was a horrible creature standing among the leaves, it breathed heavily through its mouth much like Antediluvian but instead of sounding like it was dying, the creature sounded like it had run a long distance. It’s face was circular and consisted of a circular mouth that opened and closed as it breathed, its eyes were slits much like Brook had described. The thing came into the small clearing and Tag could see it fully. It stood on two legs; much like humans did but three times taller than Tag. Its body was the shape of a tree trunk; the top turned into a hump just above the face. Behind the face were long, skinny arms that went all the way down to the knees of its feet; both of which had three long claws. Between the legs Tag could see a large, flat limb that looked like a solid leaf, the tail Brook had mentioned. The body was covered with leather like skin except on the back, which was covered with what looked like thick scales in a line from the tale to just above the face. The landing party stood petrified staring at it, and it stared back at them with black eyes. Book, please tell me you know what this thing is. Tag asked. I’ve heard about this thing, a creature from a legend. He’s called Fiandu, and was renowned for his immense strength, as Brook had mentioned his tail is strong enough to kill. Book explained quickly. Tag drew Tagia and took a menacing step towards Fiandu. I doubt it’ll last a second against Tagia. Tag thought confidently. Fiandu was still breathing heavily and focused on Tag, it seemed to realize something because it looked at the other members of the party with apparent anger. It jumped up in the air and smashed its balled up hands into the ground. The entire party took an uncertain step backward. Lop drew his axe and waved it purposefully. “Get back!” He yelled around the axe handle in his mouth, Fiandu turned to his and jumped high into the air only to land right in front of Lop. Lop dropped his axe and looked up at Fiandu like a startled lamb. That was when McCutchen drew his cutlass. “Get it!” He called. Brook and Pilot drew their cutlasses and charged for Fiandu. Before they reached him he lifted up his fist and punched Lop from the side, sending him flying into a tree with a loud snap. “No!” Tag cried and jumped at Fiandu. He batted Tag aside with his fist, smashing him into the ground. Tag tried to get up but he couldn’t coordinate his body; from his lowly vantage point he could see the rest of the battle unfold. Pilot flew up and landed on top of Fiandu as Brook ran at it low to the ground, Pilot bucked around trying to get his attention as Brook slashed at it from the side. Tag! Book cried. Tag get UP! McCutchen jumped at Fiandu’s face. Fiandu reacted by kicking Brook away with his foot propelling her into the air. Pilot jumped off of Fiandu and caught Brook before she could fall. McCutchen stood in front of Fiandu with a bloodied cutlass in his mouth; Fiandu held the side of his head with a clawed hand. Brook raced up beside McCutchen and Pilot landed beside them. “Get him with the one-two!” McCutchen called out, his voice sounded distant. Tag! Book yelled again. McCutchen dodged to the left and Brook to the left, Pilot flew up into the air. Fiandu spun around, following McCutchen with his eyes. At the same time his tail collided with Brook sending her into another tree, she crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll. “Celestia condemn it!” McCutchen shouted and rushed over to her side. The interruption caught Pilot’s attention for just long enough for Fiandu to snatch him out of the air with his claws. Pilot struggled as Fiandu held him close to his head, the blood flowed freely from Fiandu’s cut splashing onto Pilot, drenching his fur. Fiandu breathed out onto Pilot forcefully and slung him onto the ground, Pilot didn’t move. I can’t move Book. Tag thought quietly. McCutchen turned back to Fiandu with a look of pure rage on his face. “This is enough!” He shouted. He picked up his cutlass and jumped at Fiandu slashing wildly and dodging Fiandu’s clumsy swipes. McCutchen stumbled though, and Fiandu spun around quickly making his tail crash into McCutchen’s side. McCutchen rolled away until he lay still in the dust some distance away. Tag was the only member of the landing party still conscience… or alive. Is this where it ends? Tag asked himself. Fiandu stepped over until he was standing right over Tag, he hunched down trying to get a better look. Tag tried to feebly crawl away but he couldn’t feel any part of his body. Fiandu seemed to snort at Tag’s futile effort. He hoisted Tag in one of his arms, and turned around accidently hitting Tag’s head on a low hanging tree branch and knocking him unconscious.