"What just happened?" protested Snips, crawling a bit closer to the two Wraiths keeping them company. "She was winning ... she had him down ... and now he's just back up again?"
"The Curse knows its own," said Roneo, soberly, nodding as if in agreement with some other.
"The Powers behind it have sent him aid," explained Starlet, smiling warmly at the two mortals. "Ruby be strong, but she stands little chance against her father -- for he has the favor of Those From Beyond."
"That is why he always wins," agreed Roneo, nodding again.
"Always wins?" asked Snips.
"Yes, my dears," replied Starlet, smiling even more warmly. "Ruby has challenged our father many times before, and always for the same cause -- to save a mortal from our feast."
"She never does win," added Roneo, almost sadly, "though at times the mortal has won free during the fight."
"Really?" asked Snips, a certain cunning lighting in his eye.
Glittershell said nothing, but her ears perked up -- she suddenly saw a possibility.
"Yes," said Starlet, smiling archly at the stocky blue stallion. "I do know what thou thinkest. But ye cannot leave Sunney Towne -- the gate be barred, the walls strong, and ye are not strong enough now to scale your rope -- even if ye twain do leave the Zebra and the two fillies behind to sate our hungers."
Glittershell's ears drooped. In her excitement at the thought that she might have a chance to escape, she had forgotten that she had three unconscious friends lying on the field -- and that she probably couldn't climb the rope in her current state of exhaustion. Snips and herself were both still trapped by the Wraiths.
"It will nae be so bad," said Roneo.
"Yes, dears, 'twill be nice to have new friends," added Starlet.
Gllittershell could think of nothing to say to those horribly kind words. She resumed watching the battle.
Grey Hoof had been re-invigorated by that bolt from Beyond; he was moving rapidly and striking with great force. Ruby was still somewhat faster than him, but now she could no longer dodge and attack; instead being forced onto the defensive. The speed of the combat again increased until it was difficult for Glittershell to clearly see the strikes given and taken, but it seemed to her as if some of Grey Hoof's were now actually landing, even though Ruby kept dodging at the last moment so that they struck but glancing blows. They were once again both networks of light, which made it still more difficult for Glittershell to follow the details of their actions.
Then, Grey Hoof struck Ruby solidly in what must have been, in her abstract Aspect, her head! Both their energies flared, and Glittershell briefly glimpsed Ruby's golden light streaming into Grey Hoof; the Master-Wraith swelling from what Glittershell now could recognize as a life-drain.
Ruby tumbled out of the air, flickering rapidly between the charred skeleton of her Death Aspect and the teenaged filly of her Life Aspect. She struck the earth as something in between the two: a blonde-haired, grey-coated filly with large patches of her hide and flesh missing to expose charred bones; more gruesome as this than in either complete form.
At the last moment before impact, Ruby managed to change her course so that, instead of slamming hard into the ground, as had her father, she instead skidded sideways, spraying dirt in a long slide that doubtless would have been quite painful, were she still alive, and which she did not exactly seem to be enjoying, even undead as she was. She slid to a stop, and Grey Hoof swooped down upon her.
He cast two crimson-back bolts as he came. The first scored on Ruby's left hindleg, causing it to flash out of existence for a moment. Ruby cried out in pain, even as the limb returned to visibility. The second would have hit her center of mass, but it was deflected by a shield Ruby raised at the last moment. Ruby grunted with the effort of blocking the bolt, and it was plain she was hard-pressed.
Grey Hoof kept up that pressure. Following in the wake of his bolts, the Master-Wraith flung himself on his supine daughter. One forehoof clouted her to the side of her skull, dazing her. Then, Grey Hoof reached down with both forehooves to grip her head.
Energy arced from Ruby into Grey Hoof, streaming from Ruby's whole form up to her head, and discharging through her mouth, which was forced open by the suction of that stream. She spasmed helplessly, as Grey Hoof began draining her.
Glittershell winced in sympathy, as she saw what was happening to her ghostly friend -- who was suffering this due to her defense of Glittershell and the other mortal equines. Glittershell knew from personal experience just how horrible it felt to be so drained; it was terrible to see Ruby, who had already been through so much, be treated in such wise -- and by her own father.
The scene was so terrible that even Glittershell, inured as she was to terrible sights by all the adventures of her later childhood, and even more so by the awful night and day she had spent so far in Sunney Towne, nearly could not bear to watch it. She almost flinched away entirely from witnessing any more of Ruby's pain.
A moment later, she was glad that she hadn't looked away.
Golden light flared from Ruby, and Grey Hoof was driven back by its brilliance. In that moment of opportunity, Ruby squirmed loose from under her father, and rolled back up onto her hooves. Her stance was a bit wobbly, but her face was determined as she loosed a bolt of energy at Grey Hoof.
Grey Hoof barely brought his own shield up in time, and some of the energy got through to rock the Master-Wraith back on his hooves, his form briefly flickering. Ruby also tottered, clearly exhausted by the great effort she had made. For a moment they stood there, glaring at each other, panting with their exertions.
Once again, Ruby's aura blazed brightly. This time, it was not in an attack on Grey Hoof. Instead, she emitted a column of golden fire that streamed from her wildly whipping mane for the sky; from her solidly planted hooves to spread out over the earth. Briefly, a beautiful rainbow flickered behind her, so quickly that Glittershell was unsure that she had truly seen it.
For a moment, Glittershell sensed a great surge of hope, so sudden that it almost felt as if it was coming from some outside source. An expert mage might have known what this meant, but Glittershell was far from expert: all she knew was that, for that moment, she felt wonderful.
Then, a dark power flowed from Grey Hoof. It leaped from his hypnotically-wavering mane, which glowed with the dim dead lights of the ebon stars from beyond our world, and flashed across the black clouds overhead. It coldly crackled from his huge solid hooves, plunged into the earth to corrupt what warmth it held. And the heavens and the earth replied!
To common sight, it took the form of the black clouds thickening, the frigid earth chilling further, so that a pale mist billowed up from below to engulf them in its cold caress. Through her horn -- and Glittershell, for all her faults as a student, was above average in her sensitivity to psychic energies -- if felt as if great grim iron gates had slammed shut all around her.
Ruby slumped, her own aura contracting. Her eyes widened, then pinpointed. Her ears went back as she stared at Grey Hoof in dismay.
"Thou hast sundered me from the Harmony!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, pardon me, dear daughter," said Grey Hoof with mock-sympathy. "Didst thou plan that thou might draw in its power against me? That work-ed once, but I have learned, and from that lesson kenned how to block thee from its sustenance. This is my land, here!"
Bereft of the aid on which her plans had so clearly depended, Ruby seemed unsure of herself, of her next move in the duel. She cast her gaze about, looking for some source of succor -- and not finding it.
"There be no hope left for thy cause," stated Grey Hoof. "Thou didst fight well, daughter -- thou wert always a brave and fierce little lass --" here his voice became for a moment almost affectionate "-- and thou gave unto me some hard knocks! Thou hast nothing of which to be ashamed.
"But now, thou hast lost the fray. I have all but beaten thee. Thou'rt exhausted, I refreshed. Thy fight be ended, all but the final pummeling of thee, which I would fain not do, for thou'rt still to me mine own beloved child, and to be thy foe does not please me at all. Yield then! Let us have done with this battle!"
Ruby looked at Zecora, who was just starting to regain consciousness; at Apple Bloom and Ermine Lightning, who were not yet even stirring weakly. She looked back at Snips and Glittershell, her expression stricken. Then, she firmed with resolve.
"A little longer ... surely 'tis but a little longer," she said very softly to them. Or was it to herself? "I must not lose heart."
She turned back to Grey Hoof.
"Father," she said, "thine own words do betray that thou wouldst rather not fight me."
"I did state that direct," Grey Hoof replied. "What father would wish to harm his own daughter?"
"Harming me was how our Curse began," Ruby pointed out, taking a step toward him.
For a moment a look of pain crossed the dark gray face. "I never did mean to do thee any evil; this thou knowest well. I but thought to spare thee suffering."
"Does this not speak of the folly of slaughter in haste?" Ruby argued. "Thou didst slay me, afore thou didst know the truth of the matter. We have all paid for this error, ever since."
"I know thy plaint," said Grey Hoof. "Aye, I did err. And I have long since asked pardon for it."
"And I have long since granted it," interrupted Ruby. "Father, I could never hate thee, not for long." She smiled at him.
"Nor me thee," agreed Grey Hoof, looking on her fondly. "Thou art dear to me." He smiled back.
Then, his face grew solemn. "But thou dost seek to divert me. When I erred, then we all lived, and our aims were that of the living. Now we live no more, and our aims are those of the undead. For what we now are, it is our nature to slay the living, and from this draw sustenance and gain followers. We are no longer but a village of farmers."
His eyes narrowed. "I am no fool, my Ruby, and I do ken thine aim here. Thou seekest to delay me, in the hope that thy friends will revive and escape. But I shall not long brook such defiance. Yield to me, now, and cease thy contention -- else I shall crush it, by main force. I shall not joy in the doing, yet must it be done, so I shall do it, even though it pain me.
He took a step forward, and Ruby stepped back before his advance. "Now," he said, "stand thee down, and we shall welcome our new guests to our festival."
Grey Hoof took another step forward, and Ruby another step back. Yet another, and another. With each step, Grey Hoof drew closer and closer to Snips and Glittershell. The Master-Wraith towered over his daughter, a billowing mass of dying star flecked mane, centered on his frowning face, no less terrible for that it resembled that of a living Pony. Ruby seemed small before him.
Glittershell's heart sank as she saw this. Yet she could scarcely blame Ruby Gift for this. The girl ghost had fought for her and her friends, and fought hard. Could she be blamed for giving way now, when all ittthe odds were so plainly stacked against her?
Would Glittershell herself have done any better, under like circumstances?
Suddenly she noticed something important.
Ruby had stopped retreating.
"No," said Ruby.
Grey Hoof cocked an eyebrow.
"I will not yield," said Ruby. "To the last of my strength, I will defend mine own friends."
Grey Hoof sighed in exasperation. "After I have already shown thee that it be futile?"
Ruby nodded.
"So be it," said Grey Hoof. "I should not be surprised." He crooked a slight smile. "I have known thee twenty and a thousand years -- and thou art, indeed, my daughter." Was that part said with pride? "Have at thee!"
They leapt, one last time, at each other.
Ruby moved very fast -- so fast that she seemed but a golden-glowing blur to Glittershell's tired senses. She almost flowed under her father's first lunge, then came up swiftly to strike him with her united forehooves right on the point of his chin, bashing his head back and exposing his throat. She struck his throat one quick blow, then pushed off his breast to rocket away from the likely counterstrike.
Had they been breathing Ponies, that would have ended the fight then and there. Even Glittershell could see that, and she had no way of knowing that this was a deadly martial-arts combination taught to the Night Guard, one whose origins went far, far back to the pankration of the Crystal Empire. It would have crushed or at least badly-bruised the foe's windpipe, leaving him either dying or too busy gasping for air to put up any further resistance.
As it was, Grey Hoof fell back before that vicious assault, wheezing in-equinely. His ebon mane whipped around like a cloak, into which he retreated. For a heartbeat he vanished within that sanctuary -- one -- two -- three ...
Ruby whirled round and shot a golden bolt directly at the meeting-point of the gates of Sunney Towne. There was a sound as if of an iron chain shattering, and the gates swung slowly ajar!
For a moment, Glittershell simply gaped at this spectacle. She was not alone in this ... on one side so did Snips, on the other Starlet and Roneo. None of them had at all expected this development.
"Wow," said Roneo. "That's another repair job for me ..."
"Friends!" cried Ruby. "'Tis your chance!"
Glittershell's conscious mind suddenly caught up to her emotional reactions, and she realized that there was now nothing standing between herself and freedom. Except -- she looked at the little form of Ermie, just beginning to groan and move weakly. Near her, and also stirring, lay Apple Bloom. Zecora still seemed utterly-inert, save for a faint motion of her barrel that showed she was yet breathing.
Glittershell and Snips looked at one another with perfect understanding, then leaped for their friends.
Glittershell made for Ermine Lightning; beside her, Snips for Apple Bloom. It was but a quick dash across the hoof-churned, ectoplasm-spattered battlefield, and then Glittershell had reached Ermie and was scooping her up in her aura and laying her across her back. By her side, she saw that Snips was doing the same for Apple Bloom.
Still, Starlet and Roneo simply stood gaping, shocked by the sudden turn of events. Then, Starlet nudged Roneo hard.
"Repair the lock later!" she shrieked at her betrothed. "For now, we must stop their flight!"
Glittershell and Snips were already galloping hard for the open gateway, moving as fast as they could given their living and precious burdens. Starlet and Roneo ran across their path to intercept. It all resembled some macabre sort of game of hoofball, but the stakes were higher than which team would have control of the ball.
Glittershell dodged nimbly past Roneo, staggering faster than he could shamble. Snips, unfortunately, stumbled as Starlet approached him, and Apple Bloom would have fallen from him had she clenched him more tightly at that instant.
For a moment it looked as if Starlet was going to catch him, or possibly snatch Apple Bloom off his back. But Bloomie chose that moment to lash out with her own right rear hoof, bucking Starlet right to the nose, eliciting a shriek of pain from the Wraith mare. Starlet tottered back, and Snips took advantage of Starlet's indisposition to surge back up onto his hooves and dart past her.
Now there was no one between the four young Ponies and the gate. They were almost at that gate, when Glittershell remembered something.
"Zecora!" she cried out.
All four of them looked back toward the Zebra shaman.
They were greeted by a pleasant surprise. At some point during their run, Zecora had managed to get to her own hooves, and she was galloping hard for the gate.
"Tarry no more!" she shouted at them. "Use the door!"
Glittershell knew that everything was going to turn out all right.
The next moment, everything went all wrong.
Roaring, Grey Hoof emerged from the dissipating dark cloud, the inner parts of which withdrew back into his black mane. Blazing dark eyelights surveyed the situation. He quickly noticed that the town gate was open.
"Oh, no you don't!" his voice boomed. Then, looking at the gate, he commanded "CLOSE!!!"
The doors clapped shut, so fast that the wind of it blew back the manes of all five living equines, and forced them to look away from the swirl of dust it raised. They came together with a great dull thud like the future being foreclosed forever, far too fast for even Glittershell to dart through them, even had she been willing to leave Snips, Bloomie and Zecora behind.
They were once again trapped, in Sunney Towne.