“Nighty... Please... Slow down...” Aurora lagged behind the two boys, who powered on. Midnight swiftly attended to his lover’s plea for help.
“Auri, are you ok..?” He backtracked a few steps to her, grazing her cheek with his hoof, feeling its radiant warmth standing against the chilly breeze.
The group had been making good time north, closer to their escape with every step. Although, after Hopeful calculated it carefully, he confirmed their fear of months of trotting ahead of them, as they were still barely beyond the centre of Great Bridleton, and even after that, they'd have to cross a band of Unicorn or Pegasian Territory. To their relief, the snow continued to fair mercifully to them. Hopeful figured that if hate caused the weather, positive feelings must ward it off, which seemed to be saving them time in their journey, as they didn't have to hide from any blizzards.
Although a different problem had become apparent in their first week: Aurora's condition.
“Yes, I'm alright darling... It's just... Another stomach ache...” She fought against the urge to shrivel up as her gut kicked against her insides.
“Auri, I told you and I'm going to keep saying it, we need to steal some medicine to get you better... I'm worried.” Midnight slid a foreleg behind one of Aurora's, letting her drop down to sit upon the soft snow blanket, the fur on her flanks furling as it slid into the frosty earth coating.
“I'm not sick... And...” She found that taking long breaks between speaking helped ease the pain. “We have to keep going... Can't be caught...”
Hopeful waited in his place as he watched the two confer again, keeping a lookout at the horizon to occupy himself.
Midnight crouched down in front of her. “Auri, we haven't seen those shadow guards in a week. We can rest if you're not feeling well enough to walk.”
“Fine... Just not too long.” Aurora began taking long breaths, the cool air running down against her tongue, relaxing her.
“Do you want to eat?” Midnight asked during his consolation.
“No... I might throw up if I do...” She focused on herself and her breathing; it helped.
“Alright...” Midnight turned over to Hopeful, “Just a few minutes.”
“Yeah, of course...” He responded back, disheartened by her pain but also confused by the cause. “What do you think it is?”
“The food...” She instantly pitched in.
“I...” Hopeful wasn't satisfied with that answer. “I don't think it's the food, Aurora. Me and Midnight have been eating the same stuff and were fine.”
“Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not a soldier... I don't exactly have an iron gut when it comes to stale hay.” She breathed in and out, making sure to remain relaxed.
Midnight trotted up to Hopeful, lowering his voice to only have him hear. “Hopeful, it's probably the hay, and we should go and get some medicine to help her, otherwise it might get worse.”
“It's just, she says she's been like that for months... Food poisoning lasts for a few days at most, and is much more… violent… in its symptoms.”
“Then what do you think it could be?” He let his voice rise naturally once more, turning to look at his lover.
“Well...” Hopeful trotted up closer, looking down onto her. “If the only problem is digestion, then it might be gutworms.”
“Gutworms?” Midnight asked.
“Little parasites that stick in your stomach and eat the food you store there... They tend to cause stomach aches commonly, and if untreated they can last for months.”
“Excuse me... If I may pitch in, how do you know any better about medicine than either me or Nighty?” Aurora piped up.
“Well, I had a family. Every time my daughter got sick, my wife would catch it, and then I would catch it... She got sick a lot... I spent a few days a week inside of the doctor's house. I picked up a few things... Also, there was a fellah in my town who got gutworms. Figured it out with one of those new X-ray machines they've got now, and then ordered in all the correct medicine from the capital... Doc told me all about it.”
“So you think I may have... A gutworm?” This scared Aurora.
“Well, yeah. It's definitely possible.” He nodded.
“You're saying there is a gross worm creature inside of me?” Her dry tongue stuck in disgust against the idea.
“Well, if it is gutworms, (and that is an if)... it would be more than one.”
Both of her hooves shot down to her belly, cradling it like a protective mother over her babies, a chilling fear as she realized how much worse the situation could be. “There are two inside me?!” The horror in her face spiked.
“Uh... I didn't say that... Gutworms come in the hu-”
“NOPE, NO, UH-UH, NO MORE SPEAKING, I DO NOT WISH TO KNOW!” she yelled, covering both of her ears.
“Enough, Hopeful...” Midnight interjected, stepping in between them. “Auri, you good to go?”
“Yes... Let's just not talk about it, and we can go.” Aurora was help to her hooves by Midnight, and they carried on with their journey.
The three of them looked upon the Earth Pony town. It had been a few more days of eating little to nothing, each of them getting weaker as time went on. Now that they had arrived at this slightly more built up settlement, they could snag something to eat, and hopefully even get Aurora some help.
“I hope everything goes well for you at the doctor, Auri... Hopeful, if your cover is blown, just yell and I'll fly in like a bolt of lightning.”
“I'll be careful. You just focus on the grub. Remember, in and out, asap,” Hopeful advised Midnight, then turned to Aurora who was making sure that her horn was thoroughly hidden, shaping her otherwise elegant and flowing mane to fall forward and cover her horn, making her hair look more scruffy and unmaintained than it already did as it fell over her forehead and sat casted over her left eye. Using a long cloth band as a makeshift hood, widely spreading over the outward face of her mane and more importantly hiding her horn even further, the corners tapered down to meet in a tight knot beneath her chin. It really gave her a "humble farmer" look, especially when she equipped a dirty brown fabric around her shoulders and back.
“You ready, there, Aurora?” Hopeful asked, seeing her nervous eyes double check every aspect of her outfit.
“Do I look fine?” She looked up for approval.
“It's perfect. I'm actually surprised you have such a good Earth Pony disguise,” Hopeful told her, getting a nod of agreement from Midnight.
“Well, after my first encounter with an Earth Pony village, I didn't want to have any more problems of that caliber to arise.” She bit her lip, not enjoying the memory.
“Let's not waste any more time, Good luck, you two. Do whatever you have to do to get Auri better.” Midnight turned to the village, about to move out.
“Will do, let's go,” Hopeful concluded, the three of them beginning to trot toward the town.
The three began cantering up to the town's road, slowing down as they felt the stone cobble beneath their hooves. Hopeful and Aurora continued directly into town, while Midnight veered off to go find the barn, taking the smaller paths that weaved between the houses.
Aurora instinctively stuck to Hopeful's flank. Worry grew in her as the two of them trotted toward a posted guard, where the street reached the first home in a long row of buildings.
The guard trotted over to the two of them, looking quite friendly. “Travellers?” they asked, a quaint smile appearing on their lips.
Aurora, understandably shy, took a step back and let Hopeful assert himself in the conversation.
Hopeful cleared his throat. “Yup, we're actually lookin' for the a doctor... Do you have one in town?”
“You're in luck. We got a medic situated in the soldiers’ quarters. I'll lead ya to him.” The guard motioned a hoof to follow him, turned heel, and lead them down the street, letting Hopeful and Aurora catch up and walk by his side. “What do you need a doctor for, if I may ask?”
“It's for her. She hasn't been feeling well.” Hopeful motioned toward Aurora, who let her head curve downward, while still keeping her eyes up as she shyly deflected the soldier's gaze.
A few moments of silent walking passed with pressure, eventually being casually broken by the soldier as they attempted to initiate some small talk. “So, how's the road been treating ya?”
“As rough as anypony else, I guess...” Hopeful reluctantly answered.
“Just askin', cause we get a lot of strays winding up in Trester, and comparin', you two folks look like you're doin' well. Normally, they come in shivering to the bone... Say, howdya two avoid conscription anyhow?” They persisted, seemingly very familiar with this type of encounter.
“I uh... I got kicked out... Shaky hooves, you know... Absolutely useless with a rifle,” Hopeful said, really wishing that his lying ability was better than he thought.
“Ah, yeah that'll sure do it. I heard a whole lots of stories. One pony told me that recruiters wouldn't take 'em cause their voice sounded funny and they couldn't hear a damn word they said without laughing.”
“Was that true?” Hopeful wondered.
“Oh yeah, they sounded like somepony was trying to hogtie a chipmunk with a thorny vine.” They laughed at the recollection. Then they stepped forward a bit early to get ahead of Hopeful and look to Aurora, “Say miss, what about you? Why aren't you fighting?”
Hopeful turned to her as well, seeing the uncertainty and shock seep into her as she failed to speak a word, only lightly mumbling the residue of a thought.
“She's uh, she's... a mute... Yeah, she can't speak,” Hopeful went in for the save. Aurora quickly nodded, putting up a faint smile as she enjoyed an excuse to not speak with the pony.
“Oh, well, I'm sorry there, miss.” He returned to his trotting position. “Well, you know, there's also a lot o' ponies that just dun refused to go and fight, ran away and such. I don't get it too much. War's gonna come your way one way or another. Wouldn't you want to at least have a rifle and training when it does?” He spoke genuinely, while still not seeming to be judging the ponies he spoke of.
“Yeah... That makes sense.” Hopeful nodded.
“You two married?” The question appeared way out of left field to Hopeful.
“Oh no.” Hopeful immediately responded. “We just met on the road...” His eyes wandered over to Aurora, who shook her head with the same feeling behind it.
“Just askin'... Anyways, here it is, go in there and ask to see Doctor Helix. I'm sure he'll help your mare friend however he can.”
“Thank you very much.” Hopeful nodded, getting a salute in return as the guard trotted off back to their post.
The two of them then stared down the door to this larger looking wooden construct. It seemed to be an inn that was renovated for the soldiers to use as a dorm.
“Are you alright, Aurora? Still keeping it together?” Hopeful placed a consoling hoof onto her shoulder, leaving her nodding and taking long breaths, keeping her wits about her, ready for anything.
“Okay, time to get this over with.” Hopeful began walking in first, gently pressing the door open, feeling Aurora's breath behind him as he entered the cosy, wood-scented home.
The flame-lit, traditional themed room instantly hit Hopeful with a tavern-like vibe: friendly, loud and warm. The large fireplace off to the left provided the heat and light, and a few soldiers hung around the scattered tables, cut out of large logs and shaped into their purpose. They were laughing and drinking. Things have seemingly been going well for them. Rare for these times.
One of them spotted Hopeful and Aurora as they entered, he politely excused himself from the table and came up to them, “Howdy, there. What can I do you for?” He patiently awaited their response.
“We were hoping to see your doctor,” Hopeful answered him.
“Oh, are you travellers? Well, he's just down the hall, there, room thirteen. I hope you're both ok. If you're looking for a safe place to settle here, I can show you to the mayor after. Lots of ponies like you come in sick and hungry. We take care of 'em.” He pointed down the hall, stepping to the side to let them pass.
“Thank you very much.” Hopeful grinned, feeling a nostalgic warmth of home, but Aurora seemed to be concentrating hard on not blowing her disguise, keeping her head down and having Hopeful between her and the soldier.
“Just make sure to knock first; he might be treating somepony.” The soldier left them, returning to his comrades.
“Will do.” Hopeful began leading Aurora along, looking like a lost sheep trotting among wolves, or perhaps the reverse.
They found themselves moving down a line of rooms, finding room thirteen with little struggle.
“Alright, Aurora, just keep cool. We're getting your stomach checked and that's it. There shouldn't be any reason he sees your... You know.”
“Please, just be ready.”
“Ready?”
Auri nodded.
Hopeful clashed a hoof against the thick wooden door, a meaty knocking sound filling the air.
“One second!” A surprised voice came from inside of the room, moments before the door flew open to reveal the light-blue-coated pony, wearing a bandanna around his mane and looping it around the back of his ear, it had a big red cross on it.
“Greetings! Are you two new to town?” They smiled, revealing several missing teeth.
“Yes, we are.” Hopeful took his attention, Aurora remaining to be smaller than she normally acted.
“Well, I'm Helix. We're very welcoming as I'm sure you've seen... What can I do you for?”
“We’ve been travelling for quite a long while, and my friend here keeps feeling sick in her stomach. I think it might be gutworms or something like that.”
Helix turned a kind eye to Aurora, seeing her timid posture. “I'm sure I can help with whatever is wrong. Would you like to come inside, miss?”
“Y-yes, thank you...” Aurora managed, stepping in after the doctor.
Now inside of the pony’s room, Hopeful could see every second of history this place had lived through. It was a moderately sized room with a bed along one corner, including a nightstand, just like he would expect in an inn. Although, there were also bags and boxes stacked upon one and other in an otherwise unused corner, all labelled with medical-looking symbolism. In the middle of the room, pressed up against the wall, there was a white bed held up with slick steel beams with white cousins and many nobs for adjusting things like height. It even had a slot for an IV.
“Sorry for the mess. We had to set up here, since they didn't have a dedicated medical facility, so I hope you're comfortable.” He apologized to them both, keeping his eyes locked onto Aurora. “Miss, can I have you lie down on here?” He guided her to the medical bed, which she reluctantly followed, but not before confirming Hopeful was right behind her in the room.
While Aurora climbed upon the cushions, the doctor began to collect his things in preparation for the check up. “So, what's your name?”
“Um... Aurora...” She answered while making herself comfortable while lying down face up, back against this surprisingly soft fabric.
“That's a beautiful name you have there... So, Aurora, can you tell me about this sickness you're feeling?” He popped a stethoscope around his neck, letting the cord of it loosely hang off of him.
“It's um...” She cleared her throat, feeling as if she was starting to choke up as the doctor looked directly into her eyes, with the only thing being a thin cloth and a few layers of her own hair between their eyes and her horn. “It's this sort of pressure being pressed against my stomach, like if my organs were shifting around or being squashed... But I only feel it a few times a week. Sometimes more, but sometimes less... Also, when the pain comes, I kind of feel like I want to throw up... Which I probably would if I had any more food in me.”
“And how long has this being going on for?” He continued to mannerly interrogate her.
“A few months... I remember feeling it the first time a bit after the war started and I got out onto the road.”
“Hmm... Interesting.” He reached over to a desk overflowing with medical materials, grabbing a thermometer. “You're going to need to place this in between your legpit for me.”
“Oh, ok...” She took it into her hoof from him, giving the odd device a strange glance up and down before sliding it down between her inner leg and side. Its frosty glass surface sent chills down Aurora's body.
He then lifted up the end of the stethoscope into his hoof. The receiver-like device at the bottom of the cord was foreign to Aurora. “May I?” She nodded to his request, watching him as he put the part around his neck above his ears, then reaching out with the receiver end to press against Aurora's chest. A cold shock stabbed at her at first, causing her to jump just a little.
“It's alright, I'm just checking your heartbeat.” His facial expression slowly changed over time, as though his eyes were lost in the clouds, concentrating hard on listening. “Your heart is really pounding right now... Are you not used to doctor visits?”
“N-no...”
“Well, I would appreciate if you did your best to keep calm. Take big breaths.”
She did as she was asked, the doctor immediately nodding in approval. “Hmm...” His eyes then returned from outer space to land directly onto the thermometer that prominently stuck out between Aurora's leg. “Your temperature looks normal, so is your heartbeat... As far as I can tell this isn't any sort of flu or virus... We might have to do an X-ray...” He began shifting the stethoscope further down her belly, and suddenly his face recoiled in surprise... A pleasant surprise. “Oh... Huh.”
“What? What is it? Is it gutworms?” Aurora panicked.
“Actually no...” The doctor put away the device, letting it droop back down around his neck. “Do you remember when your last period was?”
Aurora flinched away, “Excuse me?”
“Do you?” He persisted, his tone completely regular and pleasant.
“Hmm... Since you bring it up... I don't think I've had one yet this month... And I don't remember exactly when my last was...” She glanced at Hopeful, trying to see if he was being immature, especially with how personal things had become. To her surprise, he was acting very professional about it all, not even chuckling to himself.
“Would you consider yourself sexually active?” The doctor came at her with another question that Aurora squinted at.
“I... I-I... I'm in a relationship... And we have... Yes.” She gulped, “Why... Why do you ask?” She desperately wanted to know why she was describing some of her most personal information with some random Earth Pony.
“Well Aurora, I believe you aren't sick at all. In fact there isn't even anything wrong with you.” The doctor had a very genuine smile that continued to grow larger as he came to his point.
But his dramatic stalling only worried Aurora more, “B-but... If I'm not sick, then why do I feel like this?”
“Aurora, you're pregnant.” He laughed.
Aurora didn't laugh. “EXCUSE ME?”
Hopeful, standing on the other end of the room had his jaw open up without his control.
“Yeah, you're definitely pregnant. All these things you’re feeling are just your body getting ready to give birth... With what you've said, I would guess you're roughly four or so months in, so things will begin being more noticeable as your baby grows, and you'll soon even be able to feel them... I guess you're lucky that you've come here. With the war going on, it's a real trying time. So I would recommend just getting settled here for the next seven or so months. We have lots of food still, and we haven't been attacked in over two months, ever since the army has started reclaiming territory up north.”
Aurora stared blankly at the doctor, lost for words.
The doctor looked over his shoulder at Hopeful, “Congratulations, you two.”
Hopeful, also very surprised, failed to make more than a mumble. “W-we're not...”
Helix seemed to not hear him, returning to his patient. “We have an X-ray machine here, if you would like to see your baby, and maybe even figure out their gender, assuming you want to know, of course.”
“W-wwh-what?” Aurora blurted out, now fully sitting upright and looking down to the doctor for any sort of explanation.
“Here, just lie down and relax, I'll do everything.” He put a hoof onto Aurora's shoulder and guided her down, letting her rest her head upon the fluffy pillow provided. “Here, this might take a while, so you can take this off too.” He scooped up her hood and before she could stop him, he swooped it from her head, letting her mane loose. As he placed it to the side, he saw the large chunck of her mane which arched over her forehead fell loose, a distinct horn sticking right out of her head being revealed beneath.
Now, the doctor too was lost for words.
Instinctively, he stepped back, fearing the beast that sat on his operating table. “Y-y-yyou're-” Is how far as he got before Hopeful wrapped a hoof around his head and smashed the doctor's skull as hard as he could against the closest refined-wood wall. A tiny splat of blood being left behind as they collapsed to the floor, no longer moving.
“DID YOU JUST KILL HIM?” Aurora shouted at Hopeful in her distress.
“I uh...” He crouched down, feeling really unsure of himself after letting his instinct take over. He placed a hoof on his neck, checking for a pulse just like he did way back in training. “He's alive...”
Hopeful let go of a breath, slowly etching his way up to stand and look into Aurora's eyes. “What... Now?”
“Let's leave?”
“Yeah, let's do that.”
After Aurora hastily re-equipped her disguise, they jogged out quite quickly, not stopping to speak with any of the other soldiers as they made their way out of town, running past the guard who greeted them with a full sprint, not stopping when he called out to them, leaving him very confused.
“Oh by the heaven's gracious light... Could this be real life? I can not believe it...” Aurora trotted back and forth, her and Hopeful waiting for Midnight to return at their rendezvous. Both of them tried to gather their thoughts with each other. “How...” She clutched her stomach with one of her legs, feeling it's warmth and subtle movement as she breathed in and out, feeling vastly different than she had ever before in her life, as if she was a foreigner in her own body.
Hopeful sat upon a snow-covered log while Aurora paced around him, watching her intently. “Could it be Midnight’s?”
“He's a Pegasus Hopeful! You know that can't... happen...” She sighed, her head falling in defeat. “But... he's also the only one I've ever... You know.” She looked at Hopeful, despair in her eyes, desperately looking for help. “Could... Could the doctor have been wrong?”
“He sounded, really, confident...” He swallowed, hard. “And... My wife, when she was pregnant... She also felt like you've been feeling...”
That definitely did not ease her panic. “B-but, how do I tell Midnight? It has to be his... But... How can it... We're entirely different species!” She flailed a leg into the air.
“Are you sure there isn't some Unicorn...” He proposed, without enthusiasm.
“I was a virgin, Hopeful, alright!? Is that what you want to hear? Midnight was the only pony I've ever even kissed! Let alone been in bed with!” She practically growled at him, with a moment passing before she realized how aggressive she was being, shocking herself. She then forcibly calmed herself down, taking more long breaths, opening her eyes with a bit of sorrow. “Maybe I shouldn't tell him...”
“Aurora, you can't just pretend this isn't happening! We're going to have to slow down, keep you warm and safe... Midnight will find out one way or another.” He stood up to meet her eyeline, trying to convince her.
“I...” She almost began crying, sucking in air through her teeth and shutting her eyes, it all becoming too much for her. “I guess you're right...”
Hopeful patted her on the back, feeling the slightest amount of empathy from his memories of having his own child. He soon turned a chin up to the sky, noticing that the light of day was fading. “Where is Midnight? He should have been here by now... It's been at least half an hour.”
Aurora and him swayed their head over towards the direction of the town, seeing it behind the decrepit trees, bathing in a thick fog far away.
BFFUUGHhh... The sound of a blast of gunpowder and a bullet shredding through the air, came faintly from the town's direction, Hopeful and Aurora's fears escalating with a whiplash.
The second shot followed the first one, then without even a break, the third.
Aurora and Hopeful went to gallop back to the town, getting a few steps forward before Hopeful blocked Aurora's path, causing her to skid before she stopped, being pressed against his outstretched leg. “You are not going! Stay here and be safe!”
“You can't just-” She struggled against him.
“I will find Midnight, but you are not putting yourself and that foal into danger!” He turned heel and ran away from her, leaving her stunned as he galloped off.
Shots continued to fire.
Hopeful found himself sprinting back onto the icy cobblestone of the town as he re-entered its vicinity. A storm was beginning to brew over the rooftops, the wind steadily growing in speed and power. Hopeful was able to see one of those horrid windigo beasts swirling around in the clouds.
As he made it between the first two buildings, it became inherently clear what was happening.
The guard that greeted him and Aurora had gone, most likely toward the other side of town, where a cascade of bullets fired wildly. A plethora of screams and cries turned the entire place into a horror scene.
“Midnight!” he yelled out, knowing it was a long shot. “Fuck...”
He galloped further up the street, trying to get a visual on whatever battle was going on.
As he nearly reached the inn from before, he came far enough through the fog to see the other end of town. The flashes of guns erupting shone through the air, the outlines of dead bodies lining the streets, along with a grouping of what seemed like Earth Pony soldiers watching all angles around them. Each of them were jumpy and twitching as they unloaded on some enemy that Hopeful hadn't yet seen.
Hopeful felt himself choke up as a dark, shadowy cloud came bolting at the Earth Ponies. All of them fired at the being to no avail as it came into contact with them. Screams of pain echoed through the storm as Hopeful turned away, not bearing to see the poor fate that was swiftly bestowed upon them.
“MIDNIGHT!” He screamed again, sprinting from building to building, searching for his friend.
During his desperate scavenge, Hopeful was frozen into place as a blisteringly painful ricochet of ice ran down his back. A demonic voice whispered into his ear so closely he could feel the breath rustle the hair covering his ear, each strand shooting up as it felt like that side of his face actually dropped in temperature. “The... White... Unicorn...” It spoke, slowly and calmly as an incredibly intricate dagger, looking like a bolt of lighting with a number of jagged corners and long edges. It had the hue of an obsidian black. It felt like ice against his throat. “Where... Is... She..?”
Hopeful felt like a ghost was laying upon every inch of his skin, causing a feeling of blisters and frost. His peripheral vision was filled with a black smoke, he knew what this thing was. “I know where she is! I can show you!”
“You... Do..? Prove... It...” He became interested. “Do... You... Know... What... Her... Name... Is..?”
“AURORA! It's Aurora!” He pleaded.
“Good... Very... Good...” He felt their chilly grip float around his shoulder and lean upon him, forcibly turning him out to face the town.
“Show... Me... Where...” The dagger left his neck and pointed outward, floating around the general area Hopeful was facing, awaiting direction.
Hopeful looked between the buildings, most of them simple, identical housing. Although there was the inn, the only building he knew in the town.
To his amazement, as he glanced toward the large accommodation, he saw a flash of a black set of feathers dashing past the window and ducking behind something.
“There! T-the inn!” Hopeful lifted up his leg, pointing out the building for the pony, “She's in one of the rooms!”
“Well...” The blade floated back against his throat, it didn't even have a Unicorn's aura around it as far as he could tell. “You're... Going... To... Lead... Me... To... Her... Understand?”
“Y-yes!” Hopeful then felt a light push against his back, leaving him very carefully walking towards the inn.
After a minute, he had made it to the door and put his shaking hoof against the solid wood of the thick door.
“Go... Ahead...” He was prompted, opening it steadily and with great care. Taking a step into the building, his eyes darted toward the right, where he saw the wing through the glass, while keeping his head perfectly forward.
The entire place was trashed, tables upturned and seats scattered, the fire out. And, on his right, the very tip of a pale-navy mane he recognised very well.
Once Hopeful had his entirety inside of the building, knowing that the shadowy thing would be following behind, he pointed off to the left. “O-over there...”
Hopeful heard a swoosh as the creature's head turned behind him, probably confused by the fact that there were no doors, hallways or any sort of indication of where Aurora was being held. Although, they were never given the chance to act upon that confusion as Midnight leapt out from the right flank, a disgusting, meaty noise of metal cutting deeply into meat and bone as Hopeful felt the dagger from his neck collapse to the floor, clinking against the wood.
He swerved around, seeing Midnight wrapped around what now looked like an ordinary Unicorn with several pieces of a pitch-black plated armour strapped to their body, an identical copy of the dagger in Midnight's wing, and more importantly, in the Unicorn's throat.
Midnight yanked it out, the blade ripping out from the armour it so easily pierced, gorging a decent amount of the unicorn’s neck along with the daggers exit, the head only still attached by some tendons around their spine as they collapsed to the floor, the enchantment fading, now revealing a quite regular unicorn with a few black plates of armour sparingly strapped to their body, their tail clearly painted white.
They were very dead.
“Where is Aurora?!” Midnight turned up his blood-soaked muzzle to Hopeful.
“She's safe! Where we said we would meet up. We both got out of town, but I came back for you,” Hopeful explained, drawn by the mystery of where he got one of these unimaginably sharp knives. “Where did you get that thing?”
Midnight pointed the tip of the blade down toward the hall, and with a small amount of inspection Hopeful discovered a second unicorn body under the doorway, also very, very dead. “Told you I could take one.” He smiled, even though it clearly hurt him to. Leading Hopeful to be unsure how much of the blood on Midnight's body was his own.
“Thank you for coming back. That's some loyalty I wouldn't expect from an Earth Pony... I got the rations, so there isn't much point to stick around anymore. Let's get back to Auri.” Midnight said while whipping his new weapon down towards the floor, the blood being flung off of it's sleek face.
“Let's go out the back; the street is littered with them... The storm should give us enough cover to stop them from spotting us.” Hopeful peeked out of the window, still hearing screams run throughout the town.
“Okay, after you.”
Together, they went down the hall further into the building, finding a window at the back that they smashed and climbed out through. The blizzard was now in full effect, leading them to escape at barely a walking pace, but still managing to escape.
“Aurora?” Midnight called out, weaving through the trees with Hopeful quickly following behind.
“Nighty!”
The two of them met in a tight hug. Aurora immediately began to weep, a deep distress in her shaking body.
“Auri?” Midnight felt extremely taken back, worried for her as he tried to gently get her off of him, being denied as Aurora tightened her grip. She inhaled heavily through her nose, her wobbling throat finding it difficult to breath. “Auri, what's wrong?”
“I...” She took a really deep breath, letting him go and stepping back, wiping her eyes from the waterfall of tears that flooded them. “It's nothing...”
“Did you get the medicine?”
“No...” she responded sheepishly.
His confusion grew, “W-why not? What happened?” He turned to Hopeful, who stepped away, resigning from the conversation. He looked back to Aurora, who still failed to hold back her tears, extraordinarily worried about something.
“Midnight...” She sniffed. “I'm... I'm not sick...”
“Then what's wrong?” He moved up close to her.
She delicately raised her head, looking deep into his eyes, showing a conflict of extreme sadness, along with an inkling of joy in a smile more broken than shattered glass.
“Midnight... I'm...” She gulped.
“I'm pregnant.”