08 - Invasion (part one)
Hail let out a shrill yelp, and picked up Cloudburst by the nape of his neck, throwing him onto her back, then bolted forward.
"G-good idea!" Dusk remarked as he ran after the two, repeatedly glancing behind them.
As they rounded a corner, Dusk glanced behind him again just in time to see a sickly green magical blast smashed into the cobbles, sending plumes of dirt and dust into the air.
He slowed down a bit to see what it was, biting his lip.
The dust slowly settled, and it seemed everything was quiet for a few seconds.
Then, with a screech, a black shape leapt out of the crater, it's hungry bright blue eyes staring into his soul.
Dusk immediately regretting staying behind and tore down the street away from that... thing[i/].
Ahead of him, Hail was at a halt in the middle of a crossroads, very slowly backing up. Her ears were flat against her back, and her tail between her legs fearfully.
He swore under his breath, and looked around, spotting something useful within a second. An alley.
His horn lit up as a plan formed in his mind, rushing towards Hail. Now that he was closer, he could finally make out the black, pony-shaped terror things, closing in on her.
"Hail!" Dusk shouted, gritting his teeth and jumping towards her as hard as he could. "Don't dodge!"
He sailed through the air, his forelegs outstretch to her.
Time seemed to slow down a little as the pony things hissed and jumped towards her as well.
Right before Dusk hit Hail, his horn lit up a bright green, and he closed his eyes, looking away.
With an 'oof', he slammed into Hail, then through the ground, taking the two pegasi with him.
They popped out the other side of the portal Dusk had cast at the last second, falling onto the ground of the alley with a variety of pained noises.
"shh," he quickly said, doing his best to breath as shallowly as possible, even as the hissing from outside got closer to them.
They were silent for a good minute even after their pursuers had gone.
Dusk let out a quiet sigh of relief, turning to lay on his side, facing Hail and Cloud.
She was half-curled on her side, holding a foreleg in pain. Her right wing looked a little worse for wear, a majority of its feathers sticking out the wrong way or just plain missing,
Cloudburst, however, looked fine, disregarding the fearful look in his eyes.
"W..w-we good?" Dusk asked softly, reaching a hoof to gently rub the mare's shoulder.
"I think s-something's broken," she responded in a quieter and more pained tone than him.
He swore under his breath again, then rolled onto his front and got up, a grunt escaping him from the soreness of his legs. "I need to exercise more," he mumbled to himself.
Cloud got up a moment after he did, and hastily trotted over to hide beneath Dusk’s legs, shivering gently.
With a combination of a grunt and a hiss of pain, the mare got up herself, her injured foreleg up from the ground. Her wings ruffled up, and she looked to Dusk.
"...wh...where d-do we go?" She asked softly, her voice trembling.
Dusk was silent. He turned away from her to look to the sky, then to the castle after a few seconds.
"W-well?"
He exhaled loudly. "We're in the middle of this, I believe. Either back to your apartment to wait it out, or to the palace to group up with Umbra. Unless you have any alternatives, that is."
She bit her lip, a thoughtful frown on her face. "...Castle," she said after a few seconds.
Dusk nodded and looked down at Cloudburst, his head upside down. "Don't worry, buddy. We'll be safe soon, you have my word," he said with a soft grin.
The foal smiled a bit and nodded once. "Go?" He suggested.
There was a moment of resounding silence between the three.
More distant screams, and more sounds of crashing and general mayhem.
A shiver went down Hail's spine, "Y-yeah, let's," she agreed hastily, limping towards the exit of the alley.
"What if we need to run again?" Dusk suddenly spoke up, biting his lip at looking at her worriedly.
"I can still fly," she said after a moment of thinking, flapping her wings for emphasis.
That was a bad move apparently, and she cried out in pain. "O-or maybe not!"
Dusk winced at both the volume and in sympathy.
"Dusk can pick up Mother, yes?" Cloudburst spoke up after a few seconds of silence, stepping out hesitantly from the safety of Dusk.
"...that could work," Dusk mumbled to himself.
"A-anyway whatever works, we should move, I don't feel like staying in one spot is a good idea," Hail blurted, and limped the rest of the way out of the alley, peeking around the corners. "Looks clear."
Dusk quickly trotted after her quietly, making sure that Cloudburst was following. "We should stick to the sides of the streets," he said quietly. "Cross here first, though. If my knowledge of this area is correct, we should only have to cross any streets a couple times."
"Hope you're right, then," the mare murmured, and hastily crossed the street, glancing both ways constantly.
Once they reached the other side, they let out a collective sigh of relief. "That was stressful." Hail mumbled.
"Eeyup," Dusk nodded, then moved to Hail's left side, subtly pushing her towards the right-most side of the sidewalk, which was coincidentally the safest part, as it was covered by the roof extensions of the nearby stores.
They nervously made their way towards the castle, thankfully only encountering one of the bug-pony-things, and quickly hiding upon spotting it.
Soon enough, they were looking up at the golden gates to the castle, Cloudburst once again hiding under Dusk, who had Hail leaning against him.
“W..what now?” Hail asked, looking around quickly, whimpering as another scream filled the air.
Dusk took a deep breath. “Now, we get in,” he said, his horn lighting up.
His green magic surrounded a small section of the gate, wrapping around the bars, and then pushed them apart slowly and silently, which they were glad for.
Within half a minute, the bars were bent enough, allowing Dusk to slip through, followed by Cloud, then Hail, who quickly glanced over her shoulder behind them.
Nothing but empty streets.
She let out a soft sigh of relief, then turned to the two. “Looks clear to me,” she said softly, trotting closer to Dusk.
He nodded and gave the distressed mare a brief nuzzle. “Let’s get a move on, we need to find Umbra.”
She nodded again and followed after him as he snuck along the wall, keeping a constant eye out.
Luckily for them, there were no more encounters of the evil-bughorse variety.
Umbra continued to pace around the small room, her hooves scuffing on the carpet.
“By Celestia, calm down Umbra,” an earth pony by the name of Iron Hoof said to her. “You’re going to wear down the carpet faster than a parasprite can eat an apple!”
“You try calming down!” She retorted, only pausing to say that, then returning to pacing.
“Umbra,” he said firmly. “Sit your flank down or I’m going to do it for you.”
She growled softly, but sat down after a few seconds.
“There we go,” He said with a bit of a smile. He turned from her back to the smallish window, looking back at one of the courtyards.
There was a flash of movement against the outer wall of the castle. “Huh-?”
“What is it?” Umbra asked, quickly getting up and trotting over to him, looking out the window with him.
“I saw something over there,” He said softly, pointing over to where he saw the movement. “There! Again!”
Umbra’s breath caught in her throat as she recognised the three figures sneaking towards one of the entrances. “Th-that’s them!”
“And they’re heading to where the main changeling force is,” He added after a second.
“...by luna’s sweet flanks we need to go get them,” Umbra blurted, and then quickly moved to the other side of the room, grabbing a few things from the weapon rack there.
“...stun stars, ten, throwing daggers, sixteen, healing salve, thirty mil’...” she mumbled to herself as she packed said things into the multitude of small pockets in her armour.
“Umbra…!” He sighed, and then followed her example. “If you get us killed, I’m going to murder you.”
“Shush,” she huffed, and then pulled the straps on her specialist armour tight once more. “Let’s go,” she said, gesturing with her head for him to follow her out of the armoury.
“Normally I’d question who put you in charge,” Iron said offhoovedly to himself as he shut the door behind them.
Now they were out in the castle halls, the sound of fighting was once again audible.
Umbra gritted her teeth a little, and then began to trot at a fair pace silently, her hoofsteps muffled thanks to the magic of enchantments.
Iron Hoof kept pace with her easily, constantly looking around.
It was easy to lose yourself in some parts of Canterlot Castle. A majority of the halls were identical, which meant one would have to be able to keep count of how many lefts you passed before taking the right left.
Thankfully, it was a skill the two both had.
“We should slip out the window and stick to the side of the castle,” Iron suggested softly, his voice a murmur. “That way we’re less likely to run into any patrols.”
Umbra nodded, and then at the next window moved to it, looking out it. “Heh. All clear,” She said, and then began climbing out.
Iron followed immediately, slipping out and hitting the ground with a dull ‘thud’ seconds after her.
“They’re over there,” she said softly to him, pointing forward and a little to the left.
The three were crouched behind a bush, and Dusk was peeking around the side of it.
Umbra’s horn lit up with a soft green light. The tip of Dusk’s ear was covered by the same colour, and he sharply turned to the two.
Umbra gave a little wave, and then began to sneak over to the three, Iron following behind wordlessly.
It took the two two minutes to get around to them, having to avoid at least three changeling patrols.
“Umbra!” Dusk whispered happily, hugging her tightly for a few seconds, then pulling back and sitting next to Hail, who was hugging Cloudburst gently. “We good?” Umbra asked.
“We ain’t good,” Iron said quickly, and ducked.
What looked like to be a dozen armoured changelings landed in the middle of the courtyard, looking around the area carefully.
Hail whimpered softly, and then hid back behind the bush, holding Cloudburst to her chest.