//------------------------------// // Ch2: Crushing Regret // Story: Hostile Intent // by Storm Vector //------------------------------// As Crys ran off after Midnight, Winter was left alone again, with just enough sense to remember she hadn’t been in the privacy of her home. She glanced around, a little embarrassed, as a few ponies stared at her as the sole combatant left in the recent show they’d been hearing. “Luna damn it, Midnight,” she cursed under her breath, before trotting off in anger and embarrassment, trying to avoid the eyes of the public. This wasn’t the spotlight she enjoyed at all…this was humiliating, being the subject of judgment from a distance, and he didn’t even have the decency to share in the shame of being looked at like an insane pony. At least this wouldn’t last too long, and if she just laid low for a few days everypony who was looking at her would completely forget the spectacle she’d just been part of. With a pained grumble and a sigh, Winter turned towards her home and hurried to the front door. She ducked inside, into the enchanted environment inside that kept her whole house cold enough for her unusual body. She slammed the door in frustration, before trying to stop her heart from pounding in her chest. The ache still reminded her of the rage of the elemental creature she had been possessed by two months ago, the fury it had pressed into her heart, and the idea it hadn't left her fully still terrified her. It was all that had kept her frustrations back for several days of frustration. Why couldn't Midnight just see what she was so mad about? Why did he not understand her fear for him, how could he turn that fear for his sanity to be her fault?! Winter set her head against the wall for a moment, sighing again in frustration as she tried to cool her mind a bit. She hung her sunhat up on the rack by the door and grabbed a collection of shopping bags she had meant to take with her earlier today. Her run-in with Midnight had kept her from grabbing the few groceries she needed, the meal she'd been planning for Midnight for days... "Well THAT'S not going to happen," she growled, but still headed back out the door anyways: she'd need something to eat anyways, Midnight or no. At least she was sure she didn't need her sunhat in the weakening fall afternoon light. A couple minutes later Winter was not far from the market, just trying to picture what the heck she was going to do for dinner tonight, trying her hardest to push Midnight from her mind right now. She heard somepony yelling up ahead, saying that 'something' was coming, but she wasn't focused enough to worry about exactly what they were rambling about now. She shut her eyes in frustration as she stepped around a corner, only to suddenly smash headfirst into somepony running towards her. She was bowled over as she felt the warmth of their body fall on top of her, the soft touch of feathered wings falling on her outstretched hoof, a very familiar scent in her nostrils. She cracked her eyes and saw exactly what she thought, and instantly her glare doubled in strength. “Oww! Midnight, get off me!” Whispy growled, trying to flip herself over as Midnight scrambled to get off her. “Winter I’m so sorry, I’m sorry for the fight, and for everything." The pegasus stammered as he unwound his legs from hers. She stood and brushed her coat off as he kept going. "This is all my fault, but right now I don’t have time to talk about this. I need to…” “And what the hay do you expect me to take that to mean?!” Winter snarled. “What are you even running around for, you and Crystal?! What’s your problem?!” Midnight recoiled at Winter’s fury, especially as her rage finally snapped and she felt just a little of her elemental magic flaring in her eyes. Crystal opened her mouth, taking a deep breath to explain what they’d both seen, only for somepony to beat her too it. “Holy Celestia, what is that thing?!” All three of their heads snapped around towards the sound of the voice…only to see a massive dark shadow descending over Ponyville. Winter gasped in horror as it looked like one of the shadows was headed straight for her, only for Midnight to bellow “MOVE!” and slam into her, kick-starting her brain and allowing her to run. She glanced behind her to see something huge, something that stood upright and was nearly tall as a single-story building. The elemental had terrified her for its raw power, but this was an entirely different class of fear she’d never expected to feel. “What in Luna’s name is that thing?!” she yelled, glancing at Midnight as she tried to keep running. “No idea, but it… look out!” Midnight shouted, slamming his hooves down in front of her. Winter caught sight of a second creature landing directly in front of them, forcing her to skid to a halt. She looked to her left and saw there was an alleyway clear to run down, but she didn’t have the time to react. As she stared at the shadow, however, she heard a second crash somewhere behind her. “Get away from me!” she heard Crys yell, and as Winter spun to face her friend. The first creature was looming over her, Crystal craning her neck back to look up at what appeared to be its face, but in her panic Winter could only see feathers and…maybe it was fur? She couldn’t tell for certain. She caught sight of a cart glowing with Crystal’s aura as it lifted itself off the ground and hurled it in the direction of the creature. Unfortunately, the creature blocked it with a massive wing, and pulled that wing back to reach out to Crystal. “Crys no!” Winter cried, lunging forward to the unicorn’s rescue, but it was too late already. The wing came sailing down and slammed into Crystal’s side, throwing her into the nearby building wall. She gasped and recoiled off the wall before falling limp on the ground. In the heat of the moment Winter couldn't tell if she were unconscious, or... The mere idea that it could have happened caused something deep in Winter to snap, and reflexively a huge amount of cold energy flooded into her system as she forced it into her, but as she tried to concentrate on absorbing the power, she lost her focus on the world around her. The creature that had just blasted Crystal across the alley approached in a single stride and mimicked the gesture it had made on Winter, tossing her hard in the opposite direction. She hit the opposite wall hard enough to daze her, causing her concentrated energy to misfire into her immediate surroundings. A halo of ice crystallized around Winter as the rush of energy drained her body further, making it near impossible to move…right at the worst possible moment. Behind her, Midnight was facing the other creature all on his own. He was less equipped to fight something that massive, however, and only could dodge two wingstrokes, trying to find something he could turn into an advantage. He didn’t get that lucky, as a third strike hit him and threw him aside, knocking his glasses off in the process. The unfiltered sunlight blinded him, but he knew he couldn’t stay still. He stumbled back onto his hooves, only to be knocked over again, this time to be grabbed by the talons of the creature. Winter's eyes recovered enough to stare in horror, just enough sense in her to recognize what was happening, but not enough to try and even sort out what she might do to help him. “It’s no good,” a sudden, deep voice resonated from behind her. As she turned her head, Winter realized that whatever creature this thing was had just spoken. They weren’t mindless beasts looking for a pony meal after all; these things could think, and talk. “Just grab the two and get out of here. Meet at the desert if you have to!” Suddenly, the creature holding Stormy spread its wings and took off. Winter saw Midnight’s coat in the claws as it left the ground, just barely hearing him grunting and struggling to break free; with his eyes clenched shut and his wings almost certainly pinned to his back, she realized he was helpless to escape at that point, no matter how much he struggled. The creature behind her suddenly took off too, her head spinning around just in time to catch sight of Crystal’s green coat in its grasp. They were kidnapping her best friends right in front of her! Winter knew that she should have done something, fired off an ice shot or called down a blizzard, anything, but she was only just regaining strength to move. Plus, she had a horrifying thought right as she stood up as fast as her body would allow her: both those things were easily three times Midnight’s size, and they were currently in the air, quickly gaining altitude. Winter knew she should have done something, but as she took aim at the creature's wing, she gasped in horror. If she took their wing out, the creature would fall out of the sky, crashing down on a building, or landing on their talons...talons currently clutching her friends. “Midnight!” Winter cried, as the two shadows were joined by a third from somewhere else in town. It’s claws were empty as it fled town, pursued by several objects tossed high above the roofs presumably by ponies it had been terrorizing. The idea that this creature hadn’t been able to grab anypony else should have been comforting, but Winter could only stare at the shadowy outline of the other two, unable to actually see her friends but at the same time only seeing their forms grow smaller and smaller as she stood there, helpless. Her body just locked up, unable to move until the shadows were gone from the sky. When Winter finally recovered her senses, she looked around and spotted Midnight’s glasses, discarded with a lens cracked from their impact with the ground. She picked them up and looked at them closer, her heart pounding furiously as she saw the spectre of Midnight’s moonlight eyes behind the lenses like she was so used to seeing…but there was nothing there, not really. “Midnight, I’m sorry…I’m so so sorry…” she whimpered, clutching his glasses close to her chest.