Chapter 3
Operation "Save Pie Saver"
Weren't they supposed to be a rumor?, thought the light blue pegasus frantically. The mere growls of the creatures were enough to make him freeze in place.
Daemostera were coal black scaly creatures, with the body built of changelings, only about five times bigger. They were supposed to be a fairy tale, a myth! Meant to bring out negative feelings in a pony, they fed off them, creating illusions of every single bad memory the victim had and growing into their full black forms from the original smoke like matter.
Legend had it that the creatures were carriers of death. They appeared when the smell of a wounded pony caught their attention. After that, the trap was set, starting from the illusions and ending with the blood sucking.
Soarin gulped quite loudly and cursed his memory for bringing up that particular text from the history book. Why couldn't his mind remember something like 'how to defeat mythical monsters that were meant to be a myth while protecting a wounded mare and staying alive?', why?!
Those pupil less crimson eyes, dripping with malice were staring at him in a manner that made him think he was X-rayed.
As a chill ran down his spine all the way to his tail.
In the black void, right under the pair of eyes that was closest to him, something moved.
Two long yellowish fangs appeared, followed by an open jaw, complete with three rows of small sharp teeth. The greenish spit cocooning them was making the whole picture even more scary then ever.
He couldn't stare anywhere but at the smile..promising death, it was drawing him in.
Suddenly, he had an irresistible urge to run, run far away and hide under his bed or in his mothers lap, comforted and away from pain, away from death.
And here he was, surrounded by the warmth of his parents, in their old home.
It was..so warm, and the smell of his beloved apple pie, his favourite flavor, the one his mother made in the past was there. The unruly happiness...it made him smile and laugh of joy.
When was the last time he had sincerely been happy? When he flew?..No, it wasn't the same joy. The feeling of being complete, of having loved ones beside you...it was different. Even his freedom in the sky wasn't complete.
Darkness loomed over him, coating him in it's shadows. His young, innocent eyes widened in fear and he clutched the apron of his mother in a death grip. His eyes, the color of emerald stared up at her, in desperate need of..protection?
"Sorin....my dearest Sorin....."
Her melodic voice made his heart tremble, but when he looked up, he found nothing. His mother was gone, and the voice was fading in the black.
He yelled out in panic and galloped towards the last ray of light he saw - her voice, giving him hope, love, home.
But why wasn't he moving?
Something was wrong.
Looking down, he realized in sheer horror that his hooves wouldn't move. Something..sticky and thorny had them in it's trap.
"Mother!!!"
He followed his own voice as it ripped out of his throat and danced away, taking his soul, his flight, his everything with it.
What am I doing? I am a pegasus for the bucks sake!, he thought and kneeled down on his front legs, eyes focused on the light beam of the voice.
W..what??!!!
The takeoff didn't happen. He looked back at his wings. What he saw would still hunt his nightmares years later.
The light blue feathers were being peeled off, one by one by some invisible force.
And it hurt.
He felt as if his very heart was being peeled off.
His very being was being ripped out of him.
His reason for existing...
His cutie mark....gone with the wind.
It was getting hard to breathe.
The light beams had vanished, leaving him in total darkness.
Just like the day SHE died....
The pain returned, this time as an enormous rock, weighing a ton, if not more, only to crash right through his chest, leaving nothing but an endless hole.
Just like the time when HE left....
The pain doubled.
He wanted it to end.
Right at that time, he heard screaming. Who could scream like that? Like an innocent foal, sheer terror reflected in the voice. No pony should endure such pain, it was soul ripping! The anguish in it could literally kill!
He wanted to help them, whoever they were.
This was when he realized it was his voice. His screaming. His pain.
However, a single sound made him stop. That single sound made the darkness waver. The yelling...it was inside him. His very soul. That single sound made him realize the pain was just an echo of old scars.
A small, barely audible groan, that cleared the darkness away.
The haze from his eyes vanished just enough for him to get back to reality.
The Everfee forest came into view. Everything refocused.
He was still standing over Rainbow Dash, visibly shaking. The mare in question had seemingly stirred awake, long enough to utter a groan of pain and black out again.
Well, no one could argue that the cyan pegasus had the best timing ever.
Along with the worst luck of course.
The Daemosteria were still there, now all of them with their maws open wide and saliva dripping on the rocky ground.
They feed off your worst memories and create an illusion, he reminded himself and shook his head once, to clear the aftereffects of the images his own mind had recreated.
They needed to get out of there and fast before those monsters started their assault on a different level.
He slowly leaned down, never taking his eyes off the red eyed monsters.
The usually playful apple green was a striking emerald now, full of determination.
He wanted them to get out of there alive.
"Sorry fellas, dinner will not be served today", he said a bit sarcastically while trying to glare at them.
A roar escaped the maw of the closest and Soarin backed away instantly.
He lifted Rainbow Dash with his front hooves and plopped her on his back, making sure she was positioned in a way that wont hinder any movement from his wings.
The demons of death all growled at once, scaly claws flying at them at speeds that could equal a Sonic Rainboom.
But Soarin had already disappeared, taking the rainbow maned mare with him.
He lowered the cyan pegasus on a cloud nearby and plopped on it next to her tiredly. It was a first for him, to be out of breath after a flight, but the need to live and the desire to save this mare was all it took for him to go all out.
As his breath returned to normal, he glanced sideways at Rainbow Dash.
Her whole body was marred with angry red slashes, some of them caked with mud. Her wings were battered and feathers kept falling off. The blood on them had dried somewhat. The odd angles of her wings made him wince.
Poor dear, she won't be able to fly at all for a while..
He wasn't much of a doctor, and with him being a klutz, he doubted he could even tend to her wounds properly. If not, he could even make them worse. Broken wings needed extremely tender care, or else the pegasi in question would be stripped of their flying.
"Dash...", he whispered, prodding her muzzle gently with his.
She moved, but didn't open her eyes.
He licked the small cut on her cheek gently and pressed his forehead to hers.
At least she was alive and safe now.
Sighing, the stallion picked her up once more, this time more gently. No monsters after them this time at least.
Her mane dropped like a waterfall of rainbows on his neck, tickling him slightly.He smiled a bit, mind briefly wondering about the softness of it despite the situation. He'd think she wasn't one to take care of her looks, judging from her attitude. Soarin also noted that she weighed like a feather. And he knew she ate quite a lot. When she and her friends had left the gala, he had seen them with princess Celestia in a small restaurant. He remembered wondering at that time what would they be doing with the princess.
And he had seen her eat quite a lot of cakes.
Yet, she was so small and...fragile.
With a shrug, he took off once more, going just as fast.
Her wounds needed to be treated. Everything else could wait, even if it meant a yummy pie or a good sleep.
Dr. Whooves wasn't one to ask questions, especially when the patient was in a bad state. They usually came later. When the earth pony saw the state the young mare was in, he had rushed her in the emergancy room. Soarin was allowed to go in there as well.
Rainbow Dash was still in dreamland, but her Wonderbolt idol was there through all the cleaning , stitches ( she had woken up at that, and had gripped the closest pony with both hooves out of the pain. Was it luck that the pony in question was Soarin? Well, Dash didnt know she was squeezing his hoof so hard that it had turned red) and the bandaging. He even helped turn her over on her belly when they were ready to bndage her wings and put them in casts.
It was past midnight.
The light blue pegasus stared at the occupant of the bed unblinking.
Just why was he staying here now? He could just leave. He saved her...and himself, and even waited while her injuries were tended to.
He wasn't obliged to stay.
Something was just keeping him, as if someone had glued him to the bedside.
He knew, deep inside that he wanted to make sure she was all right. He wanted her to open those pretty magenta eyes of hers.
But I can't stay long, he thought and sulked a bit for reasons he himself didn't know. Spitfire would have his head on a dish if he didn't show up to the base.
Suddenly, and idea struck him. If somepony was awake at that time, she would see a lighbulb right on top of his head. Or was it just an illusion?
Soarin grinned to himself and flew out of the window.
He might stay in the base, but that didn't mean he no longer had his own place in Cloudsdale.
He just didn't stay there, after certain events of his chilhood.
In fact, he hadn't even set hoof there after HE abandoned him.
Shaking his head, he reached the small cloud home. It was located quite high and not noticeable at all. In fact, he doubted other pegasi even knew this was a house.
Taking a deep, calming breath, he stepped in.
The encounter with Daemostera had opened up old scars. Maybe it was time to finally face them.
About half an hour later, Rainbow Dash stirred awake.
She didnt recognize the smell of antithetic, or even feel the stiffness of her wings and the pain that came in spasms.
No, she was busy staring with half lidden eyes at a certain object, propped beside her pillow.
There was a small note attacked to it.
"Hope you like it, Pie Saver"
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I admit, I had been listening to "Falling in the Black" by Skillet.