//------------------------------// // Tados // Story: My Little Refugi // by Future Wonderbolt //------------------------------// "Dammit, dammit! Why now?" Everents mutters, his horn aglow, magically bringing the landscape into greater detail. "Lunars?" Stongwing hesitantly asks. Everents simply nods. "Lunars?" Sylae questions, "Didn't Arbu mention them or whatever?" "Yes, Lunars, and not a shy amount. I have no idea how they managed to sneak by all the way here in such a mass. This is not good." Noting Sylae's expression, Everents quickly realizes her lack of knowledge. "The Lunars are a radical group of organized rebels, conspiring to overthrow the government and bring it back under Luna, but goddess knows how that could be if we don't even know if they still even exist..." Everents sighs, "In any case, we have to get out of here. New Canterlot is very well defended, but seeing as how they managed to get this far, that the front army is days away at best, and their recent trickiness, I'd say we get our supplies and the rest of the Expedition and get the fuck out of here." "What?" Sylae exclaims. "What are we, just going to run away while everyone else is fighting for their lives? Just abandon New Canterlot?" "No. Well yes, but what other choice do we have? Do you want to end up in their hooves? I don't like this anymore than you do, but it will not help to allow ourselves to be taken." "Uh, guys?" Stonewing attempts to interrupt. "Ok. Yeah. Let's just run right past the Lunars, politely letting them know we're escaping, venturing out with no protection and only the little supplies we can gather. Great plan." "Guys!" Stonewing exclaims. "It's not the best plan to escape with no guards, but we haven't much choice. As for escape, the front gate is not the only way out, fun fact. And as for supplies, we already have some things ready for the Expedition, in case of an emergency. Now--" Everents is interrupted as an explosion from outside rocks the foundations. Sylae and Everents quit their argument to look outside to see the Lunars swarming through a brand-new front gate and into the city. "Yeah, while you were taking your sweet time to argue, they have been fighting off the guards to get in and we have been wasting time." Stonewing says, irritated. "Alright, sorry. Stonewing, you know where the supplies are and can fetch them quickly. Sylae, follow me. We'll get the others." Stongwing nods to that and flies out the window. Sylae follows Everents as he heads out of the room. He leads her down the winding hallways, deep into the heart of the fortress. The cool air fills his lungs as he rushes down the halls, eerily silent, the sounds of fighting reduced to the occasional dim thump of an explosion. He turns a corner to find am amcient-seeming wooden door with "Armory" stenciled on it. "Weapons aren't included in our emergency supply bags," Everents explains as he opens the doors, making sure to dispel the safety and anti-theft measures barring them. "But it'd be silly of us to travel with none." "Why wouldn't they be?" Sylae questions. "Well, they're supposed to be in position of the guards that would escort us. Except we'll be on our own. I'm sure they won't mind us tapping into the stash here. Say, have you ever handled one?" Sylae shakes her head. "I was never drafted. I've seen them on the soldiers returning home and some demonstrations, but that's about it." The doors open, the two look into the armory. It's somewhat of a pitiful sight. An entire shelf is devoted to broken weapons and equipment (aptly labeled "Broke"). While there is a decent stash, the number of intact weapons is surprisingly small for such a large fortress. "Nice to see how well stocked the capital of the best army in this land is. Amazing. I could see this lasting a seige for years," Sylae states dryly. They would always boast about how we're the most resourceful force in the land. I suppose they just wanted to keep morale up, Everents thinks as he levitates a few weapons, moving a scoped rifle towards Sylae. "I hope that works for you. Seeing as you are a pegasus, you may be shooting at longer distances due to flying. That is, if you had to. I'm hoping we don't." Everents draws a small pistol for himself and packs a sufficient amount of bullets for the two of them. Then, remembering the others minus Stonewing, as he recalled he had a weapon of his own, he packs three other weapons--two pistols and a submachine gun. Sylae then walks up to the shelf of broken equipment and pulls a few gun parts into her pack. "Umm..." Everents says in confusion. "What? They won't miss them, seeing as they're broken and they're probably too damn incompetent to figure out how to fix them. I figure I could make use of the parts myself." Everents simply shrugs. Outfitted, the pair rush out through the halls. Everents notes eerily as everything seems to a little too quiet. Footsteps suddenly sound forth in the direction of the front doors. Fearing the worst, Everents leads Sylae to a back passage. More footsteps are heard and shouts, a mix of those unfamiliar and those of the castle residents, begin. Soon they find themselves out on the streets. An armed pony with armor much unlike the New Canterlot guards, clearly a Lunar, walks around the corner, surprised to see the two just as they see him. Dammit, I was hoping to avoid a confrontation. At least he's alone, Everents thinks as a soft green glow eminates from his horn and around the Lunar. The pony is whisked up and thrown against the wall before he could aim towards the pair, knocked out cold. "What are you doing?" Sylae asks as Everents walks up to the unconcious Lunar. "I'm making sure he's alive," Everents replies. "Are you crazy? they are attacking us and I'm pretty sure he would have killed us given the chance," Sylae says angrily. "There is no sense in this needless killing of ponies from ponies. I refuse to add to the count if I can avoid it," Everents defends. "Oh, so he can come back and add one of us to 'the count'? Brilliant," Sylae notes Everents also pulling the gun off the unconcious pony, placing it into his pack. "At least you have some sense..." Suddenly, two other Lunars jump out from another corner, likely attracted by the noise from before. "No sudden moves!" they shout. Unfortunately for the Lunar pair, a certain griffon surprise attacks them. One clutches his throat as it gushes blood, causing him to pass out. The other falls unconcious, perhaps dead, from a hard blow to the head. Everents grimaces from the violence, and Sylae edges back insinctively at the greusome sight caused by Stonewing. "Stonewing!" Everents exclaims. "Come on, we have to get out of here. Our defense failed, and this place is beginning to swarm with Lunar rebels," Stonewing says quickly. "What about the others from the expedition? We have to get them out!" Everents says. "There's no time. If we stay too long, they'll capture us for sure, and that won't do anyone any good. Now let's get out of here. You know a hidden way, don't you?" Stonewing firmly states. Everents, defeated, replies, "Yes, umm, follow me." "What happened to this being hidden?" Sylae yells angrily, edging away from Stonewing's bloodstained talons as Everents searched the recently-deceased ponies for ammo. She throws her pack off and holds it open for Everents, who levitates the loot in. Around the three, slime-covered walls rise and the smell of decay assaults their noses. Everents's hidden way--what appeared to be an abandoned sewer tunnel--had turned out to be not-so-hidden, as they had found out when they turned the corner and found three Lunars strolling along. Sylae's wings itch under the bandages, and she raises a hoof to scratch at them, "And when can I take these changeling-damned things off and fly again?" "Oh, um...you can take them off. They were only there to hold your wings in place while the magic healed you. You shouldn't need them anymore. Maybe," Everents says carefully, ignoring her first comment. "Your confidence does nothing but inspire me," she growls sarcastically, but eagerly tears the bandages off nonetheless. She flaps her wings and rises into the dank air of the tunnel, sighing blissfully. "Oh, it feels good to be in the air again," she states, soaring down the tunnel, easily dodging the plentiful cobwebs that filled its dim confines as she flies around corners and . Up ahead, the end of the tunnel appears, a ladder leading to a hatch at the ceiling. As she flies towards it, the hatch opens and a pony wearing Lunar armor drops down. "Not tonight," she says to herself as she grabs the sniper rifle from her back and slows to a stop, her wings keeping her aloft and steady. She raises the weapon and gazes through the scope, centering the crosshairs just over the unsuspecting rebel's eyes. A second later the tunnel rings with the sound of her gunshot, and the Lunar's head explodes. And Skyvale spends how long training soldiers to use these? she thinks smugly as she resumes flying, on the lookout for any other Lunars. Everents sighs as he trots along, Stonewing flying beside him. "Are you sure you don't want me to--" the griffon begins to say "No," Everents interrupts him. "It's not like she could have gotten lost in a tunnel with only two ways in. Besides, it doesn't hurt to have someone scout ahead." Stonewing reluctantly nods, and the pair continue down the confines of the tunnel. Suddenly, the pair hear an echoing gunshot from up ahead. "Shit!" Everents swears, "Stonewing, go!" He accelerates to a gallop, levitating out his pistol as Stonewing's powerful wings carry him ahead rapidly, quickly disappearing around a corner. She couldn't be too far ahead, he thinks to himself as he gallops, careful not to slip on the slime that covers the floor, now alone in the darkness. She's never fired a weapon before, and we only heard one shot. He hurries around another corner, and breates a sigh of relief as he spots the bright green pegasus next to the exit ladder. "Sylae..." he says, gulping in the dank tunnel air, "let's...not run...off like that..." "Yeah, sorry," she says, glaring at Stonewing. Everents glances over and notices Stonewing with a strange facial expression. "Is there...am I missing something?" he asks cautiously. "No, it's fine." the pegasi says harshly, rising up into the air. "Let's go." She flies up and opens the hatch. Just then Everents notices the blood splattered everywhere and the headless Lunar's corpse at the base of the ladder. Looking back, he sees the shine of an empty casing a hundred hooves away. "Huh," he says to himself as he climbs the ladder, careful to avoid the reddish marks glistening dimly. Up top, he glances around at the surroundings. The hatch, a rotting mass of wood stuck in the ground, is surrounded by the collapsed remains of a farmhouse. His hooves clink against the bits of stone floor as he moves out of the way for Stonewing. He spots Sylae up above, flying around with her rifle out, looking for Lunars. Around the ruined farmhouse, the forest rises, the pines of the area eagerly rising out of soil that hasn't been tilled in a hundred years. Everents sighs and looks to Stonewing, "We might as well wait unt--" he is interrupted by a cracking from the forest. He spins towards the sound, his horning lighting up with the glow of magic, and suddenly his vision becomes brighter and clearer, magic allowing him to see the blue earth pony trying to sneak away. "Oh no you don't," he says as the telekinetically grabs the pony and drags him towards the ruins. The mysterious pony vainly paws at the ground, trying to get away, but Everents's magic holds, bringing him into the ruins and pinning him to the remains of a wall. "Who are you?" Everents yells, levitating his pistol as Stonewing cracks his talons menacingly. "I didn't see anything, I swear! I'm just trying to get away from the city!" The pony yells, terrified. "Oh? And how am I going to know you're not some southlands rebel, huh?" Everents asks, fatigue entering his voice from the strain of using magic to hold the stallion in place. "I...I was just looking for my brother! He was sent here on a mission, and my parents told me to bring him back!" "Wait," Everents says, lowering the pistol. "A mission? Who's your brother?" "He..." The blue pony slowly stops his struggling, "Red Dawn." "Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Everents says in relief, releasing his magical hold on the pony. "We're part of the Expedition too. You must be Tados, then. Red's had nothing but good words about you. Is he meeting us here?" "He..." Tados's voice catches. "I found him in the city. He told me to take this tunnel and head home...he didn't make it out," he says quietly, looking down. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Everents says sadly, patting the blue pony reassuringly. Just then, Sylae flies down, "The city is on fire and I saw New Canterlot guards fleeing. I think we'd best get moving if--hey, who is this?" "Oh, Sylae, this is Tados. His brother i--was an Expedition member. Tados, this is Sylae." "Hi. Sorry for being abrupt, but there are a fuckload of Lunars swarming over that city and it would probably be a really good idea if we got our asses in the sky before they decide to see what the deal is over here." "Asses in the sky?" Everents asks. "Metaphorically. My wings still seem to be rather weak, and I doubt Stonewing could carry both of you," the pegasus says tiredly. "Both of us?" "I'm sorry, I thought the presense of the new guy meant he was coming with us. Do you want to just leave him here for the Lunars so he can tell them all about us? Besides, another set of hooves could be handy." "Point taken," Everents says. Sylae nods like that was painfully obvious, and he resists the urge to telekinetically punch her. Sylae opens her pack and tosses a pistol and some ammo at Tados. "Don't worry about the previous owner asking for it back. Just point and shoot, these things are a lot simpler than all those soldiers make them out to be. Which way, Everents?" "Um..." his horn lights up as he pulls a map out and checks it, even though he already has it memorized "North, we just follow the trail to Hoofmark until we hit the foothills to the Shutterpeaks." "North it is. I'll scout ahead and make sure there isn't anypony waiting to surprise us," Sylae states, and with that she flies into the air.