"One step in front of the other," Tonya growled to herself while bracing herself with a hand against the wall. "You did this for twenty years, you know how to walk on two legs. No more falling flat on your face. No more skinning your knees. You've got this."
Walking on two legs was considerably harder than she thought it would be. Despite spending more of her life as a human than a pony she had no conscious memories of walking on two legs. Thankfully her subconscious seemed to have some recollection of how to do it, but she was just now after minutes of trying getting to where she could walk at a somewhat steady pace without faceplanting. Her knees and elbows hurt from constant collisions with the floor. She really needed to run, but she didn't have enough confidence she could do that quite yet. Her size difference and change of perspective also left her disoriented about distances, not to mention her surroundings. It was a struggle just making sure she was going the right way.
The fact that she was too busy being terrified of Poly Glot finding her was probably the only reason the full freakout about being human hadn't set in yet. One terror was apparently capable of overriding another. If the deranged unicorn found her, being human wouldn't even qualify as a worry.
She'd figured out what the blue mist was at least. Sunset had a project a while back that involved carrying multiple spells and transmitting them in gas form. The project had been shelved indefinitely despite significant progress being made on it. Sunset had wanted someone to actually come up with reasonable scenarios where this could be used before developing it further, after it proved a failure in its initial planned application in industrial use. The idea was that it could be brought back into study and development, but there needed to be a purpose. Poly Glot had worked on many spells for Sunset, and Tonya could pretty easily guess at the moment this had been one of them. The sick bastard had weaponized it.
One of the attributes of this mist was it could carry multiple spells that could interact with different types of things placed within it. She could guess what at least one other spell he had fed into this was, the sister spell to the one affecting her. She heard screams of terror from all around the facility, and knew that the humans here were dealing with their own transformation nightmare, only they had far less control of their alien forms than she did. She was pretty sure her magic was still working, at least her mind magic. She still felt it in her, but had no way of testing it out. If she came upon some guards she might be able to compel calmness, and damn the consequences. Can't punish someone for mind magic without consent if they were already dead, after all. Her chances of survival were pretty damn slim.
Another side effect of this spell mist was it made it exceedingly hard for her to see. Everything was covered in this heavy blue mist. If she wasn't hugging the wall she wouldn't be able to see the doors, and their labels. If she didn't see those she wouldn't have a clue at all where she was. Right now she was on the correct floor to get back to the vault and Chorus, but her progress was slow. Sounds all seemed muffled, but she was also dealing with human hearing instead of pony hearing, so it was hard to judge what whether or not the mist was also messing with that. It was still causing her further disorientation though.
A particularly loud scream of pain echoed through the halls. She gulped and then began to sing softly as she continued to try to make her way forward.
"The shadows creep,
My heart does weep.
Where is hope, I pray?
I'm am but a filly who's lost her way.
The monsters roar,
My fear soars.
Where is hope, I pray?
I only wish to live through this, if I may.
The mist surrounds,
My heart, it pounds.
Where is hope, I pray?
Come some light to save the day."
She cut her song off as she heard cries of confusion and fear a short distance ahead of her, along with the sound of something crashing against a wall or something. There was no way Poly Glot got ahead of her, or at least she didn't think there was. It had to be soldiers who were dealing with the adverse effects of the temporary transformation. She picked up her pace. Hopefully she could help them.
The sounds were the only thing letting her know she was getting closer, the mist was just too thick to see more than a foot in any direction. As the sounds were getting louder and louder she thought she felt slight gusts of wind against her bare flesh, and involuntarily shivered. The mist didn't stir with the breeze, though. It was magic, so it didn't obey normal physics.
She almost stumbled on the two ponies when they finally came into view. They were tangled in their human clothes, and they clearly didn't have proper motor control to get themselves untangled. If anything, their struggles were only tangling them in the uniforms even more. One she saw was a pegasus, because their feathery wings had ripped through the garments. He was flapping like mad, and bouncing about a small area like a lame hummingbird. The other was a unicorn, and his horn was sparking wildly.
"Calm down!" She called out to them. "I'm here to help. You've got to stop struggling so I can get you outta those clothes. You're going to hurt yourselves."
They didn't even seem to hear her, and continued to flail about, worsening their situation. Or perhaps they did hear her, and didn't understand; because it seemed like their struggles might have increased after she'd spoken. It was time to see if her magic still worked. Consent was impossible right now, but they were all in danger. Poly Glot was out in the halls somewhere, and if he came upon any of these temporary ponies like this they were easy victims.
She took a deep breath and focused on the closest of the two ponies, the unicorn. "You want to calm down. You need to calm down. You want the human lady to help you."
Nothing. Her magic was in her, but she didn't feel it being harnessed at all. There was no visible effect on the panicked unicorn either. That was disheartening, and scary. Scary primarily because that was her one possible defense against Poly Glot in her current state, and if she couldn't use mind magic to defend herself she had basically no defense. Disheartening because now she wasn't sure how she was going to help these ponies.
She cautiously bent down and tried to lay a calming hand on the unicorn. "Please, you need to listen to me. I want to help you. Poly Glot is out, and if you don't get to safety he's going to kill you. Please, listen."
She touched the unicorn's side, but instead of calming him it just further terrified the temporary pony. The unicorn's horn lit up and she recognized a surge happening. Before she knew it, she, and everything else nearby, were all lifted into the air. She panicked again as she was held helplessly by the surging magic, unable to even struggle against the tight grip. It seemed to last forever, and then it ended abruptly. She dropped down to the ground, there was a deafening bang, then blinding pain in her arm. She screamed as she clutched it, feeling a spreading dampness.
She sat for a moment gasping and crying before she was able to squint her eyes open and look at her arm. It was covered in blood. One of the guards' guns must have been caught in that surge and gone off. Could you die from a gunshot to the arm?
It hurt like hell, but she was pretty sure she could keep moving, just without being able to use the arm right now. She gave the two ponies a forlorn look. She couldn't help them. Even if she somehow managed to get through to them they had no control of their bodies. She certainly couldn't drag them to safety, not now anyway. She stumbled over to the opposite wall, where she could use her other arm to steady herself, and began making her way along it, crying in pain, fear, and despair. She half-whispered, half-sang on, to try to help focus.
"The pain cuts deep,
My blood steadily seeps.
Where is hope, I pray?
My sorrow is here to stay."
She'd made it a short distance from the ponies when she heard them screaming. Not terror, this time, but pain. She held her breath, daring not to be heard. The screams went on for a few seconds before stopping Then, silence reigned.
"Ton-ya? Is that you ahead of me? Where are you Ton-ya?"
Her heart sped up as she began to quicken her pace. She looked at the closest door and noted she only had three more to go. Pushing through the pain in her arm, she made her way forward through the mists. The entire time she could hear Poly Glot laughing and giggling somewhere behind her but oddly enough not his hooves on the floor.
She reached the door to the Chorus and quickly began tapping the code in to gain entry. She had to stop and start over twice, because the normal quick motions she would have made to enter the code seemed all off in this human body. The keys seemed to be all the wrong size, having been designed to fit pony hooves instead of quick typing with human fingers. Carefully as she could, mouthing the code to herself as she went, she entered the passkey.
As she slipped in, she spied her pursuer through the mist. It was merely the outline of his form, but she saw that something was not right about the gait and proportions. It wasn't something human, or pony, or even partial. Poly Glot was something else, something that belonged only in nightmares.
Before going into the door she took her working arm and balled up a fist, slamming it as hard as she could into the keypad. She heard the keypad crunch under the blow as she fell through the closing door. Hopefully the broken keypad would slow him down at least a little. At least she prayed it would.
The mist was in the Chorus room as well, though light enough to just see the far wall. With an anxious look up at the light above the door she felt a small sense of relief when she saw that it had indeed locked behind her. The door was thick and heavy, and it couldn't be bucked down by any pony short of Wild Growth, or blasted down from anything short of an alicorn. The entire facility had crystals embedded in the walls that caused teleports to deviate wildly off course, making any attempt to teleport end with the caster somewhere they had no intention of being, with the possibility that they might teleport straight into rock or cement--bringing instant death. It was one of her wife's more clever applications of something Robert McDermott had dubbed a failed experiment.
She heard movement on the other side of the door and hastily crawled away from it. There was a nearby camera feed that showed what was going on right outside. The mist obscured her view, but there was definitely something moving around out there. She thought she spotted a hand, and then fur, then another and…another hand? She shook her head, sure she had miscounted hands. They were all in odd places anyway.
'"Oh Ton-ya...you’re so considerate. Leading me right to my goal," Poly Glot laughed from the other side of the door.
His goal? Since when had this insane beast ever had a goal, other than causing carnage and mayhem? Was he after what was in Sunset's vaults?
"I have been waiting so long to do what I was sent here for," Poly Glot said gleefully. "I take inspiration from your wife, do you know that? Combining many things into something greater."
"What do you want?" She called out. "Whatever it is, you aren't getting it."
"I think a movie from many years ago said it best. ‘I want to see the world burn,’" Poly Glot replied, and she could hear the grin behind the voice. "The one who sent me appreciated my talents for doing so. They were also aware that your wife was doing powerful things here with magic, and her penchant for not turning away any potential assets, even ones such as me."
Her breath caught. Someone had set it up so Poly Glot would be put in Sunset's possession.
"China?" She asked, already feeling that she knew it.
"China? Shimmerists? Friends of Humanity? Rogue factions of this government? The Warden of Death? So-so-so many possibilities," Poly Glot laughed. "I just had some federal agents dragging me into jail, and next thing I know I've got a guy shadier than me whispering through my cell all about the wonders of your wife's facility. He promised me I would get in here so I could have fun. Wanted me to wreck the place, cause chaos, and to hurt your pretty Sunset. Felt kind of personal. I think your wife has been a naughty filly and hurt someone's feelings."
"She isn't here, so you failed in that, creep," Tonya growled back. She tried to think of everyone Sunset might have possibly pissed off in the past...but the list was too long. She was pretty sure it wasn't Sha'am, but any of those others and many-many more could be on that list.
"Oh...but you're here, Ton-ya. Didn't you notice you were here? I noticed you were here," Poly Glot giggled. "What better way of hurting your pretty wife than by playing with you. Oh, and while I'm at it. I'm going to tear down civilization, just for some kicks."
"Well, that ain't happening!" She yelled back smuggly, trying to put on some bravado despite the fact she was pissing all over herself. "You might have caused some carnage today, but you fall pretty far short of that."
"Oh...but I'm not done, Ton-ya. I'm going to get to that lovely device in there with you, and use its power to cast this mist spell on a far far grander scale. With all the power of the Chorus behind it I could probably impact the entire eastern half of your country. Imagine the chaos, imagine the fear and anger after. It will be like the world has gone mad, and when the dust settles the pure hate will bring about a civil war that will destroy you all. How many will die? How many will sink back down to their most primitive levels? Millions, Ton-ya. I don't care what my benefactor that got me in here wanted. I get to see perfection. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Ton-ya." He descended into frenzied giggles after he finished speaking.
She cursed rapidly in her head. He seemed fairly confident that he could get in, and she was at the point she wouldn't doubt he could figure out a way in. He'd gotten out from under armed guard after all, with a magic suppressor ring on his horn. How he had managed that was still a mystery, and at this point it didn't matter. What mattered was he was right outside the door and was plotting the worst terrorist attack the world had ever known, and he was going to use her Chorus to do it. There was only one thing to do, she needed to call for help.
She carefully pushed herself up to her feet and walked over to the main console of the Chorus, all while still clutching her still bleeding arm and trying to will the pain away. Her powers might actually have been working to some degree, as her human form wasn't nearly as alien as it should have been, and the pain was being pushed back. Perhaps she could only affect herself and not others. If she was giving herself light compulsions that was a small positive in this situation.
She released her arm and used her good arm and hand to dial out on the console's phone. It barely even rang before being picked up. "Hello? Who's this? What's going on in there? Is my wife safe?" Came Sunset's frantic voice over the line.
"It's me...it's Tonya," she said slowly. "Poly Glot got loose. He's using that mist spell that we had years ago that went nowhere, and he's charged it up with both forms of the temporary transformation spell...the broken versions. The entire facility is full of it."
"Are you hurt? Are you safe?" Sunset questioned fearfully.
She groaned in pain. The pain in her arm was suppressed, but it wasn't gone. "Well, I'm a human at the moment, been shot by a gun in the arm, and that bastard is one locked door away from me. I'm doing better than the guards at least."
"What can you tell me about the mist?" A new voice came on the line. It took her a second to realize it was Twilight Sparkle.
She wet her lips as she tried to think of every pertinent detail she could. "It's really thick and blue, you can't see anything through it out in the halls. I think I was out in it for about twenty, maybe thirty seconds, before it suddenly changed me into a human. It spreads really fast, doesn't move with wind, and seems to get through every crack. It doesn't feel like gas, and doesn't behave like it either. Once it's in an area it's just there, and only gets thicker, not dissipating."
"That's what we're observing outside," Twilight said grimly. "Minus what standing in it actually does."
Her heart dropped. "It's outside?"
"Some of it has leaked into the Bastion," Sunset replied.
"And it seems impossible to even capture a sample of it in a magic shield so I can analyze it and try to find a counterspell," Twilight growled in frustration. "Crystal ponies seem able to dispel it at least, but for the amount inside you're describing we'll need a small army of them. At least a hundred, based on how big that facility has been described, and how thick you're describing the mist to be. It's taking two or three ponies well trained at this working together to deal with the light wisps that are escaping."
"But it will take at least a day to get together that many skilled crystal ponies. Tonya doesn't have that kind of time!" Sunset yelled in rage. "We need a better solution, and now!"
They didn't know how bad the situation really was yet. She opened her mouth to reply and let off a gasp as she almost blacked out and fell over.
"Tonya!" Sunset yelled in alarm.
She steadied herself, and focused so she could give them the remaining details. "Poly Glot is trying to get to the Chorus and use it to cast the spell on a large scale. He says he can impact the entire eastern half of the country with it."
Twilight groaned. "Great, another thing to worry about. What's the Chorus?"
"It's a crystal that stores an enormous amount of magic, alicorn level," Tonya answered.
Twilight could be heard saying something in Equestrian, and even through the musical tones Tonya could tell it was cursing. Sunset gasped while the alicorn vented. "Is that where you are right now? In the Chorus room?"
"Yes, with that psycho right outside the door," she answered quickly. "I broke the keypad before getting back in here, but I don't know how long that will delay him." She licked her lips. "Sunset, why haven't you purged everything with fire yet? He can't be allowed to do that."
"I don't want you to be killed!" Sunset shouted. "It is supposed to happen automatically, but something stopped it. Maybe some side effect of this mist? I don't know what stopped it, but I'm not going to let you die."
"From what I can tell that would do nothing to stop the mist anyway," Twilight said as she seemed to finally compose herself. "Unfortunately your wife's defenses for keeping ponies out are actually exceedingly effective, and put almost everything I've ever seen before to shame. That's before even dealing with the mist no one can safely stand in, and it's really counterproductive to our efforts right now."
"I'm sorry. I was focused on keeping things out. If I considered a way of breaking in it was only to figure out how to counter it!" Sunset yelled. "It's not my fault you Equestrians haven't significantly improved on your magic techniques in the last thousand years, and as a result aren't used to dealing with competent defenses!"
"But...there has to be s-something you're overlooking," Tonya wept, as the full gravity of the situation really started to hit home.
Twilight sighed. "Tonya, I'll humbly admit that your wife, and many others on Earth, have constantly amazed me with how ingenious they can be with magic. Sunset accuses Equestria of being stagnant on magical advancement, and the last few years have shown that she may very well be right. I think my aunt recognized that stagnation, and increased the drive to learn and develop magic in your population as a result. However, right now I really wish your wife wasn't so clever, because every time I turn around some brilliant spell or defense she came up with makes this entire thing more complicated!"
"So...I'm doomed," she said slowly.
"I didn’t say that," Twilight declared. "I don't know how to safely get you out of there yet, or how I'm stopping this yet, but I will find away. I promise. I'm calling every friend I know to help figure this out."
"I'm not going to let you die," Sunset said, and Tonya could hear her bite back a sob. "Whatever knowledge the princess needs to help get you out of this, I'm going to give. I don't care about what's classified and what's not right now. I just want you safe."
Tonya nodded to herself. She knew Sunset would stop at nothing. From what she had heard and read about the princess she trusted Twilight wouldn't either.
"If you can keep thinking clearly," Twilight said, and then sighed again. "Sunset had to be restrained from trying to barge in there herself, not even knowing what that mist does."
"And now that we know what it does I may try again. Just give me a gun and I'll go in there as a human and shoot that bastard," Sunset growled.
That jogged another thing she needed to mention. "Sunset...I don't know what Poly Glot is right now, but it isn't human or pony. He's some kind of monster."
"Well, we'll see how effective a monster he is with a bullet through the eye," Sunset snarled.
"It's not happening," Twilight said. "If he is confident he can cast this spell then he still has access to his magic, and you won't. I'm not going to have another pony I'm worried about saving, and I need your knowledge out here."
"Is there any way to drain the Chorus of its magic before he can get in here?" Tonya asked.
"He's not getting in," Sunset snapped.
Tonya gripped her wound harder, was her vision getting foggy, or was the light getting dimmer? She couldn't tell. "Sunset...please…just tell me how I can help stop him. He's going to hurt a lot of people."
Sunset snorted, then let out a long breath. "The passcode to access the Chorus's systems is...Equestria sucks one zero one, all as one word, all the vowels capitalized, and zero spelled out but not the ones."
"Seriously? You're that petty and foalish?" Twilight exclaimed in outrage. Then could be heard taking a deep breath. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter right now."
Sunset ignored the princess. "The protocol file you want is labeled exhale. It will slowly release the magic from the main crystal. It can take hours to depower, so get started as soon as you can." The unicorn took a deep breath. "But it won't be necessary, God will see you're saved, somehow."
Right now Tonya wasn't sure her faith was up to snuff for believing that, but she prayed she had enough time to make a difference for everyone else.
People shouted in anger and fear. Flesh and fur blurred by as people ran screaming. Rocks and any other object that could be found loose were being thrown. Gunshots rang out over the sounds of yelling and screaming. The smell of sweat and dirt filled the air. In the distance tear gas could be seen being used. Chaos reigned south of the Bastion. The riots had begun.
And Wild was in the thick of it, trying desperately to move to the edges of the disorder where her mama may be hiding in wait for a victim.
So far, there wasn't any sign of her mama and Bill, but this was an ideal place for them to strike. Here there was so much going on that they could openly strike, and it would be pure luck if anyone took notice. She wasn't sure if she even knew what groups of protestors she was trying to move through right now. She wasn't sure the protestors knew either. Humans punched and kicked ponies, and other humans as well. Pegasi, given the option of flight or fight, took to the air in defiance of the no fly zone to escape. The other tribes didn't have the option of flight, and we're left with fight. Unicorns levitated up objects and hurled them without seeming to even aim. Earth ponies smashed vehicles. The night ponies were thankfully mostly gone for the day. If that tribe was here in numbers this might somehow be worse, hard as that was to imagine.
Seeing the violence perpetrated by ponies might have shocked some, who thought ponies too passive and gentle for such things. Anyone who thought that was a fool. A lone pony, or even small group of ponies, might find horror in such wanton violence, but ponies were like any other creature backed into a corner. If they felt threatened, with nowhere to run, they would lash out in defense. The pegasi had been able to run fleeing the sudden deluge that had drenched the crowds, but these unicorns and earth ponies were boxed in by the mass of the crowd. As such, mob mentality set in, and when the first violence had started, the ponies became no less innocent of violence than the humans.
There were indeed more humans here than ponies, if only because most of the pegasi had retreated. That just made the remaining unicorns and earth ponies feel all the more threatened and boxed in, and all the more dangerous because of it. Just like the humans they ended up attacking one another as much as they ended up attacking the other species. Depending on what groups these were, the anger might not have been between species anyway, but politics. The fact that everyone here had already been angry before this began only helped fuel the violence.
She caught sight of an earth pony kicking a car that had several terrified humans in it. Without even thinking she sent her magic into the earth, and vines burst forth from the concrete below the enraged pony. His legs were quickly wrapped in vines and he yelled out in shock. A brief struggle against the vines was all he needed to do to snap them, but it was enough to break him out of his rage. He quickly retreated from the car after gaining his freedom.
There was no opportunity to check on the passengers of the car, as she spotted a unicorn get struck on the back of the head by a pipe welded by a human. As the unicorn lay on the ground the human raised up their weapon to finish the unicorn off. Again she sent her power out and made the ground between the human and the unicorn split, and grew a small sapling between the two. The human fell backwards, and when they got back up they ran away.
One after another, she found incidents of violence, and each one she acted on. This wasn't what she was here for, but she could not stand by and ignore what she was seeing. There was no thought given to who was at fault or an aggressor in all this. The crowd was a mass of fear and rage, and no one was thinking rationally. She wasn't going to let anyone get hurt that she had the power to protect. She grabbed onto her already strained power and went to work.
Things quickly became a blur to her, as she rapidly moved through separating people from one another and bringing halts to aggressive acts; a human kicking a pony, a unicorn that had a human tightly gripped in magic, an impressively strong earth pony that was ripping out the side of a building with his hooves. She spotted a pegasus that had remained behind, and was now dive bombing random humans in the crowd. It took two failed attempts at stopping him before she finally grew a tree straight into his path to tangle him in its branches. There were so many more incidents she couldn't even remember even a second after dealing with them. Time lost meaning, and soon there was no telling how long she had been at this.
Suddenly, something small struck her hard enough on the shoulder that it actually hurt. As she was turning to look another something struck her flank just as hard, before bouncing off. She winced and looked down at the ground then laid her ears back in a rage. Bullets lay close by her. Someone was shooting at her, in the middle of this crowd! A bullet hitting her certainly stung badly, but she was too tough for them to actually penetrate at a distance, at least with most guns. She was no ammunition expert, but these bullets looked pretty mundane, and not the kind of thing she would need to be concerned about impacting her. The impact on anyone else was an entirely different matter.
She looked around rapidly, trying to find what idiot thought they could gun her down with an average gun from a distance. Her durability was well known and well documented. They should know that if they wanted to take a shot at her they either needed to be at close range or bring a much more powerful gun. She grimaced at herself for probably being the only person on Earth who felt the need to be critical of the way someone tried to kill her, not the fact that they were trying to kill her to begin with. It was just a sign of how desensitized she was to the idea of people trying to kill her. Damn stupid idiots, they were going get someone hurt, and it wouldn't be her.
Another shot rang out, and a man, college aged--not much older than one of her brothers--who had been running by her fell to the ground, completely still. She takes in horror as she saw a massive gunshot wound to the side of his head, and the blood now spilling out on the pavement. Her worst fear in these situations had been realized. Someone had received a bullet meant for her, and was dead now. There was no question that he was dead, even standing feet away, no one could survive a wound like that to the head.
She clenched her jaw tightly as she raised her tear filled gaze up beyond where the man lay. In the distance she spotted her assailant, a woman who had what looked like a shotgun or hunting rifle. Wild was no arms expert, and it didn't matter what type of gun it really was. All that mattered was that person had just put the bullet into another person's skull and was loading up that gun again like nothing had even happened. Did she even know she had just shot someone dead? Did she even care?
There was no thought to it. She just unwrapped the woman tightly in vines, causing the gun to drop uselessly to the ground. She then marched purposefully towards the killer with her gaze narrowed and a tight sneer upon her face. The woman screamed in terror at the vines, and screamed louder at Wild's steady approach. The crowd passed and moved around her as she marched, and she paid it no attention. Right now there was just her, this killer, and the tool of death lying on the ground. She wanted to forestall her anger at the weapon, but it didn't pull its own trigger or load itself.
Her march didn't end until she was standing just a foot from the woman. She looked down at the fallen weapon and spat. Her disgust shown, she raised a leg up and brought it down hard on the barrel of the gun, crushing it flat under her hoof. She then looked up at the fear-filled eyes of the woman and just glared.
"Please…" the woman begged, as she started crying.
Wild resisted snapping, it was hard. One of the hardest things she'd done, but she held her rage back. Instead she growled through gritted teeth. "What is your name?"
"C-Cathy…" the woman replied, crying through eyes now clenched shut.
"Cathy what? Full name!" Wild shouted, slamming her hoof down, causing a mild quake. She only faintly heard the cries of shock from the rioters.
"Catherine Henderson!" Cathy yelled out in a loud sob.
She continued to glare at the woman, and spoke in slow-measured tones. "Well, Catherine Henderson, you just shot a man down. He's dead. It's your fault. Tell me, was taking a shot at me worth it? Someone's dead, a young man. A man who had a lot of life left to live. A man who likely had family who cared about him. A man who that family will never see alive again. What do you have to say to that family? Because I'm going to be telling them that he took a bullet meant for me, and that I would have taken that bullet happily instead to see him alive. I'm going to tell them I found his killer, and I want to know what to tell them his killer had to say. Tell me, Catherine Henderson, what am I going to tell them?"
The woman went wide-eyed and then shook her head in disbelief. "I-I didn't...you're lying...I didn't--"
She made the vines pull the woman to her knees and then pointed a hoof back at the victim, who now had a pony and human standing over him frantically yelling into their phones for help while looking back and forth between the body and her. "Look right there! Do you see that! Do you see that man! Were you that focused on trying to hurt me that you truly didn't see him fall?! Look at him, and tell me what you have to say!!"
Cathy shook her head in shock and continued disbelief. "I-I…"
Wild snarled as she turned and marched away, leaving the woman helpless tied up. She went over to the fallen man and stared at it as she spoke to the human and the pony standing nearby. "The person who did this is in those vines over there. Her name is Catherine Henderson. Her weapon is lying on the ground next to her. Make sure she doesn't get away, and that the police get her."
The human looked anxiously at Cathy and then back to her. "Aren't you going to be here to tell them?"
Her ears twitched as she heard other shots ring out, and her sneer deepened. "No…no one else is going to die today. I promise."
With that said, she began galloping in the direction of where she heard gunfire. Promising herself, and everyone else, that this would be death's last victim today. She had the strength, so she had the responsibility. No one else was going to die today.
Jessie gripped as tight as she could to Crystal's back as they continued up the stairwell. Jordan was on Layla's back, and Jackie was on Ms. Rosetta's. The demons were all climbing the stairs on their own, being more adept at climbing in general, and were being carefully shepherded by Robby. It was slow going. She, Jackie, and Jordan were just not fast enough climbing the steps, and the adults had to slow down their pace while carrying them. It was faster than it would have been with the three of them trying to climb the steps themselves, but it was still slow. After several minutes climbing they had only gone up three flights of stairs, and still had six more to go. The red emergency lights bathed the stairwell in a way that made Jessie think of some of the scary movies her brother sometimes watched.
"Mama, I'm tired," Alfie announced, with a belly flop onto the ground as they reached the next landing.
His two siblings didn't say anything, but both gave their mother forlorn looks that echoed their brother's sentiments as they sat down on the landing. Layla carefully set down Jordan and shakingly my took a seat. None of the night ponies had gotten proper sleep, and it was showing.
"Why would they come after us?" Jessie asked timidly.
"Because just like us, they can't get out of here, and they're aggressively hungry for magic," Crystal explained. "Since they already got Pin Point and Alexis, and guessing those maintenance ponies before that, the lot of you are the only sources left for them to feed on here. Rosetta and Layla are probably their primary targets, but I don't think they turn you foals up either."
"Why couldn't we take the stairway with the ramps?" Layla asked. "No offense to the kid here, but she’s starting to get heavy after three flights of stairs."
"Because it's locked and I don't have the keys," Ms. Rosetta replied, as she bent her head down and gave a nudge to get Alfie moving again. "Pick Jordan back up. We aren't stopping."
Layla crouched down and let Jordan scramble back onto her back. "Why would they lock it when we're in here?"
"Because they always lock it normally when the school is empty, so they don't have students try to hide in it. Pony students tend to avoid this stairwell in favor of the one with the ramps. It is easier to hear hoofsteps on these stairs, and harder to hide out here as a result," Ms. Rosetta answered. "They also didn't anticipate the power going out on us. They would have normally locked most of the elevators too. Only this stairwell stays open all the time."
Crystal paused and went rigidly still. She only did it for a few seconds before gasping. "We really need to move." Right after she finished speaking that a door to the stairwell could be heard opening far below. Jessie and the other foals whimpered.
"Fuck," Layla cursed softly. "There's no way we can outrun them carrying the foals, and the foals can't keep up on their own. What are we going to do?"
Ms. Rosetta looked around helplessly as the sound of hoofsteps began on the stairs below. "I don't know. Maybe I can reason with my mama. She has to still be in there."
"Not happening," Crystal said sternly. "All evidence and what has been described by your sister and Sunset Blessing suggests they aren't thinking. Also, Layla's right, we won't outrun them on the stairs."
"Where do we go? Do we stop and try to fight them?" Layla asked worriedly as she glanced between the railing of the stairwell.
"You won't be able to. Jean especially has been described as being exceedingly strong at draining. If either of them get their hooves on you, they’ll drain you of your magic in moments," Crystal replied. Then Jessie could feel the strong pony square up her shoulders. "I'm the only one who can fight them. Crystal ponies can't drain crystal ponies. I need all of you safely out of the way though. There's two of them and one of me, and if one of them gets by me..."
"That sounds risky," Ms. Rosetta replied as she kept looking around anxiously.
"I'm a trained fighter. I can… will be able to handle it," Crystal replied grimly. "Not here on the stairs though. We need to get off the stairwell so I have full range of motion. We need to just go in the closest door, get you well behind me, and wait."
"Maybe me or Robby could head to the roof and fly for help while you do that," Layla suggested.
"The roof is locked," Ms. Rosetta replied. "Crystal could likely buck it open, but the rest of us aren't strong enough for that, and we can't have her abandon the foals."
"And I'm not going to risk the chance they get by me on the stairs and go after you if you head for the phone," Crystal said grimly. "No, we have to make a stand on the nearest floor."
"Okay," Ms. Rosetta replied, then glanced back at Crystal. "Please try not to hurt my mama too much. This isn't her fault."
"I'm not going to hurt her more than I have to, but I will do whatever it takes to incapacitate her. My duty is to protect you and the foals, not her." Crystal took a deep breath. "Phobia made that clear. No matter what, I do whatever it takes to protect the four of you, even before Phobia herself. I'm not going to neglect my duty. Now, let's get off this stairwell."
The group of them hurried through the closest door as the hoofsteps below got closer and closer. Crystal was the last through the door and set Jessie down. "All of you get far away from this door. When they come through I'm going to be ready for them. Barricade yourself in a classroom, if either manage to get by me it'll buy enough time for me to catch up to them before they can get to you."
"This way," Ms. Rosetta instructed, as she walked briskly down the dim hall. The demons, Jackie, and Jordan quickly trotted after her.
Robby and Layla came over to Jessie, and the young mare gave her a hard push on the flank with her wing. "Come on, let Crystal do her job by letting her know we're safely out of the way. You want to be treated like an adult, right? When we get in there you should help me and Rosetta get things pushed against the door while your brother keeps the other foals out of the way."
With a timid nod she started moving. She knew that she was probably almost as strong--if not stronger than Layla, so it was just practical that she help move things, but being able to help ready their defense did make her feel like she was being treated more like a grown-up. However, right now she didn't want to be treated like a grown-up; right now, she was scared and wanted to cry. This was her first time ever being in real danger, and she just wanted someone to protect her and make her feel safe again.
The red emergency lighting cast an eerie glow over the locker-filled hallway. . Only a thin, watery light came in through the window from the cloudy skies. . She knew that they were just lockers, but the dark shapes lining the hallways looked like rows upon rows of monster’s doorways. . She kept glancing about at all the shadows, sure something was out there coming to get her.
She told herself that it was just blue lockers and red light, that the blue paint was absorbing the red light of the emergency lights, casting them into shadow. Simple physics, something you’d find in the setup to a problem in a math textbook. What color would her own textbooks be, in this lighting? Or the blue crystal pony on the stairs? When she...
Knowing didn’t help.
There really was a monster coming for her back in the staircase. She'd always loved being at school, but right now it was the scariest place she could imagine. There were supposed to be bright fluorescent lights in the ceiling, despite the new LEDs being better, and crowds of older ponies pressing in on her. It wasn’t supposed to be quiet, and dark, and empty. If she whimpered, she shouldn’t be heard over the buzzing of the lights, and the dull roar of the air conditioning, and the whirr of the projectors and the computers. Her throat was tight and sore from trying to suppress her own whimpering, because she knew that Mrs. Jean would hear her, and come for her. .
As they entered the classroom Ms. Rosetta slammed the door shut behind them; making not only her, but also everyone else in the room, jump in fright. Her friends all went to hide under the teacher's desk.
"Not under there!" Ms. Rosetta commanded and pointed a wing. "Sorry, go into the corner, over there. Jessie and Layla, help me push the teacher desk up against the door. Robby, move the student desks out of the way to give us a good path. We'll push them against the teacher's desk when it's in place."
Jessie ran over to the desk as instructed, Layla came up next to her, and Ms. Rosetta got to the side of it. "You push and I'll guide the path. Layla, keep your eyes on me and try to help adjust the path as best you can. Jessie, just keep pushing unless told to stop. We need to move fast."
As Jessie began pushing, loud metallic crashing echoed down the hall outside the room. Crystal was shouting something and then there was an even louder crash followed by softer bangs that trailed off.
"Shit, they're here already! Don't pay attention to the noise! Just push!" Ms. Rosetta screamed. Jessie did as instructed, but alternated between whimpering and sobbing as she did. She could hear the other foals crying.
She couldn't see what was happening or how far she was pushing the desk, but she felt the direction of the desk shift a few times.
"Stop!" Ms. Rosetta ordered. "Jessie, help me push this hard against the door. Layla, help Robby push those student desks up against this. Keep your eyes out for anything we can wedge under the door to further brace it. I wish we had a unicorn to help with this."
"I'm a unicorn!" Jordan called out, as the crashing outside continued. "I want to help!"
"I know, sweetie, but I need one who can use their magic," Ms. Rosetta called out exasperatedly. "Just...stay where you are. That will help out the most." As they finished shoving the desk hard against the door Ms. Rosetta turned to Jessie. "If anything starts banging against that door I want you to push against this desk with all your might, and Layla and I will help. If it feels like you can't hold it anymore you run and get with the other foals. Do you understand?"
Jessie whimpered, but nodded. Crystal shouted again, this time sounding like she was in distress before there was another deafening crash, much closer this time that made her jump. The noise in the hall had gone completely silent.
The silence dragged on for a few seconds, and there wasn't even the sound of breathing within the room as everyone sat and waited. Then there was the sound of hooves hitting the floor in an irregular pattern, like someone stumbling about.
Ms Rosetta audibly gulped before hesitantly calling out, "Crystal?"
The sound of hoofsteps stopped again. Then suddenly began again with a full gallop in their direction.
"Shit!" Layla yelled as she hurled her shoulder into the desk and started shoving. "Hold the desk against the door! Crystal must be down!"
Ms. Rosetta began to push against the desk as well, and after blinking for a second Jessie began pushing against it too. Within another second Robby was there, putting all his weight against the desk. Jackie and Jordan were crying loudly, and the demons were shouting cries of terror to their mother.
"How?" Rosetta yelled as she pushed against the desk.. "They aren't trained fighters. How'd they take her down?"
"It sounded like the lockers were getting knocked over," Layla answered as she leaned hard into the desk. "A lot of them aren't bolted properly to the wall. Hit them hard enough and they come loose. I've seen it happen before. They must have come down on her."
The sound of the galloping slowed and came to a stop outside the door. It was just one set of hooves. Through the door she could hear rapid and heavy breathing like an animal sniffing. Something pushed against the door with a fleshy thud, but it didn't budge. There was another attempt right after, but it also got nowhere.
"It seems like she might have taken one down," Layla said as they continued to hold. "That's good, right?"
The pony on the other side of the door suddenly slammed against the door, the frame splintering apart as the lock was broken. Their makeshift barricade lurched out of position before they were able to shove it back into place. The other foals started crying even louder and Jessie braced herself on the floor as tears rolled down her face. Another slam happened, and then another, and another. The desk kept crashing back into her, and her whimpers now were in pain in addition to terror.
"Crystal ponies aren't as strong as earth ponies, but they're still stronger than us, and she's enraged," Rosetta said with a sob. "It's her. I can smell her. We can't hold her indefinitely."
The slamming continued, each time with different levels of force as Ms. Jean struck the door at irregular intervals, and Jessie cried as she did all she could to hold the desk against the door.
"Mama! Please stop! It's your daughter! It's Rosetta, it's Haley! Mama, you don't want to hurt me! You don't want to hurt your grandfoals!" Ms. Rosetta cried out through sobs. "P-please...just...stop..."
Ms. Rosetta's pleas had no effect, and the slamming continued. Jessie screamed in pain as the desk hit hard against her head, and she collapsed briefly allowing the next strike to push them back until the door was almost open before they were able to push it back into place. Struggling back to her hooves, she realized that everyone seemed to be crying.
Ms. Rosetta stiffened, then began to speak in a frighteningly calm voice. "Layla...we can't hold this indefinitely. If my mama gets to us, it might put us in a comma. If she gets to any of the foals it could mean death for them. I need you to stand with me and do your duty as one of the Dreamwarden's guards."
Layla was silent for a second while another blow to the door occurred. "I...I'm afraid, but I'll do my duty."
Ms. Rosetta sniffled loudly. "Robby, listen to me, you need to get the foals up the next three floors and to the office at the end of the hall on that floor. There's a phone there, you can call for help. You need to be brave. Layla and I won't be coming with you."
"Rosetta...I can't-" her brother began.
"You don't have a choice, none of us do!" Ms. Rosetta screamed angrily. "We’re in a bad situation and we have to deal with it. You need to keep them safe. Layla and I will buy you what time we can. Hopefully we can keep them busy long enough for you to get away. When this door goes Layla and I will charge them, and you and the foals need to take that opportunity to run. You will do it because your lives depend on it."
"Mama!" Alfie cried out in sorrow. Tabby and Charlotte quickly echoed him.
"I'm sorry..." Ms. Rosetta said in a long haggard breath. "All of you foals, get close together. When Robby makes a break for it you run...just like a foal race. You're going to run and get to that stairwell, and you're going to run up those stairs even though it's-” SLAM! Mrs. Rosetta winced, though the barricade held. “...hard. I know it’ll be hard but I know you can do it. You’ve been running us ragged for years, there’s no way Abuelita could hope to catch you. Now, you don't look back...do you hear me?"
"But Mama-" Tabby cried out.
"You will do as you're told!" Ms. Rosetta bellowed. "This isn't a game! Tempest has taught you daily that you might someday be in danger. Well, you're in danger now! I'll be...okay, I promise." Jessie heard the lie in the last sentence, and sobbed again.
Layla shoved Jessie backwards. "You and Robby need to get ready to run! As soon as Rosetta and I strike. All of you squirts. Be ready to run!" She made a choking sound. "If you get out of this and I don't wake back up...it's been nice being friends, even for a very short time."
Jessie cried as she stood behind her brother. She couldn't believe this was happening. They were going to be out there, trying to get help, and there would be no adult there to keep them safe. Robby would be there, and usually he would be able to keep her safe, but how could he keep them safe when even the adults weren't capable of doing that? Ms. Jean and the other pony had taken down Crystal, how did they stand a chance against that?
Robby shook himself then flattened his ears. "Foals, get behind me! Be ready to run when I run!"
Her other friends all came and huddled close to her. Robby looked back at them and flicked an ear. "It's just like a race. We have to get to the stairs and up to the finish line. It will be alright as long as we get to the finish line."
But what if they made it there and made the call, but help couldn't get to them in time? The ponies outside had gotten up six flights of stairs really quick. They were only going up three more. Even if they went all the way to the roof they couldn't get away.
After the door slammed again Ms. Rosetta and Layla stepped back from the desk, spread their wings, and took to the air in preparation of dive bombing Ms. Jean. Another hard slam knocked the desk back and the door partially open. She got herself in a running position as a powerful buck rip the door off its hinges and sent the teachers desk sliding across the floor, scattering the student desks.
Then everything seemed to go in slow motion. The two night pony mares dived forward through the opening, Ms. Rosetta letting off a shout. Jessie couldn't even tell what was shouted, but she saw her brother start to run, with Jackie right behind him. She hurried after him, unsure if the other foals were following.
They went through the door and immediately turned to head back to the stairwell. Ms. Rosetta and Layla tackled Ms. Jean, pushing her roughly into the far wall so everyone could run by, but she didn't stop to watch, keeping her eyes forward and as hard as she could. The hallway was littered with knocked over lockers, buried underneath the nearest pile she could see Crystal’s still form. There was a small scent of blood in the air. She didn't know if the bodyguard was alive or dead.
She also saw the other crystal pony who had been chasing them getting up. Layla must have noticed as well, as out of nowhere she came charging in, almost stumbling, straight into the other pony. Jessie didn't wait to see what would happen, she just veered hard to the side to get around them; she spied Jackie doing the same. No one stopped to check on Crystal. She was too dangerously close to the other crystal pony. Robby ran straight over the fallen lockers and the rest of the foals followed dutifully after.
When Robby reached the stairwell door he stopped and held it open while gesturing for the foals to go through. "Hurry! Up the stairs! Jordan, you've got to move faster!"
"I'm trying!" Jessie heard her unicorn friend scream from somewhere behind her. She couldn't tell how far behind Jordan was from the sound. She could see Jackie off to her side, and just barely saw Charlotte on the edge of her vision.
"Jordan, hurry up!" Robby shouted.
Worry got the better of her over good sense, and she came to a halt to turn and see what was happening with Jordan. Jackie at this point did the same. The purple unicorn filly was still scrambling to get over the fallen lockers. Jessie looked beyond her friend and she squeaked as she saw that there was no more fighting going on down the hall. Ms. Jean and the other pony were both standing over the fallen forms of Ms. Rosetta and Layla. The two night pony mares weren't moving. The crystal pony that had Layla had stumbled into was only a few feet from Jordan, though he didn't seem to be paying her any notice.
Jackie ran to go help her little sister, and Robby shouted after her. "Jackie, she can make it on her own! Get to the stairs!"
Jessie just froze, watching their two now glowing crystal pony attackers. The pair didn't seem to be taking notice of them; they were completely focused on Ms. Rosetta and Layla. Maybe they really were going to ignore them till they got hungry for magic again.
Jackie steadied her sister with a wing in her side and ran with the little unicorn. As the two were getting close Jessie turned and resumed her run for the stairs. After passing through the door to the stairwell she saw the three demons were already well up to the next floor. When she began up the stairs as well the two sisters passed through the door too, with Robby right behind them. The door swung shut behind him, blocking their view of the hallway with a harsh metallic slam. They were now on their own, with no adult to help them, against a pair of monstrous ponies that could kill them with a touch.