//------------------------------// // Chapter XX – The Calm Gives way to the Storm // Story: To Devour a God // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// The slums were a lot more expansive than I gave them credit for, then again I suppose that would be the case when you weren't viewing a small part of it through the window of a truck. Actually traveling past and through the dilapidated buildings, coarse dirt roads, and dark and gloomy alleyways on hoof was a vastly different experience altogether. It really gave me a sense of just how difficult the ponies living here must've had it. It would've been humbling even had it not been for the potential danger of a hungry Vargren lurking about, but with that being the case, it was not only humbling, it was both sad and terrifying. This is what these ponies had to suffer through on a regular basis? The fear of never knowing when an attack would come? Knowing your home and loved ones might be the first attacked in a vicious Avidaeus raid? It was madness. I had no idea how these ponies could handle it all and still leave their homes with smiles on their faces each day. Even knowing there were only a few Vargren left in town, even knowing there were more Daeus Hunters about just a call away, even knowing we had a seasoned veteran to protect and guide us greenhorns as we made our way through the slums searching for potential survivors who hadn't yet been rescued, I couldn't shake my fear that something would go horribly wrong. Worst-case scenarios battered themselves against the walls of my mind, and my newly heightened senses only seemed to make things worse. My enhanced sight had thrown everything into sharp relief, even in near-complete darkness. Every small movement in my periphery had me jumping at shadows. Every minute sound in the distance had my ears swiveling in that direction desperately trying to catch some creeping horror that wasn't there. I doubt there were many who could've pried the flash grenade from the iron tight grip I had around it. Surround by countless others in a relatively safe environment like the Wendigo base, I'd been able to distract myself from the changes I'd undergone, but out here in what I guess the lieutenant would've called 'the field', it was a lot harder to ignore given how hard I was relying on each of my senses. I was so far out of my element it was almost laughable. The only reason I wasn't having a full-on panic attack was that the one I expected to have the most trouble acclimating was the one who—at least at first glance—seemed to be the most collected. Well, maybe 'collected' wasn't the right word for the expression on Fluttershy's face. It was more like she was... determined. There was an air of conviction about the mare that I'd only gotten a small glimpse of before now. As our small group of six quickly but quietly moved through battle-torn streets and homes that had suffered major and minor collateral damage from the fighting, Fluttershy never once faltered or lagged behind. Lieutenant Spitfire had taken up the rear and Spike took point, both keeping a vigilant eye on our surroundings. Seeker and Vinyl seemed to be dealing with the situation well enough, searching diligently for any straggling slum dwellers that had been left behind. I, of course, did my part in looking out for somepony needing help, but I don't think any of us could've held a candle to Fluttershy's efforts. She sought out the lost and injured like she'd been doing it all her life, and if my suspicions were correct, that probably wasn't too far from the truth. It really was an encouraging sight to behold truth be told, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit envious of the way she was handling herself. Still, it wasn't as though she had no fear; one would only need to look as far as her shaking hands, quivering wings, and the sheen of sweat on her brow to know that she was just as nervous and on-edge as the rest of us, but she was certainly doing an admirable job of trying to hide it. It was for that reason that I didn't complain despite my own fear. It also helped that we were well over an hour into our search and so far hadn't run into a single Vargren since the one that attacked the truck. We did manage to find one stallion trapped beneath the debris of a partially collapsed storehouse, but only the one so far. Fluttershy and I had pulled him free while Vinyl contacted one of the closest medics nearby. He'd suffered a broken leg, some minor cuts and bruises, and one nasty gash on his arm, but all things considered, it could've been much worse. As it turned out, there were still some civilians that had taken it upon themselves to do much the same as we were. It was two of these civilians that actually found us before the medic did, one of them actually being a close acquaintance of the injured stallion. We offered to stay and look after the pony until the medics came, but the two who'd arrived insisted they had it taken care of, mentioning that they'd seen no Vargren in the immediate area. They'd been surprisingly stubborn about the matter, so in the end, we left them to it and moved on. I had my reservations about leaving them there, but they'd insisted and we did have a job to do, even if we hadn't had a chance to do much of anything yet. While a part of me was grateful that things had gone so smoothly so far, the rest of me could only see this as some kind of omen—the calm before the storm as it were. We had yet to come across any other Daeus Hunters, but I wasn't all too surprised about that given that the majority of them had probably moved to help defend the wall by now. I could still hear the distant sounds of battles being fought, but my enhanced hearing made it difficult to tell how close or far away it actually was. While I was working as part of Daeus Arms R&D, I had overheard a few stallions talking about how amazing it would be to have the kind of abilities Daeus Hunters got when they went through Daeification. It was just stallions being stallions and I understood that, but I also remembered thinking that there was more to the process than just a massive boost in physical traits. Growing up, I used to think in much the same way as they did, but as I got older I began to understand just what it meant to have all your senses change so suddenly and drastically from what you'd grown used to all your life. Shining had even mentioned before that he'd had some issues getting used to the sights, sounds, and smells around him. He'd described his experience as 'having his entire world expanded exponentially... and not always in a good way'. Having now gone through the same thing, I couldn't agree more with his sentiments. It's like my mind was still trying to catch up with my new senses, an issue that wouldn't have been all that much of a problem in a controlled environment. I'm fairly certain that's what training was for and I couldn't help but wonder if the others were having just as much trouble adapting as I was. None of them looked like they were, but then again, looks could be deceiving, so I chose to break the rather tense silence and ask the mare walking in front of me about it. "Not gonna lie, it does have me messed up a bit, yeah," Vinyl whispered, giving a quick scan of the area before flashing me a self-deprecating smirk, "got a nasty shock when I tried to crank the volume up on my headphones. Had to crank it back down, thought my eardrums were gonna burst otherwise." "You'll get used to it quick enough," Spike chimed in from up ahead, "but yeah, those first few days are pretty bad, especially during actual combat," he gave a slight chuckle, "back in training I was all kinds of disoriented from the changes, almost lost an arm because of it." The drakeling looked back with a self-deprecating smile similar to Vinyl's, only to drop it once he saw that none of us were particularly amused by his little anecdote. The only thing he'd accomplished with his story was fraying my nerves even more than they already were and causing Fluttershy's mask of determination to crack with fear. Realizing his mistake, Spike opened his mouth, closed it, and turned away with a far more sheepish chuckle. "That... probably didn't help any," he muttered, "sorry." He was right about that, and not only that but now I was left wondering just what kind of training he went through to almost lose an arm. That didn't really sound like something that should happen during a training exercise. Then again he was a dragon and presumably trained in the Dragonlands. With how tough dragons were normally, their training regimen was probably far more brutal than it would've been here. Still, the idea that even simple training could be that dangerous where he was from made me shudder. Looking at how young Spike still was, I also couldn't help but sympathize a little. These thoughts and more circulated within my mind as we continued to make our way through the slums, systematically rooting through empty, damaged homes in search of ponies that still needed rescuing. Over the course of the next hour or so we did find a few more ponies in need of help, some more so than others. The first pony had been a troubling sight for me, as I hadn't had to deal with an injured pony up close and personal like this. Sure there'd been a few incidents here and there in the lab back in Wendigo HQ when somepony got careless, but I was never around whenever that happened, and accidental injuries were a rare occurrence in general. After the fourth pony though, I began to get used to the sight, or at the very least I was able to ignore the unease I felt at my task. There hadn't been much talking after the small conversation between Vinyl, Spike, and I but I figured that was probably for the best anyway. I really didn't want to be distracted if a giant wooden wolf thing suddenly popped out of a nearby alleyway. As it happened, something actually did pop out of a nearby alleyway and though Spitfire and Spike had both caught onto the potential ambush moments beforehand and adjusted their stance and positions accordingly, the sudden feral roar of a lone Vargren as it came charging out of that small dark space still scared the living Tartarus out of me and everypony else except maybe Seeker. The moment it emerged from out of the darkness time itself seemed to stop. It didn't, I was sure, but in that moment I swore I could see each and every detail of the creature as it launched itself off the ground in a vicious lunge towards Spike, who'd already moved to stand at the forefront of our group. It didn't need to roar for us to know its intent; its massive wooden bulk, powerful limbs, and horrifying wolven visage alone screamed for the drake's death. There was murder in its eyes, and I was able to catch a glimpse of the possible reason its sickly glowing yellows were so fixated on Spike. The Vargren's thick wooden frame was heavily damaged, large patches of its already ashen colored body burnt further black and still smoking in some areas. In that single moment where time seemed to crawl to a standstill, in that blink of an eye, my eyes had analyzed all of this and my mind had put the pieces together. At that moment I realized this was the same beast that had attacked our truck and was sent fleeing into the night for its trouble, its body wreathed in green dragonfire. It was back, and it wanted revenge, a sentiment I didn't even know Avidaeos were capable of. The moment passed soon enough, and as Spike raised his short blade to ward off the Vargren, all I could do was stand somewhere behind him, frozen in shock and horror. Fortunately, much to everypony's surprise, the monstrous wolf didn't get a chance to sink its blackened razorlike teeth into Spike's scaly flesh. Spike himself hadn't even gotten a chance to fully lift his daeus arm before a cyan blur shot past the lot of us from behind and slammed into the beast with enough force to send it hurtling at high speed back into the darkness of the alleyway with a canine yelp of pain or surprise or both, I couldn't tell. The momentum of the interloper had sent it flying right along with the Vargren into the alley and the sounds of a brief but vicious struggle ensued seconds later. From where I stood, I could only see vague outlines—not enough to make out what was actually going on, but by the pitiful whine that eventually floated out of the shadows and the relative silence that followed, it was clear our lupine assailant had met its end. None of us spoke a word as the figure rose to its full height and began to walk out of the alleyway. By the shape of the silhouette, it was clearly a pony, and judging by the way it handled the Vargren and the shadow of what I could only guess was a short blade, that pony was almost certainly a Daeus Hunter. Both my suspicions were confirmed as the pony—a cyan coated, prismatic maned pegasus mare in uniform—stepped out of the darkened alley and into the light of the moon. The mare in question raised one hand in a casual greeting, her other resting what was indeed a short blade on one shoulder. "No need to thank me, folks, just doing what I do best," the mare began, a friendly—if almost insufferably smug—smile plastered across her face, "when you've got Rainbow Dash watching your back there's nothing to... worry..." she trailed, her slightly raspy voice petering out as she took in our ragtag group mostly consisting of fresh recruits. Her rosy eyes widened in shock as they landed on the pink maned pegasus who, up until a few seconds ago, was cowering behind Vinyl, "wait... Fluttershy?!" At the sound of her name—or maybe judging by her look of recognition, at the familiar voice and face—Fluttershy stepped past Vinyl and quickly moved to greet the pony who'd saved us all a good deal of trouble. "Rainbow Dash!" she cried, her soft voice filled with equal parts relief and worry as she pulled the bewildered cyan mare into a brief but heartfelt hug, "oh, I'm so happy to see you! I saw you at the party, but you left before I could talk to you and, well..." she bit her lip before giving a dismissive shake of her head, "I guess that doesn't matter now that you're here. Are you okay? That... that monster didn't hurt you, did it?" "Wha—no! No, I'm okay," Rainbow replied, pulling away and looking over Fluttershy with a critical and bemused eye. It might've been my imagination, but I thought I could see disappointment or remorse beneath the confusion as she spoke, "yeah, sorry I had to bail on you like that, Flutters, but I was... kinda busy. Orders from the Captain and all that..." she grimaced as if suddenly remembering a particularly unpleasant memory before moving on, "nevermind me though, what about you? What the hay are you doing out here, Fluttershy?" "Oh... well, um..." Fluttershy's smile fell and she began to fidget, her eyes suddenly downcast, "I... I decided to go through with it after all. I'm..." she paused a moment, then took a deep breath and returned Rainbow Dash's worried gaze with that same determined look I'd seen earlier, "I'm... I'm a Daeus Hunter now." "Yeah, I can see that much for myself," the rainbow maned pegasus replied, glancing down at the black and white armlet above Fluttershy's wrist before shaking her head, "I'm... I guess I'm happy for you. I mean, I'm glad you made it and all—really I am... but that doesn't explain why you're here in the slums without a weapon. Shouldn't you..." she looked around at the rest of us, as if finally noticing most of us were in the same situation as Fluttershy, "shouldn't you all be back at the base? You guys only just went through the Daeification process yesterday, right?" "Orders from the top, Dash," came Spitfire's curt reply. She nodded in acknowledgment as Rainbow turned snapped a crisp salute before continuing her explanation, "we're all out here on what's essentially a search and rescue mission. We're to avoid combat if at all possible, and with that in mind, you've done us all big favor. Well done, Rainbow, you have my thanks." "Ah, it was nothing, really," Rainbow Dash replied, though with a lot less bravado than before, "but with all due respect, ma'am, none of them have even gone through training yet. Doesn't this seem kinda..." "Believe me, Rainbow Dash, I'm right there with you," Spitfire answered with a sigh, "but orders are orders, and we all have to do our part. If it's any consolation, we've only had two run-ins with the enemy, and you saved us from having to deal with one of them," a thoughtful pause, and then, "what's the latest on our situation so far? Has the wall been secured yet?" Rainbow opened her mouth to reply but her voice died out as a familiar burst of static cut through the air, emanating from each and every one of our receivers. A second later the static was replaced with a voice I recognized, but couldn't immediately place at first. "To any Wendigo personnel deployed in the Outer District, this is Control calling on an open channel. Be advised that several more Vargren have made it past our defenses and have entered the Outer District! I say again, more Vargren are entering the Outer District! We have reports of a pack of at least seven or eight, possibly more... and... wait a moment... what's... i-is that—" The voice—Cheerilee's I finally remembered—cut out in another short burst of static, leaving a short but ominous silence in its wake. I had just enough time to quietly bemoan the fact that I'd been right to worry all along before an ear-piercing howl rang out somewhere in the distance, catching the attention of everypony and dragon present. The inequine cry alone was chilling enough, but it was the sudden roar that followed almost immediately that really got my heart racing. I had no idea what had caused it, but it was nothing like the howl of a Vargren, that much I was certain of. The sheer force of it was enough to make the ground rumble slightly beneath my hooves. As if that weren't enough, both cries had sounded close. Very close. "Oh, sweet Celestia..." Fluttershy's quiet, horrified exclamation more or less summed up my feelings on the matter, and from the looks of it, we weren't the only ones unnerved by the sudden turn of events. "What the buck kind of roar was that?" Vinyl muttered, "I know a thing or two about Avidaeos, but that was... something else..." "We need to leave," Spitfire announced, turning to address the rest of us, "if what I think is happening is actually happening and we get caught up in it, I'm not sure even I can guarantee your safety." "Hey I'm not gonna argue with that," Vinyl replied, "but you mind filling us in on what might be going on—er, Lieutenant?" Spitfire frowned and turned a troubled gaze in the direction of where the monstrous cries had come from. "If my guess is right," the Lieutenant replied after a second, "we're gonna have an unpleasant run-in with some very angry Vargren and the thing that chased them all the way here if we don't move our flanks now." "The Cannibal," I breathed, putting two and two together as Spitfire began to lead us all in the opposite direction of whatever crisis was taking place further away, "it followed them here?" "Permission to tag along as an escort, Ma'am?" Rainbow asked, running alongside the Lieutenant, "better three Daeus Hunters than two, right?" "Granted," Spitfire replied without hesitation. She retrieved her comm device from her belt before continuing, "if we get ourselves into a tight spot I expect you to defend the rookies at all costs, don't let me down, Dash." "Ha! Wouldn't dream of it!" came Rainbow Dash's confident reply. Before the lieutenant could respond, there was yet another burst of static before Cheerilee's urgent voice was once again broadcast through our radios. "To any Wendigo personnel deployed in the Outer District, this is Control calling on an open channel. Be advised that the Cannibal has breached defenses in pursuit of the Vargren, I say again, the Cannibal has entered the Outer District in pursuit of the Vargren. Daeus Hunters are already on the move and tracking the threat, but it is advised that all non-Hunter personnel and any remaining civilians clear out of the Outer District ASAP. More details will be revealed as we're updated. Control, out." It was exactly as Spitfire and Doctor Whooves had guessed, and exactly as I'd feared. The Vargren had, quite literally, been chased out of their territory, and found their way here. How they'd gotten past the teams defending the wall I had no idea, but I had a very strong and very terrible feeling we were about to leave the calm for the storm. I was fairly certain I'd get a glimpse of the Cannibal at some point, but I hadn't expected, nor had I wanted, to see it so soon. Unfortunately, I may not have had a choice in the matter. "W-Wait!" Fluttershy panted suddenly, "what about... what about the other civilians? There might still be ponies trapped out here! What... what if they get caught in the crossfire?" Rather than answer directly, Spitfire adjusted the frequency on her radio and raised it to her muzzle before speaking aloud. "Control, Lieutenant Spitfire calling, do you read? Over," there was a brief pause with no response, causing the mare to frown slightly, "Control, Lieutenant Spitfire calling, do you—" "Lieutenant Spitfire, this is Fair Weather, I read you loud and clear. Sorry about the delay, lieutenant, but there's been heavy traffic coming in from all units defending the wall. We've had our hands full ever since the enemy broke through. I highly suggest you and your team abandon the mission for now and return to base, over." "We're already on it," Spitfire replied, "the enemy's rampage was getting a bit too close for comfort so we're taking an alternate route back to base. Advise, over." "Wilco, lieutenant, please stand by..." "Lieutenant!" Fluttershy began, only to be cut off by the firey-maned pegasus in question. "I understand your concerns, Fluttershy," Spitfire interjected, "but right now, getting you all to safety is our top priority for the time being," perhaps sensing Fluttershy's immense dissatisfaction, she sighed before turning to cast a partial glance back at the distraught mare, "look... most, if not all, of the civilians living out here in the slums should be on their way to the Inner District by now, but once Control comes back with a clear path out of this clusterbuck, I'll check with them on the matter, alright?" Fluttershy frowned, clearly not mollified by the lieutenant's words, but she wordlessly nodded nonetheless after a minute. I couldn't really blame Fluttershy, but at the same time, I didn't want to end up caught in whatever mess we'd left behind either, and I wasn't even sure we'd completely left it behind to begin with. Even now I could still hear the occasional lupine howl or earth-shaking roar along with some very distressing sounds of heavy collateral damage being caused in the wake of this 'rampage' somewhere further behind us. At some point, I began to wonder if they were following us, a terrifying thought that was interrupted by a sudden inquiry from Spitfire. "You're with the 1st Unit, aren't you? Under Applejack?" the lieutenant asked, turning to address Rainbow Dash, "both hers and Fleetfoot's team were supposed to be defending the walls. Not that I don't appreciate your intervention earlier, but what were you doing alone in the Outer District? The Retaliation Team doesn't exactly have the marepower to spare for solo missions." Rainbow winced at the question, and I got the vague impression that she was hoping the question wouldn't come up. "Yeeeaah, about that..." the cyan pegasus replied slowly, her expression both sour and sheepish, "I was clearing out the Vargren that still hadn't gotten past the wall with Ap—er, the Captain and the rest of the team and we almost had them," her mouth twisted into an irritated scowl, "they were thinning out at first, but then more started showing up out of nowhere and while I was trying to fight them off, Trixie and her stupid arcane staff got in the way! She flipped out and started blasting everything to pieces with no regard for friendly fire and—" "Lieutenant Spitfire, Cheerilee calling from Control, do you read? Over." The moment the call came on Spitfire's line, the mare had her radio in hand and was responding, Rainbow's explanation already forgotten in the face of Cheerilee's dire tone. "Lieutenant Spitfire here reading you loud and clear, go ahead, Cheerilee, over." "I'm filling in for Fair Weather at the moment but she's updated me on your situation. Most of our carriers are in use by medics and are carrying civilians to safety, but there's an APC you can use roughly one klick southeast of your position. I'm updating the coordinates to your radio's map screen... and, lieutenant, there's no easy way to say this... but that really is the only APC we have left right now, so if you and the others don't want to hoof it all the way back to base you'll have to take it, but..." Cheerilee trailed off, clearly worried for us, and with good reason. There wasn't a single face that didn't fall at the news. We'd all been given a ray of hope only for it to be cruelly snuffed out in an instant, causing grim looks and pale faces all around. And why? "That's more or less the way we came," Spike commented, his grave expression matching my own as he voiced the exact reason, "which means we're probably gonna have to deal with that mess back there after all if we wanna make it to the truck." The notion wasn't a pleasant one—far from it in fact. It was the absolute worst-case scenario, the one I'd been worried about from the beginning. This was my life now, and things were only to get more dangerous from here on out. I knew that going in, but it was only then that I truly understood it. I found my mind briefly wandering back to the conversation I'd had with Vinyl as we waited in the lab and what she'd told me. It didn't matter how safe and sheltered I was behind the walls of Canterlot or how much I worried and complained about my own future and the imminent dangers that lay within. This was our reality, and I was bound to face it sooner or later no matter where or what I was—be it a scientist or a Daeus Hunter or both, be it Canterlot or Ponyville or anywhere else. What mattered was how I chose to face that reality, whether I cowered behind my walls or met the dangers of this world head-on. If Equus is going down, we're sure as Tartarus not gonna go down without a fight... The sentiment was all well and good, and with those words Vinyl had spoken, I could feel something well up inside me—something that wasn't fear, but I refused to trade my rational mind for blind valor. I'd hold onto this feeling, hoping it would grow as I did, but I wouldn't deny that there were some things that couldn't be helped. After all, facing reality meant facing hard truths, and the hard truth was that we weren't getting out of this situation unscathed without some kind of plan, Daeus Hunters or no. Maybe the lieutenant would think of something, and with her experience, I had no doubt that she had at least some modicum of sound judgement, but that feeling—that something I felt led me to believe... Maybe there's something I can do too...