A brief but ominous silence fell over all of us as we each took in the situation we now faced. The angry cries in the distance had faded somewhat but hadn't completely vanished yet, meaning the rampaging avidaeos were still nearby. In the meantime, we'd all ducked into an abandoned tool shed to rest and take stock of our current predicament. Thankfully it wasn't long before Spitfire's eyes were back on her multipurpose radio, brow furrowed and the air around her tense as she looked over the screen of her digital map, but otherwise the very picture of a calm and collected leader.
I took the quiet moment to mentally deconstruct our less than ideal circumstances, listing everything that could and couldn't be used to make things better for us—a habit carried over from my not-so-distant days working as a researcher in Wendigo's Hive Cell labs back in Canterlot. Biting my lip and creasing my brow with worry, I unconsciously shut out the world and retreated into my own mind, picking apart every detail and leaving no thoughts unpondered.
We might actually find ourselves in a combat situation. I don't know Vinyl, Fluttershy, or Seeker well enough to know how they'd react if we were all attacked. Just because they act one way outside of battle doesn't mean they'll be the same when under that kind of pressure so I can't rely on the existing data I do have, or at least it wouldn't be wise to do so. I think it's safe to assume the lieutenant has a decent amount of experience so I can probably rely on her if it comes down to it, but Spike... if what he says is true then he only just became a Daeus Hunter recently. I've seen him in battle but the conditions weren't exactly optimal to judge as to whether or not he was capable. The only traits I was really able to glean were the facts that he was fierce and surprisingly powerful, but reckless—extremely so.
Perhaps it was only due to those circumstances he found himself in, but right now it's safer to assume that's just how he is. In short, Spitfire is reliable, but I can't say the same for Spike, and what about Rainbow Dash? She's fast, there's no doubt about that, and while she might not have as much experience as somepony like Spitfire, she almost certainly has more than Spike, but then again that's only an assumption. In reality, I have no idea how much experience she actually has as a full-fledged Daeus Hunter. I don't like relying on unconfirmed information, but that's all I really have for the most part when it comes to the ponies I'm working with. Cheerilee said there were approximately eight or so Vargren running around the slums.
They're being hunted down by the Cannibal who's also entered the town, and I suppose that, while it's still somewhat out of their way, Ponyville is the closest habitat to the Everfree. If they were trying to resettle it would make sense that the Vargren would come here, but why did the Cannibal chase them all the way here? Surely there were other prey still roaming about in the Everfree? Regardless of the reason, they're running amok in the slums and are slowly heading our way. The slums are larger than I expected so there has to be a way around them. Cheerilee did say there were Hunters tracking the avidaeos down. Maybe Spike, Spitfire, and Rainbow Dash could find a way to halt their advance and hold them off until help arrives.
From what I've heard or read, the Cannibal won't attack Daeus Hunters—it actually goes out of its way to avoid them. Would that still be true here, where their actual prey is? Would it be provoked to attack if we interfere? Wait... would it even be prudent to try and make for the vehicle? If the Vargren and the Cannibal are at each other's throats and other Daeus Hunters are getting involved, shouldn't we just retreat further from the fighting and wait for the situation to sort itself out?
My ears perk up as the thought hits me like a lightning bolt. Unable to shake it, I turn to voice said thought to Spitfire and the rest of our group when I'm interrupted by a short beep from our radios and the now-familiar sound of Fair Weather's voice over Spitfire's radio.
"Lieutenant Spitfire, this is Fair Weather calling. Sorry for the wait, but we've finally managed to tag the position of the invading avidaeos in the area. I've updated each of your maps with the information..."
Curious, I flipped open the map screen on my own radio and noticed Vinyl and the others doing the same. Sure enough, I could see—amidst a somewhat crudely mapped overhead view of the Outer District—what I assumed were our positions represented by different colored triangles. Distressingly enough, there were several smaller red circles and one larger red circle slowly but surely making their way to where we were currently hiding out, and they only seemed to be a few blocks away. I didn't exactly need the map to tell me that, of course; I could hear the hideous cacophony of beastly howls and roars getting closer by the minute. Heedless of my growing panic over what I saw on my map, Fair Weather continued her report to Spitfire.
"...We do have some good news thankfully. We've received reports that the walls around Ponyville have finally been secured by the 3rd Unit and they've already gone to meet up with Captain Applejack's team to engage the remaining threat. The 1st Unit should arrive to intercept the enemy within the next 600 seconds, and the 3rd Unit won't be too far behind them, over."
"Understood," Spitfire replied, silently motioning for us all to move out on her lead, "we'll find a way around in the meantime. Thanks for the assist, Fair Weather—ah, and before I forget, do we confirmation on complete civilian evacuation from the Outer District? Over."
"Not yet, but we believe we've gathered everypony. We're still making sure all civilians are accounted for but at the very least, all civilians within the immediate area surrounding the enemy have been successfully evacuated so there should be no danger to any civilians remaining so long as the other teams can hold off the threat."
I turned just in time to see Fluttershy breathe a quiet sigh of relief, but the news wasn't quite enough to wipe away the worry from her expression. Understandable seeing as how there was no actual confirmation that everypony was safe. As Spitfire went to reply, we all heard some kind of muffled commotion on the other end of the radio, and a moment later Fair Weather came back on the line, her words a bit more rushed and curt than they'd been a second ago.
"I'm sorry to cut this transmission short but I'm needed elsewhere. Be safe out there, Lieutenant, and make sure the others make it out okay too. Fair Weather, out."
As the signal died out I took the chance to speak my mind regarding the situation. We were on the move once again, heading further away from the threat behind us with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash watching our backs while Spike took point. I was somewhere in the middle but slowed my pace until I was behind Vinyl and just ahead of the lieutenant.
"Um... I'm sorry if this is out of line," I panted, catching Spitfire's attention, "but wouldn't it be safer to just keep moving forward rather than trying to head back the way we came? If we just wait a bit, then the 1st and 2nd Units should catch up to the Avidaeos and we won't have to worry, right?"
There were less Vargren on the map than what Cheerilee had told us before, which means some of them must've been taken out either by the other teams or the Cannibal. Applejack and the others can handle what's left... can't they?
That was my hope, but even I couldn't deny that despite my belief that this was the best option, there was a small part of me that worried about the anomaly that was the Cannibal. Sure it was said to flee when faced with anything that wasn't another Avidaeus, but this was an uncertain situation given that the Hunters were mixed in with its prey, and there was also the fact that it had gone so far as to chase said prey past the wall and into the Outer District. If the Cannibal decided to fight instead of flee, would they be able to take it down? Evidently Spitfire's worries mirrored my own, and her response reflected as much.
"I can see where you're coming from, and I like where your head's at, Sparkle," Spitfire replied with a deep frown and a shake of her head, "if this were just Vargren we were dealing with then I would agree one hundred percent, but in this situation, the Cannibal is the biggest unknown factor," she paused a moment, stopping the rest of us as she swept her gaze across the area. With another brief command she led us down another road to our right, continuing from where she left off, "...just because we've chased it off in the past doesn't mean that's always gonna be the case, especially now when we're essentially interfering with its meal. Can't imagine it's gonna take too kindly to that."
"And you haven't seen this thing," Rainbow chimed in, "I can kick Avidaeus flank with the best of them and look good while I'm doing it, but even I'd rather not fight that monster if I don't have to," she cast a worried glance over her shoulder and her next words were spoken in a nervous mutter, "...frankly I'm hoping it just runs away like always."
That didn't inspire much confidence in the rest of us, and it only made me fear for the ones having to fight it if it decided to fight. The fear for myself kicked in when I remembered that studying the Cannibal up close would be part of my job, and if my heart wasn't racing before, it definitely started to then.
"The Cannibal," said an unfamiliar voice from further up the line of our fleeing group, "what does it look like?"
It took a second to register that the soft and quiet, yet still unmistakably masculine voice belonged to Seeker. Hearing the stallion speak was enough of a shock to temporarily stifle my growing anxiety over the situation, and I wasn't the only one who turned a surprised look his way. Rainbow Dash, who hadn't been around Seeker long enough to know about his rather cold and silent demeanor, replied without any kind of shock or hesitation.
"Honestly? It looks a lot like a dragon—disturbingly so actually," Rainbow answered, scrunching her face up in thought, "not only does it look like a dragon, but it kind of acts like one too. It breathes fire, can make weapons out of fire, grows firey wings, and it even has a shield thingy on its arm," her face fell into a bemused frown as she thought about the strange creature, "when we first saw it, we thought it might've been a dragon who turned into an Avidaeus because of Hive Cell corruption and somehow found its way into Equestria, but the Doc swears up and down that's not the case."
Avidaeos with appearances similar to that of the many sapient races found throughout the world weren't entirely unheard of, but in those cases, there was always one or more obvious and horrifyingly monstrous features that clearly set it apart from those sapient races. I wasn't sure how close in appearance to a dragon this thing was, but the similarities must've been immense if it had garnered this kind of attention. If it could manipulate fire to such an extent, that would explain all the smoke and the bright orange glow of distant fires I was seeing as we tried to make our way around the battle zone.
"According to Doctor Whooves," Spitfire added, "it doesn't share any characteristics that are associated with the kind of corruption that comes from something like a failed Daeification or a damaged Daeus Arm core—it doesn't even have a Daeus Arm to begin with," Spitfire shook her head, frowning in consternation, "Whooves is convinced it was never a creature like a normal dragon, or pony, or changeling or any of the other creatures like us. Oddly enough though, it does show clear signs of some kind of sapience in some of its actions—more so than we've seen in any other kind of Avidaeus so far. Unfortunately, that's about all the Doctor's been able to figure out so far."
Before Rainbow Dash could add more to her own explanation, the tell-tale crackle of static from her radio signaled another call and familiar southern twang boomed like thunder over the small speaker.
"Rainbow Dash, this is yer Captain! Where the buck did you get off to, girl?!"
"Oh, horseapples!" Rainbow cried, stopping in her tracks before hastily snatching up her radio from her belt and responding, "u-uh, this is Rainbow Dash speaking! S-Sorry, Cap, I was chasing down a loose end and kind of got caught up in—"
"Nevermind that! Did ya get the job done?"
"Naturally," Rainbow replied, a hint of her previous bravado edging into her voice, "it was a piece of cake, but listen, Captain, there's—"
"Good. Cheerilee marked the enemy on yer map, right?"
We'd all stopped just as Rainbow Dash did and each of us was waiting with varying degrees of curiosity, worry, or irritation. It seemed the mare could barely get a word in edgewise over her clearly displeased superior, but what caught my attention more was the utter chaos I was hearing in the background. It seemed they'd finally caught up with the enemy and were engaging, and from the sound of it, the fighting was fiercer than I'd imagined. Just past Applejack's irate voice, I could hear horrific roars and howls amidst the sound of laser fire, explosions, battle cries and what I could've sworn was laughter. Among the hideous cacophony of battle, it was the laughter that sent chills down my spine.
"Well, yeah, she did," Rainbow continued, rubbing the back of her neck and casting a nervous glance toward the rest of us, "but, Cap—"
"Then get yer sorry flank back to the rest of the team! On the double, Rainbow Dash! Out!"
Rainbow Dash flinched at the command and grimaced in annoyance at the radio as the signal cut out.
"Geez... that bad, huh?" she muttered before pocketing her radio and turning to the rest of us with an apologetic shrug and sheepish smile, "sorry, guys but I gotta bail. If Ap... if the Captain is that miffed, then things must be getting pretty serious."
"Understood," Spitfire replied, "go on then. It sounds like they're having more trouble than expected so don't make your captain wait any longer than she has to."
"Ma'am!" Rainbow snapped another crisp salute before turning to Fluttershy, her features softening slightly, "life is gonna get way tougher for you, Fluttershy, I hope you realize that."
"I doubt it'll be that much tougher, Rainbow," Fluttershy replied with that same quiet conviction, "the only real difference is that now I'll have the power to actually make a difference."
Rainbow Dash flinched again and turned away.
"Just... be careful, alright?" she said after a short, awkward moment, "I might joke around and talk a lot of smack, but being a Daeus Hunter is no joke."
"I'm well aware of that, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said, this time with the hint of a smile crossing her face, "and since I'm joining your team once my training is done, I know you'll be there to help me if I ever do get in over my head."
"Yeah... yeah, I guess that's true," Rainbow replied slowly as if just remembering the fact that Fluttershy was going to be a part of her squad. A confident smile replaced her worried scowl, "heh, if that's the case I'll just have to teach you everything they don't teach in training myself so that way I won't have to worry about you getting in over your head."
With that said, Rainbow Dash suddenly crouched low and launched herself high into the air, clearing the buildings around us by quite a bit. She flared out her wings at the peak of her jump and gave us all once last cocky smile and a much lazier salute before turning southward. With one sharp flap of her wings she shot off at an incredible speed that left a slowly fading prismatic trail in her wake.
An impressed whistle made me turn away to see Vinyl staring up at where Rainbow had been only seconds ago, her shades lifted and her eyebrows raised at the sight.
"Sweet Celestia, the girl can move," she muttered in awe, "don't think I've ever seen a pegasus fly that fast, Daeus Hunter or no. Well, except for maybe the Chief Commander but Commander Luna's in a league all her own so..."
She wasn't wrong about Rainbow Dash. The speed that mare could put out on a dime was phenomenal; I would even go so far as to say it was borderline unnatural. My scientific curiosity was more than a little piqued at the feat and I idly wondered about the strain that kind of flight would put on her already muted magical circuits. Just how long could she maintain that velocity before her magic inevitably gave out? It was as this thought crossed my mind that something Fluttershy had said before rose back to the surface of my memory.
"Hey, Fluttershy," I began, turning to the mare, "that friend you mentioned before back in the waiting room outside the Daeification Chamber..."
Fluttershy frowned in confusion for a second before a look of realization crossed her face and she gave a slow nod of confirmation.
"Right... yes, Rainbow Dash was the friend I was talking about before," she sighed before raising her eyes to the sky once again, a faint smile on her face, "that party was the first time I'd seen her in... a long while."
"I see," I replied somewhat lamely, "and from the sound of it I guess you two didn't really get to talk to one another at the party back then."
Fluttershy fell quiet for a brief moment, her smile fading slightly. Thankfully the moment passed quickly and she shook her head before lowering her skyward gaze towards me.
"It's okay," she finally said, "she seems... happy to be where she is, I think. Happier than she was the last time I saw her anyway. Just seeing that is enough for me. And besides, we'll both be seeing a lot more of her in the future, right?"
"Yeah, that's true I suppose," I said, giving the mare what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "same team and all that."
In all honesty, I was still fretting over my role as a Daeus Hunter, but somewhere deep down I think I was beginning to get used to the idea—at least I hoped I was. For the time being though, Fluttershy truly did seem to be happy to see her friend again, and there was no need for me to rain on her parade with my worries and insecurities. Based on the what I'd seen of their interactions, it was clear Rainbow Dash had some issues about Fluttershy's decision to join Wendigo as a Daeus Hunter, but I chose not to pry in the end, and we had other things to worry about anyway.
We continued onward without Rainbow Dash with Spitfire pushing us to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Our aim was simply to circle around the skirmish, giving the Avidaeos and the Daeus Hunters battling them a wide berth. To that end, we cut through abandoned homes, passed through narrow alleyways, and ran as quickly as we could get away with down the lesser-traveled roads. All the while I tried with a middling degree of success to ignore the stench of ash, smoke, and burning wood. More difficult to ignore where the continuing sounds of battle taking place not too far from our position. No matter where we went, the explosions, equine cries, and inequine howls seemed to follow us, and as a result, my eyes were constantly on the map as I moved.
I feverishly tracked every movement made by the Avidaeos and my concerns waned just a little more with each red blip that disappeared from the map. Unfortunately, the large red blip that indicated the Cannibal's presence remained a constant, which meant it hadn't yet fled like Rainbow Dash was hoping. While I felt some manner of relief, the Cannibal's lingering presence and the fact that the other Daeus Hunters weren't marked on my map kept my nervousness about the situation firmly in place.
There only a small handful of Vargren left and I can still hear the Daeus Hunters fighting even from here, so why hasn't it fled yet? Does it plan on fighting until it's wiped everypony out with the Vargren?
The thought was troubling to say the least, but before I could dwell too much on it, Spike's voice brought me out of my thoughts. At his prompting, we all looked ahead to see a lone APC parked beside one of the sturdier looking houses a few dozen yards or so away. With my new vision I could even just barely make out somepony exiting the truck from the driver's side as we approached. Whoever it was had apparently seen us as well and was waving us over from the other side. I couldn't tell who it was from here, but I almost laughed in relief as we neared our ticket out of this mess. I would come to learn that evening that Daeus Hunter's could rarely afford the leisure of a premature celebration.
Naturally, it was as we spotted our beacon of hope that the situation suddenly changed for the worst. A beastly cry rang out louder than any I'd heard thus far and with it came a massive pillar of flame that rose high above the shoddy rooftops. The blazing pillar lit up the night sky for what felt like ages, but was in reality only a dozen seconds or so. I tore my eyes away from the almost hypnotizing sight to look at my map and just as I did, I saw the four blips on my map representing the remaining Vargren vanish all at once. The sight did nothing to staunch the cold sensation of dread that washed over me. I don't know how, but I knew—even without seeing the large red blip suddenly speed away from the battlefield as the pillar of flame dispersed, even without the panicked voice of Fair Weather warning us all over our radios—I knew for a fact that it was coming this way.
Is it coming for us? Is it coming for me?
The thought came unbidden and I immediately dismissed it as ridiculous. It couldn't possibly know about us, and even if it did, what reason would it have to attack us now? There were no Avidaeos near us to devour. It had wiped out its prey, so it should have no reason to stick around. It was probably an unlucky coincidence that it was racing full speed toward us just as we were about to make it to our destination. More and more denials filled my mind, the increasingly ridiculous thoughts blotting out everything else around me. I once again began to feel the strange sense that time wasn't working quite right, and everything in my vision was thrown into even sharper relief than before. My eyes passed over everything around me, taking in every detail and committing it to memory.
I'd never been in such a high stress situation; not even what I felt during my Daeification could compare to what was happening to me now. I felt a rush unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It went far beyond a mere adrenaline rush, and though I hadn't realized it at the time, that rush too was a part of being a Daeus Hunter and it was different for everypony. As I took in more of my surroundings, my panic seemed to fade bit by bit, my scrambled thoughts and denials replaced with practical information and how I could use that to survive. That was what my purpose boiled down to then; as long as I survived, nothing else mattered... but no, that wasn't right.
My mind suddenly cleared and something clicked.
I glanced down at my map, then turned to where I could hear the destructive sounds of the Cannibal's approach. Ignoring the calls of the others, I let my thoughts run their course, analyzing the information I'd gathered and putting the pieces of a plan together until I had something concrete. Acting as quickly as I was able, I turned to the closest creature next to me, who happened to be Fluttershy and looked her over until I found what I was looking for. The mare had been trying to snap me out of whatever daze I'd been in, but I ignored that and pulled the flash grenade from her belt and attached it to mine before pulling out my own flash grenade. There was no time to explain so rather than tell, I decided to show and let the others figure out the plan for themselves.
"Get to the truck!" I shouted at the others as I turned the dial atop the grenade. For a moment, the rest of the group didn't move, all of them choosing instead to stare at me in bewilderment. I continued to prime the grenade even as I repeated myself, a lot more forcefully than even I expected, "ugh! just... go! I have an idea!"
I was wasting precious seconds and knew that whatever had come over me wasn't going to last long. I had little time and patience to spare, but thankfully Spitfire seemed to get the message and managed to corral the others into following her to the APC. I watched them go for a second and frowned as Fluttershy slowed almost to a stop to give me one last terrified look. The look was enough to shake my sudden bravery, but it held enough for Vinyl to drag the pegasus along, and I let out a shuddering sigh before raising the flash grenade I'd set to detonate at seven seconds. With three seconds left I turned and flung the thing as hard as I could toward the nearby home to my right just as a hulking shadow landed heavily atop it, the old shingled roof caving slightly under its weight.
In the same breath I turned and sped down the road towards the truck, running for all I was worth. I was so focused on the plan that I didn't even give the raging beast behind me a glance as I pulled the other grenade from my belt. I was afraid I'd completely fall apart if I saw the Cannibal so close to me; it would've been a terrible idea anyway, as the grenade went off at that very moment, lighting up everything in my path with a blindingly bright flash. Even turned completely away from the blast, I had to blink a couple of times to get the spots out of my eyes.
From the deafening roar and the splintering and crumbling of wood and stone behind me, I could only guess that the first part of my plan had worked. I really hadn't wanted to, but I had to actually make sure that it did, and so I cast a quick look over my shoulder. What I was exactly what Rainbow Dash had described; I hadn't seen a dragon in person until I met Spike, but I'd seen them in books and on tv and such, and seeing the Cannibal now, I could have mistaken it for an elder dragon had it not been for a few differences. The creature was roughly the size of the houses around us and its off-white scales shone brightly in the moonlight.
It had a more prominent hunch in its posture and a longer, more slender and flexible neck than that of a normal dragon. Decorated on either side of its head were two horns curving sharpy backward. Its face was far more feral than a modern dragon; In fact, everything about the beast could more or less be summed up as a dragon that had gone feral, with sharper spines, sharper claws and a fiercer expression. I'd read somewhere that dragons had changed over the course of several hundred millennia, and their current appearance was a result of natural evolution. The Cannibal brought to mind what dragons may have looked liked all those years ago. The thing was clearly built to kill, and just as Rainbow said, it did indeed bear an organic looking shield upon its left arm, though it looked more like a gauntlet.
Rather than the crippling fear I expected to feel as I looked back at the Cannibal, I was more enraptured by its appearance than anything. There was a sort of primal beauty about it that drew an odd appreciation out of me. Luckily I was able to snap out of it fairly quickly and noticed that the first part of my plan had worked in that the Cannibal was down on one knee, dazed and shaking its slender draconic head amidst the rubble of what was once somepony's home. Seeing that, I made to prime the next grenade but froze in the process, my legs slowing to a stop and my wide eyes fixing themselves on the dragon-like Avidaeus.
It had recovered, but rather than make any sudden moves, it turned to look at me. It didn't roar, it didn't rise to its feet, it didn't do anything but stare at me, and I couldn't look away. It had caught me in its gaze and held me there, and in those feral golden eyes I saw something I hadn't expected see despite Spitfire's earlier description of the creature.
I saw intelligence.
It wasn't just the hungry gaze of a clever hunter, it was something... more. Somewhere far off I heard the muted thunk of the flash grenade as it fell from my hands and rolled away, but I paid no attention to it, shocked as I was by what I saw. Scientific evidence showed that, although there were some cases of Avidaeos capable of higher brain function, the smarter Avidaeos were only capable of rudimentary planning at best, and those cases were extremely rare. What I witnessed in the eyes of this creature may very well have been my imagination, but I didn't think that was the case. Almost as if to prove my suspicions, the Cannibal slowly and carefully rose from the rubble and began backing away, its eyes still locked on me.
A deep, rumbling growl escaped its throat along with small gouts of fire from either side of its mouth and for an instant I was afraid it would attack after all. I yelped and clumsily backed away but before I could make it very far, the Cannibal spun around and loped off the other way. As it leapt atop another building and launched itself from rooftop to rooftop I watched it go. I continued to watch it until its monstrous form faded from view. It took another minute to register that all my limbs were shaking violently and I fell to my knees as all the strength drained out of me. I couldn't move anymore, the fear, relief, confusion and exhaustion crippling my ability to do anything but sit there and stare at the cold hard ground beneath.
I was fairly sure the others came back for me after some time, but I wasn't completely certain, as the rest of that night passed by in a haze. In fact the last thing I remembered clearly were the eyes of the Cannibal, and that was a memory I wouldn't soon forget.