"Okay Sids, we'll head out there and do what's gotta be done!"
"Clap," Mica said, obviously worried, "she said she would take care of it."
"Yeah," Thunderclap Dash said with her characteristic smirk, "and it'll be an open cage night in Tartarus before I let her do it alone." Again, Obsidian felt a rush of energy at her friend's insistence on being with her.
Mica looked at her for a long moment, then walked over to her, reached up, took her muzzle in his hooves, and planted a long, deep kiss firmly on her lips. When he disconnected with a soft >pop<, she simply stared at him, dumbfounded. "Stay alive, Clap," he said with a small grin, "and we can discuss that after this is all over with."
"Bbluhmsgnnrr... o... kaaaaaay..." she replied, looking a bit thunderstruck at the turn of events, but she shook her head as if to clear it, then looked at Obsidian. "Well, uhm, uh... r-ready?"
Did this strange ritual with the lips have a lot of importance? Obsidian was both kissed on the cheek and kissed one herself, but in this case, hooves were involved... maybe THAT was an important part of it?
"Interesting - I felt a rush of energy as soon as you offered to join," Obsidian noted to her pegasus companion, "as apparently, fighting alone wouldn't make much sense..."
Obsidian peeked at her amulet. It was an interesting thing, that much was certain, but... what would happen if she lost it? Would she lose all of her powers in an instant? Regardless, she could test her dependence on this thing after the battle - as soon as everypony was safe.
"Let's leave through the northern bridge; we'll check to see if Stalwart is well. Clap, would you kindly lead the way, as I still don't know this castle very well..?"
Clap was busy looking at Mica, but she jumped a bit when Obsidian addressed her. "Hunh? Oh... OH! I mean, uh, yeah! We got this - c'mon, Siddy!"
With that, they left the room, headed for the northern bridge. However, they were down the hallway before Clap spoke.
"That... that was... I mean, it... it felt..." she stammered, trying to articulate what had just happened (and failing). After a couple more attempts, she simply gave a big, hard sigh and kept flapping along next to Obsidian. Then...
"... he's a good kisser; who'da thought?"
And she gave a lazy, loopy smile. And bumped into the wall. "OH! Manure! Let's just... yeah, let's go already. And don't tell anyone I said that." Her blush was adorable, and she may have been speaking such a way about it... but she still had that dreamy smile on her muzzle.
Sooooooo... apparently, there was no longer a crush on Eloquence? "I assume, this, er... kissing, you called it?... is something important?" Obsidian asked, just to be sure.
Since, you know, Cupcake kissed her cheek... oooooh... oooooooooooooooh, and she kissed his!
"Mica really cares a lot about you," Siddy spoke up, "Try to avoid any damage; I'm less scared about Onyx than about the possibility that I'd have to explain to him why one of those Umbrals got 'snuggly' with you."
"He... he does?" Even with the display mere moments ago, she still didn't seem to be certain? "I mean, I know we're best friends and all, but... I mean, he never mentioned that he... honestly, it's not like I never thought about him that way, but... wow... I just didn't have a clue..."
She blinked again. "Kissing? Yeah, it's a big deal - mostly, kissing is one of those things folks do either when they really, really care about someone... or when they're related, but never on the mouth when related. That's just weird."
"My mom used to kiss me on the forehead, so that meant she loves me... but Mica? On the lips?" She smiled. "THAT means L-O-V-E. At least," she looked thoughtful, "I hope so, in this case. He really does like me like that, doesn't he?"
She then smiled at Obsidian. "And I think that also means that Cupcake likes you."
Now it was Obsidian's turn to almost run into the wall. "Y... y-you really think so? I mean, it's obvious, we are all friends here..." Listening to someone talk about it was kind of pleasant, to be fair; another part of everyday life that she'd never experienced before. Considering that she was made to look like father's oldest friend, maybe it was better he had never kissed her in any way.
"Oh, totally Sids! I'll bet he even wants to do the whole 'family' thing with ya! Y'know, marriage, foals, the whole nine yards!"
They made their way towards the front, and in a very short distance, they came across their destination.
The bridge in question spanned a large, rushing river that ran beneath. It was made of mortar, sturdy wood and stone, and looked solid and resilient. Lined at the sides by bricks, it sat a good fifty feet over the water; it was wide enough for two carriages to roll down, side by side, without bumping each other.
And standing on their side of the bridge was Stalwart Stance, who was levitating both longswords she'd picked at the same time and glowering down the bridge towards the distance.
Waiting. Watching. Guarding...
"Heya, Warty!" Clap called out.
Wart jumped about three feet off the ground! "Cuh-cuh-CLAP! Don't DOOOOO that!"
Clap smiled. "Heh, sorry - how's it going over here?"
She frowned at the pegasus, but looked back towards the horizon. "Nothing yet... but I can almost feel their hoofbeats coming... and there will be MANY."
ENEMIES, YAY! Monsters that had to be brutally destroyed - now that, she knew how to deal with. Marriages, foals, something about yards - not so much. She'd just have to explain to Cupcake that she really doesn't feel ready for foals right now. Of course, if he would insist...
Also, she never thought that Clap could be able to sneak up on Stalwart like that.
"More enemies, more glory! Stalwart, Clap and I need to leave castle for a moment, we should be back soon with the Pies; we may attract some attention, so on our way back we... we..."
Obsidian looked at the bridge. "... do we possibly have any explosives? Please, tell me we have some manner of explosives - I'm sure Princess Twilight will understand any damages, yes?" Enemies rushing through a bridge, a short explosion and boom, hundreds of Umbrals shredded... or better still, some explosives could completely block this path!
Eh, with Dark Magic, she could've just made a crystal wall... but alas...
"No, Lady Obsidian - no explosives. However, you do not need them; you have a Stalwart Stance, and that should be sufficient." She grinned proudly.
Clap chuckled. "You've always been a heckuva brave one, Wart - but do you think you can hold off an entire horde when they show up?"
The little mare stood up proudly and levitated her two swords up next to her. "Watch me and be amazed, Thunderclap."
Clap smirked, then nodded to Obsidian. "C'mon - your sweetheart's waiting for us."
"The best of luck to you both, and may Celestia and Luna protect and guide you!" The two of them were a good ways from the bridge when they heard Wart behind them call out, "Wait, WHAT!? Sweetheart?!?"
Clap grinned. "Just keep movin', Sids; she'll figure it out."
"She's quite loud when she is surprised, isn't she?" Hopefully, such a fact will allow them come with help if Stalwart got surprised by power of the horde. "You know this place, Clap - is there anything we can use to our advantage?"
"Well, from what I could tell through that bubble-thingy, it looked like they were holed up in Sugarcube Corner; when the Cakes retired and moved to Manehattan, Pinkie Pie bought out the whole place. She... had a surprising number of bits to do it with, too." So, then the Pie family was rich? They didn't seem to be...
"Anyway, ever since then, she's employed her kids and others in town to work the counters while she keeps the tradition of celebrating birthdays alive. Heck, before you showed up, that was almost always where you could find Cup. Honestly, you showing up got him out of that place more than he'd been in, like, a year or two."
Clap then took on a smirk. "Rumour has it, she had an underground bunker underneath it, where she kept intelligence on each pony and always knew all sorts of stuff on everyone... but she never used it for bad stuff; she'd know what your fave flavor of ice cream was, what sort of presents you liked, how old you were... stuff like that."
She then gave a bit of a distant expression. "But nopony knows that for a fact, except her family... and Cup won't blab, so there's no telling. But they have great food there, at least."
Obsidian lifted an eyebrow at this news. "So you're saying we have to hope that they DO have a bunker... and that it has escape routes." Nothing else about this sounded even slightly useful... well, hopefully Umbrals couldn't fly.
"Could you get inside from the air, while I engage in distracting our enemies?"
Clap grinned. "Actually, I was thinkin' the same thing, Siddy... except I got the distraction part, and you get inside. Think you can handle it?"
Ponyville, when they reached it, was under siege by the Umbrals... but the citizens seemed to be mostly protected by Princess Twilight and the other Element Bearers; they were hiding out in City Hall, a bubble of purple magic keeping the Umbrals out and the ponies in.
Sugarcube Corner was surrounded on all sides by at least five-score Umbrals, and they seemed intent on trying to break in, or at least break down the walls. Other than the terrible creatures, there didn't even seem to be anypony there... but the orbs had directed them to this place, so here she was.
"In case you've forgotten, I can't exactly fly, Clap; you make a better fit for a quick scouting mission, and I should distract and destroy, to relieve my bloodlu-..."
She stopped talking and snarled lightly. "I'm still trying to rile myself up, to get my Dark Magic flowing.... how exceedingly annoying." So many enemies... so many bodies that would have to be buried...
Oh well - at least sister Onyx wasn't playing around.
"But sure, I can get inside, no problem." Huh, Cupcake will be absolutely shocked with her appearance, she was sure of it.
Clap grinned. "Okay then, Obsidian my friend... here we go, filly!"
She shot directly straight up into the air, flared her wings out (which gave her an appearance like a phoenix, for a moment), then she dove down and swept towards Sugarcube Corner. When she got close, she flapped low and, with a hearty yell, plowed right into the crowd, sending several sprawling and a few flying through the air backwards.
She was like a flying battering ram, sending them packing as she kept flying on. "Catch me if ya can, Umbrellas!"
She then took off towards the other side of town, and had a number of the Umbrals right on her tail, even if they were safely below her. A few back-n-forth passes, and the majority of the horde ended up following the pegasus around the corner and down the street.
There were now roughly about fifteen or twenty of them left outside the place, and they were sniffing about, still looking for a way in.
Oh dear... with that many undead trailing the pegasus, Obsidian really hoped that she would be okay; a single hoof in the wrong place, and her attempt to ram Umbrals would end with Thunderclap being buried by these monsters!
But, ah yes... first things first. Obsidian took up her lance with her newfound magic - and it was going to be the biggest pencil-like weapon around... but before a more direct attack, she tried to power her horn - and cast any form of magical missile she possibly could.
There was a flash from above her vision, and three small balls of white light began to circle her horn. Meanwhile, she could feel her magic growing inside her - she was gathering it back a bit at a time, and it actually felt like the Light was easier to recharge, quicker, more concentrated. The lance was almost weightless in her magic's grip, and she hefted it with ease.
Three spheres... multiple targets... reloading time, unknown... hmmmmmmm...
Obsidian stepped forward, attempting to unleash a barrage of missiles at her enemies. She wasn't delicate about it, either - she wanted to feel her powers and learn to wield them properly.... aaaand if it ended in overkill, she'd just have another reason to be pleased with herself.
The three small spheres didn't leave the orbit around her head; instead, each one began producing smaller balls of light, which started immediately streaking towards the Umbrals like darts. Each one popped as it struck the ghoulish forms, and each pop was like a small explosion; a ripple of pops, like firecrackers, and the closest one lost a leg, part of its' barrel and an eye. Now THAT was superior firepower!
It made very little sound, but the attack most certainly did NOT go unnoticed.
Others turned, and they began to charge at Obsidian at a breakneck pace, scrambling as if they were running for their... uh, unlives. When more of the Light missiles struck, the damage began to rack up; limbs were taken clean off, bodies damaged to the point of collapse... even a skull burst like a balloon! Jet black ichor flew everywhere, and even splashed onto Obsidian; it smelled like raw sewage that had been boiling on a stove for, oh say, six centuries or so? The odor threatened to make her gag, but she managed to hold her stomach's contents down.
The lance? THAT was a different category of fun...
The things may have had vicious claws and teeth, but their waterlogged bodies weren't made for resisting damage. The first one she speared, it went right through them! Pulling it free actually broke the creature in half, sending its' torso to the ground as its' back end stood there. Wait... it didn't fall?
No. It didn't.
That's when she noticed the dismembered limbs were all still moving, writhing, squirming... and advancing, as if they instinctively KNEW where their enemy was! Still, whatever the Light bullets didn't destroy, the lance was sufficient to make short work of. However, now she knew that the only way to guarantee their demise was to smash each part into paste; otherwise, it was just a smaller, more limited foe to fight.
Obsidian didn't stop assaulting the wretched creatures with her magic (as well as a growing hope in her heart that she'd be able to clean herself quickly) while striking them at the same time with her lance - impale and wound to slow their momentum, reduce their mobility and then Light missiles to finish them off for good.
Hopefully lancing them first would reduce a bit of pressure in their bodies, so they wouldn't burst in such sickening ways... but as long as the smaller parts were less dangerous than the full creatures, she was more focused on the Umbrals that still had a complete set of limbs.
It didn't take very long before she'd managed to work her way through the Umbrals outside of Sugarcube Corner, and eventually she found herself stomping the last piece into gristle.
The worst part hadn't really been the icky goo, nor the fighting itself... it had been the eerie silence. The horrible things never made a sound, save the echo of hooves on the ground; it had been like fighting while wearing earplugs, and it had been dangerous due to the fact that she realized she would never have heard them coming, were she not already aware of their existence. It made her wonder what the initial flood had been like, and how large the toll had already been on the population.
The last of the nasties dealt with, the way was clear for Sugarcube Corner. In the distance, Obsidian heard Thunderclap laughing her fool head off; good, because it meant she was still living, breathing... and by the sound of things, having a blast.
Granted, it would have been helpful to have a partner here, to keep her plot safe; otherwise, she could have severe problems during a prolonged fight with these creatures. At least Clap was safe - good.
Obsidian quickly trotted to the shop and knocked harshly. "Cupcake? Mister Lemon? It's clear!"
There was nothing but silence for a moment, then there was the sound of something heavy being moved from behind the door. After a moment, the doorway cracked open and a bright pink eye looked back at her.
"Oh great. It's you." It was Blue Raspberry, the smarmy sister who was so pleasant, last they met. "Let me guess; you think you're some kind of big-freakin-hero, and now you wanna come in here and parade your alicornier-than-thou attitude among the poor little Pie family, right?"
"Blue?" The door opened wider, and Licorice Twist stood there, looking dreamy and gorgeous, his sister Blue standing off to the side with a pout on her muzzle. "You put down the Umbrals?" He poked his magnificent head out and looked around. "I could have sworn there had been a lot more of them. Thank you kindly, stranger."
Oh, so of those two ponies it was less pleasant one that recognized her - how sad.
"Yes, you're correct, Blue," Obsidian grinned at her, not willing to play with her hostile approach, "Licorice, it's me, Obsidian. Thunderclap lured the monstrosities away - we should leave quickly!"
Licorice's eyes flew open. "... Obsidian!? That's... is that you?"
Blue rolled her eyes. "Yes, stupid - she still has that same stupid face, she just looks... less evil, that's all." The angsty mare motioned inside. "Get inside, you dumb nag; we're not leaving yet. The others and Mom are downstairs."
"Mama..." Licorice said with a visible fall in his demeanor.
"Yeah, yeah, save the waterworks, let's GO."
Oh, dear - had something terrible happened here too? Hopefully Equestria didn't lose one of the Element Bearers - besides, Cup, Lick and the rest of the Pie family would be devastated. Hopefully Obsidian was right on time to help... for a change.
Even through the nasty stuff on her coat, she could smell the delectable scent of sweet treats all through the place. It was decorated in pastels that were bright and warm, but with the lights off it looked more lonely and abandoned.
Blue trotted over to one of the counters and reached onto a high shelf, tipping a cookie jar to the left. As soon as she did, there was a shifting sound, and Blue vanished down below the countertop, out of sight, as if the floor had fallen out from under her!
Licorice walked over to the shelf. "Come stand on the floor mat; I'll send you along, and I'll be right behind you." Licorice looked handsome... but seemed quite bothered and glum.
As instructed, she stood on the floor mat. Licorice reached up and tilted the cookie jar.
{WHOOSH!} The floor mat slid out from under her, and Obsidian found herself sliding down a long tube; it had what looked like multi-colored lights imbedded in it, so it wasn't dark... but she was moving quite fast, and sliding around turns and bends too rapidly to properly take in.
And then, she shot out of the tube and landed in... a bunch of colored balls? Yes, she'd come out of the tube and landed in a pool of soft plastic spheres of many colors. The descent had been rapid, but these balls at the end were what kept any injuries from happening. Interesting mode of travel.
However, when she looked up, there was much more to see.
It was a warehouse... underground! There were shelves and filing cabinets, each filling the wall on each side, which were chock-full of papers and pictures, photos and notes, and looked as though they were utilized often, as there was no dust on anything down here, and the shelves were filled with all sorts of gear, like packs of 'party balloons', party plates, party hats, party tablecloths, party presents... just about anything one would want for a celebration, and then some!
Standing at the head of the aisle was Lemon Custard... and he did not look like a happy pony - he looked as though he was fighting tears. "Obsidian. You..." He blinked and looked at her again. "You... you're different."
By Darkness, it was the most ridiculous fortification she had ever seen. The long tube was clearly meant to confuse and disorient any enemies, but was also used for allies - including those who, like Obsidian, had no clue what they should expect. Her recent skirmish with the Umbrals didn't traumatize her as much as that had!
She quickly moved forward, to avoid being crushed by Licorice. "Yes, Mister Lemon... Light Magic; I can explain later. What's the situation?" Who knew Lemon could cry... yet, considering Blue's behavior, Obsidian hoped the situation wasn't THAT serious.
Lemon Custard looked over his flank, down the aisle behind him. "Mother. She... wanted to make sure we were all okay, so she naturally came here, where we were holed up. We held off a number of those things, but the fight did not leave us without... casualties." Lemon shut his eyes for a moment, then sighed and turned.
"Mother is hurt. She says she'll be fine, but..." Lemon cleared his throat, and motioned for her to follow as he made his way along the shelving, towards the rear of the place.
"Obsidian, I swear to you, if I lose her, I will personally kill anyone and everyone who is responsible for this blasphemy against Equestria. I've had contact with Princess Twilight, and she says that she's holding Ponyville's Town Hall, and has the majority of the town's population amassed there. It's good news... but unless we can find a way to end this siege, we will eventually be overrun with these horrid creatures."
Should Obsidian be worried about his threat? She was partially responsible for this mess after all, which was seemingly making her a potential target! Maybe Lemon had warmed up a bit to her lately... but it didn't mean he wouldn't pull her kidneys through her ears, if he felt she was a part of it.
"Well, Mister Lemon, the good news is that we probably found a tool designed to counter magic that controls this undead army, and..."
They reached the back, where it was set up like a living room, so to speak, with couches and chairs and a few tables.
Sitting on one of the couches was a drab grey mare with a flat purple mane and a completely disinterested look on her muzzle. She reminded Obsidian of Mica, for some reason. Pacing back and forth in front of her was another grey mare, this one seemingly agitated as she continued to stalk back and forth, back and forth. "I swear, if anything happens to her, I'll-... I'LL..."
"You know," the mare on the couch said, "your stress really isn't doing her any good. Or you."
"Cram it, Maud!" The pacing pony stared at her. "If Pinkamena had just stayed with her friends, she'd be-"
"She'd be knee-deep in zombie ponies, Limestone," the couch mare intoned, "just like she was here. The difference is, now she knows her foals are okay."
Pacing mare (Limestone?) grit her teeth and made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat... then she saw Obsidian and Lemon, and rolled her eyes. "Great. More ponies in trouble - are we just a problem magnet today!?"
Couch mare (Maud?) just looked at her. "Hey."
Hm, Mica's mother? Obsidian bowed respectfully to both mares; Maud surely looked even more stoic than Mica.
"...a-and I know some healing spells, and currently I am enjoying a rather large reserve of magic. I haven't had much of a chance to practice with it yet, but... umm... it wouldn't hurt to try, methinks?" She then looked around curiously. "Where are Patty and Cupcake...?"
"Light Ma-" Lemon balked, utterly shocked. "You're telling me that you have completely switched magical capabilities!? But... b-but HOW!? That shouldn't even be empirically possible! How could-"
"Wait," Limestone now stared at Obsidian. "THIS is the refugee from Sombra's dungeon!? What in Tartarus is SHE doing here!?"
"Offering to save Pinkie," Maud stood up, and looked at Obsidian. "They're in the back, with our sister. Come on, I'll show you."
"Maud!? What do you think you're do-"
"If you're not going to help, then keep thinking; you're capable of coming up with good plans, so you should do that right now - leave this to me. Unless you have a reason not to trust my judgement?"
Limestone's muzzle twisted up into an angry moue... which fell with an exasperated sigh. "FINE." She then marched right up to Obsidian, and pointed a hoof at her, almost right in her face. "But if you mess up and something happens to Pinkamena because of it!?" She then brought her hoof back and drew it slowly across her own throat.
Maud blinked at her, then turned and walked along. "Come with me."
"I can explain later, Mister Lemon," she called back as she followed the drab grey mare. It was quite a good thing Mica's mother wasn't being weepy or angsty; now she saw where Mica got it from.
When they were out of earshot, Maud spoke up again. "Limestone's just angry that she wasn't able to stop Pinkie from getting hurt; don't judge what she says too harshly."
And a doubly-good thing nopony was actually dead; it was going to stay that way if Obsidian had anything to say about it! No more ponies dying on her watch. Including herself, of course.
"Well, I don't have too much choice, methinks," she mused as she followed Maud. In theory, healing magic should be better attuned to Light Magic, and would therefore make the act of healing easier, right?
They reached the back area, and Obsidian could see the ponies gathered here. On a moth-eaten old couch was Pinkie Pie. She didn't look all that bad, but there was a thick red stain at about waist-level on the blanket that covered her midsection. She looked almost as chipper as she'd been when Obsidian had seen her last time... but her muzzle looked tired, as if she were silently struggling with something.
On one side of her was a beautiful mare, about Pinkie's age, whose eyes widened as Obsidian showed up. She gave a soft, almost polite gasp and watched with apprehension as she and Maud approached.
On the other side was Peppermint Patty, the quiet sister. She had a number of books and charts out, pouring over them all and seemingly searching for as much info as she could find.
Next to her was dear Cupcake Sprinkles... with twin rivers pouring from his muzzle as he held his momma's hoof in his own.
"OOOOOH! Obsidian, you look so pretty!" Pinkie said to her as soon as she saw her. "I am loving the new you! Not that the old you was all that bad, but this new look is definitely YOU, filly!"
Patty looked up, smiled and waved, then went immediately back to her work. Cupcake looked up at Obsidian; he looked so sad and pitiful, heartbroken as if his mother's corpse was cooling under his hooves. "(sniffle)... S... Siddy? What're you doing here?"
Was the other mare perhaps Pinkie's mother? No... no, she was too young; the aforementioned other sister, then? Regardless, Obsidian bowed to her anyway, as well as the rest.
"Miss Pie, please save your strength; we'll be able to chat soon," she assured the wounded mare as she approached the group. Was this blanket sterile at all? "I'm here to help, Cupcake; Patty, did you find something useful? I know healing magic, but I have to know as much as possible," she surrounded the stained blanket with her magic. "If somepony doesn't wish to see this, you should avert your eyes now." Obsidian carefully lifted it to inspect the wound...
"STOP!" Pinkie shoved her hooves down on top of the lifting blanket, then glared at Obsidian. "I do not want anything wrong down here to be seen by my family! I won't have it, I won't, I won't!"
Her muzzle softened then, smiling at Obsidian. "But send them out, and I'll let you see to me. I don't want my little ones having nightmare fuel filling up their brains!"
Cupcake looked at her earnestly, "But momma-"
"No no no! Marble, would you please get these two out of here?" she asked the unknown Pie.
"Mmmhmm," the quiet, lovely mare said and made her way around, putting hooves around Patty's shoulders as she reached her, making her way to Cupcake. Cup looked at his momma, then turned and threw his forelegs around Obsidian, squeezing her tightly. "Please, Siddy... help my momma."
Pinkie Pie smiled at her colt. "Don't worry - I have a feeling she's gonna be able to do quite a lot, here. You go on with Auntie Marble now, you two go see to everypony else in there, I'll be fiiiiiiine!"
With great reluctance, the three of them left the area where they all were. Once they were no longer about, however, Pinkie Pie breathed a sigh of relief.
"Am I glad to see you! You can't imagine how hard it's been to just keep them from freaking out! So," she threw back the cover, "your job's easy..."
To Obsidian's great surprise, other than some scratches and a bruise on her left flank, she was completely unharmed!
"... all you have to do is convince my kids that I'm wounded, and they'll take care of the rest!" She was all smiles now, and stood up and stretched, as if to confirm.