What was she thinking? Simple answer really: she wasn’t.
That little job fell to Twilight, who was currently leading all six of them up a steep sloped mountain, across hazardous terrain, towards the top where a resting dragon lay sleeping. Below their hooves, (of which she refused to look), almost all of ponyville was fogged over by a cloud of black smoke said dragon was either knowing or unknowingly fumigating from his snores.
And princess Celestia herself had tasked them to put a stop to it. Them; plural.
Now, reasonably Fluttershy could see why; her and her friends just recently being officially titled as the now guardians of Equestria. What she couldn’t understand was why this task required all six of them specifically.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, even Rarity all seemed rearing to go from the start. But her? She’d nearly tripped over her hooves after a scare from her own shadow just seconds ago. Everypony knew of her talent for taking care of any and all wildlife, although by ‘taking care of’, meant treating the critters with the respect and kindness they deserved like anypony else.
But a full-grown dragon? Spike was different, he was a baby, he was kind and full of such beautiful spirit to help others. Most dragons held no beliefs, instead often resorting to awful and mean-spirited actions simply for the fun of it. She held no ground in this situation.
At least, she thought so. Twilight on the other hoof, had made it perfectly clear the Pegasus would be needed during this venture, thinking her compassion and empathy would steer their temporary ‘neighbor’ towards a different resting place.
All day she’d reeling in shock and skepticism, why the unicorn held so much unshaken faith in a pony who was doing her best to bolt back down this mountain trail faster than Rainbow on Cider season.
Speaking of, Fluttershy saw the same skepticism in her coltfriend’s eyes when it was decided the yellow Pegasus would be of help. Several times she’d heard RD whisper in their defacto-leader’s ear, caught the annoyed tone in RD’s voice whenever she’d point out an otherwise obvious danger, see the roll in the older Pegasus’ eyes during some rather embarrassing moments.
If her own best friend held doubts, what did that say for Fluttershy herself? Why was she here, what purpose aside from slowing the others down did she serve?
Somepony calling her name had her jumping near five feet into the air before soothing her rapid beating heart to glance at the six in front. One positive was seeing how self-assured they all looked, ready to face indescribable dangers for the sake of ponies they both did and didn’t know. It would be okay, so long as she stuck in the background.
As long as she had her friends, she was going to be okay.
____________________
“Transport is on its way, seven minutes.”
“Great, so what’s the plan? Wrap ‘Picasso’ here in a sheet and carry him out the door eyeballs deep in rioters?”
“You see any sheets in here? We carry the body out the window, head for the commuter tracks, and get enough distance from the crowd as possible. According to Rosa, the riot is heading further south down the street, we’ll have the perfect chance to find the track stairs. Anything is possible though, so be prepared.”
“Okay, so let me get this plan straight in my head; try and outrun about a hundred coked maniacs on foot whilst carrying a gutted old man’s corpse. Average day at the office. And the girl?”
The two armored men glared in her direction; Well, the leader did. The dark-skinned man, whose name she caught as Le Rue, carried a more approachable, if only slightly softer vibe compared to the three in total. She shrank back trying to appear as small as possible under Dorland’s cold scowl, until his unhappy expression turned upwards.
“Mr. Thomas. You’ll be the one escorting the suspect.”
Behind her, another male who’d been looming in the corner of the room following the duration of her interrogation, scoffed at the demand.
“Sure thing, Dorland.”
It didn’t take a genius to pinpoint the palpable animosity between Dorland and Thomas. From the get-go, since arriving in the room, the leader of the three men had made certain to shove their odd-man-out to the wayside. She had no clue as to the origin of their grudges, and frankly she was hard-pressed not to get in the middle of it for once. Once it’d been made unofficially clear she wasn’t a threat, she’d been more than happy to sit and keep quiet.
Although, not to say there weren’t plenty of her own questions hovering over her head, most of which involved the one male still watching her. Whilst Dorland and Le Rue wore the appearece of something akin to police or guard officials, Thomas was the sore thumb. His entire appearance was about as raggedy and unkempt as the street bums she’d encountered in the earlier hours following now. Not to mention his decision to-
She must’ve squeaked when an unfriendly hand grabbed her shoulder, because both Le Rue and Dorland looked in her direction funny. A low growl came from above her.
“Move.”
Choosing to hold her words inside, Fluttershy inches forward whilst the two in front start breaking through the plywood and pick up the horrifically disfigured body in their arms. Her expression matches Le Rue’s verbal discomfort as she’s pushed to follow behind.
When she climbs up through the window, once again her new body shivers against ice cold wind and snow attack her exposed face. Unfortunately, she’s not given the liberty to so much as consider instinctively reeling back from the discomforting feeling because Thomas makes his point to stay mere inches behind; forcing her commit to the act of finally exiting a building she hated so much, yet was the first providing shelter for temporary protection.
This new body should’ve come with a hat.
Outside is not quiet as she’d hoped, the sounds of humans fighting to the death a mere block away echoes off the walls of enclosed alleys making it seem as though she’s standing in the middle of it all. Silently the group makes their way down the path and towards the street, which had previously been a bum battlefield only hours ago. Her knees threatened to give in simply by looking at it, a tempting desire to run in an opposite direction where it not for her assigned guard to keep roughly pushing her ahead. Dorland makes a gesture and motions for a nearby staircase leading up to the towering tracks above their heads. Although truthfully, she’s unsure whether it will provide them enough distance and advantage from any potentially watching crazies or not.
Speak of the devil; right as the two men carrying the body take the first few steps, over to an adjacent alley several men are tearing at one another in animalistic fashion. The group hasn’t been spotted yet, so normally she’d count that as a win and keep moving, however she find herself rooted.
Watching these people fighting, more like killing each other for no apparent reason made her… well, she didn’t know how best to describe the churning emotions in her heart and stomach.
A fatal error on her end, one false step and she crumbles to the floor fast, pain only a fleeting concern soon replaced when the sound of her bones hitting hollow metal catches the attention of several extra eyes. There wasn’t a second of hesitation for the previously brawling thugs to abandon their hatred for each other and barrel towards the foursome in a united pack. Her arm is hoisted up by Thomas, who began dragging her close beside him as Le Rue and Dorland sped up the stairs. Several times her feet tripped, damaging her injured legs further with each fall as the man above growled in annoyance in his task to keep her moving.
Once they reached topside, hopping down the stand where passengers usually waited and onto the very rails themselves, she took a quick look to make certain they were still being followed. Yep, and by some universal measure of misfortune the pack of tailing crazies had doubled.
She hardly noticed how easily she ripped her arm away from Thomas’ iron grasp much to his surprise, and sped her pace into a full sprint. None complained, all trying to outrun their pursuers as best they could. Greyish towers blurred by her as she ran, the only source of focus being her tunnel vison on what lied ahead and her own heart pumping energized blood into her body. The two in front had surprisingly gained a fair distance despite their baggage, enough for Dorland to finish demanding for transport and spin around, aiming a metal weapon she didn’t like the implications of.
Several agonizingly loud pops rang out as several unspeakably fast things whizzed by her head, followed by grunts of men in pain from the back. None sounded like Thomas, so she needn’t worry much. Eventually, Dorland seemed to gain an epiphany, raising his weapon to the far left where only a few short pops echoed out again before blinding light flashed in her face. She was taken off her feet by the shockwave, falling to the floor painfully fast alongside others, one of which was Thomas himself. Were it not for the metal guard gate on the railway’s edge, he would’ve been flown off the tracks entirely.
Pain caused her head to spin, nausea threating to grow as a result whilst she groggily lifted her body off the uneven rails. It wasn’t enough to not catch Dorland and Le Rue continuing to bolt, making their escape from the fire standing between them and the rioters. To the right, Fluttershy saw a metal box where the raging fire birthed from, blue sparks radiating from broken telephone wires dangling uselessly from the explosion. A smart move on Dorland’s part, one issue though…
Like her, the others who’d briefly fallen in response to the shockwave were also getting back to their feet. In the corner of her eyes, Thomas groggily shook his head, now too noticing the dilemma the abandoned duo faced. His sneering expression aimed in the direction of his former companions shifts to the rising thugs who match his glare. By pure instinct, she shifts over until her smaller frame is hidden behind his. Were she still a Pegasus, or if her new wings would work properly, she might have been able to provide a better solution them both.
“Fuck.” Was all that whispered from Thomas’ mouth.
There wasn’t much she could do besides hide behind her “protector” who was squaring up against the rising thugs. That was until he turned to face her, expression clear he’d momentarily forgotten her presence, taking this chance to give a once over of their current surroundings. Behind them the fire had grown uncontrollably high, whereas most of the pathway in front of them was blocked by barely conscious thugs, and there were no stairs for them to climb down either.
Him and her both were completely stranded.
Thomas made no hesitation parrying a sudden swing from one of the more alert rioters, her temporary ally flooring the attacker instantly. Three more men advanced, already another bloody fight taking off as the young woman kept herself out of viewpoint.
There had to be something she could do, anything at all!
Still making any attempts not to be seen, she tried flexing the bones of her wings Thomas had forced her to hide underneath her jacket before Dorland and Le Rue arrived at the beginning of their introduction. Why he’d demanded such a thing had utterly confused her; unfortunately lack of time, mental capability, and overall this entire horrific ordeal altogether offered little chance to ask such or any questions.
Thomas doesn’t appear to struggle too much despite the noticeable difference in number, one attacker shrieking in agony as his jaw dislocates from a well-aimed uppercut. If anything, she’d be nothing but a shackle to her ally were she to involve herself now. He’d be an excellent royal guard, were it not for his nasty attitude.
Sticking to the perimeter of their surroundings, she desperately scanned for anything of use. Towering scrapers aligning the sides of the high-rise commuter tracks were close per say, but not close enough to reach without one hell of an extra spring in your jump.
No matter how much she flexed, the muscles within her wings refused to cooperate even after she somehow managed to shimmy them out through the jacket’s makeshift holes. She twitched, if it weren’t for the abundance of clashing noises all around her, she could swear deep within her ear drums that familiar ringing had returned.
Though despite this, she was able to catch the sound of breaking glass from high above, craning her neck upwards to see a large assortment of blurred objects fly from the seventh-story window of a neighboring hotel. It was an assortment of noticeably heavy items, big enough to shatter the thin metal gate guarding the sides of the rail system.
Backing away as to not get squashed underneath, she watched in bewilderment as a heavy plank of wood landed perfectly in between the edge of the track and on the guard rail of a neighboring complex’s balcony. A makeshift bridge to safety.
She felt a presence arriving from behind and turned, half expecting to see Thomas. Instead standing before her was a young man whose face was fully wrapped in ugly black tape, presumably to hide his features. However, the bloodlust in his gaze was enough to tell here everything she needed to know about him.
Without warning, two arms shot up unimaginably fast to grab and squeeze her lanky throat with all his might. Instantly what little air she held was eradicated in response to the amount of constrictiveness from having caught her so off guard. So much so, that she hadn’t the oxygen left to utter a whimper of protest whilst clawing at the man’s thick jacket in desperation. Just as her vision began to blur, a loud crack of lead-against-bone followed by the thug’s meaty hands releasing her without any resistance left her in a dazed state of confusion.
Throwing the useless pipe to the wayside, Thomas hoisted her over his shoulder and bolted across the bridge leading into the complex, making sure to kick it off balance so they couldn’t be followed.
Several men who weren’t fighting screamed in outrage at their escaping prey, a few even attempting to jump the gap only to helplessly plummet to their own demise. The blurry world around Fluttershy changed once Thomas made landfall into the apartment complex, dusty grey clouds replaced by barely functioning lights illuminating molded rooms and furniture.
The lights dim as he steps into the trashed hallway of the complex before settling her down against a ply board. Jutting a finger at her, he speaks lowly.
“Don’t move.”
That said, he quickly hops in and out of the available rooms aligning the level, as if making certain they’re temporarily alone for now. Once satisfied, he stands over her prone form, folding his arms tightly. She doesn’t appreciate the look he’s giving her, yet there’s an impression her opinions do not matter at the moment.
“Can you walk?”
She doesn’t meet his eyes, focusing instead on her dirtied shoes. The blood from his hands, courtesy of the men he’d battered, stains through her yellow jacket alongside a putrid smell.
“Hey. I’m talking to you.”
Suddenly he’s at her level, bending down and narrowing his dark brown eyes into her teal blue. Up close she resists the urge to gag, a combination of alcohol and lack of oral care huffing in her face, not to mention he smelled like he’d just crawled out of Froggy Bottom Bogg. His skin was an unhealthy shade of pale with various new and old scars now visible from this short distance, all resting underneath the strings of slick black hair which mopped the top of his dome. This human looked as though he was on the verge of death itself, were it not for the blazing inferno lit in his eyes. Whether it was directed at her or not was unclear at the moment, she nevertheless felt the need to speak carefully as to not get burned by said flames, either intentionally or by accident.
“Yes.” She nodded vigorously, the surprise from her confident tone of voice only slightly concerning her. “Yes, I can.”
“Good.” He wastes no time grabbing the young woman by the forearm and once more hauling the her as though she were a simple ragdoll.
“W-where are we going?” She cautiously peeks inside several rooms they pass, whatever plan he has foreign to her.
“Dorland ordered transport, by this point the chopper’ll be here in two to three minutes.” He gruffed, leading her into the fire escape.
Looking up at the flight of stairs, she felt a shiver crawl up her spine when several muffled unspecified noises reverberated from the floors above and below, signifying they still were not alone.
“T-then why are we heading up the stairs?” She whimpered, legs turning to putty as the noises grew louder. Thomas groaned to himself, not hiding a solitary inch of his obvious frustration.
“Because those two assholes are still on the tracks with Malcolm’s body. We’ll have a better chance being seen from higher up rather than down below if you don’t stop dawdling. And unless you want to fly us up to that chopper yourself, this is the best way.” He turns after his sentence, motioning to her wings with a pointed finger.
“Speaking of which, why the fuck do you have them out? I thought I told you to keep them hidden! When we find a place to stop, put them back under your jacket.”
She shriveled under his glower, zipping her mouth closed despite even more questions arising in response to his outburst.
Earlier, when they’d first encountered each other in the hotel bathroom, she’d expected him to kill her much like the rest of the people she’d managed to escape thus far. Oh, he wasn’t pleasant nor patient by any stretch of measure, enough to make Grandpa Gruff seem like an elder with a rock in his shoe in comparison. Once he’d laid eyes on her wings though, it’d gotten even worse.
He’d gotten quieter, trading his louder demands into lower pitched ones. It was honestly terrifying, how he made her hide them from his other two teammates. It wasn’t as though she had a choice whether or not to trust his intentions. For now, the three men weren’t set on murdering her in cold blood compared to everyone else, so she would take what she could get; even if it meant she was now suspect for a murder so foul she wouldn’t be able to sleep alone for the next five-to-ten years.
She pawed at her ears, a nervous tick to calm herself from the growing ringing sound which had definitely grown louder at this point. She swore the shake of Thomas’ head wasn’t solely based on another one of his scrutinizing reactions to her unease, mumbling incoherent words under his breath as they marched upwards. By the seventh level, their passage further was blocked due to an unimaginable pile of garbage, the amount of which she questioned how someone could manage to stiff so much into a thin space; and more importantly why.
Her escort didn’t appear bothered in the least, simply opening the door leading into the seventh-floor hallway and dragging her along towards the separate set of stairs on the other side.
For most of her life from filly-to-marehood, Fluttershy had not been one for social conversation. Even if you were to bring up anything remotely related to wildlife, it’d still take one-to-two more tries for her to finally engage in the discussion. Not without lack of trying though, ever since meeting Twilight and helping the other girls on that fateful Summer Sun Celebration night, progress had surely been made; she was more confident in her voice, a louder and bolder speaker instead of being the doormat everypony from filly-hood had once known.
There were still some kinks to work out, not that she necessarily disliked her awkward personality enough to change it completely. But in moments of crisis, in times of battle, that job was usually handled by somepony else. She was comfortable being the support that nopony needed.
Long story short, she was desperate for an icebreaker, to get on better terms with the stranger she was currently entrusting with her very life with. Unfortunately, every available opportunity would be trampled to dust whenever she caught his gaze, as if the more she talked steadily shortened the fuse of his limited temper.
Left, right, above, and below aged wood creaked under the running feet of unseen occupants. Fluttershy felt her heart seize up as several banging noises came from the upper level, furniture being thrown about in the wake of several men fighting above their heads on the eighth floor. She leaped forward and clung onto the tattered long sleeve of Thomas’ arm when a sickening crunch ended whatever fight was occurring from earshot. To her surprise, the man was warm to the touch, despite the dusty clothing he wore and the thick layers of gauze wrap protecting his palms and wrists. She would fret over the blood-stains later, at this point all she required was some form of balance that wasn’t a lifeless object to steady herself from toppling over her shaking knees.
He tenses under her touch. Low rumbling vibrated from the human’s chest in response, her one and only warning.
She takes a step back immediately, smoldering her yearning for physical contact, and tucks her free arm inward to try and keep herself calmed by the feeling of her own warmth. Two minutes, three feet away from the exit and she collides into the man’s burly backside; he’d stopped so suddenly she hadn’t the time to prepare.
Strangely enough, he didn’t react much to her collision this time, instead keeping his eyes trained on a room adjacent to them. Now, considering the type of people she’d come into contact with over the past few hours, Fluttershy would be willing to bet whatever it was that was currently garnering that look from a man who could challenge Tirek’s scowling façade, wasn’t something she’d be willing to stick around with.
Ever so gently she tapped him with her fingers, afraid anything rougher on her part would irk him into an unpredictable tangent. A few more taps caused her to give up, holding in a deep breath as she inched towards the doorway to peek inside the room which held his captive gaze.
Like everywhere else the small corner was not spared from decay, caved walls and upturned furniture replacing what once was decent. However, square in the middle was a person. No, not a person. Squinting her eyes, Fluttershy could make out the plastic carvings around the eyeless being, recognizing it as a mannequin dressed in an aged tux outfit. Standing upright in a stiff position, she had to admit it was understandably creepy here all on its lonesome.
Turning back to Thomas, she noticed how he eyed the lifeless being like a hawk. There was familiarity in his expression, as if he was struggling to believe the mannequin really was just that, before he caught her from the bottom of his tunnel vision. Shaking his head, he mumbled more incoherent nonsense and set himself back on track without another word, taking her up to the next level as if nothing happened.
She couldn’t take it anymore, her mind was buzzing, body exhausted, and right now undoubtedly the most terrified she’d been throughout all her life. Forget the possibility of being heard, this eeriness was killing her!
“E-excuse me…”
Through practice, her words as of late stood above whispers and murmurs, yet not enough to receive any responses. Clearing her throat, Fluttershy tugged on her captive wrist. He simply held it tighter without so much as a sideways glance.
“E-Excuse me. I have a few questions.”
“Save it for the station.”
His immediate response was harsh, blunt. A part of her was offended, if not more on edge. They were in danger, but by Celestia did she want answers.
“Why didn’t you tell them?” She spoke louder, trying to keep up as they entered the eighth-floor hallway due to the stairs having collapsed fully towards roof level. That accursed ringing was starting to give her another headache. “Why did you make me hide my wings?”
Still he refuses to provide an answer, instead shoving her in front before a block of concrete the size of her head comes crashing down on her previous position, having been tossed from an opening in the attic where another thug stands, ranting after he’s missed his target before bolting from sight. The ringing is worse than ever, she clenches her teeth with tears in her eyes as Thomas lifts her by the hoodie to drag her towards their destination. He too, is not spared from the horrific sound from the looks of it, wincing and clutching his dome in pain as he charges onward.
Soon it becomes neigh impossible to bear, and she’s unceremoniously dropped, laying on the floor now as Thomas abandons her in order to enter another room. Whimpering when the sound begins to physically hurt, Fluttershy crawls after him in desperation. Through her blurry vision she captures him struggling to make his way to a pile of several miscellaneous propped against a wall; shoving it aside to reveal underneath a strange brown disk that’d been hiding. Sonic waves could visibly be seen transmuting out from its multi-layered body, accompanied by the large speaker in the front.
Too bad revealing the culprit behind their torment unfortunately only worsens their dilemma, although more for Fluttershy’s sake rather than her rescuer’s.
Every muscle within her body cramps, as though she were being forced to curl in herself tight enough to fit inside a cider bottle. She wanted to scream oh so very badly, but her throat had collapsed on itself. Instead, she lays writhing on the floor, her arms twisted and spazzing with bile threatening to spill from her lips all under the command of someone else.
Clawing her fingernails through the carpet she stares at Thomas, who’d turned around to briefly become enraptured by the strange woman’s reaction to the emitter’s exposure. The pleading anguish in her expression must’ve flipped a switch in the man’s head, raising his fist to sucker punch the device. Two strong punches and the metal disk’s noise becomes garbled as it dangles limply from its hanging position before dropping to the ground, silencing it entirely.
It was by no means euphoric; however, the heavy intake of air had never been more welcome by her standards. Harshly coughing out the stifled air from her lungs, Fluttershy gags whilst she struggles to rise, internally warring against the decision to either get up and run, or continue being sprawled here until she merged with the carpet itself. In all honesty the latter was a real breadwinner.
The wood beneath her vibrates as Thomas begins walking back to her, having gotten over his own skull-splitting reaction to the emitter rather quickly, and no doubt ready to hoist her tail back into action.
Some knight in shining armor. A rare, nasty scowl forms on her face.
He’s saying something, although she can’t make it out with all the leftover static still cottoned into her ears. That doesn’t become much of an issue though once a mountain of burly muscle busts from the door of a neighboring room and rams full speed into her human protecter like a runaway train. In his state of distraction, Thomas can do nothing as both he and the charging brute both fly through the plaster walls leading into the apartment bedroom out of sight.
Watching her only ally get himself bulldozed, she tries clawing up the side of the apartment walls to support her weight. Blinking rapidly, she presses the bridge between her eyes and nose in an attempt to sooth the awful pain spiking through her brain by any measure possible. By celestia she’s practically deaf by this point.
The wall she’s trailing across curves behind her until she’s suddenly stumbling out onto a balcony, converts of her wings bumping into thin metal that cause her to turn around and view the outside world once more. From what she can tell, several stories below stood the railway, the fire Dorland had set off further down the tracks now. Whereas on the right side two figures were making their way across at rapid pace.
Pink hair blew into her face as an abrupt heavy wind picked up, followed by something akin to propellers rumbling overhead. Folding her arms for protection, the ex-equestrian watched something that reminded her of an airship descend from the skyline until it hovered precariously above the rooftops. The noise of the alien machine was deeply unsettling, its spinning blades adorning the top echoing across the dimly lit city.
From an opening, a rope with a gurney on the end dropped down onto the tracks, right in front of the two men occupying the rails, who in response began lifting something together into the harness. Those weren’t rioters, that was Dorland and Le Rue!
Without a second’s hesitation, she turned and leapt into the master bedroom in search for Thomas. She still can’t hear much; thus she settles for simply trying to find him, only to subsequently be startled by Thomas himself being flown across her vision and crashing into a small table. Stomping towards his downed form is a man that might as well be the human equivalent to Iron Will, steam practically billowing from the bully’s nose.
A shoeless foot stomps on Thomas’ back who grunts as a result. Watching this in horror, something buried deep within her subconscious quickly takes the reins and flips her on autopilot, leaning down to scoop up a 2x4 and raise it high above her head, thrusting it down as hard as possible. It splinters in half upon contacting with the bigger man’s shoulder blade, and before she can mentally process the uncharacteristically brutal action she’d just committed, her new enemy stands over her with undivided attention.
Abandoning what’s left of the broken beam, she backs away, each step backwards is one step forwards on the thug’s part. He snarls down at her with the expression of a rabid animal, gnarly teeth showing as the muscles in his forearms ripple. Movement in the background catches her attention until she could see Thomas silently rise to his own feet, unbeknownst to their foe. Their eyes make contact, and Thomas made a waving signal with his hand. Get out of the way.
Having no room to argue, she side-stepped in the direction she was told both to the confusion of the massive brute and the perfect distraction for her human ally to sprint full speed towards said crazy man. With one hefty push, her protecter sent the inattentive thug right over the balcony rail and plummeting down to the streets far below.
Holding a hand over her mouth, Fluttershy froze as her mind processed the fact that she’d just witnessed a murder, aided even.
Her companion leans over the side, at first, she thinks to catch his breath; but really he’s more focused on what the rest of his team is doing below, as well as inspecting a thick line wire connecting from the apartment satellite next to the balcony to a small employee shack sitting on the edge of the commuter tracks near the squad. The radio on Thomas’ vest crackles, followed by a new voice of which she presumed belonged to whoever was piloting the metal aircraft.
“You guys need to get this situation straight, I’m a sitting duck out here!”
“Le Rue, help me with the Harness while I get the body into position!”
Hearing the squad leader on the other end gave her hope. She grabs Thomas’ arm, regardless whether he liked it or not.
“How are we going to get to them from here?”
His attention still focused on the wire beside them, looking down at her and nodding his head.
“Grab ahold on my back. Tight as you can.” His demand offered little for discussion, and honestly, she wasn’t in the mood for stalling with questions. Lest she accidentally doom them both.
He didn’t lean down, so she had to resort to jumping onto him, climbing up his tall backside until her arms straddle around his neck. She had no idea if she was ready, too busy attempting not to further choke at his horrid stench, before trying not to scream in his ear while he grabbed the wire in both hands to use it as a make-shift zipline.
Her stomach did swirls as she looks below, street and train rails much too far for her comfort. As quickly as it started, they reach the opposite end, just short of the line snapping under the extra weight they provided.
Letting go of him, she approaches the door to the shack when Thomas stops her. She’s about to protest until a gunshot from somewhere inside the closed room causes her to jolt. On the radio, Dorland growls over the chopper blades.
“Hold them back damn it! Okay, that should do it!
“Accueillez au diable jerkoffs!”
Le Rue cheer is barely heard on the other end combined with the gunshots ricocheting off the wooden shack, some hitting the airship above causing the piolet to panic.
“I’m taking fire!”
Pushing her back, her partner smoothly opens the door to the inside. Standing by a large window is another person wielding a metal weapon similar to what she witnessed Dorland use. Thomas lowers his form, crouching and stalking towards the distracted rioter, who’s busy blindly opening fire out the shattered glass, someone unseen on the other side firing back. Fluttershy holds her position in a tight corner, carefully eyeing the open entrance just in case, yet also making certain to watch Thomas’ every move.
She knows what’s to come, how forever revolted she’ll feel watching, much less willingly occupying the same room at this moment. But for whatever the reason, she can’t turn a blind eye. She despises how calculative Thomas is to creep behind the other man just quiet enough to not be heard, yet equally sufficiently speedy so he’s breathing down the unsuspecting madman’s neck within seconds. It’s like watching a tiger hunt its prey, when Thomas traps his arms around the rioter’s neck and holds firm whilst his quarry flails in lunacy and fear. Several pop shots erupt from the flailing man’s gun into random directions, gagging when the pressure against his trachea increases.
Arms glued to her sides in a hug, she’s shaking in her little corner. Oh look, her vision is blurring again, wonderful.
No wait, it isn’t her vision. Buckets and pipes rattle on their cheap shelves before toppling over, old wood creaks all around her as the echo of a horn roars in the oncoming distance.
There’s a flash of blinding light, born from the heat of a blazing inferno at the head-end of a massive blur barreling past their pathetic little hobble which rocks everyone off their feet. The screech of rusted steel, sparks popping off like fireworks, and the man-made platform they currently appropriate threatening to give in all reverberates through her body with so much vigor, you’d think she’d been hit by a meteor.
Once the noise clears, she’s forcing herself to sit up. Everything has been toppled, having to brush off the wood chips and spilled over buckets until she can focus on the fire encompassing the railway outside, over what specifically she can’t make out through the dust and dimmed lighting. A silhouette figure arises from the ground, momentarily giving her a heart attack until she realizes who it is merely from the gruff tone.
“You alright?”
A tiny nod of affirmation is enough for him to beckon her to follow, which she does; doing her best not to acknowledge the dead nameless man lying on the floor. Exiting the shack alongside him to oversee the damage, the young woman is gifted a gruesome sight.
Slumped across the tracks is a passenger train with the only form of life inside being a bright fire that has spread from car-to-car. There’s no screaming, no noise from within the burning convoy to convey life, only the crackling of flames, static electricity, and monotonous thrum of nearby generators.
She’s hauled from her stupor by Thomas as he makes his way down onto the tracks once more, Fluttershy quickly finding his reasoning why as a large number of brutes come barraging from the shadows once the coast is clear, most definitely to resume their hourly objective of ripping each other’s teeth out. Above them the chopper swerves as visible fire begins to grow around the propellors, and the radio on Thomas’ vest crackles.
“Go! We’ll evac on foot, Le Rue, let’s go!”
“What about Thomas, and the suspect?”
“He’s on his own.”
“Are you nuts? They won’t last ten minutes out here!”
“I said leave them, that’s an order!”
A cavernous crack rips through whatever hope she’d left in her soul. She wants to cry, to scream, anything that will lessen the heartbreak of betrayal and stench of burning flesh. However, all she can do is keep up with the man holding her wrist.
There’s a building that’s closer to them compared to the apartment, although it’s blocked off from chicken wire fencing. He releases his grip in order to hastily find any form of entrance, noting how the top of the gate is adorned with barbed wire prevent anyone from climbing over. Fluttershy keeps herself glued to the gate whilst eyeing the oblivious battling men, that is until one of them pulls out a long wooden stick that releases an explosion of brief fire instantly killing several upon contact.
The rioter switches focus to her without pause, and seeing how Thomas is a few feet away now with several other men making their way towards him, she is once more alone with the wolves.
Instinctively she takes off running right alongside the underbelly of the capsized transit with her pursuer hot on her tail. A foolish decision on her part, seeing how the tracks are completely destroyed with heavy debris blocking her way, the front car having previously flown off its hinges and bulldozed into a neighboring building.
She’s extremely lucky when the rampant electricity from the telephone connects with a spark somewhere on the car’s belly and creates a brief explosion, albeit smaller in scale, right in front of her attacker. There’s no scream as the event kills him immediately, the shockwave knocking her forwards onto her face.
Blood spills in her mouth after she bites through her tongue, shuddering at the pain and looking around until noticing the fence door to her right. It’s a small area housing several generators, connected to a building with an open door, and…
“Le Rue!” Her voice shouts over the fire and screaming, watching the lone agent adjusting his weapon whilst quickly making his way towards the exit. “Le Rue, it’s me open the gate, please!”
It’s obvious he doesn’t appear to notice or hear her, already hallway closing the door. In desperation, she grapples with the chain-link and presses herself firmly against it whilst screaming for the man, the pain in her stinging mouth forgotten.
“No! No, no, no, Le Rue please! Don’t leave me here, come back!”
Her cries fall on deaf ears after he closes the door, and her heart sinks even lower. No, no there has to be another way out, there has to! The fire is growing larger, if she wastes time fiddling with the blocked door she’ll be scorched.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” The mantra repeats in mumbles as she returns to Thomas. This could not be happening!
Peeking from cover, she doesn’t see Thomas anymore, giving way to more hysteria. Something hits her cheek causing a reactive flinch, looking in the direction it was thrown to see her ally standing on the neighboring building balcony and frantically signaling her over. Keeping low as possible, Fluttershy makes a mad dash for him, clambering over the railing and the broken chain-link fence she won’t bother to question.
Unlike before, the balcony they stand on has a closed entry, one she presumes is locked off because Thomas motions her to cut across a thin bridge leading to the next terrace over instead. A stroke of more luck, because beside it is the small area she’d witnessed Le Rue occupy seconds ago. Although, to say this was a thin bridge would be too kind, rather it in fact being two long boards haphazardly placed between the large space accompanying a four story drop below.
She gulps and backs up, yet her concierge isn’t so pleased and makes an effort to urge her forward. Keeping her hands plastered to the brick-side wall she moves step-by-step across the bridge, maintaining eye contact with the area her former “friend” had been as a means to provide motivation. Thomas on the other hand, was reaching his limit.
“Are you fucking serious!?” He growled whilst hovering right over her head. “What, you want some drinks, snacks maybe? Need to take a piss? You. Have. Wings. Height should mean nothing to you, get going!”
She holds in a shriek as he shoves her again, her jellyfish legs struggling to make it over the gap until they’ve reached the other side. Kicking over the boards yet again to make certain they aren’t followed, he follows her up the ladder to the next level, from here getting another wide scale view of the carnage unfolding. There is no entrance into the building up here, only a chance to jump into the squared off roof below.
Hopping over, her landing is clumsy due to her inexperienced new form compared to her partner’s. As Thomas makes his way towards the door, struggling to open it, Fluttershy hesitates when a sickening shiver runs along her spine. There’s nothing out of the ordinary, (if you could call anything in this city such), nothing except the fire that grows every closing second.
Wait, that’s it, there’s something in the fire. No, something on the train itself, a black blobbed figure hobbling on the destroyed convoy towards them. she doesn’t have time to warn her ally when the figure hops off the train and lands perfectly into their little space. Her view is semi blocked when Thomas puts himself between the newcomer and her, Fluttershy’s breathing becoming shallow when a familiar throaty voice barks out a laugh from underneath the stranger’s hood.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite drunk.”
Still dressed in his nasty hoodie, the man she’d first met upon arriving to this world who’d first harassed, then pursued her stalked closer. Thomas tensed, wordlessly cracking his knuckles to which the newcomer scoffed. These two seemed to have history as well.
Was that a good or bad sign?
“How’s your head sunshine? I say you still owe me for my nose job, let’s see if you can eat a boot better than that brick-”
Nose job? A lightbulb went off as she remembered vividly the injuries marring her harasser’s face when he’d pulled her close. She must’ve caught him right after the act. There’s a noticeable pause in their mutual enemy’s speech, that’s when she realizes she’s been spotted. Recognition develops within his hazed eyes before being replaced by what can only be described as exhilaration. With a loud whop, the man begins laughing.
“Holy shit! Christmas came early! Didn’t take you for a bird-collector” Ignorant to Thomas’ threatening stature, he opens both of his arms widely as if the two in front of him were some form of old friends. Then his expression turns cold
“Too bad she’s our property, we’ll handle her much better than what’s left of you pigs. You don’t even know what she’s capable of.”
The more he talks, the less Fluttershy wants to exist. The side-eye she briefly catches from her protecter doesn’t go unnoticed either. Their enemy scoffs.
“You know what, on second thought maybe I should let you take her, see how far you get. Little whore can barely say her own name, you’d be doing us a favor-”
What’s left of his jeers are abruptly cut short as Thomas sucker punches him right in the jaw, stunning the thug long enough for the taller man to wrap his bandaged fingers around the perp’s throat. Their new enemy is quicker than the other crazed rioters however, elbowing Thomas in the chin and punching him in the stomach. When he’s caught off guard, the harasser grapples the former agent’s torso and they shove into a generator. There’s a loud bang when they make contact, followed by the once mouthy thug repeatedly making strikes into the former agent’s sides, who parries with a knee to the other’s injured nose.
She wants to move, to help, yet can’t. It’s as though she’s hypnotized.
Pain becomes unbearable to withstand, and the perp releases his grip to clutch his face in agony, only to duck an oncoming swing from Thomas at the last second. The thug kicks Thomas in the knee, forcing him to bend so he can provide a constrictive chokehold. Coughing against the weight on his throat, Thomas flings backwards with the perp still piggybacking, slamming full force into the fence. With the train on the other side, it allows for a more solid impact, until several times being sandwiched between burning metal and muscle forces the harasser to loosen his grip. Using this to his advantage, her protector whips around to grab fistfuls of his foe’s jacket and continue slamming him into the fence over and over. And once he’s finished, tosses the helpless male like a ragdoll over the conditioning units and tumbles to the concrete floor.
Why? Why can’t she do something, anything. Confrontation had never been in her nature. She doesn’t want this; she would never want this.
Marching around the generators in search of the fallen enemy, Thomas is met with a wave of flung dirt into his eyes as a distraction for the screaming crazy to aim another strike. Luckily her ally is able to quickly parry the fist by knocking the oncoming hand to the wayside so he himself can punch the maniac right in the throat.
From there the fight ends as quickly as it began, the smaller man flying in reverse into a brick wall before falling to his knees, gagging out blood from his wounded esophagus. He’s helpless when Thomas grabs the back of his head and thrusts it straight into a generator in front, barely a garble made after he collapses in defeat.
There’s a noticeable slump in Thomas’ shoulders after the deed is done, chest heaving from weary exhaustion. He’s making his way back to her. She still hasn’t moved an inch. But her eyes do, her eyes move and see something glimmer off the light of the fire.
Three things occur in the span of one second: From where he formerly lay beaten, Thomas’ enemy launches from his position with a knife in hand. An action Thomas knew he couldn’t avoid, therefore settling for protecting his face. Said action proved utterly pointless, as a flash of pure yellow flew into frame and taking the place of his enemy.
A beat of large wings, screaming, then silence.
As she stood over the railing Fluttershy kept her eyes trained on the street below. It was sick, it made her sick.
She never wanted this.
It feels like an eternity before a hand rests on her shoulder. She doesn’t pay it any mind while it carefully guides her away from the rail, until she can no longer see over its edge. There’s another wooden plank leading up to the next rooftop that she begins to climb, where she can see it again down below.
The plank breaks and suddenly there are arms wrapped protectively around her frame when both of them crash headlong through a window and into a new area. The pain means nothing to her.