//------------------------------// // 101- Furies // Story: Changing Expectations // by KKSlider //------------------------------// The world was unfocused and spinning. I grunted in nausea as my head started to settle, eyes no longer darting around the blur and trying to make sense of it. It felt like I was lying on something cold. I could also feel the tight compression of Unbroken Radiance on me. For some reason, the Nightmare– or thestrals, whatever– did not remove the armor. As the room came into focus, the heavy stench of smoke and something metallic sent me into a weak coughing fit. Occasionally, phantom pains from the nightmares sent imaginary stabs into my chest, but those quickly subsided. I was sitting on some sort of large stone altar slab. Around me were upturned tables, candles half burned to the ground, and of course blood. A heavy sigh and the sound of hooves on stone caught my attention, and my ears automatically swiveled around to find the source. I lifted my head up from the rock and scanned the dim room. “Even,” someone grunted just to my right. I had to look down to see them. It was Daring Do, sitting down next to the altar. There was blood on her, and it looked like some of it was coming from her right forehoof. She was… exhausted. Her emotions were muted, her breathing labored, and her eyes struggled to open. “What?” I asked. “Even. We’re even now. Ugh….monster… go kill it…” She lifted a hoof and weakly pointed behind me, where a doorway spilled warm light into the cold, smoky chamber. For a half moment, I wondered why there were no doors when there were door hinges, but then I saw the doors. They were halfway down the hall, embedded into the ceiling. I sent Daring the best death glare I could manage. “What happened, Daring? Why did you wake me up?” To my credit, I covered up the daggers in my voice exceptionally well, and by exceptionally well, I mean that Daring somehow missed the obvious signs that I wasn’t all too pleased with her. ‘Stupid sunk cost fallacy. Maybe I should have left you for dead.’ “Ngh…. Yeah. We saved you. Monster attacked from…. from within the chamber. Couldn’t get in. It came out. The…. the thestrals pulled its attention…. I finished the magic cleaning ritual… ceremony… whatever.” I slowly got to my hooves ontop of the altar and asked, “You just– damnit. How did you know what to do?” “Not alone…. Elder Bone helped. Told me what to do.” I didn’t hear or see any other pony around. “Where is she now?” In response, Daring grunted and nodded with her head towards an upturned table ahead of me. I climbed off the altar to walk over to the table. My metal boots clanged loudly on the ground, making me flinch slightly. Behind the table, an earth pony that was wearing black, slim fitting outfit. Her most striking feature was that she was cut in half midway down her barrel. The dead pony was staring up at the ceiling with unblinking yellow slitted eyes. ‘So this is what a thestral looks like. And what their insides look like. Fantastic, now this soon-to-be-former Nightmare has blood on its fangs.’ I swallowed the trace of bile that rose up from the sight. Daring was watching me from her spot next to the altar. “She’s dead.” “What…? She was… talking to me moments ago.” “With an injury like that? There’s no way she could have lasted more than a minute. Two, maybe.” “Ritual took ten…” “I’m not sure who you were talking to… You’ll live, right, Daring?” Daring nodded slowly. “Not hurt badly… just… very tired… sleepy.” “Good.” ‘If there does wind up being some sort of tribunal after the war between our races is over, I’m going to need a whole bunch of character witnesses. The more, the better. Plus, I’ve already put in too much effort for her to keel over when I’m not looking.’ I walked past her and examined the doorway. “Help them…” “I’m going to. I’ll be back, Daring. Don’t die yet.” “You better… Taking a nap now.” The soft sound of fur scraping against stone behind me told me that she must have slumped over. I began to walk forward, following a trail of destruction through castle corridors. The hallways became more decorated and lavish the further I got. My pace increased, too, as I warmed up. ‘So. A Nightmare infected someone, made a mess of the chamber, and left…. All without killing me? If I was right there, why…? Did my armor protect me? Did they need to leave me alive? Who was infected? A pony? One of these… thestrals?’ Here and there, the trail led on. A blood stain. Ripped up carpets. Torn stones and paintings. Burn marks. More blood stains. I didn’t see anyone injured or dead, strangely enough. Either these thestrals were quick to retrieve their wounded, they somehow never went down, or… they did die, and the Nightmare was gaining allies. The first sign of life I saw was a silver-armored, winged thestral. She was lying on the ground with an opened medical kit in front of her. She was in the middle of wrapping a foreleg in gauze, just above her metal boot. ‘Do they have subspecies, too?’ I trotted up towards her. Her tufted ears perked up and she rolled onto her back. While rolling, her wings snatched a crossbow from somewhere I didn’t see and pointed it in my direction. The pony smelled faintly of fear and misery, but was comparatively calm for someone who just drew a weapon in an instant. When she took a moment to look over me, she lowered her crossbow. “You…. you’re the guests’ VIP? Their… King?” “Where is it?” “Left the castle, I think. Alpha-Squad is… Don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine!” She yelled at me as I ran past her and down the hall. As my trot picked up into a run, I extended my elytra and tested my wings. They seemed mostly undamaged from the explosion I had survived, and the short escape I made afterwards. A small tear here and there, but otherwise serviceable. There was the matter of energy, however. I was out of it. I had no idea just how much juice I had left in me. Granted, spell strength could only decrease so much, but half-strength spells might not even be enough to take down one of these Nightmares. If pressed, I could scrounge up enough energy for maybe one transformation. Maintaining it would be easy enough in terms of energy cost, but I would not have enough energy for a second transformation. Suddenly, the trail of destruction veered off into a side room. The door was almost completely obliterated. The room beyond, some sort of guest room, was torn up into shreds of fabric, wood, and stone chips. The far wall had a great big hole blasted into it, beyond which the night sky of Equus lay. I hovered above the wreckage of the room and stopped at the hole in the masonry to look out. A massive town of old Germanic houses gathered around the banks of a deep river beneath the castle I was apparently taken to. “Ready or not, here I come.” I jumped off the ledge and glided into town. Five shadows darted across the night sky. Unseen save for the dimming of the stars as they passed beneath them, Alpha-Squad flew across the Market District on completely silent wings. At the front of the V formation, Sulfur Drip suddenly started banking to the right. The formation followed her as she bled altitude and set down upon The Creaking Cauldron's roof. The large tavern’s shingles clacked quietly as the five sets of hooves set down upon it. “Fish in the water. Newly spawned. Two hooves cast out nets and draw them close. Two hooves walk silently.” The squad listened to Sulfur’s whisper, and acted upon her orders. Two thestrals quietly took off from the roof and began circling the section of the town they had landed in. Two more thestrals glided down from the roof and landed on the cobblestone street below. Their hooves, padded with thick fabric beneath their horseshoes, were nearly silent on the stone road. Sulfur observed the ground team from her perch against a smokestack on the tavern’s roof. Her Cutie Mark had told her that her prey was somewhere nearby, so she ordered the squad to spread out in their two respective teams. The ground team acted as a bait and distraction. The Blighted One would see the two guards in their dull metal armor and would either see them as easy prey, or would be afraid and would bide their time while the patrol moved on. Then, it would emerge from its hiding hole, when it thought it was safe. The real hunters, two in the sky and one on the roof, would be watching the entire time. This was an ancient tactic, but one that played to the thestrals’ strengths better than most others. Their enhanced night vision, their honed skills, and their dedication to the protection of the night against the Rot had struck down its surges in ancient lore. If Sulfur was an amatuer, she would have been giddy at the thought of continuing her ancestors’ holy hunt. Instead, she kept her eyes out for any movement in the shadows that clung to the streets and alleyways of Trotsylvania like its outer garments. She focused on the areas closest to the ground team. Their safety was in her hooves. The rest of the District had to be left to the two flying thestrals. Somewhere back in the Old Quarter, an angry screech echoed softly in the night. The Elders were beyond furious at the breach in their most holy sanctum, and were now out for blood. So long as they kept their violently loud anger away from Sulfur’s stalking grounds, she was content to let them scream into the night. A rogue breeze swept through the town, picking up leaves, litter, dust, and pebbles and shuffling them across the streets. The muted rustling of trees shaking in the wind came from beyond a building to the east. Dondarrion Park, one of Sulfur’s favorite places to ice skate in the winter, was in that direction, and had to be the source of the pleasant sound. A glint above snatched Sulfur’s attention. One of the airborne thestrals was flashing a shined dagger in her direction using a hoof. In the moonlight, only a thestral’s eyes could notice the small change in light in the night sky. At least, that was the hope. The airborne team was signalling that they might have something. To pass the signal on to the ground team, Sulfur made two owl hoots from her hiding spot. The thestrals below her, still walking down the street slowly, made no motion of acknowledgement. Old poetry wormed its way into Sulfur’s mind as she kept watch for further signals. Long Fang described his hunt against the Rot as a silent dance, which had to be kept hidden from the audience, lest the hunters turn into the hunted. Silently, Sulfur wished that she could remember better poetry than that. ‘It’s almost never the good stuff that sticks in your head.’ Sulfur Drip let her thoughts quiet and leave her in silence as she focused on her duty. Distantly, the clang of a metal trash can being knocked over cut through the silent night. It was too distant to be relevant. So, she continued to watch the ground crew. Eventually, the thestrals in the air– both of them, flashed daggers towards her. Their prey was spotted, and was in fact moving to intercept the ground crew. ‘Gotcha.’ Sulfur hooted once and spread her wings, lowering herself to her belly on the slate roof. She contained herself to the smokestack’s shadow as she got in a pouncing position. She tensed her muscles, checked her blades, and sat and waited. Sitting in such a strenuous position would tire out anypony that hadn’t trained physically for such a painful position, but Sulfur was squad leader of Alpha-Squad, which had earned more marks and awards than any single pony could possibly hope to achieve in a single lifetime. Four centuries of training resulted in the best night time hunters to have ever stalked the sky. A wavering shadow drew Sulfur’s attention to a particular alleyway ahead of the grounded thestrals. There, their prey had paused in the dark, believing itself to be hidden. The trap was already closing around the vile monster as it gathered its unholy strength. The thestrals would have to act fast; the Nightmares all had access to powerful, deadly magics, so it was best to close the distance immediately. Lieutenant Sulfur Drip kicked hard off the roof, springing into the cold night air and soaring above the rooftops. She was so low that she could easily stretch out a hoof and scrape it against the fired clay shingles that passed in a blur beneath her. Angling her wings back, she suddenly shot upwards into the sky, transforming her forward momentum into a climb. With a slow, lazy spin, Sulfur reorientated herself at the apex of her arc, and began her hell-dive. Her hoof-claws whistled in the wind as she dive bombed for the alleyway. They were the noisiest piece of equipment she had on her, even noisier than the metal plate armor, but by the time the Blighted One even noticed the sound, the most it would be able to do would be to look up. Sulfur continued to pick up speed as she stretched her forehooves out in front of her. Slowly angling her wings back up, she turned her downward dive into a swoop from the far end of the alley. Sulfur could see it now. Shadow clung to the beast like fog to a morning’s sky. It cascaded from its body, melting into the darkness around it. Its form was jagged, possessing suggestions of thin wings, and one large, curved unicorn’s horn. Its back was to her. Sulfur could imagine the thing salivating as it watched the grounded thestrals ahead of her. Then the Elders arrived. With as much grace as a cat being thrown out a third floor window, five large bats flapped their way up to the alley from the front of it. Sulfur was forced to pull up and rise out of the alley before it was too late. As important as purging the Rot was, the last thing she wanted was to clip one of the bats that practically clogged up the alley’s exit. She hooked a wing on the eaves of one of the alley’s buildings and flipped herself around, spinning several times before managing to come to a stop. Now, she was hanging from the building’s gutters, upside down. She kept her eyes on her prey beneath her. It hadn’t noticed its close encounter with death, instead it was preoccupied with the Elders. With soft thuds, each of the bats exploded into bursts of smoke, which immediately coalesced into the thestral’s forms. The five Elders which had taken to the streets did so with the intent of bloodying their blades before their return. Where normally they wore slim fitting coats, capes, cowls, robes, and so on, now they wore the segmented black plating of the Great Claws. They were all former members, and thus had the equipment and training of Alpha-Squad’s more brutish cousin. Elder Sanguine let her double bladed battleaxe drop blade down onto the ground. At her sides, Elder "Mind," stood with her metallic horn alit in red energy, Elder "Blood" hovered an inch above the ground, twelve daggers holding absolutely still in the air around her, Elder "Soul" clutched a double bladed glaive polearm in her muzzle, and Elder Bulwark stood silently, his signature twin upsidedown kite shields fixed to his forelegs. Elders "Bone," Eclipse, Vigilance, and Serene were all missing. Though to be fair, nopony expected the last three to ever pick their weapons up again for use in battle. Especially since Elder Vigilance's hoof-claws were currently on Sulfur's own hooves. “Die now, vermin!” Elder Mind yelled as she summoned a sword blade of purple energy and thrust it towards the Nightmare. In response, the monster screeched and sent forth several spikes of shadow towards the Elders. The old ponies had to dodge out of their paths, with the exception of Elder Stalwart who parried the spike that lunged for his throat. ‘So much for the element of surprise,’ Sulfur lamented. The Elders then ran into the alleyway, where the confined space made combat difficult at best and impossible at all other times. The monster, alone, was finding itself able to match blow for blow and parry for parry against the waraxe, dual shields, spellfire, and double glaive. Only Elder Blood found success with her attacks, since she had no need to move around in order to attack. The thestrals found that their numbers were working against them. Their advanced age certainly wasn’t helping, either. Still, Lieutenant Sulfur knew better than to try to argue with a superior, let alone an Elder, especially on the battlefield. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t help, though. “Lure it into the open!” She called out to the ponies fighting below her. Sulfur let go of the roof she was holding onto and glided into the open street outside of the alleyway. When she landed, four more ponies joined her at her sides. Alpha-Squad, with no ambush left to lay in, rejoined their leader. “What are the Elders doing?” Corporal Wing whispered. “What they darn well please,” Sulfur answered her subordinate. “Now, get ready to draw it out!” But the Elders were not retreating. Sulfur and her squad watched the thestrals they called leaders dive further into the alley, further hiding themselves from their sight. It was only due to Elder Mind’s continued illumination of her faux-horn that they could even still see the rapid-pace battle still taking place. A flash of sparks from Sanguine’s axe scraping against Bulwark's massive shields put the fear in Sulfur’s mind that even the Elders were struggling to see in the near pitch black darkness of the fight. Out of sight of the moon, there was no natural light for them to fight by. An ill omen, obvious to anypony who stopped to think for even a moment. “Elders! Let the fish swim!” Sulfur called out once more, this time in Battle Cant. Once more, the Elders ignored her completely. They did not even deign to respond to her plan, instead yelling out their battle cries as they hacked, slashed, stabbed, smashed, and casted at the Nightmare. Sulfur picked out the occasional cry of pain and scent of blood that accompanied a weapon finding its mark. But considering the fact that the fight was still going on, it must be the monster finding purchase against the Elder’s flurry of blows and landing hits, and not the other way around. The squad stood around awkwardly and looked to Sulfur for guidance. “If we go in, we’re useless. If we stay out here, we’re useless. The Elders won’t listen to us, for better or for worse. We need…” She thought aloud. “We need to lure it out–” The Nightmare leaped from the alleyway and into the street. Sulfur raised her bladed boots just in time to deflect the monster away from her, jabbing into its form. The monster, now out of the shadow and into the light, looked like something right out of a horror novel. Like a scorpion molded into the shape of a pony, the thing had a maw full of teeth so sharp and large that its lower jaw was practically dislocated. Its eyes were two pits of darkness. At the back of its head, a jagged grey fin dripped blood slowly from a deep cut in it. The rest of it was obscured by a cloak of shadow that twisted around and squirmed in the moonlight. Then, its horn, a long, jagged thing, started glowing black. Sulfur immediately dove to the side, but Corporal Wing was not so lucky. Transfixed by its alien appearance, he realized too late that he should have dodged. Sulfur gagged on the stench of burning flesh, shut out the screams of the dying pony, and went in for her own attacks against the Rot. The sounds of battle were easy enough to find. It wasn’t like this was a bustling town in the dead of night. I saw and tasted the emotions of a few ponies wandering in the night, but by and large the town was mostly empty. Most ponies who were still awake, were conglomerated in the usual spots; taverns, clubs, homes, and so forth. The city wasn’t asleep, but outside of the occasional walking thestral or flying one, everyone was indoors. ‘One would think that there would be more people outside in a town of this size. Were the citizens warned to stay indoors?’ The sound of yelling, clashing weapons, and screams of pain came from a section of buildings closest to the river. There, larger buildings overlooked an empty marketplace. I landed on the eaves of one such four story building. I peered over the edge and saw a cluster of thestrals chasing after a fleeing smear of black against the grey cobblestones. Some ponies were lagging behind, dripping blood as they followed. “I found you!” At my call, the black thing stopped and a head appeared, no longer hidden by its moving cloak. It was a changeling. Or… it was one. Their features were warped, twisted, broken and reformed. It no longer had smooth black chitin, instead its surface was an amalgamation of uneven shards of blackish green fragments. The changeling’s teeth were changed into pairs of matching fangs that didn’t quite set right. Its eyes…. The changeling resumed its escape from the ponies after fending off a few attacks sent its way. That was someone who looked up to me. Someone who I was supposed to protect. I didn’t know their name. It could have been any of the other changelings I brought here. The changelings I brought here… I experienced so much pain at the behest of those damned Nightmares. Now, I doomed someone else to such a fate. I had to fix this. By crook or by hook, I would free the changeling and destroy the Nightmare for good. The lost changeling hissed in pain as three daggers cut through its body, and it zig zagged into a nearby alley. I pushed off the roof and began to fly towards it when three thestrals in segmented black armor and red cloth appeared from nowhere to surround me, forcing me to halt midair. Now that they were close, I could taste their emotions. Fury. Red, hot fury. As much flowed in their veins as my own. That was when I noticed that each of them were brandishing weapons, all pointing towards me. “Out of my way, ponies.” I could only watch as the monster got further and further away. “You dare speak, Blighted One?!” One thestral yelled at me. “You dare stand in my way, foolish one? I’m not in the mood to talk, so step aside and let me do my job.” “You will die here, monst–” “Oh Panar damnit.” I cut him off as I facehooved, “You think I’m a Nightmare, don’t you? I’m not. See my shiny green armor? Nightmares don’t have shiny green armor. Nor, I suppose, the patience to deal with morons, or even the wit to try to avoid fights. Let me pass.” “What are you, then?” Another thestral demanded. “A King. Let me pass!” “Do you think we’ll believe your words so quickly, strange thing?” “Err, ma’am?” One thestral asked the other that was speaking. “What is it, Private?” “We received a Very Important Pony last night. A VIP whose identity was classified? What if, you know, they weren’t actually a pony?” The thestral who seemed to be in charge blinked in surprise. “... Come on ponies, reach your epiphanies quicker. The Nightmare is getting away!” “The Rot will be cleansed by the Elders. If you are the VIP, then you need to be at the castle right now, where it is safest.” “Damn safety, that’s one of my subjects that got infected by a Nightmare! I should be the one to put him down! Not you ponies!” “Sir, please leave it to us,” the pony said, apparently deciding to believe that I was the VIP mentioned. A surge of anger flowed through me. “Step out of my way, before I rip you to shreds!” The thestrals all flew back a hoof’s length from me before the lead thestral spoke softly. “Uh… sir? I think you really need to get back to the castle. I think you’re in desperate need of help.” “What the hell are you going on about?!” “Your eyes glowed green for a second, sir. Please sir, I fear the Rot is affecting you.” I sighed, “The… Oh hell. Nothing’s ever simple, is it?” I felt the anger slowly slip away as frustration and confusion replaced the emotion. “Cleansing at this early stage is a simple process, actually, but you need to go now.” “.... And if I was already possessed, and maybe partially cleansed?” “Oh buck– I mean, you’ll be fine. Sir. You’re in the best place for care for such things, after all. The Elders will help you out…” “The Elders…?” The thestral looked around, “Yes. They are pursuing a breach in the castle’s containment… That would be related to you, I would assume. Come with us, sir, we’ll get you back to the castle in one piece. And try your best to not get angry at anything, please. You will need to watch your emotions for the time being.” “Because being partially possessed has long term consequences? Great. Just…. Great.” The sounds of battle were distant again. I focused on not grinding my teeth and instead, tried to calm down. It was to little effect. The monster was gone. The Nightmare wouldn’t be dying by my hooves. The changeling would die, out of sight of any of our kin, no memory of their death. The grand fight would happen without me to even witness it. ‘Just who was it that I let die?’ The thestrals had led me back to the castle and to a small sitting room. It was about half the size of the parlor Luna and I usually used when dreaming, but it was quite cozy. A few chairs, a fireplace, and some paintings of green rolling hills. Shame the color scheme was black and gold. That doesn’t quite go well enough together to theme an entire room after it. “There’s a pony that needs aid in the… whatever room I woke up in. She passed out, so make sure she doesn’t die.” The thestrals had all stayed, and stood silently near the doors. Though they treated me like a VIP, they didn’t know that for sure and were keeping an eye on me. I would have called them morons if they didn’t. “What room would that be, sir?” The leader asked. He stood across from me on the other side of the fireplace. I had dragged a chair over and collapsed into it. I still wore the Adamantium armor. It was tough to get comfortable in it, but if I was even slightly in danger of corruption, I figured that removing it could actually put me in more danger. “Somewhere with candles, stones, and a spooky atmosphere…. You know, this place is giving me strange vibes.” “Given the situation at hoof, I think I know the chamber you are speaking of, sir. You said you woke up there? And somepony is in trouble there?” “Yeah, go check up on them. I don’t want them to die, as I said. There’s also another dead pony in there, a… Elder Bone?” The thestral had pointed a hoof to one of the other armored ones and was quietly giving them an order when I said the name. Upon hearing it, she gasped. “Elder Bone?! Private Serenity, go! Private Cherry, go get backup and medical to the ritual chamber, now! And get me an update on Wing, Shade should have news from the infirmary by now!” The two winged thestrals saluted and then ran out the door. “You! What is your name, sir?!” “I am King… King Phasma.” “King Phasma. You said you woke up in the ritual chamber, yes?’ “I guess…” The anger had left me completely. Not only did the hot rage leave me, but it left me in a state of cold tiredness. Despite my apparent several-day-long nap, I was tired. I was hungry, frustrated, and mentally exhausted. “–cleansing ritual. That would explain… everything. Not to worry, sir, we’ll get this all fixed up.” “Hmm? I must’ve zoned out. What did you say?” “I said… I said you’ll be fine, sir. From what I can tell, you were either the subject of or adjacent to a cleansing ritual? Do you remember anything?” “I was fighting Nightmares and got hit.” “Then you were the subject of one. The ritual must’ve been interrupted, and an Elder was killed…. Harrow’s beard! Can this night get any worse?!” “It always can,” I said as I began to melt into the chair. ‘Mmm…. chair.’ “Are you feeling okay, sir?” “Tired. Hungry. Drained. Daring felt this way, too. I think. Maybe.” “Is that the pony’s name? The pony that is in the chamber?” I nodded. “Don’t worry, sir, we’ll get her medical aid as soon as possible. We have the finest medical staff in Vallachia. I’m sure she’ll live. Her and… and Wing.” “Cool. I like her idea, though. A nap…. Wake me up when this Nightmare has been taken care of. I will need to speak with my people about this failure of mine. About… lots of stuff.” “The cleansing ritual will need to be finished, sir.” “I think Daring already did that.” “Nopony outside of an Elder can properly finish one. Just relax, sir, and keep an eye on your emotional state.” “I can do that,” I muttered as I closed my eyes. ‘Tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow me. Fuck that guy, I do all the work and he reaps all the benefits.’ I stayed awake for just a bit longer, long enough to sense the thestral’s impenetrable anger start to give way to sadness. When she thought I was asleep, she began to sag and stare at the floor. Just as it had left me, the adrenaline fueled anger had left her. But whereas I was exhausted, she was lost to sadness. “Pony… what happened?” She jerked up and resumed her soldier’s posture. “What? Nothing, sir.” “... Fine,” I gave up. ‘Probably not my business.’