//------------------------------//
// Aby 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"How much longer?" Firecracker asked, keeping their voice not too loud. They didn't show it much, to avoid discouraging the others, but they were getting somewhat tired of walking. Between the winds they had to move through, the rubble they ran into, and the oily blackness over the earth, it was quite draining to keep going, and quite nerve-wrackingly boring too.
The mare at their side didn't disappear to check again. She knew she didn't need to. And she didn't need to answer at all either, as just a moment later they heard voices up ahead. Faint, hard to recognise if one wasn't paying attention, and the actual words were lost on them, but somepony was distinctly there. "Hey!" she called out.
The voices went quiet. As they walked farther, the two pegasi began to see the outlines of some ponies up ahead. "Hello?" one of them called back in response, after a brief moment of silence.
"Over here!" Firecracker shouted, drawing the attention of those other ponies with them that still hadn't realised they were running into someone else. "We're friends."
The two groups grew closer, and eventually close enough to see each other. There were four ponies there indeed, as the mare had seen before. Three of them unicorns, one of which everyone else quickly recognised. "Rarity!" the mare said as she approached her.
All of them looked quite relieved at the sight of more friendly faces, especially when they realised how big the group was. "We were heading towards the centre of town, hoping others would do the same so we'd meet them there," the lone earth pony said, taking matters into her own hooves. "What about you?"
"We've been gathering ponies," Firecracker explained. They gave a nod towards the grey mare next to them. "She can see where others are, more or less."
"And where threats are," the mare added.
"Yeah," Firecracker continued. "We've been travelling pretty safely thanks to that."
"Could have used that," the male unicorn said. "Ran into a mutated pony out there, we barely got away. I wouldn't have made it at all if it hadn't been for them catching me. Literally."
"Are you hurt?" the grey mare asked with a suddenly worried expression, leaning in closer and noticing the somewhat messy state the stallion was in. "We've got a doctor with us, you should get yourself looked at." She turned around and yelled out, "Doc! Come here, there's someone you need to check on!"
A pony from the crowd began to come towards them, one notably not clad in armour, unlike most of the rest of those there. As that happened and the stallion went forward to meet the doctor halfway, Firecracker looked at the pegasus again. "Where to next?"
She disappeared for a moment. Not to the surprise of any of them. Rarity had grown used to the sight by hanging around Twilight's castle, and the other two had had their time to be surprised already in the period building up to and immediately after the start of the battle. She reappeared a moment later. "That way," she said, pointing with a hoof. "More ponies that way, at least four."