The monstrosity slowly flapped its skeletal wings, hovering above the stadium like the most disgusting Nightmare Night yard decoration imaginable. Each primary feather was a whole pegasus wing, just as each point in the crown it wore was a unicorn horn still attached to a piece of scalp. Thank Faust the gigantic eye sockets were empty- I don’t want to even think about how eyes made of hundreds of disembodied pony eyes. This thing made me want to lose my lunch as it was.
And I had a buffer between me and the outside world. Twilight Sparkle was still driving the body, and while I was seeing this Xipe Totec thing through a sort of tunnel, she was seeing it first-hoof. She had to deal with my heaving stomach and my sphincter-loosening terror by herself. And, to be honest, she was doing a darn good job of it. My legs stayed steady, and she kept her eyes locked directly on those black, bony pits in Xipe Totec’s hide-covered skull.
Meanwhile, Little Nettle was shouting. “My lord! Here is an enemy to your people, a defiler of your holy rite! Slay this blasphemer and her allies, lord, for the protection of the land!”
The floating abomination turned its gaze on the thestral. “AND WHY SHOULD I DO THAT?” he asked. “CAPTAIN HORNSPARKER HERE HAS SERVED ME WELL AND SHOWN ME NOTHING BUT RESPECT. IT IS TRUE SHE HAS RETURNED MANY OF MY FOLLOWERS TO THE SOIL, BUT THAT IS NOTHING TO ME. INDEED, IT IS THE PROPER WAY OF THINGS. THE CYCLE MUST BE SUSTAINED.”
“Pardon me, great Xipe Totec.” I have to give it to her, Twilight definitely has guts to interrupt a dark god hovering directly overhead. “And forgive my ignorance, but isn’t it the case that the blood of the ponies on the soil brings new life and new generations? Isn’t that the holy cycle of which you speak?”
The giant head shifted back to me- to us. “THAT IS CORRECT, CAPTAIN,” it said. “THERE CAN BE NO LIFE WITHOUT DEATH, NO DEATH WITHOUT LIFE. BLOOD MUST BEGET GROWTH, AND GROWTH BEGET BLOOD.” Xipe Totec nodded to itself and added, “IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU TAKE YOUR FIRST STEPS TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT.”
“But great Xipe Totec,” Twilight said hurriedly, “what about those who steal blood to extend their own lives? What about those who withhold the blood from the soil, stealing its fertility for themselves? Do they follow in your path?”
“THEY DO NOT,” Xipe Totec said. Up until this moment the voice’s tone had been all confidence and relaxation, as if nothing in the world could possibly inconvenience the creature. Now it sounded a little angry, and I might have soiled my overcoat if I’d been running the body at that moment. “WHAT YOU DESCRIBE IS INDEED BLASPHEMY.”
“My lord, do not listen to this infidel!” Little Nettle shouted. “I performed the rites! I am your loyal follower! Now strike down my enemies!”
“Look closely at Little Nettle, Xipe Totec!” Twilight shouted back. “See through his illusions! See what he really is, and then judge for yourself!”
The floating nightmare looked again at Little Nettle, bending its grotesque form for a closer look. It let out a snarl, deep, slow, but so saturated with rage and disgust that you might have thought the thestral had six legs and a carapace instead. “SUCH AS YOU CLAIM MY RITE?” it roared. It reared up again, casting its gaze around the stadium where the other thestrals circled in the air or stood on the turf around us. “AND YOU ARE NOT ALONE! GOOD!” The creature rose higher in the air, spreading wings and forelegs wide. “ALL THE BETTER! THE SOIL SHALL DRINK DEEPLY FROM WHAT YOU PARASITES HAVE STOLEN!”
And this, the third voice in my head spoke up, is the time to run.
No argument here! The last place I wanted to be was at ground zero of a battle between a dark god and a group of thestrals- and not just because of the danger of getting blasted by a stray shot.
One of the few things the White Council, the various Courts, and the other magic creatures of Canterlot’s underground all agreed on was, none of us wanted to attract the attention of any alicorns. This? If Princess Celestia- or, more likely, that new princess, Luna- wasn’t already on her way, the noise would bring both of them on the double. We did NOT want to be around when they got here.
Twilight was on the same page. “RUN!” she shouted, picking up Thornbush, Ivy and Hot Lead in her magic and carrying them behind her as she bolted through the ring of thestrals and off the athletic field. The clattering of her hooves on the paved race track coincided with the sound of a magic blast striking something wet and splashy.
Xipe Totec roared, and then there was a chorus of unnatural shrieks of pain, presumably from something he did to the thestrals in retaliation. I don’t know what and probably never will, because Twilight knew better than to look back until we were safely under the stands, protected by stone and mortar from stray blasts.
Twilight set down the others, looking around us. “Where’s Napping Cicada?” she asked.
Don’t worry about him, I thought to Twilight. He probably took off the instant things went off-script. He and his kind have a lot of experience in getting out of tight spots.
“He is well,” Ivy said quietly. “I believe a security guard just saw him, disguised as a stray dog, running through a fence on his way out.”
There, see? Nothing to worry-
“CEASE THIS AT ONCE, FOUL CREATURE!”
Twilight’s head jerked around at this, and through her eyes- my eyes- I saw a dark pony floating in the air in front of Xipe Totec. Parts of the turf burned below them, presumably from the interrupted battle, illuminating them from below even as the field lights lit the field from above.
“GREETINGS, KEEPER OF COYOLXAUHQUI,” Xipe Totec replied, his voice calm and serene again. “I SEE YOU HAVE THROWN OFF MY SISTER’S INFLUENCE. WHY DO YOU INTERFERE IN MY VENGEANCE?”
“You are in your lands no longer, monster,” Luna replied. “You have trespassed in the realm of our ponies. And I shall not permit you to disturb their peaceful slumber!”
“I WAS SUMMONED HERE,” Xipe Totec said, as if nothing more needed to be said. “AND YOU HAVE ALLOWED THE THIEVES OF BLOOD TO ESCAPE THEIR JUST REWARD. NOW I MUST CHASE THEM DOWN.”
“And you think I will permit you to do any such thing?” Luna shouted. “Back to the realm of nightmares where you belong!” Violet light built in a ball around the point of the princess’s horn, swelling to outshine the lights above and the flames below.
Twilight turned back towards the tunnel. “I think that’s our cue to leave!” she said. She spared a quick glance at Hot Lead. “Thanks for your help,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry I can’t…”
Hot Lead nodded. “I need to find Vespers,” he said. “Little Nettle probably escaped, and we’ll have to track him down again.” His hooves shuffled back and forth as he added, “But… Harriet…”
Twilight sighed. “Yes, she loves you,” she said. “But I can’t let her have the body back right now. And you’ll see her again. I’m sure of it.”
“How do you know?”
Because I just can’t see the author of this series not bringing you back three or four books down the line, Twilight’s mental voice snapped. Aloud, with my voice, she said, “I just do. Now RUN!”
“Aye, cap’n!” Thornbush had already gathered the Archive onto his broad back. Now he broke into a gallop, and the four of us (or six, depending on how you count me) rushed out of the stadium just as a deafening explosion shook the place to its foundations.
We parted ways at the front gates, not even slowing down. I wanted to watch Hot Lead as he ran. Twilight’s delusions aside, I had no guarantee I’d ever see him again, and I wanted one last glimpse of the stallion I loved-
Will you PLEASE cut out the narration?! Twilight’s mental voice shouted. We haven’t got time for this now!
Agreed, Hornsparker’s voice added. We have pressing business with Long Game.
Right! Twilight thought. Back to the cathederal! It’s almost time for this book’s climax! Pause. And then, if we’re lucky, I move on to another book. I just wish I could remember how many were on the shelf…
That didn’t give me comfort. After all, if Hornsparker had been dragged along for the ride, would I get dragged along as well?
If so, I had a feeling this head was going to get really crowded-
STOP NARRATING!!