//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fourteen 
// Story: Wishing Well 
// by Nobrains 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Fourteen


Running up to the barn, you were all determined to fling the barn doors open right there until Twilight suddenly shouted for you all to stop. You all huddled around her as she began to think up a way to approach the situation.

“Well, we can't just go running into there.” She said, a look of conflict crossing her face.

“We can't just sit out here and do nothing, though! What if somepony is in there, huh?” Rainbow interjected. 

“I know, alright? But it wouldn't do anypony any good if we-” She stopped, the sound of wood smashing drowning out the sound of the fire within crackling. 

A demonic voice soon followed after, it sounded as if it was trying to emulate some kind of mocking sensitivity within the walls of the barn, but was unable too just because of its nature. 

“I only want to be friends.. Why can't you see that?” 

“I ain't no friend of yours, and I reckon I won't ever be!” Applejack's familiar voice accompanying the unnatural one. 

“Okay, that's it!” Rainbow bellowed, taking to the air and aiming towards the barn.

“What are you... wait!” Twilight cried out, but Rainbow was already in the air. She reeled back in the air before darting towards the burning barn. Twilight quickly slid the doors open with her magic just before the pegasus cut into the building. 

“Somepony, follow her!” Twilight cried out desperately. You looked over the other ponies, reluctance crossing each and every one of their face's. This was your moment; you couldn't back down now. 

You nodded, and began to turn away towards the barn. As you turned, you caught a worried spark in Twilight's eyes, as if she regretted what she had just said. There was no going back, though. Somebody had to get in there, and it just happened to be you. 

You ran into the barn, a fit of coughing soon following as your vision was clouded by smoke and flames.  All you could see was burning bales of hay and other such common items found within a barn under the smokey haze.  

That was it. No one else was here. But you. Where could Rainbow and Applejack have gone? What if they had gotten out and you running in after her was completely bootless? Oh great, you had just put yourself in harm's way for no reason now. You better get out of here befor-

“Oh my... It's the little human. What brings you here, our enabler?”

You coughed for a second from the inhale brought by the shock and focused through the smoke once more. What was before you made you wish the smoke was more thick so that you wouldn't have to look any longer. 

A black and red creature straight from hell stood before you. It's exoskeleton sheened brightly despite all the smoke beclouding the barn's interior. It stood on two legs similar to yours, but with bare claws on the end similar to the one's on its hand. It's thin and aciculated arms suddenly  outstretched in a mocking form of hospitality, the face upon its horn head given a drab smile.   

“I-I was..” You stuttered. 

“At a loss for words, I see. That is rather disheartening. I was hoping that we could have a nice chat...” Its red eyes reflecting disappointment.  

“I k-know what you are. I know what you want!” You shouted. 

“Well, considering that we announced our intentions, I should hope so. Do you know where that fractious little pony went, by any chance? I was just attempting to establish... cognition. Until some multicolored blur darted in here, however. It was rather impudent if I should say so.”

“She's gone! They both are.” You announced, backing off a step and looking around you. You wanted to run, you really did. But something was holding you back, like an unspoken command. 

“That's what I was afraid of. Very well, I will simply have to find someone else to enlighten myself with. Perhaps you came with company? Not to diminish your own eminency, but I am already aware of what a human is capable of and what can.... break them.” 

Wow. You suddenly felt horrified for both yourself and the ponies outside. You couldn't let this thing get to them, though. No matter how afraid you were. You had to take a chance, you should have already been dead at the bottom of a well anyway for all you knew. 

You stood your ground, trying to give a look of demur towards the demon like thing. It was time to cut the crap; your eyes continued to dart around the nearby ground under the smoke, searching for a weapon. 

“I have no quarrel with you. Yet you seem to think otherwise.” 

Shit. He was starting to lose patience. Your eyes found a plank of wood that had broken off of the foundation of the burning barn, left unharmed unlike its charred brethren. A nail was sticking out of one end, giving it a much more lethal capability. That had to be your best chance with what was about to happen. 

The demon moved closer, its eyes focusing in on you, anger waxing. “I suggest you move out of the way. Just because you made all this possible doesn't mean you can act out in such intrepid behavior. You're only going to put yourself through pain and misery.”

“Screw you, man. You bastards need to go back to hell.” You began to side step towards the plank, hoping that the demon wouldn't catch on. 

“Oh, but we're just making another one here..” The demon got down on all fours, looking as if he was about to pounce upon you. Any sudden movement now would begin the conflict, the question was who was it going to be? And when? 

You felt like that one time you had been debating on going on a new and monstrous roller coaster at the amusement park back in your younger days. You kept telling yourself just do it, if you don't then you wouldn't be able to experience the thrill of the ride. 

Of course, that was a poor thing to compare this situation too since your life was actually on the line, though at your younger age at the amusement park, you were sure it felt like your life was up on the chopping block. Also, you were comparing a demon to a roller coaster; what the hell? This thing wanted to kill you, the latter just wanted to give a fit of exhilaration.

It was time to stop thinking about it and start doing. It had to be you that started this, or you were a dead man. The demon would be on you the moment you grabbed the plank, hopefully your reflexes and instinct would be at play in this skirmish.  

Your eyes were on the demon as you leaned down and felt the plank. The surface wasn't splintered at all and you knew that you could keep a solid grip upon it as long as necessary. It was time.

The creature pounced, gliding through the air towards you at an incredible speed. You pulled the plank off the ground and arched it out in front of you rapidly just before the demon was upon you. 

You both didn't expect for what happened next to actually take place, but to your relief and his irritation, it had happened. The nail from the plank was imbedded in the creature's hard shell like head. It simply stared at you for a second, shock and surprise in its eyes.

You thought that may have been the battle in its entirety, but the eyes of the demon still vibrated and moved about, studying you. The eyes changing from shock to anger. He was still very much alive, and now he was pissed at you.

You pulled the plank out of the demon's skull and quickly ran out of the way further into the smoke behind him. What the hell were you thinking?! You should have ran out, not farther in! Now you were definitely going to get slaughtered in here all alone without anyone to defend you.

Falling behind a bale of hay that wasn't in flames, you caught your breath, hoping to god that the thing wouldn't already be on the other side. You had already lasted longer than you thought you would have though. Perhaps you could somehow come out on top in all of this? 

The real question though was where the hell was everyone else during all this? What were they doing and why were you the one taking a freaking hellspawn or whatever the hell this thing was? There had to be a good explanation for all this, but you weren't sure you'd be alive long enough to get it. 

“At least the last one remained before me; but then again, you did get a hit on me unlike the last one. I must say, I am quite impressed. It will be sad to tear out your throat considering all that you have made possible for us here.” 

You clenched your teeth and flinched from those words being associated with you. You didn't want to die, oh god, you didn't want to die. You were mistaken, you were useless, you couldn't even defend yourself. How did you expect to take on something like this? 

You looked over the bale of high and quickly dove back down as you were face to face with the demon. You're hiding spot didn't work for shit. This smoke wasn't doing any favors either it seemed and you broke into another fit of coughing. 

You got up after that and prepared yourself for another exchange. This one came quicker than you had expected, but luckily the hellspawn didn't seem to be very tactical in his own right. 

He hopped over the bale of hay, but caught the bottom edge of his back claw on the mass and had to catch himself before falling over. You moved out of the way and attempted to land another hit with the nail and plank. 

Unlike this time, however, you did not connect and simply swung at the air as the creature quickly recovered and backed out of the way. His reach was superior to yours, though, and he swung a claw at you. You attempted to back up, but couldn't get out of the way fast enough and its sharp claw cut across your right shoulder and the section of chest near it.

The shirt was now tattered on the right shoulder and you couldn't help but feel a sort of anguish at realizing you made Rarity make you a whole new set of clothes just for this to happen to them. 

The adrenaline was still pumping through your veins for now, though, and you didn't feel the sting of the cuts that you had sustained. You quickly darted back towards the way out of the barn before turning back to see if the demon was behind you. 

He wasn't. What the? You looked around and couldn't find any trace of the thing. Did it retreat? Did you manage to somehow scare it off? That was very unlikely considering just how much you had done to the hellspawn. Whatever, if he was gone then you were out of here for sur-

“You need to be more observant, human. It would do your race some good to not need the help of such augmentation sometimes.”

You whirled around and looked up to see the demon looming over your now cowering self. It was obviously amused with the state you were in, its face contorted into a sick and cynical grin. 

You heart pounded and your mind screamed at you to do something. You began to slam into its side with the nail and plank repeatedly, hoping you were doing some sort of damage to the monstrous thing. 

Fortunately, it seemed that you were and you could see chips and pieces of the exoskeleton surrounding the abdomen of the demon flying off. The creature didn't cry out in pain, but you could see that it was effecting it in a rather negative way. 

That was when you were flying back, a single swipe of the arm from the demon launching you all the way to the back of the barn where you collided against the back wall. It had all happened in slow motion and you felt like you were suffering from shell shock, the world around you vibrating and hard to focus in upon. 

Only one thing remained a constant in your vision, and that was the hellspawn closing in on you for what you knew would be the final time. You did great for what you had. Not too many people could have stood their ground and took this thing on with the vigor you had displayed.

You were pulled up off of the ground by the front of your shirt, causing you to further regret having Rarity make you another set of clothes. You were staring at the hellspawn eye to eye and he was no longer amused at all.

“It is done. I have no more time to play your little games, human; I have too much I need to do.”

You swallowed nervously. This was it, you closed your eyes and suddenly broke into another fit of coughing. If that thing didn't kill you already, you were just going to suffocate. Maybe that was the thing's plan? 

You gasped and sputtered for what felt like moments, and you eventually flailed about, kicking at the thing. You really did not want to suffocate, that was way worse than whatever a clean kill would have been like, you were sure. 

Then you looked down and saw it. The plank was still embedded in the exoskeleton on the hellspawn’s side. Perhaps you could inflict a bit more damage with a bit of pressure applied? It was worth a shot considering that you were going to die anyways. 

You brought your leg back as far as you could before sending it forward and into the side of the abdomen where the plank was resting. Bingo. The exoskeleton cracked and broke off in large junks, revealing the rather slimy and gruesome interior of the demon. 

It roared out in pain, dropping you from it's grip. You landed on your back, and scurried out of the way. The demon snarled and looked around for you in a frenzy. 

It was time to go. You stood up and ran for the exit, your legs screaming from the sudden pressure placed upon them. Just a bit more and you'd be out of here, just a bit more and-

“Are you oka-oh!” You suddenly crashed into Twilight who was standing near the way out. As happy as you were to know that you were not abandoned, you found yourself rather perturbed that now she had decided to show up and hinder your progress out. 

“I'm sorry! I didn't know-AH!” Twilight cried as she stood up and looked behind you. You didn't have to turn to know what was behind you, but you did it for the sake of not getting impaled from the back. 

The demon was struggling over to you, holding a claw over it's exposed midsection. You must have mortally wounded it, and it wouldn't be long before it bled out. Wow, you had actually hurt it enough to put it in this state. If you weren't in such a life threatening situation, you might have cheered or something.

That wasn't the case, however, and you and Twilight were standing before this horrible creature, who even as hurt as it was, was probably still capable of ending both of you. 

Was there anything left you could do? Not without that plank that was lost at the other side of the barn now. Well, you were royally screwed now unless you both turned and ran out before it was too late. 

You turned to look and see if Twilight was thinking the same thing, but all you did was find that she had been staring at you for a long moment. She must have zoned out or something because she did not seem too concerned about what the hellspawn was doing as much as what you were. 

You snapped your fingers to bring her back into reality, where she shook her head and quickly turned her gaze back on the staggering demon. “I'm sorry.. I wasn't paying attention and-”

Not this again. Not right now. “We need to get out of here. Let's just go, this thing will kill us otherwise.” 

She nodded and you both backed up, feeling the dead wind from outside at your back. After that, you turned and ran out as fast as you both could without tripping over one another. You took a deep breath of fresh air as you finally found yourself out from that accursed barn. 

You wanted to collapse on the ground right there, but with all the onlookers before you, you didn't feel that would be doing anyone any good at the moment, especially when their was still an enemy back in the barn. 

You noticed Applejack now among the others that had been waiting for both you and Twilight to reemerge from the burning building. They looked at you both with relieved faces but they soon turned to confusion and anxiousness as you both ran right by them and continued down the path back to Ponyville with both of you gesturing madly for them to quickly follow you. Luckily, they seemed to get what both of you were getting at and soon galloped in pursuit.  

“What happened in there?! I shouldn't have asked for anypony to go in there! I'm so dumb!” Twilight cried out as you both ran side by side down the road and around the bend. 

“No! No you're not! Don't say that! You're amazing! Just keep running!” You yelled in return to the self diminishing statement. Twilight nearly missed a step after you had said that; it had obviously moved her enough to forget about whatever mistake she had thought she made. 

You looked back to make sure that the others were both following you; they were. You hoped that this would never happen again. You just got here and all hell had broke loose, you didn't feel guilty anymore, just angry. Angry that these things would dare encroach upon such a perfect land. 

You knew they weren't invincible now either, it just took a tactical and patient approach. It was time you found your place. Humanity's resourcefulness really was one of their best traits. Your scrappy nature and quick thinking were the way you were going to win this... war, or whatever this was. 

One thing still nagged at you both while you ran, though. Just where exactly where you all going? “Hey! What's the plan?” You asked her in between huffing and puffing. 

She seemed to grimace in some sort of pain after you asked that, but spoke up soon after. “This has got to be the stupidest idea ever, but... I think we should make a run for the train. That is, if it's still there.” 

“We're heading to Canterlot now, aren't we?” You asked, disdain washing over you. 

“That's the best we can do right now; we need to get to the center of this and end it before too many ponies get hurt.” 

You knew she was right, but you weren't particularly eager to head to any place where these demons made base. Still, just getting to the train was the priority right now, and even that seemed extremely daunting.