//------------------------------// // Positional Player // Story: Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival // by NeoNagasaki //------------------------------// Pinkie looked to Applejack quickly as they galloped down the hall and idly wondered how Rainbow Dash had become their leader. When there was time to debate and consider she hadn’t been sure, but the minute they set hoof on this base they had fallen in line behind her. It didn’t bother Pinkie honestly; she didn’t like it when ponies saw her running things. She never even tried to become captain of the Wave Crester, and not solely because mares weren’t well received as captains. Twilight was smarter, and Applejack was better trained, either would make a promising leader. Perhaps it was simply that this was what Rainbow was good at, in this world it was her special talent. Leading raids against enemy forces was something she knew how to do, so naturally if they were on a ship they would look to Pinkie for command... right? It could simply be said, however, that they all trusted Rainbow now. She had changed somewhat since they started playing this game. She was still that brash arrogant young girl that had crashed into things while showing off, but somehow she seemed...tempered. Maybe serious violence brings out the best in some ponies, or maybe she just calmed down under the weight of responsibility. Rainbow’s gaze quickly flashed back at them, “You guys hit that lab up ahead, it looks like it’s still open. I’m going to check that lab down the hall. We’ll meet back soon.” That was all it took, no fighting, no arguments. Both ponies quickly nodded in agreement and pushed on and into the lab. With a quick survey Pinkie turned up her nose at the place. The lab itself was pristine, as they all were. Instruments of all sorts lined the walls and tables along with bundles of papers to record notes and data. The instruments and notes were likely all about studying the most interesting thing in the room — the monsters. At the opposite end of the room were a total of twelve cages built into the wall, and behind each one stood an angry monster. They were of various shapes sizes and species, but she recognized each one as horribly dangerous. With a sigh she ignored them and got to work looking for something to cut the wires. The instruments were mostly to take samples to test, and none of them appeared particularly promising. After shutting a drawer the pink pony looked the desk over to see a microscope. It took only a moment for her eyes to widen, casting a wary glance back towards Applejack. Her friend was busy searching on her own and didn’t notice Pinkie in the slightest. Pinky knew all the rules, she’d set up a personal set of rules never to break so she could survive in this game, could she suspend them now? Rule three was “Never miss an opportunity to scavenge.” When could she possibly ever find another microscope! The engineering and skill that went into making these was astronomical...but it would weigh her down. The saddlebag was opened and with a quick sweep of her hoof the contents of the desk were shoved inside. Pinkie’s head snapped up as Applejack’s voice cried out from across the room, “Pinkie!” Instantly Pinkie snapped up onto her hind legs, hiding the bag behind her back, “What! I didn’t do anything!” The orange mare gave Pinkie a suspicious look and opened her mouth, then shook her head with a sigh, “Whaddya think ‘bout these here?” she asked, holding up some sort of device that was probably made to clip the monster’s nails. Slowly Pinkie lowered to the ground, forcing her heart to thump more slowly, “I don’t know, metal is harder to cut than that, but it’s our best bet.” Pinkie looked about, they had searched this room fairly thoroughly, but had wasted far more time than they had. Hopefully Rainbow had found something more useful because if not they’d have to get into an escape pod and take their chances. Floodgates would only keep the soldiers at bay for so long. “Hey...Pinkie?” “Mmm?” “When we came in, all the cages were closed except for one, right?” With wide eyes Pinkie turned her attention to the opposite side of the room. Twelve cages, eleven had a monster behind them, the last was empty. The hair on the back of her neck raised as she instinctively checked for her short sword, “No...they were all full.” “Yeah.” Applejack said, “That’s what I figured. What you say we go ahead and get while the getting’s good?” The pink mare gave a nod of agreement and both of them cautiously made their way out the door and into the hallway. “We’re runnin’ short on time sugarcube. You go fetch Rainbow an’ I’ll get Fluttershy.” Pinkie felt a sharp tightness in her chest, “No!..Err, no. I’ll get Fluttershy.” Applejack’s brow raised as she opened her mouth in protest, “It’s a religious thing, with the druids. She wouldn’t like it if some other pony walked in on her if she’s doing a ritual.” Applejack looked unconvinced, “What’re ya talkin bout Pinkie? Celestia’s the only real goddess. All the other ones are just make believe hooey from this here game world.” “Oh I know that Applejack,”Pinkie lied, “but poor Fluttershy’s really been messed up by this world. She’s confused.” Applejack seemed to ponder that for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh, “Fine! I’ll get Rainbow. You be careful and get that girl to the room lickety split!” Pinkie gave a grateful nod before bolting down the hallway. She crossed the space she needed in a full gallop, stopping briefly to notice the open door to the main lab. The Elements of Harmony sat on the table inside, under the cover of the ivy that now permeated all of the walls. With great restraint she resisted the urge to rush in and snatch up the elements. Not only did she need to get Fluttershy, she didn’t want to enter the room without some backup. Quickly she shouldered the door open and stifled a gasp as she straightened in shock. Before her stood not a pony, but a massive wolven beast, face coated in blood as entrails dangled from her maw. The floor beneath their legs was slick with blood as an unrecognizable carcass lay dismembered throughout the room. Instantly Pinkie fought back the urge to recoil in horror. This was a delicate situation that came at the absolutely wrong time. Fluttershy’s massive wolven eyes filled with shock and shame as they slowly looked up. Even Fluttershy didn’t know what a major moment this was for her development. The first kill of a sentient creature was a ritual of passage for all lycans. They all did it eventually, and they needed their alpha there to tell them that even though they were eating...ponies...it was a good thing. Fluttershy started backing away, her tail curling between her legs. Ok, she was in a time crunch and she needed to get Fluttershy turned back and cleaned up before anypony saw her. On the other hoof if she rushed this Fluttershy might end up killing herself as the two natures inside herself fought for her. The soul of her friend and the soul of a lycan warrior were fighting for supremacy inside the cowering young mare. The sad truth was that in order to save either, Pinkie had to make sure the lycan won. Pinkie’s back straightened as she tried to put on her best dominant alpha persona and strut towards the badly mangled corpse on the ground. As she glared Fluttershy let out a pathetic whimper and looked away. This was horrifying and grotesque! Since Pinkie had learned Fluttershy was a lycan she’d practiced eating meat to teach Fluttershy what to do, but this wasn’t just meat. Her stomach turned and threatened to empty itself but she pushed the revulsion to the back of her mind as she leaned down and smeared her face against the body. She couldn’t do it, gods above help her she wasn’t ready for this. Her stomach bucked against her conscious thought as she pulled herself up, pretending to chew something. Pretending wasn’t so hard, she knew what chewing meat felt like, and pony meat couldn’t have been much different. Still, she knew the blood smeared all over her maw was pony blood. She knew that what had once pumped through the veins of another living breathing pony was now being inhaled through her nostrils. Fluttershy, now rapt with attention obeyed Pinkie’s signal to come closer. As she approached their eyes met, “Did he attack you?” Pinkie asked quietly. The wolven beast gave a somber nod and started to look away but Pinkie caught her massive muzzle with a hoof and held her. “You did well Fluttershy. You did what needed to be done.” Fluttershy’s eyes were remorseful as she stared into Pinkie’s. Quickly Pinkie looked down at the corpse. Custom might not have meant much considering Fluttershy didn’t have a pack, but it was customary to keep a trophy of their first kill. A glint of gold caught her eye and Pinkie reached for it. After a moment of pulling she wrested the golden necklace free from the body and held it up. Slowly the wolven beast began to shrink and turn yellow as Pinkie pulled her closer, touching their foreheads against one another. “Will you be my sister, forged in battle and blood?” Breathily Fluttershy’s response came, “Yes.” “Will you protect me as I protect you?” Pinkie asked. “Yes!” Fluttershy said eagerly. The next response was supposed to be welcome to the pack. At least, that’s what the book said it was. It was likely the book was off, or at the very least paraphrasing. It was unlikely any pony had ever been allowed to observe lycan rituals. In all honestly Pinkie didn’t much understand what this ritual was to accomplish. Pinkie and Fluttershy were already friends who would stand by each other. Hell, all of their friends would stand by each other. As she watched Fluttershy, however, she knew it was something more. Something that perhaps only lycans could understand. Fluttershy leaned before her, eyes closed as a look of ecstasy radiated from her. It almost looked like those silly ponies that fell prostrate before Celestia’s holy light at the summer sun celebration. With no pack she’d have to improvise. “Then come, sister we have a god to fight.” Even coated in blood, somehow the smiling druid managed to seem demure. This begged the question how anything so horrifyingly dangerous could seem so small and innocent. “I-I opened the door...I think.” Fluttershy said with a smile. With a nod Pinkie slipped the necklace around Fluttershy’s neck, “Yeah. I saw. I think it’s about time we leave. Go get Twilight and Rarity, we're going home.” With that Fluttershy scampered off. It was unlikely she had thought of an explanation for why she was covered in blood, but the others would have more important concerns. Right now Pinkie’s biggest concern was how queasy her stomach felt. The moment Fluttershy was out of sight Pinkie moved over to the nearest patch of earth and proceeded to throw up. Unfortunately, a full thirty seconds later she still felt sick, but the sound of a hoofstep at the door caught her attention. A voice sounded from behind her, quivering with rage, “What the fuck have you done?” Quickly Pinkie turned about with a smile, “Oh hey Rainbow Dash! I was feeling a little sick I-” “You...monster!” Her friend was a visage of fury. The barbarian almost radiated anger. Her teeth were clenched and an almost palpable sense of murder wafted off of her as she approached. Instantly Pinkie began to defensively back away. Rainbow Dash was angry, but why? From time to time she had broken the rules of what the group allowed to be right. Last time she did that Derpy broke her nose. Even then, whatever she did wrong Rainbow seemed to stand by her then. What could she have possibly done to elicit this strong of a reaction? “Hey...” Pinkie said carefully “Calm down, what’s wrong?” Rainbow continued her approach, “You...I left your side for two minutes and you killed Fluttershy! I knew I never should have left you alone!” Pinkie blinked in surprise...killed Fluttershy? Fluttershy was fine! The mare left not twenty seconds ago. “I didn’t kill Fluttershy!” Pinkie said in protest. “Didn’t kill her? You’ve still got her blood on your lips!” Pinkie looked over to the badly eviscerated corpse in the pool of blood. “Oh, that’s-” Her words were cut off as Rainbow darted forward. Instead of the longblade she expected Pinkie narrowly avoided the slash of a gleaming dagger Rainbow pulled from her hip. With a yelp the pink mare bound over a table behind her as the whistling arc of the blade severed several strands of hair from her tail. In a panic Pinkie turned about, hoping to talk the raging barbarian down, but the desk bought her no time. Rainbow dropped low, spun, and bucked the table. A hefty weight of wood and metal crashed into the mare and threw her off balance, sending her to the floor. In an instant Rainbow had turned about and cleared the table, dagger at the ready. Pinkie managed to push herself back onto all fours a second before Rainbow landed. A sharp pain shot through Pinkie’s face as the shining blade retracted from her face, red with blood. Instantly the blade turned and redirected, coming back in. Before Pinkie could even think she had reared up onto all fours, her shortsword barely deflecting the incoming blade. Pinkie was no swordspony, but she had practiced with Captain Anjin from time to time. Unfortunately that was swashbuckling, this was...war. Pinkie sidestepped and flourished as she barely knocked the blade away a second time. Pinkie’s blade was a full foot and a half longer, that was her only real advantage. Had Rainbow gone with a longsword Pinkie knew she would already be dead. Her sword flashed again as it caught the blade, but Rainbow’s slash pushed her off balance. An angry hoof reached past Pinkie and grabbed onto her tangled mane, pulling her forward where Rainbow’s forehead was waiting. Pinkie’s face exploded in such pain she was sure Rainbow had caved it in. Her nose felt mostly numb, but pain felt like it was radiating up her face and behind her eyes. In a panic Pinkie pulled away and jerked her sword defensively back. A stinging pain flooded into her foreleg as a knife punched clean through the base of her hoof. Her mouth opened to scream, and that’s when Rainbow’s forehead smashed into her again. The spinning world slowly pulsed back into existence as Pinkie tried to make sense of where she was. The fur covering her back was slick and wet, it only took her a moment to recognize it as blood. A gasp ripped out of her lips as she felt the barbaric pony land atop her, sinking a knee into her ribs with a painful crack. Desperately she flailed about, but her sword was nowhere to be found. Angry eyes bore down on Pinkie as the silver dagger raised high into the air, poised for it’s killing blow. Pinkie’s hoof brushed up against something, and in an act of pained panic she grabbed and swung. Whatever it was met with Rainbow’s face with a hollow twang and the pressure on Pinkie’s chest alleviated. For far too long the pink mare lay on the ground, gasping and clutching at her chest with her injured hoof. Slowly however, it came back to her. With a grunt of pain she forced herself to sit and began applying a tight bandage to her wrist to stop the bleeding. Carefully she looked around for Rainbow, but found no sign of her. She did, however, get a look at what she had used as an impromptu weapon. A look of surprise came to her face as she saw that it was actually a breastplate, but not just any breastplate, the breastplate of the Zephyr Knights. Her gaze moved over to what remained of her victim, that was once a zephyr knight. More likely it was Commander Calescent or some other knight given an amulet of teleportation. The far more pressing matter at the moment was where Rainbow had gone. With a good deal of pain Pinkie forced herself to her hooves and began to walk about. Her eyes narrowed as she looked the ground over with suspicion. The blood on the floor stopped at one point, although it appeared something, or somepony, had been dragged through it. Instinctively Pinkie jerked as something moved in the corner of her eye, but now that she was looking she could see nothing. As fear started to radiate through her she reached to the ground and drew a longblade from the bloodied pool. There was something in this room, something she couldn’t see. A sudden flurry of movement exploded from the left as a massive black spider raced out of nowhere and struck. Pinkie whirled the blade about in a desperate bid to hit something, anything! Just like that, the spider was gone. Pinkie panted in pain as she returned to three legs, refusing to return to all four as she didn’t want to drop her blade. Her legs pumped as she tried to march towards the exit, but she found her hind legs to be stuck to the floor. So that’s what the spider did with it’s attack, it had made it so she couldn’t run. From behind her there was another burst of movement and Pinkie struck, but she hadn’t seen the beast until it was far too late. Another moment and it was gone again. As she looked down she saw a thick sticky substance covering her hind legs, and even as she watched it became harder to move. Her first instinct was to cut the substance away, but that thing was hard to see coming in the first place, if she were distracted it would be nigh impossible. The young mare forced herself to stand on her hind legs and waited, holding her sword high and ready to strike. The slightest sound came from behind her and she acted without hesitation. The blade met the beast in a vicious strike, but bounced harmlessly aside as the spider struck and vanished into the trees once more. The entire torso of the pink mare was now covered in the webbing and hardening fast. With a resigned sigh she dropped the blade to the ground. She had no idea where it was coming from, and even if she got it hit it was a glancing blow at best. There was no way she could win. She reached into her bag and pulled free the glass vial filled with wolfsbane, looking it over grimly. Even if she knew she was going to lose, Pinkie always made a play. A flash of movement from the right caught her attention and she struck. Her actions accomplished nothing as she ground the glass and pedals into the thing’s thick hide. It uncaringly began spinning her about, using her restriction of movement to easily hold her down. In moments she was little more than a wiggling cocoon on the bloodied floor. Well, it was a longshot in the first place, and now she got to face her end saying she had, at the very least, tried.