//------------------------------// // 39 - Shadows of Death // Story: Storm Of Secrets // by Beware The Carpenter //------------------------------// SPEED! Rainbow Dash had lived her entire life for speed, and never once had she needed it more then she did right now; this time was for real. Out of the corners of her eyes, Dash could see dozens of pegasi struggling to keep up with her, but a few awesome flaps from her wings left them behind in the dust. Dash didn't pay any attention to them, but kept her attention focused on not swallowing the portgem, keeping as straight a line as possible while swerving through the trees and scanning the ground for any sign of Storm's enigmatic burrow. If she drifted from her course by only a few degrees, she could bydash the burrow without knowing it. A scream caught her attention, a panicked scream, a Twilight scream, a changeling scream. Swiveling to her left, Dash saw Twilight, slumped against one side of a hill, blood pouring out of several massive injuries and one leg jutting out like it was broken in at least two places. Shining Armor stood directly over her, rearing fiercely as he used his hooves and horn to lash out at invisible attackers. "Cadance!" he yelled, "Twilight's dying! If you don't let us in she won't make it!" This seemed like the right place, but Dash wanted to make another lap to be sure. Dash passed the duo and curved round the hill, but as she got to the other side, her heart wrenched in horror; she was too late. Cadance was already dead; her body dumped unceremoniously down the side of the hill. Above her was a large, gaping, freshly dug hole in the side of the hill, the broken wooden frame of the burrow visible around the edges of the hole, in much the same way the broken skeletal frame was now visible on the former Princess of Canterlot. She'd failed. A frantic groan made her reconsider; just now, two changelings were dragging the mangled body of Shining Armor out of the hole, as he struggled vainly against them. Shining Armor's body; Silent Storm's mind. "Get away from him!" screamed Dash, ejecting her blades and racing in for the rescue. The changelings ran. Maybe they knew that Storm was dying and there was nothing she could do could do to save him. Maybe her reputation really had spread to the forest and they were smart enough to fear her. Why didn't matter; they took one look at her and scattered in different directions; leaving the broken, bleeding body of Storm tumbling down the hill. Dash made an emergency landing half way down the hill and caught him, knocking a faint grunt from him as his ribs collided with her legs. "Storm, speak to me!" His eyes flickered open, his mouth tried to move, Dash put her ear to his mouth to hear his dying words; Storm shot up and bit her on the neck; and not it the way she'd fantasized. Dash screamed as the changeling’s fangs pierced her skin, making a deep incision in their search for blood, and as if her cry had been the signal, the changelings who had fled returned from around the sides of the hill, backed by two other changelings who looked like Shining Armor and a now healed Twilight. Meanwhile the 'dead Princess Cadance' got up from where she had been lying, without leaving a drop of blood behind, and charged to help her friends finish off the intruder. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Shining Armor stood frozen; watching as Twilight was swallowed by the darkness of the forest. He watched for what seemed like an eternity after she had gone, looking for any last trace of purple; some final token of solace before he died. He saw nothing. He was never going to see Twilight Sparkle again. He was going to die. Probably, he was going to die. He was exhausted, terrified and outnumbered; running would be useless and chances of being rescued by Reaper’s forces in time were slim. With enough willpower, however, he could bury his thoughts about Twilight; the terrormongers would know he was afraid, and could feed off him, but he might be able to buy himself a few minutes before they learned the specifics and began attacking him with Twilights. The volume of the cries suggested at least two terrormongers. Two terrormongers in that short of time would be difficult; if he was to have any hope… he would need weapons. Shining Armor turned slowly to the only available weapons in the glade; if he used them he might– NO! Twilight would listen to him! She was willful and headstrong, but she had promised to obey him when they set out; and there was no way she could have missed his urgency when he told her to run. By now she was over a mile from here, and she wasn’t coming back. These swords were his only hope. He wanted to live; he wanted to marry Cadance and grow old with her. Shining Armor grabbed the rusted swords in his telekinesis and hoisted them into the air, cleaning them rapidly as rivers of dirt trailed off them. The terrormongers were going to try and weave a sea of illusions around him; they themselves would remain hidden but would stay as close to him as possible so they could gorge themselves on his fear. He needed to see through their walls of illusions, find them and kill them; quickly. He could barely see straight. He didn’t have any flares. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Dash struggled and kicked against the imposter Storm as the other changelings closed in. A missed step on one of their parts and they both lost balance, sending them tumbling down the side of the hill. Dash didn't know what had happened, but based on the facts that the changeling released her as soon as they began falling, and when they reached the bottom, the knives on her hooves were stuck into the changeling’s chest; she figured she must have done something right. Miraculously, the portgem was still lodged between her back teeth and cheek. Looking up Dash saw several dark shapes coming down the hill towards her. Six maybe? She didn't have time to count, and the sticky feeling running down the side of her neck suggested she was losing blood. Dash launched and flew straight up; knowing her wings were her best advantage and flight may not be a luxury she could entertain for much longer. Looking down she could see the changelings coming after her; three, five, seven, Who cares! There were a bunch! Beneath them she saw another changeling with its head buried into the side of the hill, flank in the air, as it continued to dig with its hooves and teeth and Dash realized the hole didn't go all the way into the burrow just yet. Dash had the idea of using one changeling to crush another, and so when she had reached a decent height, she swiveled and began falling as fast as possible. Catching one changeling in a bear hug from above, she pinned its wings to its side and aimed their mutual plunge towards the burrowing changeling, hoping they would smash each other to bits, yet be considerate enough to cushion her fall. More blood leaked down her mane. The changeling she was holding gave a howl; the changeling who was digging looked up, and then jumped out of the way; Dash, and her prisoner, went plummeting straight into the hole. This was going to hurt. The ground sagged under the changeling, and then broke under their combined weight, sending Dash and the changeling smashing through the ground and into a small, cozy cave. Sword! A sword, gripped clumsily in telekinesis came flying towards her, Dash fell backwards and gave a yelp as the sword clanged against the shoes of her outstretched hooves, letting sparks fly. "It's me; Rainbow Dash!" she yelled as Cadance took another swing, missing wildly. Cadance looked terrified, she shot a glance behind her to Storm who was wielding two small knives with considerable effort, yet masterful efficiency as he sliced through the jugular of the changeling Dash had ridden into the burrow. His eyes met with Cadance's and he shook his head. Cadance grit her teeth and tried to stab her. Dash grabbed the flats of the blade on both sides with her hooves and threw the sword into a wall, then tackled Cadance who shriveled into a fetal position under her, hiding her eyes under her hooves. Dash’s mind raced to the only other time she had met Cadance, and began yelling the first things that came to mind; "Twilight's birthday, fifth of June, Iron Will!" Cadance looked up at her and Dash spat the portgem onto her chest, "Portgem! Canterlot! Use it, NOW!" Cadance slowly unfroze, and her horn began glowing in harmony with the crystal. Dash looked up to see Storm holding his daggers ready, deciding whether or not to kill her. Their eyes met. She had hoped for recognition. She had hoped for joy; maybe a hint of worry that she was in danger and bleeding from the neck. He looked at her in blank confusion as though he'd never seen her before in his life. A changeling head popped down from the hole in the ceiling, looked at them and then lunged for Storm. Dash dove to intercept it, ramming it against an empty weapon rack on the far side of the burrow where she felt its spine snap. A brilliant light flourished from behind her, Dash spun around to see Cadance and Storm glowing brightly and realized she was too far away for the portgem to take her with them. Dash threw herself towards them, towards Storm, hooves outstretched; but as she reached the outskirts of the spell, he dematerialized before her eyes, vanished with Cadance and Dash ran painfully into a wall. More changelings started pouring into the burrow. Dash was still bleeding, and was beginning to see double. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Shining Armor ducked behind a tree, using his black mane to camouflage himself perfectly with the shadows. Shining Armor held his swords in front of him and examined them under the strangled beams of sunlight that had strayed into the forest before becoming trapped by the impounding walls of leaves and branches above. The edges of each blade pulled apart from each other until midpoint when they curved back together, forming a wicked hook point at the end of each blade. The blades had rusted and harbored several strains of moss that had dared cling to their sides; but they both remained solid, and absolutely deadly. Shining Armor peered through a fork in the trunk and saw... a mare. Her coat was an illumines silver; the kind light beams would look for so they could bounce off of, with a long, crimson mane which fell freely over her neck and shoulders. Both were unkept and bedraggled as though she'd spent weeks in the forest without rest. She wore a coat of fine chain-mail, now bent and torn in some places, revealing patches of a sleek yet scared coat but hiding her cutie mark. Her face was undeniably beautiful, but her eyes were dark and calloused, as though they had seen too much, too soon. She was out of range of a revealment spell, but Shining Armor knew anyways that she was almost definitely a trap. The mare raised her head as if she heard a thunderclap; and looked him dead in the eyes, terror and hatred stabbing into her as she recognized him. She turned and tried to run; but half way through jumping over a branch she hit an invisible wall. She thrashed and kicked against whatever invisible aurora of telekinesis had grabbed her, and inch by inch she was dragged towards Shining Armor; terrified. Shining Armor readied himself and when the mare was pulled to within striking distance he cast his revealment spell. There was a blast and the mare’s face was thrown back like she’d been hit, in the same instant turning into Twilight Sparkle in perfect likeness except for an ugly red gash under her left eye, bleeding profusely. Twilight staggered under the blow then turned on him; lunging at him fangs bared. Shining Armor was ready for this and sidestepped, bringing one of his blades down on the illusion as it passed out of his field of vision, but felt no impact. Had the false Twilight been an illusion; or had it been a changeling and he’d missed? Shining Armor spun around and was met by two identical Twilights, each bearing grizzly neck wounds. Shining Armor stabbed at them with a sword each; they vanished but as they did so something bit one of Shining Armor’s hind legs; he swiveled one of the blades and shot it behind him, aiming less than an inch off his skin to skewer whatever was there. For a second time the blade refused to make contact with an enemy, but missed his mark by about an inch; the rusted blade drew a wide cut across his hind leg, barely missing his major veins and arteries. Shining Armor pivoted, and was faced with a myriad of Twilight’s who looked terrified and seemed to be running from and yet towards him at the same time. Acting on reflex, began hacking wildly; each time missing the resistance to imply that he had killed something. A hoof collided with his back. Shining Armor buckled under the weight, feeling the tear on his leg grow worse, but without losing an instant he turned both of his blades upwards to where the blow had come from; but for a third time his blades came back empty. He was beginning to hate this changeling. Something nipped at his flank, he swiveled his blades a fourth time; and was finally rewarded with a slight hint of resistance, and the hiss of a wounded changeling. Shining Armor spun his swords in a three-sixty degree arch around himself to dispel some more of the fake Twilights, then allowed himself a third of a second to inspect his sword, confirming a thin smear of blood on it. The hiss of the wounded changeling was receding behind the next tree line; Shining Armor brandished his swords and gave chase. Shining Armor ducked behind one of the trees separating him and the changeling; using his mane to camouflage himself, he peered through a fork in the trunk and saw Twilight, about thirty paces off, looking away from him. Shining Armor teleported through the tree and raced towards the changeling; ready to decapitate it. The changeling caught sight of him, freezing in terror as it saw him; seconds before his blades would have made impact a sound escaped its throat, “DON’T!” Shining Armor hesitated, the changeling head butted him in the chin; its horn only just missing being driven into his neck. Shining Armor was knocked back and felt the changeling bite into his ankle, tearing his hooves out from under him as he landed painfully on his side. His blades swooped to where the changeling was but again it evaded them and flew away. A growl caught his attention; Shining Armor, ignoring the pain egressing from his legs, jumped up in time to see three timber wolves emerging from the shadows to circle him. One of the timber wolves lunged at him and then fell to the ground with a small knife buried in its neck; Twilight stood behind it with the rest of her knives ready. The other wolves lunged for him and these too fell to the ground with Twilight’s daggers in their necks. Something wasn’t right; Twilight wasn’t meant to be here, she had to be an illusion. Shining Armor swung his blades towards them and the purple mare froze; “DON’T-” Her cry was cut off as Shining Armor’s blades cut through her effortlessly, reducing her to nothing. Shining Armor kicked at the bodies of the timber wolves around his hooves and each of them disappeared in turn. There was a roar of a manticore off to his right, he turned to face the sound and something hit him on his left ear, making it seem to implode as he temporarily lost his hearing. As he fell, his hoof shot up and this time he definitely felt himself connect with something solid. He turned in time to see a Twilight with changelings wings flying away from him as its face contorted in pain; it was beyond his ability to reach it with his telekinesis but he threw one of his swords at it, nailing its wing as it fell to the ground behind some trees with a shriek. Shining Armor went after it; loath to let this seemingly uncatchable changeling escape him a seventh time. He took his remaining sword and galloped to the tree line, glancing through a fork in the tree he saw a wounded changeling, looking like it was trying to morph. Without a moment’s hesitation he careened around the tree and zeroed in on his target. Shining Armor spotted his other sword beside his path, he veered to pick it up and when he looked back up the changeling had finished turning into Twilight again. She looked filthy, and under her mud encrusted body he could make out several wide gashes on her leg and flank. She was running towards him. She saw him coming towards him, and then froze in terror; an audible cry escaping her throat moments before he reached her; “DON’T-” but it was too late. Shining Armor brought down his sword oh her neck, slicing the jugular, sending blood spraying across the forest floor, and onto Shining Armor's. Her eyes met his, doing a frighteningly good imitation of Twilight, in one final effort to deceive him. “PLEASE, STOP! IT'S ME!” “LIAR!” he yelled as he brought the second sword down on her neck, decapitating it with a sickening 'crack' as steel met spine. There was a wave of blood forcing Shining Armor to close his eyes, but he knew the hit had been lethal as he felt his victim’s body flail about for several seconds and then go dead. He’d killed it. Whatever it was he had killed it. Was it a changeling or Twilight? He didn't dare look. He didn't want to know. If he opened his eyes he would see it. To make the body unrecognizable, he began hacking. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… The lamps in the burrow had been knocked over. For some reason Dash didn't have time to contemplate, there wasn't any smoke, just tiny rivers of flaming oil casting triple and quadruple shadows of changelings she was already seeing double of. She thought there might be eight. The changelings didn't attack her immediately, but waited, looking around at the burrow, their two fallen comrades, and herself. Dash knew she was losing blood, but still waited for them to take the first move. There was a tingling in the back of her head and then Dash was looking at a number of Twilights, Pinkie Pies and Applejacks; the last of whom were sporting neck wounds which would have been lethal. That there weren’t any Fluttershys or Raritys suggested there were only three changelings. Dash bucked an oil lamp at them, which exploded on impact; when the oil flash had gone she wasn't looking at her friends anymore, but her parents and Scootaloo. Dash guessed that these were a stronger breed of mildly telepathic changelings Shining Armor had warned her about, and they were looking for shapes she would hesitate to attack. Her parents weren’t the shapes they were looking for. Dash made herself remember every argument she'd ever had with them and then charged the trio. She blacked out for a moment and then several Scootaloo heads that had been severed horizontally at the mouth were spinning to the floor as they turned black and scaly; and Dash's right wing felt bloody. So she’d killed the only one of the three that she really liked; she knew it wasn't her real sister. When Dash turned back around her parents were gone and instead, Cadance and Storm were back in the burrow, spinning wildly in dismayed confusion. "It didn't work!" cried Cadance, "The portgem didn't work!" Nice try. Dash managed to flap her wings into an airborne assault and caught 'Cadance' with her bladed hoof behind the back of the head, calling that adequate payback for the real Cadance trying to kill her. ‘Cadance’ fell to the ground, black and scaly just like the other changeling; now there was no one in the burrow except her and Storm. Dash stared into the eyes of the thing pretending to be Storm, pretending to be Shining Armor and steeled herself; "It's not gonna work" she told it. The changeling paused, gazed intently at her and then changed one last time. It got... smaller. It turned into a pegasus. At first Dash thought it was going for Scootaloo again, but the coat was too red and the mane was... rainbow? The changeling finished its transformation into a tiny pegasus colt, facing her with keen, innocent eyes and sporting a toothy fanged grin. Its wings looked almost identical to hers, but its muzzle was just like Storm's, and his face was... Just for a moment, Rainbow Dash hesitated. The changeling attacked.