Equestria: 371 days after downfall. Following: Dashiell, Rainbow/ Sparkle, Twilight/ Pinkimena, Pie. Canterlot.
The creature attacked with unrivaled speed and perfect accuracy. Dash quickly blocked with her with her right hoof blade, countering with a right hook. The creature matched her speed, blocking and then throwing a left hook. After blocking, Dash swung her wing blade. The creature jumped left and threw two fast jabs at Dash’s head. Dash was fast and blocked, yet again swinging a right wing blade, but this time mixed with a right hook.
The creature attempted the same block, but Dash’s right hook caught him in the jaw. He stumbled back as Rainbow took the advantage. She threw a quick jab to its chest, and a left hook to its head. She quickly wound up with a blade, but the creature already had his bearings.
He quickly blocked and threw two quick jabs, one connecting with Dash’s jaw. Rainbow stumbled as the creature tried to take his turn. He threw a haymaker straight to Dash’s forehead, to which she skillfully blocked with her wingblade.
The creature fell back in pain, blood pouring from his hoof. Dash took the opportunity to pounce, hitting the creature with two rapid jabs. The creature fell back more, which Dash took the advantage to buck him in the chest. He fell back with enormous force and landed with his stomach on the ground. Rainbow took the advantage to pounce on top on him.
*SPLAT*
With one quick flick, the light in the creature’s eyes was extinguished. Dash tried her best to try to pretend that nothing was wrong as she signaled to Pinkie and Twilight to move forward. As Dash followed them, a tear flowed off her muzzle. Dash quickly shrugged it off and caught up with the others.
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You’re losing it Dash. You were just defending yourself.
No, you killed for yourself. You like the feeling, the steel, the sound; you live for the blood.
No! I just wanna fix this! I don’t wanna kill, I don’t wanna have to kill, but I have to…
You know the pleasure you feel is not concealable. You know you want it. You know you need it.
NO! I DON’T NEED IT! I DON’T WANT IT.CELESTIA KNOWS I COULDN’T IN ANY OTHER SITUATION!
You look like a fool yelling to yourself like that. You can only hide it for so long. You know why you want to kill, which makes the flame burn brighter.
Yeah, I fight for myself, and my friends.
And there’s the winning piece. You want to kill for your friends, what they went through, what you know they didn’t deserve.
I don’t need to hear this right now.
Dash continued to trot, hoof after hoof. Step after step. Second after second. The walk to the library’s door took what seemed like years, each step bringing more and more sorrow. Dash was mostly concerned that her friends had to see that at this point. Pinkie and Twilight were mostly thinking about what they had just seen.
Twilight pondered upon the creature, how it looked, and more importantly, how it fought. Pinkie dwelled upon the gruesome scene that she had just witnessed. The thought that ate at her the most was that Dash didn't want it. How she… hesitated for final blows. How she prolonged it with punches. The tear that Rainbow thought that nopony had seen.
After the long, sorrowful walk, the three reached the front door. Dash took point and creaked open the door to check the outside.
“It’s nighttime, we’ll have to wait till morning to be able to move.”
“Okay, we’ll set up camp here.”
“Twilight, can you finish putting up camp? Dashie and I need to talk.” Pinkie asked sweetly.
“Sure thing Pinkie.” Twilight responded absentmindedly.
Dash and Pinkie started to walk back to the basement.
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“Dashie… I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For… for that.” Pinkie said as she motioned to the dead creature.
“It’s fine, I had to protect you girls.”
“But I have weapons too. I should be stepping in more, plus I know Twilight’s taking the whole princess thing pretty hard.”
“Yeah, but what about you and your family?”
“I left. They probably didn’t even notice.” Pinkie said sadly.
“Pinkie… I’m so sorry.” Dash said, even sadder than Pinkie.
“What about yours?”
“Dead.” Dash said almost too calmly.
All Pinkie could do was wrap her hooves around Dash. “Th-That’s why you never wanted to talk about th-them!” Pinkie said in-between tears.
Dash returned the embrace. “It’s not your fault. It probably makes it easier during all of this.
Pinkie was still embracing Dash, her tears soaking the back of her neck.
“I-I still co-couldn’t imagine my early years without my par-parents. How d-did you make d-do with th-things?”
“I taught myself. I dropped out of flight academy because everypony there made fun of me for not having any parents. That’s what fueled my dream of flying. It hurt. The insults, the bullying, the beatings. All of it. I took all that I could and I left. I lived on the outskirts of Ponyville for quite a bit. All I needed was a place to get away. That’s all I ever wanted. To get away” Dash took a long exhale. “When I left, the only pony I had ties to was Fluttershy, so I had to take care of myself. I was sneaking apple off of none other than: Sweet Apple Acres. That’s how I met Applejack. “ Pinkie just sat across from Dash, looking more and more broken with every word. ”She’s the only other pony that even knows even a little about this. But I never told her the whole story. You’re the sole pony that is informed.” Dash finished, a couple tears rolling off of her cheeks.
Pinkie was absolutely speechless. All she could do was sit and replay what she heard.
“Pinkie, this isn’t your fault, I’m not asking for pity. I don’t care if you said ‘so what?’, but please don’t take this out on yourself.” Dash said honesty and loyalty heavy in her voice. “I need you to pull through this, and I know it’ll be hard. Twilight has never really known this caliber of pain and struggling.”
“I-I will Dashie” Pinkie promised.
The two mares took the walk back up to the main room of the library. It was almost too unreal how fast Pinkie could cheer up, she was already back up and smiling. The more interesting thing is how many of these books that Twilight read. Dash could tell that they had to have been Twilight since every stack that was on a table was in alphabetical order. Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle as she continued walking through the seemingly endless rows of books.
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After a few more minutes of silence, Dash and Pinkie were back to the main room. Rainbow shot a quick, subtle wink at Twilight.
“So, where to next?” Twilight broke the silence.
“Maybe we could try Dodge Junction; it’s probably safer than almost everywhere else. After that we might as well check Fillydelphia. The others probably went to their families as well. Speaking of which, why didn’t you go to yours Twilight?” Dash asked.
“They weren’t at our house, so I figured they either are out of the city or with Shining, which would be guarding the princesses.” Twilight finished, slightly downtrodden.
“We never did figure out what happened there, did we?” Pinkie asked innocently.
“Yeah, but I don’t think we want to either.” Dash said cynically. “It’ll come up later, right now we need to focus at the task at hand, that being Fluttershy.”
“The only problem there being that the castle is kinda… collapsed.” Pinkie said, using her hooves to reenact the castle falling.
“Not to mention the thieves all over the city.” Twilight added.
“And you two don’t have any real experience fighting…” Dash finished.
“Well we could always go at night and take the stealth approach.” Twilight started.
“Yeah but the crowd comes out at night. Ponies think it is a good idea to move under low light, but the thieves and those creatures always take ‘em out.” Dash countered.
“What if we could avoid them?” Twilight asked skeptically.
“These guys run in gangs, they have ponies running every block of Canterlot. These guys aren’t good at fighting. In fact, I don’t even think that they could fight a filly.” Rainbow proclaimed, “But, in numbers they can be very deadly.”
“Could we get in by the tunnels, Twi?” Pinkie questioned.
“No, the tunnels only go here, the forest, and the railroads.” Twi answered.
“We don’t know what is in the castle! Fluttershy may be long gone, or worse. If those creatures got in, we have a tough time ahead of us. We need to be ready for anything. If there are only thieves, they can only do so much, but those… things, they’re different. They know how to fight, it’s like the one I fought knew my next move before I even thought of it.” Dash observed.
“If we could just get in and out, that’s all we need.” Pinkie said.
“Yeah, but the only danger is that those things made it into the castle. Thugs are a minor speed bump, but those things can really fight.” Twilight said, “But if we don’t do it during the day,” Twilight stomped her hoof on an empty can, “that’ll happen.”
“Hey Twilight, isn’t the royal armory right next to the basement?” Dash inquired.
“Yes, but you need the key… Or a good lock picker.” Twilight said, her eyes widening at the last word. “ Oh, shall we leave at first light?"
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The three armored mares stuck to the shadows as they crept past the eyeshot of anypony nearby. Building after building past as they reached nearer and nearer to their prime goal. The streets were lined with bodies, most of them brand new. There was still a lingering problem with the rising of the sun and the moon, stuck in all of their minds.
The castle‘s lower half was standing right in front of them , cut off jaggedly at the midpoint. The castle was splattered in blood, The majestic white walls infected with the crimes of murderers and thieves. As the three walked up to the front door, somehow thinking that it would be unlocked. To their surprise it was. Twilight began to pull the door open.
“Wait.” Dash said suddenly. “Back in Ponyville one of my first buildings I searched had a trap at the front door. We have to go around or risk something really bad happening.”
“Dashie’s right, we need all three of us in case of trouble.” Pinkie chimed.
“Okay, then we’re going to need a second way in.” Twilight thought aloud.
“I could always fly in the top and clear the front door, then you two can join there.”
“You can’t do that alone, we need you.” She objected.
“I have to, we need to get to Fluttershy as soon as we can. She needs us more than we think. If I know anything, it’s that she already had to leave the castle. We need to get in there and then get out.” Dash finished, solemnly.
“I agree with Dash, Flutters needs us, and we need her.” Pinkie agreed with a frown.
The feelings of loss and suffering reappeared in all of the mares’ minds. The surrounding buildings even seemed to lean in to hear the conversations. The pool of shadows where they resided slowly became less and less the more time they spent talking.
“Dash, be safe, please. We need you,” a singular tear fell from Twi’s cheek, “we need Fluttershy too. Try to get out fast, we don’t know what lies in these shadows.”
Giving a single affirming nod, Dash took to the skies, but not as rambunctiously as she was accustomed to. She flew low along the castle until she reached the broken halves ‘connecting joint. She stealthily flew up and down into the sea of shadows.
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Dash sparked up her light charm, and the room slowly revealed itself. The shadows slowly receded to the edges of the room, revealing the ornate furniture and the large, cracked table. The table only had one segment that was still standing, but that segment was important. On the ledge of the table sat a letter. The letter had a pure black seal and the paper was a soft sky blue.
Dash trotted slowly over to the table and swiped it quickly into her bags, continuing to trot towards the door. The door itself was unlocked, albeit very damaged. The door creaked open at a painfully slow speed. The next room was no better than the first, beaten up and dirty. Splats of blood decorated the walls, running down to the floor. This room was much larger, rubble-filled, and open. There were slight cracks in the wall, blood yet again running down the walls.
The most surprising part of this room was the main door, seemingly unblocked and unrigged. Dash fluttered carefully over the debris, eyeing the tunnels that lead to the basement, luckily undamaged. As Dash flapped to a halt, she landed with a soft *click*, and continued to trot towards the door. The door crept open with ease and with no visible effects. Dash motioned the other two mares into the ruined room. Right then and there, trouble showed its face.
Three of the creatures entered the main room, only visible by their glowing eyes. The three were speaking in a language that not even Twilight understood. All three of their hooves contacted in perfect harmony, making a singular sound. The three mares stuck to the wall nearest to the door, none of them making a single noise.
The three creatures made a loop around the entire room, no doubt checking for intruders. Two of them split off in opposite directions, one towards the stairs and one towards the door. The ponies froze in fear as they saw a pair of glowing eyes pass right by them. Dash took the opportunity to draw her wingblade. She quickly leapt to the flank of the creature.
With one quick motion, Dash swept her blade against the creature’s throat, a spray of brilliant red shooting in every direction. The creature made a quiet croak as he fell limp, the blood slowing and his eyes closing. There was a short moment of quiet until the other two guards came to investigate.
The two creatures slowed to a halt at the dead body. Neither of them uttered a word. Dash took the time to sneak up. Unfortunately, the guard turned around to check their backs. Dash quickly swung her blade into the creature’s chest. The creature jumped back as the other creature took the time to kick Dash’s ribcage. Dash stumbled back as both of the creatures attack. Dash threw up both of her hooves as she shrugged off both hits. Dash took that moment to swing a blade at the back of one of them. The creature jumped back, obtaining a new gash from the blade.
The unscathed creature drop-kicked her in the front left hoof. Dash buckled under the intense pain, throwing up a blade to protect from the scarred creature’s attack. The pressure never hit Dash’s hoof, and she darted back up into an attack stance. She looked in shock as she saw Pinkie up and shrugging off the two creatures’ hits, every once in a while hitting one in the chest or hoof. Dash quickly regained her senses and jumped back in with Pinkie. Dash swung a blade at the scarred creature’s throat, solidly connecting.
The creature stumbled back, but jumped right back into Dash. Dash deflected the creature’s jabs and grabbed his right hoof at the next punch. She pulled him back and taking advantage of his poor balance and kicking him in the right of his head. The first creature fell back, completely unconscious.
Pinkie was having her own troubles; the creature that she was fighting gained the upper hoof and knocked Pinkie back with a kick to the chest. The creature swiped Pinkie’s hooves and she fell to the ground with an oof. The creature stood victoriously over Pinkie, raised his hoof, and said clearly, “You will never win.” Pinkie stared shocked at him as he drove his hoof down.
Dash quickly dove on top of the creature, his hoof only grazing Pinkie’s side. Dash threw four quick punches into the creature’s forehead. As she raised her hoof for the last strike, Dash stared into the eyes of the creature. Its eyes were happy, he was smiling, almost like this was a plan. That was the last thought that passed through Dash’s head as she let her hoof down, a loud *thump* echoed throughout the room.