//------------------------------// // What Destiny Requires // Story: Innavedr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Dawn light glinted off the sloping, water-slick spires of Blue Nova as Bellesmith peered into a broad alley. Slowly, pursing her lips in a pensive fashion, she gazed north towards an open courtyard. She saw a distant flicker of equine shadows, followed by the unmistakable clopping of enforcers' metal horseshoes. Kera walked straight past her and into the side-street. Hissing under her breath, Belle shot a hoof out and dragged the filly back. She held Kera closely as she continued gazing at the courtyard beyond. Once the shuffling shadows had dissipated, she relaxed, then let go of her grip on the foal. Motioning with her head, the mare trotted briskly down the opposite end of the alley, moving towards where the shadows of the high scaling walls were thicker. Two or three full minutes into the trot, Kera spoke up, "Belle, how long do we—?" "Shhh!" Belle insisted. Kera bowed her head. With ears drooped beneath her little cloak's hood, she trotted closer to the older pony. Once within intimate earshot, she whispered, "How long do we plan on trotting around in circles?" "I'm trying to get us away from the enforcers..." "But they've been wandering around like this nonstop for hours. Don't they know when to quit?" "I don't know if I've clearly emphasized how much they want to capture me," Belle said. "I mean to them as much as Queen and country... perhaps more so..." "What for?" Kera made a tattooed scrunchy face. "Cuz you're the world's leading expert on old dusty books and rainbow ponies?" "Rainbow Dash is more than just a mare with a really dazzling mane," Belle said. She paused to scope out an adjacent alleyway, then motioned Kera after her as she trotted into the narrow corridor. "She's a... a spark..." "A spark?" "She has so much that she can bring this world." "In what way?" "I... I can't really say, Kera..." "Why not?" Bellesmith sighed, pausing in a patch of puddle-strewn granite work. "Because I don't quite understand all of it. I feel it, Kera. Rainbow Dash and I have had a very special connection. I... I experienced her memories... just like I experienced the memories of Nightshade and her brother..." "You mean in that sequencing crud?" Belle nodded. "Only, when I was made to tap into Rainbow's mind, I was given... visions..." "Visions?" Kera waddled around Bellesmith, staring up at her with wide green eyes. "What kind of visions?" "There's something special about the mare, Kera," Belle said, walking past her and guiding the two of them down a curved alley towards the western edge of the city. The smell of garbage and the trickling of loose moisture seeped out of every stained corner. "She has a destiny... a very special destiny in store for her... and I'm convinced that it's tied with the fate of this world... the fate of all of us..." "Like... how?" "Kera..." Belle sighed, gazing with a weary smile at the filly. "What's with all the questions?" "I just wanna know about this mare you seem so willing to give up your life for." "I'm not giving up my life, Kera. I just... need answers." "Well, so do I!" Kera jumped ahead of her, splashing through a puddle or two. "You wanna go through with this all the way! Well, so do I!" "Shhh... Kera!" Belle pulled the filly closer with her towards a crook of delapidated wooden crates. "Don't make so much noise..." "I'm sorry," the filly muttered, hanging her head. "You just seem so... sad all the time, and I felt that if I got you to talk more, then you might not have to be so sad." Belle blinked at her. She smiled as she leaned in to nuzzle the filly. "That's awfully sweet of you, Kera. But, we're kind of in a bind right now, and I really need to get us out of here." "Where, exactly?" "I don't know," Belle said, sighing. She ushered the two of them out from behind the crates and towards the far end of the bending corridor. "Maybe deeper into the slums. Maybe behind the Mintian Cathedral. If I could, I'd get us out of Blue Nova entirely, but I'm willing to bet that the forces of Ledo have erected a barricade of sorts at the exits." "You sure you can't tell me more about Rainbow Dash now?" "No, Kera. Right now, my main priority is..." Belle blinked. "Is..." Belle teetered. "Unngh..." She almost fell over, steadying herself at the last second with a hoof planted against a granite wall. "Belle!" Kera trotted up and planted both hooves on the mare's side. "Are you okay? Talk to me..." "I... I feel..." Belle winced, gritting her teeth. "Like my head is splitting open." "What, like a migraine?" "I... I don't know..." Belle shook her head, blinking her vision back into focus as the pain cleared like a warm fog. "Maybe I took one too many bumps as we escaped Nightshade's building." "I told you to eat the grasshoppers last night." "Kera, would we... nngh... n-not talk about the grasshoppers right now?" Just then, Kera's green eyes flew wide. She spun around, shivering. "Oh crud! Belle! Listen!" "Huh?" Belle's golden brow furrowed. "I don't hear anything—" She froze, her heart stopping. In the distance, rising like water rapids, was the unmistakable roar of echoing hooves. "Oh blessed Spark..." "It sounds like a whole lotta them!" Kera squeaked. Trembling, she clung to Belle's right forelimb, gazing fearfully down the back end of the corridor. "They're gonna tear us apart!" "Not if we move. And swiftly." Belle suddenly lifted Kera. The filly gasped, clutching the older pony's backside in surprise. "Hold tight!" Belle said. With a burst of speed, she galloped the two of them down the alleyway, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the echoing hoofsteps in pursuit. She came upon a junction of alleyways, and she immediately hung a left. Hints of sunlight flickered like a pale strobe through the breaks in the looming skyscrapers above. "Belle!" Kera gasped. "They're getting louder!" She gripped tighter to the adult pony's shoulders. "I think they're getting closer!" "Not getting closer... growing more numerous." Belle skidded to a stop and spun around. "There are more of them ahead! Hold on!" Kera gritted her teeth as the wind beat the hood of her cloak back. Belle bounded back to the junction and turned left again, this time taking them towards the north edge of the city. Despite her efforts, the hoofsteps grew louder and louder. It sounded as if bodies were barreling down every intersecting passage. "We're surrounded!" Kera's voice cracked. "But we're not found!" Belle gritted her teeth, looked around, then finally found an abandoned wagon lying besides a ring of barrels. Holding her breath, she ran, slid, and positioned the two of them beneath the wooden chassis of the vehicle. Belle had to hug Kera tight to settle the filly's uncontrollable trembles. "Shhhh... stay still..." The two squatted low to the mildew-covered floor. The street shook and shook. At first, the shadows rolled through like dark feathers scratching the pale blue surfaces of the building nooks. Then, like a tornado, the bodies of over three dozen stallions blew through, their stampeding hooves and shifting armor filling the place with thunderous echoes. An officer at the rear shouted and barked orders, directing the beret-wearing soldiers towards the north edge of town. Kera's eyes went moist. One stallion brushed against the edge of the wagon as he galloped by, causing the wooden frame to rattle overhead. With a stifled whimper, Kera buried her face into Belle's side. Belle noticed it. As gently as she could, she stroked the filly's mane, holding her close to her side, not once taking her firm chestnut eyes off the noisy street. Finally, the last line of galloping enforcers surged in and out of view. The street went quiet, although an eerie hush lingered in the distance. After five full minutes, Belle dragged her hooves to exit from underneath the wagon. She felt a tug at her side. Turning around, Belle saw Kera gripping her rear leg, shaking her head furiously. Soothingly, Belle patted the filly's forelimbs until she let go. Unimpeded, the mare stepped out, craning her neck to make sure that the coast was clear. The alleyway was completely empty. Even the distant thunder of stampeding hooves had dissolved. Exhaling heavily, Belle ducked low and motioned for Kera to crawl out. The filly did so, though her trembles made the effort difficult at best. In the end, Belle sat on her haunches and picked the foal up in her forelimbs, steadying her on her hooves. "It's okay, Kera. See?" Belle smiled. "All it takes is a little patience and caution—" Kera yelped, covering her mouth. The filly's wide eyes reflected a gray figure behind Belle's shoulder. The mare spun around, and she nearly collapsed in a deep sweat. His cold eye narrowed, and the lines around his facial scar furrowed. "Patience and caution aren't enough to protect what you value," Shell said. Several ropes dangled behind him, and four more uniformed officers slid down from a hovercraft hovering above the nearby rooftops. They trained their manarifles on the mare as Shell took a quiet step forward. "Or don't you already know that, my good doctor?"