//------------------------------// // Stones to gory // Story: Equinox Kingdom: The Corruption spreads // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// The war was nearing its end. It had been notified a few weeks ago that the alicorns had pierced through the Gorgons' defences and were heading towards the castle. The Equinox wastelands were going to fall, yet no Gorgony wasready to surrender to the enemy. Why would they? They were a proud and powerful species! If the Earth Gorgonies were the walls, then the Unicorn Gorgonies were the spears, and one cannot last long without the other supporting it. However, as noted by history before, some gorgonies hated this war and just wanted to live in peace, but those found out were harshly punished after discovering their treason. Stone and Perish Chime were two such ponies who were going to leave with their family. Now, by nature, a full-blooded gorgony is a feral beast of extreme violence. Stone and Perish were only half-blood gorgonies. Their father had married a unicorn of Equinox during the war and both lived in the wastelands, for a time... Stone and her young sister Perish Chime had just come back from a stroll outside. They played a bit, looked at the fights from far away, and told stories to eachother. Perish Chime was a young gorgony; A filly. Unlike her sister, who possessed green serpentine parts, she possessed yellow serpentine parts. And being young, the filly could not turn anything to stone even if she tried. The two entered their house with smiles, until those washed away. The place seemed ransacked. The entrance was damaged, with holes in the walls and pots overtrurned. "M...Mom? Dad?" Stone shouted. Not thinking, the mare rushed through the house, ignoring her sister who slowly walked into the living room, the dim lighting of this place bringing out her instinctive fears. The little filly reached the room, and looked around. Destroyed seats, broken windows, torn sheets, things she didn't recognize plastered into the walls, and then...The filly started to cry. She didn't know what it was, but she somehow also knew what it was. "Perish?" Stone yelled aloud. "Perish, where are you?" Stone followed the cries and reached a scene she would have preferred to never see in her life. On the wall to the direct right of the living room's access, there were words written in blood: Traitors. Betrayal. Traitorous scum. How dare you betray the gorgonies. Filthy traitorous scum. Stone began to cry as she put a hoof to her mouth. Her parents had been murdered. Their mother had to put on a disguise to live in the wastelands, but, after the war had broken out, their father planned on getting them back to Equinox and live their with them all. The others must have discovered his plan, and when they figured out she wasn't a real gorgony, and that their children were half-breeds, then they must have gone one step further. Wait. If they knew... "Perish, stop crying. We have to go!" "Why?" "Now!" "But what about--" "No time." Stone and Perish left the house in a rush, leaving everything open. There was nothing left, but they couldn't stay there. Unfortunately, they didn't pay attention to the freshness of the blood words. Several eyes of gorgonies began to glow through nearby bushes. They had an agressive glow about them, even more so than usual, and they were staring at the two gorgonies who just now left the house. "Stay close to me." Stone whispered as she cast a face of uncertainty." The eyes followed their every movement with an unnerving silence reminiscent of the situation when two armies would face eachother before the ensuing battle. It was a terrifying sight, even for a fellow gorgony. Stone's soon earned her name as large rocks were starting to get chucked at her and her sister. Bumps and bruises were followed by hissing: "Traitors." "Half-breed filth." "Disgusting disloyalists." The rocks began to arrive faster, and in larger quantities, until it became unbareable, making the two gorgonies start galopping away into the wasteland in the direction of Equinox. They never got to retrieve their personal belongings. They never got to atleast get a picture of their family back. It was too late to do anything anyways. Stone and her little sister were going to have to rush across the dangerous wastelands and into Equinox itself before their own species tries to kill them, which they were actively trying to do as they chased them with various weapons. The couple ran as far and as fast as they could, letting their house disappear slowly behind them the further they went. It was a race for their lives, one which the two couldn't stop. This race lasted for several days on end. While Perish Chime would stay behind and wait, Stone would go around towns and houses and steal food, but just enough for them to survive. During one of their 'escapades', the two had stopped in an abandoned mining site. The tools and mining carts were still there, and although their rust gave a metallic smell through the dry air, nothing really special occured. The best place for the two to sleep was in a small tool shed, which they did. Its doors creaked and it was the old hom of several rodents by the looks of it. Some spiders lived here too, but there was nothing left. Perish Chime sat on the ground and yawned. Gorgonies don't need to eat much per day, so they had no need for more than atleast one meal. The two were completely exhausted from their traveling. The solid hooves of the two sisters seemed to have more in common with stone jelly if anything else. "Stone, do you think they'll like us in Equinox?" "I'm not sure. I don't think they'll take too kindly to somepony they're at war with." The little filly didn't have enough time to speak before falling asleep next to her sister, who smiled faintly. Looking around and listening to every sound being made, the mare noticed a large white sheet hanging in the corner of the shack. She used her magic to tear it off and levitate it towards her. She couldn't move, though, so she simply focused hard to make the sheet tear and smooth out its edges into what looked like a bandana. Thinking a bit, the mare then placed it around her face and covered her three eyes with it. She was ready to go to Equinox. After all, she wanted it to be a surprise. The mines were quiet and the sky dark, all this accompanied by a crisp, cold wind that soothed and cooled down the gorgonies' bodies to help them sleep better. Tonight was going to be a calm one. The two gorgonies suddenly awoke from their calm and peaceful slumber by the sound of screaming spirits and screeching metal. The light outside of the window flickered wildly as if it were dying. "What's going on?!" Perish squeeled. "I don't know. Stay here!" Stone ordered. The mare left outside to see the sky being engulfed by a racing cloud of darkness. That same cloud seemed to be punctured with wide holes of various shapes and sizes, although what was consistent was its need to engulfe the world, shown by the gorgony becoming engulfed in the black substance. That event was preceded by Stone seeing other gorgonies running out of the mines, screaming, while a few others were tossed through the various exits, their bodies mangled and twisted beyond recognition. The mist didn't seem to do anything to anypony around, although, seeing the actual terror on the fleeing gorgonies, Stone was starting to have her doubts. That's when an ear-piercing noise was heard from within the mines. It sounded like a train breaking violently with the tones getting higher and lower. The hill began to crack and break, announcing something huge coming. Stone immediately ran back to the shed and grabbed Chime, urging her to follow her big sister. The filly was too confused and full of fright to properly move, so Stone had no choice but to put her on her back. As soon as that was done, the mare used the same path she had used to get within the mine: A little mud road made to bring in large mining equipment. From far below, despite her increasing elevation, the mine just seemed to slightly tilt isometrically to the left. Stone preferred to keep her eyes in front of her while Chime looked back. The little filly soon regretted this action as the whole mine exploded with a violent, tremendous force, sending rocks, debris, and metal flying everywhere. Several pieces slammed into the trail Stone was galopping on, tearing pieces away with them as the rocks impacted the surface. An immense, mutated beast rose forth from the debris, giving that shrieking noise that the two gorgonies had heard previously. This thing was terrifying to look at. Its body was rather bulky even when it seemed to only be skin and bones, but as the flesh reached its neck, the creature's body simply narrowed and elongated itself into a "blunt" spear shape. One eye on each side took the entirety of this elongated shape. It was quadrupedal, like the ponies, but it didn't have a tail, and its feet possessed two claws-like protrusions. Its sickly gray-blue coloration showed that this creature never left the mine, but it was never capable of entering it either. Once Stone reached the "surface", she continued her path towards Equinox. Every now and then, a gorgony from the mines would be thrown over head...atleast pieces of one. Even if the beast had playthings, they wouldn't last. This was shown by the creature literally jumping several hundred feet into the air, then slamming back down onto the ground outside of the mining site. Stone was worried that it would spot her and chase her, but it did not. Instead, it ran in the complete opposite direction. The gorgonies sighed in relief and let their new path lead them forward. Several hours had passed, and Stone had reached her limit. Perish was trying to urge er to keep going, but Stone had had it. "C'mon big sister. We've got to keep going." "I'm...I'm too tired." "But there's a town right there." "What?" On the horizon lay a small town currently engulfed by the black smog. It seemed quite normal, despite its semmingly abandoned state. "Fine. Just let me rest a few minutes and then we'll go." "Okay. Please hurry in resting up." Stone just looked at her little sister and rolled her eyes. The sisters had finally reached Equinox. It took several days of theft and hiding, but they had finally made it. It just so happened that the town they got to was called Duskville, and the sight of the ponies there was the last thing they were expecting. They all had blackened eyes and many had spiked teeth, but they seemed a bit off with their...features. "I think we'll fit right in." Stone said to her sister. The filly didn't say a thing. She was still disturbed by the disappearance of her parents.