//------------------------------// // Army of Darkness // Story: Gears in the Void // by Lab //------------------------------// The jumbled plethora of thoughts racing through my mind in a tangled blur waited to free and prioritize themselves until I'd followed Meeko into the tunnels. We were under attack, and although I didn't catch who he said was responsible, it could only be that the creatures had made their move. Hopefully, the defenses would survive their trial by fire. Two diamond dogs waited above the tunnel entrance, surrounded by blazing braziers and supporting a cauldron they tipped over after we ran past. Fire sealed the exit as one casually tossed a torch onto the sticky fluid. Where the light was spotty, shadows flickered as if fearing the unnatural darkness writhing in the tunnels. Voices screamed at me alone as we ran past lost pathways, the noise grating on my mind like coarse sandpaper on clay. After the first glance down a tunnel, I kept my widened eyes focused on the path ahead. Within the darkness, I could see so many pairs of eyes, but it wasn't a glint of light, quite the opposite. Each pair was nothing more than two points that further pushed the definition of absolute darkness, bringing a twist to the phrase "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you." Meeko's lantern bounced wildly as he awkwardly ran with his remaining three limbs. Over the padding paws and loud hoofsteps, you could barely hear the rattle of the lantern's iron. And over Meeko's pained yelp, you could barely hear the lantern clatter to the ground as a hulking, shadowy figure rushed out of a passage and checked him into a wall. Wasting no time, it grabbed his legs and dragged him back towards the darkness, Meeko's panicked claws leaving long furrows in the rock. "Beta!" Dave winced and retreated towards me. "These ones are more physical, that's for sure. I know you've noticed it's definitely not a pony, and you know what that means." We’d already lost at least one. The figure halted as a bolt of magic ripped into it, vaporizing a large chunk. My practice with the blasting rods had paid off: the recoil barely affected me when the force of the spell took the useless thaumite out of my hooves. Not expecting to be done with just one shot, I quickly loosed two more before Meeko was able to scramble away from the far-too-close wall of black, shivering in the warmth of his lantern. But I wasn’t going to lose this one too. "Gears… that one looked at me the first time you hit it. How did that one look at me? How can they know I'm here?" Dave stammered as he drew even closer, pressing up against my side. I couldn't feel him there, obviously, but I was glad to let him use me for support. "We need to hurry." I knelt down and let Meeko throw his arm over my back. He was still too tall for me to support him on the move, but I could at least help him get off the ground. Meeko nodded, still shivering, and hobbled off, doing his best to run with two numbed limbs. He wanted to speak, but his teeth were chattering too loudly for him to even attempt. He glanced longingly at the lantern’s flame before shaking his head with a grunt. The clamor behind us grew, and I foolishly risked a glance to find dozens of the smaller creatures stumbling over each other in the light. Black smoke rose from them with a sizzling sound as they endured the painful light to catch their prey, the creature’s muttering and howling sharing the same volume. Each was discernible if focused upon, but also congealed into a writhing mass that was the substance of nightmares. A potent-smelling pool of liquid spanning the width of the tunnel splashed under us. A fair distance ahead, we trudged through another and threw ourselves into the main cavern as the tunnel opened up, welcoming the sight of a couple dozen diamond dogs armed with torches. "Now!" barked Spot, brandishing his flagon like a commander would a saber. Flames roared across the tunnel as the liquid ignited, adding the satisfying crackle of flames to the din. Both puddles, their connection highlighted by a trail of fire along the wall, combusted and trapped the horde between two fiery barriers. Where simple torches had merely repelled them, the walls of flame visibly injured the ones who were too close, and soon a mass of huddling figures howled and thrashed at their confinement. "Barrel!" Spot ordered with another wave of his flagon, splashing ale as he did so. Two guards rolled a barrel until it was just a few metres away. One of them rammed a tap into the barrel and then quickly pulled it back out. Then, the two of them gave the leaky barrel a strong shove and backed off as it sped past the first barrier. Not long afterwards, splinters of smoking wood sprayed the area as the barrel exploded in a massive fireball, and I could only grin. It was good to know rock ale was more flammable than gasoline. The voices cut off instantly, leaving behind the sound of cheering diamond dogs and roaring flames. "Beta!" Spot said as he padded over to me and patted my side. "Good to see you safe. You like idea?" He smiled as he gestured proudly towards the flames and a stack of several barrels. The tan-furred dog yelped in surprised as I hugged him. "Very much. I think you actually killed that group." "They are most definitely gone. I can feel it, I guess. But I want to know: was it the heat or light that hurt them?" Dave wondered aloud, scrutinizing the rapidly dying flames. "I don't think they'll fall for that trap forever though." "Spot, what's the full extent of our defenses?" "Two dozen dogs here for barrels and pitch." He pointed at the cauldrons hanging above each tunnel by a net of chains. A pair of diamond dogs manned each one, nervously keeping their torches as far from the flammable liquid as possible. Fido gave a small wave from one of the cauldron teams. "Two dogs and more pitch at exits." "What about air holes? I don't want to die to them, but I don't want to suffocate either." "Two dogs on those too. Dark ponies have no escape, only fire." Spot chuckled sadly as they rolled a barrel into another trap. "Sad to see booze go though." "How many… how many have we lost?" "Four. We can't take lost tunnels back." "How much is lost?" "Half. The deep half." "Half..." I sighed. I didn't even want to know how many could have been down there with us, and we would be screwed when the pitch ran out. "We're going to need help." "Who help us? All dogs defending." "With any luck, Ponyville will still be safe. I need two dogs to get there fast and alert Pinkie Pie and Twilight so she can get a hold of Canterlot. Tell Twilight first though, you remember her?" "Yes. She nice pony. Buy lots of ice cream for Spot. Who you send?" The first one came to me quickly. "Balsa. She's been there before, so she'll be recognized, and she can dig through that last little bit of tunnel the quickest." Spot shouted an order to two of the nearby dogs, telling one of them to switch out Balsa's role on a sentry team—the other would be an escort there and back. "And?" "So you're going to have two diamond dogs burst out of the ground in middle of town and rush to the Princess's place? I'm sure that will go over well." Each dog’s strengths and weakness ran through my mind. The past few days had taught me quite a bit about them, and I only had the occasional spot of trouble mixing names, like the parents of quadruplets. I'd need a dog who could communicate properly, and only “Reginald” fit the bill. "Western Agate." I noticed the hint of a scowl as I made my decision. I’d have to deal with that drama later. "He can speak the most clearly, no offense. There's guards around Ponyville now, so we need to make sure we send a dog who can say what's going on." Luckily, West was already nearby, running supplies to where they were needed. I waved him over to tell him his new task. "Of course, Beta. I am ready to leave when Balsa arrives. What do we do if Ponyville is under siege as well?" "Bring back any help you can get. If not, we'll make do." It felt terrible lying to them after all they'd done for me, but good leadership didn’t include telling them to kiss their asses goodbye. He didn't notice my bluff, giving a curt nod before clasping his paws together and waiting for his partner. —— "Do you think they made it yet?" Only three of my blasting rods remained. There was no way to tell how much time had passed, but they only needed to last until help arrived. I should have made three times as many, or maybe making them three times as big would be a better idea. The alcohol was gone, but the pitch fires were still going strong. Unfortunately, the flames alone couldn't stop the largest of the shadow creatures, shrugging off the flames like they were nothing. Two had attacked so far, so it was safe to assume one was still out there, waiting to strike. There was no doubt they were supposed to soften us up for the smaller ones. Little else had changed save the addition of a cloth-draped body—Ravel took a punch from the first to make it through and had landed on his own axe. We had refused to let the second one catch us off-guard. "Still not know." He slapped the flagon away as he caught himself trying to drink out of it again. It was the last bit of alcohol in the entire cave system—even the unfinished stuff in the stills was gone—but he refused to just gulp it down. He didn't need blasting rods or burning pitch to cause damage. All he needed was a mouthful of booze and an open flame—a lesson of tipsy fire taught painfully to the two behemoths. "What I don't get is why they're just charging at us like this. Yeah, they have the numbers, but they were almost using strategy back before we fixed up your dreams." Dave and I had been discussing the creatures as best as we could, but the moments I could safely whisper to him were few and far between. "Yeah, like I said, they can't handle the normal night." There wasn't much any of us could do besides remain vigilant. "But still, just rushes? Maybe… maybe they don't have any other options. It sounds like we have them confined to the deepest caves, somehow. They know we aren't coming to them." "So they just throw shit at us until we run out. It’s a war of attrition," I whispered back and sighed, trying to massage some of the pain out of my right foreleg. My body ached from firing so many blasting rods. While the strain put on me had lessened with my developing technique, they still packed quite the punch, and the occasional fragment would hit me instead of just scattering harmlessly. Most hits had resulted in bruises, but there had been a few nasty cuts requiring immediate first aid. "Definitely seems like that's the plan. We can't hold out forever, and who's to say those big ones are even tied to the missing diamond dogs? Don't give me that look, just think of the possibility that it might not be that." "I don't want there to be one more out there. They're the real threat for now, and I don't want to think about what would happen if we had hundreds to contend with." I shuddered at the thought of those things rampaging through Equestria. There could only be one reason I kept shaking. "Drums," Spot breathed, "drums in the deep… they are coming." "Let them come. There are many dogs yet in here who still draw breath," I said solemnly as I took aim once more, swivelling between the tunnels, trying to figure out which one it would burst from. Inside, I may have been chuckling at Spot’s set-up for a reference. With a roar that shook stones loose from the high ceilings, a specter twice the size of the others stomped into the cave, and with a single swipe, scattered the two diamond dogs and empty cauldron over the entrance. Stunned from the sheer size of the thing, it took precious moments to clear my head and aim for his, firing at its eyes the moment my shot lined up. It took a step back from the deadly shot, but other than that, the blast was as damaging as a strongly worded letter. I swore loudly and fired again as it charged forwards, striking it in the shoulder and hurting it even less than my first shot. "Move, kid!" Dave shouted as he scrambled out of its path. I couldn’t move yet—I had one more shot. All sound faded as I aimed one last time. Each paw striking the ground felt like my own heartbeat. The creature bore down on me, shoving aside any diamond dog unlucky enough to remain in its path. It raised its abyssal arm to swing, and I fired. Just as the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, so do the poorly laid plans of reckless ponies. The air rushed from my lungs as the creature swatted me aside like a bear slapping a piñata, pain and ice flaring across my side from the impact. The stone floor ripped my side apart as my body skipped across the ground, stopping only when it crashed into a stalagmite. The blurred shape of a diamond dog approached me as a blizzard raged in my chest, throwing icicles further into my body with every pained breath. Heavy coughing spattered the ground with crimson. While painful in its own right, the cold numbed the pain of the impact. Unfortunately, it lessened with each moment, and that meant the searing pain of cracked ribs grew steadily. Distantly, I could hear the yelps of the pack as they tried to tend to the wounded and dispatch the creature. "Beta! Stay down. You hurt." A mahogany paw gently stroked my mane. Squinting, I could just barely make out who was crouched near me. "Balsa? When did you get back?" "Now. Pony princess should be right behind." "I thought Twilight would just stay in—" "Your kind has terrorized my subjects long enough! Begone from this place, demons!" Celestia stormed into the cavern, her terrifying voice empowered by ancient magic. I could scarcely look at her, such was the blinding power she radiated. A pissed Celestia was a terrifying Celestia. Rays of light blazed forth, striking whatever she set her wrathful gaze upon. And just like that, the behemoth was vanquished, dissolving with a shriek of pain like a Furby stuffed into a blender. "Now that is a cavalry." Dave grinned, applauding the lightshow. Balsa helped me stand in time to see a group of guards take defensive positions near the darkened tunnels. Some of the unicorns split off to assist in medical aid, and one such granite-colored guard galloped to me. "Hold still, this won't take long," he said, motioning for Balsa to lay me down. After clearing the dirt and gravel—and one stubborn piece of burnt thaumite—my slide had picked up, he tightly wrapped thick bandages around my barrel. He even redid the hasty first aid from earlier. "That should do it. Just some broken ribs and cuts, Miss. I used a spell to speed up recovery, so you'll be good as new in a week or so. Just take it easy until then." I grunted my thanks to him and made my way to where Princess Celestia stood with a glare that could rout armies. Some small instinct screamed for me not to speak with somepony so powerful, but every other instinct rolled their eyes at that nonsense. It was as bright as day in the cave, like we weren't even underground in the first place. The attack had claimed two more diamond dogs, Tunn and Erga, and injured nearly all the others. Pinkie Pie—still in her checkered pajamas—had arrived with the guards and bounced around, doing her best to cheer up the dogs crestfallen over the casualties. "Sterling Gears." Celestia, still slightly glowing with energy, addressed me with a tone at odds with her expression. "I pray the next time we meet will be under better circumstances." "And without me being injured." Chuckling sent a stab of pain through my side. "Thanks for the save." "Think nothing of it. My sister and student both send their regret for not being able to tend to this themselves. They were both needed elsewhere." "So what now? The fires we have trapping them in the tunnels won't last forever, but for now they're contained." "That is good to hear. I believe we must press the advantage while we possess it. Perhaps we can exterminate this enemy once and for all." "I'm all for that. I'm fresh out of blasting rods, though, so there's not much I can do." "Then you shall rest. However, I will need some of your pack to act as guides." "I don't know who is best suited for that, but I know somedog who will." At my call, Spot limped over. "Spot, Princess Celestia wants to clean out the creatures for good, so she needs the best guides we have." "At once, Beta." Spot warily eyed the princess, doing his best not to let the terrified shudders overcome him. "They respect you a great deal," Celestia said with a satisfied smile. "You are only second-in-command in name, it seems. I never would have expected you to be in such a role." "You and me both. Has Luna made any headway on her research?" She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing notable. The creature is quite enigmatic. We can confirm these creatures are tied to the missing ponies—the energy signatures are similar to the ones masking their trail." "Me and Twilight couldn’t figure out anything new either. Didn’t we all figure they were behind it in the first place?" "Yes. It was the obvious conclusion, but we needed to be certain some other force wasn't taking advantage of the situation to abduct ponies." She took notice of Spot approaching again, this time with three diamond dogs in tow. "I must bid you farewell, it seems Spot has located the scouts. I promise I will return them safely." "Toodles," I said, teasing a chuckle from her. I wished she would have patched me up again—the injuries hurt far more than my leg had when she fixed that. That done, the pack needed me. Most of us were injured, but nothing more serious than broken bones or concussions. The pack showed a lot of concern for my injuries, even the dogs that were worse off than me. Having Pinkie bouncing around, passing out cupcakes and hugs did wonders for morale, and it was amusing to see they had all adapted to her shenanigans so readily. Celestia took all but two unicorns with her when she disembarked, extinguishing one of the barriers and joining in the salvo of magic bombarding the waiting darkness. Occasionally, we heard the echoes of her voice bouncing through the tunnels, and we could tell things were going well for the princess and her forces. Her attack was a resounding success, and the sentries confirmed none had escaped. The caves were safe again. And there was much rejoicing. Yay. The darkness had boiled away before them, powerless against the trained guards and princess launching beams of light and magic. As such, there were no further casualties. How they’d gotten a hold down there in the first place was still a mystery. Before she left, Princess Celestia promised me she'd have Luna send word of any breakthroughs. I stayed with the pack that night, partly because it was my responsibility but mostly because they didn't feel it was safe to let me out of their sight just yet. Pinkie stayed too, declaring it a slumber party and promptly smacking Spot aside with a pillow. However, pillows weren't made to be wielded by diamond dogs, and soon, feathers littered the area. The next day, we tended to the dead. It was a somber, quiet ceremony, and I almost broke the mood with a gasp when it came time to bury them. When they had told me the dead would be returned to the earth, I wasn't expecting something so literal. The corpses sank slowly into the stone while the pack lamented their loss with mournful howls. Afterwards, I presided over a ritual that involved Spot engraving their names in the Hall of Memories, more than tripling the length of the list. For two nights, I split my efforts between mass producing blasting rods and researching ways to make a battery to store magic. My thinking was that a reservoir and a choke would allow me to use the blasting rods far more than just once. Nothing held magic very well though, and more often than not, it just dissipated into the air. "What lets thaumite hold magic so well?" Dave asked, massaging his head in frustration. "We've been at this for hours and have nothing to show for it." Storing it in extra thaumite was my first try, but any shape large enough to hold magic disrupted the spell it was attached to. "Maybe it has something to do with the metals in the alloy." "Yeah, that might make sense. Aluminium and tungsten should be the next thing you try. Have Fido whip up a couple batches of just them and run some magic through it." My ribs felt a little better with each day, but they still served as a reminder to not let my guard down. And not to stand in the path of something five times my size, but that particular lesson wouldn’t be forgotten anytime soon. There had been a similar attack in the Crystal Empire on the same night as the one in the caves. Well, not so much an attack as a horde of shadowy figures throwing themselves against Shining Armor's barriers, which were far more effective than when he was being drained by Chrysalis. While the night was still safer than it had been, the creatures had begun appearing on the fringes of society, waiting for any prey foolish enough to leave behind the safety of light. Travelling between cities was still too dangerous, and it was extremely difficult to learn how they were faring. Word had spread in Ponyville of the attack and how we'd stopped it in its tracks long enough for Princess Celestia to show up. The townsfolk were much more welcoming of the diamond dogs, even going as far as throwing a celebration—planned by Pinkie Pie, of course. Three days after the attack, there still wasn’t any progress on producing a magic battery. I'd read through about half of the books Twilight had set aside, constantly pushing the marehood guide further back in the pile. Twilight had been busy practicing flight with Rainbow Dash yesterday, when I'd originally planned to ask her for suggestions on my research. Today though, she should have been free to give me a hoof with the two metal samples. A breakthrough was so close. I could feel it. In town, there was a caravan of three covered wagons streaked with ash parked in front of City Hall. Exhausted ponies sat despondently, staring off into the distance or stifling sobs. Terror was all that waited in their eyes, and more than one had burns covered in dusty bandages. I approached one that looked responsive, a tan earth pony with a cactus for a cutie mark, and asked, "What's going on?" He looked through me and sighed, shaking his head and looking away. Only then did I notice he was shaking with more than fatigue—fear permeated him and his companions, spilling forth into the air like miasma. A large creature with a coat of fur colored like a grizzly's stood nearby. Two large feathers had been tied into the shaggy fur behind its head.While its eyes shared the same weary look of its companions, there was still a tenacious spark of life. I had to wonder what a buffalo was doing all the way in Ponyville. "Hey, you look like you'll talk. What happened that's got all of you so shaken up?" I was starting to get a little worried. The buffalo held their land as sacred, so whatever brought this one here must have been bad. At first, he blinked in surprise, like he hadn't expected a pony to notice him, but then he turned and spoke in a low, rumbling voice laden with sorrow. "My tribe is destroyed and Appleloosa is lost, burned to the ground while the darkness itself claimed the citizens. What hope is there with such an evil baying in the night?"