Chapter Seven
Run
There was a stunned silence that lingered inside of the cockpit as Twilight's words registered within Bronze's mind. The stallion sat back against the sloped wall, his face becoming blank and expressionless.
"Does... does anyone even know that we're even here?" he asked, looking up at Twilight and the co-pilot.
The co-pilot shook his head, "It's... highly unlikely. If the equipment failed mid-flight... then they'll assume that we landed... in the ocean."
"Undoubtedly," Twilight said in a near whisper.
"TWILIGHT!" Plaz shouted, his tone more forceful than Rainbow's shouts.
"What is it?!" she shouted back. Her tone was more forceful than she meant it, but Twilight didn't care at the moment.
"We have a situation!"
"What situation?" she asked, maneuvering her position so that she could see out of the doors. Rainbow and Plaz had propped themselves up amongst the mishmash of upholstered debris. The latter of the two held a small, pink filly in his forehooves and was looking toward Twilight.
"This situation," he answered sullenly. "She's still breathing."
Twilight's eyes widened as the pink form registered in her mind, the large patches of crimson alarming her further. She spun back around to face Bronze and the co-pilot. "Bronze, get the saddlebags, we need to hurry."
The stallion straightened in alarm, "What's wrong?"
"We're going," she answered hastily. Twilight turned to face the co-pilot, "What's your name?"
He put a hoof to his forehead and his face scrunched up in thought. "Um, Tailgate," he replied.
"Alright, Tailgate," Twilight nodded. "We've got to get back to the beach, and quick. Can you move?" she questioned anxiously.
Tailgate lifted his hooves and quickly rotated their joints. He stretched them out in all directions before replying, "I'm pretty sure I can."
"Good." Twilight turned back to Bronze, who was tying the saddlebags around his midsection. "Alright. We need to stick together, now. The jungle is extremely dense, and getting lost could be a major problem," Twilight stated. Bronze and Tailgate nodded in understanding. "Plaz and I will lead, seeing as how we-"
ChitChitChitChitChitChitChitChitChitChitChit . . . .
The three ponies in the cockpit froze; Twilight and Bronze doing so out of fear and Tailgate out of surprise. The chittering sound was eerily familiar to the former pair.
Tailgate looked to Twilight and Bronze, the two of them standing stock-still. "What was that?" the he asked them.
CHRIEK!!! THUNK-HRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEEEEE!!!
The high whine of grinding metal suddenly began to slice through the air and pierced their ears, causing all three of them to flinch in pain. Everypony covered their ears until the sound receded, mere seconds later. Twilight, slowly, lowered her hooves from her ears, with Bronze and Tailgate following suit. The former of the two stallions was breathing heavily, his whole body shuddering in fright. He lowered his head slightly, looking around anxiously.
"Twilight?!" Rainbow's voice shouted harshly out from first class.
Twilight's small swallow was barely audible, but it was still there, none the less. She turned her head toward the cockpit doors, eyes aimed at the main windows. "Y-yeah?" she replied weakly.
"Weren't those the sort of sounds we heard last night?" Rainbow asked. There was a slight twinge of nervousness in her tone.
Twilight thought over the answer to her friend's question, for a second. Yes, Twilight thought, the noises did sound very reminiscent of the one's heard last evening. "I-I think so," she finally answered back.
HAAAAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . . . .
A loud howl rang through the air, much higher in frequency than the first two tones, but lower in pitch than the grinding of metal. The fuselage vibrated as the sounds reverberated around the cabin, the slight shuddering enough to make Bronze cover his head in his hooves. Twilight heard him whispering to hiself, "... make it stop, make it stop, make it stop..." in a mantra-like repetition.
The chattering sounds returned for a moment, and a large, black shadow began to cover the front windows. Twilight ducked down, instinctively, while Tailgate simply froze. Bronze continued his silent chanting, opting to keep his head down on the floor. Back in first class, Rainbow and Plaz were ducking down between seats, the latter holding the small filly in his forelegs. The shadow hovered over the glass, and Twilight silently prayed that it would leave. It seemed that her prayers were answered almost immediately, as the shadow slowly drifted past, leaving the view of the windows. The sounds of clicking metal and low moaning began to decrease, sounding as if it was leaving.
Tailgate looked at the broken windows, then back to Twilight. "I'm going to check out what that was."
"Oh no, you aren't," Twilight whispered harshly. Tailgate turned back to her in surprise. "You have no idea what's out there!" she hissed, "It might kill you!"
"Can we not talk about the 'k' word, right now?" Bronze asked fearfully.
"We need to get out of here, right now!"
KA - - CRACK!!!
The fuselage shuddered, violently, bringing everypony to the floor. Tailgate landed on his side, barely avoiding bashing his head against the dashboard.
"The HELL is that?!" Bronze screamed.
"I don't know!" Twilight shouted back. She stumbled back to the door, looking back into the first class seats. "Rainbow? Plaz? Are you okay?"
"We're fine, Twi," Rainbow's voice answered. A multicolor mane poked out from a set of seats, revealing Rainbow Dash as she stood back up.
"The filly's fine, too," Plaz's head popped up next to Rainbow's.
"Good. We're leaving, right now."
CREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKK... RRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNN...
Everypony froze on the spot.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
"Slide through the aisles to get down, then run back in the direction of the beach and don't stop!" Twilight hissed. Plaz and Rainbow nodded, and Rainbow lifted the filly over Plaz's back.
"Careful," she whispered in warning.
"I know," Plaz whispered back.
HHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
The howl was nearly disregarded as Rainbow worked her way to the left aisle, and Plaz, slowly, to the right.
"Go at the same time," Twilight instructed.
They nodded back to her in unison, turning back and ready. Rainbow and Plaz released their hold on the seats simultaneously and slid down to the rain-drenched, jungle floor. They hardly made a sound as they impacted, hooves already propelling them away from the wreckage. Twilight silently prayed that they'd get to the beach as fast as possible.
She turned back to Bronze and Tailgate. "Let's go."
BLAM!!! CRACK!!! SKKKRRRRIIIIK!!!
The ship shuddered violently, slowly tilting skyward, and the occupants were once again thrown against the interior. Bronze flopped toward the door and his head slammed against the frame. A cry of pain left him as his body dropped to the first row of seats and into a waiting corpse.
"Bronze! Are you alright?!" Twilight cried out, alarmed.
The stallion shook his head. "Wuh-" he gasped at the sight of the body, "y-yeah. I'm still good."
"Let's book it!" Tailgate shouted. He grabbed the saddlebags and dropped out though the door, unsteadily landing beside Bronze.
"C'mon, Twilight!" Bronze shouted up. He was back on his hooves and descending through the seats quite rapidly, Tailgate close behind, but much more carefully.
Twilight turned to the door looking out to the first class rows, the increasing pitch threatening to drop her to the unforgiving forest floor nearly twenty feet below. She jumped down to the first row, the seat bending upon impact and a small groan of protest at the constant weight it bore. Twilight made to jump to the next seat down-
HURRK!!!
The fuselage jolted again, throwing her from her perch. Twilight screamed as she fell, flailing for something to grab onto. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her midsection as she was thrown to the side, landing in another row of seats near the maw of the wreck. She looked back up and saw Bronze leaning on the row of seats next to her.
"Tha- that was e-exciting!" he sputtered. Bronze had watched Twilight as she fell, jumping across the seats to push her back and into the row across from himself. He held out a hoof to the lavender mare , "Come on! Tailgate's nearly out, too!"
Twilight accepted the boost, and the pair of them dropped down the rest of the way. The thick leaves crunched under their hooves and mud splattered their coats. A mere second later, Tailgate came down beside them. Bronze took the bags from him and slung them over his back with ease.
"Run!" Tailgate shouted to the both of them. Twilight and Bronze were literally a step ahead of him, already on the move. The ship continued to creak and groan as it pitched further, the circular opening of the torn metal closing around them. Twilight, Bronze, and Tailgate ducked under through the opening just as it lowered around the patch of earth where they had been standing. They didn't stop running, fleeing from the wreck as it groaned and squealed as metal ground against itself and the surrounding trees.
"What do you think is strong enough to lift that thing?!" Bronze shouted.
"As much as I love learning new things," Twilight said, "I'd rather keep this subject at a distance!"
"I second that!" Tailgate agreed. They climbed over a small log and kept on running.
CHIT-CHIT-CHIT-CHIT-CHIT...
They bolted through the rain and thick leaves of the jungle undergrowth, darting between the trees interspersed about the environment.
HREEEK!!! CHOM!!!
"Don't stop!"
RRRROOOOOOOOOO... BLAM!!!
Twilight dared a look behind her, but the rain prevented her from making out any distinct shapes. Still, she could have sworn that a tree had been torn from the ground and thrown back. She turned back to the path ahead of her and found Bronze and Tailgate had advanced ahead whilst her head was turned. She urged herself on, never stopping to chance another look back.
Twilight caught up to the other two quickly, sprinting beside them. "If we can make it back to the main clearing, then we should be home free!" she informed.
"What if it chases us there, too?" Bronze asked. "A clearing isn't exactly a good hiding place!"
"What makes you think the beach is any better?!"
The hissing, the crackling, and the howling followed them as they hurried on, dodging trees and leaping over fallen ones. Twilight knew they were nearly there, and closing the distance quickly.
"If we die," Bronze shouted, "then I blame the engin-! WOAH!" The stallion's hoof slipped in the mud and he fell to his stomach, sprawled out in the muck.
"BRONZE!" Twilight cried. She turned quickly and ran up to his side, Tailgate right behind her.
HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Twilight heard the sounds approaching and reached down for Bronze. He was covered in the slick grasp of the mud, his hooves and stomach covered in the stuff.
"We need to get out of here, quickly!" Tailgate exclaimed.
"I know!" Twilight shouted back.
The noises grew louder at an alarming rate, and the air felt thick and opressive around their bodies. Twilight could swear that she could hear their collective heartbeats over the downpour, but she was too focused on helping Bronze, and it was only briefly acknowledged. The stallion in question was already getting back to his hooves, but with slight difficulty. The mud clung to his fur and tried to confine him to the ground, but they fought against it.
HHOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The howl was louder than ever, now, and it did not go unnoticed by the trio. Twilight peered through the torrent of rain to search for a silhouette, and saw a flicker of movement through the trees. A grunt of pain made her spin back around, only to find that Bronze was being helped up by Tailgate. The former was coated in the slop, almost giving his coat a two-toned appearance.
"Quickly! You two need to run!" Twilight ordered. "I'll try to hold it back!"
"Wh-what?" Bronze sputtered in reply. "You don't know even what it is! What if it's immune to magic?!"
"Then we'll find that out the hard way!" she shot back.
A crack and the sound of something being torn apart brought them out of their brief exchange.
"GO! NOW!" Twilight shouted.
Tailgate nodded, as did a reluctant Bronze, before they hurried back in the direction of the beach. Twilight watched them disappear into the rain, then she turned back to face the general direction of the sounds. She focused on her magic stores in preparation for charging a spell as the sounds approached. She lifted her head, aiming her horn forward to fire a warning shot. Her horn flared to life as she called upon a small reserve of power.
And nothing happened. In other words, her horn had been illuminated for a few precious seconds before sputtering out, the natural light vanishing into nothing. Twilight froze on the spot, and everything seemed to fall away for a brief moment; the creature chasing them? Gone. The jungle? Nonexistent. The world? What world?
It was a few seconds before the true implications of her plight came and hit her head-on, but to her it felt like hours. The answer looked like a runaway train careening down the tracks at top speed. Headed right for her.
She couldn't use her magic.
Twilight was almost in too much shock to notice something approaching her. She sensed that it was whatever had been following them, inching toward her for the kill. She did the only sensible thing that anyone in her position would do. One action that was left for her to perform while her mind raced with the sudden self-doubt corrupting her system.
She screamed.