//------------------------------// // Icarus: Part II // Story: The Monster Below // by Greenback //------------------------------// It's dark. Am I dead? I open my eyes. I... the towers. Those are the towers of the Manehattan Bridge above me. I try to move, and realize that I'm not dead, because my legs hurt. Everything does. I'm bleeding and I can feel my lungs pressing against my exposed ribs with every agonizing breath. Ponies have gathered around me, terrified, confused, and unsure what to do. They run as I cast a spell to stop the pain. I look down to see if Beakbreaker is- Beakbreaker's gone. “Beakbreaker?!” Oh sweet Celestia, did someone take her away? Was she dragged somewhere by well-intended ponies thinking that I was trying to kill- There! She's lying a few yards away, surrounded by ponies who are trying to help her. She's not moving. “Beakbreaker!” I scramble up and stagger to her. The ponies trying to help see me coming and flee in a panic as I reach Beakbreaker, frantically looking her over. She's lying in a pool of her own blood, her eyes open and unseeing. I press a hoof to her neck. There's no pulse. “No... Oh please, no!” I roll Beakbreaker over, find the jagged hole in her back, and press down as hard as I can. I do the same with the other hole, trying to ignore how much blood has soaked into her fur. But it's not working! Blood still trickles out from beneath my hooves. I close my eyes, concentrating on my magic. Green energy flows over Beakbreaker, and I feel skin fusing together beneath my hooves. The flow of blood slows to a trickle, then stops. The holes are gone, newly-stretched skin covering them up. I frantically flip Beakbreaker onto her back and press down on her chest to get her heart pumping. One pump. Two...three...four...five. Pinching Beakbreaker's nostrils shut, I send two of my deepest breaths down her throat, and her chest rises and falls. Beakbreaker doesn't move. No! I pump again, going harder this time. I send even bigger breaths down her lungs. Nothing. No...no! I slam down on Beakbreaker's chest, and I hear bones break, but I keep pumping, trying to make her warm, sweet heart beat once more, to bring life back to her empty eyes. “Breathe! Come on Beakbreaker, breathe! Breathe!” She doesn't. “No!” I slap Beakbreaker's face. “Wake up! Please wake up!” The rain slides down her lifeless cheeks. My gaze dashes back and forth between those in the crowd. There has to be a medic here, a doctor, anyone! But there aren't; just ordinary ponies who can't do a thing to help me. Magic... magic is my only chance! It closed her wounds, and it can make her heart beat again! I grab Beakbreaker and look into her eyes as I concentrate, focusing every ounce of magical energy I have. And when my temples pound and sweat pours down my forehead, I let go. Green energy pours into Beakbreaker's chest, my will guiding it towards her heart until I feel the energy holding it. I squeeze, forcing every ounce of energy I have to restore life to her heart, to send blood and oxygen flowing once more. I squeeze again and again, forcing her heart to beat. “Work,” I whisper. “Come on. Work...work!” I stop and wait. Nothing. I shake, barely able to hold Beakbreaker up. All the power I've worked so long to get is at my beck and call, I'm using all of it to help the one soul I care for more than anyone else in all of Equestria... and it's not enough! "Breathe!” I scream. I hit Beakbreaker. “Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!” I slap her face, and can't stop the tears from falling. “Don't leave me Beakbreaker! Come back! Please!” Beakbreaker doesn't move. It can't end here! It can't end like this! It can't! I have too many things I want to say and do. Apologies that have to be given, pleas for forgiveness that need to be said. I want to tell Beakbreaker that I've been such a fool. I want to tell her that she's the first individual who truly accepted me for what I was, and not what I should have been. I want to take her on walks along the beach, to restaurants, to get to know her, the real her, away from work, from the wings, and from the horns. I want to know what she's like as an individual, not a doctor or a scientist. I want to tell her that I want to spend my life with her... but that chance is gone now, and I can almost hear fate taunting me, whispering into my ear. You got what you wanted, but lost what you really needed. Has something, or someone, been guiding me all this time? Is this where it was supposed to lead? Was everything I've gone through some sort of cosmic joke? A sick tragedy merely to teach me a lesson? If it was, then the force that guides me hasn't been a granter of dreams, but a giver of nightmares. I throw my gaze to the sky. “Is this what you wanted?!” I shout. “You wanted to take away everything I love, don't you?! And for what?! These?!” I spread my wings, and thrust my horn upwards. “Take them back! I...I...” I choke down a sob. “...I don't want them!” I lurch to my hooves, holding Beakbreaker aloft. “I want her!” There's no answer. “Please!” I scream. “Please!” Beakbreaker's lifeless body lies in my embrace. No magical spark gives her life; no cosmic force descends to restore her. She's gone, and no wish, no desire to give up everything, including my life, will change that. I shake. I tremble, and then I scream from the deepest depths of my soul, and shock Beakbreaker's heart one final time. Not in despair or desperation, but in an act of defiance, all my grief and anger fueling one final beat- Beakbreaker lets out a huge gasp, arching up in my embrace as she gulps in deep, ragged lungfuls of air. For a moment her eyes dart back and forth, lost and frightened, trying to figure out what's going on. Then they land on me. “S...Silverspeak?” I can't hold it back any longer. I clutch Beakbreaker as tightly as I can, rocking her back and forth, sobbing all the while. And for the first time in my life, I know what relief -true, soul-felt relief -feels like. “Silverspeak?” Beakbreaker's still confused, unsure what's happening. I stroke her hair, turning on my charm, but not to mislead or intimidate. “It's all right,” I whisper, my voice shaking. “You're safe. Everything's all right.” I don't know if she believes me, but Beakbreaker closes her eyes and leans against my chest. I let her lie there, holding her close as rain falls on us both. I look up to the sky, and beyond. In a whisper so quiet that not even Beakbreaker can hear it, I offer two words to whoever, or whatever, was listening. Thank you. There's no reply, nor was I expecting one. But as I turn my attention back to Beakbreaker, I catch a glimpse of something moving in the clouds above. I squint, realize that it's coming towards us. Strange...it's coming awfully fast, and- Something hits the road and Beakbreaker and I are thrown through the air, sliding on the concrete before coming to a stop. Trying to put Beakbreaker behind me, I watch as the dust clears, and Mangus hobbles towards me, his bloody stump hastily cauterized. His bloodshot eyes tear into me, his face red with rage that overwhelms logic and thought. He doesn't even seem to realize that he's lost a leg as he charges, blasting terrified ponies aside. “Kill you!” he screams, barely coherent. “Kill yo-” But I'm not afraid of him or his threats. I'm angry. I've had enough. As Mangus leaps at me, I rear back and smash his face with the strongest blow I've ever thrown. His head is almost torn off his shoulders as his lower jaw shatters. Blood flies as Mangus slams into the concrete; he still tries to stand, but I buck his wretched form into the closest pillar. Chunks of stone fly as he collapses to the ground, but even with a broken jaw, Mangus howls as he tries to summon a spell. My horn glows, readying for one final blast. I'll make sure he never harms- An explosion blasts my ears. I leap back, throwing my legs up to cover my face. How could Mangus retaliate so quickly?! Wait, it wasn't him; the sound came from all around us. The dome around Manehattan shudders, then lights up as colored blasts slam into the edge beyond the bridge. The blasts hit again, and the entire dome shatters. Enormous shards rain down on Manehattan, dissolving harmlessly into energy that's blown away by the wind and the rain that lashes the city. I'm suddenly blasted across the bridge into one of the bridge's massive support towers, shrieking as my ribs scrape against gravel. Mangus hobbles towards me, his horn glowing. I roll as he fires, the beam tearing through the tower. Cables snap as the tower collapses, taking a massive chunk of the bridge with it. Ponies scream, flee, and just barely avoid being dragged into the ocean below. Leaping up, I run towards Mangus, struggling not to collapse from the pain. Celestia help me, if I have to die to keep him from getting Beakbreaker, then so be it! A light shines down on both of us, so bright and overpowering it's like the sun itself has come down. Mangus howls as he's momentarily blinded. I am too, but as I squint, I realize that there's someone above us...no, wait, it's not one pony, but several. They... No... it can't be. The ponies above us aren't ordinary ponies, the Wonderbolts, or even the Princesses...they're the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. All six float above the bridge, their necklaces and crowns still smoking from taking down the dome. And for an instant, I forget about Mangus, overcome with awe. In all my life, I've never seen the Bearers, much less expected to ever be in their presence. And leading them all is Twilight Sparkle herself. Scarcely able to breathe, I look upon her, the pony who had become an alicorn, and who had inadvertently shown me what I could become. Mangus roars and leaps at me. My horn lights up, and I ready to fire. Another roar fills the air, one that eclipses Mangus' own. A great wind rushes down, and I have the sensation of being next to overwhelming power before a barrage of colors slam into Mangus. He screams in rage and defiance, and I feel his magic yanking at my horn, trying to tear it off. He glares at me, as if the power of his hate alone could kill me... and then his face freezes. So does the rest of him, and his dark blue skin turns a dull gray. As the hold on my horn vanishes, It takes me a moment to realize what's happened; the Bearers have turned Mangus to stone. He's a statue now, an enraged gargoyle yelling in silent fury. Wait...if the Bearers turned Mangus into stone, then... Oh no. I turn, try to call out, but it's too late, as I see the same barrage of color coming for me. It hits me like an unstoppable flood, and I feel power beyond anything I could ever hope to stand against. Numbness hits my hind legs, rising fast. I want to back away, but I can't. I look down, and scream upon realizing why. My lower body has turned gray, and I can't feel my legs at all. And that gray is spreading upwards. Frantic, I shake my forward legs, try to get it off, but then they freeze, and I can't feel or move them. Stone! Oh please, Celestia, no! They're turning me to sto-