//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Crisis // Story: Perception // by Valen //------------------------------// Perception ~~~ “It is in times of crisis where we take a step back and examine ourselves as a whole, both the good and the bad. It is then up to us to use that information to decide not who we were, but who we are going to be.” ~~~ Chapter 7: Crisis As I struggled to turn, I lashed out with my hooves to try and block the flurry of attacks. My hoof connected with something, and I heard a hiss of pain. Before I could do anything else I felt the sharp steel of a blade cut through the flesh above my shoulder blade, and I screamed. I had never felt such pain in my life, not even when I broke my wing. The knife sliced into my body, splattering blood across my muzzle. I bucked as hard as I could, and heard a grunt of pain. My victory lasted little longer than a second before I was picked up and bodily thrown by strong talons. The world seemed to slow as I flew through the air, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a grey and black figure standing near the table. Before I could examine him any closer, I collided with Rainbow Dash’s armour. The jagged edges of the suit tore into me. The points of the armour bit into my chest. I heard an awful crack as something inside of me broke. My mind became flooded with incredible pain as I fell to the ground, the armour collapsing on top of me. My world was nothing but pain and blood. I struggled to get up, but all I succeeded in was falling back to the ground, gasping for breath. Was this how it would end? Getting killed by some bastard in the home of one of the greatest ponies the world had ever known? It certainly looked like it. Guess I’ll be seeing you sooner than we thought, Apple Bloom… “If you wish to live, I recommend that you answer my questions,” said a calm, venomous voice. Every word was well enunciated, and I had the feeling he’d done this before. Slowly, painfully, I turned to face him. Before me stood my attacker. He was a griffon, but there was something… off about him. His green eyes watched me with a calculating stare. He didn’t blink, not once. His coat was a deep gunmetal grey and his feathers were black as coal. Around his eyes were patches of the same shade of grey as his coat. His talons and beak were the colour of bone. Feathers stuck up from behind his head, looking almost like horns. He wore a black jacket with a set of criss-crossing straps inside, which also appeared to hold a shitload of sheaths and holsters. His expression was entirely neutral. I glared up at him, coughing blood. “Who sent you?” he asked in that same venomous voice. “F… fuck… you,” I managed to splutter through the pain in my chest and blood in my mouth. I could barely breathe—my rib was definitely cracked. Hell, I might have even punctured one of my lungs! Now wouldn’t that be poetic? The griffon merely laughed at me. The sick fucker is enjoying this! Then, without warning, he reached forwards and slashed at my face with one of his talons. I held back a scream as he cut a deep scar along my right eye. I shut it, but that did little to stop the blood from pouring out of my face. I just had to hope that he hadn’t managed to cause any permanent damage. “That wasn’t very polite, but I suppose that I was getting a little ahead of myself. I haven’t even told you my name yet, have I?” I merely glared at him with my one working eye. He laughed again, but this time he didn’t claw my other eye. He simply straightened his jacket and continued. “You can call me Eidolon. Now, what is your name and why are you here?” I considered his question for a moment. Should I tell him anything? He was probably going to kill me either way. Damn I wish I didn’t leave my saddlebags, I could really use Little Nightingale right now. I shifted a little, and felt my hoof come into contact with something cold and sharp. I glanced down to see one of Rainbow’s hoofblades just next to my right leg. Thank Luna for small favours, I thought. Maybe I wouldn’t need the pistol after all. Now all I had to do was stall the bastard, maybe I could even get a few answers of my own. “S-Scootaloo,” I managed through the bleeding in my gums. I let out a hacking cough, before offering my own question. “And why don’t… don’t you tell me w-why you’re here?” He seemed a little taken aback at my response, apparently he’d been expecting me to just give in. An hour ago I probably would have, but not now. I still had to apologise to Sweetie, tell Twilight what Rainbow had said, and I really had to attend Apple Bloom’s funeral. I owed her that much. I began slowly working my hoof into the boot, I had to be careful otherwise he’d catch on to what I was doing. Luckily, he seemed to have already written me off as dead. I wasn’t a threat to him. Yeah, keep thinking that, you son of a bitch, I thought, hissing in pain as my broken rib shifted inside my body. “Stop trying to deflect the question, mercenary. I saw you get off that train. I know what you are—not just anybody carries around a gun, especially not one like the pistol you had.” Wait, what? Mercenary? And he was watching me? Just who the heck was this guy? I decided to try and play along, I needed to keep Eidolon talking If I wanted any chance of getting out of there alive. “Alright, but how do you know I’m not just some back-end warehouse guard? What makes you think I’m a merc?” I managed to say, before collapsing into another fit of coughs which conveniently covered my right foreleg as it continued to worm its way into the boot. I used my mouth to tighten one of the straps whilst my head was down. I was beginning to feel a little light headed from the blood loss; if Eidolon didn’t kill me now, the wounds he’d inflicted surely would. Eidolon laughed again, a strange look entering his eyes. I realised that he really was enjoying this! Our back-and-forth was all a little game to him. I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone as much as him right then. “Because the guard around here have been searching for me for over four days. When they fail, what do you do? You hire a professional.” Wait, four days? My mind flashed back to the conversation I’d had with Firelock on my first night back. “It was… two days ago now. Sorry, but I don’t really know many of the details. All I know is that we’ve been scrambling to find the guy who did it ever since...” No… no it couldn’t be. “And ever since you arrived, you’ve been talking to a lot of people related to the contract. Sweetie Belle—she was a dear friend of the target if I recall correctly. Firelock—she’s been a damned thorn in my side ever since this entire contract started. I’ve had to change hideout seven times thanks to her!” He seemed to lose his cool for a moment, his eyebrows knitting in frustration at the thought of my friend. I couldn’t care less, my mind began to flicker through everything I had seen since arriving at Rainbow’s. The large sniper rifle leaned against the door… The odd pistol on the dresser… The griffon who seemed to have more than a little experience when it came to combat… “And of course, Apple Bloom. You’ve even visited her. I doubt she had anything useful to say. You know I was certain that I’d have to go in and finish the job, she was one tough target. I suppose not though, everyone dies eventually. Now then, how about you answer me this: do your employers know where I am yet?” My hooves began to shake. I struggled with the last strap of the hoofblade. I stared up at him, hatred pouring out of my soul. “Y-you killed her… you killed Apple Bloom…” He seemed genuinely surprised at that comment. I heard a click as my hoof finally slotted into the weapon. I didn’t hesitate—with all of my strength I brought my foreleg up towards his face. “You fucking bastard!” I yelled as the blades sliced a deep wound in his face. They cut across his left eye, and I heard him scream in pain.  Eidolon staggered back with a talon over his bleeding eye. I saw red as I gazed upon the creature that murdered my best friend. I wanted to tear him apart, I wanted him to feel the pain Apple Bloom had felt. Adrenaline pumped through my body, pushing me past the pain. Then with a single, primal roar of hate, I pushed off the ground, my wings propelling me with incredible speed. I slammed straight into the Griffon’s chest, pushing him backwards. We tumbled end-over end out the door. We landed just at the edge of Rainbow’s house—a metre more and we would have fallen straight off the edge of it and into the lake below. I didn’t care. I rained down blow after blow on the figure below me,  slicing into his side with every strike of my right hoof. Suddenly, he kicked with his back-legs. My eyes widened as I felt myself falling over the edge of Rainbow’s house. As I began to fall. I wrapped my forelegs around Eidolon’ neck, pulling him down with me. Once again, time seemed to slow as we fell through the air. I tried to flap my wings, but with Eidolon on top of me I couldn’t get enough wingpower to fly. We traded blows, his talons tearing into my flesh as I beat on him with my hooves. We tumbled end over end for what seemed forever, before finally crashing into the cold, hard water. I coughed and sputtered, having lost all sense of direction. I flailed in the water, my pain increasing ten-fold thanks to the water entering my open wounds. I didn’t care. I tried to flap my wings. I couldn’t let Eidolon get away! I wouldn’t let him! My lungs burned, I couldn’t breathe. Just as I thought I would burst, I broke the surface and took several heavy gulps of air. The bank was nearby, and I began to swim towards it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough. I let out a scream as a sharp talon closed around my throat, dragging me to the bank. I looked up with hateful eyes at Eidolon, dripping wet and bleeding. His left eye was tightly shut, dark crimson crusted over it. “You… are going to regret this,” he hissed through a cracked beak. His green eyes were no longer calm and calculating, they were angry. His grip on my throat tightened as he slowly raised his other talon. He closed it around my neck, then pulled back as if trying to figure out the best way to tear out my throat. I tried to say something, anything, but I simply couldn’t. Suddenly, all my energy drained out of my body. I was tired, I was so very tired. I had never expected to die like this; I’d always imagined that it would be in some flying accident, then more recently as a result of my own misery finally getting the best of me. I suppose it was poetic justice. I found myself thinking back to the nightmare I’d had. Why should you live when they die? Well, that’d be one problem solved at least. I found myself thinking back over all my mistakes; the Wonderbolts, Las Pegasus, all of it. Most importantly though, of Sweetie Belle, Alula, Firelock and Apple Bloom. I didn’t want to die, not now. I had so much left to do—I had to tell Twilight that Rainbow had loved her, I had to.. I had to… I had to tell Sweetie Belle that I loved her, because I did. I did love her. I couldn’t bear to think about how much this would hurt her. She’d just lost a friend, she didn’t need to lose another. Now I’d never get the chance to fix my mistakes, and it was tearing me up more than the mistakes themselves had done. Sorry, Apple Bloom. I tried to stop him. I tried to make sure that he wouldn’t hurt anypony ever again. Guess I wasn’t good enough. I hope you can forgive me, and I hope you’ll let me hang out with you again. I could use a friend. My eyelids began to grow heavy as Eidolon tightened his grip. He clacked his talons together. I heard the faint sound of somebody calling in the distance, but I couldn’t tell who it was. My ears were roaring. My heart thumping, and my chest screaming. I breathed out one more time, then closed my eyes. The last thing I saw was Eidolon’ head erupting in flames, and then everything went black.