//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - The Night Slayers // Story: Mythical Diadem // by Crystal Secret //------------------------------// Mythical Diadem by Crystal Secret Chapter 2 - The Night Slayers As Rarity came down the chute, she met the ground with a bump that would make her quite sore for awhile. She was now faced with a bunch of confused and somewhat outraged stares from a group of pegasus ponies. They started rearing their hooves ready to attack but just as they started coming at her, they were stopped by the cyan body of Rainbow Dash, shielded the terrified mare from the mob. "Wait! She's with me!" cried out the cyan pegasus. A series of sceptical groans and sighs soon followed. "Everyone, this is my friend Rarity." she said moving away from her, allowing her to stand on four hooves again. "Rarity, we are the Night Slayers. A group of pegasus ponies trying to shut down Future Industries." she explained. "I see...but what's Future Industries?" she asked feeling dazed. The world spun around her as she tried hard to hold herself up. Everything became rather blurred as she collapsed onto the solid ground beneath her. In her deep slumber, Rarity found herself in a vivid dream. In this miraculous dream she was standing on an airship, a large, extravagantly decorated airship. The wind blew through her perfectly styled mane as she sailed through the clouds. She was surrounded by nothing but endless sky and big puffy clouds that were chased away by the speed in which she was travelling. Unfortunately, she was unaccompanied which was rather disappointing as it would have been nice to share such a fantastic place with somepony. But she was not entirely alone. For as that thought drifted through her mind, she found herself rather well accompanied. However, this company came in the most terrifying form as a large, monstrosity rose from behind a cumulonimbus cloud. Its engines roared as steam rose from all sides of its enormous mechanical and intimidating structure. Fear latched itself onto her heart as it raced, her breath quickened and she found herself running towards the bow as it fired its cannons at her, ripping large holes in the exterior of the ship. Rarity screamed as a large canon came crashing down near her, sending pieces of the ship everywhere. Wooden planks, brass and strangely enough, large poles that crashed into the floor creating large holes. A shriek of terror escaped her as it only got closer to her. The ship was still flying but at a much slower pace and it was being torn to pieces in a mad parade of destruction. Who were these ponies anyhow? And why were they trying to kill her? She was quickly running out of wood to stand on and was growing more terrified by the second. There were only two options; to either stay here and be blown to pieces or to make her descent off the ship and hope she somehow manages to spontaneously grow wings. With the latter sounding more preferable and with the reassurance that once she jumps, the enemy will stop firing at her, Rarity takes one reluctant jump off the remainder of the airship, sending her descending to her death. The clouds evaporate beneath her as she flails her legs before her, screaming as she falls from the incredible height. After awhile she stops screaming and calms down. She closes her eyes and relaxes her legs by her side, simply allowing the wind to just carry her away. Somehow, she would survive. Somehow the wind would choose her course and may it be a safe one, one that would lead her back to the sleep idyllic village of Ponyville. Her home. Her friends. It was all she wanted now that she was falling from thousands of feet in the air. However, this subtle peacefulness was stirred by the bright, imitable light that shone in through the cracks in the makeshift walls. What an odd place this was. Rarity held a certain familiarity with it, but nothing was familiar except the wooden walls that let in the distant whirring sounds of the city. It would seem that the city never slept, not even at night. It was as though she was back at the abandoned structure again, where she had waken up yesterday morning. Only this time she was lying on a dusty old mattress that should have been disposed of long ago. Slightly confused, Rarity rose to her hooves and began to walk towards a small entryway that led her out to a large room filled with pegasus ponies who were all standing about discussing important matters and what their next course of action might be. "Hey Rarity! Good to see you're awake." greeted Rainbow Dash who came over to her excitedly. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash." she replied still half asleep. "How long was I asleep?" she asked inquisitively. The pegasus scratched her head, a cheeky smile spread across her face. "Well...you were kind of out for about forty-eight hours." "What? I was asleep for two whole days!" she exclaimed, finally waking herself up. "That's just a guess though...I'm not really sure how long you slept for. You must have been pretty tired though. I mean, I've never seen any of my team here sleep that long and they're usually up all night. Ah, look at the time, I guess I should probably call a meeting to order." A loud defining whistle was released from her lips and the entire room of ponies came over, forming a circle in the middle of the room. The organization that these ponies had surprised Rarity as she took a seat next to Rainbow Dash who eyed off everypony in front of her. "Alright everypony, listen up! I think it's time we step our game and start making more aggressive and obvious manoeuvres towards the enemy. I say we get rid off any unicorn that chooses to stand in our way. Its either they join us, or get the hell out of the way." she said in a rough, confident tone. The circle of ponies roared in agreement at the suggestion, clearly loyal to their leader. "So what's the plan?" asked a mauve pegasus. "Well, I say we round up some forces and barge in there and take out everypony in sight. Show no mercy. We haven't got time for standing around. I've been leading this group for the past decade and sadly, we haven't made much progress. Go! Ready yourselves for battle! Round up some troops and we'll be out of here shortly." "Rainbow Dash wait!" pleaded Rarity, finally speaking up. "What?" she asked, slightly annoyed. "What are you thinking? You can't just invade an entire industry like that and think you cna just go in and kill everypony in sight!" she objected ferociously. "Why not?" even more annoyed. "Well...because you would be killed of course. Besides, why would you even want to make militaristic advancements upon them anyway?" she asked. "Let me explain to you something Rarity, Future Industries is the very corporation that has sent this city into its decade long economic downfall. I mean, everything's turned to shit and nopony's doing anything about it. So I decided to lead the pegasus ponies into a war against Future Industries. They're the ones who started this whole thing. Now, I need to go and gear up." she replied with hostility. "Wait!" she called out. Rainbow Dash looked over. "Yes?" "Let me come with you. Please?" she asked pleadingly. "What? Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how dangerous the streets are? Look, around these parts a beautiful unicorn like you is likely to be either raped or killed. Besides, from what happened last night I can easily tell that you can't defend for yourself so you're better off staying here." "Rainbow Dash, if I'm going to be here for a long time then I'm going to need to be trained in melee combat. How can I make use of my time here if I can't at least be able to defend myself against the..the -' "The members that make up Future Industries's night patrol team?" "Ah yes! The night patrol team but my point is that I'm going to need to be able to defend myself. Besides, in a world like this a lady such as myself should know at least the bare basics of combat. Now shouldn't she?" "Well...I guess so. But you're going to have to follow my every command otherwise you'll give yourself away to the enemy. Now, follow me so I can get you fitted into some battle gear." "What's wrong with my current attire?" "What's wrong with it? Well...it's not exactly battle material and it would probably just become a nuisance. I mean, somepony could trip on the train. It's too risky. Besides, you can always change when we get back." "Oh, alright. For you Rainbow Dash, I shall wear whatever kind of not so fashionable attire you require me to. After all, it is for the better good of all pony kind so I suppose that's reason enough. Even if I have to make a few small sacrifices along the way." "Great. Now let's get you ready." Rarity followed Rainbow Dash into a small, dusty room that was full of armour, weaponry and anything that somepony could need if they were going off to fight some heroic battle alongside an army of a few hundred. But this wasn't a war, it was just a battle of the fittest and only those who were truly exceptional in the art of warfare would survive the next few hours. "Here. Go and put this on." insisted the pegasus, handing Rarity a pile of garments. "Oh and don't forget these." she continued handing her some silver boots that appeared to be made of steel. She took the garments and returned to the small room in which she had woken up not along ago. With care, Rarity slipped off her beautiful, perfectly sewn garments and tossed them aside. She struggled with the upper torso as she pulled it over her head and tried to strapped around her waist. The buckles appeared to go underneath as the pristine metal shone on top. She slipped on the heavy metal boots that gleamed as they reflected off the morning light. Her helmet came last and it covered most of her head and face, it reminded her of the armour worn by ponies in the ancient era. Ever since she was just a little filly, Rarity had dreamed of being rescued by her own knight in shining armour but today the tables had been turned. A new twist had been put on a her fantasy fairytale that made up her dreams. Today, she would have to be her own knight in shinning armour and she would be so bravely, she would face the challenges that lay ahead with nothing but an infinite amount of valour because today, that was the pony she had to be. So that's who she would be. She marched out the room with pride, her silver armour gleaming with honer. She felt proud to be a part of an organization of ponies who were fighting for the greater good. But also a little sympathetic for the very ponies of whom she would now have to watch being slaughtered in order to make a stand on this industrial, chaotic catastrophe that had changed the course of history forever. Today, she would make history alongside the bravery and valour of the righteous Night Slayers. "Are you ready?" asked Rainbow Dash, her face full of guilty pleasure as she gave her a once over. "As ready as I'll ever be." she replied nervously. The truth was, not even a heavy layer of steel armour could protect her from the fear that grew inside of her. She was very much unprepared for the sheer horror of the sight that she was about to be faced with. Rarity tried to suppress a look of confidence and determination, she had to be strong for not only her own sake but for the rest of Equestria's. While deep down, she was ready to cry. "Alright every pony! Move out!" ordered Rainbow Dash demandingly. Since they were underground and since they were pegasus ponies, she wasn't entirely sure at how they were going to as Rainbow Dash had put it 'move out'. However, what happened next utterly amazed her. The small, elite team of pegasi moved swiftly, and moved fast. A few ponies pulled down on some levers as two large wooden boards moved back as the ceiling disappeared. There was now a large hole which led to a wide, dark tunnel that would lead them to the outside. About a dozen pegasi sprouted individual sets of mechanical wings as they took off into the ominous tunnel. Rarity watched them as they flew out, like a dozen metal silver back beetles migrating to a new home. She suddenly realized that she wasn't able to join them because she lacked wings, but with a sudden tap on her shoulder she turned and was faced with Rainbow a Dash who was holding out to her a pair of wooden mechanical wings, not unalike those of the very ponies that had just left. Rarity just stared at her, confused. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and dropped them to the ground. "Put them on." "Oh, right. Of course." Rarity levitated them onto her back as she struggled to tighten the straps around her waist. She spent the next few minutes struggling to reach her back, the straps were out of reach. With one smooth movement she reached to the side a little too far and ended up falling over onto her back, like a horse trying to play dead. "Here, let me help you." she said as Rarity got off the ground. "First of all, you've got them upside down, the straps are supposed to go around your waist, not your back." She explained as she rotated it around her torso, so the wings faced upwards. "Second of all, your front hooves go through here." she said as Rarity slipped her hooves through a series of straps and buckles. "Your back hooves go through here and you tighten the straps around your waist." as she said it, the cyan pegasus came underneath her and tightened the straps on her stomach, the feeling of her hooves on her coat was enough to make the unicorn blush. "Alright. Now you're ready, let's go." "Wait, how do I use these things?" "You just use your hooves, us pegasus use our wings but unicorns normally steer using their hooves and the straps." she explained. "Let's go!" she called before taking off into the dark tunnel above her. Rarity just stood there, abundantly confused and what she was supposed to do. So she decided to just go with her instinct ins and push the wings down before taking the weight off her front hooves and propelling herself into the air, flying through the long, dark tunnel. Since Rarity was not all used to the complex mechanics of flight, she had quite an 'ungraceful' landing but was also terribly embarrassed due to the riotous laughter that erupted from the skilfully trained pegasi. Rainbow Dash quieted the crowd and helped her onto her feet. "Sorry everyone, I'm just not all used to flying, especially with these robust structures." she apologized before following her friend to the front of the pack. The paper moon hang dimly in the night sky, there were fewer stars than she remembered and she began to wonder what else had happened in the many decades and perhaps centuries that had passed. An air of unfamiliarity surrounded her and the cool chill of the night sent shivers down her spine as she crept along the walls of a back street, the sounds of machinery became louder with every step and nopony muttered a word. It was tense, and she felt like that they were all walking a tightrope, one wrong move and they would all surely fall. They carried on like this for what seemed like hours, silent, tense and guile. Creeping along the backstreet, jumping occasionally from tin roof to tin roof. They didn't use their wings too much, but Rainbow Dash had said they would need them when they reached their 'final destination.' Rarity didn't even know where their 'final destination' was. But she grew rather frightened as a group of shadowy figures slowly approached them, she took a large gulp and prayed in the name of Celestia that she would somehow get out of this...alive.