“LET ME UP! I HAVE TO HELP HER!”
“Miss Scratch, please calm down! It’s far too dangerous out there.”
“I don’t care! Get off of me!” Vinyl Scratch was furiously struggling to get the train station's manager off of her as he held her down. She tried to blast them off of her with magic, but her power was spent, and laying on her side, she had no leverage to stand up.
“Miss scratch, you will only end up hurting yourself or somepony else.” Vinyl grunted loudly, continuing to try and buck the heavy train station manager off. “Can anyone see what is happening out there?”
“Hey, Boss!” A tan pony dressed in a train station worker’s uniform ran up to the station manager. “They are leaving. I saw the whole thing from the roof. There was something killing them! I mean, really, ruthlessly killing them.”
“Did you see who it was? And did you see Miss Scratch’s marefriend?”
“The grey one?”
“YES! Please tell me she’s alive!” Vinyl screamed out.
The station worker started at the outburst. “I don’t know. That thing was doing really good, but they all stopped. Then the changelings fired at him, but the bolt hit her instead.
“WHAT!? OCTAVIA!. LET ME UP-”
A sharp ripping sound silenced the frantic mare. Through the black mist, she saw that creature that ponynapped Octavia. His cloak hid his features, but one feature was predominate: the grey mare that he was holding. She couldn’t move. Her eyes went wide and her pupils shrank as fear rushed through her body, petrifying her.
~~
Corvo activated his Dark Vision trying to get a solid location inside of the station that he could put the small horse down. It proved useless as the whole station lit up with life. He couldn’t discern any point that wouldn't land him on an unsuspecting citizen.
He cancelled the Dark Vision and focused on the concrete that made the platform of the station. A moment later his feet were firmly planted on solid, smooth ground. He looked toward the building again and activated his Dark Vision. He could see that there was a small circle with what seemed to be a rather one sided fight going on in the middle. The mass of the one on top looked like the train station’s manager.
Now is as good a time as any Corvo thought as he cancelled the Dark Vision and looked up toward an open window. He hit a slow jog and jumped as high as he could, keeping his eyes focused on the scene in the station. As he leapt, he saw the circle of small horses come into view. He immediately focused on a clear spot just beside the two small horses in the middle and blinked to them…
...And nearly all of the small horses in the room gasped. With the small, grey horse in his arms, he knelt down to one knee and gently lowered her, making sure that her burned side stayed off of the ground. He stood up to his full height and noticed the lack of sound. The circle of small horses grew wider as he turned in a circle. He stopped as his gaze fell on the station manager who was staring at him, holding down a motionless small, white horse. She looked as though she was petrified, not even breathing-
“Get off of her!” Corvo yelled as he noticed that the large station manager’s body was pressing too hard on the small horse’s chest, preventing it from breathing. Corvo dashed and shoved the station manager off with his boot, causing the larger small horse to topple and fall. Corvo knelt beside the small, white horse and put one of his hands over her chest and put his ear next to her snout.
Barely, but she is still breathing. He thought to himself. “If anyone can understand me, we need to get these two to your equivalent of a hospital.” He got no reaction from the small horses. “Hey- UHH!”
Corvo was interrupted by a ghostly force that wrapped around him and pulled hard. He stood to his full height and planted his feet on the ground, unsheathing his sword. He heard several popping sounds come from outside, felt several separate forces wrap around him, pulling his arms down to his sides and pulling his legs close together.
He struggled against the forces that tugged and squeezed him, and he could feel that those forces were hard pressed to keep him motionless. He still had leverage and was close to breaking the binds, but he felt one more force wrap around him, this one significantly larger.
“GAHH!” Corvo yelled as he was suddenly shot forward, slamming into the door. The wood shattered as he went through, creating a storm of splinters that flew in the direction he was pulled. The binds that held him released and he skidded across hard concrete. He tried to stand up, but that same force surrounded him again, lifting him up and down sharply. The air was knocked out of his chest and he thought that he felt the concrete crack below him. He raised his head to see what was doing this and his eyes widened.
Before him his stood ten of the small horses, though these were obviously not citizens, but soldiers. They wore golden armor and helms. Their hooves were adorned with golden shoes and each shoe held a small blade that pointed forward. Five of the soldiers had horns, but the other five had wings. He looked at the soldier whose horn was glowing brightly. He was bigger than the others and had a bright blue mane with streaks of lighter blue running the entire length.
“Hey, I’m not the enemy! They need help in-”
“(Shut up! Drop your weapon!)”
Corvo couldn’t understand what the soldier horse was saying, but it sounded authoritative. The magic force enveloping him grew tighter, pressing heavily on his sword. He had tried to help these creatures, but he would not simply take this. He could not afford to lose more time.
He focused on the leader of the group and his left hand glowed. He blinked just to the left of the soldier and used his elbow to shove the gold armored horse to the side. The soldier responded with a grunt and quickly hopped away. Corvo used the momentum from the push to start sprinting through a gap between the guards. His left hand flared with power and he blinked as far as he could from the train station.
Corvo didn’t look back as he kept sprinting, keeping his eyes open for cover. The group of buildings on the outskirts were close, but there would be no way to hide from the guards and citizens there. He focused on the roof of the closest building and blinked, never losing momentum from sprinting. He jumped as he reached the edge of the roof and blinked to the top of another building that was close to the path that lead into the city. He stopped himself to look back, and was surprised by what he saw: none of the guards were chasing him.
Strange, He thought as he raised his hand to his mask. The optics zoomed in on the train station, revealing that the guards had not even tried to give chase. He counted ten armor-clad horses, each one outside of the station. The small horses that made refuge in the building had begun to move out, guided by the guards. As he watched them, the one with the blue mane shot a flare into the sky that burst like fireworks. A second loud pop resounded overhead, causing Corvo to fall into a prone position.
Crack! He grunted, repressing a scream as a sharp pain stabbed at his left arm. He could feel the bones shift as his upper arm buckled under his weight. He struggled to get from his stomach to his back, carefully turning over to avoid pressure on the broken arm. Using his right arm, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, letting his left arm hang loosely beside him.
With his mask still zoomed in, he sat and observed the train station. Each of the guards seemed to be asking questions, with the exception of the blue maned one. He was standing stagnant, looking in the direction of the houses. Though the soldier was scanning, slowly studying the landscape and buildings, his eyes passed over Corvo. When he was satisfied, he turned around and walked inside of the building.
Corvo turned his head to take in more of the scene and saw a carriage that must have flew overhead. It was white with a red cross painted on its side, large wheels and had two winged horses attached to the front by wooden shafts. There was a sudden motion at the door of the train station and a team of small horses wheeled the grey horse on a gurney into the carriage. Another of the small horses, this one dressed in a white coat, carried the white horse out of the station on its back. It hopped into the carriage and it suddenly lifted from the ground. The wings of the small horses attached to the shafts beat steadily as they gained altitude, soon travelling too fast for Corvo to keep up with them with his optics.
As he watched the small horses fly away in some kind of ambulance, he was too distracted to notice that the inhabitants of these buildings were making their way back. He looked back toward the station and was met with the large group walking his way. Even though he was stealthy, the roof of this building was not the ideal place to be hiding, especially while injured.
He focused on the fact that he needed to get moving and gathered the willpower to get to a crouching position. The pain in his arm had not subsided, and in the state that it was in, he would not be able to blink away easily. He reach up with his good arm and turned the dial on his mask to show normal vision.
He quickly spotted a clothesline in the backyard of one of the houses that held what looked to be a small bed sheet and made that his next target. He would need a sling if he want to travel with any effectiveness, and the sheet would do. He steadied the broken arm with his right, focused on the ground underneath the clothesline and lifted his arm, grunting at the pain. The power took and he blinked, but he landed too far away and off balance, causing him to roll.
As his instinct and years of practice made the roll easy, the only thing that kept the bones in his arm from tearing through his skin was the fact that he was holding it, Which made the roll awkward. He finished the roll on his back, breathing heavily from the throbbing pain in his arm. His vision swam as he laid there, unable to focus on his task.
He didn’t know how long he was in this state, but the faint sound of clip-clopping hooves brought him back to his senses, if only by a little. He renewed his effort to get the sheet and used his right arm to prop himself up. With his face twisted into a scowl and a loud grunt, he pushed off of the ground into a crouching position. He moved his right arm over to hold his left and slowly stood up.
He made the small trek to the clothesline and reached up to grab the sheet. With a jerk, the sheet came off of the line and he immediately regretted it. His whole body shook, causing his arm to flare up with intense pain. Looking around, he found no table to prepare the sling, so he carefully sat down, using his right arm to steady his descent.
He put the sheet on the ground and began to twist the ends. At least it’s soft,he thought as he finished. He then took one end and folded it to the other, making sure that there was enough loose fabric in the middle to hold his broken arm in place. He raised a foot and placed it just below the ends to hold them in place as he tied a knot that would allow him to tighten it easily. He pulled the makeshift sling over his head and, with some trouble, placed his left arm into the open part of the fabric. He then grabbed the knot with his right arm and pulled it as tight as he could get it. The pain in his arm flared up again, but the result was worth it. With the sling, blinking would be easier, and the pain would eventually subside enough for him to concentrate for a longer time.
He slowly got to his feet, listening for any sounds. The clip-clopping of the citizens was much closer now, so he needed to leave the area. He looked toward the roof of house next to him and blinked up. The small horses were mingling through the town, talking to one another and nervously looking around. If Corvo wanted to stay unseen, he would have to move fast. He looked toward Canterlot, searching for any vantage point. Along the path, trees grew in intervals, which would give him cover while he blinked. The path lead into a part of the city with many more buildings, so that most likely meant alleys. His mind was made.
Corvo looked toward the path and his left hand flared up with power. He disappeared in a black mist and reappeared next to the first tree. The sling held, so he looked toward the next tree and blinked to it. He looked up and saw a solid looking branch that he could use to blink up. He focused on the branch and found himself standing on it. He looked for a similar branch in the next tree, and finding one, he blinked to it. He repeated this process until the city of Canterlot was looming high above him.
He was impressed, but admiration would have to wait. He still needed to find a place to hide and scout for his next move. He looked toward the first of the buildings and found a roof that he could easily blink to. His left arm flared with power and his feet landed on a rather solid feeling roof. It was slightly tilted, but not so that he couldn’t stand comfortably. It seemed to be made from some kind of ceramic plating, but it made little noise against his boots. He quickly scaled to the top of the slant to see if there were any good spots to rest, but he could not see any viable alleys or rooftops. He could see, however, that the streets below were damaged and torn, grassy areas were smoking and blackened and some walls were scorched and windows broken. The citizens that populated the area were numerous, the streets busy with the small horses cleaning the shattered glass from paths and others comforting each other.
Corvo would have little chance of keeping himself hidden here, so he looked on and saw that the path that lead into the city branched off into five different directions. He looked down the one furthest to his right and decided to follow it.
He blinked from rooftop to rooftop, letting the path take him wherever it would, until it abruptly stopped at a large building that rose higher than most that surrounded it. He looked toward it from the roof that he was on and a plan started to form in his head, but a noise from below caught his attention. It sounded familiar…
(“Vinyl, seriously, I can walk on my own. The doctor said that i would be fine.”)
(“I know Tavi… are you sure you’re okay?”)
The voices of the two small horses hit his ears, and he recognized the first one as the grey one that fought with him. He crouched low, his face contorted in confusion at the thought that she was already healed. He looked over the edge of the roof to see both her and the white one that produced the pulsating beam walking together. The grey one was covered in bandages from her shoulders to her hind legs, but she was walking normally.
(“Yes, Vinyl. I will just need some time to rest.”)
They stopped in the path and turned directly toward the building across from the one Corvo was standing on and entered. If she trusted me before, she might trust me now, he thought as his initial plan to hide in the large building was obliterated, a new one taking form. He waited for the two small horses to close the door behind them and blinked from his perch.
~~~~~
“As the doctor said, I need some rest, so I’m going to take his advice. You should get some rest yourself.” Octavia said as Vinyl walked through the doorway, closing it with her magic.
“Yeah, all of that freaking out took the energy right outta me. I’ll join you in a minute- wait… did you hear that?”
“I didn’t hear any-
knock knock knock
“Are we expecting anyone?” Octavia asked.
“Nope. Its prolly a guard checking on us. I’ll get it.”
Vinyl walked toward the door and encased the handle in her magic. The handle twisted and the door opened to reveal a cloaked creature with a face of metal staring back at the wide eyed Vinyl. The unicorn’s horn sparked to life as she charged her patented Basswave.
“VINYL, NO!” was all that Octavia could say before the Basswave was released.