//------------------------------// // Where Misery Goes to Graze // Story: Urohringr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "Here they come!" Josho shouted. Seclorum gritted his teeth, concentrating on the plank of metal he was levitating in place as the middle of the "bridge." He glanced out the corner of his eyes as a solid line of pegasi swooped down at them. "The last ponies are hopping over now! We need cover!" "On it!" Prowse shouted, running to the edge of the temple on the other side. "Propsicle, I hate to ask ya for it, lass, but—" "All in the family, Unky Prowsy!" Props rushed over and braced his flank with her spine. "Fire away!" Now with a firm hoofing, the stallion aimed his prosthetic at the thick of the undead flock, charged up the crystal batteries, and fired. A burning stream of mana flared through the hurricane winds, evaporating the rainwater as it traveled towards its targets. Six pegasi melted instantly. The rest of them split on either side of the energy discharge and came swooping at opposite angles. "Brace yourselves, everypony!" Josho exclaimed, firing pot-shots at the creatures on the left. Two of them fell. The rest swooped low, biting and clawing at the heads of several equines. The survivors ducked low while the winy air filled with criss-crossing projectiles from the ponies' makeshift weapons. In the meantime, a thick line of pegasi swooped down from the right. Josho pivoted to fire at them, but it was too late. With a deep breath, Lasairfion rushed in and blasted a stream of energy from her horn. She erected a forcefield that succeeded in blocking the first line of winged undead. Several more seeped around the edges of the barrier and came soaring down at the platform. "The last pony is through!" Seclorum shouted as Arcshod and the other unicorns began hopping along the remains of the bridge, carrying levitating platforms along with them. "Quick! We've gotta make it to the other side—" "A little busy here, old friend!" Josho grunted, slamming his shotgun across the snout of a zombie and firing its barrels deep into its quivering gut. "Watch it!" Seclorum shouted as he and Arcshod made it onto the platform. Puddles of purple muck was starting to form along the temple's surface. "We gotta off 'em in the air! Keep them away!" "Tell them that!" Prowse growled as he spun and swung his prosthetic into the mangy face of one creature after another. "Come and get some, ya bloody sods!" "We don't want to win the battle!" Aatxe stammered. "We want to avoid it!" He pointed to the far end of the platform. "Come on, everypony! Just one more bridge to the Tarkington!" "Secchy!" Josho shouted. "You, Arcshod, and the others go! We'll hold them off!" "This many of them?!" Seclorum wheezed as he galloped across the landscape with his heavy metal plank floating after him. He sweated from the constant telekinetic effort. "We won't last a minute!" "Lasairfion's got her magic and Prowse's boomstick is recharging! We can do this—" A pair of pegasi dove out of the clouds and coasted straight towards Josho. Belle saw it. With a gasp, she let go of Elma and picked up a chunk of granite. "Josho! Watch it!" Grunting, she threw the rock with all her might. It flew in a curved arc through the wind and ricocheted off one pegasi's skull. At the sound of the pained shriek, Josho turned and ducked before the creature could rake its teeth across his neck. Shouting, he swung the butt of his shotgun agains the skull of the second monster. The battered pegasus veered left and right, bounced off a column, and partially dissolved in midair. "Look out!" a Ledomaritan shouted as everypony ducked its careening body. "My ship!" Aatxe shouted. "I can see it! Arcshod, over here—" The stallion grunted as the pegasus' corpse slammed into him. "Aatxe!" Seclorum yelped. Arcshod spun with wide eyes. Snarling, the large stallion marched over and swung his metal plank like a bludgeon, knocking the quivering mess of a creature off of Aatxe's shoulders. Seclorum scampered over, standing by Arcshod's silent figure. He grimaced. "Gnnngh... mmmfffnngh..." Aatxe curled up in a quivering ball, his eyes tearing. Purple muck oozed down the sides of his body, causing tiny columns of steam to rise. "It... it b-burns..." He looked up, muzzle quivering. "How... h-how bad is it?" "Xon..." Arcshod exhaled. Belle covered her gasping muzzle from afar. For once, Seclorum was at a loss for words. "I don't care how many minions she has at her command!" Pilate sputtered from where he lay in the grip of several changelings along the structure's balcony. "She's obsessed with agony! And that makes her as corrupt and short-sighted as every other thug we've run across, Rainbow Dash! Don't give into her despair—" One of the shape-shifters holding him down gave his chest a hard punch. "Aaaugh!" "Stop it!" Rainbow hissed into the face of the changeling queen. "Don't hurt him! Or, I swear, I'll—" "You'll what?" The face smiled with a flicker of green. "The only reason you've had friends these last few months is because I've allowed it." "Okay, now I know you're just spewing bullcrap," Rainbow grumbled. "Do you seriously think that all I've ever known of you has been gathered from leeching your emotions alone?" Chrysalis' eyes flashed, and her face took on a white sheen with a mane of rippling pastel hues. "Your kingdom is home to more than the average mortals," she said in Celestia's voice. In a flash of green, Luna's face loomed. "The night doth belong to creatures far more cunning than all that thou hath allied with." The face went pale again, accompanied by eyes brimming with eternal wisdom. "My children are everywhere," the vision of Whitemane said. "And they all have eyes. My eyes. When I sensed opportunity in the Ancient Homeland fading, I sent the bulk of the brood to investigate. I found a world nearly sundered by a chaotic rift, and then there was one survivor—one miserable, miserable survivor heading east. I didn't realize it at first, but she was bringing the delectable chaos to me." The air filled with nauseating laughter as Whitemane vanished and Chrysalis' visage returned full-force. "And that is why I ultimately decided to keep my station in Xona and turn my focus on Val Roa. You see, an inexplicable agent of chaos would soon be in my grasp. So long as I led her to the Sentinel, there was no backtracking required." "I... am not an agent of chaos," Rainbow Dash snarled. "I am the last Element of Harmony! I am—" "The divine 'Spark' or some other such nonsense, yes?" Chrysalis' face morphed into a contemptuous scowl. "I believe in the style of the runic prophecies my brood have discovered in the Sentinel and beyond. I don't take quite as much stock in the substance. You are destined to make your trip east, yes. Hmmmmm—But there's simply been no declaration set in stone over who you were making this trip for." "I am not going to be your device to make horrible things happen in Val Roa or anywhere!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "And yet you're so good at it," Chrysalis said with a resonating chuckle. "From kingdom to kingdom, you leave death and destruction in your wake. I sometimes think to myself that I don't need the Sentinel and its black heart at all." "It's... it's n-not true..." Rainbow Dash seethed, avoiding the image's gigantic gaze. "I'm not a monster. I'm the Element of Loyalty. I'm... I'm awesome..." "Oh, admittedly, you did need... a boost from time to time. Misery is like sheep; it has to be herded and managed to properly graze on the living. That's why I had my children intercede in little ways to make sure you arrived in this city..." Rainbow Dash sneered. "Prowse..." "And, of course, why not feed on those unfortunate enough to be herded along with you? Honestly, I couldn't help myself. The thirst for anguish made it too much to pass up. All it took was putting some of my children in the right places at the right times." "What..." Rainbow squinted. "What are you even trying to say?" "Are you really so blind, Rainbow Dash?" Chrysalis fanged teeth showed. "Are you so pathetically loyal to the idea of your own lonely plight that you can't see through pure coincidence and see it for the masterfully constructed mechanization it really was?" Rainbow's muzzle hung agape in confusion. "He was blind too. His tenacity and determination made him a great deal like you. But madness had dissolved his resolve, and—unlike you—he was so... so very easy to manipulate. This should be no surprise to you, since one of your best friends had manipulated him before." Rainbow's eyes quivered. "Shell..." Pilate glanced up, breathless. "You... y-your broodlings guided Shell... to Lerris...?" Rainbow murmured. "To a feast, Rainbow," Chrysalis thundered. "And you, the Austraeoh, shall bring the Sentinel to the greatest banquet of all in Val Roa..."