“Quick, Amethyst! Over here!” Dinky said as she bounced happily to the next exhibit.
Amethyst Star just grinned as she followed the excitable filly to the exhibit on Griffon Sky Pirates. “Slow down sis, we have all day to see everything!”
“Yeah, but these are about pirates!” Dinky said with a hop. “I wanna be one for next Nightmare Night, and I want my costume to be perfect!”
“Yes, but that still isn't for another six months! You have plenty of time to get everything perfect, don't worry about that. Twilight might even help you with finding a book on pirates once we get back to Ponyville,” Amethyst said with a laugh.
As the two inspected the display, Amethyst couldn't help but think just how wonderful it was to get a day off to spend with her kid sister. The last time they were able to do this had been back during the Sisterhooves Social, and that had been well over a year ago.
If only everyday could be like today, she thought with a sigh.
Her musings were interrupted, however, by the sound of shattering glass, followed closely by a scream somewhere behind her. She quickly turned, only to see something that chilled her to the bone.
There, standing above the bleeding body of a security guard, was a ferocious gray dragon. Behind him was nothing but a gaping hole where a window used to be, a clear indication of where he had entered the museum.
The dragon clearly wasn't an adult, if its size was anything to go by. However, it didn't look any less dangerous, as evidenced by the blood that covered its outstretched claws.
As it glanced around, Amethyst Star saw a band of mangy Diamond Dogs crawl through the window that the dragon had broken, all of them armed to the teeth. “Spread out and find it!” the dragon shouted over the screams of the frightened patrons.
“What about the ponies, boss?” a particularly brutish dog asked.
“Herd them into one group. Kill them if they resist, but do not let them escape,” the dragon said, his eyes sweeping over the assembled ponies.
As quietly as she could manage, Amethyst levitated Dinky onto her back and took off. “Sis? What's going on?” the filly asked, clearly afraid.
“Don't worry Dinky, everything is going to be fine. Just keep quiet,” Amethyst said breathlessly as she bolted down the corridor.
After a few minutes of quick twists and turns, Amethyst turned another corner, only to realize that she had ran smack dab into a dead end. “Sis?” Dinky asked, her voice filled with worry.
“Not now, Dinky! We have to find someplace to hide!” Amethyst said with a hush.
Dinky quieted down at that, allowing Amethyst enough time to think of something. Quickly, she doubled back and dived into the lady's bathroom. Although it wasn't the smartest place to hide, Amethyst didn't intend to stay in here for long.
“Listen Dinky," she said as she yanked open the stall door and stuck her sister on the toilet seat. "Whatever you do, whatever sound you hear, make sure you don't move from this spot until things calm down, okay?” Amethyst told her, trying to keep her voice level.
Dinky just nodded her head at that, tears in her eyes. “But... what about you?”
“I'm going to go and make a distraction, try to lure them away from here. As soon as the coast is clear, I want you to make a break for it. Get out of the museum, find a guard, and tell him what happened here,” Amethyst said in a rush. “I need you to-”
However, before Amethyst could say anything else, there was a flash of light that threw her shadow in sharp relief against the wall. Quickly, Amethyst turned, slamming the stall door shut as she did so.
There, lying on the floor, was another dragon. However, it seemed... odd... for a dragon. For starters, its fangs and claws were a lot smaller. It also was wearing clothes, as well as a set of weapons at its side and on its back. On top of all of this, It also didn't have wings, which was odd for a dragon of its apparent age.
Amethyst quietly tiptoed around it, attempting to get to the door before she attempted to lure away this new threat. However, before she was able to do that, it stirred, then grumbled in its sleep.
Amethyst Star just raised an eyebrow at this, then stopped trying to get past him. It was a slim chance, but it was possible that this one had no connection to the gray dragon that was robbing the museum. She didn't know why, but she found that she couldn't stop herself as she opened her mouth and said the first thing that came to her mind. “Uh... sir? Or ma'am, I'm not really sure at this point...”
“Uhgg...” the dragon said in a masculine voice as he stirred, reaching up and gripping his head as he grunted in apparent pain.
Amethyst felt herself relaxing at that point, and drew a little closer. She jumped back, however, when the odd creature shouted in confusion at his tail.
“What on earth?” he yelled, almost as if he had never seen it before.
“Please, sir, you have to be quiet! If they find us here, they'll kill us for sure!” she said in a rushed whisper.
His head shot up at that, his eyes fixed on her with a look that was two parts confusion and one part pure wonder. What, has he never seen a unicorn before? she thought as the creature rose to his feet.
“What... what's going on here?” he asked in a smooth, sibilant voice.
As the dragon stood up, Amethyst couldn't help but note just how big he was. “I... I came into the bathroom to hide,” she said, her voice quivering in fear.
“What are we hiding from?” the dragon asked, but stumbled a bit as it did so.
Before she could answer the question, however, someone outside the bathroom answered it for her. “Where are you, little piggy? I know I heard something over here, and it 'taint no fun if all you do is hide...”
The dragon's eyes shot open in fear at that. He then grabbed the stall door and, without looking inside, motioned for her to enter. “Quick, get into the stall!”
Without even thinking, Amethyst scrambled inside and cuddled up with Dinky. She turned to say something, but stopped when she saw the dragon's face. His eyes were locked onto the bathroom mirror, his expression a mixture of horror and disbelief.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” he whispered in disbelief. “Seriously? You could have picked anyone else, and you went with the weak piece of crap I made up when I was eight?”
“...What?” Amethyst asked in confusion.
The only answer the creature gave to her question, however, was to quickly slam the door shut.
I really hope he knows what he's doing... Amethyst thought as she gripped Dinky tighter to herself.
* * *
Binky wasn't the smartest dog in the hole, but he did have the keenest nose of the bunch. This particular skill served him nicely as he rounded up all the stinky ponies that infested the museum, their fear easily allowing him to track them down and herd them back to boss.
Many of them had found pretty good hiding places, some also had the sense to stay quiet. That mattered little to the old super sniffer. Binky would just sniff them out, their fear giving them away no matter where they hid.
As good as some of those ponies were, though, there were also those that were not so good. The ones that had hid in the boom boom room, for example, just made him laugh. He could clearly hear the shout that whomever had made earlier, not to mention that the pony's fear laden scent trail led straight here. "Where are you, little piggy? I know I heard something over here, and it 'taint no fun if all you do is hide...” he said as he approached the room of stench.
“Quick, hide in the stall!” he heard a masculine voice say. Binky just shook his head at that, then slowly approached the door. He'd get them all, but only after he had made them stew in there for a little bit.
As he did so, he heard a faint grumbling sound, which was followed by a slamming door. “Come out, come out, wherever you... are!” he said, throwing the door open and leaping in while swinging his broadsword. However, as he leaped in, he felt a painful sting somewhere in his chest. He was faintly aware of a rather large form standing over him, but that information only barely registered compared to the oaken shaft that had pierced his armor and entered his heart.
As his sword slipped from his paw, Binky couldn't help but remember what his Ma had told him, about how he shouldn't go picking fights with ponies or making deals with dragons.
I'm sorry ma... he thought as the spear was ripped from his chest.
* * *
I coughed as the sharp smell of blood washed over my enhanced senses, fully aware that I had just killed something for the first time.
Well, second time if you count that thief. You never really found out if you killed him, though, I thought sardonically to myself as I wrenched my spear from the mangy creature's chest. I knew that I should have been sickened more by what I had done, but the screams of fear from outside the door kept me from such thoughts.
I quietly stepped over the still form of the beast and cracked open the door. The way beyond looked empty, so I stepped out with some trepidation. This place looked like a museum, if the glass cases and old displays could be trusted. However, many of the displays were shattered open, and no museum that I knew of had people screaming in the distance.
Okay... now, he didn't have pyrokenisis, but he did come with a number of other powers, I thought as I creped through the hallway. I remember that the big one was turning almost invisible. That was his thing, if I recall correctly. Gabe had the speedy cheetah, Norman was the rhinoceros, but I had the stealthy chameleon/lizard thing.
Yeah, I found out after I had made the character that it was only chameleons that could change their color, and that they were pretty dang slow about it. I was also eight at the time. Because of this, I had given him quite a few things that I had said that chameleons should have, while still drawing him like some sort of anthropomorphic monitor lizard.
As I thought about this, I tried to turn myself invisible, so that I could scout around and get better get an idea of the situation without being seen. However, I still had no freaking clue how that was supposed to happen. Is there a muscle I'm supposed to flex? or-
As I was busy musing on my new biology, a shout quickly brought me to the present, causing me to glance up in alarm. There, charging at me at full clip, were three of those mangy, dog-like creatures.
Now, as I've stated before in a previous scenario, a hero would have done something completely different from what I did. A hero would have stood his ground. A hero would have taken the first one down with a hurl of his spear, then would have quickly drawn his sword and dagger to deal with the other two.
A hero wouldn't have turned tail and ran, whimpering like a pansy as he beat a hasty retreat.
“I'm gonna freaking murder you, Lady!” I shouted as I scampered away.
* * *
"Come on, boys! After him!" Alf said, pointing at the strange, dragon-looking thing.
"Uh, boss? ya think that's a good idea? that looked like a dragon to me," Jim said hesitantly.
"Nah, dragon that size without wings? You've seen 'em before. Besides, if that was a real dragon, we would have been burnt crisps already," Alf corrected him. "Now, I don't know 'bout you, but we take something like that back to the boss, he'd definitely be impressed. Maybe even give us promotion!"
The other two nodded their heads at that, though Jim couldn't quite suppress the sliver of doubt that he felt. Something about this don't seem right, he thought as he followed the other two.
The dragon-thing's scent led them through a number of twists and turns, until they finally stopped at a pair of double doors decorated with stars and a sun. Alf burst through the door without the slightest hesitation, quickly followed by his two lackeys.
Inside was a darkened room, filled with a large number of seats all arranged in a circle. The creature couldn't be seen, but Alf could easily see that there was no other way out of this room except through the double doors they had entered through. Tracking its scent became impossible, though, because of the overwhelming scent of popcorn and excitement. "Spread out and search the place! I'll make sure he don't get past me," Alf said, pulling out his crossbow as he spoke.
The other two quickly fanned out, their eyes sweeping back and forth as they tried to spot the dragon from earlier. Alf kept his eyes peeled too, trying his best to spot for his dogs as they tried to flush out the coward.
As he watched, however, he felt a claw clamp down around his muzzle, covering his nose and preventing him from breathing as another wrapped around his throat. He struggled against his unseen assailant, dropping his crossbow as he desperately tried to call out to his dogs, or to breath, but his struggles became progressively weaker as stars filled his vision.
Darkness took him soon after.
* * *
I could have slit his throat, but that just seemed too... barbaric for me. Sure, I had killed the other two without much fuss, but that was in the heat of the moment, and in self defense. Yeah, against these guys, it would probably be self defense as well, but it still feels like murder, I thought as I reached out from the shadows and grabbed him.
I hadn't really taken into account the crossbow he was holding. However, it seemed as if at least one piece of good luck had found me today, as the floor of the planetarium was covered in a deep, rich carpet. I held the goon just long enough to make sure that he wouldn't be an issue anymore, but not long enough to kill him.
As I dragged the mutt into the curtains, I pondered on why the three hadn't seen me as soon as they had entered. I mean, I was right off to the side of the door, I should have been easy to spot.
Maybe I was invisible? I wondered to myself. Maybe it only works when I need it.
As this thought and others whizzed through my head, I couldn't help but feel like Batman as I crept up on another one of those strange, dog-like creatures.
Must resist screaming 'I am the night!' when I grab him, I thought as I crept forward. However, just before I reached him, a thought suddenly occurred to me. I might not be Batman, but he wasn't the only one who could put fear into his enemies.
* * *
Jim was nervous. For starters, this room was huge. There were all sorts of conflicting scents, and not one of them smelled like that odd lizard-thing from earlier.
I'm a fearless dog. Nothing can turn me from a fight, I'm going to rip-
His thoughts were interrupted, however, when he heard a strangled scream from his left. He quickly turned, just in time to see Fred get pulled out of sight by a strange, shimmering shadow. He quickly glanced back, hoping to see boss pointing his crossbow at the terrifying figure, but was disappointed when he couldn't locate Alf.
Jim whimpered in fear as he turned tail and bolted for the exit. He almost made it, too, but not before a shadow detached itself from the wall, beaning him with the haft of a spear, causing Jim's helmet to fly off. Jim staggered back, trying to raise his sword in defense, but was stopped as the wooden haft connected with his head again, immediately sending him sprawling.
As he lay there, he tried to make sense of the ringing in his ears. However, he was prevented from doing this as unconsciousness came for him in the form of a third strike from that wooden haft.
He didn't remember anything after that.