//------------------------------// // Never Get Between Mother Bear and Her Cub... Or Sister Bear, For That Matter... // Story: A Hiss in the Dark // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Spike looked up at the wierd, not-dragon thing curiously.  Currently it was carrying Applebloom in the crook of its still working arm, her head lolling to one side as she gently snored.  Spike couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy over her current position, especially since he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, but he didn’t say anything about it. After all, it wasn’t him who had nearly lost his head. Despite his wounds and his clear exhaustion, the not-dragon was still keeping his head on a swivel, his eyes wide as he looked for any danger to the small group.  At first, Spike had been worried about how the creature would protect them should something appear, but that question was soon answered when the not-dragon’s lithe, serpentine tail reached around to his front and pulled his dagger free. Spike wasn’t sure how much that would help their current situation, but it was better than nothing. “Shouldn’t we wake her?” Scootaloo asked hesitantly. “I tried, but I don’t think she’s capable of conscious thought right now,” the not-dragon said with a shrug.  “Anyway, we should be fine coming this way.  Aside from that one monster, someone else was... already through here.”  As the not-dragon said this, he pointedly stepped over another disgusting, stitched together corpse. It looked like it had been torn apart by some kind of animal, which immediately cause the children to shiver uncontrollably. “Why are they doing this?  Why are they even here!?”  Sweetie Belle asked, her eyes wide with horror and fear as she tried to not look at the bloody mess. The not-dragon just stopped at that, gave a sigh, and turned to look at her.  “I don’t know, kid.  I honestly couldn’t tell you why evil does the things they do, or why the madman thinks the way he thinks.  I’m only in control of myself, and how I think.”  After saying this, he turned around and continued walking.  “All I know is that I’m not going to let them keep doing it.  You have my promise on that.” The three children looked up at the not-dragon in awe at that, their eyes getting larger by the second as the wounded reptile continued to stagger through the castle corridor.  He didn’t seem to have anything wrong with his legs, but by the way his arm hung limply, as well as the nasty looking bruise that was forming on his head, Spike figured that there didn’t need to be anything wrong with his legs to make him walk like that. He was dirty, blood covered, and walked like he was drunk, but none of those factors mattered in the slightest to the three impressionable children. “What’s your name?” Spike asked quietly. “Ammon.  Come on, we gotta hurry,” he said, trying to pick up the pace a bit. “Where are we going?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously. “To a hidden lab in the castle, you’ll be safe there.  At least, you’ll be safe so long as you don’t touch anything,” the not-dragon said, turning for a second to give them a brief look that all three children were fully acquainted with. “Why do adults always give us that look?” Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle. “Because you’re children, and it is the nature of children to curiously get into trouble,” Ammon answered, obviously overhearing them.  “Relax, though.  The looks will go away as you get old-” “Get yer durn-nabbed mitts off mah sister!” a familiar voice yelled from down the hallway on the left.  Spike was too far behind Ammon to see who it was, but he didn’t really need to.  The not-dragon looked to his left at the source of the voice, his eyes growing wide with terror at what he saw. What came next happened so fast, that if Spike had blinked, he would have completely missed it. Ammon knelt down and, with the utmost care, set down Applebloom on the floor, her open mouth quickly forming a small puddle next to her.  Then, almost as if he had never been there in the first place, the hero winked out of existence, the pit-pat of his running feet the only clue of where he had gone. “What in the-”  Applejack said as she came charging into view, her hooves skidding a little on the tile floor as she brought herself to a complete stop.  “Where… Spike?  What are-” “Applejack!” The children all screamed, immediately tackling the farm pony as tears of relief dripped down their faces. “...Applejack?” Applebloom asked sleepily as she came to. “Applebloom!”  Applejack said as she tried to inch her way to her sister.  It was rather hard, though, seeing as she was covered in enthusiastic, hysterical children, all trying to yell something at her, presumably something about the creature that Applejack just chased away. During all of the chaos, though, none of the ponies even noticed a tall, lizard-like form collapse in a nearby corner, it’s breathing ragged as it slipped into unconsciousness. *        *        * Bit by bit, Princess Luna was starting to figure it out; Fighting hoof to paw would not work, the beast was far too capable of a fighter for that.  It seemed to have a hard time dealing with her attacks if complemented by magic. She would have used just straight magic, but without knowing beforehoof if anypony was lurking behind a wall, or possibly in a building outside, it was entirely possible she could hit or kill somepony that she did not intend to. It was the downside of having abilities that had ranges that were best measured on topographic maps.  It forced her to rely upon her more… mundane, skills, to handle situations like this. Sleep is out of the question, too, especially after… she thought, but had to repress a shiver over the memory of last time she had tried that tactic. Needless to say, it hadn’t gone so well for her. Luna had lost track of time, but it felt like an eternity.  She figured that the creature should have been getting tired and clumsy by now, but instead it was becoming more aggressive and reckless.  It was striking out at her much more, and her body was now covered in a multitude of cuts, her blood speckling the floor as she fought. Her breath was becoming heavy and labored; She needed to end this. She threw her scythe at the beast, giving it a bit of a spin as it flew threw the air.  It was the second time she had tried this; last time it cause the beast to slip up, and she had managed to plant both her hind legs on its chest for a devastating kick.  She hoped that something similar would happen here, and allow her the opening she needed. The creature ducked as expected, but this time it charged her, instead of falling back as it had last time. She threw up a barrier by pure instinct, forgetting that the creature had a counter for it, rendering the instinct useless and dangerous.  Once again, the creature’s spear broke through it, allowing the beast to close in with a startling amount of speed. Princess Luna’s reflexes were on par with the greatest of warriors, however, giving her just the edge she needed to sidestep the attack.  As the creature passed her, she summoned her scythe with but a thought, fully intent on bringing it down on the troublesome pest. As the scythe appeared above her, however, Luna’s world suddenly pitched to the side, and a loud ringing sound reverberated through her helmet. As she tumbled away from the beast, her head swimming in pain, she looked up at it through blurry, unfocused eyes.   It still had its spear in its left hand, but in its right was a strange weapon, the likes of which she’d never seen before.  It resembled a long paddle, except it had a large number of jagged, nasty looking obsidian blades lining the outside of the weapon. Despite the princess’s less then able state, though, the creature did not follow up, or even look at the Lunar Princess, choosing to instead turn a bolt as the princess tried to regain her senses. *        *        * The Alpha burst into the large room, taking no time to survey his surroundings. He could feel his body weaken and slow, the broken ribs the not prey had given him with that kick slowing him down.  He could feel his body trying to repair itself, but he knew he had neither the time, nor the sustenance to take advantage of that.  Most of his energy stores had been chipped away by the fight with the not prey, and what little he had left had to be allocated carefully, or he might not make it out. Ahead of him he could see a large, stain glass window.  Making a snap decision, he stopped the flow of power trying to heal his broken ribs, and focused it on the muscles in his legs.  With a burst of speed, he rushed towards the window, fully intent on breaking through the glass and making his escape. Before he managed to get within twenty feet of the window, though, he heard the tell-tale popping sound of the not prey teleporting behind him.  He dropped to the floor without even thinking about it. There was a bright flash of light, followed by an explosion ahead of him, which immediately caused him to lay his ears flat against his head in pain.  Without a beat he rolled, and another beam struck the floor where he had dropped. With a grunt, he thrusted himself onto his feet. Turning to face his assailant, The Alpha was suddenly filled with dread. One of the supporting pillars had been ripped from its place, and hung in the air, surrounded by a dark blue aura. In the doorway stood the not prey, breathing raggedly, and eyes full of rage. The pillar swung towards him, and he was about to duck when he heard a voice “Stop!” It was instinctual. His body froze in response to the beloved voice. The pillar slammed into him, sending him flying out the glass windows, and crashing onto the ground outside. Pain flared in his body, but ignoring his injuries, he rose. Without turning, he limped away from the castle and into the garden. He could still dodge her magic, and once he got into the dense vegetation, she would not be able to find him. *        *        * Luna no longer had control of herself. Tearing out the pillar and smashing the thing with it was going a bit too far, but she had lost her good sense when the creature had given her a concussion. She was surprised when the creature stood, its left arm dangled uselessly, while its other clutched at its side in obvious pain.  The creature didn’t even turn, it just started moving, each step slowed by its profound limp, yet it still moved with a speed that surprised her. Luna lacked the strength to chase it any farther herself, though.  She was thoroughly exhausted from the fight, she had lost a good amount of blood, she was currently suffering from a concussion, and to top it all off, her little rage fueled attack had drained most of her remaining available mana.  Luna quickly contemplated what she could do, but that was proving to be quite difficult with her head still swimming like it was. Her go-to ranged attack seemed useless, though.  The only reason she had hit him with the pillar at all had been because it had strangely frozen up at the last second there; every other time she had used anything at a range on it, it had ducked, dodged, or moved out of the way, even when it had its back turned.  How can it tell when I send something its way?  It has incredible reflexes, and the only time I’ve ever seen it stumble was when I first shouted at it... She paused. “STOP!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, the Royal Canterlot voice easily carrying her shout to the outer walls of Canterlot and beyond.  The creature dropped, throwing its one good hand up to its ears as It let out a half yelp, half scream. The creature stood, stumbled a couple of steps, then collapsed again. Luna tiredly took off out the window, drawing slowly closer, fully intent on finishing this. *        *        * It was as if the world had died. The sounds of wind rustling the leaves, fires crackling in the distance, screams of the dying, and even his own heartbeat were all gone. Everything seemed so dull without the beauty of sound. Nothing had any meaning anymore. He stumbled, trying to move on, but all he could manage was a half-hearted crawl. The Alpha stared at the hand he could still move, the hand he had recently brought to his ear in pain. It was covered in his own blood.  He felt the hot liquid pour from his ears, the pain excruciating, but that mattered little compared to the pain of not being able to experience the sound of the world anymore. He turned his head towards the source of that last, ear shattering sound.  The not prey had landed on the grass, and was slowly walking towards him. The alpha regarded her, mouth agape. His arm and legs gave out on him, and with a thunderous crash, The Alpha fell to the earth, feeling as if his doom was at his throat, choaking the life right out of him. “I am so sorry my pup,” the voice came. “I am so sorry.” The not prey’s horn began to glow. He closed his eyes, waiting for his end. *        *        * It was the most powerful blast Luna could accomplish in her current state.  The creature let out a yelp as it was sent tumbling, until finally it came to a stop beneath a cherry tree.  She approached the creature, her heart full of malice. Staring at the creature, she couldn’t help but marvel at what it was able to do:  It had infiltrated the castle, defeated most of the guard as if they were only children, and had admittedly gotten pretty close to escape.  Its dark clothes had been burned away along with much of its fur and skin, giving off a horrendous smell.  In fact, it was barely recognizable from the appearance it had when she had initially ran into it.  Surprisingly, it was still breathing, though it was clearly dazed, incapacitated, and quite the pitiful sight.  She almost felt bad killing it. Almost. These things had been terrorizing her subjects for too long, and nearly every time she tried to stop them, they fled. She was finally going to get what she had wanted for so- “Luna!” a familiar voice called out. She turned to see Celestia landing nearby. “You’ve captured it. Good work sister,” she said, nearing the beast. “I’ll have somepony come and tend to its wounds, and have it delivered to the cell in my laboratory. I could use your help setting up some wards.” Her sister’s words surprised her.  “You want to let this thing live?” Luna gasped, partially in disbelief, and partially because she was still quite out of breath.  “After all they have done?  All the lives it took?  and you want it to live!?” “Yes my sister,” The Solar Princess replied, her gaze never leaving the crumpled form at her sister’s feet.  “If we are to survive this crisis, we will need knowledge.  As much as Ammon had told us, it is, by his own admission, far too little to be of any help to us.  This creature may provide us with something more… useful, something about this game that these monsters are playing, or at the very least a bit about its allies and enemies.  I believe that the chance to uncover more about these things far outweighs the potential risks it represents.”  She turned and regarded Luna with a look that seemed to say ‘and that’s final.’  “I think we can both agree, the creature would prove far more use to us alive than dead.” Despite her wounds, and all of her hate, she wasn’t about to argue the point with Celestia.  “Fine,” she said, her voice coming out in a throaty growl.  “But if anypony gets hurt on account of this thing, just remember this moment.”  With that, Luna turned and slowly made her way back into the castle. *        *        *         The Defiler leaned back, a smug look on his face as he stared creepily at The Huntress.  She sat stooped over, wincing, a paw clutching her chest. “I believe that is checkmate.  Your precious champion is out, I have the information I needed, and everything is proceeding as planned.”  He then turned to The Lady, his hand outstretched, as if expecting something.         The Lady didn’t bat an eye, her gaze slowly moving down to The Defiler’s claw, then back up to his face.  “What, are you expecting me to give you my hand to kiss?  Defiler, I never knew you were such a gentleman.”         The Defiler looked confused at that, then realized what she meant.  “No, Lady.  You owe me a planet.  After all, you did bet that the Huntress’s champion would win, and with such a steep wager, too.  In fact, most of the others backed out when they heard your terms.  But I didn’t, or did you think I had forgotten?”         The Lady looked down at his claw again, then back up at his eyes, her poker face breaking to reveal a wicked smile.  “Actually, if I recall the exact words of that wager, I said that her champion would live.”         “Yes, and he did… not…” The Defiler said, but trailed off as what The Lady just said hit him full force.         “If The Alpha had died, we all would know it,” Fate said, glancing at The Huntress. “Not only did the Alpha survive the fight, but he’s now in a position where he can be of greatest… use, to The Lady.  How she gets away with this crap every time…” “You say checkmate, but I say that the game has only just begun,” The Lady said as The Defiler grew increasingly agitated.  “And since I did win the wager, it is you who owes me a world.  And no ‘handing me over a world bereft of life.’  We already discussed that, and you agreed to my terms.”         Defiler grumbled as he slumped back, his nostrils creating a cloud of noxious fumes around him.  His glare then darted over to Fate, suspicion clear in those gray orbs of his.  “...You planned this, didn’t you!?  You can predict anything, so you lied to me to-”         “Do not pretend to know what you cannot fathom, and do not pretend to lecture me on honesty!” Fate boomed, his eyes, all of them, fixing The Defiler with a withering stare.  “I would never stoop so low as to mire the outcome of the future by lying about it.  The Dance between me and The Lady is a subtle one, one that you could never hope to understand.”         The Defiler actually shrunk as Fate stared him down, his form quaking with fear.  “Then… why?”         There was a profound silence at that, everyone looking at Fate expectantly.  His answer, though, was to blink his eyes, rap his cane against the floor, then fix The Lady with his stare.  “Ask her.  But I warn you, obtaining secrets from The Lady is risky business.  You might not like the answers you receive, if she gives one at all.”         The Defiler glanced nervously at the still grinning Lady, her hand outstretched, clearly waiting for her prize.  With a grumble, he opened his claw, a stream of light passing from his hand to hers, then slumped back down into his seat.  “You’ll pay for that, Lady.  I was careless to underestimate you, and your champion.  I will not make the same mistake twice.”         The Lady just flashed him another grin as she clutched the precious energies she received to her bosom.  She could feel their cries of misery, their anguish;  The Defiler was a harsh master, no world could ever truly recover from his rule.  At the very least, they had hope now.         They had a Chance.         “Oh, believe me when I tell you this:  They all say that,” The Lady said as she handed the dice over to Gorthok the Devourer.