//------------------------------// // 19. Dusty // Story: Divine Entertainment // by Orthoros //------------------------------// Alex trotted through a vast field of grass. In every direction the sea spread further than the eye could see, creating a seemingly infinite space. Softly glowing lights rose from the green pastures, making their way to the blue skies above. A warm summer breeze caressed his fur as he made his way towards nowhere particular. He had been on his little journey for quite a while now, passing the unchanging scenery. Still, he strode forward with purpose, approaching an unseen goal. He trotted for hours, with no one to keep him company but his own shadow. He was surprised when something disturbed the calmness of his surroundings. A translucent shape stood to the side of his path. He looked at it as he passed, taking in every detail he could. It seemed like a shadow, constantly changing shape and seemingly possessing no real body. Every once in awhile, it appeared almost human. One arm stretched out in the direction of Alex’s journey, as if guiding him along his path. As he went on, he encountered more of those shadows. The more he saw, it became obvious that they were human in nature. While they looked different from each other, they had one thing in common. They pointed in the same direction. Sometimes when he passed one of them, a faint whispering could be heard. Although he wasn’t able to ascertain any meaning from the sounds they made. He thought he recognized one or two of the voices, but ignored them all the same. The shadows were more numerous now, more and more lining Alex’s path. Amongst them were now shadows of differing sizes, some towering above him, others, being just big enough to be seen above the grass. He was so caught up with wondering at all their differences, that he almost didn’t realize he had reached his destination. A single chair stood before him. There was nothing fancy or special about it. Just an ordinary chair. Alex had never seen this particular chair before, but he knew he was supposed to sit in it. He sat down, now in his human form. He didn’t notice the change, but it was definitely more comfortable to sit like this. Now that he faced the other direction, he saw for the first time, that all the shadows he had passed on his way here had followed him. A huge crowd was gathered in front of him. Shadows of all forms and sizes stood there silently, watching Alex, as he simply sat there. He didn’t feel weird being watched by all those beings. In fact, their presence felt almost soothing to him. There was something familiar about all of them, as if he knew them. The shadows seemed to fluctuate more, eventually starting to sink into the ground. They merged into a singular ginormous shade, stretching for miles. They took on a human form, as the sun was blotted out above him, indicating someone was standing behind Alex. He didn’t need to turn around, instinctively knowing who it was. For a moment there was complete silence. The wind stopped blowing, and the rustling of the grass came to a halt. Anticipation started to build inside Alex, as every hair on his body stood on end. Finally, a voice loud and deep enough to shake the very earth broke the silence. “You need to wake up, Alex.” -------------------------------------- Alex’s eyes shot open. Crimson, Belle and himself were sleeping close to each other in front of Belle’s tent. The festivities had lasted long into the night, everypony wanting the moment to last for as long as possible. He took a look around, finding almost everypony else still asleep. After the banquet, most had decided to sleep close to each other, so the center of the plaza was more crowded than usual. He turned his head, looking into the direction of his friends. They were both sleeping peacefully next to each other, Belle mumbling something in her sleep with a smile on her face. Alex noticed that Dusty was sitting in front of Belle, seemingly the only other pony awake. He hadn’t noticed that Alex had woken up, and just looked on in silence. His face showed the conflicting emotions on his face, making him seem decades older than when they first met. Alex was just about to ask him what was wrong, when Dusty whispered something. “I’m sorry.” He said. “I’m so, so sorry.” He repeated calmly, resolve starting to form on his face. He pulled out a knife from a satchel beside him. He attached the blade via a mechanism to his front right leg, a contraption allowing it to move back into a small hilt, allowing for easier movement. Alex furrowed his brow, a million thoughts racing through his head. Dusty stood up and took the final step separating himself and Belle. His face was now a mask of ice cold resolve. Alex didn’t know why, but it was obvious that Dusty wanted to kill Belle. He only had moments to react, now that Dusty started to pull back his front hoof, preparing for a swift strike. Alex scrambled to his hoofs throwing himself over Belle. Several things happened at once. Belle immediately woke up from having a pony sized object thrown onto her. Dusty’s blade entered Alex between two ribs, causing an explosion of pain. Alex screamed like a banshee upon receiving the wound, waking up everypony else. Confusion started to make it’s way around the beggars encampment. Most didn’t know what happened, but the ones closest to them, were able to see what caused the disturbance. Dusty’s face reflected his surprise and confusion at what just happened. He pulled out his blade and took a step back, shock replacing the previous emotions. Alex curled up in pain, while Belle tried to remove the stallion from herself, still trying to find out what was going on. She finally managed to throw him off and look around. Her eyes moved around trying to take everything in. She switched between the bleeding Alex and Dusty, who had a bloody blade attached to his hoof. After a moment realization set in, and she looked towards Dusty with a betrayed look on her face. Their eyes locked for a moment, both seeing the emotional turmoil that was currently raging within the other. A few seconds later Dusty’s eye’s went cold again, as he again adopted a calculating look. He observed his surroundings, trying to decide on his best options. A lot of ponies looked at him in shock, and more were closing in by the second. He looked towards Belle a final time, before he decided. He lunged at her, shaking off any doubt about his intentions. Belle felt a weight slam into her side, making her fall over. She looked over in surprise, seeing two pairs of saddlebags lying next to her. Dusty’s blade stabbed into empty space, throwing him off balance. He recovered fast, and spun around on his hooves, facing Belle once again. Crimson swooped in from the side, bucking him with all his might while being mid-air himself, using the momentum of the kick to do a backflip. Dusty was sent flying into Belle’s tent, a groan escaping it shortly thereafter. Crimson landed on his hooves before Belle, and pulled her onto her hooves. Almost everypony from the plaza had gathered around their position, confusion on their faces. “Take the bags and run!” Crimson shouted at Belle. “I’ll take Alex!” Rustling could be heard from the tent beside her. The tent had collapsed over Dusty and he was currently in the process of freeing himself from his makeshift prison. Belle was terribly confused about everything that just happened. Considering just hours ago Dusty was still acting like her trusty friend and father figure. Right now it was obvious to her that Dusty wanted to end her for some reason. So it was with tears streaming down her cheeks, that she threw both saddlebags over her back, and took off after Crimson. He had grabbed Alex with all four of his hooves, keeping him afloat in a low hover. They took off, past the confused onlookers and into an alley. Just as they left, a frustrated shout could be heard, and Belle looked back one last time. “You can’t run forever Morning Sun!” Dusty shouted after her. Dusty’s head was poking out of the fabric and his eyes were locked onto the fleeing trio. They turned a corner and she lost sight of their camp, as well as Dusty. She focused her attention back forward, and unto the red pegasus carrying a groaning Alex. Inside her swirled a flurry of emotions, confusion, and the feeling of betrayal amongst them. All of them were momentarily forgotten when she spotted the stab wound on Alex’s side. “How’s he doing?” She shouted over the wind as they turned another corner. “He’ll survive.” Crimson called back. “But we’ll need to stop and bandage him, or figure out someway to stop the bleeding.” He said as he led them deeper into the maze that was the slums. “I have a few things in my bag, but we’ll need to stop soon, or his blood will leave a trail!” Belle said. Crimson looked back in mid-flight, and saw the splotches of blood Alex left behind and cursed under his breath. He turned back around and looked for a place to hide for a bit. After a while he spotted a little alcove between two buildings. He flew up to it and let Alex down as gently as he could. “Fix him up, I’ll hang back a bit and be on the lookout.” Crimson said. Belle was already at Alex’s side, taking a look at the stab wound. Crimson took off after seeing this, backtracking to intercept Dusty if he was pursuing them. “Alex, can you hear me?” Belle asked while opening her saddlebags. Alex groaned in response, trying to press his hand to the wound to stop the bleeding. He realized shortly after that, that this was impossible to do with hooves. Settling instead for writhing in pain. Belle pulled out a length of cloth, clearly a self made bandage, as well as some bent out of shape needles. “Alex, I’m gonna need you to sit up.” Belle said. “Or I won’t be able to put the bandage on properly.” Alex only nodded in response, clenching his teeth. Belle helped him into a sitting position, supported by a nearby crate. He hissed in pain as Belle pushed a neatly folded bundle of cloth on his wound, starting to wrap the makeshift bandage around his midsection. “I hope none of your organs got punctured…” Belle said in a worrying voice. “Doesn’t matter.” Alex pressed forth between laboured breaths. “They’ll heal.” “Oh.” Belle said, momentarily stopping her task. “The Immortal thing. Right.” She started wrapping Alex like a christmas present again, finishing her task soon after. She pinned the bandage into place with the needles, and tested the firmness by lightly tugging on it. “It’s not a permanent solution, but it will stop the bleeding for now.” Belle told him. Alex simply nodded in acknowledgement, his eyes closed while he endured the pain. Belle shouted for Crimson to come back, which bolted around the corner as soon as he heard her. “We need to move.” He said as soon as he was within earshot. “It can’t be long until he tracks us down.” Crimson moved in to pick Alex back up, while Belle put on her saddlebag again. Alex still felt the pain throughout his body, but he felt a little comfort at knowing he wasn’t going to bleed out. They took off into the alleys again, turning corners in random directions to make it harder for Dusty to track them down. The Moon was on it’s way towards the horizon. The sky took on a slightly blue hue in the east as the sun started to rise while they ran for their lives. -------------------------------------- Dusty ran around a corner at full speed. He had managed to shake off the other ponies from the hobo camp, some now scared of him and others even tried to stop him. Adding the delay they caused to the time it took him to free himself from the tent, his target had now a considerable head start. Luckily Alex’s blood created a convenient trail for him. He followed it until he reached a little alcove, a slightly bigger splotch of crimson decorating it, along with some ripped cloth. He cursed, realizing Belle must have patched Alex up. He looked around for any other tracks he could follow. After a while he just took off in the direction he thought they most likely took while cursing them to the deepest pits of tartarus. “I’m gonna kill them.” He said while frantically looking for anything indicating their passing through. “If it’s the last thing I do!”