• Published 12th Dec 2013
  • 9,946 Views, 574 Comments

A Friend In Need - sopchoppy



Something has happened and Twilight finds herself in a strange and dark new world. The Bipeds here have strange magic, advanced technology, and a lot of problems. She needs a few friends, and they just might need her. WORM crossover.

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Requiem For A Dream (Part 3) - Flame Dancer

Flame Dancer lay against the rough and wet asphalt as the rain picked up again and tried not to think of the dozens of throughly squished cockroaches beneath her as she began to blink the spots from her eyes. A pained groan came from her left and she turned to see Twilight struggle to get her forelegs underneath her and with a rictus grimace across her face, succeed in lifting her barrel from the pavement. When she turned towards her she had to fight an instinctive flinch. Twilights right eye was swollen shut and marred by a horrible slash through its center that was oozing blood and other fluids down her muzzle. Combined with her badly singed fur and grisly truncated wing her friend looked like a zombie parody of herself.

Forcing herself to her own feet, newly acquired bruises and cuts tried made themselves known to her as she reached out and gently hugged Twilight to her chest, doing her best to avoid the pony’s injuries. Twilight sniffled and with effort raised one of her legs to return the hug.

Twilight started to talk, but soon trailed off into nearly inaudible mumbles. “I…I…I’m so…no, no, its not the time for that, not the time, not enough time, keep it together, have to keep it together for my friends…ah” She shook herself and with a deep rattling breath started again. “I’m so glad your okay Flame Dancer, we, we need to get moving, we need to find Taylor…And…and then the others too, we need to make sure they’re ok.”

“Ok Twilight, thats-“ She was cut off as the street once again rumbled beneath them and a unholy screech of a building collapsing echoed from several blocks to their east. A plume of dust erupted from the impact point, but with the steadily increasing rain she soon lost sight of it. The early night that had come with the other pony didn’t help either. The other pony! There was another pony like Twilight, Twilight knew her! Oh I hope she’s okay, Twilight needs someone so badly…And maybe, if, if she knows how to go back to Twilight’s home, I can go too, away from this, away from that other me, forever.

With that bright thought in her mind she gently released Twilight and stood up from her crouch. Taking as much care as she could, she wrapped her arms around the unicorn and gently lifted to help Twilight get her rear legs underneath her. With an unsteady wobble Twilight slowly put a hoof forward, and then another. After she had moved all four hooves she let out a small puff of relief and twisted her neck to face her.

As the earth shook again, Flame Dancer nodded at the unspoken question and replied “Let’s go find them.”

They stumbled over the broken pavement in the dark, careful not to loose sight of the trail of bugs in the dim light cast by fires fueled from gas main leaks and the near constant lightning that arced between the clouds above. It was another two blocks before they heard a muffled yell coming from the direction the bugs were pointing to. Abandoning caution and appearing to momentarily forget her injuries Twilight leapt forward and began a awkward limping cantor towards the sound, Flame Dancer running close behind.

As they got closer they picked out a light flashing through the rain and a voice that slowly got clearer. “Over here! stay to the left side of the street!” Uber. Twilight shifted her course to the left and she followed along until Twilight came to a panting, skidding halt in a circle of light cast by a propane lantern held up by the one time villain.

She saw Twilight give him a relived smile, which she mirrored before a gasp escaped her throat. As Uber lowered the lantern, its circle of light illuminated a body laying on the ground behind him, its right arm pinned just below the shoulder underneath a pile of bricks and twisted metal.

“Ta-Skitter!” Twilight cried as her eyes had also been drawn to the sight. Taylor’s face was hidden behind her mask, but she tried to give a cheery wave with her free hand.

“Its good to see you guys, I-Twilight! Are you ok?!”

“Am I ok? I’m not the one buried under building! Oh, this is all, its like before, I saved them…but then he…killed them, killed them all, no, not this time, keep it t- I’ll…I’ll get you out Skitter, Just let me think for a second.”

“The whole pile is unstable, I’ve been looking for a way to free her, but I’m pretty sure moving anything is going to bring the whole pile down on top of her,” Uber interjected. “We’re going to need more people or some of your mojo if we are going to get her out safely.”

“Okay, okay if we can’t move the pile, I’ll just move her. Uber, Flame Dancer, please get back about ten feet.” Twilight said as she laid down beside Skitter and extended one of her forelegs so that it rested against skitters stomach. She closed her good eye and a soft purple glow surrounded her horn. “Skitter, this is probably going to hurt, a lot.”

“Do it”

With a bright flash and pop Twilight and Skitter disappeared and reappeared on the ground fifteen feet from the collapsed wall. Skitter let out a pained cry as the pile of rubble shuddered and slid down to cover the area they had just left. Uber and Flame Dancer rushed over to the pair as Twilight’s horn began to glow again and a similar glow encased Skitter’s crushed right arm. Flame Dancer knelt beside Twilight in worry as Uber stood still for a moment before crouching down and examining Skitters arm intently. Blood seeped through her costume between her shoulder and her elbow, and though she didn’t know much about anatomy, how the arm was laying just looked wrong.

“Her upper arm bone is crushed pretty badly, luckily it doesn’t look like the artery was damaged. It’s going to need surgery, not much we can do besides immobilize it as best we can for now.” He stood back up and pulled off his vest and then his shirt and then began to tear neat even strips off of it.

Uber quickly fashioned the strips into a sling and after slipping Skitter’s head and arm through it, Twilight gently levitated her into a standing position. Flame Dancer stood up and gave Skitter a half-hug around the uninjured side of her body just in time to steady her as a huge fiery explosion lit up the sky a couple of miles to the east. The ground bucked beneath them, but Uber grabbed them both and seemed to know just how to move to allow them all to remain standing.

“Okay, I don’t know what that was, but the good news is that the battle seems to be moving away from us.” Uber said in as serious a voice as Flame Dancer had ever heard him use. “Skitter do you still have a bead on where the others are holed up?” She nodded and pointed in the direction of a cross street.

“Yeah, I think, I think almost everyone else is about 4 blocks down that road, in…it feels like a small warehouse space of some kind.”

“Anyone else between us an them?”

“Not that I can see with my bugs, but most of them are useless in rain this heavy. If anyone’s out in the open I wouldn’t be able to sense them.”

“Alright, then let’s get getting while the getting’s good.”

Uber started off down the street with a measured pace that Flame Dancer was sure was meant to go easy on Skitter and Twilight. He held the lantern out in front of him to light their way as they sloshed through several inches of deepening water, the pounding rain beginning to overcome what remained of the storm water system. What would have been a five minute walk took ten at their pace, but finally they reached an intersection with an old gas station garage on the opposite corner with lights flickering in the windows.

Standing underneath a ramshackle metal awning, just outside what looked like the garage’s office and illuminated by light spilling from the doorway, stood Aegis. A smile spread across his face when he noticed them and ignoring the rain he dashed out to meet them. Just before he reached them a flash lit up the city from the east, followed by a rolling staccato boom of hundreds of lightning strikes. Aegis Looked up nervously as cloud lightning danced above them, he turned about and waved for them to follow him inside.

The unholy din of the pounding rain on the garage’s metal roof was the first thing she noticed, but after a moment to adjust to it and another to appreciate the first time she’d been under shelter since the battle with Leviathan began, she noticed everyone else in the building.

A chorus of smiles, tired waves, and a sudden appearance of Vista hugging Twilight about her neck greeted them. Kid win was sitting at an old wooden desk with an array of tinker tech and antique electronics scattered around him. Leet and Gallant were both wrapped in bandages on a large work bench in the center of the room and being tended to by a tall woman in a torn PRT officer’s uniform. Gallant appeared unconscious, but Leet had a relieved smile for them.

Clockblocker was leaning nonchalantly against what looked like an old shop towel suspended in mid air. Shadow Stalker stood by an open door at the far side of the room and after a cursory glance returned to staring out it. A cape she didn’t know that had evacuated the stadium on the air barge with them, and who she still didn’t know their name had commandeered a ratty old sofa, and a teenager with a splint around his right leg was leaning his back against a large metal toolbox.

Clockblocker of course was the one who spoke first. “Well look what the Endbringers drug in.” Then in an overly posh female accent he continued, “I just love the style you guys have going there, sort of a Zombie apocalypse meets shipwreck survivor motif. It’s going to be all the rage this year, I’ve got a sixth sense for these things you know.”

Clockblocker suddenly found himself enveloped in Twilights magic and drug into the extended hug she was having with Vista, as she started to laugh and cry simultaneously.

“Something I said?” He said with a crooked smile as he was pulled tight into the hug.

“I…(hic)…ha…I really needed that Clock. Its just, you somehow just reminded me vividly of two of my best friends back in Equestria, also I’m just so happy that you all are okay.”

“Okay might be stretching it, alive at least.” Aegis interjected with an apologetic seriousness. “Leet and Gallant really need actual medical treatment sooner rather than later.” He paused and looked closer at Twilight, “for that matter so do you. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt the rest of us either.”

“I, I don’t think I can do another major levitation like I did before, not safely, not right now.” Twilight said in a disappointed tone.

“Hey, thats okay, we just need to find some other transportation. Kid’s been trying to get comms back up, all of our stuff got fried in the explosion. How’s it going Kid?”

“Another 10, maybe 15 minutes. If I can get it to work at all that is.”

“Okay, so any of you happen to see any cars or trucks on your way here?”

“Ones that weren’t on fire?” Clockblocker interjected as he was released from the telekinetic hug.

Uber shook his head. “If you’re going to be picky, then no, I don’t think you’re likely to find anything serviceable anywhere east of us. Which is where we all came from.”

The building shook and its rafters groaned as another titanic boom echoed over incessant noise of the rain. Dust rained down from the ceiling and Flame Dancer couldn’t contain a series of sneezes that reminded her of just how many bruises she had accumulated today.

“Alright then here’s the game plan. Uber, Clockblocker, and I are going to spread out and search to the west for a working vehicle or help. We’ll meet back here in 20 minutes and see if Kid’s got comms back up and go from there.”

“Somebody call for a ride?” Everyone jerked in surprise and spun towards the open door. Leaning against the frame and twirling a set of car keys around her fingers stood a short blonde wearing a purple domino mask, long rain coat, and a weather-beaten fedora. A wide vulpine smile stretched across her face.