118. Infiltrating Everwinter
“I suppose it would make sense for a VIP to be here,” Swift deduces, while I'm busy trying not to tear out my hair. She's not all that strong, but with all the Oppressed that are likely inside, Mist could definitely be a serious problem. Even more so if I'm forced to contend with her while fighting said Oppressed. “If walls this size were built so quickly, it stands to reason that there's something important here...or at least important enough to warrant sending a general.”
“What does this do to the plan?” Applejack questions. And there's that question. With Swift's looking at me again, I bet she wants an answer to that question too. The silence that follows that question is maddening. People that say that leadership doesn't bring pressure are full of shit.
“Okay, let's see. Rainbow, you said she's in the central building?” I say, trying to get a sense of just how fucked my previous plan is now. Rainbow nods. “What's she doing?”
“Just like, pacing around, I guess? I didn't really get a clear look,” Rainbow admits, frustrating me. Well, that tells me a fat load of nothing. “It looked like she was talking to somepony though.”
“Wait, fuck. So there's more than one general here? Who else is there? Hawke? Shatter?” I demand, starting to freak out a little. This has gone from a relatively simple infiltration plan to what looks to be one of the most intense battles of this whole war...especially if Hawke is there.
“No, not that I could see. There was nopony else in the room with her,” Rainbow explains. A feeling of relief washes over me, but it is short-lived. If not another general, who in the hell was she talking to?
“Perhaps a communications crystal?” Trixie suggests.
“That would make sense. She's got to receive orders somehow,” Swift agrees. You know, I'm glad these ponies are here. No doubt I'd screw this up on my own.
“Okay. If she's occupied by a meeting or whatever, we should be able to proceed with our original plan, and then we can take care of her on the battlefield once the Islanders are here,” I deduce. If I calm down and think about it, her presence doesn't really change anything. It just means we have to be more perceptive and convincing in our disguises. “Trixie, will your illusions fool an attentive pony?”
“Trixie is offended you would suggest otherwise,” the magician protests, causing me to roll my eyes. Whatever. As long as they're good enough to make Mist walk right past us, I'm comfortable with using our original plan.
“Good. Then yeah, we'll go with our original plan. We'll just have to make sure we avoid her. The town's big enough, so there should be plenty of places to hide,” I decide.
“Sounds good ta me.”
“Understood.”
“Let's get at 'em!”
“Alright then.” I take a breath after hearing their acknowledgments, and then wipe the sweat from my brow. Yeah, I'm fucking sweating in freezing temperatures. This is what being in charge feels like. Go figure. “Trixie, let's do this. Cast that camo spell on us all. Once we're close, you can use the real illusions.”
Trixie nods, her horn lighting up blue. Applejack shifts uncomfortably as she too starts to turn white, even her armor and her hat. Hilariously enough, Applejack takes off her hat and peers at it suspiciously. “This ain't gonna stay white, is it?”
“No, Applejack,” I say in exasperation. Swift is already pure white, though thankfully she's not showing any signs of discomfort. When Trixie turns her spell on to me, I feel a peculiar sensation, as if somebody is pouring a fine powder over my body, like flour. I lift up a hand and glance at it in wonder as my skin turns as pale white as the snow I'm lying on.
“You look weird. Your hair is white,” Rainbow comments, poking at my hair from where she's flying in front of me. I scoff at that.
“Look who's talking. I'm so used to you looking like an artist's accident that seeing you all one color is a little disturbing,” I quip back, pinching at her mane. Rainbow sticks her tongue out at me...and even that is white. That's just weird. “Anyway, let's get moving. Spread out and stay low.”
With that, we hop off of the hill and slide down to the bottom. As I suggested, we spread out and crawl along the ground. It's cold as fuck now that Pterax isn't with us to keep us warm, but if all goes well, we'll be inside before long. As for Pterax, he transforms into a small arctic fox. With that animal's natural camouflage, seeing him would be practically impossible if I didn't already know where he was.
Keeping low to the ground, we inch closer to the town. I make sure to keep my eyes on the flying undead sentries every step of the way. I plan on taking my team and bolting if they start acting unusual in any way. Thankfully, the spell seems to be working well at keeping us hidden. It isn't long before we've made our way to one of the side walls of the town.
“There! Up above. The windows are open,” Rainbow whispers, pointing her hoof up towards the higher portions of the wall. Sure enough, several upper story windows are hanging open. It's only by a sliver, but even that's enough to get ourselves through.
“Okay. Trixie, cast that spell now,” I order, once we're all situated outside of one of the side doors. Trixie nods and her horn lights up with magic again. This time, I don't feel much of anything other than a slight tingling on my skin. I don't even notice anything different...until I look at Rainbow and nearly jump out of my skin because there's a fucking undead pegasus standing there.
“This is just freaky. I feel like, unclean,” Rainbow remarks as she looks at herself, her undead jaw waggling in a disgusting manner as she talks. I have to physically try not to throw up. Beside her is an undead unicorn, so I'm assuming that's Trixie. Pterax has already shifted into the form of an Oppressed...which just leaves me. “Seth, wow. You look....disturbing.”
“Of course I do. It's an illusion,” I retort...and then I look down at my arm. It's bluish and discolored, covered with grime and dried blood. My hands are broader and tipped with short claws...making me wonder what the hell she turned me into. “What am I, anyway?”
“A minotaur, of course. It's the closest thing Trixie could think of to what you are,” the undead unicorn explains, Trixie's uppity voice coming from its rotted jaw. God, this whole situation is just really messed up. “You should be thanking Trixie for her thoughtfulness. Now you don't have to crawl on all fours.”
“Yeah, thanks I guess,” I reply uncomfortably. Great, so I'm prancing around as an undead minotaur. I certainly hope there's other minotaurs in the town. Otherwise, I'll stick out like a sore thumb. “Now come here, Trixie.”
Trixie takes a step back when I approach her, though her back is soon against the wall. “Wait a moment, Trixie still needs to prepare herself and...eep!” Trixie squeals when I hook an arm beneath her and lift her up. She's heavy, so I immediately have to adjust my grip so that I'm holding her bridal style in both arms. Because of the illusion, I half expect to feel gross skin sliding beneath my grip, but instead I just feel normal fur. Right, it's an illusion. I'm guessing touch isn't involved in that. Which means we can't let any of the undead touch us, or the jig will be up. “How rude...this isn't how you hold a pony.”
“I really don't care at this point. Now come on. Rainbow, I'm gonna need you to get the windows all the way open for me so I can fit inside.” Rainbow nods and flies up to the upper levels, pressing her body against the wall so that her fur turns the same drab color. Trixie squirms in my grip, forcing me to hold her tighter. “Quit squirming, goddammit.”
“Trixie can't help it. This is weird!” Trixie complains. I suddenly lament the fact that both of my hands are full, because I am having the urge to rub my forehead. Instead, I turn to Applejack and Swift, who are still normal...albeit white.
“You two huddle together and keep each other warm. We'll be down to get the door open as soon as we can,” I order the both of them. Swift nods and presses herself up against Applejack, who reciprocates. With that, I motion to Pterax, and the two of us fly swiftly and silently up the side of the wall until we rejoin Rainbow. “You got one open yet?”
“Just a sec,” Rainbow replies, her hooves hooked underneath the lip of the window. She grunts, and I can see the muscles straining in her forelegs as she struggles to lift the window. She pauses after several seconds, and then she tries again, with her hind legs braced against the wall. “What the hay? This shouldn't be that hard.”
“Perhaps the mechanism is frozen,” Pterax suggests. Oh shit, that's right. It would be much harder to open this thing if the edges are frozen. “We would need to warm it up first. Perhaps with a spell?”
“Can you do it? Trixie is doing all she can to keep the illusion up,” Trixie requests. Pterax shrugs, and his horn appears atop his head, glowing green. He orients a beam of magic onto the edges of the window, even as Rainbow attempts to keep pulling. Eventually, their combined efforts pay off, and the window slides open.
The moment the window is open, I push Trixie inside unceremoniously, much to her annoyance. I quickly slide in after her, followed by Pterax and Rainbow. The room we're in now looks to be little more than a guard posting. It's small and rectangular in design, with a few tables and two doors on either side. There's another window on the opposite side of the room that overlooks the majority of the town. Even from here, I can see a large amount of undead outside.
“Okay, now we're..” Rainbow starts to brag, but I quickly cut her off.
“Quiet!” I hiss at her in a harsh whisper. Seconds later, I hear a throaty growl from behind one of the doors. My blood turns to ice when I hear the familiar click-scraping of an Oppressed drawing closer to the door. No matter how many times I see or kill them, they will never stop being scary.
The door, which is slightly ajar, is nudged aside by the approaching monster. Immediately, all four of us spread out and stand listlessly and limply, like what an actual undead would do. When the Oppressed steps inside, it pauses, turning its twisted face around to regard the room. After several long agonizing seconds, the creature gurgles and plods out of the room through the other door.
I let out the breath I was holding, as do the others. “Okay, from here on out, keep quiet and speak only when I do,” I whisper to the other ponies. “No doubt this place will be filled with those bastards from here on out.”
“Okay. Should I head for the ramparts now?” Pterax questions, keeping his voice low as I directed.
“Do it. Once the defenses are down, meet us at the gatehouse,” I direct him. Just as Pterax is starting to leave us, a sudden thought strikes me. I hate to say this, but it's only sensible. “If we don't show up, go back to the Islanders and tell them to start the attack. The gate might not be open, but they'll be practically unobstructed with the defenses gone.”
Pterax nods and shifts into an undead pegasi, slipping out through the other window and descending into the town, soon leaving us behind. Rainbow and Trixie are looking at me uneasily at that order.
“Why wouldn't we show up?” Rainbow asks hesitantly. “Do you think we're going to fail?”
“Of course not. It's just something I had to say, in case we're delayed,” I tell her, which I hope cheers her up somewhat. I can't tell how she's feeling because she looks like a goddamn zombie. Even so, I probably shouldn't talk about a possible death here in front of my team. Morale is a thing too. “Okay, now come on. We've got to find the stairs in this place. Make sure to walk and carry yourself like one of them.”
Rainbow promptly starts to do this horribly strangled growl, along with this over-exaggerated shuffle walk that looks nothing short of ridiculous. Trixie and I both give her a deadpan stare. “That's too much,” Trixie and I both tell her at the same time. Rainbow stops and chuckles nervously.
“Right, I knew that,” Rainbow responds sheepishly. I roll my eyes and get us back on track. I walk normally until I reach the door on the left. However, once I make my way inside and notice the undead in the corridor, I slow my pace and adopt a rather unsteady gait. I'm not sure if this is good or not, but I'm not about to walk normally in the middle of all these undead.
Sweat forms on my brow as I walk past the first set of undead. They're not really doing anything. They're just standing there in no particular pattern, staring listlessly at the walls. Some of them are moving, but it's generally in a slow and shuffling manner. Thankfully, I see another minotaur in this hallway, as one of the moving ones. Seeing it walk helps me adjust my own gait to match. I feel ridiculous walking like this, but it's better than getting caught and sliced apart by Oppressed claws.
I swallow nervously, stepping through a cluster of several Oppressed that are just standing there listlessly, not doing much of anything. They don't seem to give us a second glance, much to my relief. As directed, the other live ponies stay close to me. I'm so glad that Trixie went to the trouble of putting something distinctive on each of us so I can tell them apart from the other undead. For example, Rainbow has a discolored patch of red and blotchy skin on her left eye, which is really noticeable from a distance. Thank you, Trixie. I never even thought of that.
It seems like forever before we reach the tower at the corner of the wall. Here is where we find a staircase leading to the lower levels. I quickly press my back against the wall near the door and look around, making sure there are no undead watching me. I'm not sure how smart they are, but I figure I can't go wrong if I treat them with caution.
Once I determine that the undead are still standing around and snarling randomly at one another, I motion towards the stairwell with my head. Trixie nods and goes on ahead of me, dragging Rainbow with her. This allows me to keep an eye on the undead until they're out of sight. I dash into the stairwell after them and gently close the door behind me.
Quickening my pace, I move past Rainbow and Trixie and take the lead again. If I remember right, there were about three sets of windows before the ones we entered through, which means we have to go down several flights of stairs. Thank god this place is constructed sensibly, because from here, we can travel all the way down to the bottom level.
Sure enough, after three flights, the stairway comes to an end, leveling out onto a bare stone brick walkway. There's another door leading out into what I assume is another hallway, but it's shut. Motioning for the other two to wait, I move to the door and press my back against it. It looks like it opens outward, so I hook my hand in the handle and gently ease it open, stepping back behind the door frame in case there's undead right around the corner.
Several moments of silence pass before I step out into the hallway, making sure to maintain an unsteady gait. Sure enough, there's undead in the hallway. They growl a little and turn their heads, but I force myself to keep moving, despite the way my heart is pounding in my chest.
Before long, we find one of the side doors leading outside. However, I'm not sure if it's the right one. I think it is; my sense of direction usually doesn't lead me astray. However, there's no way to be sure. I could just open it, but there's two undead in the room: an Oppressed and a normal earth pony.
Trixie angles her head towards the doorway, telling me she thinks this is the right door too. Okay, I'm going to risk it. However, that means taking out these undead. Moving silently, I step behind the Oppressed and head towards one of the doors leading into this particular room. Making sure I'm not being watched, I stealthily close and lock the door. Rainbow sees what I'm doing and quickly understands, so she moves to the other door on the other side of the room and does the same.
I make eye contact with Trixie, and then glance towards the earth pony zombie. Trixie looks confused at first, but understands when I slowly lift my hand and draw a finger across my throat. She moves towards the earth pony, and I move towards the Oppressed, my hand moving to the sword belted to my side, concealed by the illusion.
“Now!” I hiss in a harsh whisper. As the undead start to react to my voice, the two of us dispatch them at the same time. My hand reaches to my sword and unsheathes it long enough to completely decapitate the Oppressed in one single fluid motion. Trixie powers up for a short moment and wraps her forelegs around the other undead's head, snapping its neck and severing off its vocal cords so it can't roar. “Okay, let's hope none of the other undead heard that. Now, let's get that door open.”
“Ugh, there's goo all over Trixie's legs,” Trixie complains, brushing her disguised fur in a vain attempt to clean herself. Rainbow moves over to the side door and unlocks it. The moment it's open, Applejack and Swift quickly dash inside, shutting the door behind them. The both of them are shivering; they sigh in relief when they feel the warmth of the interior wash across their fur.
“What took ya so long? Ah was freezin'...” Applejack whispers, rubbing her fur. Before I answer, I give Trixie a meaningful stare. The magician jumps sheepishly and stops trying to clean herself. Instead, she turns her horn on Applejack and Swift, soon disguising them as an undead earth pony and another unicorn, respectively. Applejack yelps at the sudden change in appearance. “This ain't natural.”
“No shit, we're undead, and undead aren't natural,” I retort. Applejack plods over to the rest of us, shifting and rubbing at her fur uncomfortably. “Alright, let's get out of these walls and into the town itself.”
“Lead the way, commander,” Swift responds. With that, we group up and turn away from the side door. On the other side of the room, there's an exit that leads out into the town itself. However, just as we step towards it, I hear a growl from the other side of the locked door, and then a scraping as whatever it is on the other side rakes its claws down the wood. Shit.
“Quickly,” I hiss, throwing the door aside and leaping out into the cold once more. The others don't waste any time, quickly following me out of the room, allowing me to shut it behind us. I shiver involuntarily as a frigid breeze passes over me, scattering my skin with freezing cold snowflakes.
Now, as we plod through the snow, I get my first look at the town. The houses are made of stiff plaster with wooden supports. They're really small to make heating them easier, and the windows look to be extremely thick, made to be resistant to high speed winds. In contrast to the stone walls that tower over the small houses, the village looks really out of place.
It's also devoid of any kind of life. Any townsponies that may have lived here are long gone, no doubt carted off to the capitol to be enslaved for Sombra's ill purposes. I don't know what he uses his slaves for, but I'm not really sure I want to find out. No, the only sign of anything moving are the hordes of undead in the streets, consisting mostly of Oppressed. Well, shit. So if we get caught, there's no guarantee we'll get out of this alive.
Looking around, I decide that the best course of action is to move through the town and blend with the other undead to avoid arousing any suspicion. A group of undead moving along the walls and avoiding the others would certainly look suspicious. At least it would to me, and that's how I'm operating.
“Stick close, and don't make a sound,” I warn the others, and then I lead them right into the paved streets, joining the throng of undead clogging the streets. I wrinkle my nose at the smell, and then wish I hadn't. The cold is making my nose run...and then the mucous is freezing painfully. There's no way I'm not going to get sick after everything is said and done.
My eyes turn to the gatehouse in the distance. In addition to its size, it's made of the same stone as the wall, so it sticks out quite a bit. Carefully picking my way through the Oppressed around me (and being careful not to touch them) I stealthily direct our path in that general direction. Now, slowly, but surely, we're moving towards our objective. So far, things are going without a hitch.
“My children,” a female voice sighs in what I think it supposed to be some kind of happiness. However, the voice is wavering, and an unsettling giggle follows that one simple statement. I come to a complete halt, causing Rainbow to bump into my rear from the sudden stop. I had to open my fucking mouth.
General Mist makes her presence known in the street, walking out from an alley between two houses. I notice with interest that she's only looking at the few undead ponies that are near her, and not the Oppressed. Her expression now is such a contrast to what it looked like back when she gave us Sombra's ultimatum. Back then, she looked dead and emotionless...and now she looks a little unsettled.
Her pupils are small and move quickly, and her expression looks almost fragile, as if she's torn between trying to smile and crying with despair. In fact, her eyes are also slightly reddened, making me wonder what the hell she's been doing while she's been here all by herself.
I try to stay as undead-like as I can as General Mist walks right in front of me. The last thing I want to do is alert her. This is actually the first time I've been so close to her. From a distance, it looked like her mane flowed down her face like her namesake. Only, now that I see it up close, it looks dull and lifeless, hanging limply down one side of her face. Her coat also looks similarly dull, now that the sunlight isn't shining on it like it was back at Trotsdale. Hold on, she looks almost like a...
The tiny, suppressed twinkle that seems to linger deep inside of her body seals it for me. I never noticed it before, but now it's clear that Flowing Mist is a crystal pony, not unlike the ones we saw back at the Crystal Empire. Come to think of it, that makes sense, considering Shatter said she was a former slave. But then why would a slave ever serve her captor?
Mist pauses, and then she turns to look at an undead pony near me. She approaches it with an unreadable expression, causing my heart to beat faster with every step she takes closer to me. There's an Oppressed in her way, but she shoves it aside with a hoof callously, scoffing as she does so. When she reaches the normal pony, she regards it sadly.
“Emmie...” Mist whispers to it, confusing me. Wait, did she give it a name? Who the fuck names their undead? I continue to watch with a sick fascination as Mist reaches out a hoof and softly caresses the monster's cheek. What the fuck...is she crying? A few tears rolls down Mist's face as she gazes at that one undead. She eventually wipes them away with her other hoof, and then retreats, looking worse than before.
Mist's horn lights up, and a few Oppressed turn their heads and look at her. “It's your turn to patrol. Get moving,” she orders them, her voice back to sounding as cold and emotionless as it did when I first saw her. The Oppressed gives these twisted growls before clambering off to do as they were told.
Mist shakes her head, and taking “Emmie” with her, she moves back the way she came. A thought strikes me as she goes, and then that thought turns into a rather brilliant idea. Once she's gone, I step towards the nearest house. Once I determine that the others are following, I slip inside the house and out of sight of the other undead. The others follow me inside, and once we're all safely out of sight, I shut the door.
“Okay, I just had an idea,” I relate to the others, keeping my voice low. “I didn't realize it before, but the fact that Mist is here gives us an incredible opportunity.”
“I thought you said she would just complicate things?” Rainbow asks me in confusion.
“What are you talking about, commander?” Swift questions. I rub my hands together. I can't believe I didn't think of this in the first place.
“New plan. Instead of meeting Pterax at the gatehouse...let's take down Mist,” I suggest. There's a stunned silence from the others ponies at my idea.
“How can we? Even though you may be stronger, she's surrounded by all of these monsters that are immune to magic!” Swift points out. “I believe it would be safer to stick to the original plan.”
“If we don't go to the gatehouse, won't Pterax be left waitin'?” Applejack questions, sounding uncertain. “Ah dunno, Seth. It don't sound like a good idea.”
“Yeah, what about the Islanders? How are they going to get in?” Rainbow reminds me, agreeing with the rest.
“We'll let them in ourselves. Have you forgotten? Without her to keep them alive, the undead will fall apart. If we take down Mist, her entire army goes down with her,” I argue excitedly. The other ponies are silent at that, recognizing the truth in that. “Think about it: if we get her alone and take her down, we'll take Everwinter without losing a single pony.”
“That...would be ideal. Your idea does make sense...,” Swift acknowledges, but she quickly has a counter. “...but it seems too risky to me. What if we fail, and we're caught right in the center of the town? We'll get surrounded and annihilated.”
“We won't fail. Trust me, I'm worlds stronger than she is. You've never seen me at my best,” I tell her firmly, too proud of my own idea to care that they're trying to shoot it down. We'll be responsible for taking down an entire fifth of Sombra's army all by ourselves if this works. That's too good of an opportunity to turn down. “I'll power up and take her out with a single attack. Trust me.”
“Trixie agrees with this plan. Can you imagine the fame she would gain for such a victory?” Trixie speaks up, making her own opinion known. “Why, she could even be called Great and Powerful, once more.”
“Yeah, but who cares about that? I'm already famous,” Rainbow retorts, causing Trixie to glare at her. Impatiently, Swift nudges the both of them.
“Are you sure about this, commander?” Swift asks me, ignoring Trixie's and Rainbow's indignant complaints. “I'll stand by your decision, but I feel that you're being a little overconfident.”
“I'm totally sure. When the Islanders get here, they'll be able to just walk right in, because Mist's entire army will be completely defunct,” I insist. Swift sighs, but then nods her head. “Pterax will follow my original orders and fetch the Islanders, and they'll be just in time to see the town fall to us.”
“Trixie agrees. We don't need an army to win our battles for us. Wit shall win the day,” Trixie proclaims proudly. I give her an exasperated look. She may be agreeing with me, which I appreciate, but I feel like she just wants to feel accomplished.
“Alright, ah guess we'll follow yer lead, Seth,” Applejack relents with a sigh. “Ah'm with Swift on this one, but ah'll back ya up.”
“Thanks. Don't worry, we'll do fine, and win the whole battle in the process,” I say with a grin. I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. Screw the gatehouse, let's just kill her whole army ourselves. “Okay, now keep quiet. It's time to get back out there.”
“Right behind you, commander,” Swift responds, nodding in an official manner. With that, we step back outside into the throngs of undead lining the street. Now, Mist went back the way she came, which is towards that large central building. If memory serves, she was there before we got here. It stands to reason that that's where her quarters are. That'll be the best place to take her down.
Getting through the streets isn't any less harrowing, despite the fact that our objective has changed. I give one last guilty look back towards the gatehouse, figuring that Pterax will no doubt think that something bad has happened to us. Yeah, well imagine the look on his face when he comes back to find out we've already won.
As we near the central building, the amount of undead in the streets starts to thin. In fact, the area around the central quarters is almost completely devoid of undead...or at least Oppressed. There's only a few patrolling undead as far as I can see, but none of them are Oppressed. Well, all the better for us. Keeping to the shadows and blending with what undead we do find, it isn't long before we're able to find an opening in their patrol routes and head right for the front door.
“What are you all doing here, so close to my room?” Mist's voice cracks out of the darkness like a whip, causing my blood to run cold and dread to sink in. Doing my best not to panic, I turn my head to see Mist stepping out of one of the nearby buildings, which is labeled as a shop. She seems to be carrying a fancy teacup set in her magic, though what the hell she's going to do with it is beyond me. The only one here is her. “Well?”
I don't say anything, and thankfully none of the others in my team does either. I have to hold on to this facade as long as I can. Undead don't do anything other than growl, so that's what I do, trying to make my voice sound as undead-like as possible. Mist tilts her head to one side, approaching me curiously.
“Did you all just want my company?” Mist asks softly. I try my hardest not to raise an eyebrow, because that is the strangest thing I could ever have expected her to say. I remain silent, not giving that frankly creepy thing she said an acknowledgment. “That's okay. You're not his Oppressed...so you can join us. And what happened to you?”
Mist rears up on her hind legs, and before I can stop her, she presses a hoof against my cheek. Oh shit, if she feel that my skin isn't like undead, we're screwed and...what the fuck is she doing? She's brushing my cheek as if tracing something on my face. “You're all cold! And where did all these scars come from? Did someone hurt you, before you...you...” Mist suddenly freezes, as if she came to a sudden realization. “Were you a slave too?”
Suddenly, Mist gets down, thankfully not getting tipped off. Thank god I was made a minotaur that has skin similar in composition to my own. If I had been something furry...that would have been a problem. Her horn lights up, as if she's getting ready to order us to do something. “Come with me, all of you. Let's get you in, out of the cold.”
Oh my god, this could not have gone any better. She's leading us inside, away from the Oppressed outside. Once we're alone...I'm going to knock her the fuck out and win this whole battle for us.
Mist opens the front door to the central building and ushers us inside, closing the door behind us. I do my best not to try and sigh in relief as warm air rushes over me. The central structure is literally just a house for Mist to stay in, because I can only see four rooms: a living room with a desk and a bed, a dining room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There's a fire crackling in the hearth on the far side of the living room...as well as several Oppressed guards. Fuck. No, it's still fine. We'll bide our time, and determine when the best time to attack her is.
"Join us in the dining room. I'll go ahead and get started making tea," Mist orders us, her horn lighting up again. I give an assenting growl and move to go do so. Now, I'm confused as fuck. She's treating the undead (and by extension, us) like normal, and frankly it's getting more than a little creepy. Is she so far off the deep end that she can't tell the difference between undead and living? Or is she just deluding herself into thinking the undead are her friends?
Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I'm still going to take her down.
...okay, so I know I left you at bit of a critical junction last chapter, but then Terraria updated, so there goes my time. I'm still playing it: I literally had to tear myself away from it long enough to write this chapter. That, and admittedly I was hurting for ideas on how to properly execute this chapter. Thanks to Brave-Hooves for sparking my creative juices long enough to figure something out. I asked my brother too for ideas, but this is literally how the conversation went:
Me: Hey, so I need ideas for what to do with Mist. How will they meet her in the town?
Brother: You know, I got it. You should have them all catch Mist in a state of undress, which then leads to the fight starting early because...
Me: Bro.
Brother: What?
Me: They're ponies. They're always in a state of undress.
Brother: .....
Me: Also, no, we're not doing that. 
Also, has anyone else noticed the random increase in dislikes lately? Usually I see one a month or so, but in the past week, almost ten. It's a bit discouraging, to say the least. As far as ranking goes, I'm back where I was over half a fucking year ago.
On a brighter note, I'm going to Bronycon again this year with Brave-Hooves! Would be awesome if some of you were going too.
Schadenponi got around to this chapter, so all of the errors have been fixed. Anyway, don't forget to comment and tell me what you think! I'm very curious as to how you all perceive Mist's character.
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I really love everything that is going on so far, and I found no errors whatsoever. What you're doing with General Mist is very intriguing, and makes her character so much more unique. Anyways, don't let those dislikes discourage you, because your work is incredible, and not many people actually go this far just to write a story. It's inspiring to people like me who want to start writing fanfics like these, so keep up the great work! One last thing, great choices in music!
*eye starts twitching* I've waited about two days to get THIS!!!!!!
This is sooooooooo freaking short. How long is this???
*blinks*
Eheheheheheheheh sooooooooooooooo sorry. This is normal length I guess I just read it faster than the other chapters. Eheheheheheheheh.
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Oh, hush your face. You're getting a double update.
I don't suppose there's any possibility of diplomacy with Mist, is there? Maybe Seth could just walk up and hug her and everything be okay?HAHA YEAH RIGHT
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Don't worry about the rating ratio; it's the likes and comments that really count! :3
6183111 yeeeeeeeaaaaaaahh. Thank you for that. I often rush into things before thinking. Sorry about that. Thank god for the double update.
But seriously I think mist is going to be a good guy. I think. That moment with her children who I guess are her actually her children.
Yep. If I'm standing in a warzone, I want to know I might die too.
i like this chapter. it was a good chapter, but my mind was screaming so hard at seth when he said "I have an idea"
soooo many flaws popped into my head that could make killing her a moot point like what if she is only giving orders to this group. what if sombra himself is sustaining all of the oppressed and undead with the influx of his new found god-like magic. what if the generals are shuffled in a manner of mist will control shatters army and shatter will control mist's. and to make this new plan without a way to inform the islanders and pterax? what the hell?!? what if the gate is booby trapped? or maybe pterax doesn't get the islanders and tries to save his group? seth you are a failure and a fool as a tactician.
but yeah, Mist has more potential to be something now as opposed to previously when she was just the general of peek-a-boo!
Also, possible Paragon takedown? New ally?
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...and that's what I was going for. You know, half the point of a unreliable narrator is that not everything they do will be the most logical course of action. Hit the nail right on the head. Seth is no tactician. Why do you think Luna did all the work during the wedding? His only plans have been "Oh shit, I fucked up, let's run now."
Goddamnit, Terran! Now I have images of Seth as Robin from FE and Mist as a ponyfied Ultear stuck in my head!
...Ugh. Well this isn't going to be fun.
Then again if characters always did the smart thing, Luna would attack with meteors rather than the moon and just obliterate every locale without even approaching it that they can't confirm nonhostile targets.
Still, our 'hero' just picked up the idiot ball and it's going to be very hard not to be predictable as sin in the next few chapters.
I mean there's two main options and a few variations on each.
1) Mist is successfully killed and the town is either a decoy or the undead don't fall apart, they just go berserk.
1a) Mist manages to make herself a tragic villain trying to act like a tearjerker before someone crushes her skull.
1b) Operation goes better than expected, Mist dies, town falls, they find Mist as an undead general later because when does it ever occur to them to destroy a body to prevent reanimation?
1c) 1b, with addition of contingency spell recovering Mist's body, where she is reanimated.
2) They fail to kill her, as with 1a, which is what'll happen in all likelyhood, get royally fucked over their heads, and saved by passing circumstance or someone arriving at the last possible second.
2a) They're in a position to kill Mist but her sob story makes them hesitate and lose the opportunity.
2b) They fail to kill Mist but somehow succeed at the mission through sheer dumb luck, possibly completing 2a without revealing themselves.
2c) They succeed in nearly killing Mist but the contingency spell activates, thereby successfully taking the town, but failing to remove the threat. And worse, Sombra would know.
2d) The most unlikely suboption of failing to kill Mist is expanding on her as a character and planting the seed of doubt if not a complete heel-face-turn.
Given writing style and past experiences with this story, I think option 2 and it's suboptions the most likely, of which 2c seems the most likely but the way this chapter left off, 2a almost ties with it. Of the possibilities of option 1, I find 1b to be the most likely with 1c being a possible variation that would, again, work to notify Sombra. Since every option but 2d leaves them at a disadvantage in one way or another, I find that to be the least likely.
So, I look forward to seeing how you'll surprise me, along with your other readers.
... Additionally killing off one of the party members in the botch isn't really a surrpise. My money's on Swift or Trixie.
Ok this just reeealy interesting. We have the mission underway and our first look at Flowing Mist up close and outside of a combat situation.
Starting off Seth decides that Flowing Mist is an issue, but her current location shouldn't hinder the original plan so they go for it. Trixie's illusions here are awesome. The camouflage spell in its own right is pretty awesome, letting them blend in without having to create a disguise, but the actual undead illusion. Not only did she cater to the group well so as to not let them become confused, but she also thought ahead and made Seth a minotaur undead rather then a quadruped undead. Otherwise he'd either have to crawl, or have the illusion look like it walking when he does, and that would just look strange. So the group all get inside and split up with Pterax. This is a good idea, since he can work far better independently then in a group, though he's completely fucked if he gets caught. However its bad news for them in that the majority of the undead are all Oppressed. The regular undead could be cut down with magic, so the powerful Trixie, Pterax and Seth's epic power could easily have cut through them all if something went wrong. With the Oppressed though, they have to rely on melee combat, which would mean instant death for the lot of them with such huge numbers of them running about. I'm guessing that while Vanta kept a large stock of the Oppressed in his underground cave, Hawke kept the majority of the Oppressed hidden from view over the years, as this huge number of Oppressed could not have come from that underground lab.
Anyway, after the group let Applejack and Swift inside, they continue to head for the gates, only to find Flowing Mist. Now here is where the chapter got really interesting. So far all we knew of Flowing Mist is that she was a former slaved now turned into a dark magic general and that her magic is weaker then Seth's. Here we get our first look at her, and the image it paints is startling. She seems to hate the Oppressed, but cares about the regular undead, even having called one by a name. Further more we see she was a crystal pony slave (and yet she's a unicorn not an earth pony. Very odd) rather then an Equestrian pony and she seems to care so much about the regular undead that she actually gets teary eyed at their condition. Now I have two theories here.
1st is that she is completely insane. Sombra, sensing her magical potential has done something to her mind so that he can control her and use her talents. She seems to perceive the undead as children she must guide and protect, though hating the Oppressed, likely out of either some sort of instinct, or possibly knowing they were once humans and holding some kind of beef with them. The 2nd option is that she cares for the regular undead because they were once living beings, some were slaves she even knew, like the pony she called Emmie (though she may have just given the undead a name rather then previously knowing the corpse), and is especially worried for all the undead that were previously abused while alive, judging by her reaction to the fake scars Seth has. Either way, this shows that Flowing Mist isn't just some sadistic bitch. There is obviously still some information we are missing here, but it seems that she has some kind o0f connection to the regular undead and a loathing for the Oppressed. This will be interesting to explore further.
After Mist walks away, Seth gets the brilliant idea to take her down. Now he doesn't specify, but I'm assuming he doesn't want to just kill her outright. While doing so would most likely cut off all control of the undead, they would lose a vital asset to the war. If they can take Mist alive but destroy her amulet, they can take her back to the Princesses and interrogate her for info on Sombra's plans. Still his idea here isn't well thought out. While taking Mist out early would save a lot of lives in Everwinter, it also significantly puts the group at risk if things go wrong, and Seth, Rainbow and Applejack are crucial to defeating Sombra, so they can't afford to be captured or killed. Plus they still don't know for sure the undead will all shut down if Mist is stopped and even worse is that the generals in Sombra's army are vey good at getting away, which means they may botch the undercover plan and still fail to catch Mist. Seth may be intelligent, but he isn't a tactician and he is letting his desire to kick ass and save lives overrule his judgement on the best option.
Hopefully his plan succeeds, because immediately after they encounter Mist who mistakes them for regular undead and, still creepily seeming to care about them despite them looking like undead monsters, takes them all back to her private room, which is guarded by a few Oppressed (why she has Oppressed guarding her when it's clear she doesn't like them is odd. Perhaps she is being smart despite her loathing of them and having them there due to their magical negation abilities. Either way, she has let the attack group in. All we can hope for now is that things go to plan.
But when does anything ever go to plan for Seth?
Hmm... I'm going to assume Mist is a Tragic Villain. Oh, and Seth? When this all goes wrong, I'll be there to say "I told you so".
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Crystal ponies aren't all just earth ponies.
Proof is right here
Hidden in a minotaur illusion, how Handy.
[youtube=youtube.com/watch?v=XLDLexSAj4Y]
This is how you catch a pony on a state of undress.
6570087 'Eeeey, I caught that reference.
That sounds like a great plan with a high probability of success! Yeah, no. Clearly the original plan was actually well thought out with input from the team, running on minimal assumptions. This new plan? It's based entirely, completely on assumption. A what if. What's worse, is that he's risking critical individuals in the war overall to execute this sketchy plan. A bit hypocritical, considering he told Trixie to drop whatever spell if it was uncertain, which is what this new plan is.
I predict this is about to blow up in his face. Let's not forget what Iron says, make decisions quickly, and go through with them. Of course, these characters have plot armor (three of them, anyways) , but screwing up here will not come without consequences. Seth will probably beat himself up badly and lose morale if he ends up losing someone.
Otherwise I really enjoyed all the stealthy bits. So much suspense!