Chapter 2: The Grey, the White, and the Loud
The Grey, the White, and the Loud
Corvo stood flabbergasted at what he had just done. He knew that his wind blasts were strong, but the power that he just unleashed made his previous blasts look like slight breezes. All he wanted to do was throw the equine bug at the closest leader to, at most, knock him out. The force of the gust sent the equine bug smashing into the leader, creating an audible crunch that made Corvo cringe. They flew for many meters before hitting the ground, leaving a furrow in the hard packed dirt that made a small street.
When Corvo tore his eyes away from the wrecked, and most likely dead bodies of the two equine bugs, he noticed that nearly every one of the creatures, carapace covered or not were staring at him. The scene was surreal, like the battle was forgotten, but it didn’t last long.
A sharp cry sounded out and the equine bugs turned their attention to the sound. All at once, the horns atop their heads began to glow. Corvo decided that it was time to get out of sight and wait for his next chance to get an edge, so he blinked back to the bushes he originally hid in.
He stood watching, noting that some of the creatures had noticed his disappearance with turning heads and worried looks. He also saw that the green glow from the equine bug’s horns were growing brighter, and each one had their wings buzzing.
Another cry went out and the equine bugs leaped into the air, releasing green flares. Corvo hoped that they weren’t beacons and just a call for retreat; his hopes were answered when they didn’t land, but continued flying high into the air, toward the bulk of the city.
He started to feel relieved, but the feeling was interrupted by a deep, but faint buzzing coming from the direction of the forest. He turned his head, and immediately raised his hand toward his mask to magnify the scene. The feeling of relief was gone as he saw the thick mass of black coming straight toward them. The equine bugs that formed this platoon were full of rage, each one screaming as they charged, but that is not what made Corvo fearful of the incoming soldiers. He was worried about the creatures that followed them. These creatures were huge. Their bodies were the same in build as the equine bugs’ bodies, but the eyes were different, and they lacked horns. The eyes were tiny compared to the equine bugs, contorted into what seemed like permanent anger. Their mouths showed long fangs that Corvo guessed were as long as his forearms. The small horses would not stand a chance against them.
He set the dial on his mask to its normal setting, gauging the distance from this area and came to the conclusion that they were mere minutes away. He had to get this little settlement evacuated.
Corvo took the opportunity to blink to the rooftop of the house from which he removed the invaders, activating his Dark Vision. The orange glows of all of the small horses were moving about, some getting to their feet, and others helping the smaller ones, and others, still, hugging it out. He couldn’t help but to feel sorry for them, but they had to move faster. None of them had noticed the approaching threat.
He saw one of the orange glows in his vision that seemed to be faring better than the rest. It was standing near the changelings that he had Wind Blasted, exchanging words with the ponies that stood around. This one would have to do.
He canceled the Dark Vision, looking toward his target. With a thought, Corvo blinked to it, and it promptly screamed as he grabbed its body with his arms. Another one saw and Corvo noticed a white flash, but he blinked back to the rooftop before he could see what caused it.
“(OCTAVIA!)” a shrill scream went out, the sheer loudness of it surprising him. Despite the sudden (and justified) scream, Corvo had to get the small horse to stop struggling-
“GUH!” Corvo grunted as the air was forced from his lungs by a grey hoof. He buckled over and dropped the small horse, but it didn’t run, so he grabbed for it again. His hand was knocked out of the way by a forehoof of the now standing small horse and he considered it luck and instinct that he blocked a rather powerful jab from its other hoof. His hand hurt , but he had a good hold of her, so he stood to his full height, lifting her foreleg up and pulling her close to him. He turned her around against her protests, verbal and physical, and forced her eyes in the direction of the oncoming equine bugs. Her body tensed, but she stopped fighting him.
~~
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch were walking back into the city from a meeting with a client about getting a small concert together for the ponies on the peaceful (sometimes too peaceful as the client put it) outer area of Canterlot. The walk was, indeed, peaceful- a nice change from the much busier inner city.
That is until they heard a startling crack as the barrier tore away all around them, little shards of magic evaporating into the air.
Octavia was the first to notice the giant swarm of changelings coming their way and told Vinyl to get ready to defend herself.
“Bring it on bugs!” was all Vinyl said in reply, holding a smile on her lips. The smile didn’t last long, though, and was replaced by a look of worry. They started to run for the small group of buildings, but the changelings were upon them quickly.
Unfortunately for the invaders, Octavia was no pony any creature would want to mess with. She showed that to them as the first of the invaders came at her at terrifying speed. She stood on her hind legs and turned so her side was facing the oncoming changeling. She raised her forehooves to cover her chest and face, then, just before the changeling reached her, she quickly kicked out in an arch, her back hoof crashing into the side of the changeling’s face with a not so subtle crack. The rushing changeling was knocked off course and landed some distance behind her.
Beside her, Vinyl was preparing a spell that she knew all too well. The white unicorn’s horn was glowing brightly, and a look of annoyance, if anything, splayed across her face.
The next changelings were upon them, and Octavia readied her stance once more. Her years as a filly had taught her two major skills, and she was putting the one she did not like so much to use. She stood with her weight distributed evenly across her hind legs, raising her body up so the could use her forelegs for protection and fast attacks. She learned to turn her body to protect her solar plexus, the hard way when she began training, but these creatures would not be getting any hits in.
“Vinyl, NOW!” Octavia yelled, pointing at the mass of changelings. Vinyl let out a grunt and jumped forward. Her horn peaked in brightness, then the energy suddenly released in the form a of giant soundwave. The shockwave fired from the blast vertically, hitting the ground and raising into the air while the magical soundwave spread forward.
Even though the soundwave was concentrated into a single direction, it still shook the ground and hurt Octavia’s ears. ‘If there is anything that that mare is good at, it is being loud.’ she thought as the frontal force of the group of changelings were blown back, smashing into each other. Vinyl jumped backward, behind Octavia, to charge the spell again.
Octavia saw, and didn’t like the look on her face. She did have the right to be angry, but her partner was more than just that. The look of intensity reminded her of a particular time in her life. The time that made it necessary to learn how to fight.
Octavia’s thoughts stopped as the recovering changelings renewed their assault. They rushed again, and she put her hind legs to work, kicking the first few to meet her. The changelings were not as strong as she thought they would be, and it showed as Octavia’s kicks sent them flying backward. They were, however, strong in number, closing in on the two mares too quickly for Octavia’s taste.
Three of the changeling reached past her initial kicking, and they smiled as though they had won, but were surprised as Octavia threw multiple jabs at the closest one with her forehooves. There were small cracks from each punch, taking a physical effect on the other changelings as they hesitated. Octavia saw it as a good chance to send them flying backward into more of their comrades. She did so, sending four changelings to the ground.
All at once, the invaders stopped. Octavia was ready to throw some more punches, but stood her ground as she observed their behavior. They seemed to be staring past the two ponies, toward the houses. Octavia noticed a faint green glow that mixed with the glow from Vinyl’s horn. She turned her attention away from the changelings for a brief moment, only to see a hoard of changelings leap into the air with buzzing wings. They all seemed to fire green flares that rose high into the sky. Noticing that her eyes had not been on the enemy, she redirected her gaze to find that they were retreating to the inner city.
She heard a grunt beside her and turned to look at Vinyl, but she jumped past her screaming, “Come back here bugs!”
“Vinyl!” Octavia yelled. She set her forehooves down and hopped forward to meet Vinyl’s eyes with her own. “Vinyl, calm down! They are gone, you don’t need to fight them anymore. Vinyl, calm down!” Vinyl’s eyes were furious, and the corners of her mouth were pulled down in an angry frown. Tears freely streamed down her face. “Vinyl, we are fine.” Octavia said in a much more calm voice.
Vinyl finally looked away from the retreating changelings to look at Octavia, the glowing on her horn disappearing. “I… ca… can’t le-”
“Vinyl, nothing like that will ever happen again. Look at me Vinyl.” Vinyl turned her head, but Octavia gently placed her hoof under Vinyl’s chin, guiding her gaze back to her own. “Listen Vinyl, I trust you, and you can trust me. Those monsters stood no chance against us. We aren’t fillies anymore.” She looked toward the group of houses they had come from. “Lets go check on those ponies. They could probably use some help.”
Vinyl nodded and they began to canter toward the area.
They reached the first buildings to see ponies scattered about, and thankfully, nopony seemed too injured. They walked down the street, passing the bodies of two mangled changelings, obviously dead, laying in an elongated ditch in the street. That seemed odd to Octavia.
“Vinyl, who do you think did that?” She asked, pointing a hoof toward the changelings.
Vinyl was looking down, but she stopped and turned her head to where Octavia was pointing. “Wooow.” She said, drawing the word out. She lifted her glasses (that she hadn’t been wearing, but decided to put them on to hide her recently red eyes) and whistled.
They stood there and stared at the unnatural scene. They were not used to the look of gore, and it was obvious that the ponies that were near were not as they made gasping sounds, and one even retched. Octavia broke her trance and asked the nearest pony what happened.
A yellow haired, blue maned pony told her that there was an awful explosion and suddenly the two changelings smashed into each other.
“A gust of magic wind did it!” Another pointed out.
“It must have been a powerful pony, like one of the princesses or something.”
“It couldn’t have been one of the princesses, they would have shown themselves by now.”
Octavia decided to tune them out, but heard something about a creature standing in the doorway of somepony’s home. She was about to tell Vinyl to be on the look out when a she heard a ripping sound right next to her. She found herself in the foreleg of some kind of creature. She screamed, but was cut short as she experienced the strangest feeling, like she was moving faster than sound itself.
She had closed her eyes, but she opened them quickly to she she was in a completely different location- on a roof of all places. The creature was still holding her so she tried to wiggle out of its grasp. She couldn’t see its face, but it was much larger than her, and its stomach was wide open. The creature began to move her in his grip, and she twisted hard when its grip loosened, and sent a forehoof into where she thought its solar plexus might be.
The creature buckled over with a grunt and released her. She caught her weight on her hind legs and tried to throw a jab, but had to block the creature’s paw-strange paw at that. She renewed the jab with her other forehoof, but the creature was faster than she thought it should have been. It caught her hoof, and seemed to recoil from the force, but it suddenly shot up to its full height, pulling her close to its body. She tried to twist again this time throwing some unmentionable an random obscenities at it, but he wrapped his other foreleg around her and immediately turned her around to see the forest… and the wave of changelings that were heading straight toward them.
She went limp, mentally punishing herself for not noticing how close they were. She could hear the buzzing now that she was paying attention. The creature got her attention with its forepaw by pointing down toward the ponies, then pointed to the trainstation. She followed his forepaw and quickly understood. They had to get the ponies out of the area. She was about to get loose from its grip, but she suddenly felt a pressure, and that same feeling from before. The next thing she knew, she was in the same spot that she was picked up by the strange creature. It dropped her and she looked up at it...
...And noticed that she had not looked at its face during the fight. Its eyes were glass, surrounded by metal and gears. It didn’t have a mouth or nose, but it still looked so angry; in her mind, she described it as a look of sadness, disguised as rage. Her staring was interrupted by a sob.
Vinyl was there, frantically looking in all directions. While she tried to fight her captor, she hadn’t noticed the distress her greatest friend was going through.
“Vinyl-” was all she could say before the unicorn turned and screamed.
“OCTAVIA! Were is the damn thing! I’ll kill it! Did it hurt you!?” her horn was growing brighter with every word.
“Vinyl, vinyl please calm down! It didn’t hurt me,” she looked toward it, but it wasn’t there. “Anyway, look.” She pointed at the mass of changelings that were nearly upon them.
The buzzing of their wings was easily audible, and many of the ponies had already noticed. “Vinyl, amplify my voice!” Octavia commanded. Vinyl’s eyes still held a fearful rage, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “Vinyl-”
Octavia was cut short as Vinyl screamed and ran forward. “Vinyl, no!” Octavia yelled, but it was to no avail. When Vinyl cleared the buildings, she skidded to a stop and took a deep breath.
~~
Corvo sensed that if he stayed where he was to meet the raging small horse, we would regret it. It had a horn, too, and it was shining bright, like there was quite a lot of energy flowing through it. He watched from the roof, lying prone so he wouldn’t be spotted, as the two creatures exchanged words. The white one with the horn was angry, and seemed to not be listening very well, despite the grey one’s attempts to talk. The grey one had to do something fast, though, as the equine bugs were almost upon them. He could hear the buzzing clearly, and noticed some of the small horses below could hear it too. A panic was about to set in.
Corvo looked back toward the two small horses again and saw the white one at a full on gallop. She came to a skidding stop, and seemed to brace herself. The equine bugs were close, so Corvo started to stand up, but was knocked back by a shockwave that left his ears ringing. An odd, and loud, beating sound lingered. The entire house shook, and when he got back to his senses, he could hardly believe his eyes.
The small, white horse was barely visible as a beam of energy blasted out from her horn. Corvo looked on in awe as he beam pulsated, each pulse sending a streak of blue colored light toward the equine bugs, many of which were reeling about in the air. A hole was cut through the front line and seemed to reach all the way to the back of the black mass.
His attention to the blast that the small horse was giving the equine bugs was directed to the maneuver that they were initiating. The equine bugs split in two, flying around the concentrated beam. Corvo looked down to see that the area was free of the small horses, all of them running toward the train station.
When he looked back up, the equine bugs had reached the cliff and many of them had bypassed the still pulsating, but weakening beam. Some of the equine bugs landed and were sprinting forward, while others kept to the air. The small, grey horse was galloping, probably to the aid of its friend- at least he assumed they were friends.
He watched with a question in mind: should I help these creatures, or get a move on? He stood up and looked toward Canterlot, then back to the two small horses. The grey one was standing on her hind legs in a fighting stance. She was standing over the white one, who had passed out, now lying on the ground. Even if the grey one could fight, the equine bug numbers would simply be too much, plus, they might be good guides. His decision was made, and he focused on the grey one’s position.
~~
Vinyl’s soundwave was more powerful than Octavia had ever seen before. The blast pushed her back, and the sound of it was tremendous. Still, though the blast was powerful, she knew that Vinyl was not concentrating. She was not looking at the changelings as their ranks split in half to go around the beam. If she didn’t go to her her partner, Vinyl would surely be at the mercy of the charging changelings. Even if Octavia did fight, she doubted that she could do much. She would not go out without a fight.
Octavia hit a full gallop, reaching Vinyl as quickly as possible. The changelings were close enough that she could hear their screams for blood. They would not be easy to fend off. They were charging fast, and her stance was ready; forehooves covering her chest and face, her body turned to more easily protect her solar plexus and she was ready to kick some changeling butt.
The first one was upon her, so she picked her forward hind leg up, preparing to give it a kick that would probably end its life. The world began to slow as she concentrated on her timing, and when it was just right, she extended her back hoof out with the force of a speeding train… and didn’t hit anything. There was nothing but a touch on her shoulder. She twisted around, her forehooves about to start punching, but saw that it was that strange creature from before. She also noticed that everything but the creature had lost its color completely, leaving the landscape gray She caught herself not paying attention to the enemy again, and turned her head to look.
They weren’t moving. They were frozen in the air with their angry faces and mouths that looked like they were still screaming.
She looked back at the creature. It looked down at her and raised its forelegs. It grabbed one of the sleeves and pulled it down to reveal a device attached just below its paw. She recognized the shape; the taut string and small, barbed dart indicated that it was a crossbow. He gestured to the Changeling and raised his arm to aim it at the carapace covered freak. He looked back down, as if questioningly, bobbing its foreleg up and down.
It was asking if it should kill the changeling. Her eyes widened for a moment, but she looked back at the changeling. All she wanted to do was get away from the area. If they didn’t have to fight, she would be happy.
Octavia looked back up at the cold, glass eyes of the creature and shook her head. It put its paws down and moved forward. It bent down and reached for Vinyl, but she reached out and touched its forelegs. “What are you planning on?” She asked. It stopped and moved it face so its eyes met her own.
“(Sorry little horse thing, but I can’t understand what you are saying.)”
Octavia recoiled at the particularly masculine sound, not expecting anything like it from a face with no mouth. She couldn’t understand it, so she guessed that was why he was so silent, now that she knew that it could talk.
With him (she assumed it was a him) so close, she could see that there were locks of jet black hair that flowed over and down the metallic face, visible underneath the hood it wore. Her logical mind told her that the face may be a mask. She put the thoughts aside as the creature pointed. She followed where he was gesturing and saw the train station.
She looked into his eyes and gave a brief nod. He continued to bend down, reaching out to Vinyl, and as soon as he touched her, she regained her white coat and blue mane. He continued unphased, putting one of its paws behind Vinyl’s head and the other underneath her body. He stepped forward with knees bent, wrapping its foreleg around her body entirely. He pulled her close to his body and stood up.
It was surreal for Octavia. This seemingly hard and cold creature was caressing Vinyl as if she was a child. She saw him gesture for her to follow, and he began to run. For a two legged creature he was fast. Octavia did her best to keep up, but she was running at full speed and he was pulling ahead of her.
They ran about half of the distance from the spot they were in to the train station, and Octavia’s heavy breathing from the sprint was replaced by a gasp as a powerful pulse of magic shot through and past her. She came to a stop and the grasses reclaimed their original color. The houses were their normal white and the sky was blue again. She looked toward the creature who had stopped, looking back toward the changelings.
The changelings were moving once more, but without a target, they just stopped in their tracks, many of them running into the one in front of them. It didn’t take long for them to spot her and the creature. One of them called out loudly, then another and more followed. Their advance was renewed as they charged.
Octavia looked back toward the creature and pointed toward the train station. The creature saw the question and shook his head. In a cloud of dark mist, The creature disappeared from sight. Octavia looked around to spot him, thinking he had left her, but a moment later, she heard a rip in the air beside her.
The creature was standing, towering over her. He reached into his coat, and pulled a sword out. It was long and black, shining in the sun. The lack of sound as it came out of its sheath was disturbing. The sword was out and in the grip of its paws, and she knew it was time to fight. The changelings were not going to stop, and they still had blood in their eyes.
She took his body language as a message to get ready to fight, so she did so, returning to her fighting stance. The creature waved a paw in front of her to get her attention. When she looked up, he pointed at her and then rather forcibly pointed at the ground. She guessed that he was telling her to stand her ground. She nodded, and looked back toward the enemy.
No distractions this time.
~~
Corvo pointed at the small horse, then at the ground trying to get the message across that she needs to stay and defend herself. She (he decided that it was a she from the sound of her voice) nodded and seemed to focus back on the charging equine bugs.
Corvo readied his stance, pulling his hands up with his sword arm primed for swinging. His left hand started to glow in anticipation of the Wind Blast that he was about to unleash.
The equine bugs closed the distance fast, leaving the giant beasts behind. When they were mere meters away, and their screaming voices and buzzing wings roaring over any other sound, Corvo stepped forward and swung his arm out. He poured as much power as he could into the blast, creating a shockwave that crushed the carapace covered bodies of the ones that lead the charge. The now smashed carcasses of the leading equine bugs were forced back, creating a green, bloody obstacle that others had to get over.
After the Wind Blast, Corvo tensed his sword arm in anticipation for the attack, but they stopped. All of them accept for the giant beasts that had finally caught up. They rallied behind the towering equine bugs, who promptly roared in unison. The sound was disorienting, but Corvo didn't let it bother him for long.
He lifted his left hand and pointed it at the first of the beasts. It was now the leader of the charge, surrounded by a swarm of little buzzing soldiers, and they were closing in fast. Corvo squeezed his middle finger, and the firing mechanism released the first bolt. It sailed forward and hit its mark: an eye of the leading beast.
It roared again and seemed to stumble, but kept on charging. The wristbow was already reloaded, so he fired a second shot into the other eye, causing the beast to let out another roar as its head was jerked up, then sharply down as it tripped and fell forward, crushing most of the equine bugs that surrounded it.
He waved his hand through the air once more, sending a Wind Blast shooting out, crushing some equine bugs it hit and throwing others back. Already, the equine bugs that survived his attack rushed him, but fell to Corvo’s blade, cold steel slicing through them as if they weren’t even there.
Corvo swung with grace and perfect form, taking the lives of the creatures with fast slices and chops. Each cut severed a head or sliced a neck, and in seconds, no more equine bugs were attacking. He noticed the lull in the attack and swung his sword out, spraying the blood that managed to stick to the blade onto the ground.
The other equine bugs had stopped, and were staring. The giant beasts looked as thought they would break from their stances at any moment. There were still two more gigantic versions of the equine bugs, and twenty or more of those surrounded each. Corvo tried to gauge their strategy, but could not discern anything.
The equine bugs that were flying suddenly dropped from the sky and landed facing him. The horns on their heads all started to glow at once, and a moment later, a green flash of light whizzed past him. He could feel the heat coming off of it, and heard a thump, followed by a scream.
Corvo eyes widened as he realized what made that scream. The equine bug deliberately shot past him with a bolt of energy to hit the small horse behind him. They were laughing. The equine bugs were laughing.
Corvo felt anger rush through him, but he did not move. He simply stood there, sword in hand. Their laughing started to peak, and their horns started to glow brighter. Corvo focused his power, and willed the world to stop once more. He felt that his power was draining, but he knew he could still hold the Time Stop long enough to enact his plan.
He raised his left hand to aim the wristbow. With four squeezes of his middle finger, he set four darts into the Time Stop limbo. He cancelled the Time Stop, and four darts took to their paths, gouging the eyes of the beasts. They both roared from the sudden pain and did not fall, but began to run. They crushed the equine bugs in their path, scattering the rest of them. Corvo focused on the one that was running straight for him then blinked onto its head, grabbing the first crevice he could find to hold on. He looked up and found the punctured eye, promptly swinging his sword up and sending the blade through the beast’s skull. The beast recoiled and began to fall the other way. It bellowed once more before crashing to the ground, no longer breathing.
The other beast was running for the train station. Corvo swung his hand out, creating a Wind Blast that swept the hind legs of the beast upward and Corvo blinked below it. He rammed his sword up, then blinked forward, the blade slicing the beast as he traveled. When the hind legs fell to the ground, a shower of blood and intestines rained down. The beast roared, but it was weak. It fell to the ground dead.
Corvo stood in front of the bloody corpse. The equine bugs were staring, but they weren’t laughing. One of them shot a green flare into the air and jumped up, wings buzzing. The others followed suit, flying in the direction of the forest.
He took it that the fight was over, and turned his head toward the small, grey horse. She was laying there, her body curled up into the fetal position. He blink to her, then saw the injury. The bolt from the equine bug had burned her pretty bad, the scorched skin and hair travelling from her shoulder down to her hip. Part of her back and stomach were burned as well.
The poor thing was shaking, and its eyes opened slightly. She looked at him and her eyes widened, the pupils tiny compared to the size they were before.
“(ge… get h-help. It… hurts.)” Corvo couldn’t understand what it was saying, but her breaths were laborious and she was obviously in pain. Corvo reached down and gently picked her up. She gave a weak whimper, but he had to get her moving.
He did not know what to do with her, or where to take her for help, but he did know that the small horses that now populated the train station might.
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4355917
Thanks! I never really though about it. Consider it considered:)
This is truly a good story why not many ppl read it is beyond me.
4375530
Thanks! It might be due to the fact that i have not tried to join many groups and the fact that Dishonored isn't the hype right now. People are much more interested in Fallout. Doesn't bother me really. It's fun to write:)
It is #epicness
makeameme.org/media/created/Nuff-said-2232o0.jpg
When you have time go through the first chapter. There are some i's not capitalized and the first letter in Corvo is not capitalized. You should also find a way to signal that we're going to a different viewpoint. Such as ------- going across the screen.