Mortal Coil

by Reeve

XXXVII - Countdown

As the gate came into view, I could make out four ponies standing guard, they didn’t seem too enthusiastic about keeping watch. One was leaning against the wall, looking as if he was about to doze off, two sat crossed legged on the ground, playing cards, only the fourth was actually doing his job and therefore saw us coming. Sufferthorn, Stranglethorn and I were charging straight for them, when the one alert guard saw us emerging from the shadows, he animatedly signalled to the others who all began scrambling to their hooves. All four started to draw their weapons as we drew closer, preparing themselves for a fight… only to have us run right past them, paying them no heed whatsoever.

The guards stood slightly dumbfounded at the audacity of our entrance before deciding to chase after us. I glanced back at them as we ran through the streets, but they had no hope of catching up with us, their armour made sure of that. Turning my eyes forward, I carried on running several feet behind the other two in the direction of the Fort. Back at the beach there had been very little discussion as to what our next move would be, we all seemed to agree that the bombs had to be stopped, or at the very least the Fort be evacuated. Even Sufferthorn, who I was sure would be content to let the Liberators be destroyed, was in full agreement.

Twilight took control of the situation, requesting Fluttershy and Applejack to stay behind and help her with the prisoners, while myself and the other two returned to the city to stop the impending disaster. As we reached a certain junction, my partners came skidding to a halt and I ran right past them for a few steps before backing up.

“The sewer entrance is down here,” Sufferthorn reminded me. “Strangle and I will go down there and find those bombs, you have to get to the Fort and get everypony clear, understand?”

“Perfectly,” I replied, at which they both charged off down the side street as I called after them. “Be careful.”

I felt a twinge as I saw them run away, at the thought that they would be down there and not make it out in time. The idea that I had just seen them for the last time was really rather depressing, even Sufferthorn, which surprised me. Without wasting any time, I carried on my way to the Fort, the meeting point on the beech hadn’t exactly been a five minute walk away, sunrise wasn’t far off. As I ran into the courtyard of the Defence District, I was surprised to see that there were only two guards standing at the front gates. Any other time I had been through that area, there had always been soldiers performing training exercises, so seeing it almost completely deserted was a bizarre sight.

I ran up to the gate where the two guards stood, they had been chatting away before I arrived, but now they were just staring at me curiously as I sprinted up. They didn’t even make to stop me or draw their weapons, although as I drew closer I began to notice something familiar about the two mares.

“Good day,” one of them greeted brightly to me.

“You don’t say good day, Green Bean,” the other pony chastised. “Does it look like daytime to you?”

“Well I’m not going to say goodnight Kiwi, that would imply we’re saying goodbye to her,” Green Bean argued, and I realised it was the two guards from the bridge the first time Applejack and I were travelling to Port Mule. “And besides, it’s the early hours of the morning, it’s a new day.”

“But it’s always a day, even when it’s not daytime,” Kiwi pointed out. “So by your logic you would have to say good day all day regardless of where the sun is.”

“Well what would you have me say?!” Green Bean demanded.

“How about ‘hello’?” Kiwi proposed with a deadpan expression.

“Oh yeah,” Green Bean said slowly before turning to try it out on me. “Hello there, how can we help you?”

I stared at them for a moment before shaking my head to clear it of the haze that had begun to descend during their mundane argument.

“I need into the Fort, now!” I barked.

“No can do I’m afraid,” Kiwi replied, shaking her head. “Only soldiers and officials are allowed beyond these doors after closing hours.”

“You don’t understand, there’s going to be an attack!” I declared. “There are bombs beneath the ground that will blow this place to high heavens at sunrise, so we need to evacuate everypony from it as soon as possible!”

Both mares stared at me, their faces remaining passive as if they were unable to register what I just told them.

“There’s… going to be an attack?” Green Bean repeated.

“Here?” Kiwi asked.

“At sunrise?” Green bean added.

“Bombs?” Kiwi questioned.

“Yes,” I replied in a frustrated voice.

They both looked at each other, still remaining very calm.

“I see,” Green Bean replied as she looked over at Kiwi.

They both nodded once in unison before turning to open the doors, Once they were wide enough that I could enter, the pair of them stepped back and began taking off their armour and discarding the pieces on the ground.

“What are you…” I began in bewilderment.

“Leaving,” Kiwi answered pre-emptively. “We are not paid nearly enough for this.”

“Nope,” Green Bean agreed.

“So much nope,” Kiwi added, throwing her helmet to the ground before turning and following Green Bean away from the Fort.

“Well that was…” I began aloud to myself. “That was certainly a thing that happened.”

Choosing to ignore that strange occurrence, I ran into the Fort where there were some other guards walking around and council ponies who were working very late. They had stopped to see who was coming through the door and were now watching me closely as they tried to figure out who I was. Before they could remember that I was wanted for two attempts on their leader’s life, I spoke up and got the attention of all the ponies in the entrance hall.

“Everypony listen!” I shouted. “You need to evacuate the Fort right now; there are bombs beneath the floor that are set to go off at sunrise. Everypony has to get out before that or they will be killed!”

“Excuse me Miss,” one of the guards said, marching over to me with a couple of comrades. “The Fort is closed to citizens, you should not be here, and we don’t need paranoid ponies creating disturbances over imaginary threats.”

“Imaginary?!” I repeated in disbelief. “I am telling you the truth, there is an underground complex beneath this Fort, the bombs have been placed there. If you don’t evacuate this building right now, hundreds of ponies could die.”

“Skillet, wait a second, I know this mare,” one of the other guards said suddenly, tapping the stallion who had been talking on the shoulder. “This is the one the Commander has had us searching for, the one who tried to kill him.”

“Seriously? Her?!” he questioned in disbelief, giving me a look that made it clear he didn’t think I was capable of doing the sort.

“I’m certain,” the other pony continued. “She matches the description perfectly.”

“Well then, you made a grave mistake coming here Missy,” Skillet said darkly.

“Fine, take me to Typhoon,” I replied in frustration. “I’ll tell him to evacuate the Fort and maybe he’ll be smart enough to listen.”

“You think we’re gonna give you another shot at killing him?” Skillet said with a laugh. “You’re going straight to jail.”

“You could have just cooperated,” I muttered before jabbing my hoof straight into Skillet’s face.

He collapsed to the ground, and before the other two could do anything about it, I grabbed hold of their helmets with magic while they were still wearing them, and slammed them together. They probably weren’t knocked out, but they were dazed enough that I could walk past them over to where some council pony was crouching, cowering in fear.

“Can you get them clear of the Fort?” I asked, pointing at the three guards. “And for the love of Celestia, evacuate this building!”

The pony nodded rapidly, dashing off to one of the side rooms. I made my way up to the stairs and began the familiar climb to Typhoon’s office, along the way I picked up a few tails, but I ignored them as I made a beeline for my destination. I only prayed he was still up, or he was up early, or he slept in his office like some weirdo. Whatever the case was, when I burst into his room followed by half a dozen angry guards, I found him sitting behind his desk, cradling a glass of something I suspected to be rather strong while staring back at us all in mild surprise.

“Sir, apologies sir,” one of the guards addressed him while trying to take hold of my shoulder which I pulled out of his grip.

“You again?!” Typhoon exclaimed, standing up and staring at me in fury. “I’m starting to think you’re not as brave as I first thought, rather you’re just plain stupid.”

“Maybe a bit of both,” I replied. “But this is no time for fighting; I came here to help you.”

“Help me?” Typhoon repeated with a bitter chuckle. “That is rich.”

“I’m telling the truth,” I stated firmly. “That underground facility you built, it’s filled with bombs, and they’re going to go off at sunrise if my friends don’t stop them.”

“Bombs?” Typhoon uttered, narrowing his eyes at me. “So is this your plan, blow us all up?”

“My plan?!” I repeated in disbelief. “Why on earth would I be here, warning you, if it was my plan?! This has nothing to do with the Rebellion; they were put there by the Sol… by another group. I’m trying to save you, but you have to start the evacuation now before it’s too late.”

“You think I’m going to trust you,” Typhoon snapped back, pulling a rapier from beneath his desk and pointing it directly at me. “After how you tried to kill me during our negotiations.”

“I know this is going to sound ridiculous,” I began, getting ready to draw my own sword as he began making his way around the desk. “But I wasn’t in control when I did that, somepony from that other group used a spell to force me to attack you.”

“You’re right,” Typhoon agreed, hesitating briefly. “That is completely ridiculous.”

Without any warning, he dived forward, swinging his sword at my neck. I leapt back and drew my own sword, blocking his second attack. The rest of the ponies in the doorway of the office stared on in confusion and horror, clearly unsure whether they should stay and help or run for their lives. While I was deadlocked with Typhoon, I took the opportunity to shout out to them.

“Get away from this Fort if you want to live!” I yelled before I was forced to drop to my knees and roll to the side.

Getting back up, I took a swing at Typhoon’s rear leg, but he spun around and deflected my blow, coming in strong while I was off balance. I managed to stop him by levitating one of my knives out of their sheath and sweeping it through the air between us, it had the desired effect of making him take a defensive step back, giving me enough time to regain my stature.

“I don’t want to fight you Typhoon,” I told him as I began edging towards the door. “I came here to stop hundreds of your soldiers from dying at their posts and in their beds, we are not enemies right now.”

“That’s where you are wrong,” Typhoon replied as he lunged forward, slashing upwards and forcing me away from the door. “You and I will always be enemies.”

“You are being unreasonable!” I shouted as he began swinging rapidly at me and I started blocking.

At one particular swing, I used my sword to push back against his and knocked him off balance, I quickly came in to uppercut with my hoof, but using his wings, he quickly regained balance and kicked me in the chest. I landed hard on the ground and rolled to the left as he flew into the air and dive bombed me, driving the point of his rapier into the floor where my head had just been. When I saw his sword stuck in the floorboards, I quickly charged him, foolishly thinking he was defenceless. Of course I was forgetting his powerful body, but I remembered when he swung his right foreleg around and smacked me in the side of the face, his hoof glancing off my horn as he did.

I was thrown to the floor a second time, and Typhoon pulled his sword from the floor with no bother whatsoever, I could feel my magic stunted after the hit. Having had quite enough, I scrambled to my legs and made a mad dash for the office door, he had made it quite clear he wasn’t going to heed my warnings, and I wasn’t about to stay there and die for his sake. As I neared the door however, I heard the rush of wind and had to leap to the side as Typhoon came hurtling through the air. He landed perfectly in front of the door, pointing his sword defiantly at me as I got to my hooves.

“You know, I can’t decide whether I like you or not,” he said as I readied my own sword. “You’ve done much that I can’t help but respect you for, and yet you infuriate me.”

“I don’t care what you think of me,” I spat. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to help ponies. I came here to help ponies, but because you and this stupid fight, I doubt I’ll have the time to get anypony out before those bombs go off!”

“Still prattling on about those damn bombs,” Typhoon muttered before charging forward.

He swung his sword at a rapid pace, I was barely able to keep up with it, and with every block I could feel my grip loosening on my weapon. He slashed again and again, never giving me an opening, all I could do was try desperately to parry his attacks and not get cut to ribbons. I fell to my knees, pressed low to the ground by Typhoon as he forced me down with his superior strength. My blade looked as if it might snap under the pressure of keeping his own from cutting my head in two, I could see the open door right behind him, and I knew in my gut that sunrise was mere minutes off.

I might only have saved a few ponies, but I still needed to get myself away from the Fort before I too was buried in it. Feeling pretty desperate without my magic or my weapon free, I resorted to the first tactic that came to mind, a tactic that completely lacked honour and respect, but above all was most unladylike… I spat in his face. Typhoon twisted his head to the side, screwing up his face in disgust; I took my brief window to push back against him, throwing him off me and freeing my sword to swing across his own hoof, disarming him.

Not waiting for him to recover and pick up his sword again, as I had no doubt Typhoon would have no trouble fighting either with an injured leg or his non-dominant hoof; I sprinted for the door, leaving the office and Typhoon behind me. I only made it to the first staircase that would lead me to the second floor corridors, when the first explosion went off and shook the entire Fort. The floor beneath me trembled violently and I fell down a few of the steps before I caught myself on the railing and steadied myself.

As I got back onto my hooves and continued running, I heard more explosions, some further off, some quite close which I had to brace myself for. Even mere seconds after the first bomb went off, I was already seeing the effects on the second floor as the walls began to split apart and the floor began to crack, the whole Fort was crumbling around me. Amidst the sounds of explosions and ruin, I heard the faint screams of ponies who were running for their lives… or perhaps they hadn’t been fast enough and their screams were the last noise they would make.

I reached the stairs leading down from the second floor to the entrance hall, but came skidding to a stop when the floor suddenly opened up before me. Taking a few steps back, I took a running start at it and leapt over the hole even as it began growing bigger, and I started descending the stairs. Towards the bottom of the staircase, some of the steps had been ripped away from the wall and swallowed up along with a large section of the floor, revealing a gaping pit into the underground complex below.

All I could make out of the factory was smoke, fire and rubble. I went about halfway down the staircase before vaulting over the banister and landing hard on the little floor that hadn’t yet collapsed. I surveyed the room quickly, which was becoming difficult as the smoke and dust from below was funnelling up into the entrance hall through a wide crevice that had formed across the length of the room, a crevice which I was at one side of, and the main doors were at the other. I could see ponies fighting to get through the doors to run to safety along with the group that was gathering at the far end of the Defence District courtyard.

Even as I watched I saw several unfortunate ponies fall through the ground, either slipping over the edge or being knocked aside by other panicking ponies, or the floor beneath their hooves simply giving out. Their screams faded quickly as they were swallowed up by the abyss below, then there were the especially unlucky ponies who were crushed by falling stone, I doubt they were even killed outright, just trapped and forced to watch everypony else escape and ignore them, while awaiting their own death to come in one of several forms.

I had no choice, the crevice continued to get wider the longer I surveyed the situation and very soon it would be too wide for me to jump. Taking considerably more steps back than I had when I jumped the hole on the second floor, I prepared myself for the leap, not that I was able to take any deep breaths with the choking air. Wasting no more time, I galloped forward as fast as I could, as soon as I reached the edge I sprung off and allowed my momentum to carry me across the gap. I only just reached the other side, all four of my hooves landing precariously on the floor, only for my hind legs to slip off and leave me dangling, clinging to the edge.

With all my might, I heaved myself up over the edge, dragging myself safely onto my underside, all four of my hooves safely away from the pit. I wasn’t out of danger yet though, I could already feel the ground beneath me trembling as the crevice threatened to grow even greater and swallow the rest of the Fortress whole. Stumbling to my hooves, I felt the flagstones beneath me shudder and begin to crumble away just as I began running forward. Every step I took, I could feel the floor giving way and I would quicken my pace that much more.

By the time I reached the door it was clear of ponies, that is to say, anypony who had any hope of escaping was already through. As I rushed beneath the threshold, I could see the ground continuing to break apart before me, the destruction was carrying on even into the courtyard. As I ran, I heard a deafening sound and glanced back in time to see the front wall of the Fort and the great double doors plunge into the earth, the ground ahead of me shattered and I could feel myself dropping even faster.

I leapt from one fragment of stone to the next, with every one I was sinking lower and lower, and still not close enough to the invisible line in the courtyard where the destruction ended and I would be safe. I was so close when the ground beneath my hooves gave out completely and I was standing on nothing but air, falling into the gaping crater left by the bombs, my forelegs scrabbling hopelessly for the solid ground that was mere feet beyond my reach and was already disappearing from view as I fell further and further down into the darkness of suffocating smoke and dust.

And then, as I pictured that section of solid ground in my mind with such ferocity and pumped every last ounce of energy I possessed into my horn in one last desperate attempt to survive, I was surrounded in a flash of blinding, blue light that swallowed my entire body. When it faded away, and I could feel myself once more, I was no longer falling into the abyss to my death; I was lying in a feeble heap in the courtyard. I coughed and gasped for air, nearly rolling over the edge and falling to my death a second time.

After quickly scuttling away from the precarious ledge, I could see the massive group of ponies that had gathered to witness the fall of Fort Mule, but I noticed many of them wore black Liberator armour. Perhaps my warnings hadn’t gone completely unheeded, and somepony had evacuated the Fort after all. One pony in particular pushed past the crowd and made their way over to where I lay, and I looked up weakly at Stranglethorn as he crouched down and scooped up my exhausted body. He carried me on his back away from the crater and through the crowds, all of whom were too distracted to pay us much heed.

Sufferthorn was waiting for us beyond the crowd, when she saw us approach and saw that I was still alive, she turned and led the way. I didn’t bother to question where we were going, I just closed my eyes and allowed the gentle rocking of Stranglethorn’s walking lull me to sleep.

Author's Note:

End of Part 5

Comments

[ErisVenatori]

You got me with the first part with the mare guardponies. Could feel the urgency in the chapter, one of my favorite.(Along with every other chapter...what? they're GOOD!)

Things are beginning to come together properly, maybe? Can never tell with you and your love for, things that come (mostly) out of nowhere.

Looking forward to the next part.Till next time!