Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Twilight felt her hair stand on end as the shrieks and screams echoed thinly through the still air. The sound was utterly chilling. There was terror there, and worse, the kind of sounds she’d never heard outside of really, really bad nightmares.
She staggered to her feet, shaking her head to try to clear away the shock of the unexpected attack. Had the rest of Ponyville been attacked, too? What’s happening? Who… or what… could be doing this?!
The unicorn stood frozen on her balcony, unsure of what she should do. The sudden attack had stopped, or at least she hoped it had, but those screams sounded bad. Should she run to help whoever was in trouble? Should she report the attack to the Princess first, maybe get help sent from Canterlot? It sounded like the screams were coming from the Cooldown party at the barn… should she go there first? Should she check on Rarity? Should she go find Nurse Redheart first, in case somepony was hurt? Wait, was Redheart supposed to be at the party? She couldn’t remember!
Twilight dithered for a few moments, fidgeting in place while she tried to decide on a course of action. Finally, she decided to head for Sweet Apple Acres; four of her friends were definitely there, and after she’d made sure they were okay, then they could all go find Rarity. She ran into the library, slamming the balcony door shut behind her, heading for the stairs down.
As she passed Spike’s basket (how in the world can he still be asleep?!) the little dragon rolled over and, without waking up, belched a gout of green flame that coalesced into a rolled-up scroll. Twilight skidded to a stop at the sight. A letter from the Princess? She felt a great surge of relief. Maybe she’s telling me what happened, and what I need to do! Twilight levitated the scroll up to eye level, unrolling it as she did so. She pushed a little bit of extra energy through her horn, causing it to cast enough light to read by.
In stark contrast to Celestia’s normal elegant script, this message had clearly been written in a terrible hurry. There were places in the letter where the quill had clearly run dry, and the Princess had simply re-inked the pen and continued with the next letter without re-scribing the one where the ink had run out. It spoke of extreme haste, and lent the message a spidery, scratchy appearance.
To my faithful student:
I sincerely hope this message finds you in good health. Something terrible has happened, Twilight. I do not have time to describe it now; Luna and I are working to stop its source, and when we are done, we will deal with its effects. The power you carry should render you immune to the most terrible of those effects, but be warned, my student, the same may not be true of all of Ponyville. I ask you to do your best to help any that might have been harmed… but stay away from anypony who is acting… unnaturally. I do not expect this to happen, but if it does, be careful. They could potentially be very dangerous, and I do not want you or your friends to come to harm. Either Luna or I will come to check on your town as soon as we possibly can; if anyone seems… dangerous… avoid them, isolate them and keep everypony else away from them until one of us arrives, if you can.
Your Teacher,
Celestia Invictus, Princess of Day.
Twilight flipped the scroll over, but there was no more to the message. She stared at the scroll blankly for a moment. Um. This may be worse than I thought. What does she mean by ‘the power I carry?’
She was standing in the dark, trying to compose her thoughts and fighting against the chill in her belly, when she heard a whoosh of displaced air and a heavy thump as something landed on the balcony she’d just left.
“Twilight! Twilight, are you home?!” The rough voice was clearly Rainbow Dash, but she sounded frantic, almost terrified. Twilight heard hooves pounding on the balcony door, and Spike pulled his pillow over his head with a sleepy grumble. “Oh, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon! You’ve gotta be home! Twilight!”
Twilight sprinted back to the balcony door and flung it open with a quick telekinetic shove, glad she hadn’t gotten far. The door barely missed the cyan-coated, rainbow-maned pegasus, who was panting slightly and shivering, her ears lying flat in distress. “Rainbow Dash? What’s wrong?”
“Ohmygosh, Twilight, I’m so glad you’re okay! I- I was at the party, you know, w- with Pinkie and A.J. and Fluttershy, and most of the town was there, and all of a sudden all the unicorns just started freaking out!” Rainbow started panting harder, her eyes huge, unshed tears glimmering in the moonlight. “I mean, they were all crying and screaming and falling down and, like, totally spazzing out! Some of ‘em started bleeding! And, and, then Hammer N’ Tongs, he, he,” Rainbow started hyperventilating. Her wings tucked tight against her sides, and she actually cringed slightly. Twilight was seriously starting to freak out herself, trying to imagine what could scare the normally cocky Dash this badly.
“Rainbow!” She interrupted, “Take a deep breath and calm down a little! I won’t know what you need me to do if you pass out!”
Rainbow took a couple of quick, deep breaths, then shook her head. “No time! Listen, you know Hammer N’ Tongs?” Twilight nodded; she’d met the big, dark yellow unicorn stallion a couple of times. He was a blacksmith, a slightly odd fellow who preferred to use the older methods of heating metal in a furnace and shaping it with hammer, anvil, and telekinesis. Rainbow continued before Twilight could say anything, her words running together as she spoke with frantic haste. “He didn’t fall down, he started acting crazy! Not, like, spazz-crazy like a lot of the other unicorns, l-like rabid crazy! He was standing up, but he was twitching, and his voice got all deep and spooky, and the stuff he was saying…” Rainbow sat back on her haunches, jamming her forehooves against her ears, “I couldn’t understand it, b- but the words hurt my ears! And it made some of the other unicorns scream louder! I… I think…” The pegasus bit her lip, hopping back to her feet, “I think one of ‘em actually died. Th- there was blood everywhere! It was coming out of her mouth and ears and eyes like a fountain!” Rainbow’s breath caught in a half-sob before she was able to push out the rest of her words, nervous tension causing her to almost dance in place. “Th- then he started this twitchy-walk, moving closer to some of the other ponies, and he was between everypony and the door so they can’t get out! A.J. yelled at me, told me to come find you! C’mon, you gotta get to the barn, like, now!”
A cold pit formed in Twilight’s stomach as she listened to the pegasus’s stammering, terrified account. One point stuck in her head. “It was just the unicorns?” Rainbow gave a quick, spastic nod. “Oh, no, Rarity!”
Rainbow looked sick. “Oh, Celestia, I didn’t even think! She’s off by herself in her shop!” She whirled around in an agony of indecision, starting to move in one direction, then freezing and darting in the other. They both heard the screaming from the barn intensify, despite the distance. Dash winced, starting to hyperventilate again. “Uh, uh, okay, I got an idea. They really, really need you at the barn. C-can you teleport that far? I can check on Rarity while you go help the others!”
Twilight shook her head. “I… don’t think I can teleport right now, Rainbow.” The local magic field felt seriously chaotic, and teleporting under these conditions could be fatally dangerous, even if it didn’t cause the kind of dimensional displacement several of her textbooks warned about.
Dash winced. “Uh, okay, new plan. I’ll carry you down there as fast as I can go, then I’ll come back here for Rarity.” Twilight hesitated, wanting to make sure her other friend was all right, and the pegasus evidently read her thoughts. She grabbed the unicorn’s face with both forehooves, staring Twilight in the eyes while speaking urgently. “Twi, Hammer N’ Tongs killed somepony by talking. None of us has any idea what to do, and you’re the only one with magic who can even walk right now! They need you there, right now! They need you sooner than now, c’mon, we’re going!” Rainbow’s wings unfurled and she took to the air, swooping down over Twilight. The pegasus wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s torso just behind her forelegs, easily lifting her friend off the ground. Twilight could feel the muscles shifting in Rainbow’s chest as she arrowed toward the barn at incredible speed, barely even seeming to notice the extra weight, even though Twilight weighed more than Dash herself did. Twilight forgot sometimes just how freaky-strong her rainbow-maned friend was; she was very nearly as strong as Applejack, in spite of the fact that the latter, as an Earth pony, had her inherent magic enhancing her strength and endurance.
In fact, if Hammer N’ Tongs was as dangerous as Celestia’s letter and Dash’s panicked story suggested, it might be a better idea not to have the pegasus take off immediately. Between the two of them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash should be able to overpower any one pony short of Celestia Herself without much trouble, and if Twilight could neutralize Hammer N’ Tongs’s magic, the two athletic ponies should be able to subdue him fairly easily. Dash wouldn’t be happy about leaving Rarity on her own, though.
She couldn’t say anything while they flew. The wind was whistling in her ears, and she doubted Dash would be able to hear a word she said.
Fortunately, the flight was a short one. Rainbow deposited Twilight in front of the barn, with horrible screams and shrieks still emerging from inside. The unicorn’s ears were flat to her skull at the thought of confronting the cause of those screams, but she knew she had to.
“Okay, Twilight, I’m gonna go check on Rarity.” The pegasus almost shot off again before Twilight’s interjection made her pause.
“Rainbow, wait! I might need your help in there!” Dash hovered in midair, uncertainly.
“B- but what if Rarity’s in trouble? She might be hurt!”
They heard Applejack shout something. A rending crash and a fresh chorus of screams erupted from the barn, followed by a deep, gurgling laugh. Both ponies flinched, looking at the closed door with huge eyes.
“I- Rainbow, I don’t want to leave Rarity alone, either, but if this is as bad as it sounds, I might need both your muscle and Applejack’s in there. Please?” Rainbow blinked a couple of times, before dropping to stand on the ground, stance firm.
“Right, Twilight, I’m with ya. But you gotta tell me the second you don’t need me here, okay?” Twilight nodded. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need Dash’s help at all, and the pegasus could go check on their missing friend… but she had the feeling that if she did wind up needing Rainbow, she might find herself in serious trouble if the pegasus wasn’t around.
Twilight flung open the door to reveal a scene of horror.
Several unicorns were still lying on the floor, spasming and shrieking. All of them were bleeding from the eyes and ears, and many were trying to cover their faces with their forehooves. The rest of the unicorns and Earth ponies in the barn were crowded up against the back wall, huddled together for protection, and most of the pegasi were trying to hide up in the rafters.
Applejack was pinned against a wall by a heavy, cracked table. She and her older brother Big McIntosh were shoving at it, trying to get the farmer free, but it was being held in place by a sickly pinkish-white glow. Pinkie Pie lay at the base of one of the barn’s support pillars, unconscious, while Fluttershy stood protectively over her, wings spread defensively even as she cringed in terror.
Hammer N’ Tongs was between all of them and the door. He had his back to Twilight and Rainbow, and was crouched in the middle of a huge pool of blood, over the motionless body of a unicorn mare named Fair Deal, a travelling merchant who’d stopped in Ponyville for the party. The blacksmith’s dark yellow coat was splattered with vivid red. Twilight noticed almost immediately that his cutie mark was wrong; it was normally an anvil, but what she could see of it now looked like a messy, eight-pointed star with a slit-pupiled eye in the middle! His head seemed to be prodding at Fair Deal’s belly, making disgusting chewing sounds, and he was… was he eating her?
Twilight felt her gorge rise, and heard Rainbow’s sharp intake of breath next to her. This was… it was obscene! “Hey!” she barked out, and Hammer N’ Tongs lifted his head and turned it to face her, his neck bending weirdly.
Twilight forgot the rest of what she’d been about to say. The unicorn stallion’s face was soaked in blood, and ragged strips of flesh dangled from his teeth. His eyes were terrifying; they looked like rippling pools of blood filled his eye sockets, bulging and swirling but somehow refusing to spill out. Past him, she could see that Fair Deal’s belly had been ripped open. The poor mare was almost certainly dead.
Rainbow gagged, and Twilight had to fight her own gag reflex as she tasted bile in the back of her throat. Hammer N’ Tongs laughed, the sound a deep, fruity chuckle.
“Oh, my. More guests. How… delicious.” His voice was a deep, smooth, velvety bass, which was wrong, as wrong as his twisted cutie mark! Hammer N’ Tongs had always had a light baritone, slightly harsh from all the smoke he’d inhaled at his forge!
“Twi! Get this here table offa me!” Applejack yelled, sounding strained. “He’s crazy, don’t let ‘im near ya!”
“Oh, come now little hayseed, you shouldn’t be rude.” Twilight heard the farmpony grunt in anguish as the table shoved against her harder. “You know perfectly well how to be urbane and polite. Such a shame you abandoned those manners and chose to be so crude. Going blindly through a dull life, like the simpleton you’ve become.” Hammer N’ Tongs rose as he spoke, looking less like a pony standing and more like a puppet being lifted by its strings. The effect was nightmarish, especially when combined with the blood still drooling from his muzzle.
“Leave her alone!” Twilight reached out with her own telekinesis to fight Hammer’s grip, grabbing the table that was pinning Applejack. To her surprise, the sickly pink glow evaporated in an instant with a scintillation of silver when her own power touched it. She took advantage of the unexpected lack of opposition to fling the table away from her friend and smash it into the blacksmith, sending him tumbling to fetch up against the opposite wall.
She looked to Applejack, who was being helped up by her brother. The orange earth pony was clearly favoring one side. Applejack winced slightly, shaking her head as Big McIntosh quietly asked her something. She didn’t seem badly hurt, though it was clear that she was injured.
Twilight rounded on Hammer N’ Tongs, who was rising to his hooves in that intensely creepy puppet-manner again, seemingly unbothered by the impact with table and wall. “W- what is wrong with you, Hammer? Why did you hurt Applejack? W… why were you… e- eating Fair Deal?!”
The blacksmith laughed again, the deep bubbling sound sliding across Twilight’s nerves like a naked blade. “Wrong with me?” He started walking very slowly toward her, jerking and twitching in a way that made him almost seem to flicker. “Why, nothing at all. Do I look ill? Should I seek a physician?” He bared bloodstained, flesh-spotted teeth in a vile grin, the pools of blood in his eye sockets swirling. “As for the orange one, I had only just begun to introduce her to the very crudest of pains. I thought she would feel a kinship with them, base and simple as she is.” His tone was dismissive as he continued to slowly close the distance between them, still leering at her. Twilight’s heart was hammering in her chest, but she took comfort in the tense presence of Rainbow Dash beside her. “But you! Oh! You proud little thing. No such base pains for you. No, no, I must introduce you to the more sophisticated pains. The gentle glide of a slender shard of glass through a single nerve. The slice of a razor as it passes slowly across an eye. Have you ever felt true pain, proud little thing?” The deep voice had dropped to a husky whisper that still somehow managed to carry easily to Twilight’s ears.
“Don’t you say things like that to Twilight, y’hear me monster?” Applejack wheezed slightly as she moved forward, Big McIntosh staying close to her and throwing nervous looks between her and Hammer N’ Tongs. “An’ I don’t know what you are, but I know durn well you ain’t Hammer. Twi, don’t listen to this thing, it’s a liar!”
“A liar? Me? Why, little hayseed, I’m hurt. Don’t you recognize my face? Did I not craft those horseshoes you wear? Have I not supplied your slowly failing farm with endless metalworks?” Hammer N’ Tongs… or whatever he was, shook his head with mock sadness. “Hush, now, I’m talking to your betters. I can batter your body and smash your bones any time. Perhaps later I’ll pluck your brother’s ribs out one by one while I make you watch?” Applejack stiffened and started to move protectively between Big McIntosh and Hammer N’ Tongs, but Mac blocked her path, leveling a steady glare at the mad unicorn. Hammer chuckled again. “Oh, you’re not scared now, big quiet one. You will be. Or perhaps…” The smooth voice trailed off as gory eyes peered back into the crowd. He licked his lips in an exaggerated, lascivious manner. “Perhaps your dear little sister. I see her pretty red bow back there…”
“Hey! Don’t you dare threaten Applebloom!” Applejack shouted, her voice harsh with rage, baring her teeth in a snarl and lurching into an unsteady charge toward Hammer N’ Tongs with Big Mac at her side.
Quick as a blink, a pair of mostly-full pitchers hurtled across the barn, slamming into the Apple siblings’ foreheads with the sounds of shattering glass. The impact sent Applejack’s hat flying, bouncing off the wall behind her and landing near Twilight and Rainbow. Twilight hadn’t had time to try and deflect the flying pitchers, and the two Earth ponies dropped to the floor, unconscious and bleeding where the broken glass had scored them. They skidded to a stop well short of the flickering figure of Hammer N’ Tongs, which was starting to look more and more… unreal. The unicorn stallion burst out laughing in deep, liquid chuckles.
“Applejack!” Both ponies shouted, seeing their friend drop. They started forward, but halted at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice.
“How dare you? How dare you hurt and scare everypony? I have half a mind to tell your mother what you’re on about, mister!” The normally shy yellow pegasus was glaring fiercely, teal eyes flashing as she advanced a couple of steps from where she’d stood over Pinkie’s unconscious form.
“Oh, not this again.” Hammer actually grinned in the face of a glare that had made cockatrices and mighty dragons back down. “I thought we had settled this last time, fragile cringing flower. Go ahead, bring my mother here. Tell her whatever you like. Then you can watch as I eat her eyes. Or perhaps… perhaps I could feed them to you?” Fluttershy faltered, her glare losing some of its burning intensity. Hammer licked his lips again with an obscene slurping sound. “Yeeees, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? That savage core of yours that you try so hard to hide would absolutely relish her agony, wouldn’t it? Oh my, yes. Why hide the truth any longer? You should be my ally here, cringing flower. I could bask in the light of your rage every time it flares up. Come now, stand here beside me. Such wonders I could show you. Such… mmm, sensations.” Fluttershy lost her momentum, glare failing against Hammer’s hideous, suggestive leer. Emitting a tiny squeak of terror, she folded in on herself, backing up until her rear hooves bumped against Pinkie. “No? Pity.”
“T- Twi, we gotta do something! We can’t let him keep doing this!” Rainbow’s voice was a strained whisper. “J-just tell me when, and I’ll go for him!”
Hammer’s deep, smooth, false voice cut in again before Twilight could reply. “Go for me, little coward? Don’t be silly. You’d have done it already, but you know you’d just fail. Again. Like you always do, when you aren’t cheating. And this time, your friends would pay for it.” The last sentence came out in a low hiss. The mad stallion began advancing toward the two friends, grinning horribly.
Twilight heard Dash make a tiny, strangled sound beside her. She turned to face the athletic pegasus, who was standing rigid. “Don’t listen to him, Rainbow Dash!” Dash started, blinking a tear out of her eye and shaking her head violently. Twilight rounded on Hammer. “Applejack was right! You’re a liar and you’re not Hammer! Hammer would never say those things, or… h-hurt ponies like you have!” Twilight gulped, carefully not looking at the torn corpse of Fair Deal.
“Oh, you don’t think so? I won’t lie; I’m not Hammer, but he’s still in here with me. Watching. Laughing. I couldn’t do any of this if he didn’t let me. He’s always hated you all, did you know that?” The… thing wearing Hammer’s face smirked, stepping closer all the while. “Oh, yes. The things he wanted to do to you, proud little thing, oh my. What I’m doing now… and what I’m going to do… is something he’s always dreamed of…”
The thing was closer than Twilight was comfortable with by now. She sensed Dash tensing beside her, but she acted before the pegasus could. “Stay back!” she yelled, horn glowing as she reached out to telekinetically shove the thing away.
She did not expect what happened next. As the light purple glow of her telekinesis touched Hammer N’ Tongs, there was a sharp crack of sound and a brilliant flash of silver light. The blacksmith was flung back into the wall of the barn so hard the wooden paneling cracked, and Twilight could smell the disturbing aroma of burnt meat. A fresh chorus of screams erupted, as the unicorns and Earth ponies on that side of the barn tried to crowd away from Hammer N’ Tongs’s still form. The unicorn academic gaped, aghast.
“Twilight, what did you do?” Dash’s voice was shocked. “I didn’t even think you knew spells like that!”
“I- I don’t! I don’t know what just happened!” She hadn’t meant to hurt Hammer! And she really didn’t know any combat spells; she had been just trying to shove him back, to give herself some breathing space! Oh no! Did I kill him?
Hammer’s body shifted. Dash made a disbelieving noise, and Twilight’s own reaction was mixed. She hadn’t killed him… but that meant he wasn’t gone.
Hammer twisted around, bringing his head into view, and Twilight felt nausea grip her stomach again. The silver blast had burned the skin and most of the flesh off of Hammer’s face, leaving a grinning pony skull leering at her with the swirling blood-pools of its eyes. Even as she watched, the skin began to re-grow, and Hammer’s body started to twist and re-shape itself, growing and warping, accompanied by the sickening crackle of breaking bones. Twilight took a few steps back, unnerved by the horror of it.
“Oh, now, that was hardly pathetic at all, proud little thing. Perhaps you have some reason for your pride.” The deep, smooth voice purred, somehow remaining unchanged even as Hammer’s muzzle elongated and warped, leaving his heat-blackened, shattered teeth spaced out in his larger jaw. There was a sharp crack as both of his forehooves shattered, the splintered fragments elongating to form jagged claws as his blood ran from the cracks. Twilight had no idea how he was doing that, but it was repulsive to watch a pony’s body mutilating itself that way. Beside her, Rainbow Dash finally lost control of her stomach, retching violently. Twilight maintained control of her own, if only barely.
The Hammer-thing regarded its newly-formed talons with evident satisfaction. “Of course, you realize what this means, proud little thing. What I will do to you for inflicting that indignity upon me. How I will wrench that precious horn of yours from your head, after nailing your little hooves to the ground.” It took a few steps toward her, moving in a weird, hunchbacked manner, half on four legs and half on two, and she quailed back, unsure of what to do. She didn’t want to hurt Hammer, if he was still in there at all. Though I’m really beginning to doubt that he is. “I will drive your own horn through that soft spot in the hollow of your throat, and watch you gag and choke as I slowly, oh so slowly push it in. Eventually, after a good, long while, it will pierce your brain, and only then you will die. But don’t worry; I’ll take my time about it.” The Hammer-thing ran its tongue across its ruined teeth and let out a revolting, rapturous sigh. “Your agony will be exquisite.” It flickered, and suddenly was standing right in front of her. She could smell rotten blood on its breath, it was so close. “And I shall savor every…”
“Get away from her!” Rainbow Dash snarled. The pegasus had evidently recovered most of her composure, and she’d had enough. She interposed herself between Twilight and the thing that had been Hammer, rearing back to shove it away with both forehooves. As her hooves made contact, there was another blast of sound and eruption of silver light, more intense than when Twilight had flung it away. The Hammer-thing screamed as the explosion flung it rolling across the floor, smashing against the wall where it had come to rest before. Rainbow’s hooves had caught it on the shoulder and half-ripped it apart; its right forelimb was torn free entirely, and its ribcage was open to the air, quivering organs inside its chest laid bare for all to see.
Rainbow froze, wings fanning to hold her in a bipedal stance, looking down at her forehooves in sick horror.
The Hammer-thing squalled, spitting and hissing like a massive, enraged cat. Light shone through tears in its form, a shining white that was somehow unclean, repulsive in its twisted purity. The monster’s flesh bulged, swiftly regrowing its missing limb and layering on sheets of muscle. Hundreds of long, needle-thin, transparent teeth extruded from its gums in a grotesque parody of growing plants as its jaw distended further. As its body expanded, bloating up hugely with muscle and fibrous tumors, it seemed to almost… lose focus. Twilight couldn’t see through it, but she felt like she should be able to, and its outline was somehow fuzzy, like she was seeing it out of the corner of her eye. A smell like nothing Twilight had ever experienced permeated the air. It smelled like… corrupt ozone was the only label Twilight could apply to it, though the appellation made little sense. Next to her, Dash looked from her hooves to Twilight and back, before dropping back to a firm four-footed stance and facing Hammer squarely again.
The monstrous Hammer-thing hurled itself back onto its feet, barely even resembling a pony any more. It looked more like a violently unnatural cross between a pony, an ape, and some hideous pelagic predator. “Grew a backbone, I see, little rainbow.” It spat, its smooth voice distorted by rage. “I will visit such transcendent ruin upon your flesh!” Its tongue was shredding on its forest of slender teeth as it roared, spittle, blood, and shreds of meat flying, “I will peel the skin from you and ravage your flayed body while you scream! I will strip your pretty little wings down to bones and use them to pick my teeth while I devour your entrails! And you will beg to die as my get rip their way free of you!”
Twilight could see Rainbow tremble slightly at the horrific threats, but the cyan pegasus stood firm in front of her. “Yeah, you talk big, chump. But I think talk’s all you got. You wanna go?” Rainbow glanced back over her shoulder, checking to make sure Twilight was okay with the idea.
The unicorn looked her friend in the eye and nodded. “Okay, Rainbow, whatever that is, I don’t think it’s got any of Hammer left in it. I’ll hold it, you hit it, as hard as you can.”
Dash nodded. “Right.” She turned back to the thing. “You wanna go? Let’s go!” She yelled, launching herself off the ground and arrowing toward the monster, accelerating as she went. Twilight’s horn glowed as she seized the thing in a firm grip. Where her telekinesis touched it, its twisted flesh erupted with dazzling silver light. This time, instead of just shoving it, she held it, and the monster let out an ear-rending screech as the shining silver rapidly ate away at its substance. It flailed in sudden desperation, trying to grab nearby objects with its telekinesis, but Twilight countered its power with her own, preventing the creature from lashing out.
Dash hammered into it an instant later, forehooves extended. The argent flash that resulted was blinding, stealing Twilight’s sight, and she heard a mighty thundercrack, followed by the slightly quieter thump of something hitting the barn wall, hard.
Twilight blinked, trying desperately to clear her vision of the purple blobs that obscured it, backing up and hoping the creature wouldn’t attack her while she was blinded.
Her vision cleared swiftly, but the creature was nowhere to be found. A large scorch mark was burned into the floor where she’d held the monster still, and Rainbow Dash was sitting on the floor, next to a large dent in the wall shaped suspiciously like the athletic pegasus’s head. Dash was wincing and gingerly rubbing her forehead with a forehoof; she’d evidently hurtled clear through the monster and slammed into the wall. Twilight was concerned for her, but not unduly so; Dash had a very hard skull. This wasn’t the worst crash she’d had, not by a long shot, and she’d probably be fine. Physically, at least.
Still, Dash was close at hoof, so she quickly stepped over, just to make sure. “Rainbow Dash? Are you alright?” Twilight reached out to touch the pegasus’s foreleg. To her surprise, Dash flinched violently away before Twilight could touch her, sudden fear written on her face.
“Nonono, don’t touch me, Twilight!” At the unicorn’s shocked look, she continued, “I dunno how I hurt Hammer like that, b-by just touching him! I don’t want to hurt you, too!”
That was a good point, actually. Twilight had no idea how she and Rainbow had damaged the Hammer-thing so terribly without even meaning to. “Rainbow… are you hurt?”
“N- no, not really.” Dash’s voice was a little shaky. “Thumped my head pretty good, but I should be fine. Twilight… did…” She gulped. “Did I just kill Hammer N’ Tongs?”
“I think we both did, Rainbow.” Twilight answered, quietly. The fact that she might have killed somepony was gnawing at her too, but she absolutely had to hold together for now. There were ponies that needed her. She hoped Rainbow would be able to similarly hold on. “But I think we had to. You saw what he did to poor Fair Deal. And to Applejack and Big McIntosh. You heard what he said to the two of us, and to Applejack and Fluttershy, and I think he hurt Pinkie Pie, too. S- something was wrong with him, something really bad, and I don’t think we had another choice. Someone had to stop him.”
“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded miserably, looking sick. She closed her eyes and shivered for a moment before visibly pulling herself together. “And we stopped him, alright. I’ll… I might be okay with it later, but right now? Heh, n- not so much.” She swallowed hard, then sat up suddenly, though the motion caused her to wince. “Oh, horseapples, Rarity! You got things here, Twilight?”
Twilight looked at the still-moaning unicorns scattered about the floor, (at least they weren’t screaming any more) and the ponies staring at her and Rainbow wide-eyed from the back of the barn and the rafters. There was a subtle wobble in Rainbow’s voice that seriously worried her, but there were things they both needed to do. “I think so… I don’t see anything else wrong, at least. Could you check the other homes, too, and make sure nopony else is hurt?”
Dash started to give a firm nod, but checked the motion almost immediately, rubbing at her head again. “Ow. Sure thing.” She heaved herself up to all fours and spread her wings, turning to the door.
Twilight stepped in front of her, concerned. “Rainbow… are you sure you’re all right?”
The pegasus nodded carefully. “I told you, Twilight, I’m fine!”
“Oookay. Be careful, and listen, come back as soon as you can, okay? I could still use your help, and I think we both need to talk about… you know.” The unicorn tilted her head toward the scorch mark. “And keep an eye out for the Princesses; I got a letter just before you showed up on my balcony saying that one of them would be coming by.” Twilight hoped that reminding Rainbow that she was still needed would help the pegasus hold off her shock.
“Right. Check on Rarity, look for anypony who’s hurt, keep an eye out for the Princesses, and be back here as quick as I can.” Rainbow flashed a wan grin. “Easy peasy. I’ll be back in no time.” Twilight moved aside and the pegasus took to the air, shooting out the door and into the dark.
Shoving her concern about her rainbow-maned friend to the back of her mind, she turned to the ponies left in the barn. “Is anypony hurt?” There was a generalized murmur that seemed to indicate a negative, before one voice spoke up.
“Twilight? What happened?” The question came from a cream-coated earth pony mare with a pink and blue mane and tail. She was standing over a mint-green unicorn mare that lay curled up and shivering on the floor, as though she intended to shield the unicorn with her body.
“I’m not sure, Bon-bon.” Hmmm… if the unicorns here are suffering from the attack I felt earlier, maybe they’ve got cracks in their mental shields? It would explain why only some of the unicorns were still down; those would be the ones who’d taken actual mental damage, while the others had either successfully defended themselves, or had already managed to pull themselves back together. Twilight hoped the damage to the unicorns’ minds was repairing itself; none of them were screaming anymore and most looked to be recovering, now that Hammer was… gone. Wait, could it have been Hammer causing the damage? Was that why the effects on the unicorns here seemed so much worse than what she’d experienced? “I’ll tell everypony as soon as I find out. Is Lyra okay?”
Bon-bon whispered a quick question to her mint-colored friend. At the answer, Bon-bon dropped to the ground, embracing the unicorn. “She says she’s feeling better.” The earth pony mare began gently wiping away some of the drying blood that had leaked from the corners of the unicorn’s golden eyes.
“Alright, everypony.” Twilight addressed the crowd in the barn. “I think the worst of the crisis is over. I’ll need some of you to check on the ponies who are still down. The rest of you, please move outside so there’s less crowding here in the barn, but stay nearby just in case something else happens. Is Nurse Redheart here?”
“I’m here, Twilight.” A white mare with light pink hair shouldered her way out of the crowd. She made her way over to the body of Fair Deal, stepping gingerly in the lake of blood surrounding her. As the rest of the crowd began to tentatively move outside, carefully not looking at the torn unicorn, Redheart checked Fair Deal’s pulse, resting her muzzle on the unicorn’s neck. She shook her head sadly, and gently closed Fair Deal’s staring eyes.
The medical pony walked over to Twilight, leaving bloody tracks on the floor of the barn as she did so. The rest of the ponies continued to exit the building, though several paused to check on friends that still lay on the floor. In an undertone, the nurse said, “I’m sorry for not stepping forward sooner. I was trying to help some of the unicorns who collapsed, just before Hammer… went wrong. After that, I was just so scared…”
“It’s okay.” Twilight interjected, “I think we were all scared. Do you have any idea what might have happened to Hammer N’ Tongs?”
Redheart shook her head. “I’ve never even heard of anything like that. There are a few serious psychomagical disorders that could possibly have explained some of his behavior and movements, and possibly what happened to his eyes, but certainly not those extreme physical changes toward the end… or the fact that his cutie mark changed the way it did.” The nurse closed her eyes for a moment. “Hammer was always very conscientious about his health; he came in for checkups regularly. There were occasionally minor maladies, generally related to smoke inhalation or mild burns, but there was never any sign of anything serious being wrong with him, certainly nothing like that.”
“Okay, Nurse Redheart. Thank you.” Twilight watched Bon-bon carefully help Lyra to her feet. “I think the other unicorns are recovering on their own, but Applejack and Big McIntosh were knocked unconscious, and I’m not sure what happened to Pinkie Pie. I’m going to go speak to Fluttershy, so would you please check on the Apples?”
Redheart nodded, and walked over to examine the Apple siblings. Twilight, moving against the push of the dwindling crowd, made her way over to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The sweet-voiced yellow pegasus was huddled over the unconscious pink Earth pony. She was sobbing quietly, her eyes squeezed shut, but even though the monster that had been Hammer had utterly terrified her, she was still trying to protect Pinkie with her own body.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight kept her voice soft, trying not to further frighten her friend. “Fluttershy, can you tell me what happened?” She carefully stroked Fluttershy’s mane with her forehoof.
The pegasus lifted her head to look at Twilight, still half-hiding her face behind her long pink mane. Her teal eyes were reddened from crying. “Oh, Twilight, it was awful! Right after Rainbow Dash left to go find you, Hammer N’ Tongs started saying the most horrible things. He- he was so mean!” Fluttershy sniffed, and Twilight embraced her friend, trying to lend the pegasus strength. “Then Pinkie Pie… she said he was being silly, and just trying to scare everypony, and she started laughing at him! A-and then... then Hammer screamed, and this silver light started burning him!” Twilight wondered what that silver light could possibly be. And why had it hurt Hammer so badly, when they were only trying to subdue him? And why would Pinkie laughing at him have hurt him? Curiosity gnawed at her. Oblivious to the lavender unicorn’s thoughts, Fluttershy was continuing. “And when he screamed, this table… it came out of nowhere and hit Pinkie! I- it hit her so hard!” The memory overwhelmed Fluttershy, and she sobbed incoherently for several moments. Twilight continued to hold the yellow mare, looking Pinkie Pie over as she did so. The pink earth pony had a nasty bruise on the side of her head, and what looked like some contusions on her back and side. Twilight could see tufts of pink hair clinging to the pillar Pinkie was lying at the base of. The earth pony must have been flung through the air, striking the support and falling at its base. Fluttershy confirmed the suspicion when she regained her voice. “W- when the table hit her, it threw her into the post, there, right next to me, and she didn’t get up. Th… the noise she made when she hit… I asked Hammer, I pleaded with him not to hurt anypony else, but he just laughed at me and called me weak, and pathetic. I- I got mad, b-because he was hurting ponies and wouldn’t stop, and I even used the Stare on him, but it didn’t work! It was like he liked it! A- and then… then he said these horrible things to me, and Applejack got mad too, and she started yelling at him, and then that table came around a-and smashed her into the wall!” Fluttershy fought off more sobs. “And then he started making fun of her, and, and, and…” The pegasus’s teal eyes got wide, “And he went over to Fair Deal and started chewing on her belly! Ponies… we don’t do that! Wolves or... Or bears or something yes, but… not ponies!”
“And that’s when Rainbow Dash and I came in.” Fluttershy nodded, and Twilight stroked her pink mane, trying to calm the traumatized pegasus. “It’s okay now, Fluttershy. It’s over, and Hammer’s… gone. He won’t hurt anyone else. As soon as Nurse Redheart is finished checking on Applejack and Big McIntosh, she’ll come over here and help Pinkie. It’s all going to be okay. All right?” Fluttershy nodded, miserably.
Releasing the pegasus, Twilight made her way back over to Nurse Redheart. The mare had just finished checking over Applejack and Big McIntosh. “How are they, nurse?”
“They’ll both be all right, thank Celestia. I had to remove a few glass slivers, but none got in their eyes and their skulls are intact. They might have mild concussions, but that should be all.” Twilight stroked Applejack’s blonde mane, as Redheart walked off to go check on Pinkie. A voice behind her made the unicorn start slightly.
“You done good, youngun.” Turning, Twilight found herself looking into the rheumy eyes of Granny Smith. The green earth pony mare was one of the oldest ponies Twilight had ever met, and she looked it. Her voice was firm right now, though it carried the weight of years, and her accent was even thicker than her granddaughter’s. “I figgered nopony else woulda said anythin’, so’s I reckon it’s up to me.” There was a steely glint in those ancient eyes. “You an’ yer friends done us all proud, all a’ ya, an’ I don’t think I ever been prouder a’ my kin.” Granny Smith looked down at Applejack and Big Mac warmly, gently stroking the younger mare’s freckled cheek with one arthritic forehoof. “She was a’ holdin’ that crazy unicorn’s attention, ya know, keepin’ him thinkin’ ‘bout her, ‘steada hurtin’ somepony else, and Big Mac was right there supportin’ her. Pinkie an’ Fluttershy did it too. Took guts.” She turned to meet Twilight’s eyes. “An’ so did stoppin’ him. Wish I coulda done it; I was with Miss Cheerilee, keepin’ the little ’uns outta the way.” She shook her head, bitterness creeping into her voice. “Not that these brittle old bones woulda held up long, anycase. But you an’ Rainbow stopped him. I know yer both upset ’bout the way ya had t’ do it, you’d have ta be crazy not to be. But let me tell you right now, ya did the right thing, and don’t you let nopony tell ya different, not even yerselves.” The old mare poked Twilight in the chest, emphasizing her words. Her tone turned gentle. “I thank ya fer helpin’ my kin, and my friends n’ neighbors, and you tell young Rainbow to come talk t’ me when she gets back, so’s I can tell her the same. Iffen she can stand still long ‘nuff, a‘course.” Twilight nodded, bemused, treasuring the thanks of the unexpectedly steely old mare. She received a single, curt nod in return. “Alright. I’mma go thank Fluttershy, an’ wait fer Pinkie to wake up so’s I can thank her too. We all owe ya, all a’ ya, an’ some of us ain’t never gonna ferget that. You ever need anythin’ from the Apple family, sugarcube, you come an’ tell me.” Granny Smith nailed the unicorn with another fierce look, before turning and slowly walking over to where Nurse Redheart was checking over Pinkie and Fluttershy.
Bemused, Twilight turned to organizing the shocked residents of Ponyville, hoping to see who was most affected so she could make sure they got help. She hoped the Princess arrived soon; she felt like she really needed to know what had happened.
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Ah, the wonders of the warp.
Welcome to hell, Equestria.
THESE FOOLISH MORTAL PONIES DON'T STAND A CHANCE... TZEENTCH WILL COME SOON AND WHEN HE DOES... THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!!
Confused out of my bleeding mind? Hells yes.
Reading it anyway because that's how I felt the first time reading The Dread Chitin, and that one made it into my top 5. Also, dat RD tag makes me think she plays a significant role here, which is usually a prerequisite of my enjoying a story. ONWARD!
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THESE FOOLISH INVADERS DUN GOOF'D WHEN THEY RIPPED THE VEIL, AND THE PRINCESSES ARE GONNA SIC THE SPACE POLICE ON THEIR ASSES... THE CONSEQUENCES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!!
Well, it's official.
Every story you write is just pure awesome.
I mean, I didn't plan on reading this because it was unrelated to your other two.
But I am damn happy I decided to check it out while waiting on Outside the Reaching Sky.
Oh my stars, am I seeing things right?
"Bemused, Twilight turned to organizing the shocked residents of Ponyville, hoping to see who was most affected so she could make sure they got help. She hoped the Princess arrived soon; she felt like she really needed to know what had happened."
Someone actually used bemused correctly?
This one should get a fav just for that
If this is what gets a Teen for gore, I really don't want to know what Mature is. 5/5
, and a tentative like for actually handling the violence well and not just using it to be gross.
Wish I found this earlier its great.
Slitted eye...chaos star...Hammer was possessed by a Daemon of Tzeentch? If so, what kind? I doubt it was a Lord of Change.
okaaaay, now I'm starting to get doubts about chaos four. I thought that nurgle and slaanesh (kinky sex is good, tortures are nope) are two big huge giant NOPEs, while khorne is kinda OK if you don't slip into bloodrage berserker insanity and tzeench is a bro man dude who is big on magic, learning and intrigues. guess actual version is way less vanilla than I've imagined.
3348280 my bet on slaanesh
To get an idea of what these...things are like, Cenobites are toddlers to them.
Think of the most evil,vile, depraved you can come up with, and then try harder.
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Me too, absent Duke.
I don't think I've ever enjoyed - for a given value of enjoy - anything 40K, mostly because I've been soured by a ton of shit-writers. This however, this actually made me cringe (as it should), I think I might've been emphatically crying with Twi just a little without realizing it too. That was some fine writing, perhaps even better than Dread Chitin...maybe...?
This is good.
Unicorns being psykers, and are, consequently, sensitive to the Warp. I like.
Also, daemonhosts....
Damn, the scene with Granny Smith was powerful. As well as dread I felt at the last sentence of the prologue was too much.
*straps in seatbelt* This is going to be a taxing ride and Im not sure if my feels will be intact by the end of it.
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Might be a late comment, but I write this from perspective of not having a spoiler yet. There is no s distinctiveign of Slaanesh, rather Khorne. And by all means, Slaanesh may enter scene in more subtle way, in shadows.. Rarity, sadly might be Tempted, because Slaanesh is God of Perfection.
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bemused got two meanings... curiously, bemusingly got only one.
"Hell is just a word. The reality is much, much worse" - Event Horizon
Chapter 2 so far and it's impressive.