Chapter 4: Blood and Rain
Chapter 4: Blood and Rain
Some swiftly analytical part of Heimlich’s brain calculated probable injuries before his head even hit the rough floorboards of the bedroom. Broken lower lip, two loose molars, likelihood of severe bruising, but his jaw wasn’t broken. Chance of minor concussion as well, but that could be worried about later, when he didn’t have a insane, violent young mare trying to brain him with a candlestick.
Autumn Leaf, sweat dripping from her pallid face, held the candlestick firmly in her mouth while breathing heavily, her eyes wide but dilated to the point where they appeared wholly black. She lunged for Heimlich in a sharp and jerking motion, smashing with the improvised weapon, and though still dazed the trained Legionnaire had enough instinct to roll away from the blow. He reached for his dagger with his magic, clearing it from the hilt in one smooth motion, but Autumn moved with speed utterly unlike that of a normal young mare and barreled into him before he could bring the dagger to bear on her. Her strength was also unreal, and he felt the air blast from his lungs as he was thrown into, then through, the door and out into the hallway in a heap.
He coughed and sputtered, trying to regain his breath. He’d lost the magical grip on his dagger, which clattered to the ground, and he had no time to pick it up as Autumn leaped at him. He reacted reflexively, kicking up with his hind hooves, catching her in the belly and throwing the filly backwards. Unusually strong or not, she still only weighed as much as a short young mare ought to. She slammed against the wall back in the bedroom and Heimlich clambered back to his hooves just as the door down the hall to his left was thrown open and Snakebite came out, having drawn one of his own machetes.
“The bloody abyss is going on!?” Snakebite hissed, eyes widening at the sight of Autumn Leaf, “What’s she doing out of the bed!?”
“It would seem the grandmother’s stories were not exaggerations,” Heimlich replied grimly, “The young filly seems quite mad.”
Sterngaze’s voice called from downstairs, “What’s happening up there!?”
Before either Legion pony could answer, Autumn Leaf shuffled to her hooves from where she’d fallen against the wall, and twisted her head around to stare at Heimlich and Snakebite with a wide, unnatural smile. She spoke, but her voice sounded wrong, not like the feverish filly she was supposed to be, but rather with the guttural, resonate tone of something otherworldly.
“The path will be opened to the Origin. The children will return to be made whole.”
She suddenly went into wracking coughs, then, and viscous, blood strewn bile dripped from her mouth, and for an instant her eyes blinked, almost returning to normal along with her voice, which became weak and frightened. “H-help me...”
Then another blink and the eyes were dilated to full black again, and with an unearthly howl Autumn Leaf smashed the window next to her and started to crawl through it.
“Shit!” Snakebite rushed forward, trying to grab her before she could get through, but a kick from one of her hindlegs knocked him back. Heimlich leveled his horn towards her, charging up a small, thin beam of stunning energy, but Autumn Leaf, fast as a slippery eel, popped through the window and Heimlich’s beam passed through shadow into the raging storm outside.
“By all the stones in the earth somepony tell me what’s happening here!” bellowed Sterngaze as he rushed up the stairs and then reached the bedroom, staring in complete surprise at the broken window and empty bed where his daughter has just been.
Heimlich swore under his breath and helped Snakebite up, who was looking more than a little frazzled. “We need to find her. Now!”
“No shit. Let’s go!” Snakebite said, turning to gallop out. Sterngaze tried to stand in his way with a half asked question, but Snakebite cut him off, “Your daughter just went whackjob on us and jumped out the damn window! So before you ask any stupid questions, we have to find her and subdue her before she runs into too many of our comrades, because if she’s out to kill, there’s plenty in our platoon that’ll kill first and ask questions later! So if you want your daughter back alive, rouse your militia, and help us find her!”
Sterngaze sputtered, blinked, visibly tried to take control of his emotions as he absorbed what he’d just been told, then quickly nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. Heimlich, get to the Captain, let her know what’s up. I’ll try and track the girl before she gets her crazy ass killed.”
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On the south side of Victor’s Cliff Trixie trotted alongside Coco. Trixie had put up a light shield spell, just strong enough to keep the rain off of her and her earth pony companion. At the same time she had her horn lit up to illuminate the area around them in pale blue luminescence, though it only did so much to pierce the rain soaked night. Trixie kept looking at each patch of shadow with suspicious eyes, practically expecting a Lurker to leap out at them at any given moment.
“You’re tense...” Coco observed, adjusting the straps to the claymore on her back for maybe the tenth time since they started their patrol. Trixie glanced at her.
“So are you.”
Coco blinked, then gave a small smile, “True. This reminds me too much of Arrow Vale.”
“Admittedly when we went there the town was already hit by Lurkers. So far there’s no sign of them here, unless the condition of that poor filly is their fault. Trixie somehow doubts it.”
“Why’s that?”
Trixie shined her horn down an alley between buildings, seeing a small, startled black cat give a hiss and bound off into the night. “All we’ve seen the Lurkers do is capture ponies for food. Making random fillies sick doesn’t fit their established methods.”
“Trixie, they’re giant underground spiders we’ve only run into once so far. I don’t think we can assume anything about their methods, one way or another,” said Coco as she peered around a street corner towards the north. “I hope Allie Way is doing okay.”
“Hm? Trixie imagines she’s just fine.”
“I don’t know, I worry about her.” Coco pursed her lips with a pensive look, “Its hard to put my hoof on, but I feel like maybe when she volunteered to join the Underwatch it was... for the wrong reasons?”
“Trixie has literally no clue what you’re talking about,” Trixie said, blowing out a slightly annoyed sigh as she and Coco swung north. They’d reached the far eastern half of the town and the plan was to move along the wall north, then switch back south once they’d checked the northeast area. “Allie Way wanted to stick with us, her friends, right?”
“Yeah, I mean sure, that too, but I... gah, I don’t know. Its just this feeling I have. A hunch. I spent years working for this mare named Suri, and she drove me up a wall, but I had a real knack for telling when she was in a bad mood or being bothered by something. I’ve been getting the same feeling from Allie. Like she’s on constant edge.”
“As you just pointed out, so are the rest of us,” said Trixie, “Stop worrying so much. At least, no more than our situation warrants.”
There was a crash of lightning and thunder from above and Trixie nearly jumped out of her leather battlemage coat, mane standing on end. Coco looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and Trixie grimaced, “Trixie demands that you did not see her jump out of her socks at bad weather.”
“You’re not wearing socks.” Coco rubbed her chin in thought, “Though I can see you looking good in them.”
Trixie was about to retort to that, but a shadow crossed the edge of her pool of blue light and she froze. It was hard to make out through the rain and gloom, but it looked like a young filly stumbling out from behind one of the town’s many tall houses. She moved in strange, jerking lopes, swift yet erratic. Trixie could hear a bubbling, unnatural laughter filling the air and when the filly turned to look at Trixie and Coco, Trixie let out a gasp.
The fillies face was bleeding from the eyes and mouth, but she was grinning in rictus madness, her pupils dilated to be like large, dark stones.
“Sweet Celestia...” Coco breathed, “M-miss? You look injured. Um, perhaps you should follow us somewhere indoors where it’s dry?”
“Coco, I don’t think she’s listening,” Trixie said, fear washing away her third-person as she took a hesitant step forward, readying her horn to cast some offensive magic. She had to drop her rain shield for that, letting the heavy, cold droplets start soaking her and Coco. Her fears proved accurate when the filly, whom she presumed to be Autumn Leaf, the mayor’s daughter, cackled like a madmare and rushed them.
Trixie lowered her horn and channeled magic swiftly through it. She wasn’t the most powerful of unicorns, as she often preferred to boast, but she was far from unskilled and had made it a point to refine her technique on Legion battlmagic with help from Coldiron. Fire and ice were not much her forte, but she found she had a bit of a affinity for lightning. Not surprising given the only combat spell she’d known even before joining the Legion had been to summon a small cloud to toss a bolt of lightning. This time however the electricity channeled its way up her horn to form in a blue spark at its tip, unleashing in a small but highly accurate lance of flashy but mostly non-lethal power.
The standard Legion version of the spell was a lot more... violent. Trixie had refined it for the purpose of stunning a target. She was rather proud of it. At least until it hit Autumn Leaf and seemed to slow the filly down about as much as spitting at her would have.
Trixie would have felt disappointed and even a bit insulted if Autumn Leaf also didn’t bowl right into Coco and toss the much larger earth pony aside like she weighed about as much as the average balloon.
“What the-!?” Trixie managed to gasp out before she too was rammed into and tossed into a nearby bunch of bushes beside one of the homes across the street. Her ribs ached and she lost her breath, seeing starbursts in her vision. She rolled out of the bushes, spitting twigs, and in a daze stumbled to her hooves and looked around for the filly.
Autumn Leaf was advancing on Coco, who had gotten to her hooves faster than Trixie had and had unsheathed her claymore from the scabbard on her back. However Coco looked hesitant to use the large, deadly blade on the young mare in front of her. She looked past Autumn Leaf to Trixie with desperate eyes, and Trixie remembered the reason each patrol team had a unicorn on it.
She lit up her horn and sent up the flare, a bright shining blue burst of light that anypony would be able to see, even in the darkness of this bleak night. Hopefully help would arrive swiftly, but for at least a few minutes Trixie and Coco would be on their own. Clearly something was grossly wrong with Autumn Leaf, but to make things far worse whatever was wrong with her was also giving her freakish strength. Trixie knew she could overly boast about her abilities, but she knew her stun spell should’ve been able to drop a healthy adult earth pony, let alone a sick filly! Something was very wrong here. Coco might’ve had her sword out, but it was clear she wasn’t willing to use it if it risked hurting the filly.
Autumn Leaf clearly had no such hesitation, as she crouched down like a timberwolf and pounced at Coco, lashing out with a hoof. Coco side stepped, raising the flat of her sword to deflect the attack, but the impact was so strong it knocked Coco completely off balance. The filly’s face was a distorted mask of madness, blood dripping from her lips as she raised hooves to bash at Coco, but Trixie cast another flare, this time aiming it right into Autumn Leaf’s face. The burst of azure light and sound distracted the filly just long enough for Coco to launch into a tackle, catching the smaller mare in the middle and bowling her over.
Trixie stumbled forward, ready to try and bind Autumn Leaf with magic, but the filly writhed underneath Coco like a hyperactive snake, her mouth opening so wide Trixie thought her jaw might unhinge. A screech of utterly unnatural noise issued forth from Autumn Leaf’s mouth, and she clamped her jaw round Coco’s leg. Her teeth couldn’t penetrate Coco’s armor, but with a vicious twist of her head Autumn Leaf threw Coco off her and launched the mare into Trixie, sending both tumbling to the ground.
“W-what in Celestia’s name is wrong with her!?” Coco said, shaking her head and rolling to her hooves, keeping her grip on her sword while helping Trixie up with her other hoof.
“How am I supposed to know!? Trixie has never seen anything like this!” Trixie exclaimed back while Autumn Leaf slowly turned towards the two mares.
“She can change all of us, but she wants her children back inside the Origin.” said Autumn Leaf in a voice that made it sound as if her throat was choked with fluids. There was a wet ripping noise as Autumn Leaf raised a hoof, and Trixie felt herself grow nauseous as she saw the flesh ripple like water, then begin to peel back in red, raw ravines as what looked like spurs of curved bone extended from the filly’s fore leg. Similar ripples could be seen tracing all over her body, but at the same moment Autumn Leaf shuddered, and coughed up blood, her eyes flickering almost to a normal sheen.
“...Hel..p...stop...me...” she gurgled, before her eyes flickered back to black and she cackled instead, leaping at Trixie and Coco.
Trixie tensed to dodge, but a sphere of glowing blue magic, like a flying bowling ball, slammed into Autumn Leaf’s side and knocked the filly to the ground in a heap.
“Trixie! Coco!” Allie Way cried, galloping up towards them, the huge dark form of Blackwall galloping by her side like a moving boulder. While Allie Way skidded to a halt beside Trixie and Coco, her own horn still glowing with magic, Blackwall kept going, head lowered like a battering ram as she aimed for Autumn Leaf, who was just starting to stand back up. Blackwall hit the filly like a train, and Trixie winced at the nose of crunching bones as Autumn Leaf was sent flying into the wall of a house across the street.
“Blackwall, we need to capture her alive!” shouted Coco, “She needs our help!”
Blackwall didn’t look back, keeping her eyes fixed on Autumn Leaf as she said with cold certainty, “She can live with a few broken ribs. I’m not taking chances.”
There was suddenly an entire wave of tearing, wet noises of ripping flesh, followed by a sound of both howling and cackling, as Autumn Leaf convulsed where she fell. Trixie swallowed hot bile rising in her throat as she saw one, two, three, then four limbs tear themselves out of the filly’s sides. They were long, sinuous, multi-jointed legs with sharpened points at the ends, glistening with fresh, wet chitin. Trixie recognized them, as did the others, as she heard Coco breath out in fresh fear, “Those are Lurker legs...”
“It can’t be. That’s insane. She can’t be turning into a Lurker!” Trixie said, feeling a spike of fear as Autumn, or whatever the thing Autumn was becoming, let out a shriek at the ponies in front of her, then with speed not unlike the giant spiders themselves, crawled right up the side of the house and vanished over the roof.
“Shit, after her!” Blackwall bellowed, breaking into a gallop.
After only a moment of hesitation, Trixie, Allie Way, and Coco followed the large mare in pursuit of the still changing filly. They could barely keep her in view, despite the thick rain and cloaking darkness of night. Trixie and Allie Way both kept their horns shining brightly, aiming them like spotlights at Autumn Leaf’s form as she skittered from rooftop to rooftop, using the spurs of bone jutting from her still pony shaped limbs as much as her new arachnid appendages to leap gaps between houses. Lightning kept flashing in the rain choked sky, and in the distance there was the clamor of a bell being rung, and the growing shouts of ponies being roused. The whole town was being alerted, but Trixie didn't think it'd be in time to be of any use.
“Allie Way,” Trixie said between panting breaths, “On the next jump grab her legs with your magic!”
“Which ones!?” the other unicorn shouted back breathlessly.
“Any of them! All of them!” Trixie shouted back, just as Autumn Leaf jumped across the space of the last street between the houses of Victor’s Cliff and the town’s wall. Trixie aimed her magic as best she could, wreathing as many of Autumn Leaf’s legs as she could with her own magic, while Allie Way skidded to a halt and did the same. The mutating filly was caught in mid-air, trapped with multiple auras of magic around her flailing limbs.
Autumn Leaf let out a horrific wail, something a pony’s throat shouldn't have been able to utter, and twisted around in the air, trying to escape. However holding her in place was nowhere near as easy at it might have looked. Maintaining a strong telekinetic hold, especially over someone who was resisting, was no simple feat. Between Trixie and Allie Way’s combined efforts they were able to stop and hold her for a few moments, long enough for them to catch up to her, but that was it. In seconds Autumn Leaf slipped free of the magical auras trying to hold her and fell to the dirt street near the wall with a splash, but deftly landed on her legs like a crouching spider.
Coco and Blackwall flanked her on either side, both earth pony mares advancing slowly. Autumn Leaf coughed and sputtered mad laughter as she watched the approach.
"Embrace the change, we can all be her children-" Autumn Leaf's lips twisted as she seemed to fight for control of herself, her eyes briefly lashing to normal as she desperately forced words out, "Don't... let... stop... me..."
A hissing snarl tore itself from her throat as her eyes went back to black, "This body is hers! Your bodies will belong to the Origin too!"
“Should we get a net, or something?” Coco asked hesitantly, but Blackwall, face rough as hewn obsidian, just shook her head.
“No time. You heard her. We must stop her from escaping. Stay back, and I shall take the burden of ending this.”
“But-” Coco began to say, yet before she could finish Autumn Leaf hissed and darted between them. Blackwall swung one of her fore legs like a club, the metal gauntlet on her limb making it a deadly weapon with her amount of physical strength, but Autumn Leaf’s speed was even greater now as her body continued to change. Now an extra set of blackened, bead-like eyes existed above her original set, and Trixie could see the beginnings of fangs sharpening within the filly’s mouth as the increasingly ex-filly tripped Coco with one of her many Lurker shaped legs, and then darted for Allie Way.
Allie Way froze up, eyes wide as saucers, and Trixie turned to throw another stunning bolt of electricity, pumping as much power as she could into it. The streaking line of lightning struck Autumn Leaf, but didn’t stop her from leaping upon Allie Way, who cried out as Autumn Leaf tried to snap her newly formed fangs towards the mare’s neck. Allie Way only barely fended the fangs off with her magic pushing Autumn Leaf back. She couldn't hold the fangs at bay for long, the sharp points, dripping fresh poison, inching closer to Allie Way's exposed throat.
Then Blackwall was there like a dark mountain, raising up on her hind legs. Trixie saw a flash of lightning in the sky that illuminated the mare’s face, cold and hard as stone, but with a look of saddened pain buried within her eyes as she brought both of her gauntleted hooves down hard on the back of Autumn Leaf’s head. There was a sound like a breaking watermelon, and then Autumn Leaf’s body slumped over Allie Way. The filly wouldn’t be getting back up that night, or ever again.
When Snakebite arrived on the scene a few minutes later Trixie was still throwing up nearby, Coco was staring at Blackwall with wide eyes, and Allie Way hadn’t moved a muscle, sitting stock still with Autumn Leaf’s blood still coating some of her face despite the deluge of rain.
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Windstriker had been through plenty of rough spots in her career with the Legion. You didn’t hit the rank of Captain, let alone become a member of the Special Operations unit, without having seen a lot of the worst Legion life had to offer. Death was hardly new to her. Seeing grieving parents was something she’d long since grown accustomed to, both when delivering the sad news when she’d lost members of her command, or just the sight of it when passing through a town that had been hit hard by one of the Legion’s many enemies.
Didn’t necessarily mean it was something she felt nothing over, however, and watching Sterngaze and Hearthtender bury their daughter the next morning was hard on the spirit. The mess from last night had shaken the entire town, and the members of the Underwatch that had been involved. Windstriker had gotten the verbal reports from each member who’d been there, and while there’d been some initial question of responsibility for Autumn Leaf’s death, Windstriker had already concluded that Blackwall had acted exactly as she should have.
Having seen Autumn Leaf’s body it was hard to say that she’d even been a pony anymore, and with a fellow Legionnaire in mortal danger it was well within proper action for Blackwall to have ended the threat. It didn’t make things any easier, or less tragic, but Windstriker couldn't find fault with Blackwall's actions. She'd have likely done the same herself had she been there instead. Snakebite and Heimlich, who'd been tending to Autumn Leaf, had delivered their own reports on the filly's condition prior to the sudden mutation. From what they both said it didn't seem like there was much more that could have been done to save the filly. There had been some brief question of whether or not they should keep her body for study, but one look at the parents and the overall foul mood of the town convinced Windstriker that they needed to let them bury their dead, otherwise things might get ugly. Sterngaze himself had seemed to shut down emotionally, being still and quiet as a ghost through most of the morning’s proceedings. Windstriker had to admit she respected how much his wife, Hearthtender, was keeping herself together, shedding tears but taking over leading the ponies of Victor’s Cliff while Sterngaze remained mostly unresponsive. It was Hearthtender that had accepted Windstriker’s offer to have her soldiers help with the burial, and it was Blackwall herself that volunteered to do the majority of the work.
The mood certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that it was still raining, though nowhere near the downpour from the previous night. Blackwall and three of the other townspoines, including Hearthtender, had seen to digging the filly’s grave, and Windstriker had the Underwatch unit all present for the affair, despite the uneasy looks they got from many of the Victor’s Cliff residents. The burial took place along the base of the cliff of the town’s namesake, where a fairly large graveyard was situated. Some of the headstones dated all the way back to the battle that gave the town its name.
Once the funeral was over most of the townsponies in attendance trudged back into town, but Windstriker kept her unit in place out of respect for a time longer, while Sterngaze and Hearthtender approached them. Oddly, Windstriker’s keen eyes caught sight of one of the townsponies, a young stallion, also stayed by Autumn’s grave, head bowed. A friend of the poor filly perhaps?
Blackwall was next to Windstriker, just at the head of the double line of the Underwatch legionnaires, when Harthtender and Sterngaze met with them. Sterngaze still looked like he was in a mind numbed daze, only duly giving Windstriker or anypony else any consideration. Hearthtender had red rimmed eyes from tears both shed and yet to be shed, but she gave Windstriker a nod, and Blackwall a... very pained look.
“Captain Windstriker, I want to thank you, and your unit, for their actions,” Hearthtender said, each word carrying the weight of barely contained sorrow, “Whatever my daughter had become, there’s no telling how many ponies she might have hurt if she hadn’t been stopped. And I know, having seen her... her body that she must have been in great pain.”
She gulped, taking in a shuddering breath, looking to Blackwall and bowing her head, “You ended her suffering. For that... thank you.”
Blackwall’s eyes showed a flicker of regret, but her expression was a still mask as she inclined her head, her own voice stiff, “In the one instant where your daughter spoke as herself, she asked to be stopped. It was courageous. You should be proud of her.”
Hearthtender took a deep breath, “I’d rather be angry with her for a thousand foolish things done while alive than be proud of her in death, but I appreciate your words. Now, however, I desire answers. What happened to my daughter? How did my Autumn Leaf become such an... an abomination?”
“That is a question I have every intention of having my unit discover an answer for,” Windstriker said, trying to keep some of the frustration out of her voice. “My medical experts examined her body as best they could both prior and after her death, but thus far all that’s been confirmed is that she was under the influence of some kind of magic. They’ve assured me that the condition isn’t contagious, but to be on the safe side I’d like to have every pony in town magically scanned.”
Hearthtender’s expression darkened, “I shall convene the town council and bring this up, but there’s already talk of wanting you and your Legionnaires gone. Autumn Leaf was well liked by many, and her death... there are those that blame you and your ponies for it.”
“Be that as it may, the safety of Victor’s Cliff is my responsibility while my unit is in this region. I can’t risk that this magical curse, if that’s what it is, has spread to anypony else. Now we’ll be departing soon enough to explore the forest where we suspect your daughter contracted her condition, but I’m not leaving with the possibility of returning to a town overrun with any more... mutations.”
“I will talk to the council, that’s all I can promise,” Hearthtender said, and started to lead her husband away, but as she did so Sterngaze seemed to snap awake, and grabbed hold of Windstriker’s shoulder. She had to use every ounce of her self discipline to not react violently to the sudden move, recognizing he wasn’t attacking her, merely holding her as he intensely gazed at her with fire igniting in his eyes.
“Promise me you’ll find whatever did this to my Autumn Leaf! Promise me you’ll find it, and kill it.”
Windstriker took a deep breath, meeting Sterngaze’s eyes with a strong look of her own, “If it's something that can be killed, rest assured the Underwatch will exterminate it with extreme prejudice. You have my word of honor on that.”
Whether this satisfied the shaken stallion or if he simply ran out of energy it was hard to tell, but he seemed to deflate in upon himself, letting her go with a weary, exhausted nod. His wife slowly directed him away, giving Windstriker one last, haunted look. Once they were well out of earshot Windstriker turned to her assembled unit, looking them over with critical eyes. Most looked solid enough, so many of them veterans of enough battles to not be too rattled by death. The unique and sickening manner in which this death had occurred might get under the hides of a few of them, but mostly she was concerned with those who had been there. Trixie Lulamoon and Coco Pomelle looked like they were holding up, at least on the surface. Windstriker could see dark circles under both their eyes to show neither had gotten much sleep. It was the younger recruit, Allie Way, that concerned Windstriker. The tall, lanky unicorn looked pale and miserable, barely keeping her head up as she stood staring bleakly at the fresh grave.
I can’t afford to be soft on her, and I equally can’t afford a liability in the unit when the situation has clearly gotten this dangerous. Windstriker briefly considered her options. Her next move was clear enough; investigate the forest outside Victor’s Cliff. All evidence pointed towards Autumn Leaf’s condition being the result of going in there, and while there was certainly danger inherent in sending her unit to the same place, it was their damned job to put their necks on the line so that ponies like Autumn Leaf didn’t end up in early graves.
However she didn’t want to leave the town unguarded, in case they needed a safe fall back position. She’d leave one squad behind to help garrison the town, the attitudes of the townsponies notwithstanding, and assign Allie Way to that squad. It’d give the recruit time to get her nerves under control.
Decision made, Windstriker spread her wings and flew up a bit to address her unit, “Alright legionnaires, as the technical phrase goes; shit just got real. We’ve got one dead filly and that’s one too damned many when it's our job to protect these ponies. Its obvious the Lurkers are involved in this new freakshow and we’re going to find out exactly how, and put a stop to it, ASAP. Snakebite, Wildspell, Blackwall, convene with me at the north gate and we’ll go over the plan. The rest of you get some food in you, pack your gear, and be ready to move out in one hour. Get to it!”
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Food didn’t taste like anything other than bland mush to Allie Way, and it sat in a burning acid knot in her stomach. She and the others were eating at the inn, most of the unit packed into the common room after having gotten their gear from their rooms. From the looks the innkeeper and serving ponies were giving them they’d be glad that the Underwatch was heading out soon enough. Allie Way didn’t necessarily blame them. A Legionnaire had killed one of their own, after all.
But it wasn’t like that at all. Blackwall didn’t have a choice. She had to do it to save me... because I froze up. The thought hung like a cold, leaden weight in her gut, making the food she tried to choke down feel even more sour.
She’d been afraid something like this would happen, but had been fervently hoping to avoid it. Or overcome it. She’d thought maybe she’d gained some bravery, or at least a hint of a spine, when she’d attacked the ursan warlord to save Trixie and the others. Had that been a fluke? She tried to reason away the feeling of guilt, but it wasn’t easy. When that poor, mutated filly had come at her Allie Way had simply been unable to act. Was that an understandable thing given the extreme situation, or had it indicated a core cowardice that had cost somepony their life? Even if she had acted, would it have saved Autumn Leaf?
“Stop thinking about it,” said Coldiron, sitting beside Allie Way at the table she shared with Trixie, Coco, and Blossomforth.
“H-huh?”
Coldiron set down the bowl of stew she’d been wolfing down, “You’re thinking about last night. That’s going to chew you up fast if you let it. Just put it out of your head.”
Allie Way licked dry lips, “I don’t know if I can.”
“It was an awful situation,” said Coco, shaking her head sadly, “I wasn’t able to do much either. I understand completely Allie. I’m probably going to remember that poor filly's face until the day I die. But Coldiron’s right, if you think about it too much, it’s going to be that much worse.”
“I just... wish I did something. Anything. Even if it didn’t work, doing something would’ve been better than just standing there.”
“So you froze up, c’mon Allie Way, who wouldn’t have?” said Blossomforth, shaking a spoon at her with one hoof, “I would’ve froze up, pissed myself, and then proceeded to scream in a very high pitched voice if a crazy mutant spider pony came at my face!”
Trixie bopped Blossomforth on the head lightly, “Not so loud.”
“What? Why?” Blossomforth asked, then glanced over her shoulder where the innkeeper was glaring at her. The pegasus mare gulped, looking mortified. “Oh. Right. Um... sorry.”
Trixie sighed heavily, muzzle scrunched up in a tight frown as she said in a low tone, “Why did Blackwall have to do that anyway? She could have tried knocking that filly off of Allie Way instead of... doing what she did.”
“I know you girls are still sort of new to the Legion, but you must understand that Blackwall did the only thing she could have to ensure the survival of her comrades.” Coldiron eyed them all with careful but firm eyes, “I know she’s a hardass, but the bottom line is that Blackwall did what any Legionnaire would have been expected to do under the same circumstances. Its a hard choice, but its one any of you might have to make one day as well.”
Trixie grimaced, blowing some of her mane out from her face in agitation, muttering, “If my magic were stronger I could have stunned her...”
Coldiron shook her head, “Well it isn’t, Trixie, and you can’t go back in time and change that. Neither can Allie Way.”
“I know that,” Trixie said sharply, then continued in a softer tone, “Trixie knows that. That’s what makes it so infuriating.”
Blossomforth leaned forward, her wing stubs flexing for a moment before she winced in realization that she didn’t have the wings to use to give Trixie a comforting pat, instead opting for an awkward touch on the shoulder with a hoof. “We just need to make sure what happened last night doesn’t happen again. That’s our job, right?”
Coldiron gave a thoughtful look, flicking her short brown tail as she tapped the table in a thinking gesture, “We will at that, but finding anything in that forest is going to take a miracle with so few of us here. I heard some of the pegasi on the patrol over that forest talking about it. It stretches near twenty miles north to south, and about half that east to west. That’s a lot of ground to cover, especially given we don’t have any real clue what we’re looking for.”
“The pegasi didn’t spot anything last night?” asked Coco.
“Not before the storm forced them back to town. On top of that the rain would’ve washed out any tracks we might’ve followed,” Coldiron said with a frustrated sigh, rubbing at her horn. Allie Way, despite her funk, noticed the gesture and looked at the petite unicorn with a worry.
“Does it hurt? The... the crack?”
Coldiron huffed out a humorless laugh, “Aches every damned day, but I think the cold and humidity makes it worse. I’ll be fine. More worried about you, Allie Way. Are you going to hold up?”
“I...” Allie Way managed a small nod, “I think so. I’m not trying to drag anypony down. I keep thinking about how I froze back there. I don’t want that to happen again. I can’t let myself be a coward like I was back at Beartrap.”
“Like when you saved our butts?” Blossomforth asked quizzically. Allie way gulped, shaking her head.
“No, before that, when I went and hid from the fighting.”
She had never actually admitted that part to any of her friends. All they knew for sure was that Allie Way had come to their rescue when the ursan Warchief had them on the ropes. Not that prior to that moment Allie Way had been hiding inside the abandoned clinic of the fort, having deserted the battle. Her fear had overwhelmed her after the battlements had been lost and the usrans had broken down the gate, and Allie Way felt all the shame of that fear boil up in her again.
“So that’s what’s been eating at you,” Coco said, “You honestly believe you're a coward? That’s ridiculous.”
“You haven’t told anypony else this, have you?” asked Coldiron, and Allie Way shook her head, to which the Legion mare said quietly, “Good. Don’t. While it probably wouldn’t come up as an issue now that that battle is done and won, the Legion is harsh towards even the scent of desertion. Still, as Coco says, you shouldn’t shortchange yourself. You pulled through when it mattered and saved fellow Legionnaires. You’re still not used to this life, so it's not a sign of cowardice you froze up last night, just that you, like all Heartlanders, are used to living in peace. Give it time, you’ll find acting in such situations second nature after surviving long enough.”
“It’s the surviving part we’re all worried about,” Trixie said, “And wandering into a dank, dark forest chasing Lurkers who can no infect ponies to mutate into freaky hybrids doesn’t sound like the most conducive to that end.”
Coldiron smiled thinly, “Nopony said being a Legionnaire in the Prince’s Legion came with health benefits.”
Trixie stuck her tongue out at Coldiron, but there was no venom in it, only an sort of exasperated comradeship and most the mares at the table shared a short laugh with each other, even Allie Way managing a small chuckle. It helped her feel a bit better, the reminder she was hardly in this alone. Still, she fervently hoped that Coldiron was right, and that next time she was thrust into such deadly events she wouldn’t freeze. Next time Blackwall or another pony might not be there to save her.
Almost as if the thought of the mare had acted as a summons Allie Way heard the heavy hoof clops as Blackwall entered the inn. The last Allie Way had seen of the mare she’d gone off to talk with Captain Windstriker about the unit’s plans. Now Blackwall had a grim look on her face. Well, grimmer than usual. Allie Way wondered if it was because of what had happened in the night, or if it had something to do with whatever she and the other squad leaders had talked about with Windstriker.
Blackwall didn’t say anything as she stomped through the inn’s common room and then went up the stairs to the second floor.
“Wow, she looked ready to chew through a whole box of nails and spit them out as diamonds,” Blossomforth said.
“She looked about the same to Trixie,” said the showmare without much interest.
“I’m going to go check on her,” Allie Way found herself saying, the impulse as sudden as it felt right. She owed the mare her life, after all. She ought to see if everything was okay.
“You might want to give her space,” cautioned Coldiron, but Allie Way shook her head.
“If she yells at me to leave, I will, but I just want to check on her. I... I owe her.”
Allie Way didn’t wait to let her friends argue further, trotting towards the stairs. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was managing to enjoy the meal at all, her stomach still feeling like a boiling pot. She went swiftly up the stairs, making her way to Blackwall's room. Gulping, feeling her mouth dry from nerves, she gave the door a short knock, finding it was already open and it swung out at her knock.
“Hello?” Allie Way stuck her head in.
Blackwall was sitting on her haunches in front of the rooms one small desk, head bowed and eyes closed as she murmured something quietly under her breath. On the desk itself was a gray cloth mat, with sharp white stitching in a pattern that looked like swords along the edges. On the mat was a small statue, made of plain yet carefully carved stone in the shape of a broken horn; not small enough to be a unicorn’s, but rather much larger, not at all unlike an alicorn’s. Blackwall apparently hadn’t heard Allie Way, as she kept murmuring, and Allie Way caught a bit of what she was saying.
“That which is broken can only be remade stronger. Stone carries all burdens.”
Allie Way cleared her throat, saying louder, “H-hello?”
Blackwall looked up sharply, eyes fierce.
“What do you want, Heartlander?” the mare rumbled, standing and turning to face Allie Way.
“I just wanted to see if you were okay. You looked really mad about something. And, uh, I also wanted to...”
She tried to pull her scattered thoughts together, letting her emotions bubble up uneasily in her voice, “To thank you. For, you know, saving me.”
Blackwall stared at her, for a moment almost looking like a statue carved out of onyx. Her voice was lower, less heated, but still hard and carrying a tired undercurrent. “I did what was needed of me. That requires no gratitude. Your thanks is unnecessary.”
“W-well, it's there anyway. I, uh, like being alive, and I wouldn’t be if you hadn’t done what you had to. So just thanks for being there. Anyway, like I said, are you okay?”
Blackwall didn’t immediately respond, glancing back at the mat and statue sitting upon it. Allie Way thought she might be ignoring her until Blackwall said, “Loyalty is what matters most in the Legion. I am a loyal Legion mare. I will never disobey orders, or betray the trust of my fellow Legionnaires. That is not always easy when one disagrees with one's commanding officer.”
“Captain Windstriker?”
“She is making a mistake. I argued with her. That is all there is to it.” Blackwall slowly took the statue of the broken horn and rolled it up inside the gray mat with stitched swords, placing the bundle away into her saddlebags sitting at the foot of the room’s bed, face back to a more impassive mask, “I merely came to pray briefly to clear my mind.”
“Pray? Is... is that what the statue is for?” Allie Way asked, curiosity piqued. Blackwall looked at her, one ear twitching.
“It is not something for outsiders, let alone a Heartlander, to know. Come, Private. The Captain wants the unit at the gates soon. Save your energy for more important matters.”
Blackwall moved with heavy steps out the door, Allie Way jumping aside to let the mare pass. Blackwall paused only once, glancing back at Allie Way with an odd look, almost something akin to softness, if a thick slab of metal could be ever called soft.
“That filly’s death was not your fault.”
“What?” Allie Way took a step back, blinking in shock.
“The filly, Autumn Leaf. Her death is not your burden to carry, so let your guilt rest. I took her life, so the burden belongs solely to me.”
“But-”
Blackwall’s voice turned ironclad, hitting like a hammer on Allie Way’s mind, “Her blood is not on your hooves. Do not take a burden that does not belong to you. You will have enough to carry on those slim, dainty shoulders, in due time. Do you understand?”
Allie Way nodded dully, eyes wide, “Yes.”
“Good, now follow, Private. I do not repeat orders often. Do not come to rely on it.”
----------
The bleak sky rolled with heavy rain, looking like wet cotton and promising an equally damp and cold day. Windstriker reviewed her unit, the two lines of ponies drawn up into four squads at the head of Victor’s Cliff’s north gate. They all looked alert, and Windstriker could feel the anticipation buzzing in them as they awaited her orders. Even Blackwall looked settled down, despite a heated argument over her assignment just half an hour ago.
Windstriker understood. Blackwall wanted to be where she felt she could do the most good, and didn’t seem to realize that sticking close to Allie Way was exactly that. If Allie Way was faltering under the pressure, then only somepony as uncompromising as Blackwall would either keep her in line or be able to just flat out scare the recruit into keeping it together. But damned if Blackwall didn’t hate being left behind. Windstriker sympathized, but she needed a squad to hold Victor’s Cliff while the rest of the unit searched the forest. They’d be returning each evening to rest and resupply. There was no way Windstriker was letting her command get caught out in that forest at night, so they’d have to take this search slowly, and in pieces. She and the other squad leaders had drawn up a grid map, breaking the forest into manageable sections to search, large enough to hit one a day.
She outlined her plan to the Underwatch, giving squad assignments. The last squad mentioned was Blackwall’s.
“Corporal Blackwall, you’ll be in charge of maintaining watch here in Victor’s Cliff and aiding in the protecting of its citizens. Private’s Allie Way and Coalburn, along with Corporals Thrushwind and Sharp Pike are under your command. Understood?”
Blackwall hid a twitch that probably would’ve been a full blown grimace and saluted, “Yes Captain.”
“Alright then, you all know the score! Everypony heading into the forest, form up and move out! Blackwall, keep the place from burning own while we’re gone.”
The huge dark mare went to her assigned squadmates and led them back into the town, Allie Way giving a brief wave towards her fellow Heartlander friends. Blossomforth in particular waved back enthusiastically as the rest of the unit started to march out. Trixie actually gave a bit of a sweep and bow. Windstriker laughed a bit under her breath, shaking her head slightly as she took point at the marching column. You could take the Heartlander out of the Heartland, but not the Heartland out of the Heartlander.
-----------
Despite having had some rather unfortunate luck while in them, Leyshi had firmly decided that she very much liked ‘trees’. Not only were they far more interesting looking than stalagmites, but they were usually much, much taller! And the gentle way their little green leaves brushed at her chitin, teasing all the little sensitive hairs on her legs, made Leyshi happy. And of course being back on the surface made her happy too, despite the dangerous nature of her mission.
Perched high on one of the highest branches of one of the many, many trees in the thick forest Leyshi observed the pony settlement. It had taken a long time to follow the old maps and journal notes she’d been given, but Leyshi and her cadre of hunter-caste and spinner-caste had made swift progress across many miles of twisting caverns and tunnels to finally emerge in the region where one of the shards was suspected to be.
Of course there was a slight problem in that Yiviravel’s ancient notes on the Shards were less than complete. Age made some of them unreadable and others were so cryptic as to practically be in code. It was just barely enough to know that one of the Shards that her broodmother wished her to retrieve was located somewhere in the stretching mass of surface stalagmites, these wonderful trees. Leyshi had thought long and hard on how to proceed, and had decided to spend a day or so watching the pony settlement, to determine if there were any surfacer warrior-caste in the area. Caution was preferable to rash action until she understood the lay of web, as it were.
Her patience paid off as she saw a group of nearly three eights of the pony warrior-caste assembling in front of the settlement. She couldn’t make out too many details, but it seemed an odd mix to her, based on what she’d learned of the ponies and their fighting forces from previous observations. Usually they separated their warrior-caste into different groups based on traits, not unlike the Aranea did with their broader castes. Fliers, the magic using ones with the horns, and the large muscled ones all tended to work in separate units for efficiency. This group however was a haphazard mix of these species. A very unusual group.
While she at first assumed this must be the settlement's garrison, she was surprised to see almost two eights of the pony warriors start marching off towards the forest, a bit to the west of where Leyshi and her cadre were hidden. The last remaining warriors, not even a full eight, remained behind and went back into the settlement. How strange. Why were so many pony warriors going into the forest? They couldn’t have known Leyshi and her group were coming, could they!? No, that would be ridiculous. They must be going into the forest for another reason.
For a moment she had a shudder of fear, remembering well the last time she’d been up in a tree, watching ponies. It’d gotten her captured, then tortured for information. Not the most fun she’d ever had, though admittedly it had certainly been an informative experience.
The thought got her brain firing, and an idea clicked into place. Leyshi watched a moment longer, just to make sure that the larger group of pony warriors heading into the forest weren’t doing so too close to her position and that there was no chance of her being spotted before she rapidly scuttled back down the tree, her many legs making long, sinuous strides that got her to the ground in moments.
There, hiding among the dense forest underbrush, were her waiting hunters and spinners, eight of each. Not enough to fight too many ponies openly, but more than enough for an ambush or covert raid. Leyshi had no practical battle experience, but like any of the brood-caste she was bred for the purpose of leading the other castes, and knew the practical theory of warfare. It wasn’t really her element, but her mind turned towards several tactical issues and her idea to resolve them.
Fundamentally her only concern needed to be the completion of her mission as assigned to her by Chirziane. Find and retrieve the Shard. Since she didn’t know the Shard’s exact location her top priority was to find it. That either meant a very long, tedious search of the forest, or extracting pertinent information from another source. Now, having seen the pony warriors here, and going into the forest, she could deduce that their behavior wasn’t much different than hers. They were looking for something. Since it seemed unlikely they were looking for her, they had to be looking for something else. Perhaps they, too, sought the Shard. How they would know about it at all was quite the debatable question, of course.
Leyshi needed information on what the ponies were doing and why. Having been captured and interrogated once herself, she supposed she couldn’t deny it was an effective method of gaining information. And conveniently the ponies had left only a small group of their warriors behind in the settlement, vulnerable to the exact kind of covert raid that the Aranea were good at.
The sharp tang of pheromones from the hunters and spinners around her told her they were ready and eager for orders, and Leyshi let out a few comforting and strong command pheromones, of the kind only a brood-caste could use, and said in soft chittering words, “The ponies are split. We shall take advantage and capture one.”
There were a number of accepting clicks from the other Aranea, and the largest and most senior of the eight hunter-caste clacked his fangs together, saying, “It is daylight. Should we wait for night to stalk our prey?”
Leyshi let a burst of negative pheromones out, “No. The other ponies might return before then. The strange ceiling water of the surface keeps falling, and makes some cover. We will be swift and silent, and be gone before a resistance can be mounted.”
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Awesome to see this update. I saw a couple typos, like 'grimer' for 'grimmer' and at one point you misplaced the m on the end of a sentence ending with 'them'. I like the contrast between Allie Way and Blackwall and am curious to see that dynamic develop.
7647731
Glad you liked it. I'll see if I can track down those typos.
7647759
Here
and here
7647765
Thank you.
A "l" went missing from the end of Blackwall's name.
7648259
Thanks, got it fixed.
Poor little filly...
So yeah, caught up on this recently and am curious to see where it's heading towards. These spiders don't play fair.
Kinda sad to see so many ponies get beat down by the constant hardships they face. I'm hoping they'll get a break after all of this. There any vacation spots in this world? I hear the changeling hive is particularly lovely this time of year.
That struck me as more Bloodborne, Bleach or Claymore than Residen Evil or The Thing. What with Autumn Leaf being able to hold on to at least enough control of herself to ask to be killed. Given Upheaval's heavy Dark/Demon Souls influence, Bloodborne is probably the most appropriate comparison especially as this was like a reverse of the Father Gascoigne scenario only with the daughter transforming instead.
Don't feel bad Allie Way, it's one thing to fight viscous monsters, it's another thing entirely when said monster is another pony. I'm spotting some death (possible sacrifice) flags waving over Allie Way or Blackwall. Hope they kick sufficient chitin before they kick the bucket?
Oh no Leyshi is going to torture the info out of somepony, didn't know she had it in her.
It would be pretty cool if someone is turned into a half spider. Maybe they accidentally touch the shard?
I've been on the internet too long, this read like shipping bait.