The Stars Will Aid Their Escape

by Drhoz

The Goat of a Thousand Young

Pinkie wrapped Spike in a bearhug, and squeezed. The young dragon's rage, stoked by the danger to his friends, his hoard of family, burst out as a gout of glittering green fire, splashed across Herald's blazing bone-white visage, down his body, and on across ten feet of lawn.

Fluttershy and Applejack cringed, shielding their eyes from the blaze, then stared at the space where the Messenger had stood. Applejack turned to Spike and Pinkie. "You do that?"

Spike looked stunned, and Pinkie beamed over his shoulder. "Uh, I think so, Applejack."

The farmer staggered a bit, as the adrenaline wore off. "Warn a pony next time." Then she flung herself forward and hugged her two friends in a crushing embrace.

Fluttershy was staring up at the sky. "Pink... Pinkie? Applejack? What's happening to the stars?"

***

The Herald stood, looking out into reality. From here, the shining souls of the ponies were perfectly visible, as was the brilliant blaze of the Elements, and the lingering damage from Discord's reign even after all these millennia.

"Hmm. This is a nuisance. I must do something really memorable to those two."

He turned around.

"Ah."

***

Rarity dropped into darkness, the only sound the roar of the cataract and the air past her ears. It seemed strange how the water beside her appeared to hang in mid-air, as they fell together. She'd have, oh, fifteen seconds until they both hit the rocks at the bottom. Rainbow Dash talked about this sort of thing often enough. A two-thousand foot drop, and ... thirteen seconds now? She held her arms and legs out behind her, mane and tail whipping back, the falling sheet of water starting to roll backwards as she overtook it.

She ignored everything else. Her attention fixed entirely on the water and the darkness below. Somewhere...

Ten seconds. Something grabbed her shoulders, knocked the wind out of her, and she started to decelerate, hard.

"Dash, faster! Go faster!"

"Wha-"

"Faster! Now!"

Seconds wasted. Faster, though, catching up, the water breaking up into spray, soaking Dash's wings, making her clumsy... THERE! A tiny glimmer of light in the darkness, tumbling, over and over...

Rarity reached out with her magic.

Three seconds.

The jar held in a luminous glow...

Two seconds.

Dash peeling away, trying to turn from the rocks...

One second.

The cloud of spray, the roar of blood in her ears so much louder than the waterfall...

Zero.

***

Twilight screamed. Everything came back, back with a vengeance, as the sedation was removed. She wailed, kicked out, sobbed and bit her tongue as everything Herald had shown her piled up in her mind. Her chest heaved, and she tasted blood before she could find any kind of self-control. She opened her eyes. Anything she could see here couldn't be worse than what she saw when she closed them. As it was, there was only a window, a corridor, a unicorn she didn't recognise, and Trixie. And the screaming of the ponies being sucked dry outside. The stallion was staring at her, and stepped forward, murmuring something about sedatives.

"No! Don't! Please!" She flinched when he reached down to check her pulse. "You have to untie me, the Princesses need my help!"

Bayo looked dubious, until he glanced back out the window, and threw himself back against the opposite wall. "In my considered medical opinion, Miss Sparkle, I can't see that letting you loose could possibly make this day any worse." He undid the buckles, and smiled oddly. "Now, I'm going to flee for my life."

It was still hard to differentiate between the screaming in her head and the screaming outside. Her own throat felt rough and hoarse. She felt something on her head, and reached up to touch the Element of Magic, finding the diadem perched crooked across her brow. She straightened it, and tried to get up. She stumbled, as she tried to walk over to Trixie, then forced herself to stand. She prodded the blue unicorn with a hoof. "Wake up." Inside her head, Luna was repeating her warning, over and over.

Trixie stirred, her unbandaged eye focusing, with difficulty, on Twilight and the gleaming Element. She attempted a sneer. "The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks you have a stupid hat."

Twilight resisted a momentary impulse to find a pillow to hold over the showmare's face. "Trixie, this isn't the time. Everypony is going to die -" closing her eyes and shaking as she remembered the deaths the monstrous entity had shown her "- they'll die if we don’t stop Herald. He was using you to get at the Princesses, can't you understand? I know you're not stupid!"

Trixie still managed to look outraged. "Trixie is not stupid, nor is she anypony's tool! She is the greatest magician in all Equestria, no mere distraction!"

"Distraction." Twilight stared at the wall. Of course. She propped herself up on the windowsill, trembling, and risked a glance out the window. She could see the tree-things, feeding and baying at the sky. She could see Herald... Spike... Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy. "It's ALL distraction. Everything he's said, all those... he's trying to keep everypony's attention on HIM!" She saw Pinkie and Spike's moment of triumph, heard Luna’s voice and warning cut off mid-word, and felt a glimmer of hope stir in her breast. She tried to run out into the garden. If Luna was right, it wasn't over yet. The Dark Mother was still coming to remake the world in Her image.

***

Far overhead, the stars were winking out, one by one.

"But... we got him, didn't we?" pleaded Spike.

Fluttershy tried to reassure him. "You did, sweety, we saw you... you were so brave. He's off wherever he sent Luna and Celestia. He has to be." They stared into the rifts. The things on the other side were different now, churning violently, and painful to look upon.

Three dozen unicorns and armed pegasi stormed the garden. "Get him!" bellowed Shining Armor, at the front of the rush, a curve of magical force held up before him and the other ponies. They were halfway across the lawn before the charge faltered, and they came to an uneven halt. "Uh... girls? Where is he?"

"We got him, Armor. Or I think we did."

Armor sagged with relief, then turned back to his stallions. "Right, every unicorn, front and center!"

"What? Why?"

"Because we still have to stop THEM!" shouted Armor back, and pointed at the chanting Dark Young and the guardponies they were sucking empty of life.

The herd stared at the scene behind the barrier. Three of the ponies threw up. One fainted. "Can we? Can we even get in there?"

Armor nodded fiercely, and jerked his head back towards the emblem on his flank. "See that? I know barrier magic. If that barrier wasn't magic-permeable, they couldn't be doing THAT." he finished, throwing his head up at the altered sky.

"Wait... that's why you wanted every unicorn that knew ... you want us to... you're out of your mind! There's only, what, ten of us that capable, we'd be stomped flat the mom-"

Twilight Sparkle ran, staggered, half fell into the garden. "Everypony, please! They're summoning... summoning the Black Goat, she's almost here!"

The ponies stared. "Twi! You're OK!" cried Pinkie, and threw her forelegs around her.

"No I'm not... I'm really not. But my brother's right, we have to stop them chanting."

"What about the Elements, that's why you six -"

"Four. Start counting better, mister." said Applejack, and grimaced at Twilight's stricken expression. "They might be OK, sugarcube, but I’m guessing we can't wait. What ya mean to do, Armor? Those tree things are pretty dang tough."

Twilight gave a twisted smile. "I bet I know. And I can make it work."

***

Outside Equestria, gods battled. All pretence dropped, every weapon brought to bear. Celestia and her sister striking as one, not holding back, with magicks unused since they had driven the hordes of Tartarus back and sealed the gates behind them. Nyarlathotep retaliating, his own mastery of eldritch energies foiled only by the teamwork of the alicorns. The walls of the world trembled.

***

Dash dragged herself out of the lake, and attempted to shake herself dry. “Ow. Buck, that stung. Rares, you OK?”

Nearby, the unicorn floated on her back, eyes closed, breathing lightly and clutching the jar to her chest. “Yes, Rainbow. Thank you. You saved the fillies.”

Dash averted her eyes. “Yeah. Well. I really hope so. We better get back up there, I want to see how well that little-” She looked up at Canterlot, high overhead. “Oh, buck me. Oh BUCK ME.”

Mouths were opening across the sky.

Comments

[Zortor]

Ah this story is getting so exciting.

[Drhoz]

1278509 Glad you're enjoying it :)

[Mr. Grimm]

See, when you mention goats in a story involving Necromancers, I can't help but think of Grogar, Dark Lord of Tambelon. I think I know who the chapter title refers to, but due to my bad memory I can't recall the exact name.

In any event, if I were in the Princesses position and knew that Herald was merely a pawn, I would taunt him about it.

[Drhoz]

1281767 *grins* one more reason the Shubby/Dark Young combo worked for this story

but as to N's relationship with the other Outer Gods, he's perefectly awarethat he's a servant to morons, and doesn't care. Witness this line from Fungi From Yuggoth.

"I am his messenger, the demon said, as in contempt, he struck his master's head."

[kirokokori]

1281991

I've always interpreted that line as 'vaguely bitter about it', rather than him not caring, haha. Fungi From Yuggoth is a really interesting series of poems. But yeah, I don't imagine that would phase him much, if at all, haha.

[Moosetasm]

"Ah."

Contained in that single short word/statement is so much implied understanding and irritation. It’s not anger, for a being of infinite patience would not feel such an emotion. It’s that feeling of realizing that you overlooked a few seemingly minor and insignificant details and now you’re going to have to work for that victory instead of just sitting back and letting it happen.

Iä, Iä, Shub-Niggarath, Black Goat of the Woods with a thousand young!