The Fiend that heralds Dark Skies

by Skijarama

Chapter 13 - Fiendish Instincts

Blood, agony, teeth, claws and screaming. Moonrise Drifter was barely aware of anything else other than those raw sensations. She screamed and growled like a wild animal, plunging her fangs and claws into whatever she could reach of Skeintooth’s body with almost no semblance of defense. His efforts to pry her off of him were painful; wounds were forming all over her body from their struggle. Blood splattered against her face, both from a fresh wound atop her ear and from the fresh bite she had just taken out of Skeintooth’s front leg.

“Get off!” He bellowed, swinging his leg out wide and flinging Drifter onto the cold, hard ground almost a dozen feet away. She was back on her hooves almost instantly, only faintly aware of the unspeakable agony shooting up her spine from her hind legs. One of them wasn’t working right, she noticed, bending in the wrong direction between joints. She only let that pain and the emotions it generated, fear and anger, fuel her desire to rip this fiend to pieces.

“DIE!”

Skeintooth grunted and stepped back, trying to avoid Drifter’s leaping slash with her claws at his face. Alas, he didn’t move enough. Her claws sliced into the still freshly melted skin and muscle on his face. Blood, flakes of burnt skin and a small spray of puss erupted from the wound. Skeintooth screamed.

Not far away, Luna still lay, bleeding and out cold. Blood slowly seeped from her foreleg, which rested across her chest. With a soft groan, she began to return to the waking world.

Dizzy… cold… she thought to herself, her mind feeling fuzzy and her body like it were made of ice. She opened her eyes to see the world as no more than fuzzy, dull blobs. The sounds of animals murdering each other ruthlessly was no more than a smothered and cacophonous echo to her blood-drained mind. Her eyes wandered down her body. Blood… hurt…

Her horn flickered to life with blue magic, instinct and reflex kicking in. The wound along her foreleg gradually began to stitch itself closed, albeit it was a very rough job. Anypony with even a hint about medicine and pony anatomy would easily be able to tell that her leg would still need urgent medical attention; she just wasn’t in danger of bleeding out anymore. Still quite dazed, however, Luna found it difficult to formulate thoughts or ideas of any meaning.

The earth shook beneath her. Something dry and powdery fell over her, coating her in a thin layer of grime. She heard agonized screams and a monster calling out in fear. Drifter… what’s happening…?

"COME BACK HERE!” Drifter screamed after Skeintooth as he broke into a hastey retreat, clearly limping and in considerable pain. “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!” She tried to scramble after him, but her horribly shattered left hind leg prevented her from doing more than causing herself pain. “DAMN IT!!!”

Her wings snapped open, despite one of them now possessing numerous rips and tears in the leathery membranes. With a guttural snarl, her wings beat rapidly, pulling her into the air and after Skeintooth, who already had passed out of sight, over the rise of the bowl and back into the mountains proper. She was going to lose him, but at this point, her blood-drunk mind had stopped caring.

Luna’s eyes refocused at this point. She saw Drifter flying away, her body mangled and mutilated in horrifying ways. Blood covered Drifter head to hoof, much of it her own. She was in rough shape, yet still she kept pursuing Skeintooth. Luna’s eyes widened in remembrance. The memory of Princess Celestia’s death coming into her mind. She just kept pushing on against Horizon, on her own, against all chance and horribly wounded

And she had died as a result.

No, not again! I won’t lose you, too!

Luna forced herself onto her hooves, wincing in pain when she shifted her wounded foreleg. She turned her gaze up just as Drifter disappeared over the edge of the bowl in the mountains. Taking a moment to ensure she was physically able, Luna took flight and gave chase. “Drifter! Wait!” she called weakly after the hybris, her voice not carrying at all.

As she went, Luna noted the trail of blood that Drifter left in her wake. She grimaced and beat her wings harder to catch up. She’s going to kill herself if she keeps this up! The rocky terrain gradually began to change. Luna followed the blood path down the slope of the mountain, entering into a forested region of pine trees, each one smothered by a thin coat of midnight frost. The blood was growing thicker the deeper she went.

Luna felt what blood she had left run cold as the void itself when a blood-curdling scream reached her ears. But it wasn’t Drifter screaming… nor was it Skeintooth. It was the frightened wailing of a wounded elk. Luna slowed down as she drew closer to the sounds of distress. A chill ran down her spine when another sound reached her ears. Thud… thud… thunk…

Luna felt her stomach twist in horror when she finally came upon the scene. Drifter had a full-grown mountain elk pinned to a tree trunk, her claws having stabbed into it’s front leg, pinning it. Her free forehoof was twisted in its antlers. Her eyes were wide and twitching sporadically, glazed over with bloodlust and feral instinct. With a predatory growl, Drifter slammed the Elk’s face into the tree once more. Chips of bark broke away from the impact and a few drops of blood dribbled from the elk’s nostrils.

The elk screamed again. Luna had seen enough. “Moonrise Drifter, that is ENOUGH!” she snapped, invoking the royal canterlot voice to get the thestral look-alike’s attention.

Drifter turned her gaze to Luna and hissed threateningly before slamming down the elk’s head once more. Luna winced when she realized it’s skull was starting to crack under the force of the onslaught.

Luna scowled, gritting her teeth and letting herself move forward slowly. “This elk is of no threat to either of us! It’s time to stop, Drifter.”

All Drifter did in response was smirk sadistically, then open her mouth wide and dig her teeth into the elk’s neck. It’s harrowing cries instantly went silent, the cut-off echoing shortly in the forest. Luna went stiff, watching Drifter dig into the elk’s corpse like it were a feast. She ate ravenously and almost desperately.

Finally, after almost a minute, Drifter froze. Her eyes lost their wild, animalistic glint and focused down on the corpse beneath her. It fell from her maw, slumping to the frosted ground with a wet squelch. Luna gingerly inched closer, concern showing on her face. “Drifter…?”

“I... oh, no…” Drifter whispered. Then, her eyes rolled up into her skull as her pain, blood loss and injuries overcame her. She fell to the ground with a soft thump, leaving Luna to gaze upon the scene with wide, horrified eyes. Finally, she got a hold of herself and lifted Drifter tenderly onto her back with magic.

“...You let the blood get to you, didn’t you?” Luna asked quietly, her eyes looking down at the ground sadly. “Just as I almost let my anger get the best of me… except I had you to pull me out of the nightmare.”

Drifter moaned uncomfortably, not hearing any of this. With a sigh, Luna lifted into the air on her wings and began the return trip to Canterlot. They would both need serious medical attention.

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes slowly, a tired yawn slipping from her lungs. She glanced out her window and sighed. The sun was only just now starting to paint the sky and wouldn’t be up for another few hours, if the lighting was anything to go off of, though she couldn’t see it from this angle. Slowly, she slid out of bed, careful not to upset her back. She might have been functionally fully healed, but the muscles were still sore and would get quite painful if she moved them too fast or too suddenly.

When a furious knocking came to her door, she almost jumped out of her skin. “Twilight? Are you in there?!” came Spike’s voice from the other side, sounding frightened. “Open up!”

With a quick flick of telekinesis, Twilight opened her bedroom door to allow the small purple dragon entry. “What is it, Spike? What’s wrong?” she asked upon seeing just how distraught he was. He was visibly paler than normal and was panting fearfully.

“Did you look outside?!” was Spike’s answer, his eyes looking to her window. “It’s the sun! Look!”

Twilight frowned and took a more thorough glance out her window into the sky. Her blood ran cold at what she saw. “S-s-spike? Please tell me Princess Luna knows about this…”

“Yeah, she just sent me a letter a minute ago. It’s why I’m here waking you up.” Spike answered, showing her the note anxiously. Twilight didn’t say anything. She merely plucked the note from Spike’s grasp with magic and looked it over.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Skeintooth has made his move and escaped with a sample of my flesh and several of Princess Celestia’s bones. He has fled to Mount Eclipse, where Luminous Horizon calls home. Already I can see the signs of whatever foul magics he is using at play. You can no doubt see for yourself the horror our sky has become.

Please, Twilight, come to Canterlot at once. Moonrise Drifter and I are currently undergoing the highest level healing spells available and are gathering the best of the best of the royal guard’s elite. Four battalions, two from the solar and lunar guards each, are amassing in the Crystal Empire. They will be traveling with us alongside a battalion supplied by Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.

We are planning to march upon Mount Eclipse and destroy Horizon and his rituals before any more damage can be done. I will not allow my sister’s bones to be defiled in such a manner. I am sure you will agree.

I do not expect you to fight if you do not want to; I am more than well aware of your disgust for bloodshed, but I still ask that you accompany the army regardless. If nothing else, you will be able to boost the morale of the soldiers and provide support with your magic. But we can speak of this further in Canterlot.

Yours, Princess Luna.

Twilight blinked and looked once more out her window into the midday sky. It was almost as dark as night time, albeit faintly red in color rather than blue. The sun had almost been entirely smothered in inky darkness. More of this darkness looked like it was bleeding out of the sun, painting a shadowy line past the northern horizon while still yet more blackness spread over the sky, rippling and undulating like drops of ink in water.

“...Spike, go get the girls, please.” she said softly, setting the note down on her desk and grabbing her favorite hair brush with her magic.

“...You're going, aren’t you?” Spike asked solemnly, looking down and rubbing his claws together with anxiety.

“Yes, Spike. Now, please, go get the others, okay? I…” she paused, looking at herself in the mirror with a distant, forlorn expression. She almost didn’t recognize herself anymore. She ran the brush through her hair a few times and then wore a small smile. “I need to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” Spike asked, looking at her pleadingly.

“In case I don’t make it back…”

Without another word, Spike nodded, turned and left the room, his claws clicking against the crystalline floor as he scampered away down the hall. Twilight took one more look at herself in the mirror, then reached for her saber from it’s position at the foot of her bed. If she were being honest, it felt good to hold it in her magic again.

That fact alone was more than enough to make her heart chill with fear.

What are we turning into…?

Author's Note:

We're starting to head toward the final showdown of this story. :P

Comments

[Skijarama]

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[Bregon]

Let’s see how the crystal guards handle the fiends

[tom117z]

"COME BACK HERE!” Drifter screamed after Skeintooth as he broke into a hastey retreat, clearly limping and in considerable pain. “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!” She tried to scramble after him, but her horribly shattered left hind leg prevented her from doing more than causing herself pain. “DAMN IT!!!”

Bet Skeintooth didn’t see that coming, huh?

No, not again! I won’t lose you, too!

Growing to care for your niece, are we?

“...You let the blood get to you, didn’t you?” Luna asked quietly, her eyes looking down at the ground sadly. “Just as I almost let my anger get the best of me… except I had you to pull me out of the nightmare.”

Well, at least you know your niece takes after you

What are we turning into…?

Quite simply, a warrior.

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