Shadow of the Herd
The rumbling of the earth was accompanied by resounding shrieks and cries—animalistic and panicked. The sonic salvos grew in number, permeating the landscape and making the teeth of everypony vibrate.
Pinkie Pie's ears were shaking. She hugged herself to keep still.
Rainbow Dash looked at her. She gulped. "They're..." Her eyes darted to Fluttershy. "...almost on us?"
Fluttershy nodded. "An entire wave. Creatures of all shapes and sizes." She shivered. "They must be scared to death."
"She ain't wrong!" Applejack exclaimed over the surmounting noise.
Rainbow Dash looked at the Dihmers.
Calm, emotionless, still—the shaved hunters remained in their hiding spot a few spaces over.
"They don't look too scared," Rainbow Dash said.
Ariel and Logan looked over.
"Hey!" Rainbow called to the locals. "Why aren't you running?!"
They answered without looking—without so much as flinching:
"It clamors."
"It clamors."
"It clamors."
Rainbow looked at the rest of the Herald.
Logan breathed. "If they ain't splittin' for it, then neither should we."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Right."
"Are we..." Flynn grimaced, struggling to keep still while the crevice surrounding them shook all over. "...are we actually safe here?"
"Ach! Saferr than we arre out in the open, brrotherr!" Kepler wheezed.
Wildcard whistled. Schlackk! He extended Bard's staff, planted it against opposite edges of the alcove, and braced himself against it. He motioned for the others to do the same.
Flynn, Kepler, and Ariel grasped the length of the bo-staff, trembling.
Logan and Seraphimus stood nearer to the cave exit, craning their necks cautiously as the stampede outside roared closer... closer... closer...
Rainbow Dash perched in the center of the group, wings coiled tightly as she crouched low against the rumbling stone. Her ghostly companions squirmed anxiously, glancing all about.
At long last, Fluttershy squeaked: "They're here—!"
"Ack!" Pinkie Pie ducked, phasing through the rock.
TH-THUMP!
TH-TH-THUMP!
THUMP!
Countless bodies bounded over the narrow trench in the earth leading up to the cave. The twilight strobed repeatedly, flickering like a shutter for each specimen that fled overhead. They came from Alpha and thundered in the vague direction of the Omega horizon, frightened by waves of flame and burning rock erupting behind them. With each subsequent body that sped past the niche's opening, smoldering heaps of pebbles and gravel fell down, rattling into the cave entrance and singeing the skin of whoever it came into contact with. Flynn hissed audibly as he slapped at a scalded fetlock that turned red from the ashes scraping past him.
Rainbow tugged at his tail, pulling the unicorn deeper into the cave. If he said something in protest, she couldn't make it out. The animals stampeding overhead were thundering and shrieking so loudly that she wasn't even able to hear Twilight and the others. Looking up, all she and the Herald could make out were flashes of hooves, digits, feet, and appendages that resembled tentacles. There was suddenly a brand new thunder, and the hidden ponies could spot distant bodies breaking the twilight. Creatures in flight were flocking through the heavens, filling the air with shrieks of distress as they attempted to outrun the smoke at their tails.
The earth shook nonstop for minutes. Cracks and fissures formed in the ceiling of the cave, distressing the Herald to no end. Wildcard winced, slapping his metal limb against the buckling stone above—a futile effort, but he gave it his all. Logan added to the gesture, propping his massive axe upwards to act as a support column.
There was a loud noise—like a bull yelping. Fluttershy gasped and pointed upwards. Rainbow spun and looked to see a quadrupedal beast with luminescent brown flesh trip on it front hooves and slam into the edge of the trench. He then tumbled down into the niche like a wet sack of meat before landing awkwardly before the mouth of the cave where the Herald was hiding. The beast shook its hammerhead skull before shrieking madly at the hidden ponies with razor sharp teeth. Two venom-laced blades protruded slimily from orifices within its rippled neck.
"Rrrrgh!" Logan suddenly lunged forward with a right hook. WHAM!!! He punched the creature so savagely that it teetered towards its side, whimpering. "Go get your own parking space, jerkoff!"
With a mewling sound, the beast bucked and jumped in place before galloping madly towards the Dihmers' side of the alcove. Without warning, a shaved pony lunged forward, slashing the full weight of its cleaver across the animal's spine. The smell of blood filled the cave, and soon more Dihmers were lunging forward, stabbing and eviscerating the beast until it fell dormant by their hooves.
"It sustains."
"It sustains."
"It sustains."
The shaved ponies began casually carving the beast up and salvaging it for meat and organs.
Fluttershy grimaced while Twilight and Rarity shrugged at one another.
Rainbow looked from the Dihmers' wet work to the sliver of twilight looming above. The starlight was flickering less and less. Within seconds, the rumbling was actually starting to lessen. From the look of things, the stampede had completely passed overhead. The cave still shook—but only with residual aftershocks, a tell-tale sign that the bulk of the wildlife had fled further towards Omega.
The Herald started breathing normally. Wildcard exhaled... slowly receding from the ceiling of the cave, now that it was no longer forming fresh cracks in its structure.
Kepler was applying a fresh bandage to a thoroughly exasperated Flynn. Meanwhile, Logan and Seraphimus stepped out of the cave's mouth—just far enough to get a better look of the twilight above.
"You think that's all of them?" Logan asked. Rainbow's ears were ringing intensely, but she could still make out what the Heraldite said.
It was Seraphimus who responded: "There are still a few creatures flying overhead, but I think the stampede has passed us."
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. When the ghostly pegasus nodded, Rainbow said, "Fluttershy concurs. I think it might be safe now."
"OooOOooOOooOoooh..." Pinkie Pie's ears were still twitching. "We're n-not out of the w-woods yet!"
"Now what?!" Applejack remarked.
"Shhhhh!" Ariel exclaimed, craning her neck. "Listen...!"
Everypony was silent—even Rainbow's anchored companions. Only the Dihmers made sounds this time, slicing their unfortunate prey into ribbons.
Beyond the bedlam of the distant stampede, there rolled a new thunder to the air. It was a quieter thunder... a living thunder... eerie and melodic and menacing. It rolled in like waves against a black shore, foaming with countless venomous voices, bloodthirsty and unstoppable.
"It's..." Twilight murmured, her ears drooping. "...chanting."
Fluttershy and Rarity nervously clung to one another.
Kepler and Flynn looked up, peering curiously into the sliver of twilight.
"The... uh..." Ariel glanced across the cave. "...the Dihmers are still laying low."
Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head. "I'm not a Dihmer." Her brow furrowed. "I have to see this." She moved forward.
A cold talon held her by the shoulder. Charcoal brown eyes peered across the amber haze of a distant fire. "Not advisable," Seraphimus droned.
"You're right." Rainbow took a deep breath. "But I need to know what we're up against."
"Can you survive their assessment of you?"
Rainbow stared back in silence. She slowly—gently—removed Seraphimus' talon from her shoulder and flapped her wings. With silent grace, she ascended to the top of the stone trench.
Wildcard joined her without hesitation. While the rest of the Herald squirmed behind with uncertainty, Seraphimus sighed... and flapped her wings to join Rainbow as well.
Meanwhile the chanting increased...
Deep bass voices piercing the night... ...
Dark and hungry and growing closer... ... ...
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Bat ponies now?
Song.
The lunar hunt closes in.
Sera's right, Dash should be cautious, but Dash is right too, she needs to see exactly what the Bloodwings are capable of to make a call on whether or not she wants to try diplomacy.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Run Silent, Run Deep...
chomp
I really hope Rainbow can keep hidden enough or this is going to be very bad.
It hunts?
8829235
It hunts.
Rainbow's gonna fucking blow it with her curiosity, I can already tell. At least she'll have a sizable band of Dihmers to help her if a fight breaks out... assuming the Dihmers will even move a muscle to fight back instead of accepting their slaughter.
In which case, she's going to get a lot of Dihmers killed.
Enter the Bloodwings
Eh, they need to find a new ride anyway. Maybe they can borrow a bloodwing airship if they ask nicely.
Moment of truth, every creature.
Here. We. Go.
Here they come!
Here's hoping they're friendly :S
This is going to be messy.
Here comes,
The Hunt.
I have a particular piece of music Id like to link but its the third part of a sequence and Im not sure if the seperates are still available.
Ah, there it is. Gregorian chants, ominous music, retro graphics, and over four thousand dots moving in 3D at 50 frames a second, on a sub mip processor.
And a bit of Laxity to go with your Imploding Colon.
Sorry for the quality, Apparently YT doesnt like broadcast TV computer graphics from the 80s.
The shadow warriors come hunting. Oya!
Get decked!
Something something Mufasa's death scene.
It has caught up.
And woah. These bats don't do half measures.
Seems like I picked just the right time to catch up. Alright, let's meet our arc villains!
8829733
To your demoscene, a demoscene. Start around the 5 minute mark
i wonder why they can't just have one of the ghosts scout?
Seems like Twi and Rare have gotten used to the evisceration of animals at this point.
Boss Approaching.
"Imma firin mah lazor!"
The hunt is upon us.
This is either gonna go fairly well or horribly wrong. Leaning towards the latter.
It anticipates.
It bats.
I really have to wonder, if it's a regullar occurence, how come there are still animals around that make a several minute long stampede... Like, do the survivors keep returning or what the hay?
It bewildered.
It is intrigued.
Aaaand enter the Lunar vigil (Bloodwings). Out of the blue, they already sound bloodthirsty and merciless.
Twilight and Rarity have run out of fucks to give, I see.
Hoo boy....the Bloodwings make their entrance.
Rainbow, her new brother, and the angry cousin who wants nothing to do with anything but still tags along anyways.