Those Left Behind

by the7Saviors

A Princess' Flight

Things had gone wrong... horribly wrong, just like I knew they would.

Now I found myself hiding behind a large boulder in a rocky desert area somewhere just south of the Frozen North. I was a shivering, panting, desperate mess and I prayed to my old mentor she couldn't hear the sound of my distress.

That loud, heavy, uneven gait and those spine chilling wails that seemed to get closer and closer told me I wasn't going to be that lucky. It was almost as though she could smell my fear and despair, and I wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if that had been the case.

It wasn't that I'd forgotten that we had left Cadence back in the Crystal Empire, it was more that the Gates of Tartarus happened to be at the far end of this desert and I hadn't expected Cadence to be this far out.

I was an idiot for thinking that way.

She wasn't a pony anymore, and I had no idea what new and horrifying abilities she'd gained -- at least, not until now. By this point I surmised that it was Cadence that had chased Luna and I to and through the city, and as I tried my best to hide from the abomination that used to be Cadence, I remembered Luna's story.

The first thing I tried to do was fly away, and that didn't work. Futile as I knew it would be, I tried to reason with her once more -- tried to reach out to the loving mare this thing used to be.

I begged.

Nothing worked, and I almost had my limbs torn off as a result. Now the only thing I could do was try to hide, as even if I was an alicorn, I doubted I had Luna's endurance when it came to long distance galloping.

Unfortunately it was quickly becoming clear that that might be my only option.

It was so unfair.

The journey to Tartarus, while unnervingly quiet, had been relatively uneventful up until this point. Sure, I had been alone with nothing but my thoughts, which wasn't a good thing, but I would've rather continued on that way than meet Cadence again.

It wasn't meant to be.

The moment I touched down in the desert she was on me like a vicious pack of timberwolves. I only managed to outrun her thus far because I had heard the howl long before I actually saw her.

I would've just flown across the desert, but whatever ability she had been using to ground me and Luna back then was back in full force, and I could do nothing but run and hide. What made the whole thing worse, and caused me to nearly break down at the thought, was that I was completely alone.

Celestia wouldn't be able to save me this time.

Luna was probably too far gone as well.

I had nothing and nopony to stand between me and my former sister-in-law. If she were to catch me, that would be it, I didn't know exactly what would happen, but I knew I would most likely suffer a fate worse than death.

So I kept moving -- galloping and teleporting away in the hopes that she wouldn't catch me.

I desperately tried to calm my frantic breathing as I prepared another teleport spell. I grit my teeth, clenched my eyes shut against the sweat pouring down my forehead, judged the distance, and lit up my horn.

With a bright magenta flash, I disappeared and reappeared behind another boulder a few dozen meters away. Another frustrated howl from somewhere further behind me told me I had successfully managed to avoid Cadence once again.

I couldn't keep this up much longer.

As it was, I had fallen to my haunches, leaning up against the large rock behind me gasping for breath. I had been galloping and teleporting for what felt like hours, and it was beginning to take its toll on both my body and my magic.

Unlike back in the destroyed city where she had suddenly vanished, here in the desert, Cadence was relentless in her pursuit. Her single minded determination to hunt me down was wearing me down mentally. I almost considered tapping into the ambient Magic just so I could have something to either fight back with or help me escape.

There were several times where I very nearly released my magic, but every time I was about to, I remembered that horrible, painful ripping sensation from when my magic was taken from me, and I held back.

Cadence wasn't the only one getting frustrated either.

Beneath the mind numbing fear and crippling exhaustion, I was also at my wit's end. It had gotten to the point that the remorse and despair I felt for what had happened to Cadence was being replaced with the desire to just end her and be done with this Celestia forsaken chase.

I would've been shocked at myself for what I was feeling, but this chase had worn away any ounce of care I had for what I was feeling for Cadence at the moment. I didn't have time to reflect on my emotions regarding the mare-turned-abomination, as the intervals between rest were growing shorter and shorter as the chase wore on.

Even now I could hear her, howling and lumbering towards my new hiding spot with increased haste. I had gotten used to the constant pounding of my heart, and I was fairly sure me being an alicorn was the only reason it hadn't exploded from sheer exhaustion.

Nevertheless, I set about casting another teleportation spell and vanished once again, this time reappearing just shy of the rock I was trying to teleport behind. For a moment I panicked and, almost of its own accord, my head whipped around to see if Cadence had spotted me.

I screamed and somehow managed to stumble backwards into a gallop, adrenaline being the only thing that saved me from Cadence's gaping maw and dagger-like teeth.

How did she get that close?!

That was the last thought I had before all other thoughts left me and I was reduced to a terror-addled automaton. My legs seemed to move without my input despite me being tired enough to fall over and die right on the spot.

I hardly paid any heed to where I was galloping, and the howling behind me only spurred me further along. My entire body screamed in agony, but I kept galloping, my heart felt like it was growing weaker and weaker, but I kept galloping, my vision was beginning to fade, but I kept galloping. I think I actually was dying again from sheer exhaustion.

But I kept galloping.

I soon resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to make it out of this situation alive. Even if I was immortal and even if I was able to come back from my supposed death, Cadence would be right there waiting for me, and then...

I couldn't stop now.

It wasn't even that I didn't want to stop, I literally couldn't stop. My fear response was far too strong to fight against and my herd instincts had completely taken over.

All I could do was gallop until I just couldn't anymore.

Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I could tell that I was getting slower, and that the howls were getting louder. With my mind so focused on escape, I didn't notice the massive mountain rising in the distance, or that I was headed straight for the wide opening in that mountain.

Eventually something in my brain clicked and I saw the mountain for what it was.

Mount Infernos.

The mountain that held the Gates of Tartarus deep within a dark cave. I was almost there, I was almost free. To my astonishment, the thought was enough to keep me going for a few more yards... but that was it.

I had reached my limit, and the cavern entrance was still several more yards away. I was going to die again, without having achieved what I set out to do and this time, Cadence would make sure I didn't get the chance to try again. I failed Celestia, I failed to avenge everything and everypony I had ever known and loved.

I failed to kill that monster, and now it was going to win.

I let out one last strangled cry of fury, despair, and hopelessness before vertigo overwhelmed me and I fell. Everything went black and I could feel my heart give out on me.

The last sensations I felt before nothingness claimed me, were the agonizing throbs of pain that wracked my entire body, and an odd tingle of magic. Then the howling stopped and everything was quiet once again.

Comments

[FanficReader920]

Won't be long now.

Beneath the mind numbing fear and crippling exhaustion, I was also at my wit's end. It had gotten to the point that the remorse and despair I felt for what had happened to Cadence was being replaced with the desire to just end her and be done with this Celestia forsaken chase .

Her bloodlust is building.

[Black Hoof]

Cadance, why do you have sharp teeth?
"It's to better eat you, my child!"

[Chillean]

Yeesh... Creepycreep

[The Faceless Maker]

and here we are fiends! it's almost time to see what the frost is actually going to happen! Also, if Discord and whatever other Immortals there were before are still around, I would think that a large number of them would be reduced to Garden Gnomes, due to the sudden lack of power from what they represented beforehand, or corrupted/cursed by more of the same. Discord might've actually been forced into the Spirit Realm, due to the lack of sapient, or even sentient creatures to torment.

[Black Hoof]

I wonder how it will go for Twilight in Tartarus.
I would like to see her have a hard fight against the demented mare her sister-in-law has become.

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

I failed to kill that monster, and now it was going to win.

Oh really now?

[darklight731]

So, seems that there will be a way for twilight to win after all.