Case Twelve, Chapter Nine: When One Door Closes
Phillip dug his hooves into the ground, but the reddish clay offered no purchase as he dragged marks into the cold surface. Grunting, he rolled around onto his back. The coal-colored tongues were still wrapped around his hind legs and the middle of his torso, tight as an anaconda’s coils and cold as ice. Daring was being dragged alongside him, her legs and wings still pinned, fighting to uncoil the tongues. The Ngluwi was walking backwards as it dragged them along the ground, a noise that sounded like an imitation of laughter bubbling out from its chest.
Phillip realized that the coils were wrapped around his chest. The panic that had been roiling in his mind suddenly yielded as a plan was formed, rushing through the fog of fear.
He took in a breath and barked, “WANDJINA!”
He felt the power of the spell rush along his vest, like the cool embrace of mist, and the Ngluwi released them both with a pained hiss. Scrambling back to his hooves, Phillip grabbed Daring and hauled her back up as he looked around for an exit.
He recalled how, so many moons ago, Deco Line had described the forest of doors accessed through the Key of Shadow Walker. Looking around, he beheld it for himself. The sky overhead was a glowing crimson color and featureless, with no visible sun, stars, or clouds to explain the red-tinted light. All around them, as far as the eye could see, were doors of every type, material, and description that had seemingly sprung up from the clay, ranging from closet doors to residential doors that looked decades old to sealed metal portals. Aside from their own panting and the pained growling of the beast, everything was silent.
“Fuck outta here!” Daring yelled, diving towards the nearest door, a faded blue wooden door that looked like some grandmother’s front door. She seized the battered bronze handle and turned it.
But the door refused to open. A quick glance revealed to them both that the frame was glued shut with more black sludge, as were all of the other nearby doors.
“Fuck,” Daring breathed, turning around. The thing had recovered, its tongues retreating back to their normal length, and was now glaring at them with its many inky pits. With a terrible snarl that rattled the still air, it spread its wings to their full twenty-foot span, the eyes upon the thin membranes blinking rapidly, and dove at them.
Daring gestured violently and a cloud of thick black smoke enveloped the two ponies, blocking them from its sight. It landed amidst the smoke, flapping its wings to clear the choking cloud.
A distinct whistle pierced the air and Zugzwang bellowed in rage as pain rocketed up its left wing. One of those damned boomerangs fell to his hooves, and it smashed it into splinters with a snarl.
It lightly flapped the damaged wing, blinking as the smoke cleared away. The muscles responded slowly, pain rocketing up the artificial limb. It rumbled in confusion: it shouldn’t have hurt that much…
Forget it. Find the two kotzbrocken. It looked all around, but there was no sign.
“You can’t hide, liebling,” it cooed, tongues flickering and twitching as it tasted the air for the scent of its target. It slowly walked around the door, scanning for any sign of movement. “There’s no escape for you here. No help is coming. You are all alone.”
A shift of movement, a taste of sweat in the air. Two thudding heartbeats, the sound so loud in the stillness.
“We will break you down,” Zugzwang declared, stalking towards the oak-paneled door. “Shatter you. Then pick up the pieces and put you together in our image. We will make you join us. We will make you beg to join us.”
That was all the warning Phillip got before it lunged, darting around to the other side. He swung the baton, but a tentacle jerked his weapon out of his grasp as another one wrapped itself around his throat. His hooves left the ground as the Ngluwi lifted him up, wrapping more of its filthy appendages around his limbs, then slammed him into the ground hard enough to blow the wind from his sails. Phillip struggled and kicked, futilely trying to gasp for air: already his lungs were burning and screaming, a buzzing growing in his ears that mixed with the rapid tattoo of his heart.
He heard Daring scream, saw her charge from her hiding place, but more limbs burst from the eyes on the thing's side and wrapped themselves around her neck and limbs, pinning her to the ground, where she struggled helplessly.
Zugzwang leaned down close to Phillip, loosening the tentacle around his neck to allow him to gasp for air. The slithering appendages that dangled from its too-large jaw softly stroked his face and neck, every gentle touch bringing him biting pain.
"Here, we are king," Zugzwang declared as its tentacles traveled lower and lower, snaking past Phillip's heaving chest and stroking his belly and flanks. "Here, we are God."
A roar of thunder and the smell of cordite suddenly assaulted his nostrils. Murky blood spewed from the beast’s side, and it howled in shock and agony, releasing Phillip. He quickly rolled out of reach and grabbing his dropped baton as Daring scrambled to her hooves as well. Every head turned towards the sound of the noise.
“G’day, god,” the red stallion snarled, his once-calm blue eyes now blazing with righteous fury as he cranked the lever of the Whinnychester. “I’m Dad.”
Rain Rhythm emerged from behind her husband; her entire body was quivering, but she lifted up the foreleg that now held Suunkii’s Neighringer and aimed it at the beast. Flash Sentry and Red Herring both took position overhead, aiming their own sidearms; behind them all, Rainbow Dash was growling at the Ngluwi, her wings spread to shield Twilight, who had her horn alight and a furious Spike riding atop her shoulders.
“Now get the hell away from our kids,” Bobby growled, centering the bead on the beast’s forehead.
The curved, seeping horn lit up gold, but Phillip snapped his baton up, hitting the sensitive appendage with a snap like a tree limb breaking. At the same moment, Daring’s kusarifundo whipped out, the weights smashing into the side of its rear knee joint before coiling around its shin. With a grunt and a flap of her wings, Daring yanked Zugzwang’s leg out from under it. With a yell, Phillip brought his baton down onto the joint of its right wing, metal crashing against flesh.
It snarled, then turned into a golden sphere of light and zipped away, zigzagging out of sight amidst the doors.
“C’mon, quick!” Red barked, beckoning them on. Daring and Phillip joined the herd as they ran along a trail of purple lights back to the closet door, which was now being held open by a purple glow. Trace’s body still lay in the threshold, chillingly staring eyelessly; the other ponies stood in the room, desperately beckoning them to safety.
But as Red was about to dive for the threshold, the door slammed shut and Twilight stumbled, crying out in pain as her magic was overwhelmed. The golden sphere appeared before them and reformed into Zugzwang.
“No one leaves,” it growled, lighting up its horn. A rush of wind came in from nowhere, scattering the screaming ponies like bowling pins. With a flap of its injured wings, it pounced upon Red. The detective howled in fear as he unloaded his Filly M1912 into the thing. The .45 caliber rounds tore into its chest, neck, and torso, sending oily blood everywhere and eliciting screeches of pain, but the Ngluwi continued to pin Red down, generating a golden bubble around the two to prevent further interference.
“Watch, Finder; another one you can’t save,” it sneered. It trapped Red’s head with its tentacles and raised two of its appendages, aiming for Red’s wide, terrified eyes as he continued to scream out terrified curses. Phillip willed himself to move, to get up and run at the shield, but his hooves didn’t budge, as if trapped by the knowledge of his futility...
But then a jet of green flame roared over his head, striking the shield in a rush of color and heat. The Ngluwi staggered and howled as purple coils of magic mixed with the jet of fire, adding a high-pitched shriek of energy to the noise.
Spike was standing atop Twilight, his eyes reflecting the jade glow of his fire breath. Twilight had a determined grin on her face as she added her own magic to Spike’s flames.
The golden shield cracked and splintered like an egg and the Ngluwi flinched, letting out another shriek. Red ripped himself from the monster’s grip and smashed the grip of his pistol against its head, bringing the weapon down onto its skull again and again with desperate shouts.
The shield broke and the magically-enhanced fire struck the beast in the face. It cried out in agony, reeling away from Red, then threw out a wave of golden energy that deflected the fire, forcing Twilight and Spike to dive beneath the reflected attack. It vanished while everypony was distracted.
“To me, all of you!” Twilight ordered. Everypony gathered around the closet door, facing outwards as Twilight burned a circle into the clay around them. A dome of purple-white energy formed around them, protecting them from harm.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Phillip said, glaring around into the reddish haze, watching for any sign of the monster.
“We couldn’t stand by and let that thing kill you,” Bobby answered, reloading another shell into the shotgun.
“The Princesses, the Wonderbolts, and a team of Royal Guards couldn’t kill that thing,” Red pointed out, slapping a new magazine into his gun with trembling hooves. “How the fuck are we going to?”
“They didn’t have a dragon on their side!” Spike declared, glaring around.
“Dash, here,” Daring said, clicking open her pocket knife and tossing it to the younger mare. She pulled her emergency cache out of her pocket and unscrewed the top with her wing, placing the nail through the hole that she’d drilled into the cap to assemble the shiv.
“We just need to get out of here,” Twilight said through gritted teeth, already trying to burn through the black slime that had reglued the door shut. “Darn it! He’s doubled the enchantment!”
“Twi, hurry,” Flash urged, hovering over the group, whipping his head back and forth.
“I’m working on it!” Twilight snapped. “Maybe you should come down here and—!”
A roar rattled the air, shaking the ponies’ bones in their bodies. The thing dove down like a cannonball, a glowing falchion in its hoof. It stabbed into the shield with a resounding crash that sent Twilight to the ground, howling in pain.
“Twi, drop the shield!” Rainbow ordered, rubbing her wings together as the beast banked around.
“But—”
“Do it!” Rainbow ordered.
Closing her eyes, Twilight dropped the shield. With a grunt, Rainbow gestured with her wing.
The trio of small, dark, round clouds that Rainbow had hastily formed from her own pegasus magic hit the oncoming sphere and detonated, lightning bolts dancing violently across its exterior. The Ngluwi crashed with a screech of pain, limbs writhing.
“ENOUGH!” it bellowed. Black vines shot from its many eyes like solid battering rams. Ponies dived out of the way, but Spike was sent flying and both Rain and Bobby were knocked to the ground. A tentacle wrapped itself around Bobby’s Whinnychester and yanked it from his grasp, throwing it away as the golden sword was raised over Daring’s prone head.
Twilight screamed, the sound loud and piercing. The Ngluwi stumbled with a grunt of confusion.
Twilight drew in a breath, then let out another magically-enhanced, banshee-like howl, quickly adjusting the pitch until she hit the right note; the sound waves of her cry, visible as purple rings, ripped into the Ngluwi’s body, making its liquid exterior pulsate and writhe. It buckled beneath her attack, bellowing in rage and pain, wings flapping futilely to escape from the sucking wind.
Red and Flash both opened fire, every gunshot loud as a cannon blast even beneath Twilight's enchanted scream. Black blood spewed from the beast's body as it stumbled beneath its injuries, falling to its knees.
"Die! Die! Die!" Red shouted desperately, slamming the trigger of his weapon so hard that several of his shots missed the writhing head even as he rushed in close for a better shot.
The things horn lit up gold and it fired out a sphere of energy that reflected Twilight’s scream back at her and sent many of its attackers flying beneath the concussive blast. Twilight was thrown back by her own magical waves and crashed into a closet door, where she lay unmoving; Red cracked his head against a tall brown door that might’ve belonged to a mansion and tumbled into the red clay in a heap.
Phillip crumbled beneath the passing weight, then quickly threw himself back into a jump as the golden blade rushed at him. Too slow: the tip of the blade caught his vest, dragging along the embedded layer of scales. It ripped at the open neck, cutting open the fabric of his undershirt; the necklace of Angkakert spilled out from beneath, the cord narrowly missing the sword. The white eyes fixed themselves upon the beast.
Zugzwang hissed angrily and fired a bolt of golden energy from its horn. It crashed into Phillip’s chest like a cannonball, sending him hurtling through the air with a pained wheeze, ribs fracturing beneath the mighty blow. He tumbled across the ground, finally ending up in a pained heap.
“Twilight!” Flash gasped, rushing in to help a groaning Twilight and a dazed Spike.
As its skull reformed through the rippling of bone and muck, mixed with the hissing of half of one of its runic tattoos burning away, Zugzwang turned its focus to Daring. A tentacle shot through the air like a bullet and ensnared the pegasus’ limb, eliciting a startled yelp as the acid bit into her flesh, yanking her in like a fish on a reel.
A cracking pop like a small firecracker. A .22 round cut the offending appendage in two.
“Nice shot, Rain!” Daring righted herself in midair, shiv flashing forward and digging into the flesh of Zugzwang’s foreleg. The sword fell from its grasp, fizzling out of existence.
Rain fired the Neighringer again, catching the beast in the side of the head with a small burst of blood. The thing wasn’t slowed; with a click, the spring-loaded blades snapped out of its gauntlets and swiped at Daring. Slow to parry the blow, Daring received a slice across her inner foreleg, dropping the shiv.
“Gah, fuck!” she cried as the two began to exchange blows. “What, the tentacles aren’t enough?!”
A rainbow-colored blur streaked down from the sky and the Ngluwi shrieked as its left wing flopped to the ground, dissolving into a puddle of muck. Without turning from Daring, Zugzwang fired a trio of golden bolts that tracked the younger pegasus. Rainbow weaved and dove, but only dodged one of them: two of the projectiles cracked into her body and she tumbled to the ground like a crashing plane.
“Oi, wombat!” Bobby roared, charging forward.
“Bob, no!” Rain screamed, but a tentacle shot out of an eye like a bullet, right at the earth pony’s head. Bobby weaved beneath it, not even slowing a step, then launched a mighty cross that crashed against the wounded flesh of the Ngluwi’s skull. It stumbled and Bobby followed up with two hooks, puffing like a steam engine as his blows impacted against two of the exposed eyes, both of which swelled and darkened like overripe grapes. Hissing out a curse, Zugzwang mule-kicked him in the chest, knocking the wind from his lungs.
A knife flashed crimson in the unnatural light. Off-balance, Daring twisted to the side, grunting as she felt the scraping of the knife against her armor; she countered with a jab to the eye, eliciting a momentary flinch.
Daring’s kusarifundo whipped out like a serpent’s tail. Sidestepping a knife thrust, she entangled the limb with the rope and pulled Zugzwang forward, driving the weighted end into his nose. The bone cracked like a dry twig, drawing a grunt of pain. Daring retreated, her weapon whistling as she spun it, the weights cracking loudly against the beast’s temples and jaw; as she did so, she snatched the shiv up with her tail, tossing it into her free hoof.
“See how you like it!” she snarled, driving the nail into the Ngluwi’s neck. It let out a gurgling cry, blood and slime pouring from the puncture like water from a broken faucet. The serpents that spilled from its mouth waved around in an agonized dance; two of them caught Daring on the side of the head, knocking her helmet askew and sending her stumbling away.
“Einzeller!” Zugzwang snarled, wrapping its coils around her neck and lifting her up. Daring struggled, but more serpents ensnared her limbs, trapping her as she was suspended off the ground. She choked, futilely kicking as much as she could as she was pulled in. The bloodstained blade was raised up to her neck.
A .38 Filly Police Special roared six times in challenge. The Ngluwi’s head splintered and it nearly dropped Daring, turning to glare at Flash as the younger pegasus desperately pressed down on the lever trigger, barely registering the clicking of the empty chambers.
“Shit shit shit shit!” Flash cursed, fumbling to reload.
Zugzwang roared and lit up his horn, preparing to cast at Flash as it raised its blade back to Daring’s throat.
With a desperate yell, Rain and Bobby both charged in and tackled the beast. The three ponies and one beast rolled together in a tumble of limbs and bodies, all of them yelling and cursing, blows landing in a cacophony of violence.
Daring and Bobby both managed to wriggle loose and rolled to one side. Rain tried to crawl out, but the Ngluwi pounced on her, the sucking fangs of its tongues latching onto her back. The blade was raised like a scorpion’s stinger and driven down.
Rain let out a terrible howl of agony that echoed across the reddened plains.
Bobby screeched in pained fury and dove at the beast, knocking it aside, but Rain did not move. She screamed again, hot tears running down her face as blood trickled from the hole in her back.
Daring dragged Rain aside, but Bobby suddenly flew through the air and crashed into her; there was a crack and a howl as she landed atop her wing, pain shooting across the now fractured appendage.
The Ngluwi staggered to its hooves, panting and choking. Its head was slowly reshaping itself, bits of exposed brain pulsing beneath the mess of blood and slime, and black tar still spilled from the rip in its throat. Its one wing flapped pitifully and its horn was now sparking constantly, the appendage cracked like dried wood. Several of its eyes had burst like sores, sticky fluid staining its body. The three remaining runic circles continued to shift and swirl around the wounds.
It turned its furious gaze upon Daring, who was still pinned beneath Bobby’s unconscious form. Her wide scarlet eyes met the empty voids.
“Oh, shit,” Daring mumbled.
With a roar, the Ngluwi drew its knife back and stalked forward.
And then there came that blessed, distinct whistling sound. Something smashed against the beast’s skull and it fell to the ground, hissing in bewildered agony.
Every eye tracked the boomerang as it arced through the air and returned to Phillip’s hoof. The stallion stalked forward, grimacing in pain with every breath that aggravated his cracked ribs. He glared furiously at the Ngluwi, teeth gritted, eyes burning with rage. His grip on his baton was so tight that his hoof turned white. The idol of Angkakert bounced against his chest with every step.
Flash advanced behind him, cocking the hammer of his weapon. “Is there a plan?” he asked quietly.
Words floated back to Phillip’s mind: Bear in mind their weakness: their markings...
“Follow my lead,” he growled, not slowing his advance.
The Ngluwi scrambled back to its hooves, exhausted growls bubbling from its throat as it charged up its horn.
Daring Do took a breath, pushed Bobby off her, and closed her eyes, focusing, pushing past the pain and the fear. She felt the tingle of flight magic in her wing and brought her uninjured appendage to her broken one. She began to rub the feathers together, feeling the magic swirling together, combining, cooling, forming condensation. Small tufts of cloud began to form between her feathers. "Come on, come on," she whispered desperately, molding them together like clay, trying to channel her writhing desperation and fear into her work.
The air screamed as the Ngluwi fired its spell, dark gold and black light lancing through the air at Phillip. Flash ducked behind Phillip as the earth pony drew in a breath and screamed to the heavens.
“WANDJINA!”
The attack struck Phillip’s vest and was immediately halted by the ward, but the strength of the attack alone was enough to send him skidding back. Planting his hooves, Phillip began to push forward, noting the cool embrace of the ward around his body like a shield of mist and rain; the magical attack shoved at him like a hot riptide that screamed and crackled, but he pressed on. A step for his parents. A step for Daring. A step for Twilight and Spike. One step at a time, each one for one of Zugzwang’s victims, one of those ponies whom it had tried to hurt.
Sparks began to dance along the sphere of cloud between Daring's wings. She glanced down at the little wandjina queen that lay against her chest.
Let’s both hope this works! Daring thought and threw the clouds at Zugzwang with a grunt.
The sphere struck him with a crackle of lightning and thunder that the sky suddenly echoed, the red sky darkening and flashing like a switch had been thrown. The clouds swirled around the monster's form like a swarm of ants, dancing around it and attacking every inch of its flesh with more crackles of lightning and thunder, the anomalously dark sky repeating every thunderclap. Zugzwang screeched in fury, its magical beam screaming louder in response.
Bobby, Red, Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash were all coming to, turning to watch as Phillip and Flash reached the Ngluwi, straining with every step. Zugzwang tried to retreat, but a crackle of lightning struck its left hind leg, buckling the knee and forcing it to kneel.
"Stay back!" it howled at Phillip, its eyes focused upon him.
With a final effort, Phillip closed the distance and swung. Just as he’d done a thousand times before, he put his whole body behind the blow, twisting his hips and shoulder, snapping his elbow. And he put his whole heart into it as well, pouring every ounce of his fear and pain and rage out from his gut down his forelimb and into the metal.
“BASTARD!” he screamed as the blow cut through the clouds and landed right on target: one of the swirling black runic circles.
Lightning crackled and thunder roared in response to his blow, both from the sky and from the assaulting clouds. The Ngluwi let out a terrible howl as the circle was burned away, leaving the scent of burnt flesh in the air. The golden lance of energy vanished.
Daring grabbed the semiconscious Bobby and still whimpering Rain and dragged them out of range as Flash shoved his pistol into the midst of the tongues and opened fire, emptying his weapon into the beast’s head; the back of its head exploded in a mess of gore, its screams choked out by thick gurgling.
Phillip swung again, then again. Each time, the clouds that hung around Zugzwang flashed and roared. Each time, the Ngluwi screamed and stumbled as one of its tattoos was burned away, leaving its flesh unmarked.
In desperation, Zugzwang stamped its hoof onto the ground: the clay began to crack and glow like a layer of cooled magma. Reacting instantly, Flash grabbed Phillip and flapped up into the air as the earth where they had just been standing ruptured in a hissing gust of heat and light, narrowly missing the two ponies.
Flash dropped Phillip, who streaked down towards his prone target. As he fell, he drew his baton back, gripping it in both hooves like a baseball bat.
Time seemed to slow for every eye that beheld the vision. The clouds that were slowly dissipating around Zugzwang’s form let out an unbidden roar of thunder once more, the sky lighting up and bellowing in response once again. Phillip dropped down like the fury of some vengeful deity, ecstatic violence etched into his smiling teeth and wide eyes. It had to have been a trick of the light, but a few of the witnesses would later swear that his stormcloud gray irides were faintly glowing white, as were the eyes on the totem of Angkakert that bounced on his chest.
But what every witness would agree on was the look on Zugzwang’s gore-smeared face, evident despite the emptiness of its eyes as it stared up at Phillip, cowering helplessly like an ant looking up at the boot about to squash it: fear.
And then, with a final bellow, Phillip smashed his weapon down onto Zugzwang’s skull. There was a long shriek of terrified agony that sounded like it came from two voices, then an explosion of dark light and a blast of rushing wind that cut into everypony's flesh, forcing them to turn away.
When they looked back, Phillip was standing, his trembling, panting body stained with blood and inky muck, over the prone form of a tan unicorn. Brain matter and blood were smeared over its brown mane, which clung feebly to the shattered remnants of its skull, like the pieces of a broken porcelain doll. The eyes, now a pale blue color, stared sightlessly up at the clearing sky, the jaw hanging open as if still screaming.
Phillip blinked and looked around, as if suddenly aware of the others. “Mom?!” he cried, rushing over to his mother. “Mom, stay still!”
“I can’t feel my legs,” Rain whimpered, glancing down at her still-bleeding wound.
“Oh gosh, oh gosh,” Twilight fretted, rushing over and sealing the puncture with some healing magic. “Okay, just stay there and don’t move! No, we need to move you, we have to get out of here! The door, where’s the door?! Over there!” She magically yanked the now unblocked closet door open.
Instantly, officers began to flood into the red arena, quickly clearing the area with their pistols. Cold Case rushed forward, her gaunt face drawn tight with worry, and glanced over Phillip and the dead body. “Holy shit,” she breathed as Captain Oak entered, gaping in shock at the slime-covered corpse with the bashed skull laying on the ground, one trembling hoof clutching the wing and horn emblem of his rosary necklace.
“Hey! Paralyzed mare over here!” Daring called. The ashen-faced Suunkii and Mortis hurried over and signaled for a stretcher, tending to the wounded.
Red slowly got up and stumbled over to the open door. He stared down at the corpse of Trace, who lay discarded next to the doorway, his head covered with his coat. Honeydew trotted over and gently draped her forelegs around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder; he barely responded to her presence.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Bobby asked as Mortis scanned his wife over with her horn. Rain whimpered once more, fresh tears leaking from her eyes, pain mixed with smoldering fear.
“I...I don’t know,” Mortis answered. “She’s stable for now, but we need to get her to a hospital.”
Phillip started to say something, tried to form some question or maybe some pretense of reassurance, but he suddenly doubled over, coughing as a stabbing pain invaded his chest.
“Phil?!” Daring cried, rushing over.
Phillip tried to say something, but all he managed to gasp out was “Hurts” before another rack of coughing struck him. He tasted copper. Blood, the color of ground coffee, spewed from his mouth. His legs suddenly gave out, as if all communication between them and his brain was severed, and he tumbled over; he did not feel himself hitting the ground, only knew that he was lying down because the world had suddenly tilted onto its side.
The last thing he heard was Daring screaming his name, and then he knew no more.
All was quiet beneath the water’s surface. Celestia and Luna slowly sank deeper into the darkness, bubbles issuing from their mouths and nostrils as their manes and tails floated about everywhere, gently pulled by the deep currents. In the midst of the darkness, a small blue and a small gold light slowly pulsated, issuing from a small collar wrapped around each princesses’ neck.
There were several golden flashes of teleportation from above the darkness. The sound of several bodies crashing into the water resounded through the abyss as ponies in armor dove into the bay, both organic and artificial limbs pulling them towards their charges, guided by the emergency trackers. They grabbed the Princesses’ cold, feeble limbs, pulled oxygen masks from saddlebags and wrapped them around their faces, and started to kick for the surface.
In moments, the entire group broke the surface of the bay, bobbing in the water. Celestia and Luna both came around in a fit of coughing, spreading their wings out to help themselves float.
“I ought to kill you both myself!” Captain Eagle snapped as he quickly swam around Celestia, checking her over for any injuries.
Celestia managed a feeble grin. “If all this doesn’t kill us, I don’t think you could, captain.”
“Don’t test me,” Eagle replied.
“What has happened?” Luna asked, trying to fly out of the bay despite her guards’ protests.
“Don’t know. We just teleported here when we got the distress signal,” Tempest replied.
“We must return at once!” Luna declared, shaking off her guards and taking to the skies. The others had no choice but to follow.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
855 users online
607,660 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
BADASS. Best one liner.
media1.tenor.com/images/1da546e46f4a48093152024a6c87cc6d/tenor.gif?itemid=13418132
So... is it over? Like, is it seriously finally over? I... I think I need time to process all this.
10152798
You're forgetting a certain red-haired mare and her lackeys.
10152809
I probably have, like who? I'm sorry, but there's way too many characters to keep track of and remember all their names.
Please let the be the end of that horrible monster
Loved it!
And now rests the anatagonist.
Well, one anatagonist. We still have another. Man this series has a different feeling and a whole different type of apperication than the previous one.
Now i wonder, are these charachters gonna get PTSD?
Ahhhhh the withering one liner, well played sir. Excellent chapter! I can't wait to see how this winds down.
10152814
Well, there's still Scarlet and her criminal band still out there. And she's secretly serving the shade of Sombra if I'm remembering right. No idea on how long that'll last now that Philip and Daring's attention is no longer divided with that unholy abomination against life itself.
Well...crap...that was intense.
This chapter was absolutely epic! Poor rain I hope she can still walk.
Huh. The Pony of Shadows is part Symbiote: can't stand opera or other loud noises.