Daybreak: To Catch a Train
“What the hell is that thing?!”
Twilight didn’t explain. She forgot about the impending danger of potentially getting shot and did the only thing she could do. She instinctively began to put on her first Anima Viri. As she did, Shining Armor, still sore from the blow, nevertheless pushed himself up and cried out as loud as he could.
“Everyone! Get down here now! Don’t let them separate us!”
The rest of the unit didn’t need to be told twice. Not long after, the surrounding area came alive as each of the remaining privates broke their position and began to run toward the Well of Shade. Chipcutter at last brought up the rear, actually turning around and popping a few shots off at the Nighttouched legion. However, none of them made a move, and those that were hit that weren’t immediately struck in a fatal spot simply kept standing their with new and grotesque wounds. Meanwhile, the cloud continued to gather thicker and more malevolently. The sky progressively turned darker as the horrible eyes loomed larger and more menacingly.
Finally, the creatures gave a unified growl and began to advance. Chipcutter only risked one last shot before he turned about and quickly ran down after the others. Soon they were fleeing right through the midst of their former targets. A few of them stiffened to raise their weapons at them, but that didn’t last long when they realized the Nighttouched swarm coming at them was a far greater threat.
Seeing them coming, however, Gilda merely sneered. “You idiots! What good is running away going to do?” She turned back to her own unit. “What are you all waiting for? Let’s waste the lot of them! Put on your Anima Viris!”
The commanding tone of Gilda was enough to snap the group out of it. In response, those who had Anima Viris quickly began to don them. Those that didn’t assembled as fast as they could, taking cover behind whatever rocks or rubble that they could manage, and started to open fire. Mere moments after the gunshots began to crackle out, the area lit up with multiple plumes of aura light before the Griffonstone units took off to meet the incoming monsters.
By now, Twilight’s own Anima Viri was on, but as she raised her wand to start casting she saw that the Griffonstone soldiers were already engaging. The ones equipped with the role of Warrior charged right in and instantly cleaved, sliced, or smashed their way into the Nighttouched. And while they seemed to be a bit more resistant and relentless than the type that she and her companions were used to, they still quickly crumpled under overwhelming power. The medium sized ones were cut clean in half by the blades of some of them, and another seemed to shatter half the bones in the bodies of her own targets. Soon, the Caster Roles were firing their own minor spells into the midst, and while they weren’t as sophisticated as Twilight’s they were soon lighting them up with fire and electricity. Combined with the gunshots of their brethren, and in moments two dozen were already dead.
Gilda smirked and snickered as she watched the biggest one of her Warriors run right up a trampling Nighttouched horse, charging for her with all the ferocity and malevolence of a genuine legendary nightmare. She simply met it, ducked alongside, and slashed out with her combat-knife-turned-serrated-sword. With one swipe, she cleaved all four legs from the body of the corrupted beast, leaving it to give a monstrous whinny as it crashed to the ground. “Is that it? They get some new eyeliner and that’s supposed to stop us?”
Twilight, however, kept casting her spell, before sending lighting into their midst…not so much aiming at them but instead sending the thunderbolts into the shadow over their heads. Much to her dismay, the blasts had about as much effect as trying to fight smoke with a bat. Shining Armor, meanwhile, fully rose up and spun to Gilda. “Tell your unit to pull back! Get them away from that thing while they still can!”
“What’s the big deal? They’re kicking his ass.”
At that moment, the Warrior rose up and brandished her blade for the next charging Nighttouched. However, the remaining ones didn’t try to attack her. They ran right past, either trying to gain more ground or go to her companions. She looked bewildered at this for a moment, knowing full well how relentless the creatures were, but on seeing none of them coming about she simply cracked a grin and turned back to the others still charging and shooting. “These things aren’t even as bad as the real deal! They just run away when-”
She didn’t get a chance to say more. A part of the cloud, snaking about like an inky tendril, suddenly shot downward and enveloped her. It wasn’t as thick or opaque as back at Canterlot, but that only meant, much to the horror of everyone watching, that they could see everything. They saw the Warrior arch and spasm like a knife had just been driven into her back. Her expression went flaccid, her jaw loosened, and she dropped her weapon on the ground and gagged. A moment later, to the shock of her nearest comrades, her own eyes took on the same appearance as that of the Nighttouched. Her face twisted—becoming an expression of nothing but fear, dread, misery, and anguish. It painted her like a grotesque sculpture for a brief second…
Then, the legless beast she had felled, wriggling like a giant worm, cracked its mouth open so wide that it split its own lips to open its monstrous jaws wider. With one great spasm, it flung itself up in the air, clamped its teeth around her neck, and with the sound of a crack and an eruption of blood took her to the ground.
The Griffonstone soldiers were horrified, but they soon had their own lives to worry about. The Nighttouched continued to part and stream around the Warriors, headed for the Caster and Magicians in the group instead…but not before snaking straight for the Healers and ripping them apart. They struggled to defend themselves, but they were distracted by further horrors as more tendrils shot out and seized their companions. They too were immobilized with terror, allowing the other monsters to tear them to pieces. And as they saw them being taken apart, they weren’t able to focus. Even when they were, these Nighttouched were more relentless than usual. They rushed like a living flood and swept over them.
Within less than a minute, every last member of Gilda’s unit that had borne an Anima Viri and stepped up to challenge them was dead.
Gilda’s own cocky look melted away like ice in a blast furnace. Her disciplined gunners, seeing themselves now defenseless, broke ranks and began to flee for it. Yet that was when the Nighttouched crowds parted…or, rather, were batted aside…and made way for even greater monstrosities. Things that had been twisted beyond their original forms into unworldly horrors. Swarms of bat-like creatures that looked mostly like mouths with wings moved as a unit and swept over one gunner, eating her alive down to the bone before their eyes. Monkey-like creatures with tentacle tails lashed out, seized those fleeing, and drug them back in to be killed by their companions. Humongous centipedes skittered around with venomous, menacing clacks of their mandibles and skewered Griffonstone soldiers like they were little more than appetizers to yank them toward their waiting jaws as they were still alive and conscious.
Even Twilight was so horrified her spell broke momentarily, before she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. She nearly jumped before spinning around to see Sunset looking at her insistently. “What are you waiting for? Bring out that other Anima Viri you got!”
“But…but…I’ve never used it before! I don’t know what it will do!”
“Who cares? Anything we can get now has to help! So long as it’s stronger than them!”
Twilight looked back, but couldn’t argue with the logic. Especially since the swarm was now surging forward so quickly that they were overrunning the gunners all together and starting to approach their own unit. The remaining Griffonstone soldiers had broken and were turning to run for their lives, but they were moments from being overtaken too. Swallowing, she took a step forward, held her hand high, and made the proclamation.
“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Pastoral Consul—Clover the Clever!”
Her doubly-strong eruption of aura was enough to attract Gilda’s attention along with that of Gareth, Shining Armor, Stygian, Little Violet, and anyone else in the area. Sunset herself was too close and ended up shielding her eyes until it dimmed down again, and she saw Twilight’s new form.
It was a tad underwhelming.
Twilight’s long hair was now put up in a tight bun and a pair of reading spectacles were over her eyes. Her Caster robes had been replaced by the high-collared coat, suit, and ascot of someone in academia. Even her wand was gone and had been replaced by a rather conspicuous, hefty, and leather-bound tome. Renewed aura aside, the fact that she looked like a college professor more than any sort of mage or fighter left everyone around her rather dumbfounded. It didn’t help things when she looked at herself and, purely on reflex, pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
“Um…” Shining Armor remarked.
“That’s it?!” Gilda shouted. “What are you going to do? Bore them with a chemistry lecture?!”
Twilight looked at herself a bit longer, holding a hand to her head. “Something…feels funny…like…I’m thinking different…”
“Uh…how is a book going to help us?” Little Violet spoke up nervously.
“Wait, everyone!” Sunset finally spoke up. “I remember this Role! It’s the Scholar!”
Twilight looked up and out to the field, seeing the people fleeing in terror. They were still getting picked off one at a time in spite of running, and Chipcutter was frantically reloading his rifle as a large, meaty, one-horned Nighttouched zeroed in on him. He finally got the ammunition in and risked turning around to pop off a shot or two at it, but it totally ignored each bullet that hit it. Coronet, meanwhile, was practically gasping in fright as a swarm of the bat-like ones picked her as their next meal.
“Scholar…great…” Gilda sneered. “Maybe she can study their eating habits while they’re eating us alive!”
“What does it do?” Stygian asked.
“Well, it’s a role that’s suited for when you need to know something…or plan something…or-”
Suddenly, Twilight’s eyes lit up. A moment later she cupped a hand to her mouth.
“Coronet! Stop and duck!”
“What?! Why-”
“Do it now!”
Twilight yelled so insistently, and with such extra power in her voice from two Anima Viris, that the young soldier could do little more than obey. She stopped and dropped down—right as the swarm surged toward her. However, it did so intending to overtake her, and so it remained locked in a forward loop, arching up over her head and where she had been. After a few seconds, the ravenous monsters had passed, and not long after she quickly got up and ran again while she could.
“Chipcutter! Shoot its right ear!”
The private blinked, likewise surprised, but nevertheless stopped where he was, spun around, and took the moment necessary to level a better shot and fire. The bullet sailed through the air and smacked against its relatively tiny ear, shooting it off. It gave an angry roar as it instinctively arched its head down to one side. As a result, its path went askew, and it ended up charging horn first right into its smaller brethren. It pierced one and swept another right off its feet, sending it crashing into its companions.
Twilight pointed straight at one of the fleeing Griffonstone soldiers. “You! Spin and then go left!”
Fortunately, her voice was loud and resounding enough to reach her, and she was too stricken with fear to do anything but comply. She began just as one of the elongated tails reached and began to wrap around her. However, her spin move let her slip right out of it before it could tighten. She immediately went left afterward—narrowly dodging another centipede stabbing inward with its venomous pincers. Instead, it pierced the tail of its companion, causing it to squeal before giving way to a dying gurgle.
Those around Twilight looked to her in amazement, but all she could do was blink in astonishment at her own behavior. She dropped the book and grasped the sides of her head. “It’s…it’s crazy… Just looking at them…I’m knowing more about them every moment. I can plan what they’re going to do…how they’re going to attack…where they’re the weakest… It’s all just flowing into my mind at once!”
Stygian abruptly pointed outward. “Look! They’re stopping!”
The group turned back out. Sure enough, in spite of their mad charge a moment ago, and even the fact that they were poised to attack more of the fleeing soldiers, the Nighttouched were slowing to a halt. They kept staring at their quarry but made no further attempt to go after them. Soon, the last of the privates were away along with the survivors of Gilda’s unit, and both sides were quickly starting to gather back around the group.
“Did Twilight calling out like that scare them?” Little Violet suggested.
Stygian looked a bit longer, but then frowned and shook his head. “No. It’s not that. Look in the sky.”
The three glanced upward. In spite of how gray everything had been when they arrived, there was a momentary lapse in the wind. One that allowed the clouds to part and to let a few rays of sunshine cut a swath of light across the otherwise desolate place. They looked back down and, on the sloped terrain, they were able to see where the sun was landing. While the Nighttouched seemed alright with the dim light and shade, they didn’t care much for the sunlight itself. Apparently, neither did Sombra. The inky blackness seemed to shun and recoil from it.
That wasn’t to say it was content to hide completely. Its eyes were full of anger, and after a moment it seemed to shove the Nighttouched forward. A few of them did lash out and try to advance. However, even under control, their very nature seemed at odds with their master’s will, and they only paced around or shook their heads.
“They can’t stand direct sunlight. If we can get out into the open, away from shade or trees, and the sun comes out, then…”
Shining Armor cut him off with a sigh. “It’s no good. The whole day has been overcast. We’re lucky we got this much. Which means we only have until the clouds cover the sun again…”
“Fine then,” Gilda half-growled, looking to the rest of her comrades. “Everyone knuckle up. We’ll have to make our stand here.”
Neither the privates with Shining Armor nor the Griffonstone soldiers looked that enthused with that idea. Sunset was far more blunt. “We can’t win like that. They’ll circle around us in no time. Even if they didn’t, there isn’t a spell among us that’ll even hurt Sombra. And you just saw what he did to your underlings.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve got any better ideas than waiting for him to do it anyway, do you?”
Sunset clammed up at that. The group was silent for a moment before Stygian looked up again.
“Wait. What time is it?”
“What difference does that make?” Can Can retorted.
“Just someone tell me what time it is!”
Little Violet, a bit flustered, looked around herself for a moment before pulling out what looked like an old, fobless pocketwatch. “Uh…um…half past ten. Why?”
Stygian lit up. “We’re in luck. We still have a chance. The train that’s supposed to come by to check on us arrives at ten-fifteen.”
“Well, yeah…” Boysenberry shrugged. “But that’s a long way away and it was fifteen minutes ago. How does that help us now?”
“Let me see a map!”
The group was again flustered for a moment, before several of them looked to the Griffonstone soldiers. They, in turn, looked to Gilda. She hesitated a moment, but was realizing quickly that they were all currently in the same fix. With a sigh, she motioned impatiently to Gareth, who in turn pulled out his map, unfurled it, and showed it to Stygian. He studied it only for a moment before he reached out and pointed.
“There! Right there! The tracks run by to the north of us!”
“So?”
“Don’t you see? The train is supposed to wait for us for fifteen minutes, but then it’s going to move on! Between the twists in the terrain and the speed, with any luck, if we head for those tracks we might catch them before they pass by!”
Twilight, Sunset, and Shining Armor looked to one another. After a moment, the former shrugged. “Well, I don’t have any better ideas. It might be a long shot, but it sounds like all we’ve got.”
Shining Armor hesitated, then turned to Gilda. “If you agree to a truce, can we help each other get to that train?”
She kept scowling. “So long as there’s a spot for us on that train, no one will such much as turn a gun on you. But once we’re clear of that thing, all bets are off.” She turned to her soldiers. “Got that, everyone?”
They reluctantly grumbled and nodded.
“Only one problem with your brilliant plan, though…aside from the fact there’s a good chance your train will already be gone by the time we get there…” She jabbed her finger at the map. “How far away from here are those tracks?”
Stygian looked a little nervous. A moment later, he exhaled and shrugged. “I don’t know…three…maybe four kilometers?”
“You seriously think we’re going to be able to run three or four kilometers uphill over overgrown terrain with that cloud and its gang of Nighttouched dweebs nipping at our heels every step of the way?”
He didn’t have a good answer for that. None of them did. After a moment or two, however, Shining Armor looked up. “Wait a second…Twily, can that Role of yours help us out again?”
She blinked a little. “Wait, huh?”
“That’s right,” Sunset spoke up. “I never thought much of it because it wasn’t that powerful, but I remember reading that the Scholar is the smartest of all the Roles. So long as it has enough opportunity to study any situation, it can find a way out of it if it exists. Twilight might be able to guide us out of this.”
“Well,” Gilda retorted, turning her attention to her, “can you, Ms. Egghead?”
The mage looked a little put on the spot as everyone’s eyes turned to her. However, after a moment she calmed. “You know…it’s weird, but…when I was just staring at everything a second ago, it did feel like I had a second brain somewhere in here figuring things out automatically. I suppose I could if I had a chance. But…I need time for it.”
“Then start staring at that thing and figuring it out already!”
Twilight swallowed, but then turned and did as she was told. She even adjusted her spectacles as she looked at the field. The Nighttouched continued to rant and rave. The clouds had shifted a little, so they were able to get closer, but they were still at bay as she looked over all of them.
Stygian swallowed as he felt the breeze pick up. “Ms. Twilight, not to rush you, but I don’t think we have much time…”
“Ssh…I need to concentrate… I’m not sure exactly how this works, but I’ve got to focus all my attention on the problem…”
Gilda looked a little impatient, but forced herself to cross her arms and wait. Everyone else nervously watched for a few more seconds. Finally, Twilight looked up.
“Alright, I got it. Someone needs to hurry up, run out there, and mount all of our gunpowder in that little fissure right there.”
The group, both sides, stared at her a bit blankly. “What do you mean ‘all of our gunpowder’?”
She turned back to them. “Everything. Cartridges, powder, grenades, and any other explosives. All of it.”
They were dumbfounded. A few of the Griffonstone soldiers snorted. “You’re crazy,” Gilda flatly stated. “Without gunpowder, how are most of us supposed to fight back?”
“We’re not supposed to fight back. We’re supposed to run and this will make us lighter anyway,” Twilight responded. “Running uphill there’s no way we can outflank a mob this big. Our only chance is to blast them right in the middle and scatter them enough to cut in between. Plus the only physical property Sombra has is vapor. We need a powerful blast to scatter him long enough to get by. Any other way, and there’s no way we can get on the other side of him without someone dying.”
Shining Armor turned to her. “We don’t have enough munitions of our own to pull this off.”
Gilda frowned, clearly upset with the entire idea. But there was no time to debate and she knew it. Finally, she motioned to the others. “Get a sack out here and start throwing everything you can spare into it!”
“Ma’am…”
“You heard me! Melee weapons, small caliber, and spells only from here on in!”
The group reluctantly came forward and started to do as they were told. One of the Griffonstone soldiers already had a sack with some grenades in it, so soon they started to dump any other sources of combustion they could into it—right down to reluctantly emptying their weapons into it. The privates with Twilight’s side didn’t feel much better but they did the same.
Shining Armor exhaled nervously as he emptied his own weapon. “None of our side except Twilight and me have Anima Viris. We won’t be able to defend ourselves.”
“We still have two sidearms, sir,” Coronet spoke up, unholstering her own weapon and showing it. Chipcutter soon pulled out one of his own.
He nodded. “Alright then. Everyone stay as close to those two or me as possible then.”
As the last of the ammunition was dumped, Gilda looked up. “Alright, who’s going out there?”
“I’ll do it,” Boysenberry spoke up; reaching out and taking the sack from the Griffonstone soldier. “I always wanted to set a bomb like this. Be right back.”
As soon as she had it, she ran out onto the field. Everyone else got out whatever weapons they could, with those who had no weapons to spare looking the most nervous, and started to draw together to get ready to run. The only person who didn’t seem to be reacting was Twilight. She was staring at the cloud and the Nighttouched beneath it.
Sunset reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, let’s get ready.”
“Wait.”
“Wait? Wait for what?”
“I’m…studying him…”
Shining Armor, overhearing this, looked up to Sunset. “What’s going on?”
“I’m looking at him, and…and I’m figuring things out. I know I am…” Twilight muttered. She started to look anxious. “We…we can’t run. I’ve got to have more time.”
“Wait, what?” Sunset nearly shouted.
“No, we got to go right now, Twily. Or we’re all going to die,” Shining Armor threw in.
“But we can’t… You don’t understand… This might be our only chance. I have him right in front of me now! If I keep letting the Scholar study him, maybe I can find a way to kill him!”
Sunset winced to hear that. However, after only hesitating a moment, she shook her head. “No. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“But…”
“It won’t do anyone any good to know how to destroy him if we die before we can tell anyone else!”
Twilight hesitated, looking anxious, but finally sighed and looked away. “I guess you’re right… But we’ve got another problem. It was hard enough for me to see what to do for four people. For everyone here…I don’t know if I can see everyone at once and still have time to call out to them.”
Sunset swished her mouth for a moment, but then pointed. “Hey, why don’t you tie yourself to Shining Armor the same way I was pressing against you?”
“Huh?”
“That way you can keep your back to all of us, and he can carry you out.” She turned to him. “You can run with her on your back, can’t you?”
He seemed a bit put on the spot. “Well, uh…yeah, I should be able to. I’ve run with gear packs before. But that means I have to stay in the lead. And I can’t try and purify anyone else if Sombra makes for us.”
Gilda let out a groan and stepped forward. “There’s no time for arguing about it! Just do it! Gareth, help me!”
Before either could protest any further, the Griffonstone soldiers practically seized a surprised Twilight, drug her up to Shining Armor, slammed her against him, and quickly began to get out any spare belts and ropes they could afford to start strapping her to him. Meanwhile, Boysenberry ran back, having accomplished her task. The clouds shifted overhead, shrinking the sunlight further. Like a horse chomping at the bit, Sombra began to flare up and move in again and brought his horde with him.
The Griffonstone soldiers and privates began to arrange themselves behind Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle. Stygian was with them, glancing repeatedly to the now-unarmed Little Violet. Soon after, however, he perked his head up as if he had heard something. He turned around and looked straight back at the now-ignored Well of Shade. He continued to stare at it for a moment or two.
He was interrupted when Chipcutter clamped a hand on his shoulder. He gave a bit of a jump and turned to him.
“Stygian, your riflery might not be that great, but I know you’re one of the sharpest with a handgun. So…” He took in a deep breath. “If something knocks me down, you pick up my gun and you keep running. Got it?”
Stygian went a little wide-eyed. He tried to say something but the noise caught in his throat.
“Stygian?”
Snapped out of it, he turned to Little Violet. In spite of how nervous she was, she was giving him her most genuine smile. “We’re going to make it. All of us. We’ll all look out for each other just as always.”
“She’s right,” Boysenberry added as she drew out her own combat knife. “We just keep running until we get to the tracks and stay behind Officer Armor.”
Stygian exhaled and looked forward again, managing only a small nod to Little Violet before he did. Not long after, the clouds shifted to fully obscure the sun at last. When they did, Sombra began to pour down the hillside. The legions of monsters came with them.
“Remember!” Shining Armor called. “These things don’t feel pain or injury! Only take kill shots or what it takes to get by! Focus on running! You’ll need your energy to make it to the tracks!”
Gilda grouchily yanked out a small .22 six shooter in one hand and a knife in the other, in spite of still being in her Disciple Role. “Alright, light it up!”
One of the two surviving Casters in her group quickly generated a fire emblem. By the time Sombra and his monsters began to near the trap, it was done and sent flying. The monsters had already swarmed over the hastily-made bomb by the time the fire touched it, but fortunately for them none of them acted as a living shield in time. The flames made contact and, just as hoped, it ignited immediately.
The Griffonstone soldiers had apparently been packing some rather potent ordinance, no doubt anticipating the possible need to blast their way into the Well of Shade, because the resulting blast was so intense that Shining Armor actually covered his face and recoiled from the shrapnel. However, the effect was as desired. The incoming monsters were split down the middle against their will—the force of the blast shoving those that wouldn’t be driven by the explosion itself. As for Sombra, his monstrous eyes widened in surprise before the resulting blast parted them from each other. While it wasn’t possible to see if the horde had fully been divided, at that moment they had been driven apart as far as could be seen.
That was the best they were going to get. “Now!” Shining Armor yelled.
At once he took off, stunning Twilight as she bounced along behind him. Gilda, Gareth, Sunset, and Spike quickly followed suit, with the rest of the privates and soldiers following behind. They didn’t even have time to wait for all of the dust and debris to die down. They simply plunged right into the divide that had opened and ran for all that they were worth, closing their eyes through the dust and smoke and charging uphill.
The Nighttouched that Sombra had claimed had probably the greatest recovery time of anything any of them had ever witnessed, but even they had some time negating the explosive damage and shrapnel done to them. By the time they were able to start closing in again, the group was already halfway through and still charging. Shining Armor kept leading the way as Twilight frantically looked around, trying to apply her power as soon as she could. They reached the back of the mass but saw that it was already closing up. The other Caster took care of that by firing a fireball into their midst, igniting the one directly in Shining Armor’s path and blowing his limbs off to incinerate his companions. As for the soldier himself, he crossed his arms in front of him and literally bowled the creature over before trampling it down.
The group quickly slipped through the hastily-made gap as quickly as they could while both sides converged on them. They nearly made it through before the final two Griffonstone soldiers were out. At that point, Twilight looked up and pointed at them.
“You! Cut up to the left! You! Drive your knife out to the right parallel to your middle!”
They both obeyed, and as a result the Warrior Role on the left cleaved the head off of a monstrous rat coming in to rip off her shoulder, while the normal soldier on the right drove her knife right into the eyeball of a gigantic viper a moment before it could sink its poisonous fangs into her. Both creatures faltered and the two Griffonstone soldiers were away. They were now in the clear.
Sombra, obviously, wasn’t taking this too well. As the cloud reformed over the mass of monsters, the eyes rematerialized out of the smoke to face them—filled with fury and wrath. The Nighttouched turned as one and quickly began to roar, fume, and rage. It wasn’t long before the faster members of the gathering started to catch up, in the form of a swarm of rats heading to nip at the heels of some of the Griffonstone soldiers.
“You two! Jump now! As soon as they do, throw a fireball at their feet!”
The two soldiers and the Caster did as they were told. While the two got a bit of a hot foot from the result, they managed to evade the controlled rats and left them bathing in fresh flames.
“You three! Move in to the right now! Boysenberry! Coronet! Aim for their eyes!”
Three of the privates quickly darted inward, barely evading a pack of enlarged, maddened dogs snapping out for them. The two members of the group with the sharpest aim quickly leveled their pistols at the eyes of the two nearest ones and fired. Fortunately, they kept pace long enough at close range for both of them to land their respective bullets, and they collapsed at once—bowling over the other members of the pack rushing from behind.
At this point, several of the encroaching monsters were batted aside as something much larger charged through them. Twilight needed only take a glance at it to realize it was one of the cat-scorpion monsters they had encountered back in Griffham City, and it was barreling straight for them. Seeing it incoming, Gilda grit her own teeth and halted in running to put her in between the rest of the group.
Before the two could meet, Twilight shouted. “Gilda! Cut the stinger then go for its elbows!”
She heard the instructions just as the monster got close enough to strike with its poisonous tail. However, she reacted by ducking and letting her knife fly over her head, slicing the stinger right off where it was meant to land. She popped back up only to quickly discharge her pistol into the elbow joint of one of its monstrous paws as it was about to come in for a swipe. The result was only a small plume of blood, but it made it pause long enough to bring its other set of claws up instead. This one she was able to dodge, before delivering a solid blow with her knife hand that audibly cracked bone.
When the creature lowered itself, it no longer had the support of that limb and faltered. Gilda herself cracked a grin before spinning around and using her enhanced stamina to quickly catch back up with the others.
The entire chaotic fight up the hill went the same way. Everyone had to sort through their panic and fear enough to hear the sound of Twilight calling, and there were times her instructions nearly overlapped and some of the group didn’t hear her right, but overall she kept any of them from getting seriously hurt or incapacitated. While the Nighttouched were able to stay on them constantly, her advice kept the group one step ahead. Finally, the hill began to level out as they reached the top, and beyond it the forest started to loom.
Not long after, the group charged into the overgrown woods. They knew that now would be worse than ever. There were more obstacles and the rough terrain would mean they could be split apart, but after having escaped the initial charge alive they all knuckled up and put on as much speed as they could muster; bracing themselves for the worst.
Therefore, it was more than a little peculiar when they saw the monsters behind them rapidly slow to a halt.
Twilight, the only one with a good look at all of it, quirked her brow in confusion. Sunset, panting and running as hard as she could nearby, turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re stopping…”
“What? They’re giving up?”
“No…Sombra’s cloud is still moving after us. But it’s slowed down…”
“Why?”
Stygian turned his head upward. “Do you…hear that?”
Those around him were making as much noise as possible trudging through the woods and gaining what distance they could while they could, especially since a few had looked behind them and saw they were now running ahead of Sombra as they were getting further in the forest. However, there was a distinct noise of wind rustling overhead, although the trees themselves weren’t shifting. And it seemed to get louder as they went further into the forest.
“Sounds like…laughing…” Little Violet slowly responded.
Shining Armor’s color drained from his face before he shouted. “Everyone look sharp! Something’s not right here!”
A mutual chill ran through everyone’s blood. They all looked around themselves a bit more as they kept running. They heard nothing, but what they saw didn’t bode well. The area still had understory in spite of the thicker canopy, and there were a great many shadows, tree hollows, and irregularities on the ground for things to lurk inside or around. They were surrounded on all sides by it, leaving plenty of vulnerabilities as well. For another forty meters or so, however, nothing more happened.
Then, suddenly, one of the privates let out a scream. Another one soon joined in. “Crackle!”
Everyone spun to the private; getting an eyeful of a ghastly sight. Crackle Pop’s face was gaping in horror and disbelief, but what truly stood out was a long, sharp spike now protruding from his chest. It had struck so suddenly from behind that it had not only pierced through but splashed blood all over his nearest comrade. Yet even as his shirt rapidly soaked it up, he stopped moving and collapsed, vanishing on the forest floor.
Some of the privates began to slow, as if to go back for him, but before they fully had the chance to realize what happened everyone caught a note of a whistle. A moment later, a spike erupted from the back of one of the Griffonstone soldier’s heads through her left eyeball—scattering blood and matter in a disgusting plume. Gilda snapped to her in shock, watching as she fell to the ground. She too nearly doubled back, but froze when her comrade’s killer made their presence known.
A horrible little creature, about knee high in height, leapt out and on top of the body. While it was quadrupedal, it almost immediately reared back on its hind legs and waved its more specialized front limbs at her. It was hard to tell what it was exactly. The fact that its backside was entirely lined with the same spikes that had killed two of them already as if they were quills made it seem like it was related to a porcupine or hedgehog initially, but this was a clear example of another creature that had been distorted beyond anything natural. That was most conspicuous based on its head, which was nothing but a cruel mouth with even crueler teeth and beady eyes gleaming with the same miasma colors. It opened its jaws and hissed at Gilda as if she was trying to steal food from it.
“Little bastard!” she yelled back as soon as she recovered, raising her pistol and firing two shots into it. She fired more, but at that point, snarling, it spun about and ran off. As soon as it vanished back into the brush, she spun around to Twilight. “Why the hell didn’t you say something, you idiot?!”
“I couldn’t see it!” she protested. “I had no way of predicting what it would do!”
“Well why don’t-”
Gilda cut herself off, because the brush had rustled again. Now, three of the creatures had emerged from the understory, and all leapt forward onto the body. Two of them hissed and snapped at Gilda while the third one immediately started to dig into her comrade.
She flared in rage and nearly shot at them again, only for one of them to suddenly give a spasming bow. In response, one of its spike-like quills was thrown from its body like a knife. It was only because she had the Disciple Role that she was able to react in time to fling her arm up and bat it aside.
Unfortunately, that was just the opening salvo. Soon, the brush all around them, including in front of them, began to rustle. Another Griffonstone soldier cried out as she was struck in the arm. Another joined her when she was struck in the neck. Everyone else began to dodge and raise their arms to try and defend themselves as they frantically looked around for the source of the attacks.
“No…everyone, we need to go!” Twilight suddenly outburst.
Shining Armor turned his head. “What?”
“He’s moving again!”
Sunset looked back. The shadow of Sombra was moving again but, far more importantly, so were the monsters beneath him. They were splitting in half and now racing along the forest periphery in both directions.
“They’re going to try and outflank us!”
Shining Armor turned about and shouted. “Everyone, keep moving!”
“But…but…we’re leaving Crackle Pop behind!” one of the private protested.
“We can’t help her now! Go!”
With that, he took off in a run again. The group was a bit reluctant, especially now that they had new reason to fear, but only a few more quills was all it took to get some of them moving again. One of the Griffonstone soldiers ran over to the one who had been struck in the arm just as she yanked it out. Even so, the arm was hanging low and at her side, not moving an inch.
“What’s wrong?”
“It burns…! I can’t move it!”
“Just go!”
Likewise, nearby, one of the soldiers was diving to the side of the one who had been struck in the neck. Although it seemed to avoided any vitals, it had made her face and neck go still, and she was beginning to have a convulsive reaction. He quickly put his knife aside to try and pull her up, only for two more of the spikes to fly out and pierce him in the back. As he fell, four of the monsters leapt on top and began to eat both alive. That horrific sight was enough to cause the others to keep running.
Although everyone fell in behind Shining Armor again soon after, it was no longer the charge that any of them wanted. No matter how far they ran, the quills kept being flung at them. As the one injured among them observed, they had some sort of paralyzing toxin in them as well. Hence, they couldn’t even afford to be grazed by one. Not that the monsters assailing them seemed to have much trouble with aim. They were constantly nipping at their heels and relentlessly throwing in front and behind. Shining Armor and those with Anima Viris were lucky enough to bat away some, but it wasn’t long before a spike from in front caught another Griffonstone soldier in the chest. Another nailed a soldier in the gut. And as soon as they faltered, the monsters would come out of the brush and make a grim feast out of them. Soon, a mob of the things was gathering behind them, hounding them every step of the way.
Twilight called out as best as she could for those at least. She pointed to one of the privates. “Go right! Now!”
She did so, managing to avoid a quill that was flung at her from behind. Unfortunately, she went right into the path of a hidden monster flinging a quill at her head. She saw it coming, gasped, and ducked, only to catch a scrape along the cheek. Feebly, she tried to keep running, but only got a few steps before she started to falter.
Boysenberry caught this, and quickly turned; doubling back and grabbing her by the arm to keep pulling her.
“Wait, no!” Twilight shouted.
It was too late. Boysenberry managed to get her two more steps before two of the monsters leapt out and sank their teeth into her shoulders, yanking her back and to the forest understory. The look on Boysenberry’s face was one of horror, and it paralyzed her momentarily. She managed to recover enough to try and turn and run again, but by that time another of the monsters had stood in front of her with quills out. She ran right into them and stabbed herself in the legs multiple times.
She screamed out, and that was the last anyone ever heard of her before her attacker leapt onto her and carried her down as well.
The privates were white as sheets after that. Shining Armor called out to them again to keep running and, after a pause, some of them turned and obeyd. However, one of them stayed behind. He was stiff as a board and staring out behind them.
Chipcutter, noting he wasn’t coming, turned around and shouted louder. “Come on! Move it!”
This prompted Little Violet and Stygian to look back as well. As the other soldiers ran by, the private continued to stand there. He had locked up. He didn’t even look like he heard his fellow private call out. Soon he was being left behind.
Chipcutter turned around at that, rushing back for him. Little Violet and Stygian continued to hold, with the former reaching out to him. “Chipcutter!”
Stygian himself began to breathe heavily, looking between the crowd running past them, leaving them alone by themselves, and those who were hanging behind. He saw more and more rustling in the brush as the monsters closed in with greater numbers. Chipcutter himself ignored it, and was almost to his fellow private. He reached out to grab him by the shoulder…
One of the things jumped out at his right, hissing and spitting. Chipcutter froze, long enough to spin around and put two bullets into its head. That dropped that one, making it fall to the ground. Instantly, three more of its brethren leapt out with more coming behind it…not going for Chipcutter or the private but for their fallen comrade to begin greedily devouring him. Chipcutter quickly seized the private by the upper arm and yanked with all of his might. In spite of his comrade being practically catatonic, he managed to get his feet to move, and he turned around and started to run back…
Two of the emerging monsters, while going for a bite on their friend, noticed the two, and flung out several quills at both of them. The private in Chipcutter’s arm got one in the chest and two through the head. He quickly became dead weight and fell. Chipcutter tried to hold onto him, only to cry out. Stygian saw why as two of the quills erupted from behind in his upper legs.
“Chipcutter!” Little Violet yelled, before taking off fully for him. Stygian normally would have been too horrified to even move, but on seeing her charge into danger, he was able to quickly dash after her and up to him.
Their fellow private fell to his knees, no longer able to stand. The voracious beasts behind him now leapt onto his fellow private. For a few precious seconds, they were sated with their current meals. But they were attracting more and there clearly wasn’t enough to go around…
He seemed to realize that as he grit his teeth, clenched his handgun as best as he could, and flung it out toward them. Little Violet froze in shock by the gesture, and Stygian kept running forward only for the handgun to hit him in the chest. He was so stunned that he stopped in his tracks and let it practically tumble into his hands.
“Go!”
Little Violet practically gasped. “No, we’ll-”
“I said go! If you fall too far behind you’re dead!”
Stygian could only stammer. He was barely holding the gun in his hands. Now Little Violet was immobilized. As for Chipcutter, his face twisted in agony as he reached down for his legs. He seized one of the quills and, with all the focus he could muster, yanked it out and brandished it as a knife. He forced himself to turn around just as another monster emerged that sized him up. He readied himself for it, but it leapt forward in a tackle, smashing into him, spreading his arms far apart, and taking him down. Four others soon leapt out of the brush and dogpiled on him.
As disgusted and aghast as Stygian was, with a shaky grip he managed to grab the gun in one hand and step forward to place his hand on Little Violet. “We have to go! We have to go now!”
She was still immobilized. Still gaping at the gruesome sight.
“Violet! Come on!”
His insistent yell snapped her out of it. She blinked a few times and looked away. Stygian took her by her own arm and pulled her up and turned her body from the sight. Once he did, adrenaline managed to take over, and soon both of them were running back to catch up with the others.
Things didn’t improve. Only twenty seconds later, the Griffonstone soldier struggling to help her injured comrade was pierced. The injured one was shocked for a moment before trying to move on, but the things seized her ankles and drug her down to her fate. More quills began to rain down, and every so often someone would either fall or be struck with the poison. If they were, the pain and numbness soon slowed them down, and the moment they were away from the group they were as good as dead. The Warrior finally snapped around and stood her ground, intent on killing as many of the monsters as possible. She got through only three before they surrounded her and pierced her with eight quills at once, which was too much even for her. Anyone who tried to look behind them was unfortunate enough to watch her be dismembered.
The group soon shrunk to half of its original size. Then a third.
“Help! Don’t leave me! Please!”
Stygian and Little Violet were again shaken out of their single mindset to run when they heard the cry. It was already far behind them, but they recognized it as the voice of one of their comrades. They turned about and barely caught a glimpse of a hand reaching up from the brush desperately for who was fleeing.
Coronet, who was closer, stopped and turned around. She could see the monsters already closing in, but she turned around regardless. By now, her face was no less panicked or horrified than the rest, but she forced herself back. As one monster leapt for their teammate, she shot it out of the sky. The same with a second a moment later. She reached the teammate, bent down, quickly let her wrap her arms around her neck and shoulders, and got up to take off again.
It was too late. They had fallen too far behind, and the quill monsters had circled in front of her to block her way. Two stopped and snarled at her. She responded by firing a bullet into either of them, driving them off in pain and rage. Another came from her right, and she shot that one as well. Then came two from the left, which she also managed to fire back.
At that point, however, she froze. Stygian knew why, for he had been counting the bullets as both she and Chipcutter had fired. There was only one left. Even if there wasn’t, the monsters were now surrounding them en masse. They were getting doubly thick, and soon they’d converge on them all.
Little Violet saw Coronet trembling. She looked around her on every side. She saw escape was impossible. She saw the private behind her grab her more tightly, crying and continuing to plead for help. Her breathing got hard and heavy. She saw her swallow once before she made a decision.
Beginning to cry herself from sheer terror, she spun the gun around and shot her comrade in the head. Letting her fall to the ground, she closed her eyes and embraced the inevitable as the monsters charged in on her.
Stygian wasn’t sure how he found the strength to reach out and again tear Little Violet away from that sight and push her onward, as she was now crying herself. But his own panic was continuing to rise. He had realized something everyone else was too busy trying to save themselves to notice.
He and Little Violet were the only two of the privates left.
“I see it! I see the tracks!”
Stygian, Little Violet, and everyone else who was still left looked ahead again. A second later, they got near enough to see the woods breaking up ahead. A few steps closer, and they could see gravel base of where the track was laid. They were less than 25 meters away.
“Push for it!” Gilda yelled. “All of you!”
Everyone was already running as fast as they thought was possible, but the hope of salvation drove them on even harder. With the monsters chasing them distracted by their dead, they gained a few more moments of reprieve to gain the last bit of distance. As the forest gave way to underbrush, they heard their cruel cries and yells behind them, but they were nearly out already.
Finally, Shining Armor pulled himself out and rushed right up to the tracks themselves, running up on the gravel base and frantically looking around. Twilight, now finally in the clear and able to see, put her hands together and began to trace outward. “Everyone! Out of the woods! Hurry!”
Sunset and Spike soon ran up to their side. Gilda and the four remaining members of her group (only one of which was toughing through a pair of quills embedded in her limp left arm) quickly began to follow behind. Bringing up the rear end was Stygian and Little Violet. As soon as they were out of the forest, Twilight chanted and brought forth her spell.
It seemed the Scholar made her at least a little more powerful than the Caster, for when she was done a torrent of flame erupted from her open palms like a flamethrower, and she quickly painted the path behind them. The group was able to see the hedgehog-like monsters draw to a halt, massing on the other side of the fire but unable to get any closer. They scowled and spat before retreating before the flames for a moment, then they split in either direction. Quickly, Twilight spread her palms out and started expanding the fire wall along the pathway, trying to keep them back.
Some of them, however, didn’t move but instead shrieked in rage and anger before flinging out their quills once again. Quickly, those who had paused to catch their breath ran away from the wall of fire to try and gain distance on them.
As all of this happened, Shining Armor turned his head to the right, pointed, and yelled. “Over there!”
Sunset, Stygian, Gilda, and the others looked. It was hard to tell exactly what it was Shining Armor had seen at first, but after a moment they noticed a plume of smoke rising above the canopy a short ways in the distance. Not from any normal fire, but rather the signature column of a steam engine.
“We missed it! Hurry, we have to catch up!”
He took one step running in that direction, and Stygian moved to follow.
“Ah!”
Even before he could fully turn around, he saw out of the corner of his eye as Little Violet fell. While the others broke into a full run after Shining Armor, he reached out just in time to catch her before she could collapse all together. Her face was contorted in pain and her teeth were grit. Stygian didn’t even have to ask to see the reason for it. His eyes widened when he saw one of the quills had embedded itself in her lower leg.
“Stygian!”
Hearing Sunset’s voice, he looked back forward and saw she had paused as well and saw what had happened. He stared back, his throat clenching and fear beginning to seize him, but then waved forward. “It’s alright! Keep going!”
Sunset nearly protested, before another volley of quills rained out; threatening to hit all of them. Stygian tried not to think about them as he moved as quickly as he could to get his arm around Little Violet and help her up. The poison was working too fast, however. While she could get her other leg moving, the one that had been struck was already practically lifeless. Nevertheless, he put her other arm around his shoulder and held it. As best as he could to get them into a “three legged race” to compensate for her bad leg, he began to help her hobble along.
Twilight continued to spread fire along the way, but from her position she could only discharge it for so long while the others were running up behind them and avoid hitting them. Not only that, but the monsters were relentless. The more she spread the fires as a barrier, the more they kept running—struggling to get ahead of the flames so they could cut the group off. The forest also wasn’t exactly dry. She had to focus just to start a fire long enough to hold them back or risk them bursting through a gap.
It seemed like they were running for an hour, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before they finally managed to round the bend. There, just visible, and still chugging along at a speed slower than them, was the engine. Finding new strength, Shining Armor charged for it even faster—waving his hands and shouting to desperately try and signal it. If it slowed down, Stygian and the others couldn’t tell. They were too busy trying to escape their situation and catch up while they still could. It didn’t help that, in spite of his best efforts, he soon saw that he and Little Violet were falling behind. It had to be the fastest three-legged race of his life and yet it still wasn’t enough…
Gilda suddenly let out a swear. It caused Stygian and the others to glance to her, but she wasn’t the source of the scream—only what she saw. They looked ahead and saw the forest thinned out to make room for a ravine. It cut all the way to the nearby forest periphery, and right now they could see that the Nighttouched were pouring into it. The steepness didn’t seem to matter to them; only the fact that if offered a quick route into the forest. And based on how it was tracing, they were going to emerge ahead of the train tracks when they came out the other side.
Everyone knew what that meant. The only escape now was to get onto the engine and gun it to full speed in hopes of ramming through. Their time had just gotten even shorter. As much as he could, especially still supporting the gun in one hand, Stygian tried to force Little Violet on faster. She struggled to stay with him, but it was clear from her wound she was driving herself into more pain with each step.
Finally, Shining Armor reached the back and, with a bit of effort, managed to reach out and seize the rail. Grunting and straining, he pulled himself up and on. As soon as he was there, he quickly began to move along the edge, hoping that whoever was driving saw him. Fortunately, it seemed they did. The side door broke and slid open, and two people poked their heads out and beckoned to him. While he had to go over the door to get there, he managed to inch his way along with Twilight still on his back and ducked inside.
There was a brief break in her fire as she was quickly detached from his back, but then she resumed blasting all around the track. The others kept running to catch up, with Sunset panting and gasping as she reached for the back and Gilda running all the way up to the opening on the side car.
“I’ll get up front and tell them to slow down!” Shining Armor shouted.
“Forget that!” Gilda shouted back. “If we don’t get up to full speed, those things will derail us when we smash into them!”
She darted to the side and quickly leapt into the car like a champion high jumper. Two of her comrades pushed past Sunset and reached the car, leaping onto the back before she could grab a rail and beginning to move themselves across. Twilight continued to pour out flames with one hand as she reached out and called. “Spike! Over here!”
While he was panting, Stygian somehow found enough strength to push even harder and, miraculously, he managed to gain a bit more speed. In spite of how much he and Little Violet were weighted down, they were gaining distance on the train. “We’re going to make it! Just a little further! We’re almost-”
A loud screeching behind him cut him off. Both privates wheeled around and saw that one of the creatures had tucked itself into a ball and smashed itself through the flaming barrier. Although several of its quills had gotten singled and it was still smoking and smoldering, and it soon toppled out into a heap on the ground that made it look like it was clearly in pain, it unrolled and turned to the two stragglers of the group. It gnashed its teeth at them before forcing itself up onto all fours and scurried after them. Faster than they were moving.
Stygian nearly gulped. For a split second, he was frozen on seeing them exposed. Then he snapped out of it long enough to stop where he stood and spin around. While one arm struggled under Little Violet’s weight, he held up the handgun and fired.
A horrible shot. Not only was he quivering and shaking, but his firing was wild. It hit the ground well away from it and didn’t even daunt it.
Swallowing, he cocked and fired again.
This one was closer, but he was still shaking all over. It leapt over the shot and picked up its own speed. It was nearly in range to lunge at them and it was clearly making ready to do so.
Clenching his teeth, steadying himself as much as he could, he fired a third time.
The bullet finally hit. Not in the chest or the head, but it did embed in the left calf of the creature. It faltered slightly, and for a heartbeat Stygian thought he had crippled it.
Yet that only lasted until it took off, revealing its true reason for pausing, opened its mouth wide, and landed on Little Violet’s back with its teeth sinking into her shoulder.
She was practically wrenched out of his arm and to the ground, and she screamed in pain as blood frothed around the wound. Stygian was aghast. Again, he froze momentarily before the awareness of what was happening to her fully struck him. In a nearly apoplectic panic, he wheeled the gun on it at point blank range and fired again. His horror doubled as he heard nothing but a clicking from the now-empty chamber, especially when it was mixed in with the thing biting deeper…trying to chew…
It didn’t last. With a snarl, a purple and green mass shot into the monster and tore it off of her. Stygian nearly spasmed as he looked up and saw Spike clamp his jaws around the thing’s throat and wrestle it to the ground. It began to dig in furiously to try and end its life, which wasn’t easy as the thing kept fighting even as blood began to spurt up around from where it had been seized.
Back at the train, Twilight kept fountaining out fire but looked up to where she had sent Spike on seeing the hedgehog-like monster leap through the fire. However, she could do no more, and now Stygian was frozen and Little Violet was on the ground—all three of them falling farther behind.
As for Sunset, she heard the same scream just as she managed to reach forward and seize the rail—this time catching it. As she pulled herself up, however, she turned her head and saw Spike had gone back, but also the two privates; realizing it was down to the two of them for the first time. She saw the one standing and the other lying on the ground, back covered in blood.
For a moment, she hesitated. She looked back to the train, then back behind them, and back to the wall of fire that seemed to be gathering an ever-increasing number of the monsters. She swallowed once.
Then, her hand released as she hopped back to the ground. She pushed past the last two Griffonstone soldiers, who readily took her spot, as she began to run back to the two privates.
Stygian was finally shaken out of his stupor on hearing Little Violet cry out again, turning back to her. Dropping the gun entirely, he bent down to her side. Soon he started to move his arm under her to get her up again, but it was harder this time. Now every move or gesture she made forced her into more agony. In spite of that, somehow he managed to get enough around her, wincing at how much of her blood was getting on him, and started to lift her up.
A crackling sound echoed out behind the both of them, and this time not from fire or burning. It was the sound of tree branches. Stygian looked behind just as Sunset looked past them, and watched as one of the trees near the tracks, its trunk gnawed into splinters, gave a mighty groan before spilling over and falling down…in just such a way to span the fire break that Twilight had made. The monsters now had a “bridge”.
To their horror, it took very little time for the creatures to start hopping across it. So quickly that they were practically pushing each other into the fires to get across first if they couldn’t hop over one another. An entire mob of them were soon along the tracks, turning to the two, and now scampering after them flashing their teeth.
Stygian began to gasp in panic. He was struggling to drag Little Violet, but they weren’t even making half the speed. At this point, the train was getting further away and the monsters were closing. They had maybe fifteen seconds at the most. He looked around. Spike had finished the creature underneath him, but he couldn't fight a whole group of them. Sunset looked as panicked as him, but somehow was able to bite it back and keep coming. Nevertheless, it was futile. The best they could do was reach them at the same time.
He kept pulling as hard as he could but he wasn’t strong enough. And as much as he wanted to deny it, the inevitability was already blaring in his head.
“Stygian…you have to let me go.”
That was the only thing that could have disrupted his panic. He turned to Little Violet. She still looked scared, but she no longer looked in pain. She stared at him fearfully but also with acceptance.
“No…”
“You have to run.”
“No, no! I’m going to-”
“Stygian, you can’t pull me.”
“Yes I can! Come on! Get on your feet!”
“Stygian, they’re going to get both of us!” Her voice grew more insistent as the horrible smacking sounds of the creature’s jaws started to come over her. “You can still make it!”
“No! I’m going to save you!” he shouted, his own voice growing desperate. “Just come on! Don’t give up!”
“Stygian!” Sunset’s voice shouted. She held out her hand to him as she kept running. “Come on! Take my hand!”
“Stygian, let me go! Hurry!”
“She’s almost to us! Just hang on! I’m going to save you! I’ve got to save you!”
“Stygian, please!”
The things began to curl up. The nearest ones were getting ready to leap on both of them. Spike was snarling and growling to try and keep them back, but they were ignoring him and the dog realized he couldn't stop them when they all leapt together. He was forced to back up as well.
“Violet…please! Just trust me! I can help you! I can-”
The nearest hedgehog creatures leapt. As they did, Little Violet, biting her lip, tears forming in her eyes, and with all the strength she had left, twisted her arm loose of Stygian’s grip. He was pulling so hard that the loss of inertia made him fall backward and away, practically leaping out of her hands.
But he still kept his eyes open. As he fell, he saw her there, still lying on the ground, still holding her hand out to him, and looked right into her eyes until the moment she was covered by the ravenous monsters and vanished under their quills and teeth.
Stygian didn’t move. He didn’t blink. He kept staring forward without making another move---stricken with abject horror. In spite of the ghastly sight unfolding before him, he kept seeing the now unseen eyes staring back at him.
Most of the monsters swarmed over Little Violet. One, however, leapt over her and saw another source of fresh meat, but before it could jump on him Spike dove at it and ripped its throat out even more quickly than the last. Between that one’s body as well as the soldier’s, the monsters were distracted long enough for Sunset to reach him and seize his hand. Her own panic was enough to pull him up, although he was practically in an apoplectic state.
As she yanked him back to the train as quickly as she could, eventually some of the hedgehog creatures broke loose and came after them again, but Spike was able to take down the one in the lead and its body once again stalled the others. By the time that one was done, they were close enough to the train for Twilight to throw a few more balls of fire. Dragging all the way, Sunset pulled Stygian to the side, where the remaining survivors quickly grabbed them both and pulled them in. Only then did he try to fight, to keep looking back, as if somehow by doing so there would be a way to go back and undo what happened.
But by now, the track in front of them was swarming with the Nighttouched creatures, and the black cloud with the horrid eyes quickly moving in after them. There was no time left, and as soon as Spike jumped in after them the train quickly began to pick up speed. Stygian was forcefully dragged inside so that the doors could shut, and all on board waited until the fateful moment their engine met the oncoming horde.
However, no collision happened. Moments before they could smash into the stampeding creatures, the eyes twitched, and the possessed creatures simply parted before them. Apparently, it didn’t want to kill them needlessly when it already saw it was futile. The passengers were left to look out the windows…seeing hundreds of creatures standing in motionless unison, staring at them with those same smoldering eyes as if they could burn into their very souls. It was a horrific sight that unsettled everyone, from greatest to least.
It passed in the end, however. The shadow cleared, and the dim cloudy light shone on them again as it started to rain.
The rain was falling at a steady clip an hour later. No one had said much. Everyone was either exhausted or too shaken. Shining Armor stood watch out the back the entire time. He couldn’t do much to fight off anything, but he could break Sombra’s influence if he came back. Yet after not seeing anything for that time, he finally looked back inside the car.
The group…or what was left of it…was a mess. Gilda sat in a corner with her head facing it. She said nothing and hadn’t looked away once. Her last remaining subordinates were worse. One of them had just managed to stop crying. Another held her legs to her chest and kept rocking, mumbling incoherently. Two of the young soldiers, the only ones that had stayed behind to escort the train, were looking at the floor with a thousand-yard stare.
Then there was Stygian.
The look on his face hadn’t changed that entire time. His body was like a puppet whose strings had been clipped, only being held up from being propped against the train wall. It looked as if he was still replaying that moment in his mind.
Shining Armor swallowed and nearly stepped toward him, but ended up stopping. The man honestly didn’t know what, if anything, he could say. Even if he did, the fact was he was only a few pushes from being the same as them. He was able to keep his head on his shoulders only due to training and, unfortunately, experience in similar situations. Instead, he took a deep breath and turned; electing to leave him be a while longer.
He ended up making his way to the other end of the car instead. Twilight had stood outside regardless of the pouring rain, making sure to guard against any more attackers. Sunset, however, was leaning against the wall near the open door, arms crossed and head down. Spike sat nearby, waiting for Twilight. It looked as if, once or twice, Sunset wanted to reach for him, but she had pulled herself back each time. Her face wasn’t any more at ease than the rest of them, but she seemed to be composed at least.
He stopped when he was right next to her and stared for a second or two. “Hey.”
She looked up to him. Her face grew a bit more anxious on seeing him looking at her, but his own face bore no animosity.
“That was pretty brave of you back there. Thanks.”
She flustered slightly, turning her head downward. “Don’t misunderstand it. There’s just so much someone can take of running around with all these people with powers before they start feeling like a fifth wheel. I just…wanted to feel like I brought some value, that’s all.”
“You know…you look a lot different than you used to.”
She sighed. “Well, maybe I’m finally getting used to being a powerless nobody.”
“I think it’s more than that. I think you’ve-”
Shining Armor was cut off by a loud sigh as she held a hand in his face. “Please…do not be about to say ‘you’ve changed’. I haven’t changed one bit. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m running with the side that gives me the best chance of getting through this alive. If it was still Trottingham, nothing would be different. And you better believe that if it would get me my magic back I wouldn’t hesitate to stick a knife in each one of your backs while you were asleep. I use people to get by. I use their lives if I have to. It’s the only way I’ve ever been able to get through life on my own. Or did you forget when I showed up unannounced at your home already?”
He couldn’t answer that, although he did wince. As for Sunset, she sighed, still not looking at him. “Just…go out and talk to your ‘sister’ already.”
He stood there a moment longer, but then sighed as well—this time in resignation—before he walked past her and through the open door.
It was raining hard enough to start soaking him pretty quickly, but he didn’t mind. Sure enough, Twilight was still standing there. What more, although it had been an hour, she was still holding her Scholar Role perfectly. She was staring out into the passing woods, likewise motionless. He came to a stop behind her.
“I think we’re in the clear. Unless they have a trap for us up ahead. We’re going straight back to Canterlot.” He bowed his head. “I guess I’m still not much of the leadership type… Otherwise I’d be saying something to get everyone’s spirits up. But…to tell the truth I’m not really feeling up to much myself. If it wasn’t for Sombra, I’d just as soon lie down like everyone else…”
Twilight didn’t move.
He looked back up to her; his face now regretful. “Twily…don’t blame yourself for anything that happened back there. The truth is we all would have died if not for you. We didn’t know what to expect, and…and sometimes that happens in a war. Then you’re forced to do the best you can… Especially nowadays.”
“Shining Armor?”
“…Yeah, Twily?”
The mage slowly turned around to face him. When she did, he could see her eyes were wide and her face was blank, as if she had come to a realization.
“I stared at him. I stared at him as long as I could when we were passing by his Nighttouched.”
He was puzzled, but Twilight only spoke more insistently.
“I know how to defeat Sombra.”
At long last, Stygian did move from his position.
Almost unconsciously, he slowly raised one hand over to his Promethian Sigil and began to scratch one of the corners.
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10483084
How are those two not the same thing?
This story is almost finished, right?
11260456
Well...it might reach the halfway point in another ten chapters or so...
11260455
Not everyone Celestia took in was from Equestria. Sunset wasn't, for example.
Love this story so much can't wait for more
11309101
Sorry it's taking so long. I want to make sure the next chapter has no "fat" since it's another transition chapter, plus I'm trying to "sprint to the finish line" with the other project I'm working on as that's almost done and then I'll be able to devote full time to this.
Oh shit... well now that I think about I mean it's honestly not that surprising, he's fricken stygian, I should have seen it a mile away. Well, rip to those guys unconscious down in the well, everybody completely forgot about them.