Apr. 2014 - Sweat, Flesh, Blood, And Bones - 2. To Put a Name to a Face
New Version:
It all started with simple mumbling. Initiating a simple rhythm, the music spread swiftly in the air. The mumbling became a whistle and it evolved into a true song. The lyrics were low-pitched, and the end of each verse nearly hissed. The lines were modulated in speed and tone. To an attentive ear, the singer was awkwardly messing with the modern rhyming poetry and the ancient Latin hexameter, ending with a strange fable.
“Unable to clearly remember
His conscience fades away
Making way for a pregnant hunger
This heavy tension floods his hand
His distorted scars itches
And his body dwells on this land
Coughing scores of ashes
It’s Impossible to turn over
He feels this deep necessity
And all hear the truth, rough
As there’s no harsh enmity
Without eerie difficulty
Will it never be enough?
There standing and distracted
All like sheep gathered
Alike, chased and tracked
Their life slowly withered…
A short pause followed. Then the sweet whistle came back, printing a similar pace to the song. The singer’s voice was thin and maybe, too smooth.
…As there’s no war
Without an ugly hatred
Rises the angry monster
Merciless he has long wander’
The vocalist snapped his fingers to go hand in hand with the lyrics. The unsteady rhymes accelerated. And in the end, it only worked to make the song unbearable to hear.
On this bleak acre…”
“Your voice is pretty ugly you know! And your song is bad.”
Maria’s stare was clearly telling that he should feel bad too. Kreps cursed his friend for being so heartless and of course, tasteless. He knew his singing was unpleasant to other’s ears. But having this harsh reality being pointed out was not something he appreciated.
“You’re all so silent,” Kreps complained. “It’s about to become a real pain in the ass!”
“And it’s the geek who wants us to be cheerful? Where is the world going?” Maria laughed.
She glanced at her two other friends. Ray and Verdugo were carrying the metal case. Pain wrinkled their exhausted faces.
“No… really…” Kreps stuttered, wiping sweat off his forehead. “Look around, no bandits, no cadavers, no wreckages and chemicals, just a good old golden wheat field. It’s warming up!”
Silence welcomed him. The surroundings were way different than the greyish, sorrowful and lugubrious atmosphere they were used to.
“Isn’t it… Guys?”
“Yeah,” Verdugo shrugged only to trigger a wave of pain in his shoulder. His eyes winked, tears about to burst. “Speaking of warming up, it’s your shift.”
He and Ray dropped off the heavy box. The huge trunk banged noisily on the ground, crushing stems under its weight and blowing small wisps of dirt.
They cracked every painful joint of their aching limbs and started stretching their bruised muscles.
“Again?” Kreps infuriated. “Man, I'll end up a hunchback.”
“Like everyone else.” Verdugo replied with a smirk. “And my shoulder needs rest.”
Kreps wanted to protest, claiming asylum for his damaged ribs as Verdugo spat some viscous phlegm on the ground. Its colour was unusual, a pure dark red.
Kreps changed his mind when he looked down at the oozing bandages wrapping Verd’s naked torso. His friend was sweating horribly, trying to hide the pain the best he was able to.
“Okay, give me your spot…” Kreps sighed, rolling his eyes to the sky. ”At least you’re worth my pity.”
Verdugo grumbled, rubbing his wound.
Ray sat down between the tall ears of wheat. Only the top of his nut-haired head surfaced. A sound of creased paper rose. He had the map in his hands. Always struggling with unfolding it, Ray had the despicable habit to tear some holes in the paper, deteriorating the key item each day god was making.
“How far are we from the ruins?” Kreps grunted while he adjusted his grip on the case, searching for a ‘comfortable’ position.
“I thought…” Maria initiated doubtfully, looking at the opposite side of the field “… that we were two or three miles away from the castle. But I was wrong... We have one or two more to go.”
Kreps swore in his native language. Maria giggled. Ray was still fighting with the rebellious piece of paper. And Verdugo was quiet as a grave, as usual.
“Tag! you’re it Motherfucker!” Maria erupted, kicking away a small rock which ricocheted on the metallic case.
The bang tortured everyone’s ears. She laughed. But her smile died quickly when Ray, a cynical grin clearing his face, gave her a wink and pointed what she had just knocked. It was also her turn to carry the case.
“Maria?” Verdugo gritted.
Maria immediately stopped with her goings-on. The stern voice of her foster brother was enough to scare her.
“Yeah?” She said timidly.
“That thing… that castle… it’s pretty big. Are we that far from it? How tall should it be?”
Maria frowned, troubled, and stared back at the castle in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, and then swelled.
“It… Wow… I didn’t… maybe one, two hundred meters high,” she stuttered.
“Never heard of such a… thing in Austria. And you?” Verdugo asked Ray and Kreps, knitting his brow.
They denied en bloc, shrugging their shoulders. They all sighed hoping for a Deus Ex Machina which, they all knew, would never come. A heavy silence set up between everyone. Only the wind was blowing a gentle rustling through the wheat, breaking the eerie silence.
Letting out a loud breath, Ray lay down. He had decided to take a short nap. Worried by the recent events, he was struggling not to burst out those emotions.
Maria was scrutinizing every yard of the surrounding, ready to act in case a threat would show up. In this situation it was her role and she was playing it perfectly. Moving her head from right to left, then checking behind before coming back to what was standing in front of her. Quicker than anyone else, she had been named the “mangoose” by a random survivor in Italy. The surname had stuck to her since, inducing laughter in every person hearing it. Oh god she hated this alias!
On his own, Kreps looked at the young boy, studying him. The kid had remained silent ever since they met and was now well-hidden under the high grass. Kreps, with his logical spirit in action was troubled. He sought for the reason why the urchin was following his friends and him. Moreover, he queried mentally for the excuse to not get rid of him. The child was a worthless mouth to feed with a nearly nought return on investment. But Kreps was a man, and every man, even in the sickest place in the world would not be twisted enough to act in this sense. For the German, those who had done so in the past did not deserve the right to be called ‘human’ ever again.
Kreps sighed. Maybe Verdugo would have done it if his right arm was not at the moment a mess and a painful burden. Kreps knew it would have not been his first time. Verdugo also sported a surname. But this one, Kreps was keeping it to himself, it was ‘Our inner Misericorde’.
“Meh, even Verd’s knife would be useless to make you talk, wouldn’t it?” Kreps deadpanned.
The child buried his eyes behind clumps of grass. Kreps held his face with his hand and slid it off, depressed.
“Where have we put ourselves?” He sighed.
“Wherever your little box sent us,” Ray replied ironically with his eyes covered by his wrist, trying to protect himself from the sunbeams. “I’m convincing myself that in fact, we might be dead.”
As a response, a strong kick struck his ribs. He yapped. Opening his eyes, he stood up painfully. He held his side. Maria stuck out her tongue. Ray was absolutely not amused.
“From my point of view, it seems that you are indeed particularly awake but unfortunately unaware,” she sneered with a posh accent.
“You didn’t have to!” Ray groused.
“It. Is. Always. Tempting.”
Maria caught the soundless teenager grinning behind his hiding position. She returned his smile.
Everyone’s bellies growled. They were all tired, hungry and thirsty. ‘Another day in an apocalyptic world indeed’, they all thought. Surviving was a harsh and depressing experience when people pretended they could get their problems fixed all alone. Surviving was even more dangerous when you were in group. But at least there were advantages coming with such a condition to even the odds. You had people to talk to without expecting them to shoot you first in order to loot your body and carve up some steaks from your skeletal limbs. Sharing the same burden was the best way to describe friendship in the wasteland.
They all got up in silence and resumed walking toward the old remote structure, holding back their physiological needs once again with an effete hope for a better tomorrow.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Fluttershy was hiking in the forest. Each branch cracking under her hooves made her more afraid than before. Jumping for every eerie sound, she feared being followed. She was in that part of the Everfree Forest where trees had wicked faces carved upon their trunks. She focused on the comforting advices of Pinkie.
“Guffaw at the grossly,” She muttered.
She took a long breath and let out a small, shy and cute laugh, not even a decibel high. She felt much better afterward. Or at least, she tried to convince herself she was. Whatever she did and however she looked as far as possible in the deep shadows of the forest, she never found a single wounded animal.
The falling rocks had cleared and scorched various parts of the surroundings. And if she had not known their unnatural cause, Fluttershy would have run away, thinking that an infuriated creature had carved the ground with its claws. And only Ursa Majors were technically capable of such devastation.
Fortunately, the shockwave which had swept across the valley and the forest had made every little creature run or fly away before the fall of the debris. She was reassured, but deep inside her she had to make sure nopony was left behind her care.
Following Luna’s demand, she had asked for help, getting Zecora in her tow until they separated to cover a larger portion of the Everfree. Now absolutely terrified and alone, she regretted this choice.
She was near the antique Black Castle, the palace Celestia abandoned thousand years ago after the War of the Everlasting Night when she defeated her corrupted sister. Fluttershy shivered as the name of Nightmare Moon surged in her mind. The image of the terrifying mare printed on her retina.
The castle was now destroyed and only the south wing remained nearly intact.
Something cracked behind her back. Fluttershy screamed, startled.
She had instantly ceased moving. Her eyes aimlessly staring around, she sought for the origin of the creeping noise. She panted heavily and looked under her. A small root was broken under her left hind leg.
She jeered swiftly and joked about her shyness. Everypony knew she was afraid of her own shadow.
Something flung her against a tree trunk. Fluttershy had been hit by an unknown threat, right in her flank. Stunned she saw three black forms emerging from the bushes. Three Changelings faced her, sniggering.
“Look what we found here. A fledging which fell from the nest,” The biggest one laughed, kicking Fluttershy down again.
His hooves, displaying sharpened holes and contours, cut Fluttershy’s fur. Tears of blood dripped on it.
“Wait, don’t waste the meat. I’m hungry,” his mate hissed, licking his lips.
A grin growing from ears to ears sprawled on his face.
“You… You don’t eat meat… Changelings don’t eat meat,” Fluttershy mumbled terrified.
The last Changeling pushed over his two friends. Dark green clumps were spreading over his back. He licked his left sharp incisive, his last one. And even smaller than his two ‘friends’ he was exuding authority, he was clearly the chief of the band.
“No we don’t eat meat, but you’re so despicable we could make an exception.”
Fluttershy burst into tears, curled on her stabbed flank.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” a twangy voice shouted.
Fluttershy turned over toward this Celestial providence.
“We saw her first!”
All her hopes broke down. Two Diamond dogs took up position out of the edge of the bushes, closing a circle around the pony whose face was soaked by her own tears.
“And instead of you, we really need meat to survive.”
A long and harsh argument startled every”pony” around Fluttershy. Hiding herself behind her hooves, she shrunk on herself from this unbearable pressure.
Gazing at every creature circling her she made a choice. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy took her courage in her hooves and spoke with a mighty voice, her excruciating stare as a means of pressure upon her opponents.
“You’re going to LEAVE ME ALONE!” She shrieked.
Every”pony” ’s eyes widened as they withdrew from the young pegasus. She sighed in relief while her opponents shivered around her. She stood up and gave a short and sarcastic laugh. Her eyes wide opened, her black pupils were swelled, similar to two black holes mesmerizing those who had the infortune to stare in.
Fluttershy always asked how the “stare” was like. Her animal had told her it felt being watched by a predator. She never understood why. Focusing, Fluttershy glared at her opponents, still backing from her location.
A hot breath ran on her shoulders.
The Diamond Dogs and the Changelings had never been looking into her eyes. They were staring over her head, utterly shaken and terrified.
When Fluttershy turned over, her eyes sunk into two yellow glowing orbs. A harsh grunt blew a sulphured haze onto her muzzle. Colour left her face. Even her eyes were washed-out of their natural colour, whitened by fear. The monster was way bigger than her, displaying large red scales and sword-sized sharp teeth.
Fluttershy, the Changelings and the Diamond dogs ran for their live, screaming, with the creature in their tow.
Two Changelings panicked, stretched their wings and tried to fly up in the sky. A gigantic claw knocked them down and they disappeared behind bushes in a horrific crackling of bones. The wisest of the Changelings, the one with tufts of mane tailgated Fluttershy. Nopony dared looking back; they were already giving ground to the creature.
In the course of an old path, the two Diamond dogs dived into one of their hole and escaped from the monster.
“If we separate he will hunt down only one of us, the other tries to get some help!” Fluttershy panted.
“You’re kidding right, I know well that Pegasi are faster than us and IT knows it well,” The changeling replied, breathless. “I’m no fool! I stay with you.”
The ground shattered right behind them. The monster had tackled the space where they were standing specks ago. Fearful they finally looked back, an orange light welcomed them. They started screaming. The sweat dried on their face.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Walking along the edge of the forest, the group had decided to shorten the span of time between the pauses. Sitting on dead trunks bordering the fringe, Ray took advantage of the situation by reaping off wheat. He was thinking about making bread. Maria, Kreps and Verdugo were laughing their asses off. Stereotypes had a long life expectancy even in the so-called wastelands. And the one saying British people were poor bakers was one of them.
They heard a long hoarse roaring followed by the sound of a stampede and torn apart wood. They all crouched behind a mound. Not so far away from them, a flow of fire engulfed a large portion of the forest. Two high-pitched screams rose. Lying low, the five stooges watched with wondering looks casted on their face. Something emerged from the black smoke. They get struck… aback.
A red monstrous, cyclopean monster showing off huge wings was devastating the surroundings. It was chasing two preys well hidden by the high wheat. A second breath of fire lit up the place. Everyone winked to the heat. Even a thousand feet away from the flaming stream they were struggling looking at it without having their pupils dried out. The creature changed its path, still in the tow of whoever it was tracking.
“G… Gal… Gala… Gallimimus!” Ray whispered.
“Meat... Meat-eater? Meatosaurus?” Kreps replied, smiling genuinely.
They both get wacked on their foreheads.
“Stop the creepy references,” Maria pressed. “What is it?”
They all looked up again. The animal was indeed an incredibly big winged red lizard. Three times the height of a normal human, it was fifty feet long. Its belly was a bright blue, contrasting with its blood scales. Its teeth, razor-sharped, were digging a spooky hole in the field each time it tried to get its preys. But the most impressive was his wingspan. At a guess, it was nearly sixty yards wide. His whole mass was hiding the sunbeams and gloomy shadows were casted on the wheat field.
Everyone gulped, trying to disappear, digging the ground bare handed. They hope the fairytale creature would not notice them.
“A… A dragon,” Ray whispered with absolute incomprehension, his jaw dangling wide open.
“A wyvern!” Kreps corrected.
Everyone glared at him. Surprised by the look his friends had given to him, Kreps hissed with anger.
“Dragon, four legs and two wings. Wyvern, two legs and two wings. Therefore… it’s a wyvern.”
Kreps’s encyclopedic knowledge of an improbable amount of useless things was beyond any remarks from his friends.
They all scanned the monster. Indeed, it was running on its two massive clawed hind legs, slashing the surrounding with the pseudo-talons on the tips of its two wings of rough skin. It roared, exhaling a flow of bright orange fire which engulfed an acre of grains.
It was still chasing two shapes weaving in the field, too small to surface out of the ears of wheat. Screams were higher than ever before, hitting a new record in voice-induced noise pollution.
“So… What do we do?” Maria squeaked.
“We eat?” Verdugo stated, emotionless.
Everyone let out a loud cry of incomprehension. Their hearts were beating blood up to their temples. They had this strange fear dwelling in their bowels. This feeling something awful was going to happen.
“You’re crazy! Ain’t gonna touch that monster!” Ray stressed.
Drop of sweat ran on his face.
“Who cares about it, we wait until it kills the two…”
“Guys.” Kreps raised his voice.
“…things,” Verdugo continued after blocking Kreps’s mouth with his hand. “We just take the left-overs. Then…”
“MMmmMMMOuh!”
“What?”
The Dragon was approaching.
“Wyvern!” Kreps corrected again, really pissed off.
The wyvern had changed of direction and was now heading toward the humans’ hideout. Two paths were stamped in the grains in front of the wyvern’s jaw. It was moving directly on them.
“Oww shit…” Verdugo simply said, blasé.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Fluttershy was running as fast as she can. She heard the jawbone slam behind her. She hoped the monster would not grab her tail.
On his own the Changeling was struggling to keep his pace, dying from exhaustion. He started swapping between running and flying low. Panting heavily, he was undoubtedly thirsty.
Fluttershy raised her head. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the border of the forest… It was a small spark of hope. They had made a quarter of the way to the other side of the field when the wyvern breathed his unbearable fire.
The changeling and Fluttershy turned left, going back to where they had come from. They had just deviated a little.
The border was there… really, really there. Fluttershy reached the last remnants of the wheat field and she suddenly stopped, her hooves drifting on the dirt.
Four scared stares fixed her in an expression of terror. The fifth was amused, repressing a kind of laughter. She snapped out of her surprise, jumped out and screamed so loudly the wyvern paused.
“AAAAAH!”
The five humans stared dramatically at the butter coloured pony. She had a light pink mane and was actually shrieking out loud the fear flooding through her veins… they just replied to her screaming with a louder one, in unison.
“AAAAAAAH!”
And finally the Changeling a bit late looked down at five smooth-faced creatures, all lying low, trying to hide from something. Something… The changeling had suddenly forgotten that really important something. The surprise had cleared his mind.
A drop of saliva slid on the Changeling’s head. A growl ensued and everypony, everybody and everyling stared up. Terror pervaded their faces, their minds washed out of every thought but running away.
The wyvern was not patient. Unexpected meetings were the least of its problems.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Hands up or hooves biting the dirt, they all started running recklessly through the thick forest.
“The castle!” A voice shouted over the thundering of every foot and hoof.
One stumbled, only to feel strong arms put him back on track, whatever he was a human or a pony. ‘Sometimes fear is the best of cement’. And it was not Verdugo’s quote, but Ray’s.
Through the trunks they saw a wall. They ran as fast as they could, approaching from the life-saving place. Maria squeaked in surprise when she felt a claw skirting her back.
They dived into a tall arch of stone. Broken in, the gate shaped the entrance of the castle.
Dirt was covering every inch of the place. A long spiral staircase was dwelling in the depths of the dark room, engulfed by spooky shadows. The wyvern tried to force its way inside with violent roars. But, being too huge, the walls of granite were holding it back for the moment. The place shook and stone chunks started falling from the ceiling.
In front of everyone's horrified eyes, the creature finally pierced the arch and rushed towards the seven insects split in front of him.
But somehow, it was already too late. These… ants rushed to the staircase and disappeared in the darkness.
Infuriated for having lost its dinner, the wyvern extracted itself from the wing of the antique castle. Everything crumbled down. It breathed its white-hot flaming rage onto the broken flagstone of the building and growled. Its claws shattered the ground and spread earth-quaking vibrations through it.
Furious, the wyvern continued for a couple of minutes, then abandoned. Howling in rage, it stretched its wings and in one blow leaped in the air. The creature disappeared in the sky, leaving behind it a massive disaster, a rising smog of ashes and dust, and of course seven preys buried under the castle.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
The night had come forth. Luna, Celestia, Prince Blueblood and other nobilities were gathered in the banquet room, attending to the usual weekly noble assemble, a formal denomination for a feast where everypony was, under cover of well-behaved manners eating greedily the best meals of Equestria.
Celestia of course was always happy to come. For her, the desserts and cakes were counterbalancing more than one hundred times the harsh obligation to be in the same place than those boring ponies standing around her.
On her own, Luna was not particularly thrilled about this situation. She had pleaded her sister to let her go to sleep. Last night had been really horrific and for once in eons, she wanted a true night of rest, where she was the dreamer and not a mere watcher. Celestia had gently refused, the weekly gathering was a tradition Luna could not afford to hack through.
Still shaking, the younger sister was hiding her stressful mindset quite well.
“So my dear Aunt, how the affairs in Canterlot and on extension in Equestria are going currently?” the Prince asked, breaking the unsettling silence.
“Oh my nephew, I’m so proud you’ve got an interest in something more compelling than verbally fencing with Sir Fancy Pants,” Celestia answered, levitating a muffin toward her plate, a slight smile on her cheeks.
The concerned unicorn raised his head. His stare unfortunately crossed the Prince’s hateful eyes. Glaring at each other, the other attendants of the feast swore they had seen foils clashing through the air. Both of them were always in a fancy and ancient-vocabulary emphasized verbal conflict.
Luna was surely right when she was picturing them as the most lackadaisical and boring duellists in the world.
“So…” Fancy Pants advanced.
Wiping the piece of fish he had on his lips with a handkerchief, he looked at Luna.
“I’ve heard that you had a nightmare last night? If it is not incorrect from me to ask you such irrelevant questions… I’ve still wondered what breed of nightmare an alicorn could have, and especially what dreams could affect… the princess of the Night.”
Luna gulped a gag. She was not prepared for this request. She stuttered.
“Well, you… thou see. My… Our nightmares are something… which shall remain out of range of mere ponies like you. Thou would not be able to stand one without losing your very sanity.”
Fancy Pant was not satisfied. He covered his mouth with a tissue and started pouting. Prince Blueblood tried to hide his amused smile. He could not restrain himself.
Fleur Dis Lee, standing at the right of her husband put down her silver fork and cleared her throat.
“Celestia, shouldn’t Miss Twilight Sparkle, your most faithful student and the Element Bearers be here, attending this magnificent meal with all of us?”
Luna’s and Celestia’s eyes crossed. Celestia sighed.
“Twilight and her friends are not able to attend this reunion because of the recent events in Ponyville. I have sent them in the Everfree Forest.”
Some ponies gasped. A long silence settled and no fly were in the air to buzz around.
“I wanted them to check something really important.”
Nopony protested, but they all knew that meant nothing but forthcoming problems. Behind their fake smiles, Luna and Celestia were worried about Fluttershy. They had sent her alone in there. The five other bearers had entered the forest a day later.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Coughs echoed in the cave. The lack of light was oppressing. Surrounded by the dust and dirt, everyone and… everypony were groping the floor, searching for a landmark. A scratch broke the silence. A small flame radiated for ten seconds, illuminating faintly a hand and the man who was holding the match. Ray sneezed involuntary and blew out the flame. He started becoming agitated. A sliding sound followed by another crack disturbed the ambience once again and a new flame came to life.
Kreps, Maria and the boy joined him around the match. They were all ghoulish, panting with difficulty and covered in dust. Worse, Maria was hyperventilating. Ray crawled to her and grabbed her shoulders. He tightened his hands around them after he had handed the box of matches to Kreps, who lit another one.
“Breath in, Breath out… slowly.”
Ray mimicked the manoeuvre, swelling out his chest before letting all the air in go out. This game lasted for few minutes until Maria’s hoarse respiration came back to normal.
Kreps tried to get up only to bang his head against an upper limit. He probed the darkness with his hands and sensed a biased ceiling. It had crumbled down over them. Kreps feared they might have been trapped in this underground place. He shivered. He was not claustrophobic, or at least had thought he was not.
He swore, now he remembered that they had left the case with all the weapons in the field, outside. However, the “radioactive” box was still hanging in Maria’s backpack.
Standing up, a sudden pain whirled inside his ribs. He bowed, overwhelmed by this aching enveloping his chest.
While Ray was caretaking Maria, Kreps caught a small green light in a corner or the large cave, maybe thirteen yards from his position. Careful about not banging his head or his feet on an obstacle, he dragged himself to the location. He inhaled deeply, trying to get over the acute pain.
The spectacle struck him. There was Verdugo, lying on the ground and sweating a river. He moaned in pain. And next to him, two strange creatures were watching him, eyes widened, immobile and afraid of Kreps’s friend. The light, green, was coming back and forth, surging from the… the horn of the second creature. Its body was covered by a thick bug exoskeleton. It was a quadruped and had… two fly-like wings on his back, buzzing intermittently.
Kreps could not find a word to describe this creature whose shape was still something he knew, somehow. When his stare stopped on the second creature he found the name, Ponies.
The second pony had a butter-coloured fur and a full light pink mane. It was a pony, no doubt about it, but there was slight changes compared of what was dwelling in his memories. Its eyes were bigger, its skin and fur were smoother. And finally of course, the colour was something Kreps had never seen before. He arched a brow. The pony had a tattoo over her femur. It was a strange branding, showing three pink butterflies. The colours were pallid as the only light was a sick green glowing.
Deep in the shadows, the human was unnoticeable. The light sprouting from the black creature was too weak to reach him.
“What is… that?” A voice rose.
Kreps, hearing a buzzing voice sought around him to find the origin. There was nothing. When his stare came back on his friend and the two… ponies, he saw the yellow one poking Verdugo’s leg, who growled in return. The pony jumped back afraid, and then… it… she spoke.
“I have absolutely no idea,” the female voice said.
Kreps giggled; he had seen the pony’s muzzle and mouth move. Kreps always had a scientific mind, relying on logic. He was staring down to something he had always believed impossible. He rubbed his eyelids, questioning the reality of the situation.
He had made too much noise. Both ponies’ heads were watching in his direction.
“Who? Who’s there?” The black armoured pony asked.
Kreps hesitated, a first contact was dangerous, but Verdugo needed him. A small pond of blood was running off his shoulder. Kreps took a deep breath and surfaced from the shadows.
The changeling and Fluttershy gasped, stumped. In front of them was standing a tall and ugly shaved creature, covered in dust, blood and rubbish. He was wearing greyish rags like the creature lying on the floor. And both of them reeked atrociously.
“You’re standing on blood.” The creature noted.
Fluttershy and the Changelings were startled. The creature talked! Gasps echoed again when they finally looked down. They were toddling in a thick dark red puddle. The Changeling jumped outside, revolted.
Fluttershy on the other hoof panicked. Standing on her two hind legs she screamed and tried to wipe the blood… over her fur, making things worse than they already were. Panting loudly and erratically, she stumbled and fell on her flank few feet from the healthy creature.
Fluttershy eyes narrowed as the creature’s clawless talons clasped her neck and muzzle.
“Shut up! The wyvern can come back! Shut up ‘r I’ll kill you,” it urged.
Its pupils narrowed. He was scared too. Fluttershy started crying, her sobs held back down her throat. After a couple of seconds, the primate released its grasp on Fluttershy’s neck. Yet, he kept his hand tightened on her muzzle. It was thinking.
“You scream, we’re dead! Understand?” The creature stressed.
Fluttershy nodded. The bipedal creature looked around and its stare glared daggers at the Changeling. The assessment was also applying for him.
The creature freed the pony. It rushed to the one lying on the floor. Maybe it was its friend. The… primate… was sweating, stressed about the whole situation. It put off one of his rags and gave it to Fluttershy, to wipe herself.
“Name’s Kreps.”
“Fluttershy,” She replied, her voice so low even the cave was not able to echo it.
Kreps did not answer; too busy looking at Verdugo’s wound. The green light enshrouding the Changeling’s horn was of a crucial importance.
The changeling was frowning, nopony had asked his name.
Kreps focused on his task. Ripping off the remains covering his friend’s torso, Kreps displayed Verdugo’s wounds to Fluttershy and the bug-like pony’s to see. They held back a gag.
The wound was ignominious. The stink? Unbearable. Was it gangrene spread onto it or some eggs of corpse flies? It might be both. Fluttershy and the Changeling were disgusted.
Kreps was stunned. Not moving, not shaking, he was immobile, eyes widened, pupils narrowed. His breath was short and quick.
He did not even notice Ray, Maria and the young boy gathering around him, looking back and forth between Verdugo, Fluttershy and the Changeling. His friends’ vision was blurred. They had clearly lost their grasp on reality. They were unable to think clearly.
A long silence only paced by the moans of pain of Verdugo settled between everyone. The pony and the changeling withdrew in the shadows.
“I’ve still a bullet left in my gun,” Ray stated, resignation casted on his face.
He was going to cry. Maria gazed at him with hatred, anger and sadness.
“I won’t let you touch him! You’re gonna have to get over my dead body before you dare touch him,” She started crying, shouting in disbelief. “There must be something to do.”
“You said yourself we don’t have nothing left to treat it. He. Is. Dead.”
Ray and Kreps sighed. Verdugo was indeed dying. No matter what they would do, no matter how hard they would try… It was over. Kreps stared in Ray’s eyes, wet with tears. He nodded. Ray drew his gun out and put it in his friend’s hands.
Maria screamed and tried to fight back. Ray held her back and hugged her. She cried, tending her opened hand toward Verdugo. Her sobs were earth-shattering; her complaint, heart-breaking.
Fluttershy and the Changelings had stepped back. They began to understand what was going to happen. They shivered, afraid, not daring to make a move. They were going to witness a murder. Was it absolutely barbaric, or the kindest act they would ever watch, they wondered. Relieving somepony from his deadly envelop, from an unbearable pain, was it really a murder?
Fluttershy wanted to protest but the look on the creatures’ faces was horrific. They had the aspect of bags of bones. They gave her the impression to be walking deads. Fear faded in Fluttershy’s eyes. She only had pity for these five creatures. She imagined what kind of ordeal they had to survive. But it was in vain, her mind was not twisted enough to envision their suffering.
The changeling on the other hand understood. It was survival and starvation… only survival and starvation. He could read it in the creatures’ features. Somehow, he found them less ugly now, this impression replaced by the same pity he had for his own kin and kind.
With a shaking hand, Kreps stood over Verdugo. The lying body opened his eyes, whispering. He was in pain. Did he beg for something? Kreps will never know. He raised the gun, aimed at Verdugo’s forehead and move his finger on the trigger. He breathed in and unable to stare into those glaring eyes, Kreps turned his gaze and prepared himself for the detonation.
A clicking occurred, followed by a loud cracking sound.
Kreps looked at his gun. He had not shot yet.
A huge block of granite fell on the floor few meters away from everyone and everypony.
“Fluttershy?” A voice echoed like through a tunnel. “Fluttershy?”
“I’m here.” the yellow pony responded.
Ray and Maria gasped. They were face to face with a talking animal. The colour was unusual indeed, but they had seen strangest things before. But a talking pony… it was record breaking. They also caught the fact that the pony, apparently called Fluttershy had wings. They wiped their eyes, trying to figure out the catch in this story.
Still standing over his friend, Kreps saw in the dim darkness five pony-like shapes going down. All were of a different colour. Some had a horn, one had wings and the last one, whose fur was purple-tainted, had both of these strange items.
Everyone’s and everypony’s gazes met. A long, unpleasant silent bathed the cave. Ray caught the purple pony counting, her lips were moving.
“Five…” She whispered.
Twilight cleared her throat. She tried to choose her words wisely, trying to be convincing or at least seem friendly.
“Would you be so kind as to follow us to Canterlot’s Castle? There are ponies who want to see…”
Twilight looked down at the “talons” of the nearest creature. It was displaying a strange metallic object formed of a tube. And the hollowed cylinder was pointing at somepony of its kind, lying on the ground.
Then Twilight witnessed all the blood on the floor. Her eyes lay on Fluttershy, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She saw her friend partially covered in the same fluid. Anger replaced the clumsy kindness in Twilight’s stare.
“What have you done to her?” She grinned.
On the inside, Twilight started panicking, what if they were monsters? Predators? Anger swamped her mind, she took an offensive stance, stomping the ground, lifting up dust with her loud breath. The creature aimed at her with the strange tool. The primate was clearly disoriented, his belly was growling. Twilight caught herself asking mentally in which situation she had stepped. Everypony looked at the three other primates detached from the first two.
Two of them were hugging each other, one was clearly sobbing. Tears twinkled in the shadows. The pitch in its voice meant it was a female. And the last one was… a child. He was isolated from the rest of its herd.
Twilight’s stare came back to the nearest monster, the one carrying the strange gadget. Bemused, the creature panicked when the five rescuing ponies stepped further. It pointed by turn everypony and then finally aimed at Fluttershy.
“Don’t come closer or she dies,” It panted loudly.
Drops of sweat ran on his forehead. Kreps was thinking as fast as he could. He had only one bullet left. If he shot, they would fight back and this would be the end. If he did nothing it was the end too. He bit his bottom lips to the blood.
Twilight saw its canines and incisors. They were predators of course, like hydras or manticores. She would not mind it in another situation. Even if she usually disliked the species which had to eat meat, she always kept in mind Fluttershy’s words, that it was part of nature. But in this situation, Twilight had two gore ideas bouncing in her mind, disturbing her from thinking clearly.
Either these creatures were cannibals and this would explain why one was lying on the ground; or they had fight to know who would eat her friend first. In both cases it was enough to act and depict these primates as sub-sentient. They were just a pack of predating animals.
A pink light beam flew through the air and ejected the gun from Kreps’s hand which slid in the darkness. Taken by surprise, Kreps looked back at the pony. He saw her horn glowing a deep purple light.
A second beam rushed to him. He tried to protect himself with his hand…
Opening his eyes a second after, Kreps checked his own body, searching for a hole somewhere, a vivid pain in his chest or a chunk of metal in his head. There was nothing. He stared, surprised, at his forearm. The purple light had stuck itself on his skin, still glowing.
Twilight was confused, her spell had not worked.
Kreps shook his arm in disbelief. He tried to get rid of the strange substance which acted like sticky goo. He grunted. Kreps continued until his joints started cracking. Lacking of the knowledge to deal with it, hundreds of questions sprung in his mind.
All of a sudden a hand had grabbed his rags. He turned back and found the youngster facing him. The kid jumped and touched Kreps’s arm, the one engulfed in the glowing substance.
The liquid spread of the kid’s hand and he started laughing. Everybody and everypony was silent.
Kreps decided to try to wipe the substance on Verdugo’s trousers, keeping an eye contact with the purple pony.
Kreps stifled. Getting rid of the compound covering his arm was impossible. All he was doing was spreading it like butter. German saw that Maria and Ray had it onto their clothes; the kid had tried to wipe his hands too.
“It doesn’t work,” Twilight noted, surprised.
“What?” Kreps replied sardonically. “That you haven’t killed me?”
“No… You…” – Twilight stepped back, the creature's tone was unsettling –.
Kreps, with rolled-up sleeves moved forward and faced the purple unicorn with stern eyes. She was half his size. He was going to hit her with a punch.
However, his belly growled and ached so hard he bent slightly and his feet failed him. He fell on the ground. His head was dangling and titling intermittently.
“I must be hallucinating…”
Nopony responded.
Suddenly the glowing purple substance started shaping, spreading on Kreps’s whole body. He panicked as a hissing sound popped out of nowhere. He began convulsing in fear. Looking at his friends and Verdugo, he saw the same phenomenon had happened to them. They were all trying to get rid of the substance.
A flash occurred and then… the primates were nowhere to be found.
“Twilight?” Rarity asked, bemused.
Twilight giggled. Not because of the situation was funny, even if Pinkie started laughing genuinely… but because she had witnessed something all brand new for her. Her magic had gone crazy.
“It was supposed to make him go to sleep…”
Meanwhile, the changeling had slid in the opening, flying away of the Mane Six and the five strange creatures.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
A crack exploded in the air, followed by four screams and a grunt. In a smog of dust and dirt they fell on a white tiled floor. Each one bounced painfully or slid somewhere in the new found room. Around them was standing imposing tables which were displayed hundreds meals. Many pairs of eyes stared at them, horrified.
Verdugo crashed himself in the front of the most massive table of the room. Face against the polished granite of the floor, he was leaning on his wounded shoulder. He complained, struggling to not pass away. Something poked him and he found himself turned over. He looked up at the ceiling. Two beings were looking at him. Both were winged unicorns apparently.
Verdugo’s eyes wandered on each face. His vision was desperately troubled. But he stopped on Luna. He scrutinized the blue-coloured creature.
“Hi fella’ how do you do since the last time?”
Luna’s eyes widened, growing to the size of bowling balls. By reflex she groped her neck.
She rushed like a lightning bolt under her buffet and started crying. She was utterly terrified. Celestia and every other pony in the room fixed their gaze on the intruders.
Few gulps of stress echoed.
Old Version:
It all started with simple mumbling. Initiating a simple rhythm, the music spread swiftly in the air. The mumbling became a whistle and it evolved into a true song. The lyrics were low-pitched, and the end of each verse nearly hissed. The lines were modulated in speed and tone. To an attentive ear, the singer was awkwardly messing with the modern rhyming poetry and the ancient Latin hexameter, ending with a strange fable.
“Unable to clearly remember
His conscience fades away
Making way for a pregnant hunger
This heavy tension floods his hand
His distorted scars itches
And his body dwells on this land
Coughing scores of ashes
It’s Impossible to turn over
He feels this deep necessity
And all hear the truth, rough
As there’s no harsh enmity
Without eerie difficulty
Will it never be enough?
There standing and distracted
All like sheep gathered
Alike, chased and tracked
Their life slowly withered…
A short pause followed. Then the sweet whistle came back, printing a similar pace to the song. The singer’s voice was thin and maybe, too smooth.
…As there’s no war
Without an ugly hatred
Rises the angry monster
Merciless he has long wander’
The vocalist snapped his fingers to go hand in hand with the lyrics. The unsteady rhymes accelerated. And in the end, it only worked to make the song unbearable to hear.
On this bleak acre…”
“Your voice is pretty ugly you know! And your song is bad.”
Maria’s stare was clearly telling that he should feel bad too. Kreps cursed his friend for being so heartless and of course, tasteless. He knew his singing was unpleasant to other’s ears. But having this harsh reality being pointed out was not something he appreciated.
“You’re all so silent,” Kreps complained. “It’s about to become a real pain in the ass!”
“And it’s the geek who wants us to be cheerful? Where is the world going?” Maria laughed.
She glanced at her two other friends. Ray and Verdugo were carrying the metal case. Pain wrinkled their exhausted faces.
“No… really…” Kreps stuttered, wiping sweat off his forehead. “Look around, no bandits, no cadavers, no wreckages and chemicals, just a good old golden wheat field. It’s warming up!”
Silence welcomed him. The surroundings were way different than the greyish, sorrowful and lugubrious atmosphere they were used to.
“Isn’t it… Guys?”
“Yeah,” Verdugo shrugged only to trigger a wave of pain in his shoulder. His eyes winked, tears about to burst. “Speaking of warming up, it’s your shift.”
He and Ray dropped off the heavy box. The huge trunk banged noisily on the ground, crushing stems under its weight and blowing small wisps of dirt.
They cracked every painful joint of their aching limbs and started stretching their bruised muscles.
“Again?” Kreps infuriated. “Man, I'll end up a hunchback.”
“Like everyone else.” Verdugo replied with a smirk. “And my shoulder needs rest.”
Kreps wanted to protest, claiming asylum for his damaged ribs as Verdugo spat some viscous phlegm on the ground. Its colour was unusual, a pure dark red.
Kreps changed his mind when he looked down at the oozing bandages wrapping Verd’s naked torso. His friend was sweating horribly, trying to hide the pain the best he was able to.
“Okay, give me your spot…” Kreps sighed, rolling his eyes to the sky. ”At least you’re worth my pity.”
Verdugo grumbled, rubbing his wound.
Ray sat down between the tall ears of wheat. Only the top of his nut-haired head surfaced. A sound of creased paper rose. He had the map in his hands. Always struggling with unfolding it, Ray had the despicable habit to tear some holes in the paper, deteriorating the key item each day god was making.
“How far are we from the ruins?” Kreps grunted while he adjusted his grip on the case, searching for a ‘comfortable’ position.
“I thought…” Maria initiated doubtfully, looking at the opposite side of the field “… that we were two or three miles away from the castle. But I was wrong... We have one or two more to go.”
Kreps swore in his native language. Maria giggled. Ray was still fighting with the rebellious piece of paper. And Verdugo was quiet as a grave, as usual.
“Tag! you’re it Motherfucker!” Maria erupted, kicking away a small rock which ricocheted on the metallic case.
The bang tortured everyone’s ears. She laughed. But her smile died quickly when Ray, a cynical grin clearing his face, gave her a wink and pointed what she had just knocked. It was also her turn to carry the case.
“Maria?” Verdugo gritted.
Maria immediately stopped with her goings-on. The stern voice of her foster brother was enough to scare her.
“Yeah?” She said timidly.
“That thing… that castle… it’s pretty big. Are we that far from it? How tall should it be?”
Maria frowned, troubled, and stared back at the castle in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, and then swelled.
“It… Wow… I didn’t… maybe one, two hundred meters high,” she stuttered.
“Never heard of such a… thing in Austria. And you?” Verdugo asked Ray and Kreps, knitting his brow.
They denied en bloc, shrugging their shoulders. They all sighed hoping for a Deus Ex Machina which, they all knew, would never come. A heavy silence set up between everyone. Only the wind was blowing a gentle rustling through the wheat, breaking the eerie silence.
Letting out a loud breath, Ray lay down. He had decided to take a short nap. Worried by the recent events, he was struggling not to burst out those emotions.
Maria was scrutinizing every yard of the surrounding, ready to act in case a threat would show up. In this situation it was her role and she was playing it perfectly. Moving her head from right to left, then checking behind before coming back to what was standing in front of her. Quicker than anyone else, she had been named the “mangoose” by a random survivor in Italy. The surname had stuck to her since, inducing laughter in every person hearing it. Oh god she hated this alias!
On his own, Kreps looked at the young boy, studying him. The kid had remained silent ever since they met and was now well-hidden under the high grass. Kreps, with his logical spirit in action was troubled. He sought for the reason why the urchin was following his friends and him. Moreover, he queried mentally for the excuse to not get rid of him. The child was a worthless mouth to feed with a nearly nought return on investment. But Kreps was a man, and every man, even in the sickest place in the world would not be twisted enough to act in this sense. For the German, those who had done so in the past did not deserve the right to be called ‘human’ ever again.
Kreps sighed. Maybe Verdugo would have done it if his right arm was not at the moment a mess and a painful burden. Kreps knew it would have not been his first time. Verdugo also sported a surname. But this one, Kreps was keeping it to himself, it was ‘Our inner Misericorde’.
“Meh, even Verd’s knife would be useless to make you talk, wouldn’t it?” Kreps deadpanned.
The child buried his eyes behind clumps of grass. Kreps held his face with his hand and slid it off, depressed.
“Where have we put ourselves?” He sighed.
“Wherever your little box sent us,” Ray replied ironically with his eyes covered by his wrist, trying to protect himself from the sunbeams. “I’m convincing myself that in fact, we might be dead.”
As a response, a strong kick struck his ribs. He yapped. Opening his eyes, he stood up painfully. He held his side. Maria stuck out her tongue. Ray was absolutely not amused.
“From my point of view, it seems that you are indeed particularly awake but unfortunately unaware,” she sneered with a posh accent.
“You didn’t have to!” Ray groused.
“It. Is. Always. Tempting.”
Maria caught the soundless teenager grinning behind his hiding position. She returned his smile.
Everyone’s bellies growled. They were all tired, hungry and thirsty. ‘Another day in an apocalyptic world indeed’, they all thought. Surviving was a harsh and depressing experience when people pretended they could get their problems fixed all alone. Surviving was even more dangerous when you were in group. But at least there were advantages coming with such a condition to even the odds. You had people to talk to without expecting them to shoot you first in order to loot your body and carve up some steaks from your skeletal limbs. Sharing the same burden was the best way to describe friendship in the wasteland.
They all got up in silence and resumed walking toward the old remote structure, holding back their physiological needs once again with an effete hope for a better tomorrow.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Fluttershy was hiking in the forest. Each branch cracking under her hooves made her more afraid than before. Jumping for every eerie sound, she feared being followed. She was in that part of the Everfree Forest where trees had wicked faces carved upon their trunks. She focused on the comforting advices of Pinkie.
“Guffaw at the grossly,” She muttered.
She took a long breath and let out a small, shy and cute laugh, not even a decibel high. She felt much better afterward. Or at least, she tried to convince herself she was. Whatever she did and however she looked as far as possible in the deep shadows of the forest, she never found a single wounded animal.
The falling rocks had cleared and scorched various parts of the surroundings. And if she had not known their unnatural cause, Fluttershy would have run away, thinking that an infuriated creature had carved the ground with its claws. And only Ursa Majors were technically capable of such devastation.
Fortunately, the shockwave which had swept across the valley and the forest had made every little creature run or fly away before the fall of the debris. She was reassured, but deep inside her she had to make sure nopony was left behind her care.
Following Luna’s demand, she had asked for help, getting Zecora in her tow until they separated to cover a larger portion of the Everfree. Now absolutely terrified and alone, she regretted this choice.
She was near the antique Black Castle, the palace Celestia abandoned thousand years ago after the War of the Everlasting Night when she defeated her corrupted sister. Fluttershy shivered as the name of Nightmare Moon surged in her mind. The image of the terrifying mare printed on her retina.
The castle was now destroyed and only the south wing remained nearly intact.
Something cracked behind her back. Fluttershy screamed, startled.
She had instantly ceased moving. Her eyes aimlessly staring around, she sought for the origin of the creeping noise. She panted heavily and looked under her. A small root was broken under her left hind leg.
She jeered swiftly and joked about her shyness. Everypony knew she was afraid of her own shadow.
Something flung her against a tree trunk. Fluttershy had been hit by an unknown threat, right in her flank. Stunned she saw three black forms emerging from the bushes. Three Changelings faced her, sniggering.
“Look what we found here. A fledging which fell from the nest,” The biggest one laughed, kicking Fluttershy down again.
His hooves, displaying sharpened holes and contours, cut Fluttershy’s fur. Tears of blood dripped on it.
“Wait, don’t waste the meat. I’m hungry,” his mate hissed, licking his lips.
A grin growing from ears to ears sprawled on his face.
“You… You don’t eat meat… Changelings don’t eat meat,” Fluttershy mumbled terrified.
The last Changeling pushed over his two friends. Dark green clumps were spreading over his back. He licked his left sharp incisive, his last one. And even smaller than his two ‘friends’ he was exuding authority, he was clearly the chief of the band.
“No we don’t eat meat, but you’re so despicable we could make an exception.”
Fluttershy burst into tears, curled on her stabbed flank.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” a twangy voice shouted.
Fluttershy turned over toward this Celestial providence.
“We saw her first!”
All her hopes broke down. Two Diamond dogs took up position out of the edge of the bushes, closing a circle around the pony whose face was soaked by her own tears.
“And instead of you, we really need meat to survive.”
A long and harsh argument startled every”pony” around Fluttershy. Hiding herself behind her hooves, she shrunk on herself from this unbearable pressure.
Gazing at every creature circling her she made a choice. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy took her courage in her hooves and spoke with a mighty voice, her excruciating stare as a means of pressure upon her opponents.
“You’re going to LEAVE ME ALONE!” She shrieked.
Every”pony” ’s eyes widened as they withdrew from the young pegasus. She sighed in relief while her opponents shivered around her. She stood up and gave a short and sarcastic laugh. Her eyes wide opened, her black pupils were swelled, similar to two black holes mesmerizing those who had the infortune to stare in.
Fluttershy always asked how the “stare” was like. Her animal had told her it felt being watched by a predator. She never understood why. Focusing, Fluttershy glared at her opponents, still backing from her location.
A hot breath ran on her shoulders.
The Diamond Dogs and the Changelings had never been looking into her eyes. They were staring over her head, utterly shaken and terrified.
When Fluttershy turned over, her eyes sunk into two yellow glowing orbs. A harsh grunt blew a sulphured haze onto her muzzle. Colour left her face. Even her eyes were washed-out of their natural colour, whitened by fear. The monster was way bigger than her, displaying large red scales and sword-sized sharp teeth.
Fluttershy, the Changelings and the Diamond dogs ran for their live, screaming, with the creature in their tow.
Two Changelings panicked, stretched their wings and tried to fly up in the sky. A gigantic claw knocked them down and they disappeared behind bushes in a horrific crackling of bones. The wisest of the Changelings, the one with tufts of mane tailgated Fluttershy. Nopony dared looking back; they were already giving ground to the creature.
In the course of an old path, the two Diamond dogs dived into one of their hole and escaped from the monster.
“If we separate he will hunt down only one of us, the other tries to get some help!” Fluttershy panted.
“You’re kidding right, I know well that Pegasi are faster than us and IT knows it well,” The changeling replied, breathless. “I’m no fool! I stay with you.”
The ground shattered right behind them. The monster had tackled the space where they were standing specks ago. Fearful they finally looked back, an orange light welcomed them. They started screaming. The sweat dried on their face.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Walking along the edge of the forest, the group had decided to shorten the span of time between the pauses. Sitting on dead trunks bordering the fringe, Ray took advantage of the situation by reaping off wheat. He was thinking about making bread. Maria, Kreps and Verdugo were laughing their asses off. Stereotypes had a long life expectancy even in the so-called wastelands. And the one saying British people were poor bakers was one of them.
They heard a long hoarse roaring followed by the sound of a stampede and torn apart wood. They all crouched behind a mound. Not so far away from them, a flow of fire engulfed a large portion of the forest. Two high-pitched screams rose. Lying low, the five stooges watched with wondering looks casted on their face. Something emerged from the black smoke. They get struck… aback.
A red monstrous, cyclopean monster showing off huge wings was devastating the surroundings. It was chasing two preys well hidden by the high wheat. A second breath of fire lit up the place. Everyone winked to the heat. Even a thousand feet away from the flaming stream they were struggling looking at it without having their pupils dried out. The creature changed its path, still in the tow of whoever it was tracking.
“G… Gal… Gala… Gallimimus!” Ray whispered.
“Meat... Meat-eater? Meatosaurus?” Kreps replied, smiling genuinely.
They both get wacked on their foreheads.
“Stop the creepy references,” Maria pressed. “What is it?”
They all looked up again. The animal was indeed an incredibly big winged red lizard. Three times the height of a normal human, it was fifty feet long. Its belly was a bright blue, contrasting with its blood scales. Its teeth, razor-sharped, were digging a spooky hole in the field each time it tried to get its preys. But the most impressive was his wingspan. At a guess, it was nearly sixty yards wide. His whole mass was hiding the sunbeams and gloomy shadows were casted on the wheat field.
Everyone gulped, trying to disappear, digging the ground bare handed. They hope the fairytale creature would not notice them.
“A… A dragon,” Ray whispered with absolute incomprehension, his jaw dangling wide open.
“A wyvern!” Kreps corrected.
Everyone glared at him. Surprised by the look his friends had given to him, Kreps hissed with anger.
“Dragon, four legs and two wings. Wyvern, two legs and two wings. Therefore… it’s a wyvern.”
Kreps’s encyclopedic knowledge of an improbable amount of useless things was beyond any remarks from his friends.
They all scanned the monster. Indeed, it was running on its two massive clawed hind legs, slashing the surrounding with the pseudo-talons on the tips of its two wings of rough skin. It roared, exhaling a flow of bright orange fire which engulfed an acre of grains.
It was still chasing two shapes weaving in the field, too small to surface out of the ears of wheat. Screams were higher than ever before, hitting a new record in voice-induced noise pollution.
“So… What do we do?” Maria squeaked.
“We eat?” Verdugo stated, emotionless.
Everyone let out a loud cry of incomprehension. Their hearts were beating blood up to their temples. They had this strange fear dwelling in their bowels. This feeling something awful was going to happen.
“You’re crazy! Ain’t gonna touch that monster!” Ray stressed.
Drop of sweat ran on his face.
“Who cares about it, we wait until it kills the two…”
“Guys.” Kreps raised his voice.
“…things,” Verdugo continued after blocking Kreps’s mouth with his hand. “We just take the left-overs. Then…”
“MMmmMMMOuh!”
“What?”
The Dragon was approaching.
“Wyvern!” Kreps corrected again, really pissed off.
The wyvern had changed of direction and was now heading toward the humans’ hideout. Two paths were stamped in the grains in front of the wyvern’s jaw. It was moving directly on them.
“Oww shit…” Verdugo simply said, blasé.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Fluttershy was running as fast as she can. She heard the jawbone slam behind her. She hoped the monster would not grab her tail.
On his own the Changeling was struggling to keep his pace, dying from exhaustion. He started swapping between running and flying low. Panting heavily, he was undoubtedly thirsty.
Fluttershy raised her head. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the border of the forest… It was a small spark of hope. They had made a quarter of the way to the other side of the field when the wyvern breathed his unbearable fire.
The changeling and Fluttershy turned left, going back to where they had come from. They had just deviated a little.
The border was there… really, really there. Fluttershy reached the last remnants of the wheat field and she suddenly stopped, her hooves drifting on the dirt.
Four scared stares fixed her in an expression of terror. The fifth was amused, repressing a kind of laughter. She snapped out of her surprise, jumped out and screamed so loudly the wyvern paused.
“AAAAAH!”
The five humans stared dramatically at the butter coloured pony. She had a light pink mane and was actually shrieking out loud the fear flooding through her veins… they just replied to her screaming with a louder one, in unison.
“AAAAAAAH!”
And finally the Changeling a bit late looked down at five smooth-faced creatures, all lying low, trying to hide from something. Something… The changeling had suddenly forgotten that really important something. The surprise had cleared his mind.
A drop of saliva slid on the Changeling’s head. A growl ensued and everypony, everybody and everyling stared up. Terror pervaded their faces, their minds washed out of every thought but running away.
The wyvern was not patient. Unexpected meetings were the least of its problems.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Hands up or hooves biting the dirt, they all started running recklessly through the thick forest.
“The castle!” A voice shouted over the thundering of every foot and hoof.
One stumbled, only to feel strong arms put him back on track, whatever he was a human or a pony. ‘Sometimes fear is the best of cement’. And it was not Verdugo’s quote, but Ray’s.
Through the trunks they saw a wall. They ran as fast as they could, approaching from the life-saving place. Maria squeaked in surprise when she felt a claw skirting her back.
They dived into a tall arch of stone. Broken in, the gate shaped the entrance of the castle.
Dirt was covering every inch of the place. A long spiral staircase was dwelling in the depths of the dark room, engulfed by spooky shadows. The wyvern tried to force its way inside with violent roars. But, being too huge, the walls of granite were holding it back for the moment. The place shook and stone chunks started falling from the ceiling.
In front of everyone's horrified eyes, the creature finally pierced the arch and rushed towards the seven insects split in front of him.
But somehow, it was already too late. These… ants rushed to the staircase and disappeared in the darkness.
Infuriated for having lost its dinner, the wyvern extracted itself from the wing of the antique castle. Everything crumbled down. It breathed its white-hot flaming rage onto the broken flagstone of the building and growled. Its claws shattered the ground and spread earth-quaking vibrations through it.
Furious, the wyvern continued for a couple of minutes, then abandoned. Howling in rage, it stretched its wings and in one blow leaped in the air. The creature disappeared in the sky, leaving behind it a massive disaster, a rising smog of ashes and dust, and of course seven preys buried under the castle.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
The night had come forth. Luna, Celestia, Prince Blueblood and other nobilities were gathered in the banquet room, attending to the usual weekly noble assemble, a formal denomination for a feast where everypony was, under cover of well-behaved manners eating greedily the best meals of Equestria.
Celestia of course was always happy to come. For her, the desserts and cakes were counterbalancing more than one hundred times the harsh obligation to be in the same place than those boring ponies standing around her.
On her own, Luna was not particularly thrilled about this situation. She had pleaded her sister to let her go to sleep. Last night had been really horrific and for once in eons, she wanted a true night of rest, where she was the dreamer and not a mere watcher. Celestia had gently refused, the weekly gathering was a tradition Luna could not afford to hack through.
Still shaking, the younger sister was hiding her stressful mindset quite well.
“So my dear Aunt, how the affairs in Canterlot and on extension in Equestria are going currently?” the Prince asked, breaking the unsettling silence.
“Oh my nephew, I’m so proud you’ve got an interest in something more compelling than verbally fencing with Sir Fancy Pants,” Celestia answered, levitating a muffin toward her plate, a slight smile on her cheeks.
The concerned unicorn raised his head. His stare unfortunately crossed the Prince’s hateful eyes. Glaring at each other, the other attendants of the feast swore they had seen foils clashing through the air. Both of them were always in a fancy and ancient-vocabulary emphasized verbal conflict.
Luna was surely right when she was picturing them as the most lackadaisical and boring duellists in the world.
“So…” Fancy Pants advanced.
Wiping the piece of fish he had on his lips with a handkerchief, he looked at Luna.
“I’ve heard that you had a nightmare last night? If it is not incorrect from me to ask you such irrelevant questions… I’ve still wondered what breed of nightmare an alicorn could have, and especially what dreams could affect… the princess of the Night.”
Luna gulped a gag. She was not prepared for this request. She stuttered.
“Well, you… thou see. My… Our nightmares are something… which shall remain out of range of mere ponies like you. Thou would not be able to stand one without losing your very sanity.”
Fancy Pant was not satisfied. He covered his mouth with a tissue and started pouting. Prince Blueblood tried to hide his amused smile. He could not restrain himself.
Fleur Dis Lee, standing at the right of her husband put down her silver fork and cleared her throat.
“Celestia, shouldn’t Miss Twilight Sparkle, your most faithful student and the Element Bearers be here, attending this magnificent meal with all of us?”
Luna’s and Celestia’s eyes crossed. Celestia sighed.
“Twilight and her friends are not able to attend this reunion because of the recent events in Ponyville. I have sent them in the Everfree Forest.”
Some ponies gasped. A long silence settled and no fly were in the air to buzz around.
“I wanted them to check something really important.”
Nopony protested, but they all knew that meant nothing but forthcoming problems. Behind their fake smiles, Luna and Celestia were worried about Fluttershy. They had sent her alone in there. The five other bearers had entered the forest a day later.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
Coughs echoed in the cave. The lack of light was oppressing. Surrounded by the dust and dirt, everyone and… everypony were groping the floor, searching for a landmark. A scratch broke the silence. A small flame radiated for ten seconds, illuminating faintly a hand and the man who was holding the match. Ray sneezed involuntary and blew out the flame. He started becoming agitated. A sliding sound followed by another crack disturbed the ambience once again and a new flame came to life.
Kreps, Maria and the boy joined him around the match. They were all ghoulish, panting with difficulty and covered in dust. Worse, Maria was hyperventilating. Ray crawled to her and grabbed her shoulders. He tightened his hands around them after he had handed the box of matches to Kreps, who lit another one.
“Breath in, Breath out… slowly.”
Ray mimicked the manoeuvre, swelling out his chest before letting all the air in go out. This game lasted for few minutes until Maria’s hoarse respiration came back to normal.
Kreps tried to get up only to bang his head against an upper limit. He probed the darkness with his hands and sensed a biased ceiling. It had crumbled down over them. Kreps feared they might have been trapped in this underground place. He shivered. He was not claustrophobic, or at least had thought he was not.
He swore, now he remembered that they had left the case with all the weapons in the field, outside. However, the “radioactive” box was still hanging in Maria’s backpack.
Standing up, a sudden pain whirled inside his ribs. He bowed, overwhelmed by this aching enveloping his chest.
While Ray was caretaking Maria, Kreps caught a small green light in a corner or the large cave, maybe thirteen yards from his position. Careful about not banging his head or his feet on an obstacle, he dragged himself to the location. He inhaled deeply, trying to get over the acute pain.
The spectacle struck him. There was Verdugo, lying on the ground and sweating a river. He moaned in pain. And next to him, two strange creatures were watching him, eyes widened, immobile and afraid of Kreps’s friend. The light, green, was coming back and forth, surging from the… the horn of the second creature. Its body was covered by a thick bug exoskeleton. It was a quadruped and had… two fly-like wings on his back, buzzing intermittently.
Kreps could not find a word to describe this creature whose shape was still something he knew, somehow. When his stare stopped on the second creature he found the name, Ponies.
The second pony had a butter-coloured fur and a full light pink mane. It was a pony, no doubt about it, but there was slight changes compared of what was dwelling in his memories. Its eyes were bigger, its skin and fur were smoother. And finally of course, the colour was something Kreps had never seen before. He arched a brow. The pony had a tattoo over her femur. It was a strange branding, showing three pink butterflies. The colours were pallid as the only light was a sick green glowing.
Deep in the shadows, the human was unnoticeable. The light sprouting from the black creature was too weak to reach him.
“What is… that?” A voice rose.
Kreps, hearing a buzzing voice sought around him to find the origin. There was nothing. When his stare came back on his friend and the two… ponies, he saw the yellow one poking Verdugo’s leg, who growled in return. The pony jumped back afraid, and then… it… she spoke.
“I have absolutely no idea,” the female voice said.
Kreps giggled; he had seen the pony’s muzzle and mouth move. Kreps always had a scientific mind, relying on logic. He was staring down to something he had always believed impossible. He rubbed his eyelids, questioning the reality of the situation.
He had made too much noise. Both ponies’ heads were watching in his direction.
“Who? Who’s there?” The black armoured pony asked.
Kreps hesitated, a first contact was dangerous, but Verdugo needed him. A small pond of blood was running off his shoulder. Kreps took a deep breath and surfaced from the shadows.
The changeling and Fluttershy gasped, stumped. In front of them was standing a tall and ugly shaved creature, covered in dust, blood and rubbish. He was wearing greyish rags like the creature lying on the floor. And both of them reeked atrociously.
“You’re standing on blood.” The creature noted.
Fluttershy and the Changelings were startled. The creature talked! Gasps echoed again when they finally looked down. They were toddling in a thick dark red puddle. The Changeling jumped outside, revolted.
Fluttershy on the other hoof panicked. Standing on her two hind legs she screamed and tried to wipe the blood… over her fur, making things worse than they already were. Panting loudly and erratically, she stumbled and fell on her flank few feet from the healthy creature.
Fluttershy eyes narrowed as the creature’s clawless talons clasped her neck and muzzle.
“Shut up! The wyvern can come back! Shut up ‘r I’ll kill you,” it urged.
Its pupils narrowed. He was scared too. Fluttershy started crying, her sobs held back down her throat. After a couple of seconds, the primate released its grasp on Fluttershy’s neck. Yet, he kept his hand tightened on her muzzle. It was thinking.
“You scream, we’re dead! Understand?” The creature stressed.
Fluttershy nodded. The bipedal creature looked around and its stare glared daggers at the Changeling. The assessment was also applying for him.
The creature freed the pony. It rushed to the one lying on the floor. Maybe it was its friend. The… primate… was sweating, stressed about the whole situation. It put off one of his rags and gave it to Fluttershy, to wipe herself.
“Name’s Kreps.”
“Fluttershy,” She replied, her voice so low even the cave was not able to echo it.
Kreps did not answer; too busy looking at Verdugo’s wound. The green light enshrouding the Changeling’s horn was of a crucial importance.
The changeling was frowning, nopony had asked his name.
Kreps focused on his task. Ripping off the remains covering his friend’s torso, Kreps displayed Verdugo’s wounds to Fluttershy and the bug-like pony’s to see. They held back a gag.
The wound was ignominious. The stink? Unbearable. Was it gangrene spread onto it or some eggs of corpse flies? It might be both. Fluttershy and the Changeling were disgusted.
Kreps was stunned. Not moving, not shaking, he was immobile, eyes widened, pupils narrowed. His breath was short and quick.
He did not even notice Ray, Maria and the young boy gathering around him, looking back and forth between Verdugo, Fluttershy and the Changeling. His friends’ vision was blurred. They had clearly lost their grasp on reality. They were unable to think clearly.
A long silence only paced by the moans of pain of Verdugo settled between everyone. The pony and the changeling withdrew in the shadows.
“I’ve still a bullet left in my gun,” Ray stated, resignation casted on his face.
He was going to cry. Maria gazed at him with hatred, anger and sadness.
“I won’t let you touch him! You’re gonna have to get over my dead body before you dare touch him,” She started crying, shouting in disbelief. “There must be something to do.”
“You said yourself we don’t have nothing left to treat it. He. Is. Dead.”
Ray and Kreps sighed. Verdugo was indeed dying. No matter what they would do, no matter how hard they would try… It was over. Kreps stared in Ray’s eyes, wet with tears. He nodded. Ray drew his gun out and put it in his friend’s hands.
Maria screamed and tried to fight back. Ray held her back and hugged her. She cried, tending her opened hand toward Verdugo. Her sobs were earth-shattering; her complaint, heart-breaking.
Fluttershy and the Changelings had stepped back. They began to understand what was going to happen. They shivered, afraid, not daring to make a move. They were going to witness a murder. Was it absolutely barbaric, or the kindest act they would ever watch, they wondered. Relieving somepony from his deadly envelop, from an unbearable pain, was it really a murder?
Fluttershy wanted to protest but the look on the creatures’ faces was horrific. They had the aspect of bags of bones. They gave her the impression to be walking deads. Fear faded in Fluttershy’s eyes. She only had pity for these five creatures. She imagined what kind of ordeal they had to survive. But it was in vain, her mind was not twisted enough to envision their suffering.
The changeling on the other hand understood. It was survival and starvation… only survival and starvation. He could read it in the creatures’ features. Somehow, he found them less ugly now, this impression replaced by the same pity he had for his own kin and kind.
With a shaking hand, Kreps stood over Verdugo. The lying body opened his eyes, whispering. He was in pain. Did he beg for something? Kreps will never know. He raised the gun, aimed at Verdugo’s forehead and move his finger on the trigger. He breathed in and unable to stare into those glaring eyes, Kreps turned his gaze and prepared himself for the detonation.
A clicking occurred, followed by a loud cracking sound.
Kreps looked at his gun. He had not shot yet.
A huge block of granite fell on the floor few meters away from everyone and everypony.
“Fluttershy?” A voice echoed like through a tunnel. “Fluttershy?”
“I’m here.” the yellow pony responded.
Ray and Maria gasped. They were face to face with a talking animal. The colour was unusual indeed, but they had seen strangest things before. But a talking pony… it was record breaking. They also caught the fact that the pony, apparently called Fluttershy had wings. They wiped their eyes, trying to figure out the catch in this story.
Still standing over his friend, Kreps saw in the dim darkness five pony-like shapes going down. All were of a different colour. Some had a horn, one had wings and the last one, whose fur was purple-tainted, had both of these strange items.
Everyone’s and everypony’s gazes met. A long, unpleasant silent bathed the cave. Ray caught the purple pony counting, her lips were moving.
“Five…” She whispered.
Twilight cleared her throat. She tried to choose her words wisely, trying to be convincing or at least seem friendly.
“Would you be so kind as to follow us to Canterlot’s Castle? There are ponies who want to see…”
Twilight looked down at the “talons” of the nearest creature. It was displaying a strange metallic object formed of a tube. And the hollowed cylinder was pointing at somepony of its kind, lying on the ground.
Then Twilight witnessed all the blood on the floor. Her eyes lay on Fluttershy, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She saw her friend partially covered in the same fluid. Anger replaced the clumsy kindness in Twilight’s stare.
“What have you done to her?” She grinned.
On the inside, Twilight started panicking, what if they were monsters? Predators? Anger swamped her mind, she took an offensive stance, stomping the ground, lifting up dust with her loud breath. The creature aimed at her with the strange tool. The primate was clearly disoriented, his belly was growling. Twilight caught herself asking mentally in which situation she had stepped. Everypony looked at the three other primates detached from the first two.
Two of them were hugging each other, one was clearly sobbing. Tears twinkled in the shadows. The pitch in its voice meant it was a female. And the last one was… a child. He was isolated from the rest of its herd.
Twilight’s stare came back to the nearest monster, the one carrying the strange gadget. Bemused, the creature panicked when the five rescuing ponies stepped further. It pointed by turn everypony and then finally aimed at Fluttershy.
“Don’t come closer or she dies,” It panted loudly.
Drops of sweat ran on his forehead. Kreps was thinking as fast as he could. He had only one bullet left. If he shot, they would fight back and this would be the end. If he did nothing it was the end too. He bit his bottom lips to the blood.
Twilight saw its canines and incisors. They were predators of course, like hydras or manticores. She would not mind it in another situation. Even if she usually disliked the species which had to eat meat, she always kept in mind Fluttershy’s words, that it was part of nature. But in this situation, Twilight had two gore ideas bouncing in her mind, disturbing her from thinking clearly.
Either these creatures were cannibals and this would explain why one was lying on the ground; or they had fight to know who would eat her friend first. In both cases it was enough to act and depict these primates as sub-sentient. They were just a pack of predating animals.
A pink light beam flew through the air and ejected the gun from Kreps’s hand which slid in the darkness. Taken by surprise, Kreps looked back at the pony. He saw her horn glowing a deep purple light.
A second beam rushed to him. He tried to protect himself with his hand…
Opening his eyes a second after, Kreps checked his own body, searching for a hole somewhere, a vivid pain in his chest or a chunk of metal in his head. There was nothing. He stared, surprised, at his forearm. The purple light had stuck itself on his skin, still glowing.
Twilight was confused, her spell had not worked.
Kreps shook his arm in disbelief. He tried to get rid of the strange substance which acted like sticky goo. He grunted. Kreps continued until his joints started cracking. Lacking of the knowledge to deal with it, hundreds of questions sprung in his mind.
All of a sudden a hand had grabbed his rags. He turned back and found the youngster facing him. The kid jumped and touched Kreps’s arm, the one engulfed in the glowing substance.
The liquid spread of the kid’s hand and he started laughing. Everybody and everypony was silent.
Kreps decided to try to wipe the substance on Verdugo’s trousers, keeping an eye contact with the purple pony.
Kreps stifled. Getting rid of the compound covering his arm was impossible. All he was doing was spreading it like butter. German saw that Maria and Ray had it onto their clothes; the kid had tried to wipe his hands too.
“It doesn’t work,” Twilight noted, surprised.
“What?” Kreps replied sardonically. “That you haven’t killed me?”
“No… You…” – Twilight stepped back, the creature's tone was unsettling –.
Kreps, with rolled-up sleeves moved forward and faced the purple unicorn with stern eyes. She was half his size. He was going to hit her with a punch.
However, his belly growled and ached so hard he bent slightly and his feet failed him. He fell on the ground. His head was dangling and titling intermittently.
“I must be hallucinating…”
Nopony responded.
Suddenly the glowing purple substance started shaping, spreading on Kreps’s whole body. He panicked as a hissing sound popped out of nowhere. He began convulsing in fear. Looking at his friends and Verdugo, he saw the same phenomenon had happened to them. They were all trying to get rid of the substance.
A flash occurred and then… the primates were nowhere to be found.
“Twilight?” Rarity asked, bemused.
Twilight giggled. Not because of the situation was funny, even if Pinkie started laughing genuinely… but because she had witnessed something all brand new for her. Her magic had gone crazy.
“It was supposed to make him go to sleep…”
Meanwhile, the changeling had slid in the opening, flying away of the Mane Six and the five strange creatures.
ϐ ϖ Ϙ ϕ Ϙ ϖ ϐ
A crack exploded in the air, followed by four screams and a grunt. In a smog of dust and dirt they fell on a white tiled floor. Each one bounced painfully or slid somewhere in the new found room. Around them was standing imposing tables which were displayed hundreds meals. Many pairs of eyes stared at them, horrified.
Verdugo crashed himself in the front of the most massive table of the room. Face against the polished granite of the floor, he was leaning on his wounded shoulder. He complained, struggling to not pass away. Something poked him and he found himself turned over. He looked up at the ceiling. Two beings were looking at him. Both were winged unicorns apparently.
Verdugo’s eyes wandered on each face. His vision was desperately troubled. But he stopped on Luna. He scrutinized the blue-coloured creature.
“Hi fella’ how do you do since the last time?”
Luna’s eyes widened, growing to the size of bowling balls. By reflex she groped her neck.
She rushed like a lightning bolt under her buffet and started crying. She was utterly terrified. Celestia and every other pony in the room fixed their gaze on the intruders.
Few gulps of stress echoed.
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