The Marked Dead

by Chemtest

Hypnos

Apple Bloom slowly trots up to the shelter doors, with her two friends flanking her. She slowly unlocks it, and opens it up.

The sun fills the shelter, momentarily blinding the three fillies.

Their vision slowly clears, and in their blurred vision, they see a stallion standing in front of the doors, wearing dark blue armor.

Their vision slowly clears, as the stallion speaks. However, the voice they hear is a lot more high pitched than they thought, “Good, I was worried you’d not come.”

Apple Bloom looks as she sees the stallion for what he truly is. A thestral colt stands there, wearing oversized armor and carrying a small spear. Orange eyes, blue mane, and dark blue fur.

She takes a second to blink, “Umm, you ain’t a Guard.”

He nods, and salutes them, “I am Guard Recruit Hypnos, son of Night Commander Hypnos.” He puts down his hoof, “Something has gone horribly wrong.”

Apple Bloom slightly nods, “Right... how did you find us?”

He motions to the farmhouse, “I came in search for the Element of Honesty, and heard voices coming through from inside. I thought that she might be down there with you.”

Apple Bloom nods again, “And why were you looking for my sister?”

He points to Canterlot, where a dark cloud still hangs, “That. We need to gather the Elements and get them to Canterlot. If we can’t find them, then it is my job to get you secured, and Canterlot is sure to be safer than here.”

Sweetie Belle looks at the cloud, “What do you know about this?”

He looks over at her, “All I know is that something’s going wrong in Ponyville. Some sickness or something along those lines. Anypony with a cutie mark is going mad and feral. We have to hope that the Elements are immune to it.”

Scootaloo smiles, “Finally, some adventure!”

Apple Bloom holds up a hoof, “Wait, anypony with a cutie mark is going mad?”

He nods, “Affirmative. Only us without them seem safe.”

Apple Bloom looks to her fellow Crusaders, “Girls, y’all know what this means?”

Scootaloo grins, “Adventure?”

Sweetie Belle looks at her, “That we are safe and other ponies aren’t?”

Apple Bloom smiles, “Girls, we’re about to put a whole new definition to Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Scootaloo smiles, “Awesome!”

Sweetie Belle nods, “I suppose you’re right.”

Hypnos looks at all of them, “I must request that you do no such crusading until such a time that you are prepared to. For now, I request that you follow my instruction until our mission is either complete or you are safe.”

Scootaloo frowns, “Buzzkill.”

Apple Bloom nods, “Yeah, what’s so dangerous anyway?”

Sweetie Belle pauses, “We should probably listen to him.”

Apple Bloom looks over at her, “Huh?”

Sweetie nods, “Yeah. We don’t know how dangerous this could possibly be. He seems to know more than us, so let’s follow him.”

He nods, “Your friend speaks sense. Caution is important to maintain in uncertain times. At a time like this, it is important to remain as cautious as possible, your life might just depend upon it.”

Apple Bloom looks to Sweetie, “You sure we can trust him? He ain’t one of us.”

She nods, “Yes, I believe we can. Come on, girls, what’s the harm in it?”

Scootaloo scoffs, “The harm is that this guy is really uncool. What would happen if Rainbow saw me hanging around with this dork believing there’s some sickness around?”

Apple Bloom nods, “He could be leading us into danger when we would be worlds safer in the shelter.”

Sweetie shakes her head, “I think we need to trust him. Canterlot is obviously the safest place. After all, the Princesses are there. Besides, he doesn’t have a cutie mark either.”

Hypnos looks at Apple Bloom, “If it makes you feel safer, I will become what you call a Cutie Mark Crusader.”

Scootaloo snorts, “You? A Crusader? You gotta prove that you’re worthy.”

Apple Bloom nods, “Yeah, not just anypony can be a Crusader.”

He nods, “Then perhaps I can prove my worthiness whilst we find the Elements.”

Sweetie Belle smiles, “What’s your plan, Hypnos?”

He smiles back at her, before losing it and nodding at the other two, “My plan is to go from furthest Element from center to the closest. Applejack was the furthest, which means the next one is Fluttershy. After her, we move to Rainbow Dash. Next is Rarity, followed by Pinkie Pie. Last is Twilight, as she is in the center of town. If we move in such a way, it will give all of you time to be experienced before we are tossed into the thick of it.”

Scootaloo smirks, “I’m sure we’d be fine without that experience. Rainbow already taught me how to kick flank.”

He looks at her, “Negatory. You may have learned how to injure, but you lack experience with these mad ponies. Our plan is never to attack, but to run.”

Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow, “We’re gonna run?”

He nods, “Affirmative. These creatures don’t feel pain like us, and they won’t stop attacking. I already learned the hard way when I stabbed one in the leg and it smashed me because of it. We do not wish to use lethal force against them, for they are still ponies. Therefore, we run. We run, or we hide.”

Sweetie Belle nods, “What if we get separated when we run?”

He looks at her, “In the event of separation, you three are to abandon the mission and flee to Canterlot. Do not wait for one another. Continue to retreat until you reach the city, and seek proper assistance from the Guard. If at all possible, you are to alert them to what has happened here. Make it clear that this is no joke, and do not stop pestering them until they send a team to investigate. Remember, it’s your safety above all else.”

He pauses, looking around at them.

He motions to the nearby barn, “Gather weapons, we set out as soon as possible.”

Comments

[Stinium_Ruide]

It's a great read, inspired by the current crisis, although I wished there were more character development, especially in the first chapter.

[Clopian26]

OK I’m really interested in this story

[Clopian26]

Almost forgot about this one