Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 104: Two Battles

I didn't know what was happening, but it didn't take much to figure out that it was terrible.

The shadows were all gone, as were the whispers. That should have been a good thing, but I could feel something else awake, something terrible. The sensation was so intense I could point like a compass to where it was, although I was unsure how far away. I could tell it was getting closer.

Someone had said yes to the shadows. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew. The shadows could touch me while I was in a projected form. Did that mean this thing could too? I listened to my gut quite often, and it was screaming the answer was yes.

I took off. I didn't know if it was the right way to get back to Princess Twilight and the others, but it was the opposite direction from where my 'I wanna live' sense said the big bad thing was coming from. That was good enough.

I passed into yet another hall filled with the remnants of Luna's massacre. Seeing lots of skeletons was not what I needed. This thing I felt behind me resulted from this, and I felt even sicker to my stomach thinking about it. I might have been a simple little pegasus who couldn't even name her ancestors who lived when this happened, and I might not have known the full details of that war, but I swore there had to have been a better way Luna could have dealt with these ponies. It was a monstrous act that had created a monster. If I got out of this and managed to become a Dreamwarden, I would do everything in my power to stop stuff like this from ever happening again.

Movement caught my attention, and I looked up at the ceiling. Running in the same direction as I was something big, black, with hints of red. It had six legs that gripped the roof and a red mane, but where fur should have been, there were just black plates. What was the term for that? I should have paid more attention in biology classes when discussing bugs. Each of its legs was oddly shaped and filled with holes. It figured I would find the monster I had been looking for while running away from an even bigger one. Bursa was bigger than a human, a lot bigger, but also kind of skinny, like she was starved. I couldn't see her face from this angle but saw a jagged black horn. Bursa might have been fearsome under most circumstances, but right now, she seemed as terrified as I was of whatever was coming and just as eager to escape.

Well, she was moving insanely fast and probably knew the way out. I decided to tail her. Come on, crazy bug lady, don't let me down!

We passed through hall after hall. I hoped she knew where she was going because I wasn't sure where we needed to go. I just knew that whatever was behind us was getting closer. The lights still reacted to me, but not to Bursa. The thought briefly passed my mind that I might be freaking her out even more since I was invisible, and I didn't believe she knew I was there. I knew I would be scared if the lights all suddenly started coming on behind me when they hadn't before. Announcing that it was happening because of me wouldn't improve the situation, so I kept my mouth shut.

Bursa might have been moving fast, but whatever was behind us was faster. I could feel it getting closer. At this rate, it would be upon us before we reached daylight. I could make a run through the ceiling or just let my projection drop and give the others a warning about what was coming, at least the ones watching my body. Either of those would be the intelligent choice, but if I left, Bursa would be by herself. Bursa might have been the one who had foalnapped Roger's mother, but she was terrified and alone, wanting to go home with a monster far worse than her that was quickly advancing on her. She didn't know I was there, but I couldn't leave her. If that thing caught up, she shouldn't have to face it alone. It might not be the intelligent thing to do. The smart thing to do would be to end the projection and give a warning to who I could, but this was what my conscience said to do.

The sense of the thing behind us was practically upon us, and Bursa stopped at a fork and hesitated. She didn't seem to know which way to go. She didn't have time to think about where to be thinking about where to go.

She needed to move.

"Bursa! Choose a path and move! It is almost here!" I shouted at her.

The bug lady jumped and fluttered her tiny little wings. It would have been silly looking, but it was another thing that took up time. Now time was up, and the monster was upon us.

The light nearest me dimmed, and the already dark passage got darker like the light was being eaten by the new arrival. It swirled in a mass of twisting shadows as it entered the hallway before taking a more definite form. It stood tall, taller than even Celestia, a giant. It was all black with glowing white eyes and possessed both a long horn and bat-like wings. The shape was feminine, but it was hard to tell. One thing was sure; it was focusing a hateful look at Bursa.

"NOW, DIE!!" Screamed its voice with a hint of an echo. It sounded like a command with a touch of regalness. A queen ordering an execution.

Well, that was undoubtedly a villainous monster thing to say. It seemed like the thing I was on a hunt for needed saving. There was no way Bursa was out running this thing, not when it had already caught up. Maybe I could distract the monster to buy her time. Look at me, playing hero! The mighty chubs to the rescue!

"Hey! Tall, dark, and really in need of some sun, look at me!" I said as I turned visible, shrank in size slightly, and started flying erratically in front of its face.

It shook its head and growled at me. "Miserable pegasus! Your kind shall not live the coming judgment! You, in particular, shall suffer most terribly!"

"I'm that annoying? I might take that as a compliment," I snarked, still whizzing around her like some persistent fly.

The thing started blasting with its horn, trying to knock me out of the air…or, more likely, just kill me. I didn't know if the beans could hit me, but I still did everything I could to avoid them. I'd rather not find out the hard way that they could.

"You stupid pony! She is going to bring the entire place down on us!" Bursa snarled at me.

"Then run, bug lady!" I called back.

"Don't call me that!" Bursa yelled.

Was she really going to stand there and fuss at me ribbing her? I wanted to tell her I was distracting this thing so she could get away, but telling her might make the thing lose interest in me.

SMASH!

Owww…okay, still not sure about her beams, but she could hit me with a wing, and I felt it. I at least didn't lose my projection just because I was hit. She'd put me through a wall, literally. Thankfully, it didn't hurt the wall.

I came out of the wall, puffed myself up, and used my most macho voice. "Hey! We aren't done! You think a wall will stop me!" Yeah, I could be in an 80s action movie….maybe not. Maybe 90s, perhaps?

The thing had made it as far as the entrance to the following passage in that little time but turned to look at me. Bursa was thankfully gone.

"You have a strong desire to die. I shall help you get what you want," she growled.

Oh, poopy, she looked mad. At least she had lost interest in Bursa for the moment. I didn't know how many attacks I could take. That hit hurt. I didn't think it did any damage. The pain was all in my head, but older dreamwalkers always whispered about how terrible Sha'am Maut was, and she was just pain– pain that left them traumatized. Best not to be hurt too much.

I turned and shook my too shy at the monster. "You shoot like a…um…something that shoots very bad!"

It shot at me again, missing me by a hair. "And you insult poorly."

I stuck my tongue out at it. "Sorry, but that was an attempt to compliment you because I felt so bad for you after watching you try to shoot me. I might have set the bar too high with that one. What can I say? You're that bad."

It snarled in rage and charged at me.

Yipe! Time to move. It was fast, but I could go faster in projected form. I needed to keep to the halls, preferably going deeper into the complex.

I turned and flew at a fast pace through the halls. It didn't matter where I was going; as long as it followed, and if my senses were telling the truth, it was doing just that. We entered a larger area, with full-scale buildings off to the sides. There were also a lot more dead bodies here. The entire floor, from one end to the other, was a mass of bones. I was going to need some therapy after this.

It came into the chamber and started blasting at me some more. The sounds of the blasts and the explosions as they connected with the ceiling and buildings echoed loudly throughout the area. That might be good. Twilight and the others might hear it and come deal with this thing. They were the heroes. It was their job to beat up monsters like this. I was just a distraction.

The blasts suddenly stopped, and I turned to see what was happening. The monster shadow pony was leaving! It must have decided I wasn't worth the effort; or worse, realized that I was only trying to draw it away.

"Giving up so soon?" I yelled at it. It didn't even acknowledge me as it left.

Should I chase after it and try to annoy it some more? No, at this point, I had bought all the time I could. I needed to alert the others. I had no idea where I was in relation to them, so I needed to do this the fast way– drop the projection. I could alert at least some of the others, and they could figure out what to do. I dropped my projection.

"Rarity, reinforce my lasso with your magic! She's going to break it!"

This sounded interesting.

I opened my eyes to see…somebody's butt. Not what I was expecting. I was pretty sure it was Jonathan's since it was human.

"Rebecca's back!" Roger announced, practically in my ear. Did he have to yell when he was that close to me?

Jonathan did me the good favor of moving his butt away from my face. I then saw that he had been standing to protect me. Bursa was outside, and Applejack was struggling to hold her with her glowing lasso…why was it glowing? I glanced at Rarity and saw her horn was lit up. That made more sense. Bursa was twisting and screaming as she tried to escape.

Well, she was, and then she transformed into a pegasus foal with black fur and red mane. The lasso fell off the much smaller body, and Bursa took to the air.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Rarity yelled.

A glow enveloped Bursa, and the filly was yanked down to the ground with an audible squawk. She didn't stay down for long and transformed again, this time into a giant black dragon. The dragon then turned its eyes on Rarity and advanced.

"Oh, dear…" Rarity gasped as she started backing away. "Applejack, some assistance, please."

Applejack came running. Just as she reached Bursa's side, she turned, lifted her hind legs, and gave Bursa a solid buck in one of her reptilian legs. The dragon roared with fury and took a swipe at Applejack with her tail, knocking the earth pony away. I held my breath and then released it when I saw that Applejack was a little dazed by the blow but unharmed. The relief was short-lived because with Applejack down for the moment, Bursa returned her attention to Rarity.

"Stop! This isn't the time to be fighting!" I yelled.

Bursa jerked her head and looked at me, and those eyes widened with shock. "You? How? That thing should have killed you!"

I hopped to my hooves. "That thing is on its way, and we need Element Bearers to have a chance against it. Don't hurt them!"

"They attacked me!" Bursa bellowed.

I walked purposefully past Jonathan towards Bursa, meeting her eyes. "You foalnapped Roger's mother! We were coming to rescue her. Tell us where she is, and I'm sure they'll let you go."

"Um…what's happening?" Roger asked in confusion from behind me. "Why did we suddenly switch from fighting to talking? What's coming?"

Bursa's lips pulled back to reveal her teeth. "You dumb, fat, pegasus; who do you think was down there?"

"I don't know. I know it was bad!" I answered. "Hurry up and tell us where Roger's mom is, and you can run for it after that. There's no more reason for you to keep her."

Bursa changed shape again, this time into an adult version of the filly she had just transformed into. She flapped her wings and took to the air but paused to look down at me.

"You don't need to go searching for her. She was the one hunting us. She'll be here soon enough. You have your answer. Good luck dealing with her. I value you my life too much to see how it goes."

Bursa then flew away. Well, poop…

Author's Note:

Hi, everybody! You're favorite chubby pegasus here, saying I have been busy in an alternate timeline trying to help save the world, and make the world a better place by banning skim milk, but my adventures here are not at an end.

Comments

[Kek lel]

YOOOOOO ITS BACK

[badninja]

Glad to see this story back. Now I wonder how this adventure will end and how will this convince Rebecca to take the position?

[Numinos]

Yeesh, what a return. Glad to see this story back : )

[Kairee]

Glad to see this coming back. I had been wondering. There’s been a lot of possibilities spoiled by the other story but still some questions yet to be answered and I’m looking forward to seeing.

[harts fire]

younger Bursa is way different then older Bursa..
a great chapter i love it.