Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Staff

"She's stable for now," said the doctor, looking over Starlight one more time before turning to the other ponies. "She should make it if nothing else happens to her."

The unicorn was lying over a stretcher. Next to it on the ground was a pile of blood-soaked bandages, but the ones on her were cleaner. The spell she'd been hit with had left a wound that wouldn't close, it had taken the doctors a bit to figure out a way to deal with it. They had, eventually, but it had been a close thing. While she'd initially regained some consciousness, Starlight had passed out again, likely due to blood loss. She had a needle going into a vein on her front leg, attached to a tube that went to a bag hanging next to her stretcher. She would survive, like the doctor had said, but it would take a bit for her to be okay again.

"If." Trixie could be seen visibly twitching, clearly pushing back something else. "Like that's easy. We're right in the middle of a battle!"

The doctor swallowed and looked down. Another guard nearby spoke up. "If they get here we'll probably all be dead anyway."

Sunburst was still shaking slightly, biting his own teeth in nervousness, but after a brief jolt he started to head for the door. "Where are you going?" Trixie asked.

"Starlight was supposed to help guard Rarity and Fluttershy." He turned back towards her. "That means they need someone else now, and I'm the best replacement available."

Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but stayed silent. Her eyes lingered on Sunburst for a bit, then she looked to Starlight again. "Be careful out there," she said.

Sunburst nodded, turned again, and went out the door, accompanied by a couple of guards. Trixie watched him go, and watched the door he'd left from still for a while after, then she let out a shaky sigh and moved closer to Starlight. She didn't quite lean over her, though she would have liked to, she didn't want to disturb her in her conditions.

A few guards around her looked at the scene, awkwardly unsure if there was anything to do about it. Trixie at points looked like she was about to burst into tears. Eventually she shook her head and headed back towards the nearest wall, to go sit there.

Out of the building, Sunburst made his way to the top of a nearby one, always accompanied by the guards with him. The situation outside the centre of town was hard to judge. There were some visible conflicts still ongoing, but it was hard to shake the feeling that things were largely stalling, waiting for something else. He cast a weary glance towards the black sphere close by before entering the building. How long would it last?

He got to the roof fairly quickly. Rarity and Fluttershy greeted him with somber nods. They'd heard the news already. From up there, he could see a little more of the town. He could clearly see the line of crushed and destroyed buildings that stopped just a little outside of the centre, the one left by the spell Starlight had dealt with. While there he gave another look to the half destroyed tower as well.

All things considered, they'd been lucky that far. A lot more ponies could have gotten a lot more than hurt. He hoped he would manage to keep doing his part.

Comments

[Speckle]

A sombre mood, indeed