Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

BTL

"There should be another small group that way," the pegasus said, reappearing in front of her own group. They had grown to just short of a dozen ponies, most of them guards and one doctor. "I think four ponies in total," she added. She wasn't completely sure though. Some of the things she'd been seeing were weird. For example, she'd thought she'd seen another mutated pony nearby, but it had suddenly disappeared. Other things she hadn't been able to get a proper read on had flashed in her vision as well.

"Anything dangerous close by?" one of the guards asked, looking nervously around and clutching his spear with his wings.

The mare disappeared again for a moment, then immediately reappeared. "Nothing too close." She pointed a wing to the other pegasus's right. "The closest one is that way, but still too far to be an issue, and it doesn't seem to be coming this way."

"Thank you." The pony seemed to relax a little, holding his spear less intensely. He still continued to look around, with not much else to do.

Slightly up ahead, Firecracker beckoned to the mare, and she quickly trotted her way there. "What is it?" she asked.

"How far away are we from them?" they asked, looking around as they walked forward. They'd stopped hovering a while before. Stepping over the layer of darkness covering the ground wasn't pleasant, but it was easier, and they had to conserve their energy as much as they could.

"A few minutes, I think." The mare disappeared for just a split second, enough to miss it by blinking at the right time. "They're moving too, we're going where they're going. If we don't run into anything and they don't either then it shouldn't take too long."

"Good." Firecracker nodded. They looked visibly tense, but not necessarily angry. A few stray sparks of electricity occasionally flowed through their mane or between the feathers of their wings, but they dissipated before leaving their body. "Is everypony doing okay here? I haven't been keeping good track of that."

"The doc had a look at everyone else, they all seem fine." The mare looked behind them to the rest of the ponies following along. "A few bruises here and there, but no serious wounds, and nothing that'll get worse while walking." She looked ahead again. "If we do run into someone who can't walk properly, we should be able to carry them. But everyone I've seen seems to be moving around, so that might not be an issue."

"Or it's already too late for the ones who couldn't move," Firecracker said.

"Don't say that," the mare replied. "It's not going to do us any good, even if it might be true. I couldn't tell when we're about to run into a corpse anyway, there's no real way to prepare for that. And I'm sure the others have all had more than enough time to come to terms with the possibility."

Firecracker sighed. "You're right." They kicked along a pebble in front of them. "Sorry. I've been a little on edge after almost dying earlier. I'm just worried about Princess Twilight actually succeeding."

"It's okay. I'm sure she will make it."

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