Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Untamed

Sunburst watched as the line of spikes he'd conjured rose from the ground and tore the last creature still standing in half. He adjusted his glasses, looked around at the carnage covering the scenery, then finally allowed himself to slump over, overcome by the weight of his tiredness. Breathing heavily, he walked to the nearest crystal shield, and without looking at the ponies inside he placed his hoof over the door appearing over its surface and pulled on the knob. The crystal slid open like the door had always been there, and the ponies were allowed to walk out while he walked to the next shield and did the same.

While he was at it, he created a central, slightly elevated platform for ponies to stand on. He continued on freeing others from their cubic constructs, never looking up from the ground more than what was needed to find his way around, never looking at them. He was tired, and his heart refused to stop hurting. Never before that moment had he ever actually, physically felt the coil around it, pressing down on it as it beat.

He reached Starlight and Trixie last, and let them out as he'd done with the others. He still didn't look up, though in part simply because he was too tired to raise his head again, but he did speak as they walked out. "Starshine is gone for the moment," he said. He knew they knew the implications that had. He was not happy that things had come to that, but he could justify his actions slightly, knowing that if he'd died Starshine would have been gone either way. "I can't recall her right now," he added, beginning to walk back to where ponies were gathering, together with the two mares. But in his mind, even as he said that, he began to look for something. He couldn't give her a body, but if she had a mind of her own maybe there was still something he could find.

Trixie walked slightly behind the other two. Her legs were shaking, and so was her breath. She looked around frantically, unable to stop her wide open eyes from darting in new directions every moment. Her mane had grown messy despite nothing physically tugging at it, and the corners of her eyes were slightly damp, but not quite wet. She didn't stumble, but it was surprising that she managed not to. She didn't look in control of her own walking, it was something some part of her brain was taking care of by itself while her attention was focused on being scattered.

Starlight walked close to Sunburst, but she didn't speak. Her heart was still beating fast in her chest, though she tried to calm it with slower breaths. She tried, she really did, to ignore the limbs lying strewn around over the ground they walked on, or the puddles of black liquid not quite like the darkness they pooled over. She tried to ignore the smell too, and she was glad she'd only heard muffled sounds while inside the crystal.

Comments

[Speckle]

Holy schnapps, Sunburst...
Oh my gosh! Is Starshine....? She's not dead, is she?