Blink Again

by Amarandream

12 - Two Agonies

Light lazily turned the page of Daring Do and the Secrets of Brodfeld, having been driven back to the novel by sheer boredom. Though she would normally spend her time talking to Rarity, Fluttershy, or Sweetie Belle, all three of them were now asleep. Light was just the lucky one chosen to stay awake for the time being in case something happened. What that something was, none of them could say for certain, but they could all sense the danger inherent in their new home.

Fluttershy rolled over in her sleep, whimpering, "No! I can't do it. It isn't the right thing. It's not a kindness, whatever you say."

Light eyed the pegasus from out of the corner of her eye, even as Fluttershy's words devolved into unintelligible mutters. What in Celestia's rainbow mane was that pony talking about? It sounded like...

Light shook the thought from her head. What was she thinking? If she started assuming bad things about the nicest pony she'd ever met, then she truly had gone paranoid. It sounded almost like something Twi might do. Besides, nightmares were more than understandable after everything they'd been through. She herself had faced more than a few, and she would fear the first pony to claim they had none at all after a few weeks in the pocket dimension, especially since Princess Luna could not arrive to dispel them. Light and Twi both had tried to communicate with her through their dreams, on the rare occasion that they knew they were dreaming anyway, but neither had ever received a response.

Light snapped her book shut at a sudden sharp popping noise. A noise that could only come from one thing: a teleportation.

She scrambled up to her hooves. What was it this time? She hoped it was like last time, marshmallows, but knew her luck just wasn't that good. It was probably another poor pony, or...

Or that. Something black and smaller than her leg hung in the air over at the pocket dimension's center. While she couldn't make out exactly what it was from the distance she was at, it was definitely moving, and that meant it was alive.

The new version of the small creature disappeared, and the original fell out of sight. Though it could easily just be some small, harmless critter, Light wasn't about to take any chances.

"Hey, girls, something's here. You need to get up."

Fluttershy stirred a bit, but otherwise, none of them responded.

Light sighed, knowing they wouldn't appreciate what she was about to do, but also knowing that if that thing was dangerous, she couldn't afford the time to be gentle.

"WAKE UP!"

Fluttershy bolted straight to her hooves, glancing around with a panicked expression as if she expected an attack. Only moments behind her, Sweetie Belle rolled out of Rarity's embrace and looked to Fluttershy, then, following her cue, began looking around as well. Only after Sweetie Belle was all the way up did Rarity begin to stir, seemingly more at the absence of her sister's body against her own than at Light's call. Even then, once she realized Sweetie Belle was safe, she nearly fell straight back to sleep. It was only after receiving a quick kick from Light that she finally came grumbling and scowling to her hooves.

"Girls," Light prompted. "I'm sorry about the rude awakening, but something just teleported in. I don't know what exactly, but it looked small, black, and alive. Could be dangerous."

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy frowned. "It could just be some cute, fuzzy little creature, in need of somepony to look after it."

Light nearly facehoofed. "No, I'm not sure. That's the point. It could be anything, but when it comes to our safety, I'm not about to take any risks. Now, please, can we come up with an appropriate response?"

They all nodded, though none were actually proactive enough to come up with a plan of their own. It seemed that they all expected her, as the de facto leader and most experienced of the group within the pocket dimension, to lead the way.

"Okay." Light directed her attention to Fluttershy. "Why don't you stay here and watch over Sweetie Belle. Rarity and I will head toward the center and check it out. If anything happens, we can just yell back to you. Got it?"

"Mm-hmm." Fluttershy nodded.

"Good. Rarity, let's go."

Said fashionista took a moment to assure her sister that she would be perfectly safe, then fell in beside Light, who had already begun walking.

“So,” Rarity began once they were away from the others, “if this thing is dangerous, what should we do? I mean, it is not as if we can simply trap it or scare it off. It is as much stuck here with us as we are with it.”

“If that’s the case,” Light coolly replied, “then we’ll probably have to kill it.”

“Kill it?” Rarity stared at Light, shocked. “Why, I’ve never killed anything larger than a fly! You can’t really expect—“

“Rarity!” Light stopped to face her head on. The new arrival could wait; this had to be addressed before it came up in an emergency. “Don’t you get it? The rules have changed. We can’t be like that anymore. Now don’t get me wrong, I still believe in harmony and friendship just as much as you do, but sometimes you just have to ask yourself what you’re willing to do to defend what you care about. I mean, even Celestia herself has occasionally had to use lethal force to defend Equestria.”

“That can’t be.” Rarity shook her head. “I’ve never heard of her killing anypony.”

“It is a very rare thing, and not one the princess would want publicized, but there are records. I suppose that’s immaterial to our own situation though.” Light sighed. “Look, if one of our lives were at stake, would you be willing to kill a sentient creature to save us?”

Rarity pondered for a moment, then frowned. "Truthfully, I do not know. I have never been put in that position, and I cannot say for certain what I would do." She sighed, then glanced around. "I know you want to handle this now, but we really mustn't waste any more time. It is here, somewhere, and no doubt getting further from the center by the moment."

Light nodded in agreement. "Right. Keep your eyes peeled. It might be difficult to spot."

The two of them continued forward in silence, Light scanning everything to the right and Rarity doing the same with the left. Neither spotted the slightest sign of the thing, though it suddenly struck Light that something so small and dark could easily hide under or within a corpse almost indefinitely, and unless they picked through every last nook and cranny, it was far more likely to find them than them it. They could easily walk right past it and never know.

The two mares reached the center, where bodies piled high and the largest pool of bodily fluids drained to. Though Light had gotten used to the stench, even in the middle where it was at its worst, Rarity still had not. She of all of them was the slowest to adjust, and by the gagging sounds she was making, was not afraid to openly display her disgust at the "horrid, icky mess."

Light chose to ignore her, and instead paced along the edge of the pool, searching for anything out of place. They had still seen not the slightest sign of their quarry, not even tracks in the gunk covering the floor. Of course, it didn't help that Light had no clue as to what kind of tracks to look for.

"What do you think?" Rarity turned to Light, having gotten properly composed. "Maybe it went off in the opposite direction? Toward where Twi lives?"

"Maybe." Light shrugged. "In that case, I would expect Twi to find it soon. Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't come here to check it out herself. Unless she was asleep at the time, like all of you were, she would have heard the teleportation just the same as I did."

"I know, darling, but she could also just be avoiding us. She probably knew we would investigate, and simply decided to stay away to let us deal with it. Regardless of her wishes, however—or yours, for that matter—we do need to find this thing. Therefore, I suggest we walk over and ask her if she's seen anything."

Light began shaking her head at the idea of confronting Twi again, but Rarity was already walking off in the appropriate direction. It seemed that Light had no choice but to follow or be split up from her friend.

Just as she sped up to join the white pony, a piercing shriek filled the air, sending both ponies jumping in shock, hackles risen. That sound had come from back the way they came, from where Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle waited.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity spun on hoof, terror marking her face. "Don't worry! I'm coming!" And she was off at a gallop before she could could even finish her sentence, bolting back at surprising speed, given all of the little obstacles there were to potentially trip over on the way.

"Rarity!" Light chased after her at a gallop. "Be careful! You don't know what you're charging into!"

Rarity gave no indication she'd heard her, slowly widening the gap between herself and Light as the latter's malnourished legs failed to keep up.

Luckily, it was not a particularly long trek; there was no such thing as a long distance in the pocket dimension. Light stumbled into their little clearing, tripping over a skull on the way, only moments after Rarity arrived.

Even then, as fast as Light got there, she was there only just in time to see Rarity charge at a black serpent with glowing red eyes of a resemblance with burning embers. The delicate unicorn choosing that moment to be decisive was not a coincidence, given that the thing was menacingly poised over a screaming Sweetie Belle, fangs dripping with purple venom so dark as to be almost indistinguishable from black.

Light didn't even have time to fully comprehend the situation before the snake lunged forward, widening its fangs as it went directly for Sweetie Belle's face. On instinct, she lowered her head in its direction, attempting to power up her horn and stop its attack with her telekinesis. It turned out, her instincts were badly outdated. All she managed to do was appear dim-witted and useless in a crisis.

Rarity, it seemed, was not about to make the same mistake. She slammed one hoof down on the serpent's tail, forcing the thing's body to stretch taut as its momentum carried it forward. When it stopped—and mere inches from Sweetie's muzzle at that—it snapped back, turning its attack onto its captor without hesitation.

Rarity jabbed forward her free foreleg, taking the thing on the nose with her hoof. Though that hardly deterred it.

When it stuck for a second time, Rarity was caught off-guard by a swiftness that would make Rainbow Dash proud. Having failed to bring her leg back into a defensive position quick enough, she instead settled for leaping backward with a terrified squeal.

The serpent's attack whiffed, hitting grayish floor rather than white fur. The attack didn't fail in all regards though. As it pushed Rarity into a backpedal, she was forced to bring her other forehoof up to get away, leaving the creature's movement unhindered.

With Rarity caught off-balance and the serpent recovering for another strike, Light saw her chance. She bounded forward, trying to grasp the thing's tail between her front hooves as she landed on her barrel not far from the still screaming Sweetie Belle. When it easily wriggled free, she instead kicked forward with her rear legs, bringing herself up close enough to bite the slithering black tail. She just hoped it didn't somehow have poison in its tail too. It was already far from a normal snake.

Unfortunately, biting a snake just so happens to be one really good way of getting its attention.

The creature hissed in pain and shock, already spinning to face Light with bared fangs. When those burning red eyes met her own purple ones, her heart nearly stopped from the shock. There was evil in those eyes. This thing had not just an instinctive search for food or to defend itself, but a sadistic love for death and the bringing of misery.

Light gulped. What in Celestia's shimmering mane had Princess Twilight decided to teleport? And why?

Her brief moment of curiosity was driven away as the thing lunged at her, its jaw rapidly widening in the fraction of a second it took to cross the space, giving Light a perfect view down its throat.

As the attack came closer to connecting, it was as if time came to a halt, allowing Light a few precious moments to reflect before her injection of no-doubt extremely lethal venom. Surprisingly, in those moments, all she could think was, Well, this sucks.

And then everything went white.

A ringing filled Light's ears as she stared forward in shock. What just happened? And was that... fur?

She looked up to see Rarity standing above her, alabaster foreleg extending just in front of Light’s face where her hoof had come down upon the serpent's skull, turning it into a crimson smear. It was a rather resounding response to Light's earlier questions about what Rarity might be willing to do.

The fashionista panted as if she'd just finished first in the running of the leaves, seemingly more from shock than actual exertion. She quickly shook it off though. "Thank you, Light, for the distraction. I think I... Sweetie Belle!"

Realizing that her sister was not, in fact, screaming because she was afraid, but rather, out of pain, Rarity pushed past Light and quickly wrapped Sweetie Belle in her hooves. "Don't worry, darling, I'm here. Are you hurt? Please tell me it didn't bite you."

Though Rarity was becoming increasingly panicked, Light knew there was little she could do at the moment. Instead, she glanced around for the one pony not involved in the altercation who really should have been: Fluttershy.

With her focus no longer on the snake, it took only a moment to spot the pegasus laying on her back at the edge of the clearing. Though she appeared unharmed, she lay staring up at the ceiling with a quivering lip and eyes dilated in fear. If Light didn't know better, she would almost say that Fluttershy looked trapped.

"Uh, Fluttershy?" Light stepped up beside the pegasus. "Are you okay?"

Fluttershy suddenly snapped out of her state as her eyes darted to meet Light's. "Huh? What did you say? Sorry, I was... distracted."

Distracted? Distracted!? Oh brother, that was not at all what she needed to hear just then.

Light clenched her jaw in frustration. "You want to tell me why you didn't help? Why you just sat here? I mean, seriously, Fluttershy, a snake attacks—a wild animal—and you don't do a thing? No animal whispering? No Stare? What in the name of Equestria were you thinking!"

Fluttershy gulped. "It had me pinned. I couldn't..." She trailed off, probably realizing that what she just said was ridiculous, then lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry. I wanted to help, but I just couldn't. I mean, I tried to, but that thing was on top of me and I just... I just... oh, you wouldn't understand."

"The snake had you pinned?" Light said, disbelieving. "It was on top of you? How about when we were fighting it and you just sat there doing nothing!" She shook her head, trying very hard just to take a few, calming breaths. "You know what? You're right. I wouldn't understand. Now, please, just stay right there. I need to check on Sweetie Belle."

She turned around, already sure that she'd have to apologize to Fluttershy later, only to immediately forget that upon seeing a now unconscious Sweetie Belle with a badly swollen foreleg and an ever-slowing breathing rate. A tear-streaked Rarity held her in her hooves, whispering something into her ear as she brushed a few strands of pink, sweat-soaked mane aside.

The color drained from Light's face at the sight. "Rarity, what happened? Did it bite her?

Rarity gave a trembling nod. "Yes. I think... I think she's dying." And with that, the fashionista collapsed into anguished sobs.

Comments

[The Weaver]

10563389
Depending on how Dungeons and Dragons you want to go; gates can make a literal tear between rwo places (unlike teleport which in some editions required an etheral plane to 'visit' for an instant). Gate might be completely safe or it might create a cylinder of that gray planar material inside the orb. While it appears to have depth the caster walks from appearing point to materialization point in an instant.

We never found out who made that gate medallion (or i don't remember) so it is possible it was created by someone who fear or found out that this is happening. He might of even tried to publish that knowledge. Perhaps Starswirl considered him a quack, or Celestia denounced the spell for it crosses some line in magical theory she doesn't want crossed. Twilight, for all her intelligence, never seems to question a spell from an approved source. If Twilight is most unicorns then why would they stop using a spell Celestia says is safe to use?

[Amarandream]

10578427
Hey, thanks for your thoughts! It gives me a lot to think about. I may have to consider using something like this as a plot point.

[Soron]

10578427
Quite funny as it makes me think of myself.

I always had a problem with the concept of teleportation. I'd never trust technological teleportation and i'td be VERY hard for me to trust magical teleportation.

So i always thought that, if i was to somehow become a mage, i'd learn direct tear in reality portals for transport and i'd make sure to never ever use teleport.

[The Weaver]

10578667
Funny thing; in Star Trek the characters die in every episode. Think on it; the transporter breaks you down to the tiniest level (discentigraing you) and then builds you back up at the end point. This requires the machine to get your brain 100% right. A missing neuron or a change to electrical impulses could make you a vegetable. Unlike here the matter was always your matter; no duplicates.

Don't know why they don't use it for medical; with replicators being a thing all it would take is adding the right materials in the right sequence. Star Trek is kinda soft though...

[Kirtai]

Poor Sweetie.
And just why was that snake teleported anyway?

btw

following her que, began looking around as well.

cue

[Amarandream]

10579845
Fixed! Thanks for pointing out that error!

EDIT: Oh, and the reason for the snake, both as that event relates to the plot and as to why it is there, will be explained over the course of the next four or five chapters.

[darklight731]

...I don`t care how distracted, scared, or stupid you are, if you can`t manage to do anything while a giant evil snake bites a LITERAL CHILD, there is something wrong with you.

[Amaponynoob]

11380755
I realise I'm saying to a year old comment that may have already figured this out, but.

Yes, we already know there is. It was already explained and described, in detail, in the last chapter .

[DarkSnowGaming]

11380755
Not sure why this has a lot of dislikes, but yes, I agree with you.