H A Z E

by Bandy

Chapter 39

Hypha had never flown so fast. Trails of mist clung to his legs. He barely felt the weight of Red slung across his back. All he felt was the wind and the cold and the sense of urgency that came with grievous injury.

He caught sight of Blue racing over the rooftops. He followed her into an unassuming neighborhood near the palace district. There Blue found an out of the way alley and motioned for Hypha to land.

The landing was smooth. Together they slid Red off his back and made a makeshift triage bed on the ground. The bleeding had slowed, but with the blood no longer pouring down Red’s face the true extent of her injuries became clear. Romulus had shattered the left side of her jaw, striking it with so much force it had disconnected from the skull and snapped at the chin. It would have stayed more or less in place, if he hadn’t also slashed her face open.

When Red took her hoof away, her jaw flopped uselessly. What was left of her tongue undulated in mute horror. She tried to speak. A groan escaped her lips, something like, “Uh,” like a baby calling for her mom. She went, “Uuh, Uuh, uuuuh—” Then the tears came.

She tried to put her jaw back into place, but her hooves shook so badly she couldn’t hold it up.

Blue motioned to Hypha to hold up her jaw. She rummaged through her saddlebag and withdrew a hoofful of mother sky mushrooms.

Hypha’s breath hitched in his throat. They still had the mushrooms.

It was like watching a friend come back from the dead. Joy and shame and relief all piled up together in an overwhelming rush. His faith in them had evaporated like so much morning fog, yet they kept the vigil.

Hypha watched in stunned silence as Blue squeezed a tuft of cloud over the mushrooms. Clear water ran down her forelegs, washing away the dust from the caps. She rinsed her mouth next. When she was sure both she and the mushrooms were clean, she placed them on her tongue and chewed them up.

She laid Red down on the soft cloud floor. Then she took the mash from her mouth and fed it to her, one tiny piece at a time.

When the ritual was over, Blue motioned for Hypha to get the bandages. When he tried to move, however, he found his legs weren’t working. When he tried to speak, his voice cracked.

Tears sprang to his eyes. He collapsed at Blue’s hooves.

“I’m sorry.” Pain choked his voice. “I’m so sorry. I’ll never doubt you again.”

There was a pause. Then Blue wrapped her forelegs around him. Red dragged herself upright and joined the embrace, one hoof on Hypha’s shoulder, the other keeping her jaw in place. At first, he tried to shirk away. He didn’t deserve this. But his strength gave out, and he slumped into their embrace, and for the first time since that fateful day in Roseroot, Hypha felt safe.

---

Blue insisted on bandaging Red. She took extra care to lay each bandage just right, cinched the sutures slowly to avoid pinching, stopped to squeeze Red’s hoof when she started shaking. An hour ticked away.

In the meantime, Hypha took to patrolling their hideaway, peeking down the alleyway and over the rooftop. The more he listened, the more it became clear something was wrong.

The realization hit him a minute later. The streets were empty. The skies were clear. The usual city din was reduced to a dull whistle of distant air currents. It was like everypony had simply vanished.

“Blue?” He took a step towards the two mares. “Do you—”

A lone civilian pegasus flew overhead, ripping apart the uneasy stillness. He was followed a moment later by a trio of legionnaires in hot pursuit. Hypha watched the ponies shrink to tiny spots. After a brief chase, the spots converged somewhere over the city center. They fell together and disappeared out of sight.

Hypha heard another sound from the street. A patrol of earth pony legionnaires sauntered lazily down the center of the road, their spears resting on their shoulders. They spoke in low voices, their eyes scanning the rows of buildings for anything out of order.

“Think they’re looking for us?” Hypha asked.

As if to answer his question, the flying patrol from earlier streaked overhead. The wind from their wings nearly ripped the bandages from Blue’s hooves.

Hypha floated up to rooftop level to gauge the group’s pattern. As he peeked his head out from the shadows, a second patrol howled past in the opposite direction. Hypha ducked low and squinted, trying to follow the patrol as they blurred into dots.

The dots seemed to hover in midair for a moment. Then they banked right and turned around.

Hypha floated down. “We have to go.”

Blue hastened to wrap up her bandage job. Together, they hauled Red out to the street and took off towards the edge of the city. If they could just get to where the city was only one layer thick, they could dive right through the clouds and disappear into the plains below.

More legionaries blocked their path ahead, forcing them into the labyrinth of alleys and sidestreets. There were plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in, but they were already occupied by terrified civilians. When Hypha asked why they hadn’t gone home, a pony informed him there was a no-fly order, and anyone caught outside their home was subject to arrest—or worse.

More patrols swooped overhead. The trio pressed on.

They reached an entrance to a main thoroughfare road. Hypha couldn’t see any patrols for the moment. He shifted Red’s weight and stepped into the light. “It’s a straight shot. We should—”

Without any warning, Blue bit down painfully on Hypha’s ear and dragged him backwards. He let out a groan as Red’s dead weight shifted painfully on his back. “Hey—”

A volley of arrows hit the street next to them. They passed right through the clouds with barely a whisper.

A chill raced down Hypha’s back. He looked over his shoulder and saw pegasi with bows in their hooves bearing down on him. Another patrol.

Blue raced down the alley and dipped out of sight. Hypha followed. Walking was difficult enough with a pony balanced on his back. Running was agony. The bare skin on the stump of his leg chafed on the prosthetic pad until it started to bleed.

Blue reappeared beside him without warning, steering him to one side of the alley. Another cluster of arrows flew past him. He stumbled, momentarily dazed. His mind reeled. What did it feel like to get shot with an arrow?

Blue kicked him in the flank. The fear returned. His legs came back to life.

At the mouth of the alley, Hypha slowed up. Blue motioned him forward. Hypha’s breath came in ragged pants. His whole body begged for rest, but he pushed himself out of the alley and onto the empty street beyond.

Wide open. Totally exposed. No cover. Blue must have made a wrong turn. This road was a death trap.

Then he saw Blue phase through the shadows and appear on a nearby rooftop, right on top of the pegasi patrol.

She opened her mouth and let out an ear-splitting scream. The air in front of her rippled with magical energy. The formation scattered. Two of the pegasi pitched down and slammed into the rooftops. The remaining two covered their ears and scattered.

As Blue turned, she caught sight of something deeper in the city that Hypha couldn’t see. She froze, staring out into space, a blank-faced gargoyle.

She tore her eyes away and rejoined Hypha and Red on the street. Whatever she saw from the rooftop lit a fire in her. She quickly started to pull ahead of Hypha and Red.

“Blue—” Hypha groaned as Red shifted on his back. “Blue, we gotta go down. It’ll be safer on the ground. I can fly Red down and you can—” He stopped. She wasn’t listening. Her eyes were focused straight ahead. “Where are you going?” She ran even faster. “Blue!”

Her ears flicked at the mention of her name. But she didn’t slow down. Hypha chased her another three terrifying blocks. Every step, he expected a volley of arrows to rain down on his back. Echoes of Roseroot rang in his ears. The thump of bodies falling, the booming of temple doors, the clatter of swords—

Wait. His ears perked up. Those noises weren’t just his imagination. There was something loud coming his way. Drums.

Without any warning, Blue turned on her hooves and dove into an alley. Hypha didn’t have to worry about slowing down, because a moment later she grabbed his mane and dragged him in after her. Hypha cried out. Blue clamped a hoof over his mouth. Not that it was strictly necessary. The sound of drums drowned everything out.

A parade rounded the corner.

There were about a hundred of them in total, mostly haggard legionnaires marching in rough lines. Their equipment was battered and bloodstained and rattled as they walked. Behind them, A line of drummer colts beat a walking tempo with heavy marching snares and clattering bronze cymbals.

In the center of it all, decked out in a resplendent gold robe, strode senator Giesu.

Hypha’s eyes went wide. His hooves trembled beneath him, forcing him to his haunches. Red slid off his back, barely catching herself before her head could hit the ground.

“Blue...” Hypha gulped. “We—”

There was a lull in the drums. In the split second of silence, Hypha heard faint beating wings behind them. He turned and saw the remains of the legionnaire patrol flying their way. They hadn’t spotted the trio yet, but given their flight path, they’d be on top of them in no more than a minute. The alley was too wide. They had nowhere to hide.

“We have to leave.” He grabbed her arm. “Blue.”

Blue wheeled around. For the first time, Hypha felt the full force of her hate bearing down on him. Her eyes screamed murder. The Blue he thought he knew—the mare who teased Red with kisses and took half portions of dinner when food got scarce—evaporated in a fireball of incandescent rage. She was just gone.

Red saw the shift and placed herself squarely in Blue’s sights. A silent standoff ensued. Blue tried to turn away, but Red grabbed her foreleg and forced her to look at her. Red gestured to Hypha’s metal leg. Then to her own bandages. Fresh blood had already leaked through one side. Red forced Blue to look, really look, at the price they’d already paid.

That was enough to bring Blue back. Like a fire burning through all its fuel, the rage in her eyes subsided. She ran a hoof over Red’s bandage, barely noticing when a fleck of blood got on her fur. She kissed the top part of Red’s nose, the only part of her snout not padded with gauze. Their eyes met. Red nodded slowly.

Blue walked over to Hypha next and motioned for him to lift his prosthetic leg. She touched it gingerly, feeling along the metal exterior where his calf used to be. When she got to the knee joint, she leaned down and kissed the cool metal. The gesture left Hypha dumbfounded and beet-red with embarrassment. Blue, on the other hoof, was as open and serene as the sky. She stared into his eyes and implored him to understand.

One of those lessons is empathy.

Elder Cumulus’s cryptic words finally started to click. Hypha had been wounded spiritually by the battle of Roseroot, wounded by every little clash and compromise since that day. But that wasn’t the root of it. The root of it was hate, spoken into being at just the right time to take hold. It had been there long before Roseroot fell. Before Hirruck led the outsiders and spies into camp to help harvest barley. Before Hypha had even been born. Hate was older and more clever than him. But he could see it for what it was now. And he wouldn’t let it get the better of him again.

Hypha opened his mouth. His throat felt tight, but he powered through. “I trust you.”

A wave of relief passed over Blue’s face. She pointed first to the patrol, then at the ground.

He turned to Red. “Uh. Did you get that?”

Red rolled her eyes. She drew an orb of magic to her hooftips and motioned for Hypha to do the same.

Trust, Hypha thought. In this moment, trust had never been easier to come by.

Following Red’s lead, Hypha summoned an orb of magic, then drew a basic light rune. Red shimmied to one side, using the sound of the incoming patrol to gauge their approximate location. The whisper of wings grew into a steady beat-beat-beat against the air. Hypha’s whole body coiled. His arm loaded back.

The patrol appeared over the rooftop. Hypha and Red let the light orbs fly.

Both orbs found their mark, exploding on impact, throwing white-hot magical plasma into the fliers’ faces. They careened out of control and cartwheeled into the ranks of marching legionaries. Screams echoed down the street. Bodies and gear went flying. The parade drummers faltered.

Blue burst out of the shadows in the middle of the second rank. She opened her mouth and billowed a cloud of magical smoke, choking the street. Before the rank and file could draw their weapons, she let out a sonic shout. Four lines of legionaries tumbled across the street like debris in a hurricane.

Sword. Blue needed a sword. She pinned a nearby legionary beneath her and went for his weapon, but as she drew it another legionnaire regained his bearings and knocked it out of her hooves. She staggered back, out of the reach of his blade, and countered with another magical shout. The legionnaire landed in a heap half a block away.

Thinking fast, she dove for the sword of an unconscious legionnairelying nearby, only to find her scream had knocked it clean out of its scabbard.

By this time, the legionaries had regained their bearings and started to close ranks around Giesu. Her window of opportunity was closing. She had to think of something quick. She couldn’t fail again.

Before the legionaries could react, Blue shot through their ranks. Giesu’s eyes found hers. First surprise, then amusement crossed his face. He opened his mouth to speak.

Before his words could come out, Blue drove a hoof into his gut. He crumpled. She wrapped her hooves around him and let out another shout, this one aimed down at the street. The clouds beneath her disintegrated. Blue and the senator dropped into a freefall.

In the first frantic moment of the fall, Blue lost her bearings. Giesu’s forelegs slipped out of her grasp. He almost immediately started throwing punches. She dodged his blows as they tumbled end over end. Her stomach leapt into her throat, but she kept her eyes focused on his hooves even as the earth and sky spun in the background.

He overextended on a blind haymaker. Blue batted it aside and passed his guard. She clamped onto him, belly to belly, her forelegs wrapped around him as far as they could go, catching his wings just enough to pin them to his sides.

Giesu let out a barking laugh. “You’ve done so much for me. Served so faithfully.” He tried to wriggle out of her grasp. Blue held firm. Her face was buried in his chest. The golden silk of his robe chafed against her fur. She charged up another scream and aimed it up at the sky. Their fall speed doubled.

“Look at everything your sacrifice bought us. They worship us. We’re like gods.” The barest hint of panic crept into his voice. “Let go!” He wrestled a hoof free and took a swing at her, striking a glancing blow off her temple. Skin tore. Blood poured out. Still, she held on.

She let out another scream. Giesu flinched. Blood flowed from his ears. She caught a glimpse of legionnaire guards giving chase, but none of them could keep up.

They fell into the shadow of the city. The ground beneath them darkened.

“Let go!” Giesu roared. “I’ll make you a princess. Don’t throw your life away!” He swung again and caught Blue in the forehead. Her vision flickered. Her legs wobbled. Only adrenaline and the rush of the moment kept her hanging on. He hit her again and again, but she would not be dislodged. Giesu let out a bellowing scream. His pegasi instincts must be screaming, pull up, pull up.

Blue looked out across the ocean of grass and saw Hypha some hundred yards away. He had ripped his old clothes off and formed a makeshift tent barely big enough for one pony. A sliver of darkness peeked out from the entrance. She focused on that tiny sliver, the only chance she had of making it out alive. Of course it would end like this. Her hope had never been anything more than a sliver. But there was a sliver. And that was enough.

Giesu’s voice cracked. “Let go,” he pleaded. “Let go let go let go—”

A mantra sounded in Blue’s mind like a bell. Feel it. Receive it. Let it go.

They hit the ground. Blue phased into the shadow. Giesu did not.

---

Blue shot out of the tent at terminal velocity. She tumbled end over end, skidding atop the tall grass like a skipping stone before finally coming to a stop some fifty yards away.

Hypha and Red raced to her aid. They found her bruised, dazed, and covered head to hoof in grassy pulp. But she was alive.

She winked to Red as Hypha laid her over his back. Red might have been the perfect color to hide a blush, but she had other tells. Mission accomplished.

They made it a quarter of a mile before low-flying patrols forced them to hunker down. They cocooned themselves in grass, pressing in tight, eyes and ears alert for danger. Swarms of legionaries crisscrossed the skies, searching for traces of them and the senator. Night would ultimately foil their search. Blue wasn’t sure there was much of the senator left to find, anyway.

As night fell, a strange, quiet darkness came over Derecho. The torches on all the main streets remained unlit. The crystal bulbs stayed off. The tips of the city’s many metal spires caught the last of the dying light like lightning bugs before the sun slipped away. The city faded to an ominous black mass floating in the waning purple twilight.

Blue prodded Hypha and Red to get their attention. She gestured at the dark city.

“Creepy,” Hypha said. Blue shook her head and pointed again, more insistently. Hypha blinked. “You can’t be serious.” Blue nodded. “You wanna go back?”

Blue just smiled. She kissed Red on the cheek. Then she slipped away.

Comments

[hehelover]

Honestly I just don't know how Giesu could survive for this long. The guy's behaving like a clueless idiot for much of his screen time. Good riddance, I suppose. Hopefully this means the rest of the cast would get to live until the end.

[Animal]

What a play fr

[SirCarrot]

Rip bozo