Chapter 6: After Hours
The skies were fortunately clear, but Gallus, Smolder, and Chrysalis all kept their eyes peeled the whole way through. The two young students led the way while Chrysalis followed, mentally prepared for the inevitable odds of the plan's failure.
Chrysalis came to a sudden realization. "Wait! Stop!"
Gallus and Smolder did just that.
"A realization came upon me," Chrysalis said. "Unlike myself, all those other corrupted individuals out there don't entirely retain their intelligence. But that doesn't mean they can't sense us... if I could do it without any form of command, then they can too."
"Well, if we get spotted, we'll just bolt it," said Smolder.
"How about an invisibility cloak?" Gallus sarcastically suggested. "I'm sure there's a bunch of those lying around."
"Are you always this annoyingly sarcastic?-" Chrysalis asked.
"Yep."
"We're getting nowhere. Listen... I'll make my attempt to hide, but I'm sure you two being found is inevitable. If you get spotted, then... just... fight back while you flee!"
"We did that when we left, we'll do it again, and it'll be way easier with your help," Smolder said. "Now let's keep going."
Chrysalis had her doubts, but they made good points that were... semi-encouraging. If they escaped, then it's perfectly possible for them to have a successful return, but they're going to a school where they could be found or cornered, not a forest with endless hiding possibilities. Turning into a bird, she continued onwards with them on their journey.
Soon, the town came into view. Homes and buildings were covered in the black ooze, and inhabitants wandered the town without a place to go. Gallus, Smolder, and Chrysalis all flew higher, and picked up the pace.
They failed to take Cloudsdale into account. Because right then, Pegasi dove down at them from the clouds above.
"We got company!" Gallus exclaimed.
Chrysalis quickly returned to normal and proceeded to take care of the situation. She sent multiple blasts at the Pegasi after them, finally getting direct hits and knocking them away.
More Pegasi dove from up front, but Gallus and Smolder quickly got out of the way, and Chrysalis was fast enough to knock them away too.
Six more Pegasi showed up and managed to successfully surround the group. Chrysalis, Gallus, and Smolder all went back to back.
"I suppose you could use your fire-breathing techniques?..." Chrysalis suggested.
"I'm a dragon!" Smolder replied. "Of course I can!"
"I'll just... watch and cheer on," said Gallus. "Go team."
The Pegasi charged. Working together, Chrysalis and Smolder both fought them off, sending their own respective attacks, and maneuvering out of the way when needed. All Gallus could do was keep on avoiding anypony that was after him, and twice he ended up being saved, once by Smolder, and once by Chrysalis.
Constantly Chrysalis sent beams and shockwaves as attacks while Smolder used her fire breath before quickly moving to an open spot. All three of them were silently impressed that they're even holding up.
But then again, six Pegasi didn't seem like too much of a challenge, especially if they weren't horribly enhanced.
Soon, more did come, a few that were defeated previously, and a few that weren't encountered yet.
"Uh, I don't think we can hold up any longer if they keep multiplying!" Smolder shouted.
"The school!" Gallus pointed after dodging an attack. "It's right there!"
"Only one thing to do then..." Smolder proclaimed. "Dive!"
And she dove. Gallus and Chrysalis both followed without a word... the increasing Pegasi gave them little time to respond, and it was all they could do. All the corrupted Pegasi dove after them.
The crisp night air breezed by their faces as they got closer to the school, the Pegasi only getting faster.
None of them had time to stop. No time to find doors, no time to find a way in.
Smolder did the only thing she could. She smashed right through the window completely shattering the glass. With no response or questions, Chrysalis and Gallus flew through the now open window.
The Pegasi were already nearly there.
Chrysalis and Smolder both worked together again. With the combined magic and fire breath, they were able to fend off the Pegasi and buy some time. Chrysalis quickly grabbed a shelf, and a desk, and anything else she deemed useful, and used them to block off the window.
Banging noises were heard as the aggressive Pegasi were trying to get it. Using her magic, Chrysalis held everything in place to make it even harder for the intruders to break through.
It felt like it would last forever. Chrysalis wouldn't even blame Smolder or Gallus for leaving her there, so they could do their task while Chrysalis kept everything held together.
"Quick! We know where to go!" Smolder shouted. "It's close!"
"Lead the way, then!" Chrysalis ordered.
Both Smolder and Gallus dashed out fast, and Chrysalis did too, quickly slamming the doors behind her shut.
They both dashed down the hall, and Chrysalis gained a quick sense of familiarity. Sure enough, they dashed into a room, which turned out to be the same library from Chrysalis' vision.
A booming voice erupted around them.
"̷H̸A̶V̴E̷ ̷F̵R̵I̵E̵N̶D̸S̴ ̷A̶N̵D̸ ̸C̶H̵A̴N̴G̸E̴L̸I̴N̸G̸ ̷C̵O̴M̵E̴ ̸T̵O̸ ̷P̷L̶A̶Y̵ ̵W̷I̷T̷H̶ ̸Y̸O̶N̸A̷!̸?̶"̶
Thundering footsteps shook the ground of the library, and the three of them all heard something large crash right past a shelf, the sound of books and pieces of wood scattering around the floor.
Smolder and Gallus got increasingly frantic as they tried to find what they were looking for. Chrysalis kept herself ready, paying close attention to any potential senses.
Gallus finally spotted what they were looking for and pointed to what looked to be an open grate in the floor. "QUICK! IN THERE!"
Another sound of shelves being smashed burst through the library, sounding closer and far more aggressive.
Chrysalis threw the door open and Smolder and Gallus quickly entered. Chrysalis entered last, and closed the door above her, holding it shut. Right then and there the one responsible for destruction showed her face. A young Yak stared down the trapdoor, her open mouth dripping with ooze. Chrysalis, Gallus, and Smolder all backed away, and the Yak began to stomp on the trapdoor.
"̵Y̵O̷N̸A̵.̶.̷.̸ ̷N̸O̷T̶ ̵L̷I̴K̴E̸.̵.̴.̵ ̶C̷H̸E̷A̵T̵I̴N̴G̸!̶!̶!̴"̶
Everyone thought the same exact thing. They all ran down the hall, refusing to look back.
Smolder and Gallus... mainly Smolder... refused to express it, but deep down, they felt a tension inside their chests. Anxiety, fear and desperation. They were on a dangerous mission to rescue a friend, with many risks, twists, and turns, and not only were they being hunted by complete strangers, but also the friends of theirs that have already been lost. It was off-putting and far from enjoyable.
"I... I think we'll be safe here right now," Gallus panted.
"Where are we?" Chrysalis asked.
"Well duh, under the school!" Smolder replied.
"Yes, I know that, but... what's the purpose? The point? Are these secret escape caverns? Is this some unique version of a basement? Or do they just exist!?"
"Can this wait until later, or we at least talk about this while we're moving?" Gallus pleaded. "Please?!"
"Alright, well, bug queen, you know what to do," said Smolder.
"If you call me...one more name like that... I will rip you apart and turn you inside out!" Chrysalis threatened.
Smolder wasn't even phased.
"I can't believe I'm still doing this for you..." Chrysalis uttered. She sat down, repeating the process from last time, seeing who was where.
Two individuals she saw through were lurking in the caverns, in spots that seemed somewhat different... the stallion she saw through earlier, and someone else too, with a grayish artic blue color. And the texture almost looked like...
No. Chrysalis moved on. The last pair of eyes she saw through, she knew instantly belonged to the yak. She was pacing around the heavily dented grate door, and the next thing Chrysalis witnessed was the yak suddenly charging to the grate, jumping high, and then slamming right through it, falling into the caverns.
Right at the same time, reality returned to Chrysalis, and she heard the same exact sound from before, only fainter.
"We gotta get moving, now!" Smolder exclaimed. "Before someone catches Silverstream, or us!"
"Did you find anything?" inquired Gallus.
"No sign of her, nor could I look further," Chrysalis answered. "But three others are down here now, all corrupted. They don’t seem anywhere near, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s true."
"If we can hurry and make this quick, we might still find her," said Smolder.
"I advise we stick together then."
"Let me guess..." Gallus cleared his throat. "Without you, we'd be nothing?"
"Exactly!"
Smolder and Gallus both rolled their eyes and went off to find Silverstream.
"If we don't find a single trace of her, we're taking our leave!" Chrysalis proclaimed before following.
"Yeah, yeah," Smolder called out in response. "We get it."
For the next few minutes, their time exploring was accompanied by silence. However, when little progress seemed to be made, Smolder tried to speed it up.
"SILVERSTREAM! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"What are you doing?-" Gallus asked.
"Calling out to her, what's it look like I'm doing?"
"Increasing our chances of getting caught?"
"I- well- how else are we going to speed things up? These caverns go on and on! Twists, turns, all of that stuff! You heard Cheese-Legs, they could be somewhere far from here, out of earshot at least, or maybe they won't be able to figure out which spot we're in!"
"We literally heard Yona bursting her way in here! Chrysalis literally said there are three others down here, far or not!"
"Alright, alright, fine! We'll keep quiet."
A loud hiss was heard.
"I think it's too late for that!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
The hissing and the sound of running was already close, and the face of a young male Earth pony was all the group saw before taking off.
They heard him chasing them, faster than others, his aggression more like that of the yak. They reached a split in the path, two different ways. Chrysalis and Smolder took one way, but Gallus didn’t see them beside him… and as a result, he took the other way, expecting them to join him.
He quickly realized his mistake.
“Ah! Wrong way! Wrong way!”
He quickly turned around, but just then a puddle of the ooze crawled up to him and a figure sprung out.
Ocellus.
Gallus had no choice. He couldn’t get past. He turned and kept going, not stopping, not catching his breath, nothing. He kept going even as he felt his body start to tire out on him.
He eventually took a quick glance behind him and came to a halt. Ocellus was gone. Not a single trace, a single noise, nothing.
Every single one of Gallus’ insides felt like knots. Everything felt tense. He looked ahead of him and all around him. Ocellus was gone.
Did he really outrun her? Maybe. He outran-… outflew- Pegasi before. So why was he feeling twisty? Why did he feel like she was right there, waiting for him? He didn’t want to move. But he didn’t want to just stand there.
He took a final look behind him before starting forward again… only to meet face-to-face with a pair of blank white eyes.
***
Chrysalis and Smolder both stopped.
“I think we lost him…” Smolder panted. “Wait… where’s Gallus?!”
Chrysalis looked around. “I didn’t hear him getting caught. The fool must have taken a wrong turn.”
“He’s not a fool-…” Smolder muttered.
Then… they heard it. The sound of the slightest whimper. A genuine frightened whimper.
The two of them quickly went over to look. And curled up in the corner, was none other than Silverstream.
“There you are!” Smolder exclaimed.
Silverstream immediately perked up and dashed to Smolder for a hug.
“Alright that’s enough…” Smolder quickly pushed her off.
“Ohmygosh! I thought they got you!” Silverstream shrieked.
“Gallus and I did too, but then with her help-“
“Oooohhh, so is that why the evil cheese-legged villain that should be in stone is here even though that corruption stuff is on her and I should probably run?”
“Why… does everyone keep calling me that?!” Chrysalis erupted.
“Ignore her,” Smolder insisted. “Long story short, she met up with Spike and Professor Pinkie, and they’re working together now. Wasn’t really big on the idea, but hey, without her, we wouldn’t have found you!”
“Where’d Gallus go? Was he with you?” Silverstream asked.
“Well, he was, but we’re hoping he took the wrong path.”
“And if he didn’t, we’d be out of these caverns much faster…” Chrysalis snarled.
“Tough luck. We’re finding him. I don’t care what you say, I’m not leaving without all of my non-corrupted friends.”
“You’re a dragon, are you not? Aren’t you supposed to… not have an interest in friendship? Not even take a moment to prioritize it over whatever silly dragon pride and greed you have?”
“News flash! Dragons change! Like I did when I met my friends! They all grew on me!” Smolder crossed her arms. “Maybe you could learn a thing or two about that!”
“Smolder!” A voice called out.
“Hey, it’s Gallus! He found us!” Silverstream piped.
“Silverstream…” Gallus’ voice echoed, sounding closer… and oddly more monotone.
Chrysalis felt something. A familiar sense. “Wait a minute…”
“Chrysalis…”
“We have to go!” Chrysalis quickly said.
“Why did you all l̸e̴a̷v̶e̷ M̸E̴ ̵̼̎B̶E̸H̸I̵N̴D̶!̴!̴!̶“̷
Gallus sprung out of the shadows, the black matter covering his body, his beak twisted and open, ripping from the corners of it to the flesh on his face, practically splitting the beak in two pieces. His eyes were way more wider and disoriented than usual, and his claws were bent like he was ready to tear them apart.
Silverstream shrieked. “GALLUS!!”
“NO!!!” Smolder bellowed.
Chrysalis quickly knocked Gallus down with a blast from her horn. She could already sense the three others on their way right now. There was nowhere else to go.
Nowhere but up.
Horn still ignited, Chrysalis shot the ceiling above them with a powerful blast, creating a hole above them to freedom. Debris scattered everywhere, but that was the least of anyone’s worries.
“Your chance is gone!!!” Chrysalis shouted. “There’s nothing left we can do!”
Chrysalis quickly flew up, and just as she had expected, her blast was powerful enough to get past the cavern and go through the roof of the school too.
Smolder and Silverstream hesitated. They watched their friend get up, glaring with a mix of sinister glee and even bloodlust.
“DON’T JUST STAND THERE!!!” Chrysalis was heard screaming. “WE NEED TO GO!!!”
Smolder and Silverstream looked at the other end of the hallway. Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus were all barreling down the hall, the black ooze nearly fusing them together.
Right as they were about to be caught, they both flapped their wings and got out from the caverns quickly. They joined with Chrysalis, who was waiting on the roof while keeping watch.
“You two are lucky I stayed…”
Neither Smolder or either Silverstream said anything.
Chrysalis sighed. “We must head back. Let’s go.”
She flew off. And this time, Smolder and Silverstream followed.
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I hope Smolder is able to make it through the story like Spike.
What if the two have a heart to heart talk on those who they loss that is precious to them?
Considering Gallus has abandonment issues, and Smolder and Silverstream know that, it made what he said hurt all the more.
11513854
Coming from a guy that didn't watch too much of the later seasons, that was actually unintentional.
Let this be an example of unintentional writing choices making the story even better.
11513979
I didn't watch the later seasons myself, it is more of something I picked up on from other stories. Still, unintentional or not it is still a profound addition.
I just hope they find a way to fix or 'reset' their world back to normal.
Oh fuck, griffin down, griffin down.
Mission accomplished, but at what cost?
11514046
Found and regained one friend, only to unfortunately lose another.
Gained and lost a friend. If only they could get their hands on ACME weapons.
Still, the entire chapter was beyond tense. Congrats for that.
They found their friend but at what cost?
11514422
Such as the tale of those corrupted by the glitch.
11514485
The lost of a friend and a comrade.
Welp, an eye for an eye.
Spike should watch out, he's the only guy left in the group. :V
I almost wanted Chryssie to stumble upon Ocellus.
'seeing who was were' - seeing who was where
Your pacing is really good. You even have sentence starting with and! Im curious did you actively thought pacing or did it just come about effortlessly?
Cuando todo se termine, los traumas que se vendrán serán tremendos