The Crescent Pact

by Chromentazol

13 - The Chase: Part 3

Standing victoriously above an unconscious Mud, Sandstorm glared at the stunned ponies in front of her. At her side, a timid Misty attempted to look tough while shaking in fear. Even though they had managed to take down the thugs' boss, they still outnumbered the mares, almost 5 to 1. To come out of this situation unscathed, the two mares hoped that Sandstorm's threat would be enough to make them back off. Glancing at Steady's form, limp on the ground and slowly bleeding out from the knife wound on his shoulder, they had little time to spare too.

Looking at each other in confusion, each of Mud's lackeys stood back up. Some showed signs of fear, but most expressed clear anger toward the two mares. One of them, a purple pegasus with a faded pink mane, took a step forward. Misty and Sandstorm recognized him as Poison Dart, Mud's second in command. "Well, well, well. Do you see this, guys? Looks like we've got some rats here," he said with a growling voice. Taking a lower stance, ready to pounce on the mares, Dart glared at them, causing Sandstorm and Misty to brace themselves. The other ponies began slowly spreading around the two mares, Sandstorm's intimidation attempt being ultimately unsuccessful.

Glancing at the ponies surrounding them, Sandstorm frowned. "Glad to see you guys are idiots. I always wanted to bash your skull, Dart."

"I'd like to see you try, bitch. Mud's the head of the operation, but we're the muscles."

"Is that why I keep sending your asses to the hospital?" Sandstorm smirked.

"Oh, please. We've always gone easy on you 'cause you're a mare. I still don't get why Mud hasn't put you to work in the streets, where you belong..."

Sandstorm was about to reply to Dart's quip, but Misty spoke before her, surprising everypony. "Oh, buck off, you pig! I'm tired of hearing your sexist comments day-in and day-out. I get that you're all fueled by your fragile ego, but we aren't joking. If you don't step back, we will bucking massacre every single one of you!" she yelled, her right eye twitching. The stress of the recent few days reaching its paroxysm combined with years of resentment for the stallions working for Mud were enough to push Misty over the edge, as an unfamiliar bloodlust manifested in her eyes. Her horn lit up with gray energy as she began breathing heavily, desperately wanting to vent her frustration in a brutal manner. Every single pony around her was silent, surprised by this sudden outburst.

Blinking a few times, Sandstorm wasn't sure if she should be worried, scared or aroused. Determining that it was probably a mix of the three, she shook her head and focused back on the situation. "Yeah, just like she said."

Dart chuckled. "Damn, you finally grew some backbone? Too bad it's too late... Get 'em, guys."

Expecting to see the other ponies around him lunge at the mares, Dart took a step back, wanting to enjoy the show. However, every other stallion remained motionless, valuing their own safety over Dart's authority. The purple pegasus growled. "...Useless pieces of shit. Guess I have to clean up this mess on my own."

Unfurling his wings, he rushed toward Sandstorm faster than she could react. Just as he was about to impact her, Dart felt his momentum suddenly disappear as he felt a painful tug on his tail keeping him in place. Looking back, Dart saw gray energy covering his tail, pulling him behind with a surprising intensity. Misty gritted her teeth as she attempted to throw Dart backwards, exerting all of her will into her spell while the pegasus kept trying to fly toward Sandstorm.

Upon seeing Dart struggle, two other ponies decided to join the brawl, two earth ponies. Running toward Misty, they screamed to draw the unicorn's attention. Misty did not even acknowledge them, focusing her attention entirely on Dart. Instead, Sandstorm jumped in between her marefriend and the running earth ponies, bracing herself. As soon as they reached her, Sandstorm sidestepped and sweeped the legs of the first one, sending him face first on the ground. The second attacker turned back and attempted to buck her as hard as he could, but his right back hoof was caught by Sandstorm, grabbing him with her forelegs. Then, anchoring herself firmly in the ground by stomping as hard as she could with her hind legs, Sandstorm began rotating her body as fast as she could, launching the screaming earth pony and causing him to impact a tree.

The impact was accompanied by the horrifying sound of bone snapping, as the earth pony hit the tree on his back. Laying on the floor paralyzed by the pain, the other attacker stood back up and watched in horror as his friend started convulsing violently from the shock. During this moment of terror, Sandstorm spun around while still standing on her hind legs, then jumped while carrying the momentum of her spinning. Delivering her favorite move to the terrified earth pony, a flying spinning kick, she felt satisfaction as she heard his entire body being flung away from the sheer force of the hit.

During this, Dart has shifted his attention from Sandstorm to Misty, yelling in pain as he kept pushing forward despite the spell holding him in place. Pushed by a growing rage, Dart gritted his teeth as he began flapping his wings harder and faster. The pain in his tail intensified until he felt a sickly snap, his tail ripping off entirely from his body because of the two opposing forces. The intense pain furthering his anger, Dart rushed toward Misty who remained stone faced as she prepared another spell. This time, however, Dart reached her before she could finish it, striking her in the throat with his hoof, the hit reinforced by his momentum and his entire body weight. Misty was thrown on the ground a couple of meters back, coughing violently as she spat blood and struggled to breathe. Dart continued rushing toward her, a delirious look in his eyes. Standing over a temporarily incapacitated Misty, Dart opened his mouth to reveal his teeth, which included two canine-like prosthetics. Then, like a crazed animal, Dart plunged his head on Misty's throat. Barely reacting in time, Misty put her forelegs in front of her, protecting her vital spots. She felt an intense pain as Dart's modified teeth pierced her hooves' skin, his jaw clamping down hard on her. Until today, Misty had never believed the rumors that Dart had installed venomous fangs, believing it to be another one of the pegasus' ploy to build up his reputation. As she felt a burning sensation pulsating from her forelegs slowly spreading into the rest of her body, Misty learned the hard way there was some truth to those rumors.

Focusing on a blast of energy, Misty was able to throw Dart away from her, the pegasus now standing a few meters in front of her. Misty quickly stood up and winced in pain when putting her weight on her poisoned forelegs, before sparking her horn again. With a hateful gaze, she unleashed her spell toward Dart, causing a beam of gray energy to erupt from her horn. Attempting to dodge to the side, Dart felt the beam hit his left wing, the feathers instantly burning on impact. In an instinctive panic, he began rolling to the ground to put the fire off, allowing Misty to prepare another spell. Looking upwards, Dart saw an ominous gray fog forming above his head. Suddenly, the fog drifted downwards, covering his head. Dart accidentally breathed in some of the fog, immediately feeling an unnatural chill form in his throat and lung, his inside beginning to freeze. He stood back up and flew away from the fog, avoiding breathing any more of the freezing fog. As he stared at Misty, Dart coughed up blood and shards of ice while feeling a searing pain in his left wing.

The remaining ponies around them finally decided to join the fight, hoping to overwhelm the two mares before it was too late. Dart yelled as he dove toward the mares while swirling energy formed around Misty's horn. Sandstorm quickly guessed which of the rushing ponies would reach her first, preparing to take each of them down with brutal efficiency. However, they all stopped when a sudden flash of purple light surged in the center of the battlefield. At first, Sandstorm thought that everypony else had stopped running or flying out of surprise and decided not to wait to see who had appeared, planning on rushing toward the nearest stallion. However, she noticed that she was completely unable to move. Whoever that newcomer was, they had paralyzed everypony with what she assumed to be a powerful spell. While Sandstorm couldn't turn her head to see who it was, Misty was perfectly able to observe the newcomer, causing her to feel her rage and anger be replaced by fear.

Calmly stepping toward the two mares, an old purple earth pony hummed a tune while looking around. Around him, the only ones that recognized him were Misty and Dart, having met him exactly once in the past. Lord Purple Comet slowly shook his head side to side as he approached Dart, stepping right under the pegasus frozen in place.

"Well, that will certainly not do. Such infighting..." Purple Comet said, his voice both tired and stern. "I hoped better for your little group. And you two..." he turned his head toward Misty and Sandstorm, "You two, who have led astray my favorite little artificer... You must be punished; I hope you do understand."

Reaching into a pouch with his mouth, Purple Comet pulled out a syringe filled with a brown liquid, which Misty knew too well. She attempted to move, but it felt as if her body had been turned into a statue. She couldn't even blink. Panic rising in her mind, Misty attempted to cast a spell to dispel Purple Comet's power but was unable to spark her horn.

"Now, which one of you shall be my new champion..." Purple Comet pondered, looking at Mud's lackeys. Eventually looking back up at Dart, he smiled. "Well, the right-hoof stallion, of course!"

Standing on his hind legs, Purple Comet struggled to keep his balance as he injected Dart with the brown liquid, barely reaching one of his hooves. Instantly, Dart's eyes were filled with absolute fear as his pupils shrunk into small black dots. Dropping the syringe on the ground, Purple Comet casually strolled toward Steady's unconscious body. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some important matters to attend to. Have fun, my dear little ponies..."

With another flash of purple light, both Steady and Purple Comet disappeared. As soon as the old earth pony was gone, his hold on every pony around vanished, as they all could move again. Dart fell to the ground immediately, holding his throat while seemingly choking on air. His face turned a deeper shade of purple as every vein in his body started bulging and pulsating irregularly.

"Sandstorm, we need to run!" Misty screamed, terrified. With just a nod, Sandstorm knew when to fully trust Misty without asking any question. They started running away, toward the city, but the remaining lackeys, unsure of what to do, quickly jumped onto the mares to prevent them from leaving.

"Shit - Misty!" Sandstorm yelled just as the first stallion reached her.

"Buck! Hold on, it's going to be rough!" Misty replied, lighting her horn once more and emitting a flash of gray light, blinding Mud's remaining lackeys. When their vision returned, both mares had disappeared into thin air, though they could see a strange fog quickly floating through the woods, toward Manehattan. They quickly began galloping in the fog's direction before being stopped by a strange, gurgling noise. Looking back, they saw Poison Dart slowly standing back up. One of the thugs went to him to see how their new leader was doing when they all noticed something strange.

Poison Dart had become larger and bulkier, and kept slowly getting bigger. Raising his head toward the other stallions, Dart's pupils had completely disappeared, only yellowed bloodshot eyes that stared at the ponies in front of him. He opened his mouth, his teeth growing into large canines, before howling. The ponies around him immediately took a step back in fear, before Dart lunged at the stallion that had approached him, ripping his throat out in a single bite. Looking around him, Dart stared at the remaining lackeys, who quickly understood that they had just become prey to whichever beast Dart had turned into.

---

Hearing a loud knock on his door, Aphelion slowly opened his eyes. It took him a moment to recognize where he was, before remembering the previous night's events. He was in his hotel room. Looking around, Aphelion saw the second bed in the room, empty, meaning that Steady hadn't returned. The knocking on the door became louder and more intense, resonating in Aphelion's head as he suddenly felt a violent migraine flare up. He groaned, then got off his bed and walked slowly to the door.

"I'm coming..." he said with a raspy voice, his throat unbearingly dry. Aphelion felt his stomach churn at every step, reeling from both his hangover and his severe magical exhaustion. Knowing better than to open the door with his magic in his state, he grabbed the knob with his hoof, then opened it. "Steady, you're ba..."

Aphelion's eyes went wide, as two mares stood in front of him, visibly exhausted. Forcing themselves into his room, Misty and Sandstorm had a worried look on their faces. "Close the door," Misty asked. "We need to talk."

"Wha... How did you find me?" Aphelion replied, closing the door. To say that Aphelion was confused would be an understatement.

"You're not the only one who can use magic to track ponies," Misty replied. Aphelion noticed the bite mark on her foreleg, as well as the sickly green hue around it.

"What... What happened to you two? And where's Steady?"

Closing the curtains, Sandstorm looked cautiously around the room. "Long story. Purple Comet captured Steady, and there's a pegasus roaming around in the woods, infected with that crazy potion your cult makes."

"Wait, what?!" Aphelion yelled, immediately regretting it as his headache strengthened. "...Shit, this is bad. Really bad. Did Comet say anything?"

"Not really," Misty sighed.

"And what's up with your hooves?" he asked, glancing at her forelegs.

"Venom. Don't worry, it's not lethal or anything. It's the type we use to knock down targets for foalnappings... I didn't receive a big enough dose, so it should pass soon."

Unconvinced, Aphelion shook his head. "You probably should go to a hospital."

"No time," she replied. Sandstorm lowered her head, disagreeing with Misty but not daring to speak against her. "We need to figure out what to do with Steady."

Looking at the two mares, Aphelion tilted his head. "Uh... Sure. But I thought you two would have run away, by now."

Sandstorm smirked. "I guess you were very convincing. We tried to find Steady ourselves to turn ourselves in."

"Oh... I'm glad to hear it," he smiled.

"Anyway," Misty cut them off. "Where do we go from here?"

"First off, we need to warn Celestia. Steady had a scroll we could use to send a message instantly if things went sour. I think this is a good time to use it."

The mares appeared nervous at the mention of Celestia's name. Aphelion continued. "Afterwards, they'll probably send somepony to get us back to Canterlot. I, uh, assume you will be arrested upon arrival, but I'll be sure to explain everything to Celestia. Then, we'll see."

"Aphelion," Misty spoke up with a hesitant voice. "...What does the pact do with its prisoners?"

"I... Don't know. I was never made aware of them capturing anypony. Given what I've recently learned, I can't assume it's anything good..."

With a sigh, Misty looked at the floor. "I hope we can get him out in time, before they..."

An awkward silence befell the room. Eventually, Aphelion went through Steady's bags, pulling out a small pristine scroll. Carefully writing his message down, holding the quill in his mouth, he turned back toward the two mares who stood awkwardly in the room. "Alright, I'll... Send it now. If you two want to run away, I won't hold it against you."

Sandstorm opened her mouth, searching for her words, but Misty spoke up first. "...We're done running away," both mares looked at each other with a sad smile. Aphelion nodded, then sparked his horn, sending the message directly to Celestia. As the scroll burst out in green flames, something Aphelion had learned was called 'dragon mail' though he had no idea why, the trio waited for an answer... Until Aphelion began puking on the floor, that last bit of magic pushing his tired, hangover body over the edge. With a somewhat amused look, Sandstorm went to pat his back as Aphelion emptied his stomach. Misty smiled, then suddenly felt extremely dizzy herself. The pain in her forelegs had dissipated, only leaving a strange numbness instead. The numbness quickly spread to her entire body, her face turning pale before falling unconscious on the floor, in front of a horrified Sandstorm.