The Necro Walk

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It had just begun to get dark when we at last rediscovered where I had found Fluttershy, but it had not been through our own efforts. Whilst we had been looking around Angel bunny had found us, and after Fluttershy explained what we were doing out here and myself receiving a glare from him harsh enough to melt glass he began hopping ahead of us. Twenty minutes later we had arrived, and my family symbol on the stone was still glowing. Along with my own was the one that looked like Zecora's Cutie Mark, and two more as well. One of these two was a winged cloud, and the other I wasn't too sure what it was. It just seemed to be a stick that had been broken in half. Strange. These weren't glowing before. Do they perhaps hold some significance?

“Is this the weird boulder you mentioned earlier, Jacob?” Fluttershy asked, her head tilted quizzically to one side as she looked up at it. I nodded.

“Yes, but it's a little different from what I remember.” I stepped forward until I was less than a foot's distance from the boulder and placed a hand on its surface. Cold and normal as ever, if a white boulder with glowing symbols carved into it could be called normal.

I held one of my hands in front of my family's symbol. I felt no heat, and after a momen I reached into the glowing mark with a form of scrying spell Unicorn archeologists used to detect trap spells in ancient tombs and crumbling cities. Though there was indeed a magical presence about the symbol, and the boulder in general, it was in no form of spell that I recognized. My brow furrowed and I frowned a little. If I were to make an educated guess, I would have to have said that either Discord had made it, or perhaps Shatterhorn the Wild.

Shatterhorn the Wild had once been a brilliant Unicorn, and had taken his place in history two centuries after Starswirl the Bearded had died. Shatterhorn had invented over twenty new spells, most of them having to do with self-alteration and transmutation, and was more widely known for taking the forms of the other races of Mythica so as to further his understanding of their physiology from a more personal perspective. His spells were often very complex, but required far more concentration than energy to enact, which in his case, was a very good thing.

He had been named thus by history due to an accident when he was younger which caused his horn to crack into three pieces while still being attached to his skull. This greatly interfered with his ability to use magic, and attempting to cast the more taxing spells always gave him horrible migraines.

Given that the legend of the Necro Walk was supposed to be much older than Shatterhorn, the chances of the enchantment being placed on the stone by him or one of those that came after him were highly unlikely. Of course, given that there were already several major differences between the reality I knew and this one Shatterhorn's spell could have been invented much sooner. Short of delving into the royal archives (which they'd probably never grant me access to even if Twilight and the other girls put in a good word for me) it was unlikely I'd ever find out short of asking Twilight.

I devoted (or wasted, depending on how you looked at it) another hour trying to figure out exactly what the enchantment on the symbol was before finally coming to the conclusion that it was nothing more than a unique way to cast a permanent Light spell. There were several versions that I knew of, most of which going by the same name: 'Light Everlasting'. After examining the other glowing symbols, I came to the same conclusion. The only thing that separated this spell from the others that I already knew was that it somehow drew a miniscule amount of energy to fuel itself from the area around it.

Though the scholar in me (planted there after being friends with a librarian for a good portion of my life) wanted to stay and study it further, the practical side insisted on heading back to Ponyville, as did Fluttershy. It had become completely dark during the time spent studying the boulder, and more than a few stars shown brightly overhead.

“Um, Mr Jacob?” Fluttershy asked, looking around a little nervously. “Shouldn’t we be getting back?” I sighed and nodded.

“Yeah. I didn't really think I'd figure this thing out in one night anyway. Let's-”

Suddenly another symbol lit up, followed by another ten seconds later. “What the heck?” My attention refocused on the boulder and I examined the two new lights. One appeared to be a spool of thread and a needle leaned against it. Of course, it could have been several things, but that's the image that first came to mind. The other symbol seemed to have to do with harvesting. There were two corn stalks and a rising (or setting) crescent moon behind them, and a small scythe next to the stalks on the 'ground'.

Wait a minute... I re-examined the symbols one last time, a pattern finally taking shape. Zecora's Cutie Mark. A winged cloud, a broken stick, a symbol for harvest, a spool of thread with a needle, and my symbol. What do these things have in common?

“Um, Mr. Jacob? What's happening?” Fluttershy asked, cautiously approaching the boulder and looking up at the lights. She blinked a few times and tilted her head, examining them.

A winged cloud...flying...and clouds...Rainbow Dash worked with clouds...

A spool of thread and needle could easily represent Rarity, what with her lifestyle and occupation, and Zecora's is obvious. I shrugged. Unless it applied to someone else entirely, and I'd only ever seen that symbol on her. The broken stick...what could that b- wait, the stick has faint diagonal lines going down its length like a Unicorn's horn, so it's not a stick, it's a wand! A broken wand...magicians back home used wands and Trixie was a stage performer, so it could mean her, which means- which could mean that every time one of those I considered a close friend died, a symbol that represented them would light up on this stone. But then, why was my family symbol on it? I was still alive, wasn't I?

I looked at my hands, flexing them, and gave the skin on the back of one hand a pinch. Ouch! Yes, I was alive. Or at least I felt alive.

“I'm not one hundred percent sure, but you're right. Lets go.”

“Mother of Celestia!” I cried out as we exited the Everfree forest, my staff dropping from my hands to the ground with a clunk.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy gasped, clapping her forehooves to her mouth.

Ponyville was on fire. But there were no screams to be heard. Just the roar of the blazing buildings.

Rapidly crouching to pick my staff back up I followed the already-galloping Fluttershy to what used to be the outer gates, passing a few mutilated bodies of Pony and Human alike. As we ran deeper into the town we found more and more dead bodies belonging to Ponies, as well as a few craters and the occasional splattered body.

Probably from shots fired from Rainbow's Thunder. Poor Ponies should have listened to Sampson. They never stood a chance, and he knew it. I felt bile rising in my throat but forced it back down. Giving Fluttershy a glance I saw tears flowing down her face and she whimpered and trembled while she ran alongside me.

“Helloooo!” I yelled, cupping a hand next to my mouth. “Is anypony or Human alive out there?” Fluttershy jumped, but then joined me in calling out, her voice scared, but thankfully loud. “Hellooo!”

“Anypony here?!” She half-screamed.

We spent more than an hour running up and down streets calling out with no answer given other than the occasional collapse of a burning house. Finally, near the center of town, we stopped running. There were more bodies here than there had been anywhere else in town, and in the center of it was the once-floating ruined cloud house that Pinkie Pie had turned into a war machine. Gone was its cloud, cracked and burnt were its walls, and its door had been kicked in. All around it were signs that there had once been a fire here as well, and a large one.

They probably burned away the cloud in the same way that the Dragons did to Cloudsdale in my home reality.

I fell to my knees and was sick on the ground. Then again, and more still until I was dry-heaving.

Just as we'd seen elsewhere in Ponyville not all of the bodies had simply suffered from one injury or another. Some of them had been feasted upon, Pony and Human alike. I recognized several familiar faces, including the town's mayor, Sampson Darkfist, whose head had been partially smashed, Derpy, who lay partially buried underneath the grounded war house along with several other Pegasi, and the woman I'd drank some fruit juice with in what used to be the Boarborne campsite. There were others...many others that I had not recognized beyond knowing I'd passed them by as I walked down the street, but in a way that felt worse, somehow..

When I finally finished I lifted my head and wiped my mouth on my sleeve, my arms and the rest of me quivering. I looked to Fluttershy to see her doing the same, but also while sobbing and soaking her face and neck further with tears. When she finished, she was still bawling and now occasionally hiccuping as well. I was about to try and comfort her when I saw something I had hoped for but did not expect: a survivor.

She was walking toward us slowly from the kicked-in front door of Rainbow's Thunder, and carrying a motionless Pegasus on her back. Her mane and tail fell from her body charred and straight, and she walked with a limp from one of her hind legs, and she even had a bit of blood splattered on her, but there was no way to not know whose it was. It was Pinkie Pie, and on her back was Featherweight.

“Pinkie Pie!!” I shouted, a half-smile forming as I ran toward her. This smile faded when I tripped on a dead body and fell onto two more. When I picked myself up again I saw that she'd fallen over, and I half-ran, half-crawled over to her (while trying to ignore the fact that I was crawling across the dead), Fluttershy bounding ahead of me and arriving by her side first. Fluttershy gently removed Featherweight from Pinkie Pie and began checking Pinkie's injuries. Fluttershy was still first and foremost a veterinarian, but after working as a nurse for the last few weeks she was probably far more qualified than I was for it.

While Fluttershy checked out Pinkie I placed two fingers on Pipsqueak's neck. He wasn't breathing, he had no pulse, and his neck was cold. He was dead, and had probably been so for at least half an hour. He seemed to have no obvious injuries other than a lump on his head. I probed at it with the fingers of my empty hand (the other containing my staff) and felt along the edge of the bulge. If I had to guess, I would say his skull was cracked and it had been trauma to the head that had killed him when Rainbow's Thunder came crashing down to the ground, but I was no mortician.

After a few minutes Fluttershy turned her head away from Pinkie and looked at me, her expression grave.

“I need you to lift her up with magic. I can't even begin trying to treat her until we get to someplace cleaner and with no smoke in the air.” I nodded, but looked around town doubtfully.

“Do you have a place in mind? I don't think anywhere in town is going to work.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Sweet Apple Acres. Even if they were also attacked we can use the Apple family's winter storage apple cellar.” I nodded, and lifted all three of us in a firm telekinetic grip, and we were off.

I set us down next to the barn of the Apple family property (which was remarkably not on fire or burnt down) and quickly ran to open the doors but found them barred from the inside. I knocked a few times to no response, then frowned and made a silent apology to Applejack before I blasted a hole a little taller than me where the two doors met. In hindsight I could probably have just lifted the bar and then pushed aside the barricade behind the doors, but I was in a bit of a rush.

As the last of the splinters fell to the hay-covered floor Fluttershy joined me by the door and I once more lifted Pinkie, this time pulling her into the barn behind me. I set her down on a bale of hay, and then picked up a metal pail, saying to Fluttershy that I was going to go get some water. She nodded and began looking for the trapdoor that was somewhere inside the barn (there was a newer one outside near the house, but the barn was closer) while I jogged back out to find the pump.

“Go to the house and see if you can find anything I might be able to use!” Fluttershy called from the barn. “Bandages, medicines, maybe a few sharp knives and a sewing needle and thread if I need to perform simple surgery. Nothing serrated! Smooth blades only!”

“Alright, I'll be back in a bit!” I called over my shoulder.

The pump was in the middle of the yard, and was working perfectly. From the looks of the farm in general this place seemed to be untouched. If we were lucky, we would find other survivors here as well, but we could look for them later. Right now Pinkie took the place of highest priority.

Setting the now-filled pail down by the still-dripping water pump I nodded and jogged for the house and gave the door handle a tug. It didn't budge, and I tugged again, this time a little harder. The door failed to even creak. Suddenly having the feeling of being stupid, I gave the door a push this time, but still nothing happened, so I did the last thing that came to mind short of blowing another door to pieces: I knocked. To the left of the door a curtain moved just a little, and there was a brief sight of bright green. There came the sound of furniture being moved, and then finally a click of the lock being undone and the door opened to reveal a frowning Granny Smith wielding a cane which she pressed against my chest.

I had only briefly met Granny Smith back in my own reality before she'd been eaten by a Dragon, but from what the Apple family later told me, she was not one to mess with when the safety of her family was concerned.

“If yer here lookin' fer lunch, Human, you best go lookin' someplace else! I ain't scared 'o you, and if I have to, I'll turn you over my old knees and tan yer backside same as my great-grandchildren!” I lowered my staff to the porch's well-made wooden floor and raised my empty hands in surrender.

“Not looking for trouble, ma'am. Just help. You may not have heard of me, but I'm Jacob Lighthand. I just came from what's left of Ponyville and-” Suddenly her face went from frown to smile.

“Oh, yer that fellah that saved my great-granddaughter from those raiders a few months ago! Juice told me about 'cha! What brings ya by our home?”

“Do you know Pinkie Pie?”

“That sweet and energetic pink Pony that lives and works at Sugarcube Corner? Sher do! Best cider customer there is!”

“She's been very badly hurt and we need some-” Granny gave a look over my shoulder and her eyes suddenly went wide and she shrieked.

I winced. Oh no. Did she just see-

“Our barn!!! By Luna's plot, what happened to our barn?!”

“Yeah...about that...” Granny's smile became a scowl and she cracked me over the head with her cane.

“What's possessed you to be blowin' holes in mah barn?! Have you gone nuttier than a fruitcake?!”

“Ma'am, I've been trying to tell you this whole time!” I said loudly, shielding myself with my arms. “Pinkie Pie was injured and we needed someplace to put her so Fluttershy could work on her! The barn was the closest thing still in possession of a roof, so we tried to get in. It was locked from the inside, so I blew a hole in the doors to get in! I swear to you that I'll fix the hole myself later, but right now we desperately need some medical supplies!”

“Locked from the inside? Now who in tarnation locks a barn from the inside?! Are you fibbin'?”

“No, ma'am! Please, Pinkie might be dying!”

Granny gave me one last once-over, and then retreated back inside.

“You wait here. We've got a few things we kin spare. I'll bring 'em out to ye.”

Several edgy minutes later Granny did indeed come back out, as did Apple Bloom. Where Apple Juice was, I didn't find out until after we'd returned to the barn. Apparently Apple Bloom had hidden her daughter as well as several other Pony children inside the apple cellar in the barn in the hopes that if the farm was attacked they'd go for the house and leave the barn alone. All of these children scattered when I came into the barn ahead of the two Pony adults but quickly calmed when they saw the two mares come in behind me.

“How is she, Flutters?” I asked. Fluttesrhy took the pail of water I carried in as well as a cloth from Apple Bloom. She dunked the cloth into the pail and began washing Pinkie off.

“She doesn't seem to have many outer injuries beyond one or two burns, but one of her legs is swollen like either it's broken or she has a bad sprain. It could even be both. She also seems to be having bad dreams. She keeps muttering something about an unhappy reunion.”

“If I'd taken part in a losing battle to defend my hometown to in the end be the only survivor I'd have nightmares too.”

“Only survivor?” One of the children spoke up from my left and Fluttershy's right.

Oh crap. Nice going, mouth!

The children began to sob while both Granny Smith and Apple Bloom hung their heads and their ears sagged.

“Yeah. Me and Fluttershy left town earlier today to look for the place where I first ended up in your world. When we arrived back at town...it wasn't pretty. The only survivor we found was Pinkie Pie.”

“Ya left the town?” Apple Bloom asked. “Why on Luna's feathery flank did ya do that?! Rumors of Gaea's invasion force have been floatin' round town for the last week!”

“Yes, but as far as your town's Pegasi scouts knew they were not camped nearby. I had thought to only find my point of entry and then return, but something happened and I stayed to examine it further.”

“Somethin' happened?” Apple Bloom asked before transforming her face from agitation to anger. “Yer darn right, somethin' happened! The town got attacked and destroyed and you weren't there to help 'em!!”

That felt like a stab to the chest with a knife and I said nothing in my defense. Since I had arrived here time and time again that seemed to be a running theme: I'd set out to do something, become distracted, and then someone I cared about would die. This time it wasn't only someone I cared about.

“Apple Bloom, yer bein' foalish!” Granny Smith scolded. “Powerful wizard or no, he and miss Shy are only two folk! If they'd been in town when them varmints showed up and attacked the town they'd just'ave died too, and then there'd be nopony left ta bring Pinkie Pie ta us!”

“No, Granny Smith. She's right.” I finally said. Granny scoffed and rolled her eyes at me.

“Sonny, I've been around longer than Ponyville has; I've seen a lot of Ponies and other folk come and go. I've seen them do a lot of fool-things. Blaming themselves for things that are beyond their control has all-too-often been one of them. If Luna and Celestia have been unable to drive off these invaders by themselves, then what makes ya think that you could?” Not giving me a chance to speak up, she continued. “Even if ya have the power to destroy hundreds by yourself, what does that say about the poor innocent souls that get caught in the middle of it? Once them invaders got into the town-proper our people would have been in just as much danger as those attacking.”

This seems to be a running theme as well. I screw up and try to take blame where I feel blame is due, and others try to brush it away. Maybe it's time I started listening. All that the guilt I'm heaping on myself is doing is holding me down.

“Now sonny, ah'm not saying that ya shouldn't feel bad about them being dead cuz ya weren't there to help fight. If ya didn't, ah'd think there was somethin' wrong with you. But nopony is omnipotent. Nopony can predict what will happen and be right all the time, and this was just one of those times you weren't. Mourn the dead, and move on. To do otherwise grants ya nuthin' but a broken heart and weakened will.

“Maybe ya coulda done some good, and maybe not. But either way the time for that has passed.” she placed a hoof on my leg. “Remember the dead, and fight for the living.”

I crouched down and placed one of my hands on Granny's leg (the one on my leg).

“Thanks, Granny Smith. Other Ponies have been telling me pretty much the same thing for the last few years. I think it's finally starting to sink into my thick skull.”

__ __ __ __ __

Night had fallen on this side of Mythica, though much of (what was left of) Ponyville was still well-lit from still-burning shops and houses. Other than the collapse of a building or the growing cloud of buzzing flies or the soft purr of blazing fires the town was silent. Silent that is, until a recently-awakened figure finally believed it safe to reveal to the world that he was in fact, not as dead as everything else in the town that had once walked on two or four legs.

From below several fallen and heavy bodies which he barely managed to heave aside, Sampson Darkfist's father hauled himself to his cold and slightly numb feet. He looked around him, observing the mound of corpses, smelling (and not enjoying) the thick and heavy scent of blood and smoke on the wind created by the breath of the fires slowly engulfing one building after another of the town center. All around him lay the dead, including the body of his only son, and last living relative from his particular strain of the Darkfist bloodline.

Taking two careful steps forward he reached for his son's corpse and took its arms in his hands and pulled. When he reached the end mound of bodies he gently set his son's arms down on the ground and sat down next to him, staring at the injuries that Sampson had received.

He had one broken arm, a gash across the chest that raked and revealed the ribs beneath, and finally a blow to the right of his skull, which had caved in part of his face. Gripped in one hand was a broken and jagged piece of wood that had been pulled from the guardrail surrounding the town hall. Well, what was left of it, anyway.

Raising an arm once more, Darkfist senior slid Sampson's eyelids open, as they had been closed. It was a tradition started long ago, on the belief silly superstition that just as one could not see their prey while alive with their eyes shut, so too could their spirit not find sustenance on their journey to the afterlife. Nowadays the eyes of the dead were opened out of tradition rather than from any actual belief in an existence after death.

Once more rising from the ground and taking his son in his arms, Sampson was drug to a fire and, with cautious effort and only one singed eyebrow for Darkfist senior's trouble, placed within it.

This was another ancient practice. During the ancient times (and even today) it was common for some tribes to eat the dead of their enemies. By burning their fallen, the other tribes ensured that their enemies would have to either hunt or else bring their own supplies to make war on others (not to mention that those whom did not use this practice found cannibalism to be abominable and in their modern society still did today even with the shortage of food becoming increasingly widespread). After a battle, rather than retreating or advancing and leaving their dead for nature to tend they would build a pyre and burn their dead upon it, leaving only ashes to be found. In time this became the norm. There was no need to build a pyre here.

As he watched his son be consumed by the flames he heard the sound of wings flapping behind him followed by several thuds upon the ground. He did not turn to see them. If death had this time come for him, he would not fight or flee it this time. His son had spent his last moments of life trying to protect him and make good their promise to the locals of this world, and his granddaughter had died trying to change the course of history and accomplish the same thing. Darkfist senior was tired, and silently mourned his dead relatives.

Perhaps this agreement was foolish after all. Perhaps peace between predator and prey was impossible in the long run. Perhaps it would have been better had they never met that strange man that claimed to be older than he himself was and yet was still able to move like Sampson once had and use magic like the Ponies. He sighed.

A promise is a promise. We're not oathbreakers. Only the cowardly, and the worthless break their promises. This is what my own father and grandfather taught me. But where has being honest and bold in this new world gotten us?

“Human! Are there any other survivors?” came the voice of a female behind him. Strangely enough the voice did not come from below him as it had with every other Pony he had spoken to so far. This one came from near the level of his head. Quirking and eyebrow in curiosity, he turned, and took a step back when his eyes revealed princess Luna and those that were left of her army- little more than a bodyguard troop now. “Speak, Human!” Luna demanded, raising her wings and narrowing her eyes.

“I don't know. I only recovered from being unconscious a few minutes ago.”

Luna gazed around the town center, taking in the carnage and the blazing buildings. She flicked an ear to dislodge a biting fly and then refocused on the old Human before her. “Where are thine brethren? I recognize you from a written description in a letter sent by my sister, but if you have survived surely some of them have as well?” Darkfist sighed and looked at the ground.

“If any have survived I don't know where they are. I was in the center of town with my son when the attack began. By the time a messenger made it to me us soldiers had already slaughtered the gate guardians and were butchering the citizens and my people along with them. It was too late to rally my people and gather our better weapons, so when arrows began raining from the sky my son gathered a few of the slain and forced me to the ground. Before I could object he struck me on the head. When I woke up I found myself buried beneath the dead and the town silent save for flies and fires.”

“And your son?”

Darkfist turned and pointed at the burning building he'd placed his son within. He wasn't recognizable now, and in some places bones were beginning to become visible.

“He's dead, and goes to join my daughter and our ancestors in the land of bountiful game.”

“Your afterlife?”

“Yes. One day I too shall join them. But not today, since you do not seem inclined to kill me." I'll not take the coward's way out. I still have a one more loose end that need to be....dealt with. "I still have something I want to accomplish first.”

“And that would be?”

“Vegence. I intend on making sure that bastard son-of-a-snake Faltos dies by my hand!” He answered with a clenched fist and growl that made the hairs on the back of her guard's necks stand up. His face was harsh-looking and his voice was full of loathing.

“I wish for your people's king to be destroyed as well. He poisoned almost my entire army and now has slaughtered an entire town purely for the sake of killing them.” If it had been done for food, there would not be nearly as many bodies left so intact. “If he is not stopped there is no telling how many innocents will die.” She nodded. “If vengeance is what you seek, you will find plenty of opportunity for it with me. State your name, Human.”

“Just call me 'Wrath'. That's all I am, now”

__ __ __ __ __

Twilight Sparkle wiped her eyes once more as fresh tears threatened to blind her anew. She was no stranger to the concept of death, and no stranger to loss, as her father and mother had died early-on in the war, and recently Rainbow Dash had died as well. But now a new loss struck her: Applejack.

“What am I going to tell her family? I was right there and she- and then she smiled at me and fell and- and-” her efforts to stop her tears failed again as she once more repeated the scene over in her head.

Originally Earth Ponies were not going to be allowed in this invasion due to the majority of the fight to be taking place up in the air, but when her brother (whom had been lent to the war effort by princess Celestia) pointed out that most Unicorns did not train as hard physically due to their reliance on magic Thanatos had changed his mind and his ranks swelled by several hundred (most were busy repairing Manehattan and were not present for the gathering).

The battle when south as soon as it had begun; the queen the Gryphons was not in her capital. Instead she and the majority of their armies had left and were on their way to join Faltos' invading forces. Only a token force had been left behind, but this token force had filled jars with the same mixture that could be found in the 'snap' fireworks and had taken to dropping them on the invading force below. At first it was not understood what was happening, but when explosions that rent flesh regardless of armor started decimating their ground forces began filling the area that the Ponies were packed into Unicorns began erecting barriers or shooting the jars in midair, blowing up the Gryphons and raining gore down on top of them instead.

Once this tactic ceased to work the Gryphons began using crossbows and other weapons both on those below and in the air. The poor Pegasi had brought nothing in the way of extended-reach weaponry, as they'd not needed it before in any of the previous battles. Dozens dropped from the skies in minutes, also landing upon barriers or the unprotected Ponies below.

The Ponies' main issue was no so much the Gryphons killing them, but rather the terrain they were fighting in. There was a price for using the safer teleport spell, and unlike most of Equestria, the Gryphon lands were normally hilly at best and mountainous at worst, which in this case meant that the majority of the fighting was taking place in the air, while the Ponies on the ground were stuck in valleys or had appeared inside caves or up on the edges of cliffs high above the other members of their army. Then of course, there was also the fact that this mountain city was on one of the higher mountains in the region, and a thick layer of natural clouds separated the Pegasi from the Ponies on the ground. This meant there'd be very little accurate anti-air support from their side.

Twilight Sparkle had been one of those unlucky enough to wind up on a ledge almost by herself. A short ways above her Applejack and a hoof full of other Ponies appeared on a mountain-house balcony. One of the lower-flying Gryphons spotted them all and called attention to them for several other Gryphons. Grinning like a bunch of Cheshire cats, the Gryphons dove. Twilight shot down a fair portion of them and the survivors changed course and engaged Applejack and the others above Twilight instead. Having no way besides magic to get to them and join in the fight Twilight did exactly that, but turned her back on the battlefield below when she did so.

When Twilight blinked to the top where the fighting was taking place she had just enough time to witness the last enemy fall.

“I guess you don't need my help after-”

“Look out, Twi!” Applejack yelled, and galloped toward her. Twilight spun around to see another Gryphon right behind her with a spear. Time seemed to slow as it smirked and drove the spear toward her. Twilight froze, but was shoved to the side by Applejack. The spear plunged into her side and came out again through the other and Applejack screamed, and then painfully pulled herself closer along the pole weapon and clamped her flat-but-still-dangerous teeth down one on of the Gryphon's outer wing joints. There was a snap, a shriek of pain from the Gryphon, and the they two of them began to fall. Twilight scrambled back up to her hoofs and looked over the edge to see Applejack give her one last smile and a weak wave with a bit of blood running from the side of her mouth before the pair fell into a tumble and time seemed to speed back up again.

“I'm such an idiot! Such a worthless, slow idiot!!” She repeated for the thirtieth time since the fight had ended. Other soldiers had told her that there was nothing that she could have done, but Twilight knew better. There were plenty of things that she could have done, but she had been thinking like a civilian (which she was), and not a soldier. But then, I'm not really a soldier at all, am I? My brother was the one who had the mind for planning a fight. Which was why, she supposed, that he had been lent by Celestia to Thanatos. She hadn't seen her brother the entire time they'd been fighting, and had not known he'd actually been there at all until after the fight when he was peaking to Thanatos about how they'd fared. Given what they'd discovered about the queen's actions and plans after interrogating several soldiers found and captured in the High Nest Palace was no way this battle could be called a victory.

I could have teleported myself out of the way, or put up a barrier, or turned the Gryphon into a mouse, or even just got rid of its weapon! Any of those would have worked, and instead I froze! Twilight stamped a hoof on the ground, raising a small amount of dust from the cobblestones dirtied by the steps of many a Pony ahead of her heading back to their homes and families to show that they were alive and well.

Telling Applejack's family would be hard, she knew, but living with the knowledge that she'd directly failed one of her friends (and it had led to her death, no less), she also knew, would be far worse.

Author's Note:

And at long friggin last, the next chapter! *Blows party horn* Geeze, sorry to go Arrow 18 author on ya'll.

Comments

[RealClassixX]

*glances at cover* Gurren Lagann!

[Fireeaters]

Derp