Chapter 27: A Ghoulish Surprise
Chapter 27: A Ghoulish Surprise
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The letter was finished. From the fact it refused to use many big words...or phrases, and appeared that it was hastily scribbled rather than carefully scribed, as well as the enclosed notes, Princess Celestia was sure to realize this letter was bad news before she even actually read it. Spike quickly inhaled, held up the scroll, and exhaled a large amount of green flames.
"It's done..." he said, sitting down on Twilight's bed. It was still just as made as it was that morning. "Now...I've just gotta...wait..."
Spike buried his head in his hands. Twilight was always there, like that nagging older sister that made him do all the chores. He didn't really mind it, except in some days where she got really studious and drove him to the point of exhaustion only to wake him up early the next day...
But now, with Twilight foalnapped, the young dragon could see quite clearly that he was wrong to have just taken her for granted all those years since she became his assistant. The wait for answers was killing him. At least when Rarity got foalnapped he did what he could. Yet, today, he couldn't stop Fluttershy from getting foalnapped either. He got casually brushed aside when he tried to help out, just like before.
All he could do now was leave it in the hooves of the others. He wasn't completely aware of it, but he was already starting to cry.
"Please...bring them back...everypony..."
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Azure Courage wasn't sure how long they'd followed the trail. He didn't care how much time had passed; in fact, he found it better to not focus on that aspect of the chase. The group had followed Pinkie's direction for the very first part of the chase, but after about half a mile, Applejack quickly took over the lead. Nopony really objected. Silver also volunteered to take the lead; it was a deep forest, perhaps his remaining senses could help pinpoint their direction.
As for Applejack...
"I'm telling ya, I should be able to track 'em down!"
Her experience as a farmhand seemed to give her confidence she could track down the miscreants in cloaks. Azure didn't see why not: the only thing he knew about forest environments was how to bounce off the walls. Besides, Azure's sense of direction was very poor if he didn't know where to begin. And this was a case he knew he wouldn't have gotten done without his friends' help, now that he was deep in the Everfree.
The group had stopped, not necessarily to catch their breath but to gather their bearings and decide which way to go next. Rainbow went high up, above the trees, to see if she could see any signs of disturbance. Applejack scouted ahead, seeing if she could find tracks. Silver stayed back with the group to track odd movements with his echolocation. Rarity also pitched in.
As it turned out, her mark wasn't just for show: she knew how to find gems with a certain spell she passed on to Twilight. However, the spell essentially functioned as an X-ray. She insisted that with enough power, the spell could pass through the trees for a distance to see if the captors were hiding anywhere.
This left Azure with Pinkie to wait for anything that the four of them could find.
Everypony's working together... he noted. The loss of our friends hasn't destroyed us...if anything, it's only made our resolve more clear...Just like that time Rarity got foalnapped...
Azure closed his eyes, Only, the captors won't respond so well to complaints and prissy behavior...
Rainbow flew down next to them, hovering. "Can't see a thing with all these trees around!"
"We're deep inside the Everfree. I don't think the captors would be taking the beaten path anyway..." Azure noted. "Silver, are you hearing--"
Silver made a gesture for Azure to be quiet for a little longer. For a few seconds, he stared off towards the southeast, as his horn lit up. The dark blue glow seemed to point in that direction.
"That way...birds are...being disturbed..." Silver said, still appearing to concentrate.
"Rarity! Have you found anything yet?" Azure called out.
"No, Azure, I have not," Rarity said, clearly exerting herself by using the spell at such potency.
"Everypony, get over here!" called Applejack. "I see somethin' on the ground over here!"
Everypony looked to each other, blinking, wondering what it was. All five quickly moved over to where Applejack was standing, looking down.
"Hoof prints...?" Azure asked, just before looking down. What he saw was far more obvious than hoof prints in the ground.
It was an arrow, hastily yet carefully scribed into the ground, very visible to the unaided eye. The tool was a discarded twig, laid crookedly across the tip of the arrow. This obviously wasn't drawn by the cloaked cohorts; they would have needed hooves or magic, and neither of them would have been so keen on telling them exactly where they were going.
"What are we looking at?" Silver questioned.
"It's an arrow," Rarity said. "I think Twilight might have drawn this for us to show where they were going..."
"Which way is it pointing?"
"Southeast," Azure said. "Where you heard the disturbances?"
"That's right!" Silver responded.
"Well, if we follow these arrows, we'll find 'em..." Applejack took control. "Time's wastin'! We've gotta get moving!"
The group began to move about. It was only Applejack and Silver teaming up as the scouts now; Applejack to search out with her eyes for the arrows Twilight inscribed in the dirt and Silver to listen ahead to make sure they were on the right direction. Every now and again, they'd find an arrow, and Silver would confirm it. The group made ample distance in virtually no time at all, and as they paused once again to confirm their direction, Applejack noticed something.
"Hey, this one here looks like it was just drawn!" Applejack noted, pointing to the arrow again.
Silver closed his eyes, concentrating. His ears visibly twitched.
"I hear...voices! Just ahead!" Silver said. "How can we know it's them..."
"It's a bit risky..." Azure said, stepping forward. "But I doubt they would have gone to the trouble of taking them alive and going in here if they didn't need to bring them back alive..."
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Shade was somewhat grateful to see that the hostage that was still conscious was cooperating. She had hardly said a peep since she first woke up. Part of him wished she would have put up some resistance--it certainly would have been exciting to be able to smack both Bearers around if she had. However, another part loved the feeling that he got whenever an adversary's spirit broke. It was the sweetest feeling he ever had, and he wanted to savor it. And...he wanted to see the expression on that cyan colt's face when--
"Twilight......."
Shade's ear twitched, and Tagane skidded to a halt. Shade forced himself to stop as well, and both turned back, bewildered.
"Fluttershy!!!"
The mare on his back began to move, though it was clear she was still a bit out of it. Tagane gritted his teeth.
"How...?" he snarled. "We couldn't have made that big of a trail on our own?" He turned to Shade. "Tell me you kept--"
"I didn't summon a thing! I didn't think we'd be followed..." Shade suddenly grinned. "Not that I care if we were or not..."
"Shade, don't be an idiot..." Tagane admonished, trying to take the lead. "We need to get out of here, fast! If we try to take a longer way back to the hideout, we might still be able to shake them..."
"That might be true, Tagane..." Shade grinned, turning to the still-unconscious pegasus on his back. "But...the other four Bearers are there. I don't think the Boss will mind if we try to...add to our cargo."
Tagane looked up.
"Look, you know they are probably closing in," Shade said. "I'm sure I'll be fine on my own against the lot..."
"Fine, then..." Tagane said. "There's no arguing with you, is there? I'll go on back to HQ the long way. You try taking the rest of them on your own. But pull back if you're going to be overwhelmed..."
"No danger of that!" Shade said, turning to the pony on his back, grinning...
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Azure pulled ahead of the group for a moment, ready for whatever was ahead. According to Silver, they had stopped to talk about it, but that was all Azure needed to know, and he and Dash blasted off ahead of the group, quickly followed by the others. Also, Silver mentioned something about hearing tree bark being broken, but by the time he said it, Azure was nearly out of earshot.
"Somepony's up ahead!" Dash called out, having pulled ahead of Azure just moments before.
Azure turned his sight ahead, and the group drew closer. The group soon reached a clearing, surrounded by trees, a few hundred yards up from where Silver estimated the two colts were. In the middle was...
"F-Fluttershy!" Rarity called out upon recognizing the form of her friend. Fluttershy stirred, apparently hearing the others' voices. Azure planted his hooves. Fluttershy was here, and seemingly safe, which he knew he should be happy to see, but--he couldn't.
The other girls rushed ahead of them. Silver skidded to a halt aside him.
"Hey, why'd you stop...?" As soon as Silver questioned him on this, Azure gritted his teeth.
"You have to know..." Azure stated, "It isn't going to be that easy--"
Almost as Azure finished his sentence, Silver stiffened. Both looked to each other, scowling.
"So it's..."
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"Girls..." Fluttershy quietly whispered, apparently unharmed.
"Fluttershy, don't you worry...we're here now..." Pinkie said. "But where's...Twilight?"
"I--" Fluttershy began. Silver rushed forward at this point, urgency in his features, followed closely by Azure.
"Everypony, watch it!" Azure called out.
For a moment, there was silence, followed by the sounds of several distorted crickets' cries...and one terrifying distorted wolf's howl. Rainbow gritted her teeth.
"You won't be heading back home anytime soon!" A maniacal laugh echoed throughout the treetops. "The whole lot of you are coming back with us now! My associate has already gone ahead with the other one...and soon, I will join him...with every last one of you in tow!"
"Twilight's still--!" Azure began, worry evident in his tone.
"I wouldn't worry about her," the voice sneered. "Why don't you focus on who's left instead?!"
Azure's eyes glowed brightly again, "You..."
"Well, maybe you'll see her again. Depends on what use I have left for you. It's just like I told you, unicorn, on that day I tried attacking the Honesty Bearer: 'you haven't won yet!'"
"You're the same colt?!" Applejack asked. "You're the one that attacked our farm?!"
"I'm also the one behind that attack on Fluttershy's cottage..." he continued to sneer. "And just like then, you can't see me, but I can see you perfectly..."
A cricket jumped out of the bushes, aiming its sights straight for Rarity, but the unicorn managed to turn around and land a crushing hit to its midsection and destroy it.
"Now, how long do you think you can last?" inquired the voice of the colt, as a virtual flood of crickets began to fill the clearing, flanked by several of the larger Shadow Fangs.
Silver and Dash immediately went to guard Fluttershy. The remaining four ponies kept an eye out on all angles, trying not to stray too far from the center as their opponents began to come.
"Got any ideas, Az?" Applejack asked, any evidence of her earlier pain completely absent from her demeanor overall.
"You're asking me..." Azure responded. His heart beat furiously. The more time he wasted here, the more time it would allow Twilight's captor to get to the Badlands. On the other hand, he couldn't just abandon his other friends here to the other one. And, since he had no way of knowing if Spike had sent the letter yet--no, he knew that well; since he had no way of knowing if Princess Celestia had done anything with said letter, he was in a tough position.
The creatures charged, and immediately, the six friends moved to protect the one that couldn't really fight. Silver remained close to Fluttershy, as did Rarity, using a thick tree branch as a club to ward off attackers, just with before. The remainder of the group fanned out bravely towards the crowd. Azure shot off a laser. The crickets that didn't make any attempt to scatter took it head on as the projectile slowly lost momentum, exploding a few feet into the crowd and taking out more.
Rainbow Dash once more took to the air as several Shadow Ghouls and a couple of Shadow Fangs sprouted wings and took to the air after her. She began to use the opportunity to try and interleave the martial arts she knew with aerial acrobatics, diving through the air only to uppercut away the summons, or bisect them completely when they were weaker.
"You think I'm gonna give up to this?!" she exclaimed, increasing her height, looping through the air and landing a hard double kick to one of the aerial Shadow Fangs, sending it through the trees and crashing into the ground.
Pinkie, meanwhile, took the new challenges more seriously. One would notice that numbers did not float out of the monsters she defeated, for one. She also appeared to be employing a very crazy, unorthodox, yet disturbingly effective fighting style. It seemed to contain a little bit of everything. Were anypony to actually notice and comment on it, one would wonder if she just happened upon Azure or some other ponies in training and thought that the moves combined would make for a funky dance.
There was an awkward forward kick thrown in such a way that she also "accidentally" punched back an attacker directly behind her, taking out both of the ghouls attacking her. This was followed by a sudden weave to the side, and...rolling into her opponents, sending them scattering like bowling pins? She seemed to be taking the situation seriously in spite of her weird fighting style.
"If only I had brought my party cannon with me," lamented the pink pony as she miraculously unrolled from her ball form, taking on more monsters, seeming to regain a little bit of her usual vigor as the fight dragged out.
One of the Shadow Fangs opened its mouth at her, aiming to do the same thing its bretheren had done to Applejack that night. However, before it could scar the earth pony for life, a cyan laser flew into the open orifice and caused fatal internal damage, causing it to vanish.
Silver hung back with Fluttershy as some of the weaker monsters flew past the others' defenses. What Rarity failed to smash away, Silver would cause to vibrate using concentrated sound waves, just as he had before.
"We will not be taken," Rarity declared as she smashed away yet another Shadow Ghoul.
"Nor will we let you take our friends!" Silver finished, preparing for the landing of the larger Shadow Fang. As it landed in front of him, he momentarily re-focused all of his magic for an offensive purpose. As it lunged for the trio, the blind pony unleashed a large amount of compressed soundwaves, actually causing his opponent to fall back.
Azure noticed his friends' plight, and quickly charged up a shot, letting it fly at the Shadow Fang. To his surprise, the attack didn't detonate on contact like it usually would, but passed right through the body of the Shadow Fang and into more encroaching Shadow Ghouls. The Shadow Fang was finished off by the remaining soundwaves, while the Shadow Ghouls caught in the laser attack were destroyed as well.
Applejack lassoed onto the back of one of the demonic-looking wolves, quickly pulling herself onto its back with a "Yee-haw!" She rode it like it was her personal rodeo for a few moments, kicking herself off and swinging around to kick away more Shadow Ghouls that were encroaching. She was thrown off by the Shadow Fang after a few seconds of this, but she quickly recovered, ducking under a claw attempt and delivering a powerful buck to the midsection of the monster.
The battle continued for five minutes in this manner. Somehow the group had managed to avoid noticable injury during this time despite the number and power of the summons used. However, the group knew time was wasting. There was strength in numbers, but somepony was still being taken away even as they burned time fighting to protect Fluttershy to try and get her back to Ponyville. It was all Fluttershy could do to stay conscious, despite the fear going through her.
"We're not going anywhere..." Azure said. Though he was trying not to show it, he was despairing the more and more enemies he destroyed. "At this rate..."
The group remained silent, none of them wanting to consider the possibility...
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Even as he fought through the flood of enemies alongside his friends, Azure Courage felt like the group was actually taking steps backwards in terms of accomplishing what they went into the forest to do. Each second they took trying to create an opening in the opposition was another few yards the other pony could escape with Twilight. Yet...the group needed its numbers in order to overcome the summons.
"Az, leave this to us," Applejack cut through the silence. "Go on after Twilight!"
Azure kicked away two Shadow Ghouls, blinking, "What are you saying?! I can't--" Another couple approached him, but he quickly blasted them before they could do any harm, "just leave you here to fight these!!"
"There's no time to argue, Azure, we have Fluttershy--" She slammed her back legs into a Shadow Ghoul, sending it reeling backwards. "--but they still have Twilight!"
Azure froze, nearly getting blind-sided by a Shadow Fang had Rainbow not bucked it hard at maximum velocity.
"You made a Pinkie promise, Azie!" Pinkie reminded from halfway across the clearing, hopping up above the ground and crushing the ghouls like she had before, "You gotta keep it!"
"We can handle this!" Rainbow ducked low, allowing two of the weaker summons to crash into one another. "Get going, Az!"
"B-but..." Azure found himself reminded of his horrid sense of direction, the one time he didn't need it more than anything else, "I don't even know where they went!"
Applejack hopped around, manipulating the Shadow Ghouls away from herself with a combination of kicks and ropework. Eventually, she spotted something leading to the southwest.
"That way!" she called out, pointing her hoof down an open path. Azure turned around, but found he didn't have the time to really see what it was other than an open path. The enemies were as relentless as he was.
"Silver--"
"Kinda busy right now, Azure, you're just going to have to trust her!" Silver said. Azure sighed; Applejack couldn't lie, nor would she under the circumstances.
"But you were the one that told me I couldn't do this on my own!" Azure called back, "That we all had to work together!?"
"I know what I said, Azure, but you need to keep listening!" Silver called back. "Even if we split up like this, you aren't alone! We're still working as a team! Soon as we're done here we'll follow!"
Azure looked around. Even in the midst of the fight, all of them looked confident enough they'd brave this swarm. Yet, he didn't like the thought of leaving them alone. However...Twilight was just as important to him as the others. He wouldn't forgive himself if the other captor got away...
"Fine, I'll go on! Just be sure to keep going!" Azure yelled, shooting off a laser in the direction Applejack indicated, clearing himself a path and sprinting through. As he went, he noticed something that Applejack had probably pointed out.
Twilight...how...?
At the base of a tree not too far into the path, a large arrow, pointing southwest, was etched into the bark.
"I'll take your hint..."
The sound of an encroaching enemy distracted him. His cyan, glowing eyes trailed behind him. A Shadow Fang attempted to blindside him at that point, but Azure quickly leapt into the air with the gravity spell assisting him. He then made himself heavier, crashing down hard enough on the Shadow Fang's head to knock it over. Rainbow finished the job as he landed.
"What are you waitin' for, Az?!" she yelled, rushing back towards the others. "Get moving!"
Azure did not object. He turned, and beat it down the route Twilight had left him at full speed.
Everypony...Please...Keep yourselves and Fluttershy safe...
---
"Good, Az is on the trail of the other guy," Applejack observed as Rainbow flew back, taking out another flying Shadow Fang by flying through it top speed.
"Now how are we gonna beat this guy if we can't even see him?!" Rainbow exploded, giving Silver an idea. Since he couldn't see and all...
"Rarity, Pinkie!" Silver knew their attention had been caught, "Watch after Fluttershy for a bit! I've got a plan!"
"What are you going to do?" asked Rarity, the sound of wood breaking indicating her makeshift club had finally taken enough abuse.
Silver didn't answer, taking a few steps forward. He could hear something somewhere...he felt like...
"Yes, what will you do," The condescending voice answered, "How can a blind unicorn possibly--"
There!
A loud buzzing suddenly emanated from the tip of Silver's horn, and though Silver heard his nemesis move, the sound of movement immediately before a tree collapsing demonstrated that the blind pony had found him anyway, and had only a few feet of error to show for it.
"I made a promise long ago that I would never allow somepony to look down on me ever again, something you just did not too long ago..." Silver was dead serious, his blind eyes wide open. "I'm going to show you what I can do..."
Two bodies were at his side...Rainbow and Applejack.
"Alright, let's get this over with so we can help Az!" said Applejack. There was another collective "hmph" from the group, and the three ponies charged forward into the crowd.
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Tagane had known what Twilight was doing since he and Shade parted ways. He had, therefore, erected a nullification field around himself and his hostage so she couldn't cast her magic anymore. He had caught her just as she had been peeling bark off of that tree not too far up. Rather than warn Shade about it, seeing as how it was too late anyway, Tagane instead elected to keep it quiet, and keep running to the southwest.
His captive had not done anything since her magic was turned off; pretty much all she could do given all he'd seen her do was magic-related. In fact, if memory served, the mare on his back was the Element of Magic. It made sense for her to be unable to do much of anything with her magic safely shut off.
The colt came to a stop at a fork. He already knew which way he was going to go. Any pursuers would have a fifty-fifty shot of choosing the right path, at best. Both paths were virtually identical.
If I cross the Ghastly Gorge, I'll be able to make it back to HQ from there...and that is to the left of this fork...
Tagane straightened up. There were a few snags, but this operation was going to be successful. He could just feel it. He reared back, jumping over the root on the left, and landed. However, as he made his jump, he felt weight leave his back. The instant he hit the ground, he felt himself worry just a little. The last thing he needed was to trip at the finish line and let his captive get away.
The earth pony turned, seeing Twilight leaning against the tree root, seemingly broken. Tagane couldn't withhold himself from sneering. Maybe it was the knowledge he could strip her of her magic at any time; maybe she realized he was also a physical powerhouse. Whatever the case, the cloaked pony was glad to see his captive had seemingly lost the will to fight.
"How clumsy of me..." he mused aloud, "but you don't seem to be in the mood to run..."
Twilight didn't answer, her mane obscuring her eyes. Tagane effortlessly lifted the pony back onto his back, making sure she was secure before taking off again. Had he taken the time to take a closer look at the purple mare, he might have noticed the slowly forming smile on her face.
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Twilight Sparkle knew she only had one chance to tell Azure which way to go. Without her magic, she had to improvise a way to do it. Falling off her captor's back was a bit painful, and she knew she'd be feeling that one later, but it was worth it. Now all she had to do was hope he or another member of the group could spot the signal.
Believe what you want... Twilight thought to herself. I haven't given up hope yet...
As the earth pony continued to lead her wherever she was going, the unicorn couldn't help but wonder what all this was about. They seemed to be aware of the Elements of Harmony, and which pony represented which one. However, she couldn't point out why they were doing this. They didn't seem like the kind of ponies to tell what they were doing either, so Twilight had to bite her tongue.
The mare continued to cling to her courage, and her hope, even though she was separated from Fluttershy. She would not give either of her captors the benefit of breaking her or seeing her broken.
Everypony...I'll leave it to you... The purple pony could not appreciate the irony of her thoughts right now; initially, she never wanted anything to do with them; only agreeing to have Azure accompany her into the Everfree Forest because he did seem useful even then. However, now, she felt she could place her full faith in her friends, as they would do the same for her if the roles were switched.
Azure... She recalled something else about that night. Every time she was in danger, Azure had saved her from it; even taking on Nightmare Moon alone when he knew full well what would happen. How many times would this make it now?
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I'm not sure if I should be voting for twi now! I'm so Discombobulated